Look! Spinning!

O.k., carding! Big, fluffy batts of carded pink Shetland wool. Yum! After 3 passes through my carder there are very few neps and most of them are so small that I am just leaving them in as I spin it. Love it!
On to today's bike ride. Today was meant to be a short ride, a stretch your legs and keep them nimble kind of ride and that is exactly what it was. You have got to love Manhattan on a late summer Monday morning. Traffic is light, pollution is low and it was relatively cool.

We started with our usual southern route. On the right is the world famous Stuyvesant High School. Possibly, the best high school in the country. Papa Squid teaches there. Mama and Papa Squid both graduated from it in 19XX. Mama Squid's younger sister and older-younger brother graduated from there as did Papa Squid's brother. Will Squidette and Little Squid go there? Admission is based soley on the results of one test taken on one day. So ... time will tell. Check with me in 3 years. (Bike Cam photo)
The Mariner's Memorial down in Battery Park. If you look closely you will see one sailor being pulled up out of the water. This monument is dedicated to all of the Mariners who gave their lives for our country. View of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges as taken from the Bike Cam.Papa Squid with the Bike Cam mounted on his Bike Friday.

At this point, just south of the Williamsburg Bridge, we decided to go home via the streets and Papa led us to ... Economy Candy. Surprisingly enough we had not made it there yet this summer. This is what kids in a candy store look like:We left with one, very small, bag of candy. Really! We saved the big calories for Chocolate Haven at the end of the ride!An old synagogue which is no longer serving in its original role.

When we left on what was supposed to be a 10-12 mile / 1-2 hour ride we knew that we had to be home in time for me to meet mom and little sis at noon. With the switch of route on to the streets our ride slowed somewhat and we arrived home at 11:25. A quick shower and change later ...
She could be my daughter ... one of these days I will get a picture of me, sis and Squidette so you can see the progression. Sis goes back to college on Saturday and we will miss her!

Contest Entry

O.k, if you heard about the contest over here then you know that I had to enter with this:

Socks on a Squid

The Debut of the Bike Cam

New today was the "bike cam" that Papa hooked up to the Bike Friday. Unfortunately the camera battery died as we topped the Brooklyn Bridge so I do not have the amazing views of Manhattan as we came back.

I do, however, have several pictures of the backs of Mama Squid, Squidette and Little Squid as Papa was taking up the rear for the early part of the ride.A less-than picturesque street in Manhattan (27th heading west). The pink shirted cyclist is Squidette. Mama is in front of her and Little is on the right.
This is the view as we approach the Hudson River from our building. The building on the right has become trendy office space and I believe that Martha Stewart's headquarters are there though I cannot swear to it. Regardless of who is there, they create the nastiest traffic conditions with the double parking of limos and other VIP type vehicles. Today was quiet but this was early on a Saturday. In the far background is New Jersey. Heading south on the Hudson River path. Directly to the south on the right is the Chelsea Piers sports complex. The blue-shirted figure in front-center is Little Squid.
Same path further south. The cyclist in view is the wonderful Mama Squid. You can tell by her ubiquitous biking backpack.
The Brooklyn Bridge as viewed from east of the first mooring.

The rest of the pictures were taken with Mama Squid's camera at rest.At our entrance to Prospect Park. No, we did not stop to figure out if they represent anything important. Next time.

Grand Army Plaza.

The sign says it all! (Back in Manhattan.)

When all was said and done, we biked roughly 20 miles and stopped at the Union Square Green Market for all sorts of fresh and yummy fruit and veggies. Dinner was a salad made up of all Green Market veggies except for the tomatoes which were harvested from our own plants. The map of today's ride can be found here.

Since the weather was cool and over cast I actually got a lot of spinning done. Recently I cared up some of the wonderful Shetland acquired at NY Sheep and Wool last year. I ran it through the carder 3 times and have the most wonderful, spinnable batts! I have been doing most of my spinning on the balcony but I usually do not get out there until late afternoon when the sun hits it full force. This means that I am usually only out there for half-an-hour or so until it gets too hot. Today, however, I was out for well over an hour and now I need to card up some more wool to spin! I will try to take some pictures when I do it so you can see my lovely, fluffy batts.

Up to date

This is the post where I bring you, dear reader, up to date. It will be long and will change topics periodically so feel yourself warned.

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Our trip to Lancaster, obviously, involved knitting -- in the car, in the corn maze and around the camp fire. When we returned, the results were as follows:

Car and Pool Knitting.

Campfire and Corn Maze Knitting.

Stash acquisition courtesy of Labidie Looms. All hand dyed by the owner and the roving is from local sheep.

It also involved local color, hiking and Yogi Bear.

If you look closely you will see the sock on Yogi's thumb (the lower one).

(The sock is in Ranger Smith's face.)

Now we are back in NYC and catching up on stuff we meant to see but did not have time for like Chihuly at the Botanical Gardens.

Amazing!

Last night, an outrageously good dinner at Bouley with friends.

Today, some quality time with the folks. Tomorrow ... maybe a bike ride if the weather cooperates.

Squid on Wheels -- Lancaster Hills

Squid want to ride in different places and after our wonderful experience in Indianapolis, we decided to see what was happening in the Lancaster area.

After doing a considerable amount of research, Papa Squid made contact with the Lancaster Bike Club and discovered that they were having a D-Level (10 mph+) ride on the Sunday that we would be there. So, we did what Squid do, and brought our bikes to Lancaster.

