Sadly, I have a couple of knit-tragedies to report...it all started the day I went skiing and I was frantically trying to find my Panta, which is my go-to winter head wear. I finally remembered that I had last used it a couple days previously on some outdoor site visits for my work. No problem, I thought, I'll just swing by my office and pick it up.

Several minutes later, I ran through the eerie, darkened office (isn't being at your work on a weekend the strangest thing?) to my lovely cube...and...no Panta. I even made a desperate dash outside to the work vehicle that I had used that day...nothin'. I grumpily wore another hat for skiing, and I still haven't found the Panta. I'm starting to think I must have dropped it somewhere on my site visits and it's probably long-gone. So expect to see some sort of head-band type object being knitted up soon...a Calorimetry, perhaps?

Then, an even greater knit tragedy hit...One of G's Stinky Sox somehow ended up with a big, unraveled hole! Eeeks! We were sitting on the couch and G happened to sort of rub his ankle and said "What the...?" Looked down and there was this hole! It looks like the yarn broke, so I wondered if it had gotten caught on something but G said he doesn't remember anything like that. I figured it was sort of a freak thing until I looked at the other one a couple days later, and:The yarn broke along the cuff of the other sock.

After mulling it over, I wonder if I weakened them by machine washing (I did line dry)? I thought Cascade Fixation was machine washable but the Cascade website says to hand-wash. Anyone else machine wash their Fixation? Anyone else have this problem?

I guess this pair is pretty shot now...I thought about ripping it back to the hole and reknitting to fix it, but if the overall sock is weakened it's probably not worth it :( I'm especially sad because they were such a slog to knit.

Anyhoo, it's not all bad news here:
The Victoria Shawl is done and bathing! FO next time!

So...it's August 25th and we have...(insert sinister music here) a FROST ADVISORY tonight. Un-frickin-believable. The temperature hasn't gotten above 70 degrees in the last few days either. I know I live pretty far north, but this is ridiculous, even for here.

Well, I think I'd still take this weather over hot and humid stuff any day. I guess I'll bring in my plants tonight just in case. We've finally started harvesting our tomatoes and I definitely want to keep doing so through September. I'm glad I plant them in pots so I can move them inside when needed!These are the Sungold cherry tomatoes I started from seed back in March and they are sooo sweet. I plan on growing these again next year.

Knitting hodge-podge:
The very perceptive Ms. Mary, Mary guesses correctly...this was indeed the start of a pair of Red Sox. Of course during the horrifying Yankees series I didn't really have the heart to work on them, but now that they've actually won a couple maybe I'll pick 'em up again, we'll see.

More excitingly (ha), I've made it to skein #2 (of 3) of yarn for the Flirty Ruffles shawl!
I'm starting on the section where it ends the print o' the wave pattern and starts on the bottom triangle-y pattern before the ruffles. But still, I think based on my average time per very loonnnggg row I've got a good 25 to 30 hours of work left on this!

The only other interesting happening is that I recieved the fall Rowan. I wasn't completely blown away but it wasn't too bad either...I think my favorite thing was Dew and I also like the knee-high socks. Also thought it was kinda funny that both Rowan and VK had a section on knitting in gray colors.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Goose Rescue and New Project

Here is a photo from my camping trip in New Hampshire last weekend...there was a BIG flock of Canada geese hanging out by this river. The reason I posted it today is that I had quite an adventure with a Canada goose yesterday afternoon (no photos, for reasons that will become apparent). I was walking home from work and got no more than 100 feet down the road when I spotted a solitary goose sitting on a lawn up ahead. I suddenly got a sinking feeling in my stomach, just knowing that there had to be something wrong with it...I can't stand seeing ill or injured animals! Yes, I know that's sometimes part of nature, but still it makes me so sad.

Anyway, I got within 10 feet of it and it was still sitting down. I crept closer and closer, knowing once I got close enough it would try to get away and then I could see what was wrong. Finally, it stood up and started hobbling away. The culprit? Fishing line tied tightly around both legs! I walked back to the office and called the fisheries and wildlife office that is only a mile or two away. The guy there basically laughed at me but said if it was still there tomorrow to call him back and maybe he'd be able to swing by (note: I live in a big hunting/right-wing community where someone who actually cares about something like a single little goose is considered a dirty hippie or even worse one of those "envernmennalists". Also a lot of people think Canada geese are basically pests though I would argue that the problems created by them have resulted mostly from human alterations to the environment...but that's a whole 'nother discussion).

Not willing to let the critter suffer another night if I could help it, I told my co-worker about the situation and being a fellow animal lover he agreed to help. Luckily, he happened to have a light fleece blanket in his car and a pocket knife. Out we went and threw the blanket over the goose. I gently held him while my co-worker extricated all the line from his legs, which was no mean feat. A length of line was perfectly wrapped around each leg and connected by a line in between, and it had been there long enough to have created a dent as his legs grew larger, though it hadn't become embedded or cut through the skin yet. The way it was wrapped almost made it look like someone had purposely done it to him (it didn't look randomly tangled)...but the thought of someone doing that makes me so sick...I really hope it isn't the case.

Well we got him all fixed up, took off the blanket and he waddled into the lake and started swimming away. He was even giving some gentle honks and I like to think maybe he was saying "thank you!" His legs looked a little funny, but hopefully he will recover. Today when I walked to work I didn't see him in the cove (didn't see a pile of feathers either) so I'm guessing he might be OK. At least he has a better chance now! Hooray for the Goose Rescue Squad!

Now that you made it through that long-winded story, I guess I'll get to the knitting...I'm almost done with the Trellis cardigan. I just need to block, seam, and knit the collar. While I do that, I decided to start a fun new project:
Can you tell what these are going to be (hee hee)?

Also, I was pleased to find out that I had won a prize in the Critter Charity Drive hosted by Rebekah over at Knit Knack:
Some cute stripe-y Cleckheaton wool, very fun! Thanks for hosting the Charity Drive, Rebekah, and thanks for the prize too :)

Well, that is enough writing for now...I'll leave you all with a nice calming photo of the lake this morning. Deep breaths now...it's almost Wednesday!