LoopyKnits

What is it about trying to travel, talk AND knit at the same time? It’s not like I’m the one driving, y’know. (Thank goodness.) On Friday night as we were packing for a trip, my husband mentioned to me that he has a very nice colleague who just adopted an adorable 1-year-old daughter, and would I pretty-please consider maybe possibly knitting her a tiny little baby blanket from us? What, are you kidding? In my eagerness to encourage his support of my knitting jones, er, hobby, I practically leapt from the couch when he asked and I started immediately riffling through my pattern books. I picked something ridiculously easy (I thought) and happily settled in for some serious stitching this weekend as he drove, the kids slept, and we all toodled down the road on a brief overnight trip to visit with family.

But for some reason I could *not* get into the pattern. Simple one … but I’m wondering if I’m just too distractible to do lace? It’s not even a HARD pattern. Just a 16-stitch repeat, not even any border to the blankie. If I wasn’t forgetting to do the yarnovers, I was screwing up the sequence of stitches, dropping a stitch, or just forgetting what I was doing if I tried to be sociable on the ride. I’m thinking now that, unless I want to keep hissing “Sh, I’m counting!” every few minutes, I’m thinking that the lace? She is not for me. Or at least not for when I’m around anyone else while I’m knitting.

Somewhat annoying … perhaps I am just one of those people who take a while to get into the rhythm, though? Or perhaps I should have made better use of stitch markers. I plan to test the Little Lavendar Baby Afghan project again later this week and finish it quickly, before the child is old enough to take it to school with her. ;o) I’m thinking that a few nights of TV and knitting after the little ones go to bed will make this happen. Hoping!

Mental note: Take along on future trips JUST the projects of simple knitting made from interesting yarn; save the fancy stitching (at least when it’s a new pattern) for quiet nights at home. For trips: Stockinette and Noro, perhaps, or stockinette and ribbon yarns. I saved my
knitting zeal for the weekend by putting aside the blankie and doing the Noro thing; never let it be said that an over-packer doesn’t have small victories by having another project in the wings. Yeah — at least I finished a small scarf for myself!

And I even wore it for a while, even though it was 70 degrees when we got to Vicksburg, MS, unlike the 45 or so we left behind in Memphis, TN. And when I started to sweat on my precious Noro, then I got real and shed the scarf, leather jacket and shoes, and I padded around the rest of the weekend in my sockfeet except for when we actually left the hotel rooms. ;o)

It’s good to get out of the house occasionally, eh? Even if you’re just going to another one.

Technorati Tags: lace knitting, baby afghan, baby blanket, travel knitting, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

I think I was a bit more of a fuddy duddy this year than in previous years because I stuck to the hotel room for peace and quiet when we weren’t in meetings during this year’s annual conference for my corporation’s division (about 480 people) in San Antonio. I don’t find drinking to be that entertaining. Not being a prude about it; I’ve certainly sucked down a few brews, fine tequila, cheap wine, and expensive Remy Martin in my day. But it’s not as entertaining as it used to be, and drinking makes me feel bloaty and draggy the next day, so I usually limit it to just one glassful. This time I just wanted to sleep, knit, watch TV and get online after being pinned down in all-day meetings.

Which isn’t to say the meetings were bad — we had a former Olympic skiier and a workplace diversity/bias reduction speaker who had some useful insights and who were each vibrant and funny in their own way. And the head honchos did drag us out a bit to have dinner at Rio Rio Cantina (the mild salsa was flaming hot but good, and the frozen margaritas were EXCELLENT). And of course there was the night when we all got to play cowboys and cowgirls.

My friend and co-worker, Deb (on left) and I
hold down the benches and hold up a couple
of the souvenir cowboy hats.

We went to the Knibbe Ranch for an evening of line dancing, pool playing, grub-eating fun. I have two left feet when it comes to following dance instructions, so I just watched and took photos of more nimble-footed friends. Some folks had their picture taken astride what must be the world’s most placid longhorn bull, a mild creature named Oreo. (With a name like that, he’s got to be an easygoing critter.) I didn’t want my thighs to smell like, uh, bull the rest of the night — not that any thigh-sniffing was planned (darn it), but still. So I passed on that too. But I couldn’t resist a shot of Oreo’s reaction to all the dancing and commotion.

Meet Oreo. That’s one calm bull.

I also took my knitting to the ranch in anticipation of having little to do besides vie for position at the pool tables (too crowded) or stomp on everyone’s toes, including my own, out on the dance floor. And once there, I found a fabulous use for the cowboy hats we each received as souvenirs.

