sticks and string

"Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises."

- Elizabeth Zimmermann

The self-striping yarn above is "Bullfinch" from the British Birds series created by West Yorkshire Spinners. The socks were made BSD (before shoulder dislocation) for a special New Years gift, then not mailed til February 22nd because I got ridiculously derailed trying to find the card (a painting from Yosemite) specifically intended to accompany the socks. After I finally put them in the mail (with a different card, an ink drawing of one of my daylilies), they were bounced up and down the eastern seaboard for a week before arriving at their destination, 50 miles east of my house.

Here are the next British Birds cast on as soon as I could start knitting again PSD (post shoulder dislocation) in mid-January:

"Wood Pigeon." They've got some pretty birds in Britain, haven't they?

And here's the waffle-stitch leg of one of the socks I'm knitting now: "Owl." If you've never seen self-striping yarn, there's a peek at the skein beneath the zipper:

This yarn series has become a favorite since I discovered the "Mallard" and "Pheasant" colors a few years ago. There are still a few more British Birds I may knit with someday, including Kingfisher and Green(!) Woodpecker.

The sock pattern (using the word loosely) I've come up with for simple distraction knitting: a ribbed cuff in either the stripes or a contrasting solid, a cushy waffle-stitch leg, a slipstitch heel (striped or contrasting), and a smooth stockinette foot. The toe design varies: a star toe (as in both pairs above) if there's a chance I'll have to rip it back to resize the sock post-gifting and/or if I want to have stripes right to the end; a grafted/kitchener toe otherwise.

Here's a close view of one of my favorite things about knitting socks:

After making the 90-degree "turn" at the bottom of the heel, three directions of stitches blend the heel and the foot together in a continuous fabric. It's so functional and elegant.

I imagine there's a lot of "through all crises" knitting going on these days. Not exclusively in the US but we're doing our share. At least I hope we are. It's a productive  form of distraction. From pain, from sleeplessness, from worry.

Emphasis on "productive."

Onward.

~~~~~

two little things

The first falls under the heading "little things that make other things easier." I love everything under this heading. Here's a food/kitchen thing.

Every time I open a new bottle of ketchup, I immediately upend it in a wide-mouth jar. I let all the contents drain out of the narrow-mouth container that was someone's terrible idea many years ago but which caught on despite it's obviously dysfunctional design. So much frustration. So much waste. The only changes I've seen to that terrible design have been replacing glass with plastic (another bad idea) and inverted squeezable bottles which are every bit as frustrating as the predecessors. My simple, effortless solution takes nothing but a bit of time, and only once per bottle - not every time I want ketchup. Using a spoon or knife is elegant compared to whacking and shaking. And splattering. And swearing.

The second little thing is a bit of free distraction, interest, restfulness, and perhaps even inspiration. 

It's the Window Swap website

I just click the button at the bottom of the screen that says "open a window somewhere in the world" and enjoy a  video clip someone has posted from their window. And then I click the button again. The views are various in every way, and for a person like myself who looks out her own windows for much of every day, it's a tiny bit like being able to travel again.

Would anyone like to share a Little Thing in the comments? All categories are wide open!

~~~~~

random monday

Up until a couple of weeks ago, before the "real" morning chores, I was also doing a short predawn round: just bringing in two frozen buckets, replacing them with fresh buckets, and filling the wilds' feeders. All done in silence because I didn't want the goats getting out of their cozy beds before dawn to keep me company. Two or three goats would always spot me, but since I didn't speak to them they may have figured I was sleepwalking.

Maybe I was.

Evening barncams: infrared and heatlamp red.

Now, for the first time in many years, there are enough functioning (touch wood) barn cameras and bucket de-icers to make the prequel to morning chores unnecessary on most days. They've got water and I've got an eye on things.

This new 15-gallon water trough is accessible from two paddocks. Can you see the ice, despite the de-icer? That's because the circuit had been tripped.

The annual Water Availability Dance involves shifting buckets, circuits, extension cords, and de-icers in order to reach the mysterious balance required to keep the power flowing and the water liquid. It's never fun, but this year was a bit more troublesome not just because of the snowsnowsnow but because until early January all my chores were still being done with one hand/arm. The new trough, and some very rough one-handed fencing, were part of an effort to reduce the number of buckets - and hence the number of de-icers - needed. To my jaw-clenching surprise, there was still trippage, as seen above, until I swapped out higher-wattage bucket de-icers for 80 watt models designed for birdbaths. Success! Now every creature on the place can reach one of four water sources at all times. The buckets just need daily topping off and a scrub every few days. It's like a holiday.

Speaking of which, we have entered a predicted stretch of genuinely warm weather. Yesterday was about 20F when I was doing noon chores, which was a heck of a lot warmer than single digits have been. I celebrated by prying open a chaise and taking a few minutes to enjoy the scenery.

Hazel thought this was a great idea.

I wasn't even wearing gloves, so it was very easy to reach the peanuts in my pocket.

Don't know why, but this year I suddenly have a cut-off point for thawing frozen gate latches with my bare hands: 11F. Holding onto more than one latch at 11F is downright unpleasant. Gates have been tied shut with baling twine for many weeks now. If the hitches get coated in ice I just cut the twine to open the gate.

Well, to wrap up this jumble of a post, 

here are a couple of locals on a recent murky morning:

I hope your February is going well.

~~~~~

blurreds

 

Back in early Autumn I was expecting a Real Winter this year, though I couldn't have told you why. And we are certainly having one. Even with extra tasks and occasional complications, a feeling of deep wellbeing washes over me now and then. I'm really enjoying this season, after all the recent years of relentlessly bizarre weather. It's a relief just to have a season, recognizable and timely.

~~~~~

light

At 7:37AM the first bright gleam of sunlight appeared between the trees, over the stone wall, on the north side of the little roundtop by the barn. The stone wall on the east edge of my property runs north-south, and for months the sun has been appearing over the stone wall on the south side of the roundtop. By midsummer the sun will be rising so far to the north along the wall that I will only catch that first moment of light through the forest if I am already outside at dawn. Fortunately, I very often am outside at dawn. 

It's well below zero F again this morning, and after just one rainy day last week my world is now entirely encased in frozen snow and ice. In particular, all my chore paths are now ice. Regardless: the first morning when I see that sudden bright gleam on the north edge of the roundtop is always a thrill. 

Well, it's time to dust off the ice cleats. Here's hoping we all stay on our feet today.

~~~~~