The Fourth Age

I have come to the end of Return of the King — and with it, the Lord of the Rings saga. Somewhere in the middle of the saga I realized that I had never actually read beyond the first book or so, so the actual ending of the story was new to me. After the book concluded I took a break for about 24 hours, then slowly made my way through Appendix A and some of the rest of the histories of Middle-Earth. That helped with my grief over saying farewell to several beloved characters. Now I’m looking for the time to start watching the Extended Editions of the movies.

While I work that out, I will also be trying to shore up my habits of daily writing and typing, to prepare for more Actual Writing to take place next year towards my research project. I do love research, but my project should become a writing project at some point. (I like writing, too — don’t I?)

So I’m basically trying to come up with a manageable workout schedule for writing. And I’m not looking for “what worked for James Michener” or “what works for Kristin Hannah” — I need to figure out what will work for me, because I’m the one who needs to do the work. Part of what will help is establishing an environment in which I can get right to work. Everything I need should be immediately available, not literally blocked by some of the lovely items I seem to keep for the sole purpose of making sure that I can’t get out of my own way.

This weekend I have been trying out some new arrangements of supplies, so that I will be able to record ideas or even do some writing whenever I have the opportunity. That’s in addition to enforcing regular, daily writing times in which I can either work on the project or just flush out some of the other thoughts that may be causing a creative blockage.

Ah, I’m full of ideas and grand designs, particularly when a new year is on the way. As Jackson Browne once said, “Don’t confront me with my failures. I have not forgotten them.” Just let me enjoy this wave of hopefulness and idealism while it lasts.

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Knitwise, I have gotten to 60 repeats of the 4-row pattern on the Universal Scarf. This brings the scarf to approximately 42 inches. I did not weigh this yarn before I started the project, but I did try to separate the four balls of yarn into rough halves so I could make two scarves. So, after weighing this leftover amount of yarn and comparing it to the total weight of the yarn I set aside for the second scarf…I may be two-thirds of the way through this scarf. But I won’t really know until I get there. I’ll just knit when I can and measure it when it’s done. Then I can cast on for the fraternal twin.

No photo, because the scarf will look almost exactly the same except that it is slightly longer now. And it’s not worth clearing the dining room table just to do a one-photo shoot.

There’s no other knitting going on right now. Between baking for the holidays, having guests over, delivering cookies to friends, reading Tolkien, house-sitting and cat-sitting, and actually doing some work at work last week, I wouldn’t have time for it anyway.

I did have a moment when I thought I had tracked down a copy of Fellowship of the Knits…but alas, it was just a computer error that deceived many other fellow knitters. That book contains the pattern that I had wanted to do next. Without the pattern, I don’t know if I have enough stash yarn to plan for the project. So I will probably go back to my stash and WIP pile to see what I should pick up again. The Universal Scarf is a new project even though it’s made from the reclaimed yarn of a prior project. That means I should look at the WIPs next and see who gets to be completed.

Knee deep

My banged-up knee is healing nicely a week later, at least as far as the skin is concerned. I have been avoiding stairs as much as possible but have been able to walk on level ground and some mild inclines. I never got a follow-up from Osteo or the physical therapy place as I expected, which I choose to interpret as a vote of confidence in my ability to heal myself. I have been rehabbing on my own and taking it very cautiously.

So far it’s been a pretty good injury for knitting and reading and journaling. And watching my dog pretend (apparently) to be a unicorn.

Monty is a … special dog.

I have been doing more thinking about my research project as well. As I commented earlier today to my friend Mary, a weekend seems just long enough to figure out how to do something but not long enough to actually do it. This time, what I have figured out how to do is a technique that I actually started doing years ago but did not take quite far enough: starting a commonplace book for each separate element of my project.

