Yesterday and today

This is the story of my first vaccine shot yesterday, at the Summit County Department of Health. My vaccine was Moderna, my next shot is scheduled for March 2nd.

It was not a jam packed event! I followed the signs around the building, until I was stopped. The signs said to have ID ready. I handed my driver's license out the passenger window to a fellow who took it into a kiosk. When I'd drifted forward to the kiosk, a young man compared me to my ID, asked my name and returned my license.

I drifted forward again to another check point, where I gave my name and me and my appointment were located on a tablet. I was told to follow the signs around the building, which I did, and came to a stop at the end of the line, three cars deep. I used the opportunity to get my arm bared down to a short sleeved tee.

The next stop was the business stop. The nurse who gave the shot sank the fairly long needle to the hilt in my arm. I felt nothing. I was told to continue around the building and park in the designated lot for fifteen minutes. If I required no additional care, I was free to leave.

As I drove the twenty minutes home, I became more and more sleepy. I expected this to happen; it's my reaction to foreign substances. By the time I was home, I ached everywhere. My shoulders, my arms, my legs. I attributed that to all the snow I'd shoveled, never mind it had only just begun.

I went to bed and got up this morning. I still ache all over. I wove for an hour, ate lunch, watched TV, made a salad for supper. I intend to feel better tomorrow.

Am I grateful the immunization sequence is started? Yes, of course. But I am more deeply saddened there is no stockpile of vaccine, as the former administration announced, there is no decent distribution system, there is no methodical program in place to inoculate all of us, and we all know when and where we will be inoculated.

I am not amused I happened to be at my computer when my email arrived, made sure I began registering for a shot one second after the registration opened, that I actually secured a spot and every shot was signed for in two minutes.

I took the route home past Stan Hywet hall. This stacked stone fence runs the equivalent of two city blocks. At one point the fence continues down the hill and an identical stack stone retaining wall parallels its route. Several years ago this wall was a crumbling mess. Funds were raised and the wall rebuilt.

Getting out of the woods (the story of today and it's only three)(a lot of illustrations)

 I woke to several inches of snow. Being a worry wart with an appointment tomorrow for my first vaccination, plus it's trash day, first thing after breakfast I gathered my trash and went after my snow.

I cleared all the way to the street, clear shot for Larry with the trash cans. Of course, that was ten this morning. I've cleared one more time, and it will stop snowing by ten tonight, so I believe I can do it all over again tomorrow and be in line for a shot at two in the afternoon.

Back in the house, I straightened up my table to take a picture for Debbie. The table came from my weaver friend Linda. It has another leaf, opposite side, that is not extended. The other side also has a drawer. The legs are chrome, the top is enamel.

I've asked Linda to write a little of its history; all I know is the table went with her to the U of Rochester for her nursing degree. People have admired the table and even made offers for it. But, when I'm through, it goes back to Linda or her daughter Cara.

The amaryllis is beginning to suffer from leaning, the stalks are so tall. I've turned it every day; it follows the sun, exaggerating its lean. Today I could not stabilize the plant, so I wedged it into the pot Laura and I bought yesterday, and went looking for a stake and a tie.

When I returned, disaster. A sad end to a lovely story. But, it did have a good month. I cleared off the table, to have lots of room to effect the move to the new pot.

The bulb was enormous, to my novice eye. It filled the entire pot; there was almost no dirt. The only soil I have on hand is either the ant infested bag in the shed, or the stuff for orchids, which isn't exactly "dirt". I put it in the bottom, to elevate the bulb to its original height, then filled in around the bulb with the miniscule amount of dirt in the old pot, plus orchid wood chips.

So far so good, I guess. Now to clean the rest of the mess. I sorted all my stones into a bowl and cleaned the table top and the ironstone platter.

Laura put the stones back last time, one at a time. She knew exactly what to do to make a rock garden. I haven't a clue. I anchored the front corners with Russia and England, but the rest is hit and miss.

The next time Laura comes to visit, her first job will be setting the stones to rights. For my part, I've read I should continue with water and fertilizer as long as the leaves grow. I probably also should turn the pot often to attempt to keep the leaves straight.

When the leaves fall over I should cut them off and allow the plant to go dormant, which means putting it on the back of a shelf in a dark closet. When tiny green sprouts poke up, the whole blooming game begins again.

