So yesterday we went around all day carrying our purses and cellphones. In the morning Odet packed the lace shawl I made her a couple years ago in a bag and set it on her desk (she keeps it at work because the air conditioning here can be freezing). I asked her why and she said that if we had to evacuate in a hurry she wanted to make damn sure she didn't leave it behind. We both laughed at that . . . but weakly.

So I did some knitting last night. As you can see by Izzy's photo to the left, I finished the first Opal Mexiko sock. I tried to get her to stick her paw in the sock but she refused. There's a photo here of it with my phone stuck in the leg to fill out the ribbing. Elegant presentation, no? I've started the second sock and I think I did a pretty good job of making them identical twins -- I might be off by 4 or 5 stitches, but that's it.

And I worked on Rosendal. Here is the sleeve in progress.

I did watch President Bush's speech last night, but tried to avoid seeing any of the neverending news coverage. Even so, by the end of the day I felt wounded and drained.

9.11.2002
In Memorium -- 9.11.2001

One year ago today I came to work on the second day of my new job. Just before 9:00am a former coworker called me and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

And shortly thereafter all hell broke loose in Washington. I spent good part of the rest of that day trying to get home. When our building was evacuated shortly after 9:00am, I went to the subway, and waited there for hours. My cellphone doesn't work underground and the only news that those of us down there had was from people who had just come down from the street.

The train I have to take to get home goes by the Pentagon, so it was quite a while before trains were allowed to run through the Pentagon station. I'll always wonder if some of the regular commuters who always got off at the Pentagon and who I haven't seen since September 11 of last year died that day.

We are on high alert today, but the Federal government is open, so I'll be going to work. It'll be business as usual. But not as usual. If you know what I mean.

9.10.2002
Tuesday

Take the Purrsonality Quiz!

I'm liking the Opal Mexiko sock more now -- I updated the photo of it in progress-- photo here. It's looking better now that I've got more done. I'm doing the leg in a deep rib (k4 p3) because the recipient has really skinny ankles and she has problems with her socks bagging around the ankles. The first pair I knit her, in Regia cotton blend, worked out perfectly with the same rib.

Speaking of the recipient of these socks, she and I showed up at work yesterday in the exact same dress. No easy feat, as it was a old dress made by Carole Little, a company that's now defunct. Fortunately we aren't in the same office -- we don't even work in the same agency. But we always go for coffee together so you can imagine the ribbing we got. (I made a knitting pun! Ribbing -- get it?) Hopefully we won't have a repeat performance today, or I'll have to insist that she go home and change.

And speaking of socks, here is something I scored off eBay. That's right folks, the one in the middle is the highly sought-after Opal Bumblebee! And I paid retail price for it! The two Opal Mexikos have different color numbers, 15 and 18, though they look pretty identical in the ball, don't they? Don't really know if I need that much Opal Mexiko. Oh Kate . . . did you hear that?

I didn't make a whole lot of knitting progress last night. worked a little on my sleeve and sewed down all the Rosendal bands -- photo here. I really wanted to get more done last night, but I was having some fairly significant back pain which slowed me down. It's my own fault -- I moved offices yesterday (I now have a wall of windows -- yay!!!!!) and I moved my 21-inch monitor myself. A 21-inch monitor is really really heavy. Really.

Still having some back pain so my hair looks crappy today. Ever try to blow dry your hair when your back hurts?

9.09.2002
Monday

I posted a photo of my sock-in-progress -- Opal Mexiko -- photo here. It's working up in fatter stripes than I'd like, but I'm knitting a small sock -- for a friend who wears size 5 shoes. I think the finished socks will be cute, though, and my friend will like them.

Here is a photo of the first sleeve of Rosendal. I finished knitting the neckband but I haven't sewn anything down yet. I did get the buttons that I ordered (from Bea Ellis Knitwear) so I can knit the button loops too. I plan to make i-cord button loops.

Some of you asked for more info about knitting a neck steek instead of knitting back and forth as directed in the pattern. You usually have to make some adjustments.

For example, say that your pattern tells you to cast off 20 stitches at the front neck, then decrease 2 stitches at each neck edge twice, then 1 stitch at each neck edge 4 times. What I would do is to cast off 24 stitches, cast on my steek, and work in the round, decreasing 1 stitch at each neck edge 6 times. That way you end up with the same total number of decreases. But you are only decreasing 1 stitch at a time at each neck edge.

So as you can see, you have to fudge a bit. This will slightly change the shape of the neck, but I've done it a number of times and am always happy with the results.