I got a swift!

when I can get my head together I'm going to have a photo session.....lots of things: finished socks, in Opal Zirkus, finished alpaca bedsocks for A. in Inca Cloud ( supposed to be 'Electric Blue' but my idea of electric seems different...this is a darkish 'Scotland' blue: to me, electric blue is much brighter and closer to turquoise..anyway, they keep his feet cosy and help his circulation which is what matters)

and today's goodie....a swift, bought on ebay for - wait for it - £1....... it's an old but not antique one; made of metal, clean as a whistle, three arms with adjustable lengths, which folds down when not in use: the middle slots into a clamp which holds it on the edge of the table. I have just christened it and it was a delight to use.......really easy, looks nice, worked like a dream, and takes so much less time, even balling by hand.

I wound another recent ebay goodie - a skein of Jitterbug in shade Mardi Gras, and it looks gorgeous......edible!

any suggestions - socks? or socks? or socks? or should I be daring and do a scarf or some fingerless mitts?

all of which helped take my mind of having storm damage on the roof repaired this afternoon....

frogging, knitting, and tennis

having tried and frogged something(several times) a few days ago, and then done likewise today(another thing), it's definitely time for simplicity......so the plain old stocking stitch knee socks are out and being (hopefully) finished: one already done, and the second is half way up the leg. Perfect mindless knitting for not even having to look at, except the occasional glance, and needs no thought at all. Great for doing while watching the tennis.

The funny thing is - the colour is one I would not choose: it is SO not my colour....I'm a red person, and this is a weird mix of bright green/blue/brown /beige...but is Lorna's Laces(and I'd knit with LL in any colour) Got it in an ebay auction, and thought it would be just right for boot socks, as I didn't see the point in using a lovely colour for something which would be almost all covered up(I've found - for me - the perfect shoes for showing off socks: Doc Marten's Mary Janes. And they are heavenly to wear, too, which is nice)

so the odd colour is proving to make for an enjoyable knit all round - relaxing, useful, and knowing I won't be covering up a colour I want to show off.

I'm a women's tennis fan, but like to keep track of Andy Murray, so this afternoon's final between him and Simone will be worth a watch..the Auld Alliance of Scotland and France......

Right, back to Franklin's Panopticon(the name of the weird LL boot sock colour)

Oh, and I have a ganglion at the base of my right index finger: ow. I had one before, years ago, on the other hand, saw the doc, and it went away by itself, so I hope this one does too......worst finger for it; my main knitting/mousing/typing/you name it finger......

this and that

having frogged the same thing twice.....a cat's paw shetland pattern scarf.....it's dawned on me that it is just a wee bit on the 'too much concentration required' side for my state of mind at the moment, so am doing something simpler(another cat's paw, but just one up the middle instead of an allover pattern) So we shall see how that goes.

a treat in the post today.....a copy of Cat Bordhi's "New Pathways for Sock Knitters". Couldn't get it here to splurged on ordering it. I'm really looking forward to having a good mooch through it and then trying something.....love her stuff; she was my source of learning to do socks without driving myself bananas: ie using two circs.

So, many thanks to you, Cat :)

Sent a letter to the emotional vampire today - things at breaking point, and it had to be done. Not got the ability to say much about it, other than it's sad but necessary.......

a poem, sort of

The rain the rain is pishin' doon
And I have to go 'doon the toon'
This wee poem came to mind
As to myself I must be kind
It rhymes but doesn't scan
And thus reminds me of that man
Who wrote what some call doggerel:
William Topaz McGonagall
Catterel* is a better name
For crappy poetry that's lame
So off I'll go and get my mac
And put it on my weary back
(I mean the coat, not the machine -
Now that would be a sight to be seen)
And shuffle off along the road
My shopping trolley being towed
Along behind me, just in case,
The parcel's too heavy for my arms to embrace.

written by the Midden, on this wet Friday morning, and dedicated to Amber and Heather ;)

*definition of 'Catterel': rotten verse written by a cat lover who may or may not be able to do much better but enjoys messing about with words

thank you.......

...amber and heather....you're a pair of sweeties; this afternoon I put on my new tshirt(Star Trek of course....big picture of T'pol from Enterprise on the front), my new(well, new to me)jacket(remember those fruit salad chewy sweeties? think those colours, in stripes, with a bit of turquoise)and my own knitted socks(Lorna's Laces Miata)and went up to Borders and got three magazines, and some ink cartridges from PC World. And some sweeties.

Home, and watched some tennis, and knitted, and had the most gorgeous cat cuddle......Toty up across my front, chin resting on my shoulder, paw stretched out over my arm, so sound asleep she was snoring and twitching and dreaming. We'd just shared some custard(she had her own wee saucer) and had a dreep of custard on her chin. The perfect cuddle.

I'm going to write down everything which comes to mind about the situation, and take it from there......thanks for being there - it's a very real comfort.......

and there's more.....

got the most horrible communication from the emotional vamp this morning: shaking like a leaf......

so am going out this afternoon for a walk to clear my head, calm down, and buy something....just a magazine or a wee thing, but a cheer up.

f*ck it.

letter to myself

last night I wrote one......feeling that I am and have been a 'bad' wife, daughter, friend, everything; falling woefully short in every category in every way. Nothing of self pity in all this - just cold hard fact.
So what am I to myself? That's the £60,000 question.......and I don't - yet - have the answer, if indeed there is one.........