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!

Houston, we have balls!

Well 3 little balls about the size of a ping pong ball that are the results of my messy experiments last night.

The ball on the right is Fishermans' wool that was dyed with Kool Aid back when I dyed the sock yarn that I'm using now. It's important today because it's the first time I used my brand new ball winder! Oh how cool it is! I could wind the world I think...well at least if I could get a bit of it in the slot in the middle.

In other dyeing news I now have a partially dry mass of wool. Since it's Jazz Fest in New Orleans this weekend, and I'm not there, I decided to dye this in purple, green and gold (well yellow) in honor of New Orleans and Mardi Gras. Ummm I think I have a lot to learn about this dyeing stuff. I used a whole bottle of green and purple Wilton's and probably 2/3 of a yellow bottle (part of it got used up last night) When I put it to steam it was purple, green and yellow with very little bleeding but afterwards, it looked like this. It's almost as if in some places the purple broke...and became red and blue. I'm anxious to see what
it looks like dry and wound up in a skein or a ball...and to see how
it swatches.

I'm tired tho. For some obscure reason I took the perfectly
manageable skein of Knitpicks and using upside down tv trays
made it into a skinny skein that was really really long. And
since I'm a bit taller than a tv tray I spent what seemed like
forever bent over as I wound it. I think a nice soak in the tub
is called for.

Dye or Die, that is the question

The great Saturday dyeing adventure was postponed by
1. A serious mess caused by a cat who wanted to help me repot a couple of plants. Amazing how far the dirt from a knocked over bag can go.
2. An unexpected trip to the bookstore compliments of my nephew who "needed to go get a book" and asked if I wanted to go along. I can never turn down an opportunity to go to a bookstore especially since the closest thing to a bookstore in this town is Walmart; and because my car can't go very far. I thought he was after a particular book, but actually he had no clue so there was much time looking, sampling and asking my opinion about various science fantasy of which I have scant knowledge. And of course, I had to do my bit of browsing too. I came out with one paperback, one knitting magazine because I liked the sweater on the cover and a copy of Spin Off. Nope, I don't spin...at least not yet :-)

But finally the time was right. I had decided to make little mini skeins to practice on and with the assistance of my swift, aka chair arms, and a little wrapping thingy aka an old throwaway clothes hanger, and with a cat's supervision I created a number of little guys. And no the yarn isn't yellow but hey, that's the way the picture turned out.

So, that done, I put a few of them to soak in the vinegar mixture and then the "fun" began. The plan was to create a yellow, orange, and pink combo. Hmm...so I ended up with orange and orange and darker orange. I used Kool Aid and Wilton icing color and had a grand time making a huge mess even if the yarn didn't quite work out. But then the adventure changed and I kept expecting the CSI team to arrive at the door!

So I got to spend significant time cleaning up the crime scene. I really thought I had cleaned up
every last drop but I'm still finding splatters in the weirdest places.

The dyeing area was at least clear of splatter but still quite the mess. The large jar of animal crackers survived and that was important! By this time, I was tired. Cleaning isn't nearly as fun as making the mess! So I took some leftover dye and some undissolved Kool Aid remants and just sort of dumped them on one of the skeins and then it was steaming time. And time for a mug of Chai and some blog reading. I was anxious to know how Ann's
day had gone and so with tea in hand, and the house smelling like a giant pack of Juicy Fruit, I settled in. I was enjoying her post so much and then realized that now my house smelled like rotten Juicy Fruit...or maybe that spill above really wasn't Kool Aid. WTF??? OMG the steaming pan went dry. What a God awful smell! So after rescuing them and popping them into the microwave, doors were opened -- fans turned up on high and when it was finally slightly more tolerable I decided that maybe Sunday would be a better day. And went to bed

And, yes, I have pictures of the "finished" yarn but ummm...I can't find the camera. I guess before I start another adventure I will have a bit of a search through this still slighly malodorous house on the prairie.

OK...so I haven't figured all of this out yet. But still...I'm a friend, oh one very fine knitting faerie!

we're on the Today show!

woohoo. the storm chasers excellent photograpy opened the Today show today! Is this like being sorta kinda famous for an instant?

Tornado!!!

