Well, my cardigan is coming along. See? The back is about 7-8″ long at the armhole. When it gets to 9″, I’ll start the fronts. I do need to come up with some kind of design element to get some of this blue into the sweater, though.

Sitting on top of it is the skein of blue I made from my leftover singles. That’s about 70 yards of yarn. My second skein of cardigan-yarn is hanging in the bathroom, drying right now.

What am I spinning right now? I just started this. A merino/tussah blend from the Sheep Shed that I bought at Rhinebeck in October. It makes me think of Spring, something about the old-rose color. It’s not my usual color palette, but I had picked up a hank of it and couldn’t put it down. So, I paid for it (of course) and brought it home. And, it IS pretty.

I’m having trouble getting good photos of it, though, because my camera is acting up. I have two Canon cameras, both well beyond their warranties, and the S2 IS is misbehaving. Nothing outside the Auto setting works as well as it used to–the lighting comes out very funky, giving a weird look to the pictures. The regular Macro setting doesn’t work at all, and the Super-Macro only works outside the Auto setting … which means the lighting is weird. Not 100% of the time, but, unpredictably. I contacted Canon and was given two options: As a loyal customer, they’d sell me a reconditioned S3 IS for $165, or I can ship them my camera and they’ll tell me what it will cost to fix it, which seems a little vague to me. Sigh. It doesn’t help that this Nikon D40 looks so darn tempting and is getting such great reviews over at the Digital Photo Forum. (For that matter, the Canon Digital looks good, too, and I have a 10-year old film version of it whose lenses I believe I could use, too.) But really, I have no business looking at cameras, and the Amazon certificates I have just won’t cover that, you know?

Chappy had a little … episode tonight. He came tearing in through his dog door and more or less left a trail of diarrhea up the stairs, poor boy. Not sure why, but hope he’s okay. He seems fine. I do wish that he had stayed outside IN his bathroom, though! And right now, we’re all glad to have that air-purifier–which also removes smells–and which we’ve moved to the upstairs hallway for the night. Because, um, well, let’s just say the carpeting is kind of aromatic at the moment, shall we? He seems all right, though, so fingers crossed!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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For years of my childhood, this cafe scene hung on our kitchen wall. I’m not sure what the metal is–copper, maybe?–but I spent many hours picturing myself sitting at one of those tables. Mom came across it recently in one of the closets and I just couldn’t resist taking its picture to share with you.

Brought to you by:

Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Just a few, random things tonight:

If you want a chance to win a weekend at Shepherding Camp on Martha’s Vineyard, leave a comment to this post over at the MV Fiber Farm blog. Susan isn’t doing the drawing until she has 300 entries, but doesn’t this sound great?

This giveaway is for one two-night, three-day weekend for up to two people (who don’t mind sharing a room with twin beds) on the beautiful Island on Martha’s Vineyard on a mutually agreeable date. The trip includes lodging and three meals a day and all the farm work you can stand. The winner will spend the weekend at our townhouse (we do not live on the land where our animals live. Some day…) and on our farm, getting to know the flock, doing morning and evening chores with us and learning everything you ever wanted to know about the gentle animals that grow your yarn. Of course, if you want to spend some of your time at the beach, that’s okay too. You do not have to be a shareholder to win.

She further says that, “So email this url to you friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, preschool gymnastics coach, milkman and dog groomer. (If you know anyone in North Dakota, South Dakota or West Virginia in particular, because, according to the analytic software we use, no one from those states has ever visited at the blog. Weird, huh? I mean, people in 26 countries visit regularly, but the Dakotas and West Virginia remain elusive. What gives? It’s starting to bug me.) ” So, you know, feel free to spread the word. Because, really, a fully-paid weekend on Martha’s Vineyard with adorable sheep and goats? Well! What’s not to love? (You do, though, need to pay your way TO the island.) A week from tomorrow, and that’s where Mom, Chappy, and I are heading!

And then, speaking of winning things, Chris posted one of her many contest announcements the other day–this time, a chance to win a box full of cookbooks. Well, guess who won? Me! How cool is that? I guess having that annual Stollen Day ordeal has its uses sometimes. I admit, I don’t really have much use for the Indian cookbook or (possibly) the vegetarian books–we’ve got limited dietary options in this household–but I’m very excited about those Italian books! Thanks so much for picking my name, Marsha!

