Homeward Bound

A lot of people have expressed interest in my job, so I thought I would share in a little more detail what it is that I do. First, though a couple photos.

We took a trip of the most amazing high schoolers to the Bahamas and saw all sorts of great things including large piles of conch that made me want to wear pink and think pink and be pink all day long. This may be influenced by the fact that I recently finished 'Skinny Legs and All' by Tom Robbins - an excellent read I would recommend to anyone.

I finished my father's Christmas socks, making the close of the Christmas knitting official. These are the Mock Wave Socks from Favorite Socks. I knit them on size 1 needles with Trekking Pro Natura yarn. More details can be found on ravelry or by request as I am a little tired and honestly can't be bothered to look them all up.

Onto my job and what it is that I do. Basically I am a deckhand on tallships (traditionally rigged vessels). This amounts to taking part in the every day running of the vessel as well as doing what other people tell me to do. On my current boat, the S/V Denis Sullivan, we took out programs with adults and high schoolers in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas until late March. Then we started the transit north. The boat's home port is in Milwaukee, WI but since the sailing in the Great Lakes is non-existent in the winter the boat goes south with the birds. Our stops have included Fort Pierce, FL; Brunswick, GA; Beaufort, NC; and Baltimore, MD where I am now. Before we reach Milwaukee we will be stopping in Woods Hole, MA; Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; Quebec City, Quebec; Port Huron, I don't know which state; and probably somewhere else in the Lakes. We'll stop generally for around three days in each port depending on weather and a number of other variables. So that's the schedule.

The really great part of my job is getting the boat from place to place. This is generally known as 'transiting.' While underway we break into watches, essentially shifts. There are three watches made up of at least three people each. The watch schedule is as follows:
0300-0800
0800-1300
1300-1800
1800-2100
2100-0300
Each watch, or group of three people works one watch period then has two off. So you basically work 9 hours a day or so, the 9 hours are just spread around you get a 10 hour lunch in between.

While on watch we take turns to steer, do lookout, and every hour we do a boat check. Boat checks include a physical check of all compartments in the boat as well as weather observations and plotting our position on the chart (nautical map).

Off watch time is your's to do with what you will. For the most part people sleep, but you hit a point where you can't sleep any more. This is when computers come out to watch movies on, or a lot of reading occurs. I often sit in my bunk and listen to books on tape and knit. Sometimes if the seas aren't to rough and the sun is out I'll take my chair on deck for a little knitting.

Meals occur between watches and are prepared by the cook (!) who doesn't stand watch. The oncoming watch eats a little before their turn on deck and the offgoing and standby watches eat after that. This way everyone gets to sit and eat a leisurely meal and the navigation and safety of the boat isn't neglected.

Sometimes it is necessary to go aloft to do some work or sort something out. I love working aloft and take every opportunity to go, as it affords a much better view than on deck. Here I am sporting my new t-shirt my mother bought me. I do love the color orange.

That was a brief overview of what I do, but hopefully it answered some questions. If anyone wants to know more please ask. I love to my job and I love to talk about what I do and if you're lucky I won't be as tired when I reply and will do so with more eloquence.

A Fish Out of Water

For the second time in as many months I find myself quite literally a fish out of water. I am currently aboard the S/V Denis Sullivan and we are hauled out in West Palm Beach, FL for our three year Coast Guard inspection. This entails a day of sitting around while the boat is hauled out and a week of long days with lots of work that can only be done while the boat is out of the water - like re-caulking some of the hull seams.

The long hours also mean that in the evening I am too exhausted to do much more than knit and watch a movie or some television in the crew lounge. Television usually wins because it is such a novelty these days. We don't have TV on the boat so the idea of watching something like Gray's Anatomy is novel and exciting. I am so close to closing out Christmas '07 it hurts. Today I put my Uncle's socks in the mail along with an altered Odysseus sweater. All I have left is 3/4 of the second sock for my father and Christmas will officially be behind me.

Penelope was not as pleased as she could be with the neckline on the original Odysseus sweater, and I don't blame her the neckline was basically crap, so I did a little tinking and a little tinkering and have come up with something that will hopefully work much better.


In other news I have officially put my feet in the Atlantic. I have done this before but only once, this time around I have repeatedly put my feet in the Atlantic. I have also gone snorkeling for the first time in my life - how cool is snorkeling?! While I am a West Coast girl through and through the East Coast and the Atlantic aren't as bad as previously imagined - much warmer and saltier but otherwise delightful.

