Week Twenty-Two: Now Playing

Although I like watching movies, I have significant gaps in what I’ve actually seen. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t actually mention the title of a movie I haven’t seen, because it invariably leads to someone choking and shouting phrases such “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN’T SEEN PRETTY IN PINK?” (sigh) This sad state results from (a) my tendency to re-watch favorite movies over and over again and (b) the lack, at certain points in my life, of a proper movie-going buddy. I’ve also had the misfortune of wasting my time on some pretty lame movies. I have a pretty high tolerance for the mediocre, but if you asked me what movies I’d never want to see again, Against All Odds and Hot Dog are at the top of the list. (Now imagine seeing both of those movies when you’re awkward, seventeen, and in equally awkward mixed company.)

It was even tackier and more embarrassing than it looks.

My past efforts to catch up on my movie-watching have been somewhat unsuccessful. One year my husband and I decided to watch our whole VHS movie collection in alphabetical order, starting with Apollo 13. The next morning we turned on the television and were completely disoriented to see the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia falling to earth over Texas. I don’t think we watched any of our movies for the rest of 2003, having convinced ourselves that we were the most fatal jinx ever. A couple of years later we decided to watch the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies, and may have set a Netflix record for Longest Time Between Receipt of DVD and Viewing of Film (a tie between Lawrence of Arabia, which was very long but very good, and Birth of a Nation, which was ugly and painful). After discovering the travel documentaries Long Way Round and Long Way Down, it was hard to go back to ordinary movies.

Those were still older movies on DVD, though, not current releases. For whatever reason, I just don’t get out too often to see the latest blockbuster. When the kids were little, we rarely had a babysitter, so watching films on DVD was more manageable. But even then, films often lost out to the opportunity to watch, say, the entire run of “Sports Night.” (Dan and Casey, Jeremy and Natalie, Dana and Isaac — I miss you!)

Now I have a bit more opportunity to get out and keep up. For a while, though, it looks like I will be spending a lot of time catching up on entire franchises. Last weekend I watched five movies in four days: Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and Iron Man 1-3. That was… a bit much. Many, many, many, many objects blew up in my face. New and powerful weapons were invented. Friends in conflict fought each other, reconciled, then fought a common enemy side by side. Rules were broken. And the credits rolled on for so long (and I do watch ALL of them) that after a while, particularly for Star Trek Into Darkness, I started looking for my own name. Everyone else in the world apparently worked on it; maybe I had, too, and just forgot. (I didn’t see it; maybe they spelled it wrong.)

But I am so many franchises behind. Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, anything with an X-Man in it or a lone Avenger in it….

All of this is completely ignoring the DVR buildup I’ve created over the last five months. Five more episodes of “Castle” to watch. BBC America specials on the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Doctors. About a dozen episodes of “Community” (and when I’m done with that one, there is NO MORE). And the box sets…. I have DVD box sets for five seasons of “Doctor Who” and seven seasons of “House.”

Perhaps I should start with the time travel movies, in case they contain the secret to having enough time to watch movies and have a life.

Week Six: Degrees of separation

I’m enjoying a more contemplative day today as the snow gently falls on the pines and the pastures. Having ignored the urgings of the weather service to heed instructions for French Toast Alert Level Orange, I’ve done my driving for the day without adding to my stores of milk, bread, or eggs. Quiet music plays from the TV’s music channel. Knitting is being accomplished; reading, contemplated.

Not taken from my house, but it might as well be.

As I was driving back from “town” this morning I was thinking about how people keep saying that the internet has allowed people to opt out of personal interactions, that we are not learning how to effectively interact with people face to face. I wonder about that. If you know me, you probably know I spend a lot of time on Facebook. I check in several times a day, sometimes for hours at a time. I post, comment, share, like, friend, and play a popular game using letter tiles.

