What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Warning: Long post ahead, somewhat picture heavy, and no knitting content.

This post is brought to you by Tom, who I think must be part mountain goat. He has got the surest footing on loose scree that I've ever seen. And now for his story...

Saturday 8/19
The day began with a 6 AM flight from Washington to Los Angeles and then a second flight to Fresno. There’s no easy way across the Sierras from the west side to the East side, which was our destination. Because the way is blocked by Sequoia National Park and Yosemite Park, the choice is drive north and through Yosemite Park or drive south of Sequoia and back up the east side to Lone Pine. We chose the southern route and so after about 15 hours of travel we arrived at our camp for the night outside Lone Pine in a BLM campground called Tuttle Creek.


Sunday 8/20


We awoke to a sunrise just beginning to light the massive peaks of the mountains surrounding Mt Whitney to our west. Today our goal is to secure a wilderness permit that will allow us to hike into the John Muir Wilderness area and position ourselves below Mt Whitney for our adventure. Only a handful of permits are available and most are reserved months in advance. With no guarantee there would be any permits available, we dutifully presented ourselves at 11:00 at the Interagency Visitor Center with our fingers crossed. Five minutes later when the park service employee saw there was in fact a permit available to enter the park the following day, he remarked that I must be living right. I explained ‘then there must be a mistake’ but accepted the permit nonetheless.

Now the hard work begins. We have to finish getting supplies for 5 days. Food, more socks, and fuel for the stove… and even harder, we have to make everything fit in our packs. Because we’ll ultimately be climbing up to 14,500’ we need to begin acclimatizing to the altitude. The atmospheric pressure at 14,000’ is about 60% of that at sea level (where I happen to live) and so each breath yields only 60% of the amount of oxygen molecules. A body can mostly adapt to that but it requires some time and ideally a gradual ascent. After a panicked glance at the mound of camping and climbing gear we had amassed, we drive to the trailhead with only day packs to do a quick hike up and back to 11,000’. I’m glad to have done the hike because afterwards I feel a bit sick from the altitude and know the hike will benefit me in the days to come. A final meal and a final beer at the Mt. Whitney restaurant in Lone Pine and back to the tents.


Monday 8/21
We wake early to take down tents and finish packing all the gear. Hold on! There’s no way all this gear will fit in my pack and I have one of the largest packs available! So one more time …. What do I really need and what can stay behind? I put my tent back in the car and take my partner’s small one man tent instead, since he’s decided to sleep in the open all week. We arrive at the trailhead, packs ready, at around 8:00 and before heading out, decide to make use of the scale provided for hikers. My pack weighs in at 65 pounds. Ouch! After 1 mile, the ‘climbers trail’ and the Mt. Whitney Trail split. The North Fork trail is a beautiful and very rugged trail and combines very steep hiking and a good deal of scrambling with hands and feet. After an exhausting 5 hours we stop for the night at Upper Boy Scout Lake (11,300’) where we camp. Temperatures are cool and dry and the coyotes sing us to sleep.



Tuesday 8/22
Up early again for the final hike to Iceberg Lake at 12,600’. We expect the hike to be a somewhat casual 2 hours. This is big country and things appear closer that they are. Now that we’re above the tree line there is often no trail to follow because the ground is strewn with large boulders. Following the ‘trail’ involves scanning ahead for the next cairn (a stack of rocks used to mark the trail). This proves to be the most difficult section of trail thus far and it's four tiring hours later when we finally arrive at Iceberg Lake beneath the huge East face of Mt Whitney. After setting up camp, we grab day packs with water and head up to examine the beginning of the East Face route. We scramble up steep slopes and climb some easy sections of rock without ropes. The altitude is really having an effect. Any exertion requires big deep breaths. I wonder how it must feel at much greater elevations in Alaska and the Himalayas. After a quick look at the route, we head back down to camp. Every night we use a filter to make clean water for the next day. Almost no water source where people travel can be trusted to be clean and it’s not something to take a chance with.




Wednesday 8/23
Iceberg Lake is aptly named. In the shadows near the edge are patches of snow that probably never melt and the wind coming off the lake is bone chilling. Today we’ll ascend the Mountaineer’s Route to the summit. It’s not a technical climb, that is, it doesn’t require ropes but still there are several hundred feet of climbing near the summit that you wouldn’t want to fall from. It’s a tough climb because of the altitude but no great obstacles to overcome. The climbing near the top is exhilarating but not too hard. It’s a large summit and we see about 20 people on top. Except for us, everyone else has come up from the Mt. Whitney trail on the West side. The Mt. Whitney trail is the most common way to the top and can be hiked in one long day in a 20-mile round trip from the trailhead. Because there’s a direct line of sight to the town of Lone Pine 12,000’ below, cell phone service is actually fairly good. A good many of the people on the summit were making phone calls to announce their arrival at the highest point in the lower 48. An uneventful descent to camp, an early dinner, and I’m in my tent by 7:00 to continue reading Sophie’s World, a very cleverly written novel that tells the history of Philosophy. I learned more Greek Philosophy on this trip than I absorbed while earning a philosophy degree in my college days.



Thursday 8/24
Today we plan to climb the East Face route so we’re up early and begin the approach by 7:00. We need to be off the summit by 3:00 PM in case there are any late afternoon electrical storms. By 8:00 we’ve climbed as far as we can without ropes so now we enter the vertical realm. The first hundred feet of climbing includes a short traverse with 1,500’ of air beneath our feet where the East Face drops in a plumb line to the slopes below. We move pretty quickly and find the climbing, although exhausting due to the altitude, is easier than we had expected. By noon we are two-thirds of the way up the face and other than a couple of short sections, the hardest climbing is behind us. Near the summit we realize we’ve gotten off route somewhere and are uncertain how to proceed. Because the climbing has gotten easier though, we decide to unrope since we can climb more quickly without the rope and because we need to gain the summit while we still have plenty of daylight. Once the sun drops below the summit, which it does at 4:00 PM, the east face can become uncomfortably cold and windy. After some false starts we find the way to the summit and arrive around 3 PM. We have a short conversation with a couple who had taken 8 hours to hike to the summit on the Mt. Whitney trail. Without headlamps they could expect to be hiking the last few miles back in the dark. Another uneventful descent brings us back to camp at 5:30. Several days at altitude have killed my appetite and I decide to skip dinner in favor of a few hour of reading Sophie’s World before sleep.



Friday 8/25
I’m anxious to leave this cold barren camping spot behind. It’s spectacular scenery but with no green in sight, it begins to seem rather bleak and the constant cold wind is taxing my patience. We abandon our plans to hike down to Upper Boy Scout Lake for the night before continuing down and instead decide to do the entire hike in a day. My 65-pound pack has to be lighter now with most of the food and fuel gone but somehow feels even heavier. The hike back down is even more brutal than the hike in. It’s less taxing on the lungs but much harder on the legs and back. It seems like an endless trip back to the trailhead but we finally arrive. I weigh my pack (which has been affectionately named ‘the pig’) once more. It’s now 55 pounds. I feel like I’ve lost nearly as much weight as my pack has. We dump our packs in the car and head to the small store near the trailhead. Food and a shower are paramount concerns. First a shower and then the best hamburger and French fries I’ve ever eaten. It’s only been 5 days in the mountains but the time concentrates ones appreciation for the simple things.

Our Hearts Are Heavy

Despite the joy of having Tom home again, our hearts are heavy chez Libran. Our beloved little cat is not well. A trip to the vet today did not provide any answers, other than she has fleas. We'll get bloodwork results tomorrow and go from there. So for now, our footsteps are soft and our voices muted and we hope that our little cat is back to her normal, playful, amusing self soon.

Tom and I don't have any children. How do those of you who have children, particularly small children who can't tell you what's wrong, deal with your children's illnesses? How do you keep it from killing you?

Knitting Progress
There's not much going on. I've knit a little more on the cuff of the Leaves of Grass sock. After reading the pattern more, I discovered that the stitch pattern is only on the instep. I'm not so sure that I'm going to like that look but I might be surprised.

The Milanese Lace Scarf blocked quite nicely. I'll post a detail picture later in the week, after I send my One Skein secret pal the package. My own secret pal sent me an email the other day saying that a giant goodie package is heading my way this week. I loved the first package (handspun sock yarn!) and given the amount of work she put into the first skein, that should be enough for the remainder of exchange. I can't wait to see what she's chosen for me this time!

