Good Times

Oh this was just the BEST weekend. I'm thinking I really like having 3 days off in a row. 7 would be better, but I'd settle for 3. Got the routine stuff out of the way on Saturday and then it was 2 days of whatever.

Had a great meal of smoked ribs, turkey and/or brisket with all the side stuff. Corn on the cob..YUM! Watched movies, read, oh and I took down the curtains in the living room and got them all washed up and new plastic on the windows. Ordered some of the new Lion Brand sock yarn. Ordered some Cascade 220 on the last day of the Webs sale.

Cleaned out two craft drawers. Amazing how much dried up glitter glue there was! When The Girl was younger and down here a lot to play, we always ended up glueing something. So I bought practically grosses of glue sticks and glitter glue. Alas, those days are over I think. If they don't dry out, I still have enough glue sticks to last me for life.

And there was some knitting. I would say under the supervision of two cats but they seemed more intent on napping.

Cheeseburger Blues

Today I heard part of a discussion on tv about "What would you do if you only had two days to live". Well, probably not a lot. I mean I'd be sure and say good bye to everyone, and try to figure out who was going to take care of my pets. But honestly, unless you were scheduled for execution or something you'd probably be too sick to do much. And I'm not planning on execution anytime soon.

However, I did have a couple of thoughts. If I were told that death was going to happen relatively soon, there were a couple of things I'd do. I'd buy a pack of cigarettes, and maybe some good weed although it's been so very long since I've indulged that would probably send me over the edge. And I would have a cheeseburger and french fries with plenty of salt. This healthy eating isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Tonight by the time I got out of Tai Chi, I was starving. Oh what the heck, I'll just treat myself to a Sonic meal. Feeling quite decadent, I ordered it and a big Coke and headed home to eat this marvelous meal. But ewwww...there was grease (duh)....and a lot of salt and ewwwww...I didn't even want to share it with the dog. I'm not faulting Sonic. I'm just saying that I've already gotten used to some of this new way of eating. I was disappointed and still hungry but a bowl of Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats took care of the hunger. Maybe cigarettes and weed would be the same. Is this what growing old is about. Thank goodness for chocolate! Oh yeah, and I do know that pizza still tastes quite good to me. But only the plain cheese. That pepperoni was just too much.

I'm wondering if now, when I have dreams of good things to eat, it will consist of raw baby carrots and celery. :-(

Paying with Cash

First of all, I love, love, love my debit card. Initially I had a bit of trouble remembering to record purchases in my check register but got that down now.

However, the weekend of Rendevous, I needed to be sure that I didn't overspend so I took cash. And even managed to come home with a bit left in my pocket. I don't spend much money during the week. An occasional fast food lunch or extra milk between grocery shopping. So the debit card slept.

And then last mid-week I got a letter in the mail from the bank. They were installing a new computer system over the weekend and the debit card would be in time out. I could write checks, but here the stores mostly just use it like a debit card and hand it back to you. What was a bit disturbing was that the last time a deposit would be recorded would be on Thursday....and my pay check would be there on Friday. Oops.

Fortunately I try to stay one pay period ahead on bills so that wasn't a worry. So what I basically had to work with was a cafeteria check.

I cashed it and here's where the fun started. I'm not sure how others are, but I almost always go to the store with a list. And come home with hopefully everything on it plus a number of things that weren't. I guess I'm a sucker for end caps and "action alley". But Saturday, I actually had to make sure that what I bought could be paid for with the cash in my pocket. So, no new magazines. No new tshirts. No new nail polish etc. I paid for the groceries..which consisted of only food this time. And there was cash left over.

This week I've been to the store once. And to Dollar Tree. I needed more milk, and I needed to get a gift bag and card for a wedding gift. Dollar Tree has the prettiest gift bags for a dollar. Much less than at W*lmart. And their cards are a lot less expensive and the one I chose was just beautiful and said all the right things. Oh..and it was only 50 cents.

