Does it get simpler (or better) than spinning and reading?

You’ll be relieved to know that my spinning wheel has at least gotten about 20 minutes’ worth of spinning time over the last couple of days. Not a LOT of time, perhaps, but still, better than it was getting!

And, it’s HARD taking a picture of yourself spinning (without using a tripod and self-timer), but I tried. Just as proof.

Oh–it’s Mom’s 100th post over at her MV blog. Go congratulate her on her milestone, huh?

Mostly, though, I’ve been bit by the nostalgia bug today and have been revisiting a few old, favorite books. Like the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It’s been years since I read any of these, and I’ve more or less had a smile on my face all afternoon. From the stories to the Garth Williams illustrations, they’re just a delight.

It’s been in my collection so long, I even have a card-catalog card from back when I actually kept a card-catalog of my very own. (I do keep telling you that I’m a librarian at heart, right?) That goes back to around the time I was 10, I think. I used Mom’s old, manual type-writer but no longer remember what the star I drew at the bottom meant. Maybe it was marking it as a favorite? Nor do I remember the reason for the “7″ written at the top. (Written with a horizontal bar across it, too. Funny, I thought I’d only been doing that since high school, but obviously, it’s been longer than that.) The book, though, cost $1.50, so it’s obviously been in my collection for a while. My copies of the “core” books (Praririe, Plum Creek, Long Winter) are newer editions. When we were little, my sister was the one who owned copies of those. She would let me borrow them, but they were hers. At some point, after she got married and moved away, I bought copies of my own. I mean, you’ve got to keep the library current, right?

I can’t help thinking, too, about what great books they are for children to read. I think it’s important to have a sense about how life has changed, and how people used to live, but also, there are so many references to Laura wanting to burst out laughing, or to ask questions, or to keep that half a cookie for herself instead of sharing with Carrie. It’s so easy to forget, in this age of plentitude, how scarce things used to be, or how different childrens’ lives were than they are now. I think it’s good for children to read about a time when children weren’t the center of everybody’s attention, and when they were expected to have manners and behave, instead of feeling entitled to all the attention they wanted. I certainly spent plenty of time when I was little wanting to be the center of attention, and it was good for me to have that “Children should be seen and not heard” mantra repeated every now and again in these books–because even though it’s not necessarily true now, it’s never a bad thing to realize that it used to be. How can a child feel lucky and blessed by all the modern benefits if they don’t know that it didn’t used to be true. (I can still remember how shocked I was when I realized that, say, the Pilgrims didn’t have running water. No electricity, sure, that I knew, but no WATER? How was that possible?) I think the “seen and not heard” rule is kind of extreme these days, and woul have hated it when I was little, but reading about how Laura had to put up with it and control herself was definitely a good influence on me.

I always rather related to Laura, being the younger sister to a “perfect” older sister … I wonder if Mary was really as good as Laura always thought she was, or if it was just that she was older and had a head-start at manners and self-control. Because I know that, being the younger sister myself, I more or less always felt that she was “better,” as in better-behaved, than I was. It didn’t seem like she got yelled at for being naughty or noisy nearly as often as I did, but I think that two and a half year headstart worked in her favor. I don’t actually think that I was that naughty a child (I hope), or that she was so perfect (I also hope), just that … when you’re four or five it’s just not possible to be as “effortlessly” good as your six or seven year old sister.

Okay, now, speaking of reading, I’ve got to go get my monthly reading list written up. I can’t believe it’s the end of May already….

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Old-Time Entertainment // 6 Comments »

I have shown this picture before, but darn it, I showed you Mom’s embroidery last week! This is some of the detail from my Carl Larsson embroidery. I took my favorite painting, traced it, blew it up on a copy machine, traced it onto fabric and then sat for a year with embroidery floss and a stitch encyclopedia and recreated it. I absolutely adore this picture. And, besides, my new camera does a great job, capturing details….

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Larsson // 9 Comments »

Here’s my poor spinning wheel, getting dusty, poor thing.

It’s about the best picture I have for you tonight, though I tried. Twice, while I was out driving today.

The first time was when I passed 44,444 (and 4/10ths) on my odometer. I had my camera all ready for it, and it even conveniently happened on a stretch of road where I was able to pull over to safely take the picture … but my camera’s battery was dead. Sure, it wouldn’t have been an exciting photo, but it’s a milestone of sorts. But, okay, whatever.

The second time, though? Okay. I saw a turkey.

A real, honest-to-god, Thanksgiving turkey. The kind you expect to see standing next to a Pilgrim with a musket. Not just a plain-jane kind of wild turkey, but a full tom turkey in all his feathery glory. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I pulled over to the side of the road and started to reach for my camera and then … realized the battery was still dead.

Argh!

Which means that I’m left with not a whole lot more to show you.

So, how about another spinning picture?

Oh, and here’s an interesting link. What would you think about a berry that makes sour things taste sweet?

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Little Things // 5 Comments »

The sleeves are coming along, see?

Okay, it’s hard to see, but they’re about 6″ long and I’m working on both of them at the same time, so in this picture, the sweater is more or less folded in half and both sleeves are pointing off to the left. The beauty of this system is that they’re both using exactly the same amount of yarn at the same time, so that I can’t run out. It’s amazing how quickly they’re going, too. It occurred to me earlier that that’s probably because the sleeves are the first part of this sweater I’ve been able to do in the round, rather than back and forth with purl rows. That, and the rows are getting progressively smaller as time goes on, although it’s possible I’ve decreased a little more steeply than I should. To be sure, I’d need to transfer the sleeves to separate needles so I can try the sweater on. But, still … happy! It’s going to be so refreshing to have a finished sweater that FITS for a change. Top-down knitting is just fabulous in so many ways, and Barbara Walker is a genius.

