Confused?

Looks like at least 93% of you are confused by the picture of my glittens in yesterday's post and at the Bitchin'Mittens site. Like how are they worn and what the heck are they. Gloves, just fingerless gloves worn like gloves. I put them in the little flower pot for a glamour shot with the beads that I didn't end up beading with.

Below are two pictures of the fingerless gloves (glove 1 complete) that I am knitting for my Mom's birthday. I know I said before they would be for Christmas but duh her birthday is Sept 11 so... The top one is the detail of the wavy gravy purple edging I put on it. Bottom photo is a classic view. You can see that they are just ol' fingerless gloves. Boy I need to either get my big camera fixed or find someone to take these closeups.I can focus on my little camera screen well enough in closeup shots to see if they are in focus. P.U. my photography stinks. Sorry. But car repairs are eatting the paycheck. $$$$ Front brake job on GB's car plus next week $$$$ AC work on my truck. Camera is going to wait a little bit.

Deadline looming

So here is my submission for Bitchin' Mittens!

Glittens 2

Everything is 2 I guess. I almost showed you a sky picture (2) too but I took too long to get the camera and the great sunset had gone away. Glitten 2 is almost done. After I finish them I hope I can soften them up in my wool wash before blocking. A little stiff, I think from the Corriedale.

Vacation 2

It looks like GB and I may be headed to Denver for my Mom's birthday week (9/7- 9/15). I haven't been home in 3 years and GB hasn't been there in we think 9 0r 10 when he went to summer school at the University of Denver. Good thing my parents wing through this way a few times a year or we'd never see them! Good news is I'll have tons of knitting time. Bad news is Dad only has dialup internet so there may not be much blogging. And more than likely no picture loading.

We'll probably take the bus which I know sounds gross to some of you. But usually by the time you hit Salt Lake City the bus is pretty empty the rest of the way to Denver. We can stretch out in seats all to ourselves, coffee in a big thermos and knitting all the way! As long as I don't drop a ball of yarn on the floor... Flying out of this stupid burg is expensive, the schedules are lousy and the planes are smaller than the Greyhound's (well almost, they do seat the same). I guess that I rode in so many buses chaparoning music program kids to competitions all over the region that bus riding is second nature.

This will officially use up all my vacation for the year. Booooo Hoooooo GB will have a day at home to finish packing and then we take him back to Seattle U for another year! Classes start for him on the 20th.

So what yarn shops shall I try?

Spin

I'd had the two hanks of roving waiting for me in the family room from our vacation. Incentive to clear off all my bobbins. I'd seen the roving spun up and plyed at the Taos Sunflower yarn shop. But I can tell that my yarn is going to come out nothing like their samples!! This took about 1.5 hours to spin the 28 g. The roving label just says soft wools and Angelina® fibers as the content.

Saturday Sky for August 26

Sick of my blue sky pictures yet? What I would give for a couple clouds and a good rainstorm. This view is from the porch at the Terra Blanca Winery in Benton City WA. It was the final stop of our scooter gang's trip to Prosser for lunch. 66 miles round trip. We hit 6-7 winerys before this one. I was a good girl and did no wine tasting. I save that for at home if I don't have a designated driver. The fake lake is surrounded by a "natural" amphitheater. Next year when all the grass is established they will start having concerts there. More pictures are at the Guerilla Scooter Association.

Countdown to (gasp) Christmas

Four stinking months till Christmas. I know they'll go fast. So what am I starting with? Mom wants fingerless mitts. I can either finish the rib and cable mitts that are at the 70% completion level that I was actually doing for her, or do what any good procrastinator does, start something new. At least I'll be using stash not buying new. After a quick swatch of the corriedale/romney I plyed last night (the light colored one) I determined it was the right weight for you guessed it, Knucks. 77g should do it. If not I can trim up the cuffs in either the darker yarn I plyed or the leftover purple Cambridge.The south side of Candy Mt was on fire this afternoon. Another reason I am not fond of summer. This was taken from my driveway.

