Whoosh!

Has it been nearly two weeks already? Wow how time flies. A quick catch-up is in order then:

My dad got back from Oregon. The funeral was lovely, he brought back a program and I was able to read it. My poor uncle is still devastated, understandably. I've spent the past two weekends up here in Idaho. Last weekend was the Snake River Fiber Fair.
I didn't buy a whole lot of stuff, but I think I'll have fun with what did come home with me. I got 4 oz of a hand-painted roving from Woolly Wonka, two 50 gm balls of Regia sock yarn in a very discontinued colour, and 4 oz of prize-winning alpaca fluffy stuff. Haven't touched any of it yet, but I will! Had a lovely weekend, full of fun and good times. Got back to work Monday morning with the bombshell news that our call center has dropped DirecTV as their client, and is picking up Comcast. So we are all in the middle of a huge shuffle there, and it will take some time to get everything sorted out. Since that went down, we all had a 3 or 4 day weekend, so I came back up here to Idaho to spend some quality time in the storage shed. I went through every single box. Some stuff got consolidated, some got donated, some got tossed, it ALL got re-organized so now it is easy to find and remove when the time comes.

It's my dad's birthday tomorrow, on Memorial Day. We are planning on a barbecue and then I'll head out about 6pm to go back to Logan. I spent some time Friday out at the cemetary, tending my nephews' grave. I don't think my brother goes out there much, if at all. I took away all the trash and the broken decorations and toys, swept it all clean, and brought new decorations and toys. In case any of the family wants to go out and visit this weekend, it is all ready for them. I think tomorrow I'll go back over and take some photos.
In knitting news: The first pink stripy sock has come out of time-out and is finished. The second one is getting its heel flap knitted right now. The Very Special Socks for the VIP are all done. The slog-along continues with various and sundry items each getting a row or two.

In health news: I've been switched to Prozac, and I like it. I'm not napping as much, and I'm sleeping well at night. I seem to have mental energy to get things done (like cleaning out the storage shed) and things don't seem to be weighing down my mind as much. Yay for modern medicine!

Have a lovely Memorial Day and Happy Summer!

In Time-Out

Oh I remember time-out. Actually, in my case it was "The Happy Chair". When I was a wee one, if I needed an attitude adjustment, I got to go sit in the Happy Chair. It was the captain's chair of our dining set. It was placed in the kitchen, next to the sink. My mom says sometimes I'd get a smile on my face before my bottom even touched the chair, other times I stayed there for quite awhile.

My sock is currently in the Happy Chair. And not because I'm happy with it! It is behaving very badly, indeed. First of all, I tried a short-row heel. But I forgot that since there were no gusset rounds, I would have to knit the foot longer to compensate for that. Rip-rip-rip, re-knit longer. Both socks. I was so proud, but then I put them on, and one had 40 rows of ribbing, and the other had 30 rows. And I hated how the short-row heel fitted. Rip-rip-rip some more, re-knit with heel-flap heel. One sock. Tried on again, I had knit too tight, trying to compensate for ramen yarn. Rip-rip-rip, wind on niddy-noddy, wash, hang, dry, re-wind. It's waiting to be knit. And then I will still have to rip the second sock back to the ribbing because 10 rows' difference of ribbing is going to bug me. *sigh*

