50%

Well. Given enough time on my butt and enough "Bar Rescue" (don't judge...), the first sock is done. I can now move my ticker to 50% and I've started on Sock #2. I panicked for a moment, because for some reason, I thought I had less yarn to work with, being as I made such a rookie boo-boo on sock #1, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have enough. There may be less "left-over," which is fine with me. I feel like I have quite a good haul of left-overs for at least 2 pairs of scrappy socks. 

I will point out a few things; take them as a learning experience or leave them - if you've been a knitter for any length of time, I'm sure some sort of "knitting screw-up" has happened to you. 

As you can see at the heel flap and across the ankle, there's a line of purl stitches. That would be because, after an intense spate of baby knitting (see prior blogs), I picked this sock up after a long, long, long, LONG time. The yarn is easily 10 years old, Lorna's Laces, and I think the colorway is St. Charles. I remember because I had hopes of getting a job where St. Charles was concerned. And - as I recally, these were going to be a set of 4x4 rib socks, but I frogged them when I dropped a load of stitches (like an entire needle's worth) and got frustrated. 

Ahem. I digress. What I did here to create that lovely purl ridge, which goes all the way around, mind you, was to ... knit backward. I literally knitted from left-to-right somehow, not quite knowing what I was doing. 

Do I know why I did that? I do not. Why didn't I just frog it? I do not know that either. I think it was me being in a mood and saying something like "screw it, it's just a sock..." 

So I corrected course and started the gusset. And as you can see by the little raised spots, I totally grabbed too many stitches on the heel flap. Now, mind you, the heel flap is a whole 3" because I needed more than the 2" originally in the pattern. I find that somewhere between 2.5" and 3" is better for my heel. Anyway. The gusset went on. And on. And on. And on. I ended up taking k2tog several times as I did the sole, just to tighten it up a bit. 

Again - truly. No disrespect, but it's just a sock. Most of the stuff I screwed up will be in a shoe. 

But then there's the toe. The toe is, totally and completely, a thing of beauty. I believe I've finally found a star toe that I like. It's just perfect. I prefer the star toe mostly because it fits one's foot better. The rounded toe and the traditional "paired decrease" toe can tend, when I'm knitting them, to have "ears" at the sides, and I don't like that. To avoid it? Star toe. 

I have to say, I love the colorway. I love the even stitches. And the only odd thing to me is the really long gusset. I attribute that to the mess-up as noted above. As you see, I don't carry the pattern down the top of the foot. I don't like how it feels. Never have. My own preference. You do you. 

That's the beauty of socks. You can make them yours. 

I think that next time, I'll grab TWO sets of DPNs, and try knitting two at a time. How bad can that be? I mean, at least I'll get a pair finished by the time I'm 70. 

I did start Sock #2 right away. No sense faffing about. Get it going, deal with it ASAP. And hopefully, I won't make the same mistakes twice. I don't need these to match. Though I did play a bit of yarn chicken on the cast on. Gotta have some fun, I suppose. 

End of an Era...

Hubby has been on a cleaning kick. Not just "housework" cleaning, but Swedish Death Cleaning. The city is putting new water meters into the houses, and ours is in our basement. He got a bug in his butt to clean the basement. 

I've been nagging suggesting that he and I tackle that project for....years. We have stuff that's just archaeological by this time. 

So the basement is now 99% organized. There are boxes I need to go through, and holiday decorations to sort. But all in all, it's a done deal. 

Let's just say we'll have a lot of stuff for the upcoming church rummage sale!

Then he moved on to the kitchen. And we finally decided to put Tippi's crate out on the curb. She's been gone 2 years now. I still feel the hole in my heart, but it was truly time. I now have a small shelf there, with the dog treats, various kitchen supplies and a spot where I can stash my purse when I come in. 

Her crate was picked up rather quickly. I'm trying to be ok with it, and it may sound weird, but when you have a dog who's been a part of your life for so long, there's still an absence there. 

Realistically, we won't have another dog. Maybe we might foster, but that's not a decision we can make right now. But I have many good memories. 

Mother Nature...

Mother Nature is having a hissy fit of massive proportions. Yesterday, Hubby went over to mow the church. I texted, "Hey, it's bucketing rain here." Then I texted, "Hey, it's snowing." And then I texted, "Hey, the sun is shining."

All in about 4 hours. My friend in Alaska asked if Illinois got "break-up" and apparently, we do now. 

This was what I had on my radio a week ago. Today, I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt. 

I had actually put on the AC in the studio for class one day, because it was in the 80s in the practice area. Too hot for us!

Today, it's sunny, with a slight breeze, but still - in the low 50s. And next week, it's May. 

I have the sad suspicion that we had spring, about 10 minutes of it, and we'll whomp right into summer. I hate when that happens. 

It's going to be another week of freeze warnings here. And next week is May. In the midwest, we're being told that this is going to be the norm now. Joy. 