So there I am after a busy Monday at work. It's hot and muggy and sunny and I've had my oatmeal supper. Zoey's been in and out and is busily trying to lick her feet off. (anyone have good ideas why a dog has this problem? my vet keeps trying things but other than being asleep nothing much works). And me, dressed in some raggy shorts and tank top, well, I'm settled in the corner of my loveseat, knitting happily away on the another attempt at a sock and watching CSI reruns on cable. (When it's tornado time, you are supposed to be dressed in long pants and shoes and socks so you can crawl over the debris. You should also make sure you have your teeth in since the tv people seem to search out folks without them)

KERTHUNK. BANG. POW POW POW KERTHUNK. WTF are those cats doing back there. Oh, although still sunny, it's hailing! A new opportunity for picture taking. I grab the camera and just as I open the door I realize that the sunny sky is now ORANGE. And big hail is falling, and cable tv starts howling and telling me to switch to a local channel. And I hear the weatherman say, "Head to a safe place NOW! It's at I40 mile marker --- and headed north east. Holy shit!!! That mile marker is just a bit southwest of me. First a bathroom stop...the fight/flight thing, ya know. The sky is getting more orange as I grab my bag and a radio and yell for the dog to come with me. She scurries down the steps; the cats have totally disappeared.

The storm chaser is yelling "It's on the ground, it's on the ground" And I have to pee again. Now having lived all my life with me, I know this is gonna happen so I have "constructed" a porta potty made out of a 5 gallon mud bucket. That tended to, I hear him say "Oh my God, lok at that...that grove of trees is gone!"

"Where??" I ask...what grove of trees?!?!?!

"Still on the ground, taking out that wheat field!"

"Poor farmer, I think!". The dog has gone to sleep in the middle of the floor (her feet are happy for that) and resists any pleading from me to join me under the stairs. But aha! Here comes Hershey, the Siamese.

Hershey says "Oh good, we can cuddle and nobody can find us!" then I hear him say "Ouch! You just poked me with one of those sharp sticks!", and I realize that I am still clutching the sock. Hahah! Gotta have priorities.

So I get all comfy under the steps (I have no idea if this is the safest place but it seems right) and think. "If it's gonna get me I hope it hurries, I have to pee again." "I'm sure glad my new yarn hasn't arrived yet" "I should tell someone I hide under the stairs so they can find me" "Hey maybe it will just take the raggedy back of the house and I can get it fixed" "Or maybe the front porch" "If it totals the house, I can pay it off and move to an apt" "I bet there will be enough money left over for a swift" "I really have to pee!"

Storm chaser man says "It's hit the airport. (municipal..private planes and acrobatic planes practice here too). Look at that debris in the air. It's a weak F2 at this point and headed for the town. Take cover NOW!"

OK, OK, I've taken cover and now I'm really getting a bit scared. Plus, I really really really have to pee again. I crawl out of my hidey hole, visit the potty and look out the window just as a big hail hits it and I watch the spider web spread out. And the sky is really really orange.

Hershey had now found the knitting and I have to save it. I just don't think I can start this over again. That done, I listen as the tornado heads due east and LIFTS BACK UP. The sirens are still wailing, the hail is still falling, but we've dodged it once again..at least here in town. And I take my bag, and go upstairs and go outside and trade stories with the neighbors and then...well what else? Dressed in some raggy shorts and tank top, well, I'm settled in the corner of my loveseat, knitting happily away on the another attempt at a sock and watching CSI reruns on cable.

Dear Knit Picks

It’s been a long time since I wrote a love letter to anyone so this may be a bit awkward, but write it I must.

Knitpicks dye-your-own sock yarn, I LOVE YOU! You tolerated my amateur attempts at Easter egg dyeing. I’m really sorry I referred to you as “pastel camouflage” because once dry you are sooo pretty in a watercolor way. You knit beautifully and feel good in my hands. And, you made life more beautiful as I knitted the heel flap; turned the heel; did the gussets and then…when I discovered that really strange wonky place in the middle of the right side gusset, well you didn’t laugh at the mistake. You didn’t demand that I tink back, and you held up through my tinking. Then, when in frustration I decided to frog back to the beginning, you were quiet and supportive and unraveled without difficulty. But what amazes me as I start a new sock you’re still there for me. No splitting, no knots, no fuzzes. You'll always be my love, will you marry me??

Moving Day

This was yesterday morning's post but it wouldn't load. I didn't want you to think I don't know what day it is.

