Back in the Saddle Again


Whew. Haven't had any time at all to knit - other than the Birthday Socks for the boys at work!! Had a few moments here & there, I must admit, but the old hands have just been too damned sore to do much of anything other than beat on the keyboard. And I'm still beating on the keyboard, albeit a little more slowly - seems I'm now gainfully EMPLOYED rather than flitting around as a Contractor for most of the year.

I've accepted my fate & will continue to be employed since I continue to be the only one who can run all the software & fill in the cracks. Not what I intended but, I can finish paying off the loan & pad my Canada Pension for a change. I will be one of the ones who HAS to work to 70 unless a rich relative dies & names me heir to the fortune! Hehehehehehe The Ex also continues on, hail & hearty too.

One thing about being employed, you get to leave after 9 hours & go home without being called for more work. I might get to like this. And, of course, I have time to knit, spin & dye.

I started out with good old KROY & my favorite 2.5mm bamboo skewer needles. I think I originally MADE these bamboo needles because of Kroy. I couldn't find a 2.5mm set of needles anywhere! My 2.25s were too small - the knitting was too tight - & a 2.75mm was way too big. I didn't want a set of sock needles that wouldn't get used again - I'm also cheap & broke much of the year so that had to be considered. And I LIKE bamboo too. So, I made my own with sandpaper, beeswax & elbow grease. I've used them so much that they have their own patina & are smooth as glass. The Kroy slips along just fine as did the lovely splotchy Confetti yarn I used to knit men's socks. That splotchy Confetti felt thicker & definitely knitted up thicker so my 2.5s were perfect! Wish I could find more of it . . . But, I'll settle for the crazy orange Kroy for now! I must find more in other colors before winter.

As usual, I've used the heel shaping from Crazy Heels & Toes. I love this heel shaping. I love that I can knit that gusset at dusk with no lights on. I can even knit it on the porch, at night, with the security light on & no other illumination. I no longer have heels falling apart in the wash because I couldn't see to pick up a stitch. When you knit cuff down, a heel falling apart means you re-knit the whole damn sock. Or throw it out in frustration because you gave away the leftover yarn that you now need to redo the sock because it's a color that you can't match or coordinate.

I usually pause at this point to swap socks. At this point, the sock has to come in, out of the car, because it has to be turned under my DAYLIGHT lamp. It's also too fiddly to work when you're out with all the rubber band markers needed to show the short row shaping. I cast on the other one & move it out to the car for "WAITING" knitting while the heel is turned indoors. This pair with the longer legs will be for ME. Not going into the Donation basket but straight into my Sock Basket instead!!

Suddenly Summer


The weather changed while I've been hammering on the keyboard across town - man, this working for a living is the pitts!! - and yesterday, it became summer. I'm working 4 days a week in a tin box with what they call 'air conditioning'. I'd like to call it that too but it only cools you down when you stand in front of the machine in the classroom portion & not at all in my office end of the box. Yesterday, the classroom air wouldn't stay on & my fan at the end of the box stopped. Just around noon. By 3:00PM, it was over 30 in the office & not improving at all. We tinkered with the machinery to no avail till the Boss's Reno buddy walked in the door . . . . he twitched something & turned two dials & cold air started blasting out of the classroom. Holy Crap. Since the remote was misplaced, no one but Bryan - who's gone to Bus Driving School - knows what MODE the machine is in since the display is on the remote. We were not in Summer mode, that's for sure. The classroom is cool again but sadly, my little blower has died. Hopefully, it will be replaced today. When I deliver it. I drove home yesterday with the air conditioning in the van turned up to max! It was only the second time in the year & a half I've owned it that I even turned it on.

My basement is nice & cool in the hot weather! Good thing because I freeze in the winter. You can always put on more clothes when it's cold but once you're down to skin in a hot place, you can't take anything else off! So it's a great place to be in the summer & an even nice place to lounge outside in the evening. Last night I found three balls of that orange Kroy that we got so cheaply at Michaels & started a nice thick pair of winter socks, hehe. I love Kroy. It's thick, it knits very quickly & you don't even have to watch as the stitches go by. Other than the heel & toe shaping, they almost knit themselves. I just put on my mini IPod, tuned in "The Ten Year Anniversary", a Women's Murder Club book, poured a huge icy Mango juice & went outside to knit after dinner. Bliss.

I've made a promise to myself. Since I have three days a week that I don't have to get up & commute to work until I feel like it, I will get up & commute to my patio with my morning tea & spin. Should be a nice shock to all those people who like to take the short cut through my yard instead of walking around the block on the "public" street.

Rumor has it . . .


The Aliens have not swooped down & taken me away as someone reported although some days, I wish they would. It's been a tough Tax Season this year & I've been trying to work TWO jobs at the same time since my little buddy Bryan ran off to join the Bus Driver's union. Apparently he's had it tough too since he's in the Fast Track group & doing the course in half the time!! We've barely texted to see how the other is doing - guess we're both coping though since that's the kind of people we are! But, I'm still working a 32 hour week at the school, finishing up all the late returns, trying to do 5 year ends, working at least one day in the office with the dogs, catching up in the warehouse job on Sundays & trying to finish 11 corporate tax returns. All at the same time. H E L P! Aren't these supposed to be the Golden Years where you s l o o o w down??

I have to report that I have nothing fibery to report. No socks. No vest. No nothing. I've looked at it all but I'm just too damned tired to work on anything. The Boss Birthday socks still need their toes completed but I still have a week . . . Maybe next week I'll pick up the needles again. Maybe after I sleep for a whole week. Gawd, I have to get out there & plant my baskets & tubs too. I'm just too damned old for this much work.