Okay, this is just weird. There was a thread on Ravelry the other day about what to do if you’ve connected circular knitting with a twist, so I chimed in with my favorite fix–drop the stitch at the join, ladder it down, untwist, and then pick up the stitches, leaving just a twist at the cast-on. I’ve done this myself on at least 5 different projects and I know it works. But, one of the Ravelers said that when she tried it out, she ended up with a twisted ladder, and didn’t see any way to get around that. And, here’s the weird part–when I tried it, after reading that, I’m getting a big twist, too. When I never have before. And I can’t figure out why (yet). But I’ve done this any number of times on my own projects without any problem. Did that comment jinx me? Am I doing something different, suddenly, than I’ve done other times? So bizarre…. This I’ve got to figure out.

• Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
• Turn to page 123.
• What is the first sentence on the page?
• The last sentence on the page?
• Now . . . connect them together….
  (And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

My nearest book is The Snake, the Crocodile & the Dog by Elizabeth Peters.

Howard arrived in time to see the end of this performance.

“Bravo!” he called as the band began to play the performers off the stage. “That looked wonderful, I can’t believe I missed it.”

“Waylaid by thieves, no doubt?” I inquired gently, inquisitively raising one eyebrow.

“Of a surity. Definite thieves. I barely escaped with my life.”

“Yet you managed to escape with your theater ticket intact. How very fortunate. Were there many of them, to detain you through the entire first act?”

“Dozens.”

“But you managed to save your wrist watch, your cufflinks, and the flower in your lapel. Are you quite certain there were more than one?”

“The plural, decidedly,” said Howard.

This was fun!

Tags: General by --Deb
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I’ve mentioned before that we’ve been having some serious money problems, and I thought it was about time I shared with you what my Dad is doing.

Inhale Now. I don’t know how many of you have asthma or allergies, but I do, and that was Dad’s starting point. He was looking for ways to make money, and decided to focus on air-purification, and found EcoQuest’s Fresh Air units. He signed up as a dealer and we’ve had one of these in our house since the end of December–just in time for the acid test, when my best friend was home visiting from California. She’s allergic to Chappy and hasn’t been able to spend more than 20 minutes in our house in years without her asthma kicking in. Well, two days after we got that unit, she visited for almost six hours, with Chappy sitting just a few feet away on his pillow. Dad gave a trial unit to a good friend who has emphysema who was able to sleep through the night for the first time in years. Pretty impressive, right?

Mind you, they’re not air filters–they actually purify the air, killing upwards of 99% of germs and mold spores, which makes them good not only for allergy-sufferers, but for anybody with a germ problem. (Like, say, having the kids bringing home germ after germ from school?) They sell little petrie dishes, too, so that you can test how many germs are in your house before the unit is installed and then again one week later–the results, I have to tell you, are impressive. And did I mention that none of us has been sick since we got this? We got through a whole winter without any colds. Even Chappy’s skin problem which never quite goes away has improved. It gets rid of smoke and smells, too. And one unit–less than 12″ square–is enough for our entire house. They come in other sizes, too–I even have a little, palm-sized unit plugged into my office at work.

They have water-filter units, too. And laundry! Oh, I have to tell you about the laundry unit. We don’t have one of these yet, but one of Dad’s friends does. It somehow “charges” the inflowing water so that you don’t need detergent. Or fabric softener. Or hot water. At all. Which not only saves money, but is good for the environment. Because that’s the other thing we like about this company–they’re all about being environmentally-friendly. They work on the LAWN principle–the Laws of Air, Water, and Nutrition. (Um, did I mention the Nutritional Supplement program? It sounds nothing less than revolutionary, some of the testimonials Dad’s been hearing from other dealers are downright inspirational.) And, one of their next big launches is a unit that somehow makes the electricity coming into your home more efficient, or something like that–anyway, it reduces the amount of electricity you use, which has to be a good thing!

So, I’m telling you this for a couple reasons.

