High Five

I've had this post in my head for a while now, but since I released myself from the guilt of not posting regularly, I haven't taken the time to write it.

The Rubies. View from Dead Snag, December 7, 2008

I have never given so many high-fives in my life as I have lately. It all started at Ultimate Frisbee. Score? High Five! Make a good play? High Five! Pass a friend on the field? High Five! The hand-slapping moved to the crag, too. Lead a route? High Five! Successful climb on top rope? High Five! Good try at climbing anything? High Five! Belay? High Five! Then it moved home. Playing Cranium and get an answer right? High Five! Tell a good story? High Five! Goofing off at the bar? High Five!

It's nice to have supportive friends, friends who encourage you in all your pursuits. I love rock climbing partly because I love the encouragement along the way and the excitement everyone feels when someone accomplishes their route, or just gives something a try.

Knitting is like a high-five sometimes. Finish a hat? High Five! There's no one giving me a high five at one in the morning after I weave in that last end, of course, but the feeling is there. I feel accomplished, satisfied and excited.

I haven't finished all my Christmas gifts. In fact, one that I started way back in September hasn't been touched since then. The intricate, detailed pattern got confusing and I ran out of time to deal with it. My plan is to finish everything (except Patti) on the plane rides to and from Detroit. Here's what I've finished so far.

Gryla's Howl, now finished.

Exception

I'm still not blogging, but I was so impressed with this post that I want everyone to read it and the accompanying comments.

I'm Done

I'm not done with blogging, but I am going to take a break from the pressure of it. Things are too full, too heavy in my heart and head right now to worry about anything else. I will blog when I feel like I have something to say, and the time to write about it.

Since I wrote last a lot has happened. A friend died. You can learn more about it at Perry's blog. Perry is writing so elegantly and eloquently about it all, in spite of his closeness to James and James's death, that I will leave it to the words he's already used. A couple days after that I had to go off to a conference, which was fun and educational, but overcast with the thought that I couldn't be with my Elko friends, mourning and supporting. The day I left Kentucky and the conference, I got a call telling me my grandma, my Nana, had died (my other grandma, Babci, died in September). I flew all the way to Salt Lake City just to turn around and fly to Detroit (I traveled a total of 20 hours that day). I was very close with my Nana, so this was especially hard to take. There was all sorts of family stuff to deal with while home, too, which only added to my worry and sadness. The day after I returned from Detroit, I drove with friends to Salt Lake City to attend James's memorial. It was beautiful and heartbreaking.

Nana and Me. Isn't she beautiful?

While I was gone, I was neglecting a major deadline at work and now I'm behind much more than I'd lilke.

So I'm taking a break from blogging. I've been knitting, but nothing's done and nothing's new, so this seems like a good time to take a break. Please continue to email me. I need a push now and then to keep in touch.

And I declare this: I'm done with Death. That's it. I'm done.

August 22, 2008. Nana and Papa were finally wed in the Catholic Church, after 50 years of marriage.

Sheep and Knitting

Last week I was in Ketchum, Idaho, for the Trailing of the Sheep. There was lots of wool and plenty snow.

Most of the progress on this mitten was made in the car to and from Ketchum and while at the festival.

I also worked on this sock during the festival.

I bought some great yarn at the Puffy Mondaes booth. I wish they were closer. I have to take pictures of the yarn yet, so I'll post them later. In the meanwhile, here are the sheep. They were supposed to go straight down Main Street, but those photographers you see in my video weren't staying to the sidewalks, so the sheep took the first opening they saw and headed down the side street instead. (Isn't there some sort of professional courtesy about not getting into another photographer's shot? You should see my other video--it's mostly this one guy's head as he's "ducking" to stay out of my way.)

Sheep in Idaho

Sheep Camp at Trailing of the Sheep

Early tomorrow, too early for me (though I'm trying not to complain since all my friends are geologists and such who have to catch a bus at 4:30 am to travel an hour or more to work a full day), I'm leaving for Idaho. The Western Folklife Center is participating in the Trailing of the Sheep festival. I've created an interactive component to the exhibition that we bring to the historical museum in Ketchum. People are asked to weigh themselves and then compare it to the weight of a wool bag. They can also get inside the wool bag to get an idea of how much room 20 fleece take up. And they can write a poem about sheep. We're all about the poetry at the WFC. On Friday I'll be leading a knitting circle and conducting interviews, two of the things I do best. I'm hoping knitters and other fiber artists will come and knit and chat. I'll simply ask leading questions and record the whole thing, and knit, of course. Here's more information about what we're doing. If you're in Ketchum or Hailey, please stop by and say hello.

