Coffee Swap Topic #2 and My So Called Charity

With Halloween coming up this Friday, tell us what you think of when you think Halloween! Do you love it? Hate it? See it as a sign of Fall? Are you a total sucker for candy and little kids in cute costumes?

I like Halloween, I guess. I've never been a fan of scaring myself, though I do dress up when required, and I love to see the cute little costumed kids toddling around.
I love carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds and all of the bite size candy everywhere. Though, I'll take anything apple oriented over a pumpkin any day :)


Above is a My So Called Scarf in progress. Below is the same pattern in different yarn, finished. I had started it in January and apparently lost interest, so I finished it up. Above is a bad picture of a charity work-in-progress. I just couldn't be bothered to find another pattern and needle size to start something different. Plus the pattern is fun to knit, and my needles were upstairs...I've been a bit reluctant to take on stairs more than I have to lately.

The doctor thinks my injury could require up to months of physical therapy, if not surgery. But I won't know until I get an MRI in mid-November. I'm getting the distinct feeling that I'm going to have a lot more time for knitting for the winter. Luckily, I have quite a bit of craft store yarn from before I turned into a yarn snob just dying to be made into something and given away. I feel a little guilty, making people things out of ugly acrylics....but they are machine washable, and an acrylic scarf or hat is better than no scarf or hat at all.
I'm trying not to be too upset about not being able to run or play soccer or doing yoga or bike or hike or maybe not even ski this season. Just two weeks ago I was running through fallen leaves on the bike path next to Lake Champlain at sunrise.....and now I'm tossing and turning in bed because my knee area aches and there is no comfortable position to sleep in. It seems not the fairest in trade offs. But now I have plenty of time to knit and catch up on my reading and wine drinking. Right?

Yup, Another Injury

I was playing soccer on Wednesday night, like I always do. I am a klutz, so some sort of bruise or injury to myself is expected. The decade of ballet lessons make my tumbles and rolls graceful.

*snort*

This session I've had the usual plethora of bruises plus the cankle. No big deal. But, you know, I thought the cankle would have been the big injury for the session. Not as bad as the night I got hit in the nose Martha Brady style a mere four days before my wedding, but enough pain that I didn't see the injury coming. So I'm running and kicking and carrying and the team we're playing is good and they're running us around a bit. I think that I'm going to have to take the aggression up a notch to compete. So I'm on this guy in red shorts and I'm playing defense and he, as most are most guys, taller, faster, stronger. But this does not dissuade me. I will take the soccer ball from red shorts. I will not be intimidated by his size, speed, strength.

I kick the ball from red shorts.

But not far enough.

We're both trying to gain control of the ball. Red shorts gets the ball, and I throw my leg through the space between his to kick it away. Red shorts leans, and twists to keep the ball, twisting my leg with his momentum and...

*POP*

And a girly scream that most certainly could not have come from me erupts into the air as I collapse in pain.

It is so dramatically embarrassing that the ref immediately pauses the game as everyone crowds are me.

They thought I'd torn my ACL. They thought I'd torn my MCL. They think it's somewhere in my knee. It's not. I told them, but the ref did all sorts of pulling and pushing in all the spots that are supposed to be correlated to the MCL and ACL to no pain from me. It's suspiciously close to my knee, but on the outside; a tendon or ligament that is affected when you twist or torque your leg or ankle. The same one that I have previously had tendonitos in when doing marathon training.

Le sigh.

That's all I know for now.
I can walk with a limp for now. I can't bend tighter thatn 90 degrees and I can't lock my knee. I'm giving it a few days, as with all things medical to resolve it before I see a doctor. Tendons are tough, because they don't have very good bloodflow, and tend to take longer to heal than muscles.

No hiking for me this weekend.

Juno Blocked

This was actually blocked and ready to go for the wedding I had been making it for. And it was more than chilly enough to wear it. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of me wearing it, or how nice it looked once the pins were removed. Because this was my first experience blocking, I had no concept of the time commitment to placing all those pins. I was amazed by the difference from before blocking and after. Blocking makes it look like I knit so much more evenly than I actually do. Afterwards the shawl was straight and flat and gorgeous. That's a lot of pins. I knew that you could use wire (not that I own blocking wires), and I've heard some rumors of string being used to block but I was to lazy/impatient to deal with the idea of threading the wire every couple of stitches.

I'd just put a pin every couple inches..... but as you can see, that didn't really happen. I used all but 11 pins. I don't know how many were in there, but it was definitely hundreds.
As an aside, I know how "kankle" is really spelt "cankle". Somehow I typed it with a "k" and it just looked so right to me. Has that ever happened to you? Anywho, it turns out that it isn't actually a real word yet (Doh!) so spell check had no chance to correct me. And to anyone who read the comments of that post, the anonymous commenter is actually my co-worker . Not some random mean person. But thanks for the support :)

Amazing Autumn Coffee Swap Questionaire

Registration closes this friday!
http://coffeenyarnswap.blogspot.com/

Amazing Autumn Coffee Swap Questionnaire

About Your Yarn Passion
1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both? When did you first learn? I've been knitting for a few years. Learning to crochet is on the list of things to learn.

2. Do you like using a particular type of needle or hook? (wood, metal, straight, circular) Is there something you've been wanting to try, or a particular size you always seem to be short on? I really like wooden straight needles, especially if the wood is pretty. I use a lot of circular needles because I have an interchangeable set, but it's more for convenience of the stitches not slipping off and, you know, having the correct size available then anything. I'm always short on the smaller gauge dpns.

