Friday Fun Time

This is totally me. Scary how accurate it is.

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are interchangeable.Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every eventuality covered and every opportunity just has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and every day is a new beginning. You are good at so many things, it's amazing, but you can easily lose your place and forget to show up. They have row counters for people like you!
Take this quiz!





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So anyway, what have I been doing? Inventory. First, I had to scoot over a very chubby cat.



Then, I did the personal use yarn. This is stuff for gifts and family. We're going to need a better than $20 camera.

Here is yarn marked for 'production'. Things to make that I'd eventually want to sell. These are marketed to people who love hand knits but don't have the time or patience for it.


Finally, after seeing Wendy's sock stash, I had to flash my own. Some of this will be used in my Socks Made Simple class. Some of it is marked for Jaywalkers, while others have been claimed by family members. All of it has not been put into the computer just yet. Bleh. Computer entry isn't difficult, Hubby made me the best computer program to do it with. It's very time consuming, though.

Inner Dialogue

We all have it, some of us more than others. I can be my own devil's advocate a lot of times. Here is a sample of what goes on in the ole cranium.

Irrational(I):Get off the computer.
Rational(R):Ok, just a minute.
I: Now.
R: Just. A. Minute.
I: C'mon. Precious Metals is over there.
R: I know. (trying to concentrate on blog entry and soap opera update so I don't have to watch the show)
I: You could start a Diamond Fantasy Shawl in it today. You love using the ballwinder and swift...
R: Yeabbut Blue and Trek needs finishing first.
I: Screw that. Blue is boring and Trek is taking for ev errrrrr.
R: No UFOs.
I: Hm. What about the Noro? Look at all that. Plus, the sock yarn. Just toss off a pair of socks, size 3US, maybe take a day.
R: (snickering over 'toss off') No.
I: What about the Bitchin' Mittens. You're going to disappoint Dave if you don't start them AND starting knitting with the Precious Metals.
R: Dave's busy. He's not going to give a rat's ass if I finish first, then start 'his' stuff.

(pause while 'I' tries to be patient)

I: C'mon. I'm sick of this typing thing. You're not getting anything done. I'm tired of knitting little bitty crap.
R: It's not crap.
I: It is if you've knitted for hours and hours and only another knitter can see the progress.
R: (trying not to agree) Ok. Clean the house, get the kitchen company clean AND put away the Bissel (carpet steam cleaner), then you can wind up yarn from Dave.
I: (glancing around the kitchen) Wow! I did get a lot done yesterday! Cool!
R: Sure I did. Maybe I should finish up the laundry and plant those rose mosses I said I'd plant yesterday.
I: Yeah, then you can goof off all afternoon.
R: Cool. How about I post even more pictures for the patient and darling souls who have suffered through my tangenting (a word?) thoughts so far?
I: I'll wait. But hurry.

Our anti-theft device for the basement. There IS a motion detector, but to keep people from ripping off the rest of the screen, I planted a rose bush. Eagle eyed Mom will recognize the wild four o'clocks on the left.


Things to do...
Empty tea glass, papers to sort, malt vinegar to put away from last night's fish, empty soda cans. All the dirty dishes in the house are right there, there's nothing in the sink. Yay!

More things to do...
The bag and box are empty, while only clean clothes are in the suitcase. The hamper needs carting upstairs and those black things in the background are ignored cat toys.


But first, I should clean up this 'mess'.
Sale yarn from Mom. :D


Oh, but this mess needs sorting, too. :D
All yarn all the time. I'm inventorying this, THEN putting it away. Someday.


This is why Claude is 'fluffy'. Look at that! He's eating a cracker! I know, it's whole wheat, but still! Carbs! Bad kitty! Bad! No more kibble for you!

Isn't he cute!?

You want it, you got it!

Pictures! And lots of them!

First, the Watermelon Shawl in all its glory.

