Saturday, May 30, 2015

Murphy's Bite

It seems it doesn't pay to get too chirpy & cheerful when you've been down-in-the-dumps for ages. Murphy's Law baby, Murphy's Law. Things were sliding along like a well oiled machine, hell, I even had money at the end of the month - two months in a row!!! With all the bills paid. And some extras in the cupboards for a change too.

Murphy bit me on the ass. Literally. I suppose it started as an ingrown hair or inflamed follicle. You know the kind. Sometimes it starts in your arm pit. Or sometimes on your eye lid. I've heard they can start anywhere a hair follicle can become infected. Sometimes you don't know about it until you sit on it - ouch. Needless to say, I've spent a good deal of my time this past week curled up on my bed with a heating pad & a book waiting for the damned thing to pop. Yeah, I could've gone to Emerg & had it lanced but I spent almost 8 hours waiting to be seen when I damaged my knee. This time I preferred to stay home with a soft bed, thank you.

Luckily, it popped sometime in my sleep last night. Yeah baby. Another crisis averted. Just have to keep it clean & covered & stay off hard coffee shop chairs for a while. Whatever happened to those nice, cushioned benches they used to have???  Where do the Old People sit???

I had planned to do some spinning outside this past week but Murphy put an end to that. I did manage to finish one of my new Summer Socks in the green Berroco Sox yarn that I found in the stash. One down, one to go. It turned out to be a very Manly sock. I do like the different greens in it & while I couldn't wear these colors as an outfit, I think they're very handsome in a sock. I used my 2.25mm, 24" Chiagoo circular needles - two circs at a time. The yarn felt a little thin & scratchy as I knit so I think I could've gone down to the 2.0mm easily. If I remember correctly, this yarn fluffs nicely when given a bath to remove the spinning oils.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Wow. It's Summer.

It's summer out there. My Jungle is looking like someone cares this year. Last year, it went wild because no one did care. Last year, I was out of work, unhappy, feeling sorry
for myself & hobbling on a very sore knee that wouldn't do anything I wanted it to do. Last year I had a cane that threw my balance off. And last year, I barely came out the door to the patio unless I was passing through to the car.

This year, I pulled in the a**hole strings & put on my Big Girl pants. I replanted the hanging baskets after rescuing the few plants that survived a year on their own & added a few more. I bought a whole tray of multi-colored giant Nasturtiums & another of Alyssium. I tucked them into a big hanging basket of fresh dirt & dribbled fish fertilizer over them. Once they get going, they'll take over the place!!! I have Ever-bearing strawberries in three baskets - two baskets are 'volunteers' from the original bought several years ago. I put them in hanging baskets so I can eat them instead of the slugs & squirrels. And I planted a few Scarlet Runner beans with a ring of 'Snake' beans - the picture shows beans growing in spirals - for the bees. The poor house plants have been moved outside, under the table near the back of my covered patio & watered for the first time in a month or two. My Clematis - Jackmani - has 4.5" blooms on it this year & the Christmas Cacti is outside blooming it's little, freshly watered head off. The Pink Lady apple tree has sent out a shoot this year - I thought it had died. And I've been pulling that damned Morning Glory off everything. Since the Landlord hates to cut the grass, we got an infestation last year that took over everything. Even his lawn is full of it. So I've got Morning Glory, creeping Jenny, Vinka, Lemon Balm, Oregano, Peppermint, Fennel, Garlic & several other perennial herbs growing wild all over the back yard. My grasses have thrown seeds into all the cracks & crannies too so I have Blue Fescue - which I love - popping up in the driveway cracks! It's starting to look like my Jungle again!!!

And with this burst of energy, I started a new pair of Summer Socks. This time around, I thought I'd make them a bit shorter & rib them from the top to the ankle before making a simple foot with a nice, deep heel so they don't slide into my shoes. The greens are very pretty & I think I'll enjoy wearing these socks even though they aren't my color. One thing about socks is that you can really explore all the wilder combinations or colors that you would never wear normally.

These socks are being made from Berroco SOX. It's 80% wool & 20% nylon for hard wearing socks. The picture is a little dark because the greens are actually a lot brighter than the picture. I'm using my 2.25mm Chiagoo needles & knitting them from the cuff to the toe.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Back in the Saddle - Again

I've had trouble with Google again & trouble getting back into my own blog. Every once in a while Google decides it doesn't know me & tries to sign me up again. It refuses to believe I am who I am & I have to go away until it decides I am me. So, now that I'm me again, the tale continues.

My Winter Socks
Since finishing the last winter sock, I've been feeling naked & unworthy. It's a strange feeling. I keep looking for something & then can't remember what it is I'm looking for. I'm restless when I watch TV & can't sit still. I've come to the conclusion that being without a sock on the needles is screwing up my routine. So last night I gave in & cast-on a summer sock. It's an unlikely color for me - shades of green - mostly dark green but with a little acid apple thrown in for good luck. I think this is one of those Bargain Balls I bought several years ago when Dressew was clearing yarn for $2 a ball. No one sees summer socks anyway. They're hidden inside sneakers - I just can't wear them without a sock - just to soak up summer sweat. So who cares what color they are.

And I bought that 'Color Craving' shawl pattern. It was just too weird & I had to learn how to do that stuff. After watching the YouTube clues 1 & 2, I was hooked. I had no idea you could do some of those things with yarn & needles so I'm going to give it a go. Hot Pink & Plum anyone??? Maybe.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Something New

Here I sit broken-hearted
Thought I'd finished
But only started!!!