One, I hope you’ll go check out Dad’s website (www.inhalenow.com) which has links to the products. (If it asks for a password, type “guest”.) We’ve been very impressed with the ones we’ve tried so far.If you’re nearby, you get a free trial with the unit for a week before you have to make up your mind. (And, if you’re not nearby, maybe you do, too, though I don’t know about the shipping?)(Edited to add: Checked with Dad–you’d have to pay the shipping back if you didn’t like it, but otherwise, no cost.) Regardless, though, it’s absolutely no pressure if you want to try it out.

Two, if you’re interested in making some extra money, maybe you’d like to become a dealer yourself? There are links for that, too. It can be part-time or full-time, and there’s no question that this can be profitable. Dad’s not making quite enough yet to cover all our expenses, but he is making money at this. And he gets to buy stuff for us at wholesale prices (like the extra air purifier he gave me for my bedroom, or the water filter in the shower, or the vitamins he and Mom are taking). They have a nice profit system set up so that you not only make money by selling things yourself, but if you sign up other people, you get something like a finder’s fee/commission on each sale they make–or that people they sign up makes. And, you know, every little bit helps!

Like I said, we’ve been very impressed with every thing about this company so far–not only the products, but Dad has been impressed with the company’s entire outlook and business methods. If you think it could help you, too–healthwise or financially–please check it out. Or contact Dad directly.

I’m telling all of you this because I know you’re all helpful, caring people who might be willing to take a look just to humor me. Not to mention, um, maybe spreading the word? And, naturally, I want to help my Dad all I can. But also, we really ARE impressed with these and, well, like any good blogger, it’s all about spreading the word, right? Just like I have on countless great yarn bargains over the years.

(Oh, and, um, I designed his website and have never done that before–I’d appreciate feedback on that, too. What do you think? Please, though, be kind.)

Thank you, all!

Tags: Family by --Deb
8 Comments »

So, last night I finished plying the leftover blue singles. That’s a fair amount of extra, pure-blue yarn, wouldn’t you say? I don’t know what I’ll do with it yet, but it’s definitely going to grow up to be an accent of some kind to that cardigan.

And, do you see how evenly my blue roving was divided?

I only have this much left on my woolee winder bobbin–you can see the leader yarn though the spaces. Even if the merino and corriedale singles didn’t end up having the same number of yards, at least I worked it out nice and evenly anyway. (And, really, I would rather have had extra of the blue than extra of the navy.)

Now all I have to do is wind both of these off onto the yarn skeiner. It’s so satisfying, having all the yarn for this sweater done! (Well, okay, still the skeining, washing, drying, but that part’s easy.)

Oh! And, finally, I have an answer to what that big hole in the shopping center downtown is for. I found the website of the leasing company and found this.

The layout and designer art for what it’s going to look like. That big hole? It’s a drive-through window. Just what every shopping center needs in the middle, right? I find it interesting that there’s going to be a parking lot in the back, too, although that opens onto a one-way road, so it wouldn’t exactly be amenable to people trying to find parking spaces if it’s particularly busy! Anyway, I’m glad to know what that will be–it’s been bugging me. And, just what we need … another Walgreens. They just built a brand-new one not two miles down the road….

Hey, would you believe, I went to the bookstore with Mom after work–she desperately wanted this book, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon–And the Journey of a Generation, and they just got it in today, so I drove her over when I got off work. That’s not the unbelievable part. The unbelievable part is that I went to a bookstore and didn’t buy anything. (Cough) Maybe I’m getting sick?

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Isn’t it nice? My knitting bag is no longer empty.

This might not look like much, but it’s the beginning of the back of my cardigan. The shoulders are angled via short rows, and are about 2.5″ wide at the sleeve. When they get to 9″, I’ll go back to the shoulder, pick up the stitches, and start knitting the fronts. When they’re also at 9″, they’ll be joined together and the rest of the body will be knit together. I’ve got some ideas for the button bands, too. I plan on knitting them at the same time as the rest, rather than as afterthoughts. In other words, this is going to be as seamless a sweater as I can manage.
At least my knitting bag isn’t empty any more.