And still I have a bit of cash in my pocket. Will have to get more before the weekend so I can pay the mower man.

And a nice bank balance since I was unable to order anything online over the weekend (a terrible habit...browsing etsy!)

I guess I really don't pay as much attention as I should to my outgoing money. It's so easy to think.."Well, it's only $5" But when it actually leaves your hand, it's much more noticeable.

Knitting? Well there has been some. And some frogging. And more knitting. And more frogging. Was it a difficult pattern? No. Was the yarn uncooperative? No. Do I occasionally read through a line of a pattern and somehow rewrite it in my head? Um yes. Does it work? No..not if you plan to actually create what's written. Finally after a long time of puzzling, I realized what I had done. Instead of repeating what it actually told me to repeat, I was trying to repeat it repeatedly. Got it figured out now. Stay tuned.

So, am I the only one that sometimes get carried away with the debit card? (I have to admit though that I've never been overdrawn and haven't used a real credit card in a long, long time. And someday, maybe when I'm 103, they'll be paid off.

And am I the only one that sometimes just totally manages to screw up one line of a pattern?

Anyone Watch Deadliest Catch

last night??

Tai Chi was cancelled due to our instructor's son's graduation. So I came right home from work; made supper; ate and cleaned up. Changed clothes and settled down for a tv evening. NCIS first and then Deadliest Catch.

My back was kind of tight so I did some stretches and then some relaxation stuff and right in the midst of some meditation, I went to sleep. Missed both shows and woke up at 10 pm. Was up just long enough to wonder why I had dreamed of hogs dressed up like sheep. Oh, and had some water and washed my face and that was it until 5 AM. I guess I needed the sleep but I do wonder what happened to the boys.

A Not-So-Exciting Weekend

And that was just fine with me! Work atmosphere was intense last week and it was so nice to just not have to think very much.

Of course, there was laundry. And ironing. There was also a doggie haircut. She doesn't look great but she is much cooler and it's getting HOT here. No fair. It's supposed to still be spring. Did I ever mention that I really dislike hot weather? Thank goodness for a/c. My bangs are shorter. Some flower seeds were planted in large pots. Hopefully someday there will be pictures of happy blooms.

The pantry is much more open since I pulled all the high sodium stuff off the shelves and it's now in the trunk of my vehicle ready to pass on to coworkers. Good bye chicken noodle soup. And tomato soup. And vegetable beef soup. And green beans and carrots. Actually about all that's left of canned goods is a couple of cans of fruit.

There was a trip to the post office to mail a package. And mail for me too!

There was this.





I blame it all on Olivia, my Nature Conservency orangutan. She insisted she needed a friend. And who am I to deny her? Especially since it involved yarn. And here you have my first ever Socks That Rock yarn! I've wanted some forever!

And no, I didn't cast on. I think I just want to hold it :-)

There was a trip to the library where I found 500 Low Sodium Recipes. It may mean that I can actually eat some things I like with adaptations. If I find that I like many of the recipes, I'll buy it. Yesterday I made "roast" from a little steak and some low sodium boullion and vegies and it's GOOD. Surprisingly so, since most of the bright ideas I've had over the last couple of weeks were rather tasteless.

I started on a de-clutter in the dining room which resulted in quite a bit of shredding (it's also where the computer and printer is and my bill paying station). I still have a ways to go but still..it's a start. The warmer it gets, the more I want everything in it's place (preferably where I can't see it)

Knitting nada. Sewing nada. I had great plans but somehow I shuttled them down farther on the list and curled up with a cozy murder mystery and a plate of grapes.
The only 'creative' thing I did was to make a cord with my little cardboard kumihumo thingy that I played with at the Fiber Rendevous. I think it would have worked much better if the braided stuff had been a single cord. But that's what I found to play with.



So there you go. A very low-key weekend. And now it's Monday. It's How Many Days to the weekend???

