Picture day!

Because really, doesn't everyone love pictures??

This is the story of my life. Here we see what I did NOT have in mind. I've run out of nails for this. What I want to produce never turns out to be what I actually do. Never.


After doing the scrape of knuckle, yell of f-word (but not too loud), and toss of the hammer, I very neatly put everything away.


Here is plan B, with Herbie at home. I weaved the remaining stakes in through the "poultry netting", then jabbed them in the ground. Later that evening, I laid the remaining wire over the top, just in case.


Not that I expected him to die during the night or anything, but I was glad to seem him alive. Disaster averted for another day.


What is this? Something cool, something I'm writing the pattern to as I go, and something that has a deadline.


Hmmm. When I took this picture, it was to illustrate how much pond work I have to do. This is a great digital camera because it fuzzes all the bad stuff. Great for self portraits. Unless I turn into a big fuzzy blob. Moving on, moving on...


If you stand away from the monitor and close your eyes, this doesn't look bad at all. Fifteen minutes to clean, tops, and it's such a lovely day out, I'll have to clear, edge, and sweep. What I'd like to do someday is resurface this with an inexpensive, but hardy tile. Make a real outdoor room of it.


The lawn is mowed and so what you say? Ha! Fry mowed this! I could not have done better myself. I'm so very proud of her. :) She can do the front yard any time, she's that good. Now I'm free to edge and sweep the sidewalks.


Pictures of works in progress? Other than the above secret project, I've not felt like doing anything. I know! Yes, the headache was that bad, but, it's WAS. Yay!

Should I post?

Sure! If only to say, the chicken has left the building. He gets to stay outside in his new pen. It's very loosely constructed, since the first attempt went a bit awry. It's not a true construction project unless you've bent a few nails, said the f-word, and thrown a hammer. Oh, and broken skin on your hands.

The nice thing about migraines? I'm so chock-full of meds, thumb smashing doesn't hurt. Brain, yes, thumb, no.

Actually, the Relpax has been working fine. Laundry is washing, the unfinished part of the basement is swept, Herbie's lounging in his new home, and the dishes are soaking until the post is done.

Backdating and headaches

Oh my. All day has been awful. I could post more, but the awfulness is just me, nothing else. Headache, yes, God awful messy house, check, don't even want to knit, you betcha.

Today makes up for yesterday's fun.

We can check off 'Frova' as a useful medicine. A sharp blow to the head is just as effective. I'd tried it a few years ago, and it still doesn't work.

Do we want to be technical? Sure we do! Print this off in case you can't sleep tonight, or if you get to have menstral migraines, too.


Relpax sometimes and most times works and is chemically known as C22H26N2O2S.HBr, a 5-hydroxytryptamine 1B/1D (5-ht1b/1d) receptor agonist. High for 5-ht1b, 5-ht1d, and 5-ht1f, medium for 5-ht1a, 5-ht1e, 5-ht1e, 5-ht2b and 5-ht7 and none for 5-ht2a, 5-ht2c, 5-ht3, 5-ht4, 5-ht5a, and 5-ht6.

Frova also sometimes and most times works and is chemically known as C14H17N3O.C4H6O4.H2O, a 5-hydroxytryptamine1 (5-ht1b/1d) receptor agonist. High affinity for 5-ht1b and 5-ht1d receptors.

What does all that mean? Well, if I still have my headache tomorrow, and odds are I will, I can take Relpax at around 2pm, 24 hours after the Frova. If THAT kicks it, we will know it's most likely the 5-ht1f receptor giving me the problems.

What is that receptor? It's explained as thus:
5-HT1F, a Serotonin Receptor, is negatively coupled to adenylate cyclase. Selective 5-HT1F agonists may prove therapeutic in the treatment of migraine headache, lacking the side effects associated with the agonists of the 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D receptors. Expression of the 5-HT1F receptor has been reported in various brain structures, including cortex, hippocampus, trigeminal ganglia, and cerebral blood vessels. Expression in peripheral tissues is limited to uterus, mesentery, and artery. No expression has been detected in heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, or spleen.

