Just Like a Dawg

Not a hellovalot happening here in the Home of the Newly Retired except I'm almost finished the last week of my "Therapods to Birds" course & two weeks to go on my "Gut Microbiome" course. If I pulled the Ragg out, I could finish both of them in a week!!! But I've been kind of  locked into the 'Go to bed late & sleep in' routine this past week.

Sharon's Taxi has been in service once more!! I have hauled the Ex to FIVE eye specialist appointments in 7 days. I did this LAST year in February when I hauled both him & my buddy Little Ron, to eye appointments over a three week span. Both had eye emergencies. But several Specialists had to do the same tests over & over before deciding what to do. Part of this year's visits are the leftovers from last year's emergencies as well as annual checkups. I'm happy to say that all eyes are healed, the vision saved and one has surprised everyone by improving. But, I spent all week traveling from one end of Surrey to the other, sitting in parking lots with my knitting.

So, what's a Knitter to do??? Knit Frankensocks, that's what. Friday was my last doctor

visit for a while - the Specialist said we don't have to go back!!!!  Since the TV is dead & I'm on a roll, I tuned into YouTube & watched Dinosaur/First People/DNA   documentaries while I knit. THIS is a sample of the Pinks/Purples odds'n'sodds to choose from - there's a whole other box. I wanted some mostly pink summer socks this year since I've knit lots of reds & oranges & browns in the Winter Kroy yarns. Yeah, I know, it's all dumped on the keyboard - I'm a Visual worker. I need to SEE what I have or I forget it all. I either never use it because I've forgotten that I have it or end up with multiples because I like it. That's how I end up with three pairs of socks in the same colorway!!!

Doing nothin' at all

I'd like to say I've been celebrating the end of Tax Season by knitting day & night on a new project. And I'd like to say I've been outside on the patio in all this wonderful "summer" weather, Spinning. I'd like to say that but I can't. Because I haven't. And quite frankly, I haven't done a damn thing with fibre lately except eat it. I just can't get excited about a project. And I've been waiting for the GREEN yarn for the Niece project.

So what HAVE I been doing?? Nada. Well, nothing except finishing my paleontology course, 'Theropod Dinosaurs & the Origin of Birds' and 'Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome'. I have to admit here, on the net, in bold black & white, that I LOVE Dinosaurs!!! What kid doesn't??? The Microbiome course is pretty darned good too - it's amazing the bodily functions that bacteria affect and/or control!!! But, I have to admit, I love the Dinosaur courses the most. And to prove my love I've signed up for the next one, 'Early Vertebrate Evolution'. And then onto 'Ancient Marine Reptiles'. Woohoo  I believe I DID say that I was going to further my education once I retired?? Didn't I?? I AM enjoying it.

The Green yarn is arriving tonight. And then I can get on with the fun little project I chose for my niece. And, I have to find the "almost" finished afghan & complete it for my long time friend, Mike, for his new apartment with only a black leather couch. Mike tells me it will be furnished in black, painted white & accented in red. Yeah Mike, I get the drift, Bad Boy decor. Go for it. I just wonder how popular it will be in the summer heat when that black leather makes you sweat & sticks to your bare skin  .   .   .

All Over

Whew  .  .  .   yeah, it's all over for another year. Delivered my last couple of envelopes to the Big Blue Box on Sunday & sent the last one through the ether just after lunch today er, yesterday, now. There's always a couple of people who wait till the last dawg is hung to file their taxes every year!!! I was so tired Sunday that I laid down on my bed for a nap around 4 & woke up just after 9:30 - 5 hours later. Ate something, drank something & went back to bed around 11 & slept like the dead until 8:30 this morning .  .  .  .  too many late nights & early mornings lately. Gotta stop that stuff, it ages you.

Now that it's all over, I can get back to all the other stuff cluttering up my office. And there's several boxes to get sorted, entered & out so I can move in there. And there's my two courses in progress - have to admit I spent most of the afternoon today working on the Therapods to Birds course. Caught up & did the second Quiz successfully. Hoooray!! Now onto the Gut Microbes. Did I mention that I'm eating a lot more yogurt these days??? I've learned that fermented foods help keep your gut microbiome healthy. Must feed those little bugs properly!!!!

And then there's the knitting. I've ordered two different lots of GREEN for the little project for my niece. I don't know which one it will be until I get it but it will be GREEN. In the meantime, I've barely started the heel on my first pair of summer Frankensocks. I really do miss my old knitting spot in front of the Tube with the 'daylight' lamp & the little table for my tea. And of course, I'm missing the British Detective series on PBS & Knowledge - I can't get them on YouTube dammit. I may have to take my chair outside to the patio & knit to an audiobook on my Creative device instead. I DO have several British Detective novels to listen to   -   mmmmm

A Home for Big Blue

Remember about 10 years back when I started that Granny Square afghan for He Who Won't be Named??? Yeah, well, I almost forgot about it too. HE wanted a blue afghan. Just blue. I bloody well wasn't about to crochet a man-sized afghan in one color. How boring!! So, I got a couple of shades of blue & grey & crocheted a giant Granny Square. I should've started off with two Granny Squares so it would've been a rectangle but I didn't really think at the time .  .  .  . 
I can't quite remember exactly how BIG it is since it's buried in one of the bins, but I know it's gotta be at least 48" square at the moment. I always wanted to add a row of Cherry just to rebel against the plainness of it. Now I'm going to do just that. It needs finishing & it needs some brightness. And it's going to get some Red in the very next row 'cause I found it a worthy home. Finally.

One of my tax customers & his wife have suddenly parted ways. I was shocked to hear about it. After 30 years, everyone pointed at THEM as the couple with the most stable marriage. They survived her child, his child & their child's teen years with hardly a blink. Their lives were family centred & busy. And now they're not. They sold everything, paid the bills & he's camped out at a buddy's place 'till he finds an apartment. And he's taking donations like the black leather couch he just got. I thought Big Blue would look really, really fine on the back of a black leather couch  .   .   .   .