I watched a few YouTube videos (thanks, Rachelle In Theory) that kind of overlapped in their content but effectively demonstrated why this would be a particularly good idea for me to try. (Another good reason is that my materials and notes are literally all over the place, and bringing any sort of focus at all to the project would be beneficial.) I went to my home library, Unused Journals section, and removed two new bullet journals from their shrink wrap so I could dedicate them to this purpose. I searched the Internet for artwork to glue to their covers, and found great specimens. Unfortunately, the nice contrasting paper on which I would like to mount these illustrations is… at the top of the stairs.

Maybe I don’t really need to decorate the covers until next week.

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In the Impossible Read, I so greatly enjoyed my journey through The Fellowship of the Ring that I immediately picked up the next book, The Two Towers, and read the first chapter.

Part of the fun of the Impossible Read is that when people find out what I am doing, they often suggest something else I should read, or watch, or hear. Last week Eldest suggested that I add The Count of Monte Cristo to my list, which runs about 1,275 pages. As my reading list is already long to the point of absurdity, I found no reason so say no. In fact, I added it and then threw in The Three Musketeers and Ivanhoe for good measure. The more, the merrier. While I’m at it I might as well add Les Miserables. After all, I already have a copy around here somewhere.

Even funnier is that I already own a copy of the last book on the list, which is Ready Player Two. By the time I get to that point, the last book on the list may actually be Ready Player Five.

Another friend suggested that I go on YouTube and find the video of Leonard Nimoy singing “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.” I cannot state strongly enough that you should under no circumstances actually do this, which is why I refuse to provide a link. If for some reason you cannot resist, perhaps the top comments on the video will provide some redemption for the experience. But really — do not do this, especially if you are younger than Generation X.

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Knitwise, progress on both projects can now be characterized as “steady.” The Cottontail scarf is approximately 70 percent complete, by which I mean that I weighed the remaining yarn and did a tiny amount of mental calculation. There is no new photo of it, because it will look just the same as it did last week except that it is somewhat longer. I have lost count of how many scarves I have made with the Yarn Harlot’s One-Row Handspun Scarf pattern. I’ll take a photo after I bind it off and weave in the ends.

The Palm Frond scarf is a little harder to make steady progress on because after each 10-row repeat the stitch count increases by five. So all of those rows are getting longer and longer. For example, yesterday I thought I could knit a whole repeat while I watched the F1 Sprint race from Brazil. But it was only about 21 laps and I had to finish the repeat while watching the qualifying session for the main race. I am trying to do a whole repeat in a single sitting, but as the rows lengthen I may have to do partial repeats if I want to do just a little knitting every night.

By the math of the remaining yarn, this project is just over 25 percent of the way done.

I do have my next knitting project lined up as soon as I can get my hands on the pattern. It has a Lord of the Rings theme and I already have the exact yarn called for as the striking accent color. The only catch is that it was knitted into a half-finished project. So after I frog the project I may need to do a few things to the yarn to get the physical evidence of the old stitches out before I re-skein it. I haven’t done this in a while, so I will probably document the process for those of you who haven’t seen a niddy noddy in use before. (Yes, I have one. I have one of almost everything, and two each of the good stuff.)

Checking in and checking out

In the last week I have been adjusting to my post-vacation life; part of this process has involved having the dog checked on by the vet (he has a growth on his head that does not seem to be cancerous) and the car checked on by the mechanic (a new condenser will fix that weak air conditioning). Trying to get back in my good routines has taken me a little while, and the long holiday weekend arrived at just the right time.

Other than the time spent driving to work and to home and to the vet and to home and to the garage and to home and to the grocery store and to home, I’ve been staying in the house and getting things done on my big writing project. I have done some research, finished reading a book and created a new spreadsheet from my notes in it, and done more brainstorming about creative ways I can explore the lives of the people I’m studying. I am relieved to think that some of the things I have acquired over the years — a writing desk, a dip pen, and various inks — may soon be put to use in the name of what I might call “immersive research.”

I don’t remember acquiring any new typewriters in the past week. Let’s leave it at that.

