Ah, a normal Sunday. I did some household chores, baked some blueberry muffins, did some reading, worked on my Peacock . . . no doorbell ringing, no chaos, no extra mess. Ah. Bliss.

Well, that’s over!

Tomorrow, John will be back to finish up the last couple details in my parents’ bathroom and then start tearing up mine. I haven’t broken the news to Chappy yet. I want him to enjoy his peaceful weekend to the fullest.

Oh, you must check out the beauty pageant over at DogsStealYarn.

  Today is also Horatio’s, Chappy’s best friend’s, birthday. (Yes, honestly, my dog has a best friend. I know. We’ve never had a dog who had one, either, but Chappy does!) Horatio is four years old today. He’s a Welsh Pembroke Corgi and he and Chappy have known each other since they were three months old. Horatio is about three weeks older, and as you can see in the picture, Chappy was very much impressed when they first met–Horatio could do tricks already! At the time, Horatio was bigger and more assertive (and frankly, bullied my sweet little boy just a little), but as they’ve gotten older, they’ve calmed down a lot.

Now that they’re older, Horatio still outweighs him, but Chappy’s got longer legs, and they get along just fine. When they get together, they’ll wrestle for a bit and then Horatio will lie down to catch his breath, and Chappy will sit on him! Something which looks adorable–it’s not a “dominance” thing at all, just, “Yeah, buddy, I’m tired, too. You don’t mind, right?” Isn’t that what best friends are for?? This picture, incidentally, is from two years ago, when Horatio and his big sister, Princess (the Greyhound, obviously), came over to celebrate Chappy’s 2nd birthday by a romp in the yard. It says a lot–Chappy’s grinning back over his shoulder at the camera, Princess is being too “cool” to ever look like she’s interested in the treats I’ve got in my hand, but Horatio is being his charming self, big smile, but totally concentrating on the goodies. I really love this picture!

  Here’s a shot of Horatio’s beautiful face. (Although it’s not the best picture.) All Corgis are cute, but Horatio’s got one of the sweetest faces around, I think.

I finished “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” last night, and as promised, am waiting until next Saturday before starting the second. This wait’s easy–I’ve read the first three books about a dozen times–or more–and Chamber of Secrets is my least favorite of the series.

Am I the only person who has books she’s read so many times, she can’t even remember how many times they’ve been read?? Not even counting childhood books like “Secret Garden”–you know, the ones that predate having any real spending money, so that you had no choice but to read the same books over and over. But other books. For example, Lord of the Rings, which I read for the first time when I was about 12. I must be close to four dozen reads of that by now. I lost count at about read #25, which was my freshman year of college, going on 20 years now. Even the Harry Potter books–I know I’ve only read OOtP three times, but the first book? Really, it must be at least a dozen times by now…. and that’s in addition to all the new books I read, plus the knitting time (and that pesky full-time job).

And hey, three cheers for Afleet Alex, for his beautiful win at the Belmont! Two exciting finishes there, the Preakness stumble, and then the tear-away down the stretch in the Belmont. Amazing.

Did I mention that I’d been working on my Peacock today??

Tags: Chappy, Friends, General, Reading by Deb
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First, happy Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day!

You’ll be pleased to know that I did my part not once, but twice.

  First, while out for coffee with Mom. (I know, it’s backlit, but I am knitting!) That’s the front of my NbaT, there.

  Second, after finishing my lunch.

If you KIPd today, too, go check out Kathy’s blog–she’s offering to donate $1 to the Illinois Burn Camp for Kids for every picture she gets of participation. How’s that for generous of her?

  My mother, sister, niece and I paused for photos after lunch. (Sorry about the weird lighting–my brown shirt and khaki pants look darker than Mom’s black-and-white. Go figure!) . . .

  While my nephew went to take a few swings on the driving range with my Dad and brother-in-law. (You can see how sticky, humid, and muggy it was by the opaque air in the photo. Ugh.)

And then, I got TWO boxes today:

  One, a thank you gift from Adagio Tea for putting a link to their site on my blog. Is that not wonderful of them? You should run right over there and order something from them, because they’re just that nice! (Or, better yet, leave me a comment and I’ll send you a $5 gift certificate to use on your first order!)

  Second, my order from Knitpicks. That’s a copy of “Knitting on the Edge,” which I’ve been eyeing for a while, and 18 skeins of their Andean Silk yarn. That’s 55% alpaca, 23% silk, 22% merino wool, and very soft.

  I bought 14 skeins of the “Olive” green yarn and 4 of the “Sangria” purple to be an accent.

  I’m thinking that should be perfect for the Union Square sweater from the upcoming Fall 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. Of course, I have no idea yet what gauge I’ll need, since the only thing I had to go on was the gauge listed at yarndex.com for the yarn . . . and this does not, in fact, match that (grin). But it’s only half a stitch off, and since I tend to knit loosely, I might be lucky! And if not? It’s beautiful yarn that I’m sure I can find a use or a good home for.