Down to the Wire

I DO love the Tax Season every year. It's really a Social Season for me. I get to catch up with all the folks I only see once or twice a year - especially the older folks - I get to see all the new baby pictures, meet the new pets, find out who's been in the hospital & who won a jackpot in Vegas. One widowed lady is turning into quite a world traveler since she finally retired in her 70s - she likes to take all the cruises that her husband hated & has been almost everywhere! One or two people have died, two couples are divorcing & one couple has a child who's doing a first return. It's always a surprise. But it's almost over & I'm just about able to get back to real life once more. Sigh .  .  .   Just one more weekend for last minute surprises .  .  .  . like the 'Christmas' cactus blooming it's little heart out in my office this week. What's with that???

I haven't really been knitting at all. I did start a single summer Frankensock in Pinks & Purples but haven't even progressed to the heel yet. I guess I've either been too busy pounding on the keyboard or the TV's more important to knitting than I thought. Maybe it's the chair or the light??  Maybe it's the atmosphere in the Office - paper fumes may drown out yarn fumes.

Maybe it's the new courses? I was so good on Sunday. I caught up & finished my latest week's homework on my 'Gut Check - Exploring your Microbiome' course. We're moving on to the most interesting stuff!!!! And I covered two weeks worth of the 'Paleontology: Therapod Dinosaurs & the Origin of Birds'. I love Dinosaurs & the University of Northern Alberta is the BEST. I have to say I'm really enjoying my courses even when I get a little bogged down with work. Exercising the old noodle, folks. It's GOOD for you. I even have the next three courses picked out already & even found one for my niece who has the 'farmlette' up the valley, 'Chicken Behavior & Welfare' from the University of Edinburgh.

Call Me Crazy

My TV has given up the ghost & I've really got a lot more done since it did. The only problem is that most of what I've accomplished has been in front of a smaller screen - yeah, you guessed it. The computer screen. Mind you, it's Tax Time, aaaaand, there's a couple of old year-ends I have to clean up & finish as well, so it's not a bad thing in some ways .  .  .  .  BUT
It also means I have time to check out some of my favorite sites for more stuff  .   .   .   .

Not only am I working on a Coursera course called - 'Gut Check - Exploring your Microbiome' & learning about all the microbes that live in my gut that control my very thoughts & emotions but I fell down the rabbit hole & signed on for a second course - 'Paleontology: Therapod Dinosaurs & the Origin of Birds'.

I took the University of Northern Alberta's last dinosaur course - Dinosaurs 101- last fall & just loved it. Who doesn't love dinosaurs??? Our youngest member in the class was 8 years old - officially his mom registered but HE did the work & did well!! It was so much fun!!! THIS year, they've added new courses & I intend to take them all!! I may not be able to dig in the ground or hike the hills but I can vicariously enjoy the trek by others.

Knitting has suffered somewhat since most of mine has been done in front of the tube.  I'm sure I'll adapt in time since I'm so sick to death of the commercials I only tend to watch Public TV anyway. I just think about all the time that gets sucked into that 'black hole'. I think I'd rather spend the money on a comfortable lounger where I can snooze, read or listen to an audiobook & knit instead.

And, for those who care, I just downloaded my 9th LONGMIRE audiobook. Yeah, normally I'm into Murders, Mysteries, Thrillers & British Detectives, but this modern western series seems to roll it all into one  with a slow talking, small town Sheriff. Oh he comes with baggage both old & new, with a daughter, a loyal Indian friend from Viet Nam, a found dog named Dog and a temperamental, dirty talking, gorgeous, Italian deputy. Wahoooo

Crossing the Great Divide

Yesterday, I turned 65. I feel like I'm approaching the bank of the River Styx to wait for the boatman, Charon, to take me across to Hades on the other side. From the time I was a very young reader I was always fascinated with Mythology, Gods & the Afterlife. I just hope, when I get there, that my heart is pure & I'm found to be worthy.

But, here I am at 65. Life at the cross roads to say the least. Most of my working life is behind me. I'm now eligible for all sorts of discounts because I'm 'OLD'. From tax to car insurance, education to dining, I can now pay LESS. Hey, does that mean sock yarn is cheaper????

The Old Folks used to say, " Don't wait. Do it when you're young. Youth is wasted on the Young." I never understood until I hit my 60s & things started to stiffen up & hurt. Is this life getting even for all the reckless chances I took like the times I hung upside-down in the cherry tree, 30 feet off the ground, scaring my mother half to death? Or the times we somersaulted off the neighbor's roof after climbing the cherry tree to drop onto it ? Or that time we made a go-kart out of the washing machine in the abandoned house & piled three kids inside to ride it down the hill into traffic? And that bicycle race down that very same hill into that very same traffic again. Or flying across the pasture after dodging the bull behind us only to dive through the barbed wire in the nick of time. And setting the big gully on fire roasting potatoes for a picnic lunch. Or leaving home to pick fruit 300 miles away at 17 with $30 & a knapsack. The more I remember, the more I have to laugh - I did get into a lot of trouble. I'm surprised my mother survived.


But turning 65 might yet be a blessing in disguise. I won't have to work as hard to find the money to survive from month to month anymore. I can let my bad knee rest when it's sore & take that afternoon nap when I have to. I can work part time on things I want to work on like that 'Gut Biome' course at Coursera, filling my hanging baskets & finishing Wayne's year end knowing the rent will be paid. I can take my wheel onto the patio & spin all morning when it's cool in the summer & knit at Timmies or Starbucks when it's hot in the afternoon. I might actually use up that STASH I accumulated when I was younger.

It's so Hard finding Green

I admit I watch a lot more TV than I used to when I was younger. I should say, now that I've buggered my knee & paralyzed a vocal chord, I spend more time at home watching TV. There, I've said it. It's pretty hard to be social when you can't participate in the 'social' part of gossip, debate & just plain schmoozing. But, I'm confessing to spending a lot of time with the Idiot Box here, not complaining about my life. TV & the knitting in front of, have become my usual evening occupation instead of Starbucks. And since my chatty neighbor moved out, I don't spend much time outside on the patio drinking wine or beer while I knit, neither. Oh how dull I've become. But, I do knit a lot.

Earlier this week, I discobooberated my remote TV device somehow. Yeah, somehow I killed the special decoder box & lost the cable with my handy dandy, little black phallic, entertainment device. The damn TV doesn't even come ON anymore. Nothing works without the stupid box thing. And knitting doesn't work in front of the computer. Funny thing though, I miss the knitting more than the TV.