Through Facebook I have been able to connect with interesting people, stay in touch with relatives, and reconnect with more distant souls. My Facebook friends range from my first friend (born two days before me to the family two houses down the street) to people on the other side of the planet, sometimes cyberfriends of cyberfriends. I can peek over the shoulders of my twin third-cousins as they work their way through medical school. I can look at the first photos of the first grandchild born to someone in my high school graduating class. I can witness the silly exchanges between two best friends, or between partners. I can see a list of the songs my sister-in-law is listening to on Internet radio, and with a click of the mouse I can hear them, too. These are the kinds of events I wouldn’t ordinarily witness. They are a view into ordinary life that a class reunion, a family reunion, or even a phone call or a letter doesn’t have a way to truly include.

Through Facebook I’ve been allowed to participate in more joy, anxiety, humor, pain, happiness, and sorrow than I thought my heart would have room for. Babies are born and celebrated, and babies die and are grieved. Kids say the darnedest things. Students study, party, win, lose, and goof around. Pets get sick. Friends make plans, issue invitations, meet up, and share the photos afterwards. Grandparents fall down. People have surgery. Prayers, positive thoughts, and (((hugs))) fly back and forth like electromagnetic waves. Funny jokes and silly pictures are circulated. People are poked. A classmate waits in vigil for her comatose sister to open her eyes and rejoin the world, and her classmates wait invisibly with her.

This is more connection, not less. These are the kinds of shared events that used to only happen within a family. Because of Facebook, our families have grown if we have allowed them to. And not only have I discovered things about my friends and my family — I’ve discovered more about myself. I could compare my accomplishments with those of others and be depressed, yes; I can also encounter unsolicited viewpoints that make me stop, think, reconsider, reaffirm, adapt, change, and grow.

I’m not indulging in these musings just to distract you from the paucity of my knitterly and academic accomplishments in the last week. While the variable weather and the resultant slick (and sometimes invisible) roadways have kept me from getting to campus to work on my math, I am 29 rows (1,218 stitches) away from finishing the dropped-stitch scarf. I have a shawl project all set to go that a real-life, in-person kind of friend is making at the same time. I’ve also initiated a Valentine’s Day cyberspace knit-along event involving a whole batch of friends I’ve never met in person. And I’m making bits of progress on my longer-term knitting projects as well.

This was not a stated goal, but I’ve gotten all caught up with both “Downton Abbey” and “Castle,” and I’m starting on “Top Chef.” Ten more episodes to go on that one. If I have a marathon I might be able to finish in time for the live finale, but I’m not sure. I also have a stack of interesting books I’m trying to make time for. I miss reading.

Week Four: The sum of the parts

If a pile of unrelated halves could add up to a shorter pile of related wholes, I’d have more progress to report — at least, progress in the Finis! Mission Accomplished! Level Complete! sort of way. But, to paraphrase Buzz Lightyear, “That isn’t my way, is it?”

Well then, let’s see what we do have.

I finished one slipper (half of a pair) and a washcloth.

(no new picture since last week. feel free to use your imagination.)

Here is half of a sock that I cast on for while watching my alma mater play hockey against the team whose TV coverage I can actually receive in my home.

Half a sock is better than…. no, it’s still just half a sock.

Wait…. here’s half of a pair of socks! That’s better, right?

The sock for which I had sufficient yarn.

To tell the truth, I actually showed up at Thursday morning knitting group with this sock just to prove that I had actually knit a sock. We’re a little funny about socks, my group is. If you don’t make socks at all, we’re fine with that. It’s a lifestyle choice we can both understand and respect. If you tried making socks and you suck at making socks, we’re fine with that. Oh, we will tease you about it, but really, we’re fine with that, too. But if you can make socks and nobody ever sees you making socks, well… we seem to have a problem with that. The gang actually chipped in the summer before last and made a birthday present for me out of sock needles, sock yarn, and a sock pattern because I “never make socks.”

This sock had an interesting origin. I discovered somehow that Wisconsin would be playing Miami University last weekend. Now, if you know much about Sports of Any Kind, you should know right away that this is an Unusual Occurrence, as Miami is usually in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Wisconsin is in the Big Ten/11/12/13 Conference. However, when it comes to HOCKEY, it’s a little bit different. You play the nearest hockey teams. Sometimes, and more often than you might think necessary, you play teams in Alaska. Now, Miami has recently had a most excellent hockey team and Wisconsin, so far as I knew, wasn’t on the college-hockey-playing map. This year has been an exception; Miami has struggled, while Wisconsin built up an impressive winning streak. Even Miami’s “hockey blog” group predicted that, at best, Miami would win one and lose one over the weekend.

