Still no FO's

.... working on it though. I did hear from my local yarn shop that Cynthia got me another skein of Claudia's Handpaint to try and finish the Crest of the Wave scarf I've been pooping along on. It's just pooping along because I'm beading as I go, and damn, not only does this pattern "eat" yarn, the beading pattern I've selected is "eating" beads. So I'm going to have to order a kilo or two from Fire Mountain to finish. I should get a photo of the work in progress, it is very cool, but way more fancy than I originally thought. This is going to be one heavy scarf.

ETA: I just got back from the LYS and the Claudia Handpaint is COMPLETELY different then the skeins I have. It's like they're two different yarns. And it's not even like one has more blue or more pink. This yarn is loaded with black and very, very light blue/gray.

I'm also moving along on the Ribbi Cardi. I'll be finished with the body, which is knit in one piece, maybe tonight, and can start on the neck and sleeves. I suspect that it won't take me too long and will get the heavy wool off my lap.

Of course, heavy wool is perfect for the 20 degrees below average temperatures we're getting. Not to mention the S.N.O.W. that I had to brush off my car last Monday. Yes, last Monday, May 12th. I am not joking. I was traveling to a another campus, and when I went out at the crack of dawn the car had snow on it. Bah! If anyone sees any of that there global warming, please send it in our direction. My few plants are gonna freeze.

But yesterday hot damn, "Elvis left the building"(apologies to Mike Lang)! And where was I? In my car...traveling east to west across the middle of the state, where I couldn't get a radio broadcast of the game to save my life! (Other than the repent or go to hell types. Which always seem to come in loud and clear. Can this be a coincidence?) And it was on NBC. And I missed it. We don't have Versus (no digital cable), so we haven't been able to actually see any of the games. We listen to the radio broadcasts so it's a little like being Amish--except for the bad words my DH yells at the radio. I've never heard an Amish person curse, but they may do it in PA Dutch and I wouldn't know anyway.(Why pay more to see more, for the most part, bad TV? Turner Classic Movies excepted.) On the positive side we got to hear the incomparable Mike Lang call the games, so it isn't all that bad. ("Get in the fast lane grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll.....!") So it was a treat to have the game be broadcast on a network. On another note, my mother also doesn't have digital cable, but she gets Versus....what's up with this?

Anyway, it was great to see them win. They've been playing really well, and they're a great group of guys...very, very young, but for 43 year old Gary Roberts. But as one of the news writers from Pittsburgh pointed out, you wouldn't mind your son or daughter emulating any of these guys-no steroid scandals, no child support issues, no arrests, not even any DUIs (probably because so many are not old enough to drink yet). No dirt anywhere. It will probably happen sometime, but not yet. Pretty remarkable.

Go Pens!! Enjoy that dance with Lord Stanley!

Heard at the polls......

..... or who says there shouldn't be a voter intelligence test?

First the stipulations: 1) I didn't hear these first hand, I cannot vote in our primary because I am "unaffiliated". The events were related to me by an individual whose integrity is unassailable; 2) I swear there really were one of each party flavor; 3) the individual who heard these exchanges swears no idiot was harmed in the unfolding of these events, but it was considered (by more than one person apparently).

Scene: Local poll staffed by older retirees. Generally these folk are genial and helpful. Because we have the new electronic voting machines (which can be the subject of another stupidity post), there is a younger fellow, a technician, I presume, to help those who are new, intimidated, etc. My experience of him is that he is unfailingly nice and considerate. (I'd kill myself, he has my undying admiration.) It is a few minutes to 8:00 pm EDT the time the polls close, and they are actually counting down. Not a usual event.

Event 1: There is a line and a woman steps up to the poll attendant.

Attendant: "What is your party affiliation?"
Woman: "What?"
Attendant: "Are you registered Republican or Democrat?"
Woman: "I'm for that Obama guy. What is he?"
Attendant, nonplussed: "Uh, Democrat."
Woman: "Yeah, that's it."

After looking though the Democratic rolls, then the Republican rolls, without success, they find Madam Voter is "unaffiliated".

Attendant: "I'm sorry, but you have an "unaffiliated" registration, and cannot vote in the primary."
Woman:"What? That can't be! I thought I changed it! I'm sure I did! I want to vote for that Obama guy."

Never mind that she didn't even know what party that "OBama guy" is running under..... I'm sure she changed her registration. Probably to Martian......

Event 2.

Yet another woman, this one a Republican, steps up to the voting machine, and the attendant turns the machine on and sets it to the Republican races.

Woman: "So, I can't remember - how do I vote a "straight ticket?"
Long Suffering Attendant: "Mam, this is the primary, you can only vote in the Republican races. You vote for Republicans that you want to run in the general election."
Woman: "What if I make a mistake? You know I want my votes to be counted!"
LS Attendant: "Mam, as long as you vote for the people you want, you really can't make a mistake. Your votes will most definitely be counted."
Woman: "Well you know what happened in Florida! They left all those chads and then their votes weren't counted! I don't want to leave any chads!"
LS Attendant (who is probably wishing for a good stiff drink about now): "Mam, I assure you that if you follow the directions and push the flashing red "VOTE!" button, your vote will be counted. You need not be worried about chads."
Woman: "You'd better be right! Now, how do I vote a straight ticket?"

I wish I were kidding. I am taking a little license with the actual dialog. As I said I heard it second hand. But I attest to you that the substance is true.

Now, do I hear a vote for a test before you can actually vote?

(And that test should be in English. It was pointed out to me yesterday, that there were probably illegal immigrants voting in the primary, and I could not! Where's the justice in that?)

Knitting? What knitting?

As the month from hell rolls on, I have no knitting to show for it. Not only do I have nothing to show for it, I have hardly been knitting. When I've had a few moments I can hardly keep my eyes open. Case in point......

This past weekend DH and I drove to the 'Burgh to see "Alice in Wonderland" performed by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. It was the North American Premier of this particular rendition. The scenery, costumes, choreography, etc. were courtesy of the London Ballet. The production was amazing, but the curtain call was the funniest thing. With all the animals and characters (March Hare, door mouse, white rabbit, duchess and piglet, Mad Hatter etc.) the curtain call looked like a Star Trek convention. I just had to laugh. What does this have to do with knitting? Well, on Saturday afternoon when we drove, I should have had something like 2 hours of uninterrupted knitting time, but I was so exhausted, I didn't even bother to take out my sticks and string. So my Ribby Cardi languished. After dinner, it was all I could do to find a comfortable place to sit, and read before I fell over. I even had to reread the two or so pages that I had been reading the next day.

Same thing happened Monday night. I can't keep my wits about me enough to knit at all, and it sucks. So there is absolutely NO KNITTING going on, and I have three projects on my needles. The good news is that I am not compelled to add any more. And I don't even have any socks started.

