More Startitis Thoughts

I haven't put away the yarn that came in last week from Sweater Sisters (I like to contemplate new yarn for a while before tucking it into the stash), and I came across a pattern that I think might work well for the three skeins together. The pattern calls for two colors, but it's also for heavier yarn (DK), so I think I could modify it to make it similar size (or larger) for fingering yarn, and thus use all three. See what I mean?

The pattern is a yarn-company freebie* called Tussah Kissed (based on the name of their yarn)--well, on Ravelry it's actually called F959 Shawl, but on Plymouth Yarn's website, they call it Tussah Kissed, and the PDF is named both, so pick your poison. 

*Note that is a written pattern, not charted, which I know is no problem to some knitters and a drawback to others; also, it's a new pattern, so if you want to see other people's versions of it, not yet. 

I haven't even wound the yarn, let alone committed to this pattern, but I'm pondering it. Thinking yarny thoughts.

So Very Me

 This is very true.

"Happy" Monday.

This Weekend: Some Adult, a Little WTF

Yesterday I took my absentee ballot (and Mom's) to the library, where they have early voting*, and dropped them in the collection box there. I even got the I Voted sticker! Which I stuck onto my Bruins shirt, even though I was just driving home again. Tradition.

*I love that they have early voting, and in fact there was no line when I got there, but with the pandemic, getting it in the mail seemed like a good idea, and then returning it in person seemed good given the appalling way the government is currently trying to kill the USPS.

The Bruins shirt was chosen because they played in the afternoon, and despite the very startling news that Tuukka Rask has decided to leave the playoff bubble and go home*, they played a decent game and managed to win it. Game 4 is tomorrow night.

*I support his making the best decision for himself and his family, but there's no denying it was big news.

Today Mom and I got our flu shots, which is probably the earliest I ever have, but they're available now, and given the coronavirus situation, it seems wise to be sure to get them now. If you live near a Publix, reminder that they'll give you a $10 gift card for getting your flu shot there. I don't really understand why, but why not do it?

Now, if you have a few minutes and want to see a startling house-for-sale listing, be sure to check this out. It starts out as a very nice house, and then gets very weird. Don't you think?

Finally, here is Maggie last night: "Why is my toy not moving?"

And here she is first thing this morning:

At Petsmart today, we bought two more (on sale, half off). The baby can't be without this toy. She adores it.

Embrace It

 Made it to the weekend. 

Bonkers Hockey; Squishy Mail Day, Incoming Yarn!

The NHL playoffs started last night; since they have all the plyoff teams in two "bubble" cities in Canada, the times are spread out a bit unusually, and the first games started at 3 in Toronto and 5:30 (Eastern) in Edmonton. The Bruins game was supposed to start in Toronto at 8.

Supposed to, because the 3 o'clock game wasn't over yet.

The 5:30 game in Edmonton finished, and still Tampa and Columbus played on.

After the fourth overtime period, the NHL decided to push the Bruins game to 11 AM today. Tampa finally scored halfway through 5 OT, which would have had the Bruins game starting close to 11 PM if they hadn't rescheduled, so I'm glad they did. Absolutely crazy.

And not even the craziest ever! It became just the fourth-longest game in NHL history. I don't suppose it would be fair to CBJ to give Tampa two victories for that game, and yet, they played more than two games by length.