Mistakes

Dan appeared as promised, Monday at nine. He started the car, lifted the hood and came back ten minutes later. He knocked on the door, and reported nothing wrong. I went out to dissuade him, sat in the driver's seat and recognized everything that went wrong Friday.

I'd failed to see that all the settings were properly set to get the results I wanted. I'd mildly panicked. I'd jumped to conclusions. The whole situation was distorted, then I was home and resolved my problem by calling the service center and making an appointment.

Reminds me of another recent problem; one of my long time readers could no longer access my blog. Norton, her virus provider, blocked her from my malicious site. She emailed me of the problem, and I looked into it. Norton offered a fix for we malicious sites that felt we weren't, a code we could attach to some part of the blog.

I am no coder, or software engineer. I called my computer guru, who is no longer that, but still a friend. He works for a new company that I can't afford, and that won't let him provide service for free. He looked at Norton's fix and told me I could do it, and if I was really stuck, call him some evening.

And by the time all that was arranged, the reader also had contacted Norton. She is so nice, I'm sure she didn't say put your head back on right. But she did convince a giant company to take a look at one tiny blog and override their logarithm. Now I have a green light from Norton. In case some of you find me back, and you use Norton, that's why.

Here's an amusing little mistake.

I signed up for a vaccination from two different sources, Summit County Health and Cleveland Clinic. This morning I had an email from SCH, my number is up. I can make an appointment by calling the number provided, beginning at noon today.

So, I ran errands and did stuff waiting for time to pass to noon. I'm even writing a blog post, here at my computer, under my atomic clock. It's still only 11:10. Amusement? Emails are ringing in. I suppose people are using "reply all". They want to make an appointment for themselves, their wife or husband, mother, neighbor.

There are emails begging, Please stop emailing. It's OK, I'll be calling, beginning at noon, if it ever comes.

There is vaccine for two days of shots from ten to four, this Thursday and Friday. It will be like when I was a teenager, trying to be the tenth caller to win a record album. Remember rotary phones? I'll let you know if I score.

Here's something that made no mistake coming home. I can no longer get a good close up picture of top to bottom.

I set my appointment online. It took me two tries to secure an appointment Friday afternoon. There looked to be maybe twenty appointments left.

Adventures

 When I was a new driver, my mother once told me everyone else just goes out to the store, but "you go out for an adventure". That comes to mind frequently, and believe me, I don't leave home for the adventure.

I had my car serviced yesterday for the first time in over a year because I'd also had AAA jump start my car and recommend I have the battery checked by better equipment. Yes, I needed a new battery.

It was mean cold yesterday. On the way home I pushed the heater button. Its little light never came on. Then, the heat never happened. For the helluvit, I tried air conditioning. No little light, no cold air. Then I badly needed defrost, and you guessed it. I couldn't clear the windows. 

Fortunately it's a short drive. As soon as I'd washed my hands, used the loo and washed my hands again, I called Goodyear. They denied any responsibility, so I made an appointment for ten on Monday morning to bring it back. First available!

I lost my heater coil once, years and years ago, on the road for a show. For the trip across the entire state of Pennsylvania, Ann and I would go until our teeth chattered, then put the heat on for a bit and choke on antifreeze fumes as long as we could bear it, because that's what happens when the heating coil fails. That's all I know and that wasn't going on in this case.

Of course I called Cathy, and we commiserated a bit. Heat on the trip to the station and none on the way home seemed less than coincidental. Of course she called her buddy Dan, the handy man for the park, then called me back.

"He's going to fix your car Monday morning!"

I went diving for this cause of complete change of attitude on the part of the super who made me cry, broke my dishwasher door and I'm still waiting on the replacement part.

"Oh, you gave him two towels when he tried to fix the dishwasher, and now he's in your towel club."

Very long story short, Cathy says Dan says they probably disconnected a radiator hose to seat the battery more easily. Whatever, he can find and fix it. He probably can. But I asked her to call him off. Now I have enough information to stand my ground come Monday.

In other news, check this amaryllis:

Thursday morning

Thursday evening

Friday morning

Saturday morning

And on to the recipe that yielded four to eight servings. I made it for supper Thursday evening. Cleaning up afterward, I put four servings in the freezer for later. This recipe is the childhood favorite of noodles with butter, with the twist of pine nuts in the noodles and butter. Dishes of wonderful things are on the table to put in your serving. Of course, I put everything into the pot and served myself that way. I used penne mezzani rigati, but if I ever make it again, I'll use flat spaghetti noodles.

