Chappy’s going to have a rough week.

Power cleaning the building?

Painting?

Staining the decks? AKA his bathroom?

Ooooooh, boy.

I sense a lot of barking coming, and a lot of trips out the front door on a leash … with extra, bonus barking when WALKING out the front door for potty stops and seeing the men washing, painting, etcetera.

Of course, we humans who already miss the doggy door he had in our old house but are more than willing to open the deck doors for him, are going to miss access to the decks even more. Because, naturally, we can’t let him out there to go to the bathroom when they’ve just power-cleaned them. Or when they’re freshly painted and stained … especially while they’re still wet!

How about another look at that newly-spun brown yarn, huh? That’s 16 oz of merino from the Sheep Shed, bought at Rhinebeck two years ago.

The lighter picture is untouched by photo software, but is pretty much how it looks in direct sun. The darker picture I needed to tweak a bit, but is closer to what it looks like in normal, indoor light. It’s brown, very brown, but with the occasional hint of blue.

How brown?

I’m thinking the colorway should be named “Chappy.” I mean, so far as I know, the Sheep Shed doesn’t name their colors, but … could there really be a question?

And, oh yes, there was one other thing I did today–baked a lemon meringue pie!

Tags: Finished Spinning, General by --Deb
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As is usual for Memorial Day weekend in our family, we went up to my sister’s for the family birthday celebration. My niece and nephew, specifically, but also sharing presents with my brother-in-law, whose birthday was the 11th, and with his brother’s family there, too.

We had a really nice time, and Kaitlyn and Joshua were so adorable.

I love watching little kids try to summon up the courage to pet Chappy–who is very, very good and patient about the whole thing.

Here’s the obligatory picture of my niece and nephew with their birthday (cup)cakes. My nephew hates having his picture taken, so I love that his big sister took advantage of the moment to torture him by combining a photo op AND a hug. (Ew!)

My sister had fun with baby Joshua, too, though he loves, loves, loves being jiggled, so it was pretty much impossible to get a photo of him where he wasn’t blurry. (Well, not without using the flash, which I try to avoid as much as possible. There just wasn’t enough light for a fast enough shutter speed. But, you know, I try not to torture children and animals with the nasty flash thing, so… One of these days, I’ll get a diffuser, at least.)

Today, I made a mess in my room again.

I pulled out ALL my yarn and ALL my spinning fiber and reorganized it all.

The spinning fiber is now all in my cedar chest. (I find it interesting that at least a third of the space is from Juniper Moon Farm or its earlier incarnation of Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. Most of the rest is from the Sheep Shed, whose booth at Rhinebeck I visit every year.)

All the yarn is stored in these handy sweater-storage bags and stuffed into the cubbies in the closet.

And I do mean “stuffed.” The cubbies aren’t actually deep enough for the bags. I can slide them in about halfway, so they stick out into the front of the closet, but still … that’s not necessarily a terrible thing. I can see inside to know what’s in each one, and meanwhile they’re protected from dust, and there’s a slice of cedar in each bag to repel moths. And it looks so organized, too, if a little irregular in the stacking since they don’t sit “straight” in their cubbies. I don’t care, though. I LOVE these bags.

I washed my most recently spun yarn, too, though it’s frustrating. I can’t get the water remotely as hot as I like it to be. I like to shock my yarn with a burst of hot water for it’s final soak—that and some mild agitation to really set it, and then let it soak until the water is cool enough to touch. Then I’d squeeze out the water, bang it against the shower walls, and let it dry … except, this bathroom, the water—when I’m lucky—comes at best to the upper ranges of “warm.” So the yarn didn’t bloom the way I really like … but, still. It’s pretty, huh?
I’ve got a video for you. A very Rube Goldberg “mousetrap”-ish kind of video, with a very catchy song to go with it.

And then, how about one that’s a little more serious and thought-provoking? This TED video examines the free exchange of ideas in the fashion industry—it’s not plagarism, or stealing, the ideas are shared, and business booms … It makes some interesting points about the industries that DO restrict exchange (film, music, books). It made me think about knitwear design, though—how some designs suddenly crop up all over the place with different names … and how trying to restrict ideas (like a certain Scottish designer whose books go for a mint on eBay if you can find them at all) may well be defeating the purpose. Anyway, it’s intriguing.

