Welcome to Houghton

From Houghton - Mi...

Greetings Trolls!

On the road again

preemie
Originally uploaded by knitterbay

I am way behind in blogging. But since it isn't a requirement or an assignment - the three people who read this may or may not come back and see this posting. :-) This posting may be a little jumbled, there will not be any graceful segways between ideas. They are pretty much non-related.

Yesterday we were driving to Houghton, MI to take Son to Michgan Tech's open house. He is very interested in studying environmental sciences and was anxious to see if this school would be where he wanted to go.

So with work in total turmoil, late nights, phone calls, web updates we left early and drove north. (Blackberry worked till St. Ignace, cell phone had just a few dead areas In the UP.)

I will add photos of Houghton later today. This town is fabulous!!! I was really shocked. I have seen photos of it, but usually it involves a lot of snow. Then as soon as we checked in, I logged in at work, made phone calls to see where things may have been dropped. Ram-niss took Son and T to register at MI Tech and I worked.

Knitting content: By the time we were at Indian River I had finished the i-cord of one hat and completed another knitted hat. Sarah at the guild is our charity coordinator. So instead of socks I will be making preemie items using stash yarn. On the needles right now is a lime green sweater that matches the lavender one in the photo.

Speaking of the guild, I had a lot of fun at our first Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild meeting of the season. (I have always worried that when I have that much fun it may not have been fun for others.) They are interesting, energetic, and unique. I look forward to October's meeting.

Oh, and Zoe and I have signed up for Rabble Rousers dog class. I need some training. I do not behave well when other dogs approach us when I am walking Zoe :-) I was looking for a class, but was afraid of the basic obedience class because of the way she behaves around other dogs while she is on a leash. This class is specifically for dogs like her. So all of them will be awful. Zoe is smart, I think she will pick up pretty easy. I just need a structured environment with someone who knows what they are doing.

Photos of Houghton later. It is just too beautiful to let pass.

Thar she blows

From whaling

Today Ram-niss and I went whale watching. We saw humpback whales. At the end of the tour we saw 5 swimming together. Of course photos couldn't do it justice. If you are interested in viewing our tour or schlepping through all of our Boston photos today, just click 'whaling' under the photos.


They can always find you...
Believe it or not this is a photo of Ram-niss and I signing our final papers on our cottage (in Michigan) on the back the notary's car outside our hotel in Boston. Back of the car was because parking is awful here, and he was parked illegally. He didn't want to get towed. Funny and weird at the same time. It will make a good story years to come. Cell phones and email... amazing.

We are here...

Ram-niss and I made it to Boston. It took 28 hours to get here by train. Had we not had a delay in New York we would have made it in time to catch the subway to get to our hotel. Instead at 1 am I was telling a cab driver that I was not going to pay x amount of dollars to take me 1.5 miles to my hotel. Instead I would go to the other side of the station and catch another cab. He came down in price and we went got in. The cab ride was worth the money in entertainment value alone. (Though it did reaffirm my wish to walk or take the subway.)

Next day we took the subway into town. The MBTA worker kindly spent a fair amount of time showing us how to use our tickets, how to figure out the lines, the best places to eat and how far we could safely go on which lines. All this from staring at the turnstile with the ticket in my hand.

Any time we stood too long staring at our maps, people would come up and offer directions. We were tourists. We didn't stick out - there were many people walking around with maps in their hands.

The weather is much nicer than it was 20 years ago. Sunny and low 70's. If you are interested in seeing our photos so far, click the photo of the John Jeffries House.

Knitting update

Sorry, no clever title. School has started. Projects are clicking along. Nothing is done yet - they are just bigger. For family members reading: we will be signing on the cottage after our trip to Boston. I forgot how much crap there is involved on home purchases. I thought our concern would be the approval process. That was nothing, but paper work involved even when everything is approved still is an absolute pain. Photos for everyone once we actually sign on the FINAL dotted line.


Ram-niss' pup tent is almost done. He tried it on a few days ago and it is fitting perfectly. God bless, Elizabeth Zimmerman! Her percentage system worked for my Creme Saver sweater and this one. I am finishing the hem on the collar, using a softer contrasting yarn for the inside band. My intent is that it not be scratchy along his neck. I have to knit bands for the zipper and hem the sleeves. On this project there are a few new things I am learning on this project. One is the zipper - though that doesn't intimidate me. Knitting underarm gussets does have me breaking out in a bit of a sweat. Many books talk about them as well as websites, but I can't find specific instructions on how to do it. (Sock gussets, yes. Underarm gussets, no.) I have an idea I am going to try, though I will not take out the yarn holding my live stitches till after I know it will work.

St. Brigid will be going with Ram-niss and me to Boston. There will be plenty of time on the train. I will not need to have other projects along. There is little chance that it will be finished on this trip. I will be taking a sock for mindless knitting. That may actually be completed.




T's backpack is almost done. Still haven't felted her lunch bag. I told her that she is to be surprised at Christmas when she finally gets her backpack. :-)










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Mahna Mahna

While I am knitting and gardening today, please sit back and enjoy my favorite Muppet song. Over the years we have used many different words to go along with this song. Menominee, phenomenon,...