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Once again, I have not read one word of the current book in my Impossible Read for several weeks now, but I’m thinking of jumping back into it this week. The Bright Sword is the final book in my opening group of Arthurian tales — I have tacked some recently acquired Arthurian-themed science fiction books onto the end of the list, should I ever get there — and I have some newly acquired motivation to GET ON WITH IT and move on to the next grouping of stories.

In mid-September our campus will host the performances of one-man shows of Gilgamesh and Beowulf. While I probably will not be able to read Beowulf by the time of its performance (on my reading list, it’s on the other side of Mahabharata, the Iliad, the Aeneid, the Odyssey, Circe, and The Golden Ass), Gilgamesh is actually the next tale in the queue. And I “only” have 500 pages to go in Bright Sword before I can start reading Gilgamesh. Ergo, motivation.

How does someone manage to perform a one-man show of Gilgamesh? I’m looking forward to finding out, and viewing the performance can enhance my project in the same way that the King Arthur-related movies did. Maybe he’ll come back next year and do Beowulf again. By that time I might be ready for it.

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Knitwise, both of the current projects are still coming steadily along. (Except for Saturday. For some reason I didn’t knit a stitch on Saturday. Maybe my hands needed a tiny bit of a break.)

I made it through a week of knitting on the shawl without making any mistakes. Huzzah! And though I have not yet knit up the tiny ball of yarn that I made from the center yarn-barf of the centerpull ball, I’m getting closer.

The lace wrap is going okay as well. It’s now longer than the little tape measure that I keep in my wipes container knitting toolkit, so I had to fold it over to measure it. It’s about 32 inches long; in a few days I should may be able to add the third ball of yarn to it and knit my way to the finish.

And I have cast on for a third project, which is particularly good for working on in the waiting area at my mechanic’s shop. (Ask me how I know.) I am not sure that it looks like anything recognizable yet, but after a couple of repeats you’ll be able to imagine how the whole thing will look. By then it should be either much easier or much harder to photograph.

Anyway, this pattern should use up all four balls of Plymouth Encore (Royal Blue). By the time I am done, I will be ready to look for another WIP to knock off my list.

It’s also possible that I may have picked up a knitting commission by then, to re-created a beloved knitted blanket that was lost in a fire. The former owner is looking for reference photos for me to use, and we’ll see how hard it will be for me to take on. I doubt that any cash will change hands; we haven’t discussed any compensation, but I may just ask the fellow to buy the yarn I’ll use. If I do the job, I’ll count it as a good deed done for the universe.

Recovery mode

This weekend I attended three events that put me in the company of multiple other human beings. These were happy occasions, but I’m finding that it does take me some time to recover afterwards — and some time to prepare beforehand. And now I have just enough time to take a few long, cleansing breaths before sleeping, waking, and diving into an even busier week. Here goes!

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I have made no headway on the Impossible Read, but I have decided to forgive myself for it. This is the most hectic part of the spring semester and there just simply has not been a lot of free time for me. When I open the book again, I would like to enjoy at least one or two chapters — uninterrupted. I don’t see that kind of free time popping up this week or weekend, either.

I’ve certainly been accumulating plenty of other books in the meantime, and I’m going to do a graphic novel project with one of our instructors over the summer. In preparation I have been making a stack of the graphic novels that I have already read. (Marj, did I give you the John Lewis trilogy? I don’t need to have it back; I’m just wondering to whom I passed it along.)

I’ve noticed that I have a greater tendency to “pass along” graphic novels than regular ones. Maybe it’s because I want someone else to share the experience. Maybe it’s because I don’t think I will read the book again. I’m not sure.

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Knitwise, I have finished the knitting sections of the KAL scarf. There are just a few bits left to do: weave in the ends from the knitting, and add the crocheted edging to each end.

The ends aren’t woven in yet, but they ARE tucked under the rest of the work.

