Deep South Knitter

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T13:35:00.003-07:00

Just some random thoughts and quotes on Motherhood:

Job Description (what man would apply for this???):
WANTED: housekeeper -- 140 hour week, no retirement benefits, no sick leave, no private room, no Sundays off. Must be good with kids, animals, and hamburgers. Must share bath.

No man could stand being pregnant. The first time a man lost his breakfast three solid months in a row, he would make plans to have a nocturnal headache for the rest of his married life.
--Erma Bombeck

I've also been called a mother.
-- My DH

Catching Up

2009-02-27T23:03:00.003-08:00

Dear Friends

I did not drop off the edge of the earth. Actually, there has been a bunch of things happening in Deep South Land. Not that they are all that exciting, but I haven't been hiding under a rock, either.

Here is the short version, in no particular chronological order:

1. DH was hospitalized with his 3rd case of pneumonia, along with some rather alarming mistakes in medication
2. DS#3 now has his learner's permit to drive
3. DH finally bit the bullit and decided to accept my offer of a kidney
4. Deep South Knitter has been having a lovely time being evaluated as a kidney donor; next step is COLONOSCOPY (I can hardly wait)
5. DD#1 gave me Mason Dixon Knitting #2 for my birthday (love it)
6. DD#2 gave me Lace Knitting in Estonia for Christmas (love it)
7. DH gifted us with a 42" television just before Christmas, and this baby is now located in the livingroom, which has been very handy since DH is still getting me up in the middle of the night most nights, and this gives me something to do while I knit at 3 AM.
8. Knitting keeps me sane. Whiskey is also useful.
9. DH wanted to give me a new watch for my birthday. Instead I drove him to the yarn store and asked him to buy me some lace-weight alpaca, and he did (lovely, lovely, lovely).
10. I found a copy of Nursery Rhyme Knits at the local Dollar Store -- yes, it was $1.00. And yes, I bought it.
11. We had to upgrade our cell phones just before Christmas. Santa got me a Blackberry. Very, very cool.
12. I am doing a lot of knitting. List and pictures will follow in a later post.

I Would Say That I'M BAAAAACK

2008-10-13T09:29:00.005-07:00

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

2008-04-24T14:32:00.003-07:00

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....

2008-03-19T12:33:00.006-07:00

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

2008-02-28T08:30:00.002-08:00

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

2008-01-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

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 ...

2008-01-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

...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

2008-01-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Faux Russian Shawl in Knitpicks Shadow from Stash
Socks in Wildfoot from stash
Solaris jacket in Caron Simply Soft Shadows
2 IPod cases in stash yarn
Baby Booties in Mexican Wave from Stash
Oregon Vest in Passport Dublin from stash
Secondpair of socks in Regia from stash
Pair of socks in Regia from stash
2 wash cloths in Sugar & Cream
Beach Bands Bag from in Sugar & Cream from stash
Shapely Tank in Royale Quick Crochet Thread from stash
Shapely Tank in Lionbrand Microspun
Diagonal dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
Amanda's Squatty Sidekick in Colinette Skye from stash
Tote bag in Philosohpers Wool from stash
Roundabouts in Philosophers Wool from Stash
Another Circular Dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
Curve of Pursuit in Philosophers Wool from stash
Circular dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
Another baby hat in Mexican Wave from stash
Tweed hat in Bernat Denim from Stash
Two baby hats in Mexican Wave from stash
Lace scarf in Baruffa Bollicina from stash
Baby Hat from stash
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

2008-01-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

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.

The Kindness of Strangers

2007-12-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

We brought home a Christmas Tree last Saturday and put it up.

We generally get the same size and type of tree every year. Our decorations are all keep-sakes from over the years --

ornaments made by our kids in elementary school, special glass balls made by a friend of my mom when each child was born, garish stuffed ornaments that my mother sewed one year,

little souvenirs from our travels, paper chains, old tinsel, lots of little lights strung at random.

Nothing new, nothing sophisticated, nothing stylish. I love it.

Our tree is not crowned with a star or angel. When my first child was born, one of the baby gifts (I think it was undershirts) was decorated with a large, glittery butterfly clip, which I clamped onto the top of our tiny little tree that year. It has held pride of place now for 30 Christmases. The Santa right below is a recent aquisition.

On the eve of World War II, my parents moved to the San Francisco area, and my dad's whole family moved from Texas to take advantage of new work opportunities. My dad and grandfather (and probably an uncle or two) worked as welders in the Oakland shipyards, building liberty ships. They never left California, although I imagine that they longed for home.

When I was a very small child, my grandparents had a small ceramic plate on their wall. On it were two angels sitting on clouds. One angel says to the other, "And if we're good, we'll go to Texas." I don't know why it made such an impression on me, but this decoration remained in my memory for more than 50 years. I wrote about it somewhere on the web at some time in the past.

A couple of weeks ago there was a comment on my blog from a woman in Texas whose mother had given her a similar plate (she found it in some junk/antique store in Arkansas), which she was going to give as a gag gift to someone. First, however, she wanted to know if it was worth anything and did a Google search. Up popped my posting, she contacted me, and today I received this in the mail:

Receiving this little plate made me ridiculously happy. And it points out to me that one of the great lessons of the Christmas story lies in the unexpected kindness of strangers -- be they angels comforting startled shepherds, kings from the East, overworked innkeepers with no rooms but with a dry and warm stable, the Salvation Army workers who gave my late father-in-law hot soup and a blanket when he was released after 6 years of digging coal in a Siberian gulag, ordinary people serving meals to the homeless, or a thoughtful woman in Texas who correctly figured that I would be touched by a souvenir from my past. These and a thousand other small and great actions reflect the unexpected blessing and extraordinary kindness that underlie Christmas as God's gift to us.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

2007-12-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

I don't think so.

I have a headache.

All was starting to calm down nicely (found the right crutches, got DH started on a course of prednisone, DD#2 salvaged one of her overdue bills, I started to work on work again, I even made it to knitting group). I actually got some Christmas shopping done, almost a miracle since I usually get around to shopping 2-3 days before the event.

Yesterday afternoon I had just made a cup of greatly-needed coffee, waved DD#2 off to work, sat down with DH, and my cell phone rang. DD#2's name was on the caller ID. I knew what it was, I just knew that I would hear her voice telling me -- "Mom, I've gotten into an accident."

I was right.

I was very calm, grabbed my AAA card, relevant phone numbers, and drove away. As much as I wanted to run away from home, I had to go speak to the police, arrange the towing, call the insurance claim rep. In all fairness, this was a three car event, with the car in the middle causing the actual accident by rear-ending a sedan (car #1). DD#2 was driving car #3, and rear-ended car#2, which was rebounding off car #1 at the time. Obviously not my daughter's fault, BUT in California the law automatically assigns blame to the last car in the rear-ending incident. Her car was completely undrivable and may be declared a total loss. Three tow trucks came. Thank God, no one was hurt.

This is her third accident in 3 years. As she is 21 and still lives at home, she has to be on our car insurance. Why does she still have a car? I would really love to give a good, rational, mature answer to that question -- but I don't have one.

Comic Relief: A rubber-necker in the next lane was rear-ended by a drunk driver. Two more tow trucks had to be called to the scene.

DH was checking out mortgage refinancing options on-line a couple of weeks ago, filled out one of those inquiry forms, and was expecting a deluge of email, right? We have gotten unsolicited calls from at least 2500 people and places, to the point of getting pretty rude. Here are three actual exchanges between me (DS) and unsolicited callers (UC).

Call Scenario #1, which I like to call "Stuffy Old Bitch Answers"
DS: Hello?
UC: Let me speak to Claus.
DS: I beg your pardon?
UC: I'd like to speak to Claus.
DS: Are you personally acquainted with my husband?
UC: Well, no, but he asked for refinancing information, so I am following up.
DS: Young man/young woman, let me give you some advice, which you may already have heard from your mother but have obviously forgotten. Never, never ask for or address someone by his first name unless you have been invited to do so. I have no interest in speaking to someone as poorly trained and ill-mannered as you.

Call Scenario #2, In Which I get Rid Of The Caller As Quickly As Possible:
DS: Hello?
UC: I'd like to speak to Claus (pronounces it "claws", easy mistake to make)
DS: You want to speak to whom?
UC: Claus
DS: Sorry, nobody here by that name.

Cal Scenario #3, AKA Having Some Fun:
DS: Hello?
UC: I'd like to speak to Claus.
DS: Sorry, he no longer lives here.
UC: He moved?
DS: Yes, he has moved to China. Would you like his new telephone number?

Advent Quickie

2007-12-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

Sounds almost obscene.

I really miss Hamburg. I usually spent the first 2-3 weeks of Advent in Hamburg, visiting my very dear MIL, going to Christmas Markets, drinking Gluhwein (mulled wine, sold on every street corner), eating sausages, drinking more Gluhwein, drinking beer, drinking Gluhwein -- I think you get the picture. As MIL passed year before last, I really, really miss going to Hamburg. Those Germans really know how to celebrate.