So, if I can't knit, I guess I'll spin. My niece wants the next thingie to be GREEN, Forest Green. I don't have anything GREEN in my house unless you count the plants or the NEON Green & Pink rovings I spun up for my Stephen West 'COLORCRAVING' shawl/scarf. But, I still need GREEN. Forest damn Green. I've searched all the local shops on the computer. I've even called one or two. No Forest Green in anything we can afford locally. I really don't want to order something international - I only NEED 400 yards!! So, I guess I'll have to spin it. I still have a secret hoard of roving from the Sheep Shed grab bag I bought years ago - smooth as silk & practically spins itself. There's some light grey Romney roving bought at least 20 years ago that could be overdyed with green Kool-aid that might end up as Forest. And there's a ton of Coopworth - at least 8 pounds - bought years ago at the first big Fibre event in Vancouver that could also be dyed in green. Why can't I just find 100gms of Sock yarn in Forest - or a close imitation of - Green.

I Just Don't Feel Like It, So There

You know you're getting old when you don't pick up your mail for a month & didn't even notice. Well, I did notice that I didn't get my KCTS monthly magazine but then remembered that I subscribed on-line instead. But I made the trek to the box & discovered TWO months worth of mail instead of just one. Well!
I know you're all shaking your heads at this admission but the box is in a UPS store, NOT on the side of the road like a Canada Post mailbox where anyone & their truck can take it out. The UPS store used to be in a quiet strip mall 19 years ago when I first got it & has now become the middle of a huge shopping area. If you don't go there first thing in the morning, you can't get parking close by. And my knee doesn't do hills very well, especially in the morning. So, you see my problem. And I hate the malls. It wouldn't be so bad if someone would would open a yarn shop close to the Dollar Store in the same parking lot but, I guess you can't have everything.

Haven't started my new project for Lara yet - I want some nice soft yarn in a solid color - she asked for green. I have sock yarns, but none of them are green. And all my sock yarns are wildly colored. She wants plain green. One option I have is to just SPIN the yarn &  dye it green. Another is to spin some painted roving in greens. Green is not a normal color in my house unless you're talking about plants - I'm the Purple & Hot Pink Queen. Green is slightly foreign to me. Although, my crafty friend Gail was wearing a handspun, garter knit L'Envelope last evening at our knitting group in GREEN that was quite lovely. And I have to find some green.

Same Song, One More Time - I am working on yet another Kroy 4ply pair of winter socks for Moi. This will make three pairs in the same color when I'm done. What the hell. It's warm, it's soft, I love the feel, it's bright & it was free or just about .   .   .   .  

April Fool's Day

I was gonna do something silly for April Fool's Day but the sun was out, the sky was blue & I could hear the grass growing so I headed to the Drive-Thru for an early morning paper & coffee instead. It was just too nice out there!! Summer has come to the Wet Coast early again this year. Since our weather runs in cycles, this year should be another warm, dry one but not the dehydrating scorcher of last year. We should be gradually tapering off to a totally wet, sunless year in about 9 years  .   .   .   .

So, with the weather in mind, I've chosen another weird & funky little project with my niece in mind. I joined the Mystery Knit Along back in  2013 but never got the project off the ground - I have no idea why. I ran across it in my Ravelry Library the other day & wondered what the heck it was. No pictures, just the clues. So I looked it up & downloaded the final draft of the project. It's called
Levnadslust by Yarn-Madness. It's a little lace summer cover-up made with fingering yarn on larger needles that is stretched & blocked into it's final shape. Fingering or sport weight yarn is suggested for this project & the medium only takes 400 yds to complete. 400 YARDS!  It can be worn with the open side in front or turned around & worn with the open side in the back to give you just a little bit of extra warmth over your summer dress, tee or bathing suit. It might even work over a sports bra as a cover-up on the way home from jogging or working out.
Yarn-Madness has a host of other little treasures on Ravelry that deserve a second look!

L'Enveloppe L'gone

I had a breakfast date with my favorite niece this A.M. - early this A.M. - early for me, that is. She, being an owner of land & animals, not so much. I wanted to make something for her & found L'Enveloppe which I thought would be just up her alley. She has always loved  all things weird, odd, slightly twisted & beautifully strange. She is the girl who made 'Ratz' decorations for the Christmas tree. And she crafted Dragons, Fairies & Gnomes before they were popular. And now that she's cruising for 50, still prefers the company of dogs, horses, chickens, bees & aunties with sticks & yarn.

When she took up riding, I knit her a tomato colored wool jacket in a Renaissance style with big, balloon sleeves to the elbow but tight from there to the wrist, with a snug bodice & flared peplum. This time, I wanted to make her something light & frothy but not fussy. L'Enveloppe seemed to fill the bill.
It was an easy knit mostly but I really had trouble picking up stitches for the left arm triangle along the cast off end without leaving a row of big holes. Luckily for me, the mohair yarn was very forgiving & the rest of the knitting WAS kind of 'rustic' - sloppy - stitches not even, lines of thick & thin, big clumps of mohair & thin bits. The yarn was a problem to knit with because it was uneven, which really annoyed me for some reason.

So, there I was at 1:47 this A.M. spraying the darned thing with water in the bathroom trying to yank block it into shape after finally casting it OFF my needles - I ripped that last arm triangle out twice!!! - knowing I had to get up in a few hours & wanting to throw the silly thing into the garbage. I eventually gave up, hung it on a hanger & went to bed.

This morning, I just threw it into my bag with a pair of socks & a book & ran out the door. When I pulled it out at the cafe, she recognized the yarn & tried it on at the table before running off to the bathroom to see what it looked like. She loved it & wore it while we ate. All the waitresses dropped by to see what the heck it was. Apparently no one else could see the uneven parts or the horrible line where I picked up those last stitches. So I just shut up, took a picture - once I figured out where the damn app was on my phone - & let her go home happy. She said she was thrilled with it & wore it the whole time so I'm thinking I did good even if I wasn't totally happy with it. I did tell her it was a 'test knit' though, to cover my ass. Hahahahaha  I suspect I'll make another one fairly soon in my handspun yarn. But, one thing is sure, I won't be making one out of yarn with clumps of mohair in it again.