And the scoreboard people had a good time with it. I love this sense of humor. For that matter, when today's Bruins game went into overtime, the board said, Deja Vu? (The Bruins won, thank god, in the second overtime.  Finishing just before the next game was supposed to start, at 3! This has some serious mess potential.) 

~~~~~~~~~~

It's very revealing of my year so far, and how much stress-yarn-shopping I've been doing, that when I stress-ordered yarn last week and thought that it had been a while since I had ordered any, I looked back and it had been three weeks.

So that's not a long time. Although, in my defense, I'm still waiting for that order to arrive (it's coming from Canada), so it feels like even longer.

Than three weeks.

Anyway! Last week was tough, and when I saw something about this yarn dyer (Sweater Sisters) having their cashmere (Wayfarer fingering) on big sale (usually $32, now $21, go get yours!), well, it had to be done.

(I have no idea what's wrong with Google Photos today, but the pictures I took are refusing to show up anywhere except on my phone [and even there, Instagram saw them but Blogger through the browser did not]. I had to email this to myself and download it. This better straighten out soon.)

So pretty, so soft, so good-wooly-smelling, such a deal! Between the yarn and the Bruins win, I'm off to smile my way through the evening (and go to bed early, to rest up for tomorrow's supposedly-at-8 Game Two).

Some Pictures: Sheep and Cat

No yarn today (hopefully tomorrow!), but I did get something in the mail last week: my pin from Neighborhood Fiber Company's Black Lives Matter campaign.

It's going to live on my Rhinebeck bag, for now at least.

I thought about putting it on the little balsam sachet I have some other pins on. 

But it doesn't show up well against the dark background. And once we return to the days of going out*, say to stitch and bitch in person and not over Zoom, I want to be taking this out with me.

*We will return to that one day, right? Not soon, maybe, but someday?

Meanwhile, Maggie would like you to know that she continues to be adorable.

We're Fine

 Well, I went a silent for a few days here, didn't I? Let me start at the end: my mother got out of the hospital yesterday. Not covid-related: she had a flare-up of an abdominal problem, but they wanted her in for a few days to get her numbers* under control.

*White blood cell counts, that kind of thing.

So, I was keeping the home fires burning, and while I had time to blog, I didn't exactly have the inclination, you know? Now that Mom is home and things appear to be settling down, I should be back on my semi-regular routine (or perhaps I should say "routine"). I hope.

At the least, I'll have yarn to show, when it gets here. Therapy-shopping for the win.

I Don't Have Much (apparently)

Things continue to be things, is I guess how I would sum up life right now.

The workers came yesterday and patched up the ceiling hole from last week's surprise* water leak; they'll be back, oh, sometime, to paint it, but at least the creepy gaping hole is fixed.

*Though I suppose that every water leak is a surprise, really, isn't it?

Beyond that? Well. There must be something.

...

We didn't get hit by the hurricane! That was nice. Given 2020 and all, I was fairly sure we would get walloped by it right on our brand new, it might even be finished but who knows roof. So not having that happen was a pleasant surprise.

The Bruins play at 4 today, which in normal times is an odd time for a hockey game, but it's about five months since anything was normal, isn't it? The Bruins don't need to win a game in the round robin to get into the playoffs (they would just drop for first seed in the east to fourth), but really they do need to actually win a game before the games get real. Really. For real.

I give up. I'll try again another day. What's up with you, anything?

A Rainbow Delayed

Saturday night, during a light rain, we noticed a really nice rainbow was visiting the area. I took a bunch of photos, and since I had already blogged on Saturday, decided I would put them up on Sunday.

On Sunday, unfortunately, I got one of my terrible migraines*, and from 5 AM to 3 PM, I went from bed to couch and back again, with at least five stops in the bathroom to throw up the little water I tried to drink. It was a miserable day, basically, and though I started to feel somewhat better after 3**, and was even able to eat something (saltines are amazing when you haven't eaten all day, and to be able to drink water and have it stay down is marvelous, especially when it means you can take another pill for the head), I was in no state to be looking at a device for more than a moment here or there.

*I haven't had one since April, so at least they don't happen a lot.

**No thanks to the Bruins, who really didn't play a game worth watching.

So, here, have a belated Saturday rainbow! There's even a hint of a second one to the outside of it.

All the way across.

Maggie and the Terrible Day

She's fine, but Maggie didn't enjoy part of her day. She would tell you that it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (though in fact we were out for less than two hours).

"Why am I in the carrier? Why am I in the car?" RAOW!

"This place smells funny. Why can't I go through there?"

I didn't get a photo of it, but first she went up on her back legs to try to see out that window, and later she jumped up and perched on that narrow edge for a second, looking for the way out.

"This place smells funny."

"It's no better up here!"

See the can of spray cheese? The tech tried bribing her by giving her a little bit on a tongue depressor. She was completely uninterested. 

"Are you sure I can't get out that way?"

Anyway, she's fine, her weight is good, she got her vaccinations, and she finally, finally got home again.

Where she napped.

And then under the bed. Where a kitty can be safe.

At least she didn't do as badly as some of these pets did at the vet; pretty funny for this list to come up today.