It's All About the Numbers

It's the ever dreaded end-of-month so lots of numbers swirling around at work today.
And payday is Friday so I spent part of this evening writing out checks for bills so they can go in the mail Friday morning. I'm glad I can pay bills but I surely wish there was more left over!

At lunch time I ran (well ok drove) to the quilt shop to get a piece of plain white fabric for a new partly embroidered, partly quilted pillow. I got 2/3 of a yard and gathered up enough stuff tonight to make a small load of stuff and prewashed and dried it. Get out the iron and ironing board to press and whoa...what a crookedy piece of fabric. Lost about 2 inches total. I think I can squeeze out what I need but I hate when it does that. I expect a bit of wonkiness, but this was much more than I had planned on. Glad that I always get more than I need (not that I ever screw anything up heh)

But while I had the tape measure out, I measured my waist (a scary prospect) and discovered that I've lost 2 inches!!! Thank you oatmeal! LOL

And I'll leave you with another number...2 blossoms on my violet which, in itself, is a bit of a miracle!

Now I shall go see how many minutes it takes me to go to sleep.

Help!

So I'm knitting happily on the first sock redux and now I discover that I am running out of yarn. Well not really. There is plenty left (hopefully) from the other sock but it's in a different ball since I had cut the yarn after completing this one the first time. Now the only time I've had to add yarn was in my felted bags and those times I spit spliced. But I am not sure if that would be secure enough for a sock. And I wonder what way would be least likely to leave a lump. LOL I don't want these jewels to hurt!

Hopefully some of you more experienced ones can tell me what to do. :::crossing fingers::::

This and that

I think my dialup connection spent the holiday at the lake as if I could get connected, it wouldn't stay up. Maybe it needs some ED meds!

To me, Memorial Day is still Decoration Day so part of Sunday was spent cleaning and tidying and decorating at the cemetery. It was nice when I was out there if you didn't count the wind. A few trips back to make sure that things were still standing, followed by a wonderful meal of ribs, brisket and smoked turkey and roasted corn. Yum! Zoey was happy as I brought some rib bones home with me. She only gets one every other day since I don't want her to think that every time I open the door for her she'll get a treat. LOL

Yesterday was supposed to be an outside day...at least in the morning before it got too hot. I got just a little bit done before I ran back inside to get away from the biting flies! And that was AFTER I sprayed myself with repellent. I thought maybe I had missed a few spots so went to spray again and watched in amazement as a fly landed and bit in a spot shiny with repellent! So
some DeepWoods Off is on the list. I did take some pics though..I'm really fascinated with the macro mode.

This is some sort of wildflower (I prefer that to weed) that has volunteered in my front yard. I have about 3 different plants. It's an odd flower. Opens in the morning but is closed up tight by the time the sun really hits it. And when it goes to seed, it makes a HUGE puffball like a dandelion. About as big as a good sized orange.

And then there is always the prickly pear. Every year I say I'm gonna dig this thing out..and every year when it blooms I think "one more year" Or maybe it's cause I really don't look forward to the time spent with duct tape getting all the tiny little spines out of my skin. No matter if I wear long sleeves, long pants and gauntlet gloves, some of those ouchy things find their way to me!

There was also time spent playing/sorting fabric and thinking
about some ATCs that I need to make. And time spent knitting.
But no pics. Boring. However, the 2nd sock is done. And the first sock that got ripped back is halfway through the foot. Someday this will be a memory LOL

Have the best day you can conjure up!

Meet Lily

Way back when, I made a comment in one of my posts that I had heard of a car that was for sale and I was interested. It had been recommended to one of my FOC by a trusted mechanic, (who had told me that my current vehicle was terminal and outside of a new engine we weren't going to be able to save her. But when I checked on it was told that the woman's stepfather was buying it. Oh well, ok.

So time passes and yarn gets dyed and flowers bloom and packages get mailed. And I get a phone call at work from the car's owner saying that he didn't show up when he said he would and she's selling it NOW. (I think she was a bit pissed) So Thursday evening my friend and I go over to look at it. There's a problem with ...uh I don't know what they are called. Some sort of leveling airbags or something that's over the back end. We drive around the lake and it's like riding in the back of a pickup. Nuh uh. We go home and call to see how much it costs to get them fixed..approx 1K and although it's priced at half the bluebook, I can't do it. I don't have any money to get it fixed. Boo hoo. Take a bath.

