Rundown & Lots of Links

A quick rundown...

- Lots of craziness at work lately - hurricanes and the ordinary full schedule. Yesterday I was at work for 12 hours. The day before that only 10. I'm trying to prepare for a meeting next week and it's been rough.

- Speaking of that meeting next week, it's in Seattle. I don't think I'll have much time, but does anyone have yarn shop recommendations? The only days I might possibly have free is Sunday afternoon or Monday morning...

- After my meeting I'm flying to Las Vegas for the DARPA Grand Challenge. Dan's team is currently participating in the Qualifying event, and not doing too badly. They've had their first run and are making tweaks before their second run. Here's hoping they'll get into the race! (20 of the 43 teams make it)

- Last weekend I went to the National Book Festival on the Mall. I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon:

Making it even better, her latest book was on sale a few days early! (It went on sale for the rest of the country on Tuesday).
I also got a book signed by a person who's walked on the moon. Astronaut was my career goal for a significant portion of my childhood, so this was especially cool for me. We didn't get to hear many of the talks because we spent most of our time in line for autographs, but still had a great day. The weather was absolutely perfect - overcast but not raining and not too cold.

- I'm going to Rhinebeck in only two weeks! Who else is going? Cara's posted meetup details for Saturday.

- And lest you think that I haven't been knitting, I have proof to the contrary. First, the Kyoto sweater (on the website you'll find Kyoto under Silk). Cleo's been helping:

It's been stalled for a few days because I ran out of yarn and had to order another ball. It arrived today, so this should hopefully be an FO soon. Now the only question is whether I write it up and try to get it published. This yarn is awesome - I love it!
I made a lot of progress on the stripey socks while standing in line at the book fest. The foot is almost done - soon I'll be starting the toe!
And I've resurrected some U-UFO's. Remember the BPT from long, long ago? (Um, maybe not if you haven't been reading the blog for long - it's been a while. This is the most recent picture I can find of it, from July 13, 2004.) Anyway, it's been stalled with everything done except one sleeve for almost a year. I've done a few more cable repeats on that sleeve - the end is definitely in sight.
Finally, I've picked up the Clapotis again. This will probably be my plane knitting for my Seattle trip, so I hope to have it done soon.
Having a bunch of UFO's is one way to have a bunch of FO's all at the same time!

More later... maybe from Seattle!

Sock-a-Pal-2-Za!

Three cheers for karma! As I just posted, I got my socks all packaged up and sent, and look what I got in the mail!

Aren't they gorgeous?

Fun with the self timer!

Carola made me these awesome socks... the wrapping and stamps were my first clue about its origins. These came to me from the home of Lopi - Iceland! Carola looked around my blog and noticed that I'd visited her country, and knit a Lopi sweater, and she decided that I would appreciate Lopi socks that she dreamt up and designed. Isn't that awesome? Not only do I get great socks in a color that I love, but my pal designed them especially for me! I know it was hard for her to give them up, but I love them! They fit perfectly, and I'll wear them all winter long. Thanks, Carola! And thanks to Alison for setting this all up!

Sock-a-Pal-2-Za!

Here they are!

Since the original Sockapalooza socks were in front of my spring daffodils, it's only fitting that these socks are posing with my fall mums, don't you think?

Only a week overdue - not bad, eh? Actually, the socks were finished before the deadline, but I just managed to get everything packaged and mailed today. The postcards actually wound up being the hardest thing to find, despite living near a major tourist destination. I just haven't been into the city in a while and hadn't bought any... but I finally found some at the drugstore. Now the whole package (socks, postcards and a few goodies) is winging its way across the ocean

Specs:
Yarn: Soft Rock from The Fold in color Beryl
Needles: size 2 Addi turbo circulars
Pattern: River Rapids socks from Sockbug
Notes: I lengthened the foot to accomodate my pal's measurements, and used a short-row heel, but otherwise followed the pattern. I thought at first that it was going to turn out to be huge (based on the ribbing) but the lace pattern pulled in quite a bit, and everything turned out perfectly. Here's a close-up view of the lace:

They are too big for me, but my pal's foot is bigger than mine, so here's hoping they fit!
Maybe the next pair of socks I fit might actually be for me...

P.S. Whomever wound up here from googling "orangutan ballet pictures" I'm sorry you didn't find them here, but you cracked me up!

On Safari

The other day I was feeling bored. I decided to go on a safari. Do you want to come along? It will be fun!

OK, come on. Quiet now - we don't want to scare the animals away.

Look! Look there - right at the water's edge...

It's a hippopotamus! We're lucky to be able to see one so close. He seems a little shy, though, so maybe we should move on before he gets upset and charges us. (Hippopotami are considered the most dangerous animal in Africa, you know.)

OK, moving along then. Wait - what's that over there - peering through the dense foliage?

Why, it's a forest elephant! It's too bad he's back in the trees, though - I wish we could get a better look. Let's be patient and see if he comes out to give us a better look at him... Oh, there we go!

What a magnificent creature! Forest elephants are lesser known than their larger plains cousins, but no less impressive or interesting. But I think it's time for us to move on, before he gets agitated.

We don't have much more time on our trip, but maybe if we head out onto the savannah, maybe we'll catch a glimpse of - wait a minute! Look - over there! Yes, it's the king of the jungle - a lion!

He's surveying his territory... wait - I think he's caught a whiff of us. Be still so he's not provoked. What an excellent view of this magnificent creature, though.

Well, it looks like he's lost interest in us. We should quietly move on.

Well, I guess that wraps up this little safari of ours. I hope you've enjoyed your tour - we've had some great sightings today. Join us again sometime at Snargle Expeditions!

(This safari was brought to us by this layout in this book. The animals in question are now in the private collection of a certain young lady who just turned 1 and really enjoyed her birthday presents - the giraffe will be joining them soon. And if you're curious, here's the hippo with Cleo for scale - I call them my wee* menagerie.)

* I've been re-reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, which I highly recommend, and find myself thinking with a Scottish accent quite frequently now. I can't wait for the next book, which comes out Sept. 24th.