Nope, I'm not moving house but I did change bedrooms this weekend. I have two small bedrooms in this house. The front bedroom is the "spring/summer" bedroom and the back is the "fall/winter" bedroom. The only reason for this...and the only reason that one of them isn't a craft room is because the front bedroom can be closed off and the heating vent shut in order to save on the gas bill in winter. It's not a big deal to move, but this time I took everything out of both wee closets (old house...they didn't have many clothes in those days) and dust and wash the walls and shelves and go through all the "stuff". Clothing was sorted and quite a lot of it either tossed or scheduled for giveaway. And fueled by all of this sorting, I moved onto the bookshelves in the living room. Hey, I can get all my knitting magazines off the floor and into holders. I may even be able to find what I'm looking for!

So last night was the first spent in the "spring/summer" room. Oh, and a bit of background...the bed in the winter room has a very old double mattress. It's kind of wonky but quite comfy if you sleep across it at an angle. The bed in the spring room is a twin on a bunky board...much firmer and probably better for my cranky back. However, in the middle of the night if you turn over...and your brain thinks you're lying catty-cornered on the double bed...you may just find your ass on the floor! Certainly a wake-up thing! I WILL get used to it, I will!

It's in the bag

Well, almost. Sock knitting was shunted aside in order to finish a felted bag. It was taking up so much space in my knitting box and ok, I was anxious to see what it was going to look like. Yesterday morning it looked like this..

I had a softball game to go to last night but it was rather cold with a north wind; at least for someone who forgot their jacket. So I left after watching my girl bat and came home. Heh, I thought standing over a washing machine filled with hot water might help, so it was felting time and this morning it looks like this.

Well, the color is "almost" right. It's not quite this glaring. I had the worst time trying to take the picture. Still lacks the ties, but they aren't dry yet. In real life, the main parts look "tweedy". It's made with Knitpicks Wool of the Andes

The colors are cherry blossom and blueberry. I'm thinking I would like one in autumn colors. I'll have to order a color card because I know the colors on my monitor differ from my monitor at work and that one is different than on my coworkers. And it's not flat. The measurements are approximately 11" wide and 10" tall and the base is 8"x11". I think I will try to find some fabric and make a lining so that I can put pockets in it for my checkbook, phone etc and then the open space can hold a project.

I also have a pattern for a satchel/messenger type bag from Knitty.com. That might be an option too for the fall colored yarn. Oh and then of course I could dye some yarn in autumn colors and have socks to match. Yeah uh huh. :-)

heyyyyyyyyy I made a link

LOL I just discovered this morning that there is a link shortcut in the tool bar so I did what it told me, and waited, and waited and waited. Then discovered that for some reason, my modem had disconnected. amazing how much better this works when your connected, heh.

Well rats!

We had a good time in the City Friday. The doc was pleased and said I don't have to come back for a year...which will mean the end of good excuses to take off during the week. My cholesterol and lipids are in the normal range for the first time I can ever remember. We laughed a lot and ate at McDonald's twice and I got a pair of casual shoes for work at Academy for $12. Gotta love a sale.

However, my long anticipated trip to the yarn store was disappointing. The bag was no longer on the wall. The owner knew exactly which one I was talking about and just said it's gone. I asked if she could tell me what yarn was used, where the pattern came from, anything about it and the answers were all "no". :-((( I think I could probably find some good felting wool in an appropriate color...or even something totally different like red dirt color :-) But I have no idea what the carry-along stuff was (I'm just assuming it was a carry along). I'm not really into novelty yarns but I guess I'll have to pay more attention. As I remember, it looked like little snippets of 1/8 inch wide ribbon in multi color. And the base didn't show at all or else it was just covered up during the felting. They didn't stick out far, so it looked more like a tweedy or heathered effect. Oh well, it's always good to have something to look for. I guess maybe it was a class thing but I surely wish she could have given me a clue.

I did get some #13 dpns so that I can make some really fat Icord for the red/blue bag. I want to get that made so I'll know exactly how much yarn I have left for the bag itself. And I got the new Mason-Dixon knitting book which I think I love! I sort of wish I had gotten it from Amazon or Barnes/Noble cause it would have been $10 cheaper but I think I was sort of wrapped up in the "I'm in a yarn shop and I have to buy something and it's best to support your LYS"

Spent yesterday doing household stuff broken by a trip to the library where we talked about knitting! I had my sock in my bag so had to show that off too.

