Rambling On

Oh hai. I've been traveling too much, knitting (and canning and blogging) too little. Some of the travel has been very pleasant, some less so. Here's some of the pleasant.



Ahh.

Too little knitting is not no knitting, of course. Here's a Pumpkin Sock interposing itself in the sculpture When Anthony Met Stanton by Ted Aub, that depicts Amelia Bloomer (you can barely see her loose trousers, known as bloomers) introducing Susan B. Anthony of Rochester to Elizabeth Cady Stanton of Seneca Falls. The statues are life-sized – it's a bit of a surprise how tiny such looming figures were. And surely gentle readers all know what happened in Seneca Falls, New York, the 1848 Women's Rights Convention, re-enacted annually in July. Something to consider if you're in the Finger Lakes region. (I can't believe I'm nattering on about travel, when I've been traveling too much as it is.)



Next year marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or (white) women's suffrage. Much ink has been shed about the racism baked into the women's rights movement, and the differences and intersections between race and gender. I have some thoughts on such matters, of course, but right now I'm going to rest (not quit) and ramble on.

Trolls Ascendant

What a strange and terrible week it's been, so dominated by the spectacle of corrupt and spineless politics in Washington, Big Lies, and crackpot threats of violence. In an odd way it reminded me of the scene on a beach while a hurricane is going by: the warning flags are up, the water is churning with tremendous force, and yet some people are surfing. Perhaps some of the same principles of responsibility and self-care may apply.



When trolls are ascendant, one is left to concoct one's own sunshine amid the sturm und drang. A third way, if you will: not reacting to them, not pretending they aren't there, but a form of resistance (admittedly privileged) to their coarsened public discourse. So I've been doing some cauldron work, and am rather pleased with the results. There's more tomato jam to add to the Great Wall of Tomato Jam, this time using yellow and (more) orange tomatoes. It's Marissa's recipe again, with 20% less sugar, white vinegar substituted for cider vinegar, and ground jalapeño subbed for smoked paprika and cayenne. I'm ridiculously happy at how the colors have held during cooking and processing.



Ah, the colors. I could look at this all day. Flavor and yield are good, too. Tomato jam is often paired with cheese, but I like it best with eggs.



Meanwhile, the Diana Prince sock progresses, while as anticipated the shrug is Overtaken By Events. Ah well, maybe now more than ever a bit of Amazon fortitude and some fancy needlework is needed. Pew! Pew!



After an absence to several years, I'm planning to go to Rhinebeck this year. I've been before, but for the first time I'm planning to stay overnight. I'm thrilled to bits, even though I'm still so busy that I'm not going to attempt to knit a sweater. But... er... well, maybe a hat.... To be continued

Away Again

And just like that, summer turns to fall. Not that you could tell by my schedule. For me it's another long flight, another cast on. This one is Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) socks by Becky Greene. I'd admired the pattern before, almost exactly one year ago, and unwisely cast on in an overly busy yarn. One year older and wiser, I'm going with a more subtle variegation, Zitron Trekking XXL colorway 77.



That's better, sockwise. Travelwise, this trip proved rather eventful. More when I'm back in terra Jersey.

It's Good to Have Knitting During Airport Hell

So. The travel plan for this week ran smack into airport hell, complete with weather, power outages, tarmac captivity, flight cancellations, and screaming people unwisely threatening airlines staff and inevitably being questioned by police. All I can say is it's good to have knitting during airport hell, even while or perhaps especially while keeping a cautious eye on extremely agitated people.



My CO is Geology Socks by verybusymonkey, a late CO for July Sockdown, lace challenge. Alas, no Princess X for me, at least not this time.

Although I finally staggered home, my checked luggage would seem to be off having rather extensive adventures without me. I thought in this security-conscious age that was not possible. Somewhat disturbingly, after providing full information on the tags on the luggage and its exterior appearance, I was asked to describe its contents. Erm. I hope I see everything again soon. Meanwhile, just keep knitting, just keep knitting....

Gone

At casa Jersey Knitter there's been yet another difficult period of time spent traveling too much, being away too much, and generally being gone. I'm exhausted.