How did I spend the first Sunday of Advent of 2007?

Running around Pleasant Hill and Concord, trying to find a pair of crutches because the dialysis nurse took too much water out of Nick (after being told NOT to take out any), and he now has a whopping gout attack in his left knee. The pain of putting weight on his left leg is excruciating. The man cannot walk. At all. Period.

Bugger it.

Being Thankful

2007-11-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was a very nice one. After several days of cleaning house, I brined and roasted my little 10-pound turkey, braised a brisket with red wine and mushrooms, made a German Apple Cake, my favorite cornbread dressing, cucumber salad, and pureed cauliflower. DD#1 showd up with her boyfriend, so there were 7 at the table. They provided bread, mashed yams with candied pecans, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and wine. A simple dinner, and very relaxing, too. Lots and lots of conversation. Sorry, no pictures of the food, it did not stay on the table long enough to be photographed.

Entertainment provided by DD#1 and DS#3.

DD#1 is a professional musician. Some of her music is up on the web, so, please, give it a listen. She is very, very good.

How Doth The Little Busy Bee

2007-11-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

October and the first half of November have been busy times chez Deep South.

On the health front, DH has had (too many) things going. With his doctor's cautious blessing, he stopped dialysis. All was going OK (not well, but OK is also fine) for 9 glorious weeks, during which he had weekly blood work and office visits. It was determined that one of his hypertension medications contained a drug that retards kidney function. Since he needs all the help he can get, it was decided to simply use the other component of this medicine, which had a proven record of tolerance in kidney patients. HOWEVER, in a very small percentage of patients, this drug acted as a potassium retainer. I am sure that you can see what is coming, right? Less than a week into the new drug regime, blood work prompted an urgent-urgent-get-him-to-the-ER phone call. Potassium level was 6.8, which is pretty close to heart-stopping, quite literally speaking. The EKG was very disturbing. Massive doses of nasty polystyrene sulfate over the next 12 hours brought it down, but it was back to dialysis the next day.

The following week he got what we thought was the flu, and within a few days we thought it had turned into pneumonia. Back to the ER. Blood oxygen level was around 80%, not at all good. Also, he was severely aenemic. Chest x-ray showed no pneumonia, BUT it did show a huge amount of water surrounding the heart. DH was checked in this time (why, oh why does it take 9 hours to get from the ER to a room???) for dialysis the next day, treatment for the aenemia, etc.

Hospitals. Don't get me started. You have to be on top of everything! First the floor doctor asked me if he was "competent" to make any of his own decisions. I said OF COURSE, and how on-the-ball are you with a blood oxygen of 80% and hemoglobin in the toilet? They served him meals with tomato soup, mashed potatoes, honeydew melon for dessert -- poison for dialysis patients. It took 4 hours to get the meds sent down from the pharmacy. After dialysis (extremely well done, excellent nurse) it took another 6 hours to get the discharge (after a verbal duel with the same floor doctor). Finally, at 9:30 PM, I go to drive the car to the entrance to pick DH up and find a flat tire. AAA came and changed the tire, and we got home an hour later.

So ends the first half of October. Don't get me wrong, we had some excellent nurses and doctors during these two runs, but there are also incompetent staff and so much red tape that everyone trips over it. AAA is worth every penny.

At the end of October, DH finally had his cataract surgery.

Although my life seems to roil exclusively around DH, other Deep South family members also add to the turmoil, especially DD#2 who gives us no end of worry right now. No more to say besides that.

Knitting has been the savior of my sanity. Since my last post in September, I have done the following:

Oregon Vest in Passsport Dublin from stash. I still need to put in the zipper, but it is otherwise finished

A pair of booties in Mexican Wave from stash. I swear I used the same ball of yarn for both! This pattern was mentioned by Brooklyntweed (you can find a link on his blog).

His-and-hers IPod cases in various things from stash

Currently working on Solaris, a free pattern from the Berroco website. Classy design.

I am using Caron Simply Soft Shadows in the Autumn colorway, a gift from POPT. I really love the yarn and the pattern. Back and sleeves are knit separately. The you start on the bottom of the left side and knit up, across the back, and down to the bottom of the right side in one piece. The yarn has some wonderful color changes, as can be seen on the back

And a close-up of the stitches

Also on the needles is another pair of socks in Wildfoot from stash

The Faux Russian Shawl is currently on Sabbatical.

I acquired an IPod recently and have discovered the wonderful world of podcasts. There are some very good knitting podcasts out there, especially Sticks and Strings, the Knitpicks Podcast, Cast On, and a couple of others. What is really fun for me are the Lake Wobegon monologues from Prairie Home Companion, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me from NPR, free audio books and stories and the old time radio shows. There are tons of these, and they are terrific -- dramas, radio plays, almost anything your heart desires. I could listen to them all day long. The best part is that they are free. If you have ITunes, get them there. If you have a different kind of MP3 player, download them from the websites that feature them, or just download and listen to them on your computer.

Still Knitting

2007-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

I will catch y'all up later on the past month. Life has been ueber-busy.

DH has been giving me grief over my knitting -- too much, not healthy to have such an obsession, not getting anything else done, spending too much $$$ on magazines, yada yada yada...

Then, just this last Friday he requested that I make him a case for his IPod. Something he can hang around his neck, is easy to pull the player out of, put back in. Masculine shape and color.

Sure, Honey, no problem.

Thirty minutes later it was done. Since then, no wisecracks or criticism.

Now for some quick Granny-bragging:

Charlotte (aka Charlie)

Armand (aka AJ)

Graceful Is as Graceful Does

2007-09-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary.
You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward.
Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts.
All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

Thank you, Ceallach Knits, this is pretty close to how I conceive of myself.

Last week I stepped out the patio door to give The Boys a treat (I prefer NOT to give dogs treats in the house). When I was young, back around the time of the First Crusade, I sprained my right ankle, and it has been weak ever since. This having been said, right ankle decided to give way on the top step, I heard a loud crunching noise, and down I went. Oddly enough, and in spite of the spectacular sound effects, nothing was broken, but, oh, did I ever mess my ankle up. Two days on crutches, and now hobbling around with a cane.

On the up side, I finished the eternal sock and knitted and finished another pair. Both of these are Regia from stash, which I bought on two separate trips to Hamburg. Delving deeper into the stash box I found 10 balls of Passport Dublin, a wool/acrylic blend made for Michaels and discontinued almost as soon as it came out. I think I have enought for an Oregon Vest for me, which would be nice, as the one I knitted for myself last year was much too big and ended up given to a friend who loved it and wore it a lot (and hopefully still wears it).

Bunch O' FO's

2007-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

The past month has not been all that busy, but I have spent most of it holed up under a rock. My mother and daddy always taught me that feeling depressed and moody was part of life at times, but to fall prey to it was pure self-indulgence. Well, sometimes you have to indulge yourself. So I did. Or, rather DIDN'T -- go anywhere, that is, or call anyone, or do much of anything, or even want to.

That having been said, I do have a few small knitting items to report on.

#1. Lavender dishrag in Sugar & Cream

#2. Green face cloth in Knitpicks Cotlin (which knits up very nicely)

#3. Almost finished the 2nd sock

#4. Continuing the Faux Russian Shawl, I am half-way through the 4th repeat. There are supposed to be 5 1/2 repeats. 96 rows per repeat. By the end, there will be 526 rows in the body of the shawl. A lot of shawl. This is how long it is right now, unblocked, unstretched, just lying across the dining table:

The bottom edging is knit first, your turn the corner, pick up stitches for the body, and everything works up from there.

The shawl has some nice detailing in the center

Side edge trim is knitted as the beginning and end of each row

#5 Finally, the greatest FO of all:

I present to you Armand James Paul Hetzer

Another FO

2007-08-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Finally. Shapely Tank II is done. Pictures later, perhaps. Or not...it looks just like the green one only red. What was interesting about this one was that the row gauge was quite different from the green one, so I ended up with 16 fewer rows to knit, which was nice because I was thoroughly sick of it by finishing time. I hate making the same thing twice.

Lat night I went to a play. I haven't gone to a play in years. My friend and neighbor invited me to see The Triumph of Love at the California Shakespeare Festival Theater. This play was written in the 1630's in France and is a sort-of typical French comedy of errors love story. I would outline the plot, but it is too complicated to describe. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it very much, but the production was wickedly funny, and we laughed like loons. In addition, we were celebrating the birthdays of my friend's mother and sister-in-law, so we came in on back-stage pass tickets, which included wine and appetizers on arrival, question and answer visit with two of the actors, back stage tour, and a "picnic" boxed dinner (surprisingly tasty).

Twp picnic tables over I spotted A KNITTER! Delightful woman making a lace T in gorgeous yarn. Naturally, I had to introduce myself, fondle her fiber, and mention our local knitting group.

All in all a very satisfying evening.

