OK, THAT was a good day to dye...

Pretty pics.

February 18th, the day my Shelridge trip didn't happen again:

That is the dried and wrapped first skein I showed you hanging sideways last week.

February 21st, just because there was more yarn and cake dye lying around:


February 25th, Lettuce Knit squeezed me into their tiny dye kitchen for a great how-to with Laura and now I know how to play with Acid Dyes safely:


For a complete chronicle and photos of all 9 dye lots, check out a new Colourplay section under my Sockumentary section in the Gallery.

In other Knits, you can also peep at the 2008 Socumentary for the latest completed pairs - Adam's spiral rib socks and my Salish Sea Socks.

By the way, if any sockknitters have strayed by - 8 of the 9 yarns I dyed were double skeins and hence 1 pair's worth of each is for sale if you're interested. I'm not set up for an online shop or anything (umm... yet.), but mail me, we can chat.

Well, I just about dyed....

So, for the second time, a road trip to Shelridge Farm for a yarn-dyeing workshop got called off.

I decided to take matters into my own hands, and did a remarkable job of not painting the kitchen in Pollack-reminiscent splatters of icing dye.

While my very first "dye jobs" are hardly masterworks, 2 of the 3 were mostly what I meant to do.


Oops, sorry about the rotation....

Here's the next:


I'm mostly happy with both of those. The first was done via a "hot pour" method in crock pot and took a second dumping of dye to get even the coverage I got. The second was a graduated dye, where I slowly removed the skein from the pot, while slowly adding more dye to the remaining skein.

This was the accident:



I'm not even going to try an explain what I was going for here, but the end result was nothing like it. Still a perfectly knittable yarn, but the colour... well, I have all kinds of names for the colourway in mind but they involve the word "bruise".

There was actually a 4th item dyed, but in the same colours as the first yarn, and it looks messy but should recover:



This is a roving, not yarn, and the reason it's hanging all over my shower like a technicolour squid is that I got worried about how much handling this fibre, though it's "superwash" was getting. So I didn't want to squish or spin it to dry it, and I just draped it there to drip away. I think I've done a bit more reading and wouldn't dye a roving via the exact same process as a yarn again - I'll go with the wool sausage method (pantyhose casing!) next time, as per That Laurie's guest spot at the Yarn Harlot blog in 2005.

Not such a good day to dye, I guess.

So, today was supposed to be a road trip to Shelridge Farm, but the sunny but cold and windy weather here is apparently snowsqualls all over the highway up to Durham. So those of us who didn't get phone calls about postponing to next week's snow date were met at our rendezvous by someone with the message that we were having a brunch'n'knit intstead. The road trip was hosted by Karen of Shall We Knit, my new favourite LYS even though it's not quite the most L of the LYSs around. She's out in New Hamburg and has the cutest shop.

So, at brunch I made a bit of progress on these:



The 3rd attempt at Adam's next socks.

Yesterday was a divided day. I had a relapse into a quilting project, and organized 102.5 of 104 hexagons into this layout:



I've temporarily titled this Wall of Confusion but I don't think that'll be the final name.


After I decided I had to leave that stew on the design wall for a while, I moved on to this:



The first of the Salish Sea Socks from the December 07 Rockin' Sock Club. This sock is designed by Cat Bordhi, based on one of her New Pathways architectures. Her book has already been added to my library, and it's a brain-twister. Everything about this sock looked outa whack until I completely finished the heel and foot, and then WOW - totally cool perfectly fit sock. Lots of fun. I only knit one at a time instead of my usual two both because the left and right patterns are different and because I wasn't sure I was doing it right and didn't want to have to rip two socks if I messed up. I'm going to start the second before finishing the leg, though, just to ration my yarn evenly. After all that work, I wouldn't want to be short by 2 cm or something.

Today's goals: get past the heels on Adam's socks, update Ravelry, and cast on for another Moebius (Karen's brunch was bad for encouraging that - everyone was wearling like, 3 of them).

... a really good thing I'm a process knitter.

... because they got frogged AGAIN last night after I concluded a) the toes were too pointy and b) due to my own lack of ability to learn from past arsing up, they were waaaayyy too BIG this time because I changed both stitch count and needles size at once. I should know better.