And, one last thing, as we remember all the men and women who have fought for this or any country … some amazing “Homecoming” photos that you should really see over at Pioneer Woman Photography.

Tags: Family by --Deb
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My grandmother’s Secretary desk, looking lovely in the slatted light from my window blinds.

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Twenty-one years ago today, I became an aunt for the first time. It was a big week for me, actually. I graduated from college on the 20th and then headed up to Martha’s Vineyard for a few days’ vacation before coming home and looking for a job.

I used to go up to MV on my own from time to time, you know. Back before Mom, Chappy and I started going together each trip (because how could I leave either of them behind?). Mom and I usually alternated years, more or less, between going together or me going by myself or with a friend.

That year, though, 1989, there was no question. There was no way on earth my mother was leaving the area before her granddaughter arrived. But me? I was sitting on MV, in the Daggett House B&B (back when the Daggett House was still a hotel). No phone in the room, no cell phone. Just, the evening of the 24th, a knock on the door from the inn staff, saying I had an urgent call from home.

I don’t think I need to tell you how ecstatic I was. I left the inn and wanted to go BUY something for this baby. I wanted to tell everybody, but didn’t have anybody to tell. I just knew how happy I was. Glad my sister was okay, thrilled that we had a new person in the family … and not exactly unhappy about being on the Vineyard, either.

In fact, you’d think that maybe I would have been–sitting on a little island, several hundred miles away from my new baby niece, but it was okay. One, it was my favorite vacation spot in the world, but Two, the hospital wouldn’t have let me in the door, anyway. Their visitation policy was that grandparents of new babies, and siblings of new babies could actually visit, but everyone else (like siblings of the parents of the new babies) had to stay outside in the hallway. As it was, I came home from MV on the same day that Tiffany came home from the hospital, and we met the next day.

Almost exactly four years later, on May 20th, I became an aunt a second time, to my nephew Tyler. This time, I was home in NJ, and got to go see him right away. Or, well, from the other side of a glass window. I remember riding up to Newton with my Dad after work. Mom had spent the night at my sister’s, keeping an eye on Tiffany, and we got to the hospital right around the time Mike’s parents arrived. So … Patty, Mike, Tiffany, and brand-new Tyler were all in this little “meet the baby” visiting room, with my parents and Mike’s parents clustered around cooing and making proud new grandparent noises … while I stood outside in the hallway, trying to see through the blinds. (Sigh.)

But, still … I’ve been an aunt for 21 years now. Almost half my life, and I have to say I’ve been enjoying it immensely. I like children in general, but prefer not to be primarily responsible for them, so aunthood is perfect for this. I’d visit, play with them, spoil them, admire them, but then get to go home.

Although, I was always careful about the “spoiling” part. In those early years it was still possible I might have ended up a mother myself one day, and didn’t want a vindictive (though loving) sister counting the minutes until she could return the favor of giving my kids a drum set for Christmas, or could show mine how to make mud pies in the living room, or something of that sort. Grandparents have earned the right to do stuff like that–they cleaned up all our messes, after all–but aunts and uncles need to tread a little more carefully.

We’ve joked for years that my sister provided children for me to play with, and I provided dogs for her (and her husband) to play with. We’ve each made sure my parents had grandchildren and grand-dogs to brighten their days, and both of us have adored each others’ kids–fur or not.

Because, I do adore my niece and nephew. They’re not little any more. My niece is–as of today–21 years old, and old enough to do anything she wants to do. She has a boyfriend and a career path, and is beautiful and funny and one of my favorite people in the world. My nephew is 17 and has a brand-new driver’s license to show for it. In a few more months he’ll be in his last year of high school and on his way to wherever he’s going to go. He’s tall, funny, generous, and has a pair of gorgeous blue eyes–the only pair in the family.

I don’t know how those cute, little children grew up so fast.

