Remembering


This one's for you Alf. . . I pause on this 11th hour of the 11th day of 2008 to remember Alf Zirk, client, friend & survivor of the Great War who believed that War should never ever happen again. He talked often about the terrible ways that his friends & fellow soldiers lived & died. He often wondered why he was chosen to come back home again. I know why. He came home to try to make us understand. Remember. Never forget.



Finished - at Last!

I'm a procrastinator. I confess. I'm a starter. An idea person. I love to think up new & better projects but I'm a lousy finisher. I take courses on line or by correspondence & I do all the assignments in the last two weeks of the 4 month course. Yeah, I probably need therapy but I don't have the money . . . . one thing about Blogs, you have to actually FINISH something in order to publish the picture. Soooooo . . . . . TADA


The Tomten Jacket from EZ's Opinionated Knitter. The picture is actually a little pinker than the actual sweater but otherwise it's not too bad. I single crocheted down the fronts & across the bottom to give it a more 'finished' look & incorporated the button loops into the finish. Surprisingly, I was able to find 4 pink buttons in my stash that matched the pink sleeves exactly! Now how often does that happen??? The next Tomten will be a pullover sweater & I may incorporate a hood as well. I'm thinking of making it similar to a Hoodie for a change but still easy for a small child to get on & off.


I've also finished the Baby Surprise Jacket, also from EZ's Opinionated Knitter. This one really concerned me after I got to the midpoint of the sweater. It started looking awfully strange in it's proportions - remember, I've only ever knit one other BSJ - but I carried on, not wanting to frog it until I really understood it's dimensions. Good thing I hung in there because it turned out to be just fine. Now that I've made two of these, I can see where I am in my mind as I knit & I know the next one will be so much better. The buttonholes are not in the best place for this particular sweater but I'll be able to adjust them in the next one. The dimensions are a little different in the much fatter yarn I'm using here than in the infant sized one I made in finer yarn. Some areas need to be tweaked a little but I've made notes lightly in pencil in my OK book - sorry EZ! And again, in the stash, I found two orange & two white buttons on cards - now WHO would ever buy only TWO buttons in a style, color or shape??? I must've been outta my mind.

The Week ended with a bang


Sunday mornings I open the local UBrew for one customer who can't bottle his beer any other time of the week. He's a good customer & bottles 3 Sundays out of 4. I don't care whether I work Sunday or Monday so I open at 8:00 on Sunday, visit with him while he bottles his beer & then I do the bookkeeping for the business. I mentioned one week that I knit for charity & he told me to call his mother. He figures she needs something to do & has a whole room full of yarn to do it with. So I did. Look at what he brought me this morning!!!

There's one more sweater & two scarves in the bag as well!! I was so surprised to see such lovely, fun sweaters - I just love them all. A huge THANK YOU to Dorothy Crawford for all the work that's gone into these little items.

Boy, does this inspire me to get my BSJ finished ASAP so I can drop them off at Knitopia on Thursday nite!

One of those Dammit weeks


The weather has been awful, dammit. I've been sneezing, coughing & wheezing, dammit. I'm too hot with a sweater on, but too cold without, dammit. Haven't felt like doing anything at all, double dammit. It's just been that kind of week!!
The wheezing, sneezing & coughing didn't really develop into anything else so I'm wondering if it's some kind of allergy thing. Mind you, I have been doing a lot of data entry this week - how else do you pay the rent??? That paper dust really gets to me. I spend days unfolding receipts before I can sort, batch & enter them. Maybe it's the mold lurking in the walls . . . . . who knows?? I do feel better today, that's all I know.

Visited the BT today - first time in over a week. Hauled down the requisite 15 pounds of fruit for him to stuff in his face & found that he's now up & able to walk around the entire ward several times a day on the walker!! He says it's harder work than the production line!! He's not only doing walker work but he's kicking some of the older folks on the ward into gear! He says he's sick to death of all the moaning, groaning & whining going on from people who won't even try to do anything so he's shamed some of them into going to rehab & has a competition going with a couple more. His attitude has really changed - he does do his best when he's helping others. Apparently the paperwork's in for a bed in the new Rehab unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital where they do rehab 7 days a week ALL DAY. He's looking forward to it & intends to be home before Christmas!! The whole visit really cheered me up even though I had to run thru the rain to keep the parking meter fed.


My Baby Surprise Jacket is almost finished - actually, the buttonholes are done & I'm down to the last two rows before casting off. It really looks strange in the larger size & I'm hoping it turns out as well as the regular baby one did. I keep looking at it & thinking it looks even weirder than the last one if that's even possible. More damned buttons to find. I should just do pullovers from the neck down. sigh The BT's new socks have their heels turned & I'm about halfway down the foot. I'll be glad when these are done since I need six pairs of Frankensocks in the next 6 weeks . . . . & there's that carpenter sweater to finish. Dammit, dammit, dammit . . . .