Guest Blogger Coming Soon!
I could tell you more about Tom's trip, but I think it's best to let him tell you in his own words. He's agreed to take the blog reins and give a trip report. Suffice it to say that it was physically challenging and that he didn't eat enough. He lost about four pounds. After he got home Saturday evening, he was so excited about any kind of food, given that he survived on those packaged tuna steaks and dehydrated food. I think he came home early because he was hungry!

Here's an example of what he climbed:

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The weekend is not turning out quite as planned. I know that to be true, even though it's only 7:30 in the morning. Tom called me last night as I was heading down to the local watering hole to meet our friend Leigh. He's safely off the mountain, a day sooner than expected. Instead of coming home tomorrow, he and Tom have changed their flight and are coming home at 5:30 this evening.

I'm not ready.

Today is the day that Beth comes over for a farmers market expedition and knitting. It's also the day of the VM Software Reunion, where I get to meet up with over 100 of my former coworkers. That activity is now crossed off the schedule.

I also need to clean the house, which was on the schedule for tomorrow. Instead of a nice leisurely cleaning, I'll be tearing about the house like a mad woman, doing only the most superficial of cleanings. And then there's the little matter of the 10 pounds of Jacob roving. Where, oh where am I going to put it?

News at 11:00...

Next Up...

So what's going to be next on the needles? The Leaves of Grass Anklet Socks for the Mystery Sock Knit Along. Already I'm taking liberty with the pattern by using five DPNs instead of the four specified in the pattern. I really, really hate working with four DPNs--the knitting feels way too cramped. So, we'll see what sorts of problems I'll run into. I'm at the casting on point.

I need to work on the Too-Many-Choices Top; it's swatched and I sort of got gauge. We'll see how that plays out. There could be much gnashing of teeth when I find out that I've arrived at Frog Pond.

This weekend, I'll knit my mother's boob. A friend is going to come over Saturday morning to go to the farmers market with me and knit! It will be such fun to have a knitting companion.

I also need to work on Jenna's sweater as well as Christine's. If I'm lucky, I'll get them done by Christmas.

Sorry for a short post; the migraine I acquired earlier today is dulling my brain (although some would say that's its normal state). I'm going to finish casting on and start the ribbing on the sock, then head to bed. If I'm lucky, I'll be headache-free in the morning.

On Top of the World

Well, at least on the highest point in the lower 48 states. Tom called me early this afternoon from the summit of Mt. Whitney (elevation 14,491 feet). How cool is that? Before he left, he had said something about calling me from the summit. I was amazed that he could get a cell phone signal there. The transmission was pretty bad; most of what he said I couldn't decipher. But I did catch that it was a good hike.

Even though it's kind of nice that he could place a phone call from a remote place, it's also sad, too. There are now very few places where you can truly escape from it all. Of course, you can always choose not to the use the technology, but that fact that it's there is enticing.

Our cat, Jezebel, is not very happy that Tom is gone. Perhaps it's because he's the main feeder. She's been a bit subdued and not very playful. I suspect that she'll perk up when he returns.

After I ate my very delicious ginger chocolate chip cookie from Lola Cookies, I finished the Milanese Lace Scarf, with just over two yards of yarn left. I need to weave in the ends and block it, which I'll do on Saturday. After Tom returns with the camera, I'll post a picture. I think it turned out well. I couldn't memorize the stitch pattern, but it was easy to knit and easy to figure out where I was. Or more importantly, where the mistakes were.

Daily Horoscope
This was part of my horoscope today:

Bargains and heavy discounts will help you feed your piggy bank, and that's a good thing -- you need to put a little more effort into your rainy-day fund. Something big is coming up and the extra cash will help you become a part of something exciting.

Hmmm...could that "something exciting" be my very own yarn shop?

What's That, You Say?

Quilt? What's the progress on the quilt?

Ummm...there's no quilt to be seen here. What ever made you think I was quilting?

Oh! That quilt! It's gone back into my head for a redesign. Just a small one, mind you. I think I figured out how to get the points to match and accomplish the pattern that I want. But, the yellow fabric is not working out right. It seems to be acting like fabric cut on the bias. A closer examination revealed that it's a twill fabric, not an plain weave fabric. So, I've got to go back to the fabric store to find another yellow.

Knitting Progress
Despite the fact that I'm single this week, there's been precious little knitting. I haven't been getting home from work until about 8:00, then I have to fix dinner. By the time that's over and done with, it's after 9:00. Yes, I know there's plenty of time left in the evening for knitting. I'm taking advantage of this alone time to blog a little more as well as catch up on my blog reading.

But anyway, after I finish writing this post, I'm going to eat a cookie and finish the Milanese Lace Scarf.

I promise!

I Wish I Was There

"There" being in the Sierras with my husband. He's been calling every day (using a cell phone, and tonight he was calling from 11,000 feet in the middle of nowhere!) and regaling me, however briefly, with stories of his adventures. Fortunately, he hasn't had any epic adventures yet and I hope it stays that way.

This first couple of days have been spent getting acclimated to the altitude as well as obtaining the necessary backcountry permits. They did a hike yesterday and on the way back to camp, Tom began feeling a bit dizzy and nauseated. We think he had a touch of altitude sickness. Today they hiked up to 11,000 feet and he feels fine. They'll move camp again tomorrow, then hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney on Wednesday. On Thursday, they'll find a route to climb.

Tom says the scenery is spectacular there. There are crystal clear lakes, abundant wildflowers, and hummingbirds. He also saw some partridges or something like them.

On Spinning Jacob
So I'm sitting here, looking at 10 pounds of Jacob roving and wondering what in the world possessed me to buy 10 pounds of the stuff when I can't finish the current projects I've got on the needles or on the wheel. I can't even finish spinning four ounces of fiber, much less 10 pounds!

Nonetheless, I've got it now and I've got to spin it. I'll need about 1100 yards of bulky weight yarn. I can spin bulky. But here's a question for all of you spinner/knitters out there. Should I use a two-ply handspun or use a single? The Einstein Coat is knit in garter stitch. The bodice of coat is knit with the garter rows running horizontally; the bottom of the coat is knit with the garter rows running vertically. I'll want a yarn that doesn't give much. I'm thinking that that would be a single. All thoughts and opinions are welcome.

I'm almost, almost done with the Milanese Lace Scarf for my One Skein secret pal. If I knit fast (ha!), I might be able to finish it before bed. Of course, I might not have enough yarn for the last 10 rows. If I were smart, I'd put in a lifeline, but that's too much like work. Yeah, like tinking 10 row isn't like work?

Hey, I like to knit dangerously!

My Inner European

I ran across these two quizzes on another blog, the name of which I can't remember now. I think I linked to it from a link of a link. Blogs are like that.

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Who's Your Inner European?

So my inner European is Swedish? You could've fooled me. Irish, perhaps (remind me sometime to tell you about my love for the humble potato), or even French (I lived in Paris for seven months), but Swedish? I did visit Stockholm for a weekend and thought it was beautiful and I would like to go back and visit a little more. On second thought, though, I do enjoy being relaxed and peaceful, so these folks might be on to something.

Then there's this one:

You Are a Beagle Puppy

Cheerful, energetic, and happy go lucky. And your sense of smell is absolutely amazing!

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

The first time I took the puppy quiz, it said I was a chichuahua puppy, describing me as "hyperactive." Many words have been used to describe me, but "hyperactive" ain't one of them! I don't think I'm all that energetic, but my sense of smell isn't bad.


What I Did on My Husband's Vacation
Day 2 proved to be as relaxing and as fun as Day 1. I had a leisurely breakfast of coffee and summer fruit and worked on my One Skein scarf, cleaned a little house, and did a little laundry. Valerie came over in the afternoon and we had a late lunch at South Street Under, then poked around in Black Shutter Antiques for a couple of hours. One of the vendors, Where the Attic Bird Sings, has the most awesome collection of Edwardian clothes. I had so much fun (and probably bored Valerie to tears) pointing out the construction details and why the clothes were made like that.

And for dinner tonight? I ate ice cream. There's a Cold Stone Creamery on the other side of town. Oof...the smallest size is too big. I got the Boston Creme Pie flavor, which is French Vanilla ice cream, yellow cake, and chocolate sauce. I had them hold the whipped cream. It was yummy, but it was too...too much. Definitely rich, and definitely not low fat.

So what to do tonight? Why, knit, of course! I'd love to sit outside and knit, but it's too humid and the mosquitos are ferocious. And I refuse to wear insect repellent.

Happy knitting!

