Stripes, Etc.

Happy to report the baby hat is done, along with a pair of mitts to match (kind of).

I like stripes. I just tend to forget about the weaving-in-ends part that comes afterwards...I think it took me as long to do the ends as it did to knit a mitten.

I took pictures, put them to block, and then my aunt called, wanting to know if I could do a similar sweater to the sheep one, (not necessarily in handspun, thankfully), and maybe with horses on the yoke - it seems another cousin is expecting. I don't know why babies come in clusters, but they do - I just heard a couple friends had their second last week, and this makes 5 people I know expecting between now and February. Guess I'm concentrating on small projects for a while. Good for knitting in class, and extras are good to sell to doting grandparents at craft fairs ;)

The last of the dyeing is done, for a while. I spent yesterday and half of today fighting with the indigo, used the last of my reducing agent, but I think everything's blued that needed blue. And now I can finally put the rugs to rights and clean the spots off things, and they'll stay clean. Light's not great right now, but pictures of the finished pile coming soon.

Very glad I was doing the dyeing here though. It's less cleanup working outdoors at the parents', but when I spoke to Mom last night, she said it's so dry that the well has actually dropped below the point where the pump can get to the water. First time I can remember that happening, and they're not wasteful of it, unlike some (She said someone told her they were taking 3 showers a day to stay cool. I maybe take that in a week!) They're not too badly off - there is water in the old dug well, so they can haul up buckets for what's necessary, there's enough space and privacy to use a spot across the fence for a toilet, and there isn't any big livestock, just chickens and cats and dog. Basically like it was during the Ice Storm of '98, except for having to try and keep the garden alive (and at least there is electricity). But the farmers in the area are running dry also, and anyone with plumbing and water knowledge is busy trying to help them - it's a bit more serious when you have 60 cows who need water.  Let's hope the predicted rain materializes soon...

Water, moths and mending

Weekend went fast. It always does, right? This one I think felt shorter as it was midafternoon Saturday before I got to my parents', and Monday morning when I left.

Sunday was all about water. It hasn't rained properly in weeks, so Mom is watering the gardens. But since they're on a well, even though it's a very good one, that meant that laundry got done only when watering wasn't in progress. And water from washing dishes or fleece, scalding or rinsing vegetables, etc., is collected and put on the gardens also. I do that with the shower water and dish rinse water at the apartment also - no sense in wasting.

I got to see exactly what overdoing it with the well water at one time could mean on Sunday afternoon.  Mom's friend Chantal hasn't been home much in the last week or so. Her husband had a heart attack and is in the hospital, so she is mostly there instead. Consequently, although someone has been taking care of Chantal's animals, her gardens were neglected, and Mom volunteered us to go do some watering and picking veg Sunday afternoon. The old dug well there is still in use for watering outside, and we had it going most of the time, doing the tomatoes and peppers and other vegetables, and the pots of flowers. By the time that was done, we must have nearly gotten to the bottom, as the sediment was coming up and the water was brown, so it needed time to refill and settle. Then we got back home, and our pump was running but not bringing up any water, and had to be switched off for a while to cool and then checked out. Fortunately it was just an air pocket in the aquifer, apparently, and after a few hours, spent planning in case it was a serious problem, we had water again, and were not reduced to throwing buckets down the old well or something.

I was rather amused one evening at home. Mom is a great one for decorating and color-coordinating things. I did not realize, however, that the insect population was aware of this. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and in the yellow/ecru/brown bathroom, I found a color-coordinated moth.

Today it is overcast, hopefully going to rain. I sat down and did some mending this morning, so I will feel justified in doing something less prosaic later. And my linen garden shirt is in one piece again - even if my attempts at invisible darning are rather visible.