La Oveja

OK, so I know very little Spanish and had to look up the word for "sheep," but I wanted to introduce you to Esperanza:

Isn't she a cutie? She is from Spain, hence her name and the title of this post. One of my co-workers at the yarn store took a trip with one of her friends to Barcelona, Spain. And of course, she had to visit a yarn store there. She found a little set of stitch markers/progress keepers that were different little sheep, and bought them because there were just enough in the set for each of us to choose one. Isn't that a nice idea?

I chose Esperanza because I loved her black face, and the fact that her "fleece" looked like random swirly writing. And her name is one of my most favorite Spanish names, and I thought she would give me HOPE that my projects would be successfully completed. (See what I did there?) 😊 

In the photo above, she is helping me work on my DRK Everyday Sweater, which is still in the early stages of the yoke. But I am enjoying the knit, and she is making me smile, so it's a win-win.

Are there any little things making you smile these days? Let me know.

Enough Light!

Last week, I started working on this stitching project:

And I have to tell you, doing the black thread on the black background was to say the least, a challenge! But I really want to make this project, and this is about the third of the black-on-black part of it, so I'm hoping to get another good chunk done today, because guess what? It's sunny and bright here, so I'll actually have enough light to see what the heck I'm doing - hooray! It's a Halloween ornament, so I would really like to get it done for the holiday this year. Fingers crossed.

How are things where you are? Today like I said is bright and sunny, and so pleasant and cool - just the way I like it to be, especially after last week was so hot and humid. Maybe fall is really thinking about showing up. I mean, next week *is* the last week of summer, so I'm more than ready. I've even been thinking of putting together some kind of soup for dinner. I love improvising with what we have, and I can walk to the market around the corner and get some nice crusty bread to have with it.

Since I worked for someone yesterday, they are taking my shift on Sunday, which means I have the entire weekend off. With no specific plans, except for Sunday morning when The Tim said that we should go out for brunch - you don't have to twist my arm, I love to go to brunch. I have things I'm hoping to do, but nothing absolutely necessary, and nothing time-sensitive, so I'm just going to see what I feel like each day and go from there. Such a luxury!

Today is laundry, and I'm currently waiting for the workers to come and put the final seal on our repaired chimney. I got my hair cut earlier, so once the chimney work is complete, I think I'll take a walk in the nice weather. It's so nice to have the windows open and not feel sweaty.

I'm glad you enjoyed the photo of Alfie and Esme that I posted. They truly seem to have a special bond, and it's fun to see them together. Alfie is such a goofy weirdo, and Esme is definitely the boss in that relationship. Which is extra funny not just because she is still timid around us, but also Alfie is easily twice her size. 😊

What are your weekend plans? I hope you are having good weather wherever you happen to be, but if not, I hope you can avoid anything too awful. Whatever you do, I hope you have time to just relax and enjoy things. I'll see you again next week.

I've Just Got This For You Today

I've got nothing today except this - a photo I took the other day of Esme bathing Alfie's paw. Honestly, these two are such besties, it's kind of ridiculous.

Moving Right Along

How was your weekend? Mine was good, though I did work both days. But weekend days are short days, so it was fine. And since the weather was miserable, I was just as happy to be doing that.

The Tim was apparently inspired to get some things done, so he returned a toilet he'd ordered from Home Depot that ended up being the wrong one to work with the plumbing in our old house, and then he ordered another one, since the one we need wasn't in stock. I'm glad I missed all of that, because frankly, helping to carry a HEAVY toilet down from the third floor to the first is not something that would have ended well, if I had been the designated helper. He got the next door neighbor to help, and said that with him helping, it was really no big deal. So both of us felt like we had a worthwhile weekend. 😊

I mentioned in my last post that some people were coming to fix our chimney. I was amazed at all they accomplished in what seemed like such a short amount of time! The best part is that they were really nice, and I wasn't nervous at all having them around. Granted, most of the time they were outside on the roof, but I had to leave the doors unlocked for them to get in and out of the house, and it didn't freak me out like I feared it would. It's funny, I'm not really fearful out and about anywhere, but I really hesitate when people have to come to the house. I guess it's because letting a stranger come in is just unnerving under the best circumstances. But all's well that ends well. Next up - a new roof!

