KitKatKnit

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go

2006-12-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

See you at my new address kitkatknit.wordpress.com

Remember to change my address in your BlogRolls!

Decision time

2006-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

My one year blogiversary of KitKatKnit will be this Thursday. I am so pissed at Blogger that I think that might be the day I go to another blog provider like TypePad. I'd ask for comments from TypePad users but you won't be able to comment because this new Beta-Blogger sucks. I wonder how many other users are making a move right now!?!?! I think since I have so few readers I can get by with the 2GB of bandwidth per month but not sure about the 100 MB storage.

Other decisions then. Do I stay KitKatKnit or do I make a name change for 2007. Cristina came up with a great new name when she moved to Typepad. She's now String Theory. Time for a cuppa coffee and some creative thinking!!

Holiday Meme

2006-12-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate with brandy.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Nothing on the house, colored lights on tree.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.
5. When do you put up your decorations? Somewhere around Hubby Dave's birthday.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Seafood lasagne on Christmas Eve for the Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian tradition. The seven stands for the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. )
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I have two. My Dad worked graveyard shift when I was young and my Mom was the PTA president for years. So Dad always got roped into playing Santa for my school. And my Aunt Helen was a professional gift wrapper at Sterns Brothers Department Store in Bergan NJ. We didn't care about the contents. The wrappings were magnificent. One year my present came with a snow covered sleigh on it!!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? No idea.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open one only because Hubby's family used to open all except the Santa presents on Christmas Eve.
10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas Tree? Messy mix.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread? LOVE IT
12. Can you ice skate? Yes I can but I do not.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Engagement ring, Christmas of 1981.
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin pie
16 What is your favorite holiday tradition? Giving the special present last.
17. What tops your tree? A Waterford crystal topper.
18. What is your favorite holiday book? The Worst Christmas Pagent Ever
19. What is your favorite holiday movie? Toss up between A Christmas Story, White Christmas ("Sisters, Sisters" can't be beat) and Holiday Inn
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yummy? Yuck

One down one to go

2006-12-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

My plan worked just fine. So there. ~grin~

Saturday Sky for 12/17/2006

2006-12-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

Toes Up Tits Up?

2006-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Seven casts on before I was satisified that a figure-8 cast on was going to work. I didn't do it wrong from the start, I just could see what was wonderful about it. Then the pattern I chose used M1's and I kept getting a hole where I didn't want it. Tried two other casts ons, went back to the figure 8 and said screw the M1's and did the K1 in front and back increases. I am about 3 inches into the 6.25 I need before I start increasing for the gusset. The perfect time to frog the whole damn thing and go back to my original plan. Not only that but I may go down to 36 stitches cast on vs the 40 my gauge swatch indicated I do.Somehow my partial Friday off and my Saturday sped by. (I'll be at the office tomorrow) Last night we were guests at the Lockheed Martin Christmas party. It was pretty darn good as those things go. Up until the point where they started karaoke. Then we sped out of there (only to get stuck in post hockey game traffic). I ran a couple of errands today and have nothing to show for it. I was almost ready to start chili verde with pork for dinner when Hubby Dave requested Chicken Garlic Pizza. I called the new Garlic Jim's pizza place and they quoted $23.99. I had a $9.99 coupon for the same pizza at Papa Murpheys' so I ran into town yet another time.Like father

Like daughterHubby Dave leaves for Washington DC in the morning. He is busy figuring out what knitting to pack. He hasn't started packing his other bag. Priorities!! Tomorrow is his birthday so I think we'll celebrate tonight rather than at 4 am. He is scheduled to return on Thursday, weather willing. He's glad he doesn't have to fly through Seattle to get home. Graham is driving to Portland with Beautiful Girlfriend Rachel's parents to go pick her up tomorrow. I should get lots of knitting done!

My bad

2006-12-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Oh please please please forgive me for thinking that the Blogger upgrade was going to be a good thing. I couldn't figure out till I talked to Cristina why no one had left witty comments about my last few blogs. Cristina told me she hadn't been able to in any way shape or form. Crap, I knew right away what had done it. So far, the best I can figure, is that those ASS-HATS (or Ass Clowns as Cristina more delicately put it) at Blogger made it so you have to sign up for a Google/Blogger Beta account before you can comment. Shit. Sorry.