Still Here

Yes indeed, although you wouldn't know it by my blogging. Let's just say that quitting caffeine almost cold turkey is a wearing experience. I knew about the headaches, I just didn't know about the general malaise and achiness. Odd, since I never felt caffeine really affected me that much but I do love the taste. Most evenings I would have my last cup of coffee just before bed, then went to sleep quickly and slept well. Ya live, ya learn.

This slothful week was bracketed by two good weekends. Last Saturday was Onion Fried Burger Day here.



35,000 (how DO they count?)people jammed the streets of our small downtown.
Car show. Lots of biker people. Various bands and vocalists. Crafty stuff. Vintage and classic cars. Ponies. Air brush tattoos. Lots of festival type food, and of course, onion-fried burgers. Our town is known for these and folks do make a special trip to eat them at other times of the year. Most times, at noon, it's about all you can smell downtown. Reportedly they began in the depression, when local burger cookers discovered that they could sell a hearty sandwich without so much meat. Making them more affordable. When I arrived her in the mid 50s they were 7 for $1.00! And I love 'em! The highlight of the day is when they cook this giant one that's got a diameter of 8 1/2 feet. I've never found a way to get a picture of it.



It gets bigger every year and I think that this one was way better than last year. The crafty stuff was more diverse and better although you can still purchase pretty pink fairy halo thingies.

My choice was this bowl. It's made of fir tree roots according to the man selling it. I had parked south of this area so walked through as I came, left to go find a friend, returned and left for good. Nice to wait till the last as I got a much better price on it.



After a day of festival, I then took part in a week of complete slothfulness both of body and brain. I managed to work but then crashed when I got home each night. Fortunately I already had scheduled Thursday and Friday off to get my vacation hours down so I managed to get the laundry done. Woohoo clean underwear. The house dusted and vacuumed and spent some money on fabric for new clothes. (no pic, I forgot)

Then yesterday was the Okie Fiber Rendevous. While I would love to go to one of those huge sheep and wool shows back east or in New Mexico, I look forward to this for months. The location was inside this year and I didn't get lost and look to bikers to be interested in wool LOL. A great site and loads of fun. I'd planned to take lots of pics, but kept forgetting as I'd get busy and talking or taking part in such things as kumihimo on a cardboard disc, or spindle spinning (still suck), visiting with people I don't get to see often enough and shopping of course. I got some felt..oops forgot to take a pic of that too. Some really fine white woolen cloth, a little rug hooking kit, and a gift that I can't show here. I totally missed out again on the henna work..someday that will happen.

I was trying to spin when the toe weaving started, but did get to watch for awhile. The little girl on the left of this picture was really really good.



And see the lady in green in this photo? She saw me taking the pic and started talking to me and invited me to sit down and visit while she spun. I'm sure I looked my very dumbest as I gazed in awe as she spun really fine lace weight yarn with what appeared to be little tufts of dandelion fuzz. Amazing!



While visiting with KatyaR, she showed me the kind of wheel she learned on. It's one of those PVC wheels, and she still has it. It's out on loan now, but when it comes back, she said she'd let me use it...and even show me how! How cool is that?? I googled and found Babe wheels online. Ya know, I could actually save up enough for one of those. More stuff to think about.

Met a new person and her hubster who were new to the whole fiber thing. They've been talking about geting some sheep (already have the farm) and saw a notice about the event in the paper. She is soooooooooo much fun! I watched her in the second spindle spinning group and man..she just took off and I'm thinking she went home with a really nice spindle. I found a little muslin sheep softie so got it and gave it to her so that she'd have a start on her herd (is that what you call a bunch of sheep?)

All and all a wonderful day. And, since gas prices went up again, I took some time to make a Petsmart run and a Michael's pit stop. My furbabies encourage me to get Cotton Ease (that maybe someday will become a sweater) for Mother's Day. Oh..and a quick stop by the a local LYS to pick up some needles that I need for the sweater. Why is it no matter how many needles I have, I never have the right ones :-) Or, is that an excuse?