My knitting is moving along pretty well too. By the end of last week, I'd finished the first half of a Musselburgh hat I'm knitting for a Christmas gift. I started adding the second yarn, as you can see below:

I enjoy making these in two different yarns, and the variations it means you can have when you wear it. Honestly, the most frustrating thing in the pattern as far as I'm concerned is the very beginning. Every time I start one, I think it may not even be worth it, but then I get to the part where you just knit around for a long time, and suddenly all is well ... 

*****

I was surprised to realize that the September 11 attacks were 22 years ago. That seems so odd to me; admittedly, I don't feel like it was yesterday, but it just doesn't seem that it could be long ago enough for those born that year to be adults today. Time is just so weird. I know for anyone directly affected, it likely does feel like it was yesterday. I hope for all of them, they have been able to find a new normal that at least means that every single day isn't full of searing grief and sorrow.

I wish peace and comfort to all of you. Have a good week, and remember to let those important to you know that you care. 

I'm Back - With an FO!

Hello and Happy September! I'm finally back and hopefully will be able to check in regularly going forward. The last couple of months were challenging, and I'm glad I took time off from the blog, though I did miss all of you. Let's just say that as of today, mental health stuff, dental stuff, life stuff, and house stuff are all doing better, so it was a worthwhile endeavor to concentrate on those.

I have been knitting, and have started a couple of new things that are holiday gifts, but I'm happily here to tell you about an FO! You may remember that I was going right along on my Stripey Summer Tee, which started like this:

(this is the actual color best represented, btw)

And then I made progress:

More progress:

And now, it's an FO <cue applause>

Project: Stripey  Summer Grapefruit Tee

Pattern: Rock It Tee, by Tanis Lavallee (Ravelry link)

Yarn: MadelineTosh Tosh Light in the Pink Grapefruit colorway; and, Fiberstory Fave Sock in the Barely colorway

Needles: US size 5

Modifications: In the pattern, it says to make the centered double decreases on the sides in every other row. I didn't do that, deciding that with having to keep track of the stripes, that would be an extra thing to worry about. So I did the decreases every 4th and 6th row, and I really think it looks pretty.

Notes: This is a really well-written pattern, making it very clear what needs to happen and when. The designer said that of course you can use whatever striping sequence you like, but when she made the sample, she did eight row stripes. I figured if that was good enough for her, it was good enough for me. 😊 I made the fourth size in the pattern, because if I'm wearing wool at all in the summer and springtime, I want there to be good air flow, so I wanted positive ease.

I've worn this a couple of times already (it still being summer - OMG I finished something during the season I want to wear it!), and it's comfy and I feel like it fits well. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it, which of course makes my knitter's heart happy. And another knitter even said, "Wow, you did the stripes so you can't even see the joining of the other yarn!" which I took as one the highest praise possible. 

I made sure to have enough yarn according to what the pattern required, and my gauge swatches worked fine, but at the end of things, here's what I had left:

That's 84 grams of the Pink Grapefruit color, and 97 grams of the Barely color, so ... I don't know, someone's calculations were off. But these will get incorporated into something else, never fear!

So that's that. I'm hoping to post more regularly now, and have some things to show and tell, as well as my regular golden nuggets of prose and wisdom. I hope all of you have been keeping well, and that if you are near any extremes of weather (I'm not even getting into a discussion of the weather here this week, ugh), that you are managing to keep safe.

And now I'm off to welcome the Chimney Guy, who is here to take a look at what needs to be done with/to the chimney before we can replace the roof. On the one hand, there goes any money available. On the other hand, I have been trying to get The Tim to get on this for the past three years, so please rejoice with me that soon leaky ceilings will be a thing of the past!

Take care, and have the best day possible.