On the mimosa tree:





On the dining room table:



The Trekking sock is home at last. From Missouri, to Kansas, to Oklahoma, to Texas, then back again, the sock is here sitting on a bench next to our ponds out back. To the left of the sock are some rose moss plants needing a home. I'll find a place for them sometime today.


I love our back yard. Most of the trees are still very young, but in a few years, it'll be a lovely shady glen. I still have an oak tree and a honey locust to plant. You can't see it from here, but there's a little pine tree planted to the right, while a sweet gum is beyond the fence. Both aren't even a foot tall, yet. The small tree to the right is a bald cypress. With planting trees, I've read the newly planted sleep the first year, creep the second year, and leap the third year. I planted it late in the season, so it's leaping this year, as is the mimosa. Actually, this is the mimosa's second year of leaping. The magnolia is creeping, which is a relief. When the trees sleep, I'm always worried they've died. In the creep year, I'm thrilled, then in the leap, I'm amazed.


I love my Rio Samba roses. They're very resistant to black spot, which is a plague here.


Some lovely new stash from Sealed With a Kiss's bargain section. Do I have enough for another Gimme 5 vest??? Maybe I'll want to make a sweater, something cute with short sleeves? Too bad June's blues are about over. The grey is Dalegarn, for me to swatch and play with. I'm wanting to make a real Dale of Norway sweater, steeks and all.


A mini pond in the middle of the stream. Depending on how I place the rocks, it's very full or very shallow. The birds like shallow for bathing.


The big pond with waterlillies, then the stream, and at the top, the small pond and waterfall.


Can you guess my favorite colors in flowers???



Jellies and fruit preserves from Mom and Fry!


The white cosmos flower, close up.



Rio Samba close up.


June's blue project. Yeah, crappy picture, but isn't the English ivy pretty?



My knit and blogging space. This comfy chair is why I'm the shape I am. That, and possibly the Red Lobster coupons printed out on the floor. Ha!


A Noon P.S.: No more headache! This is the second headache free day in a month's time!! :D I'm so thrilled, I don't know what to do first. :D

Home Sweet Home!

Whew! There's blogs of pals to read, newsletter emails to read (the personal ones have been read already), and cleaning up the pickup. The pets already have their food and water refreshed.

Lots of fun, lots of driving and knitting, and lots of loving on Fry. She stayed behind at Gran's and Pop's, not wanting to miss a moment of intense spoiling. We all had a great time and everyone got to see their parents this weekend.

Tomorrow: Stash enhancement from Sealed With A Kiss, and projects progress.

But wait! There's more!

Ok, I'm sorry, but I can't let this one go. It's rated PG, even though the 5th graders on Fry's bus say worse things.

Ahem.

Officers Honored for Finding Man's Penis

Police work means going beyond the training, performing tasks both heroic and extraordinary, Chief James Corwin told officers at an awards ceremony Tuesday.

Racing a motorcycle after a confused elderly motorist driving in the wrong direction.
Bailing thousands of gallons of water out of the department’s detention unit.
Fishing a suicidal man’s dismembered penis out of his kitchen trash. It was successfully reattached.
Three homicide detectives were also honored.

If this guy can find a penis, I have hopes he can find a clitoris.

All of a sudden, cops are looking pretty good. ;)

Unless, of course, he's HAPPY finding peni. Then, it's back to the ol' drawing board of training them. Which calls to mind trying to train a coked up chiuaua to play dead.

::running off to see how the heck ya spell chiwawa, chiuachua, chisomething::

There's going to be a dry spell...

Tomorrow we leave once again for Oklahoma. A day there, then a few days in Texas, back to Oklahoma to drop off Fry, then back home.

I received yarn from Dave's Shop. Oh my gosh, it's lovely! Plus, it came with a little pack of lavender blossoms. It, like the Socks that Rock yarn, is a yarn I don't want to take the cute little label off of. I love it.

