That's Life

Each time I write that there is no time for knitting during the week, I feel like I am sending out excuses why I won't make the goal of 42 items for the Harrow Fair.  Over the course of a year, lot's of events happen to derail my knitting time.  Once again LIFE interferes.  This past week, I spent with my mother sorting through her stuff.

My mother is planning on moving into a retirement community.  She is downsizing.  She is moving from a huge house with a full basement and a property that has three garages into a one bedroom with sitting room and kitchenette.  Because she had so much storage room, she has not ever done a serious purge.

My brother has been taking care of the garages and the outside items.  I went to help with the inside stuff.  We sorted the things she will take with her, what to throw out, what I was to take, what was to go to others and what was to be put into a garage sale.  There is so much stuff we put an ad in the local paper for a 3 day sale on the Victoria Day weekend.  We did not finish.  I have to go back before next weekend.

I brought a carload home with me.  I have arranged for a truck for next weekend to bring home the rest of my stuff.

I carefully packed knitting to take with me thinking - well I really don't know what I was thinking.  I collapsed every night into bed exhausted, slept for a bit and went right back to sorting, packing and pricing.  Not a stitch was done between Monday and getting back home.

I came home late on Thursday.  Hubby and I had planned a weekend getaway for this past weekend before my mother announced her plans.  Because of work commitments for each of us we have barely seen each other for the last 2 and 1/2 months.  We did not want to cancel.  Our upcoming schedules are going to be full too.

We went to Paris for the weekend.  Not that Paris.  The one in Ontario.  At least we started off in Paris.  We explored the downtown first.

Hubby, bought cheesecake.  I bought chocolates.  I browsed the John M. Hall store and picked up a new table cloth,  I recognize the irony in this.  I am bringing a selection of cloths from my mother however, she is keeping the round table and the round cloths.  The one I bought is for my round table.

Our next stop was Mary Maxim.  I picked up a sweater kit for the girl's sweater category.

We stayed over in Brantford.  We spent the evening watching old movies on the TCM station - one we do not get at home.

On Saturday we toured the Bell Museum.  We ended up with a private tour of the homestead as it was raining and we were the only tourists there.  Our tour guide was very good and we enjoyed the museum very much.

We decided to drive around Brantford just to see what we could see.  I felt we were driving aimlessly.  Hubby was playing with the cell phone.  We pulled up to the corner of West and Morton Streets when Hubby announced Len's Mill Store is on Morton.  I was in the right hand lane so we turned right.  We are driving along when I spot the store.  Hubby looking at the phone said the store should be around he..... The rest of the sentence was lost when I pulled into the parking lot at full speed.

I picked up some solid coloured sock yarn.

I asked Hubby about knowing where the store was.  I had been to the Brantford store once before many years ago but now it was in a different location.  He said I had him trained.  When you don't know what else to do, look for a yarn store.  He had just googled Brantford yarn stores and Len's Mill Store popped up at the same time as our arrival at Morton Street.

For our afternoon's entertainment we headed to the Brantford Artillery Club otherwise known as Gunners.  They hold a Saturday afternoon dance with a live band.  It seems strange until you realize the age of their members.  There was a live band - Final Edition.  They played a wide variety of music from different eras.  We danced, we bought tickets for the meat roll, 50/50 draw and the roast beef draw.  We partied with the group celebrating Eileen's 80th birthday.  We celebrated with the wedding guests from upstairs.  They came to the dance between the marriage ceremony and dinner.  The bride and groom had their first dance with us.  All in all we had a good time.  The dance ended at 6 so we went to dinner.

We finished the day again watching old movies on TCM.  This time it was comedies so we had a few good laughs.

I highly recommend Paris and Brantford for a lovely weekend getaway.

Hubby did the driving so I had a chance to do some knitting.  The booties for the three piece set are done except for the seaming.  I picked up some buttons and ribbon to finish the set at Modern Bee when my mother and I were out doing errands that needed to be done.

I finished the newborn hat and bootee set except for the seaming and the hat strap.

Sometime last Sunday, I needed some comfort knitting so I finished a pair of socks I started last summer.  All that was left to do was the last inch and ribbing of the second sock. Easy.

My delusion continues on the finished status of the knitting.  Nothing has been blocked yet.

I Am Back

Sorry for the absence.  We had a major deadline at work which left little time for anything other than work and sleep.  The deadline is over.  I spent the first two days after just sleeping and managed to read a book.  It helped with the sleeping.  Very little knitting to report during the last couple of weeks.

