Snowdrops. Not from my yard but from the site of our upcoming and apparently controversial Civil War Living History. Now truly, if I were going to steal something from this spot, it wouldn’t be shingles. It would be these lovely little beauties.

*I had a dream the other night that I was at a fiber festival with Blogless Sharon and Lois. We were staying at a hotel and as I was getting ready to leave I said to Lois, “Listen, if you’re not winning then you’re losing and don’t let anybody tell you any different.” This is pretty far from what I believe when I’m awake so I’m intrigued by the fact that I said it so emphatically in a dream.

*Why is it that I can knit a pair of socks in 36 hours when it’s for competition but it takes me more than 6 weeks to finish a pair that’s not part of a competition? I’ve been working on these socks since February 16th and I’m just now getting to the gusset decreases on sock two. Sheesh.

*I came home to some junk mail on the kitchen table yesterday and Dale had edited the one from Sears just a little bit. I think he’s still feeling bitter about the fridge.

*I’ve kept track of the books I’ve read for many years. I finished a book the other day and went to record it in my notebook and was shocked to see that it’s the first book I’ve finished since January. This is pathetic for a librarian.

*I always listen to Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell at this time of year to psyche me up for Palm Sunday and Easter. Even after 30 years of doing this (I started in 7th grade) I never get tired of this music.

*After several years of talking about it, Dale and I have finally purchased a share in a local CSA. It will start in mid-June and I’m really excited to see what we’ll be getting each week.

*I won a prize in a contest over at Lisa’s and it arrived yesterday. I love prizes in general but a prize package that includes roving from dear Teyani and a book signed by the author plus chocolate – well, it doesn’t get better than that. Thanks, Lisa!

*Last week at “quilt night” not one of the 6 of us was actually quilting – we were all knitting. And yet we still call it quilt night. Go figure.

*Dale and I are holding a Civil War Living History in our home town. This is the third year we’ve done so and you wouldn’t think we’d have any problems. However, the committee who “oversees” the property is giving us a very hard time, claiming that we’ve left trash behind and stolen shingles off one of the buildings and then used those shingles for kindling. They say we refused to move cars that were parked on a septic system and that our guests were observed using the great outdoors for a bathroom rather than the portable facilities we provided. (That’s my personal favorite of this entire list of ridiculous accusations.) I wrote a three page letter to our Board of Selectmen about this committee. I feel better now.

There are (counting today) 4 days left until April 1st. I’ve got 4.95 miles to go. I think I can do it!

I haven’t been to the Y since the day I broke my toe. I don’t think I ever told you about that but, yeah, graceful creature that I am, I stubbed my toe on the leg of the kitchen table and ~crrrrunch~ broke “this little piggy had none.” Anyway, I’ve been nervous about the treadmill causing pain since that day so I’ve ramped up the other walking opportunities in my life instead. These last few weeks I’ve been doing mostly the walking videos available from my cable provider or I’ve been taking advantage of the better weather and walking outside.

The nice thing about walking outside is that it gives me a chance to take pictures of pretty things for you guys.

Like these crocuses. My crocuses, as you may have noticed, are all yellow despite the fact that I planted a variety of bulbs. My father-in-law’s crocuses, on the other hand, are all purple. Go figure.

The walk to the river has been our regular walk of late. The dog can run free (and jump in the water!) and we get to wear our L.L. Bean boots to protect against the mud. It’s a great chance for Dale and I to talk and catch up on what’s going on in our lives. Plus, we get to look for signs of spring. There are teeny buds forming on some of the trees and bushes and there are green shoots poking up through the soil. I haven’t heard peepers yet but I know it won’t be long now.

It’s still pretty winter-y looking but at least the snow and ice are gone!

I read an interview over at Knitiot Savant yesterday and decided that looked like fun so I asked Susan to send me 5 questions to answer for ya’ll. Really, it had nothing to do with the fact that I have nothing else to talk about today.

1. Has spinning enriched your knitting experience? If so, how?
Now that I am spinning yarn and actually knitting with it, I can say that spinning has definitely enriched my knitting experience. There’s something truly satisfying about knitting with your own handspun yarn. It may not be as perfect as commercially spun yarn but it feels like a great accomplishment. I’m prouder of the things I’ve knit with my handspun than any other things I’ve knit.

2. What’s your favorite quilt block pattern?
Oooh, a quilting question! My favorite quilt block pattern is Log Cabin. It’s so versatile and looks great whether pieced with scraps or newly purchased fabrics. There are loads of different layouts and I just never get tired of making Log Cabin quilts.

3. What’s a ‘comfort food’ for you?
My favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes and gravy. I’m also big on homemade mac ‘n cheese. Bring on the carbs.

