Away for a bit

I've been slacking on my blog, I'm afraid. June absolutely flew by -- I feel like I was always off on a trip or trying to recover throughout the whole month, with time for nothing else. The latest trip was a long weekend to visit with my sons, both of whom are working away from home this summer. I took one with me to visit his brother at his college in western PA - he'd never been out to see his brother's college. Despite the nearly continual rain and the cancelled/missed flights in both directions, it was a fun visit.

Now we're getting ready for a combined trip -- camping in western MA so we can attend the Prairie Home Companion broadcast at Tanglewood followed by the 4th of July in Rhode Island. The 4th with DH's family is a tradition that stretches back to the first year of our marriage. PHC at Tanglewood dates back that far in my sister's marriage, but has been part of our June schedule for just 3 years now. Both are not-to-be-missed events for DH and me!

I'm trying to figure out if I can fit in a side trip to Webs on the way to the campground, but haven't mentioned it to DH yet. I just got their annual Valley Yarns catalogue and I'm drooling all over it. On the other hand, my LYS has its summer sale starting tomorrow, so I could spend my money locally when I get home after the 4th. That is what I'll probably settle for :)

The trip to PA gave me lots of knitting time. I spent almost all of it working on my Bitterroot Shawl, including doing the first few of the beaded rows with a bowl made out of my sweatshirt in the Charlotte, NC airport. I'm just three rows and the bind-off from finishing, but will likely leave it at home to finish next week. I was also working on a simple cowl from some glittery yarn I picked up at Fiber Frolic, but it wasn't the most forgiving stuff to work with and broke my Knit Picks Harmony wood needle -- right where two of the layers of wood come together.

Now I need to pack and think about what I'm going to take with me for knitting on this trip. I did knit a swatch of the String Theory yarn from Fiber Frolic and washed and blocked it. I usually am pretty good about making swatches, but have never washed and blocked one before. I'll measure it this morning and decide what size needles I'll use to make the Isla cardigan. That would be good traveling knitting because it is all stockinette and I'll be able to knit without looking at my work. There is lots of good people-watching at Tanglewood and I don't want to miss anything!

I have already started my shopping list for my LYS sale. Hard to believe, but it is time to start thinking about Christmas knitting. I want to make some more of those faux-felted mittens for some people, so should stock up.

Here's a photo from our trip at the end of May to Acadia:

Babies Everywhere

I finished two baby sweaters last night. Both are from Berroco's Comfort DK yarn, and the patterns were from a Berroco Comfort DK #274 booklet. The first, Caleb, was on the cover and was the reason I bought the booklet. I bought the recommended number of balls of yarn for it and found I had nearly 1 1/2 left over at the end, so I went ahead and made Caisey, which was similar, but a cardigan instead of a pullover. I needed to buy one more ball of yarn, but got two baby sweaters out of 5 balls of very reasonably priced yarn.

While I was sewing on the buttons, my older cat came and kept me company. She has developed a habit of perching on the back of whatever chair or couch I'm sitting on and snuggling with my head. In the winter she likes to be in my lap, but when it warms up she wants to be close, but not too close. Plus, she's always had a thing for people's hair and she gets to nuzzle mine in this position.
These two sweaters are going to two colleagues who are both having boys -- one is due in July and the other's wife is due in December, I think. They work in the same office, so it will be fun to give them "matching" sweaters, though that wasn't my intention when I started the second sweater. I just figured I'd have a sweater "on hand" for future gift-giving, but found out last week that the second colleague had just found out they were having a boy. Just good timing, I guess!

I have another baby to start knitting for, though. My sister-in-law and Don's brother are officially pregnant, due in January. We got to see them on Saturday and I pulled a baby hat out of the bag and sewed in the ends on the way there so I could give them an early gift. I didn't get a picture, but it is out of Lorna's Laces variegated sport weight and has 5 little corkscrews sticking out at the top. I got two out of one skein and gave the first away about 2 years ago. And, I have two nieces who are likely to have children soon, so having some sweaters in reserve would be a good idea. Luckily, I love knitting baby sweaters -- they are fun, and quick, and I like to make them colorful. The blue of the two sweaters I just finished is one of my favorite colors and I didn't get tired of knitting with it.

