Home again

I was on the road for 18 days, getting home late on May 29th!  I drove 4,989 miles.  I was tired ... 

In May, I stopped in two places in New Mexico, plus Phoenix, San Diego, Arroyo Grande, Carlsbad, St. George, Grand Junction, Windsor, Fort Collins, Omaha, Kansas City, and Joplin.

As I came home from Kansas City/Joplin, I could see the storm to the west of me, and it finally caught me on the north edge of DFW Airport.  Talk about a deluge and slow traffic -- rush hour, too, and a construction zone.  All we needed was a pileup, but fortunately, everyone was driving very slowly and carefully.  It took me an hour and a half to get from DFW Airport to my place, a drive that normally would have been about 30 minutes. 

Good news is that my order of Grenadine sock yarn from MadTosh had arrived, so I picked it up.  A good friend will get the benefit of these socks.  Pattern:  Catherine.  It was hard to let these go!  But friends be friends . . .

Getting back to life as we know it

It has been three weeks and a day since my life changed forever.  Time to get on with the rest of it.

I have turned my hands back to my knitting and completed my friend, Carolyn's, socks.  Usually, socks are a 2-3 week project, but the time was disrupted by a trip to Omaha for a second celebration of life.  I finished the socks this morning with my second cup of coffee. The yarn is Knit Picks' colorway, Lake Front, and the pattern is Catherine by Kate Blackburn.  I learned a couple of tricks from this pattern.   

Now,  I want to make something for our latest family addition, a boy.  I attended his baby shower last Saturday and can definitely say that he does not need caps!  I deliberately held off on the knitting just so I would know where the gaps are.  He does not have any cardigans or pullovers, and nothing coordinated.  He is due on December 23rd.  Red!  Huskers!  Oooooh . . . .

A Week (almost) with George

Husker's brother, George, spent 4 days, 5 nights with us, arriving Tuesday evening of last week, and leaving Sunday morning.  Husker really does love his brother, and the feeling is mutual.  They are remarkably close.  George made himself very useful during his visit, assisting with his sick bro, and doing small things around the house for me.  Such as change out the AC filter and fix a sticking gate.  Gotta love that.

George came from Omaha on his Harley.  Those things are bigger than you think and there was no space for it in the garage along with our two cars; so, we parked it in the atrium which is a covered and gated entry courtyard at the front of our house.  It made a perfect Harley garage.  I stupidly did not get a shot of the Harley in the space, but hopefully, you can use your imagination ... the space is 6'6" x 10'.  The Harley barely squeezed in! 


My knitting has been in the doldrums with lots of yarn and ideas to work on.  So many new yarns await!  I need to make baby caps for the local children's hospital, socks, Christmas gifts, etc.  But now I have gotten started with a new pair of socks, Catherine, a Gansey pattern of diamonds, by Kate Blackburn.  The yarn is Knit Picks' colorway, Lake Front.   My foot is narrow (AAA), but this pattern required too many stitches cast on, and reducing the CO was going to be a big charting adjustment.   Not in the mood to do that.  So someone is going to get these for Christmas.  Whom do I know that has a medium width foot?

Meanwhile, it rained for 4 days while George was here.  It started out with a drizzle and progressed to a steady gentle shower that came down more than it did not during the 4 days.  Three inches' worth at our house.  We are happy to have it, and grateful that it did not become a flood.  Sections of west Texas flooded such as Midland and Odessa, but you have to see that area to understand why it would flood.  It gets so little rain there that when it comes, there are no gullies and creeks big enough to handle it.  It is Flat with a capital "F".  Even the desert country of the Big Bend experienced some flooding, but they have mountains, and routes for the rains to follow to the Rio Grande.  Meanwhile, the water pours over mesas, into gullies, washes out roads, etc.  They won't see another drop for months.  My niece was in San Angelo, midway between north Texas and the Big Bend, and she said they had a "ton" of rain.