Mega Stash Enhancement

Mom and I have returned tired, achey and poor from Rhinebeck. We actually visited a couple other stash enhancement establishments (SEES) along the way and marveled at the gorgeous, near peak fall colors from the Cape, thru the Berkshires, to the foothills of the Catskills.

A major storm was brewing Friday; we drove through changeable skies...one minute raining, the next sunny, the next overcast. We were glued to the Weather Channel Friday evening hoping things would clear up for Saturday...we lucked out...it was a gorgeous day. Many thanks to mom for driving...this enabled me to get lots of knitting done BOTH ways.

Along the wayI finished the first Loskins sock...

Dashboard Confessional...

Making Progress...

VOILA! C'est fini!

And here are some of the fall colors I was alluding to...

It was a busy couple of days...mom and I stopped at Wonderful Things in Great Barrington, MA. Mom has heard it was a "wonderful yarn shop." It was quite interesting...I've never seen some many DIFFERENT kinds of yarn in one shop. However, the store was strangely laid out, difficult to navigate; prices were posted in alpha order in each "room" but some rooms had entire pages of yarn prices missing. Also there were tons and tons of patterns, but with no kind of system other than by manufacturer. I asked for a simple glove pattern and got very little direction...the woman working said to me, "people aren't really making gloves anymore..." I purchased a couple of skeins of a Colinette Cadenza Yarn that is about the weight of Kersti...the shop was nice enough to throw in a free pattern for a baby Kimono. This yarn was $11 a ball...cheap for Colinette. I purchased one of my fav colorways, "Fire." I also bought some great rosewood needles. But honestly, I couldn't wait to get out of there...I won't return.

Next stop, The Sheep Shop aka Morehouse Merino's shop. I told mom, this shop is literally at the "fork in the road."

Sadly, blogger is having issues with photo uploads at this time; so I'll finish with the narrative and post some more photos from the weekend later.

Mom and I loved the Morehouse Store. Unlike last year when Wendy and I went AFTER spending the day at Rhinebeck WHEN IT WAS MOBBED, Mom and I received amazing customer service AND I was able to score some great yarn for a vest out of the sale bin...for $4 a hank (I needed 5 for the vest! What a steal!) It was nice not to have to fight our way around people to get a look at things. What I also love about Morehouse is their kits; they really give great inspiration and make it easy to shop and plan for holiday knitting. I scored some really cute scarf kits for the Wynne kids; the boys are getting dragons and Sammy is getting a purple catepillar.

We met my old friends Tige and Annemarie for dinner and honkered in for the night. I wish I could say I slept better, but the combo of mom's snoring and my excitement did not make for a restful night.

We headed to the Eveready Diner at 730am for breakfast *YUM*** and were at the Fairgrounds at 825am. We parked in the 4-h lot and were able to get in early. We made a b-line for The Fold and mom and I both purchased some STR. I also got the last gift for my secret pal. We also hit Brooks Farm and mom is now a Brooks convert! I'd been telling her about this yarn forever and I was so happy she fell in love with it.

My biggest purchase was a new ball winder. It is not your typical ball winder. It is amazing. Can't wait to share the photos...Mom got a new swift too, so changing those skeins into balls was NO BIGGY last night.

We spent the rest of our time in Rhinebeck meandering around the booths. The festival seemed very crowded by 11am. Lots of strollers (yuck!) and rude people...more crowded than last year. The other thing I noticed was just how big spinning is getting...there was SO MUCH for spinning, roving, wheels, carders. Also, weaving seems to be getting bigger too! We visited with some of the animals; sheep, angora goats, alpacas, llama's, a gorgeous border collie and a few bunnies. We also really enjoyed the frisbee dog demonstration and the guy juggling fire.

The deep fried pickles were there again-but my favorite food was the apple; dipped in caramel; dipped in chocolate!!!! Holy crap it was good. We also had cider that had been pressed just a day earlier. Although it was really warm out, there was still a taste of fall in the air.

On the way home, I continued knitting. I have a scarf I've been fooling around with with I'm calling "Variations on a Theme by Grumperina" or "A Jaywalker Scarf." I'm knitting it in STR colorway, Rooster Rock. It is gorgeous and I can't wait to share photos and the pattern. It's perfect for all of us that couldn't quite get the socks over our ankles...

We are back on Cape now and spent some time recup'ing in the hot tub. Like I said, more photos to follow once blogger repairs the photo uploader...

A Busy Weekend

On top of having ANOTHER sinus extravaganza, I had a busy weekend planned.

Friday, E and I went down to Baltimore for Stitches. I was restrained, but still managed to purchase some great stuff. I followed my number one rule of yarn festival purchasing: "I am only allowed to buy stuff I can't get at my LYS." I also followed rule number 2: "No livestock allowed in the car on the way home." Are you paying attention mom? These are important rules to adhere to this weekend when we go to Rhinebeck.

