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Traffic Jams, Soccer, and Knitting

Posted on August 29, 2009 by auburnchick

It’s another weekend, and guess what I’m doing?

Sitting in a hotel after a day spent on the soccer fields.

We drove to Jacksonville after school on Friday.  We moved right along until a few miles outside of town, where we hit a major traffic snafu…

Ugh…what a mess!  We checked the GPS and saw that there were actually two areas of congestion…at 9:30 at night!  I like my roads to be in good shape, but this was the second weekend in a row of encountering heavy traffic!

After sitting in a near-motionless state for an hour, we finally managed to creep our way to the next exit, where we mercifully got off.  The GPS decided not to play jokes on me (unlike last weekend) and got us around this traffic via a neat little detour.

My favorite part of the trip is going over the bridge and seeing the lights on the buildings and other bridges…

We were relieved to reach our hotel and crawled wearily into bed.

Of course, now that soccer season has officially begun, sleeping in on weekends has gone by the wayside.  I was up at the crack of dawn to hit Target for some items I had forgotten to pack.

Don’t ask.

Just remember that I am AuburnChick.  There is no Easy Button for me.

Chicky’s team was scheduled to play at 9, and I thought it would be a pleasant morning.  I mean, I had my knitting…

That’s my latest mini-project…a baby hat for charity.  I’ll post more information about it after I finish.

The temperatures quickly climbed, and it didn’t take long until I had to put the yarn away.  Have you ever tried to knit when your hands were sweaty?  Not a pretty thing, let me tell you.

We cheered hard, and Chicky’s team won.

One downer was that one of Chicky’s teammate went down with an injury.  We are concerned that she tore her ACL.  The worst part about this incident is that the same girl tore her other ACL a year and a half ago and was just getting back into prime form.

Please say a prayer for her.

Between games, I ran to KnitWitz, a wonderful store located about ten miles from the hotel we were staying at.

I was crunched for time, so when I ran in, I blabbed quickly, looked around even faster, and grabbed up these delicious skeins of yarn…

The Berroco is identical to the skein I’m using for my current sock project.  I am growing concerned about yardage since the pattern I’m using has mega cabling in it.

I also picked out this…

As soon as I saw the colors, I fell in love with it.  The thing that pushed me over the edge with it was the softness.  Oh my gosh!  I cannot wait for this stuff to be on my feet!!

I made it back to the hotel just in time to take Chicky back to the fields for game #2.  Her team lost.  It was a scorcher, and the girls’ legs were done after the first game.  The opponent was playing its first game and looked much fresher.

At least we didn’t have any injuries this game.

After a delicious dinner at Carrabbas, we’ve settled back into our room.  We’re about to hit the sack and rest up for tomorrow’s game.

Filed under: Knitting, soccer | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A Teller’s Hat

Posted on February 15, 2009 by auburnchick

You might remember my story about walking into my local bank and spying my favorite teller who, I discovered, is undergoing chemotherapy treatments.  She was wearing a cotton turban.

Instantly, I remembered purchasing this yarn:

Berroco Chinchilla Color #7524

Berroco Chinchilla Color #7524

After finishing my Hawaiian Leis Socks, which you saw a post or two ago, I immediately cast on for the “No-Hair-Day Hairy Chemo Cap.”  The free pattern is located here.

Now, if you’ll recall, I made two of these hats last summer, using eyelash yarn.  I was not happy with the results.

I was determined that this time would be different.

And it was.

Here is the finished project, which I cast on Friday night (2/13) and finished last night (2/14).  This was not constant knitting time but knitting in between “life.”

I made the small size, but the hat still turned out a little large.  I found that rolling up the brim made the hat fit better and adds a little character to an otherwise plain hat.

I hope she likes it!

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

A Tug of My Heart

Posted on February 2, 2009 by auburnchick

Isn’t it interesting how a seemingly routine errand can lead to something that pulls at your heart?

Today I didn’t have a subbing job, so I ran a couple of errands on my way to a friend’s house.  I was going over to work on her laptop, but I needed to stop at the bank first.

If you’re like me, you probably go to the same branch…the one closest to your house or place of employment.  Maybe you go during your lunch hour.  Perhaps you run by on your way home from the grocery store.

When you live in a small city like mine, you tend to form casual friendships with those you do business with.

