huh?

Sports Clinic Dr. Guy: I think I know exactly what's going on here.

Mr. Sophanne: What is it? A sore knee?

Sports Clinic Dr. Guy: A sore knee. It will go away. Physical therapy might help. Meantime here are some even stronger drugs (who knew there was stuff out there stronger than percoset?) so maybe you can sleep for more than an hour at a time.

Those of you who intuitively knew that it's "sick husband house" around here are completely right except he's not really exaggerating.

Tonight's attempt at domesticity came in the form of frozen burritos baked with salsa/bean/cheese layers over them. One would think that 40 minutes at a preheated 350 degrees would have done the trick. Not so. Still a little bit frozen inside. How can that be? You can zap those babies for 2 minutes in the microwave and they're blazing hot.

Fortunately Mr. Sophanne had Chinese food earlier in the day and wasn't hungry. Unfortunately he was sleeping and unable to tell me that there was "ra-men" (what he calls lo mein) in the refrigerator for me.

Liza is still completely puzzled at all household events making it clear that she can still pee on the carpet when she wants and chooses to do so when no one around has the energy to be the pack leader.

74

The number of unread blog posts. How can this be?

Mr. Sophanne has blown out his knee.

I made biscuits and gravy for dinner.

so surreal. all of it.

a change in course

Remember all those hard projects I've got going on? No? That's o.k. I'm tired of knitting hard things. Right now my favorite thing to work on is my Brooklyn Tweed Noro scarf and my eezy peezy socks. I might even frog Salt Peanuts and try something easier. There's no rule that says you have to knit the next hardest thing. If there is, I'm breaking it for a while.

conversations and clarifications

Mr. Sophanne- Writing isn't an expensive hobby but he spends a lot of money supporting my knit night by going to the slots. I wonder if he considers this as cost to my hobby.

Closing Ceremony of the Olympics- After the vastness of the opening ceremony, I think China has 3 choices. Jed Clampett (ya'll come back now y'hear), Porky Pig (th th th that's all folks) or somebody in a Chairman Mao mask waving and saying "bye bye".

Smocking- saw some live and in person smocking last night. Still trying to wrap my brain around it.

KNQDebbie has been MIA from knit night lately. Plans are to get the weed killer from Claire's husband and write a message in her very likely tall grass ala the wicked witch of the west- except it will say DEBBIE COME HOME!

I'm wondering if the Knit Shoppe will tell us if/when their knit night is reinstated- or perhaps this summer canceling was a way to weed out undesirable clientele.

My favorite words to hear yesterday had to do with "suffering fools gladly."

Did I mention that the teachers went back for an inservice yesterday?

Live and In Person

Saw this somewhere else and at notscarlett's blog. Mr. Sophanne said he'd play.

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
You like it. It's something you enjoy

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
It's messy sometimes. It's clutter.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
The hats.

Me: Those were crochet honey.
I like the one sweater you have.

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
It's not expensive but it's pricey. It can become compulsive.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
yes

Me: What are your hobbies?
writing


Me: If we compared money spent on hobbies, who would win?
It's even.

Me: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
never

Me: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
alpaca

Me: Can you name another blog?
I don't know any blogs.

Me: Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go?
no not at all. Gives you something to do. I do heroin. That's a joke.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Is that like a piece of fabric you look at?

Me: It's something you knit
I have no idea- it's not a watch and it's not a piece of carpet you look at.

Me: Do you read my blog?
no

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
yes, ehh, I don't think so. no.

Me: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
Happy everybody's happy and I'm happy too.

In knitting- Just as the gymnasts seemed to be overshooting some of there landings last night, I overshot the front below the sleeve on the left side of Salt Peanuts last night. It's frogged and ready to go now. I didn't join ravelympics but maybe this is a trial run. Back and most of left front done.

TRAMPOLINE!?!?!?!?!?

Oh the many things I never knew about Summer Olympic Events.

eta- I wonder if there is synchronized trampoline

Just a nice day.

So I went to Mountain Mama's house.

She lives in a beautiful rural area. In a house that feels like a vacation home every time I visit.

We played with Baby Ben, picked zucchini and onions from the garden, made bachini bread-it's when you don't have quite enough zucchini and supplement with banana (she did the picking and making while I did the playing) and accidentally planned the first week of school so that we wouldn't stress out about it so much.

I didn't get pictures but it was relaxing and one I'd like to read about when life gets a little stressful.

Some Final thoughts on Stuff

Moving "stuff" from downstairs to upstairs does not always decrease the amount of stuff. It does allow for some culling of stuff which is always a good thing.

In the same way that I think startitis in knitting should really be called start-o-rama, I believe there is an aspect of stuff to be examined. The stuff that "clutters" my bookshelves are mementos, gifts from friends, students and colleagues that are important to me. They are souvenirs of the places I've been and the people I've known. They help me remember who I was, who I am, and who I can become. I say thanks life for being o.k. enough for me to have stuff to want to remember it by.