Serotonin is:
A chemical, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), found in platelets, the gastrointestinal mucosa, mast cells, carcinoid tumors, and the central nervous system. Serotonin is a vasoconstrictor, and through its action on cellular receptors, it plays important roles in intestinal motility, nausea and vomiting, sleep-wake cycles, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, depression, and eating. SEE: carcinoid syndrome; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
"Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary," Copyright © 2005 by F. A. Davis Co., Phil., PA

In a nutshell, the uterus sends out stuff (5-HT1F irritants) which irritates the serotonin accepting neural cells. Frova does not stop the accepting, while Relpax does, for that particlar 5-ht. Zoloft, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is a good general-purpose 5-ht helper for the above serotoin symptoms, but doesn't really kick the headaches completely. My money IS on the uterus, since I have them like clockwork once a month, unless I'm pregnant. Which, I'm not, which, is why I'm in pain.

My father's migranes may not be due to HIS uterus, though. 'Specially since he doesn't have one. Ha! It's his arteries, since his blood pressure medicine influences his migraines. Logic is fun. So is Googling obscure neurological terms.

Chicken in a Basket

It's not often you see a chicken in a bicycle basket. This is from Tuesday, when Fry and I went cruisin' the neighborhood. Wednesday, we swam at the pool, and Thursday, we vegged. Blame it on PMS, I'm easily tired. Cranky, too, but not in a bad way, just in an I'm-not-putting-up-with-crap way. Beware, boys who sack my groceries and mangle my produce.

Look what Laura of the Sugar Bunnies inspired me to do! She's a doll, and not just because her name is so cool. Her spinning is beyond wonderful. I have to take a deep breath when considering my own and think of the unevenness as 'character'.


This, is going to be gorgeous. The Wilton's brown doesn't quite work, so I used instant coffee.


Per Chelle's request... Ta DAAAAA! The bitchin' mittens! I'm wearing one, of course. The yarn called for 10.5 us, I used 9us, and they're still 'holy'. The nice thing is, they're warm without being 'sweaty'. I call them, Diamonds In The Snow. The picture doesn't show it, but clear beads are dispersed throughout the back, gleaming and giving them their name.


Maenywn and Sherrie are calling me to the dark side. I want to go to a Wool Workshop, but then, the Wool and Fiber Arts festival is calling me, too. How about I get some opinions on which one to splurge on? Comments, anyone?

Sock on a Foot

Either Fry and I have been running amok, or doing nothing at all. Saturday was Knit Group, Sunday was rest, Monday was the first day of school and my teaching a class in Weston (such fun!). Today is catchup on housecleaning I ignored yesterday. I also started my first bitchin mitten, yay! I'm to the thumb already and hope to have one done by this evening.


Should have known. The above heel is bunchy and I don't like it. I followed the pattern exactly on this, too. But then, after looking at the below picture, what did I expect. Heels aren't supposed to have a point. Soft curve, yes, pointy point, no. This makes me glum. Still, the first sock is finished, I'll need to see about getting it to Trek somewhere for the knit-a-long. While I stuck to the pattern 90% of the time, at the cuff, I went crazy. I stopped early and did the ending triangles to cap off the squares. Then, I did a little bit of ribbing. Just enough to make them cling, but not so much to take away from the design below. Why? I'm sick to death of those itty bitty squares. I admire anyone who can stand to make socks using size 0 US needles. Drives me nuts.

Here we have the future cardigan. I'm a bit worried about the striping, it's not either random enough, or not uniform enough. This may take some rethinking. It's nice, though. The Light Stuff in Harvest makes it fun. I love the yarn, plus, if you have bits and pieces in your stash, you can make your own "Stuff".

Artsy photo of the grey sweater do over! This is part two of Project Spectrum's August colors. I consider grey to be neutral. Or at least a blend of white and black, right? ;)


This resulted from Saturday's enabling, uh, Sit, Sip, and Knit. Fry and I were there for hours, but it was so much fun! I'd not been in a couple of weeks, and missed the camaraderie. Fry had a great time, too. Mary gave her quarters for candy, thus, she is Fry's new best friend.


Everything above, excluding the Bernat cammo colors in grays, blacks, and whites and the big bunch of blue, are Joann's brands clearanced. They were marked $3 and I bought them for $2.10. Cool, huh? I'd like to have a pair of socks made for 'The Guy' by the time he comes home from South Korea. These colors match their ACUs, the newest Army cammos. He'll be glad he has them this winter. Part of the new uniform is a holdover from the desert cammos (DCUs), the desert boots. Tan, with breathable panels in them. They might have to change to the jungle cammo's (BDUs)black combat boots (the kind your mother wears, ha ha ha!).

