Little Changes and Updates

I've decided to make some minor changes to my blog. I'm going to remove all the free patterns I've posted and post them to a second blog, Strings 'n Things Freebies. We'll see how that works. Just to be on the safe side, I won't actually delete them from this blog until I know everything works the way I want it to. My intention is to give each category a date, then just edit each "date" as patterns are added. I'd also like to have a picture to go with each pattern posted, so that you can see exactly what it is you're downloading before you go to the pattern. Make sense?

Updates... still no water. It's 10:00 a.m. at the time of this writing and I've not seen any service vehicles next door. I really hope this doesn't last very long. I'm feeling the need for a shower. My hair's getting fairly long and doesn't really need daily washing, but I really would like a shower... or a bath... even better. As much as mutual sponge baths could be fun, a nice hot bath or shower is sounding really good right about now. Kate suggested buckets of melted snow to help flush the toilets. That would work if we had that much snow; it's almost all gone now. We do, however, have the lake. If push comes to shove, we can use lakewater for the toilets.

Waterless shampoo... yes.. you can also use baking soda or talcum powder. All you do is sprinkle it in your hair, leave it for a few moments, then brush it out. I may have to resort to that. Our other option is to rent a hotel room and take our clothes to the laundromat until we have water again and send the bill to the landlords.

Enough whining!

John's sweater is coming along very nicely. The left sleeve is almost to the cuff; so close, as a matter of fact, that I want him to try it on again to see just how much further I need to go. I was a little concerned that the sleeve might be too snug on him. There are 75 stitches at the upper arm. A book that I'm referring to for general sizing (Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns) indicates 90 stitches for a 44" chest sized sweater, so I started second guessing my measurements. However, when he tried it on, it fit him just right, just how he wanted it to fit. I suppose I should trust myself a little more, huh?



I may have mentioned before that this house gets pretty chilly in the winter months. (If I didn't, it does.) Last winter, I made myself a pullover vest that I'm pretty happy with (other than the length... it's a bit shorter than I like, really). I've been wearing it quite a bit this winter. To that end, I've decided to make myself another one. This time, though, I'll use the original one as a blueprint... make it longer, make the V a bit deeper. Seeing that John's sweater is nearing completion (well, the end is in sight), I've started my vest. Can we say startitis?

The yarn is, once again, Online's Tessa, in a deep green. It's fully patterned with a knit/purl argyle-type pattern. This is a worsted weight yarn, so it will be a little heavier than the Country Style DK vest, but that's alright. It just means a little more warmth for me. The pattern is a 16 stitch repeat (which means it would be a good one for socks, too) over 32 rows. Once I've completed one pattern repeat, I think it will be a fairly easy pattern to read. I'll let you know. A picture? Certainly!

A final note about the water situation: we live on native land. That means we're not serviced by the city here. And that means we're at the mercy of whomever the neighbour has called to service the system. I only hope they get here quickly. I think the only thing I can do today is sit and knit like crazy. It may help keep my mind off the entire situation.

To that end, I'm off to get those needles clicking!