Tap...tap...Is this thing on?

Oh, Friends, I've meant to write. Really, I have. Usually it's 20 minutes before I go to bed and I think to myself, "I should write about that on the blog." And then I tell myself I'll do it tomorrow and the next thing you know, it's nearly three months before you actually compose a new post.

Since late December I've been training for a 25K (15.5 miles) race, which I completed last weekend. Well, when I say "completed," what I really mean is that I had run 12 miles when it was made clear to me that I might not make it to the finish line within the allotted time, so I called it a day at that point. I'm certainly disappointed that I didn't go the whole 15.5 miles, but I've never run 12 miles in my life, so I can chalk that up to a personal best. At least now I know a half marathon is not outside my realm of possibility, so I might consider signing up for an autumn half marathon.

So what with running four days a week and cross training for two, I didn't have a whole lot of time (or energy) for knitting, much less writing about knitting. Since I last posted, I've come to an impasse on the Streymoy sweater. Once I got it to the armpits, I tried it on my husband and discovered that it's going to be much too big. I was also going to run out of yarn, but that's not an insurmountable problem. Four inches too big is too damned big. Now I'm just working up the courage to rip it out and start over. At least I have until next winter to get it done.

Once the race was over, I had a chance to do a little yarn shopping. I got to check out seven (!) yarn shops while I was in North Carolina for the race, and the standout of the bunch was Warm 'N Fuzzy in Cary. There were so many of my favorite yarns: Stonehedge Fiber, Quince & Company, Fibre Company, Dale of Norway. There were plenty of others that were new to me, so I had a difficult time deciding what to get. I ended up getting two skeins of Fibre Company Canopy fingering and a skein of String Theory Caper Sock. There was a lot more I wanted, but I was pretty much over my yarn budget, so I had to exercise a little restraint.

On the way home from our trip, I worked on a my Feminine Lace socks, from Stephanie van der Linden's book. They're coming along just fine, but once I got about halfway through the leg chart, I realized I'd knit a pattern very similar to this at least twice before. I'd show it to you here, but I don't seem to have photographed it yet. I'll do it for next time.

Until then, Friends.

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's nearly the end of December - I have no earthly idea where the last two weeks have gone. My husband's birthday was less than a week before Christmas, so we did stuff to celebrate it. Then there was Christmas itself, with all its attendant baking and gifting and socializing. For a minute there, I think I had something to do on 5 consecutive evenings. Oof.

I have done a little knitting since the last time I posted. I've made some progress on the Vilai socks, having turned the heel and nearly finished the gusset decreases. I have also made a mistake on these socks - I didn't read the pattern correctly and left out a chart repeat on the leg. By the time I realized why the leg looked a little short, I'd already gotten halfway through the heel flap and there was no way in hell I was going to rip back and potentially make a mess of all those yarnovers and twisted stitches in the leg. Nope. It would stay as it was. And I have short legs, anyway. Custom fit. That's me.

By the time Christmas Eve arrived, I'd done all I could do and was ready for some relaxing time with both our families. As we got on the road to make the 4-hour drive to my hometown, it was nearly dark, so there was no knitting in the car. But once we got settled in at Mom's house, I decided it would be fun to start an Ishbel with the gorgeous silk yarn I bought while I was on vacation last summer. The yarn is Lake Effect, a 100% tussah silk single-ply yarn in the Leelanau Sunset colorway. My understanding is that it is only available at the Thistledown Shoppe in Suttons Bay, Michigan, and was dyed by a local dyer. I'd been looking for an appropriate pattern to highlight the beautiful colors and finally decided that Ishbel was the way to go since it had a nice stockinette section and a fairly simple lace pattern that would not be too busy with the color changes in the yarn.

On Christmas Day, we had breakfast with Mom, then set out to meet my husband's family in Brown County, Indiana, a three-ish hour drive from Fort Wayne. I'm not quite sure where all the time went, but I can recall chilling out around the fireplace with some of my sisters-in-law and some of the nieces, watching the younger kids open their stockings (the mice were a big hit and there were requests for more!) and participating in the grown-ups' white elephant gift exchange. We scored a Sopranos trivia game and cookbook (that I think we forgot to bring home with us), and were able to give away a 3-foot tall ceramic piggy bank (a pig dressed as a firefighter who came to be called Firepig). A couple nephews contemplated what might happen if they tossed it into the fire. A couple nieces explored the possibility of turning it into some kind of garden statuary/fountain/scarecrow. Whatever they do, it's alright by me. More than one person found it to be a little creepy. I'm just glad my husband didn't steal it back and bring it home.