I am still a little brain fried so this post is a somewhat random collection of thoughts and stories.

1.  In response to msmaltesecross's comment last time.  When I came home from the game and recounted the stitches I had 155 each side.  I needed 165.  That was 10 more rows.  Somehow I started counted the knit rows and the purl rows as one pattern and I needed 10.  So I get to 9 and start to count the stitches in case I miscounted the number of rows.  I get to 176 stitches.  That can't be right!  I count again.  176.  But I have done 9 rows  that should only be 9 stitches increased.  Then it hit me.  If I had done 10 rows I would have increased 5 times 2 stitches.  I had actually done 18 rows not 9 like my befuddled brain was coming to grips with.  So now I go back to the pattern and there are instructions for customizing the size of the shawl.  I need repeats of 12 stitches plus 9 each side.  So if I do 14 repeats instead of the 13 I will need (12 x 14) + 9 =177.  So I need one more right side and one more purl side before starting the lace chart.

I start the lace chart and get to the centre and I am 2 stitches short.  What the ......?  I count again.  Yes I have 177 stitches.  Repeats of 12 plus 9.  Then I count the chart stitches each side of the 12 stitch pattern repeat. There are 11 stitches, not 9.  I am not ripping back 177 stitches.  I increase 2 stitches each side and carry on.

2.  It takes me all week the last week in April to knit one row of the chart.  It is not that long or complicated but that is all the time I have for knitting on it.

3. I get a call from Heidi at Pretty Skeins.  My needle is in.  It is Thursday April 21 and I won't be working back in the Windsor office until Monday.  She is closed on Mondays.  I want my needle.  I want to finish Nouveau-ne.  It is calling to me.  I call Hubby.  He is home from Pelee Island.  Turns out he was in Tecumseh just finishing lunch and 20 minutes later he is at the store picking up my needle.  Heidi and I agree he is a keeper.  [Heidi told him he was a wonderful husband.  He agreed -  she added modest too.]  Hubby says it is a lovely store and I should go there soon.

4. Over the course of the next few days I complete the sweater and the hat.  I call it done even though the hat still needs to be seamed.  Booties have yet to be cast on.

The sweater is still missing buttons and nothing has been blocked but indulge me.  It is done!

5.  I took the Luella shawl with me to all my appointments this past week.  My doctor asked what I was knitting and in particular what all the coloured things were on the needle.

(They are hard to see in all the bunched up stitches.)  I explained that I use markers to mark the pattern repeats.  That way if I get to the next marker and I have stitches left over or I am short I know that I made a mistake in the pattern between the markers.  It will be on the current row or 2 rows below.  I can fix it without having to rip back rows.  My doctor thought that was very clever.  Then she said something that astounded me.  She said she was not smart enough to do that.  She is a doctor.  She has studied very complicated medical stuff.  She knows chemistry and physiology and lots of latin I can't begin to memorize yet she does not think she can knit or work out a method for cross checking whether the stitching is right?  Should I question her credentials to be my doctor?  I am going to assume for the time being she was trying to flatter me and carry on.

6.  When it came time to bind off the shawl there were 1,132 stitches on the needle.  The bind off called for picots so for every 8 stitches on the needle to begin with you  cast on 2 and bind off 10.  That is a lot of stitches.

7.  It took me three days.

8. The shawl is done.  Yes done.  (I am deluding myself again.  It is not washed or blocked so there is still a couple of hours to go.  I think there is a trend here.  It is done.)

There is Always Next Year

Hubby and I attended the hockey game on Sunday night.  The excitement in the arena was so thick it was a fog rolling out of the arena into the cold cold night.  The play was fast and both teams  worked their hardest.  Essex needed to win to stay in the series.  Ayr wanted to win and get a rest before the next one.

Essex scored early and the crowd cheered.  Essex scored again just before the end of the first period.  2-0 and victory was looking good.  The more exciting the play, the faster I knit.  Sometime in the first period I counted the stitches: 157 per side.  I needed 165.

The second period came and went without a goal.  Early in the third Essex scored again or so we thought.  The goaltender had knocked the net off its posts and the goal was denied.  I think our goalie should learn this trick for next year.  Ayr then scored; and scored again.  The end of the third period came with the game tied; we were heading into overtime.

The rows were flying by. I was worried  I was going to end up with more stitches and rows than what I needed.  I potentially had another 20 minutes knitting ahead of me.  I spent the intermission finishing the row then counted my stitches.  155.  That could not be right.  I started with 157 and had knitted row after row.  Each right side row increased each side by 2 stitches. How could I be going backwards?  I decided to count them again.