I got a great greeting from Chappy when I came home from work tonight. He came in with his favorite frisbee in his mouth. Usually, that means that I’m not going to get a chance to get near enough to touch, while he plays keep-away. Today, though? He was gracious enough to allow me to give him a tummy rub while he had his toy in his mouth. It’s like doggie heaven.

Speaking of doggie heaven, sad news over at Labradorable today….

And, lastly, if you’re a member of Ravelry, here’s your chance to give a little support and open the possiblity of winning some really fabulous prizes–all you need to do is make a $10 donation to their new server. Great idea, huh?

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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The other day, Elvis showed his skills at cleaning out peanut butter containers. Now, Chappy’s nose isn’t long enough to reach the bottom of a PB jar, but he wouldn’t want you to think that he doesn’t take recycling seriously.

First, there’s the milk carton. I’ve mentioned before that, once empty of milk, they make excellent toys. We rinse them, let them dry, and then I put his morning vitamin in it, set it on the rug in the middle of the hallway (while he Sits on the rug by the door) and then give him the go ahead and he charges down the hallway to tackle it. After which it becomes one of his favorite toys–the vitamin makes a fun rattle (before it finally falls out), the handle gives him something handy to carry it with, it crunches nicely into a shape he can fit in his mouth, and it skitters so nicely across the floor that it’s great fun to chase. Great invention, those milk cartons.

And then there are the cream cheese containers. We prefer our cream cheese to be easily spreadable and so get ours in these bright, pink plastic containers. Of course, once they’re empty, they need to be recycled, but all those sticky bits of cream cheese need to be cleaned out first. So, again, Chappy helps out. I put his vitamin in here, too (because why not make vitamins fun?). Since cream cheese–even tiny amounts–on an empty stomach sometimes makes him spit up on the floor, I usually add some kibble, too. (You know that he doesn’t normally eat kibble–I make my own food for my boy–but it is handy to have around for toys and emergencies. We use Innova brand. In case you were wondering.)

Anyway, once the cream cheese container is ready to go, with its lid back on, Chappy goes and sits in the corner of the kitchen. I haven’t taught him to close his eyes, but from this spot, he can’t see anything but the kitchen cabinets, so it’s close enough. And while he’s sitting….

…I hide the container. This is getting harder and harder because by now, he knows where all the possible downstairs hiding places are.

As soon as he gets permission, though, off he goes. He almost always follows the same route, trotting through each room with his nose busily trying to find the container. The better hiding places can keep him searching for 5-10 minutes…

…but usually he finds it fairly quickly–on the first or second lap around the house.

Then, the fun part–getting it open so he can get in to all the yummy, creamy, crunchy goodness inside. (If you look really carefully, you can see him licking his lips in this picture.)

I did try to get a picture of him happily cleaning out the inside, but he’d nudged it under the dining room table by then and that kind of made anything like a decent camera angle impossible. He’s really good at getting inside these, though. He lays the container on its side and then uses his nose to press the sides, near the lid, to break the seal. No wasting time trying to pull the lid off from the top, oh no. This way, the lid will pop off on its own and out pours a delectable pile of cream cheese-flavored kibble. Mmmm.

In other recycling, I’m trying a new recipe today. I’ve had this Oatmeal Cake recipe for about 18 years now, but in the current issue of Cooks Illustrated, they have an updated version–including putting it under the broiler to carmelize the topping. I don’t know if I’m going to like it more than the other one–I mean, we’ve been together for quite some time–but it seemed worth a shot. Besides, I’ve never broiled a cake before….

The verdict? Very tasty, as all the C.I. recipes almost always are. But do I like it better than the recipe I’ve been using for the last couple of decades? Well … I don’t know that I’d go that far! The crispy, broiled texture on the top sure is tasty, though.

I have some other leftovers to recycle, too. Some leftover singles of that pretty, pretty blue roving. Which is great. I’ll ply these together and then have some accent yarn to go with my sweater. I don’t know how much (yet), or what I’ll do with it, but . . . yum!

Because, of course, bobbin #2 is done! It just needs to be skeined, washed, and dried and it will be ready to go. Since the first bobbin had something like 500 yds, though, I’m thinking that I’ve got a little time to play with, here. No rush.

