Amazed and Proud

My son Ben had his freshmen orientation a few days ago. He has chosen a state college about 6 hours away from our home. I knew nothing about this college especially when I went to school many, many years ago. I went to a state university that is the best in the system now. It was pretty good when I went there but now it has an amazing reputation. Ben's school was just a blip on the map when I was applying to colleges. Now, it is the best one in the system. It's harder to get into his school than in the one I attended. It is also much smaller. There are over 5000 students in his. My alma mater has over 14,000. He picked the right one for him.

Since this was my first time seeing the school (Neal was the one who took him since I had to work), I was excited and a bit apprehensive. I've seen pictures on the web but what will it look like in real life? Would it be too small? Where the hell was it anyway? I've never been this far west in our state. How will I get through this 6 hour car ride?

I packed so many knitting projects. I figured I wouldn't be driving and it would be a great time to catch up on all of the projects I started. I packed up my Brooklyn Hipster scarf which is being knitted with Royal Llama Silk that I got from Webs last year.

Then I took my infamous unfinished Catkin. I stopped a few months ago because I couldn't concentrate on the pattern. I was hoping to pick that one up to really get over that proverbial knitting hump.

I also brought the table runner I was knitting with yarn I got from Rhinebeck 2 years ago. This yarn was suppose to be a scarf but seriously, you could rub the calluses off of your feet with this stuff. It is too rough and scratch. Hey, at least I'm using up stash yarn, right?

Finally, I brought cotton yarn and my size 13 needles to make a market bag. It's fast and easy and satisfying. I ended up making one on the ride up and starting one during a lecture. I can only doodle so much during these meetings. I finished it on the way home. You can find the pattern here


Monday and Tuesday were so busy. We attended seminar separate from the students. Neal and I were constantly checking our schedule to see where and when we had to be somewhere. It was amazing. I enjoyed every single minute. The campus is absolutely gorgeous. The views are breathtaking. One big thing to do is to watch the sunset from the gazebo on campus. The sunset is beautiful no matter where you are. The campus has ivy-covered buildings. You think you are in a private New England college. That's how picturesque the campus is. Finally, the people. We met the nicest people there-professors, deans, orientation advisors and the parents. Oh my God. Neal and I met the loveliest people. Granted we all are going through the same emotions and feelings but how nice everyone was. There was a great feeling of belonging to a wonderful club of some sorts. I came away from those busy days knowing that Ben made the right choice. I am so proud of him and if he ever reads his mom's blog, I want to say to you Ben: I am very, very proud of you!

Back to the knitting: I never touched the Catkin. I made 2 market bags. I knitted 8 rows of the table runner. I knitted 20" of the 25" of the scarf. Then I realized that it's not reversible. What did I do wrong? I'll tell you. I somehow decided that Reverse Stockinette stitch was the Garter stitch. So I frogged that sucker and started all over again. I wasn't even the least bit disturbed. It's only 29 stitches and it works up quickly.

In about 6 weeks, we will be making the trip to drop Ben off. Besides focusing on what we need to take for him and how I'm not going to cry until I get in the car and drive off, I'm starting to think about what knitting projects I'll be bringing with me. Hey, priorities, right?