knitabit

Off to the Cabin!

Knitting? Do I knit? What?

I looked at Roscalie the other day. Does that count?

Oh, and I knit exactly one square on the modular sock while my son was getting his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. Actually, I knit that same square three times because I was nervous and unable to concentrate. (He's fine...)

We're headed up to the cabin this afternoon, and I'm bringing Roscalie along. I will FORCE myself to complete the first sleeve. Then I should be able to assess the yarn situation, and I'll place my order to Virtual Yarns. While I wait for the yarn to come, I will give myself permission to start on a new project, probably the baby sweater.

Season's Greetings...

...from our family to yours. (The annual "brag rag" sent out to friends and family.)

2004 leaves us wondering if the hectic pace of our lives this past year was an aberration or a hint of what’s to come. We think we know the answer, and it makes us very afraid.

We started out 2004 with a fun and warm trip to the sunny Bahamas. During the 12-hour trip from our house to a condo on Grand Bahama Island, we traveled by car (from the house to the airport), by train (from the main terminal to an outlying terminal at Denver International Airport), by airplane (to Ft. Lauderdale), by taxi (to the port), by high-speed catamaran boat (to Grand Bahama Island), and by bus (from the port to the condo.) We all thought that was pretty cool.

Other vacation highlights included a week-long camping trip to Devil’s Tower, WY and the Black Hills, SD, plus other smaller camping expeditions in and around Colorado. We tried kayaking on the Colorado River in August and we all thought it was quite excellent.

Kyle started his freshman year at Skyline High School, and continues to enjoy as many athletic endeavors as he possibly can. Football is his favorite, and he was a starter at tight end and defensive end on the freshman team this fall. He seems to be enjoying the challenges that high school brings, even keeping up his grades in a couple of honors classes in spite of all the distractions of sports and girls.

Jeff is in his last year of middle school, and enjoys two seasons of soccer every year and doubles up in the spring by also running the 800m and 1600m on the track team. His soccer team had a breakout year in 2004, advancing up two divisions within their league. Jeff continues to do well in school. He is starting to see some light at the end of the orthodontic tunnel.

Greg can’t wait to start football next year, but is happy to stick with his soccer team for one last season this spring. We have been very lucky to have our kids on such nice teams with nice coaches. Greg is in his last year of elementary school and enjoys school and all his friends. When the phone rings at our house, it’s usually a call for Greg!

Katie is our bubbly little second-grader and seems to enjoy everything in life. She is really excited about playing the violin and is making lots of progress in the Suzuki violin method. She also takes piano lessons. We finally talked her into soccer this year, and she decided it was pretty fun after all! Like her mother, she is a voracious reader and we have a hard time keeping her supplied with interesting reading material.

Dale is still at the City of Longmont, busier than ever. He also volunteers on the board of directors for the Longmont Safe Shelter. Of course, he still keeps up our garden which overflowed with produce this year, and he’s maintaining his title as the World’s Best Short Order Breakfast Cook (Saturday mornings only) and will soon be adding titles in bread baking and canning (jams and salsas.)

Karen has two part-time jobs – still the Executive Director of DARCA, and also a part-time consultant through Aqua Engineering, Inc. of Fort Collins. Both jobs are flexible enough so that she can knock off every afternoon at about 3:00 to be the Taxi Mom. Her calendar of kid activities and sporting events is a sight to behold. Knitting is what she calls her “fiber therapy.”

Best wishes to all of you for a wondrous holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Dale, Karen, Kyle, Jeff, Greg and Katie

Photo disclaimer: OK, that photo of us in the Bahamas is totally FAKE! We had one picture of Dale with the kids, and another one with Karen and the kids, but we didn’t have one with all of us together. So we used Photoshop to cut Dale and Greg’s arm out of one picture and paste it into the other! Bet you couldn’t tell! Isn’t technology cool?

Holiday Chaos

Knitting has taken a back seat to various forms of holiday chaos around here. Music programs, rehearsals, class projects, shopping...