And So It Begins

Well, I got the two Toms (Tom's climbing partner's name is also Tom) off to the airport at 6:30 this morning and thus began my week as a single woman. You would think that after 10+ years of living by myself that I wouldn't feel at such a loss, but no... The house is too quiet (the cat is taking her evening walk outside). A somewhat long weekend is stretching out in front me. What to do? What to do?

I walked down to the farmers market this morning and picked up the usual extra-hot salsa, corn, peaches, blueberries, and tomatoes. I love our farmers' market. While only one vendor is organic, I think the others try to minimize their use of chemicals. At least that's what I like to believe. Then later this morning, I drove to Funkstown to visit Susan and her yarn shop, Y2Knit. It's been months since I've visited. She has some new yarns in and there was some unexpected stash enhancement. Not soon after I arrived, a local sheep raiser walked in with a 10-pound bag of roving. My little ears perked up so fast! "Roving!" said I, "You've got roving?" Yes, he did, about eight bags full.

He raises Jacob sheep. You can get more information about the sheep here. The sheep produce a medium grade wool and the wool that I purchased is a nice heathered gray. So what the heck am I going to do with 10 pounds of roving? Practice my spinning. And then spin up enough yarn to knit Sally Melville's Einstein Coat from Book 1: The Knit Stitch. I should be finished with that project in about 20 years.

I finally found the yarn for my sister-in-law's (last) Christmas sweater. It's Twize (a bamboo yarn) in color Twocean. This yarn is so soft! The original sweater idea flew out the window and I've opted instead to knit a sleeveless shell, the Lots-of-Choices Top from the same Sally Melville book. Given that Linda and Pete are building a house in the Abacos, the shell idea is a bit more practical than a wool sweater. There's not much need for wool in the Bahamas.

What's on tap for this evening? I'll be listening to Traditions with Mary Cliff and knitting the scarf for my One Skein secret pal, and swatching up the Twize Twocean. Who knows, if insomnia strikes again tonight, I just might start working on my Leaves of Grass socks for the Mystery Sock Knit Along. The yarn and needles are at the ready!

Naked Ladies

I've had Naked Ladies on my mind since the weekend. No, silly, not that kind of naked lady. This kind:



These are interesting flowers and there's a good reason why they are called Naked Ladies. They come up in early spring, along with the daffodils and crocus. In fact, the foliage is very similar to that of a daffodil. But you'd be sorely disappointed if you were wanting flowers in the spring. After all the spring flowers are finished blooming, the Naked Lady foliage turns yellow and withers away. No more plant. Then, in late July, a flower stalk pushes its way up et voila! You have flowers!

I happened to catch the flowers last Sunday as the sun was shining through their petals. Alas, I couldn't capture their beauty because the camera batteries (both sets) decided to run out of juice. I took this picture this morning, but it doesn't do the flowers justice. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Weekend Happenings
This past weekend wasn't too productive on the quilting front. My parents finally decided to visit. It's been almost three years since their last visit (they live about four hours away) and that was way too long. They came up Friday evening and left Monday morning. What exciting and thrilling things did we do? Ummm...we ate. And went to the farmers market on Saturday. We sat around and talked. Ummm...we ate some more. Tom made his famous martinis for my mom. I got some knitting in while we talked.

By the time they left, my parents were looking quite relaxed and happy. A weekend of doing nothing was good for them. The last three years have been difficult. They spent almost six months getting my grandmother's house ready for sale a couple of years ago, then Mom's hip went bad and she had hip surgery in last November and then she dealt with breast cancer this spring. That's not exactly a stress-free existence.

Hey Sheep! Mom said she likes reading your comments on my blog. You've got another fan!

Quilt and Knitting Progress
There's a reason I don't like to piece quilts by machine. See?



I can't get the points to match up. I feel that I've got much better control of point-matching with piecing by hand. I'm going to have to work on perfecting my cutting technique as well as my sewing technique.

Tom's heading out early Saturday for a rock climbing trip to the Sierras and won't be back until the following Sunday. This will give me ample time to finish the scarf for my One Skein secret pal (it looks like it did in a previous post, but longer) and work on the quilt. There will be stash enhancement time, too, but probably not too much.

It's always weird when Tom goes away on one of his climbing trips. There's the freedom of doing anything I want (well, within reason). But believe it or not, that gets old after a couple of days. The house feels too empty, even with the cat. And then there's always the worry that he'll have a climbing accident. It's not likely, but it is possible. Anyway, I'm going to try to focus on my knitting and quilting. And if the quilting frustrates me too much? I'll work on my spinning.

As of Saturday, I'll be sans camera because Tom is taking it on his climbing trip. I'll see what kind of photo quality I can get off my cell phone. But the blog will probably be pictureless for a while.

Have a great weekend!

It's Official!

Just before we left for the beach a week ago, Tom's San Francisco Marathon time became official. Yippee! We don't know why his time wasn't transferred from the unofficial list; perhaps it was one of those ubiquitous computer glitches.

This year's beach trip was a bit odd. It was very hot and there were a lot of biting flies. Most of the beach time I logged was during my morning walks, with about an hour on the beach the day my nephew visited. The ocean, however, was cold, and the water was crystal clear. The other thing that made it a bit odd was that a fair number of family couldn't make it this year. All of Tom's nephews were missing, as well a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law. That made for a quiet house. As usual, most everyone stayed immersed in their books all week, with my mother-in-law being immersed in her jigsaw puzzles. I, of course, was immersed in my knitting. As a result, I have two finished objects!

The Trekking socks are done:



As is the Rasta Colors hat:



I think I've set a PR for the most FOs in a single week!

I made some progress on the Milanese Lace scarf, but ended up tinking as much as I was knitting. It is not a good car project.

Adventures in Quilting
As soon as we returned home, I started on the baby quilt project. Now, you must remember that I have an aversion to math and am somewhat challenged by geometry. What is a quilt but fabric formed by math and a whole lot of geometry? I spent a good part of last Saturday designing the quilt (block pattern: Our Village Green) and figuring out the yardage. I have no idea if my yardage calculations are correct. If I run out of fabric or have too much left over, they weren't.

This is the fabric:



The ocean scenes will be cut into 6-inch squares (plus seam allowance) and will be surrounded by alternating triangles of green and yellow. The striped fabric will be the quilt back and edging. I'm not sure about the green and yellow for the triangles and might end up using different colors.

I spent Sunday trying re-learning the concept of quick cutting and getting my head around the idea that the seam allowance for the points at the longest edge of a triangle is 5/8", even though the seam allowance is 1/4". Therefore, the only cutting that happened was straightening the fabric in preparation for cutting.

I plunged in full force Monday night and created the grid needed for the half-square triangles. How hard is it to create a grid of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines? Harder than you'd think. Most of my time was spent staring at the diagram with a perplexed look on my face. So, which way does the grain run? How many squares do I need? How is a fat quarter cut? Do I draw the diagonals on every square or every other square? I left the task unfinished.

Tuesday night produced a completed grid and the sewing machine. I've sewn before. Back in the day, I had no compunction about buying yards of fabric, taking scissors to it, and creating a neo-medieval gown without using a pattern. I can sew, although I don't sew all that well. So I was a bit puzzled when I couldn't remember how to wind the bobbin (read the instruction book), or which presser foot to use. I used presser foot 4 because it was small; I knew that I had a quilting foot that would produce 1/4" seam allowance. I put the foot on, set the stitch type to 4 (you know, to match the number on the foot), moved the needle to the far left position, and pressed down on the accelerator pedal to bring up the bobbin thread.

Imagine my surprise when the needle exploded. I sat there, stunned. I reached for the instruction book. Note to self: Don't use the zipper foot for quilting and don't use the zigzag stitch.

This is going to be an interesting project.

Just Passing Through

Warning! This is a long post!

Whew...what a weekend! San Francisco was gorgeous, Tom ran a great marathon, setting a PR at 4:10:45 (more about that later), and there was even some stash enhancement at Art Fibers.

We spent a lot of our time walking around the city because we didn't have a car. Walking is such a good way to see a city and absorb its essence. It brings the city down to a human scale and makes it possible to notice details that you wouldn't have whizzing through the streets in a car or on a bus. And no, we didn't take any cable cars.

We did, however, go to the Farmers Market on the Embarcadero on Saturday morning. It was spectacular. They were celebrating peaches and there was definitely cause to celebrate. There were so many varieties of peaches and nectarines and plums and they were all good. So juicy and so sweet. I sampled everything I could and was very sad that we couldn't bring anything back.



All the vegetables were gorgeous and everything seemed to be organic. Mushrooms...they had so many different varieties of mushrooms.



