Tukats

Tick, Tick, Tick

That's the sound of time slowly going by when I can't knit.  I'll tell you, I'm an antsy person when I'm not knitting.  I never realized how much road travel, TV time, down time at work it got me through. It was only last Thursday that I was able to take it up a bit because of that @*!$ cortisone shot I received in my thumb the previous Thursday.  It did, however, give me the opportunity to list some items on Good Yarn Karma, though, and I've already shipped several of them off.  It is such a freeing feeling to unload your mind of projects you know you'll never get around to, and that someone else will love.  I've also straightened up my closet and rearranged some drawers (yawn).  Yeah, nothing but fun here at Casa Tukats.

Oh! I did get my brown zipper from Zipperstop for Katie, and it's perfect.  It's actually given me the shot in the arm I needed to finish sleeve number 2.  One of my favorite yarn dyers, Sundara, updated her site last week, and some somewhat solid silk lace was really calling out to me, but I remained strong.  Even though my finger was hovering over the mouse, I didn't do it.  Lucky she sells out so quickly or my resolve would have weakened into submission. She creates this great color over color yarn that is to die for.  Fortunately, I get to go through the whole buy-don't-buy process in a couple more weeks when she updates again.

Also, the reason for  no photos is because I'm blogging from work.  Seems my home computer's virtual memory is full.  What does that mean, people?  At any rate, it make moving around slower than the old dial up, and after numerous defrags, disk cleanups, scan disks and getting rid of progams I don't use anymore, it's no faster and I just don't have the patience for it.  Sounds like a new computer is in my near future. Very near...

Knitting in Slow Motion

Sometimes, no matter how much you attempt to finish an item, it's as if you're in this slow-motion time warp, where nothing seems to get done.  Such has been my knitting life lately, although this week I did manage to find the time to finish one of the BFF socks by Cookie A.    I'm not sure if I updated you, but I did receive an email from her saying she had corrected the pattern, so I have downloaded the new instructions and they make perfect sense.  I'll be using them for Sock Number 2.  I probably keep saying it, but I just love the color of these socks!

Although I had considered buttons for Katie (Rowan's A Season's Tale), I ended up ordering a separating zipper from Zipperstop.  Just couldn't find anything in this town except black, white and a beige that wouldn't work.  I hope my monitor's colors are close, because this site had a lot of colors.  I've bookmarked it for future sweaters.  I did get a little work done on sleeve number 2, so I'll have a nice tweedy sweater just in time for summer.  Come to think of it, summer here is usually foggy, so I probably will be able to wear it.

Thursday, I had to go get a cortisone shot in my left thumb.  Nothing serious, folks, but it had been becoming chronically sore for the past month.  I had to do the same thing four years ago on my right thumb, and it's been great ever since, so I hope the results are similar for the left.  Unfortunately, it was swollen on Friday and hurt  like a -- well, you insert the expletive --to even hold the smallest weight . I tried one row of knitting and decided "maybe tomorrow." Saturday was a bit better, but still a no-go on knitting.  I'll being trying a few rows today.

I've gotten together a few items to list on Good Yarn Karma, but I'm waiting for instructions on how to accomplish it, so check that site regularly, you might see something you'd like to have.

The sun has not yet risen here.  My husband has left for an early round of golf and all is quiet in the house, save for a kibble-crunching cat in the next room.  I love these few precious times to myself, where I don't have to answer to anyone, run an errand, or get just one more item on my to-do list done.  It's just me and a fresh cup of coffee, langouring in a slow early morning stretch as the sky slowly lightens outside.

This last year has offered many hurdles to get over, many problems that I was forced to face, and I know that I am not alone, that every single one of us have our own personal challenges to overcome and attend to. I have found that when I work through the harder parts of life, when I've addressed full on and dealt with whatever circumstance throws itself in my lap, and I finally come out on the other end, I appreciate more every moment, every breath of fresh air, every blade of grass.  I love this one moment in time, brief as it may be, before the next fire needs to be put out.

This brings me to knitting.  Knitting is my sanctuary, my escape, my calming wand.  I love yarn; the smell, the texture, the colors.  Especially the colors.  I'm elated when I've accomplished a new technique or just feel better when I can knit a few simple stockinette rows in some glorious fiber.  Through blogging, I've discovered and met an entire population of other knitters, each as unique and different as snowflakes, each bringing to the table snapshots of their lives and their passions.  Throughout my workday, I find myself thinking about knitting, and at night, even dreaming about it.

I'm not sure when this interest started, but I know as a child, I wanted to learn to knit.  My mom only knew how to crochet, so I waited until my teen years, where I bought myself a pair of needles and some Red Heart yarn and taught myself.  I made a white shawl with rows of garter stitch and stockinette stitch that I have to this day.  However, because we were relatively poor, I had to abandon my craft because there just wasn't any money for even the most inexpensive yarn, and I didn't pick it up again until the 80's, where a kind German woman, who had a shop in town, taught me the Continental method, and I was off!  That's when I made those loverly mohair leg warmers, which I guess I wasn't so sentimental over, and they are nowhere to be found.

This is just the long way of telling you how thankful I am for finding knitting, finding this blogging community, and how much I enjoy each and every one of you.  Happy Easter.

Mensa Challenged

When I was a kid, I never liked solving problems such as, "If John was on a train from NY to Chicago, and Mary boarded the train halfway, how many apples are in John's pocket?"  So it seemed with the very talented Cookie A's pattern for BBF socks.  Now, I love how the sock is turning out, it's just that the pattern needs some intuitive interpretation when you begin the heel flap.  You have to actually slide the first two knit stitches and one purl stitch onto the needle to the right for the 5 cable decreases to work.  This took me 2 1/2 valuable hours of my knitting time to figure out, a post on the Knitty board for help, a visit to Cookie A's website (where I found a clue), and then the dim light bulb finally went on. Ooohhhh, so you may have to s-l-i-d-e some stitches to get the math and pattern to work.  I added a note to my pattern.  I was thinking a little side note at that point in the original pattern might be helpful.

I guess this is the difference between genius and mere mortal with pointy bamboo sticks.  Somehow, I felt good when I finally figured it out.  It was like looking at the FedEx logo and finally seeing the arrow.  It was there all along, but you're concentrating on the obvious.

Georgie says, "Wake me when it's over."