Because, yes, my knitting bag is no longer empty. Phew!

Tags: Baking, Chappy, Family, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Well, Chappy made a new friend today. Stella, who recently adopted Kim‘s family.

We walked around town, gave some directions to lost people, and then stopped for coffee (for the humans). Chappy was feeling just a little disgruntled by then–people kept coming out of the coffee shop, asking all sorts of questions about Stella. What kind of dog is she? She’s so cute! How old is she? Can I take her picture. (Yes, really. One woman leaned out of the door of the coffee shop so she could take a picture on her cell phone.) All while they more or less ignored Chappy.

Which he just couldn’t understand. Wasn’t he just as cute? Not to mention fluffier? (Well, he is.) So he would go over to the person and wag his tail, looking all adorable. “Um, hello. I’m cute, too!” And they’d politely pet him and tell him he was cute and then go back to fawning all over Stella. It was like being out with a movie star. I think Chappy’s feeling just a little neglected–especially since Stella was ignoring him, too, when all he wanted to do was play. Poor guy. He’s not used to this kind of treatment!

That said, we had a lovely time. It was interesting, though–for the first time in my experience, being out for a walk with two dogs, they consistently stopped to sniff at completely different things. Usually, when one dog finds a good “sniff,” the other will come over to check it out, too. But not these two, they just did their own thing and mostly ignored each other during the walking portion of the outing. Kim and I got to chat, though, which was nice. We even saw one of the owners of Nonna’s yarn shop walking to her car. We even had two cars stop with people asking direction. (One we could help, the other? Um, no. And Kim, I looked it up–that other street was along Indian Lake, back behind the A&P. A section of town I’ve pretty much never really been.)

That hole in the shopping center I showed you a couple weeks ago? Here’s a close-up. They literally cut a hole in the building–roof and all–and then put up walls. Why, oh why?

This is what the rest of the shopping center looks like. There are exactly three businesses doing business in there– a Blimpies, a dry-cleaner, and a bank. Everything else–including much of the parking lot–is a construction site.

The rest of my day? Reading (Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters and Knitting from the Top by Barbara Walker) and relaxing on the couch with Chappy, who’s exhausted from all that excitement.

And, oh yes, I went out to get the mail and timed it just as our mail-carrier was pulling up to the driveway. She said, “I’ve got a story to tell you.” This morning, before starting her rounds, she brought her mail truck to a local gas station to fill up the tank and have the oil checked. Well. When the person opened up the hood to check the oil … he saw something move. A full-grown raccoon, just curled up alongside the engine. Yikes! It sat up and looked at the two of them, crawled down the ground, back up into the engine … and finally headed off on its own. Sandi said that she would have happily given it the truck, that she wasn’t going to risk making it mad. So, really, we’re lucky to have gotten our mail at all today. That post office creed about ‘neither rain nor hail dark of night‘ says nothing about wildlife, you know.

Okay–I’m going to go crunch some numbers for my cardigan now. And, it just occured to me–if I want to knit the button bands as part of the sweater (which would be easier), I kind of sort of need to know what size buttons I’m going to be using, huh? So–before the number-crunching, off to the Button Drawer….

Kim, we had fun!

Tags: Friends, General by --Deb
5 Comments »

It’s a good sign that I keep fondling this swatch, right? I just can’t seem to help it. It’s soft. It’s squishy. It’s beautiful to look at.

I tell you, if the sweater lives up to the yarn, I’ve got it made.

I was asked about the wraps-per-inch of this yarn. The answer is 15, which puts it right at Fingering/Sock weight yarn.

So, what does that tell you, that I’m getting 4.5 stitches to an inch? Even with switching to Combined Knitting. The stockinette portion of my swatch has 39 stitches and it measures just about 8.5″ long, which comes out to about exactly 4.5 stitches to an inch (18 stitches over 4″/10cm). On US Size 4 needles (3.5mm) Addi Lace needles.

You know, the advantage to having such a wonky, loose gauge, though, is that it takes a lot fewer stitches to make ME a sweater than somebody with tight gauge. I mean, I still need to make conversions to just about every pattern I make, but at least there are some advantages….