Thanks for asking about the headaches, Chelle! They come and go, plus the Dr. perscribed steriods to reduce any inflammation. It seems I've been undermedicating in an effort to not get too used to the pain meds.

There will be serious pictures posted sometime Tuesday. I know, it's in the distant future, but they'll be better than scanned or blurry little photos from an el cheapo camera. A little progress on the June's Blue shirt, a lot of progress on the Trekking sock, some incredibly bad yarn dyeing, and a decision on the Bitchin' Mittens. The theme: Diamonds in the Snow. It's coming with me on the family vacation. I'm taking at least three projects, all in the knitalongs, plus a couple of others that have waited on the backburners.

I bought a sketchbook today. Admitting that, I feel stupid. Everyone in my family, even the ones who don't think they're any good, are great artists. Even those contributing but not in the gene pool (Hubs and Bro-in-law) are very good and fantastic, respectively. I found a discount 'how to' book on drawing and painting, then some acrylic paint on sale. I already have a few canvases in the basement, along with a few of my favorite brushes. Even if it's crap, it'll be fun to swirl the paint againg.

In the meantime, I'll leave everyone with something to provoke their own inner artist.

Jackson Pollock
Pablo Picasso
Twisty fun

Still? Yes, still.

Stupid headache. I have an appointment for 8:30 tomorrow at the neurologist's. He's the best in Kansas City, and usually, the appointment is so hard to get that by the time I do get to see him, the problem has gone away. Happily, menstrual migraines come back for him to 'see'.

Saturday was a blast. Had fun at 'Knit Club', of course. Thanks to Chelle's Gran, we are all now in the Order of the Sheep. She made us all little sheep pins, which are quite adorable.

Comments on the prior post have been fun and interesting! Let's chat about those, since knitting progress has been slow.

Maenwyn, you've been memed, too. Like Chelle, I have a tough time with just one word for you, but charming worked, don'cha think? :)

LOL at Beak's comment (she does great work in knitting, by the way)! If it were as simple as size 0's, they'd be banished forever. I blame the 0s for my hogging Chelle's Gimme 5 vest last Saturday. After those, using 17's were a joy.

Speaking of Chelle, I'd choose vivacious for her. She's a very high energy person and a delight herself.

Ah, Carol, I'd be so lucky as for it to be low blood sugar. If that were the case, it'd mean my sticking to some sort of a diet. I do get headaches when I've not eaten until 2 in the afternoon. My going that long is rare, but does happen. I've eaten anything and everything I wanted this past week. The happy thing is, I've not gained. Not lost, but not starved, either. It'll be fun to see what Dr. Kaplan's assistant says tomorrow. The doctor's wife knits, too, and all the time, according to him. After he told me that, I'd had my first disloyal to Hubby thought, ever. Neurologist husband = huge yarn budget. Thus, I asked beloved Hubby, "How do you feel about medical school, sweetness????" Thank you for the positive feedback, too! Those little squares are like potato chips, just one more and I'll stop. ;)

Hi commenter currently known as '*'. Don't you like Perfect Blue Buildings? Cammi Vog is cool. She deserves an edgy but old school punk song as a ringtone. One of my ringtones IS Stand And Deliver. I like most of his work, Prince Charming, Beat Me, Place In The Country, Wonderful. Americans only know Adam Ant from Goody Two Shoes, which is a real shame. I don't think it's his best.

My ringtone is the Nokia, but not because I'm lazy. After watching Trigger Happy Television on BBCAmerica, I love the tone. In the show, as a prank, the Nokia tune would sound out of this huge cellphone. The guy answers it with a "HELLO!" and everyone looks at him without trying to look. It makes me giggle when my phone goes off and I'm always looking for excuses to laugh.

I know.

Yes, I know.