And now special wishes for all the mothers. You know, it's not just ovaries that make a mother. And a special happy Mother's Day to all y'alls mothers. I'm sooo glad she had you!

Wildlife Update

This is probably cheating. The following wildlife report is copied/pasted from an email. I just couldn't bear typing it all again! They are getting longer legged now and their faces are losing some of their roundness and being more pointy. Last night we came out from work, me and my two coworkers and as we turned the corner there they sat. Even the 3rd one (firt time I've seen it) It's smaller and more timid but those other two. God, I just want to touch them so bad. But I know that what needs to be done is to make them more afraid. But they aren't and really haven't ever been. Perhaps watchful, but ever so curious about this old woman and her friends. So there we are walking slowly and I'm saying "Get your butt back down that hole!" Don't you just sit there and look at me! Go on, get outta here!" in my most no nonsense voice. And they look at each other and I swear they just shrugged. Finally I sorta stomped my foot..pointed my finger and said NOW! and they hopped down into the tunnels under the sidewalk. And as we went by and then stepped into the parking lot I turned and saw a head pop up. Silly goofs! Their mama was very watchful across the street on the golf course. For years this area was just sort of a wild part of the park and the grass would grow tall so they had good cover. I really hated it when they decided it needed to be a golf course. I'm wondering where Dad is.

And if that wasn't enough wildlife news...this morning the dog was outside barking, barking and looking through the board fence into the driveway. I figured a cat was out there teasing her. But when I looked, it was a possum! I ran back in for my camera but when I got back all I saw was the end of it's tail as it went into the garage! Holy moly..pretty soon I'll prolly have possum babies! My garage is a freestanding frame structure with barn type doors. It's too little for my car now so I rarely go in there. But when I still had my Honda, I could carefully park it inside. For some reason the concrete driveway is really really wide, but stops about halfway to the garage. So repeated driving sorta made ruts so the bottom of the doors are somewhat straight but the ground underneath has concave areas from the tires. Just enough room for a possum to squeeze through. I really don't want a possum as my neighbor but it sure beats having a skunk.

There has been some knitting going on. Nothing really exciting. I guess you could term it a large swatch. I have this idea for a felted bag and I needed to see if the colors would fade onto the white. I felted for a bit this morning before work, but had to leave before it was right and tonight I have to do real laundry so I can dry it in the morning at the laundry before work. Something to look forward to on the weekend!

Lots of ideas running around in my head. I need to make a list before I forget half of them. Oh and hey! Only one more day till the weekend! Yay!

Busy, busy day at work. Tai Chi and a quick trip to the library after that. A rather uninspired supper consisting of nuked leftover spagetti and some canned pears. Not a lot to blog about. So I followed Sara and took a test so I'd have something to post.

you are aquamarine #7FFFD4

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

What color are you?

I See You

Still more kits. Last night The Girl came down and was looking at the pics of the kits in Picasa. I was playing the the "crop" feature and found a surprise. Here's the original pic.



And here's the crop.



And now the weekend is all over and it's back to earning my keep. What did you do this weekend??

Kits at Play...

...and dinner but I'll spare you that.



Friday at 5 PM found our place of business empty except for me and the clinical coordinator. Everyone had been gone for at least 30 minutes and the parking lots had been quiet. So after punching out, I headed out for the weekend. My brain was already fixated on two days for me and as I rounded the corner I almost tripped over one of the kits. It scurried off the sidewalk and I got in the car and turned on my camera. While he/she (I haven't seen any boy things so I'm guessing a female.



So, while she was hiding I slid back out of the car and walked quietly over to the curb and sat down, camera at ready and aimed where I last saw her and her sib.



Click, click, click as fast as I could at nothing, but at last a head poked out. She looked at me. I was very still and probably 5 feet away and maybe she thought.."hmm old lady won't be fast..it's safe to come out". And up she popped. Sat for a minute and then started playing tug of war with the one still down under the sidewalk.



