Squid On Wheels -- 2008 Mileage Contest

It's that time of year again. Time to guess how many miles we Squid will ride by October 31, 2008. Current and past totals are posted in the sidebar.

Contest entries must be posted in the comments section to this post by 11:00 P.M. Saturday, September 6, 2008. Prizes include sock yarn, chocolate and assorted swag.

Remember, these are miles ridden as a family and do not count miles ridden by the adults alone. Mileage may include those ridden as one adult and two kids.

Contest is open to family members with the understanding that the prizes may be altered to suit the needs of the winner. Feel free to enter even if you do not knit.

Regular blogging, of a sort, should resume tomorrow.

That is all.

Let Them Eat Cake

The prototype ...

This, naturally, left us with a whole lot of cake. What to do? What to do?

First we hit all of the neighbors on our floor. Then we took the top layer to the lobby and sat for an hour and gave out cake.
It was fun. We made lots of people happy and now only have the two 9 inch layers to "dispose" of. (The remaining top layer is going to another family on our floor as soon as they get home.)

Now ... I think I need some cake ...

Ready ...

It's still 4 weeks away but we are getting ready. I may be in charge of the knit goods but that all pales in comparisson to what Mike is in charge of ...

the baked goods. This is the start of the trial run.

(That's a 16 inch cake next to two nines and an eight.)

Squid on Wheels -- International Edition -- The Food

As you well know, we squid take our food very seriously. While traveling, we do our best to partake of local cuisine. We even go to the extreme of trying to track down good local food on the road.

Our first food foray of the trip was to the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor in Chestertown, New York.Wonderful food in a homey setting. We did not indulge in ice cream since we wanted to get back on the road fairly quickly.

On our first full day in Montreal, we did quite a bit of biking and needed to refuel before our attempt on Mount Royal. Serious exercise calls for serious food, in this case smoked meat sandwiches from Schwartz's Deli.

We did take out and dined al fresco at the base of Mount Royal.

And then comes the question -- why does one climb a mountain? The answer, supplied by my husband, "for the ice cream of course!" No pictures of that indulgence. We ate while walking back up to the peak because Little Squid and I felt that the point of riding a bike up the mountain was to get to the peak -- which Mike bypassed after toping out on the trail just meters below the peak. Silly us, we followed. Do'h! We then had to reascend about half a kilometer to get to the actual summit.

Lunch the next day was at a diner and included a plate of poutine. That's french fries covered in gravy and cheese curd to you Americans. It was surprisingly addicting. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since there was a serious poutine following before we joined the bandwagon. I just didn't expect to really, really like it!

Dinners were fantastic though not photographed. We had lots of French, some Polish and some touristy food, including crepes and fondue in Quebec City.

A little chocolate fondue to end the meal

Midday snacks were plentiful and consisted mostly of ice cream,

Maple Ice Cream!!! With maple sugar bits in it!!!

but had the occasional local specialty thrown in to mix it up. (No picture of the maple coronets consumed in Quebec City.) Keep in mind that the maple ice cream was local, so it counts.
And once we reached New Hampshire ... there were blackberries!

Squid on Wheels -- International Edition

These little booklets were obtained 3 years ago in anticipation of a trip that did not happen. They have finally been used.We took the kids out of the country using the second lamest method. We went to Canada. (Canadians, read on -- I am NOT dissing your country, great place, watch me rave)

What's the first lamest method, you ask?





(wait for it)





(wait some more)




(a little more won't hurt you)




The first lamest method of getting out of the country is ...



walking across town and taking a tour of the United Nations. Which we really should do.

But seriously, Canada is not at all lame. It's got wonder food, great history, mountains to climb and of course some of the most "famous" bloggers of the knit blogging world. You know who they are, I don't have to link. And if you don't know then you probably don't care.

What did we do in Canada?

Well, we did what we Squid do best -- we rode our bikes. At least in Montreal.

We rode on the waterfront.

We rode on greenways.

We rode in the streets. (In really well delineated bike paths.)

And we rode up the mountain.
Look! We made it all the way to the peak without stopping!

We got rained on at the top and descended on a rather muddy path. No pictures of the kids with their backs spattered in muck. (The parents were mostly spared as we have racks on the back of our bikes which protect us from the spray from the back tire.)

There's more but you will just have to wait for me to put it all together. We're back now and gearing up for another school year. And a big party in just over a month. Lots to do!

Blog Vacation

We interrupt this blog vacation to bring you this.

We Squid would also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Lil' Bro, Josh. It's a little belated but I did call ... Josh, from all of us here in the Squid home, may this year be as wonderful as the last and may your new home suit you and Jaye to a T. Love you!

