One Crazy Fiber Lady

First, let me thank everyone again for their positive vibes sent Sara’s way.  She’s doing a little bit better this morning, actually putting a tiny bit of weight on her foot.    Thanks to the sedation yesterday, she was quiet last night, which was good for her recovery.  Though she did take the first three steps up to the addition last night.  Good thing the baby gate was back in place keeping the animals contained.  The GC also took pity on the felines and their insatiable curiosity by putting some up some temporary wallboard to prevent access through the side of the staircase.  So the gate really did effectively keep all the little ones out of harm’s way last night.  I don’t look forward to the daily prednisone dosage for the little miss as it is never fun giving a pill to a cat.   Which reminds me of this very funny email I got ages ago.

*******

     How to Give a Cat a Pill

 1)  Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
   
    2)  Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
   
    3)  Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
   
    4)  Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
   
    5)  Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe.  Call spouse from garden.
   
    6)  Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws.
Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat
vigorously.
   
    7)  Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note
to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered Doulton figurines from
hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
   
    8)  Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from
below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow
down drinking straw.
   
    9)  Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to
take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with
cold water and soap.
   
    10)  Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and
close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
   
    11)  Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress
to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw tee-shirt away and
fetch new one from bedroom.
   
    12)  Call fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to
neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from
foil-wrap.
   
    13)  Tie cat’s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg
of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed, force cat’s mouth open with
small wrench. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet mignon. Hold head
vertically and pour 1/2 pint of water down throat to wash pill down.
   
    14)  Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches
fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture store on
way home to order new table.
   
    15)  Arrange for SPCA to collect cat and call pet shop to see if they have any
hamsters or fish.

******
That always gets a hearty laugh from me!

Judging from the comments yesterday, my Hitchhiker isn’t going to want for a home for very long.  Who knew?!  A word of warning though, my Hitcher is a left-footed model.  This isn’t by itself an issue, but those who are used to a right-footed single treadle might have some difficulties… though it would give your right foot a break. 

I got to serve as a bit of R&D for Dave regarding this little wheel.  I have the first one with additional ratios.  There was a minor mishap with the first wheel my fix for it gave him an idea which resulted in the current ratio solution!  As you can see nicely tucked next to my chair in this picture, I have the tote bag for it.

I would think that it would make a good starter wheel.  The ratio isn’t overly high so the natural tendency to overspin everything as a newbie is minimized.  And really, it is small and not a major outlay when compared to some other wheels out there.

There’s been a great deal of expressed interest in this sucker and I’m not sure how to handle it fairly.  I’m going to put a price of $225 plus shipping on it (retails now for $259 + 25 for the bag).  If you’re local or we can meet without driving for hours and hours, even better.  But if not, I can box it and ship it.  Not sure what that will add to the deal, but looking at Dave’s site, it shouldn’t be more than $25.  I can take paypal too (and/or installments). Any serious takers now?

Sorry no picture, but I’m now at the cuff of the sock with maybe half an inch before bind off.  Last night’s knitting was devoted again to Ariann.  I’m 18 rows now from finishing the body.  I should be able to finish it tonight.  Sadly, I can’t make the SnB at Modern Yarn as the folks will be going out, but I’ll be there in spirit.  Sniff.  Next week for sure.

Craft on!

We need some positive happy thoughts please.  We had our first construction related injury.  Poor little Miss Serendipity.  The builders cut the closet out and after they left, little miss was the first {cat} to check out the new addition.  She made her way onto the roof of the old part of the house and somehow, I wasn’t home to witness this, she fell, glancing off the canvas drop cloth they put up under the rafters in the upstairs hallway, landing on the carpet.  She’s non-weight bearing in her left rear leg.  Mom brought her to the vet this morning after having to dig the little girl out from under Kat’s bed.  They will be sedating her to fully palpate the leg and take x-rays.  Vet mentioned that he didn’t like the angle she was holding the leg at and his initial guess is that she dislocated it, but a break isn’t out of the question.  We’ll know more this afternoon. So, happy thoughts her way please.

