Banish Misfortune, Get On With the Show!

If this doesn't give people a chuckle, what will, I ask? "Man Fixes Toilet." Said Man was wicked P.O.ed at me for snapping this pic, but it was too good to pass up. so here is hubby on my blog, trying to decide the best way to repair the failing toilet. This was originally a "powder room" in our house, but now it contains all our laundry facilities, too. Someday after other household renovations are done, we'll change the original color scheme to something more palatable. Pepto Pink should only exist in a bottle, mais-oui?

Above is proof that I finally got my sock machine running. K. and I devoted most of Saturday to sorting out its myriad quirks. For a brand-new, ready-to-use machine, we sure had a lot of finish work to do. There were burrs and filings in the cylinder to be dealt with, and a lot of rough places in each and every eye yarn has to travel through, but once those rough places were made plain, I was merely struggling with Operator Error. The proverbial deck was stacked in a more auspicious way and I finished my first scarf, below. I'll be selling it in my eBay store as soon as I have a chance to list it. Came out really nicely, even if I do say so myself!

Here's a detail of the crocheted edging.

Also finished up some plying I've been meaning to get to for awhile. The first is a skein of llama. People have a tendency to drop off garbage bags of fiberey stuff on my doorstep. This was a very dirty bit of fleece gifted to me by a herdsman at Tufts. He handed me the bag and said, "This is Preston." So below is Preston, transformed. I washed "him," then spun lock by lock without combing, hand-pulling guard hairs as I went along. I'm thinking that perhaps something from Arctic Lace might be in order for this stuff.

And here is a picture of the "Jamaica" fiber I bought from Su awhile back. View and weep, as Ashland Bay is no longer making this colorway.

Here is the whole output, from a distance, drying on the rack.

Thanks to those who wrote and tried to talk me out of last week's bummer. I do feel better now. Have a plan, and hope that my resolve will not weaken. And also wonder WHY, when someone has been an a-hole to me for so long, does he suddenly turn nicey-nice for no apparent reason? Either he has radar, or someone else has been talking to him before I had a chance to write and send my resignation letter. Not too many people know that I am planning to resign, but a few do, and I wonder...

All I have to do is figure out whether I'll quit after this weekend, or wait until the end of the season. It's about self-preservation now. Rehearsals today and tomorrow plus a gig should strengthen my resolve. I should not be heading off to practice wondering where I could undetecably pack a hip flask...