That’s exactly what happened. Wisconsin won the Friday night game as I cast on for this Miami-colored [and coincidentally Wisconsin-colored] sockette made from stash yarn. And Miami broke Wisconsin’s streak by winning the second game on Saturday night, when I was just past the gusset stitches. They were exciting games to watch — although the kidlets still don’t quite understand why I wasn’t rooting for Wisconsin — and I got one sock out of it. Sadly, after weighing the leftover yarn, I’ve concluded that I probably won’t have enough red yarn to make a mate for it. I’ve had plenty of suggestions that I simply reverse the colors in the second sock…. but that isn’t my way, is it?

No, it isn’t.

So I just sent a message to the only person on Ravelry who has a skein of this yarn that they’re willing to sell or trade. Come icing or high-sticking, my little hockey sock will have a mate that well and truly matches.

I haven’t knitted a stitch of the drop-stitch lace scarf, and though I did cast on and knit a couple of rows on the next Gigi slipper, it wasn’t even enough to take a picture of, so that’s all the progress that’s worth reporting on the knitting front.

But on the resolution front? Any news there?

This post takes care of Resolution #1 for the time being. And I made some progress on Resolution #3 by getting my butt down to campus this week and setting myself up for success in calculus. Yesterday I even studied and took extensive notes. I had forgotten quite a bit since I had to suspend my studies, but I finally did find the place in the textbook before which I need not go, and I will re-educate myself from there. I’ll make copies of my notes and start taking on homework problems starting tomorrow. The sooner I get it done, the sooner I’ll be ready for the Most Excellent Job in technical editing.

P.S. I’ve started watching Season 3 of Downton Abbey and should be all caught up by Sunday night. Just so you know.

Week Three: Then there were six

With Resolution #2 out of the way, and steady progress being made on Resolution #1, you’d think I would have taken care of Resolutions 3 and 4 by now.

Well…not yet. But I have been working on the reorganizations necessary for accomplishment of #3, and some votes are in as far as the particulars of #4. Unfortunately, there’s a tie, so either (a) more people need to vote [did you know you could vote for more than one item?] or (b) I will have to learn TWO new cast-ons.

Until the ballot boxes are stuffed, I can report that I have made progress on a couple of projects. The drop-stitch lace scarf has 9 repeats complete on it now, and a few minutes with a gram-sensitive kitchen scale and a wooden ruler showed me that I ought to be able to squeeze 28 total repeats from this quantity of yarn, making the finished scarf about 42 inches long.

This is the 33 percent.

I also cast on for another pair of cotton slippers for my grandmother. I have made several pairs for her over the last few years. She wears them out and asks for more. I meant to have started these much earlier, but. I started watching Season 2 of Downton Abbey yesterday, and decided it was the perfect time to cast on for the slippers. And so it was. I have already finished one slipper. Then I decided to take a little break by using the leftover yarn from the first ball to start a matching dishcloth. I’m more than half way done with it, then I should have enough yarn left over to make the second slipper. I’m thinking of edging the washcloth with crochet…. maybe just to see if I remember how.

The little-seen Matching Dishcloth and Slipper set.

Downton Abbey is perfect for garter stitch, or any other knitting you can do without checking on it constantly. And in the episode I watched today (okay one of the episodes; I’m trying to catch up so I can watch Season 3 with the rest of the world), there was the first depiction of knitting. Different sorts of needlework are constantly being mentioned and shown, but this time the red-headed Irish maid, Ethel, had a ball of green yarn she was apparently working into the panel of a sweater.

This is probably Ethel’s most respectable talent.

