You know you are a knitter when

Someone draws back the cover on a baby stroller and the first thing you say is "Oh! What a beautiful blanket!"

The parents of the baby took it all in stride and told me they would let the knitter of the blanket know how much I liked it. Truly, y'all. This blanket had beautiful stitch definition and was a lovely basket stitch pattern with a loose rib edging. Oh, the baby was pretty darn cute, too! He had a lovely round face with pinchable cheeks. We all had a good laugh at my instant fondness of the blanket.

I did not have knitting on my mind this past weekend celebrating my anniversary. Gwensmom asked if there would be a milestone anniversary sweater, and although I have a sweater planned for Italian, there was no sweater this weekend. When Italian saw the teeny tiny box holding his present, he asked right away if he was going to get a sweater at all. He seemed a bit disappointed when I told him no, but his disappointment quickly disappeared when he opened his present, an iTouch with a "mix tape" style playlist containing some special songs, and a little surprise movie outlining his actual present - a fly fishing trip to Colorado. He loved his present, even though it was knitting.

I was equally elated with my present, and it was knitting either. Italian surprised me with a new beautiful ring. He went to a local jewelry store because they were very nice when all I wanted were a few links removed from my watch. He walked in and asked for a setting that was "antique-y." From there, he picked out a lovely setting and the most beautiful center stone all by himself, putting together a ring I absolutely adore. He did a very good job. I'll keep him.

Slight distraction

I'm off to celebrate a milestone anniversary, so I'll quickly distract you with some pictures of knitting. Behold something green:

From WIPs

and something little (but not for me, it's a gift):

From WIPs

More on these later after my little romantic weekend getaway.

Not just for the boys

Last night, I had the pleasure of spending time with one of the world's premiere fly fisher and came to understand and appreciated that I was in the presence of a legend. My local fly fishing club brought in Lefty Kreh for the monthly meeting. Lefty shared some tips, showed us his favorite places to fish, and taught us how to cast. From a knitting perspective, spending time with Lefty is comparable to spending an afternoon with Elizabeth Zimmerman just knitting. From a cooking perspective, it's like being in the kitchen with James Peterson on a Saturday afternoon.

Lefty has fished with presidents, with fly fishing pioneers, with fishing leaders, with rock legends, with actors, and with several people he calls friends. He's written books, produced countless DVDs, and invented his own flies. He's personable, funny, and knowledgeable. He shares his wealth of knowledge with anyone who will absorb it and he conveys it with a twinkle in his eye. He is excited about you learning, which only makes you want to learn more. Meeting Lefty was special, but having Lefty teach me how to cast is an experience I'll always treasure. Casting with Lefty also made me realize that fly fishing is not just something I do with Italian and Little Clover anymore. Fly fishing is something I do. It is a skill I want to master, and why shouldn't I? Lefty said I could be really good, and I took that as a huge compliment.