The Twisted Sock . . . as ye knit, so shall ye rip!

2009-11-08T12:10:00.004-08:00

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!

2009-10-27T10:30:00.007-07:00

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 . . .

2009-10-26T22:11:00.003-07:00

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 . . .

2009-10-20T17:18:00.002-07:00

Water water everywhere . . .

Well, the little leak turned into a major flood by Monday morning. I got up to a monstrous lake & water pouring down the wall from an air return vent. As much as I wanted to wait till my day off, this was emergency time!!! I was kind to the kids upstairs, left the water on till they left for school & then had to turn it all off to stop the flood. The plumber I called at 6:45 still hadn't returned my call by 8:30 so I called again to find out why. He told me to turn off the water - I had - & would try to get someone over by the end of the day. I told him I had 5 kids living upstairs with no water. I had a plumber by 10. I guess those damned kids are good for something after all!!!
Turned out to be an old pipe with TWO pinholes. Only TWO??? And PINHOLES?? That was a hellova lot of water for pinholes!!! The nice young plumber - they DO get younger every year - had me fixed in under an hour. He didn't mess around. Area was too small to work in without removing part of the wall. So he cuts off the pipe at a fitting he could reach & cuts off the other end at the tank & replaces the whole thing with two fittings & one length of flexible pipe which he neatly fastened to the wall. Thank god for flexible plumbing!!!
It's a small world!! Turns out he's the grandson of Jean - a spinner in the Merritt Guild, who used to break & train horses!!! I met her at Tulahead, the first time I went to a Retreat!! She taught him to spin & knit when he was little, but he lets granny send him the thick knitted handspun slippers he loves to wear when he gets home from work. I sent the nice boy home with two bottles of Port for his troubles . . . And I was only three hours late for work.

So today, I'm sitting here cooking in my office while trying to dry out the carpet. It didn't all get wet - only the part nearest the wall across from the leak. Looks like the cement got soaked in the furnace room & the water was sucked through it under the tiles into the carpet - there's no subfloor here. If I get this dried out, I may avoid mold. If not, this carpet too will be hacked up & removed. Hey, if I live here long enough, there won't be any carpet left . . . . I know, I know, I should move but we decided I have to stay here till after the Olympics!! The flood got me to throw out a couple more boxes of stuff though. And I have one more monster plastic tub packed & ready to go.

Since I'm at home drying the place out, I decided to make beef stew. I dropped by my local veggie store - they have fresh & deli meat in the back - I lucked out with two big pieces of sirloin steak marked down to $3 each. I bought carrots, spuds, turnip & celery. I browned the meat, threw in some V8 juice, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, turnip, two kinds of spuds, some Knorr beef cubes & a little pepper. It smells wonderful. I've been smelling it all afternoon as it simmers slowly on the stove. My Ex, who doesn't cook, says he needs to eat more veggies. He says he's just not getting enough fruits neither. So, I'm back to cooking for him. I tossed in all the veggies I could stuff into that pot. I figure it cost me $8 to make it. And he'll get at least 5 meals out of it. He gave me $20. I still have carrots, spuds, turnip, celery & one steak. For next week when he gives me another $20. Not bad eh??? I'll just tuck the change into the sock fund . . . .

2009-10-18T22:15:00.005-07:00

No Spinning Weekend

I really needed to go & spin with the girls this weekend but with a sick cat, two weekend jobs & no money, I had to stay home. So, I figured I'd fire up the old spinning wheel & spin along in spirit while listening to my latest Nevada Barr mystery on my MP3 player. That was the plan. Life came along & the Plan was abandoned. I did look longingly at the spinning wheel several times, but I rearranged some of my overcrowded living room looking at all the stuff I have in bags, packages, bins & baskets instead. I could almost open my own store! But, isn't that the complaint of every fibre addict??? We become addicted, buy up everything that catches our eye & then need to throw out the furniture to make room!

So I threw out two boxes of books & one stack of magazines I've been hauling about since 1991! I put most of my spinning fibre into one huge bin on top of another huge bin of yarn for kid's hoodies. I like my location but my place is falling apart. I plan on moving in the next year so I've been trying to throw out a box or bag of stuff every week. Packing up is sooooo hard to do.

Good thing I stayed home. I came home after work to a flood in the hallway. I noticed a wet patch around the light fixture the other day & thought the damned kids upstairs had overflowed the tub. But, today there was a flood. I have water dripping thru the air vent at the top of the wall & the gyprock is all wet. And NO, I am NOT phoning the plumber on a Sunday!! I have to go to work tomorrow too . . . . I guess I'll be mopping tomorrow nite & phoning the plumber on Tuesday. I suppose another of those strapped plumbing joints has popped open. This is my fourth flood in 6 years - if the rent wasn't so cheap & the location so convenient, I'd move!!! But, with the Olympics coming, rents have skyrocketed - especially this close to rapid transit. And my buddies with trucks have asked me to please wait till spring, if I can.

So I worked, I mopped & I actually found time to finish the blue hoodie as well as start a new one. I found a greenish grey yarn for the bottom & sleeves which I think I'll match up with a multi-colored yarn in pastel green, pink & yellow. Not sure how it'll look exactly but I'm gonna try it out. If it's too weird, I'll use the blue/white yarn for the yoke & hood. I was hoping to finish my purple sweater but I couldn't find the rest of my purple yarns. I know there's lavender & plum hidden away somewhere in the stash but it's probably in the bin at the very bottom of the 5 bin pile . . .