Judging by the reaction to my second post yesterday, there seems to be much support to the addition of a new wheel to my herd.  I sat down last night (after determining with the emergency vet service that Sara didn’t need to be rushed as long as she was quiet and resting comfortably) and made a list of what wheels I have.  I’m pretty sure there are a few of you beloved readers who would like the entire list.  Right? 

• Lendrum Upright
• Lendrum Saxony
• Majacraft Suzie Pro
• Jensen Tina II
• Womack Electric
• Journey Wheel
• Merlin Tree Hitch Hiker
• Fricke e-Spinner
• Danish Flax saxony

Decadent huh?  With the Victoria on her way (got the shipping notification email a few minutes ago, woot) there are just too many wheels and some do, sadly have to go.  Some thinking and agonizing to do here, but the gut feeling is to part with the Journey Wheel, Hitch Hiker, eSpinner and the Flax wheels.   I’m pretty sure the JW is already spoken for.

Knitting proceeds apace on both of the current and active projects.  I finished turning the heel on the sock this morning during the commute in.  While I love the colors and how they are playing together as the sock progresses, I can’t say I’m totally taken with the yarn itself.  It has been far splitier than I prefer for mindless sock knitting.  I’m not even using pointy needles for goodness sake, but Addi Turbos!  They don’t come much duller than those.  But since the colors are pretty and well, I have small feet, I can suffer through the pair of socks.  I just doubt I’ll be picking up more of this soft and colorful yarn.  I reached the neck shaping on Ariann last night.  I have some 26 more rows or so before the collar.  Yay!

Daily Construction Update

The obligatory morning picture of the front of the house.  Witness the lack of front steps.  We are now limited to the back door and the garage for egress.  Nice of them to block off the front door so we don’t forget and fall OUT!  They dug the footings for the new porch yesterday with the inspector due to visit today. 

Funny story though.  Yesterday I mentioned that monster Holly bush on the side of the house next to the chimney.  Well there was a pretty big one next to the front porch.  The before shot of the house, here, has a great picture of the monster and the round prickly thing next to the steps.  Shortly after they ripped out the bushes yesterday, the water guy came to read the meter.  He was so excited.  For the first time in 15 years he wasn’t going to get stuck by the bush!

And now the view from my bedroom door now…

Both closets are gone, the ceiling overhead has been cut away and there is now a staircase to the addition!  Earl had fun romping around in the addition last night, but there was a crash and I found him standing oddly in the foyer one flight down.  Not sure how he wound up there, but mom put a baby gate across these temporary stairs to curtail further feline activity, especially since Sara had already been hurt.

Craft on!

Edited to add:  Got a call from Mom.  Sara’s leg is not broken or dislocated.  They’re treating it as a bad sprain.  Being a youngin, she should be fine in no time, unlike my miserable rotten ankle which still annoys me.  Anyways thanks to all for their warm wishes and positive vibes for my fuzziest girl.

I am seriously weak in the whole willpower arena.  I made a vow not to buy any more yarn.   Well that was right after ordering the Galway to make the Drive-Thru for Alex.  Is it a truly bad thing that I just bought this?

Maybe it is a serious case of wheel envy.  I’m sure that’s a part of it.  But more likely, I’m just terribly weak when faced with a new, tiny spinning wheel. 

I don’t even want to count the wheels I have.  I might have to cull the herd a bit.  I can think of two (three) that might be looking for a new home soon..

Ugh, I need a huge project to keep the shopping down!

Craft on!

Sorry for the long delay.  Many days with the monkeys leaves little computer time and/or energy.  Apologies to Christine that we were not able to get together while I was out visiting my sister, but hopefully we can arrange something for the next visit.  We had a good visit with lots of food and family.  I managed to do a little knitting so it was all good in the end.  I got to put some miles onto the new car and really get to drive her.  Loooooovvvveeee the car!  Even in the rainstorms that I drove in and out of Wednesday heading to sister’s house, she handled like a dream.  Good purchase that is far friendlier on the gas budget than the Durango was. 

