A Knittable Weekend

Well, I've been having so much fun this weekend that I'm purely exhausted today. Whoa!

There's a college hockey game on NESN tonight that's being announced by the regular Bruins team. It was so nice to hear the voices of Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley from the other room, the way it's supposed to be, even if I don't know the names they're saying and don't, frankly, care whether BC or BU wins. I've got laundry going downstairs, and the kitchen is a disaster that needs to be addressed.

So! Want to hear what I've been up to? Of course you do!

Friday after work, I met up with a friend and we went into Cambridge to hear a speaker for the Common Cod Fiber Guild talk about fiber and photography. Since the event was at MIT, that meant Kendall Square, which meant we had dinner at Cosi. Mmm! They have locations in the city (by which I mean Boston and Cambridge), but they need to come to the suburbs. It may not be city-busy where I work, but there are enough companies around to provide a lot of business. There's room for one more restaurant, and I really like Cosi's bread. Anyway! We ate and knitted until it was time to find the right location at MIT, which we did without much trouble. Interesting to walk the halls and look at the signs.

The speaker was a woman named Gale Zucker, and while I wouldn't have said that I'd heard of her, it turns out that in addition to her own books, she's done photography for other people's knitting books, and one of those?

Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, which I just bought in September, at the Tractor Supply store, when I was visiting my friend in Central Mass. Oh, her?

(By the way, the irony of my posting about this today, about this book I bought recently, given that earlier today I was telling my mother that I really don't buy a lot of knitting pattern books, does not escape me. But first, the sweater pattern called Margaret is fantabulous and I dream of making it someday. Second, see that sticker in the upper right corner?

Thank you, Tractor Supply. Where I also picked up this sticker, by the way.

True story, and end tangent.)

As I was saying, Gail Zucker, Tips and Tricks for Fabulous Photography.

The tips were useful, and she had a lot of good stories about photo shoots as well. I took some photos of her presentation, in lieu of taking notes, but they're not very high quality, and I think I will spare you. I did stop on our way out to try and capture the top of a local tower that was interestingly lit, but the camera did not know what to do with the night-and-light. I got these two shots:

Camera does not know what to do! And then I got this one, nice and clear and you'd never know what it was of.

Lighted room floating in the air. Oh well.

I got a lot of knitting done, after dinner and during the talk, enough that I stopped knitting because I thought it might be time to start the toe decreases. I tried it on when I got home.

Yup! Toe time! I got my things ready, for the toe and for starting sock two, to bring with me for Saturday. Be prepared!

I started Saturday's prolonged outing at the dermatologist, getting treatment for the recurrent plantar wart that damnit has been bugging me again for awhile. The treatment is long overdue, so I didn't want to put the appointment off, but it did make for a gimpy day with frequent grimacing from the stabs of pain. Lovely, right? (It's not quite as bad today, but still not good at all. Ow.) Once that was done, I hobbled out to the car and headed west! Webs-ward ho! One stop for lunch, and I was there by 1 for a 2 o'clock talk, perfect: a little shopping time before sitting.

I didn't know it would happen back when I signed up for the talk, but it turned out that Webs had a big sale on Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns just at this perfect time. I wasn't sure what to expect, since they don't always have a wide supply of STR, and since even if they got more for the sale, I was arriving in the afternoon, and who knew what the locusts knitters would do in the morning? But I was very pleasantly surprised at how much they had, and picked up several skeins to ponder before deciding.

I did not get the Pixie Puke colorway, but I did admire the "colorful" name!

I ended up with three skeins, though only two of them will be mine. Mary Ellen asked me to pick a skein for her, so she'll be choosing one of these and the other two will be mine. (I kind of wish I'd bought even more--the price was certainly right--but still, I love these, and I have lots now. Enough.)

 

I also picked up some black and some white sock yarn (as opposed to black-and-white sock yarn, of course), to make the Tardis socks that are mostly blue (naturally) but have the "Police Box" part in black and white. Here is the highly exciting photo:

Riveting, I know. On to the excitement!

As Franklin explained, we all know that knitting is a hobby generally regarded by others as, simply, insane, and that to care deeply about historical knitting patterns is a "niche insanity". He certainly made it interesting! Though we were hardly a skeptical audience. He's a very funny guy, and I learned a lot about knitting's history, or specifically the history of written patterns*, without it being at all a chore. My favorite line came when he was discussing how some old patterns were very practical, but some were frivolous, and "The frivolity is delicious."
*Since knitting was happening for hundreds of years before patterns were first printed.

And if you're wondering how B could be for purl, by the way, well, consider this code list for one early knit-pattern writer:

Obviously.

Franklin also brought along some samples to show, and really it's hard to believe that the Victorians thought the pineapple bag was chic. I did like seeing the Mrs. Roosevelt Mittens, which have such a simple yet interesting construction, and I may take a stab at those some day. (On the Knitty page about them, I liked what the ranger said about Mrs. Roosevelt as a knitter: "She knit because she could not sit still." Amen!) When Franklin was talking about them, a knitter in the audience piped up that she had made a pair for a friend--a friend who had Mrs. Roosevelt as godmother. Small world!

