Change is hard

In the past week, two co-workers have moved on to greener pastures. One is moving back to her hometown and starting a new job while the other is retiring. I've worked with N.K. since I started as an intern with the department in 1997 and with H.C. since she started with the department in 2000. It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that I won't be seeing them all of the time. We did send these women off in grand style. We had a going away party for H.C. at a local bar & a retirement luncheon at work for N.K. to celebrate the time that we had with them.

SSK Meet-up

On Monday, I was lucky enough to be able to share a visit with my SSK roommate, Hannah. You may know her from her podcast, Traveling Sock Knitter. I actually had Monday and Tuesday off of work for a trip to Indianapolis that fell through so when Hannah let me know that she was going to be in town, I was very happy that I didn't cancel my vacation days!!

We had lunch at Farrens Pub and we were able to hang out and knit there for four and a half hours! It was a little like being back at SSK. It is so strange that we lived in the same town for years and never met and now she lives half way across the country! We definitely lamented all of the time that we could have been hanging out and knitting! We talked about the exciting announcement that there will be another SSK. We are both putting our names in and we are planning on rooming together again if we both get in. We also talked about maybe having a VKN (virtual knit-night) some time in the future with Denise, another fabulous woman from SSK. So Denise, if your ears were burning on Monday afternoon, it was because we were talking about you!

As I said, we knit for quite a while but I knew from experience that if I wanted any actual knitting to get done, I would have to cast on a new project. My current project, the Bay of Fundy Scarf in Sweet Georgia's Tough Sock is just not suitable because of the of the cabling in it. I picked up the Sweet Georgia yarn at SSK from Rebecca Danger's booth but she does have an online shop or you can pick some up at The Loopy Ewe.



So I cast on for a Sockhead hat using a Zauberball while I was in the parking garage waiting to go into the pub. The Zauberball has been in my stash for a while and I think the hat is going to be kind of fun since it will be striped in some lovely neutral colors.



Our lunch flew by far too quickly and I realized that I need to make an effort to get out to local knit nights so I can have some knitting friends that don't live far away. I'm so thankful that I got a chance to see Hannah and I look forward to the next time I am able to hang out with an awesome knitter/friend.

Missing SSK

At the end of June, I was lucky enough to attend SSK (Super Summer Knitogether). This was my first time attending a knitting retreat & I was a bit nervous about going since it involved 150 strangers and staying in a dorm room. Remember dorm rooms?

However, I pulled on my big girls pants and didn't let my apprehension hold me back, and you know what? It was AWESOME!!!!!

I took a colorwork class from Kirsten Kapur that nearly melted by brain. In a three hours class, I learned to: knit continential, do two-handed colorwork, follow a colorwork chart, make a latvian braid and how to catch long floats on the back of the work so they are less apt to snag during use. By the end of the class, I really could have used a massage as my shoulders felt like they were permanently stuck up by my ears. Thankfully, Kirsten Kapur is a very patient teacher. If you get a chance to take a class from her in the future, I would highly recommend it.

I took one hours classes from each of the three wonderful women who organized SSK. Carin taught a class on what it means to pick up stitches versus pick up and knit stitches. It was interesting to hear when I should use one versus the other. Now, I feel ready to conquer one of the Log Cabin blankets that I have been drooling over. Laura taught a class on different cast-ons and bind-offs. I learned quite a bit, including that when doing a long-tail cast-on, it counts as you first row of knitting. No wonder some of my projects have had a weird edge at the bottom, I have basically been adding in an extra knit row. Oops. Leslie taught a class on backwards knitting. It was pretty easy to pick up the skill but I don't see myself using it a whole lot. A few people in the class really noticed a difference in their knitting because the tension between their knit stitches and their purl stitches is really uneven and knitting backwards remedies that. However, I don't seem to have tension issues so this will just be a specialized skill that gets deployed every once in a while. Jessica, a woman in the class who was sitting at my table, mentioned that it would be really useful when a pattern calls for nupps so you don't have to turn your work when you purl back a couple of stitches.

As much as I enjoyed the classes, the best part of SSK was just hanging out with a bunch of people who share a common interest. It was so nice to be knitting in a room full of people who would ask questions about your project or yarn and they were genuinely interested. There were no sideways stares from people who were trying to figure out what you were doing, no whispered conversations about how you could just buy whatever you were making at a store. It was bliss. Thanks to the get to know your fellow SSKers bingo game that was handed out at the opening ceremony, I got to enjoy a little fame as someone who has never knit a pair of socks. Evidently, non-sock knitters were in short supply at SSK so my fail at sock knitting made me popular. In a nice coincidence, a lovely woman that I met has also never knit a pair of socks. Our conversation started at that jumping off point and by the end of the conference, I am happy to report that I have made a new friend. Denise is funny & fun & awesome and I never would have met her if it weren't for SSK!