My other change: 1/3 cup of pine nuts is past excessive. If I use my remaining quarter cup of pine nuts on this recipe, I'll downsize to about a tablespoon. And finally, this is a NYT Cooking recipe and it's not behind a paywall.

Pasta with Bacon, Cheese, Lemon and Pine Nuts

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces thickly sliced bacon, cut across into pieces about 3/4-inch wide
• 1 to 1 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan, in a small serving bowl
•  About 1/3 cup chopped parsley, scallions or mint, in a small serving bowl
•  Hot red pepper flakes, in a small serving bowl
• 1 large lemon
• 1 ½ to 2 pounds pasta
• 4 to 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 to 1 stick)
• ⅓ cup pine nuts
•  Coarse salt, such as Maldon

PREPARATION

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Put the cheese, herbs and red pepper flakes on the table. Zest the lemon and put the zest on the table in a small serving bowl. Cut the lemon in half.
2. Put bacon in a medium-size heavy pot and turn the heat on low. Cook, turning occasionally, until fat has rendered and bacon is chewy-crisp, about 10 minutes. Lift out bacon pieces and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Keep warm on top of the stove.
3. When the water boils, add pasta, stir well and cover. When the water comes back to the boil, uncover and stir again.
4. Put 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan and melt it over medium-low heat. When it foams, throw in the pine nuts and cook, shaking the pan, until they turn brown and toasty. Turn off heat and squeeze the lemon into the pan, cupping your hand underneath to catch any pits. Stir and set aside. Transfer bacon to a serving bowl and place on the table.
5. As soon as the pasta is tender (it will cook a bit more later on), drain it, reserving a cup of the cooking water. Immediately return the pasta to the pan over low heat. Toss in a chunk of butter. Add a splash of cooking water and a pinch of salt, stir well, cover and let rest 1 minute. Taste and adjust the seasonings until the pasta is completely cooked and tasty (but plain).
6. For those who like plain pasta or pasta with just butter and cheese, set aside a good amount in serving bowls. For others, pour the pine nuts and butter into the pasta remaining in the pot, add another splash of cooking water, and toss to combine. Serve from the pot or in a serving bowl, passing the various toppings.

 

Keeping track

 I live a cheek by jowl existence here, neighbors ten feet away on either side and literally a stone's throw across the street. To boot, I notice things. Once I thought noticing was a natural state, but experience taught me different. My sister, for instance, notices little. She sees a lot, but doesn't notice changes, differences. 

We've had snow this past week, and more than a little. My neighbor across the street has two cars. Generally he's on the spot, clearing his drive and cars and often leaving. But, his cars were covered in snow Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. This morning I texted him. He's fine.

This map hit my email, compliments of Google. I visited 77 places last year, 36 of them new. My first instinct, why ever did I go to Mentor or Cleveland. Answer, with Ruth to a quilt show in Mentor and to the Natural History Museum in Cleveland. My endocrinologist is the southernmost dot and my dentist the next dot up. I live one dot above Cuyahoga Falls. 

When I look at Google's all time  map of tracking me, I've been all over the eastern half of the country. I doubt I'll put many dots outside Ohio this year. I did make an appointment for service to the car tomorrow. It was last done a year ago December, and in that time I have not driven the 3,000 miles between servicing. 

My age group is authorized for vaccination next week. I'm not holding my breath. Although I "signed up" on the official county vaccination request form, I've not even received an acknowledgement of that.  My governor lost interest in the epidemic when his president did, about last May.

I'm getting a lot of towels made in this stay at home mode. I've posted a new color wheel and put the khaki towels on the towel tab.

I like the color; it's completely unobtrusive. The color I'm weaving now is lime. In surveying the shelves, I find I'm completely out of blue. Fortunately I have three colors of blue on hand to weave.

Something new for supper! I found a pasta recipe whose sauce is bacon, butter, pine nuts, cheese and lemon juice. I'll probably add some onion and garlic. The recipe says it serves four to eight. I love that. Either you like it or not. My taste buds say what's not to like, so I'll make the entire recipe and after tomorrow night I'll freeze the other four servings.

And that's one more day in Maskville. See you down the road, as we used to say in show business.

Been a whirlwind

 Each time I've planned a blog post for "today" or "tomorrow", life has jumped in. Now that I'm explaining the lack, I'm wondering what happened.

