back in action

Ok, so after a great summer of craziness and finally settling in at the NU, I'm finding comfort in routine and home and all that jazz, which means I'm back to blogging as regularly as possible.

So, the knitting.  I'm a knitter, right?  I also spin, right?  I sew too?  Really?  I'd never really know it from the last few months.  What a surprise?  Let's just say my life was a bit more about the science than the craft lately.  In general the science is the majority of what I do everyday and the craft is my relaxation time.  But when you do fieldwork, you eat, sleep and dream about the science, leaving very little time for the craft.  

Normally, this is just for a few weeks every summer, but this year was a little different.  You see, when we jumped in our little VW Rabbit and fled the 1500 miles home, we left all of our worldly possessions behind.  Which meant that the stash stayed safely tucked away in our house, while I adventured away.  The spinning wheel too.  When we first starting packing the car there was some hope, but in the end both my wheel and hub's guitar had to stay behind. This meant that I spent three months with only the essentials: regular clothes, field clothes, conference clothes, and field supplies (computers, boots, etc.)  Oh and, of course, our houseplants, since we couldn't leave them behind to just die :)   It was only going to be for a few months, so I figured I wouldn't miss the stash too badly. Turns out I was mostly right.  Here's what happened.

I did what any rational knitter would do and took stock of all my active WIPs and ranked them in order of priority and packablility.  Turns out I'm a bit of an ADD knitter here's what I came up with: 

1. Pyroclastic socks: 50% complete, deadline in mid June for my sister's birthday
2. Baby blanket: 70% complete, deadline July 2nd when my 2nd nephew was scheduled to arrive in the world.
3. Pteryla: ~50% complete and would make good car and plane knitting
4. Fern Garden Scarf:  It was on row 99 of like a bajillion and this requires complete quiet to knit.
5. Charade Socks: 50% complete.
6. Fingerless gloves: first one was about 75% complete.
7. Sabine: about 2 inches into the yoke.
8. Decimal: body and one sleeve complete
9. Shawl in progress (gift for mom and since we were staying at her house I wouldn't knit it in front of her)
10. Mittens: one complete
11. Adult surprise jacket: still increasing (about 2 inches done)

I try to keep it under 10 WIPS at a time, those pyroclastics were a knitting emergency. 

So, after much deliberation, I cut the list off at  #7.  All the projects were small and didn't take up too much room.  The last four would require larger amounts of yarn and no one wears sweaters or mittens in the summer anyways.  So there we had it, 7 WIPS, all my sock needles, plus a spare ball of sock yarn, just in case I ran out (large eye roll here). My capacity for optimism never ceases to amaze me. 

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take stock of the WIPS again: 

1. Pteryla: ~90% complete
2. Fern Garden Scarf:  row 99
3. Charade Socks: 50% complete.
4. Fingerless gloves: first one about 75% complete.
5. Sabine: about 2 inches into the yoke.
6. Decimal: body and one sleeve complete
7. Shawl in progress (gift for mom)
8. Mittens: one complete
9. Adult surprise jacket: still increasing (about 2 inches done)
10. New socks:  12% complete. (I might have tripped and fell over a yarn store or two while I was away)

Hmmmm....a knitter, huh, who in 3+ months does what? Knit 1.25 socks, and less than half a baby blanket?  Pretty pathetic.  But, there's stories in there.  The knitting misadventures of my wandering summer will continue another time.

I am, by the way,  going to attempt to redeem my knitter badge by going to Rhinebeck this year!!!!!!! I figure it's about time that I use up those frequent flyer miles you watched me rack up over the years and who can argue with the fact that it coincides with my fall break for the first time ever!!