Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Topsy-Turvy Day

Since T-Man swapped shifts with a coworker today, it’s been a little odd around Damselfly’s Pond. We woke up late (7 am!) and carried on as if it was a weekend (lazed around some). I made tea and coffee and flax-crepes with yoghurt and peaches, blueberries, and blackberries for breakfast. Then I dove into the housework with T somewhat underfoot and at a loss as to why I thought he was in the way. I got the dishes done and bathroom sanitized, then vacuumed, dusted and damp-mopped the main floor. I even made the bed for once. He commented that I was just trying to impress him by pretending that I do this kind of whirlwind cleaning every day. Of course not! However I’d left it too long this time and the dust bunnies were spawning grandchildren. Don’t stop me when I’m on a housekeeping binge!

He tried to leave for work at 11:30 am (after I fed him lunch) but the MINI-Cooper wouldn’t start so he had to drive the van instead. Don’t know what’s wrong with poor Velvet. Hope it’s nothing serious. Once he was off, I figured that I’d done enough hard work so I finished the last toe on my Purple Elephant Slippers and popped them in the washing machine to full. After about 4 wash cycles, they still weren’t small enough but were looking pretty done — no stitch definition left anyway. I let them run through the spin, rinsed in cold water and spun out as much water as possible. Then I put them in the dryer on hot. Horrors! However they didn’t get any smaller! The length is right but the width is much too sloppy. I should have gone down considerably more than the 4 stitches I subtracted. I’m determined to salvage them anyway with a tie at the ankle. More on this, with before and after photos, tomorrow when I’ve had a chance to ponder the situation and attempt a fix. I’ve taken notes and the next pair (not likely until these wear out first) will be correct. Or at least a better fit if not perfect. This technique is so hard to predict what the results will be. Though I might have gotten closer if I had bothered to swatch. Heh.

After my adventures with the Purple Elephants, I relaxed on the deck with my spinning. The sun finally came out and it was very nice out there with my earphones in listening to podcasts while I treadled away on the yarn for my Icelandic Shawl. I got the Exotic Wood colourway of merino from Ashland Bay all plied and now have 40 g of it at about 173 yards total. It’s lovely and soft. Next I’m spinning up some black Shetland for the same project though it’s not quite as soft as the merino that I have so far. The pattern calls for 9 different natural colours of wool but I don’t know how many I’ll end up with when I'm done. And they aren’t all natural, though some are. So far I have natural moorit (light brown like coffee with cream), Exotic Wood (a blend of dyed colours mainly browns, reds and greens and no long listed on Ashland Bay’s website), natural white and natural black. I’ve also got some of Ashland Bay’s Mohave (reds with black and brown) and Baltic (blues with greens) that might work. We’ll see what else when I get that far. Meanwhile it was a very pleasant afternoon. I’m really happy that summer decided to come back for a few days anyway.

To complete my topsy-turvy day, I had dinner all by myself. T should be home in a half-hour or so, just before it’s time to get ready for bed. He starts at a more normal 6:30 am tomorrow.

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