Speaking of uniforms... Our living room couch is covered in them from cleaning out the garage and basement. Between Hub's Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Union Army, Civil Air patrol, and regular Army 'U's, it's a mess. He even has a Soviet Officer's coat from Russia. And the hat to match. You know what would be fun, is to take all the worn out, torn up, and should be thrown away uniforms, no matter their colors, and make a quilt out of them. The only drawback is, because it's cammo, you'd never see it...

Have I avoided housecleaning long enough? I think so. ;)

All three jaywalkers in one photo!

The top socks are my second Jaywalkers, the second picture, my first pair. The last photo shows all three Jaywalkers I've made so far. I get a lot of compliments from other knitters when I wear the pink and navy pairs. They're so comfy, too. I love them and there are more planned from the Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in my stash.

A day late and a dollar short.

Oh thank all that's holy this birthday week is over. I'm exhausted and stuffed to the gills with food. Red Lobster and a massive birthday cake on Monday, pizza delivery on Wednesday (only a medium, but still), Chuck E Cheese's yesterday for the Birthday Girl, and riding around on her new bike. Me, since it's a bit tall for her and she's a bit afraid. That's cool. Eventually she'll ride around on it. In the meantime and until new tires for our bikes get ordered and on, I'll ride around. When a gal has grown up on petal brakes, the handlebar ones are fun. Or at least, Toppa and Fry get a kick out of me trying to stop.

Bla bla bla! On to the pictures. Hubs and I are in the mix, him hugging the FryBaby and me made up as a vampire for Halloween.


Silly little woman.


I love that FryGirl. Now, on to knitting from the first of the summer. Here is the wonderful Trekking sock at Loose Park on the left, and in Gran's wildflowers on the right.


Here we have a plethora of Jaywalkers. Fry's is the pinky ones, Gran's are the greenish blues, and mine are the navy striped. I have more planned, as soon as I finish the other two God-awful slow ones.

The Official Watermelon Shawl Pattern

The beads are here.Czech pressed glass beads, jet AB, triangle, flat, 16x5mm, sold per 16-inch strand. I found mine at Michael's and they were a lot less expensive.

The yarn is here.Merino Lace 100 White I used a half a skein, which is about 650 yards.

You'll need size 6US circulars, any length longer than straights would be.

Vinegar, red food dye, green food dye.


The pattern?

The Watermelon Shawl, by Laura Stapleton

The dye process.
Before knitting or after knitting, I can only vouch for the before knitting dye process.

Before: Wind the yarn into a ball. Dunk it into slightly soapy water and squeeze out the air bubbles.
Heat strongly red water (I used food coloring with a teaspoon of vinegar)and soak the ball for quite a while. Press with a spatula or potato masher. The proportion of red to green needs to be large to small. Let the red soak in as much as possible.

Take out of red bath, let cool, and unwind to dry. A knitting knoddy and/or swift, are fine, as is the wrap around the elbow technique. Whatever works.

Once dry, wrap again into a ball, starting with the red first. The outside should be all white.

Heat strongly green water and soak the ball of yarn until the outer layer is a deep green. The color will fade as the layers go deeper.

Slightly press the ball with a spatula or masher, not as much as the red. When the color is intense, take the yarn out of the green bath, let cool, then unwind to dry. Roll up into a ball or using a ball winder, being sure to have the beginning be the RED end.

After: Before blocking, completely wet the yarn in a slightly soapy solution, then lightly squeeze dry. Dip the lower third, the widest end of the shawl, into a hot saucepan of green water with a teaspoon of vinegar. Suspend, letting the color 'climb' the shawl. Let sit until the green is as intense as you'd like.

Rinse, and let dry. Once the shawl is completely dry, gather the shawl as if to tie dye, tie with a scrap yarn, and wet the narrow end, avoiding the green and a bit of the white.

Let the narrow, damp end, soak in a red dye and vinegar bath until the red is watermelon red. Rinse, block, and let dry.

The secret code:
K-Knit
YO-Yarn Over
()-repeat the instructions between the parenthesis until the last stitch
K2TOG-Knit two stitches together.