Birthday Stuff

I got some nice goodies from the Wednesday Nite Nitters for my birthday!  It was totally unexpected but really nice. The topknot at the bottom is in the Paua colorway from Aurelia Wools. There's supposed to be enough fibre there for a hat, scarf, a pair of mitts or socks. I love the Paua colorway!!! The orange roving is superwash merino & nylon from smithandewe.com. It ranges from light mango to a burnt orange, sort of reminiscent of a tequila sunrise soooooo, it will become Tequila Sunrise socks! There's enough in there for three pairs I think. The deep purple on the right is called Grapes of Wrath! from SheepyTime Yarns. There's 100 gms there but its only 181 yds in about an aran weight. It'll probably become a cowl for the fall. The lighter skein is called Gloom 'Shroom from the same company but ranges in color from light lavender to medium grape with deep blue flecks. Lots of yardage & in sock weight so we all know what it will become. Last but not least, on the same Wednesday, the Boys at work gave me a Mr LUBE card good for TWO oil changes!! Yeah, baby.

Today is my Birthday



Today I turned 61. That's 61 big ones! Teenage angst, zits, having kids, finding a husband & wearing panty hose are loooooong in the past with my old 45 collection, telephone booths, Ford Falcons & fluorescent shirts! Yeah, yeah, yeah!! Gone are two Rons & a Keith. And that crazy 6 month fling with a Lorne. Nordics all. I just don't have the energy for Nordics any more. They work all day & party all night. If I was offered a choice between a red hot Nordic & a pound of cashmere, well, I'm 61, I'd rather be warm than red-hot! And speaking of red hots - those are in the past too. My temperature gauge has finally been adjusted back to normal, although I could really use a little tweaking of that Thermalosity during these damp winters lately. Getting old isn't the problem so much, it's the creaking like a ship in full sail & the failure of parts you depend on that gets me. By the time you learn what it is you really, truly love - you can't do it anymore!!


It's exciting to wake up on your 61st birthday! Especially when you had a Senior Moment the night before & somehow set the alarm clock for 4:31AM. And put it on the Country Station to boot. The shock of leaping out of bed put natural color back into my cheeks & lips. Who needs a Latte???


So, what am I doing for my birthday??? Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. I just don't have the energy after leaping out of bed this morning. So, I'm having a huge green salad with avocado/feta dressing even though I'd rather eat a big bag of LAYS plain ripple chips. I think I'll just lay about in my jammies. I might even listen to a new audio book. Or I might go out for a giant Latte all by myself. It's MY Birthday!

It's a GOOD Friday

It's been a long haul since that last Official Holiday here on the Wet Coast! April 06 is a loooong way from January 01! And it was nice to sleep in till 8:30 this morning until the kids upstairs started fighting. It's nice to be sitting here in my jammies today as well. What you can't see is the mounds of paper amid the boxes of work I have to do in my jammies!! The coffee pot is brewing TEA as I sit here & pound on the keyboard. Later, I'll be making Cauliflower soup for dinner. Why soup?? Well, I just about froze yesterday & it's not that warm in here today either so I've got my heater plugged in & soup on the brain. I love a nice thick soup for dinner & I'm still being kind to my insides until the effects of that antibiotic are gone. Creme & broth based soup are on the menu for the moment. Egg Drop soup is a fav as is Broccoli Cheese & Creme of Cauliflower. I almost can't wait!!!

I'm working as fast as I can on gift socks before my buddy Bryan goes away. I know we'll keep in touch but it's just not the same as working together! It's been a ball mostly & I'll probably cry myself to sleep when he's gone . . . No pics until they're on his feet though because he told me he peeks at the blog occasionally . . .

And another project on the needles as soon as Bryan's socks are done. My Ex is always cold. Since the damn specialist put him on a ton of medication for his heart, he's always complaining that he's cold. He tried to get some of it cut back but the specialist told him to put more clothes on. I think he needs a new doctor but that's not up to me. So, I suggested I knit him a nice wool VEST to wear over his 4 layers of clothes to keep him warm. I just knew there had to be a good use for that wool in this climate!

I rooted through all my old stuff & found an official Sweater pattern put out by White Buffalo back in the day for 60 cents - I have the Touque, the Socks, the zip front Hoodie & the Vest. Oh yeah, did I say that I'd knit a lot of these waaaaay back??? I AM NOT going to bother with a knitted motif! I don't think he'd wear it if I did. Nope, I'm taking the beige Siwash wool & knitting a plain, zip front vest with a pocket for his wallet. Something to keep an old Geezer warm & get rid of all that wool.

An old Gift Box

I know, I know, TWO blogs in a row in the middle of TAX Season??!! But this isn't really a blog, it's a warning. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

As everyone knows, I can't pass a good deal without taking it up. I was born the eldest in a scrounging family. My father was a Longshoreman in the days before they had benefits & great wages. And we had 6 kids. The house was clean, my mom could cook & bake & sew. In my family, if you wanted things other than the basics, you got a job. Or you took in strays. I love strays, especially when they come in boxes!! Most of the time that is.

Years ago, I got two boxes of Buffalo Wool. You know the kind. We all made fake Cowichan sweaters back in the day. I think I made them for my brothers & boyfriends. Some of the wool, like Siwash wool, was minimally processed & still retained it's oils. Others, like White Buffalo, were dry as dust. Somehow, I ended up with two boxes of White Buffalo wool as a gift several years ago. I knit up touques & even a large hooded, pullover sweater with a pocket on the inside for a homeless woman one winter. I worked it down to a half dozen packages which I stuffed in a box to give away when I developed a cough from the dry wool. Yesterday I was rooting around in the office closet looking for something & came upon a box. I couldn't remember getting the box addressed to me but it had to be years old. And unopened. I dragged it out, opened it & it exploded into packages of wool . . . There must be 20 packages of Buffalo & Siwash wool in there. It looks like someone was going to knit a white, oatmeal & tan sweater at one time. Or the half dozen packages of wool in the other box gave birth in the closet.

And the moving finger moves on . . .

