lucky guy(s)

Long time between posts here.

Just thought I'd mention my recent cross country flight. I dread the day long journey to California, and last week was no different. To stave off the boredom and flight anxiety I usually have knitting projects on board. I had two sock projects with me last Tuesday, so as soon as I settled into my aisle seat on the first leg of the flight to Chicago I pulled out the preferred sock project. The middle seat was empty and the window seat was occupied by a late 30-ish man. As soon as I started the casting on process he became interested.

So what are you making?

I'm starting a sock for my husband.

How does that work? How does it become a sock?

It eventually becomes a tube and then gets a heel and then a toe.

Bet you'll have it finished before we get to Chicago!

Probably not, don't think I knit that fast.

Well, your husband is a lucky guy.

I knit for the duration of the flight, but surprise, surprise I didn't finish the sock. I did make my way through the cuff.

During the 2 1/2 hour layover at Midway terminal, where they don't offer FREE Wifi, I made progress on the leg of the sock and the stitch pattern started to develop down the leg.

The flight to Sacramento was very full and the empty seat between a woman at the window seat and my aisle seat was soon occupied by a big, tall man. What was he thinking squishing into the little center seat (and possibly impairing my right arm action)? I pulled out my sock project anyway. He looked up from his magazine and asked me:

Are you making a sweater?

No it's a sock.

My mother used to do that in England when I was young.

Hmmm...that's interesting. Yeh, England is still full of knitters!

So what will you do with a sock?

Make another one and then my husband wears them.

Lucky guy!

As I knit along on the sock leg, I became more and more attached to the results of this appealing hand-dyed yarn. I'm thinking how lucky my husband was to be getting these socks that I'm loving so much I might have to hijack them!



I arrived in Sacramento many hours later, settled in at my parents house and took out my alternate sock project, a sock I'd started knitting last month with plans to gift the pair to my brother so he'd be prepared for next winter. I showed him the sock in progress and told him I was knitting it for him.

I couldn't wear that sock!

Why? Is it too fancy?

Well yes it's too fancy! Maybe when I'm buried...I could wear them.



Brothers! He was in a surly, deprived mood. I can't tell you how much of a pain in the %@# these socks were to get started (right? Karen), during my early spring brain freeze. Maybe I'll finish his casket socks and set them aside until that fateful day or maybe I'll just give them to some guy on a plane!

Just a 12 hour span of sock knitting in public.

honkers pond recedes

I could write about the travails of owning a house near a non-tidal river. I could write about the knowledge I've acquired about pumping water out of a basement. But there are far worse scenarios in other households in our area due to the torrential rains we experienced last week in Long Island. Mine are tales of inconvenience not tragedy.



The river acquired some of our backyard a week ago, about 30 feet in beyond the bulkhead at the greatest point. Now it's about 10 feet away from being our backyard again. Last week I joked about our bulkhead looking like one of those endless pools in a resort, that was before the river rose another 8 inches or so totally obscuring any edge.

This morning the sun is out, the river is receding back over the bulkhead and the swans, geese, ducks and various other birds will have to find another shallow pond to frolic in. All have been entertaining but some are not as clean as others. Canadian geese, you know I'm talking about you!
When I tiptoed out there just now to shoot this preening swan I was able to snap a few pictures before he/she headed towards me thinking I had snacks to dispense. I don't feed intimidating waterfowl.









While learning too much about pumping water out of our basement and worrying about the drawbacks of houseboat life I did manage some knitting projects during the evenings. Look! New socks! Toe-up construction from a very precisely dyed skein of sock yarn from AlishaGoesAround. Here they are posing with their shoes.



It's Spring and time to be finished with those winter knitting projects! I'm working my way through them so I can start felting experiments. Water, soap, agitation---amazing what it can do to simply knit forms and wool fiber. Hope to have some to show soon.

spring sprung

Yes! That first sign of Spring when the crocuses start popping up in everyone else's yard. Crocus. Hmmm...in my yard it's one 3 inch high grape hyacinth at the base of our large maple! You'd have to get down on your hands and knees to see the subtle display. I love it nonetheless.