Today is the last day, at least in the near term for the political robo calls the name calling, bitching, moaning, pimping and all things associated with the primary. After today we can go back to being a sleepy ol' state. What I find less than charming though is the realization that college students are all of a sudden deciding that they invented primary elections. This morning at a busy intersection there were Obama supporters on all four corners jumping around with signs, like Teletubbies on speed. How I wish they could put that much energy into not getting drunk on weekends.

And for me, the primaries are nothing more than a nuisance. In PA, unless you have an "R" or "D" on your registration, you cannot vote. We are being entertained though by a race for our congressional seat. There are dueling felons (OK accused felons). One got nabbed for DUI about a year ago, and the other just had charges filed for taking nekked photos of a former girlfriend, without her consent.

Who says this isn't Happy Valley?

And so it goes .....

..... when we last left our heroine, she was trying to refrain from thumping herself silly before a major work endeavor.

Well, just as I posted, the inevitable "issue" happened. A colleague, who was scheduled to present not once, but twice(!), fell ill. (And I might add here that the second presentation was a "political" presentation. Not one I would have scheduled if I had not been "requested" to add.) It fell to me to 1) find a suitable presenter substitute (read: victim); 2) make the decision in time to allow the substitute to become familiar with work that was not her own.

Let me clarify. If one produces a professional development presentation, it stands to reason that one is somewhat of an expert in the field. If one is substituting and using someone else's presentation...all bets are off. The person who got the flu, kept insisting she would be well enough to travel. It was Wednesday, the presentation was Friday, she looked terrible, I just couldn't take the risk. So I filled in for one and a friend pulled my bacon out of the fire for the other. Everything went OK, but still. I truly didn't need the stress that this invoked.

Sigh. So now the cleanup. Thank you notes, budget stuff, find my sunglasses...you know the usual.

And this morning I dropped my vehicle off for minor (ha!) bodywork. They gave me a loaner. I was expecting the little crappy thing they gave me last time.....instead, I get a 2007 (or 08) Tribecca!! Leather seats, the size of a tank, everything electronic....yoi! Makes me crazy nervous! Go figure. I want my Forester!!

Slowly sinking....

Ever coordinate a conference? If you're a conference/event planner you know from whence I speak. I am NOT a conference/event planner, however, I have the dubious honor of coordinating and organizing a conference once a year, among other smaller events as part of my position.

Consequently, with a conference sneaking up on me the end of this week, I will not be in a good "place" to post until next week, if then. I will be sitting cross legged, chanting, and probably banging my head off the nearest solid surface, until this is over. As the last week rolls by, issues "pop up". Issues that no matter how carefully one tries to avoid them happen. Sigh.

Anyway..... my Monkeys are finito!!



And they're green!! These are Mountain Colors Barefoot in Mountain Tango colorway.










Here's a closeup.


These babies have an Eye of Partridge heel, my favorite heel, and fit beautifully. This is another lovely pattern from Cookie A. She must be a much tighter knitter than I am. I usually use the same stitch count, and a size 1 needle, and it fits beautifully.







This is also my lace slog...It is a Sivia Harding Hanging Garden Stole. If I was a good lace knitter I suspect I'd be done with this by now, but I've just passed about the year mark, and still have 4 repeats to go. And yesterday I discovered I made an error, and will need to try and recover, though I doubt that it will be noticeable to anyone but me. And probably not even me, when all is said and done. How do people knit lace, with lace weight yarn, so fast? I can't imagine.



Sigh. This is probably not a good project for me to work on this week. Not if I want to keep what's left of my sanity anyway.

Well, thanks for that...

This is for the anonymous commenter, who explained that she is anonymous only because of technical issues. Please know, I appreciate your comment, regardless of mode. We might wish to agree to disagree however.

I thought you, and anyone else who cares, might like to know that the genesis of the "elderly hippy dippy" description comes from the self descriptions of elderly (or maybe aging would be a better adjective) hippy dippies of my acquaintance. Some I count among my good friends. I also never said that ALL of Brattleboro was of that description, just the few that began the idiocy on your council, and wasted tax money on a public vote. And just so you know we have plenty of those types who sit on our very own town council, and waste our tax money on a regular basis.

As for being jealous. HA! (Maybe even double ha!) I have had more people tell me how lucky we are to live here than I ever thought possible. Just this week I met a realtor in another city, who waxed poetic, about clients selling their homes to move here to retire. They don't call it Happy Valley for nothin'. So jealous....hardly. We have woods, hippy dippies, little traffic (outside of six weekends a year) and a Wegman's (which is why I'm never moving).

I am jealous of Brattleboro for one reason though, you have one of the most talented, and charming, artists I've ever had the pleasure of meeting living there. We met him something like 30+ years ago, and if he had a web site I'd give him a plug.

Some things I think, I think.

If I hold this in any longer I'm gonna 'spload....

1) Hey Buddy!! What the hell were YOU thinking?




Bill O'Reilly is calling it self-destructive behavior (a'la Beluchi)- that he wanted to get caught. I think that is too forgiving. I'm with the psychologists and Geraldine Ferraro (a friend of Spitzer's) hubris, laced with narcissism and arrogance (a'la Clinton).

And for the idiots who are saying things like, in Europe this wouldn't even be news....I have a message. Perhaps we're a little bit better than Europe. Even though, frankly, I don't care who you "do it with" I think we hold (or try to) our elected officials to a higher standard [than Europe] and actually expect them to uphold the LAW they've sworn to serve. Fancy that!!

If you don't like the law - change it. But until then...zip it (pun intended).

2) A vote for this guy

is like voting for David Duke (The Grand Wizard, or whatever he styles himself these days) or perhaps Hitler. They all traffic(ed) in hate under the guise of helping the "little guy". I used to think he was funny too. He had real talent until his bitterness took over. Now he's just dishonest and disgusting. And what is very scary is that he has a constituency, albeit small, mostly made up of the "hate Bush" kool aid drinkers. Yeah, lots of depth of thought there. Must be the kinds of drugs in the Minnesota water.....


3) Because in PA one has to actually register for one of the two political parties in order to vote in the primary, I, as a no party registrant (independent is a separate category even though I don't know what that means here), can't vote. A year ago, I decided that I would change my registration for a month in order to vote against Hill. Who could have guessed that it wouldn't be necessary? Who also would have thought that PA would matter at all? (Though DH is still encouraging me to do so. I would hate to get on those mailing and phone calling lists. Brrrrr....)

4) Because I have such fond [not!] memories of the last general election, all the robo-calls, all the crap in the mail, etc. I have decided I am going to take action. Call it my own personal protest. I am going to collect all the political garbage we get after the conventions, put it in grocery bags (I'm sure we'll get enough for several) and when I go to vote, instead of refusing the paper the volunteers try to hand me as I go in, I'm going to just hand them the bags. They can sort it out themselves or just recycle it.

5) And ultimately, and sadly, as of today, I have no one that I'd actually like to vote for in the election in November. And this is the very first time I can say that. Even if I wasn't totally sold on either candidate, I could usually make a "lesser of two evils" distinction. This year, it hasn't happened. I'm hoping it will. Otherwise, I might just have to stay home. And no, I cannot vote for Ralph Nader. That poor fellow's tin foil hat is on a wee bit too tight. Makes me very sad. To be honest, I wouldn't stay home, because we have other rather important races going on, but I may not vote for President, which would be a damn rotten shame. But it won't be an apathetic non-vote.

