Inertia and the Art of Choosing a Car

Basically we are lazy. We spent a grand total of four hours car shopping. We first went to a Volvo dealer and were hopelessly confused. They had only six cars in the showroom and 90% of the ones in the lot did not have stickers. We didn't know what to do. So, my husband and I looked at each other and decided to go to the VW dealer where we've gotten our last two cars. We bought a 2005 1/2 Jetta. It's a "program car" so technically it is used--with 1100 miles on it. It's loaded: leather, sun roof, 6-disc in-dash changer, heated seats, rear window sun shade (!!!), etc. And the big bonus feature: memory settings on the seats. Since I'm 5'2" and my husband is 6'5", the convenience of that cannot be underestimated.

So, during the Olympics I actually got a lot of knitting done. I finished the second half of the curlicue Scarf from Scarf Style, made the alpaca shawl (my official Olympic entry) and the first half of Bobblicious. Not a bad tally, I must say.

I'm sad that the actual Olympics are over. I am really hoping that my husband and I will be able to attend the 2010 Vancouver games. Vancouver is one of our favorite cities and I have always had a passion for the winter games. (I am the least sporty person on the planet, but I love the Olympics.)

Olympic Success

Although there were times I doubted myself, I was able to complete my Olympic project--an alpaca lace shawl--during the women's free skate. That's the good part. The bad part is that I'm not sure that I like it...Fortunately, the Elann alpaca that I used is super reasonable. And, it was about the thrill of the pursuit. I did spend 5 hours last Saturday trying to fix the problem described in the previous post. Ugh.

Don't know how much knitting I'll get in today. I am going to be guest lecturing for a college class on Producing Live Theater. Then, we may be off to do some car shopping. I've been a VW driver practically my whole life. There was a behemoth station wagon thrown in there at one point; my parents bought it when I was in 5th grade, and gave it to me when I moved out of the house 10+ years later. Fortunately for me, a tree fell on it and it wasn't mine for very much longer. (Although it was still drivable--that's how big it was!) We are considering (gasp!) other types of cars. We're checking out Volvos and I want to drive a Prius. (I'm worried that the rear window is too tiny and I will feel claustrophobic in it.) There is a good chance we'll end up with a Jetta or Passat, though. Frankly, we're creatures of habit and we just don't drive all that much. In the four years we've had the current Jetta, I/we have only put 21,000 miles on it.

I think I'm going to start Bobblicious from Knitty.com next. I have two types of yarn for it: possibly the last 14 skeins of Classic Elite's Waterspun Weekend on the planet that I bought on eBay this week and Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick n' Quick. The TnQ kinda gives me the ooks because I'm just not an acrylic girl. I'm a bit worried about pilling, etc. But, that's what the recipe called for, so I bought it. Don't love the Waterspun's color--Henna--but it was all I could get.

Gotta go influence young minds...

The Halfway Point (or The Road to the Podium*)

The Olympics are halfway over and I am about halfway through the yarn required for my project. Pretty good, right? Well, last night, after a loooooong day that was part of a looooooooooong week at work, I started knitting and maybe wasn't enough attention and, as Bob Costas would say, disaster struck. I have frogged and re-knit three rows over and over and still can't get to the root of the problem. I am hoping that with a night's sleep and fresh eyes and a Venti Starbucks this morning that I will be able to figure out the problem and get going again. Ugh. I was getting a little overconfident, frankly, and had been congratulating myself on how it had been going to this point. Lindsey Jacobellis and I have learned our lessons, I think.

On another subject, there used to be another post in this blog. It was there, I swear. But it disappeared when I posted the previous entry. I don't know why. Suffice it to say that it was the best, wittiest, most clever post that will ever appear here and now it is gone into the ether forever. (Okay, maybe not, but since it no longer exists, who will ever know?)

*An observation from THE GAMES: "Podium" is now a verb. I have noted that the athletes (and some commentators) have begun to use podium, previously used as a noun, as a verb. Or maybe it is just the Halfpipe Snowboarders. Example: "The Flying Tomato really laid it down tonight. There was a question after his first run if he would even be able to make it into the finals. Not only did he get there but he was able to podium with the gold for the US."

Let the games begin!

I have loved the Olympics since I was a child. I, who do not watch sports at any other time, will watch any and all Olympic competitions. This year I am celebrating the Olympic Spirit in my lounge surrounded by yarn and Hershey's new chocolate-covered peanut butter cookies (YUM!!). I lit my own personal flaming cauldron (okay, it was a palm wax candle) to set the mood. If Bob Costas were to do an in-depth profile of my personal knitting experience, the story would currently be one of disappointment and false starts: I have started and frogged my Knitting Olympics project three times already! It is my fault; I did not read through the pattern and it is one that I must pay attention to which is difficult when I want to pay attention to my t.v. That challenge, combined with some newly-developed back spasms, is going to make my quest for the gold difficult. It's only day one of competition so I have not yet given up.

I did finish a fun spiral scarf (see Scarf Style, page 103) in Alchemy Synchronicity today. It is fun, fun, fun and only took a couple of days. The yarn is a bit pricey for the end result and I'm certain I can find something equally lovely that will be a little less expensive for the next one. I'm thinking about making it in a thicker yarn so the resulting piece will have a completely different look and feel.

For those of you sharing the (Knitting) Olympic dream, don't stop trying until the flame is extinguished.