Hello?

Dear tenacious reader,
Why are you still here? I haven't posted in almost two months. Go knit something. I do however have something of an explanation. These past four months have been the funnest happiest months I've had in awhile and instead of worrying about writing it all down and taking all the right photos and sharing them in a meaningful format I went out and had a blast. There you have it. I'm heading to the Bahamas to work on another boat in January and I may or may not post from there (let's be honest I probably won't) but since I am home right now with very little to do other than panic about Christmas knitting I will likely do something of an update. We'll see.

At any rate Happy Christmahannukwanzika to everyone and may all your recipients receive completed gifts, I know mine won't.

A Photo Essay

Someones Christmas present!




My birthday present to myself. Those who know me will note the green and orange qualities of my skateboard.



I made the trek while in San Francisco and it was totally worth it. I would live here if I could.



The Privateer Lynx braced sharp around, sailing close to the wind.


View of the deck of the Star of India from the Main Royal yard (that's the highest place you can climb to on the boat).



Battle Sail in San Diego Harbor with the Californian and the HMS Surprise (the boat from Master and Commander).

There are a few more photos in no particular order on my flickr account, Christineolea, for them as are interested.

Paving the Road

Every time we come into port I have every intention of posting and they my laziness wins. As it is I am four ports later than the last time I posted and no update.

It's late and I'm tired so this is going to be quick.

I had a day off in San Francisco/Sausalito so I headed over to Artfibers and marveled at the glory of their yarn. I got some fabulous red mohair/silk laceweight. I do love laceweight. I also took up the skateboard.

After Sausalito we headed down the coast to Moss Landing. Nothing much happening in Moss Landing except the sea lions we docked next to that never shut up. Ever.

Next was Morro Bay. Morro Bay was great, very friendly people, nice town, good general vibe. I bought myself a skateboard for my birthday. It's orange and I love it. Knitting has been slow, I'm not really feeling the socks I'm making right now and I'm waiting on some yarn that I ordered and age ago to keep working on My Brother's Sweater. The plan is to start some different socks I like more and set the current ones aside for the time being.

After Morro Bay was Long Beach and Catalina. Nothing too exciting, we had a day off on Catalina, which was lovely. I did some hiking, some snoozing, some knitting and some eating of ice cream. You can't ask for much more on a day off.

Now I find myself in San Diego where it has not completely burned to the ground. The sailing has been pretty good and today the HMS Surprise (the boat from Master and Commander) came out to play, pretty pretty boat. The knitting is still at something of a standstill and I'm starting to panic because Christmas is coming ever faster and some of my family have rather large feet.

Soon (ha) I'll even have pictures of all my adventures to share. As it is right now you'll have to do with half-assed exposition.

Whales

This is a long one folks, it's been awhile since I've been in touch with the outside world and there is a lot to report.

When I last left you we were having a day off in Portland. That was good times, saw some family, saw some friends, general merriment all around. Soon though, it was time for us to leave Portland. In order to do this we had to go under I-5. In order for our 96 feet to fit under I-5 they have to raise the bridge. That's right folks I have officially stopped traffic on Interstate 5, twice (coming and going). If that's not something to tick off the list of things to do in my life I don't know what is.

On our way back out the rolling Columbia we docked at a dock that is literally in the middle of nowhere. Some yacht club built this dock on the Columbia for their members, but others can use it if no one is there. Pretty funny to dock on a dock completely unconnected with land.

We passed the Please Please Me. You read it right.

Then there was our transit. This transit, from Ilwaco, WA to San Francisco, CA is the longest we will be taking this season. We left Monday midday and arrived Thursday night. What a great transit. First we waited out some weather in Ilwaco then made our way across the bar. The Columbia River Bar is one of the most infamous bar crossings in the world so of course all kinds of precautions were taken. I gotta say though that the hype far outshone the actual thing. It was a little rocky but not too bad and we made it out without any incident.

The first couple days of our transit were wet. We were still experiencing the seas left behind by the weather we waited out. There was some rain but mostly there was just a lot of spray. This boat has the wettest foredeck of any boat I've been on so far. The bow cuts through the waves like a knife through hot butter, unfortunately this means a lot of spray and splash come up over the deck. This boat also has the leakiest fo'c'sle of any boat I've been on so far. Take five wet sailors, add wet foul weather gear, steep for two days in leaky fo'c'sle dousing with more water as needed. Luckily the last couple days were fabulous. The sun came out, the seas calmed down and my foulies actually dried. I even managed to sit on deck in the sunshine on my offwatch and knit for awhile.
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While transiting we break into a watch system, this means that someone is driving the boat 24 hours a day and we all take it in turns. I was on the 12-4 watch which means I stood watch in the middle of the day and the middle of the night. This also means that I worked 8 out of every 24 hours. Needless to say I got a lot of sleep, did a lot of knitting and read a lot. I love transits.

