Update

My illness is unchanged. The doctor gave me a mild antibiotic to start with, saying I should come back if I don't get better. Well, that medicine seems to have kept me from getting worse, but I'm no better either. I'll go back to the doctor tomorrow for something stronger. Hopefully I'll be on the mend in time for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving, and we're supposed to have company. I'd hate to have to cancel.

Progress on the secret project continues.

Out sick

I'd love to tell you all about what I've been knitting lately (I've been doing a lot), and what I did for Knit Like a Ninja Day (I did knit in secret). But I've been knocked over by something new. Pneumonia. I just came from the doctor, and he say's I've got it. No wonder I feel so crumby. Maybe I'll reveal my knitting secrets when I'm better.

International Knit Like a Ninja Day?

Do you know what you're going tomorrow? I know what I'll be up to, but you'll never see it coming. I'll be sneaking into unexpected places and knitting in secret.

Very sneaky. Very deadly. Very yarny.

Post your Kninja activities on your blog showing how you sneaked your awesome yarny skills into daily life and confounded the muggles.

Darn! I hate it when that happens.

It's another pair of socks. This time it's my Rock n' Weave socks made of STR Jewel of the Nile. I've had these socks and worn them regularly for a long time. A very long time. But they finally blue out in the ball of the foot, as usual.

I guess I feel a need to mark the passing of each pair of socks with as much fanfare as I made when the were cast off.

I'll miss these socks. They wore like iron. I'll miss them. I guess it's a good thing that I have 3 skeins of the stuff secreted away in my stash.

Dream Trip

The Amazing E is away for business this week. He's at the Kennedy Space Center hanging out with the NASA types. It all has to do with a project at his work where he's trying to get NASA and the NIH to work together to put medical research on the International Space Station. His trip will culminate with VIP viewing of the shuttle launch later this week.

Well, E has a long standing dream of being an astronaut. So he's in heaven right now. Here's a picture of him with the thing that is supposed to replace the shuttle in a few years.
His caption for this picture is "And finally, I prove to you that I could fit inside the Orion capsule. Yes, you heard me NASA - I could be in that capsule, serving the Public Health of the United States, while at the same time exploring distant planetoids. Call me!?"

Seven

That's how many repeats of the chart I've finished on the Starmore wrap. Twelve is the magic number. I guess it could still be possible to finish it before my anniversary if I worked my little fingers to the bone. But I won't.

New Orleans (not knitting related)

The Amazing E and I will be going to New Orleans to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I got a pretty good package deal yesterday, so we're all set. I guess we thought going to New Orleans for our first anniversary was appropriate because of several Louisiana coincidences contributing to our marriage and families:

1. We were introduced through a mutual friend who attended Tulane University with E.
2. My sister (the Beautiful E) and the Amazing E both hold masters degrees in biomedical engineering from Tulane university. Apparently they had classes together. (more parenthesis... the Beautiful E did go on for a Ph.D.)
3. E's best man is a native Louisianan.
4. Some of E's ancestors settled in New Orleans.
5. Our wedding coordinator was a Katrina refugee who had been the catering manager at the New Orleans Sheraton.

For all these reasons, we're celebrating the first anniversary of our wedding there. Also, I understand that all foods there are "special chicken" and therefore okay for me to eat without guilt. My sister who told me this is one of the smartest people I know and lived in New Orleans for something like seven years, so she must be right.

If your name is Mike...

and your surfing the internet waiting to hear if you got your new job, the Amazing E and I say good luck.

Half time

Tada!

I've been waiting for a sunny day to take a picture of my latest knitting triumph. There hasn't been one in a few days, so I can't show you a well lit and artistic photograph. But here it is. The first half of my Rheingold wrap. I restarted knitting it about three weeks ago and finished about four pattern repeats to complete the half.I'm really pleased with it. It's almost 28 inches long. And yes, it's a tube. It will be steeked after the other half is finished and the two parts grafted together.

I am not, however, sure when I'll be able to finish the second half. I'd love to have it done by my anniversary, or the winter holidays at the latest. But as tends to happen when I work on large projects, my shoulder injury has been aggravated by the knitting. It will get done though! I can't wait. This half is so nice.

And I already have plans for my next shoulder killing, blindness inducing fair isle project.

Happy knitting times!

Matisyahu

In 100% non knitting related news, I took the Amazing E on a date Saturday night to see Matisyahu in Baltimore. For those of you not familiar, Matishayu is an Chassidic Jew who does a sort of rap/reggae/jam band type of music with (what I consider) very spiritual lyrics.

The show was very cool. They played most of the more well known songs and did a lot of jamming with members of the opening act and some other people. I haven't been to a concert in a very long time, and had never seen him in person. He seems like a very intense guy. I was shocked when he stopped and looked directly into the crowd as if he were at once trying to soak everything in and connect with the people in the crowd.

We had a lot of fun.

Shenandoah Fiber Festival

As you know, last weekend was Rock Creek Yarn's third show, the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. It was both Saturday and Sunday in Berryville, VA.