Has anybody else notice how many people have had their spinning mojo reinvigorated lately? I need to find out how, because it’s been almost a month and a half since I did any spinning–which is awful! I think my Little Gem is starting to feel like a second-class, Little Cut Glass or something, poor thing.

And–is it just me, or is everybody getting fewer comments lately? My e-mail box goes hours at a time without having any comments to alert me to, and we’re both trying to convince ourselves that it’s because it’s practically summertime and people are just busy doing other things, like gardening. I swear, every other blog I read lately is talking about gardening–which is fine, really. I think fresh vegetables and flowers are wonderful things, I just have no interest in growing them myself. Although, with the way prices are going these days…. Anyway, is it just me?

My laptop is relieved that that initial Mozy backup is finally finished. It started it took four full days from beginning to end, and now my laptop is tired, poor thing (grin). I’m sure it’s looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Chappy, on the other hand, had plenty of time to rest today because he was alone for hours at a time–an unusual thing for him, since one or both of his grandparents are usually nearby. I think he’s been feeling just a little sorry for himself, but I gave him an extra big biscuit after supper, and he did get a walk at lunchtime, so really, I don’t think he’s suffering that much. Certainly, he hasn’t been looking like he felt anywhere near as nasty as he looked on Sunday.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Sleeving // 13 Comments »

Mom was going through her MV notes today and just realized … our little doll Cindy is 20 years old today. She’s from “Dolls by Pauline” who used to make these sweet-faced, cloth dolls and something about her face and her brown braids just made Mom and me fall in love with her. We even took her on vacation, and she “adopted” this stuffed dog, from whom she is inseparable. (His name is “Mittens” because he’s really a puppet and does a fabulous job keeping your hand warm.)

We bought another doll the next year when we went back to MV, and then two more … From left to right, this is Leslie, Annette, Cindy, and April. Cindy is the oldest, than Annette, with the curly blonde hair. The others are the same age, and they all came from the Secret Garden store in Oak Bluffs.

Pauline does still technically have cloth dolls on her website, but they’re not the same. They’re more “cutesy” and have yarn hair, and most of the other dolls are porcelain with little sneers on their faces. Or at least, that’s what I think–they don’t look appealing to me at all. I don’t like a doll who clearly thinks she’s better than me. Although, I suppose, it’s rude to complain since Pauline died a couple of years ago.

Mustn’t forget Harriet, either.

  Harriet belongs to April and dangles from her hand just like a favorite doll should. I confess, I’ve always had a soft spot for Harriet.

Really, though, they’re such sweet dolls. I can’t believe we’ve had them for twenty years. Mom and I have had a lot of fun with them, too. Cindy used to get into all sorts of hijinx around the house while I was off at work. Who says you’re supposed to outgrow dolls when you grow up?

  Oh, and another “feet” picture for you … the dog-tired variation, belonging to my exhausted Chappy last night. Cleaning the deck the other day sure wore him out!

• Tags: General, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Pauline’s // 4 Comments »

So, the next decision, now that the sweater is nearing completion, is what to do with these.

These four are the skeins of MV Fiber Farm yarn I brought home last month.

Now the two skeins of red sock yarn are destined to be socks for Susan IF she ever gets around to giving me her foot measurements. Which had better be soon, or this sock yarn is going to lose its place in line, because my current socks are almost finished and I do need to have knitting in my purse. (You all understand that, I know.)

The other two skeins, though … I don’t know what I want to do with them, but I do know that I want to do something with them sooner rather than later. I don’t want to wait until Autumn, I want to play with this pretty yarn NOW.

The problem is that I have the hardest time coming up with small projects. I like sweaters–the kind of projects you can really sink your teeth into (without being completely overwhelming, like an afghan). When I start thinking about projects for just one or two skeins of yarn . . . (yawn). I get bored. Which, you have to admit, is not a good start.

Any suggestions? It’s beautiful yarn, the colors look great together, it’s soft and delectable. 70% kid mohair and 30% cormo wool, about 250 yds, which makes it worsted weight. I keep thinking that something nice and warm for the winter would be nice, like a hood, since I love hoods. Except the picture that keeps flitting through my head is a nice, roomy, reversable hood that would be saffron on one side and parsley on the other, but I don’t think there’s enough yarn for that.  Or, maybe some kind of cowl/neck-warmer to keep my neck warm on cold winter walks? A scarf? Even a hat, if I could find the right kind of pattern … but, really, all of these ideas leave me cold, because they’re (to me) boring, little projects, and I don’t want to be bored while working with this yarn. It’s much too lovely to be bored!

And so it just sits there on my dresser, looking delectable and taunting me.

It’s been a lazy day here, today. Memorial Day, so I didn’t have to go to work, but we’re all tired from all the fun yesterday. Especially Chappy, who has more or less been flat all day. We took him for a walk around lunchtime, but otherwise, he’s pretty much been napping all day. It’s been a pretty day–about 82 degrees and sunny–though the house feels a little warm.

My computer is working very hard right now because I’m trying to be responsible and back it up. I have an external drive that I back my “My Documents” folder to every now and again, but having something more reliable is never a bad thing, so I signed up for Mozy, which should take the “remembering” part out of it, and which does a backup online, so that even if my computer were to crash, the backup is safely somewhere else. The only problem is that the initial backup is slow and is literally taking days. As in, this has been running since Saturday and still has an estimate of 1 day, 15 hours to go–during which, of course, I can’t turn off my computer. So my laptop is running rather hot, poor thing. It has been lately, anyway, which worries me. I bought it a cooling pad–which basically just means another noisy fan to run–but still, this can’t be good for it. And as much as I love the thought of a new computer, it’s just not an option right now! So … I’m being more responsible about backing it up, in the meantime, and got it something new to help keep it cool, and hopefully that will help.