Random Picture...

One of the things that many people comment on in our church is our beautiful stained glass. It's in a really different style from many churches, where the figures are clearly depicted in medallions within the entire pane of glass. 

Behind our altar are the angels: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and one more, who I can't remember! I really love the colors of these windows, when the sun shines through - literally jewel-toned light bouncing around the sanctuary. 

The church itself is black walnut on the bottom of the walls (about halfway down) and plaster up toward the vaulted roof. There's a pipe organ. The church has "homely" creaks and noises. Some say it's haunted, and that's cool. When I go in there, I always mentally say, "Good morning, God and all the ghosts!" 

One organist friend of mine said she felt "someone" come up behind her when she was practicing. She hoped it was a friendly spirit, since she was new at the organ and "I know I was making mistakes!" 

You'd think the colors would be jarring. They look like they absolutely don't go together. But they just ... do. I can't explain it. It just works!

Plugging & Plodding...

I wish I had something remarkable to report. As I'm on Day 25 of Whole30, I wish I could say that it's awesome, I'm awesome, life is awesome, and I'll do this the rest of my life. 

But I can't. There are also no new revelations about recipes, food or anything of that sort. 

I've been doing more research, and I'm also listening to my own body. I don't like the protein content of this diet. I feel like my portions are all off. I feel as if I've done no good at all except that I've not eaten any processed food, no sweets, and gotten off sugar. 

I think I'm feeling unbalanced. I think that perhaps the fruit that we're allowed is even too much sugar. But I'm enjoying the fruit. 

I was thinking that I could eat this way for a long, long time, and the truth is, that in the main, I have been. All a long. Except for the sugar. If I were to truly go off sugar, I'd eliminate the fruit. 

But I don't like saying, "I will never have XYZ ever again in my life," especially when that XYZ is a whole food group!

I do have good  news, though - this has been rather morbid, hasn't it? All "woe is me" crap for a food plan where you really have to have the ability to pay for the food - it's silly. 

Anyway - I'm going out to see Kid #1 in a few weeks, so "clean eating" is still on the bill, but I'm going to start walking and exercising more. Kid has plans for hiking --- and I don't think I'm up for it right now. But I can work toward it. 

I'm really excited about that, because Kid hasn't been home in a long time, and frankly - it's hard not to worry. Of course, someone could make the case that moms having kids in the military have it harder - and they do. But that's not the case here, and I'm not apologizing for missing one of the kids. 

Knitting...

Well. Knitting has happened. I'm on Point 10 of the Close to You Shawl, and I'm plugging along on that. I've put a few more rows onto the traveling sock, but I haven't done a thing on the Petty Harbour sock. I need to start alternating projects. 

Of course, watching "Miss Marple" is kind of inspiring. The little knitting detective, plying away at whatever's on her needles (I've never seen a finished project in all the Marples I've watched!), and solving crimes that have stumped the authorities. This one is Joan Hickson. She's one of the better ones. I was going to say she wasn't the "iconic" one -- but it turns out she was!

I just haven't seen a lot of her versions. 

The one I'm watching now has a heroine who's apparently fallen for a real creep. She's just found out, and I've been thinking, "How could you NOT know he's a creep? I don't have to do anything but listen to him and I'm feeling queasy about him touching you!"

Anyway, I feel good about progressing on this project. I'm planning to spend time with the intended recipient this weekend, so that's kind of a nice, juicy secret I'm keeping - hoping the recipient will love it. 

I've been looking at other knitting blogs - different ones than I usually read. And honestly? I can't find anything else that engages me. I've read some and I either get turned off by the format (please don't type everything in a medium grey on white background and center every line of your work), or I don't like the projects, or I think the person is ... boring. 

Not like I'm lighting the world on fire with my prose. My friend Nat just wrote a lovely short essay on a jar of peanut butter which left me near to tears. My words don't often flow like that. 

There are so many bloggers out there, it's hard to read through all of them - I just don't have that kind of time! So I think I'll stick with the ones I read now. But I'm willing to take suggestions - if you know of a knitting blogger who just makes your needles sing - let me know!

I have to plan the knitting for the trip to see The Kid. Definitely the shawl. And a pair of socks. I'll be gone a week, and there are already activities planned, so we shall see how much I get done. I'm driving, so that's kind of no help. Looking forward to some time by myself and some silence. 

I hope to have lots of progress pictures ready after that trip. 

It's Spring...

We had the windows open! Spring has sprung! The daffodils at the church have come back to life after a wilting frost-ish kind of span of time. 

And sort of to celebrate, flowers were brought to work. Pink tulips. 

Funny enough, in a vase which I've had for almost 15 or 20 years - a crystal vase into which water and flowers were never put.

It's serving its purpose now, but I had used it as a "pretty" -- I put either shredded curly ribbon in it or Christmas ornaments, or those cute marbles. 