I also lucked out in the roommate department. My roomie was awesome and a very talented knitter. She let me scope out the beautiful shawls that she brought. If you want to see her in action, she has a video podcast called Traveling Sock Knitter. I think it is Hannah's mission to convert Denise and I into sock knitters. I enjoyed the irony of Hannah and I living in the same town for years & never bumping into each other. Then, after she has moved halfway across the country to take a teaching position, we meet at SSK. When I was sharing my SSK stories with my mom, it turns out that she rode to the Spring Fling with Hannah when Hannah still lived in Illinois. The knitting world is big & small at the same time.

There was a lot of amazing food at SSK but two places really stood out for me. If I got back to Nashville, I will definitely be hitting these places up again.

 

The first place is Rotier's which is a small neighborhood type bar that served possibly the best cheeseburger I have ever eaten. It as served on french bread and I will be forever grateful to the waitress for recommending it. The waitress also happened to be a member of the family that owns the business. It was started by her grandfather and it is still in the family. So, if you are in Nashville, please make this place a priority stop. Not only is the food amazing but you will be supporting a local, family-owned business.

The second place with the amazing food was Noshville. It is a New York style deli that serves amazing food. I had a really good reuben which is impossible to find in my home town. The service was friendly, the portions were large, and I think about that sandwich in my sleep.

Lastly, on Saturday there was a vendor market. Was there yarn to be had at the vendor market? Did I come home with seven skeins of yarn from Another Crafty Girl? Maybe. I'll never tell.

I could go on and on and on about SSK. There are more amazing women that I got to meet, more fun stories to tell, and I can't wait to do something like this again. However, this blog post if officially a novella so I am out!

What's the haps?

It has been a busy couple of weeks and things won't be slowing down anytime soon. I usually try not to schedule stuff two weekends in a row because I like to reserve every other weekend to catch up on podcasts, reading, television shows & knitting. However I managed to book my weekends solid from June 2nd to July 8th.

The weekend of June 2nd was the wedding in Nashville and the next weekend was Relay for Life. It was the first time that I participated in Relay for Life and despite some flaws, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I was on the Connie's Crusaders team that was formed in support of a friend who is currently undergoing treatment. Our team raised just under $1,800.00 for the American Cancer Society which I think was pretty respectable since it was our first time participating. There were a lot of people on the team but thanks to my finely honed night shift skills, I was the only member of the team who stayed all night. Thankfully some of my friends stayed late, until about 1:30am and 3:00am, which really helped me stick it out. A special shout-out to K & T who found the indoor restrooms so I didn't have to use a port-a-potty! You know what the other secret to staying out all night & walking laps is?

Junk food! Don't judge. Junk food makes 4:00am feel a lot better. And yes, the junk food is hanging out on my yoga mat. I did do a little bit of yoga in the wee hours of the morning and when I wasn't yoga-ing, the mat was nice and comfy to sit on. I did take photos of people but again, I didn't think to ask if they minded being on the blog so no awesome, sweaty, hopeful Relay for Life people pictures. I think that my favorite non-people photo of the night was the picture I snapped of sunrise.

The crowds had dispersed quite a bit by sunrise but the people that were left really seemed to get a second wind once the sun started to rise. My only complaints about the event dealt with some organizational glitches that will hopefully be fixed next year. The relay had twice as many teams this year than they had last year so I am just chalking it up to growing pains. So, if you are on the fence about attending an event life this, then I would say give it a shot and if you can, stay all night!

This weekend, I hung out at my mom's & dad's house to celebrate Father's Day. My dad seemed to enjoy showing off his new lawn mower and he even offered to let me drive but I totally chickened out. It steers with levers instead of a steering wheel and goes pretty fast and I was afraid that I would run over some of the landscaping that he has been spending his weekends doing! The yards looks really fabulous with lots of flowers and a new water fountain. It was really great to spend time with them.

There hasn't been a lot of time for knitting and right now I am spending my free crafting time poking around Ravelry trying to find a pattern that sparks my knitting mojo. I just need to stop waffling and pick a pattern and start knitting! I did so a little stash enhancement but I will save that for my next blog entry. Until then, keep it nerdy!

