Not One Of My Favorite Wednesday Nights

Well, the dental ordeal is 1/2 over...or maybe 2/3 depending how you figure it. This afternoon was not fun, though part of the problem was that I sort of let myself get a little worked up. I am really not a fan of going to the dentist, though, as I have mentioned, I really, really, really like my dentist. (Big shout-out to Dr. Lambrow and his team!) After all the...well, insert, as Dr. Lambrow said, "a euphemism for grinding," I was finally able to relax a little during all the fitting of the temporary bridge. When it first went in, it was obvious that the back molar was way too tall. "Yowsa," said Dr. Lambrow. So there was a lot of grinding (so much nicer when the grinding is going on outside one's mouth) and fitting and pulling out and popping in, as though this temporary plastic mono-tooth was a piece of Lego and my head was the almost finished Lego edifice. But it fits nicely now and I have a month to let my gum heal before I go back for more impressions. ("Take my wife...please!")

And this evening it is feeling a little throbby but manageable with aspirin. Looks like I'll be back at work tomorrow. Dang it.

But I did manage to get some knitting done at lunch and, look!, I have another finished object. The cutest baby hat ever! (I can say that...I didn't design it, I just knit it.)

I fell in love with this pattern when I saw it on Ravelry and just had to make it. And decided to give it to my boss, the new grandfather, to send on to his brand new grand-daughter. Well, she's a couple of months old now, but this hat might come in handy this winter.

See...I'm all sorts of productive!

Oh, Pshawl!

Just to prove that it isn't all about buying yarn...

This lump....


...got a little spa treatment, soaking in a warm tub for an hour or so...

and is now stretched out and drying out.


Yay! A finished object.

Colors!

Are you ready for some color!?

Here's the Miss Babs that I snaffled when I was building the Wall O'Miss Babs the other day.


Not impressed? Look at those lovely soft colors close up.

I love the bits of soft petal pink.

As for the things I picked up at Webs...here you go.


Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Rainbow. That should make some cheerful socks!

Some Regia in Kaffe Fassett colors. Soft greeny aquas.


A couple of skeins of Aracaunia in a gorgeous rich red. This yarn has some tencel in it, so it has a lovely sheen. I'm thinking shawlette/scarf.


Bright orange Trekking XXL. I've wanted this colorway since I first saw it on-line and when I saw it sitting there by itself on the shelf...I took it.

Finally, some pretty sock yarn in turquoise. A lot of this yarn was from the warehouse, so on sale. I try to limit myself to the close-outs at Webs, though I did buy some full priced yarn this time for some Christmas presents.

And hey, if Duncan's going to get in the way, he's going to be used as a prop.

And now some yarn from other locations.


This is a skein of yarn I brought home from one of my Black Sheep visits. I loved that flash of red in the colorway.

And from the Loopy Ewe:


Some Madeleinetosh yarn. Yummy colors. The blue is called something like Chambray (or Chambray Shirt) and the one in the back, which is a glorious blend of greys and browns and rosey pinks, is called Parchment.

And finally, a limited edition color of Dream in Color yarn. It's called Joy in the Morning and, though it may not show up in this shot, it is blended with a strand of silver so that it sparkles. Pretty, pretty.


Duncan enjoys these photo sessions, I think.

Now That's The Way To Spend A Tuesday

So, no pictures yet of the Webs yarn, but I wanted to write about my nice Tuesday. (Yes, I know it's three days later...what can I say? I'm slow.) We took Tuesday off, as we had no guarantee that the train would not be in late. (As it was, it was on time but even so we didn't get to the house until 10 p.m. or so.) So Tuesday morning I got up and did some laundry and some tidying up and ate some lunch and then went up the Black Sheep. Always a pleasant way to while away some time!

When I got there, Tracy was in the middle of arranging a brand spanking new shipment of Miss Babs yarn up on the wall. There were heaps of gorgeous yarn spread out on the floor. Well, I got all pushy and started suggesting placement of the colors and the next thing I knew, Tracy had laughingly set herself down at the table and I was allowed free rein to hang up all the yarn. I had so much fun doing this. In fact, while arranging the yarn I found a colorway I just couldn't resist...picture of that when I take the pictures of my Webs haul. But look how pretty!!

Tracy also wanted to hang up a mitten, knit from Miss Babs, as a teaser for an upcoming class. And yesterday, when I went back to take the picture up above (I didn't have my camera with me on Tuesday) I suddenly discovered that somehow I had signed myself up for the class! Here's a not-very-good picture of the mitten I'll be making. Or attempting to make.

While poor Mr. Pointy Sticks waited in the hot car (And really?! 92 degrees on September 23rd? That's just wrong!), I stood at this wall and held one skein up against another against another against a third...there were so many beautiful color combinations. Down toward the end of the second row there you can see a light and dark teal...that was one combo that was a strong contender, but I figured mittens in those colors wouldn't really go with any of my winter coats. The seventh skein from the right on the top row was a gorgeous orange (though it looks very red in this picture) and the eighth one was a stunning terracotta....they were both considered, too. In fact, the orange with the wine color in the middle row was another possibility I considered for some time...believe me, the colors worked together. And I love that strong yellow in the top row but i couldn't find anything that it looked good with. (Though I'm not sure I tried it with one of the dark greens...that might have been nice.) I dithered and equivocated and pondered and swapped (while Mr. Pointy Sticks sweated), with lots of helpful comments from Tracy and Joyce and Sue.

And what did I come up with?

Here's ole Duncan grudingly posing with the yarn. These two colors look great together, will look fine with both my red and my navy winter coat, and, for some reason, make me feel about six. I think because I am reminded of a couple of outfits that I had as a little girl. I remember in particular one red and navy dress that my mom made for me. She made so many of my clothes when I was little and I have fond, and very distinct, memories of many of them...the yellow linen dress with the inverted front pleat and the little applique of a teddy bear pulling a wagon with a duck riding in it...the coffee-with-cream colored cotton brocade with the ceramic acorn buttons...the wool plaid skirt that seemed to have hundreds of muted fall colors in it...the Alice in Wonderland dress with the white pinafore...the playsuit with the funny orange birds. One of my favorite garments that she made for me was a pair of pajamas...they were very soft white cotton with slightly shinier white flowers woven into the fabric. And each flower had just a soft smear of color, as though someone had just barely dipped her finger in colored powder and dabbed the cloth. I still have the buttons from those pajamas because she kept them after the pajamas were out-grown and I now have her button box.

And wow, I got sort of far afield there! I could get started on the nice clothes she bought for me at Hutzler's, too...the knit, merino wool, cobalt blue Italian three-piece outfit (short sleeved sweater, cardigan and pleated skirt)...the camel hair coat with mink collar (and man, did I feel sophisticated in that!), but really...that's probably only interesting to me. (Or perhaps a cousin or two to whom the clothes were handed down.)

I ought to see if I can identify any of these outfits in the old pictures we have. There's a rainy day project.

Oh, and another things I'm slow about? Birthday cards...I really did mean to get a birthday card in the mail to my cousin ML. And I haven't yet. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ML!! (And now I think I'm even early, since, unless my memory has failed me completely, her birthday is tomorrow!)

Oh...and how did I manage to put up a new calendar this year and NOT transfer all the birthdays and anniversary's I had on the old one over to the new one!? What an idiot.

I Love A Train Ride

We went up to see Rachel this weekend...primarily to give her the old Camry. So we had to take the train home and, unlike poor Rachel's overnight fiasco, we had a very pleasant trip. We sprang for business class, so we had all the non-alcoholic beverages we could drink and lots of leg and seat room and electric plugs so that I could play stupid computer games for as long as I wanted.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera with me, so no pictures of Rachel or cutie Cooper or any of the wonderful meals we ate or any of the beautiful sights. The leaves were starting to turn and the weather couldn't have been better.

It was so nice to see Rachel. I felt bad Saturday night because we didn't spend as much time as we could have with her, even though that's why we were up there...but she seemed so tired. And then on Sunday things didn't work out....and I was feeling like a lousy Mom. But we spent time together Monday morning and had a nice time and took her shopping for vegetable soup ingredients and that was really good. Made this old Mom feel better.

And yes, I did stop at Webs and I'll put up pictures of my new goodies up soon. I didn't get much...did pick up some yarn for some Christmas presents (I hope), which I probably won't show. And some new sock yarn. In fact, I got a skein of the orange Trekking XXL that I have been lusting after for years.

Owie...

I have 45 minutes until my next pain pill and believe me, I'm counting down the minutes. The tooth is out...in three separate pieces. The last root felt as though it was being pulled down from my brain. It didn't really hurt as I was Novocaine to the max, but I was shaking as my dentist was pulling...and pulling...and pullllllllling on that last piece. Not fun.

Fortunately, it has stopped bleeding, because the gauze pads I was clamping in place were beginning to make me have the repetitive gags.

So....how was everyone else's day, she asks brightly?

Words You Don't Want To Hear Coming Out Of Your Dentist's Mouth

So, I've had this tooth that has been sort of sensitive for a year or two. It's been x-rayed innumerable times, with no signs of anything wrong...I should have told my dentist to just numb me up and drill in there and see what was going on. But have I mentioned that I'm a chicken? So there we were, Mr. Pointy Sticks and I, having dinner at Bertucci's last Monday when I bit into a soft dinner roll and felt...something strange. Sort of as if my tooth had folded slightly. "Oh oh," I thought, "my tooth just broke!" (I've had three or four teeth break over the last four years. It's a familiar sort of feeling.) But, after gingerly feeling around with my tongue...everything seemed okay. But over the rest of the week, the tooth got sorer and the gum started getting puffy...and then yesterday, while eating my lunch of noodles, I felt a sort of "click" in that tooth...and suddenly realized that I could now wiggle it. Or rather, I could now wiggle half of it. "This," I thought, "is not good."

So I called my dentist and told him that I might need to see him next week.

And this morning at 8:30 a.m., the phone rings and it's my dentist's office. "Are you dressed?" asks Marcia. "No," I said, "I was just getting into the shower." "Come in your pajamas," she said. Well, I did take the time to get into some clothes but by 8:45 I was in the dentist chair and getting Novocaine. And then my dentist leaned in, took a look, and said, "Oh, sh........"

Turns out the tooth is split down the middle just like you'd split a log. It's going to have to come out (that happens Monday afternoon) and then my choice is an implant or a bridge. And, given my history of cracked and breaking teeth, my dentist suggests the latter. I keep thinking, "But old people have bridges!"

Man, I wish I'd gotten better tooth-genes. Mr. Pointy Sticks was saying, just the other day, that I have, over the years he's known me, taken much better care of my teeth than he has...and yet he has teeth in great condition. Sigh.

Two-Thirds Over, Darn It All

Why do three-day week-ends go so darn fast? Not that we've done anything terribly exciting. Or really done anything much at all.

I did get a chunk done on the August scarf. It's sort of a Just-A-Little-Red Scarf.


When I started it, I thought, "This is the ugliest scarf in all creation!" I had it at work, working on it but thinking perhaps I should just rip it out, but then one of my co-workers stopped at my desk and just loved it. Thought it was great. So on we go with it!

The pretty stripey socks are all done!


Finished them up on Saturday. And immediately cast on some new socks for a Certain Person. This Certain Person might just recognize the yarn.


Or might recognize the stitch.

Imaginary Friends

So, a couple other blogs I like a great deal…

First, there’s Julia. Julia has three kids…all obviously well above average in smarts and at least one well above average in mischief. And she writes about the kids and her life with such humor and loving exasperation that she can reduce me to tears. From duct-taping her daughter into her clothes or locking her in her room or otherwise containing her, to finding a good school for her older son (see the duct tape post above),to taking the kids swimming...she always makes me laugh. She may spend some of her time weeping, I don't know, but she converts her life into great gobs of good humor.

Then there's Kate, over at needled. Her blog is a recent find for me, one I found by following a link in another (now forgotten) blog. First I realized that she is a designer I like (I love her design in the latest Twist, which is a round yoked sweater with a cityscape worked in the yoke), then I realized that she is in Edinburgh, a city I love, and has beautiful pictures on her blog. And then, as I read back, I realized that she is a young woman recovering from a stroke...and her writing about that recovery is so honest and so painful...just makes me want to hug her. And she is attacking that recovery with such vigor, though I'm sure that it is frustrating and exhausting. But she is out walking the hills around Edinburgh again...and I'm sitting here in Maryland and rooting for her recovery.

Finally...this one is just for my brother. The blue blog is one I read semi-frequently...I tend to lose some interest when Alison gets into her sewing. I can appreciate her skill but I prefer knitting. And her constant calling of her little girl "Wee One" seems a little twee for me...though I understand why she doesn't want to use her kids' real names. But her last few posts have been all about her trip, with her husband and sans kids, to Iceland. And I think her words and pictures will only whet my brother's desire to visit Iceland some day. It does look fascinating.

It Was Done

I finished the July scarf on Sunday the 29th of August. A leetle late. But I think it looks nice.