Gray & Melty

That was today in a nutshell.  Oh, the sun poked its head out every once in a while but for the most part it was overcast, warm (it got up into the 40s), but not a cheerful day.





I nearly forgot to make the hummus and clean the veggies to take to Knitting Guild tonight.  It's been on my to-do list since the weekend and got shoved over to the next day, day after day, and at about 2:00 this afternoon I suddenly realized that I hadn't done it after all.  Good thing it's one of those 15 minutes from start to finish kind of recipes and I'd bought a big, family-size bag of cauliflower, broccoli, and baby carrots so all I had to do was rinse it, trim off the stem ends, and cut it into bite-size pieces.  It was a hit, no one could believe that it's a Weight Watchers recipe and costs 0 points.  I got requests for the recipe so I'll be putting it into the next newsletter.  (Part of one page filled--yippee!)


I stopped at the library to pick up a couple things I had on hold and as I was leaving saw a bookshelf right by the door that stopped me in my tracks.  All of the books were wrapped in plain paper with a "Blind Date with a Book" sticker on it and a very short description of what was inside written in red.  There was "Historical Fiction" and "Funny and Sad" and lots of others that didn't really draw me but the one marked "Mystery Short Stories" with a heart drawn underneath looked right up my alley so I checked it out.  I haven't unwrapped it yet.  I put it right into my suitcase when I got home and won't open it until we get into our room in Door Co. tomorrow evening.  What a great idea!  If I was the librarian, I'd chose books that I knew were good that didn't get circulated much and get them out and about in a "plain brown wrapper."

As for knitting, while I loaded the book on CDs that I got from the library (on KW's recommendation) I worked on OJ's mitten cuffs.  Both are done and it's time to start the hand.  The mitten in the picture is one knitted to the pattern's specifications but I'm going to make these a little bigger by adding a few rows before starting the thumb gusset and in the hand.  Slightly too big mittens aren't bad, too short mittens are awful.  He'll grow, not shrink.

For mindless knitting at tonight's Guild meeting I took February Preemie Hat #5 and got a couple inches added.  I'll have to check the pattern to see how much more I need to knit before starting the crown decreases.  One thing about knitting preemie hats, you get almost instant gratification because they're so darned small.

Next month's program at Knitting Guild is how to knit a sweater that fits.  Basically we'll measure each other and learn how to calculate gauge to make a sweater that fits like your favorite sweater.  I have a pattern for an asymmetrical cardigan I've wanted to knit for years but it doesn't go up to my size and I want to knit it in thicker yarn than the pattern specifies so I've got some figuring to do.  The March program should help.  I hope.  We need to knit a 5" square swatch before the March meeting so I wound up the yarn I want to knit that sweater with, grabbed the recommended needles, and plan to get that swatch knitted while watching the Olympics over the weekend.

Once again I didn't write before bed last night.  I probably won't write tonight either.  I have to get up early tomorrow and will be busy getting Durwood and I packed and ready to zoom out of here around 5:00 to meet friends for supper in Dykesville about 20 miles up the road before heading another 50 miles north to our weekend getaway.  Ahh, getaway.  Doesn't that sound just lovely?  We won't be so far away that we'll be away from the internet so do not despair, there will be blogging.
--Barbara