AT Thru-hike Day 1

A dear family friend suggested I write everything I can remember of my thruhike down before I start forgetting details. I'm going to do it on this blog.
I'm shivering, standing in the gravel parking lot as a group of guys looks on. The van peels away, leaving me standing there, looking at my backpack and then frantically searching for.. something. I can't remember what. Probably gloves. I felt FREEZING. Part of it was definitely nerves-I recognized that even at the time. I ran into some.. day hikers? weekend-ers? also heading south, passed them (looking back, i'm shocked. I was shocked then too. I was completely out of shape) and continued on to the top of Springer Mtn.

When I arrived on Springer mtn, I discovered that it was somewhat.. anticlimactic. A wooded summit with only a few views. I could NOT find the register box-I'd read about where it was, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it and i really needed to go to the privy at the shelter. So, I gave up on it and turned north.

After the privy, I easily found my way down to the USFS road again, passing the same guys who had been there before, pausing to greet their dog before continuing on my way.

Sadly, the dog decided that i was its new best friend and followed me. I went back once and told them that-that they should tie the dog up, it was following me. they called it back and it didn't follow me again, at first. A ways later, it suddenly showed up again. I shooed it away, back in the direction of where they were.

I passed the second shelter (approx. 2 miles in) and decided not to visit it. It did not seem particularly interesting to me-I had no need of water.

I experienced a phenomenon this first day that i would often again-Hurry up and get there! (But be bored when you do) I arrived at Hawk Mtn Shelter around 2pm and met two other people who were attempting thru-hikes. They  moved on after a while, intending to get a ride from the hiker's hostel-i decided i didn't want to do that, but didn't feel comfortable w/the amount of time before dark to reach the next campground. So I stayed put. i was terrified i'd spend the night alone, but it turns out i didn't have to. Around 5, people started showing up. All section hikers, but there was an enjoyable evening of a fire and chatter.
The guys I had seen earlier showed up without their dog. The dog wandered off and they spent FIVE minutes looking for it. I was disgusted. At least spend half an hour looking for your DOG. Took a sleeping pill and went to sleep.

Challenge: October!

Welcome to the new month!

I have a few knitting projects I'm currently working on-the second baby bootie to match the first one so both feet on a baby can be warm. Unfortunately, the needle elves have stolen my size 1 knitting needle that was not currently attached to the yarn. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Also, today was the first day of my October challenge: Run 125 miles in the month. I ran 3.6 today and thought it was four until I returned home and mapped it. I now have to find an extra half mile somewhere... And some extra miles so I can take a no-run day here and there, which would be nice.

Some progress & a new craft!

I noted on Saturday that I was working on these baby booties. I've gotten ever so slightly farther (nearly done with the first bootie) & I have a picture!

There was a patch of sunlight in the living room that I decided to take advantage of. As I'm sure you've deduced... I'm not a photographer by interest or profession. More of the utilitarian sort here.. (read: I'm crap at it). At least I haven't made any mistakes in the actual knitting since Saturday! (Except I noticed some twisted stitches and decided that they didn't actually exist...)

While I love knitting, I've been toying with the idea of making my own clothes to a certain extent. Everyone tells me to start small.. Very good idea! I found instructions for turning two old t-shirts into a neat skirt on craftster. I'm pretty happy with the result:

As you might or might not be able to see, I used a harry potter t-shirt-"I solemnly swear I am up to no good" on the front and "Mischief Managed" on the back. I won this t-shirt back in college when they had a Harry Potter fundraiser dinner. (My college is full of nerds/dorks/geeks whatnot. Its awesome.) 

I used part of the bottom of a t-shirt & a sleeve from my old Lesbian Threesome shirt.. In reality, its the women's studies t-shirt that has three intersecting women signs.. But Lindsay always called it her lesbian threesome shirt and I kinda copied her in that. Perhaps I shall make a skirt with the remains of that shirt. Entirely plausible, I think.. It was big enough!

