Cross Eyed & Pole Axed

It's been a hellofa week of hard slogging through boxes of paper. I've squeezed that stapler so often that my right hand aches like an infected tooth. I can't even staple one-handed any more. But, by gum kiddies, I do believe I can see the bottom of the second box. With all my piles neatly organized, labeled, added, sorted & itemized, I can get back to the important things in life - knitting & spinning.

The Dirt Magnet has now taken possession of his new sweater. The body bottom is black which his dad appreciated since the kid might be able to wear it for an extra day before it hits the wash.
Another friend just had a longed for baby girl last Thursday - God, are they tiny when they're a day or two old!!! with tiny, tiny feet!! So, I have to make a pair of socks for those feet. I think, I'll make a pair of l-o-n-g baby frankensocks for fun. I believe I've got lots of nice baby colors tucked away in the Pink/Purple bag of leftovers - mom & dad had her decked out in Pink, already. But frankensocks go with everything!! bwahahah

And, while sitting shell-shocked in my chair after my marathon project was done, I decided to pull out a sweater I started THREE YEARS ago for myself in a Mule Spun wool called Mulberry Heather. The yarn is quite rustic - I'm pulling out bits of straw as I sloooooly knit with aching hands - and quite greasy - but I'm sure that will change when it gets it's bath at the end. I'm using the Cabin Fever pattern, 'Lace Frock Vest' from the "Need a Plus Sized Cardigan" book. I believe the 'Lace Frock' is also available as a single pattern on Patternfish as well. I'm going to wear it over a long sleeved shirt for extra warmth in my office. I had finished  the basic yoke almost to the arm area but hadn't split the arms from the main body when it got stuffed into a bag & forgotten. While looking for more colored acrylic to finish the Dirt Magnet sweater, I found the bag with my Mulberry yarn in it. It was meant to be.

Let Us Not Forget

Two Weeks Since Surgery

Tomorrow, it will be two weeks since my voice operation. I'm still swollen & bruised but it's fading quickly into yellow & green. Tomorrow I see the surgeon for my official unveiling - the surgical tape comes off!! It will be nice to have a proper shower again!! And I'm still a little raspy but it's coming along very well. I don't think I'd want to answer phones all day just yet but it's nice to have a voice in the proper octave again.

The Dirt Magnet Wallaby is just about done. I ripped off the hood & some of the yoke a couple of days ago because I thought the yoke looked a little shorter than it should. Since I'm working with yarn that's thicker than usual, the decrease count is off. So, I frogged it back a bit, added about an inch to the yoke & then back to the hood. I figure I need another couple of inches on the hood & I'll be done. In the meantime, I tucked in all the ends & closed one of the underarm openings while I watched NCIS-New Orleans last night.

Just Right

My hands have really been feeling the chill in the air. The landlord & I do battle every year about this time as to when the furnace should be turned on. Neither of us wants to wimp out & be the first - he doesn't want to spend the money & I don't want to cope with my allergies. But, I feel the cold in my hands long before I feel it anywhere else - except when I'm getting out of the shower. And why do we play this game???  I've lived most of my life with radiant heat which doesn't cause my allergies to flare up. Every fall when the damn furnace comes on, I have to suffer for a couple of weeks until I get used to all the dust flying around. I'd rather postpone turning it on & wear a sweater for a while than deal with allergies. So every fall about this time, I get out the wrist warmers & wool sweater to keep me warm in my cool office. Eventually, he gets too many complaints from the family & turns it on. LOL

Too Big

This year, I decided to knit myself a pair of l-o-n-g fingerless mitts to keep my hands & thumbs warm. My hands give me hell in the damp weather. I've overused them most of my life so I guess this is payback. Since I'm still overusing them, I thought I'd wrap them in wool to see if it would help. I fell in love with the Ringwood stitch when Knitty published the Ringwood Gloves pattern. It's so easy to knit!! And so stretchy!!! I thought it would make a lovely pair of mitts for me to work in. I didn't swatch in the yarn I wanted to use so my first mitt was way too big. Let that be a lesson - swatch, swatch, swatch!! So I made the second one a lot smaller. And it fits like, well, like a glove!!

The First Week With a Voice

I've survived my first week post-surgery. My voice is still raspy - they SAID it would

take at least a couple of weeks for the swelling to go down & the healing process to finish but you know how we want everything NOW. I couldn't drive for a few days - still suffering from a stiff neck & headache on the left side if I did too much turning. So, breakfast OUT on Wednesday was a real treat!! My Ex slyly gave me an envelope with November's rent money in it so I wouldn't have to worry about getting back to work so soon. And the cook in my favorite cafe bought my breakfast to celebrate!!! It was like a Birthday!!

Everyone stared at my neck. I knew they would. No point in trying to cover it - like I have anything anyway - so I wore a bright pink tee under my purple fleece jacket & called it an accessory. The colors all matched nicely. With a little eye shadow & some Dracula Phangs, I could attend any Hallowe'en party this year. But, I think I'll stay home & watch the Home & Garden channel & finish a sweater instead.

My Dirt Magnet Wallaby is almost finished. I had very little Blue left but lots of Red & Yellow & Black. So, it won't match but the colors are similar to little Brother - enough so Mom will be happy with the pictures.


My Niece wants l-o-n-g wrist warmers. I'm not exactly sure what she means by that but I'm assuming she wants fingerless gloves - I hope that's what she means. Anyway, I found some lovely THICK merino - I have four 25gr balls of it - that knits up quickly. It's a yellowy brown color I believe they call Tobacco. It's a color only a Fall color lover could love. I cast-on 36 stitches & worked K2P2 ribbing for about 7 inches & then did a double YO to make a thumb hole & K2P2 into the YO on the next round to make it slightly larger for the hand. She can wear them as fingerless gloves or turn them around for wrist warmers.

How Sharon Got her Voice Back

I sucked it up & made it to my surgery. I decided I was sick & tired of my squeaky half voice, the shortness of breath & the constant coughing that has been my lot for the last three years since my left vocal chord got attacked my a flu virus. Yes, Virginia, the flu can render you voiceless. 

