Black Holes

Been in a bit of a vacuum lately. It doesn't help that there are several black holes that have popped up. Like the black hole that is time. It's the end of January? Seriously? How did that happen?!

But what's concerning me most is the two knitting black holes. Take this scarf.

I knit on it for hours at a time, and it never seems to grow! It's currently just over 30", so I'm about halfway done. I guess this is what I get for doing a scarf in fingering weight yarn. It just is taking forever.

The second black hole is even more concerning. Some of my things, knitting-related, are literally disappearing. It started many months ago, when I couldn't find my Denise needles. Now, my RYC Classic Alpaca book has gone missing -- and I know I had it just last weekend at Sarah's! I don't understand. I have my swatch for Cambridge all done, and it's gonna take some maths since my row gauge is way off. But the book is nowhere to be found.

Now all of this would be more tolerable if I lived in a big house, which I do not, or if I had piles and piles of knitting goods, which I certainly do not. There are essentially two places -- our storage ottoman and the desk -- where anything that's knitting-related lives. Yet the Denise needles have apparently run off with the Alpaca book. Maybe they'll come back, having consummated their marriage, and bring me sweaters.

No Complaints at All

I have absolutely no complaints about this weekend. How could I, when it involved the following:

* Yoga workshop (still feeling it a bit in my arms!)

* Yarn swap & knit night

* Lunch in Chinatown & a visit to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum -- my first trip in more than five years to each.

* Coming home to the smell of chili cooking.

* Hanging out with the husband and good friends to watch football all afternoon/evening, with a break for chili between games, as snow fell outside. (Winter finally comes to DC -- I can't remember another winter when the first snow fell in late January!)

So, that's about it in a nutshell. All good! Especially the stash swap. Hosted by two amazing gals, it featured lots of real-world friends as well as some I've gotten to know through the blogging world, and some whose blogs I knew but I didn't! It was really fun. And there was a ton of yarn:

I took the chance to get rid of my ridiculous mohair stash and came home with some more rational yarn for my knitting habits of the present. I trust that the yarn went to a good home -- Elspeth's:

There was even some roving for the spinner types. Holly got her love on with the roving.

My best score of the night was some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and some Noro. I've already put the Cherry Tree Hill to good use:

Inspired by Siow Chin, I'm using the Chevron Scarf pattern in Scarf Styles. I really like the way this knits up, and so far I seem to be doing well on the yardage. There's hardly a dent in the ball and I'm already 8 inches into the scarf! It's destined for one of my aunts. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I let myself start that because I spent some time this weekend doing some odds and ends on other projects, notably, knitting 40" of I-cord for the Sunrise sweater. And finishing this scarf, a replacement for my friend who lost most of his belongings in a horrible apartment fire:

It's the Men's Cashmere Scarf pattern from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. (AKA heaven.) I'd intended to fringe it, but I got a little carried away with the knitting, so it measures 68" as is. I think that's long enough and doesn't need fringe. I really like this pattern (note that there is an errata for it) -- it's completely mindless to knit and forms two similar but not identical sides. One has a little more purl detail; the other more knit detail. But it's squooshy and snuggly, and I think I'll be making that pattern again in the future.

Traveling, and Socks

I've discovered a fantastic new way to lose weight: the airplane diet. It goes like this: Wake up to a 7 a.m. phone call saying your 11:30 a.m. flight has been canceled. Rush to rebook on another morning flight, get packed and get to the airport. Stop at the airport Burger King to get a ham and egg croissant because you have a few minutes to spare. Panic when they say your flight now is leaving early and you still have to get through security. Rush to get to the gate and board. Boarding involves walking from the terminal to the plane and climbing up icy plane steps.

Sit on board for an hour. Deplane due to "snow pellets" even though other planes are leaving. Sit in the terminal for two hours. Resist the very-picked-over offerings at the only snack bar. Reboard plane. Get excited to take off. Wonder why you're still sitting on tarmac. Listen when pilot explains that there is now ice in the engine, and there are NO MAINTENANCE PEOPLE ON SITE, so you'll wait for some to arrive. Eat cheese and crackers handed out by flight attendant, who remains remarkably helpful and sympathetic. Wait another three hours. Land in Atlanta, famished and needing to rebook connection. Pick up handy Delta rebooking phone. Panic when guy says you're on a flight leaving in 20 mins and you need to RUN to another terminal. Look at sandwich stands wistfully -- they all have long lines. Make your connection as they're closing the doors. Eat some more cheese and crackers on connection.

