Ahhhhh, oboe cane and a little rant

As an oboist, one of the tasks I must do is make reeds.

In order to do so, the materials must be prepared.

This is the cane aka arundo donax

in the form that we reed makers purchase it -

harvested, dried, chopped and sized

Then we split it, chop it even shorter and gouge it.

These are the curls from gouging

The gouged cane looks like this

And here are a few pieces soaking so that I can make some reeds

And that is how I spend some of my non-knitting time.

At least in part.

Edit: I have to add a minor rant to this. Tonight at 7:50 (we had dinner out) I received a call asking about my availability for a job in late Feb. I called back as soon as we returned home (8:40) and left a message for the contractor. He called back after a while and told me he had left numerous messages for people for that gig and someone already responded so he didn't need me after all. I was a bit miffed and told him that I thought that was really not a nice way to hire people. So now I guess I won't hear from him again.

But really - if you are going to put out a cattle call, at least have the courtesy to say that on the message. I find this a pretty tacky aspect of some contractors that we do not encounter too often. And if they do say that on the message, we frankly don't usually bother to call back.

I will just stay home that weekend and knit. So there!

Thanks! Whew! I feel better now :-)

Bluebell V-Neck Cardigan FO

Okay - here it is - in all it's gigantic glory.

I used WoolEase and #6 Options. I think this is a nice pattern but I would like it in 1) smaller size and 2) lighter weight yarn. WoolEase is not my favorite yarn, either. Although I love the color, it was *really* fuzzy and seems like it will pill pretty vigorously.

Thanks for the sympathy on this one Marj .... And I am taking your comment to heart, Janiannie and knitting my next one a smaller size. May I really am not as big as I think :-) Or maybe I just don't get the ease idea right. At any rate, on to the next project.

Thanks for your flower comments. They make me smile, too.

Too big, too bad!

Happy Sunday morning. Thanks for your thoughts on the Jacques Cousteau Cap. It fit the recipient perfectly :-)

Unfortunately I cannot say the same thing about my Bluebell V-Neck Cardigan. It is enormous on me and I am thoroughly bummed! I thought I got gauge and knit the proper size - but Nooooo. So I am not posting a picture of it today. Waaaaah! I have now knit 4 items that have all been too big and am not happy about it.

I told Jim I was determined to knit something that fits, so I cast on this. I am using some yarn I have in my stash: Silky Tweed by Lavold. I began on #4 needles and it seems to be the right gauge (or not). I think I start knitting tighter then loosen my grip as I go along so everything gets bigger. I'm not sure how to correct that...

Here are a few flowers in my living room to brighten your day:

Amaryllis

and some Bromeliads

Enjoy your week.