I've got three projects going and I don't know which to take. I'm not very into this sock, but I think the Druid Mittens are too complicated for travel. The other project is also too complicated. Both of those have something going on on each row. I've already messed up the Druid Mittens by incorrectly anticipating the chart. I'll fix some of it, but the rest will just have to be a mistake. Gotta have one, right?

I'm hoping to buy some handspun yarn while at the festival. I didn't last year because I didn't have the money and felt overwhelmed by it all. I did pick up a skein of something in Ketchum, and will probably do the same this year. It's good to support the stores in places I visit, I think.

Picture!

Made for Perry for his birthday.

This yarn, Polarknit, is a bit strange to work with. It's a synthetic, of course, so it has that weird feel (though not sticky like acrylic). Its construction is like a piece of fleece was cut into a very long strip. It was staticky, which I haven't experienced in a yarn before. The end result is fabulous, though, so it was worth it for a hat. It's going to be one warm, hip hat, for sure.

Climbing, Not Knitting

Today was a day of many climbing firsts.

1) I red-pointed a 5.6 lead on slab (red-point means I got to the top without falling, slab means the rock was mostly smooth and at an angle). I think I like slab. I like using the downward pressure with my arms, rather than having to raise myself to my hands.
2) I climbed my first multi-pitch (which means that one person climbs to a ledge, then another person climbs, and so on, then you climb to another ledge, and so on) on mixed gear and bolts, also on slab and with no walk-off. I did two pitches and more than half of the third. It was the end of the day and I was the last to climb it, so when I got to a harder point I decided to just come down so we could move on. I wanted to get on that pitch, but it didn't matter to me that I reach the top. We were very high, which was exciting. I think that's the highest I've been. Does that count as another first?
3) I tied in to the middle of the rope.
4) I learned a mountaineer's coil (because I had to carry the end of the rope with me on the last climb--my first time carrying anything extra on a climb).
5) I learned to flake and to coil the rope.
6) I used a prusik on the long rappel down (tied a little differently).
7) I expelled some gas in front of the four guys I was climbing with. I was definitely the girl of the group today, but I think I held my own, even in the bodily-function department (though much less than they did).

I did a tiny bit of knitting while waiting for my turn, but it's hard when there's chalk on my hands. It's very drying stuff. I did a little sewing today, too. I was belaying Jason when I realized there was a hole in my pants. In the spot just below my chalk bag, and which would have been very noticeable while climbing. So I grabbed my knitting bag and the little sewing kit I carry with it and sewed up my pants. The guys were surprised I had needle and thread with me, but I was very glad I'd decided to bring my knitting bag up to the climbing area.

There may be a picture of me climbing, but I forgot to take my camera. I wish I had because the aspens are all turning yellow and were just beautiful as the sun moved through the canyon. We went down to the creek after climbing, since it had been a warm day and we needed to cool off. I was walking on the rocks and found a poor little rainbow trout caught in some fishing line wrapped around some sticks. Jason walked back with me to help the poor thing, but the hook was deep in the trout's throat. Jason broke the line, so I hope the fish went someplace nice to die. I'm mad at the person fishing, though. It's so irresponsible to do that--not just to leave the fish but to leave line tangled up like that. This is National Forest and should be treated with respect. Grr.

Next post will probably be about knitting, including a picture of a gift I'm giving. My last few posts have been without pictures. It's time for something pretty and knitted.

Progress!

I've wanted progress bars forever. Thanks to Ravelry and a very informative forum, I followed some directions and made them work! I even changed the color to match my color scheme. Hurrah. Then I had to go into my Ravelry projects page to change the title of the gift so its recipient won't know what it is (until she checks Ravelry. Oh well).