In the meantime, I am to the heel flap of the second of Very Special Socks for my VIP. Huge socks for huge feet. The heel flap is 39 rows! On Friday I went to Knitters/Spinners Night down at the LYS, and one of the ladies there is a very accomplished knitter. I voiced my frustration with the short-row heel, and my boredom with the heel-flap heel. And since I almost always use stripey sock yarn, I want my heels to look good. Heel-flaps are okay for solid or variegated yarn, but not so good for stripey yarn. She told me to get a sock going, and to put half the stitches on waste yarn at the point of the heel, then continue. Next time we meet, she will show me her method. So of course I was Motivated, and got the remnants of two balls of Opal yarn that should just about be enough to make a pair of shortie socks. They are both ready for heels! And since I am at a standstill on that, I started my doctor's socks today at work. What's that voice I hear in the back? "Slog-Along" it says?
I've been slogging. I finished the cursed green wristwarmers. I finished the Moebius. The two Moebii shown are destined to be gifts this weekend, when I go back up to Rexburg. One is for my dear friend BT, who is a math teacher. I think she will be quite intrigued by the design, if not the colour. I know she prefers earth tones, but I had the purple mohair and I wanted to use it! I should have waited an hour longer to take the photos, the colours would have been more true. And why am I going up to Rexburg? Because it's time for the Snake River Fiber Fair! It will also be my one-year blog-iversary so of course I'll need to add to the stash a tiny bit. I still haven't knit up the sock yarn I bought last year. It is ugly in the extreme, so I haven't been too inspired. But I ought to add it to my slog-along and Just Do It. The DD is begging for socks again so maybe that is where it will go.

Aunt Sylvia

These aren't wonderful photos, as my uncle took them, but it's what I can find on short notice. My mom called me at 10:30 pm tonight. Not a good sign when that happens. I had missed the call, but I rang her back immediately. I knew it wasn't going to be good, and it wasn't. My aunt and uncle are world travellers, and my aunt has died suddenly while on a cruise. My dad got a one-line email from my uncle today, with very little information. My dad will be flying out to Oregon this week to be with my uncle. Sylvia was his third wife. He had nursed his first two wives through lingering illnesses, and she had also lost her husband. I've been trying to think, and I believe they got married a bit less than ten years ago. She was a retired surgical nurse, and she always had to be home in the month of October so she could volunteer giving flu shots. But the rest of the time they were out travelling the country in their motorhome, on cruises, or sightseeing the rest of the world. I've received a few postcards from different places, most notably China and Tahiti. Sylvia was so good for my uncle, he has been so happy with her. I've been grateful that they found each other. My uncle told my dad once that he wanted to be sealed to Sylvia. Interesting comment, since my uncle isn't LDS! But as my folks are Family History Missionaries, you can count on the fact that it will be taken care of.

I'll ETA when I know more details. I'll miss you Sylvia. I'm glad you were part of our family.

~~ETA~~ May 9
My father spoke with Sylvia's daughter last night. Sylvia had started the cruise with pneumonia, which progressed. She also had a blood clot. She was put in the ship's hospital, into ICU. The doctors suggested life support, my uncle declined that. She died soon after that. My dad is flying to Oregon tomorrow, and staying with Sylvia's daughter while he helps out my uncle. All other family plans have been put on standby.

Whether the Weather . . .

. . . . can make up its mind or not, I don't think I'll ever know. Did I just say summer was here? I repent. It is snowing and I am freezing. I am doing my best to coax warmer weather back by playing nothing but Jimmy Buffett songs on the ol' iPod. I'll let you know if it works. I am a third-generation Parrot-head, although I happen to be the one who introduced the prior two generations to him. Whenever we go on family road-trips, I pack every CD of his that I own, and we all agree that we prefer the live ones to the studio ones. So much more energy! If you need a mental pick-me-up, play some Jimmy Buffet. You won't be blue for long, I'll guarantee you!

So . . . . . I'd just like to thank all of those who have accepted my invitations to be readers of this here blog. I don't expect that this place will be exclusive forever, but I had the need to implement just a bit of security. Most likely what I'll do is shift the whole blog to another name and make it public again. I am SO not a confrontational person, so I tend to just disappear out of the view of whoever it is that wants to be abusive. I'm still alive, so it must be working!

Some progress on my Slog-Along: I have finished the wristwarmers, and the Moebius. No photos, because of the snow outside. I think I'll wait until I have a few more items slogged out before I post them all anyway. It will make for a more impactful scene!