2009-10-13T13:49:00.007-07:00

Another Thanksgiving

I survived another Family Holiday on my own. I actually enjoyed this one a hellova lot more than when I had to attend the BT's family gatherings. No one got drunk & obnoxious before dinner & no one was too drunk to crawl into a car after dinner. No one slept face down on the table & there were no snarky remarks from anyone. I slept in & spent the entire day knitting & reading in peace & quiet. I had Sushi for lunch - they were open from 12 to 5 - and I two huge bowls of turkey soup for dinner! I rooted around in the freezer & found TWO bags of turkey carcasses - must've been in there since LAST Thanksgiving!! I simmered them all day & dropped in a half box of bow ties pasta & two cups of small green peas at the very end. Now there's two quart jars of the stuff left in the fridge to share with the Ex.

And what do I have to be thankful for?? I really thought about that. I'm thankful for good friends & a healthy Ex. I'm thankful for having all the bills paid even though the Sushi took my last 10 bucks. I have my health, the cupboards are full even though I'm out of cat treats & the tea is running short. I'm happy even though I'm alone most of the time. My brain works well enough & I'm content even though the old bod creaks & aches when its damp outside. I'm thankful that I can look after myself, earn a living & not be a burden to anyone. And I'm thankful I'm not burdened with the BT.

I even made the cat happy yesterday though I'd run out of cat treats. She got a new cat bed. I noticed she tends to lay on the sample square I knit out of Buffalo wool a couple of years ago when I knit my last sweater for someone. She snagged the square & scoots it around the house to lay on. So I grabbed a couple of balls - I found yet another box of the damn stuff - my biggest crochet hook & made her a bed. It just about killed my right hand & wrist - both are really sore today!!! - but I finished it off last nite. And she's laying in it as I type. It's big enough for two cats but I think she likes it anyway. I may make a second smaller one to lay up on her shelf in the office window!

I've been working on the latest Wallaby. The new one is navy & a variegated navy yarn. I thought about doing the sleeves in the variegated yarn & the body in the solid but was halfway thru the first sleeve when I remembered. So, the yoke & hood will be variegated & the sleeves & body solid. It's really cute so I think this way is the best!! I had the yoke finished to the neck when I realized the back was larger than the front! I have no idea how I did what I did but the back was 10 stitches larger than the front . . . I had to frog the whole yoke to correct the problem!! So this is a photo of the Wallaby with only a couple of yoke rows on it with the back & front stitch count corrected. I think I've also solved the stretch problem under the arms too. I've increased the number of stitches to 10 from the 6 in the pattern & put the stitches on loose strings so there's give in the sleeve when I join it onto the body. The live stitches under the arms are sewed or knitted to the body stitches at the end. I have the yarn picked out for the next one already - I think it'll be another version of the solid body & variegated yoke in greens!!

My purple sweater is almost finished - I wish I had it ON today!! I have a large ball & a half left & I think I'm going to knit the collar right away before I finish the bottom. When the collar is done, I can use all the remaining yarn to finish the body in garter stitch. And I think I'll crochet around the entire sweater with dark plum to finish it off!!

With this sudden cool weather - cold for us, that is - I've also decided to finish off the Blue Briggs & Little sweater I started in the early spring when it was so cold. I got it finished halfway up the front yoke when it got just too warm to work on it. It weighs a ton & that's a lot of wool sitting in your lap in the warm weather!!! I made deep side vents - in the photo - & have to finish the back yoke & sleeves. I made a really DEEP armhole a lot like EZ's Tomten jacket & planned on picking up sleeve stiches & short rowing the caps. I still think this is a great idea but the sweater may be just too heavy for me to do it with sore hands. Just have to see how it goes - I have the idea that I could make the sleeves straight from the armhole & do some short rows around the elbow for shaping . . . .

2009-10-06T16:18:00.007-07:00

Amusing

I was reading Crazy Aunt Purl the other day & was amused by her discussion of the Meyers-Brigg personality type test. I remember doing that test in one of my Psych courses. I had to dig thru my old textbooks to find my results, I was an ENTJ. Not surprisingly, I found I was an Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judgmental type!! After reading her blog, I thought I'd just take the test again to see if I changed - it's been over 30 years since I took that test!!! To my surprise, I HAVE changed somewhat - I'm now an INTP. Turns out I'm now sitting on the fence between Extroverted & Introverted but leaning into Introverted. Must be all that time I spend alone knitting!! I'm still well into the Intuitive & Thinking categories but, I've fallen off the fence into the Perceptive category. Hmm!! I'm still quite close to the fence but have definitely moved into Perceptive. Does this mean that Knitting Experience has changed my attitude somewhat?? Has Fibre Fanaticism softened me up??? Something to contemplate.

Speaking of Fanaticism, I've been knitting Wonderful Wallabies like mad whilst watching reruns of CSI lately. I've finished the pink & purple model & moved on to a navy stripe version. I have a huge storage bin full of worsted weight yarn waiting to become sweaters for cold kids. I need to win the Lotto or at least win enough Lotto to let me knit for a few months to get these things DONE. Guess what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving while you married types cook, entertain & eat? Yup, won't have to do any dishes or be nice to anyone but I'll be in my jammies eating takeout Sushi, knitting!

2009-10-01T10:32:00.007-07:00

October Pinks & Purples

It's cold, damp & grey outside so this will be a colorful entry. You'd think the first day of October would at least bring a little more sunshine. I was hoping to harvest a couple more Butternut Squashes out of my mini-garden! Guess not. My old basement is cold & damp this morning - I think the landlord turned on the furnace a couple days ago but you wouldn't know it down here - mind you, I did have all the windows open until this morning . . . . I swore I was wearing shorts till the snow fell but I wimped out & put my fleece lined sweats on on Tuesday.