I hope you all have had a good weekend (or a good Monday, as the case may be). I’ll be back at work tomorrow and, no doubt, Chappy will be home sulking because he’ll finally be rested and his Mom won’t be here to do anything with (poor boy)! How is it possible that it’s the end of May already??

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Next Up? // 6 Comments »

Today, we had a quiet, little birthday celebration for my niece and nephew. Here, Chappy and my nephew are waiting for dinner (the lasagna I made yesterday) to be served.

After dinner, the boys went outside to scrub the deck clean. It’s true, it mostly, really, still needs a power-cleaning, but at least it’s not disgustingly dirty any more (grin).

Chappy really had fun with that (look how skinny his legs look!)….

Or, at least, he mostly had fun!

(Okay, he was just reaching for the rubber broom, but my, doesn’t he look viscious?)

In fact, let’s take another look at that. Oooh … mean doggy! (Just kidding.)

The cake was lit, as was the biiiiiig chocolate chip cookie my sister brought.

Candles lit, and then blown out.

(Most of them.)

I got some knitting done on my cardigan, too.

I’ve got both sleeves started–here’s a close-up at one of them. Stitches picked up along the armhole and joined to the bottom as each of the beginning rows was knit. From here on, the sleeves are knit circularly. I’m working from both ends of the same skein of yarn and now need to decide whether I want to knit the sleeves at the exact same time or if I want to “tag-team” them, where I’ll knit, on 10 rows on one sleeve, then 10 rows on the other, working individually, but without either of them getting too far ahead of its friend. Because they HAVE to be the same length and I CAN’T afford to run out of yarn on either of them. Doing them together is just the safest thing to do. And it’s a comfort having the button bands done and not having to worry about them.

And now we’re all just happily tired. Especially Chappy, who is just exhausted from all that scrubbing!

• Tags: Family • Permalink:Birthdaying // 5 Comments »

And, today, my niece is nineteen. Nineteen! How did that happen?

It seems like about 5 minutes ago that she was just a teeny little person. I’m pretty sure I’ve made it clear, over the years, how proud I am of her. She and my nephew both are pretty impressive young adults–and how fantastic is it that they’re part of MY family?? What luck!

They’re coming down tomorrow for a birthday celebration (since my sister only just threw a party two weeks ago), an we’re all looking forward to seeing them.

Chappy helped his grandpa sweep the deck. (Which really needs more help than just sweeping. It’s filthy, but we don’t have a power washer and Dad insists that it’s not worth even bothering using the hose. Whatever.)

I made lasagne for dinner. Mom was going to put it together, but she was helping Dad with something else and I needed to be in the kitchen anyway, so I volunteered.

I, of course, was making something to go into the cake box.

Oh, so while my supper was cooking, I figured I’d run outside and take a Saturday Sky picture–something I haven’t done in a while. So, I stepped out to the front walk, aimed my camera, took a couple pictures, and turned for the door….

And, suddenly, I wasn’t alone anymore. There was a dragonfly, brazenly trying to break into the house in broad daylight! Naturally, I opted NOT to put my hand there to go inside, but of course I paused to take his picture. You know, so that when I file the police report, I can give them a good ID on the almost-intruder. Then, while he wasn’t looking, I snuck around to the garage and came in that way, hurriedly stirring my dinner on the stove before tiptoeing to the front door and making sure it was locked–just in case!

Chappy, I want you to know, completely ignored this entire incident. What kind of watch dog does that?? Of course, he might have been busy writing his guest-post for his grandma’s blog….

Anyway, happy birthday, niece!

• Tags: Family • Permalink:Nineteen // 6 Comments »

I had the day off from work today and since it was SO much prettier than last Friday, Mom and I went out … to the bookstore! (Ooooh.) Well, it makes ME happy, anyway, and I picked up The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough. It’s a book I’ve planned on reading for ages, but since it’s its 125th birthday tomorrow, I figured now was the time.

Of course, what I should have done was go to a yarn shop and pick up 16″ needles for the sleeve of my sweater. I’m doing the Magic Loop thing which should be fine (I’ve certainly done it often enough on other things like necks and sleeves as well as socks) but since I only have the correct needle in two lengths–24″ and 47″–I’m using the longer one and all that extra, curly cable is driving me nuts. And tomorrow I have to bake a cake and do some birthday stuff, so I don’t have time to run to Montclair to pick up the correct needle (and Nonna’s doesn’t carry the Addi Lace needles in the right size, I’ve already checked). Sigh. I suppose I could try another brand and keep my fingers crossed about the gauge?? (gulp)

It was a pretty quiet day, though. Nice and sunny, and in the mid- to upper-60s with a breeze. Chappy got out for his first walk since something like last Thursday, which has made him a little blue. It was a short one, since I was so tired (yes, sorry), but he didn’t care. He was just glad to be OUT. I took a nap this afternoon, too.

And, okay, he’s not really, literally blue. I had reset the White Balance on my camera the other night to try to capture the colors in my sweater more accurately–the light in my bedroom is rather yellow–and I forgot to change it back when I pulled my camera out yesterday. I didn’t realize until I’d taken this picture of Chappy and saw him looking blue rather than chocolate.

Which also explains why these pictures of the pine tree out back came out rather blue, themselves….

And, isn’t this a great story about a search-and-rescue dog who got the perfect reward for her life of helping others?

Have a good weekend, everyone.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Bridge // 4 Comments »

We’ve had this picture hanging in our house practically my entire life. Mom made it the year my sister was in first grade, so… about 1969-1970. The perfect, embroidered representation of Flower Power Pop Art. Mom did a lot of crewel work embroidery when we were little–not only did it keep her hands busy, but it was an inexpensive way to decorate the house, too. These days, she does counted cross-stitch, but I’ve always been partial to these multi-stitched pictures of hers. And this one? Well, it’s been hanging in our upstairs hallway since we moved into the house in 1975 and I can see it from where I’m sitting. It wouldn’t feel like home without it.