Tiffany, Tyler, and Katy

What I do know is that I have loved every day of being their aunt. Neither of them has ever done anything to make me embarassed or ashamed at being connected to them. (Sure, the teenage years can be a little tricky, but still.) They are both smart, funny, upright human beings. I can’t really take much, if any, responsibility for the people they’ve grown to be. Obviously my sister and brother-in-law are more responsible for that than I am. But I can state without equivocation that I am proud to have known them and been a part of both their lives. I am proud to share a bloodline with them. Not to mention happy to have provided puppies for them to play with.

The hardest thing about being an aunt is this: You burst with pride, but can’t take any of the credit.

But sometimes, it’s enough just to be able to say that you love them. Enough to be able to share their joys and growing pains, even if you’re not there every day like a parent. (And, sometimes, to be an adult ear that cares but doesn’t belong to a parent … because sometimes that’s a valuable thing.)

So, let’s have toast to my aunthood, shall we? Twenty-one years of sharing the greatness that is my niece and nephew.

Tags: Family by --Deb
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Yep, my vacation is over. Back to work tomorrow!

On the plus side, look at the lovely little new bag I’ve got. A brand new bag Stitched by Jessalu.

The fabric is actually from the pillow my sister made me for my birthday last year. As much as I like the fabrics Jessalu uses, I really liked this fabric. So, I asked my sister if she had any leftover and since she did, sent it to Jess and … voila! My own lovely little bag. I just need to be careful not to leave it on the pillow or I might lose it…

All in all, it’s been a quiet vacation. Mom, Chappy, and I went up to Pennsylvania to visit my sister on Wednesday.  Milford is a lovely little town and Chappy was delighted to see it. The yarn shop was less than friendly, though. Not the MOST unfriendly LYS I’ve ever been to, but not as friendly as it could have been. The two people in the shop called a hello with a “let us know if you need help” when I walked in, but they didn’t bother to look up when I browsed my way back there. It was a coolish day, too, and I was wearing my lovely new cabled cardigan. What kind of yarn shop owner ignores a person browsing in such a beautiful handknit? (Spoken with all due modesty.) Isn’t it easier to make a sale if you, oh say, strike up a conversation instead of keep your eyes on your computer screen?

Oh, and they had a dog in the shop–a poodle, I think–but wouldn’t let Chappy come in. So… humph.

Otherwise? I’ve been writing on my page-a-day challenge, and well, after the $1,000 on car repairs last week, I’m not really spending a lot of money at the moment.

Did you know my favorite shepherd has gotten behind Norma‘s favorite Red Scarf Project charity?

I don’t drink very often, but one of these days I really MUST try this Magic Juice stuff. It sounds absolutely wonderful.

I totally agree with Quinn–I simply do not understand the fashion industry.

Do you ever watch the TED videos? They’re inspiring and amazing. Like, say, this one from Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity. It’s wonderful.

Then there’s this wonderful poem, “If I Controlled the Internet.”

I hope you all have a great Monday.

And–don’t forget to watch the TWO HOUR Chuck season finale on Monday! (Don’t forget, it’s two hours.) I know I can’t wait…

Tags: General by --Deb
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Poor Chappy had an emotional rollercoaster today.

Now, don’t get worried. It wasn’t a SCARY kind of emotional rollercoaster.

You already know I’m on vacation this week. And I told you yesterday that I was taking my car into the shop today. So we pretended this was a work day, in terms of sleeping arrangements. In other words, Chappy was in his crate last night and this morning, I got up and dressed at the same time as if I were heading to work. The only difference was Dad followed me out the door. A little confusing, but not too unusual. So while Chappy was a little disappointed about Mom heading back to work on a rainy Tuesday morning … he curled up on his pillow and settled in.

We dropped the car off and came back home, about 30 minutes later.

Chappy gave me a greeting as if I’d been gone for months. He was so happy, so surprised, so excited to see me. He jumped, he spun, he licked. He was quite simply ecstatic. Even after I came upstairs and sat down, he came running in as if to say, “I’m so HAPPY you’re home!”

But then, an hour later? Mom and I left. Woe is Chappy. She and I took advantage of the wet, rainy day and headed to Short Hills Mall, a place we haven’t been in months. Last summer, maybe. It’s possible I may have bought a birthday present while I was there, but  nothing else.