The RainForest Blues

Another grey Fall day in the Rain Forest. I like listening to the rain when I'm curled up in my bed under the flannel covered quilt with the window open. I think I like laying there even when the snow is blowing in the open window & falling on my face. But, I'm not real happy to get up to it. It's dark, gloomy & depressing out there. It's times like this that I really miss my little house with the woodstove. I miss the warmth, the glow, the soup pot burbling on the back of the stove & I really miss the animals curled around soaking up the heat. Basement suites just don't give you that stuff. So I sit at my messy desk with a cup of tea & dream.

My arthritic hands have been giving me hell since the dampness & bad weather rolled in. The Arthritis Society says bad weather doesn't significantly affect arthritis pain. Okaaaaaay. Maybe it's the dampness, the cold or the barometric change but isn't that tied to Bad Weather???? All I know is that it HURTS, dammit. One day my forefinger's painfull - two days later the thumbs hurt so bad I can't open the laundry detergent bottle but the forefinger's fine - what gives??? It interrupts my knitting. And I don't like that.

Speaking of knitting - I've finished the Tomten Jacket - no buttons on it yet but I've decided it will have buttons. I'll crochet a loop to hook over the buttons which have yet to be found. I'm thinking big black buttons.
The Baby Surprise Jacket is more than half finished. I decided to make it every color under the rainbow. I don't know what size it'll be when it's finished since I used the measurements for the Baby size, but this yarn is somewhere around an Aran bulk when knitted so I'm thinking it may be a size 4 or so. The next one will be another Tomten but knit in the round as a pullover instead of a cardigan.

Since I found two last balls of the BT's favorite splotchy Confetti yarn, I'm knitting one last pair of socks for him in the light blue. While not his favorite colorway, he likes it well enough to look forward to yet another pair. Hopefully, he'll be out of the hospital by Christmas & wearing them.



Look what I found!! I love the color & was gonna knit another wild little scarf to wear with my Arvik sweater when I get it done. Now, well, I wonder if this would make a great collar for Arvik instead? Wouldn't that be FUN??


Wouldja believe I blew the dust off my sewing machine this morning??? I decided to tackle the huge pile of mending piled on top of the sewing chair. Nothing like a couple of hour's mending to start off the day. Made me want to blow the dust off the serger & just get to work on some of that Polar Fleece I've been hoarding in my stash. I need a winter jacket & I know I have at least two big bags of fleece that I bought at a big Closing Out Sale when Fabricana closed it's Surrey location. If I remember correctly, I bought blue with snowflakes on it to make a zipped jacket for myself . . . . For my birthday last year, the BT gave me $500 to buy myself something - I bought a whole bunch of silk noil, wool/silk flannel & tencel fabric to make myself some new tops to go with the pants I also bought. Why am I still wearing sweats??? I think I need to go on a weekend retreat with my serger & fabrics!!!

Time to quit flogging the dog & get back to work, I guess . . . . . the paperwork never ends!

The Sun came out today

October used to be such a glorious month in the Lower Mainland. You used to count on a warm October with crisp evenings & cool nights. Is it my imagination, or have we had too many years with too much rain??? Today was a wonderful October day. Cold morning, warm, almost hot afternoon - yes, that IS a bit too much sun on my face - with the cool evening just starting as the sun goes down. I got my rays at Starbucks today from 2 to 3:30 while knitting on the Wonderful Wallaby in the Anniversary Blue Briggs & Little wool. I love the color. The Carpenter who is to wear this sweater loves the color too - it will bring out the blue of his eyes & make him a little more irresistible to the woman in his life. The BT & I brought them together about 8 years ago when we spent a summer being bums at Starbucks - sigh, young love . . . . . . .


Since my fingers are better, I've been able to take up the needles for a longer period of time & have finished my Tomten jacket in three colors. I have yet to sew up the sleeves or figure out the front closures - looking thru the button bin this evening to see if I have anything that will work - who knows, it may get a zipper. The next one will definitely be a pullover!!!! I think I hate sewing up & sewing on buttons the most - I'd rather knit!!!
Haven't decided if I'll knit a pullover Tomten next or make the Baby Surprise Jacket. The Tomten is really a fast & simple knit - all garter stitch - without any bother about shaping which is really nice if you just want to take it everywhere for those moments you need something to do. It's like car socks - mindless time filler. But some child will love the end result & I guess, in the end, that's the most important part of knitting for charity.

Holy Crap, it's almost Monday again!?!

I have no idea where the last few days have gone other than they've just gone! Hey, I want some of this life back when I'm not stressed or aching! My thumbs have been so damned sore that I haven't knit more than the cuffs on the Tomten jacket & even they aren't sewed together yet.


My friend Karen told me what the problem is with the BT - She said he's grieving. Well, duhhhhhh, of course he is!! - smack myself in the forehead . . . I took all those courses too, way back when, but it's funny how you don't apply them when YOU'RE the one with the problem. Once the light came on behind my eyes, my blood pressure went down. I've litterally been making myself sick with worry. Of course . . . . he's working thru the Anger stage!! I'm so stupid. Upon realizing this, I was able to talk to him rationally about what's going on & beat him up a little about taking it out on me. And then I asked some important questions about how he'll manage when he CAN go home & what he thinks he'll need to make that happen. There's nothing like being prepared when the Social Worker asks the very same questions . . . .