Anyway… it is good to be back in the regular routine.. though regular probably isn’t the right word.  Today the construction moves inside so mom arranged for the kids to go to school during their off days, at least for this week as they demolish a closet (or two) to make room for a staircase. 

As this is ostensibly a knitting blog, I have knitting progress to show!  I’m just past the 4th buttonhole on Ariann and coming into the home stretch with 3 more rows before starting the neck shaping.  I really like how it is progressing.

Sadly, Ariann is now too big for commuting knitting, though I did schlep her in yesterday.  Especially with the newly revised route.  The return trip last Tuesday went without a hitch so, yes, the new route is approved, at least for the winter.  I picked up my December monthly yesterday for Penn Station, rather than Hoboken. 

Standing on the platform in Secaucus waiting for the northbound train yesterday morning I needed something to work on while waiting for the train that was 5 minutes late.  Ariann, as I mentioned, is far too large, especially for stand-up knitting.  That was when I remembered I had sock yarn in my purse.  It’s been there, untouched for weeks now, as well as my US0 Addis.  It is Handspun on the Web that I picked up at Modern Yarn a while ago.  I’ve long since lost the ball band so I can’t tell you what colorway it is.  I took this picture this morning on the train:

The sock will be the commuting knitting for a while with Ariann and the Moderne Baby Blanket contending for the home-knitting attention.  Better finish them soon as there are others rapidly pushing themselves into the queue.  I joined Julia’s very unofficial KAL for Celtic Dreams.  I picked up the Blackwater Abbey worsted in the Bracken colorway, which is now sitting in my bedroom waiting for me to get started.

Another project (or two) that will also be quickly contending for attention is the newest sweater from Wendy, Drive-Thru.  It will be perfect for the monkeys.  I ordered some Plymouth Galway (incidentally I’m knitting Ariann with Galway) in shades of blue to make one for Alex.  I’m betting I can turn up enough pinks in stash to make on for Kat.  Definitely a cute sweater, and at that gauge, I might just be able to finish the pair of them before getting depressingly bored by them.  Okay, no one mention the much lauded and discarded Dale sweaters I never finished.  Besides, they can use a nice sweater to do things like this…

We put them to work on Sunday, raking.  We have a rather large pin-oak in the center of the back yard that dumps all of its leaves in about a 24 hour period.  Wouldn’t you know that that 24 hour period happened AFTER the landscaper was here (before construction started) leaving us with a nice carpet of leaves on the lawn.  I can’t remember the last time I raked, and my shoulders are concurring.  Incidentally, that large shrubbery at the corner of the house is a Rhododendron.  For some reason the bushes in this area grow seriously large.  There is a Holly bush that stands as tall as the chimney.  I never knew the darn things can grow that large.  This one is just a beast.

And now for the daily construction update.  Well, since the last "daily" update, there has been much progress as you can tell from the picture (taken this morning as per SOP).

As you can see, there’s a full roof and even windows in the addition.  The hip roof on the old part has been modified to integrate nicely with the addition.  And yes, you’re not seeing things, the front of the house has changed colors.  The brown was aluminum siding that they pulled off yesterday.  They’ll be changing the windows in the old part and residing.  This lovely green (which drew some not so nice names) has been hidden since 1979.  I’d forgotten how ugly it was.  Took me a few moments to realize why the front porch felt so much larger last night after I got home.  The overhang was gone  

They’ll be drilling up the brick steps today, putting in footings for the new porch and moving inside.  Plumbers are due today to work on the new bathroom, and they’ll be cutting out the closet to put in the temporary staircase to the addition.  This picture is the current view from my bedroom door.  The door on the left is the closet that will be the staircase, straight ahead is obvious and the door on the right is the linen closet.  The linen closet is also going to provide a large access way to the upstairs.  We’ll be putting in a free-standing closet to replace the lost space.

On that note, time to get more coffee and write some code.

Craft on!

This week is a much shortened work week for me.  Today is the last workday as the office is closed for the remainder of the week.  As a result, a goodly number of people took advantage of being able to get a whole week off by using only two days, leaving the office a bit of a ghost town.  I don’t have much to do as my big projects were completed last week.  Makes for a nice quiet time before a long holiday weekend for sure. 

