Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Just another Monday - er - Tuesday


Just back from my fourth, yes fourth, workout at Curves in 8 days. It's bloody awful being part of a study - you can't just decide that you WON'T go today because you screw up the works & stand out like a sore thumb! Today I woke up achy & stiff. At 4:38! Although I tried to go back to sleep, turned over, turned on a tape, plumped the pillows, fed the cat to stop her squawking & visited the biff . . . nothing worked. So, I got up in disgust, had a tea, got dressed & went to exercise. The dreaded E word. In my estimation, worse than the F word! Not a great way to start the morning but at least I started it. Even my fingers ached. Made it thru the circuit in record time - how the heck did I do a 30 minute circuit in 23 minutes??? And went for a grilled chicken sandwich & morning paper to recover. If anything, I'm even a bit sorer now, two hours later, if that's possible. Must be the damp in this part of the world. And the muscles I'd forgotten I had.

I tried my best on the weekend to get my chip reader to work again. I couldn't download any of the pictures I've taken of the goodies in progress - what a pain! I've turned the heels on the purple Fabel socks & am on the heel shaping with the pink car socks, also in Fabel. I've attached the pouch to my first kids' Wallaby - the sweater is in Navy while the pouch is in a stripey blue & white!! The B&L sweater is resting at the moment due to my sore hands - it's become so heavy that I'm in real pain when I try to work on it with sore hands. When the weather dries up, I'll knit like mad again. In the meantime, smaller, lighter projects are in the works! Oh, & on Sunday, I got the first bag of donated yarn from my customer's mom. I haven't unloaded it from the car yet since I have to buy another storage bin just to hold it. I hear there's several more on the way . . . .

The Great Orange Huntress is reclining on her window perch. Mice & birds are safe for the moment & I haven't found any more "offerings" under my favorite chair. The window is open wide & her nose is pointed in the direction of the incoming wind. A cheeky squirrel tried to sneak a peek the other day & TGOH sprang up out of a dead sleep & just about took out the sliding window on her way to nail the invader. I'm not sure who bounced the highest but it sure was a hilarious sight to see. I remember the days when she was just learning to stalk birds about 4 years ago. The crows would totally ignore her till she was about a foot away & then lazily drift into the air with seconds to spare - she was 23 pounds of indoor housecat. Now she's a sleek 7 pounds of fangs & claws - they don't wait when they see her coming . . . .

Monday, May 18, 2009

Oh what a busy life this is . . .

So, lately I've been busier than I was during the height of tax season in April
!! Why, you ask?? Well, it seems I tend to bite off big chunks of Life & then contemplate the wisdom of taking such a big mouthful later . . .

I took up the Sock needles with a vengeance again. Not only did I cast-on for one pair but now I've got THREE on the go & have finished two more pairs of Frankensocks as well in the last month. On the right, the Car Socks in progress in Fabel pinks are very yummy!! Below are the Fabel blue & purple socks in the bag beside my chair!! I have to confess I have yet another purple Fabel variant in the car bag - sometimes you just need to knit & can't do the heel shaping with the rubber bands because the light isn't good enough or there isn't time or room enough. I've really come to love the Fabel Superwash colors as well as the feel of the finished socks - I highly recommend it !!

I'm still pluggin away on my
sweater in Briggs & Little Heritage in Anniversary Blue - winter weight worsted for those who don't know - and I've almost finished it to the shoulders. I intend to pickup the sleeve stitches & knit the sleeves to the cuff - Oh how I hate sewing sweaters together!!! And I haven't yet decided if I'll knit a hood or design a big collar as I go.

I've hauled anot
her big bag of yarn home from Knitopia to knit kids' sweaters for the Boomer Project - yes, one is on the needles as I type. I've really enjoyed both the Tomten & the BSJ in this yarn but the next sweater or two will be Wallabies!!! I even found STRIPEY yarn this time.

And Arvik?? Well, I sent an email to her owner to ask for this year's fleece only to find that Arvik has gone to the great Pasture in the sky. She left behind daughters & granddaughters but none with her coloring. DRAT! I did buy a couple of fleeces so I have to hunt for the bin with the leftovers in it. I tried to exclude the darkest or lightest parts of the fleece but I have no idea what's actually left. I'm sure there's enough for TWO sweaters but I wanted the grey parts rather than the brown parts that existed in the same fleece. A summer project, I guess, since the sweater is three-quarters finished in a plain stockinet & I sure don't want to rip it out again!! Although . . . . . I could rip it back to the yoke & add a simple lace pattern to the body to stretch the yarn a little to finish it . . . . mmmm?