The day after Christmas was nice and relaxing and it seemed like all I did was hang out and knit. By the time I was ready to call it a day, I only had something like 6 rows to do and the Ishbel would be finished. I have no idea how I did so much so fast. The next morning, on the way back home to Louisville, I finished up the last bit, and completed the bind-off less than 5 minutes before we got home. It was pretty exciting to have a finished project so quickly. I even got it blocked the same evening and it was ready for me when I got home from work tonight! I think it came out well.

Next time, I think I'll show off the pretty little crocheted things that one of my Japanese aunts made for me when I was a baby, and have a little end of year recap. Until then, Friends.

Sock Yarn Doesn't Count As Stash.

Amiright? This is what I've heard, anyway. See, when I go someplace, I like to check out the local yarn shop, if there's one anywhere near the place I'm visiting. At Sock Summit, the yarn was conveniently located mere steps from the classrooms where I learned so much. Up north, in Michigan, the shops were a little farther away, but definitely not out of our way.

When we go to the lake, in addition to spending a lot of time in/on the water, we also like to check out the surrounding countryside and small towns in the vicinity, shopping in the local stores and eating local foods. In Cedar, Michigan, we always make a point of going to Pleva's Meats, where they make the most delicious sausages. They even put cherries (a plentiful local agricultural product) and pecans in them! They're so good. Next door, there's the Cedar City Market, which stocks lots of regional wines and liquor, as well as locally-produced cheeses and other good stuff. The guy that runs the place is pretty cool, and has a very well-curated selection of booze. This makes me happy.

Conveniently located across the street from both these shops is Wool and Honey, a yarn shop with a nice selection of luxury yarns as well as locally-produced alpaca yarn, roving and felt. I keep looking at that yarn because the undyed colors are so lovely, but I can never think of what I'll make with it while I'm in the store and so end up with yarn purchasing paralysis. I really need to plan ahead, or, at the very least, take my laptop so I can search the Ravelry for an appropriate pattern. Anyway, I ended up buying the buttons to finish my Peasy cardigan and two skeins of fingering-weight yarn. I hesitate to call the Fibre Company Canopy that I purchased sock yarn, though it is 400 yards of yarn that some people have knit into socks. There are plenty of hats and shawls, too, but I think this yarn will become gloves. I still have to make up my mind.

Another town we always go to (especially as it is on our way to the cottage) is Suttons Bay, which is home to lots of places to eat. This trip we had dinner at the Village Inn (Est. 1871). The food was good and the beer was cold. We left full & happy. Just up the street from there is the Thistledown Shoppe, which is so chock full of yarn, skeins were jumping out of the bins and into my hands. I ended up with two skeins of Shibui Sock (against which I am helpless) and a skein of some lovely locally-dyed tussah silk single-ply. The color is called Leelanau Sunset and that's exactly what it looks like: beautiful reds, gold & reddish-purples that I can't wait to start knitting up. As this yarn was not fingering-weight, I think it has to count as a stash acquisition. The day I was in, they had the sweetest shop dog in the world napping on a wing chair in the front room. She very gently stuck her nose under my hand whenever I stopped scratching behind her ears, as it was obvious I had chosen my yarn and was defenseless against her beseeching eyes. She saw me coming a mile away.

So now that I'm home, I've been searching Rav's Green Acre, looking for just the right patterns for my new yarns. I haven't found exactly what I was looking for, but I'm sure that with a little patience and perseverance I'll find what I want. At least I have plenty of non-stash to get me through until the next time I leave town. If you happen to have a favorite pattern for variegated sock yarn, let me know. I may well end up knitting every sock in Carol Sulcoski's book, as most of the sock yarn I've been buying lately seems to be some variety of variegated.

Looks like that's all I have for now. Until next time, Friends!

Hit and Run

I'm on vacation this week at our family's place in northern Michigan, so I much prefer being outside with my kayak than inside with my laptop. As I'm headed out to do something fun, I thought I'd put up a little tease about some socks I'm working on:

It's all Anne Berk's fault, you see. I took her intarsia in the round class, and now I'm happily handling yarn spaghetti on my vacation. And in case you decide this is something you might want to do, you should know that this is not a good candidate for two-at-a-time knitting. Nor is it a good candidate for knitting in the car (unless your driver is willing to take turns at a crawl).