It's On Its Way

2007-08-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Dish Rag Tag box, that is. To Steffanie in Oregon. Steffanie, I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I did.

I've Been Tagged

2007-08-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

NOTE from Aug 10, 2007 -- I was seriously short of sleep when I posted yesterday and typed "Sandy" instead of "Susan". I am deepsly sorry for messing up your name, Susan, and I have corrected it below (and included a link to your blog).

By a Dish Rag, no less. Remember Dish Rag Tag?

Today I received this package from Susan in Utah.

One skein of Sugar & Cream in Hot Green, one of S&C in Summer Splash, a bottle of nail polish in a color that I don't yet have (Susan, how did you know???). And the most adorable sheep I have ever seen, which turned out to be a retractable measuring tape. Measuring tapes are another fetish of mine -- I never have enough, and this one is absolutely precious! Oh! And, of course, a beautiful, beautiful dish rag. This one is almost too beautiful to use. I am humbled by your skill and excellent taste in colors.

In the meantime, while waiting for the package to come, I cranked out another dish rag for myself, honoring the state of my birth (my photo skills are not great, but this is California).

I'm Baaack!

2007-08-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Blogger/Google has this new robot system that is designed to detect Spamblogs. It is not perfect. It decided that my blog was one of these and took it down. Three days of frustration later, I got it back.

I considered leaving Blogger altogether, but I really like the look of the blog and am used to how everything works. Also, I was not happy about losing everything I had posted and starting from scratch.

My biggest gripe is that it is extremely difficult to get hold of anyone at Blogger. Did I say difficult? Nearly impossible. There is no email link for tech support or trouble shooting, no telephone #, no live chat. If the Big Boys can do it (you know, Microsoft, Ebay, ATT, Comcast, Adobe, Symantec), why can't Blogger and Google?

Oops

2007-07-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just looked at my posting from yesterday.

$10 is not exactly a steal for a used book, is it? Unless it is Principals of Knitting.

I actually paid $1 for the Rowan book.

I really have to upgrade my typing skills.

What to do with the Leftovers

2007-07-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

What to do with leftover dishrag yarn. Knitting dishcloths is the ultimate easy fix. I have made a lot of them. However, there is always something left over. Being the frugal person that I am, I just can't stand to throw it out, so I accumulate little balls of this and that, look at them from time to time, and wonder why. Yes, I could combine them to make some kind of patchwork dishcloth, but I don't find this very appealing, and I hate knots and things in the cloth.

The Summer 2007 issue of Knitters Magazine has a design called the Beach Band Sweater (or something like that, I don't have the thing here at my desk), using Takhi Cotton Classic worsted weight yarn. It is OK, nothing to really get me excited, and nothing that I would personally care to wear. BUT some very clever person, who probably had accumulated lots little balls of leftover cotton yarn from making the sweater itself and felt guilty tossing them, took the basic patterns and designed a small shoulder bag, which can be downloaded from the Knitters website.

This is a quick thrill, friends. In less than 1 week I had finished the bag body, bottom, and strap and pretty well demolished the dishrag leftovers:

Yesterday I sewed it together, wove in the ends, and voila!

I do not spend a lot of money on myself (especially now that I am committed to using up stash before any significant yarn acquisitions). I had a bunch of Border's Bucks I needed to spend use this month (like $15, which is pretty useful). And I got a 25% off coupon from somewhere that was about to expire. I suppose I could have saved the bucks for the Harry Potter coming out over the weekend, but I could not use the coupon for that. Behold the reward for being such a good girl. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Our local public library has a table where they sell donated books for cheap. I scored this Rowan book for the princely sum of $10.

Shapely Tank

2007-06-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

The Shapely Tank is all finished. It still needs a little blocking, but it is done and fits like it was made for me. Great pattern. So great that I have cast on another one, in a cotton blend.

When it comes to contests and/or knit-alongs, I am a day late and a dollar short. Usually miss them by a mile (or am not at all interested in the item-along). But I stumbled on the Yarn Miracle website and saw a button for Dish Rag Tag. Perfect for me. I love dishrags. I knit them all the time. Limited to 200 participants, this group is now closed, but it should be a blast.

Finally, a touch of summer in the persons of DH and DD2.

Overheard in a yarn shop recently

2007-06-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

(not by me, but related to me by a trustworthy source):

There was a woman at a table knitting a blanket. For her daughter. She mentioned that the blanket required 30 balls of X---- yarn. Cost per ball: $17.00.

That's a $510 blanket. I am weak at the knees.

Another woman sitting near her asked whether she ever knit with cashmere. Apparently not, as she said that cashmere was much too expensive.

... And the Livin' Is Easy

2007-06-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have just flown by. Saturday before last I spent a lovely afternoon with Ceallach Knits and the former Chocolate and Raspberries. We had a royal lunch of Shrimp & Crab Quesadillas and Watermelon Margaritas before embarking on a mini yarn crawl. We only hit two places. First was Big Sky Knitting in Lafayette. This is the nose bleed of yarn shops, but OMG what gorgeous stuff they have. Didn't buy anything there but looked and drooled for over an hour.

Then back to reality for a stop at Michael's, which is more my line (price-wise). I broke my yarn fast to take advantage of a couple of sale items: Lion Brand Microspun in Lime and Royal Quick Crochet Thread in Cranberry, both destined for the Shapely Tank (free pattern on the White Lies Designs website). I need some more tank tops for summer, and this is a great design. The Lime one is 2/3's finished. Yeah, yeah, I know -- but the Knit from your Stash rules DO let you fall off the wagon ONE TIME. (What? I bought 2 yarns? Hello! Ahem! By the time the first tank is finished, the cranberry will have been in storage long enough to be classed as stash, so there).

This last week was also the last week of school, and DS#3 was promoted from 8th grade to high school (and a close thing that was, too). Naturally the ceremony was held outside, and naturally it was the hottest day we have had so far this year, and it goes without saying that there was almost no seating provided, there was no shade, and the thing went on way, way too long.

I am thinking of donating to the school one of those gong things on a timer -- you get 15 seconds to make your speech, give out your award, whatever. Then the bell sounds and the next person goes on. The whole shebang would be over in record time. If you absolutely have to have the long speeches, throw a private party afterwards.

Another option would be to hand each parent an ice-cold pitcher of Watermelon Margaritas and a folding chair upon arrival. The ceremony can poke along as usual, but who would care? I guarantee that the applause would be extremely enthusiastic. And everyone would join in singing the School Song.

Running Wild

2007-06-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

I am by nature a conservative dresser. Grey and black, well-loved and well-worn, figure large in my wardrobe. Make-up? A little mascara, dab of blush, lip gloss, I'm done in 30 seconds or less. I hate polish on my fingernails.

My otherwise supressed wild streak comes out at my toes -- toenails that is. New color every week. Here is the current line-up. As a rule they sit in a prominent place on my dresser, where I can see them from my bed. Just looking at them makes me happy.

A closer look at the blues, greens, and coppers

The red, purple, pink and white selection

This week's toes are purple.

I'm a Felting Fool

2007-06-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Finished the bag! I knitted a gusset using the navy yarn and attaching it to both sides as I knitted (no sewing up for me). Then I took the rest of the colored scraps, knotted them together at random, and knitted two long pieces of i-cord, threaded them through, and tied knots to make 2 handles. Next came the felting/fulling part. I have never felted anything (on purpose). I tried the careful way (washing machine with old bath towels, checking every couple of minutes), but some colors did well, some did not. Since I did not have a particular size in mind, I threw caution to the winds. Luckily, I have a teenage son who only wears jeans. Four pairs of jeans, lowest possible water setting, hot wash with longest possible cycle, cold rinse, spin cycle and --

One side

The other side

It's beach-bag size and should hold a lot.

I had a skein of Colinette Skye, Aran weight, which I scored at a sale years ago. Knitting Daily had a really cute felted bag, Amanda's Squatty Sidekick. Pretty good fit, except that the pattern called for 200 yards of yarn and I had 150. This is an easy pattern to size down, and it knitted up really quickly. Pulled DS's jeans out of the dryer for an instant re-play of the above. Stuffed a handtowel inside to help it shape while drying. When dry I will find a really nice button for the closure.

DS probably has the cleanest jeans in this part of the county.

I continue stash busting with another circular dishcloth.

Have a Safe & Fun Holiday

2007-05-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

I have finished the front of my tote bag:

I have also finished the back:

The patterns is called Roundabouts, also from those clever mathematicians at Woolly Thoughts.

The next step is to make the gusset and join front to back, decide on handles, and felt the whole thing.

More Curves on the Horizon

2007-05-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

This is the Curve of Pursuit as of this morning.

I think this pattern is extremely cool. I doubt that I have enough yarn to make it into an afghan, and I am not really wild about woolen knitted cushion covers. Now I'm thinking TOTE BAG, with this on one side and some other geometric pattern on the other. All using the leftovers from two Philosophers Wool sweaters. I have never before made a tote, but I am a Bag/Purse Ho. You just can't have too many.

