Sock Debut

The Rainbow Swirl Socks had their maiden voyage today. Although I started them last year, I only finished them last night. Not for lack of love. When Cynthia chose them for the Knitting Central Sock Club, I used the rest of the skein to make the large size, and leftovers to have the medium size test knit. Then I got paranoid and hung out to the large one for ages, just in case, and I only pulled it out a month or so ago. So for all that time I had a mismatched pair because one didn't fit me.
But now I have a full pair and happy feet.
I was working I-Cord on the train this morning. Boy, did that make me feel conspicuous. As though knitting on the train isn't conspicuous enough as it is, I kept having to raise it all up above my head to check the length. Instead of trying to remember a measurement or row count I'm just holding #2 up to #1. I'm about 2/3 done. yippee! Still, I don't think I'll make the goal of being able to take it to Las Vegas with me. Even if I can finish the I-Cord and get it felted this weekend, I think the deadline would put too much pressure on mom for the lining. And, really, I want her to be able to take her time and mess with it and be happy with the results, right?
Of course once the I-Cord is done, which will hopefully be soon, I'm not sure what I'll work on for my commuting project. (glee, I need a commuting project.) My Nell sweater is too big at this point (so that Vegas deadline was also missed). There are my poor neglected TipToe Socks, but weaving ends on the train doesn't sound like fun. I'm thinking it will have to be my Arrgyles. At this point on sock #1 I'm through the intarsia scull & cross bones, so it shouldn't be too complicated for the train. (actually, I should get hopping on weaving in those ends too.)
Or, actually, I should work on the bigger size of my Cat's Pajamas Socks. The only trick there will be managing to write down the numbers for the gusset decreases and the pattern on the side of the foot. Still I'll probably find a way to manage.

The Exciting Continuation of the Tale of the Fingerless Mitts

Ambrosia mitts finished
Originally uploaded by TravelingAnn

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I can't breath. Remember back in February when I sent the pattern and sample of my Top Down Fingerless Mitts for consideration for inclusion in a new pattern book?
Well—My pattern was accepted!!
Let's all take a minute to let that sink in. And do a happy dance.
I received the e-mail last night: We are just finalizing the contents list for our Luxury One-Skein book, and I’m pleased to tell you that we have selected your lovely gloves — thank you so much!
I had to read it twice to be sure, then I went flying into the bed room, did a full body dive onto the bed (severely startling the poor Husband) and told him the exciting news. Maybe I will build an empire after all...
What happened was the postcard acknowledging my submission said they would respond in "early spring" and I said to myself, early spring was a month ago. So I figured out what the editor's e-mail address would be and I sent her a polite little note inquiring. She sent back that exciting little e-mail, which also says letters of agreement will be going out soon.
I haven't seen the terms of agreement yet, but the original call for submissions said there might be a small monetary compensation (which is totally going to fund the Summer of Socks 08, now that I'm an accomplished train commuter I might get more socks knit than originally anticipated) and a copy of the book.
The book is from Storey Publishing (www.storey.com) and is the next in the series of "One Skien" books they've been doing. This one focuses on luxury yarns, so my mitts fit right in since Ambrosia is baby alpaca/cashmere/silk. Oh I can't wait to see it.
Anyway, it's all very exciting and I'm telling anyone who will stand still long enough to listen.
In other news, the monarch scarf Cynthia had me design based on my Cat's Pajama's Socks was on the counter at the store for about a week and apparently generated quite a bit of buzz. Which is also very flattering. I have given the information to The Guy in the Art Department do to the layout for me. It is now officially called the Eyelet and Feather Scarf.
And I finished my Rainbow Swirl Socks on the train this morning. (Ok, technically I still have to kitchener the toe shut, but the train was crowded and I had to put my book bag on the overhead rack so I couldn't get to my scissors/chibi.)
As for my adventures on public transportation, the only blemish on the ride home last night was when I realized I'd accidentally decreased 2 stitches and had to tink back 3 rows to find them. The ride this morning went a treat: I managed to stay on the train when I was supposed to, I found the semi-express after my transfer (it comes on the same track), and the little shuttle was right there waiting. I was in the office by 8:30, what more could a girl ask for?

