Randomness

Well things are almost back to normal here at Casa Yarnkettle. Big G is close to forgiving us, the three day weekend helped. Lots to time yowl at mom. Food Woman I want Food!!! (and some fur stroking too)

His care taker even asked about his yarn thing, she said she would put the yarn back and the next time they came it would all be strewn all over the place again. My boy is funny!

I had to wind up my new yarn today, do you think it will be long before new socks appear in that colorway? Hey if I start knitting it does not move into the stash category. Of course not much makes it out of the stash that way. I think I get a better feel for how the colors blend when I wind up yarn into a yarn cake. It is not usually an accurate representation but I get a better idea.

I've started another pair of socks for D too. I pulled out a stash yarn for them. Louet Gems in a lighter blue. I have actually settled on a basic sock for him now too. He gets a 3 inch 2x2 ribbed cuff then my standard heel flap with a plain foot, so far at least. I thought of doing some cables but when the time hit the mood was gone so onto a plain foot it is.

I found his socks in my drawer this weekend. Do you think he forgot he had some too or was he just not paying attention.

Well that was it for my long weekend, I tried to relax, think I acheived my goal. Happy knitting y'all.

Delayed

So what do you do with an extra day in town? Find a yarn shop and go with your Mom of course. We found CR Yarn shop in downtown Rapid City, South Dakota. She dyes her own yarn (Castle Fibers) and sold some national brands too.

Mom was drawn to this one.

JaggerSpun DK weight Deep Purple #3682. It is 50% merino and 50% silk 50 grams of goodness. Mom was drawn to the color and feel of this yarn, and I am happy to try this one out "for her". The sacrifices we make for those we love.

We had a bit of an conundrum since I am not what I consider a hat knitter, and that is what she requested. The shop owner was very helpful and looked up Foliage on knitty. com for me, so we could get approximate yardage need. She was quite helpful. She epitomized my definition of good service.

Mom also picked out this one for socks.

I must admit that pink is the color that I think of when I think of her. More specially this shade of pink is my Mom's. Now, how do I describe how she should measure her feet to get a great fit.

This one is mine!

It is called Black Hills Hike. Which brings me to today's question. How much does the colorway name influence how much you like the yarn? I like this colorway but I like it so much more because of the name. It will remind me of home, when I finally knit and wear the socks that this yarn morphs into.

The colorway name for Mom's is not as fortunate, "fresh entrails". I must admit that I don't think of that particular name when I think of Mom's colorway.

Mom had her first yarn related sticker shock. Castle Fibers was not the most I've spent on sock yarn but it is on the upper end of my scale. Turns out Mom has expensive tastes, like Mother like daughter. I so excited to try out all the new yarns. I had heard of JaggerSpun but had never seen it, that I know of.

We had a discussion in the car afterwards about how important it is to support local businesses, even when I am not local anymore. I knit because I enjoy it, so I may as well enjoy it the most I can afford.

Oh and by the way turns out I can knit a heel flap and turn the heel in the time it takes to be delayed for a flight. I think it will be lovely when I finish them. I am a little worried that they are a bit too large. I've made a couple of pairs that are now too small. So I can live with larger rather than smaller.

I also work up the courage to go and talk to other airport knitters when I am delayed. I saw another knitter but was too shy to go and talk to her then after we were delayed I figured what the heck? I caught her off guard when I asked her about her yarn, I received a look. You know the why the heck are you bothering me, look. She did open up for a bit once I explained I am also a knitter. We really need to come up with a secret hand shake or something.

Dog Tired

We were off on a quick trip home to see my nephew graduate from high school. It was the same high school that I graduated from too. Wow isn't it amazing how nostalgia hits you below the belt sometimes? I was lucky enough to get a tour after not seeing the school for almost 20 years. Dang has it been that long? Yep sure has!

Apparently we needed to spend some more time with my family since God sent a severe thunderstorm to delay us long enough to miss our connecting flight. Our first plane did not even get to land, it got diverted before we even got a chance to get on. We rebooked to try it again the next day and the sun came out to light up the beautiful blue sky. Funny how things work out.

We got to surprise my nephew at work with our delay. The look of confusion on his face was priceless to me. He is a smart kid but 2 and 2 added up to 10 in his mind at that moment.

I think Big G here at home may have even forgiven us for leaving this time. No? I'm working on it any ways, he is a hard cat to please.

One up, one down

I forgot to tell you the meds are working for Gus. No barfs and we have his appetite and personality back. I can not tell you how happy that makes me. I do think it makes him happier. After one bad day he has been taking his pills like a champ. He does not like them but he takes them. I knew chances were good that he would forgive me for being "the evil pill chucker" when he brought me his favorite rat.

I would be the down one. We helped clean up the grounds at church on Saturday and boy am I feeling it. I think my right hamstring is 2 inches shorter. My walk looks a bit like Frankenstein's, minus the arms and the ughhhhs.