The weather right now is sunny but cold, and this weekend we go from a high of 38° on Saturday to a high of 15° on Sunday, with temperatures expected to stay frigid for several days. No snow, just bone-chilling cold. Perfect knitting weather. I’m looking forward to finishing these projects and casting on for new things in bright, cheerful colors. Maybe even wild and outrageous colors! Or maybe I will just cast on to make a pile of mittens to replace all the ones my Darling Children have LOST this year. It’s gotten so bad that I have even purchased insulated gloves from the STORE, only to have a child come home wearing only one of them on the afternoon of the first day. ::headdesk:: Perhaps I should just pick a signature color of washable wool blend (I’m considering you, Wool-Ease) and just Never. Stop. Making. Mittens. Out. Of. It. Year-round. For the rest of my days.

They don’t seem to lose the scarves. Maybe I should start making the scarves with the hand-pockets on the ends?

Not enough hours in the day

I feel like I have to sprint to get this post in tonight, so I’ll have at least two posts for May. (I’m still feeling guilty about having no posts in April.) Last year at this time I was probably posting 2-3 times a week. Nowadays — well, I guess I’m doing more Mom work.

Yes, there’s Ravelry, too. I recently passed 5000 posts there. That’s nothing compared to some people. (They know who they are.) But it is a lot compared to many. I have started two groups, and am a moderator on one other group, and if I don’t check in at least a few times a day the backlog starts to build up.

Anyway. Everyone here is reasonably healthy (last night’s needless ER trip with Jack notwithstanding) and the knitting is slowly proceeding.

I was getting a little bit frustrated with the knitting a few days ago, then I realized that I simply am dealing with a bunch of larger projects all jostling for my time. In addition, three of them are completely in garter stitch, which frankly isn’t very compelling to look forward to. They’ll be immensely rewarding after they’re done.

Two of the other projects are stalled sock projects. One of them (Retro Rib) is boring, and the other (Noro) is frustrating. Yes, there’s a difference!

So I’ve been spending most of my time with turning two skeins of vintage yarn into a lacy summer scarf. I may be the only person on the planet making a scarf out of DuPont Radiance acrylic. Hooray for individualism!

No spinning yet — I got the new parts for my wheel but I still need to sand, stain, and put the hooks on the new multi-speed flyer. I don’t know when that’s going to happen since I’m not in a rush about it. Right now the knitting is more important.

The Yarn-a-Latte group is well started and already has some regulars in place (shout out to Bonnie AKA Jeeplady). It’s really nice to have a Tuesday night knit that’s close by, and it’s made the last couple of Sowless Fridays easier to bear.

Knitwise, what have I finished? Well, I got a cell phone for Mother’s Day and promptly abandoned every other project to make two cell phone cozies. Out of alpaca and a friend’s handspun, thankyouverymuch. It’s hard to beat an alpaca cell phone cozy for luxury! And they are Doctor Who-themed to boot. I’m trying to figure out a cozy design for each Doctor. Starting with Ten. But I have picked up some yarn to make one for Nine (I hope).

In the television-watching department, both Chuck and Castle got renewed. And there was much rejoicing! If you haven’t watched these shows there’s plenty of time to catch up. They are both worth it. And they both feature actors from Firefly — Adam Baldwin (Jayne) and Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal) respectively. Dollhouse, with Alan Tudyk (Wash), also got renewed — I haven’t seen it but will start catching up. Unfortunately, The Sarah Connor Chronicles with Summer Glau (River Tam) was cancelled after this season. But since a friend’s viewing of that show got me directly into Firefly, I am mourning the loss of it even though I didn’t watch.

What do we watch? I don’t think I watch a lot of television (again, compared to some), but chronologically it includes Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency, Chuck, Castle, Top Gear, My Boys, Better Off Ted, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, and Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures when I can get them. Top Chef and Next Food Network TV Star when they’re “in season.” Flight of the Conchords. Anything by Anthony Bourdain when I can catch it.

When I see it all written out like that, I realize it’s more TV than I have ever regularly watched. I don’t know why. Are shows getting better? I’m not sure about that, but they are getting quirkier. I’m also watching lots of Netflix stuff, so I don’t know how I have so much time for TV. I can tell you that ever since we got the DVR we’ve been snagging more shows that we liked, just because it was easier to do so.

