Knitting In Public

OK, not exactly.

We had another great craft weekend in St. Cloud. Diane, Molly, Debbie, Pat and I spent the weekend at our craft retreat. It was the first time for Debbie and Pat, but I think they had alot of fun and we all would like to do it again. We decided to bring our own food for breakfast and lunches, but that we’d eat dinners out to get a break. On Friday night, we headed over to Space Aliens, a surprisingly good restaurant that had a wide variety of foods, but a play area and theme that is more like Chucky Cheese.

They had enormous desserts that also earned tokens to play the games.

We split the desserts and the tokens and had a wonderful evening. We “bought” some souvenirs with our tickets (pencils and pads of paper with aliens on them), and Pat gave her 414 tickets to a young boy. It turned out that it was his birthday, and with her tickets he was able to “purchase” hockey sticks!

I bought some quilting kits for baby quilts (one boy and one girl) and will hopefully have those finished by the time I have grandchildren to give them to!

Diane was the only one quilting - finishing a quilt top over the weekend!

Molly and Debbie did some scrapbooking

Pat worked on crocheting (starting a 7-hour afghan that wasn’t done in 7 hours….) and I worked on my knitting. I finally had space and time to block the Hanami for my sister:

Here’s a closeup of the cherry blossom side:

and I worked on my Mystic Light shawl. I “finished” the charted portion, then decided I had made an error and ripped two rows once I got home. I have now finished all the knitting, and will be blocking soon (I hope). Here’s a photo that *finally* shows the true colors!

We had lots of fun and laughed all weekend. A fabulous and relaxing time!

My entries are a little out of order, so I hope I don’t confuse anyone!

We attended the graduation ceremonies at MIT on Friday, June 6, 2008.

There are over 12,000 people all in one place, and the only place large enough is Killian Court - an outdoor venue. The ceremony is held in any weather conditions, other than electrical storm or hail. We arrived shortly before 9 a.m. for the ceremony which was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. It had been raining for quite some time, and all the chairs had puddles of water on them. They handed out rain ponchos until they ran out - umbrellas were forbidden (during the ceremony, to keep from blocking the view of others around you).

Of course, the covered portion was for the staff and speakers.

Naturally, all 12,000+ people can’t be close enough for picture-taking and a ‘real’ view, so they set up jumbo-trons so you could see what was going on. Unfortunately, we didn’t think this through, and we were on the other side of the main aisle, so our view was frequently blocked by people going up and down the aisle. We did see Molly when she received her diplomas though! (Yes, I said diplomas. Multiple. You knew she was a smart kid, right? Two separate Bachelor of Science degrees. Apparently many of her friends received two degrees as well.) We also saw “that Chris kid” graduate with his Master’s degree. We were positioned very well to see them both march in:

The graduates:

And the obligatory parental photos:

Here’s Molly and Julia at the Department reception for the graduates:

And the photo of Molly and Kate - roommates for four years and fabulous friends forever

We are so proud of you all!

Here’s the dorm gang

They all decided they wanted one last gathering, so the graduates and families headed out to a local Italian restaurant for dinner together - and of course, another photo of the gang

(Sorry for the freaky red eyes!)

We had a lovely dinner and the chance to meet all the kids Molly had been telling us about for four years. All the kids came over and introduced themselves, and we were able to connect the stories we heard with the person. That was the end of the “scheduled” activities for us, but on Saturday we met with the soon-to-be in-laws. They helped the kids pack up their dorm rooms, then took us out to the aquarium and then to dinner. Chris’s uncles were there as well, and they treated us all to dinner. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet the extended family before the wedding. 

It’s hard to believe that the four years at MIT are over. There is another graduation in store, however - just three short years away - as Molly graduates from law school.

In the meantime, perhaps this will be MIT’s graduation speaker next year…..?

I’ve signed up for my first paid KAL. I’ve seen and knit portions of two lace patterns from Anna Dalvi: Mystic Waters, and Mystic Light. Both are beautiful designs and well-written patterns. While Anna is doing a “mystic” series based on the elements, this is not one of that series (despite the “Mystic” name). It only cost $5 to play along - and while I normally wouldn’t pay for a pattern I haven’t seen, I have liked her previous work.