Today's going to be a mostly lazy day. Am going to have Easter dinner with my FOC which means I'll be way too full, and need a nap later. The only "must" thing I have to do is going to require help. My neighbor called me out to tell me that I have a dead possum stuck under my garage door. The doors are shed type so I can't just lift it up. I feel so badly for the possum that I cry everytime I think of trying to drag him out from under it so hopefully one of my FOC can help me lift the door just a bit. Poor dear must have felt like going shopping in there since it's mostly packed with junk going out for bulky trash in June.

Oh, my young niece of choice and I had a great time last night watching music videos on the computer. So, we're watching Pink's new Stupid Girls video and she looks at me and says "Susu, I think you're a switch" Hmm, I know what that means in "my" world but have no idea what it means in the 11 year old world and was scared to ask.

So on that note, I shall go paint my toenails while channeling Gina Gershon ...I'm just sayin'

DAY OFF, sort of!

We have been sooooo busy at work. Which in some ways is a very good thing. If there wasn't work that needed doing, I'd be living under a bridge or something equally depressing. But part of the reason is that we have had some key people out with serious illness. And now we add to the list. Another extremely key person is going to have surgery on Monday and probably be out a couple of weeks. The nursing coordinator told me yesterday that I cannot call in sick or be gone for the next two weeks, and then I can take all the sick leave I have (LOL she doesn't know that's a lot) and she'll sign it off. She was laughing when she said it but it really is important that I show up as I get to help her with a small part of the work that surgery person does. It should be interesting as I can barely (and sometimes can't) keep up with what I do now.

HOWEVER, today is a day off. Prescheduled thank goodness. A small part of it will be spent in a Dr's office in the City, but a good part of it will be spent shopping! I had planned on using a friend's car as there is no way I would trust mine to drive me farther than the local Walmart and sometimes that's iffy. But a couple of nights ago she called and said she thought she would just take the day off too. And, my niece-of-choice is out of school for Good Friday so she's going too! We have such a good time together. Too older broads and an 11 year old shopping fool. So far the plans include Old Navy, Petsmart (a grab cat food and go stop), Target AND the yarn store!

They've had a bag on display for a long time...felted..green with little colored ribbon flecks throughout that I just love. And now I feel I MUST make it. Oh please, oh please still be there. Please have the yarn available. Please have the instructions as a printout or something and not an entire book.

I've traded all my rolled coins in for paper money and I'm ready to go! Woohoo! Hell, it surely doesn't take much to excite me, I guess.

It's a..sock cuff!

Well at least the start of a sock cuff. Life has interfered with knitting time but it's happening. Would help if I knit faster, but at least I knit. And I really love to knit with this Knitpick dye-it-yourself sock yarn. It just feels really good and I can't wait until I have a whole sock. I'm not sure if I can knit two whole socks with tallish cuffs with this skein, so I guess I will make ankle socks. Or, I guess I could knit the cuff longer and then once I get past the heel put all the live stitches on holders and start the next one. And if it's running short by the time they match I could do the rest of it in some coordinating yarn which hasn't been dyed yet. Oh yes, I bet it would match well! :-)

It's been really hot here for April. Last night when I went to bed it was 83 in here. Tonight I turned on the air conditioner. The dog was smothering...yeah that's it. There is a slight problem tho. Last fall I got a programmable thermostat and allegedly the a/c setting was 78 I think. Well apparently that's not true. I thought I was getting a bit chilly and realized it was going down to around 70. That will never do! Surely don't want to have to spend yarn money on the electric bill! If it's this hot in April, I dread to think what real summer will bring.

Serendipity

I was a little bit late leaving for work, knitting ya know . I kept thinking "just a few more stitches" but finally gathered up my bag and headed out. As I started down the steps a movement caught my eye, and then realized what it was... this beauty landing on my driveway. I grabbed my camera, put it in macro mode and said a silent prayer that this jewel wouldn't fly away before I got at least one pic. As soon as I got close, she/he folded up the wings. Ok...I'll take a side shot, but as I lowered my creaky body to the pavement it opened up, and stayed that way with some fluttering but basically sitting quite still. I snapped numerous pics ignoring warnings that they were blurred but managed to get some good ones.

One of the reasons I wanted a digital camera was because I am quite fascinated with bugs and bees and spiders and have wasted a lot of film in my little 35mm trying to get close up pics. And now I know it can be done with this one. Of course, they might not all be so cooperative

It just amazes me how much beauty there is around me and I am so thankful that today I got to see this baby up close and personal. And I'm really glad that the knitting kept me from leaving a few minutes earlier.

