Sunday Roundup

Gads, it's hot today..and worse yet, extremely humid.

Seriously.

I was perspiring* while just standing in the kitchen chopping chilled olives.

DH and I are unintentionally living green - no air conditioning. This situation may change depending on how we convert from fuel oil heating to a less costly form of heating our house. If we're able to convert to forced air, air conditioning will be included.

But, on to other topics.

THANKS
First, a shout out to my Secret Pal who had to wait for me to boast post about the package I received.

Everything beautifully wrapped.


Stitch markers entwined in the ribbons.


Beautiful notecards, chocolate, circular needless, a set of chibi needles, 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cotton and last, but certainly not least, a gorgeous skein of Socks That Rock.

The colors in the STR are not well represented in the photo. Lovely shades of purples, greens, and browns. My pal is doing a fine job of figuring out my tastes! Thanks, Pal!

And thanks to Sue B. and Jayne for their wonderful gifts on the occasion of my __th birthday.

A sheep ornament (which will stay out all year) and luscious smelling goats' milk soap from Sue.


A journal and the best cookbook ever. Really. How can one go wrong with such delights as "The Pluperfect Brownie," "Pig Candy," "Lawyerly Taters," and "Bacon Monkey Bread?"


KNITTING
This is the beginning of the Faroese Shawl by Marilyn van Keppel in A Gathering of Lace made using Un-spun Icelandic from Schoolhouse Press.

When I first went to Knitting Camp, I tried and tried to knit using un-spun Icelandic with no success. I was (and still am) a very tight knitter and was having to spit splice every 5-7 stitches. It was extremely frustrating and I gave up. Now I am having much better success - even though I have had to rip back far more than I'd like to admit. The mistakes I've been correcting would probably have passed the galloping horse test, but would have bothered me to no end. So, ripping was necessary. But even with all the frogging, I've only had to splice 3 times. A row takes a long time for me to knit - with 400+ stitches on the needles.

Also on the needles - a simple scarf using yarn from Brooks Farm Yarn. This is company knitting - easy pattern that is easily corrected if I'm having difficulty counting past "3."



Reason #283 why it's hard to work at home

Forget access to the contents of the cupboards or refrigerator or access to means of procrastination (TV, knitting, etc.) - those can be controlled.

This - not so much.






Finally, after 20-30 minutes, he capitulates and goes elsewhere to supervise.


THE END.







*Somehow, using the word "sweating" and talking about food preparation in the same sentence is a bit off-putting.