Breads...to die for. Cheeses made from raw milk...outstanding. Cured salmon and salmon jerky...delicious. Flowers...gorgeous. That market made me want to pull up the stakes back east and move to San Francisco.

The restaurant options were also outstanding. To say that San Francisco has a lot of restaurants is an understatement. It was hard to choose from all the many restaurants. Friday night we ate at Greens, a vegetarian restaurant located in Ft. Mason. We sat by the window and looked out over the marina and the bay, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. As we were waiting for dinner to be served, I noticed this large ungainly fish slowly swimming near the building. I had never seen a fish that large...wait! It's a seal! I saw a real live, non-zoo seal! That was very exciting. Later that evening, it swam back into the marina. I took that to be a good omen for our trip. The food at Greens was delicious; if you have a chance to eat there, please do, even if you aren't a vegetarian. You won't even notice the lack of meat. We had planned to have an early dinner on Saturday in the North Beach district, which is full of small restaurants and cafes. Much to our surprise and dismay, most of the restaurants already had a wait and that was at 6:00! So we ate here instead. Cafe Zoetrope is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. The food was okay, but the building was very cool. Unfortunately, we didn't sight Francis, although there were hints on Sunday afternoon that he might show up. If he did, we missed him.

We were up early on Sunday for the marathon. Tom got up at 3:45; I followed at 4:30. His start time was 5:50. I saw all the runners off



and went back to the hotel for a quick shower. My breakfast plans were thwarted, since the place I wanted to eat didn't open until 10:00, which would be about the time Tom would be crossing the finish line. Since I had a couple of hours to kill, I took some photos, watched the winner cross the finish line (in about the same time it takes me to run a half marathon), and got to knit in public for a bit. Tom was running with the 4:10 pace group and my heart sank when the pace group leader came in, but with no Tom in sight. A few minutes later (which seemed like forever) he came in:



(Click the photo to enlarge it; Tom is in the green shirt, second or third one back.)

As usual, he thought he did terrible. He dropped the pace group around mile 20 or so. Since we didn't have access to the Internet, we couldn't look up his time. My parents came to the rescue later in the afternoon and said that his time was 4:10:45, which was better than he thought (and it was only 45 seconds off his goal time). When we got home last night, he checked the official race results. He wasn't there. He found the unofficial race results and his half time is missing, even though he crossed the half mat with the rest of the pace group. Because of that, it seems that he was disqualified. He ran his best time ever and because of a technical problem, was probably disqualified. He has written to the race director, and I think he should protest. He has witnesses that he crossed the half mat, since he was with the pace group at that time. It's heartbreaking. I feel like he's been robbed. He trained so hard for this race and was so psyched about running it. It seems so unfair.

To celebrate his accomplishment, we had dinner at Town Hall which was recommended by one of Tom's friends. It was within a good walking distance from the hotel, although when we went looking for it on Friday, we went the long way 'round, since we didn't know how the blocks were numbered. The food was excellent, the wine very good, and the dessert? To die for. We shared a butterscotch and chocolate pot de creme. Yum YUM!

Other highlights of the trip include wandering through parts of Chinatown (although the parts we saw on Saturday were touristy), and a trip to Artfibers where I bought a small quantity of Alfabeto (a silk/mohair blend) in color 6. If you buy yarn, they'll interpret your design into a pattern for free. I took advantage of that service, but feel a bit guilty because I should be able to write out my own pattern. It feels like cheating somehow. We'll see how the pattern knits up and if it ends up looking like what I imagined.

We also visited the Hass-Lilienthal House which was a rather long walk from the hotel. The concierge recommended taking a cab, saying it was too far to walk. It was only about 13 blocks. The bonus was that we got to see the non-touristy parts of San Francisco. The house is beautiful and the tour guide was very knowledgeable, given that he is a restoration carpenter and furniture maker. It was interesting to see elements that were similar to our house, although our house is on a much smaller scale. We learned a lot about the local building materials of the era, as well as cost-cutting measures for homebuilding (faux graining on redwood instead of using more expensive white oak, for example). This house was a middle class house, and it puts our middle class houses to shame (not to mention that they had staff; I'd like to have staff). This is an exterior view of the house:




I used to think that I'd like to live in that era, but I suspect that I'd find it too restricting. They didn't have a yard or garden and I don't think I could have been happy not going outside. Of course, if I was raised that way, I probably would have been somewhat content. We'll never know, will we?

The walk back took us through Chinatown again, but this time it was deep into Chinatown, through the residential areas and the non-touristy shops. Of course, we had no idea what anything was because the signs were all in Chinese, but it was fascinating. As we walked past one alley and glanced in, we saw someone practicing being a Chinese dragon. He was wearing the dragon head and weaving it around, opening and closing its eyes and mouth. I didn't get a picture; it seemed somehow wrong. But it was a beautiful thing to watch and the dragon head was so pretty.

It's good to be home although I'm definitely wanting some San Francisco weather. The high temperature for the weekend was on Sunday, when I think it got into the 70s. All the rest of the time, it was in the 60s, which was a little chilly, but refreshing. And now that we're back, we're facing temps of close to 100, with the heat index much higher than that.

Tomorrow we head down to the Outer Banks. Given that the weather there is just as hot here, I don't think I'll be getting a lot of beach time. Way too hot. My little tootsies will be scorched walking down to the beach.

One Skein
I sent the second package off to my secret pal. This is what it contained:



A skein of Douceur et Soie, some local honey, some handmade paper (not by me), and a few beaded stitch markers. My pal said that she loves knitting with Douceur et Soie, but has not seen the periwinkle color before. I'm still enjoying doing this exchange. It's fun to try to figure out what my pal's likes and dislikes are and then find the appropriate items. I'd really like to spin some yarn for her, but my spinning isn't good enough yet.

Knitting Progress
The second Trekking sock is almost done. I finished turning the heel on the flight back yesterday and while it isn't going to be finished today (the end of the knit along), it's close. No more progress on the Rasta Colors hat, although that will be a beach trip project and the scarf for my pal is getting longer. I'm still not happy with the edges, but it's probably too late now. Because it's essentially stockinette stitch, the edges are curling in. Maybe I'll have enough yarn to do a small crocheted edging. I like the lace pattern; I just don't like the edge. It's clearly a novice's lace project.

Well, that's about it for now. This post turned out to be longer than I expected. A bit long-winded, actually.

Next time, a Stitches East class preview. I registered by 1:00 on the opening day of registration and I got my third choice for Thursday afternoon and my second choice for Friday. But regardless, it should still be good.

Time to do more laundry! Have a great week and stay cool, wherever you are!

Happy Camper

I'm a happy camper today! I finally got my car back from the body shop. No more rental car that smells like an ashtray! The shop did a good job, but I'm going to have to take it back in 30 days to get it wet sanded and buffed. Because of the heat we've been experiencing, the new paint dimpled. But other than that, they did a great job. It feels so good to have my own car back!

We fly out to San Francisco early tomorrow morning. Tom will be running the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday. I won't be, but I'll be cheering him (and fifty million other runners) on. Maybe I'll get pictures of the sock's travels. But given my record so far, that's pretty slim. After we get back from San Francisco, we head down to the Outer Banks for a week at the beach with Tom's family. The group is going to be smaller this year. Both my brother- and sister-in-law have to work. And I'm not sure how many kids (young adults, now...yikes!) will be there. They seem to have all gone their own ways.

So the cat/house sitter is scheduled, the laundry is in process, and packing is about to begin. I might do a quick post on Tuesday before we head out again, but I'll bore you with provide full details on my return.

Happy weekend!

A Shower of Love

That's the name of the pattern for the baby blanket, from Leisure Arts Our Best Knit Baby Afghans. As promised yesterday, here is a picture of the finished blanket (click the picture for a larger view):



Here's the detail of the knots (a little fuzzy, sorry 'bout that):



A friend asked me today if I'll be taking a break from the 5:30 a.m. knitting sessions. I wish, but I've been getting up at 5:30 for so long now, it's become habit! The hope is to take some of the knitting time and turn it into exercise, meditation, or yoga time. We'll see...my intentions are good, but then I get lazy.

Happy knitting!

Praise the Lord and Pass the Metates!

Hallelujah! The baby blanket is done! I finished the 592nd French knot at 9:17 this morning. The blanket is now blocking and will be delivered to Mom, Dad, and Baby on Tuesday. I certainly hope they like it. And yes, there will be a picture, but later.