May I just add my own surprise at liking a sweater so much in the preview that I’ve gone out of my way to have the yarn handy (I hope) when the issue arrives next month? Kate Gilbert–who brought us all Clapotis–is obviously very talented!

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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We are ALL glad that it’s Friday–at last. Chappy has been so tired all week (all that barking and guarding and watching, you know), I’m sure he’s enjoying having a quiet day at home. Mom is off looking for a dress to wear to my sister’s brother-in-law’s wedding in August, and also quite happy about a quiet day at the house–and being free! Dad is so wiped out from the hot weather this week, he’s actually taking the day off from golf. And I’m just looking forward to getting home from work and it being the weekend.

Weekend plans? Celebrating my sister’s birthday. For the last several years, we’ve gone to lunch at my Dad’s golf club for Patty’s birthday–only fair, since hers is the last of four inside of a month, she’s always wiped out from doing “birthday” things, baking cakes, and so on. This way, she gets to just relax and have a nice meal, and we all enjoy it.

So, that’s tomorrow. I will also be bringing my knitting with me, because tomorrow is Worldwide Knit in Public Day, and this is my chance! (Mom bets I’ll be the first person ever to have knit at Panther Valley . . . I don’t know about that, but I guess I’m at least in a tiny, elect little group of people.)

Tina posted pictures of the not-yet-open Nonna’s Yarn Cafe coming to Denville in the near future. The location used to be a tea shop which I have been in, and so I can tell you that she took this picture standing outside the door. It looks like it’s almost ready to open to me! I just wish there were a “Grand Opening” sign somewhere giving a date.

Also this weekend, in preparation for the sixth book’s arrival in five weeks, I’m starting my re-read of the Harry Potter books. I’ll start one each Saturday between now and publication day for Half-Blood Prince (July 16th). I’m a fan of the books, you see, and a fast reader, and while it’s not going to take me a whole week to read each book (not by a long shot!), by starting one each Saturday, I’ll have a nice little rhythm going for when #6 arrives at my door, courtesy of Amazon.com. Not to mention a refresher course in case I’ve forgotten anything. (I don’t think I have, but you never know! And, well, I’ve only read Order of the Phoenix three times–which may sound like a lot for such a huge book, but which really shows what admirable restraint I can display when needed.)

And, I have been knitting–just nothing noticeable enough to be worth progress photos. I’ve got 5 or 6 more rows of pattern on my Peacock, so that’s 5 or 6 more nights’ worth of knitting, plus the crocheting/cast-off.

Tags: Family, General by Deb
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Lucky me, I get to go for my dental crown tonight. (Gee, have I mentioned lately that I hate going to the dentist–sweet, nice, friendly though he is?) The truly sad part is that I don’t even have any knitting in my purse to keep my fingers occupied in the waiting room–I haven’t started a new pair of socks since finishing the others last weekend, and don’t have anything else to easily fit into my purse. I just hope I won’t have to wait for long! And I wonder what I’ll be doing about supper tonight, when my tooth is throbbing? (Man, I hate going to the dentist….)

Edited to add: Nope, still don’t have the crown. Turns out, he had to do a root canal, so I have to go back on Tuesday. (sigh)

Zoe, the technician, asked me where my knitting was, though, and we had a nice little chat about knitting before the dentist came in. That was something, anyway! (I told you they were nice people.)

Now, it’s quarter-to-seven. John is still here, trying to finish up my parents’ bathroom before he leaves, since he won’t be here tomorrow. Chappy’s downstairs, whimpering at being by himself (even though he doesn’t seem to want to be too near the dentist-breath–not that I blame him). I’m going to take my shower as soon as John leaves, make some tea and curl up with my knitting! Isn’t it Friday yet??

Meanwhile, please check out this article about telling the story of Hamlet in the African bush . . . it’s hilarious. (And thanks to Christine at Mirabilis for the link!)

And, thanks to my SP5 for the e-card!

Tags: General by Deb
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My poor mother and dog are so tired tonight. As we complete the third day in a row of household chaos, the strain is starting to show. Monday, we just had the fellow doing the bathrooms. (Yes, one person. John.) Tuesday, we had John–two hours late–plus the paving company pouring asphalt on our driveway. Today, we had John, the plumber, and the landscaper, here to cut the lawn.

Chappy seems to feel it’s necessary to bark every time John walks in or out of the house, or any time he speaks, and Chappy’s barking seriously gets on my mother’s nerves. Not that he’s really that bad, mind you–especially compared to the dachshunds we used to have–but still. It’s impossible to carry on a conversation.

When I got home from work this afternoon, Mom was tense and fighting a bad headache, and Chappy looked like he felt about the same (grin). I went and sat on the deck in the back with Chappy–that seems to help. The outdoor smells and sounds provide distraction, and he’s not seeing John going in and out as he cuts the bathroom tiles and goes back and forth, so Chappy, at least is calmer. He and Mom were going to try that this afternoon, but with the lawnmowers going out there–it wouldn’t exactly have had the same effect.

