Today we had to leave work early because our kids’ school closed early. Why? Because of this:
snow in the bushessnow in the yard
It started snowing a little late this morning for schools to be closed for the day, but by the time we were ready to leave for school and work the driveway had to be shoveled first. So we kinda figured we wouldn’t be there the whole day. In fact, we had only been there for a few minutes when we heard the news that we would be leaving early. So the kids got a little outdoor playtime this afternoon and I got to spend some time knitting.
After yesterday’s heart turning out wonky, I did a Ravelry search and found a cute knitted heart by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It’s part of the Heart Hat pattern, but the heart itself can be knit as a standalone object.
Problem is I don’t understand the pattern. Obviously there is some short-rowing going on, but I can tell already that I’m missing something and my counts are weird. Has anybody out there made this? Are there short rows on both ends, or one end only? Help?
Thanks in advance….
Trish, the Heart-Obsessed Totally Confused Knitter
I got the idea from looking at a short video on Vickie Howell’s blog, but mine doesn’t look as “heart-y” as hers. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, right? I have a good friend who has been trying to reconnect by writing letters, and while I’m thrilled to receive them, I don’t really write letters anymore. Not since the advent of e-mail! So you know it’s a special friend. I hope she likes it!
We’re hoping for snow tomorrow. We haven’t had a good snow around here for a couple of years now. I like snow when it’s enough to cancel school around here, because then I get to stay home with the kids and knit and sip hot chocolate all day. Oh, that sounds divine! The kids went to bed with their jammies on inside out, for luck. Let’s hope it works!
I’ve been needing to start a new project for carrying along, since I finished the knitting portion of my most recent hat. A couple of posts back I mused about the Pfeiffer Falls Hooded Scarf in the current issue of Interweave Knits. So yesterday I started it, after spending nearly a week reading and re-reading the pattern. I admit that I still don’t understand the construction of the thing entirely, so I am having to trust that the pattern is completely correct and just follow it. I’m hoping that the light bulb goes off soon. Thankfully the designer, Anne Kuo Lukito is on Ravelry and a knitalong will begin soon. I suppose that I knit so slowly that this head start I’ve got going won’t matter much. I’m looking forward to working on this project together with a group.
Hey, look at the new pet that the postman brought me today!
Wollmeise
It’s my very own skein of Wollmeise! Now, I think most folks know I am NOT much of a sock knitter, but I do love me some nice yarn. And I hear people get so worked up about this one that I just wanted to see what it was about. A fellow Raveler had some in a colorway she thought I might like so we struck up a deal. And now it lives with me.
The skein is very generous, which I noticed right away. The yarn itself is very soft too. Perhaps I’ll make myself a scarf with it someday. But really, sometimes I just buy yarn for yarn’s sake. This one is so lovely to pet I’m half inclined to adopt it as my new teddy bear. There’s plenty of time to decide what it will be.
Ciao for now… off to knit a bit then pet my yarn. Then bed. All this new president stuff has my head spinning. In a good way, but honestly I’ve been too excited to sleep. Good things are coming… I can feel it.
Our ticket to the ball Well, that’s what it felt like, anyway! Me? To the ball? Wearing a gown and makeup? It was an amazing night. No, we didn’t hobnob with anyone important, but just about everyone I know from the disability community, the community tha gives me strength and empowerment, was there. I guess that does make them all seem important!
We arrived at the National Press Club somewhat fashionably late, after being forewarned that Metro would be overcrowded and parking would be impossible. Neither was true. We found a parking space right away, and the inbound train was not crowded at all. I think it helped that the Inaugural concert had been earlier that afternoon, and most everyone was coming back out of the city, instead of in. So we lucked out.
The Press club is a fantastic and historic place. I was awed by the heavy wood walls and doors everywhere that gave the place a stately air, and the photos! Everywhere were photos of Presidents, and world leaders, and well, just saying I was there was awesome.
When we arrived, Congressman Hoyer was speaking:
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-MD
Followed by Senator Harkin:
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IASenator Harkin says Thank You in Sign Language
Both men were sponsors of the Americans with Disabilities Act and worked tirelessly to ensure its passage in 1990, and continue to be strong legislative allies.
While there we were fortunate to meet up with many friends from the past and present. Our good friend Diana (for whom our daughter is named) was there, along with Dawn from work and a bunch of other work friends. I also ran into tons of people that I hadn’t seen in many years, but alas, I wasn’t too quick with my camera. I even shook hands with Geri Jewell, who I used to look forward to watching on The Facts of Life during my teen years. Back then, there weren’t really any disabled people that I could see as role models on television. I think I was probably 13 or 14 the first time I saw her on television and I thought, wow, I really can do anything. Hokey? Maybe. But until you’ve lived in a world where absolutely no one represents someone that looks like yourself in popular culture, you have no idea what I mean.
Trish and John with Biden and ObamaWhile at the ball, John and I had our photo taken with the men of the hour! Well, it was fun, and no, we haven’t fooled anyone yet with this photo. No, they’re not cardboard cutouts either. More like cyber-cutouts. We stood in front of a green screen and voila they magically appeared behind us. Guess that’s how folks in such high demand can be absolutely everywhere at once!
We also got to visit with my good friend Carrie and her daughter, Asiza!
