I know that April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, so I guess that means we should be happy for the rain, but the rain is getting a little old, in my humble opinion. It's not good when the 10 day forecast only has one picture of the sun, and that is next Thursday. I want to go out and get some pictures of spring arriving, but I'm not sure that it is.
We woke up this morning to discover that we had no hot water. This made no sense to me because we have two 50 gallon hot water tanks and I couldn't figure out how they both could break at the same time. I went down cellar with some trepidation expecting to see the floor of the basement covered with water, but it was totally dry. Thank the wool goddesses, since I had bags of fiber on the floor right next to the hot water heaters. It made me realize that more shelving is needed in the dyeing are of the basement. I took a very lukewarm, very quick shower and Conor and I headed out to the grocery store, because not only did we have no hot water, but not much food either.
Upon our return, I put in a call to our plumber, and shockingly, he did not return my call. I did a little batt creating, trying to figure out what I would do about a shower tomorrow if the plumber didn't call me. Conor had not taken a shower when there was a little lukewarm water left, so
asked me every 30 minutes or so if the hot water had fixed itself. I suggested he heat some water and take a bath, but he didn't like that idea. I put in another call to the plumber , and left a slightly more desperate message, listened to Conor ask me once again if the hot water had fixed itself, remembered the sign I used to have which said that raising children is like being pecked to death by a duck, and called my brother to see what he might know about hot water heaters. He came over, flashlight in hand, (knowing, of course, that despite the fact that I buy flashlights on a regular basis, I would not be able to find one) and went down cellar to discover that both pilot lights were out. How did that happen? I know it was windy last night, but I don't think windy enough to get through my very thick stone walls. It's a mystery, but now we have hot water, a most wonderful thing. And I guess I'm happy the plumber didn't call because I would not have wanted to pay him the huge amount he would have charged me to light those pilot lights. Not to mention that I would have felt like an incompetent female for not having figured that out on my own.
On to more interesting things. I think a while ago there were promises of photos of what had recently been dyed. This is one colorway I just listed in my etsy shop. It is called Scarlet Begonia in honor of Travis' dog Begonia. This is the second time I dyed this colorway because the first fiber was purchased by members of my spinning group. This colorway makes me smile.
This colorway is called Blue Days and Green Nights. It is an effort to recreate a colorway I dyed at the end of a day when I was using up little bits of dye. It's not quite there yet, but I think I have a better idea of what I need to try next time. My favorite part of these rovings are where the colors blend together and create beautiful pools of color.
I have not been doing much knitting lately, but have been crocheting instead. Suzanne's interest in starting a granny square afghan reminded me of the granny square afghan I had started last winter when a horrible fate befell me and I was not able to knit for about a month. I dug the bag out of my yarn closet and realized that I only need to make about 20 more squares and it will be done. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to make granny squares. The patterns are from the book 200 Crochet Squares for Blankets, Thrown and Afghans, and it's fun going through and trying out different patterns. I amassed quite a large collection of yarns in my color palate, and it's giving me an opportunity to try some different yarns. I started with some skeins of Harrisville Shetland yarn I had picked up my first trip to Harrisville. I love their yarns. The colors are rich and complex, and I like the way the yarn softens with age.
My last completed knitting was a sample for Mountain Gift and Powder using Lopi Yarn. I had never knit with Lopi before, didn't really like the yarn, but discovered as I knit with it that I really like the way it knits up. It wouldn't be comfortable worn next to the skin, but does make beautiful garments. Here is the neck warmer-what do you think?
That's it for now. It's sort of been a stressful day and it's time for me to go to bed. Seamus just arrived and meowed to tell me that it's past my bedtime.
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