Mystery Shawls

I finished BOTH mystery shawls. The yarn for the green one ran out with about 6 inches of edging still to go. But I dyed more yarn; which naturally came out too dark. So I ended up re-dyeing the entire shawl. As it turns out, I like the new color better.



The second shawl was make with recycled silk/angora/nylon yarn. I will NEVER use recycled yarn again, it was whimpy and tired. But I finished it anyway.

The death of a dog.

Wrangell was a sweet, long haired (but purebread) Siberian Husky. He was about 13 years old and selectively deaf. He couldn't hear me calling him, but he could hear dishes being put into the dishwasher. His decline was so subtle that we didn't really notice it until one day he could no longer get up if he fell, couldn't climb steps, and didn't care about treats.

My husband took him to be put down on the day after my birthday. What made it harder was that he was actually excited about going for a ride in the car. My husband still can't talk about it. It really hit him hard (Wrangell was born on his daughter's bed). Me too, but not as bad.

I spent the next three days scrubbing floors. I guess that was a way to cope. Those big, old dirty dog feet had brought in a lot of dirt. Now my floors are very clean. Now I know how unimportant clean floors are.

He was so sweet.

Knitting Goddess Mystery Shawl

Well, I got the first clue for the mystery shawl. My first problem is that I'm not sure which yarn to use. I have a very pretty deep blue cashmere/silk blend that is soft and pretty and a purple/green/cobalt tensel that is also beautiful. I've knit the beginnings of the shawl in each but still can't decide. The tensel is a lot easier to work with than I expected. I have a week to live with both of them before the second clue comes in. Maybe one of them will tell me what to do before them.

Tomorrow I'm having my parents over for a cookout (but eat in) for Father's Day. Dad is 92, can't see much, can't hear much, can't taste much and can't get around too well. But I've made his favorite food. Potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and Mike will grill steaks. My sister will bring a cake. We'll have a good time; they'll stay about 45 minutes. They are so uncomfortable being away from home.

Monday is my anniversary - 3 years. Tuesday is my sister's birthday. Wednesday is my parents' anniversary - 72 years.

Hope the yarn speaks up loud enough for me to hear it over all the bustling around.

Another Mama

I've got a lactating raccoon that's been visiting my birdfeeders every night. She looked pretty thin and ragged, so I've been putting out cans of cat food for her. Yeah, I know, I'm just asking for trouble. But she looked like she needed help.

I've finished my daughter's sweater and started one for my stepdaughter. I should be able to finish it before the Mystery Shall Knit Along starts on June 14.

Today I tried dying yarn again. This time I used a wool yarn that I had spun myself. At first I tried laying it on plastic wrap and putting the dye on it, but the results were very splotchy. So I over dyed the yarn. It took forever for the pot to come to a boil, but the resulting yarn is beautiful EXCEPT for one place on one of the skeins where I had a piece of string tied too tightly around the skein. It didn't take the dye there - so it has white spots. Damn. I'll have to figure out how to fix that.

The Spy I Knew

For some reason, I was curious this AM about a woman I once knew. She was an attorney at the Pentagon. We worked together implementing legislation to reform the Government procurement process. I particularly remember one Saturday when she met me at my office to work on the project and she brought her daughter. She sat on the floor to work - I admired her ability to do that since she had an artificial leg. She was very smart.

Some time later, she was arrested and convicted of spying for East Germany and trying to spy for South Africa. Turns out she was not as smart as I thought.

I wasn't able to find out if she is still in prison. I wonder what ever became of her daughter.

I'm Dying Today

I've just spent 2 days Oooing and Ahhhing over the beautiful hand dyed lace yarns that could be used for my mystery shawl. But I've promised myself I wouldn't buy new yarn until my current stash was reduced to something less embarrassing. So today I'm making my first attempt at dying yarn.

I have a LARGE cone of wool lace weight yarn. So I wound some off and gave it a try. Right now it's steaming. Once it's steamed for 30 minutes, and cooled I can rinse it and see what I've done. My colors are probably not the best - deep turquoise, dark forest green, pine green and plum. The pine green seems a bit dull, but we'll see. I probably should have stuck with just 3 colors.

Today is Mother's Day. I got cards from 2 of my stepchildren and from the dog and cat. My own children haven't come thru yet, but it's still early. I had expected to be sad today, because I'm estranged from my older daughter, but I did get a very nice message from her on Friday - so I'm feeling pretty good after all.

I've had to hunt down yet another skein of the purple yarn to finish the shawl from Hell. I still have about 22 rows to go - and if I can do 2 rows a day I'm doing well. It just has to be finished before the mystery shawl KAL (knit-a-long) begins.

Oh, the baby wrens in the garage have hatched. I've heard them, but not seen them yet. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there.

Mystery Shawl

I'm so excited (but I don't get out much). I've joined a group to knit a Mystery Shawl. I've never done this before and don't know what to expect, but it is something different and I think it will be fun. I've chosen a yarn from my stash, a beautiful dark peacock cashmere/silk blend and have knitted my swatch to make sure it's what I want (and to check the gauge). It starts on June 14. Every week we will get more clues about what to knit.

That gives me until June 14 to finish the Herbert Niebling shawl I'm working on and (hopefully) to finish Rachel's sweater (tho she won't need it until winter).

Meanwhile, I have continued cleaning closets. I actually tacked the one in the front bedroom and have it to the point where you can actually walk into it and find something! The back bedroom closet is done, but there is stuff left over (broken dolls) that I need to figger out what to do with. I'll try to find them homes.