I was concerned that maybe something was wrong with it since there were no flower blossoms or anything to keep it's interest. However, as soon as I quit and got back up on my feet, the pretty one flew away.

What a way to start the day!

Swatch

Here's a wee bit of the faded Easter egg dye yarn. Really not that bad although certainly what I was trying for. The best part is the yarn. OMG it's so nice to work with. Soft and it just sort of goes where it's supposed to. I know...that doesn't make a lot of sense but it's the only way I know how to describe the feeling. The swatch is done on #2 dpns with those rubber stoppers on the end so I could just knit a str8 swatch. Heh, I'm swatching. Now if I only knew what to do with what i know. I'm thinking this is going to involve math. :::running and hiding::: So if I measure around my ankle, and divide that by how many stitches are in an inch....no wait. I measure to determine how big around it needs to be, and then if it's ohhhh say 10 inches..(cause that's easy to multiply) and there are 7 stitches to the inch (cause that's how many there are) then I would need 70 stitches to go around. LOL I just love thinking out loud. I have a bazillion yarn labels in my bag but not one that went to this yarn. It's pretty skinny so maybe it's sock yarn. Hey, maybe if I go to Knitpicks I can find out how many stitches each of the dye-it-yourself yarn is supposed to make. errm...I don't know if the needle size matters. Oh well, we shall see.

I think he likes her

There is a connection to knitting, not just an extra cat shot. I had pulled up some info from Dave's blog (I really need to learn to make links!) and then had scrolled back up to the top before starting on this adventure in color. Later I noted that Hershey had curled himself up, half on the printer and have on the scanner and was quietly gazing at the screen. He would be upset with this shot since it makes his butt look huge and it's not. But I won't let him see it. :-)

Trying Dyeing

I thought I would try my hand at dyeing using Easter egg dye. Interesting colors once they were liquid. The purple was really maroon. So, I made some out of the red and blue. I think the green was called spring green. And the blue..well it was called blue. There is also a denim blue which has a teal cast. Anyway, with directions printed out and spread out on the cook top, I began using Knitpicks yarn. I was looking for vibrant colorsSo I really put on the dye. btw, I have no idea why all this is being underlined. However, after steaming it and it got dry, this is what it looked like..And this is even a little more vibrant than what it is in real life. More like very dusty southwest. It was a lot of fun and now, since I've finally got in rolled up in a ball I think I'll go swatch. And hopefully next time I won't have this underline crap!

Another lesson learned

These lessons are getting somewhat tiring. So, Tap sock was going right along. There was about 4 inches of ribbing and I was still loving it. I took it to work so that maybe, if the phones didn't ring constantly, I could knit a bit more at lunchtime. (Lunch happens at my desk. Unless you go to the bathroom to eat, there's no place to get away from the phones.) Thursday I learn that everyone is going to be in a meeting at lunch time, except me (someone has to answer the phones and they also know that I get really fidgety in meetings). Oh this is gonna be good. Since I can now, at least on simple things, look and figure out where I'm at if I have to stop suddenly it's going to work. I won't have to go look for anyone to take a call..."I'm sorry she/he is in a meeting, may I take a message?...and after taking the note can get back to the knitting.

I'm just dyin' to put this sock on, see how it fits since I haven't knit with this yarn/this size needles before. So, I take off my shoe and sock and slip it on over my ankle. While I'm gazing at this wondrous thing, the phone rings. I deliver the above message and the caller says something like "Oh that's ok, I just faxed you some stuff and I need to make sure it got there ok" I look at the fax and the visible page is one of those "Three days, two nights in Cancun for $99" The fax is across the room, so yarn in hand and ribbing on foot and amble over to see what's what. I did hear a little sound as I came back but there are lots of little sounds in our bldg.

I assure the caller that the fax is here and legible and then realize...OMG there's a DPN lying on the floor. I look down to discover that there are now ladders where 22 stitches used to be! The words I muttered fiercely were not appropriate office language so I won't repeat them here.