So, now that the BIG problem was sort of solved on Wednesday - the Ladies Auxiliary's home made brownies - on sale in the Hospital didn't hurt neither!!! I was able to come home & root thru my bags - yes, litterally BAGS - of left over sock yarns for ideas for Frankensocks. I think I need a bag of black & red to tie everything together! I love Frankensocks. As long as the measurement from cuff to heel & heel to toe is the same, you can do anything in between! I have more people every year to knit for so I haven't decided whether to make another dozen infant socks for Afghanistan or to make adult socks for charity. So many decisions, so little time . . . . . What did someone say today?? Two months to the big day . . . .

One last whine . . . no, I don't serve cheese with that!

I finally quit feeling sorry for myself, pulled in the old a**hole strings & got back to the grind. I picked up my friend Lucy yesterday morning bright & early - she had some moaning of her own to get done so we had a little teary session in memory of her dad who died two years ago this week. We sat outside in the sunshine, on the cement block behind Starbucks with a coffee, & talked of old times. We laughed till we cried over some of the shenanegans that used to go on at the grubby little shop by the Patullo bridge where most business transactions were done in cash. We giggled over all of the dirty, grimy, sticky, nasty jobs we used to do for her dad for money. He once signed me up to release towed cars from the compound across the yard, if you can believe it!! I was the bookkeeper who also stripped cars & helped install windshields while she learned to scrape, label, paint, prime & cut up junk cars. We both ran for parts. Gawd, I miss you Jerry.

And then we drove down to visit the Nasty Man at the hospital. I know he was glad to see us but as is often the case these days, he was sour & mean. She offered to tip over the chair & suggested we leave him out behind the bushes. He'd fallen in the bathroom just before we arrived so that really put him in a mood! He's frustrated. He's not progressing as fast as he wants. He's tired of the Geriatric ward. And he just wants OUT. But, some progress to report - he's doing physio TWICE a day now - they ARE considering a walker for him & he's getting assessed on his personal care ability tomorrow. I think that man just needs someone a little younger to compete with. His current roomie, who is a lot younger, has given up & just won't try to do anything for himself! That depresses the BT more than anything.


Not much to report on the knitting, spinning or dyeing front. I've been too busy doing receipt sorting & data entry. There's nothing like a little emotional stress to raise the Blood Pressure & cause the old arthritis to flare up too. I'm back taking pills three times a day again & can't spin at all at the moment.
My Tomten sleeves are almost finished - I have one to go, the closure to figure out & then onto the next one which will be a pullover Tomten! I do prefer to START new projects than FINISH old ones . . . . .

Another Weepy Weekend . . . .

I spent the weekend feeling sorry for myself. With the BT & my friend Lucy in the hospital, the Girls at the Spinning Retreat & my techie buddy Kelly in love & visiting out of town - hey, we all know what he's doing!!! - I was actually lonely. I couldn't even find Kelly's buddy Steve on the weekend! The only one left was my ex. Guess who I ended up eating Shanghai Noodle Soup with??? Yup, the EX! Oh I could've hung around Starbucks on my own, I suppose, someone I know would've come in eventually but I wanted to whine & you have to have just the right people for that!! I've been working on my own too long - when I go to work, everyone else is off, I'm losing touch!!

Man - I gotta get out & find some new friends or get a day job like everyone else!!!


I did spend time working on the Tomten jacket. After half a sleeve I realized something was wonky. EZ isn't always really clear in her directions in the Opinionated Knitter! When I realized my sleeve was wider than the back of the sweater, I knew I'd done something wrong! Frogged the whole sleeve back to where I picked up the original stitches & really LOOKED at it. Aha - You don't pick up & knit ONE underarm stitch on the holder each row as you knit the sleeve, you must knit ONE sleeve stitch & ONE underarm stitch together at each end until they're all knitted up. Makes sense to me. So, I'm happily knitting the sleeve once more & it now looks like a sleeve! I now get that nice horizontal line where the sleeve meets the body. Details. Details.

Didn't spin Sunday away as I planned. I was lonely so I went to work. It gave me something to do & I got the wash done while I was at it. And it took me close to the Sushi shop!! Mama had sushi for lunch & the remains for supper!!! Lucky me, Kelly arrived home & took me for coffee in the evening. Oh boy, he's got it bad. He's already commissioned a Designer to work on the rings . . . .

All men are snakessssssssss . . . .

