Snow in the Spring

Spring is here!

It’s crazy and wonderful and I love it! On Monday morning, I was up in New York, on Long Island, visiting with my mother. We were actually supposed to have been home already (I should have been at work) but we had car issues and could not get home until Monday evening. Grrrr. Ruined most of the weekend, blast it.

Anyway, we had heard on the weather report the night before that there might be some snow in the mix in the AM. My brother assured us that only north and west of the city would see any snow. Boy was he wrong! Not that there was any accumulation, but there were huge flakes falling for about 30 minutes. Very pretty and it didn’t cause any problems, so we could relax and enjoy. By the time we arrived home on Monday evening, we had shed layers and had no need for jackets – that was much better. ;))

We went to Long Island so I could spend time with Mom and Bob could go cod fishing. He’s been planning this trip since our last trip to NY when the winds were too high for him to go. He was packed and prepped, we got to NY on Friday, visited with Mom and had a nice dinner, then drove out to Montauk (where the boat is docked) before 1 PM when it was due in from the previous nights’ trip. No boat. We looked around, came back, still no boat. We asked, they said the boat would be in around 2, ate lunch and came back, still no boat. Finally, around 3 PM it arrived. Bob got to reserve his place on the boat with a fishing rod and off we went to check in to the motel we were staying at.

We hung out and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then Bob settled in for a nap and Mom and I went to eat. The battery warning light had come on the dash during the day, but the gauges seemed to be OK, so off we went. After dinner, though, the battery gauge went down fast as I drove. We went straight back to the hotel. Bob was still sleeping. I was supposed to get him up about 10:30 to get ready to leave for the boat, which left the dock at 1 AM. He couldn’t go. We agonized over it, but not knowing how or when we would get back home, knowing that the next day was Sunday and nothing was open, and lots of other details made him decide he had to skip the PREPAID trip.

We slept, got up in the morning and did more agonizing. The guess was that the alternator was shot. How far could we get on what battery power remained? What damage might we do if we pushed it too far? What other choices did we have?

We left Montauk and drove to the Kmart in Bridgehampton - a very stressful 22 miles. We made it. Just. The car died as I put it in park in the parking lot. Bob bought 2 car batteries and we drove back to Mom’s house. From there we made phone calls, agonized more about whether Bob should try (remember, he’s legally blind) to install the alternator himself or have someone do it. We had it replaced by the repair shop because if he had tried and been unsuccessful, we would have had to tow the vehicle to the repair place. They fixed it but not until Monday, so I missed work and a meeting that I am expected to attend. We got home so late that we missed joining younger son and his partner for a birthday celebration, too. I’d like to set that blasted vehicle on fire or blow it up!!!

On a more cheerful note, I have been knitting on my handspun wrap and really enjoying choosing colors and knitting with yarn I spun myself. I’ll try to get pictures this weekend. I have also been knitting on the Eliina shawl and the two socks I have on the needles. I didn’t get spinning done this weekend – that was part of some ruined plans, too. I had planned to spin while on the beach, soaking in the sun ……

I have been researching what to do with my fleece when it arrives. I plan to order some Unicorn Power Scour and rinse. I’ll do a cold soak outside, let it dry and pull it apart to shed as much VM as possible. I’ll also evaluate it to see how much hot water washing it will take. The hot water washing will take place in the kitchen sink, near the stove where I can supplement the hot tap water as needed. I am hoping that one wash and two rinses will do the trick. According to my reading, this is not supposed to be a greasy fleece. I’ll do one small batch first to test my system, then try to do the rest in just two batches. I’m not sure if I will buy tulle to dry it in outside or use cheesecloth (to keep it from blowing away or being stollen by critters but still let air flow through). We have a nice big deck and clothes line to use for drying purposes. Then I have to figure out how to spin it. Brush with dog brushes? Use as is? I don’t own tools for fiber prepping, so I have to improvise or make do. What an adventure! I can’t believe some people go to fiber festivals and come home with 5 or more fleeces at once!

That’s all for now. I hope you are all enjoying spring and savoring your health and homes, especially after the devastation in Japan.

05:50 is darn early

The Broncos let me down. Big time. It was not a good football weekend.

I managed to stay wake until the 3rd quarter before deciding that my need for sleep was stronger than my need to watch the rest of the (bad) game. I am really glad that I did not loose more sleep over that game.