On other needles, I am making progress on the Bitterroot Shawl - I've moved to the second chart out of 6 or 7. The yarn is so soft and lovely to knit with. Once I get started, I hate to put it down. I'll get lots of time with it this weekend when I travel with one of my sons to visit the other. We'll have time for knitting and conversation - my favorite combination.

Happy Bloomsday!

Even as an English major for whom reading the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was an intellectual bright spot(in my freshman year English comp class), I can't claim to have read Ulysses, but love hearing about Bloomsday and have celebrated it occasionally with a Guinness over the years.

On the knitting front, I've blocked my Sprössling but haven't gotten around to piecing it together. I planned to not cast anything on until I had finished it, but couldn't help myself when I got the yarn from Fiber Frolic wound into balls using my friend's large ball-winder. I dubbed the ball-winder the "Big Mama" when I handed it back to her last night at choir. I really struggled with the String Theory Caper Lace on my regular-sized ball-winder. 575 yards was just a bit too much and I kept tangling it underneath the cone. The Jewel sock yarn from Mocha's Fiber came in an 1100 yard skein! I absolutely could not have wound it on my own winder.

Anyway, the Jewel yarn, a 65% superwash merino and 35% rayon of bamboo mix won me over. It is in the Aegean colorway, a lovely mix of sea blue/green colors and so soft! I'm making the Bitterroot Shawl from Knitty winter '09 and have beads already purchased for the edging. This is one of those yarns that feel wonderful to knit -- I can hardly put the project down and already know I'll be sorry to finish it. But, the 1100 yards will probably give me two projects -- one shawl and another shawlette/scarf, so I'll enjoy every minute. Here's a progress photo:
But, the sun is shining today and my usual Thursday yoga class will be followed by a graduation party tonight, so I probably won't get much time to fondle my yarn until Friday. We're having dinner with family - even my brother from Maryland will be there - to celebrate Father's Day and my parents' anniversary a couple of days early. I'll get to knit in the car on the way to dinner (over an hour away)!

Boston Conference

I've just returned from 4 days at a conference at Boston. It was a great conference -- lots of good information, updates, conversation, and... food!

My professional development conference of choice for many years was a national student affairs conference, usually in a major city where, if I was lucky (and feeling spendthrift), I would indulge in one nice meal in a restaurant on the trip. Mostly, I was trying not to spend too much of the college's money, feeling just very grateful to be able to attend. More recently, however, as I've begun to advise students about law school and medical school, I attend the conferences for those specialties and find myself in a different world. At the Pre-Law Advisor's conference, which this was, the meals are all "sponsored" by law schools. Breakfasts, coffee breaks, lunches, afternoon dessert breaks or receptions, and dinners -- every single one included as part of the conference and delicious. We even had a lobster feed on the first night! As a Maine native, I definitely had an advantage at the lobster feed and had to coach a few of my table-mates.

Anyway, it was a great four days, and not just because of the food (oh, and wine and beer at every reception and dinner). I did get a free hour on Thursday and cruised over to Windsor Button, which is the only yarn store in Boston proper that I'm aware of. I hoped to get to stores in Cambridge or Brookline, but the timing didn't allow. I ended up not buying anything, but that is because, when I ran in to pick up a set of needles at my LYS before leaving on the trip, I was talked into (it wasn't hard) a splurge skein of yarn: Blue Heron Yarns' Cotton/Rayon Seed in variegated blues which came with the Sea Turtle Vest pattern. It is very simple, knit from the top down, and uses a brooch or shawl pin as a closure. I can't wait to start it, but need to borrow a larger cone winder than I own to get it out of the skein. But, I also need that to wind my Fiber Frolic purchases, so am going to have to prevail on a kind friend very soon - before I find myself trying to wind it myself the old-fashioned way, on my hands!