Back From the Dead

The bug that bit me has moved on to someone else. Didn't feel awfully terrible but everything hurt including a really nasty headache. Luckily, I nodded off every time I stopped moving. So, I slept most of the time wrapped in my red, fleece sheets. I even put the fleece pillow cases on over the flannel ones I usually use. It was warm, breezy - I had the window open & Anne McCaffrey entertained me between dreams. I think I listened to 'Dragonsinger' 47 times in little bits here & there.

Yesterday, I actually got dressed & went OUT for lunch/dinner at my favorite little greasy spoon and devoured a grilled chicken & Havarti on toasted rye. After 5 days of soup in a cup, it was magnificent! Meatless Mondays are fine but when they extend into the rest of the week, it's not fine anymore!!

The L'Enveloppe advances. I was a little too zonked out to accomplish much but, I am now moving down the back from the neck opening. This goes up the front from the point to the neck. Cast's off & back on again for the neck opening & then moves down the back to the point. So, it's kind of an elongated M in the end, I guess. Mmmmmmm 
I cast-on for the Medium since I think the large would've been way too large. But, garter does have a lot of stretch to it if you need it. The knitting itself is so light & airy it's hard to believe it could provide any warmth at all but the yarn contains a good amount of mohair for warmth.
One good thing about mohair, if you drop a stitch & I have a couple of times - it doesn't go anywhere!!! I'd hate to have to frog this thing, though, all that fluff makes it really tough. All in all, it's fun to knit, I think it'll fit & it'll make a great dog blankey if it doesn't.

Sunshine & Lollipops

The sun is out & Surrey is wearing shorts. Holey Crap. It was freezing overnight but the sun came out & we're all coatless today. Typical south Wet Coast behavior. Like an aging reptile, I dragged my aching bones out into the sunshine - it felt so good - & over to the coffee shop for an hour this afternoon. Only the old people wore coats!! Most of the kids not only wore shorts but had summer tees on as well. Although I left my coat at home, I still wore LONG pants & socks. You can't stay in bed ALL day when the sun shines even when you feel crappy.

L'Enveloppe

I was starting to feel like a zombie last evening while my ears were clogging up, so, of course, I decided to start a new project called L'Enveloppe. It's something interesting that I want to make for my niece who loves all things weird, odd or strange. I figured I'd spend a couple of mindless hours knitting in front of the tube before bed. It's not a shawl or scarf but a little of both. It's one piece that stays on without a button or pin & can be worn as a simple cowl or on the shoulders as a wrap.
Found some gold mohair & acrylic, called Geisha, left over from a lace cardigan I made her mother over 30 years ago in the stash. Imported from Germany, it was very expensive at the time & I had to wait until the season end clearance sale to even afford it!! So having 5 balls in the stash was a real find. Especially since my niece's mother died several years ago & they both loved the gold sweater. Gotta keep that kid happy since she may be looking after this old aunty in her dotage!!!

Not sure what the yardage is on this stuff but it looks like there will be plenty. I'm using 5mm circular needles & knitting it in garter stitch since this is the first time I've ever made one. This is a test knit, sort of. I can see how it fits the model above but I have no idea how it's made to fit her at this point other than a really basic drawing so, this will tell me how it goes together & give me an idea of whether or not it can be made larger to fit me.
I have a bin full of handspun in purple - all different batches of purple roving that I've spun up over the years but mostly in the same or similar color. I'd like something light & warm to wear that doesn't take up a lot of space. Something that can be squished into the corner of a bag & pulled out if it gets chilly. I really am NOT a shawl wearer. Maybe this is what I want.

Just an Update

I've always wondered why my favorite bloggers have the anti-spam stuff where you make a comment. I hate going through that routine of identifying pictures & clicking on the "I am not a robot" square before I leave my note of support. But, I guess I've found out WHY they do it. Lately, I've been getting some strange comments, foreign language poems & referrals to other sites - awww, the dreaded porn site?? Not yet, I don't think I'm popular enough. But, don't be surprised if I end up adding an anti-Robot square of my own soon.

On the home front - I love my new-to-me, 2004 Caravan. It's smaller, shorter, easier on gas & zippier than my old 1999 one. It's still harder to back up since I haven't gotten used to the magnifying rear-view mirror yet but easier to get in & out of smaller spaces. If I didn't have to swing the driver's door so far open to get my sore right knee out, I could park in 'small car' spaces!!! I thought storage would be a problem in the back, behind the seats, for groceries but there seems to be enough for everything. I was going to take the two rear seats out - I never carry six people!!! - but I think I'll just leave them there for the time being. I think I may be able to get a spinning wheel in there & carry a folding chair & table without problems.

It's Tax Season again so I'm drowning in paperwork. I'm so busy I don't have time to spit. But it's lovely to have the work. 'Course, I knew this would happen. I'll be swamped now that I'm a month short of being an official 'Old Age Pensioner' & finally, at last, eligible for all the Pensions, Supplements, Programs, discounts & non-taxable freebies. I can even get a cheap bus-pass. And my car insurance will go down by 40% apparently. Woohoo  Maybe I'll finally be able to buy my prescriptions with cash instead of plastic. 

So what's on the needles??? SKEW Socks again. I tried to knit them once before when they first appeared in Knitty . I loved the pattern - hey, it was so different I couldn't NOT love them. I even invested in two new Chiagoo circular needles to make them. I did not succeed & stuffed my aborted effort in to a bag in frustration. While rooting around for something else, I found the bag. And the sock. So, I sucked it up, dug out the pattern & started once more. We'll see what happens THIS time - they were first published in Knitty in 2009. And I can't believe how long ago that was!!!!

Shoved Out of Bed

I hate getting up in the morning when it's dark, grey, wet, cold & gloomy. Especially NOW when I have red, fleece sheets on my bed & under my head. I bought myself a set of them the Christmas before last when they were on sale. I had worn my favorite 'Penguin' fitted sheet through at the foot & my 'Snowflake' sheet was looking pretty thin as well. Sheets just aren't worth mending anymore - not like in my Granny's day when you cut them in half, turned them around, seamed the two ends together across the middle & hemmed the two cut ends. The fabric in those days lasted a lifetime. And I tend to wear out my fitted sheets at the foot. Maybe it's from wandering feet at night or maybe it's the socks I wear to bed when it's cold. Who knows??? But now I have fleece sheets. Normally I don't even use a top sheet - I have several duvet covers made out of top sheets that I use instead - but fleece sheets are so comfy that I've been wrapping myself in both!!! I know what I'll be using in the winter from now on!!!