Of course I, like most of the audience, was knitting while he spoke, and I got to the end of my sock (but did not feel up to doing the toe in a darkened room while listening to a speaker). But after he was done, I went out to one of the armchairs in the front of the store, and finished it before I left. I had to tuck in the ends at home, but it's done (in a month, hardly a record), and number two is begun.

After that? I stopped for dinner, then ran a few errands*. You know, nothing exciting, just this and that, and Wegmans. Yes, it's a grocery store, just a grocery store, as I agreed recently with someone telling me about how his family in Rochester rave about it. But it's a really good grocery store.
*By the way, GPS=lifesaver on this trip. So Much Easier!

By the time I got home, it was almost 9 last night, and I had groceries to haul in. It was a really good day, but a long one, and I've been so tired today. I have one more load of laundry to finish tonight, and I would pay someone $5 to bring my towels up when they're dry. The stairs are hard with the gimpy foot; down isn't bad, but up is really taxing, what with not wanting to (or being able to, really) put weight on the ball of my left foot. By now, the left ankle and knee are getting very cross at me about their unusual positioning as I compensate. I think I will give myself a pass on doing dishes tonight, and go sit down until it's time for that last trip to the basement. Grandma's Christmas present isn't going to knit itself, you know. And someone wants me to get to bed as soon as I can.

He's been there most of the day, so he has some authority to say that it's the place to be.

Sigh. But No Headache!

No headache tonight, or just barely, hurray, and I was able to get myself on the bike again; I haven't made it the last two nights, what with the head, after having done five out of six days in a row before that. Trying to keep that (little bit of) momentum going! In addition to staying on tonight (duh), I did a couple of short (like thirty second) bursts of higher speed. It seemed like varying intensity might help? I don't really know. My quads are certainly mouthing off about the extra work. Do you have an opinion? Yes, you, in the back? What do you think? Oh, "it depends"? Anyone have anything useful to add?

I sure don't like riding it, though. It takes both knitting and something on TV to distract me from how little I like it. I started another sock, to keep on the machine and eliminate the "I don't have any knitting handy" excuse before it starts. Nice small project, new non-dull needles, and lovely yarn. Remember this?

Of course you do! I bought it when I went to DC in the spring of 2011. Remember? Oh, don't worry, it's a bit of a blur to me, too. In fact, I was just re-reading the entry and, if I may quote myself, I was talking about the Wegmans coming to Northborough! "I'll go if I'm out that way, but not regularly. Maybe on the way back from Webs!" How funny that the thought occurred to me as if for the first time recently, but clearly, not. Meanwhile, the knitting is moving slowly along, and with the yarn in a project bag hanging from the handlebar, no repeat of the yarn-bounce-drop-tangle episode.

Exercise. Sigh.

Yesterday's snow didn't turn out to be all that much around here. There was at most an inch on the ground this morning, though closer to three inches to clear off the car.

Winter. Sigh. Already, this is what I would like to say to some people:

So, It's Snowing

Yup. November 7th. Not a record or anything, but still, early. Ish.

The weather was looking pretty threatening this morning, so I went to the Weather Channel's website to see when to expect the storm* that was blowing our way. Interestingly, it at first had us on the line between snow and "wintry mix" and then solidly into the snow area for hours, when there was absolutely nothing happening in the way of precipitation outside the window. From around 10 this morning (or what they called 11, since apparently someone at the Weather Channel forgot to Fall Back ... on Sunday) until it finally started lightly snowing around 3 this afternoon ... weird. I would have been inclined to trust the radar more than that, but I kept checking it and looking out the window, and, you know, nothin'.
*When did they start naming nor'easters? At least "Athena" sounds a little more powerful and capable of destruction than "Sandy" did. What a misnomer that was.

It didn't snow all that heavily, but enough that there was snow to clear off my car after work. Fortunately, I was wearing a warm jacket with a hood, but I didn't have real gloves with me*, just fingerless ones, and as soft and warm as they are, that was not the job for them. By the time I got in the car, my fingers were shockingly cold. Oh. Joy. It's winter. Again.
*Hey, they made it sound like we would get rain. "They" were wrong, of course. Surprised?

*****
If any of yesterday's elections didn't go your way, I do sympathize. I distinctly remember the sick feeling of disbelief I felt in 2000. It's not a good feeling; we don't have to agree on a candidate to agree on that. We can still be friends, right?

*****

I never heard back from the absent house cleaners, by the way. The English language needs an expression for something that you wish would happen but don't expect to happen.

*****
Any local readers who are knitters/fiber people going to the Common Cod Fiber Guild's talk this Friday night in Cambridge? Better yarn and fiber photography? Or what about Franklin Habit's talk at Webs Saturday afternoon? Let me know if I might see you there (either "there").

