Yes, it's a whole new year and I think I posted about 5 times last year. I was good for a while and then just languished and didn't care much. I had a bit of a problem right after my last posting. I took a minor fall at work and injured my wrist. Don't even ask because I can't remember what it was, but I basically overstretched the tendon in my right wrist. (A common injury for skiers, from what they told me.) I reported it to my boss and we let it lie for almost a month when the pain became unbearable. So I did 6 weeks of therapy and, even though it's far from perfect, I'm better enough that most of life is back to normal.
~
The holidays were wonderful. My brother came to visit from North Carolina with his girlfriend and her daughter. Sweet girls! Course, Brandi is 15 and her Mama is a bit terrified by that mouthy thing all 15-year-old girls experience. So it's possible that Brandi might come up and spend the summer with us. Since I've "been there, done that", she didn't even raise a single hair at the nape of my neck. And Dee is excited about the whole idea. She's never been a big sister and here's her chance to understand Shelby's position.
~
Frankly, I'm thinking it's a great way to get back some of the slave labor I've lost... LOL!
~
On the Needles:
Too many projects. I have the Wool Peddler's Shawl in the Dream In Color colorway of Musk Melon. It's gorgeous! I have about 5 more pattern rows to go on the lower edge and then 5 rows of garter and I can wash and block. It will make a spectacular spring shawl. I knit it on a size 7 needle, so it's very lacy and light and airy. Not exactly a winter shawl, especially since our winter has been downright frozen.
~
Up until Christmas, I was able to use my trusty old basketweave shawl in alpaca instead of a coat. But wind chills are -0 at night now, so that's not an option anymore. And if the alpaca won't keep me warm, no way a fingering weight shawl knit on a size 7 needle will do the trick.
~
I did manage to finish three sets of fingerless mitts for Christmas with the wrist injury. But I have another one in progress and one more to go. No sweaters so far, though I have yarn to make 2 of them.
~
Master Knitter Level I:
The big news is that I finally did it. I signed up for the Master Knitter certification program. I bought my binder and yesterday went to my LYS and bought some gorgeous Cascade 220 for my swatches. I laughed when I got home. The yarn is a very pretty peach in color and, without realizing it, my binder is color coordinated... LOL!
~
I'm hoping to blog about the program as I make my way through the swatches and questions, etc. There's a group on Ravelry and a whole discussion board on The Knitters Guild Assoc (www.tkga.com), but you never know if someone would like to read along.
~
I'm extremely lucky in that I have a Master Knitter in my spinning group. She served for many years on the judging committee for the program, so she's offered to look over my swatches before I send them to the committee for judging. Who could ask for better than that? My goal for 2010 is to complete Level I and also possibly Level II. If I knit two swatches a week, that will be the easy part. The questions will require more time because I'd like to sound like I know what I'm talking about and that's the real point of the certification... LOL!
~
So stay tuned while I build my binder and hope to become a Master Knitter! 2010 is going to be exciting and wonderful! I can feel it in my bones.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Four Months? Yikes!!!
Not that anyone really follows my blog, but I can't believe it's been four months since I posted anything. Well.... all I can say is that life got in the way.
~
I was reading my last post and all my plans, etc for my summer. Well, for the most part, the knitting needles did languish in the corner. I pulled them out periodically. Mostly, I did finish the socks... well, okay. I finished one pair. The other pair has one sock completed and the other waiting for me to begin. Other than that, I did toss them across the room and they sort of sat there most of the summer.
~I never did pack up the dining room. Shelby brought a whole bunch of stuff home from college and all her boxes (5 of them) sat stacked in that room all summer. Three of them are still there. I think she's waiting to need her winter clothes before she takes them with her.
~The good news is that I actually did get some projects finally off my list. I scraped, primed and painted the garage doors. That took almost a whole week because of all the rain. Then I gave up trying to do anything outside and finally got into our bedroom. I started with the ceiling. Pretty durned gross when you need two coats of white so the ceiling looks white... LOL! Then I cleaned and sanded that dark paneling we call "walls" and then primed and painted that a lovely shade of pale lavendar. Scraped, primed and painted the window and then hung new hardware and curtains. It's amazing how changing the color can totally brighten a room from a dark dungeon to an actual place of rest and relaxation.
~Not much to report with the yard other than the morning glories absolutely loved our rainy, cool weather. Every time I tried to get outside, it would rain some more. I finally gave up. Poor yard has been ignored for two years (last year, I had the surgery whic prevented a lot of hard physical labor) and it shows. Next year will be hell to get it back into shape, but that's at the top of my list.
~As for spinning? I spun up the BFL and knit another Barbara Walker's top down raglans. I submitted that into the Durham Fair and took a third place with it. It's soft and very comfortable to wear, but there are some inconsistencies in the spinning that I can see so I can understand why it certainly didn't take a first. I was thrilled to get a third place.
~I did submit a lot of stuff to Durham and most of it placed very well. The only disappointment was this one, my red Dale of Norway. It placed second after a Philosopher's Wool kit. I know the PW kits because I've knit two of them myself. As for complexity? Sorry, but Dale of Norway is much more complex. So this one was a total disappointment for me.
~
But what can I say? I know I deserved a first for this sweater, so in my mind, I see a blue ribbon attached to it... LOL!
~
Good news is that I was contacted by a long lost forty-second cousin (I'm only kidding! I have no idea how far removed we are, but we're related back to common grandparents about 4 generations ago) from my Dad's side of the family. We never knew much about his father other that I've been able to learn in the past couple of years from his half-brother. Well, I'm now finding out that there's a whole slew of relatives I didn't even know existed. This has been exciting with pictures and stories and all kinds of stuff. I might just have to find a way to make it to Cornwall one of these days to see the old family church. Wow, what a concept!
~
I'm back to work and both girls are living on campus now that Dee is a freshman. Oh boy, I never thought about what it would mean to lose all that slave labor. No one to leave a list of chores for anymore. I've been trying to adjust so I can get everything done, but it hasn't been working too well. So I keep trying different things. Eventually, something will work and I'll be able to keep up.
~
Oh... spinning. Let me just say that it wasn't Rambouillet. It's Romuldale. And very neppy. I've managed to spin up a whole bunch of it. I think I've got 3 or 4 skeins at this point. But it's annoying me. I can't get an even consistency in my singles and that really annoys me. So I'm going to finish up the two spools that I've got running, ply those off and then switch to something else for a while. I have some beautiful rovings that I bought from Lisa Souza at Stitches East and I'm dying to dig into those. One is a straight BFL and the other is a merino/silk mix. Both in shades of blues and greens. Really, really pretty. And it'll be nice to have something smooth under my fingers for a change.
~
And I treated myself while at Stitches East. I bought a few skeins of Dream In Color (colorway musk melon). Gorgeous stuff! That's going to be a Wool Peddler's Shawl for me. I also bought a whole bag of Araucania for another top down sweater. Colorway has some brown, blue and even olive green. It might end up looking kind of camouflage, but that's okay. I got a shawl pin (it's about time and, yes I used it within days). No hand carders, though. Darn. I'll have to get those online. But the big score and real luxury item was I bought a whole ounce of quivet. Now I have a reason to spin that yak/merino mix as a prelude to attempting my hand at quivet.
~
Best news of all is that Interweave signed a contract with HArtford, so Stitches East will be in Hartford for at least another two years. A reason to tuck away some stash money for next year. If I start now, I might have enough to spend and spend some more next year...
~
LOL!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Rain, more rain and free posting...
Let's begin with the easy stuff. I'd heard from a couple people that you can no longer comment on blogspot unless you have an account. I don't like that. I don't expect people to join blogspot in order to drop comments, but I would surely love to hear some feedback on what little adventures I discuss over here.