Tonight's Goal - Getting Naked

No no no, not what you think. I am plying all the bits and pieces of singles I have scattered over all my bobbins. It's ply till ya die. I just finished 33g/80 yds of a dark multi tweed. It's soaking right now. The other is 77g/196 yds a mix of grey romney plied with magenta to lavendar corriedale. Both are hand dyed , the grey romney is natural colored.

So I was in the shower this morning

So I was in the shower this morning and took a good look at my feet (that for sure are crying out for a pedicure but that is a whole nother post). I squinted real hard cause I am really blind and realized I have the stupidest foot tan ever this summer. Most summers my tan is Teva's over Shimano biking sandal. This summer it's those two plus Keen St Barts and Keen Newport H2's. Last year the Teva over Shimano tan pretty much matched so it looked like a basic Teva tan. But wowza, what a mess the TevaShimanoStBartNewportH2 is.So my informal challenge is.... Post your foot tan on your website and comment back. No prizes sorry.

Bottomless cup of coffee

In my fantasy world, right now I'd be sitting in some kind of comfy chair on a beach watching the waves crash, semi-wrapped in a shawl and sipping on a bottomless cup of great coffee. Knitting on my lap ready to go, a few knitting magazines with in arms reach, all with to die for patterns.

Darn it all, instead I am usually at work, bad cup of office coffee pool Yuban, knitting is at home and the knitting mags generally stink.

I finished tying in all the ends on the Glittens/Knucks, then when rereading the instructions noticed that I had completely forgotten their suggestion about knitting in all the ends as you go. Duh. Then I drug out my 55 gallon drum of assorted beads (ok a little exageration there) and narrowed down my selection to three colors to do beadwork on the back of my Glittens. Peanut gallery chimed in and I decided on using the very muted magenta. Then the more I thought about it the more I figured I didn't want to bead, I wanted to immediately cast on another pair while the needles were still warm. So I retreated to the guest room with the bead box and looked at my stash. All the colors of yarn I really want another pair of Glittens in are still roving. Darn. But I did have 38g of leftover Cherry Tree Hill Fall Foliage. Just about the right weight and they'd be colorful. Cast on and knitted one finger. Nope. Colors great but now that I am spoiled from using the wool/mohair blend I'm afraid nothing else will do. Glittens Two will have to wait for either a spin-a-thon or a trip to LYS. Glittens One will get its final portrait taken tonight sans beading.

I relooked at the latest Vogue Knitting and figured I didn't need to spend the $5.99 on it. Nothing looked like I was going to want to knit it. I've gone back the the LYS twice now to cruise Emma King's Fun and Funky. Each time with the realization that I already have patterns that cover most of the content. At $25 I can't justify it as a reference for Emma's great use of color.I just must be in a knitting funk, just a little bit. Probably need to get back to my spinning. If I head to Denver next month I'll bring some Romney with me and spin on my Great Grandmother's wheel that is stored at my parent's house.

In case you were wondering

Just in case any one noticed that I'd had that interview for the 50% funded position mentioned on August 9, I was offered the assignment today. Yippee! It means I can peel off 50% of the boring assignment I am on now so I can concentrate on the fun one. It means some travel throughout the year, probably starting in Oct recruiting for a graduate fellowship program we manage here (though the students are placed in DC and foreign countries). Business travel = dedicated knitting time doesn't it?

Jackpot Baby!!!

Two boxes were at the front door when I got home. One for Hubby and one for me. OH OH OH the return address on mine said KSKS! I put it inside and didn't open it. I couldn't yet, it's 100F degrees out and you know what the F in 100F stands for with me. I had to get out of my motorcycle clothes first. Then I tore into it. And I had help. Three little helpers. Something funny was going on because they were fighting over who was going to be on the chair to help unwrap the KSKS package while I read the note from my KSKS pal - the WONDERFUL Jenny of Yarnpie!I really hit the jackpot. Jenny sent great stuff. (I am bad and even though my KSKS outgoing package is just about complete I haven't mailed it yet, Bad girl). Check this out ->

I can't believe that an hour ago (don't tell, I was at work) I was looking at the very pattern she sent. The Straight Laced Socks from Knitty.com. And beautiful Barefoot from Mountain Colors. Also a little tiny sock filled with goodies like folding scissors, a circ needle stitch counter (I don't have one like that), Chibi's and a cute post cardie looking tape measure. Jenny is right, you just cannot have enough tape measure or Chibi needles. A box of the candy of the gods - Good and Plentys. A sock project bag felted from purply goodness Hopyard Spinnary Yarn- Super Yummy and with a magnetic closure. And what were the cats so excited about? Dim Sum for Kitties in a Chinese Take-Out container (decorated with Hello Kitty of course and Jenny included the pattern in case the cats eat all of these!).MINE!