For a person who has talked too much since she learned to talk, it's had a devastating effect on my life & personality. I've become a home bound recluse with a shrinking world. I stopped trying new things & even stopped going to most of the places I once hung out. Why go if you can't talk?? Or you cough all the time. Either everyone hears my squeek or no one can. It's been a trial so I just stayed home.

So, I had the surgery on Thursday. It was a lot easier than I thought - the most painful part was giving up my nice warm socks to wear those horrible green things!!! The absolutely worst part of the whole thing was the 18 hours I spent in 'Recovery' with all the beeps, blips, noise etc. I started out in Day Surgery & ended up transferred to the main Hospital. I was too well for Recovery but they were concerned about my breathing. The surgeon DID have to work to jam in a large implant because the smaller one gave me no voice at all, so I had a lot more swelling. After an overnight in 'Recovery', I demanded to be released & came home.

I was so happy to be here, I ate yogurt, drank hot tea & fell into bed for the best nap I've ever had. I don't care what anyone says, you can have the best care in the world by the best nurses in the world - and they were pretty damned good in both hospitals I was in - but there's nothing like your OWN bed, your OWN bathroom & silence.

I'm in Trouble Now

Remember my last Wallaby?? The one for the Dirt Magnet?
Well, I sent it home with his dad on the 15th to be tried on to confirm it was the right size before I started the one for his younger brother. Since I've never seen the kids in person, I'm knitting from general

descriptions & their father's estimates of size. The smart knitter makes one & then checks to see if the other one needs to be larger or smaller before casting-on once more. Dad figured the current sweater would fit the Dirt Magnet to a T. Well, the best laid plans .  .  .  the younger boy met dad at the door, snagged the sweater, tried it on & hasn't taken it off. Apparently it was funny the first couple of days but now it isn't so much. While they can get it off at bedtime, it goes under the pillow until morning. He loves it. The bigger boy is not too happy but has been kept at bay with promises that his sweater is coming. Mom wants another one exactly the same for pictures. That should be fun. The yarn is no longer made & what's left in the bag is all there is. I never intended both sweaters to be the same. OOOOps.

And I almost canceled my surgery for Thursday. After being sick as a dawg last Thursday night & most of the weekend, I managed to get dressed yesterday but was too weak & dizzy to get further than my patio chair. I did drink a lot as advised & even slurped up some chicken soup before falling back into bed. Got up this morning feeling clear headed & able to function. Finally. If I had to be sick, I'm glad it was this last week & not the day after surgery!! Beware everyone. This one came right out of left field with no warning other than a stomach ache.

On & Off the Needles

My Wallaby is done. I changed it up a little with the top of the yoke & the hood in garter stitch for a change.  It was a fun knit as usual but my fingers are not appreciating the fun this time around - both of my forefingers & my right middle finger have decided they don't want to participate in anything. It's like having a tooth that won't let you eat. I suspect it's all the misuse I've been giving them in the office .  .  .  . 

Cold doesn't make my fingers any happier either so I decided to knit myself a nice pair of loooong fingerless gloves. What I really want is a pair that goes up to the elbow & down to each of my fingers to the first joint. But I need a pair now. So these ones will only go a few inches beyond the wrist & be open to the first joint. The nice red yarn is Kroy & I'm using the ultra-stretchy Ringwood stitch to do them. I love the Ringwood stitch. I first learned about it on Knitty when I saw the pattern for the Ringwood gloves. Although I loved those gloves, I decided fingerless gloves were far more useful. Long fingerless gloves, that is. And while I said I wanted fingerless - what I really mean is fingertip less. I want them to have knitted fingers with open ends to keep my aching joints happy. This is only the first

incarnation. It turned out to be too big & too loose. It is warm though but too bulky to wear while using my keyboard which is one of the places I need to use it. I think I'll just make the next one smaller & see what happens. Back to the needles!!!  You know .   .   .  this pattern would make a terrific sock  .   .   .   .

Just Another Long Weekend

I knew Thanksgiving - we in Canada celebrate in October - was coming up but didn't know exactly when until yesterday. I can blame the last few weeks for my memory loss, I guess, because it's been February all over again. Sharon's taxi has been running the Ex all over town this past couple of weeks for tests, more tests, surgery on his right eye & the post surgery appointments. I've been making sure he's okay, taking him out for soup & salad every couple of days & picking up groceries. And then finishing my big project of course. So I think it's fair to understand why I tend to forget unimportant stuff. In the end, Thanksgiving has become just another Expensive Commercialized Celebration that makes no sense to those of us who are barely scraping by.
Yes, I have the Ex, but he's still recovering from surgery & his eyes tire quickly. He just wants to stay home where it's quiet & nap when he needs to. I suspect he'll want to go out for a Chinese lunch on Sunday but that'll be it for him. So, I'll finish up this project & listen to 'The Martian' instead.

As I've mentioned many times before, I'm a big fan of Audible. I got myself a membership for Christmas back in 2002 because I loved listening while I sorted paperwork. I also love listening while I knit or spin. It's a purchase I've appreciated all these years & my library is very large today. I like Thrillers & Mysteries the best but I venture off into other things when the mood hits me & have a little bit of everything from History to Anne of Green Gables.
I bought 'The Martian' last year but never listened to it!!! Great book so far!!! I'm about halfway through & our Hero has had a series of setbacks. Is he freaking out??? He swore a whole lot & then got to work to figure out how to save himself. I love the log entry that starts, "today I killed myself." People talk about McGiver, this guy can give him a run for the money. If I have to be stuck anywhere after the end of the world as we know it, I want to be stuck with Our Hero. Read the book or listen to it. It's science, it's survival, it's laughter & it's tragedy. And a hellova big adventure as well.

Knitting content - the second Wallaby is almost finished. I just have another couple of inches on the hood to complete & the armholes to close. One more to go & then I'm absolutely, positively going to complete that top-down V-neck cardigan I started for myself eons ago & never finished. I intend to to so before Christmas.

