Clapotis

I am in the what the ??? stage" with Clapotis. Thanks to having to look up the web address to copy it for here, I've found out the problem -- a missing [ in my printout. According to my printout, row 8 of section 3 doesn't have the start of a repeat, just the end. A tad confusing. sniffle

Remember how the directions usually say to work with 2 different skeins of hand-dyed yarns, to prevent striping? Guess who didn't? Guess who has a "nice" line on her Clapotis where one skein stopped and the next began? Oh well, it is a design feature, eh? sigh. I got tired of the pattern after I'd been at it for a while, so it isn't going to be nearly as wide as I'd orignally thought. Oh well.

My Lind is pilling. Already. Bad words. I wasn't happy with the weight of the zipper on it, but I really can't blame the zipper for this. It has already become a very comfortable sweater that I enjoy wearing. So, I'll probably make another out of other yarn, and search until I can find a lighter separating zip. But what am I going to do with the nearly a pound of yarn left? EEK! Can't be a sweater, it isn't going to hold up to the wear. grumble

Would anyone like to explain why we've had a light snow all day (woke up to the sound of snow plows going by) with a forecast of clear? whimper And COLD! Oh well, grumbling over.

I'll try to get a picture of Clapotis up tomorrow, as I've just done the first row that ravels. That is fun, for an occasional delight. Not too often, I'd hate to get into the habit.

Must pull out Lucy, my Louet S-10 and give her a spin. She is so nicely painted, she goes well with the plants in the living room! Mom and Dad want pictures of the house, I really should show them at least part of it, right? Hey, you saw the OUTSIDE now!

looks as if we have a tree that's been damaged by the snow on the south of the house. What do you think? The part that is near the ground USED to be even with its partner.

I like this view of the church better. Isn't the sky BLUE!

This is the north side of the house, from across the street.

isn't our house (okay just one side, I didn't want to stand in the snow to show all of it!) look pretty with it's white cover?

piles of snow in the middle of the street. That is what the trucks and "snow blower" are picking up. The plows went down both sides of the street, making a gorgeous pile in the middle. Do NOT attempt to drive over!

It took 6 of the trucks you see to gather just the snow in the street right before our house! The Yellow machine is a huge snowblower -- blows the snow into the trucks who carry it off somewhere to melt. Eventually. A truck is filled, and drives off, the next truck pulls in right behind and the process starts again.

This is the church from our side yard, with LOTS of nice clean snow!

I refuse to look outside!

Okay, the windows upstairs all have been visited by Jack Frost. It is 14 degrees F right now, somewhat miraculous as it was 9 at 4 o'clock. Wind chill is -5F. That means, sitting in the fiber room (here at the computer), I'm cold!There is a lot of snow outside. Supposedly we had 5-6 inches around 10 this morning, and it has continued most of the day. I don't want to go outside to measure. Take my word for it, cold and white fits the situation. Very little traffic outside, most things have been cancelled.

I've spent the day reading, exercising, knitting on Clapotis, and on the computer. I spent a bit of time trying to find progress charts to put on this, to show how I'm coming along on projects -- no luck so far. Checked the knitting bloggers group, no info there that I can find. Oh well.

The Lull Before the Storm

We are supposed to be nailed by snow for the next few days. The ground is already covered by last night's "clear sky" which decorated everything white on top of the ice. Right now, projecting 8-12 inches, but we all know that is anyone's best guess at this point. We'll have a better idea when the storm is over.

I've joined the ranks of Clapotis lovers! While Serena was here, I overdyed a cashmere twin set of hers from grey to -- I thought -- purple. Well, the cardigan is navy, the pullover is dark purple. Okay, we can live with that. They still look as if they go together. It is still here, waiting for darts, so it will fit better. Same dyepot had 2 qiviut scarves, which seemed to come throught the experience wonderfully. Well, there was dye left over, which seems a TERRIBLE waste! So, I had some blue-faced Leicester/alpaca/Shetland which came in a trade. Dyed 5 skeins of it, and the dye hit in various ways across the skeins. So, that will become my Clapotis. Just as an afterthought, I added a strand of gold metallic that Dianne had sent to me, challenging me to see what I could do with it. In the ball, it is gorgeous! We'll see how it knits!

While I'm thinking about it, why does the doorbell ONLY ring when I'm tangled up with yarn? I was winding the first skein (and I did NOT use enough choke ties) and the doorbell rang. Luckily I was in Serena's room, which meant I could hear it. It isn't the loudest bell in the world. In fact, a train whistle in the distance is better able to be heard throughout the house than the doorbell. Anyway, I was untangling. And had to answer the door. Which tangled my mess even more. Could lead a person to frustration! After all, maybe once a week does someone come to the door. Is there a sign that says "Mary's Occupied, ring now!"?


