A Coyote, an Eagle, and an FO

A Coyote, an Eagle, and an FO

This morning, as I was driving to the Y (late because of Daylight Savings Spring Forward), I saw a coyote.  I was about 1/2 mile from my house, and still in the neighborhood.  It quickly disappeared through a hedge into someone's yard.  I did not get a great look at it, but dogs don't behave that way.  Dogs in our neighborhood stand in the way of your car and ask to be petted.  They do not slink off.  I immediately turned around and saw it again further down the street, even closer to my house.  It quickly disappeared this time, also.  I drove back.  Partly because I had seen one of our neighbors out walking his dog and wanted to warn him, but really  because our two cats, Selena and Muffin (NO WE DID NOT NAME HER), were outside, acting wild in the windstorm that was our morning weather.  Coyotes eat cats in our neighborhood.  But not my cats.  I whistled for them, and they ran up to see what was happening.  Then much to their mutual indignation, I grabbed them both and put them back inside.  Safe and sound.

When I was driving home, after knitting my way to the next LYS (more to come on that), and after stopping at the grocery store for milk, I saw a bald eagle riding the updrafts over the lake.  It was my second sighting this year.  We have a nesting pair that live in a fir tree up our hill, and often we can see them fishing the lake.  Even better, by mid-summer, we will see them flying with their eaglet, introducing him or her to the wonders of flight.  It has been weirdly cold lately, more like winter than the spring that is coming.  But an eagle.  Yes, "Spring is a cummin' in."

Almost as exciting as a bald eagle sighting, and way way better than a mangy old coyote, is my new Princess Wrap Shawl!  Knit in Debby Bliss Cashmerino in Wine.

I knit this shawl with pixiesmom, another member of the Beginning Lace Group on Ravelry.  I have talked about this before, but I want to repeat some of it because it is great to join a group like this.  The Moderators and other helpful members are quick to answer any questions.  They hold your hand, well virtually, through the whole lace experience.  And knitting it with a buddy is especially fun because you spur each other on.  Both pixiesmom and I had lots of things on our needles and hooks, but we made sure to work on our shawls, because we were checking in on the chat thread daily to see each other's progress.

So here is my shawl, finished but unblocked:

Here it is being blocked, with Selena as official cat blocking helper:

(sorry this is a bit blurry, but it was cloudy and not so good for photos in the basement where I blocked it) this is a close up of the pattern unblocked:

and blocked:

Don't you love Before and After Photos?

This is the finished Princess Wrap Shawl. 

I love it.

Where in the world is f1bercat

I have increased my knitting while riding the exercise bike to 35 min.  Wow, it's not like I'm going fast or have super hard tension, but I did not want to ride/knit for 5 more minutes.  What a wussy.  I did it though.  So, today I rode 6.36 miles and have now knitted a total of 34.74 miles.  What's more important, I am on my second week.  I am so proud of myself.

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On the way south, I stopped off (virtually of course) at All Points Yarn in Des Moines  at 21921 Marine View Drive South in Des Moines, WA.

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This yarn shop has special events and lots of classes.  They have lots of classes in machine knitting, and are authorized Silver Reed knitting machine dealers for the Seattle and Puget Sound area.  One of the fun things they offer is a Men's Knit and Stitch Night.  Got to love a store that welcomes the male of our f1ber species. The owner is on Ravelry as AllPointsYarn and they have an active group.

If you stop by, remember to say "Hello," from f1bercat.

Here is my to-date progress map:

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Have a great night.

f1bercat

shaping the planet with 2 safe cats at a time

P. S. If I am biking/knitting (kniking?) near to you in the future, and you have a LYS you would like me to virtually visit, be sure to leave me a comment here, or send me a pm on Ravelry.

Hint of Spring Round Photos

These are the Round Photos for the March 12 in. Square for the 2012BAMCAL (Block A Month Crochet A Long) Group on Ravelry. I am not doing a full tutorial because, though you have to read them carefully, I think the instructions are fine. The only problem is that they leave out the Slip Stitches to finish off each round, and the ch2 or ch1/sc to start new rounds. The designer assumes that you know to do that. I only added instructions when I thought something was missing, or I was changing color. Please go to the design's page for the full instructions.

Here is the information on the square and the link to the design:

Hint of Spring
2012BAMCAL 12 in Square for March
by Sally Ives (CrochetSal on Ravelry)
Her website is here.


I would like to thank Sally Ives for generously making this design free, and posting it on the web.

