Knitting

The one where a sense

April 11, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

of putting down a burden, a not so heavy burden but a burden nonetheless, is a welcome relief. My father came to LR yesterday and I went with him to see his cardiologist (he has a pacemaker) and besides needing to have the battery replaced sometime this summer, everything checked out. What makes this situation a little more difficult is that he lives in a small town, about three hours away from Little Rock. I was able a year or so ago to convince him that his just hopping in the car and bringing himself to his appointment was really not a great option, he’s 82, with arthritic joints, eyesight that’s not terrible, but not as good as it was and a very low freak out threshold. So, Mr. Iknead and I have to go down and pick him up, coordinate schedules and be available to be his wheels while he’s here. It’s really just an inconvenience that happens a couple of times a year, but I always feel relieved when he’s finished with everything and is safely back home. Mr. Iknead drove him home this time, it’s a six hour round trip and he’ll never know how much this means to me. Mr. Iknead rocks!! Did I mention that my Mom is in a nursing home with dementia? He’s always in a hurry to get back home, it’s hard for him to be away and she doesn’t understand why he’s not visiting.

The upside is that waiting rooms are perfect for working on a small project, keeps my mind focused and helps me with the antsy feelings that always come around when I have to sit and wait. The Coupling socks were the happy recipient of my (sort of) undivided attention today. Here’s where we stand at this moment –

I’m lacking in photo skills I think so I’m going to dig up the instruction book and hone the few skills I have.

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Knitting

The one, after a deep breath,

April 10, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

the Brittany Jumper is no more. I decided I just couldn’t live with the crooked eyelets and in the end I’d be much happier just starting over. So that’s what I did.

DD and the Papoose got home to Fayetteville all in one piece. It sure was nice having them around and I wish I could have hidden Susannah away and kept her, but I knew that sooner or later her mom would figure it out. So it was a no go.

Here is the obligatory photo that every blog post must have. So there. Here’s my girls, DD and DDIL. DD is in pink. Aren’t they beautiful?

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

Knitting

The one where she wants to

April 9, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

self-destruct because six inches into a six and a half inch skirt she’s sees that she’s off two stitches in the eyelet pattern on the Brittany Jumper for Susannah. I kept checking it and checking it but I guess I didn’t do as good a job as I thought. I’m just not believing this and I know that in the grand scheme, this isn’t even on the radar, I mean, it’s no quake, tornado or tsunami, but still…..

I had all my chicks in the nest this weekend and it’s been wonderful. We cooked out and I made two loaves of bread and an apple pie. Now, the main kitchen sink drain is backed up and it’s spewing into the other sink, but we’re all here and healthy and again, it’s not a quake, tornado or tsunami.

Susannah and her Pawpaw –

You know, it’s all good.

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory. Rita Mae Brown

Knitting

The one where she knows why

April 8, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

it’s (usually) the young people who have small children. DD and the Papoose have been here about eight hours now and I’m really, really tired. Totally worth it, but it feels like I’ve run a marathon today. Now, I’ve never run a marathon but I’m pretty sure it feels like this when you get done.

Between playing with Susannah and taking her to Yarn Mart to show her off, as she just happened to be wearing her Pinafore dress, I ran to the grocery store and bought the makings for an apple pie tomorrow. Special order for DD, you see. Don’t get to baby my baby too often anymore.

This is the Papoose aka Susannah and her friend, June, on a playdate last week. (Susannah is in the purple). Precious, precious.

To the soul, there is hardly anything more healing than friendship, Thomas Moore (1779-1852)

Knitting

The one where she’s been

April 7, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

looking longingly at her newest sock project, but having to work instead. Why do I make myself miserable like this? Because hope springs enternal that I’ll get a few minutes free, even if just long enough for a few stitches. Knitting refreshes me like nothing else. There’s probably a scientific study about knitting and endorphins but all I know is that it’s a mini-vacation right here in my office.

Here’s a little eye candy –

This beauty is Arequipa, 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca and 15% nylon. Strange, no color number or lot. Never noticed that before.