Rufus exclaimed "Momma this smells so good that the nip must be home grown". I flashed him one of those looks. Like how do you know what home grown smells like mister? Oh yeah, I forgot, we grow it on the front porch. Or did until someone mowed it down to the stalks.

Ruby says rrwgoodrrwwwrrr.

Rufus says smells like homegrown nip.

The ever lady like Rosemary giving her Dim Sum a good sniff before running off with hers.

p.s. yes I know the carpet looks like it needs to be vacuumed. I vacuum on Wednesdays. Really.

Bitchin' Mittens Status

My cheater Bitchin' Mittens (a.k.a. Glittens) are 95% complete as of this morning. Just need to weave in about 309 ends and decide whether or not I am going to do some beading on them. The beads I had in my stash that I though would work perfect were so perfect of a match that you can't tell they are there. So that's a why bother! They are darker purple than the photo shows.Now do I work on Rusted sock #2 or something from One Skein or? My self imposed rules say that I cannot start another pair of socks until the other pair is done. I like the Northern Lights sweater at Interweave knits, at least the shape of it but not the decorations on it. No too hot. Too many hot flashes. I like the target wave mittens but lets get real. My hands don't get cold in the winter either and I have a whole box of handknit mittens/gloves/fingerless things I've done. Though I guess I could knit them for someone else?

Not funny Mom

Dave finished his Norwegian Hat this afternoon. This shot was taken before I put the tassle on it. It's out side now doing it's post blocking drying.

Rufus was not in the mood to be awakened to model the hat either on his head or anywhere else on his body.

Garage sale was ok, made some bucks and the rest of it went on the back of the truck to Goodwill. Because we had no children's stuff, people would drive up, give a quick glance with out getting out of their cars and drive off. Their loss....

Saturday Sky for August 19

Same ol' hot summer sky. I stopped by one of our local parks and boat launches on the way home from grocery shopping. When I fill the part of a grocery cart where a kid sits, it fills my ice chest and my under seat storage. Plus a little more in the green backpack since I also bought lettuce and grapes.

Miss me yet?

Oh I bet you are so curious as to why I didn't post yesterday. (NOT) Well, because I haven't picked up any knitting needles, pattern books or roving since Monday. The rest of my evenings have been filled with pricing stuff for our Saturday garage sale. That's been keeping me busy. Tomorrow will be dedicated to the last closet, laying out everything in the driveway and covering with a tarp, going to the bank for change, going to the newspaper to pick up their complementary garage sale signs and whatever heck else I need to do. Hopefully we'll make enough money to pay for the darn ad. I don't go to garage sales and I bet we haven't had one in 10 years. The sad part is that we have so much other stuff that the living room full of garage sale treasures doesn't make a dent!! I'll report back on late Saturday as to whether or not it was worth the trouble.

Window of Blogger Opportunity

I am taking advantage of the fact that Blogger is allowing me to post photos. It has been so inconsistant lately. And I am not the only one complaining!! So cruise on down to recent past posts because promised photos are loaded.Cristina asked me to post some pictures of things we've talked about. Here we have a crochet hook case made from a small potholder. Someone at Friday Night Knit Night had one a few weeks ago. By now I have forgotten who to credit it too. But you just fold it over and use the hanging loop for the button closure. Nice and blurry isn't it!
Next is the official GB Action Figure Doll. Graham made this about 3 summers ago. He worked for the Washington State Department of Ecology during the summer and really buffed up. When he returned to school in the fall people commented that he looked like an action figure doll. So of course he headed right over to Walmart and found a male figure with a great figure. He designed and sewed all the clothes. And made the Teva sandals from the action figure fireman's boots. It's a great representation of how he looked at the end of that summer!

