The one with lots of non-knitting photos

For some reason, I can't seem to blog more than once a week lately. Perhaps it has something to do with not getting much in the way of knitting completed. I'm knitting along, but not finishing anything. Sorry to those of you who are interested enough in my boring life and want more.

It's been another crazy week in the life of an athletic trainer. But, I'll get the knitting bit out of the way for those of you who only swing by for that kind of stuff. I'm making headway on the Log Cabin bag. Still not sure it's completely right.

Do you see that the strap is significantly longer than the two sides it's supposed to line up to? Tuesday I'll head into KotS and check with Kate. I don't know what's wrong this time. I followed the pattern, maybe might even have more stitches than I'm supposed to on the sides, and the correct number of rows for the gusset. Oi.

I originally tried to take the picture outside on the picnic table...

but Lacey, the cat from next door, had other ideas.

And that's the bulk of the knitting for the week. Yeah, still not getting too much done with work being nutso. So, onto that. Baseball won a couple of times this week, nothing really stands out about the games, except the fact that I had to tend to an opposing 3rd baseman when the ball took a funny hop and hit him in the mouth. No teeth were lost, no concussion symptoms, but there was blood. Thought I'd throw that in there to probe that I actually do have responsibilities and work when I'm at work. It's not all sunflower seeds and sunbathing.

Lacrosse had a very exciting game against St. Ed's. The score was 8-6 Ed's going into the 4th quarter (after we had been down 6-2), and then it all fell apart, and we lost 11-6. In my opinion, the refs did a terrible job, they didn't call anything which led to a very dirty game ( I mean, when I can see the infractions, you KNOW that it should be called).

And yesterday, softball hosted a round robin tourney. We lost the first game in the bottom of the 8th 2-1,(for those who don't know, HS softball and baseball only play 7 innings of regulation) when a ball got hit over the not-to-standard fence (it's less than 200 ft out, which makes it very easy to hit home runs). Then we had a cookout, which was very good. And won the second game 6-4.

And then it was off to the Indians/Yankees game! Here's the view from our seats:

Not too shabby. They're on the aisle and there aren't any seats in front of us, so there's plenty of leg room. Here's the blimp, because it was a nationally televised game (too bad the midges couldn't make an appearance).

Here's me and Ellie before the first pitch (photo taken by the accommodating Yankee fan sitting next to me):

Here's the 35K plus crowd (minus the Yankee fans) waving the promotional towels in support of something good.

Here's the manager, Eric Wedge, being ejected after arguing a shady play at second base:

Here's the crowd supporting Wedge after he was ejected:

Here's a picture of the Cleveland skyline from our seats:

Here's the drummer man, Jon Adams (I'm pretty sure that's his name) beating the drum: Here's me and Ellie taking a photo that didn't need the assistance of a Yankee fan:This is a photo of the Indians lining the dugout in the bottom of the 9th:

This is what it looks like when the bases are loaded in the bottom of the 9th:

And this is what it looks like when Victor Martinez hits a single to win the game in the bottom of the 9th:

The Indians win! And it's so much sweeter when it's the Yankees they beat!

I didn't even get a crappy t-shirt

And I survived! What the heck? They were tossing those ugly orange t-shirts around at the track meet from (earmuffs - you know what to insert here), and they didn't look my way once. And they made me pay for my lunch! What is that nonsense? Was I not working? Was I not helping to make the track meet happen? Boo track parents, coaches and athletes. Should have spent my time over at baseball (they were at least able to win).

Alright, my whining about track is over. I meant to post earlier this week, but it's been a crazy week. At the clinic 2 mornings, watching Kaylee one morning, and a performance appraisal with my boss in Sagamore Hills yesterday meant that I didn't have much time to myself this week. That and the fact that I didn't get out of work before 8pm, except on Friday. I'm not complaining. I'm going to have a smile on my face when I get the paycheck. But I'm wiped out.

Haven't really gotten much knitting done this week. See above if you wonder why. But here are some update photos. This is the Mystic Waters shawl, at the end of chart C.

I think there's charts through F, in case you were wondering how much more there is. And this is the Woodland Shawl.

Here's a close-up of the leaf detail. I love the leaves. It's so fun to watch them grow as you knit.

And the Clapotis. So pretty!

That's it on the knitting end. Like I said, not much getting done. This is the new spinning project. 4 oz of 100% superwash merino from The Dyeing Arts (purchased from the Loopy Ewe) in "Mother of Pearl".

