Sunday morning, with knitting (and a little complaining)

Even when it's my day off, even when I don't need to get up early, I find myself up anyway. I'm just a morning person, and I always have been. Believe me, I've tried to be a night owl, but it's just not in me. But while most people were still snoozing away this morning, I was treated to this:

Olympic training continues. In fact, I believe I have acheived a perfect swatch. It makes me very glad that I decided to rethink and redesign a sweater for this yarn. My challenge is not only to finish knitting it, but to create a sweater that I'll love, and -- here's a concept -- maybe even wear.

• Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Color 113, Wildflowers
• Needles: US 8 (5mm)
• Stockinette, with seed stitch borders
• Looks like 4.65 stitches to the inch!

Does your monitor express the lovely similarities between the sunrise and the swatch? Mine does.

~:~

Now I have another big decision to make. Do I join Team Chocolate? Or Team Caffeine? Or both, and I can have chocolate-covered espresso beans?

Knitting, thinking about knitting, and reading about knitting has kept me from going insane this week. Pulling book returns is mentally and physically draining, and it took me almost all week to figure out why I've been coming home so tired. It's almost done, though. That is, until next month.

I finished the little Kimono Angora scarf in just a few days. I like the way the colors arranged themselves across the surface (pardon the dim photo -- right after the sunrise, the clouds thickened). It's really soft and light, too.

• Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono Angora, color number 1
• Pattern: My own, with picot cast-on and -off, garter edges, and K2P2 ribbing
• Needles: US 8 (5mm) for edges, 7 (4.5mm) for ribbing

And since I promised a little complaining: I'd like to be able to say that I've devoted half of my knitting time to the Jaywalkers, but I can't. I'd rather knit just about anything else. It's not the pattern -- it's well-written, not complicated, and I know it works. I'm just not enjoying it, and my sock shows it. It's lumpy and misshapen and forlorn. Is it just me?

Knitting will return after a short break...

This little panda, this little boy named Tai Shan, is simply the cutest creature on the planet. He's even cuter than Annabelle (she can't read, so she won't know I said this). I've mentioned him before, but this is a more recent photo. Real-time video plays on my office computer all day long, so I am treated to his antics -- and even his naps -- while I am waiting for orders to go through or reports to process or other bookstore stuff to happen. I've put the link to the National Zoo website on the sidebar so that you, too might stop by and enjoy the boy.

Now back to the knitting (no pictures, though). I might -- just might -- have turned a corner on the Jaywalker thing. Either that, or I've gone round the bend. I think the one I'm making now will work, so I'm going to dedicate thirty minutes out of every knitting hour to finishing the pair. Don't anybody hold me to that, but maybe if I make this public declaration, my fear of failure will overcome my desire to knit something -- anything -- else. Cara needs to give me one of those head-butting smileys, though. I deserve one.

My little scarf diversion looks about like it did the other day, only much longer. It's a soft, pretty little thing, and just what I envisioned. When it's off the needles and has been washed and blocked, I'll take another picture. I do like the yarn, and I think it would be beautiful knit up into something larger.

Today, which is my day off, I am going to pull out all the Wildflower Manos, wind it into balls, and get it ready to become an Olympic Sweater. That will be enough training for one day, I think. One has to be careful to build one's stamina over time, dontcha know. That, along with carbo-loading, is a given.

Margene posted about another interesting creative join-along thing, and once I read about it I signed right up. It's Lolly's Project Spectrum. I love the idea, and I can't wait to begin planning color-themed projects -- knitted, spun, painted, or whatever. It is a wonderful thing to be conscious of all the ways we are creative in our daily lives, and of all the little detours we can take on our path that will bring us creative joy and satisfaction. J gave me a poster once (hi, J!), with a quote from Proust: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." I think I have been coming to that conclusion for a while now. It's funny, but when she gave me that poster all those years ago, I think I was on a similar journey. Different Jane, perhaps.

Now, let me go and try to see those Jaywalkers with some new eyes. Maybe that will help.

B-ing

B is for Bandelier.

(An afternoon in late April, 1989. This photograph is faded and the color is off, but it's there, the magic is there.)

V and I had an adventure in New Mexico that Spring (my first real travel adventure, really). We stayed with friends in Albuquerque and set out each morning to explore. Was this the day we went to Jemez, too? I think so. We were just remembering our visit to Jemez: how the place was almost too powerful; how V painted but made me stay away so I couldn't see her picture (shy thing, back then); how we would love to return some time.

