Knitting in the Fall

I've been particularly chatty this week. Mostly because Monday started well. My car was in the shop, but a most excellent friend, Jen, gave me a ride to work. I had both good conversation and my knitting with me. Chatty isn't something that happens often for me, so it's a bit odd. *looks nervously around at dusty blog*

I love Fall. The colors, the smell, the cooler weather. I got to see a bit of snow this October, although it was mixed in with rain. It reminded me of my first year at Virginia Tech. There was a freak snow storm that dumped several inches of snow. They cancelled classes for a day, I think. That is pretty astounding at that school. Even if it isn't entirely accurate, I have this wonderfully vivid memory of bright, snow-covered ground and autumn-decked trees. Even without difficulty with allergies, I don't have the same feelings about Spring. I'm not sure what it is about Fall. Ultimately, it is prime knitting weather. You see the geese in the sky on the move, the deer in the fields bulking up, and the knitter in her natural habitat.

I finished a couple of projects recently. First up is a wash of garter stitch and ribbed edging.
Mara in madelinetosh tosh dk, colorway burnished



This turned into a bit of a slog, especially the edging, but it used every last bit of yarn. I love projects like that.

I also finished up a hat, Windschief, in madelinetosh 80/10/10 MCN, colorway steam age. (Sorry about my hair. It's always like that.)



I enjoy the detail on this one. Complex enough to be interesting, but simplistic enough for everyday wear.



Back to work now on my current favorite projects.

A sock for the most excellent friend Jen:



And a lap blanket, for me:

One Year Ago

I've been having a difficult time the past couple of weeks. Pretty lethargic, despite an ever-growing to do list. Mostly because my mind has been on other things. I would really rather not go to work tomorrow, but there are meetings on the schedule, and I can't really justify it.

October 11th, last year, my grandma passed away. And I am discovering, the sadness from that loss doesn't really go away. It moves around the brain, like swirling water. And as the waves from that turbulence break, I sit in the quiet, and think of how dear she was.

She was good at so many things.

Cooking.



Gardening. Crossword puzzles. Killing palmetto bugs that were the size of Volkswagens to 12-year-old eyes.

Being a Grandma.






I'm thinking about you too, Grandmama. Thank you for all the love.

A Bit of Orange

(I'm trying something new with the blog...bear with me for the next few posts)

I can finally see the sun, after several inches (and several days) of rain. As you can tell from my previous post, there was a lot of damage all around. In my apartment, my own damage seems relatively meager in comparison.

Don't get me wrong though. It really annoys the crap out of me that this wall is pretty much a complete loss.

And the ceiling was the next casualty.

I noticed a bit of damage at the corner of the window sill 6-8 weeks ago. I notified the residential managers immediately, and one of them came in to look at it. During Hurricane Irene, it suddenly intensified. I put towels down to protect the baseboard and carpet, but that couldn't save the wall.

Leaks popped up around all four corners of the window. The two lower corners were the worst. I called the residential managers again. The lead came out with the building architect to look at it and figure out how the water was coming in. 

And then Tropical Storm Lee came in. I put towels down, and felt pretty prepared. When I got back from work one evening however, there was even more water streaming down the walls. Two large bath towels and several dish towels were heavy with water by the end of it. But it started coming in from the ceiling while I was at work, so there is significant damage now.

Moving on, I finished a couple of projects which are both, rather surprisingly, orange. Since my favorite color is grey, I was surprised how much I liked both the yarn and finished projects.

First, a wurm hat in madelinetosh pashmina, colorway amber trinket (Ravelry Link)

I wasn't sure how a slouchy hat would look on me. I'm still not sure actually. But I liked the pattern. It was relatively straightforward, and I didn't make any modifications.

Next, a plain woven scarf in The Sanguine Gryphon Traveller, colorway Gallifrey (Ravelry Link). Although I had some trouble with warp tension on this project, my selvages and weft are both fairly even. And man is this bad boy bright. My love for this scarf is due in no small part to the Doctor Who reference.

One of the nicest things about this yarn is that despite how much red there obviously is, when the scarf hit the water, there was little to no bleeding at all.

My last woven scarf in two shades of String Theory Hand-Dyed Yarn Caper Sock (Ravelry Link), turned my plastic reed purple. For the next weaving project, I think I will try something other than plain weave. Not sure what yet though.