She Knits By The Seashore

Home is Where the Yarn Will Be

We have finally negotiated repairs with the sellers of the home we love, and are waiting on a closing date. It should be sometime in mid-July. I have started to pack, and adopted one of Chris' bins to move my yarn.

Tim inspects my packing

It holds everything except the skeins for the Noni bag, which wouldn't fit. A separate box holds that and knitting books, and I have my knitting magazines in those cardboard holders. With these and my other art supplies, I am looking forward to setting up my own creative area. I hesitate to say craft room, since knitting is the only craft I know how to do. It's more about a space to think and dream and plan, whether a decorating project, some writing, or the drawing I haven't done in ages and ages.

Today I spent some time exploring Ravelry. It is going to be an amazing resource for future projects, especially when substituting yarns. You can see what a project will look like, knitted up in different colors and types of yarns . I haven't had time to post my own yarn or projects yet, but I will as soon as I can. My name there is knitseashore. Please let me know yours so I can add you to my list.

I am still working on my pie wedge shawl, and am almost at the end of the first wedge.

I've also started the headband with the pretty ribbon yarn from Yvonne.

The Project Spectrum colors are now red, black, and metallic. I don't have any yarns in any of those colors to photograph for you, so this shiny yarn is as close to metallic as I could get. The headband has a simple pattern that is a relief from the stockinette of the pie wedge shawl.

My next project is going to be one of the French Girl wraps, either Daphne or Oceane, for the Tour de France KAL. If you haven't signed up yet, please visit the site. The rules are very broad for what types of projects you can knit or crochet to participate. The important thing right now is to let Meg or me know which jersey you are working for so we can add you to the list!

I want to give a big shout out to Chris, my sweetie, who has been working late every night before and since his 210 Miles/3 days ride. He works for the state, and they cannot seem to get a budget passed before the requisite July 1. He normally doesn't have such an insane schedule, and it's been hard with him working til midnight every night, and my packing the house alone after my workday while he is there. So, to give us all a smile, Timmy wanted me to share this:

What do you mean we are taking Charlie with us?!

Memorial Day Weekend

"Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." -- Henry James

While reading his Washington Square put me to sleep numerous times, many summers ago, I cannot agree more with Henry. There is no time of year I love more than this!

I spent yesterday not on the beach, sigh, but near it. Chris and I went on a 70-mile ride (yes, you read that right!) along the shoreline, with friends from our local bike shop as well as some GYGIG riders.

Other than being sore in my shoulders, and actually going to bed around 10pm last night (talk about the blue moon this month -- I never go to sleep before midnight!), I live to tell the tale. If you'd like to see more photos of the ride, you can see the post here.

The rest of the weekend we spent catching up on chores, doing real estate paperwork, having a little picnic with our families, and going to Chris' first official race of the year. We have just about finalized the agreement with the buyer of our house, and put in an offer on a new-to-us house. The sellers' agent for that house is being a little squirrely, for lack of a better way to describe things, so I don't know yet how this is going to work out.  There are not many attractive houses for sale in the area where we would like to live; many of them need so much cosmetic work. I'm trying not to worry that we will be homeless, and I don't want to have to move the cats twice.

I am still knitting the pie wedge shawl, and hope to post the finished object report for the mystery gift tomorrow or the next day, once I check in with its recipient. Thanks for your patience with me while I catch up on knitting, posts, and emails. I hope you are having a good week!

Random Things

The mystery gift is finished! I'll post a photo soon.

I had hoped to start the Noni baguette bag for Project Spectrum. But with only 2 weeks left of pink, green, and yellow, I think I'm going to concentrate on the current two WIPS, the camisole and the shawl. I don't have any projects in mind for June and July's red, black, or metallic colors, so I'll keep going on these.

Julie and Patty tagged me for the 7 and 8 Random Things lists. My 6 weird things list is here, so it was hard to think of new things.

• My master's degree is in library science
• I have always wanted to go to art college, esp. here and here. I took an interior design course a few years ago, but decided not to pursue it as a career. I also took piano lessons in college.
• Things I am not good at: cooking, ironing, math, remembering numbers and dates [I am very good at words, names, and faces], and spatial relationships. I have to hold maps according to the direction I'm facing.
• My "guilty pleasures" are magazines, bath products, and Sunday afternoon naps.
• I have never broken a bone, but I'm afraid I'm going to do it when I ride my bike
• I really want to take a cycling vacation in Italy someday, and visit California and Australia too
• I love to dress up, and wish there were more opportunities to do so. I want Grace Kelly's wardrobe from High Society.
  

