07.27.06
Posted in Finished Objects, The Amazing Lace at 8:42 pm by Rachel
Okay, first things first. I was completely overwhelmed by the response I got to my hair calamity. Clearly the bad haircut is a universal experience. I had never realized I was missing out on such a robust, compassionate community of bad-haircut survivors. I am rather proud to have been initiated into the club.
The good news (and I hope this doesn’t mean I have to give back my membership card) is that I have gotten used to my hair and have found some ways to style it that are a little more to my liking. (The photo here is not an example of that; that photo was taken several days ago, before I got the hang of the proper combination and timing of products, clips, and scrunching.) I still don’t know that it will be a repeat cut (especially since if I mess up that delicate styling process I become the spitting image of the teenager that babysat for me in 1983), but I think I can live with it.
As I have confessed to some of you, the encouragement and sympathy of nearly three score blog readers didn’t hurt my recovery from this tragedy. I know, I know, the most important thing is that I like my hair, but the second most important thing is that my blogging public likes it. So thank you for your reassurances — they really meant a lot to me.
Next on the agenda: the belated nature of these photos, which I promised days ago. This week I spent five days at Dartmouth College at a professional development conference for new higher education fundraisers. Matt took the photos the morning I left, and I optimistically believed I would have time to write a post that evening after my arrival. Well, I didn’t have a nanosecond on my computer outside of a few precious minutes that I used to try to keep my head above water with my email, so no post. I’m telling you this because I’m acknowledging my recent habit of promising my blog readers content (”Tomorrow: Insight that will likely change your life for the better. Drastically!”) and then leaving my blog dormant for weeks at a time. I will probably continue to do this, but it feels better to get it out in the open: Yes, I neglect you, my beloved loyal readers.
And it’s not really going to get better because I am expecting to be very busy with my new career. This would be bad news except that I’m incredibly excited about said new career. For the first time since entering the work world after college, I am energized and inspired by what I am doing. For the first time I am motivated to work hard so I can learn fast and advance. For the first time in years and years I feel ambitious (about something other than a new knitting technique, that is). It’s a great feeling. So great that I’m telling you all this for absolutely no good reason. This violates one of my cardinal rules of blogging (”Ninety-five percent of the people don’t care about ninety-five percent of your life”), and I’m doing it anyway. I’m that excited about my new career.
Now, on to the knitting. (The photos have been trying to drop hints that I should have gotten around to the knitting long ago.)
Pattern: The ubiquitous Ene’s Scarf from Scarf Style
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, colorway “Sand Ridge,” just over three skeins
Knitting time: About a month
Notes: I had serious doubts about this yarn for this pattern when I started knitting it. I wasted precious hours that could have been spent actually accomplishing something instead agonizing over whether this was the BEST POSSIBLE PATTERN! and the BEST POSSIBLE YARN FOR THE PATTERN! I got myself in such a state over my Amazing Lace project that I became paralyzed in my decision-making process. I had a feeling I was going to be the first knitalong host ever to completely fail to knitalong with her knitalong.
So I forced myself to just pick something already, and by the time I’d finished the first chart, I was in love. My love only grew with each row, and now I couldn’t be happier with my finished shawl. The colors make it casual enough to wear with jeans, but its laciness is inherently elegant enough to keep it from looking out of place on a fairly dressy occasion. I lurve it.
I don’t have many useful comments for the two or three knitters out there who haven’t yet made this shawl. I used lifelines but never needed them; the main lace pattern is nice and simple and easy to see coming together, so if you make a mistake, you should see it within two rows (comfortable tinking distance). Still, I had a feeling I was only avoiding mistakes because I was using lifelines, and I didn’t want to test the theory.
This shawl has seen Providence and Newport (R.I.); Mystic, Connecticut; London, Amalfi, and Naples; and Mount Washington (okay, it drove past Mount Washington). Not a record, I’m sure, but not bad.
Not much else to say. But since this is my Amazing Lace project, I should probably post my entry for Challenge #5 (no, you didn’t miss something, I didn’t post anything for #3 or #4). I already linked to this photo on the TAL web site as an example entry, but I thought I’d put it up here too since I actually thought it was rather brave of me to shove my finished (washed and blocked) shawl into a decanter that had been holding brandy until minutes before (and have you ever tried to thoroughly wash and dry the interior of a bottle this shape?). The challenge is “Where’s Waldo?” I admit that this idea was initially Theresa’s, so I’ll let this count as her challenge entry too in case she’s too busy healing the sick and mending the wounded to post something.
More this weekend! (That’s Rachelspeak for “See you in a month!”)
