Getting Rid of Yarn

September 4, 2010

It was hard at first.  You look at a cone of thin purple yarn and think, “This would make a nice shawl.”   Do you really want a purple shawl when you’ve got skeins of knock-out beautiful Skacel lace-weight?  Into the bag it goes.  And what’s with this so-called mohair that says acrylic on the label.  Look at this shiny stuff!  What the h**l was I going to make with that?  In an hour, I had filled three bags.  And I haven’t even looked at a quarter of my stash.  So what am I going to do with it?  Yarn sale?  Nay.  It’s not worth the effort.  Do any of my friends want any of it?  Well.  Do you?

No.  I am not getting rid of this yarn.  This is some of what we bought at Frivolous Fibers on Tuesday.  I have a swift and ball winder so I wound them up for a friend.  The lime and the Noro should make a nice pair of mosaic socks with matching hat or gloves–or maybe mittens.

Here is the sock that I have been working on. They are both a wool and nylon which I like for socks.  It’s also good for gloves, especially the snug ones that I prefer.  The tan/brown is from Lang.  It’s almost lace-weight and has a nice halo.  The yellow/green/orange is from Enchanted Knoll Farm in Maine.  It is more tightly spun and a more standard sock weight.  I like the way the two colors play off each other.  I’m going to definitely try this again.  The pattern is simple.  Knit one row. Knit one, slip one on the next.  Alternate the colors and the slips and you get an interesting design.  The little pockets it creates will help keep Arizona feet from freezing in North Dakota.

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Out with the Girls

September 2, 2010

OK.  So we’re not girls.  But it sounds a lot better than a bunch of old hags. 

After being off work since May, Maria finally has to go back to work next Tuesday.  We decided a field trip was in order.  So.  Where to go?  Betty would be coming too.  And where hadn’t she been?  Why, Frivolous Fibers of course.  Yeah!!  It’s not a place we care to visit in the summer due to those pesky evil tourists.  But, we figured it wouldn’t be so bad since just about all the schools had started, so off we went. 

I drove as usual.  I like to drive and, well, I have a minivan and everyone fits in comfortably.  Temperatures were in the mid-90s so we had the AC on.  It took awhile to figure out what to do to get air back to Leslie.  She’s got COPD so it’s kind of important.  We had to fiddle with vents and buttons for a while.  You’d think that with a 14-year-old car, I would know by now what to do.  I seldom have anyone in the second seat and I am not big on cold air blowing on me.  I am so glad I had socks on.  

I am certain we spent at least three hours at Frivolous Fibers.  Fortunately, I brought my knitting.  It didn’t take me long to find the yarn that I wanted.  Happily, this place has comfy chairs so I sat down, got out my knitting and waited and waited.  Maria, as usual, went insane.  She saw a scarf that she had to make.  They didn’t have any yarn the same color in the shop.  The clerk called Barbara(Blue Heron Yarn) and she didn’t have any at her studio either.  So someone is going to take it to her(she lives in the next town) so she can make more for Maria.  How cool is that?  In the meantime, Maria wasn’t going to leave without something so she spent a good hour trying to make up her mind.  Of course she wound up some Blue Heron.  Betty went a little crazy, too.  She finally wound up with some silk merino in a soft lavender green sock yarn, also from Blue Heron.  Did I get Blue Heron?  Nope.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t own any.

I also want to mention where we went for lunch/supper.  The lady at the shop told us about it.  She even had a menu.  It’s a place called Sam’s.  It’s on the way back to Route 50, not far from the old part of St Michael’s.  It doesn’t look like much, but the prices are reasonable, the menu is large and the food is wonderful.  And it beats the hell out of those trendy places in town.