This picture really doesn’t do this justice, but you get the idea. It’s a Yarns on Stage Limited Edition Silk Sock, 70% merino superwash, 2o% silk and 10% nylon. Colorway is Parakeet.

Tomorrow, we wind.

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Knitting

The one where Coupling is

April 6, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

is my featured WIPW offering. Cast on at lunch today and got a few rounds in before I had to go back to the salt mines. Here they are so far

DD, Lindsey, and Susannah AKA Papoose, are coming to Little Rock for the weekend Friday. DSIL, Clefton, has a busy weekend with work, so she decided to come visit. Can’t wait. I’m so hungry to see them both. I’m going to really hunker down with the Brittany Jumper, I’m hopeful that it can be done by the time they’re ready to go back to Fayetteville.

I’ve had a request that I bake some plain whole wheat yeast bread this weekend instead of sourdough, so I’ll probably end up baking both kinds and then have bread coming out of our ears. I usually give most of it away anyhow, always have takers. It’s been a week or so since I’ve baked and my flour jones is starting to wake up. Will try to resist until Friday.

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Knitting

The one where I learn

April 5, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

something special about today: It’s the Persian New Year; Happy New Year everyone! Dr. B, a dentist where I work, hands out $2 bills on the New Year, for good luck. You save them for good luck throughout the year. Interesting, huh?

My new sock project is decided upon and I have now moved on to the yarn decision. It’s so hard to choose between yarns, kind of like trying to choose between your kids. Each one has something special to offer, I think. It’s Coupling, from Knitty Summer 07 issue.

Here’s what I decided yarn-wise

Jitterbug Paint Box. I think it will be perfect. I wonder how it’s going to stripe up?

You can pretend to be serious; you can’t pretend to be witty. Sacha Guitry (1885-1957)

Knitting

The one where she talks about

April 4, 2011April 4, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

the book she just started, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Just a few pages in, so the jury’s still out but I think it’s going to be a keeper. I do that with books, there are several, both real paper and ink and audiobooks, that I read over and over, savoring. The Stand is one, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is another. Never get enough of those two.

I (finally) truly got going on the Brittany Jumper. It only took me a weekend. My problem was the eyelet pattern around the hem. If you get off even one stitch, then all the eyelets after get all whopperjawed. Since it’s 208 stitches around, well, entire days can be swallowed up in casting on, knitting, swearing, frogging, casting on, knitting, swearing, frogging. You get my drift. Here’s what little I have so far.

A little closer

Here’s the angel I’m knitting it for –

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.

Knitting

The one where her last entry

April 3, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

for 2KCBWDay7 is about where and when she indulges in her passion. It’s easier to list where I don’t knit; I knit at work on my breaks, in the car (but not driving), anytime I have to wait, in the evenings after work. I usually have something else going at the same time, if not TV, then an audiobook. Most of the time I have a small project in my purse, usually pretty mindless, fiddly stuff and lots of interruptions aren’t a good mix, which I found out the hard way. Knitting’s a great ice-breaker I’ve found and if you really don’t want to be disturbed, it’s a really good “deep in thought” moment maker. I’ve met the nicest people over yarn and needles.

Eskimimi, thanks – a dip of the needles to you, you made it all happen.

I have witnessed the softening of the hardest of hearts by a simple smile. Goldie Hawn (1945 – )

Knitting

The one where she states her 2KCBWDAY6 dream

April 2, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

of learning Fair Isle. Like this

and colorwork like this

Ooh, ooh, and spinning. I want to learn to spin, too. This will be as soon as I can talk Mr. Iknead into getting a couple of sheep, seriously. (Like that’s ever going to happen). A girl can dream can’t she?

The road to hell is paved with adverbs. Stephen King (1947 – )

Knitting

The one where her 2KCBWDAY5 post is

April 1, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

A Tangled Yarn Haiku

My yarn’s a hot mess

Where’s my knitting mojo now?

Quick! Hide the scissors!

You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head. Matt Groening (1954- )

Knitting

The one where her FO

April 1, 2011 mud&stringLeave a comment

Friday offering is actually ready before FO Friday arrives. I finished the Catnip Socks on Monday and have been anticipating posting them today. Take a look, please –