Re-ignited

Last night, a heavy rainstorm caused an unexpected power outage that lasted until early this morning. Since dinner was done and the kids were nearly finished with homework and getting ready for bed, the inconvenience factor was pretty low. (Although, I was in the middle of winding a skein of yarn for my second Long Lacey glove.) But after the initial pause--- and scurrying for flashlights, the rest of the evening turned out to be a nice break from routine...

Just so you know, I had every good intention of observing Earth Hour last month, but forgot--- so last night gave me an opportunity to make up for it, I think. The quest for light started with these hanging sconces which are practically new from lack of use:




Then these in the 'craft room' aka dining room:





And voila, I was also able to finish skein-winding via candlelight. Mike was completely cracking up at my unabated fervor for the yarn endeavor.



Yet whenever the lights go dim, most Seattlites can't help but recall the massive power outage we experienced in 2006. What started as a mere flickering of lights, ended up leaving many residents in our area without power for at least two weeks during the dead of winter. The whole 'candlelight ambiance' thing was a moot point considering the freezing (indoor) temperatures. Since our house has not been wired for a generator, we had to pack our bags and drive to lodging in Portland.

Last night's events were much less stressful, thankfully. I took a hot bath (by candlelight) and read a little (also by candlelight), and felt pretty contented in general. I did hear a neighbor's generator kick on though, and that was a little annoying--- mainly because the sound remains linked in my memory to that harsh winter outage. It's not so awful to see neighboring houses completely dark in the springtime with frogs chirping in the background. It's another thing to have to listen to the awful drone of a generator... a nagging reminder of something not quite right.

Not that I was overly concerned about knowing which neighbor it was, the pond causes sound to bounce so it could have been anyone. But I did wonder why they needed to run the generator at all. It seemed that it wasn't being used to power any lighting nearby. The weather has been warm enough that certainly the furnace was not the issue. That left the possibility that someone was using it to run their television! Or computer--- (Mike did lose about two hours of work last night due to lack of Internet service.) But most likely the generator was powering a fridge or freezer... And I suppose I can forgive them that--- even if the noise did make falling asleep a chore!

In any case, having to consider alternative light sources for the evening reminded me of how much I like the little flames at the ends of wicks and how much I've been neglecting using the candles I have. Here is my absolute favorite candle, hand-made locally by a young woman who sells at our Redmond Saturday Market. The company is called Ascents, and she also has an online shop. Hers are the epiphany of clean-burning candles. They are completely paraffin-free and are made from all renewable plant products. The palm wax she uses keeps the candle from collapsing as it burns and has the effect of crystallizing like quartz. I don't normally care for scented candles, but I love the fragrance of Cedar essential oil in this one:



On the knitting front: I've finally finished one Long Lacey glove, just one more to go! I've been working ridiculously slowly on these--- (My friend Jasmine at Woolly Stuff has actually knitted two complete sweaters in the same time that it's taken me to knit this one glove):



I plan to work a bit on the second glove tonight--- and who knows, I may not wait for an excuse to light a candle or two while I'm at it...

Like cashmere

Colby decided to dress-up today as Mike for "Hero Day" at school. He wore: a button-down shirt, v-neck sweater, blue jeans and brown suede ankle boots. Mike was certainly flattered by Colby's gesture. Later he remarked that it was fortunate Colby had chosen Dad over Mom. Mostly because Mom as 'hero' might have made for a rather funny outfit. I know perfectly well that Mike was just mitigating his newly announced title;). Actually, if Colby had dressed as me today he would have worn a grey turtle-neck sweater and jeans. Not too crazy, although the ballet flats might have been odd.

It made me think of how much our manner of dress has evolved from the days of "Ozzie and Harriet." Jeans are now such a staple item that if my mine were to suddenly disappear from the closet, so would practically all of my wardrobe options. But even with as many pairs of jeans I've continued over the years to cycle in and out of, I still don't think I've ever found "the pair." Never mind though, that's another topic in itself. It is weird to think that a clothing article that started off as attire for railroad workers somehow morphed into a symbol of youthful rebellion, and then to early 80's status symbol, and now includes an entire spectrum of expression from totally destroyed to perfectly business-like. I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to the 'jeans uniform' but I still kind of wish I'd lived in the days when skirts, dresses, and cashmere cardigans were more the norm. I know, I know--- there are women who staged sit-ins to gain the right to wear pants. I'll stop whining now.

I do have the few pairs pictured above that fit and function relatively well most days--- and in my book, that warrants treating those babies like cashmere. Here's my method: Turn jeans inside out, cold water soak, skip agitation, skip rinse, straight to spin cycle and a line dry.

For this ritual, I use a wool wash called Eucalan, made from lanolin (oil obtained from sheep wool) and eucalyptus oil. It's phosphate-free, petro-chemical-free and it saves water consumption because there's no need to rinse it out. You only need to use 5ml of wool wash per gallon of water and a 500ml bottle costs about $11. I found Eucalan shortly after I started knitting and I've used it on everything from cashmere sweaters to wool coats with acetate lining, dry clean only wool trousers, silk dresses... you name it. I haven't had a need to send anything to the dry cleaners in years.


Here is a Pre-Rav sweater I'm getting ready to post on my finished objects page. It's made from Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere and a Tricoter shop pattern. The only adjustment I had to make to the pattern was the typical for me, lengthening of sleeves--- in this case, I added almost four inches. Gorilla arms, I know. I also dipped this in wool wash a few days ago and with it's bulkiness, it took over two days to completely air dry. Ahhh, the cold and damp of springtime in Seattle.





I've abandoned the Audrey gloves for now since I've tried two different yarns already with unsatisfactory results. Here is the replacement project I'm currently struggling with; from "Lace Style" by Interweave Press: Long Long Lacy Gloves.


I haven't done lace knitting for a long time and reading the chart has been a challenge for me. I think the ol' eyes are going bad... need to get used to wearing glasses to knit. I've torn out my work five times already in an effort to get the lace portion correctly completed before tomorrow's Knit Night with friends. As long as I get the tough part out of the way now, I'll be able to enjoy the conversation and a glass of wine without completely torquing the project! I'm knitting the gloves in wool-silk sock yarn I've had in my stash and tiny size 2 needles. If I can't have the 'skirt and dress look' every day, then I'm determined to get those elbow length gloves! Wish me luck and patience.