She recommends hook size G (4.5mm), but my first attempt at this square did not hit 12 in, so I am hooking this with a size H (5.0 mm).

It is gray and rainy (well! I do live in the Pacific Northwest), so let's see how the photos come out...

She says to start with a chain 4 ring, but since I learned the Magic Ring, that's how I love to start these squares. 

Round 1

Round 1: I started this with ch2, then did not count it as part of the 12 dc. Followed instructions. Joined with ss. 

Round 2

Round 2: ch1, first sc in same space as ss join. Followed Instructions. Joined with ss in first sc. 

Round 3

Round 3: began with ch 2 (did not count it as a dc). Followed Instructions. Joined with ss in first dc. FO (Finish Off) 

Round 4: started with Red with a sc in ch1 sp. 

Round 4

Followed Instructions. Joined with a ss in first sc. 

Round 5: ss to first ch 1 sp, 

Round 5

then ch 2 (I did not count this as the first dc). Followed instructions. Joined with ss in first sc, and FO. 

Round 6: Joined White with sc in 1st dc of corner.

Round 6

Followed instructions. I joined with a ss in the first sc, and FO








Round 7: Joined Blue with sc in the center dc of a 5 dc corner. (that sc counted as my first sc).

Round 7

Followed Instructions. Fastened with a ss in the first sc, and FO. 

Round 8: Joined White with ss in first sc of the 3 corner sc's, ch 2 (which I do not count as my first dc), and dc in same st. 

Round 8

Followed Instructions. Joined with a ss in the first dc.

Round 9: Ch 2 (I did not count this as my first dc), then Dc in same st as join. 

Round 9

Followed Instructions. Joined with ss in first dc and FO.

Round 10: Joined Red with ss in the center dc of any corner 5 dc, ch 2 (which I do not count as my first dc), then 5 dc in same stitch. 

Round 10

Followed Instructions. Joined with ss in first dc, then FO. 

Round 11: Joined White with ss in center dc of any 5dc corner, ch2 (which I do not count as my first dc), 5 dc same stitch. 

Round 11

Follow Instructions. Fasten with ss in first dc, FO. 














Round 12: Joined Blue in a center corner dc with a ss, chained 2 (not counting this!), 5 dc in same st. Followed Instructions and FO. 

Round 12 and Finished Block

Thank you, again, to Sally Ives for sharing her design.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one more afghan block a month

P.S. I was checking this post as a preview, and laughing at how the photos get lighter and darker.  Well, it was raining, and the day darkened and lightened as I took them.  Also, I was racing the setting sun at the end.  I am amazed that the photo at the top, of the 2 blocks, came out as well as it did.  Also, I experimented with photo size in the post, making the finished round photos bigger than the teaching photos.  I would appreciate comments on whether or not this is helpful, or just irritating.  I can't decide if I like it or not.

Thanks again, f1bercat

The One Where My Computer Breaks Down But I Keep Knitting

WIP

I worked on the Red Hot Lewk Sweater, but didn't get any photos, so I won't talk too much about it.

I finished another square of for the 2012 BAMCAL (Block A Month Crochet A Long) Group on Ravelry.  This is the "official" March square (they have 2 squares every month, one is the month square, the other is the filler square).  The pattern is Hint of Spring by Sally Ives, and can be found for free at this link. 

It was super easy to follow, and no mistakes or confusions in the instructions at all.  I did not really follow the color change instructions, but that is pretty much optional anyway.  In fact, I will try to do something very different with the second square I will make of this pattern.  This one is for my son L for his high school graduation afghan.  The next one will be in the University of Arizona's colors, and by for my son J, who will go there next year.  I don't want the two afghans to look too similar.

Here is the back:

 You can see how frazzled I was today.  More about that to come!  But, I usually weave in all ends IMMEDIATELY.  I know if I don't, I may never do it.  But it was one thing after another today.

As I was typing this entry, my computer keyboard froze, and I had to spend about 2 hours on the phone with Dell trying to fix it.  It was so strange.  I tried rebooting the computer (my first fix for everything), but then couldn't get back in because I couldn't type in my password on the log on screen.  Wow, that was scary because I thought, how will I get this document off?  then I noticed a small icon in the bottom left corner of the log on screen.  It is the Ease Of Access icon, and led to a screen with a choice to use an "on screen keyboard."  So, by using that little keyboard, and my mouse (which worked) I could log on, bring up my blog document and the photos I had saved, and email them to myself so I could access everything from a different  computer.  Dell was able to help me in the end.  At first they thought they would have to send out a service rep to replace the keyboard in my laptop.  Then, no kidding, they had me turn the computer off, take out the battery AND unplug it.  Press the on button and hold it on for 10 seconds, then replace the battery, plug in the computer, and turn it on.  AND IT WORKED!  This was after trying about a gazillion other things.  So, if you have a similar problem, now you know! 

