The sock goes to Canaan Valley

where we discovered that WV is a very well kept secret. They have just about every sport you could want to do, so long as it doesn't involve an ocean or steady wind!

Our first day we went hiking at Blackwater Falls State Park. We found these falls first and thought they were the falls the park was named for:

but we found out from fellow hikers that these, in fact, were the renowned falls:

Just a tad bit bigger.

The next day, we went to Seneca caverns, where we met this little guy: aren't bats the best little rodents? Much better than squirrels...they just don't have as good a PR agent, obviously!

After the caverns, we went and hiked to the top of Seneca Rocks. It looks like this from below: an d this is what it looks like from the top: We came back Monday, thus avoiding all weekend traffic and I got about 2/3rds of the brother's second sock done. You think I'd be thrilled, thinking I'm almost done, but no. As you my recall from Tuesday 10/30's post , I had initially done a red and green 2x2 ribbing on his sock cuff...but when I tried to put that puppy on over my foot, there was just NO way...so I ripped the cuff and put in a simple red 2x2 cuff...but that meant binding off at the top of the cuff...something I'd never done before. I knew I needed elasticity, so I opened all my books and found one that said to use the typical bind-off, just looser. Lying sack of s*&t that it is...I can pull the sock on over my heel now, but all circulation to the foot will be lost within a few minutes of wearing the damn thing...so, I have to rip it back again and try this method of casting off that I just found at an old y2knit site

This is an easy and fairly elastic bind off that is useful where you need extra elasticity. It is easy to do and remember, but it will cause the edge to flare a bit so shouldn’t be used where a very smooth edge is needed.

Right Side

This example is done in 1x1 rib with a knit stitch beginning the row. It can be done in any pattern.
K1, *bring yarn forward, return stitch to left ndl; p2tog [new stitch and next stitch on left ndl which is a purl st]; put yarn to back, return stitch to left ndl; k2tog; rep from * across row.

Wrong Side

The looseness of the stitches here will determine the elasticity and the look of the finished edge. You may prefer the wrong side, in which case bind off on a wrong-side row.

So, that's tonight's task. Maybe by week's end, I'll have both socks done and posted and can start on my Sister-in-law's socks...which means I can't post pics for a while since she's one of my two readers!

Retreat

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. I've been working furiously on turning my basement into a media room. It still needs a few touches here and there, so I'm not willing to take a picture of it yet, but it's also at that stage where it's good enough to just ignore the little touches needing done, so it could be a while.

In the meantime, enjoy my ramblings on the retreat. I was signed up for the weekend retreat, but was completely oblivious to the fact that there was such a thing as a Thursday extension. I went up Thursday evening with the plan of going to Webs Friday morning. Which I did. And spent way too much money. On this:

It's Fiesta's Ballet line. the picture doesn't do it justice, but it's 50% alpaca and 40% tencel and the colorway is just what I've been looking for. I've been wanting a black sweater with variations on the black, but still, overall, black. This worked out perfect. And had I limited myself to that, we'd be fine. But nooooooooo.....

While browsing for patterns, I found this one, and I've always liked this style neckline on me, so I picked up the pattern. But of course, now I need the yarn...and the pattern called for this: Fiesta Rayon Boucle in Safari colorway

I also bought some seasilk sock yarn for the SigO. So, I left Webs with my wallet more than $200 lighter.

But back to the retreat. As I said, I was oblivious to the fact that there was a Thursday extension, so I just went to the hotel a night early with the idea of spending the night. I expected to see some other knitters, but didn't know there was an organized event. So, when the ladies at the front told me dinner was being served in the dining room, I traipsed on in, expecting a regular restaurant, and totally ended up crashing the Thursday extension party. Sorry guys. They made me very welcome though. Thanks Clara. After I got back from Webs on Friday afternoon, the rest of the crowd was trickling in. We did show and tell and had some great laughs, but for me the fun didn't really start until I hooked up with Anya at lunch on Saturday. I really enjoyed her company. We went on a quick tour of downtown Lenox and had fun wine tasting, then we went for a walk in Kennedy park with Leslie and Debbie. The glare in the knitting room was pretty intense, so it was hard to get good pictures, but here's my best shot:

this is Anya and Leslie. Another great tidbit:Anya successfully managed to teach me how to knit continental! Woo Hoo!
this is Debbie and her Mom, Nancy. Debbie is one lucky pup...she has all sorts of knitting from her Mom.