The more things change, the more they stay the same!! My job at the Motorcycle School is changing once more. My buddy, the Office Manager, has been offered a job that gives him & his family financial security at last. But he has to leave in two weeks if he wants it. The season has been slow to start & his earnings have been lower than usual. But he'll be leaving just as it's finally beginning to heat up. OMG, not only am I the only person who can run the whole office again but I don't want to run it all the time!!! I only signed on for Part Time! Hopefully, we have a volunteer who will work at least 3 days a week so I only have to work the other three. I'm so sorry to see Bryan go but he has to for his sake . . . sob. Now I have to get his socks knit up quickly!!

Just in case I have to work more than 3 days, I've been working tax return marathons to free up my time. Sunday, I worked 9 hours straight - well, I stopped for a Starbucks Latte & bran muffin midday but I went through the drive-thru & came back home again!! My poor printer was overheating! It was a hellova day! Luckily, my Ex called & took me away from all of it to eat Chinese. Oh, how I love Beef & Black Bean Sauce with Green Peppers!! It also gave me a chance to drop tax returns into the bin on my way home! And got there just in time to watch a Murdoch Mystery while I worked on the latest sock. Just a Regia sock but in a more interesting colorway than the last one. Still a conservative sock but definitely more interesting than plain blue.

While cleaning out a big basket - I'd forgotten what was in the damn thing - I found a bag with a half knit summer top, several balls of yarn & no pattern. Sigh. I'm in the process of frogging it but I really like the color. It's a little pinker - as usual - than it appears but the acid pink is soft with the purpley blue. Acrylic of course but as I said, I like it. Since the pattern's missing, I may rejig it into the Heartbeat sweater from Just One More Row which goes up to a 64" bust. I remember working on the Heartbeat Sweater in the past - it needed some tweaking - but I love the heart shaped front. I'm sure I have enough yarn in that bag. I hope. I'm pretty sure I do - but it will make something eventually if I don't.

Tax Season Again

I know some of you laugh out loud when I say this is my favorite time of year. I really do love Tax Season. It's the challenge of the Game and it often IS a game because it's not what it IS so much but what you CALL it that counts!! Different types of Income are taxed differently AND not all expenses are treated equally. It's knowing the difference that matters. It's sort of like sock yarns.

And speaking of sock yarns - I've had my Gift Box sitting on the little table in front of my TV watching chair since I got it. I take things out & fondle them & put them back. I've got two balls of purples in with two balls of greens of the same yarn but FOUR different colors. I keep thinking about green & purple striped socks . . . hehehehehe! And the ALMOST finished hot pink lace socks!! And not enough yarn to finish them either. I think I'll have to frog them - SOB - but I have the Smoldering Hearts pattern which might work. Or a couple of Gansey Heart patterns. I could get two pairs of summer socks out of them!! Either way, I think it's screaming HEARTS.

Brown is not normally my color but I like the mottled shade in the box. I can't SEE to pick up heel flap stitches any more & I know my tension will be different so the mottled brown socks will have to be frogged for sure. And a real shame too since one whole sock is finished & the other is done to the heel flap. I think I'll use the same pattern which I really like - just a simple rib stitch - which will be appreciated by any man at Christmas. You can tell I'm already planning socks & hats for the Christmas Box.

But, before Christmas, there's all the Birthdays in the Office to contend with. April & May are the big months so I have several pairs on the go right now. The Boss Sock is the slowest of the bunch because it's that dark, dull color. I distinctly heard him say that he loves the new socks so much he'd almost wear any color. Hmmmm yeah, right! Mr Conservative says that but does he mean it??? I don't think so. I think he'll continue to get the dark, dull colors . . . Sock #1 is done & onto #2. I sincerely hope I have enough yarn!

I'm thinking Bryan will get Frankensocks. The wilder, the better for him. And I'll put a row or two of Black or Blue between the colors!! I can't wait to get started on them!!!

Just like Christmas

I got a box! I got a box!! I got a box of goodies in the mail yesterday but I was so busy I forgot it out in the car till late last night. It was so exciting! You'll have to forgive my crappy photographic skills - I never get the light right. The yarns are much pinker & brighter than they look here!! I got sock yarns & even a set of square needles still in a sock!! LOL It looks like the knitter was so annoyed at one point that she wrapped it all up, needles & all & tossed it in the box! I remember that feeling when I was learning to do the Queen Kahuna heel from the Crazy Heels & Toes book. At one point I kicked the book across the room in one direction & the knitting in the opposite one. Since the cat was still around, I did have to pick up the knitting but that book laid there for weeks . . . I did eventually finish that sock after a couple of frantic phone calls to my friend Gail who didn't laugh too loudly. And I did learn how to do that gusset heel all by myself. The light bulb came on during the 3rd pair of socks! All of a sudden it all made sense. Honest to gawd, it was just like ZAP & the light came on. I can do it in my sleep now. Best heel I ever used. I was horrified when I realized I couldn't SEE to pick up the stitches around the heel flap without being outside at noon. I just had to find another way. Gail suggested the Queen's heel. I can whack off a heel in no time now. And the gusset heel is so nice & deep - I can adjust it to be shallower or deeper by adding or subtracting gusset increases - my socks never creep into my shoes or boots any more.

I love the box of goodies - there's some yarns in there that I've never seen before - yeah, I live in the wilds of the Vancouver 'burbs on the Wet Coast but MY yarn shops don't carry those fancy yarns. And I couldn't afford to buy them if they did. So, I'm saving the colors I love the best - good thing there's lots of shades of pink & purple - and adding the others to my sock donations for Christmas to Loving Spoonful. Thank you Linda.

Over at Last . . . I think


I'm down to the final periodic morning coughs & snuffle sessions. I don't think I've ever been this sick with a crappy rhino virus in my life! I dodged the pneumonia, thank gawd, but I'm still feeling the exhaustion & dehydration. I think I drank a gallon of milk in three days this week so far & I don't really LIKE milk. I ran out of socks again so here's a few hanging up on washday.