Pattern Repeat
First Row: Knit across
Second Row: K2 (K2TOG, YO, K1), K1
Third Row: Knit across
Fourth Row: K2 (YO, K1, K2TOG), K1

The main body
String the beads onto the yarn.
Cast on 6 stitches
Row 1: Knit across
Row 2: (K1, YO) across for 12 stitches
Repeat Pattern once, 6 rows total
Row 7: (K1, YO) across for 24 stitches
Repeat Pattern once, 11 rows total
Allow a bead in a stitch every so often. Beads may be random or evenly spaced, either is fine.
Row 12 (K1, YO) across for 48 stitches
Repeat Pattern three times, 24 rows total
Row 25 (K1, YO) across for 96 stitches
Repeat Pattern five times, 45 rows total
Row 46(K1, YO) across for 192 stitches
Repeat Pattern 12 times, 94 rows total
Row 95(K1, YO) across for 384 stitches
Repeat Pattern 24 times, 191 rows total

Picot edging cast off
Cast on 3 stitches at beginning of the last row.
Bind off 6 stitches.
Cast on 3 stitches at beginning again.
Bind off 6 stitches.
Continue cast on and bind off until last stitch is bound off.

Block and enjoy.


The lovely thing is, if the knitter chooses, the pattern can be increased exponentially. I personally don't have the patience. :)
Row 192(K1, YO) across for 768 stitches
Repeat Pattern 48 times, 248 rows total

Also, it may be necessary to cut out some of the white, if it's overpowering the red and green.


If I've made a mistake, don't be shy! Tell me and I'll fix it. I've written this from memory and a sketch. I'm also wanting to have a do over, just to make sure it all works.

Knits away!

Hi everyone! here is some yarny goodness, just for you.

First off, the pictures does nothing justice. This is really quite lovely, in real life. Mom already covets it. What is it? The back of a cardigan, using Trendsetter's Balboa and Prism's Wild Stuff.


I've not got the nerve to post closeups of my spinning, a la Laura of the Sugar Bunnies. So let's just oooh and ahhh over how lovely the single ply knits up, hmmmm? ;)


I've knit at least three or four rounds on this. In any other sock, it'd be, "Yeah? And the big deal is????" But in entrelac, that MEANS something.

You'd think, anyway.


The digital camera does the newly spun yarn no justice. It's much prettier in real life. Also, the little swatch looks sort of icky, right? Not really, when you consider it's recycled from the slubs I pulled as I spun.


The brown bag has left the building!!! Yay!! Ok, so it's still technically in the building, but zee bag, she is done. Plans for a biohazard bag are in the works.



Dr. Freud, your slip is showing! The entire article is here, but I thought this was particularly telling.

Two Sonic employees are OK after someone pulled up, made an order, then grabbed them by the arm and threatened them with a needle. According to Olathe, Kan. Police, a 19-year-old male employee reported just before 10 p.m. Saturday that a white man pulled into one of the drive-up ordering stations and placed an order at Sonic, 1265 E. 119th St. in Olathe.

The employee was going to deliver the order when the suspect grabbed him and threatened him with a contaminated syringe. The man then got back in his vehicle and fled. Police say there was an undetermined amount of loss and the victim was not injured.

At about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, a Lenexa woman reported a similar incident at the Sonic located at 8610 Pflumm Rd. in Lenexa. In that incident, the suspect grabbed the woman by the arm and spun her around and threatened her with a needle. She broke away and ran inside. The suspect fled on food. (sic)

Ha! We all knew that!

Tomorrow, a tribute to the very beloved FryGirl.

Too tired to sleep

I learned something today at the skating rink. I can't skate any more. Sad, huh? This, from a person who used to skate backwards. Alas, my sense of balance, I knew you well. Still, it wasn't a total loss today. I found furniture at Goodwill. Can I confess? We went there, Fry and I, after the party, to find used roller skates. After seeing these beauties, I rather forgot why I was there. They cost $15 each, and I love the leather inlay. They need spiffing in a bad way. With the new hand sander and some wood stain, I'm ready. They match the coffee table, too. :)

Then this evening, I made a few things while the brown bag was felting. There will be pics of knitting later. Why are the boxes pictured? I don't know, maybe surprises for my female family members??? I think so!


I'm a pushover for memes, I'll admit. Like Norma avoids them, I go like a moth to a flame. Or maybe a chick to his mom. Fry goes "tic tic tic", and Herbie runs to her.

She has an eyepatch somewhere around here...
But, we have no hood for Herbs.


