Memory Lane....

So, November of 2005.... Where are they now?

First post made reference to Frost Flowers and Leaves. A shawl... I started it, I restarted it, I started it again.... Never got much past the 21st round.... I was going to use Durasport from Briggs & Little, buying one skein at a time - well, I know that I'll never get remotely close to a dyelot three years later!! But I also know that I love using Durasport for shawls. I've completed a couple using it since then... Wish it came in more colours, though. Oh, well - not like I don't know how to dye it myself! I also talked about Nikoal - how easy to baby sit she was... still is ;) And I committed to cleaning my house. Oh, well - I guess I should have been committed, instead. Might have made a bigger difference somewhere. I know I've decluttered a lot over the three years. I've hauled a lot of stuff to the local thrift store. Ok, so I've brought a few things back as well, but I've been taking more than bringing home.

Next post defined some goals - cleaning goals. Again, wrong time of year to clean windows, but this year, we're getting some nice days. I did do some windows a week or so ago - upstairs bedroom, downstairs entry way. Hopefully, I'll get them done this round, if not this year. I'll do as many as I can before the weather turns truly nasty. Biggest danger, of course, is hot water on cold glass - can't afford to replace the windows right now. (though, new windows *would* be clean....)

Another multi topic post followed... let's see if I can update that one! I mentioned a contest entry item... can't for the life of me recall what it might have been!! Hopefully, I mention it again in a later post, and I can figure it out!! Anyway - I talked about my eye-brain functions. I think that learning to knit from charts made me realize that I might be slightly dyslexic. I mean, I know that when I started to wear glasses, the eye doctor said that my eyes needed help to focus, so that the images didn't split. Briefly, your eye muscles need to do two things - focus and adjust to keep you from seeing double. According to that doc, my muscles couldn't do both at once, so the glasses do half the job. Well, maybe I was always dyslexic... or, maybe the doc was right, but even now I still have a little trouble with keeping letters and words and stuff in the right place... So, that would explain a lot of things, like why some of my typos don't always get corrected (I don't always see them) and why I have trouble with patterns that are wordy. Ah, Spud... I do still miss her. We buried her last weekend - thought we'd do it this coming (Cdn) Thanksgiving. But, the weather was right, and we didn't know what it might be now (this weekend is supposed to be rainy - not a good time to be digging holes! so I guess it turned out for the best). Anyway - pics of Mica when she was a kitten, with the dogs. Mica is still kittenish in her behaviour - still plays quite a bit. Still takes an interest in everything going on... still tries to walk on the ceiling. She does walk on the floor a bit more often than she used to, though. And I mentioned something about before and after pics of the house...still don't have the guts to do that. Maybe I never will.... I'll just post after pics ;) Part of the reason I don't want to do pics - well, I like my privacy... Yeah, I know, bare all blog postings... but I'm still a bit shy about the old identity theft stuff. The more I reveal, the more risk. Well, actually - I suppose that if someone really wanted to, they could go through the archives and really glean a lot - I've identified my kitties, my doggies, I've shown a couple pics of myself. I've named most of the grandkids - I have indirectly identified where I live... I can't recall if I blotted out the license plate on my truck when I showed pics of it after the accident.... My yard is shown in a few angles... Interior shots of my house might reveal more... At least, in my head. Oh, gee - guess I just gave a ton of information here, too!!! DANG.

The next post seems a bit boring... told about progress or lack thereof on the housework and the crafting... I did get my countertop back. Then lost it, then back, then gone... that is the trouble with only having a tiny little counter to work with. Only place to put some things. I still have a tiny kitchen. Though, I've added some storage to it. Acquired one of those plastic drawer units, and a shelving set. Also, got rid of a small round kitchen table, and bought a larger rectangle one. Now, that sounds silly, I know - but it really did make a positive difference. First of all, the old table was too small. Being round, once you put the supper dishes for two people on it, and the usual condiments (salt/pepper/bread/butter) there was no room left. Any other serving dishes, food, etc. etc. had to stay on the stove or counter. The new table, though, has a lot of surface space, so a good worktop; also, it is a cool table - it has a drawer in it!!! Nice, fabric lined (fake velvet of some sort) so I keep my fancy serving utensils in there, some hotmats, a few other odds and ends. Gave me more room in my drawers. Oh, and the plastic drawer unit holds my most often used cooking utensils, and I finally have a drawer to keep my dishcloths and towels in. Gave me even more storage room in the linen/utility closet and in the other drawer. My kitchen cabinets (built in) only has two drawers - one for cutlery, the other for everything else. Well, of course that wasn't enough space for all that I needed... Anyway - now they are cleaned out, so no more digging when I need something!! The living room is still a disaster, though - I still haven't fully recovered (aka unpacked) from when we tore out the carpet back last Christmastime. In some cases, if I haven't missed some of the stuff in boxes since then, I can declutter. Other stuff, though, I know I'm missing.... I need to get it back out of the boxes and on the shelves!! And I have less time to do it than I did three years ago... I mentioned back then, one day for errands, two days for housework, one day for laundry, and one day for extra errands or travel related stuff... well, now I work part time. I still try to do laundry on Wednesdays - not so hard, because I try to do it first thing in the morning (6 am). The rest - well, I shop when I need to, and squeeze in cleaning when I can.