We tried to get frozen yogurt at 40 Carrots in Bloomingdales (we love their frozen yogurt), but we couldn’t get two chairs together. You would THINK that, with single patrons using every other chair that somebody–the server, or one of the patrons–would think, “Oh look, there are two people at the door that have been waiting for 10-15 minutes. Why doesn’t somebody move over one chair so they can sit together?” But no. so, after we stood there for a while … we gave up and came home hungry.

But the point is that we came home. Eventually. My usual lunchtime, of course, is 12:30 and Chappy knows this. So at 12:30, Dad says that Chappy was at the door, waiting for me. And when I didn’t come and didn’t come, there was some whimpering involved. When Mom and I got home around 1:30, he was ecstatic again … “I missed you so much, where were you? You were late? I’m so glad you’re home!”

Phew! By now, he was getting kind of tired. We sat down together on the couch for a while and he did some serious napping … until 3:00, when I called the garage to find out if my car was ready. Turns out it was, which was great. So Dad and I got ready to go get the car … and Chappy looked devastated. Absolutely crushed that we were leaving … again! Honestly, if we were going to be gone for longer than half an hour, I would have been just as upset as he was.

So … we went to get the car. It feels so much better now. She tells me it doesn’t hurt to go over the bumps any more, and she’s so glad not to be winking at all the other cars any more. And she loves the new shoes. So, that’s all good …

Well, it made my check book hurt a little. Like, $1000. (Yes, one thousand.) On the plus side, the nice people at the garage rounded DOWN the price and didn’t charge for the alignment.

Then, back home, where I got yet another desperately happy greeting from Chappy, who basically told me that I was simply not allowed to leave the house again today. At all. Period.

Yes, sir.

Hey, you know how I keep telling you how much I enjoy the Sharon Lee & Steve Miller Liaden books? How they keep showing up on my “books read” list every couple months? Well, I’m not alone. Check out some of these quotes from other Liaden fans, starting with Anne McCaffrey and other great authors. And then? Read the interview with the authors.

Are you still uncertain what the Liaden books really are? Sharon Lee describes them as, “The Liaden Universe is an original space opera geography where honor, wit and true love are potent weapons against deceit and treachery.” Steve Miller, though? His description is “Zorro and his Cartwright cousins back-up the Texas Rangers as the Goths invade, with music, knives, attitude, spaceships, allies, and moxie.”

I mean, really, how awesome does that make these books sound?

Okay, two videos for you. You must watch this adorable little book trailer for “It’s a Book!” by Lane Smith … which I’m now trying to justify buying.

And then, for those of you who are Chuck fans like me? Have you SEEN the trailer for next week’s finale?? Because… WOW.

Tags: General by --Deb
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Well, you know that our townhouse doesn’t have a spare room for guests since I’m using both of the small bedrooms and there just isn’t room for a guest in either of them. (Apparently I have a lot of stuff.)

So far, this hasn’t been an issue. We’ve only had one overnight guest since we moved in, my niece, about a month ago. She slept on the couch and was fine with that but it’s not really ideal. I mean, it’s RIGHT in the middle of the house, but what else could we do? Ideally, we’d at least have a futon downstairs, but in the meantime …

That doesn’t mean we can’t provide … something, right?

So, here’s our guest room. A twin-sized airbed with a built-in pump. Not ideal, perhaps, but still–it can be set up downstairs which might be a longish walk from the bathroom, but which at least provides some privacy. Mom and Dad just need to avoid their computers until our guest is awake, and hey, the guest gets the whole floor to themselves for a peaceful night sleep. There’s even a television.

Although, keeping Chappy out in the morning might be tricky.

He does so love snuggling with blankets and such.

Tags: General by --Deb
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It’s a rare Monday morning post today, because it’s a rare Monday … I’m on vacation, not at work.

Don’t get too excited, though, because it’s not exactly going to be an exciting vacation.

First,  my car is going in for the rest of the work it needed in October. It broke on Rhinebeck weekend, two weeks before we were moving, and because of the timing, I couldn’t afford to have everything done it needed to have done (an estimated $1500 of work). I had $600 worth done then–the new ignition switch and two new tires–and saved the rest for, well, now. The “rest” being two more new tires, new brakes, new suspension links and … since last Wednesday … a new headlight.