Lastly, and I dedicate this one to Felicia, who was talking about high school reunions in a recent post: I tried on my senior prom dress this week. It fits!!!!!

I will tag Sarah, Kristen, Laura, Rebecca, Greeley, Devorah, Cindy, and Meg, but only if you want to do this, and anyone else who would like to. Have a great weekend!

Movin' On Up to the East Side (of the state)?

What a difference a season makes! And a new real estate agent. Our house went up for sale on Tuesday evening, and we've had two offers with at least one more expected shortly. My front door has become one of the revolving type; so far the kitties are coping well, but I'll be happy when we decide on an offer next week and the visits will cease for their sake.  Stress is not good for an IBD kitty, speaking of which...

I owe you all a GYGIG fundraising update, which I promise to post soon. If anyone would still like to contribute to the fundraiser, and be entered into the prize drawing, please try to do so by next Friday, so we don't miss you on the donation report, which tends to come to us a week later. The two prizes that will be drawn Memorial Day weekend (probably Friday night) will be the $30 gift certificate (three days) and the lovely lace yarn from Katie at Live 2 Knits. We can't thank you enough for your support. Chris has been talking to people at his work about the ride, and has discovered a few co-workers with loved ones who have really suffered from this disease. One family is thinking of traveling all the way to NYC to the start line just to see the riders off, who are doing this "for their daddy."  It makes me cry just thinking about it, and not just cause I'm way overtired.

I feel terrible I have no knitting to post for you. I'm *still* finishing the last details of the mystery gift. I had another problem with it that I should be able to work out, if I could only sit for ten minutes and just do it. The Helen's Lace pie wedge shawl is coming along ever so slowly, and I am back to where I left off before I had to frog it. Once I have progress on that worth showing you, I'll put up a new photo.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, filled with lots of sunshine, flowers, and great knitting. If you are a mom or like a mom to someone, whether two-legged or four-legged, I wish you a happy mother's day too.

All Work and a Little Play

We de-wallpapered the bathroom walls last weekend, and then our wonderful painter patched & painted them this afternoon. I am hoping by tomorrow night and the final coat of paint, we will have the luxuries of electric lighting and a mirrored cabinet once again. You know how it is when three rooms in progress are emptied out over all the other rooms in your house, and you can't find your toothbrush and are watching TV over the dining room table which is now smack in the middle of your living room?! Or when the door to your home office is blocked by the shower curtain, its pole balanced up on the door moldings?! So far the cats are doing OK with all the disruption, but tomorrow work begins in the laundry room, and they may not be happy when we temporarily move their box. Extra bribes will be given out. :)

To take a break from the home improvements, we went on a training ride Saturday morning with some of the local riders who will be participating in Get Your Guts in Gear next month. Don't the cycling outfits make them look cool? Don't answer that. :) The lady on the far right next to Chris is Judy Pacitti, our serene, funny, and fearless ride leader. Some of you have received thank you notes from her for donations -- her mom and maybe one other volunteer send all of them out, and there are 90 riders participating in the NYC ride alone. That's a lot of thank you notes!!! You can see Grace in the background next to Judy. She and I rode the 30 miles along the shoreline, and the views, even for a cloudy day, were so pretty.

The ride was good practice for the NYC Five Boro Tour this Sunday. Sarah, Devorah, Ina (check out her post w/photos of the ride), and I, representing four different states (!), will attempt to meet up among 30,000 other riders along the 40 mile route. Not exactly your typical SnB meeting...since yelling "yarn" probably isn't going to work in this environment, I'm thinking I will tie a pink ribbon on the handlebars of my old maroon bike so you can find me. Go cycling knitters!!!!

Speaking of knitting, I am into the second repeat of ten rows on my shawl.  The needle and marker slid out of one side last night, and I lost my place. Argh! I hope to have a progress photo to share with you soon. And I'm also preparing Pink and Green Photos, part 2...

Can it be Spring?