A Nice Day for a White Wedding

On Saturday, I was lucky enough to attend the wedding on a lovely young woman that I have known for many years. She happens to be the daughter of my friend CK who is battling stage 4 breast cancer. The wedding was at Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville which is a gorgeous setting for a wedding. The ceremony was outdoors with the reception immediately following in the carriage house. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and it was sunny with a light breeze and the temperature hovered around 80 degrees. Weddings always make me weepy but this one got me from the moment that I approached the ceremony and was handed a pink ribbon to wear in honor of CK. The ceremony was short but really pulled at the heart strings. The pastor said a prayer for CK and asked all of us to keep the pink ribbon someplace prominent when we return to our homes so that we continue to pray and think good thoughts for CK as she fights cancer. The pastor also read some thoughts on the bride and groom that their friends and family had written for the occasion and it really showed how loved they are. It was a special way to include people in the ceremony and it really emphasized that the marriage isn't just the joining of two people but that, for better or worse, there are a lot of friends and family members that are going to be joined together as well. I took a picture of the table setting at the reception that I will share since I didn't think to get permission to share photos of the bride & groom.



It was a wonderful, but exhausting way to spend the weekend. I worked on Friday night until about 10:30pm, crashed, woke up and drove about 7 hours (including construction traffic) to Nashville, checked into the hotel, got ready for the wedding, drove the the venue, cried like a baby, drove back to the hotel, crashed, got up and drove about 7 hours home. The exhaustion was totally worth it!!!!

There really should be a title to this post...

I'm participating in another KAL. It's like I just don't learn, or I never give up hope...pick whichever option fits your philosophical leanings. The dyer at Another Crafty Girl is having a KAL with her muppet-inspired yarns and I just could not resist. I am working on a Herringbone Cowl by Lauren Osborne in the Sam the Eagle colorway. I opted to use Simple DK, the new superwash merino single that Another Crafty Girl just started carrying and it is lovely to work with. It is a tiny bit thick and thin but that is the nature of a single & it is so soft and cuddly. The herringbone stitch usually produces a fairly stiff fabric but with this yarn, it is still nice and cozy and soft.



I'm nearing the end of the cowl so this is probably the first KAL that I am actually going to finish. I picked an easy pattern & I have had lots of time to knit while watching TV this week. It has been a pretty somber week as I found out that a friend has stage 4 breast cancer that has spread to the spine. I haven't felt like doing anything other than frying my brain with TV, knitting and occasionally hysterically crying. Fortunately my friend has started treatment & is the toughest person that I know so everyone is hopeful but it is a tough situation. I hate not being able to fix it.

Awkward. I didn't expect to write about that on the blog, but I did so I'm not going to edit it out.

In news that will shock and surprise no one, the stash is winning. I keep adding to it faster than I am using it up. I will admit that I am adding to it at a slower rate than I have in previous years but I really have to step up the knitting to meet my goal by the end of the year. Here is something lovely that just made it into my stash:



It is Another Crafty Girl's Squishy Aran base in the Punky Brewster colorway. I just love a yarn with that many colors in the skein.

Just a bit of blog housekeeping, the books that were up for grabs in the last post are going to be going to their new home with bellamoden on Monday or Tuesday, depending on when I make it to the post office.

I hope that you are well. Until next time, hug your loved ones close and do something that makes the world a bit brighter.

Frolicking with Friends

I spent the weekend with my college roommate and her family having a wonderful time chatting, adventuring and eating. What more could you ask for?

On Saturday, we went looking for Indy food trucks. Although twitter promised a gaggle of food trucks would be in downtown Indy, twitter lied. All downtown had to offer was an unwashed mass of people dressed in green who had just finished a shamrock themed walk/run. Fortunately being the wise women that we are, we had fortified ourselves with caffeine before starting our quest.


We stopped at Mo'Joe Coffeehouse in downtown Indy for some yummy beverages. It was an honest to goodness independent coffee house with lovely pierced and tattooed baristas slinging some delicious concoctions. We probably would have lingered a bit longer but we had a toddler with us and he got a bit bored of the coffee house scene. He probably would have enjoyed his time more if we would have let him play in the storage room with its tempting food treats but alas, we did not.

Since twitter can't always be wrong, Holly tried one more time and we were rewarded with an actual food truck.

The Scratch food truck, which advertises itself as modern comfort food, was in Carmel so we zipped over there to grab a bite to eat. Holly got the Spicy Chicken Cone sandwich, Liam got the Grilled Cheese (sans braised short ribs) and Mitzi & I got the Scratch burger. I would go back for the burger for one reason: bacon marmalade. Bacon marmalade is delicious and it the perfect accent for a burger. However, I would skip the fries which were a tad greasy. Holly got the ginger lemonade which she said was delicious, or it least it was delicious before Liam plunged his hand into it to get some ice. (The joys of parenting a toddler.)