So I toss out the question that, if anyone knows a site where I can keep this running dialogue and people could actually post without having to join and it's free, drop me a note. My email is bonneewolf@yahoo.com I'd be more than happy to change servers as I have no ties here. I'd have no trouble starting over as I can't think of anything I've posted that would cause world chaos if lost to the annals of time.
We actually had one small glimmer of hope this week. I checked the weathercast on Wednesday and they said some rain on Thursday (buckets, actually), maybe some rain on Friday and then an overcast weekend, but the precipitation would stop. In fact, they promised it would stop for all of next week. I can't explain how excited I became when I read that because the simple thought of two days in a row with actual sun was more than my little peabrain could comprehend. By Thursday morning, however, they'd changed their minds once again. Rain all weekend. Rain all this coming week.
Again.
/sigh/
In the Garden
The only things flourishing in all this precipitation is the hostas, grasses and my morning glories are doing suprisingly well. I thought they'd need sun in order to find a direction to grow, but they're 6"-8" above the ground and reaching for the fence. Everything else seems to be rotting before it can actuall bloom. I have a mountain laurel that's a beautiful fuscia color. Very pretty. Very small. In fact, this poor plant has survived some seriously hardship. I actually bought it two years ago and, for some strange reason, never got it planted. I think it got tucked in behind the garage with the pile of castoffs and forgotten. But I found it last year in its tiny little gallon container and planted it anyway. Late, of course, because last year was when I got my late start because of the surgery. So I don't think it got into the ground until about August. But I figured, what the heck. If it's survived winter in that tiny little container, it just might come back. Well, last year, it looked half dead. I thought it was a goner for sure.
And, in fact, it wasn't until about three weeks ago that it actually showed life. But then a few leaves appeared and some buds began to build. Wow! What a survivor! So I was looking forward to the fabulous color that I'd remembered and the rain this year basically took that excitement away. The blooms opened and it was gorgeous in all its spindly glory for all of two days before the blooms rotted and fell off...
/bigger sigh/
If we don't get some sun soon, I have a feeling that the only thing that will do well this year is my mulch. Mark did get me two yards. That's a good start. I know it's going to take me another 2-4 yards to finish what I plan on accomplishing this year.
On The Needles/Wheel
I really have to do both at once because there's very little on the needles that isn't languishing until I go back to work. Whenever I get the itch to knit, I pull out the two pairs of socks that I'd begun months ago. I knit a couple rows and then I just want to toss it across the room. I spend so much time knitting when I'm working that the last thing I want to see during the summer months when I'm off is needles and yarn.
Don't get me wrong. I have tons of yarn. I have a whole basketful of just my handspun, let alone all the various commercial yarn I've bought throughout the knitting season. But I just can't stand the thought of picking up needles right now.
Oh, wait, I do have to update. I did find the perfect "yarn" to finish Dee's Mitered Tank with. While at my spinning group last week, I sorted through their Dale of Norway patterns, tucked a few into a corner for safekeeping and then went back the next day. I didn't want to make Lauren actually work and take care of money when the evening is meant for company and support. So I went back the next day and scoured her store for the perfect finishing yarn. I found it. From Great Adirondack. Don't ask specifics because I didn't keep the ball band once I'd gotten it wound on the ball winder. But it's a cotton/silk blend with all kinds of little sparklies. I started to pick up the stitches around the neck (if you check the pattern from Interweave Mag, it's a three row pattern around the neck and armholes). Yuck! It looked really terrible. My first thought was that I'd made a terrible mistake and the yarn wasn't going to work. Then I tried a single crochet row around the edges. I doubled the yarn by pulling from inside and outside the ball and it worked. I just have to finish it by washing and blocking, but she tried it on briefly and it really looks lovely.
Okay, so she's a teenaged girl and the pattern really minimizes your chest. I don't know why, but it does. She'd much rather that it would work more like a push-up bra and create some fantastic cleavage, but I think she's willing to forego that effect since it ain't gonna happen... /g/
Oh the wheel.... I'm almost at the end of the Alpaca. It's coming along beautifully and I can't wait to reach the end. Not that I want alpaca to end because it's a dream to spin, but I have so much fiber awaiting my attention. I have that Rambouillet as well as the BFL and some merino in silver grey and some gorgeous garnet that I think is either Corriedale or BFL. I can't remember which, but the color is spectacular. A picture would never do it justice because it looks almost black, it's such a dark wine color. And then there are strands here and there that are the color of a rich burgundy wine that peek out amongst all that almost black color. I have no idea what i can use it for except that it simply had to come home with me the weekend I took Mom up to Torrington to Ginger's store (The Sheep Gathering) to pick up her loom.
De-Clutter Project
Youngest daughter is graduating this week. Her school runs an all-night thing they call Project Graduation. Some people have ongoing projects like their crafts. My project this summer is to de-clutter my dining room so I can take over a corner and finally organize all of my yarn and fiber into one area of my house. I did a walk through the other day and found I have yarn and/or fiber stashed in every single room except my daughters' bedroom. Yes, even the kitchen has a skein of yarn. Why? I haven't a clue how it got there, but there it was nonetheless, looking at me with longing for a project to belong to.
What this all means is I no longer have a clue of what I have, what I need or one tiny inkling of how many needles I truly own. They're everywhere. Yes, I know about the two sets of socks that are languishing in my bedroom next to the Pi Are Squared Shawl that I wonder if I'll ever get around to completing. (I need one more skein of alpaca for this project and, so far, I haven't been able to find that one skein. Since it's knit in natural colors, I know I'll find it one day, I just haven't lived that day yet... /wry g/) I have that EZ sweater with all its various skeins of yarn in my dining room. The Mitered Tank is waiting to be washed. (Being cotton, I just need a day that I'm doing laundry and I'm going to toss that into the wash along with some t-shirts.) The Silk Hobo Bag was washed yesterday and is out on the deck railing, attempting to dry. (Be careful, some sun is peeking through the clouds. I might have to get excited if I think about it... LOL!) Don't forget that huge bin of sale yarn that I'd bought a year ago. I hate to admit it, but our guinea pig cage sits atop the bin so Kip can enjoy fresh air and sunshine. He lives in our living room right at our front window. Once the heat sets in, we'll have to move him away from the sun because guinea pigs don't like hot weather, but I figure he really enjoys the cool fresh air from the window until we reach that day. Considering they're only supposed to live 5-7 years and we've already determined that he's got to be at least 7, if not 8, my goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible.
But I'm meandering as usual. I don't have any plans to de-stash. But I certainly have plans to de-clutter and organize. If I can manage to organize the room and keep the dining room set, kewl. If that has to go to make room for the craft, then I'll have to deal with that also. Decisions, decisions.
Today, my plan is to pack up stuff from the hutch. There are items that I didn't buy, never would have bought, but kept because they were gifts. I'm going to set those aside because youngest daughter has said that she'd be more than happy to run a tag sale. She can keep any money she makes. I just want to get rid of excess stuff. Other items, however, will be packed for storage. We have a storage unit for our Dear Aunt's stuff. I can store my stuff with hers until I can finally get that room done the way I want. I might have room at that time. I don't have room now. Silver can be packed away since I almost never use it. But I need room for my fiber and my wheels. 2.3 lbs of Rambouillet needs space. And priorities must be made. And, unless the DH is willing to give up his office (like that is ever gonna happen /g/), I need room for fiber and yarn.
Yup, I can do this.
Hopefully, next week, I'll have a picture of youngest daughter in her Mitered Tank. I have until Wednesday to get it washed and ready for wear. I can do that. Especially since I'm pretty sure she'd be much happier if I had clean underwear for her graduation, so laundry will have to be worked into the schedule prior to Wednesday...
LOL!