KnitPicks interchangeable needle sets have given some people fits. I have had a few problems but not many. Last night made up for it, though it didn't have the disastrous consequences that it could have. The cables on two of my projects separated from the connector with stitches on the needles. Two. In the same night! Luckily for me, no lace was on those needles. Both the He Gansey and Rob's earflap hat were affected. I didn't lose any stitches, though, since I noticed it right away. Today there will be superglue application. I would say that I will start buying other needles and get rid of these, but I have quite a few - several Options, two new acrylic tips and a full set of the harmony needles. In order to not loose the use of all of those tips, I will use superglue and periodically replace the cables, I think. BTW, I like the acrylic tips.

So, the decreases on the top of Rob's hat were begun, and the He Gansey has reached the length specified in the pattern for beginning the arm gusset. We need an assessment to evaluate whether additional length is needed before we move on. I am exited because this is the beginning of the interesting part of the sweater.

Addendum - the length is good. On to the gusset.

One more inch of ribbing on the travel socks will finish this pair off. I have to choose another sock to work on since my LYS has not yet gotten the additional Chocolate Cherry Claudia's sock yarn in. I can't finish that pair until I have the extra skein of yarn. I still haven't decided whether the next sock will be stockinette (possibly in Ravens colors) or a Cookie A design.

It's time to go use the superglue.

I have a sore foot

I have gotten a lot of knitting accomplished lately - I had surgery on my foot and was bed or recliner chair bound for about a week. The surgery went well.  I just didn't realize how sore my foot would be from having the bone scraped like that. Enough with the foot thing. On to knitting.

While I have been at home I have worked on DH's white cotton sweater quite a bit.
When you are on pain medicine, simple knitting is the best policy. LOL. It is time to measure, but I think I am only a couple inches away from beginning the ribbing length.

When my hands couldn't handle more cotton knitting, I moved on to my Domy Heather grey striped vest.

I am 2/3 of the way across the back and it is just about time to add a few stitches for the shoulder (for the back neck shaping). Please excuse the upside down photo - crawling on the floor hurts the foot and I wasn't thinking (apparently). 

I started a stockinette sock just before my surgery and I have completed the foot and heel, have turned the heel and I am doing the gusset decreases now.
I love this yarn and I don't know what it is. I found it in my stash, I think it might be Araucania Ranco but I am not sure. The colors are deep brown, blue, green a some beige to lighten things up, and I love how the the sock looks. I tried a texture but it didn't enhance the yarn and the pattern was too hard to see so I frogged back (the day of surgery) to the beginning of the texture (toe up socks) and continued with stockinette. I am very happy.

Once I was not taking as much pain medicine I pulled out the Honka scarf and did some double knitting.

I am moving much faster now that I have completed one pattern repeat and have some experience with the double knitting process. I like this project, but I can only knit on it while at home, I think. I need to count and concentrate so I don't have to frog.

I got out for the first time since surgery and went to the Needle Exchange at my LYS last Thursday. I had a great time catching up with everyone. There were some gorgeous new yarns to drool over and I did that. They were served to me as I sat enthroned on the bench, keeping my foot elevated as ordered. I wanted to take some home with me but just couldn't think of a pattern I could use for the yarn I fell most in love with. They colors were deep, glowing jewel tones and the yarn was merino, silk and bamboo.  It was too pricey to take home "just because", so I left it there - for now. I did come home with some Cascade Sierra in a light blue and a darker blue to make the cover sweater of Knitters I really like how it looks with the less severe contrast of blues and I think I will get a lot of use out of this sweater.


Yes, of course I started it right away despite the multiple projects on my needles. I was weak. Blame the drugs. Or the pain. Or whatever. It's pretty, don't you think?

I hope to complete the I-cord edging on my seed stitch vest (yes, from a the fall. I was bad) before I go back to work next week. I also hope to complete knitting the body of DH's sweater and at least start an arm. 

I can do lace knitting again! Karen was able to save my Laminaria shawl and so that is back in the project line up. I think I might wait until I am narcotic-free before knitting on that, though. Sometimes I actually use my brain. LOL.

I have been limiting my time sitting upright or standing as much as possible so I can keep my foot elevated as ordered. The phrase was "toes as high as the nose" and I am trying to be a good patient. (Not to mention that it helps with the pain control.) It limits my computer time (I do not have a laptop) and my spinning time and that's tough now that I feel better. I do hope to do some spinning later this week though. I miss it and hope that I can do short periods of spinning, at least. Tomorrow I go to get sutures removed and I hope that will help with some of the discomfort.