To top the meal off, we needed dessert.

We ended up at a chain cupcake place called Gigi's Cupcakes in Fishers which was tasty. I will say that all three adults had to forgo some of the icing on the cupcakes because there is just a little bit too much icing but that would not stop me from going there again. Their cupcakes are superior to the cupcakes that are available at my local cupcake place. However, when I am in Indy again, I will most likely forgo the chain place and drive a little out of my way to get cupcakes from the delightful local business, The Flying Cupcake.

After all that sugar, we called it a day. I spent the rest of the weekend with Holly, Derrik & Liam just relaxing and getting stuffed full of Holly's cooking. I have repeatedly threatened to move into the closet under the stairs in order to have access to the many delightful things that are created in their kitchen. I didn't take pictures of most of the food (I was too busy shoving it in my gob) but I did capture the Irish stew in bread bowls that we had on Sunday night.


Are you drooling? You should be. The stew was delicious!!!

In short, if you are want a wonderful weekend: gather friends, add lots of conversation, a fair amount of delicious food, a sprinkling of caffeine & sugar, stir & enjoy!!

Vacation!!!

Right now I am on vacation and I am taking full advantage of the knitting time. I just finished another Sockhead hat. I don't know when I started the hat but it was in progress and mentioned on the blog in September so it was probably started at the end of August or the beginning of September. I'm not quite sure what derailed the project but I am guessing stockinette boredom since I was near the end of the nine inches of stockinette that I needed to finish before I started the decreases. The hat is made in the Ice Cream Sandwich colorway of Crafts Meow's Soft Serve yarn that I picked up at Stitches Midwest several years ago. My camera had a hard time focusing on the project so I had to use a sort of bad photo but it was one of the few shots of the hat that was actually in focus!


I am currently working on a Hitchhiker for The KnitGirlls SAL/KAL but it is in timeout. I have a problem with sticking to larger projects all the way to the end. I tend to get bored and I either start a new project or I pick up an old WIP to work on. Right now I have 22 or 23 of the points finished so I am a little more than halfway finished. This is obviously not a current photo, but I'd rather include an old photo than have no photo.


In non-knitting news, I went to a holiday party earlier this week and had a wonderful time. One of my coworkers hosted the party at her house and I think that everyone had a nice time. I didn't take any photos but her house was lovely and all decorated for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I managed to get my Christmas cards in the mail before Christmas this year and I have all of my Christmas shopping finished so I should be in good shape for this weekend. My brother and sister-in-law are hosting Christmas dinner this year and I am looking forward to seeing them.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

End of Summer

Thankfully the weather seems to have turned and summer is at a close. Fall is my favorite season so I am pretty happy right now! What have I been up to since July?

Stash Dash came to an end but I did not manage to knit 5K worth of yarn. However, like any person who is good at justifying things, I'm considering it a win! How, you may ask, can it be a win without knitting the full amount? Well, I knit 2.5K and that is about 2.49K more than I normally knit during the summer. I finished some lingering projects (although not all of them) and I really got back in the swing of knitting again. So, for me, it was a win.

I finished another Sockhead hat. This one is made out of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in the Marine colorway. The yarn came from The Loopy Ewe in December of 2008 so I consider it deep stash.



It is such an easy project, although at the end it can feel like a bit of a slog. It is great mindless knitting so it's a good work/travel/TV project. So, of course, I have another one on the needles. The newest one is nestled in my StarKnits triangle project bag and made from CraftsMeow Ice Cream Sundae in the Ice Cream Sandwich colorway that I picked up at Stitches Midwest a couple of years ago.


I finished a giant seven foot long scarf. I used the Yarn Harlot's One-Row Handspun pattern because I wanted something easy that would show off the textures and colors in the Mushishi yarn that I used. I was able to use the whole giant skein which resulted in a giant scarf that I can wear doubled and still wrap it around my neck a couple of times.




Believe it or not, the whole thing fit in my Piddleloop wedge bag! I love the wedge bag so much that I now have a third wedge bag.

How could I pass up adorable cupcakes?

Now back to the giant scarf. I don't think that I will be getting the Mushishi yarn again for a couple of reasons. First, the skein is too big for my ball winder so I worked off the swift for a while and then when I wanted to have a portable project, I had to wind the ball by hand. Second, the yarn was a really thick in some spots and thin in others and the thick spots seemed to have no twist, almost like roving that hadn't been spun.