I tried to reconstruct, but it never looked right so Tap is now but a memory hopefully to be redone today. It's all about the process, right?

byebye for now Regia

well, the regia sock is frogged and back in the stash. I like using it a lot but I just "need" more color right now. So, here's the new project. Isn't this just the happiest yarn??? It's Knitpicks' Dancing sock yarn and this particular dance is Tap. It's shiny and laughs as I knit and purl it. And so do I. I've had it awhile; I ordered it a month or so ago when I first started seriously thinking of the yellow socks. So it's passed the fondle test. I love the way the color is sort of random as opposed to stripes. And it seems that every few stitches you're using a different color. Makes for a fun time. But geez, I am still quite slow. It's going to take awhile before this is a sock, I think. The process is fun tho.

oops, thunder...better get out of here.

sockbit

My plan to come home and knit, knit, knit was somewhat derailed. One of the cats (I suspect Ms. Mary) with a tummy problem. In case I might not realize this she left giant messages on my bed. So since my dryer is a small portable one that runs on 110 it takes a really long time to dry anything big...like a comforter. Much of the night was spent rearranging it in the dryer so that damp spots could get heat. Good news is she apparently feels much better this morning, and I got to go to bed with covers.

I did start the new socks ...barely. But there ya go...it's more than I had this time yesterday morning! And I've found another pattern for the next pair (this one will still, I think, be the basic sock I learned on. The new pattern I found online but oddly enough the print out doesn't have a url so I'll have to google the knitter so I can give her credit. Oddly enough this is a pretty accurate representation of the color. It looked really bright on the camera monitor and bright it is not. The time/date stamp is way off tho and I need to take that off the camera settings. I was using it to document the fast growth of the message plant. Oh and it has two fully open leaves now with little leaf babies in the center of the stalk. Sorta looks like the beginnings of a sweet potato vine.

The second sock is DONE! Kitchener went a bit better but I'm thinking I need to make some swatches and practice, practice, practice. Last night I did some really mindless knitting on the red/blue (actually Knitpicks blueberry and cherry blossom) bag.

And thought about the stuff I put in the "go bag" The theory (however unlikely) that in the event of a tornado hitting my house, I would crawl out from under the stairs and over the rubble and rise like Phoenix clutching my Crystal Palace bamboo needles and my two Addi Turbos. Along with the Kureyon felted bag and a pair of yellow socks. Yeah, for sure! I can see the news interview now, "well, I have no where to stay but I have my knitting needles!"

DST has somewhat skewed my sleep pattern. I wasn't at all sleepy when I went to bed and after lying there for awhile listening to a book on tape that I could probably repeat from memory, I decided I needed to do something else. So I got up and casted on 64 stitches for another sock. When I was putting up the leftover yellow yarn, I decided to look through my paltry stash and found the Regia stretch that I bought for my sock making class in the City (was only able to go to one class, but at least I learned how dpns were supposed to work. We shall see how this goes. Once I get them started, I can work on them a bit at lunch time. I was taking the red/blue with me, but the clicking the Addis made either annoyed my coworker or made her sleepy.

Time for Monday already? Oh ok....off to try to present a work-oriented image while my mind wonders what the Regia will look like.

Well, that's what the plant looks like today..err yesterday. I had to take some stuff out to the office and snapped this as it showed off it's new self. The "pod" started splitting Friday, but to be perfectly honest it was rather Xrated in appearance. Oh, and when the hard shell fell off, we discovered that it appears the writing/pic was maybe branded? The side that had the letters on it was actually perforated and you could see light through them. Well, ok Jackie could see them...I had to get out the magnifying glass.

Storm last night was just wind and rain by the time it got here. That seems to be the way it happens; if I'm ready to run to the basement, I don't have to. Works for me. Here's what I was taking with me. Oh yeah and a flashlight too.


Blogger is being very slow today about loading pictures, so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that all I lack on the second sock is the toe and hopefully that will happen today sometime. Well, good grief...blogger just at the picture of my go bag and the goodies that were in it. I give up. Perhaps this means I need to be doing something besides playing here.

no pics..

my connection has been really slow all day and so no pics but the plant continues to grow. Hopefully in the morning I'll be able to post. There are severe thunderstorms with wall clouds sw of here and moving right down I40 towards my knitting stash. So I'll throw all my important stuff in the "go bag" just in case. Heh, I'll even take a picture of it's contents. So exciting! The only other thing of even slight importance here is that I got a haircut today so at least my head is happy and I had a 3 hour nap...feel sort of like Gilligan!

see ya tomorrow~!

as the world turns..