I must be feeling pained because I decided today that I would read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy this summer. Of course I promptly went to the library on my way home and picked up a bunch of books that were not that one. Denial is not just a river in Egypt!

I have discovered my library has books on blogging, so I checked out half them. Sometimes it is like I think the knowledge will seep into me if I bring them home with me. I forget to actually sit down and read them. I'm hoping to pick up some tips and suggestions that will help me here. Maybe I will even learn how to use HTML. Boy do I sound ambitious.

We were at the bookstore this weekend and I still have a gift card from my birthday burning a hole in my purse. Who knew free money is even hard for me to spend. I find things that I like but then think I should check at the library to see if they have it first. Why spend money on something I can get for free.

Do you ever see people in bookstores buying big stacks of books? That would never be me. I love books but I know my tastes are way too eclectic. It is a case of my eyes being bigger than my attention span. I always feel bad when I spend money on a book that I don't like. Seems like such a waste to me. Add to that I am not what I would call an intellectual and we have a case of book buyer's remorse.

Have you ever read a page of a novel several times trying to figure out what they are talking about, when all they are doing is going to the store? Seriously a whole page telling me that, in words that I assume even you had to look up in the dictionary and thesaurus? I get it you're smarter than me can you just tell the story? I've learned to read book reviews and synopsis the way I read wine bottles. The word tannin on a bottle of wine will get my attention, if it is not preceded by the words soft or well rounded, that bottle is back on the shelf. The words satire and literary do the same for me with books.

What can I say I am a simple girl. One that has read Crime and Punishment and The Count of Monte Cristo but simple non the less.

Is it Sock yet?

I've tried my hand at designing now. Well not really designing more of a hmmm, I wonder?

This is my standard sock with cables running down the front sides. I tried it but it really reminds me of this sock.

Yep been there done that. I did change the cable a bit but not enough to really matter. The kicker is that it's even similar colored yarn. So I ripped back. And came up with a 2x2 right twisting cable every 7 rounds with four stitches of stockinette separating the cables.

You can not really see it but it is a nice overall pattern. I would change it to only 2 stitches between cables now but I like it OK as is. So that is my own ringing endorsement of my 'designing' abilities.

I meant to take some pictures of some socks I've finished recently but I washed them so they're wet, and you know how difficult a wet sock can be at a photo shoot. See I made a funny!

Harney Tea

That is what a trip to Harney and Sons Tea looks like for us. 18 tins of tea come home with us. I had already taken two to work with me so they did not make it into the picture.

We picked out three new ones to try and filled up the rest. The sad thing is that we did not get all the tea we wanted. They were out of D's favorite tea. I am not telling you which one that is because it must be all you people buying it! Yes I know that I have told you which one it is but I am going to stop making it easy for you to get it.

So I've been stalking their website since our trip to pounce on it when it comes back into stock. I ordered some on Tuesday. Yay!!! They called and left a message for me on Thursday that it really is out of stock that was just a glitch. Dang it

Is it weird that I now need to come up with a backup tea plan considering how much tea I just bought? We tried a new on on Saturday, the Pu-erh. While I have described tea as having a hay taste I can honestly say I have not yet used manure as my adjective before that day. I think I will call it an Earthy smell (manure). Luckily the tea did not taste that way. Hey I grew up on a farm manure is in the air out there.

I don't know if it will grow on me but it was all right. D said it is an acceptable substitute. Me I prefer that my tea smells like tea, or smokey bacon.

Ooops

I woke up to the sound of a cat throwing up. Dang it, after yesterday went so well I had high hopes we were on the end of this thing. The vet told me we should see dramatic improvement adding in the prednisone (which we had seen). And if Gus did not stop throwing up he needed to see him on Monday.

So as I stumble out in to the hallway at 5 am, trying to avoid any dark spots on the carpet, I am already dreading the news he will tell me.

Here I must tell you I am a bad mommy because I was happy to see Jack throwing up instead of Gus. Gus is still puke free!!!! Poor Jack cleaned out his system of hair balls. I remember saying how odd it is to see Jack doing that.

So no vet visit yet for us. Well at least we're avoiding an urgent one. They both seem fine and that is the best gift a cat can give his mother.

Feeling Better?

Yes, that is the question Gus has been hearing last night and today. Based on the items he brought to me the answer is yes, just a bit. Vet has him on Pepcid AC and Prednisone now.

Oh and what a Houdini he is at taking pills. Well he is a Houdini at not taking pills. I think I am getting better at it now or he was just too sick and groggy to put up much of a fight. I caught him while he was still sleepy a couple of times. I swear the first time I tried to give him a pill years ago that pill must have been on the floor 20-30 times. I think he learned a lesson that day, Mom does not give up when it comes to administering medication! Dang It! (D had to learn that lesson too, Dang it!)

