Checked

My Rhinebeck sweater is not done, but it is almost done. All that remains is a single pocket and that’s only 28 tiny little rows, and then there’s a little bit of sewing, and I’m done. I’ve even got most of the ends woven in – and I remembered to pack the buttons, and a needle and thread.  All of that seems like a small task, and absolutely doable tonight, and then I can wash and block it tomorrow, and it should properly be dry by Saturday.  I am so confident in this that I decided not to bring it on the plane. It’s too big, and too unwieldy, and people are bothered enough by knitting on a plane without bringing some ginormous thing that’s going to be spilling out of my lap all over the place. There’s little enough room on a plane without the sweater, and besides, it’s only 20 minutes worth of knitting, so I’d need other knitting for the flight and… well. I did something radical.

littlewavesuitcase-2016-10-13

I checked it. I put it in my sweater, and I gave it to the Air Canada gods, and now I am truly obsessed with the idea that they’ll lose it. I check bags all the time and I never, ever worry about them, but there’s something different about packing your knitting, isn’t there? I’m obsessed, and worried, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Is this the thing that goes wrong? Can you have a Rhinebeck sweater without drama? IS THIS THE DRAMA?

Anyway. Me and my sock are thinking about it.

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Rhinebeck ho!

83 thoughts on “Checked

  1. The more value you attach to something, the bigger the “what ifs”. Hope there’s no drama at all, except the drama of the sweater’s rightness for you.

  2. Tune in next week, faithful listeners, to find out if our intrepid knitter was reunited with her sweater at her destination. (. . . I love a good cliffhanger!)

  3. Crossing my fingers for you. With this many good thoughts headed the way of you and your sweater, everything will be alright. Love that sock. Please share which yarn it is.

  4. Hopefully there will not need to be a bolo on the sweater, and did you do the stripes on the sock, or was your yarn extra helpful? I like it when my yarn is helpful like that.

  5. Sending all the best thoughts, because this clearly is flirting with danger after everything else turning out so specifically well for this sweater.

  6. I shall be refreshing my Margarita. Anybody got any popcorn left? I’ll share the chips-n-salsa. Come to think of it, Daughter had a birthday yesterday and there is some devil’s food cake with chocolate hazelnut frosting to share too.

  7. Ah yes, we’ll all be disappointed if there is no drama with the Rhinebeck sweater. But let us hope there is no drama with the travel and our beloved Harlot can join us at Rhinebeck with or without a new sweater. I’m actually on the fence about going – my son has a marching band competition in Deleware on Saturday that will finish about 10:30pm. After putting him on the bus at 4:30am that morning. Yes, we’re going down to watch, so 2 hour drive each way. My husband has encouraged me to go to Rhinebeck on Sunday – will I have the energy after a 17+ hour day before? Don’t know.

  8. There’s living on the edge, and then there’s liking the edge so much you try to create one when there didn’t need to be one.

    I think a line was just crossed.

    (also, I think one of these years I’m going to have to make it to Rhinebeck.)

    • ‘Tis true Steph: the cycling, the taking young children on holiday, the snorkelling … you are one risk-taking lady and this is just further proof of the fact if it were needed. That sweater will only be loved if it is hard enough won, and this way it will be. (We won’t talk about the alternative scenario.)

  9. In the final episode our heroine knits while drinking red wine and eating chocolate with three playful kittens and an incontinent marmot on her lap…

  10. I see what you did there. The sweater was going along so well, with no hiccups or drama, that you just had to add an element of danger to it. Fingers crossed it all turns out alright!

  11. Oh, c’mon Steph. This is not your first blog post. You know that we all want to know what the sock yarn is and how to get it. Why must you keep us in suspense?

  12. This is definitely a case of creating the possibility of drama because you need that extra spice in your life. I can’t be judgmental though, since I’ve done plenty of things like this myself.

    Enjoy Rhinebeck!

  13. Have fun and faith that the precious Rhinebeck sweater will sail along with you and stun everyone with its mere presence… or stab people with those tiny, sharp Zing dpns and yes, what the fudge is that yarn!!?