What do I know? That there's a lot of stuff I should be doing. Like calling the doctor to see why I still have a stupid headache. It's bad enough to be annoying, but not so bad I want to die already. I know there's dishes, laundry, vacuuming, trash, but bleh. Actually, dishes are soaking, the laundry just needs putting away, and I've got most of the downstairs vacuumed already. Plus, I can almost see counterspace.

I'm thinking we're eating out tonight. I'll get the kitchen too spiffy to mess up, and use the excuse of Hub's raise. That'll work. :D

Who cares about all that when there's pictures??

Here's a lovely shot of June's blue, backdropping the Trekking entrelac sock. It'll be a beach coverup, complete with a wavy drop stitch pattern. Sure, it's coming along slow, but considering how little time I spend on it, I'm ok with the progress. Besides, I'm just glad I'm not still glued to the thing. Let's move on, shall we?



Ah, the lovely entrelac sock that seemed a good idea at the time. This is the first project I've ever knit on size us0 needles. Does anyone have any idea how freaking SMALL these things are? I don't knit LACE on this size, fer Pete's sake! This is going to take me years, people, years!

Or, at least it would if I didn't have a plan... In ever round, there are 10 rectangles. If I do a round a day, I've got at most 11 days to the heel. At some point, I'll go to heck with this and knit more than that in a day. Plus, we're doing another road trip next weekend. I need sunlight for this project, since the yarn really wants to split on me. This is not something I can knit after Midnight, as I tried to last night. If I'd not had to unknit...

I'll have to take Beak's advice and bring more projects. You never know. Plus, I really need to get busy on the mittens.

In the interest of being a sheep, I submit this meme:

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

What a fun weekend!

We drove to Oklahoma, with Toppa and Fry in the back seat laughing, Hubs driving, and me knitting.

I might as well come clean. When the tip of a circular needle breaks and there's no us7s within a 100 mile radius, be careful with the super glue. Everything is fine, I managed to NOT be glued to the blue project, plus, I'm no longer attached to the broken part of the needle. As a bonus, the project didn't suffer from me yelping and trying to shake the glued part off of me. Toppa tried to mock me in a sisterly way. It's tough to tease someone who accepts their inner idiot.

It was just us girls and our spouses the first day and most of the morning. Then cousins arrived. Water balloon fights, treasure hunts, batmiton, miniature golf, gift bags, pointy party hats, birthday cake, we all had a blast. No one was exempt from the water fights. Sadly, I wore a shirt that didn't show wetness, and so was a target. I ducked a lot of water balloons.

We came back sans Fry who is basking in the Gran and Pop spoiling. On the ride back, I knitted up an eye mask for Toppa out of the yarn Mom gave me. Or rather, some of it. Goopa had given me the Yarn Harlot's Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much and a Knit calendar for 2006. She liked her socks, too. What's not to like? There's love in every stitch.

Once home, we vegged, and then yesterday had pizza delivery. Fry won't be happy, she loves pizza delivery. It was our belated anniversary dinner. I'd had a migraine all day that nothing would kick, and it's still a little bit here today. I'm rather sick of all the sitting around I've been doing, so I'm really wanting to ignore the headache and just do something. Getting pictures developed is high on the list.

Chelle, I have all of Mary B's Slightly series and love them. Jane Feather and Victoria Alexander are two authors I also like.

The Shawl, she is done.

I've taken pictures with the non-digital camera. It's pretty big and rather cool looking. There's already a snag, I'll even it out later. The pattern is pretty easy and I'll post it after turning it into something legible. Right now, it's chicken scratches and numbers. I'll give a hint:
Row 1: k all
Row 2: k2, (2,0,1)to end, k1 Note, 2 is K2TOG, 0 is yarn over, and 1 is K1. I'll repeat 201201201 in my head as I knit. By this point, though, I don't even need to think it.
Row 3: k all
Row 4: k2, (0,1,2) to end, k1.