Phone rings..tis the seller saying that she's fixed the problem with the help of her brother in law. Seems there is a switch that turns these things off since if it's up on a rack it's not a good idea to have these things inflating/deflating to level the car. Or whatever. And, when they had had the A/C converted the AC man didn't turn them back on. OK..we'll go back tomorrow (Friday) We meet her at her lunch time, take another drive, smooth let's do it. Now it's Friday before a long weekend and we're short staffed at work already so it will have to be next week before I can go to the bank to see if I can get the bucks since I have maybe $60 in my checking account. Oh ok...I can swing by and fill out the app but that's all.

Whew this is making me crazy. Back to work for a long lunch time meeting; get through with that and get settled and trying to catch up on my work. Phone rings, it's the bank...sure you can have the money but you'll have to come now cause we close at 3. So off I go, sign papers and get cash!! That was fun to have that much in my hand for a moment. Pay the seller and drive back to work in Lily. She's a '94 gas guzzlin' Lincoln Town Car. Rides smooth as a baby's butt. And I'm too broke to go shopping! But it's soooooooo nice to know that for the first time in 7 months I can at least go to the grocery and know that more than likely I'll get back home without dying at every stop sign. I had checked out so many cars but if I could afford them they were pieces of crap and I never really thought I'd find one.

She's really sweet. And while Lily suits her, I'm thinking that after we get to know each other a bit better, there will be times when I'll say "Hey Lil, let's head for Guthrie and check out that yarn shop" :-)

Finally

my package is ready to mail to my dye buddy. I surely hope it gets there ok as there is no way to track packages sent to Denmark. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

Remember when I said I got the customs slips in advance? Well....wonder where I put them?

And I did chicken out about sending just the bright yarn, but did print out the lantana and Indian Blanket pics so she could see what inspired it.

I'll be glad when it's actually in the hands of the postal service. And even gladder when I hear it's arrived safely.

Oh...a question. I know that often when I comment on someone's blog and they respond back, I get an eMail. How do you do that? I just post back here and hope they come back and see it.

OK...the dining room table is piled with tissue paper and ribbon ends and some clean laundry so I guess I'd better str8n that up and get to bed. No knitting tonight :-(

I knew there was a reason

why I didn't Kitchener the toe on the first kool aid sock. Actually, I was just chicken so I put the stitches on waste yarn and waited for a few moments when I felt incredibly smart and calm. Fortunately, I guess, I never got to that space.

So, I'm just knitting happily on the second of the pair and just slid right through the heel and the gussets and heading on towards home plate...well maybe 3rd base. And then I realized...this heel looks NOTHING like the other one. Further investigation shows me that instead of following the directions to sl1, k1, I just knitted each stitch across.. And it ended up REALLY wide. Now I'm not sure why it ended up really long since I had the right amount of stitches on the sides to pick up. But it certainly makes clear why the sock just didn't fit right! However, since I didn't close the toes, I can frog it back to the bottom of the ribbing and try again. I'm gonna be working on these socks for the rest of my life I think.

What surprises me the most is that I'm kinda all right about it. Somewhere I have misplaced the "oh wtf through it in the trash and go do something else" part of me. Can't say I miss it tho.

I'm backkkk

Yay...it went! So this Saturday I dyed another skein of yarn using the Wiltons colors. I just can't seem to get what I'm after but still have fun. I'm thinking that there might be a bit of acid dye in my future. I found a place with some really good information on using them..at least one brand.

Now I just have to decide which yarn to send her. Her blog is mostly not in English and since I've been unable to find a good translator I look at her pictures. It seems that she mostly chooses yarns that are rather muted in color so Indian Blanket may not be the best choice. Or should I call it Lantana? Anyway here are my choices..well not the flowers LOL .
They are the lantanas. The one in the upper left hand corner is mostly aqua and rose (was supposed to be red, blue and green and mine. But the green mostly disappeared. The top right reminds me of those little puffy after-dinner mints...light green, pink and white with a bit of green tossed in. She isn't fond of green but she said beer bottle green and I don't think this green resembles any beer bottles I've ever seen. Bottom right is the Indian Blanket/Lantana although in the ball it shows more of the orangey red. And bottom left is the same dyes watered way down. (waste not, want not) Heck maybe I will just send her two. IBL and the mutedy one that I dyed last weekend. It was a good day to dye...and an even better day to dry the yarn out on the line. Well, there's nothing quite like talking to yourself and then publishing it LOL. And now I'm going to go water some plants and then knit, knit, knit. Those koolaid socks are getting closer to being a pair and it can't come too soon for me!

