Knitting in the Shadows

Friday at the Festival

Day one dawned over soft waves, and our hosts served up an amazing breakfast.  So far, I've found but one paltry thing to complain about .. the coffee is bitter and weak, and the wireless Internet connection will not let me have access to whatever page it is I need to use to agree to its terms so I can use the net.* Thus, though I can record these blogs, I cannot post them until I find an Internet connection.  The staff who works at the desk at the times I can talk to them do not know a thing about it.  They don't know what a url is, and so can't give me what I need.

Anyway, following this delicious breakfast, during which I drank delicious orange juice, we  convened for our introduction to the Magical World of the Moebius.

It included an amazing human knit stitch dance.

If anyone forgets about the "winning leg" of a knit stitch, after watching this performance, it will clearly be time to call in a neurologist. 

I was too busy learning to photograph the wonder of the Moebius Cast On, but it includes a weasel, dolphin, a hummingbird and a crocodile. The movement of the cast on is alarmingly familiar, but I can't  for the life of me figure out why.  Either way, I found it pleasantly easy to embark on my first moebius.... right after a delightful and nutritious snack of fruit and cheese.

Of course, having embarked on the practice project in Wool Ease (random test yarn), I swiftly put all the stitches on my handy dandy "try on cable",  freeing up my 60" cable for more important work -- the REAL moebius, which I'm knitting in yarn I was unable to resist buying last night.

Here is the enormous ball of Fleece Artist Woolie Silk that I wound this morning.

 

Will someone please explain to me what inspired me to buy this stuff?  I don't like these colors.  I mean, seriously, have you ever seen anything these colors on my blog?  No.  You haven't.  And yet, last night, when this ball was presented to me, I had to have it.

After careful calculation, using the magical chart in Cat's Treasury of Magical Knitting, I determined that I'd need 240 stitches ... well, actually 240 pairs of stitches.  Luckily, Cat caught me before I'd gotten far, and warned me about the stretch factor .. so I took back off 30 stitches, and started a shaped moebius in the arrowhead pattern, as always, blending what I'm doing even as I learn it.  I think this may mean that all the knitting I brought for down time was wasted suitcase space....

However, with the stitches barely on the needles, I was able to set them aside to eat a delicious and healthy lunch, and to take a walk on the beach.

My head somewhat cleared after a lovely stroll with Janet, I returned to learn the new tricks for socks that Cat has to offer.  What amazing fun!  We had to be pried away just to eat our snack (yes, another snack..the food never ends)  I can't wait until the book comes out.  When it does, you'll need to buy it.  Trust me. (We all promised and swore not to share the secrets that you'll find inside it, so I'm keeping my promise, but you will be amazed!)

Here's what I knit today (blurred, to protect Cat's innovation until the book is out):

Then, of course, there was dinner.  Wow.  Who knew a buffet could be so good?  Prime Rib baby.  Seriously delicious.  And that cake?  we don't want to talk about that cake. I'd be forced to admit just how much I ate! 

After dinner, we had a very special surprise treat.  Among the attendees of this magical event are none other than ... Kay and Ann (both of whom graciously agreed to pose with my traveling sock)!

The Mason Dixon Twins!! 

Yep, they're here, and delightful and offered a wonderful little talk displaying their glorious stuff.

They gave us a reprise of the knitting stitch dance,

and showed off many wonderful things from their book. 

Are these wee jeans not the cutest things you've ever seen?

There are many more pictures... I'll show you two more, and then demonstrate some restraint (I can't seem to do it in yarn stores so why not here).

These women are marvelous.  And they've inspired me with the purpose of the linen that lives in my stash.

What? did I mention lack of restraint regarding yarn? Did I do any stash enhancement today?  Why yes, now that you've asked.

Among the other things we saw today (for which sadly, I have no pictures) was Witt Pratt's amazing Newport Bag design that takes the moebius concept one step farther than even Cat took it.  This afternoon, Nancy arrived with "the" yarn for it (Fleece Artist Blue Faced Leicester Aran, along with a few patterns.  I just had to have it in Cosmic Dawn....

Just look at those colors!  Here's the other side:

I love the combination of the dark yarn with those vivid bright splashes of colour!

Only that walk on the beach kept my shopping down... as you'll see, tomorrow I lose my hold on the reins.

Thursday we get to Newport

You'll be pleased to know that my suitcase made it through the twilight zone at SFO.  Well, okay, you might not me, but I am.  And I'm fairly certain that the folks who will spend the next several days with me are also pleased... what with the clean clothes and shampoo and toothbrush that are in that bag.

As I emerged from the security area, I was met by a dear friend who left the Midwest more years ago than I care to think about.  He's lived in the Portland area for much of the time since then (though he did manage to pull off living in Australia for a while, which I personally find pretty very cool).  I'd not seen him since he and his wife last went through my Midwestern town, sometime years ago.  He remains as thoughtful as he ever was (moreso, I think (thanks K!)), so I didn't even have to find my way to baggage claim alone.  He even helped me haul the suitcase off the carousel.  See how spoiled I am?

We drove into Portland, had a brief walk along the river front before meeting his wife and family for a wonderful dinner at McCormick & Schmick's.  He even agreed to pose with the sock:

After sock photography and a stroll, we met the family in this very parking lot and headed in to fresh sea food!  I personally loved the calamari and the Ling cod that made up my meal.  I also truly enjoyed the company.  What fun people!  What fun kids! (yes, I know, they were on their best behavior -- they even wore TIES!!! but they're still great kids).  I was kind, and did not ask them to pose with the sock. After dinner, another long walk along the Willamette River, to get the rest of the airport kinks out of my legs, and I returned to my hotel.