Although I'm still minimally crafting, just small projects. With all the to-ing and fro-ing I've been doing the key pouch I was using began crumbling. To prevent my keys from abrading the lining of my purse, I keep them in a pouch so they can abrade that instead. Apparently it was working.



So I crocheted a new one during a plane ride, I forget which one. It helped pass the time productively. Not to mention the old one was plastic (boo!) and the new one is cotton (yay!). There's no pattern, and I've not posted it to Ravelry, even though it's the first FO of 2016.



On another plane ride I was surprised to be served a free snack and even more surprised that it was a tasty stroopwafel.



I can't remember the last time I had a tasty free snack on a plane. I suppose given the airlines aren't reducing fares and fees despite the markedly lower cost of fuel they can well afford to throw passengers a tidbit now and again... which tidbit this passenger promptly nibbled until it was all gone.

Airplane Knitting

Been on airplanes, knitting Owl Sock's by Coral Bale using Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox for September Sockdown. Those are amethysts (sorta) that are their eyes.



It's a fun pattern, lovely yarn, although may I say that greengrocer's apostrophe makes me cringe. Can't help it. More in a bit.

Piries, Not Peeries

I'm travelling at the moment. As a result, I missed the conclusion of the Tour de Fleece and also blogging time is scarce. There are compensations, though. Here's my current view.



Which occasionally is obstructed.



It may be a little hard to tell from these photos, but ordinarily the view would not be quite so misty – the normally placid South Shore surf was unusually rough for July. Inexperienced beach-goers on sheltered beaches were knocked down, and even experienced swimmers got into trouble in the rougher spots. The old adage is so true: Never turn your back on the sea.

Meanwhile, my landlady keeps giving me mangoes. Perhaps appropriate for a knitter, they're golden Pirie mangoes rather than the more usual purple-green-skinned Haden mangoes.



Although I'm working on yet another pair of socks, alas, I have no Peeries to show off. That will have to wait until I get back to Casa Jersey Knitter.

Peak Bloom DC

Last week while I was attending to busyness in Washington the Tidal Basin cherry blossoms popped, literally. On Wednesday there were twigs with a faint pinky haze. On Sunday it was peak bloom. Just like that. I wish I had had the time to take the guided nighttime Lantern Walk around the Tidal Basin. I'm told in rare, magical years like this one you can see the flowers unfurl in the course of a half-hour. I also wish I had time to do this:



Erm, no, I don't mean ignore natural beauty to send a text message, I mean rent a Tidal Basin Paddle Boat and paddle around the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season. At least I was able to walk around the Tidal Basin on Sunday. Along the way the FDR Memorial provided a nice reminder about the privileges of ableism. The statue of the four-term president looked a bit lonely...



... so I had DH place my current sock, Longing for Spring by Caoua Coffee, on his shoulder. A little pink sock makes 'most anything better. This is the Round 3 pattern for Sock Madness. Having been eliminated (and also traveling), I was going to take a break, but how could anyone resist such an adorable toe-up pattern? Not I!



Although waving the freak sock flag caused another photographer to blare, "Get away from the statue so I can take my picture!" I'm inclined to tell jerks to wait their turn, but DH prefers to let karma do its work, so he stepped away, she snapped her pic and flounced, and we laughed and resumed having a good time. Seriously, there were so many lovely shots to be had, why fuss over one with bad light?



Yes, I really must try to do this someday. Meanwhile, I'm keeping an eye on the Branch Brook Park cherry blossom cam. Stay tuned for Peak Bloom NJ!

Lag and Jetlag

Once again I'm behind in my blogging. Not to mention today is Spring Forward Day in the U.S. Gentle readers, please to forgive my greater than usual lack of enthusiasm for this tortuous custom. Having taken the red eye from LA, my eyes are duly red and I have no idea what time it is. One manifestation of my chronological confusion: on the plane I spent an inordinate amount of time puzzling over what marketing genius named this snack box "sonp" and what deep import that might have. What is sonp?