Another Movie Review

Monday nights seem to be my movie night when hubby is out of town on business. Last night I watched my favorite Doris Day movie. Not one of those silly giggley blushing starry eyed Doris Day movies (ick) but one of her few serious roles. The 1956 "The Man Who Knew Too Much" starring Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart. A movie filled with nasty ugly bad guys and the inspiration for one of my favorite Bill Murray movies The Man Who Knew Too Little!!!

I had about 1/2 inch left to knit on the glitten cuff when that was over so I popped in Shopgirl. I absolutley hate Jason Schwartzman, guess I am the wrong demographic, so I usually skip any movie that has him in it. But I do like to watch Steve Martin movies. So Shopgirl sat on my shelf for quite a while. I ended up liking it much more than I thought I would. I'd like to go back and read the book now.

Alter Ego Contest Winner Revealed!

It's Noel Coward!!! Poster #2. See that egg basket? Graham made that. He can weave baskets like you wouldn't believe!!

Paul, you have your choice of Cherry Tree Hill in a the River Run lucious blue colorway or Trekking XXL in a neutrals/brownish/goldish/little specs of green colorway .

Curious Minds Want to Know

Jeanne wanted to know what the yarn is that I am using for the Knucks. It is Filatura Di Crosa 's Cambridge in colorway 9 - navy. I say it's purple. Their eggplant looks black. Go figure. It's 65% wool, 25% mohair and 10% polymid. DK weight.

For those of you keeping score, Rufus still sleeps with his snake every chance he gets. That was until the new shoes Hubby ordered came in the mail Saturday.

No DPNs

MaryKay noticed that unlike the Knucks pattern at Knitty.com, I was not using DPNs or at least she could not see evidence of. Right. I am not. I convert everything I can to circs. I am just not coordinated enough to juggle DNPs and only only only use them if I really have to. To each her/his own...

In person it looks like more progress

But you can see that the glittens are cuter than heck. The tape on the thumb tells me it's a thumb piece. As you knit each finger you mark it for reference.

Did I tell you my Nikon D70 is dieing? I need to find one of the Nikon Repair Centers and send it in. I am not happy.

Saturday Sky for 8/12/2006

Seethe black sky in the background? Every year at this time we travel over to Hermiston OR to see the finals of the Farm City Rodeo. Yes rodeo. If I am going to see a sport in person, forget basketbll, baseball, football or soccer. Give me a rodeo anyday. Athelets working together. Horse and human. And you can tell with the horses that they really take their job seriously and have a lot of fun doing it.

We go to 3-4 rodeos a year, and at our local rodeo we are there almost every night. We have a couple of riders we follow. Tonight Blair Burk, Tie Down Roping, came in 4th overall and is 5th in the world standings this year. I am usually his bad luck charm if I am in the stands. Tonight he held on to first place quite a while. The other rider we follow is Jesse Bail, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding. He's ranked 10th in the all around world standings. I am related to him throught marriage even if it is a little bit of a stretch. He is my late father-in-law's neice's grandson. Tonight he held on to 1st place in Saddle Bronc until the very last rider knocked him into 2nd. Jesse is still riding hurt (broke his leg last year) so no bull riding.

On the knitting front, I knitted in the car on the way to Oregon and got as far as adding the thumb on the Knucks. I love this pattern so far!

It's impossible

That's what I kept hearing when I told people I was knitting gloves fingers down. The Knucks pattern from Knitty.com has you do it that way. It's amazing and glove one is coming out fantastic!!! Unfortunatly that means I have put down Rusted sock number two to work on these.

Breakin' up is hard to do

Time to clean house, both at home and at Kitkatknit. I dutifully read my bloglines daily, leaving a lot of comments (though I am not as good as others about writing back via email). Some of the bloglines I've read over the past few months just don't have that satisfying crunch that lead me there in first place. Lives change, blogs change. So today I'll be cleaning my Kitkatknit house by taking away some of the lines and replacing them with others. If I offend by taking yours away I'm sorry. If you are a loyal reader/commenter and I don't have your blogline drop me a line in my comments section!

p.s. Anyone else having problems with Blogger not letting them add photos for the past few days?

