Not that I needed a reason to stay in today, but I got one. I hope it piles up high, but I hear we're only to get a couple of inches-not enough for Mr. Farmer to drag the snowblower out of storage. I think if this was Texas, or Georgia, or Florida, two inches would be a disaster. Here, that's a dusting. I'm going to pretend it's a weather emergency bordering on disaster. It's an excuse to stay in and not that I need one, I like to keep one handy. I have worked late all week and I have paperwork to do-it's a mess really. I have 2 entire admissions to chart in the computer (redundant work). Last night, putting one foot in front of the other was all I could accomplish after this week.
The general plan is to stay home and knit. This one's been calling my name for days. Cables AND lace! I stumbled on it and really, I'm smitten. So far, I've not listened to the siren call-but I want to. Isn't that cute? I have the perfect yarn for it-and a cable needle. I think it goes well with today's picture and frankly, it's been awhile since I've cast on for something new. What do you think? Should I cast on, or chart?
You were my best friend for almost 4 decades. At first, I didn't think I'd like you very much, but my surprising affection for you grew on me. Your visits were the one thing I could look forward to-like clockwork. I know I didn't always seem to appreciate your visits and often got upset with you, but really, you were good for me.
A few years ago though, I noticed things with you weren't quite the same. You'd come in and out of my life with little regularity. Often, you'd go missing for months and then suddenly reappear. I really didn't have much appreciation for you until I noticed you'd gone missing for nigh on a year. The other day, I was giving a lot of thought to how I truly felt with you seemingly, completely gone from my life now. And just like that, there you were again. Was it the power of positive thinking that brought you back?
I was lamenting the things you took with you when you went. Like skin elasticity. Memory. Stamina. Bone sturdiness. Regularity. My whisker free face. Mood stability. Libido. Continence. My internal thermometer. I was truly regretting the times I'd thought badly of you and the times we weren't honest about our friendship. At least I wasn't. In truth, sometimes I hated you.
I hated you the day you showed up in my life. It was halfway through my school day in the sixth grade when you introduced yourself. I looked all cute that day in a plaid skirt and then suddenly, in the middle of math class, I thought I'd wet my pants. Nope. It was you. I had to slink through a full classroom, with a soiled skirt and walk the gauntlet of shame to the gym so the lady gym teacher could help me. She was a Godsend that day with the clean panties and supplies she gave me. When I got home from school, Mom's only words were, "welcome to the club" as she handed me a box of junk to help me deal with your visits. In some ways, I was proud that I'd crossed this threshold into adulthood. However, it took me years to get over my anger for the way you introduced yourself. That was hard to forgive and forget. I wasn't aware of just what you'd mean to me when you finally left me. In fact, it took nearly a lifetime to understand the benefits of consorting with you and now, I find myself regretting that I didn't appreciate you more. It's that love/hate thing. Like a bad marriage.
Who could blame me though? You always did have a horrific sense of timing. Over the years, I got used to the way you inconvenienced me. Like showing up on my honeymoon. That was just rude. I should have expected it, but somehow, I just didn't; you were an interloper. I was devastated the day you appeared halfway through my first pregnancy. You being there in full force could only mean one thing-and I cursed you for it. That visit was crushing. A few years ago, when my friend's daughter died, you left me for awhile. I thought you could have been heartbroken too. You stayed away for months, then waltzed back in and it was business as usual.
It's been 9 full months now since I've seen you. I was just getting used to you perhaps, being gone forever. I was mourning you. I was noticing the positive things you'd done for me over the years. Well, that's not quite true. What I was mourning was the things you took with you when you left. Now you're back and I find myself wondering just how long you'll stick around this time. I've gone out to buy a box of junk to help me deal with your visits and find myself wondering how big a box or how many boxes to buy. Knowing you, you'll play those cards close to your chest.
Thank God this is done. Have I told you how much I love this yarn? And finally, for Brenda's enjoyment, here I am in my sweater and showing off the other labor of love this year: my silver hair. That journey has been almost as long as the one I took with the sweater.