Of course, I was looking at it upside-down. The snack is a pairing of chips and salsa – "duos" not "sonp" or "soup" or whatever else my poor fuzzy brain was trying to conceptualize. At least I was alert enough to refuse ice with my beverage.

While away I started a sock. Then the Sock Madness 9 warm-up started, so I abandoned it started the first warm-up pattern, The Stroop Stroop Socks by Ros Clarke, then abandoned it too started the Round 1 qualifying pattern, Alohomora by Malena Anderson. (Doesn't everyone travel with yarn and needles sufficient for three projects?) Here's the Alohomora singleton.



My poor fuzzy brain neglected to notice that the dread mods request a photo with markers on the sock indicating the pattern repeats to prove the sock was knit per the pattern (five blocks on the leg, six blocks on the foot). My sock was indeed knit to specs, and I'll provide photographic evidence... after I take a nice long nap.

ETA: Nap accomplished, here's the sock marked to show there are the regulation five blocks on the leg, six blocks on the foot, and a star toe. There's a giant image here.



As my Frankenfeet are not shaped like sharpened pencils that taper evenly to a point, but rather are pretty much wedge-shaped, a star toe is quite uncomfortable for me. I left a long tail in anticipation of tinking the star toe and re-knitting a wedge toe after the dread mods verify my sock status. I'd like to be able to finish the second sock in time to qualify for competition this year, which hasn't happened since 2010. Alas, lately that's not been entirely up to me. Should it be, patterns only status would be far more than OK – I'm grateful for the annual Madness.

Spoiled

The season has turned to nightly frost warnings, so I picked what was left in the vegetable patch. This year it was sorely tried. When I wasn't paying attention marauding deer ate most plants down to foot-high stems, then rabbits and squirrels devoured any new leaves and fruit. The eggplants were particular targets. Their leaves are hairy and I've read toxic to rabbits, but the cottontails don't seem to know that. Even the onion tops were cropped to the quick. I put up a garden fence which the big creatures knocked down and the little creatures chewed clean through. I've never seen the like. It's a marvel there was anything left for us. So what I just brought in may not be the most impressive last harvest ever, but it's not bad under the circumstances.



Speaking of marauders, while I wasn't paying attention DH got cold, helped himself to the accumulating pile of watch caps meant for the mitten tree, got squawked at, promised to wash them and put them back, and somehow managed to felt them. Plus he complained they're itchy. Sigh. Too bad, he's keeping them now.

Then, as we drove along Route 1, there was a sign. Literally.



Of course we stopped. Not least because if DH was raiding the charity bin, clearly, he needs a new knit cap of his own. The cobbler's children and all that. He picked the color and I insisted on the yarn, lovely Swans Island Organic Washable Aran. An evening's worth of very enjoyable knitting latter, DH had a hat knit to his specs. The good stuff always knits up quickly.



DH is happy with his new hat, but when I went back to knitting yarn ordinaire, it seemed itchy. Alas, I'm spoiled.

Post Factum: August

While others were off frolicking at Rhinebeck this weekend, I spent my time catching up!



In August, I made an unplanned visit to Hawai'i. It was a very stressful time, not least because while I was there Hurricane Iselle and Hurricane Julio roared by the islands only a few days apart. It wasn't a pleasure trip for me, so the rough weather merely added to the stress and didn't spoil my trip, but I felt bad for vacationers who rushed to the airport in advance of the storms to try to book flights home. (Among other inconveniences, the beaches were all closed, so my Hanauma Bay singleton couldn't visit Hanauma Bay. It posed with the newspaper instead, which was not very satisfactory at all.)



In Hawai'i, full emergency preparations means rushing out and stocking up on necessities like Spam, bottled water, batteries, prescription medication, toilet paper, and gasoline. The stores were stripped! But... notice that preposition. The hurricanes roared by. Except for a rural section on the Big Island of Hawai'i that sustained some heavy damage (and now is threatened by lava), everyone else was fine. Apparently the five tall summits on the Big Island sheared off the bottom of the first storm, causing it to become disorganized, and the second storm missed the islands altogether. It rained a bit more than usual. After days of urgent exhortations to prepare, the anti-climax led to a proliferation of memes mocking a local weatherman, Guy Hagi.

