Well, that's what it feels like to be here working today. I don't work on Friday. Or Saturday, for that matter, but this week I'm doing both. *sigh* (big paycheck, big paycheck) That means it'll be after 7 o'clock when I get to knitting but I'm still going. I was thinking I'd skip it, just go on home once I close the store, but when Durwood asked this morning if I'm going I decided to do it. What the heck, I can go home after knitting, right? Right. I've been thinking that it's too early to be needing chemical heat packs in my shoes, making sure I have a shawl with me, and too early to be wearing my winter jacket, but it isn't. The dive shop's a cement block building on a cement slab with industrial carpeting on it, plus I swear that there's a tiny gap where the floor and walls meet so the furnace sucks in cold air right over my feet. I wear wool socks, and thick boots once it's icy and snowy, but I still need those little heating pads in there. I love them; they keep my tootsies warm. Tomorrow's the start of deer hunting and hunters usually like to have snow, "tracking snow," on the ground plus they've gotta roast in their bulky orange clothes when it's in the 40s out there. I suppose if they're sitting still they don't get too hot but walking around would make them sweat. And another thing, tomorrow morning's the Christmas parade downtown. I was thinking I'd call DS & DIL1 to see if they'd like to go, you know, get bundled up and go watch the floats, balloons and marching bands, drink a little hot cocoa--but, no, I have to work at the same time the parade starts. (poor pitiful me) I know I should be glad I have a job and a fun one at that and I am, I really am, but I love complaining and feeling just a little sorry for myself too so you get to listen to me, you lucky ducks.
November 16--George Bellows, The Red Vine, Matinicus Island, Maine. Nora was grateful that the sun shone as she hung the sheets on the line. It had been a long winter with many gray days so it was a treat to stand in the soft spring air feeling the sun warm her fingers. She caught a whiff of Mae's bread baking next door and smiled. Her own loaves were still rising in the corner of the kitchen out of the draft from the open door. A sudden squabble of gulls out over the harbor made her look up. It was too early for the boats to be coming in but there was movement out near the breakwater. She shaded her eyes with her hand. Her heart nearly stopped when she recognized the yellow trim on the wheelhouse. It was her George's boat, the Nora Dell. She dropped the end of the sheet and clothespin she was holding and started to run.
Okay, now I feel better about myself. I'd had a few blah nights of writing but this one gives me my faith back. How come a night or two of no inspiration makes me feel that I've lost it and won't ever get it back? I'd like to think I have a little more faith in myself than that. Ooh, phone, maybe it's a customer.
--Barbara Sue
P.S. nope, telemarketer, dang it.
I finally finished the first men's chemo hat I cast on, that's what I did. I'm not a very fast knitter and I'm not a very project monogamous knitter either. The crocheted one which was the third one was slightly problematic. I started it, frogged it, restarted it using a different pattern, refrogged that one, re-restarted it using yet another pattern, re-refrogged that one, finally started it again with my old-standby pattern and a one size smaller hook and finished that one at work on Tuesday, which took up quite a bit of my time as you can imagine. That's it below in all its chamo-y glory.
So last night after supper I reloaded my 2 chemo hap project bags (one crochet & one knit) with new man-approved yarns (I ran them by Durwood) and plunged in again. I'm determined to crochet a Zac Brown Band-style beanie, even though that's one of the patterns I tried before and ripped out, but I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. It's the brown blob on the left. So far, so good.
I found a similar rib-knit hat pattern to the original one that calls for a bigger needle (I'm really a big yarn/big needle girl) and cast that one on in the black. When I was digging for yarns for the hats I found a tiny scrap of a black, white & gray yarn that I slapped in after the first few rows just so it isn't solid black. I know, I know guys like solid black (boring) hats but this is just a little bit of interest I don't think they'll mind, do you? I promise I'll do an all-black one next. Men need to get with color, all this blue, brown, gray, forest green, and black is just plain dull. Dull, dull, dull. Perk it up, guys, walk on the wild side. How about a nice rust?I got my teeth cleaned in the afternoon too but there are no photos of that. You're welcome.
