Back home!

Gosh, have I gotten out of the habit of blogging while I was gone!

I had a wonderful time--sculling camp was really fun (after the first couple of sessions, which were overwhelming), and seeing my family and then Kevin's family afterwards was great. And Moppet enjoyed the peace and quiet of the house, with visits from MissAliceFaye (spaces? no spaces?). So much so that she was annoyed to see me... perhaps because I immediately started brushing her?

Kevin took some incredibly flattering pictures of me rowing (I look especially stunning when I have to r e a c h w a a a a y out across the boat to reach the far oarlock!). For some reason, they're in reverse order, so it looks like I materialize on the water, approach the dock, set up the boat, practice rowing on land, carry my oars to the docks, then stand around. But the standing around was actually first.

We spent between 3 and 4 hours a day rowing, plus stretching, videos (watching ourselves as well as famous races), some yoga, and lots of eating, but I still did a fair bit of knitting:

- I finished the socks from New Pathways and am OK with the shaping, although not thrilled. I must learn to resist the pictures in that book, and stick with the shaping methods that fit my feet (I plan to give the socks to a non-knitter, who will have no idea what about them irks me so).

- I knit a hat and sweater for my impending niece/nephew. They were meant to be a set (I used the same yarn), but instead the sweater is toddler-sized and the hat is baby-sized. It's probably just as well, since that means the sweater (which took longer to make) will fit a bit longer. However, since the baby will live outside DC, much of that time it will probably be too warm for a sweater. A and S, is there any chance you want to move to Alaska to accommodate my sweater-making? How about turning up the AC?

- I knit about 2 rows of the top-down shawl I'm starting to design, using the kimono lace pattern from Folk Shawls (I think that's the name), but adapted to fit a triangular shape better. This would be impressive, but I'd just started, so the rows were very short.

And on the way home I just missed what might have been a wool shopping spree. Someone at the general store two towns over from the camp said that the inn across the street (the Craftsbury Inn) had a wool shop! I scurried over to the Inn, but it turned out that they've closed the shop. One of the innkeepers said that they do have wool for sale (evidently, everything from raw fiber to handspun yarn), but that his wife was the one who knew about it--and she was out of town, so no wool for me. Buy some on my behalf if you're ever in Craftsbury!

But I consoled myself when we stopped for lunch in St. Johnsbury, visiting both of the town's yarn stores, Wool Away and the Rose Knitting Parlor (just down the street, at 378 Railroad Street #103 St. Johnsbury, VT--but apparently not online). I bought some lovely brown yarn from an alpaca named Gracie (excellent fine motor skills for a creature without opposable thumbs) at the Rose Knitting Parlor. I was originally thinking I'd make a lacy scarf, and I may still, but I'm also thinking about wristlets.

We swung by home for about 5 hours Friday afternoon, to unpack, launder, repack and eat, then left for part 2 of our trip: DC for a baby shower (the one for which I knit the sweater and hat), then on to NC. Naturally, I swapped my knitting, so I brought the makings of 2 new pairs of socks, as well as the neglected shawl, on that portion of the trip. That may seem excessive (especially for one who sleeps like a baby on every form of transportation!), but it's best to be prepared. I did finish 1 pair of socks and make a bit of progress on the shawl by the time I got home, but supplies for the second pair may have been over optimistic!

Ok... this is kind of boring without pictures, huh? It could be worse, though--I could start rambling about sculling (at least I know something about knitting!).