So here's my Stitches Swag:

Malabrigo Lace Weight; reminds me a bit of Morehouse Lace.
It was about $9.00 for 450+yards

Habu Bamboo in the color I've named "Metallic Eggplant."

Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Laci"

I forget the colorway but it is yummy isn't it?

It was $48 for 1700 +++ yards. It is going to be Kimono Shawl

Wasn't I restrained???? Well, Rhinebeck is in five days!

Saturday was Fall Knitorama. Sorry you were sick Robin and missed your farewell cake, but we ate it in your honor anyway! It was yummy!

Maggie poses with my finished "Variations on Sarah Blanch" Shawl

Allison models here nearly finished sassy Noro vest

Michelle is ready to shape her toes!

Lori is working on a great baby blanket from "Mac and Me" in Blue Sky Organic Cotton

Maggie snuggles with Aunt Money as she finishes a hat for "Afghans for Afghans."

Sunday I was treated to the Sixers pre-season basketball game with Jennifer, Alex and Timmy.

It was not pretty...

Tbone can touch his tongue to his nose

Alex has his first taste of Crab Fries

The boys had a "blue" evening; starting with blue water ice...

...popcorn up the nose

...and blue cotton candy

THE DAYS ARE JUST PACKED

SECRET PAL!!!!!

When I got home tonight, I noticed a "priority mail" box hidden behind one of the planters. I was SURE it was my Scooby Doo mask for Halloween...but no, IT WAS PACKAGE #2 from MY AWESOME SECRET PAL!

The yarn is like nothing I've seen...and sadly my camera really can't do it justice. But it is called "Harmony" from Jojoland and is a very subtly variagated green/blue/yellow and I think there is some pink and purple in it too. I can't wait to see the pattern in the next box. And I LOVE the Knitpickers yarn holder! I love my containers! (In fact I'm counting the days until the Container Store opens in Cherry Hill in Novemeber!)

Also many thanks for the Halloween themed items...MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!

And really, I am craving Reses SO BADLY tonight...I'm going to settle in for House with my shawl, a big glass of milk and my favorite candy treat! Thanks so much Secret Pal!

I have to go now, Maggie is eating scissors...again.

Needing my people...

I'm feeling a little withdrawn from the yarn world these days...which is strange given my new love of Ravelry. With the new job, I can't really get to knitting circle as I'm at Ronald McDonald House most Wednesday night. So, what could possibly remedy this malady?

STITCHES!!!

Yeah, its this weekend and yeah it's only an hour and a half away.

So I've decided to go, "just to look," at stuff, since I'm going to Rhinebeck next weekend.
And what a better excuse to "be with my people," as I explained to Ellen.

Plus, I get to eat crabs, crab cakes, crab soup etc.

Oh, speaking of knitting...I'm am 7 short rows (@300 + stitches per row) from finishing the Sarah Blanch variation shawl in koigu. It is yummy...I am hopeful to finish it tonight sometime between Beauty and the Geek and House.

Maude will from now on, be better known as "the bitch." The bitch screwed herself up again last week (it certainly wasn't me!) requiring another trip to Courtney. It's next up on the finish it list and then I'm starting the Honeybee Stole from KnitSpot. Unclear what yarn I'm going to do it in, but I love the pattern.

Well...

At the very least we got to:

Eat Crab Fries

Take Funny Photos of Heather and food

See the bell ring again...

Actually play in the NLDS

See the stands full of people dressed in red with rally towels

Sit in the sun in the 85 degree heat in OCTOBER

Remember Tug...

Look cute in our matching outfits and buy a really expensive NLDS program

OH MY GOD!

THE PHILLIES NOT ONLY MADE THE PLAYOFFS BUT WON THE EASTERN DIVISION!

Literally I've been in shock for two days. Sunday night, I was sure I had dreamt the entire thing and kept waking up and turning on Sports Center to make sure it was true!

Not only that, BUT I HAVE TICKETS TO THURSDAY'S GAME!

Last Friday, I got an email that I had been "choosen" (good I feel like a disciple or something), in the second chance lottery to buy NLDS tickets. I snatched those mothers up. So Ellen, Heather and I are going on Thursday! CRAP!

I promised photos from Light the Night. Dad and I made quick work of the walk. It was gorgeous as it always is (the event, not the weather).

Oh, and here are some photos from last Friday's Phils Game; which was totally amazing

CRAB FRIES GALORE!!!!

Heather becomes one with her Bulls BBQ Turkey Sandwich

GO PHILLIES!!!!

Many thanks!

Thanks to all who sponsored Dad and me! for tomorrow's Light the Night Walk. Dad and I raised over $1300!!!! We both more than surpassed our fundraising goals!
I'll post pics from the walk on Sunday.