Of course, nothing can really be that simple. Weaving in the ends, I know how to do. And there are only four of them. So I can take care of that at my leisure — which I won’t have much of this week. If I do just one a day, that might satisfy my need to put things in order while I prepare for the other steps of finishing the scarf:

Choosing the yarn for the edging. The pattern suggests that the crocheted edging should be done in a complementary or shockingly contrasting color. Right now I have no idea what to pair with this lavender-ish, mauve-y wool. My plan is to stash-dive for some candidates, then solicit the opinions of more experienced knitters who are more accustomed to working with multiple colors.

Watching the video demonstration of the crocheted edging. Knowing that most of his knitting followers are not crochet experts, the designer created a video to show us how to do just enough crochet. I’m sure that it will be very helpful. I haven’t looked at it yet, and I will do so after I weave in the ends from the knitting.

Calling for backup. I’ll watch the crochet demo with a friend who should be able to explain anything that I don’t understand.

Actually crocheting the edging. I should probably do this under some supervision.

I have continued to make progress on my other project as well — and I even remembered to take progress shots.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

As you can see, the pattern alternates between even numbers of rows in a garter-stitch pattern and rows in an eyelet pattern. One line of the instructions might call for me to knit six rows; the next might call for me to knit thirty-six. My goal is to do what I can comfortably do, and to try to keep doing some knitting every [work] day. It’s a simple pattern that only requires a small amount of concentration — just what I need right now. The fact that it changes color all by itself is a lovely bonus.

Return of the story generator

This weekend my story generator, which has been pretty much dormant since I was an undergraduate creative writing major in the mid-1980s, came back to life. Back in the day, I was in a writing workshop pretty much every semester, and I was also taking quite a few literature courses (I wound up with a second major in literature). So I was reading, writing, and talking about reading and writing almost all the time. It got to a point where I would dream up little movies that patiently stayed in my head until I wrote them down and turned them into short stories for class.

After I graduated the story generator fizzled out from lack of use, though I did have small creative sprees every so often in which I would write a batch of stories, try to start a novel, or compose lyrics for a dozen or two country songs. For many years I was writing, editing, and proofreading for a living, and eventually I was spending all my time trying to raise four children. That calls for a different kind of creativity.

This morning I woke up and realized that I was mentally writing lines for the biography I’m currently researching, and I was also visualizing two different cover concepts (and titles) for the book. The work I have been putting in to do something, or at least think of doing something, every day on the project must have finally primed that pump again.

This week is spring break on my campus, so all the instructional staff are likely to be away. Over lunch and after work I will be trying to do a lot of project-related reading about the history and development of science fiction. It should help me get into my subject’s head, and maybe it will help me start to get some words down “on paper” as I figure out the structure of the biography.

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This week, after last week’s prediction of what I would do each day for the Impossible Read, I made absolutely no progress on the Impossible Read. Maybe I would be better off to predict that I won’t read a single page. That way I can be defiant and productive. I’ll show me I can’t boss me around! I might be able to see through my own reverse psychology, though. We’ll see what happens.

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Knitwise, last week I started knitting the second half of my KAL scarf after agonizingly picking up those 45 stitches from the cast-on row. After knitting four rows, I saw what looked like a mistake on the first couple of stitches in the first row, and I decided that night that I was okay with that and would not correct the mistake. The next morning I woke up and knew that I was not okay with the mistake, and I would un-knit every stitch and make it right. After I started again, I saw the area and realized that the mistake was either in the first row of the first half of the scarf, or someplace related to the cast-on row. At that point I realized that I was okay with that and would just keep moving forward again.

This is the “wrong” side of the scarf, where the pick-up from the cast-on edge will be hidden from view.

On the “right” side, the transition between the halves of the scarf is more subtle.

Now I just have to continue in this pattern until I have 12g remaining of my ball of yarn. Then I’ll work the border pattern and bind off.