6) The good news is that I finished my Mountain Colors Monkey Socks and as soon as the weather cooperates I'll take a picture!

7) I can't believe I forgot this!! I would be shocked if even 10 percent of the Brattleboro Vermonter elderly hippy dippies, have even read the constitution. (You may recall these are the idiots who voted to have Bush and Chaney arrested if they ever cross the border. The charge is "crimes against the constitution".) If they had bothered to read it, then perhaps they'd be able to figure out that they themselves are simply idiots. (No constitutional lawyers in Brattleboro?) Alas, unfortunately there is no crime in idiocy. (Frankly there is lots of stuff to be pissed off at this administration about, but crimes against the constitution? Really...) The other thing they haven't figured out yet is that the rest of Vermount, just keeps them around for the entertainment value.

Yoi and Double Yoi and say "hi" to The Chief!

The world is definitely a less colorful place without you,
Myron.

But your legend will live on!

The joys ......

... of living in a college town. Those of you in An Arbor, Chapel Hill, College Station and other similar venues will probably be able to relate.

I'm watching a tape and knitting at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. (Yes, I keep odd hours on the weekend.) Our drapes are drawn, and the outside lights are out. We live in a small townhouse development that is far enough away from the campus that we don't have oddles of students around. Apparently it doesn't matter. There I was minding my own business, and the doorbell rings. I'm stunned. The doorbell! At first I think, maybe it's the newspaper carrier. (He's a middle aged fellow, with a disabled son. He delivers papers so he can stay home with his kid.) I'm thinking maybe he was delivering the Sunday paper and his car broke down, or he hit someone's vehicle or something. So I go to the back door and turn on the porch light. Nothin'. The bell rings again! Front door! Our door is solid, no way to see who is there, unless I peep out the front window (and turn on the porch light), or open the door, which leaves me very vulnerable.

Now I do have a husband, who is upstairs doing goodness knows what, and who apparently has not heard the bell. I run upstairs and say "Someone is ringing the door bell!" "You're kidding!??" As if to confirm that I'm not crazy or dreaming, the bell rings again, now for the third time. He says, "Don't open the door!" Well, duh! Look out the upstairs window and see who it is....well I can't see the person. Bell rings yet again! So I actually OPEN the upstairs window, it is in the teens by the way, and call out "Can I help you?" It is a young fellow, in his twenties probably. He says "Is Roger "Something" here?" I tell him I'm sorry but he has the wrong unit. "Do you know where he lives?" What? Do I look like directory assistance? I ask if he knows the unit number. Even a few digits would help. No, he doesn't. So, genius, why not just choose a house at random and ring the bell in the middle of the night. Great idea! Pretty much par for the course in a college town. I tell him I cannot help him, and he apologizes profusely "for bothering you", and walks away. He is clearly lost, and he is also shaky--frightened, drunk, drugs, I couldn't tell.

Now, though, I suspect it wasn't quite so random. He probably saw the lights and figured we were awake, however, unless I was in dire straits, I would not just knock on a strange door. I certainly hope it was no more nefarious than idiocy, which is in no small supply here. I wanted to ask why he didn't just call "Roger". But didn't get the chance.

I debated about calling the police, but really didn't want to wait for an officer to come and take a report. It was "THON" weekend and the town was packed with visitors.

Lest you think this is something out of the ordinary (people just randomly coming to the door and asking where "someone" lives), I once answered the back door, on a week night, only to find a young couple in formal wear. It was 11:00 pm, and I was in my jammies. The couple were as shocked to see me as I was to see them. They were looking for a party, and were told the host had a "silver" car parked in front. Our neighbor at the time had a silver car, but I didn't think she was having a party either. They just picked a house.

And to add to the fun, about two months ago, I came home to a "Code Red" message on our answering machine. It was from the local police, alerting the residents in our area that there was an armed and dangerous person being pursued in our area. At first I thought it was one of those robo-calls, and nearly blew it off, but as I listened it because obvious that it was an officer reading from a script. It spooked the hell out of me, I can tell you.

So the fun just never ends.......not even in the wee hours of the morning.

A potato's a potato......

I've had any number of serious things in my head today, and I could write a long post full of myself, and flight of ideas, but I won't, I'll only pick one for now.

It started with the Yarn Harlot "musing" about how people can say things "electonically" that they wouldn't say in person. Well, duh, we (in the higher ed arena where this monster took shape) recognized that for the double edged sword that it is. When you post to the internet three things are true: 1) It's there forever, no takee backsees 2) It's public, not private: 3) NO VOICE, it takes a mighty clever writer to put voice in electronic communications. Maybe you would prefer the world to be a sweet place were folks do not feel compelled to make negative (however mild) comments. (An aside: I for one rarely read blog comments. Particularly those that can reach into the hundreds. How many times can you read "Wow, I'm first!") But as for the negative comments...well, say hello to the tin man there in Oz. For any number of reasons someone may feel compelled to make a comment that curves away from the "popular". (I can't help but wonder what would happen if the blog was an attack on Bush, and one poster said "Whoa, let's be reasonable with the name calling and piling on." I shudder to think.) One other time comes to mind. It was, again, the Harlot's blog describing a plane trip. The guy in a seat in the same rack, told her he was uncomfortable with her knitting needles (socks on dpns). Even after she explained that she had been cleared through security, he was still nervous. Ok, I admit, he sounds like a nut job, but one of the commenters thought it must have been Rush Limbaugh (Stephanie snapped a photo of black wing tips) because "he's a weenie" (wimp or something like that). Now I have no particular love for Limbaugh. His brand of attack politics distresses me, but in this context it was a bizarre non sequitur. The point, however, is that that particular comment, an ad hominem attack, didn't even cause a ripple. I guess attacks on unpopular personalities are fine, but not negative comments about socks. I'll tell you it has me scratching my head.

Now lets talk, if not ugly, but odd. When I made these I thought they were hysterical. (Still do.) I brought them into work to show a colleague. Another colleague saw them, and asked "Who are they for?" I answered my sister and her boyfriend. "How old are they? Seven?" Do these people look seven?



But do they look like they have a sense of humor? That second colleague apparently thought the hats were weird and that only a child would be caught dead wearing it. I could have taken great umbrage. Instead, I just smiled and thought how glad I was that I had a person with a sense of humor in my family. (My sister squealed with laughter when she opened the package.)



My advice. Get over yourself...whoever you are!

Here's my new scarf. (How's about my photography...not bad? Still working on learning the camera's "ropes". If you look at the clock you can see that I'm going to be late for work!) I got a new Bean parka, and needed a scarf to match. This is made with Araucania, Aysen from Chili. It is merino/alpaca/silk (70/20/10) and is so soft and snuggly. This is the Multi-directional scarf pattern found all over the web. The yarn is closer to an aran weight and I used #9 needles (don't ask me from metric, I can barely deal with American needle sizing. One must know and gracefully accept their limitations.) I got a nice dense fabric, with a wonderful drape.



