Vacation Activities

The blog sabbatical is over. I have officially started my Christmas vacation. I was surprised to learn that I had more vacation time accrued than previously thought so I have had the opportunity to get a jump on my to-dos. Thus far, knit stockings, baked cookies, shopping and peanut brittle. I have once again managed to delay my shipments long enough to require extra postage. The tree is up and the decorations are out. This year promises to be good. I believe the webcam morning opening will be even better than last.

Knitting and Car Sickness

Took a road trip yesterday to our favorite winery. We discovered Keswick while enjoying a weekend tooling around the country side; teenagerless. It was prime Agnes time to take in the outdoors via the car. Her ears could have been flapping in the breeze as we flew down the highway except for windows being up. It was 90 degrees out and the golden rule of air conditioning on, windows up, was in play. But I digress...
It is peak foliage time and we wanted to see the colors turning. We loaded up the teenager and headed out to Keswick to take in the scenery along the way. The rain was light and actually enhanced the foliage, playing off of the ambient aura projected by the trees ensconced in the warm fall colors of rust, amber, scarlet and marigold. Magic...
Inside the vehicle, the radio is playing classic rock but the buzz of muzzled sounds leaking from headphones in the back seat are a reminder that Led Zeppelin's ageless appeal does not always apply. There is a mumbled sing-a-long with the Eagles and the Steve Miller Band.
Okay, I have set the mood. I have my bag at my side and if I were not in motion I would pull out my project and commence some solid progress on a Kimono vest but we are in motion and I am hesitant.
I cannot read while riding. Like many out there I get queasy and my head begins to ache. There have been times of crisis when, after circling a section of town multiple times, I have reviewed a map to check directions knowing that I will be unable to eat and will want to lie down upon arrival at the destination (usually a restaurant or friend's house for a social gathering that will include food). These heroic acts are done when the only other options include continuing to circle the area believing that one more turn will reveal the location which is actually not in the circumference of your current traffic pattern. ( The directions written down say East 12th but what they really meant was West 12th. Or it really was East but 2nd.) The option of returning home could be utilized, except that you have already called from the road to say you are on your way and not showing would be at a minimum rude. The most dangerous option is to hand the map to the driver (a.k.a. spouse), clearly not a good choice.
Again with the tangents. I apologize...
I have family that knit in the car while riding and they don't get car sick. Maybe its not like reading in the car. I take out my project. Arrange myself and start a row. At the end, I stop and check to see of the classic symptoms are starting. Nope. I can knit and ride. Oooooohhh, this opens all sorts of possibilities.
I learned some rules:
1. Straight highway - after we exited the major interstate to small back roads, the roller coaster feel of the drive trumps your ability to focus on the project. Queasiness returns.
2. Light Traffic - Big trucks bearing down on your window at clearly illegal speeds, draw your focus and force your attention.
I am not sure the difference that allows me to knit but not to read while in a car but I can knit while I ride.....

Armholes!!!

Yes, today I reached the armholes of my sweater. This means that I am close finishing the back. This has inspired me to complete this portion while on a trip to Texas this week. We will see how far I get.
I have been out of touch with my inner knitter for the last few weeks. Work has been getting in the way but no more. Smudge performed a small intervention and helped me to see that, by not providing her with a lap lined with the current knitting project, the positive energy balance in the house has been knocked out of whack. It's all that past life experience.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Just when I thought I had mastered the complicated stitch and was feeling pretty proud of myself for making good progress, I lost 2 stitches and had to undo most of the progress. I have recovered but unless I want perfection I will have at least one small blemish in this sweater. I decided to move forward instead of starting over and when I had another few rows done the correction had disappeared. I am now near the halfway point on the back of the sweater. Feeling confident again. Seems the more of these rows I complete the easier it gets. (She says, stating the obvious)

Knit 3 Rip 2

I have been working on my sweater this week but have managed to hinder my own progress. It would seem that I cannot count. Although I have completed a total of 10 inches of the back of the sweater I have actually knit many more rows. Forward progress is being made though.

My Return to Knitting

I am a simple person. The current active hobby in my life is an oldie but a goodie, knitting. I learned to knit when I was a child but never really had the patience or follow through to complete projects. I would start and inevitably never finish.
Around Thanksgiving of last year I developed a yen for some yarn. There is no explanation for why. I picked up the needles and some old yarn my mother handed over and relearned the classics, knit and purl. I received a book on knitting at Christmas and started an actual project from the book. It was the standard first project, a dish cloth made with cotton. The pattern is actually printed on the back of the yarn label. This project I finished. It had that amateur beginner look to it and so I started another to try to do better. I have been knitting ever since.
I joined a website dedicated to knitting, Ravelry, and have posted my projects for the year there. The community on the site is comfortable and accepting. I really enjoy the sites forums and searches.
My current project is a sweater. I have just started but it will be a deep green and uses an interesting stitch called a Reverse Herringbone. Hope to have the back done in a week but I have already had to redo a portion due to a dropped set of stitches. No fudging that mistake.