(And, again, I am just amazed at the quality of the pictures this camera takes … it doesn’t matter how far you zoom in on these things, the stitches and fabric are still clear. Amazing.)

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Pop! // 7 Comments »

I mentioned yesterday that I hadn’t actually thought to check to make sure my buttons and my button holes were simpatico, so I figured I should check now, while there’s still plenty of time to get replacement buttons before I need them. (Finding out they were the wrong size when I was all ready to sew them on would be frustrating.) But, as luck would have it, I planned just right and they’re the perfect size. I lined up a couple and then slid one halfway through the next hole, just so I could show you a picture.

As to the other button possibilities? I suppose either of these could have worked, if they had had to–silver goes with the blue, of course, and the multi-color kind of sort of mostly works, but it doesn’t do anything for the sweater at all.

No, I really, really like this blue button.

And, besides, how exciting is showing you a picture of my one-row-long sleeve, for heaven’s sake?

Okay, this was cute…

Last night, after we’d said good night to Mom and Dad, Chappy and I headed into our room and he burrowed under his towel to snooze. I had just picked up my camera to snap this picture–all you can see is his nose, and the tips of his two front paws, and I thought he looked adorable–when Mom came upstairs for bed.

Instead of just sleeping through the noise in the hallway like he usually does, Chappy jumped out of his crate and went running to the door. So, there he was, standing there, still covered in his blanket, wagging his tail, hoping his Grandma would open the door to say goodnight. Awww! So I got up and went to open the door, and luckily Mom had turned around when she heard me gushing at all the cuteness, because she saw him draped in his towel just before he charged down the hallway to say goodnight to Dad again … who had just taken off his socks, so naturally, Chappy promptly stole one of them. I intercepted him at the top of the stairs (he takes them to the dining room) and then he good-naturedly went back to Mom and Dad’s room wagging his tail to get some more pets and love, before prancing back to our room. Boy, he was feeling good about that little excursion! He pounced on his chew bone and stretched out on the floor, pleased as punch with himself. If he’d been a cat, he would have been purring.

• Tags: Chappy, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:More about Buttons // 7 Comments »

Well, I promised you pictures of the button bands on my sweater, so here you go. You can see how it’s identical on both side, thanks to the double-knitting. The button holes are nice and firm. (Though I haven’t tested out my already-purchased buttons yet. They’re just going to have to fit.) Very nice, don’t you think?

Not only that, I did a whole row on the first sleeve tonight. That is, I picked up the 80-ish stitches and then knitted the first row. I know, exhausting.

Although, actually, considering how tired I was when I came home from work today, that’s pretty impressive. All I really wanted to do was nap (grin). My temperature, for those of you who are interested, has been normal every time I’ve tested it today (though never the same twice, go figure). I’m just tired, though that makes sense, really, since my body has been working extra hard lately for something.

I’ve barely taken any pictures with my new camera the last few, feverish days, but I did take this one through my wet window. The bright green tips on the pine branches keep making me think of fingers, don’t ask me why….

Did you hear about the lost parrot who told a vet his name and his address so he could be reunited with his family? (No, really!) It took them two years to teach it to him (and that family can never move), but didn’t that pay off well?

Next time you’re thinking to yourself, “That could never work,” take a look at this list of fabulous quotes that prove otherwise. Never assume something won’t work, you never know until you try! (I particularly like the quote about why the Yale paper that stood as the foundation of Fedex got a “C” because it wasn’t feasible. I wonder if it’s too late to get his grade revised?)

Okay, rant ahead….

In the Irritating category, our cable company decided today that five channels–Sci-Fi, TLC, A&E, the Travel Channel, and E!–no longer qualify as basic cable. The only way to watch them is through an IO box. Well, we have two of those–one in my parents’ room, and one in the living room, but not in the kitchen, and not in my room. Which means that I can’t watch What Not to Wear on Friday nights anymore. And I’m thanking my lucky stars that I never could get in the habit of remembering to watch Battlestar Galactica because it’s a show I would probably be hooked on and it would now be impossible for me to watch. (Because, while I could theoretically record it downstairs, that would mean my Mom couldn’t watch the news down there before she came up to bed, because the cable box would have to be on the Sci-Fi channel to be able to record it.)

I am just so frustrated by this. I understand the necessity of keeping people from stealing premium cable, and I understand that if you want those extra, nifty IO features, you need the box, but it seems that the more that gets added as “New Features!” the less you actually get for your money and the more you have to pay to use anything. Remember when television was free? Once you bought your set, that was it–you waved the rabbit ears around or attached it to an antenna on the roof and there you were. Sure, you only had about 10 channels, but who cared? Then there was the option of cable, so you could get nifty channels like HBO and the Weather Channel … but you could still tune in to free television if you wanted it. And you could still use the cool features that came on your television, like the picture-in-picture option. Not to mention that once you bought a VCR, you could record one show while watching another (which, for me, was and still is the best part about a VCR–being able to record things while doing or watching something else). But, in the last 10 years or so, suddenly you need a cable (or satellite) box to watch anything. You can’t use picture-in-picture or your VCR anymore because the only signal you get is whatever channel your cable box is tuned to.

Not that people use VCRs anymore. Because along came Tivo, which is theoretically wonderful except you have to pay extra for that, too! Which means it’s still not something I’ve got. I’d love to, but can’t afford it. Which means that I’m stuck with what I can (1) watch live or (2) can record somewhere else in the house and physically carry down to watch with Mom. Which means, guess what? I’m still using my VCR. I have a DVD recorder in my room, but I can’t play one of those disks on any other machine in the house until it’s “finalized,” and frankly, it’s not worth it for one episode of a show that happens to be scheduled opposite something else we like to watch–which happens way too often. (Don’t get me started on that, either–there are so many nights that I can’t find a single thing to watch, and then all my favorite shows get scheduled on top of each other.)