Until next time, Friends!

Stuff I've Learned About Train Travel

1. Spring for a spot in the sleeper car. It's a little more expensive, but on a trip with two overnights, an actual bed with a blanket on it is well worth having. Also, meals are included in the price of the ticket and they have special activities for sleeper car passengers, like wine-and-cheese tastings.
2. Those packages of moist towelettes are awesome! It's not the same as an actual shower, but they sure made me feel better.
3. I'm not so sure how I feel about dry shampoo. I may not have done it right.
4. The Great Plains are vast and seemingly unending.
5. Glacier National Park and the nearby Flathead River are beautiful.
6. The Border Patrol checks everyone out in Havre, MT. I'm not sure that there's anything else going on in town.
7. The Columbia River Gorge is awe-inspiring. I'd like to see it next by boat.
8. Don't count on the train to travel 2300 miles without any delays, especially if it has to go through a place that was very recently under five feet of water. My train arrived 6 hours late to Portland.
9. The food in the dining car was only alright, but better than what was available in the sightseeing car. The Amish folks got it right by packing their own meals in a cooler. Had I done that, it would have been my best chance for any kind of a vegetable.
10. The coach car attendants are fantastic people. They had to put up with a lot of crap from people who were unhappy about how far behind schedule the train was. Like it was their fault, or something. I know I couldn't do their job and keep a civil tongue in my head. (Mary, if you see this, thanks for being so great!)
11. The Mississippi River in Minnesota is just gorgeous, and I'm glad I got to see it at sunset. It was the end of a great first day on the train.
12. A sweater is a good thing to have. Even better things to have: a neck pillow and a blanket. Or possibly a Snuggie, but I wouldn't be caught dead in one. Unless I were being ironic, or something, and anymore I just can't be bothered.
13. Most of my fellow travelers were very nice people. Many of them were very chatty. Headphones and pointy sticks mostly insured my solitude. One guy, upon discovering that I was from Kentucky, told me a dirty joke about a horse named "My Face." I avoided him thereafter.
14. The trip would have be infinitely better had my husband been with me.

See All the Things! Or, uh, not.

Ninety minutes is not enough time to go to the Art Institute of Chicago. Hell, it's not enough time to go to any museum. But as I had three hours between trains, I decided that I couldn't be so close as 6 blocks and not go. There was one thing, in particular, that I wanted to see: the Golden Spider Silk Tapestry in the African gallery. Have you seen the video about this tapestry? It's so freaking cool. They actually pulled the silk from the bellies of Golden Orb spiders from Madagascar. Then they did it a whole bunch more times. Then they unstickied the silk, spun it into threads, warped a loom with it, then wove it into a bunch of small brocade panels which they attached to each other to make one big brocade panel. Seriously, if you're going to be in Chicago any time soon, you need to see this. And give yourself the whole day, would ya?

To get to the African gallery, you have to go through the American Indian gallery, as well as the Chinese gallery. And if you're me, and you're in a hurry to get to the African gallery, you miss the turn and take two trips through the South Asian gallery before you figure out where you're going. And then you go through it again to get to the textile gallery to see the special exhibit of kimonos. The South Asian gallery had all kinds of statuary of Hindu, Buddhist and other religions' gods, made from many different materials: stone, wood, metal. If I'd had more than 90 minutes, I'd have taken a closer look.

After I flew through the African and South Asian galleries (with nary a look at the American Indian gallery), I went downstairs to see the kimonos. I took one picture (which didn't come out) before one of the security folks let me know that photography wasn't permitted in that exhibit. Anyway, the kimonos were all lovely, and I especially liked that they had on display some stencils that had been used in patterning on kimonos. My favorite of all that were on display was one that was a black and white checkered shogun's kimono which also had a very subtle floral pattern all over. Up close, you couldn't really see it - it really played tricks on my eyes. Stepping back a few feet, the floral patterning asserted itself. It was gorgeous.

After the kimonos, I decided I had time to take a lap through the Japanese gallery, which I don't remember having seen on past visits to the Art Institute. There was some interesting early sculpture, from the 5th century or so. I also took a look at the wood carvings and ceramics, but the space that really grabbed me was the Ando gallery, fully of woven bamboo baskets by artist Fujinuma Noboru. These were the most beautiful baskets I've ever seen. It makes me want to take up basketweaving, just to try. Of course I couldn't achieve that level of skill, but it would be fun to try. Maybe for my next hobby.