So now every time is a test of will. I keep telling him if he just took the pill I would leave him alone quicker. He has not yet decided to believe me.

So you know that Gus will bring yarn to me. Yep I have my very own in house yarn supplier, or I should say yarn retriever because I still have to buy the yarn and bring it into the house. Although maybe we should sit down for an online yarn buying lesson this week, oh he does not have a credit card and our color choices would probably not be the same.

After three good doses of meds. he is back to bringing me stuff. Today I received his yellow crocheted rat, a Henry VIII bear and a ball of left over Malibrigo yarn. Do you think I am forgiven for being the "pill chucker"? Yea I don't think so either. He is just happy to not be so inflamed.

So keep praying for us I would like this process to not be too scarring for either of us

Oh Bother!

I finished a pair of socks and wore them today. As always they feel lovely.

I am currently torn between two shawl patterns (Icarus or Prairie Rose) and am using that as an excuse for not casting on the project. It is a good thing too since still have a sweater on the needles for D, and two other first of a pair socks on the needles for me. I am also hunting through the stash for a sock yarn to round out my sock trifecta. I am beating back that urge by using the time to actually knit on before mentioned socks.

I think my sweater mojo has left me. Well that is not true I think I am delaying an issue. I am in fear that I will not have enough yarn to finish D's sweater. If I don't knit on it then it is procrastination holding me back not yarn requirement. I comforted myself with the though that I have a full skein for the other sleeve and a partial skein left over from the body of the sweater. Then I realized I still have to knit the collar too. Craptastic!

D's comment was can't you get more yarn? Yes and No, I can get more yarn but it probably be in a different dye lot (since I bought all they had of that color), which means it maybe a noticeably different color.

I alway worry about yarn running out. Tomorrow I will post a picture that shows why I worry.

And most worrisome is that Gus seems to be sick. He is throwing up all the time. We have gone through this twice now where I get him all checked out and it is not urgent. Last time we narrowed it down to Irritable Bowel. Now I can not get him to take the medication. Hiding it in his treats worked for a time but he figured that one out. Now crushing it with some tuna juice is not working. I may have to feed it to Jack just to prove I am not poisoning him.

The good thing is that he seems to still be himself. He swats at yarn and hands that come near him. He got a good nap in on my lap this evening so that made me feel better but then he got up and threw up. My poor guy. I have a call into the vet for tomorrow, we shall see.

Biking

So it was a lovely day here so I decided the bike and I should make the first trip of the season to the library. Hubby had a friend over to work on his bike so I had the pedals changed out on mine. A friend is loaning me his old cage type pedals. We swapped them out and I loaded up and was off.

I quickly realized that I had not used the special "biking" area of my bum for the winter. My body was quick to point out we had not done this in quite a while. It certainly makes you aware of areas the you do not want to be aware of. I don't think I chose the right shoes either. My feet were yelling at me half way there. Something about new pedals and not feeling the same. Oh I pulled of a halfer run too. I could not get the left pedal to flip over so I could slide my foot in so I decided to ride that way. I figured it was safer that way while I'm learning the new pedals. Easier to just step down with one foot rather than having to figure out how to kick out of the cage while riding. One skill at a time.

I think I went at a good clip for the first ride of the season. 10-14 miles per hour was good enough to get me to the library before it closed. I do really love the feeling of biking. Such freedom, at least I feel free when I'm not surrounded by traffic.

The funny thing is that I have a beautiful blue bike but all my accessories (helmut and road ID band) are red. Does that mean my next bike will be red or am I just tragically unhip? I am planning to knit long cycling socks in blue but now I think I may have to make them red to match the rest of my gear. But you know how difficult it is to match shaded of red.

I have learned that it is very important what books you choose when you ride there rather than drive there. Your books go on your back in the first scenario, and in the back seat in the second scenario. Weight and bulk become my deciding factor. No War and Peace for me this visit. Well actually no Russian literature at all this visit, they seem to write a lot when telling a story.

Also I don't pick up any "just for the fun of it" books, as I never really get around to reading these books while they are in my house. You know library books that talk about subjects that you're mildly interested in, but not enough to really go out and buy the book, Poker, gardening, various cookbooks. Hubby just gives me a look when I pick up books like that. "Really honey you want to learn about fly fishing? Are you really going to read that?" Usually I do not, the book just has a nice vacation in my house for a month with no one bothering it. I think I am trying to make up for lost time when I did not have access to a good library. At least now I'm not paying late fees anymore, so it really does not cost us anything, other than taxes but we were paying those anyways.

Oh I forgot to tell you my current book on CD in the car is The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. I am enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is quite a bit. It is the second in a series but I have not read the first one. The story is moving along at a good clip so that makes me happy.

Happy reading and biking all!