As a bit of an experiment, I modified my commute again this morning.  I’ve gone back to switching trains in Secaucus to end at Penn Station NY rather than Hoboken.  Timewise, the two options are about the same.  The difference, even with having an extra train, is a shorter walk once in Manhattan.  The Hoboken + PATH leaves me at Sixth Avenue and 9th Street with a need to wander over to Broadway and 9th.  That’s three long avenues for those who aren’t familiar with the city.  (The distance between avenues is far greater than between streets.)  Penn Station + Subway involves a one avenue walk between Penn and Herald Square with a subway exit at 8th and Broadway.  Not sure about your math, but three trains makes for shorter walking, especially in the cold wind tunnels that is NY in the winter. 

The downside is potentially reduced knitting time.  I couldn’t get a seat on the Secaucus to NY train and had to stand in the aisle  (leaning against a bulkhead I could knit, but not standing) so I turned to the ebook on my Treo. 

We’ll see how the return commute works tonight before I decide whether I buy the NYPenn monthly for December.

I spent most of yesterday’s knitting time working on that sleeve for Ariann.  I’m one increase short the end goal on the first one and I don’t think it is a stretch of my knitting speed to predict it shall be finished today.  No pictures of it as it looks like the one yesterday, just longer.  I have, however, been able to work the increases into the eyelet pattern and am pleased with how it is coming out. 

I did put a little time last night into the Moderne Baby Blanket, though have not completed the third block.  I was itching to get Ariann’s sleeve done before the urge to start a new sweater overtook my ability to finish it.  Anyway, I do appreciate the suggestions in the comments yesterday regarding ack-rylic for baby knitting.  It really isn’t as bad as the ack-rylic I remember from my early knitting days, the yarn that squeaked.  Eeew.  This is the Bernat Softee Baby that is actually quite soft and is pleasant to knit with.  It ain’t wool, but then again, it ain’t cotton (blech).  The skein in the picture is the fourth color I’ll be using for this blanket.

Should I admit to the spreadsheet I created to calculate percentage completion on this blanket?  Nah

Here’s the final teacher scarf.  This was done in a Farrow Rib on US8 needles.  The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Old Rose.  I really liked the yarn and it held up well to the insane number of start/stops that this scarf had.  Offhand, I know I tried at least 5 different stitch patterns before hitting on the Farrow Rib, which was perfect commuting knitting!  I actually could walk to the PATH station while knitting the thing. I started it Thursday at lunch and finished it Friday night. I’m pleased with the results.  Next step is to block them all and get the kids to pick which scarf is for which teacher.  I’m terribly relieved to get the gifts out of the way but very glad that I did, in the end, opt to knit them something.

Sara found herself someplace far more comfy than my night table to sleep last evening.  Right before bed, I found her ensconced on the living room sofa.  Earl usually sleeps at the other end of the couch.  Right now, they have no view out the window as the builders put sheets of plywood up to protect the windows from accidental breakage.  The window will be replaced sometime during this project, but surely not now.  Memory is a little fuzzy, but if I recall correctly, mom needlepointed that pillow that Sara is leaning against.

And now for the daily house picture.  This was taken as I left for the train(s) this morning.  You can see they are now incorporating the new addition into the existing roof.  A not totally unexpected condition was discovered this morning as the sheathing under the roofing tile on the old part of the house was found to be in rather poor condition.  As a result the whole thing needs to be stripped off and re-sheathed before the new roof installed.  You can see that the pile of wood is greatly diminished. Mom has gotten her side of the driveway back and we no longer have to stack our cars up each night.

In case anyone has stuck around, I do have a question as to how you figure which size sweater to make.  I’m a 36" at the widest point, but just barely, more like 35".  One of the possible next projects is Celtic Dreams, with the Blackwater Abbey in Bracken purchased, delivered and starting to mellow in stash.  The sweater sizes are 36" and the next up would be 40".  I’d think that the 40" would give far too much ease and make for a big baggy sweater that I wouldn’t wear very much, but that the 36" would be too tight.  Which would you make?  Can I just block the 36" a little bigger?  Do I fudge the pattern to make a 38" somehow?