And if you are going to be at Webs, and are not on their mailing list, here's some news that I found exciting:

In store, through Saturday the 10th, shop select Blue Moon Fiber Arts colors at 20% off. Yarns on sale include Silk Thread 2, Silkie Socks That Rock, Socks That Rock Lightweight, Mediumweight & Heavyweight, Twisted, Woobu, BFL Sport, Gaea, Marine Silk Fingering, Marine Silk Sport, Marine Silk Worsted, Mopsy, and Peru. Get them before they're gone!

I know, all the yarn I have brought home recently, and that I still love by the way, but come on, you knew I wasn't going to Webs without at least looking at the STR... Plus, Webs is giving 5% of their sales this week to the Red Cross for the hurricane aftermath. I donated to the Red Cross myself last weekend (my company matched, god bless'em, plus JetBlue gave me bonus points for it, which I'll probably never use but whatever), but the more good karma points I can build up, the better. If, you know, they have colors I like.

*****
I really would have liked to be able to watch last night's Bruins re-run, since it was the game that knocked Philly out (sorry, Kate), but if it was a trade-off for the headache going away, I'll take that trade. Tonight, we open the Tampa series (I saw an ad on NESN the other day that they're doing these games every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night: nice!). The headache right now is what I'd call "not bad, but not gone". I want it to be gone, but at least for the moment, I'm capable of being up, so that's an improvement. We'll see how that goes. I'm off to watch at least the start of tonight's game.

(Morning After a Headache) "Voting Report"

(I started writing this yesterday, but the head prevailed, and I was in bed around 8. This is what I was going to write.)

I was planning to vote after work, since I didn't want to go in the morning and have to worry about the wait and getting to work on time. But yesterday work let us know that we get a little unpenalized time off for voting (up to two hours, in fact), so I didn't have to worry about it making me late, and I decided to do it in the morning and get it over with. (I didn't see an "I voted" sticker when I was there, so you're spared that picture.) It was nice and sunny all day, so that should help turnout, though it was, literally, freezing this morning. There was a bit of a line when I got there, but I'm okay with that if it means that people are out there, voting (not if it's for dodgy reasons like this, though). It's sort of satisfying to be at my local school, for this purpose, and when I can just walk up and vote and walk away, it feels less worthwhile, somehow*. And of course I got the knitting out while I waited anyway. (My ballot** was number 119 in the machine, but that's just my precinct of my little town; I don't even know how many voters are in the precinct.) Just glad to get it over with, you know? Civic duty, check!
*Not that this is a rational response, but that's how it feels for some reason.
 **We get a paper ballot to fill out, then feed it into a machine that records it. Same for you, or different?

I mean, I'm so grateful to live in a country with voting (more or less) open to all citizens, etc., but this election season has worn me out. The phone calls, the fliers, the commercials, the news, it's all been endless and unrelenting. I am SO GLAD that the electioneering is over. As long as (oh, please) there are no problems tonight, no recounts tomorrow, then we can move on, finally, into some sort of peace, no matter who wins what. They made a joke on the NPR radio program Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me last weekend about what might happen in the 2016 presidential campaign, "which starts next Wednesday," and I laughed while kind of wanting to cry. Too close to true!

I did get very ticked at the local NPR people this morning, though, when they had a reporter "on location" to watch Scott Brown vote. (He's one of the senators in MA, and the Brown/Warren campaigning has been as hot around here as Obama/Romney, if not more so.) The mere fact that he voted is not news, and the fact that he "looked relaxed" and "wore a barn jacket"? Is SO NOT NEWS. Please forgive the caps, but honestly. I don't need to know that. Let me know if he doesn't vote, that would be news, but otherwise leave me out of it. Good lord, people. Back to the music station for me. And tonight, when most channels are going ape over votes! and results! and with-6%-of-precincts-reporting-we're-ready-to-call-it-for!, I will turn on NESN and watch a year-and-a-half-old hockey game with great relief. I already know who wins! It's perfect for election night.


(Wednesday-morning me again. I watched a little of the Bruins while getting ready for bed, and this morning my head feels better, plus the candidates I cared the most about won. We have a storm blowing in, but I'm calling it a good day.)

Random Updates, from yarn to dreams to e-mails

My stitch and bitch group planned to have our yarn show-off last Monday (where the Rhinebeck-goers show those who didn't go what we got), but of course the hurricane blocked that plan. So tonight we were on, which meant I had a bag full of yarn in my car*, and is it wrong that it made me worry about my car being stolen? not for the car itself, but for my precious yarn? I'm pretty sure that's wrong. Plus your average car thief is unlikely to find the yarn appealing, lovely as I think it is.
*Out of sight, mind you, but I still felt like its presence was obvious, and alluring

*****
I had the weirdest dream last night, and oh yes, I am going to tell you about it. I was across the street from the house where I grew up, and a man who was holding a baby fell down and hurt himself, so I held the baby while he was seeing how badly he was hurt. The baby was very cute, and I was bouncing him, and other people were around, and then suddenly I didn't have the baby, just this towel that had been around him, and I was trying to hide from the others that I didn't have the baby because how was I supposed to tell them that I didn't know where the baby had gone? And in the middle of my freaking out, I told myself, "It's okay, it's just a dream, wake up!" Which is something I've done once or twice before, in the middle of really scary bad dreams. And I woke up--by which I mean that I dreamed that I woke up, and I was in a room that I recognized, and I knew that it was okay.

