What a couple of weeks!

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been back home for almost a whole week. It was kind of crazy there for a while, driving to the lower U.P., then “up and over” and down to near-Detroit to stay with a friend on the way to my parents’ house, then a Rav meetup with two previously-met knitting friends, then a meetup in Fort Wayne on the way home.

During the whole trip I only had two knitting projects with me, and I finished one and cranked on the other (despite leaving the lace pattern at home). I felt like such a Knitter.

Here’s the project I finished: Those Noro Socks!

Since then I’ve started and finished a book (“The Wednesday Sisters”) and taken an Aran knitting class at Irish Fest Summer School.

If you’re going to Milwaukee’s Irish Fest on Sunday, leave a comment and I will get back to you — I’d love to meet you there. I will wear my Ravelry button (I’m “chocolatesheep”) so you know who to say Hi to.

More later!

You know what?

Cleveland is surprisingly pretty.

More details later, after I’ve had time to recover. Ten hours of driving on Saturday, ten hours of driving on Sunday — eventually that adds up.

Xtra pictures of the SOMA cube

Well, you did guess that starting a post title with X was going to be tricky, didn’t you? I can’t believe I got this far and nobody commented on it. Almost all the ways through my ABCs, and it’s only mid-July. That degree in English Literature is sure coming in handy!

I got the game pieces assembled, but I need to do a lot of sanding before I can call them done. Right now they’re more like portable splinter dispensers.

The seven SOMA pieces

Now, let’s make a cube.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

You can also place the last piece differently and make this pretty configuration.

The Crystal

And here are all four cubes, assembled. Sanding is next.

Four cubes

Whew! I don’t know when I’ll get to do the sanding. We have seen a couple of yucky bugs and it’s time to give serious attention to de-cluttering the house so we can have it sprayed.

Knitwise I haven’t done anything with the lace scarf in a few days. I guess I got tired of being so good at un-knitting it. But I have added two stripes to the current Doctor Who Scarf, and Fringed the second Pinstripe TenScarf on the 11th.

Next to get attention: Casting on for the second Noro sock, or attacking Tyrone. Maybe with scissors.

Vultures!

I’m getting really tired of this. Poor Farrah Fawcett, can we let her rest in peace?

Quite some time ago I wrote a post that included a head shot of Ms. Fawcett with that famous hair, which all of us “of a certain age” were trying to re-create on our own heads many years ago.

The post has taken on a life of its own, and most of the people who find my blog via search terms have been using phrases like “Farrah Fawcett” but most often “fara faucet” or some even more misspelled variation. Every time poor Farrah’s cancer flared up in the last two years, I’d get a spike of hits. (That post is responsible for 10 percent of the total hits on my blog. I Am Not Making This Up.)

So. I was away around the time of my birthday, and didn’t have access to wifi. When I got back I noticed this tremendous spike of views on and just before my birthday. In fact, June 25 set a new one-day record, topping the day I wrote about the Blue Moon Fiber Arts sock club debacle. Wow, I thought, did people really come by to say Happy Birthday in those kind of numbers?

Nope. Farrah Fawcett died of cancer and my blog must have hopped to the top of the search-engine list.

Sorry folks, nothing to see here. Just one thumbnail headshot of Farrah from the 1970s, a few chocolate bars, and a lot of procrastinated knitting. You vultures can move along.

But you yarnies can stay! I’m making a lace scarf, and finishing socks, and all kinds of exciting things.

Here’s the first clown Noro sock. I haven’t cast on for the second one yet.

Currently I’m working on the lace scarf (the pattern is called “Moon River” but my project is named “Fire River” because of the yarn colorway) and fixing Tyrone and wishing Tyrone were already fixed. I did finish a second Pinstripe TenScarf, but haven’t added any fringe yet. (And holy moley, I got a Rav PM from the pattern designer saying she hadn’t had time to fringe the one she made since it was for a gift, but she liked the fringe I put on mine. Wowzers!)

This one’s a giftknit, and I want to get another one on the needles ASAP for another Whovian friend. Who knows, I may start cranking these out like some people make touques. I’m not naming any names.

The Deer of the Day

Up until the last couple of days, it’s been unseasonably cool for Wisconsin in June. For goodness’ sake, the ten year old wanted to know if he needed to wear a hooded jacket to the first day of summer school.

It was so cool that the deer, which are typically all but invisible during the summer, have been venturing out in broad daylight to graze and do whatever else they feel like doing. A few days ago I spotted some less than 100 yards away from the road at 2:45 in the afternoon.

Yesterday it started getting hot. The heat index got up to 100°F in our county and is at the same level today. This seems to tell the deer that now they need to hide in the forests during the heat of the day — then go adventuring right at dusk.