Some excellent news! I finished the socks. Yesterday I was down to closing the toe,

and I did that today, in my weekly phone call with Ann. Finished before the inauguration. I saw the yarn as far more blue, but knit up, it's fairly evenly distributed in blue, gold and cream. In any event, they are a new pair of wool socks and tomorrow they will be on my feet.

I took the skeins to my yarn drawer, to put them away. I opened the bag of partial skeins to deposit the one on the right, and was stunned to find my darning egg. I have not been in that bag for two years or more. The last time I needed the egg I used a ping pong ball, a poor substitute. Does the yarn appear predominately blue to you?

I also found my POW bracelet, a baby bracelet with my name and a baby bracelet my husband's grandmother gave to my oldest daughter. Years ago I found a web site that gave the current status of names on POW bracelets. My name had returned safely from the war in Vietnam.

The length of khaki towels is off and fulled. I'll get to cutting them tomorrow. A very neutral and soothing color.

I'm watching a series titled Atypical on Netflix, about a high functioning young man on the autism spectrum. I think it extremely well done. You may remember the two or three years I car pooled an Asperger's band member with my grandchildren. That experience helped me settle into the program quickly.

There is little else to pump up my post; just pottering in seven hundred odd feet and telling the cat I will not share my chair when I am knitting. Now that I'm back on that again, he could become a permanent fixture on the arm of my chair.

It's just a sad situation we're in right now

 All the packages of towels I've ever mailed have been delivered, except one. I shipped to Australia at the beginning of Covid fears, in the days of wiping down everything that touched our hands. It did not arrive after six weeks, though a package to New Zealand did. I think New Zealand is further than Australia. At any rate, I could duplicate and reship the order, and I did. It arrived in the usual month or so, and six weeks later, so did the first.

And at the height of the Christmas season, I shipped a package to Maryland. I've shipped to this person before; we've even joked it's only a six hour drive between our homes. This package was scheduled for delivery December 14th. It's not there yet. I call the post office it left from, and they tell me it's still moving. The container it's in was last scanned...! The container it's in! They say it should be delivered next week.

I wonder why I typed those paragraphs. Like my socks. I want it done by inauguration. And they will be. I turned the heel and knit off the gusset, bringing the sock back to the 68 stitches I began with. Now it's just the push to the toe. That's what I can do. I can't get those towels on the move myself, though. As the man at the post office told me, "It's a sad situation we're in right now".

My shoulders sag under the weight of troubles for the next administration. The count of the people who must be tried for high crimes! The count of the people who need to relearn, learn, "one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". The national mall closed, national guard shoulder to shoulder around its perimiter.

And I potter about in 859 square feet. What am I doing to advance the cause? Well, I'm staying indoors. I sold some towels last year, so I'll be paying taxes. That's a good thing.

I have a problem with the blog. At least two readers report their Norton virus package won't let them on here. "Warning. Dangerous site. Do not open." In reading through the solutions, there is something I can do, but not today. It's too late in the day to do it right, insert a meta tag, or something. I'll try tomorrow.

This picture was yesterday. The new blossom stalks are even higher today. I cut off the last two blossoms today; too raggedy to keep looking at.

The blossom pods have the flowers bulging. That makes me smile.

I wonder if those are actual amaryllis leaves there in the center, that I first thought was a fourth blossom. I hope so. It will signify a return to normalcy. When the leaves grow tall and fall over, I read, I should cease watering, cut them off and let the plant enter a well earned dormancy. And I will.

January 20 is the middle of next week. We can make it, and restart from there.

Update amaryllis, weaving and vaccination

 This morning I called my doctor's office for information on Covid vaccination. Before that call, I checked the internet and learned the governor will release doses for age 80 and more on January 19, 75 or more years of age on January 25, 70 and more on February 1, and so on. I marked January 25 on my calendar. 

My doctor's office, which is a Cleveland Clinic affiliation, stumbled at first, telling me to go to CVS or Walgreens for vaccinations. I stated the question again, there was a discussion among the personnel around, then I was told they have heard nothing yet, and to call back in a week. See why I don't trust this doctor? 

So, one week from today the governor will release more vaccine, and, at least at the front desk, they are totally unprepared. 

The amaryllis is right on schedule. I've read a few things about it, and the best information I've put together is to keep treating it like a normal bulb. Keep cutting back the various bits as they decline and droop, until I'm back to a bulb. Keep it well watered and fertilized. When it's down to a bulb I can recommence the winter blooming cycle, or let it revert to it's normal state of being a summer blooming bulb.