When I actually, for-real woke up, I was very confused. I dreamed that I was dreaming? Too meta.

*****
Most of the time, I'm at peace with not being married, but when my newly-married coworker was telling a story about her father's speech at the reception, my gut twisted a little. I may never marry, but if I do, my father won't be making a speech. Things still come out of nowhere to hit me like a two-by-four upside the head, even after three and a half years.

I wonder what he would have said.

*****
I got a bargain-deal e-mail recently that amused me. The subject line claimed "Over 53% Off" as though that would be more impressive than either "53% Off" or "Over 50% Off", and the deal price was a vaguely specific "Less than $215.71". Perhaps I am easily amused? Or very literal?

Pithy words in another e-mail: The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

I'd never heard of David Russell before, but nice turn of phrase, sir.

*****
 Speaking of vaguely specific, let's give the kinda-sorta award to UPS. Last time I had a missed-you message saying that they would redeliver "After 5:00" the next day, I got home at 4:55 to find that they'd been and gone at 4:30. Tonight, it meant 6:30. Dude!

The good news is that I have the new American Express card, and it's activated and safely in my wallet.

The old one still has not turned up.

Life's little mystery.

Brief Text, Mostly Pictures.

Even with the gift of an extra hour today, the end of the weekend comes too soon. I have accomplished quite a bit, but goodness, am I tired. I vacuumed, and ran the dishwasher, and did laundry, and there was some shopping in there too. The used bookstore brought me what looks to be another good one: How do you like a book titled, "Elope, If You Must"? Me, too. Had to give that one a try.

Also, can you explain how I found a pair of Old Navy corduroy trousers (for $2.99, thank you Savers) in size 18 that fit me, while the ones I found a few visits ago in size 20, also Old Navy, are too small? That's just messed up.

I did 10 minutes on the bike tonight, which after all the stairs for the laundry is all I can manage. And I did do another 10 minutes last night after the first, so there's that. So far, so achy. I also set up the scale so that I can weigh myself weekly. Oddly enough, I weigh a few pounds less than I expected to. Going by the fit of my clothing, I haven't lost any weight, so that's odd. We'll see what happens.

I don't seem to be achieving any coherent thought, so let's fall back on photos, shall we?

Happy West Wing birthday to me!

 

I don't think I would have bought my father a Giants Santa hat anyway, but I wish I could tease him with it.

At first glance, I thought lobster, then, hesitantly, scorpion. Do you think? But if you tilt your head to the left, do you see it?

A dinosaur in enormous carpet slippers?

No? Just me, then?

(Un)clean House, Bike Thinking, Hockey(ish)

So, today was my first Groupon-sourced house cleaning, and I'm sure you're dying to know what it was like to enter a sparkling-clean home!

So am I. They didn't show up.

So! Anticlimax. I haven't heard back yet with a reason, or at the very least an apology. They were due at 11; at 11:15, I called and left a voice-mail; at 11:30, I used the "schedule an appointment" form on their website to let them know that IF they can explain why no one showed up, and IF they can promise it won't happen again, I'll reschedule; if not, I'll ask Groupon for my money back.

Since I respect punctuality as well as professionalism, I was bothered by the incident, but I recognize that it could be for a valid reason, and will wait to see what they say. The part that bothered me the most was that I had popped Carlos in the carrier to be ready to take him out to the car, and though he was an angel about it, I'm still sorry that he sat there for half an hour for no reason.

What did I do?

Further updates as events warrant. Meanwhile, I guess I have to vacuum this weekend after all.

*****
An update to yesterday's musings on using the stationary bike: in today's BoingBoing, I saw a link to this video about a guy who rode his bike over 3000 miles in a year.

Now, let me say that it may very well not have been all the exercise he was doing, but that's not the point of inspiration, is it? Anything that incites me to keep it up is a good thing. Plus, two points he made caught my attention in particular.

First, the idea that easy access to equipment is a key point:

Second, addressing the bike-inside versus real bike issue:

Too many excuses! Preach it, brother.

I didn't ride the bike last night, but I've done ten minutes already today, and will try to do it again later. Baby steps.

*****
In more entertaining news, the minor league hockey team the Kalamazoo Wings is having an 80s Night. How do I know, given that they're in Michigan, hundreds of miles away?

Because they made this wonderful "cover" of the Wham hit Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Must watch! Smile!

There, wasn't that fun?

Back Here and There

First: Back at the weekend, hooray!

Back on the bike
I did get on the bike again last night (pause for applause), for 12 minutes this time. Build up to real time, right? I had to pause part way through, because after I dropped my yarn, I didn't notice at first that it was wrapping around a pedal. All the exercisers have this problem, right? Knitting and biking aren't so compatible, it's true, but if that's what it takes to get me on the bike, I'll make it work. I don't like riding the bike*, of course: it's boring and uncomfortable, and I get sweaty and breathless and achy, and why go through all that when nothing positive happens, right? But it does have the advantage of being in my home, ready whenever I am. For that matter, it's free, and not just "already paid for" but "free hand-me-down, let me deliver it to you" free.