If at first you don't succeed..

I spent quite a bit of time this morning in here, but alas it all went poof. And I don't think I even told a lie.

So I shall try to do it in small bites and maybe it will work. At left, you will see the surprise that landed in my mail box on Saturday. My Dyepal has just upgraded her spindle so she sent me the one being replaced! And some absolutely gorgeous roving (that's what it's called, right?) I can't tell you much about it because it comes from Germany and I can't read German. But oh my it's absolutely gorgeous~ And so soft! I downloaded some instructions and tried using some left over stuff from a needle felting project but can't say I was a success. I did find a video online that I think I will order. I do so much better "seeing" how to do something. I'm sooo excited!

And yesterday, a box arrived with a goodie for my pal. I discovered a place called Red Dirt Soap
so I got her a bar of soap (and nope it doesn't have dirt in it :-) ) But what surprised me was that they included a little bar of soap for me too...and some yummy lipbalm. The rest of her goodies should be here this week and hopefully I can get them in the mail Friday. Since it has to go overseas it may take awhile. I've already got the customs slips to fill out. Apparently it depends on how big the box is, what paper you fill out. So I'll fill them both out and make the people in line behind me happy when I don't tie up the line.

Now I'll try and post this, and if it works, I'll be right back.

I've got yarn!!

Look what came in the mail yesterday!!! My wonderful dyeing secret pal sent this great yarn! It's the yummiest color ! I wrote and told her that it made me hungry LOL. It reminds me of hot summer days with berry stained lips and fingers...or maybe rhubarb pie! And I haven't had that in years! She also sent a little skein of some tasty Dreamsicle-y orangey/pinky yarn. Now I want ice cream too! AND 3 pair of dpns! The blue ones are so teensy! Lots of exclamation points here but I am so excited. I've had such fun eMailing back and forth with her. She's quite the one! I just had to knit up a swatch last night but I wanted to wait until this morning to take pics in the hopes that the colors would be more true. Oh, the carnation wasn't included...that was a freeby at the grocery this morning but it just went so well. And it all goes so well with the seat of that chair.

I regularly read a blog called Yarnstorm.

This lovely woman has the most beautiful posts. Her photos are incredible and I wish I actually knew her and her family. I can be ever so "jangly" and after reading about some cakes they made, or something she embroidered or her wonderful Jelly bean pillows, I'm just ever so relaxed. My humble abode is not at all like hers..and I wish it were. At least sometimes. Sometimes I wish it were a metro loft. Sometimes I wish it were a rustic cabin. Sometimes I wish it were filled with 1940s furniture and a big console radio with multiple bands. ( I can remember listening to foreign voices on such a beast and pretending that I knew what they were saying). Perhaps I need to live on a revolving stage set!

Last year, before I even knew Yarnstorm, I rescued an old wooden chair and spent a lot of time stripping it, reglueing and painting. When it came time to cover the seat off I went to Hancocks. I knew exactly what I was looking for. But this pale yellow fabric with big blowsy flowers reached out and grabbed me. (the top photo is truest in color)

And so it came home and became a focal point in my bedroom. The rest of the bedroom bears no resemblence. All the furniture is varnished wood and I would love to paint it...but after so many years of hearing "don't mess up the wood" it scares me. I think I shall start small..maybe the bookcase.

A couple of years ago I tore this picture out of a catalog that came in the mail. In real life, I would probably be horrified that the paint is peeling off the wall but somehow this picture says safety and comfort to me. Probably cause I had recently watched Under the Tuscan Sun :-) I can't really remember. The bed looks so soft and comfy. And I imagine what I would see if I walked across the room and looked out the window.