Remember, just after the dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the earth, when we’d put in a tape to catch a show, and we’d watch it days later? Or, actually, never get around to watching it at all? Well, when you get a message on your DVR screen that says “83 percent full” you start watching your shows to free up the space. I mean, you just have to. Otherwise you can’t record any more stuff!

When I’m not watching all this television, I’m exercising and catching up on some podcasts. I’m years to months behind on all of them, but I’m plugging away.

Back to the knitting!

Fiberrific

I wasn’t planning to write a post tonight, but I’m overdue, and besides, everyone is asleep. I might as well strike while the kids are sleeping. Who knows when one of them will have a nightmare and come running down the stairs? (I never know; without my glasses I can’t read the bedside clock. My daughter swears I lift the covers for her without even waking up.)

After the Marquette scarf got done and the first sock of the pair got done, not much knitting has been taking place. I started plugging away again on the Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf, but I haven’t cast on for the second sock yet. I was going to do that tonight, but then this German wine kind of got in the way of doing a good job of it. (Then I was going to watch two episodes of Torchwood, then one episode of Torchwood, but then it took forever to get caught up on Ravelry, so here I am.)

I did, however, cast on for a new project. That’s not as terrible as it sounds. It’s really something I promised as a Christmas present, so actually it’s about time I cast on for it. It’s a simple scarf, but I considered several stitch patterns before I found something I liked. And once I did, I loved it. I think I may have finally found a scarf that knits itself. I’m using the Baby Cable Ribbing pattern from the first Barbara Walker book. It’s an easily memorized four-row pattern that you could knit in the dark if you had to. I started the scarf two days ago, haven’t put in much time on it really, and it’s fairly galloping along. I don’t think it hurts that the yarn is 100 percent Merino either.

So. I have the Scarf, the Second Sock, and the New Scarf all going right now. (As soon as I get the Second Sock going, that is.) There’s another pair of socks lined up one the Retro Rib pair are done, but I promise that as soon as one of the Scarves is done I will start working on a WIP.

And you can vote on which one it is! Shall it be:

Tyrone, the striped bottom-up sweater stuck at the raglan decreases? Since October 2007?

The Irish Hiking Scarf in cursèd yarn from Mystical Creations? Three skeins (at least) to go!

The Gullwing Lace stole in silk yarn I bought for myself last Mother’s Day?

Or, the Denim Sweater I started in November for NaKnitSweMo and didn’t even finish the crew neck? I might have enough yarn for the whole sweater, but I’m not sure.

Every vote counts. Each commenter can cast as many as ten votes — all for one project, or split them up however you like. Clearly, my own inclinations toward the next project cannot be trusted.

———

In other news, I have registered for a spinning retreat being taught by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Naturally, I am preparing for this by spinning up fiber that I am dealing with by the seat of my pants. This works fine for the Wookie fiber, which I would love to spin up and ply so I can clear off all my bobbins, but a few nights ago I decided to card and spin up some huacaya alpaca fiber samples. I got the majority of it spun, but then something happened with the take-up and the twist was just not getting into the fiber to make it strong enough to be singles. After a half dozen tries at dragging it back through the orifice to try to draft more fiber on it, I decided to leave it alone and finish when I was calmer. So now, I just hope to finish the huacaya, and prep and spin the suri samples, and possibly do the rest of the current bag of Wookie-wool before it’s time to hoist Maggie into the van and head to Columbus (Wisc.) for the retreat.

Is anything else going on? Well, Leah went home on Top Chef. About time. I am really getting to enjoy Fabio’s screen time, and Stefan’s skills.

Doctor Who is done airing the 4th season for the American audience, and true to form, they absolutely sliced and diced the season finale so they could promote Ashes To Ashes. Which even the Brits didn’t like. So if you watched the finale last weekend and wondered what all the fuss was about, ask me and I’ll give you links to where you can see what aired in the UK.

But Torchwood is coming back on soon, so I’m trying to catching up by watching Season 2 on Netflix. Trying and not succeeding tonight. Maybe tomorrow….

