Random Acts of Lemmings

• If everyone jumped off a cliff would you just go ahead and follow? NO.
• If everyone swam across the Palouse River just upstream from the 198 ft drop waterfall would you? NO. (ok I have to confess, I did May 17, 1980, the day before Mt St Helens blew)
• If everyone was sewing tote bags and DPN cases would you? YES. At least a tote bag.
• Do I need another tote bag? NO

All these tote bags being sewn got me in the mood to sew one. So tonight I wandered into the LFS and luckily right as I got there, so did my son's girlfriend's sister. We talked about why we were there and when I mentioned that I was going to sew a tote bag even though I don't need one, she exclaimed "I love tote bags, they are so popular right now!". So the die was cast. I decided that I was going to make Elizabeth a tote bag.

I'll give it to Elizabeth on Saturday when I pick up Rachel at 7:30 am when we drive up to pick up all of Graham's college stuff except a few changes of clothes, his books, his laptop and Graham.

The first picture I took and loaded last night came out terrible and I couldn't figure out why. It was because I had the C2H6O assist feature on. I'd left the polarizing filter on the lens and everything was coming out dark on one side. Duh. In answer to Trek's question -> 2 glasses of 2005 Hogue Late Harvest Riesling.

Evening Plans

I think I am going to skip pulling weeds and spreading steer manure when I get home. I even have some flowers and bulbs AND chives that need to be planted but I'm just not in the mood tonight. Just want to jump right into some dedicated knit time. Maybe an hour or two on my baby cable rib sock. I am on the easy foot part. And if I can find the bag with the natural colored sock yarn in it I'll dye my Dye-O-Rama yarn.

I ran into some links this afternoon by video bloggers. Rustedgate has some nice shorts. This one was my favorite I think. I like Johanna's choice of music.

A few months ago I was trying to find this picture of my Mom to post here for something. Of course I couldn't find it then. This weed literally grew over night! Dad was keeping a growth log about it. He's retired, he has hobbies....

A little lite spinning

I was busy all weekend (motorcycle training class) and yesterday switched between playing and working around the house. So not much knitting progress. Did spin though. It is taking forever to spin the Romney to add to my Zoe stole. Plus this Oregon Romney isn't cooperating as nice as the Romney from Thorpe WA. Staple length isn't as long I don't think.

Yesterday after Dave left on his commute to SLC I couldn't fall back to sleep (so much for sleeping in on a work holiday) so I put in my Roman Holiday DVD. I don't really care for Audrey Hepburn, but in her first US movie role (this one) she isn't as over done as she was in later films. Plus Gregory Peck is just delightful. Goofy movie since it was made in '52 or '53 but just what I needed. While watching I got in the mood to knit premmie socks so I took out some leftover Koigu and got one done. Just need another movie for sock 2. Our son was born 9 weeks early and I still have the socks he wore so I knew what size to knit. I figure I'll do a bunch and send them over to the NICU. I am using my standard sock pattern. I was seated cross legged on the couch while I knitted, Ruby fell asleep in my lap. My left foot fell asleep and the right one was cold!! No cat tail warming it on that side.

Cabin Cove Baby Cable Rib Sock Progress

The yarn is actually pinker with bits of lilac in it. Isn't this just the most delicious??

A litte bit of everything

Rows of knitting completed last night: 0
Yards of Romney spun last night: 0
Times I took the Churro roving out of the bag last night: 6
Times I took my new socks yarn from Jessie out of the bags to give it a good squeeze: 4

I finally took time this morning to read everyone's comments from while I was gone, and read everyone's blogs. I'll try to answer back later today. I am inspired by the bags that are being sewn. But I am trying to steer away. I am a crappy sewer any more. Me, the person that used to be a seamstress, making loads of bucks sewing for others back when my friends were making 50 cents an hour to babysit. (though I did my share of that too). Yes Trek, I used to sew. Not enough mental energy right now to even sew a straight line, though I did participate in a scooter seat cover exchange. I recently sold my old Brother machine and bought a Singer. Neither models much to talk about, just trying to get the mental energy back to sew something as simple as a tissue holder.