The last day of the transit was the best by far. During my watch JP and went aloft to unfurl the square topsail, this is an easy job that makes for good skylarking. When we arrived at the crosstrees we were awarded the view of a veritable minefield of whale spouts. They were everywhere. As it happens the Lynx breaks for whales so we slowed down to have a look and were rewarded in spades. Whales spouting, whales breaching, whale flukes, saw so many whales it almost got old. Almost. Then the dolphins came. If there is any animal I would like to come back as it is a dolphin, they seem to just have fun all the time. Then there were the sea lions. We found ourselves in the middle of a fabulous party and everyone was having a blast.

Due to my fabulous photography skills all I really have are pictures of where whales used to be but take my word for it, there were lots and they were within 100 yards or so. So cool.

The last couple days we've been doing daysails in the San Francisco Bay. Good wind, good sailing and the Blue Angels are in town for Fleet Week so that is fun too. Nothing quite like a good sail with the Blue Angels and other interesting planes flying all around.

Oh, and I finished my Love Lace socks. I am wearing them right now in fact. I don't have all the details in front of me, but they are the latest installment of the Rockin Sock Club, the best club in the world. Here they are off the coast of California.

My energy wanes and my bunk is calling my name. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner next time so my post won't be so epic, we'll have to wait and see.

United At Last

In other news Penelope has finally recieved her sweater. She held off the other suitors just long enough and is happy to be reunited with her Odysseus, changed though he may be.

Pattern: Elizabeth's Percentage System. The lace insert is from Barbara G. Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns I don't remember what they are called and don't have the book to hand but they're in there.
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino, 7 hanks.
Needles: size 3
Notes:
The neck might need a little work, Penelope is going to wear it for awhile and see what she thinks. It's a bit funny and doesn't sit quite right. To be honest the neck is where I deviated from Elizabeth Zimmerman and things went wrong. I told Penelope that I won't be able to do anything about it until Christmas anyway so she should just wear it and see if she wants it changed. If I'm lucky she'll come to love the wonky neck, even if she doesn't right now.
At any rate I'm pretty pleased with the results and the Koigu makes a wonderful fabric. The best part, however, is the 5 hanks of Koigu I have left that I'm keeping as my fee (that and Penelope isn't much of a knitter and doesn't want them anyway). What will I do with my five fabulous hanks of Koigu? I'll have to think about it.

I also want to say thanks to everyone for the comments on my knitty article. I also find felting by hand to be a great stress reliever and a good way to feel better about sitting around and knitting all the time.

Plan A: Don't Suck

Plan B: Stop sucking, stick to plan A.

So far on my contract we've mainly stuck to Plan A, no need to stop sucking, we haven't started. The internet on the other hand skipped straight to plan B and hasn't stopped sucking. Therefore I don't have any pictures. Just kidding, I now have pictures and have added them where appropriate along with more details now that I am properly rested.

After Ilwaco we headed up the river to St. Helens, near Scapoose home of Blue Moon Fiber Arts, my socks definitely felt at home. On an 1812 Privateer it is necessary to fire upon any and every port. We love us our carronades.







After hanging out in St. Helens for a few days we came further up the river to Portland for the Second Annual Pirate Festival. So awesome words can barely begin to describe it. An entire two days dedicated to talking and dressing like a pirate. Oh, and cannons. No pirate festival would be complete without cannons. The gunner even let me fire a couple off.








We were also sure to hang a Pirate from the yardarm to show everyone what would happen should they choose to mess with us.





No proper Pirate Festival is complete without a giant inflatable Kraken. Luckily this was a proper Pirate Festival.




As the Purser onboard the Lynx I am responsible for the ship's store. This entails setting up display items of what we sell and sitting in the main saloon chatting with people and taking money should they decide to purchase something. This also means that I have a lot of knitting time. So far I have finished Sock 1 of the Christmas socks, the first sock and half of the second sock of the most recent sock club installment. Before I got on the boat I spent a lot of time thinking about what knitting to bring but I was secretly worried in the back of my mind that I wouldn't have much time to knit. Then I found out that my job entails me sitting sometimes for hours on end and what better way to fill your time? As if working on boats wasn't enough fun, I get to knit while I work.

