Touching Base

I wish I had something witty or pithy or even just nice to look at to post to the blog, but I don't. Not right now, anyway. We're in the thick of the move. Everything's loaded on the truck, which will be driven away today (but not by us. Hooray!) The next couple of days involve lots of cleaning, a bunch of good-byes, and, with any luck, a couple of real estate closings. We're supposed to close tomorrow on this house and we still don't have anything scheduled with the attorneys. Gulp. Wish me luck, please.

The good news is that we have a brand new laptop and digital camera, so when life settles down again, the blogging will continue.

And thanks to the commenters on the last post. I'm never sure if my thoughts will be coherent when someone else reads them. It's nice to not feel alone in the wilderness!

Uncomfortably Numb

The London bombings have cast a pall over an already stressful time. My heart goes out to those affected by these attacks, but I'm not sure how I'm feeling about it myself.

I was shocked and saddened, but then a feeling of anxiety crept in when I went to the Knittyboard and saw something eerily familiar. A well-meaning member of the board changed her avatar to a Union Jack and invited others to do so as well as a show of solidarity and support for the members from the U.K.

Now the place is littered with flags and it makes me uncomfortable. All I can think about is the huge show of "patriotism" that happened in this country after 9/11. All those American flags. Everywhere. The ones on the cars were the worst, but the ones that truly scared me were being waved along the side of a busy road on the night of 9/12. A crowd of young men had slowed traffic to a crawl while they waved huge flags and yelled at drivers to honk their horns in support. Their message was clear: my country right or wrong, and you'd better join me. Or else.

Two towers fell and these guys with flags were the ones who terrified me.

I'll See Your Mohair, and Raise You an Alpaca

I've been quite the little swapster lately. I recently did another one in which I received four balls of Lopi (more neutrals that look nice with the other Lopi I have) and some handspun mohair. The swapper was also kind enough to throw in some other handspun, some handmade soap, and this brown alpaca.

This stuff looked promising - it was handspun in Peru and had that lovely sheen that alpaca seems to have, but it was in need of a wash. It was in one big, fat skein with a tiny circumference (why do they do that?), so to enable it to dry sometime before the next ice age, I re-wound it into what I thought would be a longer thinner skein. Little did I know that it was not one big, fat skein at all, but about seven thousand shorter lengths of yarn (okay, maybe 15-20). I actually knotted some together just to wash them with the intention of cutting the knots out later (I hope this stuff spit-splices!) And the quality, well, let's just say it's not exactly what I'd call top shelf. Some of it is over-spun and the thickness varies (but not in that nifty way). I guess we could charitably call it "rustic" (which is what I do when a baking plan goes awry at work).

Not that I'm complaining. It was a freebie, after all, and I know how it is with the gift horses and all that, but I'm just not sure what to do with it now. It's fingering weight and I've got about 360 yards of it (I would've had more, but many of the sections just weren't long enough to save).

So, what the heck do I make? Any thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

Hourglass Returns

The guilt finally got to me. That, and it became too f***ing hot to knit with wool, so Mariah got put aside. I hadn't touched this sweater since I got back from South Carolina, and that was in what, April? But a few days ago I picked it up and finally finished the first sleeve (the pencil marks about where I had left off), and now I've begun the second.

And to help me on my way, I just discovered a Finish-Along on the Knittyboard. I'd like to have this finished before the move, and I think that's very likely considering how much procrastinating I'm doing over the packing.

Nerdfest 2005

This is one of the other reasons I've been neglecting my knitting lately. Max and I are thoroughly hooked on this game. It's Settlers of Catan, the two-person card version. There's a board game, too, and lots of expansions and variations, but I like this one the best.

It has helped Max stay in touch with his gaming roots, and has helped me get more comfortable with strategy games (although this one has a significant chance element as well). He tried hard to make me like Magic: the Gathering, but it never stuck. Maybe I just like this game because it's one of the very few at which I can kick his ass. Granted, the game we had just completed here was a victory for him, but it was after a very long string of ass-whuppings.

Then again, maybe I just like it because I can live in a fantasy world of colonialism and development where the one who best exploits his or her resources is the winner.
Perhaps I'm not the anti-Capitalist I think I am. Bwahahahaha!

Waiting...

For about fifteen minutes, the arrival of this yarn made me very happy. The yarn itself is great. It's the Pakucho organic cotton I ordered from Elann (lovely, soft stuff. The monitor doesn't do justice to the color.) The rest is a bunch of Manos del Uruguay I got in a swap. I'm thrilled with the greens. Again, the monitor doesn't quite do them justice. I don't know yet what they will be, but I'll enjoy playing with all this stuff.

So now, while I'm still pleased with the yarn, I'm back to being really annoyed at being chained to the house waiting for the stupid plumber. The electrician told me 9:00, and he pulled in the driveway just as the chimpanzee on my wildlife clock was shrieking at the top of the hour. Why can't the stupid plumber do that? Why can't the stupid plumber even give me an idea of when he'll be here? Why can't the stupid plumbing work the way it's supposed to so I can do my stupid laundry and then go do my stupid errands?