I haven't accomplished (read: finished) much in the last few days, but I have started work on the baby booties I'm bent on making. I'm on the last part of the first bootie. It's bright red & wonderfully soft. It is wool, but you can wash it.. And none of this helps, because I can't remember the name! I bought it at Wild & Woolly. (Lexington, MA)

I had my doubts about this bootie as I was making it-it seemed ugly and awkward. I even had to tink a row and a half to fix a mistake. That was annoying. To say the least.

Now, however, it's growing on me. I find it cute. I looked back at the pictures of other's booties & remembered why I liked the pattern in the first place. So what if mine aren't fancy & don't have those fun colored designs on them.. It's still cute!

I have no pictures to share today.

The batteries in my camera are dead. Last time I posted that I was partially finished with the Kureyon Kozy. I discovered after that the number of stitches I had was wrong and I needed to rip it all out. That was disheartening.

I've spent the last few days working on it & with the exception of cutting off the run-off strands, it is finished. It is gorgeous! I'm going to have to find a very very small teapot to send to Steven with it, however.. I doubt he already has one.

I went to a fine arts & crafts fair at the Codman estate in Lincoln Ma, where there was jewelry & clothing as well as pottery. Unfortunately, none of the potters had teapots.

In my project for my old adviser, I've practically finished the two hats-just a little binding off on the eggplant hat. Now, all I have to do are the booties. I have to use #1 knitting needles and I hate small knitting needles.

Wish me luck?

It's 9:30 in the morning and my hands are still cold. They're actually getting hives, which, in the last week would have been unheard of. The weather has been stifling, to say the least-highs of 99 degrees and high humidity as well, it seems. Yesterday was nice, at 83 & low humidity. Felt like the 60s. This morning, we woke up to a temperature below 60! That was quite exciting. However-it does mean hives for my hands. I am willing to accept this in order to not die of dehydration and heat stroke. 


In the last couple of days, I've been pretty busy with the knitting, at least. I'm sure I mentioned it, but my former adviser had twin babies and I"m going to knit for them! Baby knitting is so. much. fun. I have currently finished one of the hats-Ann Norling's Strawberry hat. Purchased the pattern a while ago at Wild & Wooly a store I am unsure how I feel about. Great yarn selection, but the ladies who run the place are a tad bit on the brusque side. I don't necessarily need help when I'm actually choosing yarn-but I'd like to make friendly chitchat. I usually feel as if I'm an interloper, someone who isn't really a knitter because I'm under the age of 40. I think the one time I was accepted there was when I brought my boyfriend to buy yarn so i could make him a hat in a color he liked. 


Anyways, I got the pattern to make a strawberry hat about 6 months ago when I heard that my friend Laura was going to have a baby. I finished that one when I took a few days off from thru-hiking the AT back in June. Now, I'm utilizing the same pattern to make another strawberry hat and a grape hat-or if you look at it the right way, an eggplant hat. Not sure what I'm going to call it. 


Here are some pics!

  

This is the grape hat. My progress has stalled in favor of another project, as this one I can do without watching my hands. Perfect for tonight, which is a Star Wars marathon! 

The finished Strawberry hat! It looks rather pumpkinish in this picture, but I swear its redder than that. 

The 'Kureyon Kozy' a teapot cozy. Apparently my camera prefers focusing on the lamp behind it, however. I love this yarn and was trying to find something to do with it. This project jumped out at me. 

Craftster updated with a new challenge today! (#55) Titled 'Pixelate Mama.'

Details are on the website, but it looks very intriguing (although not knitting related necessarily).

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=358304.0

In other knitting news, I forgot to check Dye Lot on a new skein of yarn I purchased with the intention of using it when I ran out of the older skein. I discovered the problem when I'd done 18 rows and was contemplating when the switch would happen. Needless to say, I had to rip it all out. This is a hat for my [former] adviser's babies. Very important to get right.

Also, I started the 'real' part of my job today! (It's only a month long, so I can't promise infinite joy but...) The most exciting part of the job is that the majority of it just entails me needing to watch a screen for anomalies & problems! My hands aren't doing anything for approximately 40-60 minutes of each cycle! Soooo I think I'm going to check with mr boss man and see if I can knit! Note all the exclamation points. Can you tell I'm excited?