Room One- Mostly Done

Yea, so I wasn't too impressed with this until I took a second gander at the before pictures. The reason I say mostly done is because that pile-o-stuff on the bed belongs at school and is here for only one more week. Upstairs I go.

Intermission

All bookshelves have been moved. More pictures tomorrow. I believe there is something significant in the wall solutions that have come via the interwebs.

Yarnhog gave step by step advice. Yvonne and Deborah both said it was easy to fix- just hard to match the paint. (Painting the wall was not out of the question)

When Mr. Sophanne saw it he said "We'll get an electrical box and a blank plate and make it look like former wiring."

The Claw said-

Miss Sophanne – allow me to prescribe an easy, no mess, no fuss sure-fire way to deal with the damaged wall. There will be no need to make a trip to Lowes for supplies and a return trip to Lowes because you forgot something on the first trip. There will be no need for cleanup afterwards and you will not be adding to the clutter with the left over supplies. And, you will at the same time lower your clutter problem. Considering all of this and the fact that I know you – go to one of the clutter sites – grab a picture and hang it over the hole. the Claw

I like the way the boys think. If only they could wrap their minds around clutter.

Also there was NO pogo stick in the "bad room." It was a keyboard stand (sold to me by the Claw)

The Move- a docudrama

Those of you who have known me for any length of time are familiar with my propensity for clutter. I am to clutter what PigPen is to a cloud of dust. It's always worse in the summer because of the things I need to bring home from school.

My clutter lives in 4 places in the House of Sophanne. Most of it is in a small basement office, pictured below.




It accumulated here when I became Mrs. Sophanne and moved into Mr. Sophanne's house. If I didn't know what to do with it, it went here. Also compounding this collection was the amount of time it took Mr. Sophanne to realize that I had hobbies and they would take up space. His interests aren't so space intensive.

Of late this clutter has been spreading to here:


.

There is also a decent sized pile of clutter in the knitting in front of the t.v. seat and the next to the bed shelfy thing. The "stuff that makes me happy" is all over the house. Most of it in a teeny office next to the mud room. Before I collected yarn, I collected books. Before there were ipods, I collected cd's.

Today all "stuff" will be going to the "real" room and the extra bed will be going to the mini office. This entails moving books, bookshelves, and a bed up and down 13 narrow steps.

I've made a good start, but not without difficulty




Note to self- just letting the mattress (however soft it seems when used properly) slide down the stairs is probably not a good idea. Hey Claw- send an email telling me how easy this will be to fix.

OUTRAGE

I have political views. It's not what I blog about. The contrast between these two photos makes me so angry that I don't have words but need to get it out there.

Purple Velvet Malabrigo = Salt Peanuts

The LineUp

All right ma'am, calm down. Can you pick the suspect from the lineup?

No officer I can't, they all look the same in the daylight.

Look closely. Maybe there's one that you recognize as the instigator.

I told you before. If it had been just ONE I could have escaped. There were just so many.



Are you sure you didn't do anything to encourage them? Perhaps a suggestive sniff or fondle?

Well I may have accidentally brushed against one as I was passing by.

We have a witness who claims she's your sponsor and tried to discourage this behavior through a serendipitous cell phone call. Can you confirm or deny this?

Do you mean Yvonne? She was just calling to talk to Amy If she were REALLY trying to discourage such an infraction she would have suggested Amy do an intervention.

I see.



It appears this is your second offense. You may be able to shorten your sentence if you finish a few projects but I really don't see that happening. As it stands, you are suspended from all LYS until January or until at least 75% of your projects are completed.

zzzz..... oh hai...must have been napping. I got some new yarn. Do dishcloths count as FO's?

BFF and Creator of Cool Stuff.... The Claw

I've mentioned him before but now it's time for a tribute post and a sneak peak at the workings of The Claw.

What I don't have pictures of is the inside of his circa. 1950 house. EVERYTHING (including a working telephone) is of the period thanks to ebay. It is amazing, astounding, and beautiful down to the smallest detail. That will be the next tribute post.

Lately he's been playing with toy pianos. He buys them on ebay, takes the cool parts of old discarded beautifully woodworked "real" pianos and these are just a few of the results:





My real intent today though is to show all of the things I've acquired from The Claw over the years. Sadly, one of my favorites was lost in a bad break-up. I thought I'd cleared the house of all things "mine" and realized that the box he built around an antique post office box "door" is no longer with me. Oddly enough, the ex did not include it when he sent me a giant box of my belongings that included one stray sock. Moving on...

The Claw had some wicker seats that needed refurbishing. He purchased the materials (in bulk) and rewove the seats. He had plenty of materials left. What to do? How about some lamps? Both are woven around the top and base with the "stuff" he used on the seats. The brown one (can you see the jungle theme) is actually the wrapping paper from a souvenir I brought to him from South Africa. I'm not even going to try to explain how he did this. Water and stretching and stuff were involved.