Then I got out the fuchsia wool sweater I finished in the spring. And I'll be wearing it until I finish the purple Kyler's Kardigan - which is about halfway down the body at the moment. It's about 4 inches longer than the pic on the left. I was concerned about running out of yarn in the main color but I found another ball so I think I'll be okay. The sleeves were done early so I wouldn't have to worry about having enough yarn to finish them - I'd rather have a deeper color block at the bottom of the body than patchwork sleeves. I was planning on giving them a garter cuff but the sleeves are actually Iong enough so they may not get a cuff at all. It's actually kind of fun working a Top-Down Sweater because you can customize it as you go without changing the sweater pattern. And, I do like the cuddly garter stitch but haven't used it much because it really sucks up the yardage!!! But, now that I've knit one of these, I may just do it again in other colors - I have a lot of Eton in bright blue. And I have 5 bags of Magenta to spin! Oh, and there's almost two sweater's worth of lavender & deep plum Luzerne from the past aging in the stash . . . .

And speaking of deep plum, I've almost finished the pink & plum Wallaby on the right, which will be going to Afghanistan. And I've already picked out the yarn for the next one! I've got some wild variegated yarn about the same weight as the yarn I've been using. Apparently the colors aren't that popular in our neck of the woods these days but I'm sure little kids will love them elsewhere!!! In the picture, I'm working toward the neck & will attach a hood. I think I have enough pink to finish the yoke but it will get a plum hood. I try to knit sweaters without buttons or toggles which can get lost. And I prefer not to have seams if possible too. I figure the recipient's family may not have the resources to fix seams or replace buttons. And I've tried to remember to include a safety pin or two - just because! Wallabies are really fun to knit - except for the two tight rows when you join the sleeves! But, I'm sure I'll work that out as I go.

2009-09-24T15:15:00.005-07:00

Wednesday Nite knitting

I didn't get to knit with the Girls last nite - I was across town working on a simple little project which turned into a monster & I wanted to finish it, get paid & get out IN ONE TRIP. I finally got out about 9:47PM. Lucky for me, my favorite Starbucks was still open - barely - & one of my Techie buddies was siting there sucking down caffeine. I actually got to sit outside with a coffee & knit for about 20 minutes before they took away the chairs. I have another meeting tonite & hopefully, it will be entertaining, informative & end early!! I need more knitting time!

I carry my purple Kyler's Kardigan in the car these days so I can get another row or two done while I'm having a coffee, waiting in the Dentist's office or attending meetings. One fella, running into 'Bucks for a coffee, stopped & asked what I was knitting. I held it up & he laughed . . . was it the purple??? Here's where I'm at. I haven't finished the sleeves quite yet - I wanted to get as much of the body knit in the lavender heather as possible - might actually finish it! Since the garter stitch is really using up yarn, I am concerned about having enough. I think I may be okay since the garter really stretches as you wear it & I've actually made the sweater a little smaller than I think I need for that reason. I mean, who needs a sweater that's hanging to your knees in the Rain Forest??? I do have lots of dark purple & the light lavender. I intend to use all three colors in the cuff ribbing & will probably crochet up the fronts & around the neck with the dark purple to finish it.

I couldn't help myself & was trying out a pattern stitch from another Helene Rush sweater on Knitty. I'm not sure I would knit a WHOLE SWEATER with the stitch but it would look very nice as a lace panel on the fronts of a cardigan. Maybe even with a cable on each side or a couple of columns of twisted stitch on each side. It might be useful somewhere else. It's too loose for Socks but it would make a terrific Scarf or even an Infant Sweater & Bonnet. Might even make a great Shrug or Shawl. I really like Helene Rush designs. They're usually unexpected, often complex & I sometimes wonder where that woman gets all those ideas.

And a nice view of the Fern Garden in the big cedar box behind my table on the patio. The ferns are keeping company with a curly ivy & my favorite Crystal Palace Lobelia this year while the Christmas Cacti & Jade plant occupy the space underneath the table.

2009-09-22T19:00:00.002-07:00

Thoroughly Disgusted

As the title suggests, I'm a little annoyed with my performance on a knowledge test. Let me tell you about being an Aries - we're the most intelligent, artistic, wonderful beings on the planet - and WE know so! We just hate being wrong, but most of all, we hate owning up to wrongness. Even when caught, we won't admit it. So I took an Insurance Knowledge Test today & found out that I know absolutely diddly about Insurance. Mind you, I've never bothered with it unless I had no choice. I pay the car insurance because otherwise I couldn't drive. I pay the medical & house insurance for the same sort of reason. Life insurance??? Not me. So I took the test because I'm going to take the course. So, being the intellengent Aries that I am, I thought I may be able to schmooze through the back door . . . . life experience so to speak. Why take the course if I can already pass the test??? Nada. No Go. I got 33% because I know nothing about Insurance. Isn't THAT a slap in the face!

I think I'll go & knit something!

2009-09-20T18:11:00.002-07:00

Socks in Distress

I joined the Super Sock Scarefest & cast on the 'Fangs for the Memories' socks - the ones with the 'toothed' tops & the Dracula holes the the ankle - and I hate them. I hate the top which is waaay too big given the stitch count of the pattern. I don't like the holes in the ankle - only two FANG holes but I think they look stupid. So I frogged the whole sock!!