And now, in 2008, I can’t even watch A&E anymore. I’ve been watching that since they used to show, remember this, actual Arts and Entertainment? Like, the occasional opera? You all know I love new technology and new gadgets, and all that, but I swear I get less and less functionality on my television every year. We simply cannot afford more IO boxes. We can’t afford to get the special IO-brand DVR box (since they tell us that our system doesn’t accept Tivo anyway). I can’t record one thing while I watch something else. I can’t record a show in my bedroom to watch later with my Mother (which, incidentally, is why neither of us has gotten to watch the season finale of “Chuck” yet). They’ll tout all these “wonderful” features like free HDTV or free-on-demand, but that doesn’t do us any good because we don’t have an HD-compatible television in the family room anyway, and let’s face it, they’ll probably start charging for that next time around. Or, rather, they’ll give the “HD” television for free and charge people for having older televisions. Because they can.

This is a problem that Lucy and Ricky never would have dreamed of in a million years.

Okay, rant over. I’m going to go climb into bed now.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Ready to Button // 9 Comments »

Happy 15th Birthday to my long, tall nephew. I just can’t believe how fast he’s growing up. Well, years-wise, he’s got a few more to go, but height-wise? I’m not quite sure if he’s caught up to my brother-in-law yet, but he’s at least six-seven inches taller than me, now. He’s funny and smart and loves being outdoors, preferably on his bike.

He loves dogs–though Chappy is (had better be!) his favorite–and he hasn’t convinced his mom to let him have one. He has a bunny named Snowshoe, though, so there’s at least some pettable fur in his life. (Funnily, he didn’t get an angora bunny–why get a bunny if you can’t get spinnable fiber from it? But maybe that’s just me?)

I love watching him with his little cousin Kaitlyn, too. Last year was the first time I’d ever seen him around a baby, and being a teenage boy I expected him to be awkward and stand-offish around a baby, but he wasn’t at all. He was entranced, and I was enchanted.

He’s come a long way in the last fifteen years, but as always, I still think he’s the coolest thing in nephews.

Speaking of cool things, my temperature seemed to be more or less normal most of the day until about 3:00. I came home, said goodbye to the parents (who were going to a picnic in the rain) and then promptly fell asleep for over an hour and a half and right now, my temp is somewhere around 100. Now, naturally, since I was feeling better, I didn’t call the doctor today, but now am thinking I probably should have gotten an appointment, but it’s almost 7:00 so calling will have to wait until tomorrow. I’ve eaten supper (an egg for protein and a waffle with strawberry sauce–using the extra waffle batter from Sunday) and am about to take my shower, and then we’ll see how I feel about knitting for the evening.

Because, I didn’t knit at all last night. I was going to start the sleeve on my sweater, but the next bit requires thinking and I didn’t WANT to think–so we’ll have to see how well my brain is working an hour from now.

I did watch the House season finale last night and it almost made me cry. How I Met Your Mother was a decent episode, too (and Mom and I love the Big Bang Theory). And, no, I am apparently one of the few people in the country who is not watching Dancing with the Stars, and tonight is the Reaper season finale. Even though I kind of lost interest during its long break, I am kind of curious as to how they’re going to tie things together–when they made the finale, they didn’t know if the show would be renewed or not, so I’m expecting a decent amount of closure. So, anyway, it’s possible that I’ll spend my evening with the television and my book instead of my knitting. (Because, of course, if I’m not doing anything else in front of the tv, I’m reading. Because you know me, I’m always reading!)

Anyway, happy birthday, nephew!!

• Tags: Family • Permalink:Fifteen // 9 Comments »

Well, I’m still dealing with a low fever today. In fact, I’m kind of shivering right now, which is making the typing challenging, and Chappy won’t come and lend me his body heat by sitting in my lap. (I tried, actually, and he ended up leaking on the blanket I had wrapped around us which is now in the wash.) It’s been an interesting day, though. Every time I eat or drink something, my body temperature changes. I’m shivering right now, for example, because I had a tall glass of cold water with supper. When I woke up (shivering) this morning, my temperture was 99.4, but after eating a bowl of hot oatmeal, my temperature was 100.3 for heading to the office. For the several hours this morning when I ate or drank nothing at all, my temperature felt about normal.

The only thing I can really think of, since my throat is just ever-so-slightly sore, that I may have an ear infection. Mostly because it ached a little last week–only for a day, but still, enough that if it had hurt for a second day I would have called the doctor. So, maybe even though it doesn’t hurt, there’s something going on in there? Maybe? But, yes, if I’m still feverish by tomorrow night, I’ll call the doctor anyway. Meanwhile, I’ve been taking Advil for the fever, and I had some of the Energy drink that Dad is selling, and I took the afternoon off from work. Except for the temperature fluctuations, I really feel quite normal and if I had had more to do, I would have headed back after lunch, but as it was, I figured I was better off at home with Chappy and my book. Even if he is kind of ignoring me. I think he’s upset that I’m not healthy and is holding a grudge–almost every time I look at him, his head is turned away, like he’s disgusted at the very sight of me.

In knitting, I finished my second button band last night and will start picking up sleeve stitches tonight, and then, if tonight is anything like the last couple nights have been, I’ll be climbing into bed around 10:00. Hopefully I won’t spend the whole night in a clenched, shivering ball tonight (even with the wool comforter).

