D’oh!
I *almost* did something really boneheaded. Almost.
I’m in Lawrence, KS at the moment on a bit of a consulting gig. I thought briefly before I left about checking out the town to see if there were any good yarn shops, but then figured I’d be pretty wrapped up in meetings most of the time anyway and wouldn’t get a chance to track any down so it would just be an exercise in frustration.
And then we finished our meetings yesterday by 3:30. Which left us all with a more or less free late afternoon (which I spent resting and getting rid of a headache) and morning before we had to leave for the airport. And I still didn’t check.
I am saved only because I got out to the lobby last night a few minutes before the rest of the group I was heading to dinner with and picked up and flipped through a tourist magazine where I found, a bit to my surprise and much to my delight, an ad for the famous Yarn Barn! And better still, it’s only three blocks from our hotel!
Of course, I had to venture out that way this morning and it was, as I’ve been promised and warned, Mecca. I don’t have my camera with me, so you’ll have to wait a bit to see pictures of what I got, but for those of you with big stashes or active imaginations, I got a couple skeins of the new Kaffe Fassett Regia sock yarn, a skein of Trekking XXL, and a reallyreallyreally gorgeous 8 ounces of merino roving. *squee!*
And to think I almost missed it (again)!
SLC sites?
So, I’ll be heading out to Salt Lake City next week to do some consulting (this is a new thing for me, and I’m admittedly a bit nervous and a bit excited and a bit .. yeah) and I’ve been asked by my host if there’s any particular site seeing I want to do while I’m there (I arrive mid-afternoon Sunday and will be there through early Thursday morning - early meaning my flight out is at 6 a.m.). And.. well.. I have no idea. So, does anyone have anything to recommend that is a must-see in Salt Lake City? I’ve never been and have no idea if I’ll ever be again. (And yes, while I have skiied in my past, I’m not sure there will be time this trip to do it, though I’ve already been told just how amazing it is.)
In other news, I’ve made another repeat or so of progress on the DNA scarf and passed what I’ve determined to be the midpoint (which is noticeable only in that all the cables now cross the other way; the recipient was not interested in the foot or so of ribbing in the middle so the cable pattern will go the whole length of the scarf) and I’m another inch or so (15 rows?) farther along on Catalina. I doubt I’ll get updated photos before I leave (I’m going to Kansas City before going to SLC, for a different consulting gig of a sort of different nature that I’m not as nervous about; I fly out Wednesday for that one and return Friday evening) and there will hopefully be more progress by the next time I have a chance to take pictures, so you’ll have to wait. 
Musings from LAX
This:
.. is where I’ve been this week.
It’s been glorious.
My meeting Monday and Tuesday - the last face-to-face meeting for this project - went well and I feel that the work we’ve done has good, solid potential to be adopted by the sponsoring organizations. My role in that work was not insignificant, and that is something for which I’m both proud and grateful.
Starting around 2 on Tuesday, though, I’ve been on vacation and got to spend three laid back and relaxing days catching up with and getting to know better a few good friends. It’s not uncommon for me to be mildly anxious at being a house guest, especially at the home of someone I don’t know “like kin”, but my welcome was nothing short of warm and friendly and, best of all, casual. I typically prefer to simply melt into the background of any particular gathering and my friends here allowed me that - they allowed me to simply join their lives for a few days and exist alongside them as they went about doing what they do. I could not have asked for a better vacation and am already counting the days until we are reunited (133, in fact *smile*).
Because they are also SCAdians, and because SCAdians tend to be artisans of all sorts, I had time to work on some projects while I was here as well. The first of the Sprung Socks (PDF), from the Yarn Pirate yarn I received from Stephanie as part of the Gnome Swap, is almost complete:
I’ve also worked up a fair bit more of the baby camel and tussah silk since I last posted about it:
I will likely soon wind off the copp of this one as it’s getting a bit heavy to keep the thread as thin as I’d like. I haven’t decided yet what this will be, mostly because I’m not sure how much of it I’ll end up with. I’m hoping for something thin enough to make a lace wrap, or maybe the edging of one.