{slapping self on head} OH!!! Three years ago was the "Shetland Lace Workshop". Ok, now I see what the contest entry was all about!!! I made a scarf and a mini hap shawl, and the contest was to show pics of what we did for the workshop.... So, this would be the fourth winter for that scarf... I was thinking how I was getting a bit tired of the scarf... I mean, yes, I did a good job making it; I like the patterns; I like Shetland lace; etc., but I do get tired of wearing/looking at the same thing alllllll the time. I also own another scarf - store bought; about eight feet long or so...has a fringe (I'm not fond of fringes, especially acrylic in winter - talk about nasty static get it in your mouth). Anyway - I like the fact that in the deepest coldest part of winter it is a nice long wraparoundable scarf (I know, there probably isn't such a word, but it conveys the idea). However, I realized, that I've had that scarf since my mid-teens. I'm nearly fifty.... I work in a yarn store. I know how to knit. I'm going to be replacing the 8 foot scarf this winter. I"m likely replacing the Shetland Lace scarf, too.... I know I posted a picture somewhere with the hap shawl - since it became Ashleigh's blankie. Ashleigh - the blanket hog. Any blankie - whether it be for a person or a pet, she has to test it. Or claim it.... More workshops have followed the Shetland Lace. We also did a Gansey Workshop - I started a sweater - need to finishe that one. Currently, there is a Fair Isle workshop... Liz Lovick leads them. She is a wonderful teacher. :)

Not much in the next post.... Talked about a potluck dinner - shared a recipe. I like making Chicken Wings now a different way. I make my own hotwings. Used to like some served at a "wing night" in a particular bar. But it closed - so I had to find a substitute. Tripped over a TV show that told how the "professionals" make hotwings... I adapted, and... Everyone loves my wings. Hm... I have some wings in the freezer, should thaw them and make a batch of hotwings....

Another short post... didn't say a lot.... The next post after was for/about November 11th. I'm not going to add to that any today - but stay tuned next month for some comments....

More short posts... one about a Harry Potter sorting hat link... I got put into Hufflepuff back then. Wonder what I'd be now?

Woah!! Long post coming...Ok, let's see:
Bear Afghan - Nikolis has it, and still loves it...
Gift aghan was appreciated... Don't bother to watch the TV show "Lost" anymore, if it still is even on... got worse instead of better, I lost all interest...
Finished the second mystery shawl that I was doing then...gave it away...
Haven't finished the sampler squares - don't like that slip stitch for colourwork at all at all at all!!!!! I like to use fair isle or intarsia techniques... and I'm still learning many more techniques. I now think of myself as "advanced" in knitting skills. Still lots to learn - My philosophy is you can never stop learning *something*. I mentioned the other day about learning more cast-on techniques. But I think I've advanced in my skill set now. I regularly rotate between a few techniques for different things, without having to look them up. And I've moved into things such as teaching and designing...
Cleaning... always on about the lack of cleaning.... I'm doing the "spring clean" version now. Have one room completed, but am not finding a good block of time to start another room. So, I'm chipping away - not doing the whole room, but still doing what I can. Wiping things down, tackling mini areas - then when I do have a block of time, I can whip through the room in no time!! {crossing fingers} (oh, and at least I have much less carpet to have to clean now!!)
Ah, the trip... We still talk about that... even came up again just last night!

Next post had pictures. Taken with a mini digital camera. Still have that camera, but DH uses it at work. We have the nice one now. I like it - except for the part where I have to resize the pics for sharing. I still keep the original size pics, too - burn them on a cd. That way, if I need the better quality pic, I still have it.

Another brief post, about a pet... and a longish post about a plan to design a knitted afghan. I did start it, but never got very far. Ran into some rough spots, then it became a UFO. Think a lot had to do with that trip interrupting the process.

More about the afghan...and the cool tools. I still have them. The sparkly acrylic needles and hooks. I even use them on occasion. I've also since learned that "H.A.Kidd" are the importers for DMC products...so, a "good" name... (if you do like I do, and open the archived posts in a new window, then starting at the bottom, read through them, you can follow along to refresh your memory if you want to about the original posts)

Next I tried to do a time estimate on that cat afghan... Obviously, since it is still in UFO status, I didn't get it done. :( Interestingly, though - I've gotten a bit faster at crochet with more practice. And, even though I mentioned how much I disliked weaving in ends (still do dislike it) it is interesting that the projects which most appeal to me, and that I do most often, are ones that need lots and lots of ends woven in...yes, I do a lot of colourwork in both knit and crochet!!

Finally - A short but full post.... Ashleigh on her hap shawl. Still have the shawl, but the cat tower she was sleeping in the top of is gone. Replaced it - of course she got too big to fit so well into the nest on top of it. My dear friend from Kansas and I still keep in touch - I would love to go visit her and her farm one day. And funerals... There is one tomorrow, for another person who DH knows. I really don't know her at all - have only talked to her husband a few times; but DH knows her husband better. He is likely going to the funeral. The thing that gets to us - the woman was close to our age. And, just a couple of weeks ago, another person we know/knew died suddenly - again, someone our age. Unfortunately, though, we didn't hear until it was too late to attend the funeral... Both of these ladies died as a result of complications relating to diabetes.

So. That was November of '05. Some things, I thought happened longer ago (the Shetland Lace Workshop for example) and others I remember as though they were yesterday... I've learned many things since then, too... People have come and gone from my life... new friends fill the gaps left by old friends gone... priorities change constantly, value placed on people and things change with each experience....

Next up: I'll post some current stuff, maybe some pictures, then move on to December of '05. See what I was up to leading up to our trip....