Alter Ego Contest

I've come to realize we have a real cast of characters here in Knitterville. So I've decided to have a little contest, the prize being sock yarn! To enter the contest please post a comment telling us who your alter ego is. Knitter or not though maybe some of you are Elizabeth Zimmermann in your heads. Or maybe Miss Marple. Or maybe your cat's alter ego is Graham Kerr (my big Maine Coon Rufus is sure he is a famous chef like Graham Kerr) or the Dalai Lama.

All comments received by 11:59 pm PDT Sunday August 13 will be put in a handwoven basket and a name will be drawn. Multiple entrees are allowed from each blogger so significant other family members (like your cats, dogs etc) can enter too.

Who am I you ask? I've been Mrs. Emma Peel since 1966. There was even an Avengers episode that involved knitting!

Rambling

As I read all my bloglines this morning I noticed an awful lot of rambling going on. This is not a bad thing and I am not complaining. I think it's just that everyone is looking forward to the end of this very hot summer, getting kids off to school, and maybe some last minute vacations.

So here is my contribution:
Spinning
I haven't touched my spinning wheel in about three weeks. Why? I just don't know. I still love her. I have plenty of very yummy roving to choose from. I do have a little more plying to do to clear off some bobbins. Every once in a while I think about getting a Woolie Winder but can't justify the cost. Maybe if I tried someones I'd really really want one.
Spindling
Ha ha ha, I am so funny. Bought it, tried it a couple more times. Can't get it to run for more than 2 minutes before I completely mess up. I know I just need to practise. Maybe go to a workshop if there ever was one close by?
Dyeing
Yes
Stash In/Stash Out
Not bad this summer. Haven't done toooooo much stash in (buying). I've been a good girl and have been knitting from my sock yarn stash. I've picked up the Claudia's Honey sock yarn about 93 times at the LYS and put it back every time. No, not until I am satisfied with clearing out my sock yarn stash. I've even been tempted by A Piece of Vermont. But I have at least 3 skeins of Jessie's sock yarn to work on first.
On the Needles vs UFOs
Not too bad. I've started sock 2 of the Rusted socks for Graham. Finishing the last of the fingers for my Glittens for Bitchin' Mittens. UFOs - I have about 5 inches left to do on my rib and cable mitts for Mom. And I may never go back to my In Town Bag. Though I could frog it, warp up my loom, chart it out and have the bag done in absolutly no time if I wove it instead.
Scootering
I love it. Every chance I get. Too much fun and at 90 mpg absolutly no guilt factor. If I have to run an errand using my truck I automatically start calculating how much extra it's going to cost me when I get 18 mph at $3.09 (but runs better with mid-grade) and it takes 10 miles minimum to get anywhere.
Recumbent Trike Riding
Huh? Maybe once every other week. Not enough. Too hot.
House Stuff
Old dead lawn. Trees dying from heat stress. Garade door keeps sticking. New sink and pipes in master bath. New disposal and pipes in kitchen. (can you tell we are keeping our plumber employed?) Exterior of the house painted. Back porch all clean and nice. Screen door and new front door picked out but not ordered.
Movies
We've watched "The World's Fastest Indian" and "Second Hand Lions" in the past few weeks. Enjoyed them both very much.
Books
I am about 3/4 of the way through Clive Cussler's "Black Wind". Just having trouble reading a Clive Cussler book with Dirk Jr in it. I will not read a Clive Cussler book with other characters as the leads, i.e. Kurt Austin. I just started "Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa" by Peter Moore. Of course I am just eatting that one up.
Life
Graham is looking forward to going back to school, though he doesn't move for another 5.5 weeks. He's been talking regularly with his room mate, who's bringing what etc. They'll be living in a different dorm this year. Same square footage in a double but on the 11th floor and a tiny tiny view of Elliott Bay and Smith Tower. They were accepted into the Inclusive Leadership Community which will keep them busier than ever before I think. Graham will be taking a heavy course load this fall, is involved in ASME, is an officer for Core Honors (top 25 engineering/science/nursing students cohort), and will be working part time in the ME department. We have a feeling that we will see him even less this year. Last year he only came home for his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a funeral.
Dave is still commuting ever week to Tooeleville UT to work. He gets a lot of knitting done while he is gone. Not much else to do in that town for entertainment.
I have an interview tomorrow for a 50% assignment in an interesting program here at work. I need to wean myself out of this deadend non-career enhancing assignment I am on (though still working it 50% if I get the other 50%). My line manager is also watching a 100% assignment working with a director I used to work with and would really enjoy. It's still in the idea stage though.

