2010

A new year, a new decade, must be time for a new post. Kristen is going back to Chicago today, leaving temps in the 50s to 70s for temps in the single digits. Not easy. But she is looking forward to her new classes and quite satisfied with the ones just past, so I'm sure she will be fine. I am going there to visit for Folk Festival, which is over Valentine's Day weekend, just before my classes start. In the meantime, I'm going to Maine on Friday night, arriving Saturday morning, just for 8 days. I have to get some school work squared away before I leave, so the next week should be a busy one for me.

Current knitting is the Allegan sweater, which is at a kind of slow and boring stage. Last night Kristen went out to a post-New-Year's New Year's swing dance party, and I set up my laptop with a Julia Child dvd called The Way to Cook and added a couple of rows to the sweater. I get motivated to knit more when I can feel the end in sight--but how will I ever get to that point unless I press on a bit more? Hmmmm.



I also have a pair of socks on the needles, but I'm kind of saving them for travel knitting. I also stocked up my ipod with 2 Cast-on podcasts to entertain me on my long trip from Los Angeles to Bangor.


This trip consists of 4 sectors, all of which may be rather trying. First, I get to the airport at something like 8:30 pm and wait for my 10:20 pm flight. Then I fly across the country in about 5 hours--not really a night's sleep, even supposing I could remain unconscious for the entire time, which I can't. Then there's a 3 hour wait in Philadelphia, followed by a 90 minute flight to Bangor in a smallish plane. Total travel time is listed as 9 hours and 35 minutes, but that doesn't include the waiting time at LAX, which is mandatory. So really more like 11 hours, which seems like 14 hours with the time change factored in. If I could get on a plane here and get off in Bangor 10 hours later, it wouldn't be so bad. But what are you going to do? The only way to avoid the night flight is to arrive in Bangor in the middle of the night, which is also problematic. Especially if there happen to be any delays. Which there could well be.

I finally blocked the Storm Cloud Shawlette and it turned out okay. Not as drapey as the sample at Twist, but that's because hers was knit in a yarn that included silk, which I didn't really think about carefully enough at the time. Also, the color which seemed moody and mysterious at the time seems a bit gloomy now. But it was simple and not a failure.



Which is pretty much how I roll. Simple, but not a failure.