The rest of the yarn I have to work with -- a goodly amount of navy, copper, and coral, and bits and pieces of everything else. Copper will be the next color used, then finish with navy. The coral is too bright and pink for this design. It will be a major player on the reverse side.

The round washcloth from stash. Nice design, so I am doing another one in orange from stash. It looks way more complicated than it is, although I have sightly modified some of the original instructions to make them more user-friendly.

I realize that, in an earlier post, I may have been a trifle unfair to You-Can't-Fix-Stupid Brando. Made him look like a total punk, which he is. Here is a different side of him, a kinder, gentler, and quite decorative Brando, guardian to DH snoozing on the sofa.

Catch-Up & the Curve of Pursuit

2007-04-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have put the shawl aside for a few days. It is a good thing to do when in the middle of a project that requires a ot of concentration, not to mention eye strain.

I took a little rest to make a lovely circular cloth from a free pattern on the web. Instructions are nice a clear, although I prefer working from a chart. However, each row is pretty short, so I rarely got lost in the middle of things.

I bought Mason-Dixon Knitting when it first came out, and every time I opened the book, I went straight to the picture of the ultimate log cabin afghan -- you know the one I mean. The blue one. The wierd, curvy one. The one lacking a pattern. The one from Woolly Thoughts. I was obsessed with it. It haunted my dreams. I had to knit that afghan.

This weekend I (finally) found the on-line order form. The pattern comes in two versions -- the afghan and a cushion size. There was a notation that the cushion pattern was the basis for the afghan, and that the cushion pattern could be used and expanded for that purpose. This would not have made much difference except for 2 things:

1. Pattern and designers are in the UK, and the afghan pattern has to be mailed from there (It is a booklet). Not terribly expensive, GBP 4 + postage. However, postage from the UK is a mysterious item, and the exchange rate isn't all that wonderful, either. And you have to wait for it to arrive.

2. You can order the same from Amazon.com, but the price is higher, and unless you are ordering a bunch of stuff and get free shipping, postage and handling are almost as much as the item itself. And you have to wait for it to arrive.

HOWEVER, the cushion pattern can be received as a pdf document by email, costs GBP 2, no postage, no wait. It arrives in a very timely fashion in your email, along with a very nice note from Pat Ashford, one of the designers. And I really don't think that expanding a cushion-size pattern to afghan-size is going to be all that difficult, even for a mathematics-challenged person like me.

April Showers

2007-04-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am not much of a gardener. I have a live and let live outlook on yard work. I have been told that I have a "black thumb." I can kill anything. Some things grow in spite of my efforts; lots of things don't. And the area where we live is renowned for its blue clay soil (slippery when wet, cement when dry), voracious snails and slugs, droughts, very hot summers, and general cussedness, garden-wise.

This having been said, I present my 2007 flower garden.

Not too impressed? Don't like my designer planters (is that a laundry detergent bucket)? Well, check out these cala lilies and marigolds

Begonias

Pansies

Heliotrope and dianthus

My favorites are the calas. I have them in flame

Rose

And white

Still Kntting Away

2007-04-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

On that shawl, that is. I am on row 76 of the second repeat.

I would post a picture, but, really, it looks just like the last photo, only longer.

Something You Can't Fix

2007-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my youngest son decided to wash the travel trailer. Naturally cleaning an object of this size requires using the garden hose. The Gang of Three was with him.

Micky quickly got out of the way (one smart dog!)

Franklin watched from a distance (another smart dog!):

Brando (sigh) loudly and viciously attacked the hose, water, mud, scrub brush, over and over and over again :

As Ron White says, you just can't fix stupid.

The lights are on, but there is nobody home.

How Abnormal Am I?

2007-04-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, silly, I know.

You Are 44% Abnormal

You are at low risk for being a psychopath. It is unlikely that you have no soul.

You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess.

You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection.

You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement.

You are at medium risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is somewhat likely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

What Rhymes With...

2007-04-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

My DH has very little patience with these uppity 'Modern Women'. Part of this is his age -- he is from a completely different generation. Part of this is from his upbringing -- his mother was the Perfect German Wife (or so everyone thought) of a Perfect German Husband. The poor man (my DH, that is) has two extremely modern daughters and a wife who decided, when she turned 50, that there is no reason that she/they have to take any shit from anyone. Several years ago he started referring to elder DD as Bitch #1 and to younger daughter as Bitch #2. In all fairness, the titles were/are merited. In recent months they have been demoted to Bitches # 2 & #3. Who is now Bitch #1?

MOI!

And I am proud to say that I have earned it!

Check It Out

2007-03-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Chocolate and Raspberries has told me that my baby hats will be featured for Worldless Wednesday. Check it out tomorrow.

I am now on Row 59 of the Faux Russian Shawl. That is Row 59 of 96 of the first repeat. The pattern has 5 1/2 repeats. This shawl is going to take a looooong time to finish. It's not all that difficult a pattern, but I only seem to find time of a row here and a row there, and, even with an enlarged chart and total silence, I am having keeping track of where I am. New glasses are in order, I think.

But it is a really gorgeous pattern, and I love the way the edging moves around the corners and up the sides.

Detail of the center (sorry for the blur, this is the best version I had).

Gratitude is Gone

2007-03-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Gratitude is now gone from the page. It took up a lot of room, and it irks me to look at it when I am not in a good or grateful mood. Now to imply that I am not grateful, no, not at all. Maybe it is just a gut reaction to visiting a friend last night. We have known each other for more than 30 years. We were neighbors in Berkeley. Our husbands were close friends, too. Our children were born at the same times. We shared baby clothes, recipes, sewing patterns, knitting yarn. Her son and my oldest daughter have been best friends since birth. She was a gifted textile artist, distance runner, spelunker. Tall, blond goddess-type. She has MS. Progressive. Relentless. It robbed her of her balance, muscles, speech, and much of her good sense (and sense of humor). It left her with seizures. Her extremely dear husband cared for her at home until his death this last May. Because she needs 24-hour nursing, her children moved her to a care facility close to them so that they could see her every day. She is now in the hospital -- urinary tract infection that became septic, increasing and difficult to control seizures, and an antibiotic-resistant infection in the lungs.

Spring

2007-03-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Not much more to say except that the cashmere scarf is finished (will post a photo after it is blocked). My next project is the Faux Russian Shawl from Gathering of Lace. I am using Knitpicks lace-weight Shadow in Sunset. This was my last purchase before going on the stash diet. The construction is interesting -- knit the bottom edging, then pick up all the way across to begin the body and continue on up, doing both side edgings as you go along. There are no seams in this shawl. Unfortunately the row numbering for the edging (16 row repeat) is different from that of the body (95 row repeat), which makes for a little headache, and, even though I am only on row 5, I think that I made a mistake on row 1.

Good Intentions

2007-03-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

Every day I have this really good intention. Every day I tell myself that I am going to blog. Every day I look up and find that it is 10PM, and nothing has been done.

Some knitting has been going on. I used up most of the remaining Bernat Denim from my seamless pullover to make another hat in the same style as the orange and blue ones knitted earlier. I can safely say that there is too little leftover yarn to worry about and plan to toss it. Out of sight, out of stash.

Since we are getting some fine spring weather, I finally blocked the Snowdrop shawl from Yarn Harlot. Lovely bit of lace and really not difficult at all. Crappy picture, I know. The only place big enough to spread this out is the carpet, and I am not tall enough to do a decent aerial view.

The edging (optional) is particularly lovely and worth the extra time and effort. It really does make the shawl.

The cashmere lace scarf is almost finished, just one more repeat to go (if the yarn holds out).

I have got to get a ball winder. This winding by hand is for the birds.

In preparation for the near future I have freed from their skeins and wound into balls some laceweight from stash --

-- 900 yards of Knitpicks laceweight is the Autumn colorway

-- close to 3000 yards of Lorna's Laces merino/silk blend in a lovely forest green/black color.

This was bought years ago as millends. It took hours to wind this stuff up (three movies, actually). There is enough to knit a cozy for Mount Shasta.

The Gratitude sidebar has been virtuously sitting there, finished more than a month ago, for all the world to see. Time to move on, enough with the gratitude stuff. I meant to replace it with a list of Things I Cannot Live Without, a meme from Chocolate and Raspberries. So far I have 3. Hmmmmm.......I may have to reconsider this idea. Perhaps the Top 10...books? movies? colors? beverages? To say that I will give this some thought is just a chickenshit way of putting this off for another month.

Bread & Knitting

2007-02-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

I have a problem with store-bought bread. Not so much the quality, because you can get some really great breads off the shelves. It's the price that really burns me. $2.99-$3.50 or more for a lousy loaf that costs .50 or less to make. This would not be such a big deal if I bought bread once or twice a week. In my house, however, we go through 1-2 loaves every day and have for years and years.

