Vacation Withdrawal

The ms Massdam anchored at Bar Harbor, ME

We've been back from our vacation for five days.  Laundry has finally been caught up on, the floor has ceased swaying and it's back to reality.  We sailed on the ms Maasdam from Boston, to Bar Harbor, Maine, around Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island and finally through Quebec to Montreal.  It was 7 glorious days of being waited on, scrumptious food, being with family, and no dishes to wash.

The holiday didn't start on a good note, though.  Eighteen hours before we were to fly Boston, a crown fell out of my mouth.  Actually, the tooth broke off at the gum line with the broken piece still cemented inside the crown.  Since I don't have a dentist in our new hometown yet (an appointment was made for the Monday after our cruise) I couldn't get in to see anyone about the tooth.  I was, however, able to see my sister-in-law's dentist in Boston, who cemented the crown temporarily and sent me off with a prescription of antibiotics.

Our last night in Boston, we had our little pre-cruise, pre-anniversary party for my in-laws.  The anniversary quilt was presented to them and all the blood (I slashed myself with my rotary cutter during it's construction), sweat and tears were forgotten when I saw the look on my mother-in-law's face.  She was absolutely ecstatic over the quilt!

The thing turned out pretty big.  It's about 80"X80".  My sister-in-law gave me over 150 pictures and I had to whittle it down to just over 100.  It was really hard deciding which ones to take out.  I was so glad to be finished with the thing.  Working in our temporary quarters was not easy.  I had to push the kitchen table up against the wall every time I worked and tidy up after myself whenever we ate.  Two more months to go before me move into our house.

Swallowtail Shawl

On the knitting front, I packed two projects for our time away.  I started a shawl for the airplane and a sock for those in-between times during the cruise.  Airplane projects are always hard for me to choose.  I wanted something more challenging then knitting stockinette in the round and nothing too complicated that I would get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no internet access to help me out.  Since I had spent so much of my time working on the quilt, I also wanted to use stash yarn and a pattern from my limited selection in the apartment.  The Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark was picked and I cast on a few days before our flight.  

The Denigration of the Olympics

Knitters worldwide are up in arms over the US Olympic Committee's cease and desist letter to Ravelry. In the Wednesday letter, the USOC said that “We believe using the name ‘Ravelympics’ for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work.”

Now come on. How do a bunch of people challenging themselves with new knitting projects and techniques, while cheering on their hometown athletes disrespectful? I get trademark infringement, but such nasty language is uncalled for. Especially when we all have sharp pointy sticks in our hands! Besides, does "ympics" really infringe upon the USOC's trademark on "Olympics"?

Computer Woes

That computer I got the end of last month?  I had to return it.  Apparently, it had some hardware defects.  Right now, I'm typing on my new new computer.  It's the same model.  Hopefully it doesn't have the same hinkey hardware issues and this one will be okay.

I'm almost done with the anniversary quilt.  I ran out of the thread I was using to machine-quilt, but since I'm 90% done with the quilting, I'm attaching the binding until I get the quilting thread later today.  There's over 100 photographs in the quilt and it's about 76"X81".

batik fabrics used in Anniversary Quilt

Not a whole lot of knitting around here, since I'm so focused on the quilt.  I finished the first mismatched knee-sock, and have started another sock.  I'm thinking of knitting a shawl during our family vacation.  We're flying out to Boston (where I'll present the quilt to my in-laws), staying with my sister-in-law for a few days, then we are joining Hubby's entire family on a cruise through Canada.  But before I can even think about this vacation, I have to finish the quilt.  So, back to my sewing machine...

Catch Up

I got a new computer!  Maybe I'll start posting again.

My last computer was getting really temperamental in the end.  It only went online when it felt like it. Argh!  As much I hate spending money on a new computer, Hubby found a good deal at Best Buy.  Since the only thing I know about computers is how to use one, I'll have to take his word for it that this new computer is better and faster.  Actually, it was my eagle-eye that spotted the free Office "sale".  Until, this Saturday, Best Buy is giving away a Microsoft Office bundle for each computer over $499.

Now on to my projects...

Basic Socks, Bubble Socks and Whale Watch Tam

I've finished two pairs of socks, a hat and the Christmas stocking since the last regular post.  The basic socks were knit fairly quickly.  I had three days of sitting around watching movers pack up and load most of the belongings while I knit and watched over them.  I also was able to catch up on most of my DVR before I had to return my cable box.

The bubble gum inside-out socks, were named for the bubble-gum-pinks of the yarn.  I frogged my Retro Rib Socks awhile ago because I was never really happy with them and used that yarn for these socks.  Maddy wanted inside-out socks, so I ribbed the whole leg and knit the foot and turned them inside out to block.  Voila!  Inside-out socks!

I cast on the Whale Watch Tam right before a house hunting trip to Illinois.  I was in town for just under 24 hours, so I only had the first rows of whales done on the return flight.  It came out smaller than I intended, so one of my little nieces is getting this hat for her birthday.

On my needles are a pair of mismatched knee socks using leftover sock yarn.  Alyson really liked the mismatched legwarmers I made for her sister, so these are for her.  They'll probably take a while, because I have to accumulate more leftover sock yarn.  So that means more socks in the future.

Mismatched Knee Socks

The big project I'm working on right now, is an anniversary quilt for my in-laws.  Since this is a surprise, I won't be posting any pictures now.

On the house-hunting front, we found a house, made an offer and the homeowners have accepted.  The complication is that they want to stay in their house until September.  Because Hubby found fabulous interest rates for our mortgage,  we'll be closing on the house this summer, but renting the house back to the owners until September.  Double Arghh!  Four 3 1/2 months to go in this little apartment.

House Hunting

We made it to our new town without any casualties. The 900 mile drive from upstate New York took two days and my poor kids had zero legroom in the car because Hubby rented the smallest truck for our belongings. We had plants, suitcases and bags wedged between every possible space in our little car (my minivan was already in Illinois because Hubby rdove it here two months earlier when he started his new job). Most of our household goods were taken away by the movers and deposited in storage. Whatever we need in our temporary quarters had to be moved ourselves.

We've seen four houses today and I'm hoping one of them will be ours in a months time.

So this post and the previous one was typed on my brand-new shiny iPad. For whatever reason, I can't make paragraphs or post photos where I want them when I use my iPad. I don't know if it's the interphase between the iOS and blogger, or what. I can't make my posts look the way I want. Anyway, on another note, I've had my iPad for two months (my consolation prize for moving) and love it, especially since my laptop has been very temperamental the last few weeks. Maybe it's also rebelling over the move? The laptop in question has been packed away and the family laptop has been monopolized by my computer game-obsessed son. So until I figure out the best way to blog, my posts will be uploaded via my phone and iPad.

Empty House

I've been a bit busy the last few weeks selling our house. The good news is that we sold the house in just over two weeks! The bad news is that we have to leave town sooner than anticipated. The movers have been here the last two days, packing and loading our belongings into a giant eighteen wheeler and my house is getting emptier and emptier. It's been hard saying good-bye to my friends. They've all been wonderful, throwing me parties, bringing me food, but it's making me more and more miserable. It's pathetic that it takes leaving a place to find out how much you're appreciated and loved.