After the body of the scarf has been knitted, it will be time to choose a complementary or contrasting color and do a bit of crochet on each and, covering the bind-off. Franklin has created a video demonstration of the crochet, and I won’t watch it until I get to that point in the project.

In an attempt to learn from my failure to proceed on the Impossible Read, I’m aiming for a minimum of two rows on this project every day. There will be no penalty for exceeding this amount (except for any pain in my hands).

After this project is done, I will look forward to knitting something with bright colors. I’m not sure what it should be. If you have suggestions — or if you want to remind me about an unfinished project that I really should finish — please leave a comment.

Between the snows

We were hit with a little bit of snow a week or so ago, but it has gradually melted away thanks to the combination of rain and warmer temperatures. I have not run into one person who has been sorry to see it vanish. We may get another week of mild temperatures before getting absolutely socked with several inches of snow — but of course the predictive models aren’t as accurate as they used to be, with our having broken the climate and all. Today it looked and felt like mid-March outside, not the end of December. March in Wisconsin is a damp yellowish brown, with marshy soil and patches of mud. It’s not particularly pleasant, and I hope that the flora and fauna don’t get their signals crossed and start acting like it really is springtime.

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I haven’t checked in a while, but I’m pretty sure that my copy of The Mists of Avalon is still sitting in my home library, marked at page 766 and starting to collect dust. The holidays have kept me busy lately, but I would like to pick up the book and get to the end of it this week. Imagine — a whole year spent reading two novels about King Arthur, and I only have two more King Arthur novels left to go!

On the other hand, I have been doing more work on my scholarly/writing project: ordering more materials via Inter-Library Loan, evaluating the loaned materials I already have, downloading and reading articles on my subject, and creating photo albums of my visual documentation. I’ve also come across a couple of writers who are/were not only the authors of references that I’m using, but models for me of how to write on somewhat technical topics with a flowing, inviting style. One of them wrote a praiseworthy book that has actually been on my shelves (unread, I’m sorry to say) for more than a decade. Now that I have an additional motivation for reading her book and noting her style, I will be trying to fit it into my nonfiction reading schedule.

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Knitwise, I’m either done with the second pink section on my scarf or I have knitted too much and I need to take out a few rows, depending on how you look at it. This last week I kept trying to make time for knitting between the tasks I was doing to welcome guests over on Christmas evening. I was measuring my progress on this section by looking at how much yarn I had left, and it looked like I still had several rows to go before I was done. However, when I set up the scarf for this week’s progress shot and measured it, it seemed that I had gone four rows past the mark that would have made the pink sections the same length. When I counted the rows in each pink section, it seemed that I had actually gone eight rows past the mark.

Now, what does a knitter do? Well, it depends on what kind of knitter you are. I could tink a few rows of perfectly good knitting to make the sections mathematically equal. That will give me a small ball of leftover yarn that I really don’t need. Or I could switch to the next color stripe right now and call the sections “close enough” to the same length, which gives me a smaller ball of leftover yarn that I don’t really need. Or I could keep knitting until I’ve used up as much of the pink yarn as I can, then switch to the other yarn for the stripes that finish off the scarf.

Which kind of knitter am I? The one who’s knitting a scarf and not a mathematical construction that needs precision in order to keep my neck warm. And the knitter who would like to finish this scarf and make something else.

Preparing to prepare

This week I received two more texts that I’m eager to study. One was notable because of the lack of reader markings; it’s in excellent condition, and the reason I’m studying it is because it has a printing history unique of all of the copies of this book I’ve seen so far. The other book was purchased on a hunch because I knew it was inscribed and dated by the owner, and I hoped that those were hints that there would be more markings inside. And I was right! Some marks were made by ballpoint pen and others were made by pencil. Initially I thought the marks were made by different readers, but then I saw something that made me thing they were made by the same man. Eldest isn’t completely sold on my argument, though. I’ll need to come up with some better evidence.

