It's its?

For those of you who, like me, twitch a little each time you see it's used instead of its or, less commonly, its used instead of it's, no less than a former president says, "So what?"

I spotted this at his house when I visited last week:

A sign at Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson

So we should just get over ourselves already.

But I'll probably still twitch a bit.

TFCC

When I went to my FINAL appointment with my orthopedist's pa yesterday, I expected it to be my FINAL appointment.  But she diagnosed this smallish pain I have as this:

and told me to come back in six weeks.

Don't use the googles.  It's not interesting. 

So, the official medical rx is:

1.  Use rx anti-inflammatories.
2.  Six more weeks of pt.
3.  Wear the removable cast.
4.  Use ice.

My plan:

1.  No thank you.  I'll use Advil.
2.  H*ll no.  I mean, no thank you.
3.  Are you freaking kidding me? No thank you.
4.  Maybe...... but probably not.

It only hurts when I press down hard on the area, so my theory is that I won't touch it or bother it in any way and it will go away on its own.  No need for follow-up in six weeks.

So says Knittergran, MD.  

Plethora

I have a plethora, an overabundance, an excess of knitting projects started. It's no one's fault but mine, unless I can think of someone or something else to blame it on, but actually, turns out that this time, it's a good thing.

I am trying to use Judy's #$%^&* Magic Cast On and it's not going well, not well at all, because

a.  I've never done it before so I'm clumsy at it, 
b.  I have to put 145 stitches of lace weight yarn on each of two size 4 needles at the same time and
c.  I seem to be swearing a lot, which distracts me. (Because I don't swear.)

SO, having something else to work on while the Nuvem sits in time out is a good thing.

I've been working on the Trillium sweater, and I have two sleeves and the band for the body of the sweater completed.  It's easy going from here on (I hope).

Judy can wait.

Last night's knit night was packed; last week's was almost empty. No predicting attendance at knit night. And with lots of people there, I get distracted. I went intending to return this yarn:

Claudia Hand Painted Yarn/Silky Wool Lace

because it's meant for this enormous wrap, made on size three needles, and will take forever.

Nuvem by Martina Behm

But Sallyknit is making one, and she assured me that I will love it and that I won't mind having to work on it FOREVER. So I kept the yarn and this makes it..about four things? I have going at one time. Maybe five.

When I came home and checked the mail, this yarn from Miss Babs was in it.

Miss Babs Cygnus Gradient Set

It's a spectrum selection of colors meant for this:

Spectral by Debbi Stone

as soon as I figure out how to do the stitch.  

So yet another project.  I am also working on two sweaters and the aforementioned lace.

I must be crazy.  

AND we had consensus regarding William (of William and Kate). He is both a prince and a duke. The Prince title was given to him when he was born and the Duke title was given to him whenever. He is entitled to be a prince because he was, you know, born, but the duke is just a bonus. Or something.  

Hey All Y'all!

I hear that is the plural of y'all.  

So, hey!

I am making progress after tearing this out and starting over.

I am three repeats in and I will post a photo every time I get another three repeats of the total of twenty-seven. And you are so welcome!

Spring Bouquet Scarf/Jojoland Cashmere

The title of my blog is As the Spirit Moves Me, but the spirit is not religious, or a muse (because I don't have one. I would like one.); it just means that I'll write when I feel like it or when I have something to say. Or not  And Odds and Ends means that I'll write about any old thing, whether or not it has anything to do with anything. Or not.

So here goes:

When I was in Mexico a couple of months ago, I waited in the car while my friend was looking for something in a market. It took her awhile, even though the market was tiny, and I watched these guys get pavers or whatever they are called from the pile on the sidewalk to the roof.  By hand.  For at least twenty minutes. They appeared to be enjoying their work, talking to each other as the guy on the street level tossed the blocks one by one to the worker on the roof.  

This gave me a chance to try out some of my new Spanish:  Hola joven!  Yo es muy fuerte.

(Hey there young man, you are very strong!)

They laughed and one of the guys teased the other. I think. I don't speak enough Spanish to really know, but they were laughing. Maybe at my Spanish, but that's ok.  

When we had a new roof put on our house, the roofers used a platform that attached to the ladder, was run by a compressor, and it ratcheted the packages of shingles up the ladder. It was really, really noisy, but certainly easier and quicker than tossing them up by hand.

So, which is better:  machine or human?

I report; you decide.


And while I can't put accents in Spanish text because I don't know where they go, I discovered while I was at the Apple bar waiting for my computer that I can in French.  A screen playing overhead showed all sorts of tips for using a Mac and one was for accents. Just hold down the key for the letter you want the accent for, and up pops a series of choices.  

Sometimes it is good to have to wait for something.

