Knitting Musings

Ugh.

This weekend was NOT what I would have called "good." Oh, there were some great things - my in-laws were in town for a visit, and my father-in-law and hubby got a whole mess of landscaping done. We got to visit the National Arboretum and spent some good time together. But there was one overwhelming bad thing - the horrible case of food poisoning I got on the way home from dinner on Friday. I now know that it is not the end of the world to be sick on the Metro train, or station, or platform... and that there are really kind, sweet people who will give you tissues and hope you feel better. But after being sick ALL night on Friday, and so tired and shaky on Saturday that I only spent about an hour upright and went to bed at 6 - definitely not the greatest of weekends. I am feeling much better now, but am still feeling a little weak and definitely not 100% in the appetite department. SHEESH!

There was one bright spot from my otherwise-miserable Friday night - Each and every time I staggered into the bathroom to be ill, Abby hopped off the bed and followed me to make sure I was ok, and then hopped back on the bed and curled up right next to me. She must have gotten on and off the bed at least a dozen times over the course of the night - but each time, there she was! It was so sweet!

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Doggies and Sheepies, Oh My!

Warning - graphic picture of doggy abuse below -

notice which head is on the pillow...

But it wasn't all doggy abuse today - S got to fire up his new weed-whacker and 'whack' the teensy little patch of grass that had managed to escape his mid-week mowing. I am ALL FOR a husband who is willing to handle the yard-maintenance aspect of things... I'll deal with the herb gardens and any other little plantings, but really have no desire to get out there and mow the lawn. In fact, I am extremely grateful that, for the last 4 years now, I've lived too far away from my parents to realistically be in charge of lawn-mowing when they're on vacation.

Of course, we wouldn't have to worry about mowing the lawn at all if we just got one of these...

First square completed from my newly-started Sheepie Blanket. I have big plans for this blanket, but all must be hush-hush for now (I feel so mysterious!) The yarn is Elann Superwash Worsted, and the pattern is from Knit Simple Holiday 2007. The original was done in shades of sepia, which just really didn't do it for me.

For the record - Square 12, 24 ends.

Labels: Sheepie Blanket

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Welcome, Spring!!

Ok, so the weather today isn't exactly screaming spring, and I'm wearing a sweater. But the calendar says "Spring Begins," so WOOT!!!

And what better way to begin Spring than with my annual shipment of Shetland for the 2008 version of Dad's Christmas Vest! I really only ordered 17 balls, but went through my stash of shetland leftover from past projects in case I decide to get creative and switch out some of the colors. I'm so excited! I think I probably will hold off starting until the summer, but who knows... all that shetland will be hard to resist!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm sheepie goodness!

Abby, needless to say, was neither impressed by the yarn nor by the arrival of Spring. I took this picture last weekend, and Abby is not only on S' pillow, but she's all wet from her walk in the rain! It's a good thing that (1) she was on S' pillow, and not mine, and (2) it was change-the-sheet day anyway, so these were headed straight to the laundry!

Labels: Dad's Vest

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New Projects and the Arrival of Spring

I may have accidentally bought some Euroflax linen at KH on Wednesday... oops! But since this is for a housewarming present for a dear friend, I maintain it totally doesn't count. This yarn is horrendous to work with - like stiff twine - but I have it on good authority that it feels divine when washed. I remain to be convinced, but I have high hopes. I'm making two linen hand towels from Mason-Dixon... because what else do you get the boy who has, literally, EVERYTHING? (Is it wrong that I am seriously smug about the fact that, thanks to knitting, I can send a completely unique present?)

And this is someone who totally deserves hand-knitted linen hand towels. He got me the neatest housewarming present - a set of herbs designed for tea - lemon balm, mint, and chamomile! I'm waiting (not very patiently) for the seeds to sprout.

Speaking of presents, yesterday was quite the exciting morning for Abby - it was doggy food delivery day! There's a great shop in Alexandria that delivers for free to our neighborhood - we could technically save about $4 by getting this same food at another shop, but we figure that's the delivery fee, and then we can still be in our pjs while a huge stack of dog food cans shows up on our porch. Abby really likes doggy food delivery day!

Of course, being the horrible people that we are, we couldn't let Abby just enjoy a day of hanging out in her backyard. No, we had to drag her to the car and drive her over to the Potomac River, and then force her to run around while people told her she was cute. It's such a hard life for a poor little doggy!

We appear to be having a slight disagreement as to which way to go... I was voting for "back to the car." Abby respectfully disagreed. She won.

And what makes a doggy even happier than a day in the park? A day in a MUDDY park!

I'm going to ignore the chilly rain falling outside today, and instead I'm going to concentrate on the beautiful day we had yesterday. The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 60s, and the flowers started blooming. Welcome, SPRING!

Labels: Linen Towels

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Quick - Call the SPCA!

I want to thank everyone who commented or emailed on my last post - it was really great to read everyone's insights and get comfort that I am not alone in going through this unsettled period in my life. I am increasingly confident that I am on the "right path" in general, and just have to work on my patience as each day brings me closer to the next phase of my life. I have been learning so much about myself lately, and feel like I'm really learning who I might want to be when I "grow up." I'm also learning that my immediate reaction to any "problem" is to fix it... not to wait until the time is right! Patience, it appears, is not among one of my strongest qualities.

Of course, my general lack of patience is ironically matched with my current knitting - miles of stockinette on size 0 needles. But perhaps my knitting is just reflecting the current state of my life.

In other, more urgent news, Cricket would like to make a public plea for someone to please rescue her from her life of enforced servitude. We make her help us make the bed...

... and I force her to help me keep my knitting from blowing away.

I believe that look says "touch this knitting and you will be very VERY sorry - this angora-merino yarn is the perfect kitty bed!"

And it's not just Cricket who gets put to work in the Musings-Household - I even made poor S learn how to use the sewing machine in order to make one of the panels of the dining room curtains (he's a natural!)

And, as if that weren't enough, I then forced S to be a manly-grilling-man with our new grill and cook up some steaks for dinner. I also forced Abby to go supervise because, well, I'm just mean and I force everyone, Abby included, to earn their keep.

All of our hard work this weekend, however, was worth it - dinner on Sunday was delicious - medium-rare steaks, kale with double garlic (kale is my new favorite veggie!), guinness, smithwicks, and homemade fresh bread.

And, but for the weather turning suddenly colder, we would have enjoyed our yummy dinner on our newly-tidied back porch, complete with the table/chair set we just bought at Ikea ($120 for the set - such a good deal!)

And after dinner, we closed the newly-hung dining room and living room curtains! They still need a good press and hemming, but I'll let them hang for a week or so before I finish them up next weekend.

And see? I even made Abby pose in the picture - POOR DOGGY!

Labels: Sewing, Wild Apple

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In Search Of....

Erin categorized her post this morning as "In Search of a Remarkable Life." I read her post on my crackberry (which I would dearly love to chuck off a bridge) this morning on the metro as I rode into work. It struck a chord - what am I in search of? As with so many "big questions," the answer to this one came to me as soon as I articulated the question.

I am in search of contentment.

I've been thinking recently about how this is a year of waiting things out. I am not content in my professional life, but cannot make a change until I have a year or so under my belt. Some big changes are in the works in other aspects of my life as well, but those too involve waiting and some uncertainty. And I realized as I sat on the metro that what I am ultimately seeking is to be somewhere, personally and professionally, where I can see myself living the same basic life for the foreseeable future. I want a life where I don't have to have a "this will be over by...." date in order to get through the week.

Will I find that contentment? I think so.... just not quite yet!

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