I've been making a lot of soup - Hamburger soup is a perennial fav as well as Italian soup. Both start with onion soup mix & browned onions & garlic. Hamburger soup contains browned burger, barley, carrots or sometimes chopped cabbage & all the leftover veggies in the fridge while Italian soup contains diced tomatoes with Italian spices, sometimes little white beans or soup pasta & chopped green veggies like spinach, zucchini, chard or beet greens. Instead of greasy Italian pork sausage, I've been adding chopped Tofurky Italian sausage made from tofu. It has all of the spicy bite with none of the grease!! It seems the blowing, sneezing & coughing takes a lot of moisture from a body!

And have I been knitting?? Some. I knit up a couple of soft touques, one from merino & silk & one from mohair & handspun. One cold evening, one of my clients showed up with the shaved head so popular with the twenty & thirty somethings & I stuffed one on his head! I think he's the second to be warmly covered this spring. And I stuffed the other one into his pocket for his new son, Joshua. I'm almost to the toe on the Boss Sock & still plugging along on my Poncho Pullover. Haven't felt much like knitting lately - this crappy weather has my hands slightly swollen & my knuckles aching. I suspect the virus & tax season have contributed as well! I'm using my hands a lot & they really hurt some days. I've ordered a DVD 'Yoga for the Rest of Us' from PBS(Public TV) Peggy Cappy produces a program of gentle yoga with a section for arthritic hands. She's been on Public Television advocating for Yoga - especially for seniors - to increase mobility. The reports from the Seniors involved in her program are very encouraging. So, I thought it might really help my overworked & arthritic hands so I can knit more!! hehehehe, what can I say???

Just a little Rant


I want to know how a 15% increase in a Teacher's salary over 3 years is supposed to reduce crowded classrooms, add extra Teaching Aides & find more resources for kids at school??

My Opinion is that Schools, like Churches are undervalued & underused. Especially Elementary Schools. We paid to install all those bathrooms, kitchens, gyms & classrooms that only get used from 8:30 to 3:30 Monday to Friday for about 8.5 months by kids. The rest of the time, they're empty. Let's get our money's worth!!! I would rather pay extra NOW & make sure the next generations are healthy & ambitious than waste money building more jails.

With the shortage of good daycare - especially for babies - why aren't schools being used for Daycare???? With all the Portables available, Daycare space could be expanded & contracted to meet the needs of the community. Daycare MODULES could easily adapt to any age group with the addition of a bathroom/laundry module.

I've heard that the school lunch/breakfast programs are often the only meals some kids get on a regular basis. Let's feed all school kids. And the Before & After School program kids too. These kids are our next generation of tax payers. Let's show them how it's done.

With the captive student population attending school - Medical, Optometry, Dentistry & Psychiatry should be part of each school FREE to each student. Everyone would get the services they need at school! Parents wouldn't have to lose a day of work & the student a day of school. What a wasted opportunity an empty school is.

Back to My Life

Still coughing but everything is moving along as it should. Managed to get out to work full days on Friday & Saturday without any problems except that I'm still falling asleep when I sit down!! Can't bring myself to open the bills yet but Tax Season is starting so it will all work out in the end. Today, I did nothing! I slept in & ate breakfast at noon. Watched a little TV & caught up on a few things. Like taking pictures of a couple of things in progress. Like that Poncho Pullover from Cabin Fever. I'm using Briggs & Little Heritage one needle size larger than the pattern calls for. My swatch snugged up when I washed it in the sink & then tossed it in the dryer on cool for a few minutes. I liked the fabric I got with the smaller needle before I washed the swatch but preferred the swatch with the larger needle after washing so, it's a little loose as I knit but I know that will change when it's washed the first time. And this stuff has to be washed!! It's dusty & should've been soaked BEFORE I balled it all but it sticks to itself in the skein when washed & I've had a terrible time pulling the sock weight skeins apart never mind a dozen or so big worsted skeins!!! So I shook it & thwacked it against the porch poles outside a few times before winding it up & it'll get a nice soak & spin in the washer before I wear it . . . The rain was soaking the whole patio so I had to take this pic in the bathroom with all the Daylight bulbs. Another couple of inches & I'll be blocking off the sleeves. I intend to add some cheeky fringe on the bottom too.

April is the month of birthdays at work. Three out of the five of us have April birthdays & one is in May. Three Aries & a Taurus manage to work very well together believe it or not. Lucky for me that all three of my compatriots have decided they love my socks. I have no problems shopping for any of them - Taurus is dull as dirt & only wears 'traditional' footwear in monochromatic 'manly' colors. The other two are Aries Adventurers with no real hangups, color phobias, personality problems, tics, twitches or unexpected public exhibitionistic tendencies - except in socks - who will wear anything that comes off my needles. I love them all & am doing my best to see they're all happy again this year!!

Mr Taurus is getting socks in the Regia Jet Set colorway in dark blue. This is about as monochromatic as I get. It varies a little from almost black to a lighter blue but it's basically DARK BLUE. I have a few more balls of Regia Jet Set in the sock basket only because I got it on sale. The Ex loves the darker socks too so he gets a pair or two every year as well. I don't tend to knit too many for him though since he wears a size 13WWWWW & I need THREE 50 gm balls for him. The Taurus sock is reclining on my new Ravelry Sock Bag under the Daylight bulbs in my bathroom so you can see the real color of this sock yarn.

Still Coughing, Still Snuffling


I think I'm gonna live! Yes, I'm still wheezing, coughing & snuffling but it's mostly in the mornings when I first get up. I'm singing the praises of Benylin's Mucus & Phlegm which I found on Monday when I dragged myself to the drugstore. I was really afraid I was on the verge of pneumonia especially since I didn't even have the energy to knit after a coughing fit. Not a good thing when you're single!! The Benylin really did the trick. One dose got everything moving, I can now cough almost like a normal person & my lungs are relatively clear. Yesterday, I actually went to work for a partial day. I have to admit I was exhausted, sweating & falling asleep by the time I got home but I believe I'm on the mend at last. This is no bug to fool around with folks but I think I've survived the worst of it.

Today I'm going to the Newton job with the dogs. I don't have to deal with the public there, I can work at my own pace & leave when I'm tired. Gotta take it while I can!! I really really miss the pooches. And, if I survive that, I'm going to Starbucks to work on that Boss Birthday Sock . . .