Tomorrow is crew day off and I am lucky enough to have friends in town so I'll get to see them then we are heading back out the river stopping in St. Helens and Ilwaco again then down to San Francisco. By that time I should easily have my second Rocking Sock Club sock done ready to adorn my feet in the foggy San Francisco Bay.

I'm famous!

For those of you who don't know, I didn't until today so you're not alone, I'm famous! Well, sort of. I wrote an article for Knitty awhile back and it got printed. I'm so excited, I felt good about it but they actually liked it and printed it. I've already gotten emails from some people who have read it. This is like writing a paper in college but better.

I finished my first Love Lace anklet and I am still in love lace. I haven't started the second one because I've been busy starting my new job on the Privateer Lynx. I started Tuesday and this is the first chance I've had to get on the internet. Alas there is no picture of my new sock but it is all things lovely and wonderful in this world.

As I reenter the world of tallship sailing I find myself rediscovering unused muscles. I clamber about all day and at bedtime it is all I can do to clamber into my bunk. I also find myself in the unusual position of being the only girl on a boat full of boys. All the previous boats I've worked on have been predominantly women and now I am the sole outpost of the double X chromosome.

Thanks to those who have come because of my being famous and I hope you'll come again. Sadly as I have mentioned before I am working at a job that doesn't allow for constant internet access so posts will be even fewer and farther between, but hopefully laden with hair raising tales and lots of knitting.

Love Lace

I don't know if gentiles can plotz, but I think I am.



Summer of Love Lace, the latest installment of the Rockin Sock Club.
At first I was dubious about anklets, but now I'm a little bit in Love Lace.

let there be Kaffe.

Pattern: Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd in Favorite Socks from Interweave.

Yarn: The wonderful love child of Regia and Kaffe Fasset in the Landscape Earth colorway.

Needles: size 1 for the feet and size 2 for the legs.

Notes: I've never used Regia before but I quite enjoyed it. A little splitty, but otherwise a delightful sock yarn.
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On the first sock I did the leg on size 1 needles and while I could get it over my heel it was a bit of a trial. I knit the second sock leg with size 2 needles and had no trouble getting it on. This forced me to suck it up and rip out the leg of the first sock and re-knit on size 2. This was the best decision and now I think I'll wear these socks all the time.
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Going up in needle size meant I didn't have to do any tricky math to add more stitches or re-knit my heel flaps as well to add more stitches. I don't know if I would have thought of that if I hadn't already heard of the idea from smarter knitters than myself.

My notes weren't good enough to synchronize my undulations exactly but they are 'close enough for government work' as my mother says. I didn't necessarily want the color stripes to match so I told myself I would just knit from the beginning of the skein and be happy with what I got. Lo and behold I am.

Sweater Swatch Saga

I have finally come to a sweater design for My Brother's Sweater. I've been working on this like crazy for the last couple weeks and I've finally made it. This whole process has sent me back to school and the agony of writing papers.

1. Go to the library. Check out a lot of books, especially from inter library loan (they come from further away and are thus better). Feel as though a lot of work has been done something has really been accomplished.

2. Wait a week or so. Page through a few books. Take some notes, always cite your sources.

3. Write something while secretly denying that it is a little bit crap and not quite what the teacher is asking for. Pretend loudly that it is really good and clearly everything the teacher could possibly want.

4. Suck it up and revise. A lot time went into the first permutation and it is so good there is no reason to give it all up. Secret denial of it's suckiness continues along with the loud proclamations of it's fabulousness.

5. Time is becoming an issue. If this paper isn't finished soon the teacher will be so disappointed and there won't be much point in getting up tomorrow. Much revision and effort have provided an abundance of material, more than could ever into any one paper. The final version is in there somewhere waiting patiently to get out. If only it would make an effort, all the work wouldn't have to come from this end.

6. Suck it up again. Write one more version and swear it will be the last, whether or not it's crap. Time is of the essence and there isn't a lot to spare.

7. Wish fervently that this was the final copy, but the time for secret denial is over. Merry Christmas anyone? Sense of pride and 'if you're going to take the time to do it take the time to do it right' kick in. Damn the man.

_

8. Rejoice in a successfully designed sweater. One that the recipient will happily wear, not just the first thing that came to mind. No secret denial here!