In better news, though - I skived off part of today with a hurt back, heading home at lunch to "work at home". Actually, I was working at home, both for real and BECAUSE... an hour after I escaped, The Management declared the office closed due to inclement weather and sent everyone home - and I have the pager so my pager shift started at 3 instead of 6. Ah well. Still nicer to sit on the couch with my laptop when my back hurts.

In even better news, the Universe sent some fun Karma my way the last couple of days. First, I got totally sucked in to helping organize Thom's Afghan, a Ravelry group and project team focussed on knitting 320 tiny little squares and sewing them all up into an afghan for Ravelry's Grandpa, (father of Codemonkey Casey and dad-in-law of Co-founder Jess) who was badly, badly injured late last fall and is still bound to bed/wheelchair, with broken bones in at least 3 limbs. It wasn't my idea but I nominated myself project manager by starting the group to organize it. Oy! Hours spent online when I should be knitting!

But here's the Karma part - I won yarn! And stitch markers! Despite having ripped out the RPM socks, those would have been my 3rd entry to the December Sockdown contest, and I had two in already. Pair #2, which was my Lenores, won in the finishers draw! I get some handpainted yarn and stitch markers. Great knitter mojo going on this week, sock mess notwithstanding. This was the biggest Sockdown to date, too, with 216 entries and I still won in the draw.

And now, we return to your regularly scheduled sock knitting, while staring out back at the heap of snow that has buried my patio. I have to finish Sockdown: January! so I can cast on for Sockdown: February!

Good Thing I'm A Process Knitter

See how much of these sock toes are done?



Well, that's how much of the socks were left to be done last night. Yep, I had the REST of the socks knit about 24 hours ago. Then I tried to have Adam try them on, thinking I'd just get a hint of how much farther the toes had to go... and he couldn't get them on. Holy poopers, I'd knit all but the last 2 inches of both of a pair of size 13 socks, and he couldn't even get them on his feet. Despite the fact that they were the "large" size of the pattern. And they were loose on my feet. *sigh*. For some reason I think Adam and I have about the same ankle circumference (he's bigger - I'm pudgier) but it just doesn't translate.

Sooooo... off they went back into a yarn cake, and I'm starting over at the toes.

No pic tonight, but I"m doing better with the second go at Titania's Revenge.

And I'm looking forward to this:

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE RSC!!!!








For some reason I had a brain glitch and forgot to photo this skein before winding, but this is installment 1 of Rockin' Sock Club '08. A Chinese-New-Year inspired colour called Dragon Dance. I must admit, I find it close to last summer's Firebird, and though I quite like it - haven't disliked ANY of my STR yet - I didn't dive right in. Just pondering it. I'll have to start soon, though.

Then there's this, arrived a few days before the Dragon Dance:



A pinkey-purple Merino called Plum Crazy by Crazy4Dyeing. Pick Up Sticks' January club. I think this might make a Mom sock, and the club pattern it came with lends itself to my expandable ankle trick as well.

So, once I finish the re-started Bearfoots, I've got some more lined up.

Is This Supposed To Make Me Dizzy?

Well, I'm keeping up with my spinning class.

If I'd been thinking about it, I really should have taken pictures of last week's materials before, and at various stages during working them.

Here's the better of the results:



What we got sent home with were a couple ounces of fibre in primary red, blue and yellow, with instructions to card, blending if we wished, spin, and ply the yarns. Check out the Gallery under Handspun 08 for more.

After finishing all my homework, I decided that, since my wheel is a loaner and I won't have it a month from now, I should have another go at the drop spindle method. Now, I got a "learn to spin" kit last summer, and really haven't done much after my Smurf Poo debacle. However, two things have happened since. One, the spinning class has given me a better sense on drafting, and PREdrafting, and I'm a little more comfortable handling fibre. Two, I asked the lovely folks who make the Journeywheel, which I am awaiting in the March batch, if they could make me an exotic wood special-request spindle.

This is she:



My pretty Pink Ivory mini-Bossie with a Tulipwood shaft. I still suck, and my single is alternately over and under-spun, however, it much more clearly resembles yarn than the stuff I tried on the Louet. I can see from this spindle why even amongst casual spinners, spindle collections quickly develop. First, you probably need different spindles in different weights to accomplish different things. But also, the tools themsevles, from the Bosworths' and many other coveted makers, are works of art. I'm already developing a list of vendors to keep an eye out for!

