the rest of it

I already blogged about how we spent part of our Thanksgiving day, but there's been so much other good stuff going on too.

Wednesday afternoon, after the kids and I finished a bike ride, we visited with an old friend, Michael; his wife; and their sweet new baby boy.

Friday, I worked almost a full workday, but I still managed to fit in an extra long walk and was rewarded with a glorious sunset on my way home.

The Goob continues on her hat-knitting kick, this time a Skull hat. I didn't even know she started this project until she brought it out of her room for blocking.

Saturday included an evening of contra dancing and it was a BLAST. The dance I went to was smaller than the one in this video and I wasn't nearly as adept at it as these folks, but the music was fun, the people were friendly, and before I knew it, two hours had passed by. There may be more of this in my future because, well, live music, fun people, laughs, and exercise all rolled up into one big party? Sign me up!


Yesterday, I got to visit with Lauren, who has been a friend since my very first day of school in this town, when I was 12. She was visiting from Toronto with her wife, Meg, and their two awesome little people, so we all met over at Lauren's parents' place. There's something really fabulous about hanging out with people you've known for that long, where you know the extended family and have such a solid history together.

In between it all, there has been knitting. My Minimalist cardigan looks much the same as it did a couple of days ago, only now the body is about 12" tall. Lovin' it.

Today, it was back to work and celebration of Jesse's 16th birthday, but I took a mid-day break for a walk on a rail trail, where the water is starting to freeze and the beavers have been very busy.

And now to drop the Goob off at a sewing studio where she's been spending Monday nights. This time, I'll pop over to the nearby house of a friend to spend the evening knitting and catching up with each other. Yay, life!

phases

Scarf knit by my mom, blocking.

My Minimalist cardigan, with a miscrossed cable. D'oh.

All other stitches held in place on needles, dropped the six cable stitches back down to the miscrossed row. Used a spare needle to pick up those stitches and then knit them back up, row by row, with the horizontal yarn that was just waiting to be used again. Slightly fiddly, but better than re-knitting all the way across all those rows.

All better!

go-abroad knitting

It was cold out yesterday. Luckily, a knitter's family is well equipped for such weather.

Number of handknits in use among the five of us (including a nephew who came along for the day) at Old Sturbridge Village: 11.

Loved this quote about go-abroad knitting, since I, of course, had mine along for the day and got a couple of repeats in while listening to some Native American storytelling. Later, back at home, I added a few more inches to my Minimalist cardigan. Noticed this morning that I twisted a cable in the wrong direction, so after I get some work done, I'll fix that up and then hopefully move forward some more. I seem to have picked up a little bit of a cold (no surprise, as Scott and Leah were sick this week), so I'm looking forward to planting myself firmly in front of the tv for a movie or two tonight.

knotty but nice

Both the knitter kid and the hat are
Knotty but nice

Yarn from Adams Family Farm in VT.
Needle size bigger for cabled section.
A quick and fun project as the temps drop.

Happy T'giving, y'all!
Yeah, there will be a turkey on our table,
but otherwise it's all raw vegan
and always delicious, baybee!
mmm mmm...carrot salad, cranberry sauce, spinach salad w/ raspberry vinaigrette, rosemary sweet potato chips, pumpkin spice cookies with maple vanilla cream, almond cacao truffles, and a truly orgasmic pumpkin pie...mmm mmm

And then a long walk 'round town, feelin' fine!

But first, our traditional T'giving visit to Old Sturbridge Village to shuffle among the leaves, smell the traditional foods roasting in the hearths, sing some songs, do some dancing, and generally get high on the fresh air and commercial-free goodness.

-11"

I was holding off on knitting myself a replacement sweater or two because my current size is only temporary, but then I decided I should just get over it and dive in, especially given that this week is traditionally one of the most mellow of the year for my workload and I'm about ready for some quiet time at home.

The Minimalist Cardigan seems like a good choice -- easy pattern, informal style -- especially with a cable modification up the front instead of the rolling stockinette stitch panel. I rummaged through the stash and chose 3 cones of mystery wool ($6 total) scored in the weavers' guild tag sale bonanza a couple of years ago. A little swatching to settle on yarn weight (I'm knitting 2 strands together) and needle size, and we're off and running. No clue if I have enough yarn, but I don't really care.


The tweedy yarn might be too much in competition with the cables, but it's pleasant knitting, so I'll stay the course for now. Besides, the current sweater size is 11 inches smaller than I used to wear (woot!), so I'm choosing to believe that this wayyyyy smaller sweater will fly off the needles.

Meanwhile, there are beautiful brisk walks to be had and I'm even aiming for a bike ride later today, but later this evening, I have a date with a movie and a Minimalist.