Tomorrow, lucky me, I get to go to the dentist to get my permanent crown, which will hopefully solve the achey tooth problem I’ve had for the last two weeks. I still hate going to the dentist, and this will mean another week of missing the Stitch-n-Bitch group. To be fair, though, it doesn’t sound like I’m missing much. It’s a pretty small group and there haven’t been any responses to my “Anyone going?” e-mails. It’s no fun to go and sit alone! If I want to knit by myself, I’d much rather do it here, with Chappy snoozing by my side.

I ordered something for my Secret Pal today, which I hope she’ll like. Actually, I know she will, since she specifically said she would like the item I ordered. (I won’t be more specific, you know, just in case!) I just feel obscurely guilty that I had to resort to buying something she asked for rather than coming up with something brilliant on my own! Silly, I know, but I normally take pride in my creative-gift skills and keep feeling that–nice though this gift is going to be (and it will!)–that it’s a cop-out. (For myself, you understand, not for her. Just me putting extra pressure on myself.)

I finished my re-read of the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, and please, let me recommend them to absolutely anyone looking for a good read with a sense of humor. They are laugh-out-loud funny and completely creative–with cameos from all your favorite fictional stars, like Edward Rochester! Miss Havisham! The Cheshire Cat! Miss Tiggly Wiggly! Hamlet! Not to mention re-sequenced and brought-back-from-extinction dodos, mammoths, and neanderthals. Plus an evil multi-national corporation called Goliath, an even more evil villain named Archeron Hades, and let’s not forget SpecOps departments like the Chronoguard (policing Time) and Literatec (keeping an eye on all those wacky literary fans, like the Baconites).

Titles: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten. And there’s another, non-Thursday book, coming out this summer called The Big Over Easy–a murder mystery with Jack Spratt trying to solve the death of Humpty Stuyvesant van Dumpty III. (Yes, you’re reading that right.) While you’re at it, check out the author’s wacky website. The jokes, I grant you, will be pretty obscure until you’ve read the books, but still, it’s a hoot and a half.

Tags: Family, General, Reading by Deb
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Yay, another knitalong! This time sponsored by Wendy, her “Summer of Lace.” I’ve added a button to my sidebar and everything. (And yes, I know, she hasn’t even posted the options yet, but since I designed a couple of them, I figured it was okay to just, you know, start using one of them, so I picked my favorite.)

The next question is . . . what to knit? I could count my Peacock Feathers, but since it’s almost finished, that doesn’t seem fair. Since I’ve made three triangular shawls in the last few months (and one Pi-are-Square, whatever shape that counts as), I’m thinking something like a square or a stole this time. I’ve got some spring green Kid Silk Haze in the closet, and I have some copper-colored Zephyr, so no matter what, I’m going to try to pick something to do with one of those!

Meanwhile, I’m trying to assemble my first SP5 box for my pal. For no good reason at all, I’m suffering from Gift-Block. She gave great answers in her questionnaire, and she posts on her blog pretty regularly, so it’s not like I’m working blind, and yet for some reason, inspiration has not hit. Like I said, no good reason for this, just . . . it’s there. (Or more precisely, not there!) Still, she did list a specific thing she wants . . . so even though I generally prefer not to “gift” off of lists–I like to come up with things on my own–I think she’ll be getting that thing (about which I will not be more specific in case she reads my blog) and I’ll try to be more inspired for the next one!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Today’s my sister’s birthday (though I won’t tell you which one–I’d prefer that she continues to speak to me). But I’m more than happy to share a couple of old pictures!

  Me and Patty, back when I was still (obviously) very small! Patty would have been about 2 1/2 – 3 years old here. Gotta love her big, cheesy grin!

  Us at the beach, a few years later. (And yes, I really used to be blonde!) (And also yes, I am in fact wearing saddle shoes. According to Mom, I refused to step off the blanket onto the hot sand without them. Actually, I still don’t like going barefoot, so I guess somethings haven’t changed.)

  Doing a jigsaw puzzle (apparently a hard one since I’ve got that “I don’t know where it goes!” look on my face). And, the only excuse for the outfits is that this was the early 70s, what can I say? At least we were little and cute!)

  With our Daddy . . . (and, apparently, Tinkerbell, who found her way into a lot of these pictures!) I love this picture–and had it blown up for Dad for Father’s Day a few years ago.

  And last, one of my favorite pictures of the two of us–one which I had blown up for Patty for her birthday a few years ago. (What can I say? Nostalgic photos in a nice frame makes a great gift!) But weren’t we cute on whatever Christmas morning this was??

Anyway . . . have a very happy birthday, Patty! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Tags: Family by Deb
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First, well, it’s Monday. It got up to about 90 degrees this afternoon–summer is most definitely here–and then dropped to the 60s in about 20 minutes, just in time for a massive thunderstorm. As in, tornado warnings were posted around 5:30. (And, believe me, tornado warnings are not particularly common in northern New Jersey!) We had at least one bolt of lightening strike very near our house. We’re not sure exactly where, but the flash and the [extraordinarily loud] boom were almost simultaneous and the house shook for a good 30 seconds.