Firsts of the Year

Finished this weekend. First socks of 2008 (admittedly, started in December but I count by finish date):



My Lenores. I can't really call them anything else, the pattern is Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and the yarn is the Lenore colourway, the club preview of the Raven series Socks That Rock from Blue Moon.

And the first other knit thing, my Thrummed Moebius:



It is very warm and cozy, but I fear it looks like I've gone out and scalped a Muppet. I have since taken the large, poofy, widely-spaced thrums off and broken them into smaller, closer ones. It may be either around-the-house wear or under-a-coat wear (except, it's not cold enough!) but I love it anyway, the Moebius concept is brain-twistingly brilliant.

OTN for now: The perpetual scarf, Titania's Revenge socks for the Jan Sockdown, and RPM socks for the him, also qualified for the December Sockdwon though I might not finish them in time. My goal is to get both socks done by end of month because I'm starting two pair of Cat Bordhi "New Pathways" socks for the Feb Sockdown.

Here it is....

My first lumpy, over-twisted, attempts at yarn. Truthfully, my second, as the first was done in-class Tuesday, and this was my homework.

Is It Yarn Yet?

Well, it seems I am following in the footsteps, or perhaps that should be stumbling vaguely in the same direction as, that finest of yarnies, the Yarn Harlot. You see, it turns out that 'round these here parts, Tuesdays Are For Spinning. At least for tonight and 5 more weeks.

I just started the KW Weavers and Spinners Guild's Spinning 1 class. Oh, and for those of you confused between my crafty and fitness pursuits, this is not Spinning(tm) the Indoor Cycle Workout, I AM talking about producing my own string from the hair of sheep.

Unfortunately, I'll have to edit for photos tomorrow, just because my camera battery is dead again, it drains itself just sitting there and I keep forgetting. However, I should be able to show you half a bobbin of my lumpy string, and perhaps in a few more days, another bobbin of better string - because we have homework. They actually send us home with a Lendrum folding wheel and a baggie of roving, and we have to come back next week with two bobbins. So far, I'm not too promising but perhaps I can spend some time on it this week.

Somewhat more resolved about the New Year

OK, so, having messed up my exercise on New Year's Day and calmed myself by looking at what a good 2007 I had, here's some thoughts and intentions - not "resolutions" with the inherent implication of failure - for 2008.

I have joined another Running Room 10 k walk clinic, and I will do my best to attend every weekly clinic night, at least. If I miss, it will be for reasons of illness or critical issue with work (being 24/7 support and all) and I will then try to make sure I walk the required kms another time in the week.

So far I've got my blood glucose off to a good 2008 start, and I will try to keep it there.

I will learn to spin my own yarn. At least get the basics covered.

I will try to finish the 3 lovely big quilt projects I have half-done, before the year is out. Preferably the fourth one, which is "in queue", as well.

I will continue with an intention I started last year, that at least 1% of my take-home income will be allocated to charitable donations of some sort.

Knitting will continue, but I will try not to stress out about it!!! Additionally:

• I will at least attempt the rest of the Ravelry Sockdowns. Even if I don't like the theme of the month, learning new stuff is good.
  
• I will have no more than 5 projects on needles at once.
  
• No more than three will be socks.... (a pair is one "project")
  
• While I am not yet at the critical mass requiring yarn fasts or stashbusting, I will do my best to knit at least half my items from yarn I already have. That is, I can only buy one "batch" of yarn for two or more projects done. For the purposes of having half a hope at achieving that, yarn from already-subscribed "clubs" which will be delivered throughout the year is counted as "yarn I already have" - since I paid for it.
  
• Just so I don't completely scam out on the above, I will not stock up on anything sweater-sized. I must finish one sweater-sized or blanket-sized project (and one other) to buy enough for another sweater; otherwise, two pair of socks finished lets me buy one sock-sized (hat, mitts, etc) yarn quantity.
  
• Only one non-sock-club Blue Moon purchase permitted. I will choose conscientiously and will NOT order "one of everything".
  
• Gifts don't count as "purchases" - should anyone wish to help me stick to my intentions by supplying me directly.
  

A review to better my resolve.

Just finishing some Gallery rearrangements and tidying up for the New Year.

In 2007, I accomplished (in no particular order):

A heck of alot of work. I earned my keep. Day job, 'nuff said, nothing more exciting.

an A- in a long-overdue programming course. A-, btw, is a score of 85-89 in Athabasca's books. I can deal with that.

Somewhat-regular Yoga, and my first Yoga Show intensive.

