I can see for miles and miles…

I don’t know whether this could be considered “good” or “bad” planning, but I have two current knitting projects, and both of them are at that totally mindless stage of endless stockinette.

There’s the Ogee Tunic, finished except for the back.

Back and forth and back and forth...

And there are the Tabi Socks, being knitted because R. asked for socks he can wear with flip-flops now that it’s getting colder (and in spite of me being totally NOT in sock mode right now).

round and round and round...

It could be considered “bad” planning because it’s nice to have something a little challenging to work on when endless stockinette starts feeling, well, endless. And since I’m still very much in the learning phase, there are a lot of challenges out there that I’m eager to try.

But at the moment it could be considered “good” planning because I find myself totally distracted by certain things that would probably just lead me to make mistakes in anything harder than decreasing two stitches every 18 rows.

Other than the usual distractions such as too much work, realizing that I need to get my garden ready for the winter, and Ravelry (of course), I find myself spending hours every day totally immersed in the US presidential campaign and what everybody is saying about it. Some days I stick to the news and the official websites, but other days I stalk blogs and forums and find myself amazed, appalled, relieved, bewildered, laughing hysterically, in total agreement, or so angry that I’m speechless. And sometimes all within the course of just a few minutes.

It’s weird being an ex-pat during campaign season. I live in a country that almost exclusively reports on Obama (although Palin is getting some serious attention right now), and where people were truly dumbstruck when Bush was voted in for a second term. (I was too.) Here in Germany, politicians’ private lives aren’t given nearly the scrutiny as those in the US, and that is always a hot topic too. “Why do they care that he/she had an affair back in 19-whatever?”

So I turn to the internet for my news and to learn about the candidates, and inevitably find myself pulled into some major timesuck of opinions, arguments, speculations, and conspiracy theories. And while it can be very educational (at least in regards to human nature, if nothing else), it is also exhausting and worrisome. And sometimes very, very funny.

I Knit Day 2008

I had an absolutely wonderful time in London! Great food, good company, my anniversary celebration, and to top it all off: the I Knit Day on Saturday. Not even the bad weather could put a damper on things.

What struck me the most about the whole I Knit Day event was how friendly everybody was. I met the first smiling face at the tube station, when a nice lady named Catherine (and I hope I spelled that right) spotted my yellow I Knit Day flyer and joined me on the walk to the hall where the event was being held.

I started my day with a browse through the stands, leaving a bit of money behind and taking pictures of the amazing knitted/crocheted objects on display:

Knitted teatime

It's all knitted, even the furniture!

Potatoes & fire extinguisher

Adorable knitted aliens

Shortly after noon I met up with Cassandra, a fellow American ex-pat who lives in Amsterdam and who I know through Ravelry. We went out for coffee, had another browse through the main hall, then braved the weather to wait for the Yarn Harlot reading, which took place across the street.

Waiting for the Yarn Harlot...in the rain

Luckily the organizers had mercy on our rather soggy souls, because they quickly opened up the doors and the hall began to fill up. I’ve never seen so many knitters in one spot, and it was a lovely sight to see.

The hall is filling up...

After a short wait, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee came out to thunderous applause, and after the usual audience pictures with sock and a short battle with the microphone, gave a great talk that lasted a good 90 minutes, followed by a question and answer session. She was eloquent, funny, and charming and I really enjoyed myself.

And it starts (with a scary microphone)

The obligatory "taking a picture of you taking a picture of me" photo

 After her talk was over, it was back to the main hall to line up for her book signing.

Busy signing books

She literally signed books for HOURS and missed any chance she might have had to do a little shopping herself, but she was incredibly nice and friendly to everyone she talked to. And even though the line was long, it wasn’t a problem to wait, because all the people waiting were chatting, showing each other their projects, knitting, and generally having a good time. It was also fun watching people show her their first socks and give her presents. (I admit it: I gave her a skein of Tausendschön sock yarn in the “Goldener Oktober” colorway, and she was very gracious about it.)

There were also a lot of presentations, fashion shows, and general “happenings” going on during the day as well. For example, this charity project which included knitting on some very large knitting needles indeed:

humongous knitting needles

(It looked like really hard work.)

And if anybody knows what this sheep was all about, I’d love it if you’d tell me. I was going to check back on it, but forgot:

Wooden sheep with knitted....things

All in all I had a truly great day, ending with a good meal at a Japanese restaurant with R. and some folks he knows through his job. He had spent the day record shopping and at the British Museum and we were both totally exhausted but happy by the time we got back to our bed-n-breakfast that night.

We had a somewhat nervewracking trip home, caused by the fact that the trains going out to Stansted Airport weren’t running due to “engineering work” – with no warning, either. Luckily we found out about it because we were walking through Liverpool Street train station on our way to the tube and saw an insanely long line and people holding the same Airport Express tickets we had. We asked, found out there was no train service, grabbed our bags that we had left earlier at the left luggage counter, and got into line. Several hours later we were on our way to the airport, and if we hadn’t noticed and had gone to the Maritime Museum as we were planning then we absolutely would have missed our flight home. A bit of a stressful end to a great weekend, but well worth it anyway.

And I have every intention of going back next year for I Knit Day 2009.

Ogee tunic and travel knitting

OK, so the fiddling around with the new blog continues, but let’s get caught up for now, shall we?

At the moment I’m rather monogamously working on the Ogee Tunic, and have the front and both sleeves finished. I’ve just started the back and am about halfway through the pattern at the bottom, which will of course match the front you see here:

Front and sleeves of Ogee Tunic

A very enjoyable knit so far, and other than having to do some minor surgery to fix the middle cable that crossed wrong, it has gone very smoothly. For anyone planning to knit this: follow the chart symbols and NOT the written explanation of them – there’s a mistake in the written part for the cable where the neckline splits, and this mistake doesn’t show up on the errata page…probably because the chart itself is correct.

I’m new to both cables and reading charts, so I followed the written part and, well, “oops”. I was so busy getting through each row that I didn’t notice the mistake until later, although it was very obvious. I doubt this would happen to somebody more experienced, however.

I’ll have to lay this project aside for the next three days though, because tomorrow morning at dark o’clock R. and I are boarding a plane for London. We’re celebrating our wedding anniversary (which is actually today) with a long weekend in one of our favorite cities. We have a wonderful bed and breakfast booked, a friend is staying at our place to house- and cat-sit so we don’t have to worry about anything at home, and I have a ticket to the I Knit Day event including the Yarn Harlot reading on Saturday. Can you beat that?

In celebration I even went to the hairdresser yesterday…my first appointment in more than a year! She had to take off A LOT of hair because my hair was really dry and kaputt. Along with its new color, I’m quite happy with it. (Sorry for the blurry photo.)

A new 'do

I’ll be back early next week with a report on I Knit Day – and hopefully with lots of photos too. I’m loading up the camera batteries at this very moment…now I just have to remember to pack it!

A little birthday present to myself

Today is my birthday and in celebration I’ve given myself this new blog.

For now, this blog is very much under construction. Excuse me while I get settled in.