I keep clicking and half the time the sun makes it impossible to see the view screen thing. So, it was a lot of surprise (and a lot of pictures of the sidewalk when I uploaded them). I finally just sort of clicked and watched her play hoping that I was capturing some of it. I totally missed "dinner" until I cropped them on the computer.



There was nobody around, not even any traffic. But then a couple of cars slowed down and I really don't want a lot of folks to know they are there. I'm so scared someone will kill them. I can't say I stood up quickly..that's not possible. But I got to my feet after about 15 minutes and tried to make fierce noises and they hid again.

Babies at Work

Well..not human babies, but still. Our facility is pretty much surrounded by park and a golf (bleh)course. We used to sit outside and watch foxes play before the golf course came into being.

But...apparently the fox doesn't care about all the fancy schmancy that the golf course would like to promote. And we hadn't seen any in a a really, really long time. However, in the last couple weeks, we've been seeing a rather thin female running around. We've all been worried about her. Now we know why she's a bit too thin.





Actually there are 3 but I only got pics of two of them. And sorry that they're sort of blurry..my zoom isn't too up to snuff. One of the nurses went back out by herself and one of them started coming towards her being all curious. She really wanted to see what would happen but was a bit intimidated by the mama so she gracefully came back into the building.

There's a road that divides us from the golf course. They were all over on our side..snooping in the drainage tiles. Mom told them to go with her back over to the golf course side. She went across the road but a car was coming and thank goodness! The kits just sat down on our side. Being children though, instead of going to mom when the coast was clear, they just looked like they were laughing as they ran up into the parking lot and then raced down the hill. I'm sure they got a good talking to once we went away and she got them under control again.

Toooo fun! And what a grand start to the day.

Done!

After totally ripping the thumb back to the gusset and re-knitting the Bird in Hand mitt is done. I am soooooooooo proud of me. My very first stranded project! Perfect? No. Done? yes.





Pattern: Kate Gilbert's Bird in HandYarn: Cascade 220 in Colors shown (like I still have the ball band??)
Needles Crystal Palace #1 dpns.
Started: A while ago. Finished on Earth Day 2008 just before Deadliest Catch started.
Modifications: I just could not figure out the Estonian Braid despite numerous attempts. So it was replaced by some purl bumps on the cuff. I'm sorry, Kate!

Still needs to be washed but that will wait for the next batch of socks to be washed. Have to be thrifty with my wool wash.

I loved, loved, loved doing this. It was such fun to watch the pattern emerge and although some of the floats on the inside could be looser or tighter, I'm pleased.

Yesterday was a very sad, emotional and long day as we said a last goodbye to a friend and coworker. I finally got home exhausted both physically and mentally exhausted but happy that her struggle was over. And as I finished up the little birdie on the thumb I realized that she was flying free. So, Sharon..this bird's for you.

Etc

I was hoping that Bird in Hand would be finished by this time and I could show it off. Alas, I'm about 6 rows from the end of the thumb and noticed I skipped a couple rows. I just wanted to cry. So it's been tinked back and is resting quietly while I sort of regroup my brain.

It's been a fun and busy weekend. I had Friday off unexpectedly and got the laundry done early and rewarded myself with a trip to the City. I had two goals...one to find a skein of bright yellow Cascade 220 and to find a book/mag by Alan Dart that I learned from Ravelry other people had found at Barnes and Noble or Borders.

The yarn I wanted was out of stock so I got a skein of white and decided I would just dye it. And after hitting 4 bookstores I finally found the book. And now I have the pattern for the gnome that I have wanted forever. (I would insert pic here but my batteries went down a bit ago and I have to get more)

Stopped on the way back to watch The Girl play softball but ummm all that was there was a machine pitch game. They've promised me a revised schedule.

