The Wayfaring Wordhack

I have about five rows left to crochet on the second sleeve.  I attached my 5th* ball of yarn and finished off the second sleeve.

So close to being able to sew it together and wear it!  I have seen many people who don't add the collar or pockets and wear the cardigan as is; but I want both of those features, especially the collar, without which the cardigan doesn't have much character. 

However, I will have to block** it, something I don't usually care about with blankets.  Wetting the whole thing is an option, but it's getting colder and more humid here, meaning longer drying times.  I would rather use steam but don't have a steamer or iron.  Still, in order not to be disappointed with the final look, I really need to do this step.

Better jump on it before my impatience gets the better of me.  I can block the main pieces and have them be drying while I make the collar.

I shall be able to wear it to Turkey perhaps. :D


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* The pattern said I would need 7, so I bought an extra just in case.  Silly me.  Once again, had I read the Ravelry notes, I would have seen that many people commented on the pattern instructions asking for way more yarn than is needed.  I think a sweater will be in Sprout's future.

**Q: What is blocking?

The other day, I finished up the main body of the cardigan.  That was the simplest part.  I then started on the first sleeve, and while there is nothing complicated in its construction, a) I am sick, b) it takes more attention to what you are doing because you need to keep track of rows according to your size option and specific repeats as you work in the round.

With the ick heavily upon me, I am not really enjoying the work and just want it over with.  Of course, setting it aside is an option (and a smart one if Brain Fuddle makes me make mistakes), but I would really like to get it done before we travel.

The other "meh" thing about it is that I know the cardigan will not look nice on me.  The color is just so wrong for my skin-tone.  If it were a prettier color (for me; the colorway in and of itself is lovely), it would bring me more joy to see it coming together.

With only two days left in the month, I figured it was time I checked in with Artober and my doings so related.

I drew steadily until the 19th when birthday preparations and shingle flare-ups dictated that I reduce all "non-vital" tasks to a minimum.

When I started to feel better and the birthdays were past, the desire to do the challenge just wasn't there. In fact, I was regretting my choice of challenge and wondered why I didn't pick something more in line with my goals.  The inertia was strong enough that I didn't resume the challenge  or revise it to suit me.  C'est la vie.

I did however, finish my book cover assignment, and that involved a lot of arting. :P   I also made good progress on my cardigan, even though I am still about 15 rows away from where I will have to start leaving space to insert the sleeves.  I worked a bit on my Dynamic Sketching, finishing up (at last!) the scorpions and doing a final drawing in the bug section of a spider, which led me into the part about "automobiles."  Less exciting than bugs, but still very useful.

My middle grade story that is a follow-up to the one I wrote in 2016 during NaNo also got some love from me this past month.  Since NaNo is right around the corner, my thoughts naturally turn to toying with signing up.  However, it will not get beyond toying.  I am going to be very busy and will be traveling for a week to a place I have wanted to go ever since I was a kid.  Stay tuned. ;)

In other news, we might be closer to getting a new flat and that has taken up a considerable amount of energy, albeit mental.  Our move date is still at the end of the year, but it would be nice to have something settled well before then, yeah?

Because a garment is, in my mind, a fairly tricky thing to crochet at the best of times, one wants to put as much effort as possible into making sure things go smoothly.  A key to insuring smoothness, and therefore the crocheter's sanity, lies in having the right yarn for the project.  So, in this case, while on holiday in France, I opted to buy the yarn that the cardigan was designed with.  Which meant I had to source it from the United States.  

Fearful I wouldn't have enough time to receive it--and having no indication of the delivery time--I went ahead and bought it, choosing to have it shipped to my mother-in-law's place, since we were spending the last week of our vacation there.  Once I hit "purchase," I got a nice warning in bold, red letters "Due to international shipping delays, we cannot give you any idea of when you might receive your order."   And this after I had agreed to pay over $50 dollars in shipping, just to have the 'right' yarn.  

Four days before we were ready to fly out, still no yarn, but the website promised that we would be get the yarn on Wednesday, two days before we left.  Hooray, I thought.  And then the fun began. 

While we were in Toulouse on Tuesday, at la Halle de la Machine, J got a text message from FedEx saying that I had to pay customs to have my package unblocked at the border.  Twenty-three euros.  J thought it might be a scam because he had been receiving several such messages from phishers.   So, we waited until that evening, and I looked into it some more when we got to my mil's house.  When I tried to pay through the link I had also received by email, the page wouldn't open unless I allowed FedEx to access my laptop's sensors.   o.O

Long story short, I finally succeeded in paying the customs and the package was unblocked. But FedEx's tracking system still showed it in an office somewhere, awaiting "processing."  Then I got a message saying it would arrive Thursday before 6 p.m.  Only it never showed.  Then they updated it to say Friday by 6 p.m.   But on Friday, we had to leave for Beirut from Lyon--5 hours away from my mil's house--at 11 p.m., after turning in the rental car at 8 p.m.  No way we could wait for the yarn.  However, I did ask J to wait until the max time that would still allow us an hour leeway, which was 2 p.m.