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Acorn Club

August 30, 2010

Who are these people and why do they keep sending me my husband phone books?  It says, “Prepared Under The Sponsorship Of  The Acorn Club, Inc. A Member Of The General Federation Of Women’s Clubs”.  Women’s Clubs??  Then, why is my husband listed and not me?  Go look me up in the regular phone book.  There I am.  It’s the least they can do.  I pay the frigging bill.  But, then again, as my mother used to say to me, “I was JUST the girl”.  So now, I guess I am JUST the woman–according to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.  They certainly are not going to find me darkening their doorstep.  I’ll just go over here and sit in the corner and knit socks and hope no one notices me.  Yeah.  Right.  Like that’s going to happen.

PS.  Over five years ago, the Powers That Be changed all the house numbers.  Our old house number is shown, whereas every neighbor that I searched has the correct number.  Why is that?  Is it because they made a “donation” and we didn’t?  I won’t say anymore.

Since we have to have a picture, here’s my new glasses.  Don’t you just love red?  I would have included a picture of me wearing them, but I was exceedingly ugly that day.

For those of you searching for knitting content, I spent two days trying to decide what kind of socks to make my girlfriend.  First there was the yarn problem and then there was the design problem.  More on that later.  Time to make dinner.

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Three Fingered Gloves

August 27, 2010

They ae not as easy as they look.  I had a hard time closing the gap over the missing finger area.  I wanted it to have a nice, smooth appearance with no strange-looking decreases.  This was especially hard with the Coraline gloves–all those color changes, some right at the gap.  I spent a lot of time fiddling with it.  I finally resigned myself to the fact that I would never get it perfect.  Usually, when I am weaving in the ends on gloves, I turn it inside out and put it on.  That way I can see where I need to tweak anything.  Well, this is not possible when the glove has three fingers and you’ve got four. 

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Back from Reisterstown

August 27, 2010

I wanted to blog while I was there.  I really did.  I probably would have if my son would just get wi-fi.  I could sit at the kitchen table in good light  and tap away.  But he says no.  Some of his friends would never leave.  I understand.  He plugged my laptop into his desktop so I could have internet, but the light is not good and I couldn’t get comfortable.  He did have some really great movies.  Like The Wolfman.  I got goose pimples in the first minute.  I loved it!  It’s not for kids, my daughter, or my husband. 

Speaking of my daughter, I called her when I got there.  She was on the corner at the gas station so she came over.  And she came bearing gifts–five to be exact.  What could be better than Disney antenna toppers?  I told Doug that I can never buy a car without an antenna. 

I came home to dust everywhere.  I don’t care.  Progress is being made.  That’s what is important.  When my neighbor had an addition done, she cleaned everything every evening.  She says she feels sorry for me.  I guess she assumes that I do the same thing.  Doesn’t she know me by now?  The toilets don’t look bad.  What more do you want?

Here’s my new closet.  It runs the length of the new room minus the door of course.

Here I am standing inside the closet.   See my rolling cart?  I have six and I can ten in here.  There will be shelves all along the wall.  I wonder how long it will take me to fill it?

Flo is always helpful.

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Waiting for the Rain to Stop

August 18, 2010

I was really looking forward to Wednesday.  Frank had a prior commitment so Doug and I would be able to go for a walk together.  He plays Frank’s gopher so I usually walk alone with Gus.  It’s so much easier with Doug.  He carries my cane and when walking gets rough, I hand him the leash and he hands me my cane.  When I am alone, I have to be very careful and Gus has to be on his best behavior.  And I can’t always go where I want.  We did manage to get out for about 20 minutes, but what good is that?  Now, we’re waiting for it to let up enough to go to the supermarket. 

Or, we can always play dead.

I’m going to Reisterstown tomorrow for a few days.  This will be my first time this summer.  It’s supposed to be hot on Friday, but the rest of the weekend sounds good.  I’d also like to visit my daughter and brother and sister-in-law while I am there.

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Coraline Gloves for Carolyn

August 17, 2010

Do you have any idea how HAPPY I am that are finished?  I spent TWO DAYS weaving in the ends!  That’s 50 per glove!   I had a h**l of a time with the closure at the missing finger with all the color changes and stupid ends.  Usually I put the glove on when weaving.  Since I didn’t want to cut my ring finger off, I had to improvise.  I used an Emory board, a fat ballpoint pen and a tube of lip balm, but working between the pinkie and middle was still difficult. 

