Splitting Hairs, Making Plans

I know I said that I wasn't planning to buy any more yarn for a while, but I kind of did get a little. Kind of? 

I was sitting on the lanai Friday, and wearing my Top Notes Poncho, which I made two years ago, and which is a really nice piece for when it's a little chilly around the edges, and the yarn I used for it is the sadly disappeared Maple Creek Farm Fredericksburg, which is BFL, lovely, light but warm.

I was thinking about what nice yarn it is, and the next thing I knew, I was looking in stashes on Ravelry, and found someone with two skeins to sell, in the Cherry Slush colorway that was the first of theirs I bought, back in 2010 (2010!) (I made a Frost Diamonds shawl with it, still have and wear that). And, well, isn't it amazing what you can do with an iPad*, sitting with a cat on your lap?

*I did wait to get to the actual computer to do the PayPal part.

I'm thinking of trying the Comodo cardigan, which says you can use any weight yarn. The Fredericksburg is listed in Ravelry as worsted weight, but I don't know. It's so light. I mean, the Springvale DK from Three Irish Girls is DK, as the name says, but the Wheelwright Shawl I used it in is so much heavier. Which is just a difference, not a complaint, but it points to one of the (forgive the pun) fuzzy parts about yarn weights.

Springvale DK is 100 grams to 270 yards

Fredericksburg (supposedly worsted) is 226 grams to 660 yards, which makes it 100 grams to ~265.5 yarns

And yet they feel so different! Mysterious.

I used needle sizes 11 and 10.5 (US) for the projects I've made, and I think I'll go down a little, to cut down on the pilling, maybe 9, maybe even just 10. See how the fabric turns out.

Think, think, think. Fun knitting thoughts.

Finished Knitting!

Last month, I did what knitters often do when a friend has a crisis, and started knitting for her.

Yarn: Purple Lamb Sparkly Merino, in the colorway Beautiful Universe; it's fingering yarn, so I held it doubled.

I had the worst time photographing this yarn to catch the sparkles! The camera just wouldn't do it. You can see it better on her site, naturally.

Pattern: The Sophie Scarf. There are currently more than 7,000 projects for this in Ravelry; it's a simple, classic piece that has caught on in a big way.

To keep the two yarn balls from tangling, I put one in a wee little bag within the project bag, which worked like a charm.

I do like the look of the tidy I-cord edging.

Here it is before its bath. Those foam squares are 2 feet wide each.

Spread out wet, I had to curve it a little to fit.

I didn't pin it, just laid it out to dry smoothly.

I made the larger size, so it wraps around the neck twice; if you tuck the ends under, it looks like a cowl. This took about 104 grams of the roughly* 129-gram skein of fingering yarn.

*I weighed the yarn before starting on my old scale, which died before I finished. So there's a chance the old and new scales aren't completely in synch, but good enough for a ballpark.

It took 10 days, I'm happy with how it turned out, and my friend liked it, so I call that a total win.

Don't Change (My) Time

On Sunday, it's time for the semi-annual exercise in ridiculousness that is daylight saving time. I hate it when the time changes, both ways, but I always have more trouble adjusting to the springing forward, which messes with my sleep intolerably. I so, so wish the government would just pick a time and leave it. 

Even those who claim to be for it seem to fall into arguments about which time to choose, and dudes? I don't care. You can't please everyone. Just pick one. Tell me it's midnight when the sun is out, I don't care. Please stop yanking me around every year.

Redeeming a Poor Start to the Day

This morning started with minor annoyances:

• I was tired when the alarm went off (not that that's unusual).
• My back twinged in that way that means it barely hurts, but one injudicious stretch could lead to sudden sharp pain. (As it turned out, it was a not-even-large cough that set it off; ow, ow, ow.)
• I went to get my coffee and found no milk in the fridge. I brought home a gallon Monday night, but my mother hates the idea of it going bad so much (and yet hates to buy a half gallon because the gallon is a better deal) that she routinely freezes it. She had failed to notice that there wasn't any in the fridge, and froze it all. Sigh. I put a little half and half in, not the end of the world, but come on, morning.
• Then Maggie threw up, and I had to get up and clean that.
• She got on my lap while I read the paper, as usual, but as soon as we got up she was pestering for more food, and no, too soon, not yet. She was very annoyed.
• I had a doctor's appointment this morning and was halfway there when I remembered that I hadn't put the medication list printout (which I purposely updated and printed out on Sunday) in my purse, nor had I picked up the books I was going to return to the library as I passed it.

Sigh. Nothing major, just a string of small annoyances. However, the good news, beyond the fact that my annual skin check showed nothing worrying, was in the Informed Delivery email from the USPS, saying that I had a package out for delivery today. From St Martins Press.

Guess what? I won a Goodreads giveaway.

Ahhhhhh! New Martha Wells book! Suddenly a much better day, headache be damned.

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.)