It's Monday

Woohoo. I survived the week. I left messages on a couple of phones saying I would be borrowing money for the bills when I get mobile because I just don't have the strength to go to work right now. Got up at 7 yesterday, rounded up all the dirty socks, undies & towels - I haven't been dressed in anything but a ratty Tee & shorts all week but I ran out of socks & undies - threw em all in the wash! I had to go to bed around 2 because I was exhausted. Stop scratching your head - you don't understand. I have to wash all the cups & glasses in the sink, clear the counter, pull out the washer, drag it to the kitchen sink, attach it to the spout, load it, unload it, un-attach it, drag it back to its corner when its done working & then plug in the dryer where the washer plugged in & put small loads of wet clothes into it. Socks get hung up in pairs. I rounded up all the boxes & bags of used cushie TP, tied them up & stacked for easy disposal on Monday, garbage day. Took a shower & went back to bed for 4 hours! Food?? too damned tired. Got up & ate three bananas. Dryer's still plugged in so I can't use the stove & who cares anyway. I want Won Ton Soup & don't have any. Drank 96 ounces of peach iced Tea while I watched TV & fell into bed before midnight. Oh, and I managed to turn the heel on the current Birthday sock. Production.

Got up Monday morning. Chest so gluey I couldn't stop trying to cough. I was like an old lawnmower that you have to pull start 100 times to get it going. When everything finally caught, someone ripped out part of a lung with that last yank . . . & I was exhausted all over again. Nope, this ain't pneumonia yet but if I don't get that crap moving, it will be. Been trying to sit up as many hours as I can so I DON'T get pneumonia but it's been tough. Finally got my ass in gear & went to the drugstore to buy the MUCUS REMOVER. Bloody terrible tasting stuff. By the time I got home, I was ready for bed once more. Woo Hoo. So, I managed to file 13 T5018s(contractor's earnings) & 1 T4 today, go to the drugstore And put out the garbage.
I Am SO TIRED of this!!

Kicked in the Butt


I've spent the last four days flat on my back wishing I was dead. It isn't a flu bug - it's a nasty cold. Nothing hurts except my chest, sinuses, nose & itchy dripping eyes. One day I was perfectly fine & in the night I woke up with this nasty crap. After pawing through my bathroom drawers, I came up with TWO night time COLD capsules - the day ones were all gone, FOUR pouches of NeoCitran that expired in 2002 & one NeoCitran cough strip that expired in 2006. Fat lot of good that stuff did! Can't go out to buy more because I look like I've been through the wars!! And I can't shut off my nasal drip except when everything suddenly backs up, blocks my sinuses completely, gives me a sneezing attack & shuts my bloodshot eyes which constantly run. Thank gawd for the 48 rolls of cushy, soft toilet tissue which has been a whole lot kinder to my nose than boxed tissue. I'm treating the cough - which feels like someone's tearing out my lung - with hot tea laced with Bailey's. The alcohol relaxes the cough & the liquid seems to soothe everything else. I just hope the Bailey's lasts for the duration!!! Donations can be left outside the door . . . .

I have to say I've felt so bad that I haven't felt like working on anything until today. Maybe that's a sign! But,this morning, I started on the heel of a sock I started last week. And that's SLOW for me. I promised cuffs to my buddy Bryan at work & the socks are the Boss's birthday present. Bryan, Chris & I all have birthdays in April or the first week of May. Both of the boys want more socks. Chris only has the one pair & I hear he keeps washing them out so he can wear them again the next day. I'll have to make sure he gets a couple more pairs. Bryan has several pairs but has hinted about more & Diane, our other instructor, will take any & all I produce. My work is cut out for me!

The Monkey Always Wins

This is not an entry about Crafting although I'm working on another pair of plain men's socks. This one is about the things I'm doing to improve my brain.

I've never been much of a breakfast lover even as a young kid - I'm not much improved as an old adult but I AM getting better. I prefer to eat around 11AM. I know you need the morning fuel to use your brain efficiently but putting anything but liquid in my face in the morning gags me. But, I've learned I NEED to eat in the morning for my brain!

I joined Luminosity to improve my brain. Luminosity has a whole whack of torturous little games you play on a regular basis to improve Memory, Spatial Relationships, Problem Solving, Language Building etc. Just five per session, takes about 10 minutes. Like Name Tag for instance. You're shown pictures of people & given their first names. The pictures & name tags are then turned over & you play Go Fish. You turn over one name tag & one picture at a time until they're all matched. You start with two or three & work up to nine. When I started Name Tag, I had problems remembering who was who. Now I can usually whip them off in no time - mind you, I've grown to know them. But I AM better. I'm getting better at finding my way through a Maze with Monsters because I can remember where they are most of the time. But, one game really drives me crazy. It's called Top Chimp & the Monkey always wins! You go one on one with the Monkey. Each time you are shown a group of numbers from 1 to 9 & you have to get them in order from smallest to largest. You get to chose the number of numbers each round. But the program chooses the time you get to look at them. Time is the problem. Each round shows you the time you get to look at the numbers so you can choose to add or subtract the amount. My problem is that my eyes don't even SEE most of the numbers when they're flashed on the board. So the Monkey always wins.

What's all this got to do with breakfast?? you ask. Well, I didn't realize how much difference food makes until I started playing Luminosity games. I can do the same series of games before breakfast & after breakfast & SEE with my own eyes, the difference it makes. I always thought I did my best brain work in the morning when I don't want to talk to anyone & exercised my people skills more after lunch when I wanted to socialize. Turns out that I'm just bitchier in the morning because I haven't eaten!! LOL I've proved it to myself in my scores on the Games. That was the first eye opener. The second is the progress I've made in memory & name recall. My graph looks like the Stock Market - there's ups & downs all over the place but overall, I've doubled my scores over the last few months! As you age, you don't lose memories, you lose the ability to access them when you want them. They're all filed away in there but the drawer either won't open or the filing system is out of whack. So I've learned that I have to eat breakfast & keep on Memory Training. After all, if you don't use it, you lose it & the Monkey wins . . .

