Contrary to rumors, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I’m still here, just got sidetracked a bit over the past two months. Here’s a recap:
I worked a lot in March and April. Busy, busy, busy. Things have started to slow down a bit in the hospital since the warm weather (all the way up to 56 F so far today!), so I’m getting a little more accomplished outside work.
No exciting trips! Actually, not even any boring trips. We have a couple things later this year that I’ll tell you about as they come up, but now is just the best time to stay put in the Pacific Northwest. Flowers are blooming, the trees are all leafed out. Remember the ice storm in January that took out a big old maple in our back yard? We planted a cute little new tree to replace it (little is the operative word here).
It’s a Stewartia pseudocamellia. No, I’d never heard of that either, but they do well here apparently, and will fit better into this space than a huge canopy tree. And it won’t drop those little wingy things all over the decks and roof like the big leaf maple did. It looks pretty pitiful right at the moment, so we got the bright idea to put a small Japanese maple tree in a pot on each deck.
Neither of those will get huge, but they disguise the neighbor houses a bit.
Let’s see, what else? Oh, I got a new computer. My ancient Mac has been threatening to bite it for the past year. It was so old that I couldn’t even get memory cards for it, even if I had wanted to update it. It also didn’t have enough oomph to handle any further upgrades to the operating system. Even though I had everything backed up and double backed up, I finally got nervous enough that it was going to die on me, and got a new Mac. Meet Bert*:
Why yes, there is a crown hanging off my computer. Why do you ask?
We’ve done assorted other fun things with friends and family, saw a few good concerts (Pink Martini, Arlo Guthrie, Mary Chapin-Carpenter). Oh, and there was the Kentucky Derby. We had mint juleps, and one of us dressed up. I don’t remember which horse won, but my, that hat is swell!
I’ve been in a bit of a knitting slump, but am getting back at it. I got a real bug up my you-know-what this spring to dredge out my office/loft. It was getting to the point where I had to almost crawl over stuff to get to the desk, so it was time to take action. I pretty much have it done, but it involved weeding out tons of books and junk, and getting rid of one of the desks, since I only really need one. I have some shelves coming next week to organize all my craft crap, and my goal is to have nothing on the floor except furniture. It’s already a huge relief to get rid of a bunch of clutter.
One benefit was finding and organizing all my knitting projects. I took photos, of course.
Everything is in its own bag, with the pattern and extra yarn. I bet you want to see them.
Sock-in-progress. Same old sock, the yarn is Tinsel Toes from the Unique Sheep shop.
Lewey thinks I should have finished that by now. He said, “Even I could knit a sock faster than that.”
Dog mittens, those have been in progress for years. They may get done someday. Actually, teaching the dog to knit might help.
Box full of little balls of sock yarn. Any guesses? Here’s another hint.
Hexipuffs!
Yes, it’s a Beekeeper’s Quilt. I’ve totally lost my mind. Somebody send me a virtual head-slap.
Ancient lace. That’s that Evenstar Shawl, which has been in a very long time out. It’s just too pretty not to finish it though.
More ancient lace. This one has actually seen some progress. It’s about half done. The pattern is Morning Glory by Anne Hanson.
True Blood Faery Ring sweater. It’s all done except the hood and button bands. My hard stop goal is to finish this to wear this fall/winter. Somebody remind me of this later when I’m screwing around starting new projects.
Speaking of which. The only logical thing to do when you’re bored with a million old knitting projects is to start a new one. Right? I thought you’d agree.
It’s a sweater. The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool that’s been marinating in the stash for years. The pattern is Corduroy from the book “A Fine Fleece” by Lisa Lloyd. It’s pretty mindless knitting so far.
Then there are the failures. Remember this?
This was a mystery knitting project that I started God knows when. I got this far and decided to be skeptical, and waited until the last clues were out. It did turn out to be a hat, but it’s something that I would never wear. Here’s a photo of a finished one.
Cute, but not for me.
So it sat around in a bag for a few months, until my cleaning frenzy. I ripped it out and wound it all up back into little balls.
I think those might make cute little hexipuffs, don’t you?
Enough already. I’ll try to be back before another two months goes by!
*The old one was Bert also. My laptop Mac Air is Ernie, of course.