So I toss out the question that, if anyone knows a site where I can keep this running dialogue and people could actually post without having to join and it's free, drop me a note. My email is bonneewolf@yahoo.com I'd be more than happy to change servers as I have no ties here. I'd have no trouble starting over as I can't think of anything I've posted that would cause world chaos if lost to the annals of time.
We actually had one small glimmer of hope this week. I checked the weathercast on Wednesday and they said some rain on Thursday (buckets, actually), maybe some rain on Friday and then an overcast weekend, but the precipitation would stop. In fact, they promised it would stop for all of next week. I can't explain how excited I became when I read that because the simple thought of two days in a row with actual sun was more than my little peabrain could comprehend. By Thursday morning, however, they'd changed their minds once again. Rain all weekend. Rain all this coming week.
Again.
/sigh/
In the Garden
The only things flourishing in all this precipitation is the hostas, grasses and my morning glories are doing suprisingly well. I thought they'd need sun in order to find a direction to grow, but they're 6"-8" above the ground and reaching for the fence. Everything else seems to be rotting before it can actuall bloom. I have a mountain laurel that's a beautiful fuscia color. Very pretty. Very small. In fact, this poor plant has survived some seriously hardship. I actually bought it two years ago and, for some strange reason, never got it planted. I think it got tucked in behind the garage with the pile of castoffs and forgotten. But I found it last year in its tiny little gallon container and planted it anyway. Late, of course, because last year was when I got my late start because of the surgery. So I don't think it got into the ground until about August. But I figured, what the heck. If it's survived winter in that tiny little container, it just might come back. Well, last year, it looked half dead. I thought it was a goner for sure.
And, in fact, it wasn't until about three weeks ago that it actually showed life. But then a few leaves appeared and some buds began to build. Wow! What a survivor! So I was looking forward to the fabulous color that I'd remembered and the rain this year basically took that excitement away. The blooms opened and it was gorgeous in all its spindly glory for all of two days before the blooms rotted and fell off...
/bigger sigh/
If we don't get some sun soon, I have a feeling that the only thing that will do well this year is my mulch. Mark did get me two yards. That's a good start. I know it's going to take me another 2-4 yards to finish what I plan on accomplishing this year.
On The Needles/Wheel
I really have to do both at once because there's very little on the needles that isn't languishing until I go back to work. Whenever I get the itch to knit, I pull out the two pairs of socks that I'd begun months ago. I knit a couple rows and then I just want to toss it across the room. I spend so much time knitting when I'm working that the last thing I want to see during the summer months when I'm off is needles and yarn.
Don't get me wrong. I have tons of yarn. I have a whole basketful of just my handspun, let alone all the various commercial yarn I've bought throughout the knitting season. But I just can't stand the thought of picking up needles right now.
Oh, wait, I do have to update. I did find the perfect "yarn" to finish Dee's Mitered Tank with. While at my spinning group last week, I sorted through their Dale of Norway patterns, tucked a few into a corner for safekeeping and then went back the next day. I didn't want to make Lauren actually work and take care of money when the evening is meant for company and support. So I went back the next day and scoured her store for the perfect finishing yarn. I found it. From Great Adirondack. Don't ask specifics because I didn't keep the ball band once I'd gotten it wound on the ball winder. But it's a cotton/silk blend with all kinds of little sparklies. I started to pick up the stitches around the neck (if you check the pattern from Interweave Mag, it's a three row pattern around the neck and armholes). Yuck! It looked really terrible. My first thought was that I'd made a terrible mistake and the yarn wasn't going to work. Then I tried a single crochet row around the edges. I doubled the yarn by pulling from inside and outside the ball and it worked. I just have to finish it by washing and blocking, but she tried it on briefly and it really looks lovely.
Okay, so she's a teenaged girl and the pattern really minimizes your chest. I don't know why, but it does. She'd much rather that it would work more like a push-up bra and create some fantastic cleavage, but I think she's willing to forego that effect since it ain't gonna happen... /g/
Oh the wheel.... I'm almost at the end of the Alpaca. It's coming along beautifully and I can't wait to reach the end. Not that I want alpaca to end because it's a dream to spin, but I have so much fiber awaiting my attention. I have that Rambouillet as well as the BFL and some merino in silver grey and some gorgeous garnet that I think is either Corriedale or BFL. I can't remember which, but the color is spectacular. A picture would never do it justice because it looks almost black, it's such a dark wine color. And then there are strands here and there that are the color of a rich burgundy wine that peek out amongst all that almost black color. I have no idea what i can use it for except that it simply had to come home with me the weekend I took Mom up to Torrington to Ginger's store (The Sheep Gathering) to pick up her loom.
De-Clutter Project
Youngest daughter is graduating this week. Her school runs an all-night thing they call Project Graduation. Some people have ongoing projects like their crafts. My project this summer is to de-clutter my dining room so I can take over a corner and finally organize all of my yarn and fiber into one area of my house. I did a walk through the other day and found I have yarn and/or fiber stashed in every single room except my daughters' bedroom. Yes, even the kitchen has a skein of yarn. Why? I haven't a clue how it got there, but there it was nonetheless, looking at me with longing for a project to belong to.
What this all means is I no longer have a clue of what I have, what I need or one tiny inkling of how many needles I truly own. They're everywhere. Yes, I know about the two sets of socks that are languishing in my bedroom next to the Pi Are Squared Shawl that I wonder if I'll ever get around to completing. (I need one more skein of alpaca for this project and, so far, I haven't been able to find that one skein. Since it's knit in natural colors, I know I'll find it one day, I just haven't lived that day yet... /wry g/) I have that EZ sweater with all its various skeins of yarn in my dining room. The Mitered Tank is waiting to be washed. (Being cotton, I just need a day that I'm doing laundry and I'm going to toss that into the wash along with some t-shirts.) The Silk Hobo Bag was washed yesterday and is out on the deck railing, attempting to dry. (Be careful, some sun is peeking through the clouds. I might have to get excited if I think about it... LOL!) Don't forget that huge bin of sale yarn that I'd bought a year ago. I hate to admit it, but our guinea pig cage sits atop the bin so Kip can enjoy fresh air and sunshine. He lives in our living room right at our front window. Once the heat sets in, we'll have to move him away from the sun because guinea pigs don't like hot weather, but I figure he really enjoys the cool fresh air from the window until we reach that day. Considering they're only supposed to live 5-7 years and we've already determined that he's got to be at least 7, if not 8, my goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible.
But I'm meandering as usual. I don't have any plans to de-stash. But I certainly have plans to de-clutter and organize. If I can manage to organize the room and keep the dining room set, kewl. If that has to go to make room for the craft, then I'll have to deal with that also. Decisions, decisions.
Today, my plan is to pack up stuff from the hutch. There are items that I didn't buy, never would have bought, but kept because they were gifts. I'm going to set those aside because youngest daughter has said that she'd be more than happy to run a tag sale. She can keep any money she makes. I just want to get rid of excess stuff. Other items, however, will be packed for storage. We have a storage unit for our Dear Aunt's stuff. I can store my stuff with hers until I can finally get that room done the way I want. I might have room at that time. I don't have room now. Silver can be packed away since I almost never use it. But I need room for my fiber and my wheels. 2.3 lbs of Rambouillet needs space. And priorities must be made. And, unless the DH is willing to give up his office (like that is ever gonna happen /g/), I need room for fiber and yarn.
Yup, I can do this.
Hopefully, next week, I'll have a picture of youngest daughter in her Mitered Tank. I have until Wednesday to get it washed and ready for wear. I can do that. Especially since I'm pretty sure she'd be much happier if I had clean underwear for her graduation, so laundry will have to be worked into the schedule prior to Wednesday...
LOL!
Friday, June 12, 2009
More Silly Pics...