I'm actually still talking to the BT although I've considered trading him in on a newer model! Well, any model for that fact. He can't understand why MY stomach churns & I'm all stressed out - after all, HE's the one with the injury!! He's the one who has to stay in hospital . . . And who's the one who didn't look after himself??? Hmmm?? Why are sick men like poisonous snakes???? GRRRRRRR

I did stop by for all of 40 minutes - Apparently the Physio - heh, she's a member of my Spinning & Weaving Guild - works him like a Rented Mule for two hours every day with no nonsense. By the time she gets done, he's done for the day & has to sleep! He says learning how to walk again is the hardest work he's ever done & he's just too tired to hang out in the coffee shop much!! Apparently the rehab ward is terrific, the staff are wonderful - if you have to be in the hospital, this is the ward you want!!! He's taking advantage of everything he can do & work with. And he's much happier. I guess the secret to make a man better is to keep him busy even when he's sick. I swear my stomach got better just listening!

I treated myself to dinner & then headed over to my favorite LYS, Knitopia. I was going to give a fellow knitter a lesson in turning a heel a la Queen Kahuna & turn in my first "Boomer" sweater. I had lots of fun knitting this wild little thing. I just cast on about 94 stitches & went to town! I split the stitches at the armhole & knit the front & back separtely with a three stitch garter band on either side of each to make picking up sleeve stitches easier. I was going to put buttons on the shoulders but if a kid loses one or two, they may be hard to find.

I looked through a ton of yarn but couldn't find the color I needed to finish the fronts of my Tomten sweater. DAMN. Well, there was nothing to do but frog the one partially knit front & knit them both in another shade of something. The back can stay the way it is. I ended up knitting the narrow fronts in this grey & using a pink for the arms. I think it all goes together quite nicely, don't you???? The Tomten is a fun little sweater to knit & would make a great adult jacket. It does eat a lot of yarn though, so be prepared!! I think I like it's design more than the Baby Surprise Jacket - oh, stop yelling!! - I know the BSJ is a stash buster & a lot of fun to knit but this one's so simple. I'm thinking I'll make the next one a pullover with a split front! Maybe I'll even steal the pouch from the Wonderful Wallaby for the front . . . . . . I must say knitting kid's sweaters is a blast - nice change from all the socks I usually churn out.

And back to Arvik - my perpetually-in-progress handspun sweater was chosen by the cat as a daybed while I was gone all day yesterday. She pulled the sweater-in-progress half out of the plastic bag & rolled up in a ball with it . . . . . I'm thinkin' that this is a hint to finish it NOW & get it out of her way!!

The Girls are off to the Fall Retreat, sigh . . . . with my cat sitter in the hospital, I'm stuck at home this weekend. Maybe I'll just spin all day Sunday & think of them driving through all that rain in the Canyon. I have been spinning up the superwash sock yarn I bought at the Spring Retreat hosted by our local guild. I'm not sure it'll be socks but I'm sure getting fond of fingerless gloves . . . . I'll never be a shawl or scarf person either but leg warmers for work??? Maybe . .

Ode to the BoyToy

So how's the BoyToy doing?? Well, he had a nasty blow-out in one of the arteries in his brain which could've killed him because it took two days to get him to the hospital. By the time we actually got him there, it was trying to heal itself. Lucky for him, lucky for his family!! You don't get too many of these breaks in life. He will have some permanent damage but the medical staff say it'll be minimal - whatever that means. He has no paralysis & his speech is good but he still hasn't located his left arm & leg in space. They're still about 4 inches from where he thinks they are - they used to be about 8" away so I guess this is progress too. His eyes are still not working together properly - they both see & focus but not together in the same place. He can read & understand the big letters but not the small print. His recall is sometimes goofy. But he can pass most of the tests the physio gives him but the big one - he isn't walking yet. His hand is better than his leg. A bunch of his pals hauled him out this weekend for beer & pizza. He's on the mend if he can go out for beer & pizza!!! He's extremely nasty & cranky - sick man syndrome?, wants to escape the hospital at any cost & just wants to go home NOW. And he can't wait to go back to work. So I guess life returns to almost normal.

And how am I?? Well, relieved, angry, resentful, stressed, restless, carrying on as I always do. At least the cat's always happy to see me when I come home - she rushes out to the car to give me shit for being gone so long!!! When I'm really angry & resentful, I try to remember how I'd feel if it were ME laying there not being able to make my own decisions, being poked, prodded, isolated, no privacy or hot shower. I'd be screaming long & loud too. I hate hospitals. I hate the smells, the sounds, the people & the whole industry. And I generally avoid them at all cost! LOL Its funny - the staff say they don't like patients who just want to stay in the Hospital Hotel. But heh, they really don't like the ones who want to get up & check out quickly!

I HAVE been getting some knitting done though. Wheeling those damned wonky chairs, the emotional distress & the change in the weather has kind of crippled my hands. I can't even spin right now. I can barely write never mind knit! But, I've been slowly working on my "Boomer" projects. I still have to find three buttons for the shoulder of the bottom up sweater in the wild colors - yellow, lemon, orange & beige AND I've got a EZ Tomten on the needles in plum - haven't decided what color the arms will be but I wish I had Celery colored yarn. This is the first time I've made the Tomten & I thought it would be fun although garter stitch really seems to go on & on & on. I might try the Baby Surprise Jacket too - it'll be much bigger in the yarn I've been given but I'm not sure how much bigger! I think chunky yarn is much harder to knit with than good old sock yarn when you have sore fingers but I'm doing a little here & there. The day is so dark & grey today that my camera won't even take a good picture . . . .