And besides, I’m really loving the way the swatch came out, so, who cares?

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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You know Spring is coming when the local hardware store has a row of brightly-colored wheelbarrows all lined up and ready to go….

Brought to you by:

Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Well, here’s my gauge swatch, newly washed.

At the moment, it looks like I’m getting about 5 stitches per inch (20 over 4″/10 cm), but am well aware that this could change at any time (grin).

Somebody on Ravelry suggested the Basic Black pattern. Chris, Kim, Risa, and Lisa all spoke up for the Knitting Pure and Simple patterns. I like the #994 V-neck, but am reluctant to pay $9-ish dollars for the pattern and the shipping. I even like the Rowena cardigan from Knit 2 Together which is conveniently in my library. And, of course Elizabeth Zimmerman and Ann Budd are awfully helpful.

I haven’t settled on a pattern yet, it’s true, but I will say that this yarn is a pleasure to knit with (if I do say so myself). The merino and corriedale work beautifully together, and it’s soft and looks nice. I’m trying the Combined style of knitting, started by Annie Modesitt and championed by Grumperina, in an effort to tighten my gauge. I mean, hey, it’s worth a try, right?

Oh, here are some very nifty advertisements. My sister came across this and forwarded it on, and I was captivated from the very first photo, of subway straps painted to look like wristwatches so you can “try” them before you buy. There is so much awful advertising out there, but the good and clever stuff is always a pleasure.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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More pretty yarn pictures for you because it’s not like I’ve got any KNITTING to show you.

Although, I’m taking it as a good sign that this ball of yarn is trying to get into the knitting bag.

That’s just short of 500 yards of yarn, I believe. (Assuming I’ve remembered correctly that my Yarn Skeiner at its widest point is two yards–something I could easily calculate by putting a piece of yarn around it and measuring but which I rarely think of unless I’m sitting down at the opposite side of the room. And also assuming that I counted correctly and that there were, in fact, 247-248 rotations.) And bobbin #2 should have pretty much the same amount.

I’m going to knit a swatch tonight, so I have an idea of what kind of gauge I’m going to get. Or supposedly going to get.

Then I need to find a pattern. I think this yarn wants–wants badly–to be a cardigan. Something comfy, casual, and good with jeans. Now, I can go through my Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and piece together a pattern to match my (alleged) gauge, but I thought I’d ask you folks first … Can you name a good, casual cardigan pattern that you think would suit this yarn?

It’s got to be simple because of the marled nature of the yarn–it would just take away from any lace or cables or texture stitches (although some around the edges would be okay). Gauge-wise, the yarn-weight is just about fingering weight. It would make perfectly nice socks if I were so inclined (and wanted lots of them). But, of course, my gauge will be off-the -charts loose, so that’s something to keep in mind, too.

I’ve mentioned my weird gauge issues a couple times this post. Can you think why? Well, yes, because as I’ve mentioned many times before, my personal knitting gauge is beyond bizarre in terms of looseness. But also … you may have noticed that you haven’t seen a finished, modelled picture of the Flutter-Sleeve cardi? Um, yeah. It doesn’t fit particularly well.

Surprisingly, the width of it is really quite good–knitting the entire sweater on size 1 needles definitely helped–but the length. Obviously my row gauge was way off from my swatch (as usual). It’s not truly terrible except … the placement of the button holes, which should be just under the bust, are at my stomach–not particularly flattering.

All is not lost. I just need to think of something … Sewing closed the buttonholes I’ve got and doing after-thought buttons for better placement is one option. Removing the buttonbands all together and making newer, shorter ones and then stretching them to fit (thereby making the length of the front opening shorter) is another. I’ve even played with the idea of running yarn or ribbon along the top and back to gather everything in a little to make the front fall where it should. I haven’t given up, and darn it, I’m GOING to figure something out because this sweater is lovely. But in the meantime, well, all I can say is that gauge swatches LIE. Especially to me. (You remember Autumn Rose, Celtic Icon, Union Square Market Pullover, Celtic Dreams…. Really, I don’t know why I bother with swatches at all!)

And, sheesh, I really need to come up with a knitting method that pulls my gauge back to somewhere in the ballpark of normal people. It would be so refreshing to knit with a needle larger than a US size 4 for a change….

