The Catch Up Episode

It's been a while since I posted. Since Ally's graduation, the main thing I did was go to Ireland with Kate, Linda and Butch. We were an odd group, but it worked out very well. Linda is a high school friend, who was also my college roommate, and Butch is her husband. Kate, of course, is my 16-year-old daughter.

We were in Ireland for two weeks. The first week we traveled around and the second week we rented a cottage in Glengarrif, a little town in County Cork. It was lovely. I'd say the three highlights were: (1) riding in a pony cart around the Aran Islands, (2) Going to a Maureen O'Hara film and having Maureen O'Hara actually show up to answer questions, and (3) the Irish breakfast spread that Mrs. Maxwell had for us at Woodlands Farm (it was incredible!).

At the moment I've got three things on the needles and three things on my wheel. On the needles I have a washcloth that I'm making out of the KnitPicks spa kit. I bought the kit because I thought it was cute and would be a small and easy project to take with me on the Ireland trip. Unfortunately, the kit is entirely cotton/linen blend and is no fun to knit at all. It's just like knitting with kitchen string -- no give. I'm going to persevere and finish this washcloth if it kills me, but I hate the knitting. I'm not going to do any of the other items in the kit.

The second thing on my needles is more fun. It's a Bohus cardigan sweater for myself. It's knit in the round and steeked and I expect it will take forever and a day to knit. I'm not a small person and this is not a small sweater. The main body is black worsted wool from my stash and the yoke part will be gray and white. Okay, I know it's pretty neutral, but if I'm going to put this much time into a sweater I want to be able to wear it with everything.

The third thing on my needles is a cute little project I've been thinking about for a while. I finally found the plastic bangle bracelets I needed at Walmart last week at a decent price. What you do is cover a cheap bangle bracelet with a knitted piece. I probably won't be able to fit them on my wrist, but I think they'll make cute gifts and I might even make some for the Guild sale. I'm using sock yarn leftovers and the first pattern I'm using is an Aran Braid from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

On the wheel, I'm spinning up some laceweight Shetland from the sheep Lynne and I saw being sheared last spring. I'm also spinning 4 oz. of merino/mohair blend that a friend gave me when she bought one of the baby rabbits. And last, but not least, I'm spinning a bag full of Andy fur.

Sad news, I don't think I reported that Timmy, the little runt rabbit that Kate loved and that we kept from the litter, died just before we went to Ireland. We're not really sure what happened. Kate was home alone and she put him in the outdoor exercise pen for a little while. She said he was so happy to be outdoors and was binky-ing all around the pen. She watched him for a while and then left him for a few minutes. When she got back, he was in the middle of the pen, on his side, and spasming. He died in her arms. The vet said he might have run into the fence and broken his neck. My own guess is that he had a heart problem and that was what made him a runt to begin with. We'll never know, but Kate's heart was broken. We buried him under the crabapple tree with full honors. We've got some of his fur and I'll have to spin it into something special for Kate. I hope it's long enough to spin -- it was baby fur after all.

Look what my sister brought me from her cruise to South America! A huge wad 'o wool! She got it in Chile and she also got one for herself. She's thinking of knitting and felting hers into a bag. I'm not sure yet what to do with mine. I'm thinking felted hat and scarf.

I'm enjoying a peaceful morning. Kate is at camp and Jeff and Ally have gone to Chicago, so I have three days all alone. I don't know what to do with myself!