But, hmm, I wonder how many more calories I’m burning, not to mention muscles I’m toning while I sleep that way?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Still Shivering my Posting Timbers // 6 Comments »

Well, in addition to the massive heatwave socking in the west coast of the U.S. this weekend, I’ve been having my own little internal one. For some, unknown reason, I’ve been running a temperature this afternoon. No idea why. It’s pretty much back to normal now (99.1, I just checked), but when I tested it about 3:00, it was 100.9–which, of course, explained why I was feeling so cold and slightly achy. (Actually, the first time I took my temperature was about 10 minutes after drinking a cup of tea, and I feel that the 101.6 was drastically elevated by the hot beverage, so we’re ignoring that particular reading.) I spent most of the afternoon on the couch with Chappy and a book, though, took some Advil, and am now feeling more or less like myself.

It was strange, though, since I felt pretty much fine this morning. I made waffles for breakfast, did some cleaning, went for a nice walk with Mom, Dad, and Chappy before the rain moved in … who knows what caused that? I was more tired than usual last night, and just a little achy so that I went to bed a little earlier than usual, but, otherwise? It’s a mystery.

Of course, this makes for a not-very-interesting post since I haven’t really DONE anything. I should possibly finish the second button band on my sweater tonight. I’m glad that I did these before starting the sleeves, though. Since I’m not sure how much yarn I really have, I would have hated to have run out while doing the button bands after knitting full-length sleeves. I’d be quite happy with 3/4 or even elbow-length sleeves if that’s necessary, but that’s an easy adjustment to make–as would be the collar. If I need to, I can always do the neckband/collar with that contrasting blue merino, but the button bands really did need to match the fronts of the sweater, and I’m really happy with the way they’re looking. I promise photos when they’re done.

Really, this has been a pretty lazy weekend. Friday you already know was pretty much nothing but reading. Yesterday, Mom and I went out for coffee. I finished one of my socks which means I’ll pretty much get the second sock done the next time I pick it up. I made some blueberry strudel yesterday afternoon, as well as some strawberry sauce for this morning’s waffles.

I did Chappy’s nails yesterday, too, but would you believe that the Nail Grinder got so hot that I burned myself? One, tiny little blister on my finger, and some residual soreness for most of the afternoon. How weird is that? It never happened with my other Dremel, but that had a thicker case so it probably had a little more protection for the built-in heat. Although, this one is designed for doing dog’s nails and the other one wasn’t. Which is kind of worrying. But, now Chappy and I are both dreading doing his nails….

• Tags: General • Permalink:Heatwave // 4 Comments »

This is where I pretty much spent my entire day today–sitting on my favorite chair with Chappy. I had a vacation day off from work today but it was such a wet, dreary kind of day, I decided that I didn’t want to leave the house at all. So, I didn’t.

Instead, I relaxed with a book for most of the day–Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett–the second book in the Lymond Chronicle series, and my fourth time reading it. Really, an excellent book for such an otherwise blah kind of day. Action, adventure, romance, derring-do, political intrigue … great reading. Appropriate, too, because this is the tail end of “Reading is Fun” week, which I only just heard about yesterday.

I did some knitting with my reading, too. I’ve got both my current socks up to the final stretch of ribbing. I bet you’d forgotten that I was even knitting any socks, huh? Since I’ve barely mentioned them in the month and a half since I started them. The yarn is Claudia Hand-Painted in a green color whose official name I can’t remember, and they have been the only other knitting project I’ve worked on since I started my blue cardigan in April.

I know, weird, huh? But, this reminds me–Susan? I need to know your foot measurements, please!

Really, though, it’s been a nice, quiet day. It’s been a long time since I managed to stay away from my computer for any length of time, and that made for a nice change. And certainly Chappy and I enjoyed our time together, as always. The downside was that, since all four of us were home doing nothing very exciting, we had pretty much nothing to talk about at supper. Oh, well!

Another interesting link for you? How about this man’s performance art? He takes leaning on a wall to a whole, new level.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Lazy but Dry // 5 Comments »

I’m sure you can imagine why I love this one, right? I mean, it’s a girl with a basket of puppies!

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• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Basket // 2 Comments »

I know you’re all just panting to see another picture of my button band, so … see?

What? You want to know what the dots of color are?

Button markers. I plotted out where I wanted the buttons to be, and then knitted a contrasting yarn color into the corresponding stitch. This way–assuming I get my button holes knitted correctly (grin)–I’ll know exactly where the buttons go, and if I ever lose one, will know exactly where to sew the replacement. I carried the contrasting yarn along with my working yarn, so that the strand of it is knitted inside the double-knit band. I even did the contrast-marking on both sides, since the variegated yarn I picked had some fairly subtle blue in the middle that was hard to see against my blue yarn. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to make sure I could tell where the buttons go from both sides–just in case (grin).

Obviously, when it comes time to knit the second band with the actual button holes, I’ll be matching them to these markers. If I were to mess up, though? In a pinch, I could pull out this contrast yarn without affecting the rest of the button band. (Well, it would be a more laborious “picking” of the yarn than a simple “pull,” but still. You get the idea.)

Do you see the little visitor I saw in a tree outside my bedroom this afternoon? He’s not actually as close as he appears–I used my zoom lens and then cropped the picture, but still. I so seldom expect to see anyone eye-to-eye out there (grin).

Unless it’s a bird, of course.

I made dinner tonight because Mom was out with my niece, who took her to see “Kiss Me Kate” at the Papermill this afternoon, and then came back to have supper with us. They hit traffic, though, and were 10 minutes later than expected … which would have been fine except I had everything timed just right to be ready at 5:30 (yes, we eat early). To amuse myself while waiting, I went outside to take a couple of pictures (that’s a surprise, I know). And then I looked up…

You have to look kind of carefully, because what you’re looking at is through the window … but, see Chappy sitting on his chair, his eyes on the road, waiting for them to come home? I love the juxtaposition of the reflection of the street and yard in the window over Chappy’s face so that you can see exactly what he’s watching…. Kind of cool.

Oh–and the Applesauce Cake I showed you on Sunday? I’ve added the recipe to that post, if you’re interested.