I used to have a bread machine, which I used daily for years and years. It made pretty decent bread at a pretty decent price. When it finally died last October I found that I was delighted with the freed-up space on my counter (small kitchen, not much space to begin with), so I decided to go back to making bread by hand again. About that time there was an article in the NY Times about easy bread with really great crust, and the ancient Dutch oven that had belonged to a long-deceased aunt got a new lease on life.

Voila, yesterday's breads:

Oatmeal

French

On the knitting front, I am slowly working away on the cashmere lace scarf. This yarn is such a pleasure to handle, I am in no hurry at all to finish the project.

The pattern comes from that lucious bit of eye candy, Victorian Lace Today, with some slight modifications from me.

In the meantime, I was looking at Brooklyntweed's blog and was fascinated by the baby hats he made. So I made a couple of my own. The pattern is free on-line at Hello Yarn. Really cute and each takes less than a day to make. I used two different balls of Mexican Wave from stash.

Luxury Monkey on my Back

2007-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

I figured out a really great way to deal with my headache-inducing Douceur et Soie. I was at knitting group on Wednesday evening, struggling, swearing, sweating out dropped stitches and funny pattern results. Chocolate and Raspberries arrived and sat down beside me. My first thought was that the color of my yarn would look fabulous with her blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Jerking the knitted piece off my needles, scattering markers all over the table, and frogging it in record time, I handed the ball of yarn to her, along with its virgin mate, and told her that it was a gift. From me to her.

That felt sooo good. It was a monkey on my back. An albatross around my neck. Cement booties on my feet. It was expensive and beautiful. It was not worth the pain and suffering.

I am now free.....free to knit with the 2 balls of Bollicina (65% cashmere, 35% silk) that have been in stash for several years, untouched until now because I was not worthy until I found a solution to the dreaded D&S problem. Out of sight, out of mind.

Growing Older and the 50 + Lessons Life Taught Me

2007-01-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, aren't we all...growing older, that is. Another step towards 60 is looming on my horizon. A dear friend just sent the following to me by email. I do not know who wrote the piece, but, in light of my earlier comments about gratitude and not feeling much lately, I was lovingly but firmly put in my place.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is a special occasion.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

"A REAL FRIEND IS ONE WHO WALKS IN WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD WALKS OUT"

Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful. - Jacqueline Bisset

New Favorite

2007-01-31T08:58:00.000-08:00

I finished the pullover in Bernat Denim from stash. The pattern is called "The Magic Raglan", originally published in Threads Magazine (back when they still had a knitting section in every issue), later reprinted in Handknitting Techniques from Threads. I must have done this pattern at least 10 times over the years for various members of the family. It is the world's easiest thing to make fit, it almost knits itself, and is the best of mindless knitting. I have worn it constantly since weaving in the last loose end. Sooo comfortable, fits perfectly.

Now on the needles is a lace scarf in the "Liesel" pattern from somewhere on the web (don't ask me where, I printed it out a long time ago). Easy enough, but the yarn is frustrating to knit with. Douceur et Soie (from stash) is lovely, soft, very luxurious, but a real bugger. I have to work very slowly. Here is progress so far. I know I have made and could not correct at least two major mistakes, which is maddening since I have knit this thing before, and the pattern is not exactly the most difficult thing on earth. I am determined to finish and get these two balls of yarn out of my stash. Then I will feel that I have earned -- no, DESERVE -- the chance to use the two balls of cashmere that I have been dreaming about.

I have to post some more gratitude, if I can think of anything. I have been feeling most ungrateful for the past few days.

Oh yeah, I ordered two books yesterday from Amazon:

And

They will be shipped in the middle of February (the Merton book will not be in print until then), so I will have something to look forward to. Catholic spirituality and monasticism are a special fascination for me, a little odd as

I am a married woman with children
I (still) really like sex
I was raised to be a hard-assed, evangelical, gospel-music-loving, southern Baptist
I am still very much a highly-opinionated free thinker

God does, indeed, move in mysterious ways.

Perhaps these are not the issues that I need to confront.

For the Apple of Your Eye

2007-01-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Baby hat as a gift for an expecting friend. So easy, so cute.

It was mostly knit from stash, but I did not have enought red, so I had to buy some more (this is permissable under the rules!).

Update on the denim pullover: I am knitting the bottom ribbing, which should be finished today. Then on to the sleeves.

Getting A Little Ahead

2007-01-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is dialysis, and I don't know when I will be at the computer (funny how something that takes just a few hours tends to expand to fill the whole day), so I thought I would get a head start on my weekend gratitude.

Challenges

2007-01-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Every day brings a new one, mostly from the offspring.

DD#2 starts college next week. She is 20 years old. When she started high school, she had a really terrible time, unable to fit in, impatient with classes, unsure if she had enough brains to compete with her peers. She switched to an alternative, home-study program, did very well, and was even able to ace the biology class she had to take at the local community college to get her high school diploma at age 17. Since she did not know what she wanted to do with her life, she saw no need to rush into college, which shows a rare bit of wisdom. She worked. Lots of different jobs.

Our local community college is very, very good, and I am confident that she will do well. It won't be easy, as she will also be working full-time, but she can do it.

I was really lucky to have gone through the California public school system when I did (before "relevance" education came into vogue). I got a challenging, first-rate education and loved it. I also loved my college years, even though I worked 2 jobs, married, and was expecting my third child when I discovered that Superwoman had found her limits. I quit school, had more children, worked.

I have no regrets.

I consider my education the greatest gift and look back on those years with affection and not a little nostalgia. I have no patience with people who consider education an entitlement or a burden or a joke or something to be pissed away. I also have no patience with a system that allows -- no, encourages -- young men and women to borrow so much money that they finish college with a debt that could have bought a house. There is something seriously wrong here.

End of soapbox.

Gratitude

2007-01-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

Ceallach Knits had an excellent idea yesterday. GRATITUDE STARTS NOW.

For the next 30 days I will post one thing per day that I am grateful for.

It is so easy to get caught up in the negativity of day-to-day news, misery, mistakes, and general drech that it is necessary to consciously lift oneself out of what can become a very, very deep hole.

Here is #1: I am grateful that DH's health continues to improve.

This might also prompt me to post something every day? That is a great responsibility. Let's see if I am up to it (although I can always play catch-up).

Knitting and Tagging

2007-01-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

I am hard at work on the Bernat Denim pullover. Finally got down to the armhole and have started the boring part, the body.

What should I do next? I have lots of yarns (stash), lots of needles, countless patterns, and no desire to plan ahead.

Unlike many of my fellow knitters, my stash and patterns have no organization whatsoever. I know that I have 2 balls of olive cashmere and a killer scarf pattern but have no idea where they are.

For me it is the thrill of the hunt.

Reading Coloursknits most recent post, I got to the bottom and understood that I was tagged.

OK, here are Six Weird Things About Me

I retch when drinking sweetened coffee (but it has to have cream or milk in it) but cannot drink hot tea without milk AND sugar (and it has to be black tea, very strong; herbal teas are like drinking grass clippings).
IMHO, there is no excuse for speaking or writing ungrammatical English. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. It takes all my strict Southern-hospitality upbringing to keep me from screaming corrections at people. My current bete-noire is "I'm good!" as the answer to "How are you?" No, sweetheart, I am asking about your health and/or sense of well-being, not your behavoir.
My knee-jerk good manners almost totally disappear when I drive behind some idiot who should have never been allowed to even try for a drivers license. I do not tailgate, lean on my horn, indulge in obscene gestures, or bellow insults out the car window, but, trust me, you'd better turn down your hearing aid because I have a large and active vocabulary of obscenities in 10 languages, living and dead, and I know how to use it.
I am a really poor passenger, always stomping on that imaginary brake pedal. This may not be a surprise, given #3, above.
I do not like music as background for conversation, meals, knitting, or reading. When I listen to music, I listen to music, all the voices, all the parts, all the timing, all the instruments. I do, however, find it acceptable background for walking, housecleaning, and other forms of exercise.
I do not like house slippers that enclose the whole foot, like a shoe (my feet sweat), BUT I generally wear socks with slippers. And I do not like to walk in bare feet.

Hmmm. Not so much weird as booooooring.

The Old & The New

2007-01-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

As a rule, when one of my children asks what I want for Christmas (or birthday), I make modest noises of the "whatever you think I'll like" or "surprise me" ilk.

Not this year. This year I wanted eye candy and so I asked for and received this

Lovely, lovely, lovely. I might even make something from it!

My ESP must have been spot on target because my oldest daughter gave me this:

If you are a woman of a certain level of maturity (i.e. NOT an old lady but a foxy chick who has already been around the block a few times), YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!