I wonder if I can get fleece underpants??

Now that the days are lighter much earlier in the day, I'm a little happier. I find winter  so hard to live with. We aren't even going to talk about how the cold affects my hands!! I prefer to get up when it's light & go to bed when it's dark. I love those mornings when the sun comes up & the only noise you hear are the birds outside. So nice to sit there in the early morning with a cup of tea & watch the squirrels argue with the birds. In the winter I just want to stay in bed where it's warm & listen to an audiobook until the whole neighborhood has gone for the day before I drag myself out. Especially when it's dark. And cold. And wet. And - to add insult to injury - as I forced myself out of bed this last wet Monday morning, the corner of said bedframe broke & dumped me on my ass on the cold floor. Nothing a big, grey brick can't fix but still, an extra shock to the system.

I Hear Old Age Knocking

Didja ever open a blog page & just go blank?? I was going to make some pithy comments about something & I just sat here looking at the blank page. I hope it isn't a momentary glimpse of the future.


The blanket of last week is now three times it's former self - I dug & dug & found all kinds of inappropriate yarns in the stash. Lavender baby yarn will NOT go with the Big Boy wool, neither will the Sissy

Barber-pole Stripe or the Hand-painted Handspun. I don't want to add acrylic to the mix so it might sit in a basket until I sniff out more unwanted woolies. I think there's three balls left & that's IT. 
I had to drape it over my lawn chair in the middle of the kitchen, right under the 100 watt bulb, to get a decent picture of the whole thing in the dark, grey weather we've been having!!


I got tired of the damn blanket the other day anyway & cast on a sock. After a couple of non-knitting days with a sore wrist & swollen thumb, I was desperate to do something else. Anything but the blanket. So, out jumped a couple of balls of good Old Kroy 4-ply & I was off once more on my bamboo skewer needles. I swear this Kroy keeps my feet from freezing all by itself in the winter. I just love it. I wish they still made the stuff. Oh, yeah, someone out there makes Kroy 4-ply but it's not the same as this old stuff. Not at all.

Stash Blankets

So I had this great idea to make blankets. Actually, it was an idea to crochet blankets. I have some really interesting colors in acrylic yarns and mostly in the same weight too. But I couldn't find the right crochet hook. I have quite a collection of hooks in steel, plastic & wood but mostly I use only three of them. I like the size, the feel & most of all, I like the hook on all of them. Hook configuration is really important. Some hooks are too shallow & the yarn falls out in mid stitch. It's pretty damn hard to to complete a treble crochet when the hook won't co-operate. My favorites are all different for different reasons.

I like the pointy end on the tiniest of them because I can tuck in ends in fine knitting very precisely. I like the very round end on the small one because it works with sock yarns without splitting them. And most of all, I love the largest of the three because I can whip those double trebles off the hook without dropping a single loop with it's nice round head & mouth. Last night, someone stole I couldn't find my double treble hook which should've been in the case of odd hooks but wasn't. It wasn't stuck in the solid cake of cotton yarn that holds all the odds 'n' ends that I use daily with the two small hooks either.

So I tried one of the large odd hooks. No Go. They're ODD hooks because the hook part is too shallow or has a deep groove that is too narrow to hold the yarn it's supposed to hold. Or they're too light to be comfortable on a large project. Or too small for anything but the finest threads. My grandmother once used the tiny Millward hooks to crochet lace for her tables, her pillowcases & arm covers for her parlor chairs. Found a hook the right size but the 'mouth' was the 'deep groove' type & wouldn't hold the yarn properly. Grrrrr

So, now I'm knitting a blanket. I found a small bag of GarnStudio's 'ALASKA' - with 7 or 8 balls of blues & brown. A bit boring but I might be able to add some scraps of other wool yarns - like the red - to brighten a corner or two. One ball makes a 10x16" rectangle on 6.5mm needles. I decided to do a modified Log Cabin style blanket that will be big enough for a child or an adult lap.

'Tis The Season

I've been getting up with the birds for the last four days to spend the day banging on my keyboard. 'Tis the Season when all companies must complete T4s & T5018s for anyone they employed in the previous year. This is doubly important in the Construction industry where a lot of people have worked 'under the table' for eons. Revenue Canada is peering very closely at any company that might, could or is employing undocumented workers.

And part of my job is to educate anyone I work for in the ways to record WHO worked for WHAT in the past year. A lot of people look at a canceled cheque as proof of payment. Good luck. Revenue Canada doesn't care who you paid or whether you paid. They only care about the bill. The INVOICE is the Document that says what kind of expense you incurred. You bought something, employed a company to do something or were billed for a service. A cheque is nothing, as is the debit on your bank statement because no one knows what the expense was or if you paid tax. Too many employers pay without getting paperwork. Just TRY getting personal information from someone who has returned to their country of origin after working illegally on a visitor's permit. It happens all the time.

So from February to the end of June, I'm swamped with work! Good thing I enjoy the challenge. BUT all of this work usually has me nodding off around 8:30ish in front of the tube though. The last two nights I ended up forcing myself to stay awake until 9 so I wouldn't end up getting up at 5:30 again .   .   .   .   so no knitting has been taking place at all although I have been slowly winding all the acrylic odds n sodds into nice flat cakes on my ball winding machine.
I had the idea of crocheting blankets - my famous 'One Giant Granny Square' blankets!!  I hate sewing things together but love the Granny Square for it's brightness, color & the way it uses up all the leftovers. I just keep working the rounds until a color runs out or I get tired of it & move onto another color. Simple, mindless, easy to do, portable & uses up all the leftovers. What could be better than that???? And it makes a nice, handmade gift to a Syrian family coming to Canada with nothing.

I thought I'd run out of yarn

I dragged my butt on finishing the current pair of socks because I knew I would run out of yarn. I'd turned both heels & was midway down the first foot when I realized I was running out. I only had two balls of this particularly happy Kroy 4-ply yarn & running out made me really blue. Seriously blue. It's not that I don't have bits & pieces of other 4-ply yarns but I don't have anything close to working with these happy colors. And I wanted them for myself. I suppose it's the time of year & the gloomy weather that really paralyzed me when it came to finishing this particular pair of socks .  .  .  .  because it was really weird. I just let them lay. And then a couple of days ago I thought, Hell, I'll just knit them until the yarn runs out & rewind them into nice little flat bottomed cakes on my ball winding machine until I feel like making a smaller size. Seriously.