Really, it’s just as well we weren’t planning on going away for this vacation. I’m bringing my car in tomorrow and just really, really, really hoping they can get all the work done in one day so we can go up and see Patty on Wednesday. (Send good, fast car-repair vibes, would you, please?)

So, what HAVE I been doing with my vacation so far?

It almost looks as bad as it did when we moved in, huh?

Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but I’ve been frustrated for months at how impossible it is to get INTO anything. How inaccessible things like files are because I always have to move something to reach them, and they’ve been so tightly packed, even once I do, it’s an exercise in frustration to get anything into the files, and so I keep stalling, instead of filing regularly. Meanwhile, the desk, therefore, is filled with papers and stuff waiting to be handled, so that–even if I wanted to–I can’t actually sit at the desk … All in all, it’s frustrating.

I don’t object, mind you, to having to move things to get somewhere, and the space is smaller, and that’s all reasonable. It’s that, to do ANYTHING in this room other than to sit down in front of the computer, I need to move SOMETHING. Even to sit in my chair, I need to move stuff to be able to use the ottoman. I need to move my Little Gem to reach the filing cabinet. I need to walk around the computer and step past the stool to reach the printer … and up until yesterday, I needed to move the Journey wheel every time I needed to get into any of THOSE drawers.

All of which makes just coming in here to use the computer much more appealing.

Except, at heart I’m a neat-freak, and the fact that this room ALWAYS looks cluttered seriously bugs me. Even when things are neat and as tidy as I can make them, there are things everywhere. Including cables for the computer and television and the netbook, and the Kindle’s charging cord… I’m not complaining, mind you, just whining a tiny bit. The room does work, and it’s cozy enough. I just hate clutter.

BUT, on the plus side, I just moved all sorts of things around. I finally went through all the desk drawers to make them more functional. I moved a bunch of older files into a box so that the file drawer isn’t so tightly packed. I moved the Journey wheel under the table so it’s no longer blocking that other file drawer.

Next, I should do the same thing with my yarn/fiber stash in the closet and in the cedar chest. Can I just tell you how much I love having a cedar chest for my yarn? Thank you Grandma! Technically, this piece of furniture still belongs to Mom, but it lives with me, now, and is full of wool … which seems pretty ideal, if you ask me.

In this crowded little room of mine, I’ve got one Grandmother’s secretary desk … unfortunately not ideal for using a computer, but hey … and the other Grandmother’s cedar chest. Nice, huh? We won’t discuss that both of them need dusting and some TLC. Lemon oil or some kind of wood-nourishing rub would be good for both of them. That Old English dark wood polish to help cover some of the wear and tear, maybe.

Otherwise, I did usual weekend-type stuff. Took Chappy to the park for a long walk. Made granola. Took a nap. Watched a movie with Mom (“Amadeus,” which I haven’t seen in years).

I also started the Page-A-Day Challenge. It was thought up by a writer named Weronika Janczuk (who is just now finishing high school but whose writing career is already far ahead of mine, which would be disgusting for a woman of her talent if she weren’t so darned nice). The idea is to write at least one page a day–figuring that sometimes, the hardest part is the actual sitting down and starting part. If things flow, you can keep going, but even if they don’t … you’d still have a finished novel in a year.

For my challenge, I’m working on my second novel. Lest this confuse you–didn’t I just finish my second book?–my “After Titanic” book was actually my THIRD book, even though I hadn’t finished Book Number Two. It got sidelined when inspiration took over with the Titanic story, and now that that is finished, I’m going back to finish this poor thing. It’s already half finished (47,000 words), and I have the plot for the second half all mapped out. It’s just SAD that it’s been waiting this long to be written. Judging by the calendar of dates in the chapter headings, I started this in 1997.

In other news?

Did you hear that CHUCK got renewed for season 4? Hurray! In fact, it will be coming back in the Fall this time, rather than as a mid-season replacement. The only sad part is that it’s the same, brutal time-slot, Monday nights at 8:00.

