Showing Up and Looking Good

Finally I get around to my first post under this new masthead (bloghead?), and it has no direct relation to either knitting or books, least of all knitting books, though I'll see if I can't tie it in somehow before I wrap up.

Anyway, last night was the year-end awards ceremony for the Vero Beach High School Fighting Indians Band, aka "The Pride of the Treasure Coast."

Red White & Blue Concert - March 2011 - Symphonic Band I

My sophomore son (also a sophomoric son at times) was recognized in two categories: Perfect Attendance (as a band parent I was under the impression that there was no choice in this) and Best Eyes (2nd year running). Compared to the numerous scholarships, service awards and leadership honors that were presented during this longer-than-usual marathon, these two certificates might seem like more of a consolation prize than a worthy distinction, but when you think about it, they represent two important foundations for success: showing up and looking good.

Of course good attendance is commanded and expected in this organization, just as it must be for any group or team that strives for excellence. Individuals must be aware of their responsibility to the larger entity and be committed to practices/rehearsals, performances/games.

Fall 2010 Field Show

In this over-scheduled culture where doing more trumps commitment and making choices, I find this expectation is often lacking, replaced by an atmosphere of "I'll show up if, at that moment, this activity happens to be at the top of a long list of so-called priorities." In an age where scheduling conflicts prevail, Vero's band program not only discourages them, they do all but forbid them. Sickness or death are the only excuses accepted. But therein lies the irony. It's not easy for these teens to make it through an entire year's rigorous schedule, from band camp through football season and months of performances throughout the county, state and sometimes even the country, (while going to school, mind you) without succumbing to at least a sore throat or bug of some kind. And the announcement at year end of all those with perfect attendance holds an inkling of suspense because who, after all, remembers the entirety of the last ten months and whether you missed one practice back in October? IMO the recognition of perfect attendance in this case is not a testament to superior commitment, but rather to submission, parents who are willing to drive back and forth to school and elsewhere innumerable times, and exceedingly impenetrable immune systems. Nonetheless, on behalf of Chris Dixon, his mother happily accepts the award and appreciates the recognition.

As for the eyes, a distinction earned by virtue of peer voting, that, too, can be a starting place for success, assuming that such a captivating feature is then fleshed out with likeable personality and worthy character, which in my son's case, as far as I'm concerned, it is.


Two and a quarter hours into this ceremony (by which time in years past it has been over) we decided that we had tortured Chris's disinterested little brother and our empty stomachs long enough, and we bailed in favor of dinner at Hurricane Wings. I learned this morning that soon after we left, they announced that Percussion won "Section of the Year" (no-brainer - should be an annual shoo-in IMO, but I suppose I'm somewhat biased). Though the honor no doubt encompasses more than marching season, let's just relive the 2010-2011 drum line for a moment, shall we?

Chris's buddies, half of whom bear the name of William, stayed overnight after last evening's band awards and dance. This is what the room looks like twelve hours after their arrival:

But this was what I found when I finally make my way to the laundry room to throw in an overdue load:


I was amazed and delighted that one of these boys (50% chance that it was a William  - nay, better than 50% because I know it wasn't Chris) took the time to hang up his shirt - in fact, I'm impressed that any of them even knew that this was something that should be done. I'll have to investigate further, find the mother, and go sit at her feet for a spell.



So, how can I get this post on topic? Well, I took the big red beast with me to the auditorium last night and successfully tinked one row, then completed two more (one step back, two forward). Doesn't sound like much for over two hours, but at 204 stitches apiece, that's not too bad for me, considering the high level of distraction and the sheer bulk of this nearly-finished-my-God-how-much-longer project.  Any progress is welcome and celebrated. Knocked out another row at home while waiting for the boys to get home from the dance, so binding off tomorrow is still within the realm of possiblity, though it's a lofty goal to be sure.

Before turning out the light I read a few more pages of The Knitting Circle, a book I began last week with some trepidation due to its premise. I must say, however, I continue to enjoy it, if that's even an appropriate term for this novel, and am bewildered that it is not making me feel depressed, especially considering my week of minimal sleep and increased stress. Perhaps it's the high knitterly content that keeps me engaged.

While we're waiting...

My friends Greg & Caiti from Theatre-Go-Round are expecting their first child in December.  It's a boy, his name is Christian, and he has already provided me with plenty of knitterly motivation over the past few months.  