It was prom night for my baby, Dee. She's kinda hard to miss since she's the only one who's formal. OTOH, I'm getting to like the idea of being silly. So this is me, Dee, my youngeset, Shelby, the oldest and the DH, Mark. Yup, you finally have to suffer by seeing the whole crew.
I definitely would have liked a better background, but it was raining like the devil outside and we would have ruined Dee's hair, so here's my unfinished kitchen. Blech! One of these days, it'll be a room I actually like, but that will come in time.
In the meantime, Dee loved the idea that she's wearing flats and is taller than her older sister. I'm seeing that she's dangerously close to also being taller than me. Hmm... is this where I pounce on her in her sleep and vow to keep her tiny and small and defenseless? LOL!
Now, there's no way I can have a picture of one baby without including the other. This is my Lacy. If I'm in the house, she's never further than about five feet from wherever I am. And she's highly jealous of anyone who gets hugs unless she's included.
So, yes, as soon as the crew broke up, she jumped in to get her turn at hugs from Mom. Needless to say, she's one baby that I indulge.
Here's the one that's at least semi-serious. At least I tried. Problem is I have to stop tucking my chin in close. See those double chins hanging under my smile? Oh boy. Definitely need to rethink how I pose when pix are being taken.But Dee looked gorgeous, as my daughters both are without trying. Isn't it scary when you can give birth to two girls who don't need make-up in order to not terrify small children and animals? Me? I try not to terrify those who know me and they don't even have to work at it.
Look out world. Remember that Daddy doesn't own the guns. Mom does... LOL!
Lastly, here's one for the records: This one was taken on Easter Sunday. Dee doctored it up with the frame and the words, but the picture is me, my Mom, Dee, Aunt Lois and my mother-in-law. (Yes, you can see why there was always the chance that my daughters would be taller than me. Course, then poor Shelby took after my Mom who's still not the shortest in my family. No, we're not going there except our women are small of stature but gigantic in heart.)
~
In the Garden
~
I started some chives, lemon basil and dill by seed and those are now in my little triangle garden. I did move my established chive plants to that bed also as they were really becoming crowded out by the hostas in what is now my mountain laurel bed. I think that one is pretty much established and done, so I moved my herbs to this other garden right outside my back door. I set the triangular corners with geraniums, celosa and each has a new guinea impatiens. It will be really nice once all the seedlings mature. I filled in the blank spaces with tiny alyssum that I also started from seed.
~
I'm beginning to dig out around the base of the pool. The hostas really filled in since last year, but I want to keep that area clean and neat. So I'm going to dig it out and bury it in mulch. The hostas will come through whether I want them to or not, so that's not an issue. I just want to keep the spaces in-between clear until the plants really mature. I'm also hoping to work my way right under the pool deck and bury that in mulch so it looks neat and clean.
~
Our in front, it's rather amusing. My strawberries 'n' cream grasses are taller right now than two of my purple smoke trees. The third three really shot up last year, so that one is okay. Right now, the grasses are shooting up seed heads, so I hope to get sun long enough to go out and trim the seed heads back. That will encourage more root growth and my goal has always been for the grasses to surround the base of the trees. A couple more years with the two shorter trees and everything will fill exactly the way I'd envisioned it.
~
There's a lot of clean-up that needs to be done out front, but the plants themselves are doing wonderful with all the (damn!!!!!!) rain. I have my cages in place for the purple cone flowers so they continue to stand tall. Last year, I got the cages late and the plants had already started to droop with the weight of the flowers. I got them early this year.
~
The yarrow that I'd started last year from seed really took off. I'm SO pleased with that. It filled the bottom of the bed and is soft and feathery and I'm sure, once it blooms, will add some gorgeous red color to all the feathery greenery. I also have some sweet william to add to some of the spaces that still exist. The diamond grasses are lovely and truly catch the early morning light and shine like diamonds. So that bed, though still a work in progress, is coming along and shaping into the natural garden that I'd hoped to have. I just need to bury everything in tons of mulch to keep down the weeds. (Course, it has to stop raining long enough to get the mulch and then put it in place... sigh!)
~
On The Needles
~
I just finished a beautiful pair of socks in greens and purples. The timing is perfect because I'm gifting a friend on Wednesday and I'm going to enclose her gift inside the socks. My gift is the idea that she can remember and cherish the support and friendship enclosed in those socks every time she puts them on. Kind of like a prayer shawl for feet. And it represents such a large part of my life that, hopefully, it will remind her of me. After all, I am a knitter and a spinner. Yarn is my secondary life and I'm gifting that to now become part of her life also.
~
Tonight my spinning group meets over at Country Yarns. I'm hoping to find the right beads so I can finally finish the Mitered Tank (Vogue Spring/Summer 2009) for Dee for her graduation. I did finish knitting the Vacation Skirt (Creative Knitting March 2009). I just need to make the belt and get some pony beads to add decoration to the ends of the belt.
~
I'm making this short because I just made myself a bowl of chili. Yummy!!!!!
~
Have a terrific week and I certainly hope that the sun finds us soon or we'll all start turning green from mold... LOL!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thanksgiving in May?!?!?
On the needles, In the garden and On the wheel
IOW, I'm hoping to actually cover an agenda today rather than my usual blathering about whatever pops into my mind.
On The Needles
Remember the Mitered Tank for Dee? I found some really cute glass beads to work into the neckline, but I sort of ran into a problem. While waiting to find just the right thing, I started the Vacation Skirt in Blackberry. So I now have a project on the needles I need to finish the tank... Oops... /g/ Course, that one is easy. Just finish the skirt and then I can move back and finish the tank. All of this before her graduation on the 24th. Er... not tomorrow, but the 24th of June. So I have a month to get this done.
Shouldn't be a problem except I normally don't knit much at all once I'm out of work. Summer is my spinning time. So I have to actively remind myself to get the project out of the bag and keep knitting away. The skirt is coming along nicely. I have about 35 rows to go in order to finish it, so it shouldn't be a problem.
And I will publicly admit that I've officially snoozed a project until Fall. That sweater I made using the Fibonucci sequence? Well, I still hadn't put the thing together yet. Then, yesterday, I was packing up the sweaters and bringing out the shorts, so I took the body and sleeves and stuffed them into the bag for storage. I did make a mental note to remind myself that I'm going to have to put it together once I bring it back out in the Fall. (Course, knowing me, I'll forget entirely until it comes out of the bag and then I'll laugh and finally get it done. In the meantime, though, it can nap. After all, it's been napping for about 3 months already. What's another 3 months? I know, the height of laziness on my part... LOL!)
I did keep my EZ sweater out for the summer in case I get an itch to knit. I promise it won't last long once the heat of summer arrives, but I like to keep something out in case the itch shows up. Usually it only takes a dose of Zyrtec and one evening of trying to knit wool in 90 degree heat and the itch runs for the hills. But I'll keep it handy anyway.
In The Garden
Not much yet. Three weeks ago, I'd started my little seeds in their little greenhouses. Well, 90% of them took root and they're flourishing quite well. I have a couple herbs, some marigolds, celosia, sweet william and a whole bunch of morning glories. Frankly, I'd thought my clematis was dead, so I figured I could get morning glories to climb the fence between the yard and the driveway. Course, cleaning up the bed yesterday, I found the clematis' are doing just fine. They're just going to take a few more years to really get used to the fence. But I planted a whole bunch of morning glories anyway. So first plants are in the ground.
And the yarrow that I'd started from seed last year? A whole soft cloud of it in my front bed. It's really going to be lovely once it blooms.
On The Wheel
I do have two hanks of lovely natural BFL. It's still on the bobbins and I have to skein that on my kniddy knoddy. Maybe this afternoon if it really does decide to rain. In the meantime, I started some merino in Wild Orchids that I'd bought from Stone Barn Fibers. I do have to predraft it out because it's become quite matted. No fault of Cathi. I've had it hanging around and stuffed tightly into a ziploc bag for the last year or two. So predrafting is a must with this, but I hope to have that spun up by the end of the week.
