~ away for some days ~

I'm in Grangeville this week for work. This is a place that I would love to visit for fun instead of for work - - the road biking looks like it would be amazing and it is stunningly beautiful here. Also, the cheap hotel that I'm staying in is quite nice (...hint, hint...).

I drove up here yesterday. The drive was decent, even though it took about four hours. Of course, as irony would have it, the ginormous torrential thunderstorm that swept over Idaho yesterday hit this area right as I was beginning the big ascent over the White Bird summit. It was pretty scary, the torrential thunderstorm while driving over the mountain pass. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the showers of rain and the wind was blowing the rain every which way. Every time a semi-truck would pass by from the other direction, a prolonged whiteout of rain-splatter would cause my visibility to become non-existent for several seconds. Also, there was so much water on the road I was concerned about hydroplaning the car. But I arrived safe and sound.

This evening, after my work obligations were done for the evening, I went on a long walk. I can't get over how beautiful it is here. Grangeville is on a prairie about 4,000 feet elevation, surrounded by mountains. Right now, the prairie is amazingly lush. All across the prairie, the long stemmed grasses are the most vivid color of green. And it's is anything but flat - - the prairie is an endless series of rolling and overlapping little mounds and hills, covered by this thick green grass. The trees on the prairie are blooming, and it is simply stunning. The mountains are covered with evergreens and there's still lots of snow.

This is a photo I took earlier in the day of the clouds as I was walking to the hotel (in the background, you can see the looming sign for the Super 8). I've been kicking myself for not bringing my camera on my walk. But from this photo, you can get a good idea of just how remarkable the sky has been today as a result of the big storm that continues to come through. The town of Grangeville is pretty cute. Obviously, since there's about 3,500 people here, there's not much to it. But last night, I had dinner with some work people at a place called Ernie's Steakhouse and it was absolutely amazing. I mean, seriously people, the food was to die for! It was also well priced for the quality of the food. Today for dinner, I discovered a Chinese restaurant and got some takeout to enjoy in my hotel room. Below is a gratuitous photo of my delicious meal.

While I've been here, I've had plenty of time in the evenings to devote to a certain knitting project. Today, I finished it. I am very excited about it. I feel that it is one of the most innovative and well-fitting items that I have knat. My plan is to snap some better photos and I will post my project notes. This project, as you may recall from long ago, started out as Iceland and has clearly morphed into something very different. All that remains of Iceland is the main stitch pattern, which of course I modified ever so slightly. Of note on this project, I don't particularly fancy the yarn (the texture is coarse, it looks fuzzy, and the self-striping effects take away from other details - - also, it is claimed that this is a worsted weight yarn, but I feel it is quite bulky) and so I'm dreaming of redoing this project in a solid color smooth merino in a more true worsted weight. That would be totally radical.

A few preliminary observations are in order. One, in the photo, you'll notice the slanted neckline...this is so cool. As you can see, I've got the buttons way over there on the side and I was struggling with how to design the neckline. The slant, I feel, helps to balance out the asymetricalness of the sweater, while also adding a unique style. Of course, I'm wearing a blue/purple striped shirt underneath the sweater in the photo - - you would probably be able to tell what's going on there better with a different undershirt. I'll keep that in mind next time I do a photo-shoot.

Here's a detail of the neckline and the underarm gusset. This is also a teaser of my main construction method - - you can see evidence of how I fashioned the sleeves to the body, which is portrayed more clearly in the following photo.

Here's a detail of the back. As you can see, the sleeves were knit straight, from the wrist to the collarbone (length) and seamed until a few inches from the top. I added a gusset that ran half the length of the remaining sleeve length and attached the sleeves, essentially, "horizontal" onto the body using the remaining portions of the sleeves as well as the gussets, and then continued knitting the back up to the neckline. In the photo, what appear to be seams are actually picked up stitches and a decrease at the beginning of each row.

Here's a provocative photo of me on the hotel bed. rowr! I've got a black shirt underneath, but it's still not quite right.

And here's a final shot in a different flash setting. Photographing certains yarns, I find quite challenging. Anyway, so project notes and better photos coming soonly.

Okay, okay! One more photo.

Posted by jennifer at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)