Finally get home 11 hours after first boarding an airplane, ravenous but so tired you can't think straight. Eat some pineapple and yogurt and call it a night.

Think it will catch on? Given some other airplane horror stories out there, I think I might be on to something.

The good news is that the travel troubles, as frustrating as they were, were totally worth it. I got to spend 2 days in Wichita with my family, seeing cousins and relatives and my grandmother--people I don't get to see often enough. Despite the fact that it was about 15 degrees outside the whole time, it was a really fantastic visit. [Though I don't think I'll be returning to Kansas in January anytime soon.]

We were there to remember my grandfather, and a lot of people turned out to pay their respects despite the lousy weather. And I spent some time with Grandma, who is the recipient of these:

Pattern: Traveler's Stockings, sized for Women's 8
Source: Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Sundara sock yarn, color Cantaloupe
Needles: US 1 Addi Turbos, done on 2 circulars
Duration: About 3 weeks. Started in Alabama over Christmas, finished Jan. 12
Comments: The top of this pattern is one of the more complicated charts I've knitted. For the first sock, I really had to pay close attention and check every line.

By the second chart, I was able to read the knitting to tell which stitches came next. I consider that a good improvement in my chart-reading skills! Also, this sock features a toe that I'd never made before. It has four different "decrease" lines and then is drawn together at the end -- no grafting! I expect Grandma to tell me how it works. [Grandma reads this blog and is a regular commenter. Hi Grandma!]

The yarn was truly fantastic. Everything good you've heard about Sundara yarn -- it's all true. This yarn, Cantaloupe, looks to be a baby pink from far away, but up close it's pretty variegated, mixing several shades of pink, ivory, apricot and orange together. But it's tonal enough that it shows off the pattern well.

Also, after knitting the top part of the sock, the pattern was very easy and I could do it without having to consult the pattern. I love the traveling stitches that zig-zag down the side of the sock!

Now I'm onto new things. Over the many hours on a plane, I made good progress on Bloom from Rowan 36.

But I'm concerned. I'm close to finishing one of three balls of yarn, and I don't believe that I'm 1/3 of the way finished with this garment. Yes, I did swatch and I was on gauge! I've seen that some other bloggers ran out of yarn on this, so I'm sort of not sure what to do.... I already had tried to acquire a fourth ball but couldn't find one in this dye lot. Do you think it would work to use a different dye lot and alternate every 2 rows? Or should I abandon ship now, before I get too much further, and just buy 4 balls in a different dye lot? Ack.

*****

Runagogo this week: 4.5 miles running, 4 miles biking. Slowly but surely...

A List of Unrelated Things

* I logged 9.5 miles last week for Runagogo. Go me! As I wrote there, I've been totally loving mapmyrun.com -- it's a great site to calculate distance using Google maps. That's how I know that on Saturday, when it was a freakish 73 degrees outside, I walked 2 miles with my friend and her dog and then jogged 3.5 miles from her house to mine.

* I should never, ever be allowed to groom my own eyebrows. This is a weakness I should just accept, pay to have someone else do it, and move on.

* It's been a really long time since I've written anything academic and analytical. I miss it -- but it's a lot harder than I remember. And has been consuming a lot of my would-be knitting time this week.

* A long-overdue list of 100 things about me. (Guess I'm in a listy mood these days.)

* I'm finally serious about putting together a knitters' poker game. If you play and you're in the DC area (or would travel for such an event!) let me know in the comments. It's normally so boring if you bust out of a tournament. Wouldn't it be great to be able to sit there and knit while it continued?! (You should have at least played hold-em before -- no cheat sheets!)

* I've picked up this long-sitting project and was determined to finish it. It stalled when I couldn't figure out how to attach the hood. Guess what? There's finally an errata saying, oops, we forgot to tell you how to attach the hood. So now I just need to find the rest of the leftover yarn to make an I-cord and I'll be golden.

* That's just one of the many almost-done things around here. The next six weeks are going to be a flurry of finished objects, I predict.