At 1:50, we loaded the kids in the car and were just saying goodbye to my mil, when who should drive up but the courier.  I lifted my arms in a victory salute and shouted with joy, echoed by J.  The driver broke into a smile because he realized he had arrived in the nick of time.  We ripped open the box, shoved the yarn balls into any available space in the over-stuffed car and took off, arriving at the airport juuuuuust in time to turn in the car because of fuel shortages and the long lines at the pump.

While we were waiting to check our luggage, I stuffed 3 kilos of yarn in the various bags that weren't already flirting with the maximum weight limit.  No, my cardigan doesn't need 3 kilos of yarn.  I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound," while ordering those skeins and bought nine of another type to make a throw blanket.  We found out last winter it can be crazy cold in Lebanon, and this year we shall be a bit better prepared.

But I can only start on the throw blanket after I finish the cardigan, which is currently in a state of Do Over.

So we got our hot water pressure back Saturday, which means we can have HOT or COLD showers with decent pressure now but no normal, warm showers. Such is life in this flat.

While the landlord was here, water started leaking from a crack in the ceiling. Apparently, Noisy New Neighbors above us have cracks in the tiles of their bathroom that let water through.

Landlord says that no one is happy with the job the natour is doing, and they plan to fire him. They will then hire a man who will come with his wife, and SHE will do a good job cleaning. Ugh.

I sat on the sidelines and started my cardigan tonight while my kiddos played football (soccer) at our weekly Family Football Game. I was able to get the gauge with a 6mm hook, so I don't need to borrow back the 6.5mm hook I gave to my friend's daughter. :P

We made our final offer on a flat here in our village that has a garden. The landlady is taking her sweet time in getting back to us, so we visited another flat last night. It was rather meh. I really wish I would have taken a picture of the frieze in the entryway. Here is a photo from a search engine:



But the angle doesn't do it justice. It is probably about 4 feet wide.

And I will end on a Hurrah that is probably premature, but we are currently having only one 2-hour electricity cut during the day right now. :D

 

Forgive the weird photo, but this a snapshot of the front of our building, taken by leaning over the balcony railing--in the rain--without letting my phone plummet 5 stories to the ground....


but I needed to give you an idea of what I am going to moan about. :P  Let me preface this by saying that I am a fan of electrical storms and have always gotten a thrill when a really good thunderstorm gets going.*  Last night, around 11p.m. a doozy of a storm started and went on until 8 am this morning. ** With the valleys running from the mountains to the sea, each thunder peal is a echoing, long-lasting event that makes you think the ruckus can't be natural.  That kind of noise is not what bothered me and kept me from sleeping, though.  It was the whistling winds and lashing rains and hail that relentlessly pelted those glass windows above,  the plasticky aluminium frames in particular.  It reminded me a bit of hearing the rains falling on my grandparents' tin roof, only worse because our bed sits just behind some of those windows, the sounds in no way attenuated by a ceiling, etc.   And while a seive might let more wind through, those frames do a pretty good job of it, too.  So, yes, the windows give us great views and lots of light, but they are not only a blessing. We will see if they qualify as a blessing or a bane in the summer months.

 At 5:20, I finally gave up on trying to sleep and got up to another view of a hail-white ground.  I worked a bit on my BuJo, and then decided to crochet myself another hat*** as one does when feeling a little punch drunk:


The hat is so warm and matches my mitts/wristies that I made the other day.  I then started one for Sprout since I had plenty of yarn left over.  However, using a 5mm hook instead of 6mm AND decreasing the intial 15 stitches to 12 was probably not the best idea.  I am now adding more rows on hers than I needed on mine. :-/

If you feel like a chuckle, I will share an anecdote to convey just how tired I was:  While taking the above photo, I wanted the focus to be on the hat, so in order to make it sharp, instead of tapping on the phone screen, I pressed my head.  O.o  FYI, it doesn't work. :P

Then I decided to make bread because playing with fire is always a good idea when tired.  Because I was exhausted, I forgot to prop open the oven door for a few moments for the gas to really get going.  After about about 5 minutes, I went to preheat the Dutch oven only to discover the pilot had gone out.  We opened the windows and I waited for a bit, but even so,  when I struck a match to finish burning off the gas, the flames billowed out and singed all the hair off my forearm. Luckily, I had my face well to the side. 

I don't have any sourdough starter going here, so I used the poolish method and the recipe/method found here. **** (I had started the poolish the previous day)


And while I was at it, I stared another poolish to make some baguettes today following this recipe.  I'll let you know how it turns out if I remember. 

Since the oven was on anyhow, I made some pumpkin spice bread ***** to use the pumpkin  I had cut up to use as a still-life subject.  More about that in an post (I hope).

I had planned to get to bed early to catch up on sleep, but J wanted to stay awake as late as possible because he has to work the night shift tonight, so we watched a movie.  He of course fell asleep in front of it. :P I am happy to report that while it did rain a bit last night, I was able to get some much needed shut-eye.  I hope to buy earplugs today.