Where in the World is f1bercat?

Today I worked on my taxes.  Well, I didn't really get to the Taxes part.  I worked on bringing our financial records up to date so that I can then gather the information needed to work on the taxes.  Ugh.  I started at about 7 am and stopped at 10 am.  It was horrible.  I mean, it's not hard or anything, but I really wanted to go ride the bike so I could start knitting.  And as time was passing, I kept thinking, I'll finish this part tomorrow... I better stop now, or I will have to skip the bike ride... I just need to set this aside and work on it another day...  BUT, I was a good cat, and I finished the part of the job I had set for this morning AND I still made it to the Y to knit myself some exercise.  I worked on the sleeves of the Never Ending, Super Slow, Red Hot Sweater for Lewk.  I am at the small side (started with the cuffs), and still I am not making much progress.  I decided that it is because I have to worry about not only 2 yarns, but I have to think about the increases, and working the increases into the pattern, WHILE I am pedaling an exercise bike.  Honestly, I thought I might as well be balancing a pie on my head, or perhaps juggling some flaming hoops.  Anyway, I only got 5 rows finished in 34 min / 6 miles.  But still, I am 5 rows closer to a finished sweater, and 6 miles closer to California.

So, where am I?  You might have noticed that I am wandering decidedly West, instead of South.  

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That is because I noticed another LYS  (Local Yarn Store) while I was checking out the Puget Sound Yarn Crawl website.  And, well, in the spirit of all f1beristas, I had to stop!  Here I am at The Yarn Stash in Burien, WA.

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This shop is owned by a Mother/Daughter team, Bonnie is the mom, and Beth is the daughter.  They have a nice selection off classes, from Private Knitting, to Open Knitting, and quite a few in between.  I was happy to see that they have Kid's Knitting sessions, too.  At the kids' classes, they dye their own yarn with Kool-aid.  What a wonderful way to get kids excited about f1ber.  They also have some wonderful charity knitting projects that they are helping with.  They are on Ravelry, with a group called The Burien Yarn Stash Crew    If you stop by, remember to tell them that f1bercat says, "hello."

But I had a few miles more to my trip today, so this is where I ended up:

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Once again, I'm not exactly sure where I am.  I think I am still in Burien?  or is it Sea-Tac?  You can just see the corner of the airport.  I am now headed south again, towards Tacoma.  But!  I found another LYS, this one in Federal Way.  I should reach it on Monday.  I think I am going to rest my bike on the weekends.  Ha!

Here is what my trip will look like when I have finished:


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You might notice that all of the markers so far are totally squished up on each other way at the top.  At some point I will make Tacoma.  And then, Portland, where I will visit my daughter, S.  Any of you reading this, who are on the route south, and know somewhere I should virtually stop, please leave me comments with suggestions.  I would love to visit your favorite LYS, or cafe, or coffee house, or just visit with you!  We can spend some time knitting together.

Good night for now,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one crocheted block at a time

The One Where I Visit The Knittery

Hello!

Let me start off today's post with some Fiber!

WIP's

A Tale of 2 Socks, and another Tail

Sock 1

About 2 weeks ago, I received the second project in the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.  You might remember the super soft glove I made last month. 

Well, this project is for Snuggly Socks.  The yarn is Crazyfoot, from Mountain Colors, in their Wilderness Colorway.  One of the many things I am enjoying about this Knitting Club is being introduced to some wonderful yarns.  I believe this company is local to Liz Marino.  I have not seen it in my LYS here in the Pacific Northwest.  And, O!  it is soft and snuggly.  I am still on the leg of the first sock, but I have to say, I love knitting with this yarn.

The yarn is variegated, as I think you can see from the photo.

 I am loving how the pattern is more than a simple rib, but not so much that the colors are lost in the pattern, or the pattern is lost in the color.  As with the gloves, I might have to keep these socks for myself.  "Gift" Club.  Ha!