In other exciting news, we're making ready to leave for a couple days, the father's birthday party. Nine hours down, nine hours back of enforced sitting. What to do...what to do...? Mom has wonderfully scarfed up all the clearance yarns from Walmart, their only shopping center. She is a true artist at heart, so no uggo yarns in the stash, I'm sure.

We're taking Toppa along, which will be fun. When you get her started, she has a zany sense of humor. I'd asked her last week if she wanted us to bring any activities. She replied that she was 38 and wouldn't need anything. Sure, she was sweet about it, but I'm not going to let her play with my magnetic checkers or color in my coloring book. That'll teach her.


Right. Like I'll take one minute away from knitting. Pshaw! Although...I'm reading A Summer to Remember and really like it. Mary Balogh is one of my favorite romance authors. How do I judge a good author? When they're invisible. If I'm not distracted by odd dialogue, weird character names, or hideous cliches, it's good. Mary's 'Simply' series has a family of characters with odd names, but they all have them and for a good reason. Rather like James Herriot's series with Tristan and Sigfried.

Something else really fun...I'm in Dave's Mitten KAL. That's only three Knit-A-Longs. Not too bad. With Dave's KAL the only restriction is that the mittens must be creative. It's harder than you'd think. Still, tons of fun. I already have a few ideas to choose from. Plus, I've made and taught to make enough mittens, I don't really need a pattern. Yes, gauge swatch, no, pattern. Rather like socks are becoming to be.

Time to pack!

An Early Friday

Yes, it's a bit early for Friday Fun, but knitters will like this: http://anacleta.homestead.com/knittinghumor.html

Hi Chelle! I don't know for sure what I'm doing with the Noro. I have a stockpile I'm thinking may be a cardigan some day. We went to the Studio on Monday and I almost called you before, asking if it would be open. A lot of yarn stores take Mondays off. I hesitate calling people on work days when they might be busy, though. :)

Fry is excited about spending the summer at her grandparents. I already miss her, but am looking forward to all the projects for the summer. There'll have to be a list made, since all these ideas, home improvement, knitting, photography, piano, painting, are swirling around. Rock polishing, too, since Fry and I found some real beauts in the mineral department last week.

Tomorrow, before we leave, I'm hoping to post a finished, and maybe blocked Watermelon Shawl. Yay!

Two Days for the Price of One!

This was the status of yesterday. I'd tried to upload photos, had a problem and said to hell with it.

Today is a migraine day, so my patience is at a very low ebb. Grrr. The Midrin didn't work, but I'm very relaxed now. Nice, since my muscles tense with pain during one of these. Relpax is next.

Back to the picture: The blue is my June project with the supposed finished project below. The green laceweight is the last of the Shawl's yarn, with the ball to the left what I cut out. Below that is the stash accumulation from The Studio. And finally is the finished toe of my first Trekking Sock, with the KAL button to the left, now.


What did I do yesterday for three hours while watching Fry swim? This!

Half a pattern repeat on the sweater, which will be a coverup for either Toppa or Goopa, depending on who wants it. I have the same yarn in yellow, light green, and something else for others in the family. You can't tell from the picture, but I've completed the base triangles for the sock, and have done one right leaning square.

Since today is Anti-Procrastination day, I'm planting things put off for a couple weeks, and finishing the steam cleaning of the kitchen. Hoo boy!

Quick notes on works in progress

The Trekking sock is coming along fine and faster than I'd thought. I had no size 0 US needles, so I HAD to go to The Studio after the America fest and before the park.

You won't believe it. Fry and I are roaming around the store, I get what I need and some of what I don't. We walk to the pickup and Fry exclaims, "Mom! That's your car!" Yes! It was our dear old Lemon! We knew it was our former car from the rust at the bottom of the door and my spiffy patch job on the roof. See? See? It's NOT me going to the yarn stores, my CARS take me there. I really have no choice. The pickup is even worse with all that room in the back.

We took a picture of the car formerly known as Lemon, as well as pictures of the bit of sock and walking trails at the park.

