October 2, 2013

I Know When to Cringe

I had the loveliest weekend.  The nicest students, the prettiest venue, the satisfaction of teaching at home, in a province I adore, the smell of the sea...

It was KnitEast,  hosted by Cricket Cove in the beautiful town of Saint Andrews by the Sea, and my fellow teachers and I made the most of it.  The days were busy and full - and had a Canadian feel that you just couldn't ignore. The Algonquin hotel was the intended location, and when they didn't finish construction in time, Cricket Cove did their level best to make it all work - and there ended up being  a certain unique charm to it... where else could you find the marketplace in the local curling rink?

One of the evening events was at a local aquarium, and we got to touch all sorts of yucky but interesting things


(One in every two million lobsters is blue. I learned that there.)
and we walked to and from the town for supper at night, and really, it was truly lovely. 

That's Deb Barnhill, Susan B Anderson and Ann Budd

That's just Deb Barnhill and Ann Budd, and no. I don't know how I got them to do that. They were pretty tired.  Maybe their resistance was low. (I think there's a picture out there of me doing the same thing, so maybe I should be careful what I post.) Deb and I had a ton of fun being tour guides to Passamaquoddy Bay. (If each of us had a dime for every time we explained about the highest tides in the world...)

It really was lovely, and I owe a round of thanks to my students, who were charming though a few rough spots.  (I'm thinking from now on, maybe I'll pack an extension cord? )

Maybe it's how pretty it was and how nice my students were or who knows, but all weekend long I knit on the blanket, on and off, and didn't freak out about it.  Much. A few comments were made about how it was sort of largish, but it is a blanket, and it is near the end, and so I ignored that. 

I also sort of ignored it when I couldn't really ram it into my bag any more, and I just vowed to finish, so I could stop dragging it around - but I was on the edging, so I'm wasn't super worried.  Fast forward to last night when I realize three things.

1. I have been doing the edging for a while. It is not getting done very fast. That's weird.
2. I have been wrong all along about Robyn's EDC.  She's expecting her baby sooner than I thought, but only by two days, but still. That's not good news when combined with #1.

I was sitting there worrying about all of this and doing a little math (there are more than 1000 stitches on the needle. Each repeat of the edging finishes 6, plus the extras to get around the corners so how many repeats of the edging do I have to do?) when I picked up my ball of yarn to move it, and it felt a little light. You know the feeling - the ball is squishier than you were expecting, and you think something like "Where the hell is all that yarn gone?"  I wasn't that worried or upset. I knew I had ordered TONS.  More yarn than you could ever use for a baby blanket, even if you have a propensity to make them a little larger than babies (or University students) typically need - so I went to get one of the other skeins and that's when I realized #3.

3. I don't have enough yarn.  Not even close.  I'm short by at least 200m, maybe way more.  Again.

I handled it straight away, ordering it from The Loopy Ewe at daybreak (looks like they have enough in stock)  and I'll just have to cross my fingers that it gets here before a baby does - preferably with enough time to knit it up.  I've got 1.5 skeins left, and the baby will be here anytime.  I'm just sitting here chanting "first babies come at 41 weeks. First babies come at 41 weeks.  First babies come at 41 weeks" but I don't really believe myself. Robyn's not the type to be late for anything.
This is going to be a close one. I've got to go knit.

PS. Anybody up for a little pre-Rhinebeck amuse-bouche? I'll be at WEBS for a great sock thing and a  Knit Smart lecture thing.  It will be a fun start to the holiday. (We all agree Rhinebeck is a holiday - right?)


PPS. Anybody want to hang out with me in Maine? I'll be at Over the Rainbow Yarn.

PPPS. I know. I should do the tour page.  It has a technical issue I'm working on.

Posted by Stephanie at October 2, 2013 3:38 PM