Re: Yesterday, From the Comments

A small collection of replies, answers and thoughts, upon reading the comments.

I’m glad the first item on the list is drink coffee. That sounds like a wise plan.
-Abigail

Damn straight it was. I’m 11 days away from the Rally and 7 days away from submitting a manuscript. The house is littered with empty coffee cups and the other day when I was in the shop where I buy coffee (and I was buying more coffee) the cashier asked me if I was "Ok."  That item got crossed off.

"Extra water shoes"? I understand extra biking shoes, but water shoes? Does the bike rally route include stream crossings this year?
-Carrie in northern NY

You have no idea how fast I would be out of this rally if there was stream crossings. Portaging a bike is not anyway that this knitter’s going to be spending her time. I need the water shoes because (and I can’t believe I’m willing to be part of anything that works like this- and in my defense, I did not totally get it when I signed up) there aren’t really any showers for several days while we’re travelling. There’s lakes though, and we swim in those to cool off and clean up enough that people can’t smell the rally coming from kilometres away. (We get to stay in the dormitories at Queens University halfway through. Real beds! Warm showers!)  A few of the beaches are rocky, ergo – water shoes. Extra water-shoes because I have mine but Jen doesn’t and I was going to see if I could find an extra pair in the camping box.  I didn’t -still, crossed it off. 

What’s a spork?
-Several People

It’s a spoon/fork hybrid that you use when you’re camping so you don’t need to pack so many utensils. Because, you know, carrying both a spoon and a fork would be exhausting.  Turns out it’s also "a colorful and foul-mouthed feature musical comedy" directed and written by J.B. Ghuman Jr.  I will be taking the former – and I did find it – in the Basement, which Joe did vacuum. Crossed off.

You finished the big 100k rides and had some ice wine to celebrate! The list shows me its down to the final wrap-up and pack (wow!!) and you’ve finished knitting something but it’s not blocked so you can’t show us but you’ve started something lacy with a lovely, soft cashmere/silk. How far off am I?
– Kelly H

Shockingly close, actually. Jen and I did indeed finish our back-to-backs (220km in two days) and we did celebrate, but that’s vinho verde – not ice wine. Vinho Verde is a slightly carbonated young wine from Portugal. Low alcohol, light tasting and perfect for summer – and boy was it summer. Those rides were like traversing the surface of a star. Brutally hot. Yes, the list does include the final wrap-up and pack, and I didn’t finish knitting something, but I did start something anyway, but that’s not quite cashmere/silk.. but it’s close.  Actually Kelly, you might have just been right about the rides.

But I’d really, really like to know what that gorgeous, shiny yarn on the gold needles resting on the green thingamabob is made from, and what it’s being knitted into.
Ted

Of course you would, isn’t it lovely?  It’s even prettier in person, if that’s possible, and it should be. That’s Windy Valley Muskox yarn, Royal Blend, a 50/50 blend of Qiviut/silk, and it’s so delicious that it is impossible to do anything other than smile the whole time you knit with it. I had one little ball (in natural) that I’ve been saving.  It’s been sitting on my desk for a good long time now, where I can pat it on bad days, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect project. It’s time came the other day when I decided to make a little something to auction at our team pub fundraiser. (It’s Wednesday night, btw, if you’re in town and you’d like to come, drop me a line.)  I wanted to make something that even non-knitters would think was special, so this little ball is becoming a Pretty Thing.  I’m enjoying knitting it up, and it couldn’t be for a better cause, but I’ll miss that little ball. 

Pretty Thing’s a fast pattern, only about 61 rounds (and takes less than 150m – so perfect for expensive yarns.) If I do 20 rounds per day, I’ll have it done in three days. (Noted, on the list as PT twenty rounds. Done, except that I might rip it out and go down a needle size. Best not to think about it.)

"thesis – get one" cracked me right up.
Mary Heather

Yeah. It was funnier for me after I got one, but I did, so that’s struck through as well.

To sum the list up – for those of you who thought it was code:  I drank coffee and found my spork while Joe shopvac’ed the basement. I wrote the blog (sort of, upgrade notwithstanding) and edited the M essay (M for the title) and thank wool, while I did, a much needed thesis for the piece emerged. I looked for the extra water shoes for swimming, and did the final read through on an essay tentatively titled Immunity to dirt. (Hence, IM on the list, which indeed stood for immunity, and not "I’m dirt" but thanks for worrying that I was having a crisis of self esteem and felt the need to note it on a list.)

LB is my editor, and I needed to email her and find out when she needs the manuscript back after she edits it, because I wanted to make sure I put it in the calendar. (Cal.)  I had to order a pair of cycle socks – because it turns out that my shrimpy little feet don’t fit into the ones I got very well. (Being a knitter has spoiled me. I expect my socks to fit, dammit.)  I did twenty rounds on the Pretty Thing (although I pulled back four – I fixed an error and didn’t like how it looked)  I made an appointment with my optometrist, and I did not vacuum the living room, which perhaps we should have all expected, considering that I didn’t give enough of a crap to even spell it right.   I talked to Erin about her fundraising item, and finally, I blew up the mattress to make sure it doesn’t leak and Jen and I aren’t left sleeping on rocks.  Today I’m putting up the tent and making sure that works too.

See? Not so crazy at all, and I crossed it all off too, except for the vacuuming, and I don’t think we can expect me to care too much about that, which is good, because I don’t.  Gift?  I can do that.  

Today’s gift is a rally special one. Rowan is a handweaver, and she makes some beautiful scarves.  Like this one –

and this one

and this one.

See how amazing she is?  Her very generous gift is not one of these scarves, it’s a custom scarf.  One very lucky person will be choosing the colours and talking to Rowan about what they would like, and then Rowan is going to weave it, just for them.  That person is Angelia R, and I hope she’s as thrilled as I would be.