After the Japanese gallery it was time to head back to the train station to catch my train to Portland. I'm cheap enough that I only paid for a coach seat, rather than coughing up for a sleeper car. I lucked out and got a seat all to myself, but I very nearly had to sit next to the chattiest woman ever. She was on the phone the whole time the train was boarding, then she -horrors- started talking to me. And before you go thinking I'm a completely nasty person, it wasn't just small talk. She was heading for life's story territory just as I realized a couple seats were about to open up. I couldn't move fast enough. After I moved, she placed another call, which got her all the way to Wisconsin, I think.

In knitting news, I cast on for Peasy, by Heidi Kirrmaier, with more lovely Rowan Revive - it's the same yarn I used on my Vesper, by the same designer. Peasy is a top-down cardigan, with pretty little lacy/viney bits on the cardigan fronts. I'm knitting it with size 4 needles, which got me gauge the last time I knit with this yarn. I'm so glad I brought this project, as the miles of stockinette would be just the thing for a 46-hour train ride.

Well, that's all I have for now. Until next time, Friends.

All Aboard for Sock Summit!

Well, so much for getting two posts up before I left - I didn't even get one!

Early last Tuesday morning my husband drove me to Indianapolis, where I got on a train to start my journey to Sock Summit. It was an uneventful drive, which started a little late because I forgot to go to the ATM and I couldn't find my neck pillow. (Yes, I know: First World Problem.) We got to the station with a few minutes to spare before boarding and then my dear, sweet husband turned right around and drove back to Louisville, fueled on a 20oz. can of Red Bull.

Once I found myself a seat (I had two to myself!), there was a short wait before we could depart. At one point, they cut all the lights in the car, and for half a minute, I was expecting Dementors to show up. It was pitch black both inside and out. But then the lights came back on, we felt the locomotive power up, and we were off!

I pulled out Damask, which only had about 1.5 chart repeats to go before I could call it done. I've been very pleased with how well this project has gone. No major mistakes, just one dropped stitch, which I was easily able to fix. I didn't even have to use any lifelines, which is not a practice I recommend, as lifelines really are your friends. The only thing I might say I was unhappy about would be that the front of my shirt was covered in alpaca fuzz, but it was not really that bad. As the train rolled along toward Chicago, I completed Damask while the sun came up over the corn and soybean fields.

Having grown up in northeastern Indiana, these fields are my favorite view. As a kid, I rode my bicycle for miles and miles on country roads surrounded by acres and acres of corn. I don't remember many fields with livestock, just crops as far as the eye could see, occasionally broken by a barn or silo. This morning, there was a mist over the fields, giving them a dreamy quality as the sun rose over them. It was a great way to start the trip.

Next time, I expect I'll be writing about my Peasy cardigan, which I cast on last Monday, in anticipation of completing Damask. I also had a little Sock Summit homework to do - I needed about an inch of ribbed cuff for one of my classes. Until then, Friends.

A Short Update

For the last two days, I've been traveling toward Portland, Oregon, for Sock Summit. I'm writing this post from Spokane, Washington, while the Amtrak folks separate my section of the train from the section that is going to Seattle. It's been an uneventful trip, so far, although I feel like my ass is becoming one with the seat. I've written a couple posts, which I expect to put up once I've arrived in Portland.

Looks like I'm out of battery, so that'll do it for now. Until next time, then.

Road Trip!

For the past two days, I've been at a work-related conference in Lexington. I learned all kinds of good things about "green" building strategies and even taught a workshop about advanced framing techniques (which is a green strategy because it uses less lumber to build a house). One of the interesting things I learned is how much transportation affects low-income homeowners and how access to public transportation can help keep homeowners in their homes. There was also a lot about different kinds of ways to build homes to reduce the amount of energy they use and how we, as low-income housing builders, can work toward making this an achievable goal.

Anyway, on my way home from the conference, I took the wrong road out of town, so I ended up not on the interstate, but on a US highway instead. This road took me through Frankfort, which is Kentucky's capital city, so I decided to take a walk around the downtown and see what I could see.

As it turned out, I got to see a lot of nice, old brick buildings and one not-so-nice one, which was being worked on. I hope they can save it. Otherwise, there will be a gaping, ugly hole in the middle of the block. On the same block was a newer theater front that looked to be from the 1920's or so. It had some nice deco touches.