We had fun with Herbie this evening. Fry and I left him at the top of the hill by our deck, then went around the corner. He did the Mom! cheeps, then spotted us when we peered around the corner. That's when Herbie ran down the hill to his mommy. We learned this evening Herbie doesn't like his feet wet, so no playing in the sprinkler for him. Plus, while he'll climb all over me while cheeping, he's quite and coos when Fry holds him close. I do wish she'd quit calling me "grandma", though.

Oh. Back to the meme. Wasn't that a fun tangent?


10 Years Ago: August 1996
Good Lord! Have we been here THAT long? I've lived in Kansas and Missouri longer than I've ever lived in Texas. That can't be right! I was working in Kansas as a programmer analyst, while Hubs was still in Texas, and Fry stayed at my parents. She couldn't get into day care until October, and they lived in Kansas at the time. I'd spend weekends there, and Sunday nights were the hardest. I'd always leave later than I should, very reluctant to say bye to the baby.

5 Years Ago: August 2001
Ah, the blue and fat period of my life. I'd quit work earlier in the year, completely disgusted and burnt out. My plans were I'd do great work in the job I'd just left, make a big difference and improve what I could. Nope. It was bad. It wasn't the worst time of my life, not by far, but was a time I hated myself the most. I really disapponted myself.

1 Year Ago: August 2005
Wow! You could go here, but I could sum it up as, this month, only without Colorado. On the major plus side is the Sit, Sip, and Knit's addition to this year.

I'm stagnating and I don't like that. Hmmm...

5 Songs I know all the words to:
World Without Love-Peter and Gordon
Honey To The B-Billie Piper
Movin' Right Along-The Muppet Movie
Kiss-Tom Jones
Happy Together-The Turtles

5 Snacks:
Fat free sugar free yogurt
Sugar free popsicles
(now I'm hungry!)
cheese, hardboiled egg, and crackers
raw veggies and dip (full fat kind)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

5 Things I would do with $100,000:
Fry's college fund-fill'er up. She's picking my nursing home, after all.
Hire professionals to spiff up the house. There's always a time in whatever improvement project I'm doing where I tell my husband to "pay the man." After a bit of a break, I'll finish the work. :)
Get all my family members 'up to speed'. Cars, homes, whatever needs fixing or replacing.
Buy a sheep farm. Herbie will need the room.
Buy a spinning wheel. Which really ought to be included with the prior item, but heck. I don't need a sheep when I've got the internet.


5 Places I would run away to:
London, England
Iceland
Australia
Ireland
Somewhere tropical and just developed enough for comfort but not for crowds.

5 Things I would NEVER wear:
Thongs
Wedges
Bellbottoms
Ball cap
Low rise jeans

5 favorite T.V. shows:
Law & Order: SVU
Monk
Alien Nation
The 4400
Star Trek original and The Next Generation
South Park

5 Greatest joys:
My child
My husband
My parents
My sisters and friends
My yarn

5 Favorite toys:
The computer
The dvd/TV combo
My tiny MP3 player
The pickup
The weed wacker (come on, that thing beats the hell out of using sissors on the lawn!)

5 People I am tagging:
Carol
Chelle
Maenwyn
Laura of Sugar Bunny Boulevard
Jen
But! I love reading other people's memes, so consider yourself tagged. :)

Fryday Fun

First, to address the comments, just so readers have the choice of no suffering through quiz results.

I asked Fry today while she noshed on chicken strips at the Rainforest Cafe about this Herbie's brothers cannibalism thing. She replied along the lines of "As long as it's not Herbie, I like chicken." I may have made her hardened due to my "If that chicken poops on the seat, he'll be swimming in barbecue sauce when we get home," threats while driving home. Herbie is adorable, he'll coo when she's around. I hate that I missed getting a shot of him running to Fry, flapping his wings.

There'll be knitting stuff tomorrow. It's been happening, along with spinning. I'll post pictures too, tomorrow evening. Cleaning in the morning, birthday party in the afternoon, vegging at night.

After looking at another Laura's results, sigh. She's good, first rattle out of the box. Clearly, I need lots more practice. It'll be a struggle, but I have to try to enjoy spinning and do much more in the future. ;)

I'm goofy about quizzes. Love them to pieces. Here's a few I took today. If anyone else takes them, feel free to comment on your results. I love comments and think it's cool to see everyone else's answers.