This is my Clapotis yarn.

Monday Cold!

The stores seem to be about out of ice melt (or so I understand), and we are in for a big snow. How "exciting". I spread a 5# bag on the back stairs and concrete pad, Howard used up almost 50# between our sidewalks and the church's. That is a LOT of salt, but also a LOT of territory to cover. Until the house walks are safe, we are trying to flag the mailman and the paperboy to deliver at the church, so they don't get hurt. Just too slippery!

That being said, we had a UPS delivery today, and the poor man almost lost it just before he got back to his truck! The paper boy slipped across the street, trying to get up a wheelchair ramp. It is just that slick out. The main streets are clear down the center, the side streets haven't had enough traffic to clear them.

Hm, the Lind is starting to pill already. Not a lot, but considering this is only the second day of wear... The leftover yarn will have to be a shawl or something that won't show pills!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I spend a lot of time online. A LOT of time. This is my main method of communication, as I am very sensitive to chemicals, and cleaners, perfumes, diesel fumes, pollens (you get the idea) start an asthma attack. I'd been looking at asthma as a thing to be gotten over. When the doctor told us a bit ago that I won't, I went into a depression.

Today, in chatting with a dear friend from England, she made a very simple statement to me. "Welcome to Holland." With those 3 words, it felt as if light came back into my life. She was referring to the gem "WELCOME TO HOLLAND" byEmily Perl Kingsley. I will not copy it here, because of copyright constraints. It was written by a mother trying to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability. But it fits my life. I had made many plans for "Italy", and haven't adjusted to being in "Holland." As she says, if I spend my life mourning the loss of "Italy", I'll never adjust to Holland. Rachel is also in Holland, because of her asthma. She understands. THANK YOU RACHEL!

Today was good. I frogged the Princess Line last night, and started, oh so slowly, with a transmogrified "Navajo" from "Meg Swansen's Knitting". As in, I have kept her chart (with my own variations) for the Navajo pattern. From there, I am taking off on my own. I think I'll use the 2 main colors I had for the Princess Line. At this point, too much is up for grabs. But, to my astonishment, I have been able to do corrugated ribbing with one color in each hand! Well, I'm doing the purl when you can for all the dark color, and it is working! Two colors of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. I'll post pictures when any progress can be actually seen. At 360 stitches a round, it may take a while!

Doesn't that look as if it is wet with rain? I wish!

Here you can see a bit of the ice on the trees, as well as how icy the streets and sidewalks still are!

Our own ice rink! Stairs, sidewalks, yard, and street, all covered in ice. Didn't that low spot fill in nicely with ice?

Okay, I find this odd. This is the EAST side of the house, that seems to have gotten the brunt of the ice storm. Isn't that a pretty drip pattern? The coloring isn't quite on, think of it as more of a faded mustard.

Back stairs (wooden) down to concrete pad under them then concrete walk. funny, we haven't even ATTEMPTED these stairs. The white is ice, not paint!

This is the "hill" where the sand truck started to slide. I wish you could see the gorgeous ice on the trees! See how shiny the street is? That is ice. Happy New Year!

This is my completed Lind. I'm still thinking about removing the zipper and trying again. At the moment, though, I'm wearing it, because the house is cold, and it is warm! If I make it again (and I might) I'm going to make it longer.

I surrender!

Howard's birthday (11/29) sweater has been languishing, waiting for the hems. Which I do NOT like doing. So, today, I picked up sts all the way around, and knit up a hem for it. The problem? Getting the hem to attach, without showing on the "public" side. Several hours later, several attempts down, and Howard said, "I thought you were going to have me do that." Fine. Frogged the attempted hem, and he is sitting in comfort, watching the bowl games, crocheting his hems. Around the bottom of his pullover, the sleeves, and the neck. That should take him through the Fiesta Bowl, right? That also gives me the opportunity to hopefully write another project off my "to do" list soon!

Need to look at my lists to see what should be done next.

My Lind is drying at the moment, I'm really hoping that blocking will help the bubbling of the zipper. If not, I'll think of something.

We had freezing rain in the night, several times during the day, and more expected tonight. Whoopee. There has been VERY little traffic on our street. The sanding truck started sliding down the very shallow hill beside the house, and put down the plow to stop the slide. Scared me, because there were several cars parked nearby that could have been hurt. Not ours, thank goodness, it was in the garage. I wonder why they salted the end of every driveway, and not the street itself? Seems a bit odd to me. I'll try to get pictures of some of the windows tomorrow, the ice coated the window and looks as if it were done that way where manufactured. Think the old windows that were deliberately bumpy to prevent people from seeing through them. Clear, but impossible to see details.