One Down, Two to Go

The last three weeks have been the weeks from Hell in some ways but they've also been quite productive in others. My mountain of paper in ziplock bags has been tamed into neat, labeled & added bundles of information. I have arranged them into four big, thick files - one for each year! Now the fun begins. And I get to do the magic that reduces it all into a few concise pages of information. This is the part I really like. Well, besides getting paid, that is . . . .   Then it's on to the next one. 
 When I set up this office, I should've planned for a desk to extend around on two walls with storage shelves above for boxes & garbage boxes below. Sort of a big, L- shaped thing with everything tucked above & below instead of the cluttered arrangement it has become. I have a shredder on a bag-buddy in the middle of the floor. What's a bag-buddy???? It's a metal contraption that holds a giant bag up in your yard so you can fill it with leaves in the fall. I fill one with paper shreds. And two dead printers. And a 30 year old, 70lb copier that I can't use. Yes, it works but I have nowhere to put it. I really must reorganize.
I went to client sites, some after hours or on Sundays to do my work when I started out. I never intended to work full time out of an 8 x 10 room. Mind you, it has it's advantages, while you're fighting the traffic & weather to come & go from work - I'm safe & warm in my sweats with a big cup of tea. I listen to audio books while I work. And I can shut 'er down any time to have a nap, watch a favorite show or do my dishes. And I can do the wash, cook dinner & work at the same time. The problem is loneliness. And isolation. And chasing payment sometimes.

But I can knit at work. I can take spinning breaks & watch the 'Tea Time' British series on PBS at 3:00. And I've been trying to work on my Wallaby. Finished the arms & the

pouch fusion & am now working up the body to the yoke. This Patons 'Canadiana'  worsted is tough to knit with. It's heavy & dead & hard on the hands. I can see it better used with a large crochet hook to make rugs & fruit bowls instead of a child's sweater. And my hands agree. Knitting with the stuff makes my wrists ache & the heels of my hands burn. But, the kid I'm knitting for destroys everything else. So? What do you do???  I'll be very grateful when I can return to wool again. So soft & so alive in the hands. I have to say that working with natural fibre is a luxury that acrylic can never duplicate. And working with handspun fibre becomes a sensual experience that spoils you completely.

Do it until You go Blind

I've taken on a couple of projects that really require a 50 foot table & an industrial stapler. I suppose I should feel lucky that I have only two years to sort for the first project. And four years for the second with some of it sorted into same year, same thing in zip locks. It's still a horrendous job, sorting, batching, adding them up, adding up the GST, writing the type of expense, year & percentage on the tape before trying to get the stapler to punch through it all. I have multiple batches for Materials & Supplies, fuel, Small Tools etc & then they have to be added up before they're fed into the tax forms. Sigh .   .   .   I'd rather be knitting.

I've even relearned the joys of the Slow Cooker while I've been so busy. Chicken & yams  with Mushroom soup. Pork sirloin with potatoes & carrots. And creme of Mushroom soup. LOL  How did we live before creme of Mushroom soup??? I just don't have the time or energy to stand around in the kitchen chopping or mixing. Into the crock pot with it!!!!

And the first Wallaby is finished. Done. The hood was bound off last evening before I fell asleep in my chair in front of the tube. Haven't seen much of that tube in the last week or so because I fall asleep if I'm not knitting, eating, adding or stapling. But, the first sweater is done & in the Gift Box. Now, onto #2. Size 4 long, in acrylic in rainbow colors so his mom can find him in a crowd when he runs - cause that's the only speed he has until he falls down into bed. And I'd give you a picture except that the damned camera needs to be recharged .   .   .   .

Wonderful Wallaby Time

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to knit a kid's size Wonderful Wallaby!!! They knit up so fast. And it's fun to find & use up all the leftovers. I found 4 balls of gold, a ball of brown/tan variegated, half a ball of blue variegated, a navy ball & a bit of red. So it's all going into the same sweater I think. I wish it was all in bright colors but it's the last of the donated Pittsburgh yarn & it doesn't go with anything else. It's soft & 40% wool & can't be combined with the harder acrylic so it is what it is .   .    .    . It was going to go to one of my dirty little boys but it has too much wool in it to be washed daily. But, there's a kid out there who will love it. I have enough red for one stripe in the yoke & I put blue on one arm for fun.

The next Wallaby is for the Kid Who Destroys Clothes. He's almost 4 & doesn't stop moving. If energy could conquer the world, he would own it all. And he's also a dirt magnet. This is the kid that gets undressed in front on the washer because nothing can be worn twice. His mom sometimes undresses him twice a day in front of the washer .  .  .  Until I can find yarn that sheds dirt, he gets acrylic because it will be washed constantly. I think I'll make the body one solid color & stripe the sleeves & yoke. Kids love lots of color even when some moms would prefer black or dirty brown. This time around I'm going to be smarter too, I'm knitting TWO Wallabies for him so he doesn't have to wait in front of the dryer for his sweater before he can go outside.

I successfully finished my 'Snakes and Ladders socks' test knit. Although I was only required to knit one sock, I knit them both so I'd have a pair to pass on to someone with cold feet. They're not large enough for my feet but I know someone will love them. I have enough yarn left over to make some matching wrist warmers as well. I think the pattern will look great on wrist warmers where you can actually SEE it. The pattern is easy to knit, the written directions are clear & the chart is easy to follow. The best part is that the pattern is up on Ravelry & it's FREE.

So what's up next??? Well, my poor fingers are feeling the change in the weather & I've been spending DAYS sorting paper into bunches & adding them up for a client, so I'm ready for a simple knit or two. Especially since I have 5 more boxes of paperwork to sort & add. So I've cast-on for a child's size 4 Wonderful Wallaby. I like the Wallaby. I've knit many of them for charity over the years & will probably knit many more before I'm done. Although I prefer to use a wool yarn, moms of small, dirty boys want acrylic yarns that can be washed over & over again. The two dirty little boys I'm currently knitting for are really hard on their clothes - especially the 4 year old. His mom says she undresses him in front of the washer every day before bed - clothes into the wash, kid into the bath. She claims he attracts dirt while he sleeps. So acrylic for him. She'd probably be happiest if I knit grey, brown or black for him but I think a rainbow - all the leftovers - is the way to go - I want him to wear the darned thing!!!  So, the sleeves are done & I'm working on the body of the first Wallaby in size 4.