Right now I am working on a couple of hats but I will save them for another post. Of course, knitting isn't all that I did this summer. I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend with my former college roommate and her husband and son. I had a wonderful time and was reminded that I miss my college friends immensely. I was also able to spend the day with my best friend from college when she was visiting family in Indiana. She lives in Florida and I haven't made it down to see her in probably 5 or 6 years so it was great to spend the day with her.

Okay interwebs, enough for today. I hope that the world brings you a laugh and perhaps time to catch up with a friend or family member that you haven't spoken to in a while.

Doing It in Public

As some of you may know, Saturday was World Wide Knit in Public Day and I did indeed do it in public. On of the local yarn stores hosted a Knit in Public event at the Farmer's Market and I thought about going. However, I like to do it in public with a good friend so I had breakfast with Nerd Blossom (yes, that is what I'm calling you now) and she watched while I did it. Then she took a picture. *Naughty* [Yes, I officially have the sense of humor of a 13 year old but I crack myself up...so I'm just gonna roll with it. Blame it on the night shift.] Here is said photo:



The project that I am working on is Stephen West's Pogona in Bellamoden's Fahrenheit 451 colorway. Unfortunately, Bellamoden no longer dyes yarn so I won't be able to get any more of this gorgeous yarn. More importantly, check out all of the sugar in the photo. Yes, Nerd Blossom has a problem...a sugar problem! She was spaz-tastic but that is part of her charm.

In other knitting news, I have a photo of the Noro scarf that I completed for Stash Dash in all it's "where did that neon come from?" beauty.



I really think it is the last Noro scarf that I'm going to make. Yes, Noro has beautiful color changes but having to deal with the knots and the thick & thin spots in the yarn just took the joy out of the project. So, dear reader, if you hear me talking about making another Noro scarf please direct me to this post!

Houston, we have an Etsy problem! Well, not really a problem so much as a "I don't need that but I'm totally buying it because it makes me happy" situation. I happened to catch a Piddleloop update and treated myself to a new bag. Okay, it was two new bags. Okay, it was two new, large wedge bags. I know, I know...that was greedy of me and I should feel bad about it, but I don't. When the package arrived, I tore it open and found this inside:



Oh, did you want a closer look?





And how much room does it have?



Tons. I'm a very happy NerdGirl! Until next time, be excellent to each other and knit on dudes.

Knitting Progress

I have been absent for a while but I thought I would post on my recent accomplishment. I just finished my first shawl! It is a very simple feather and fan pattern but I love it. I keep it at work for the nights that it gets really chilly in the building.

I started the shawl in December of 2007 but I let it languish for a long time because I just didn't like the circular needle that I was using. Of course, I didn't know that was why I wasn't working on it. However, as I have gotten more comfortable with my knitting and more in tune with which projects and supplies work for me and which don't, it occurred to me that I should try a different needle. Once I did that, the project just about finished itself. The colors are most accurate in the close-up but you can see more of the finished work in this picture (please forgive the harsh florescent lighting):

In more exciting news, it is officially baby season! Several friends and co-workers are having babies and I am just thrilled for all of them. It is a little weird when the highlight of my week is the fact that the McRib is back at McDonald's and the highlight for some of my friends is announcing their pregnancy. It is the life I choose but still, sometimes it strikes me as a little odd.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world. Until next time...

Vacation Wrap-up...The Roadtrip

Many adventures were had with my friend K on an epic roadtrip to New York City. We saw a lot of the Pennsylvania back country on the way out so she could stop by and see a friend in Altoona and we learned that in Pennsylvania, the signs lie. Where was that Wendy's again? Um...we never found the Wendy's and ended up eating at a Burger King that evidently specializes in after-dinner dug consumption in the bathroom. So...I would recommend skipping Mt. Pocono unless you are looking for a very specific type of dining adventure. We did see some fun road dots that seem to be specific to the state...white dots in the road to help you remember the 2 second rule while driving...Pennsylvania is definitely anti-tailgating. Also, they would like you to know that bridges may be icy.

After a detour through an area that looked pretty sketchy in the dark (thanks for the bogus directions Mapquest) we managed to make it to the hotel in Jersey City that served as home base for New York City adventure. The next day we headed into the city and did some people watching and Statue of Liberty gazing. It was unseasonably warm in the city and the wait for a ferry off of Ellis Island in the blazing sun made for a bit of a grind but all was forgiven once we made it to John's on 12th Street. The best lasagna and dessert that I have had in a while. I highly recommend it if you are in the city and I can get you there like a real New Yorker thanks to K's excellent cabbie instruction. Just say "I need 12th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue" and you will be whisked away to delicious food.

