Thursday, October 02, 2014

Here we are, for the first time in a WEEK – a day-day, with nothing scheduled. (Yesterday, the cleaning woman came.) My resolution is to do something, anything, to advance the cause of getting to the wedding on November 1.

I think I spoke too soon and too cheerfully about the applied i-cord on the Rams and Yowes. I haven't yet reached the first corner – so the time-estimate is now more like a fortnight. The yarn has broken three times – what on earth? One would naturally suspect m*ths, except that I used it so recently for the very stripe from which I am picking up stitches and everything was fine. The third break has resulted in a considerable mess. I can only be grateful to black-on-black for rendering it fairly inconspicuous.

Anyway, on we go. I shall continue to pick up stitches by day for that evening's pensum or darg.

I had a nice email yesterday from Eat Sleep Knit – two of my twelve skeins of madelinetosh Composition Book Grey look different from the other ten. Send anyway, I said.

Non-knit

Chris, I don't know what James is thinking about Hong Kong, although I am thinking about what he might be thinking. Actual correspondence has been devoted to Mimi the cat, who was hit by a car. He has had a protracted and expensive ordeal, but is now at least out of hospital and recovering in a cage at home from surgery to his leg. No one has had time to worry about Hong Kong.


I have had plenty of time to worry about my keys, and look forward to getting back to Strathardle and renewing the search. Four approaches –


  1. I often find, when searching for something, that it is a good idea to go back every so often to the place where it should be. That won't work in this case – my keys should have been on the north-facing kitchen counter, with my Filofax, ready for the off. They weren't, and Helen has subsequently blitzed the kitchen.
  2. I told our lunch guest on Monday about our adventures, when she and my husband had finished talking about art. She said that it pays to look in places where the keys couldn't possibly be. Like your fine story about your husband's glasses, Mary Lou.
  3. I have often found William of Ockham a help in life's crises. His medieval Latin can be roughly translated as KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid. The least complicated explanation is often the best one. I can't quite think how to apply that principle in this case, but I'm working on it.
  4. I always thought St Jude was the one to turn to, to find something lost, but a bit of googling just now suggests that St Anthony is equally or even more efficacious. I might as well pray to both of them.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:40 AM

    ......you probably checked already Jean......the rubbish bin, the compost heap, the nettle patch, your husband's pockets, your knitting bag, under a cushion, behind the curtains, in your kitchen cupboards........a child's metal detector may do the job if your grandchildren have one......I'll pray too!

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  2. skeindalous10:24 AM

    I find it is usually pockets or knitting bags that steal my keys or cell phone or wallet or sunglasses or library book. Why they should need those objects, I do not know.

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  3. Poor Mimi, get well puss

    I pray to God when I can't find something, I get so tired so fast looking for things and as God is all knowing, I figure He must know where the lost item is. I will pray you find your keys too.

    I discovered how easily Shetland yarn breaks when I first used it and kept trying to pull it tight! Good luck with the i-cord. I wouldn't fancy that much i-cord myself.

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  4. Ellen1:11 PM

    Do you know how to "spit splice". Its not always my favorite method for joining new yarn, but good to use on edges where you don't want the weavings of ends to spoil the edge. I actually lick each end, , lay them side by side, and roll it on my thigh till it feels warm, and friction had felted the ends together. Its quite sturdy, and especially with black yarn, it will never show.

    There was a long running and annoying children's TV show that was on every day during my daughters preschool years, Mr Rodgers Neighborhood, where they used to talk about "walking backwards though your mind" to find lost things. It often helps me when I realize that before I did X, I went to the refrigerator and...there are the keys, next to the butter. Good Luck

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  5. My grandmother had a hotline to St. Anthony. When the object was found we had to put money in the 'poor box' when next at church. Do look at the ode to the Relax sweater at Mason Dixon Knitting if you haven't seen it. I may break down and make one for myself.

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  6. You may want to look in to getting a Stella lamp. I bought the table model recently. It is just amazing. I can now knit with the darkest black, day or night. It is LED with three different types of light and a dimmer setting. I just love it and love being able to knit my favorite jewel tones again whenever I want.

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  7. Poor Mimi! Our hearts break when beloved pets get hurt and those vet bills! Ockham's Razor is something I use a lot when I am faced with a conundrum or a bit of a mystery , like losing keys. Maybe your keys literally fell through the cracks, slipped between something or are hiding under something. Drives me bonkers when I can't find things!

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  8. oh no! Poor Mimi indeed! cats do so much better indoor-only; it's such a dangerous world out there, not just automobiles.
    On a different note, I was taught an old Hungarian grandmother trick for lost items. Turn a drinking glass upside down, whilst thinking of the lost item. It will soon be found.

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  9. Re lost keys. Several times, I am embarrassed to admit, I have found lost keys in my actual handbag, which I had already searched thoroughly. Could they have slipped into the lining of the brown jacket? And I second whoever suggested looking in the bins.

    Replacement car keys, I know to my cost, are disproportionately expensive.

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  10. Anonymous4:08 AM

    I've recently discovered your blog and have been enjoying your adventures and sympathizing with your misadventures. So far I haven't seen any mention of your finding your keys. I am hoping they will show up when you are looking for something else, as is so often the case. And as I remember from my grade school years, St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost THINGS, while St. Jude is the patron saint of lost CAUSES. So easy to mix the two up. I(It might not hurt to pray to both, perhaps?) In any case, I hope you can find your keys before it becomes actually necessary to use them.

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  11. Anonymous4:24 AM

    Oh, I just reviewed what you had already written (and I had already read) and you did plan to pray to both (can't hurt). I need to pay more attention. And many good wishes for your little kitty. Poor little thing...

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