*I like the idea of riding outdoors, on a nice day, in a pretty area, but for regular exercise that's a fantasy, in this part of the world anyway. You know I'm not stoic.

I appreciate the "in my home, ready whenever I am" part now more than before, because, the Y. Oh, the Y. Over two weeks after I toured it, I keep not going to the Y, even for my free trial week. I've thought about it, planned on it, tried on my swimsuit and put it, with a towel and flip flops, in a bag in the car ... and I haven't gone, largely because my schedule, aka life, gets in the way of synching with its schedule (the pool schedule, specifically). I'm still pondering the issue, because the bottom line is that if it isn't simple I won't do it. I tried putting it on my calendar, to plan ahead and get used to the idea of fitting it in, and I can't take it. My calendar in October is already such a stressful thing, and this was not making November any easier for me to face. Do you know how long I've been trying to fit in an oil change? I'm usually early for those, and it's been weeks. If exercise planning raises my blood pressure more than exercising lowers it...

 

So, could I get to the point where the biking is enough exercise? How much is enough*? I have read about the benefits of making something (that you don't want to do, I mean) part of your everyday schedule, thus removing the deal-making procrastination, and I think for me, exercise is one of those instances when I'd have to make it every day. It's just too easy, if I say I'll do it three or four times a week, to say "not tonight" on any given night. If, however, I set myself the goal of at least 15 minutes every day, say, and then a couple of times a week work up to doing more (half an hour?), that would have to be good, right? Would it have any noticeable effect? I want to think it would, but there's that definition of insanity again.

*Don't answer, I know: it depends. Well, do answer if you have a better answer!

 

Back on the smoothie bandwagon 

A few years ago, I was making smoothies regularly, enough that on a visit to my parents, I converted my mother to the habit, but over time I sort of stopped (and she went on making them, actually, so some good came out of that). I was talking to someone about them recently, and decided I should try to pick up that habit again, and get more fruit into my diet. I finally started toward the end of September, and man, they are good. Kind of a pain, with the clean-up*, but yum. I make them pretty simple: start with (usually orange) juice, add some non-fat vanilla yogurt, slice in a banana, then add frozen fruit. Strawberries are my favorite, but I also got some peaches, and those are good too. In the past I've tried raspberries (and found them too seedy) and blueberries, which I remember not liking too much although of course seeds weren't the issue, and I'm sure I tried others that I'm not thinking of now. Pineapple, I remember, did not blend well. Mixed berries are a nice change, but strawberries are still my favorite.

*Strawberries are delicious but the seeds are so tenacious. I need staff, really I do; it would make all this healthy nonsense much easier.

 

One thing that makes me feel less like a grown-up, though, is carrying my 24-ounce Tervis Tumbler with the Bruins logo and bright yellow top, filled with pink or yellow slush, among people carrying sleek traveling mugs of coffee. Oh well. I should give up on feeling like a grown-up, I guess.

One funny thing is that the first week, I was making just the right amount to fill the glass, and then I was making too much. The only difference is that, since I got a really big bag of frozen strawberries at Costco, I'm not pouring them in, but taking them from the bag (since hoisting a 6-pound bag up seemed unnecessary). Weird that I can eyeball it one way and not the other, though. One morning, I poured too much in the glass, so when I put the top on, a big blob went {splort} onto my shirt. I was Not Amused. This was, in fact, one of those moments when it's better that I live alone, for anyone trying to talk to me (or, god forbid, laugh at what happened) would have seen this face:

I'm doing a bit better with the amounts now, but I try to remember to make the smoothie before my shower. Just to be safe.

 

Back to better mental health

I've tried not to worry about Carlos's health before the facts were in, while there was nothing I could do. The test results were inconclusive, so we went to the next step, and he had his ultrasound today--and nothing bad turned up. May I be the first to wish you a Happy No Tumor Day? We are celebrating with treats here, but feel free to choose your own celebratory method. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the "blood in the urine, no known cause" thing, so he's getting another two weeks of antibiotics for insurance, and he'll get the urine checked again in a few months, and we'll see. I have taken to reminding him that he needs to live, if not forever, then at least many many years, and he's smart enough not to argue with me.

What a good boy. 