I began a fitness-walking program. Taught gym classes, though with decreasing frequency.

Kept my A1C tests below 7 for another year, though they sneak up and down a bit. If you don't know what that means, nevermind, it's not that exciting.

Adam and I travelled through parts of New York State and to Manhattan, NYC, for a few days. nice place to visit

The cool stuff: Knit 24 or 25 pairs of socks (not sure, amongst the 27 in the Gallery right now, if it was 2 or 3 pair that were actually finished in '06. I'm now documenting anually).

more cool stuff: I knit 11 projects that weren't socks, including the geek-coolest Dalek, and my first lace thing, Stormwater.

startitis: though I finished one small quilt actually started in 2006, I started 3 more, as yet unfinished, in '07.

I made my very first attempts at spindle-spinning. More to come.

A Happy, though Irresolute, New Year

2008 has had its ups and downs so far. The first 3 hours were spent in good company and rather surprisingly intellectual discussion (given the hour and the likely inebriation of the participants). The next 6 or so were spent getting home to bed then sleeping. The following 3, unfortunately, sucked dog butt big time, but it's improving a bit again.

I woke up with the half-formed idea in mind of blogging a New Year's greeting today, complete with an overview of my triumphant conquering of a first race-walk event.

Well, THAT didn't exactly happen. What also didn't happen was a coherent explanation of why - 10 pages of blogging that farce have just been deleted. Here's the equation: Snowstorm + holiday, no plowing + event location at the Kitchener YMCA + 3*(missed turns) + poor and obscured signage & direction + no parking lot management + idiots idling cars and blocking traffic in 3 different directions in a parking lot + a race route THROUGH said unplowed, mis-managed parking lot such that cars were struggling in 8 inches of snow to avoid randomly oriented runners and walkers = Johanna 40 minutes late for the race start and getting out of car just as her walking group was finishing.

No one thing would have flipped me out, but by the time I bumped in to my happy and finished gang as they were heading in for hot chocolate I was ready to take a bat to the windshield of the moron who wasted the LAST 10 minutes of my time blocking my way to parking - so I quit.

So Happy flippin' New Year. I am back home where I belong, on the sofa in my PJs, knitting and setting up Obsidian the Mac to play Torchwood. My first resolution is to avoid attendance at any more organized race events.

Frozen Fog and the post-holiday ho-hums.

So that was that. Lots of frantic knitting, a much-appreciated Dalek, goodies for the kids and the folks, and now, back to normality. "Christmas" break is a weird thing at this phase of my life. I've lost all the wound-up excitement there used to be over it, but I spend a couple of days disoriented and feeling like I've forgotten or missed something. Then I'm just tired and want to go back to hibernating until April.

I forced myself out of the condo yesterday and Adam and I went for a walk of about 5 km, which was nice - I'd been so inactive for the previous week I think I could feel my heart getting sloppy about its job. Yesterday was beautiful, a weird quirk of the weather led to an early-morning fog freezing into a crystallized mist on all the trees, then it got sunny. It was a very sparkly walk. Did some chore-like stuff around home, and returned to one of my long-lingering quilt projects now that I have neither knitting nor programming deadlines.

This morning I was up at 6 for a 7 am gym class, and actually had 8 of my early-bird regulars out. Today's fog has just turned into gray, slippery, snow, though, not as nice as yesterdays. Now I'm sitting in a near-abandoned workplace noodling away at some tasks. With a sock cuff out beside me so I can knit a few stitches when the computer glitches, yay.

ho-hum.

Holiday Gift Knitting....

Is leaving my hands in knots and has caused a twitch under my eye!

I hope everyone likes their stuff. Spoilers later.

An Evening with The Big Sock

Okay, so I have to read up a bit more on this whole project, but tonight I took a little road trip out to New Hamburg, and visited a new-ish yarn shop called Shall We Knit. This did a small amount of credit card damage, as I found yet another speckled Koigu colourway I couldn't resist, and some Claudia handpainted laceweight, and I couldn't pass of the surprisingly economical peruvian alpaca sock yarn. More on that later when I load the new stash into Ravelry.

The real reason for my trip out there (yes, it wasn't just stash enhancement!) was this:



That apparent heap of yarn tangle is an attempt to break the world record for the World's Largest Sock. That blog entry is over a year out of date, but the sock has gone on since then. The huge mass of yarn is touring North America and growing rapidly as guilds and shops host knit-nights where all comers can work a few stitches on the sock.

