BONNE ANNIVERSAIRE, JEANNE!

C'est Francois. Il est mon cadeau pour Jeanne (Joan). Il peut seulement compter a trent-neuf. Joan chanceux!
I have been busy (and using my Mala beads with my ridiculously slow computer) to sell off some of the stash on eBay in order to begin to fund my car repairs. So far, so good. Lots more to go, which means I'll probably be blogging less. Unfortunately, when I list something on eBay, it takes more than 2 hours per item. Did I mention that after the car repairs the next thing is computer repairs?
Knitting continues for the holidays. CGB's Ragna is done, and I'm pleased with it. I have also almost finished my daughter's "stocking". I'm zooming along on SIL's wrap and have found the perfect pin for it. Check out the lovely jewelry here.

IF I HAD A BABY ELEPHANT.....

.....I would knit 3 more of these and call them a set. But as all my offspring are of the human flavor, I think I'll just felt this one and call it a Christmas stocking instead. You probably wouldn't understand this, but planning stockings is a giant leap of faith for someone who rarely has enough money to buy gifts for anyone. But this year I am being optimistic and hoping I will be able to follow through on my plans.

My eBay sales are plodding along. I have listed seven lots of wool and have bids and/or watchers on all of them, so I'm pleased. Poor U4EA! I had to watch the Balloon Fiesta mass ascension on tv this morning. Last year I had fun chasing different balloons all over the place. Next year, for sure! Only about another $1300, and she'll be as good as new.

Sadly, I'm hoping that my computer can last me through all this. It takes me almost 2 hours to do one listing, including posting photos, just because it takes so ridiculously long to wait for pages to load. Patience! That's the word for the day. Tomorrow's word is hypoxia. Can you say "hypoxia" boys and girls? We'll talk about it tomorrow.

THE HARDEST PART IS SHIPPING THE BOX

I can knit for hours and hours. I think knitting and reading are 2 of my favorite things. So I was pretty enthused about the most recent Afghans for Afghans campaign of knitting for 7-14 year olds. I made a sweater with some grey Peace Fleece I had in my stash. It will be very warm, and can be worn by either a boy or a girl. Then I found a very neat bottom-up pattern online that is for a bulky weight yarn and one skein of Noro Kureyon. I had those in the stash, as well. I used half of the Periwinkle colored Lopi I have and Noro Kureyon #87. This baby is also going to be wonderfully warm and cuddly. Then I looked at the multitude of Paton's Divine skeins lolling in a laundry basket and paired two of them, Floral and Orangina, with burgundy Classic Merino worsted weight. Crocheted with the two yarns held together, this, too, will warm some child this winter. Plus, I had the bonus of being able to crochet. I don't do enough of it.

So while I loved the knitting, the crocheting, and thinking about doing something for someone in need, I hafta admit that sending off the box was, well, a major league pain in my derriere!

When I venture out, I carry an 8 pound container of liquid oxygen that hisses, emits vapor, and, generally, frightens small children. The little tank is held by a thick, rigid handle. No backstrap, no belt, no shoulder bag, (although I have begun to remedy that). Anyway, add a 6 pound box of extraordinarily awkward size and proportion, and opening doors or getting in or out of the car becomes a serious challenge. Imagine how I felt when, after standing 5 minutes at the little Post Office counter in what is euphemistically called a "convenience store", I was informed by the cashier who had watched me wrestle my way into and through the store that "We ain't got any of them sticky labels, so we are only takin' stamped mail today."

Jesus wept. I almost did, too. But the sweaters and the blanket are on their way having been taken to the Post Office (the real one!) where gentlemen held doors, a young woman offered to carry the box for me and the clerk told me next time to feel free to come in first and either ask for assistance or borrow a dolly. Had it been later than 10:00 a.m., I might have asked if they loan out Jack Daniels, too.

THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SONBAD THE SOUS CHEF

My son, CGB (Chef Grill Bitch) sailed off from Burlington, Vermont last May for sunny Big Sur, California to take a job at a lodge in a state park there. He was also joining his sister who has spent her last 3 summers there and now works and lives in Big Sur as the archivist for the Henry Miller Library. Within 6 weeks of his having moved there, Big Sur, as most of you will recall, began to burn. His being a CGB and the fire are in no way connected, as it is well documented that the fire was started by lightning. He and a small crew stayed on at the lodge feeding firefighters and foresters and waiting day to day for news and updates. Ultimately, all of Big Sur was evacuated. He, along with most of the town's residents ended up in Monterey hoping daily that they would be allowed back in. But days began to become weeks, and as his work had been seasonal, and there was no way to know when/if he'd be able to return to the lodge, he found a position elsewhere.