The reason I want to sew more is that my Vino 125 Girls and I want to design our own Tail Bags. We've looked at all our options and the tail bags from Joe Rocket and other manufacturers are just no fun.

I'll try to sneak out of here in a while to take progress pics of my Cabin Cove Baby Cable Rib sock. I think its beautiful, if I may so!

I have 2 laptops up for sale on Craigslist Seattle. I keep getting promises to send PayPal payments on one of them but haven't seen anything yet. It's boxed up and ready to go. If anyone is interested, one is a Compaq 1685 for $220 including shipping, the other is a Sony Vaio GRX550 for $420. Both have been completely gone through by my computer tech, including a 2 day bench test and both included WiFi.

Tomorrow night is my first class of my Motorcycle Training. It's the classroom part. But I'll be missing Friday Night Knit Night. Then the road portion is on Sat and Sun. I haven't been riding if there is a chance of rain during my commute, so yesterday it was good that I didn't. Weatherman promised more today and thru the weekend. The training is rain or shine so I'll be getting training on how to ride in the rain. Which is good I guess!

Monday is going to be the first chance I've had to do my Dye-O-Rama dyeing. I am anxious to start it. Got some good ideas in my head.

We're back and all yarned out (more pictures to follow)

A vacation, short but actually felt like a vacation. Forgot about work, got lots of knitting done (Cabin Cove Dave, just wait till you see how the Baby Cable Rib sock is coming out!!! Photos later today), became regulars at the Cowgirl, slept in everyday and celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary! What more could a person ask for? OK maybe winning Powerball...

We live in one of Delta's mini-service areas. They keep downsizing the planes and ticking everyone off because they end up bumping people with RESERVED SEATS. The largest planes we have flying into this burg right now are CRJ200's and are run by SkyWest. I think they seat 50 max. Comfortable pitch for the short flights, leg room is ok for an averaged height women like me, but if you wear over a size 2 in jeans you don't fit width wise in those seats! Oh well, good thing I brought entertainment with me. Watched a few Monk reruns on my iPod, tried to not smell Mr. Too Much Aftershave in the row in front of me, and knitted a few rows between SLC and ABQ.

I hadn't been to the southwest in 10-12 years so Dave was my travel guide. So Thursday when we got to Albuquerque he took me to The Flying Star Cafe for lunch. You know a vacation meal is going to be good when they serve your dessert first. Raspberry Peach Pie to die for!

We then got directions to the Village Wools shop. Nice selection, or at least a little bit different from what I can get around here. I bought my SP8 pal some things, then treated myself to some Artyarn Supermerino in 101, a mininiddynoddy and 8oz of Churro roving.The drive up to Santa Fe was nice. Santa Fe now starts a lot farther south than it ever did. But has more to offer than this burg that I live in with half the population. Oh well. Gets too hot there too. And like here, it's a dry heat. Checked into our hotel and when I opened my bags realized I'd forgotten all my knitting shop notes at home! Had to rely on the yellow pages. So to make up for it we went to happy hour. At the Cowgirl. 1/2 price frozen no salts. You that know, know what I'm talking about. The place was crawling distance from our hotel which was very good planning on our part. I don't think many of the waitstaff and bartenders were real cowpersons; many peircings, labrets and tattoos. When we got back, er... slowly found our way back to our hotel room, I tried knitting a row or two. Tried. I figured out I had actually made a small error two rows back. Not post Cowgirl, pre Cowgirl. So no more knitting on Thursday. Friday we found one yarn shop closed/papered up, wandered all over the plaza section and up the Canyon looking in all the galleries. Went to the Needles Eye. Boring I am afraid. Never did find Oodles though it was supposedly right by our hotel. Friday night we sat in our now regular seats at the Cowgirl. Outdid ourselves.

Saturday we drove up to Taos and Arroyo Seco. The Taos Sunflower was the yarn store highlight of the trip. The people running it were delightful, the yarns yummy. Pictures of the yarns will follow. Some views of Sunflower are below.The Taos Yarn shop was a big yawn shop. Sorry. Saturday night we sat in our now regular seats at the Cowgirl. Outdid ourselves yet again.

