Mortaine’s Blog

I recently signed up for the TKGA Master Hand Knitters program, level 1. It’s a series of swatches and some research, plus a project. I received my info packet by email last week and ordered yarn over the weekend (you have to use light-colored worsted weight yarn, of which I have none). I also ordered some books for the research part. This enters me into a new phase of my knitterly fun, because not everyone decides to study knitting like this, and that’s what is involved in the Master program. You know how to knit, but this is how to knit deliberately, so that every stitch choice is something you understand completely.

Anyway, on Friday I cast on for a pair of Jaywalker socks (they’re a zig-zag pattern), but have no photo as yet. I carried the project in a ziplock bag in my coat pocket on Sunday when we went to DC in the rain, so there may be some dampness in the wool.

I also wore my new stripey blue socks that day:

On Saturday, I spent the afternoon dyeing yarn:
This is laceweight. The picture kind of sucks, but it’s self-striping laceweight.

Oh, I know. Why don’t I just show you how it looks in progress? Because I could not resist casting on for the Blue Jeans Shawl, even though I already have a lace project on the needles. But the one I’m working on is a long slog– very difficult and demanding, whereas the Blue Jeans Shawl is quick and easy to memorize. I’ve only done two types of lace in knitting: repetitive projects I can memorize, and difficult complicated projects that require you to pay attention.

(more…)

When last we left the intrepid adventurers, they were in Jacksonville, Florida, having stayed an extra week to take care of cat problems. Alladin is doing better now.

We moved on to Savannah, Georgia, birthplace of Juliette Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.

Savannah is a beautiful city with lots of Old in it.

We visited Juliette Low’s birthplace, but photography is not permitted inside. So you’ll have to make do with this photo:

We went letterboxing in a busy square:

And then we drove onward. (I missed the state signs for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina). We had three days of driving last week– too much!

On Friday, we woke up at Americamps RV Park, next to Lake Gaston near Virginia’s southern border. It was a very pretty park, but we couldn’t stay. Not enough clear sky to use the Internet, and our cell phones were out of range. Since it was a work day, this was frustrating– I really needed to get some work done! We continued northward.

We spent what felt like four hours in Washington DC’s traffic to get to the complete opposite side of DC from where we entered the Beltway. Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park Maryland is, according to my mom, the only RV park in the area that can accommodate big RVs, and searching Woodall’s and other guides confirms this. Which makes sense– the park has been in the family for 80 years. It’s a good park, though– there are lots of amenities, two swimming pools, and on-site cafe, and a bus stop to take you direct to the Metro when you want to go into the Capitol.

We’re here for 2 weeks. John is going Jeeping next weekend with a friend. We’re going to visit my uncle, who lives in Washington. We wanted to go out Saturday, but we were both pretty tired from the drive, so we delayed to Sunday. All our sight-seeing plans were changed on Sunday morning, which was stormy all day, as was Monday. We still went into DC, but we got soaked through and a little cranky. Also, Washington does not wake up very early on Sundays, a fact that I had remembered, but John didn’t really believe until we got to the museums and they were all closed until 11 AM.

Things I want to visit while we’re here:

• The Library of Congress
• The Textile Museum
• The Smithsonian Museum of American Indians
• The World War II memorial (and surrounding favorites Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, etc.)
• The National Zoo