And if any of my relatives comment on how much I look like my mom in this picture, just remember, Christmas is coming and you don't want to find coal in your stocking.
I've given birth. Nine months is such a long time but really, it seems to have flown. This afternoon, at precisely 1:30 PM EST, I finished my pink sweater. I'll post pictures later but it's cozy, soft pink and warm. I finished seaming while watching MSNBC which has only made my blood pressure go up.
Wisely having made the decision to drive this time, the Big 3 is back in Washington with their hands out. I watched a little of the Senate hearings and can honestly say, the whole thing makes me a little sick. I feel despair at the bleak economic climate in Michigan. We've felt the pinch of recession here for longer than most of the rest of this country. It really is dismal.
Today, I've taken notice of where the majority of senators who oppose these loans seem to come from. It's those states marked in red-the sunbelt states. How much money do taxpayers dole out for people who build and rebuild in areas prone to fires, mudslides, floods, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes? Take another look at that map and tell me where most of those disasters occur. Can you say sunbelt? Never once have I thought or said the people and businesses choosing to rebuild should not be allowed to do so. I also take note that many of these same states are the same ones that companies like Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda call their home away from home. Hmm. Now if the Big 3 car companies are ever to become competitive again, don't stop with the loans senators-level the playing field with FAIR trade agreements. How about we tell those foreign car companies that they can import as much as they allow us to export to their countries? I've always believed in tit for tat.
Wisely, I've changed the station now and I'm snuggled up in my pink sweater pondering what I should tackled next. Bolstered by success, I guess it'll be my daughter's green sweater. I hope to give birth to that sometime in the next 2 weeks.
Ground white meat turkey breast: $25.00 per week Shredded carrots and fresh green beans: $5.00 per week No added salt chicken stock: $5.00 per week Whole grain rice, steel cut oats, fresh wheat germ: $8.00 per week Hours spent cooking for the dog: 3 per week
Having a dog that feels good enough to be a makeshift pillow for a midday nap: Priceless
There is not another person on the planet who is allowed to touch this dog's hips. Just his girl Rachel.
It's 99% done. I can hardly believe this. The desire to skip the blocking end of business was overwhelming, but like a good little knitter, I didn't. I think being lazy yesterday and just knitting away with the new skein of a different dye lot tempted fate enough. I wasn't going to skimp on the blocking end of this. I can barely tell the difference with the new yarn and for that, I'm grateful. Incidentally, all that remains of the original yarn, is scraps. Good for the bird nest bag but not much more worth than that.
A big thank you goes out to my husband and Miss376 who seemed to think I was knitting pants. Ha. Do they look more like sleeves now? I think they may look like pink chaps. Just wait until they're seamed. I'm sure they'll look more like sleeves then. Maybe by tonight, they'll be dry for seaming and I can attach them to the sweater (which was finished and blocked last June).
Have I told you how much I love this yarn? It's Yardley by Bristol Yarn Gallery (Plymouth Yarns) 76% Alpaca, 19 % silk, 5 % nylon, 100% mine. I should be good and cozy this winter.
I've been knitting this weekend and have found myself deeply in denial over the sleeves to my pink sweater. Deeply in denial. From wrist to sleeve cap, I've been telling myself there was plenty of yarn left to finish the job. This would have been the truth if I suddenly lost about 3 inches of arm length. Unfortunately, my body has more of a gorilla type arm with knuckles almost dragging the ground. I'm well into shaping the sleeve cap and have several more inches and about 50 rows to go-with maybe twenty or so yards of yarn remaining. Duh.
This morning I ran out to the yarn store and luckily found another skein of the same color number. Of course, I bought the yarn in January so the dye lot is different. To the naked eye, it looks the same. I'm so desperate to finish this project and I'm trying to talk myself out of fixing the problem the right way. What would you do? Admit you despise working with this yarn and just knit away and pray they match? Or would you do it the right way: have another cocktail and alternate rows with the new and the old yarn so if the colors are off, they'd blend and be less noticeable? So much do I hate this yarn, I'm leaning toward the first option with the fewest ends to weave.
