Again with the Green Sweater

After leaving you yesterday,  I went for a run - and on that run, I decided that I'd get back home and weave in those ends and put on some buttons and bring the damn cardigan along on my photo shoot with Caro.  (And in that hour, I'd also manage to take a shower, get myself gussied up, gather up all my stuff for the shoot, and get to Caro's, which is a few towns away)  Amazingly, I did all those things, left a giant mess in every room I touched, and was on time.   I did have to straighten my hair in her bathroom. 

However, the gauntlet was worth it.   My thought was that if I was going to do a shoot, maybe I'd get a second opinion from Caro, some flaw-hiding detail photos and then, IF I chose to reknit as a top down and never do seams again,  I'd be all set w/ the pics, right?   But Caro gave it a once over and told me to wet block it.  Apparently, this will do wonders for your seaming talents.  Or lack thereof.   

And you know what?  I did it and it worked.   Amazing.
(Lets not get into the fact that I should have known all about wet blocking already, shall we?) 

--------------------

So, after discussing the cardigan, we went off for a knitterly photo shoot -- at the racetrack.    

Yep.  With real horses and the music (dududududu dududu  DA) and the old guys in their tweed hats with pencils and folded up newspapers.  (This being Boston, also a lot of  not as old guys in Patriots tee shirts and big beer bellies.)  We had planned on shooting in the track parking lot, but when we got there, we realized it was OPEN.  So who are we to turn down a little location scouting adventure? 

The spot was awesome, and the beers were $4.25.  Unfortunately there's some federal law about ATMs at racetracks, so we were limited to a single beer while modeling around the joint and couldn't sample the $1 hotdogs for which they are famous.  (If we'd have had more money, we'd have had more beers - and the dogs.)   Will remember to bring cash for next time.  

There was a horse named Warm Woolen Mittens, and given his knitterly handle, we did favor him a bit - but he wasn't doing so hot. It seemed that Funky Country and Shoeless Joe had better luck in the heat.  The heat that was hovering around 90 degrees again.   Perfect for donning big knits and posing around the railings while an old guy snoozes a few rows above in his orange folding seat.  I think his horse raced later in the day - or maybe his wife bugs him if he naps at home?  Either way, he was pretty awesome.  Whatever his reason for a folding seat nap, he never moved the whole time we were hanging out near him.  And you don't think we're quiet, do you?

Down by the winner's circle, we tried not to make a spectacle of ourselves, but it was pretty hard to go incognito in the sparse crowd with our giant bag of knits, the fact that I was wearing knits in the crazy heat, and the whole posing and shooting thing.   We didn't exactly blend, if you know what I mean.  Again, if we'd have had more money, I'd have had another beer.    

But even without the additional Budweisers in their plastic cups, it was just fine.  Caro, as always, did an amazing job and I can't wait to see what we got on film.    It was a very productive Monday - I'll have pics to share in a bit,  the green sweater can now come to Rhinebeck with me, and sometime soon I am SO going back to the track with my family soon to put some money on whatever horse has the best name that day.    Right?