And decided to try the "Damsel in Distress" socks - even though Karen & Gail said they wouldn't work!! I found the revised pattern which tells you to cast-on 80 stitches instead of the 64 in the original. In the previous blog entry, there's a pic of the finished socks. The knitter used 80 stitches for the ribbing & increased to 120 stitches before the lattice pattern. Yeah, I can see that happening. I didn't increase to 120 stitches but I did start with 80 stitches. I did a couple of inches of the pattern VERRRRY loosely - so loosely in fact, that the cable needle kept hitting the floor because I couldn't keep it in the stitches. It's the only way to do the pattern in standard sock weight yarn & still have some stretch left in the sock! I hate this one too. The cabling is too small & too close together. I think if the pattern was rewritten with cables twice the size or with a cable pattern down the FRONT of the sock only, it would be a great sock. The cable needle hit the floor once too often & that sock was kicked into the frog pond too!!!

Not bad for a sock knitter as prolific as I, two new patterns tried & two frogged. I must be a glutton for punishment because I downloaded the "Revenge of the Mummy" sock from last year - I think this one's a winner . . . .

2009-09-18T10:02:00.004-07:00

It's not over till it's over

So I've got this big hole in my mouth apparently stuffed with gel. I went to work & felt okay yesterday till the freezing started to come out - he DID freeze me from eyebrow to wattle!!! The worst part about the whole thing was the horrible head & neck ache - from stress, I'll bet - so I came home around 5:30 thru all that damned traffic from Langley. I usually come home an hour or so later so I sure wasn't used to all that traffic!! As soon as I got home, I took three aspirins & crawled on the couch with the cat for a two hour nap. I turned the phone off for the evening & sipped liquids thru a straw even though I wanted Sushi, before taking another couple of aspirins & going to bed. Slept like a log & got up feeling fine this morning with nothing worse than a swollen cheek - not sure what THAT'S all about!!! I am not supposed to do anything strenuous today - not sure what THAT'S about neither!

So, since I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous today, I think I'll knit. I started the "Fangs for the Memory" socks in the Ravelry Super Sock Scarefest. They're simple socks with a "toothed" top & two 'Vampire' holes just above the ankle, LOL. I tried turning the top 'tooth' row over & knitting it into the body of the sock last nite but I couldn't make it work. I'm sure it will work though - I wasn't my best last nite & I got it too tight. I suspect I need to pick up half the stitches to allow it to stretch a little more. Why am I doing this??? Because I really really hate sewing things together after knitting . . .

I noticed some pictures of the first sock - 'Damsel in Distress' - in the series actually completed. Aren't these gorgeous???? One of the participants published this amazing picture of her socks!! I'm thinking I may try out the pattern to see if I can make it work. Gail & Karen report the pattern as written will not work. Someone cast on 72 stitches & increased to 120 stitches before the cabling & had success! I have to admit it's a very pretty sock if you get it finished!

And then there's my purple Kardigan to finish. The evenings are getting much cooler & have been downright COLD a time or two lately. Since I found another ball of the purple heather, I think I may just have enough yarn to finish it. I'm moving rapidly down the body & have the sleeves finished to the cuff. It's kind of shocking at how much yarn the Garter stitch gobbles up compared with Stockinette. But I love the cuddliness - is that a word??? - of the Garter. This is to be a relaxing, snuggly sweater that I can just throw on any time any where. I intend to drag it to work & wear it in the car too! It'll be nice with my shorts until it snows!!!

Then there's the cat. She's really getting old & funny. She follows me everywhere & settles to sleep around or on top of me when I sit down unless she can rub my legs or shoulder. She's not eating much or chasing raccoons like she used to. I guess it's time for a catbed. I found another box of White Buffalo yarn when looking for something else. I thought I'd cast it all out but found some more. My little washer won't felt anything so I was thinking I could knit a big bag & stuff it with some old fleece I have in a bag in the closet. If it's successful, I may make one for the office too.

2009-09-17T09:50:00.003-07:00

Surgery on the Fly

Today I go under the knife, the pliers & the needle to give up one of my wisdom teeth. I fought long & hard to KEEP those teeth. I even made the Dentist do a root canal on one of them. But, today, I voluntarily give up one. I even suggested he yank the one opposite since it will get loose without it's companion & I'll only be back to get IT yanked later. My periodontist is delighted. He smiled through the whole last appointment. Not like him at all although he started to smile when I decided to bring the big thick pillow & told him to lean on me when I realized he was in pain working on those back teeth. It's a good thing to be on good terms with the man behind the drill . . .

Today is also Payroll Day for 4 of my 5 little businesses. I did manage to do two of them yesterday but everyone is shocked that I'm having my tooth yanked between payrolls. Apparently this is supposed to be a big thing or something. I know a Root Canal takes hours so you might as well take the day off but an extraction???? Come on folks. It's not like they're impacted & curled into my sinuses or anything. Someone even asked if I was going to be "put out". I might add that my Dentist is a Big Gun in the freezing department. He freezes you from eyebrow to underarm for HOURS. I figure he'll curl his toes around the chair bolted into the floor, give a mighty heave & yank it out. It may come in two parts since I cracked it nicely but how hard can it be??? I'll bet my earlobes'll still be frozen until dinnertime!

And I used to be a white knuckle patient!