If you are interested in making your own, I’ll be putting up a new page.  I’ve already started it, so it won’t be too long. 

I will be starting her third pair of gloves this evening.  One color this time.   Then, I think I’ll make two pairs of socks.  I have got to make myself a pair of Caroline gloves, but with fingering weight.    It should be Autumn by then so I’ll probably start a sweater.  But, will I be able to get to my yarn by then? 

new kitchen wall

 

Here is the new kitchen wall.  Doug called the cabinet people today and someone is coming by tomorrow.  Yeah! 

See the little closet?  Flo thinks that it’s a good place to keep her Skunky.  She has a lot of trouble finding a place to keep him. 

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Home Improvement is a Pain in the Butt

August 14, 2010

I haven’t blogged the past few days because we weren’t getting a good connection.  It was so slow it made me crazy and sometimes it would simply disconnect.  I think it all started when Doug and Frank were trying to put a phone jack on the new wall.  They finally decided it was one of the wires.  Doug kept coming up with various reasons.  He played with this.  He played with that.  My laptop was doing all right by late last night.  This morning, I had no connection again.  I was so pissed!!   I had to use the desktop to get my embroidery design.  It still seemed slow.  Doug was so nonchalant about it.   We are not certain what the problem was, but I’m starting to think it was a combination of things.  Now, they are both running smoothly and I am a happy camper once more.  I don’t need super fast.  I just expect it to do something when I click the mouse.

FridaySaturday

 

Flo keeps an eye on Frank

 You never know.  He might steal Skunky.

I am so glad that Frank is back.  Things were in flux for about a week.  There was a death in the family and they had gone to New York.  If it weren’t for his accent, I would never have believed he wasn’t a local.  He’s a typical lower slower Delaware kind of guy.

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This is for Betty

August 11, 2010

I took a couple of pictures of this bag for you.  This is the only one that wasn’t awful.  I certainly was no good at picture taking that day.  But didn’t we have fun?

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Sitting on a Pier on the Nanticoke

August 11, 2010

Some mornings it is really hard getting up, dressed and out the door.  Gus is jumping around like this is the most wonderful thing to do in the world and I just want to smack him.  I stagger into the kitchen and take my little thyroid pill.  I hate this pill.  I have to take it on an empty stomach and I have to wait a while before taking my vitamins.  How am I supposed to remember all this crap?  No wonder I am such a grouchy old woman. 

Thankfully, Doug has made coffee.   I pour a cup.  I get the half & half.  I hear this aakk, aakk, aakk.  Oh yeah.  Flo.  She wants some, too.  But hold the coffee.  I give her some and I say, “It’s a good thing your only six pounds.”  She pays no attention to me and walks off when she finished.  She doesn’t even say thank you.  “Ungrateful little snot.”  OK.  Back to me.  I take a sip.  Man!  I go to the bathroom, rinse off my teeth and put them in.  I can’t take all that heat on the roof of my mouth. 

Already, it’s 82 outside.  The forecast says 95 today.  Doug says we should get going.  He has all ready got the sheets in the washer.  He makes me sick.  By the time I finally manage to get dressed, the sheets are on the line.  We finally make it out the door.  It’s not too bad.  There’s a breeze.  Cora comes over to see us off.  She was laying under my car.  Gus hates this.  He is so afraid one of the cats is going with us that he turns green and almost has a stroke.  They have more sense than that. 

Walking by the horse farm was no fun.  There’s no shade.  My hips and knees prefer to use the street, but cars kept coming for some reason.  So I walked along the lumpy grass.  We finally came to driveway that takes us to the pier on the river.  The owner has a nice macadam driveway.  I can do arm exercises and walk at the same time and there are plenty of trees shading our way.  What more do you want? 

It’s always breezy on the river.  Or so it seems.  I just love it.  Is there a better place to live?  I don’t think so.

Looking south from the pier

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