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07.20.06
Posted in General at 9:09 pm by Rachel
What have we here? Some strange exotic new fiber from the Rhode Isliand Mountain Goat? (Very tangentially related fun fact: Rhode Island has the lowest highest point out of any of the fifty states.) Have I finally drunk the Kool-Aid and taken up spinning? (Oh wait, Kool-Aid goes with a different knitting uber-trend.) No, that there would be the hair that I had shorn from my own head today. (And it really was sort of like being shorn — the guy used a razor instead of scissors to lop it off.) And no, I’m NOT going to spin it — don’t be gross! (Although I’m sure there are people who do spin human hair and I’m sure that it is in fact normal and not gross at all. I am open-minded and I embrace fiber diversity along with most other kinds of diversity.)
The good news is that the hair that has recently been disengaged from my head will be donated to Locks of Love to make wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result of a medical condition. The bad news is that I kind of hate my new haircut. I managed to hold it together in the salon and smile moderately convincingly as I viewed my unrecognizable visage and contemplated what excuse I would use to withdraw from society for two months. Thirty seconds after leaving the salon, though, I was on the phone with Matt wailing for him to come pick me up so I wouldn’t have to take the bus and alienate all my anonymous bus friends with my scary hair. The picture below is actually the happiest face he could coax out of me as he took photos for my blog.
When I got home I stuck a couple barrettes in my hair to try lessen its resemblance to a mushroom cap and mourned the loss of the long tresses that until this morning I had been dying to get rid of. The only thing that cheered me up (along with 3.5 glasses of wine) was unpinning my finished Ene’s Scarf from the blocking board. Expect photos this weekend.
(Anyone who has not committed my appearance to memory and needs a reminder of the previous length of my hair can click here. Anyone who couldn’t care less and wonders why the hell I’m devoting an entire post to my inconsequential haircut can skip it and perhaps flounce off in a huff for good measure.)
Update: It has just been brought to my attention (and research has backed it up) that Delaware has a lower highest point. In fact, it beats Rhode Island by some 350 feet. Further research has shown that several states have lower highest points than Rhode Island (with Florida as the lowest, apparently). How could my information be so wrong? Could my day get any worse?
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07.09.06
Posted in General at 9:01 pm by Rachel
Whew! That was exhausting! Matt’s and my two-week Europe trip, that is. It was also, by all measures, a great success. The only problem is that as I’m writing this, my internal clock thinks it’s 3 a.m., so I ask your forgiveness in advance. The prospects of my being clever or funny or even mostly sensical are rather dim.
While it was an amazing trip, I’m going to refrain from going into a detailed blow-by-blow account (mostly because once I get started I truly cannot stop, especially since when I’m overtired my “too much sharing” filter is one of the first things to cease functioning). If you’re interested in many details, though (perhaps you yourself are considering a trip to London, Amalfi, or Venice), you can read in-depth daily accounts here on my husband’s “travelblogue,” a word he coined yesterday evening in jetlagged delerium and of whose pretentiousness he is quite proud. You could also view 1.5 zillion photos of varying quality on our Flickr account here.
The few knitting highlights (and “hightlights” is perhaps too strong a word) do seem in order here, though. In this photo I am knitting just outside the grounds of Kensington Palace. No, honestly, I am. I know, that looks like any old park bench in any park in the world, but 200 meters to the left of the frame is some of Her Majesty’s serious royal stuff. Okay, so it’s not a photo that really conveys the Britishness of the location, but it was the only time in our four days in London when I actually got a chance to sit down and knit, and we selected the spot based on the availablity of park benches rather than on background. That’s what happens when you allow your blog to slip from your mind a bit for a few days — you start making decisions in which blogability is not your chief concern. Shame on you. Err, that is, on me.
The best I can do to compensate is to offer you this photo, taken the same day, which is about as British as you can get. Note that I’m wearing the same clothes as in the knitting picture above; therefore, you can be assured that I did, in fact, knit in London. I hope that is acceptable and does not offend the exacting standards of my readers.
The London portion of our trip was great. It was my third time in the city and Matt’s first, and we did a really interesting assortment of things: drank beer in a pub while watching England win a World Cup match, visted the Tower of London (pretty good) and the Cabinet War Rooms (excellent), tried really really really hard to appreciate the art in the Tate Modern, saw some great improv comedy and a less great (though oddly well-reviewed) play, had tea near Kensington Palace (I am well tea-ed and sconed in the photo above), and tried to say “cheers!” as much as possible.
