Finished Object Dance

The fourth iteration of the Baby Surprize Commuter project was finished (okay, not the finishing, but you know what I mean) Friday, when we had long rides back and forth from Lexington to Newport, RI, where the New England offices of my company was having the annual picnic. Note the large red stripe on the outside of the sweater and compare to the much thinner stripes of normal commuter knitting. Hmmmm. And I didn't even work on it at the picnic, just in the drive.

On the way back we stopped at Sakonnet Purls since I've been driven past for years and never been able to stop. It's a relatively large store, taking up the bottom floor of a house, 2 large rooms and two smaller rooms/corridors for knitting, and another room on the end for needlework. To give you an idea -- we pulled in and Himself was listening to something on WGBH about a chamber piece where they use 100 non-electric metronomes, get them started and listen to them phase in and out with each other as they wind down. He came in after it was done. He went out again after awhile. He came back in a while later and started giving me traffic and severe weather bulletins. I made my purchase (10 skeins of Sockotta in this color in hopes of a small-gauge sweater for me) and we got going. Why yes, traffic was rather backed up on 128. And about 10 minutes after we got home, the heavens opened and poured buckets.
The fifth iteration of the Baby Surprize Commuter project was started Saturday (gray) on the way to the Lowell Folk Festival. It was a fun day, a bit much with the heat, but we got to see Le Vent Du Nord again and they're always fun. I gave up by evening, since I was just too tired and out of sorts (why do they have to set the amplifiers on stun?) and it was difficult to work with the stick-to-itself wool in the heat and humidity. And then you realize what Lowell was founded on and you feel for those people who worked in those conditions.

The red is Sunday's knitting, which was just running errands, watching pork chops broil and hanging out in the A/C'd TV room. Then there's the thin band of brown that represents how little can be done during a crowded commute these days. It's in the portion of increasing to 152 stitches before the next time to pay attention.

Last evening I started working the border of the Butterfly Shawl.
It's farther along than I would have thought, over the half-way point. Not sure if I'll get to finish it tonight..... The photo on the left is unblocked, but the butterflies and blossoms are showing up already.

Wednesday I'll have off for pump training. Real-time glucose monitor kit will be delivered as well tomorrow -- who knew the sensors need to be refridgerated? Training for that should not be combined with the other, so we'll schedule that for later in the month. I'm taking the last week of the month as vacation, so that would be a good time to initiate and get used to its functions before being in a work environment not in my control.

I've been using the guardrails metaphor, but that's not really accurate. Guard rails imply that you have fencing to keep you from running off the road, when in reality it just goes bing to say you've left your BG target area. The RTGM will be more of a rumble strip.
Still very useful.