My Knitting Life

School Daze

7:35 a.m.: First year middle schooler departs for long walk to bus stop. Insists on no parent escort. At Mother's insistence, Dad walks child to the end of yard with strict instruction to dive into the bushes if other middle schoolers become visible. A few short seconds later, child is around the bend and out of site.

8:40 a.m.: Mayhem at the elementary school bus stop. Loud noises eminating from the bus as the door opens. First and Third graders board without incident. Many nervous parents left milling about.

8:42 a.m.: Mother of said children exchanges strained nicities with bus stop parents and then quietly crawls inside the house, past the piles of papers and laundry and dishes, for a few moments of quiet reflection. What do they say? "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Happy "Back To School" To All!

Back to Reality

Our week in Block Island was beyond expectations! We biked, boated, hiked, and hit the beach everyday. Our hostess, my husband's cousin, very generously opened her doors to our family - the view above is from her front porch (click for detail). She is a year-round islander, involved with the Land Conservancy and preserving open space on the island. She helped the children appreciate the natural environment and was a wealth of knowledge about island life and history.

I finished Summer Tweed, the knitting at least. Hope to seam 'er up soon. I also started the Conwy socks from Knitting On The Road. I was very satisfied with the projects I took along and with all I was able to accomplish. Summer Tweed was mindless - perfect for the beach. The socks were portable, great for the car and the ferry.

Re-entry is proving to be totally overwhelming! Unloading and laundry and emails and piles of mail. I am blown away by some of the major projects going on out there. Sandy's got Inishmoor going. Annie's doing Rogue. Siow Chin is wrapping up some UFOs and finished her first pair of socks. Margene has got her hands on some "Anne" - can't wait to see what she chooses to do with it. And how about Eva's breathtaking Karis? I am so inspired by all this fantastic productivity and creativity. While I loved the break from My Knitting Life, it's good to be back among such great company!

On The Road Again!

We waited all summer for our family vacation. We're off to Block Island! I've been planning my vacation knitting for quit a while. Inspired by all the sock knitting going on at Sandy's place, I decided to dive in and get this book, to go with this luscious skein of Shaeffer Yarns' "Anne". (I must compliment the Shaeffer Yarns folks on their generous 560 yards to a skein). My photo does not do justice to the soft blend of colors. Just click on the link to see all the beautiful choices. Mine is a perfect representation of Fall leaves. I was also pleased to see how dramatically the look changes from skein to wound ball. This is because the lengths of color are very short so you get such a great mix of color in a small section.

My bag also holds Summer Tweed, Kersti, and a few different gauges of sock yarn and needles from the stash, just in case. Oh, and Nancy Wiseman's Finishing Techniques, because I never go anywhere without it anymore. There will be knitting time in the car and on the ferry, and hopefully, during the week, in between bike riding, beach going and exploring.

Best to you all - see you in a week!

Alone Again, Naturally

I have been home alone since Monday. I've been on my own lots of times, but never at home that I can remember. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of it. Put the fears of the nighttime visitors behind me. Take back the night.

Truth be told, my neighbor would not HEAR of me sleeping home alone in a frightened state and insisted that I take their guest room. With the big four poster bed and the air-conditioning. She's my knitting partner, so we would get together for an hour or two of knitting and a cup of tea before retiring at her house. How lucky am I?

But during the days I have been alone. For hours! I've made lists and completed everything. I've run out for one errand and didn't rush. I ate sushi for lunch and Chinese noodle soup for dinner. I worked and did laundry and shopped, but only when I felt like it. I screened my calls and wrote long overdue emails to people. I got curiously into watching the Olympics and I don't even like sports! I cried when I saw the parents watching their children getting medals.

What a strange and wonderful experience it has been. Of course I love my family. But this has been a quiet week of re-fueling for me. Big Learning: Sometimes you just lose yourself in meeting everyone else's needs and addressing their issues! Second Big Learning: Must do this more often.

