Best Quote I Heard All Day
If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. --P.G. Wodehouse

There's nothing more disgruntling than moving. However, all will be done in less than two weeks. And then, it's a vacation to New England for a week to see friends, eat lobster and otherwise relax.

Then I will be truly and fully gruntled.

Knitting for Moving Times
I can't help but think that I was smart to choose Nancy Bush's Estonian scarf as knitting while I move. I've made steady progress on it and I've just about reached the point in the pattern where it should be finished. But I plan on knitting until the yarn is done. My guess is that it will be a big scarf or a small shawl.

Take your pick.

Here it is as of 7 a.m. this morning.
Literally the only chance I have to knit right now is in the car on the way to work (John drives, bless him), very early in the morning or very late at night.

I have had some really great correspondence with Jeane Hutchins, the editor of PieceWork, plus a very nice e-mail from Nancy Bush herself, both thanking me for helping them with the corrections on the key.

I realize that I keep touting this magazine incessantly but honest to God, it is one of my favorites. You may not be interested in the historical aspects of needlework but I find them fascinating. And if nothing else, there is always a knitting pattern or two within.

Bat-Blind
My lousy eyesight is something that I deal with every day and have been since I was five. A visit to the eye doctor is looming once again because I can't see shit. So I've finally broken down and started using this LoRan pattern holder.

I like the magnifying bar. And the magnets are strong enough to keep the pattern in place without slipping.

It's possibly the only thing worth buying at Michaels.

I don't hear as well as I used to, either. Probably too many years of going to concerts and standing too close to Marshall amps.


Box or Bag?
OK, John wants to pack all of my yarn and books for me and I'm resisting strongly. First, because I hate to see my stuff packed up and second, because I don't mind spending a few hours rediscovering my shit, thereby avoiding packing and throwing away.

However, John wants to dump all of my yarn into plastic bags.

No. Never.

I realize that it's a short trip to the new house and the yarn will be fine but I have a horror of plastic bag usage with fiber. I envision ends tangled, yarn weights in different bags and a huge chore of reorganizing everything.

Am I being too anal with this? Doesn't matter because the yarn will get packed properly and fuck John. (His answer to that being, "Not without a note from your mother.")

The Long Goodbye
So I will be posting when I can. Between August 1 and 8, I will be in New England and offline entirely, I suspect. However, with some interesting trips planned, including one to the museums in Lowell, I should have some tales to tell and pictures to publish.

And now I must do some rare and handy cleaning because the buyer's house inspection is at noon. A necessary evil, at best.