2009-09-14T09:24:00.007-07:00

The Wet Life

So, while things are getting back to semi-normal in the kitchen area, life oozes into the weekend. I have to work. Saturday was a good day & I dealt with all the evaluation students as they came & went. But Sunday started off with a bang - or a drip.

I open the local UBrew every Sunday morning around 7:00 so that one good customer can bottle his beer. I normally do the books on Sunday & I took on this guy as a favor. And, since I'm already there, several of the regulars know they can drop off rentals & pick up canisters too. I've even been known to sell a batch of beer or wine if someone waves a credit card. So my Sunday customer & I've become friends over the months & often, I bring coffee & we sample his latest brew. Now, I'm not really into drinking beer at 7 in the AM unless I started the evening before but, each batch deserves a little taste. I even gave him a bottle of Port at Christmas & he reports he finally opened it for a taste. Our man says he LOVES it & will probably buy a batch or two himself! SEE, there's a method to my madness . . . So, while we're yakking up a storm & bottling the latest brew, we hear a drip. And then another. Upon investigation, it seems the ceiling has sprung a leak. Now since it's a hot, sunny day already, I figure the air-conditioner froze up again & is only now thawing . . . As the day goes on, the drip becomes a deluge!! I'm by myself & don't know where all the equipment is since I'm the BOOK KEEPER. I mopped, wiped, moved equipment, set out coolers to catch drips, emptied wine carafs - I put a giant funnel into the narrow top of the caraf to catch the drips from several spots under the worst of it . . . . they filled up quickly!
The owner is in Maui for his anniversary. The Second in Command was out of town on a course. The Wine Maker - large & male - was home with a wrenched back. My big buddy Steven was working in North Van. So guess who spent the day mopping & emptying containers in the middle of an ever expanding lake??? Yup. Me. Today my hands & wrists are so sore I can't write unless I use the keyboard. But Second in Command is back to handle the cleanup . . . . . Thank Gawd.

2009-09-10T14:50:00.004-07:00

Shitty Thursday

So I'm feeling kind of crappy - tired eyes, sore throat, headache, fingers hurt, right lung aches - the one with the pneumonia scars, neck's stiff & right ear's kind of throbbing - could be allergy, could be flu, could be the beginning of a cold - who knows. Staying home just in case. I have 7 years of new spousal tax returns to add to the ones I'm working on so I have plenty to do. And I'm waiting for the GUY to fix my kitchen plumbing problems. Gad, it will be nice to actually wash ALL the dishes again. It'll be nice to have a tidy kitchen again!!! I may be a housework slob but I really really hate getting up to dirty dishes in the morning!

So while I wait, I'm working & surfing the net. I found a site for Cheapskates. One male Cheapskate has figured out how to remove the business end of the bottle of 'Special Cleaner' that you have to buy for the Swiffer Wet Jet. I have one of those & tried several times with assorted tools to remove that cap so I could fill the bottle with my own cleaner. No Dice. I wrecked the end trying to remove it. Had to buy another expensive bottle of cleaner because I just didn't want to drill a hole in the other end & close it with duct tape. Well, this Cheapskate figured it all out. You immerse said bottle end in a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes & then it will twist off without a problem. The inside of the cap has "prongs" which must be removed with pliers or heavy duty kitchen shears. The cap can now be put back on & taken off at will. You can fill it with your own mixture. Wow.

The same Cheapskate site has alternatives to the expensive Swiffer cloths as well. A couple of weeks ago, I found several knitted & crocheted versions which can be laundered after using. I believe Ravelry even has a couple of the patterns on site!! But the Cheapskate site shows how one woman knit one that looked just like the dusting cloth, complete with "bumps" to push into those holes on the back of the Swiffer duster! I'm seriously going to try a couple of these out.

My hands have really been sore the past couple of days - makes me wonder what WINTER will be like! So I decided I had to have another pair of SPIROGYRA fingerless gloves to wear. Now I knit myself a pair last year & wore them when my hands were sore even in warm weather & they helped a lot. People gave me strange looks but they don't have my hands!!! My Ex came along complaining about cold hands when he rode his bike - gloves get caught in the doodads he's got attached so I lent him the fingerless gloves to try. He loved them. I let him keep them since they were the prototype & had mistakes. So, I'm knitting another pair. I found the same really stretchy grey hand spun yarn - it's like I spun elastic into it - not that SPIROGYRA doesn't really stretch but the yarn makes it even stretchier - which is why my Ex was able to wear my former ones.

Wooohooo . . . the GUY came & found my problem in the sink. My hair clog was waaaay out in the main line where it joins the house line before meeting up with the City line. He says this clog is MY fault because MY sink is backing up but there's probably been a problem for a very long time. No wonder I couldn't plunge it away! We had to use the BIG water snake to blow that sucker thru the line but not before flooding my floor when we had to disconnect the small water snake!! Well, the kitchen floor needed a good cleaning any way & nothing cleans better than a little lye!!! I'll be soooooo happy to wash all the dishes, the sinks & the counter tops! I think I'll even wash out the coffee pot that I make tea in. And I'm even getting a nice new trap with a twist off clean-out! Ain't life grand????

2009-09-08T10:51:00.008-07:00

Back to Normal

You will probably notice TWO posts in one day if you're really alert but the last one was actually done late in the PM (or early in the AM) on Monday when I couldn't sleep & spent much time watching the original Star Trek marathon while knitting on my purple sweater. I shouldn't've stayed up that late since today's the BIG DAY when all the little miscreants go back to school! The ones upstairs have been fighting, screaming & running a round since 6:30 . . . in the AM. I suspect each of the 5 start at a different time slot because there hasn't been a totally quiet time or really hot water since 6:30. They tended to sleep till 10 or later all summer so today must be really hard on their systems . . .

