We all have our favorites...

We all have them. Favorites. TV shows, books, recipes, yarn, needles, magazines, fiber, family members... Good, bad or not, we all have favorites. Admit it. We rank things in our minds. I would much rather spend 2 weeks with my sister going shopping than 10 minutes in polite conversation with my uncle. Both choices would come after major dental work. But I love going to haunted houses and little adventures with my sister. Just not shopping. Favorite past times.

I also have favorites else where in my life. My favorite standard wool yarn? Paton's Classic Merino Wool and Plymouth Galloway. I love my Harmony Wood DPNs. My favorite hat pattern is a basic 2x2 rib that fits everybody and is quick as all get-out to knit. And I have my favorite circular "hat" needle.

It was inexpensive. It's plastic. Not even some nice funky plastic. Just plastic. Size 6 and 16 inches. The needles portions have been bent to accommodate my knitting of hats at just the right spot. It's perfect. It works for any hat. Really.

So, here I am in fall, needing to make a bunch of hats, and I can't find my favorite needle. My favorite circ. Now, I have 2 interchangeable sets of circular needles, that I could use. But it isn't the same. Not at all. I could easily use one or the other to make a size 6, 16" circ. But..

After searching and coming up empty (but destroying my house in the mean time) I went to the store where I bought my hat needle originally to get another one. I would just have to break it in. And if I found my needle, I would have 2!! Happy days!! Now, the store has new owners, but much has remained the same. Needle selections, though, have not.

I cried as I left the store. No one would get hats this year. I wouldn't be able to make new warm head wear to match my latest sweater. As I drove home in a sullen funk trying to think of replacement knitting, I had given up hope. I got home and went to the project bags I had created of yarn an pattern. I pulled out one thinking that instead of a hat, I would use the yarn to make a headband or a shawllette.

And there was my needle, in the bag, with the yarn and the pattern of hat. Who the hell organized my crap?

Sleep

I feel I may be due for a crash soon. But I don't think that will happen until after the New Year. Yup, it's that time again, making presents.

Now really, I only feel obligated to knit a few items every year. Some bizarre hat for my BIL, and a few hats for charity. Thank goodness that my folks live in a warm climate and my sister isn't a fan of hand-knits. Same with the boy friend, where he's at, a sweater or wool socks would be hysterical. (But we all know why I won't be knitting him anything for a while)

And yet, somehow I have managed to overload myself. Entirely my own fault, but I'm not sure I can back out now. And when you add work and school schedule on to it, I'm knitting instead of eating and definitely knitting instead of sleeping.

The other night I was up until past 2AM knitting. For me, that is insane. But I will keep doing it. I will continue to reduce the amount of sleep I'm getting so that I can hopefully finish all the projects in time.

I'll sleep later.

31 Days: Update

Longest scarf I've ever made!





(note: queen size bed, corner to corner and hanging)

Done.

31 Days

It started at 31 days. My Birthday is on the 31st. On the 30th, I got wonderful gifts from my friends. In particular, a skein of beautiful wool LACE-weight from Amanda. Really, honey-it's not sock weight. And, looking at it, it shouldn't be made into socks. It should be made into something eye-catching, something not hidden in shoes.

The following day, my birthday, it occurred to be that it would be about 31 days until I met my boyfriend's parents for the first time. We will be going up to New York to visit. Then it really hit me. I need a Hostess Gift! For people I have never met. I am not new to the giving of hostess gifts, but normally I know the person before hand. On this one, I am flying blind.

I start trying to pry more information from my boyfriend. Ever the good secret agent, his lips are sealed. His mother likes crosswords and knitting, his father reads. Great. At least I have somethings in common with them. Like breathing air and drinking tea.

Okay, sarcasm aside, I've got an in with the knitting thing. I don't know her to get her yarn. You definitely need to know a person to buy that kind of a gift. I don't know her knitting style or what she prefers to knit with or make? Cotton, wool, silk or (gasp) acrylic? Scarves, doilies, afghans, pot holder or sweaters? Large projects or small?

