WIP Wednesday

Here's a quick WIP Wednesday just so you all know I'm still alive (I went back to the field last week and that just generally messes life up)

Last time we left with 8 projects in the mix. Now we're up to 10.  I have no self control.

Here's where we are now:

1. Fern Garden Scarf:  row 99: still haven't found ANY quiet time to knit on it, even dragged to the field and back with the hopes of quiet hotel time, but I was too pooped to bother.
2. Charade Socks: 50% complete: Haven't bothered to look at it.
3. Fingerless gloves: Three fingers left, I'm getting nervous that I'm going to run out of yarn.
4. Sabine: Ummm I kind of forgot about her.
5. Decimal: hibernating due to missing yarn.
6. Shawl in progress: Still needs some decision about what to do.
7. Mittens: one complete, but it seems a moth ate through the tip...
8. Adult surprise jacket: still increasing (about 2 inches done). Considering frogging in favor of an epaulet jacket from knitting workshop.
9. Xmas gift #1: 25% complete
10. Jade Cables: Cast off the body portion last night.  Neckband and sleeve to go.  This is my current obsession and I'm going to try to finish it by December 1! 

In addition there has been some serious swatching and prepping for hub's next sweater.  Crazy me thinks I'll finish by Xmas, although the yarn hasn't arrived yet!  Ha! I crack myself up!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Rhinebeck Wrap Up

So, I'm like a month behind, but whatever.  I think it is the fate of a busy academic to always be one step behind herself.

So Rhinebeck!  This year for me Rhinebeck wasn't really about the event, but it was one thing I did over my fall break, right there along with line-dancing with mom, museum and apple picking (we hit the macouns in season-woohoo!) with my nephews and sister, and hiking with my parents.  It was a busy four days, but just the right amount of new England fall fun to soothe my soul.  The worst part of moving far from home is, well, being far from home, I have a wonderful family and I love spending time with them.  I miss then terribly when they aren't close.  The last two years we didn't make it home too much, and when we did get home it for for specific reasons (like weddings) and not much just chill time.  Last year we didn't even make it home for Christmas because plane ticket prices were out of control.  No one was able to come visit us either for the same reasons.  Being "easier" to get home was one of the deciding factors in the move and I am determined to take advantage of it.  This year, Rhinebeck coincided with our fall break so really it was just gravy.

The event itself was fun. It was great to spend time with my family and friends. I love walking outside in the fall weather, even it if was a bit chilly for a southern gal.  I did find, however, that there were many more people then when we had gone three years ago.  Last time, Ravelry was brand new and no one really knew what it was and now, if you knit, you know.  If you knit and you don't know you live under a rock and probably wouldn't ever go to Rhinebeck anyways.  So it was much more crowded and for me that makes it less fun.  Some booths I didn't even see because they were so packed and it just isn't worth squishing in.  After all it's just yarn it's not worth getting stepped on or something, which is generally what happens to me in crowds.  (I also have an awful fear of large crowds.  There was an incident at DisneyLand when I was a child.  I get flashbacks. It isn't pretty.)  This meant no Socks that Rock or Sanguine Gryphon for me.  Aside from the crowds, I feel like alot of the stuff was more mainstream than it was last time. It's good and bad.  Good=more options, bad=less intimate/local feel.  Another aspect of Rhinebeck is getting to see people you are "friends" with online but don't know in person.  That just messes with my shy side, so I don't do it unless it's prearranged somehow, which I didn't do.  But I had a cute baby to play with most of the time so I was cool.

I did buy yarn and I'm back to knitting and spinning at a pace I like:


Shetland sport on a cone from Bartlett Yarns. The color is dark jade heather. I've used some of their yarn a long time ago (I bought it at the big E probably in 2004) and it was nice. This is the start of this sweater from Drops, and it is my current obsession. I also bought some roving from them, in color blackberry (8oz for $7.00 seemed like a good deal).


