Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Imagine there's no smell.

It's easy if you try.

To not be able to wake up and smell the coffee. To not be able to stop and smell the roses. To not be able to smell a freshly peeled orange. Imagine.

That has been my smell life for, what is it now? the better part of a year. New mown grass. The cat box. Fresh laundry. Dirty clothes. The hand soap in the bath room. Buster. Perfume. Vinegar. Homemade chicken vegetable soup. The bunny box. A freshly-shaved Sweetie. A hard working Sweetie.

These are the aromas that I have been reveling in for two days, ever since the sinus infection was bested by the anti-robotics. Good smells and stinky smells, I am loving them all.

I am also feeling good, not run down and depressed. I'm not foolish enough to believe that the depression is gone for good, but I'll take what I can get. I cleaned off the kitchen table and did the dishes. Woo Hoo!

I've been knitting on the Lorna's Laces Socks. I'm using two different colored skeins, but both are essentially brownish, greenish, and goldish. Nice stuff, the yarn, but the colors are not worthy of pictures until the socks are complete.

Only have four bunnies left to clip, this season. I bought a new pair of 4" embroidery scissors from Gingher and they have made the past dozen clippings a snap. The fur just seems to melt at the touch of the blades. They are made in Italy. I ordered and immediately sold two pair of Gingher feather weight, 8" scissors. I'm thinking that I need to become the Gingher Scissor Lady along with being the Louet Lady and the Crazy Bunny Lady. I had forgotten how hard it is to get really good scissors. We all seem to have that one pair of really crappy scissors in the junk drawer that won't even cut tissue paper. I still have and use the 10" Gingher dressmaker shears from my cotume days. They are at least fifteen years old and have never needed sharpening. And are still sharp to the very tippy tip.

Gingher's aren't cheap, but aren't outrageously priced either. (The bunny clippers retail at $25, the feather weights at $20) They are well worth the investment.

I also ordered some of those pricey rosewood needles under the Colonial Brand. I test drove a set of the double points, size one. Retail at $20.00. For five needles. Made with pride in India, says the package. At first, I was delighted with the feel of these beauties. Six inches long, highly polished and very lightweight. I began the new pair of socks. Maybe one third of the way through the pair, an inch and a half broke off of one needle. Just broke off.

Sometimes the product is worth the money. Sometimes it isn't.

This is not acceptable to me. I plan to contact the makers and complain. And I am uneasy about selling the other sets. I hope I can return them. This is why I quit selling Brittany double points; they broke way too easily. Their crochet hooks were also too fragile for actual use.

I'm back to using my old favorites and standbys, Takumi's bamboo needles. I love these flexible and strong boogers. I can't remember if one of these has ever broken on me - that's good thing.