A Long Day

I woke up very early this morning -- alarmingly so, even -- to make a 7AM bus. (When I left the house this morning, it was still as much dark as it was light. In October. In New York City.) The bus was heading up to the fiber festival up in Rhinebeck, a good two and a half hours from here. I got back at 8:30 or so, and if I was a little tired then, I'm that much more so now that I'm off my feet and am no longer running on excitement and fiber fumes.

I fully intend to write up a longer post tomorrow, but in the meantime, two photos. First, there's a picture of yarn (in small form to hide the vague blurriness):


And second, a much better picture of some of the foliage up there, which is beginning to seriously turn:

This one is better viewed large and on black.

Travel Video: SushiCone

As much as I'd like to get back into the swing of blogging things, the computer I'm sitting at is having one of its paroxysms of what can best be described as navel-gazing. I'll just post another Seattle video and let it get on its way.

Travel video: When Fish Fly

One of the things I saw in Seattle was the flying fish (also known as the fish toss) at the Pike Place Market. It's practically a required sight, but a lot of fun. I managed to figure out how the video function on my camera worked and got this clip.



The neat thing about the fish toss is that the entire staff gets in on the noise. The camera is meant for still photos, so the sound's crappy, but you can still hear them.

I'll keep posting stuff as I get it uploaded, which is easier now that I'm back. So keep watching this space.

A Few Words about Seattle

Today's post comes to you from the 10th-floor reading room at the Seattle Public Library's central branch. The building is a funny-looking lumpy-looking thing that makes for interesting architecture, but doesn't get as much use as one might hope (especially if there's a librarian in the family). Here's a photo of a tiny little corner of it:



That photo is the best I've got up on Flickr yet, but I'll be putting more up when I next get a chance. The complete photoset can be found here.

I've only had a few days here, but I spent them exploring. Downtown was a bit quieter than I thought it might be, but then it's mostly offices and I'm used to Herald Square. I also looked around Pioneer Square and stopped by Elliott Bay Books -- which is definitely worth a visit if you have any interest in books. And I managed to get to Pike Place Market to see the fish toss there (the fish toss may be easily identified by the crowd of tourists, but is worth waiting to see). I haven't forgotten the yarn, either, and stopped by one highly recommended store this morning and have another on the agenda for tomorrow.

The weather so far has not been what I expected. We arrived late Saturday (I kept thinking it was the wee hours of Sunday); since then, today has been the closest we've seen to stereotypical Seattle skies. Sunday and Monday we had beautiful weather, and the clouds are breaking up -- making it rather difficult to see what I'm typing, with all the sunshine pouring through all that glass. It stays light much later than I'd have thought, I figure because Seattle is (I think) farther north. The sun doesn't set until 9-ish. That's 9pm, Pacific Daylight Time.

That's about all I can fit in at the moment, but I'll post more eventually. Even if it isn't until I get back.

Taking it On the Road

I'll be leaving town tomorrow. Not for good, mind you -- just for a week or so. Mom has a conference in Seattle, and she's letting me tag along. (Apparently, I would be cheap. Mom said something having enough points to cover my airfare, and the hotel room would only cost, what, $10 more a night?) We'll even have a few days left over to dash up to Vancouver.

However, tomorrow is also World Wide Knit in Public Day; the fact that we're leaving tomorrow is that I'm going to have to improvize knitting in public. I won't be able to participate in the festivities here in New York (as I will be packing and heading to the airport), and we won't land until the events in Seattle are over (and we'll both be wiped). That said, I did think to go to the TSA website and print out some of their information. Knitting implements are indeed allowed on planes -- I highlited the line that says so -- which means I should have no trouble whatsoever participating in my one-knitter celebration: World Wide Knit in Airport Day.

I also thought to post a message on Ravelry asking for yarn-store recommendations in the Seattle group. I got a few of these before the thread spiralled into a discussion of elevators. In all honesty, however, that was probably my own damn fault: when someone said something about downtown Seattle being flat and someone else disagreed, I piped up that flat and nearly flat are all the same to me because I live in a walk-up. Well, threadjackings happen, and are usually no less unplanned.

In my rush to get stuff printed, I also made sure I ran off a pattern or two, including the one for Salad Wristers (available from Presents Knits). I'm still working on the Baby Surprise jacket I'm knitting (mostly) with my knitting circle, of course, but I'm not exactly betting the yarn stash that Mom and/or her employer sprang for seats with elbow room.

That's about all I'll spit out at the moment, but watch this blog: I'll be bringing a computer with me, and finding wi-fi in Seattle should be, I'm told, no problem.

Photo: Montreal Foliage and the Marché Bonsecours

Montreal Foliage and the Marché Bonsecours
Originally uploaded by The Loopweaver

As I said earlier this afternoon, I discovered a disappointing, if simple, error in my knitting and had to undo a day’s work. As an ego boost, I decided to post this photo. It's one of the most popular ones I've uploaded -- Scout says it reached #30 in Flickr's Explore -- and has been blogged by Urban Nature.

I took this picture in Montreal in October of 2006, when I turned my one week of vacation into a week and a half, courtesy of a Columbus Day return to New York. The foliage was early (something to do with a wet summer), and I took Amtrak up there. Spending a day on an Amtrak train is no worse than going through airport security, and the view is often better. Especially when that view is the Hudson Valley in October.

Under the River and Past the Malls

Like many people, I will be traveling today in advance of Thanksgiving. In my case, instead of crowds at the airport it will be crowds at the train station: I'm going one state over, to New Jersey. I am not looking forward to the number of people I will be fighting trying to fight to get there. The Population density at Manhattan's Penn Station is high enough during a normal rush hour, and many more people than usual will be trying to get to the far side of the Hudson. What's more, my "weapons" as such are more of a hinderance than a help: a big leather bag which won't stay where I put it, a ratty green tote bag, and one six-inch cheesecake.

I hope we close early.

As a pragmatic decision, I decided not to bring the "Nevis" cardigan I talked about yesterday. It's grown too big and requires five balls of yarn in three colors, a chart, and directions in British (I knit in American, and there are some subtle differences that require translation). In it's place is a scarf I'm knitting as a gift. (Its Ravelry page is here: I doubt the scarf's recipient will sign up before said recipient has the scarf.) It measured 7½" wide yesterday afternoon, at which point the progress was:


The pattern is Jo Sharp's "Misty Garden" and comes from a book called Scarf Style, published by Interweave Press. I'm using a chubbier yarn than the tiny mohair used in the original. It comes out bigger but the effects of the stitch pattern are still the same. Yarnovers create holes; the holes happen at the same place in every row, creating a column of eyelets:


Since yarnovers increase the number of stitches in a row, you gotta add some decreases if you want to keep the width stable. Like the yarnovers, these are grouped. The result is a festoon-like hem:


The whole thing is light and fluffy, and someone commented to me that it's "Victorian" in appearance. (I agree.)

I like this pattern. I'll have to make one for myself.