Month: October 2010

I’ve managed to find time to spin, which in turn has caused me to have pain in my knees.  Does anyone else have this?  Is it the way I sit?  My knees are only 34 years old!  What will they be like in another 30 years?  Yikes!

The girls in my knitting/crocheting group have decided to make “tuques for troops”.  I made 5.

I was really hoping we would hit 30 but we might hit 20.  It’s better than nothing right?  We’ll put a smile on 20 soldiers’ faces.  I can live with that.

I don’t think I’ve posted any pics yet of the “Pretty Pink Pod” I invented.  I’ll put the pattern on Ravelry when I have a few minutes.  It’s super-easy.

I’ve almost finished my Clapotis.  Was it last week… or maybe the week before, I finished it and undid the decrease so that I could make it longer.  Well, I made it longer and now I’m decreasing again.

Since a few weeks ago, I’ve got an order for another “Tuque for Troops” from a guy that I work with, Father & Son socks for another guy I work with and his little boy, a Retro Tuque for a young guy from my sister’s climbing gym and three tuques for my sister’s friend’s kids.  Yikes!  Good thing I don’t have any big plans to make myself something!  Hahaha.

So, here’s what I’ve been spinning thanks to Bonnie!  The girls went to Rhinebeck and brought back some wool for me.  One bag of merino and one bag of wool.  I think I don’t like merino.  It’s moocho slippery and it always breaks on me.  I think I prefer alpaca but the jury’s still out on that one.  I’ll have to practice and see.

Here’s my caramel wool:

I’m trying to go for a bulky yarn.

Didn’t work.

Better.  I’m thinking of making a new pair of Felted Clogs.  The ones I made over three years ago finally have holes in them.  I probably won’t throw them out ’cause they were the first pair I ever made but I’m thinking of retiring them.

Oh, perhaps one of the most exciting things that happened to me since the last time I blogged is this:

Meet the twins!

I love them!

Must clean now… before Michelle and the fam get here!

My basement “stuff” isn’t finished yet.  I’m quite frustrated.  I’ve had all those pieces of equipment running non-stop since October 4th.  Surely, stuff must be dry by now?  I keep thinking of how big my hydro bill will be.

I went out and got a new washer and dryer.   I can’t have them delivered until they rip out the wooden base where they will reside.  I can’t wait to be able to wash my own undies.  I’m tired of having to bring my laundry into town – it’s such a pain!  Oh well, I guess I can’t complain if everything’s covered by the insurance.

Anyway, aside from working like a mad-woman, I have a few exciting things to report:

Firstly, Jacob turned 16 last weekend.  My baby is 16-years-old.  I can hardly believe it.  I’m not old enough for him to be 16.  Well, I am… I just don’t feel it – or look it I guess.  One of the advantages of being a young mother:  eventually, your kids look like your siblings.

Secondly, Jacob got his learner’s.  I let him drive all the time.  He really loves me for it.  He’s pretty good at it.  He only gave me one scare.

Guess what this means?  I get to knit while he drives!!!!!

My sister had a birthday 3 days after Jacob.  I was going to take her out for lunch but she wanted to go climbing instead. So, we (her, my nephew Bodhi and I) headed to Lake Placid.

We had a fantastic time.  I tried to climb but I’m a wimp.  I like climbing indoors at her gym (Cornwall Climbing Centre).  I can do that.

She drove and I worked on my Clapotis.

Then I put Clapotis aside to make “Tuques for Troops”.  One of the ladies at work is making 30 boxes to send our soldiers in Afghanistan who don’t have families.  I thought it would be nice to knit them all tuques.  And, yes, it’s cold there too.  If you don’t believe me, here’s where I found my info: Afghanistan climate.  They have extreme weather like we do.  So, a couple of hand-knit tuques should help them out when it’s -25°C.

I should be outside cutting my grass but… I’m pooped from the last two weeks.  I’m getting tones of shifts at work (which is super-good for my bank account but not so good for sleep and housework).  I might watch a few spinning videos instead and cut my grass later this week.  It’s not going anywhere after all right?

The trip was wonderful.  We saw so many things that I’m sure I’ve already forgotten some.  We took trolley tours, walking tours, drove and walked all over Boston and Salem.  I’ll have to tell you guys about later.

My birthday was on the 30th and I got to spend it on vacation.  That’s the coolest.

When we got back from our trip, Jacob told me that my basement had flooded the day before – on my birthday.  I guess Cornwall got a record amount of rain and I ended up with 9 inches of water in my basement.  Thousands of people in this area were flooded.  Apparently, some people’s basements got so much water that it was gushing out of their basement windows.  So, all in all, I’m not doing too bad.

I lost a dryer and a fridge so far.  This morning, I went down to clean out the fridge.  You guys can’t even imagine the smell.  I won’t try to describe it except to say that that’s what I imagine a decomposing body would smell like.  I think I could shower 10 times and still feel like I have some “stuff” on me.  It had to be done though!

Knitting night tonight.  A welcome distraction!

I was going to attach pics but, I can’t because I can only upload pics that are smaller than 2 MBs.  I took most of my pics at 8 MBs.  Bummer!  Let me try to find a few.  They’re all of the last day and the drive home.  None of the historical Boston.  I’ll try to “crunch” some so that they’re smaller and I can post them at another time.

Looking forward to tonight.