Essex lost in overtime.  I am not upset about the loss.  It was an exciting series and I got to watch some really good hockey.  I attended almost all the home games in the regular season,  I only remember missing one and that could not be helped.  I attended as many playoff games as possible but missed the league final due to illness.  What really really upset me after being such loyal fan - I missed the goal ending the game and Essex's chance at the Schmalz Cup - I was counting stitches.

I am about to start row 12 of the lace chart.

There are 43 chart rows in total.

On The Mend

The second round of anti-biotics seem to have kicked in.  I am feeling better but not yet 100%.  Work has ramped up.  My days consist of work, come home, sleep.  Repeat.

Little progress on the knitting front.  By Tuesday night's hockey game I was at the perfect hockey knitting stage on the Nouveau Ne sweater.  Very quickly the body was done.

Essex played Ayr and lost 5-2.

Next game was Thursday night in Ayr.  Hubby drove the two and a half hours to Ayr and texted me the play by plays while I stayed at the office working.  Essex lost again 5-4.  They played again Friday night in Ayr.  Hubby was there texting me again.  This time I came home and knit on the baby sweater.  Essex lost 5-2.  The 4th game of the series is Sunday night.  If Essex loses again, the series ends.  I hope not.  Hockey is the only time this month I find time to knit.

Today I left the office to grab some lunch.  I tripped and fell.  I am fine but there were fatalities.  The first - my Addi-Turbo needle.

The second - my ancient palm pilot I used for keeping track of phone numbers and addresses.  It was so old, I could no longer back it up on my computers.  Landing on the pavement was too much for its ancient bones.  Hubby thinks it was simply old age.  If you don't hear from me soon I have lost your number.

The baby sweater is on hold until the new needle arrives.  I have ordered one from Pretty Skeins and it should arrive about 10 days from now.  I figure I can run over at lunch time when the needles come in to pick it up.

My other two projects on the go look exactly like they did last week.  Signing off  now to wind wool for the next one.  Mamma needs something new.

Not a Cold

I finally broke down and went to see a doctor.  I don't have a cold, I have an ear infection.  I am on antibiotics.  They are working but very slowly.  I am still coughing and sleeping propped up on the couch.  If I try to sleep flat, I fill up with mucus and start coughing worse than ever.  On the bright side the Doc said I was not contagious.  My co-workers are relieved.

Since I still feel like I  hit  a Mac truck I don't have much to report on the knitting front.

I regenerated my knitting mojo by making a hat to go with the monkey scarf.  Haven't worked on the scarf.  It takes more concentration than I can muster in the evening to work on the facial details for the monkey part.

The Luella shawl progresses.  I need 165 stitches each side of the triangle centre before starting the marvellous lace border.  I am up to 147 stitches.  Each row is taking me 15 to 20 minutes now and the needle is getting full.  I can no longer spread the stitches out for you to see.  Look -  a blob of white stockinette.

I started another entry - just to keep things interesting.  My choice was Nouveau-ne.  I wanted to make this pattern from the moment the Yarn Harlot showed us this pattern on her blog.  I picked up some Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight yarn at Mary Maxim in Paris (Ontario) at Thanksgiving last year.  The yarn feels lovely at 50% superwash merino wool, 25% rayon from bamboo and 25% nylon in colourway "soft white".  I am enjoying knitting with it despite constantly messing up the bee stitch in the pattern and tinking back to fix.

I am not very far along.

Today I attended a baby shower for a co-worker. I gave my standard gift of one knitted baby item, three cotton flannelette receiving blankets I make myself and a book.  I keep entering the baby item categories at the Harrow Fair.  I save them in a drawer and give them as gifts.  I try to match the item with the recipient.  This baby will be a girl and I thought my entry from the 2014 Harrow Fair would be perfect.

I don't know what the judge was thinking but I did not win a ribbon for this cutie.  It is the Feather and Fan Baby Sweater from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders.  The yarn I used was Socks that Rock in Medium Weight by Blue Moon Fibres in colourway Hoofle Foofle.  It was lovely to work with and I think the end result is perfect.  I purchased this yarn at the last Sock Summit in 2011.

Here is a photo of the blankies and book.