When family asks me what I did without them, though, I'm just going to say "Oh, nothing."

The Saga Continues....

...but I'll get to that in a minute. First, my weekend car knitting resulted in a completed back for "Hunter". This is Rowan Summer Tweed in "Raffia". This yarn is 70% silk, 30% cotton. It is light as a feather, yet bulky. It feels soft, but in a cotton-y, raw silk kind of way. The silk is surprisingly warm against my skin as I am knitting and this makes my mind stray toward planning fall projects and getting back to wool again. I am getting gauge on size 9 needles. I have no idea why this design caught my eye. I jumped back and forth between a few different styles in the booklet, but decided on this simple V neck with nice shaping in the body to best showcase the yarn. I hope to complete this project so that I can wear it over Labor Day weekend.

Now I bet you all think I am making this up just to get attention, but last night there was a scurrying in the attic above our bedroom. I kid you not. Mr. Animal Control officer recommended tapping it. If it stops it is a field mouse. If it speeds up, it is a nocturnal squirrel. Nocturnal Squirrel - he'll come out. Mouse - it's a waste of his time - just set traps.

My husband left for a business trip this morning and my kids are either at camp or with Grandma (this was planned so that I can complete a work project). I guess it is better that the kids aren't here because we would have to put them in some serious therapy if they had another nighttime incident like the last one. So tonight I will crawl into bed with a tennis racket and a broom and wait for the little bugger to start his nighttime galavanting...

Relax

Yesterday, I decided to wash those blues right out of my hair! First, I went for a walk. Seems like many of you out there are dusting off the old addidas and taking in the scenery. I think the change in season is a great time to get back to a bit of exercise. For me, just walking calms me down and brings me back to center.

Next, I untangled that unruly mess of Kersti and finished the back. I am calmly accepting the variations in dominant color from ball to ball. Ohmmmm.

Then, I got a new knitting book - Knitting Simple Sweaters from Luxurious Yarns by Marilyn Saitz Cohen. A perfectly soothing collection of easy knits which allow the fibers to take all the attention. I tried to get Hot Knits, as per Annie's suggestion. They didn't have it, but I didn't let that get me down. Square breathing.

Finally, a trip to Blockbuster resulted in scoring "Nowhere in Africa" as recommended by Jessica. I might watch tonight, or maybe I will wait til tomorrow when my husband gets back from a trip tomorrow to share the experience.

Alright, already! The REAL reason I'm really so relaxed is that I got a great letter from my camper, full of !!!! and smiley faces and talk about how much fun she is having. WHEW! I can now move on and enjoy this little separation, knowing that she is forging her way very successfully all on her own.

Huge thanks to all for your very sweet comments about your camping memories, camper parenting advice, and spyware strategies. It really helps to get some perspective on the separation issue! I have minimized my pop-up problem, but it is still there. I can see why one would just want to wipe the slate clean and start over.

Here's to a relaxing week's end...

Hello Mother, Hello Father...

First it was the bats. Now, spy-ware. I am feeling so violated. My previously pristine computer has now begun to act unpredictably. I will be composing a heart-felt email to my sister, and up pops an add for internet poker or, worse yet, porn wallpaper. I am running all kinds of programs to clean up my system. But just as the sanctity of my bedroom was spoiled by the night-time visitor, so has my computer been tarnished by these internet opportunists. Will I ever be able to trust again?

I have been feeling a little down. My Kersti is all in a knot (the working ball got all knotted somehow). My other summer top project looks like a dishrag. I'm ready to start the Rowan Summer Tweed project, but will I finish in time to wear it at all this season? Do I even really like it? Why don't I feel the enthusiasm I usually do with a new project?