Another Day, Another Visit


I'm getting pretty good at wheeling wheelchairs around hospital corridors. The only thing I'm NOT good at is making my way up & down hills with a loaded one. I think the staff on the BoyToy's ward hate us. Two days in a row we've had wonky wheelchairs. They go where they desire. They stop suddenly when we hit a mat or veer off into a wall when we try to go straight! It's not easy wheeling a 230 pound man up a hill but it's impossible when all four wheels are going in different directions!! I just about dumped the poor man into the roadway over a 4" drop yesterday . . . . I don't need to go to the gym because I'm getting a terrific workout at the hospital!

I'm doing a fair bit of knitting. My pals & I have dropped everything for a couple of weeks to knit for the "Boomer" project which sends knitted hats & sweaters for small children to Afghanistan to be distributed by Canadian troops. The girls must have a dozen or more hats between them while I've finished one sweater & am onto the second which is EZ's Tomten sweater. I might even get a Baby Surprise Jacket done in this chunky wild yarn. I'm enjoying the knitting - just stocking stitch or garter but I've got 12 different colors to work with!! LOL And I've found that I've forgotten what size a small child actually is . . . . This is a pic of the first sweater in progress. The second sleeve is now finished & I have to sew three buttons on the shoulder!! The Tomten jacket is already on the needles & will be in purples & grey.

In the Blink of an Eye


My best bud had a stroke Sunday night. We both thought he had the flu & didn't actually do anything about his condition till Tuesday afternoon. With hindsight, we should've done something on Monday but neither of us would acknowledge what we both suspected. Who really wants to think they're having a stroke at 50??? Not the guy having one, that's for sure. My pal Karen tells me he has a good chance at a full recovery - I certainly hope so. I mean, what's life without a BoyToy??

So you get to thinking about YOUR chances. About 5 years ago, while sitting at my computer late one evening, I had a TIA. My right hand went all numbish & tingly & the right side of my mouth went all tingly. I thought, OH SHIT, I'm having a stroke. I immediately went & took two regular aspirin with a hot drink & tried to relax. The tingling went away. I went to the nearest clinic in the morning since it was a Friday night on Welfare & Pension week. Welfare week means the emerg is backed up outside the door & it would be tomorrow before anyone saw me anyway!!! I was lucky - my blood pressure was sky high but I had no visible damage once the pressure went down. But I could've had a stroke. The BoyToy has been bitching at me periodically ever since. Did I really heed the warning?? Somewhat. Got my pressure under control. Changed my diet a little. But my weight is the same & I don't exercise. Guess this is a wake up call for both of us . . . .

Summer has left the Room

I guess I have to recognize that Fall is here in all its glory. What happened to Summer?? At least I have wool. It's funny, in the Summer, I hardly took the spinner outside on those few glorious evenings to spin at all. Now that Fall is officially here - well, all I want to do is spin wool. Silky, warm, lovely wool. And I want to knit with it too, of course.

I think Fall is probably my favorite time of the year. I love the long, warm days with the sharp, cool nights. It's great to cuddle under the flannelet covered quilt & listen to the story CD or read a great mystery. I love the colors of the trees as they start to go dormant - too bad they have to lose that showy color. And I love the Fall produce - berries, new apples, nectarines & all the bright root veggies to throw into the slow cooker for soups & stews. The bright fall colors remind me that the cold, dampness of winter is right around the corner & I haven't finished a sweater for ME yet. I'm a great starter but a lousy finisher. Sooooo many projects & sooooo little time . . . . . Arvik isn't yet finished & I want a sweater the color of the new Red Rome apples this year. Can you believe that? Hmmmmm - well, maybe I could overdye some of Arvik with a rich red & knit another sweater???


Speaking of Fall - I've finished the Spirogyra fingerless gloves from Knitty. I had some old grey handspun - some of the Dorset roving I think - so I whipped up a pair to wear in my warehouse jobs. I don't want something delicate or fancy for work - I just want something WARM. The wind kind of blows through those old single glazed windows onto the front computer where I work & I FREEZE. Arvik will be for work too - it's light but really warm & won't show the dirt. IF I EVER GET THE POOR THING FINISHED!


I finished the latest Garn Studio socks. I love the colors so these ones are going straight into MY basket. I may not wear them till the spring when I'll need short socks again but they're all MINE.