Chilly

You may have heard this already, but my region is expecting extremely cold temperatures over the next couple of days. I know, I was trying not to start each new post with a weather report, but this is kind of special weather.

Pretend you’re on Match Game ’77 for a minute. (Those of you born after 1977 may skip to the end.)

Gene Rayburn: “It was so cold in Wisconsin the other day—”
Richard Dawson, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, et al.: “How cold was it?”
Gene Rayburn: “It was so cold in Wisconsin the other day, that they cancelled Thursday classes by 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon.”

I know, it doesn’t have the same ring to it as “It was so cold that Beth froze her BLANK off,” but this is a pretty big deal for us. Tomorrow morning it’s supposed to be -20°F. Wind chills tonight and especially Thursday night may be in the -40° to -45°F range. So finding out the day before was amazing. Our school district was even listed individually, which probably only happened because not everything in Milwaukee County was closed on Thursday yet.

So. The kids are all home tomorrow, and we’re not planning to open the door except to let Daddy leave for a brief business trip to sunnier, warmer Texas. Personally, I plan to knit. A lot. I don’t know what they have in mind.

Knitwise, on Tuesday I finished a little baby blanket for one of Big Tom’s therapists. The poor woman was on bedrest awaiting induction tonight, only to be told she’s not ready and has to stay on bedrest until 39 weeks are done. Ugh ugh ugh, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But let the record show I finished the knitting, washed and dried it, and wrapped it up and wrote a card. (Don’t tell her I can’t even find the cute baby-gift wrapping paper and adorable card I bought for her last Saturday.)

Me: “I’m sure I put it in a Secret Special place.”
James: “Why don’t you make a map of your Secret Special places?”
Now there’s a good idea. For now, I’m just glad I had almost-appropriate wrapping paper that could substitute.

Other than that, I’m working on the first of a pair of Retro Rib socks — but very, very slowly. I got in one repeat at the Webelos meeting last night, and one repeat this afternoon. I’m also working on another Doctor Who Scarf, but I think I’ve managed two rows on that all week. It’s so far under the radar there’s dirt on the plane’s undercarriage. I haven’t done anything on the Secret Project except buy more yarn for it. 

In other news, I just finished sending in all my edits to the new issue of Knitcircus, so that will be able to go to the printer very soon. I like helping out on the ‘zine and I am just so impressed with the designs of Elizabeth Morrison. You should see her finished items in person. They all have such personality to them, and some of the yarns just glow. My own stuff just looks like stuff.

Top Chef Bulletin: Ariane got sent home tonight. Hosea pretty much threw her under the bus by allowing her to butcher her butchering of a lamb without telling her he had much more experience or offering to help. She didn’t even know how to tie up a roast properly. For goodness’ sake, I could have done a better job at it by remembering stuff I’ve seen Jacques Pepin do on television. So it’s sort of fair, and sort of not. She wasn’t going to make it to the finals anyway. Next week: Restaurant Wars. Bwahahaha!

Ravelympics, Day whatever

I think it’s fair to say I haven’t been keeping up with anything. (I don’t know why this would surprise anybody.)

First, the Ravelympics. I cast on for the second wristwarmer pretty soon after I bound off the first one, just to take advantage of the momentum. Got the ribbing done, check. Kept going and did 8-1/3 rounds of the pattern, remembering to start on Row 4 and not Row 1. But that 8-1/3, that’s where it all started to go wrong.

I don’t even remember now what night that was, but I was trying to watch some Series 4 Doctor Who at the same time. At the end of the episode I realized I didn’t really know what was going on, since my eyes had been shut half the time. Saw a clone of Freema Agyeman climbing out of a bathtub n@ked, there was a lot of frantic running around….. I think I’ll have to watch it again. (Things could be worse.)

But the point is that the next night when I picked up my knitting and tried to continue, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell what round I was on, or what part of the round. There was a hole, there was not the number of stitches there should have been, and down there at the cable cross was something that looked suspiciously like a stitch, hanging out like a little outie belly button. Apparently I do not knit at all well in my sleep.