Thursday morning, I'm proud to say, I actually got up and hit the treadmill.  I've thus insured that I made it to the full 100 miles for Run-A-Go-Go round one!!!! woo hoo. Thus endeth the diet and exercise portion of the trip, I fear....

Cindy (of Portland) and Janet (of Yellow Knife, Northwest Territories, Canada) picked me up at the hotel, and whisked me off to the Yarn Garden. Here they are in what proved to be Oregon's opening salvo in the war of temptation:  This is Cindy:

And here is Janet:

I was moderately restrained .. what with knowing that Nancy would have all sorts of Fleece Artist and HandMaiden yarns to tempt us with at the workshop... but Yarn Garden had Blue Heron Yarns, and Great Adirondack, and ... and ... and all sorts of other lusciousness I can't get at home.  In fact, I could wax eloquent about this store for a long time.  Three (3), yes, three rooms of yarns bordered on one side by a coffee shop and on the other by a room for books and needles etc, with a lovely table to allow you to sit and really look at them.  It has become my new standard for yarn stores.

I caved for this wee selection -- some alpaca to make mitts for my aunt, and some silk/merino to make something wonderful for me.

After our jaunt, we went back to the airport to fetch Mary (of Pittsburgh). 

It was a bit of an adventure, but in the end we found her... and even managed to get all of our stuff in Cindy's Dodge Aveo.  I'm impressed.. that little car held LOTS of stuff!

Once on the road, we chose the scenic route for those of us deprived of regular access to the sea.  This meant that we drove past a wee yarn shop... that was having a big sale.  As soon as we spied the sign, Cindy applied the brakes and we zipped into a parking space.

ahem.

I only bought five balls of yarn...

it was on SALE!!!  40% off!!!

sheesh.  It even has a specific purpose...

That yarn shopping spree almost made us late to dinner (aren't we "lucky" we didn't take the detour to Woodland Woolworks?).  We nipped into the lot just in time, and didn't even check in before we went over to the workshop area.  Cat was wandering around greeting each of us in turn.  We'd barely sat down before they opened the buffet ...  Now, I must admit, I was a tad worried about this buffet thing.  All inclusive things that include meals, especially buffet meals, can be dicey.  But this was WONDERFUL!

It was also a sign of things to come.

After dinner, Nancy

(our incredible hostess from Color Song Yarns) opened the "shop", as did Michelle

(a supporting shop owner from Fiber Nooks and Crannys), and my buying frenzy began.  It was a slow frenzy, but still.. I bought this, with which I plan to knit Tsarina's Blue Stockings...

and this, with which I planned to make a moebius shawl

and ......

some Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Vintage.  Here's the other side:

and some Woolie Silk that you'll read more about tomorrow....

And eventually got to meet my room mate, Dahlia (of Davis, California).

Dahlia, by the way, is a delightful human being.  I wish I'd had more time to get to know her, and am fulminating on ways to get to spend more time with her in the future. (This too will become a theme of the weekend).

After we'd shopped a bit, we reconvened in the classroom for Cat to welcome us and give us an overview of the weekend.  Here's the view from the classroom window.

ahhhhh....  For landlocked flatlanders like me, this is heaven!

The intro included 'door prizes'.  Every one of us received a new Skacel lace needle.  I'm eager to test mine, but as you'll soon see, I was a bit distracted with knitting other things and thus failed to test it there. (Nancy, I promise to send you the feedback once I do get something on these needles).  I also "won" a skein of Handmaiden Silken.

ooooh.... ahhh... sofffft.  Since it was a gift, I think I should knit a gift with it.  I'm letting that percolate as well.  You, of course, will be among the first to know who is getting what made of Silken.

Tomorrow... Moebius! (for which I bought some of that yarn).

Blog, she goes a-cordless and she did fly**

I'm writing to you from the airport in San Francisco, where I've splurged for a day's worth of T-Mobile HotSpot access.  I'm writing on the household's new laptop.  It was purchased not because we need a new laptop, but because the kids' computers are old and tired and trying to die, and I had to find something still available in the verse the runs XP.  I bought what I could get.

Turns out I like it quite well.  And since it's smaller than my primary laptop, and thus weighs less, it's going to be my travel machine.  The kids will have to cope.

So anyway, my day started well before dawn.  For some of you, this is no big deal.  Me? I think dawn is lovely when seen just before going to bed.  I'm very distrustful of dawn when I'm just waking up.  However, to avoid driving to Chicagoland, where I'd have to leave my car for 5 days in some unguarded parking lot, and to preserve money that otherwise would have gone to a hotel for more important things, like buying YARN in Oregon, I took the early morning shuttle to O'Hare.  It left before dawn.  The things I do in the name of knitting! (oh, did I mention that my incredibly supportive husband drug his weary self out of bed to drive me to the shuttle?  Is he wonderful or what?)

This put a bit of a crimp in my travel knitting plans.  You see, I'd gotten Thistle all cast off, and the next step was crocheting the steeks.  I needed to get this done before hitting security at the airport, because I needed to CUT said steeks so I could sew in the sleeves.  I'll need Thistle's warmth in Oregon.

