hand eye crafts

Daughter is moving back into town.  She has had a devil of a time finding anything, but called a little while ago to say that she and her two roommates will be coming in tomorrow to sign a lease on a house.  Hopefully, everyone will be able to get together and have a celebratory meal. Finally  got the upstairs air conditioning fixed this morning.  Yep, the service calls were that  backed-up.  I'm relieved, but am sure mine is nothing compared to Erin's and Riley's. Spent some time yesterday looking at calendars and thinking about Knitters' Hunk/Chick dates.  May let you in on them tomorrow.  Today, I must end WordFest I. Encephalopathy. Remember, words matter.

I woke up in a really bad mood this morning.  Have you ever done that?  There was no obvious reason for it, I just started the day agrumble. And nothing's happened in the intervening hours to improve my humor. Therefore, I will just leave my word here and move along. Anthropopathism.

My word today is  klipspringer. But it's important to me that you know I'm not referring to the character in The Great Gatsby .  I'm referring to this ungulate*: *Which would make a good starting point should there ever be a Word Festival II.

A couple of the knitting kits I ordered arrived today, along with three skeins of yarn that were clearly bought with something in mind.  I can't, though, for the life of me, figure out what that something is. Why don't I write things down? Used to, I didn't have to write things down. I liked that better. We're coming to the end of the Daily Word Festival.  I unintentionally have long-ish words for the end.  Today's a nice medium-length, I'd say: Choctaw.

Of all the possible animal combinations in this house, these two becoming friends was easily the least likely: Riley is so skittish and demure.  Finn is so rambunctious and demonstrative.  But he's the only one she'll share space with. Meshugganah. In the latest WEBS catalog was a free pattern for these handwarmers: Cute, huh?  And they look sort of complicated, giving them nice character.  But it's a simple 4-row-reapeat pattern using bulky yarn, so they knit up in no time: Love them.

The book I'm reading, Diagnosing Giants , is proving quite intriguing.  It's a collection of thirteen post-mortem diagnoses of some of the most famous people in history.  The stories themselves are engrossing, but what makes this book particularly fun is that the author doesn't tell you whose story you're reading.  He refers to each subject as "the patient" until the time is right for revealing the identity.  It's masterful. I've read seven of the stories, and figured out who five of the patients were before they were indentified.  Granted, one was a wild and, ultimately, lucky, guess.  And one of the remaining stories is known to me because it's been the "hook" all the booksellers and reviewers have been using.  (And a hint --- if you are  interested in reading this, just buy it.  Don't look anything up online because patients' identities are revealed.  I managed to look away from one just a split-second too late and saw the...

Quite by accident today, I came across the first thing I ever knit. Now, my mother got all fancy and put grosgrain ribbon down the inside fronts and made buttonholes.  But a mustardy-olive-y vest with seed stitch (which I have come to dislike doing) accents was my first completed project. Most people, I guess, start with scarves or dishcloths,  Neither my mother, nor my aunts, nor my grandmother (all the knitters I grew up with) ever made dishcloths, strangely enough.  When I gave Mama some washcloths, she was amazed at how sturdy they were and how she could scrub  with them. When Hannah learned how to knit, her first project was a stuffed animal.  No fear, that one. Still consumed with the World Cup.  Still knitting away to it.  Sick and tired of a Bacardi commercial that is being run and run and run and run and run.  I used to kind of like rum.  Not so much anymore. Pled.