Sunday we found the Santa Fe School of Weaving. Closed though on Sunday and we didn't make it back. Oh well. Sundat night we, well you guessed it, our regular seats at the Cowgirl. Outdid ourselves one more time. After all, it was our farewell tour. We miss you already Bram!!!

Monday morning the electricity went out at our hotel for a couple of hours. Not just our hotel but most of the plaza was down. So I got a lot of knitting done sitting on a park bench. We did one more circle around the area, found the Inn of the Turquiose Bear where my brother and his wife always stay, and then left for Albuquerque.

Flew out Tuesday mid-day. Needless to say, I did great on sock progress since we had a lot of down time. As soon as I take some pics I'll post them.

Countdown: Vacation Starts in T Minus 12 hours

Alarm clocks are set for o'dark thirty tomorrow morning. A real vacation. WoW! One with out relatives, agendas (unless you count going to yarn shops), places we have to be at a certain time. We'll of course miss our son who is still up at his university. He's busy with final projects, fall registration, studying etc so I'm sure he doesn't even have time to think about the fact that he's missing a trip to Santa Fe.

Thanks all for the invites to your local S&B's, sorry though, I think the timing is off for us since we fly out next Tuesday morning. And thanks for the yarn shop and restaurant suggestions!!!

Knitting projects are packed, Cabin Cove yarn in Baby Cable Rib is my traveling project. Never did find Dad's hat project bag so I'm packing Rib and Cable Mitt 2 instead. If I run out of projects, well....

I am ready for launch!

For the Dye-O-Rama Mommas and the SP8 Hostesses

In case you are keeping score, here's the update:

1. I'll be on vacation the 18th thru the 23rd and we haven't decided whether or not to bring a laptop, so it's possible I may not be updating my blog or returning emails.
2. My downstream SP8 package went out in the mail today and the participant will probably get it no later than Friday.
3. I reposted my questionaire.
4. My Dye-O-Rama downstream pal knows that I will be dyeing yarn the week of May 29th.

Found

05/15 Update. Well at least I have found the camera battery charger. Would you believe I found it in the sock drawer?!?!?!? Which is next to the drawer where I keep my chargers for the phone etc. Figures.

Dearest Readers. I'm pretty sure the women can help me find my lost objects since we seem to be good at finding other peoples things (but not necessarily our own). It took me 3 weeks to find the battery charger for my camera and the wall wart thingie for it and I put them together last week. Now I have no idea where I put them. I think they are with the bag that contains the pattern, yarn and #10.5 needles for the hat that I am going to knit my Dad for Father's Day because its missing too. Can anyone please tell me where I put those two things? Should I make this a contest too?? Everyone can play.

We leave for Santa Fe on the first flight out on Thursday so I really need to find those things so I can get them packed. So what's some not to miss knitting shops in Alburquerque, Santa Fe and Taos? I haven't been down that way since... well let me put it this way, I was doing more weaving than knitting.

Thanks in advance for helping me find my battery charger and knit hat kit. It looks like the charger below if that helps.