Anyway, this pattern’s inspiration is spring meadows, and is a fingering weight stole pattern. I’ve chosen this yarn:

The colors are similar to the Smooshy yarn (Dusky Aurora) I chose for the Mystic Light KAL, but much lighter. I think there’s some very pretty colors that remind me of a spring garden. :)  I think the KAL starts the first week of June, so I’m all set to go. Meantime, I am working (slowly) on finishing the Mystic Light shawl, as well as working on a couple of pairs of mittens for the Mitten Blitz (charity contribution). Oh yeah, not to mention working on the invitations for the wedding. And getting ready to attend graduation in Boston. And working.

Well, the MysticLight KAL is “over” although I’ve only finished clue 2 of 5. I’ve seen the beautiful results of those knitters who kept up with the KAL as the clues have been released, and I’m inspired to keep plugging on this one. It’s going so much faster because it is knit with fingering weight yarn.

I’m behind on posting (duh -what’s new) but here’s what I have:

This is (most of) Clue 1. Couldn’t quite manage to get the tips in, but you can see most of the design. There is a small cable that runs along the bottom (which will be the top, long edge of the finished triangular shawl), and a cabled braid (or braided cable?) that runs vertically through the center.

This is Dream In Color Smooshy, in Dusky Aurora colorway. This yarn is extremely hard to photograph and get an honest color rendering. In the skein, I thought I saw purple, blue, teal, some greenish color, etc. but I don’t see much in the knit up portions nor in the cake. (Although there is a photo further down that shows more color variation.) The yarn does live up to it’s reputation that it does not pool or do the funky, undesirable things that varigated/hand painted yarns do.

This is a close-up of clue 1, showing the center braid and some of the color but this shows mostly purple and blue. This is what it looks like as I’m working on it….although I occasionally see a patch of teal/bright blue.

This is clue 2 completed. I’m having far less trouble as I go along (less frogging) as the usual culprit is not on the chart but rather is every even row for the cables & yo’s and I’m finally getting to the point that those are second nature.

Here’s the photo where you can see some real color play, and that it is actually more than just dark blue and purple:

I hope it shows the colors on your monitor!

I’m starting clue 3 tonight - each clue gets a few rows shorter, but since you’re adding stitches on each row, the rows are longer so overall it’s about the same number of stitches.

For those of you who don’t know, the designer’s name is Anna Dalvi, and she also designed MysticWaters. I have only finished clue 1 on that, but the design is beautiful and I have every intention of finishing. When I discovered that Anna was doing another design, I jumped right in! While I often wait a clue or two to decide if I want to knit the surprise/mystery KAL, I knew after MysticWaters that I didn’t need to hang back on MysticLight. Anna plans to continue and will have an entire series of the elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. The MysticLight is the fire element, but Anna’s design has combined different kinds of light - fire and stars, too. I chose the Dusky Aurora because the color on their website reminded me of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and because this was a colorway that I would wear. (While I am attracted to reds/yellows/oranges that others were using to represent the fire, I would likely never wear a shawl that color ….)

More progress as I complete this…. in the meantime, keep on knitting!

Ok. I’m about 2 weeks late, but it is tax season, and Molly and Chris were here for a week before my birthday, and business has been crazy, and I’m still going to many doctor visits as a result of the surgery and heart issue last month. (Is that enough excuses?)

I had a wonderful birthday, starting with breakfast with the family. The Monday before my birthday, the Caribou knitting gang had a little birthday party as there are 4 of us that have birthdays within a week of each other. Surprisingly, several of them had birthday gifts for me! (We generally don’t exchange gifts.)

Aimee gave me the “Denim” blue sock yarn on the left. This has Alpaca in it. I think it’s a new yarn she got at work. Valerie gave me the “Monkeysuits” book - lots of funky kid’s outfits. Definitely something to knit when grandkids come along. ;)  Lynn gave me the Araucania sock yarn on the right and a set of Hiya Hiya dpns (size 1, my favorite for socks). We had talked about Hiya Hiya needles once, and I said I had seen so much in the sock groups I’m on that Hiya Hiya were so great, and that I should buy a set and give them a try - so she bought them for me! The yarn is a brand I’ve never tried before (I think it might be new, too) and has quite a few different colors in it, so I’m anxious to see it knit up. The photo doesn’t do it justice - lots of purple, but also some really bright green, blue and turquoise. I also managed to get a couple of very fun birthday cards which I enjoyed tremendously!