What should I do this weekend? Survey says.

You Should Try Whitewater Rafting

Get in some IV class rapids and see if you can stay in the raft
What Extreme Sport Should You Try?

Right. That'll be easy, with the plethora of rapids around here. I need to retake the test, obviously.

On the knitting side, I KNEW all those stitch number manipulations kept me sharp.
You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!
Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Plus, I expected this:

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!
Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

I mean, we LOVE Discovery's various channels around here. Hubs leans more towards history, while Fry is a big fan of animals. I like it all. The medical incredibles and mystery diagnosis are like murder mysteries without the murders. Hopefully, anyway. I'd love to get into the medical field, but that blood thing. Yechh.

Sometimes, like when Fry and I are in Kmart's checkout line and I'm making up a song about tubers (on sale for $1.79 instead of $6.99), I worry that I need to be a bit more mature. We're lucky to live in such a huge town, that we can act like total idiots in a store, laughing and joking around, and no one knows us. Happily, when I answer a quiz honestly, I'm not THAT immature. Between the tubers and Wonder Pets, there was cause for concern.

You Are 34 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.
What Age Do You Act?

I'll become concerned when thinking about the way I can scarf down a cheesecake or really yummy sandwich in mere seconds. Or while reflecting on the picante sauce that's fallen off a chip and onto the table as everyone's looking, I'll worry about my table manners and such. Lucky for me, my mother's influence, well, influenced me. I think the other 36% is when it's PMS or taco time. I mean, have you ever tried to eat tacos with a knife and fork? No way, Jose'.

You Are 64% Lady

Overall, you are a refined lady with excellent manners.
But you also know when to relax and not get too serious about etiquette.
Are You A Lady?

The nice thing is, I'm honest. Sometimes, I'm diplomatic, but if I lie, that influence mentioned above drives me crazy until I fess up.
You Are Very Honest

You tell it like it is, no matter what.
Even if the truth hurts, you'll dish it out.
And while some may get hurt by your honesty...
At least everyone knows where you stand!
How Honest Are You?

Wonder Pets

Considering we're watching Nick Jr's Wonder Pets, this is the perfect time for a pet post. Yes, both Fry and I are a bit long in the tooth to be watching this, but come on. The pets are just the cutest. I mean, they wear little capes. What's not to love?

Speaking of love...

A girl and her chicken by the pond.

It was so hot outside, though, a little bit of food and drink was needed.

After the refreshments, there was some showing off and action shots. Herbie runs to her when she clucks at him. He'll follow her around the back yard, and is happiest sitting on her lap or even foot.
Herbie is a clean chicken though. Here he is, grooming.

Then, totally off topic, here is the view from our dining room window. The red box denotes the stupid groundhog. To the right, you can see the hole he's dug under there. Is there not ANYWHERE else for him to live besides my front flower garden?
Yes, it's a very bad picture, but if I'd gone outside, he'd have darted back under the sidewalk. He NEEDS to be afraid, the little bugger needs evicting.

Tomorrow, Fry and I are having a girl's day out. I mentioned this yesterday, about the meds and all. Then, sadly on Saturday, we have to go to a birthday party, right during my sit and knit group. If Hubs wasn't doing a safety briefing to a General, I'd cop out on the party and hit the road. The moms at the party are the super organized, look down their nose types. No one I know in the knitting world is like that. Thus, I love my SS&K group. :) I have missed a couple of due dates lately, thinking they were more in the future. Just enough incompetence on my part to realize I need to straighten up my act. Summertime lazies are sadly over, and it's time for a Back In The Saddle daily list.

A flash and dash.

Blogger will be out at 2:00 CST, so I thought a quick update was in order.

Herbie the chick is the cutest! There WILL be pictures of a girl and her chicken later today. After pecking around in the back yard, Herbie will climb onto Fry's lap to sit. He's just the sweetest little chicken.

We've been hacking our way through Fry's room, cleaning as we go. While the pets' containers stay cleaned, the massive amounts of books, papers, clothes, and toys do not. The dresser, inside and out, has been cleaned and decluttered. Whew! I'm not sure what we're tackling this afternoon, but something will be done.

Everyone, go take a look at this, Laurie's website. Done? Good! I'm making her Fiber fish mittens for a guy who already has fish socks. Will I use the same yarn? I don't know! Maybe, maybe not. :) Depends on the stash. I'll probably start them in September or October, when the current socks and current Project Spectrums are done.

