I LOVE Purple

I guess you can tell .  .  .  .

Tuesday Off .  .  .

I finished the last manly touque & decided I just had to do something else for a change. Louisa's suggestion that I alternate projects is a valid one but most of my projects are large ones - three sweaters for ME on the go. But, since it's cool out there - I brought in the Christmas cacti from the patio only today - I thought I should get one of my sweaters finished so I can wear it! And I want a pair of felted boots to wear in my basement this winter since the floor's so damned cold!!

But first - Diane's socks! I had started these ones for me but decided I would gift them to her since I probably won't see her until February. The Motorcycle School will be shutting down for the season soon & we'll both be on holiday until the New Year - so weird to say that in October. So, I presented her with a wild pair of Confetti socks. I bought several balls of this color a couple of years ago in the SALE bin at Knitopia. I've always been a fan of DGS - Confetti because there's plenty of yardage in each 50gm ball. While it feels thin & a little harsh when it's knitted, it softens, thickens & blooms marvelously when it hits water! This means I can knit it up on my favorite 2mm needles & get a nice dense fabric when the spinning oils wash out. The colors don't fade, the sock will shrink slightly in the dryer the first time & I have yet to make a hole in any of my socks.

The only reason I cheat on Confetti is COLOR. I'm a sucker for color. Fabel is my second favorite sock yarn. Fabel has magnificent colors. It also has almost as much yardage in a 50gm ball as does Confetti - I can make a Man's size 13 sock out of either ball easily too. But why waste those great colors on a man???

It's All About Manly Hats

All I do these days is churn out manly hats. Hats in blue and green and brown and black  .  .  .  I'm telling you, those JUMBO balls of Superwash Acrylic in Scarlet & Turquoise in that sheer bin are screaming at me!! Choose ME, choose ME!!!

I will definitely knit a hat every week or so next year so I'm not in this position again!  I know it's all about someone else in tough circumstances. But, churning out manly hats in bulk is very boring. It's sort of like knitting black or brown socks - it takes longer than knitting in bright colors! You can do it in your sleep while the old mind is concentrating on something else more exciting like stalking the perfect skein of Woolmeise .  .  .  or taking you to a secret warehouse of exquisite rare yarns at a buck a ball .  .  .  And then you wake up to the boring manly knitting  -  NNnnnooooooo!!! 

I'm only 7 hats in & I hate it already. Thank gawd the Girls at Wednesday Nite Nitting are helping out. I need to be working on my Top Down Lace Frock in Briggs & Little mulberry wool. Or my Ribbons Top Down handspun pink striped grey sweater that lives in the car in a bag. I need color! I need warmth. I need more people willing to knit a couple of hats - just a touque people - a manly acrylic touque that will pull down over the ears & help keep a man on the street WARM. Loving Spoonful needs you!

Then I can get back to my sweaters which are much more interesting than manly hats. Or whip out another pair of wild socks in eye watering colors. And yes, that IS my favorite cup on it's warming pad. Hot tea with Bailey's keeps me sane.

Just a Simple Pile of Hats


And you thought I was 'doggin' it, didn't ya?? The HAT project has begun. One of the Girls brought in two bags full of superwash wool for our knitting enjoyment & everyone took home at least three balls to knit a 'manly' hat for A Loving Spoonful. Meanwhile, Carol kindly knit a whole bag of hats on her handy knitting loom, Gail brought in three large, snuggly ones, Karen gave me one & a scarf last week & I've knit up 4 so far on my own. The Hat project is always fun to do & it's nice to know that each of these small offerings will help keep a man, who's lost almost everything, warm this winter. I keep wanting to knit socks to go with the hats but I've been told that HATS are the #1 requested thing at Christmas time. Hand made hats are a fought over luxury on the street. And I can knit 4 hats in the time it would take to make one pair of socks .  .  .  so, I guess HATS will take preference this year. Any socks I knit will be for ME.

Like a Fly into the Web

I worked my ASS off this week trying to lure all & sundry into Motorcycle Training! It's almost the end of the season & people run hot & cold this time of year. They really want to learn to ride & they know the best way to learn is inside a protected lot with Professionals but they whine about being in the cold & wet. I remind them they LIVE on the Wet Coast where it rains all year round - except for this year - and they could experience all four seasons on one ride to Whistler!! I keep hearing whispers of  - It could be nicer in February when the prices are lower! Yeah, right. In the snow. Or hail. Definitely Rain. But I got TWO - yeah, count em - TWO classes going next week. Just in time for Rain, Wind & Cold. Wooo hooo

Speaking of cold & rain, I can already feel winter in my basement - I'm wearing wool socks & a matching sweater in purples both manufactured by me!! The lovely damp fog we've been experiencing since Tuesday has me seized up like an old iron gate, especially in the mornings. Yeah, apparently, I make the same noises too. Today, in Safeway, I dropped my Bank Card & wasn't sure I could bend over that far & pick it up. I was horrified when the Bagger & the Checker both ran to pick it up for me. I had no idea the rusty noises were audible!

