Just Lovely

What lovely yarns these are. The one on the left is Shibui in Mulberry and the one on the right is Sleeping Dragon in...I forget the colorway...yarn's at home, I'm at work. I bought these from Simply Socks Yarn Co., and I'm so smitten with them, I don't want to knit them up. I've had them in a bag next to my chair, and I stroke them from time to time while sighing contently. Each yarn is very soft and the Shibui has some sproing to it. I'm going to have to search for some nice patterns for these, although I'm tempted just to do a plain vanilla sock and let the yarns speak for themselves. We'll see.


And, speaking of lovely, dinner last night with The Husband's boss was excellent. And the best part? Are you ready for this? She's a knitter. How cool is that? She walked in the house and saw the swift and ball winder affixed to the dining room table and started to laugh! She knows that only a major event will get those off the table. The Husband did a great job with the meal, and the Jack Daniels stayed in the liquor closet. The wine, well.....

Where'd The Weekend Go?

So, Friday night comes along, I settle into my chair looking forward to a nice, leisurely night of knitting and watching mindless TV when The Husband says, "I told you my boss would be here for dinner Tuesday night, didn't I?" He didn't, but arguing with him, at this point, would have been futile. I sat in my chair mentally ticking off all the things that needed to be done. The weekend whizzed by, but everything's done. Well, as long as she doesn't open a closet door or want the 50-cent tour of the house. The spare bedroom has became the catchall room. We'll call it eclectic, and let it go at that.

This ought to be an interesting dinner. The boss is new to the company, and based in the California office. The Husband met her on his last trip out there, so at least this isn't a first-time meet. Last week, she announced that she wouldn't be renting a car, and would my husband mind driving her hither and dither for the four days she'd be out here. He now refers to her as Miss Daisy. He came back from food shopping with a case of wine and a big bottle of Jack Daniels. Should be an interesting dinner.

Aside from the afghan knitting, I finished one sock using the Dream in Color Smooshy yarn. Love the yarn. It is smooshy, and has a little sproing to it...my kinda yarn. I'm just at the heel flap on the second sock, so that should be finished soon. The pattern is Broadripple, and I'm enjoying that, as well. It's a 2-row repeat and a snap to memorize. The color is way off in the first pic; but true in the second. I think the grass messed up the color, but I'm not that good with Photoshop!



I want to thank everyone for their kind words regarding the family situation and my lack of energy. The situation with the family doesn't hold great hope of getting better. Not to sound overly dramatic, but we're dealing with dementia with one person; drug addiction with the other. Each situation is heartbreaking, and I'm coming to the realization that I can't fix everyone, and that's something I shouldn't beat myself up about.

However, I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better. I haven't taken the Ambien for four days, and so far, so good. I feel sharper, don't feel like napping all the time, and look...I'm blogging! I know it's there when I need it, but apparently, taking it 4-5 times/week just wasn't good for me.

I saw that The Harlot linked to a lace pattern for some JoJoland Harmony yarn she bought. This is just what I was looking for, since winning the same exact yarn several months ago. I may have to buy that pattern...and pray that it isn't charted.

My Get Up and Go...

...got up and went. Folks, it's been a weird couple of weeks, dealing with work, relatives that are either losing their minds or trying to make The Husband and me lose ours, and now the worst blow of all...the realization that I can't take my beloved Ambien more than twice a week. Anymore than that and I become so groggy during the day, I feel as if I'm walking through pea soup. Motivation is at zero (as evidenced by lack of blog content and blog reading, among other things), and the lure of napping during the day is hard to overcome. Totally not me. So, on the advice of my doctor, and in order not to do a Kennedy, I'll reduce the Ambien and if I start experiencing interrupted sleep again and need more than 2 tabs/week, I can cut the tab in half and try that. I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes. Of course, I'm very open to the idea that it's the family problems that are dragging me down and not the Ambien...but the Ambien? I can fix that. The family stuff, not so much.

Onward and upward! Surprisingly, there has been knitting. I doubt anyone wants to see my progress on the afghan because it really doesn't look any different, just longer. I'm nearing the finish line, but now the weather's warmed up, and I refuse to work on that thing when it's hot out. So, I started a sock. I'm using the Dream in Color yarn I bought a while ago, and let me tell you, that's some nice yarn. The pattern is Broadripple from Knitty, and it's coming out nicely. I'll try to get some pics over the weekend.

