Recovery Day

We are back -- and I am very glad I'd planned to take today off to recover from the trip. It's not that the trip was all that taxing, but we did not sleep especially well (both children and adults being loud in the hotel hallway in the middle of the night both nights), and of course now there's laundry to do and the house to get back in order, because the Mister didn't do much while we were gone -- he didn't even put away the coffee pot from Friday! Later this morning I will go pick Ruthie up, and at some point today I will give her a bath because after a weekend of playing with other dogs outside, I'm sure she badly needs one. I'm sure we'll need to do some laundry today, and Molly wants to go get her driver's license card (we had to wait to get the from in the mail from PennDOT), so it will be a full day without work.

It was nice to spend the weekend with family, though it feels a bit like all we did was sit around and eat! It's about a five-hour drive up to the Detroit area, and both on the way there and on the way back we stopped at a service plaza somewhere in Ohio to have lunch and break up the drive, so it took us closer to six hours each way. The eating included a stop at Leo's Coney Island, where I did partake of just one coney (for those of you who are unfamiliar with this delicacy, it's a hot dog covered in a meat chili topped with onions and mustard):

Our plans were largely built around the little kids and their sleeping schedule, so we had relatively early evenings, and between the time in the car, the time sitting around and talking at my aunt and uncle's, and the time in the hotel in the evenings, I got quite a lot of knitting done. My scarf has grown enough that I need to fold it up to get it all in a photo:

and by the time we pulled into our driveway yesterday afternoon, I'd started the decreases on the hat:

I'd originally intended this to be added to the charity pile, but my mother informed me that this purple is actually my sister-in-law's favorite color, so now I think it'll become a birthday or Christmas present for her.

After today, this week should be pretty typical, and I'm looking forward to a regular schedule. We'll see what I missed at work after three days away -- not much, I hope! What I did miss was puppy snuggles, so I'll be trying to get in as many of those as I can (and after being away from me for several days, I'm sure Ruthie will be extra clingy). Here's hoping your week and month are off to a good start. See you back here on Wednesday for an Unraveled update!

Home Sweet Home

After a whirlwind trip, Molly and I arrived home yesterday shortly before noon (we actually got in about 15 minutes early, something that almost never happens with air travel these days!). We missed the final breakfast and didn't really have a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, but getting an early flight out made the most sense. And we got treated to a beautiful 360º view of Downtown Pittsburgh on our descent into Pittsburgh International Airport:

Let me catch you up on the rest of the trip. On Friday afternoon, we had our class on pin loom weaving with Angela Tong. I had learned how to use one of these looms before, but it had been several years since I'd done it last and I had forgotten a lot. We both really enjoyed it and can see how these little looms could come in handy for using up all those little bits, especially as each woven square takes only about 8 yards of yarn.

Both of these squares were woven using DK weight yarn; these looms are designed to use yarn in the sport/DK/worsted range. But Angela also showed us how to use fingering (the trick is doing some of the warping with the yarn held double).

Saturday was market day. I only had a couple of things I wanted to buy, and though I did end up going back for an impulse purchase later on, I think I was pretty restrained. The market opened at 9, and we were not among those waiting in line for the doors to open until just a few minutes before. I asked the woman who was first what time she got there, and she said about 7:20 (for reference, breakfast was served starting at 7:30).

I know some of you are really here to see what I came home with, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer! I came home with more than I expected, although only some of it was actually purchased at the market.

One of the perks of attending this retreat is that there is always a long table along the side of the wall in the lobby of the main building that's the giveaway table -- anything on it is free to a good home, and anything that's left after the retreat ends is taken to a local creative reuse place. There's always the usual acrylic/fun fur/novelty yarn that typically stays the whole time, but some people also drop off some really nice yarn, and if you happen to check the table at the right time, you can get lucky. That happened to me -- I found four skeins of fingering almost right off the bat, one from Miss Babs, one from lolodidit, and two 50 g skeins from The Loopy Ewe. I also found three skeins of Shibui linen yarn that will be enough for a summer tank, a skein of what looked to be DK or worsted with some minis, and a cute cotton drawstring bag from Quince & Co.

Here is what I bought at the market: a bag from Fat Squirrel Fibers, two skeins of self-striping Targhee sock yarn from Woolens and Nosh, three lotion bars from Tuft Woolens (not pictured), a pair of tiny yarn skein earrings from Oink Pigments, and a braid of Shaniko wool from Cesium Yarn. I actually went back to get the fiber because not only was it a breed I've never spun, but the colorway is Neighborhood of Make Believe, and I couldn't resist a Mister Rogers reference.