I managed to find a bit of knitting time (and I wasn't the only knitter at the conference), especially on the bus to and from Maine to Boston. I'm still working on the Comfort DK yarn which led me to do a second baby sweater. The first called for 4 skeins, but only used about 2 3/4, so, with one more purchased, I'm getting a second sweater out of the yarn. I've cast on the first sleeve (which is picked up and knitted from the body down to the wrist) and could have this done very soon, so I'll wait to photograph it then. But, I will share a photo of some of our irises. They were just coming out when I left for Boston and I feared I would miss them completely. Two varieties (we have other colors, but they haven't bloomed yet) -- a variegated/stripey one and a dark purple:

Thanks, Gratefully Received

I had a lovely weekend, starting with Friday afternoon. It is reunion weekend at Colby and alumni from the 1st and 10th reunion classes made a point of stopping by to see me and thank me for the help I've given them over the years. One is now, after admitted ups and downs in her life, settled into work that she loves and excels at in disability services. She commented that I "helped her more than you know" through our conversations while she was a student and several phone calls throughout her first post-Colby job search. The second young man graduated last year and hopes to apply to medical school in another year or two. He spent a lot of time worrying about his future while he was a student (but, fortunately, also made connections with two of us in the Career Center and got lots of support), went out and did a year-long volunteer/teaching position and said he "learned a lot" in his first year out of Colby. He seems much, much more self-confident and centered than when I last saw him a year ago and is off on a new work adventure this fall.

Then, on Saturday, I attended a memorial service for a cherished faculty member who passed away last fall. It was really nicely done and I ran into some past classmates from my year and the year behind me (it isn't my reunion year). Then I took a stroll down Roberts Row (aka Frat Row) where I know that the one-year reunion class hangs out. It is always like stepping back in time -- students aren't allowed to do this nowadays, but in my day (oh I sound old!), this was a familiar scene: beer die tables and kegs and other games going on and people hanging out on a sunny day. I got all the way to the end of the crowd before I came across some really familiar faces, but then got to talk with two of my pre-med alums who will be going to medical school next fall who graduated a year ago. They were glowing with the experiences they've had during this past year and with the excitement of what lies ahead for them. They were both people I (strongly) encouraged to take that year before going back to school and they thanked me for pushing them to do that. One laughed at how she used to be insistent when talking with me about how she wanted to go directly on to school and said that this past year was the "best year of her life" and thanked me for encouraging her in that direction.

These are the experiences that keep me wanting to do the work I do. Yes, I love the daily interactions (at this time of the year, mostly e-mail and phone conversations), but seeing the results of my efforts and care with students pay off is so rewarding and confirming. I feel privileged to work with students who are going through this complex, often frightening and overwhelming developmental stage. I often want to put my arms around them and tell them they'll be OK (and sometimes I do offer that hug and those words) in ways they can't even imagine. I can't guarantee there won't be ups and downs, but reassure them that even their classmates who appear to have everything together will have ups and downs too. And, they won't stop learning and growing just because they graduate from college. This weekend, I got to see some of this in real life and it makes me excited about going back to work tomorrow.

So, if someone has helped you along the way in college -- reach out and tell them. It truly makes a difference. And, if you haven't yet reached out to someone at your college (you know who you are), know that there are people (yes, even "administration" staff as well as faculty) just waiting for you to ask for their support and help. Take advantage of their caring and their wisdom. If the first person you reach out to doesn't "connect" with you, find someone else. You don't have to figure everything out on your own, though you have to live what you decide to do. Having a supportive older person in your life can help you move in whatever direction you head with confidence. "Real life" is actually a really nice place to live.

Fiber Frolic Finds

Yesterday was a lovely, even if a bit nippy, day for a frolic! Outside of the sunny places it was a bit chilly and breezy, but that is my best weather, so I was quite happy. Plans to meet with fiber fanatic friends came together at the very last minute on Friday afternoon and stayed "loose." We agreed to start meeting at the main gate at 9 and then every half hour after that so that if anything slowed anyone down in getting there, it wouldn't keep everyone waiting around. Two of us arrived right at 9:30 and then we found a third person already purchasing something in the first building and soon ran into a fourth fanatic. It was a cheery, fibery group!

