Mary Oliver

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?"









Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Still Trying

Still trying to post photos but having issues, which seems to inhibit my blogging.  I want to share photos of the gorgeous fall leaves and sky, yarn I bought at Rhinebeck, and projects I've completed, but am having no luck.

I have been sick again, an ear infection, of all things, but I think I'm on the mend now. I had jury duty this month, but only had to show up one time.  I had to sit in a room for three hours before being released and I didn't have my knitting so I ended up with a migraine brought on by the stress.

On to happier things: my heat has been out for almost three weeks now, and while it's been sort of fun, in an indoor camping sort of way, I'm really about ready to snap at this point.  We had temperatures in the mid twenties last night and the space heater has been going nonstop.  I've also used the oven quite a lot lately and even resorted to hanging a sheet up in the kitchen doorway in an effort to maximize the retention of warmth.  Needless to say, this lends an air of rustic simplicity to our living space.

Oh, the life of a homeowner.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Rhinebeck

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted my Rhinebeck story.  Part of the reason for the delay is the Blogger app on my iPad, and part of the reason is the crazy amount of work going on now.  I got sick the weekend after the trip, which as we all know, means I lost an entire week by the time I caught everything up.  My sister had a medical scare, which turned out to be just fine, and the heating system in my house has died, which means we are in the process of buying a new unit and scheduling the installation, a $1000 expense, more or less.  Unbudgeted, of course.  Luckily, the coldest temperature in the house was this past Sunday, at 54 degrees Fahrenheit, and this week has been warmer.  I've heard it's supposed to drop again this weekend, which means we may be layering up, as I doubt the new heater will be up and running until next week.  Thank goodness Steve and I both have an abundance of handknits and wool, right?

And speaking of wool and handknits, the visit to Rhinebeck was wonderful, as always.  I didn't see every vendor on my list, but rather chose to wander around a bit, and focus on meeting some people and enjoying the views of the leaves and the clothing that was worn.  When a tent or area was too crowded, I left and spent time elsewhere, rather than feeling crushed.  We also got there early enough for the Ravelry meetup this year, the first time I made it!  It was so nice to see people and chat about patterns and yarns.  And although the skies were a bit gray, there was a chill in the air that was enjoyable to someone like me who hales further south. 

I made sure to buy a skein of Dragonfly, two lovely skeins of Lisa Souza Hardtwist, and some of Green Mountain Spinnery's Weekend Wool, as well as a number of stitch markers from Melissa Jean.  I deliberately cut back this year, and have specific plans for both the LS Hardtwist and the Weekend Wool.  I want to make the Nymphalaeida with the Hardtwist and the Shetland Wrap with the
Weekend Wool, but probably won't start either of them until Christmas break, as they will be my selfish knitting.

Meanwhile, I've been stern with myself about pulling out my WIPs and either finishing them or ripping them.  And I'm making lots of the Almost Lost washcloths, using very deep stash cotton yarn,  either for gift knitting or for craft sale items.  More on that, if it comes to pass.  And I've been doing it while watching the first season of Elementary, which I'm loving.

I had today off, as it is Veteran's Day, and I spent it visiting with friends and taking my dad out to dinner.  I also saw a movie, Gone Girl, which was very enjoyable.

Hopefully I'll have some photos next time, if I can figure out the glitch in my iPad and/or my Blogsy app.