Brother Birthday Blarney

An Entry In Three Parts:

I. Today is Brother's birthday. He is THIRTY!!! So, in honor of his aged-ness, I took the day off and drove up to see him, Sis-In-Law, Nephew, and my parents. One interesting thing about Brother's birthday being St. Patrick's Day is that the photos we take always turn out so beautifully...the whole color-coordinated greens thing...

Brother has always been very supportive of, though sometimes bewildered by, my knitting proclivity. He has made some of the more clever comments about the process in general. Also, as an artist, he makes interesting observations about finished projects. He notices things that others don't.

And, no. I did not knit anything for Brother for his birthday. Not that he wouldn't have appreciated something, he will just appreciate what I did get him more.

II. In other birthday news, Gino's birthday was on Monday. Facebook didn't alert me to the fact that his birthday was on Monday until Saturday morning. (Shame on you, Facebook!) This put me in a bit of a bind time-wise. Gino definitely deserved a handknit, yet I had my Master's Portfolio and finals to finish over the weekend. Still...I muscled through...with some frantic morning break knitting, and lunch break ends weaving...and was able to complete an Oakland A's fan color beanie for him. (I was trying to name it, but the only player I know is Jose Canseco...who, as an Angel's fan, I have always referred to as Jose Can-stink-O...) I sent the beanie, his birthday card, and my camera to the other library with Ya-Ya. She delivered the goods and snagged a photo. When I called to sing to him, he seemed very pleased. (...I hope to see him WEARING it at games once the season starts...assuming I get invited after my Can-Stink-O comment!)

III. Also, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I have decided to only knit in green today! I brought my still unfinished Rivendell sock to Brother's house. I also packed some lovely wool from KnitPicks in a shade called "Pesto" that I plan on using in my next sweater. (I am making "Skinny Empire" out of Custom Knits by the inimitable Wendy Bernard...only my version is called "Tilney." ) And, because you can never have too much knitting, I also packed a green beanie!