Which reminds me … WATCH tonight! We’re closing in on the season finale (such a relief to know that it won’t be the series finale), and not only will Scott Bakula be back as Chuck’s Dad, but the Ring is closing in on Chuck’s secret, they’re targeting his sister and trying to use her to get to his Dad, and, oh yeah, the Intersect might be driving him insane by more or less literally frying his brain. How can you NOT watch? (grin). (Um, that’s a rhetorical question. I really don’t want to know if you’re not. I’d rather still pretend we’re friends.)

Okay, time for lunch and to take Chappy out for a walk, then back here to work on my book!

Yep, I sure now how to take a vacation…

Tags: General by --Deb
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Okay, I’ll have to remember this.

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I finished the back of my sweater last night. Are you excited? I knew you would be. Naturally, I immediately started the two fronts.

I know, the excitement is nearly unbearable. I hope you were sitting down?

Sadly, I have very little else to talk about. Isn’t that terrible? (Not to mention a surprise.) You know, go to work, come home. Go to work, come home. Go to work. Come home. The usual.

Although.

Today is the 9th anniversary of my losing Katy. This always makes me rather sad. I can’t believe it’s been nine years. I wouldn’t give up Chappy for anything, but still regret losing her, especially so young.

Accordingly, I’ve been sort of sad today, and Chappy has had to endure extra hugs.

I wore my “dog tag” necklace today. These are charms from C.B. Stark on Martha’s Vineyard, one for Katama, one for Chappy. Together on a chain, they remind me of dog tags. And, of course, they ARE my “dog” tags.

Sigh.

I still miss her.

Excuse me, while I go give Chappy a hug.

Tags: Katy, Jilly, Muppy, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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As part of the day-before-Mother’s Day festivities, I bought my Mom some flowers. Peonies, which we bought at Whole Foods today. I told Mom I wanted to buy her flowers and for her to pick them out. She almost went for the tulips, which are her favorites, but was wooed away at the last moment by these blowsy, frilly beauties.

Just before we went to Whole Foods, we stopped for coffee at “Drip” in Madison, and then went back to the “Blue Purl,” where it’s possible I may have bought some yarn.

Okay, I DID buy yarn.

Three skeins of Cascade Eco wool in color 9004, “Ecru Beige Twist.” You can’t quite see it in the picture, but there are two very slightly different colors in here. They’re very close, very subtle, but just enough to add a little depth. Really nice, and just begging to be made into a cabled Aran of some kind.

How about another look at these pretty peonies?

Tags: General by --Deb
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I know, I’ve shown pictures of this embroidery project before, but…

It looked so pretty in the sun the other night, I couldn’t help but take more pictures.

I loved the way the silver candlestick sparkled in the light. And that you can really see the three-dimensions of the girl’s braid.

Not to mention every french knot in the trailing Christmas cactuses.

This picture, you’ll remember comes from my very favorite Carl Larsson painting. Called, I believe “Girl at Desk,” or something like that. I’ve had it on a greeting card since I was in college. Then, the card was pinned to the wall next to my desk, but a few years later, I decided to do more. I traced the outlines of the picture onto tracing paper, and then blew it up on a copy machine. Then–I don’t remember exactly how–I transferred the outline to a piece of something like very fine needlepoint canvas, but something which had a very distinct weave which made straight lines easier to sew.

I went to a local embroidery store and browsed through assorted silks and threads of all kinds, to find the right colors, the right textures for the different elements. And then for a year, I sat with a stitch dictionary and my picture, filling everything in, matching just the right stitch with each piece. I even made up a few, like that staggered satin stitch for the wood panelling.

Really, it was enormous fun. It’s just a pity that there isn’t a single other painting that inspires me to try the whole thing all over again!

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Mmm … Ever since Saturday, I’ve been longing for strawberry shortcake. But … no strawberries.

Today, though, when Mom was at the store? They had lots of strawberries! So she bought some, and some cream, and I came home and baked. A rare thing for me, really, on weekdays.

Worth it, though.

I used this recipe, for what’s basically a big, one-piece scone. You bake it, split it in half, and then layer it with strawberries and whipped cream. (Cream which I whipped with a little gelatin which will hopefully keep it from deflating in the next couple days.)