When they're finished, I will finish my top down, V-neck, lace frock from the Cabin Fever book, 'Need a Plus Cardigan?'. I started it eons ago & life got in the way. I thought it would be really fun to make some winter lace that was practical. And I wanted a cardigan with something a little different too. I'll be making plain sleeves because I need extra warmth for my wrists & hands. The wool is a rustic worsted weight spun at Briggs & Little mills. And while I wanted a lovely RED yarn, the best I could do locally was Mullberry. Oh well. The sweater is started & I'm to the bottom of the V-neck.

Socks, Socks, Socks

I finished the first sock in my test knit. It's been years since I really followed anyone's pattern for socks other than the one in my head. Well, that's a lie, I AM still working on the Arrowhead lace socks from the Spin Off Socks book but I cast them on a couple of years ago .   .   .  and I DID try SKEW from Knitty like everyone else when it hit the net a couple of years ago too but I have YET to finish either sock. I WILL eventually, finish the Arrowhead lace because I have two pairs of my best Addi circs in each sock!!! But, as I was saying - normally, I use the pattern in my head to knit socks. Test Knitting sounds easy but it isn't - not when you have to use someone else's sock pattern 100%. Especially when you're supposed to report any problems, not fix them & carry on.

But, I finished the first sock. I only tinked it in a couple of places & ripped out the ribbing twice. But, I finished it. I did modify the sock because I wanted a longer foot so I shortened the leg to make sure I had enough yarn. I did not know the yardage of the wound cake but knew there was enough yarn for the pair as written in the pattern. I'm almost to the heel shaping on the second sock but am having no problems this time around. The heel itself is a simple garter heel with short rows. The pattern is easy to memorize & easy to follow with or without the chart - which is all I can say until the pattern is released for sale.

The Middle of August

Can you believe it??? It's the middle of August & the 'Back to School' mobs are on the move in the malls. I tried to buy a couple of packages of paper in Staples on Saturday - OMG - I backed out & vowed to come back on a Monday or Tuesday morning instead!! The place was mobbed. I hate shopping this time of year but, the bargains are tremendous. I buy paper by the box, pencil leads by the 12 pack & big D-ring binders at close to half price during 'Back to School'. Even some software is very cheap but, oh, the pain of crowds, whining kids & long line-ups.

Finished the wild Regia socks that I had on the go & cast-on another pair in a rather scruffy 4 ply green/blue/red/white stripe that I had in the bottom of my bin. Looks like a cat or dog chewed on part of a ball but there's still plenty to knit a pair of short socks. If not, I'll put a solid colored toe on them. 4 ply is lovely for winter. It's much warmer than 3 ply when you live on unheated cement floors.

I volunteered to test knit a sock design. I got a lovely, squishy merino/nylon yarn with it. It looked much too fine in the cake for the recommended needle size - the Designer even wound the skein into a centre-pull cake for me - but once I started knitting, it became loftier than expected. I have to confess that I've never used a chart to knit a pattern before, I've always followed the written description. But, the pattern is so well charted & so easy to knit that I've had no problems at all. I even learned a new heel method in the process.

At it Again

I'm at it again. Yes, the sock thing. I had planned on taking a summer sock project to the hospital with me because they make you hurry up to get there - a couple of hours EARLY - and then make you wait for surgery. So, rather than work up a nervous sweat, I thought I might as well take a project to work on. I like to get the cuff out of the way before I go - especially if I'm going to be interrupted or have to stuff it in a locker. I could use another couple of pairs of short, summer socks anyway, so these ones were on my needles for last Friday. The yarn is Regia - in their Brazil line of colors. I think every color in this yarn goes with a pair of shorts or a tee in my closet.

I'm using my usual cable cast-on, cuff down, heel with knitted gussets as you go & simple decreased toe with a three needle bindoff. I can make these socks in my sleep.

When these socks are finished, I have a sock test knit to do. Can't tell anyone anything about it until the pattern is published but I promise pictures when that happens. Then, I have to get my butt in gear for Fall. I have a couple of kid sized Wallabies to knit out of acrylic & then a Blue Wallaby in wool. Then it's on to touques for the charity box. Luckily for the homeless this year, I have a ton of black acrylic - my least favorite fibre in the world. Although I think wool would be a better choice, no one will accept them because they can't be washed in a laundromat. Curses.

Someone Else got my Cut

Well, here it is, almost time to check out of the Day Surgery at JPH. And I'm not there. At almost the last minute, I got bumped from my spot by someone who was just diagnosed with cancer. Even if I'd had a choice about it, I would've willingly given up my spot for that person. I just lost most of my voice but he/she may lose far more than that. I wish them good luck.

I, on the other hand, spent my morning running my stressed out Ex to the Motor Vehicle to renew his license.
Driver's licenses & Medical cards are being combined. Apparently we CAN keep them separated but it costs more, it's one more card to lose & both now require a picture.
My Ex went to renew his on Thursday, opted for the combo & was told he had to produce a birth certificate to verify his name. Verify his name??? Why? My birth certificate has a different name on it than my Driver's License. I'll bet yours does too. But, he had to find his birth certificate because they wouldn't renew his license without it.
He was in a panic because he couldn't find it & turned the house upsidedown yesterday. He thought he was going to lose his license. And called me 5 times in a half hour. He was so upset he couldn't even talk. Why do people DO this to Seniors???
Today, I took him to a smaller Driver's Service office on the edge of town. The only questions  asked were about restrictions, suspensions & whether he wanted the combined license. They even took a great mug shot for his new card. And the nice gal flirted with him while she processed it all. If he still can't find his birth certificate by the time he gets his new license, I told him I'd  order a new one. So then, he took me to lunch!!!

So, it turned out to be a pretty darned good day after all. Things sort of went sideways but worked out in the end as they usually do. And it's a good thing men have women around.

Spinning & Walking . . .