Thanks to the baseball God's who have allowed the Phillies to share first place...and I'm going to the game tonight and IT MATTERS!!! Go Phils! VISUALIZE OCTOBER BASEBALL!!!

Confessions of a Veterinary Social Worker, Part 2

3 weeks into the job now and I continue to be amazed. I STILL can't believe I am getting paid for this. It is still exciting and new and I'm learning so much. I guess I just didn't think that could be possible this many years into my social work career.

So here is the biggest thing I've noticed that is different. In hospital social work, most client's and their families are not particularly grateful for what you are doing with them...for instance, you don't often hear, "thanks for putting my mom in that nursing home...or...thanks for telling me I have no insurance and can't get follow up care anywhere but at a city health clinic...or...thanks for telling me this medication will cost me $3000...

But over here...people are just so grateful to have me to talk to. And I truly feel their gratitude. They send me photos of their beloved animals. They tell me funny stories. They don't know me from Adam, but they allow themselves to cry openly and honestly over the phone...in total vulnerability...to this stranger reassuring them that they will get through this...not over it...but through it.

Also, I'm amazed by these animals. Yes I know, animals are meant to enhance our lives...but they are also just really damn funny...like the dalmation with anxiety who sucks on his tail all day when alone. Like a child sucking his thumb...

The bane of my existence

One word...Maude.

Maude is a great pattern for a shawl written by my dear pal and yarn matriarch, Courtney Kelly. Wendy tried really hard to get me to start Maude last year around Rhinebeck time...but I wasn't sold. I didn't know if I really liked the shawl and had so many other things on the knitting plate that I let it go.

Then, I found the perfect Koigu at Rosie's. I haven't seen any other like it since...I quickly snatched it up.

Then Molly died and I needed an "easy project." Courtney told me that when she and Max had lost a dog, she designed Maude and it was a grieving project for her. As I started knitting it, I could see what she meant...it was pretty simple once I figured out the little mistakes in the pattern and got going. It was soothing and healing for me while I was feeling pretty crappy.

But for some reason...I just kept messing Maude up and haven't been able to finish her. She makes me angry. I know I can knit her...but when I make mistakes and try to frog back SSK's I get bitched up and all hell breaks loose. It is depressing that after knitting much more difficult projects, I can't knit this one. While on vacation, I screwed her up again. She's been sitting in a knitting bag for about 3 weeks. I am in denial. Maybe if I don't think about her she would just go away. Sadly, she didn't. She remains on the list of projects I've started that just need to get done.

Finally today, I took her to Courtney for yet another intervention. I'm still not very confident about knitting her. I find myself bargaining with her..."please, let me get through this row without screwing up the placement of the yo...please let me purl/knit the double yo correctly..." I knit about 15 rows tonight with modest success. I have come to accept that Maude may require more trips for intervention and support from Courtney. I have come to accept that knitting Maude is a journey for me. And I came to the realization that I better finish the Mother F**ker before Courtney has her baby and isn't as accessible for intervention.

So I highlighted anger, depression, denial, bargaining and acceptance above. Many are familiar with these as Kubler-Ross "5 Stages." These stages were originially written by Kubler Ross after her qualitative study with dying people and were supposed to describe "the" stages of death and dying. They have since been applied to pretty much everything in the loss and bereavement field...much to the chagrin of many of us advanced grief/bereavement/end of life care practitioners. I've been working really hard to get people in both of my employment settings to think outside the Kubler Ross box when thinking about loss. But here I am, going right back to them to describe my relationship with a knitting project...cosmic Kubler Ross karma...maybe; but then again maybe I too need to listen to my own advice and think outside the box with Maude.

Secret Pal and Quilt Wrap...

I have been laid up with yet another sinus infection...so when I can manage to hold my head up unsupported, I've been working on the "modern quilt wrap" and digging out from PILES and PILES of laundry. My goal with the laundry is to have NOTHING on the laundry room floor when my mother arrives on Friday. I've got about 4 loads to go...

But the quilt wrap, that is another story...I'm through 12 blocks and the colors look pretty amazing...but I'm still struggling with things "lining up" just perfectly.

Here is the first row of blocks completed:

And here is the first 12 blocks or 2 rows of blocks


Vertically, the rows aren't "perfect," but looking at it on blogger, I do think it is quite breathtaking...I'll press on... does anyone think this thing is going to be HUGE if knitted as written...I may scale back a bit...

ALSO...many thanks to my secret pal! I received your package on Friday: I was lucky to have picked that day to work from home so I was here when the postman rang the bell and I got to DIVE RIGHT IN to the goodness




My secret pal decided to send me everything I needed for a lace project over the course of the three packages. In this package, she sent my (yum) addi lace needles. She also crocheted me a lovely bookmark (note to self, time to start book club reading) and also inlcuded a great knitted dishcloth which I have already used, some yummy lavender shower gel, a new tape measure (how did you know I needed a new tape measure?), some note paper and some treats for the furbabies...

