Still Here

No, I didn't knock myself totally silly last Friday. The bump is healing nicely, thank you. I've just been in a non-blogging mood or else too busy. Right now I'm playing hooky from the kitchen reno. I'm swiftly losing interest in the project but since there's still the whole nook to do yet, I'd better buck up and do my bit. If I wasn't here typing in Damselfly's Delights I'd be washing down cupboards in preparation for undercoating. Naughty aren't I?

My brother and his wife had a lovely party in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary on Saturday evening. It was held at the Sergeant's Mess in the Armoury where my bro spent a lot of his younger years. He got to the rank of Sergeant-Major which is as high as you can go as an enlisted man in the Canadian Armed Forces. My sis-in-law was also in the Reserves and their daughter was in Cadets. Can't say I relate particularly, but I guess unless people evolve a lot farther than they have so far, we have a need for soldiers. It was great to visit with family though we don't know very many of their friends. Everyone who wanted to make a speech was encouraged and some were quite impressive though unrehearsed, especially my 17-year-old nephew. My granddaughter (aka Spot!) was very entertaining as she crawled around and played hide-and-seek with another child. Her chickenpox are still showing but she's not catching any more. It's been over 2 weeks. I have to say a few people were cautiously staying away from her though!

I indulged in a little stash enhancement today. I bought 2 balls each of 2 different Confetti self-patterning sock yarns in colours that I hope my daughter and daughter-in-law will like. One is light gray/dark gray/blue/blue & white spots and the other is light gray/dark gray/purple/dk gray & white spots. I'm offering to knit them socks for their birthdays but they won't get them until later. I'll be measuring their feet at the birthday party next Saturday evening and they'll get a card with an IOU. Pictures to come.

I also sprang for one of those Clover crochet hooks with the larger handle, Soft Touch. Not sure whether I like it or not yet. More testing needed. They're sure expensive though! Good thing I get a discount at my LYS. While I was there I got another bag of black crossbreed wool for spinning. I've used about half of the first bag but wouldn't want to run out. It's so great to have a real black-black which is pretty tough to dye yourself. And the feel of this stuff is not too soft but still very nice. I don't like too fine a wool for most knitting or crochet. Very fine wool feels too cottony, pills badly, felts too easily, and just generally isn't very durable. I prefer Perendale, Corriedale, crossbred or young Romney. The advantage is that these are easier to spin than the finer stuff.

Thom & I are both suffering from what he calls the whim-whams. Neither of us feels like doing much right now. Maybe we just need a holiday. We've been going pretty full-out for so long particularly with the kitchen reno. There's still 11 sleeps before we can escape to Oregon. Yes I'm counting! Better get my rear in gear right now though or we'll be leaving an awful lot undone until we come back. Say goodbye, Damselfly.