* Here's another.

That's a sock. It still has to grow 1.75 inches and get a toe. The yarn ball is starting to look pretty thin. It's gonna be a nailbiter. Send the yarn fairy.

* This arrived in the mail yesterday.

I couldn't resist. It's going to help me with my "knit complicated lace" resolution.

As the Year Turns

Okay, I'm a little behind, but here's my 2006 wrap-up.

In 2006, I made:

7 pairs grown-up socks
1 pair baby socks
1 pair of mittens
3 scarves
1 hat
1 shell
1 sweater

I have to say I thought it was more than this. I really thought I made more than one sweater this year. I guess that's because I have two almost-sweaters waiting for me at home. (I feel like I'm artificially inflating the 2007 count.)

It definitely was the year of the sock, though. I made one pair of socks in 2005 and an obsession was born. I also surpassed every reasonable expectation by stashing an insane amount of sock yarn. I'm set for socks in 2007. (But I don't honestly expect to stop buying sock yarn.)

Favorite thing I made: Elfine Socks. It killed me to give them away for Sockapaloooza--I want my own pair!
Best accomplishment: Finishing those gosh-darn mittens.
Longest project: The mittens, hands-down.
Most frustrating moment: Excluding the mittens, which were longer than a moment, I have to say that this year was mostly frustration-free when it came to knitting. I definitely was more zen about it.
Longest-running unfinished project: Yes, still the French Market Bag. (The same as last year's longest-running unfinished project.) Here's where I say to my self, "Self, stop putting it off and felt this thing!"

As far as resolutions from last year go, I did pretty well on a few of them:
* Keep a sock-in-progress with me -- I had a sock on hand for almost all of my waitings. Look at me being efficient!
* Take better notes. Check.
* Improve chart-reading skills. Check -- I think I'm ready to re-tackle Demi now.

I also used up most of my vacation time from work and kept my sanity through my wedding. Yay!

So, a more official list of the 2007 resolutions:

* Felt the French Market Bag
* Clear the knitting basket out of half-done projects
* Attempt to recycle yarn from a store-bought sweater into something more useful
* Knit at least 2 sweaters
* Attempt a two-color fair isle
* Knit a lace stole (more complicated than a four-row repeat)
* Write up at least one pattern and submit for publication
* Fit into my favorite jeans, currently languishing at the bottom of the jeans-pile
* Be able to run 2 miles without stopping
* Hit 100 miles by April 1
* Cross at least 2 more states off my "states I've been in" list
* Work out 3x/week
* Paint/organize/set up the home office

Hello, 2007

Wow. Can't believe it's been so long since I blogged that my page went blank. If anyone looked and was confused, sorry about that! Time sort of slipped away from me there.

It was a really nice holiday season. JT and I packed up and headed to his parents' place in Alabama. It's a sleepy little town, but I did get to eat Sonic about 4 times in the six days we were there. It also was exciting because of this:

We finally got a new-to-us car, an 05 CR-V. We splurged a bit on the leather and the heated seats, and let me tell you: totally worth it. We also got rid of my sad little Jetta, which was about to die, so we felt good about splurging a bit on the our only car. I'm still getting used to driving it, but JT loved driving it so much he drove about 90% of the way to 'Bama and back! Which made for good knitting time.

I can't show what I knitted -- one project was a pair of Fetching mitts for his mother, which she loved but I forgot to photograph. I'll be making myself a pair soon in the same yarn. The other project is not quite done and is still to be gifted, so photos will appear after the fact.

*****

I've seen a lot around the blogs about resolutions. My own resolutions are pretty simple. I'm resolving to knit more from my stash -- to get it down to a manageable size. I'm looking to Wendy for inspiration, like so many other knitbloggers. I've got a couple of big sweaters in progress, so I'd like to finish those. And I want to really get better about lace. I think I really improved my chart-reading skills in the past year, so it's time to put them to use.

As for non-knitting resolutions, I want to make it to the gym at least 3x a week and really work on getting back in shape. I have all these cute clothes in my closet that are 10-15 pounds away from fitting, and I want to wear them come spring. I also want to get the last 2 rooms in the house finished, so they stop driving me crazy. Reasonable, right? Yet I still think they'll be challenging....

Happy new year to all!