I actually finished this blanket back in August but didn't want to post photos of it until after the baby shower, lest the eagerly expectant mother spot it on Facebook!  Don't worry - that hole in the middle is intentional (and a source of a fair amount of pride for me) as this smallish blanket is intended for use with the car seat - the buckle goes through that slot so you can fasten and unfasten the straps without uncovering baby Christian.

I chose the color to coordinate with the parents' choice of car seat, and I had almost a full skein leftover after I finished the blanket, so I figured why not keep the little guy's head warm, too, with a matching hat.  After searching and searching for just the right pattern (cute, free, and not too complicated) I found this one:

Now all that's missing is the baby! 

Fully realizing that these items have an extremely limited useful life - maybe a month or two tops for the hat, and three or four for the car seat blanket if we have an unseasonably cold winter, I also have a baby afghan in the works that will coordinate with the crib set as well as...it pains me to even write it...their Mets fan gear. 

Under the heading "When it rains, it pours,"  I discovered a few weeks ago that my neighbor is expecting her second granddaughter at the end of November.  'Nuff said.  Off to Michael's I went to find just the right pink for new baby/big sister sweaters.  Just as I was about to settle for something not quite what I wanted, I stumbled across the "Pink Ribbon" display in the middle of the aisle, chock full of Bernat 100% cotton in a yummy variegated pink.  I cranked out this baby sweater in no time at all:

Big sister's sweater has been a little exasperating, but I'm making progress.  Took me a while to find a pattern that resembled what I had envisioned in my mind, then took me a while longer to experiment with gauge (remember why I claimed I was going to stick to afghans?).  With the help of the Phillies in the post-season, I've been making steady progress, but now that they've been ousted from World Series contention I fear my needles will slow down.  I also have some serious doubts about things like having the right number of stitches, and is this thing going to fit a 4 1/2 yr old, and is the little girl going to look at it and say, "Ew!"  All that aside, here it is so far:

It's knitted from the top down and thus at this point resembles a lamp shade more than a sweater.  When it was only a neck sitting around on circular needles on the end table, Eddie complemented me, "That's a really cool bowl thingy, Mom." (This reminds me of those who refer to my dinner theatre career as "singing karaoke")  One appeal of the knitted-in-the-round-top-down technique is that the garment is then "seamless."  Now I'm not thinking of the wearer's comfort here, rather I'm attracted to the notion that, since the actual putting together has always been a stumbling block for me, there's a chance that this might one day be a completed project.  And maybe even (dare I dream it?) wearable? But then again, with major league baseball season over for me, I'll have to find other excuses to spend 3 hours at a time "sittin' and knittin'" if this sweater's delivery date is going to be anywhere near the baby's!

You know you knit too much when...

you love your new stash yarn so much you put it on the dashboard on the way home so you can gaze at it lovingly.

A great start to the weekend

Friday evening found Dan and Eddie and me free to do as we pleased, with Chris off at an away game and Genny over at her friend's house.  So we trotted up the street to our favorite place to do our favorite things.

Eddie did a lot of this:

Dan, eying the iffy skies and deciding against a real bike ride, got his exercise and his ocean fix at the same time.  Back when he was recuperating from knee surgery a couple years ago he bought this cool attachment for his bike which makes it stationary.  It's gotten a fair amount of use  - we occasionally take "bike rides to nowhere" in the garage on a rainy day.  So he took the setup up the street and was able to keep and eye on Eddie and the surf while he pedaled for 45 minutes (into the wind!).

 I opted for leisure rather than exercise and was quite content to occupy my chair for an hour or so:

It was actually a quite productive happy hour for me because, with the wind so strong and the ocean so loud, I was able to rehearse some music for a couple upcoming shows while I stitched and sipped.  The few stragglers on the beach were not within shouting distance, so I felt free to let it rip at full voice.  (Dan said he could hear me from his mount atop the dunes, but he's used to it!)

When we finally tore ourselves away and headed home, loyal Vinny was there to greet us:

I was so impressed that he lay quietly in the yard, patiently waiting for us to return.  But then our neighbors came over and told us he had been howling the entire time we were gone (surely they exaggerate), so much so that they had come across the street to check on his welfare, knowing that such an uproar is unusual for Vinny.  Oh well, another bubble burst.  The strong east wind blew his voice in the opposite direction, I guess - we hadn't heard a thing.  Come to think of it, the strong east wind must have blown my voice right down the block to Vinny, which is probably why he spent the hour singing along!