Then I saw the yarn from my birthday and it spun out in my mind and imagination into a gorgeous light lacy scarf. Simple and elegant and a perfect gift. And I had 31 days to make it. I've been at it for less than a week and I've hit that point.

That point is why I don't make scarves. I am at the point where the scarf has stop growing. I still am working on it. Row after row. I took today and tonight off from doing anything just to knit and lay on an heating pad. And the scarf has stopped growing. I have just spent 2 solid hours knitting and watching TV and I swear it is the same size as when I started.

I don't know if I can go on. I don't know if physics will continue to defy me and keep the scarf from growing into the ultimate gift. But if it does finish, it will not go alone. I have tea coming in from Europe and some homemade jelly (the way to any man's good graces is through his tummy), and I am complimenting other small possibilities.

But 31 days will be the kicker. And If I'm putting all of my nervous energy into the scarf, I can't really get nervous about meeting the folks for the first time, right?

Right?

What about Bob?

Bob came into and out of my life quickly. A little over 24 hours.

Bob was first spotted yesterday afternoon at work. We tried to get close to see his age, health, etc.. but the quick little guy got away and hid under a cargo transport trailer. We hoped that we would see him again the next day.

Today, while going to get the mail, I saw him again. Such a smart little boy, he even had me on my hands and knees in the mud attempting to coax him out. I could tell that he was very scared and malnourished and that he had been exposed to the elements for far too long. I decided to let it be for a while but talked to all the guys and put them on high alert. I didn't want him sneaking into one of their trailers and getting locked in there all weekend.

Then I got the call. The guys had him surrounded under a truck. We finally got him out, and I scooped him up in a work tee-shirt. He was in very bad shape. Frail and all bones. He was covered in tics feasting on draining the remaining life out of him. I started popping them like bubble wrap and felt no remorse. Pop! I gently laid him on my desk next to Work Cat and he calmed. Too much. I realized that the fight had gone out of him. I tried dribbling water into his mouth, but there was little response. Work cat apparently didn't realize that there was a kitten curled into her as she slept, but when she woke there was a reaction I hadn't anticipated. She was scared of the kitten. We joked about him being a landscape cat and named him Bob Cat. (get it?)

And the kitten continue to let go of life. I laid him in the kitty pi bed and drove him home. I cooed and sang softly, gently petting while I drove home. I got him home and grabbed some towells, I locked us in the down stairs bathroom. I tried to get water down his throut with an eye dropper. But it was too late. With a last exhalation, he was gone, the light gone from his eyes. I sat on the floor holding him in towels.

I gave him a bath and dried and fluffed him. As I did, I took a closer look at Bob. And I started to suspect that the name we gave him may have been more apt than we realized. His ears were overly large on a kitten, and while he was obviously still in the milk phase (only teeth cut were canines), he seemed large framed, even if the poor guy had starved to death, which I think triggered a heart attack, or he simply gave up.

When he was clean and presentable, I went about tending to the disposal of his remains. While I personally wish to be cremated, I am fairly certain that firing up the wood stove would be a very bad idea. In the end, I decided that a nice Victoria Secret bag would please him. Had he lived, I have no doubt that he would drag my underwear around the house. I laid him in, wrapped in tissue and added a small ball of cashmere yarn. What kitty wouldn't like yarn and cashmere will go along way on the River Styx.

I buried Bob under a Mulberry tree on the edge of a field of honeysuckle. I laid two large logs in an X over his grave. Said a prayer and let the drizzling rain hide my tears. I could have done nothing different and this was just the circle of life.

But I looked out of curiosity, and this bobcat kitten looks very much like Bob.




Rest in Peace.

Incomplete

No, this blog has nothing to do with my emotional state. It has to do with my house. My projects. And my chores. They are currently incomplete. Partially done. Just that one last thing and it will be finished. So close. Really, I've gotten it to this stage, I can take a break now. I need to wait until the weather cooperates a little more. I've been very busy with sister's and friend's weddings and parties and birthdays. Really, I've accomplished quite a bit. Yet...

