Cables, Lace, Ice, Eggs and Livestock

Feeling a bit decadent today. Just washed my hands with bottled water. I think I'll have a little Evian bath later. When was the last time you washed your hands with bottled water? It feels naughty. No, we don't have money to burn. It's just because our pipes have frozen over for the second time this week. If we were intelligent people (which we're not), we would have saved some water in jugs yesterday afternoon while we still had some. This would allow us to do some minor necessities today (flushing, washing a couple of dishes, cooking...). Instead, I'm doing these things with store-bought drinking water. Probably from some mountain spring in another part of France (I don't think they tend to sell tap water in bottles in France). On the bright side (the really bright side), it's a gorgeous sunny day, without a cloud in the sky. If it weren't so cold, we could actually go out and enjoy the sunshine for a while. We may have to try for a few minutes later, anyway.

Last night I worked on the Kiri shawl after getting the kids tucked in and the house nice and quiet (we shoved Daddy out the door early for a live soccer game - must let the man have his fun sometimes, too). I have decided that lace is apparently not my friend. I am, however, determined to beat it into submission. This shawl may not end up being too pretty, but I'll get it done! I'm just not sure I should have started learning lace knitting on superfine mohair. Oh well, at least it's cheap, so no big loss. I got through one cycle of the second chart that repeats itself to make the leaf pattern for the shawl. I'm pretty sure I did each even numbered row at least three times, which is why I've decided lace must not be fond of me. I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it at some point.

This morning while the kids were awake I started a new project (because I'm not so completely looney as to attempt that shawl while acting as a jungle gym for the little monkeys to climb on). It's going to be a sampler baby blanket made of the Jaeger baby merino I mentioned last weekend. This is my project to try all sorts of cable patterns. I've got the wonderful Reader's Digest craft book that has a couple pages of cable stitches explained in detail. I've started wtih a "wild oat" pattern. At least, I think that's what it was called (going senile in my old age). I started out trying to do it with an extra needle but opted for doing it needleless. I seem to be too uncoordinated for the third needle. I've done about half the piece I'm going to do of this pattern, and it's looking nice. Oddly, the yarn is almost exactly the same color as the picture in the book, so it's looking JUST like it should. I think this pattern would actually make a really pretty baby sweater. It's delicate, but no so dainty as to be completely feminine, I don't think.

Now, after seeing the title of this post, and reading up to this point, you've figured out what the cables, lace and ice were all about. I'm sure you're wondering what the eggs and livestock have to do with anything in my little existence. Well, I'm not sure I've mentioned the fact that we have a chicken. Yes, singular. Only one. We did have several until we lost 4 in the space of two weeks. The remaining one is our little survivor. Shell-shocked after what she must have seen during the disappearance of her peers, she refuses to enter the chicken coop. She limps from place to place on her crooked leg (old war wound after being ambushed by the family dog), happily pecking at whatever munchies she can find on the ground and searching for the ultimate hiding place for her eggs. We've always suspected that this lone chicken had been our best layer but had no proof as we had not found her eggs. Occasionally we'd find one or two under a tree or next to a car wheel, but yesterday we stumbled upon an enormous pile. I'm apparently not the only one around here with a stash. There were at least 25 to 30 eggs hidden in a corner behind an old board. Now that we know where she hoards them, we only need to figure out how to steal them from her without her deciding the jig is up and changing her hiding place. How does one outsmart a being with a brain the size of a pea? Truly a tricky matter, indeed.

Now, on to the livestock, which is actually knitting-related. My husband grew up around sheep. His father raised them for their meat before dedicating himself to wine-making. We live on a very large piece of land, most of which becomes a possible flaming bonfire in the fire season. One of the best remedies for this problem is sheep. They eat any and everything in sight, so they're better and less harmful than Round Up. Because of fond childhood memories and the promise of free bush trimming, my husband has decided to purchase sheep. I know what you're thinking. Shave 'em, spin 'em and stitch 'em! Of course, I'm with you on that one. Sadly, though, the kind of sheep that know how to feed themselves off of the bushes around here don't have nice coats for yarn. Not to mention the thrashing they get from the many prickly wild plants growing in the area. So, I've been suggesting some other options. I love the softness and warmth of alpaca, so I've got him thinking about them. They appear to be pasture animals, though, so they may not like these bushes either (Drat!). He seems to think llama might work, since they apparently eat anything, but what I'd love to see around here is a few camel. What a sight! Heck, why don't we just start our own animal park? Any breed suggestions? What about cashmere goats? Now, that would be nice!