Here is my list of knitting projects from 2006:

Beret in alpaca from stash

Clapotis in Woolease from stash

Ponchedtte in Gedifra Flamme from stash

Clapotis in lace-weight from stash

2 ball-band washcloths

Fair Isle vest for DH

Alpaca lace scarf from stash

Highland Shawl in Blackwater Abbey yarn from stash

Oregon vest in Wendy Aran from stash

Two hats in Red Heart Soft (orange/rust for me, blue tweed for DH)

Yarn Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl in Jaeger Zephyrfrom stash

One sock (the other is half-finished) in Regia from stash

Three dish cloths

Projects begun in 2007

Top-down raglan in Bernat Denim from stash

Although the stash-busting list looks impressive, it is a mere drop in the bucket. Over Christmas, however, my oldest daughter and I cleaned out one of my storage cupboards, and I sent her off with a huge garbage bag full of yarn. She crochets. Scarves. That's it. She does, however, want to branch out into other garments (but not other crafts; she does know how to knit but does not enjoy it). So I am looking for books/magazines that might be interesting to a bohemian-minded, intellectual 24-year-old. I am not much of a crochet person (except for doilies and table cloths). Suggestions are welcomed.

Knit From your Stash 2007

2007-01-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is just up my alley.

Since I have been doing this through most of 2006, why not make it official?

Here are the guidelines:

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 -- a period of nine months.

2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

2.a. Sock yarn does not count. What? You think we are made of stone?
2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift.
2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete the project.
2.d. We each get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card -- we are each allowed to fall off the wagon one time.

3. We are allowed to receive gifts of yarn.

4. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt.

This works for me.

Wanna join up? To get your guidelines and choice of logo, link on over to the Wendy Knits page.

R.I.P. 2006

2007-01-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is a copy of my parent's wedding picture. Fun, very fun people. They were wildly in love for more than 62 years. My mother passed in 1999.

On November 18, just before Thanksgiving, my father died. He was 95 years and two days old. His last years were spent in a nursing home. He suffered from dementia (officially, although I think it was a broken heart after losing my mother) and was wheelchair bound because of a broken hip. Sad last years for such an active and wonderful man. Now, however, he is finally with Mom, having a happy and glorious time.

The Gang of Three

2006-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

I may have already mentioned that I live in a testosterone-rich household. Three male humans, three male dogs, myself, and one daughter (who is seldom at home except to sleep, shower, and change clothes).

The male humans are not much of a problem. However, the dogs are really a handful. We refer to them as "The Boys". Here they are in one of their quieter poses.

Their names are Micky (the big boy), Franklin (in the foreground), and Brando (little guy in the back). Micky is a big (very big, like over 90 lbs) bundle of family-only love (you do not, however, want to get him pissed off at you). Franklin is has the sweetest temper of the three, always happy, always wagging his tail, loves a good cuddle, a weird-looking little guy of such uncertain parentage that we sometimes refer to him as Franken-Dog. He and Micky are best friends, and love to play together.

Brando, in contrast, is apart and aloof, more than a bit snotty, and very self-assured that he is the best looking dog of the three (which he is). He is a bossy, snarly, snappy little SOB. He can be unexpectedly endearing, like this morning when I found him asleep in a basket of laundry.

Back on the knitting front, in the never-ending quest to use up stash, I finished the Oregon Vest from Oat Couture (in Wendy Aran, which I bought years and years ago). I admit to being gauge-impaired, but, really, I did measure and measure and swatched and swatched, and the damn thing is too big. I WILL NOT RIP IT OUT. I plan to experiment with a swatch or two to see if I can felt it down slightly (it is a blend and might not felt at all). If not, I will find someone who fits it.

A pleasure to report is the hat from the Fall Knitters. It came out lovely, very comfortable, very flattering. I used Red Heart Soft, which I got on sale at Michaels.

Next up on the needles is the Pacific Northwest Shawl in Jaeger Zephyr, in a lovely soft medium grey shade. I made this once before and gave it away as a gift. Beautiful pattern (with no errors!), great fun to make, spectacular garment.

Political Leaning

2006-10-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Chocolate and Raspberries, I linked on over and took the short political quiz.

I was rated as Libertarian:

LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and
economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one
that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.
Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose
government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate
diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

Yeah, I guess that's pretty close. Not quite left enough, actually, and, at times, not quite right enough.

Most of the time -- especially during election campaigning, which drives me totally mad, I prefer to think of myself as an anarchist: there's no government like no government.

I used to really enjoy politics, discussion, give-and-take.

Not any more. Any time discussion gets interesting, someone throws out the Patriot Card, and discussion dies a sad and pathetic death.

Seasonality and Tagged

2006-10-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Birthday Season starts in July at my house. I really get slammed with birthday season, and it stretches on FOR MONTHS and months.

July brings 4 birthdays: nephew, brother, sister-in-law, youngest son
August has 3: grandchild, daughter-in-law, and husband (same date)
September has 2: both of my daughters (2 days apart)
October has 1: oldest son
November has 1: father

That makes 11 major events in the space of 5 months, and these are only within the immediate living family. There used to be a lot more on this list, but they have already passed. Yesterday was my oldest son's birthday, so I have only one more to go before the Christmas season starts. The Exchequer really takes a beating this time of year.

I got tagged (for the first time), so here are my Famous Four Lists. Don't expect me to tag back, I am not that sophisticated.

4 Jobs I have had:
1. Car hop at an A&W in the ghetto (and oh, what really interesting clients we got at night!)
2. Semi-official researcher and proof-reader for a theology professor
3. Cook in a cafe
4. Manager of an adventure travel company

4 movies I can watch over and over
1. Some Like It Hot
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Casablanca
4. Lord of the Rings

4 places I have lived (I have only lived in California)
1. Richmond
2. Los Gatos (before it became chi-chi, it was a nice little working-class town)
3. Berkeley
4. Pleasant Hill

4 TV shows I like to watch
1. Dancing with the Stars (I love watching ballroom dancing)
2. TV5 Le Journal (in French)
3. What Not to Wear
4. Food Network cooking challenges

4 places I have vacationed
1. Fort Bragg, CA
2. Bisbee, Arizona
3. Germany
4. Central America

4 things I love to eat
1. Pasta with white clam sauce
2. Fried Okra
3. Middle Eastern anything
4. Cornbread

4 websites I visit every day
1. Yarn Harlot
2. London Times
3. CNN
4. Time Magazine

4 places I'd rather be than here
1. Germany
2. South of France
3. Ireland
4. The Deep South

A Knitting Break

2006-10-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am (sort of) roaring along with projects.

Here is the finished and blocked Highland Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. Lovely pattern, but when it came to the edging, I wimped out before finishing all of the repeats. It is a good thing that I did, or I would have run out of yarn before starting the final edging pattern. Still it is a lovely lacy pattern and quite roomy as is. I used Black Water Abbey yarn from my stash.

Anoth favorite quicky project is the dishcloth. I made the "Worshcloth" using the pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting but edged it in attached i-cord.

I am currently using up stash on the Oregon Vest, as I was crazy enough to buy some Wendy Aran when I was in Ireland a few years ago (it was on super mark-down in Galway) which has been sitting patiently in a bag at the the back of the closet since then.

Also in the works is the Tweedy Topper from the latest Knitters, which finally hit the local bookstore this week. Clever pattern, lots of fun. I love to wear hats, but not that many hat styles look good on me (gumdrop head, round face). I am making it in acrylic camouflage (Red Heart) first to see how it will look. Good for rainy days around here, since I do not own an umbrella. If it flies, then I will do something a little more sophisticated.

The Last Okra of Summer

2006-10-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, DH and I went to the farmers market in the next town. There was a booth there selling the most beautiful okra I have seen in a long, long time. DH made gagging noises. I bought 2 pounds.

Okra is a wonderful food and a direct link to my childhood. My mother cooked it all the time -- boiled, in soups, in salads. But the very best was sliced, mixed with egg. corn meal, chopped onion, black pepper, and fried to a lovely golden brown.

It was just wonderful! I ate the whole thing myself, which was a good thing because I could not get anyone else at the table to try it. It brought back summer vacation in Texas, where all the adults sat on the porches drinking whatever they were drinking (and it wasn't iced tea) while we kids played in the streets until midnight. Dinner was some meat or BBQ and at least a thousand sides. For some strange reason, what sticks in my memories are not the june bugs and chiggers, not the humidity and the incredible heat, not the tornados. What I call to mind are the food and the music.

This digression was prompted by Chocolate and Raspberries latest post. It is sad and maddening that we live in this incredible, cosmopolitan area, with people and languages, and accents from all over the world. BUT if you have a Southern accent, you are automatically classed as a mentally incompetent redneck from the lowest slime layer in the pond.

Makes me so mad I want to mount a gun rack on the back my truck.

Comfort Zones

2006-10-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

There are certain parts of my house that I retreat to for comfort. The most frequently occupied area is my workspace. In this tiny corner I have my beloved desk (inherited from a great uncle with whom I shared a birthday), laptop, knitting baskets, and crates and baskets for files, books, DVDs and other stuff. It is in a corner of the dining room, right next to the fireplace. I sit here in the wee hours of the morning, when I cannot sleep, watch old movies, and knit or work on my computer.

My other comfort zone is the bookcase that has my knitting and other books. Note the strategically-placed chair and lamp. I do not knit here, I only read.