And I went back to the doctor today. She was *quite* interested to hear about the night terrors I'd experienced on the Lexapro, particularly since that and Celexa are very very similar. But I told her that the 3-4 hour naps just aren't going to work in my life right now, and so I am trying Prozac for a month. I'd just like to say here that I really like my doctor, and I think she is sock-worthy. She always wants to see what socks I am wearing, and she was very intrigued by the Moebius scarf I was wearing today. I think she deserves a pair of shortie summer socks, so I'm going to knit some for her. I have a 50 g skein of Ditto that will be perfect.

Still loving my beautiful spinning wheel. I haven't yet decided on a name for her, although Kim calls it Pinkie. It's cute, but somewhat uninspired. I tend to take a long time to think about such things, but in the end I'm always pleased with my decision. I'm sure the name thing will be the same. I am still spinning up all that lambswool, but I think I've decided on what I'll knit with it. My LYS recently had a trunk show that was mostly baby items, and there was a hoody that was so cute! The bonus is that the pattern goes from teeny-tiny to extra-huge. I'm quite excited to do this project, because I know I'll have such a feeling of accomplishment. But first I have to finish more of my Slog-Along UFOs.

Oh, before I forget: does anyone have an unwanted copy of Kwik-Sew's Sewing for Babies and Toddlers with the master pattern still intact? I lent mine to a friend and although she mentions it from time to time, I'm not sure if it will find its way home.

Here's hoping spring returns soon, and more readers join in the fun!

Slog-Along, My Way

Having too many projects on the needles is driving me crazy (short trip, I know) so I have declared this to be the week -- or maybe two weeks -- of finishing up languishing projects. I have started with a pair of wristwarmers that have been hanging around since about Thanksgiving. I am just picking up thumbhole stitches on the second one, so that will be finished tomorrow at work. And then I'll move on to another KnittyGritty Moebius that is about a third finished. Although with that, I may need to buy more yarn to complete it, which I'd really rather not do, as the whole point of that particular exercise was to use up yarn. *sigh* After that, I'll be making the very last pair of felted slippers, in two shades of green. These were supposed to be a gift for my ol' buddy Ford, but as he lives in Phoenix, I'm not sure he really needs them. May have to re-think that. And then I have a Booga Bag that I'm supposed to be knitting for a girl at work. I'm just done with the whole felted bag thing for awhile, so it's been a pain to try to get through. Also needing attention is a Paris Loop Poncho, with only about six inches to go. Purling in the round is not my idea of a good time, though. I've got a Mason-Dixon warshrag going, but I tend to keep one of those on hand, as they are like socks. And of course, there are socks going.

So how about that wonderful Feast of St. Pyre we attended last Saturday? Well it was a blast! The weather was perfect; you could not have ordered a better day out of the Sears Catalog. The venue was perfect, the fencing and fighting was a ton of fun, morning court was mercifully short, the children were well-behaved, the dogs did not get into any fights, lunch and feast were delicious, and a good time was seriously had by all. Unfortunately, I got a slight sunburn. My beautiful pink Italian Renaissance gown has long sleeves, a long hem, but deep decollete. I was lifted and squished into a very tight corset and now I have quite the interesting sunburn! No photos, sorry.


And to top it off, my lovely DD was presented with her very first SCA award! It was such a surprise to us, I barely had the presence of mind to get the camera out. But luckily, Their Majesties King Ralph (pronounced Rafe) and Queen Kassandra took their time and that gave me the opportunity to scramble up and into position. The award she got is called Gryphon's Pride, and it is the children's award. It is a large gold-coloured medallion with a gryphon on the front, and "Artemisia's Pride" on the back. From that, I'd assume it is a kingdom award, not necessarily an SCA award. But I shall ask at fighter practice this week.

Except for school still being in session, I think it's safe to say that summer has arrived. The temps have not cooled down at night at all this week, and my house is far too hot to bear. The swamp cooler hasn't been hooked up for the season yet, so I'm trying to cope by having all the windows open all night. But of course, we live in a desert. I hate dusting!

I missed it, but Tiffany posted a really wonderful review of the PBS documentary that aired this week about my religion.