So I was knitting away last night just to get them off the needles while watching my favorite Saturday night line-up on the Knowledge Network, when the lightbulb came on. And I realized I might just be able to finish them with the existing yarn. It was going to be close. And I decided I could probably find something to finish the toe caps if I really had too, even if I had to combine two other yarns to do it. This is where I got to on the first sock when I decided I'd probably be able to finish them. WoooHoooo I ended up with less than a foot of yarn left over between them. And I have another pair of thick, 4ply, Kroy winter socks in a really fun colorway. And there's nothing better than that.

One More Gloomy Blog

 This is the third time I've started this. Every time I read it, it's so gloomy that I don't want to publish it. It's the darkest, gloomiest, dampest, loneliest, brokest time of the year & One More Gloomy Blog Entry won't help anyone, including me.

And what is it that makes me Gloomy??? Perhaps it's the legacy from my highland Scottish ancestors. Maybe it's the hoarding tendencies inherited from my English great grandmother. Or maybe, it's surviving in a world of rapidly decreasing income & increasing cost of living. We're all a couple of paychecks away from being homeless in this country & it doesn't help to be reminded of it every time I read a paper. I guess I shouldn't whine, I have a bed, a roof & hot & cold running water. The toilet flushes. I'm warm & dry with the internet & 900+ audiobooks in my library. Is it just the mid-winter doldrums???? Maybe a week of warm, sunny weather & a sun-kissed nose would help??? Oh, and some of those rum drinks with the fruit & parasols in a coconut in my hand wouldn't hurt!!

Maybe it's just the lack of color at this time of the year. It's just so grey out there - even the greens are grey. Maybe its time to work with bright colors for a change. Was it the Neon Pink toes on that last pair of Frankensocks that did this????? I'd really like a slightly oversized sweatshirt with a lovely big collar instead of a hood to keep me warmer in my office. Something with a really bright yoke & a darkish bottom. Or maybe a tropical hat in Hot Pink & Orange?? Or maybe, GASP, a Stephen West scarf in wild colors??? Wow. What a thought. Now wouldn't that just brighten up the whole world???

Some'in Some'in

I really meant to blog a while back but I got busy. I'm working on two courses for now - both are much too interesting to drop one in favor of the other - and I moved myself to a future date on the third. Whew. So much interesting stuff out there & they all start at the same time!!!! So, this month, I'm concentrating on my Gut & Chromosomes. LOL They are linked, believe it or not.

When not beating on the computer - yes, it's year-end time for a lot of small businesses AND year-end time for personal Income Tax too - I'm knitting socks again. I dug out all the bags & boxes that have sock leftovers in them and decided to make  Frankensocks out of all the leftovers. Not that I need any socks, mind you, but it's always wise to make socks when fingers don't mind making socks. And my fingers can't always make socks when they want - sometimes getting socks ON & tying shoes is about all I can manage. So, I'm making socks while I can.

I adore patterned yarns for socks. It may be that I'm just too lazy to work my own pattern. And solid colors are so dull & boring on their own. Call me crazy, with all those wild, patterned yarns out there, why not go for it???? So many patterns, so little time!!

Frankensocks are my favorite type of socks & so much fun to boot. Most of

my male friends have preferred Blues, women preferred Reds &  Pinks/Purples. I, well, I like them all. I've rarely had someone ask for a pair of Yellow or Orange socks although the 'Mexiko' colorway with it's Red/Yellow/Orange/Brown was very popular. And only once did I ever make myself a pair of socks in brown, it was a pattern called 'Africa' in shades of brown/tan/yellow - think of traditional African Mud Cloth prints. They are gorgeous & I love to wear them.
So, I finished my Blue Frankensocks. But, they were sooooo blue. I thought they needed a little some'in some'in & not just another dark blue toe neither. I asked the 20-something boys at my favorite truck stop cafe what they thought about Neon Pink. The boys said YES!! Today, I showed them off. They were arguing over who should get them while I ate lunch .  .  .  .

Into the Void

The New Year is more than a week old & I'm in trouble already. Somehow, in a peak of madness perhaps, I signed on for THREE Coursera courses!!! This is not how I planned it at all. But, it seems, while trying to change my email address, I signed up twice under different email addresses. I have yet to figure out how to change my original address to the new one .  .  .  .   Coursera keeps referring me back to their Student Forums which don't address my problem at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out in the end even if I only cancel the second account & stay with the original address for now. I shouldn't expect too much from a free outfit since the local college, that cost me thousands, could never figure it out either. So, for now, I'll just have to defer one course to the next session for sure & try to finish two.

So, with most of my free time taken up with Genes & Microbes, I'm only working on my blue Frankensocks at the moment. I've turned the heel on one of them & just finishing the turning the other one. I would've been further along but I ran into a problem with the yarn. It may have been gnawed by bugs at some time in it's history but I haven't seen a thing in the bags & bins that I normally keep my yarns in. And the problem doesn't seem to be everywhere either. Just the occasional ball. And usually deep inside where the damage can't be seen. Second hand yarn from a hospital Thrift Store in one

case. A ball from a friend in another. Lovely expensive Alpaca from a yard sale in an exquisitely kept home. And two balls I know I bought from a shop in Vancouver years & years ago. 'Manly' yarn that sat around for eons in a zip-lock before I used it in a pair of socks for my Ex. The first time he washed the socks, one shredded. I thought at the time that he had splashed them with cleaning fluid or something with acid in it in the garage. But while kniting a little of the leftover yarn into my sock heel, it pulled apart as I knit   .    .    .  rip out part of a heel. Then I found a lovely dark blue remnant of another manly sock & IT broke in several spots!! It's very hard to repair a dropped stitch in a K1S1 heel flap when it's dark blue & it's dark outside. So, last evening, I re-knit & re-turned that very same heel for the THIRD time with new yarn. That's the LAST time I will knit dark blue/black heels on anything in the winter, at night. Time to find some bright blues to work with. And I tossed the damaged remains of the other two blue socks.