There's new Guy Hagi memes now that Hurricane Ana was another near-miss. It's been an exceptionally busy hurricane season in the Pacific; by contrast, after starting with a bang, the Atlantic season has been relatively quiet. Thankfully so!

Also in August, DH and I went to the U.S. Open. It was perhaps the nicest weather and the most interesting tennis I've ever been privileged to experience. We made a point of watching Caroline Wozniacki again.



Wozniacki has been having a tumultuous year off the courts, so it was great to see her playing so well – winning this match against Andrea Petkovic, and going on to upset Maria Sharapova, to defeat Sara Errani, and advancing to the final when Peng Shuai collapsed. In the final she lost to Serena Williams. Next month she's running in the NYC Marathon to raise money for Team for Kids. Some experts say tennis players shouldn't do marathons, it messes up their primary conditioning or somesuch. However that may be, I'm looking forward to seeing Wozniacki run.

Sesqui- Socks and Centennials

This summer is turning out to be almost as harried as last summer... almost. There's a bit more space and grace to take the time to take note of time, and milestones, and that's something. So let me note that one-and-a-half months of summer have gone by. Gentle readers with a flair for Latin will know the root sesqui- means one-and-a-half – a concept so useful, it has a name. Appropriately, I have one-and-a-half socks to show off: the Bricks and Tiles socks I started last spring for Sock Madness 7 but never completed. The red yarn marks the pattern's very interesting variation on an afterthought heel.



One milestone of note is we're currently in the midst of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War (1861-65). There have been and will continue to be many observances, particularly around various battles and civil rights advances. Earlier I was too preoccupied, but more recently I've been keeping DH company on visits to some of the numerous national parks that preserve old battlefields large and small.

Last weekend we went on a walking tour featuring the smallest national park I've ever visited, Fort Stevens, part of the Civil War defenses of Washington, DC and the namesake for the Battle of Fort Stevens, July 11-12, 1864, which President Lincoln observed. The smallest national cemetery I've ever seen, Battleground National Cemetery, was also part of the tour. Park Ranger Mike gave an excellent, informative talk and encouraged questions. Thank you, Ranger Mike!

It's astonishing to think of Washington as a heavily fortified city, completely ringed by forts and artillery batteries built largely by escaped slaves (.pdf map). Until the abolition of slavery in 1865, enslaved African Americans were considered property in much of the U.S., including the District of Columbia, and runaways were considered contraband. The contraband camps that formed around the forts during their construction and that persisted after became some of the first black neighborhoods of the city. This heritage is historically significant yet severely under-documented. To remedy that, the National Parks Service is seeking African Americans with ties to these neighborhoods to record their stories. Not to mention it would be nice to see more diversity in Ranger Mike's audience.



History tells us it was hot and humid 150 years ago, and so it was when we took the walking tour. I was very grateful I was wearing light clothing and sunscreen (but I forgot my hat), carrying little, and had access to shade and chilled water provided by the NPS and was not wearing a wool uniform and carrying a 60-pound (27 kg) military pack and a 10-pound (4.5 kg) musket, with orders to charge the abatis surrounding the fort. History further tells us that when some Confederate soldiers looted the Silver Spring mansion of Montgomery Blair (a member of President Lincoln's cabinet and one of the lawyers who unsuccessfully represented Dred Scott), they so enjoyed the barrels of fine whisky they discovered in the basement that the next morning they were unable to make an early start. Had they done so, this is part of what they would have seen: tall earthworks crowned by battlements and 30-pound Parrott cannons commanding the high ground, with neighboring forts providing interlocking fields of fire. Imagining it all gave me a little shiver.



The anniversary events drew modest crowds of tourists and re-enactors, including some Confederate re-enactors who became upset the Parks Service wouldn't let them in the park with their historic battle flags, which are banned because of their equally historic use by hate groups. The would-be Rebels sorta complied – they stood on the public sidewalk with flags half-furled and yelled rude things at passersby. I declined to take their pictures.