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:A Place for Every Button…. // 10 Comments »

Remarkably little to write about. Headache. Tired. Didn’t get to knit tonight. Beautiful weather. Saw a deer and 3 wild turkeys at lunch. Cooked supper for all of us. Finished Sunday’s cake. Near the end of the first book of Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles (for the fourth time). Wandered the house with my camera after supper.
Pretty boring, really. Sorry about that.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Boring // 5 Comments »

A progress shot of my button band. I’m doing a double-knit band, and think it looks just fabulous. Hefty enough that it’s not curling at all, it looks smooth and seamless. Just lovely. Very pleased. This, obviously, is the first one and it’s only about half done, but … very pleased indeed.

As always, since it’s May 12th, I have to mention Katy, my first Boykin Spaniel. She would have been 7 years old today. The thought that she’s not here still breaks my heart, even though, really, if she hadn’t, er, stepped aside, I wouldn’t have Chappy. Which is unthinkable, of course. But, still. I miss her, anyway. (sniffle)

Speaking of missing, I got a e-mail from my best-friend today who told me she’s moving from the San Francisco area to L.A. to attend the A.F.I. Conservatory. Exciting news, huh? The interesting part is that she needs to find housing … Um, does anybody in the L.A. area have any recommendations? The school is near Griffith Park, if that means anything (grin), and she’s planning on moving in July.

On the plus side, the tv show Eli Stone has been renewed for another year. Woo hoo! I enjoyed that show so much when it came in as a mid-season replacement and am so happy to hear it will be back. In fact, surprisingly, all the shows that I enjoyed so much last year are coming back–that pretty much never happens.

And–because I know you desperately want to see more pictures–here are some more that I took at my sister’s house on Saturday.

• Tags: Katy, Jilly, Muppy, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Button Band // 6 Comments »

Mmmm… Applesauce Cake. One of the family-favorite recipes, and requested this morning by Mom. The recipe is from the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook I’ve had since the mid-80s and is so tasty–especially if you’ve got some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream handy.

It’s really pretty photogenic, too. Not to mention tasty.

Anyway, it’s Mother’s Day today, so I did what I could to make Mom’s day a good one. She wanted one of her blueberry scones for breakfast, but I made coffee to go along with it, as well as waffles for Dad and me. The four of us went for a nice, long walk while the sun was still shining. I made pot roast for supper. She and I sat in the living room together and sewed (Mom) and knitted (me). And, of course, cake for dessert. Nice day, I thought.

It’s not much of a picture, because of all the curling and such, but look! The body is finished and hemmed. It’s still curling which I expect will be taken care of when I block it when it’s finished, but, otherwise, woohoo! I decided to knit the buttonbands next … I can always stop to make the sleeves shorter if it seems I’m running out of yarn, but I want to be sure to have enough yarn for the button bands. And, besides, that will make it look neater, right? (grin). So, in this picture, I’ve picked up the band for the left front, so that’s got yarn attached and … as I say, it’s not a perfect picture, but I’m very happy with the way the knitting is coming along.

Oh, and speaking of pictures?

This photo from the current Bon Appetit magazine just struck me as so cool. It marked the section of pasta recipes, and … so nifty. All I can think is that they carefully dipped strands of dried spaghetti into boiling water so that only the bottom half was cooked, and then … put it on a light box? Something, anyway, to get them back-lit, but the curly, interwoven swirls at the bottom and the straight lines at the top. Just, such a cool photo.

[Read more →]

• Tags: Baking, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Mom’s Day // 7 Comments »

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Happy Mother’s Day // 5 Comments »

Today was a surprise party for my brother-in-law, who turns 45 tomorrow. We were there, his brother, sister-in-law, and niece were there, and his aunt and his cousin were there. Chappy and 18-month old Kaitlyn were adorable together and a good time was had by all.

And, naturally, I had my new camera with me (grin), and I may have taken, oh, 200 pictures or so … Here are just some. Or, okay, a lot, but, well … it was a good day!

And, yes, Chappy WAS in the crate while Kaitlyn was smiling into it, and he did kind of wonder why she kept shaking his back paw to say hello. And I love the picture of Betty taking the picture of Kaitlyn and Chappy–I was disappointed I was behind them when I realized that the best shot was of the mom TAKING the picture. Love that.

Great day. Tired now….

(I went back to add a picture of Kaitlyn inside Chappy’s crate. She liked it in there!)

• Tags: Family, Finished Knitting • Permalink:Surprise Party // 6 Comments »

Yep, the sweater is moving right along–how exciting is that? Sure, it’s only a few inches longer than it was last time I showed it to you, but it’s still a notable moment. Why, you ask? Because I’m at the halfway point. Even without knowing what, exactly the sleeves are going to be, this is halfway finished because I just finished the first skein of yarn, and since I just have two of them, that means I have to be either at or past the halfway point.

Actually, if I’m not there yet, I’m in trouble in all sorts of ways because not only would I be out of yarn, but those sleeves would have to be absolutely huge…. (grin). But, seriously, I need to start thinking NOW about what I want the hem of the sweater to be because I’m going to need to make that happen sometime very, very soon and it would be nice to know what I’m shooting for (grin).

As today’s “Playing with my Camera” shot–a view of my basket of handspun yarn. On my screen, at least, the colors are remarkably accurate. And yes, there’s a glimpse of a pair of store-bought, polka-dot socks that need some heel reinforcement before they turn into holes. They’ve been sitting in this basket as a “reminder” for almost three months. What can I say, I’m not really fond of mending. But, otherwise? All the yarn in this basket is yarn that I’ve made myself. Isn’t that lovely? (grin)

Or how about a peek into my jewelry box? Hematite beads, a silver chain necklace, some glass pearls … I like the monochrome look of this picture–all the colors are neutrals, without my doing a thing!