Last night I was coming back from Knit Night and being cautious, scanning the roadsides and the treelines for deer. There was a car behind me that clearly felt I was worth passing, but just as he was getting ready to make his liberatory move, I saw an odd line up ahead and started to tap the brakes. Sure enough, it was a yearling between the shoulder and the ditch, looking quite astonished at me as I crawled by.

The guy behind me didn’t pass me after that. I wonder why?

I had to drop off my van this morning to get the brakes and air conditioning fixed before going to Ohio for the weekend, and I spotted another deer (much further away from the road this time) at about 8:15 in the morning. So maybe I’ve made quota early.

Here’s what I’ll be working on this weekend in the car:

Sorry the photo is so bad. Who knew it would be difficult to hold yarn down to show off a lace pattern while the project was still on the needles, and take a digital picture with no flash with your non-dominant (LEFT) hand?

Judith, Judith, Judith

That’s “Judith MacKenzie McCuin” for those of you who still need to update your scorecards.

I’m blogging from my hotel room, after a long and somewhat frustrating day full of Learning Experiences. One thing I learned at the very end of the day was that my wheel needs some fixing and updating. Pending the availability of the right parts (odds are good), Maggie should receive a new flyer (with extra whorl — I will have two ratios from which to choose), a new brake band, and a new drive band early tomorrow morning before the last day’s session.

However. Considering all of that, I think we did all right with worsted, woolen, wet spinning, plying, bouclé, and slubs. It was a bit of a liability to have missed everything that took place in the Friday sessions, but I caught up as best I could. (It’s hard to concentrate on your draw technique when your flyer keeps falling off.) I did some spinning and plying and skeining-up in the hotel, too.

Tomorrow we’re going to work on tweeds and encased yarns. Woo hoo! But tonight I’m missing an informal dyeing session (boo hoo) because I had to leave that hotel in Columbus and check into this hotel in Watertown. Oh well. I’m not going to worry about it.

I have a lovely quiet evening to myself after driving through the fog to get here — dinner for one, a room with a TV I haven’t turned on yet (and might not at all), and Firefly DVDs I can watch on my computer if I wish. But maybe I will just knit, or spin, or read the Judith book I already have.

P.S. I tried to upload my pictures of Flickr, but the hotel’s wifi doesn’t seem robust enough to handle it. I’ll put them up tomorrow — wait till you see my “clown barf bouclé cabled yarn”!

I can’t believe I’m going….

So, like, there’s like, this spinning retreat, like, starting tomorrow — and I get to go!

Well, not to the whole thing, but something like two-thirds of it plus a little slice of Friday. It’s the Judith MacKenzie McCuin-led retreat held through Susan’s Fiber Shop. Getting there has been an interesting journey, what with date changes and roommate arrangements and hotel reservations — but it starts tomorrow.

On the one hand, the original plan was going to be *awesome* with all the things that a friend and I had schemed up. Nothing can replace the weekend that I had, briefly, in my imagination. But this one should be pretty good too, even though I’ll miss everything that happens in the daytime Friday session.

The best part of getting ready for it (have I packed a single thing? NO) has been clearing the spinning equipment so I can start fresh this weekend with spinning every freaking thing in my stash, with intelligence and intention. This week I made two new Wookie skeins totaling almost 200 yards of 2-ply, I updated my spinning records as much as I could without Actual Research, and I made little labels for the jars I keep my handspun in.

(No, I haven’t knitted a single stitch on any of my handspun. There are many reasons for this. But I do have a project in mind for my Wookie-wool once it’s all spun up. Right now I have about 25 percent of what I need. Wait and see….maybe by 2011.)

So. I emptied my bobbins, I reglued most of my bobbins, I printed out directions to the “field trip” portion of Friday…. 

Yup. Going to yarn camp, and I couldn’t be happier.

Wait till the kids find out.

Knitwise I’ve been a bit of a slug. I started working on the second Retro Rib Sock again, figuring if I did one pattern repeat a day I would eventually finish the sock and could get on with my life. That plan worked about as well as most of my plans do, but this time I’m going to climb right back on the wagon and keep trying to work it.

I got caught up on Logan’s Blanket tonight, too. It’s pretty easy to work twelve rows on that blanket — you just have to turn your back on teh drama of Ravelry and actually sit down to knit.

So. Let me know if you’d like me to blog from mid-retreat on Saturday night, and I’ll take the computer along with my collection of two-hundred year-old technology. Hey, maybe I’ll even take the camera!

The day before the travel day

What happened? Is it time to go? Where are my clothes? What am I taking?

Oh yeah.

I thought we were on track with getting ready for a week away from home, when I saw the 2-3 inches of wet snow on the ground this morning. OK kids, now I’m serious about the mittens and the hats and the scarves. And by the way, pick up a snow shovel on your way out. kthxbai.

There are a couple of knitting projects I really should be working on today, but in reality I’ll be doing dishes and laundry and making lists and packing for the kids. So any knitting will probably be just stress-release knitting. I started a little garter stitch scarf for my daughter that’s perfect in that role — filling the Garter Stitch Void where the Doctor Who Scarf used to be. (I’ll probably start another one after Christmas, if there is anything after Christmas.)