It's All About Samson

Today, May 27, is Samson's 4th birthday. He is my first puppy ever, which means he is as spoiled as you would expect him to be when you hand an adorable fluffy creature to a stuffed animal loving girl and allow her to shower it with unbridled love and affection. (Ok, Hubby tried to bridle it a bit, but his "grew up with dogs" wisdom fell on mostly deaf ears and, honestly, he did some spoiling/affection showering too.)
[sadly, it would appear that all of Samson's puppy pictures were taken with a film camera and many of the scans I've made won't load to the blog. sigh. He was as adorable a puppy as you would expect such a handsome dog to be. So you'll just get grown up shots.]
For example, when Samson was a baby puppy and I would get insomnia we would go downstairs and share toast. Of course now I know that taking a bite of something and then handing a bite to your puppy is a bad idea because signals to the puppy that you are equals, but I didn't know that then. The end result being that he loves toast and has very little respect for me. :-) This also means he begs sometimes, but he's not a thief (well, aside from that sandwich incident the other week and the occasional stick of butter...). Really, you can leave a steak dinner on the coffee table and run back to the kitchen for a minute and he won't touch it. He might think about it, but he won't. Instead he'll stare at you until you acknowledge him then he'll glance at the food he wants then look back at you. It's very clever.
He is a pretty fearless puppy. When he was little we would bring him into the bed for cuddles (see, spoiled) and when it was time to get down he would just launch himself into the abyss expecting to land eventually. We also had many good giggles over watching him bounce off the side of the bed when he was too little to jump up himself. (oh, stop it he was fine.) And he will still sacrifice his body to catch the ball during a game of fetch. Crazy dog.
Samson is smart as a whip, which makes him kind of dangerous. If we put our minds to teaching him a trick/skill—especially if he realizes it will benefit him—he will learn it very quickly. For instance, when he was a puppy we knew he was house broken, the problem wasn't very vocal (and still isn't, happily) and so wasn't telling us when he needed to go out. I had the brilliant idea of hanging a jingle bell on the back door. I brought Samson over, rang the bell and opened the door. So it went and by the time I got home from work the next day, he had learned to ring the bell to go out. Much to hubby's exasperation. Hubby was home and Samson loves to be outside and since it was a new skill that had to be reinforced Hubby had to open the door every time Samson rang the bell, which was apparently very frequently.
He is an affectionate puppy, but not a snuggle bug like Baru. Samson is too squirmy. He prefers to sit in you lap and get in your face and nudge your hands, although he does usurp my lap when I'm knitting in the evenings sometimes. He also feels he has pillow rights in our bed. But unlike Baru, who puts his entire body on the pillow, Samson will stretch out next to you with just his head on the pillow. Very convenient for snuggles.
Although he is 4 he is still very puppyish and if you ever meet him you can expect to have 76 lbs of furry enthusiasm barrel into you, because he learned not to jump on the Alpha (ie Hubby) but we can't get him to extend the courtesy to other humans.
He likes to make up games with his ball. And he always goes and gets his squeaky booty after breakfast.
He has big brown eyes, and silky fur and his ears are like velvet. And he loves to be brushed. When he was a puppy, after a bath, I would put him on an ottoman and shove biscuits in his mouth while I brushed him. (Baru did not get this treatment. Samson likes being brushed so much he would bully poor Baru out of the way.)
Samson loves to go on car rides. Doesn't matter where, he just wants to feel the wind in his face. He always sticks his head out the window. Even if it is snowing, and then he'll come back in the car and give us a dirty look as though it is our fault it's too cold out and why don't we turn up the heat?
Finally, despite the fact he's a Golden Retriever, Samson is a good guard dog. He's got a big bark and isn't afraid to use it if someone is on his property.
Safe, warm and loved—what more could a girl ask for from the bestest puppy in the world?

Car, Train, Bus, Shoe

Mercy.
That was my commute this morning. High gas prices have made me flee to public transportation. I have long thought that public transportation was not an option because I live on one spur and work on another and never the twain shall meet. Turns out there is a shuttle bus to get from the train station to my office (I think that would qualify as the "last mile"). [well, technically the office across the street.]
Time wise, it is a little longer than driving (I have to leave the house much earlier, but get home around the same time, if a smidgen later). But cost wise, ah cost wise the ticket should pay for itself in two weeks (if I get the monthly pass).
And I'm concentrating on all the extra knitting time I'll have, since I'll be able to knit on the train rather than sitting in traffic. Which should also be good for stress levels, and I can always claim the warm fuzzies of a commute with a (hopefully) smaller carbon footprint. I can't claim I'll be getting more exercise since the shuttle stop is across the street and it took me about a minute to walk over. (If I was feeling ambitious I could get off at the next building down, which it at least a two block walk.)
But, boy howdy, this public transportation business wasn't as easy as you might think. I made the first train, which is key—if I miss the first train it's all over because it's the only practical train out of the itsy-bitsy station near my house. (I did a dry run on Friday and missed that train. But I was in the office by 8 am because there was no traffic since it was a holiday weekend.) However I didn't realize that the train made a stop before the station I wanted, so I got off(!), quickly realized my mistake and got back on. As though that wasn't embarrassing enough, the conductor noticed and asked if I had gotten off.
I think this might be a situation where looking 10 or so years younger than I actually am (no, really, people mistake me for a much younger person all the time) worked in my favor. People probably figured I was a befuddled college student wandering around, rather than a befuddled adult.
[And I just thought, do I really want to be putting this all on the internet? Well, let's see, I already told Boss Man, The Other Associate Editor, and The Deadline Setter. And I'm sure I'd tell my mom, if only for the motherly sympathy. And I e-mailed Hubby, so all the important people already know. And the blog title is "The Adventures of Traveling Ann" and if this doesn't count as a travel adventure, I don't know what does. At least at this point, next week I'll be an old hand at this public transportation nonsense—if I have the nerve to stick with it!]
So I made it to the station for my transfer—and instead of getting on the semi-express that gets into my final station at 8:06, I got on the local, which got in at 8:20ish. Obviously I have a lot to learn. Fortunately the little shuttle buses run until around 9 am, so there is flexibility on the way to the office. In the end I came tumbling in at 9 am, although my stress levels were probably about the same as on a normal driving day. In theory, if I get on the correct train, I'd be in around 8:30. At least the shuttle bus drivers were all nice.
On the way home, however, there is one train out of the station on this end that goes to the little station by my house. If I miss that I'll be stranded at one of the stations in between and will either have to call Hubby to rescue me, or try to figure out which public bus to take.
As you've seen how successfully I navigated in, you will not be surprised to hear I would call Hubby in a situation like that!
Of course this will make it a little difficult to get the Peace Lily back to the office. You won't catch me carrying a massive potted plant on the train. (look! it's the Long Island Ferry! I can see it from the train station waiting for my transfer.)