I also started working up the cashgora I got in Kansas City with Cate and Sara:
I’m loving the color in this, but working with the goat fiber is a bit different from wool - it has noticeably less crimp and is coarser than what I’ve been working with lately, much more like hair than fleece. All the same, I’m truly enjoying watching the color shifts and expect that this will be my first Navajo plied yarn so that I can maintain said shifts without muddying them.
I also managed to find some uninterrupted reading time, a luxury I rarely afford myself when at home. I finished The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman, a book selected by a book group that’s recently started meeting on campus. It’s an odd little novel, centered (as seems to be somewhat of a theme with this group so far) on a cholera epidemic in early 19th century England. It took me awhile to really get into the book - something about the characters seemed distant, making it difficult for me to really care about their story - but by the end I was hooked in enough that it wasn’t as if I had to force myself to finish it. *shrug* The next book for this group will be The Thirteenth Tale, which I have on order from Zooba and will admit to being a bit stand-offish about given it’s recent acclaim (yes, I am contrary like that).
My guilty pleasure reading after The Dress Lodger is Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart, which I’m re-reading to remind myself of the beginnings of this wonderfully crafted tale. Having just finished Kushiel’s Scion I found myself with hazy memories of some of the history and interconnections built up throughout Phedre’s life and because the stories are so engaging it was the perfect choice for a book to get lost in while on vacation and a wonderful travel companion for the four and a half hours of flights home.
Oh, and since I was downloading the pictures in my camera, here’s one of the cheesecake I made last week, unmolded:
Things to do in Denver (when you’re *not* dead)
Just a quick note - I’ll be in Denver for just a couple days in mid-May, arriving on a Sunday afternoon and departing Tuesday afternoon. I’m staying at the Hotel Teatro and should be settled in by about 4 Sunday afternoon. I’m looking for something to do Sunday evening - a good place to eat, a knitting shop that will be open, a must-see museum/attraction/play, a quiet spot to sit and have a cuppa and dessert, whatever - preferably within walking or easy public transit distance from the hotel. There’s also the possibility (assuming the hotel will let me stash my bags there after check-out) that I’ll have three or so hours Tuesday afternoon before I have to leave for the airport, so ideas for that time slot are also welcome.
And while I’m at it, I’ll be in Kansas City in early June and Long Beach, CA in mid-July, so suggestions for not-to-be-missed places for those are welcome, too. The stay in Kansas City is several days and will include several free evenings, so multiple options there are especially welcome.
Dateline: October 20, 2006
So.. I found out today at a meeting at central offices (2.5 hour drive; left last night to drive out there after the Board meeting* and was home 24.5 hours later) that we have another meeting at central offices on this project scheduled for October 20.
This is not as bad as I originally thought. I originally thought it sucked because I thought I had to be in Ironwood, MI by 8 a.m. on the 21st. Turns out I was misremembering, though. I have to be in Ironwood, MI by 8 a.m. on the 14th. I only might have to be in Northfield, MN sometime on the 21st, and then only if I decide that I am feeling like I want to teach and/or do office hours for Clerk of the Roster. This is not so bad.
*We had quorum! Yea! We actually did better than quorum! We had all but one of us there. And we voted to accept a new board member. Yea! And we did some much needed planning for our upcoming motorcycle and classic car rally (August 19). Tomorrow I will go drive the rally route we planned yesterday. It’s about 150 miles, but it will be a good excuse to spend 3 or so hours in the car in the air conditioning.
Teaser..
NSF surveys today. Interesting stuff if not directly applicable to my current job (most of the NSF surveys focus on graduates in science & engineering fields, and the most detailed of those focuses on research doctorates; our science & engineering grad programs are mostly in allied health fields, which are considered professional - e.g. not research - degrees).
I’ve been staying engaged by knitting, though. The first of the alpaca & silk socks is *gorgeous* and I’m about a third of the way into the heel flap. I did decide to do Hedera and did I mention that the sock so far is *gorgeous*? So, so soft and the lace pattern is just enough to add luster and depth. I almost can’t wait until the sessions on SESTAT and WebCASPAR tomorrow so I can finish it!