I remember being excited to go back to school! We didn't get new wardrobes unless we'd grown out of everything over the summer - hell, we lived in jeans away from school & we girls had to have skirts - we weren't allowed to wear pants unless we were in gym!!! But, the tops never changed much. I always had my nose in a book so access to the Library was a big thing in my life!! And I had a friend named Margaret who knit. She wore knitted sweater sets with matching skirts - all knitted by her. In grade 10! Although I wasn't even into socks yet, I was knitting hats, scarves & kid's sweaters for my little brothers. Even today, I still get the itch to buy school supplies every September. And I still want to sign up for classes, grrrrrr.

No point in going to Starbucks, the area Moms are all waiting out the hour or two that their kids are actually in school today making plans for tomorrow when they'll have the whole day. After they collect the kids, everyone will be off to Wally World, Dollar Stores, Staples or Office Depot to collect the items added to the NEW school list so I can't go to those places today either. I think I'll just stay home in the Office until it's all over!!!

Meanwhile, the purple sweater is starting to look like a sweater!! The pic on the right shows the colors in the yoke to the underarm - I thought I had a lot more of the lavender & probably do - somewhere!!! The darker color is called Purple Heather & I really do love it although I did knit a sweater with a cabled front out of the lighter Lavender. I had to pull it apart when one of the cable stitches was caught on something & started to travel . . . not fixable unfortunately.
Took a quick pic of the sweater with the first sleeve done. Not a good pic but the batteries need recharging so I took what I could get even though the angle is bad. I've started on the second sleeve & should have enough of the Heather to get at least a couple of inches down the body before working with the dark Plum. Who knows? I might even find more of the Heather tucked away somewhere. In one of those big bins. Probably in the one on the bottom if I know MY luck . . .

Oh, I should mention the two toned sock in the top picture. I started out with the intention of knitting BLUE frankensocks to add to my gym sock collection. I found two unfamiliar balls of yarn & started to knit. I take leftover donations!! This is what I ended up with. Karen claimed former ownership & responsibility for the colors. Apparently she spit joined the yarns together when she was knitting socks & didn't like the end result. She tore it out & passed it on to me. This is why the sock looks like two different yarns were joined together. It's Karen's fault.

2009-09-08T01:26:00.002-07:00

The End of Summer

So what did I do with my Long Weekend & Labor Day holiday?? Well, labor, of course! As a Contractor, I don't get stat or any other holidays unless I stop working. If I stop working, I can't afford to buy all the fibre I have to accumulate before I die. And yes, I'm only being partially funny. There's always another project or skein or ball or package of stuff I just have to have - hey, at least this addiction doesn't kill brain cells or give you cancer . . . well, maybe not unless you EAT the fibre. But everyone knows that more fibre is really GOOD for you!

So I stayed home. And washed dishes in the bathroom sink again. I still have a blocked sink. I've poured noxious chemicals down there, plunged until I'm blue in the face & even tried to take the trap off. Some jerk glued it on when they installed it! I perused the plumbing at Crappy Tire today & found the trap I want to install - it has a nice little clean-out door that unscrews easily. My Techie guys tell me I have to cut the damn trap off with piano wire, clean the whole mess out from there with the snake & put another trap on. Simple operation once most of the water gets drained out . . . I am currently waiting for the sludge in the sink to go away - AGAIN. My fault. I filled it up with boiling water & more noxious chemical in the vain hope it would all go away. Didn't. So, I cleaned out all the stuff under the sink - including the mouse poop - can't believe I own all that cleaning stuff. No one cleans around here!!! but I can't stand the mess any longer & have to get it fixed.

And in spite of all that, I also spent time working on the purple sweater. I just about froze in the warehouse on Sunday! And it wasn't much warmer today either. So the first sleeve is finished except for the cuff. I decided to do the sleeves first & finish the body with deep purple if the heathered purple runs out. I'll probably use all the shades of purple in the cuffs just for fun. I really, really NEED this sweater NOW. Amazing how we were sweating gallons just two weeks ago & now all of a sudden, it's sweater weather!! And when this one's done, I'm going to work on the Cardi Shawl because it would work well at work too. I figure we really have two seasons in the Vancouver burbs, shorts or fleece lined pants. And I intend to wear my shorts until the snow falls! Even if I have to wear wool socks & sweaters with them.

2009-09-04T11:19:00.003-07:00

I fell in love

It's not often that I get that feeling. Not often at all. I just looked up & it got to me. I couldn't wait to get out my credit card & get the instructions. So what am I in love with?? Well . . it's a cheap & easy rectangular bit of knitting that's put together in a different way. It's so simple to make that any 8 year old with basic skills can make one. But, boy, can you wear it in so many ways. Go to the Stitch Diva site & watch the video of the Designer showing how it can be worn!!! I was instantly struck by it's possibilities & had to have it. It's called the Endless Knitted Cardi Shawl at stitchdiva.com. You can wear it right side up, upsidedown, add short sleeves, pin it closed with a shawl pin, wear it open, belt it & create a variety of collars. Cheap & easy. Isn't that the best kind of love???