All in a Day

I've been missing for a couple of weeks. I've been coughing, wheezing & sneezing again. It's a curious thing, but every spring a couple of weeks after I start back at the Motorcycle School, I get the Spring Crud. I figure it's exposure to Kid Germs. I get it approximately two weeks after the Motorcycle Show when Bryan & I are back working together around the beginning of February after working alone for two months. I got a similar bug last September, a couple of weeks after his kid started school. So I figure it's Kid Germs.

The big problem with Kid Germs is that they give me the neverending Cough. You've heard the commercial for the 3 Week Cough?? That's me. Add the rustic commercial yarn I'm using & I have a problem that seems to go on forever. I really like Briggs & Little yarns but they're dusty. And they shed little bits into the air as I knit. I'd forgotten about that fact until I decided to knit the Poncho Pullover. I wheeze, sneeze & hack when I'm working on it! I have to take Benadryl in order to finish knitting this darned sweater! If I had any brains at all, I'd work on it over the summer when I'm sitting outside on the patio but, NO, I want to wear the thing NOW. I'm moving rapidly to the arms but didn't use my head when I started the darker blue. I should've put another red stripe in or started it right below the red . . . . now, there's so many stitches on the needle that I really don't want to rip it back. And the actual color is a little darker than the photo. Handspun yarns are looking better & better all the time . . .

We're Wet & Moldy

Wow, with the weather being so changeable on the Wet Coast - we've gone from sub-zero to snow to slush-on-ice to Spring-is-coming - all in the space of a couple of weeks!! I work part time for Action Motorcycle School - yes, if you've ever wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle, come & take the course!!! - and the weather was so bad for the annual Motorcycle Show two weekends ago that most people didn't come. Seriously - if you've been dreaming of riding & live in the Vancouver burbs, give us a call. Training won't guarantee you a license, no one can, but it will guarantee a SAFER experience. And you'll probably see my socks on a couple of the Instructors!!

But, back to the weather - as usual, it's our changeable weather that makes knitted sweaters so necessary in our climate but so hard to gauge. Right now I'm knitting away on my Arvik Ribbons sweater, using the Ribbons-o-Round pattern from Knitter's. It's light & airy - it has another colored stripe since this was taken - but warm since it's woolen spun with not too much twist so it holds air for insulation. That's all fine & good but if the wind blows or a downpour occurs, I'll freeze & soak my butt!! What I need right now is something in a good worsted wool that will keep me warm when the wind blows or mostly dry when the rain comes pelting down. Why oh why didn't I knit an Indian Sweater for myself instead of someone else?? Or another Wonderful Wallaby in wool for me??? Or get it in gear with the Poncho Pullover??
This brings me back to unfinished projects - I'm a great starter but a lousy finisher. This is why I knit socks. They're small, portable & done before I get bored. Unless they're black, grey, brown or one solid color - then I get bored really, really fast. Because I'm a Starter, I have three sweaters on the go for myself & nothing to wear. So, you heard it here folks. Arvik, which is a couple of rows from the armhole shaping, will become my new car knitting - it's been going to Bucks for a couple of weeks anyway - and I'll get myself back to the barely started Poncho Pullover while I watch TV - if I have TV after this week. Maybe, I'll actually have TWO sweaters this year??? Since I have to recharge the camera before I can take any new pics, you'll just have to look at the old ones . . .

A Little Progress


I haven't been doing a lot of work on the Arvik Ribbons sweater. I've been finishing off all the sock toes & sorting leftovers that carpet the couch I want to move. I keep thinking about being able to lay on that couch & have a nap when I get home instead of nodding off while sitting in the chair. The kids & I used to laugh at our mother when she'd sit down to watch the news at 6:00 & nod off. I'm turning into my mother, dammit. I sit & nod off.

The sock toes are done, the last pair of Christmas socks have been given away, the pink Kroy socks are in my basket & I had time today while watching Downton Abbey to knit on my sweater. Before adding another rosy stripe, I decided to try it on & check the progress only to find I have another 3 or so inches to go. I have to figure out where the sleeves will go & have decided I'd prefer narrow three quarter sleeves. This will be a light but warm sweater for spring, summer evenings & early fall chills. I hope the handspun won't be too warm.

Something to Show

As I said the other day, I've been trying to recover from staying up all night & the terrible wound to my credit card. I think I'm finally over the shock of both but its now official, I've spent more on parts & repairs than I paid to purchase the Van! As a result, I'm doing more work for people I thought I'd gotten rid of last year. After doing nothing for months & months, they now need all the paperwork done, yesterday. Cut's into my fibre time this does!! But, I did almost finish a couple of my on-going projects.

My Motorcycle School Boss asked for Socks. I've worked with him for over 20 years & this is the first time he's ever really even LOOKED at my socks! And now he wants some. Everyone else in the office has a pair of the wild Regia socks in the FLAGS series like these! I got a good deal on the yarn so I bought a bunch. Chris is rather conservative. He would never wear socks like these. While Bryan & Diane, well, the wilder, the better!! They wear theirs with shorts out in the parking lot when they're teaching students to ride. But, Chris wears plain white dull cotton socks . . . . So, I cast on this plain, boring, brownish-grey Regia in early December for his Christmas gift. Boring yarn takes so long to knit. And I hate boring yarn. I found myself unable to put on more that a few rows at a time & had to knit another pair of Pink KROY socks for myself at the same time to give myself incentive. Tonight, I'll 3 needle bind-off all the toes, tuck in all the ends & proceed to spend the rest of my evening on my new top-down sweater in handspun. Must get it finished quickly because I've found a new way of knitting sleeves in a top-down sweater called "Contiguous". It gives you that fitted shoulder/sleeve without the diagonal raglan look & the sleeves can be made wider or narrower without changing the body sizing of the sweater. Sort of like knitting gussets on the side of the heel AS you knit the flap instead of picking up the gusset stitches AFTER you knit the flap.