And not a moment too soon because the winds were whipping this morning like nobody's business and we're expecting it to go down into the teens tonight. When I arrived here it was in the high 30's, now 2.5 hours later and it has dropped 10 degrees WITH the sun!






But I need a hat! A matching hat!




So I got this and have begun another cloche.


It's New England Highland wool, out of New Hampshire. It's a bit harsh, and not nearly as soft as the Patons Classic Wool I used for the last one, but I could not find a good match in the Classic Wool. The color in the photo is way too pinkish. The color is actually very plummy. I didn't notice the odd coloring until now so didn't try to color correct it. I'm hoping that the felting will soften it up quite a bit or I may not be able to wear it. I'm a very delicate flower you see. I need to take some time tonight and find suitable beads to knit into the banding. And then decide how I want the banding to look. Do I want it the same as my first one? Do I want to change the position? Decisions, decisions... It may just depend on my mind set, and attitude when the time comes.

Never stop....

...evolving. I've never shied away from new things--new techniques, new innovations, etc. At least when it comes to non-lethal activities. No one ever died or had their head shaved if a beading experiment or a knitting project turned into a stinker. So after having a devil of a time with my DP sock needles slipping out of my alpaca monkey socks, I decided to give another technique a try. Which brought me to this.



Now I'm not going to say (like Cat Bordhi) that "socks soar on two circulars", but it isn't half bad for someone like me who is not very gentle with socks in progress. I spent way less time picking up stitches than I did with my previous pair. The yarn is Mountain Colors in Mountain Tango. I'm kinda surprised by the striping going on, I didn't expect it, but what the heck. These are being knit using KP size 1, 16 inchers. I don't think I'd want to use circs that were any longer for socks.

I must admit though that they are stalled for the moment. I'm attempting to finish a scarf to go with my new snuggly warm down parka. As you all know, it is in the single digits here, and I didn't have a scarf to match my new parka. So what's a knitter to do? Knit a new one of course. Duh!

An aside: I see that because of the abundant sunshine we have hit a high of 23(!) at the moment.

What I did .....

....on my Christmas vacation.


I knit hats, not one, but two!! I'm kinda hat picky. I have a head for hats. But not those tight cap type thingies that can be knit up in a snap. I look best in something with a brim that doesn't make me look like a pinhead. So I opt for hats with brims. One is B. Marie's bucket hat. The more intrepid among you can page back to last winter, when I made not one, not two, but THREE of these hats. (I'm no quitter.)All three were made with Patons SWS because I was enamored by how well it felted, soy and all. However, I was not enamored by how disproportionately the stuff felts--too much in length not enough in width. My buckets looked like hippie felts. Not bad, but not the look I wanted. So I tried yet another, but this time two things were different: 1) the yarn. I used Patons Classic merino and 2)I bossed my felting around. Even though the stuff tried to felt too short, I yanked and pulled and the proportions are so much better. It only took ONE skein of Classic merino and felted like a dream. I cast on on December 30 and was finished the evening of January 1st. Happy New Year indeed!

On the left is the cloche from Elegant Knits. It also only took one skein of Classic Merino, with a second for the contrasting stripes--but I used hardly any. It also has iris beads in the stripes. This was my traveling knitting, and literally only took a few days even with sporadic knitting. I was a tad concerned about how the neutral and white would felt, but I need not have worried. Everything felted beautifully.

This next photo is of a cat tunnel from "Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair". Every year I make something for the "kids". One year, Pi Beds, then catnip filled mice, this year a tunnel.


I'm told that "Velcro" has taken to hiding in the tunnel just to ambush his arch rival "Demetia". Glad everyone is happy....We aim to please.








And finally the Sock Monkey Hat was a huge success. Doesn't she look happy?



















So my final Christmas knitting tally is:

A Multidirectional scarf. (Fun knit will do it again)
Monkey socks (already started another pair)
Moebius scarf (many more in my future)
Two Sock Monkey Hats
Two ribbed hats
Fuzzy Feat
Cat Tunnel - which was remarkably like knitting an afghan, and which I will never do again.

So there you have it.

Now what the heck is in the water in Iowa?

Christmas Time is HERE...... Yikes!!

I'm on the last little bit of my "Christmas knitting". Thought I'd share what I've finished.



This is the moebius that I started when we were on vacation. It is fingering weight (sock) yarn from Socks that Rock in Pebble Beach.














Next up are "Fuzzy Feat". A pair of felted slippers. I made these with Paton's SWS (soy wool stripes). They're for my sister who keeps her house at frigid temperatures.







And the "piece of resistance" .........











His and Hers Sock Monkey Hats!! These are for sister and her boyfriend and were too much fun. I have enough for one more and may just have to make one for DH.











Getting ready to sign off for the day. DH will probably be at the office until way late. He just feels he has too much to do. I'm going to put everything off until next year, but that's just me.

I'll have more knitting in about a week, but for now, signing off until 2008! I hope everyone out there has a happy, healthy and Merry Christmas (no matter how you celebrate)! Stay safe.

And I thought I'd have knitting.....

..... but I have this instead. For those of you who really don't know, the "premier" weather forecasters are right here in State College. That would be Accuweather. You know that Elliot guy that you may hear on your local radio channel? He shops at Wegman's with me. Oh yeah, and the National Weather Service is based here too. And PSU has the top meteorology program (check out the live video and Bad Meteorology) in the country. In the last survey, 25% of all the working meteorologists graduated from Penn State. (Including a "TV weather reading" course where the students are required to "dress up" and read the weather in front of a green screen. To add insult to injury the course is always scheduled at 8:00am too!) We are pretty much weather central. So is it any wonder that we're all weather weenies.

Here what I see today on Accuweather:

TODAY. HEAVY SNOW IS LIKELY OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF
PENNSYLVANIA...WITH A MIXTURE OF SLEET AND SNOW BETWEEN
INTERSTATE 80 AND ROUTE 22...AND MAINLY SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN
TO THE SOUTH OF ROUTE 22. TRAVEL WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED
THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.

We're in that band between 80 and 22. Now doesn't this sound like fun?

As late as the mid-nineties Accuweather was run out of three little houses on College Avenue. The roofs had satellite dishes, and unless you knew they were there, you completely passed them by. Sometime in the late nineties, they moved about 5 miles to a glass faced building that resembles [probably] Mission Control.

So these constant and ever evolving winter storms occupy most of our time on a much more "personal" level. We're pretty strange here, that's for sure.

This is going to be .....

...... a very long year. Currently, I am so sick of politics I want to run away...but to where? A few months ago I heard a priest say that with how contentious politics have become it is the new racism, and it is just as awful. I must say I agree. How in the world can you "hate" someone for supporting a certain idea, or person? How in the world can you "hate" anyone who has the balls to run for office? You might not respect their ideas, you might not trust them, maybe you wouldn't want to share a meal with them but "hate"? The mind boggles. And how is this hate different than hating someone for being a particular race, or religion? Sigh.