  14. Good looking sock and niiiice sweater. Perhaps the drama is…there is no drama. However, I do get sqweegie in my stomach when I check knitting or documents I have to have or laptops loaded with THE software or all of anything. However, this is a non-stop flight – all will be well. Have a lovely Rhinebeck, looking forward to the report.

  15. I wish you safe travel, wonderful weather, a careful bag handler and no humidity (low humidity good for drying sweaters or hair). I’ll be looking for your beautiful sweater when I get to Rhinebeck Sat. (-;

  16. Enjoying the fact that your almost-done sweater is taking up almost all the room in your suitcase. Is the drama that you’ve actually forgotten to pack other outfits? Knitting takes precedence, obvs.

  17. You know, every once in a while, everyone gets a situation where everything just works out “right”.

    Do not let that make you cocky, because fate is watching and for every time it all goes right there is that inevitable “gotcha”. 🙂

    Your sweater will be fine. The sock..well that might get left on the plane. LOL

  18. I always knit on the plan when I fly and have never had an issue. Do you think other people are ticked off that you are knitting or do you just feel squished in the seat? Interesting comment.

  19. Let’s hope there are no Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones in the cargo area with your sweater You are really living dangerously, woman! Prepare for some humiliating act to slap you to your knees. It’s not nice to fool the goddess of knitting. She’ll spank you.

  20. Have a great time at Rhinebeck! I can’t make it this year, and it will be the first time I have had to miss it since I started going about 12 years ago. 🙁

    What yarn are you using for those socks? Its gorgeous.

  21. Hoping that everyone and everything will arrive at all destinations safely. Have a great time at Rhinebeck.the sweater looks gorgeous.

  22. I am digging that suitcase and want to see the outside of it.
    I’m also reading that last line as “Rhinebeck Ho (harlot)!” instead of “Rhinebeck (tally-) ho!” Have fun and here’s hoping the sweater joins you at the baggage claim.

  23. The airlines never lost a bag of mine until the time I was flying from Los Angeles to Bangor Maine in January and I decided to stuff my down coat into the bag that I checked. Arrived in Maine coatless. the baggage guy chuckled: “Don’t worry! It’s 32 degrees here!” (0 degrees in Canadian.) He meant it was warm. I got my coat 2 days later.

  24. Did I read that the sweater arrived safely? I hope that’s the case. I would have chewed my DPN’s to the nubbins on that plane ride, let me tell you. Have a grand time in the land of wool and knit peeps.

  25. Hi Steph!
    This is the Sheep Barn volunteer that turned you on to a fantastic fleece that had and all “5” rating. As far as I know, it was not sold at 3pm. The barn closed at 4pm and I was gone by 3. Hope that fleece went home with someone!

    bjr

  26. Even if there was no drama, I’d love to see a picture of you in the Rhinebeck Sweater! Hope you had a great time! Don’t leave us all hanging!

  27. Morning, Steph! While scrolling through some posts and seeing how long you’ve had your blog, this thought came to mind… You have been an expert knitter for so long, do you still feel your knitting and skill continues to improve or have you reached a plateau of awesomeness that just continues to repeat itself? I mean, if you look back at some of your work from say, 10 years ago, do you look at it and think “I would do that differently now.” Or “I could do that so much better now.”? To my eye, all of your work is flawless. And I know for myself, in all creative endeavors I pursue, I look back and remember how proud I was of a certain project at its completion but think in my head, yeah I could do that better now. But I see myself as someone still on the spectrum of learning and improving, a good, confident knitter forever casting on towards the illusive perfection. 🙂

  28. I see that your sweater made it through some of the comments above, but I am so curious to see it and hear all about it!! Hope all is well!! Surely this rainy Toronto day is good for blog writing!! 😉

  29. I don’t know how you’re getting your knitting on the plane to work on. I wasn’t even aloud to take mine to the Coyotes vs Jets game. It was a GREAT hockey game, but we lost our first home game of the season. I’m in Phoenix, not Winipeg

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