Sunday Wonders - H

H is for Hook. 

This hook was on fire a few years ago.  I used it so much that the varnish has worn off where my fingers held it.  But the fire's been banked for what was only going to be a few months and has turned into years .  Today, the sun is shining and it's cold.  A perfect hooking day.

So, hook plus frame...

Add a blank (almost) canvas...

A box of random worms...

Put some classical music on the player and let's see what happens.  I hope I can remember how to do it. I  actually have that fear.  You'll be the first to know if the fire has burned too low.   And maybe, if this works I can get Katie's mat going.  It's been on hold too long.

Saturday Stash

This view was sort of expected this morning...weather folks really enjoy making a mountain out of a mogul, don' they?  It wasn't a particularly welcome view, though.  I have already gifted our snow to all my bloggy friends who really love it and have none yet.  I love how the snow has collected on our improvised (circle of sheet metal) squirrel baffle.  In the fall, two of our bigger - and younger - squirrels managed to climb up the metal pole and spent about five happy moments cleaning out the sunflower seeds.  We think we have them stymied - for the moment.

Good thing I've been knitting some warm woollies this week.  What have I been knitting?  Even better question: what have I finished?   I'll start with my only work in progress right now: the Midnight Rose tunic.  Oh, I think it's going to be so pretty.  I was making great strides and then got a bit distracted by some other stuff.    I've got the color a bit better this week (it's darker than this) and can you see the lovely tangle of cabling?  This is a fun, fun pattern.  No cable needle necessary as you never cross more than one stitch.  I do have to count, though.  Rows, stitches...in the round that's a lot to keep track of as you increase and decrease at the same time in some places.

I finished the Desert Shadows scarf and have the pattern on Ravelry as a free download.  Go here if you'd like to try it.  You'll need about 400 meters of 4ply fingering to make a scarf. 

After I had written up the pattern, I wanted to make another test knit just to be sure.  The pattern is very easy but the writing, as always, can get lost in my translation.  So, I cast on some leftover sock yarn for a swatch.  It looked so pretty I just kept going 'til the string ran out.  I sewed on two stash buttons  which can easily slip through a dropped-stitch 'ladder'.  Now I have my Swatch Band.  It makes a neat little neck-warmer or a headband to keep the ears warm.

In danger of becoming a UFO, these white socks begged me to finish them.  The only thing wintery is their name -  Snowberry socks.  I think, being cotton, they'll be waiting in the drawer for some warmer weather before I actually wear them. 

Not a bad week on the knitting front.  Now if you could just bring your shovels and buckets and take all this snow away.  Please?  While I wait for you, I'll be knitting.  I have some red recycled yarn that wants to be a jacket.  Sounds perfect for a snowy day.

Chattin'

It's that day again.  The sun is shining today and the frost is white and furry on the rooftops.  Sunrise was an amazing magenta that covered the eastern horizon.  About the color of the inside of a blood orange.  Right now I'm gathering up my knitting and setting off to meet up with everyone who's hanging out at Patrice's place today.

 
 The conversation has already begun so I'll jump in and catch up with everybody.  Here we go...

How often do you wear a skirt or dress?  Way more often since I've lost weight.  It's kind of weird that skirts are not something I wanted to wear when I was heavier.  They would probably have looked OK but for some reason I wasn't comfortable in them.  Now I love them.  Skirts, that is.  I hardly ever wear dresses.  I think there's something too same-y about a dress that doesn't  appeal to me.  

Did you feel unmotivated after Christmas and New Years? Oh, you mean, like how I wished the holiday break would just go on and on?  It was really hard to get back to regular stuff after a pleasant two-week break.  I got very used to just doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.  

What was the last thing that made you say "Wow"?  Seeing my 7-year-old granddaughter in her just-off-the needles sweater.  It should have been big on her based on measurements taken at Hallowe'en but it was just perfect as long as she stays that size.  Must knit faster.


Do you shop with a list, or do you "wing it"?  Mostly I wing it.  Now that I'm older and my memory is imperfect I'm more easily distracted, I find I need a list if I have to buy anything out of the ordinary.   I'm not a particularly impulsive shopper so winging it is my preferred way to shop.  Just another of my 'don't tie me down' quirks. 

And now Patrice asks one of my favorites: what questions would you like me to ask on our chat?  I have a couple of requests...if that's OK.  I would like to know:


Which kind of competition  do you prefer to watch:  dancing, singing or cooking?


How many different addresses did you have while growing up?  


Thanks, Patrice, for hosting another chat.  They are always fun and if you'd like to join in , just visit Everyday Rurality and sign in. 
And, now, since the holiday is really over, it's back to work for me.

B-I-G step

Yesterday, I decided to join the e-ranks and stop my daily delivery of the newspaper.  My yearly subscription was up for renewal and, like everything else, it had increased by what seemed to me an outrageous unacceptable amount.  So, I went looking for what I could find online.  I did a very small amount of anecdotal research:  I asked my son who gave up his print edition a while ago.

This is the last newspaper that will fall on my doorstep - and it remains unopened.  Pass the hankie.  Actually, I thought the absence of this morning's paper would be more traumatic than it turned out to be.  Mostly the trauma involves guilt over being a part of taking away jobs.  I started my employment career as delivering newspapers and all three of my kids started the same way.  Like me, I'm sure they have mixed feelings about the work.  But, it's another tradition that is slowly fading away and I don't love being part of its demise. 

I found this online and I spent a pleasantly large half-hour browsing through the pages.  One of the interesting observations that I made was that I actually didn't skip around as much as I would have with the print copy.  Because I have to be intentional about the page I'm going to read, I found that I spent more time and read each article to the end.  Frequently, in print, I read about half-way through and decide I've had enough.  Or something more interesting catches my eye. 

Online, there are a lot of distractions - like ads -but because I'm so used to ignoring them while I'm circling around in cyberspace each day, it was easier to focus on what I was reading.  I thought I would miss some features that I always read: comics, letters to the editor, obituaries.  But, it's all available...either on the paper's page or elsewhere.  In fact, the comics just got more interesting because I can access the syndication pages and read a whole bunch that I don't find in the daily newspaper.  Not that I did, of course,  No, I selected about six that I really like and let the rest go. 

This wasn't a New Year's resolution at all but it sort of feels like one.  Weird, huh?