Conventions, cycling and knitting, oh my!
Jul. 29th, 2009 02:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayI have got to get myself back into the habit of posting about things that aren't Unix scripting issues. Although the good news is that I now know much more about scripting than I used to and have a good idea of what I'm doing and what I need to learn. Yay?
I've been thinking about conventions. To wit, the Redemption 2011 prices go up in September and I think that it's time to stop being in denial and just buy myself a ticket. I'm going, I was crazy to think about pretending that I wasn't. It's my favourite con on the calendar. If I plan to arrive in England on the Thursday and travel straight up to Cov then I could spend a few days with my family afterwards and still have three vacation days left for other things that year. And in June that year, it will be a new vacation year and I'll finally be up to three weeks vacation. Woo.
Also, it's Worldcon in a couple of weeks and I can't go. Boo :-( This made me think about cons for next year, though. Hal-Con is in my own little home town in October 2010, so I'll definitely be going to that. But if I don't go to something in the first half of next year, then I'll have been con-less for eighteen months. I really miss geeky fannish gatherings, there isn't a space like it anywhere else.
Are there any cons that folks would recommend happening say March-June next year? Preferably something reachable in one flight from Nova Scotia. I love the relaxed, fannish gatherings like Redemption far more than the big media cons. I have a feeling that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
muskratjamboree is only every two years, isn't it? And that would mean it happens in a Redemption year :-( But really, some recs for cons that people love over here would be awesome.
In other news, the Tour de France was awesome. I cannot express enough how much I loved it. The racing, particularly in the final week, was great. There wasn't even a sniff of a drugs problem. Contador absolutely deserved to win. Best of all, there were Brits in the race doing fantastically. Mark Cavendish was amazing and, with 6 wins in one race, rather deserves the title of fasted man on two wheels. Bradley Wiggins was the revelation of the race and he's made me very excited about the future of Brits in the Tour. Next year he'll be going in as a viable favourite - how cool is that?
In knitting news, I finished some stripey socks in merino and may never want to knit socks from anything else every again. Oh, so gorgeous. My lacey sweater continues apace: I finished the front last night and got some ribbing done on a sleeve today. I am actually slightly worried about how quickly it's knitting up, but it's fun.
I also cast on for a shawl this week. It's going to be a warm, snuggly shawl from DK weight yarn rather than a lacey thing, suitable for cool autumn days and overly enthusiastic AC at the office. I'm using Malabrigo Silky Merino and it's possibly the most amazing thing I've ever knitted. I've never knitted with yarn this soft, it isn't even remotely splitty and the fabric feels smooshy and gorgeous. The shawl is very simple, alternating bands of stocking and garter stitch whenever I feel like a change, so it shows off the sheen and the slight variations in kettle-dye beautifully. It's 50% silk and the reviews say that it grows a lot with blocking, so wouldn't be good in a sweater, but in this kind of snuggly shawl it's just amazing. I'm in love.
It's so gorgeous that I keep reaching into my desk drawer to feel my shawl. Oh, dear, you're not going to part me from this shawl when it's finished.
I've been thinking about conventions. To wit, the Redemption 2011 prices go up in September and I think that it's time to stop being in denial and just buy myself a ticket. I'm going, I was crazy to think about pretending that I wasn't. It's my favourite con on the calendar. If I plan to arrive in England on the Thursday and travel straight up to Cov then I could spend a few days with my family afterwards and still have three vacation days left for other things that year. And in June that year, it will be a new vacation year and I'll finally be up to three weeks vacation. Woo.
Also, it's Worldcon in a couple of weeks and I can't go. Boo :-( This made me think about cons for next year, though. Hal-Con is in my own little home town in October 2010, so I'll definitely be going to that. But if I don't go to something in the first half of next year, then I'll have been con-less for eighteen months. I really miss geeky fannish gatherings, there isn't a space like it anywhere else.