Another building I happened upon was Kentucky's Old State Capitol, which was the site of the assassination of William Goebel, whose statue proclaims him the "Martyr Governor." The base of the statue has a list of his accomplishments and a statement about him from William Jennings Bryan, as well as what are reported to have been his last words. One interesting quote attributed to him is about whether "corporations are the masters or the servants of the people," which seemed relevant to me today. From what I read on his Wikipedia page, I'm guessing this statement might have been in reference to the L&N Railroad, but in that day and age, it could have been one of any number of corporations.

It seems that Mr. Goebel was a populist when it served him, but he had plenty of enemies and was no stranger to controversy or double dealing. There's probably a book about this guy somewhere - maybe I'll do a little more reading. (At dinner last night, our current Lt. Governor spoke as part of the conferencee, and some of what he had to say makes me wonder about Big Coal's influence over current elected officials, which, to my mind, makes Mr. Goebel's quote nothing short of prescient.)

That's all I have this evening. Next time, I'll have a progress report on the Kristi socks and maybe the Kusha Kusha scarf too. Until then, friends.

So much to love!

So, it's Valentine's Day and I have lots of love in my life: my dear, sweet Husbeast, my Mom, my friends & family all over the place. A cat who loves snuggles & chin skritches. I have a fulfilling career and  hobbies to nurture. I am grateful. I hope for everyone today that they're with someone they love or doing something they love.  My love and I have been married nearly 7 years now, and every day I love him more. Cynic that I am, I'm glad I get to be a cynic with him. Here we are, the night before our wedding. We had a duckpin bowling party, instead of a rehearsal dinner, so that's why the matching shirts. 'Cause we're a team! Yay, team!

My plans for today involve taking the cat to the vet for his annual shots. I meant to do it last week, but, really, when you get right down to it, what's a better way to show your pet you love it than to ensure its vaccinations are up-to-date? (Louie would say tuna in gravy would be a better way to say it, but he doesn't speak English, so he'll just have to suck it up. He's going to be in a sulk for the rest of the day, anyway.)

I also plan to do a little knitting today, in between loads of laundry & grocery shopping. Yesterday, Husbeast & I went to Indianapolis to meet up with a friend of his from high school. On the way, we stopped at the outlet mall in Edinburgh, where I bought some jeans and running pants. Then we went on a trek to check out the local yarn shops. I already knew that Broad Ripple Knits wasn't open on Sundays, but I didn't check the store hours for Knit Stop. We found out when we got there that they don't have Sunday hours. We eventually ended up at Mass Avenue Knits, in the Fountain Square neighborhood, about half an hour before they closed.

It was a really big space, with a lot of yarn all over the place. I couldn't really figure out the organizing principle for the shop, but it seemed that woolly-type yarns were along one side, that there was a little section for baby-type things, another for sock-related things and areas for non-wool things, bags, buttons. There was a longish table where a few people were knitting, strewn with ephemera, completely chaotic. I think if I were a regular at that shop, I might have gotten used to it, but my rigid little brain, which likes organizing & categorizing things, really had difficulty focusing on the yarn. I wanted to straighten & clean the place from top to bottom! I think I saw a lot of Malabrigo, Cascade & Plymouth yarns. There was a lot of everything. I ended up with just one little skein of Classic Elite Alpaca Sox, which will eventually become a well-loved pair of socks for me.

We still had some time to kill before we had to be in Greenwood for dinner, so we went to Broad Ripple to see if there was anything interesting there. It's been more than 15 years since I lived there and while many things about the neighborhood have changed, there wasn't anything I was willing to get out of the car for. Husbeast found a record store to investigate, so he went in while I stayed in the car, knitting away on the Milo socks. With all the driving we did yesterday, I must have completed about 3 inches of it! I got through the gusset shaping and now I just have to get enough length on the foot to fit the Husbeast.

Before dinner, we found a bookstore, where I got Wild Color, a book about natural dyes & dyeing techniques. I have been thinking about trying to dye my own fiber, so this book will be a good start. It appears to be comprehensive and authoritative, so I'm looking forward to it. Maybe a little indigo will end up in our garden this year.

After dinner in Greenwood, we headed for home, arriving well after dark to a hungry, lonely cat. It was nice day. The Husbeast was a great sport for doing all that driving. What a great valentine!