I am so confused too

What??? What's this I hear about the upcoming Groovy Gloves? If it does indeed exist do I need to withdraw from Bitchin'? Does this mean I will suddenly want to drop my Mlove/Glitten knittin' and want to knit actual mittens? Am I confused?

Rules Review ~ My interpretation

I just finished rereading the Bitchin' Mittens rules. I think based on the looseness of the rules I can cheat and still qualify.
The rules for Bitchin' Mittens are as follows:

They must be a pair (They don’t have to match, but at least compliment or be recognizable as belonging together)
CHECK (I am making a pair)

They must contain cuffs, main hand portion, and thumbs
CHECK (I just also happen to be knitting fingers along with the cuffs, main hand portion and thumbs. So technically I have gone above and beyond what is required)

They must contain at least 50% fiber
CHECK (100% wool)

Well duh why didn't I think of this before?

August begins our busy season of last minute visitors, going to rodeo's, our local county fair, sometimes some decent oldies rock concerts and Bumbershoot!! I've been going to Bumbershoot since I first happened upon it in 1977. In 30 years I've missed maybe 2 of them. Over the years we have seen some fantastic concerts. A lot of years we are seeing either old favorites or up and comers before they are famous. We saw Kelly Joe Phelps when he was an almost nobody, Tina Turner and her legs when she was a somebody. Pink Martini, Bela Fleck, Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco, BB King, Keb Mo', Dave Davies, Battlefield Band, Robert Cray, The Black Crows, Janice Ian, Jackson Browne, yes even Spinal Tap and more than I can even remember. Some entertainers like Bonnie Raitt come back every 5 years or so like clockwork. We've watched Father Guido Sarducci marry couples. We've waited in line to see Adrei Codrescu, the Smothers Brothers, Penn and Teller, and Firesign Theater. The best concert in 30 years that was worth the 3.5 hour wait for a 3 hour concert? Donovan.

What does this have to do with knitting? This year I am going to remember to PACK SOME KNITTING to work on while waiting in line or waiting for concerts to start. Bumbershoot is a lot of down time. I never seem to bring enough entertainment with me! If I run out of yarn I can grab a quick bus to So Much Yarn in Belltown. Duh why didn't I ever think of this before?

Me? On a magazine cover?

My son found this Popular Mechanics magazine cover and sent it to me since it was scooter related. If it wasn't for the big bazonga's that the woman has, and the fact that she obviously has a better figure than I do...OK she's younger looking... But anyway, same hair, same great legs (I still have 'em!!), scooter, 2 way radio (I am a ham radio operator) and there are what it looks like knitting needles mounted to the handlebars and front fender of the scooter.

The best thing about this magazine cover is the address label. It was a woman's subscription!

Bitchin' Mloves? Glittens?

I came to the conclusion that the reason I hadn't started on my Bitchin' Mittens is that I had two great patterns for fingerless gloves staring at me. So I am going to cheat. I cast on for the Knucks from Knitty.com. In purple of course. You knit all the fingers first. I have three fingers to go.

Saturday Sky for August 4

My Saturday started at 7:15 am with a 42 mile round trip to the Pasco Farmers Market via scooter. Nine of us. I didn't get to talk knitting as I seemed to be the only knitter in the group.

Speed Demon

Started July 27, first sock completed last night. Now as long as I don't suffer from SSS I should get the other one done pretty fast. We're headed over to one of the LYS in a few minutes, I'll cast on number two there.

