Knitting, with Dogs

Woohoo!

Here we are, on the last day of NaBloPoMo!  w00t!  I'm putting the badge up today.

And here's the picture of the Peasant Hat I promised for yesterday, but felt too bad to deal with then.  (BTW, I'm feeling MUCH better.  Not 100%, but better.)

I failed to push the slightly pointy bit that is the end of the decreases down in the back.  Here's a different view, and the color in the different light looks... different.  The second picture's color is closer to the actual color of the yarn.

I used Wool Ease Chunky (stash diving), size 9 needles, and it was done in an evening.  I did knit it in the round also, and only cast on 10 sts for the tie.  I'm not cute enough to wear it with the brim tilted and the tie on the side, though I think it looks really nice that way.  I'll settle for the Sturdy Peasant Stock look.

I think this pattern would work well in a lighter-weight yarn too, with the necessary calculations made.  If I make it again, I probably wouldn't make the top quite as long.  But it's a fun and easy pattern, and I like the hat a lot!

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through NaBloPoMo! 

The car, she is home

Home, and running good so far.  And we broke down and turned on the heat, just to make sure it works.

And I've got chills and a headache.  :(

I DO still knit!

And I have proof:

Stulpin Fingerless Mitts.

I actually started these last year, and had one completed.  I started on the second, and by the time I finished the cuff, it was obvious that my gauge was different from the earlier mitt.  :(  So I just reknitted the one that was already done.  Now I have a little more than 1 mitt's worth of yarn left over.  Le sigh.

I'm currently working on the Just Like a Peasant Cap pattern that was mentioned in episode 38 of Stash and Burn.  I've got most of it done already (chunky yarn knitting goes FAST), just got to finish the tie and the sewing up.  Hopefully pictures tomorrow...

In the meantime, I want to do some Trader Joe's pimpage.  Let me show you some of the worst food crack I've ever had:

They're like Oreo's, only about a bazillion times better.  Chocolate cookies with creamy white centers -- with PEPPERMINT CANDY in it..  OMG, I could eat a boxful at a sitting. 

And this:  under the camera flash flare, you might be able to read "Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale."  It's good -- a little bit spicy, kinda mild.  Goes down easy.  Not necessarily with the Joe-Joe's though.

Diagnosis made (car news)

It's the distributor assembly.  They're hard to find.  They can get one by Thursday, they think.

They called me this morning and told me it started right up.  Great, I thought. An intermittent problem that could drop me ANYWHERE.  But they called back later and said (in effect) "Great news!  Your car isn't working!"  And actually it was.  There's nothing worse than an intermittent problem that doesn't show when the repairman is available.

Cross your fingers for me.

[grumbling]
And can somebody please tell me why stuff like this happens right before the holidays?  Is there some kind of perverse Murphy's Law that causes expenses like this to come up now?  Two years ago, right around this time, my clutch went out.
[/grumbling]

I swear, I'm going to have to get a real job just so I can afford a new car.  And a great wheel.  And a loom.

But I do love my crappy old car.  If I could make it last without spending a bazillion dollars on it every 2 years, I'd never buy another car.

However, I'd buy a motorcycle or a neat scooter in a heartbeat...

Aw crap

My car won't start.  Turns over fine, just won't crank.

Waiting on AAA for a tow.  :( 

Yes, it has gas.  Yes, it was fine yesterday.

I hope it hasn't died on my for good.  That would be A Very Bad Thing.  But with 192,000+ miles on a car, you just never know.

Speaking of chilly...

I've mentioned to a couple of folks here and there that we haven't turned our heat on yet.  That's not actually a problem temperature-wise for me.  In these latter hormone-deprived days, cool temps are more welcome than not.  If I get chilly, I put on a sweater or a sweatshirt.  I wear pulse-warmers or fingerless mitts, and I pretend I'm living in the 19th century, before central heating was an everyday reality.

But you know what?  A cold house isn't welcoming. 

In the course of my pet-sitting duties, I go into lots of peoples' houses.  Many houses are kept warmer than ours would be even if we turned on the heat! And there's just something about a warm house that's more "homey."  Even when nobody's home.  Very vexing.

At least Dear Robert is feeling better today.  He thinks he just ate something that disagreed with him.

Anyway, here's the bobbin of fuzzy yarn I spun up at Stone Mountain yesterday.  Fleece from Ebay, don't remember the breed, but it's about Romney texture -- not real fine, not real coarse.

Yesterday was all hand carding and spinning.  Oh, and I got to explain to a kid who'd picked up a spindle kit how to do the park and draft bit with a handspindle.  Looks of comprehension dawned on faces all around. 
When I do demos out there, there's usually at least one person who just makes my day.  That boy and his family did it for me yesterday.

Off to make a cup of hot tea and watch a dvd and knit.

Oh, and vanilla wafers with peanut butter?  Best. Snack. EVAR.

Chilly!

I got to spin at Stone Mountain today.  Outside. 

Yeah, they offered to let me go into one of the houses, but by that time, I'd already been there for 1.5 hrs and was determined to stick it out just out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

I did try to be prepared.  I had my bike tights on under my dress, as well as an undershirt.  I had my fingerless mitts.  I had TWO shawls on.  (I felt very much like a Dickens character, a little old lady wrapped in a bird's nest of shawls.  Except that I'm not all that little, or all that old.

However, here's a newsflash:

Cast iron chairs NEVER warm up under your butt.  Ask me how I know this.

I finally gave in and sat on my SAFF sweater.  That helped a LOT.  And one of the park employees brought me hot chocolate.  That helped too. 

If I get sick, I got nobody to blame but myself.  And maybe Dear Robert, who's in bed now, not feeling well.  (He NEVER gets sick.  That worries me.)

I'm warm now, though.  :)

Jasper stands on his head (silly video)

Jasper loves his dad.  He doesn't do this for me.  (Links to YouTube.)

Thankful for...

Dear Robert, for being my husband and good companion for the last 14 years.

Jasper and Bouncer, my best boys:

My sister, the Fabulous Lisa. 
My Dear Brother David. 
My Dad, who still loves us, though his light is beginning to dim.
My friends, the ones I know in person, and the ones I know online.
For mostly good health.
For occasional chances to share with others.

It’s all I have to bring today –
    This, and my heart beside –
    This, and my heart, and all the fields –
    And all the meadows wide –
    Be sure you count – should I forget
    Some one the sum could tell –
    This, and my heart, and all the Bees
    Which in the Clover dwell.

        --Emily Dickinson

Happy Thanksgiving to all USAians!

At least I'm not stressing anyone's intellect

But is that a GOOD thing??