But on to happier things. I have some knitting! Yes, indeed. Since the recipient of this gift doesn't read my blog....here be monkeys!!




And how tacky is it that I'm trying on socks that I made for someone else? I ask you. Well, my feet were clean, and I only had them on for the few seconds it took to take the photo. I used Pacapeds yarn, a wool/alpaca blend-very soft, very lovely. I have another skein, but in pinks and purples and I think I'm going to use them for me! I used a size #1 needle, instead of the #2 called for, and I changed the pattern to add stitches to the repeat. Of course, they fit perfectly (I'd make the foot longer for me) but now I cannot remember what the heck I did. I began with the #2, but the twisted rib looked so wide, I was afraid they'd just creep down on the recipient.


So now unless I had the presence of mind to actually write down my changes, I'll have to reinvent the wheel again.

Leave it to me.

Happy Anniversary Darling!!

And no--it doesn't feel like 200 years. It just feels like a good 20!

Here's to 20 more!

The money shot....

Last week we were away--away from work, away from ringing phones, away from nearly everything we usually do....OK not away from sports, but you can't really have it all. We did what is nearly impossible to do on any vacation. You try to do a lot of different things, and end up so exhausted, the vacation ends up a lot like work. Well, somehow that didn't happen. Even though we hiked, went to a jazz concert at a museum, visited two wineries, hiked some more, went to a beaded jewelry and costume showing at a gallery (me), and visited Kentuck Knob, we didn't wear ourselves out. It was wonderful. And as a bonus, I got this shot when my dear husband, on a whim, decided to stop at Tharp Knob in Ohiopyle State Park, just to see the overlook. It had been raining all day, and I was not happy to walk across sodden meadows...that is until I saw this.



You just can't plan a shot like this. This is above the Youghiogheny River, Ohiopyle State Park and the town of Confluence. If you look closely you can see the homes of Confluence, and the bend in the Yough (lower left). Also notice how green the leaves were--still.



As we turned to leave I got this.....





Look closely [again] and you can see a kite caught in the branches of the tree on the right in the mid-ground.



Damn he does have a good idea now and again........

You have em'

... I know you do. Those festivals and fair(e)s that occur in communities all over North America. I can guarantee, however, that you do not have THIS particularly festival.

What are these men doing?



Why, silly billy, they are celebrating the culmination of The Fabulous 1890s Weekend in Mansfield, PA of course! They are costumed as football players in the 1890s. 1892 to be exact! Because in 1892, in Mansfield, PA, the first night football game was played under electric lights. The first time in the entire WORLD. The story is on the web site, but the short version is that General Electric decided to display their brand new invention, the electric light, at what was then the Mansfield Fair. Mansfield Normal School (now Mansfield University) played Wyoming Seminary (Wilkes Barre, still Wyoming Seminary "under the lights". The reenactment is hysterical, and accurate, including the plays, like the flying wedge. In 1892, there were no electric light anywhere in town, but they brought ONE in for the game.

The "fabulous" festival is little more than a community fair, but for the "football game". However, it embodies the best of small town America. Throughout the day there are demonstrations, like 1890s boxing reenactments; clogging, contra, and square dancing; a Miss 1890's pageant with the ladies dressed in period garb (sorry no pictures of that), hot air balloons...





















You name it, but the piece de resistance is the football game reenactment, down to the refs in top hats and tails, and the "medical help" being a bucket of water. (In previous years it has been in the 40's in late September in the evening, and I always felt sorry for the poor kid who ended up getting doused with a bucket of water. This year it was in the high fifties, so it didn't bother me as much.)

These photos were the best I could do with minimal lighting, but I've tried to point out the ONE light pole that is erected in the MIDDLE of the field. The players had to play around it and if a player tripped over it, so be it.



The arrow points to the replica electric light.












To close out the event we have fireworks!!

Accompanied by "The Pride of Pennsylvania" Marching Band from Mansfield University.






I gotta tell ya. It gives me goose bumps, and this year it wasn't from the cold.

And so it goes......

This morning I was doing my usual routine. I took a moment to flop on the sofa to sip my tea and peruse the newspaper. When I walked back into the kitchen, there was a note taped to my patio door. I didn't hear the gate on the fence, I didn't hear the sliding screen, I didn't hear ANYTHING, yet there is a note. The painter (condo association is having the buildings painted) wants to know which day I want my doors painted. When I tracked him down on my way out, he wanted to know when I could "give him access" so he could paint all around the door and LEAVE IT OPEN FOR AN HOUR OR SO. Hey fella, we work!! And we've had "mouse incidents" from the corn field across the street. And the place is lousy with grey squirrels. I don't know if it's a good idea to leave the doors ajar.....Sigh. Can I please have a week without drama? Please? Meanwhile, I'm recovering from my second or is it third(?) go around with this cold.

But I have pictures of FOs! Hurrah!



This is my Chevron variation of the mobius. I found this "pattern" on the Mason-Dixon blog. Ann made it up, did it double stranded with Sea Silk. Mine is Artyarns in 100% Regal Silk color 115 - with lovely AB clear 4mm square beads. Note the lovely blending color of the clothes pins......It's a little hard to see the chevron pattern.



Here's a closeup of the beads. Looks like I set them in a pattern, but I didn't they are completely random. I'll stick beads in just about anything.



This was a little "trickesy" to knit. Because of the slippery, silkiness of the yarn, I started out using Denise needles. But I couldn't get the cables to slide easily in the mobius cast on. I then went to KP Options. The cable was better, but the needles were soooo slick, I lost stitches in the YO k2tog pattern twice and had to frog. It's pretty simple knitting if you're not a clutz.

The pattern a la Ann Shayne:

5 rows k5,yo,k2tog
5 rows p5,yo,k2tog

I used a #5 needle, and an i-cord cast off. It took about a skein and a half to knit about thirty rows and cast off.

The trick is to figure out how big you want your mobius, and to cast on a multiple of 7, minus one stitch. You want to move the beginning of your round one to the left each row. Just for reference, I cast on 195 stitches, and it took me multiple tries to get it right!

Edited to add: When I displayed this creation for my hubby, he admired it appropriately, then said, "Um, I hate to tell you this, but it's twisted......" Sigh......


I <3 Bonne Marie! I finished CeCe! Just in time for cool weather! That's me! Perfect timing. Her pattern is wonderful. Very complete. Very clearly written. But I screwed up twice. It wasn't her fault. Apparently, I can't read. Here's the finished product, with our fading impatiens in the background:


I was afraid that it wasn't going to fit. That the neckline would be too low and "open" and floppy. Ahhhh, not to worry it fits great. (I just wish a smaller size fit great, but I digress.) I know you'd love to see how great it does fit, but I have a confession. I do not know how to use the timer on my [relatively new] camera. I just got it last Christmas, and I'm still fooling with it. I'll try and work it out soon so I can get a decent photo. I have not mastered the mirror shot yet. Working on it!

