(not so ) Idle Hands

So what does Marie do all day in Lithuania while Tom is at work for hours on end and we are not travelling to other countries? As the blog shows, I walk to and shop at the Turgus, the grocery stores or about town, I blog, I go to the esthetician, make dinner. Until a couple of weeks ago, Cheryl and I would also get together for lunch or sometimes drive out of town. Cheryl has returned to Texas though, so now I am here on my own, as my lack of language still isolates me.
One of the things that I started was knitting. Now understand that this is not a new hobby for me. I was fairly obsessed with it when I was a stay at home mom for 8 years when the kids were born over 20 years ago. I knit for everyone then and became fairly proficient. However, that was like making my own bread, preserves, Christmas presents, acting as president of the LAC, neighbourhood watch, etc --- something to do to preserve my sanity and to save money as we were living on one income. I also started swimming then, which of course led to Megan's eventual swim career, but that is a whole other story....

Well we are back to one income (sort of...but not really), and I again need to preserve my brain cells, though with the inexpensive wine here I seem to be pickling them! So out come the needles. Since I have taken this up again, I have completed 3 projects:



1) Black shawl / wrap with button closure made with alpaca wool/silk/ combined with kid mohair














2) green cotton/linen tank top with darts


















3) Black Sonnet cardigan with scotch tweed wool/ silk/ viscose
(too bad the colour/ texture doesn't show up in just one photo )









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I am now starting a sweater for Tom after much hinting on his part. It is going to be a black ribbed pullover knit with 100% fine merino wool....very soft. This one will take a while due to the fine gauge of the wool. For an idea of the finished product look here
http://www.knitty.com/issuefall04/PATTleo.html


Megan is also looking for a pattern that she can put an order in for...not sure if Matt is into the homemade sweater thing at his age but I know he likes socks. .......


The other thing that I do is laundry. Several times a week I load the tiny washing machine and then unload to hang the articles up to dry. No driers in Mazeikiai except for the very rich, as the electricity to too expensive. So laundry is mostly air dried. We have 2 laundry racks..one in the balcony/sun room area, and the other in the office. Now that the weather is not often sunny and is fairly cool, it is best to dry things indoors. In order not to have all your clothing as stiff as a board, it is crucial to add lots of fabric softener. So on most days the place has that damp, fabric softener smell. So that is what I have been doing . Now ....back to the needles. IKI!