Friday, March 20, 2009

Sticking close to home

The last nearly 2 weeks since the Conference have been a bit on the challenging side. I came home from Pa. with the flu and ended up spending the better part of a week in bed or on the sofa with my "nurse cat" by my side. We've been calling Gracie a "puppy cat" because she follows me from room to room and rarely leaves my side, especially when I'm sick. I ended up sleeping most of each day away until the fever broke on day 4 or 5, with Gracie going with me wherever I chose to nap or sleep. Unfortunately she's still not getting along very well with the other girls, especially Belle. Rosie and Gracie have a kind of uneasy truce, they'll sniff each other and play a little, but Rosie isn't happy that she pounces sometimes and not others.
Belle and Rosie have taken a liking to the corner of the sofa where I have my high intensity light positioned for the knitting and hand work that I do in the evenings while watching TV. The lamp gives off a certain amount of heat and Rosie especially is a big fan of lying down right under the warmest part, kind of like luxuriating in a sunbeam. Of course, Belle has to come over and snuggle with her and they both ended up falling asleep like that..
... Here's Gracie in one of the rare times when she actually has sat in my lap. Neither of our girls really are lap sitters so this was quite unusual, though Gracie did sit in Meghann's lap while she was here, a very special occasion indeed. She'll sit on my lap a little more when I have the blanket covering me, maybe she doesn't realize that she's actually on top of me. I'm working on my pair of Green spring socks here.
...This picture was of the first Crocus in my garden to poke it's head above the surface of the earth last week. There are more out now but I especially enjoyed this first one after it had been so cold and windy and rainy. Immediately after getting a bit better with the flu, I had some other health challenges so I've been in the house a whole lot trying to rest and get better. This crocus greeted me on one of my forays out of the house, and it helped get me more enthusiastic for finishing the 2 pairs of socks that I was working on while I wasn't feeling good. As you can see, the socks were both "crocus colored".
...These are simple socks made from the colorway "Purple Rain" which my friend Loraine had gotten for me about a year and a half ago. They've been my "brainless" project to do in the car because I'm not doing any pattern that I have to pay attention to while I'm knitting. I love doing the lace patterns but there's something to be said for doing simple projects when traveling, it's less stressful and I have to take less stitches out! I had to sit and wait for a doc's appointment and then the next day for a test, so I managed to get quite a bit of time for knitting while "on the run". It definitely looks "crocus" colored to me and made me smile to finish them at this time of year.
...This is my Spring/March green pair which also go with the colors of that lone Crocus. I absolutely loved the colors in this yarn even before I cast on the first sock, but I especially have enjoyed watching the lace "leaf" pattern emerging. This green sock was the 2008 Socks that Rock Club March installment, but since I wasn't able to be a member last year, I'd purchased the yarn and pattern a year later to do the project. The pattern was relatively easy to knit once I got the hang of it, though I did have to keep the stitch diagram and the row counter handy while I worked on it. This is the only pair of green socks I've ever knit, green just wasn't my color or so I thought, but I am really rethinking that since I love these so much! I'm eagerly awaiting this year's March kit right now.
...This lone sock is waiting for it's mate, I just cast on for it last night. This so far lonely single is Socks That Rock yarn Blue Brick road in the Wheat pattern off the web. I'll never use this pattern again, it's too fiddly and incredibly time consuming, though it does break up the pattern in the yarn as you can see in the area done in pattern. It took me as long to get this one sock done as it normally does to finish a full pair. Last night I also cast on a couple of other socks to take with me for things we're going to this weekend that might give me time to knit. Otherwise, I'm enjoying my quiet time home with the girls and my wonderful guy while knitting, watching tv, and snuggling with the furry ones.

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