it must be a bit off-kilter. Work was chaotic, phones ringing like crazy. lots of unexpected "challenges" So it was a relief to get back to my quiet home. I was amazed to find a bazillion emails in my mail box. It seems that two lists that I belong to are quite dramatic right now. I just love it when someone types "please don't take this as a personal attack but.." So I spent some cathartic deleting time. There were still a few minutes before Will and Grace came on so I thought I would check and make sure that the spam filter hadn't put something important in bulk mail. (Knitpicks is NOT spam) There was only one letter from someone/something called Poet's Passion. But um the subject was "Take Control of your Hair Loss" What the??? Do you do it by rhyming? free verse? haiku?

things are going better in the plant world. Arrived at work this morning to discover a little tattoo sort of thing on my secret message plant...well at least part of one. It's kind of hard to see, but that's a shooting star. The little husk is still firmly attached. It's standing up tall and proud instead of being the little hunched stem from yesterday. By afternoon the husk on the other side was coming off. I thought the star was my message but now I'm thinking I get the star and a wish for Sweet Dreams. Now...how the heck do they do this???????

ack

Last night's knitting was not a fulfilling exercise...maybe an exercise in futility and a reminder to maybe pay attention. I had knitted the cuff and heel flap of the second flap the night before. And so...off I go to move farther along. First a bit of cat background...one of my cats, Mercy, is a long-haired calico and I call her my "helper cat". The other two are mostly interested in cuddling but Mercy isn't interested in that very often. She does, however, think that her role in my life is to be right in the middle of what I am doing. I am used to this, and allow for it. Well, ok I should allow for it, I guess. So, last night I get almost all settled in and decide that what I need to complete my nest is a nice cup of chai. I put the sock on the arm of the loveseat and went to the kitchen to heat up the water. I hear Mercy "talking" I talk back but I didn't go see what she was talking about. Then I hear her again. And then I see her. Her nice fluffy tail is wrapped in yarn, it's all around her and dangling at the back is one dpn...with only a bit of sock left on it. Good job at tinking, Mercy! By the time I got her untangled I was totally out of the mood to knit, but had a good laugh. Maybe she's becoming obsessed with all this fiber stuff too!

Here's a picture of sock number one on foot number one. And hopefully someday it will be a pair. It's VERY warm..and since it's warm here, I'll have these to look forward too next winter.

Tonight's been about a bit of dusting, and laundry and plant watering. Oh...speaking of plants, we have some real excitement at work. One of my co-workers gifted me with a new treasure. Purchased at the Dollar Store, it's called a Secret Fortune plant. Comes in a little can with some growing medium...you water it and it allegedly grows and has a message on it. So last Friday we opened it up, and gave it some water. Yesterday the growing medium had sprouted a hill sticking out the top of it, and if you looked straight down you could see a bit of a sprout. This morning it had sprouted but what was amazing was that about an hour after work started it really sprouted up. I guess it was waiting for the lights. Here are a couple of pictures taken today.

This was about 9:30 this morning. You would have thought someone had just had a baby. Everyone came flocking in to see, and throughout the day they'd come back to see if the message was visible yet.

LOL it doesn't take much to amuse us I guess.
I am somewhat noted for my ability to get excited about a new shiny pencil! I think it's a good way to live. Anyway by afternoon it had grown some more.. That dark brown matter is like the outside seed case. Looks sort of like a bean. I surely wish I knew what it was. But, if you have a $ store near you, you can have one too. Will only cost you a buck fifty and you can have a life as exciting as mine! Now off to watch the rest of CSI NY.

No SSS for me!

I really sorta wanted to work on the someday-to-be-felted bag that's been abandoned during the sock expo...but I've heard so much about second sock syndrome that I figured with my gnat sized attention span I'd never get back to the socks. So, last night I thought I would at least start the ribbing. Well, this one is going so much faster (and looks a bazillion percent better). Just seemed like I had started when I realized I was ready for the heel flap so I finished that before bed. Probably helped that CSI was a repeat so I didn't have my eyes constantly watching for a graphic portrayal of a bullet penetrating flesh

Kitchener stitch is a

bitch! I think I could have knit a good portion of a sock in the time I spent on that and it still isn't right...but I shall learn. My "nest" looked like a ransacked library as I had spread out every bit of downloads and book instructions I could find. Not that any of them said anything differently; I guess I was hoping for a very easy answer. But I am still just pleased as punch that first sockie is a done deal! Now to get the second one started. I think tho that the rest of this evening is going to be spent doing nothing! Later...

