Random Saturday

Ohh!! This morning as I was painting a large beige swatch on Elder Son's wall (he moved out, I need a bedroom with a ceiling that stays on the ceiling) and The Husband called up the stairs as he was leaving to pick up his newspapers, "Yarny Goodness had arrived!"
Reader, I stretched out the anticipation through cleaning the paint brush, showering, dressing and styling my hair. Then I opened the box. Whee! Yarn enough for four shawls, two pairs of socks and the accents for a felted snowman, and a book, Sally Melville's Mother-Daughter Knits. Then we went to State College to shop a bit (no yarn shop for some reason but we did go to a grocery store). When we got home I made the copy of the shawl instructions ("Warm Shawl" from Knitting Classic Style ((look at the "more images" and it is on the second page at the bottom left) and swatched until I got close to the gauge (Hey it's a shawl, how close do I have to be?) and was all set to do just a few rows (I promise..honest...) and I couldn't find any crochet cotton, whose only purpose in life is to use for provisional cast ons (Wait! I think I know where it might be!!) Found it! Guess what I'll be doing this evening? Ironing. Yeah....

Elder Son was home last weekend to celebrate his 24th birthday. Favorite part of the weekend? "Son, I need your help. I tried to join a social network and they wouldn't accept my e-mail address. (So far he is kind and attentive to the old lady and the computer) Just how do you sign up for Facebook?" If only I had had my camera. Oddly enough Younger Son had the same look on his face. Heh. But, still not on Facebook.

I finished a pair of Mock Wave Cable socks for The Husband (it was our anniversary). I can't remember which book I copied the pattern from, but I think it was a Nancy Bush (and yes, I own the book). I knit them from Knitpicks essential kettle dyed sock yarn. They are the gold color. It looked a lot yellower on the site but he likes them so it's all good.

Last week we were sitting in the teacher's lounge having lunch. Does anyone remember the days when the kids took the drugs? We spent most of our measley half hour discussing the merits of Atavain versus Prosac. It must be spring.

Wednesday the secretary who schedules subs called and The Husband answered. "Your mistress wants to talk to you," said he.
"That had better be the one with the whip........Wait, that's not right........" I replied.

We are slowly clearing Elder Son's room and working on a design aesthetic The Husband and I can agree on. There's an old "oriental" rug in the attic and he wants the walls to be blue. That's as far as we've gotten. Oh yeah, and I'm not allowed to paint the furniture white. YSS had offered to take the dresser (huge with a lovely mirror, but not big enough for all The Husband's clothes), and we may have to rent a storage space for ES's stuff that will not fit in his one-bedroom apartment. If you don't hear from me for a while it's because we are scraping, sanding or re-glazing (the windows are huge, I'm a little nervous about using the heat gun to strip off all the old gunk). And then there's that new ceiling to arrange for the craft room (we've always called it the sewing room but I will have space for a desk to do all that rubber stamping that's spread over the house, and the sculpy clay projects, and .....).

Next weekend YSS will graduate from college. Next fall she heads off to graduate school. Wishing her luck and happiness and that we will get to see her once in a while.

Now, where's that crochet hook?

Bring Out Yer Dead

It's official. Franklin and The Harlot have both posted sad, depressed, and/or frustrated posts. There's a virus out there and its target is blogland. CYS (Cover your Stash)!!

In thinking (probably over-thinking) this thing, for me personally, I used to do amazing stuff (stencil over the fireplace with computer printouts and contact paper, sweaters for the boys, quilts for the walls, intricate embroidery). Now I look at it and wonder who that woman was. The hands hurt even while knitting, the lungs can't catch enough air and I am lazy, lazy, LAZY!!! Maybe it's that The Boys are old enough to be on their own, maybe because The Husband isn't here and doesn't need upkeep (hmmm... there's a thought, feel un-needed do we? Or worse, there's no audience. How shallow.) So, how are you?

On The Husband front, I went to visit a week or so ago and this is where he is staying:

It's an amazing place and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way. Nothing in the immediate area is more than 10 years old. And this in what could arguably be called the cradle of the country. You know, our 200+-year-old country? I think this is what most Americans aspire to. Everything is clean and new and lovely and looks great. The service staff is mostly Hispanic (and what does it say about this place that when I say, "Good Morning!" with a big smile they back away slowly......) and very efficient.

See that lovely pool? Every morning I do 40 laps and I am the only person in the pool (well sometimes there's a six-year-old). The other adults dip to get wet and lay on the deck chairs to tan. See the pool, don't use the pool. I checked throughout the day and for a week I was the only person I saw swimming in the swimming pool. Amazing.

So, you ask, what was there to do besides swim? The Husband had the car (after all the whole point is that he has well-paid work to do) and the only thing within walking distance (and don't get me started on how America has become the land of the car. Walk? Why would you do that?)is a mall. A mall with no yarn store!! Good thing I packed a little yarn.

This is the Summer Lace Shawlette from Interweave Knits Summer 2006.

Yarn: KnitPicks Gloss in Dusk. I used a little more than one skein.

Needles: KnitPick Options size 8.

Changes: None.

There is one mistake (well, one I'll claim) in the lace but it's only noticeable when you are right up close to it. I also bound off too tightly so I ripped out the last three rows and did it right, after I took this picture. The faroese shaping was easy and makes it drape very nicely. Would I do it again? Probably not. As I've mentioned before, I have pretty wide shoulders (Upon meeting me for the first time, a cousin exclaimed, "Good Lord! An Amazon!!" I think he meant it kindly, but WTF?) and this little number emphasizes the whole shoulder area.
I also finished the Madder Ribbed socks from Knitting Vintage Socks. Sorry, can't find the picture assuming I took one. I would like to work my way through the "instructional" part of the patterns so I can try out different heels and toes.

I had plenty of time on my hands so I started the Embossed Leaf socks from Favorite Socks. I've almost finished the first one and will post pictures later.

Soon I'll be leaving to spend two weeks with The Husband (Now that The Baby has passed his driving test and can get himself to work). It's our last chance to get a little "vacation" time before school starts. If I stay for two weeks, we can do some sight-seeing (Ohh! Museums! Yarn Stores!) on his "week-end". So what will I be knitting you ask? I was going to try a Sthalman shawl, but in writing about the shawlette I've realized that while it may be lovely knitting, it's a bad fashion choice for me. So maybe I'll try out one of the lace scarves in Victorian Lace Today. I'll just have to save one of those faroese shawls for a normal shouldered friend. The big question is, "Should I order a little more yarn in a different weight so I can give the hands a rest?" Why, yes. Yes, I think that would be an important thing to do.........