Craft on!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I sure did.   Yesterday was the perfect mix of friends, snacks and wool.  Jessica and I spent the day at Deb’s house spinning, nibbling and talking.  We wisely decided it would be best to schedule when the folks could watch the monkeys so I was without two small appendages.  A wonderful afternoon!

Saturday I spent some time with my little girl alone doing errands.  It was really nice spending time alone with Kat.  The downside of twins I feel is the lack of one on one time.  But that may just be me.  Alex opted to stay home with the folks rather than shop.  It was pretty successful outing as I managed to get everything on my list done:

1. Toyota dealer for new plates and registration
2. J.Crew to get a gift box and check out the Crewcuts at Riverside Square (bought two sweaters while I was there)
3. Storage Unit to get the portable dvd player as I’ll be driving out to PA for the holiday and I didn’t splurge for the built in when I got the new car
4. Close Knits (conveniently located between home and the storage unit) to check yarn options for baby blanket.  Fondled but didn’t buy
5. McDonalds for lunch
6. ACMoore for baby blanket yarn. More on the blanket later.

It was then I got the little girl home for a nap.  Having finished the fourth of the teacher scarves during Battlestar Galactica (still my favorite show along with House), I was able to get started on a new project.   While we all know my love of ack-rylic, it does have its place in the
world.  I’m making the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting for a
friend’s impending son and well the baby ackryilic isn’t terrible.  I
got some of the Bernat’s in a Sport/DK weight.  With Kat’s help I was able to pick 4 different but complimentary colors.  I made it through the first two blocks and well into the third by last night.  Sadly, since I commute with the feller who is the impending father and I hope to make this a surprise, I can only work on it at home.  Sorry, no pictures of it as yet, but maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, I needed commuting knitting.  Ariann has seen a resurgence.  The body is knit in one piece from the hem to the armpit.  I hit that magic armpit last night and started the first sleeve.  I’m magic looping the sleeve as I seriously hate DPNs in a US8.  This is the current state of the sleeve as it lounges on the corner of my workstation.

Saturday night after getting the twins down for the night, I sat in my desk chair knitting.  I looked over at my vastly empty bed when I noticed little Sara curled up sleeping.  Was she on the bed?  Oh no.  Not this weird cat.  I spotted her on the night table of all places!  Cats are definitely weird.  I have a double sided pillower topper hand made mattress and where does she lie?  Wooden table top.  Yeah. 

Now for the construction update.  By the time I got home on Friday, the roof was indeed off the lower half of the house.  They had built the platform that would serve as the floor for the addition and were ready to frame the walls.  Saturday they arrived bright and early.  By the time they left, the walls were all up and were even sheathed.  They are starting on the roof rafters today.  Fingers crossed that we have a roof by Thanksgiving!  I took this as I loaded this kids into the car this morning. Zipping right along!

Craft on!

And so it starts…

Sorry for the crappy Treo picture, but it was the quickest I could get while trying to hustle the monkeys to the car for school.  The men arrived early this morning.  By the time I called Mom from the train (8:45), the roof was off. 

Oh my.

As I hoped earlier today, here’s a more comprehensive post.  Sorry had to pause to yell at a preschooler who doesn’t exactly want to go to sleep. 

There’s been a lot going on around these here parts.  Like others have noted, this past weekend, especially Saturday, was downright glorious in this area.  My dad and I took advantage of the almost 70F November day and took the monkeys to Van Saun Park.  We went for a ride on the park railroad.

After the train ride, we went into the zoo.  A pretty well stocked zoo whose admission was free for the day.  Can’t beat that.  While in the zoo, I spotted this picturesque spot where fall’s splendour is in full display.

