Back in March I decided to knit a sweater using yarn I had bought almost 15 years ago when I lived in Murietta, California. The yarn was to be for a sweater that was in the Interweave Knits magazine which didn't get knit until I moved here and I bought other yarn for it so this yarn was stuck in my stash.

This sweater is knit cuff to cuff in one massive piece and then stitches are picked up for the collar and bottom band. I had to read the pattern several times and I actually re-wrote it for 2 reasons. First the pattern does not give instructions on knitting the second half of the body; it just implies that what you knit for the first half is worked in reverse and since I had a different yarn with a different gauge, I was going to need more exact information. The second issue is that the big collar - the turtle neck, is not actually attached to the sweater and the instructions don't say that; it just tells you to cast on stitches and knit in the round for a specific length. I had to look at the pictures of other knitter's projects to figure this out. 

I mostly worked on the sweater on Thursdays, down at the yarn store where we have a knit club get together from 2 pm to 4 pm. I usually show up early after having completed the errands I need to do in town.

Two weeks ago I finished the second sleeve and then spent that weekend knitting the collar which I mead longer than the pattern called for and in lieu of the separate turtle neck. Next up was sewing the sleeve and side seams and adding the bottom band which I decided I would do over Thanksgiving week as I had no plans to go or see anyone [I had been recording all the Star War Saga movies, no series, to watch during this time]. 

On Friday I had finished the bottom band and on Saturday I wove in all the ends from the color changes.  

I can now wear it cause the weather has gotten cool if not cold!

Thirty-Six years ago we eloped having only met each other two month earlier.
It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
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In September of 1987 I was invited to a bicycle ride get together by my friend Gylver; he lived in Laguna Hills, California and I was living in Temecula, California.  Other friends of "ours" from Santa Barbara would be there as well as some other friends that Gylver knew.  

The plan was to ride down the coast for a while, stop and have lunch then ride back and afterwards have a dinner of home made chili.   

Not as many people showed up as expected but one was a good looking man named Erich Kern.  

We spent most of the ride talking to each other; and we talked all through dinner. Before I went home Erich asked for my phone number.   To be honest I don't remember much of the ride except for talking to Erich.

Several nights later Erich called to talk and ask me on a date; we ended up talking on the phone for six hours!
Yes, we took bathroom breaks.

Erich suggested we move in together in, in October but having just started grad school I said no; I needed time and space to do my course work. 

At the end of October he proposed.  I said yes cause when you know, you KNOW.

After much thought and reflection about what my sister went through with our parents when she got married I knew I did not want a formal wedding and so Erich I decided to elope over Thanksgiving weekend as I also had a small break in my course work. 

We found a Rabbi to marry us and we made reservations in Santa Barbara at a B&B for the weekend. We would take our bicycles and spend the weekend doing some rides and on Thanksgiving day I would work on a paper I had due the next week. 

Gylver was the Best Man and my friend Kathleen was the Best Woman; we met at the Synagogue and were married and then went out for a nice dinner and afterwards Erich and I drove up the coast. 

The rest, you could say is history.  

This picture was taken many years later in the 2000's.