We have another friend whose wife will deliver in a couple of weeks. I had planned to knit a bear or some other stuffed animal. But yesterday morning, as I was embroidering French knots, Tom says to me "Why don't you make them a quilt?" And me, being quintessentially me, gulped and blinked and said "Okay."

I've made one quilt in my life, for my brother's second son. That quilt was hand-pieced and hand-quilted and it was a dang good piece of work, if I do say so myself. My second attempt at quilting was a king-sized quilt, machine-pieced. It's in pieces, in the attic, and I'll probably never finish it. Tom's idea is to find Superman flannel fabric (assuming it's a boy) and cut out squares and sew them together with the machine and then machine quilt it. Thirty minutes to cut out the squares and a couple of hours to sew them together and then another couple of hours to quilt it. Sigh...it doesn't work that way. It also means that I need to re-aquaint myself with my sewing machine and try to sew a straight line. And given our schedule for the next couple of weeks, I won't be able to even start looking for fabric until the second week in August. And quilt sewing cannot happen in the wee hours of the morning because my fiber room is next to the bedroom. I'm going to have to think on this.

In knitting news, I've started the second Rasta Colors hat and the Jaywalker sock is a little bigger. I'm almost at the point where I can start knitting my mother's boob. I'll use the leftover Martina, so it should be nice and soft. The boob might become the new early morning knit.

Eating Local
I joined One Local Summer where at least one dinner each week is made of all local ingredients. So far, I've done pretty badly, mostly due to poor planning. I do okay with the veggies and fruit, but the main dinner ingredient isn't local at all. I suppose I could search out rockfish or make meatloaf from the ground beef from our local cattle farmer, but I keep forgetting. Oh well. I'll do better after we get back from San Francisco and the beach.

Nonetheless, I'm trying to eat as locally and organically as possible. It's nice to have a farmers market within walking distance and I stock up on veggies to grill later in the week. The only way to cook at the height of summer is to grill outside. I've found a source for local eggs (not that we eat a lot of them) and possibly for local milk, too. There are some things that I don't think are produced locally (wheat, sugar, all manner of spices). But that's been the way of it for hundreds of years. Most spices were imported from the Orient.

Politics
My apologies for this brief foray into politics. The current conflict between Israel and Lebanon (more accurately, Hezbollah) is breaking my heart. In my opinion, the aggression from both sides is uncalled for and is causing too much suffering. Phil from the running club put it rather eloquently. "Escalation leads to...escalation." The more rockets that are fired, the harder Israel will strike, which will lead to more rockets being fired and lead to more retaliation. It's a positive feedback loop that doesn't have a good end.

Why can't everyone get along?

Joyful

"Joyful" describes the weekend perfectly! There is something incredibly special about spending a weekend with amazingly talented, creative, and strong and caring women. It was a weekend of discovery and exploration and learning to let go of expectations and frustrations.

Marcia and I arrived at the camp in the early evening, a little later than planned because traffic around Harrisburg was terrible. Even so, we were the first ones there. We set up our sleeping quarters (I chose to stick to my tent because there were too many spiders in the cabin) and rearranged the lodge to be more conducive to the weekend's activities. As the other women began to arrive (about 30 in all), we helped them unload their gear. We had pizza and salad for dinner and a wonderful berry crisp for dessert, not to mention fascinating conversation as we became acquainted with one another.

Despite going to be late, I woke up early (you tend to be up with sun when sleeping in a tent) and got some quiet time knitting and reading. The Joy Weekend officially started with the opening circle. Each woman was invited to bring into the circle a woman who has been a guiding force in her life. It was very emotional and very powerful to hear everyone speak of their friends, mothers, teachers, and even pets.

Saturday was full of crafty activities, of which learning how to do mosaic was the high point. Marcia's sister Gretchen recently took a class in mosaic and that was her contribution to the weekend. Unfortunately, the mosaic area was very crowded all day, so I didn't get to make a mosaic. I did make a pinwheel and a beaded bracelet.

My idea of teaching knitting also didn't work the way I had hoped. I didn't have any structure or a project in mind and that might have been part of it. Several women said that I (or rather my sock) inspired them to take up knitting again, so perhaps I'll have better luck next year. I taught Marcia how to knit and did manage to make some progress on the second Trekking sock.

Saturday's dinner was amazing. Marcia made chicken and lamb (and unfortunately nearly torched herself in the process), Gretchen brought an amazing eggplant parmesan, and there was the usual assortment of salads and side dishes. These women can cook and even more importantly, they know how to eat! After dinner was cleared and the kitchen cleaned, a couple of women started drumming and several of us started dancing. What a great feeling to move with abandon! After dancing, we set up for the evening's entertainment, which was a series of skits that had been prepared during the day. Each "troupe" was given a bag of costumes and props and a list of words to be used during the skit. The kids did an amazing job. There was also singing. Julianne, who is quite young, sang a couple of blues songs that were incredible. Laurie, Marcia's older sister, sang a couple of songs and invited the rest of us to join in. And we did. It was so much fun! The evening had a feel of stepping back in time when entertainment was something you actively participated in. Today it happens to us, with television and movies and recorded music. We tend to be observers, not participants.

Sunday morning was the perfect time to try my hand at mosaic. It was quiet, no one else was around. I discovered that I tend to be more creative early in the morning or perhaps I'm more creative when I'm alone. Gretchen brought a variety of tiles and glass and stones. I learned how to cut the glass to get the shape I wanted for my design. It took all morning and a little bit of the afternoon to complete the piece. I'm very pleased with the way it came out and can't wait to see what it will look like after I've grouted it.

Here are my FOs from the weekend:



Knitting Progress

Here's the first Jaywalker, off the needles and on my foot:



And there's not much else to see. Sock #2 is a little longer. I haven't made any progress on the scarf or blanket, and I haven't cast on for my nephew's rasta hat. And no spinning, either. Although I do have a lead on some local alpaca and I'll track that down later this week.

May you find joy in all you do this week.

Retreating

I'm taking today off to compensate for having to work over the Fourth of July weekend. As luck would have it, one of our running companions invited me to a women's retreat up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This "Joy Weekend" was started several years ago by her mother, about a year before she passed away. Marcia and her sisters have continued the tradition and it now encompasses family, their friends, and friends of friends, and their daughters. The theme for the weekend is Color, which should be interesting given that I'm trying to get more adventurous with color. There will also be drumming, food, skits, hiking, swimming, and general relaxation and hilarity.

The weekend promises to be hot and humid, which might put a damper (literally) on my plan to teach knitting. I left my "teaching" skein at work and the only yarn that I could find after rummaging through my stash was a wool/cotton blend. From past experience, wool/cotton, high humidity, and knitting don't mix. I might wander down to the Ben Franklin to see what nice wool yarns they have. And it might be useful to pick up a couple of extra sets of aluminum needes. High humidity, knitting, and wood needles don't mix, either.

Car News
The good news is that my car is not totaled. It was on the threshold, with about $5500 worth of damage. The bad news is that it is going to take a long time to fix. The shop estimates that it will be done on July 28th. Apparently, it takes a long time to get Volvo parts. But the good news is that I don't have to go car shopping this weekend.

Also in car news, I haven't seen any more spiders in the car, little or otherwise. The smell is also diminishing, but now a cigarette odor is beginning to make itself known. I don't understand why people treat things that they rent worse than things they own. I was raised that if you use something that is not yours, you treat it as good as, if not better, than your own things. Am I hopelessly old-fashioned?

Knitting Progess
On the baby blanket front, I've completed four columns of French knots. It takes about an hour per column, not including weaving in the ends. I'm doing that as I go along because I can't stand the thought of having to weave in hundreds of ends all at once. I estimate I've got about 16 more hours of work on the blanket.

In Trekking news, one sock is done and the other is in progress! That will be one of my projects of choice while on retreat and maybe, just maybe, the sock will go on a hike with me and be photographed. The pair will definitely be fraternal twins, despite my best efforts at finding a similar color progression. I don't think it exists for this colorway.

Now that the blanket and the socks are winding down (I'm optimistic, no?), it's time to cast about and on for a new project. Tom's nephew wants a rasta hat like I knit for my nephew, so that will be my other project for this weekend. The drawback is that it's cotton, so depending on how humid it is, that might be a non-starter. But that particular hat pattern knits up fairly quickly and if I'm lucky, I'll have it finished by the time we go to the beach, which is when I'll see him next.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions on the scarf. I did a little research into how to block silk yarn and it seems like I should be able to block it so both sides are similar. The yarn is not Lion and Lamb (good guess!), but is Artyarns Royal Silk, color 123. That will be a beach trip project.