Happy weekend everyone!

Odd Duck #1

That's the name of this sock yarn. I'm not sure what's so odd about it, though. Just your basic variegated sock yarn. Although, it was a pleasure to knit with, mostly because it didn't pool. The color repeats were so short, the colors never had a chance to lay on top of one another. The pattern would show better in a less busy yarn, but last week I needed something simple to knit, and this fit the bill.


Specs
Yarn: Nature's Palette, color Odd Duck #1
Needles: US 2 DPNs. This pattern is very stretchy, and if I knit it again, I'll use 1.5's or 1's
Pattern: Lacy Mock Cable (free)
Mods: Did my usual slip, short row heel
Start to Finish: About a week and a half

The Daughter called last night to tell me that, since the temps have been on the very cool side in these parts, she's absolutely freezing, and needs the afghan sooner rather than later. Not so subtle, that girl. Lucky for her, I only have about 20 or so rows to go, and I can call it quits. With nose to the grindstone, I'll plow through it this week. She'll be home next weekend, and she can take all that grapey goodness back to school with her.

I'm following my plan of doing nothing this weekend, and it's been great. However, while walking The Dog this morning, I noticed that the gardens need attention. The lack of rain over the past couple of months, despite my best efforts to keep things watered, really took its toll on the flowers. Lots of stuff needs cutting back, and there's always the weeds. I was beginning to worry that I'd lose some things, but we finally received about 4 inches of rain this past week, and most things are looking a tad better. So, I'm off to play in the dirt.

Did You Ever Have One of Those Weeks...

...where nothing went right? No, that's not me in the pic, but you know, with the week I just had, it could have been! Believe me when I say I am thrilled it's Friday and very much looking forward to doing absolutely nothing this weekend to give my brain and body a rest. Well, there'll be knitting of course, but that's about it. Happy Friday to ya!

Eye Candy Friday

Not sure if this is eye candy, per se, but I thought it was quite amazing. Click the link.

High Wire Act

All Things Fishy

Well, before I get to the fishy part, here's a pic of the finished Oak Ribbed socks. I had to take this shot with the flash, because as the amount of daylight shrinks, it's tough to get good lighting. So, the color is a bit washed out, but the socks are, nonetheless, pretty. But, don't the toes look funny? It looks as if they are different lengths, but they're not. I'll blame it on the flash. The Husband loves them, and is hinting for another pair!

Specs
Yarn: Artyarns Ultramerino 4, color 265
Needles: US 1.5 & 2 DPNs
Pattern: Oak Ribbed Socks, Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Mods: None
Started: I forget
Finished: Monday, August 3

So. It looks as though I've found another hobby...like I needed another one. A while back I blogged about buying a Betta, and then I bought another, and another, and another. Yup, there's 4. Two at home and 2 at the office. All was going swimmingly for a while, but I decided the Bettas needed more room to swim, so I bought some small aquariums. Really small, like 2.5 gallons, but tons better than the little bowls they were in. Then I discovered that Bettas can live peacefully with some other fish, so I put in some Danios. Then, algae eaters. And that was fine for a while, but then I decided that I'd like to have even more fish, not Bettas, but other types of tropicals, and well, you know where this is going. Because I can't leave well enough alone, The Husband and I went out this past weekend and bought a 29-gallon tank. Really, it was Petco's fault, because they were having a sale...$1/gallon. The tank originally was about $50, and I got it for $29. I am now suffering from MTS, or Multiple Tank Syndrome. I've been successful managing these small aquariums, which I am told, are harder to care for than larger tanks...has to do with the bioload and some other stuff that I'm still learning about...so I figured why not give a larger tank a try.

Anyway, giddy in our excitement about having a larger tank, we schlepped the tank home, put it in the family room, looked around and said...Damn. The room needs to be painted. Something we've been putting off for a while. There's no sense setting up the tank and trying to paint around it (although, the thought did cross my mind to do that, but that would be wrong, wouldn't it?). So, long story short, it'll be a while before the tank is set up, which actually works out OK, since I still need to decide on a bunch of stuff such as lighting, filters, types of fish, and the darn thing needs a stand, so I have to find one of those. It'll be a process, and although I'd love to set it up as soon as possible, I've learned that slow and steady with aquariums is the way to go. If anyone else out there has experience with larger aquariums, please feel free to share your knowledge!