Couch 246: Choose Change

I started making another shawl this evening; the yarn is gradually getting darker blue, and has little sequins in it at random intervals. I'm really enjoying this pattern! (Not so much this yarn - there's more ends to weave in than there should be because I had to cut out some wonky spots and rejoin it.)

Ha! I will make a quiet spot by the fire with a bottle of Scotch.

The rest of us can be raucous in the kitchen making mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

That looks lovely, Lemon! The front yard is quite large, and I am looking into native plant landscaping for the front- the flower yard idea paired with native planting could be fabulous.

Do you have enough space to also grow vegetables in the back too?

Here's the current shawl as of this evening's stopping point. This particular yarn is just dreadful, it keeps splitting and I have to keep cutting out bad sections and rejoining and I'm afraid the finished product will fall apart the first time it's washed. So I'm going to stop here and wash it and see what happens, before I spend any more time on it. This was another practice one, and I think I understand the pattern well enough by now anyway, so once I get the better-quality yarn I want to use I won't mess it up. I'm hoping it goes on sale so I can get some before January overtime!

Last night I dreamed that I heard someone ask me if I had to work today, then I woke myself up saying out loud "I don't know!" because in the dream I didn't know what day it was. hahaha Yeah, sometimes I'm as confused in my dreams as I am in my waking life....

Beautiful view from my after-work walk... I did zoom in a little, so houses wouldn't show; the mountains aren't really as close as they look here.

So, my Mom asked me to make her another of those star afghans, this one with blue in it for her living room. I'm thinking about using this yarn because I bought more than I'd needed for a previous project and probably have enough. But am trying to figure out what color to use for inbetween each section of 5 variegated rows. Thoughts, oh creative couchies? I think I have some turquoise, but not sure. Maybe it needs a more contrasting color, though... or maybe try to match the grey....?

Yes! I was just at the house with my bestie mapping out the garden space.

I wish I had a gardener in the family - I despise gardening/yard work but I like to play with the food.

i want to try gardening but need to do more research first about what i can actually grow here in the desert. i've got the place for it now since we had the retaining wall built in the backyard, just have to get a load of decent soil to fill in the top part of it, and then figure out what to plant.

Im an excellent gardener.

You do seem to produce a lot of fertilizer.

I AM very regular. And proud of it!

Oh, is that not what you meant?

It would probably be nice with a matching gray or alternating rows of gray and cream. Turquoise seems like it might be too bright for these muted colors. Depends on the shade though I guess. I want to see what you decide to go with.

The more I look at it, I am thinking the gray too, thank you! I'm going to make a little sample after work today with gray and with turquoise; will post a pic.

i would much rather go crochet now than work the rest of the afternoon!

I keep seeing all these ads popping up on my phone for 'black friday' yarn sales... I might have to embark on an online shopping spree on Friday with my bonus... Yes I think that may just be in order. Too many dr appointments between h and myself coming up so we won't be able to go out of town anytime soon, so buying yarn is the next best thing. Especially for $1 a skein if that's true. We shall see!

SO here we go. For the divider between each variegated section, not sure which I like, gray on the left, or turquoise on the right? Or a lighter gray? Or even a completely different color? I was thinking gray before I did this, but now I'm leaning towards the turquoise, possibly a slightly darker one I have to buy more yarn regardless of the color I pick (oh, darn ) I'm going to change up the pattern a little bit too, and do more than one round of the dividing color between each section.

I'm so grateful that my grandma taught me how to do this so many moons ago. It's really keeping me semi-okay these days, along with y'all here and L. Otherwise I suspect I would be unraveling at a rapid pace. Life feels harder than it should right now for whatever reason. Creating beautiful things does help.

Either one is nice. I was envisioning a lighter gray, but the dark is also a nice match. Is the turquoise variegated too? It looks better than I thought it would.

thanks! the turquoise isn't variegated, nor is the gray. I think I'm gonna go with the turquoise actually, now that i see it. since i have to buy more yarn either way, i'm pretty sure i'd have more use for any leftover turquoise than i would gray. turquoise is prettier for the little items i make and give away.

What on EARTH was I thinking when I said I'd host Thanksgiving at my new house???

Breathe-breathe-breathe.

Heh. I know- I will surprise everyone! "Thanks for coming to my unpacking party!"

All of you Couchies are bringing a box truck with you to haul the smoker, right?

I have had thanksgiving at my house for the last 35+ years - for what it is worth - here is what I have learned. Keep it simple -don't try and recreate all the favorite dishes for everyone. Just do the basics/family needs (for us turkey breast (down from a whole turkey because my crowd has gotten smaller by half), dressing (which someone else is bringing), mashed potatoes, frozen green peas, cranberry sauce from a can (I make cranberry sauce and freeze it and use that sometimes) and a pie or two- which someone else makes). If anyone offers to bring something I just say yes - we might have 5 pies or 3 dressings or whatever but I just go with it. Much less stressful.
For what it is worth

We never have anyone over for anything now that our son moved away. he and his gf were really the only people who ever came over. we're boring people. ha. we don't have friends in town except for one couple, and most years we've gone to their house for thanksgiving, but this year they're not doing anything, so we're going to one of the restaurants that does a turkey day spread. it seems like it's not worth cooking just for 2 of us. maybe i'm just lazy. probably i'm just lazy. next year i'm going to my sister's. it will be fun cooking there because it will be for more people!