We now resume this blog vacation.

Squid on Wheels -- A Ride to Bayside

This morning we set out to ride to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing Meadow - Corona Park.
No one was actually racing when we got there but we did get to circle the Unisphere.

To get to the races / park, we had to first navigate our way across Manhattan and into Queens via the famed Queensboro / 59th Street Bridge and then wend our way across Queens.

The trip out took a good two hours to go about 18 miles but we had to keep stopping to consult the map. If we do it again, it will go a lot faster.

After seeing what there was to see, we continued Northeast to my parent's apartment in Bayside. My kid brother and his wife were in town so we all visited for a few hours, swam a bit, ate some pizza and then headed home. We did not ride home, but rather rode to the terminus of the 7 train and took the subway back into Manhattan.

The 7 is my favorite train. The views of Manhattan are fantastic -- especially if you can see out the front of the train. Sadly, however, the new subway cars do not have the large windows at the front that the old ones used to. So, we had to settle for the view out the side windows instead. I tried to get some good shots but the window glass was really dirty. If you ever have a chance, take the 7 from Main Street to at least Queensboro Plaza and look out the windows facing North. You will see New York as you have never seen it before.

Today's ride: 30.7 miles.


Thanks to Dee for nominating me for a Arte y Pico award. I know that I am supposed to nominate a few blogs but my brain is a bit fried right now from the ride. I'll get back to you in a few days. Thanks, Dee!

Of Tallit and Tomatoes

Dave asked for a close up of the weave structure of the tallit.

It is a basic tabby cloth -- the easiest to weave on my rigid heddle loom. I can do other weaves and have a second heddle and heddle blocks but decided (after experimentation) that one heddle was plenty for me. Eventually I will get a larger loom with more variation but, for now, my Kromski Harp does exactly what I want to do.

On the gardening front, I made my second "major" tomato harvest. (The first harvest was last week and was served up barely cooked with some yummy cured meat and pasta.)

The big one is a Patio, the yellows are yellow plums and the smaller red ones are Tiny Tims. Below, one of the tinier Tiny Tims.
Yes, it is sitting on a quarter. And would have fit on a dime. It was delicious!

Finished! Some Weaving ...

Squidette's Tallit

Started: June 14, 2008
Finished: July 30: 2008

10 epi, 3/2 Pearl Cotton and Pearl Silk

Atarah (neckband) purchased already finished

Tzitzit (fringes on corner) hand tied on the tallit by your's truly, following instructions found online

Regular fringe made of the loom "waste" and knotted over the course of 3 days.

One end had to be rehemmed because I hemmed it in the wrong direction. (Both hems are double folded to hide the raw edges.)

Squid on Wheels-- Riding in the Rain

I've been wanting to do a Coney Island ride for several weeks now and so, this week, I set my mind to do it. Saturday was the perfect summer day, relatively cool, clear blue skies, no wind ... but I had a very tired kid due to a camp overnight. So Saturday was relegated to running some local errands and doing laundry. I also did some spinning ...
Bamboo Silk top that Susan sent me about a year ago. The one on the left is actually a pale blue and is what I was spinning (and not all of it, just the last few grams). The green has been spun up for a month or so.

Sunday "dawned" with a bang -- rather a clap, of thunder -- and it poured until shortly before the kids woke up. I was determined, however, to get out for a ride, no matter what the weather people said. I listened to all of the reports and decided to believe the one that said "no more storms until late afternoon."

And off we rode. Coney Island was out, because even I am not that stupid, and instead we did a basic breakfast ride to the Red Hook Fairway's and did a spot of geocaching a pier over.Then, out to Ikea for chocolate and cinnamon buns, and then we started home.

First we encountered a motorist who felt that we should not be taking up a lane of traffic with our bikes, "you (explicative deleted) have two children with you!" he shouted at us. Please note two things: one, we are entitled to an entire lane, by law, and were only taking the right hand side of it, except when dodging potholes, and two, the squidlings are, as you know, quite accomplished and savvy in the ways of city cycling. Mike yelled back a bit and we continued on our way.

At the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, Mike asked us to "pick a bridge and a way to get there." I picked the Williamsburg Bridge and took out the map to figure out how to get there.

Please note, we were at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge which meant that it's bike entrance was only a few blocks away, as was the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge path. The Willamsburg Bridge ... we that was a mile or so away ... Yes, I was trying to stretch the ride and make it more interesting.

Interesting it was as we wended our way through Williamsburg ...

Nice quite streets.And then the thunder started. Actually it started while we were still at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was still in denial and the rest of the family was willing to buy into my delusion.