Yay for dredging out the office! 😀 Wow, you got over your knitting slump and HOW.
56?! Dang. We hit 92-94 yesterday. UGH.
HEXAPUFFS!!!! I have that pattern printed out and I want to start but I feel certain that knitting one hexapuff will soon turn in to knitting heroin and my life will be consumed by hexapuffs. They just look so stinkin’ fun!!
I feel inspired. My office space so needs a deep reorganization! Thanks for the little “oomph”!
I am enjoying the hexapuffs immensely. They’re perfect take-along knitting and I know that this is going to be a long-term project (like years), so no pressure. Not stuffing mine… they hexa-not-puffs.
😉
Good choice of camera BTW. I got a Canon 60D for my birthday last summer and then 1. joined the local camera club and 2. bought an awesome workbook written specifically for our cameras (Canon EOS 60D: From snapshots to great shots).
What software are you using for your photos? I have a mac as well but am not too thrilled with iPhoto at the moment.
Welcome back! I was giving you until the 20th (today) and then I was going to send out a search party. I’ve missed you!
Congratulations on the discipline to clean out your office. My closet runneth over with stash and other junk but I don’t have the discipline to do anything about it right now. It’s summer here (upper 80’s/low 90’s) and I prefer to do as little as possible, such as sitting near the A/C vent and knitting on something lacey. Cleaning can wait for a cold, rainy day. Yeah. Right.
It is always good to purge projects periodically but I never do it enough. Lewey is such a cute critic.
Glad your back! I soo need to clean out and organize my knitting stash and books too! Today is a wonderful 64 so far but yesterday was 90! I love the cooler temps.
So glad to have you back! I feel better about my ufo’s sitting in bags after seeing yours. Guess we both need a case of ‘finishitis’ to hit!
By the way, have you read the book, “The China Study” by Colin Campbell, PhD.? Very interesting on diet & health.
If Lewey learns to knit, have him teach Maggie. I have some projects that I would like to have her work on!
Lewey definitely looks like he’s up for knitting some dog mittens! How was Arlo Guthrie. I went to see him once at the Quiet Knight in Chicago back in about 1972. He was several hours late, showed up drunk (maybe stoned but seemed more alcohol induced than weed), & couldn’t remember the words to HIS OWN songs. The audience was about ready to lynch him. And QK refused to refund the ticket price – even after we’d been waiting for hours & people were asking for their money back (even before he showed up). Found out later from friends that that behavior was the norm for him. Never gave him another penny & never went to the QK again either. I may do the mitered afghan in sock yarn remnants but that seems crazy enough for me – the
bee Keeper’s Quilt seems one step beyond that!! 😎
glad you are back, missed you. 90’s here, I long for cooler temps.
Hey, you’ve been busy! Congratulations on planting the new tree and getting a new Mac.
Love the maple tree in a pot.
You look good in a hat. 🙂
I’m glad you’re back too. I just finished getting my new iMac to the point where I know how to work everything on it. Funny how one forgets from time to time what a pain in the rear switching computers is.
Those are terrific projects (very cute dog mittens). Evenstar is on my “you’re going to knit it some day” list.
Be careful what you wish for in getting your animals interested in fiber arts. My “cute” little birdie managed to find the shelf that is holding my Alice Starmore chart. If she nibbled it, as she does with newspapers, and destroyed it, I promised her that she would be owl food. So far the lure of an egg biscuit worked better than my threats.
Love the hats! The second one is definitely not you, however. But it is really cute! So is Lewey. What an adorable little fellow he is!
Yes, I did enjoy seeing them. Someone else’s UFOs for a change. So hexipuffs are good? I was considering them.
S. pseudocamellia is a perfect tree. As it ages, the bark rocks. Flowers in July. No one expects those flowers on a tree. (I planted three when I moved here.)
I love your blog,been reading it for years now. Love how your so creative and handle so many projects at once. Your Holiday photos are always wonderful and include a sock your working on,it has inspired me to take my knitting with me whenever I go. Keep up with your project since we all like to see your results. I am from
St. Catharines, Ontario Canada, near Niagara Falls and love that the Internet can connect us with people all over! Enjoy your summer and happy knitting!!