At work, my boss and I had night-and-day kinds of a day–he was swamped, covering half the department since the two people who usually run it were out sick. I, on the other hand, had very little to do today. My work load tends to do the peak-and-valley kind of thing, and just now, it’s very valley-ish. Which means I sat at my desk all day trying to keep myself entertained, while my boss went nuts trying to do two people’s work on top of his own. No, no, really, why should I feel guilty?

The work on our bathrooms started today. We’ve got baby gates set up downstairs again–much to Chappy’s chagrin because, of course, he’s not a baby anymore! My parents’ bathroom is pretty much nonexistant–they’ve got walls and the rubbly remains of their tile floor and nothing else. So right now, the three of us are sharing my bathroom (with the help of the half-bath downstairs). Luckily, none of us has over-lapping shower schedules, because that is the hardest thing to work around. You can brush your teeth just about anywhere, but you can’t shower without, you know, a shower!

Nothing exciting to show on the knitting/spinning front. But really, you mustn’t be greedy. Didn’t I give you enough interesting updates–with photos–over the weekend? I did my nightly two-rows of Peacock . . . one row of pattern, one row purling back . . . which takes me just about an hour at this point, there are so many stitches. And then I did a few rows of my NbaT Front. All the while Mom and I watched a completely ridiculous movie with Julia Stiles called “The Prince and Me.” We figured going in that it was going to be silly, but it managed to transcend that, along with all the possible Cinderella/Prince-out-of-water cliches they could possibly squeeze in.

Also, check out Wendy–she’s starting a “Summer of Lace” knitting frenzy. As of yesterday, it was just her, but apparently it’s spreading and has blossomed into a Knitalong. This one, I must be part of! I even designed a couple of buttons for her. (Please vote for mine when she asks for opinions . . . or at least, think about voting for mine!)

Now, Chappy is exhausted–he barely had a nap all day, and had, of course, to bark at John (the fellow doing the work) every single time he went in or out, the entire day. It’s pouring rain outside (though luckily, no tornadoes . . . at least through my neighborhood!) And, oh yes, after all the prep-work, our driveway is actually going to be paved tomorrow . . . so we’re back to parking in the street for a few days. With exquisite timing, I might add, because the electric company just made it back down the street to be right in front of our house. Our poor neighbors who are getting the addition across the street didn’t know where to put their cars today! I’m starting to forget what it’s like to have a quiet street/house.

And, oh yes! My 7 packages were picked up by Sandi, our mail carrier today, and so are on route to the prize-winners. I hope everyone’s happy with what they’re getting!

Tags: Chappy, General, Weather by Deb
5 Comments »

Just "because," here are two links I wanted to share:

First, for any "Joan of Arcadia" fans–there’s an effort to try to save the show, but apparently time is short. If you ever watched the show (or, if you just want to humor me because Mom and I loved it), please check it out: www.savejoanofarcadia.com

Second, because it’s simply hilarious–I give you, the Ugly Bridesmaid’s Dress site!

Tags: Uncategorized by Deb
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Now I know why they call that aerobic exercise in gyms on stationary bikes “spinning.” It’s exhausting!

I came up an hour early to start plying that purple yarn of mine. (The one where I had three, unequal spindles-full, and was trying to figure out the most efficient way to ply?)

Well, first, I had to set up the plying head on my Lendrum–for the very first time. Then I had to figure out why it was so creaky, squeaky, and hart to spin. (Answer: badly needed oil. I haven’t oiled anything else on my Lendrum since it’s not supposed to need it, but the metal orifice very definitely needed some lubrication.) By the time I got that working correctly and started to ply , I’d been up here almost 20 minutes.

Now, an hour later, I have this.

  That’s an almost-full, plying-sized bobbin of 2-ply yarn. (Which looks huge, right now, sitting on my dresser.)

  This completely empties two of my three bobbins of singles, leaving me with this much left on the third. Now I get to decide whether I want to unwind this so I can ply this to match the rest, or just hang onto it and maybe ply it with something else some day for some variety.

The amount of treadling, though, let me tell you, left me feeling like I’d had a good aerobic workout. The yarn came out to be about sport weight, I think. For each arm’s length of yarn–say, two feet or so–there were 6 treadles, at the fastest ratio on the plying head. Now, I don’t know the yardage yet, but . . . that was a lot of treadling!

Obviously those folks at the gym got their idea for those cool, new aerobics classes from watching a real spinner at her wheel.

  Here’s a close-up look at the yarn on the bobbin. (Again, it’s really darker than this, with more purple, but so far, that’s been impossible to photograph.)

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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I feel so accomplished.

  I finished the back of my NbaT.

AND

  I finished my second sock . . . finally. No more DPNs in my purse, hallelujah! Back to Magic Loop, two socks at a time, just as soon as I roll my next skein of sock yarn into a ball (or two). This was Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the “Mixed Berries” colorway. Very pretty indeed.

I feel so accomplished. Because not only did I reach two deadlines last night (finished piece and a finished project), but now I can go back to my Peacock! I’ve really missed her.