But–don’t forget–any ideas about a good pattern for this yarn?

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
11 Comments »

There you go. One, finished bobbin of plied yarn, posing with the two bobbins of singles that will make up the second bobbin of plied yarn . . . any day now, once, um, I’ve started plying it.

I finished the plying last night just before bed and wound it off into a skein at lunchtime (since it was raining and therefore not walking weather anyway). Besides, I only have one plying bobbin for my Majacraft and needed to free it up to be able to do the second half. This skein, meanwhile, is drip-drying in the bathroom as we speak.

As you can see, it was an April-Showers kind of day. It more or less drizzled for most of the day, though the sun is out now. (You know, now that it’s too late to get Chappy out for a walk.)

Mom gave Dad and I a scare at lunch-time. She was trying a diet drink today (one of those meal-substitute drinks) and had an allergic reaction–though we don’t know to what, exactly. But the right side of her tongue swelled, and the gums on the right side of her mouth, and the whole, right side of her head felt odd. It was a gradual thing, though, that developed over an hour after she drank it, and started to subside after she took a Claritin. But, how weird is that? We’ve looked over the ingredient list and can’t find anything that looks like something she’d be allergic to, but clearly, something in there did not agree with her. Is it common for an allergic reaction to only affect the right side like that?

Otherwise–it’s been a fairly normal Tuesday. Although, my knitting bag is still empty. I’m thinking that this blue yarn of mine wants to be a cardigan, though, and maybe, once that first skein is dry, I’ll do something about it . . .

Oh, and I got distracted for a good half hour tonight, watching Victor Borge videos on YouTube. Do you remember him? Not only was he a fabulous pianist, he had a wonderful sense of humor, and I adored watching him.  The bit with the page-turning is hilarious. And I always loved his Phonetic Punctuation and Inflationary Language. But really, it’s just the sheer fun he brings to his acts that was so fantastic.

Here are a couple of internet April Fool’s jokes for you: Think Geek has some, er, interesting items for sale. (Love the lock at the bottom.) And Google’s new project sounds challenging. Flying penguins, anyone?

Tags: Family, Finished Spinning, General by --Deb
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Here are the books I read in March:

1. All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (404 p.) The last of the “good” Pern books, in my opinion–one of my favorite sci-fi series. Here, the people of Pern finally beat Thread once and for all….

2. Song of the Beast by Carol Berg (467 p.) Her books usually come in series, but this one is a stand-alone. Aidan–cousin to the king and master bard–has spent the last 17 years in prison for reasons he doesn’t understand. Now, he is free but hunted by the dragon handlers who seem to hold a grudge. Carol Berg writes a masterful fantasy book, almost always filled with heartache and suffering, and this one certainly fits … very good.

3. Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (321 p.)
4. Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (359 p.) These are the two “Pre-Liaden” books, telling the story of Liaden’s far-distant beginnings, how Cantra yos’Phelium and M. Jela meet and ride the luck to help save the galaxy. Excellent sci-fi, though I prefer the “real” Liaden books better, if only because I so like the settled world they created first. I enjoy reading about these beginnings, but love reading the core books more.

5. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (266 p.) A YA book that I would have loved when I was 12 but kind of bored me as an adult. Peggy is newly-orphaned and sent to her family’s home in New England where she’s soundly ignored by her uncle but visited by Colonial-era ghosts who tell her their story … So disappointing–if only I’d discovered it 30 years ago.

6. Dark Watcher by Lilith Saintcrow (186 p.) A modern, urban fantasy book. Theodora is a greatly-gifted witch being hunted (unbeknownst to her), and has been assigned a Watcher named Dante to keep her safe. Good enough book though I didn’t love it–but then, urban fantasy isn’t my favorite.

7. Standing Still by Kelly Simmons (262 p.) Claire suffers from panic attacks, but when she finds an intruder about to kidnap her daughter from her bed, she asks that he take her instead–which he does. This is a first novel by a fellow knitter (I heard about it on Ravelry first) and was very good. Not as intense as the premise sounds, it’s really a very … mellow … kind of story, restricted almost entirely to the hotel room where Claire is held captive. It’s not a daring-escape, edge-of-your-seat kind of story, but it was good. (Which, since it got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly is pretty much what you’d expect, right?)

8. Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb (662 p.) Fantasy, first in a series. Fitz has been living a quiet, isolated life for years, but suddenly is brought back to Court by a threat to the Prince … standard kind of fantasy, well-done, enjoyable enough.
9. The Arm of the Stone by Victoria Strauss (426 p.) Also fantasy. Imagine that the gifts of mind power (telepathy, and so on) used to be part of our world until The Stone was stolen and all the magical towns and people suddenly were in a splintered alternate world? And that that world cracked down on any technological advances as blasphemy? And that one family was destined, in secret, to reclaim the stone that had once belonged to their ancestor? This was really excellent.

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (309 p.)
11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (341 p.)
12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (345 p.)
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (734 p.)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (870 p.)
14. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling–Just this little, YA fantasy series you might have heard of? I’m pretty proud of myself for resisting rereading book seven since I read it in July, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire series from beginning to end.

15. Wood: Craft, Culture, History by Harvey Green (405 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a history of wood, its uses, and how the need of it has affected human development. Informative, well-researched, nicely-written, but not exactly gripping as a story (grin). Still, it was interesting to learn that “hardwood” and “softwood” are not actually defined by the relative strength of the woods, but by the way the trees actually grow. I had no idea–I had just always assumed that hardwood was, well, hard!

16. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermeyer (320 p.) First in an epistolary trilogy–written in the form of letters between two cousins in post-Napoleonic England in an alternate world where magic actually exists. Charming. Fun. Good read.

17. Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True by Elizabeth Berg (223 p.) A very nice book about writing–tips on how to write, how to discipline yourself to write, how to find inspiration … all that.

18. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin (636 p.) Excellent–which, since it won the Pulitzer, shouldn’t be surprising. This tells the story of the Roosevelts during WWII and was fascinating. They certainly had an interesting marriage, but, wow, was Eleanor ever a woman ahead of her time. I’ve never really read a book about her, even though she’s always mentioned on lists of “great women,” and just based on this book alone I’m incredibly impressed. Fascinating story–this is exactly the kind of history book I like best. Stories of the people and personal interactions going on and the way they affected the bigger events unfolding. Because, really, if you don’t know about the people, the rest is just names and dates, right?

19. The Grand Tour by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemeyer (469 p.) The second of this trilogy–Kate and Cecy are now married and travelling together on their wedding journey, when they (and their husbands) stumble on a mysterious plot focusing on various magical ruins about Europe. I don’t think this is as good as the first book, but part of that is because they’re not letters. Instead, Kate is writing in her journal and Cecy is telling her story as part of a deposition–it loses that personal connection of telling the events to someone. But still, enjoyable.

20. The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevemeyer (328 p.) Third of the trilogy and it takes place ten years later–another mystery but this time with added children. At least it’s back to direct-address letters again, this time with Thomas and James (the husbands) chiming in with their own. Good, but the first book is still the best.

21. The Garden of the Stone by Victoria Strauss (485 p.) The sequel to The Arm of the Stone, and definitely the weaker of the two. It takes place about 30 years after the first book and focuses on Cariad, Bron’s daughter who has never met him but has been trained as an assassin and wants nothing more than to kill Jolyon for his part in her parents’ downfall. This had its moments but I don’t think it was nearly as good as the first one–Cariad and her story just wasn’t as interesting as Bron’s story in the earlier book, and the best part of this one was when Konstant finds Bron in “our” world….

22. Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan (281 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a book about how to clean things with environmentally-sound products. As in, instead of using harsh detergents that just leach into the world’s water supply, things you can use instead to clean anything from your floor to your furniture to your bathroom to your jewelry. Now I just need some spray bottles to mix some of my own….

23. A Test of Wills by Charles Todd (305 p.) Mystery, first in its series, with Inspector Rutledge taking the lead. It’s 1919 and he’s just back from WWI and suffering from “shell-shock” (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) but struggling to pick up his life as a Scotland Yard inspector. Very good mystery. Enjoyed it a lot.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
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