The Challenge of Knitting

Being a Shuttle Driver in Antarctica pretty much requires you to attempt knitting. Some days we have a lot of down time and since the beginning of the shuttles department one of the best ways to pass the time is to take up some needles and work on a project. Last year I attempted to knit but it was a very sad attempt. I learned a little bit before going to nights. Once I went to nights I never really picked it back up. This year I decided I would give it a lot more time and try and get good at it. Turns out I am really really slow but do have some skill for it. With the help of a lot of expert knitters in the office I was able to knit a hat for myself as my first real project.


This is outside the Shuttles office with the four of us all working on knitting projects

After that hat I decided I'd make something for my new niece Abby who was born just a month before I started the hat.

This is me working on Abby's hat. At first I got very very focused when I was knitting to the point that any distraction would result in a mistake. I was also a full body knitter and would use my arms to wrap the yarn around the needles. Over time I have definitely relaxed a bit but during the knitting of Abby's hat I always looked pretty tense.

The following is the pattern I used to make the hat. I selected the blue because Abby has blue eyes. The pattern itself was picked out by my friend Kris. She is a kitting guru.


A Soft Baby Hat

Using the 24" (60cm) circular needle, cast on 224 sts.

Round 1: *p5, k9, repeat from * to end

Round 2: Repeat round 1

Round 3: *P5, ssk (slip to sts kinitwise individually, put left needle through front loops of both stitches, and k them together) k5, k2 tog. repeat from * to end

Round 4: *p5, k7, repeat from * to end

Round 5: *p5, ssk, make double vertical decrease (sl1k, ktog,psso), ktog, repeat from * to end

Round 6: *p5, k3, repeat from * to end

Round 7: *p5, k3 tog, repeat from * to end

Round 8: *p5, k1, repeat from * to end (96 sts remain)

Repeat Round 8 until piece measures approx. 3" in length from the beginning of the "stem" that grows out of the bell-shaped ruffle

Shape Crown:

Round 1: *p4, k2tog, repeat from * to end

Round 2: work even in pattern as established

Round 3: *p3, k2tog, repeat from * to end

Round 4: Work even

Round 5: *p2, k2tog, repeat from * to end

Round 6: Work even

Round 7: *p1, k2tog, repeat from * to end

Round 8: Work even

Round 9: *k2tog, repeat from *to end

Round 10: Work even

Round 11: *k2tog, repeat from * to end 8 stitches should remain

Round 12: *k2tog, repeat from * to end

Work on 4sts for 2 rounds, run yarn through live sts and fasten off

This is the finished product. It took me quite a long time to finish. Probably at least 20 hours of work. It wasn't the easiest pattern and and I was still learning as I was going.

Here is Abby with the hat. She is absolutely adorable!!
Another one with Abby wearing the hat.

A special thanks to all the Shuttle Drivers who taught me, helped me as I made mistakes, and gave me encouragement the whole way. Without you all I would not have been able to give my niece this great gift.

The return of a good friend

This blog is a little bit late since the events of the blog happened the week after New Years. However, it was huge news and warrants an entry all by itself.


First, some back story. This year in the Shuttles group we had been operating with 4 less people and in order to do that we cut some services out of the daily schedule because we just didn't have the people to do it all. The season started and there were a lot of complaints that we were not offering the same services as we had in the past. Other departments were supposed to pick up the slack but didn't. We didn't have the staff to support it on our own.


Leading up to the end of the year the Shuttle crew was informed that we would be getting two new drivers for the rest of the year. Once we all got this information we were all pretty excited because one of the most liked shuttle drivers from last year was an alternate to come down here. This was Jami. Jami and I became great friends last year and I was able to visit Jami in Cincinnati last summer when I was home. She is the funniest person I have ever met and a ton of fun. Last year she kept the group together by her ability to make every event a fun one. Originally Jami was going to be back again this year but a few months before the season started Jami decided to stay in Cincinnati as things were going exceptionally well for her there. The picture below is of all the Shuttles from New Years 2008 on my first season. Jami is there at the top looking at me. She was the most certain of coming back at the end of last season out of all of this group. She was the only one who didn't come back.






Unfortunately, shortly after we were all informed it was a possibility for her to come down we also found out that she didn't have all her paperwork in and the company was pressing for people and wouldn't wait for the paperwork to be processed and would go with different alternates. So it was a bit sad when the news hit that she would not make it down.