I also got seven (yes, seven) packages ready to ship out–contest winners, and the like. If you are in the U.S. and you haven’t tried it, by all means let me recommend the Click-and-Ship feature at the Post Office’s website (www.usps.com). Not only was I able to purchase the postage for all my packages, I printed shipping labels for each one of them. I will get free confirmation when the packages are delivered, and (if I’d had the email addresses with me at the time), I could have had a shipment-confirmation sent to each of my recipients. I could also have insured them, if I’d wanted to. Furthermore, the packages will be picked up at my house, by my mail-carrier, when she comes to deliver our mail on Monday. No extra charge. Isn’t that wonderful? I just shipped 7 different boxes without having to stand on line at the post office!

This is just one of the many reasons I really love the Internet. You have got to try this service out!

  I started spinning the pretty roving that Liz (now Lizzy B) sent me from Maryland. She’s been raving about spindle-spinning lately, and I started feeling guilty about my nice Kundert spindle, which has been hanging in the closet for months now with nothing to do. So I started that last night, too. The color is lovely–Liz (er, sorry, Lizzy B) said that it reminded her of the sea grasses on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s very pretty, mostly aqua, but with streaks of greens, browns, reds, and purples. The singles are turning out to be a really nice, medium blue-green.

  A close-up of the spindle.

Okay. Gotta go. Mom and I are going to take Chappy out for a walk, then I’m coming back to take my shower, make some tea, and then work on my Peacock!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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First, look what I saw on Amazon.com today!

And now . . . let me think . . . what was I going to say?

Oh yes! Announcing the winners!

So, without further ado . . .

And with no nonsense about starting with the runners-up . . .

Or silly drumrolls . . .

Congratulations to Kristine, the First Prize winner of my “Suggest a Contest” contest! Much as both Mom and I hate Fear Factor, there was no question but that her contest idea was the most creative and fun. (But no, I refuse to watch during the Moth-smoothie round. Just, no way. The helicopter stunt sounds very, very cool, though.) She opted for the pretty, purple Setana yarn as her prize.

In Second Place, we have Chelsea with a cool and clever word game. I always love those. (And, sorry Laurie, there was no way I was going to wade through doggerel poems about knitting. Sure, it’s fun to suggest, but I’d be the one to suffer through them!) Chelsea chose the Jo Sharp Silkroad for her prize.

Third place goes to Samantha, who obviously is curious over my large library. How could I resist the temptation of making people guess about my books? She said she would love the Reynolds Lopi.

Which, you know, is nice because it sounds like everyone’s happy with their prizes!

Honorable Mention to Jennifer for looking for creative snash-sneaking techniques. Also to Lu for basically coming up witn an internet-wide Dare contest of “If I get rid of this, what will you get rid of?” (Although she was very unclear about where the yarn actually goes . . . bad planning for a contest coordinator, really.)

And, naturally, my sympathies to Jenn (aka KnitWit Momma) who is obviously going insane over at her house, but since she’s already declared herself the winner of her suggested contest . . .

Now, I still have the cool, textured yarn from Uruguay and the Boot-liner kit (as well as the embroidery and quilting odds and ends). If anyone’s interested, please let me know!

(Edited to add: All the yarn is now spoken for! It’s all getting a good home.)

My very scary Visa bill came today–you know, the one with all the vacation stuff on it, and book purchases . . . and yarn purchases . . . It has not been that high in a loooong time!

Thank heaven it’s Friday so I can regroup, financially speaking. Because, you know, I’m sure it’s not like I’ll be going out near any stores tomorrow or anything, oh no, because the weather’s going to be just beautiful . . . (and for those of you not actually in my head, please read that with as sarcastic a tone of voice as possible).

And, for those of you in the NYC area–my Mom just came up and said that WCBS FM radio is no more. It’s gone. In its place is “Jack” radio . . . no more oldies. (Although you can apparently still listen online at www.wcbsfm.com, but it’s kind of hard to lug your computer downstairs while you’re on the treadmill!) What a shame–that’s a station that all of us listened to. Hey, yes, I went to high school in the ’80s, but I spent my time listening to either the Beatles and their contemporaries or Mozart and his . . . WCBS was a fact of life. What a shame. I can’t believe it’s gone. Poof!

And lastly, for any of you interested in the evolution of our daily language, here’s an interesting link from one of the non-knitting blogs I read, about how “Chesterfields” seem to be vanishing in Canada. http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/002993.html

Tags: General by Deb
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Okay, actually, we (the judges) have chosen the winners of the “Suggest a Contest” contest, and are in the process of contacting the winners to let them choose their desired items. As soon as they have, I’ll be posting the results.

I got my Secret Pal 5 assignment today (thanks, Rox!) and have both contacted and been contacted by my secret pals. I’ve visited the blog of the person whom I’m privileged to spoil and read what there is to glean as to personality and such. She hasn’t been blogging for that long (but then, really, neither have I!) so there’s not too much to read . . . yet!

