Three Guesses

Bet you can guess where we were this week---at least if you're from the great state of MN.

That's right, Duluth! Home of lighthouses and the great lift bridge. We even broke out record this year and visited three lighthouses in one day. Not bad.

A fall trip to the North Shore is always fun. This year it was even better than usual with temps into the 60's and sunshine every day. The leaves were gorgeous, if not even a little past peak, and the sky and the water were brilliant blue. All that, and we got to visit our son to boot.

Now that we're back home, Mother Nature's show is starting to come our way.

US Open 2010

Tennis, tennis, and more tennis.

For one last hurrah of the summer season, we flew out to New York to go to the first week of the US Open Tennis Tournament. As it turns out, this is not a sporting event for the weak--spectators included. Even though this was definitely not a restful vacation, the effort was worth it for the chance to see some incredible play.

As a former tennis Mom, I've watched my share of matches over the years, but of course, this is tennis at a whole different level. The court coverage, the power and precision, and the player's stamina is almost unbelievable. It actually took a while to get used to even following the speed of play. And while watching tennis on TV can be enjoyable, you simply can't appreciate a 144 mph serve from your living room.

Of course, the venue for this event is as much a draw as the athletes themselves. The facility is beautiful. We were a little disappointed by the foods provided after all the build-up, but it was still better than most. (And you are there, after all, for the tennis.)

Weather played its own role in the opening days. The heat and humidity were oppressive even for watching, which makes you marvel all the more at the fitness level of the players. And to top it all off, Hurricane Earl threatened to literally dampen at least one day of the event, but thankfully only gave us a few drops of rain and delayed play for only a brief amount of time.

All said, we had a great trip to close out the summer, and when we got back to MN, even the weather reminded us that summer is definitely over. So, it's time to get our son back to school and for us to get back to work.

Back on the Interwebs

That's right. I'm back on the WWW now that I've finally had the time to get out and replace my dearly departed laptop. Lucky for me the geeks were able to recover the information from my old hard drive, but it's still a huge pain in the neck to get a new computer going. And it's not exactly like I've been swimming in free time.

I really shouldn't complain since one of the things that has kept me busy was a wonderful trip. Now that I'm back home it's hard to believe, but in less than two weeks we managed to fly into Munich and tour parts of Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.

And what a beautiful part of the world! The architecture, the countryside, the food and drink, and all the people who are lucky enough to call those places home made for one of the best vacations I've ever had. I did miss the guys while I was away, but I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to go.

Besides coming home with lots of good memories, I also came home with plenty of inspiration.

Each of these countries is a gardener's paradise. Everywhere you look there are perfectly tended flower beds, window boxes, and vegetable gardens. I jotted down some plant and color combinations that I can use in my own yard--even if I don't have a castle or a chalet to call home.

And the food! I may have to make pretzels again, and I'm positive I'm going to be looking for some of the German and Austrian wines that we had with our meals. Maybe the best treat of all was the Cottage Cheese Fried Donuts that we scarfed down on one of our tours. I don't deep fry anything, but I may have to make an exception if I can find that recipe.

I even found some inspiration for my knitting. There were some bold color combinations in the shop windows of Salzburg, and I liked the garter stitch vests and cardigans.

So now it's back to reality. No more castles, no more horse drawn carriages, no more mountains, and not as much afternoon beer drinking. Not as much.

And even though I've struggled with jet lag and had lots to do to catch back up to speed, it is very good to be home.

BSOD!

There I was, minding my own business, when BAM! Out of nowhere comes the BSOD! No warning. Nothing. Just the dreaded blue screen of death and then blackness. How can this be? My laptop is only a couple of years old. But the the BSOD knows not age and strikes when and where it wills. And now my computer sits. Waiting for its checkup. And I'm not naive enough to expect a hopeful prognosis.

So, I'm back on my dinosaur slogging through months of updates to make it usable until I get the miraculous news that a repair is possible or the more likely event of having to buy another computer. It's a sad, sad tale. (Not to mention the loss of a couple of documents that I neglected to save that represent so many hours of work.)

Luckily, I've been away and busy enough to not have to dwell on my misfortune. We spent a few days on another golf jaunt---this time through Wisconsin. Perfect golfing weather and some fun with family. Then we came home just long enough to repack our bags for a few days in Chicago.