In the meantime, I’m working on putting together a quick little report on how our regional peer comparison group is expected to change once the new Carnegie Classifications take effect to use as my little 3-minute presentation for the end of the week. It’s something I’ve been asked a couple times by folks at my institution, so it seemed like a good use of my time.
How to get out of a knitting slump.
- Go to a week long institute where you’re expected to spend all day in a computer lab listening to people lecture on things you actually are rather interested in.
- Realize that knitting will allow you to stay conscious and attentive.
- Start socks (small, unobtrusive, mindless).
- Finish first sock on first day.
- Finish second sock on second day.
- Plan to start third sock, this one out of smaller, arguably softer, yarn on much smaller needles, on third day and hope these take two days per sock.
- Contemplate other options just in case.
Option 1: Start Rogue sleeves.
Option 2: Consider if the Candle Flame wrap pattern is sufficiently imbedded in the subconscious to be considered “mindless”.
Option 3: Figure out if there’sGo to a yarn shop in Bethesda (on Thursday when they’re open until 7).
The best part..
.. of an expected, but more or less unplanned visit to a good friend is that staying up until 1 a.m. or later (earlier?) talking about come what may after an evening hanging out and chatting and playing poker* doesn’t necessarily interfere with any plans for the following morning. Because there aren’t any. Or at least none that can’t be changed.
Our plan for this afternoon begins with brunch, massages and facials, followed by a jog over to Georgetown to visit Lush and maybe get some henna, and then a run up to Capitol Hill to explore Stitch DC (oh, but I see they have a Georgetown store, too, so we might just go to that one since we’ll be there anyway). Then there’s the idea of going to Eastern Market for crabcakes. Mmm.
Yup, yup. The fun gets pre-empted tomorrow afternoon, though, when I have to head out to Potomac for the AIR/NCES Summer Data Policy Institute. Which I am looking forward to, just not as much as I am looking forward to today.
* I’m not, by nature, a poker player. I generally understand how to play, but have only actually played any kind of poker a couple times. Last night, the game of choice was Texas Hold ‘Em, which I’d never played. But Kevin explained it, it’s not that difficult a concept, and I’m a statistician by training** so games of chance make a certain intuitive sense. It was fun, and not only because my little pile of black chips kept growing. *smile*
** It runs deep into my subconscious, in fact. The first time I underwent sedation dentistry, the dentist checked in with me at one point and asked me to rate my comfort level on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being very uncomfortable. The next time he checked in with me, he reversed the scale and I “caught” him. I remember none of this - the drugs used for sedation dentistry keep you conscious and responsive throughout the procedure, but with absolutely no memory of what happened. It’s a little strange, but far preferrable to the alternatives.
So far..
.. the conference has been.. interesting. Worth it, too.
As we were all sitting down with our cocktails and beer to hear the introductions and keynote this evening, we were told that the city was under a tornado watch and that if the hotel staff came in and said so, we would all have to file out of the room we were in into the hallway to the right. Sure enough about three minutes later, we were all shuffled into the hallway (and the adjoining inner conference room that another group had apparently left a little bit earlier.. where we stole their left over cheese and crackers and melon and munched and mingled until they called us all back into our room).
This is a small conference - only about 200 total heads and most of them are DBAs or otherwise tech folks. But mingling tonight, I found kindred IR folks - though admittedly much more techy-IR than me. These are folks who are responsible for developing/implementing/maintaining their IR offices’ data warehouses. It was reassuring and enlightening and encouraging to talk to them. We’re not as bass-ackward as I fear sometimes and we have a lot more support than many others - namely, I have faculty support from two academic departments, which appeared cause at least one of my counterparts from Maryland to nearly drool in his drink.
All in all, this bodes well.