Heh...and yes I adapt well to reality. But still, it's ever so much fun to "just pretend"

I had to go to the store this morning to purchase flowers for my "Little Mother" who is 11 years old. When The Girl was small she spent a lot of time here. I am " the crafty part" of the Village that is raising her. At my house messes were acceptable but you must clean up afterwards. And spills don't count against you unless you did it on purpose. And there was always
a good supply of glitter glue and colored paper and watercolors and stickers and rubber stamps and soap to melt and pour. And dog cookies to bake (and at least for her, to eat). And books to read and lots of "just pretend". When we played house she was always the "Mother". Not only of whatever dolls and bears and dogs were participating, but also of me. It gave her a good chance to say all those motherly things like "I think you need a nap" "You better watch out or you're going to time-out" " Eat your sandwich and then you can have a cookie" As a joke one year I got her a Mothers Day card and a balloon. Everyone else thought we were crazy but as she was still quite young she accepted it as the right thing to do and a tradition was born.

We don't play house anymore but we still do "art" and make soap and dog cookies for Christmas. And she still, at times, gives me motherly advice. I was disappointed though when I found out that when I got "grounded" I still had to go to work. :-)

I asked her yesterday if she would prefer that instead of flowers, I took her to get a cd. She looked at me like I was crazy. She "didn't care...whatever you want, but remember it IS Mother's Day. So flowers it is.

While Mother's Day is a grand thing I believe there should be a day to honor those who unwittingly make a difference in your life. From the person who first told you you could "do it", to someone who answered a question when they really didn't have to, to hey...scoutj who added the wtf group to her Dye-O-Rama.

Happy day everyone!

Happy Mother's Day

My late Mama was born in 1903 and lived to see soo many changes in the world. She decided early on that she wanted a career...someday get married but not because she needed someone to take care of her.

She decided on nursing, not that there were that many options back then. She did her nurses' schooling in Columbus, Ohio at Grant Hospital (where I was later born). Things were a lot different then. Nurses were single, and lived in housing at the hospital. Food and uniforms were provided, as well as a small amount of money. Enough, she said, to enable all of them to have a really good time on their days off.

But, there are always greener fields. So, she and a group of friends came up with a plan. They would decide where they wanted to live..California was a real crowd pleaser, as well as other cities in Ohio. They would draw straws and whoever got the short one would move to the area; get a job; check out the situation and then report back. If it seemed a good idea, they would all go. And this was back in the 20s and 30s...not exactly the norm of the time, or so I'm told. So they worked all over the place and got to enjoy the diversity.

It wasn't all working tho. A couple of them decided they wanted to go to the Chicago's World Fair so off they went. Along the way, they picked up a hitchiker also heading to Chicago. As they got closer, he said they could just let him off at the bus station and he could take a bus to his home there. Oh but no...they weren't in any hurry and they'd be happy to take him home if he would just give the directions. Mama said he didn't appear to "have much" so imagine their surprise when they ended up at a very elegant home. The parents were delighted to have their baby boy back home safely from his "adventure" and grateful for their part of it so they were royally housed and entertained and had a marvelous time.

Later, Mama decided she wanted to see Hawaii so she signed up for a stint as a civilian nurse working for the military. Boarding a luxurious ship (the menu was as big as a picture book...how I wish she hadn't tossed it. But glad I got to see it) with her belongings in this wonderful steamer trunk, off she went. It took several days to get there and she said the entertainment on the ship was amazing. She loved Hawaii and had a great time exploring. She did mention in passing "so many nice young men"...ahem :-). She and her coworkers were rather astounded by the fact that gunnery practice was happening on a Sunday morning. That was usually a quiet time, allowing all to either go to worship or get over their hangovers. Ummm can you say Pearl Harbor? Time in the tropics was at an end and eventually she was sent back to California crowded in a troop ship. Quite the difference but glad to still be around.

Once back in California, she met my dad...a patient in a tb sanitarium. He was supposed to die. They moved them as their disease progressed and he was in the last stop ward. They had a pot going...everyday they would put some money in it, and the last one to be alive would win the pot. A doctor doing research came looking for guinea pigs to try out a new med on. They all signed up. The drug...streptomycin and they all went home to live many more years.

Mama said for some strange reason Daddy wanted to move to Texas (he was from Oklahoma) and they ended up in Amarillo and at the age of 41, Mama got pregnant. She told Daddy that there was no way in hell she was going to have a baby in "that godforsaken place". She wanted Green and back they went to Ohio.

Still wartime, and Daddy got a job at Curtiss Wright, an aircraft company and life on Catherine Street bloomed.