OK. What I'm really feeling blue about is the fact that we dropped my daughter off at camp on Sunday and it feels like there is a void around here. Like something's missing. Occassionally little worries creep in. What if she is miserable? Has no friends? Feels lonely, or sick or tired? To be honest, she has been a bit of a challenge this summer (understatement) with all those pre-teen hormones raging. It has been nice to deal with the more basic needs of the boys (food, clothes, occassional bathing) the past few days. I'll feel better when the first letter arrives (hopefully before pick-up day), and if it is full of complaints I'll know all is well!

She looks happy, right? Oh, and it was her idea to go...

All Buttoned Up

Green-Eyed Laurie was so kind as to create a button for me! It features the lovely stitch markers created by Lynette, my Secret Pal from the first go-around. Throw in a bit of my knitting, and my button is truely a compilation of knit-blogger creativity! Laurie's technical support also exceeded my expectations. So help yourself to my button if you please!

Update - I'm goin' with the flow with Kersti. I am going to alternate balls and hope the overall effect creates harmony. I've searched my soul to determine if it is artistic expression or pure laziness driving this decision. I know that it has taken me three weeks to knit 9 inches. While I have dabbled in some other projects, I am having trouble getting anything done these days, and those 9 inches are very precious progress in these hot summer months. I think this approach will create subtle color changes which should be balanced overall. A theory yet to be proven.

It's camp week for the kids! WOO-HOO! I might actually have some time to myself. What are my plans? Knitting, haircut, eye doctor appointment, shopping. I might even rent videos and watch them smack dab in the middle of the day if I feel like it. While knitting at the same time. So there.

Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder

I have been watching the blogs and am hearing some common stories about color issues with Kersti. Of course, Margene is making it so easy for all of us to call in our issues to one location. I have heard about Kathleen's heart, and Annie and Margene have had columns. I seem to be in a category all by myself with variation in the dominant color in a ball - some balls more green overall, some more pink.

Blurry photo, but gives the feel for what is happening.

I wrote to the kind folks at Koigu and summarized for them what seems to be happening out here in blog-land. I got this charming and informative reply from Taiu Landra:

"If you want a sure way of being happy. Do what my mother did in the charlotte's web. example 2 rows of pink 2 rows of green 4-6 rows of pink 2 rows of green 2 rows of pink 4-6 rows of green. This is a sure way from avoiding any pooling or change in colour."

Interesting. Once again, I am humbled by what still have to learn about knitting! Taiu goes on to say that the sweaters look great. (I referred to some of the above issues in my email and sent a photo of mine.) Response - They had a column sweater a few years back and thought the effect was "amazing". Thanks, Taiu, for the artist's perspective.

So, I say do what you want! Go with columns if you like columns! Stripes if you like stripes! Hearts are sweet, too (in a "Shroud of Turin" kind of way) - unless you don't like one smack dab in the front of your sweater. I am now faced with the dilema of whether to rip my 9 inches and do the CW row technique, or whether to alternate dominant green and dominant pink and get a subtle striping. I think I need to sleep on it just one more night. What would you do?

Dog Days

I don't know what quite made me do it, but a couple visits to some LYSs over the past two weeks resulted in two new summer projects! Now I know we are into August, but it's too hot for anything but cotton these days.

This simple summer top should be a breeze. The K1C2 label intrigued me: "created from new textile waste in the apparel and textile industry...contributing to the conservation and global reutilization of products". Cool. I cast on last night and was a couple inches in when I realized I had picked up the wrong size needles! Oh well, start over.

Major splurge. Love the silky sophistication of Rowan's Summer Tweed! I'm not a strappy kind of gal (like many of the patterns), but I like the coverage of "Hunter" and I think it will wear nicely into Fall. The sweater has a fun slip stitch pattern to it, and on size 8 needles, should also go quickly.

My knitting mistake of last evening was attributed to the fact that I was absorbed in a very sweet movie, "In America." All day today, I keep thinking of the story of the immigrant family and how the children help their parents adapt to America and cope with the loss of a child. Sure helped me keep my silly error in perspective!

Stay Cool.