Like the time a friend and I went to NY to see some plays. On Sunday morning we went to a restaurant with outdoor seating for breakfast and once we were taken to a table, the wait was interminable. They ran out of cups and saucers, then they ran out of coffee, they didn't have enough servers, and on and on. We were sitting near the sidewalk of a side street, and suddenly, there was Paul McCartney!  

I called younger daughter and told her that Paul McCartney was standing on the sidewalk next to our table and she said Mom!!!  He's one of the Beatles!!!

I know!

He was walking with his then-wife, Linda (the second one), and everyone left them alone. They stood there for a good five minutes, studying a piece of paper, maybe a map, and then walked on.

So Yay! for slow service.

And another odds or ends:

My younger daughter put this photo on Facebook for Mothers' Day. (And since I have already mentioned younger daughter, this is a proper segue to a new topic, in case you were grading this.)

This is of my daughter and me some thirty-odd years ago.  I do not look like this anymore; in fact anyone who knew me then would not recognize me now.  I bemoaned whined about this to my husband, who said that the problem is that I now don't smile naturally for the camera. Nope. That's not it. The problem is that it is now thirty-odd years later and somehow I lost my face.  I don't know where it went.

And my daughter doesn't look like this any longer either, but she looks pretty and all grown up.

This was taken over the weekend when she was in Palm Springs for a weekend with friends.  She was lying (I hope) in the shade.

And here is a picture of her with her family:

Not really. 

BTW:  Is he a Prince or a Duke, or both? It's confusing.   

Knittergran Said

Let there be peonies .... pulleeze?

And there are!

First time in years!

They are my FAVORITE flowers (until the roses bloom, and then there are the hydrangeas.....).

Frogged

Spring Bouquet/Lijuan Jing/Jojoland Crown 100% Cashmere

sniff...sniff...sniff....

I started this Spring Bouquet lace scarf so many years ago that I don't remember how long ago it was. I bought the pattern and yarn at the Old Oaks Ranch and Fiber Arts Center in Wimberley, TX and it is not even in business as a yarn shop any longer. I think I was there pre-Elizabeth, and she is now five years old. So the project has been in limbo for quite a while.

I just pulled it out of its time-out to work on it again.  It is not a difficult pattern, especially when compared to the pattern for Currant, the many-cabled sweater I made for my daughter. When I first worked on this pattern, I was completely confused by the chart and there are now so many mistakes in this that I can't make it work.  I tried.  For ten rows or so. But where there were supposed to be 31 stitches, there were sometimes 30, sometimes 28. Never 31.  I tried adding random yarn overs to make up the count, but that didn't work either and I still wouldn't have 31.  Where did the stitches go?

I have no idea.  

So starting over is the solution, I hope.  I don't consider it giving up; I think of it as correcting mistakes.

Many, many mistakes.  

May Day Plus One

In other words, it is May 2nd.

At knit night last night, knitters discussed May Day traditions from their childhoods, but some of us didn't have any. I didn't. These traditions weren't regional at all, which is surprising. North? South? Didn't matter.

My husband arrived home earlier than I did last night, and he found flowers hanging from our front door. No tag from a florist. No note from a friend or neighbor. 

Just these pretty flowers.

This morning while he was checking out new posts on Facebook, my husband saw a photograph of what looked like our front door. It was our front door, complete with the flowers. The poster, a neighbor, wrote that she had revived a May Day tradition from her childhood by presenting flowers to a randomly chosen person. We are random! I plan on doing the same next year because it's a treat and a nice surprise.

At knit night, I almost finished these socks, and I would have if I hadn't thought that I had knitted 20 more rows than I needed for the length of the sock. So I tinked it by a few rows, tucked it back in my bag and came home. Today I discovered that I hadn't knit too many rows; I had counted from the wrong place. So I re-knit the tinked rows, decreased for the toe and kitchnered the toe. Once I soak the pair in SOAK, I will be finished with them. They are a gift for a friend who is a birder, and I think the camouflage colors are appropriate.  I admit, though, that I had no idea that this is what the yarn would look like knitted up.  Kind of an unwelcome surprise, but I guess they will be ok.  

MissBabs Hand-dyed Yarns and Fibers, Cosmic Sock Yarn

I blame my counting error on being distracted by this cute little puppy. She is our new shop dog, Blanche, and she belongs to the shop owner.  5 1/2 weeks old! She plays really hard for a few minutes then sleeps really hard. And she BARKS!!! The tiniest bark I have ever heard.  

I sometimes think it would be fun to have a puppy, but I have Baxter (and Molly) and Baxter is my challenge, although I think I have pretty much given up.

See the runner on the table? When I brought it home and put it on the table the first time, it had creases on it where it had been folded.  I didn't get to it right away, and Baxter paid no attention to it. I finally washed it and ironed it and put it back on the table.  

Baxter loves it. He plays with it, tries to hide under it.   

 I give up.