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* I believe I already shared many years ago that one of my mother's childhood nicknames for me was "Thunderhead" because I could always hear the thunder coming before anyone else.  As an aside, I think of all the other places I have lived, Lebanon has the longest lasting thunderstorms. ETA: I did indeed share this, almost 11 years ago.

** I actually started this post yesterday morning, but Internet problems and then having to share my device with a needy boy means that I am only picking up the thread now while the needy boy sleeps.

*** video tutorial here

**** I used the third method, the one with the pre-heated Dutch oven

***** Living up to my reputation as a food snob, I am here to tell you it has proven hard thus far to get my hands on some decent baking chocolate.  Preferring to do without than eat sugar-disguised-as-chocolate, I omitted the chips from the recipe.

Or shall we just call it, "The State of Things." Forgive me, LJ, for it has been awhile since my last post.

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I've never tried to put a cut under a cut, so be warned that when I say something vile happened, there should be an additional cut there to keep it out of public view unless you want to read it. If there is not a cut, don't read on, there's nothing more to see. :)
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( In which you can read about the State of Things )( Vile Thing )

Anyhow. Did not mean to end on a tirade.SaveSaveSaveSave

I think I'll have time for just one more project before Coquille is born (we're 37wk3d), so I've chosen to do a summer quilt. A friend is borrowing my sewing machine, but she brought it over yesterday so that I could sew my layers together.

I'm using an old sheet and two pieces of unbleached cotton for it. I have a box of embroidery floss full of floss that I got when I learned to embroidery back when I was 11 or 12.  I think it is time I put it to good use. :P

This quilt is my inspiration (the photo I once saw--and pinned--doesn't go to the homeware site where the quilt was for sale, so I can't link to the proper source).

Anyhow, wanting to use things I had on hand, I have a different and wider color selection, my hope being that I won't run out of any one color, because trying to match skeins I've had for more than 25 years and in another country?  No, thanks.

So this is what I'm working with:

As planned, I did mostly sewing these past two weeks. I sewed a cover for our kiddy pool.  It is one of those inflatable affairs that is over 2mx1.5m, so the cover had to be almost 3x2m.

I also made a mosquito net for our king-size bed, not an easy task moving all that netting about!  But I'm not finished with the stuff; I have to make a net "room" (3mX2.8mx1.8m) for our yard, otherwise flies and mosquitos make it too miserable to eat outside.  Man, how I wish we had stocked up on some mosquito nets when we lived in Mayotte. They were huge and, even better, CHEAP!  *sigh*

I'm a little over "big projects."

I did sew two newborn hats for Coquille's first day...plus a test-run hat that turned out the perfect size for Junebug's baby dolll. LOL

Next up I have to make a new "diaper" bag and repair the nursing pillow I made for when I had Junebug. I would like to sew something for an Egyptian friend who just gave birth, but I need to find some cute, quality fabric first. Not easy at the best of times and not something I feel like doing while hot, heavily pregnant, and car-less.

On the art front, I made some more color charts, more "targeted" ones, kind of like this. I also sketch cows. I suck at cows. Must sketch some more. Lazy me thinks I should just practice some "cartoony" cows since this book is not about cows. My more studious side thinks I shoud work on getting the real deal right first.

Anyone else want to share their creative endeavors from the past couple of weeks?

I lost track of the days. That happens rather frequently to me, but I had not a single oh-it's-Sunday thought yesterday.

Last week, I started crocheting a pair of legwarmers for Sprout.  She can wear them out when it turns cooler here, but I'm mostly making them for her ballet class. With days in the mid-20s (70F) and nights dipping down to 20 (68F) or so, I'm able to handle yarn again without having it clinging to me.

One more week and we can starting moving. But we'll have to deal with some WH--!? business first.  The electric bill collector showed up tonight and handed me a bill for 1007 LE.  Our normal monthly bill runs 110-140 LE.  They are trying to tell me that without using the A/C or anything like that, we have to pay 10 times more than normal? My neighbor, who was paying at the same time, said that his bill looked perfectly normal.  The collector lied to neighbor and said that he hadn't checked our meter in a long time and now we had to pay our "true" consumption rate rather than an assumed total.  He checks the meter every couple of months; and now, after we've been here for 3 years, he's going to tell us all the sudden we've changed our habits and need to make good.  Funnily enough (/sarcasm), two people told me that our landlady probably called the electric company and told them we are about to move so to make sure we're all paid up (because otherwise it will fall on her to pay.  As if we would have left the bill hanging. ARGH. I know other people do it, though; we were presented with the bill from the last tenant). But how did they get from 100 to 1000?  We have to get to the bottom of it. :-< I don't want to pay something we truly don't owe, but I don't want to leave someone else holding the bag, either.

And this shall be a lesson to us: Never trust the meter man again. Always write down the meter number ourselves and verify what he writes down.