I've lost a day somewhere. Or the garbage schedule changed when I wasn't looking because I missed Tuesday somehow. I thought today was Wednesday. I used to know that Wednesday followed garbage day. The cans were out yesterday. I know they were. I dodged most of them on the way out of the alley in the morning. TV used to be handy to tell what day it was but I've been too busy to watch most of it. What happened???

Guess I've been too deep into bank reconciliations & listening to "Prescribed Danger" by Gwen Hunter. It's book two in the Dr Rhea Lynch series. Dr Rhea fled big city life in Charleston to a small ER in rural South Carolina where she grew up. In book one, Rhea returns from holiday to find her best friend near death from a mysterious stroke. In book two, Rhea is working the night shift in the middle of a huge storm when a couple is brought in who've been beaten & tortured. The woman is 6 months pregnant & in labor. I worked until 3:30AM because I couldn't turn it off!!

I finally finished the last pair of socks I worked on for so long. The old fingers have really had a workout on the keyboard the last couple of months so I wasn't knitting much at all. My Thumbs seem to be the worst for some reason. But, I've been taking pills before bed again & they seem to be a lot better. Of course the weather has improved as well - so, the socks finally got finished. For the moment, socks are done.

I thought it might be time to try another project for a change. Something I've never even considered before. Something so bloody weird & strange that I just have to have one. Well, I found it  - Color Craving. Oh, I hemmed & hawed & watched the YouTube videos several times before making up my mind. I thought - what the hell am I going to do with THAT when it's done??? I know some of you will laugh out loud & call me crazy. I'm not insulting the fellow but his designs have become just a little off kilter in the last few years. He reminds me of the artist who designed the giant knitted Vulva, hung it in the corner of the gallery & called it ART. And he's so far off the rails that I think I want to try it because his techniques really fascinate me. Lace shawls are definitely not my thing but weird scarves may just be.

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Slowing Down Time

One of the problems of the 'Feast or Famine' lifestyle I am now living is that things get forgotten when I try to do several month's work in a few weeks. Everyone is in a hurry to get something done two days before a deadline. And it's not that they didn't know there was a deadline - most of them include the warning letter with the paperwork. It's just that they didn't have the time to get here, are too afraid to open the brown envelope, didn't realize it was THAT important or just didn't care because I always take care of it when I get it. So other things suffer. Like my laundry. Or the dishes.

Today I thought I'd make a slow-cooker chili. Something with meat & beans & all the sad & lonely leftovers in my fridge. Something with spice in it that cooks itself. Apparently, sometime in the previous month, I started to cook something in the slow-cooker & got side tracked. I'm not sure it even got turned on. But, like an Alien, curled up & nicely hidden in a corner until you stand next to it, it exploded in my face with a mountain of spores, to incubate new life in my body, when I lifted the lid this A.M.

Tonight, I shall be eating out.

Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Thank Gawd it's Over

Yes, bang the drums & toot the horns, it's over for another year!!! I filed the last tax return last night with minutes to spare, just before midnight. And you can't even slip one by them at 12:01 because they shut down the internet at the Tax Department at midnight. No GST or tax returns at 3:10 in the AM, no siree, the Tax Man takes a break.
And, although there's still lots to do, it can wait for another day because I'm taking this one OFF. I've slogged away for the last 6 days without a break other than a couple of coffee runs at the drive-thru & a trip to buy a new printer. Yeah, I have a pile of stuff to print & the stupid printer paper sensor decides to die. But that was then & this is now & I'm done.

NO knitting, reading or watching much tv either. I've been too damned tired after all the staring at the computer & paper documents. The winter socks I was working on are not quite finished because my fingers are too sore. Actually, my Shoulders are too sore too. So I listened instead to Audio books instead. Anne McCaffrey has always been one of my favorite authors. I have all of her books - well worn - & most of them as Audios as well. Some people might think my tastes are odd because I usually go for Mysteries, Thrillers & Action series as well as British Detective novels. But, when I'm busy with the brain engaged, I want simple, well known characters In familiar stories. Star Trek & McCaffrey help me along.

A couple of years ago, my niece asked for some wrist warmers. I had some sample balls of this & that so I made up a whole bag of them. A couple of other gals took a pair or two along the way too. I made them with ribs & stripes & in seed stitch, ribbing, stockinet & even lace. It was a lot of fun. The niece finally showed up with a bag of unfiled tax returns & I gave her the bag of wristlets. She was delighted with her old Auntie & wore a set home. I'm terrible about taking pictures & thought I had one but alas .  .  . 

There is one project I started about 6 years ago that I intend to finish next right after the sock. It was started for the old BoyToy who wanted a BLUE afghan. He liked the multicolored one I made myself which sat on the back of the couch in all it's glory but he hated all the wild colors. He chose a DULL faded denim blue. It was so boring that I bought several shades of grey to give it a little interest. I worked on it when we went to Starbucks but it became so large that I couldn't carry it around to work on it anymore. Then the weather got so hot it got put aside. He got tossed & IT got tossed in a bin without being finished. I finally have a home for it to go to because, quite frankly, I need the bin space. The plan is to add another couple of stripes to it & then finish it with a couple of rows in RED. How do you like THAT, BT???