Did You Think I'd Gone For Good?

Yes, yes, I'm still here. I've just been busy with mostly unblogable things.

My brother (Ian) came to town for a visit, which was very lovely and heaps of fun. We kept busy seeing the sights that have been changing since he was last in town, plus a few other additions to the city that he's never seen on other trips. We did this puzzle Sunday afternoon:



I spent the two or three weeks before his stay cleaning the house from top to bottom - well, actually I never got to the basement level, it's still a bit of a tip. Ian suffers from allergies which were very serious when he was a child, so I felt compelled to clean thoroughly - considering the two dogs, the rabbit and the general dustiness of the old place. I was quite worried he'd drop dead the minute he walked through the front door, but he didn't, Hoorah! He even managed a stay of five days without one trip to the hospital, though there was one trip to the pharmacy for antihistamines.

In the knitting department, I did finish those socks I started ages back. They were a very quick knit and I've been meaning to show them, it just kept slipping my mind.



They're very cheerful. They remind me a bit of the jars of jelly my Mother makes. Raspberry, bramble berry, red currant all cooling on a sunny windowsill. Very berry, jewel tones.

I've also been working on a tot cardi for a little one I know.



It's being worked in the recommended yarn, Sirdar Baby Care DK in a lovely fresh cream colour. I've finished the back, both fronts and both sleeves. I'll start sewing it up and then work the button band. I also need to choose some buttons - a favourite chore of mine.

There's also been two other projects in the works, one of which is winging it's way to its new home as we speak, and the other is queueing up to fly. As soon as they reach their destinations, I'll show you some photos.

Never Say Never

Though I haven't mentioned this until now, for the last few weeks our little house has been in quite a state of chaos.

Back around mid-February the laundry room drain pipe broke leaving us with no clothes-washing facilities here at home. The media room, which is on the main floor below the laundry room (yes, I know that's a stupid place for it, but I didn't design the house), had to have it's walls torn apart in order to fix the pipe. That in itself is disruptive, but this particular room has oak-panelled walls, much more complicated than drywall. Not only did the wall where the pipe was located have to come down (in very carefully labelled pieces), but the wall beside it (where some insulation was damaged) also had to come down. AND, in order to get parts of that wall down, parts of a third wall also had to be removed (this had to do with the panels and trim that all fit together much like a puzzle). It felt like the work would never be done.

To top all of this off, of course, it was during one of the worst cold spells I can ever remember and every member of the household slowly fell ill with a nasty bout of flu. I'm sure that between the many trips to the laundromat and all the workmen that passed through the house, I succeeded in letting loose that awful flu bug on an unsuspecting city. I really missed having a washing machine. It felt like the house would never be clean. Of course, all the work is done now, and so is all the laundry.

During all this, I knit this. I tried to think warm thoughts of summer in an effort to hasten spring.



Knit from a cotton linen blend called Camilla ordered from Elann, I chose a lovely soft blue. So clean and fresh looking.



It's knit with a ton, or there abouts, of glass beads. This wrap should be very cold to the touch come summer.

Though this last project was fairly easy, once I'd memorised the pattern repeat, I wanted to start something more brainless for my next project.

So.

Wait for it.




Yup, I'm knitting socks. Now, my knitting friends know how much I hate knitted socks, how I roll my eyes every time someone says "look at this great new sock pattern", or "I bought the most gorgeous sock yarn". To me it seems that everyone on Earth is knitting a pair of socks, and I get completely sick of listening to it all.

At first, three or four years ago, I was seduced by all the new and interesting sock yarns on the market and I started to knit a few - a few pairs. I bought lots of sock yarn, it all seemed so appealing, until I realised that I don't find hand-knit socks all that comfortable. They bunch, they slip, they never fit right. Maybe it's my feet, but I can't stand hand-knit socks. I was never going to knit another pair of socks, never. About two years ago I gave away all the sock yarn in my yarn stash.

Well, all except for two.



This lovely pink/purple/red combo and some very nice teal-blue.

Hmmm... I suppose that means one more pair after this. Then,

never again.