I've been sorting through my left-overs since it's also time to knit for my Bum Bags. I'm thinking Frankensocks this year - I've got about four bags of left-overs which I've sorted into Blues, Reds, Pinks/Purples & Everthing Else. Black & Red solids pretty well work with any color in the sock world although Grey is good too. I use the solids for the ribbing, toes & solid stripes between colors. I have to admit that Black is pretty spectacular at showcasing all the jewel colors in the stripes like these ones I knit a couple of years ago.
I've found that a lot of the Black yarns feel much thinner than the colored ones. Why is that??? Is it just my imagination???? Oh well - I got black, several browns & greys to work with for the folks who don't like colors.

And on the spinner - well, I bought some SuperWash wool from Lynne at Knitopia at the Spring Retreat hosted by the Langley Spinner's & Weaver's Guild in February. The bright colors called to me across the room & I had to have it even before it was unpacked & priced. Silly me. Like I need more roving to spin!! And especially more pink or purple . . . . I see a trend here - too much pink & purple in my wardrobe of yarns! And now I want rich burgandy & dark red for fall. Ooooops - maybe it's time to swap some of the pinks & purples I have hoarded away.

How the time flies . . . .

I can't believe that two weeks have passed since I updated this blog! But, then, I've been doing late tax returns like crazy - oh yes Virginia, I suspect even Santa has occasionally filed late !!

I get an audio book playing on the desktop & spend days & days with receipts & the calculator BEFORE I get to do the actual return. In the last couple of months, I've worked my way thru Ben Bova's 'Grand Tour' series & am now working on Kathy Reichs' "Bones" books. I like her heroine, Temperance Brennan, a whole lot better than Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. Both fictional women deal with dead bodies but Temperance studies the bones while the dour Kay, deals with bodies that're still dressed in their meat & skin. Both are good if you like the genre though.

But, I'm getting off the subject here . . I've been busy. But not too busy to finish the Black Funeral Socks. They actually went quite quickly for black socks but the Preface yarn really feels thin - I'll have to get a report back from the wearer to be. It may just be my imagination!! My Olympic SockPut socks have found a new home! My Doctor's new receptionist has an eating problem. She's so thin that I volunteered to donate fat to her any time she needs it!! She proudly announced yesterday that she's gained 2.5 pounds in the last three months!! I congratulated her & rewarded her hard work with the wild socks I knit for the Olympics - she was so proud of herself!! I hope she's gained another 2.5 when I come back in three months.

I also cast on some new short socks for ME in the Garn Studio sock yarn. I really like the Garn Studio yarn - not only does it come in some great colorways but it's thick & springy & quick to knit. It's a little more expensive - a buck or two - but feels great when you're knitting & nice ON! With all the warm weather out there these days, I NEED short socks.


My friend Gail came to Wednesday Nite Knitting with a pair of fingerless gloves. They were really nice! She knit them from a pattern on KNITTY - called SPIROGYRA. We love Knitty!!! Now, I remembered seeing the pattern & thought it was interesting for Sweet Young Things but hadn't thought about actually making them for myself. When Gail brought her gloves to the group, we all tried them on. Gail made hers long - almost to the elbow!! I loved them! Laura threatened to wear them home. So, I came home that nite, printed off the pattern & started knitting them out of some grey handspun I had laying around. I'd actually started a pair of plain fingerless gloves in the grey last spring - they were thick & warm but sooooo uninspiring. So I tore them back to the ribbing, adjusted the stitch count to a multiple of 6 for the pattern & spent the weekend knitting my own interpretation of Spirogyra. I also made them long - they're halfway to my elbow - so I'll be warm in the warehouses when I work this winter. I wasn't going to waste my time making LACEY gloves but I discovered that lace makes them much stretchier - a good thing when working with handspun on small sized needles!! There's a reason for everything in this life . . . .

My Carpenter finally showed his face at my door - I got his body & arm measurements & am now able to finish his Wonderful Wallaby! He's really looking forward to wearing it when he goes North to visit Mom for Thanksgiving. Apparently, I chose his favorite color. I'm not surprised. The Anniversary Blue is wonderful when knit up & will look great on him. I originally thought the Heritage was too scratchy for a cozy sweater that would touch skin but it's actually very nice to work with & really softens up as you knit with it. And yes, you have to pick out a little bit of straw here & there but I sure wouldn't have a problem wearing this wool as a cardigan.

I actually knit a few more rows on Arvik in the last couple of weeks too. I'm thinking I'll be wearing it to the Fall Retreat this year just to prove I can knit a sweater for ME! With my Spirogyra gloves on & Arvik on my back, I'll have to knit up one of those wild fluffy scarves in hot pink to go with them for a bit of color . . . .

Back to the Blog

I have two calendars in my house. One sits on the wall, in the hall, close to the kitchen where I record the hours worked for each client - the stuff I'm supposed to put in the DayTimer that sits with bills piled on top of it - appointments & Things I Must Remember. I actually turn the pages & record stuff that needs to be recorded. The other calendar hangs above my desk in the office, where the computer sits. It's still on July. It waits for summer to come back. Guess which calendar I use the most?? Yup, the one with the pages that never get turned. Well, today, I bit the bullet & turned the page to September. It's not raining but the sky is that paler shade of grey that tells you to get out the knitting needles & finish the sweater that you started last Fall.

