Thursday,
January 8, 2004
Thanks
for the warm wishes. In the end, both sets of neighbors
worked on the project (and it makes me a little squeamish to even think about
how long it may have taken), and thawed out the pipes, with no apparent bursting.
Now to think of an adequate way to communicate our thanks. It's painfully difficult
for me to accept normal levels of help, and this was far beyond a normal amount
of help. I know that what I need to do is convey our thanks now, as graciously
as we can, and then just continue to look for ways to extend the generosity back
into the world. Whether or not these specific people are the beneficiaries of
whatever good I can do probably matters less than whether the lovingkindness continues
to circulate.
The
pass is open again, but still ugly, and DH is working a long day shift again today,
so no preschool or in-person conveyance of gratitude today. I'm toying with the
idea of taking the bus to the LYS. I finished the Friday Harbor socks and started
the Gerbera body, since I didn't have 3.5mm dpns or a second circ with which to
start the sleeves. The body lace pattern is quick and easy; between that and the
colorwork, I think this will be an interesting knit. As far as the field trip
goes, though, it's partially to *go* somewhere and *do* something, partially to
fulfill a promise of bus-riding adventure to the kid. Picking up the dpns, or
perhaps some sock yarn is secondary. Maybe yarn for that boy's red sweater. We
shall see.
Writing
this, I guess I am feeling a little better. I've mentioned before that I have
anxiety issues, and my worries can turn to a fast-rolling snowball in the wink
of an eye. It's a trick; maintaining enough distance to see the phenomenon for
what it is, and letting its velocity dissipate over level ground instead of tilting
the hill to make the ball roll faster. As my realtor said yesterday, if frozen
pipes are the worst things that happen to us (she was dealing with the same thing
in a rental unit), it's all golden. She's right.
(But
all the same, could we pick up the pace on this house sale thing, please?)
posted
by Ann, 9:22 am
[Update]
Wednesday, January 7, 2004
The
pipes froze at small town house. DH is at work (with the truck), and besides that,
the mountain pass is closed until at least 2 pm, and probably scary and stupid
for a long time after that.
Breathe
in. Breathe out.
posted
by Ann, 1:09 pm
Wednesday,
January 7, 2004
5:53
am, and I've been up for almost 2 1/2 hours already. This is Not Good. We all
went to bed pretty early last night, and the Blue Meanies have been particularly
active in the pre-dawn hours lately, so here I am.
It
snowed here in the city yesterday, so the boy and I never left the house, and
the daddy-man only ran an errand or two. I unpacked suitcases, but didn't do much
else. Idly surfed the web, worked on my sock a bit. After being at my parents'
house, returning to our barely-furnished lifestyle just sucks. I want to curl
up on my couch and sleep on my bed. DH remarked last night that our leaky air
mattress is more like a conceptual bed at this point.
Today,
I will finish the sock, and will probably start a sleeve for the Dale Gerbera
sweater. Sleeve as in swatch. My little person tells me he wants a red sweater,
so that's on the horizon. Also the charcoal pullover for me, though I need yarn
for both of those projects.
Bleah.
I'll end here. Let's hope I manage to cheer myself up by the end of the day.
Here, this will help: a goofy shot of me toting around my nephew in one of Rhonda's
beautiful slings. My boy was a sling-ridin' baby until he was at least two. Nothing
quite like those snuggles.
posted
by Ann, 6:21 am
Tuesday,
January 6, 2004
Home
again. It's always hard to leave, and always good to be home. The trip back with
my boy was easy—the first flight was delayed by an hour, trimming some time
off our four hour layover; the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport has a good
kids' play area and our gates were so far apart that we easily burned up the new,
improved three hour layover; and then the kid slept for the entire duration of
the second flight, during which time I made the heel flap and decreased the gussets
on the Friday Harbor sock. The only hitch was that the airline information system
was wrong (again) when my husband checked our flight status, so I was left to
wrestle nearly 200 lbs of luggage off the baggage carousel by myself. Not too
onerous a task unless you are also attempting to locate the party you are expecting
to meet *and* keep a gregarious four-year-old close by.
We
are playing hooky from school today, as snow is expected (and is currently falling)
in the city today. Getting from here *to* the mountain pass would probably be
more treacherous than going over it, since people here don't seem to understand
that one needs to slow down when driving on snow and ice. The kiddo's also
at the tail end of his Christmas cold, so we will spare the other kids any lingering
germs.
I'm
sort of overwhelmed by all the kind comments about the little sweater. Thank you!—but
I still contend that the cuteness of the model is the key to the success of the
sweater design. Even though they were both very simple and straightforward raglans,
the experience of making these last two baby sweaters from scratch—tape measure,
pen, and paper in hand—expanded my knitting brain. And I expect to use those
new cells again soon....
posted
by Ann, 8:35 am
Thursday,
January 2, 2004
Here
is my final project of 2004, as modeled by my beautiful nephew:
I
finished weaving in the ends shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, as my
parents, sis and brother-in-law, and boy were hanging out, watching Finding
Nemo.
I
used Knitaly and Knitaly Print, a ball each, and striped the sleeves and body
randomly. I had originally imagined stripes all the way to the neck, but when
I joined the body to the sleeves, I decided I would probably use the yarn more
efficiently if I did the yoke in the red print. The sleeves are ribbed at the
cuff, while the body hem and the neck are rolled (with a little control from 3
rows of k2p2 rib).
I
intended to work on the Friday Harbor socks this afternoon whle my sis and family
were being ferried to the airport, since my boy is very snuffly and didn't want
to ride along. However, I had a major attack of the stupids, forgot that I was
filling the laundry room sink to wash my wool boot socks, created a small water
feature on the floor, and spent way too much time cleaning it up and dealing with
the resulting wet towels. At age 35, I hope I've handled it adequately and am
not in *too* much trouble. I think this is the second time I've committed the
exact same sin, which points not only to my own follies, but suggests, perhaps,
that an overflow drain might be a good thing in that sink. (It doesn't have one.)
At least when I'm around.
Anyway,
here's to a bright and happy new year. May the peeps be content, the knitting
gorgeous, and the real estate deals imminent.
