I Would Say That I'M BAAAAACK

But I never left. Just hanging around doing the same old things. You know, driving DH to dialysis, worring about money, driving DH to doctors, worrying abut money, driving DH to the emergency room, worrying about money.

There must be other things in life, but I do not remember what they are.

Looking at my blog postings, I see that the last one was sometime back in April. I think about posting more frequently, but I find myself whining about the unfairness of life. I would rather reserve this for private times in the shower.

Not a whole lot of knitting going on because I went off on a crochet frenzy. Doilies, mostly, but I did find an old window curtain that I had started years ago. Time this puppy was finished, so as of last Friday I had the following:

Presidential Election Politics also has its moments of personal interest. My oldest DS works at Ole Miss, and he and family attended the first debate on Sep 26. You can see just how interesting it was for them from this photo posted at some political website:

Some Things are not Meant to Be

The Must Have Cardigan. I was going great guns on this. Absolutely love the pattern, enjoyed the knitting. Finished the back and was half-way through the right front.



DD#1 came for the weekend, and I showed (off). Looks great, right?

Fabulous detail, too. She was impressed. I was smug.

Then I took a closer look and found this, right at the beginning of the cable pattern:

The first and third rows of the center cable are twisted the wrong way. Nothing for it but to rip out the entire back. No one will notice, you say? Yeah, right, in the same way no one noticed the "little boo boo" on that cabled sweater on the cover of Vogue Knitting a few years back.

I have been thinking that this yarn is not really right, either. A little too thin. The back will be a little too small. I will save up and buy a different yarn for this. (Oooh, new yarn!)

In the meantime, I ripped out the jacket and started the Urban Aran from the same Paton's pattern book. I am up to the armholes on the back and really love the cables. Goooorgeous! Classy. A keeper.

A little detail to show the cables off:

On the non-knitting side of life, one of my oldest friends passed away two weeks ago. So sad. We had known each other for more than 30 years, had our babies at the same time, raised them together. Her son and my oldest daughter have been best friends since birth. Her husband died 2 years ago, and she was confined to a care facility because of severe MS. She was once a great knitter, and when her illness became too severe, she brought me a partially-knit Norwegian sweater and asked me to finish it. Which I did, with pleasure. And I had the pleasure of seeing her wear it many times.

Whole Lotta....

Lotta flu. Nasty bug brought home by DS#3. He missed a whole week of school with high fever, vomiting, cough, sinus clogs, muscle and joint pain, the whole package. Then, in a misplaced spirit of generousity, he gave it to DS#2, his dad, and me.

Naturally, DH got it worse than anyone (starting last Friday evening), and by Monday afternoon he was in the ER with pneumonia. Last week was not a lot of fun, I tell ya. Not just pneumonia, but heart, kidneys, and liver were affected, too. He is home now but still feels really crappy, depressed, lethargic. Still sleeps a lot.

Spending 12 hours/day sitting in a hospital room gives you a lot of knitting time, so I started a pair of socks

Finished DH's dicky

Made some headway on the Must Have Cardigan

This is a lovely and fun pattern, by the way, from Patons Street Smart pattern book. Thanks to Yarn Harlot, finding a copy of this baby was really hard. Patons does not sell their stuff direct to public from their website. They do have a store finder. There are several stores in my area that carry Patons products, but did anyone have it? Nooooooo. I ordered it on line from Yarn and Thread by Lisa . Of course, Lisa had had a run on it, too, and was totally out of stock, but she emailed me a copy of the pattern (since I had already paid for it) so that I could get started, and she kept me updated by email and made sure that I knew that she mailed it when her shipment came in. FYI -- shipping cost almost as much as the booklet itself, but when I think of how much it costs to run my car to hunt for things, paying $9.40 with shipping and handling is a bargain. I highly recommend Lisa and her company for the excellent service.

This booklet has some nice, nice patterns. I am sick unto death of the Devonshire jacket (monochrome looks elegant but has become mind-numbingly boring, and I don't think that the yarn is the right weight, either) and am thinking of frogging and using the yarn to make the Urban Aran. Brooklyn Tweed made this as a jacket, so I will probably do the same, as his looks just totally cool.

Also finished are two Ball Band Washcloths

My yoga mat bag (free pattern from Lily Sugar & Cream)

A Pawprint Washcloth from Knitting Nonsense (I highly recommend these free patterns, such imagination!)

GAWD -- What A Bore

I refer to myself.

The Annual Passing of Another Year came and went. I am now 58 years old. Emphasis on old. This is the first time I have felt this way. No enthusiasm, no energy, vim & vigor are in hibernation. Little to say and less desire to make the effort. I feel like an old, old woman.
This, too, shall pass. At least I hope so.

Part of this, I am sure, is a result of inactivity due to a cracked rib (how this happened is too embarrassing to relate). Not much one can do about this besides just letting it heal on its own. And try not to sneeze.