Neverending roving

2006-12-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's because the National Finals Rodeo is over (my favorite sport for spinning) but it seems like I keep spinning and spinning on my Rambouillet/Targhee/Merino blend and getting no where! Or maybe it's because I am really interested to see how it is going to come out plyed with the grapey goodness singles.

Excuse me, I'll be right back. Spit Spit Spiiiittt. I need to go make a cup of tea. I just had a sip of the coffee pool coffee, pre-doctored with fake creamer and it is the worst I've had in a long time.

Anyway, Graham is almost done with the scarf for his beautiful girlfriend Rachel. I should be able to take a picture of it tonight. He commented that it sure takes a long time when the rows are 220 stitches long. Didn't take him long to figure that out did he! Then he is planning on some more Stupid Sock Creatures for various friends.

Ok was it just me or did anyone else think of the Noni Lattice Bag when they saw the picture of this cute little Himalayan kid at Knitty.com?

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh

2006-12-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Winter 06 Knitty.com is up!!! So far I like the Venezia pattern the best. Cabin Cove Dave is featured in one of the articles on hand painted yarns.

Not Deja Vu

2006-12-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

Same scarf, same yarn, different colorway, different knitter. Graham is knitting the Shape-It scarf for his beautiful girlfriend Rachel for Christmas. This was one evenings work while he multi-tasked, knitting while watching a movie on his laptop and IMing with Jared all at the same time. That's my boy!!
Ruby says, "Mom, if you'd clean the nose and paw prints off the inside of the dining room window I would have a better view of the birds at the feeders you know."
Ruby had an afternoon of viewing Dark Eyed Junco's , Bewick's Wrens , House Finches and House Sparrows. Ruby wants to know how they keep their little legs warm if they don't have fur?

It's beginning to look like a Knit Night Christmas

2006-12-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

Friday night was our annual knitting group party at Cassandra's. That's Cassandra in the center of the picture holding the pink end of Jeane's scarf.Thanks for hosting again Cassandra!! It took quite a while for everyone to wander away from the great food.
The drink of the evening (aside from all the wine) was the very festive Crantini. Yup a cranberry based martini. I was the designated driver (as usual) so I only had a single sip. It was wonderful.And the wild gift exchange was fun as always. I got a scarf pin kit that you knit from wire and fun scarf yarn. This knitting bag was made by JoAnn. And the final winner of it was Cassandra. We all wanted it!

Grapey Goodness

2006-12-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

One America's Next Top Model and two National Finals Rodeo nights equals 4 oz of grapey spun goodness. I wish I'd put the receipt or card from the person that I ordered the roving from. Such nice quality and lots of kink in the locks even after it was carded and dyed. I think it will make very sproingy sock yarn. I ordered 4 oz of a Rambouillet, Targhee and Merino blend from Yakima (70 miles NW of me) so it should be here by Saturday. It's yellow to green to blue to purple and I'll ply it with the straight purple.

Nothing to do with knitting but...

2006-12-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

I am just cracking up looking at these!! My PBJs and egg salad sandwiches when I was growing up were just so boring in comparison.

A gallon of purple roving

2006-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last night's TV with its airhead content was perfect for spinning. The finale of America's Top Model (uber-airhead) and the National Finals Rodeo. I choose a gallon ziplocked bag of purple roving that I'd bought off ebay or etsy earlier in year and decided it was going to turn into socks. Duh, forgot to weight the contents before I split the roving, but so far have spun just about half of it and have come up with half a bobbin. So I'm thinking I must have 4 oz total (spun and un) and I think I average about 4 oz on a bobbin. I'm planning on then spinning a matching amount from one of my Dudley Spinner roving for some Twisted Sisters inspired sock yarn.

I was hoping that Santa Hubby Dave noticed from his knitting chair how much I was suffering last night by having to stop every minute or so and adjust the pinch clamp on my Lendrum. ~sigh~ a Woolee Winder would make my spinning life so much easier ~sigh~. If he doesn't notice, it will be my first priority purchase after the new year.