Oh, and did you know??? There's a new Scholarly study coming out this week on colds & rhinoviruses. You know how we've been treating sore throats & coughs with honey & lemon concoctions for ages??? Well, a new study suggests hot chocolate may be a better treatment. Why?? Well, it seems the chocolate is sticky & may better coat the irritated cells of the throat blocking the nerve sensors that trigger the cough. That's why.

The First Frankensock of the Year

I thought I'd start off the year with a bang & join a Sock-a-long with the Cabin Fever group. Socks are so much fun!! And I have the remains of hundreds of socks to prove it. Yes, Hundreds. One year, I tried to make a pair of socks every week for the whole year. I ended up knitting 54 pairs of socks that year!!! Mind you, a dozen of those pairs were infant socks but they had to have turned HEELS, so I do count them. But I did knit 42 pairs of Adult socks with turned heels that year as well. The infant socks went to a maternity clinic in a Refugee Camp & had to have heels to keep them from being kicked off by the infants. I don't think I knit anything other than socks that year!!!

While searching for something, I realized I had three full shopping bags & a box full of sock yarn remains. This represents the last 15 years of sock knitting so I shouldn't have been surprised. Since I group my remains into three color groups, Blues, Reds & Pinks/Purples, that makes a bag for each & a box for outsiders. Yes, there are some blacks, greys, browns & even a yellow or orange in there but most of them fall into the three groups. I use greys, black & brown as heels & toes or as solid stripes between wild colors sometimes just to tone them down but mostly everything else falls into my favorite groups. Some of the yarns have multiple colors but I tend to put them where the dominant or brightest color belongs. Makes life easier when putting all the colors into a sock!!

And what do I use for a pattern??? I have a generic pattern firmly embedded in my

brain. It's a cuff or top-down pattern with a K1S1 heel flap & gussets knitted on the side of the flap as I go. I just can't see to pick up those stitches along the side of the flap any more so I learned to add one stitch to each side of the flap every second row as I knit it. You can see the stitches added in the picture. Then I turn the heel the same way you do with a regular knitted flap & short row the gusset increases on each side back to the original number of stitches & carry on knitting the foot. I do a simple decrease on both sides every second row to 20 stitches & three needle bind-off the toe. I love this heel because it allows me to make it deeper or shallower by increasing or decreasing the gusset stitches. I learned early in my sock knitting career that I need a DEEP heel to prevent socks from crawling into my shoes as I walk. No afterthought or short row heel for me.

Happy New Year 2016

                 

 

Resolutions

So here we are again, at the verge of a new year, staring into the Black Hole of 2016. I'll bet most of us are making Resolutions that we'll never keep. Oh, some of us will keep them for a week or two & some for a month or two but in the end, they all fall by the wayside.
I've never been much for Resolutions. Oh, I made some minor ones like resolving to  change to brown rice because it's better for me. And yes, I did keep the rice one. Even though I'll never love brown rice like I do white, sticky rice, I can now make it well enough that I don't actually hate it.
My resolution to spend more time spinning never happened because I ended up knitting more, instead. Knitting what, you ask??? Charity knitting. Oh, hoodies, socks & hats that all went to people who needed them. I think that's half the fun. But I didn't spend any time spinning which was my original goal.

So this year, I RESOLVE to make no Resolutions at all. Why stress myself out trying to achieve a goal that I'll never meet??? Life gets in the way. Sometimes it gets in the way in the most interesting ways. While the rest of you are Resolving to lose weight & are shelling out for gym memberships, yoga pants & exercise equipment that you'll seldom use, I'll be learning about my gut.

My GUT??? Yup. A healthy gut means a healthy body which means a healthy, happy person. I'm taking a FREE class with COURSERA on 'Microbes & the Human Microbiome' to exercise my brain cells. 'The little grey cells' as Poirot used to say, need exercising to stay healthy too. One should never neglect the mind or it will become saggy & weak like an Accountant's ass. Besides exercising my brain cells, I'll also be learning about how the gut affects every other part of the body. And you thought your Brain was in charge???

Happy Holidays

Knitting the Days Away

The Pile Grows Taller

Christmas is days away & my poor old car is in the garage. It's been there for almost a week now, ever since the Anti Theft Device discobooberated itself & locked ME out. After setting off the alarm FOUR times in a row, I gave up & called for help. I'm sure all my neighbors were thrilled when I stopped playing with it. No one, including the mechanic, knows if it can be unlocked. That's what I get from the ungrateful hunk of tin after babying it with a Winter tune-up, tire rotation & full gas tank in the last couple of weeks. I should've left it to suck air through a clogged filter & run on watery gas.

Meanwhile, back at the basement, I can't go anywhere so I might as well knit hats while I watch all the oldies & marathons they put on the tube this time of year. It's a good excuse to stay home in my jammies & knit over the holidays while avoiding line-ups, tie-ups & road checks. A nice friend brought me a gift of two pounds of sharp cheddar - sliced to boot!!! And I loaded up on Wasa crisp bread at a sale just before the car died. So I'll be munching on cheese & crackers & drinking some of that lovely Shiraz I made several years ago while I knit.

When I run out of all the single skeins, odd balls & leftovers I scrounged up to make hats, I might even get to finish the Aubergine sweater I started for myself before hats took over.  It's the "Lace Frock" from Cabin Fever. I still haven't decided whether to put sleeves on it or not. My first thought was to put cap sleeves on & wear it like a vest over long sleeved shirts for the winter but I don't have to decide right away. I was worried about having enough yarn to knit long sleeves but I've only used two skeins so far out of the nine I bought so I've got lots of yardage to complete the lace skirt & sleeves if I want them.
                                           

LUST DENIED

I still have my little pile of balls on the table where I can see them but, other than a
small swatch, I haven't done a thing with it except look. And I still love it. I loved it even more when I cast it onto a circ that was handy & tried knitting a few rows in garter stitch. Then I knit a few more rows in stockinette, then went up a needle size or two & did it all over again. I really like the yarn. It's acrylic but knits a crisp fabric that just feels good. I like it with the 4.5mm needles. The yarn itself looks like a fine chain & feels cottony in the swatch. How come it took me so long to try this yarn??? I love it & now it's being discontinued. Story of my life. I could create a whole wardrobe in the colors in this yarn - I'm crazy about the hot pink & the steel grey in the first place but together??? Oh yeah.