It was great to get outside in clothing less cumbersome than a down jacket. Ok. So it hasn't been that cold, but you get the picture. The warm temperatures will be fleeting though as another cold front heads our way. Not expecting snow. (So don't expect snow pictures!) Famous last words.

lost my snow-mo-jo

I thought it only appropriate on the eve of the closing ceremony weekend that this picture be one that expresses the Olympic spirit. This pair of tennis shoes has been hanging from the lines since the morning my new dishwasher was delivered and installed, last Fall. (How do they do it and how do we get them down?) I am sort of sorry that the Olympics will be over soon. Though I might have missed the tennis-shoe fling there were plenty of events of daredoing and endurance that I did manage to catch. And I love the setting in Vancouver!

I took the camera out this morning to once again document the snowfall. Everything looks the same as the last storm and the flung shoes were the most interesting items out there. I've lost my snow-mo-jo. But I did manage to shovel the driveway and start making a snowman. The snow was not the snowman making grade, however, and mine looked more like a sinking snow cat instead. The fearless feral cats have been traversing our Louieless (our big dog that passed away a few months ago) yard unimpeded by my featherweight dachshund. These cats have a good 5 - 10 pounds at least on Archie! I'm sure they won't deterred by my snowcat, either.

While not shoveling over this long Long Island winter I've done lots of knitting and lots of sewing. Not much of it has been displayed here. I do most of my knitting show-and-tell on Ravelry---the knitters facebook. The bulk of my knitting ultimately becomes my Fall display for the buttons and pins I make.

Really we all want to see Spring inspiration, right now! A little crocus peeping up under the snow cover, perhaps? Not in my yard, not this week! So I have to make my own.

I've been toying with some wearable chenille pieces for the upcoming local fiber arts show Fluffystuff at the end of March. They look like the load of flannel pajamas got shredded and inextricably tangled. (That's a word, right?) I'm not sure what I will be taking to the show, buttons and pins probably, but with a name like Fluffystuff I'm really tempted to take the pajama jamboree along. Before I wash them they look like this....

After the washer and dryer treatment....


We'll see. I'm happy exploring the possibilities and using up lots of Spring palette flannel until it's really Spring!

mo snow pictures

Just so you don't think that The Blizzard wasn't documented at our house on Thursday----it was!

It's just that I'm more interested in Spring and putting on my boots to go outside yesterday to take pictures was the last thing I wanted to do. Dennis was way more inspired!

pink-y, red-y and such

Oops! Forgot to post the finale of the little rustic stool with the pink bark cover. It languished for a while until I resolved how to finish it. It got a cute little drawstring and that did it, just in time for a Valentine's color theme post!




This time of year the sun is so low on the horizon, it's almost impossible to get good available light indoors here for photography. I'm just not much for setting up lights. So last week I dragged my recently finished, Valentine inspired passionately colored chenille items along on a drive out to Greenport to see my friend Sarah. She graciously allowed me to use her abundant Southern exposure for photos. Cairo, her little fluffy Jack Russell terrier, followed the red log all over the house and posed wherever I set the camera up! He's an excellent model for scale, don't you think? I'm a sucker for dogs that pose---mine always scatter when the camera starts clicking.





Red log and pink stool are in my etsy shop now! Happy Valentine's Day!

just maybe I watched too many Westerns over the holidays

My husband and I have now settled on one channel for our tv viewing out of the hundreds available on our cable system, Turner Classic Movie channel. We are trying to wean ourselves off cable and our news junkie habit and we've managed to eliminate watching almost everything but TCM. When the tv is on, it's on 68.

Which might explain why I was compelled to sew up a group of chenille items for my next Sewfaux update, inspired it seems by the many Westerns I've watched. When I'm not interested in the movies' story I look at the movies' set, which would have been the case if a Western is on (this excludes Deadwood, not on TCM anyway). After completing some long unfinished pieces they just happen to look like they belong in the bunkhouse.





Cowhide, barrel cactus, bark....Podner! Just have to imagine some cowhands, your dude ranch guys and gals sitting around the campfire with their bedrolls, or hanging out in the bunkhouse doin' a few rope tricks. Roy and Dale's house. Lonesome Dove. Bonanza.





I've just been totally immersed in sewing for the last few weeks after I tried to find something in the closet where all things chenille go. Layers and piles of unexplained chenille. Someone had to do something about it!

Don't worry I haven't gone totally Western, though it may crop up from time to time. Alongside the dude ranch decor I've also managed to prduce a few items for the following update, in reds and passionate colors expressly for Valentiners. I know you're all relieved.

Shop will be updated by the end of today.