Eastburn Adventures

Happy Independence Day!!! I pray that we never lose the freedoms we currently have.

And now, I am declaring my own independence - from my Summer of Socks 2008 goals. Originally, I wanted to knit a pair of socks a week, which is totally doable, unless of course I actually want the socks to fit me. I started this week with The Lucy Sock, but again got bit by gauge. So I ripped it out. I'm not willing to go down to size 0's for SOS08, so those are on the back burner now - I still want to make them, though.

Then I cast on for Wendy's Summer of Socks pattern, which is cute, easy, and lacy. Meaning it's going to stretch. Wendy's instructions say to go down a size smaller than one usually knits, and the Ravelry boards are filled with posts about it being stretchier and bigger than thought, and people frogging them all over the place. I was prepared and adapted the pattern appropriately. Not only did I go down two sizes instead of just one, I also went up a needle size to make them knit up faster, which was working fine. The sock fits fine. So what's the problem? I'm never going to wear this sock. I got past the heel, tried it on, and realized I'm just not a lacy, holey, sock kind of person. I know, I know, I could finish them up and give as a gift, but they're my size right now - 10 - which means they're not going to fit anyone I know exactly right. And that's the point of hand-knit custom fitted socks. So I hereby give myself permission to frog them, start over with something else, and not stress about not having a pair of socks for SOS08 Week 2.

That, my friends, is freedom. Have a great 4th of July, and thank God that we live in this wonderful country. My prayers go out to our military and their families, and I thank them for their service. They make me proud.

Okay, so I was the kid in school who didn't date because she always had her nose in a book. I didn't go to parties, and I still don't like being in big crowds, especially alone. If I'm forced into a social situation because of work responsibilities, I put on a brave face and act professional and courteous, and look forward to the time when it's over. And I don't have a problem with this. I'm shy, I'm introverted, but that doesn't make me a bad person - I just prefer my small circle of friends.

But now, the internet has changed that somewhat. I've let people into my life starting with this blog, and then along came Ravelry, which caused me to interact in various groups with lots of people, which led to me spending a weekend in St. Louis at a knitting retreat, and sharing a room with a friend I met first online. Then along comes Facebook, and Twitter, and now Plurk. Oh, and don't forget the podcast, and its blog.

Robert and I were talking this morning about the differences in our online presences (he's a gamer), and I realized that from seemingly out of nowhere, I'm actually fairly well known. Kate and I have podcast listeners from all over the world - almost every U.S. state, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Singapore, to name a few - and they all know me both as Tammy and DarthKnitter.

As much as I'm traveling now, for both work and pleasure, it's pretty certain that I'm going to run into someone who knows me from the internet, in part because we all keep tabs on each other and know when we'll be in someone's hometown. How cool is that? I've got a trip coming up to Notre Dame, so I visited the South Bend group on Ravely and got some information straight from the locals. There's a group of the Spring Flingers who will be at Rhinebeck, and you know we'll be having a reunion! I might have a business trip to California next year, and I've got another online friend I know I can call, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to visit Stacy and learn her spinning and dyeing secrets!

Maybe there's something to this extrovert stuff after all. (Oh, and if you think it's hard to keep up with all the social networking sites, try Ping.fm - with one click you can update all your sites at once.) Okay, I'm getting off the computer now and going back to my knitting.

It's official. I have no air conditioning until Monday afternoon at the earliest. I do, however, have a super-duper high efficiency brand spankin' new furnace and A/C that are being installed as I type. My dad, after he retired from the fire department, had his own heating and air conditioning company, so he's "supervising" Robert and my brother-in-law on the install. Then we'll have someone who's still certified to handle the coolant come out on Monday and charge it, and we'll be good to go. I'm seriously hoping we'll see a significant drop in our utility bill, even though it's usually not that high anyway. I will probably be sleeping on the tile floor in the basement under a ceiling fan for the next few nights. Fortunately, even though it's the middle of July, which usually means temps in the 90's or even 100's, the forecast is only for temps in the 80's this weekend, with lower humidity. I might survive.

Speaking of summer, I finished my second pair of socks for the Summer of Socks 2008 KAL. These are Wendy's Peace Socks, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, in the Dusky Aurora colorway. It's a great pattern, very easy to memorize, but those K3TBL's were killer! I finished them last night, and now I've got to decide which pair to start for #3. I know I want to make the No Purl Monkeys, but I'm thinking those will be good travel socks, so I'm waiting until next week for those.

Stay cool!

YES! We have air conditioning again! After a very long, stressful weekend, which included us spending lots of time in restaurants, Barnes & Noble, and other "cool" places, and having a fan blow directly on us at all possible times (a huge THANK YOU to Steve and Ginger for loaning us a super-duper high-powered industrial fan), we now have a new high-efficiency HVAC system that works! I woke up this morning to 70 degrees, and almost cried when I realized Robert had opened the blinds. We had been keeping them closed for over a month now while trying to help our old A/C not work as hard to keep it going until the new system. I didn't realize until I saw the morning sunlight streaming in the windows how gloomy our house has been for so long. I seriously think I had seasonal effectiveness disorder from lack of sunshine!

But now - it's a new day!

No long explanations this time, just a quick recap of the past week. Last Saturday I flew to Kalamazoo, MI (which has got to be one of the smallest airports in the country), drove to Holland, MI, where I saw the Big Red Lighthouse, and the De Zwaan Windmill.

I visited Lizzie Ann's Wool Co. in downtown Holland, then on Sunday drove to Sit & Knit, A Yarn Cafe in New Buffalo, MI, and The Red Purl in Niles, MI. I met a fellow Raveler, Heather at Sit & Knit, and bought yarn. Once in South Bend, IN, my class at Notre Dame took up the rest of my time for the week. I was able to knit in class, and found it really did help me pay more attention, and I finished my Alana Socks in Wollmeise Rosenrot. They were coming out too big, so I had to switch to 0's and rechart the pattern removing the middle section. (Yes, I know the Alana Socks weren't initially on my SOS08 plan - the plan changed.) I also knit 2 spa cloths out of Berroco Cotton Twist, and started my No-Purl Monkeys in Hand Maiden Casbah in the Mahogany colorway (I am also having to use 0's for these - what's up with this?). In my room at night, while taking a break from studying, I made some progress on my Swallowtail Shawl. Again, Hand Maiden yarn - this time Sea Silk - yum.

Now to get caught up at work and back on a more regularly blogging and internet schedule. At least until the next trip.