Eventually, the sun came up and cast some light through the van windows.  Following Eunny's wonderful instructions, I crocheted my steeks, and cut them in the van.  I tried to take pictures, but the lack of light and the bouncing of the van made this challenging. 

 

I then sewed in the sleeves.  woohoo.  All done but the end sewing before I got to the airport!   See how pretty the insides are?

  (More pictures when there's daylight.)

Thus, the scissors went into the checked luggage, and I carried Thistle and a chibi needle through security.

But, alas, I'd used up all my brain power before I got on my 11:00 flight to SFO.  I quickly gave up on Thistle, and tried to knit a bit on the sock (who was too sleepy from the early morning rousing to pose in the airplane window), but started making mistakes pretty quickly. 

In a burst of unprecedented wisdom,I abandoned knitting for stints of reading The Genesis Code and attempting to find a comfortable position in which to sleep, with intermittent moments of hostility aimed at American Airlines.  --- they now CHARGE you $2.00 for a bottle of water on the plane.  You have to pay at least that in the airport, since you can't bring IN a bottle of water from the land of only generally inflated prices.  Soda, of course, is still free.  But on a four hour flight, they only come by twice, each time offering a paltry 4 oz or so of liquid.  I don't know about you, but in any four hour period, I'm likely to drink 16 to 24 oz of water. I guess they're trying to avoid the problem caused by providing too much liquid -- I mean if you drink too much, first you're Russian and then European. Given their name, they must want us all to maintain our nationality.*

Luckily, upon disembarking I was able to get water, latte and chocolate... and find T-Mobile's hotspot to read and write blogs.  I'm in a much better mood and thus am able to cope with the weirdness that is SFO. 

The terminal into which I arrived was pleasant -- they serve good latte and really good chocolate croissant.  The sock appreciated the latte

but the croissant didn't stick around long enough to be photographed.

However, the journey from the terminal into which American Airlines flies to the terminal through which Horizon (their partner I guess) flies, takes you through no man's land. 

Is this eerie or what?

It's 2:00 in the afternoon here.

Ghost Terminal!

I sure hope my suitcase makes it through this twilight zone and gets on my plane to Portland!

I'll find out when I get off the next plane...

Of course seeing this as the decor in one of the eateries did little to allay the feeling that I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.

Yep.  those are real cars....

But the rest of this afternoon will be spent with another plane..... 

Until tomorrow...when we learn about luggage....

*Bad pun invoked by Norma's demands, and provided by Galen (one of my charming dinner companions)

**Title pun, also invoked by Norma, with apologies to the Frog, and promises not to sing the courting song.

Designs by Yarn

It's interesting to me the way yarn talks to us.
For example, when I looked at the new Just Our Yarn sock yarn, all happily coiled in it's hank,

it spoke to me of falling leaves -- oak leaves and maple leaves in particular.

And yet, now, as I look at it all wound up into it's cake,

it speaks of different things.  Some leaves, I suppose, but now more beech than oak, and Japanese Maple instead of other maples. But also grains, and chrysanthemums and asters. 

This, of course, is putting curves in the road of designing its socks.  Either way, it still says lace more than cables or traveling stitches.... so far....

Meanwhile, here in blogland, there has been a call for punny titles.  I'm going to do my best, because I think Norma's right.  This post, for example, was delayed long enough while I pondered the title that I was able to make this swatch:

I like some of what's going on, but the design it inspires requires that there be no real repeats all the way around the sock!  Yep... I want a 75 stitch lace pattern.... for socks...

Clearly, some reconsidering is in order...

But no more on the title.  This is the best I'm gonna do with this one today.  And even though it brings to mind a store from which I keep buying yarn than never makes it into garments... I'm going with it.... to get this post "published" so I can get to the all important task of PACKING FOR OREGON!!!

Bye bye Mom, Hello Yarrrrrn

So, Spring Break is over around here, and we settle back into what passes for normal in Shadowland.

My parents came for a visit.  We had a pleasant low key time, during which somehow almost no knitting got done.  At least none worth photographing.

Just before they arrived, I received my Pirate Shirt

That's me saying yarrrrrn....

I loved it so much, I bought one for Elizabeth too.  And now DH wants one three! tee hee.

Also arriving a week ago was some incredible yarn from Lisa Souza.  Oh my... baby alpaca/silk blend.  It was DIVINE.  Alas, the color wasn't what I'd expected (the pic shows what happens when the dye does its dance with wool... Same process with alpaca silk yields a much paler version).  Try as I might, I could not persuade myself that the yarn would work for it's intended purpose -- nor could I come up with any other plans for that particular color.  :-(   My mother agreed with me (since the object in question is intended for her sister, I thought she'd be a good judge of color).  When I emailed Lisa to see if I could return or exchange it, she was incredibly gracious.... so the yarn is on it's way back to her.  All this means is that I'm doing daily browsing sessions at LisaKnit.com to find something I "need," and thus suffering daily bouts of yarn lust.

So, today, I drove the dear parents to the airport, and secretly hoped that they'd be denied access to the plane.  I love my folks, and no visit with them is ever long enough.  Someday, I'll find us jobs closer to my parents so I can see them more often.

I then set out for errands. yuck.

But...during the errand running, I came to a realization.  Like some who blog, I hate my hair.  It's never cooperating; the curls defy order or even continuity.  But suddenly, I realized something, catching my reflection in a shop window.  My hair behaves much like Stephanie's hair!  I have Yarn Harlot Hair!  Woo hoo.  Now, I may be able to wear it as a badge of knitterly honor (or unbearable groupie-ness... whatever).  MY hair and I are eager to see her in Oakbrook.