My thoughts are turning to the garden. Hubby, in spite of his continuing shoulder thing, managed to clear out two of the raised beds. 

My young tomatoes are looking peaked - so I may put them outside tomorrow to see if they perk up a bit. I talked to a friend who's done heirlooms from seed, she says that's not unusual. Thankfully. 

They're little sprigs of things. She says to plant them right up to the leaves. All I can do is try. 

I want to do lettuce (even though it's kind of late), mostly because of the whole "romaine scare." And I want to do carrots and radishes, along with the tomatoes. That should about do it. Though I'd love to try potatoes one year. Have to ask Hubby about that one. My MIL used to do potatoes every year. 

Herbs, too. But given our winter, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to start them from seed. It's almost May already. 

Stained Glass Repair...

I get to watch someone fix our stained glass windows at church. As you can see here, if you click on the picture, you can see the lead part slipping away from the glass. I understand from someone who knows about these windows that they're restored, and on the outside, they're protected by triple-pane thermal pane glass - also protecting them against fading and against the weather. 

On the inside, that wood frame is removable, so they can remove the stained glass when it's needing repair or something. The church is over 180 years old - and some of these windows date back nearly that far. 

Anyway, a couple of people noticed that two of the windows had some damage at the top. 

I called a restoration expert - happens to be the one who worked on the windows when they were first restored - and she'll be coming to the church on Tuesday, and I'm getting kind of excited to see what she's going to do. 

I will try to snap some pictures of our windows - now that the light is better, they'll be easier to photograph. I also have to take some new pics of the hall as it's being renovated. Which reminds me of a few other things I have on my to-do list... it just never ends!

Random Picture...


The sunset a few days ago after yoga class. We all enjoy watching it as the class ends, and we all joke that the building there on the left? We want it moved about 100 feet to the south, so we have a better view. 

It's a beautiful way to end the day. I turned around and saw the nearly-full moon, and it was stunning against a sky that was the total opposite of this one. 

I love to be able to look out at the sky. That's why I'm eagerly anticipating the trip to see Kid #1 - I've never been to that area, but am anxious to see it. I was told that, during one part of my drive, that I'll be "able to see the curve of the Earth." I'm looking forward to that! 

I May Have a Problem...

...Or not. Maybe "problem" is too strong a word. I'm cleaning out my office, and I realized I have more books than shelves. 

For a stark moment, I said to myself, "I think I have too many books." Wow... Never, in a million years, would I ever have thought I could have "too many" books. That's just not possible. I mean, how many is "too many" -- I have yoga books, knitting books, writing/editing books, reference books, reading books...

When Hubby put the "office area" together, he lined the walls with bookshelves, as I said before. And I promptly filled them. And then some. He, to be fair, took up a shelf or two. 

Over the years, the area got a bit "disorganized" and it didn't help that the room is at the back of the house. It kind of naturally became a "hiding place" or "dumping ground" when we needed to stash stuff. Right now, I'm in the process of cleaning out and getting things into boxes for the next church rummage sale. 

I'm going to at least categorize the books into stacks and then figure out what to do with them. I started doing that, got distracted, and now - I'm bound and determined to get this office into shape. I want to have a place to actually work... 

My mom has a nice system; she recycles her books at the used book store. They give her a credit and she's able to buy more books, which she turns in and then gets a credit and buys more books... It's kind of like the library without the return dates! I have a lot of paperbacks which I've read a couple of times, so I have no more interest in reading them a third time. I could turn them in to the used book store. I already gave them to my mom and she read them and returned them. So it's time to figure it out. 

I still like a "real" book. I have my Kindle, and I use it a lot, but I need to think about what to do with the fiction that I've been reading. There really are only a few books that I'd keep. I have probably a dozen that are signed by the authors, which I'll keep. Yeah, I know - paperbacks have nearly zero resale value, even if they're signed. But it means something to me, particularly since a few of those signed ones are inscribed to me. Which, I know, makes those books even LESS valuable (seeing as I'm not famous [yet])... 

I know I want the yoga books close; I also have to find some space for the essential oil books. The reference books over the top of my desk can just stay there, but I have to clean up that area. Too cluttered. 

I will have to move the music downstairs. I have the file cabinet room; I can even double-check and make sure the music is out of the closet and in the cabinet. I have to figure out how to get the maximum space and minimize the clutter. 

It's not about "what gives you joy" and if it doesn't, then pitch it. I'm not that much into minimizing. But I do have to watch what's going into that room. I'm on the cusp of something here, and I need to "get my house in order." Perhaps I don't have "too many" books.

I do, however, have too much yarn. I have yarn that I can't find the pattern to. I'm serious, this time, folks. YARN DIET. Speaking of which... 

Knitting...

After finishing the socks, I am once again plugging along on the Close to You Shawl. 