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Impossible Read Update! This week I did manage to read a few more pages in The Mists of Avalon, bringing me all the way to page 759. Yesterday I was at Barnes and Noble and saw a hardcover copy of The Bright Sword — all 688 pages of it. At $36 I think I’ll wait for the paperback. Of course, by the time I am ready to read it, it will be in paperback.

A friend who is retiring at the end of the semester dropped a copy of Malory’s Le Morte Darthur in our department’s free library and I snapped it up. I’ll read it the next time ’round. Thanks, Maija!

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Knitwise, I haven’t been able to do much knitting during the week. I have been dashing off to work in the morning, then dashing back home again at lunchtime to walk the dog, eat a little something, and dash back to work. By the time I get home in the evening and have 2 or 3 more dog-walks to do, I’m too tired to do much else. I did knit a stitch here and there, but it wasn’t until the weekend that I was able to sit down and make any measurable progress on the scarf.

Speaking of measurable, the scarf is now about 40 inches long and there are 24 grams left of this lighter grey yarn. We are headed for Stripe City, Bind-Off Row, and the Weaving-In of All Ends.

It was easier to measure the scarf when it was folded in half.

Next up will most likely be a hat for myself, knitted according to my friend Mary’s recipe. Yes, I do have a hat that I knitted for myself, but I recently realized that I knitted it 20 years ago. Surely I can justify knitting myself a winter hat more frequently than once every twenty years.

I’m thinking about using some yarn that was sent to me — and probably spun by — a fellow member of a Ravelry forum several years ago. If I remember correctly, the yarn is a dark blue-purple; I wonder what color would complement it if I decided to add some thin stripes (as my friend Mary often does in her hats). Maybe some of my own handspun wool, whatever the color, would be a fitting addition. My friend is no longer with us, but since she was one of the original subscribers to this blog, her quiet little email account in Australia gets a notification every time I publish a new post. She sent me some of her yarn in a care package, so it’s only fitting that I make it into something that will take care of me.

Take it back!

Now that I have the attention of my fellow high school marching band members, let me reassure you that I’m only talking about my current knitting project. It is constructed using the second-easiest pattern I can think of (the easiest is cast on n stitches, knit across, turn), and I have still managed to somehow screw it up.

Something’s happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear.

I don’t know what I did here — knitters, count four from the rightmost stitch on the left needle — so I don’t know what to do to undo it. My plan is to un-knit (tink, get it?) this row and the previous row until I reach this point, at which the nature of the error will probably be made clear. And then I can fix it and go forward again.

It may be that I didn’t do anything wrong until I thought that I dropped a stitch, and tried to fix things by picking up a stitch. So maybe the problem is that I picked up a stitch when I didn’t need to. That’s still a problem that I can better assess when I reach the previous row, and I can still fix it by going backwards one stitch at a time.

I was so close. I calculated that I could knit 10 rows (five ridges) in this color before switching to the heather grey and finishing off the shawl with a stripe, a row of eyelets, and a bind-off row. But now we go back, go back, go back — go back to where we were. Then we go forward again.

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I’ve gotten no further on the Impossible Read in the last week, but I’ve made great progress on the final class paper — which will be the basis of the final PowerPoint and the final in-class presentation. I’m not overdoing it, I’m not overdoing it, I’m not overdoing it.

Okay, I might be overdoing it — but just a little bit. Dr. Lango, you did tell me to create a programmatic intervention detailed enough that someone else could run it. Well, here you go. (On December 2, that is.) Twelve-page paper, references, syllabus, and end-of-class survey. It’s all there — or at least it will be by the deadline. I would also create a Canvas course for my intervention, but that might be overdoing it.