It was fun to be spoiled a bit by my knitting friends. Thanks, everyone!

The first round of Sock Madness 2 was to end at midnight on Tuesday, March 25. The website didn’t say what time zone, so I’m hoping I was able to squeak into the winner’s circle as I finished my Zombies at about 11 p.m. CDT, and then couldn’t remember how to load the photos on Flickr, so it took a little extra time. I finally uploaded a photo and sent the required email at about 11:15 p.m. CDT. I think the folks who run the Sock Madness are on the East coast, so they may have intended it to be EDT - which means that they may not allow my entry. The Sock Madness website and group totals do not reflect that I have finished, but I’m hoping that they just went to bed early….

Here’s my finished Zombie socks:

Not the best photo, but I was trying to hurry to get the post done to make it before the deadline.

I have to say I’m not a fan of color pooling. While I love the look of varigated yarns while in the hank or skein, I’m not too wild with how they look knitted up.  I’m also more a fan of the symmetrical pair of socks or mittens, etc., so when the colors pool differently so I can’t make the pair look very similar I get irritated. These did not match, although as a pair I think they’re kind of funky!

For those of my fellow Sock Madness folks who stopped by to encourage me and cheer me on, I give you a heartfelt “thanks.” It sure made me feel like continuing to knit on these, even though they went sooooo slooow. Thanks for being my ‘cheerleader!’

The day after I got home from the hospital, I had an email reminding me that Sock Madness 2 would begin the next day (Thursday, March 13)! Last year I worked like mad to finish round 1, and barely squeaked in under the wire. The 2nd round I was eliminated as I was paired head-to-head with the person who had finished their round 1 socks first, out of all the competitors! After that, life caught up with me, and I ended up not making any of the other patterns provided for the competition (and it didn’t matter, since I was “out”).

This year, our first pattern is Zombie Socks.

Again, there is a person who finished both socks in less than 24 hours. Huh. I’ll never be that fast.

This pattern, while not difficult, didn’t come intuitively to me at first. It’s also a lot like a ribbed sock, so there’s lots of knit and purl, which sure slows me down. Plus, I’m putting in hours to catch up on work, and have little stamina to knit much per day.

One of our vendors, Laurie, when told that I was “doing better” asked, “yes, but is she knitting yet?” Ah, and there’s the gist of it. I actually went about 10 days without knitting at all!

We were told to choose a “scary” color for our Zombie socks — that left my mind a blank! I finally chose KnitPicks Memories, in the Cape Cod colorway (line and color discontinued, sorry!), and I’m using Brittany size 1 (2.25 mm) needles.

The first sock is done, and I’m on the leg of the 2nd sock. Amazingly, there are still spots open on my team, so I still have hopes of squeaking into round 2. Hopefully that one will go faster for me, or I’m definitely out again. :(  This year, however, they are doing some ’side’ contests on the appearance of the socks, and those contests are open to folks who’ve been eliminated from the original contest (as well as the folks still competing), so there’s some incentive for those who are “out” to continue to knit along with the rest of the competitors. This will help to keep the conversation boards lively, too — last year, as the competition wound down to just a few competitors, a lot of the chatter went away and it just wasn’t as fun so I’m looking forward to this year’s group and competition.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks. Sunday, March 2, I woke up with a bit of a stomach ache. A little higher up than usual, but not a big deal. I figured I was just hungry. We went out to brunch after church, and instead of feeling better, I felt much worse and sent my son to get some 7-Up. I slept fitfully most of the day, trying to get comfortable. By late evening I was taking Tylenol and Advil to relieve the discomfort, and in the wee hours of Monday morning I was checking when Urgent Care would open. In the process, I discovered that if you have “severe abdominal pain” you should not go to Urgent Care, you should go to the ER. So, at about 5 a.m. on Monday, DH drove me to the Emergency Room. (I had last been there 22 years ago - almost exactly - to give birth to DD who was born March 3 at about 6:30 a.m.) I discovered that I was having a gallbladder attack, and that I had a gallstone at the entrance to the gallbladder and that most likely it would have to come out. I had an unexplained elevated white count, too. I was told to see my Dr. in 2 days. I slept most of the two days, went to see the Dr. and discovered that the white count was even higher. He suggested a couple of days in the hospital with IV antibiotics and then likely removal of the gallbladder the following week. By the end of the day Wednesday, the Dr. wanted me in the hospital. Everyone seemed to think I was there to remove the gallbladder, and the sooner the better. After all the consults and the like, it was decided to remove my gallbladder on Friday, March 7 (my first surgery ever). DH came down to stay at the hospital during surgery (with the rest of the crew running the business and house without us). The surgery took a couple of hours and went well - they were able to take it lapriscopically (just barely). However, I had some funky heart rhythms in recovery and they thought I was having a heart attack. I was moved to Cardiac Intensive Care unit for 3 days while they monitored me and determined what was wrong. DH stayed with me for almost the whole time - he took a couple of hours off for showering and changing clothes. Eva H. came to stay with me (and kick DH out) for a few hours. She brought me the fun balloons shown above. I was not aware that she used to be a nurse! We did get to impress her with a medical procedure she had not seen before - to get my heart rate back to normal. I spent an additional night in the ‘regular’ side of the cardiac unit, and was finally discharged on Tuesday, March 11.

