what a whirl

This is one of the many faces of the Pike's Place Market in Seattle. I have been so busy there hasn't been time to do much of anything, including blog posting. I know he's not very inspirational, but some of the time I've been wearing a similar face lately.

The Emperor of the Garage had knee replacement surgery on August 5th, and I've been spending a lot of my time being a nurse. Twice a day he needs to be placed in a CPM machine (that stands for something-passive-motion) for a couple of hours at a time to help his movement, and whenever possible his new knee requires ice packs. And then, three times a week we have had to get him to physical therapy, which takes the cotton out of him for a couple of hours. We both knew that he contributed a great deal to the running of the house, but until the Emperor was laid up entirely, neither of us knew how much that really was. I'm beat!

But today, he went back to work half-time, so I have four hours or so to spend in my office and get my head back into writing, and teaching -- I am teaching an evening history class at our local community college, starting next week. I'm thrilled! The Emperor still has to use the CPM machine and more ice than can fit in a normal household freezer, but he's walking with a cane and this morning took the garbage out, over my protests.

Meanwhile, the knitting beat goes on. All of that bedside sitting and watching is paying off, because I have gotten through the worst of the stockinette slog on the Lotus Tank Top. After knitting five inches of stockinette in the round and crafting the front bit, there's about nine inches (for my size) of straight knitting to make the back. I've finished that portion, and even successfully made some short row shaping! If you follow the pattern directions precisely, it's a cinch. Right now I'm in the middle of neck shaping, and could possibly finish this bad boy by the end of the week.

Next up after the Lotus Tank will be the Celtic Tote, which has languished in mid-knit since sometime early this spring. The Second Tofutsie Sock is still on the needles, temporarily abandoned in order to push through the Lotus Tank. When the Tofutsies are finished, I may pick up the Rivendell socks; I purchased a beautiful ball of Sockotta yarn in soft golds and off-whites for it and can't wait to see how it goes.

In between all of this, I've tried to get my brother-in-law's kilt hose on the needles, but have not had the patience to do something quite that fiddly yet. I'm using the Magic Loop technique, the Toirneach Kilt Hose pattern, and some gorgeous yarn from New Lanark to get the job done, and my goal is to have something for him by Christmas. It's gorgeous yarn, spun on the actual historic mill machines in Scotland, and is the perfect size and weight for the project. Anyway, I've got the Magic Loop down, but have consistently made mistakes. When the Emperor is finished with the knee stuff and my class is going smoothly, I'll pick them up again.

I also want to make this "Cardigan to Love", which is about as cute as they get. It's a free pattern from Coats and Clarks, and it was quite a rodeo to get to it so I hope that link works. I'll do it in a silk or cotton blend, because it's the kind of sweater that one wears next to the skin, over something skimpy. And I'll re-name it, because that's not a very memorable name, and not one that I'll want to keep writing in the blog.