Also during errand running, which included getting my glasses fixed (they ground one of the lenses wrong so we had to have a do-over), I had some time to kill in the dreaded mall. This led to trying on clothes, which led to buying a pair of SIZE 4 pants!!! Size FOUR people!  Not that I'm proud or anything... but ... size FOUR.

Anyway...when I got home from taking the dear parents to the airport and prowling around the local mall, I found this:

This, dear readers, is BRAND NEW sock yarn from Just Our Yarns.  It's even better than size four jeans. I'll be sock designing now... and though I had ideas before I saw it, I realized that they were very color dependent, and just won't do with this color.  Already, though, new ideas are percolating.

I hate mustard yellow -- it's in there.  I hate olive green -- it's in there too.  But I LOVE this yarn!

MadTV - iRack

Link: YouTube - MadTV - iRack.

I'm still laughing too hard to type....

If only it were TRULY silly

What does YOUR oven look like?

I am a bad blogger.
Any blogger worth her salt, when bizarre things happen in her home, whips out the camera and records them for the blog.
Not me.
so... all I can do is report -- no pics.

Last night, DH was tired and not fully focused on what he was doing when he put the frozen pizza in the oven.

Upside down.

Now I'll admit, it all their frozen glory, frozen cheese pizzas don't look dramatically different on the top and the bottom.  And when you're tired, and focused on the all important March Madness, these things can happen.

A good wife would have done the honors herself, and not allowed a basketball crazed man near the kitchen.  But this wife was upstairs tapping away on the keyboard, and her man was being a Good Husband, and feeding the children.

It smelled marvelous -- much too early.

And when we opened the oven to remove the crispy bubbly goodness that is pizza (even frozen pizza), we found that the yummy parts were burning happily on the bottom of the oven.

We all put on brave faces.  We partook of the all but cheeseless pizza (which still did taste pretty good).  But the oven ....

oh the oven.

Luckily, ours is "self cleaning."  So I set it on "clean", and walked away.

The oven did its best.  It locked its little door, and cranked its temp up to something frightening that I don't really want to know about.

And then.....It smoked.
wow.
Boy did it smoke.
Even prompt application of the stove-top fan and opening various windows and doors was insufficient to keep the whole first floor from smelling of.... burnt stuff.

Luckily for us, DH and I got to go out for dinner.  The kids and the babysitter suffered in the smokiness (I assume since they were all indoors when we got home ... but we as we pulled out, they were safe in the fresh air in the driveway).

This morning, I checked the oven.

Ash.

Lots of ash.

As I addressed the ash, by vacuuming my oven (yep, I vacuumed my oven), it occurred to me that photos should have been taken -- of the cheesy splendour on the bottom of the oven -- of the ash accumulation on the racks, and the piles thereof on the bottom of the oven... of me with the vacuum cleaner. (yes... me... with the vacuum cleaner!  that's a rare sight at the best of times).

But... I am a bad blogger.  I took no photos.
I finished vacuuming, closed the oven door... and came up here to confess my sins.

Of Socks and Memes and Random Things

Okay, this post is gonna look a lot like a recent one from Emma, but it's not my fault.

First, she had to go and post about the Wee Tiny Sock Swap
How the hell am I supposed to resist that?  It's so easy you almost want to ask for a half dozen swap buddies.   Go check it out.  I'll wait.

Then, there's this Book Meme that I stole from... wait for it... Emma!

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole*, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

*except I did mine in red because I don't know how to do a strikeout!

1. +The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. +Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. +To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. +Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. + The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rink (Tolkein)
6. + The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Tolkein)
7. + The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkein)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. +Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mystery)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12.  +Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. +A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. + Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. +The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21.  + The Hobbit (Tolkein)
22. +The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. +Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. +The Hitch hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. +Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. +The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29.  +East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. *Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. +Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. +Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. +1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. *I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. +The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. +The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Christo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. +The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. +A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. +Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. +Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. +The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. +The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)  -- I tried....
60. The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. +Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. +War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. +One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. +Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. +Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. +The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. +Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. +The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. +The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. +Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. +Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. +Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. +Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. +Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)   I tried.  I really did.

 

(I tried to catch all the typos in the list as I copied it.  I'm guessing I missed some, particularly on name spellings.  Apologies to the authors).

And just so it's not all a recap of someone else's blog ...

a Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name two things that made you smile this week.

1.  Discovering that despite the apparent immobility of my scale, I have been making progress.  I took out the measuring tape .... evidently I've been converting fat to muscle, so the scale has been stubbornly consistent, but my body has been changing.

2.  Taking yarn to the post office.  I posted a bunch o' stuff on KnitSwap this week, and was able to ship two boxes Friday. I've one box ready to ship today, and another BIG box, a padded envelope, and another package of magazines patiently waiting for payment to arrive.  There's still yarn left to sell, but it's nice to see it moving along. Sometimes, selling yarn is as much fun as buying yarn (which I also did... shhh).

Soup
Fill in the blank: Don't you hate it when you spend hours working on some useful project, but when you step back, only you can tell the difference?

Salad
When you can't go to sleep, what is your personal remedy to help yourself drift into Lullabyland?

Warm milk.  When the fridge is cooperative, warm milk and a turkey sandwich.  Lately however it's been either a peanut-butter and banana sandwich, or butter and honey on bread.  Once, a peanut-butter and banana and honey sandwich -- with warm milk.