But there's a story here:



This is a handmade Fimo button. In the early nineties I was just beginning to teach computer science and I was teaching an intro class for the very first time. Anyone who has taught a class for the first time knows that it is fraught with pitfalls and quicksand. Add to the usual mess, tech classes especially, are prone to change at the speed of .... well .... electrons. What was valid last semester, can be gone in a matter of weeks. So this was only the first or second time I was teaching this particular class. This however, was a group of students that particularly stood out. Among the traditional students, I had a grandmother in her fifties, recently divorced, who was going to "learn this stuff" come hell or high water, a young mother, who brought her three year old once or twice just so she could finish an assignment (she was later killed in a horrible accident, all I could think about was that toddler), an adult student who couldn't understand why he needed to show up for class, particularly tests, and a professional artist. It was a tough semester for all of us, but we got through it with patience and lots of laughter. At the end of the semester, the class presented me with a gift -- a set of dry erase markers because I could never find one that worked in the classroom. The artist gave me a card of her hand made buttons. She knew I was a knitter, and told me they were for my next cardigan. I could not refuse. I've had them all these years, just waiting for that cardigan. I think it's the perfect accent! Don't you?

Specs:

Cascade Sierra (80 pima cotton/20 wool)- Sunset (I just fell in love with the color.)
4 skeins (192 yds/skein) I bought five.
I went down TWO needle sizes to even get close to gauge. I think the pattern called for 6 and 7, and I used 4 and 5. And yes I washed the swatches before measuring.

Sierra has a great hand and is not as splitty as some cottons. Thanks to the wool, I think, it is a lot lighter than I expected. It blocked beautifully. Even with my unorthodox blocking method. (Soak in sink, spin in washer.....)

I'm going to make this again, maybe even with Sierra, again, but with long sleeves. I like it THAT much and it was a fun knit. Once I learned to read. Right after I get started on the b. marie Ribby Cardi. I also have her bucket hat pattern. Great easy knit. Bonne, will you marry me? My husband won't mind.......

Finally.....yarn stuff.

One aspect of my job is that it takes me to locations all over the state. On occasion I get lucky and there is actually a yarn store in the area that I'm visiting--AND it's open. The moon has to be in the right orbit for that to happen.

It happened last month in York, PA. I was in the area to do a faculty workshop, and a LYS, Uncommon Threads, had evening hours. Eureka!

After struggling in Harrisburg traffic for much too long, I checked into my hotel, dealt with the usual issues (e.g., my key cards (both) refused to work), then got into my car to try and find the shop. I had my mapquest map in hand, and it's not like the city of York, is all that huge. Well, the problem that presented itself was that there was a carnival at "the stadium" and the locals decided to close numerous roads around the stadium. Well, it took about 30 minutes to go 5 or so miles. When I finally found the place I realized I had stumbled into their weekly stitch and bitch. Though, frankly, these people were so lovely, there wasn't a lot of bitching going on. The owner Beth (Hi Beth!) was lovely and made me feel welcome. I must admit, though, I did feel a little out of place. I had knitting with me (duh), but didn't knit. Instead, I mostly admired the work of everyone else, and talked about the knitted beaded bracelet I was wearing. Beth, a woman after my own heart, has a "thing" for knitting with beads.

And because I never know what to do when faced with an embarrassment of gorgeous, yarny, riches, I just bought sock yarn. I wanted to buy Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock because I have never used it before, but the price on each of the skeins (which were tied together, presumably to make a pair) was $19.95! Yikes, thought I, that's too rich for me. I wish I had asked though. Of course, they meant that it was $19.95 for both skeins, not each. Duh. I can be an idiot. Really. Instead I bought this.



This is Pacapeds sock yarn (20/65/15, alpaca/merino/nylon). I had never heard of it before. It is incredibly soft and lovely. I had intended to make socks using this for both mother and mother-in-law, but I think I have to try it for myself. The luster you see in the photo is pretty accurate. It is quite lovely. So one of the lovely mothers will just have to make do with Socks that Rock. Yes, I know it's a sacrifice.


I also have this from Mountain Colors. I was at Stitch Your Art Out my LYS for a Norwegian Purl class and couldn't leave without this.




I've never used Mountain Colors sock yarn for socks. The last time I used it I knit a Clapotis for my mother-in-law. It turned out great. The other weird thing is that I'm not exactly a "green" fan, but this just grabbed me. I think this has Monkey written all over it.





And if you're wondering why I haven't mentioned colors....it's because NONE of these yarns have colors on them. Weird or what?

For now I'm still tooling along on my chevron sock and my hanging gardens stole--the slog of slogs, though I'm just dying to finish it.

Why this is so intense...

....I keep wondering why I'm so intensely affected by the death of our friend, especially because we lost some contact with him over the last 10 years or so, and I've come to several conclusions.

First, I met him Fall 1976. That's 31 years ago, which startles me just thinking about it. He and the man I would eventually marry came to borrow a iron from my current sister-in-law. Let me clarify, though. Her brother, my current DH, came to borrow the iron. I do not believe our friend ever owned an iron in his entire, too short, life. He was letting my DH stay with him in his one room efficiency, while my DH was working on this thesis. That's the kind of guy he was.

We were close friends for many years, even when DH and I moved away for 10 years. He was like that with everyone though. If you wanted good service in a restaurant - go with this guy. Servers, both genders, loved him. You left the restaurant knowing more about the server than you did about your sibling.

He was the best man at our wedding. We were relatively "elderly" when we got married. So we didn't have the usual hoopla that accompanies such events. I told our friend that his ONLY job as best man was to get my soon-to-be DH to the chapel on time. (DH is often not where he should be at the time he needs to be.) About 10 minutes before the service was to begin, my sister, who has a wicked sense of humor came down to the "brides" room. I guess I was supposed to be primping, but anyone who knows me knows that a "primper" I am not. Instead I was wishing we had had the presence of mind to stop and pick up a bottle of wine. She said "Guess who's not here?" My first and only thought, which I expressed, was "I'm going to kill him!" (Not stopping to decide which who I was going to kill.)She responded, "Who? soon-to-be DH? Oh no! He's here! "Your" mother isn't here yet!" (Just to clarify it's her mother too, but we sometimes have been known to deny parentage when convenient.) Apparently the person driving my parents to the chapel got lost. But our friend came through with flying colors, and I remain grateful to this day.

There are lots of stories. Most showing what a good guy he was. (A little "off the beam" as my sister-in-law observed.) I often wished that we had remained close, but life sometimes doesn't agree. You have to play the hand you're dealt I guess.



OK, to mitigate the maudlin stuff here is a photo of my first completed chevron sock. I've been promising knitting. There's more, but I need to be home when it's light to get it right! Once I got the sizing right, this was a nice pattern to knit. I love it with the stripes.

Two postings for the price of one!

But still no knitting photos!