Still plugging away at the New garter stitch Kyler's Kardigan in adult size. Ginny is a thing of the past although her colors live on in the new sweater. I goofed & had to spend a whole evening TINKING out the last 6 rows - just a pain the ass when you have 356 stitches on the needles!!! But, it's done & I'm almost to the armhole section where I put the sleeve stitches on holders & knit down the body to the pockets. One thing about this pattern, it's all in Garter Stitch except for the front band which is picked up after the sweater is complete. My only concern now is that I have enough of the purple heather to finish the main part of the sweater without having to resort to the dark purple to finish it. The debate is whether to do the sleeves first & then work the body in case the main color runs out, work half the sleeve & then go to the body or just do the body & worry about the sleeves later. I have to think about this one while I'm working the last 9 ridges before the separation. And look for more of the purple heather in my stash . . .

2009-08-31T10:21:00.004-07:00

Just Knitting

So, I spent the weekend knitting. On my old Ginny. I watched my favorite Saturday nite shows on PBS & Knowledge - the Antiques Roadshow, Heartbeat & New Tricks - while I knit on the Adult-sized Kyler's Kardigan. I thought about knitting the whole thing in one color but was afraid I wouldn't have enough - I DID buy this yarn over 30 years agol! It's Scheepsjawool Luzerne. I bought enough for three sweaters & have knit them up & worn them for years . . .

So, I decided I'd do the same as I did when I knit up the Ginny pattern. I'd do the wild stripey bodice with the darker plain bottom. A couple of times I had to tink it back a bit to overlap a thin spot but it's a simple, fast knit that should go quickly. As long as I can keep on knitting.

2009-08-29T12:42:00.006-07:00

Just Hanging at Home

I spent most of the last week pounding on my computer to finish the tax stuff I promised to file on Friday. It isn't filed yet. But, the government works slowly & I'll just slip a couple of years into the big blue box by Sunday nite & by the time they get to the place they need to be, I'll have the rest in the box!! Friday is the same as Monday to those guys anyway cause no one works on the weekends . . .

I've had time to knit. I haven't finished the toes on the blue socks but I'll probably do that tonite in front of the tube. Notice in the picture how the yarn colors change just after the heel?? There was no knot in the yarn, it just changed color. I'm thinking there's a flaw in the yarn or, the colorway is really long. Who knows?? I just kept on knitting . . .

You know all that laundry I did last weekend?? Well, good thing I did it when I could. My sink's been backed up since the middle of the week. I have a giant hair/grease clog I guess. I destroyed a plunger trying to plunge the thing. Poured 64 ounces of some toxic gunk down the sink through the standing water - three treatments - to try to unclog it. Hot water goes thru like, well, a hot knife thru butter!! Too much water jams it up again. I can now wash dishes in small batches but the damned thing backs up again so I think I've only managed to move the clog a little further down the line . . . I thought about taking the trap off & getting at it THAT way with my handy dandy pipe wrench, but apparently, I don't have a trap that I can get at. My pipe goes straight down somewhere underground. Oh well, I'll plunge it a time or two & then borrow a snake. If THAT doesn't do the job, I'll have to call the plumber . . .

So, while I've been waiting for the sink to drain, I've been knitting. I was going to try to fix Ginny. You remember Ginny?? The multi-hued purple sweater I started eons ago that the cat decided to bed down on?? The one with the great long pull in the yoke of the TOP-DOWN sweater?? Well, I tore it all apart yesterday. I rewound the balls & looked for something else to knit since Ginny seems jinxed. The evenings are getting cooler & I'll soon NEED a sweater. In my search, I just couldn't find a simple, top-down, quick knit to use up all that purple yarn in three colors - until I found Kyler's Kardigan. I thought, wouldn't that little garter cardigan be great in adult size??? And then I found the Adult sizes in the back half of the book. I'd never actually read past the kids section! So I cast on immediately & started a simple, garter stitch cardigan in the purple yarn. I have lavender & dark plum as well as the single ball of wild cherry boucle with turquoise & hot pink bits in it for an accent. I thought I'd use all the colors in the yoke section & then just knit the bust down in the dark plum. And maybe it'll just be in the three former colors. I'll decide later. Kyler looks to be a fast knit - I have about three inches of the yoke done in a couple of hours & there's NO SEWING in this sweater!!! I'll probably rib the cuffs but leave the bottom in a plain garter finish. FAST & DIRTY, that's the plan anyway.

2009-08-25T12:34:00.002-07:00

The Taxman Cometh

Updating the old blog again to pass the time while the printer catches up to my completed tax returns. I admit to still using the old 24 pin dot matrix machine in my office. And I intend to continue using it until the last box of expensive - I bought mine for $5 a box years ago because they were 'damaged' - paper is gone & the $18 ribbons are used up! Being cheap is what keeps my prices down!!

I meant to go spin at Karen's house on Sunday but laundry got in the way. I ran out of underpants. So I hooked the portable washer up to the sink & started doing laundry. Since it was a bright sunny day, I put out the folding rack & let everything dry in the sun. I love the smell of clothes that've dried outside . . . . that made me strip the bed so the sheets & pillow cases would smell wonderful when I went to bed. And then I thought I might as well do the bathmat & shower curtain since things were drying so quickly. Before I knew it, it was mid-afternoon, I still wasn't dressed & half the household was either washing, washed, waiting to be washed, outside drying or waiting to be outside drying! So much for spinning, We rescheduled for Tuesday.

On Monday, a client I've been talking to since last fall, dropped two boxes on me all in a panic. Seems the Taxman seized his bank account. NOW he has to file. I've been at my computer working on his stuff for a day & a half so far & I promised the Taxman I'd get all this filed by Friday if he loosened the strings on said client's bank. Boy, is he ever gonna pay . . . & I didn't get to spin again today.