Sunday dawned clear and cool and, after hooking the bike rack back up to the car, we took off to the meet up place where we were welcomed in to the fold. Off we went and very quickly discovered that Little Squid had not eaten enough breakfast. Embarrassed, we plied him with granola bars and all kept on peddling up and down the scenic hills. After the first major hill we paused to catch our breath and admire the view.

Later we paused yet again for a photo-op by one of Lancaster's scenic covered bridges. We rode through two of these during the ride. Way cool!

Us and members of the Lancaster Bike Club -- faces have been blurred for privacy.

Pushing on, we climbed several more hills and made it through a flat on Squidette's bike, changed in record time by Papa Squid. Both kids performed admirably and we will make sure to feed Little properly before the next ride. Thank you to the LBC members who patiently waited for Mike and Little to catch up to us and steered us the correct way. Special thanks to the ride leader who stayed after the flat to direct us back to the car.

Total mileage -- 15.8.

If you want to see our route, click here. (This is a new feature of Squid of Wheels and will now accompany most of our unusual rides.)

Would the button Cookie Please wave your hand

I know that I acknowledged the button publicly but now I am really confused and a bit embarrassed by which Cookie made the button. I read at least 2 Cookie blogs -- Cookie_1 and Cookie_2 and then there is the Cookie that Ann sometimes refers to without a link attached. I suspect that it is this third Cookie to whom I must address my public thanks. Cookie, whichever once you are, please stand up and be recognized!

Squid do the Corn Maze

*** Correction -- I apparently linked to the wrong Cookie before -- I hope I got it right now! If I am still giving credit to the wrong one, please speak up!***

But before we get to our regularly scheduled blog, I give to you the Squid Knits Button! Created by our very own Cookie. Thanks Cookie! Remember, if you want it, practice proper button etiquette.

If anyone is paying attention to the blogroll on the sidebar -- please ignore it. I am in the process of organizing my bloglines roll and will import that relatively soon. I have added a huge number of blogs to my daily reads and am starting to thin them out a bit to those I MUST read and those that I like reading and will read if I have the time.

Now ... on to knitting content. (Wait, I hear you say, didn't she promise Corn Maze? Ahh ... but there is a Corn maze, and Corn Maze socks!)

Corn Maze
Corn Maze Sock!

Prior to departing for PA, I dragged Squidette uptown to Knitty City (which I have decided is my absolutely favorite LYS in a town full of great LYS's). The emergency trip was because I did not have appropriate yarn to knit a new pair of plain fine gauge socks for Papa Squid. "Why," I hear you ask again, "do you need to knit plain fine gauge socks for him NOW?" Well, he has very large feet which make for good long periods of mindless, carefree knitting. Good for the dim light of campfires and ... for walking around corn mazes.This is not a posed picture. I really did knit them in the corn maze. They were but a solid-colored toe when we started the maze and gained a good two to three inches while wandering about trying to find the out way out.

Early in the Maze.

Much later. (Look on Toucan Sam's thumb for the sock.)The end of the Maze! (The sock is in the corn)

The kids were in charge of holding the map -- except when Papa Squid felt he needed to make an executive decision. I just knit and occasionally offered my opinion.

Our path through the corn -- click here.


After we finished the main Maize Maze we left for lunch at our favorite area resturant and then returned to have some more farmly fun.

There was the right-turn only maze -- I was the only Squid who could not figure it out.Mama Squid, lost in a sea of right turns.

There was the ball maze -- no one followed the directions but much fun was had.There was a lot of other stuff but mainly there was a lot of fun.

Mama Squid at the end of the day.

Squid go Camping

The Squid have moved around a bit this summer and this past weekend found us in the only locale we seem to return to year after year, Lancaster, PA. There is lots of "stuff" to do, good for the Squid who does not like to just "hang out" at the campground. There is outlet shopping with lots of stuff all in one place -- good for the Squid who hates shopping and likes to get it all out of the way at once. There is the Amazing Corn Maze -- good for all Squid involved and there is amazingly good local food both fresh and prepared.

This year we intended to go with friends but at the last minute they could not make it. While we missed our friends, this turned out to be a good thing. The family in the spot that our friends gave up are also now friends. What you really need to know is Squid tend to be asocial creatures so this is a big thing. Our kids hit it off immediately -- Little Squid is the same age as their oldest and their older girl (all of 6) fell in love with Little. Squidette also had fun with them and both Squid kids hooked up with all sorts of other kids despite our only being in the campground in the evening on Friday and Saturday.

This was also the first time we have gone camping on a weekend so it was interesting to see how different, and loud, the campground was versus during the week. That said, it is also the first time we have camped at this particular campground. (We were searching for the perfect balance of distance from "stuff" and ammeneties. I think we found it.) So here are some camping pictures. Pictures of the other "stuff" will come in the following days. Stay tuned!

The Squid Abodes. One for Mama and Papa, one for Little and Squidette.

A rare photo of Mama Squid cooking. (I let two of the ears of corn roll off the grill and on to the ground.)

S'mores!

Squid On Wheels - a New Look

Thanks to Karen Liu for our new logo. I have big plans for this little guy, stay tuned! We will also have new wall paper based on the design at right if I can get it so it will not distract from the text.

I've said it before and I will say it again, Squid are good!