Random Wednesday…

Firstly, preparations are beginning for the Estes Park Wool Market coming up in June. I know those on the east coast are much more concerned about the bigger and better Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, but those of us here in the heartland are pretty proud of our market too!

I went for the first time last year and had a blast! Snow, Margene and I went and met up with a few others. Well, this year we want to blow last year out of the water. We’d like to have a larger gathering of knit bloggers and there are wonderful people making the trek with Margene this year and a few east coasters are flying out to join in the fun as well. To make it a bit easier to coordinate a meet-up and so everyone can get to know everyone else a little better before June, Snow has started to collect names/blogs of those attending the EPWM. If you are going, please go leave a comment here.

To help her out, I’ve created several buttons you may display on your blog if you so choose. Just be sure to save the graphic to your own server.

I’ve also started a blog roll at Google Reader of those attending. You do not need to use Google Reader to access it. Once you get to the page you can subscribe to an RSS feed of all those blogs (as though it is just one blog) in any of your favorite RSS readers such as Bloglines or Sage etc. If you subscribe to the RSS feed of the combination of all those blogs you’ll automatically get updates to any new blogs that get added to the roll as we hear about others who will be attending the market. My EPWM button in the upper right there will continue to link to that blogroll so you can access it from here any time if you don’t use a news reader. I’m afraid if you don’t have a blog or web site we can’t add you to that list, but if you stay tuned to any of the blogs of the attendees we’ll be sure to post any info about a meet-up!

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Seraphim continues to progress. I’d post a picture, but there isn’t quite enough light coming into the house right now for a good shot. Perhaps I’ll get one added in later today, but no promises! As of last night I was at 85.6% completion aka I have 15 rows remaining! The yarn from Brown Sheep also arrived so I’m all set! I should be done within the week I think.

It’s funny, even though design rows only repeat 2-3 times and then it is onto a new design row I’ve really found my groove on this now and have had *many* design rows that didn’t need to have fudged YOs! Whee!

I may be getting my lace legs and may just have to try my hand at Mountain Peaks! We’ll see though, I really should try to decipher my problem with leaf lace first…

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We found out yesterday afternoon that DIA does not offer assitance to handicapped travelers between the hours of 8pm and 8 am. Mom’s plane is scheduled to arrive at 7:55pm so they will not provide her any assitance to get to baggage claim or get to the shuttle counter to purchase her shuttle ticket and then to the proper location to catch her shuttle. Now, the baggage claim is probably not a big deal, most of the people on the plane will be heading there so surely someone will be kind and help her out. But, she is flying a small charter company (because of thier larger seats and additional leg room to make Gaston more comfortable) so the chances of someone on that flight also needing the same shuttle service is pretty slim.

Mom wasn’t even going to tell me about this hitch in the plans until Dad told her she had to. So I have hemmed and hawed over what to do. I finally decided that even though mom was pretty sure she’d be able to charm her way to get someone to help her out, I’m just going to head down there tonight and pick her up. It does mean she’ll get to the house about 1.5 hours earlier than if she took the shuttle which will hopefully mean that DH can get nearly a full night’s worth of sleep. The dogs will need a bit of time to get reacclimated to each other before we can get everyone settled into bed too. It seemed to make more sense to do that at 10pm rather than 11:30pm. DH may go with me or I may make the drive myself. I don’t much care either way. I think I’m kind of glad to be picking her up because I’m going to be nutzo, crazy hyper and anxious all day as it is and that will give me something to do. It’s going to be one looooooong day!

We Have a Winner…

I know there have been grumblings out there that these blog contests are fixed. I hope this graphic proves that even though Snow and I are great friends that she won the contest fair and square! I have given her a choice between the fibers I dyed and the sock yarn to go along with the fiber-art journal. I’ll let you wait and see for yourself what she has chosen. I’ll be delivering it to her office tomorrow.

My thought on these contests and who wins them is that if someone is a regular to your blog, which in most cases means they are good friends whether just over the ‘net or in real life, they are going to comment with more regularity and more often than others. So, these game of chance sort of contests have a higher probability of someone who comments more frequently winning because they are playing the game more frequently so to speak.