Here are the knitting shelves. Knitting books are not confined to this space, they can be found scattered all over the house'

This is only one of at least 10 book cases areas in our house. In my humble opinion, you cannot have too many books.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

2006-10-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Guilt.

DD1 showed up this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I adore all five of my children. I carried each one of them tenderly under my heart for nine freaking months, gave birth without benefit of any pain management (if I had it all to do over again...), loved them, cuddled them, clothed them, educated them, put up with them and their weird growing-up pains.

Nowadays, I find myself paddling in the deep end of the testosterone pool. I live with three male humans, three male dogs, and the one daughter still at home is either at work or out with her friends.

Boys are much less complicated than girls.

Admittedly, DD1 has had a lot of problems in her 24 years of life. She was so difficult that she was asked to leave the home when she was 17. She is beautiful and brilliant. Musically gifted, intelligent, charming (well, sometimes). Suffers from clinical depression, anxiety attacks (as does DD2), and who knows what else. Carries an almost complete pharmacy in her purse. She also carries an enormous chip on her shoulder, never happy, never satisfied. Most of her conversation centers around her martial arts dojo, her shrink, her classical guitar-playing business, her emotional pain, her money problems, and how her parents have let her down (with a corresponding dissertation on how much her friends and their parents show their love for her).

DD2 has remained in the home, sort-of gets along with her parents and remaining siblings, works full time, has a totally different personality from her sister. Also beautiful and gifted, also mercurial, also charming, also chemically dependent (necessarily so, trust me), loves clothes and make-up, but more independent and, in a lot of ways, more mature than DD1. Responds to her older sister's list of woes with the curled lip of scorn and a few choice words of the kind that I would never have said in front of my parents when I was growning up.

This having been said, I really cringe when I have BOTH of my daughters under my roof at the same time. Like this weekend.

Oh, the tension. And oh, the guilt.

Any more wine in that bottle?

Has it been almost a month???

2006-09-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Jeez, time really flies, even if you are NOT having fun. Has it really been almost a month since I last had something to say?

I have got to GET A LIFE!

Dialysis takes up most of my energy. Even though we are now down to 2X/week, kidney, heart, and surgery follow-ups swallow up most of my time, attention, and everything else.

In addition, we are now involved in two great searches -- a home water distiller and a motorhome.

We drink a lot of water, and a home water distiller has been on the back burner for years and occasionally sneaks forward to perch on the middle burner. A kind acquaintance recently mentioned that he was doing much better, health-wise, since he stopped drinking tap water and stopped buying bottled water. His secret is distilling water at home BUT he insists that the best results have been obtained since he gave up anything in a plastic bottle. Glass or stainless steel, that's the ticket.

Makes sense, don't ya think? Water in our area is highly chlorinated and probably has all kinds of jolly metals and other things that really don't belong in our bodies. It has gotten to the point that drinking water is dangerous to everyone's health, and, really, you can only consume so much beer before the weight gain becomes a problem. Also the not-so-kind members of the Highway Patrol. Since plastic tends to crack, scratch, and otherwise deteriorate (except in landfills), the possitility of chemical leeching is also a big concern.

After a very exhaustive seach we have found that there are only two products that we could use. One comes with a glass container (almost everything else uses plastic) and is run by electricity. The other is even more basic and can be used with any heat source (including a campfire) and is entirely made of stainless steel. I will let DH decided which of these marvels to purchase, as I have done my part.

And the motorhome.

We are great campers (never mind that the first time I went camping I was 23 years old and there was a gale that night that left us literally floating in several inches of water, but that's another story). For many, many years and many, many children, we tented. When I was in my 40's I told DH that I could no longer sleep on the groud, it was far too much work.... anyway, I was pregnant with #5. So we bought a trailer.

Absolutely loved it! Room for 7 to sleep, nothing to set up, awning to sit under, really wonderful people to meet.

Fast forward to mid-50's. Preparing and hooking up a trailer is A LOT OF WORK. And now we are 4, not seven.

If you had asked me a few years ago, did I see us in a motorhome, I would have laughed you off the planet! Famous last words....

I, for one, do not like hotels or resorts, I prefer to eat my own cooking, and I like my own things around me. Not to mentio the dialysis wrinkle (sometimes he feels fine, sometimes not, no way to predict). I also like to make last-minute plans. HEY -- it's Thursday afternoon, how about a long weekend at the beach?

What we really want to be able to do is shove some food into the refrigerator, sit down, turn the ignition key, and take off.

So we are in the market for a motorhome, one with a bed above the cab (for the 13-year-old) and a queen bed in the back for those of us who insist on a good night's sleep.

More in the next installment!

Papa Time

2006-08-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

You might also call this Grandpa Time, but DH made it abundantly clear that there is only one Grandpa in our family, and that is my dad (who is pushing 95 but suffers from dementia, poor sweet man, doesn't recognize anyone any more). So what do you call a male grandparent who does not want to be grandpa? Well, in my southern family you call him Papa. In this case, Papa Nick (so as not to be confused with Papa Paul, the other grandparent). Papa Nick likes this. I guess it has a kind of pater familias ring to it, which appeals to his German control-freak nature. And I also guess that he feels younger than he would if he were called GRANDPA NICK. We all have strict orders not to use this in his hearing ( HAH!! -- GRANDPA NICK, GRANDPA NICK, GRANDPA NICK -- that was fun, if a little childish).

Now, I myself have no objection to being called Granny. There has always been a Granny in my family. My mother was Grandma to my kids, but my dad's mother was Granny. She passed almost 25 years ago, and after that there were no grannys in the family until it was my turn to step up to the grandparent plate. I voluntarily -- no, proudly -- took up the Granny mantle and title.

Should I change my blog name? Perhaps call it Deep South Granny? Knitter Granny? Granny's Two Sticks Hell-on-Wheels? Are we getting a little silly here?

Speaking of Knitting...I finally wove in the ends and blocked my Clapotis. Even in lace weight yarn and size 2 needles, it is wonderfully long:

Detail of the stitch pattern (sorry about the blur):

In the immortal words of my late DMIL -- Sehr elegant.

Granny Time

2006-08-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

So much to do, so little time. It has been almost a month since the last posting. Life is busy, life is full of stuff.

A great treat today -- my daughter-in-law and granddaughter showed up at our door at 10AM. It has been more than 2 years since I last saw them. At that time they lived in Hawaii, and they came for a visit (with my son). Now they live in Mississippi, but son had to stay home at his job, so we had the great pleasure of a full day with the two of them. The whole family went to the park (not terribly exciting just to say, but a perfect piece of Americana, and just wonderful for taking pictures and talking, talking, catching up, and talking). One daughter had to leave for work, so there is a gap in the family portrait.

The past month has been the usual round of dialysis, doctors appointments, more dialysis, and more doctors appointments. On the up side, I have been spending countless hours knitting in waiting rooms and have finished DH's Fair Isle Vest.

Here it is being blocked:

Here is a detail shot of the pattern itself:

If it looks really intricate, rest assured that it is. Judicious enlargement of the teeny tiny detail chart, lots of stitch markers, and religious use of a row counter are mandatory! The big sweater chart (row-by-row) was less than useless. Enlarging it to full size made the details too blurry to see, and there were some serious mistakes in the written pattern. Its only use was for the starting row, which was row 4 of the pattern detail. I am totally clueless as to the reasoning behind this, it makes no sense at all.

If you are going to go to this much work, I think it pays to make the inside as nice as the outside and enclose the edges of the steeks. There is an excellent explanation of this at www.kidsknits.com. Not difficult to do at all, and you end up with the insides looking like this:

Voila, one work of art.

I used to love summer days and nights

2006-07-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

The hotter and longer, the better.

Crazy Aunt Purl's post about fried okra reminded me of this.

I spent 16 years living in the fog belt where a sweater was common wear almost every day. 22 years ago we bought a house 15 miles inland where spring and fall are warm and clear, fog is seen on winter mornings, and summers are long and hot. Evenings spent outside on the lawn chair, sipping iced tea or beer, planning a BBQ for dinner with locally-grown corn on the cob all by itself as the first course, tomato salad to die for, potato salad, watermelon for dessert.

Fried okra as a special treat.

A special treat for ME ONLY. Husband and kids think okra is just too, too gross for words. Fine with me, I'll eat it any way I can get it. Fried is best. With chopped onions and lots of black pepper.

This is how life is supposed to be.

That was before menopause, which changed EVERYTHING.

Now it's indoors with the air conditioning running, outside only with mosquito repellent, sunscreen, and hat. Corn on the cob still appears, but tomato and potato salads are verboten because of DH's renal and cardiac diet and these delights have far too much potassium. Watermelon has to be measured... hell, everything has to be measured!

But my love for fried okra is eternal, deathless, unchanged.