I have to say, the show was a great success and worth all the hard work. We had good sales despite the crumby weather, enjoyed seeing the fall colors in the mountains, introduced some new products and colorways, and even saw some friends.

Here's E holding down the fort in our booth.

Your wish is my command

Orange Kit Kat.

Boo!

While going through and organizing the yarn left from the festival this weekend, I broke into the Halloween candy. And you know what? Halloween Kit Kats are not covered in chocolate, but some weird orange stuff. Boo!

I'll try to get pictures from the show and the new products posted tomorrow, plus some other knitting fun.

Yarn and leaf peeping opportunity.

This weekend I'm exhibiting at the largest fiber festival I've done yet. It's the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, and it's in Berryville, VA. It's only about an hour and a half drive from the DC area, or eleven hours from Chicago. It should be a good opportunity to see fancy yarns and nice leaves in the upper Shenandoah Valley.

Not too shabby

I can't believe almost a week has passed. I've been dyeing yarn like crazy. More about that later. And then there was the disastrous dental work. (Went to the dentist for the first time in five years and had no cavities or anything. So the guy decided that a couple of my old fillings needed to be replaced, which lead to chipmunk face all weekend.)

But to the news at hand. They accepted my paper at school and issued a grade. B+.

Rejoice!

This week Jews are celebrating one of our lesser known holidays, Sukkot. It's the feast of booths, and it lasts a week. On Sukkot, we're commanded to do three things:

1. Build a Sukkah. This is a little hut with a leaky roof. You're supposed to build one and dwell in it. Mostly that means eating in the Sukkah. I gave a lot of thought to building one on our balcony. After all, this is the first year in many years that I have an outdoor space that's mine. My old condo didn't have a balcony. But alas, I haven't built a Sukkah. It didn't seem practical, and I know putting such a thing on the balcony is technically a violation of the apartment rules. So I haven't fulfilled that commandment.

2. Wave the four species. During this holiday, Jews are commanded to have four plants and to wave them. Why? Because we're commanded to. The plants are willow branches, palm fronds, myrtle, and a funny citrus called an etrog. We don't have our four species, so we can't wave them and we can't fulfil that commandment.

3. Rejoice. During Sukkot Jews are commanded to rejoice. And why not? What could be wrong with that. So I'm making sure I rejoice every time I can.

Happy Sukkot. And if you see a strange hut spring up in your neighbor's yard this week, rejoice and wish him a happy Sukkot too.

Small Vacation

Sunday night E and I went on a one night camping trip to Assateague Island National Seashore. This is a barrier island off the coast of Maryland, and is about a two and a half hour drive away. The island is really neat because a heard of wild horses lives there. We camped there overnight, finally using the camping equipment we got last year.

Assateague is beautiful. It's a little skinny island over 30 miles long and perhaps only a few hundred yards wide. There's a campground near the ocean side where you can hear the surf all night. The camping area is covered with goldenrod that attracts monarch butterflies and bayberry bushes that smell wonderfully. It was great fun and very relaxing. I'm sure we'll be going again.

Hand Dyed Sock Swap

I've organized two rounds of a hand dyed sock swap on Ravelry this year. This time my swap buddy was Joe82 from Ravelry, a very nice young lady from Ontario, Canada who shares my birthday. I got a package from her yesterday.

Aaaand. It's way too cool. She sent me some Canada souveniers which I just now realized I haven't photographed. I was too excited about the socks.

These socks have an allover spiral pattern and are made from SweetPaprika's 100% Merino sock yarn. They're very soft and squishy. I love the shaded dye job. (Sorry, I had to take the photo of my own feet myself this time. Of course, the ubiquitous cat face lurks at the top.)
The other knitting item is some hand dyed yarn. She sent a whole kit also from Sweet Paprika, and it's the cutest thing ever. I may have to cast these on tomorrow because, dude, there are fishies on the toes. I'm totally going to wear them with my Birkenstocks so everyone can see.Thanks Joe, and thanks everyone who participated in the swap.

Non yarn related cheering!

Yay! YaaaaaaY! HorraaaaaaY!

Hip-hooray-and-ballyhoo!

I turned in that crappy paper only minutes ago. I'm done! Done done done with my thesis/master's project/crappy paper! So I'm sort of done. I'm still finishing up the end of my coursework, but my project is done and my classes are done.

E knew I was turning it in tonight, so he got me these flowers and is preparing a celebratory meal as we speak. (And behind the vase is our extremely sophisticated havdalah spice box that's still out on the table.)

Hooray! Yay!

FO: Imladris Socks

Yay! Hooray! They're finally done.
To review, the pattern is Rivendell Socks. They were knitted out of Great Adirondack Yarn Co Soxie in Wild Birch. I did them magic loop style on size 1 needles with no alterations to the pattern. They fit me very nicely, but sizing might be tricky for people with thicker ankles. The wrapped stitches in the cuff can make things kind of tight.