Actually, come to think of it, my KRSecret Pal (the one to whom I am gifting as opposed to the other way around, about whom I have no idea) doesn’t have a very active blog, either. I’ve basically just got the survey to go on . . . hope I’m doing okay!

Anyway. I’ve decided not to frog my NbaT Back, and am now up to the beginning of the neck shaping. As soon as I get the Back done (this weekend, at least, I’m sure!), I’m going back to my Peacock! I read in a comment on somebody’s blog (I’m so sorry, I forget whose) the other day that Wendy has ordered the pattern for the Peacock Feathers shawl, and we all know how fast SHE knits. I’ve got to get a move on or she’ll have hers done before I finish those last 12 rows of edging …

I have not yet decided how I’m going to ply those purple singles. There’s no problem, though, that the singles are too “fresh.” I spun this lovely purple roving back before I got my Lendrum, and the bobbins have been sitting in the basket on Chappy’s crate ever since. As “ageing” bobbins goes, these are ripe!

And, on an icky, non-knitting note, I found a tick behind Chappy’s ear tonight. Ugh. I pried the thing off his neck with my trusty Ticked Off spoon–the handiest tick-removal method ever. Then I checked him over–all by feel since ticks pretty much blend in with those brown curls–and then spritzed him with Cloud Nine. (An herbal flea and tick repellent which works wonderfully without being a pesticide like almost anything you’d buy at the vet’s office–I do not believe in applying pesticides to my dog’s shoulder blades, but that’s another story. The important thing to remember here is that Cloud Nine works better when you remember to spray it on your dog on something like a regular basis.) I also spritzed his crate–just because–and now he won’t go near it. (sigh)

What, if any, purpose do ticks have on this planet?? I mean, I’m not overly fond of spiders, either, but they have a valuable role in keeping other insect populations under control. As long as they stay out of sight, I’m more than happy to have them in my walls. But ticks? Other than spreading Lyme disease, what purpose could they possibly have? (As if Lyme disease is something you want spread, which of course, we don’t, so even there . . . not exactly a laudable purpose.)

And speaking of bugs somewhere between walking out of my office yesterday, and walking to my car, I got a mosquito bite right on my left hand ring finger. And it itches! I’ve been joking today that it was the Marriage Bug . . . yeah, yeah, I know. Baaaaad joke.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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So, other than the Suggest-a-Contest Contest, what’s new, you ask?

Well, I finished plying my apple-green singles last night. I don’t think I did a fabulous job, though; I don’t think they’re particularly balanced. Even with counting treadles and all the rest, this is going to be energized yarn . . . but I don’t care. One, it’s my first yarn off my Lendrum. Two, it’s my first yarn of any kind in months. Three, it’s pretty anyway!

  I’ll admit to being less than meticulous in trying to get that balanced yarn . . . I really got quite a workout from this. Lots of treadling, and today, my back is stiff from the 45 minutes’ hard “exercise” while perched on my ottoman. But I was determined to get it done–for two reasons. Because, well, I wanted it to be done, and because I was anxious to see if it was going to work out. I just barely squeezed the plied yarn onto one bobbin, and I think I did a pretty good job judging the half-way point in the roving, too, because look how few singles I have left on my other bobbin!

Okay–a question for all of you. I have a friend who’s still fairly new to knitting who is going to be an Aunt in July and who has very little time to knit, but who wants to make something for her niece/nephew-to-be. (She doesn’t know the gender yet.)

Any suggestions for a quick, easy, but still cute pattern for a layette set of some kind that she could make? (Something online, with a link I could e-mail her?) She had planned on making an afghan, but time is running too quickly, and I think that boat has sailed.

Edited to Add:

Okay, I wound my yarn onto my niddy-noddy tonight. 144 times around, but what that makes the actual yardage, I’m really not sure (grin). I am, however, pleasantly surprised at how balanced it turned out to be! Lousy color in the picture, but you CAN at least see that it’s hanging straight with no twist. So, how’s that for a nice surprise? (And before you ask, no, my bedroom window is not, in fact, crooked. It’s just the way I was holding the camera, okay?

And here, I took a close-up of the yarn, too.

Now, I have one problem–I was going to use [finally] my Lendrum plying head for the purple singles I’ve had sitting in my basket for months now. But . . . how do you change the drive bands? I don’t see a way to get the current one off and the plying-one one without having to unscrew the wheel or something. (The mother-of-all is easy–it’s the drive band that’s the mystery!) I’m going to go surf the net and see if I can find something . . .

No, wait! I found a site! http://www.lendrum.ca/drvbnd/drvbnd.html. Isn’t the internet wonderful? The tip about keeping the spare driveband attached the back is a good one, too and one I’ll definitely be using. (And see? I haven’t used them yet for beading, but those needlenose pliers are already coming in handy.)

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning, Uncategorized by Deb
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Okay, time’s up! No more contest entries!

Now Mom and I will re-read through the ones we’ve gotten (and thoroughly enjoyed) and will contact the winners in a day or so. Thank you all for participating!

