(mis)adventures of spindlerose

NaKniSweMo not quite

I'm nearly finished with Rosamund. I would be if I had done any knitting on Saturday and Sunday. Instead of knitting I read two books,* did a bunch of cooking,** and generally lazed around. I am one ball of yarn into the first sleeve. I have half of a ball left from the body—or one quarter of a ball to finish this sleeve. I think that will get me another 3 inches of sleeve length. If I had stuck to the pattern (no sleeves) I would be finished, but would have an unflattering sweater. When I tried it on for length last week, D commented "Cute, but you're planning to add arms, right?"

I probably won't finish during tonight's Pats game, but I will finish in the next couple of days. My next sweater project is lined up and ready to go. And it has a mid-January deadline.

*Michael Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef. Both are excellent reads; my lingering urge to give up on technology and go to cooking school is gone. I have The Reach of a Chef requested at my local library and his newest book&mdashRatio—on my Christmas list.

**Rosemary and olive oil fougasse, 13 bean soup, and 2 batches of caramels for the head office holiday bake sale. Next, I need to cook and wrap all the holiday gift caramels. Anybody want to come over and help? I'll pay you in caramels.

Happy Thanksgiving

The view from our poolside cabana, May 22, 2009*

Some of the things I'm thankful for today:

1. D.
2. D and I both have jobs we enjoy that allow us to pursue our passions: fiber for me, flying for him, and travel for both of us.
3. My extended family. Almost everyone is healthy this year, and everyone is safely in the US this year.*
4. My kitties and how much laughter they bring to my life. Eliza still thinks her tail is out to get her, and Toni still tests gravity most mornings by knocking treasures off of my nightstand.
5. My friends everywhere.

*The view from our windows this morning is dismal.

**I'm saying a special prayer for D's young cousin L this season as he spends it in the hospital fighting a recurrence of leukemia. My cousin R is safely home in Wisconsin for the holidays this year after spending a hear in Iraq.

Reflections

Field of Empty Chairs and Reflecting Pool

Do you remember where you were the morning of April 19, 1995? I was working as an intern in Representative Joe Kennedy's district office. Most of the staff gathered in the Press Secretary's office and watched the news. We fielded calls from concerned citizens. We prayed. It was a scary day to be working in a federal office.

Today, Google Maps sent me to the wrong hotel. As I was correcting course, I spotted a sign pointing to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I stopped, wandered around, and reflected. The world changed on April 19, 1995; in some ways my life changed more that day and in the weeks that followed than it did on September 11, 2001. Today, I looked at the chairs—especially the small ones—and remembered.

Random Wednesday with tired

Cotswold Sheep, Rhinebeck 2009

1. I was carded last night; it made me smile and remember an old PSA about making a 40 year old's day.
2. Yesterday=6 months before my 40th birthday.
3. I cannot go to bed on West Coast time and wake up on East Coast time for more than 2 consecutive days without losing significant brain function.
4. Technical training with reduced brain function is no fun.
5. I'm going to bed on East Coast time tonight.

Did I pack enough yarn?

5 day business trip for training. The team is well trained, so I have 4 days to knit (and 2 coast to coast flights). In the bag are all the yarn to finish Rosamund (2 rows completed on the flight west), yarn for the SKA November mystery sock (1 cuff completed on the flight west), and Regia for 2 pairs (most of a Hedgerow leg completed in class today). I think that will keep me out of trouble if I have time for a Purlesence visit on Thursday.

Tiny hats

The parade of recently finished projects continues today with two tiny hats. D's sister had a baby girl in early September. Baby T was very early and very tiny. Happily, she is thriving; she went home from the hospital in mid-October and is growing quickly. When we got the news that she would arrive early, I whipped out a tiny had for her. D delivered it when she was 10 days old. After that, she wore her tiny hat whenever she was out of her incubator. According to her parents, that hat was the hit of the NICU.

I made a second, bigger hat for her from the same yarn. I hope it is enough bigger than the first hat that it will still fit when it arrives later this week.

Preemie hats for baby T

Patterns: Preemie Stocking Cap and Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: Regia Cotton Color. Less than 50 grams for 2 hats.
Notions: 3.25 mm / US 3 dpns
Time: September 2009
Comments: To make a tiny size of the Sweet Baby Hat, I cast on 102 stitches, knit 15 in each section (between increases and decreases), and worked the increases 5 times total.

Rhinebeck Swap

The crowd I went to Rhinebeck with did a small item (less than 500 yards of yarn) swap this year. In a strange twist, I both made and received a small Springtime Bandit. I made Gwen's from Handmaiden Casbah; Ann made mine from some lovely navy blue sock yarn—Fiberphile Yarns & Hand-Dyed Fibers Alchemy 2-ply Squooshy Sock Yarn. (Rav link to Ann's project page)

Gwen's Bandit
Pattern: Springtime Bandit by Kate Gagnon Osborn
Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah Sock.I bought the yarn at Churchmouse on Bainbridge Island on the way home from Sock Camp in March.
Notions: 4 mm circular
Time: October 6 to 10, 2009
Comments: I added on repeat of the main leaf pattern so that I would use up as much of this fabulous yarn as I could.

Warm hands

Dashing
Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath from the Spring 2007 Knitty
Size: Smaller
Yarn: Classic Elite Kumara from Knit Happens. I needed a tiny bit of the second ball (2 or 3 rounds and the thumb).
Notions: 4.5 mm (US7) DPNs
Time: October 16 to 21, 2009
Comments: I love this yarn. It knits up to an almost velvety softness. The camel down gives it a very slight halo, but there is no itch at all. I knit 18 rounds between the third cable row and the thumb and don't miss the extra inch of length at all. I had one problem with the pattern which resulted in some confusion (probably mine) in the explanation of how to work the cable. After I stopped being so literal and did what I thought I should do in the first place, everything worked perfectly.

I finished the first mitt Saturday night at Rhinebeck. I then wore it on Sunday and switched it from hand to hand to keep myself warm. I finished the second mitt just as the weather in DC warmed up. I appreciated them on my chilly early morning drives to work this week. In a few more weeks, I'm sure I will love them for my lunchtime walks.

Good mail day

It is a good mail day when the only thing in your mailbox is a box of yarn—no bills, no junk, nothing except yarn. Not just any yarn, either. I found two skeins of Pink New Tweed in the same dye lot as the eight I already have on Ravelry. Their previous owner was happy to send them to me for a few dollars. Rosamund's Cardigan will have sleeves, and her stash is two balls of leftovers lighter.

Fall

Leaves under this tree

I feel like that red leaf. Fallen, almost flat. I cannot even come up with anything random for Wednesday. I don't know if it is the time change or just the fatigue after a trip and a long day of meetings. Either way, I may skip out on knitting tonight and just go home to sleep.