As we passed under the Manhattan Bridge, it started to drizzle. As we continued North, it became a steady rain. Finally, in desperation -- the water kept blinding me -- we pulled over into the shelter of a gas station until it let up. Pedaled another mile or so, sheltered under a highway and then finally got to and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge without another drop.

20 miles. Not bad for a rainy day.

TdF: Final Intermediate Sprint

"Hills like this were never really to my liking." (Paul Sherwin whenever asked about a mountain stage by Phil Liggett)

A few days ago I realized that I was not enjoying the pressure of "having" to finish my TdF project. So, with that in mind, I took out my wheel yesterday and went for a nice long spin. Then I balled up the first skein of Tilli Thomas Rock Star Bridgetown Brown (100% spun silk with glass beads) and started in on this shrug for Squidette.Her Bat Mitzvah dress is less modest then it should be so this shrug, designed to cover a halter top, is just what is needed. I've been resisting starting it, knowing that I have to finish my socks, but last night I just dug in and started.

During the Tour I also finished these socks for my only sockless sibling -- but they were "purse" knitting and don't count as interfering in the TdF sock progress.The real hindrance to knitting was the fact that life just took over during the daylight hours and with Little Squid in camp for 1.5 hours less then last year, and with us riding our bikes there most days, there was just less time.

Last, I was working on another project, which will be finished and revealed in all of it's glory tomorrow. parts of it have been worked on in secret from the recipient so no peaks until they see it first.
The second sock. Oh, and did I mention that I lost my squid graph and have to reconstruct it from the first sock ...

And so, I concede the race. no green jersey for me. Oh well, there is always next year.

Woven or Knit?

This is the dress.

It needs a shawl (for synagogue).

Now add the yarn (ArtYarns silk)...

Woven (plain weave) or knit? And if knit, what pattern? (Should be fairly solid)

I have 8 skeins -- about 1300 yds

Squid at the Ballpark

Earlier this week we went to the ball park. It was the kids' first ballgame and, frankly, only my second. The teams? The Brooklyn Cyclones vs. the Vermont Lake Monsters. Little Squid was rooting for the Monsters, the rest of us -- the Cyclones. Cyclones won, 2 - 0.


The Cyclones are a "short season" A team and are the Mets' local farm team. The stadium is small and cozy and no seat is far from the field. We were right behind home plate.
To our right is the Parachute Jump, a Coney Island landmark. No, it no longer functions but my parents tell tales of when it did. The lighting on it is a recent addition. Yes, it was a very over cast / foggy night. Frankly, it started pouring somewhere between the time that we entered our building and when we entered our apartment, just minutes later.

If you enlarge this photo you can see the Cyclone (the roller coaster) in the background, just past the circular ride.
It was a lovely evening at the ball park. There were fire works and our team won. We're looking at getting tickets for a Cyclones - Spinners game. Guess who'll I'll be rooting for!

TdF: Intermediate Sprint #2

The challenge: the ride around your town and share what is special.

[Edited to add: oops, didn't read the instructions carefully enough and missed the deadline!]

The additional challenge: Um ... this is what much of Squid Knits is about. Is my post going to be subject to accusations of doping?

And, yet one more challenge: I am turning this contest entry into a contest itself. Anyone who correctly identifies all of the structures, in photographs labeled with a letter, will be entered into a drawing for some yummy yarn of my choosing and some chocolate that is native to my locale. One caveat, the prize will not be sent out until the cooler weather due to the chocolate content.

Contest closes at midnight, July 31, 2008.



And here we go ...

I live in a small island situated where a fairly famous river meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Over the last several years, my island has become more and more bike friendly and one can ride around the island with roughly half the trip being along, or really close to, the water.Near the southern tip of our island sits a small fort. This fort served as the main immigration intake center until facilities on an island to our west took over.

(A)

My grandfather came through the facilities shown below, which are, alas, not accessible by bicycle.

(B)

Several bridges connect my island with both the mainland

(C)

and another, much larger, island to our east.(D)

At least one of these bridges has been sold by aspiring entrepreneurs the world over. This particular bridge was also the site of my first date with the man who is now my loving husband.

My island was, unfortunately, the target of some horrid attacks almost 7 years ago and the damage is still evident.

But we are also home to the final resting place of a President and his wife.

(E)

This tiny island is home to both very tall and very small structures.

(F)

(G)

Some of them dress up for the holidays.(H)

But my island is home to more than just buildings, we even have areas that are somewhat natural.
And areas that serve to fulfill the most basic needs of my family.
Figured it out yet? Need one more hint? Our local newspaper is published less then a mile from our home.