They are all incomplete. Unfinished.

My house is a construction zone. I can't put the laundry away until I finish the attic stuff. You can't get into the guest bedroom because of the insulation for the attic. The living room has a ladder against the wall, and extension chord and various tools, not to mention a drill and marine battery on the entry table with all my drill bits. The upstairs bath has been striped, waiting for me to finish the tub, which is sealing it at this point. But I now need to wash the shower curtain and pray I get all the cat hair off or I'm going to have to go to WalMart and buy a new one (I checked, they still have the same design). There is makeup on my kitchen counter waiting to be put away and the fan cover from the master half bath. The cabinet for that bath is in the living room. The downstairs makes the upstairs seem pristine.

The craft room. Need I say more? Still has boxes waiting to be unpacked, each box is less than 1/4 full because the rest is already done. I aught to just upend them all in a small pile and breakdown the boxes so I can walk through the room. Lord knows How I will truly get that organized. The lab also needs to be re-organized. It has become the dumping ground for spare bits and parts. The paint can be taken to the shed to free up some room for the tools and such. The pile of CLEAN laundry waits down there until the attic is done so.....

I have been having nightmares of my mother's kitchen that was under construction for 15 years with no cabinet doors on and all the paint stripped off. Just waiting to be completed. I can't take it anymore. I've been making progress every week, but...

So I have given myself a deadline. My birthday. A little over a month. And it has already begun. Tonight spending a good hour and a half in the craft room. This weekend I intend to be on the caffeine binge from hell and may not actually sleep. I will get things done. I will ship those overdue packages. I will clean and organize and hang the cabinet. I will finish the tub. I will keep at it and continue until it is done. Each weekend, each night (knit nights excluded) until it is complete.

THEN, I can mess it up again.

Life in the Wilds of Frederick County, VA

That Spot in the distance is a Hot air balloon. It looks so far away in the photo, But I assure you in person it was much closer. Enough for me to wonder if the pilot saw the trees at all.

But in the evening, one of the greatest show in the area can be seen from my deck. In my back yard and the woods. Bats doing their nightly aerobatics show, fireflies flashing all around, deer cruising by, squirrels, rabbits, cats, turtles and ground hogs.

I have recently had 2 run ins with the wildlife in my backyard. The first I was out mowing the area that I am reclaiming for the forest and a sea of honey suckle vines (I've dumped enough commercial strength round up that the ground should be fallow.). So I was pushing the mower when what I thought was a rock flew out the back. When I realized it went far and was lighter, I went to check it out. Not a rock. I had just shot a turtle over 25 feet with the lawn mower.

The turtle was fine, I cried for 1/2 and hour. Then I started looking and discovered that there were a good few turtles out there. The pictures here are NOT the one I mowed. As I said, he was fine.




These were taken on a different day and this turtle was larger that the astroturtle.





My second incident involved Bob and Charlotte. Grounds hogs which pictures appear in a previous post. Bob charged me. I was standing on the top of the slope by the deck about to go to the shed. One was inside the den underneath. I stopped and we were just looking at each other. After all, I didn't want to scare it off. Then I here this crash from the undergrowth below the second terrace. And there he is. Charging out of the forest and up the slope. Where I thought he would stop. He didn't. He passed the shed running at top ground hog speed heading right for me. It became clear that at that moment, he was not afraid of me one bit. I ran into the house.

I attempted another foray to the shed to get the electrical cord I needed, and was again thwarted. So with out the cord for that night's project, I had to settle with knitting. (shucks! ;)_ )

But some how this week, never coming in to contact with anything, as I completely ignored yard work, I now have poison ivy/sumac. Yup. First time. I am trying really hard not to scratch and am using the stuff the doc gave me and taking Benadryl. But really, I think I might have to were those little mittens that they put on babies to keep them from scratching, because I really want to itch it.