Kissed Knitter: October 2007

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post. I've been a busy person and could go on and on about what I've been doing and I think I will.

In July my husband and I took a very nice vacation with some long time friends. We visited Los Cabos, Mexico. We actually stayed in an all inclusive hotel located in San Juan Los Cabos. We had a great time lying by the pool, sipping cool drinks and relaxing. We would spend the mornings after breakfast at the pool, grab a snack around lunch and go out for dinner. By the time dinner was over we were ready to crash (yes, old fogies!) We would go to the beach or sit and listen to the bands that might be playing at the hotel. Needless to say, I gained a good 10 pounds before leaving Mexico. We had a great time. No knitting was done on vacation.

When we returned it was time to concentrate on getting my college Freshman (I'll call her Sweatpea)ready for college. She got a job after high school graduation and I really didn't get to see her much during the summer. I guess that's the way it's supposed to work....the gradual separation of the apron strings. Didn't like it much. She is now settled in her dorm and getting along pretty well. She's been home several times and it seems like there is never enough time to be with her or see much of her. Seems like the time is just too short. Anyhow, by the end of August kids were back in school. I miss having her around. I don't miss her scrapping with her sister. A little knitting was done. I knitted a few washcloths and a trinket bowl for her vanity stash.

My youngest daughter (Rainbow) entered high school as a freshman. She's been very busy taking after her older sister playing volleyball. We've been busy traveling on weekends to games, mostly out of town. She had a great season. She played on the Freshman and JV team. She got play briefly in one of the regional games with Varsity and lettered. She's a pretty good little player. Our Varsity is going to state this year and have a chance to get farther than any other team from previous years attempts. State games are this weekend. She won't be playing but she'll be there to cheer them on. Her Freshman team actually could have a chance at going to state by the time they reach Varsity play. I can't wait! Did I mention she's a left handed, jump serving setter? AI little knitting was done during the weekend treks out of town. I knitted the skinny scarf and began Teva Durham's mock cabled capelet. The yarn for that was purchased on a quick stop in a LYS on my way to one of the volleyball games in a nearby community. It was a lot cheaper than the yarn called for in the pattern, yet still expensive. I got two capelets out of it....more on that below.

The beginning of October was dry and hot! I was so looking forward to Fall, cool, crisp weather and colorful leaves. No such luck! It was HOT DON! I was invited to visit with my college roommate at her newly finished cabin located along Nolin Lake in Leitchfield, KY. It was actually about an hour and half drive to the location from my home. On a Friday afternoon, after work, I drove through the winding roads looking for colorful leaves through the late day sunshine. It looked as if it should have been a chilly day. But it wasn't. But it wasn't steaming either. I had packed my swimsuit because we were going to boat on the lake on Saturday. Guess what, it was a gorgeous, summer day! We had a great time, we slept late, packed a lunch and gear and took off on the gator to load the boat. One on the boat she showed me the area and then we anchored to sit and catch up on each other's life. It was such a nice day, and nice to visit with a long time friend. Being with her is always so comfortable for me. I hope it was for her too. Needless to say, no knitting was done.

Well, that's about all I've been up to. I have finished two capelets. I began the mock cables capelet but found the pattern had a few mistakes. The pattern had chart for the cable portion and it was my first time using a chart. It was daunting at first. But I had enough since to realize the chart was amiss. I wrote to get it clarified and did receive an edited pattern....but it still had a few mistakes so I made do with my novice abilities. Speaking of my novice abilities, I started that capelet using the beautiful Rowan yarn pictured above and frogged it about 6 or 7 times before finishing. My novice abilities hinders my mastering gauge. It fit, but a bit shorter than I had wanted it to be. I had enough yarn left (obviously I was supposed to double strand it but didn't) I made another with a real cable that I used in place of the chart for the mock cable and also lenghtened. I just could'nt fight that pattern again. It was a great pattern but it would've been a lot easier and more enjoyable to knit without the mistakes. Anyhow, the finished projects!