This is some standard wool from Apple Hill Farms (I can't find a link, they are from Hudson, NY). It's destined to become a sweater for me but I can't decided what. I'm debating between a ribby cardi, a roam or a bramble jacket. But I also have some other ideas percolating.


This was a total impulse purchase, but it was just sooooooo soft. Sock dream from the periwinkle sheep shop, color hydrangea.

I also bought a kit from Gia Maria (also linkless) to make a scarf for my MIL. This was really more about the awesome shawl pin then than yarn.

Next year, the festival and fall break don't happen at the same time, so I likely won't go again, but I will likely take my fall trip home, yarn or not it's a great time to visit :)

Go Vote

This morning, I was thinking about what I should post today.  I annually remind you to vote, and list lots of reasons why you should.  Those reasons haven't changed and I still believe in them.  If you need some motivation read the archives, or better yet, just GO VOTE.

I had decided to write just that small snippet above.  My yearly public service message, but this morning I took my own advice and went to vote, and it seems I have yet another polling place funny to tell you.    I guess this is one benefit of moving around, a normally mundane task, like voting, can be new and exciting all the time!

We did the motor voter thing when we got our new licensees, so I knew I was registered.  I had actually been quite impressed with the speed and efficiency with which our voter registration cards came in the mail.  The location where you vote is printed on there, nice and clear, "you vote at: Local High School" is what is says.  We live a few blocks from there and drive by it every day, so I knew exactly where to go. Yesterday I had also received several flyers from various candidates with YOUR VOTING LOCATION IS: LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL printed in bold letters on them, so I was feeling pretty confident about my ability to carry out the basic task of voting, which I've been doing for nearly 15 years.

This morning at 8:09 I showed up at my appointed voting location,  pulled into the parking lot, right under the sign that say "Local High School", parked my car in a very sparsely populated lot and started to get a little nervous, it was awfully quiet.  Hub and I got out and walked up the steps under the big granite engraved letters proclaiming "Local High School".  We marched on up to the front doors: Which were locked.

Yes.  Locked.  Not a soul in sight.  No sign of voting or people or anything.  A small yellow sign on the street corner had said "vote here", so I was pretty sure that we were in the right place, but yet, the doors were locked.

We were in the middle of deciding to drive around back (in the manner of a married couple, early in the morning, slightly annoyed about this situation and without enough caffeine might do), when another women popped up behind us and said, "Are those doors locked.  There is a door back there propped open with a chair maybe we go there."

So we did.

And we found, an empty gym.

We pressed on.

We found basketball tryouts.

Thankfully, the coach (?) was kind enough to show us the way.  At this point we parted ways with the other voter, we opted to return to our car and drive around the building, while she pressed on through the hallways of our (very nice) local high school.

In the end, we all voted (on those new electronic machines) and no harm was done.  But thinking about it made me really upset. What if someone else comes to vote and doesn't find their way back there?  Access to the polls is the only way the process works. I did my best to do my civic duty and inform the polling people of what had happened and encourage them to fix up some signage for the rest of the day.  But by that time I was pretty agitated and just wanted to vote, so I'm not sure I got my point across.  I don't know what will happen and I'll likely write a letter to the county voting commission to let them know they can do better.  I wasn't able to find an email address for them, or I would be doing that instead of writing this.

I don't think that this was intentional.  It was merely a case of election officials assuming that everyone knew there was a back entrance to the high school. I guess it's an honest mistake, but still frustrating.  I can only hope that everyone finds there way back there and doesn't just give up and go home.

So go vote, maybe you'll learn something new.  Like your local high school mascot is the blue devils (emblazoned on the gym floor), or that you have a really nice high school.  Or that the voting gatekeeper guy lives down the street...if you can get over the fact that it is a little weird that he asked what house I live in.  I'm slightly suspicious that he wouldn't have let me in if I said a certain one that has certain political signs in front of it, but maybe I was just jumpy after the locked door thing....  Hub ensures me that he was just a nice old gentleman practicing good southern manners....