Speaking of knitting, the Carpenter Wallaby is still languishing for want of some measurements. And I hear Arvik calling . . . . . . So, I'm thinking, I'll just pick her up & start knitting for ME again.
So - I dug out poor Arvik. And then I realized I'd stolen her needles - I have the Denise set so I can change out the ends quite easily - I guess I'm using them for the Wallaby. Or maybe I WAS going to use them for the Wallaby before I had to go down a couple of sizes . . . . . It pays to actually pin a note on the sweater when you're robbing it of it's needles so you can find out what size you were actually using!! Now there's a notion we could use - a tag with the needle numbers on it that can be pinned to the sweater whose needles you're stealing . . .

And then there's the Black Socks. I'm just about ready to do the toe shaping on one & mid foot on the other. These have gone much faster than the last pair - I suspect it's the Queen's heel shaping that saved the day! Another evening or two will see them finished & on their way to their new owner.

I really hate blogging without pictures!


The title says it all - I don't have any pictures. It's time to hit the hay because I have to be up, showered, fed & ready to go before 7 in the AM & it's now 11:49 in the PM but I don't feel sleepy. The BoyToy has taken My car to work since he's separated the cords in the steel belted tire on the front of His car & has to drive to Vancouver. I thought those tires were in better shape when I bought that car . . . . before we traded cars, that is. He he he, seems like I got the best of the deal. Oh well, I surely don't need My car on the Graveyard shift & he doesn't go anywhere on the Day shift so we'll share until one of my scrap buddies comes up with Cheap or Free - even better, tires that fit his car. If it isn't one damned thing, it's another . . . . Maybe I should actually check the tires on My car before I start laughing at his!

I've come to a standstill on the Briggs & Little Wallaby. My carpenter client needs to bring his skinny little bod over to be measured for length! I have the body & both arms knit & ready to attach to the yoke but I want it to be LONG enough. The little shit hasn't measured himself so I have to catch him & do it myself I guess . . . . MEN. I am learning a lot about the Wallaby though & I'll certainly knit another of these in the near future - they're fun!!

Black socks have their heels turned & I'm almost to the toe shaping. These ones have gone quite quickly - I think it's the Queen's heel that makes the difference.

I really have to take some photos . . . . .

It seems like a Dull November Day


And the Fall monsoons have started. Well, we could be saved by a nice long Indian Summer but it sure doesn't seem that way out there today. Or yesterday. Good thing I'm inside lost in gas-receipt hell. Gas-receipt hell??? That's what I call it when I have to add up FOUR year's worth of gas receipts for a truck driver's back taxes - AND he fills up daily!!! Good thing I've got soup simmering in the slow cooker & Ben Bova's MARS playing on my desktop player! I've become lost in Ben Bova's Grand Tour series. I listen while I work & it certainly makes the time go fast!
But this isn't knitting related, is it?? I didn't finish the Sweater Sprint - it was the Sweater Sprint I entered after all - event on the Ravelympics. I bit off more than I could chew - even in a size medium. A word of advice - never enter an untried pattern with an untried yarn in a timed event. I had to go down TWO needle sizes to get the correct gauge for my Wallaby. Then, part way thru the main body, I realized my gauge was off. I'm knitting 4 stitches to the inch instead of 4.5!! And what difference does half a stitch make, you ask?? Well, I'm thinking my medium sweater is now a large. The sleeve was ridiculous so I tore it back to the ribbing, ignored the "add 10 stitches" after the ribbing & just added a couple of stitches to the underarm every 4 rows until I added 8 more stitches overall instead of 18. I figure I'm about right for a slightly snug sleeve - after all, this is a WORKING Wallaby & the guy doesn't want huge arms to catch on things!!! My tension is waaaaaaay looser when I knit in the round! This won't be a bad thing when I want to make MY wallaby though. I should be able to knit the largest size to fit me - it should wind up two sizes larger. I'll just make it a little longer to elongate my body & keep my bum warm!!

And on the home front - well, I sent three pairs of socks off to new homes as birthday presents last week!! So now I have an excuse to start on the Christmas gift socks. I'm thinking of making Frankensocks - they're socks knit out of related leftovers with solid bands of blue or black or red for example, to bind them together. I often use black with stripes of yarns that have red bits in them or maybe a bunch that have blues in them. What fun to knit. Here's a pair I knit for Laura's daughter waaaay back in the beginning when Laura joined the Wednesday Nite Niters - we told Laura she'd have to learn to knit her own socks if she wanted any more of them!!! And then there's all those squares the girls knit. I intend to crochet them together into blankets this year & maybe knit some strips to make others if I can get the time.