TV

This post sums up my relationship to television watching, minus clutching a radio to my chest as a child. Instead, my sister and I would sneak in snippets of St. Elsewhere and other such over-our-childish-heads dramas by opening the bedroom door a crack and quietly peeking out. Good thing nothing funny is on after ten o'clock. That's how I saw the first half of Poltergeist, which still terrifies me.

Sometimes I still feel like my TV watching is illicit. My roommate doesn't watch TV (until she gets sucked into whatever I'm watching) so there isn't one that gets reception in the house. I don't like to have a TV in my room because of the bad chi, but here I watch TV programs on my computer, which is in my bedroom. In some ways, I feel like I'm more discerning if I can't flip. But I'm not usually a flipper. Sure, I don't watch reruns of Bewitched anymore, but I also don't see new episodes of things I like (telling you what those are makes my admission too real, so don't ask). Thank goodness the networks replay some things. Thank goodness for Netflix.

When I had a TV in front of a couch, I would watch and knit for a few hours a night. I got a lot of knitting done. Now, I sit on my bed, perpendicular to the computer. Somehow, I don't seem to get as much knitting done. It just isn't as comfortable, for knitting or watching. I miss my couch and I miss getting so much knitting done. I even miss the TV*.

I have been knitting (and watching some things--will the new season start already?), but everything is for a gift. I'll show one thing soon (check my Ravelry projects to see what I just finished and what I'm working on), but the other is a Christmas present. I think I'm going to start the Druid Mittens out of some Shibui sock yarn in orange. I haven't swatched yet, so don't hold me to it.

*Disclaimer: I wouldn't trade my busy days for TV watching. I like this new, social, active life I'm living.

My Awesome Job

Sometimes my job is incredible. Incredible because I'm seeing and doing things I never imagined I'd even want to do.

The Western Folklife Center and the Elko Convention and Visitor's Authority has brought in a group of journalists to learn about the Elko area and, especially, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. I didn't have to do any of the planning or organizing (thankfully), but I did get to meet the folks and share in some of the exciting things they are learning about.

Yesterday I headed to the 71 after work for dinner (which was ribs, so I only had dessert) and a concert by the campfire. Jay Dalton picked his way through quite a few songs as people took pictures and sang along.

Today, I headed back out to the 71 for lunch (Mexican, so I had a version of the served dish). After lunch we listened to a talk about changes in grazing cattle, and then we headed down to a barn to watch a horse be castrated. Fascinating. The vet threw the, um, removed part over the horse's head because "otherwise he looks back and won't be a good horse." In other words, they want the horse to see what's been removed so he doesn't think he can still, well, enjoy the ladies. Don't worry, the horse was knocked out before knife hit skin. His tongue was sticking out, which was awfully undignified and cute. After that we watched some cattle get roped and "doctored," which meant getting treated for an infection in their hooves.

Tomorrow I get to have dinner (which I also can't eat--this is the problem with being a vegetarian in cattle country) with Baxter Black, then go watch him perform. What a job.

Five Days Later

It's late, but I hate to break a promise. Here are some pictures from Burning Man.

The Man is behind this art piece, which was part of a larger piece.

Inside the Temple, which they burn on Sunday night. It was three stories tall, if I remember right. People add to it in memory of loved ones and hardships.

I think the helmet adds to the bug-like look. Another picture I have of this pose shows an art car with a giant green, um, thing on top. I thought I'd save that picture for another, less public time.

The woman working at this installation invited us inside McLightenment when the dust picked up. She was great. I got some Hope for a friend from her. My camera was having some trouble with the dust.

Here's a hat I knit this weekend (it's resting on my new comforter cover). I finished it tonight while watching The Outlaw Josey Wales after a rousing game of Frisbee and hanging out with new(er) friends over quesadillas. This weekend was quite good. I went to the car show and parade, hung out with a friend, made soft pretzels, and got around to some things I'd put off for awhile, like laundry and cleaning my room.


This Everlasting Bagstopper has been waiting for yarn forever. I finally got some yarn, finished knitting the bag, and then let it sit, waiting for straps. Now it's done. I haven't tried it yet, but I know Dan uses his, so I'm really looking forward to it. Or I might save it for a Christmas present. We'll see.




I know it's not much, but I did it: I found time to blog.