Green Braid

I've been trying to spin every day of the Tour de Fleece. I spun so much the first couple of days that my feet, shins, hips & hands seized up but after an application of hot shower & Ibuprofen, things were looking up. I've taken it a bit easier since & only spent one morning stiff as a board after a marathon spin. Hey, there was a terrific line-up on the Knowledge Network so I watched & spun through about 6 hours of TV. I had a maaaavelous time.



So far, I've spun up all the Neon Pink, the Green braid & now, I'm working on 4 oz of a handpainted, multicolored, BFL roving from Sunset Fibers. I actually have 2 packages of

Rainbow Roving of the Month

the roving which was the Roving of the Month last September. My friend Gail traded me hers for another monthly offering that I didn't really like. So, I will have 8 oz when it's spun up - enough to make something larger than a hat or a pair of mitts. I'm not sure what it will be in the end but it's nice to have the choice to make something else. Who knows, it may become a Stephen West scarf since the colors sure remind me of him!!

And in the meantime, I've been booked in for surgery on my throat for the morning of July 31. Oh my Gawd, I may just get a voice once again. I got to do all the prelims at the new Jim Pattison Care Centre - a real factory style assembly line experience. All my tests were pre-booked, timed, set up on the computer & all I had to do was show up with my Care Card & lay on the bed/sit in the chair. I never even signed my name or filled in a questionnaire!!  4 hours later I was spit out into the parking lot with an instruction sheet for the surgery. Other than a acres of walking  over three different floors because the elevators & my appointments were at opposite ends of the building - oh my aching knee - and the most expensive parking I've ever seen, it was a good experience with perpetually cheerful people. I'm not certain I'll be able to stomach all that cheeriness at 7AM but I guess I'll have to try. Anything for a voice again.

Spinning the Tour de Fleece

Woke up Friday morning to a cool, grey sky & the weatherman making cautious sounds about rain on the weekend. It rained Friday night & all day Saturday. It was a good day to stay inside & spin. I'm participating in the Tour de Fleece again this year but haven't spun a thing on my wheel since last year. We Spinners follow the Tour de France & challenge ourselves to spin faster & longer as we watch the Riders compete in the race. It can be a real challenge to spin every day the Riders ride, especially if you don't spin regularly or don't spin that well. Legs, feet, & hands really let you know they aren't used to the pace.

Last year my leading knee was still too sore to do much treadling so I proceeded slowly. This year, I dusted off the Suzie Pro & picked up the pace but never even thought about  how it would make my feet, Achilles tendons, hands & shins feel. Oooops, by Friday, I 

was so sore I could barely spin. They're just not used to all this treadling!! Treadling just doesn't feel much like exercise until you've been working at it for a couple of days. And I've been working hard to spin up this neon Pink - which is just about finished -  for my 'Color Craving' scarf. When this is finished, I'll spin up the greens that will go with it.

Today when I woke up, everything was seized up. Some of it from treadling and some because of the change in the weather. Drugs work. Good Thing. We've had this nice long stretch of dry weather which has been good for my body but we desperately needed the rain. It's definitely cooler outside & that rain has perked the garden right up. It looks like it also washed all the smokey gunk off my car as well. And I believe the lawn turned green overnight. It's amazing what a little rain can do.

No knitting, no socks. Spinning has taken up all my time.

Too Hot, Too Smokey

It's just been too hot to knit. It's also been too hot to spend any time in my sweatbox office. It's been too hot for the poor computer so it has to be shut down. Around 3:30 the wave of heat just pours in - it's like someone just cranked up the Blow Dryer. Not a breath of air, I shut it all down, close all the blinds & the door that faces west & go to bed for a nap. My tall, thin, oscillating fan at the foot of the bed keeps me cool & an Audio Book lulls me to sleep!! I like direct, medium air the best.

My old - doesn't oscillate anymore - fan under the TV blows directly on me as I sit in my chair to watch. So, I have two cool spots to relax in. Then it got smokey. I thought the neighbor was burning her garbage in the BBQ again because it smelled like leaves & paper. Then it got so smokey I had to keep the door closed. And so smokey that I had to get the puffer out. I changed my mind about doing laundry since I have to hang it outside & I don't want to smell like the morning after a Pub Crawl. The sky has been grey but the sunsets have been glorious as fires blaze to the North & East of the Lower Mainland. The Wet Coast is tinder dry & no rain in sight.
Today, the heat has decreased, the smoke smell is almost gone & a nice brisk breeze has blown in to keep us cooler. I can actually feel that breeze through the blinds in my office. Whooee.

Even though it's been too hot to do much, I decided to participate in this year's Tour de Fleece - Rock it TeamCanada - again. I haven't had my spinning wheel out since the last one ended. And it's  time. I have spinning stash up the ying yang, three garbage bags of roving, besides all the hand dyed packages & braids of delicious stuff I've bought over the years. There's even a fleece or two. I bought most of it when I was working, knowing I wouldn't have the money when I retired. Some of it just followed me home. And some came from others trying to downsize their stash. I gave it all a home. Hahaha - and some of it will probably get passed on to other people's stash along the way.

So, this year, I decided to join the Stash Spinning group on Ravelry & work on that stash reduction. Right now, I'm spinning up some Neon Pink that I found in the Stash. Don't know when or where it came from but I love it. I'll spin some dark grey - I have a whole bag of it that followed me home one day - when this is finished & some bright greens that my friend Gail found for me, when that's done. I intend to knit Stephen West's Color Craving shawl/scarf for myself.
I'm 10 months away from Retirement & long, lovely days to spin & knit. Nice thought, but I will still do some work out of my home office. I have every intention of knitting some of it up for me when it's spun. And some of it will become hats, socks & sweaters for the Donation Box.

Happy July 1st

Canada Day. Another holiday day. I feel like I'm missing out somehow since I'm not getting paid for this day anymore. But I'm also not trotting off to the park to wave little flags, paint my face, sing songs, eat expensive charred food, fight for parking or stand in line to use the bathroom either. I can do without everything else, but I have to admit I love the fireworks. Happy Birthday Canada.