Ravelympics Alert


My Sockput entry is finished!! And, why wouldn't it be??? I can knit socks in my sleep these days. Not only have I finished the Sisu Fantasy socks but I've got a pair of - drum roll please - BLACK SOCKS on the needles too. The BT's elderly dad asked if I would knit him a pair of black dress socks - what could I say . . . . I'm just quickly knitting a very plain pair in Preface which is made by the same mill that puts out the Confetti yarns I like so much. I've obviously been knitting with Regia & Opal yarns a whole lot lately because this Preface sure feels thin - oh I know it thickens up when the sizing is washed out!!! It just feels funny . . . . but the socks are just about to the start of the heel gusset shaping so they aren't going to take long to knit.


So, after socks, I entered the Freestyle thingamaboppie in the Ravelympics - you know you're getting old & weird when you can't even remember the damned events you sign up for!!!!! I was going to knit the Wonderful Wallaby in Purple Marble yarn. Well, I decided knitting a Wallaby for Moi for the first time was going to be just too much for such a short event. I mean, I have to compute the sizing, figure out the bust short rows etc . . . . so I thought I'd knit one for the BT. Well, even his size is a bit of a stretch with the LONG body & belly short rows!!! So my skinny little carpenter client dropped by with payroll info in hand & HE ordered a Wallaby when he saw what I was doing. He's a nice ordinary size MEDIUM with no belly. AHA!! A snap to make HIM a Hoodie. And I think the medium will be a bit big on him. I do so love to knit for kids!!!!!

The Carpenter Wallaby is being constructed - hehe - with Briggs & Little "Heritage" yarn in the Anniversary Twist colorway. The Anniversary Twist is light blue & denim twisted barber-pole style worsted wool produced for their 150th Anniversary last year. I loved the color & figured the boys would too. I had to go down a needle size to a US 5 & 7 to get the gauge called for for the Wallaby but so far it looks good. Although I thought Heritage would be too scratchy, it sure softens up as you knit with it! And, this will be a working hoodie!!! I think the Heritage wool will be perfect for this application. I'm thinking a chunky style wool would also be great for the Wallaby too - I'd just have to do some calculations for the gauge & go down a couple of sizes for a true WINTER Wallaby.

And I'm Off!!!

I have to admit, the Sockput is a riot. I really wanted to start these socks - I can't resist a new yarn!!! And I was dying to find out what kind of pattern I'd get. Sooooooooooooo . . . . . Tada, my entry. I'm up to the gusset shaping for the heel on both of them already. Sunday nite is my favorite nite on the boob-tube with the Antiques Roadshow on PBS & then Rosemary & Thyme & whatever British Detective series is running on Knowledge. So I end up knitting for at least three hours!!!

Haven't started on the Wonderful Wallaby yet in the beautiful purple Marble yarn but I'm thinking I might just change to the blue Eton Ornaghifilati yarn I bought for the BT. The Eton yarn is 50% wool & 50% acrylic so it can be washed in cool water & laid flat to dry. I think it'll work out nicely for the Wallaby!! He's long wanted a sweater but he wouldn't let me knit one till his son moved out. The kid used to 'borrow' dad's stuff & then just throw it all into the wash . . . . I mediated a couple of battles over what belonged to who. And, I learned to buy everything in doubles but in different sizes, LOL. So, the kid's been gone for about 4 years & maybe it's time to knit him something. I'm doing this in self defense you know, I want to be able to FINISH in time!!!!!

The August Manly birthday socks have been finished! They were actually finished a while ago but I hadn't tucked in the ends . . . I think that's the worst part of any project!! So, I have the perfect "manly" socks & the "wild" socks for the BT's parents who include me as one of the "kids". I'm the 'good' influence on the wildest kid. hahahaha

So, I joined the Ravelympics


My spinning & knitting pal Gail was making me feel guilty for not joining the Ravelympics. It wasn't that she said a whole lot but she's a mother. She has that mother way of making you feel guilty without saying anything - you know the look. So I went in & took a look . . . I figured I'd just join one of the sock events - I mean, hey, I can knock out a pair of socks in a couple or three days without breaking a sweat!! And I just bought some great new Sisu Fantasy to knit myself another pair anyway. So I joined the Sockput. I cast on this morning while watching Peter Fallico decorate on the Home & Garden channel - my morning addiction - & I've finished the cuff on both socks already. I did consider short socks but I get more use out of the longer ones so these will be above the ankle socks.


Since I was already signed up for one event at Ravelry, I figured I might as well sign up for another one while I was there. I should've signed on for the UFO project but it's waaaay too hot to knit a large wool sweater when half of it's laying in your lap! So I signed on to knit the Wonderful Wallaby in the purple Marble yarn I bought at Knitopia. I absolutely fell in love with Marble even though it IS acrylic. It's a lovely acrylic with great colors & I may just buy more of it before I'm through. I've lusted after the Wonderful Wallaby ever since I saw one on the back of a fellow guild member, Doris who has several of them!! I've already done the swatch with the pocket shaping & attachment so I'm ready to go!! I'm still debating whether to make the Wallaby as written or turn it into a zipped front with two kangaroo pockets. Sooooo many decisions, so little time - 17 days, isn't it???