I'm actually in a kind of quiet place this weekend, which I need. I need to finish my final exam from the yoga training, and I need to keep plugging away at the office area. 

But in the meantime, I really want to work on this shawl. I have about 6 reps of the "points" - which are 7 rows per point. So I'm about half finished, as far as I can reckon. 

I'd truly do this one again. Maybe twice more? 

But on to the "yarn diet." I went through the bags on the office floor. I matched up most of the yarn with patterns, but I have 4 balls of Magnolia (wool + alpaca) that I cannot for the life of me figure out! I mean, I really don't remember why I got it. There's a pattern somewhere...I just have to find it. I packed up a large bag of sock yarn (that's a whole other kettle of fish...) and I stashed the "baby bag" (which has all my yarn + patterns for the "usual layette" already stuffed in there, so I don't have to scramble) above the totes. Somehow, I have a plethora of eyelash yarn...I'm sure I meant it for scarves, and I can easily whip those together - who knows, maybe a fundraiser in there somewhere. 

But yeah. It was brought home very clearly to me that I have a significant stash and I really haven't even gone through the totes in the basement. That is - the totes that survived a cull which resulted in a huge donation to our church's Prayer Shawl ministry. Maybe I have to do another cull, but I think I've actually ditched all the Homespun yarn. I may have 6 more skeins, but that's piddly stuff. I can grab that and bring it for this Sunday - it'll give Judy something to knit with! And at least it's not blue -- she griped that I had given her "too much blue." This is beige. 

Why Is This a Thing...

So one of my friends posted a "three finger challenge" and apparently a number of people had trouble getting their fingers into the appropriate shape.

It must be a specific talent. Anyway, I can do it on both hands. 

But why is this a thing? 

Maybe a bit of a silly escape from all the crap going down. There's grief in the DNC about Hillary and Bernie, which is once again dividing the party. Here's a clue, folks: Get your act together otherwise we're stuck with what we have...

And then Joe Biden called out the Tweeter in Chief and basically said, 'grow up and stop tweeting.' And Joe's not wrong. 

The State of Illinois has failed to pass legislation against bump stocks - you know, those things that make your gun basically an automatic weapon. Heaven knows why, but I want to read up on what happened. That was a no-brainer.

But then again, you'd think reasonable gun legislation is also a no-brainer. And it apparently isn't. 

The threat of firing the special prosecutor kind of pales in the light of the "diplomatic" trip to Asia...wherein Tweeter-in-Chief is not interested in diplomacy, but in "destruction." 

The threat of the draconian (and that's mild) tax "reform" which will pretty much kill off the middle class, but hey - it'll benefit the upper 1%... There's that, too. 

So maybe that's why the "three finger challenge" is a thing. Oh, and I can do the Vulcan salute with either hand, too. 

My Morning Routine...

Every shower. Special thing. Young Living Essential Oils has a really nice shower gel base. You can pick your favorite scent, and add about 15 drops to the shower gel base. Shake it up, and you have a "customized" shower experience. 

I used our Envision blend. Then, out of the shower, you take 3 - 4 drops in your hand, rub the hands together and then massage the oil into your arms, shoulders and the back of your neck. Around your heart center. Across the tops of your shoulders. Wherever you can reach. Then pat dry. 

Oh, and don't forget the "hair diffuser." With that extra essential oil on your hands? Run the fingers and palms through your hair, allowing the oil to transfer to your strands...It doesn't weigh down your hair, and you reap the benefits of the oil - and you smell good! 

I'm doing a "make and take" event, and I'm working on "shower bombs" where, if you don't have a tub you can really soak in, you can put these on the floor of your shower, which will allow the water to hit them, and they diffuse right in your shower. 

These oils have changed the way I view what I put on my body. Being a yoga teacher, I'm already tuned into what I'm putting IN there. What I want to put ON? Just as important. Interested in living a less toxic life, and removing extraneous toxins from your home? Let me know. I'll be happy to walk you through. Doesn't matter if you're in my back yard or across the country. We can talk! 

Random Picture...

The other day, the sunlight came through the church windows so beautifully. I especially liked this center part with the flowers. I needed to bring the "real" camera, so I can zoom in better. The windows are old. I don't think they all survived the fire that nearly destroyed the church in 1903, but they look like someone really tried to replicate them. 

I have to find the church history. We have a piece of the doors from the fire, and the plaque from the family who donated the original doors. I don't know if they were red...many Episcopal churches have red doors. The doors we have now aren't red, but they have stunning iron work on them. I'll have to catch a picture of them for you to see. 

I love the old buildings. They creak. They have character. I'm pretty sure the church is haunted. I've been in there and there've been steps down the main aisle when I've been the only human in the building. 

So, when I'm in there by myself, I always wish "God and the ghosts" a good day. You never know Who is listening!