Transitions are Hard

The last time I posted here, back in November of 2011, I mentioned my ambivalence about being a snow bird.  I was looking forward to the warm, sunny weather that Florida offers, but I was not eager to leave all the things in NJ that I really enjoy.

We've been in Florida for six weeks now.  The weather has been quite mild, much warmer than the previous two winters.  We've had some chilly mornings, but by midday, it's sunny and pleasant.  It seems, though, that it's been pretty mild in NJ too.  There haven't been any major snow storms to date and temps appear to be moderate for this time of year.

In the past, I've enjoyed the Florida weather to do outdoor activities.  I do try to bicycle with a friend on the Withlacoochee Trail every Monday.  Most other days I go to the gym, a gym that is no where near as nice as NBD, the gym I belong to at home.  Going to the gym every day negates the allure of mild temperatures and outdoor activities.  I find myself pining for the NJ gym and my trainer, Toni.

The things I miss the most though are people; my yarny friends and my NJ grands.  As I follow their activity reports on ravelry, facebook, twitter and my daughter-in-law's blog, I struggle over and over with all the things I am missing.  Christmas, a wedding, a yarn store opening, just to name a few.  There are activities here including two knitting groups, the UU congregation, socializing at the club house, but they just don't seem to measure up this year.  And, there is so little access to culture here.  We see reviews of films that are not playing nearby.  We miss concerts, plays.  Hell, I even miss Starbucks!!

Early in December we looked into spending next winter in a more cosmopolitan area like Sarasota. It looks very appealing but prices are simply out of reach.  We're toying with the idea of spending next winter at home and using NYC as our playground.  Since the heat in our apartment is always on high (with no way to control it but opening the window), we won't be cold and we don't have to go out if the weather is bad.

In the meantime, there are some nice things to look forward to.  I've got a frequent flyer ticket and will be heading to Portland in early February.  Shortly after I return, the NJ grands and their parents will be visiting us.  And, in early March DH and I are taking a knitting cruise with Barry Klein.  Of course, in mid-April we'll be attending the Sarasota Film Festival again. 

I'm knitting, of course.  I've got three baby sweaters and an adult sweater "in process."  One baby sweater is a store sample for All About Ewe, the about to open yarn store mentioned above.  The adult sweater, for me, is Sandrilene, designed by Jesh, a NJ yarn friend.  And, I was recently approached by the owner of a children's store in Philadelphia about providing some baby sweaters for sale in her shop.  Negotiations are ongoing and it may not come to fruition, but we'll see.

Works in Progress

Kauni 2
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

I haven't blogged in a while because I haven't had much to say. I thought I would update everyone (the three or four people who check in here from time to time) on the progress on my knitting projects.
The photo is of the Kauni sweater for DH. The body is nearly complete. I've done 12 pattern repeats and have about five more to do before I bind off for the shoulders. I've cast on extra stitches at the arm pits and I intend to steek them (this is a bit scary and I will do it at a knitting group meeting where there will be fellow knitters to hold my hand). Once the steeks are cut, I can pick up stitches for the sleeves.
At first I wasn't sure I liked the way the red Kauni shifted to maroon, but now that it's gone to red again, and back to maroon, I'm liking it. I'm undecided about manipulating the color changes on the sleeves. I want both to be the same and to have some red and some maroon. The challenge will be the smaller circumferences on the sleeves which will make the color shifts occur further apart. When I get there, I may cut the yarn to force a color change.
So far, I'm satisfied with the quality of the knitting in terms of evenness and the yarn carries on the wrong side. I think DH will really enjoy this sweater once it's finished.

Major Setback

Gansey, one sleeve
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

I thought I was on track to finish the gansey sweater this weekend. You can see from the photo, taken yesterday, that I had one sleeve finished. This afternoon, I was about seven inches into the second sleeve and feeling very pleased with myself when it dawned on me that I ought to either try it on myself or have DH give it a try. I could barely get my hand through the cuff of the finished sleeve and the part of the sleeve below the elbow was uncomfortably tight on me. When DH tried it on the result was the same. It was off to the frog pond for the finished sleeve. Fortunately, thanks to two trips to knitting camp, I know how to insert a lifeline. I then frogged back to the seven inch point on the finished sleeve. I'm now doing decreases every eighth row instead of every fourth row. The sleeve will be wider; I'm just hoping it won't be too much wider. Because it does not have a ribbed cuff, there is less tolerance for it to be too tight or too wide.