Chapter 1: The first part of August:

..I was sick, really sick, for nearly 10 days. I was keeping myself up at night coughing up a lung. At that point I had had ONE good night's sleep in TEN days. If I couldn't quit soon I was going to be a divorced woman with one lung. This was all thanks to my boss who came back from California with this stuff, then insisted on coming to work because he couldn't fathom that he was REALLLY ill. I was the first person to get it, but not the last.

To add insult to injury: Tuesday (7/31) I had Nancy and Mary Ann (two local Amish ladies, we have a thriving Amish community in the area) in to do a "deep" cleaning. This means that they do the "heavy lifting" but I'm (we're) left with the things like putting books back on shelves, putting everything back the way it was etc. It's still a s&*t load of work. Then the next day I went back to the office and ta da NO VOICE--none, nada. Literally. I had dreadful laryngitis and only two days of kick ass antibiotics. But I needed to do stuff at the office.

I took Thursday AND Friday off because I wasn't that much improved and proving, yet again, timing is everything, we had [previously purchased] tickets waiting at the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Wellsboro, PA, Friday and Saturday nights, Beethoven meets the Blues. So off we went. Me, better, but still not great. I somehow managed to not cough during the performance on Friday night, which would have been awful as it was held in the Tioga County Courtroom. Quite charming actually, even though I had to walk though a metal detector to get in and set it off with my sandals. Saturday it was brutally hot during the day and you know how that feels when you're sick. Bleh!

Sunday I was, at least, feeling human, and because we were in the area of PA with some of the most spectacular hiking, I couldn't resist. But we chose a trail that was not very difficult, so my lungs didn't protest.

I got slightly better, but was still exhausted from trying to cough out that lung. It was annoying, if nothing else. I had to get all my ducks in some kind of row because I was out of the office the next week on "vacation".

Because karma will always kick you in the ass given the opportunity, as I was checking for the link for the music festival I learned that one of the musicians we had seen, and loved, on Friday and Saturday, committed suicide on Monday morning. Even more odd, he was a member of the jazz faculty here, and we didn't know it. It was like getting kicked in the stomach.

I leave you with scenes from Colton Point in the Endless Mountains.....






















Chapter II - The last part of August


.....when you least expect it. You simply get gobsmacked.

We left our heroine in the last Chapter simply incredulous that a 31 year old musician was so depressed that the applause and accolades didn't mean anything and he killed himself. It was bizarre to say the least, and it really affected both me and DH more than it had any right to. A week later, and I was still sick, and on vacation, so I go back to the doc for an even more kick ass antibiotic.

The second trip to the doc happened because we hiked the trail, known in our area, as The Indian Steps. It was as if I had asthma. I couldn't catch my breath. The "steps" go straight up the side of a minor (500 ft) mountain. I was so engaged in trying not to pass out from lack of oxygen and tumble down the rocky trail that I didn't bother to take any photos. Once at the top the going was easier and might even have been enjoyable, but we were so late in the day (thanks dear!), that the possibility existed that we wouldn't make it back to an easily negotiable trail while it was light. So we pretty much hot footed it over very rocky terrain for about 3 miles. Did nothing to help my physical state. As it was, we reached a snow mobile trail as the light failed and had to hike the last mile and a half in the pitch dark. That's pretty spooky in deep woods in Central PA, what with our never ending supply of black bears, bob cats, and white tail deer.

Anyway, the remainder of our vacation was fairly uneventful. Here's what we did:








Nothing says summer like sweaty, big football players running around the practice field at St. Vincent's college. (Steeler's training camp)










We came back last week to a whirlwind of work. I was out of town on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday morning I was exhausted as usual after a trip, and was running late. I didn't read the local paper-- really, because I am simply not interested in who won the pig or African Violet competitions at the Grange Fair. As I took the paper upstairs to DH, I flipped through the first section just to see if there was anything pertaining to student arrival, when I passed the obit page. To my horror, there was a photo of the friend who was the best man at our wedding. Due to illness and a divorce and a remarriage, and other life changes, we hadn't seen him very much in the recent past. DH ran into him relatively regularly at counseling events. But I didn't. He had died in the hospital on Wednesday morning, but there was no clue about what was wrong.

On Saturday, it was stifling hot, we put on suits and pantyhose (me, ugh), and went to a memorial service at a local church. It was there we learned that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma in March. A rare form of lymphoma according to his wife. Many people with lymphoma can live rather well, sometimes for years with treatment. So for him to die in four months, this bugger had to be virulent. I had been consoling myself with the notion that he had gone swiftly and unexpectedly via a heart attack, aneurysm, or stroke. Not only was that not the case, he actually suffered at the last. How depressing is that? He was an unusual fellow, and well loved by everyone with whom he came in contact. We are still hurting. Not least because we didn't even know he was ill, let alone dying. He had just celebrated his 59th birthday. We had just sent him a card. Our birthdays (me and DH) were just a week apart this past week. We'd always each get a card from him late--but always.

So I'm back at it. Perhaps tonight, if I can make myself do it. I'll take photos of some of my finished pieces.

Sigh.

The beat goes on.....

So to pick up....last week was Art's Festival week. Big dealins' around here. Usually the hottest, humidest (Webster will forgive me), gawdawful week of the summer. Last week was the loveliest week we've had so far. Yes, there was some rain, but for the most part it was sunny, in the 70's and comfortable. (If there is global warming, apparently PA is on another "globe".) I had to travel to the New Kensington Campus (again) last Thursday, the first day of the festival, so I really didn't get to scout it out. I took a quick walk around Friday, not the busiest day, and here's what it looks like:



This is lower Allen Street, the street directly across from the fake "Main Gates" of the University. The artists set up booths for 4 or so blocks around on campus, then there is lower Allen Street with some food vendors, a stage, the Artist's Embassy, and the water features with gardens. Once across Beaver Avenue, the artists begin again and run for approximately 6 or so blocks. The main streets are blocked for the entire week and for days or so afterward. To say it is a mess doesn't quite describe it. Anyway, there are in the neighborhood of 300 or so artists. It's a lot. Plus there are four venues with almost continuous entertainment--much of it bizarre, but whatever.



This is the view looking in the opposite direction. To the right is the water bucket feature, to the left and not in the photo, is the "spray tunnel". A short walk through a trellis, with plants and fine water spray. The ideas behind these is that it is usually so deadly hot, people can just walk through and get refreshed. Parents bring their children in bathing suits to play in the "buckets". The buckets are weighted and fill with water at varying rates. Thus they "spill" randomly soaking whomever is standing underneath. Kids love it.


Here's a view of a few dumping buckets.....





This is view down the length of Allen into town. About four blocks after this, the booths turn down a side street and continue on in a square.

So this is quite a big deal. The State Police bring in their mounted units, there are bicycle cops and medics galore, for four days it is sheer hell or heaven, depending on your point of view.