My SP8 Questionaire again

I've been requested to post my SP8 Questionaire (again) So here it is!!! Sorry it's a duplicate from May 2.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Yes I am a yarn snob. If there was such thing as 200% wool, that would be wonderful!
2. Do you spin? Crochet? I spin, weave, dye, knit, don't care to crochet though. I also sew and used to make fiber sculptures.
3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? All our Turbo Addis are in their original packaging, and then they are all stacked in a canvas tote in order of size (Can you say Monk?) Then the DPNs are stored behind them.
4. How long have you been knitting? Knitting on and off since 1960. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Intemediate.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I'm not really into scents. I guess if anything it would be green tea, melon, grapefruit or gardenia!
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Can you believe it, I don't like chocolate. Unless you are talking about fresh picked rasberrys, I guess I have a fruit tooth! Favorite candy? Good and Plenty and Bit O'Honey.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Tinkering with computers and other electronics. Photography. Love cameras.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I've been stuck in this 1960's rut since the 1960's. I've been wearing my hair the same since about 1968 and listening to the same music. My taste in music is stuck in psychedelic rock. If it is San Francisco psychedelic rock it's even better! Yes on MP3s.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? you just can't stand? Well there is deep dark royal purple. I love it. Not lilac, lavendar. Deep dark. Plum is good too. Deep rich colors are my favorite pallette. Dislike pastelles, dislike pink. Don't like sock yarns that are self striping.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I have one hubby,one son away at college. Three cats, Rufus, 9 year old Maine Coon, his daughter Ruby, 5 years old and Rosemary "Iam the the queen and don't you forget it", 13 years old Tuxedo.
12. Do you wear scarves Yes, hats No, mittens Yes or ponchos No?
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? My own hand dyed colors. Koigu KPPPM and Cherry Tree Hill for socks. Kureyon Big for mittens. Anything by Mountain Colors.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Synthetics
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Not an obsession but in ruts. This spring its been a lot of socks... and I'm proud of it.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Ones that don't take me 15 years.
17. What are you knitting right now? Rib and Cable Mitts from IK Spring 2006 and will be casting on for a hat for Dad, and some socks for me with my Cabin Cove yarn.
18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes. Do you paint? I like little watercolor paintings. And B&W photographs.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circs whenever possible
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Turbo Addis in circs, Brysons for DPNs, no pref on straights because I tend to avoid them.
21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes Yes
22. How did you learn to knit? My cute little Italian Mom taught me!
23. How old is your oldest UFO? Going on year 15...
24. What is your favorite animated character? Hello Kitty and Chococat or a favorite animal/bird? Cats and buffalos
25. What is your favorite holiday? I generally hate holidays, mostly the commericalism that goes with them. I do celebrate my own though. Like I look forward to the Perseid Metor Shower around August 12th. Does this make me a pagan?
26. Is there anything that you collect? I collect toy Vespa's and toy Mini Coopers. Plus anything in the Johnny Lightning British Invasion 2001 release die cast cars.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? None, I just buy them one at a time if I find something I like. Seems like every time I subscribe to a mag, the next years worth of issues stink.
28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? No, Hubby keeps us pretty well stocked. Thanks though. Well maybe one thing. A diz.
29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Well since I finally taught myself lace and cabling, I'm not sure!
30. Are you a sock knitter? Oh YES!!
31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) Same as Enzo Ferrari

I lead a pretty boring life out side of knitting!!!So here are more misc. facts. I'll just keep adding to them when I think of it.I love living in a community without much light pollution. We can see the Milky Way even on moon lit nights. I love watching meteor showers and ever since the days of the Echo satelites, have been fasinated with watching man made objects in orbit 100's of miles above us.I love the Pacific. I've been on, in or next to it from Alaska to Mexico and the southernmost tip of Hawaii. Some day I'd like to travel to other Pacific shores.

My family knows that someday when I die, I want my ashes tossed off one of the Washington State Ferrys as it winds its way through the San Juan Islands. That area just feels so restful to my soul. Oh and I want Norman Greenbaum invited to my wake so he can sing Spirit in the Sky. I have his email if you need it.

I have entire conversations with Rosemary our cat. She looks me right in the eyes and meows. I answer back in English. We both are satified with the conversations.

Our first 3 home computers were Macs, including the original that we got on March 13, 1984. We've had PCs since 1997. I'd go back to a MAC in a heartbeat but can't talk the hubby into it. I like my black and white photography than my color photography.I miss working in a creative environment. Somethings gotta change!I can't play a lick of music. I am not tone deaf, but I can't read music and I have no rhythm. Our son though is a very gifted bass player, both electric and upright. Music must have skipped a few generations on my side of the family.I do not like to quilt. Therefore I don't do it.

I like coffee but I like iced tea even more!!The Pad Thai at Zao's in Seattle is wonderful. Zao's is our latest favorite lunch spot in Seattle but a real pain to get to (not to mention that it is over 200 miles away). We usually have lunch there and then go over to The Weaving Works.

Happy Mothers Day to you all!!

I think this picure was taken around Easter of 1959 or '60. Dad on your left is the tall one, brother Steve the short one. I am the little girl with the scratchy crinolin slip on under the dress and black patent leather shoes and I am sure, underwear with lace around the leg openings. To this day I cannot stand to wear lace not to mention other lady like finery... But I degress. Mom is the your beauty on your right and in the center is her Mom. My Mom at the time was about 5' tall, plus some late '50's heels on, she's down to 4'11" or smaller now. Grandma was 4'8" in stacked heels on a good day... Grandma spoke only Italian so I am sure by this age I knew all the bad words since my older cousins (male) used them freely!!!