Overall, great ending to my vacation. I would highly recommend the roadtrip with a friend especially a friend that you haven't seen in far too long. And thanks to K's indulgence, I managed to get three states that I had never visited crossed off my list of 50 states. So goodbye Pennsylviana, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Yep, thanks to a Wendy's Kids Meal in Triadelphia...West Virginia is off the list. Not to mention, Wisconsin was crossed off during the unblogged about trip to Madision...so four states during this two week vacation!

So tell me, are you a roadtrip fan? Do you care about seeing all 50 states? Is there a method to your vacation madness?

Vacation part one

On Wednesday I went on the first part of my three-part vacation. Yes, three parts may be a bit of an overkill but I figure that it makes up for all the times that I take a vacation and don't do anything other than sit at home. I headed over to Indy for a few days and got to spend a little time with some friends. I also got a little shopping done since there is no local Sephora or Aveda. I was going to head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art on Friday but I wasn't feeling well when I woke up so I just headed home instead. I was pretty disappointed since I was really looking forward to seeing the special exhibition on European design that is at the museum right now.
Obviously, the highlight of my trip was spending time with Brett & Denisa and their fabulous kids. It always amazes me how much kids change in a few months. The boys have gotten so big and their personalities are out in full force. Jesse is quite the little performer and I was very fortunate to be on the receiving end of a goodnight hug and kiss. Jesse is very verbal and even though I had some trouble understanding everything he said...I can tell you that he is one smart cookie. No...I'm not being biased...well, maybe a little but I'm telling you he is smart! Jonah is much more serious and reserved so when he smiled or laughed it was great...I felt like I really earned it. He is still fairly young so I wonder how much he will change or if he will remain a little more reserved than his brother.Tomorrow I leave for the second part of my vacation...Madision, WI...so if anyone has any vacation ideas for Madision, feel free to post them in the comments.

Message in a collage

Since my friend K asked if I had updated the blog recently, I thought I would give her a little shout-out. K, there is a message of sorts in the collage...can you figure it out?



In knitting news, I may have fallen off the yarn wagon but fortunately I had 10 skeins of yarn to cushion the fall. That's right, my order from The Loopy Ewe came today: 8 skeins of Cascade 220, 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden, a Go Knits bag (medium size), and some DPN holders. In my defense, there was a sale on the Noro and the knitting bag and I had a $25 credit. Also, I have gotten involved in several charity knitting endeavors on Ravelry so the Noro will be made into hats for homeless teens and the Cascade will be made into scarfs and other items.

Hello again

Sorry for the long absence. Work has been horribly challenging and it's sapped my energy for anything other than sleep or escapist TV. Work is still challenging but I decided to just force myself to post or who knows how long my poor neglected blog would languish. I did have a lovely bright spot last weekend in the form of a trip to Indiana to see some some friends. It was wonderful to see them again, to catch up on what life has thrown our way in the last year, and to just have fun and laugh a lot. We got the very exciting news that B & D are expecting their second child at the end of May.

I found out that Holly has taken up knitting. She is working on a pretty scarf for her mom so we did some knitting and talking about knitting that weekend as she and Derrik were gracious enough to let me stay at their house. I waxed poetic about The Loopy Ewe to Holly and I showed her the Dream in Color Classy in Deep Sea Flower that I had just received so she could pet it. It was nice to have someone to talk knitting with in person who understands fiber instead of the people at work who are confused by the concept of being able to easily spend $100 at the local yarn shop. "How much yarn do you need?" What kind of question is that?!?

I discovered a new-to-me artist on etsy.com: Emily Martin, the woman behind The Black Apple. I have two of her prints with a print and two cameo pins on the way. There are at least 16 more prints that I want to get but I am going to try to pace myself. I would love to own some of her original artwork but the one that I wanted sold about 10 seconds after it posted while I was still trying to decide if I could spend the $200 or if I should wait until I get those pesky student loans paid off. You should check out her work and if you are an artist looking for a following, maybe you should give Etsy a try.

What I did on my fake vacation

My fake vacation was great. I spent Saturday with my friend Kas seeing the sites in Springfield, Illinois. We went to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library which took about 2 hours to go through. I had Kas pose with the fake Lincoln family at the museum even though she was a tad creeped out by the figures. Note John Wilkes Booth lurking in the background.
Before we left the museum we hit the gift shop where I resisted buying anything. I almost bought a magnet for mom but she has a ton already and she isn't a big history buff so I decided to skip it. I was excited to see a penny squishing machine so I did spend $1 squishing pennies (50 cents a penny). It may be silly but squished pennies are my favorite souvenir maybe because they are cheap and easy to lug home.