Main Course
What is something about which you've always wondered but have not yet found a good answer?

Why are men and women wired so differently??  You'd think that either evolution or design would not have set things up so that we'd need opposite things in so many places.  Like sex:  men, generally speaking, need sex in a physical way, and often need/want sex in order to feel emotionally close to their partner; women, on the other hand (grossly generalizing again here), need/want to feel emotionally close to their parters before they want sex.  Men can't really do the intimacy thing until AFTER the activity for which women need intimacy before beginning.  What kind of fucked up plan is that??

I get that it's sometimes useful to be wired differently... but c'mon!

Dessert
What is your favorite pasta dish?

This changes with time.  Lately, I've been fond of tortellini (both meat and cheese) in cream-tomato sauce, or capellini basilico.

I love a really good lasagne, but it's been woefully hard to find around here.  I guess that means I'll have to prepare one soon.  If ONLY our freezer were bigger so I could make a big batch and freeze a bunch for later...

Progress, with paper and yarn

Life here in Shadow Land is plodding along.
I've been getting all sorts of things done.  For the first time in ..... maybe decades ... there is no paperwork to do on my desk.  My credit card and bank statements have all been balanced in the ugly software; the paper has been filed appropriately (some to the recycle and some to the filing cabinet).  The towering stacks of paper that were waiting to get into the filing cabinet have been placed in their proper places. ... The things I track in spreadsheets have all been entered.  Supporting docs filed as above.  I'm not sure what to do next.

I've cleaned up and out the Laundry Room.  Purged a bunch of stuff; organized the rest.  Now there are no more boxes lurking on the floor waiting for the kids to use them as piling spots.  The laundry is, of course, not finished -- but the only way for THAT to happen is for all members of the family to stop wearing clothes and stop bathing.  I'm opting for continuing the laundry cycle.

We've purged all the shoes that don't fit anyone anymore.  The girls foot shapes are different enough that what was C's rarely fits J when her fit are that big.

I've updated my sales lists on Knit Swap (where a bunch of my yarn and magazines are now up for grabs).  Tomorrow, I'll tackle the book list too.

 

And I've actually made some knitting progress amongst the cleaning frenzy:

The first of the sideways socks is done.  Here are a few progress shots at the end:

That bizarre bump is the heel. Don't you love it?

Forgive me.  I find it highly entertaining.

I did not find the grafting along the side seam quite as entertaining.  I kept winding up with this:

Note the clear spot where the stitches don't line up?
Here... I did it again:

Grrr... eventually, I made it do this:

Which I decided was plenty good enough thank you.

Here is the finished sock in all its glory:

Interesting, but somehow not very impressive... I think it looks much better "installed"

In all honesty -- it's too big.  It wants me to have a thicker ankle.... and since I like my ankle just fine as it is, I think I'll let its mate rest unknit until I find someone whose foot fits this sock.  There are plenty of other things on the needles that want my attention.

Thistle is two rows away.  I must wait to confirm the button size before knitting past the button hole row....  Deep sigh.

The Bamboo socks, however, have re-emerged from their sulk.  Sock one is awaiting its date with the grafting needle:

And sock two is already (though barely) started

I still like the pattern... it's a bit obscured by the yarn, but I like its subtlety this way

And for bigger needle work (and many many annoying ends)... the Pre-Columbian Shawl is showing signs of progress:

It is not, however, making me love intarsia.  I do have an idea though -- gotta find some of that mesh that the folks who make yarn bras use.  With THAT, I could create stitch markers from which I could hang the "wee" balls of yarn needed for each color block, and thus dispense with all this tangling that's driving me nuts.

Meanwhile, there is also a demonstration of true love.
My father is a particular man.  He has not been able to find a watch cap that pleases him.  They're all too tall, or have funny peaks or....  ahem.  So. I'm knitting one that I hope will fit him exactly (what with the various measurements etc.).  What makes it a sign of true devotion is that I'm double knitting it in dark navy yarn.  It's actually not quite as dark as he'd like, but it's close enough.  It has only taken two (well, one double knit) row to remind me that I'm nuts to be doing this...

We won't talk about the fact that I was considering breaking into twined knitting after the ribbing.  Particularly given how much I love tangled yarn.

Willow has come out of hiding as well.  She's undergoing a bit of tinking to get back to the place where are started the shape change.  I've revamped the graph, and she needs a bit of retouching where the graph changed.

This time, I WILL use a life line.  (sigh)
Why is it I can remind others about the joys of life lines.... teach my students to ALWAYS use them... but can never quite get the darned things strung into my own knitting? hmmm??

And finally, we've a bit of success with the Shawl for Susan!
I received two skeins of crack, Kid Silk Haze in the right color, but a different dye lot.  They're seriously close here:

Can you see the difference?

How about now -- There's one strand from each ball draped across the other ball....

Yeah, me neither.  But I'm having her bring the dress over just in case there's some infinitesimal difference that makes the new yarn not work.  Personally, I don't think these are really different dye lots... I think they just numbered some differently to mess with my mind.

I'm sure I've omitted something terribly important.  But I have to dash off to play taxi driver to the kids now... and then... a truly exciting trip to the grocery store.  Don't you wish you were me?  but seriously, tomorrow will be better.  I get to have a knitting lunch with some of the folks with whom I used to work. (and why didn't we EVER do this while I still worked there???)