Got sidetracked with the warm hats thing. Since they're to go just after Christmas, I've been trying to knit as many hats as possible in the short time I have. Thanks to a yarn donation, I found several balls of a really, really soft, worsted weight yarn that knits into terrific hats!! I've got little ones, medium ones & even a couple of adult ones to stuff in the bag. Oh, & one pair of socks from a test knit I did for the Snakes & Ladders pattern by Elizabeth McCarten. They're way too small for me but the pattern is very attractive. I know they need to keep another pair of feet warm this winter so they're going into the bag too.

LUST

I swore I wouldn't give in to the Black Shopping Monster & wouldn't even open an email ad that came my way. I have enough stuff in bins piled in the living room to make me look like a Hoarder. If I buy any more, chances are, I'll be found dead someday, under a pile of sock yarn bins. But, in the middle of the night I clicked on one Black Hole email & got sucked in - straight into the Yarn dimension. Yup. Me. The Anti-Christmas person. 

I have to say I didn't do it on impulse because I could've piled it high in my 'basket' & ordered it then & there. I thought about it for a while. And I checked it out once more. Then I thought about it some more. And emailed a friend who orders on-line. Figured if she wasn't ordering, I wouldn't order. But she was & I did. WHY did I do it??? I fell for the colors. Hard. Yup. Sucked right down into another dimension, hot & cold, right in the gut, OMG, instantaneous, LUST. The kind of thing that happens when you lock eyes with a certain kind of stranger across a room - the Bad Kind. But Lust with Yarn is a much better option, I figure. It's safer, cheaper, hangs around longer & benefits you in the long run - especially if you get right down & make something with it! I bought enough for an afghan for my bed. I love the colors, did I say that already??? Maybe a cocoon sweater to wear in my office? Maybe I should check & see if it's still on Sale & buy more??? I really, really do love the colors. It's the Acrylic Multi from Knit Picks in the Fashion color.

A knitting bud is gathering hats, mitts, scarves etc for Refugees in the Middle East so I decided to make some touques. I have some nice yarn in an acrylic/wool blend so I'm making woolly hats. I handed off a bag with hats & socks last night & forgot to take a photo!!! But here's one that's just started. The yarn is Pittsburgh, it's worsted size but so soft that it knits to a DK gauge & it's easy on the hands. Just 68 sts on a 6.5mm circ knit in a twisted K2P2 rib(Knit in the back of the knit stitch instead of the front) all the way to the top with the yarn doubled. I close the top by purling the P2 together on the first row & continuing the twisted K2. Then a round of twisted K2 , P1. A round of twisted K2 together, P1. And another round of twisted K1, P1 & a final round of twisted K2 together. I leave a long end & pull it through all the stitches, draw them closed & sew it down on the inside. Makes a nice snug, warm hat that won't fall off or blow off when you bend, run or lift. I make this one for the guys who change tires, fix  cars & work construction.

There's two big debates going on right now on the net & neither of them involve guns or war. 

The first is this Black Friday thing that seems to have morphed into Black Friday week in most places in North America. It's threatening to become Black Friday MONTH & it's echos are being heard in Europe. Can you say Retail Desperation???? It has even crawled into the net forums where peer pressure is forcing Designers to discount their work for the Black Friday monster.

The other big debate is FREE patterns. Apparently, some craft sites operate solely to supply FREE patterns. That's 'FREE' patterns scarfed from others who make all or part of their living from creating patterns for you & I. The 'Free' sites make their money from actively trolling for 'freebies' which they post on their own sites. They also take short term 'freebies' like 'Birthday Sale' 'One Week Only' 'One Day Only' etc & post them as 'FREE' forever.
Now, I like a FREE pattern as much as the next guy BUT, if someone is making money out of offering it to me, why shouldn't that money go to the designer??? Knitty, for example, has been giving us FREE quality patterns for years now. They not only PAY the Designers, list their blogs/websites/contact info, but give them a lot of exposure as well.

So what is the wise Crafter to do???  I still prefer to touch & squeeze before I buy. So I say, shop all the sites to see what's out there first. And, like the street of small shops where you know who supplies the things you love, go directly to the Designers for your freebies. See what else they have to offer. See if they have a blog or forum. Check in regularly for specials - sometimes you get BOGO. Test knit. When you find the Designers you like, support them or they won't be there when you want them. Try the 'free' patterns. Just remember, 'Free' should be a taste of what's available, not the whole meal.  

Debt, debt, debt, debt debt debt . . . .

I've never been a fan of commercials which is why I mostly watch & support, Public TV. But, sometimes even I watch regular channels - I'm hooked on Longmire(APTN) - nothing like a good western, NCIS & NCIS-New Orleans - Scott Bakula has finally found his home, Mysteries at the Museum & the Ice Road Truckers - Go Lisa Go!!! And though I sometimes tolerate the commercials just to see the shows, there have been times when I had my fill early & shut the damn show off. Commercials now take up more prime time than the program you're watching.
But, you know, I've actually seen a couple of commercials lately that really resonate with me - I love the one that asks why the holidays can't be filled with L-O-V-E instead of S-A-L-E. And my very favorite this year is the one where the toys start singing DEBT DEBT DEBIT when the woman whips out her credit card, making her think about what she's doing. What a great commercial!!

Contrary to what most folks are doing right now, I am NOT knitting a Christmas gift for anyone. No one. Not even knitting hats for charity this year. Most years I knit hats but not this year. My hands are really sore - that damned one-handed stapler that takes me two hands to use - has really inflamed my right hand & fingers. I can't even pick up the coffee pot with my right hand because my right index finger shoots pain jolts into my wrist. My right middle finger knuckle burns & my right thumb is just sore, especially where it connects with my wrist bones. I can still do up my shoes & brush my teeth but I dropped the coffee pot the other day when I tried to lift it off the stove. All in all, stupidity & overuse made them sorer than usual. I guess I'm out of the knitting game for a while.

So, I'm being forced to rest my hand. Somewhat. I still have to wash dishes & carry grocery bags. I can kick the laundry basket down the hall instead of carrying it. And there's still a mountain of data entry to do but I've been taking it easy & wearing rubber finger tips to give me some protection from hitting the keys. You'd be amazed how well it works. And, when no one's looking, I've been sneaking in a row or two on my Lace Frock Vest. For Me.