Chicago is one of my favorite cities. The people are friendly, the city is beautiful, and, of course, the pizza is the best. It's a city we never get tired of visiting.

We didn't have any special plans for our weekend---sometimes the best way to travel. Besides eating pizza, we did a little shopping, saw a movie, and even indulged in an afternoon nap one day. We even had the chance to watch some of the filming of the upcoming Transformers movie. What is it now? Transformers 3? 4? 5? No celebrities to see, only pretty cars and trucks. On Sunday, we decided to head over to watch the World Cup final on the big screens over at Soldier Field. They had a decent crowd for the day. Sorry, but I just don't get it. Nothing happens! And the drama. Not for me, but a couple of cold beers made it bearable.

It's good to finally be home for a few days. Even if it does mean facing my laptop woes.

Back to Normal

Our son packed up and went back to school yesterday after almost a month of vacation. It was great to have him home, but it's also nice to get back to a normal routine.

When he came home for his Thanksgiving break, we talked about taking a trip together after the New Year. We all realize that there won't be that many more years for us to travel together as a family---just the three of us, and we thought it would be good to get away after all the hub-bub of the holidays settled down.

Before we bought our tickets and made the reservations, we batted around a few different ideas. Eventually we settled on going down south and revisiting what was our home for a short time (almost twenty years ago), and the place where our son was born---Louisiana. He was only two when we packed up and moved back to Minnesota, so he has no memory of his Cajun beginning.

We started by flying into San Antonio, continued on through Louisiana, and after spending a few days in New Orleans, flew home. We sure didn't get much of a break from the cold; we must have brought the frigid temperatures with us. It wasn't Minnesota cold, but it wasn't much of a thaw either. Despite the cold, we had a great time. We visited all our old haunts, did the tourism thing, and ate some really terrific food---from fajitas and margaritas in Texas to gumbo and blackened fish in New Orleans.

...and watched lots of football. Between the bowl games and playoffs---not to mention several hours in the car, I knew there would be times that I would have to have some knitting along on the trip. The trouble was that I had knit enough of of the Zimmermann Green Sweater to get to the point of cutting steeks, and I wasn't about to attempt that in a hotel room.

I guess I was in a Zimmermann sort of mood. I remembered that the Tomten Jacket was something I wanted to try and that I had a bagful of grey Lite Lopi in the closet that I had picked up on clearance. The night before we left, I read as much as I could about other knitters' experiences with the pattern, printed off a few notes, and threw the whole works in my suitcase. (With the tightened security at the airport, I figured I wouldn't risk losing my needles to some overly zealous TSA agent, so I didn't even try to bring it on the plane.)

This pattern appears in several of Mrs. Zimmermann's books, and I was at first attracted to the simplicity of its construction. It has since been expanded on and modified by other knitters to include some basic shaping. Of course, the originator would have surely admired these innovations. I wanted to keep as close as possible to the original and incorporate just a few of the best of the changes.

I've made some more extensive notes on my project page of Ravelry---mostly for myself, if I ever want to make this again. Besides that information, here's what I've discovered so far in the process. I think it's a good idea to knit this sweater at a fairly firm gauge. Garter stitch stretches quite liberally, and it could look like a big slouchy mess if the gauge were too loose. I also think it's important to choose a yarn with plenty of body. Reynolds Lite Lopi is a personal favorite of mine, and since I had it on hand with a couple of other colors leftover from past projects, it seemed like a good choice. It's also important to remember that this is meant to be an oversized jacket. I probably tend to err on the side of making things a little too big, but in my opinion, there's nothing worse than wearing something that looks too tight or too small. Once you've prepped a swatch and are doing the math, plan for plenty of ease.

The knitting progresses quickly without the fuss of having to closely follow a pattern. I could watch the games with the guys or follow a map in the car and not end up frogging back when the action got exciting or we were looking for the right highway.

Now that we're home, I considered putting this aside to finish my other Zimmermann. I don't think I will, though. I'm afraid I'll get out of the zone and forget all my intentions for the project. Besides, I need to build up the courage to cut those darn steeks on the other one. There is one thing about this Tomten that I'm not too happy about. The longer I work with it, the more I realize that it's calling out for a zipper closure on the front. For some reason, I always dread putting a zipper into a sweater even though it's never as bad as I think it will be.