Yesterday and today was a mixture of work and play. I have decided to go through every cabinet and closet on this place and do a thorough sorting and cleaning. The bathroom is complete. My little closet is done and there are boxes of clothes waiting for the next Habitat pickup. One would think that if you became a grown up you would quit growing :-( The cabinet in the kitchen that my dishes/glasses are in is done. One down and a bazillion to go. I did manage to the the propane heaters back down to the basement and the propane bottles out of the house. I planned on going to the can bank today but I've added it to the next list. It's amazing how much stuff I can cram in small places. Hershey kept me company and enjoyed a nap with my newest softie (thank you Nature Conservancy)



The yarn got dyed. Actually it got dyed twice. Once yesterday with Koolaid Lemonade and a bit of food color (Yellow food color makes stuff kind of orange in places. After it dried, I noticed a lot of places that were missed so after replenishing the Koolaid, I overdyed today. I'm glad I did..it toned down the orange. It's very windy today and I hung it in the archway and with front and back doors opened it dried really fast. Now to wind it so I can put the ball winder and swift away.



And the mitt was worked on as noted above. It's going to be a one mitt project I think. Primarily because knitting with worsted weight yarn on #1 needles makes my hands hurt. But I really want to do more stranded stuff. It's addictive, or like working a jigsaw puzzle. I have company for that too. Here in a wonky picture you can see Hershey helping me hold up my lap desk, and Mary down there warming my foot. :-)



It's springtime and everything is being decorated with helicopters..or whirly gigs..whichever you prefer. They are sooo pretty coming down. And I love the reddish tint on the "wing".




OK..back to the thumb.

M-m-m-m-m-m Maple!

Awhile back, Jessie, of A Piece of Vermont, had a post on her blog about going to a friend's sugarhouse where maple syrup happens. Lots of pictures and I was fascinated. I commented that I didn't think I'd ever tasted real maple syrup. She said I broke her heart :-)

A big box was on the porch yesterday when I came home from errands and inside was this!



Look at the syrup with the sun shining through it...pure gold!

Well after over 6 decades now I can truly say I've tasted maple syrup. This morning I got out a happy plate.



Then there was this..

And finally...

and life is soooooooo good! Thanks so much Jessie!

I Thought I Was a Toad

I had planned on showing you a bit of knitting progress on the mitt. However, although I did knit each and every blue and white stitch as shown in the red box, I discovered that sometimes I didn't do it all the way around the row. Hmmm. I shall blame it on the fact that I was watching severe storms move VERY slowly across the state. (no damage here that I know about...I slept through our part but a town north of OKC got hit pretty good)

Ahhh yes, spring in Oklahoma! Gotta love it!

So...instead of knitting, I will give you a peek at the real me??

You Were a Porcupine

You have created your own path in life, and you encourage others to do the same. Even as life progresses, you always maintain a sense of wonder and innocence.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

More Fun in The City

Saturday, after a minimal of weekend house stuff was done, I headed back to the City. This time though, it wasn't to eat with friends..at least I didn't think it was.

I'd discovered an email in my bulk mail about a Natural Dye thing at the City Arts Center. Oh ack!! It asked that you call and tell them you were coming and here it is the very day. But I emailed back and Abi graciously told me to come on. So..I did!

We were given some information about the dyes we would be using. Ummm I've forgotten some of them but I know for sure there was cochineal (from bugs) that made red, logwood that made graying blue, and indigo that heh..made blue. I think I was too excited to remember too much. There was a big group there. Some ladies that looked like socialite sorts, some really fun teenagers, some young boys..maybe pre-adolescent that were more fun than anyone, mommas and girls and grubby dyeing people like me.

When I first got there, I talked to some teenagers who were winding what appeared to be jute..or something...from huge spools onto swifts and skeining it up. I asked them about it, and it was going to be dyed at a later day and used for weaving.

What fun! We were all dyeing silk scarves..there were 75 available and you were allowed to take one home and the rest they were going to use as a fund raising project for the Natural Dye Studio. Well...we went through the 75 and they found more and I think around 90 were done plus bandanas and little bags. Everyone was talking and sharing ideas and we all were just sure that our most recent idea would be the best.

