Struggling Along

We woke up this morning to crows squawking and complaining a lot louder than usual. T-Man went to check what was up and saw a bald eagle in one of the tall fir trees across the street. It was definitely a murder of crows as at least a dozen of them flew around and mobbed the eagle which was calmly trying to eat its breakfast of… pigeon. We know because as we watched, the poor eagle ended up dropping the corpse in all the to-do and it fell down and landed somewhere in the next tree’s lower branches. Both of us tried to get a photo of the eagle but all it looks like is a bunch of tree branches. You’ll have to take my word for it that it’s really there. Not only is there a bald eagle in this photo but at least seven crows. Can you spot ’em? I love living in the middle of Canada’s 3rd largest city! We have wildlife! And not all of them are people sleeping in doorways and dumpster-diving. Heh.

Well, I am definitely becoming very unhappy with my Po-whatsis socks. (I know. So what else is new. And I did promise not to whine about it anymore, didn't I?) I made a mistake — on both socks, of course — after turning the heel and plodding not-so-merrily onward up the gusset. The chart bends inwards at round 6 and my knitting didn’t. I noticed something was off after doing several more rounds when the right side of the scaly part started to bulge. Erp. A little dip in the frog pond and some tinking later and I’m up and running again. But me and these socks, we are not friends. I’m just not feeling the scaly love. I’m sure it’s not Cookie’s fault but my brain and hers are not simpatico, know what I mean? But I will persist, darn it. I’m a Scorpio. We are nothing if not stubborn.

Meanwhile Cherry Leaf is calling me. She promises to go smoothly. I reminded her that there are Problems with her pattern. The edging chart is not the edging that is in the photo. That one turns out not to be in the Victorian Lace Today book at all. Hmmm… I see a job for Knit Visualizer coming up. And perhaps a little swatching. We will find a solution. We are nothing if not stubborn.

Next some thoughts about knitting needles: If it won’t fit on a dpn, I go straight (heh!) to a circular. Though I own many straight needles: aluminum, plastic, wood, bamboo — I haven’t used any of them in years. They just don’t feel comfortable anymore. My first preference is for bamboo but I do love my Denise needles even though they’re plastic. They only start at 3.75 mm though which means I only use them for heavier yarn. Unfortunately I usually use finer ones because I have this thing for fine yarns. I just found out that one of my LYSs is getting the new Addi lace needles in soon. I’m not telling which store so there will be some left for me! (And no, it’s not my usual one.) I’d love to try them out. I never liked the Addi Turbos like some people. To slippery; too blunty. Didn’t work for me even though I own 4 Turbo circs. I rarely use them. Sounds like the lace circulars are just what everybody asked for: pointy, not too slick, and a nice smooth cable join with a cable that doesn’t kink up. Perfecto. Imagine, a manufacturer who listens to its customers. What will they think of next?

There’s some new patterns up in the March edition of MagKnits (see my sidebar for link). Among them are 3 pairs of socks, a manly scarf and a really nice bracelet that reminds me of the little beaded knitted bags I used to make. Go look.

Meanwhile I’ll just sit here and sniffle. I’ve caught some kind of cold/flu/thing that’s knocking me flatter than a pancake. May it go away soon. I can barely stagger to the kitchen to make tea.