Knitting in the Dungeon

I am in the dungeon knitting and watching Footloose on VH1 (which is pretty funny considering everyone out on the back porch had some kind of starring role in it when it was the Hanford spring musical a few years ago). But they don't even know or would care that it is on.

What's going on? Dinner party night three. Monday was movie night here, 5 kids stuffed on the couch - excuse me young adults? whatever you call 19 and 20 year olds?, 3 more scattered around on chairs. So I worked on the socks, dyed my KSKS yarn and read through some of my older pattern books. And cat patrol (our cats are strictly indoor cats).

Last night was the pizza on the BBQ night. Some of the same guests. I knitted and skeined the KSKS yarn. And cat patrol
6pm tonight I found out that there was going to be a shish-ka-bob party at our house. It was amazing. Got home and found Jared and Graham cleaning house, folding clothes, sweeping the back porch, putting up twinkly lights under the grape vines and filling the tiki torch. No Rachel tonight, she's very sick again. Then as the guests were arriving they (with the help of the guests) started putting together the ka-bobs. Enough to feed about 15 people I estimate. Only 8 or 9 guests are here. No knitting tonight just hiding out. On cat patrol since there is a lot of in and out the door traffic. Music started out with XM channel 28 Broadway show tunes, then Jazz channel 70 0r 72 for an hour now probably channel 7. A piece from Neil Young Harvest was just on. mmm what do I hear now? Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. Must be back to channel 28??

Why all the parties? Last year they were all too busy with rehearsals and meetings these first few weeks of August. Then they all left to perform at the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Some of them flew home early to start college, others like Rachel got as close to home as the Sea-Tac airport and left from there for George Washington University. This year, the summer is more relaxed. Some of the friends like Jared leave August 20, others the week before or right after for their respective universities, Graham not until Sept 17. Precious time. It's a very close knit group. They survived their first year apart from each other and came back this summer as close knit a group as ever before. They are an exceptional group. Rachel will be at the University of Edinburgh this fall, Jared is returning to the University of Evansville. The others eating on the back porch are returning to far flung places like Texas, Ohio, and Virginia. They can stay up till all hours talking, I know how important this time is to them.

I couldn't have said it better myself

I stopped by Jessie's this morning and she talked about her intolerance to the Vermont heat. I couldn't have expressed my heat hate better! I promise that as soon as our daytime temps are in the low 60's or below you won't have to suffer my bitching any more.

We've had temps that finally dropped below 70 the last few early mornings. I know I should be thinking about mittens for Bitchin' but gloves kept coming to mind. I have some hand spun that is begging to be turned into these knuckle tatoo gloves at Knitty. I don't use DPNs much so of course we didn't have US4's in our needle stash. That darn it all meant I was forced to go to one of our LYSs to get some - well order some since they were out. Vicki brought out all the new books that had just come in. Good books but not enough in them to justify buying them. I was good and didn't spend a penny there.

Pizza and Sock Night

Last night was stink up the kitchen with vinegar night with the yarn dyeing I did. Tonight I sat and knitted GB's sock while yummy smells were coming from the kitchen at 10:30pm. Rachel, Graham, and Jared, with the help of Rufus of course were making the pizza's that were shown in the latest Rachel Ray Magazine. They caremelized onions, sauted mushrooms, picked basil from the container on the front porch, crushed their own tomatos for the sauce and baked the pizza's on the backyard grill. Oh my goodness yum smells!

Warning: this has no knitting content

OK every once in a while I just need to leave the office and do something mindless like wander through one of our antique shops. Today was one of those days. Big camera is giving me problems (D70), little camera was at home, cell phone with camera was in the truck. If I had had one of those at my disposal... No, I still wouldn't have taken a picture. But you know how some things just make you grin??

Today it was a Six Million Dollar Man Action Figure. Steve Austin was wearing his signature red shirt. And that was all. Only buttoned at the bottom. The rest of him naked. Well except for those red tighties. With a red belt. Yes molded into his plastic manhood so you couldn't remove them. I've never seen whitie tighties with a belt and belt buckle before!! Maybe red one do come that way???

Kind of made me wonder what other action figures were sharing the booth with him?!?!? Anyway, I thought it was funny and it certainly cleared my head for a while.