Yeah, yeah, yeah . . .


I know, been missing for a while. Nothing to report! Oh, yeah, there's one thing to report - my van is now in full working order, with no drips, no leaks. But, my poor plastic card is badly wounded. You know the old saw, One Step forward & Two Steps back?? Well, I'm Two Steps Back - Again!

In the end, after buying everything that might be needed, I needed MOST of it. Dave only works at night & my repairs took 7 hours! I arrived shortly before 8 & left about 3:30. In the AM. FOUR hours before I had to get up to go back to work. I debated about whether I was more tired or more hungry. Sleep won. And worked the next four days in a stupor. I'm too damned old to stay up all night! And if I didn't need that damned van for work . . . needless to say, all my spare cash this tax season will be paying down the credit card. And no, Dave's not a bad mechanic or a rip off - the bolts in the water pump were frozen. Some of the rad bolts were also frozen. I'm so glad he got the job because he's meticulous, he heated them, lubricated them, wiggled them, heated them again & eventually worked them loose. While the rad was the right one, he had to drill new holes in the frame to make it fit. It took 2 hours to unscrew/unbolt/undo all the bits to get to the job & one more to get it all back together again after the bolts were dealt with. I know, I was there.

So, I haven't knitted much of anything because I've been too damned tired. After staring at computer screens all day, well, I've been staggering home, eating something, sitting up like a Zombie for a couple of hours & going to bed. But the van runs like a charm.

It's been a Hellova Day

Life is NOT good at the moment. My radiator has been leaking since I got the Van. Not a biggie, I just check it once a week & fill up what's lost. To tell the truth, I thought it was the wonky Air Conditioner/heater module that was causing the system to use extra water! So, I notice I'm filling up more often with more water. Then it gets cold & I'm down to checking it every morning before I start it up - some mornings it needs a little & some mornings it needs a lot. So, I travel with three gallons of water & two of antifreeze & don't go too far. I know, I know, antifreeze is not really very good for the environment. But, I've had the hoses checked. And the clamps replaced. And the water pump checked. And the rad pressure checked - there's a small leak for sure - but no one can find it. The thermostat is fine. Apparently there's a sender unit in there somewhere but no one can tell me anything unless they charge me 4 hours to tear it all out. I threw in the towel today & ordered a water pump & new rad. My customer, the machine shop guy who builds his own equipment, says it's probably the plastic reservoir inside the rad that's become fatigued & cracked. Plastic??? Inside the rad?? It can't be fixed, the rad has to go. So, tomorrow evening, I will be in his shop getting it all checked out. To save time & money, I'm taking all the parts he thinks I may need to replace. I hope this fixes the leak.

And why wasn't I in the shop today?? Two reasons. One, an SUV beat me to it & because of the terrible conditions on the highway yesterday, the new tranny was still up the Valley till this morning. Two, I went to bed with a book & a big pile of pillows last night & fell asleep. Woke up with a pinched nerve that left me unable to turn my head to the right or lift my right arm without unbelievable pain in my upper back. I took drugs - where are illegal narcotics when you really need them?? - & went back to bed to sleep or die. I didn't really care which at the time.

Just a little Eye Candy


I'd forgotten how SOFT the handspun Shetland yarn is. It's like a cloud & yet it still has a lot of lanolin in it. This fleece - from a sheep named Arvik who has gone to the big pasture in the sky - was a patchwork of greys. I fell in love & bought her last two or three fleeces. At first, I divided up the colors but there just wasn't enough of any one color to do much so I just spun it up as it came. The greys range from very light to almost black with some brownish grey in there too. The pinks are hand dyed by a local artist somewhere in Washington State. I got the roving as a gift & it ranges from acid pink to a pinky chocolate - fun to spin & seems to work well with Arvik.

I'm using the top down technique from the Ribbon-O-Round sweater in the new Winter Knitter's. I thought it looked interesting - knit 2, yo - as increase rows instead of the usual rigid raglan style. I'm hoping this will work out better for my very large Apple shape that needs more width in body & a whole lot less in sleeve! So far it's almost a mindless knit except for making sure I knit BOTH strands when I make a stitch.


Other than that, still staggering if I get up too fast & definitely overworked this week. Somehow I even lost a day! I'm picking up mail, banking the cheques, pounding on the computer & hanging out with Pooches. The Pooches are happy & sad this week because a family member is sleeping over while their humans are away. He likes them but won't let them sleep or cuddle with him - he's a bit of a clean freak. He drags them out for a mile before breakfast & another before lunch & then is gone for the afternoon. I show up just after lunch, cuddle them, give treats & throw the balls for them outside. They usually SLEEP most of the afternoon while I work until he appears around 7 to drag them - quite unwilling by now - out for another mile before he & they settle in for the evening. They're too tired to chew anything up, bark & get into trouble. After all, they've gone from a walk around the block every evening if the weather isn't too bad to THREE miles a day plus afternoon fetch. And that fat little Daisy has visibly lost weight!

A New Project

Remember these??? Yeah, I can hear the hooting from here! Risen from the ashes - actually from the hodge podge on the BT's crappy old couch - a new project from the remains of several others. I've been slogging through work while wishing to be home in bed & dropping into my chair to veg in front of the tube for a couple of hours when I get home at night. Now some vegging is okay but I found myself NEEDING to do something while staring at that 14" black hole before falling into bed. I NEEDED something relatively mindless without any charts, complex instructions or certain way of doing things. And I needed it to be forgiving & have limited pieces to work with - socks are beyond me right now. I HAD been looking at a pile of Knitter's & Interweave Knitting mags - there's always a whole stack on the container in front of me that's supposed to hold garbage but ended up as a side table - and a couple of things jumped out at me. I've been wanting something light - nothing heavy that you can only wear two weeks of the year on the Wet Coast - something relatively mindless that can ride in the car as "waiting" knitting & go to Starbucks to coffee with the boys. And nothing white or pastel since I don't want to be washing WOOL every second day!! And I think I found it. I think I'll even be able to use up some of my leftovers - yeah, it's handspun leftovers on my Denise circs!!