Disjointed Thoughts

• I can already tell that I will be apologizing to the cleaners on Saturday and assuring them that I understand the clutter will impede their ability to fully clean.
• While I appreciate the companies that managed to hold off on the full-bore Christmas push until Halloween went by, it's a little disconcerting to have Christmas advertising be everywhere all of a sudden, like a switch flipped. Yesterday pumpkins, today mistletoe, boom.
• I have come to the realization that my physical body, the infrastructure, believes we live in an era when we would expect to die by 45 or 50. Since I am hoping to considerably outlast that, it's a little depressing to be so achy and creaky already.
• Learn something new every day: I was reading about prostate cancer recently, and ran across a reference to "indolent clinical courses" that I didn't quite understand. It turns out that there's a medical definition for indolent. How about that?
• causing little or no pain: an indolent cyst
• slow to heal: an indolent ulcer
• inactive or slowly developing: an indolent tumor
• Sometimes when I'm reading stuff for work, it reminds me of reading in a foreign language: I can sound out the words, the way I would in French, but that doesn't mean that I understand what it means. Science is its own language.
• How to carry belongings and purchases at Rhinebeck is a challenge I have not quite mastered yet, and this year's plans left me with unbelievably sore arms. A backpack seems like it would work, but if you knew how many times I got clouted by someone's backpack when they turned without accounting for the added depth ... not that I can exactly blame them, I did it myself more than once when I did sling my bag onto my back to give my arms a break. It's just impossible to avoid, no matter how good your intentions, in a crowd of that size and concentration. Some people brought wheeled shopping bags, which are similarly not ideal. I don't know if there is an ideal solution, to be honest. 
• On a whim, I picked up a tube of "caramel brûlé chocolate bites" at Starbucks, and wow. It is all I can do not to go back and buy ten more, because what if it is only going to be there for fall?! It will be gone and what will I do? Dangerously good. I may have picked up more on subsequent visits.
• Speaking of which, I did manage ten minutes on the bike last night, though it took knitting AND watching the Bruins rerun to get me through the ennui/exhaustion. Good times. 
• I will try to do that again tonight, but, did you read the first point here?
• I have things to do!

Calendar Moments, Health Thoughts

I looked at the calendar this morning and it really hit me that Thanksgiving is in three weeks. No, really, it is! Sorry if you didn't realize, but it's on the early side this year. Perhaps I should be grateful that we have ours in November, not October, the way our neighbors to the north do (any Canadians reading?): October has been such a blur, as it is every year, and when I contemplate November, well. Here it is already, ready or not.

I hope my November will be a tad less crazy than October. That doesn't seem like too much to ask for. I'm still feeling a little over-stretched today, to be honest, and though you haven't asked, I'll tell you that I haven't gone back to the Y yet. Partly their schedule, partly mine, and only a little I-don't-wanna, really.

I did go for a walk on Sunday, thirty minutes* of striding and puffing and not stopping even up a moderate hill. (I didn't bring my camera, so I wasn't able to stop for all the tempting photo opportunities; this is key for me.) And the amount of laundry I got through over the weekend made for a lot of stairs. But I know I need to get to the Y, and I should be using the stationary bike in my living room as more than a clothes hanger. I don't wanna do that either, but these last few pounds I've gained are past my tipping point, plus my doctor is displeased with my blood pressure**. Sigh. Aging sucks.
*And even after that short amount, the soles of my feet were slightly tender. I have such wimpy feet. Walking as the sole method of exercise will not work for me.

**First time I've ever had that kind of trouble, and I'd rather avoid medication if I can, I guess.

After work tonight, though I didn't get to the Y, I went to Wilson's and loaded up on healthy foods. Have to have them around in order to eat them, right? I had a salad for dinner, not a common happening for me, and it was pretty good. I also got cider, and I'm going to try it in my smoothie and see how I like that.

The cashier at Wilson's was in training, checking with the bagger for which codes to enter, and my, but it seems like a lot of numbers to learn. She would guess on some, though she wasn't usually right, but when she got to the star fruit, she said simply, "I don't even know what that is." And when my mother reads this, she will boggle at the idea that I buy star fruit, since she has a friend who gives them away by the bag from the tree in her yard, and Mum doesn't even like them! I like them well enough, for once in a while. I guess today was that day.
Another Wilson story: I was at a Starbucks recently and someone asked me if I got my bag at Wilson's. I said, "Uh, no?" before I realized what she meant, and she was right: Wilson Leather, not Wilson Farms!

Healthy food to end the day, a cleaning at the dentist to start it ... you'd hardly know it was Halloween, would you?

*****

I had an even happier calendar moment today, or rather calendar/map moment, when I was considering my trip to Webs on Nov 10th (to see Franklin Habit, yay), and realized that on the way back, I could swing in to the Wegmans in Northborough by barely going out of my way. Wooo! Wegmans! I am going to be one happy (and worn out) camper by the time I get home that night.

*****
File this one under both The Kitchen is a Dangerous Place and under I Am Amazingly Clumsy: I managed to give myself a "paper" cut on a piece of tin foil. Yes! It can be done! Without even trying, might I add. It's on the palm of my hand, halfway between the base of the thumb and the first finger. That's going to be all sorts of awkward, I can tell already.

All right, I'm going to watch the Bruins rerun on TV (god bless you, NESN) and move the clothes off the bike. Maybe I'll even ride for a few minutes!

Life Moves On (the Clean House Edition)

I actually did go into work this afternoon, after learning that a few others had made it in, and I had no trouble. There were branches down here and there, but not on the road, and other than feeling a little jumpy about it, and one traffic light that was blinking yellow instead of three-color, I found it a pretty normal drive. There are still plenty of people without power (and oh, am I grateful to have mine), but for me, life has gone back to normal pretty quickly. I went to acupuncture tonight, I have a dentist appointment in the morning ... stuff. Life. With an extra dose of gratitude for its normality.