After four days in London we jetted off to the Amalfi Coast. So much to say about this interesting corner of the world. I’ll start by saying Naples sucks. To be fair, we determined this based on a small number of hours in Naples, and I’m sure there are some very pleasant square feet of the city, but we did not see any of them. The coast to its south, however, is phenomenal. Here I am knitting on the balcony of our hotel room. This is almost certainly the loveliest view to which I have ever knit. You can’t see it all that well here, though; this photo shows it better:
Not bad, eh? Similarly spectacular views could be, well, viewed from the hotel pool, which is on a shelf built into the cliff (as was our entire hotel). While we knew we could get out and about and view the view from many different angles, we also knew we could expend far less effort by sitting at the pool and viewing the view from there. As we were quite satisfied with the view from the pool, we opted for the latter option almost entirely. (The exception was a half-day trip up the mountain to Ravello, which I must admit was worth it the expenditure of energy and the loss of pool time.)
After this healthy dose of rest and relaxation, we were off to Venice! We took a train across the country, and my plan was to spend quite a bit of the eight-hour trip working on Ene’s Scarf. As my vision of a romantic journey across Italy in which we zipped through the picturesque countryside in the comfort of our first-class coach on a high-speed train did not come to pass (short story: a train workers’ strike led to our taking a double-booked train and standing in the aisle mashed in with our luggage and other disgruntled Americans for a substantial portion of the ride; long story here), little knitting was accomplished, and my stress level caused me to make many errors in the few rows I did manage. This led to:
Tinking in Venice! That on the left is me on the steps of the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute taking out several rows. Above I’m showing my total progress on my shawl to date — I can’t believe how confidently I declared to several knitblog friends that I would finish the project easily on the trip. Oh well. Ignore that and take note of the lovely and enchanting Grand Canal in the background.
It’s a good thing Venice is wonderful, because we were feeling mighty travel weary by the time we arrived. When we emerged from the train station bruised and battered by our miserable journey, we looked out upon the Grand Canal and were nearly instantly captivated, our spirits and energy quickly restored. The city does have something of a decaying, sad air about it, and parts of it are overrun by tourists browsing for cheap souvenirs at tacky kiosks, and it is not hard to believe that before long Venetians will just give up and abandon their city to exist as an open-air museum, but in spite of all that it is one of the most beautiful, captivating places I have ever been.
So that’s our trip! If anyone is planning to go to any of those places, please don’t hesitate to email me for more detailed advice (especially about Venice — I really think we figured out some keys to a really great stay there).
Sorry for the minimal knitting content. I hope to get my fingers moving again this week and to finish Ene’s Scarf in short(ish) order. I will also try to return to being funny/witty/insightful/wry — or to do those things for the first time, depending on your opinion of my blog.
It’s good to be back. I missed you all.
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Okay, first things first. I was completely overwhelmed by the response I got to my hair calamity. Clearly the bad haircut is a universal experience. I had never realized I was missing out on such a robust, compassionate community of bad-haircut survivors. I am rather proud to have been initiated into the club.
Next on the agenda: the belated nature of these photos, which I promised days ago. This week I spent five days at Dartmouth College at a professional development conference for new higher education fundraisers. Matt took the photos the morning I left, and I optimistically believed I would have time to write a post that evening after my arrival. Well, I didn’t have a nanosecond on my computer outside of a few precious minutes that I used to try to keep my head above water with my email, so no post. I’m telling you this because I’m acknowledging my recent habit of promising my blog readers content (”Tomorrow: Insight that will likely change your life for the better. Drastically!”) and then leaving my blog dormant for weeks at a time. I will probably continue to do this, but it feels better to get it out in the open: Yes, I neglect you, my beloved loyal readers.
And it’s not really going to get better because I am expecting to be very busy with my new career. This would be bad news except that I’m incredibly excited about said new career. For the first time since entering the work world after college, I am energized and inspired by what I am doing. For the first time I am motivated to work hard so I can learn fast and advance. For the first time in years and years I feel ambitious (about something other than a new knitting technique, that is). It’s a great feeling. So great that I’m telling you all this for absolutely no good reason. This violates one of my cardinal rules of blogging (”Ninety-five percent of the people don’t care about ninety-five percent of your life”), and I’m doing it anyway. I’m that excited about my new career.
Pattern: The ubiquitous Ene’s Scarf from Scarf Style
I don’t have many useful comments for the two or three knitters out there who haven’t yet made this shawl. I used lifelines but never needed them; the main lace pattern is nice and simple and easy to see coming together, so if you make a mistake, you should see it within two rows (comfortable tinking distance). Still, I had a feeling I was only avoiding mistakes because I was using lifelines, and I didn’t want to test the theory. 