In Stitches
And finally, I registered for a whole slew of classes at Stitches East in November. Even though I registered online the first day, I'm not sure that I was able to get my first choices. I checked them the second day of registration and most of my first choices were filled. I just hope that I'm one of the ones filling them! They had over 500 people register the first day. Amazing. It's going to be a bit frustrating to be at Stitches and know that I'm going to have to severely limit the amount of yarn I buy. As I was making balls of yarn for this weekend, Tom wandered in, took one look at my stash and said "Do you think you have enough yarn?" The obvious answer is "No, you can never have too much yarn." The reality is that my stash is pretty small, less than two plastic storage bins. And most of my stash was bought mindfully, with an idea for a particular project. Tom doesn't have any idea of size of most knitters' stashes.

That's it for now. Time to finalize packing for this weekend. I'll post pictures when I return.

Rental Car Woes

I don't consider my identity to be tied to the car I drive. In fact, I'm sometimes embarrassed to be driving what I consider a "luxury" car (a Volvo S70). But it turns out that some part of understanding my place in society at large is indeed tied to the car I drive.

Given that my car is going to be at the shop for a couple of weeks, I opted for the lowest car on the car rental menu, to minimize any out-of-pocket expenses. What I got was a Kia Rio whose driver-side door wouldn't lock or unlock with the key, that vibrated at highway speeds, and whose gas cap tether was broken. And it only had 27,000 miles on it. I arranged for an upgrade, partly because it's a major pain
to have to unlock the passenger side to unlock the driver side and partly because I was sort of embarassed to be driving a car of such ilk (my apologies to any readers who do drive a car of such ilk. I'm not really a snob). Plus my dislike of Kias stretches back 10 years when we made an epic trek over the Cascade mountains on our honeymoon in the dead of winter in a blizzard in a tiny Kia SUV. But that's a story for another day.

On Saturday, I went to the rental car place to pick up the new car. They suggested another Kia, which I turned down, and they offered instead a Ford Focus, which then they couldn't find. We finally settled on a Mazda 6, which seemed to be a solid car. It seems to drive well, but this car smells like someone spilled a bottle of cheap perfume in it. The smell was so strong that I left the car open all day to air out. And I had to wash my clothes because they had absorbed the smell (from about a three-minute drive home). The car also has another problem...one that is a potential safey hazard.

It might be infested with spiders.

Let that sink in for a minute. This car is going to be driven by a woman who, when Sheepish Annie recounted her adventures with a spider, let out an involuntary shriek and jumped out of her chair.

After I got home, I noticed a spider nestled by one of the back windows of the car; I got an appropriately long stick, and with much shrieking, managed to flick it away from the car. Then I noticed something that looked suspiciously like a spider egg sack (empty, of course) on the passenger side view mirror. As I was wiping down the inside of the car in a futile attempt to rid it of the smell, I noticed a tiny spider on the dashboard. And I noticed a tiny spider crawling on me after I closed up the car for the night (it didn't register that it was a spider until after I brushed it off).

This is bad, very bad.

Why can't I get a nice, clean, non-smelly, non-spidery, working car?

In Knitting News

I've woven in the ends and started the French knots. See?



(The knots are more noticeable in real life.)

My idea is working, so the knots will go faster than I was fearing, but still not fast enough. It's hard to see, but I'm running the yarn for the French knots up the back of cables.



And finally, I need your expert opinions. This is the fledgling scarf for my One Skein secret pal. I think the yarn works nicely with the Milanese lace pattern, but I'm unsure about the left side. It angles out more than the right side. What do you think? Is it a keeper or should I go back to the drawing board?



And finally, I'm closing in on the toe of the Jaywalker. And even better, the gauge gods didn't smack me down. The sock fits like a glove...er...sock. If I get some knitting in today, I might even be able to finish it. I think I'm going to love wearing this pair of socks!

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

I can't say "Thank you" enough to my One Skein secret pal! On Monday, this arrived in the mail:



My secret pal spun it herself, for li'l ol' me! It's 400 yards of two-ply, fingering weight, superwash merino. And it's handpainted, too! The yarn is so soft, but my pal says that it's very durable. This yarn is going to make a very special pair of socks. It's going to be such fun finding the perfect pattern for it. I only hope my sock knitting skills can do it justice.

The yarn wasn't the only thing in the package. My pal also included a bar of Dagoba organic chocolate, chai flavor. This description on the label says "rustic grown organic milk chocolate infused with crystallized ginger and chai essence." I had a little taste earlier. Oh...my...god...I've never, never had such yummy milk chocolate. It's going to take all of my will power not to devour the bar in one sitting. If their milk chocolate is this good, I wonder what their dark chocolate is like.

Thank you, Secret Pal. I am honored and awed by your gift.

Knitting Progress
I was hoping that I'd have some time to knit on the Fourth of July. But, that didn't happen. I didn't get any knitting in. I did, however, get a 6-mile walk in. The Trek with Me sock stayed in the car while I walked. (I'm not doing so well with this knit along. One sock is almost completed, but I haven't taken any hikes with said sock.) Coffee afterwards at the local coffee shop, and then home to knitting. Or not, as the case might be. When we got home, there was an invitation on the answering machine to an impromptu cookout at a friend's house. The afternoon was spent doing that, which was a lot of fun, even if it didn't involve knitting. And then it was back to Leesburg to meet up with the Loudoun Road Runners at Ida Lee Park to watch the fireworks. I must say that the town puts on quite a nice display, even though there was no knitting involved.

My other knitting projects are stalled. The blanket still needs to have its ends woven in and then I can start on the French knots. Do you think I'm not weaving in the ends just so I don't have to do the knots? The Jaywalker is languishing on the needles. My other UFOs are still, well, UFOs. The bright spot is that I've started knitting my One Skein gift for my giftee. It's a handpainted silk yarn and I'm trying out various lace patterns for a small scarf. I thought that I'd enjoy knitting with silk, but I'm finding it difficult to work with. I started with wooden needles, but the yarn just wouldn't slide, so I switched to Addi Turbos. The Addis are working much better, but the points are a little blunt. I'm finding that the yarn is splitting. After I get into the pattern a little more, I'll post a picture.

In Other News
Today did not start well. I hit a deer on the way to work which put both the deer (which is now one of the "deerly" departed) and my Volvo out of commission. I really wasn't expecting a deer to come streaking across a busy highway at 9:00 in the morning. But streak it did and it did a number on my car's front end. Fortunately, it didn't come through the windshield (which was the thought that flew through my mind as I collided with the deer) and I'm not hurt. So most of the morning was spent dealing with insurance, body shops, and rentals. I won't get an estimate until early next week and the shop expects to have the car for at least two weeks. I don't have a rental yet because the car rental place didn't have any cars ; hopefully, they'll have one come in this afternoon.

Okay...That's it for now. This turned into a longer post than I anticipated. I really ought to post more often!

The Blanket Has Left the Needles

It's true. I cast off Friday morning. And since then, I've knit only one round on the Jaywalker. No weaving in of ends, no starting of new projects, no (whimper) embroidering of 602 French knots on said blanket.

The reason? Work. Work from the office has intruded into my fibery world. "What!?" you exclaim "It's the weekend. It's potentially a long weekend!" Yes, my friends, I know. But there was a proposal with a deadline looming and work needed to be done. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one. And fortunately, I could work from the comfort of my own home (where my spinning wheel and stash were taunting me). A couple of hours on Saturday, ten hours today. But at least I'm done until tomorrow.

But fear not...there was some fiber in my weekend. Yesterday morning, Blogless Beth and I wandered over to Hunt Country Yarns for the first day of their month-long sale. Unfortunately, none of the yarn that I was looking for was on sale. But I completed my shopping for my secret pal. As soon as I finish this post, I'm going to start swatching for her final gift.

I also got my hair done. It needed to be trimmed in a big way and the grey was beginning to be a little too prominent. So off to the stylist's I went. My hair doesn't quite look like this but then, neither do I. But that was the general idea. And the grey is still a little too prominent. In fact, as soon as I got home, Tom remarked about the amount of grey in my hair. Sigh...some days you just can't win.

In response to the Sheep's question about the soggy kitty, said kitty is fine. She was a bit damp after coming in, but not drenched. She absolutely loves being outside in the evening. While she mostly sleeps on her cushion on the deck, she occasionally forays into the garden, in hopes of snagging some unwary birds. And apparently that night, she wasn't going to let a lot of rain stop her.

Enough Already!

