I'm Still Here

I can see by the date of previous posts that I didn't post at all in September. Actually I did try once or twice but Blogger was not cooperative on those days and wouldn't publish what I did write. Rather discouraging, yes?

Anyway... the lacing stitch socks. Here they are:

I like the lacing stitch pattern and I like the Opal Prisma yarn but not so much together. Still, they feel soft and warm on my feet and I know I will wear them. Perhaps someday I'll knit the pattern with a solid color from the stash. I've got some solid color Kroy sock yarn I purchased from Elann in several colors, and several skeins of Knit Picks Essential in solids.

You remember that I was going to knit this sweater for Katy?

Well I tried, truly I did. Intarsia is not my thing I guess, because I produced some really ugly knitting (no photos!) before I called it quits. The sweater is knit with Rowan cotton glace, and I purchased it for this sweater, though not in these colors. It is a smooth almost slippery yarn and the edges of the intarsia were loose where I joined a new color and the stitches did not want to hold their shape. Believe me, it was not pretty. If (ha!) I ever attempt this pattern again, I would use a wool yarn with some "grab" to it.

After further discussion with the Princess Katy about what she might like, we decided on a "pink sweater with a hood". So I have embarked upon the knitting of this sweater:

This is also a Kim Hargreave pattern, Archie. I am using Rowan cotton glace in a soft creamy pink they call Peony, but which reminds me of strawberry ice cream. I've finished the back, the front, and one sleeve. I've one sleeve to go, then the finishing, which includes knitting the hood. I'm leaving out the pocket on the sleeve, but following the pattern in all other respects.

In a moment of whimsey I decided to knit the Icarus Shaw that I've seen on so many blogs. It was just too tempting.! I have cast on for it, but laid it aside so I could get Katy's sweater done. So, I'll have to get back to that one of these days.

And now Jack, my other grandchild and Katy's 4 year old brother, wants a sweater vest knit for him. So that project will have to go the head of the line soon.

I have many excuses why I have't done much knitting the past month. Such as:

1. Department budget due at work. Ick.

2. Was felled by a nasty virus causing me to lie on the couch and stare glassy-eyed at Law and Order re-runs for many evenings. I still don't have much energy and am coughing enough for a TB sanitarium.

3. Other energy draining work committments including a United Way application for funding for the hospital I work for, an annual report for the rehabilitation program, new resident doctor orientation, and, oh, I don't know what all else.

4. I'm really in the grip of the Black Dog right now. I just feel so sad.

Other news in my life:

The contract with the realtor expired mid-september and I took my house off the market. The housing market in Greater Cleveland is pretty much stalled right now. The average time to sell a house in Cleveland is now ONE YEAR. It was 5 months when I put the house on the market and obviously things are worse rather than better. I may try again in the Spring, if things are better. I'm not sure we've hit bottom here yet though. I would really, really like to get out my six bedroom house and into a condominum but unless I get a fair price, I won't be able to buy what I want. So I'll sit tight for now.

My parents are moving to Indiana in the Spring to live on property my sister owns. They are 81 and I don't think a double wide trailer in the woods in rural Indiana is a good choice, but it isn't my choice, it's theirs. My sister has been after them for years to do this and she is a very strong willed, controlling person with definite ideas on how we all ought to live our life. Dad thinks this will be an adventure; Mom has simply been worn down by Dad and my sister. My sister is a Wiccan priestess and attracts followers who are, well, odd. She and her family live in Chicago and camp out at "the Land" (given the rather pretentious name of Glastonbury) on weekends. It's a bug infested woods. Mosquitos. Ticks. Spiders. Etc. I'll admit it-I hate bugs. And they LOVE me. There is just something about my blood chemistry that make every bug within a mile want to bite me. No one else needs insect repellant when I'm around because the mosquitos are too busy biting me to bother them. My doctor noticed a "bull's eye rash" on my arm at my annual check up and said "How could you get Lyme Disease in Shaker Heights?!" I don't know, we don't have deer or ticks in our urban setting. If there was one tick on a stray dog passing through, it found me and took a bite. I thought the rash was from a spider bite, because I react badly to insect venom. Needless to say, I avoid "Glastonbury".

My parents are 81, and no one lives forever. It just make me so sad to see them leave. My children grew up and left, but that's what children do, if you make a good job of parenting. They have families of there own. In other times, children settled near their parents, but that isn't the case anymore. I believed wedding vows were forever, but I married someone who broke the vows, and eventually left. In the end, you can only rely on yourself and be strong. You can't rely on other people to make you happy. You have to do that all by yourself.

This post has gotten entirely too heavy.