Half of Fry's school supplies are bought, yay! We still need to shop for school clothes, oh joy. I really dislike clothes and shoe shopping. Weird, huh? Fry and I are making an epic journey to my neurologist's office on Friday for free samples of Relpax and Frova. We'll wrap up the shopping then.

The Frova is to try, the Relpax because I'm a month ahead in my usage. After having a headache on Sunday and Monday, I'd panicked a bit. I called the office asking for samples, and they're concerned. As much as I hate it, I'm probably going to have to suck it up and make the female appointments we all love so. The long lasting headaches are every other month, like clockwork with my cycles. It's probably the reproductive years winding down, but better safe than sorry. Probably after school starts, I'll get all the health checks out of the way.

My teaching schedule is up! I'm already nervous about my first class of the season, August 21st. A lot of students ask about reading patterns, so this class helps with that. Knitting Pattern SOS is such an esoteric class, there's few students signed up. The nice thing is, they usually bring in a pattern defying their understanding, and voila! I can help. Oftentimes, a different point of view is all that's needed. Also true is the "Is this what I think it is???" type question.

More later, this is already a novel.

Home Sweet Home again!

Everyone is home! Let's take a census, shall we?

Hubs-The husband of the house.
Me-The wife of the house.
Fry-The child of the house.
Claude-The cat of the house.
Squeeky-The guinea pig of the house.
Herbie-The chicken of the house.
Pinkie-The betta fish of the house. (he's pinkish purple, just in case no one could figure that out)

Yes, the chicken is in the house. He's still a chick, somewhat downy. Fry is his mom, and when he roosted, then fell asleep on her arm, that's all she wrote. I knew Herbs would be coming home with us. I mean, if we can have rabbits roaming the back yard and ground hogs living under our front sidewalk, why not add a chicken to the mix? Especially since the garter snake isn't in the back yard anymore. At least, I've not seen him in a while. If Herbie is a rooster, he needs to go back to the farm with Aunt Toppa in October. Otherwise, she, Herbina, can stay here.

Since I drove, there wasn't a lot of knitting done, Fry resisting my attempts to convert her to the 'yarn side'. Speaking of yarn, I'd stopped by Knit Wit on my way to get our child and found a coup. It's Diakeito's Diasantafe, usually retailing for $15.75. This and many other yarns were marked to go at $3 a ball. Yep, certainly worth the gas money to drive to Olathe, KS. I bought 9 of these little beauties

and 8 of these.



They're mostly Viscose, Ramie, and Nylon, so there's some summer shells in those, I'm sure.

In the meantime, I'm still working on the brown striped bag, the purple cardigan, and am eager to 'reboot' the grey sweater. The Trekking sock didn't do well in Oklahoma, the heat and all, nor did the lacy sock part 2 get started. You know, though, they'll be great for poolside knitting. If I can muster up the nerve to wear a swimsuit in public. :)

Tomorrow is FRYday!

Sigh. I can't wait. She's such an angel. Her dad and I worship her, as do all her family members. Yeah, she can be a mess. Her taunting me with "You're nine hours away, what are you gonna do?" comes to mind, but still. The ornery streak is as much as her sweet streak. Love that sweet little Frygirl. Tomorrow, I'm leaving to get her. While I'm thrilled, I already feel bad for my parents. And, for Fry's pet chicken, Herbie.


I was going to clean her room today, but with dishes, a load of laundry and vacuuming the house, that was shoved aside. Then this evening, I played with beads and shells. Here is a necklace and earrings. I'm very proud of myself, I didn't superglue my fingers to the earring backings. Aren't low expectations fun? ;)



Speaking of glue, here are Mom's earrings, with a necklace to match. She needed the necklace, you know.



Fry needed a necklace, of course.


What did I ignore today in the way of knits? Going clockwise, August's brown bag and grey sweater, both 'rebooted'. I totally ripped both. Below both of those is the hint of my bitchin' mittens, not started but not forgotten. Continuing to six and seven o'clock, are the two pairs of socks, one mid leg and almost done, the other yet to start. Finally, is July's purple project. I'll do a few rows when I park and knit.


Hm, the digital camera needs natural light, obviously. I'm looking forward to taking progress pictures of the Trekking sock as it treks across Oklahoma.