I think I've stalled long enough. Being back to normal means that I do have to get back to some of those basic chores that got pushed aside for the last month, and admittedly, blogging should probably have been towards the bottom of that list. Procrastinating...I guess things are back to normal.

Now I Pay

After spending a few days in the lap of luxury as a guest of the Encore in Vegas, now I must pay. Not for any gambling losses, but for the days lost in Christmas prep. No tree or nuthin' up in our house yet. Yikes!

It was worth it. Look at this view! Not to mention much warmer temperatures than we were getting back home. And the food. Ah, the food. For me, Vegas isn't about gambling. It's about the restaurants. I think it might take several days before I actually experience a normal hunger pang again.

The cold wind in the airport parking ramp was an extremely nasty slap in the face that brought me back to reality. Fortunately, I adapt quickly and by even later this morning as I ran to the grocery store I was struck by how warm the car gets in the sunshine even in these grisly temperatures. Besides, it won't be too long and we'll be heading down south again.

As an update...
Before we left, I took delivery on the pattern and yarn for EZ's Green Sweater. As you can plainly see, my Green Sweater is going to be red---lovely red Ultra Alpaca. I read through the pattern to see what's in store, and I saw that word "steek." I've steeked before, just not any of my hand knit projects. I must admit that I was a bit put off at first, but decided that this will be a good time to try something (sort of) new. I've never minded cutting machine knitting before because I think of it as knit fabric. Of course, that's what I create by hand as well. It takes much longer to create though, doesn't it?

Okay, break's over.

Monterey

For our last gasp at summer vacation, we scheduled one final trip and spent a few days out in Monterey, CA. This was a destination we had tried once before and had to cancel at the last minute, but this time the stars aligned, and we made it.

Not unlike San Francisco, this area can be quite cool in the summer. (Didn't Mark Twain say that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco?) Even though we got a little taste of that, most of the time we were there it was sunny and gorgeous with record highs. Good for us; bad for the fires.

Like most of our vacations, this one revolved around food and some kind of sport. Ahh, the food. What's better than fresh seafood, pastas, salads, and wine? Lots of good wine. What's better is that you get to look out at all this beautiful scenery while you're enjoying it!

Besides the food, this area is known as golf heaven. The guys got in a few rounds, but I think they got the biggest kick out of walking around the Pebble Beach course. To our surprise, this gorgeous course is very accessible, and we were welcomed to walk around to our heart's content.

After having seen this course for so many years through tournament television coverage, these signature holes were familiar, but like everything else, were so much more fun to experience in person. We could have sat by this par three along the coastline all day.

Between golf days, we took a drive down to Big Sur. It was a warm, sunny day and the traffic was light, so we were able to take our time and pull off the road a few times to admire the view.

This was the perfect way to end our summer--a great summer. So, now we're home and getting ready to take our son back to college for the year.

Home At Last

In my last post, I had a picture of our living room Christmas tree, but seriously, this is a great Christmas tree--basking in a 70 degree Arizona day and surrounded by orange trees. And we live in MN because...???

No, no, no. I love my home and am glad to be back after spending our New Year's vacation in Arizona. The beautiful tree in the picture is on the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore Resort where we stayed for part of our trip. Besides pines, poinsettias, and orange trees, the gardens around the Garden Sprites were a welcome break from MN snow banks. The Wright-inspired Spa and Resort is like taking a step back in time. I loved reading about their history and checking out all the photos of the old celebrities and past presidents who had visited the place.

Since many of our vacations tend to revolve around sporting events, you just know we spent New Year's Eve at the Insight Bowl where the Gophers were defeated by Kansas, but a loss is much easier to take in such a lovely location. (Besides, I'm not a UMN grad, so I was just there for the sunshine! Sorry guys.) From the game, we headed over for the Tempe block party where we shared the ringing in of 2009 with 100,000 other people while we watched fireworks and listened to Styx. (Oh boy!) It's hard to say how many miles we had walked by the time we got to bed by 2:00 the next morning. I'm too old for that kind of day.