So. I pulled out the needles and wound the yarn all back up. Until yesterday at Irish Fest when I cast on again in the curragh tent. Got my stitches on, knitted two rounds, and took it all to the dance tent at the other end of the festival, in hopes of crossing paths with RavPal Criosa/Cristy. I didn’t see her there but finished the eight rounds of ribbing. (Hooray!)

And we did end up meeting, but in the curragh tent. She also knew some of the rowers, and before I knew it people were asking me if I wanted to go out rowing in one of the racing curraghs. My husband’s been trying to get me to do this for a while, but I have Resisted. I think I knew I would like it, but didn’t know how we would swing both of us being in the club. Who’s going to watch those kids while we’re out rowing, I ask.

Well, we’ll work something out, because I loved it. Got five quick calluses, none of which bled, and made that curragh fly. Mr. Beth was steering and another rower, Mark, sat behind me and captained us both, and everything came together fairly quickly. So maybe, just maybe, if I start exercising aGAIN, I could be rowing for the team at next year’s Fest.

And Criosa? Took pictures of the whole thing, swear to God.

I had another meetup while I was at Irish Fest, but I’ll save that for another post.

Current Projects I’m Actually Working On:

Bamboo socks: waiting for black yarn to do the toes.
Cotton footies: started these for my grandmother. They’re really like dorm boots, but I’m doing them in Peaches and Cream for no good reason other than she didn’t want wool, and I had this yarn already. If you can comment with a useful instruction for doing a p2tog tbl, you will win a prize because I will be so grateful. That’s where I’m stuck in the pattern.
RWW: ready to start the pattern tonight for Mitt Two.
Secret Projects: the count is now at 2.
Doctor Who Scarf: As of 3pm this afternoon, I now officially have more than enough of the yarn I need to do the Scarf. Now I just have to finish all the above projects, so that can be the one that runs in the background. 

I’m still working on organizing this wonderful afterparty. If you’re not on Ravelry and you’re planning to come, drop me a line to let me know how many free tickets you need. If you’re on Ravelry, PM me there. Thanks! And if you can help with setup on Friday night or Saturday afternoon, or cleanup on Saturday night, double thanks!

You won’t freaking believe the door prizes that are rolling in. O.M.G. I wish I could win one!

What happens at Knit Night….

…stays at Knit Night, of course.

But the short version of last night is that we had a perfect storm of Wisconsin knitbloggers (ElizabethSABLE, Jaaladay, Dale-Harriett, Cathy-Cate, and more), a knitting ‘zine distribution (knitcircus #3), knitting tattoos (thanks Cathy-Cate!), delicious drinks, awesome projects, and a newbie who lent who lent structure to our evening. I wish I’d been wearing a wire so I could provide a transcript, but there was a lot that was Not Safe For Work, Not Safe For Children, or generally Not Suitable For Public Sharing. But all hilarious. If I get the chance to recall some of the evening, I’ll try to. We were a wild and naughty bunch hiding in the back room.

I handed out Ravelry badges and left 20 copies of the Second Sock Worksheet at the Sow’s Ear for distribution to whoever would like to help test them out. I also worked on my alpaca shawl exclusively and didn’t even take the Adipose project out of the bag. (Ironically, DH was at home watching most of the Doctor Who episode that included the Adipose; I still haven’t seen it.)

I’m still catching up with my Doctor Who viewing, but I don’t know how I’ll manage to see any of Series 4 before the finale on August 1. Series three, I should wrap up tomorrow night. Then I have less than a week to clean, plan, and pack for a multistate trip that will include a family reunion, two family mini-get-togethers, as at least two Ravelry meetups. If I can do some online viewing of Series 4, it means I won’t be sleeping. Just like now! But I really want to be aligned with the rest of Who-ville.

No other projects are getting attention now that I’m more than 80 percent done with the alpaca shawl (I’m conveniently ignoring the time it will take to make a crocheted  or I-cord edging, since I don’t know how long it will take). I need to mail at least one FO, and make arrangements to send out items for a swap so I can get the rest of my Doctor Who Scarf yarn. And I could probably finish the rest of my Ravenclaw mitten if I wanted to.