It's a whimsical-seeming project and the point is not obvious, but working on it for a few dozen stitches, the sense of interconnectedness comes out - the end result is not really the point. This is a craft/art project uniting the work of hundreds of knitters the world around. At one point I may have been the only person in the store - it was quiet night and the acquaintance I bumped into had to leave - but I was working on a project with hundreds, maybe thousands, of others. Kind of neat.

Ok, well, don't get sick in K-W

While I want to know more about how this study was done, it is not reassuring to know that my nearest hospital is the worst in the country, however the data is sliced up.

I would like to point out that Grand River does not use my company's products....

http://www.thestar.com/article/281338

I'll try to dig up more of the report. Here is a link to how the standardized mortality rate is determined:

http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=AR_1789_E&cw_topic=1789

Addended later: In Grand River's defence, and to my relief, there appears to have been a reporting issue where many of their palliative cases were included when they should not have been. Results were skewed well outside of the 100-point average.

Blog sale (cuz the condo won't let me use the Garage)

Does anyone reading this need:

Non working P4 computer or parts: P4 proc, 512 MB ram, CD-RW/DVD-R, 20 Gb disk, USB 2.0 card, BT dongle, case and (possibly dead) motherboard

Clock-radio with CD player

MEC sling-style pack

Unknown brand of messenger bag - cordura nylon, book-size.

Random heap of Tupperware stuff (ask if interested in details).

I'm just closet cleaning again, and while these are posted on some local buy-sell boards, if friends or family need and would like, they're available for sale, barter, or re-gift in exchange for karma, as you could afford. ;-)

Back from the Beeg Apple, part 2

So, well, a week ago today, Evelyn dropped us at the Peekskill train station and we got on a train to Manhattan. A one hour ride from this small-town burb and we were right in the middle of Grand Central Station.

We popped up into the main terminal only to head for the S-line of the MTA subway system, and shuttle right over to Times Square. It was there we first hit the streets of New York City. By this time, lunch was calling and we had a very expensive, but pretty good, lunch at the Brooklyn Diner, a good example of the Times Square kitsch. From there, we hit the pavement and walked, probably farther than any native would, to B&H photo which was part of Adam's mission. Exchanges and purchases for friends were done, and unfortunately my sweetie didn't really have any shopping of his own on his agenda. We headed from there to his cousin Eli's place, a walk-up studio near the north-west corner of Central Park. Eli was putting us up for our stay in the city, so we had promised that meals would be on us, and she led us to a very interesting Peruvian-Chinese restaurant, of all places! I had a beef stew with coriander, Eli tried their "world famous" roast chicken (every restaurant in the City claims a world famous something, it seems), and I totally forget what Adam had but it was good too.

Our Tuesday night mission was a trip to the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue to pick up my new interface to the world. I asked if we could do that earlier rather than later in our stay as then I'd have a day or two to try it out in case something was wrong. Nothing was, and my new MacBook is named Obsidian. Eli has a couple of unsecured WiFi spots near her so I admit, I was pirating a bit of bandwidth to get started.

Wednesday, we headed back down to Columbus Circle, and spent much of our time wandering Central Park. Again, check out Adam's pages for the photos. There's alot of walking to be done in New York City, and I was actually suffering some strain injuries by then, so we were meandering, resting, watching what went by, etc. Mid-afternoon we made a disappointing stop for street meat (not nearly as good as home) and a bit later found a more favourable pizza. We then met up with Eli, and headed towards Madison Square Garden to meet her partner Damian, and grab dinner before our Cirque du Soleil show. A Korean BBQ dinner ensued, and then Damian was back off to study (law student) and Adam, Eli and I headed for the WaMu theatre at the gardens. Wintuk is not exactly a Cirque du Soleil big top production, and while it had many of the trappings of Cirque which I love, it had very trite dialogue and lyrics which made it seem really dumbed-down. I definitely prefer Cirque's classic abstract story told through the performance. That said, the stunts were, as always, amazing, though and it was an enjoyable show. We went for dessert at Junior's, a diner-style restaurant famous for its Cheesecakes, and then we were back home to crash on the pull-out in Eli's studio again.