Too hot to handle

Well boys and girls, I think it's getting to be that time of year. The temp is about 80 out and I am melting. The hot temp gives me a very bad attitude, maybe I need to go "adjust" the sprinklers again.

I replaced the photos for May 10 - go check them out. Took them with my good camera rather than my crap camera. I thought I liked my crap camera for quick shots. Well it's ok for some applications but I need to take the extra 30 seconds and use my DSLR instead so you don't have to see crap shots.

Lookie lookie - It's my Baby Cable Rib sock one in Dave's Cabin Cove sock yarn. Dave, was there ever an official name for this colorway? Everyone at Friday Night Knit Night loves the yarn. And look what it is resting on! A sock bag from Trek. It got rave reviews at FNKN too.And we stopped at a yarn shop in Hood River OR yesterday. I bought some goodies for my Secret Pal plus this for me. It's by Lavender Sheep. The link is for her Etsy shop, I haven't found her website yet.

A different kind of swap

A couple of us "girls" at the Yahoo group Vino 125 Girls Clubhouse, just completed a swap of designer seat covers. Here are the two I got in the swap from Cara and Debbie.

It's Here!

It's here, it's beautiful and I can't wait to use to tomorrow at Friday Night Knit Night. What is it you ask? It's one of Trek's famous sock bags!! Mine is in black with kitty kat foot prints all over it of course. Photo to follow (using my good D70 not my crap camera) Check back later.

Bought two, knitted one

Rib and cable mittWait a minute, how did more purple-ish roving come home with me??? Multi-Colored Roving of Fun

More weekend highlights

Or what I really enjoyed about the weekend.

It had been many many years since I had been on a fiber retreat/girls weekend out. I'm not even going to do the math. What I really enjoyed was the company of women. All so nice. If you didn't watch out someone would refill your coffee cup, or push the baked goods closer to you for your inspection. Or come around the table and give the sock you were knitting a squeeze to see how soft it was coming out.

I guess I'd traveled too much the past dozen years with boy scouts as a leader, and as a chaperone with my son's music programs when he was in school. Had to prod those kids to get anything done most of the time and then it wasn't at the quality level that they were capable of. I've been in cabins and campsites with boy scouts, lodges with musicians and when it was time to leave got nothing but arguements about cleaning up and leaving the place in better shape than when we got there. It was so refreshing yesterday when we decided it was "check out time" at the cabin and everything just got done!

Packwood Weekend

For those of you that missed it, we had a fantastic time...I think we should make this an annual event!

Friday Jeane, Judie, Nancy and Jessica drove up to Packwood and opened up the cabin we'd rented. The skies were blue and they could see Mt Rainier. A lot of knitting got done the first day, Judie and Nancy made steak salad for dinner and they served chocolate swirl cheesecake for dessert.

Jeane, Judie, baked goods and Nancy
Cathy, Jessica and Jeane again. Note in the photo that there are at least a dozen wine bottles to the right of the stove.

Cathy and I were up by 9am on Saturday. And in time for the second pot of coffee and a kitchen table filled with things like brownies, rhubarb crumble bars, lemon bread and various other goodies baked by Jessica. Judie was working on a sample sweater for a class she'll be teaching, Nancy was working on her two up on two circs socks in what I call Atomic Fireball, Jeane a silk sweater and Jessica on a very intriging sock pattern. Cathy brought along a baby sweater that she'd started something like 18 years ago. (let's see, her daughter Beth is 17 so that makes sense) She obviously got the award for longest WIP/UFO!! Nancy's Atomic Fireball socks.