Perhaps making up for the horrible rainstorm the previous weekend, we had a glorious Saturday and Sunday. The grass is suddenly green, the trees have suddenly burst into bloom, and there were tiny peony & lily shoots under the mass of debris in the garden. After weeding and trimming, things look a little bare, but the hyacinths make up for that with their perfume. Next to bloom will be the lilacs! I think of my dear friend H in Australia every time their scent is in the air. They're a favorite of hers, but it's too hot to grow them where she lives. I was thrilled to enjoy them with her when she visited the U.S. a few years ago. Do you have flower-memories of people close to you?

In preparation for our house sale, Saturday was a workday. Cleaning out the garage and the gardens wasn't fun, but we are glad it's finished, as it brings us two steps closer to finding a new house. Sunday we went for a long bike ride in an area close to where we hope to move. It was inspiration for getting us through the next home project -- painting.

I'm still struggling along with knitting the mystery gift. It seems that though I am close to the end, it has a mind of its own! I also did another repeat on the Helen's Lace, but realized that I may not be following the directions correctly. Please tell me how you would interpret this: Row 1: "Knit 4, yo, knit to last two stitches, turn and knit 2, then place marker, knit to end." (following this are rows 2-10, which I understand). Then it says: "Continue pattern as set, repeating rows 1-10...(on each row 1, since you have already placed a marker you will work it as in all other odd rows, removing, and replacing the marker.) Because of the short rows you will be knitting across fewer stitches."

What I want to know is, on the first row 1 that you knit, the marker is two stitches down from the end of the needle. As you complete rows 2-10, the marker moves down two stitches each row. When you repeat row 1, do you ignore the marker, and knit back up to the final two stitches, placing the marker after only those two stitches, or, do you knit to the marker and then turn (ignoring however many stitches that are now past that marker)? I think it's the latter because of the short row technique, but I am not sure. The lack of sock knitting gets me yet again.

Tickled Pink

That's what I am! I finally treated myself to Helen's Lace:

I've been wanting Helen's Lace from Lorna's Laces ever since I saw it last spring at Loop in Philadelphia. I was looking for a pattern for the Lacy Serpentine Stole, and saw a gorgeous lace shawl on a dressmaker's mannequin near the window. When I asked about it, I was told that the pattern, a pie wedge shawl, was inside the ball band of Helen's Lace.

The sample was knitted in the Watercolor colorway, and though I liked it, I wanted something brighter and more summery. I've kept a list of about 12 different multi-colors, including the Iris Garden that Laura used for her shawl, and just could never decide which one I liked best.

Then one day about two weeks ago, I was surfing around online shops and ebay, looking up different sites for their hand-dyed yarns. Some of the names were new to me, and I was curious to check out places like the Loopy Ewe. Somehow on ebay I found a seller with Helen's Lace, who had The New Spring Colors. When I saw Tickled Pink, it was love at first sight. I'm so glad now that I waited!!

This is going to be a Project Spectrum project, as pink, green, and yellow will be the next colors for April and May. But first, I am going to be strong and finish that blue lace edging by the end of the week! My progress has been so slow, since most of my knitting the past few weeks has been limited to car knitting. 

Saturday morning, Chris rode in his second training race, where he placed second! (The first place winner was a pro racer, and took off so fast, most of the other riders didn't even know he was there or had won, which is a shame).  Here is a photo of Chris (center) during one of the laps, this time without the neck warmer, but you can see the remaining snow in the background:

On Sunday, yours truly took her bike, Grace, out for her first official group ride with a local cycling club. After months of riding indoors, it was scary and exhilirating at the same time to see how fast I could go, and whether or not I could keep up with the group. Here is a photo Chris took of me riding on the bike path that goes along I-95 (Gasp! Don't tell my mom!) and crosses over the CT River:

This is a nature preserve that must look beautiful in the summer. The stands hold osprey nests, and if you look closely, you can see a lighthouse in the distance.

Despite the cold (40F?) and the wind, Grace and I did about 24 miles. We rode through some beautiful neighborhoods in one of the towns where Chris and I hope to move, and it only made me more motivated to try to sell our house this year.  The motorists seemed more friendly and more used to cyclists (especially unexperienced ones like me who have difficulty navigating intersections!) than where we live now, and many of the roads have nice wide shoulders for riding. Some of the houses have what look to be gorgeous gardens...I can't wait to do this ride again in the summer, because it looks like there will be so much more to see.

