Another finish

Also due to the commuting trauma last week (and not actually having cast on my actual Rogue hoodie until Tuesday evening - AFTER the commute), I was able to finish a lovely shawl I started back in April during the DC Yarn Crawl.


It's Color Changing Cotton, and I used all but three yards of it.


I also really like the lattice texture - it's just the "Nancy" part of the Nancy & Judy shawl on Ravelry; I'll be using it again in something-or-other!

Bad week for Metro; good week for Knitting

Monday had a bit of a commute from hell, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday... so Monday, while waiting for the bus to get to the OTHER half of the train (track work = bus to train to bus to train to bus commute!), I whipped up my gauge swatch for my BROOM, which is the Rogue hoodie from Girl from Auntie. (And Monday wasn't nearly as bad as the commute home Tuesday - as I showed you Wednesday.)


While at work, since it was really slow (all our regulators and clients being closed), I was able to get the basics of my schematic set up:


What I've done so far should keep me entertained for about ten days, or to the armhole shaping/start of the hood. I have to check my class notes to get the math for the armhole shaping correct (I know how many inches I need to decrease to have the danged thing actually fit my shoulders properly, I just need to know that in "rows" and "stitches"), but it should be all good. I'm not even going to WORRY about starting the sleeves (or figuring them out!) until the 20th.

I allowed myself to actually start knitting my OWL Monday, since it's a holiday, and this is how far I got by Wendesday morning - actually knitting the hem in place, and 9 rows into Chart A:


Since there was a bit of commuting trauma Wednesday evening and Thursday maorning, I let myself have the rest of the work-week with the Fun New Sweater. As yesterday was XBRL (yuck!) training at work, which resulted in no time to post, and more stress, I had this by the end of the day:


That's the first 25 rows, plus the hem (already turned) and the front pocket knit up. With all the decreases involved in my hip/waist ratio, it's going pretty quickly now.... so, now, it's NOTHING BUT OWL until I hit the 50% mark. As a result, I'm finished with Quidditch (having knit three things for it already, with only one required) and classes (assuming my DADA gets accepted - if not, I'll turn it in for whatever the eighth class I was going to ignore is).

The Long, Dark Teatime of the Commute

Last night, a man was struck by a train in Clarendon Metro station. Last I heard, he was hospitalized, but still alive, which is good. All things considered, Metro acted appropriately and as quickly as it was possible to do during the height of rush hour, when the accident occured. The Orange Line was shut down from Rosslyn to Ballston to allow the EMTs, CSIs and other necessary TLAs access to the incident site. Shuttlebus service was deployed - but during rush hour, it took a while to set up.

The escalators at Rosslyn shut down - AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO - when confronted with overloaded/too much weight conditions. The alternative is maybe having the brakes slip and everyone plummet to the bottom. Since that's happened on a Metro escalator earlier this year, I'm glad the safety kicked in. It did, however, make for a fascinating sight while trying to get *in* to the station and onto the platform:


Metro did convert a third escalator to "Up", and restricted the number of people on it so it could keep running. Meanwhile, the platforms were 100% full of people - I've never seen it so bad, EVER. I and three East Indian girls managed to crowd-dance to the platform edge and catch a train going in the other direction. Coming back the other way (on the Blue Line, which was still up and running), there was NO stop at Rosslyn, because the number of people on the platforms made it too dangerous to try to put anyone off the train. (The last thing Metro wanted was *another* person pushed in front of a train!) Because trains stacked up, were run in reverse (to get some of the people off the platform and headed the other way to the shuttlebus), were single-tracked (one case only, just for safety reasons)... it took quite a while to get home. I left work at 5; I was home by 8:30. It doesn't sound like anyone else was injured, though, which in those crowds was nothing short of a miracle!!

Fire Task #2

So, last Thursday, I started Task #2 for Quidditch. It's a Crovontuli shawl (free Ravelry download!), which is a crochet version of AnneM's very popular Revontuli (another free download!), which has been in my queue forever. The yarn is a ball of Sereknity (back when it was Sereknity!) Perfect Sock that I found up in Beverly Farms MA last weekend, in the Campfire colorway. I’m going to call the finished thing the Mantle of the Phoenix.

Here's how it looked Friday morning:


Yes, I need to change the page on my desk blotter

... and here it is now:

I used all but three yards of my yarn, which includes adding six-stitch iCord ties at the front. I'm trying to decide whether or not to block it; I kinda like the way it stands up on itself right now. And I still have to do the write-up explaining it... but it's not due until Friday, so I have some time to decide & write.

Non-Wool, Ukelele-related

For Muggle Studies this month, we have the option of making (a) something from Knitty, (b) something without any wool, or (c) something to do with a ukelele. I'm doing a (b) and (c) combo - totally synthetic yarn to knit up a faux-lei. (Ukelele = Hawaii = Leis.) However, I learned that the Rozetti Marina tries really, REALLY hard to dive off your needles. And if it does manage to drop itself, it is a PAIN trying to find a place below what's unraveled to pick up the stitches again!


It's possible, but that glob of yarn in the center of the frame that isn't part of the scarf? We'll call that "Thursday morning's progress, completely gone". Now, mind you, this is *not* an entire skein of Marina Glitz - it's about 60%. My 33 yard skein had a KNOT in it - and a pretty easy-to-untie one at that, so that became where I ended - about 18 yards in. Which, as it turns out, is a good length for my "lei".

I made another of these with Rozetti Flora, which I think I like better - it's much, much floofier! I may have to find some green sparkly Flora (if it exists) to make a Christmas wreath. Because if you're gonna have a knitted wreath, that's a pretty cool one to have!