(such a) Fickle Stitcher

my true love has given me the gift of his company, his understanding, and time to be with my sister and father.  

 I have spent more time in the kitchen the last week than in the previous three months (or more)! I’ve restocked and reorganized the pantry, straightened up several cabinets of kitchenware and foods, cooked (several times!), and actually cleaned up after myself and the rest of the family. I don’t know who has taken over my body since Friday morning,  but I bet they are gone by the end of next week! LOL!

Saturday I spent the day with my sister, and our shopping day was more enjoyable than I expected — nothing against her, I was just not looking forward to crowds and stores. Turned out there were not too many people out and about, traffic was light, and there were actually some cute Christmas items still available at a discount.  If I hadn’t had a sinus headache, it would have been even better.

Because I’ve been playing culinary domestic goddessfor the past couple of days, there has been no knitting which required a lot of concentration. Doing a sewn bind-off on a k2p1 ribbing for the Wisp of Mist wrist-warmers would require more energy and mindfulness than I had at my disposal. So, I pulled out the Peaks & Valleys scarf I began in February, wrote up the stitch pattern on a 4×6 index card, and managed several inches while riding in the car yesterday. Sadly, that’s about it (though I’ll probably pick it up again when I’m finished writing this).

 Scarf is actually about 36″ long now.

Only two more Days of Christmas, then it’s back to work. Sure did fly by, but I can’t complain. I’ve never worked anywhere else that I got 8 days of paid holiday for Christmas.

my true love is “getting on my last nerve” LOL — no, truly, I’m the one out of sorts with (what I call) a screaming headache,  tired eyes and no energy. 

Not only did I have to go to the dentist today, I had to go renew my expired driver’s license — yes, my birthday IS in July. I just discovered last Friday that it expired in 2007, not in 2008! Yikes! All is well, though. Both chores are done now . . . and, I got the brown sugar for the cookies for Dad. However, I’ve had a sinus headache all day (the reason why I didn’t go to the dentist at 9am but rescheduled for 230pm), and am in no shape to bake. We picked up Papa John’s pizza while we were out, so the spaghetti will wait until tomorrow as well.

I worked on the second mitt while riding in the truck today. Hope to finish it this evening and get a few photos made. That is if I don’t wander off to Ravelry with magazines in hand to load up some more projects in my queue!

Roses in December — one of the things I love about the South!

my true love showed his true colors — he cut 3 pounds of candied fruit for me to make fruitcake cookies for my father!

Here’s our jolly crew:

Today, I slept til 10am then lazed around much of the day. Got all the gifts ready for the mail — yup, I’m late again after all — piddled around with some miscellaneous (ya’ll don’t faint) housekeeping chores. Some laundry, reorganizing a couple of the pantry shelves, putting away Christmas gifts. Several of them were knitting and stitching related, but did no actual stitching today or yesterday. And would have made the cookies, but I am out of brown sugar. Would have made spaghetti for supper, but had no ground meat. While I don’t mind simple marinara, DH wants it with meat.

The beautiful shawl pin did not show up well (it is tied in the red bow to the left of the HHDL book), but my sister also was the giver of the angel pin on the white cotton, and the floral case. as well as the book. The ribbon & dragonfly bookmark was sent to by one of my stepdaughters. It, too, is really beautiful. My sister also gave me a copy of At Knit’s End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot). I spent a little time with both books today, cozied up with my favorite cat. He got into the spirit, though not willingly, yesterday, too:

Such a dashing fellow!

first thing I asked my true love, “so, where are my five golden rings??”

He laughed.

So, I had to provide my own . . .

EAR rings, that is!

(there *are* five — a little easier to see in the linked photo)

It’s been a pleasant day. Calm. Quiet.

I plan to enjoy these quiet years . . . I figure once the grandkids (finally — but, I’m in no hurry!) arrive, there will be much ‘joyful noise.’

No knitting yet today. Finished one mitt (on the US3s, making four repeats of the lace pattern, and ending with a short section of stockinette and four rows of k1p1 ribbing last night. I did cast-on for the second mitt just before 2am. Sorry, no photo yet. I used provisional cast-on, so those and the last row of ribbing are all still ‘live’ stitches. I really want to photograph it on my hand.

