A day can make a difference

 December was an odd month.   We went to a concert in November and a few days later, we got sick.  Really sick and it was into December before we were well again.   Non-contagious, but still had lingering effects for even longer.   It ticked me off because we'd had our jabs updated several weeks before, so should have been protected.   I shudder to think what it would have been without those jabs.  Anyway,  I ended up not getting all my seasonal cards out, which was too bad because I was really happy with them.  That being said, everything else went okay.  I got socks made for all my kids.  I also dug out a few things that didn't sell at the guild show and the kids scooped up the hats and tea towels very quickly!

The meeting of two water sources

Yesterday we went for a walk along a local trail.   Half the trail is by fields and a little bit of bush, but the
other half meanders by the river.  It's simply beautiful and I always feel like I've wandered into a fairy tale when we walk that half.   It's a circle trail, but we walk the river side part way and then turn around and come back, missing the boring side completely. 

  The river water level was  really high and had flooded over the banks, due to all the rain we've had.  You could see the water marks on the far trees which show the water levels have dropped at least 30 cm..  The path is raised and there was only one little boggy area where we had to walk around a puddle.    It was interesting because there is a stream which flows into the river.  The river is running quite fast and is very silty right now, so you could see exactly where the two water sources met.  It was really interesting to watch the flow and swirls of the currents.  The clear water is the stream and the brown, murky water is the river.

The ground was damp because we've had a lot of mild temperatures and an awful lot of rain.  We were driving to a family gathering and I was truly thankful that the temperatures were warm enough that it was rain, because if it had been cold enough for snow, nobody would have been going anywhere!

The different between yesterday and today is amazing.   Yesterday was yet another cloudy, dismally grey day.   It was crisp and cool but still a nice day to go walking as there was no wind. Today however, we stayed home!  The weather was definitely a little different.   I snapped this photo when I locked up the chicken coop for the night, at 4:25 pm.   These are the blackberry canes.  They're very resilient though and always seem to pop right back up when spring comes and the snow melts away.

  What a different a day can make!

More sock stuff

 I'd tried a couple of times to do the toes and heels different colours but had a few issues along the way.   I watched a video which mentioned a hint on a way to do this, just in passing.  I tried it and poof, success!   Well mainly success.  The socks were supposed to be navy with pink heels and toes.  I'd grabbed both the pink and purple bits from my scrap bin and for some reason wound up the purple instead of the pink.  I didn't really pay attention to it until I was doing the toe of the first sock.  By then, it was navy socks with the purple because I wasn't redoing the sock just to change the colour to pink.   They worked out beautifully though, so I was happy enough with them.    I have more navy for another pair of socks, so no worries there.

Then I knew a friend from out of town was visiting, so I made a pair of socks for her.  However I wanted to make a pair for her kid too, so I changed out the 72 cylinder to the 54 needle cylinder.   This is what I started with and I remember thinking that the 72 was a whole new game when I switched them out the first time.   This time though I had huge issues.   It's like the cylinder is just a smidge bigger than the 72.  It cranks differently and pushing the needles up is stiff and doesn't feel the same.    I did a test tube to check tension and it was fine, but lifting needles and going backwards was definitely different .  It took me 3 tries to get 2 kids socks, but I got the socks done.

Then I tried to make a pair of socks for my daughter who has tiny, skinny feet.   Stitches kept dropping and then the whole machine seized up.   Because I'd changed out the yarn carrier for a pretty, new slotted yarn carrier, it meant that I had several possible issues.   The most likely was that I had a bent needle or two causing the jam though, so I pulled all the needles, and replaced them one at a time cranking several times around for each needle.  I found one which pinged, so I pulled it because it shouldn't ping!   I readjusted  the yarn carrier and tried again. 

 The nice thing about this new slotted yarn carrier is that when there is an issue like this, I can just lift the yarn out, instead of cutting it and having to join the pieces together.   But all my fussing and readjusting didn't stop this from happening, several times.   Now I'm just beyond frustrated since this 54 slot cylinder is still working slightly differently from the 72 slot cylinder and while I've ordered a new, made to order 60 slot cylinder, it won't be here until after Christmas.   I'm hoping to have these socks made for her for a present.  I still have a few days to play with them though, after a big cup of tea!