Mama crocheted, and she said she never in her life crocheted so many baby layettes. It seemed that Daddy (who like me could make friends with a door knob) thought each pregnant coworker needed something "beautiful from my girl".

After my grandfather died, we moved to his "farm" in a little village called Summerford which was (I think) about 20 miles or so outside Columbus. It was really more like a large acreage but for me, now 5 and adventurous the greatest huge place in the world. We had corn and soybeans (I think on a share basis cause I know we didn't have any big implements. We had chickens and hogs and two cows. We had cats and kittens and dogs. It was amazing! And I discovered how much more my mom could do. Clean chickens, doctor cows, even bring in little piglets born in a blizzard so they could warm up wrapped in my doll blankets in boxes near the heat vents.

She sewed beautifully making Dietrich type suits for her out of Daddy's suits that showed too much wear at the sleeves. And, once they were no longer suitable for her, she made me marvelous coats. She could turn floweredy feed sacks into adorable summer clothes. She made afghans, and potholders and she made doilies out of this wonderfully shiny nylon (?) thread.

She cooked and baked and churned butter and sold eggs. The $$ from these pursuits went into a little pouch made of a remnant of upholstery fabric.

"Remember Susie, a woman needs some money of her own that she doesn't have to account for"

She did all these old-timey sorts of things but she loved new and modern...polyester? Bring it on..no ironing. Blankets instead of quilts? Oh yeah baby...they look much better without all those little wrinkles. Mid-century modern? Let's replace this old stuff ASAP. Looks a lot cleaner.

She believed in paying with cash and only buying the best when it came to cars and sewing machines and such. They didn't happen often, but oh when they did.

She believed in "use it up..wear it out..make it do..or do without" At one time, after my father died, we lived in a rent house with rather ugly but clean carpet. So every spring, she hooked up this spray attachement to our sweeper and with the help of a few boxes of Rit dye, dyed the carpet. One year green...one year blue...one year brown. Old sheets became crisp white curtains..and a great improvement from those thin ones that had to be washed and then dried on curtain stretchers...ouch!

She taught me so many things and was in turn amazed at the daughter who could strike up a conversation with a total stranger. She let me read True Crime magazines although she maybe rethought that after she found me standing in front of my dresser trying to strangle myself so I could see if your tongue really did turn blue (hey...I was curious). She let me be good friends with the bootlegger's son. And my friend that ended up in reform school...she wrote to him and staged a great Coming Home party.

She was independent, and strong and curious and could squeeze a penny until it screamed (unfortunately, I didn't inherit that talent).

I miss you Mama.

I can't think of a title

This hasn't been a particulary bloggable week. Most of it's been spent taking care of a sick kitty. Ms.Mary (the tortie at the rear of this pic) has been having quite a time of it.
She spent the day at the vets yesterday but without any really good changes. So it goes. Getting old really sucks. I did finish up sock #1 of the kool aid socks. LOL taking a pic of it on my foot at night was a real trip. Hard to get the colors to show in the flash and hard to get my foot somewhere that I could actually see it. So..here it is on top of one of my cigar boxes. This one sits by my knitting space. It holds the remote control, a crochet hook for grabbing dropped stitches., some of those little rubber needle stopper things, and a partially eaten 3 Musketeers. Aren't you glad you know this?

One of my FOC decorates a lot of cakes and has a bunch of orders for graduation parties etc. She mentioned the other night that she had to go to the cake decorating place in the City today to get some things. Hmmmm lots of Wilton's. I'm bumming a ride :-) Will be fun to see all the possibilities.

oops

I guess I should have copy/pasted that last post. No time to fix it now. bbl

A Meme for Me

Hey, it's my very first one! Softball, thunderstorms, and a cat who is paying me back for giving her a suppository have limited my computer time for the last hours. So, since I see my "pal" came to visit I'll post this here, and finish the letter when there is more time online

Questions specific to this swap:

Your favorite colors?
blue/green/purple or autumn colors golds/russets/brown/wine etc
or hahah orange/pink/yellow

Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)?
for socks, fingering I guess.  Whatever sock yarn is called but
I'm not sure what the others are.  I think worsted is what I call
regular yarn and I like that too LOL

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
 I like them both...but it's fun to see different colors or shades
appear

If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, 
self-striping, or self-patterning yarn?
I'm surely not particular on that...if that's what she ends up
with I'll be delighted.  If it's all one color I'll be delighted
with that too.  For me, it's about having fun

Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, 
acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?
sure...never had any and it would  be fun to see what it's like

Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?

