Sloth-a-long

So far this month I have joined three something-a-longs. Here they are; which one is not like the others?

1. 


2. 


3. 

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) What are you talking about? I think you're typing in your sleep again.
e) Hey, this is a trick question! They're all alike!

I suppose the correct answer is context-dependent. The first two are related in that I might be able to get my yarn stash under control if I stick to both at the same time, but all three will involve a certain amount of self-discipline.

My husband has just pointed out that #3 is going to seriously cut into the time I have for either #1 or #2, unless I can learn to knit while walking. I must go think about this.

Why I shouldn't knit during a Patriots game

This isn't the way I should be starting a baby blanket.

I worked on the border during the first half of yesterday's game between the Patriots and the Colts. Okay, if you want to be precise, I started it while watching the Bears-Saints game and Parasite, a really awful movie (in the loosest sense imaginable) from 1982. The point is, the border went smoothly.

I started the body during the second half of the game. I got a little...distracted...by the game. Me, a football non-watcher. It was disgraceful.

This is what the body should look like. Obviously I was able to manage in one section of the blanket.

I'm not sure what happened to the other section, but it seems to be a metaphor for what happened in the game, to the Pats anyway. Eek!

Mittens made by knittins!

Huzzah! I have finished the mittens!



Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland DK, 2 balls each in Natural and Seaweed (I think...the ball bands are in the other room)
Needles: I think the DK yarn was a bit thicker than what the pattern called for, so I used 2.25-mm instead of 2.5-mm needles to compensate. It kind of worked...the mittens are a bit narrow but nothing too painful.
Time: about 1 month for the right hand, 1 week for the left hand.
Mistakes: yes.
Mistakes that were corrected: most but not all.
Egads! Indeed.

More Maui

Yup, the trip is still on my mind...especially now that it's started snowing.

We snorkeled in Molokini crater on New Year's Day. It was my first attempt at snorkeling ever (because I was too busy running around thinking "la de da de da I'm in Maui" and playing tourist to practice snorkeling in shallow water first), and the sensation was really odd. Of course, that could have been because of the stomach bug that whomped me later that day.

We did manage to get some shots of waves from a fish's point of view.


We also saw several spiny black urchins, tons of fish, and coral galore.


The next day we drove part of the way to Hana. I think Hana was supposed to be our goal, but I wasn't feeling too well so we only made it to the 10-mile mark. Still, there was plenty to see, like the waves on the north coast (I think this was Hookipa beach...dude, that is one serious ocean out there):




And random foliage:


And some of the 600 or so hairpin turns on the Hana Highway:


Next up: Haleakala during the day.

More stray bits

1) To the couple who got engaged in front of our neighbours' house on Saturday afternoon: Congratulations! I hope the sound of our car failing to start didn't disrupt things too much.

2) I finished the second Jitterbug yarn sock on the plane. Doing Kitchener stitch at the toe was a bit tricky, thanks to some questionable logic that led me to equate the idea "maybe I shouldn't bring a darning needle in my carry-on bag" with "maybe I shouldn't bring a darning needle at all," but somehow I was able to carry on. Here is the pair in a place of honour:

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in the Toscana colourway. It looks a lot greener in real life than on-line. (Correction: greener than in the official yarn sample photos. The yarn in real life looks about this green on my monitor)
Pattern: the one on their ball band.

3) I finished the first Anemoi mitten over the weekend!


Yarn: Jamieson Shetland DK in Natural White and Seaweed (1 ball each)
Pattern: Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens.

Haleakala

On our second day in Maui, I took a surfing lesson. I know there are photos out there, I'm just waiting for a copy.

On our third day in Maui, a bunch of us drove up Haleakala to watch the sun rise (or, as a Peanuts science book from my childhood said, "to watch the earth turn").

Haleakala ("house of the sun") is both a 10,000-foot high dormant/extinct volcano and a National Park. To reach it from Kihei, where we were staying, you drive north for a while, then east for a while, then up, left and right for a very long while, until you can't drive any further, and then you park your car. Reaching it from Kihei in time to watch the sun rise, and guarantee good parking at the summit, requires some extra steps:

1. bringing windproof winter clothing to Maui;


2. stocking up on coffee grounds, travel cups, gas, and camera batteries the night before;


3. waking up at 2:30 am;


4. reminding yourself that this is A Reasonable Thing;


5. navigating either dozens or gazillions (depending on whom you ask) of hairpin turns in the dark, on a highway often lacking guardrails, when you can't see if the road runs beside gentle slopes or a cliff;


6. parking the car at the summit, realizing that a place famed for its sunrises probably won't have much artificial light if any, cursing because you don't have a flashlight, and using a cell phone as a flashlight instead; and


7. drinking coffee and looking at a whole bunch of dark for a while.

Genuine dark from the summit of Haleakala.

Even before the sun came up there was a fantastic view--the sky was filled with more stars than I've seen since before the 2003 blackout. The sky up there must be incredible on a moonless night.

Finally, the sunrise started.



I ran around taking about ten photos a minute (huzzah for digital cameras and extra batteries!).


The observation shelter and crowd at the summit.


It felt like we were drifting in a sea of clouds that morning.


The sun's first appearance.



I took the photo below inside the shelter but didn't notice until later that the parking lot behind me had been reflected in the window.


My husband pointed out this shadow of Haleakala that was cast over Maui.


After the sun was completely up, we walked around a bit, decided to return a few days later to hike in the crater, and returned to Kihei.

Aloha! part 2: Wherefore Maui?

It wasn't exactly a honeymoon for us, but the Maui trip was probably our first major vacation since getting married (even since wedding #1), and we have our friends M and C to thank for it. They were married near the end of December at a restaurant in Wailea (click here for a map of the island; Wailea is on the west end of the big part) that overlooked the ocean. There was a bit of rain around the time of the ceremony,

but aside from that the weather was gorgeous.


(the little splotch on the ocean is Molokini, an underwater volcano)
The reception was on a lanai lit by torches...

...and the setting sun.


Next: Haleakala, or, why I love our digital camera despite its age.
Also at some point, if I remember: our prize can of Spam.

Aloha and Happy New Year!

I'm slowly drifting off to sleep, lulled by the cow-cat's gentle coo. I'm also trying to prolong the vacation feeling just one more hour, before all heck breaks loose and I have to race to work to make sure my Really Crucial Files aren't misplaced as our group at work moves from one building to another building at the other end of the campus.

Vacation, you say? Why yes, I did take one of those just last week. My husband and I hopped on a plane (or two) and grinned, giggled, ate snacks, listened to vacation music, ate a pizza during our stopover in LA, slept, read, got whupped by sudoku puzzles (the easy ones), and even knitted a bit until lo and behold and aloha! The plane landed and we were greeted by the cheery staff and agricultural beagle* of:

***MAUI (Kahului airport)***

Having said all this, I really am about to fall asleep, so the actual vacation will have to wait for subsequent posts.

*The US Department of Agriculture uses a Beagle Brigade to sniff out forbidden produce (fruits, vegetables) brought to Hawaii by travellers. To learn more about the program in general, click here.