About that sales tax issue? I got a comment from a person at Adorama who actually writes clear English, who told me that they have a location in New Jersey so that it was a valid charge. Which is absolutely true–that was all I needed to hear in the first place, instead of those annoying exchanges. Oh, and then she nicely offered me $10 off my next order of $75 or more. Golly. I don’t really know that I want to spend another $75 there, but it’s a nice gesture, I suppose.

Finally, in addition to yesterday’s haircut, today Chappy got his nails done and got a bath, so he’s all set for his busy weekend, but exhausted from his “spa” days. Have a great weekend, folks!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Fifty // 3 Comments »

If you look really carefully at that first picture, you can see a string of drool… You can almost hear him saying, “Please!”

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• Tags: Chappy, Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Please // 4 Comments »

You know, working on the same piece of knitting that doesn’t drastically change from one day to the next makes the whole knit-blogging thing more difficult. Because how often can I show the same, blue, stockinette sweater before it gets boring? It kind of limits what there is to talk about, too (grin). So, here, I took a picture of my Japanese Shawl that I had over my shoulders at work today.

Susan had another sad day, today. Sage died, and she doesn’t know why. On the plus side, she’s having a yarn giveaway with some yarn she dyed and was, um, disappointed in. Hence the name, “The Ugly Yarn Giveaway.” But really, it’s not that bad! Just, um, very green.

Chappy got a haircut today, at lunchtime, and tomorrow he’ll get his nails trimmed and get a bath so he’ll be all clean and fluffy for the weekend. He’s really such a good boy! He just sits on the kitchen floor and lets me trim away. Sure, I give him occasional treats as good-behavior rewards, but he deserves it. (This picture, by the way? His Scooby Doo toothbrush.)

Otherwise? Um … that’s about it!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Thursday Stuff // 1 Comment »

I think Chappy’s starting to get a bit tired of my new camera…

I’ve been working on my sweater. It’s almost waist-length now, so it’s coming along.

I actually did some spinning the other night, for the first time in weeks. It felt so good! I haven’t done any spinning since the week before Mom and I went to Martha’s Vineyard last month, and while I knew I missed it, hadn’t realized quite how much (grin).

  Now, obviously, I’m having fun with the new camera, but I’m a little irritated with Adorama camera. Even though we’re in different states, they charged me sales tax which in this case is $45–which is a fair amount of money. I could buy a couple of memory cards for that, or a few books, or a camera case. So, I sent an email to amazon.com and they agreed that I shouldn’t have been charged sales tax but that I’d need to contact Adorama directly. Which I did. Now, I’m all kinds of happy that my order was processed so promptly and I certainly can’t fault their order fulfillment, but . . . my God, who do they have doing their customer service?? This is the reply I got back (with misspellings, bad typing, and multi-colors intact):

I am really sorry, but every one have to pay sales taxes, the difference on how much, it will depend on where the shipping address is.

For example I have an overseas credit card, when I use it here in NY either if I choose pick it up at the store or that they deliver it to me , I always pay 8.13%.

Also you please check Sales taxes in the United States - New Jersey has a 7% state sales tax. This is split as 3.5% for the State, and 3.5% for the municipality.

Um, ack! Completely disregarding the lack of a helpful response (i.e., the answer I want), this is one of the most badly-written, appallingly atrocious e-mails I have ever received. Really. Ever. Received. Ever. And just think about how badly this makes Adorama look–they can’t even hire employees who can write proper English. I’m upset about the $45 that I really can’t afford to lose … I mean, had I realized, I would have ordered directly from Amazon.com itself and paid basically the same price once you discounted the shipping charges and the (unnecessary) sales tax … but the verbal skills of this person from “On line customer services”? Oh, gracious. I’m completely appalled. Not least of which because she so nicely/patronizingly gave me a link to Wikipedia informing me that NJ has its own sales tax. Gosh, really? I’ve never bought anything here ever in my life and hadn’t realized. SO helpful. (She doesn’t even seem to know that “online” is one word.) So, my verdict on Adorama? Nice camera and very prompt service which I really appreciated and can’t fault, but their follow-through and customer service?? Oy. Awful.

On to better things….

So … you know how Claudia does her MS Ride every year and has a contest with multitudes of fabulous prizes and raised so much money last year she was going to get to wear a number 1 on her jersey this year? Well, her poor husband and fellow-tandem-bike rider broke his ankle last weekend, so it doesn’t look like she’s going to get to ride (though I hope she can come up with something). BUT she’s still doing her contest, and she’s still raising money. So run, don’t walk, with your mouse over there and make a donation. Every $10 is a chance in the drawing–so, hurry!

Remember when I told you about RSS Awareness Day? Well, guess what? I won a prize! How nifty is that? I mean, it’s not yarn, but no complaints. I won a free premium theme for my blog or website from iThemes. Now I just have to figure out which one I want and decide what to do with it (grin). Cool though, huh?

All in all, it’s been an interesting day. A co-worker who’s been at our company for about 20 years ago kind of accidentally resigned today. She said it (and a few other things) and stormed out the door in tears about 15 minutes after she came in this morning, but within 10 minutes was calling and trying to apologize. Except that by saying those few other things, she kind of negated any possible “take-back” that they might otherwise have been willing to give her. I don’t think she was even out of the parking lot before she realized what she’d done and the horror set in, but … well, you can imagine that that was quite a shock to all of us today.

At least I have my spinning to keep me calm.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Bunches of Things // 10 Comments »

I just added a link to Dad’s site, Inhale Now into the sidebar. You can read more about it here. And, send good thoughts, would you please? He lost momentum while he had that bad cold a couple weeks ago and needs some good vibes.

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Inhale Now // 1 Comment »

Can’t talk. New toy….

Whee!

• Tags: General • Permalink: