Really, Really Grateful

When I posted a beach photo on Facebook the other day, one of my friends commented that she was jealous, and I answered that I am so grateful to be here, much as I miss her and all the rest of my friends up north. I really do think frequently about how glad, how terribly terribly glad I am to be in this weather, not that weather.

Which was emphasized today when I got this email:

I don't have to expect anything from the snowstorm, thank god. I had a break from work this afternoon, and sat in the lanai with my bare feet in the sun, knitting, and it was glorious. And I say this not to gloat, but because I am so, so grateful. Consciously. Frequently.

Progress Report

Last night's plan went fairly well. I settled down with a hockey game for background noise (the Bruins were off, so I just picked a game, any game), and got to it.

I had to pause when Maggie came onto my lap, and settled down facing me, since she is a little too interested in the movement of the yarn, but after she turned around, I picked it up again.

When she scooched down, she had a paw hanging onto my toe, and considering that her paw has pointies, and my toe was bare, that led to a few winces on my part. 

She was perfectly comfortable, of course, and only shifted to make herself more so.

As one does.

Finally she turned this way again.

And I put the knitting aside for the night. I'm ready to bind off, though! It's very exciting.

Here and Away

Work all day, knit all night? Well, the Hawthorne shawl is nearly finished, and I'm going to go finish it and watch post-NHL-trade-deadline coverage on TV, so, hopefully more substance tomorrow!

Here, I hate to leave it at that: have a cat photo.

Or two.

My Sunday in Pictures

After a lazy morning reading the papers, I went off for a walk on the beach this afternoon. It was hazy and very humid, but there was a nice breeze along the water.

Walking back, I saw this gorgeous old car. The license plate was DUESE, and Mom says it's a Dusenberg, probably from the 20s or 30s. Look at that.

Made my day, to be honest.

After I cooled back down, I went to the cat shelter for some visiting. The mama cat is reported to be a little touchy, but today at least she was only interested in me, not bothered. I sat on the floor, and she came right over to sniff me.

 And sniff me.

And sniff me.

Then she went over to check on the kittens.

And came back to show me how unimpressed she was with me.

But she did play with the fishing pole toy I brought in.

Posed gracefully.

She let me get nearer to the kittens, who were sleeping.

And then she came over to hang out with them.

And thought she didn't seem too bothered by me, I decided not to push my luck at that point.

And came home to my own cat, on her box.

Helping me read the paper.

Posing nicely.

And curled up with my foot for a pillow.

As one does.

I hope your day was as good. Yes, you.

The Answer Is No

The question is, Could Maggie be any cuter?

Have a nice weekend.

Shawl Progress

Last night, I got through the charted pattern/edge part of the Hawthorne shawl, so I put it on a few needles so I could stretch it all the way out.

It's long. Looooong.

But at this point, it switches to plain knitting in short rows, which will pull it into a crescent shape, so while it is still a long shape, it won't be quite that long.

This doesn't capture the colors well at all, but shows the pattern decently. I'm looking forward to seeing it after blocking, when the points are done.

Happy knitting!

View

I just love what a palm tree, even just the edge of one, does for a quiet sunset sky.

Quoted, My Dad, as Applies to Knitting

I enjoyed the heck out of my bonus weekend day--I love a three-day-weekend--and got lots of knitting done. But I had a moment with the Hawthorne shawl that made me think of my dad.

Dad had a few funny signs on his desk when I was a kid. I remember one that said something like:

1. I am always right.
2. I am never wrong.
In case of doubt, see rule 1.

But the one I was thinking of today went along the lines of:

"I made a mistake once. I thought I was wrong."

I got almost to the end of a row and thought, oh, no, I don't have the right number of stitches! I screwed something up! Waaaayyyy back at the beginning of the (really long) row!

I started to tink the row back to fix it, then I stopped. Something wasn't right. I checked on Ravelry to see if anyone else was complaining about that row, but no. I went back and looked at it again. The thing was, if I had done something at the beginning of the row that used one stitch more than it should have, I should have been one-stitch-off all across the row, and the pattern looked just right.

So I looked at the item in question again, and no, wait, that's right. But then how am I off at the end? I looked at that part of the pattern again, and light dawned on Marblehead. I was reading that bit wrong, and did in fact have the number of stitches I needed to have to do what it was actually telling me to do. Whew! So glad I figured it out before I tinked the whole damned row.

So while I was making a mistake conceptually at the end, I didn't make one actually at the beginning. Again, whew.

