I can't believe it's November


How the time flies when you're busy! I'm still the official Office Slave for the small business I've done the books for for the past 20 years or so - looks like I'll be there till the end of the month. While I don't mind the work, I DO mind the lack of personal time!! The regular paycheck is nice but I have work piling up on my desk at home & the cat has decided to pee in the corner of my office instead of her litter box to get even. While she is around 13 years old & they get funny as they age, I know she's doing it because I'm not home enough. She lays on her fuzzy shelf on the window ledge while I'm at the computer & sits on the bathtub edge to get petted when I'm in the bathroom. She even has the catbed dragged into the kitchen so she can lay there when I'm washing dishes or cooking. She's so constantly underfoot when I AM at home that I know she's getting even with me for being gone every day.

So, for the moment, I'm commuting - I hate that too - & wishing I was back home in my office with the soup pot simmering on the back burner. I have an insurance exam to study for - while manning the office next week, I intend to study when it's quiet! I volunteered to work the week so the boss can go on a mini holiday with his family - their first this year ! I'm more useful at year end than he is because I can upgrade the software, pay the bills & do the business year end while manning the phones!!

I discovered I'm short of winter socks! I spent so much time these past few years knitting for everyone else that I forgot about MY needs. My socks are getting old. A couple of them have heels & toes reinforced with fuzzy nylon which have become hard over the years. I even put my toe through the end of my blue Invicta socks! But, I think they're about 10 years old!!! Time to retire some of them to house socks . . . I have several balls of yarn that were given to me as gifts - my sock knitting buddies are especially good at picking out colors they know I like. Ha ha ha . . I cast on some lovely wild Kaffe Fasset pink & purple Regia onto my 2.75mm Brittany Birch needles. It's been a while since I used my wooden sock needles. I've been working with 6mm plastic Denise needles with the Hoodies. The BBs felt really foreign for the first few rounds until I broke one! I paid a lot of money for the Brittany Birch needles but the vendor is out of business. I guess it's time to make another set of bamboo skewer needles instead. I like the bamboo because it bends without breaking & comes in 10" lengths. I bought a package of 100 for a couple of bucks a few years ago. They range in size from 2.5 to 2.75mm. I sort them according to size, sharpen one end & dull the other before rubbing them with fine sand paper & raw fleece to polish them. I've used waxed paper when I haven't had fleece around but I like the finish the fleece oils give them the best. Do they snag?? Nope. Never had a splinter or snag since I made them.

I think these socks will go with several of my summer tee shirts - they're all fuchsia, plum & hot pink! Oh, wait, they'll also go with my Fuchsia wool sweater!

On the Needle


So, yeah, I was looking for a catchy title for the latest missive. It's amazing what a day off can do to your head. I have another pot of amazing mulligan in the slow cooker - actually, it's cooling since it simmered all nite. I found a leftover Thanksgiving ham on sale for 30% off the other day & bought it. Since there was enough ham for 15 people, I divided it up & froze several bags. To my surprise, it was a spiral cut ham, so I chopped it up & made two pots of soup right away. There's ham, corn & potato soup cooling - I thicken it with instant mashed spuds too. I had a taste for breakfast, added more pepper & some sour creme - Mmmmmmm, yumm!! Most of it will go to the Ex - just keeping my inheritance safe!!! he he he I also bought a huge local cabbage the size of a pumpkin so I made ham & cabbage soup for me. I like lots of pepper in mine, he doesn't! One of the things I really love about Fall & Winter is soup - along with wool sweaters, ice cold clear days & wood stoves. I used to have the kettle & soup pot simmering on the old wood stove in the winter in my little house.


And that brings us up to wool sweaters. I've seen the light or is it 'felt the cold' & de-bagged my Briggs & Little wool sweater in progress. I need something warm. Now. I have been wearing my fuchsia wool sweater a lot lately but it's fancy - I want something to lay about in. To sit outside & feed the birds in. Something long with pockets for my fingerless gloves. I've got most of it finished. It's knit in one piece to the armholes & then split for fronts & back. I put a deep armhole into it & intend to pick up the sleeve stitches, short row the shoulder & taper it to a snug cuff. Not sure about big collar or hood yet. Here's an old pic of the side vent & bottom. I've carried the garter up the fronts & will frame the collar or hood in the same. I've finished the fronts with the deep armholes & am working on the back. I haven't decided about a front zip or buttons as yet - maybe just loops & a couple of odd buttons will do . . .

My purple sweater is almost done but it's going to be too light to wear outside - I could use it in the warehouse on Sundays though. I just about froze my butt off last week!! I still have to go thru all my bins & see if I can find the deep purple yarn to finish off the fronts & trim the collar. I know there's a whole sweater's worth of deep purple hidden away somewhere! Reminder to self - buy SEE-THRU bins for yarn!!!


Two Wallabies in the basket & one more almost finished!!! I've got about an inch of the yoke done on number three! I changed the yarn to the pastel green, pink & white for the yoke. I like this one better than the yarn with blue in it. It's really looking very cute & I think the solid bottom with the variegated yoke is the nicest look in this yarn. Most sweaters take between 4 & 6 balls of yarn - I'm making size 4 to 8 kids. When I get 6 done, they can go off to Knitopia to be sent to Afghanistan. Only 80 more balls to go . . .

So how did it become winter so fast??? My house plants are still outside although, I think, tomorrow they'll have to come in for the winter. I finally have some time off to shift them around a bit. I noticed the Christmas & Easter cacti are just loaded with buds!! And I'm not sure the spider plants are as happy as the Jade plant seems to be out there!!! Time to tuck everything in for the winter. And check the oil & other fluids in the car while I'm at it. My life is so exciting these days . . .

I got to enjoy the sunshine from INSIDE this past week - chained to a desk & phone! I've been working the 9 to 6, 8 by 45 routine lately & I hate it! I have no time to do anything other than work & commute!! And I hate that too. I've become spoiled over the years by self employment! Yeah, I work odd hours for irregular amounts of money but I have lots of time to do my own thing too. I'm wasting valuable knitting time commuting! I could be knitting or working in my office while the washer runs & soup simmers on the stove. I'm used to multi-tasking for several hours at a time, THEN getting dressed & taking a leisurely couple of hours to read the paper & drink tea at my local Greasy Spoon. Or sometimes, I'll get up really, really early, work till 1 & watch Peter Fallico on the Home & Garden channel while I have lunch. Then I'll have a nap! I often work later in the evening too while listening to a murder on my headset. I don't have to be nice to anyone or get interrupted when my Mojo gets working! But, I'm helping out for another month & then I'm back to Saturdays only for a while. I can't wait!! I miss my naps. I miss Peter Fallico. sigh

There's yet another kiddie Wallaby on the needles & I just joined the body & sleeves for the yoke tonite. The body & sleeves are a slately color with a greenish cast so I've picked a multi colored green/pink/blue for the yoke & hood. I think it'll be okay. Not much progress on the purple sweater for myself. It's got so chilly that I'm thinking of bypassing it at the moment & jumping right back into my big blue B&L WOOL sweater that I stopped working on when it got so hot. That was just a couple of months ago wasn't it???? No pics lately because I've run out of batteries & haven't had time to shop. I've been crawling into bed with a book, some raisins & an extra quilt instead . . .