A few days after New Years my boss Kris and I were talking about the morale in the office and how some people were having a hard time this season. I was worried about some of my friends in the office. Kris decided to crack and told me that she had a big surprise and that Jami was in fact coming down and that I could not tell anyone about it. Kris arranged it so know one new and that we all believed that one of the new drivers was a totally different person. I had to deal with the knowledge for a week and almost cracked myself a few times. I was pretty excited for the return of Jami because she really is a fantastic friend. In the office I would sit there with a big smile on my face and tell the rest of the crew that I had a really good feeling about the new guy and that I thought that Friday would be a really good day. I just couldn't resist a little bit of cracking. Here is a picture from this year of Jami, Kris, and me in the Shuttles office after Jami arrived. Welcome back Jami!

The Polar Plunge

The Polar Plunge is a huge tradition here in Antarctica. Some people will go out and find a hole just big enough in the ice to fit themselves and jump in. Others will do it while dive tending or on private trips. There is also the option to do the organized plunge at Scott Base (the New Zealand base) and jump in with a medical team all on stand by. Whatever option is chosen it is a pretty crazy thing to do. The water is a frosty 29 degrees. Due to the high salt content it is colder than the normal freezing point of water. Being in the water for just a few minutes will create some serious risk of hypothermia and the possibility of becoming an icicle. You would be an idiot to stay in the water any longer than to plunge in and jump right back out.


I did not do the plunge last year even though I had the opportunity to do it. This year it was on my list of things I needed to do. I really didn't feel like plunging in a dive hut or in a random hole on the ice so I was waiting for the Scott Base event. Last year they had a warm up hut, robes for all the jumpers, and a hot tub to warm up after the event. It was pretty nice hearing all the good stories about it from last year. My experience this year was slightly different.


The start of the event was 2:30 in the afternoon and was expected to go until about 5:30. From 2:30 to 3:30 it was only women, from 3:30 to 4:30 only guys and after that it was open to all of them. I arrived right at 3:30 and the women were still jumping in. From those that finished it sounded like it would be about 5 minutes per jumper. I looked around and at the time I arrived there were at least 60 guys and more coming every minute. I was thinking I was going to be there a very long time. The women who had finished also mentioned how they were walked to the ramp and that they had time to get the courage to jump into the water and then had a chance to walk back to the warm up hut before the next jumper went in. It was nothing like that for the guys. Not even close.


A good number of people do the plunge naked. I had planned that I would do it naked if everyone else was doing it. However, as soon as we were cleared to go to the warm up hut and fight for the blankets and the harnesses (they strap you into before jumping) I noticed that pretty much everyone was wearing some type of suit or shorts to jump in. This was alright by me because I really didn't feel like getting naked with the now 80 guys hanging around. There is just something I feel is really wrong about all that man skin showing and not a female around. Call me crazy if you want, but I'm glad I had my swimsuit with me.



Because of the number of men who showed up the plunge was a slightly different experience than the bonding experience the women all got. I was lucky enough to get a harness rather quickly in the fight to be in the water quick. As soon as I got dressed down and got the harness on I went outside in the cold and waited my turn behind the other 8 guys who already had harnesses. The kiwis running this show were some of the most efficient people I've ever met. They could easily run an assembly line at a car plant. They would quickly hook up a guy to the harness, walk him to the ledge, let him jump in, let him climb out, and unharness him and quickly harness the next guy. All was done in what I swear was less than a minute.



So my experience wasn't all that warm and fuzzy but I did get to jump into the ice cold water, swim a couple quick strokes, and get unharnessed like some peace of machinery. I am extremely glad I did it and I might be crazy enough to do it again.

This is me right before I jumped in. I've been harnessed in for just a few seconds at this point.

Me in Mid Air about to be frozen.





Me in the water and thinking that this isn't so bad.

Me rushing as quickly as possible to get out of the water because it finally hit me how cold it is.

Getting quickly unharnessed so the next guy can jump in.

And there is me moving quickly back up the ramp to the warm up hut. At this point the water still on my body has completely frozen and there are some good pins and needle fun. Notice the other guys waiting there turn in the background. Within a few short minutes they all had jumped.

I know I sound a little critical of the experience in the above. I do want to say though it was an awesome thing for me to do. I enjoyed jumping in and I will never forget it.