Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Power of Knitting

Had a bit of a thunderstorm last night that has left us here in Franklin County with no power until Saturday pm. The knitting time will be shorter with no light after 8pm but it CAN be done.
Many trees and power lines fell victim to a storm that lasted less than a half hour but was so fierce it scared the bajeevies out of ME. I love t-storms but that was over the top. As storms go it was a real show off.

The temp went from 100 degrees during the day down to 50 by 11:30pm. Went to bed at 10  sweating and whining and an hour later I was wrasslin' wind tossed porch furniture and running crazy around the house to shut windows. Weather experts are not saying a thing as to what went through. No matter what it was, it sure left a mess. One that will last us for days. No wireless phones, my cell is fussier than usual, no school, no businesses open. Kinda spooky. We're used to this in the winter. Throw the food in a snow bank and you're good until the lights come back on. Not this time. We're just gonna watch that frozen food defrost despite all the efforts to keep the freezer door shut tight. It's too warm to save it.

On the up side? Broke the heat wave. 

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I Love My Cat I Love My Cat I Love My Cat

My mantra last night when I came home around 8:30 pm was I Love My Cat. I had to repeat this for hours lest I put him up for adoption or worse. It was too gruesome. Merino single spun, MY hand spun singles(on a drop spindle people, NOT a spinning wheel though the pain would be the same.) that I had just started to ply were everywhere. He started on the second floor where said unborn yarn was safe behind a CLOSED door. He's  a smarty cat. He's opened doors before so what was I thinking? Two balls of singles went from the second floor, down the stairs, through the cat door down to the cellar, around posts, back up and through the cat door, down the hall, through the window to the front porch, around various objects. 4 ounces of painstakingly spun merino. *sigh* I couldn't bring myself to photograph the victim. I've untangled and rewound one ball. Have you ever tried to hand-wind loose singles? UGH! The other is not. looking. good. All I got was "the look" that so many of my friends have received from their attitude-y teenagers. That blank "what-EVER" look from a cat that wanted a treat for all his efforts. I love my cat. (grrrr.)

To "zen" myself I looked at my orchid all busting with blooms.
I looked at the new spun single that my best boy hasn't mangled. If you haven't tried spinning Blue Face Leicester-- it's a dream!

And there they are. Is it me or the stripes but Beau looks fat? Next to him is Andrew the Yarn Demon. That's the "look" I'm talking about. grrrr. I love my cat(s).

Monday, May 17, 2010

I think I have finished the silk vest. I find myself strangely detached from it. Why? It was literally painful to knit. Handling the yarn was hard on the hands. The cool thing about it was the construction. I've been working with steeks for- EVER and they still push that button.


 It's magic I tell you. What at first appears to be some convoluted dog sweater turns into shaped necklines and armholes for actual people.

I still need to fuss with finishing and weaving ends and POSSIBLY undoing the bottom and extending the length and binding off in a stretchier fashion but for now it's sitting on the back of the couch in a most undignified manner. Unloved because of a painful relationship.
Meanwhile....



because the leftover yarn scrap bag doesn't seem to be going down and they were such a joy to knit I'm throwing together another Scrap Sweater 'cept this time I'm v-necking the front just to shake things up. I know, I do live on the wild side.

Have you evah done marathon Dickens weekends? I'm in the midst of a run and concentrating on the not-so-popular video versions of his works. If he wrote what he Knew as all writers are told, the dude was either one sadistic bastard or was in acquaintance with many. Maybe it was just one he plopped into every story. Kinda like Dan Brown with the over the top religious freak he has in several of his stories.  But I digress. Most versions I have been watching are from the BBC but occasionally A&E gets in there. My favorite thing is to spot the same actor in different productions. I sit and think, I know that voice, who did they play and in what? For example, Alun Armstrong (spelling is correct) played Flintwinch in the 2008 BBC  production of Little Dorrit. Back in 1982 he played, well, several parts in A&E's showing of "The Life And Times Of Nicholas Nickelby" including Mr. Squeers. Twenty-six years and what looks to be 50 pounds between the two but I knew him right off. Lila Kaye (Mrs. Squeers & others) was the voice I knew but couldn't place. A quick Google check put it right--character actor including Murder She Wrote episode. I still miss that show.
Well, with Martin Chuzzlewit watched and Nicholas Nickelby halfway through I'll have to order the next two from the library. I seem to be drinking much more tea than usual and I'm assuming that is a result of spending(too) so much time in British mode.



"Call me Garden Cat if  you please. Momma has gone to calling me Sir Shedsalot. It's NOT appreciated. I must overlook her crude and boorish behaviour."

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Why I Hate Answering the Phone

Answering the phone. It's part of my job. It's part of what I dislike about my job. Here's one reason why:
Me: Town Hall, may I direct your call?
Them: Is this Jonesfield?
Me: yes
Them: Yes, I'd like to know when your flea market on Main Street is.
Me: We don't have a flea market on Main St.
Them: yes you do I've been to it several times. I grew up in the area.
Me: Maybe you're thinking of Brimfield or Jonesfield, NH.
Them: No, that's in the other direction, I know you have one in Jonesfield.
Me:I'm sorry, there is no flea market on Main St.
Them:Well I know there is! You get off of the interstate onto Main St. and it's past the highway garage.
Me: Our highway garage isn't on Main St.
Them: I know that, I grew up in the area. The flea market is in a big field on Main St. before the two schools.
Me: (realizing she's talking about the next town over) oh, you mean in Smithfield. Not here in Jonesfield.
Them: oh, yeah, well I knew I knew what I was talking about.
Me: (in my head)No, obviously you don't know what you're talking about you stupid beee-auch. (out loud) Well, there you go.
Them: I'll call the town hall in Smithfield.
Me: Here's the number. Talk to Lulu, she'll help out. Buh-Bye.

I wish people wouldn't call me and ask questions when they already know the answers. Seems counterproductive.

Monday, May 10, 2010

It's Like I Said

Don't like the weather here?..wait 15 minutes. From 90 to 50 in 24 hours. Back to woolly sweaters. Higher elevations have snow. Why not? It's only May. Extreme drops in temperature make for some pretty amazing thunderstorms. The kind that rattle your windows in the middle of the night and make you wonder if a B-52 landed in your .5 acre back yard. What's new this year is the wind tossing trees in the road. I like wind but not when I need to watch for falling trees. Driving is challenging enough with the likes of cell phone users and what not these days. Pine trees dropping in my path don't do much for the carnuba wax.
 
 In my last post I was lamenting not being able to wear the 20 Button Sweater. I am at this very moment wearing it.



20 buttons....20.
I've started a vesty-tank toppy thing that looks nothing like its intention with all the steeks it has going on. I will tell you that working with 100% nubby silk is hard on the hands and I'm looking forward to finishing this thing up. On the spinning side of life, there hasn't been any. When you have 20 buttons to sew on....
"Don't believe anything she says about the silk swatch I pulled off the drying rack."

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

What Is This? July?

I have 20 buttons to attach to a wool sweater. When it's 90 degrees out and the air is thick enough to kick with humidity I just don't feel like hosting a wool sweater on my lap to sew the buttons on. Taint gonna happen. According to the weathah report I'll be needing to wear that sweater in a few days. Ah New England.


The humid weather has also curtailed my spinning as sweaty hands make sweaty roving and THAT equals more frustration than I care to deal with as a new spinner. Gosh! What a CRANK! It's the weather.


"She's such a crank. No matter the weather."