Peaches and Herb

I was a fool to ever leave your side
Me minus you is such a lonely ride
The breakup we had has made me
Lonesome and sad
I realize I love you
‘Cause I want you bad, hey, hey

Reunited and it feels so good
Reunited ’cause we understood
There’s one perfect fit
And, sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
‘Cause we’re reunited, hey, hey

Another trip to Denver and Jojoland Melody is singin’ away.

I don’t believe the little fellow suffered unduly; although, the gals at the dentist’s office are apparently into bondage. The sock was all wrapped up in a ziptop baggie with note on reuniting us stapled to the bag. Now, we’re ready to rock and roll again. With no distractions, I’ll finish these socks over the next couple of evenings and I can return to my knitting monogamy. This time on the sweater.

I started the sleeves on the Textured Raglan on the way up to Denver. Didn’t get too far because I had to restart one sleeve three times to get the cast on to match the other. I don’t know why — I did the same thing each time. A knitting mystery. Anyway, they match pretty well now.

I’m using a tubular cast on for this project and it looks pretty nice. It’s very stretchy. I think I may regret my decision to not use the cable cast on the pattern calls for when I get to the neck because I suspect the tubular will not match the edge on the neck. But, oh well. What’s done is done and the good news is that it does look like this sweater will get done!

I wonder if Sheri at the Loopy Ewe knows what she started with that Dream In Color Sweater KAL last spring! I have turned into a virtual sweater monster. I bought more yarn in Denver for a color sweater. I have yarn for three or four about nine sweaters all lined up with patterns for most, if not all. Will I ever need this many sweaters?

Actually, I don’t think knitting is about needs. Not for me. It’s really all about wants. Things I want to do for me, to please me. Which means, no Christmas knitting going on here. Oh well dear friends and readers. Do not expect a sock in your Christmas stocking from this knitting maniac. Chris, in Germany, tells me this is just fine and I’m going to believe her on this point.

On a slightly different subject, I wanted to mention that we don’t have just one dog. We have two. I know it’s weird (because he’s a dog); but, I totally relate to those moms who don’t want pictures of their children on the internet. I am very protective of Jakob. He’s not all there. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s a dim wit. However, I will tell you that his nickname is “Punkin’Head” if that gives you a clue.

He’s a standard wire-haired dachshund and I fear that he has become jealous of all the comments regarding dear little Opal. So, unveiling for the first time, an entire picture of Jakob (vs. just a shot of a tail or ear or whatever).

Isn’t he adorable? People ask what kind of mutt he is all the time. With a very straight face, the resident non-knitter tells them he’s a cross between a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig and a schnauzer. The responses are hilarious — to me anyway. Most people simply accept this answer. Which makes me understand how, in this great country of ours, so many people liked Palin.

When Jakob isn’t on hand to show his beautiful little self in person, and people ask what a standard wire-haired dachshund looks like, the resident non-knitter uses various descriptions to explain the breed. “A pig in a gorilla suit”
and “an extra-large dachshund covered in pubic hair” are his two favorites.

Do you see why I am so protective?

I have drifted

away from knitting with these last few posts. Oh yes, there was a purl word wedged in here and there. But, for the most part, I was all-consumed with selling houses and dogs stealing the comfortable chair and that dog-gone election.

This seems an appropriate time to mention that yes, I am still knitting. I feel obligated to share with you the real top 3 reasons why I haven’t been posting about knitting.

1. I lost my sock.
I was merrily knitting away on the Jojoland Melody socks. In fact, I was being even more monogamous than normal, not even allowing myself to think about another project when along came a trip to the dentist. We drive 4 hours each way to go to the dentist. My first choice would have been driving up to see my favorite dentist; but, he’s in Coeur d’Alene and that’s a little bit further. Like another 12 to14 hours driving each way further. So. I settle.

Anyway, there’s a very large yarn store, Showers of Flowers, just a few blocks from the dentist so I don’t get much knitting time while I wait for the resident non-knitter to finish with his appointment. Knowing I would only have a five or ten minute wait until my turn to step into the torture chamber hygenist’s chair, I broke the monogamy by bringing yarn to swatch for a sweater.

I wasn’t starting a project mind you, just a little swatch. It turns out that both of the women that work in reception at the dentist’s office are knitters and we got to talking and I took my swatch over to the counter, and then I dug the sock I was working on out of the bag and I showed them it snugged up safely in it’s Knitzi and then we swapped some pattern ideas and yada yada yada.

Meanwhile, the other sock, the one that was done, crawled out of my knitting bag and slithered under the sofa I had been sitting on and curled up to take a nap. Who knew?

It wasn’t till I got a call two days after we got home that the wayward sock’s whereabouts surfaced. Fortunately, the women at the dentist’s office recognized the little fellow and have it safely tucked aside for when we go back up.

Meanwhile, it’s unfinished counterpart languishes because the toe on the Sixth Sense Sock pattern didn’t quite work out as written. I need to see the finished sock to make the two match.