Completely Subjectless

It's been a rough and busy time lately. I'll post pictures from Burning Man soon. I don't have any knitting to show, though. Not really. Maybe I'll whip up something tonight just to have something to show for my absence. Thanks for hanging in there. More soon, I promise.

UP!

It's so hard to get back into the swing of things after spending almost a week in a place as beautiful as this:

But I'm back, and back at it. I woke up at 4:30 am EST last Tuesday to catch my early flight out of Traverse City. My plane was delayed in Detroit, so I didn't get into Salt Lake City until around 1:30 pm MST. I forgot to grab my bag getting off the parking lot shuttle, so I had to wait for the bus to come back around. I didn't get out of the parking lot until almost 2:30. Then I drove back to Elko, arriving at 5:00 pm PST. I dropped off my stuff and went right to Frisbee. I just didn't want to be at home yet, even after such a long travel day. In fact, I didn't get into bed until after 10:30 pm PST (or 1:30 am EST). Then on Wednesday I worked then went climbing and rappelling (my first time!). I stayed out late that night, too. I was surprised to feel so jet-lagged on Thursday.


I've been busy, but it's been fun to be back, even though I'd rather still be in the woods. A bunch of us went to the Indian restaurant last night to celebrate some August birthdays. They had belly dancing, which turned into Bhangra dancing. Everyone was dancing: the belly dancers, the waiters, the owner, a few kids, and some of us. Afterwards a couple of us got a quick lesson from the owner's son. I was quite tired leaving the restaurant. That's the best thing about Elko, in my opinion. It's possible to be surprised with something extraordinarily fun at any time.

So, knitting. I haven't knit much since getting back, but I finished the Endpaper Mitts while in Northwoods. They are really small because my gauge was waaaaaay off. I gave them to one of the caretakers who also plays the viola. I love the viola and she said she'd use them when practicing. Since they didn't have an intended recipient, she was the perfect giftee.


I liked knitting these. You can see that I screwed up a couple times. I'd start to get confident that I knew the pattern without checking the chart and then I'd mess up. I didn't notice this huge mistake until it was really too late to go back without much irritation. I also had trouble with the purl stitch. It was always really loose and I couldn't seem to tighten it up, especially on the thumb. I have a ton of of yarn left. I think I might just add them back into the Panda Silk stash for something with lots of color.

I'm working on the second sock for my sister. I'll see her next year at my grandparents' wedding. They have been married for fifty years, but have always wanted to get married in the church. The priest they have been working with told them they can finally get married because after fifty years it's obvious that their marriage is blessed. I can't wait. I hope my brother will be able to get leave from the Army for this, because we should all really be there. I'll also get a chance to see Jen and family, so that's a huge bonus.

I may not have anything to blog about for another couple weeks because of the wedding and other travel coming up (I'm going to Burning Man, too). I'm thinking of entering the February Sweater in the fair, so cross your fingers.

Still Deciding

I just sat down to work on the Endpaper Mitts pattern with the skinny dyed cotton. I wound the yarn, looked at the pattern, did some math, and I'm just not sure about it. I think I'm on the wrong track. I don't think the 100% cotton is going to work with colorwork like this. I think it's more suited for stripes. I might buy more (someday) and make the skinny cardigan or something similar. Or I may hold onto the yarn forever.


I might still make the Endpaper Mitts, though. Twistedhausfrau told me that there's real yarn available in Elko. I mean yarn made with fibers I want to work with, from brands that I trust and love. So I checked it out and sure enough, I no longer have to pine for the tactile pick-me-up that yarn shopping affords. Of course, I couldn't leave without buying something. I needed some tapestry needles, but that's not enough. I bought five balls of Panda Silk. Maybe I'll match a couple colors for the Endpaper Mitts. Or maybe I'll get crazy and do something with all five colors. I am interested in trying out some more fair isle, so maybe a more complicated pattern is in my future. The possibilities. I don't know if I can handle it.


These socks will be for my sister. I tried using this yarn for socks before, but the pattern didn't like me. This pattern came to me while in the car on the way to Boise this week. It's a simple twisted rib pattern. Four hours of knitting is inspirational, I guess. Maybe it was all the mormon crickets we were smooshing with the car. I'll spare you the picture I'd promised earlier. I still can't get over how huge they are. Horror film huge.