The joys of the Net -- and Stitches

The Net improves every day.  And often at the hands of the incomparable Sarah Bradberry, who has done it again.  She's creating, well, launching, KnitWiki a Wikipedia for knitting.  Soon, we'll be able to go there for any knitting question we have -- and we'll find stitch directories, patterns, technique guides ... all SORTS of goodies.

If you know something, and can write worth a lick... go add a page on a topic that's missing.  I know I'll be pondering what gems I can add.  I want to be sure I've made my contribution, so that when I come to rely on it for things, I'll feel I've earned it.

And of course the Net lets you register for things like Stitches.  Which I just did.  I'll be joining Alyse for a Sampling of Stitches on Sunday morning, and the Divine Though Blogless Elizabeth might be able to finagle her way there, where she may join me for Shaping Shawls - Triangles and Trapezoids with Joan Schrouder on Friday afternoon.  I keep rewriting shawl patterns, so I thought I'd get more info on construction options.  Besides, I love Joan!  Have done for years.

Elizabeth also threatens to join me at Grafting with a Russian Twist on Saturday afternoon (with Galina Khmeleva).  I've been dithering about taking the Russian grafting class for years, but something else always won out.  This time, since it still intrigues me, I'm going for it.  Besides, I might get to pet more of Galena's incredible shawls.

I've also signed up for the Traditional Shetland Scarf on Thursday afternoon, with Candace Eisner Strick (how can one go wrong?)  Both Alyse AND Elizabeth have hinted that if the stars align properly, they'll join me there.

You will notice that these are all three-hour classes.  This means that there is no day when I have the full day to prowl the Market.  It also means that I have a good solid chunk of Market time EVERY DAY.  Last year, I only managed to get to the Market, and I spent an entire day at it.  I was wiped out (as was my credit card, be we won't talk about that).  It left no time for contemplation and review... I want a different approach.

I was going to take the Bohus Strickning class, but decided that I'd rather spend the money on the class on a KIT to knit one of the sweaters instead.  I have the book, and I'm just self-proud enough to believe that if Stephanie can do it without a class, I can do it without a class.

Now, all I need to do is decide whether or not to go to the banquet on Saturday night.  I DO plan to submit something for the student fashion show, which sort of hints that I ought to attend the corresponding banquet.  But it's awfully pricey, and even the lure of door prizes isn't quite enough temptation unless I have a partner in dining to look forward to.  Anyone going?

I've also been contemplating, since the Net claims there are still booths available at Stitches, whether one could arrange a major Stash Sale there.  It would take major coordination -- but here's my idea: Those of us in possession of stash that we now admit may never be knit could bring it there. We'd have to select approximate values for our stash. ... We'd check in our stash, and get tickets (or chits, or coins or something) that equal the value of our stash.  We could then shop others' stash, purchasing with said tickets.  Regular folks could BUY such chits, and thus be able to shop the stash as well.  Some poor person would have to sit and record whose stuff was purchased, and whether with cash or chits.  (I think participants should each put in an hour at the table -- we'd wind up with multiple people covering, and no one would have to put in a ton of time).  At the end of the day (or show), we'd be able to collect the number of chits that were used for OUR stash items, shop again if anythings left, then we'd "buy" back whatever didn't sell with chits, and if we had extra chits, we'd get cash from the collection bin.  Complicated -- but not overly so.  And it would allow major stash distribution.  If we had enough players, it could wind up costing each participant only a little money, and we could all have the potential to MAKE money -- which we'd then spend in the Market like the good little stash hounds we are. (And our suitcases wouldn't come back twice as full, since we'd be leaving yarn behind). Any chance of such a thing working? or am I just insane?

The Breast Center: or Boobyville

  For the past couple of months, I've been coping with strange lumps and tenderness in my breasts which has now been diagnosed as fibrocystic breast disease. I haven't blogged on it yet (though I hinted at it once, when I mentioned tests.  Those tests included a mammogram (ouch ouch ouch) and a sonogram (no pain whatsoever, why can't we just do those??)).  However, I'm likely to blog on it again as things progress and I learn more.

If you follow those links, you'll find that people associate FCBD with all sorts of things, from progesterone imbalance to the evils of wearing bras.  I find that last rather funny, since wearing a nicely supporting bra actually helps it not hurt quite as much. (Not that any of my bras currently fit properly, what with me being in the midst of the whole weight loss thing, but still).  And of course, there is the site that says that sleeping in a bra can help.  So... bras cause it but help it?  See how much you can trust the Internet?

I've had an anecdotal report that vitamin E helps -- say 400 IU per day? We'll see.  That one I know won't HURT me, and I'm willing to try things that can help.

Regardless of the cause, my doctor seems to think that there's not a widely known cure. (Of course, there is one web site that claims some doctor does have a cure, but as we've seen, I'm not sure we just go about trusting the Internet on this.  After all, the Internet will tell you that any number of diet pills will turn you into a sleek, buff, supermodel in 60 days without exercise.) Its not fun, but so far no one thinks its cancer.

At least that's what they say, at the same time as they refer me to the oncologist over in the Breast Center. I'm glad its not cancer.

But I really don't like that my breasts hurt half the time.  Nor am I tickled with the idea that these fibrocystic lumpy things make it harder to diagnose wee cancerous lumps.