DH was surprised and very pleased by the outing. He's visited a fair number of old battlefields, some famous, some obscure, some hard to find. Even though less than half of the little fort is standing, DH pronounced the remnants among the best-preserved Civil War era earthen battlements he's ever seen. The location, inside the District, is easily reached. There is free street parking, but no amenities at the site; however, the park is in the urban residential neighborhood of Brightwood, which has all the conveniences. The ground is uneven and sloping, sensible shoes are helpful. There are no barriers to wheelchairs, but no improvements for them either. Those who miss a guided tour can easily follow the well-marked signs for a self-guided tour. I'd say for those with the time and inclination, it's worth a visit, but for those making the whirlwind tour of major monuments and museums in Washington, it's easily skipped.

Chicago Weekend

Earlier in the month I finished a Sock of Shame, but rather than take advantage of the long holiday weekend to do some catch up blogging, instead DH and I scampered off to Chicago via the Lake Shore Limited. It meant a lot of knitting time, especially when the engine broke down moments after departing NY Penn Station. Delays have an unfortunate way of becoming cumulative; our train ended up arriving five hours late. Objectively, it was no worse than a comparable airport delay, but I've noticed somehow on a train the entitled folk bitch more. All I have to say is I'm glad I had my knitting. Outbound it looked like this.



In Chicago we made our usual edible pilgrimage, searching out delicacies like Chicago-style deep dish pizza and Chicago hotdogs. In the old Swedish neighborhood, Andersonville, we were surprised to see the landmark water tower sitting in the parking lot of the Swedish American Museum, a casualty of the hard winter. (There are fundraising efforts to get it repaired and back on the roof.)



On the spur of the moment I decided to Bike the Drive with a nephew. Once a year mighty Lake Shore Drive is closed to cars and open to bicycles for its entire length, from Bryn Mawr to the Museum of Science & Industry – the opportunity seemed too good to miss. Neither of us had bikes, so we rented the Chicago version of bike share bikes, or Divvy bikes. Chicago bike share started last year and has been quite successful, yet it seemed strangely new to many participants. Everywhere we went I heard other riders exclaim, "Ooh! Divvies!" A couple of people asked if they were hard to ride. Uh, no. (Why would rental bikes be hard to ride?) It was fun.



Indeed, I was so encouraged by the experience that I participated in my first Kickstarter project, a Po Campo bike bag designed for the open-sided baskets on bike share bikes. I can see making many more trips on bike share bikes in the future. As of this writing there are bike share programs in Austin, Boston, Boulder, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Des Moines, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Madison, Minneapolis, Nashville, NYC, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Washington, DC in the U.S. and also in London, Melbourne, Montreal, Ottawa, Santiago, and Toronto. Biking is a great way to see a city.



All too soon it was time to return. DH and I boarded the train and I knit some more. I've really enjoyed knitting these modified Camino de Santiago socks by Nicki Miller. I almost finished the singleton, except for grafting the toe as I didn't bring a tapestry needle.



And wonder of wonders, this time the Lake Shore Limited arrived on time. It was a sweet end to a sweet weekend.

Tensions

Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.
-- Elizabeth Zimmermann
Despite the blog post drought, I have indeed been knitting on, and now I'm catching up.

This month I started knitting along with Sock Madness, with high hopes of doing better than last year and placing on a team. Then a trip to Washington intervened. There was plenty of time during actual travel on Amtrak to knit, not so much in between. So although my Round 1 socks, the wonderfully whimsical Brucie by Amy Rapp, made significant progress while getting there...



... and while coming back...



... the net result was I qualified for patterns, but not for competition. Ah well. I posted the requisite singleton photo and knit on. Sorry about the blinding glare from my winter pale (and hairy) leg. Notice anything else glaring about it?



Somehow the singleton photo got flipped. I'm knitting with Trekking yarn, not Gnikkert. Sigh. I thought about un-flipping it, but decided against and knit on with confidence etc.

The trip included a setback, but overall was about as positive as could be hoped, which meant I could relax a bit. I did, but there were consequences: my row gauge for Brucie 1 and Brucie 2 is different. In the Shark section, Brucie 1 has eight sets of fins and Brucie 2 has seven.