Anyway, we got to Bandelier somehow, having stopped every once in a while to marvel or cry or both. I was overwhelmed at every turn in the road, having lived most of my life in the green, rolling terrain of Maryland and Virginia. To see the whole dome of the sky, and the curve of the earth -- Oh my. It wasn't until I moved here to Long Island and saw the horizon again, and the whole sky over the ocean, that I felt anything similar.

This place, this Bandelier, held us for the rest of the day. I am trying to describe this one afternoon, but I am still at a loss for words. I can't do it. All I can say is that I was changed forever on that trail beside the Anasazi cliff dwellings, and if you have been there, you might know what I mean.

B also stands for Brave, which is what I found out I was capable of being. That week in New Mexico, though I didn't know it then, was the beginning of the journey that brought me here, to Long Island, to the life I live now, and to this very moment.

B could have been for books, too, since books are my daily life, my bread and butter -- but that would have been too easy!

So anyway...it seems that the life I live right now is about nothing but preparing for the Knitting Olympics. The initial thrill has worn off. Now it's down to the serious preparations, the real training. I'm chugging away on the New and Improved More Acceptable Jaywalkers, but they're not ready for their closeup yet. These socks will need a good wash and set before meeting their public. This week I'll begin swatching the yarn for my Olympic sweater, and then I'll be able to work out the pattern and the measurements. I'm thinking simple V-neck, modified drop sleeves (or maybe raglan, who knows?), tunic style, with short side slits and garter edging.

I'm using a little scarf project as a diversion. Clara reviewed Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora yarn last week, and I had two balls in my stash, so I decided to start this:

I'm hoping that it will become a little frou-frou thing with a slightly wavy edge when it's looped around a neck. It began as a lace scarf from the Accessories Collection book, but following any pattern with more than a two-row repeat hurts my brain right now. And don't you love my innovative needles? Where are all my size 7's, anyway? I have a Denise set for these kinds of emergencies, but this yarn sticks to plastic, so I improvised with bamboo dpn's.

Enough, now. The blue sky is calling me, and there's knitting to be done!

The training begins

I figure if I'm crazy enough to sign up for the Knitting Olympics, well, I'm crazy enough to get on a puny little ferry on a day like today. I had all sorts of stuff to do up the island, and I needed to pick up some birthday surprises for J at North Fork Stitches, so I threw caution to the wind (literally) and took the ferries back to the South Fork to save some time. Urp.

By the time I got home, though, the skies were clearing, and I was treated to this, a nice ending to the day:So I think I'll take Sandy's button, since I do seem to be doing lots of sky-watching lately.

~:~

About those Olympics...it's J's fault really, but in a good way. She called me at work the other day, and before she'd finished telling me about Stephanie's Great Idea I'd decided that sure, I can knit a whole sweater in fifteen days. It's just the kick in the rear that I need to put all that Fabulous Wildflower Manos to good use, since it's painfully clear that the sweater I was trying to force it to become just wasn't working. Besides, I love to watch the Winter Olympics, so I won't have to be anywhere I wouldn't be already.

J is going to tackle one of the two ponchos she's been planning for ages. The Perfect R's will be gone off to college or something if she doesn't get going now. And since chocolate is not considered a drug in these Olympics, and neither is wine, J is going to be a force to be reckoned with. The thing about her is, she knits beautifully, but not a lot. She's just finished two lovely scarves for her men, but it took her something like two years. Each. That she's willing to compete in the Knitting Olympics is so inspiring that I had to challenge myself to something big, too. Since I know that I can't possibly finish a lace shawl (my other big planned project for this year) I went for the sweater. At least I have a chance. And a partner in this folly, too.

I have two more socks to add to the 200Socks count -- the mates to the Woodland Twilight Garter Rib and the Lapis STR. I had a little competition with the guys at the car dealer today: could they finish my tune-up before I closed the toe on the sock? They did, but not by much.

Now I'm ready to move on and make another Jaywalker attempt. I have ankles, you see. Not regular old ankles, either. They are what they are, but they don't Jaywalk very well. I've cast on another needle size and stitch combination, and I'm sticking with it even if I end up using these socks for dusting mitts. Don't worry, Cara, I'm stubborn.

I'm thinking that this Jaywalker Knitalong is sort of like the Olympic trials or semi-finals or something. "Citius, Alitius Fortius" and all that.

Catching up

I feel like I have been away for a long, long time. Not a peep out of me in ten days, and people are still visiting my blog. Gosh. Thanks to Margene's post the other day I've heard from and found the blogs of some interesting knitters. I have a lot of catch-up reading to do!

To answer some of the questions she posed: I'm often attracted to a blog by the knitting content, but the deal is cinched if the writing and photography complements the knitting. I don't need flashy, and I don't need literary, but I do want to care about the who and the what (the same way that I want to care about the characters in a book I am reading, because hey, here I am spending time with them...).