---

p.s. Anybody know why my spacing is off lately, with the sidebar so far off to the right? I thought it was because of a wide youtube video that was here for a while, but I made it smaller and it's now slipped into the archived pages anyway, yet the spacing remains funky. Code geeks, help?

that good

You know how there are some friends that you don't see for a long time, but when you do hook up again, it's like you never missed a beat? Well, yesterday I was with someone like that. We've known each other for almost 30 years, but haven't gotten together in almost a decade. He lives in NYC, so I took the train down (1.5 hours of uninterrupted knitting/podcast time!) and we wandered the city, mostly aimlessly, for almost nine hours, talking all along the way, visiting the zoo in Central Park, stopping here and there for a bite to eat, to watch the ice skaters in Bryant Park or the fountain at Lincoln Center or to see something interesting.

This pic was taken on the stairs of the TKTS booth in Times Square as we were meandering back toward Grand Central. The weather was brisk and beautiful, and we had no plan for the day except to spend some time catching up with each other's lives, so we couldn't go wrong. It couldn't have been a better day.

Don't blink and let another year go by. Reconnect with an old friend. It feels that good.

a hop over the border

The four of us piled in the car on Friday and drove to Montreal for a long weekend, just because. There were stunning sights to see, like the Notre Dame Basilica,

along with a history museum, Old Montreal, a science museum that ranks among the best we've ever been to (and we've been to a lot of science museums), super cool bicycles modified to look like motorcycles, and an archaeological museum that was equally eerie and amazing.

We stayed downtown for this trip and saw the city entirely on foot, which gave us an opportunity to discover cool graffiti'd spaces, cobblestone streets, interesting architecture, street performers, city parks, Chinatown, and gargoyles.

Along the way, we learned a little French. We relaxed in the pool and hot tub. We tasted Tim Horton's coffee, crepes, Montreal style bagels, and poutine (didn't think we'd care for it; we were wrong).

We had a picnic dinner in upstate NY on our way to Montreal and stopped for a knitting pic on the way back.

Yup, another Lacy Baktus with Edge. The two we have were worn constantly this weekend, as they have been ever since they came off the needles, so it made sense to me to cast on another one as my travel project. Halfway done now and infused with happy Montreal memories.

warm hat for a cool kid

You may remember the Fiber Twist this fall, when my nephew Z asked me to knit him an earflap hat.

You may also remember the holiday that wasn't, when I picked up some yarn in Z's favorite color.

Then there was a visit to look at options so he could pick which pattern he liked best.

Followed by a browse through the projects on Ravelry, where I learned that the hat was too tall for many people, so I eliminated a plain row at the top and bottom of each colorwork band.

The knitting happened at a rocket fest.

The ends were woven in while watching part 2 of a Theodore Roosevelt documentary (and we all know where that led).

The lining, chosen from the fabric given to Leah by a kind farmers' market customer, was sewn into place last night.

Now there's a warm winter hat on the noggin of a very cool kid.

comforts of home

First snow this morning!

But the fire in the wood stove is keeping things comfortable and both of my kids have new socks to keep their tootsies toasty.

Ahh, the beginning of the winter season and its very welcome slower pace.

happy accident

We watched a documentary about Teddy Roosevelt a few days ago. I had heard the Roosevelt home in upstate New York was an interesting place to visit, so early Saturday I plugged it into my phone for directions and off we went for a fun day trip on our very first free weekend after five solid months of farmers' market commitments. Cold and sunny day, Stuff You Should Know podcast for all to enjoy.

It wasn't until we reached our "destination" that I realized we were in the wrong place. We were at the home of FRANKLIN D. Roosevelt, not Theodore! Hm. Well, we were there, so might as well check it out. Good thing we did, too, as it was an interesting tour in a beautiful location. We had watched a documentary about FDR and Eleanor a few months back and the kids remembered a lot of it, so that tied in nicely.


I loaned Eleanor my sock-in-progress on the way out because she was an avid knitter and her hands in this sculpture are totally positioned properly for knitting. I think the artist chose to skip the knitting in this portrayal, but from what I saw elsewhere, if she and FDR were hanging out like this, there would have been sticks and string in her hands.

It ends up that right up the road was a Vanderbilt mansion, where we had an outstanding tour with a funny and engaging guide. This included a stunningly beautiful view along the Hudson River as we walked around some of the expansive property.

Just a few miles in the opposite direction and we were at Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage, Val-Kill, a heavenly, humble cottage in the woods.

So then we looked up where Teddy Roosevelt's house is -- Long Island. Hey, no dog at home to worry about, no major commitments on the calendar for the next day, so let's go, I said, and off we went! Nope, we didn't have luggage or a plan, but it didn't matter. Spent the night in the area and visited Sagamore Hill on Sunday.

Took the ferry as a shortcut to home, during which time I knit, Scott watched football, and the kids had a blast exploring the boat.

A happy accident, for sure!

sheep on steroids

(L) stitch marker-sized sheep bead

(R) sheep on steroids, part of a special order for a necklace
---

Coming soon: Multiple starts, multiple fails.