Yes, I do, right outside my window. Hip-hip-hooray! I feel so much better, happier when it's sunny out than when it's gray and cloudy. Unfortunately gray and cloudy is how it usually is around here in the winter. Bah. I tried to goof off and lay around in my jammies all day yesterday but I had to get dressed around noon. I just couldn't stand it, also my feet and legs were cold, so I put on real socks (they were even white cotton ones, matching ones, I'm sorry to say, I don't have nearly as many non-matching winter socks as I do summer ones, I should cast another one on, shouldn't I?) and jeans and my Copper Harbor hoodie because it's soft and snuggly. I almost didn't buy it when we were up in the UP last year and I'm so glad I did, it's the one souvenir from that trip that I use all the time and it reminds me of how much fun we had whenever I wear it. Plus it was on closeout. Perfect. I did finally get the first chemo hat I cast on finished which was my goal for yesterday, so I cast on another one after supper. I'm on a roll. See? It's chilly out now so I want to sit making warm things. I should have gone out for a walk. I'd feel better today if I'd walked yesterday, and now it's too late to go out and walk before work today, and I know I won't go out after supper because it'll be dark although what difference that makes I do not know. Maybe I'll crank up the Wii and do a little yoga after supper... I need to dig down and find the oomph to get my flab back in motion. Eating badly and not moving is a recipe for disaster, people. Dis. Aster. And lately I'm the poster child for it. I rediscovered Desert Island Discs podcast the other day when I was clearing out files on my iPod so I spent some of yesterday listening while I knitted. Since 1942 they've interviewed public figures--popular, political, musical, American, British--about what 7 pieces of music they'd take with them on a desert island which gives an added depth to what is a basic interview, and I love listening to them. Well, some of them, the ones that I know mostly, but some that I don't, and I'm surprised at how interesting people are, and how limited my world scope is, especially about British politicians and titans of industry. Yesterday I listened to J.K. Rowling from 2000 and Liberace from 1960, both very interesting in their own ways. Dorky, I know, but interesting.
November 15--Central Asia, Seated Female. Shun sat with her back to the tumbled golden red boulders that shielded her from the icy wind blowing down from the steppes. She had her carving tools and smoothing stones laid out on a scrap of hide and was focused on scribing a pattern of lines on the soft gray stone. Juga told her that only men carved but she meant to prove him wrong. He knew that she was better than he was at planning a design and his big hands were too clumsy for fine work. As much as Juga wanted to make carvings he was going to have to face the fact that he was a better hunter. Soon the elders would want to see him working and the fact that the carvings he said he'd made were actually made by Shun would be discovered.
Okay. Durwood just called that it's 8 o'clock so I'd better go clean up, shower and brush, you know that stuff, so I can go to work and not offend, just in case an actual, live human comes in to buy something. As if.
--Barbara
... even more than normal, I mean. Usually I have Tuesday off and work on Wednesday but not this week. This week I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday AND Saturday, and have Wednesday and Sunday off. *pant, pant* I'm adrift in a sea of "what day is this?" Durwood's no help; he rarely knows what day it is because all his days are pretty much the same, so I have to rely on my page-a-day calendar and the newspaper to tell me what day it is. *sigh* I used to be more on top of things. Didn't you? I remembered all kinds of stuff, names and dates and facts and jokes--I remembered jokes! Now I forget them before I get to the punchline, not that I hear many jokes anymore, I barely see anyone beside Durwood and a few random knitters on Friday night, and they don't tell me jokes. Do people even tell jokes anymore? God, I'm so out of it I could cry. But I won't, it'll dampen my keyboard. Moving on. I finished that men's chemo hat I've been battling since the weekend. I tried a few other patterns, three to be exact, to no avail. I'd get started, make a little progress, decide that it wasn't right (too big, too small, just wrong), so then I'd frog it (rip it, rip it--say that fast and you'll understand) and start over. For the fourth attempt I went back to my old standby pattern using a one-size smaller hook. Success! I finished it at work yesterday, so that's what you're getting for a Photo a Day today since the theme's "man-made" (I know I'm not a man, I'm going with the generic use of the term) and I haven't got anything else. I think I'm in a slump and I'm blaming the lack of sunshine lately. That's what I'm telling myself anyway. Don't you worry, I'll claw my way back to my normal happy, optimistic self in no time. I had a customer yesterday. One. And he'd even prepaid so all I got to do was take his "on account" money and put it into the "paid" column. *sigh* I'm so much better than that. If you need some dive gear, will you please come in and buy it from me tomorrow? Please? Even if all you need is a mask or fin strap, I need the distraction. Stupid economy.