Summer is my spinning time. I have lots and lots of fiber lined up. Some natural colors and some dyed. Some is BFL (I still have another 2 lbs to go on that.) I have a pound of alpaca with one bobbin of singles done, just waiting for a second bobbin so I can ply that. I bought a couple lbs of Rambouillet at the CT Sheep & Wool last month in a beautiful natural grey. I'm thinking that might make another beautiful EZ-type sweater with the BFL, but we'll have to see how the colors spin up. I like the thought of doing colorwork in my own handspun from natural colors, but it depends how the colors look together. I have another pound of steel grey merino that had come into Country Yarns and the woman who'd ordered it really didn't like it. She thought it would be a softer grey and it's not. But it's a beautiful fiber and I'm thinking it would make a wonderful pair of first socks for the Hubby.
And there's more also. I just can't remember it all, so I have LOTS to spin this summer. But I have to work my way through all of this before I can try The Sheep Shed for their bargain bags of wool. I've heard so much about them and I figure I can ask my spinning group if they'd like to invest in a bag and we can divide it. If not, then I'll do it anyway and have enough fiber to spin for the next 5 years... LOL!
Those are the basic updates of what's been going on. Oh, wait!
Bacon Update!!
Bacon and Waffle now live together in the big cage. Shortly after my last post, we put them together to see how they were acclimating to each other and, the next thing we knew, they were cuddled together in their shirt. I have to tell you about Bacon's little trick on the wheel. They have a running wheel to keep them in shape, specially designed so their tails don't get caught in any spokes. It's all solid except for little holes along one side so they can get in and out. Well, Bacon runs along the wheel to get it moving and then she grabs the sides of one of the holes and spins all the way around with the wheel, kind of like doing a loop-the-loop. It's really cute. She'll run along, grab and loop, then start over again.
Now... what the heck is with the title to the blog?
Yup, Thanksgiving in May. I love summer because I can invite tons of people over. Why? Because my deck is larger than any room in my house. So all the summer picnics tend to happen here. I love it. This is my entertaining time of the year. The only problem that happens is... well, my family doesn't like macaroni or potato salad. All my guests love my salads, so I always make them, but my family doesn't like them. So all leftovers are inevitably eaten for days on end afterward by me and every bit of them end up expanding my butt.
So I had a thought... You see, I got a turkey on sale. It's been in my freezer for about two months. Time to cook it. And every November, these same poor people get stuffed into my little dining room. So I thought why not do Thanksgiving in May? My bird is defrosted and brining in my bathroom. I'm going to stuff it and cook it tomorrow with mountains of smashed potatoes and rivers of gravy. I'll make a mess of corn and bake a berry pie and see if I can talk Dee into another wonderful coffee cake for dessert. And we'll have Thanksgiving dinner out on the deck where we can won't be cramped for a change.
It will be a small party with about a dozen people, but our deck is big enough to handle that and more. Today will be unwrapping all the furniture and hosing everything down. I have to shop for the potatoes and bake the pie. Then tomorrow will be leisurely with the bird in the oven and potatoes mashing in the mixer.
My flower beds aren't ready for visitors yet, but it's still early in the year. I don't like planting before Memorial Day anyway. I did get started to get the morning glories in so they can really take off, but the rest will come in the future weeks. One bed at a time. One project at a time.
I do love summer and it's almost here.
IOW, I'm hoping to actually cover an agenda today rather than my usual blathering about whatever pops into my mind.
On The Needles
Remember the Mitered Tank for Dee? I found some really cute glass beads to work into the neckline, but I sort of ran into a problem. While waiting to find just the right thing, I started the Vacation Skirt in Blackberry. So I now have a project on the needles I need to finish the tank... Oops... /g/ Course, that one is easy. Just finish the skirt and then I can move back and finish the tank. All of this before her graduation on the 24th. Er... not tomorrow, but the 24th of June. So I have a month to get this done.
Shouldn't be a problem except I normally don't knit much at all once I'm out of work. Summer is my spinning time. So I have to actively remind myself to get the project out of the bag and keep knitting away. The skirt is coming along nicely. I have about 35 rows to go in order to finish it, so it shouldn't be a problem.
And I will publicly admit that I've officially snoozed a project until Fall. That sweater I made using the Fibonucci sequence? Well, I still hadn't put the thing together yet. Then, yesterday, I was packing up the sweaters and bringing out the shorts, so I took the body and sleeves and stuffed them into the bag for storage. I did make a mental note to remind myself that I'm going to have to put it together once I bring it back out in the Fall. (Course, knowing me, I'll forget entirely until it comes out of the bag and then I'll laugh and finally get it done. In the meantime, though, it can nap. After all, it's been napping for about 3 months already. What's another 3 months? I know, the height of laziness on my part... LOL!)
I did keep my EZ sweater out for the summer in case I get an itch to knit. I promise it won't last long once the heat of summer arrives, but I like to keep something out in case the itch shows up. Usually it only takes a dose of Zyrtec and one evening of trying to knit wool in 90 degree heat and the itch runs for the hills. But I'll keep it handy anyway.
In The Garden
Not much yet. Three weeks ago, I'd started my little seeds in their little greenhouses. Well, 90% of them took root and they're flourishing quite well. I have a couple herbs, some marigolds, celosia, sweet william and a whole bunch of morning glories. Frankly, I'd thought my clematis was dead, so I figured I could get morning glories to climb the fence between the yard and the driveway. Course, cleaning up the bed yesterday, I found the clematis' are doing just fine. They're just going to take a few more years to really get used to the fence. But I planted a whole bunch of morning glories anyway. So first plants are in the ground.
And the yarrow that I'd started from seed last year? A whole soft cloud of it in my front bed. It's really going to be lovely once it blooms.
On The Wheel
I do have two hanks of lovely natural BFL. It's still on the bobbins and I have to skein that on my kniddy knoddy. Maybe this afternoon if it really does decide to rain. In the meantime, I started some merino in Wild Orchids that I'd bought from Stone Barn Fibers. I do have to predraft it out because it's become quite matted. No fault of Cathi. I've had it hanging around and stuffed tightly into a ziploc bag for the last year or two. So predrafting is a must with this, but I hope to have that spun up by the end of the week.
Summer is my spinning time. I have lots and lots of fiber lined up. Some natural colors and some dyed. Some is BFL (I still have another 2 lbs to go on that.) I have a pound of alpaca with one bobbin of singles done, just waiting for a second bobbin so I can ply that. I bought a couple lbs of Rambouillet at the CT Sheep & Wool last month in a beautiful natural grey. I'm thinking that might make another beautiful EZ-type sweater with the BFL, but we'll have to see how the colors spin up. I like the thought of doing colorwork in my own handspun from natural colors, but it depends how the colors look together. I have another pound of steel grey merino that had come into Country Yarns and the woman who'd ordered it really didn't like it. She thought it would be a softer grey and it's not. But it's a beautiful fiber and I'm thinking it would make a wonderful pair of first socks for the Hubby.
And there's more also. I just can't remember it all, so I have LOTS to spin this summer. But I have to work my way through all of this before I can try The Sheep Shed for their bargain bags of wool. I've heard so much about them and I figure I can ask my spinning group if they'd like to invest in a bag and we can divide it. If not, then I'll do it anyway and have enough fiber to spin for the next 5 years... LOL!
Those are the basic updates of what's been going on. Oh, wait!
Bacon Update!!