The Great Midwestern Tour
Generally, I don’t mind that we are the ones who do the annual Christmas travel between our two families. We’re the ones without kids, who don’t have to explain that Santa would still find them even if they’re staying at grandma’s or their aunt and uncle’s house or put up with simultaneously over-stimulated, over-sugared, and over-tired children in a car for several hours each way. There’s also that whole thing about not having to have my house “relatively clean” (which, according to my brother-in-law means “cleaned to within an inch of its life because the relatives are coming”).
But it’s still a bit draining, maybe moreso this year than it has been in the past because we switched the days around this year and are spending Christmas Eve at home so we don’t have to figure out what to do with Jali. Which meant we woke up at 6 this morning, shuffled around to get some breakfast and coffee and showers and the car packed and were on the road by 7 for what ended up being an almost exact 3-hour trip to my sister’s. We chatted and puttered for a bit getting things for dinner ready, opened presents, ate, played a couple games and then were back on the road home at 7 p.m. for what was, by the grace of warmer weather and less icy roads, only a 2 hour and 45 minute drive. It was a wonderful day and I wouldn’t have missed it or changed it, but sitting at the far end of it, I realize just how utterly exhausting it was.
Of course, the booty, for lack of a better term, mitigates the exhaustion somewhat. Sometime over a year ago, I put the four-DVD Stott Pilates matwork set on my WishList and never really expected that I’d get it as a gift, but rather that at some point when I started to hanker for a more serious pilates workout (or even one that I could do at home at all), I’d just order them one-by-one myself. Mom and dad, however, decided that it had been on my WishList long enough and I am now the proud, if somewhat slightly overwhelmed, owner of the entire set. The timing on this is very good because I’ve been trying to figure out a home workout routine that.. well.. would work for the last couple of weeks, and my recent venture into the world of professional chiropractic care has me thinking that strengthening my back wouldn’t be the worst place to start.
Also in the on-the-WishList-but-never-really-expected-to-see category was a beautiful Blue Willow cardigan kit from Blackberry Ridge, which also showed up, complements of my sister as a combined birthday and Christmas present under the tree. I’m slightly intimidated - I’ve never done any Fair Isle work and don’t want to mess the sweater up - but also very excited to have the kit and looking forward to starting it. Blackberry Ridge is in Mount Horeb and I keep meaning to find an excuse to go out there and see their farm in person. Maybe once I get the sweater done, and my spinning improves, I will.
And if that weren’t enough (and really, either of the above would have been on their own), my dad also managed a beautiful coup de grace and built me a tablet weaving loom ala White Wolf & Phoenix just by looking at the pictures on the website. Dad’s somewhat of a master carpenter in sheep’s clothing, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be quite up to taking on the design of a loom like the one I wanted; I figured they’d find it easier to simply order one and be done with it, if they got it at all. But my dad’s not one to turn down a challenge and it’s immediately apparent where I got my “but I could make that” instinct when you see some of what he’s accomplished for his daughters over the years (a good half of the furniture we own is dad’s handiwork, including our bed and my cedar chest). The loom is gorgeous - birdseye maple and beech - and really is indistinguishable from Herveus’s as far as I can tell. While I feel a slight twinge about inpinging on Herveus’s design, I can console myself with the knowledge that dad certainly isn’t going to be making any more of these, nor will he have any impetus to share his plans with anyone, especially anyone who might possibly be seen as competition. I can’t wait to warp up some double-turn, double-face in 60/2 silk on it and try it out…
There were also, of course, a few other smaller things, but those are the three big ones, at least from the family. Jack and I also exchanged our gifts for each other tonight when we got home, and he got me the ABC print set from Ursula, which I was really hoping to get. The prints are gorgeous in person and I can’t wait to get them framed and hung, most likely in my office, though we may have to hang on to them here for a bit first so we both get to admire them. I really love her work and these three prints especially, largely because of the text that accompanies them.
So while I’m exhausted, it’s not in a bad way, but rather in a content way. I’m also very much looking forward to using and enjoying all of the things we received and no doubt will receive tomorrow when we join Jack’s family. Fortunately, though, they’re only an hour away and we don’t have to be there until afternoon. *smile*