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Knitwise, since I’m within sight of the end of the current knitting project, I’m already thinking about what I’d like to have next on the needles. My friend Mary has been knitting a series of hats, which is something I could also do if I find a stash yarn that calls out to me. She’s thinking about wristwarmer patterns, too, which brings to mind my failed attempt at the owl-themed wristwarmers. I’m willing to start those over when I have good light and uninterrupted time. I’ll also rewrite those cable instructions out in a way that I will understand this time around.

Getting there…

Everything old

This week a friend and I went to a showing of a 124-year-old house. We had the best time going through every room, seeing what remained from the original build, wondering what could be kept and what used to be there, and thinking about how the whole place could be restored to glory. Alas, it wasn’t the right time for us to put in a bid on the property, but the experience led me to doing a bit of research on the skills and tools that would be necessary to restore such a house. So, for now, we’ll work on that.

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This weekend I added another mid-century Smith-Corona to my collection. The seller had another typewriter that she (and her granddaughter) loved to type on, and this one was a bit extra. So, to a good home it needed to go — which it has now done.

I think this vintage desk needs a vintage office chair.

I’ll try to do my free-typing with this machine for a while to help me figure out what makes it tick and what it needs from me. Unfortunately, its T, G, and N keys tend to stick and those type bars need to be manually pulled back down before I can type the next letter. I suspect that there’s just a lot of grease and dust involved and that everything will need to be cleaned out.

But the carriage return works! Sometimes it’s a matter of what failings you’re willing and able to tolerate.

With regard to the Impossible Read, I am now on page 274 of The Mists of Avalon. I’m now digging into the stories behind the story and I look forward to each stretch of time when I can curl up (sometimes literally) with the book.

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Knitwise, I completed the knitting portion of the current Secret Knitting Project. I’ll give all the pieces a little photo shoot before and after I wash and dry them; the pieces are different colors, and I want to be careful that they don’t bleed onto each other or anything else. This may help a couple of the pieces, which were made from a rather stiffer yarn than the others, soften up. I have my fingers crossed that everything will shrink at about the same rate.

After the “laundry” step of the project comes the final step: assembly. Here’s where I will need a good block of time in which to concentrate, test, experiment, and think things through before doing anything I can’t [easily] undo.

At this point, there is no new deadline for the finished project. If I can do the washing and drying this week, though, I’ll be more prepared for whenever a new deadline is established. When that might be is completely beyond my control, since this is a gift tied to an event I’m not helping to plan.

But this means that I can start Actual Knitting on a new project, and I think that I’ve found one.

Last weekend while I was out of the house on an errand, SecondSon stopped by with a couple of belated birthday gifts. One is a beautiful lined, hardbound journal that I will probably start writing in next week. He had no idea that I was so close to filling up my current journal; the universe must have whispered something in his ear. Ironically, I have been actively searching for the Next Journal for the last couple of weeks, and I have rejected everything that I came across.

The second gift is a yarn bowl hand-turned, carved, and polished from a glorious chunk of butternut wood. I have no idea where he found it, but it’s amazing. When you see it, you want to stroke it and cuddle it.

This photo washes out the colors.

Of course, now that I have such a lovely accessory to use, the yarn that goes inside it must be worthy. This isn’t a vessel into which I’m going to pour Red Heart.

That’s more like it!

It is, however, a vessel in which I’m willing to pour two cakes of black Peruvian alpaca/wool blend that I snagged at Goodwill somewhat recently. And I found a pattern on Ravelry called Cozy Cables, for a set of wrist warmers that feature not only cables but owls. It’s a free pattern by Amanda Jones; check it out!

The weather here keeps swinging between beastly hot [right now] and downright dangerous [later tonight], so a 41-row flat-knitted project feels workable even if it’s using a dark alpaca blend. The only thing I seem to be lacking is a set of US 8 single-points. (Then again, I always seem to be lacking those.) Fortunately, the pattern calls for me to cast on 38 stitches on US 7s and knit K1P1 ribbing for 14 rows before switching to the larger needles. I think I might be able to handle that, especially if I knit in the air conditioning.