Yesterday, a small minority of delusional/irrational/irresponsible idiots acted out in my nation’s capital and embarrassed and dishonored this country that I and other members of my family have proudly served. They also brought dishonor on the flag of my native state in the process. I neither support nor condone their actions and consider their behavior beneath contempt. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.
I made Julekuler again this year, the little knitted Xmas balls. I pulled the pattern graphs up on one monitor and used a sticky note to keep my place, so I could catch up on some of the channels I follow on YouTube on the other monitor. By the way, if you’re into colorwork and want to take a bash at these little Xmas balls, you can download the pattern and charts for free here. Arne & Carlos have also put out a whole book of patterns for bigger Julekuler.
Santa visited my house this year and got me a new lo-o-o-ng toaster. I kept the short one, though, for when I want to toast square slices of bread to make sandwiches. (I never toast more than two slices, and toasting them in the long toaster is overkill and not energy efficient.) I have mounted a small plug strip with its own fuse to the underside of my cabinet to accommodate all these electrical appliances. The plug strip is the only thing plugged into that outlet. The microwave is plugged into a different outlet on the adjacent wall. I guess I’m going to have to get more of that avocado green cotton yarn and knit a cover for the long toaster now.
Saw this. It was spot on.
I had so much fun earlier in the week. At about 6:30 Sunday evening, I ran some hot water at the sink to thaw out the sweet/sour sauce for my spring rolls and there was no hot water! I checked the water heater and the little light that’s supposed to be on and blinking when the pilot light is lit, wasn’t. Sunday night, woke up in the middle of the night, reached for the light switch on my bedside light. No light. Fortunately, I keep a little flashlight in my night table drawer just in case. I checked the ceiling fixture and my outage was in the bulb and not in the electricity. Did what I had woken up to do, then pitter-patted barefoot to the utility room to get another light bulb. The plumber was able to work me in Monday morning and came to look over the water heater and relight the pilot light on it. There seemed to be no overt reason the pilot light went out and the water heater wasn’t that old (2016). By then, I was running late for rehab. Went to brush my teeth and my electric toothbrush wouldn’t work. Changed the batteries, and it still wouldn’t work. Had to brush my teeth manually. (!) After I got back from rehab, I futzed with my toothbrush and finally got it to work. Must have been a gremlin loose in the house. It seems to have moved on, thankfully. I think I know where it went.
This is why knitters should always keep a crochet hook handy even if they don’t crochet. (You can click on the pix to enlarge it.) Instead of frogging the whole shebang back about three inches just to fix one stitch, I dropped that stitch off the needle, frogged it back to the mistake, and used the crochet hook to pick it back up again.
That’s the infinity wrap I’m working on. It’s also a case in point for the value of pausing every so often to check over your work so you can catch a mistake sooner than I caught that one.
I’ve knitted 18 inches’ worth and still haven’t used up the first ball of yarn yet. Once I do, I’ll know for sure if I’m going to have to get another skein of yarn, but I don’t think I will. I’ve already got six skeins total, which should be enough. Yarn chicken on a grand scale. It’s long enough now I’ve had to roll the bottom up and pin it with a large stitch holder to keep it from flopping all over my lap.
Weatherwise, we’re looking down the barrel of a winter storm.
That’s snow in the forecast for Sunday, and lows in the teens through Tuesday. The humidity is supposed to be 91%, but not in my house it isn’t. Not with my heater coming on every 20 minutes. When I go to get up from my computer desk, if I don’t remember to take my ear buds out before I take the lap robe off my lap, I get some DIY electroshock treatments from the static electricity. Gets your attention, I can tell you.
I only read 142 books last year, and only one so far this year. I need to get on the ball.
I’ll leave you with this:
The Owl Underground 
For what it’s worth, we too in the UK have been watching events in the US with amazement and trepidation. We can but hope that between now and Jan 20th nothing too terrible happens. We may be far away, geographically speaking, but our fortunes, and those of the rest of the world, are entwined with those of the US. Events there, affect us all. May the present storm abate soon.
I sympathise over the disappearance of your pilot light and the consequences thereof. When something we take for granted suddenly fails it can cause great difficulties. I’m glad that the crisis was so easily and quickly dealt with.
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I like your combination of physical and digital – using a sticky note on a monitor to mark your place. 🙂
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I had no idea there was such a thing as a long toaster. I’m intrigued, although the truth is that I adore toast so much I try to keep my toaster hidden, just to avoid temptation.
Speaking of toast, I’m hoping that there are a few politicians who’ll be toast before long. The Houston Chronicle absolutely burned Ted Cruz on their editorial page yesterday. They didn’t support him in the last election, so I wasn’t surprised that they were critical, but I didn’t expect the straightforward, cogent criticism they offered.
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