JV Lady Cougars

Ali's playing softball this spring, and enjoying it a lot! She is playing second base on the JV team, and is turning out to be a pretty good infielder. She made a couple critical stops in their game tonight, a 3-3 tie against Santa Fe. (The girls dropped their first game, 0-5, to perennial division powerhouse Holden, and thus are standing at 0-1-1.) Here, she's reacting to a pop fly that actually went to the shortstop, which ended up being a double play when the runner at first inexplicably failed to return to base.

Ali was pretty far down in the batting order, and had only one at-bat tonight (the game was called early due to impending rain; the home coach was quite antsy to get the tarp down, apparently.) Her batting skills are slowly improving -- she's getting the bat around much more quickly & makes contact more often. Tonight, she only fouled one back before striking out. Oh well, lots of practice there will make things better. We'll probably end up hitting the local batting cages with some regularity.

Cold Weather Corset

Cold Weather Corset
Yarn: Austermann's Melissa
Colorway: Tapenade
Needles: 11
(i-cord lace is Paton's Merino Classic in Leaf Green)

Damn, another vest that came out too big. I have trouble knitting stuff for myself that has to walk the line between fitted & tight. I'm so convinced it's going to be too small that I end up giving myself way too much ease. Is this a big-grrl thing, or is it just me?

Anyway, the Melissa is beautiful and drapey, but the chenille has almost no spring or memory, so the ribbing at the side doesn't draw in at all. And the armhole is way too droopy, as I am demonstrating in the bathroom mirror here. (Please be kind enough to ignore the clutter on the bathroom counter.)

Overall, I'm not too thrilled with how it turned out, but it is quite soft & warm. It'll make a good middle layer when the weather gets cold again. And the colors are wonderful.

Next up: Hunter wants to be Harry Potter for Hallowe'en, so it's a Quidditch sweater from -- you guessed it -- Elann Highland Wool, my fave basic wool that comes in every color you can think of. Lots of 2x2 ribbing in my future.

Youth Basketball Season Ends

Last night was the youth basketball league's award ceremony. The Bolts finished with a respectable 4-3 record (four games were actually cancelled due to inclement weather, so the schedule was a bit abbreviated.) At the awards ceremony, the kids each got a cheesy little medal on a ribbon while the coach read their names out over the P.A. A charming picture of small-town youth sports, no?

That is, until you notice that Hunter's eyes are glowing with evil.

Good gosh, Josh looks like an extra for Children of the Corn. Thankfully, Chet seems to be unaffected by the creepy vibe.

As if that weren't enough, both of the coaches seem to have developed a case of radioactive athlete's foot.

I really need to get a camera with a better flash, huh?

Bolts Down All-Stars, Lakers

In youth basketball league action today, the Bolts won both games of their double-header, despite the fact that they seemed to be sleepwalking through their first game. (I'd blame the early hour, but they didn't actually tip off until noon.) Their first opponent, the optimistically named All-Stars, had previously gone undefeated but had unfortunately lost their star player to an auto accident this week. Don't worry, the boy will be fine; but he'll be wearing plaster for the next few weeks. The All-Stars looked a little demoralized and flat, and never really seemed to get going; but neither did the Bolts, really. Final ridiculously low score: 4-2.

For their second game, against the Lakers, the boys got a little more energy. It was a close game, tied up at the half; then the Bolts found their groove and pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 16-8.

The video shows Hunter, fouled in the fourth quarter of the All-Stars game, shooting two free throws. He's generally a reliable free-throw shooter, but the sleepwalking thing had kicked in hard at this point. After missing both, he gets his own rebound but manages to miss that shot too. It was like that all day. I have a hunch that Coach is going to hit shooting basics pretty hard at the next practice.

Mike's Vest

Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool in Nutmeg Heather
Needles: 8
Pattern: from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd

Wow, two sweaters finished so far this year & it's only February. I must be on a roll.

Groundhogs, bah

I don't care what Punxsutawney Phil saw. Here in the Midwest it is cold, clear, and sunny; a day like we haven't had for weeks. The weak winter Sun is blindingly bright off the new snow -- plenty of shadows to go around. Looks like Spring won't show her face for another six weeks.

If Candlemas Day be bright and clear,
Two winters there will be this year.

A Riddle for the icy weather

Q: What do you get when you cross a 15-ton schoolbus, a slushy soft shoulder, and a car trying to pass on a narrow country road?

A: A really big trench dug into the side of the road.