Whoa, time is flying by! And I seem to have little to show for it. Oh, I have a sock and a half, for sure – this hand knit yarn is so much fun to knit with that my socks are flying off the needles (it helps that it is also a tiny bit thicker than traditional sock yarn so inches happen faster.)
And the sweater lengthens. But of course, because I am knitting both fronts and the back at once, it feels like progress is slow. I expect to finish these three pieces this week, and then I will block and seam them and make sure it is all fitting before I launch into sleeves.
I did a little maintenance around my chair this week, and discovered found dug out excavated was reminded that I have a half finished shawl from the great shawl cast on last summer (if you recall, I cast on 4 in a day.)
This is High Country Crescent by Mary-Anne Mace. I won the pattern in a blog giveaway, and love it. Not sure why I stopped working on it – Christmas maybe? Anyway, it is back in the rotation, and so gets a row or two or three an evening, depending how exciting the basketball is. The shawl is only mindless every other row, the sweater and socks are completely mindless. Some of the basketball is also mindless, other games require my complete attention. 🙂 And what of the other shawls, you ask? Well, one was Mirno, and one was Oaklet, and those are both finished and worn regularly.
The fourth was Biophilia, also by Mary-Anne Mace. I wasn’t loving it in the yarn I was using, so I frogged it, and will use that yarn in my next shawl. That will be Moon and Sky by Jem Arrowsmith, which I received as a surprise gift not too long ago (thank you, Saffronk!) I think the yarn will work well for that one. And so will the pretty beads I was going to use. And I have a lovely lace weight silk I could use for Biophilia… or not. There is always some more yarn to try a pattern with, right? I also am dreaming of creating a beaded silk yarn to knit a shawl – I have the pattern already for that one, too (Chain Mail, in case you are wondering). And the fiber. And the beads. Just haven’t made the yarn yet, lol. Still working on the big combo spin. S-L-O-W-L-Y.
What else is happening? Oh, just some work. It is the crazy busy time of year – town meetings all over the map, tax clinics in the opposite direction, important but not exciting meetings, and the regular work as well. So last week, I was in Machias – an hour and a half THAT way – for a meeting in the late afternoon, making a twelve hour day. Tuesday it stormed, so I rescheduled Wednesday’s tax day in Stonington – on hour in the OTHER direction – which meant I spent the morning on the phone lining up all the appointments for the same time, a day later. Because Stonington is on an island. To get there, you go over a huge high bridge and then a low serpentine causeway. I don’t want to drive over either in a storm or even on a nice day following a storm if there are high winds, which there were. Thursday I did go to Stonington for a ten hour day. Friday was a tax day in Milbridge, an hour back in the first direction, and an eleven hour day.
LUCKILY I reviewed my time sheet Wednesday morning, and even with leaving early for the storm Tuesday, I knew I would go into OT if I didn’t adjust, so I went home a couple of hours early on Wednesday, too. That quiet time mid-week was much appreciated. Even if I did spend a chunk of that time shoveling. I might have made this for the cats.
They are indoor cats who are really missing their screened porch this time of year. So I made them a track, and let them out on it one at a time. They really loved it – Allie bustled about looking at everything. Zumba emulated Ferdinand, and just sat smelling the smells. And for most of the time, they acted like they knew they should not go over the snowy walls. When they stopped acting like that, in the house they went.
Saturday I did some household chores and went to Whorls and Purls and we had a rollicking good time! There was so much laughing it was hard to knit. And there was pizza – very unusual but a fun change.
Sunday we took my sister-in-law S out for breakfast to celebrate her retirement last Friday!! We let her choose the place – Denny’s was her choice, and we had a huge meal before going to her second requested stop – AC Moore. She received bountiful gifts from her coworkers, including some AC Moore gift cards. It was so much fun to watch her shop without having to worry about the cost. She makes delightful crocheted and embellished gift bags, and so she spent a lot of time in the yarn aisle, tossing in some of every color when she found a yarn she liked. All of her life she has had to be frugal, and she looked so happy filling that cart. We carried several large bags out to the truck, and the look on A’s face when she realized it was all yarn was priceless. Even better was the look on her face when she found out it wasn’t mine. I told A I was really looking forward to retirement if it meant I could go yarn shopping and get everything I wanted.
Apparently that isn’t going to happen.
I’ll let her think that for the next few years. 🙂
That’s about it – another crazy work week this week, and a good chance I have to go to a town meeting on Saturday, sigh. I will knit there, but it won’t be like going to Whorls and Purls. No pizza, no laughing. No fiber to drool over. Next time I will share with you the latest fibery goodness I have acquired – I don’t think I have shared with you the past few months of Roving of the Month club. They are yummy.
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