Today, upon entering the bank, I spied my favorite teller.  A few months ago, I noticed that she hadn’t been there in a while, so I asked how she was.  There have been some staffing changes, and I was curious.  I was told that she now travels to different branches.  She’s so good that they use her to fill in whereever there’s a need.

Today was her day to be in “my” branch, and I called out to her.  She responded with a smile.  We identify with each other…both of us having teens.

There was something different about her today.  She was wearing one of those caps that chemotherapy patients wear.  I overheard her use the word chemotherapy to a co-worker.

My heart fell.

I immediately wanted to do something for my favorite “Traveling Teller.”

This is how charity works, I believe.  The tug of the heart that leads to action.

Do you remember the cap I made for Ms. Jean?  The pattern for the cap is here.  The cap that I made did not exactly turn out the way I wanted, but I know it was the thought that mattered.

I bought some Chinchilla yarn a few months ago, intending to make another cap — one that hopefully resembles the picture in the pattern:

After seeing my favorite teller today, I am thinking that I might just need to go ahead and cast on for the hat.  My intention is to offer it to the gal with a hug and prayers.  Please pray for her.  Said teller’s name is Jody.

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Yarn Porn from Jacksonville

Posted on May 24, 2008 by auburnchick

Hooray, hooray! AuburnChick went shopping!!! It’s pretty sad when I scout out yarn stores when we go out of town, but that’s exactly what I do. I got up bright and early this morning, GPS in hand,and made my way to KnitWitz, a “real” yarn store in Jacksonville. What a delightful store!!! Here’s what it looked like when I walked in…

To be fair, I justified my visit with the need to buy yarn for the chemo caps I am getting ready to make for a couple of people.

Here’s the Rowan Calmer that I plan on stranding with the Trendsetter eyelash yarn to make this pattern.

I bought this color (same brands as above) to make a cap for my daughter’s friend’s mom…the same gal I made the comfort throw for. She starts chemo the first week of June.

Now, here’s where I went off track a bit. Being in a real yarn store, and never having access to one, made me feel totally okay with buying the rest of what you’ll see.

I bought solid sock yarn because I’ve only made socks with striping or variegated yarn. There are many patterns that I’ve stayed away from because I just knew that the colors would hide all of the hard work.

This is Lorna’s Laces, and the colorway is Periwinkle. It is so pretty! I’ve finally, finally learned that you have to buy two skeins of this brand of yarn to make calf-length socks. Each skein is only 50g!

The next yarn is Berroco Comfort Sock. It’s either white or creme. Yeah, it seems like a “blah” color, but I think that everybody needs a pair of white socks, and I can already envision some lovely lace pattern.

Now, the neat thing about this store is that just when you think you’ve seen everything, you haven’t. As I got to the back, and I touched everything, I found myself fondling some very soft yarn. I picked it up to check the label, and lo and behold – Malabrigo! This is the first time I’ve actually seen it at a store! Remember that one of my KH buddies sent me some not too long ago, so it’s not the first time I’ve touched the stuff. But, I’ve never actually visited a yarn store that had it stocked! I fell in love with this color – Water Green. It is the same color as my first prom dress.

I left the store a bit poorer but richer in spirit.

Off I went to watch Soccer Chick play a game. Now, I never thought I would find it too hot to knit. I am cold-natured. But I have to say that today was the hottest day of soccer that I’ve sat through this season. I pulled out the Tidal Wave socks that I’ve been feverishly trying to finish but found myself unable to knit more than a couple of rounds before setting it aside.

However, I did elect to stay at the hotel while everyone went to dinner. I really wanted to finish these socks…and I DID!!! Lookie…

Please allow me to apologize for the absolutely horrible picture! Since I’m out of town, I don’t have my wonderful Ott Light, which allows for natural lighting and true colors to pop out.

The important thing is that the socks are done! So, a rundown on the sock stats. I used size 1 (2.50mm) circular needles (one 24″ and one 16″). The yarn is Tofutsies, color #799. Here is the link for the free pattern. It’s fabulously easy. I didn’t even use the chart for the second sock. I modified the pattern by continuing the pattern repeats down the top of the foot. I knit six pattern repeats down the leg and then six more from the instep to the beginning of the toes.

Tomorrow, I’ll cast on for the first of the two chemo caps. These will be a first for me…and I’m nervous about the eyelash yarn getting in the way of the knitting. But I trust that God will honor my desire to serve Him, even in this small endeavor, and will allow me to knit the caps without too much difficulty.

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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