I was most fascinated with the indigo. Put the fabric in to a count of 10, pull it out..it's lime green. And as soon as the air hits it, it starts turning blue. I wish I'd taken pictures of it. And, if you wanted it to be darker, instead of leaving it in longer, you came back about 20-30 min later and dipped it again. And so forth. I really have to learn more about this! Oh yeah, and it doesn't smell the least good. We all did all of our own dyeing except for the indigo pot and a really nice woman named Leah was in charge of that and ever so patient as all of us asked questions and crowded around.

Towards the end of our session, a henna artist showed up doing free henna tattoos (not sure that's what they're called). I missed out on that because I was still dyeing stuff and you can't get your hand wet. I should have asked her to do my ankle but it might have been rather difficult to drive home barefooted. Someone also brought a bunch of pizzas. I didn't miss out on that! Sat there with a wet scarf in one hand, pizza in another and having this slightly intense conversation with some young very punk looking kid. I think he was a lot smarter than me!

And how very cool our workspace was. A HUGE room. Big metal sinks, lots of long tables. And you could just thumbtack your scarf to the wall if all the clotheslines were filled.

Someone lucked out and ended up with a silk stole. I don't know how she made it look like that and she didn't either. I think it was my most favorite.



There were a variety of things done.



This was my effort at camouflage.



And this was my time with indigo (primarily) along with some overlapping cochineal and logwood. And this one came home with me.




And that's about all that happened on Saturday. No knitting. I was so tired, and when Earth Hour arrived, like a good girl I turned out the lights and that was it for me until 5 AM this morning :-) Today's been all about getting stuff done that didn't happen yesterday. Tonight maybe knitting!

Friday Night in the Big Town

First of all a big thank you to Crystal for the info on the red box! Really helps when you know what you're looking at!

No knitting last night tho. It was a girl's night out in Bricktown a special part of Oklahoma City. It's been quite awhile since I've been down there and whew..it's really grown with lots more to see and do. Eleven goofy women out and about. What a good time we had.



We ate here at the Bourbon St. Cafe and it was very, very good. There were oysters and pork shops and some really different salad. On my dinner plate was a very tasty, tender steak. YUM! (And it had paprika sprinkled around to look pretty!) And in my glass Shiner Bock. A far reach from my usual "eat out" at a fast food place.

After dinner we walked around and laughed a lot and then rode the water taxi on a great trip around the canal. We've already tentatively planned a return.

A really fun evening and it's really nice to spend time with friends doing totally different sorts of things.

Today may hold totally different adventures barring unforseen roadblocks. We shall see. But for now, I need to do the ironing! See ya later! Hope your day is a good one.

Riddle Me This

With apologies to Ms. Gilbert, here's the beginning of my Bird in Hand mitten. Apologies because I've changed something. Watch a DVD, think I'm a designer? No, not at all! I was supposed to be doing plain knitting for a few rows and then an Estonian Braid before the color started. And try as I might, I just couldn't figure out the braid. So I did a few rows of 1/1 ribbing followed by a rows of purling. This is soooooooooooo fun although I am very slow. It may be a lifetime project.

Now, I'm puzzled though. See on the pattern ... the little red box? I don't know what it means. I thought about emailing Ms. Gilbert, but I figured it's probably something most everyone knows, so I thought I would try y'all first.

Oh and yes I write on my hand. For things I can't forget. I may lose a stickie note but hopefully I won't lose track of my hand. This has to stay until in the morning.

It's been a really good week here. Fun knitting, good weather, and yesterday when I took a fall on the sidewalk, nothing got really hurt except my pride! But that's ok, cause nobody saw me. Heh.

