Bruins Note

The Bruins, who started the season very well, have been on a bit of a skid lately, and I have to say that if they play badly in the first period tonight, that may be all I watch. I've had it with the "how do you play hockey again?" look they're sporting recently; I'm too tired to stay up and watch it.

That is all.

Bang Bang Bang: Roofus Interruptus

The roofers story, so far:

They arrived on Monday, September 9, after having been expected since August at least*, and made a great deal of noise all week (12-hour days, Monday through Saturday) working on the roof and erecting scaffolding around much of the building.
*You know, so they could do all the noisy disruptive work "while no one was here."

They worked the following Monday through Wednesday, at least; after that, I can't be sure of the rest of the week, as we were in NY for my grandmother's funeral.

We expected that they would be back on that Monday, the 23rd, but there was no sign of them.

In fact, they didn't show up for the next, what, I think it was five weeks*. Which means five weeks of almost half the parking lot taken up by their stuff, and scaffolding still up, and scaffolding around the garage doors making access to the garages difficult. But at least no noise.
*We heard a couple of different reasons, so I'm not really sure why.

They showed up again two weeks ago, so that would be October 28, and were working that week. But last week, they weren't around until Friday afternoon, when they seemed to be packing up some of the supplies and taking them away.

Which would be delightful, except that we can see a side edge of the roof from our kitchen window, and the roof there is clearly not finished.

They were back this morning and were doing more packing-and-removing, and in addition, they were banging around on the scaffolding so loudly that I had to close the shutters (between the noise and the 'quality' of my current report, I had a bit of a headache).

It turns out that the board has decided to have the finishing work put off until the insurance comes through for the Hurricane Irma damage (2 years and 2 months ago, and counting!), so the scaffolding is going away, and we're getting our unobstructed view back. A few more days of banging and it will be clear skies! And possibly clear parking lot, which would also be nice.

What I'm Knitting

I brought two projects with me on my trip last month, so let me update you on how those are going.

First up is socks, of course; using the Simple Skyp pattern I practically always do, and the String Theory Colorworks Continuum Self Striping yarn that I mentioned I was so excited to start.

On the first plane north:

On the second:

I was knitting on the drive to the airport, and as it went from yellow to orange, I had some uneasy thoughts of candy corn. But as soon as the red came in, it was fine.

The next day:

Waiting for the train:

In the car on the way to Rhinebeck:

At Rhinebeck!

Back home, and checking to see if it was too small.

Its heel didn't seem to want to get over my heel:

 

But a little cautious adjusting showed that was more about the needles than the sock.

I'm going to try it on again after I get past the gusset, but I think it's going to be okay. And I love the wide stripes!

The other project is a shawl: specifically, the Seashell Shawl, in Spunky Eclectic Eclectic Lace (Merino Lace). It's coming beautifully! I started this back in August, put it aside while I made the baby sweater, and happily picked it up again once that was done.

On a plane:

On the train:

Lighting makes a big difference to the colors. At this point, it's big enough that it can't be fully spread out on the needle, so after I got home, I added another cord so I could really get the full effect. This is what 400 stitches looks like!

And it will get bigger before it's done.

Plus it will block out more.

 I just love how it's going. Though each row is an undertaking!

Tonight I think I'll pick up the lap blanket that's been mostly neglected, and work on that while watching the Bruins--that is, if a certain lap cat allows me enough space for it. We'll see!

Rhinebeck 2019: It Was Wonderful!

Got comfortable, this is going to be a long one!

On that Friday morning, four of us set off for NY, and for most of the drive time, three of us were knitting. Sock progress:

We stopped for lunch at Cana Korean in Chicopee; it was good!

Then we drove on, to the house we were renting in Woodstock NY. Which turned out to have some whimsical yard art.

It also had a great screened-in porch! Sadly, the weather was not warm enough for us to spend any time out there. View one way:

And the other way:

I do regret not being able to use that porch. But the living room was also good; my favorite part:

So we made do. It was quite a good house, actually; we each had our own bedroom, and there were all sorts of nice amenities like a dishwasher and a fancy coffee maker.