I was laughing at my neighbors last night as they hauled the big garbage cans to the curb. I didn't even take my green garbage out because today's a stat holiday & I figured they would pick up tomorrow. Well, the joke's on me, the garbage guys are out there picking up the cans as I type. Dammit. I really hate freezing it for another week!!

This heat wave is inconvenient. I don't have a problem sleeping because I have a tall, skinny oscillating fan at the foot of my bed that can be programmed to run constantly or just an hour or two. I can vary the speed from Gentle Breeze to Hurricane Force. It oscillates from low to high & can even be programmed for the whole works at once, if you like. I like Gentle or Low with & without oscillation for all night cooling. I have to cover my knees though, or I won't be walking in the morning!! I have a second oscillating fan in the livingroom so I can watch tv - same problem with the knees.

But the room where I spend most of my time is a sweat box. It gets so hot in there that I have to shut down the computer in the afternoons. This is the place that I WORK. I WISH I could put one of the oscillating fans in there but I need to keep paper on the desk so I can work with it. I'm getting too old for this stuff. Sigh. Good thing we usually only get this kind of weather for a week or so in August. Remember this??? It wasn't that long ago that we were all bundled up with our teeth chattering! I like to remember that when I'm sitting in a pool of sweat thinking about yet another shower as the News tells me that we need to conserve water. No snow or ice on the mountain to melt into the reservoir all summer. No rain to keep everything watered. In the land of too much water, we have a drought.
I figure if we all flushed less often - do we really need to flush after every little tinkle??? - and only showered once a day, we would save a huge amount of water. This is drinking water we're flushing with, after all.

On this Canada Day, we should celebrate Freedom. And Justice. And Free Speech. And taps that always have water on demand. For now.

Hot Town, Summer in the City .  .  .  oh yeah, I can hear the Lovin' Spoonful singing, can't you?? You can tell it's summer out there, especially when your front door faces West. Lucky for me, I also live in a basement with cement floors. I bless those cement floors in the summer - not so much in the winter when my feet freeze but in the summer when I'm still sweating & have nothing else left to take off - yeah, they're good to have. I haven't even turned on a fan yet this year!! It's hot & dry enough that nothing hurts unless I do too many hours of data entry on the computer. And it cools down really nicely at night. I could live with this for quite a while.

I fixed my sock problem - reknit the frogged sock until it matched the unfrogged one & then put them both on the same set of circs. I'm not fond of the "Two Socks on Two Circs" method of knitting socks but this damned orange/red makes my eyes water which  makes it difficult to measure where I am. With MY luck lately, I'd end up with one that's too long as well as one that's too wide. So, not taking any chances, covering my ass & making it as easy as I can, I am knitting them both on the same circ.
I can see that the "Two Socks on Two Circs" method would be excellent for lace socks. Or very patterned socks, too. It's NOT a good method for watching TV because it's really, really, easy to knit the wrong yarn into the wrong sock or get the needles crossed if you don't keep an eye on things but it does keep the socks more or less the same. I started out loving this color but now, I'm not so sure.

Summer in the City

Whoooeee, Summer at last. It's so nice to commute to the office in shorts & tee shirt, work a couple of hours, open the door & windows to let the fresh air in, go outside & water the jungle & then come back to work again without putting on shoes. I've been up & down, in & out & really getting some production going until 3:30 when the sun comes blasting in. All I can do then, is close everything up until about 6:30 when the sun goes behind the trees. So I take a nap.  Sometimes I work after midnight until it just starts to get light & the birds start singing. I love summer.

Being semi-retired is not that bad at all. You just have to have enough money to survive it. LOL And along with being semi-retired is more time to knit.

The latest summer socks should've been done by now. Stupid me, I decided to work on both socks at the same time but on different circs. Since I use the 2 circ method, I had one sock on my Chiagoo metal 2.25mm circs & the other sock on my KnitPicks wooden 2.25mm circs. I was merrily knitting along, turned both heels & just about to the toe shaping on both when I suddenly realized one sock was bigger than the other. Almost a half inch bigger. Not longer - oh no - but wider. I had measured both sets of needles with my brass snail measurer & again with my green ruler measurer - both the same size. BUT, one set is metal & one set is wood. Apparently I knit tighter with metal & looser with wood. This has been a surprise to me. I had no idea that gauge could vary depending on the materials from which the needles were made.

Needless to say, one sock got frogged while I cried big tears & is now being resurrected on 4 DP needles.

I just wanted to show off how far I've come with the latest summer socks. I've always maintained that wild & crazy yarn knits up a whole lot faster than boring yarn. Maybe it's the excitement of discovering what that weird mishmash of colors will eventually become. All I can say is that wild yarn knits faster. And I have 26 pairs of wild socks to prove the point.

I can't remember when I bought this yarn or how long
it's been lurking in the stash but it seemed to be just right for short summer socks. This is not a color I could wear anywhere else but on my feet but it screams TROPICAL to me. After the GREEN socks - oh the combo was really nice but still dark - I HAD to knit something bright & wild.

Sock one is ready to have it's heel turned using the Queen Kahuna method. See all those little elastics?? Each one of them marks the end of a short row that I'm due to close when I turn the heel.
I couldn't SEE to pick up the gusset stitches along the flap unless I was outside at noon. So I bought "Crazy Heels & Toes" by Mary Ann Beattie to learn a new method. After kicking the instruction book across the room & a couple of desperation phone calls to my friend Gail, who learned it before me, the lightbulb finally came on.  It wasn't the method that made it difficult to learn, it was the crazy manual.

Summer in the Burbs

Yesterday, was beautiful, hot & dry in my part of the Wet Coast, but I could barely move. My hips ached, my knee wobbled & my damned hands hurt so much I couldn't knit or sign my name properly. I just couldn't believe it. The WeatherBoob said we wouldn't even get a sprinkling of rain & the temps would stay the same when the weather system went by us - it was going east & north BUT my bones knew the barometer was changing. We got a hellova big storm in the night. Now, I don't mind having a barometric TOE but why does the rest have to hurt too??? Grrrr. I totally understand why my mother packed up & moved to the desert climate in Vernon - about 260 miles inland - some 35 years ago & won't even visit the coast anymore. Today, after the storm, nothing hurts. And everything out there looks exactly the same as yesterday, except for the wind. Craziness.