I haven’t even thought about my travel-and-trip knitting. Does anyone have suggestions for what WIPs I should take along? A week after I get back, the Ravelympics begin, and I’ll have a lot of simple knitting on my plate, taking my full attention. Then it will be time to really, really, plan that festival Afterparty.

Yikes, I’d better get busy! I didn’t know I was so far behind…..

Podding along

First of all, my immense gratitude goes out to everyone who sent me knitting podcast suggestions. I just (really, JUST) finished listening to ‘casts 2 and 3 of Sticks and String, and am about to transfer ‘casts 2 and 3 of Cast On to the iPod. I thought they were there, but they weren’t. Still figuring out this iTunes business. Maybe it’s just too uncomplicated.

But anyway, I love both these ‘casts, and after some false starts with Doctor Who podcast selection (i.e., if I’m not ready to watch series 3, I probably shouldn’t be listening to current news about current episodes, here at the end of series 4) I found some Doctor Who audio tales that might be just right for those long nights when The Husband is busy making a magazine, or in Canada, or traveling for business, or wherever. My only half-complaint is that the headphone we now have make my ears hurt. That shouldn’t be hard to fix.

The podcasts were a real bit of cheer in a rough night. Because Mr. Beth is out of the country and I have to actually Be The Mom to four kids, I couldn’t go to Late Night Knitting at the Sow. Can’t go to the next one, either, or to a Saturday meeting of the local spinning guild. Darn schedule conflicts. So I can now use these barren nights to listen to podcasts. I learn about knitting, I hear new music I otherwise wouldn’t, and I am entertained.

I need some entertaining — while I was trying to get my Ravelry fix this evening, my kids were in the process of breaking my ball winder. The handle was snapped off flush at the base, and the tension wire (for lack of a better term) was bent out of shape. The wire arm I could have fixed, but I’ve used enough cyanoacrylate to know I wouldn’t be able to fix the handle.

The little tube that you wind the yarn onto didn’t get broken, because it was elsewhere holding the ball of my first handspun on it. So now, when I buy a replacement winder, I will have extra yarn storage. Kind of like having an extra mixing bowl for your stand mixer. But it does mean I’ll need to buy the same style of ball winder so this tube will fit.

Knitting updates:

I went to Open Knitting at Gosh Yarn It (Lake Mills) on Wednesday evening, and spent a lovely time with the store owner, Patty Dehnert. I was the only one there! To give you an idea of how much we chatted, Open Knitting was from 6 to 8 and the first time I looked at the clock, it was 8:10. I showed Patty my handspun, bought another skein of yarn so I can start my second Hufflepuff mitten, did one repeat of the test knitting I’m doing for Mazzmatazz, and exactly one row of a four-row repeat of the lace. Honest to God, I thought I would have to rip it all out. I counted that row at least three times to make sure I hadn’t screwed anything up. Now I know that what I will screw up is starting it again and managing to forget that I knitted one row of the pattern already.

She seemed impressed with the ridiculous number of projects I brought, and she didn’t even charge me the Open Knitting fee. Kudos to Patty! I would link to her store site, but I don’t think she has one yet. She is still getting her feet wet with Ravelry ventures and commenting on blogs, so say hey if you come across her. She’s very nice and a little shy.

I meant to spin tonight, but instead I picked up Bamboo Sock Two and have gotten it almost to the heel flap portion of our show. I’ll do those few more rows after I get done uploading this. (I would go to Ravelry, but the Software Update icon is bouncing like a hyperactive beach ball on the Dock [I SEE you!], and it’s getting very distracting. Besides, perhaps I ought to allow time for sleep.)

I did get through three wonderful episodes of Torchwood last night: Ghost Machine, Cyberwoman, and Small World. Can’t wait for more. But I can’t do anything but plain vanilla sock while I watch, since there’s so much going on.

Quote of the Day from Jack (my Jack, not Captain Jack Harkness): “If you’re on the wrong way, go out. If you’re on the right way, go in!”