Mary won. Not that it was tough, seeing as how corruptible I am and all. She encouraged me to cut down the amount of white in the Watermelon Shawl and I have. Blocking it will be so exciting! Yes, my life is dull and I like it.

There's some serious scanning to do tomorrow, with the new sock, the shawl, and the project I've chose for June's Blue in Project Spectrum. There are pictures to scan and buttons to add.

In the "Only a Bad Mom Would Openly Laugh Department": Fry has been reading some 'haunted kids' book for young adults. It seems the kids in the story have been trying to contact spirits. This is why my little Fry wants an "Ahooooga" board for her birthday. It didn't take me long to figure out she meant Ouija, and took me longer to stop the giggles. She'll have changed her mind about what she wants a million times before then, so I'm not rushing out with a checkbook.

I 'think' about blogging a lot more often than this, honest.

Ok, a quick update:

Friday, groceries and swimming.

Saturday, Sit, Sip, and Knit where I got to see the lovely yarns Carole and Mary found on their trips. Afterwards, I think I went on and on about how much yarn costs. I think I use the 'oh, I have to watch the budget' excuse to not add to the stash. Yes, to the yarnaholics, it sounds strange to try and limit yarnage, but there's only so much space in a house. So saying, "I can't afford that" sounds like I'm poormouthing it (something I really dislike), when it's really an effort to keep a compulsion under control. Maybe.

Sunday, we, Fry and I, went to the Army Reserve to 'pin on' Hubby. He is officially a Lieutenant Colonel. He's so cool. Everyone in his unit is really nice, I like them already, plus, we already knew his current commander from a prior assignment. After that, we picked up BBQ for Dad's party next Saturday. The samples they handed out at Sam's weren't enough, so we hit a hometown buffet. Yummmm. A diet buster for sure.

Thus leads us to today. Margene emailed me, saying that yes I am in the Trekking. Great! Because I'd signed up but not been added. Fry has a program to give at the Daughters of the American Revolution this afternoon. Since it's so close to Loose Park, I'm wanting to take her there and have a picture snapped of the Trekking as a first update. Won't that be cool? I'll have to find some lovely roses as a backdrop.

I'll have to update more later, my workout is almost on Fit TV. It's either now, or do this at 5:30pm, and I'd rather be worn out from running around in the park.

Don't call it Gimme 5, call it "Potato Chip"

Seriously. Look at these, then tell me that if you could, you'd make a vest in every color.














Then worth a visit is the Colinette site for the original yarn the pattern had been written for. It's amazing and worth the side trip.

When Chelle called saying she has the same vest project in HER queue, did I beg her to start this instant? Well...maybe not THIS instant, but certainly start enough to finish on Saturday's meet. She's a faster knitter than I am, so of course I encouraged her. The girl is trying to pin enabling on me, the word 'great' makes it ok, though. This is so fast and relatively easy, then the colors, I mean, come on! I don't care for vests too much at the moment, but this is lovely. There are a couple of needlepoint vests in my closet that look great with my black blazer, so it's not a vest aversion.

On the menu for today:
Bank
Lunch with Toppa (maybe a picnic?)
Panning for 'gold' and fishing at a local farmstead
Dinner
Making panning for 'gold' results into jewelry.

The panning for 'gold' is really fun. Silly to admit, because we buy baggies of dirt, dump the contents into a wood box with a grate at the bottom. Then, we wash away the dirt by dunking the box into a trough with running water. Fry has a rock polisher, so we have fun with our catch of the day. It's fun being a middle-aged gal leaping about screeching "Bags of dirt, bags of dirt!" in an I'm-at-a-rock-concert sort of way.

Then speaking of catch, I'd forgotten about the fishing at the farm. I kid you not, the perch are trained to take hooks. It's fishing for those with ADHD. It's wonderful, because I've been know to sit there for hours without a bite while trying to fish.

Better run! I have things to do and fish to catch.