You know, it used to be that I enjoyed rain storms. I found them to be energizing. And there's nothing better than curling up with a good book or some knitting and listening to the rain on the roof.

That all changed when we moved into our old house. Rain storms became a source of anxiety when we discovered all the places in the house where rain can come in...the sun porch roof, the basement...you know, all those places where rain shouldn't be coming in. Add to that a huge dying tree that hung over the house and rain coupled with high winds caused many a sleepless night during summer storms.

We took the tree down about three years ago so that worry is gone. We patched the roof when we renovated the back of the house, so there went that worry. Or so we thought. The patch didn't hold. So, ever since Saturday when the deluge started, my anxiety has been a bit higher than normal, especially at night. The sun room is off our bedroom and when the rains come, I lay in bed, just waiting for the sound of drip....drip...drip..drip.dripdripdripDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIPDRIP. We got more than six inches of rain between Saturday and Monday and probably collected several gallons in the sun room. You can imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to clear skies and no rain. Alas, it didn't last long. By afternoon, we were getting heavy rain showers. And now it's raining heavily and the poor cat is outside in the rain somewhere. (How appropriate...XM Radio World Zone is playing "The Rain is Falling" by Warsaw Village Band.)

Despite near perfect knitting conditions, I haven't made much progress on either the Jaywalkers or the blanket, although I have emerged from the twilight zone. I've finished the pattern rows and started on the seed stitch border with only seven more rows to knit up. And then the French knots...602 of them. It's not going to be pretty. The task is going to require strength, perverseness perseverance, and large quantity of chocolate, caffeine, and perhaps alcohol. I wonder if the Yarn Harlot could get me some Screech.

Despite the rain and the unfinished blanket, there was a ray of hope today. My horoscope said this:

This talent of yours is worth nurturing. Even if outward circumstances don't feel reassuring, keep on with it. Whatever nurtures your soul has the potential to turn into a financial source of support too.

While I wouldn't say that I'm a talented knitter, I'm interpreting the last sentence as an omen that my yarn shop ideas are eventually going to pan out.

One Skein
I mailed my secret pal her skein earlier this week and she got it today. This is what I sent:



It's a skein of silk chenille from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, in colors that she said she liked. I've always loved the feel of silk chenille and have been wanting to knit with it myself. It was very difficult to pack it up and ship it off. It was worth the grief of separation, though, when I read her thank-you note. I made a good choice.

Well, I think the rain has stopped. I'm off to search for a soggy kitty.

You Have Entered the Twilight Zone

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

I think I have entered the Twilight Zone of knitting. Remember that I thought that I'd finish the blanket by Friday morning? Well, not only have I not finished it, it seems that no matter how many rows I knit, I still have three more inches to go. It's rather maddening.

Trek With Me Update
The Jaywalker continues to slowly grow. I actually got out and went for a 5-mile walk today on the W&OD Trail. And the Jaywalker came with me, but stayed in the car because it was decidedly moist. I think the Scots would call it a "soft" day. Between yesterday and today, we've gotten over four inches of rain, mostly in torrential downpours. It seems that over the last couple of years, we never seem to get nice long, slow rains. It's either no rain or buckets of the stuff.

But anyway, I'm making progress on the sock, but not a lot of progress on the hiking.

A Weekend with the "Grrlz"
So despite the rain and knitting in the Twilight Zone, it was a good weekend. I had dinner with Val and Gerry on Friday night. As always, we ate too much and talked a lot. At times, though, we were beginning to sound a bit...hmmm...middle-aged, shall we say? The talk turned often to the various medical things that we're facing, such as colonoscopies. Yikes! Definitely not what my grandmother would consider "polite" dinner conversation.

On Saturday, I drove up to Frederick to have lunch with another friend. We spent the afternoon visiting a lot of the little shops there, including Eleganza, the LYS there. She had some yarns, including Artyarn, that I haven't seen in other local shops. And her prices were lower than what I've seen in the shops here. Another trip is definitely in order.

Eating Local
The trip to the farmers market on Saturday yielded more yummy things. The tomatoes are beginning to come in. I also got some gorgeous red leaf lettuce from the organic stand, beef from the local cattleman, fresh mozzarella, some early peaches and late strawberries. And cherries. Yum!

Tonight's dessert was cherries served with a ricotta cardamom cream. I sweetened the ricotta with some local wildflower honey. It was good, but it was missing something. I'll have to play with that idea some more.

Okay, that's it for now. Maybe I'll have a finished blanket (well, the knitting part) the next time I post.

The Longest Day

Well, not exactly the longest day; it's still 24 hours long, but at least it's lighter later. But alas, the days will start getting shorter tomorrow. And then in six months, they'll start getting longer. (I'm a master at stating the obvious.)

I've been teaching a couple of my co-workers to knit. One is having difficulty finding time to knit, while the other is doing quite well. She's almost finished her first scarf (in seed stitch, no less) and she's done a beautiful job with it. So this evening after work, we headed out to Capital Yarns to look for yarn for her next project, a hat for her niece. My goal was to get a couple of little somethings for my One Skein secret pal and look for yarn to make the Panel-Party Pullover in Sally Melville's
The Knitting Experience Book 3: Color. The sweater is to be last year's Christmas gift for my sister-in-law (I gave her a gift certificate for a handknitted object). After determining that she liked the style of the sweater and that she likes anything in blue, I simply had to come up with two colors of blue. Since they are building a house in the Abacos, I thought that something that mirrored the colors in the Sea of Abaco would be nice, perhaps an aqua and a darker blue.

Well, it's proving to be difficult finding the yarn. I finally found colors that I think will work, but the yarn is Bamboo, not a wool or wool blend. I have a suspicion that Bamboo doesn't have enough sproing in it. So, it's back to the drawing board and I may have to buy yarn online. I really don't mind buying yarn online, but I'd much rather support the LYSs.

In actual knitting news, I am extremely hopeful that I'll finish knitting the baby blanket on Friday morning. I've got one, maybe two pattern repeats left, then an inch of seed stitch border. And we won't mention what comes next (shudder). The Jaywalker is progressing, too. The foot is a bit longer and the colors still amuse me. Each color progression evokes a memory or an association. Some of the colors are countries: Sweden, Germany. Some remind me of carnivals. Some are like the seasons. I suspect I'll continue to be amused each time I wear the socks.

Anyway, that's it for now. I wish everyone a happy Solstice and much luck, abundance, and prosperity!

Scorchin'

Our luck finally ran out after being blessed with a relatively cool and non-humid spring. Yesterday was hot, hot, hot, and today was even hotter, with the temperature topping out at 95 degrees, in the shade no less. We were going to go to the Potomac Celtic Festival at Morven Park but it was too hot. Tom did a long run yesterday and was pretty wiped out and today we decided that it was still too hot and opted to get stuff done around the house.

Tom ended up straightening up the basement some and went through things that we don't want anymore and posted them on Freecycle. I concentrated on ridding the house of dust buffalo. The herd was beginning to disturb my sleep. Our house isn't all that large (compared to the houses they are building today, though, it's miniscule), but it takes the better part of a day to clean it. And even then, there's something that ends up not getting done...washing the floors, dusting, or cleaning the bathrooms. Today, though, I managed to get two out of three completed. I didn't wash the floors. Perhaps next weekend will be for floor washing.

Bird Update
Sadly, I have no pictures of the birds today. We took the fern down so I could photograph week two of their development and darned if two of them flew away. Granted, they didn't fly very well or very far (which made me feel bad), but the rest of the brood (there were four birds) should fledge this week. They grow up so fast...

Eating Local
Tonight's dinner was almost all local. We grilled local asparagus, organic fennel, and rockfish (most likely caught in the Chesapeake Bay). We rounded out the meal with a salad that had local organic romaine, tomatoes, and herbs from our garden. The cucumber wasn't local (I ran out of cash at the farmers market) and neither were the baked potatoes, toppings, and wine. All in all, though, a very fine meal.

Knitting
And of course, there was knitting. Tom took a nap after his run yesterday, so clearly I couldn't round up the dust buffalo. Instead, I spent some quality time with the Jaywalker and finished the heel and started the foot. I'm still a little nervous about how tight it is, but I can still get the sock on my foot. I've had a couple of mishaps with stitches leaping off the needles, but fortunately I've been able to pick them up with no problem. Here's the sock:



The baby blanket continues to progress, although I didn't get as much done on it as I would have liked. A migraine on Saturday morning precluded all work on it and I was able to knit about three rows this morning. It's about 29 inches wide and 32 inches long so I've got only about three more inches to knit. Woo hoo! Then it's on to embroidering hundreds and hundreds of French knots. That's going to be rough going.