I Need Advice

I want to make some fingerless gloves or full-blown mittens out of the skinny cotton I bought. I think a fun, two-color, stranded pattern is what I want, but I can't find any. Neither of my two stitch guides has any colorwork, so I can't make it up. After browsing Ravelry, I'm really in the mood to do some colorwork in a mitten, too, but I want to focus on this cotton.

I know cotton for mittens isn't ideal, but these will either be for me or a friend who can't wear wool either. That's why I was thinking fingerless gloves instead. Maybe mittens knit in wool and lined with cotton would work, too. But, again, I want to focus on the skinny cotton. I only have one skein of each color, and a hat isn't inspiring me right now.

Other than the itch to start a million new projects (I'm dreaming of socks, too, and I've got a sweater's worth of yarn waiting to be knit), I'm plodding along on BYOB. If I finish it today I'll post a picture. In the meantime, here's a photo of a columbine from last weekend's camping trip.

7/27--Completed BYOB (added picture 7/28)

Butterfly in Lamoille Canyon (added 7/28)

Inching Along

Chicago was great. It felt like being home. I got my fill of yummy Handlebar food (and then I dreamed about vegan biscuits and gravy last night, so maybe I didn't get my fill after all). I saw 13 friends. My friend Wyatt said, after telling him that I had to leave: "But, I'll miss you," and he looked at me with his three-year-old eyes. My heart broke. I would have stayed there forever.

I also reconnected with friend I had neglected. Now I owe her an email, but I'll get to it, I promise. I did miss one friend that I really wanted to see. Add another email to that list.

I didn't do much knitting. I finished the February Sweater. The person it's for reads this, but I'm going to post it anyway. This sweater was just as frustrating and just as fun as the first time I knit it.


While I was in Chicago, I stopped at Nina. I was craving a trip to the LYS as much as vegan biscuits and gravy. I needed help deciding, since I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful things. I had to ask Sam a few times for some help on color. Everything I bought was in a blue-green shade, except for the Silky Merino that just happened to match the Misti Alpaca yarn I bought.

Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton. I've wanted to try this for a while. I'm thinking colorwork mittens.

Malabrigo Lace. It was too luscious to pass up. It's going in the stash to wait for the right project.

Misti Alpaca Sock Yarn. These will have to be made into socks. But for whom?

Malabrigo Silky Merino. I love a Merino Silk blend.

So I've been catching up. I've been having a lot of fun at Frisbee. I think I'm starting to feel more confident in the game. I went camping this weekend, which was great fun. I went with two different sets of friends, so the weekend was doubly interesting. I took along BYOB and the Everlasting Bagstopper. The Bagstopper has been sitting for some time, waiting for yarn. I bought some at Nina, but when I went to knit with it this weekend, I realized I'd bought the linen, not the hemp I needed. I don't mind having more linen in my stash, but I would like to finish this bag already. At least it's living up to its name.

Euroflax Linen, purchased at Nina, sitting with the hemp bag.

Besides Chicago, the best thing to come out of the last couple weeks was teaching Perry how to knit. Let me clarify a little. His mom had taught him how to knit, but I taught him how to cast on and how to purl (though he only purled one row). Next, he's going to start a hat. Teaching knitting makes me so happy. Maybe even happier than knitting itself. Now I've got to get Perry to teach me to rappel, like he's promised.

Nevada Weekend

I don't have any knitting progress to show. My only knitting news is that I'm headed to Chicago tomorrow, so I'm going to get a lot of knitting done; buy a lot of yarn (I'm sure); and hang with my knitting friends.

Last weekend was a constant reminder that I'm not in Kansas (or anywhere in the Midwest) anymore. I went to a dinner party where we mostly talked about rocks--both mining rocks (gold) and climbing rocks. I went to a ranch where I fed a leppy (warning: opens in QuickTime. Watch it. It's short. And good) and played with barn cats. I went to the quietest parade ever (while parades are not unique to the West, Elko seems to have a parade every month). Then I finished the weekend at the Basque festival, where I watched Basque dancers and the weightlifting competitions. I also went to the picnic, but I didn't eat anything because the Basque only eat meat.

