Adventures in Babysitting

I had a delightful if somewhat exhausting day with my son’s family yesterday. After the adults went off to run errands, the grandkids and I went out to the park. It started raining a bit but we persevered and it didn’t amount to much so we didn’t get very wet. (Singing "Rain, Rain, Go Away" actually works!) After making birthday cakes in the pea gravel and having a slide or two, it was getting rather cold so we went to Birkeland Bros. Wool. I wanted to get some yarn to make the Emma’s Unmentionables from the Spring issue of Knitty for KiKi. The pattern yarn was a cotton/acrylic blend but all I could find that seemed remotely suitable was Smart superwash wool which is the same stuff I used for the Peapod sweater and hat for Stargazer.

Unfortunately I don’t like the way it pills with a lot of washing and drying but I’m not going to quibble with something that she won’t be wearing that long anyway. They had the perfect pink and she definitely approved the colour. I paid for it while she was winding the industrial-sized ball-winder and Stargazer was taking down the signs listing upcoming classes from the door. Reminded me of the olden days when I’d take their daddy and auntie shopping and they’d both be getting into trouble in opposite directions! Fun. Pearl was very accommodating though and let KiKi use the store’s rubber stamp to make a picture to take home.

So now I’m trying to hold off starting the Unmentionables right away. I have 3 other projects on the go and that blanket on the loom still to finish. There’s no real hurry for them anyhow. I plan to make the largest size so they might be a bit big right now anyway. However they are a lot of nice plain knitting so I may not be able to control myself. I know some knitters get bored with plain knitting but I can read at the same time which I can’t do with more complex knitting. So plain actually gets done faster.

I was feeling really good yesterday and did more than 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer but today my throat is a bit sore again. I’m hoping it’s just a temporary aberration and that I’m not coming down with anything again. Unfortunately there’s a new flu bug going around and I certainly want to avoid it at all costs! Think positive, Damselfly.

Off to do the huge pile of dishes from yesterday. I made them stay and help us eat some of the Easter leftovers. They were happy to help eat but of course not wash dishes after.