Its been a crazy couple of weeks, 2 ER visits (long story shorter 1. Kailey fell and hit her head on a open drawer and cut her forehead. I thought it might need stitches, thankfully it wasn’t long enough so they glued it shut. 2. Corra fell while at her Dad’s and knocked herself out for a minute, took her to the ER to make sure she was ok. She is, she had a headache that lasted a few days but is otherwise alright. I quite hope we are done with ER visits, I can tell ya’ll this I won’t be going back to the Clarion PA ER where Corra went (I would have rather her gone to Dubois’s ER her Dad lives over there). The ER automatic doors didn’t open, well automatically. Yes, that shoulda been hint to not to even try to enter, cause hmm, if the doors don’t open should we really go in and seek medical treatment? ya know like if a restaurant has nasty bathrooms how clean are the kitchen’s really? Baseball and softball have started, games and all. GS is finishing up, and I had a spring cleaning attack and cleaned out the room of crap. Well, actually I cleaned my crap out of it but Mike’s crap is still in there. My brain isn’t any better off then it was before. But I did finish a sweater a few days before the first ER visit!
I don’t think I’ve talked about my hometown before, I grew up really, in a very rural area. We had a post office, library (complete with the stereotypical librarian hair in a bun, bifocals and a cranky demeanor, but she new her stuff.) general store that sold penny candy, town hall and fire department. To get to the mall was a 45minute drive, to town where the gas stations, grocery stores and movie theater where a 30minute drive.
I played little league baseball when I was little, wasn’t very good, but I picked my share of flowers. My backyard was a lake, and I spent the summers water skiing if I could get my Uncle to take me out on his boat. I road my bike everywhere I could, usually to the general store or to the park. Always hung out with the same kids, we where all friends for the longest time because well, there wasn’t much choice. My high school was amazingly small compared to the school’s here where I live now in PA. My kids elementary school, which serves just this town has more kids in it then my high school did. Its shocking to a lot of people here, but my high school was so small we didn’t have a football team because there weren’t enough people to play. Football is a way of life here, Steelers country, they live breathe and dream all about football. Sports are big here, for us uncoordinated folk its a challenge.
I love where I grew up, the museums, and the culture. The focus on the arts. The awesome maple syrup. I love where I live now, if I need milk its a 5 minute drive to the grocery store, if I need to put gas in the van there are 2 gas stations in town. The mall is 15 minutes away, everything is closer, granted I do miss the museums, and I really dislike the damned fire whistle (it only has one tone, so its not like it can be used to warn people of different things and I’m certain its gotten louder.) I know who my neighbors are here, in face one brought me a pie and cookies for the kids when I moved in. I’m used to the differnt terms that are used “red up the room” (clean up the room) and I still don’t own a sweeper, its a vacuum damnit. It plugs in, sweepers don’t. I keep catching myself saying “Ant Kelly” not Aunt, slowly I’m loosing my accent. A creek is still a little bit bigger than a stream not as big as a river. Redbank creek, its a river damnit, and I’ll still call Falls Creek, Falls Creak not Falls Crick.
I love my hometown and all my memories of growing up. But I’m not moving back, well maybe when tourist season really becomes a season. Ya know, like deer season. And yes I do realize when I go back to visit I’m essentially a tourist.
details:
pattern: Acer by Kirsten Kapur
size: xs-ish, see mods
yarn: 5.25 skeins (735.0 yards) Greenwood Hill Farm 2-Ply Worsted in chocolate purchased during Rhinebeck ’08
needles: US 8 (5.0 mm)
Started March 19 2009 and finished April 3 2009
5th NaKniSweMoDo
ravled here.
buttons where a gift from PhenixPottery on etsy.
mods: because I used a lighter yarn that what is called for, and because I wanted my neck to be higher. That ment my yoke had to be longer. I cast on for the XS, knit 6 rows for my collar band. I knit 40 rows of the pattern (total including the WS rows). 22 increase rows total, basically I kept working the yoke pattern and increasing until the it was right under my underarms.
Note about the yarn- If I had to pick my deserted island yarn this would be it. It’s so soft, squishy, light weight and incredibly awesome to knit with. Incredibly soft. Srsly, wool is itchy to me, I have to wear a long sleeve shirt under most of my sweaters. This I can wear a t-shit. It’s from a flock of 100% pure breed merino sheep. It has its faults though, lots of them. 4 out of the 6 hanks had 1 knot in them. There is a great amount of hay in this yarn, it falls out while your knitting and is easy to pick it out. There are spots that are thick and there are some thin spots too. And to me the yarn smells weird, like cedar. The owner told me that she washes the hanks in lavender soap. Doesn’t smell like lavender to me. This time I washed the yarn trying to get rid of the smell, the majority of hay came out. But the smell was still there, some time in a ziplock back with some pretty smelling soap took the smell away. I really love this yarn, even with all the faults.
Overall this sweater is love (100), I’m trying really hard not to wear it every day.
PS. I’m super excited this weekend is supposed to be warm, sunny and overall awesome.
PPS. Mike doesn’t know it yet but we’re painting tomorrow.
PPPS. He does know that I’m sticking him with the kids for a few hours tomorrow so I can snicker away and get some damn quiet time.
PPPPS. I don’t know what’s up with some of the pictures, I had Bryce take them 2 weeks ago while we where doing some yard work. Granted this was the greatest amount of yard work I’ve done in a very, very long time.
Mistress Stash Enhancer 