Sock 2

I have started some socks for the Sock Knitters Anonymous March challenge, double dipping with Solid Socks March challenge.  The SKA challenge this month is cables or one of the featured designers.  I would love to make a pair of cabled socks, but since the Solid Socks challenge color is Brown, and I have some nice Classic Elite Yarns Summer Socks in brown, I decided to take from my stash and find a pattern by one of the featured designers that would make a nice pair of summer socks for the Doc.  I found a great pattern called, Cobblestone, by Adrienne Fong, and started a pair of socks on my Addi Turbos  in size 2, 2-at-a-Time. 

The yarn does not feel great.  This is not a dis on Classic Elite Yarns at all.  It is not even a dis on the Summer Socks Yarn.  Let's face it, cotton just does not feel as nice as wool.  The yarn is 40% Cotton, 40% Wool, and 20% Nylon.  As I knit, it feels sticky.  It is really weird.  But then, I keep fondling the cuffs, and now the legs (I am about 3 inches into the legs), and they feel much softer. I have never knit with cotton before, but I am sure that when they are washed, they will be even softer.  I love cotton fabric. So, once knitted, cotton should be soft.  Right?  Well, we shall see.  If they are not, then he doesn't have to wear them.   I still like the way the yarn feels knitted up, and I really like the pattern.

Another Tail

The Eastside Stitchers meet right next to Starbucks and Half-Price Books.  O!  the temptation.   Yes, I have been getting a skinny mocha every week.  I try hard to avoid the bookstore, but a few weeks ago I succumbed and bought a copy of Amigurumi by Lan-Anh Bui & Josephine Wan.  I crocheted my first piece today. Super easy, super quick, super cute, but...

Ok, I know I hook a bit loosely.  And I didn't use the recommended yarn... But this mouse is supposed to be about 4 in. and I got 7 1/2 in.  So it's a Mouse King.  Or a rat.  A ROUS?  I don't believe those exist.

Knitting My Way to California

Today I virtually reached The Knittery, a Yarn shop located at 601 S. Grady Way in Renton. 

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The Knittery is the featured shop in the Puget Sound Local Yarn Shop Tour. I called the shop and chatted with the owner, Win.  She was very friendly, and that is how she described her shop:  "A Friendly Yarn Shop."  When I asked if they specialized in or emphasized anything particular, she told me that The Knittery has a good selection of lots of general yarns in every weight so that you can find what you need for just about any project you are working on.  They offer classes; right now a Knitter's Choice Class, with Bunny Pfister as the instructor.  This class lets you bring in any project you want, and get help on it.

There is also a spinning group. Beginners are welcome, in fact, they work hard at getting people started spinning.

So if you are near Renton, WA, drop by The Knittery. When you see Win, tell her f1bercat says, "Hello."   I hope to meet her in reality on the LYS Tour which will take place in May from the 17th to the 20th.

Where is f1bercat?

At 22.24 miles, I've made it to the airport!  I'm virtually sitting on the edge of Sea-Tac airport, watching the planes land.

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And here is how far I've traveled while knitting:

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Good Night, everyone.  If the sky is clear, I'm going out to try to catch the Northern Lights, which might come down this far due to the giant Solar Storm.  Looks a bit cloudy... but a cat can dream. 

f1bercat
Shaping the planet one giant rodent at a time

Eastside Stitchers Meet Eastside Hookers

Hello, there!

Well, it happened.  While the Eastside Stitchers were happily knitting and hooking away at  Crossroads Mall , in Bellevue, who should walk by?  but 2 members of Eastside Hookers!  I hope I am getting their Ravatars correct here (Ravelry is down right now and I want to post this so I can't check), but they were MeenaBean, and DeboraS.  They told us that the Eastside Hookers crochet group meets mostly on Saturdays, and is a growing group.  We assured them that everyone was welcome to come join us on Wednesdays, and I hope they pass this on to their group. 

So... who was stitching at Crossroads tonight? 

In alphabetical order (since my computer organizes the photos that way):

Allifer got off work early.  She brought a finished placemat, and was working on a second one.

Amigirl brought a lace shawl in a delicious orange sherbet.  I am not sure if she knit more or tinked more tonight, but it was great to see her.













Cleothyla and Colleen were both knitting mint ice cream baby blankets.  I guess great minds think in the same color.  Cleothyla's will be a circular blanket, and Colleen's a lace rectangular.

Cleo's circular baby blanket

Colleen's lace baby blanket

A new stitcher joined the group.  GwenS brought a cowl.  She told us she has only been knitting since November.  Wow, look how even her stitches are! 

Jenknotsed8 brought a colorwork hat.  She was working on knitting with 2 colors, and practicing how to hold the yarns.  I will wait for Jen to perfect the technique, then get her to teach me.  I have always wanted to learn stranded knitting.