Roscalie has become the Dreaded UFO. Fair-isle knitting in the round is so fun on the body of the sweater, and so horrific on the sleeves. And it will only get worse with each set of decreases as I approach the cuff. I think I need to implement some sort of reward system: perhaps a trip to a yarn store upon completion of the first sleeve; maybe purchase of a swift and a ball winder upon completion of the second? Hmmm, worth considering.

Sock progress is no better. I put the toe on wrong, and if I don't fix it, the toe will not be aligned with the heel. That sure sucks.

Also, I think this yarn looks prettier in stockinette (see the toe) than it does in the stitch pattern. Actually, I think the sock looks better in the photo than it does in person. That's kind of weird.

I had another fear that all the garter stitching would result in an uncomfortable sock, but when I tried it on just now it felt fine. However, it's plenty big for my foot. There's no way it will fit mom's foot, which is at least one size smaller. So now I'm asking myself what I'm going to get my mom for Christmas.

Once I get the toe fixed, however, this sock will go back to being fun again so I will not get an extended case of the grumpies on this.

In other (non-knitting) news...

• I've reached my limit in my job as Executive Director of the Ditch and Reservoir Company Alliance. The job is definitely more than one person can do in a 15-hour work week. The Board President and I are investigating some different management companies so that my job can be completely outsourced. That means my job might go away completely by March 1 or so, leaving me with more time to devote to consulting, which, although not as satisfying in some ways, is much more profitable and will allow me to earn a like amount of income in far fewer hours. I think of DARCA like it's my child - I raised it from infancy, I've seen it through its difficult adolescent years, and now it's become an adult that needs to go live on its own and not suck the life out of me in my middle age.
• I'm not really much for wearing make-up, but I'm not liking what I see in the mirror lately. I decided it wouldn't kill me to do a little something along the lines of a light foundation, some blush, some eyeshadow, etc. I've been a fan of Paula Begoun for quite some time, so a couple of weeks ago I ordered some of her skin care products. I'm so happy with them that last week I ordered a bunch of make-up. Now that's scary - ordering make-up online. But it came in the mail yesterday and I am so pleased with it. I think I can actually wear this foundation all day without feeling like I've got a mask on.
• I was at Sam's Club in Loveland yesterday, shopping in vain for a wreath and a poinsettia (I guess if you don't get there the day after Thanksgiving, you're out of luck.) They had badly done Christmas Carols blasting in the store - not the "Let It Snow" kind of stuff - the actual sacred music kind of Christmas Carols. I found it offensive that this form of music would be used in such a setting. I guess I'm really out of step with the red state values around here. Although I am a Christian myself, I don't like it when religious themes are used in a blatantly commercial setting, whether it be a shopping venue, a tacky electrical parade, or a display on a government building. I think the "Happy Holidays" approach is eminently suitable and I don't see why the Fundamentalist crowd is constantly making demands that their religious symbols be foisted on all of us in such tacky, commercial ways. And then there's the whole "He's the reason for the season!" sentiment. I find that particularly laughable when you consider that early Christians most likely plopped the celebration of Jesus' birth near the winter solstice so as to expropriate pagan celebrations.

Okay, enough ranting. I'm sounding particularly grinch-like today, aren't I? Let's get back to knitting!

Sleeve Misery

Here's the progress on the first Roscalie sleeve so far:

I am not enjoying knitting the sleeves. Too much spinning around. Ends to weave in. Getting the tension right when moving from one circular needles to other. I will try to get a couple of inches done each evening but really, the progress on this sweater is going to be slowed by the tedium of knitting the sleeves. I am starting to eye the yarn in my stash and the patterns I've had my eyes on.

My new mantra: Must complete Roscalie first...Must complete Roscalie first...

A wearable sweater...

Faithful Knitabit readers might remember the Everday Cardigan (Peace Fleece yarn) that I finished last May:

I got it off the top shelf of the closet this week since we're still in the depths of a pretty significant cold snap. And you know what, this sweater is starting to grow on me.

Yeah, it's still too short and boxy and the arms are a bit too long, but it so warm and comfy. I love the Peace Fleece. I am starting to ponder what kind of Peace Fleece pullover I might be able to whip together fairly quickly, just so I can have another toasty sweater for this winter.