Tags: General by Deb
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So, I figured out how to put the plying head on my Lendrum, and yet . . . I’m not sure what/how to go about plying my purple singles. (Yes, they really are more purple than blue.)

The problem is this: I have three bobbins of singles. The two on the ends of this photo have roughly the same amount of yarn, but the third has substantially more. I figure I can triple-ply these all together, which means that I’m going to end up with a fair amount of yarn on that one bobbin. Or, I could try 2-plying them, but no matter how I can think to do this, I’d still end up with a lot of singles leftover on a single bobbin, and no way to access both ends. Or, I could, of course, do Navaho plying one from the next . . . Ideally, I’d like to 2-ply these, but cannot think of a way to work out the logistics.

Any suggestions?? I’m thinking Navaho-plying is my best bet, but I’d love to hear from you other spinners as to how you try to balance these things!

My other quandry is that my NbaT seems to be too long. Now, according to Alison’s blog that there are an extra 7 rows in mine. (She has 24 rows between the decreases and the increases, not 24 plus the extra 7 from the last decrease “set.”) I only read that a couple days ago when I was well done with the increases. But tonight, halfway up the sleeve cap, I’m thinking it’s too long–not only because of the extra rows, but also because I’m getting 26 rows to 4″ instead of 28″ rows–not a huge difference, but it does add up.

The problem is that, to remedy that, I would have to frog back almost half the length of the sweater back I’ve got done. (See? To where I inserted the needle preparatory to actual frogging.) But then, when I laid it out on the floor, next to one of my actual t-shirts, the length looks about right.

So, here’s my second request for informed opinions. Should I frog back to get rid of those 7 rows? Would an inch or so of reduced length be worth unravelling almost half of the entire thing I’ve knitted? Or should I carry on? (Guess which direction I’m leaning in!)

Meantime, the judges are reviewing the submissions for the contest and will start contacting winners [hopefully] tomorrow. (Okay, maybe the next day. But soon, I promise!)

And my KR Secret Pal–in case you didn’t get the e-mail I sent you–the sock yarn you sent was the same kind (Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock) but NOT the same color as the socks I’m making. I like the yarn and the colors are nice; we’re fine! How great, too, that UPS is reimbursing you for our accidentally recycling that package–you’ll be glad to know that our kitchen (aka the incoming mail spot) is back to normal, so that should never happen again.

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Now, on an unrelated note, you may remember that, the last several months, I’ve posted my reading list for the prior month. So, here’s May’s list. Please feel free to skip the rest of this post if you’re not interested. I promise I won’t sneak any knitting or spinning content at the end!

 