Secret Spaces...not that I have any idea what that means...
it just jumped into my head!

What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?
It's fun to be a part of some large group all exploring their
artistic sides.  And great fun to get to know some of them and
to learn!

General yarn/fiber questions:

Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?
well yes...shortly before this swap was announced I had dyed one
skein that turned out weirdly turquoise, and one that is sort of
pastel camoflage..all with kool aid.  Lots of experience, eh?

If so, what’s your favorite dye and method?
So far, kool aid although I am bound and determined to figure out
Wilton so it doesn't bleed!  And maybe someday acids.

Do you spin?
Don't I wish!!!  After I save up for a swift, then I will
start saving up for a spindle...and a video that shows me how to do it
because the directions I've read make no sense to me.
 Oh wait..once a long time ago at a crafts festival at Silver
Dollar City, I got to spin.  LOL there were all these children
in line and then great ol' me.  I ended up with something twisted
so tightly that it curled up on itself and looked like a hair ball.
I treasured it for years but a dog ate it.

Have you knit socks before?
I made one pair of worsted weight house socks and I've made one
sock in a second pair this time with sock yarn that's skinny. But I
think I'm addicted~

Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?
Actually until recently I didn't know you could do other things..
I'll have to check this out.
What are of your favorite yarns?
I haven't got to use all that many.  I really like Knitpicks and I
can afford it most times. And someday I want to touch
cashmere.  I would be scared to do anything with it but would
like to at least smell and feel some. I tend to favor un-novelty
yarn or anything that has to be knit on great huge needles cause
they make my hands hurt.

What yarn do you totally covet?
Socks that Rock/Fire on the Mountain or Queen Rock. the colors
just fascinate me

Favorite patterns?
I'd like to learn toe up socks and I really love those Pomatomus
(really not spelled like that) that lots are knitting.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?

Well, if you can put skill in there, I would love to someday knit
something with cables

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?

I have two pair of Crystal Palace dpns (both the same size I think)
which are way cool and a couple of pairs of str8s by them.  I also
have some HUGE needles that I just can't use (you want them?)
The rest are circulars from Walmart.  Ohhh but I did get some Addi
Turbo 11 circs for a bag I was making and OMG are they ever nice!!
For not socks I like circulars since I don't lose my stitches

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would 
you be?

Since I have infrequent access to a real yarn store, I don't
have a lot of knowledge here.  Something soft that wasn't
splitty and showed off the stitches


Nothing to do with knitting/yarn/fiber in any way but seemed kinda fun:

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
chocolate of any kind or chai tea.

What’s your favorite animal?
toads ...actually I like most animals but toads are way cool

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages?
I have a dog...big ol'poodley mix named Zoey that's 7
3 cats...Mary the boss of them all who is a torty of 17 years
Hershey a street bred Siamese boy (the lover) who is 11
and Mercy a calico rescued from a ditch when she was a wee thing
who is 10 (the helper cat)...geez they are all getting old

If you were a color what color would you be?
green..at least today :-)

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s)..
Well certainly not for looks but it's an almost worn out tshirt
from the Ozark Folk Center in Arkansas that I got at a dulcimer
workshop.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
spiders, snow and ice

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.

Do you have a wishlist?

Yeh...mainly because I forget stuff so if I hear of something
I want and Amazon has it, I put it on the list so I can remembe
the title for longer than 5 min.

Inspiration and Fried Onions

oops, I planned on uploading the Indian Blanket flowers to load first (and no, it's not my pic) These flowers are seen a lot here and I just love them and thought maybe they would make for pretty yarn. So with orange, lemonade (I double strength and with a blurp of orange to intensify it) and tropical punch and black cherry kool aid all mixed up I started out. Obviously the orange won out. And the black cherry disappeared LOL. It's not really dry yet (lots of rain here this weekend so everything is taking longer...even the laundry) but I'm thinking about over dying some of the orange. What ya think? Oh and I dyed it in the crock pot. Way easy and no drips all over the place, but maybe that's what caused the other colors to be eaten. As I looped it in there, I was careful to put like colors on top of each other. I've also thought about soaking it, and then instead of diluting the kool aid, just sprinkling colors on top of each other.

