Separate Projects

Good October morning to you. By the time I publish this post it will probably be afternoon. And so it goes. The house and my routine are topsy turvy this week. Yesterday afternoon, my husband finished painting the master bath and bedroom, including the closet that runs along an entire wall. Tomorrow we hope to hear from the handyman and his plumber who will replace the bathroom sink and counter-top. After new bathroom flooring is installed, a plumber will replace the toilet. It's a process. We learned a long time ago to hire a plumber and to work on separate projects. I help as I can, feed the painter, and otherwise steer clear. This afternoon I am going to thoroughly clean the bedroom and then we will move the furniture back into place. Some swearing occurs but no blood or paint has been spilled. At the end of the day we are mostly still smiling at each other. I feel fortunate that I don't live in the path of Hurricane Ian so am not complaining. Some discombobulation is the price of progress.  

Most Wednesdays, I look forward to posting with Kat and the Unravelers about making and knitting. I was glad to have a touchstone this week. Kat has a beautiful finished sweater on her post today. 

The last two weeks I knit some on the shawl in the photo. A few years ago I used part of a mini-skein set to knit a shawl for my sister. Her shawl was two shades of blue with a beige/sand color. I bought another full skein of the light blue to add to the mauve skeins and the leftover dark blue. Peaceful garter stitch was a good knit this week. It was nice and orderly. Next up is the lace section. 

I finished the first of the Candy Floss socks and started the second. If you think that is a long foot you would be right. My daughter has a long narrow foot and they are for her. I joined a sock knit along/class at Knit Paper Scissors, my LYS. "Sock Scrimmage" includes four Tuesday evening Zoom sessions with encouragement and teaching of new skills. Friendly competition is involved as we are divided into teams, hence the scrimmage. At the end there is a S'more party at the yarn shop. I love the pun of S'more socks, S'more yarn, and S'more treats. I thought it would motivate me to finish the socks and be fun to support the shop. 

In the last two weeks, I made the fall embroidery piece into a small square coffee table quilt and have begun quilting. I'll write more about it when it is finished. 

I listened to The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi. This is the second in a trilogy and follows The Henna Artist. Once again, I enjoyed the vocabulary of Indian culture, the descriptions of food, fabric, customs, and remedies. Part of the story is set in the Himalayas and some in Jaipur. The audio narrators had wonderful voices. This is a lighter novel and spoiler alert: it has a happy ending. I am reading The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths. It's hard to believe this is the fourteenth book in the Ruth Galloway mystery series. Ruth, Nelson, and the familiar cast of characters are entering the pandemic. Ruth, as always, is very human. I like her slightly overweight but intelligent witty middle-aged character.

Now I've got to wipe down floorboards and vacuum corners that haven't seen the light of day for awhile. Candy Corn to the rescue. Also, this week I learned that lavender blooms when it is watered. Go figure. Have a good week.