Plates Around Town

Just a few fun plates I've seen on cars recently!

What does this mean? Something about cinnamon? Sinbad?

Even less sure of this one. Naples something?

Blurry but classic, no question!

Seen any good plates lately?

And if you're not an American, tell me, are custom plates a thing where you are?

The Noise of Pickleball; Good Reading

I've written before about pickleball and why does it have to be so loud, but I was thinking about it again recently, as the height of season here means there's been plenty across the street from us. I was on the lanai the other day and noticed some motion on the courts across the street, but no noise. Well, if I concentrated, I could hear faint thwaps, but no PLONKs and no yelling. It took me a minute to realize that they were playing tennis, not pickleball, and that's why it was so much quieter.

So I was very interested to read that there's a question in Wellesley MA about keeping the game "located on fields further away from homes," because it's so loud. Not just my impression, then!

In happier news, I've been reading and enjoying some good books lately. I've read three new books already in March and really liked them! That's a roll to be on, given how much I've been in re-reading mode in recent months.

I don't remember who recommended Love & Saffron by Kim Fay--was it you? Take credit! Because it was a lovely, touching read and I enjoyed it so much.

The next I enjoyed in a different way. Would it appeal to non-hockey fans? I have no idea, though the concept of EBUGs might appeal to any sports fan? But if you are (or know) a hockey fan, pick up Odd Man In by Stephen Whyno.

Two gloves up!

Finally, a plausibly implausible romance, Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan. I really liked Nora!

Will this streak keep going? Doubtful. But it's fun while it lasts.

Today's Exercise: Yarn Sorting

Since so much of the yarn from my recent windfall was fingering weight (aka sock weight), that segment of my stash was overdue to be sorted through again. The color grouping had slipped quite a bit! So this afternoon, I pulled it all out, re-sorted it, and put it back in order. And if you think that wasn't a workout! I broke a sweat in the air conditioning, and had to take a popsicle break partway through.

Here it is Before. The Ikea squares:

And the bookcases:

The working space:

Here is one Ikea-square's worth of yarn spread out:

And here's the color wheel in progress.

With some yarn still in the spaces behind.

And now After. One square of rainbows:

One of reds-to-pinks-to-purples:

From the blues to the greens, with the bottom shelf for a few planned projects or tinked projects.

The four squares, clockwise from top right: rainbow, red/pink/purple, gold/yellow/orange/brown/black/white, and non-rainbow multis.

I'm tired! My back hurts and my hands are sore. But I'm very pleased with it.

What do you think about how much sock-weight yarn I have? Do you think, "Wow, that's a lot!" or, like one of my knitting friends said, "That looks like a great start!"

Well! The Bruins! The BRUINS!

The Bruins have been having a historically good season this year, and it has been very fun to watch. That "historically good" isn't just my opinion, by the way, per this piece in The Athletic this morning:

That "win games they shouldn't win" was exemplified perfectly on Tuesday, when they were outshot by a ridiculous 57-19 and won in overtime. Wild times!

Their record right now is 47-8-5 (or .825), which is good for 99 points, on pace for a league-record season. The team in second has 86 points (or .729): that's a really big jump in hockey!

And today they finally, finally signed star of the present AND the future, David Pastrnak, to a contract extension. I've just been waiting for that since last summer! He's so important to this team, and I was really getting worried the Bruins were going to screw it up.

Look, their odds are good, but I am not here saying they're going to win the Stanley Cup this year. What I am saying is that the last time they were this much fun to watch, they did. They're on a roll, and I'm enjoying the ride.

Brief Gripes; Parts of Maggie

Last night, I got home after a knitting meetup to find that the cable TV wasn't working, and I wasn't able to get it going, nor to get through to them on the phone (I was on hold for an hour and a quarter before I gave up). We were planning to watch last night's game tonight anyway, as it was an 8:30 start, but it was still very frustrating, especially as last night's game was on NHL Network, so I wasn't sure we'd be able to access it today.

This morning I called in again, and while I was on hold, I tried unplugging different things until I found the one* that, once unplugged and plugged back in, reset what it needed. No thanks to the cable company! They suck so much, but don't they all? Why do they all? Some "service providers" they are.

*So Many Mysterious Black Boxes with Flashing Lights

Anyway, I got it straight (pats myself on the back) in time to record the replay of last night's game, so we should be able to watch that tonight (and then we'll watch tonight's 9PM start tomorrow night; I'll be so glad when they're back in this time zone).

~~~~~

I went to weigh some yarn today and my little scale would not turn on, nor did putting in new batteries make a difference. It died! Why, I've only had it since ... (checks email) 2010, really? Well, I guess that's a good run for it, then. I've ordered a new one; my kind of knitter (or other yarn crafter) will understand, I can't do without one.

~~~~~

This morning, Maggie was really enjoying the lap time.

Which gave me time to focus in on smaller areas. Tucked paws under tail:

Stretch out that foot!

Tail in a triangle?

Toe beans.

Belly floof.

I was glad to have a blanket over my foot, so she was gripping that with her claws, and not my bare skin, as she sometimes does.

My joints* don't love it when she pins me down for long, but the view sure is cute.

*Not to mention my bladder, after an hour or two

Maggie’s Weekend

Here’s a post for Maggie’s fan club! Her highness has had a weekend of many laps. It has been good. (I don’t want to go back to work tomorrow.)

Tired Report; Somehow, a Bit More Yarn

Y'all, I am still so tired. 

The chiropractor suggested yesterday that maybe I caught a bug on the way home and my immune system is busy fighting it off. I don't have any symptoms per se, other than a slight tickle in my throat and the all-encompassing weariness (and I did take at-home covid tests Sunday and again today, both of which were negative, fwiw). I've been home for two weeks; I want to get past this already. 

At least I get a three-day weekend now; thanks, Presidents Day.

~~~~~~~~~~

Now, about the yarn: no, I did not buy any yarn! After my recent tremendous windfall, well, I'm not going to say it will be a long time before I buy any, because that would be tempting fate, but it would take either an unreal sale or the most me yarn ever to tempt me. I want to go through the yarn I kept from that haul again; I feel like with the intervening trip, I've forgotten what I kept!

However. On the Friday morning, when I got back from the trip and was sitting on the lanai in a post-red-eye daze, my mother said that a friend from the charity shop was going to be stopping by that day to drop off a bag of yarn for me. I kind of blinked and said okay, and shortly thereafter went to "lie down for a minute" and napped for an hour or more. When I got up, the yarn was there.

It would have been sensible to leave it for another day, but of course I had to go poking through it on Friday, and I kept some (of course).

Not much, at least compared to the previous haul, but some fun happy things to play with. And the rest has gone to other knitters, to do some good and spread some fun.

We had the cleaners in yesterday, so I wanted to get the bags and piles of yarn put away. I had pulled all the project bags off the shelves I told you about, so I went ahead and piled the yarn in the open space. 

This is the rest of the weight class.

I want to take alllllll the fingering-weight yarn down sometime, spread it out, and sort through it, but for now, it's off the floor, which is a surprising relief. Between the yarn windfall and packing/unpacking, not much floor has been visible lately. The room looks much bigger now. And for a klutz like me, it's safer! (It's still a mess in spots, but less so on the floor; take what progress I can manage.)

I haven't figured out how to organize the project bags yet, but as the shelves were not working out well for that, it made sense to pull them out now anyway, and let the yarn expand. I'll have to figure out something for the bags, but that can wait. 

Although, if anyone wants to talk about how you organize your project bags, feel free! No detail too small.