Bacon and Waffle now live together in the big cage. Shortly after my last post, we put them together to see how they were acclimating to each other and, the next thing we knew, they were cuddled together in their shirt. I have to tell you about Bacon's little trick on the wheel. They have a running wheel to keep them in shape, specially designed so their tails don't get caught in any spokes. It's all solid except for little holes along one side so they can get in and out. Well, Bacon runs along the wheel to get it moving and then she grabs the sides of one of the holes and spins all the way around with the wheel, kind of like doing a loop-the-loop. It's really cute. She'll run along, grab and loop, then start over again.
Now... what the heck is with the title to the blog?
Yup, Thanksgiving in May. I love summer because I can invite tons of people over. Why? Because my deck is larger than any room in my house. So all the summer picnics tend to happen here. I love it. This is my entertaining time of the year. The only problem that happens is... well, my family doesn't like macaroni or potato salad. All my guests love my salads, so I always make them, but my family doesn't like them. So all leftovers are inevitably eaten for days on end afterward by me and every bit of them end up expanding my butt.
So I had a thought... You see, I got a turkey on sale. It's been in my freezer for about two months. Time to cook it. And every November, these same poor people get stuffed into my little dining room. So I thought why not do Thanksgiving in May? My bird is defrosted and brining in my bathroom. I'm going to stuff it and cook it tomorrow with mountains of smashed potatoes and rivers of gravy. I'll make a mess of corn and bake a berry pie and see if I can talk Dee into another wonderful coffee cake for dessert. And we'll have Thanksgiving dinner out on the deck where we can won't be cramped for a change.
It will be a small party with about a dozen people, but our deck is big enough to handle that and more. Today will be unwrapping all the furniture and hosing everything down. I have to shop for the potatoes and bake the pie. Then tomorrow will be leisurely with the bird in the oven and potatoes mashing in the mixer.
My flower beds aren't ready for visitors yet, but it's still early in the year. I don't like planting before Memorial Day anyway. I did get started to get the morning glories in so they can really take off, but the rest will come in the future weeks. One bed at a time. One project at a time.
I do love summer and it's almost here.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
New Baby in the house!
The kind of babies that show up in my house are not the kind that show up in most... LOL!
~
Her name is Bacon and she's our newest addition. Now, before you think she's quite big, you can check the Pocket Pets website and see other little babies. The towel that she's moving across is a hand towel, not a big one. If I pick her up, she can literally wrap her entire body around my thumb.
Speaking of Dee, I have knitting news. I'm almost done with the Mitered Tank from the spring/summer 2009 of Vogue Knitting. It's a Norah Gaughan design and will look fabulous on Dee. It looks pretty skanky right now because it's not finished or blocked or anything. I'm knitting it in KnitPicks' Cotlin. It's knit from the hem up, with mitered corners on the flare below the waist. Then you rib at the waist and then increase for the bust. It's actually coming along very nice and will look great on her. The color is Island Coral and will complement the red highlights in her hair as well as her tan. Next, I'm hoping to knit up the Vacation Skirt pattern from Amy Polcyn in the March issue of Creative Knitting. This will also be in Cotlin, but in a dark purple called Blackberry. Very casual, but I think the drape of the hem of the Mitered Tank above it will create a very chic silhouette on her figure.
Pocket Pets were up at Hubbard Park last week for the big daffodil festival. It was in the 90's, sunny and a perfect day for working in the yard. So Shelby and I got in the Jeep (darn, still has the hardtop) and actually found a parking place on a sidestreet about 100 yds from the entrance to the park. By the time we actually found the display for Pocket Pets, it was half a mile and I was sweating, but it was worth it.
~
We showed them all the correspondence from when we lost our dear Pancake last year and they were sympathetic and wonderful. What does all this mean?
~
Pictures, of course!!!
~
Her name is Bacon and she's our newest addition. Now, before you think she's quite big, you can check the Pocket Pets website and see other little babies. The towel that she's moving across is a hand towel, not a big one. If I pick her up, she can literally wrap her entire body around my thumb.~
I do wish I could have gotten a picture of them together so you could see the difference in size, but they were still cautious of each other. Bacon is a true little sugar bear. She stands right up on her hind feet and will swat at you with her paws, crabbing the whole time. Course, I just talk slow and even and tell her that I know it's all a big show and she's nothing more than a tiny, little scared baby. She hasn't tried to bite at all, which I think is a good sign. Waffle, our big girl? The first time I picked her up, she fought like a tiger, biting every bit of skin she could get between her teeth.
~
Speaking of Waffle, we have a picture of her also.
This is her inside in her little dining room. I have no idea how this picture was achieved and without being fuzzy. (Most of the pictures came out quite fuzzy...) The nice thing is you can see just how big and dark her eyes are and you can also see her "hands". Yup, just like us, she's got 4 fingers and a thumb. She'll grab a bit of glider chow in her hand and gnaw away at it. Then, look down at her back paws. The thumb is really offset because she spends most of her life hanging upside down like a sloth. Only, she's no sloth. she's quick and loves to jump about the cage.
This is her inside in her little dining room. I have no idea how this picture was achieved and without being fuzzy. (Most of the pictures came out quite fuzzy...) The nice thing is you can see just how big and dark her eyes are and you can also see her "hands". Yup, just like us, she's got 4 fingers and a thumb. She'll grab a bit of glider chow in her hand and gnaw away at it. Then, look down at her back paws. The thumb is really offset because she spends most of her life hanging upside down like a sloth. Only, she's no sloth. she's quick and loves to jump about the cage.~
I can't wait until work is done for the summer so I can finally have time to bring her out of the cage and let her explore more of the house. She's very curious and can't wait to come out. Let's face it, she's bored with her cage. But I still get nervous about the cats, so I don't want anything happening at a time we can't supervise.
~
Last night was a break-through with the girls. I'd noticed yesterday morning that, while I was in cleaning out dinner debris from the night before from Bacon's cage, that she started crabbing. Making quite a fuss and Waffle popped out from her nest and hung onto the cage beside Bacon to make clicking and chirping noises, almost as if to reassure her that we humans are okay. So, after Dee came home from work and we'd finished dinner, she took Bacon from her little traveling cage and put her in with Waffle in the bigger cage.
~
They spent the next two hours just playing with each other. Bacon is still discovering how to get into the wheel, but she's learning how to run on it. The only funny thing is that, once in a while, Waffle would pop in and show her how it's done. This never went well with Pancake either. You've got one glider running and the other tends to slip and slide around the wheel. Well, once, Bacon was sort of peeking out from one of the holes, hanging onto the sides of the opening, and Waffle takes off. Think of hanging onto a Ferris wheel and suddenly it turns all the way around. She's straddling this hole and whirling around. Needless to say, she chirped in alarm and Waffle stopped to see what was going on and you could swear poor little Bacon's knees were wobbling as she decided to sit out this ride... LOL!
~
So, new baby in the house!
~
Other good news: After a bit over 4 months, I'm finally done with the dentist. His work is complete. At least for now. Very strange to look in my mouth and see all kinds of white instead of lots of metal. So 4 crowns and 14 fillings (mostly replacing old cracked fillings), I'm finally done. I don't have to go back for 6 months. Whew! I wondered if this day would ever come... LOL!
~
Insurance companies. Yup, we've passed the first year anniversary of Shelby's accident and they're still negotiating. I made my position clear. They've made offers and I've rejected both. So the ball is back in their court and I'll be out of work soon. I have all summer to file in small claims court if they don't get moving. I'll have lots of time to finally get this monkey off my back and get Shelby the compensation she deserves. She's given me permission to settle affairs for her so she can concentrate on her studies. And that's working well. She's should make Dean's List again (even with Organic Chemistry Pt Deux) and she was inducted into the Beta Beta Beta Society for the Study of Biological Sciences. IOW, she was recognized for her interest and study in the area of biology. Only 20 students from the university were chosen and she's just ending her second year of study. Pretty good to get this kind of nomination before your senior year.