I read of one fellow with a 75 year old bulb. What a challenge I've acquired. First I must outlive my cat, and now an amaryllis bulb. When it's down to a bulb again, I will repot it. I have time to look around. One person grows hers in canning jars. I think I'll go for a heavy, square, glass jar, so popular in the eighties for chotskie collections. Abby Ann's here I come again.

Over December I was able to accumulate what my business heart feels is an adequate inventory of towels. Call me what you will, my life of retail production has levels of comfort, and mine is having a decent inventory for an undertaking.

Finally today I am ready to begin a new run of towels. I'm going to make khaki, there on the left, near the end. I wonder how strange that will seem. That was the color of the army's dress uniforms during the second world war. I've always liked it, though never enough to wear it or decorate a room. 

So, I'll weave it once and get it out of my system. Some colors that I could not believe would be popular sold away in a heartbeat. Black, slate, kiwi, periwinkle...

Those I need to redo soon are one shelf down. But first, my tubes of khaki.

Look at the time!

 When I read a book, I try to review what I've read before I put down the book. When I come back to the book, I do my best to remember what I read last. I think I need to do that to remember my day. 

I came to my office corner to update my towel page. But first, I thought I'd review the news. Afterward I had to squeeze my eyes tight shut to remember why I came here. To update the towels! 

They are updated and you can have a look at the cayenne. I am very pleased with the "hand".  The dye of a thread can affect the way it feels, called its hand, in weaving. Sometimes a color achieves hand in each wash. Sometimes it's there the first time.

When I came to breakfast this morning, I was in fine fettle. I had just one disagreement with Mr. Cat, for lying across a narrow aisle. On the other hand, he keeps me on my toes.

Even before breakfast I had to admire, then photograph that amaryllis. There were the first four blossoms on that stunted stalk, at eye level, and the tall new stalk, which had adequate water and even some fertilizer.

Speaking of The Cat, amaryllis and cat can be a deadly mix. I told him to keep his curiosity to himself, or one of them would spend the duration behind a closed door.

Toby did help himself to a taste test, as you can see there on the lower right petal. He was sick for a day, and then seems to have figured cause and effect. The amaryllis has not been molested again.

I have reason to be more than pleased with this bulb. It has four original blossoms, it has a tall stalk that will produce more blossoms, it has another stalk coming, there to the right of the tall stalk, and yet another stalk pushing up between the tall one and the other one.

It still was not eleven in the morning, so I made a pan of corn bread. It is crusty on purpose. I love it. An extra five minutes in the oven. Then I retired to the studio to begin hemming cayenne towels. I took photos to post and then had a square of cornbread for lunch. Eight potential squares left.

And so, down the hall to post photos, and I have pissed away an hour trying to ferret out some decent news. I quit. Better news won't start until we inaugurate a new president. It is obvious the GOP will not step up to the plate, admit an error.

I could have turned the heel of my inaugural sock in the time I have wasted reading the inconsequential, inadequate response of my government to an insurrection ended by a few brave officers hiding the lawmakers, even officials who encouraged the mob on, until a very late arriving line of law enforcement walked the mob back.

Bullshit.

I'm done with the news for the next ten days. I will call my doctor's office tomorrow and see where to find my shot. I am in charge of myself. And the cat, if we need to evacuate. A little humor there.

No good title comes to mind

 If you've watched too much news these last couple of days, raise your hand. OK, I've counted all of us. My stomach still clenches, my heart rises when I read something new, like this morning: an officer now has died.

Most striking now, believers still believe. The somewhat less than half who voted to retain the current president still believe his message; that noise and rally counts are the same as legally cast and certified votes. I sincerely want the current congress to make the voting process crystal clear, so that in two or four years the loyal opposition actually is loyal to the Constitution and can believe their candidate won or lost fairly.

I've done so little these last two days! I'm near the end of the cayenne towels, and plan on returning today. I still will. There are those socks to finish too. I neared the turning of the heel last night. But ambition is crushed. I am working hard at turning this setback of mind. 

I did have a couple of memorable towel adventures last year. Early on, before spring as I remember, my Texas cousin, Ellis, who lives south of the Red River, in contrast to my living north, tested me on the merit of my towels, and apparently I passed. He ordered ten towels. 