But wait, there's more! Another big feature of SSK is the door prizes! Vendors and attendees generously donate a ton of prizes -- yarn, fiber, project bags, accessories, etc. -- that can be won via a random pull of door prize tickets (everyone gets some to start in their goodie bag, and you can earn more through the knitalongs of teachers' patterns prior to the even and at random during the event). There are also special prizes on offer if you donate to the Scarritt-Bennett Center; every dollar gets you a ticket. I was lucky enough to win one regular door prize (two skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn) and a special SBC raffle prize (a hand-woven towel).

Let's not forget the aforementioned goodie bag, either! Molly and I both opted to just get the goodies included in the retreat fee, which was delightful without all the add-ons. We got a large zippered tote bag, a skein of yarn dyed by one of the vendors, a pen, a tape measure, a gauge ruler, and a set of point protectors. There were also folks from two local yarn shops (Haus of Yarn and Bliss) handing out goodies as we were waiting in line to check in on Wednesday. Needless to say, we were very spoiled! I'm happy to report that everything fit in my luggage, though Molly ended up using her tote bag as a second carry-on on the way home, mainly because we'd purchased some snacks and had a lot left and those bags wouldn't fit in our backpacks, so it was just easier to carry another bag.

I'm also very happy to report that Ruthie was a Very Good Girl while we were away. We'll ignore the fact that she chewed through two harnesses (a replacement for the newest one is on its way!), but she didn't have a single accident and didn't bark at the Mister at all! I think he is exhausted and very happy to have us home, and she was certainly thrilled to see us, but it honestly went much better than I expected and I am so relieved!

I predict she'll be a velcro dog for the next several days until she's sure I'm not leaving her again, but we all got through a challenging week and made it out the other end okay. You all told me it would be fine, but I needed to live it for myself to believe it!

This week it's back to the usual schedule, with a couple of medical checkups thrown in for fun (going for my mammogram on Thursday, so here's my reminder to get your boobies squished!). I'll be back on Wednesday for my usual update, and I'll try to be a little less verbose then!

And We're Back!

Hello, friends, and happy Monday! I fully intended to post on Friday, but I decided it was more important to be present and enjoy the retreat than to sit at my laptop in my room. I will recount the retreat in more detail later this week when I have a little more time to do the experience justice, but for now suffice it to say that we had a wonderful time and arrived home happy but exhausted.

A real highlight of the trip (and totally independent from the retreat) was getting to meet up with Bonny, Dee, and Vera on Saturday morning:

We met up at an adorable coffeeshop in Easton, PA, in a former mansion that's been beautifully restored. I tried to look around and appreciate all the gorgeous details, but the company and conversation were too good. We spent a couple of hours knitting (Mo crocheted) and chatting, and I can tell you that these three women are just as lovely, if not more so, than they are on their blogs. It was too short of a visit, but I'm so glad that we were all able to meet up and hope we can do it again!

I worked on a sock WIP that morning, but for the rest of the weekend, I was pretty much monogamous with a project that I cast on Thursday evening and, as a result, have a lot of progress to show for it:

This is my second (new and improved!) Rift tee. In the swatch I shared last week, I'd used both size 8 (5 mm) and size 9 (5.5 mm) needles. I was closer to gauge with the larger needles, but I didn't really like the fabric I was getting; this is supposed to be a loose(ish) and relaxed garment, but on the 9's it just looked sloppy. So I'm going with the 8's again. My gauge is off (I'm getting 18 sts/4 in. rather than the called-for 16), but I did some math to figure out that I could knit the next size up and still get several inches of positive ease. Though I haven't tried on what I've knit so far, I can see from holding it up that it's going to be significantly bigger than my first attempt (which, incidentally, I am wearing in the photo above!) I also have more than 100 yards than the pattern specifies for the size I'm knitting, I'm adding length to the body so that this version isn't quite as cropped as my first one. I'm on my third of six balls of yarn, and last night when I put it away, the body was measuring 10.5 inches. I'd like to add at least a few more inches of length, but as I don't know exactly how much I'll need to complete the upper body, it's going to be a guessing game of how much yarn I can use. Fortunately it's a quick knit, so if I have to rip back and redo, it won't take too long.

It was a long weekend of many firsts. Obviously it was the first time I'd attended this retreat, and it was the first time Mo had attended any kind of retreat. It was also the first time I'd driven such a long distance, which was a big deal for me -- I don't particularly like driving, mainly because other drivers make me nervous. But thanks to Mo's company and GPS, I did it. I'm not in any rush to do it again, mind you, but I have a lot more confidence in my ability to do it should I need or want to. And it seems kind of appropriate that my odometer hit a nice even number upon our arrival at home:

This might seem like a low number for many of you, but keep in mind that I don't drive every day and when I do drive, it's often only a few miles at a time. In fact, it's a running joke in my family how low my car's mileage is -- so low that I can't remember the last time my car wasn't exempt from the state emissions test because I drive so little!

I have a pile of work waiting for me, so I'd better get to it. I will see you back here on Wednesday and will share a full wrap-up of the retreat on Friday. Have a good week and stay cool out there!