What I'm finding weird...as you look at that crush of people in the last photo, is that people find it necessary to bring their pets. All kinds of dogs, sometimes more than one on leashes and try to walk them through the crowd. Now I like dogs as well as the next person. But this seems to me to be nearly cruel. And, apparently, these idiots, are getting so bizarre (or brazen depending on your point of view), that for the first time I saw a "no pets" sign on the water features.......Perhaps that's a "sign of the times". HA HA.

What did I buy? I saw a very unusual pendant that I was thinking about getting on Friday, and didn't because I had to get back to work, and the booth was way to far away to walk back to in time. When I went back on Saturday, it and everything like it, was gone. The artists made composites of faceted semi-precious stones. They ended up with a striking rainbow stone. I ended up getting wild olive colored quartz earrings from a bead artist from Florida. Probably a good thing.

On Sunday, we skipped the festivals (there is another more folksy arty one on the outskirts of town, started as a protest 10 years ago) entirely, and went to the Altoona Curve baseball game (AA Pirate affiliate). The weather channel is my curse because it has turned DH into a weather weenie, and every mention of a thunderstorm throws him into a tizzy. (And please remember we live in Central PA and there are ALWAYS thunderstorms in our forecasts in the summer! If you're reading this during July/August go ahead and look now, I'll wait....) Naturally, thunderstorms were forecast (no watches or warnings though), but as usual not a drop fell during the game.

Knitting soon....promise.

If you spend....

...your time reading blogs.....ya don't spend any writing blogs.

I think this is going to become one of the sayings I use on my header. I'm going to play catchup today, because, even though I've been knitting, my frogging has been keeping my knitting from showing any progress.

We spent the 4th of July, just hanging out at home. The weather was shaky so we didn't go hiking or even go out to see the fireworks. Instead, we WATCHED THEM ON TV! I kid you not. But when you can hear the rain pounding on the roof, you just know you made the right decision. That and the fact that you have a great goblet of sangria loaded with berries at your elbow, just adds to the satisfaction.

Right after the fireworks, my DH flipping through the channels found a park ranger on our local access channel leading a tour group at Gettysburg, describing Pickett's charge. The battle of Gettysburg took place July 1 - 3, 1863. The guide was a geeky looking fellow, who turned out to be a state historian, and he was incredibly interesting. Because DH and I are both suckers for history, this turned out to be better than fireworks. Gettysburg is roughly 2 hours southeast of us--a pretty easy drive, but neither of us have ever toured the battlefields. We decided that we will try to do something like that later this summer. Besides the Boyd's Bear museum is in the vicinity.....

We did finally get to hike later in the weekend. We hiked a tiny part of the Mid-State Trail.

The Mid State Trail, Pennsylvania's longest and wildest footpath, extends 270 miles (currently) from the Mason-Dixon Line at the Pennsylvania-Maryland border near Artemas, northward to near Morris, in Tioga County on the Pennsylvania-New York border.

In an email to a relative, my husband wrote "we hiked Mid State Trail also
known as "The Wildest Trail in Pennsylvania". We didn't see any black bears or rattlesnakes, though, which is part of the reason for that name. Ummmm....he neglected to tell me the rattlesnake part of this.

We had hiked a bit of it on Friday evening. Only about a mile or so along the ridge. On Sunday afternoon we decided to hike to a trail known locally as the "Indian Steps" which was probably not used by indians, nor is it steps. Just one of those weird local things. It is about 2.5 miles further along than we hiked on Friday. I can tell you that the majority of the trail was unrelenting rocks. We were both wearing Bean knife-edged hiking boots, and it was a good thing. The first .5 mile or so is an easy jog down a track used to service the high tension lines at the top of the mountain. Once you leave the area of the towers, though, rocks, rocks and more rocks ...the perfect home for snakes...Yoi! And the perfect recipe for twisted ankles. I hate snakes--even more than twisted ankles. It also made the going so slow we had to turn around before we reached the Indian Steps. We were probably close, but could only guess based on our pedometer readings which refused to agree.



I love this though. This is the view over Rt 45 to the north west.










This is DH overlooking the view to the south east.



Yeah there is a great swath cut through the forest for the power lines. But even with that there is something weirdly powerful about it.


I think that next time we're going to hike UP the "steps" to the Mid-State and see how far we get.

Next time, Art's Fest!

Wow!

Has it really be OVER two months....why yes it has. Why have I not posted you may be wondering....well because I haven't finished a damned thing. Really. I've been knitting, but it's all going into some great cosmic black hole of knitting. Anyone actually understand string theory? (Pun intended.)

I've been knitting and re-knitting a lovely silk mobius. It has a 196 stitch cast on which if you're mobius cast-on savvy, you know it means that it has nearly 400 effective stitches each round. I'm finally close....so close I can taste it. If I had remembered to bring the I-cord cast off instructions with me today, I would have been knitting it off the needle, this past lunch hour. It will wait until I get home for the holiday.

I'm working on a B. Marie CeCe too. Great pattern that I'm making way harder than it ought to be. I'm mystified how I knitted tremendously hard things, very much in isolation, back in the 80's (translated most from flat to in-the-round knitting no less), and now, because there is such a rich on-line community where I can ask advice, I'm acting like a scared kid. Sheesh.

Yesterday, our office financial person came to me and told me that my employer (you can guess who that is) lost my I-9 form. They couldn't write a new contract without it. Huh? I had no idea I even had an I-9 let along what it meant. Well, it is proof of US residency. Somehow between last year, and this year, the record of my residency disappeared. Did I have my SS card and license on me? Uh...no. Because identity fraud is so rampant, why would I even THINK to carry my SS card. Well...could I go home and get it? Well, yeah, but it might take some time. I don't know if many of you are like me, but I know I have it, but the last time I needed to produce it was probably nearly 20 years ago, when I first started here. I was a tad miffed to say the least. There are probably illegal aliens (yes, illegal, not "undocumented", I am/was an "undocumented American" Mr. Reid, not the guy/gal who waded across the Rio Grande, but I digress) working over at the Day's Inn and no one is going to bother him...sheesh.


Anyway, I went home and, thankfully, without too much ado, found the needed documents. It felt too late to go to the gym (any excuse in a storm) so I went for a walk in our neighborhood. The walk begins in a small "parklet" nearby and follows a trail to the high school track. Back and forth it's about two + miles. A few laps around the track (nice surface) and the walk grows to three miles. Anyway, as I was heading toward the park I see this on the horizon.... (forgive the bad image, it was my cell phone)



The weather was lovely, low 70's, sunny, perfect for hot air ballooning. While this sight isn't that unusual in our area, this fellow seemed reeeallly low.

As I reached the park, he flew about 150 feet in the air, over the occupied ball field and tennis courts. There was a crowd of people trailing after him on the ground. (I can tell you a miniature collie wasn't happy that this huge creature was just dropping in.) Then he landed, perfectly, on a small strip of park, between the walking paths and a busy town street.




Never a dull moment I can tell you.





And the happy ending is that as of today, I'm officially a US resident in the eyes of my employer. Again......

Happy Fourth of July!