Elvis has left the building

Well, not Elvis really. But I did get the very big project that has been occupying most of my time for the last six weeks packed up and in the mail yesterday.

So what to do with myself?

Well, there is the neglected housework (can we say dust 1/2 inch deep?). And the yard full of weeds and things gone to seed.



Need to finish seaming up that afghan, it's about 3/4 done. And the second version of Hudson has been sitting in a heap for weeks, again 3/4 done. And some mending.



I have a little purse to finish up.



And there is a kitchen towel that needs one of those toppers that let you hang it on the refrigerator door handle.

Guess I'll find ways to fill my time.

Merci Christine

It's always both humbling and gratifying to hear from someone who has knit one of my patterns and enjoyed it. So the other day, I was delighted to receive an email from Christine, who not only sent kind words about the Lace Fichu, but also enclosed a translation of the pattern into French, and offered me the use of it. As soon as I am able, I will make available a version of the pattern that includes the translation as a supplement.

In the meantime, I encourage you to visit Christine's blog In Tricot Veritas. The pictures need no translation. Her knitting is lovely, and her chat is tres charmant. (I have probably mangled the French already, but you get the idee.)

All done being grumpy

after my little library hissy fit. I'll just say again, that most of our patrons, children and adults alike, are nice and often very interesting people. It's fun seeing what different, and sometimes unexpected, items they will request. There's the farmer with an avid interest in astronomy, and the retired farmer who now reads extensively in American history, and the accountant who just read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time in her life and loved it, .... And the volunteers are worth their weight in gold, and all will get stars in their crowns: the grandma who likes to read to preschoolers, the young mom who takes on organizing and leading the summer reading program, the high school student who comes in and shelves books and set up a nice spreadsheet for us to track magazine subscriptions, and the woman who once a week takes a huge box of books to the bowling alley (because the senior citizens congregate there on their league day).

Much more to appreciate than to grumble about. Attitude adjusted. Back to work on Saturday with a smile.

Memo

To: The 10% of our patrons who are boneheads

From: The Library Assistant

We are happy to take your donations of books, Often, we can add them to our collection, otherwise we save them for our every other year used book sale. But if you have just cleaned out your basement/garage/attic, don't expect us to store six cartons of of very old books for two years. Keep them yourself until the sale comes around. Or take them to the thrift store. And please, don't give us anything that is torn, or mouldy, or just disgustingly dirty. If you are one of those people who simply can't bear to throw away a book (and believe me, I understand that feeling), hand it to a friend or neighbor, and ask them to put it in the recycle bin for you.

We love children, and want them to feel welcome at the library. This doesn't mean it's OK for you to drop off pre-schoolers in the kids' area and go spend the next two hours on the computer, completely ignoring the fact that they are pulling books off the shelves ten at a time, or loudly fighting, or running behind the circulation desk every two minutes to demand from the librarian the attention you are not giving them yourselves. Oh, and when you are checking out, if your children keep grabbing at the librarian's rubber stamps, tell them to stop it. We don't expect perfect behavior, don't want perfect quiet from kids; we just don't want to be treated like babysitters.

Computer users: we give you a "heads up" ten minutes before the library closes. Log out before that ten minutes is up. Do not keep cruising the web until one (or ten) minutes after closing time. And especially do not then expect to take ten more minutes looking for a book or movie to check out. Also, do not whine if the Internet connection is slow. If it is slow for you, it is also slow at the circulation desk. We all have to put up with it, so just suck it up.

If, thanks to our generous lending policy, you have decided to check out 25 books and 5 movies for your family, please don't rush so fast to get ahead of the patron just moving toward the desk with 2 books in her hand.

Do not interrupt the library assistant with a question or request when she is clearly talking to another patron. She will give you her full, uninterrupted attention as soon as she is able to.

For our younger patrons: if your friends call the library and ask to talk to you, it had better be an emergency. If they are just calling to arrange to meet you somewhere later, the mean library staff will soon put a stop to it. If they call you on your cell phone - go out into the hall to take the call. If this means that you loose your place at the computer to someone else, so be it. Life is full of difficult choices. Come to think of it, this applies to our older patrons as well. Just turn off the d**n cell while you are in the library. That is what voice mail is for.

Do not bring sticky, drippy or crumbly food items into the library. Do not return books or videos that are covered in sticky, presumably once drippy, substances, food or otherwise. Carefully wipe them off with a damp cloth.

That book sitting on the librarians desk? The one you spotted by craning your neck and hanging halfway over the counter? No, you cannot check it out. It is there for one of several reasons, all of which limit it's availability for now. When it is available, it will be either on the shelving cart, or on the shelves. This is the same answer I gave you last week, and it is the same answer I will give you next week. So just stop asking.

P.S. to the 90% of our patrons, young and old, who are thoughtful, courteous, patient, kind, and appreciative, "Thank You!" Most days, it's a true pleasure coming to work because of you. Despite all my venting, I can't think of a better job.

I do love me some Opal

I really love Opal sock yarn, especially the Hundertwasser series. When I made my needle run to the Sow's Ear on Friday, they just happened to have the new 2008 colors. I hadn't even known there were going to be new colors, but there are, based on another series of paintings. So after some dithering back and forth over several choices I picked one called Die Nachbarn I Spiralsonne und Mondhaus. At least, I think that's what it's called. My German is a little non-existent. But that's the phrase coming right after the color number. And the painting does have a squarish spiral something or other and a haus.



The colors are definitely darker and more intense than they look in the photo, with a decidedly autumnal feel. Oh, and the purchase put me over the top on my loyalty card, $25 credit for me. So the yarn really paid for itself. I almost bought another color on the spot, but decided to wait and savor the anticipation.....

While I was taking the picture, I heard some rustling behind me.



If there's a bag available, Baxter will climb in it.

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I like the Inox double points very well. Nice long tapered tips. Very smooth, but not so slick that they fall out when I toss the current sock on the chair to get up to grab the phone. Over at the Knitter's Review Forums, Calamintha has been recommending these for lace knitting, and now I can see why. The same qualities make them good for cables, which is what I'm using them for at the moment. They feel stiff compared to bamboo or plastic, but that's what I need, because some of those twists are tight. They were reasonably priced, too.

I'm also using some little 5" Brittany Birch dpns. Not for the main knitting, they would be too short for me to use for anything but fingers or thumbs. But they make just dandy cable needles.

A shift in the seasons?

When I got up this morning, the air was so cool I pulled on a pair of wool socks for the first time in months. I expect I'll need to pull them off again later, as the weather report is predicting a high of 82. Still, the light is slanting lower in the sky. Tilting toward autumn.

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Last night I made a quick emergency run to The Sow's Ear for some needles. You would think that with the jumble of double points in my basket I would have at least one set of every imaginable size. But no, as a matter of fact, I did not have the size I needed to get gauge on a swatch. One size larger, yes. One size smaller, yes. Sigh! Heather didn't have a bamboo set in stock, so I decided to try Inox. Will give my impressions after I give them a whirl. Couldn't stay for Late Night Knitting, but did run into Molly Bees, so I got to see her Olympic Dishcloth. Also her really adorable crocheted alphabet baby blanket for Project Linus.

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The car has been making weird clunking noises. As soon as Mr S gets back from Kentucky, I'll have him take a listen. In the meantime (it's only til Tuesday) guess I'll stick close to home.