After the museum we headed to Lincoln's Home which is free to tour because of a stipulation that Lincoln's son made when he gave the home to the state of Illinois who in turn gave it to the National Park Service. The tour doesn't take too long so if you happen to be in the Springfield area you should have time to work it into your schedule. There are a couple of other homes in the historic neighborhood that you can tour on your own but we skipped those in favor of lunch! I did snap a shot through the view tube that shows "the most photographed view of Lincoln's home."
After lunch, we headed to Camp Butler and then hit Allerton Park on the way home. Kas had never been and I thought she would enjoy the Garden of the Fu Dogs. It was enjoyable until I was swarmed by mosquitoes! I ended up with probably 40 bites which are making me itchy-itchy-itchy! Here is a shot of the end of the Garden of the Fu Dogs which leads to the evil mosquito trail.Monday (after taking it easy on Sunday) I went to a family cookout at my brother's house. Ribs, deviled eggs, baked potatoes, and seven layer salad. Yum! The lemon pie that my brother made was the so good it deserves a double yum. I did manage to get a little bit of knitting done on the third red scarf but I discovered that my first cable project is not good social knitting because I have to pay attention to the knitting. Are all cable projects like that or is it just because I am new to cables? Hopefully this week I will get a lot of knitting done.

I Heart fake vacation!

My employer has a policy that if you don't use the three personal days you earn every year on your anniversary date by your next anniversary date then you loose them. Right now I am enjoying a fake vacation because this is the last pay period before my anniversary date and I needed to use up my personal days so I took off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...and bonus...Monday is a holiday! I love having time off work with no plans to leave town. I get to hang out with friends that I don't normally see because of my wacky work schedule and spend a little time knitting and watching movies or TV on DVD. My current DVD favorite is season one of Psych which is the funniest show I have seen in a while.

Today I went to lunch with my friend Meg and her two month old daughter Haley. This is the first time that I have seen Meg since Haley was born, mostly because Haley had to have emergency surgery and then she couldn't be around a lot of people because her immune system was compromised while she was recovering from the surgery. It was lovely to catch up in person and Meg let me hold Haley most of the visit! Now, I don't want children of my own but I adore babies and my heart went pitter patter when Haley fell asleep while I was holding her. Meg is doing well and she said that she has gotten into a good routine so it should be easier for us to get together semi-regularly for lunch. Did I mention that Meg wants to learn how to knit? She wants me to teach her and I am a little nervous because I am still a beginner myself. I will give it the old college try though because I love the idea of being responsible for creating a new knitter!

I talked to my mom yesterday and she agreed to take a knitting class with me at the LYS. She is a lapsed knitter but she is an active crocheter who is working on a huge afghan for my brother. We are taking a sock knitting class! I am so excited to learn how to knit socks. The class is on the magic loop method as no prior sock knitting experience is needed. I am sure that eventually I will take the top-down sock class or the toe-up sock class but you need some experience working on double-pointed needles to take those classes so I will have to save them until I get a little practice in on the double-points. I am already coveting a lot of the sock yarns at The Loopy Ewe so this class is probably going to cause me to do a lot of damage to the ol' bank account.

I am still working on the scarfs for the Red Scarf project. I have the first scarf completed and I ended up really enjoying working with the Plymouth Encore worsted. I am not enjoying the Cascade 220 superwash as much but it is working up into a nice scarf. I started on scarf number three which is my very first cable project and so far, the cables look like cables! I was talking with my mom about my quest to find a good machine washable yarn to make these red scarves out of and I almost fell over when she professed her love for Red Heart! I guess I have turned into a bit of a yarn snob because Red Heart feels so scratchy to me. Mom said that when you add up the fact that the yarn is cheap, readily available, and can go in the washer and dryer you just can't beat it. I think mom would have a fit if she knew how much money I spent on some of my yarn. Oh well. Of course, I wouldn't trade the afghan she made for me out of Red Heart for the finest yarn in the world so I can't be too much of a yarn snob.


That will about do it for me today but here is a picture of scarf number three. Cables rock! I will try to get a better picture once the scarf is a little bigger so you can see more of the cable detail.