Sigh. It's been a year of making decisions, most more grave than this. I decided to match the socks in length rather than in sets of fins, and knit on with confidence etc.

Snapshots

I'm back. Along with the usual backlog of stuff to deal with, other oddities have accumulated. For example, parts of the blog have been misbehaving. So annoying, will try to fix. Then there's the mess in Washington, more on this in a bit. That situation has me feeling rant-y, so if gentle readers prefer to avoid un-pleasantries, read down to the birdie, then skip to the (nonviolent) sock.

While I was away I acquired a new digicam, a Nikon, pictured with my old digicam, a Canon. It's 12 years and several generations more advanced, with faster electronics, more megapixels, and more zoom, all of which are very nice. I've never had strong feelings about Nikon versus Canon, but I can see why some people do. (Obviously, I fail at rampant consumerism.)

Wait, if both digicams are in the photo, what's taking the picture???

One review indicates the new digicam excels at photos of birds and buildings in bright light. That would seem to be true. Here's a pic of a kolea, or Pacific golden plover. Gotta love the zoom. The bird is supposed to be a shorebird, but I've never seen any at the beach, only on lawns and driveways.



And here's a pic of the entrance to the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites (it says so on the blue sign in the middle distance), including the USS Arizona Memorial, which was closed due to the federal government shutdown. The last time the memorial was closed was because of terrorism. I can't begin to express how angry the Republican-manufactured fiscal crisis makes me. (Or, as Jon Stewart says to Republicans who pretend innocence, "Own it. Don't fart and point at the dog.") It's estimated the shutdown, which started October 1, costs USD $160 million per day, so the cumulative total is almost USD $2 billion as of today.



This Halloween there is nothing scarier than the prospect of continued Republican ignorance, intransigence, and complacency as the U.S. slides closer to default, a separate crisis from the shutdown. The first effects are already happening; the big shocks will start next week in anticipation of Default Day, October 17, and will worsen as the month goes on. What could happen if there's a default? I earnestly pray we don't find out. Thus endeth the rant.



Back to the digicam and Actual Knitting Content: In less than bright light, the new digicam tends to take pix that are very blue, as my sock in progress (the background is white, but looks blue). With all its fancy electronics, the camera oughta be able to compensate, but I haven't read that far in the manual yet.

Whilst I read the manual, head over to Heather's blog and sign up for her SHAWLoween Mystery KAL. I'm too much of a control freak to enjoy mystery KALs, but I'd never spoil others' fun – it looks to be a good one!

Unglued

It's been quite a week for terrible news. At some point one tends to become a bit unhinged if one remains glued to the TV and other media, so I unplugged and did other things.



Earlier in the week I was in Washington. As the twigs pictured with the Jefferson Memorial indicate, peak bloom of the Tidal Basin cherry trees was last week, but it was still nice to stroll around. At one point beavers (of all the unlikely things) were chewing down the famed trees, which is what beavers do, and somehow that translated into signs admonishing two-legged pests against damaging trees by picking flowers or climbing in them. I suppose it makes sense to someone.



Not that they have much effect. The brown sign reads, "Please do not climb or sit in this tree."



Meanwhile, for reasons that escape me, Llama Llama Duck has little twist stitch cables that are set off by purl stitches on the leg but not on the instep. Perhaps it makes sense to someone, but for me the charm of the little cable is lost on a stockinette ground. See what I mean? I followed the pattern as long as I could stand it, then gave up and fixed one cable.



No surprise, I liked the effect so much, I decided to fix all of them. It only meant dropping back 28 rounds. No biggie.



Ah, that's better!



After a lot of walking, I finally found a cherry tree that still had a good amount of flowers. Connoisseurs can tell they're past their prime, but they still give an idea of how incomparably beautiful peak bloom must be. I'd like to come back some day to see it.



However, rather than pine about what I missed, I went to Cherryblossomland, which is at peak now. Go if you can or check out cherry blossom cam, or stay tuned....