The miseries of menopause and turning 50 are, IMHO, vastly overrated. Maybe I was just lucky, but I was really happy to leave the 40's behind. Hot flashes became a convenient way to cut the winter heating bill. Don't like my greying hair -- tough! I earned every single strand (and I hold YOU responsible). Mood swings? I DON'T HAVE NO STINKIN' MOOD SWINGS!!!!

Some thoughts on air conditioning. This has to be the greatest gift God has given to modern man. AC makes life possible (especially during the heat wave of the past week). AC makes sure I can sleep at night. AC lets me cook real meals. AND MOST IMPORTANT -- AC lets me knit any time I want!

More Knitting

2006-07-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just a gallery of what I have finished in the past year.

1. Done really a long, long time ago -- like around 30 years -- but my DH still loves and wears it. My first fair isle. Complete with DD2 and Brando.
2. A more recent fair isle for DH, from Philosophers Wool. Really a fabulous design. Great pattern. Gets really tedious about half-way through. Does it get worn? Get real -- we live in California. But it make a great cushion for the back of the rocking chair.

3. Alpaca Beret4. Alpaca Scarf5. More Scarves in various novelty yarns (fun, fun, mindlessness)
6. The every-present sock. I can knit these in my sleep. I always do socks top down. I tried the toe up method but could never get the foot the right length or the heel in the right place, so I stick to old tried-and-true. I even still use the size one aluminum needles I bought to make my first ever pair of socks, still use the original pattern that I learned on.

Meanwhile, back at actual knitting

2006-07-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

For some reason known only to the server, the pictures of my scarves never appeared on yesterday's post.

Here is the Woolease clapoti:

Big enough to be used as a comfy shawl and, really, too cool for words. This pattern is really, really fantastic, easy to memorize

I liked doing it so much that I pulled some lace-weight merino out of my stash, got a size 2 circular needle, and started another one:

Finished this one in the hospital, and it is an actual scarf size! Lovely, lovely, lovely. However I doubt I will make this again. The center (i.e. straight) section is a real drag the second time around.

Current project is a fair isle vest for my DH. The pattern and yarn come from Knitpicks, an excellent value, BUT be warned that there are a couple of really significant mistakes in the published pattern, so a trip to the website errata is really important. Naturally it takes me 2 rip-out sessions to make this discovery, but things are now on track and progressing nicely.

Actual Knitting content

2006-07-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Leaving behind the exciting soap-opera of my current so-called life, I hereby present you with real, live, actual, honest-to-God knitting. Like most of my needle-oriented friends, without knitting my fashion statement would probably consist of a complete set of lovely which jackets -- you know the ones with the extra-long sleeves. And, since I have spent uncounted hours sitting in hospital ICUs, ERs, surgery- and cardiac-recovery rooms, not to mention 3 afternoons per week in the dialysis clinic, there has been a whole lot of kntting going on.

My inaugural first post mentioned three projects, socks (there are always socks on the needles), a ponchette, and scarf (always have a scarf, too).

Here is the ponchette. It looks wierd stretched out on the blanket, but when I out it on, it is really cool. Pattern came from the Berocco website (where it is called the Asar Ponchette). In a lot of ways it was boooring -- garter stitch throughout. And the pattern was not user-friendly, so I had to re-write it to make any sense of it. In addition, the pattern has no schematic, so it was really easy to miss a mistake in the original, and I had to rip out most of the finished garment and start again. Those who have known me for a long time will be surprised at my fortitude -- in the past I have tossed things into the trash rather than repeat the tedium of ripping and reknitting, especially garter stitch, which is definitely not my favorite type of knitting.

Scarf project: I really tried to avoid the clapotis. I did not like to look of it at knitty.com, the drop-stitch thing totally did not imprint on my imagination, I refused to even consider it.

However, I read the post about it (and saw the pictures) by Left Coast Knitter, checked my stash, and thought, Weeeeellll, maybe I have a use for all that Woolease I bought years ago. Let's give it a try.

Three Eventful Months

2006-07-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. When I published the latest message, I made changes to reflect today's date. However, I noticed, after it was published, that it still was dated June 18, which might cause some confusion since I also wanted to strike the month of July from the calendar.

Here is the short version of what has happened in the past 3 months:

May 01: Death of MIL
May 09: Flight to Hamburg for funeral.
May 17: Return to California
May 22: Death of very close friend from cancer
June 03: Dear husband has a heart attack.
June 08: Death of young man who is close friend of oldest daughter -- he was right down the hall from my husband, so we were rushing back and forth for several days
June 09: Dear husband has triple bypass surgery
June 15: Dear husband comes home from the hospital
June 18: Dear husband returns to hospital with congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and diarrhea.
June 21: We are informed that he has been definitively diagnosed (we had already had a partial diagnosis of this) with polycystic kidney disease and renal failure. Dialysis is the only treatment until he qualifies for transplant.
June 22: DH has surgery to install a fistula in his right arm and catheter in his chest
June 23: First dialysis performed in hospital and then discharged to come home again. Dialysis to be done 3 times/week.
July 10: Re-admitted to hospital after falling and banging head on cement outside of dialysis center. There is a problem with the blood pressure, which falls into his shoes whenever he stands up.
July 11: Back home again to continue recuperation and dealing with the depression, meds issues, weight-loss (i.e. he has lost 30 pounds in less than 1 month, so extremely weak), and to start the process of looking for a kidney to transplant.

It has NOT been fun, dear friends, not fun at all.

Throughout all this, ther HAS been some knitting going on, which will be described in future posts.

The Best Laid Plans ...

2006-06-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

I really CANNOT BELIEVE that it is now July 14. This is absolutely impossible.

Actually, it cannot be July at all, since I decided that the months of May, June, and July for the year 2006 had to be stricken from the calendar and replaced with Ozzie (the month formerly known as May), Harriet (the month formerly known as June), and Little Ricky (the month formerly known as July. The former months of May, June, and July of 2006 have been quite possibly the worst of my life.

Since I firmly believe that bring things into the light can be very healing, I will tell you why, and I will begin way, way back on May 1, 2006.

On that day DH and I received a telephone call telling us that his very dear mother had just died. She was just 2 months shy of 101, so she had had a good, long, and very eventful life. Since DH has severe gout and arthritis problems and his mother lived in a thiird-floor walk-up apartment and, anyway, he does not DO funerals, and since I loved her like my own mother, and since I had already promised that I would do this, I left everyone behind and flew to Hamburg, Germany, on May 9.

The funeral was really lovely and touching (and very different from those I have attended here), and she is finally resting beside her beloved husband who passed more than 60 years before.

Rest in peace, Herta Klara Wilhelmina Hetzer, nee Koppers.

After the funeral, I tried to assist my sister-in-law with the final details of cleaning out the apartment where MIL had lived since 1952. This process took the entire week of my stay. Here is a picture of her building; her flat is the entire top floor. I think that the saddest part was driving away in the taxi at 5 AM, looking up, and realizing that I would never see the apartment again.

Pictures? We don't need no stinkin' pictures

2006-05-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

After a really great start (OK, so it wasn't great, just tentatively enthusiastic), it occured to me that I do not have a digital camera. My husband has a camera. My friends have cameras. My cell phone has a camera! I, alas, do not. I am continually charmed by the lovely, lovely photos of everyone else's work, to the point of becoming inhibited about posting desriptions of my own. This, however, is about to change!

On May 9 I flew to Hamburg, Germany, for a funeral (more about that in a different posting). And my sweety lent/gave me his old camera, charger, and software for the trip. WELL, possession being 9/10th of the law, I assume that this baby is now mine to use until he remembers, which will probaby never happen.

Plans. Oh, baby do I have plans!

The first post is always the most difficult

2006-03-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

Lame blog title, I know, but this is my first foray into writing in years (except for the technical stuff I do for business). "Deep South Knitter" was chosen in a moment of sheer panic (Omygod, they want a title for the page!). In all fairness, it is also a tribute (sort of) to all the generations of southern women I descend from who had to knit, weave, spin, sew, cook, can, and otherwise provide everything their families ate, wore, walked on, and slept under. I do not have these ambitions. I just like to knit, occasionally crochet, and sew (a rare event these days).

My current goal is to make a serious inroad into the stash that I did not realize had become so incredibly overwhelming. I used to keep everything nicely stored in our trailer -- out of sight, out of mind, and very easy to add things to. This was also my sewing and ironing room. However, we sold it, and I had to clear everything out. I was rudely confronted by the enormity of my fiber-greed, a most sobering experience, and not a little embarrassing given the snide comments from my son and daughter who had to carry everything into the garage. I had to publicly promise that there would be NO TRIPS TO STITCHES WEST or any other yarn source until it is whittled down to a handful of unfinished projects.

So, currently on the needles:

A pair of socks in Regia in dark blue with thin stripes in 4 colors (purchased in Hamburg 2 years ago)
A "ponchette" in Gedifra Flamme Couture in a lovely chocolate brown (also purchased in Hamburg -- a real score at 1 Euro per ball, hope I have enough because I will probably never find any more)
The ever-present novelty-yarn scarf