The same, only different

Hello again! In the spirit of multi-tasking I did decide to start on another scarf using the same pattern with a different yarn. Oh, did I mention that it is on needles that I hate! I officially hate plastic needles...at least the Lion Brand needles that I am using. I also started a dishcloth for my mom using a self-striping yarn (Sugar 'n Cream stripes in the color Natural Stripes) using, you guessed it, the same pattern. I stuck with the pattern because it is really easy and doesn't require much thought so it is great when I just have a few minutes to knit. Of course, by using the same pattern I have semi-defeated the purpose of being able to switch to a different project when you are bored. I did buy some cable needles on Saturday when I was at the grand re-opening of the Hobby Lobby (the best place in town to buy dishcloth cotton) so that I can try a cable pattern for my next red scarf. I have never done cables before but I think that I can teach myself and a scarf seems like the right size project to learn on.

While I was on a shopping spree on Saturday I bought the latest Interweave Knits and I am absolutely drooling over some of the patterns. I probably won't be at the skill level to make any of them for a while but I could not resist the siren song of the patterns! I think part of the lure may have been the colors they used for the projects. Would I have cared for the tilted duster in yellow or the mirepoix in orange? I don't think so. Before I went shopping on Saturday I fueled up with breakfast but only because my friend Bill and his family were visiting from Florida. I met Bill for breakfast after I got off work on Saturday morning and it was lovely to catch up with him. We used to go out to breakfast all of the time when he lived here but I haven't gone much since he moved. Sunday I spent the day with my parents canning tomato juice. Again. My dad said it would probably be the last of the canning for the summer so we were left with a grand total of 86 pints canned for the summer.


Lastly, here is another questionnaire for SP11:

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
I am not really sure. Needles and yarn aside, I think stitch markers are the only real accessory that I have used and in a pinch I can use scrap yarn to replace those. I like point protectors so that stitches don't jump off the needle when I put my work down.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If
so, how much and what type of project?
Yes, I take whichever project I am working on and enjoying the most.

3. Where have you traveled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
Pretty much any place involving nature: Niagara Falls, Alcatraz in spring (yes it used to be a prison and a fort but the island has gone a bit wild and is really beautiful), the Smokey Mountains, etc...

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I have a thing for knitting books. Right now my favorite is Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and I do own it. I love the Yarn Harlot's sense of humor and her practical basic "recipes" for different projects.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
I do listen to podcasts (I *heart* i-tunes) and here are some of my favorites: This American Life, Cast On, & Lime and Violet

Two more states and a wedding

You may or may not know that I want to see all 50 states and this month, thanks to a trip to attend a college friends wedding, I managed to cross two more states off the list! To add to the adventure factor, a former roommate and I took the California Zephyr from Chicago to Grand Junction which is a 27 hour trip. We did meet some lovely people on the train: on the trip out on the California Zephyr we had lunch in the dining car with Frank & Patty who were headed to California to see one of their kids and on the way back we met a nice couple [we never exchanged names] who were just traveling for fun. I can only hope to be as active as they are when I am retired: couple one likes to go white-water rafting and couple two likes to go distance biking!

I don't know if I would want to take that long of a trip again with someone but I think that I would do okay by myself because I could knit or read and keep myself occupied pretty well but when you travel with someone else that is a long time to try to make sparkling conversation. Plus, occasionally we were subjected to the excruciating conversations of others...the worst of which was the hippie granola missionary man. The sad thing is that I agree with many of the things that he was saying but the two hour proselytizing was just too much for me. Plus the girl that he was talking with kept confusing the words barter and banter. With 19 hours left on the return trip, Holly was wishing for the train to derail so she could get a rental car [granola man overdose!].

Overall, the trip was amazing. I haven't seen Tyson since college and over the years he has gone from occasionally funny to hysterically funny just about ever time he opens his mouth. Brad and Rachel's wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun. I hadn't met Rachel prior to the wedding but she seems like a tiny bundle of sass which is a perfect foil for Brad. I won't post any photos of their wedding but I will share some of the fun that Tyson, Holly, and I had with the gift. We were completely underwhelmed by the wedding gift wrap at Target so we went with some monkeys in a kick line and a Tyson created gift bag with a bride and groom monkey. It cracked us up but maybe you had to be there...I don't know.

Holly and I pose with the monkey-wrapped gift:

Tyson poses with his creation:

We were on a bit of a mad-cap schedule for this trip and if I make it back to Colorado there are still lots of things that I would like to do and see. I would like to go rafting on the Colorado River and I would like to drive through the mountains between Denver and Grand Junction and get out and explore and hike around. The train did afford a wonderful view but there were definitely places that I would have like to explored. In a three day trip we managed to fit in a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, a reception,


the Colorado National Monument,

a supposed ghost town {Cisco, Utah},

a scenic drive,

Arches National Park and souvenir shopping in Moab, Utah. Not bad!