As I mentioned in my brief post earlier, construction is due to start here this week.  If it weren’t for the deluge promised for tomorrow, it would have already.  Monday, a large pile of wood was delivered and stacked over half the driveway.  Interesting logistics now as mom’s Envoy and my Sienna need to get parked in the driveway with dad’s cute little PT Cruiser living in the garage.  In order for him to get out, we need to move the rest of the cars.  Sigh.  We took some before shots of the house:

This is the front (and you can just see some wood in the corner of the picture.

And from a different angle (and pre-wood delivery)..

And the back..

What are we doing you might be asking?  Well we’re adding a whole floor over the shorter half (one story) of the house.  This will contain a new master bedroom suite for my folks, an office for us grups to share and a sitting room/den.  This leaves the existing 3 bedrooms for the monkeys and me.  I’ll take the old master bedroom (kind of cool yet creepy in a way) and when it comes time to split up the monkeys, there will be room.  For a while yet, they’ll continue to share the larger of the remaining rooms with the smaller becoming a playroom for them.  I get to take the current den as a fiber/hobby room to share with mom.  SuiteSweet.  There will also be a porch running the length of the addition along the front of the house, replacing the current brick front steps with a slight wrap around the side.  They are predicting ripping off the roof on Friday.  The builder is promising to have the addition framed in with the new roof in place within 10 days.  Yeah.  I’ll try not to turn this into a construction progress blog, but no promises

Finally there has been knitting.  Pretty single minded knitting for me too!  I’ve been working on the teacher gifts… and joined the KAL that Nancy created.  Here’s my progress so far:

From back to front:

*Irish Hiking Scarf in the hand spun Cormo/Angora that I started 11/6 and finished at the SnB on Thursday.

*One Row Handspun Scarf in Malabrigo started Thursday at the SnB and finished Friday night while watching Battlestar Galactica.  Dude, that is probably the best show on tv, but I digress.

*Skinny Clapotis in Noro Silk Garden started on Saturday (after ripping several other patterns including a Multidirectional Scarf and some entrelac thing I found on the net) and finished Sunday.

By finished, I mean that the knitting is finished.  They all still need to be washed and blocked while all but the ORHS needs to have its ends worked in. 

This leaves one more stinkin’ scarf to do.  And yes, I haven’t finished it.  Actually I really haven’t gotten past the start point on it.  Kat was sick Sunday night through yesterday and work commitments kept me busy so that I haven’t had much time to knit.  I did break out the ballwinder for a skein of Lorna’s Laces in the worsted for this final scarf.  I started a couple of patterns, even got through 5 repeats of the IHS with it before I pulled out the needles.  I didn’t want to repeat any.

I sat with the Barbara Walker books and found a stitch pattern that might work, also named right too.  In the second volume, I found the Twin Rib.  What better pattern to knit a scarf for a teacher who cares for my twins?!  Seems like that serendipity to me.

Oh and this is for Deb, sneaking it in under the wire, here’s my calendar.  It is a mimeo sheet that I get each month from the kids’ teacher as to what they will be doing that month.  It does serve as my wall calendar while the Treo maintains everything else, especially with its on air connection to my Outlook calendar at the office!

Craft on!

Well that Quiz just pegged me right.  Unless of course I happen to be talking with someone with a different regional accent.  I pick ‘em right up.  Always have.  Worries me that others might be thinking I’m making fun of their accent, but honestly, I can’t help it.  Makes it hard that the feller in the cubicle next to me is from the south!

Hopefully a real update post tonight.  I have finished objects to report on, progress to show, and "before" shots of the house as construction begins this week.  {shudder}

Craft on!

Worry no more about the whole teacher gift knitting quandry.  I’m proclaiming this year the year of the scarf.  I think I had made that decision quite a while ago, January more likely, when I made this.  I can’t find evidence of it, but I vaguely recall proclaiming the scarf the teacher gift for 2006. 

Now if I could just find where I put this scarf, I would be able to cross one of the four off the list.

Worst case scenario?  I buy two skeins of Noro and make a new one.  Aww that would be a tough one, wouldn’t it.  I could make that sacrifice for these teachers. 

