Safe and sound

Hurricane or perfect storm, we made it through with little trouble. We are in northern Maryland and the storm passed north of us, thankfully. We had high winds and lots of rain but not to the severity that we would have suffered if the storm had passed closer or to the south of us. We lost power for about 8 hours, though there are many in the area who still are in the dark and cold.

We had no damage to house or boat. It was quite cozy the first night, even with the power off because we had borrowed a generator from Rob's boss. We had some lights, freezer and fridge hooked up to it as well as the all important sump pump. The pump keeps the house from flooding with water. It was getting chilly in the house but we are all healthy adults and could deal with that. I even had Internet access, though it was very slow. All in all a very good experience as hurricanes go.

Mom and my brother are still in the dark and cold, as are my other brothers, all of whom live on Long Island. No one had damage to the house, though and were not flooded.

My heart goes out to all of those who lost lives, belongings and homes. It will be a long haul for those in the hard hit areas.

Quaker Ridge Shawl

It's finished! I like it a lot and would consider doing another one, with slight modification. I like my shawls to wrap around my body and this one is just a bit short, so if I do knit it again, I will add increases at each end.

Next up is finishing the Penumbra shawl. This is a club pattern from the Mezzoluna shawl club. I have been knitting on it since I finished the QRS and have only 6 rows to go. This is another beaded shawl and I am really enjoying the process. I hope to have it finished within a week or so.

I am also knitting the baby blanket for my coworker. That one has a deadline, so I can't put it off too much.

QRS

The beaded bind off is happening!

Quaker Ridge Shawl

I am about 750 stitches from the beaded bind off. Gotta go.

Fiber summary

After the TdF, during which I concentrated on spinning, I reverted to knitting most of the time. Unfortunately for my WIP pile, I did a lot of casting on and not much finishing. Currently I find myself very frustrated with my lack of finishing and being able to wear what I've knitted. I don't especially care about how many projects are on the needles, I just want to wear some of them. ; )

I have come up with a plan and Will. Not. Get side tracked. I am pushing to finish my Quaker Ridge Shawl. I chose that one first just because there was a reasonable deadline and I might win a prize if I get it finished in time. I have completed the pattern repeats and the ruffle. I have 3 garter ridges to knit and then comes the beaded bind off. The beaded bind off (one bead for each of the 500 stitches) will take a while, so this will be close on the timing.

The next thing to work on will be my Penumbra Shawlette, the Sivia Harding club project.

I have only about 10 rows to go and that's why that one goes next. The next project to be finished will be Bob's textured sweater. I still have only 1.5 sleeves and a neck edging to go. I may alternate this with the Penumbra in case there is knitting time that does not allow for lace knitting. I am trying hard to be monogamous. I am not 100% successful but pretty close.

After Bob's sweater and the Penumbra will come my Swirl sweater alternating with the Call me Cordelia shawl (again so that I have lace and non-lace knitting). That will likely take me to Christmas and I might allow myself to cast on something new. We'll see.

I plan to start my fall clean up/out of the house this week. It will take a while, but part of that clean up is to go through my WIPs and stash to see if I have changed my mind about  something and it's time to get rid of it. That also refreshes the projects in my mind and I may choose something form the bin to work on next. I have LOTS to choose from.

Ah, yes. Let's not forget the baby blanket I am knitting - that does have a deadline. I would also love to finish Topiary before  the winter is too far gone. It's lovely. And Juneberry. Sigh. I wonder how many hours of sleep I really need.

Montauk Vacation 2012

We camped this year, rather than stay in a hotel. No tent for us, though. We've decided that we are too old for that kind of thing. My brother bought a used pop up camper last year and cleaned and fixed it up. He used it himself and made it available for anyone in the family to borrow. We took him up on it. I am glad we did. It was so nice to get back in the campground again. 

This is the view of the beach from the path that cuts through the dunes at the camp site. Yes, we are that close to the Ocean. 

It rained most days, some times a light drizzle other times more, but the really heavy rains came only at night while we were snuggled in bed.  ; )

Here is my view of the Montauk Lighthouse from the beach that we go to for surf fishing. Bob mostly fishes and I mostly watch and knit. 

Here is Bob, trying hard to catch a striped bass or bluefish from the surf. In the water you can see one of the increasing number of guys who fish from a kayak just off shore.

This is what the rest of that shoreline looks like. It can get pretty crowded out there when the fish are in the surf.

Just because I like them photos:

And on the other side of the 4 wheel drive trail to the beach:

I've been doing some spinning again. These skeins are my first two attempts at an intentional 

 thick and thin yarn. The one on the left was the first and the twist is too high in the thin sections. I fulled it and the dyes leached out, dimming the nice bright colors of the original yarn. the skein on the right is the second attempt, which has much better, though not perfect twist. I have not washed that skein because I love the colors the way they are and I'm nervous about dulling the colors on that one, too. I might try adding vinegar to the water and just using cold, not fulling that skein. The flowers that the skeins are posing in are Montauk Daisies that we liked enough to bring home with us a few years ago and plant in the garden.

The fiber above was from Spunky Eclectic (club shipment), 100% corriedale in "Rosebud". 

Below you will see the Icelandic, also from Spunky Eclectic club, called "Snow Squall". I spun it into a singles and fulled it. I like this yarn. I'm not sure what I will do with it yet but the colors are nice and deep and I love them. 

I am home and back at work. The re-entry to real life was much less stressful than in recent years due to the new job.  ; ))

I'll post about my knitting efforts next time. I am off to spin and knit the weekend away at a spinning retreat in Chambersburg, PA. The weather will be perfect for it and the scenery is gorgeous there. 

Go O's !!!!! Beat the pants off those Yankees!!!