4. Why did you become a librarian?
I became a librarian because I like research. There’s nothing so satisfying as answering a tough reference question. Of course, most of what I do on a daily basis has less to do with libraries and more to do with management, but that’s okay because I like management, too. I wrote a post about my childhood librarian and the way she inspired me here.

5. What’s your favorite book and why?
Now this is tough because it changes depending on my mood, my age, my experience and my surroundings. I will say that the book I’ve read more times than any other is Pride and Prejudice. Honestly, though, I think my favorite book ever is The Time Traveler’s Wife. Heartbreaking but satisfying.

Thanks for the great questions, Susan, I had fun answering them. And I hope you all had fun reading my answers. If you want me to interview you, just let me know and I’ll send you five questions.

And, finally, because a blog post without a photo is like a day without coffee – dull and lifeless – I give you a photo of Hannah taken while we were shopping a week or so ago. She just lurved this shirt.

No. I did not buy it for her.

Sock Madness Round Two began on Thursday afternoon at 5 pm. I had my yarn all ready and I cast on before Dale got home from work. We went out to supper that night and I brought the sock-in-progress with me and worked on it between bites. By the time I went to bed Thursday night I had completed the cuff and leg.

Friday morning I got up early and knit the heel flap and gusset before work. I did the gusset decreases and much of the foot during lunch and sock one was finished shortly after I got home from work Friday afternoon. I immediately cast on sock two and worked on it throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening. I really thought I could finish it that night but by 11:30 pm I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my hands and wrists were screaming for relief so I called it quits.

Saturday morning I was up at 5 am and sock two was finished a little after 6 am. I beat my opponent and I have now advanced to Round Three.

The pattern is called Madtini and it was designed by Karin Bole. I really love the cuff and the leg is a series of oblique spirals which work really well with handpainted yarn. The foot is all stockinette and it was nice to see how the yarn worked up in that as well.

The yarn I used is from Scout’s Swag in the colorway “Snow Bunny” and it went so fast because it’s sport weight. It’s an excellent color combination and I found it quite entertaining to watch the blue, brown and white alternate. There was no pooling or flashing and, even though I have made my peace with pooling, I do prefer that it doesn’t happen at all.

I’ve been rather surprised at how seriously I’ve taken this competition. Going into this I just thought I wanted to get past Round One and I thought I’d be satisfied with that. But once I did that I realized that I really wanted to advance another round and pushed myself way beyond my normal knitting boundaries, taking Tylenol for the hand discomfort and staying up late and getting up early just to stay ahead of my opponent. I’m telling myself that I won’t do this when Round Three rolls along but, being the overachiever that I am, who do I think I’m kidding?

Last week there was only one crocus. This week there is a whole bunch. Spring must be here!

I finished my Seraphim shawl in record time – only 2 weeks from start to finish! I had the perfect opportunity to wear it Tuesday night as Dale and I were going to give a talk on Civil War reenacting at a local library. I insisted that we squeeze in a photo session before we left the house.

Here’s a smirk only a husband can appreciate.

While I don’t intend for this shawl to be exclusively for reenacting, I do think it goes very well with my red day dress. And because I know someone will ask, no I did not make this dress myself. My dear friend Wendy made it for me. I did put on the trim, though.

The yarn, as you may recall, is my handspun from an Indigo Moon blend of merino, silk and alpaca. I knit one less pattern repeat than called for as I was worried that I would run out of yarn – and I would have. But the shawl is plenty big as it is so I’m not sorry about making it a wee bit smaller.

The stockinette portion went very quickly and the lace charts are easy to follow and make a really beautiful pattern all along the edge of the shawl. Miriam is an excellent designer and this shawl is just one of many gorgeous patterns available on her web site. Just sayin’.

I really love the way it comes together at the point in the back.

It’s very warm and very soft and very cozy. I spun it myself and I knit it myself and I absolutely love it!

Sit back, kids, because I’ve got a story that’s over a year in the making. I’ve contemplated telling you this one before but I never felt inspired. Plus, it’s a really really long story. I’ve highlighted the important points for you skimmers out there.

In January of 2006 Dale and I went shopping for a new refrigerator. We went to Sears (cue scary music) because I read up on fridges in Consumer Reports and they liked a particular Kenmore model. It had an ice maker, which was about the only fancy thing I cared about, and it had some nice features like a digital read out of the temperature of the fridge and freezer. Most importantly, though, Consumer Reports recommended it. So, we go to Sears, purchase the fridge and schedule a delivery. Bad thing the first: Sears delivery isn’t free and it will be 4 weeks before they can bring it to us. I get a look from Dale, who wanted to go to a local appliance store for this purchase, but this is the fridge I want so he goes along with it.

The day of the delivery comes. It’s a Friday and I take it off from work. And I wait. And wait. And wait some more. Finally, I call Sears and ask them where the fridge is. After much time on hold I am told that the refrigerator they had to deliver to me was damaged so badly that it never made it on to the truck and my delivery was canceled. No one thought to call me and tell me this and I wasted a day off from work and still have no fridge. Bad thing the second: Sears delivery is unrealiable. After much yelling on my end, they miraculously locate another fridge and reschedule my delivery for the following Monday.