Sock!

Well this wasn't supposed to be another post but Blogger quit on me. Perhaps it decided that this was of such importance to require it's own post.

I have just almost finished my first sock! I still lack the Kitchener part...but hopefully later in the day I can post a picture of it on my foot. Here's what it looks like now..
I think I interrupted Hershey's nap with my picture taking but at least he didn't bite my yarn. There are glips and oppsies in this sock and it's a credit to the yarn that a bazzillion frogging trips hasn't worn it out completely but I am soooooo proud of it!

Now as soon as I get this finished, I'll cast on for it's mate. I wish I could order some really cool sock yarn but tomorrow I pick up new glasses and that will eat up any extra cash I might have squeezed out. But I can look, eh? Oh I'm just grinning up a storm here!

Back again

Whew, I didn't realize it had been so long since I've blogged. I "think" posts but somehow they never actually get written. :-(

Weather wise, we've actually had some. Last weekend...get ready for this...it RAINED!! Absolutely amazing! I really tried hard to take pictures but I guess I don't quite know how to capture rain. But we got over 2 inches...and that's the first real moisture we've had since October. Then, on Wednesday, it SNOWED...3 inches even. Hmmm...I am not quite sure how to get a picture from Picasa to here.

No Knitting But...

lots of stuff going on here on the prairie. Yesterday was basement cleaning day. OMG did it ever need it. I don't know what happened. I'm one of those people who alphabetize spices and have my socks sorted by color. Somehow though, that organization disappeared when it came to the basement. It's just too easy to drag something down there that I don't want to deal with so...it looked like this.. The thoughts of going down there almost made me sick, but the knowledge that it wasn't going to go away made me sicker! So, after a very long morning listening to NPR and sorting and tossing and dragging boxes and bags upstairs to save in the garage for bulky trash day, it now looks like this...


Much, much better! I would really like to get rid
of the paint, but it has to be dry and then you have to find a place to get rid of it. Sometimes they have toxic waste day in the City. I guess I'll take it up a bit at a time and let it dry on the patio.

But I am really really pleased to have this much
accomplished.

Today was a bit more creative. To reward myself (yes, I bribe myself ) I made a trip to the local quilt shop. Our Walmart has a horrid selection of fabric. And I wanted to make some pillow shams. For some reason I want bright, gaudy colors all of a sudden. Quite the change from my usual earthtoned self. So today was sewing day and things look a lot more spring-y. As well it should...it got up to 85 today!

So here's the winter living room... That's really
a duvet cover...flannel and snuggly. And that gold looking pad is where a cat is usually sleeping.

This is where I knit too. In fact, you can see the yarn on the coffee table (really a trunk). It's the ripped out scarf.

There was a cover on the table that was rusts and blues and browns, but I had changed it before I thought to take this picture.

So now, after sewing day, here's what the area looks like. And now I shall go relax on it. Later..

New Toy and Curls

Hey...I'm the proud owner (finally!) of a digital camera! Got it on sale at Staples last Sunday and have been having great fun taking and deleting pics.

Haven't quite got up the courage to try and download to the computer but hopefully this weekend.

I've been experimenting with a scarf. Quite simple pattern. Row 1 knit. Row 2 k1,p1 all the way across on an uneven number of stitches. It sort of looks like a thermal underwear pattern. I'm using Plymouth Encore Colorspun (75% acrylic, 25% wool) which I am told is what makes superwash wool. It's an autumn-y varigated and I really like it. However, it's curling BAD.

See....actually here, I had squashed the scanner cover down so it doesn't look toooo bad...but just wait. Those little rows of v's are actually ridge like.

Here's the other side without the scanner squash..









Obviously I haven't quite figured out how to move stuff around in here but this will have to do for tonight. My back's quite cranky and I have a date with the heating pad and some CSI. Ahhh such an exciting life I live

I took a test...

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and

feeling more adventurous. You can follow a

standard pattern if it's not too complicated

and know where to go to get help. Maybe

you've started to experiment with different

fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a

cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps

you prefer to stick to other people's

patterns but you are trying to challenge

yourself more. Regardless of your preference,

you are continually trying to grow as a

knitter, and as well you should since your

non-knitting friends are probably dropping

some serious hints, these days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
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