Tuesday, May 05, 2009



A Normal Life


Other than a couple of late nite phone calls from "Private", my life is almost back to "Normal" again. I admit I slept for a couple of days after the 'Season' ende
d - it's not really over but the deadline doesn't hang like a lump over my head anymore! I think I have almost as many tax return TO DOs in the pile AFTER the deadline as I did in the week BEFORE. But, to heck with that. Today was a NORMAL day. I slept till 6:30. I went out for brekkie with my Ex. And I didn't even turn on the computer . . . . till now. I swear I hear my blood pressure falling.

So, I had a little problem with the E brake on the car. I don't have one anymore. It locked up when a friend applied it & we had to cut the cable to use the car. I've heard it's a very expensive item laborwise to replace. I was sweating blood because I have to go thru Air Care - I won't go into how useless that organization is - by June 12 & I need an Emergency brake in order to be tested or I can't get insurance . . . . To my utter surprise - hey, good things come to good people sometimes - I got the letter that says, "Air Care not necessary" I did the Happy Dance. And what will I do with the money I've saved??? I guess it will get deposited to cover the Overdraft that has to be paid IMMEDIATELY according to a second letter in the same mail delivery! It was soooo good while it lasted.

My Blue Frankensocks went to a new home the other day. I offered them up as a 40th birthday sacrifice. A bad husband, yeah a friend of mine, one day away fro
m his wife's 40th, still hadn't figured out what to get her. I pulled them out of the bag to dig something else out & he admired them. He asked what I'd charge for them & told me his wife would love them twice before I clued in. Hey, I never said I was the brightest bulb in the array! I told him I'd donate them to the cause. She's an artist so we both knew she'd love them . . . AND I immediately cast on another pair. This time they may actually get to the person they were intended for! I do have plenty of leftovers to work with so nothing much will change in the color department, that's for sure.

And speaking of socks - a client has two pairs of hand-knit, wool socks that an old aunty knit for him half a cent
ury ago. He wears them as bed socks or when he's sick & his feet are cold. The feet are practically gone, they're stretched out to fit an elephant & I'm sure he only wears them for security. Anyhoo - he gives me a pair & asks if I can fix them. Fix them??? There's nothing left to fix. So I cut off the feet, picked up the stitches & knit a giant foot in aran wool - heh, I have nothing else that will have any durability & be close to the creme color of the existing "sock". I have to deliver them tomorrow & I hope he likes them. I'll have to take a picture for posterity!!!
I have anot
her pair on the needles in my Car Bag - I'm thinking these will be short summer socks, if we get more summer!!! The yarn is the DROPS Fabel superwash in shades of pink, purple, oatmeal & some green. So far, I really like the color & pattern & I think they'll knit up really fast. I've got several balls of the Fabel in my personal collection of yarns - mostly in pinks & purples. Must be a phase I'm going thru!!! And then, really & truly, I have to knit the Ex a pair of 13WWWWWs because I promised . . . . .



Saturday, May 02, 2009

It's Over


I always feel just a little let down when it's all over. The tax season, I mean. All that stress and then it's just . . . OVER. Oh, I swore I wouldn't but I made One Last Trip to the BOX just before Midnite on April 30 - I figured most of the last minute idiots would be gone by then. They were but the Traffic Control folks were still there directing them through the maze to the BOX. Got the last 6 returns to the box in time. And then slept most of the following day. I probably have just as many to do in the stack at home but they'll get filed as & when I get to them. Can you believe I met with a couple the following morning to pick up more to do?? Yup. I did.

So I have to report I haven't accomplished much in the way of knitting or spinning this week. I did go for coffee most evenings for an hour or two with the Techie boys & managed to add a few rows to my B&L sweater. I also got to enjoy the floorshow as a Shoplifter got nabbed by a customer leaving the store with 8 pounds of coffee in her big bag. She turned out to be a slippery "customer" & the Techie boys stood guard on the door till the police came for her. Apparently she's well known in the area.
I am now to the armhole of my sweater - 22.5 inches from the hem to the armhole - & I've decided to just carry on as before with the garter trim around the armhole & up the front. I cast off 15 stitches on each side for a deep armhole & will pick up & short row the sleeve cap later. I've carried the garter band up the armhole to make picking up stitches easier & to give it a little more pizazz. I liked the way that Elizabeth Zimmerman did the sleeve on her Tomten jacket - there was no excess fabric under the arm after the short-rowed sleeve was finished so I decided to snitch it for mine. So far, so good. Haven't decided on a hood or not but I've got plenty of time.

When I get the time to buy another chip reader, I'll post pictures of my progress. In the meantime, you'll just have to wait!!