A bad day of knitting....

Remember that bumper sticker that said, "A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work"?  Or "A bad day at the beach..." (wait a minute, is there such a thing?)  Well, that's how I felt yesterday about my knitting.   If I were to measure my progress solely on the basis of rows completed, then I had a net loss of, oh, I'm guessing about 97.  However, I'm quickly discovering that there's so much more to this craft than counting off rows and completing projects (actually, there's relatively little of the latter in my case!)

I had been looking forward to yesterday because my husband was scheduled for outpatient ear surgery, thereby providing me the perfect excuse to sit around for hours with nothing to do but knit, all the while appearing to be a doting and attentive and sacrificially loving wife.  As a bonus, since we had to go to Melbourne for the procedure, I asked Dan if he would mind leaving home 45 minutes early so we could stop at Jo-Ann's on our way to the surgery center, giving me a chance to check out their yarn department.  So the adventure began with an hour of knitting in the car while Dan drove up, followed some quality get-acquainted time with Jo-Ann's inventory.  I scored some beautiful chunky wool for a felted tote bag I want to make for Eddie's teacher, as well as a few skeins of mix and match sock yarn for when I finally getting around to trying my first pair.

 

 

Once at the center I had plenty of time to work on the baby afghan I brought with me, but the first thing I did was tink two rows, attempting to correct a wayward and disagreeable stitch.  Several rows later I discovered my stitch count was off and had been for probably 30 rows or so.  No big deal - I tinked a half row and increased one stitch right in the middle.  Stitch count fixed, problem forgotten.  Move on.  But despite my high hopes for a productive knitting marathon, I only had eight or nine rows to show for four fleeting hours of opportunity.

Later in the evening I had a rude awakening with another project.  I was finishing up the front of a little Knit for Kids sweater, when I finally had to face the facts.  I had thumbed my nose at gauge, as I am wont to do, believing that regardless of the size sweater I turned out, surely it would fit some little kid somewhere.  What I failed to take into account, however, was proportion.  I neglected to adjust the length specified in the pattern in order to correspond to my way-bigger-than-gauge width.  The outcome was a cute little sweater with a wingspan similar to that of a turkey buzzard.  This photo is misleadingly flattering to my "creation" and does not do justice to the ridiculous hugeness of the sleeves as compared to the squattiness of the body.

Rather than duplicate that piece for a back, knowing all along that the finished garment would have little chance of actually being useful to anyone, I frogged the whole thing.  Maybe I'll start over, or maybe I'll use the yarn for something else.  No regrets. (Especially after checking out the KFK sweaters on Ravelry.com - mine's in a better place now, may it rest in peace!)

Spaghetti anyone?

Just to end the day on a good note, I cast on for that tote bag and whizzed through a few rows.  Ahhhh!  The feel of soft, thick wool in my hands....

I think it only fair that lessons learned the hard way should perhaps be spread out over several days or longer, rather than being flung at me all at once, but I'm all the wiser for persevering through my fits and starts.  A bad day of knitting?  Just like a bad day at the beach...no such animal.

Group Hug

In my August 29 post I included a photo and pattern for what looked to be a quick and simple afghan - something I'd stumbled across while searching the web for some other quick and simple afghan.  Well, I lost no time finding an excuse to buy yarn and make it, and in a record time (for me) of two weeks, the creation pictured to the left (the blankie, not the teenager) was completed and delivered to a dear family who is experiencing the loss of their beloved mother and grandmother.  It is my hope that this humble substitution for a mother's arms will bring them warmth and comfort and snuggliness. Unfortunately, due to the afghan's limited size, they will have to take turns - the tassels are not to be used for tug-of-war purposes!

I would like to thank Fox Sports for televising an unusually high number of Philadelphia games in early September, conveniently providing both motivation and opportunity to crank this baby out in a timely manner.

What I learned today...

What I learned today is that if I let my van's tank run all the way down to E and stop for gas at 7-11, I can knit an entire row of a baby hat while I fill up.

What I learned last Thursday was if I let my van's tank run all the way down to E, and, even though the warning light glares at me every time I glance its way, if I forget to stop for gas at 7-11, or anywhere else for that matter, and let my permit-wielding son drive to band practice, about two blocks from school he will ask why he's pressing the gas pedal and the car is slowing down.  But he'll know what if feels like when a car runs out of gas and how to calmly pull over, get out and walk to band practice.