Meanwhile, the blue socks not only have their heels turned but I'm just about to shape the toes. The yarn was quite interesting. It was almost like the yarn for two different socks was joined together so that half the sock was in one colorway & the other half in another colorway - if there was a knot in the yarn, I could understand it but???? Looks a little strange but most of the sock will be inside a sneaker so I guess it just won't matter.

2009-08-23T09:36:00.006-07:00

A Murder Most Foul

Came home yesterday to half a bare trellis! I couldn't believe my eyes. I've been training a Butternut squash vine to climb up my trellis where the Clematis is supposed to be. The other squash vines are wandering down my drive & I thought it would be fun to have this end climb up the trellis instead. I planted Butternut - I love to puree it to use instead of cheese in Broccoli soup!! - I have a Hubbard & some other winter variety that I bought because it needed a home. I've been watching the Butternut fill the trellis with giant leaves & big yellow flowers. It only produced two squashes & I tucked them nicely into the trellis holes until one outgrew them. In the last week, that one grew amazingly!The nite before, I was thinking I should tie a knee high around it to give it more support . . . Well, somehow, in the middle of the day, that squash grew legs & jumped off the trellis taking the whole top of the vine & one of it's baby sisters with it. I found the wayward squash sitting happily in my spider plant while the vine lay dying around it. I took the perp into the house & slapped her on the scale - not quite 4 pounds of baby squash! No wonder the vine broke . . . I see this morning, that the little squash on the other end of the vine has perked up & grown since yesterday . . . seems big sis was taking all her food too.

I dug into the Blue box of yarn leftovers. Found two balls of something with blues, greys, rust, some green & thought I might as well start with that & see how far it goes . . . . short socks are so much fun!! I've turned the heels on both of them & it sort of looks like the balls will make the entire socks. I'm wondering if this is the stuff my pal Karen decided she didn't like & tossed into my leftovers box to get rid of it. We'll see . . . .

2009-08-19T09:53:00.004-07:00

Ta Da

I decided the pink & green socks looked waaaay better without the grey yarn!! This was decided after knitting & ripping several rows & dropping a stitch that almost ran into the heel . . . .

So, now that I've knitted up the pink & green socks & the remnant ladybug socks, I'm looking around for another interesting combination. Found a whole IKEA box full of blues - I can't believe I've knitted so many blue socks for other people - so I think it's time for something in blue for me too.

2009-08-17T18:32:00.005-07:00

Forgotten again

I can't believe I forgot to update the blog. Life does get in the way occasionally though . . . the cooler weather has been nice but my bones sure don't like the wet. Since I joined Curves, I can see the physical difference in my performance on wet days as opposed to dry ones - it's scarey. The computerized program clearly shows a difference in strength & endurance - hey, I simply ENDURE exercise in any form!! but I have noticed that my hands give me hell if I knit for too long or knit on something heavy - no more bulky White Buffalo sweaters for me!! Hey, can I have some of that estrogen back???? I've given away all the really big needles anyway!! I do love my nice light, Denice needles which I seem to use for everything but socks . . . . Maybe it's time to start on the purple Marble sweater!!

So now that my bones hurt, my teeth are getting loose & I can't even PRETEND I have any non-grey hairs left, what's a person to do? Well, I bought more yarn. Knitopia is having a moving sale. The woman who swore she loved Langley & would never to open another business in White Rock again, is moving back to White Rock. We're devastated. And in shock. The new shop is tiny. The hours are few. Our knitting group will be unable to shop on Thursday nites as we knit, chat & pass around Show & Tell. And everything that won't be sold in the tiny new shop, is on sale. Knitopia was our all time fav - we'll miss it - but most of us won't be making the trek all the way to White Rock since we'll have to take a day off to go there. I guess it's back to mail order, the yarn trek to everything in town a couple times a year & attending all the crafty events to see whats out there. The Floozies always seem to have stuff we haven't seen before so I guess we'll have to wander downtown to shop at THEIR store.

I've been making summer socks out of scraps. The latest project is leftover pink Fabel, lime Kroy & grey Lady Galt - you don't see too much of THAT around!! Laura from my Wednesday Nite Knitting group has hinted several times that she'd love them. Mmmmm, I'll have to finish them & decide. One thing about frankensocks, you can always make another pair!! I discovered another box full of blue leftovers in a box I thought was an empty!! I now have two shoe boxes, half a shopping bag & two IKEA book boxes full of leftovers - I should just buy another plastic see thru bin & put it all in there so I can see what I have . . . .

2009-08-10T19:14:00.005-07:00

Rain Rain stay for a day

Some lovely rain is falling outside for a change & I hear this rain is putting out all the fires in the interior of our lovely Province. Apparently the combination of rain & cool humid air is wetting everything down nicely. And it'll take the concentrated pollution out of the air around here too. My garden is drinking in all that lovely free water & I think the Butternut squash has doubled in size since yesterday . . .

The latest summer socks are finished!! I can't wait to wear them. This pair uses up the last of the OPAL in the Ladybug colorway which I've loved & knit up into two pairs of regular socks, one pair of short summer socks & two pairs of infant socks - not bad!! To the left, are the four leftover balls which are to become the next pair of short socks in the new collection. Two leftover ends of Drops Fabel in pinks, some dark grey Lady Galt & some snotty green left over from Laura's socks - I think it's Kroy.
When these are finished, I have a couple of lacy sock patterns to try - yes, Virginia, I'll do something different for a change.