In knitting news, I’ve completed chart two of Seraphim! That was the largest of the charts I believe. Also, my mom and I may tag team a Seraphim for my grandmother. Mom may also do the lace herself. We’ll see. There is a chance I might also change the lace at the bottom to a lace pattern she already has memorized or can easily memorize. For those people not in the know, my mom is blind, so while she is a good knitter it takes a certain type of lace pattern for her to knit it usually. We ordered some purple Jawoll for it so that it is blockable but still washable if the nursing home would accidently grab it on laundry day. It is going to be a gift to Grandma provided we get it knit fast enough. Mom bought some cheap finering weight yarn yesterday and is planning on practicing on a very mini version (36 sts on either side of the center st plus the edge sts on either side) to see if she can handle the ever changing lace pattern or if she’d like me to substitute feather and fan or something a bit more regular. Then, when she gets here I’ll get her started on the real shawl.

Yep, a week from today Mom is coming!!!!! I’m sooooooo excited!!!!!!! Last summer for her 50th birthday we told her to pick any time and we’d pay her airfare out here. Kind of a selfish gift I know, but she hasn’t been out since our wedding in October of 2002 and that was a quick and busy trip. She’ll be here to help me celebrate the big 3-0!!!! About 20 people are going to Dushanbe, a tea house in Boulder that was gifted to them by thier sister city in Tajikistan. We’ll be having high tea there. I think some of us fibery people will go a little early and also visit Shuttles before hand. Mom will also get to visit SnB that Monday as well!

A Distraction…

For Margene and the other official sky watchers I first distract you with a pretty photo…

One morning last week I happened to notice the brilliant blue sky (which Margene noted she was missing last week) and how the foothills nearly appeared to glowed with the early morning sun hitting them at just the right angle as I was in the dining room feeding Emma. It is hard to capture the glow on film (or flash card as the case may be) but this is close.

Things have begun to green up a bit more than that photo since we got a spot of rain on Saturday evening. But the reality is that our foothills appear quite brown for most of the year.

The big “A” on the hillside often brings questions from people visiting. Colorado State University was founded as the state ag school and they used be called the Aggies. In fact there are many things around town that still use that as part of their business name such as the Aggie Theater and Aggie Travel to name just a couple. So, for a looong time (I haven’t found any official history on this) there have been a formation of rocks on the hill in the shape of an A that gets painted every fall by a group of students and alumni.

Why am I trying to distract you? Despite ecidence to the contrary in Friday’s photo of WIPs, I have been quite monogamous in my knitting since I started Seraphim (you should click on that link and buy it, it is an easy lace project with clear and large charts). That means there isn’t much knitting excitement to blog about.

Sure, the shawl is bunched up a bit more on the needles which each round, but the lace gets more and more obscured. So I’m afraid progress photos are a bit on the dull side. I’m nearly done with the third ball of yarn and am roughly at 60% completion at about 2/3 of the way through Chart 2 (of 3 plus an edging chart)… So, I picked up some more yarn on Saturday when I was at a class at Shuttles (more on that later this week to further distract from the lack of exciting WIP photos). It of course isn’t the same dye lot or seconds for that matter. However, remember how it looked all kettle dyed when I blocked it at the end of the first ball of yarn? Well, balls number 2 and 3 have been solidly the darkest shade of that and there is no telling what ball number 4 will be until I get a few rows completed with it. So, I figure this shawl is destined to be a bumming around the house shawl so dye lot just isn’t really going to matter. What is going to matter is that I bust through this knitting block I have with triangular lace so I have some confidence back and can get back to Leaf Lace!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that your Monday is at the very least bearable!

Random Friday…

Elspeth encouraged me to stay honest by flashing my WIPs…

From top left clockwise: Skyway Scoop, needs one arm hole and the neckline to be finished; Wear Everywhere Pullover, needs two sleeves and yoke to be completed; Flower of Life Scarf, needs another foot or so to be knit on it; Seraphim Shawl, I’m at about 60% completion and this is the project getting the bulk of my attention right now; Nautical Baby Hat, it’s barely started but goes pretty quickly if I’d just concentrate on it; Siren Socks, needs frogged at least partially and some redesigning done on it; Leaf Lace Shawl, needs some detective work to figure out where exactly I’m at and then lots and lots and lots more knitting on it as I believe I’m only at about 10-12%.