I was instructed to hold them until the week before Christmas; he wanted them for presents. Eventually I mailed them two weeks before. His candidate had bolloxed the mail completely, though I cited only the slow progress at repairing the post office as my reason. His package arrived safely, with three days to spare.

The other towel adventure I remember well was the husband of my partner at cards with the Methodists. Around Thanksgiving, I think, he texted me, could he come buy some towels for Nancy's birthday present? He knew how to look them over on my blog, and made his selection. I wrapped them in tissue paper, as usual, and put them in the envelope, unsealed.

Nancy called this morning to tell me how much she was enjoying the gift. I asked if it had been a surprise, and she said Yes, and added he was quite proud of himself. That's a story that makes me smile.

In the course of chatting, I learned there is another new dog in her house. They had a springer spaniel that moved here with them, but the old fellow passed on, as old fellows do. In due time Jake, a new spaniel moved in. I met him; we played cards at Nancy's once, and Jake was introduced. He's the big brother now.

And on the other end of the sofa, his little sister, Jacki. He's still "learning" her. Toilet training is a tough go.

The news is getting thick

 Wow. Trump's Aberdeen, Scotland golf course is preparing for an ex-presidential visit on January 19th. The facility bled money for years. I wonder if our tax money supporting a former president over there will help the bottom line.

And England in lockdown for six weeks, minimum, to limit the spread of the new corona virus. May it be successful, especially in light of Boris Johnson combing his hair before he made the announcement. How much more ministerial he appears.

Back home, I dealt with my pharmacy. There is another branch of the same pharmacy near me. In fact, twice as near me. My neighbor uses it, and I asked her to pick up her script via the drive through and see if the window were clogged with people in cars having covid tests. 

In fact, she told me, not only did she zip through the pickup, she learned this branch of the pharmacy is testing from a tent in their lot.  I transferred my scripts over the weekend. My mother called that not getting angry. More like getting even.

In the meantime, the renegade amaryllis has four beautiful blossoms now. I gave it a spoonful of organic fertilizer I found up on the shelf. Boy, that stuff stinks. I watered it down a bit.

The cayenne towels are past the half way point. That means one of two tubes is woven. I mark half way now so I can adjust my measuring to get six towels from each tube, as I should. I'm tired of left over scraps, and having shipped the very last of them with today's towel order, another goal this year is to make no more.

So, that is the news from Boston, Ohio, as I've noticed it. How I hope life grows more adventurous, soon.

A very good day

It is the real countdown to January 20th! I think excitement will  grow and grow, and feel like the Women's March on Washington and the World, in 2017. And the good president-elect probably will pull off a virtual inauguration, parade and festivities and no one will show up to get sick.

Somehow I segued into a political speech and never started on my own. It's been a very good day. The abandoned amaryllis is pleased to have water and a window.

Look at that. I couldn't keep the piece of foil from pushing on the petals, so I weighted it down with one of my stones. Another important stone, this came from Lake Baikal in Russia.

The blossoms have made me smile all day. I put in a bit of time weaving. I'm weaving a color called cayenne. I felt like we need a bit of a hot pepper jolt. The color quite clashes with amaryllis pink, so look at one or the other, not both.

Then it was after lunch and I absolutely had to get back to the sock. I learned to knit socks in college. I knit all my winter socks. Wool keeps my feet warm and the ribbing does not bind my legs. Here is a pair I knit in 2003. I've darned both.

The wool is merino superwash, which I do put in the wash, but not the dryer. If I would take the time to turn them inside out to wash, they would not be pilled. I knit socks for Ann and one of her kennel workers, with the admonition to wash inside out and hang to dry. Their socks are not pilled, though they are darned.

The last pair of socks I knitted for myself was more than five years ago. The toes will need darned in awhile, unless I do something sensible like knit another pair. It turned out I had to relearn something I did by rote since I was eighteen years old.

This current pair have been a struggle. I began the first sock before the head injury, did not pick them up again until a year ago last summer, then one more time, when I wound up tearing out back to the heel. Several days ago I put something inane on Netflix and recommenced. Last night I bound off the toe, realized I had done it an inch too soon on too many stitches, and tore back again.

This afternoon was it. I picked up the tiny stitches once more, got them straightened out, and recommenced knitting. I did not stop for supper. I not only finished the sock, I cast on its mate. I intend to wear the pair on January 20, 2021.