Thursday, Adam and I were on our own the whole time as our hostess was busy with school and work. It was, unfortunately, a dreary, rainy day, though, so we wandered the town. We had thought to check out the International Center for Photography's museum, but the gallery was featuring war journalism displays which weren't really of interest. We popped back to the Apple store to check out laptop cases, but nothing really suited me (I had hoped Wintuk would have Cirque du Soleil's laptop backpack, but it didn't). We wandered next door to FAO Schwartz, a famous toy store, and admired much but surprisingly, didn't buy - most of what I thought would be cool for nieces and nephew really wasn't that different from what could be purchased here. The really outstanding stuff was, of course, in the 5- or 6-figure price range. The larger-than-life model of Iorek Bjarnarsson was impressive, but set up so that it couldn't be photographed very well.

We got on a bus back to Times Square, which had somehow become the point from which we landmarked, despite the fact that I think I'd seen enough of it after 1 day. The bus stop we got off at was coincidentally right in front of the Social Sciences and Humanities branch of the New York Public Library, one of four large, non-lending research libraries in the system and the one housed in the original NYPL building. The building is actually built on top of the original Croton Dam, the first Croton reservoir having been right in the city. We walked in, and happened to catch the start of a tour led by one of the library Docents (volunteers), so we joined. It was a fascinating introduction, and our guide was a superb speaker armed with all kinds of New York trivia. The building itself is a treasure, and its collections are priceless - from clay tablets to DVDs, all to be perused for free (though possibly very strictly supervised and contained, as in priceless items such as the Gutenberg Bible and other ancient manuscripts).

From there, we made a second trip to the Swatch store because I'm a sucker for those goofy wristwatches (we'd been on Tuesday already) and I did the classic tourist thing and bought the "only available here" Times Square swatch, and another dress one, and I'd already bought a sportier one - oops.

At that point, we hit Chevy's Mexican grille and had a made-at-the-table Guacamole and some nice tex-mex entrees, and then, despite Adam's lingering wish to find an improv show, we found we really were too beat for much else and headed "home".

Friday morning we took Eli out for a nice brunch at a french bistro, and while she headed home to work, we were off to the American Museum of Natural History. I need to spend another week in New York just to see more of that. It's an impressive maze-like facility. We paid the "suggested" general admission of $15 a piece and declined the add-on fees for special displays - which was fine as we'd never have had time. We saw the space and cosmos displays, hall of the Northwest Coast native peoples, the Human Origins exhibit, Meteorites (very quick rush through that) and Gemstones and Minerals. That covered about 1/8 of the square footage, maybe, if we don't count the closed areas. Wow.

Having originally intended to head back to Peekskill "mid afternoon" - we didn't finish at the museum until almost 5, and then picked a random restaurant for dinner, an upscale Japanese place that was quite good. Grabbed our bags and took the subway back to Grand Central, bought our Peekskill tickets and got back there around 8:30. Evelyn, funny enough, was in the city for her play and got home around 11.

Saturday was our last day before the haul home, and our first with Ev and Andrew both home, of course. We got taken to a local tourist site, Bear Mountain, a high point in the local range where you could drive right up to the lookout point, so we did. A little bit downhill in the same park is a recreation area, with an ice rink, Inn/restaurant (under renovation) and a carousel, so little Robyn got her first merry-go-round ride. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole business.

A late lunch, coffee stop, and then it was back home for Ev to get ready for her play - and we headed back to Manhattan for one last night and real "off off Broadway" show. The drive in was an adventure itself, and included a quick zip past Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site. We got to the theatre later than curtain call, but with a bit of time to spare. I will admit - I've seen worse theatre and better, but it was really exciting to have a friend in a real show and Ev did great despite the challenge of most of the rest of the cast having been re-cast for this closing week. She was a bit upset that the re-cast lead really couldn't seem to learn his lines, so just made it up as he went and rushed through. The play was, by its nature, depressing, but nonetheless interesting, if challenging, to watch. Our last kick at Manhattan was to head to Canal Street for a late-night Chinatown meal. Mission accomplished, we were home by about 2 am, then up again at 8 for the long haul back home. 9 hours of interstates and some exhausted crabbiness on my part (sorry! I was getting tired!) and we sailed through the border at Niagara falls, having been forewarned by a fortuitous pixel board of delays at Lewiston.

And that was that. There's much more of New York, city and state, that I'd like to see someday, but now I just need to catch up on sleep, and hope I can get back into my routine for tomorrow.

Just Escaped the Big Apple!