Trish, Carrie, and Asiza
Carrie came in from Colorado because her nephews are marching with their high school in the Inaugural parade tomorrow. That must be such an exciting time for her and her sister!
Toward the end of the evening, a rumor spread fast that Bill and Hillary were on their way to the ball, so everyone gathered in the ballroom and the dance floor was cleared in anticipation. We waited. And waited. Finally the suggestion was made that we should just keep dancing. I don’t know if the Clintons ever showed up, though, because we had to leave before turning into pumpkins on account of the subway system closing at midnight. But, before we left for the evening, we were entertained by an amazing dancer and his flying crutches. You gotta see this guy:
And finally, here’s a closeup of my dress, because a couple of people were asking me about it.
My dress
It was a simple navy blue chiffon sheath sleeveless, with beads and sequins on the bodice and matching long sleeve jacket. Luckily I had it on hand already for my niece’s wedding that I didn’t get to attend in November. So, at least I got to wear it once. And my husband? He was so dashing in his tux — the first time he’s worn one since the day we got married. For that alone? It was so worth it to be there.
And tomorrow? Tomorrow is a New Day. I simply. Cannot. Wait.
Yesterday I was without my internet connection for nearly the whole day. Of course my provider said it was something wrong with my modem, and they could be out to fix it in oh, three days or so. Well, that’s not good enough for this house! Not only that, every time they say it’s my modem? It never has been. They just don’t like to admit a system outage so I won’t hold them responsible for it. But of course, when I woke up this morning everything was back to normal and I was in cyberspace again.
The point of this little rant? Well, let me tell you. We’ve had some unseasonable cold here. So a couple of weeks ago when I suggested that we have a second knitting meetup this month due to the long weekend, it sure sounded like a good idea at the time. But then, yesterday morning, when I realized it was a whopping 6 degrees outside, I wasn’t sure who in their right mind was actually going to show up. Boy, was I surprised to find that we had our biggest crowd EVER. I was so excited that I wanted to come right home and blog all about it, but my lack of connectivity made me wait until today. So, here I am to talk all about it!
Here’s the gallery from yesterday!
Yvonne models the felted beret she made
Tammy is swatching for a sweater
Rhoda is making progress on her Baby Surprise Jacket
Doris shows off the beginnings of a shawl
This is Other Trish, re-learning how to knit
Lysette is browsing through some sewing books
Ileana looks through some sewing books
Last time, Molinda cast on a new scarf. She’s made lots of progress since then!
Melodye shows off her Cobblestone Pullover in progress
Marie models another beautiful sweater she made
Lisa, I think, is working on her first sweater
Leslie is working on a beautiful sweater
closeup of Dina’s scarf
Dina had a new scarf to share
We had lots of new folks, thanks to some word of mouth. I’m glad that our group loves to spread the word!
Doris said she came because she made a personal commitment to herself to learn to knit this year. By the time I left she was cooking away on a shawl and I look forward to seeing her again soon.
Trish (Other Trish?) is a regular at Borders and frequently shows up in the background of some of our other photos. Yesterday she came to the table with a learn-to-knit kit in hand. Glad she could join us!
Lysette is the organizer of our knitting meetup at work. I was so happy to have found that! And I was really excited that she could join us yesterday.
Marie was working on a baby sweater and modeling another beautiful sweater that she had made. She’s excited to be going to the Oprah show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts tomorrow.
Molinda brought along the scarf she was working on that she started at the last group meeting. I gave her the instructions for Twin Rib stitch, which I thought would look great with her yarns. It does!
Me? I brought along my daughter’s hat to work on the duplicate stitch lettering. Tammy helped me get started, but I got frustrated quickly and she very generously agreed to help me with the stitching. For my part I will be knitting a practice swatch, with which, who knows, maybe I’ll duplicate stitch myself some sort of sampler.
Others who were there included Dina, Lysette, Yvonne, Ileana and Leslie. I’m really glad that more and more people are coming. It was a wonderful time, and even after three hours I didn’t want to leave.
Tonight I’m headed out to one of the Inaugural Balls. I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m excited! And I hope to have some fun photos to share tomorrow. Not only will I be able to reconnect with members of my own wonderful community of disabled persons, but I’m hoping to “rattle my jewelry” among some of my personal and political heroes and heroines. I hope to have stories to tell tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Finally I have some progress to report on my daughter’s school spirit hat:
hat off the needles
I managed to bind it off today! Tomorrow morning, before work, I will attempt to create the words, “Lady Hawks” in duplicate stitch. I’ll be using an alphabet chart from Sarah Bradberry’s site. I’ll follow the tutorial on the Purl Bee site, which seems amazingly clear and makes it look easy enough. Still, I am a bit nervous. I’ve never done duplicate stitch before, so wish me luck.
Tegan is fairly indifferent to my knitting apprehension:
Tabby with eyes shut
But hopefully all will be well and there will be an FO report soon.
I’ve been having trouble focusing on blogging this week and I do apologize for that. But you see, I have a problem. It’s American Idol season, and for some reason I can’t turn my eyes from the sight of a train wreck. American Idol season usually means lots of knitting for me, though, so I’m going to have to squeeze the blogging in there somewhere!
And, so, wish me luck on the hat. We’re expecting a cold snap just in time for the Inauguration festivities, as per usual, and my daughter cold use a bit of warm woolly love on her noggin.