Strength and stamina are slowly returning. The surgical recovery seems to be going really well. I now have more daily pills to take, and a bunch of follow-up appointments to see that everything is working well. Chris, Doug and Tonya really held down the fort while DH & I were in the hospital. I received some lovely flowers and the balloons - all of which were appreciated! Being stuck in the hospital is definitely not my idea of fun, and it certainly no place to get any rest! DH said that next time we have a vacation, he gets to choose the place! (As if this was a vacation, or that I had “chosen” it!) I do have to say that the staff was fabulous and the lab techs definitely know their job for drawing blood (always got it on the first try, and the least painful)!

Well over a year ago (!) I was working on a lovely sock pattern with an online KAL for Jeanie Townsend’s Maple Leaf socks. There were lots of questions about how to manage some of the stitches, and Jeanie helped everyone out with countless explanations (sometimes over and over and over). I decided to make mine two-colored, using KnitPicks yarns (bare and Memories in Redwood Forest, a discontinued color), as I thought it looked like autumn leaves. Just for fun, and to break up the plainness of the bare yarn, I put in a little stripe at the toe.

Of course, I then got distracted with lots of other knitting… and time went by. Lots of time. I had already started my knitting notebook - having been caught more than once on something I had not finished, and when trying to complete the item later I could not remember yarn or needle size or something else important. So I have notes on changes I made to the pattern. Even so, I found that my notes were not quite complete enough….

When I decided to finish this pair of socks, I could not immediately find the pattern and notes I had made. My “usual” sock is 64 stitches on a size 1 needle. So, I counted the stitches around the top of the completed sock, and came up with 64 stitches.

I knit the ribbing, and in the interim attempted to find the pattern I had printed off. No such luck. I stopped for a bit and knit on something else. I went back to this sock, determined to finish. I finally printed off another copy of the sock pattern, and noticed this:

Ooops. So I ripped out the ribbing and started over. I knit the ribbing, following my handwritten notes that I had only knit 18 rows of ribbing. I noted that in the pattern itself, I added an extra plain row between maple leaf patterns. I followed the instructions all the way down to the heel flap. Then as I started the heel flap, I doubled checked against the completed sock, to be sure I hadn’t made an adjustment in the width of the heel. Hmmm. These numbers weren’t coming out right….

Do you see a difference? One sock has 64 stitches (left), and the other has 72 stitches! In the interim of looking for the pattern, I had completely forgotten that I had counted the stitches on the other sock (not just presumed that it was 64 since that is my usual sock size)! So I went back to the KAL emails, and discovered that there were emails from several participants who complained about not being able to use a pattern that called for 72 stitches, so Jeanie rewrote the pattern several times over, for both a 56 stitch and 64 stitch sock! So, I printed the instructions for the 64 stitch sock, ripped back the second sock to the beginning again, and reknit - again - the ribbing, etc.  I’m now just a few rows from starting the heel flap again.

So, let this be a lesson. Take notes on every stinking minute detail, and start that second sock sooner!

Oh - and coming soon, news on this: