On The Road/In The Air Again

Kickoff at 1 pm Saturday Dec 1. Game is carried on ABC.

I'll be wearing orange (probably with maroon sleeves).

There was a countdown clock-- couldn't get it to work here.

Hey, I'm a Knitter, Right?

And my blog doesn't always reflect it too well, but today is mostly knitting.

Cast Off

The Tilted Duster skirt, as mentioned the other day, is cast off. If you look closely, you'll see that the skirt was picked up around the stockinette top fronts and back. I need to finish the sleeves, which are about 2/3 done. I'm becoming a bit more careful in my knitting, and I will make sure that the sleeves fit it properly where they belong. Then I need to pick up the collar and knit rows and rows of 2X2 ribbing.

Cast On
I've been doing a lot of work in the house, and while decluttering, and assembling furniture, and cleaning, I've been listening to the Brenda Dayne's Cast Onpodcasts. I downloaded them, and have been listening to Brenda while working. To give you an idea of my progress, I'm on podcast number 47 right now. There were about 6 that didn't download, but since each podcast is about 1 hour long, you get a clue of how much domestic work I've been up to.

(Interestingly - in episode 37, I think- Stephanie Pearl McPhee- The Yarn Harlot pops in, and says that she had been listening to the podcasts in series while working on her home. I'm in such good company.)

Since she's been keeping me company with knitting tips, history, culture, music deep thoughts and so forth, I decided to visit the sponsor links. One of these is Briar Rose Fibers. I went to the website, and saw the bee-yoo-tiful yarns. They're pretty lovely. I'm a sucker for a free pattern, and their Rosebud Shawl called out to me.

It's a very easy 4-row repeat that makes lovely little rosebud-looking things-- hence the name. You can see them better if you click on the picture below to enlarge it. Unfortunately, I'm not clever enough to figure out how to include the picture you see on the pattern. I don't want to link directly to it, because that's not nice. I was able to copy the picture, but I can't save it as a bitmap or jpeg. It must be formatted differently from the pics I'm used to copying and sharing. If you don't have enough to do, and have time to figure it out, please let me know.

I've had 3 skeins of Lorna's Lace Lion and Lamb, won in an online contest, burning a hole in my stash basket. (Well, truth be told, it was in one of my numerous stash baskets, boxes and bins-- which is why I didn't buy any of the bee-yoo-tiful yarns. But I plan to, as soon as I knit up some more of what I have, and can therefore justify it.)

So I decided to cast on.

What?

I've just told you that I'm within spitting distance of completing the Tilted Duster, and I'm casting on a new project?

Before you lament my ADD, there is actually method in my madness. Since we're going to Jacksonville for the weekend, I need something to knit while travelling. (ACC Championship-- remember? I can't totally ignore football in this blog entry, after all...) The Tilted Duster is just getting too big to schlep.

So I started on the Rosebud Shawl. The yarn is doing some interesting things. It's turning out to be a bit brighter knit up than it appeared in the skein. I think it'll work, though.

Let's Go Hokies!!!

WeeMee

PeekABoo!!

xxxxxxx

Drive-By Blog

Just got home from Charlottesville:


We're headed to Jacksonville next week for the ACC Championship game against Boston College.

Cast off the skirt from The Tilted Duster on the trip home. Pics to follow.

Gotta catch a quick nap-- working tonight.

That is all.

There Has Been Knitting

During our week away I did quite a bit on the Tilted Duster, and have continued, although the reorganizing efforts have dominated the energy output.

But here we are... about 15 more rows or so on the skirt, then finish the sleeves, and pick up the collar. It would probably be helpful for me to set a deadline, but there are other things going on.

I just love the way the colors are coming out. It's a bit strange, with the sleeve stripes being much wider, but I think it'll work. I've had to do a bit of futzing with the colorway-- inserting bits of yarn at strange places-- to have the stripes on the skirt sort of approximate each other. The colors are much prettier in real life, and after it's done, I'll try to get an outdoors picture that might better represent the actual tones.


The Peekaboo Mittens were finished a few weeks ago, and The Daughter wore them at the game against FSU. She's happy with them, but would like an overlap on the palm, so they're not open when the fingers are all inside. I think it's possible to do, and I may try to make another pair this winter, elongating the lower edge of the finger hole. We'll let you know!

(I've been trying to load the mitten pictures, but The Blogger must have hit the eggnog a bit early. I'll try later.)

And so now, The Daughter and I will do a bit of baking to get ready for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Busy Busy Busy

And having a ball.

We got back from B-Burg yesterday in time for me to do another wonderful night shift. I can say that because the Godesses smiled and I was able to be off tonight.

The weekend was great. The Daughter had friends visit, so we had a house-full again. But we were all so busy that there was little tripping over one another. We went to dinner at B-Dubs, then back to catch up on the DVR list.


Everyone was up early to participate in Hokies Thank The World. It was fun-- a beautiful day, some 9,000 people, I think, and lots of good spirit. It was a chance to thank everyone for the outpouring of support during the last 6 months. (I'm up at the top of the T, just to the right of the speaker stand. I'm wearing maroon. Do you see me? Ha Ha). By the way, if you have hours and hours to get lost in, give yourself a great treat, and download GoogleEarth. It's free, and you can locate your house, stars in the galaxy, and a satellite image of the picture above. I had a great time last night. (Gotta be careful, though. It's almost as addictive as Cubis2).

Then a great game against Miami. The scoreboard was so thrilled it went Kablooey right after the game was over:

Here's a better idea of what happened:
Hokies defeat Miami 44-14

Autumn-- It Doesn't Get Any Better

With all the drought and heat that went well into November, we thought there wouldn't be much in the way of great foliage this year. Well, there has been, and it's been spectacular. It started with mostly the deep, tapestry tones, but has expanded into vibrant displays.


Our commutes to Blacksburg (and even just to work, for that matter) have been breathtaking.

I've been trying to figure out how to put captions under the pictures, but really don't have the time to fiddle with it now. The top picture was taken during the Hokies Thank the World photoshoot in Blacksburg. The one on the right is the tree in my front yard. The bottom picture is across the little bay on the Potomac, looking toward Mount Vernon.




Lots more tomorrow. Including some actual Knitting Knews.

A Busy Week Off Work

Decluttering.

Cleaning.

Doing Laundry-- lots and lots of laundry.

Building furniture.

Polishing silver.

Washing floors.

Wishing I had more time off.

Veteran's Day

It's Veteran's Day. To a lot of people it means another sale at Macy's, or a day off work.

To others, it means the memory of a loved one who gave the ultimate sacrifice for them and for all we hold dear.

To me, it means unending respect for My Father, who served Marines on the front lines in Korea, tending to their injuries of body and spirit in conditions I can't imagine. It is memories of those I served with, some of whom are no longer with us, and of the sacrifices they made, whether in family separation, numerous hardships, or with their lives; appreciation for the amazing work and sacrifice of those who went before me and the freedom I enjoy because of them, awe of the accomplishments of those who are in service following me, and pride in all that is good about our nation.

Their work is symbolized by our Flag and the symbols of our nation. And that's why I may glare at those who chat on cellphones during the National Anthem, and find it too difficult to take off their hats during The Pledge, and don't think it's important to stand when The Flag is presented. I realize they just don't understand, and it makes me sad.

It doesn't seem too much to expect.

Hey-- Go Hug a Vet!


In Other News...

How Unbelievably Sweet It Is!


The first Hokie victory against FSU.
Read All About It!

Catching Up

The Husband and I drove to Blacksburg last night for the Hokies' football game against FSU this afternoon. Here's hoping.... we don't have a good any record of winning against the 'Noles.

Today is Hokies for the Hungry- a food drive by the Marching Virginians. Moe's participated in the project by donating $$ and canned goods for each burrito purchased yesterday. The Husband and I were on our way to pick up said burritos, and decided to see if we could go to the basketball game last night. It was great fun-- and the first live hoops I'd seen since I saw Michael Jordan playing against the Wizards. That gives you an idea... We went to Moe's after the game. Good burritos.

Hilton Head
What a wonderful week. I have great pictures, and will share them soon. (Wouldn't you know-- I finally have time to blog and internet access, and the camera's not here....)

I spent the week sleeping, eating fresh seafood, walking on the beach, reading, knitting, and generally relaxing to the max. Oh, and watching football.

I finished reading Divorced, Drunk and Covered in Cat Hair by Crazy Aunt Purl-- highly recommended. In honor of being at Hilton Head, I started The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. For some reason, I'd never read any of his work, although I've seen the movies-- The Great Sanitini, Conrack (film version of The Water is Wide), Lords of Discipline and Prince of Tides. I think I've got a new list of books to read.....

I also picked up HTML for Dummies-- we'll see if I learn anything. Actually, you'll be able to see if I learn anything. But it may take awhile.

I made great progress on The Tilted Duster. Once the skirt stitches are picked up and carefully counted, counted, and counted again, it's a pretty mindless knit. My method of keeping track of rows and increase rows is to make a little grid that I check off. I don't have great luck with row counters, especially when there is more involved than simply counting rows (eg. increase on rows 1,3 7 repeat from * 8 times). The front and back are completed, I'm about halfway through the skirt, and about 2/3 through each of the sleeves. I decided to start on the sleeves, because, well, you know-- sleeves... But I wanted to finish the front and back first so that I can make sure the sleeve caps will fit properly. The collar will be picked up and knit-- more mindless 2X2 rib.

We went to Casey's on Hilton Head to watch VT against Georgia Tech, and met new friends from Blacksburg who were also there to watch the game. We're joining them today for tailgate before the game. I baked some brownies-- boy, do they smell good!

So now to wrap this up, I say
LET'S GO HOKIES!