One thing I'm leaving out. Anya and I, on our trip downtown, also visited Colorful Stitches. At first, I didn't really see anything that knocked me over. Then I found this:

which is SO completely my colors...so, I emptied my wallet again to get enough to make a pullover. I planned on starting this Sunday morning at the retreat's "New Beginnings", which is where you start a project just for yourself, but after Anya taught me how to knit continental, I wanted to practice that for a while so my tension is good. So, I'm knitting a scarf for now, but I can't wait to get started on this project.

Finally, on my way out, I did manage to get some good pictures of something other than yarn or knitters. This is Seven Hills Inn, where we had the retreat: This is the view from right outside my door.

And this is Tanglewood.

MARILYN MANSON :: This Is Halloween

Happy Halloween

Happy Boo Day

Garrison Keillor gave a brief history of Halloween on NPR during writer's almanac this morning. Did you know that Halloween started with the celts. They believed that the spirits, ghouls, ghosts, faeries and goblins walked the earth on this night, so they dressed up as ghouls, etc to try to scare them off, and they put liquor on their doorsteps for the spirits of their ancestors. Liquor. For the Spirits. Hmmmmm.

Here's the part I love. Pope Gregory III tried to turn it into a Christian holiday and encouraged people to dress up like saints and help the poor. But those fun-loving Irish decided to use the holiday for blowing off steam by partying and playing pranks on each other.

It wasn't until the 20's here in America that Ladie's Home Journal told kids to get out there and go door to door for candy, and now we're stuck with the cute little beggars.

Life Work Balance Not in Balance

While I've been hip deep in paint, ceramic tile, speaker wire and u-bends, it's been a bit tough to do any serious knitting. Yep, it's the dreaded home renovation. I can't wait for the end result, but getting there is really screwing with my play time. So, while the house progresses, the only knitting I've done is on my brother's sock:

This is my answer to his request for "red and green socks", without giving him something worthy of the grinch. What he really wanted was argyle...apparently he hasn't got a full grasp of what I mean when I tell him I've only been knitting for one year. But he did relent and downgraded his request to stripes. But really, how do you knit red and green stripes without doing the grinch thing? Hopefully what I've done above.

Here's what I'd really like to do: Knit the exact opposite for his "matching" sock. So, red leg, green heel, red foot, green toe. I know the general consensus is to have the socks match perfectly, but wouldn't that be more fun? For me, at least?

Stitches East

Well, no big surprise, I spent WAY too much money. It all started Thursday night. It took me two hours to get to the event and I realized I didn't want to sit in rush hour traffic for three hours just to get to my 8:30AM class the next day, so I got a room in the Sheraton. No big surprise that cost an arm and a leg. But then I went on over and listened to Kaffe Fasset talk about how he learned how to knit in 20min and how to do Fair Isle in 10. Not sure how I feel about him after that! Ha. After that, I went to the market, which was open early for registrants and spent another load of money. I ran into an old friend and we both decided that given the choice between reducing our spending or simply not keeping track of how much we were spending, it was far more fun to go with the latter. After spending way too much money at the market, I felt I needed a beer or two to numb my brain, so I headed back to the hotel and plopped down with my purchases in the bar. I was very shortly joined by Elizabeth, who saw me sitting alone and came over to join me. When I asked where she came from, she simply answered "Canada". So, as a complete joke (you know how whenever you tell someone you're from Texas, they expect you to know everyone from Texas), I said: "Well, if you're from Canada, you must know the yarn harlot, right?" Giggle, Snork. Turns out, they're in the same knitting group. You could have knocked me over with a skein of laceweight! Do you remember when the Harlot was talking about not wanting to see the mystery stole until she finished it? Well, Elizabeth was the culprit who wore it to knit night! Elizabeth was a hoot and we spent about an hour talking about knitting, men and Canada in general. It almost made the small fortune I spent on the room worthwhile.

