RAIN RAIN EVERYWHERE!

The past couple of days have washed away all memories of summer, dry lawns, flowers, sitting outside with a beer & lazily watching the world stroll by. Life in the city is no fun in a big storm. It seems drivers become less intellegent as the years go by & lose whatever remained when the lights go out. No one knows how to take turns anymore. No one signals. No one follows the rules we learned as new drivers. I wonder what would happen if we had to retake our driving test every once in a while??? When it snows, a lot of drivers get off the road & those that remain become very polite. But, when it rains, it's a demolition derby out there! I try to stay home & spin or knit.

My friend Gail has a well, so when the power goes off, she's dipping into the water barrel outside to flush & wash. She has lamps & a good wood stove though so she's nice & cosy with her spinning wheel. My ex still has the old wood stove so he can cook, heat water & keep cosy by the fire with his battery operated radio. I was the lucky one in one sense, my power flickered but never went out, the cable was on, I raked the leaves off the drain so I wasn't flooded & I spent the evening knitting with a hot cup of tea. I really felt sorry for all those unappreciated heros working outside in the storm to get the roads cleared, the floods diverted & the power back on.

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I'm knitting up socks #25 in alpaca & shetland wool. They're knit with three different handspun yarns to make a thick, warm pair of socks for a friend who goes diving off the southern BC coast all year round. His dry suit keeps him dry but it doesn't keep his feet & ankles warm. He's tried everything but not my socks!! So, I'm knitting up a firm fabric on 5mm needles - its quite a bit slower than my regular mindless sock knitting because it IS so much thicker!!! I'm really hoping these will solve the problem but I also have some other tricks up my sleeve. I was given a big bag of almost-black Newfie hair. It's actually a brown so dark it just looks black & I was thinking of blending it with some wool & knitting it up with another strand of plain wool or maybe some mohair or llama. I have big bags of both in the closet that only need washing, picking & spinning. I haven't used the llama in socks simply because its much too lovely . . . . But - in order to save the feet of a friend, I might be persuaded. By the way these socks are progressing, they'll soon be standing in the corner on their own.

Socks #24 have advanced to the heels. As soon as the Diving Socks are finished, #24 will have their heels turned & the foot finished. And then I have to figure out #26 which will be a Manly gift for the male half of the "Parents who have Everything" for Christmas. I may have to make the trek down to Knitopia to seach for just the right pattern!! And then there's all that wool from Brown Sheep coming . . . . . . .