The First Hundred Days

On the Knitters for Obama thread on ravelry there is a 100 day KAL (knit a long). I've decided to join and use the time to work on and hopefully complete my UFO's. No, not unidentified flying objects, unfinished objects or knitting projects. I have many items I've started and then for one reason or another, got bogged down with. I've brought five of the most promising to Florida with me.

Here they are:

This one, a potholder, is my first attempt at domino knitting ala Vivian Hoxbro. I finished it today. I'm not totally happy with it. The border would have been much more striking if it had been a dark solid contrasting yarn, but this was a sample project to try the technique and I used Sugar 'n Cream from my stash. There wasn't enough of any of the solids left to do the trim.
This red cotton gansey, Cable Weave Pullover, for my husband which I had hoped to finish while it was still warm in NJ has languished for months. I have the front and the back finished. I just need to join them and knit the sleeves. Perhaps he'll be able to wear it when the weather warms up in Florida.

Skirty #3 for my grandaughter awaits a skein of Cascade 220 in the lemonade colorway. I ordered it last week after running all around northern Florida trying to buy some in a local yarn store. Unfortunately it was no where to be found locally and the internet supplier I ordered from neglected to tell me that it was backordered. I'm told it will be shipped today and arrive in Crystal River on Monday. This will be a quick finishing job once I have the yarn.

This Eyelet Cardi was originally in the works for my niece who I was to meet for the first time at Thanksgiving. It's knit from Reynolds Blossom and is a Norah Gaughan design. I ran into an error on the chart which slowed me down. Thanksgiving came and went. I gave her a sweater that I had knit last spring while sitting with my mother in the hospital. I'm not happy with the way the sleeve is attached and I plan to redo that. The other sleeve is finished and just needs to be seamed. This one shouldn't take too long.

Mr. Greenjeans has been around since mid-October. It would have been nice to wear this sweater right now in Florida since it's been so cold. Today I picked up the rest of the stitches around the neck and down the fronts and I'm working away on the button band. The right sleeve just needs the cable work near the wrist. The left sleeve needs a bit more than that. It's doable though.

President Obama has a lot of unfinished business from the Bush administration, not the least of which is the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo, the economy, health care, etc. Yesterday he jumped in with both feet. I'm really rooting for him and I think the country is behind him. Right now he's my role model for getting things done.

Let's see what good things can happen in the next 100 days.

Getting Excited

Dick and I leave for France on Friday. We'll be joining our daughter, Jackie in Orleans and will be walking from village to village in the Loire Valley. Dick has worked for weeks figuring the mileage and searching the internet for small hotels or B & B's. He's lined up all the walks and the accomodations for the first 10 days. Then Jackie will go back to Paris and Dick and I will continue for a few more days on our own.

We've done this kind of trip before using an outfitter that booked the hotels and ferried the luggage. This time we will be carrying everything we need on our backs. I've carefully selected things for my pack and it weighs about 17 pounds. I think we will manage fine.

It's a strange time for me. My last day of work is October 12 so I will work two more weeks after we return home. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up. The powers that be at the agency are already campaigning for me to stay on in some capacity doing home studies or staff training or both. I will be negotiating with them when I come back. I'm so ambivalent. I want some time off to play but doing a bit of contract work would sure help pay for my health insurance. I have to COBRA for ten months and it is really expensive!!

I'm hard at work on Sonnet. I've finished the second arm hole and am nearing the finish of the front shoulder. It's almost time to decrease for the neck. I don't think I will finish before we leave (I have to do the sleeves) and I won't be bringing it to France because everything I bring I have to carry. I'm going to bring the sock project instead because it's small.

Sonnet

Browsing on Knitty and on Flickr I've seen many versions of Haiku and Sonnet, cardigans knit sideways. I made a version of Haiku for my granddaughter and now I'm making Sonnet for myself. It's an easy knit and I love the yarn I chose. The LYS near my sister's home is closing for good (this is very sad because my sister loves the shop and I like to stop there as well whenever I visit her) and everything is marked down. The friendly, helpful owner figured out how much yarn I would need (I'm substituting for the Knitty recommended yarn) and I left happily with the makings of my Sonnet sweater. The yarn is Rosina King Kelly, a blend of cotton and acrylic in color 101. I've searched online for the name of the colorway, but Yarndex and Yarnmarket refer to it only by number. It's a wonderful combination of hot pink blending to purple. I don't think my photo does it justice.