A Quiet Week

I am always a bit wary of posting a title like this for any blogpost.  It invariably means the week will end up insane at the last minute. But so far, not much has gone on.  In a week where I have court at least three mornings and some afternoons, I have only the a.m. and p.m. docket tomorrow.  I need to complete some paperwork and reports due to the office tomorrow.  I want to get ahead on scheduling visits for the next six weeks and I should put a dent in that without much trouble (famous last words...).  A threatening winter storm and a trial held over for one of us caused a meeting to cancel.  I did have a few visits this week - one that took me the better part of a day because it was 80-something miles away, but that was fairly uneventful.  Another meeting was canceled for other reasons. In other words, work has not been as crazy as it has been from time to time. No complaints there - I'm sure things will turn around sooner than later:)!

I did have a wonderful lunch with a dear friend I hadn't seen in a while and that was truly nice.  

The family are all doing well; thankfully everyone is healthy and the flu that threatened the grandkids and their parents seems to have abated.  

We even had a few warm(ish) days. But now it is cold - the kind of cold that creeps into your bones, with the cold humidity of the wet ground, mud, and melted snow.  The brighter March sunshine, though it eases the dreariness, seems powerless in the face of the unrelenting cold. The DH, a man with the internal temperature of a woman in the midst of menopause, loves it. Ours is a constant battle over adjusting the thermostat.

On the knitting front, there is not much to show, but a bit to report. I finished the Nordic Cowl and gave it as a gift to the good friend with whom I had lunch.

The "Vanna White" in this picture is penultimate offspring, S. (Thanks, S!) It should keep the recipient extra warm during what have been difficult days for her. I decided to finish it with a three-needle bind off because it was a better match for the purled turning row between the two sections and because kitchnering 228 stitches was not a pleasing prospect - though had it been a better choice I like to think I would have done it.

The Truckbeth Carbeth remains in "time-out," through no fault of its own.  I have been obsessed with finishing the Bright Sweater.  Right now I am on the twisted stitch ribbing and for some bizarre reason, it feels like it's taking FOREVER.  I am both a 'picker' and a 'thrower' (or 'English' and 'Continental' if you prefer), however for the most part I prefer to knit 'Continental' because it is much faster for me and a gazillion times easier to alternate knit and purl stitches.  Were I to knit this as a thrower, I would be tearing my hair out.

It doesn't help that I decided to add another 10 rounds of ribbing to increase the length.  This sweater is very oversized, but somewhat short and I just need a couple more inches in length to cover some less-than-optimal bits on this old frame. So far, it's looking pretty good....

It's difficult to see the progress because the picture is taken from farther away to enable me to get the whole thing in the frame. The stitch holder is keeping live stitches for the top of the sleeve. Approximately five inches down  - if you can see it in the picture - is the underarm.  I've been measuring my length from that point. The twisted stitch ribbing takes in quite a bit - though it's on the same size needles - which may be why it feels like it's taking so long. I have to say though, that this has been a delightful pattern to knit.  We'll see how the fit turns out:) - I do appear to be on gauge for this one-size-fits-all (HAH) sweater, so fingers crossed!

In other knitting news, Mason-Dixon Knitting have started a new March Mayhem - voting starts on the Ides of March. There will be - as last year - four rounds of votes to winnow the number down to "champion" patterns - one in each of four categories: Yokes, Sweaters, Neck and Shoulders, and Mini-Skeins. An unusual breakdown, but given the number of wonderful patterns available on Ravelry for sale, understandable. I have a few of the patterns and confess to purchasing a few more last night.  Many of the designers are my own favorites; others I never knew about before yesterday. Another win:)!

As to my own mumblety-mumblety unfinished projects, I pulled out anything that I had not yet begun into hibernation, renamed them for the year in which I was hoping to actually start them.  In June, I plan on going through all of them and frogging those I know I won't finish.  The yarn should be used for something else or given to someone else rather than sit on a shelf unused.

That's all for now.  Until next time,

God be with you 'til we meet again+