...to which Gus says, "THANKS! "

Confessions of a Veterinary Social Worker: Installment 1

One week into the new job and things are going well. It is certainly a different way of life working for the University rather than the Health System. It is very laid back...to the point that some of the administrative aspects of the job...i.e. getting an email, getting a logon to my computer, getting enrolled in the University's benefits system...seem to be PAINFULLY slow to happen.

But the client work is fascinating and so different then working with (chronically) ill oncology patients. The grief is acute, raw, visceral and LOUD. I mean screaming, crying, yelling---unbelieveable PHYSICAL reactions to the loss (or impending loss) of a beloved companion animal. My first ER case was, of course, a dead beagle. And, it was in the same room where I had made the painful decision to have Molly euthanized just a few months before. But there is something so different about this for me in that experience---just that, I've been there, I've experienced this and I know how crappy it feels. I helped countless people with cancer over the years, but I am lucky to have never experienced that myself or in my family. Working with people who have lost animals just seems more natural to me.

The next day, I got a call from another woman who's dogs name was Maxie. For readers who don't know, my first dog, who died just 2 1/2 years ago suddenly, was named Maxie.

So, all my fears about my personal shit...I had to face them RIGHT AWAY. I knew I would encounter a dead beagle...I knew I'd be in the room where Mols died...I knew there would be a Max...just not the FIRST WEEK!

But it is all fascinating and new and exciting and I'm (still) thrilled.

But it is lonely over here. People don't just drop by to chat...no doctors yelling at me or trying to be cute to get their patients out of the hospital. No one to dine with regularly...I mean I meet up with the HUP girls as much as I can...but we are all busy. And I'm just not used to having people around to account my activities to...and I don't have to document ANYTHING. It is just all a little bizarre to me.

But I'm sleeping better and getting lots of knitting done in the evenings. I don't find the need to just stare aimlessly at the TV for hours everynight because I am in such a rut...the rut is done.

So, farewell to the rut...and the old me...the adventure continues

Modern Log Cabin Wrap #1

While vacationing on Cape Cod, I went with mom to her knitting circle at Adventures in Knitting (Harwichport, MA). They had just gotten the "Best of Interweave" and "Folk Style" in and I thought, ya, I need some inspiration-- since I keep screwing up my damn lace shawls...

Truthfully, I thought I would love the Interweave book, as that typically is my favorite source of knitting patterns. I didn't know what to expect with "Folk Style." As soon as I opened it and saw the "Modern Quilt Wrap" by Mags Kandis I knew I had to have it.

I scooped up the last remaining copy of the book and started planning on my major acquistion of kidsilk haze. The pattern calls for 9 balls, though the actual yardage requirements for the shawl are much less according to an email I received from my knitting researcher/asset (you will understand the term asset if you've seen "The Bourne Ultimatum") Allison Kelsey.


I had also heard from a fellow knitter at mom's circle that the gold color used in the wrap had been discontinued and was pretty hard to find.


Since I was in Cape Cod, and NOBODY up there seems to carry much Rowan, I went to the internet. I purchased 6 of the 9 balls from WEBS (http://www.yarn.com/) and was able to take advantage of their discount program (which is awesome by the way). I got two balls from Rosie's (thanks Courtney for holding them for me!) and the elusive gold color? I snagged the last ball from Royal Yarns. FYI to anyone considering this project, there is some gold out there...you just have to look for it...it has, indeed, been discontinued.


So, I dove right in when I returned home. Starting this process coincided with starting my new job (yes I've started and yes I've got a lot to blog about it but not now!) so it felt a bit cathartic to begin the journeys together.


Well, let's just say my first attempt did not go well. I was not at all put off by the mitered squares...I find them easy as pie. But it just didn't work well. Here is the finished project of my swatch. The swatch is the first four squares of the project.

Swatch 1; Pre Block

Swatch 2; blocking

Swatch 1: Post Blocking

I was pretty despondent. It did not look as pretty as it did in the book! I knew there was a better way. Will consultation from Kate and Courtney at Rosie's, I made the following changes. I also augmented the pattern...I am very happy with the results:

MUCH BETTER!!!

So here's what I did:

1) Went down to size 6 needles

2) SPIT SPLICING all color changes within blocks

3) Pattern changes made the whole thing work a little better--if you are interested in these changes, please email me knittyd@blogspot.com.

I don't want to piss anyone off or violate any copy right things but I'm happy to share them with anyone who is interested...it involves slipping stitches and changing the center decreases a bit.