Cooooler Temps


I am sooooo enjoying the cooler weather today. I did NOT enjoy it yesterday after the barometer fell. I woke up stiff, sore & aching all over - it was Monday, Curves day. It took me an extra hour, one hot shower & two Tylenol arthritis pills to get it in gear to go to Curves. I managed to get thru the workout to find I'm not actually malingering when the weather changes. The computer recorded a definite decrease in range of motion & strength! This shouldn't come as a surprise of course, since I really notice it when I have swollen, hot joints but to have it acknowledged on a graph on the computer when I'm only stiff & sore - well, it really brings the chickens home to roost, so to speak! And, pushing & pulling those damn machines really makes my hands hurt too!
Have to admit the exercise does make be feel better when it's over . . . maybe you don't understand how bad you can feel until it stops???? LOL

And on to knitting, I decided to try a lace patterned sock.
I found this great sweater with a simple lace pattern & really liked it. I had to swatch the pattern! And then decided to try the pattern - a simple repeat over 7 stitches - in a sock that I was making in a purple OPAL. Too much association with the Lace knitting gang on Wednesday nites. I think! I think the lace pattern is interesting but would look better in a softer yarn - the OPAL tends to be a little stiff but that may change when I wash the sizing out. I still like the effect though so I may just try another pattern with the softer DROPS Fabel yarn I have next in the lineup. It has a color pattern but it's mostly large runs of one color so it may be a better choice for a knitted pattern. I've turned the heels on the OPAL socks & am on the home stretch. Hopefully, I'll have one finished for Wednesday nite to show off!

Still spinning up white mill ends for a big dyeing day. I want at least six big skeins ready so I can knit up a big project for a change. I have a couple of things in mind & it just may turn out to be a lacy or openwork project so I can make the most of what I'll have spun up. I won't know for sure until the yarn is spun, dyed & dried so I can swatch.


What a difference a year makes!! The second-hand cat is reclining on the same knitted blanket a little over a year in between the pictures - I ran across these today & was shocked - she wasn't sick or anything but she learned to sneak out at nite!!


And poor old Arvik?? Well, I'm thinking I may rip it back yet again, to the middle of the yoke & finish it off with an openwork pattern on bigger needles so I can make the most of the yarn I actually have. I figure this is the fastest way to actually get a sweater finished before the end of the summer! I DO love the shetland wool & particularly Arvik's lovely shades of grey. But she can't give me anymore fleeces so I have to make the most of what I have.