LA had weather and I missed it

Several years ago, I attended an American Meteorological Society meeting mixer. Our nametags give our names and hometowns (usually our work hometowns). Mine said Los Angeles. I overheard lots of comments along the lines of, "Florida, wow! Hurricanes!"; "Oklahoma, awesome! Tornadoes!" When people saw my nametag, they said, "I am so sorry."

There is even a movie about the lack of weather in LA.

So I left town and what happened? My husband told me I missed the best thunderstorm and lightning show in years. Then it rained HARD at our house. See the history here. See what caused it here. (scroll down to Emelia)

At least Iris and I got to witness some weather events in Colorado. Rain is such an unusual event for her, that she breaks out in "Singing in the Rain" and imitates Gene Kelly whenever she experiences it. This kid seriously needs an agent.

First Race!

Iris competed in her first footrace, the West End 3k, yesterday. I was so proud. She chose a tough one for a beginner. Boulder is at about 5340 feet above sea level, where we live. The weather was sunny, dry and hot (over 90 F). She said she knew she wasn't going to win, coming from sea level, but she just didn't want to come in last. She did great as you can see from the results. Notice how respectably she placed amongst the 5 year olds. She is also the only entrant from sea level.

It was the first time I actually watched her run a long distance (not across a playground or down the driveway). She has excellent form with no discernible bounce, almost no motion above the waist and a long stride. I asked her who taught her how to do that. She said that is just how she runs. She is a natural. Did I mention how proud I am of her?

I forgot to pack my camera. Otherwise, I would post lots of pictures of spectacular scenery and wildflowers.

Digression: The race started at the west end of the Pearl Street Mall and went westward to the roundabout at 4th and Pearl. My baby ran right by my old grad school apartment at 4th and Pearl! Of course, the area was not so ritzy back then. As my old roommate (a human geography grad student) put it, graduate students are the shock troops of gentrification. (My apologies to Margaret Atwood who wrote first in Cat's Cradle that artists are the shock troops of gentrification.) When we first moved there, homeless people slept among the weeds that grew between the decrepit rental houses and apartment buildings. I awoke every morning to the sound and smell of a homeless man peeing on the tree outside my bedroom window.

Basalt Tank Progress Report

No one left a comment on how to proceed after the Basalt Tank Derailment. So I frogged back to the second eyelet row and continued in stockinette. I had about 12" of yarn left after completing the hexagon. I plowed ahead and picked up stitches for the side hexagons. I didn't really pick up stitches so much as liberate the provisional cast on from their crochet chain.

The huge savings in yarn when I used stockinette instead of garter for the second band in the hexagon made me stop and think. Less yarn means less weight and less hot. That should be good in a summer sweater. So I made the partial hexagons with stockinette centers as pictured in the book as well. I left the first green hexagon alone as basalt columns are not identical in nature anyway.

I decreased every 4th garter row and every 2nd or 3rd stockinette row. I think the formula was decreases on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 10th stockinette rows. That makes for fewer decreases on the purl side. The hexagons look pretty flat.

I am making the short version with some bottom trim to lengthen it slightly. I am also adding half hexagons to the top of both sides. This should make the tank fully reversible. Here is the side view.


I pinned the 4 hexagons to a tank top that fits nicely and measured how long the straps need to be (5 inches). I think 20 stretched stitches should give me about the right length strap. Garter stitch is very stretchy.

My main worry is that the tank is looking awfully wide. Even though my swatch hexagon came out 6 1/4 inches at the top and bottom, the thing measures 13 inches across. Go figure. The tank will be 3 hexagons in circumference which makes for a 39" chest instead of the 36" chest I was aiming for. I am not sure if it is because I used a provisional cast on instead of picking up stitches the way the pattern is written. Picking up stitches creates a little ridge which takes up some of the width.

I am too lazy to frog this anymore. I will just push onward and hope that blocking makes the tank narrower and longer. I might also try using fewer stitches across the top half hexagon to pull it in around the upper chest.

Keywords: Knitting Nature, Basalt Tank, Norah Gaughan, knitting