So, I take Monday off and wait for the fridge. It comes, it looks good and then the idiot delivery guy breaks the switch that turns the freezer light on and off. You know the one that automatically turns on when you open the door? Yeah, that one. But he tells me it’s okay because it’s under warranty and repairs are free. I’m furious. I don’t want a brand new, $1000 repaired fridge. I get back on the phone with Sears and yell some more. They can’t find another model like this one and it’s going to be a month before they do. In the meantime, they want to order the part and schedule the repair and then I can decide. So, I schedule the repair for the following week.

The day of the repair comes but the part hasn’t arrived. Neither has my new fridge. I wait. At this point my memory of this whole disaster gets a little fuzzy. There were at least two more fridge deliveries that were denied by me for various reasons. One had a big dent in the side. Another one arrived fine but they hadn’t switched the handles on the doors to open from the right instead of the left and the delivery guys didn’t know how to do it so the fridge had to be denied. I was supposed to receive a $50 gift card for Sears for my pain and suffering but it never came. Then they were supposed to credit my account $100 for my pain and suffering but that never happened either. Bad thing the third: Sears customer service lies.

In the meantime, the part for the light switch arrived and I figured fixing the fridge already in my kitchen was a better plan than relying on a successful delivery from these fools. So, the light was fixed and all was right with the world.

Except for one tiny problem. The ice in the ice bucket was melting and freezing into a solid mass. And the food in my freezer all had freezer burn and ice crystals. The freezer wasn’t working properly. Grrr.

At this point, it was about May or June. I couldn’t deal with Sears any more and I turned the problem over to Dale. I figured he had the summer off from work and he could be around for repair people and at least I wouldn’t have to take any more time off to deal with fridge issues. So, Dale calls and explains about the freezer problems and he gets an appointment for some time in August. The guy that comes takes one look at the fridge, tells Dale there’s nothing wrong with it at all, it’s just not level. He levels it, tells Dale to defrost it, clean it out and it will be fine. He also suggests we buy a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the freezer. Yeah, buddy, okay. Let’s got buy a thermometer so that we can monitor the temperature of our brand new $1000 refrigerator. What an ass. Bad thing the fourth: Sears repairmen don’t actually know how to repair.

But we do what he suggests – except for the thermometer – and we clean it out and wipe up all the frost and empty out the ice block that is supposed to be ice cubes and we wait. One day later and we’ve got frost build up and a block of ice again. Grrr. We get back on the phone to yell at Sears some more and tell them to get a repair man out here who knows what he’s doing.

By now Dale is back to school and he schedules the appointment for a morning when he doesn’t have to drive the bus. And he waits. And waits. And waits some more. He finally calls Sears to ask where the repairman is and they give him the guy’s cell phone number. Dale reaches him and the guy says he won’t be over until 4:00 and what’s wrong with the dryer anyway? Dale says, it’s not the dryer, it’s the fridge and the repairman says, I don’t do fridges. Bad thing the fifth: Sears repair is unreliable.

Many of you have met Dale. You know him as an even-tempered sunny-disposition kind of guy. I have never seen him as furious as he was that day. He was so angry he was shaking. I think he even raised his voice. So he got back on the phone with Sears and he laid into them like nobody’s business. He reiterated our problems going back to freakin’ January and he told them that I would be home from work at 4:30 and a repairman who worked on refrigerators had better be in the driveway waiting for me.

Lo and behold, I get home and there’s the repair truck waiting patiently. And this repairman actually knows what he’s doing. He shakes his head in disgust at the story I tell him and orders 2 parts. A main control something or other, and something else. We schedule an appointment for 2 weeks later and I sit back and wait for the parts. And wait and wait and wait.

November rolls around and the parts finally arrive the week before Thanksgiving. So we call and schedule an appointment again and I ask specifically for the repairman-who-knows-what-he-is-doing but they tell me they can’t guarantee who I will get and I’ll just have to take my chances. The guy who comes isn’t the one I wanted but he’s okay. He installs the something else and then hits a snag. The main control something or other part, the part that we waited 6 weeks for, is damaged and can’t be installed. But, he tells me, it’s okay, because the other part is really the one we needed and the repairman-who-knows-what-he-is-doing was just being overly-cautious by ordering this extra part. I’m dubious but figure I’ve got no choice so I sign his slip and off he goes. Bad thing the sixth: Sears repairmen lie.

Things in the freezer look good. The ice isn’t melting into a solid block and the food doesn’t have freezer burn. For about a week. Yes, my friends, one week and it’s all back to frozen blocks and ice crystals.