~
And Dee finally came into her own. She's worked really hard this year to bring her grades up and she made High Honors on her latest report card! Woohoo! I'm so proud of her and that means we'll have to take her to dinner at a restaurant of her choice.
~
Speaking of Dee, I have knitting news. I'm almost done with the Mitered Tank from the spring/summer 2009 of Vogue Knitting. It's a Norah Gaughan design and will look fabulous on Dee. It looks pretty skanky right now because it's not finished or blocked or anything. I'm knitting it in KnitPicks' Cotlin. It's knit from the hem up, with mitered corners on the flare below the waist. Then you rib at the waist and then increase for the bust. It's actually coming along very nice and will look great on her. The color is Island Coral and will complement the red highlights in her hair as well as her tan. Next, I'm hoping to knit up the Vacation Skirt pattern from Amy Polcyn in the March issue of Creative Knitting. This will also be in Cotlin, but in a dark purple called Blackberry. Very casual, but I think the drape of the hem of the Mitered Tank above it will create a very chic silhouette on her figure.~
Last week was the CT Sheep & Wool Festival. I was going to update the blog then because, of course, I bought stuff, but it's been hectic and I never got the chance to sit down and blog. Golding had a booth and I bought myself a Golding spindle. One of the ring spindles. Yes, one of his least expensive, but I did give it a spin once I got home. Oh my goodness!!! What sheer joy!! I might have to begin doing some spindling just for the awesome joy of feeling that spindle working.
~
And, yes, I bought more fiber. I got a great deal on some Rambouillet. 2.3 lbs for $34.00. It's a beautiful natural grey so it's mixed light and dark fibers. Not a solid color. I'm going to see if it goes well with some gorgeous dark merino I'd picked up a month ago. Between the lb of merino and 2.3 of Rambouillet, I could have enough for a new top-down raglan from Barbara Walker's book. (Yes, part of my brain is thinking Aran again, but let's not even travel that road... LOL) Or maybe I can blend that with the natural creamy Corriedale I'm currently working on and I could do a colorwork of cream and grey. I'll have to see where that leads.
~
But I have lots and lots of gorgeous wool to spin this summer and that's the point. I don't want to have to buy. I want to have fiber lined up and ready to go once I'm out of work so I have no excuse for not sitting down at my wheel after dinner each night.
~
The other reason for a delay in posting is we moved Aunt Lois into a retirement community. One that has a memory unit so the staff can remind her to do things like shower and eat. That happened last Friday, so it's been almost 10 days. I wanted to give her time to adjust to her new surroundings and we're planning on visiting her on Tuesday. I won't go into details other than she wasn't amenable to a move, so we sort of did it all while I took her out for the morning then I used an excuse to get her in the door to show her her new apt. It was heartwrenching to do this, but it was necessary. And she's adapted beautifully. She's getting along with everyone and the staff has assured me that she's the darling of everyone who works there. They adore her now that she's come out of her shell and adapted to the new experience.
~
So that's taken a lot of time because it'll be up to me to get her old apartment packed up and ready for storage. I still have to sort through all the paperwork that was squirreled away in every corner and drawer of her apartment. That job is going to take weeks, if not months. But she's safe now and the care she's getting is everything she couldn't do for herself anymore.
~
Final news is that I have 7 days of work left. Five days of classes/finals/move out and then two days of graduations and I'm off for the summer. I've got most of my yard prepared for the summer. I seeded 4 trays of seeds in preparation for Memorial Day weekend. Lots of color and lots of variety. Yup, I can't believe how much I've gotten done, but it's all one step at a time. I have tons of work over at the doctor's office, but I'll have more time for that also once the job at the university is over. Then I can also start on my house, my yard and finalizing Aunt Lois's settling into her new apartment. Lots of work yet to do, but I have lots of plans for this summer. I won't have a lot of money to spend, but that's okay. Most of my plans won't take much.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thank you and--Woohoo--pictures...
First and foremost, I wanted to thank Jan for her understanding comment. Yes, the last couple weeks have been both a Godsend and also a trainwreck. After handing off all the phone calls to dear Hubby, he realized just how much our dearest Aunt has been failing in her memory, so he gave me full permission to run with whatever ideas I had. We are in an extremely lucky position because Mark already has durable power of attorney and our dear Aunt has enough income to pick a place that looks more like a hotel than a nursing home. I won't go into a lot of details but it looks like we could possibly move her this coming week.
So... to pictures. Don't laugh, but my wonderful friend, Sylvia, wanted a picture of me wearing my new red Albertville Dale of Norway. I had just come home from my spinning group last Friday and I was chatting with youngest daughter and her boyfriend and she pulled out her camera. Sorry, but I couldn't resist. If you know me at all, I'm almost never downright silly, so I grabbed the opportunity and ran with it. This is me in my third to last (?) creation. I look a little pregnant (at least, to me I certainly look that way... LOL), but the sweater fits nicely and you can just see the variegation in the red kettle-dyed wool. Both the red and the creamy white are Araucania Nature's Wool. The other two colors are tangelo and chestnut in Knit Pick's Telemark sport weight yarn. The color combination worked beautifully and I certainly can't complain. This might just have to be my entry in the Durham Fair this coming September. That is, unless I come up with something better, but I'm not sure how I can top this one.
~
And, yes, it's been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. But things are moving at lightning speed and I don't want to stop now. It's something that needs doing if only to give our dear Aunt a warm and welcoming place where we know she's being taken care of and I know she'll enjoy once she gets used to it. I hate the thought that she's become so isolated because she's living alone in an apartment complex where everyone works. Now she'll be in a place with people who care and will make sure she's eating. (Yes, I swear she forgets to eat. Not that she's doing it deliberately, but she just forgets that she hasn't eaten.) She'll have new people to meet and get to know. She'll have people who don't care that she often repeats the same story in the same conversation. She'll have the security and safety of a place that's truly lovely and welcoming.
~
So things are in motion and we could possibly be moving her this coming Thursday. My bosses will have a heart attack because this is a critical time at the job where overtime is practically mandatory, but family comes first and always has. I'm sorry about the timing, but dear Aunt is more important than a couple extra hours of overtime.~
So... to pictures. Don't laugh, but my wonderful friend, Sylvia, wanted a picture of me wearing my new red Albertville Dale of Norway. I had just come home from my spinning group last Friday and I was chatting with youngest daughter and her boyfriend and she pulled out her camera. Sorry, but I couldn't resist. If you know me at all, I'm almost never downright silly, so I grabbed the opportunity and ran with it. This is me in my third to last (?) creation. I look a little pregnant (at least, to me I certainly look that way... LOL), but the sweater fits nicely and you can just see the variegation in the red kettle-dyed wool. Both the red and the creamy white are Araucania Nature's Wool. The other two colors are tangelo and chestnut in Knit Pick's Telemark sport weight yarn. The color combination worked beautifully and I certainly can't complain. This might just have to be my entry in the Durham Fair this coming September. That is, unless I come up with something better, but I'm not sure how I can top this one.
Here's the next sweater. I still have to put it together, but I'd needed yarn quickly, so I stopped at Michael's and purchased some Patons. This is just a basic drop shoulder, but the pattern is based off the Fibonucci sequence. The pattern itself is simple. 4 stitches: knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 1. Repeat as needed... /wry g/ But you can see the progression of how the simple stockinette grows between the pattern rows. 1 row. 2 rows (1+1). 3 rows (1 + 2). 5 rows (2 + 3). 8 rows (3 + 5). 13 rows (5 + 8) and so on.
~
To finish the neck, I'm going to try a basic boatneck. Crochet the stitches around the armholes and then cut them open. Do a 3-needle bind off for the shoulders and then sew in the sleeves. Then, depending on how "finished" the neck looks, I might do a simple single crochet around the neckline. To keep the neck from dipping low across the back, I did add two shortrows between the future shoulder seams. Just so it won't dip low. I don't mind that the front of the neck will go straight across my neck, but I don't want the back dipping. But this is something I won't know if it works until it's all done and put together. So I'll have to bring this one back later with a picture of me wearing it to see if it actually works.