My sister LOVED her knitting abacus bracelet and matching stitch markers (from Hide & Sheep on etsy.com) — I love mine, too! A big shout-out to Rachel for pointing the way. I also gave her a Liz Claiborne handbag which she picked out at Belk’s a few weeks ago but decided not to buy. She gave me, among many lovelies, a beautiful shawl pin hand-crafted of wood. It has an engraving (laser??) on both sides at the top of the breadfruit quilt pattern design.  She always over-does for her baby-sis. I thought that perhaps this year I had topped her, but it was not to be! LOL

Of course, with luck, we still have a trip to LYS in our near future and I can buy her some “luxury yarn.” Now, though, it is very near to nighty-night time for this Mrs. Claus.

my true love and I had a pleasant surprise for Christmas Eve lunch.

Red beans & rice (it IS monday, cher!), fried shrimp, center-cut pork chop, salad, and cornbread. We shared each other’s pork chop and shrimp. (I did not eat the cornbread or rice.)

We made a quick run to pick up a glass and wrought-iron fire screen, to drop off a roll of film, and return some items to Home Depot. I thought DH was going alone, but he wanted company . . . I refused, however, to go into Wally World.  By the time we headed home, we were hungry. Most of the small places we like to eat were not open (or were already closed — how does Subway close at 11am on Christmas eve? what time could they possibly have opened??), so we were shocked with delight to find Two Sisters Creole Kitchen opened for lunch! We used to eat there just about every week, but rarely for the last couple of years. So, it was a real treat.

I’m really enjoying playing around in Ravelry. I think one of the best uses is to keep track of all those things you’d like to stitch (queue) — rather than putting sticky-notes on the front covers, or little pieces of sticky-note paper on project pages. I added several projects today that are from the Knitting pattern-a-day calendars . . . I don’t know how many times I have paged through those things, not taking time to mark the ones I’d like to do!

But, of course, since the entrelac scarf is finished, I had to start something new. I chose the wrist warmers by Tara Jon Manning, from her book, Compassionate Knitting. I  began by following her needle size (US5), but have ripped and started over with size 3s. The wrist measurement for the pattern is 7.75″ — I am 6.5″ at best! If I hadn’t ripped, I’d be casting on for the second one right about now, but I’m happier with the result, so far, on the smaller needles. Using a pale blue-green (”Ice” I113) Blue Sky Alpaca Silk. Will try to have a photo tomorrow.

Happy Christmas to all!

my true love kept me and mine warm with a roaring fire and good food.

On the way home from our noon-meal at a lovely little restaurant in a smelly little town (has  papermill) I finished the knitting on entrelac scarf, then wove the ends as soon as I got home. Still needs to be blocked, but here is it:

The colors are not quite right. There is more subtle variation in the turquoise portion than this shows. It’s about 4.5 inches wide and about 58 inches long, unblocked. I’m very happy with it, especially considering I wasn’t really crazy about the yarn itself. Just didn’t seem as soft as I like my wool. Of course, now, it’s been knitted twice, lost a little of its twist as well as some of its fiber. I plan to try a steam block first. If that doesn’t hold up well, I guess I’ll use the wool wash then block.

Couldn’t decide what to pick up next, so I just grabbed the grey Twin-Leaf beaded scarf. There is a pair of beaded lace wristwarmers I want to knit, but, of coures, I can’t find the pattern. Can’t even remember where I’ve seen it, and I know I’ve seen it several times in the last week.

Oh, ye of little brain . . .

my true love and I also spent the day together . . .

early grocery shopping, then scrumptious breakfast out, then scrounging for treat/bargains in the store where the salvage store send their unsellables! We had a ball! And brought home a bag of catnip — don’t let people tell you that neutered/spayed adult cat are unaffected . . . witness just a bit of the ‘madness’

(1st time for this embedded youtube.com thing; here’s the direct link)

Late in the afternoon, my eyes gave out and I had to take a nap (Brickle joined me, of course). When I awoke, the local PBS station was playing an old Christmas episode of The Lawrence Welk Show (episode #857, season 21, aired 12/20/1975). What a blast from the past. I was amazed that I could recall so many of the singers’ names. Lawrence Welk was a regular Saturday night event at our house during the late fifties and sixties.

The end is in sight on the entrelac scarf. Photo tomorrow when it is finished.

my true love and I spent the day together.

DH asked me yesterday how many days I had off from work for the holiday/semester break. So, I counted: today, the five workdays next week, and two days the following week . . . then add the days for the two weekends. Total is 12 days. “The Twelve Days of Christmas!” he exclaimed. I liked that. It is a great way to think about the holiday break from work/school.

So far so good in my intersession class; of a total of 200 points graded so far, I have 196. This without a textbook, too. Now we have a break until January 7th. In the meantime, I hope to get some work done on my (overdue) bibliographic project.

I finally got the photos (about which I made a cryptic remark a few days ago) off my phone. So, here’s the just “before” - - -

I ripped it all out.

