Robotics, Revisited

The boys' robotics team (green shirts) made it into the semifinals, won the first round but lost the second round. This competition was their first in the VEX program and they learned lots. They will participate in one more tournament next weekend.

Seattle

I was in Seattle for a WASFAA EC meeting, and had a room on the 38th floor of the Westin that overlooked Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. The view was fabulous, as the weather was sunny and clear most of the time. Jennifer and I met for drinks and dinner and it was great to see her and catch up. I managed to get in some knitting, although I did spend time just gazing at the Seattle skyline at night. The boys will be in Seattle this weekend for a robotics tournament ... maybe I'll have time to organize my Ravelry notebook.

Robotics

The robot is complete for Ben's VEX team. Now all they need to do is to learn how to drive it.

Progress

After starting over about 20 times, I think I've finally figured out the chart pattern for the Birdseye Scarf. The pattern came with no written instructions, just a chart with symbols in tiny squares. Oh, and the woman at the shop said casually, "You knit every other row." The pattern has double yarn overs, which seemed awkward to knit on the next row. Finally, I googled 'double yarn overs' and found some very good advice to knit the first yarn over and purl the second. Much easier, looks better. The pattern also indicated that the first stitch on every row should be slipped, but since the knit rows are not shown on the chart, it took me awhile to realize I needed to slip the first stitch on every knit row. Now both edges are nicely finished, not just one! This must be the kind of stuff you learn if you take a knitting class.

Ravelry

I just got my invitation to Ravelry! The gardening projects scheduled for today may have to wait a bit.

Valentines

I made Linzer Cookies to take to the office for Valentine's Day. I had planned to make these cookies (with stars) at Christmas, but ran out of time. I think they make the perfect Valentine! The boys liked them, too, even without chocolate chips. Peter did suggest, however, that one could use chocolate instead of raspberry jam for the filling.

Charts

OK, this is hard. I am knitting a simple scarf from a chart. Why is it so difficult? I may need to rethink my plan to take up Fair Isle knitting. While I was buying stamps today, I noticed a sign announcing that Knitting with the Librarians had moved from Fridays to Thursdays at noon. Surely someone there will give me tips on using a knitting chart. I'm sure I'm just missing some basic step.

White

I discovered that All About Yarn is now open until 5 pm on Saturdays (8 pm on Mondays!), which gave me enough time to pick out yarn for the Birdseye Scarf (there goes this month's budget). I had planned to use Frog Tree Alpaca but, after exploring all of the options, decided on Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Winter White. It is 50% Super Fine Alpaca and 50% Peruvian Wool and very soft. I also bought a magnet board to use with the chart. I'm trying to resist starting this project until I finish at least one of the others I have started. Let's see, there's the blankie for Alison's baby (over half done), Ben's afghan (just started), and my Moonlight scarf (three-forths done). The Birdseye Scarf starts off with just three cast-on stitches ... just a few rows won't hurt, right? I can stop anytime ....

Eugene

While we were in Eugene, Katy and I took a field trip to The Knit Shop. We were not disappointed. This month's budget could not support a yarn purchase, but I couldn't resist the pattern for a Birdseye Scarf. The pattern, however, is simply a chart ... something I've never used. We'll see how it goes.