Pattern: Gem, from Heartfelt by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Manos wool
Hook: Size H
Notes: I tried to use this yarn for a lacy scarf (Haven, from the same book) but the severely thick and thin quality of the yarn kept the pattern from standing out. So I decided that I would make another Gem, a hat I made last year from Noro Kochoran. I really love this pattern – it’ my favorite hat, flattering on most people, takes about an hour to crochet. I left out one increase and one decrease round to make up for my thicker yarn. It’s slightly slouchy, but not overly so. By the way, I’m reading my copy of “Toilet Roll Covers,” that my friend Althea gave me. I love this book (it’s the one with the pig on the cover.) I’m definitely going to be making some of these for christmas gifts this year, silly though they are!
As you may (or may not) have heard, we in Louisville were among the victims of the wind storm on Sunday (or “Windstorm 08” as the local news has not so cleverly dubbed it.) I live in a part of town that contains lots of old houses, and a corresponding amount of old growth trees ready to fall. 75% of the city was without power – I think we were the only street in our area not to lose power, so we do feel very lucky. We lost a bunch of shingles off our roof, which will be replaced tomorrow. I took some pictures of the damage (these are from a single block surrounding our house… I did not go looking for the most damage.)
The city is pretty shut down – I am off work for the week, and have been walking the places I need to go to avoid the many streets that are still blocked. I have also finally gotten to the wallpaper in our bedroom.
Unfortunately, as you know, in an old house every room has a surprise. The surprise in this room?
Why yes, that is mold underneath the wallpaper. Apparently at some point in the past 25 years the roof leaked underneath the wallpaper by the window, although it would appear not recently. Forunately it’s only that one small spot over the window, but still… icky. I am very glad that we took the paper down – I would hate to keep sleeping in a room with that going on underneath!
I also have a cold this week, so I’m eating lots of soup, knitting on my tweedy cardigan (60% done!) and wearing a mask if I have to go into “the mold room” as I am now calling it.
Sorry if I haven’t responded to anyone’s emails this week – we haven’t had reliable internet service until today!
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
Wow! Thank god you’re okay! I hope your neighbors are too!
So glad that you’re okay. We had a tornado on Saturday (yikes!) and lots of flooding, but the wind wasn’t too terrible. I hope everything goes back to normal for your fellow citizens asap.
Glad you made it through okay. My brother lives in Hickman, Kentucky (wherever the heck that is–he says it’s the middle of nowhere), and the picture he sent look just like yours.
awww.. hope all gets back t normal for u soon.. hot soup and knitting will do the trick.. (^_^)
Yikes! I’m glad you came through the storm OK. Those pictures are scary!
Oh no! A moldy room and a terrible storm are miserable events. Glad to see you have a snappy hat to see you through. I hope you feel better soon!
Good to hear your ok from the storm and hope you’re feeling better soon.
Mold, arg! Always a new surprise for you…..
Oh no, that’s some pretty serious damage! Glad to hear you’re OK. Cute beret, and good luck with the moldy wall.
oh man!
i hope everyone is okay!
Well, on the upside, your hat looks great! I also love the sweater you are wearing in the picture, very cute.
Hurricanes are scary things. Thanks for not walking around and taking pictures of the most extreme damage – when my house was all but destroyed in hurricane Isabel, we had hoards of people standing outside taking pictures. They seemed almost excited about the amount of damage, while we didn’t have any place to live; and of course, none of them offered to help in any way. I hope everything gets back to normal quickly!
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The problem with living in an area full of gorgeous old trees is that they take out the power lines when they fall. I’m glad you’re okay!
Also glad you found that mold now instead of trying to figure out what’s irritating you down the line!
I’m glad all is okay. The pictures look like a freak hurricane we had on Columbus Day over 40 years ago — and I can wait another 40 years or longer — much longer — for the next. Shucks about the mold. If there’s no longer a leak, it should clean up.
Sorry to hear about the mold and the cold, but I’m glad to hear that everything else is okay. 🙂 It’s always so strange for me to hear about the disasters in America… We never have anything that big hit us. We had a blizzard some years ago and a pretty bad one back in the 90’s, but other than that we’re pretty much out of the way of any natural disasters.
I hope everything clears up soon! At least you’ll have lots of knitting time – and time to get rid of that awful mold… How does one go about getting rid of that, anyway?