The most frightening thing I saw this weekend was the road to the ranch covered in Mormon Crickets (don't follow this link if you don't like big, ugly bugs). I'll post a picture soon, but let me just say this. Eeew. At first I thought they were frogs. They are almost as big as frogs, and they jump. I stayed in the car.

There's Always a First Time

My Middle Name is Patience tagged me for a meme. It's my first ever, and it's very exciting. I like the topic very much, though it's so hard to limit my answers to one per question.

• Your favorite word? Super. With delicious tied for second.
  
• Your least favorite word? Hate (I'm trying to eliminate it from my vocabulary). There's another word that I dislike more, but it's not really a word and I refuse to write it down. Say it only if you want me to squirm.
• The word that is the most fun to say? Fantastic. I enjoy words so much this was hard to answer.
• What word should be banned because of overuse? Should (I'm working on eliminating that one, too).

Answering this reminds me. If I ever repeat what you say, it's not that I'm mimicking you, it's because I'm rolling the word around in my mouth. Today we played La Loteria at the Folklife Center. It's a game much like bingo, but you don't match letters and numbers. Instead it's pictures, and you have to figure out what the image is by answering a riddle. Because most of us were rusty on Spanish (or don't speak it, like me), the caller only said the names of the images. It was fun to hear everyone in the room repeat the words. Spanish words are fun to say, especially Loteria! when you win. I didn't win.

This being my first meme, I'm not sure who to tag. I don't want to leave anyone feeling like they wish I'd ask, but I don't want to force it on anyone. If Aimee, Perry, Lynn or anyone wants to join MMNIP and me in celebrating language, please do this meme. Email me if you want an actual invitation.

Here's the Second Sock. I had to use additional sock yarn, from the leftovers pile, to finish. I like the effect of striping the self-striping yarns. Thank goodness my friend Bill doesn't care if his socks match. These definitely will not.


The First Sock.

Summertime

I finished the Something Red sweater on June 15, but it's taken me this long to find a good button for it. This was an easy, fun, fast knit. Very satisfying. I didn't see that wonky bit in the raglan part until I posted this picture. Darn. I'm not ripping back now.


Last weekend I went camping with friends at Diamond Fork in the Uinta National Forest, in Utah. There are some hot springs there, which we visited. It was a fun, and much needed, weekend away.


Then, to brag a little about how great my job is, I stayed in Salt Lake City for a meeting with colleagues about the programs we do. Basically, we got together to talk. Just talk. That's about all we did. We talked about where things are going, how we're feeling about things now, and ideas for the future. On Monday we're having a staff retreat, where everyone on staff is going to talk about these same things (and more). I do like it here.

It's good to say that, because the week before was the worst. Things are on the upswing, though. A new program that I developed, Play Your Hand, is really fun. I think when the word gets out there will be a good turn out. We had a few folks to learn poker and blackjack, and I think they had fun. Next week is La Loteria, and families are encouraged to come to all future game nights (kids couldn't come to this past one because those are licensed games in Nevada and minors can't be in the same room, even though we weren't gambling--or so the gaming board told me). So if you're in Elko on Wednesday, please come play some games at the Folklife Center.

I'm working on a February Sweater and the partner to a sock I made a while ago. I'll write more about those someday.

Weak

I was planning on posting last Sunday, but my fingers were so tired I couldn't type (or knit). I had tried to climb a 5.9--way out of my beginner's skill level. My thumbs could barely move after gripping so long on the rock. The person on the belay (is that the right phrasing?) was the only reason I was holding onto the rock at all.

I was feeling quite impressed with my progress on Something Red until this week. Time seems to be getting away from me. I put in a twelve-hour day yesterday and the only reason I left at a reasonable hour today is because the majority of what I had left to do was to make phone calls. I didn't want to call folks in the mountain time zone during dinner. That's a good reason, right? So I was all the way to the sleeves on June 6th, then I had one sleeve by the 7th, then the other took until Tuesday. I picked up stitches for the button band yesterday, so I'm still cruising on this. I liked the idea of having a complete sweater in less than two weeks. I've got workshops in Lamoille Canyon on Saturday, a barbeque tonight and a possible concert (in a venue two hours away) tomorrow, so I guess I'll have to settle for just over two weeks to finish.