3. What kind of projects do you enjoy making? Any types you just haven't ever gotten into as much as others? I really like anything lacy or colorwork, though they always take so long. I don't really do anything big like sweaters or coats because I don't think I would ever finish.

4. What's on your needles\hook right now? What's your oldest UFO (unfinished object)? Hmm, my abandoned Endpaper Mitts, which I'm planning on fixing this winter, and my oldest UFO, which is a dishtowel based on this pattern: http://kelleysyarns.blogspot.com/2007/05/elvish-leaves-dishcloth.html

5. If you were going on vacation tomorrow, what project(s) would travel with you?
I would bring sock yarn and start tackling a sock...if I was feeling brave.

6. What are your favorite types of yarns? Any you're allergic too, or just hate working with? Anything in particular you've been dying to try? I love love love anything soft: alpaca, merino, cashmere, angora. I'm not allergic to anything, but I don't really like working with acrylic.

7. What sort of colors do you love in yarns? Brights? Pastels? More muted colors? Variegated? Are there any you can't stand? I like bold colors and pastels. I don't really any colors that combine yellow, orange, green, and brown. By themselves, they're nice but together, kind of pukey and unhappy looking.

Your Coffee Passion
1. Do you prefer caffeinated or not? Caffeine is my lifeblood.

2. Whole bean or ground? For what type of pot or press? I like whole beans, because they keep longer. I have just your average drip coffee maker, but I love the occasions when I get coffee from a press.

3. What types of roasts do you enjoy? Are you more the light and lively or dark and robust type? I like dark and robust and flavourful, but not flavored.

4. How do you 'take' your coffee? Creamers? Sweetener? Other add ins? I take my coffee with a bit of sugar in the raw and a bit of half and half.

5. That first morning cup - is it about the taste, or the caffeine? If it's a workday, it's about caffeine :)

6. Do you enjoy going out to coffee shops like Starbucks? What are some of your favorites?
I don't usually do Starbucks, I usually do the local coffee places, I like ones that roast their own beans.

7. You've just made the perfect cup of coffee - is it in a thick mug, or a thinner cup? Where would you sit to drink it? It's in a thick pottery mug. I'd sit outside and drink it on a lazy weekend morning.

8. You're enjoying that perfect cup, and have a magic cabinet in your kitchen - when you open it, magically, your favorite treats will appear to enjoy alongside the coffee - what are they? Are they sweet? Crunchy? Soft and flaky? They can be crunchy, flaky, or soft, but they will definitely be either chocolate or carmel or almond flavored. Like a brownie or almond biscotti.

All about YOU!
1. Do you have other hobbies like spinning or scrapbooking? I own a really easy to use wheel and a box of lovely fiber to spin...covered by a months worth of accumulated stuff. I also run, ride ponies when I can find people to let me ride them for free/cheap, play soccer, am learning to throw pottery, do yoga, ski, garden and I like to cook and bake too. It's no wonder my spinning is so infrequent....

2. Do you collect anything? I briefly starting collecting Breyer horses for a time, but now i am happily collection free. My yarn and fiber stash doesn't count, right?

3. What is your favorite part of Autumn? The first day of foliage where it's cold enough to wear a sweatshirt and go apple picking and drink hot cider.

4. What sort of scents do you enjoy? Any difference in what you like for your house versus what you like for your body? I really like scents that smell fresh and clean, like herbal scents and lavender and citrus, for anywhere. I like fruity smells for candles.

5. Are you allergic to anything? Ummm, allergic to myself, no big deal.

6. Are you on Ravelry? What's your ID? Yup: mcloutie

7. How would you spend an ideal fall afternoon/day? Picking apples/walking or running or trail riding through fallen leaves/eating anything apple related.

The end is in sight

These pictures are actually from last week, but the husband is all hogging the computer with his schoolwork. Someday we will have a laptop and we can both hog the computer and it'll be great.

It'll be super exciting in a few days when my shawl is blocked and finished and it'll be like I'm posting and knitting at a normal speed. Which is, of course, assuming the husband isn't hogging the computer again. In non-knitting news, it's been a week since I played soccer and kept covering "ankle kicker guy." One week later, and I still have a kankle.
Isn't "kankle" a great word? Unfortunately connotation, especially since that's usually more a genetic predisposition towards ankle bone size, but still great.

Since I'm at the end, I've been scoping out new patterns for the next project. I'm going to try very hard to convince someone I know to have a baby so i can knit them this: http://www.purlbee.com/snuggle-sack/2008/10/8/whits-knits-snuggle-sack-and-bonus-hat.html?lastPage=true&postSubmitted=true

Is that not the cutest thing ever?

One Year

It's been one year since this picture was taken.

Time flies.

36 inches...

I am still in recovery from last weekend. There was no knitting. There was a bridal shower Saturday morning in western VT, followed by a looong drive down to Newport for a bacherlorette party (different bride). By the way, the foliage in NH is looking gorgeous...

Saturday night consisted of alcohol induced bachelorette style craziness, as expected. But we didn't end the weekend there.

Sunday we went to a wine and cheese tasting being held at one of the Newport Mansions. Gorgeous venue right along the cliff walk but unfortunately it was held outdoors, and it had been pouring rain on and off all weekend. The walkways oozed mud. There were a few times that I took a step and sank in up to my ankle. Luckily, we were drinking excellent wine.
So...I'm at 36 inches on my shawl. I'm hoping to hit 42 this weekend.