I am, however, imagining the looks on all the 14 year old boys' faces when they look at the directory in the clinic and read "Breast Center".  tee hee.  My fun friend Sarah the Prosecutor says that we have to call it Boobyville from now on.  Or maybe Titsville. Either way, we'll get to laugh and think of Saturday Night Live sketches.

Riffing on other Blogs

Cara over at January One has a great post today... It inspired me to think, and of course, to write a comment. Once I realized that my comment thereto would be LONG, I quit and started in here.

Cara was commenting on how much she loves knitting, and how for her (and one of her friends) it is the greatest thing ever.  And how others around her now recognize the look on her face when she's thinking about knitting, and solving knitting problems in her head.... and how their eyes glaze over when they foolishly ask, and she starts explaining the problem and the solution.

I know that look!  My husband gets it on the rare occasion that he slips and actually asks a question related to knitting.  He actually does his best to ignore all the knitting, and the yarn, just as I do my best to ignore the sportscasts that seem ever-present on his TV.  How he manages to ignore the knitting that is present in some way all over the house is beyond me, but he tries.

Of course, I glaze over when he starts in on golf (or any sport actually, but it's golf that gives him joy).  But he tells me who's winning or losing every day.  What can I say - we're married -- we share stuff.

Cara, and her commenters, also raised the topic of those people who say they "don't have time" or "don't have patience" for knitting.....  sigh.  Perhaps those folk have something else, and just don't consider knitting in the same category as ... whatever it is.  I sure hope so.  My life would be so much poorer without knitting in it (unlike my bank account, which might well be richer).

Knitting has changed my life in subtle ways.  I sometimes joke that it has saved my children's lives -- without it I'd have far less patience.  Whenever those people say they don't have patience for knitting, I tell them that.  Without knitting, I'd never have learned the patience it takes to not strangle, beat, drop-kick over the balcony or otherwise damage young children when you've spent the past five days in constant contact with them and they're currently frenetically careening around the house screeching at full volume and throwing stuffed toys near breakable lamps.

Even my daughter recognized the patience and peace that knitting brings to me.  At the age of TWO!  After weeks of grabbing at my knitting saying "no Mommy knitting" when she wanted my attention, there came a day when Mommy was stressed to the breaking point.  She caught it, grabbed my knitting from a nearby chair, and thrust it at me, saying "Mommy knitting". (It still brings tears to my eyes 9 years later).

Any way...subtle ways knitting changed my life:  I'd also have fewer (or at least very different) friends.  And I'd have missed out completely on the joy that is a knitting convention or weekend workshop.  I'm having lots of fun plotting out my registration to Stitches Midwest in August.  Even though there are days that I'm tired of XRX's hype etc., Stitches is still the easiest for me to get to ... and you can't deny the Market is good.  (Anyone else going?  Anyone want to join in to plan a class together?? huh huh?  I'll bore you with the things I'm dithering over in another post).  But more important is the delight I get meeting up with friends I only ever SEE at Stitches -- having dinner, sharing a class, or just shopping or knitting together.  There's something so affirming about wandering through a huge Market and having people recognize you, and say hello -- with hugs and beaming faces.  Knitting gave me those friends.

Knitting gave me this blog. (and thus, in a way, you!)

And we just won't talk about the kinds of socks I'd be wearing still if not for knitting, and knitlists and conventions (TKGA in Columbus was my first, in 1996)), and lately, blogs and online knitting magazines. Thanks Jean Lampe ... you started it!

Why Do I Blog?

Volunteers needed to read comics.
There might even be free yarn involved!
Go here for details!

Meanwhile, Tsoniki tagged me for this 'meme'.   Unlike many, this asks only one question: Why do you blog?

I'll try to answer that.

Lately, there have been times when I blogged because I have a blog, and my readers, few though they may be, are expecting something.  Since I like having readers, I don't want to let my readers down. 

But that doesn't get to the core question -- why did I do it in the first place?  And why do I maintain it?

Oddly, I'm not sure I know.  Let's root around in my brain for a moment.  Careful, it's morning, and I've not swept out the cobwebs yet.

- It gives me a place where my friends who are scattered around the US can keep up with me, and where I can write it all once instead of many times -- but then many of those friends don't read it, because its all cluttered with knitting stuff. Though I've actually invited my parents to read, I don't think they do.

- It gives me an excuse to take pictures I'd otherwise have skipped.

- It gives me a place to keep track of my knitting projects, and to store information like how and where a given pattern or design gave me trouble -- and to show off the completed objects (but I could do that without publishing it to the world).

- It gives me a place to connect to/with reach out to other knitters and like minded folk, and them a place to respond (I LOVE comments! Comments make me very happy).

- It's given me the opportunity to develop acquaintanceships (and friendships) with folks from all over that I'd not have met otherwise (I was going to say hi to each individually here, but that started to look so lame), as other bloggers read my blog and I read theirs and we wind up commenting to each other and then emailing.  And then, when we go to knitting events, I get to meet them in person.

- It gives me a wonderful place to recast the shitty times in my life -- when I blog about the bad things, I do my best to find a funny angle so that I'm not spewing a whine-fest all over the net.  Thus, I recast my own thinking, and the yuck seems less yucky.  I don't know if the humor works for my readers, but it certainly helps me. Perhaps, had I felt comfortable blogging about the yuckage in my old job, I'd still have it.

- Mostly, I think I blog because I can....

For some reason, I'm not feeling the urge to tag with this one, even though I was tagged. So... if you feel like joining in, please do!

Serendipity

And so begins my term of unemployment.