One Skein Secret Pal
I ordered a very special yarn for my One Skein secret pal and it arrived this weekend. It's going to be very difficult to mail this skein out to her because it is so yummy! What is it? That will remain a secret until after I mail her the goods. I'll post pictures then.

That's it for now. Have a great week!

Turning Point

The Jaywalker is moving right along. I turned the heel last night:



I'm still loving the way the yarn is working with this pattern. I don't think I've repeated a color pattern yet. That doesn't bode well for the second sock because I don't think I can get the color changes to match. But...I do have a second ball of the same color and dyelot and maybe I'll dig into that to make the second sock. That's assuming that the color progression is the same from ball to ball.

The sock fits passably well. But I've got this suspicion that the gauge gods are going to smack me down soon and smack me down hard. I can still get the sock on but it's a bit of a struggle. I keep telling myself the needles are inflexible and that's what making it difficult. But I'm afraid that I won't be able to get the sock on after working the heel gussets. I'll know later tonight. Keep your fingers crossed!

The blanket is still progressing, although I had a bit of a setback this morning. I was knitting along, congratulating myself on the fact that I haven't had to do significant tinking in quite a while. The pattern has finally worked its way into my brain. But after knitting three rows, I took a look and groaned at what I saw. I repeated the second pattern row, thus making a big blob in between the cables. Net row gain this morning? One stinkin' row.

Note to Self: Never, ever congratulate yourself on how well you knit, especially at 5:30 in the morning. The knitting goddess will get you.

Progress Report

The end is near! Well, it's more near than it was last weekend. The blanket is still slowly progressing, thanks to daily 5:30 a.m. knitting sessions. I'm on the eighth ball (out of 12) and have completed 224 rows. I'm at the point where I'm eyeing the blanket and determining if the proportions are pleasing enough to stop knitting (they aren't...yet). I have no qualms about bailing making a design decision to change the length. Here's a picture of the progress so far, shown with my stuffed tiger collection:



I've made progress on the Jaywalker sock as well. I love working with this pattern in this colorway. The colors keep changing and I'm entranced by the way the bar increases and double decreases make the pattern happen. I like the way the stitch marker on needle one moves to the left before the double decrease and to the right after the double decrease (yes, I'm easily amused). I've been sneaking in a little lunchtime knitting at work, only about 30 minutes or so, and spend a little more time on the weekends. If I'm lucky, I'll start turning the heel today.



Bird Update
The baby birds are growing, although they are far from being self-sufficient. They are a week old today and if you look closely, you can see their eyes, beaks, and the primary feathers on their wings. They are definitely house finches.



A flicker has recently arrived in the neighborhood. It's a fairly large one, and the first one we've seen in several years.

Jezebel fancies herself an expert bird hunter. Tom and I were sitting on the deck the other evening, watching the bats. Jez was laying on her cushion, when all of a sudden she sat up and stared intently at the garden. Then, with great purpose, she made her way down to the garden and disappeared into the foliage. A little while later, Tom saw her out of the corner of his eye, furtively climbing the deck stairs and slinking into the house. We followed her and found her in the dining room, gleefully tossing around a dead catbird. It was pretty clear that she didn't catch it because all of its feathers were intact (unless the wren I rescued from her). Tom had found another dead catbird a couple of days ago. I hope that the West Nile virus hasn't moved into the catbird population.

And finally, a parting shot of one of our Asian lilies. These flowers are so colorful and abundant in our garden right now. It's a shame that they don't last all summer.

Productive

I've been fairly productive around here...well,productive in a fibery sort of way. There was actual spinning on Sunday and I thought Tom took a picture of me in action, but it wasn't on the camera. It turned out that he was taking a video of me in action but it didn't work. So, you'll just have to take my word for it. I still can't spin a soft, lofty yarn. I adjusted the tension on both the brake band and the drive band, but no luck. It's still a somewhat hard, slightly over-twisted worsted type yarn. But I'm spinning a finer yarn now, something that resembles sport-weight. And it's even. But oh, to be able to spin sock yarn!

The blanket continues to progress, as does the Jaywalker. Nothing to show though; both pieces are looking a little longer.

I started taking yoga again; it felt so good to be back in the class. My teacher, Annie, is wonderful. She's very observant and provides a lot of verbal cues for getting the pose right. Annie is also good at providing suggestions for making the poses attainable for those who are challenged by them. I've heard so many horror stories about teachers who expect the student to be able to do the poses perfectly.

I also decided to start running this week. Big mistake. My last run was about a month ago and I had very little ITB pain, so I figured I was good to go again. About a mile into the run, my knee started hurting and it didn't stop. So, I'm going to have to find an alternative source of aerobic exercise. I'm really bummed.

On a slightly more positive note, we have babies!



I took this picture on Sunday; they were still hatching! I'm not sure what type of bird, though. We've had house finches nest in ferns before, but there's also been a wren hanging around. Wrens are nest in cavities,though, so I suspect it's a house finch family.

Today's DailyOm was about wildlife in our midst, which I thought was a propos for the Trekking knit along. Here's a not-so-brief excerpt:

Because both cities and tightly packed suburbs offer wildlife bountiful nooks and crannies in which to hide, it can be difficult to spot the animals that live in our midst. Many thrive among paved streets, sidewalks, buildings, parking lots, and high-rises. There are animals in abundance burrowing in the soil of center medians and tiny backyard gardens, making nests in the trees that line broad and busy avenues, and buzzing round the flowers that beautify our parks...

Season by season, cities offer diverse ecosystems for you to explore. If your search for urban and suburban wildlife is challenging, try to look at your community with an animal's eyes...

Recognizing that you share your city with a wide range of animals can make you feel like a part of the grand circle of life and help you appreciate the importance of a healthy urban environment. You can admire the hardiness and adaptability of the urban animal while developing a sense of stewardship that inspires you to become their champion. The shrill calls of birds, the hum of bees, and the sweet squeaks of city-dwelling mammals can be a symphony that help you develop a deeper connection with the nature world.

Grab your sock, get outside, and find and appreciate some nature!

Weekends Are For Knitting

...and cooking and cleaning and gardening. And for my husband, running. (Let's not talk about my lack of running, okay?) So when the spousal unit is out on his long runs, I knit. Or blog, as is the case today.

On June 1, I started knitting up a Jaywalker sock in Trekking color #100, for the Trek With Me knit along. And I'm playing with fire with gauge, among other things. I diligently knit a gauge swatch using size 0 and size 1 needles. Did I get gauge? Nope, not even close. In fact, I got a smaller gauge on the size 1 needles. Go figure. So, since Wendy recommends knitting socks on size 0s, that's what I'm doing. And I will not be surprised to get smacked down by the knitting goddess. I also misread the instructions and did a k1,p1 rib instead of the k2,p2 rib. At that point, I thought I'd just see what happened. Now, I have been slipping the sock on to see if it is misbehaving fits, and so far, so good. It appears to fit. We'll see if that continues. I fully expect to have to rip it out and start over at some point.

On the baby blanket front, I've got about 200 rows completed and started the seventh ball. Woo hoo! I'm officially halfway done, with the knitting. There will still be hundreds and hundreds of French knots to embroider.

Thanks for answering my yarn shop questions. Your answers helped clarify some of the ideas that have been rolling around in my head for a while. I've started reaching out to other local business owners to get a sense of what rents are in the area (it would be really nice to walk to work). There's still a lot of research to be done, mostly visiting different shops (what a hardship), as well as writing a business plan. This will be a long-term project, perhaps three to five years down the road, unless I inherit a lot of money from an unknown rich relative. Or win the lottery. And both are highly unlikely.

Eating Local
I visited the farmer's market yesterday and spent a lot of time talking to the nice lady at Willow Hawk Farm about her fleeces and yarns. And while I was at it, I bought some lamb sausage, which is locally produced. Next door to Willow Hawk was Potomac Vegetable Farms, an "ecoganic" farm. They didn't have a lot of variety, but what they had was so beautiful. I bought some Swiss chard (too much, as it turns out) and made a greens pizza with a whole wheat crust, served with a salad (non-local) and a nice red Zinfandel. Tonight I'll make Swiss chard with beets and goat cheese, using local beets.

I tend to be a shy person and asking vendors what they do and how they do it is a bit scary for me. But I'm finding as I open up, so do others. I'm now searching for a local source of chickens and maybe, just maybe, I can increase the amount of local, and hopefully healthier, food in our diet.

Have a wonderful weekend!