Waking up to this

and this:didn't hurt either!

The class went OK. Not sure if I like doing mitred squares or not. I had some serious issues with the whole knitting on two circulars thing and am not sure I'll EVER try that again, but am trying very hard to keep an open mind to it.

I'm pretty sure the bar across the street wasn't quite expecting a herd of knitters to come crowd their space:I ended up skipping Saturday, which meant I didn't see Lee, but I just couldn't handle the traffic again after driving home Fri night for another two hours. Plus, with the marathon in town, I knew it would be pretty wretched to find parking. I forgot about the game Sunday, or I may have blown that off too, since parking was no picnic with those dirty Ravens playing the Saints, but I did show up which is a good thing since I learned several different cast-on techniques, one of which will make my brother's next sock MUCH easier to cast on. It was a good weekend, but next year I need to find someone to split a room with me and just stay there the whole time. And I won't be taking an afternoon class on Sunday, since it lets out the same time the game does! Urgh. And I'll save a LOT more money than I did this year in preparation.

BTW, anyone who reads this and wants to check it out in the future, Sunday is the day to shop. True, a lot of stuff has been cleaned out, but there's also a lot of stuff on sale and not very many people there at all.

Done Done

First sock v3.0 is now First sock v4.0 and has a mate, First Sock Part Deux. Both complete.

I'm also well on my way to completing the socks for the SiGo

and I've started on my brother's grinch socks. OK, they're not supposed to actually be grinch socks, but he wanted red and green stripes...you tell me what that means to you?

Meanwhile, I'm making good progress on my next top: A dolman tee from a pattern designed by a lady I met on one of my yarn sprees. So, I guess knitting from the stash can be a good thing...

CHAching!

Ever noticed how when you can get a no-interest loan for 18 months, suddenly $5K doesn't seem like that much money...I mean, really, you have 18 months to pay it off! Woo Hoo. Then you get that first bill. *Cough, choke sputter*

Well, I haven't got the first bill yet, but here's what all my money will be going towards paying off for the next 18 months (since if you don't get it paid off in said amount of time, all 18 months worth of interest comes raining down on your head at the tune of 22%!!)

Yep. It's a Sony 52" LCD TV. I went from planning on spending about $2K to buying the top of the line in Sony. What is the yarn equivalent of a 52" LCD TV, cuz that's how much I'll have to avoid buying until this puppy is paid off! Gonna be some serious use of the stash for a while! It's purty though, right?

Fun, Busy and Productive Weekend

The first thing I did this weekend (Friday evening) was put together the Carol Doak October Block of the Month paper pieced quilt block. I'm having the basement refurbished, so who knows when I'll have access to my sewing machine again, so it seemed prudent to do the block ASAP.

Saturday, the SigO and I took it easy and went "shopping" for a big screen LCD TV. By shopping, I mean to say we went to a few places and looked at the outrageous prices. We started out at Best Buy thinking to ourselves that at least there, they would come out and install the TV for us...and they would...for a whopping fee of $500! So, then we went over to Costco and looked at some of the exact same TV's for hundreds of dollars less. We just need to figure out how to get the dang thing installed.

After that shock to the system, we headed out to Tim's Rivershore Restaurant and Crabhouse for some beer, live music and crabcakes. The table next to us was getting down with the crabs, and I was tempted, but such work! Especially given the variable of a permanent crab smell to First Sock Part Deux, which also enjoyed the scenery very much.