It would have been really nice if I had done a little de-cluttering for these next piece but I thought that those of you with small children might be able to play "find the..." with the pictures as you admire the handiwork.

This is the most recent acquisition in the collection. I will be using it as a plant stand. Right now it's holding one of the earliest pieces- a music/sewing/notions box that plays "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" If the picture were a tad clearer you would see that the leg of this table is from an antique piano and as the Claw pointed out, the whole thing was made of discarded piano parts.



Did I mention that at one time The Claw was a masterful tailor? The kind where you look, cut and sew without a pattern? He made this for me during my "sewing phase." Pictured in front of it are the refurbished (with no small effort) real jingle bells from a previous post.


He also made me an authentic "clarinet" lamp from a discarded instrument (the kind people bring to the music store and say "Is this worth anything?") If I recall correctly he made a tidy profit on several of these creations (much more than if they had been sold as instruments) The trashy-a$$ed lampshade is my own- I'm on the lookout for just the right one.


The largest piece in the Claw collection is this dressing table (here is the "Find The.." game). It's really beautiful and the only piece of furniture that I own that I would be sad to lose.


In addition to his creative greatness, he's also a really really good friend that I know I could count on any time. He's very wise and has a giant heart with an authentic way of being. Here's to you CLAW!

Feel free to make him blush..let the comments commence

Narcolepsy and Band Camp

One of the biggest fears I have as summer nears its end is the fear of narcolepsy. Right now I can nap as I please, never worried about being tired at inappropriate times. It's difficult to believe that my body will accept being active for more than 5 hours at a time without demanding sleep. I've managed to make it work every other year but I fear it nonetheless.

I will be tested today as I teach clarinets for an hour of band camp this afternoon. I retired as a band camp instructor several years ago. Correcting kids about where they were standing (within inches of a 100 yard field) began to feel inane to me. This week and next I'm a "substitute" band camp sectional instructor for a couple of days (not nearly as demanding as full time.)

In band camps past I've been young, quick, hip, funny, clever, instructive, and patient. Today I am going to be happy if I don't fall asleep. Band camp stories to follow- if there are any.

and now for something completely different...

knitting.

This is a KnitOne kit- some kind of cloud scarf. (cashmere, silk, mohair and alpaca coming together as one) It's a Christmas gift for someone who doesn't read the blog


EZ's EPS. I started out with a plan for the yoke and then decided to "wing it" and do what looked right. I think I need about15 more rows for the yoke. Not sure how far up to take this next bit before I do the last decrease. It's waiting for bravery.


Alpaca February Lady Sweater. There's a miscount in the stitch count thanks to some late night vacation knitting. It's almost ready for sleeves but is a little too warm to work on these days.


This is some silk/merino handspun in a simple k2 yo pattern. Also a gift for a non-reader but I'm hoping to make some fingerless mittens to match.


This is the lettuce leaf scarf in Lorna's Laces. Between it and FLS, my lace comprehension scores are going up. Icarus is on the needles but not enough for a picture.


Sooner or later I'm going to finish one of these. As I try to mentally organize all of my WIPs, there is also a sock on the needles that I forgot about and some Noro for the Brooklyn Tweed scarf (another gift) that is "itching" to cast on.

If anyone has any EZ yoke experience as to where on the body to decrease, I'd appreciate it!

DECADENCE =

Chinese Take-out

Air-Conditioners Cranked

Lifetime Network made for TV movies

Husband happily occupied.

Sleeves attached to the EPS sweater- time to start the yoke.

BANNED FROM LYS

Did I get your attention?

No LYS has banned me from their store. In fact I believe that as soon as word gets out, I'll begin to receive personal invitations to come and shop. It may even behoove some to offer to pay for my travel expenses to go there.

No, this is a SELF-BAN. I'm seriously going to have to shun (ala Dwight) all LYS's until further notice.

Point in fact- Saturday at Yarns Unlimited. I did buy the Traveling Scarf* Koigu as needed. Also acquired was a skein of alpaca sock yarn and 4 skeins of Berroco Alpaca Light (the yarn actually called for in the Stag Bag which I still haven't given up on)

Yesterday I went here to try out a new knit night and came home with enough Noro Silk garden for Jared's scarf and a kit (it was on sale) of yarn for a mohair/wool scarf.

I am not even going to list the WIPS on the needles right now. In one week I have increased my future projects by four.

LYS, I Shun you. (at least until Thursday)

*Hey traveling scarf-ers- where are you re progress? I've sent mine to Marie and am 3/4's of the way done with Deborah's and will soon be passing it along. I have Kim's scarf as well and will begin that next. Let's get those scarves moving! I want to be able to wrap myself in my friends this winter.