On the other hand, I have a little knitting to report.

-- 2 Ball Band Dishcloths in Lily Sugar N Cream
-- Carrying bag for my yoga mat in Moda Dea Tweedle Dee Cinnamon Twist (this stuff stretches like crazy, so the bag now also holds the yoga strap and the yoga block).

In process are the following

-- "Devonshire" from Jean Frost's Jackets, using Ramwool aran in a lovely brown heather from stash. This design was originally done in three colors, but I think it will be lovely in the one. Very elegant.
-- Man's Dickey from Paton's "Men" in Woolease from stash.

Plans to start the Paton's Must Have cardigan as soon as I check for possible candidates in the stash area. Like thousands of other people, I was very taken by Yarn Harlot's posts on this sweater, and now I Must Have It.

I really admire knitters who have their stash organized, boxed, and available. I have seriously thought of doing this, it would make a lot of sense and would save me much pain and suffering. But it just isn't me. For me, it's the thrill of the hunt.

And If We're Good... Part 2

You may remember that ceramic plate that wonderful woman in Texas sent to me just before Christmas.







Well, I was talking on the phone to my Aunt Dinah not long ago and asked whether she remembered such a thing. There was a long silence, and then she asked if I knew who gave it to my grandparents.


Of course not.


It seems that my dad's cousin June (aka Claud, Junior) and his wife had a small pottery business in Dallas or Plano or someplace like that in the late 1940's, and they made decorative wall plates. This was one design that they produced.


The plate now in my possession may have been made by them ... or not.


Weird.

You Can Knit Only So Many Dishrags ...

...until your drawer is stuffed to overflowing.

So, what to do with all the Sugar & Cream you bought at the Michael's sale (and all the other sales throughout 2007)?

Mason Dixon Knitting has some handy uses for these inexpensive balls of cotton -- baby bibs and burp cloths. The bib uses almost a full ball, the burp cloth uses 1-2, depending on the size (your mileage may vary).

Easy, mindless garter, cute result, useful for moms and babies alike. Very portable. Nice change from dishrags and socks, too.

Final Knitting of 2007

I finished the Faux Russian Shawl on New Year's Eve. I stretched it over the dining table just to see how long it is:




Here is some detail




When (if?) I block it, I will photograph it in all of its glory.

Here is the final tally for the 2007 knitting.

1. Faux Russian Shawl in Knitpicks Shadow from Stash
2. Socks in Wildfoot from stash
3. Solaris jacket in Caron Simply Soft Shadows
4. 2 IPod cases in stash yarn
5. Baby Booties in Mexican Wave from Stash
6. Oregon Vest in Passport Dublin from stash
7. Secondpair of socks in Regia from stash
8. Pair of socks in Regia from stash
9. 2 wash cloths in Sugar & Cream
10. Beach Bands Bag from in Sugar & Cream from stash
11. Shapely Tank in Royale Quick Crochet Thread from stash
12. Shapely Tank in Lionbrand Microspun
13. Diagonal dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
14. Amanda's Squatty Sidekick in Colinette Skye from stash
15. Tote bag in Philosohpers Wool from stash
16. Roundabouts in Philosophers Wool from Stash
17. Another Circular Dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
18. Curve of Pursuit in Philosophers Wool from stash
19. Circular dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
20. Another baby hat in Mexican Wave from stash
21. Tweed hat in Bernat Denim from Stash
22. Two baby hats in Mexican Wave from stash
23. Lace scarf in Baruffa Bollicina from stash
24. Baby Hat from stash
25. Raglan Pullover in Bernat Denim from stash

I was pretty good about Knitting From My Stash for 2007, and have made significant inroads into the pile. I may continue a modified version of this for 2008.

Now...what to knit next.....

And So A New Year Begins

I had every intention of wishing all of you out there in cyberland a Happy New Year. And Good Riddance to the Old One. Please accept my belated good wishes.

Christmas Eve was a blast at our house. It was only immediate, live-in family, so we had a pleasant dinner in our most comfortable clothes, listened to music, and talked a lot.

At around10 PM we put out a snack for Santa and the reindeer

and in the blink of an eye we found this --

Santa made this an entertainment Christmas

And he also reminded me that I need to put in a little more effort into my housekeeping by bringing me a new mop (I am not making this up, it was under the tree).

We intended to go to Midnight Mass at our parish church but, instead, attended Midnight Mass at the Vatican. Christmas Day DD#1 came and ...well, let's just say that I intend to spend Christmas Day someplace else in the future. Like Arizona. Or Texas. Or Baghdad. Somewhere peaceful with no recriminations, no bad feelings, no frosty silences.

On New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house and drank champagne with them at 10 PM (they correctly figured that we would probably not make it to midnight).

I hope to make 2008 a better year than the last one.