After a lunch of assorted sandwiches (deli meats, cheeses,veggies etc) and more of Jessica's baked goods, we walked "downtown" to check out the action in Packwood. We'd lucked out. It was Mountain Fest Weekend (at least that's what all the signs said) and the weekend of the big Packwood Quilt Show!! The quilt show was held in the old school. I think there were maybe 100 quilts. Being that I am not a quilter, I was more fasinated by the school than I was the quilts. Till I came upon this one. Dave, I took this picture for you. The quilt was sewn in 1942 by a blind woman using a treadle sewing machine. I learned to sew on a treadle. And even today I can't sew a quilt as nice as the one she did. The Mountain Festival was held in the old gym/new community center next door. Packwood historical photos lined the walls, there was an espresso vendor, a couple woodworkers, a couple paint on wineglass type people and the highlight of the festival for Jessica and I ... Tami from
Rainbow Valley Alpacas (4270 Hwy 508 Cinebar, WA. 98533, Phone: (360) 985-7467) had a sales table set up. Jessica and I of course were up to our elbows in the bag of alpaca down, fought over the display of wool and wool/silk blend roving (not really ;-) ), fondled all the handspun and hand dyed yarns and then turned right back around for more. We each bought two bags of roving. After the Mountain Festival we wandered around in downtown Packwood and headed to the IGA store for the last little items we needed for happy hour. I'd inventoried the cabin larder and found we were only 2 ingrediants away from Bloody Marys!! So using my MIL's recipe that's what I served. Meanwhile we all kept knitting and spindling (Jessica). While we were fiber arting, I noticed Elkie's relatives were down by the river. Elkie (as I was calling her) was our protector Elk that hung over the cabin's great room. I slept right under her and was hoping we wouldn't have a earthquake that night because I know the Goat Rocks area always has little tremblers going on. 05/11/06 update: I guess Elkie is a boy. I was told unlike Moo-Cows, momma elk don't have horns. My duh.
Jeane entertained us by going out on the balcony and doing what she was calling her elk call. It may have actually been the mating call of the giraffe because it only served to confuse the male elk. None of them came running our way, only giving us WTF looks.

About 7 or 8 pm (we were having a good time so no one was really looking at the clock) we decided to go down to Cruiser's Pizza for dinner. Cruiser's had a advertisement for a shrimp dinner that sounded pretty good. I introduced most of the gang to one of my favorite ales - Drop Top!! I'm still dead tired this morning and may add more later... So for those of you that missed this, we had a great time and hope you can join us next time!! For those of us that went I had a fantastic weekend with all of you and got a decent amount of knitting done to boot. And Cathy, thanks for joining us this weekend and for for driving us up on Saturday. It was wonderful getting to know you better even if we have known each other for two years!

Trivia For Heide

So Heide can go back to doing housework rather than important stuff like trying to win some lame contest about who's toilet is in a picture, here are more facts!

58-6970 First of three 707s purchased in 1959 by the Air Force as a VC-137A and delivered on May 4, 1959. America's first official presidential jet powered aircraft that provided service for Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy until its replacement with 62-6000 in 1962. SAM 970 remained as a Presidential backup until her retirement in 1996 to the Museum of Flight, Seattle. My brother Steve and SIL Barb were out visiting a few years ago and we toured the museum.

Trek you win YARN!!! and Heide you win your choice of what's behind Door Number 1 or Door Number 2.

And The Winner(s) Is/Are....

Remember I haven't posted yet because I was busy knitting in Packwood...

And the winner(s) is/are.........NO ONE!!! Not really I am going to split the goodies between Trek for guessing JFK and Heide for guessing Laura Bush. Because the loo in question belonged to Jackie Kennedy. So 2/3 right for Trek because it was the correct Air Force One jet and Kennedy's, and 1/3 right for Heide for guessing that it was a "first lady's loo".

When I have enough coffee in me I'll post more details. For now you too will just have to wallow in your fame!!!! Congratulations!!

Dye-O-Rama Buddy Message

oh oh!!!! I just got a comment from my new upstream Dye-O-Rama Swap Buddy. (I always want to say swamp buddy for some reason) The person goes by the moniker "anonymous". So here you go "anonymous" my answers to your questions!

I like anything that looks like Mountain Colors colorways. You know - their real saturated natural colors. I've been in a terrible rut lately in my dyeing and knitting. Too much purple, too much green. I think I could use a dose of something that has earthtones to it. Rock colors, dirt colors, the sky at the very last part of dusk. I prefer non-striping yarns. I like those with a short burst of each color. Hope that's not too boring!