His next voyage found him working on a luxury dude ranch outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as a sous chef. Again, the work was seasonal, but it was a great position with young, wonderful employers in the heart of God's country. He works very long hours with little time off, but has had fun, met some terrific people, but, because there are few cell phone towers, he has been cut off from the outside world. He's had only dial-up computer access and, essentially, no phone service. He and I have e-mailed infrequently and I was under the impression that he was going to move on early next month to either Las Vegas or back to Monterey.

Imagine my surprise when I started shutting down my computer last night and found an e-mail from CGB asking me to check on airfares from Jackson Hole to ...................Boston! My boy-o is going home! Well, almost home. We are from the very northernmost part of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and CGB had lived and worked 2 years in Boston. Land of the Celtics, the Red Sox, lobsters, and the Bruins. To say nothing of the Dropkick Murphys! He plans to move back there and become reunited with his belongings which have been in storage in Burlington for 6 months. He and Bahama and Thom (see above) will soon be together again and I'm glad of it.


I did work on Joan's, uh, um, thing last night. Except for the eyes and its feelers, it's done and I love it and I know she will, too. And, no, it's NOT one of these! This is Joe Rockstar who lives with Bahama Llama and Thom in CGB's life. So I'm working on Ragna for the rest of the day and should have the bottom cable ring done and have started on the top. Woohoo!

Random thought for the day: Didja ever type the word archivist but see the word antichrist? Just wonderin', is all.

LITTLE THINGS

It seems we get so hung up on the big issues in life that we often fail to appreciate the things that really really matter. Like our health, our children's successes, a tremendous sunset, a sweet breeze. Since I've rejoined the living I've begun to meditate and spend the first part of every morning either spinning or knitting. Sometimes with music, but often hearing only the neighborhood munchkins on their way to school or dogs yipping in the distance. I try valiantly to have patience with myself and with my knitting, endeavoring to greet the day with calm composure. I look to Hermione, one of our three cats for inspiration. She parks on my windowsill in the mornings and surveys her empire with the stillness it seems only a cat possesses.For the last several mornings I have spent time working with a lovely black yarn that I spun. It is the first shearing of baby Icelandic sheep, and I was fortunate enough to get 4 ounces of the deepest black. I literally bought this out of the hands of the shepherd who had come into Good Fibrations in Edgewood, NM to see if they'd like to carry some of his rovings. The employees and customers bought almost all he had then and there. The fiber is as soft as can be with a very delicate halo. Truly heady stuff! I decided that because I ended up with 3 small skeins I had to find some truly wonderful pattern that would show it to its full glory and would keep it close to the skin ~ yes! it's that soft. So my choice was the Ragna cap from Elsebeth Lavold's book Viking Patterns for Knitters.


Now I've been knitting for longer than many of you have been alive (no, I did not make baby mastodon sweaters) and cables are not a problem for me. I also am a great fan of knitting by charts, having learned to prefer them for lace. However, either due to chemo or child-rearing (I consider them equally hazardous to mental stability) there can sometimes be a disconnect, or an arcing, if you will, of waves in my cerebral neurons. By that I mean I can look at the chart for moments, tell myself aloud what the symbol means, and then proceed to do something which bears little, if any, resemblance to the charted directions.





I've learned to offset these synaptic shortcomings by creating my own road maps for the charts. It's a little time consuming, but Hey! it works! I make these on Super Sticky large lined post-its and then move them up the chart as I work. I also decided to break down and buy a new cable needle. I have usually used a spare double pointed needle for them, but when you only need to move 2 stitches around, that longer needle becomes tedious.



So I solved part of my cable angst with these:





I KNOW!!! Could it really be that simple? Well, apparently so! I continued along this morning knitting, centering, reveling in the gorgeous breezes, chuckling at Hermione's serenity, and slowly a little thought began to trip through those recalcitrant crenelations (the squiggly things in my brain). follow along:


left cable, cable needle to the front


right cable, cable needle to the back


Repeat after me: left cable, cable needle to the front; right cable, cable needle to the back.


After awhile it came to me (one of those "Eureka" moments):


leFt cable, cable needle to the Front and right cable, cable needle to the back (I'll be "right back")


left front, right back ~ left front, right back ~ left front, right back left





and look at the lovely result:
See? It really is the little things (I know, I know ~ from little minds).