November 14--Edouard Manet, Boating. It was cooler out on the water away from the crowds and the buildings that seemed to multiply the heat. At first Cecilia was reluctant to accept Henry's invitation but he was persuasive. He assured her that he would take good care of her--and it was hot. So there she sat in his tippy little boat much closer to the water than she imagined she would be. When she shifted position trying to get more comfortable on the wooden seat the boat listed to one side or the other. Henry laughed at her squeaks and squeals but stopped when she threatened to knock his beloved straw hat into the sea.
Meh. I wasn't thrilled with it last night and I'm still not today. Ah, well, I'm off. It's my day off, maybe I'll just fritter it away.
--Barbara Sue
On Sunday when I was moving all my knitting clutter out of the living room I realized that I stopped knitting my daily rows sometime in late October. It made me feel like a slacker, so I brought it to work with me yesterday and knitted a few rows. I clipped the last variegated, autumn-leaf-colored yarn and brought some solid gold yarn today to represent the last few weeks of all-yellow leaves. There's not a lof of the gold left so I'm going to knit with it to the end, there are still a few maple helicopters left hanging so it's a valid color choice, and then splice in another brown.
piled up on my windshield wiper when I drove home from work yesterday. Look! And right now it's about 22 degrees out there. It's supposed to rocket up to the high 40s (big whoop) and be all sunny today (that part I like), stay that "warm" for a day or two, then sink back to below freezing. *sigh* I think we're doomed. Winter's coming, and coming fast. DS & DIL1 came for DS's birthday supper last night. Durwood made chicken cacciatore and steamed carrots with a little tossed salad to start; I made chocolate-covered cherry cupcakes for dessert. DS brought a bottle of red wine (we don't know what kind of wine is good) that was perfect with the chocolate cake. I confess I had a little more with my dessert. DS and I went down to check on the kraut, it's doing fine, and we all had a nice meal and visit. We got him a DIY cookbook from America's Test Kitchen that he'll have fun cooking out of; it shows how to make cheeses and bacon and sausages and all kinds of stuff, even Oreos. Now I can get behind making those. Did you see they have Oreos with red filling for the holidays? I looked at them the other day; I'm sure they're only red coloring but they're strangely alluring. I love Oreos; I could eat them ALL. Today's Photo a Day theme is "where you slept." Lame. Who wants to see our bed? It's boring and bland so I'm giving you a picture of where we slept... in Bonaire last time we were there. I want to look at warm things today so you have to too, not that I think you'll mind. Wouldn't you rather be in a nice warm and sunny place with the clear and salty ocean just a block away? Don't you wish you were where you could make a picnic and drive a couple miles to the beach where you could have a little dive then sit in the shade in the sand and munch your sandwich and bowl of fruit salad? Yeah, I do too. I want to be there RIGHT NOW but I can't be because I have to go to work and besides we think it'd be too hard for Durwood to fly anymore so we're exploring places we can drive to; I'm good with that but that doesn't make me want to be on an island in the Caribbean any less, especially now that it's freezing outside. Freezing. That means winter jacket and gloves and a hat, warm socks, a long-sleeved shirt with a sweater and most of the time some sort of shawl or scarf over my shoulders when I'm sitting at work hunched over my knitting. Oh, I had a customer yesterday, a real one who bought something with a check. That's nearly like real money, well, it's real-er than a credit card. He was a nice friendly guy too so I got to talk to someone. It was good.
