Thoughts on Thursday

Just a few random things came to mind this morning. SF has been gone since Sunday afternoon on an assignment for work. In a past life I would have been upset at the prospect of being alone. Just the opposite is true this time around. Now, don't get me wrong. I miss SF and I will be VERY happy when she returns to me on Friday afternoon. The difference this time is that I actually have been enjoying the quiet.

I have only had the TV on a few times. I did watch both the men's and women's NCAA final games. I really wanted Butler to win and Stanford to win as well. Oh well, that's why they play the games. I have watched the news a couple of times as well. Other than that, I have enjoyed the quiet and my knitting. I promised some knitting FO's, so here goes:

Clapotis made with Shibui Sock Yarn in S2501 Marine. For the record: I love this yarn, love the finished product but I hated this pattern. I doubt if I will make a second one, even with raves it receives. Time will tell, or I will cave to peer pressure to try it again.



Lady Vols/University of Tennessee footies for SF made with J. Knits Superwash Me - Sock from The Yarn Haven in Knoxville TN. The yarn was part of her Lady Vol's Christmas package and she was thrilled when these were finished, washed, blocked and ready to wear.



Lime Stripes Dishcloth. I was getting to a point where I needed some quick and mindless knitting, so I purchased a few skeins of Lily Sugar'n Cream and kept them handy. This was the basic garter stitch pattern featured on the band. Nothing exciting, just fast knitting. I made it for Megan, since she still is in love with all things green.



This is just a quick dishcloth made with the leftovers from the first one. I hadn't used a crochet hook in over a year, so I just grabbed one and made the square until I was out of yarn. This one is for Megan also....



January 2010 KAL by Kris Knits. This one was fun. I should have used the color that she suggested but I was in the mood to make another one for Megan. The size three needles are a tight knit and the cloth was fun to make. I love the way the clues added up to the end result.



"Be My Dishcloth" from Kris Knits. Duh, this one is for Megan as well. Kris called for pink but Megan is not a pink kind of gal, so I opted for the red. I loved the end result and I may use the chart when I make a sweater for Zoe.



I have been doing some Spring Cleaning. We recently purchased 8 of these,

one set of these:



and one set of these:



I hand washed all of the kitchen items and cleared out spaces in the cabinets for them. I was glad to rid the cabinets of the tumblers we had purchased last summer from Costco. They were difficult to clean and they cracked at the rims. I will be keeping the best 4 from the original 16, but the rest are trash. They can't be recycled and I don't dare give them to the Goodwill/Salvation Army/Purple Hearts. As for the containers, we too are concerned about BPA's and storing in glass just seemed to make sense, especially when they can go into the microwave as well as the freezer.

The first item I shared was the solar lights. When I moved in last May SF had 7 of them around the pool that were a gift from Blue Haven when they installed the pool. By the end of the summer, all but 1 had "died". When we were trolling about a few weeks ago, I took her by Bed Bath & Beyond to show her a few things that had tempted me. Right at the front door were these lights, and for $9.99, they were very affordable. I assembled them and put them around the pool. They soaked up enough light to charge and last night I was admiring them when I decided to see if I could get some shots. I managed to get a few in between the bouts of rain.





I must admit that I do really love having the pool right outside the bedroom door. I am looking forward to the water warming up so that I can slip out to the pool when I get home from work. I am also looking forward to being able to open the windows and let the breezes flow in while listening to the water. I have a chair in the bedroom beside the window that is perfect for reading and/or knitting. I am pleased that the lights are also visible at night from the chair as well as the bed, so if I am reading in bed, then I can see them flicker to.

Okay, back to work....I have a lot to get done. I also have a lot to get done at home before SF gets home tomorrow afternoon. I have explicit instructions to make certain that I am finished with everything by noon and that we have no interruptions. She wants a "date" night with no one but us.....wonder what she has cooked up...she is a sneaky one when she gets the notion in her head to do something.....