So, yesterday I couldn't knit, but the day before I could, so I started a new pair of Summer Socks. Socks again, you say??? Socks are addictive. They're small. They come in wild & crazy colors. They don't even have to match your clothes or each other. And you can take them with you wherever you go. So I dug in the old stash & found some DROPS Fabel Superwash yarn - in oranges & reds. Mmmmmm HOT HOT HOT. And I think I see a little Lime in there too. It's 75% wool, 25% nylon & 205m in a 50 gm ball. I can make a pair of socks for my size 9 clodhoppers with two balls & even have a little left over for 'Puffs' for someone's blanket-in-progress. Since I'm making Summer Socks, about 3" shorter than usual, there's enough left to knit Barbie an outfit. If she'd wear it.

The Tour de Fleece is coming up very quickly so I decided I'll use it as an excuse to spin the yarn for my Color Craving scarf. I dug through the stash & found some NEON Pink & a braid of NEON Green. I have lots of grey roving & bags of the slightly felted cherry to spin so I think I'm ready to go. I forget where the Neon Pink came from but I totally love it - just think 150 times brighter than the picture. The Greens were chosen by a good Pal who's very good at picking wonderful colorways. The real color doesn't show well through the bag in the photo but that light lime green makes your eyes water. Looking at it next to the pink in the sunshine makes my eye-balls start to melt .  .  .  .  .

Murphy's Bite

It seems it doesn't pay to get too chirpy & cheerful when you've been down-in-the-dumps for ages. Murphy's Law baby, Murphy's Law. Things were sliding along like a well oiled machine, hell, I even had money at the end of the month - two months in a row!!! With all the bills paid. And some extras in the cupboards for a change too.

Murphy bit me on the ass. Literally. I suppose it started as an ingrown hair or inflamed follicle. You know the kind. Sometimes it starts in your arm pit. Or sometimes on your eye lid. I've heard they can start anywhere a hair follicle can become infected. Sometimes you don't know about it until you sit on it - ouch. Needless to say, I've spent a good deal of my time this past week curled up on my bed with a heating pad & a book waiting for the damned thing to pop. Yeah, I could've gone to Emerg & had it lanced but I spent almost 8 hours waiting to be seen when I damaged my knee. This time I preferred to stay home with a soft bed, thank you.

Luckily, it popped sometime in my sleep last night. Yeah baby. Another crisis averted. Just have to keep it clean & covered & stay off hard coffee shop chairs for a while. Whatever happened to those nice, cushioned benches they used to have???  Where do the Old People sit???

I had planned to do some spinning outside this past week but Murphy put an end to that. I did manage to finish one of my new Summer Socks in the green Berroco Sox yarn that I found in the stash. One down, one to go. It turned out to be a very Manly sock. I do like the different greens in it & while I couldn't wear these colors as an outfit, I think they're very handsome in a sock. I used my 2.25mm, 24" Chiagoo circular needles - two circs at a time. The yarn felt a little thin & scratchy as I knit so I think I could've gone down to the 2.0mm easily. If I remember correctly, this yarn fluffs nicely when given a bath to remove the spinning oils.

Wow. It's Summer.

It's summer out there. My Jungle is looking like someone cares this year. Last year, it went wild because no one did care. Last year, I was out of work, unhappy, feeling sorry
for myself & hobbling on a very sore knee that wouldn't do anything I wanted it to do. Last year I had a cane that threw my balance off. And last year, I barely came out the door to the patio unless I was passing through to the car.

This year, I pulled in the a**hole strings & put on my Big Girl pants. I replanted the hanging baskets after rescuing the few plants that survived a year on their own & added a few more. I bought a whole tray of multi-colored giant Nasturtiums & another of Alyssium. I tucked them into a big hanging basket of fresh dirt & dribbled fish fertilizer over them. Once they get going, they'll take over the place!!! I have Ever-bearing strawberries in three baskets - two baskets are 'volunteers' from the original bought several years ago. I put them in hanging baskets so I can eat them instead of the slugs & squirrels. And I planted a few Scarlet Runner beans with a ring of 'Snake' beans - the picture shows beans growing in spirals - for the bees. The poor house plants have been moved outside, under the table near the back of my covered patio & watered for the first time in a month or two. My Clematis - Jackmani - has 4.5" blooms on it this year & the Christmas Cacti is outside blooming it's little, freshly watered head off. The Pink Lady apple tree has sent out a shoot this year - I thought it had died. And I've been pulling that damned Morning Glory off everything. Since the Landlord hates to cut the grass, we got an infestation last year that took over everything. Even his lawn is full of it. So I've got Morning Glory, creeping Jenny, Vinka, Lemon Balm, Oregano, Peppermint, Fennel, Garlic & several other perennial herbs growing wild all over the back yard. My grasses have thrown seeds into all the cracks & crannies too so I have Blue Fescue - which I love - popping up in the driveway cracks! It's starting to look like my Jungle again!!!

And with this burst of energy, I started a new pair of Summer Socks. This time around, I thought I'd make them a bit shorter & rib them from the top to the ankle before making a simple foot with a nice, deep heel so they don't slide into my shoes. The greens are very pretty & I think I'll enjoy wearing these socks even though they aren't my color. One thing about socks is that you can really explore all the wilder combinations or colors that you would never wear normally.

These socks are being made from Berroco SOX. It's 80% wool & 20% nylon for hard wearing socks. The picture is a little dark because the greens are actually a lot brighter than the picture. I'm using my 2.25mm Chiagoo needles & knitting them from the cuff to the toe.

Back in the Saddle - Again

I've had trouble with Google again & trouble getting back into my own blog. Every once in a while Google decides it doesn't know me & tries to sign me up again. It refuses to believe I am who I am & I have to go away until it decides I am me. So, now that I'm me again, the tale continues.