So, well, despite buying a new laptop and finding plenty of unsecured wireless, New York was just so big and busy, I totally haven't reported in until now. Now being Friday night, and my present location back at friends' in Peekskill, after a couple of hours of negotiating the impressive regional transit system that blankets downstate New York and New York City.

I'll run a brief chronology, and refer those of you who want the photos over to Adam's place.

Friday the 9th, we left Waterloo and took 4 or 5 hours to wander our way to the Finger Lakes for a couple nights at a B&B as a halfway stop. The B&B was nice, though not luxury. Food was great, rooms were a bit damp, the property was beautiful. Friday night, we took a trip into Ithaca to see what could be seen, stumbled into a yarn store and found a few not-available-in-Waterloo skeins, then lucked into a great dinner and superb dessert at a place called Madeleine's. We earned the dessert by then following the recently set up Sagan Planet Walk from the centre point of the Ithaca commons to the town's Sciencenter. We actually missed a slight turn just past Saturn and detoured accidentally into the Kuiper belt (Ithaca High School area) and probably walked twice the distance of the intended walk just finding our way back to Neptune.

On Saturday, we took a wander from our B&B near Trumansburg over to the next nearest late, Seneca, and found the village of Watkins Glen, known apparently for its international auto racing events but which had come to my attention from Ravelry recommendations for the local yarn store, Finger Lakes Fibers. That scored another couple skeins of Schaefer and Artyarns. Sadly, other than that shop and a nice looking wine clearing house we didn't enter, there didn't seem to be alot of life in the town. We walked out along the marina breakwater, and supposed that the town must be much more lively in the warmer months.

From Watkins Glen, we made the trek to Corning, took a brief run through another somewhat under-populated downtown, but then returned to the Museum of Glass. This impressive facility, or rather set of facilities, houses gallery, museum/historical centre, science centre and workshop, all dedicated to the arts and sciences of glassmaking. We could really have spent a full two days there and probably not taken everything in; I missed alot having not realized how extensive the museum really was, and spending too much time in just the first couple of galleries. We meandered back to Ithaca in the dark, grabbed a few pizza slices from the dingey-looking but superb Pizza Aroma, and headed home to crash.

Sunday got us up and going, and we spent a good three hours exploring Taughannock Falls State Park, first above and then below the gorge formed by Taughannock creek and its waterfall. Lunch at an also dingey-looking but obviously super (packed mid-afternoon) burger stop, Glenwood Pines, was followed by the third, and so far last, yarn store on the trip, Knitting Etc on the other side of the lake, where I scored a bit more Schaefer yarn. Then it was off to Peekskill, and I was very glad Adam took on most of the driving when we reached the last stretch after the interstate, which was an incredible roller-coaster ride down the Catskills, in the dark, on unfamiliar roads. None the worse for wear, but tired, we reached our friends' place around 7, actually beating Ev home from her play, and had a late take-out dinner when she arrived.

Monday was spent wandering the area around Peekskill, visiting the Croton Reservoir which is one of several reservoirs established to provide water for New York City and the surrounding counties and towns. The huge dam that established the reservoir is quite a project, all the more impressive for being around a century old, and at that, being the second Croton Dam. We saw the remains of the first a bit later in the week. A little window shopping in Cold Spring followed, then back home for a homestyle diner dinner and a serious night's sleep. My feet and legs were already killing me, not even halfway into our trip.

Tuesday morning, we got a ride to the local station and headed for Grand Central Station in Manhattan. More adventures to follow.....

Impending Big Apple, in more ways that one?

So, if you didn't hear, we're off on a vacation this Friday, for the next week and a bit. Wandering through New York State for a few days, B&B'ing in the Finger Lakes, visiting friends in Hudson Valley, then a few days in Manhattan with Adam's cousin.

In spite of the looming course deadline, I'm looking forward to this. I had a plan - cram the 2nd last assignment in tonight and tomorrow before we go, take my book along to noodle out rough notes for the last assignment, and crunch when I got back.

Well, Murphy's Law, section 81 article 426, has come into play and my PC, while not completely dead, is lapsing in and out of a coma the last few days, has bedsores and pneumonia and probably impending multiple organ failure. It doesn't seem to be anything that can be addressed by fidgeting with anyone component, and I'm guessing that it's the mainboard flaking out.

So a new goal was added to the New York destination: Apple Store, Fifth Avenue.