No pictures, no promises


I AM vertical even though I'd prefer to be horizontal. Not much knitting going on these days but I did make it to Starbucks last night for a large, Skinny Mocha with my techie buddy Steve. Steve's usually ALWAYS ready for a trip to Starbucks unless he's only just come home & still has a full cup in his hand. He & my other Tech buddy Kelly are flashing their new Starbucks Aps to make me feel old & dumb. Well, phooey to both of you - I just LOVE my new Starbucks Chinese New Year CARD which is very difficult to photograph! Is it me or my camera?? Probably me. I keep getting the shakes or the fuzzies . . .

So, even though I feel like hell, I've been working my brains out at the office with the pooches. The pooches' Owners have been sick too - She's been flat on her tush for the last 3 out of 4 days & actually got dressed yesterday while He's slowly been getting worse & now has the cough. They're leaving this morning for the Caribbean for a 10 day cruise - I'll bet they spend most of it sleeping in a deck chair!! Meanwhile, I've been there every day banging on the keyboard, sending out paperwork, doing payroll at the last minute & trying my best to function. While they're gone, I'll be in charge of cuddling!! And bank deposits. Hallelujah!

Everybody is spinning &/or knitting with quivet these days. It seems to have become the fibre of the minute!! I haven't played with quivet yet but it seems to be very much like camel down which was available but quite expensive waaaaaaay back there when Romney Wools was in Vancouver. I loved Romney Wools. They had bins of local fleeces, fleeces from New Zealand, silk bricks from China, silk cocoons, nylon & raimie rovings, mysterious little bags of curls, red, blue & yellow wool rovings for blending, raw materials for dyeing like chrome, tin, iron etc which are considered toxic today!! I bought a lot of tussah silk & raime rovings & still have a bin full of the toxic 'natural' dye stuff I need to get rid of. One of the things they stocked was camel down. Still had the dandruff in it too! You had to separate the coarse hairs from it yourself & blend it with wool to get a very soft, yummy yarn. It was just too expensive to use on its own. Once I remember a down/silk/wool blend available in roving form - I still have a sample in my knit book!! A tiny 2" sample!! I bought enough to try but it was gone when I returned & they were never able to get any more in. I always wanted more so when quivit hit the market, I wanted some of that too. But the price, well, I decided I'd have to live without it.

Now my new husband - we're talking 20+ years ago here - & I went visiting my parents who hauled us off to the Okanagan Game Farm just down the road. We took huge bags of veggies - mom cleaned out the fridge & the excess in the garden too - because we were allowed to feed the animals but didn't want to pay for the little bits the dispensers gave out. The big male Giraffe sure knew a grocery bag when he saw one, the pig. He actually laid his head on my shoulder so his lips were closer to the bag & tried to muscle out the female & baby!! He loved the wrinkled celery!! And potatoes too. Now the Game Farm had several Musk Oxen & they were shedding huge slabs of hair. They looked really strange with them hanging on their sides & spent a lot of time rubbing against the posts in the centre of the compound. Now I, being a spinner, was interested in all the fur/feathers/hair dropped by all the animals in the pens but was not allowed in . So, when a muskox drifted over to see what we had in the bag, I offered goodies with one hand while tugging on his fur with the other. Oooops. Wrong thing to do. He charged the fence. We got out of there quickly. And the new husband & old parents wouldn't let me near another animal except the Giraffe. Damn.

Rubbing the Shine Off Already

Here it is, a nice, bright, shiny New Year & the shit starts hitting the fan already. I have three tax returns to finish - just couldn't get it in gear over the holidays to save my life. And I've got an ear infection - which explains the headaches I've had for that last few days - which has given me a sinus infection - blow, drip, blow, snuffle, sneeze, drip, blow. So, my eyes are puffy, the nose is red & my damn ear is sticky, yuck. Good thing dogs love ya no matter how bad you look - especially if you have treats. And then there's those tax returns . . .

Haven't felt much like knitting the last day or so - yesterday I slept in for some reason, see above - but did put a few rows on one sock project. I started the pink Kroy socks but got sidetracked when I had to churn out another pair of socks for my Motorcycle School Boss. But I got back to them this past weekend & turned the heels on both. I thought I took a picture of them with the heels turned but apparently I didn't. Oh well . . . trust me, I'm well on the way to the toes on one & decreasing for toes on the other!! Actually, I'm to the part where I start sweating because it looks like I won't have enough yarn to finish - as usual!!

The last pair of Christmas Sox have their heels turned & are at the toe decreases as well. They've taken a while to knit because they're ugly. And plain. I've always said that ugly socks take longer to knit than crazy socks. And these ones took some time. Yeah, I know they're not BLACK socks & they DO have some variation to them but they're still plain as a mud fence!! I like wild & crazy socks. But, since I won't be seeing Chris till later this week or next week I have a little more time to finish them. I want to wear those pink ones first!!!

My Pocho Pullover has been frogged already. I started off with navy yarn, added some scarlet for fun & intended to finish with the Anniversary yarn which is a barber pole of light & dark blue. Well, I took it to the Wednesday Nite Nitters & asked what THEY thought because it wasn't looking quite right somehow & I really didn't want to start over. We all agreed that the dark top with the lighter bottom did not look nearly as good as the lighter top with the darker bottom. The dark blue is a little purple while the lighter blue is definitely in the same denim family, just faded. You see the difference quite well in the two photos. The one with the red in it is the one I am NOW making! So I frogged it & wound it into nice centre pull balls once more. Hopefully, this will be the last time it gets frogged. Other than color choice, I think the pattern is a cinch & could be knit by any rank beginner with one hand!!

Postscript - For those who don't know who the BT is/was. I tend to be a serial monogamist & he was the 2000's man, commonly referred to as the BoyToy or BT because he was younger.