Pretty hard to see it in the picture, but there is a sailboat tacking against the wind far out in the distance. I have a weak spot for sailboats. They're so elegant and romantic...so much classier than the motorboats crowded all around the area! I also thought the crab-traps a nice touch, given that we were eating at a crab house...it is a little disturbing though to think about eating anything out of the Potomac. Such a filthy river. I was really surprised to see some kids swimming around in it and their parents watching from the back of the boat. Perhaps they're unaware that the sewer backs up into this unfortunate river everytime it rains.

Sunday we did one of my favorite hikes at one of my favorite local national parks, which remains un-named here because, so far, it is still largely undiscovered, and while I recognize that not only do very few people read my blog, but many of those who, do don't even live in this state...still, I'd rather not take the chance of this park being discovered by the "unwashed masses" as the SigO jokingly likes to call them. After the 7 mile trek, we wolfed down some waffles and headed home, where I finally managed to finish his first sock.

Only one more to go, then I have my brother's, sister-in-law's, mother's and best friends to knit...all before Christmas...what are my chances, do you think?

First Sock Part Deux Enjoys the Sunrise

First sock part deux just wanted to have her picture taken with this morning's sunrise...she thought it was a very nice one.

As you can see (barely), she's coming along and, surprisingly enough, there is still some yarn left...I still think I'll have to take Katrin's advice and knit up the toe in something else...but I think I'll at least make it to the toe...I had some serious doubts about that for a while.

Yesterday I went to visit a yarn shop in Chantilly, VA...my first time there, even though it's very near where I work. It's called Capital Yarns and is staffed by some VERY fun people. I bought two balls of Berroco Zen (55% cotton, 45% Nylon)

and three hanks of Berroco Bonsai (97% Bamboo, 3% Nylon)

(I've discovered I get far better pictures of the yarn by just taking them off the internet!)
and Modular Knits by Iris Schreier. I intend to make this scarf from the yarn and the book:

Pretty gorgeous huh? I was really amped about it at the time, so I went home and promptly put the Bonsai on the swift. MISTAKE! Here is my dire warning to you! This yarn is gorgeous, but if you buy it, make sure they wind it for you at the shop! If they already know you have your own swift at home, lie, cheat or steal, whatever it takes, to NOT wind this stuff for yourself! It loves to slip and slide all over the place, so it won't stay on a nice neat little ball. Instead, it slides down, up, and all over the place so what you have at the end of extensive time and effort is a center-pull mess! It took me about an hour to get three little hanks wound up! But I'm sure it will be well worth the effort in the end! I'm sure I'll look just like the model when I'm done!

Disturbing Results from the Book Quiz

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I got this from Lee's blog...I don't think this is a completely accurate description of me. I much prefer who it said Lee was, since Siddhartha is my all time favorite book. I do agree with the part about staying away from children though...but only because they intimidate the crap out of me.

Spring Cleaning for the Fall

I'm having my basement refinished to be a media/sewing room, which means I had to clear out all the stuff down there this weekend, and that includes my storage space. Who needs a stairmaster when you can lug trunks full of holiday decorations, kite-surfing gear, bikes, hiking gear, camping gear, etc, etc, etc up 13 steps (you better believe I counted) over and over and over again!

And then, typical me, when I finished earlier than expected, I totally had the cleaning/organizing bug, so I completely emptied out the pantry and scrubbed it down, then reorganized everything so I could fit in all the huge boxes we buy from Costco now without having to stack them on the floor. Then I cleaned out the fridge. Then I did some gardening. In fact, the only knitting I got done was to actually frog back the SigO's sock to a point before I lost track of the ribbing.

I did get my September Block of the Month for Carol Doak's challenge done Sat night though, so it the weekend wasn't completely creative-free

First Sock Has Known Greatness

The Yarn Harlot HELD First Sock.I'm pretty sure I've never smiled this big before in my life. I told her it was first sock, but third iteration, so she labeled it First Sock 3.0, and so it shall be, forevermore. I tried to abscond with the Harlot's traveling sock and stick her with First Sock 3.0, but she was having nothing of it! The funny thing is, First Sock 3.0 looks pretty good with her holding it, don't you think? It's almost as though it threw its little shoulders back, stuck out its little chest and said "I am sock, hear me roar!"