Have a good day, all.

It's hump day

It is Wednesday and I made it to work today despite the weather. We didn't have 2 feet of snow or anything drastic (and fun) like that, just ice and freezing rain that created a solid coating over everything. I literally slid at about a 40 degree angle down the driveway this morning at 6 AM. Not fun, especially with the car parked on the street directly across from the driveway! But I lucked out and so did the neighbor). LOL.

The gift scarf was completed last night. I hope to have blocking photos soon - maybe later today. I also finished the knitting part of the alpaca sock. I just have to do the bind off tonight (I hope) and they will be wearable. With the weather we've had the last few days I can use nice warm cuddle up on the couch socks. I do love to finish knitted projects.

This weekend we are going to visit my mother who lives on Long Island. It will be our Christmas visit if you can believe that. Between illness and schedules we just haven't been able to get up there, and she couldn't come down to see us for the same reasons. It should be a nice relaxing weekend of visiting, eating, knitting and some walking. I hope the weather cooperates and we can get to the beach for a little while. No, not sun or water bathing. Just to look at and “feel” the power of the ocean and the world that is so much bigger than us. It’s a great reminder. I have not yet planned and packed my knitting projects for the trip. That is a high priority for tonight.

The omens and signs continued yesterday.
I did not mis-read any more progress notes. Good.
I did leave work before the ice and accidents started. Very good.
I did have some ice near the end of my trip but I got home safely and in a reasonable amount of time (compared to my co-worker, who takes a commuter bus home and didn't arrive until after 8PM last night. Usual time is 5:30) good.
I tried to do some laundry. The washer broke. Bad.
The washer tub was full of water and clothes. Heavy clothes, when it broke. Bad for DH.

He was able to do a temporary fix today so we will have clean, dry clothes this week.
Very good.

Over all, not bad for a day that started very questionably. Stay safe, all.

Progress on the home front

Over the weekend the bedroom went from this stage












to this stage.





I know that it doesn't look much different, but it really is more organized, there are fewer piles of things and we are ready to drape drop cloths all over everything. We are settled in the guest room for a while and the living room no longer looks like a dozen toddlers live here. (some day I might show you my collection of stuffed animals) I think sanding comes next. Ugh. Dust all over the house.


Progress on the fiber front continues, also. I have about 11 inches of lace top body correctly knitted.





It went very well and I hated to put it down. Sometimes that was necessary to do housework or to help Bob with something but it was also necessary from time to time due to wear and tear on the finger - not from the yarn so much but from the pointy needles. I would have trouble knitting with less pointy needles, (I am using KnitPicks Options) but apparently I do quite a bit of pushing with my left index finger to push the right hand needle through the stitch. I am beginning to get a callus there now, so hopefully I will have less soreness in the future.

My spinning didn't get very far, I am afraid. I do love this fiber and the yarn it is producing. I just couldn't fit it in this weekend.


My alpaca socks are nearing the finish line - at least one is. I started the edging (upside down, since I chose to knit the socks toe up) on one sock on Sunday morning. The other one needs a few (maybe 2.5 or so) more pattern repeats to get to the edging stage. This picture is turned sideways. That is a blogger thing - my photo is actually right side up. I don't know how to fix this.





I did not work at all on the stranded gloves over the weekend. I do hope to get at least two fingers knitted this week, though. In fact, I think I will go start one finger now.

Happy knitting.

If only I didn't enjoy blogs so much

I would have more time for knitting.

I feel the same way about Ravelry. I love the idea of it, I love being able to search for yarn, projects, ideas and groups on it, but it is such a knitting time user. If only work did not get in the way so much. I would have more time for the "important things" in life. LOL.


Size two needle progress was good. I went from this

To this, and the gauge is correct.




I could easily get addicted to color work. Actually, I could easily get addicted to cables, too. I think I have an addictive personality. So far I have only allowed myself to get addicted to chocolate and knitting, though. And I have a strong attraction for spinning and boating and Diet Dr. Pepper (all varieties). And for my DH. And I really like sunshine and the outdoors, reading and relaxing on the beach. And dogs. Mostly big ones. What are you "addicted" to?


I turned the heel on the second alpaca sock, so I am working on the leg of both socks, now. I think these will get finished very soon. Yipee!



Rob's socks are close to being finished, too, and once those are complete I can start on the socks to be made with my handspun yarn (recently completed). I may need to buy an extra pair of sunglasses to work on these. What do you think?