For assembly? This needs to be refrigerated, and ours isn’t exactly large. Not only that, strawberry shortcake by its nature is messy. Whipped cream drips, strawberries fall out. Trying to cover it in plastic wrap just makes a mess. And a platter big enough to catch any of the drips would just take too much space in an already crowded refrigerator.

So, I put it together in a pie plate. It’s the same size as the shortcake, and it’s got sides to help keep things in control. The whole thing is in the big, tupperware cake container we’ve had for ages, and it’s just sitting down there, tempting me …

Um.

Gotta go.

Tags: Baking by --Deb
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The back of my sweater is just about at the underarms. Exciting, huh?

And yes, I still really, really love the color of this yarn. Not too blue, not too gray. Just the right combination of the two.

And look what I saw outside my bedroom window tonight. It was there for all of about 90 seconds, but I had just enough time to grab my camera.

Pretty, huh?

Naturally, Chappy is very impressed.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Somebody made a comment the other day about “I guess that’s why you don’t make socks.” But I DO. I just don’t usually bother to photograph them.

Here’s proof, though. I finished this pair on Friday afternoon, made out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn–a blend of 60% superwash merino wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon–a practically perfect combination for sock yarn. This colorway is called “Northern Lights” and is actually a little darker than in this photograph.

The thing is, I almost always have a sock-in-progress in my purse. The problem, in terms of sock productivity, is that I don’t usually have a lot of “found” time out and about with my purse and nothing else to do. One of the beauties of having knitting with you at all times is that you’re never without something to do while waiting on lines, at a doctor’s office, while commuting, or whatever.

Except–it’s pretty rare for me to do any of those things. My commute to work is about 10 minutes by car, during which time knitting is frowned upon. I come home at lunch to walk Chappy, so no desk-side knitting while scarfing down a sandwich. I do as much shopping online as possible to avoid standing on lines, and try to avoid doctor’s offices.

So, basically, the only time my socks really get worked on is when I’m out for coffee with Mom on Saturday mornings. Or, like a week or so ago, when I don’t have anything else to knit. Or, Friday afternoon, when I knit on my sock while being amused by Mom and her friend.

I took Friday afternoon off from work, you see, because Mom’s oldest friend was coming to visit. They’ve known each other since they were 14, and I haven’t seen her in about 8 years. Even more amazing, she was coming HERE. Mom’s friend is terrified of driving, and even though she’s only about 15 miles (or less) away … the fact that she was driving ALL this way was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event. In fact, she was so afraid of getting lost, Mom met her somewhere around Parsippany so that her friend could follow her back up Rt 46 to the house. (She said when she got here that she couldn’t believe how “far out” we were, and she thought Mom was never going to get there. Um … depending on traffic and all, Parsippany’s about 15 minutes from here. Tops.)

So, I took the afternoon off so that I could enjoy spending time with Mom and her friend. They are hilarious together. I mean, of course they are. They’ve known each other forever, and tell great stories about each other. I made some tea and then just sat there with my sock while they laughed and talked and joked. It was great fun. (And really helpful for the work-on-the-sock vibe.)

I would show you one of the pictures I took while she was here, except Mom would kill me. My mother–who I adore–has always been difficult about letting us take her picture, but lately she’s gotten worse. She’s decided that she doesn’t “like her face” (whatever that means), and now really  hates having her picture taken. So, while her friend was standing, smiling nicely for the camera, Mom was being silly. She was making faces, glaring at the camera, covering her face with her hand while she laughed. Generally doing everything she could to make the pictures, well, bad. Not just the kind where I think she looks fine but she hates them, but the kind where I can’t find a decent shot in the group. Out of 3o pictures. A probably-never-going-to-happen-again event, and there’s not a decent photo of it. Sigh.

(And no, I’m not going to share any of the bad ones with you. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for my death, would you? Because I’m not kidding. She’d kill me.) (Well, figuratively, anyway. I’ll take the risk for photos that I think are good but that she doesn’t like. But these? No, I wouldn’t share them anyway.)