I got a lot of knitting done on First Sock Part Deux (I can't call it second sock because I squeezed in another pair, plus started a pair for the SigO between First Sock 3.0 and it's successor.) and am now on the foot portion of that sock.

Two hours before she arrived, I took this picture. I got a pretty decent seat, right in the middle, only about five rows back from the Harlot, but I didn't even know I was supposed to get a "Line Ticket" to get my book signed. By the time I had figured that out, I was #121. I didn't get up to meet her until 11PM. I'd feel sorry for myself, but when she saw more of us trooping in to get their books signed, she laid her head down on her desk and just stayed there for a while trying to recoup. She was totally cool in person as well as when she was speaking. When I showed her how much yarn I have left for First Sock Part Deux (I'm in complete denial...there's no way there's enough yarn there to finish the sock), she didn't give me some cheery encouragement, she just looked at it and said "Yeah, you're screwed!"

I sat next to four great women from Winchester, VA (about 2 hrs away)

They completely welcomed me into their group and we had a good time chatting about, well, what else, knitting; while we waited for Stephanie. Amanda's blog link is now in my list of blogs I like to read. She refers to herself as Mander, so that's what I'm using too. I also met Lee after Stephanie was done talking. She, like me, hadn't gotten her line ticket quickly enough, so she was #123. She's on my list of blogs now too. It was great meeting other knitters who are also bloggers.

The creme de la creme: The Yarn Harlot taking pictures of us from the vantage point of the traveling sock!

First Sock is DONE!!

I've mostly just been knitting on this sock whenever I was stuck in traffic, so I was a little surprised when, the last time I picked it up, it looked like I should start decreasing for the toe. So, the sock is done, but I don't have a picture yet.

For that matter, first top is done too...no pic for that yet either. Both to be posted tomorrow.

I'm currently working on a pair of socks for the SigO. Using the Seeded Ribbing pattern from Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. Pic for that to be provided when it's a lot closer to being done. I've already had to frog it back twice, so that may be a while.

Other than finishing up first sock, I really didn't have a lot of time for knitting, or much of anything else this weekend. We went biking down in the necks of Virginia. Very scenic, largely undiscovered area of northern VA. We came across an historic church, built in 1735 called ChristChurch.

The SigO took a moment to read the 10 Commandments.

A few miles from here, we stopped for lunch at the Tides Inn, where we enjoyed this view from our table. The meal was as good as the view too, with both of us eating a light lunch of Blue Crab Quesadilla's.

The remaining ride was pretty close to 30 miles, for an overall trip of 35 miles. Mostly flat, but in a strong headwind, it didn't feel it.

We camped out at Westmoreland State Park and ate an even better meal, as is always the case when you cook steaks over a camp fire.

So, with Saturday full of fun and Sunday full of responsibility (homework, yardwork, blech!), not much time was available for knitting, but it was a pretty grand weekend anyway.

The sock yarn did get to visit the campsite, it just didn't get to get out much since I was a little too wiped out by the time we got back to do any knitting.

Almost as exciting as finishing first sock was coming home from the camp trip and finding this on my doorstep. I saw these on Emicat's blog and HAD to have them...they came pretty quickly (from Knit Picks). They're even more gorgeous in person!

And the last tidbit of exciting news....3 more days til the Yarn Harlot is here!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Fun Time Temporarily Suspended

Well, it's the first day back from vacation. Acadia was everything I hoped it would be. The cottage had a hammock on the back porch overlooking the ocean. I spent a lot of time knitting to the sound of waves lapping on the shore. The side of the island we were on is called quiet side. I'm guessing this is because the waves don't crash too much over there...at least they didn't while we were there.

