According to etiquette guru Emily Post (I *think*, I don't know, I can't be arsed to look it up) you have one year from the date of someone's wedding to give them a gift.
One year ago yesterday, I attended the wedding of my lovely lovely friends Erga and Paga in Tofino, B.C. and juuuuuust a couple of weeks ago, I finally got them their wedding present! Spoiler alert: it was some of my lumpy knitting. So, TOTALLY worth the wait.
First, a word about this wedding. The ceremony was sweet and moving. The bride and groom's families and friends were warm and welcoming. The newlyweds' brand new baby was SO CUTE OMG. The dinner was delicious.
My beloved Katr could not attend because of work, so I went solo and got REALLY loaded with my old friend Hildy and her gentlemanly swain Se(no last name) and the groom Paga's "Angels", a trio of his long-time gal pals who were a non-stop party. There was an open bar and the "out of town" guest baskets included TWO bottles of wine and cheesies. So...it's not ALL on me.
There are a lot of photos of the group of us being loaded but I think these two are the most illustrative:
Exhibit A: Me with Charlotte, my wine baby
Exhibit B: Me, sweating drunkenly, with the very patient, non-drunk bride Erga (who gave birth to a baby 8 weeks before her wedding!!!!) and Hildy, killing herself, laughing drunkly.
I don't know how we ended up alone on the dance floor, lip synching "Finally" by Cece Peniston, drinking SCOTCH (actually, I blame that on Hildy's date Se, who made sure no one's glass was ever empty for long) but the next thing I knew, I was sharing a beer on the chilly beach with 5 other drunken souls and I'm sure the conversation was SUPER SUPER deep and we talked about our LIVES. I got sand in places, including my mouth. The stars were close enough to touch. It was magical.
The first time - and only time - I ever got drunk enough to barf was in 2001. Interesting sidenote: both Erga and Hildy were present on that historic night. Erga's wedding was ALMOST the second time...I woke up at 4 a.m. and spent several dicey moments on the bathroom floor before crawling back to bed and bringing the recycle bin with me, just in case. Then I DREAMED that I ralphed and felt great when I woke up.
Anyway, Erga and Paga's delightful wedding was a year ago and I think of it often. Because I've had a bit of a RSI and it took me the whole year to knit their gifts. And then I mailed them in the hottest part of the summer. YOU'RE WELCOME, NEWLYWEDS.
Groom's Socks
I got this manly manly colour from Sundara Yarn a few years ago (it has a dumb name, like "The Beautiful Side of Why" or something but I love the colour) and never had the right manly project. I don't know if this was the right project either, because it's sure hard to see the stitch pattern. These are Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd. Paga, I hope they fit! I was guesstimating your foot size!
Manly yarn makes pattern hard to see.
Even close up - still caaaaan't really see it.
Bride's Socks
Lady socks! For a special lady ;) This colour is also by Sundara Yarn - it's called Winter Twilight (i.e. the appropriate time to put on handmade socks). The pattern is Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark. I was worried the yarn might be too variegated for the pattern to show up, but I think they turned out pretty cute. Erga, I hope they're not too big! I got all excited to stretch the lace out and they might be a little loose. On the leg, I mean, not sexually.
These might be knee socks, Erga.
Baby's Beret
I wanted something kicky for baby Evga, because she seems to have a lot of personality and flair, even for one so young. So I chose the Sock Yarn Beret by Corinne Fourcade. The beret is a combo of the groom's yarn and the bride's yarn, much in the way that Evga is a combo of...okay, I see by your face that you get it. I'm notoriously bad at knowing how large children are at various ages, mainly because I avoid them assiduously, but I figured an 18-month size hat would be the perfect size for this winter.
Fortunately, Erga and Paga aren't weirdos who would get update about a blue hat for a female baby. Just another reason why they're awesome!
My blocking skills are best described as "inept".
Giraffe is doing a bang-up job of modelling here.
So that's all I have to show for a year of knitting. But a lot of love went into these! I've started a new project that's also a gift, so get ready to fawn all over it in 6-8 months.