And it's looking good, too, if I do say so myself.

Just Kittens

You know, being kittens. Utterly adorable, and slightly blurry!

And not the best shot of the mama and her two babies, but she wasn't really excited for me to get closer, so I didn't.

Super cute!

Knitters, Is There a Word For It?

Sometimes, as a knitter, I feel the pull of wanting to start a new project, and another, and another ... startitis is what it's called, and it can be very real.

Now I'm looking for a similar word for buying yarn ... I'm coming up short for a word that captures the essential, stronger-than-standard, ooh-pretty-want-buy impulse that I've been feeling lately--for about the last three months, at least. Shall I sum up?

In December, I went on the local yarn crawl, and bought some nice things, as detailed here.

Also in December, and I don't think I blogged about this one (this turns out to be a theme through this post), I ordered yarn as part of a Winter Solstice package, from a new-to-me dyer called Lady Dye Yarns (clever name, eh?). It was a whole mix of things:

The yarn is labeled as worsted/heavy worsted, 100% wool*, 220 yards, and feels very nice. The colors aren't well-captured in this photo, being lavender/pink with some blue/purple, and doesn't call out to me personally, but I'm sure something/someone will come along that/who it will be perfect for.
*The dyer has two listings on Ravelry for worsted, one merino and one Peruvian wool, and I'm not sure which this is! I have dealt with this by not putting it in my stash there, but I want to have it listed, so...have to do something about that. Pick one, I guess.

The package included a hat pattern, dpns, a pin and a stitch marker...neat stuff.

At the end of December, Blue Moon Fiber Arts announced that they were going to discontinue their BFL Sport yarn, and would be offering a special on dyed-to-order skeins, last chance. I used this yarn when I made the Bigger on the Inside shawl, back in 2012*, and loved it, so I decided to take advantage of the sale. No photos yet, as they got slammed by orders and it hasn't come yet, but be sure I will show it when it gets here!
*Wow, that long ago?

In January, I succumbed to an email from the Loopy Ewe, a yarn store in Colorado, which had a limited-time colorway of Dream in Color Smooshy with cashmere, mmm. Didn't blog this yet either, eh?

Maggie, meanwhile, has adopted the box it came in as The Best Bed Ever, so there it still sits on the lanai.

She's on it all the time. Cats are so weird.

Another "I didn't blog about this?" was at the end of January, when I went to a trunk show for Claudia's Hand Painted Yarns, and had what the Yarn Harlot has called a bit of a falling-down. She makes a fingering-weight yarn called Oh Baby Merino Silk that is simply lovely, and, well. Two more shawls to come.

Are we done yet? No, we are not, for we have reached February. First, this, from another new-to-me, Onyx Fiber Arts:

Pretty, pretty.

Then I was at knitting this week and they had a trunk show of a Florida dyer, Emma's Yarn, and I just couldn't leave this huge, glorious skein there.

And last but certainly not least, I was on Ravelry a while back and stumbled across someone's stash of a yarn I loved that doesn't seem to be available anymore, Maple Creek Farm Fredricksburg, a BFL yarn, light but warm. It's what I used in my Frost Diamonds shawl, which came out so well (wow, that was in 2011?). I originally bought it at Rhinebeck, and they were there a couple of years, but were gone last time, and I can't find anything about them online. Anyway, this person had two skeins of a beautiful colorway, so I sent a message just in case they were willing to sell it, and guess what? Yes!

Whatever you want to call this buy-it-all-itis, I really need to stop it ... but I don't regret a thing.

Ahhh, Yeah

I hope you do, too!

What's in Your Pockets?

I saw this photo on Twitter; isn't it amazing?

Contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets at moment of his assassination, 1865, Ford’s Theatre—not shown to public for 111 years: pic.twitter.com/UFYJsmgKVa

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 11, 2019

It's like a window into the past. I'm particularly amused that his wallet had a pocket for train tickets!

The Library of Congress page about it is here; it says that they were given to the LOC in 1937, but doesn't address the "not seen for 111 years" part. According to a comment on the tweet, though, the LOC put them on display for the bicentennial.

The Face of Contentment

If only we could all be so happy.

Hey, Look At This!

I finished the top I was knitting!

I'm very pleased with it. It isn't perfect, but it's good--it fits, it's well-enough-done to wear in public--and I learned a lot in the making of it. I couldn't ask for much more.

Maggie was wildly impressed, as you can see.