Trees and Babies

I'm trapped inside while the crane and lift get the tree branch off my house. Two big pieces of equipment are outside, the neighbors lawn service is at work (two pickup trucks and a trailer), and I would surely risk bodily harm if I tried to get to where my car is parked down the street. When I do get out, I'm going to pick blueberries.

Yesterday was a barbecue at my son and DIL house. They are expecting Baby Goo on/about August 12, so guests delivered gifts, though they were not opened while we were there so I can't report more than that. I worked on baby socks while there.

My gift was a baby blanket (pale yellow organic cotton from Malabrigo), a pair of baby sox and two pairs of mitts.

I watched them lift the huge branch off the roof and lower to the ground. Didn't think to take the camera out with me. It was pretty impressive. They attached a cable and a girdle to the branch and just lifted, twisting to make the final break, then up and over it went. Now they'll trim back the branch, and new growth will eventually provide shade in the coming years.

Knitting up a Storm

Yesterday, 5/26, about 5pm, Suzie calls me from Bethesda (60 miles southeast) and asks me what the weather is doing up here in Funkstown. I report that we had some rain and it passed over, but that now it is sunny, this latter fact verified by the fact that I can see sun out the window.

Suzie is watching the weather on the computer and tells me she thinks a storm is coming my way, but maybe that's was passed over?

I can only say, "I don't know. It's sunny now." My monitoring the weather consists of looking at the high and low temps and the weather icon in the corner of the front page of the newspaper. For that day, the words under the icon indicated "possible thunderstorms" which is not unusual at all for this time of year.

So we chat a few minutes about other stuff, and I mention that it's darkening. In the next instant there's this noise like hail against the window, and I run to the window to see the ground being covered with all sizes of hail: from pea to quarters. The wind is blowing REALLY hard. I tell Suzie that I think the wind might be 40-50 mph! I give her the second-by-second weather report:

• The garden is being blown flat.
• The trees are swaying and bending to the ground.
• Water is coming under the back door.
• The windows are steaming up.
• The wind is blowing the cat door completely open and rain is coming in.
• The thunder and lightening appear to be directly overhead.
• The power is out.
  
• It's a bit scary.

Being the dear friend and citizen that she is, Suzie keeps on the phone, checking the computer for wind velocity (not found) and storm progress. She empathizes while I go get towels to mop up water. I remember at one point I couldn't figure out why the water was coming down on me in the house and looked up to see the window had blown open (it opens to the inside and I hadn't latched it).

I feel like I am in the eye of the storm.

Finally, it abates. Whew. . .

When the rain stops I go outside to assess the damage to my beloved garden. It's really sad to see sunflowers broken, tomato plants bent and twisted, etc. There's some serious harvesting of broken greens that needs to be done. Tree branches litter the yard and parking lot. I turn around to walk back to the house and OMG, the tree is on my roof, at least the part that usually gently shades the back of my house and patio.

Call Suzie back with update. She suggests pics--good idea. It's getting hot and steamy.


I change into my gardening clothes and gather up branches, making a pile in the corner of the parking lot. Neighbors are milling about, trying to figure out if power outage is widespread. Reports of trees down reach me:

• Just down the street, a big tree came down on a van. They are already working to clear some of the branches that block the main road through town.
  
• On the block behind me, another tree blocks the street. Neighbors are cutting that up.
• Somewhere else a tree has fallen on a pickup.
  
• Trees and branches are down in many yards.

A bit before 7, the knitters start arriving for social knitting. Since the power is out and it's stuffy inside, we just hang outside, surveying the storm damage. People from other areas didn't even get any rain or wind. We decide to move on the Meadows Ice Cream, assuming they have power, which they do.

We eat and knit and visit. Kim arrives about 7:50 and reports that the traffic lights in Funkstown have come on. A call to her husband, Doug, indicates power is back on. When I get home, the lights are on, a welcome sight.

This morning, I tried to get the garden back in order. I staked many plants, cleared out all the fallen, separating into edible and compost. It's early and the garden will come back, except for the broken sunflowers, broccoli and tomatoes that had to be pulled up. For those, I can plant something new in their place. The tree service will come and get the huge branch off the roof.

Good to be home!

Jill and I had a great time at TNNA, but it's good to be home. The garden is overgrown and windblown, but I've been eating some good veg out of it.

When I unpack from TNNA, I have to put all the shop models back, so I take the opportunity to rearrange things a bit. The shop is freshened for summer, which means scarves and hats are put away and summer knits are featured. Yarn balls have been returned to their proper places and bins straightened. (Who put the three balls of Malabrigo behind the Nature Spun?!) I've made room for some new product.

Jill and I order yarn for the shop at TNNA. One of our favorite times is Sunday morning when we enter the exhibit hall at 8 am and walk through, checking out vendors and selecting some yarn colors for later ordering. We're just to busy during the day at our own booth to get much done. We met up with Trisha from Frog Tree and she gave us the color card book to help us place an order, which we do with Donna, our sales rep. We sat with Donna at the Skacel booth and selected colors of Nimbus, Opus, Zauberball (it's really as awesome looking as we've heard), and new Zitron Trekking colors for the sock knitters.

Our favorite find was Frabjous Fibers where we ordered all kinds of fun things. I'll post more about those when they come in--felt balls, silk ribbons, sari silk in distinct colorways.

Malabrigo has a new yarn. I can't find my sample now and I don't know the name, but it's a worsted weight, baby merino, thick/thin. Imagine 8 strands of lace plyed together. Jill has a wonderful design underway that will make snuggling in this yarn a fashion statement. Yum!

We checked out the Hiya Hiya interchangeable and have passed muster on those. We'll be taking preorders for the small sizes, 2-9. I was knitting with the sample needles last night and wasn't even aware I was using an interchangeable. The needles screw onto the cable.

Kraemer has new colors of Sterling Silk. We'll have those soon.

One of our new favorites is Zealana. Jill designed two pieces out of their wool/cotton/possom yarn. It's a luxurious fiber. Jill also designed a beautiful sweater (pic here catches it at an awkward angle) in the yak/bamboo from Bijou Basin. It's soft and smooth and drapes well. Sandy did a fantastic job of knitting this sweater.

As always, fun to see old friends and make new ones. We had good meals and great laughs (thanks, Kristen C, for always providing a bit of comic relief). Thanks to Kristen ES for all the help in the booth!

Hat Tricks

This morning Jill and I received email from our BIL, Curt, who is married to our sister, Sally. They are the parents of our nephews (referred to as the boyz) Elvis and Van.

A couple of years ago the boyz got knitting looms and yarn given to them by the Y2Knit aunts. They worked on their projects intermittently, but a renewed recent interest resulted in this fabulous hat, modeled by Elvis.

I don't know the story yet--have been unable to reach Elvis by phone as he's been at school. I'll update once I get the scoop!

I want to knit this sweater!

That's the response I've been receiving this morning from our email blast showcasing Sea Shell, Jill's latest design. The pattern is available and we're doing a KnitaLong on Ravelry too, starting July 13. So, finish up your projects and find some yarn for this one!