Catch up

The past few days have slipped by in a blur of getting to the next place, with the right equipment. At times it has seemed as if there wasn't even time to grab a bite to eat... however, I can chide myself for that too: I've spent time prowling through shops looking for a winter coat. I have found one potential candidate that almost meets my requirements: must have color, hood, pockets, be washable, and almost reach my knees. Tons of grim black coats out there, thousands of drab tan or beige, at least a hundred in white... Okay, I admit there are some red coats there too, but they are wool or a wool blend and tend to be either shorter or longer than I want. My winter coat has to be a go anywhere coat: it has to funtion in the city and for dog walking; it needs to keep me warm and dry; it needs to wash and dry quickly; its pockets have to function as recepticals for keys, cards, bags, phone.

My search has located one sweater for me. That's good. I don't waste a lot of time shopping, looking, trying on and pondering. I go in looking for colors I like. If I see them, I touch the article: it has to feel good. If I like the look, I look at what it's made of. If it is made of something I would wear, I look at the price. If any of these steps gives me a "no" I don't waste time, I just move on. Today I went through five stores in less than half an hour - which included two pauses for purchases. Obviously there wasn't much that appealed to me.

I spent more time at the handicraft advice center yesterday. I'll do a mock up of the blouse, try to figure out how the pieces go together. Other than that I may just change my plans about this whole "national dress" project. It really gets frustrating when experts can't figure things out based on the information, or lack of it, that I have received that is passing as "instructions". There is a limit to my patience and I am rapidly approaching it.

My sock knitting hasn't progressed much since I last mentioned it. I've been preoccupied and am likely to continue preoccupied for the next ten days. I did show it to Pirkko, who dashed off for her copy of the book so she could double check the instructions and she showed me how I ought to be doing the seam stitch. I repeated it twice, in addition to her once and together we decided that it just wasn't cutting mustard. It didn't show up nicely or even properly. So now I just make a regular purl stitch and hope that in another ten rows or so that it will begin to look like a seam. Otherwise there's no point in doing it at all.

Good news; my shoulders have been where they ought to be for over 48 hours now. The bad news: having them in place is making other muscles really sore and stiff.