When I find a new-to-me blog that looks intriguing, I read at least a couple of entries, then I add it to my Bloglines list. When I have time I go back and try to really get to know it. That's when I'll read archives, click on links, read the sidebar, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've had an Aha! moment or learned something new just because I clicked on a link in someone's sidebar! I know I don't comment as often as I should; sometimes it's because I'm in a rush, other times I'm just feeling shy or commentless (I'm not a fan of "me too" comments). It's not from a lack of interest, and I want to be better (or at least more consistent) at letting people know that I read their blogs and care about what they have to say.

There are about 70 blogs on my Bloglines list, and several more that I read who don't have feeds. Because I was away from a computer for a few days last week, I came home to find out just how much the internet and blogging really mean to me -- I'm still not caught up at KR, I have only managed to do a quick read of my daily blog fixes, and Queen Bess has given me so much to ponder that I might have to take to my bed to do it!

~:~

I have been knittin', though. That's one of three socks I've finished this past week, up there in the arms of the snowy sheep. The yarn is Socks That Rock (surprise!) in Lapis. Delightful, simple knitting. I finished and delivered V's Sea Socks in time for her to pack them along on her trip to New Mexico. It only took me about two years to make good on my promise to knit her a pair. Last but not least, I've completed one and a half Woodland Twilight socks. I'll knit a bit on one, then switch to the other pair for a while, and there's happiness in every stitch. I have to remember to report my count to Amie for Two Thousand Socks.

While I was in Maryland I spent a lot of time on the road, and not as much time knitting as I'd have liked. When I was not visiting my mom I was in the car, and in the area in which I had spent most of my life before moving to Long Island 12 years ago. So I drove around, getting my bearings, collecting my thoughts, and hanging on to all the the shreds of sanity that felt like they were getting away. I stayed at a hotel/conference center that felt more like a college dormitory, but it was peaceful and quiet, and the TV was handy, so I had most of what I needed.

For purely therapeutic purposes I visited Yarns International in Bethesda, and there I found some patterns I'd been meaning to order, more DPNs for socks (more needles = more socks-in-progress, you know), and a bit of yarn. It's a great shop -- well-stocked and with a knowledgeable staff -- and I wouldn't mind having it for my LYS. I have been wanting to try a skein of Schaefer's Anne, and they had this one gorgeous, perfect skein in stock:I don't think it wants to be socks, though. I think it would prefer to be the Diamond Lace scarf from Heartstrings. Hmmm...another one to add to the To-Knit List!

~:~

Thanks to all of you who have made me feel so much better through your comments and support. My mom is just beginning to "come out of it" -- the post-anesthesia/painkiller fog is just awful for people her age and in her health situation -- and she's beginning to benefit from physical therapy. She is being cared for with more compassion and gentleness than I thought was possible in a nursing home setting, and I'm grateful for that. Seeing her and knowing she is getting good care helped relieve some of the stress that has been plaguing me and my jaw. There's a lot less clenching going on! I'm happy to be back at home, and it seems that Miss Annabelle is glad to have me. On with the sock knitting, then!

Off to a good start, I think hope

Warning: I am long-winded today.

On Sunday evening I did a little New Year's organizing on the desktop. I was cleaning up my KnitAble program, which I use to keep track of everything knitting, from my needle and yarn inventory to all the projects I have completed or that are on needles. I was quite surprised to find that I had just seven unfinished projects!

Yes, of course I started another pair of socks. This one is in that beautiful Fleece Artist color called "Woodland Twilight," but for some reason all I can think of while I 'm knitting are my father's Harris Tweed jackets. He loved wearing them throughout his life, and he wore a few of them to pieces. One of my earliest memories is of the LifeSaver peppermints that would come from those jacket pockets, always with a little fleck of tobacco attached. I can still smell them. But I digress...

This is very nice yarn. I mean delicious. I love the way the colors work together. I fell in love with hand-painted yarns a long time ago, and I feel like I've come to know what kind of yarn I will get from each company -- how patterns will look, if the colors will pool or stripe, etc. I choose accordingly. When I try a new yarn, though, I have to be willing to be surprised. With each row of this sock I find myself saying things like, "Oh, goody! The red gets to sit next to the brown this time!" Or, "Hey, that gold just turned green!" Surprises keep things interesting.