9. If the teacher doesn't like it he better have the good sense not to say anything.

I leave for work on the Lynx in 4 days and now I can take this sweater with me. Phew. My hope is to give it to my brother for Christmas, as he is expecting more for his birthday in 2009 or so it should be a good surprise. Now that it is all designed all I have to do is knit the damn thing. And design some ribbing. and... and...

Like sands through the hourglass

The landscape is changing here at the Second Sleeve.


Firstly Christmas is coming and I've already done the whole bit where I wrap an unfinished project, needles and all, and tell the recipient she'll get it when she gets it. Last year I started nice and early and this year is no different. I also happen to be at a good place to start with Christmas, having almost nothing else on the needles. Since this is the internet and this blog is public I won't be posting what I'm making for Christmas. I will, however, put it all on Ravelry since you still need an invite to get in there and no one in my family has one.


Secondly I'm going back to work on boats. I'll be working on the Privateer Lynx and I'm super excited. A side effect of working on boats is less than regular and reliable connection to the outside world. I already don't post that often, but after September 12th it will become even less regular. This coupled with Christmas coming will likely change the content of yee olde cheshire blog. I've been thinking about how I post and what I write for awhile, so we'll see if I actually do anything about it.

And now a tantalizing glimpse at what Christmas holds for my family. This is all the yarn I need to make fabulous gifts for my entire family except one. I still haven't finalized what I'm making for one family member, but I am blessed with a small family and only need to worry about 7 people to encompass them all.

The Undulating Odyssey of My Brother's Sweater

Nothing has been finished this week Chez ChristineOlea, though much progress has been made on several different things.

Kaffe is Undulating along nicely. I have, however, reached a crossroads. The first sock is finished and the leg is just on the wrong side of too tight. I can get it on my foot, but not with ease. Do I knit the second one on a size larger needle and rip the first one back and do the same? Add a pattern repeat to the second one and rip the first one back and do the same? Or just carry on and only rarely wear socks that I would otherwise wear all the time because they don't quite fit. I think the only good answer is going to involve ripping back, taking time to do it right and all that. I may have to set them aside and let that idea steep for a bit.

The Odysseus Sweater has grown by leaps and bounds. The sleeves are all attached (both of them) and let me say that the second sleeve is not nearly as painful when the sleeves are only 4 inches long. Short Sleeves Huzzah! Using my new stitch dictionary courtesy of Babs Walker I added a little lace insert along the raglan seams and everything seems to be going nicely. I have to ask Penelope what sort of neckline she wants. The good part about finally reaching the yoke is that every couple of rows I decrease 8 stitches so it only gets shorter.

It looks a bit goofy on the needles but I think a good blocking and Penelope's delightfully zaftig figure will make this sweater work.

This actually is quite an attractive red, though like all reds it is difficult to capture on film. Especially with my lack of effort and care.

I've been swatching and swatching on My Brother's Sweater. By the time I actually start the sweater I'll have knit a sweater's worth of swatches. I thought I was finished and ready to cast on, but I don't think I am. The colors just aren't quite working, though another trip to the yarn store and a couple more swatches ought to remedy that. Then I can order yarn from various sources and actually start.

That and Ravelry has taken more time that it really should. The novelty should wear off soon but the knowledge that more people are joining weekly and adding their projects and such means that it is constantly new and changing with all sorts of wonderful things to look at.

Undulating Kaffe

Take 'one more row' multiply by 'one more color' sprinkle with rain and a mindless job. Steep for 2 shifts.





Kaffe Fasset is one of those designers that I've always liked but never had a desire to actually knit. I love that you can pick his designs out from across the room, I love the colors and textures, but I just don't have the desire to actually put any of his designs on my body. Then I heard about Mr. Fassett's affair with Regia. Finally something of Kaffe's design that I would actually wear. In my usual fashion I coveted the unborn Regia-Fassett children until I promptly forgot all about them.

Then, while trying to kill some time, I entered a Not-So-LYS in a search for something else entirely. My first stop in any yarn store is the sock yarn, conveniently located by the door in the particular store. I saw the Regia-Fasset children and I had to have some. The long list of projects waiting to be cast on didn't even enter my mind as I looked through the pamphlet (free with purchase) and decided which ones would be coming home with me. I picked Landscape Earth 4255 for me and Mirage Storm 4250 for someone for Christmas.

I've had my eye on the Undulating Rib pattern in Favorite Socks for awhile now and the perfect opportunity presented itself. Who was I to resist. Penelope and my Brother will just have to wait. I can already tell these will be consistently on the top of the pile.