That doesn’t count my unmated Mitten from Halland, but that isn’t cast-on so is it a WIP??? ;-)

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Liz was not only wonderful company, but she brought with her things form Maryland, including that adorable tote bag (which will nicely hold some of those WIP out of sight so they can also be out of mind for a while < evil grin >)!

Inside were many things indicative of Maryland, including lots of crab stuff - a pot holder, some notecards, some soaps, an ink well (I adore using dip pens of all types too), a magnet with a corn chowder recipe on it. There is also a postcard of some of the unique lighthouses though the glare is bad on that as well as some salt water taffy. She also included some great yarn - some Trekking XXL in wonderful colors which I’ll probably knit socks for DH with and some gorgeous and drool worthy Synchronicity (along with a suggested pattern). Thank you so much Liz!

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Speaking of gifties, I’ll be finishing up the prize stuff for the 1000th commenter. There will be a hand bound knitting journal similar to this one, and some hand dyed sock yarn or roving depending on whether the winner is a knitter or a spinner. I’ll probably also throw in a little something “Colorado” since I’ve been in that mode lately. There are less than 25 comments until we reach that magic number!

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Also, I’m kind of late on this one, but I added so many new blogs to my subscriptions after seeing people respond to this that I thought it only fair to contribute my 2 cents worth as well…

~ Your finds must come from knit blogs.
~ You may not use a blog for more than one item-all items must come from different sources.
~ Finds can come from current entries or archives.
~ You must post your answers with the title of the blogs they were found on and a link to the blog/item (permalinks where appropriate) on your blog. If no permalink is available, give us the post date.
~ Do not steal anyone’s bandwidth-which means you should not hotlink pictures.
~ You need to comment [on JenLa's site] and let [them] know when you have completed this meme.

My finds:

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered.

I suspect if you’ve made it to read here you probably know of many more knitting blogs that I don’t know of so I doubt anyone I would mention would be undiscovered…

2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative.

The pithy newcomer to Ft. Collins, M&C of Milk and Cake is definitely the closest knit blogger that I know of. She moved here from the Pacific Northwest recently and has been attending SnB. She has an alarming number of interests that coincide with my DH.

3. An unusual or weird animal picture.

This may be considered cheating, but it has stuck with me a looong time. It’s a sheep in socks from Dogs Steal Yarn.

4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers.

Snow *always* makes me laugh. In fact, she can make me laugh until my sides hurt. This entry was one that I had to share with DH and he just didn’t find it funny. But again, it is one that has stuck with me for a while. In general, Snows’ snippets of conversations at her house always entertain me and often make me feel like I’ve gone back home to my parents’ house, LOL!

5. An idea you wish you’d thought of.

Hands down, Project Spectrum! I love the concept, it is like something I would come up with, yet I didn’t…

6. Something you’d like to knit.

Mata Hari, Odessa, Dale’s Gerbera…

7. A picture of something you consider beautiful.

I adore most of Margene’s photos of nature, but I’m always drawn to the juxaposition of running water and snow so the photo leading this post of hers really caught my attention.

8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person.

I would *adore* meeting Mim. We have so many things in common even beyond knitting that I think it would be wonderful to meet her. I’ve heard rumblings that you may be coming to CO for the Estes Park Wool market, Mim, is that true??? :-) There are of course many others on my blogroll whom I’d love to meet in person as well.

9. A blog of someone you have already met in person.

Of course, who else could I choose for this one but Lizzy B whom I just met this past weekend!

JenLa tagged everyone, so if you’re interested, go for it.