My one frustration is that I have been having difficulty with allergies/sinuses. Sometimes I get a little dizzy and my equilibrium is off (not good if you want to ride a bike), and I get what I call "weather headaches" -- when the storms roll in I have to take ibuprofen, or I end up with a bad headache and have to sit over the steam of the humidifier. I've been taking Allegra, which helped fine when it was just the fall leaves that were a problem. But now I'm wondering if there is something else I can do -- as afraid as I am of needles, I'm even considering going to an allergist for shots if it would help. I'm also trying to research natural remedies. One site recommended something called butterbur, but I don't know anything about it.  If you have any experience or recommendations with this, I'd love to know. I'm a firm believer in the sisterhood and information sharing. I don't want to waste time with shots, for example, if they're going to make me want to sleep all day. It really cuts into the knitting time!! :)

I am a little behind in my blog and email reading lately, and if I have not replied to you, I hope to soon. I'm looking forward to seeing new projects, and of course, those gorgeous spring flowers which are still MIA here. Our tulip magnolia is still completely gray, but the green buds should be making an appearance at any moment!

Bits & Pieces

A GYGIG charity ride update...$1408!!! *Thank you* to everyone who has contributed to our fundraiser! We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your support on behalf of all those who suffer with IBDs. [or maybe you just want to make me go camping, a part of the weekend's festivities, so you can laugh at my misery?]. Please don't forget that our first prize drawing for a $21 gift certificate to the yarn shop of your choice will be coming up soon, the last weekend in March. And also don't forget to check out Katie's Live 2 Knits shop, to see the Vivien yarn she's donated as a prize. We'll be drawing the winner's name for this on Memorial Day weekend, along with the $30 gift certificate.

As a late birthday present to myself, I finally purchased the other two French Girl patterns I've been admiring for months, Oceane and Daphne, from Jimmy Beans Wool. These patterns have called to me, like the Sirens, and though I'm not sure yet which color of which yarn I want to use, I hope to start one of them this summer.

I also finally finished my squares for the Blanket of Hope project, organized by Rebekah for Cottage46 Knitter's husband. The red one is Garden Rows Rib, and the black one is seed stitch. Can you tell I am desperate for spring?! Finishing them means that I'm back to the last two projects on the needles, the edging and the camisole, that are not too inspiring. Hopefully I'll be more motivated to work on them this weekend.

Some of you are aspiring writers who may be interested in a new online literary journal called Iddie. The editors are currently seeking fiction and poetry submissions, with the first issue to debut in June. Please check it out!

Birthday Musings, Fundraising Update, and Still More Frogging

Thank you so much for your birthday wishes. Considering the sunset beach picnic was out of the question, I had a wonderful day. Rachel of Lickety Knit shared with me her idea for celebrating  February birthdays on our half birthdays, in August. I'm going to call Hallmark immediately so they can launch the marketing campaign. Sign me up!

When birthday time rolls around, I do that thing most people do on New Year's Eve, where you look at the last year of your life and Take Stock. Has my life improved over the last year? Have I improved over the last year -- learned new things, had new experiences, faced new challenges? (Yes, I am a Type A). When I started to think about how much my life has changed this year, and how much I have learned, it made me feel good about being a year older. (Warning: I'm going to get sappy on you now. Skip ahead if you want a knitting update).

My blog went live on Memorial Day weekend last year, and I wasn't sure what to expect. As a (former) technophobe, I spent hours reading "Blogging for Dummies" and trying to master little bits of HTML to put up buttons and things. I had to learn how to load photos into the blog from the camera.  I was then immediately immersed in the Amazing Lace, not only having to finish the five-year lace mohair stole in three months, but having to envision creative posts while doing it. I had a blast. And it has been pretty much nonstop fun ever since. Your friendship has meant so much to me, making me laugh, and inspiring me to do charity knitting, and challenging me to do projects I would never have dreamed of taking on before.  Long story short, getting to know you and becoming a part of the knitting community has been one of the best birthday gifts this year. (Should I also mention that the technophobe made a birthday stop at Circuit City? How times have changed).