I get back on the phone and start yelling some more. I tell them to just reorder the part that wasn’t installed but they tell me we have to have a service call first to determine what’s wrong with the freezer. So, once again, I schedule a repairman to come out. And guess who it is? It’s the repairman-who-knows-what-he-is-doing and he once again orders the main something or other and something else which is a different something else than the something else he already installed. And we wait for parts.

Four weeks later the parts arrive. It’s now February 2007, in case you weren’t keeping up with the time line. The repairman comes, it’s not repairman-who-knows-what-he-is-doing, but this guy is okay. He installs the main something or other but says that the something else isn’t the right something else for this model fridge. But he tells me it’s okay because the other part is really the one we needed and the repairman-who-knows-what-he-is-doing was just being overly-cautious by ordering this extra part. I’m dubious (again) but sort of believe him this time because I’m pretty sure this is the part we needed, too.

That was one month ago and (knock wood) so far, so good. I still go into the freezer every day and shove my hand all the way to the bottom of the ice bucket just to make sure they aren’t frozen together. And I’m actually stocking the freezer with things like frozen pizza and ice cream now and it’s not melting/freezing/crystallizing.

That’s the tale of one appliance. It’s a long and sad tale, isn’t it? The tale of appliance two is much much shorter.

Monday, our dishwasher died. It’s been on it’s last legs for a while so this was no surprise. Tuesday afternoon at 12:30 I went to Meserve Appliance, the place Dale wanted to go when we needed a fridge. I walked in and about 5 minutes later I had purchased a very nice Whirlpool dishwasher from the very nice lady at the store. She asked when I would like it delivered and I said as soon as possible and she said they can come this afternoon. By 2:45 pm I had a new dishwasher installed.

I told you it was a shorter tale. You know, I always say “trade local” and for some reason I didn’t when it came time to buy a refrigerator. I learned my lesson the hard way but you can bet that I will never ever ever buy another appliance from Sears. I’ll be trading local from now on. I suggest you do the same.

With all the spinning wheels I have around here, you probably think I have all kinds of spinning projects going on. The truth of the matter is, I don’t really like to be spinning more than one pile ‘o fiber at a time. It’s sort of like knitting projects – if you have too many going at once you never finish any projects. If you have too many wheels going at once (oh, if only!) you never finish any yarn.

That’s my most recently finished yarn. It’s 200 yards of Mama E’s C*eye*ber Fiber in the Margene’s Mountains colorway. I love the colors! It reminds me of Margene and it’s perfect for Project Spectrum, too.

I shouldn’t even show you this picture of the fiber drawer. How excessive.

When it was done, though, I was faced with a big decision — what to spin next! That’s when Project Spectrum really helps because I can use the color guidelines to narrow my choices. So when I came across two Grafton Fiber batts in this gorgeous shade of blue, well, the choice of what to spin next was pretty obvious.

I’m loving it! The blue is rich and deep and spinning these batts is always a pleasure.

And, as you can see, I’m not the only one who loves these fiber batts. Mason has obviously been talking to Miss Lulu about the comfort of a fibery bed.

[I'm sorry to be posting this so much later than my regular posting time. I've been down with a sinus infection since last Thursday. I thought I'd feel better by today but I'm just so damn tired. Anyway, I wrote this post yesterday about the one thing that I actually did this weekend. Tomorrow, I'll be better. Or something.]

Do you ever forget that you’re a blogger? Or not even so much forget as just have a brain cramp and not take pictures of stuff? Then when it occurs to you that you could have had a viable blog post if only you’d taken a picture you feel sort of undeserving of the title knit blogger. Yeah, me too.

Saturday I knit a washcloth. Not my usual ball band washcloth from the Mason Dixon Knitting book but the other washcloth from that same book. The one that’s shaped like a hexagon. You know, the one with the bobbles. It’s a great pattern and you can bang one out in an afternoon if you persevere. And you need less than one ball of Peaches ‘n Cream.

It makes a great hostess gift and that’s why I knit it. See, we were invited to a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at a friend’s house but she wouldn’t let me bring anything. Wine seems so overdone but that’s what I was planning on bringing until inspiration struck on Saturday morning and I decided to buckle down and knit her this washcloth. The yellow/white/lime green color combo was very cheery and spring-like and when it was all done it reminded me of those God’s Eyes we used to make at summer camp. I steam blocked it and then threaded a white satin ribbon through the eyelets. I tucked two cakes of Blessed Juno’s soap inside, drew up the ribbon and presto, a really nice hostess gift.

It wasn’t until Sunday morning that I remember that I should have taken photos for the blog. I’m sure you can picture it, though, as you’re a pretty clever bunch. And speaking of clever, I think I will get clever and knit up some of these every now and again. Then, next time I need a last minute gift, I’ll be good to go. Maybe I’ll even remember that I’m a blogger and take a picture. Don’t count on it, though.