I can't tell you how proud I am of myself for the thinness of the single. I am loving it. It's going to be beautiful.

I took Thursday night off from fibery things. Spent it up in the craft room working on scrapbooking. Been feeling the scrapping lately. Will probably do some more tonight. And here's some more flower photos. The first tulip of the spring.

It was so wide open and happy looking. Here's the hyacinths, they smell so great.

A Post not about knitting (or spinning)

In order assuage those readers who are not of the knitting persuasion.

This week at work has been busy. The weather has been great, which means that all games/events have been played. So, for those who like these kind of things, here goes.

The baseball team had a rough week. But when your AD schedules Ignatius and Walsh Jesuit on consecutive days, there's nothing you can do. They played well against Iggy, only lost 3-0 ( a much better outcome from last year when we were run ruled). The Walsh game wasn't so great. It was 2-0 when I got called away to take care of some blood on the softball field, and it was 8-0 when I got back. Hmmmm. But, when your starting pitcher hits a total of 8 batters (not that the hitters were in any way trying to avoid getting hit, I mean at some point you think that they would try to get out of the way) and the relief pitcher comes in, walks a batter, gives up a grand slam and then hits the next batter.... It gets ugly real fast. They ended up losing 12-0 - they did manage to play the full 7 innings, which is better than being run ruled.

Things got better yesterday, they beat Lutheran West, and today they beat up on WRA.

Track was away this week. I'm not complaining, I had to have a sit down talk with them on Tuesday after the state they left the training room in on Monday. But it looks like once again the girls will do well, maybe a state medal or two again.

The girls lacrosse team has only had one home game to this point. The fields they play on are always wet, and they haven't recovered from the bad weather yet. So for the safety of everyone (or maybe at the request of the grounds keeper brother who doesn't like to have anyone play on any of the grass any where on campus) the games have been cancelled. I don't know how well they're doing, I haven't asked for fear of upsetting the girls, they get cranky if they lose and you remind them of it.

The boys lacrosse team is not living up to it's potential to this point. They beat Mentor last Saturday, lost on the road to someone earlier this week, I can't remember who, and lost yesterday to Rocky River in a very ugly game. I mean, a riot almost broke out in the stands between the parents. But it ended up a 11-10 game. We'll see how it goes, it doesn't help them that they had a skeleton team over the whole 2 weeks of spring break because almost everyone went away.

Alright, hopefully that helps those of you who aren't' really interested in the knitting and spinning but read because you're related to me. I can't give you any boys tennis scores because I don't know them and I don't really care. I'll be honest. So that takes care of all my sports teams, I'll try to remember to mix a few tidbits in more often.

A Spinning Disaster

Remember that very pretty red/pink/brown merino I was spinning last post? I kept spinning. Finished it Sunday night after Part 2 of the BBC's "Sense and Sensibility" on PBS. Yay! Then, on Monday, I decided that I would start plying it. No problem. Got it going, Was thinking to myself how much I love the way it's coming out, it's so pretty, and all that kinda stuff. And then, this happened.

Do you see the problem? Yeah, one of the strands tangled all around the other strand, and in the gentle tug/untwist maneuver I was doing, the strand came unspun and therefore broke. Now, the range of emotions that a beginner spinner can feel at this moment is huge. Unable to be certain that I could control my emotions, I quickly put the spindle and yarn down, into a nice plastic box, shut the box, and put the box away. And proceeded to knit on my new Woodland Shawl, occasionally glancing at the box with the spindle and yarn, and fighting the urge to cry.

So, on Tuesday, I take the box with spindle and yarn to SnB, so that Meagan, spinning superhero, can fix it. And she did. But the day hadn't gone well, and I didn't feel like knitting, let alone spinning. But, when I got home, I decided that I calm myself down by plying some more. So I did, and was still having issues with the strands tangling, so I enlisted Mom's help in holding the ball and not letting them tangle. Yay, happiness, all is going well until...

A strand comes undone again. Through no fault of mine or Mom's. It's inexplicable. Boo merino. So once again I quickly shut the yarn up into the box and walked away from it. Eventually went and got some Noro Silk Garden to start a Clapotis for myself. Because, as everyone knows, when you're down, Noro makes everything better.

I mean, how could something that gorgeous not make you happier? And so I was knitting along on the Clapotis, and things got better when Travis Hafner hit a 2-run HR in the top of the 9th to give the Indians the lead, and they eventually won. Yay!