Blogger Burp

See if this helps. Maybe by me posting something it will let something else go in the system.

Knitting in Packwood is almost here!!!

I am soooo excited. Tonight we have our final planning meeting for our knitting weekend in Packwood. Roughly 1/2 of the participants have had to drop out but we still have a great core group going!!

Rib and Cable Mitts

I have the first Rib and Cable Mitt about 80% complete. Just an inch left in the body of it, then pickup the thumb and it's done. It's been a quick intro to cabling and I am really enjoying it. Too quick sometimes. I forget to mark what row I am in the cable pattern and have to go back and guess/remember how many times I've been around. I may have one boo-boo though I won't fess up to it unless it is really glaring after the mitts are done and blocked. Decision time too, I think these would be real cute as mittens instead of fingerless mitts! I forgot to bring the mitts with me today or I'd post a picture. Maybe later.

Designated Stash

I have kind of a small yarn stash when compared against my hubby's blanket chest, plus guest room dresser, plus walk in closet, plus where ever else he has his hidden. Or small compared to say Judie, who has a whole room in her house that probably rivals the LYS that she works at. Or for that matter, compared to most of you! So I thought I'd catalog my designated stash, the yarn that I bought or received, that I have assigned projects to. Tomorrow I will list my other yarn, thosed w/o assignment. And later my roving stash.

SO I present, for your entertainment, my designated stash - TA DA

Yarn
On needle:
Rib and Cable Mitts in Heilo

Ready for cast on:
Watch cap for Dad for Fathers Day in Araucania Nature Wool

Everything else that I have planned:
Baby Cable Rib or Waffle socks in Cabin Cove
Simply Lovely Lace or Waffle socks in A Piece of Vermont (the pale copper one)
4 x 4 rib or Thuja socks in A Piece of Vermont (Wisteria I think it was called, self strip)
Grey/black/brown socks in Sweet Shop yarn
Branching Out scarf in Elzbeth Levold wool/silk tweed

On the Lendrum
Zoe Stole Romney

Dyepot
Dye-O-Rama yarn
Bulky mitten yarn

Secret Pal 8 Questionaire

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Yes I am a yarn snob. If there was such thing as 200% wool, that would be wonderful!
2. Do you spin? Crochet? I spin, weave, dye, knit, don't care to crochet though. I also sew and used to make fiber sculptures.
3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? All our Turbo Addis are in their original packaging, and then they are all stacked in a canvas tote in order of size (Can you say Monk?) Then the DPNs are stored behind them.
4. How long have you been knitting? Knitting on and off since 1960. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Intemediate.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I'm not really into scents. I guess if anything it would be green tea, melon, grapefruit or gardenia!
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Can you believe it, I don't like chocolate. Unless you are talking about fresh picked rasberrys, I guess I have a fruit tooth! Favorite candy? Good and Plenty and Bit O'Honey.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Tinkering with computers and other electronics. Photography. Love cameras.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I've been stuck in this 1960's rut since the 1960's. I've been wearing my hair the same since about 1968 and listening to the same music. My taste in music is stuck in psychedelic rock. If it is San Francisco psychedelic rock it's even better! Yes on MP3s.
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? you just can't stand? Well there is deep dark royal purple. I love it. Not lilac, lavendar. Deep dark. Plum is good too. Deep rich colors are my favorite pallette. Dislike pastelles, dislike pink. Don't like sock yarns that are self striping.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I have one hubby,one son away at college. Three cats, Rufus, 9 year old Maine Coon, his daughter Ruby, 5 years old and Rosemary "Iam the the queen and don't you forget it", 13 years old Tuxedo.
12. Do you wear scarves Yes, hats No, mittens Yes or ponchos No?
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? My own hand dyed colors. Koigu KPPPM and Cherry Tree Hill for socks. Kureyon Big for mittens. Anything by Mountain Colors.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Synthetics
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Not an obsession but in ruts. This spring its been a lot of socks... and I'm proud of it.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Ones that don't take me 15 years.
17. What are you knitting right now? Rib and Cable Mitts from IK Spring 2006 and will be casting on for a hat for Dad, and some socks for me with my Cabin Cove yarn.
18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes. Do you paint? I like little watercolor paintings. And B&W photographs.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circs whenever possible
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Turbo Addis in circs, Brysons for DPNs, no pref on straights because I tend to avoid them.
21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes Yes
22. How did you learn to knit? My cute little Italian Mom taught me!
23. How old is your oldest UFO? Going on year 15...
24. What is your favorite animated character? Hello Kitty and Chococat or a favorite animal/bird? Cats and buffalos
25. What is your favorite holiday? I generally hate holidays, mostly the commericalism that goes with them. I do celebrate my own though. Like I look forward to the Perseid Metor Shower around August 12th. Does this make me a pagan?
26. Is there anything that you collect? I collect toy Vespa's and toy Mini Coopers. Plus anything in the Johnny Lightning British Invasion 2001 release die cast cars.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? None, I just buy them one at a time if I find something I like. Seems like every time I subscribe to a mag, the next years worth of issues stink.
28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? No, Hubby keeps us pretty well stocked. Thanks though. Well maybe one thing. A diz.
29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Well since I finally taught myself lace and cabling, I'm not sure!
30. Are you a sock knitter? Oh YES!!
31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) Same as Enzo Ferrari