My Winter Socks

Since finishing the last winter sock, I've been feeling naked & unworthy. It's a strange feeling. I keep looking for something & then can't remember what it is I'm looking for. I'm restless when I watch TV & can't sit still. I've come to the conclusion that being without a sock on the needles is screwing up my routine. So last night I gave in & cast-on a summer sock. It's an unlikely color for me - shades of green - mostly dark green but with a little acid apple thrown in for good luck. I think this is one of those Bargain Balls I bought several years ago when Dressew was clearing yarn for $2 a ball. No one sees summer socks anyway. They're hidden inside sneakers - I just can't wear them without a sock - just to soak up summer sweat. So who cares what color they are.

And I bought that 'Color Craving' shawl pattern. It was just too weird & I had to learn how to do that stuff. After watching the YouTube clues 1 & 2, I was hooked. I had no idea you could do some of those things with yarn & needles so I'm going to give it a go. Hot Pink & Plum anyone??? Maybe.

Something New

Here I sit broken-hearted
Thought I'd finished
But only started!!!

I've lost a day somewhere. Or the garbage schedule changed when I wasn't looking because I missed Tuesday somehow. I thought today was Wednesday. I used to know that Wednesday followed garbage day. The cans were out yesterday. I know they were. I dodged most of them on the way out of the alley in the morning. TV used to be handy to tell what day it was but I've been too busy to watch most of it. What happened???

Guess I've been too deep into bank reconciliations & listening to "Prescribed Danger" by Gwen Hunter. It's book two in the Dr Rhea Lynch series. Dr Rhea fled big city life in Charleston to a small ER in rural South Carolina where she grew up. In book one, Rhea returns from holiday to find her best friend near death from a mysterious stroke. In book two, Rhea is working the night shift in the middle of a huge storm when a couple is brought in who've been beaten & tortured. The woman is 6 months pregnant & in labor. I worked until 3:30AM because I couldn't turn it off!!

I finally finished the last pair of socks I worked on for so long. The old fingers have really had a workout on the keyboard the last couple of months so I wasn't knitting much at all. My Thumbs seem to be the worst for some reason. But, I've been taking pills before bed again & they seem to be a lot better. Of course the weather has improved as well - so, the socks finally got finished. For the moment, socks are done.

I thought it might be time to try another project for a change. Something I've never even considered before. Something so bloody weird & strange that I just have to have one. Well, I found it  - Color Craving. Oh, I hemmed & hawed & watched the YouTube videos several times before making up my mind. I thought - what the hell am I going to do with THAT when it's done??? I know some of you will laugh out loud & call me crazy. I'm not insulting the fellow but his designs have become just a little off kilter in the last few years. He reminds me of the artist who designed the giant knitted Vulva, hung it in the corner of the gallery & called it ART. And he's so far off the rails that I think I want to try it because his techniques really fascinate me. Lace shawls are definitely not my thing but weird scarves may just be.

Slowing Down Time

One of the problems of the 'Feast or Famine' lifestyle I am now living is that things get forgotten when I try to do several month's work in a few weeks. Everyone is in a hurry to get something done two days before a deadline. And it's not that they didn't know there was a deadline - most of them include the warning letter with the paperwork. It's just that they didn't have the time to get here, are too afraid to open the brown envelope, didn't realize it was THAT important or just didn't care because I always take care of it when I get it. So other things suffer. Like my laundry. Or the dishes.

Today I thought I'd make a slow-cooker chili. Something with meat & beans & all the sad & lonely leftovers in my fridge. Something with spice in it that cooks itself. Apparently, sometime in the previous month, I started to cook something in the slow-cooker & got side tracked. I'm not sure it even got turned on. But, like an Alien, curled up & nicely hidden in a corner until you stand next to it, it exploded in my face with a mountain of spores, to incubate new life in my body, when I lifted the lid this A.M.

Tonight, I shall be eating out.

Thank Gawd it's Over

Yes, bang the drums & toot the horns, it's over for another year!!! I filed the last tax return last night with minutes to spare, just before midnight. And you can't even slip one by them at 12:01 because they shut down the internet at the Tax Department at midnight. No GST or tax returns at 3:10 in the AM, no siree, the Tax Man takes a break.
And, although there's still lots to do, it can wait for another day because I'm taking this one OFF. I've slogged away for the last 6 days without a break other than a couple of coffee runs at the drive-thru & a trip to buy a new printer. Yeah, I have a pile of stuff to print & the stupid printer paper sensor decides to die. But that was then & this is now & I'm done.

NO knitting, reading or watching much tv either. I've been too damned tired after all the staring at the computer & paper documents. The winter socks I was working on are not quite finished because my fingers are too sore. Actually, my Shoulders are too sore too. So I listened instead to Audio books instead. Anne McCaffrey has always been one of my favorite authors. I have all of her books - well worn - & most of them as Audios as well. Some people might think my tastes are odd because I usually go for Mysteries, Thrillers & Action series as well as British Detective novels. But, when I'm busy with the brain engaged, I want simple, well known characters In familiar stories. Star Trek & McCaffrey help me along.

A couple of years ago, my niece asked for some wrist warmers. I had some sample balls of this & that so I made up a whole bag of them. A couple of other gals took a pair or two along the way too. I made them with ribs & stripes & in seed stitch, ribbing, stockinet & even lace. It was a lot of fun. The niece finally showed up with a bag of unfiled tax returns & I gave her the bag of wristlets. She was delighted with her old Auntie & wore a set home. I'm terrible about taking pictures & thought I had one but alas .  .  . 

There is one project I started about 6 years ago that I intend to finish next right after the sock. It was started for the old BoyToy who wanted a BLUE afghan. He liked the multicolored one I made myself which sat on the back of the couch in all it's glory but he hated all the wild colors. He chose a DULL faded denim blue. It was so boring that I bought several shades of grey to give it a little interest. I worked on it when we went to Starbucks but it became so large that I couldn't carry it around to work on it anymore. Then the weather got so hot it got put aside. He got tossed & IT got tossed in a bin without being finished. I finally have a home for it to go to because, quite frankly, I need the bin space. The plan is to add another couple of stripes to it & then finish it with a couple of rows in RED. How do you like THAT, BT???