2. Meanwhile, I’m having an affair.
You would think that loosing a sock might push me further into knitting monogamy. The way I see it, this wayward sock was punishing me for picking up the needles and casting on the sweater swatch. “Just you see what I think about you abandoning us for some tart-swatch,” it taunted me as it slinked it’s way under that sofa.

Not one to put up with this sort of behavior, I pushed both the little Jojoland hussy and the offending seductive swatch with it’s sexy blend of merino, cashmere and silk out of my mind. Instead, I picked up the Shibui Knits textured raglan in this color.

3. Bored to tears.
While it looks like it will be a lovely sweater when done, it’s not the most exciting knit. On the other hand, it is a quick knit. Ten days into it, I’ve already got over nine inches on the body done and am thinking about starting sleeves. Is it photogenic? You tell me:

Whoops. My bad. That’s the hideous 60s carpet that is in my office. The RNK tells me the color of the sweater is remarkably similar. Could this have something to do with the boredom?

Here’s the real deal:

Meanwhile, a few accessories. A new bag and a new pair of “reader” sunglasses with a magnetic clip right at the center of the nose for car knitting and map reading on sunny days.

All the signs are coming down

Yesterday, on my way back from town, I saw someone in a van picking up all the political signs along the highway. It gave me a weird feeling.

The campaigning for this election has been going on forever — the longest of any I campaign I ever remember. They are saying in the news that it was the longest campaign in U.S. history. I think many of us feel a void now. This morning, I got an email from the friend of a friend about the electoral college. People can’t quite stop those political juices. It’s hard to let go of all the emotion and effort and hoopla that surrounded this election.

Do you doubt the emotion? I did, until I realized, as I was knitting and listening to the results coming in as the polls closed on Tuesday, that I had wrapped the stitches on the heel turn not once, not twice, but about eight times. I was just knitting back and forth on the same row over and over and over and . . .

I was so wrapped in the count that I lost count. And then, they announced they didn’t want to call it; but, they were going to call it; and yes, Obama won! The Resident non-knitter and I looked at each other, stunned, amazed, shocked, pleased, jubilant, overwhelmed, relieved, scared . . . what a crazy mix of emotions. At that point, I looked down, realized that I had been knitting for some time with absolutely no progression on the heel and I saw what I had done.

By the time I had tinked back and gotten to the first wrap there was no doubt. McCain had completed his very gracious and moving concession speech. This was the McCain that captured the hearts of many Americans in 2004.

So, onward we go. Into a brave new future.

And once again, because posts without pictures are, well, pictureless, a few more Tassie shots for your enjoyment:

Van Diemen Tulip growers on the north coast:

Six Word Memoir

Apparently, it’s been in the back of my mind for a while. Several months ago, I stumbled upon Smith Magazine’s Six-Word Memoirs “Not quite what I was planning” web site. I couldn’t think of anything at the time and I surfed right on by.

But last night, I woke up at 2 something with weird election dreams filling my head and a rat terrier trapping my legs in the blankets. And there it was. The memoir.

Never grew up. Never settled down.

Could this have had anything to do with the fitful dreams?

Want to buy a house?

Check it out: http://www.pencraftco.com/forsale.htm Send us a buyer and I will reward you with yarn. Seriously.

We have finally settled on a listing price after much deliberation. To come up with a fair price, we looked at other houses for sale in the Valley. We calculated some typical price-per-square-foot values for a wide range of property types and specifically for properties that are located out of town.

Even though a portion of our house is near new, we selected a value toward the lower end of the range because some of this home is older. Using this we came up with a home value. Then we added in what we thought might be a fair value for the portions of the property that could be considered “income” producing: the Quonset hut and the 3 acres in alfalfa.

I hope we’ve figured correctly. Coming up with a good list price seems like the hardest part in an owner-sell situation. Comments, thoughts? More important, buyers?

Meanwhile, knitting continues. I am finished with one of the Jojoland Melody socks and am working the heel on the second sock. I’ll post a picture when I get them finished.

Looking for some inspiration: check out some lovely laceknitting by Sue. Stunning isn’t it?

I was almost tempted to run look for my laceknitting books to see what beauty I could dream about for my next project. But no. I made a decision this weekend to enjoy what I’m knitting on now without longing for the next project. I’m going to focus on what’s on the needles and wait till it’s done before I start dreaming of my next project.

Easier said than done. But, why not? I picked the Jojoland and the Sixth Sense sock pattern because I thought they would look good together, I liked the idea of trying a different heel and toe design and I was otherwise intrigued by the entire project. So, why not enjoy every single minute of it without wondering what will find it’s way on to my needles next?

I think this is a good metaphor for life. Be here now. Enjoy the present. Don’t worry what tomorrow will bring because you aren’t going to change it. Unless of course, you are a die-hard procrastinator and by not doing today you create issues for tomorrow. That’s another scenario. As long as you are present and acting to your highest level, I think tomorrow will take care of itself.

This may be a particularly apropo philosophy given that tomorrow is election day.

And because picture-less posts are boring, here are some shots from our recent trip to Tasmania.