Valiantly trying to knit amidst the clamor …

We were only there a few hours, some of which was eaten up by VP speeches, so I didn’t get a lot of knitting done, just a few inches on my socks. I’m making the Relax and Breathe socks from the Betsy Lee McCarthy book, “Knit Socks!” — which I picked because I wanted an excuse to learn Fair Isle knitting. I’m doing them in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Mmm, soft goodness. The colors are peach (main color), a mossy pale green, beige, and butter yellow.

I took the third bus back to the hotel for a quiet night in the room. (Sometimes it’s just too hard to resist taking advantage of those rare times alone — at least they’re rare for me!) I realized I was making a tangled mess of the Fair Isle portion of my socks anyway and stopped until I could get back to my room and check out the KnittingHelp.com site, which showed me a simple technique for holding a yarn color in each hand. It was easy and looked so cool doing that!

Now I’ve got to look up something on preventing “color jog” and I’ll be all set. I did go ahead and rip out the work done because I wasn’t happy with the look of the top cuff. It looked a bit large and floppy.

(It looks better in the photo than in real life, actually.) I’m going to try a second time with the alternate version of the pattern, which uses a garter-stitch rolltop. So I frogged, studied my yarn a bit more, and decided that I was happy being a fuddy duddy for the night. After all, my room really did have a great view — at least from my vantage point.

A room with a view

P.S. I’ll have more postings next week; my husband’s flying over for the weekend and we’re going to an aviation museum, some underground caverns, at least one yarn shop and (maybe) an alpaca farm. But no more blogging until Sunday or Monday night! ;o)

Technorati Tags: San Antonio, Rio Rio Cantina, Knibbe Ranch, travel knitting, sock knitting, Fair Isle knitting, color jog, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Despite the fact I’m traveling without the usual helpful presence of my hubby, I made it to San Antonio intact for my business trip. That is, I arrived with my two suitcases and purse and *new* laptop. (Did I ever mention that I don’t pack light?) I’ll be the first to admit that he spoils me, handling luggage and tips and checkins and such, so when I’m on my own, it’s Ditz Time as I fumble around to figure out where to go and what to do.

But never fear. I’ve got yarn to entertain me too. I got to play with some new Debbie Bliss Cashmerino on the plane, and let me say that this woman was aptly named. Her yarns really ARE bliss! This is the softest stuff. I’m following a pattern for some relatively simple two-color stranding (my first foray into such) to make some cool socks for myself. Already, I’m entranced with the pettability of this yarn!

I’m also deeply in love with my newest toy, er — make that my newest NECESSITY, a TOOL, really — a new laptop for the first time in several years. It’s a 17-inch HP Pavilion zd8000 series. It’s hefty and more of a desktop replacement than an actual “portable” notebook, but it’s oh-so-me. Now if I were a rich woman, I’d also have one of those 2-pound ultraportables too, but I’m more than simply content with this baby. It’s so nice to have a laptop that no one has had before me … which belongs to me and not my company … and which has the latest operating system and no buggy problems. Heck, I didn’t really have much to say here today but I came a’blogging just to have an excuse to play. ;o)

So what’s San Antonio like, you might be asking? I’ll give you the quick answer. Not a clue, people. I came straight from the airport to a blessedly chilly hotel room which I’ve only left for a quick lunch. Now I’m resting for a while before we have our 5 p.m. general session and the 6 p.m. supper. Some fools, er, more energetic folks are already out shopping on the Riverwalk (a shop-lined canal next to our hotel). Not my idea of a good time, though!!! I dropped enough cash on the computer and some new duds for the trip, and it’s just too bloomin’ hot to go anyway right now anyway.

I think I must be going through some serious periomenopause, because I’m starting to experience some real sweating issues with even the lightest exertion. And if I get to a certain temperature, I have a hellacious long time cooling down. It’s dripping down my face, down the back of my neck, pouring down my cleavage, etc. My hair is wet everywhere but right on top of my head (an attractive look, don’t you think) — I look like I just came in from mowing the yard, I swear. I started sweating at home this morning when I was doing the last of my packing, and I don’t think I really stopped until I got in my hotel room (with the brief exception of some cool air on the jet). But all is well now. One thing you’ve gotta love about company-paid hotel stays: rooms that have their own thermostats.

Heh-heh, I’m going to see if it can actually make it to 55 degrees.

Technorati Tags: San Antonio, business trip, new computer, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, travel knitting, periomenopause, sweating, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm