Lazy

I didn't get a whole lot done yesterday. I decided to start knitting again. I was so emotionally depleted on Friday from thinking all day that I would be called in and be 'downsized' that while passing time till dinner with Bill and Nancye I stopped in Hobby Lobby. That is my candy store. I actually find things there that I like. Anyway, I had decided a few weeks ago to learn to knit socks. I've always been intimidated by turning a heel to make a sock, even though I consider myself a fairly experienced knitter. So, I went to the yarn aisle to look for a book with detailed instructions. Which I found. I also found another $60 worth of awesome yarn. I got some bamboo yarn in 'camo' that is sooo soft. I got a couple colors of 'fisherman wool' to try making the socks, oh and I got a cheap skein of yarn to actually use while I'm learning. When I got home I discovered that the sock instructions take 5(!) double pointed needles, not the standard (I thought) 4 that I had in each size imaginable. Since I wanted to (for once) follow instructions exactly, I put the sock on hold and started a hat using circular needles I already have. I'm enjoying knitting again as I knew I would.

This desire to knit again was reinforced by a blog (isn't everything I do lately influenced by someone else's blog?) written by a proclaimed Luddite (look it up if you don't know what that is) who says that what is wrong with pretty much everything is that no one 'makes' anything anymore. The economy is all service or management jobs. No one produces, creates, fabricates or otherwise 'makes' anything anymore. In the spirit of starting where I am, I am now making a cap, and will make some socks once I get the set of needles. To reinforce his observation, WalMart only carries a token display of needles. I will have to go to an actual yarn shop. This makes my happy, really. I want to support the smaller shops. And, the $60 worth of yarn may have been a cheap(er) preventative move to keep me from getting even more cool yarn when I'm in a shop dedicated to wooing knitters and crafters with awesome displays.

This morning at almost 6am, there was a hard thud, the house shook, and there was a tinkling of something breaking. I got up, pulled on sweats and went to the back door. A smallish tree had come down and hit the house. It was dark, so I couldn't tell what broke. I headed into the bedroom and got some shoes to investigate, and when I sat down on the couch to put them on, saw in the dim light that my grandmother's antique clock had fallen off the mantle. That was the 'broken' sounds I heard. It fell on the whirligig that I got in Germany that is my only Christmas decoration this year. I couldn't deal with it, so I gently picked it up and looked for a flat place to set it. The only place that wasn't piled high was a kitchen counter. It's a couple hours later now, and while I'm dressed I still haven't gone outside to inspect the fallen tree to see if the house itself sustained damage. From a cursory inspection earlier, it looks like nothing happened to the house.

Which brings me to my tasks for today. Besides seeing if any yarn shops are open today, I will dig into the piles of stuff and sort, clean, and put away. I kinda left things pulled out from my last vacation when I sorted. Now it's time to get rid of and repack.

Oh, the Toyota got put into the shop yesterday to be brought up to speed so I can get it inspected and new plates on it by the end of the year. They will call me with an estimate on Monday. I did spend a few hours with my Mom, who came and got me at the shop, and we ate and shopped and ran around a bit. I guess that counts.