Why? I wasn’t happy with it . . . so much so that I wouldn’t have even given it to anyone. It was too wide, and I never got the instructions for finishing the ends into a point.

Since the day I ripped (Dec 13th), I have reknitted about two-thirds of the yarn. This time, the blocks are only 5 stitches wide, not 8; and I’ve not used the large dark grey section of yarn. I’m expecting to block it to 4.5 inches wide when all is done. I hope to finish it this weekend.

Perhaps next time I do something in a flat, edged entrelac, I will add a couple of stockinette stitches to each edge so it will roll under. Even by slipping the first stitch of every row, I am not happy with the edge (though it is SO much better than the other way I was doing it).  I hope to find the Fall 2001 issue of INKnitters somewhere. There is supposed to be a good entrelac article in it. Of course, I have Winter and Spring, but not Fall.  In the meantime, I keep trying different things to find the best-looking entrelac form.

For example, slipping the first stitch when working the blocks doesn’t look good . . . but, it is easier to pick-up the stitches for subsequent blocks if you do slip them. So, on an edge that will be picked-up on the next tier, I do slip the first stitch of each row. However, on the edge that is being joined to previous tier, I slip the first stitch only on the first and last turns. This looks much nicer at the join edge than slipping the first stitch all the time. The only reason I slip the first stitch after the first and last turn is that it keep the rectangle from looking crowded.

I’m pretty sure entrelac isn’t actually faster to knit, but it sure feels like this goes more quickly than plain knitting. Regardless, I am certainly enjoying the technique.

“I do not want to hate food, because I love it.  But do I love my body more?  What I hate is feeling that I have to take sides between the two.”

 AmyT, Diabetes Mine :12/19/2007

 This is a tough time of year for PWD (people with diabetes). Amy’s remarks, however, reflect how I have felt every since my diagnosis in May 2006. I have little reason to get down about it; I have had good control for over a year. I know that indulging in high-carb food leaves me feeling sluggish and inattentive. Life-long habits are difficult to overcome.

The article linked in the quote above, echos something I said to my sister just a week or so ago . . . that I just wish sometimes there was a pill to meet nutrional (and BG) needs so I just didn’t have to T-H-I-N-K about what to eat! For a person who truly loves the pleasure of eating — not excessively, but choosing whatever appeals to me at the moment — being a PWD is frustrating.

Still, it isn’t the eating out which was ever my real problem, I think. What I ate/didn’t eat at home was the main problem and, honestly, still is, I guess. I’m basically lazy at home. I want to grab something and get back to whatever I want to do . . . like knitting, or beading, or reading, or watching TV & movies with hubby.

Enough whining. Amy’s comment just lets me know I’m not alone. Always a comfort.

I am a rather happy camper today — except for the waking up at 1:30am and not being able to go back to sleep until 4am. DH & I left the house early Sunday morning, had a very satisfying breakfast at IHOP, and proceeded to do our Christmas shopping. We had basically covered everything on my list by noon! Because we decided to take care of a few more things (and ran into an old friend when we stopped to grab a quick lunch), it was 3pm before we headed home. BUT . . . everyone except for my dad is covered. I would like to kiss the person who invented the gift card, by the way.

There are many years when I make special gifts, or buy special gifts. Except for my sister, this year isn’t one of them. The up-side it that those gifts which must go in the mail to DH’s family in MD/PA/WV will do so tomorrow! Won’t they be shocked!?!?! First time in about four years they will have gifts ON Christmas.

Lack of knitting content is due to lack of knitting photos. Until the microSD card for my new phone arrives, I can’t really talk much about my knitting. There’s a photo I need to post “before” that relates to “after.” Should be here today or tomorrow.

I can say that I am still procrastinating about grafting the Noro entrelac scarf, as well as sewing the finishing edges. Also, I shared stash with my sister last night. That was fun. Digging through all my bags, though, made me realize my yarn desperately needs sorting and proper storage. She shared a magazine with me, but I forgot to pull out the Holiday Interweave Knits to show her. Maybe I’ll save it for Christmas day.  While I was awake in the middle of the night, I piddled around on Ravelry account (Cynclair) for a bit. I’ll be glad when there are more photo upload options than Flickr.

Rissa had another personality test on her blog when I checked in this morning… here’s the result from mine:

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

(This is a Mercedes SLK. Only 4% of the almost 7 million (??) people who have taken the test get this result. Guess I’ll feel rather exceptional all day long, but “wild” is a little bit of an overstatement with regards to the split in my personality!)