29 June 2020

It's Monday, and It's Too Hot, and I'm Already Over It

Not that it matters, of course.  Summer weather is gonna do what it wants, no matter what I care.  It was a pretty awful weekend - heat, major humidity, and mosquito-fest.  In spite of the fact that I practically poured mosquito repellent on my entire person when heading out to water our flowers, those evil creatures feasted as if nothing was different.  Grrrrrrrr.

Which is why other than taking Hamlet out for walks, we both pretty much stayed put.  Things were done around the house, so it wasn't a complete loss, but no real garden time which was disappointing, since that had become a lovely way to spend the mornings.

In the continuing list of things that seem to make the world feel like it's working against us, our oven died a week ago.  The Tim thought that it just needed a part that he could likely install to work again - or at least to buy time - so he ordered it, and spent about an hour trying to install it before realizing that it would mean tearing out part of a wall.  And even then, as mentioned above, it would only be buying us time, since our stove is about 20 years old.  Since like most everyone, we have SO much extra money coming in while not being at work (one of us is laid off, one of us is getting paid 30% less of our salary), we bit the bullet and ordered a new one.  The good part here (and there is one) is that we ordered it from the manufacturer, so not only was it on sale for July 4th, but they had a payment plan where if you paid it off monthly in 12 months, there was no finance charge, so that at least will work out.  Supposedly it will be delivered sometime this week.  That would be nice.

I did finish knitting The Tim's shortie slipper socks, and though they look weird (yes, I did run out of the yarn I was using!) he is thrilled with them.   It's nice when someone goes with the flow like that.  It's also nice when yarn chicken happens on something that you are only going to wear around the house.  😌 I'll do an FO post this week so you can see how they turned out.

I also wound yarn for another project, and got started.  For reasons that even I can't really explain or understand, I decided to try the Stillness Shawl MKL.


Who am I???  I no longer know, apparently.  The first clue came out last Thursday, and yesterday I actually sat down and got going on it.  So far, I have learned the i-cord cast on, which is nice and pretty when it works, but meant that I started over about 8 times before I decided it was OK-looking and moved along.

Here are the yarns I've chosen:

Side view

Top view

Yesterday, while we were watching some things we had recorded, I finally got my cast on to be acceptable to me, and managed by the end of the day to knit ~70 rows.  So far, it's pretty reasonable, with a few rows where you have to pay attention, and then more rows where you just knit or purl, depending what side you are knitting.  

The Tim (when I was trying to get the cast-on to work):  Is that going to be a shawl?
Me:  Yep.  It's a Mystery Knit-Along, you get one clue a week.
The Tim (laughing):  Oh that sounds so exciting.

Half an hour later, after I had a nice amount done:

Me:  See, I'm about halfway through Clue #1, and this is what it looks like.
The Tim:  Oh cool, now I'm invested.

*****
So that's the news from here.  Summer is making itself known, mosquitoes are feasting on my person, I've not only joined a KAL, but have actually started knitting the project, and June is nearly over.  

BUT.

Something is getting ready to start again.


Stay tuned!

16 comments:

kayT said...

I'm in the MKAL too and will be looking forward to seeing your progress; I really like your colors. I bought a kit from Meadowyarn and have very low contrast B and C so the striped part is very subtle. At first I didn't like it but now I'm getting into it. Is the blue your A? Pictures please!

Good luck with the new stove.

Kym said...

Oooooo! Christmas in July! :-)
I am so sorry about your mosquitos. We haven't been plagued . . . yet . . . here at home, but they're pretty miserable at our place up north. Mosquitos don't seem to like me much, but they LOVE Tom. LOVE. (He perseveres. . . )

Kym said...

PS - I love the yarn colors you've chosen for your MKAL.

Vera said...

It was an awfully muggy weekend for sure! Sorry about your stove and the mosquitoes. Pretty yarn you've chosen for your mystery shawl.

steph said...

so many people are doing that knitalong....and i'm such a lemming. maybe i need to at least go look?
it's really too bad that we don't live closer to each other....i'm also a mosquito magnet, to the extent that i often felt i would get invited to outdoor bbqs just so the rest of the guests could enjoy themselves bite-free. if we lived closer, we could go into business. im not ready to tackle that alone!!

have a good week!

Nance said...

Oh, bother. So sorry about your Appliance Betrayal. That is the worst.

Love the colours of your shawl. Now that your husband is invested, you have extra incentive to continue. Heaven knows, you would not want to disappoint him.

We're getting beastly weather now for the forseeable and no rain. Hooray. I get to water every day. Oh. Joy.

Hang in there. We've almost made it through June!

karen said...

I'm done with the weather but we've got a ways to go my friend! Sorry about the oven, what a bummer during a time when money is tight. Isn't that the way it goes? I hope money issues resolve itself soon for you.

Araignee said...

I hear you with the mosquitoes. I've been a snack for a while now. I have to suit up in my bug gear just to go out for a few seconds. Ticks have been a real issue too. I can hardly wait until flea season. All my cats had allergic reactions last year to the only thing that worked. Ugh..it's going to be brutal. That mild winter did us no favors.

KSD said...

Love it when Philly Tim is invested!

Dee said...

You would think for someone that lived in Florida for over 30 years that the heat and humidity would not bother me. This year ......it is KILLING me. I hate it.

Sorry to hear about the stove. But, think of all the good things that will come out of a new one. YUM!

Minerva said...

I've done a few KAL's, but only one mystery shawl with Casapinka. It was fun. It's always nice to have an invested husband! :)

Wanderingcatstudio said...

It's hot and stupid here and is supposed to be so for the next two weeks at least. Ugh.
I look forward to seeing your progress on the KAL.

kathy b said...

Oh no. Are we having Christmas in July? Im not ready.

Im osrry about appiance betrayal. Ick. My mom was always excited when I got a new appliance. She and my grandma would have to come over and check it out!!!

Shirley said...

The heat, humidity and insects make summer pretty miserable for me. I'll take winter any day. Of course, I do live in the South and winters are not too severe. Some cold days and maybe a few snowstorms which shut down almost everything. Sorry about the stove and hope you like the new one. You will have plenty of time to read the instruction manual (if they still issue those) and experiment. Stay cool.

Caffeine Girl said...

I love your color choices for the shawl. I hope it's a good design. Mystery knits kind of scare me!

Mereknits said...

So sorry about the stove, but glad you got a good price and a stove that will be new with no worries. I have never done a CAL or KAL, I am afraid I will never be able to keep up. Stay safe Bridget, it is hot as Hades here.