We currently have 20 Connor Caps logged in here at Hat Central. Today’s the last day I’ll be receiving mail before the deadline of next Monday. I’m preparing myself hoping for an onslaught of the remaining 180 hats then, when I go to the post office to pick them up.

If you haven’t emailed me for my address before 2pm tomorrow (Tuesday), just contact Sara (Spitfire) at the email she left in the comments, and she’ll get it to you.

And while I’m gone, try a visit over here. Apparently I have a German twin! When I update my blogroll in 2009 I may well make a separate section for Chocolate Sheep sightings around the world. If you see one, please let me know about it!

Yesterday I purchased a 66 qt. plastic bin, 200 feet of clothesline, and 200 wooden clothespins for transporting the hats to school on Hat Day and displaying them between the basketball hoops. Does anyone know if 200 feet of clothesline is going to be enough?

It’s come to my attention that I haven’t posted a picture here of my Doctor Who Scarf, fully fringed. So here’s one!

 

Season 12 Doctor Who Scarf, fringe and all

Knit, knit like the wind!

I’m not sure how this happened. I was perfectly happy with working on (or not working on) my few Christmas knitting projects, then everything just exploded.

I cast on for a Marquette-colored huge lap blanket for my husband. This is supposed to be finished in time for the tip-off of the first game, November 8. So far, this looks doable.

I pulled out project yarn for two three additional Christmas projects. One of which “needs” an orphan ball of white mohair, how does my mind come up with this stuff? Oh yeah, they might need to be done by Thanksgiving.

I swatched for (and thus internally committed to) the NaKniSweMo project for November. (Upside Downers from Patons! In Plymouth Encore!)

I decided to finish two lap quilts for Christmas presents. One is in the quilting stage, and the other has a half-pieced top. They’ve been dormant for a year and a half.

I have two freelance clients hoping I will get work done before Thanksgiving.

Did I mention we’re going to Ohio at Thanksgiving? One knitting meetup, one possible child handoff to the ex and his family, a huge family meal (not at Mom’s house!). But, at least eight hours of driving each way, so prime knitting time.

Le sigh. But I’ve been sneaking various podcasts into my brain, so even though I’m not caught up from when I loaded up the iPod about two months ago, at least there’s progress. I’m scared to sync the thing up with the computer. You have 32 new podcasts. Would you like to download them now?

On the plus side, I’ve been taking a lot more photographs of my current and past projects for my Ravelry records. If you’re Rav-enabled (now there’s a Freudian slip!), there’s a lot more to see there now. Please come and visit! I even rescued a picture of the Packer Hat from the blog and reclaimed it on my hard drive. Flickr is helping me save it now. (Is there a way I can post my WordPress media library contents to my free Flickr account and thus save all my previously blogged photos? Hmmmm?)

Over and out, it’s time to cast on.

Scarf complete

It’s done, folks, my Series 12 Doctor Who Scarf is done. Just need to add some fringe and it’s perfectly complete. Right now it’s very busy keeping my neck warm and trying to stop my sniffles.

Yes, I’ve come down with something, but I’m happy to have a nice long wool scarf to make me feel better.

Let’s see if I can show off a little.

Doctor Who Scarf 10/23/08

My goodness, it appears to be letting me put a picture in.

Well, what else is there to talk about? I have a day trip to the house tomorrow, to help pick a new real estate agent, shoot some pictures for a possible magazine article, and have a mini meetup with a Ravelry knitter. Then we’re off to pick up the kids and get them back home too late to go to their school Halloween party. That wasn’t the original intention, it’s just probably the way it’s going to work out. My daughter asked me this morning why we “never go to Halloween parties.” Sorry sweetie.

Last Sunday we dressed the kids up and took them to their great-grandparents’ house for a practice trick or treat. We ended up with a World War I flying ace, Little Red Riding Hood, a skeleton, and a cowboy. And no cameras. Sorry! I hope they will allow themselves to be the same things again at another time. They looked good.

I’m a little under the weather right now, but have the perfect piece of mindless knitting to work on. It will probably be someone’s Christmas present, but I don’t know whose yet. I was working on it last night at a Girl Scout (okay, Daisy Scout) meeting and a five year old came up, stared at my hands, and said, “Will you make one of them for me?” She was a little scary, but I offered to teach her to knit and she said yes. There’s a “big brother” of one of Tom’s daycare classmates who’s also watching the progress, so now I may have sufficient social pressure to complete the project.

 

Pastel Triangle Shawl

I like working on this, but now that the Scarf is off the needles I can finish the socks and the Christmas knitting.

However, this morning I learned about NaKniSweMo, National Knit a Sweater Month, in November. Do you think I can do it? Do you think I should try? I already have the pattern, the yarn, and the needles.