I lead a pretty boring life out side of knitting!!!So here are more misc. facts. I'll just keep adding to them when I think of it.I love living in a community without much light pollution. We can see the Milky Way even on moon lit nights. I love watching meteor showers and ever since the days of the Echo satelites, have been fasinated with watching man made objects in orbit 100's of miles above us.I love the Pacific. I've been on, in or next to it from Alaska to Mexico and the southernmost tip of Hawaii. Some day I'd like to travel to other Pacific shores.

My family knows that someday when I die, I want my ashes tossed off one of the Washington State Ferrys as it winds its way through the San Juan Islands. That area just feels so restful to my soul. Oh and I want Norman Greenbaum invited to my wake so he can sing Spirit in the Sky. I have his email if you need it.

I have entire conversations with Rosemary our cat. She looks me right in the eyes and meows. I answer back in English. We both are satified with the conversations.

Our first 3 home computers were Macs, including the original that we got on March 13, 1984. We've had PCs since 1997. I'd go back to a MAC in a heartbeat but can't talk the hubby into it. I like my black and white photography than my color photography.I miss working in a creative environment. Somethings gotta change!I can't play a lick of music. I am not tone deaf, but I can't read music and I have no rhythm. Our son though is a very gifted bass player, both electric and upright. Music must have skipped a few generations on my side of the family.I do not like to quilt. Therefore I don't do it.

I like coffee but I like iced tea even more!!The Pad Thai at Zao's in Seattle is wonderful. Zao's is our latest favorite lunch spot in Seattle but a real pain to get to (not to mention that it is over 200 miles away). We usually have lunch there and then go over to The Weaving Works.

Human Powered Vehicle Competition Results

Just in case you were keeping score, Seattle University took 3rd place in the Utility Division. Yeah!!! They beat out the big boys on this one including Oklahoma, Texas Tech, UC Long Beach, Buffalo, Fresno and Boise State. Go Redhawks!!! And yes he knits too. Not much right now, just when he has time.

The Biking Socks

Please disregard the following:

1. Dirty dining room window
2. Black socks hiding whats under
3. Minor sock booboos, still pass galloping horse test

Lessons learned: I don't like the cotton/wool blend. Won't use it again.

Totally Un-Knit Related Contest - ANOTHER HINT

(but the prizes are!!)
How well do you know your cultural...ah...mmm...oddities? The first person that can tell me whose private loo this is/was, wins the knitting related prizes (yarn plus fun knitting related thing). Contest closes at 11:59 pm (PDT) May 7 or when someone comes up with the right answer. Post them here or email them to me. You get 5 tries per person.

May 3 update: I updated the text (you have to find the change) and the photo. I'll set everyone's count back to zero so Heide can try more guesses!

May 4 update: By request here is another hint. This should really clear things up or at least roughly disqualify half the people it could be. Female loo. And Heide, this is so much more important than housework when the prizes are yarn and goodies!!