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So how we move to the next sweater that I'd begun. Not sure I'll get this one done before summer, but I'll keep it as a work in progress. For my birthday, Mom had bought me EZ's The Opinionated Knitter, which is full of all of her old newsletters. I took charts from her 2nd and 3rd newsletters and I'm mixing them up and trying to see how many I can incorporate into one sweater without repeating myself. As you can see, I'm trying to vary the patterns in terms of width as well as height. I'm even trying to vary them as to swirly, like the sideways s's and geometric with harder edges. So far, I'm really, really pleased with this sweater. All knit in Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes yarn in colors Bare and Jalapeno on a size 7 needle (4.5 mm). I made copies of the pages with the graphs and I'm highlighting as I go. This is not only to mark where I am (in case I have to put it down), but so I remember which ones I've used and which ones are waiting to be used.
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I still have to finish the sweater mentioned before that because I might put a boatneck on this sweater also if it works. That hasn't been determined yet. Oh, one note that I'm doing and trying on this sweater. I'm using a total of 220 stitches for the body. The bigger patterns are broken down so they're centered in front and back, with partial patterns that end and begin again at the side seams. But I have a couple patterns that are based off 4 sts. 220 stitches are divisible by 4, but 110 are not. So rather than have a half-pattern at each side edge, I simply carried it all the way around for the full 220. So not all patterns break at the side edge, but others do. That should give an interesting look when finished. I don't see a problem with it so far.
Here's the latest cast on. It's Tank Top #25 from the latest Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2009. They suggest a metallic yarn in fingering weight and then you double the yarn. Uh huh. Metallic isn't exactly in my repetoire and I can't see me wearing metallic more than once a year. So I've opted to use Knit Pick's Comfy Worsted which is a cotton/acrylic blend. The color looks weird to me, but it's sea foam. It's probably my mint green walls that are deadening the color or my monitor is severely off (which I already know, but it's amazing how I can pick colors that go together when they look screwy on my monitor... LOL). Anyway, I'm knitting it on a size 6 needle (4.0 mm). Rather than knitting the front and back separately and then seaming them together, I knit the whole bottom of it in one piece. Can you tell yet that I adore circular knitting? /wry g/
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I also shortened the length of the piece because I'm 5'8" in my dreams and, let's face it, those models they use? At least 5'8" if not taller. I'm fairly short waisted and long in the hips. So I knit 6" for the waist shaping at the bottom and then 5" for the bust increases above the waist. Eleven inches might still be a bit long as I hope for this to fall right at the top of my hips. But I'd rather have it be a bit long than way too short. OTOH, their suggestion is for a total of 14" to the beginning of the armhole and I know that's way too long. I'm not only shorter than a model, but I also outweigh your standard stick by at least 30 lbs.
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Anyway, I'm now dividing at the side seams. I'll knit the back while leaving the stitches for the front on the cable. Then I'll knit the front and begin to pick up stitches for the neck and armholes. What intrigues me about this pattern is that the straps are created by the armhole facings. You actually cast on stitches and join the front and back by knitting the facing. Then turn it around and knit the neck by picking up those cast on stitches. (Or is it the other way around? Whichever, it doesn't matter. It intrigues me, so I'm doing it.)
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This pattern is also a test for me. First is if I can knit to a time frame. I'd like this done by next weekend so I can wear it with my black jacket to the basketball banquet with my daughter. (She manages the girls' team, so let's be the supportive Mom and go with her.) Wouldn't it be a hoot if I can finish this before then? Second is I love the idea that this cotton is machine washable and dryable. It's going to be a nice change from hand washing and blocking all my wool sweaters. Finally, I've made some changes to the original design and I'd like to see if it actually works.
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All this because I have more yarn in my bag. I'd like to make the Nora Gaughan tank top from the same Vouge issue for youngest daughter to wear to her high school graduation in June. (That would be design #22) I bought Knit Picks' Cotlin in Island Coral for her. This is a color that will be gorgeous on her now that she's settled on a reddish brown for her hair. I also picked up more Cotlin in Blackberry for a skirt. I'm hoping to also complete the Vacation Skirt pattern from the March issue of Creative Knitting. I think the two would make a lovely combination and Dee is very excited by the idea of wearing a whole outfit that Mom knit for her. Besides, she is one of those teenaged girls who looks like a stick. If she weren't so short, she could definitely be a model. When she stands sideways, she disappears. (Don't worry, I've warned her. I was that way in my teens. I no longer stand sideways for anyone if I can help it... LOL!)
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Anyway, this just begs the point of another picture. Yes, have I actually added pictures or what?!? This is my knitting bag. A full-sized bag that I bought over at the university for a mere $24.00. Best investment I ever made. I can carry my current work-in-progress plus I always also carry a ziploc containing my latest pair of socks. Hmm.... didn't get a picture of that, did I? Sorry 'bout that. But I always carry socks in case I'm someplace that the full bag would be awkward. I can just grab my socks and carry those with me. But this bag can carry just about anything. I have my project, magazines for ideas, books, clippers, stitch markers, extra needles and cables, as well as my thermos of coffee for work in the morning and even a small snack if need be. The front pocket has gum and an inhaler if I need it. I can even tuck my iPod and headphones into the inner pocket.
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We're talking that I'm ready for any and every knitting emergency out there. Caught in traffic? Not a problem. I not only have current sweater-sized project, but also an emergency sock in case I finish that sweater. Pens, pencils. Paper for notes and a notebook that's woefully behind on updating. I even have a small sandwich ziploc bag of leftover sock skeins in case I need to toss in a lifeline.
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And the nice thing is that no one has ever questioned me. I've carried that into the XL Center in Hartford when we went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra so I could work on a pair of mittens while waiting for the concert to start. (Talk about timing. I cast off the last thumb just as the lights went down.) They simply glance inside the bag, see all my knitting paraphernalia and let me through. Same when I went with beloved daughters last year to Warped Tour down on Long Island. They were combing through everyone's backpacks and bags and saw my knitting, smiled and moved me right along. They didn't see the 4 water bottles at the bottom that I'd stowed for all of us. Never even questioned me, which was a good thing because water was something crazy like $5 a bottle. Yes, there was a water truck way over in a forlorn corner that we could refill our bottles, but I brought them in without question. And even managed to sit for a while and knit on some socks.
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Today is a day for raking and trimming. Spring Break was a bust. I wasn't able to get out in the yard at all. So today is the day to rake out the hostas and daylilies as they've begun to sprout. I also have to trim back the grasses so the new shoots can get some daylight and encouragement to peek through. I don't want this year to be like last year. The surgery set me back so far that I wasn't able to get into my yard until late June and, by then, the weeds had taken over. I spent the rest of the summer doing nothing more than damage control.
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But not this year. I'm going to get out and get things in order so in another three weeks, I can start full bore on my yard and house. There's three weeks left to the semester and then I'm off for the summer. I won't get a lot of knitting done (other than Dee's top and skirt), but I'll spend the summer spinning as much as possible. Spinning is okay because my hands don't sweat. Knitting, though, is hard because I'm on a sweater kick. The last thing you want in steamy humidity is a sweater in your lap... LOL! Anyway, lots of projects planned for the house. (I'm determined to get my bedroom painted this year as well as that entryway taped, spackled and painted.) Lots of cleaning up in my yard. I just hope I can afford to add some more perennials to my garden out front. It's filling in nicely, but I still have some empty spots that need color.
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Have a wonderful and productive week!!! Spring is beginning to sprout and it's time for me to take back control. I wish the same for all of you!
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