I CAN show you the yarn for my next pair of socks, though. This is the yarn I bought at the Blue Purl in Madison a couple months ago. (Come to think of it, why haven’t I been back yet?) The color’s name is “Orange You Glad” but it’s really more of a gold-orange than a pure orange. Kind of school-bus colored, actually. I’m trying something different with this one and am using an actual sock pattern instead of my usual plain-jane, basic stockinette socks. I’m bringing the book into work tomorrow to use the copy machine so I don’t have to try to lug the book around with me. We’ll see how this goes. Usually I prefer plain socks, but something different doesn’t sound terrible.

The only problem, of course, is my crazily-loose knitting gauge. Since my stockinette socks are usually knit on size zero needles with just 44 stitches and fit just fine, and most sock patterns have at least 56 or more stitches, it makes knitting a pattern that has a distinct pattern across half the sock a little more challenging. So, we’ll see how it goes. On the plus side, this yarn is narrower than, say, Koigu, so hopefully the gauge will be tighter and all will be well.

Hope your weekend was a good one. I can’t believe it’s May already. My heart goes out for all the people who got flooded or socked by tornadoes this weekend. And I’m immensely grateful that car bomb in Times Square fizzled. The fact that there WAS one, whether it went off or not, is kind of terrifying.

But, also? Really, really grateful that we’re Six Months removed from THIS. Our Death By Moving Van moment.

Tags: Friends, General by --Deb
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Here’s what I read in April.

1. BELONG TO ME by Marisa de los Santos–second book, telling about Cornelia’s married life in a new neighborhood. This is only this woman’s second book and I’m already pantingly eager for her to come out with a third.
2. SWEATER QUEST by Adrienne Martini (full review here at Knitting Scholar)–The story of a woman daring to knit an Alice Starmore design in one year.
3. THREE MEN AND A MAID by PG Wodehouse–A light bit of fluff from the man who brought us all Bertie Wooster and Jeeves … not that they’re in this one, but does it matter? He’s always fun and lighthearted to read.
4. BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE by Laurie R King
5. MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN by Laurie R King
6. LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R King
7. JUSTICE HALL by Laurie R King
8. LOCKED ROOMS by Laurie R King–My favorite (to date) books in the Mary Russell series, telling about Sherlock Holmes’ 15-year old protege.
9. ENCHANTED GLASS by Diana Wynne Jones–A new book by DWJ is always a treat, and this was fun as always.
10. WRITING JANE AUSTEN by Elizabeth Aston–An interesting idea–a struggling novelist gets the chance to complete a recently discovered, unknown manuscript from Jane Austen … except, she’s never read a Jane Austen book in her life (and is proud of it). Yet, she kept putting it off and putting it off until I wanted to slap her … though her JA marathon once she finally started was the highlight of the book.
11. MISS HARGREAVES by Frank Baker–An old book from the beginning of the last century, telling the story of Norman, a man who, on a whim, makes up an old acquaintance … and then she shows up, just as he described her. Hilarity ensues. (Nice companion to that PG Wodehouse earlier)
12. NORTHERN KNITS by Lucinda Guy (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
13. SOCK KNITTER’S WORKSHOP by Ewa Jostes and Stephanie van der Lineden (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
14. ONE BALL KNITS: GIFTS (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
15. KNITS MEN WANT by Bruce Weinstein (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
16. KNITTING GREEN by Ann Budd (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
17. SATURDAY STYLE by Doreen Marquart (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
18. COLOR KNITTING THE EASY WAY byMelissa Leapman (full review here at Knitting Scholar)
19. KNITTING LACE by Suzanna Lewis (full review pending at Knitting Scholar)
20. TWEED by Nancy J Thomas (full review pending at Knitting Scholar)
21. MUMMY CASE by Elizabeth Peters
22. LION IN THE VALLEY by Elizabeth Peters
23. DEEDS OF THE DISTURBER by Elizabeth Peters
24. THE SNAKE, THE CROCODILE, AND THE DOG by Elizabeth Peters–Because how can you not enjoy a fun Amelia Peabody mystery? A Victorian Egyptologist bashing about Egypt with her husband and precocious son, solving murders…
25. POWER CABLES by Lily Chin (full review pending at Knitting Scholar)
26. GET SPUN by Symeon North. (full review pending at Knitting Scholar)

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
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