And what's on my mind, post-storm? It's actually something out of the ordinary for me: house cleaning. Last month, I saw a Groupon deal for house cleaning, and decided to bite the bullet and get it. I'm not a good housekeeper; I'm too lazy to do much around the place, and that means that the corners start getting furry long before I get around to doing anything about them. I doubt I'll become a regular client, but the occasional deeper clean would be a Good Thing. The deal is for two sessions (it cost a total of $89, and I suppose I should tip on top of that, right? anyone know what's standard?), and I booked the first for this Saturday.

So what does this mean? First, I have some tidying to do! I used to laugh at my mother when I was a kid and she was tidying up for the cleaning lady. Now, of course, I understand better that in order to clean it, they have to be able to get at it. (Whatever it is.) And to be honest, a little external motivation to tidy up isn't a bad thing for me. There are things about living alone (well, without other humans) that I very much enjoy, but there's a line between 'enjoy' and 'abuse' that I don't want to cross. No, I don't have to do the dishes the instant they're dirty, but how long do I want to leave them? Even if there are other things I'd rather be doing?

Each session is supposed to be two hours, and I'm planning to bring Carlos out to the car and hang out with him there. Miri's on her own, I'm afraid; I'm just not willing to shed blood to catch her, and honestly being caught and then being with me in the car, even with it unmoving, would likely stress her out as much as playing hide-and-seek with the cleaners will.

Do you have outside help with cleaning, or anything else? What's your experience been?

I'm Fine. Are You?

As you can see, the cats are very stressed by the storm.

I feel very fortunate to have come through the storm unscathed. The wind and rain yesterday afternoon felt like being in a giant car wash, and when the power flicked off around 4, I thought that was it for me, but it came right back on and stayed. This morning the sun is shining, part of the time at least, and there's hardly a breath of wind. We may have water in the basement, I haven't checked yet, but even the trash cans that blew away were dragged back this morning by a neighbor, and the regular trash pickup has already happened. Counting blessings very much, here.

How are you?

Home, and Safe for Now

So, as planned, I went into the office and worked this morning. Must say, as a silver lining to this storm, the commute was nice! I came home at lunch time, and found that, surprise, surprise, my document didn't want to play nicely on my old version of Word. So sad that I have to take some time off! Such a shame, really. I popped some popcorn to celebrate.

So for now, all's fine here. It's a bit rainy* and veryveryvery windy, trash cans blowing down the street and all, but other than that... Apparently there are already 50,000 in MA who have lost power; my guess is that's mostly along the coast. I hope I keep mine; Carlos is already mad at me for closing the window--his window--and if the heated bed loses heat, I don't imagine he'll be pleased!
*Like going through the car wash more than anything else.

Anyway, I feel like I'd better get this up while I have power. Hopefully after the storm is done, my biggest annoyance will still be missing stitch and bitch tonight--if that's the case, I'll feel very lucky!

Only a Week Later: Rhinebeck, Day Two

Yes, it is finally time to get to last Sunday at Rhinebeck. It's been so crazy around here, somehow, though it's the kind of crazy that, if I list all the things, doesn't sound like it should be that crazy ... but it makes me crazy, so I declare that it IS crazy. There.

When I covered Day One, I brought us up to dinner Saturday night at the good old Eveready Diner, which I highly recommend if you're in that area. We went from there back to the motel (we had run down to check in before dinner), and there was a note on one room door asking me to come to the office. I went along, and the woman there asked if there was any way we could use two rooms instead of three. Wise One and her Niece were sharing, and New Knitter and I had mutually agreed not to (you know I love to save money, but the quiet time is worth a lot to me; and then, she was getting over the flu, and still coughing, which made it seem an even better decision)(Never Comes to Meetings, by the way, was added to our group after I reserved our rooms, so she got one on her own). The motel woman said that she'd over-booked, she couldn't find another room at any motel nearby, and she was begging me to give up a room. I tried not to give in, but not only was she so imploring*, I felt bad at the thought of someone coming to the motel for a reserved room and being told that they were SOL. Then what would you do?
*Apparently next year, we will be getting "the best rooms". This motel is pretty basic, and I'm curious just how nice the best rooms can be!

So I ended up sharing the room with Wise One and her Niece, which actually had three beds (since I am not sharing a bed, no compromise there), and it was fine, just not the quiet rejuvenation I had planned. Though I do wonder where the young get all that energy! Niece stopped talking eventually, sure .. when she was asleep.

But it really was fine, and we talked a bit before falling into exhausted sleep: all that walking around, fresh air, and the yarn highs just wore me out! And seriously, my arms were already sore by Saturday night, and only got more so on Sunday. I'm a wimp.

Sunday morning, we packed up, checked out, and had breakfast back at the diner, then drove north to the festival. Like the last few years, we saw some great old cars going the other way on our drive. Fantastic! And then we were back in heaven. Before I go on, here are a few pictures from Saturday that I didn't get into the Day One recap. The license plate of someone with a Boston accent:

Alternately, it could be Lobstah, but never with the R!