This cup represents MsWiz.  Yes, she was there.  Yes, she was knitting.  No, I am not going to tell you or show you what she had brought.  Shhhhhh!  It's a secret.  I will only say she knit at least 4 inches.

This horribly out of focus shot is a crocheted flower.  I don't know why I do this to new members (or returning in this case) of Eastside Stitchers.  But PamelaMama just happened to be at Crossroads with her sons, saw us stitching, and stopped to join in.  Of course she had yarn and a hook in her bag!  She quickly hooked a flower from some Noro Yarn (this end of the yarn made the first flower a bit.. dark). 




So happy to see all the people who showed up to stitch tonight.  I hope that more of you will give us a try. It is always nice to meet others who understand our obsession with yarn, and appreciate the wonder of all we create.



On to my bike trip!

I stitched about 5.3 miles this morning.  I worked on the sleeves of the Red Hot Sweater for Lewk.  I finished the cuff ribbing.  I have cast them both on the same circular needle, and hope to knit them together 2-at-a-Time.  I was a bit nervous about having 2 yarns while pedaling, but it worked fine (after one brief moment where I knit up the yarn tail instead of the working yarn.)  Almost as importantly, I reached Renton, WA.


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Renton is the home of one of our area's Boeing Aerospace Plants.  It is also home to our Museum of Flight, and most importantly, to my family, The Evergreen City Ballet.

ECB (as we call it) has a special place in my heart.  Not only is it a great regional ballet company, but my sons performed in their Nutcracker Ballet two years.  When my sons, J and L,  switched from taking ballet at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. to their private ballet coach, we knew there would not really be any chance to perform, the new studio was just too small.  Then, Kevin Kaiser, the Artistic Director of ECB asked the boys to come audition.  He cast both boys in The Nutcracker, and we had 2 fun years performing with this wonderful company.  It was fun and a great learning experience for the boys.  Here is J as the Cavalier. 

So, Hello, Renton!  Tomorrow I will  virtually visit a LYS in Renton, and then Pedal on my way South.

This is how far I've traveled to date:


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Good night.

f1bercat
Shaping the planet one new hooking friend at a time.

The One Where I Learn How To Link A Map.... Sort of

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Hello!  So the map is the first thing, because I can't figure out how to make it come lower on the blog, and I am afraid to try to replicate it.

Life will therefore come first today.

I have knitted another 5 miles on the exercise bike at the Y, and I am finally out of Bellevue, my hometown.  I am sitting on a corner in Newcastle, at least I think it's Newcastle.  There are no markers for when you cross city boundaries in GoogleMaps that I can find.  I found a city boundary map, but if I expand it enough to find my spot on the street, the city boundaries disappear.  Anyway, I am pretty sure I am in Newcastle.  The next map shows my progress on the trip.





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I hope to figure out how to make the trip map show up in the sidebar.  We shall see if I can get it right.  A very long time ago I learned Basic Programming.  I once knew a bit of Machine Language, too, and believe me, that was a tough one because it was all in base 16.  I also learned Fortran when I was at Notre Dame, but what I need right now is HTML. =)

Anyway, wow, I have ridden the bike a bit over 10 miles and kept to my trip for 2 days in a row.  Yay for me.  Tomorrow I hope to make it to Renton, and on Thursday, I will visit a yarn shop there.


WIP

The only piece I'm going to talk about today is the Red Hot Sweater for my friend Lewk.  

I have actually cast off the front.  Yay.

If you will remember, I am using a pattern by Norah Gaughan from Vogue Knitting: Very Easy Knits.  It is the Textured Pullover.


I did the neck decreases this morning, with much help from the great blog, TechKnitting.  One of the many reasons I love this blog is that the writer, TechKnitter, uses these great graphics to explain how to do stuff.  She also has a wonderful index of all of the topics she has covered.  I simply went to the index and looked for binding off.  I used 2 pages of explanations for binding off in the middle of fabric, Part 1, how to start it, and Part 2, how to finish and continue on knitting.

It mostly came out pretty smooth:

 



 I know that any uneven spots will be hidden when I pick up for the collar ribbing.  I hope.










So here are the front and back:

Unblocked, I hope I don't need to add.  I have not yet cast on the sleeves, but I will do that tomorrow (after my bike ride), because tomorrow is Eastside Stitchers at Crossroads Night, and I must bring something new.  Well, the sleeves are new?  Right?  I mean they are a new part of this sweater.  


