Thursday, March 27, 2008

AFO -- Almost Finished Object

Look what's blocking --

The Flutter Sleeve Cardigan, almost done. I have some shopping to do tomorrow that will take my near my LYS (Uniquities, Vienna, VA, wonderful place), so I'll stop off and get some buttons. After it's dried, I'll just sew it up, do the seed stitch border on the sleeves and the little tabs (if I decide to do them), and I'll be done. Looking at that picture, I see I need to go upstairs and do a little adjusting. Because my gauge was spot on, and because I was worried about this growing when wet, I didn't have to do too obsessive a job about blocking it. (Plus, I usually re-block it after all the seams have been sewn and all the trim added.) Overall it was a fun, fast knit, and I hope it looks good on me.

I did cast on the new Socks That Rock sock kit socks, even though I haven't finished my Spring Willow socks yet. The Spring Willow socks (aka Will Spring Never Come?) are knit on size 0s, while the STR socks are knit on 2s, so when I want to feel like I'm making quick progress, I work on the STR socks.

I was hoping to use the yarn that I'm in the progress of spinning to knit a doily, but I may not have the patience to wait until the yarn is done to cast on for that project, either, so keep your eye on this here bloggy thing for some pictures of that.

Spring is finally arriving, however, and that means two things here Chez T -- yardwork and baseball. It was 70 degrees yesterday, so I raked all the leaves out of the front garden and dug up a Mountain Laurel and a rhododendron (sob) that didn't make it through the drought-ridden past two years, even with my diligent watering. I have some ideas about what I want to replace them with, so it's off to the nursery for me soon.

Things get very busy with the baseball schedule. Sr. Jr. has practice three times a week, and Jr. Jr. has two practices. Add in all the other after-school activities, and it's a rare day when we're not rushing off somewhere. Games start next weekend. Some of Sr. Jr.'s games don't start until 7 pm, meaning we won't be home those (school) nights until around 9. In addition, he's on the "M1 call-up list." He plays in the M2 league for the 9,10, and 11 year olds. M1 is for the 12 and 13 year olds, but occasionally, due to illness or other conflicts, those teams are short a player, so they have this list of kids from the M1 league who are good players that they can call to fill in. I'm thrilled that Sr. Jr.'s coaches think he's good enough to be on this list, but it means there will be weeks with even MORE baseball than normal.

I'm still waiting for Vogue Knitting and Knitter's to show up, but Spin-Off arrived yesterday. I love Spin-Off. I usually read it slowly, savoring every last article and picture. I marvel at the beautiful skeins of handspun yarn that readers send in for the galleries. The Fall issue, however, was the only issue of Spin-Off I've ever been disappointed in. I actually skipped several articles! I know! Shocking! This issue looks great, though, so I'm going to savor it.

Finally, election politics. As I predicted, the extra long primary season has resulted in me being utterly sick of the whole thing. I thought Obama's speech on race was beautiful and brilliant. Like Jon Stewart said, "Wow. Someone's talking to the American people about race... as if they were adults!" Unfortunately, I don't think that the 24 hour news babblers are capable of acting like adults. In fact, I think it's in their contracts that they must scream and yell about everything and avoid any and all complexity or nuance. And it's not the point of opposition campaigning to act in an adult manner, either is it? Who will challenge McCain for accepting the endorsement of the religious right -- the same group that said America brought 9/11 on itself because of "the feminists, the abortionists, the gays, the lesbians, and the ACLU"? The very same people he once called the "agents of intolerance" are now his good buddies. This is just a slightly more sophisticated -- but no less cynical -- version of Willie Horton.

1 comment:

kippi said...

Ah, baseball season. There is little in life more pleasing than a baseball player in uniform. I'm thinking more on the lines of David Justice and Bucky Dent (oy, my age is showing) but they had to start somewhere, right? M1, M2, etc.

We lived in a very small town for a couple of years and our kid didn't play baseball or softball, but the entire town would come out for all the games. It was a great deal of fun. I miss that.

New sweater, in a word, GORGEOUS. You create such lovely pieces. The color is delicious. I wish for you a well fitting garment. Yay gauge!

Totally agree with you on the political points. We live right down the street (under 2 miles) from the church of the creepazoid that backed McCain and to whom you are referring. It is one of those mega churches with the video light up signage and multiple police officers directing traffic. We have seen this rather rotund guy at our neighborhood eateries. BLECH. He doesn't hold much credence in this town, mostly because scary tv preachers abound here.

Obamas race speech was brilliant.

Mountain laurel is gorgeous, although the scent can be a bit heady. It is native to here and is absolutely everywhere. When we drive around town with the windows down, the smell is very, very strong. Lovely in small doses. The blooms are magnificent though, especially since the mt laurel grows here as trees instead of bushes. So the purple flowers just drip. My oleanders are starting to bloom. Yes, I enjoy poisonous plants.

:-)
k