Are there any cons that folks would recommend happening say March-June next year? Preferably something reachable in one flight from Nova Scotia. I love the relaxed, fannish gatherings like Redemption far more than the big media cons. I have a feeling that
muskratjamboree is only every two years, isn't it? And that would mean it happens in a Redemption year :-( But really, some recs for cons that people love over here would be awesome.In other news, the Tour de France was awesome. I cannot express enough how much I loved it. The racing, particularly in the final week, was great. There wasn't even a sniff of a drugs problem. Contador absolutely deserved to win. Best of all, there were Brits in the race doing fantastically. Mark Cavendish was amazing and, with 6 wins in one race, rather deserves the title of fasted man on two wheels. Bradley Wiggins was the revelation of the race and he's made me very excited about the future of Brits in the Tour. Next year he'll be going in as a viable favourite - how cool is that?
In knitting news, I finished some stripey socks in merino and may never want to knit socks from anything else every again. Oh, so gorgeous. My lacey sweater continues apace: I finished the front last night and got some ribbing done on a sleeve today. I am actually slightly worried about how quickly it's knitting up, but it's fun.
I also cast on for a shawl this week. It's going to be a warm, snuggly shawl from DK weight yarn rather than a lacey thing, suitable for cool autumn days and overly enthusiastic AC at the office. I'm using Malabrigo Silky Merino and it's possibly the most amazing thing I've ever knitted. I've never knitted with yarn this soft, it isn't even remotely splitty and the fabric feels smooshy and gorgeous. The shawl is very simple, alternating bands of stocking and garter stitch whenever I feel like a change, so it shows off the sheen and the slight variations in kettle-dye beautifully. It's 50% silk and the reviews say that it grows a lot with blocking, so wouldn't be good in a sweater, but in this kind of snuggly shawl it's just amazing. I'm in love.
It's so gorgeous that I keep reaching into my desk drawer to feel my shawl. Oh, dear, you're not going to part me from this shawl when it's finished.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 09:24 pm (UTC)And then realised that, unless I find a con in New York or Toronto, the flights (and flight costs) are likely to be equal whether I'm over here or in England. It would feel weird going to England for a long weekend, but in many ways far more practical than going to Denver for a weekend was.
Particularly with the Good Friday holiday :-)
It's going on my definite possibility list :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 08:49 pm (UTC)See? :-)
Now to arrange for a Highlander panel betwixt you and
Still: not making it to Anticipation must be frustrating, given the geography. (Says sugoll displaying woeful ignorance)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 09:30 pm (UTC)Feel free to sign me up for the panel :-) Gives me an excuse to spend a few months re-watching the entire series. Research and all that :-)
The geography is what makes it frustrating. It's only an hour away by plane, but with the other things I was doing this year, it just wasn't possible. It's unlikely to be this close again for years! I'm kind of hoping that the vote for 2011 puts it somewhere in North America that is accessible. Otherwise I'm going to LA for Gallifrey One in 2012 :-)
I'm turning into one of those people who plans vacations around cons, aren't I?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 10:03 pm (UTC)That's a big part of what made it tempting!
2014? Hmm....
:-D
I shall await developments!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 10:45 pm (UTC)Arisia, Boskone (Boston) (January, February respectively)
Lunacon (NY) (March)
I think there may be cons in Albany (Albacon?) and Syracuse, but I've never ventured out that way.
I'm not sure what's in Toronto, but that may be an option for you.
I know there's New York Tardis coming up in May, but no details have been posted yet.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 11:16 pm (UTC)Albacon looks to be around October, so around the same time as HalCon.
Lunacon could be good - GOH is Tanya Huff!
The only thing that I know about in Toronto is Polaris and that's in July, I think. My vacation year starts in June and I'm planning to use two (or possibly three if I have a day in lieu built up) days from this year's allotment for whatever I do.
But I'll put the NYT and Lunacon down on the list :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 11:26 pm (UTC)The same offer goes for NY Tardis. And DWNY is doing something next year in the autumn called WhoYork, but no details have emerged as yet.
There's also Gallifrey in LA (one of the few cons I'll travel cross country for these days).