So, great progress on both my trip to California (ha!  10 miles ), my HTML programming, and my Red Hot Sweater.  


Sleep well tonight.


f1bercat
shaping the planet one web page at a time

Stitching My Way to California

Hello fellow stitchers!

I'm going to start tonight's post with a quick summary of some WIP's, a FO (finished, yes really finished!  object), and then a short Life post.

WIP's

I have been crocheting like a fiend.  I still have one square for March to finish for the 2012 Crochet Block-a-Month group on Ravelry, but I was inspired by MWitch3's blog, Needles and Hooks and Books, Oh My!  She talks about hooking a square a day for Lent, to make a Lenten blanket to give away for charity.   I decided to hook some extra squares for a baby blanket for the Sharing Our Gifts group in addition to the other baby items I am making.

So I crocheted a stack of 6 in squares using the sweet Never Fading Flower Square by Nellas April.

 

I am still not sure how big, or what the configuration will be, but I love this idea.

I also hooked the "filler" square for March, the  Double Treble Burst Square by Amelia Beebe.

I made 2, of course, the red, white and blue 

one for J's U of Arizona afghan:

and a navy, light blue, and white one for L's Graduation afghan: for this one I tried to "carry" the white yarn behind as I crocheted, and only used it to make the FPDT (front post double treble) stitches, so it would really look like a sunburst.  It was mostly successful.  If nothing else, I am happy that both squares look pretty different.

In addition to the baby blanket, I have started another Berry Baby Hat by Michele Sabatier, this time in blue. So it is my Blueberry Hat. This will also go the Sharing Our Gifts March project.   But, a bit more about this hat, later.  

I finished the socks I was knitting for my sister, K.  This is an unblocked photo.  I washed and blocked them, and they looked much better, I could really see the heart pattern.  I put them in the mail today.  I hope they fit.  They are really fun looking.  K teaches 3rd grade, and I hope she will wear them to school.  Who knows?  She might inspire some of her students to learn to knit their own socks.

I started 2 new pairs of socks, but I think I will write about them more in a future blog.

I am making good progress, sort of, on the sweater for Lewk.  It is getting a bit embarrassing to bring the same sweater to the  Eastside Stitchers meet up week after week.  So, today I reached the neck decreases on the front of the sweater. I plan to finish the front tomorrow, and cast on the sleeves, so I can bring them to Crossroads Mall this Wednesday.  Ok, I will still be knitting that sweater, but at least it will be a different section of it.

I have finished 9 repeats of my Princess Lace Wrap by Betsy Perry, that I am knitting along with the Beginning Lace Knitters group on Ravelry.  I was challenged by Pixiesmom to knit this shawl with her as a knitalong.  I am so happy she asked me.  It has been very fun to compare progress with her, and share our questions.  Anyway, the shawl is now looking like this:

 
I have also been looking at some crocheted toy patterns. I am hoping to make some small, quick items for my nephews/nieces/god kids for Easter.  I will keep you posted.

Life

I have a new idea that I hope I can actually do.  I used to walk every day, and post here where/how far I walked.  But, I pretty much quit walking.  And I really hate that.  So, I decided that I am going to try to make it to the Y, and ride the exercise bike.  Why the bike and not walk. treadmill, or elliptical?  I can knit while I ride an exercise bike.  Ha!  So. I brought the Blueberry Hat today, and knit it while I rode about 5.1 miles.  The hat is just round after round of stockinette in 1 color at this point, so it was a perfect choice.

As I was knitting and pedaling, I was thinking of where I would go if I was actually riding a real bike.  I have always wanted to do long distance biking, but wow, I am so out of shape that I don't know if that would ever happen.  However, I can possibly do it in a virtual way.

So I decided that I am going to try to ride the exercise bike to visit my family in Southern California.  I will keep track of how far I pedal each day, and plot it on a map.  I am not going to cheat, and go by freeway, but instead, I have looked at a route that "avoids highways."  Also, if I am staying off the highways, I thought I might as well stop at LYS's (Local Yarn Shops) on the way.  The first one I have found is at the 17 mile marker, so I should reach it on Wednesday or Thursday.  I will try to do a little post on that shop if possible  (of course that shop is so close, I can ACTUALLY and not just virtually visit it)  and I might do that for fun.

Here is where I am on the bike tonight:


Anyway, I hope you will all follow my progress down the coast as I knit (oops. I mean pedal) my way from the Seattle area to Southern California.

Have a great night.

f1bercat
Shaping the planet one blueberry hat at a time