1. STORM WARNING
2. STORM RISING
3. STORM BREAKING by Mercedes Lackey. A fantasy trilogy set in Valdemar, with massive mage-storms closing in and causing havoc. She’s an appealing author and tells a good yarn, and Karal is a good main character.
4. DEERSKIN by Robin McKinley. Actually a retelling of a rare fairy tale called Donkeyskin, it’s unsettling in many ways, and yet her telling is beautiful. And, well, the main character lives for her dog . . . I can so relate to that.
5. CASTLE IN THE AIR by Diana Wynne Jones. A light little YA book. Silly. Fun. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
6. TWO TO CONQUER by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A Darkover fantasy novel set in the Ages of Chaos—a man and his “double” from another world . . . It’s one of her most feminist books, I think, and while it’s fantasy, there’s a lot to think about.
7. HOW DOGS THINK by Stanley Coren. A book whose title tells you exactly what it’s about—an analysis of dogs and how they perceive the world. Interesting.
8. WINTER’S TALE by Mark Helprin. This thick tome of a book was all the rage in the mid-80s. (I remember reading it the day I got my Senior photo taken in H.S.) I still like to pull it out from time to time, but I have to be in just, exactly the right kind of mood. His writing is beautiful and lyrical, and filled with flights of fancy and playings with words . . . it’s a bizarre kind of story, and yet a really good one . . . it’s just a little . . . off-kilter. This time, it hit just right.
9. PINT OF MURDER
10. MURDER GOES MUMMING
11. DISMAL THING TO DO
12. TROUBLE IN THE BRASSES
13. THE WRONG RITE by Alisa Craig (aka Charlotte MacLeod). A series of “cozy” mysteries with down-to-earth Janet and her Mountie husband Madoc. Set in Canada, silly, light-hearted, enjoyable.
14. NEVER LET ME GO by Kazue Ishiguro. Talk about an about-face from the last book. I don’t want to describe too much because I don’t want to give anything away. (And let me advise you NOT to visit Amazon.com’s comments if you don’t want the ending—the whole point of the story—spoiled for you.) Really good book touching on some deep subject matter. Focusing on a young woman’s reminiscences of her English boarding school in a slightly-alternate universe from ours.
15. BLIND LAKE by Robert Charles Wilson. Sci-fi. Somehow, a gov’t installation has come up with a way to study/spy on a being (called Subject) on another planet . . . when suddenly, all communication to and from the city is completely cut off, but no one knows why. Perfectly adequate sci-fi story, adeptly told.
16. WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare. This was Mom’s and my “trip book” of our vacation, read in turn, back and forth, chapter by chapter. I read this first when I was a kid and still enjoy it.
17. PATRON SAINT OF LIARS by Ann Patchett. Not as great as Bel Canto, but I really do like this woman’s writing! Here, the main character is a young, pregnant wife who runs away from her good-but-boring husband, goes to a home for unmarried pregnant girls and somehow . . . never leaves. Instead, she becomes the cook, marries the handyman, and never tells her daughter anything about her history.
18. CHASING SHAKESPEARES by Sarah Smith. Another DaVinci Code wanna-be, this one exploring whether Shakespeare really wrote Shakespeare. Not horrible, but kind of blah. (I picked it up out of desperation when my vacation book pile ran out.)
19. SATURDAY by Ian MacEwan. A slow, thoughtful book, told by a neurosurgeon on what starts out as a normal Saturday, but takes an abrupt turn when he has a fender bender on the way to his squash game. The writing, since it’s MacEwan, is wonderful and the story is find, but this is a slow, slow book.
20. ERAGON by Christopher Paolino. (yawn). It’s pretty clear, I think, that I enjoy fantasy books and that I enjoy YA books, but this . . . let me just say that the fact that it was written by a 15 year old boy is admirable. He did a fine, fine job for his age . . . but that doesn’t make it anything less than pretty predictable. Not bad. Just . . . I don’t recall any surprises, and that’s always kind of disappointing. I can see why it was so popular, but really, no comparison to Harry Potter.
21. HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I think this is my favorite book all year. Such a sweet and touching book. Leopold Gurzky is a man in his 80s, alone and lonely in New York, unknown to his son. Then there’s Alma, a teenager named for a character in her father’s favorite book, a book which her mother has just been paid to translate from Spanish. These two have very different stories, but there is such a wistfulness to this book, and a sweetness. I was enjoying it from the beginning, but the closer I got to the end, the more I loved it, and the ending was just . . . sweet. (I’m sorry for using that adjective so many times, but what can I say? It fits. It just was.) I just love that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you finish a book that was everything you hoped it would be–or even better–unexpectedly wonderful. I thought this looked good, but it turned out to be so much better than that. Literary serendipity, and easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. I am just so happy I picked this up the other day!
22. KNITTING IN PLAIN ENGLISH by Maggie Righetti. This is a classic how-to knitting book which I’ve had in my library since about 1989. I pretty much know everything she has to say at this point, but it’s still good to reread once in a while. One of the best, basic knitting instruction books around—it’s the one that introduced me to Continental knitting and circular needles. I practically worship this book!
23. BEADERS COMPANION by J. Durant and J. Campbell. A basic little guide to working with beads, mostly weaving. I figured, I bought some, I should look into it—and you know me, express interest in something and I’ll immediately buy a book to check it out!
24. LOOP-D-LOOP by Teva Durham. A collection of some wildly creative knitting patterns. Some are a little “too” wild for me, some are just lovely, but all are creative. I love to see a knitter stretching the envelope like that.
25. GILGAMESH by Joan London. Remember earlier when I mentioned that a book or two were slow going. They had nothing on this book about an Australian farm girl who gets pregnant by her cousin’s friend and sets off for now-Soviet Armenia in 1942 to try to find him. The writing was good, but the pacing needs serious work. It’s hard to read when your eyelids keep sagging!
26. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safian Foer. Turns out, he’s married to the author of “History of Love,” above. And yes, there are some similarities in the format of both these books. The difference was—this is told by a precocious, genius-level kid who lost his father on 9/11 and frankly, I didn’t like the narrator. I hoped he would find what he was looking for, but as much because I’m a good person as I hoped he would stop talking for a while. This is not to say that the book was bad, but since the “feel” was kind of similar to that other book which I loved, and since this character I couldn’t warm to . . . at the very least, I should have saved this a month or two before reading it.
27. CHRONOLITHS by Robert Charles Wilson. Since his other sci-fi that I read on vacation was decent, I thought I’d give this one a try. Suddenly, these huge monuments from the future, lauding victorious battles in the future, start dropping in on the planet, destroying entire cities. Cool idea, especially as world-wide tension builds as the date of the first conquest nears . . . but ugh. Bored.
28. WEAVE A WEB OF MAGIC. A collection of four mini-novels. Claire Delacroix, Lynn Kurland, Sharon Shinn, Patricia McKillip. Nice.
29. IN THE KING’S SERVICE
30. DERYNI RISING
31. DERYNI CHECKMATE by Katherine Kurtz. These take place in a fantasy world much like medieval England, with the exception that there are some people, the Deryni, with magic powers (truth-reading and such). The first one on this list is her most recent, which comes chronologically before her very first book—which is the second on this little list. Her books are really very good, and I adored this world when I was in high school. It’s just really unfortunate that, the more books she writes, the more characters die tragic and untimely deaths . . .

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Monthly Reading List, Reading by Deb
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