Sunday with Elizabeth, Meg and Jane

I'm a visual learner. I learn much more easily if I can actually see what's happening, whether in person, via large photos, or on video. When I first started knitting I ordered a DVD from somewhere that allegedly would be the be all and end all. What it turned out to be was a lot of philosophy and pretty music and although it did show someone knitting, a lot of the time it was shot from the front. Fortunately Dave, I think, clued me in to knitting-help.com and I was able to more easily learn some of the things that had puzzled me.

So in my quest to learn stranded knitting, I read that there was a really good way of trapping the longer spans of yarn on A Knitting Glossary with EZ and her daughter. I looked it up and it was $40 which I didn't have. (later learned it's in Stitch and Bitch too). Then later in the week I saw a really cute sweater pattern online and thought the next time I went to the yarn store, I would see if they had it so I could read the instructions and see if any of them made sense.

I survived the laundromat experience, got to the post office too late to mail my stuff and decided a little rest was in order. I popped in one of the discs that I'd ordered from Netflix (joined on Wed, discs arrived Friday!!) and settled back. Mailman arrives and in the mail was an unexpected check for $45+ from the cafeteria plan. (I didn't realize I'd already spent more than $500 on meds this year). And faster than a NY minute, I was in the car and headed for the LYS.

This dvd is the MOST amazing thing. Three hours of instructions on most anything I could think of and a lot of things I didn't even know I didn't know. And both of them are so personable and Real. It's just a joy to watch. If you haven't seen it maybe your library can get it for you. It's just wonderful. I can't imagine how it would have been to actually know either of them.

I'm afraid I haven't actually put any of it to use because you see, there are those 2Miss Marple disks (they're watched now) and one more movie. What a lovely weekend I've had!

Not Down for the Count

Whew..what a week! Started out innocently enough, just a typical Monday morning. I did notice my back was a bit more cranky than usual, but that happens. Off I go to work. And I hadn't been there long when it felt like somebody had just whapped me with a 2x4 across my lower back. I shifted around in my seat a bit and kept on with the paperwork generated over the weekend. But it just kept getting worse and by 9:30 everything hurt. My bones, my muscles..heck even my skin hurt. One of the bosses stopped by to ask a simple question and I answered with "I don't know...my skin hurts too much to think" And as tears trickled down (I hate that) I was sent home. Home..what a lovely thought.

Getting my shoes off was the only major thing I faced the rest of the day and I discovered that I could actually reach them by using the letter opener. A MacGyver moment for sure!

Tuesday was a bit better, I got up, got ready but after being up for a couple of hours it all came back again. And until Thursday most of my time was spent with either ice or a heating pad and not-so-interesting daytime tv.

Back to work on Thursday..not one of my more stellar days but I got through it and Friday was a bit better. Glad to be done with that week for sure. Now the challenge today will be getting two big laundry baskets full of wet clothes/linens to the laundrymat so I can dry them. Fortunately pjs don't weigh much!

There was only a bit of knitting done. Sitting up was difficult and I can't seem to knit in a supine position. Lots of practice though on my stranded project. Well, not actually the project but the swatch. I did get gauge on #1 dpns and then it was off to investigate stranded knitting. There wasn't a pattern. I'd just make up something, rip it back, do it again etc, etc. I really don't do well 2 handed. I'm a "picker" and I just couldn't seem to get any kind of tension with my right hand. I tried that little wire knitters thimble on my left hand (oddly enough I bought it at a WM sale bin for 50 cents one time...had no idea what it was for but it said "knitter" and was cheap) and that sorta worked but still it just wasn't right. So far my best has been just running both yarns through the same fingers and every once in awhile sort of regrouping. I've seen a sort of plastic thing that will handle several colors of yarn. Maybe I can try one of those.



So, soon it will be off to the grocery and the laundry, and then hopefully home for knitting and a movie. Yep, I signed up for Netflix on Wed, and yesterday came home to find 3 DVDs in my mailbox. So Friday evening I spent in the English countryside with Miss Marple. A very good time was had by all..well except for the villan :-)