In the meantime, I could resist the call of the Irish Hiking Scarf last night.  I started it after dinner while watching some Big Comfy Couch with the twins.  I cast on using some Cascade 220 Superwash in a purple that was aging in stash.  After doing 5 or 6 repeats on a US7 needle, I found the scarf just didn’t have the squoosh factor that I was looking for. 

After the twins went to bed, I went stash diving to see what would squoosh and yet wouldn’t be itchy.  I couldn’t find anything in the store bought yarn and then hit the chest of drawers with the hand spun.  I found what would be the perfect yarn.  Back in 2003, Chris picked me up some lovely cormo/angora roving from Alice Fields at one of the New England festivals.  I had planned on going myself, but I was 4 months pregnant and feeling a little off.  We all decided that it was best for me to sit this one out.  Anyway, Chris picked it up for me.  It was definitely a very yummy roving and I quickly spun it up.  The resulting yarn went into stash though a small amount was made into an infant sweater that I knit while lying on my butt in the hospital.  Sadly, I don’t think it ever went on one of the twins. 

This yarn has serious squoosh.  And the IHS is progressing very nicely.  I can do roughly one repeat in about 10 minutes.  I cast on this scarf last night at 10:30 and did the bulk of this thing today during the normal knitting times (train/lunch).  I did take it in with me to the polling place but there was no line at 6pm and I didn’t need it.  Figures.  Bet if I had left my knitting in the car, the line would have been an hour long!  Anyway…

I think I’m going to forgo the math figuring of how many repeats I need to do at how many repeats per hour to figure out how many remaining hours of knitting I have.  As commenter extraordinaire Rachel H. put it:

Rule number one: Do Not count the remaining stitches. It sucks the life
right out of you.

Thank you for that reminder, Rachel.

Today was one of those excellent mail days.  First up was a pair of shoes that I’ve been eyeing forever at work.  They had been on the 60% off employee discount list forever, but there was a little requirement that they be purchased in the retail stores and not online.  Finding a store isn’t a problem.  There are 4 that I can get to easily, 2 near the office and 2 at home.  The problem is that they start at size 6 in the stores and I have a size 5 foot.  Sigh.  The 5′s are online but no discount online.  I was patient and it finally paid off.  The shoes went on sale and I jumped.  Got em even cheaper than if I could take advantage of the 60 off list as I get 50% off the sale price!  Good things do come to those who wait.

Brooke will probably be amused by this next bit.  One of our stops during the wandering around the fairgrounds at the festival was the fleece sale.  I was taken by a gorgeous corriedale fleece that was just sooooooo clean and well, perfect.  Except it was 8.9 pounds and really, I’m at SABLE, I just don’t need that much raw wool.  So, while I lusted after the thing, I walked away from it, reluctantly.  It did come up again in conversation though, and I had been tempted to go back, but it and then drop it off at one of the processors.  But then there was that whole not needing all that much wool still hanging around.  I remember clearly telling Brooke that we’d not go back and that surely someone else had bought the thing.  I do have to admit that as my group was forming for the long car ride home, and the sale was right there, I did check.  If it had been there, I would have bought it.  Sadly, it wasn’t there.

I found out though that it hadn’t been bought, just picked up by its shepherd.  How did I know this?  Marcia had been oogling the same fleece over the course of the weekend!  She did me one better though and got the contact info for the shepherd.  Long story short, we split the thing!  My half arrived from Marcia today.  This thing is as gorgeous as I remember it.  Though it isn’t as tippy as this photograph is showing.  Not sure what is up with that. 

And a closeup of the yummy goodness:

Each lock is just perfect.  Look at that crimp!  I ain’t sending this out for processing.  I’m going to give it some tender loving care at home.

Well time to watch House and then to bed.  I have an early deployment (6AM) of a project that I’ve been working on for the last couple of months.  Fortunately, unlike the previous and obnoxious employer, I had to be onsite.  The current employer recognizes that I can copy files using a computer from anywhere.  Which blessedly includes my laptop whilst lying on my bed, which is btw, where I am no whilst writing this!

Craft on my lovelies.