So yesterday, I called Meagan and asked if I could invade on their house after work so that she could fix and then finish plying. At that point I really didn't trust myself not to take scissors to the merino and hack it into tiny little fluff bits. She, being a wonderful friend, consented and did finish plying the evil, but very beautiful, merino for me. So, today, I have a hank of 115 yds of 100% merino from Copperpot Woolies in "Oh Cherry Baby" and I am happy with it. Maybe more happy that it's done and all I have left to do with it is knit.

As for other knitting things, I've given up on the Sock-a-Week. My sock knitting mojo is on hiatus at the moment. And with the way my knitting has been going, I don't want to force myself to knit anything that's not making me happy. And socks aren't happy right now. Oh well. And that Woodland Shawl I mentioned? I'm knitting for the Earth project of Project Spectrum, in a little mini knitalong with some of my SnB buddies. I ripped it out on Tuesday night at SnB. Grrr. I was unhappy with the fact that it wasn't going to be a shawl, more of a wide scarf. So I cast on enough stitches to add 4 more repeats to the original pattern (which is like another half of the width). And I haven't gotten far enough to photograph it yet.

My Log Cabin bag? I took it to show Kate when I went to KotS last, and found that my unfelted piece was the same size as her felted piece. Hmmm. Not good. So I need to restart with bigger needles. Haven't gotten around to that just yet. I spent most of last weekend focused on the Mystic Waters shawl, I'm 4 rows shy of being done with chart C. I'll try to get pics as soon as I finish the chart. It's so pretty. But time and concentration consuming. I also need to take pics of the Pi Shawl that I've started for Mom. It's hopefully going to be done in time for her birthday, and definitely not a surprise, I had her pick the yarn, and I started it while she was in the room with me. I get pics when there's more done.

To distract myself from the disaster the other day, I went outside and took pictures of all the pretty flowers that had magically appeared. So I'll distract you with them.

Proud as Punch

This is my very first handspun yarn.
I am so happy with it. It is beautiful. So here's some more pictures of it.

On the niddy noddy.

Off the niddy noddy. Up close.

Alright, onto other things. Here's the new spinning project.

It's "Oh Cherry Baby" by Copperpot Woolies, 100% merino. And it's amazing. I thought my first batt was soft - oh no, not compared to this. And do you see that color? I forgot to photo the wool before I pulled it apart (was too excited to get started) so here's a small sampling. Alright, on the knitting stuff, because I do still knit. I finished the first of the secret Noro socks last Friday, and shamefully haven't gotten much done on the second one. I'm afraid that I'm starting to lose my sock knitting mojo. I'm thinking that I may only do the Weekly Sock Project through the end of May like the group on Ravelry. There are just so many other things I want to knit, and now that the spring sports have started up in earnest - there's just not enough hours in the day. So there it is, I'm copping out. After that, I'll probably shoot for a pair of socks a month, because I still love knitting and having the knit socks.

This is my log cabin bag. I'm not very much farther you'll see, but... I ripped it out almost completely last night before re-knitting. I couldn't help myself. I kept seeing the picture of it on the blog and being annoyed by that one light green stitch that stuck out too far into the blue center. It was driving me nuts. (no comments about OCD Ellie, or I will bust into your house and move picture frames)
And I got through the second chart of the Mystic Waters shawl. It's really so very pretty. And tedious. I don't know why I couldn't have chosen a nice simple to remember pattern for my first real lace project. Silly me. This will be slow going, but I'll get there.
And here's the mitten I started Tuesday night when I got home from SnB. It's the Newfie mitten pattern from Ravelry (recommended by one of the new ladies at group, and shamefully, I don't remember her name). It's a great pattern, looks cool, easy to knit, would have been warm... Yeah, would have been, if it were big enough to fit my hand. Hmmm. So this will be frogged and I'll have to find another warm mitten pattern.Why would I be knitting mittens in April you ask? Well if you had been at the track meet on Tuesday, you'd be knitting mittens too, and long underwear and anything else you could make out of very thick wool. Because it is always a good idea to run a track meet in 34 degree weather with wind gusts up to 30mph and rain/snow/tiny hail mix falling from the sky. In fact, you know that you should be running a track meet, when the weather is so bad that the other two teams decide to leave and get on their buses before all the races have been run (if you could see my face right now, you'd see a big cheesy grin of hate plastered on it, just by me thinking of the insanity that is the mind of my track coach). Luckily, or unluckily, none of his big star athletes pulled anything or were hurt. Well, as long as your not counting frostbite.