I could have used any old sock pattern, but since the yarn was new to me, I thought it deserved something different. Not fussy, though -- no lace or cables this time. I got out my copy of Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks and started browsing. I haven't spent much time with this book yet (or with my other new sock book, Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, but I'll get to it eventually). Within five minutes I knew I wanted to make a pair of Garter Rib socks. It's a simple stitch pattern, and the look of the little garter bumps next to the smooth knit stitches is just what I was looking for. As long as I was at it, I thought I'd go ahead and use the book's formulas and techniques. Me, follow a pattern exactly? Yes, almost. This is perfect travel knitting, too, because it's practically mindless. So here's what I'm doing:

• Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino, 350 yd skein, Woodland Twilight
• Pattern: Garter Rib (Four-Stitch Pattern) from Sensational Knitted Socks
• Needles: 2.5mm/US 1.5 bamboo dpn's
• Gauge: Something close to 8 spi in both ribbing and stockinette
• Modifications so far: The cuff & leg measures 6" instead of the usual long-legged person's idea of how long a sock should be. I use less yarn. So there.

I'll be leaving for Maryland in a couple of days, and I hope I'll be able to take at least three pairs of socks in progress. There will be lots of knitting time in the airport, on the plane, and in the nursing home where my mom is to do rehab for the next few weeks. My job is always more demanding at this time of year than I expect, so I have just a few days that I can manage to be away.

I'm feeling the pressure, too -- yesterday my dentist told me that I have to stop clenching my jaw and teeth. A night guard is in the works, but what about the other eighteen hours? So, one of my Plans is to take better care of myself, generally, and to address specifically how I react to and handle stress. Up until this past year I handled it pretty well; I even almost conquered my tendency to eat when stressed or upset. My Plan is pretty simple, and it starts with paying attention to my physical and emotional self.

I am doing that today by taking the day off -- even though I was going to go to work because I have to be gone from Friday through Sunday and there's so much to do and most of it has to start with me because I have to pull the returns and my house is a mess and there's sand all over the place because I walked around in the shoes I wore to the beach and don't even look at the litter box and boy, do I want to put that Christmas stuff away. So what have I been doing? It's noon. I slept in till 7 (hey, I'm usually practically out the door by then). I'm still in my pj's. I'm about to get dressed and mosey over to Sag Harbor to get the mail. Then I'll come home, put on a DVD, throw in a load of laundry, and knit. I might vacuum and clean the litter box. No, I will. The alternative is just too disgusting, even for slobby old me.

~:~

I am really enjoying being a part of the 2006 ABC-Along. Folks have already begun posting their first images, and it's fun and inspiring to see what they've come up with. There's a button over on my sidebar with links to the ABC-Along ring. If you have a few minutes, go see what everyone's up to. We have until January 13 to post our A's, and then two weeks for B, and so on.

~:~

There. I think I've run out of wind. If you've made it this far, you're a real trooper, and I thank you.

Welcoming the New Year

"A" is for

Annabelle.

(for Anne's ABC-Along)

~:~

I finished another knitting project in time for the New Year. It's a scarf for my mother, started on Thursday while I was waiting to hear news about the surgery to repair her hip, which she broke in a fall on Wednesday night. It was a tough year for her, and this was a crappy way to see the year out, but we think she'll be okay. I'll be going down to be with her later in the week, and I'll have this little Love Scarf to wrap around her.The yarn: A strand of Cherry Tree Hill Merino (not Supersock) in the Spanish Moss colorway, along with a strand of KidSilk Haze in Dewberry. The needles: US 8. The pattern: My old favorite Mistake Rib, which can be found in most stitch dictionaries, but which is really just a K2P2 rib offset by an extra stitch. The stats: I knit until I ran out of yarn (288 yards of CTH) and the scarf is about 5.5 by 38 inches. It's very stretchy, and the shorter length suits my mom. And the halo created by the KidSilk is just heavenly.

Here's a real test of my Knitting Resolve -- the Fleece Artist yarn I ordered on Monday arrived on Saturday. The colors are (from top to bottom) Woodland Twilight, Autumn Glen, and Paris Dream. I have, um, let's just say several pairs of socks near completion or halfway done or just started. Do I have any business starting another pair? Sure I do!

~:~

It's become a little New Year's Day tradition of mine to go to the ocean and breathe deeply for a few minutes. This morning I encountered a jubilant band of Polar Bear Plungers (otherwise known as lunatics whose tradition it is to swim in the ocean on New Year's Day). Here's a picture for Bess (without the Plungers): And my "Self-Portrait with Here and There Scarf," taken on Shinnecock Bay a few minutes later:The weather is so changeable here that you never know what to expect. In one hour this morning it went from cloudy and calm, to windy and clear, to overcast and damp, which is how it's remained.

A little like Life, eh?

~:~

P.S. Happy Birthday to Cara!