End of Hitch

When you work on a boat there are different ways to count down. The captain likes to count down by pizza days, which are every Sunday night. Working two months get you eight days of pizza, so counting this way makes it seem like time flies by. I like to count by days, because I feel like you get to chip the time off a little every day. Then, before you know it, you're down into the single digits and the week just. won't. end. I don't think the pizzas are special enough to warrant counting by, unless you figure that each week it's a different type of pizza. When I asked them to make me a vegetable pizza (so I wouldn't end up with one that had tuna fish on it), I got instead a pizza with ham, onions, olives, mushrooms, heart of palm, and banana. The week after had sausage, onions, olives, mushrooms, heart of palm, cucumber, and maraschino cherries.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is by the end of whatever count down you're going by, you'll crash at the end of it.

This may look comfy but it isn't. You'd get a softer mattress at the hotels in Rio if you lined it with rocks.

By the end of the hitch there are things you intended to do but didn't do because you got channel fever and people stop caring about what needs to get done on the boat and worry more about when they need to start packing. Or what to pack. Or, can I fit everything into one suitcase instead of the suitcase and bag I brought?

One bag less...or at least it was until I realized I still had to fit my hard hat in there.

At least this hitch I remembered to take pictures of my room. The room I've frequented the most is an odd L-shape. There are two bunks. The floor looks like crap and the air conditioning unit starts vibrating madly when you use it on any setting after 3. Thankfully it still cools the room to subarctic temperatures.

The beds are twin size. My bed at home is a queen. It takes a little to remember that when I first get to the boat and start doing alligator rolls to get comfortable. I may have fallen out once or twice.

Then you turn left and you have the desk with one light. The ceiling light doesn't work because the ballast broke in it and they're almost impossible to get in Brazil. 

On the left side of the picture there are two cabinets. 

Then you hang another left and there's the bathroom.

No matter how many times you clean it, it'll never be fully clean. 

And that's all she wrote. I have a plane to catch (let's hope it doesn't snow tomorrow).

New Year's Resolutions and Other Things

I have no idea what FPSO and tanker this is. I just really like how gray the picture is with that one burst or orange and red. 

I spent New Year’s on the boat thinking of a proper New Year’s resolution. Should I vow to lose weight? Stop buying yarn? Actually write some blog posts? I made the decision to stop buying yarn, unless I’ve A) used at least three skeins of what I have in my yarn chest or B) am going to a foreign country where I can’t get that kind of yarn again. This means no more random buys from independent dyers on Etsy. Honestly, I didn’t even think about the blog post resolution until today. Maybe I’ll try for at least one post a month, maybe more?

How often am I going to be in a foreign country to warrant that clause of the New Year’s resolution? Well, much to my excitement, a friend and I have decided to hit up England and Scotland for a couple of weeks this January. I’m hoping to talk her into visiting Loop (a yarn shop in London) with me, although I’m hoping even more to stumble upon a skein or two of wool somewhere along the way.

An ultimate goal either this year or next is to go to Germany to visit and possibly buy out the Wollmeise shop. I’ve used her yarn on a couple of different projects and really like how the stitches are very defined, although that makes it more difficult to hide mistakes (of which there are usually plenty in my knitting. I’d really like to get my hands on a skein of her lace weight yarn, although to be honest I’m still kind of shawl-ed out after last year’s 12 Shawls in 2012 and am unsure what else to use lace yarn for.

This hitch I finished a My Dolphin Cowl using A Hundred Ravens Llyr in Baharat (a club colorway), a Carnaby Skirt using Sheepy Time Knits Sheepy Wool in Embers, and a pair of Broad Street Mittens using Wollmeise Merino DK in Pesto (for my brother). Everything still needs to be blocked and if they require buttons, the buttons still need to be sewn on. I got some great wooden buttons for the skirt that I hope fit. I'm contemplating putting in a fleece lining for the Broad Street Mittens...do they make My Little Pony fleece fabric? I'm positive that's what my brother would like.

I’m currently working on a pair of Roses For Margaery using Countess Ablaze Dr Donegal 4-ply in Shooting Leaves. It’s a great sock pattern; it has all the looks of being cables without the hassle of actually being cables! I fully expect to be working on them for a while, though.

Must-resist-tempation to pull out the tweedy bits. That's also a chicken project bag. I sometimes regret not buying the Star Wars project bag.

I intend to take some pictures of the boat, so if you've ever been interested in what my berthing area looks like, stay tuned.