Friday night, I was introduced to a new-to-me beverage.  My head is very glad that I was the driver, for had I not known that I had to get behind the wheel, I'm sure I would have had more than one Lemon Drop Martini.  Yum.  Who knew??

Yesterday morning, I was, despite imbibing with my deliciously funny friend Sarah the Prosecutor, I woke gradually but comfortably, wandered about, read blogs, knit a bit, had a cup of coffee, skimmed the paper, and was fetched by my Bad TV Partner Susan who, though a devout non-knitter, took me to the LYS.  Two of them even.

Why is a non-knitter taking me to the LYS?  And why didn't I just drive there myself given that I did not drink myself into a stupor last night, and so my car was happily sitting in my garage?  Susan took me to the LYSs because we're on a yarn quest for her. 

Susan and I watch TV shows on DVD together once a week.  While we do that, as I'm sure will shock you all, I knit.  A long time ago, she mentioned that someday, if I had time, she wondered if I'd be willing to knit a shawl for her.  When she asked, it was clearly a some day sort of thing -- infinitely easy to agree to.  Over the past several months of course, she has watched the slow development of my Icarus into its final glory.

(lets take a closer look, shall we?)

She loves it.  (these pictures aren't very good.  I'll keep trying).

She loves it so much she's praised it like crazy.  And then, she confessed -- she now has shawl lust.  Serious shawl lust.  So, someday has evidently grown closer, and she asked me to knit an Icarus-like shawl to wear with a lovely dress she has.

Last week, she brought over the dress.  As it turns out, it matches the crack Kid Silk Haze that Carrie of My Middle Name Is Patience gifted me with.  Seriously matches.  Perfectly.  Like it was dyed especially to match. In every light we've put it under -- incandescent, fluorescent, full spectrum, actual sunlight... you name it, it works. It's perfect. She loves it. We need more....

So it was, that Susan and I went out today to see if there was any yarn in town that would either coordinate with the crack Kid Silk Haze, or work as well as the crack Kid Silk Haze to make a shawl to go with this dress.  We weren't deluded enough to think that anyone would actually HAVE it ... much less in this dye lot.

We found some lovely stuff by Louisa Harding at the first LYS (my "regular")-- Impressions (color 11) is a current fall back concept, but it's really not the right thing.  She wants color in the shawl, so that it can be worn with solid black dresses without looking either boring an monochromatic or morbid.

We found several somethings in the right color, but all were much to heavy for the type of shawl she and the dress want.

We've considered making it in black with burgundy beads to match/coordinate (ouch, that's a lot of beading ... do I really want to do that???   at least I could make her string them all). But in the end, she really really wants her shawl to be out of this color of Kid Silk Haze.

We trekked over to the New LYS in town, where Briggita has a limited but lovely stock, including some amazing bison fiber just as you come in the door:

And a nifty jacket on display that Susan tells me I can't have because it would make me look short (not hard to do, given that I am short).

But even with the niftiness (including a very respectable selection of crack Kid Silk Haze that didn't happen to include the magic color), we did not find The Yarn for her shawl.

So, if anyone out there happens to have two skeins or so of Kid Silk Haze in color 595 (liqueur) lot 93, I'd REALLY like to buy or trade for them. I'll buy two more balls in another lot... I'll scrounge my stash for something you want... I'll send money..I'll hunt my LYS for something you want....

If we don't find it, I'll be taking the dress with me to Oregon at the end of the month, where I'll be drooling on Hand Maiden and Art Fibers yarns.  Clearly, she'll have to put me on a budget.

hmmm???  Oregon?  What? I haven't told you about that?  Well.... lemme explain ...

The other thing I've done to begin my term of unemployment is to plan an escape.  Once I knew that the end was in sight, I began searching for yummy knit retreat weekends to go to.  DH and I agreed that I could have a weekend of feel good.  Surely, somewhere, there was a weekend knitting event for me...

Lo and behold, there was one scheduled for the end of March.  ... and the whole weekend's classes are only $300.00.  Not bad, actually...  and the timing is right. Close enough to hand that I'm confident I won't suddenly be re-employed somewhere that would tell me I couldn't go.  But ... wow, that's right around the corner... and I figured there'd be no space left.  I took the plunge and emailed my inquiry.

Woo hoo!  There was indeed ONE space left!!!  Mine mine mine... waaaaiiitttt a minit.
It's all the way out there on the coast of Oregon.  That means plane tickets.  The last time I tried to get myself plane tickets to Oregon they were something in the neighborhood of $600.00. 

I hit the web sites.  I got tickets, round trip... to Portland for $264.00!!!! Mine mine mine....

Waaaaiiittt a minit.  Coastal Workshop = coastal hotel = $$$$ for rooms.
Not so Grasshopper.  Special deal for this workshop means rooms are a whopping $99.00 per night with unobstructed views of the ocean!  And sharing is possible.
Mine mine mine!!!

WAaaaaiiiitttt a minit.... What about getting from Portland to Newport?  hmmm?  That's a rental car my friend.   For four or five days, depending on the flight schedules.
That's getting expensive...
Except that it wasn't, and even if it were, the workshop coordinator hooked me up with another attendee who lives in Portland and was willing to drive me down! and back too.

Mine Mine MINE! YES!!!
I now have my spot in Cat Bordhi's 3rd Annual Magical Moebius Festival: Magical Knitting and Mysterious Socks.

I'm inordinately excited.