The Cause of my KADD…

Lots of great ideas of causes for KADD (Knitter’s ADD) were mentioned in the comments yesterday. Only Cindy and Terby hit the nail on the head for what I suspect is my cause of this bout of KADD. Stress! Lots of things I cannot control; lots of waiting for news or answers; in general, lots of uncertainty. My mind is running 100 miles an hour and as soon as something gets slightly dull or requires too much attention (like frogging or tinking) I want to toss it aside and start something new.

There are concerns taking place here in my own home, well, really here in my own body but there is also a waiting game going on in Minnesota as well. A little over two weeks ago I developed some rather severe (though not acute enough to warrant going to the ER) abdominal pain. So I have been poked and prodded multiple times and had many tests and procedures done in the past two weeks. This has of course meant lots of waiting for results. After the results of yesterday’s tests come back if there is no answer the doctor is chalking it up to stress for a couple months and then we will re-evaluate. There definitely has been a lot of it recently. My hard drive crash happened only three days before the pain started and on my way home from the first appointment about my abdominal pain I got stressful news from Minnesota.

Grandma Schueler whom I flew out to Minnesota to visit in early February took a drastic turn for the worse last week. Fluid is pooling on her lungs once again and they are thinking she may be developing pneumonia, but at this point there is no sign of her body fighting an infection – no fever, no elevated white blood cell count, etc. But, they cautioned everyone that at her age and with all the compromises to her body already her body may not even fight it. A week ago I called and said goodbye and that I would always love her and would always miss her and that if it was her time and she was ready to go it was okay to let go of this world and continue on to the next and be reunited with grandpa. I have to say that is the hardest phone call I’ve ever had to make. Now I guess she has kind of rallied. On Thursday morning instead of saying that she was sad she work up here and not in heaven she said she wasn’t sad and would get dressed. That said, mom has told me there is little chance of a real rally for her. So, it is only a matter of time. I’m on pins and needles and jump every time the phone rings and I’m not turning my cell off at night. Though I have to say I am not missing the before bed phone calls each night where mom or Amber tells me that everyone has a feeling it will be tonight. In fact, I actually got a decent night’s sleep last night for the first time in two weeks.

Last Thursday was a wonderful respite. All the road trip energy and activities mostly kept my mind off of both of the worries and it was a wonderful gift. Thankfully I’ll be having a similar distraction this weekend as Liz is coming to visit. She arrives this evening and is staying with Snow, but there is a weekend full of activity planned, including another tea at my house on Sunday. Though this time I’m accepting help from others in filling the table. We’re doing a celebration of Colorado and featuring Colorado-made food and fiber. DH is contributing a lot via his skills of cheese and liqueur making but he will also be making the scones. It’ll be a great time. We’ll even have the pleasure of her company at SnB on Monday night! Woot!

I do think the many suggestions in yesterday’s comments stating the time of the year as a cause is probably also a contributing factor to my case of KADD as well. The change in seasons makes me want to switch the focus of my knitting to things that aren’t quite so seasonal in nature or wrap up things that are seasonal. I never wear socks in the summer as I’m a sandal gal so I’d like to decide what I want to do with the Siren Socks and get those wrapped up. Wear Everywhere would be a good evening sweater well into June most years as we can get quite chilly at night due to the dry climate and I’ve just got the sleeves and yoke to finish on it if I could finish it soon. Skyway Scoop is a tank, but then again I’m pretty sure with my bust being down 2 inches and my waist down 2.5 inches and my hips down 3.5 inches since I cast-on for it last year that it won’t fit when it is done. But, then again my mom will be here the middle of next month and if it is done and it fits her she could take it home with her and I’d save myself a trip to the post office. And Seraphim I would like to have done at such time as I have to return to Minnesota for grandma’s funeral. It has been a prayer shawl of sorts, filled with prayers for grandma and memories of her with each stitch and I hope when I wear it it will be like a hug from grandma. So, that has been getting the majority of my actual knitting attention since I cast on for it, but those other projects are pulling at me and I’m a little afraid that once I get to the real lace knitting on Seraphim it will end up aging in the knitting bag like Leaf Lace (though Leaf Lace need some serious attention and deciphering of what row I’m on which is why I haven’t picked up in so long).

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I know I intend to despite everything.