pepperknit

Or, the post in which I continue to distract you from my lack of knitting content by showing you pretty pictures–but since I was with a fellow blogger–heck I was on her property–it is perfectly good blog fodder and justifies my little bit of real estate here in the blogosphere entirely.

So when I left off, I had posted about the start to my weekend vacation with Rachel, Matt, and Rachel. I couldn’t post the rest of the story because Rachel was holding the finale photos hostage (I think she was hoping she could best me in the blog wars.). But I have the photos now.

First up, the eye candy, or “Minty goes sailing.” This was a first for me (at least, as far as I can remember), and it was delightful! Rachel’s great-uncle invited us out, and Rachel, Matt, and I went (Rachel stayed home). My camera batteries had died, so it was a perfect opportunity to snag Rachel’s DSLR and play–I am hoping to get a DSLR this year.

We got back right before an intense storm kicked up (Matt and his sister grilled dinner anyway), and we spent the evening chilling with crafts or books and playing games. (How delightful it was to find good Boggle players to hang out with!) And, as you might imagine, my relationship with Rachel’s sister-in-law got over the initial hurdles. It progressed so far, in fact, that the end of the vacation looked quite a lot like this:

The last time Rachel’s sister-in-law Rachel and I interacted, we were communicating via aggressive cameraphone shots on Rachel (the blogger)’s cell phone. So it’s only natural that she and I would rent a car and drive 6 hours together Thursday night in order to visit with our only amicable link, with the inevitable return trip on Sunday.

I could not have made a more rash or foolish decision. Rachel (blogger) and I had been talking recently, and she’d extended an invitation for a weekend visit at her family’s lake house with her husband, Matthew. I’m sure she’s regretting this as well. Because little did she expect me to actually take her up on it–it was probably one of those “Oh, yeah, we’d love for you to come . . . You should . . . Yeah, um, if you can. I mean, if it’s not really expensive or time consuming. Sure, if you want” invitations. But in a random act of “spontaneity”–planned a week in advance–I took her up on the invite.

The car ride was interminable. There was no talk about a shared interest in movies, or books, or anything else. No singing along to the radio. It was a painful 6+ hours.

We fought over which way to go.

We fought over what to listen to.

And then we settled into a stony silence.

Later, we stopped for food and bedgrudgingly ate at this small Irish hamburger joint together.

Finally, at 1 in the morning, we arrived at the lakehouse. Rachel and her husband, Matthew, welcomed us and we all promptly went to bed. The next day was idyllic, sitting by the lake stitching/reading/knitting, lazing in the heavenly lake, and trying our best to overcome our differences.

(Yes, I’m cross-stitching while Rachel knits. I’ve been very distracted from knitting, and cross-stitch offers me just the right amount of meditative action while affording me absolutely zero creativity–just what I wanted this summer.)

Next up: Minty takes a sail, Rachel Sr and I finally overcome our differences, and we sadly leave Lake Winnipesaukee.

Other bloggers occasionally check in on past knits to report on how they’ve held up with regular use. I figure, since I’m a total knitting slacker these days, it would be nice to start some kind of reminiscence series, in which I take a look back from time to time. First up, Pam!

No, not Pam. Pam!

I knit this cardigan in November 2005–I finished it right before I headed to Portland for Thanksgiving. That winter I wore it a lot, but I’ve worn it sporadically since then.

The yarn, Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton, has held up really well. There’s no pilling, no fraying, no nothing. The seams are taut and secure–perhaps more a testament to my own abilities than the yarn, but even with the weight of this cardigan (and it is pretty hefty) it’s not pulling badly.

I’ve since decided that it’s a bit too short–as you can see, it skims my belt and sometimes needs to be tugged to feel as if it’s operating correctly. But then, perhaps it would “operate” more correctly if I, uh, had actually finished the cardigan. As in, attached the buttons.

The day I finished this cardigan I was home, sick with a head cold. This was back in Philly, when I lived right at the end of Fabric Row, and I vividly remember that I dragged myself outside only once that day, to walk a block and a half to buy buttons. So I have buttons for this cardigan. They’re here somewhere. But I wasn’t entirely satisfied with them (they’re black) and, well, the cardigan didn’t really need them. I do pull it over in front and cross my arms to hold it down when it’s particularly chilly, as it was today (in the 60s all day, in August!?). I think perhaps a belt would have been a nicer feature than the buttonholes with no corresponding buttons.

All in all, still a successful knit. I might like it if the collar were a bit bigger, but when I said that to people at the office today, they said no no, it’s great as is. And then one said, “I think you should give it to me.”

Yeah, so–it’s summer. I’ve got better things to do than knit.

Wow, this week’s Eye Candy Friday marks one full year of posting Eye Candy (started on 8/11/06). This is the 41st time. I quite like this tradition and plan to keep it up.

Of course, I say that, but I don’t have much in the way of eye candy this week. All my great pictures lately were from the beach, and I posted them last week! Darn it, I should have doled them out. But I have made some favoriti mosaics, so I’ll just show you shots from other people.

You’ll recognize a lot of these folks and their photos, I’m sure!

Check out the crafty goodness I found at my parents’ place this past weekend! I was finishing up the sort/purge of my old bedroom, before my parents move to Singapore, and came upon a bag of stuffed animals. I found some old best friends, of course. I love that my uncle, in his mid-twenties when I was born, kept giving me white toys.

But I also found some nifty, crafty items–both homemade. First up, the birth of amigurumi! Crocheted in the late 70s, this ice cream cone was made for me by my mom.

I wish I knew crochet well enough to figure out how to make those blumpy spots of melting ice cream, because otherwise I suppose this would be pretty easy to make. I say this, of course, but I know nothing about crocheting toys–any experts out there got any ideas or patterns? I’ve been itching to try some amigurumi, but my crochet skills are pretty nonexistent. I used to claim I knew how to crochet, but a friend recently pointed out that I wasn’t doing enough wraps on what I thought was a double crochet, so I shrug and now claim that I could know how to crochet, if I put my mind to it. And I’m thinking about putting my mind to it soon.

The other find was my first sewn toy, made in Home Ec in 6th grade.

I remember that we had a choice of animals, but I have no idea what the other options were. I feel as though most people made the shark. I’d forgotten all about this guy until he came peeking out of the bag. I think smaller versions would be very cute for baby gifts!

Tradition.

The word of beach week with my extended family is tradition. Those experiences that we’ve come to rely on year after year.

The Official Drink® of summer: Capri Sun Surfer Cooler. It can be hard to find, but it’s well worth it.

Crabbing. This year I managed to not catch any my first time out, which was unnatural and sad. Today I caught 3, and one was a biggie.

Frozen custard from Kohr’s. There are newfangled flavor combos available, like banana-strawberry, and raspberry-something, but the classic, orange-vanilla, is the only way to go.

There are new traditions, too, of course–and simply some images and moments that say “I am at the beach.”

But most of all, it’s about time with family. Who else do you build so many traditions with?