November 13--France, Cluster Brooch with Letters Spelling "Amor" He put the brooch on her bare breast. She shivered at the cold metal's touch but couldn't take her eyes off the gold and pearls around an emerald. "Is this for me?" she asked, touching the amazing thing with her finger. He leaned over and breathed on the brooch. Again she shivered as he warmed it. "Of course it's for you. I'm not so cruel as to taunt you with it, am I?" She shook her head and smiled. "No, of course not, you're not cruel at all," she said a little shakily. She moved to rise from the divan but he pinned her there with his arm. "I give you a gift and you leave?" A red flush washed up his neck. "No," she said, "oh no, I just... I got cold and I want a robe." She squirmed but he didn't release her.
I think I'm going to cook up some nice piping hot oatmeal for breakfast with a few dried cherries in it because it's so cold and that's a real stick-to-your-ribs breakfast. Also cherries. What's not to like? I have to work today. I never work on Tuesdays. And then I have tomorrow off. I always work on Wednesdays. This is very confusing. Good thing it only lasts a week. Sayonara.
--Barbara Sue
But closer. On our drive up to Kugel's Cheese Mart in Lena on Saturday I knitted on the final miter of the Hubbard Grand-Baby Blanket and got almost done, so I finished that last corner last night while watching the Firefly 10 Year Anniversary special. Which was kind of lame; I enjoyed watching the marathon of episodes all afternoon and evening much more. Now all that the blanket needs is edging. The pattern says to pick up stitches on each side separately, knit an increasing strip of edging, bind off, and then go to the next side. Seems kind of odd to me so I'll be thinking about what to do. Maybe just crochet a few rows. The second ball of yarn ran out before the end of the last miter. See the lower right corner? I just grabbed the third ball and kept going not really looking at the color progression. I kind of like it. "One of these is not like the other..." Sing it with me!
I had hopes of finishing another chemo hat but I kept crocheting and then frogging (ripping out) what I had done and starting over. I think I'm on the third pattern and the fourth hat with this yarn. Good thing it's acrylic or I'd have worn it out by now. I had hopes of making a Zac Brown Band-type beanie and found a pattern. That was try #3. Evidently the band has coneheads. I'm back to my original standard crocheted hat pattern only I'm using one size smaller hook. I know, radical.I only added one row to my knitted one; that's not going to get it finished anytime soon, is it? No. I also noticed my Maple Tree Scarf in its little plastic package when I was de-crap-ifying the living room this morning. It has become increasingly difficult to even remember to knit my down-and-back rows weekly much less daily. I've got it here at work with me and will be caught up by the end of the day. Cross my heart. I don't know what I'm going to do with it because it is so long and so thick, it'll be long enough to keep a giraffe's neck warm.
Well, that's what it feels like to be here working today. I don't work on Friday. Or Saturday, for that matter, but this week I'm doing both. *sigh* (big paycheck, big paycheck) That means it'll be after 7 o'clock when I get to knitting but I'm still going. I was thinking I'd skip it, just go on home once I close the store, but when Durwood asked this morning if I'm going I decided to do it. What the heck, I can go home after knitting, right? Right. I've been thinking that it's too early to be needing chemical heat packs in my shoes, making sure I have a shawl with me, and too early to be wearing my winter jacket, but it isn't. The dive shop's a cement block building on a cement slab with industrial carpeting on it, plus I swear that there's a tiny gap where the floor and walls meet so the furnace sucks in cold air right over my feet. I wear wool socks, and thick boots once it's icy and snowy, but I still need those little heating pads in there. I love them; they keep my tootsies warm. Tomorrow's the start of deer hunting and hunters usually like to have snow, "tracking snow," on the ground plus they've gotta roast in their bulky orange clothes when it's in the 40s out there. I suppose if they're sitting still they don't get too hot but walking around would make them sweat. And another thing, tomorrow morning's the Christmas parade downtown. I was thinking I'd call DS & DIL1 to see if they'd like to go, you know, get bundled up and go watch the floats, balloons and marching bands, drink a little hot cocoa--but, no, I have to work at the same time the parade starts. (poor pitiful me) I know I should be glad I have a job and a fun one at that and I am, I really am, but I love complaining and feeling just a little sorry for myself too so you get to listen to me, you lucky ducks.