All good news on the hockey front.  When I left you last week Hubby and I were heading to game three of the series with Dorchester.  Essex won 10-0.  Their goalie was trying his hardest but he was a team of one.  The other Dorchester players gave him almost no support at all.  They were too busy trying to beat up and injure the Essex players and then spent  a good part of the game in the penalty box.  During a 5 minute major penalty on Dorchester, Essex scored 5 goals within 2 minutes.

Their goalie did better on Tuesday.  So did the rest of the Dorchester team.  They only lost with a score of Essex 4, Dorchester 1. Tuesday's game ended that series;  Essex moving on to the semi-finals.  There was some excitement as we were not sure who Essex would play next.  The Alliston and Kincardine series had to finish first.  If Kincardine won, Essex would play them next.  If Alliston won then they would play Port Hope next and Essex would play Ayr.   The series ended Friday with Alliston taking the series 4 games to one.

We play Ayr on Tuesday in Essex.  I'll still be working on plain stockinette section of the Luella Shawl and coughing.

Cough, Work, Hockey

I am still sick.  The title of this post sums up this past week.  When I was home I was sleeping and coughing.  I think I knit about 4 rows in total.

I finished the Gansey.  It is washed and blocked.  All the ends are tied in now.

No other knitting to report.

On the hockey front though, Essex won over Dorchester 5-2 on Tuesday.  This cold stole my voice and I was silenced most of the week.  I went to Tuesday's game anyway.  It is hard to cheer for a team when you cannot make a sound.  All I could do was throw up my arms and wave.  I sat in a spot in the arena where I could limit my contact with others.  I tried to be responsible.  I did not feel like knitting.  That alone was a sign I should have stayed home in bed.

Friday night the hockey action moved to Dorchester.  All week I had this delusion that I was going to the game.  Wanting to go was not the delusion; it was thinking that I was fit to go.  Common sense prevailed Friday morning and Hubby headed to Dorchester on his own.  He texted me the highlights.  Essex won 4-0.  I was curled up at home under blankies with my box of tissues.  Never picked up my knitting.

Hubby's brother is the General Manager of the Essex 73's and on Saturday he got a call from the Dorchester Arena Manager.  The fellow just wanted to say he had never ever seen a team leave a dressing room as clean as our team.  It was spotless.  He was doubly amazed to report that the area where the Essex fans were seated was also exceptionally clean.  His staff did not need to sweep up  trash like many spectators leave behind.

Tonight is game number 3 at the Essex arena.  Hubby and I are going.  I am still hoarse and coughing.  He is stuffed up with his own cold.  We will be quite the pair.  I think I will pack an extra large box of tissues and leave the knitting at home.

When Reba turned the colour she is now, I thought that if she had been a wild dog instead of a domesticated one, she would not last long.  She would be so easily spotted and become prey for some larger predator.  I think I was wrong.

Home Sick

This post is going to be short.  I am home sick and not really up to doing anything but knit and even that is dicey.

Last Sunday Essex played Amherstburg in Amherstburg.  Essex won 2-1 tieing up the series 2-2.

The series returned to Essex on Tuesday where Essex again won 3-1 putting Essex ahead one game in the series.  Essex only needed one more win to be the league champs.

That game was Friday in Amherstburg.  But Essex lost 3-2 in overtime.  The series was now tied 3-3.  The final best of seven was played in Essex this afternoon.

I started coughing on Friday at the game and by Saturday morning I knew I was in trouble.  This morning I had completely lost my voice and it really hurt to swallow.  I decided that in the interest of public safety and my own health I would stay home.  Hubby took my ticket, walked to the Essex arena and happened to locate his cousin looking for a ticket so gave him mine.

Hubby texted me throughout the game.  Amherstburg was up by one.  Then Essex scored.  Amherstburg scored again.  Then Essex scored twice in a row  but Amherstburg got another one making the score 3-3.  Amherstburg scores again but Essex scores twice in a row.  Essex now has a 2 goal lead but Amherstburg scored again.  This would turn out to be the final score with Essex winning 5-4.

I knew the game was exciting because more and more of the texts were in capitals.

I stayed home in bed and had my i-pad and phone handy to keep track of the game.  I also knitted.  Mostly on the gansey.  The second sleeve is done and the blue thing is the monkey scarf.  It needs a lot of ends sewn in and the face embroidered on.  The gansey only needs the neckband done and the ends ties in.  The scarf is part of a child's winter set so I will make a blue hat too.

Essex goes on to play the winner of tonight's game between Dorchester and Exeter.  The dates and times are still to be determined.  The team managers have to flip a coin for home ice advantage and then work out available ice-times in both arenas to set the game schedule.