We'd been talking in the car about the idea of being a yarn snob, so I had to get a photo of the "micron snob" mug.

And another mug that I liked, "Live, Love, Llamas".

In the award display area, this man was demonstrating a pendulum wheel: the dangling part on the left really did swing back and forth. Since I don't understand how modern spinning wheels work, really, I didn't even try to follow what he was saying about this one, but it was pretty cool. Needs its own room, though!

Right, now, Sunday! I didn't go around the animal barns very much this year; see last year's post if you miss all those pictures. But there were a few, of course. Bunnies, for instance, this one:

And that one:

And one sheep picture, since I don't think it's legal to write about Rhinebeck without one:

What curls!

I did make it to the punkin chuckin', which I hadn't realized was a competition between local school teams (high school and college). They were quite serious about it, in their hard hats.

It was fun, but I didn't stay long. By mid-day Sunday, I was in an advanced enough state of tired that staying still for too long would have led in short order to "not moving again", and there were still things I wanted to see. Could I have forgiven myself if I didn't get to see this creative sock display? I think not.

And I did swing through the llama barn, too:

 Eyeliner, darling, all the llamas wear it.

And, yes, I bought more yarn. I finally photographed it today, though the lighting was not ideal. Better than no pictures, anyway!

Here's the complete haul, yarn-wise:

Not bad, eh? I had a good time! New Knitter asked on the way home how long it would take me to knit it all, and my guess was that if I knit only from this (which of course will not be happening), it would last me a year. Maybe? Who knows.

Moving on to specifics, there's the Socks That Rock I showed you already, two skeins of lightweight ("single cell dating pool" and "puddle of bleu", specifically), most likely destined to be socks:

And the skein of mediumweight, which I plan to use for Drin's ribbed mitts pattern (it'll make more than one pair, we'll see how long that takes me).

This colorway is called Tempest, and it's a nice dark teal sort of color.

On Sunday, I couldn't resist one more skein, in heavyweight this time. Look at the yellow! "Saffron surprise".

I don't know if this will be thicker socks, or if I'll make something else with it. I just couldn't say no to that color.

I got another skein at The Fold's booth, and it's my big splurge, but when I touched it, and touched a shawl made from it, well, no contest. There were some gorgeous saturated colors, but I went with a more neutral shade, with an eye to being able to wear it more flexibly. This is from The Grinning Gargoyle, and it is ...

Yes, 100% mink. Mink! Unbelievably soft.

Pictures cannot express it, I'm afraid, but if you're on the fence about getting it, then do so! I haven't worked with it yet, but the feel of the yarn itself is amazing.

Now, more lovely sock yarns.

This one is a purply sort of blue, and (you can say this about everything I got) so soft!

Merino, nylon, and cashmere.

The same blend as the Sock Dream from Periwinkle Sheep, which I showed you previously:

And the same as this one:

And again, this one:

AND the same as this one! Are you sensing a theme, here?

Then this one is merino and nylon, no cashmere, still so soft:

A couple of yarns actually are not sock-weight, if you can believe it. Lovely autumn colors in blue-face leicester, DK weight.

And this one, the colors that speak to me so much. Merino-tencel, handpaint.

I got three different brands of sock needles, in hopes that one will feel more pointy than the others:

I got the little project bag, which I'm using now, and also picked up some super-fun buttons at The Fold's booth.

All very true!

And as you can see a hint of in the project bag photo, progress is being made on the latest sock. I did the heel flap last Wednesday, and turned it Thursday, and on we go. Fun wide stripes and bright colors as the daylight dwindles.

Also working on Christmas knitting, thus un-show-able, but happy with it, so that's good news.

So that's Rhinebeck and all along with it. Back in the present day for now, I'm trying to determine what this storm is going to mean for me. Reports are very mixed, with representation from both the "we're all going to diiiiieeeeee!" side and the "whatever, wind and rain, you people are wimps" side. It's hard to know who to believe.

One report I read said that for my kind of area, being inland from the coast, wind and rain will be the extent of it, but there's going to be a lot of wind, which may cause further problems like power outages even with our distance from coastal flooding areas. On the other hand, schools are already announcing that they're closing tomorrow, and the governor is asking businesses to close Monday as well; I guess the worst of the storm will be Monday afternoon, and they don't want people stuck.

My boss forwarded on an e-mail from the management people of our office park, so I'll be able to check before I go in the morning that they're going to be open; for now, they're planning to. However, the boss recommends we either work from home (not easy for the three of us without laptops, of course), or plan to take a personal day (or two, since Tuesday may not be good either). I'll probably go in for the morning, then bring work home, unless anything changes drastically before then. I just don't know; I guess I'll have to play it as it comes.

I have plenty of food and water, I've caught up on the laundry and showered and the dishwasher is running, so I'm pretty much ready for it, whatever it turns out to be. 

To be honest, what's bothering me the most is that stitch and bitch is probably out for tomorrow night. Rats.