After we were rested up and settled in, we went for an easy hike around Sand Beach. Most of this hike was spent hopping from rock to rock to stay as close to the ocean as possible.

We ended this hike in Thunder Hole where nature has carved out a hole in the rock face that creates the sound of thunder whenever the waves come crashing in. One of the highlights of this trip was the young guy we met in the shop at the end of the hike. We had packed 2L of water...should be enough, unless you don't figure in the two water guzzling teenagers, which we hadn't. By the end of the hike, we were out of water and parched. Unfortunately, none of us had thought to carry any cash. I was seriously thinking of using the water from the melted ice in the coolers behind the shop when the guy working the counter threw us two bottles only asking us to "Pay it forward". I haven't really found an opportunity to match that generosity yet. I mean, we were really thirsty and that was a life saver. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for a chance to rescue someone else in distress.

The next day was a bit of a killer. We packed up our bikes with the intention of a relatively easy ride around a pond. Unfortunately, the supposed paved path wasn't and we ended up riding up out of the valley to get to the park loop. It was only 16 miles, but we're not used to climbing that much and according to my bike computer, we climbed 700' at one point. The funny thing is, I felt pretty great about that ride when it was over. I wasn't sure I could climb that well on my new bike, since it doesn't have a granny gear (It's a Fuji Team Issue. I think the idea is if you can afford to buy a bike that nice, you must be in relatively good shape and don't need a granny gear!)

Day Three: Easy day hiking up the bubbles. Very short hike with a rewarding view at the top. The SigO once again did his part to keep nature intact

despite the best efforts of his daughter and her friend

Day Four: A pretty strenuous 4.5 mile hike up a gorge path to reach the summit of Cadillac Mountain--the highest peak on the eastern seaboard all the way down to Buenes Aires. We picked wild blueberries as we climbed this behemoth. Great views from the top of this too, obviously. This particular view shows the cranberry islands. No idea why they're called that.

We had to rush down the other side of the mountain in order to reach our car in time since we were scheduled for the 4:30 Whale Watch boat trip. I'll bet I took about 30 pictures trying to catch a good shot of some of the whales, dolphins and seals. This is all I got. You'll just have to take my word for it that there were many Finback whale sightings (I think we actually only saw 7 different whales, but they surfaced dozens of times), hundreds (literally) of white sided dolphins and a handful of seals. It was my first ever whale watch trip and was very exhilirating.

The next day we slummed it up, goofing around Bar Harbor.

Our last day there was another short hike up to the top of the beehive. It's less than 2 miles round trip, but it's an exciting hike since in several places you're hanging over the side of the mountain clinging to some iron rungs nailed into the rock face. If you enlarge this picture, you can actually see some of the hikers on the mountain. It looks like they're very precariously perched on a dangerous trail, but it's really pretty tame...unless you're afraid of heights, which the SigO's daughter was. And yet, she persevered and conquered her fears. It was very inspiring.

Of course, this blog makes it sound like we were superheroes, hiking and biking all day everyday. Ha! Of course I managed to find a yarn shop (or two) and scored some good sales

I found this sock yarn in Southwest Harbor at The Lilac Lily

along with this Wool in the Woods yarn which was 40% off. By now, you've no doubt realized I'm very fond of Wool in the Woods yarn, so I'm very disappointed to discover they've sold all their yarn, dyed and undyed, and will no longer be producing any stock. *Heavy sigh*.
Why is it always this way? You find something you love, be it yarn, handbags or makeup and they go and discontinue it.

At Bee's Inc in Bar Harbor, I found some Malabrigo. This pic is awful. The colorway is Autumn and it really is a gorgeous batch of merino

And last, but definitely not least, my first pair of socks is complete. I only have this picture of the one, but I promise, both are done.

I also got some pretty good progress done on my top, but all this needs to be put on hold now for some homework for the knitting retreat in Mass this November! Woo Hoo!! I got in!! The only question now is To drive or not To drive. After driving to Acadia, I'm not sure I can do that again!