Friday, January 4, 2008

OMG I've Steeked!!

The word's come up once or twice before in blogs and patterns but I had no idea what steeking was. I was over at Claudine's blog Knitting Box where she had a link to knitty's how-to for steeking. (She's has a couple really cute kid's sweaters and a nice gallery of projects so take a quick look if you have a moment.)

The fairisle sweater I knit for my mom years ago was steeked! (This link here will give you an idea for now.) My mom and I figured out how to do it all on our own. It was a very odd experience to be sewing over my knitting. The cutting was kinda fun :) I wasn't thinking of it as destroying my work but rather watching the cardigan emerge. I recommend it to any knitter.

I should have taken pics when I was in Seattle right before Christmas - the location of the sweater and the rest of my family. I had not finished my Christmas knitting by December 13th. (About 50% and I'm still working on the rest today.) In true Ursula fashion I planned out which gift I could knit on the plane as the recipient was arriving after I was to leave but instead I yapped and drank Bailey's and decaf. After what I went through at the counter, who wouldn't :)

Ticket counter story? My now fiancee and I were flying on different airlines which in Phoenix means we were also flying out of different terminals. No biggie. Said goodbyes on the shuttle. I had picked flights that would arrive at relatively close to each other, but me first so that I could locate the parents. So I get to the counter and.... they can't find my reservation. Okaaaaay. "Honey, hold off on checking in. ... Oh, you're already through security. Ok, um I'll call you back." I called Continental but was in the queue. The agent also suggested to try the Continental counter (thankfully in the same terminal) because I purchased my ticket through their partner. I walked over there while on hold. BIG lines at Continental - a couple flights to NY had been canceled. The agent I finally talked to at the counter got really snippy, "I can't help you!" Yikes! I'll let you get back to your job of helping people. (Still on hold with Continental, but somehow not panicking yet.) Back to the Alaska counter to talk with the 3rd agent of the day. Click, click cuh click. "Don't worry, it'll be okay." *tears* (finally sets in I guess.) Click. Click, click. "Oh, here you are." *exhale* Hundreds of thank yous and I was off to security. All was well.

So why the confusion? The agent I talked to on the phone swapped my first and last names. You know when you get that feeling that something might be wrong? Well I had that feeling. I asked her a few times to confirm the dates and times of the flights, even the spelling of my name! Didn't even cross my mind to see if she understood that Ursula was my first name, not my last name. Oh please! You've got to be kidding!!!

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