After exploring Phoenix, we set out for Flagstaff. Having never been to Arizona--outside of the airport that is--I couldn't get over the variety of landscape and climate. As we drove in to higher elevations, we came into winter again and laughed at the excited tourists who just had to drive to the shoulder of the freeway to get out and play in the snow.

The next morning we were off to the Grand Canyon. The views along the way are gorgeous and the canyon itself is quite a sight. We did have to wonder what the park must be like during the peak season when the crowds were considerable in the middle of winter.

On our trip back to Phoenix, we wound through the road leading to Sedona. I think this was my favorite spot in the whole trip. The town itself is pretty touristy, but the drive to get there is fantastic. There were a few campgrounds and resorts along that road that would be fun to visit if we ever get back.

By this time, we were ready to start heading home, but the good people at US Air wanted us to stay a little longer. Our late Saturday flight was canceled due to a mechanical problem, and we were unable to book another flight until Monday morning. We made the best of it and spent some more time looking around Phoenix and even got to a movie. (A movie we all loved, by the way--"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.")

It's good to be home--even with the snow and cold temperatures. Life isn't quite back to "normal" since we have our college kid with us for another couple of weeks, but we'll enjoy that while we can.

Thanks to flight times, car trips, and my tendency to wake up long before the guys are ready to get going on our vacations, I finished three more Mitred Mittens while we were gone. As I was packing for this trip, I wasn't sure what to take along for a project until I found the leftover skeins of yarn from St. Brigid. I threw those in my bag with some dpns and my copy of the pattern and they turned out to be just the thing to take. The pattern is so easy to remember that I could easily pick them up on the fly and be able to knit and enjoy the scenery at the same time. After I get caught up around here, I'll finish up that fourth mitten before I get back to my Rambling Rows cardigan. While I'm knitting, I can reminisce about oranges and Christmas trees.

Technologized Again

My laptop is home! True, there's no telling how much longer she'll last, but it's here. Any day could be the last, which you think would make me more diligent about backing up my work. I guess that's the lazy optimist in me. Besides, I'm not exactly doing rocket science on this thing. (I don't want her to know, but I'm already shopping for a new one on the side.)

I found my camera as well. It was right where I left it. Now I feel just a little sorry for blaming my husband for taking it. (He could have!) The darn thing was left in the glove box after our trip to the North Shore.

These shots were taken a few weeks ago, so the color isn't quite as brilliant as I'm sure it is by now. On the day we were up, it was sunny as we were driving, but by the time we got out for a hike at Split Rock, a bank of clouds and fog blew in from off the Lake. We took our usual walk to the top of Day Hill where this lone fireplace sits. According to some, it was built by Mr. Day as a way to persuade his smitten to marry him and live along the lake. She obviously was not as smitten as he was, or his idea of a dream home scared her off, because it's all that was completed on the point. We've been visiting this spot for years and have yet to follow through on our plans to bring a picnic lunch and some supplies to start a fire. I guess Mr. Day is still having trouble getting people to stick around. It is a great view, and no trip to the North Shore would be complete without walking to the top.

Now that I've got my technology back, I thought I should offer up a picture of the miles of cables that will soon be St. Brigid. The front and back are complete, and I have another repeat or so on the sleeves before I can knit the braided cable shoulder piece. Cables are great. They can make a knitter look so good, and you don't have to be very clever at all to pull them off. This is the easiest pattern that I've knit in awhile. No shaping, no math. So far, I have only made one modification from the original pattern. I originally thought about knitting the sweater in the round, and the alternating double seed stitch pattern on either side would not have worked out even on the seam, so even though I ended up knitting the sweater in pieces, I still switched off the seed stitch order on the sides. Does this make sense?

Let me explain. In the pattern, the first row looks like this...
XXXOOOXXX--All the other cables--XXXOOOXXX
(The X's being knit stitches, the O's being purls.) If you knit it like this, you'd be seaming an X to an X and the continuity of the alternating double seed stitch would be lost. When I knit it, I decided to make the first row look like this...
OOOXXXOOO--All the other cables--XXXOOOXXX
Now, when I seam it, I will be seaming an X to an O. True, I don't have the symmetry on the front, but that will bug me less than it would have to lose that symmetry going around the sweater. (Is this the definition of anal?)

I'm excited to see how it looks, and the cool weather just around the corner is coaxing me to finish.