So, I'm sitting at the computer reading emails that morning, and Chris sends me an IM, in capital letters, in red: "Holy Cow!!" My first thought (I'm a neurotic Type A) is that someone has gone postal and is holding up his place of employment. He astutely pointed out afterwards that he would not have had time to change font size and color if he were being taken hostage, but you don't think of those things at the moment. So I write "What??" three times, until he tells me that he received the weekly fundraiser update, and we are now at $1258!!!!! I almost fell off the chair backwards. Excepting a few of his blogless, knitless, and mostly cycle-less friends, most of the funds we've raised so far for GYGIG have come from readers of this blog. Thank you seems so inadequate, but *thank you* for supporting us, and everyone who struggles with Crohn's Disease, Colitis, and any form of IBD. If you missed the post explaining our fundraising for the charity ride in June, or would like to know about our prize drawings, please click here to read our Spokescat Charlie's post. The first drawing will be at the end of March, for a $21 gift certificate to the yarn or bike shop of the winner's choice, online or local shop.

And now, the knitting. In the post before last, I asked for your opinions on the camisole. Some suggested blocking on a piece of scrap yarn, and a few others were brave enough to tell me that they thought there were too many stitches picked up from the border, thereby causing the rippled effect. As the Knitting Fates would have it, I happened to have a lunch date with my friend, the knitting teacher, who, at our last meeting, told me to rip the socks. So as soon as lunch was finished, I took out the camisole and asked her straight out: do I do the blocking on scrap yarn, or do I rip it? After some ugly math, similar to what MiniLaura suggested in an email, we decided it was best to visit the frog pond. I will be visiting the FP sometime this weekend, with instructions on how to reknit to accommodate the wonky gauge that is causing the problem. In the meantime, I've been reknitting the Garden Rows Rib square for the Blanket of Hope. Next post I should have some photo-worthy knitting progress to share.

It has been quite the day at the Seashore -- I spent part of the day bailing water out of the basement, because the Northeast got socked with a massive soaking rainstorm that flooded roadways and trapped cars under bridges. After the basement was under control, and I bailed all the dirty water into the sink that I could stand, I put the tea kettle on the stove to boil water for tea, turned on the burner, and promptly forgot it. And practically melted the metal teapot, emitting lovely fumes that are responsible for any and all weirdness in tonight's post.  Just in case you were wondering. :)

Saturday shopping

After being confined to the house in the cold weather for what seems like forever, Chris and I met with J & S on Saturday for lunch. S & I visited the local yarn shop, where there were lots of temptations. My one purchase was a pair of Brittany dpns, to make some wristwarmers. I looked for the new Rowan magazine as well -- it has a pink cardigan on the cover that I think I need to make! Unfortunately they did not have any copies available yet. S bought some amazing Rowan Kidsilk Night for a pretty wrap.

It was too cold to ride our bikes, so we compromised with a trip to a local bike shop and then the Borders. There is something about the smell of new books in the bookstore that always excites me. At the same time, I'm overwhelmed at all the books I want to read and things I want to learn! In the past, I've spent hours in front of the decorating and gardening books, but with our moving situation not settled, I've begun to drift over to the photography section. In the visit before last, I discovered a book called Beaches that captures that lovely effect of sunlight at the shore. How I wish I could take photos like that!

Of course we visited the knitting section, and I browsed through the new book Twinkle's Big City Knits by Wenlan Chia. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but none of the patterns really captured my imagination as something I must knit right away. The store did not have any of the new Interweave books like No Sheep For You  (I'm curious to see this, as some wools are causing my arms to itch, for the first time in my life). Have you seen this book? I did get the new book by Carola Dunn, Fall of a Philanderer. I love these 1920s mysteries, though I'm a few behind the current one.

S and J gave me Modern Classics, Louisa Harding's book as a birthday present, along with a wonderful tin of tea (my addiction/luxury). There are so many sweaters in here that I want to knit! Perhaps later this year we'll choose something for the Project Spectrum fall colors. Rowan has a purple tweed yarn that is calling my name, but I do have some other projects I'd like to get to first. It was wonderful to get out of the usual routine and spend time with friends -- it makes spring seem that little bit closer.

Today is my birthday. I took the day off from work, but haven't yet decided what to do. I'd love to spend the day reading or knitting at the beach, but as we had a snowstorm yesterday (it is not officially my birthday unless we have a snow or ice storm!), even lunch at an outdoor cafe is not an option.  I envy you summer birthday people so much! :)