After we settled in a bit, we headed out again, for dinner at the Eveready Diner. Which, to my surprise, I have only mentioned here once before, in my 2017 Rhinebeck recap. Really, ccr? What's up with that?  I'm pretty sure the first time I went was in 2009, on my first Rhinebeck trip, and went multiple times after that. Well, anyway, it's in Hyde Park, down south of the town of Rhinebeck, and the food is really good.

Do you suppose they named the bridge for that George Clinton?

Probably not. I'm not going to search for the answer; I kind of like not knowing.

On the way, we saw the billboard!

Dinner was good, though I did suffer a disappointment; I had been planning to have breakfast for dinner, and was perfectly willing to pay the extra for a little bottle of real maple syrup, but they were out of it! On Sunday, I saw this sign at the festival, and I couldn't agree more.

So I had something else, and it was good, but still. How do you run out of maple syrup?

Anyway! After we got home, my friends brought out a surprise.

Wasn't that so sweet? I was completely surprised and very touched. And, of course, it was delicious.

We did some more hanging around after cake, but didn't stay up too late, all wanting to get some rest before the next day's excitement.

And in the morning, off we went! No big delays getting in, and it was off to shopping and browsing and enjoying the pretty weather.

And the bunnies.

And the llamas.

Llamas give good attitude.

And are capable of fine disinterest.

"After all, what's so great about people? I'm eating here."

"You got a problem with that?"

Spots!

And a goat, for variety.

It really was a beautiful day.

Early, before it got too crowded.

Knitting break, turning the heel. The woman next to me answered a question from the woman on her other side (the question being what language were she and her friend speaking) by explaining that they had come from Iceland. Wow!

Getting more crowded.

I love these colors together so much. I can't wait to figure out what pattern they want to be. I have some major startitis lately.

Light through the trees on the drive home.

And the angle of light and clouds.

We all had a really good time on Saturday, and were all pretty wiped out by it (as usual). The drive out was pretty backed up, as it always is leaving the grounds and the area, but we got home eventually. One of my friends had generously offered to make and bring a lasagna, so she popped that into the oven and we all were able to get into comfy clothes (all right: pajamas) and relax for the evening. We knitted, we showed each other what we'd bought, we talked; it was great. As was the lasagna!

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Knitwear note: the accessory I ended up wearing both days was my Across the Waters not-a-shawl, which turned out to be great for festival-going. (It also was commented on multiple times, including one person walking the other way who called out, "Across the Waters?" as well as a few people asking for the name of the pattern.) With shawls on such occasions, I'm always losing track of the ends and getting it tangled in bag straps, but this just stayed in place and at most needed a simple flip to fall in place. I was very pleased with it, and am more interested than ever in knitting other similar items. I have the Cereus Cowl in my queue, and that might be next (I know which stash yarn I'm planning to use, even). There's also Bonjour Hi, which looks good, and so does Outlier and Daymer Bay and and and.
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Sunday morning we had to pack up all our stuff to leave the house, but eventually we got on the road and back to the fairgrounds. More shopping, and all the usual considerations of what to best do with the remaining time (even with going both days, I simply can't fit it all that I want to see and do). I did get to all the vendors I had written down, and got Clara Parkes' book signed, so I'm not unhappy with what got done.

I was amused by, but did not buy, this K1FU shirt. Knitter in-joke!

Briefly watched the groups competing in the fleece to shawl.

Appreciated, but did not buy, this lovely yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts (motto: Friends don't let friends craft with insipid yarn). Another time.

I also liked this shirt that they had.

Saw this shawl in a different booth, and I simply don't understand how they got the horses in there. Madly impressed, though!

The line for french fries was fairly long and very slow, but I spent part of the wait watching him make the potatoes into fries, so it was worth it.

I'll do another post with details of what I bought, but I just love the picture the yarn makes.

So, details on the current state of knitting to come; any other questions?