I am still trying to save money for an iPad and all the necessary accessories, but did spend some of my savings on some gorgeous yarn. First, I was intending to buy some String Theory yarn to make a Bitterroot Shawl. I ended up buying yarn for a sweater instead. One of the sweaters I tried on and loved at the Fit to Flatter workshop was the Isla cardigan (I can't find a picture of it to link to) from an old, unavailable Rowan magazine. I've been thinking about finding/designing a similar very lightweight cardigan ever since. Then, one of my friends mentioned that she'd found the pattern book in her collection! She's halfway through making it herself, out of String Theory Caper Sock Yarn. I opted for the even more lightweight Caper Lace Weight in Rose Collage and it is so soft and beautiful. The colors, as I worked one into a ball last night were just mesmerizing in their changes -- rose is the main color, but there are also shades of purple, green, and aqua in it too! The photo below doesn't do it justice, but it is the three pinks (including one ball):
The little ball in the front was a last -minute splurge. It has metallic yarn mixed with a silk variegated yarn and came with a pattern to make a charming little neck warmer that really looks more like a fancy necklace. I'll probably knit that first as it is easy-peasy and will be great Fiber Frolic instant gratification.

The aqua skein is going to be used for the Bitterroot -- it was a great deal for 1100 yards of fibery loveliness. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice. One of my friends described the colors as "almost alive," and she's right. After leaving the Fiber Frolic I went directly to Beads on the Kennebec in Augusta and picked out the tubes of beads I'll need for the shawl -- there were lots of good choices, which tells you more about how variable the colors are in the yarn. But, before leaving, I took some photos of llamas and alpacas and had a lovely Gyro sandwich and iced tea.
These 4 Alpacas moved as a group and, at times, had their necks almost intertwined. They had just been shorn - you can see the lines on their necks and backs where the clippers were directed.
This little one looked like it was smiling.
I've always loved llamas, but seeing the alpacas first makes these guys look huge! I'd love to have one :)

So, it was a very nice outing. I didn't spend too much money and came home with some things that will give me great pleasure to knit over the next year.

Before I knit anything new, however, I'm planning to block my Sprössling today and get it sewn together before heading off to a conference in Boston. And, I need to finish sewing my Debbie Bliss sweater together. Then, I think I can start something new.

Anticipating a Frolic

Fiber Frolic is this weekend -- go if you can! I'll be there!

Weekend Knitting - not so much

I did do some knitting over the weekend, but didn't make what anyone would call "progress."

I pulled the lace shawl out of time-out that I've had issues with before. It was one of the first lace projects I attempted, so I thought that my greatly advanced skills since then would make it easy to finish. Ha! When you start thinking you have advanced skills, that is a huge caution flag! I managed to make a mess that will require me to tink back (un-knit) at least two very long rows of knitting (hundreds of stitches in each row as I'm in the first third of the last lace section of a round shawl), taking me back to right where I was when I threw it into my bag on Friday. I'm going to do it sooner than later -- I'm tired of feeling defeated by this project and am determined to get it finished this summer. I've been knitting it on a Knit Picks nickel round needles and have decided to try moving it to a Knit Picks wood round needle (my current favorite needles for everything -- flexibility for my hands, color, and nice sharp points -- I have the interchangeable round needles set). I've got a few of the nickel needles but find myself hating to pick those projects up. They are fast, if you want fast, but the tips are more blunt and the needles more slippery than I need for this lace. Stay tuned...

So, I moved to the sock project that is also on nickel needles. These are lace-patterned knee socks from Dream in Color Smooshy. It is a slow project, but I'm getting there. I think I got two repeats of the 8-row lace pattern knitted, which is good progress.

And, I'm working on another baby sweater from the yarn left from the one I just finished. I'll need one more ball to finish the sweater, but that's not bad. I just found out that another colleague's wife is pregnant, due in September, so there will be a home for it soon. But, I got ahead of myself on the second front side and forgot to put in the buttonholes, so just frogged that piece last night and will start it over. It is good mindless knitting, though, and I like having a project going in that category, so I'm not crying over this one. Plus, it is a baby sweater -- so small!