I think I'm beginning to understand retirement a little better. It's not that people want to stop working & spend their "Golden Years" in the rocker, but they either go to bed fully dressed so they don't have to bend over in the morning or spend most of it getting the old bones warmed up & moving. Since Estrogen left the building, I've not only stiffened up, developed pain, lost hair & teeth & dried out but my internal furnace set-point has been lowered as well. Wool has now become my best friend because I'm cold most of the time.

Still plugging away at my Top Down Ample V-neck cardigan From Cabin Fever. I'm really looking forward to wearing it this year. The color - Mulberry/Eggplant - goes with everything I own & I'm considering buying some red boots as well. Seems black/red/sable are THE colors. Almost all the boots in the Sears catalogue come in red & black this year with some brown or forest green boots as well. I think I'll take the red. I'd really prefer purple but I'll take what I can get.

17 hats in the bag!!! Got two bags of Superwash wool donated on Wednesday & most of it went home with fellow knitters who've promised more hats!!! Photos later.

Thanksgiving

Another family holiday for us Singles to survive. Like Easter, I'm not really complaining about this one very much since most of the world carries on like this one really isn't here. I know it's a Stat Holiday in Canada but most of us non-union people just carry on at our jobs like usual unless we're in the long long line-up going South to spend money across the Border. Cross Border shopping has become a new national pass time in all the Border towns. I, unlike the majority of my friends, prefer to spend my money at home. I have better things to do than spend half a day idling my expensive gas away in a line-up. Today, I'm cooking. And knitting.

I tossed a smoked pork hock in the big soup pot this morning & am enjoying the wonderful smell as it simmers all day. I intend to add some barley, half a head of cabbage & a sushi carrot when the meat & skin falls off the bone. A couple of big pinches of coarsely ground pepper & a pinch of cinnamon will complete it just in time for dinner. I may even drop in a dollop of sour creme before serving. Tomorrow, I'm cooking up curried chicken & broccoli just to shake it up a little. I'm not having turkey this weekend although I love turkey. I figure it will be on at clearance prices on Monday evening & I'll load up then .  .  .  

And while the glorious odor of dinner perfumes my basement apartment, I'm doing up my last tax return before returning to my knitting. I'm in touque mode for the next two months. I plan to knit as many as I can while still working on my Top-Down V-neck Cardigan from Cabin Fever & the Frankensocks for Diane. Just a couple of past Frankensocks I found in the files.

A Reward

It's almost the end of the Motorcycle Training Season - I'm ready for a month or two off! I'm even contemplating EI for the first time in 25 odd years! But, maybe not if I get a couple of contracts to work from my home office. But, here we are, glorious weather, almost the end of the season & the phones started ringing off the hook yesterday. Yup, they've been busier than they've been for weeks. At this rate, we may be teaching waaaaaay into November. And I might be able to cope if it gets busier.

And what has an extended Motorcycle Season got to do with Knitting or Spinning you ask?? Well, yesterday, our Theory Instructor Diane, passed her Testing Certification!! She can now test students for the MSA or Parking lot test.

Since Diane is now a Certified Tester, I'll have to knit some TEST socks. Both Bryan & Diane have Instructor socks. I knit them with REGIA's Flag series yarn in turquoise, orange, red & yellow - dunno who's flag has all those colors but they make wild socks!!! When Bryan passed his MSA Certificate, he got a pair of  WILD socks in yellow, black & red. The pressure is now on to find something wild & crazy for Diane.

I save all my leftovers & roughly sort them into yarns with BLUE, yarns with RED & yarns with PINK/PURPLE in them. It just makes it easier to find a co-ordinating solid for toes and/or bands between colors if I go that way. I hate messing with multiple colors all at the same time like the Socklady does - no patience for it at all! So, the best I can do is wild bands of color between solid stripes or join the yarns where the colors meet. Sometimes joining at the reds or blues produces the wildest socks you ever saw & people ask where the heck you bought yarn like THAT?! And while you'd think - after a comment like that - that they'd run away in horror, well, often they fight over the gaudiest pair! I've found Frankensocks to be very popular, especially with the tween, teen & twenty somethings. But Diane loves wild & crazy stuff. The first thing she does when she's teaching in the classroom is to kick off her shoes & wander around in her wild socks!! That's why I have to find something REALLY, REALLY crazy for her!

Tuesday

Rushed home from work yesterday with an aching, burning hip - I can always tell when the barometer is making a big change!! Yeah, the radio was announcing said change this morning as I trundled off to work but the old hip hadn't started to burn yet. The Hip is the thanx I get for the active & rambunctious childhood I had when TV was something we watched for a hour or two on certain evenings AFTER dinner!! Around 2:00, I took the first Ibuprofen. The sun was out with hardly a cloud in the sky in Langley. But the Hip knew better. The sciatica has improved with the addition of the 4" thick foam pillow so I'll be hauling that thing around with me for the rest of the week to make sure the damned sciatica goes away!! So, home with an aching/burning hip, sore ass & painful leg from the sciatica. Nothing left to do but get out the Triscuits - olive oil & cracked pepper - & the 40 spice hummus for dinner. And knit. Thank Gawd for the Antiques Roadshow. My yoke is about 50% finished in TWO days! I'm really liking this Worsted yarn from Briggs & Little!! And the color is much darker than the picture which was taken directly under the Daylight bulb . . . .