One Thing Led to Another...

And all of the sudden I've taken an inadvertent hiatus from blogging. And my how I've missed ya'll!!

(I'm still fighting the stupid spacing issues that Blogger likes to inflict on me. Sorry about the screwy look.)

Home

I've been back home from my travels for a week and I've been going a mile a minute since. I had jury duty on Monday and I must say, after years of knitting anywhere and everywhere, it is highly disconcerting to sit around hour after hour after hour without the knitting. Knitting needles are verboten at the courthouse. Instead I got some work done and started reading Water for Elephants. It is an excellent read, if you find yourself with free time and (gasp) no knitting.

I also recently read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, which I highly recommend.

Now, let's see what kind of ground we can cover in this post. (Sorry if you are on dial-up....I've been taking pictures.)

On the Go

While my travels last month were for business purposes, the scenery was really beautiful there. I was a bit short on time and perpetually neglectful of my camera but I did manage to get a few semi-decent pictures, including one night shot. These pictures don't do it justice. Really.

Knitting in the Big House

In early September, Katy, Lori and I took our 10-year-old niece and nephew to Alcatraz for a long-awaited birthday outing. I took pictures but before I found the time to post them, September got crazy. Better belated than not at all, I suppose...

It was a really wonderful, fun day. They are great kids (not that I'm biased...) and we all had such a good time. The weather was grey and sort of dreary and I loved it.

Coit Tower, from the vantage point of waiting for the Alcatraz ferry. Arriving at Alcatraz Island.

There are still remnants on Alcatraz from when the location was used for a military fort and military prison, including the cannon seen here in the background.In front of the Industrial Building, which sits at one end of the Rock.

Visiting the sock, locked up for some undisclosed indiscretion.

Even knowing the facility has long-since been decommissioned as a prison, there is something disturbing about standing behind those bars. We did anyway, of course.

The Nephew.

The Niece. (Look at that pitiful expression! She is a drama queen.)

The Lori. (The angry convict, apparently.)

The Katy. (Maybe this picture gives you some indication of where The Niece gets her drama-y streak.)

The Me. Knitting. (After all, it was just prison, not jury duty.)

The view from the Warden's house, back into the city.

Antique Shopping

Yesterday we three aunts had ourselves another little outing. Lunch, some antique shopping, other shopping, dinner. All-in-all, a very good, refreshing day. We visited our favorite bakery, Teacake Bake Shop, where the cookies are $2 a piece and the cupcakes are $3 a piece, and both are worth every single red penny. Delicious.

During the antique shopping portion of our fun, I found an old sewing standing.I remember my mother or possibly my grandmother (one or the other - it is a vague memory) having one of these when I was growing up and I thought it would be the perfect thing to put beside the chair to hold my knitting. It didn't hurt, either, that it was 40% off the marked price. Lucky me.

Knitting

I finished my socks but I don't have a picture of them, yet. They fit beautifully and I am very pleased with them. If I had known how comfy they would be, maybe I'd have knit socks for myself sooner. Probably not, but maybe.

I have been doing some knitting the last few days. I'm making a scarf.

I've wanted to do something using the Farrow Rib pattern that I fell in love with way back during the ISE3. I've also had a yarn I've been hankering to knit with but no real need. The yarn is the lovely 50% camel hair 50% wool blend of Ksar from Bouton d'Or. The softness is indescribable. I've paused more than once while knitting on this scarf just to fondle the yarn. I've wanted to knit something from this yarn and I've considered all sorts of things - hat, mitts, etc. - but nothing seemed quite right, so I finally decided what the hell. I'm just going to knit a scarf, even if I don't currently need a scarf or know anyone who particularly needs a scarf. That's a knitter's prerogative, right?

Like Ripping Off a Band-Aid

I really have been crazy busy and that has kept me from post - or reading blogs, either, for that matter - but also, my absence from blogging can be partially attributed to that old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So I'll tell you this quickly, to get it over with, and then we can pretend I didn't say it.

I found out last week that I'm going to have to have more surgery on my ankle. Despite everyone's best efforts, it hasn't healed the way it should have. My doctor warned me last August before that first surgery that it may not fix my problem and I guess that's what has come to pass. So, more surgery, more months on crutches, more hassle, more everything. Bleck. I can't say I want to have surgery again but I won't deny that I am keen on the idea of it not hurting anymore (surprise, surprise). The prospective of having an ankle that is really and truly better makes it easier to swallow. At my heart, I am forever an optimist.

That being said, I'm working diligently at looking at the bright side and I'm asking your forgiveness in advance for the maudlin moments that are inevitably ahead. I've thought about just not blogging because I don't want to be a whiner and really, sometimes I don't have anything nice to say, but I've been reminded that the bloggers and the knitters are wonderful encouragers and supporters and so here we go again.

Knitters Make Great Friends

Speaking of fabulous knitter friends...I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine. This is Deb. Deb and I met at my LYS at Wednesday night knitting. Deb is a joiner and loves a knit-a-long, thus the name of her blog. It is one of the things I love about her - she always has some new wonderful something in the works. When I go a few weeks without attending the Wednesday night get together, I always come back to discover some fabulous new something on her needles. Welcome to Blogland, Deb!!

Ghosts are a Phallusy

Have ya'll seen the new MagKnits? Those little ghosts are so freaking precious. My affinity for felted creatures is certainly no secret so it should not come as a surprise to anyone that I'm knitting some ghosts. I've knitted two and nearly a third but I haven't felted them yet. Luckily, I'm well versed in the miracles of shaping after felting otherwise I might be a bit perturbed with these precious little specters. I'm counting on post-felting-shaping to bring these darlings to a G rating.

Reading Up

I really am a little behind on reading anything online which explains why I'm more then four years late reading Knitty articles. I recently read Kate Boyd's piece entitled Bildungsrowan and I think I love that reversible cable knit shawl from Lily Chin, via Vogue's American Knits. Have any of you ever seen this book or this knit in person? Seems a bit daunting but I love the softness and complexity of it. Another addition to the "one day" list.

All Caught Up

Now that I've prattled on and on, I'm going to try to get caught up on what all of you are doing. If you happen to be reading this and you were the winner of one of the prizes in my recent contest, I'd love to know that your prizes arrived safely. So far I have only heard from Colleen and Susanne.

Today's Quote:

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings." -Jane Austen