Still Knitting I-Cord

That title about says it all. I finished the first handle and I'm about a third of the way through the second one, based on the three color sections. I might actually have enough black for both handles, which would be very exciting.
I did throw the I-Cord over for a while this morning in favor of my Rainbow Swirl Socks. I turned the heel and am working down the foot. I just love heel turns, they seem so magical some how. And I like the lines that form on the side of the heel where you pick up for the gusset and the gusset decreases. It is all so orderly.
Some time was also spent tormenting the Peace Lily I keep at the office. When I bought it it was a bit bigger than I wanted, but I got it anyway because I had just read an article about how this is a good plant for filtering out impurities in indoor air. It's a bit too big to have on my desk, so I put it on top of my cube wall at an intersection. The entire office can see it and I think people have developed a secret affection for it as I've had reports of random people watering it when it wilts and people occasionally stop by to admire it. Well, it didn't do so well when I was off for the weekend when Charlene Schurch was in town. It was very wilted on Monday and did not rebound quickly after I watered it like it usually does. Extreme intervention was needed, so The Guy in the Art Department took it to his window and gave it sips of water during the day. (It took a bad turn when I was at the convention in Philly as well. That time it was moved to a filing cabinet in Boss Man's office. See, people love the Peace Lily.) The Art Department then had a consultation and decided that I really needed to transplant it to a bigger pot. Since it was another 3 day weekend, I brought it home Thursday. I've transplanted it, after trying to loosen the roots up, but I'm not sure the new pot is big enough.

Enough I-Cord to Hang Myself

The beastly bag has about exceeded my attention span.
I have abandoned the idea of the flap, despite all that work toward it. I got about 20 or 30 rows in and realized it just wasn't working for me. It wasn't coming out as I had envisioned it. (no pictures. Haven't taken pictures lately.)
So I had a consultation with Mom and she confirmed that not only would she be able to install a zipper when she made the lining, but it would be no problem at all. The whole goal of the flap was to have a secure closure, so a zipper will be fine. She said she was happy I was abandoning the flap as she had thought it would be too bulky, but she didn't say anything.
She then proceeded to talk me out of my idea of working the handle off the live stitches on one side and grafted to the live stitches on the other. I was starting to waver on that idea as well. When I made her a felted bag last year I used a Fiber Trends pattern, but she wanted the handles to be long enough to reach the bottom of the bag for extra support. She campaigned for that method. I didn't want the handles on the outside, obviously, since it would mess up the design (she sewed hers to the outside as a design element), but she was pretty sure she would be able to secure them inside and the cover it with the lining.
Which leaves me making miles of I-Cord. The handles in the Fiber Trends pattern were worked flat in a funky manner, but I can't find the pattern (I suspect mom has it as I sent it to her for the felting instructions. But then she ended up felting at my house when she was puppy sitting once).
So far I've worked about 50 inches of I-Cord, which is probably going to be about half of one side. I did 24 inches for down the side and 30 inches to span the top and then I'll have to do another 24 inches for the other side. Of course I have to make two. ugh. Since running out of green is still a risk, I've done the parts that will be inside in black and the handle bit you'll see in green. Actually, I'm not sure I'll have enough black even(!) so I might have to do the second handle in white and green. Of course I keep reading stuff that says lighter colors, especially white, often don't felt as well as other colors. (I think it has something to do with the bleaching process stripping off the little scales which are the whole reason things felt. But I'm not sure that I ever heard that or I'm just jumping to that conclusion on my own.) This leads to worries that the handles won't be even, so I'm actually toying with the idea of working each handle in both black and white so they are messes up the same. :-)
For now, I'm tired of working I-Cord and I put it aside to work on the heel flap of my Rainbow Swirl Sock. Despite all the fun stuff I learned last weekend, I'm doing my normal stockinette stitch flap with slipped edges. After all, I want the socks to match.