As for the fried onions, Saturday was Burger Day here. The town is noted for it's fried-onion burgers and sure...why not, have a festival. Would have been nicer if it hadn't been quite cool and drizzly but still had a good turn out considering. They fry up a 750 lb burger with 150 lbs of onions. The whole town smells like cooking onions! And, after it's cooked, they cut it up and give it away. There was also the opportunity to just buy a burger ( I had 2...they are small) or cheese fries, or cotton candy or strawberry crepes and other treats. They had a big craft tent but nothing called my name (except food LOL) and a car show and a motorcycle show and lots of things for kids to do as well as entertainment. In the car show there was a really old (I've forgotten the year) restored cream colored Rolls Royce. Oh be still my heart!!! It was gorgeous and I think I could get used to riding in it :-)

Once I got home and warmed up and cleansed of onion scent, it was off to the grocery and time to give the dog a haircut. I'm not skilled at this, but she seems to enjoy most of it and it needed to happen. She's so goofy. Once I got her down from the table, she ran around like a spring lamb. Got that all cleaned it up and called it a day.

Yesterday was supposed to be yard work if the sun ever came out and dried the weeds a bit. But my back was NOT cooperating so it was dyeing afternoon and lots of heating pad. I did discover that I can lie on my side and knit...very slowly but hey. I lack about 4 little rows and will be ready to graft. Odd thing tho, this sock, at least the foot part is huge. I counted and I have the right amount of stitches...maybe it's from trying it on so much. I hope so. The ankle part is still fine, it's just the arch down. LOL more house socks???

OK off to do morning stuff!

Sing, sing a song

The early part of last evening was spent at the "Citywide Honor Choir" concert (grade school). Mostly traditional folk type songs, some arranged by Aaron Copeland so they were richer in sound and lovely. What's the most fun, though is seeing the kids. Some of them I first met when they were in onesies and it's ever so nice to see how they've grown and changed. If I stop and think it makes me feel much older; so...I don't stop and think! :-)

Came home, had a soak and then got all comfy to read blogs and comment. About the time the microwave let me know my tea water was ready, it started to thunder. So...computer shut down and knitting time ensued. The sock that was ripped completely out is going again. Goes so well with the jammie bottoms, eh? This is the kool aid yarn that I dyed awhile back. I'm liking it a lot.

Other news, well not news but a possibility. I have heard about a vehicle for sale that by report is in good shape and hopefully I can get enough money to buy it. Please send good car thoughts this way. I need one so badly!

Jazz in a Minor Key

oh my god...what a major catastrophe this pretty yarn is turning out to be. It's not all the fault of the yarn...well probably none of it is. I think I've learned some lessons..I just don't quite know what happened.

First of all, in my naivety (sp?), I thought if I turned the skein of undyed yarn into a realllly long skinny skein I would have better luck at getting good coverage with the dye. If the whole surface is only about the size of a hot link there's not going to be any place for white spots to hide. I'm not sure how long it was but in it's loop it was still way taller than me and I'm 5'7". So I dye, and this morning I thought I would wind it up before work. So, over go the tv trays and I loop the skein around their legs. I had tied it approximately every 12" so that it wouldn't get tangled. So I clip the ties and start winding. I was transfixed watching the yarn make it's pretty crosses on the ball winder and kinda listening to the news and then I looked down at the yarn still to be wound. OMG it was all coming off the legs. It was as if the yarn was sorta sticking to itself, and when a strand would rise, another couple of strands would go with it and tumble onto the floor. I worked with it as long as I could but unfortunately I had to go to work so I scooped it up and stuffed it into the closet.

Tonight I get home; feed the babies and eat an English muffin and start in. There was no way I was going to be able to use the ball winder so I just wound it by hand; over, under, around, through and didn't once throw it across the room although I surely felt like it. And then, once I got that done, I rewound it on the ball winder so it would look all pretty. And it does.
I think it's destined to be encased in glass because there's another problem... I don't normally have bright pink hands! It's a puzzle to me as I used vinegar and hell, after I steamed it, I rinsed it and the water ran clear.

I'm just glad I have awhile before I have to really come up with something for my "pal"!! And, if they knew it was me they'd be hoping too!