Restless Inventory

2006-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

UFO's:

Rib and Cable mitts 70% done
Baby Cable Rib socks 55% done
Wasabi Top Secret 50% done

Projects I should start because I kind of promised them for Christmas:

1- Betsy's black angora gloves

Time spent at LYS on my way home from work last night, looking at a wall of Cascade 220 to knit the new Noni Adventure Bag before I gave up and drove home empty handed:

45 minutes

Number of knitting needles I needed to order last night before I can start my toe up experiment:

2 ea US5 16" circs.

Number of fingerless mitt patterns I printed looking for the perfect one to use my Painted Tiger yarn on:

7 patterns

Number of times I cast on after gauge swatch for garter rib mitts from Weekend Knits before I knitted 2 inches and figured out that wraps were a pain in the ass:

So what am I going to do tonight?

Spin!!!!

Too late to the meathead table

2006-12-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

Did anyone happen to download the Meathead KAL pattern before the KAL was closed? I know Larissa is writing a book about it and that's why the pattern is no longer offered. But I was thinking that Graham and all his friends would love designing and knitting Meatheads during their Christmas breaks. I'd love to have pictures of them in their finished hats before they all go back to their universities. If you remember, last year it was tons of "Stupid Sock Creatures". Can anyone help? thanks in advance!

Griswolds Update

2006-12-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

Remember the pic of the house a mile from me with half the lights up early? Here it is in it's full glory. Retina searing isn't it! Heide commented that I should bug Robin Dodge about dyeing more of the Rainforest at Dusk colorway. Robin actually does have an additional 175 yds available at Etsy. I had just been thinking a small scarf/gaiter from this, one of those shorties from One Skein (shown on a guy in the book in off white) and finding a jeweled scarf pin or stick to go with it (for me). Plus I am not sure how soft this wool is going to wash up. I'm planning on soaking it and softening it up before I knit something with it. It's a little on the stiff side. Don't get me wrong, the yarn is beautiful!! Robin also has a colorway called Wine and Roses that is very rich too.

Chris and Rae think I am a total nutcase not wanting to learn toe up. Well I'd learn it in a heartbeat but I (up until last night) hadn't seen a toe and heel that I liked. After hours of searching last night I came up with 2 patterns where the heel and toe meets my expectations.

The first one is called "You're Putting Me On" by Judy Gibson. See, the heel and toe look just like the ones I put on my top downs. I'll just need to rewrite the pattern for 2 circs. Judy calls for US5's which should work pretty close for the Lavender Sheep Sea Turtle yarn I plan to use. The second was the "Crazy Heels and Toes" by Queen Kahuna.
I treated myself to a new pair of Birkenstock Arizona's (off ebay, nice and inexpensive) to wear with all my winter socks. I'd been wearing Birks since the Arizona was introduced in the early '70's, getting them resoled and recorked and occasionally buying a new pair. Living in Boulder CO back then you could find nice hippy dippy shoes like Birks, Earth Shoes, Fyres and Roots. Just hadn't replaced my oldies lately.

Rainforest at Dusk

2006-12-04T16:20:00.000-08:00

I'd forgotten to load this last acquisition picture. It's handspun hand dyed by Robin Dodge at Etsy.com. I loved the colorway and the description so I just had to have it. 100 yds at DK.. Now I need to see what I can do with it! According to Robin the fleece was Friesan sheep with just a tidbit of alpaca thrown in. I photographed it on the last of our front yard snow.

TLTLTU

2006-12-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yup, too lazy to learn toe up. There has got to be a better way. Only because I can knit my regular socks without a pattern. So has anyone tried this? (anyone that is as lazy as I am?) I mean why mess with a good thing you know. Probably will only work with socks where the design work ends at the start of the heel flap. I think I'll be trying this with Sea Turtle.

Split your yarn into 2 even balls (I do this by weight, others do it by yardage)
Provisional cast on the number of stitches needed for gauge and knit 2 rows of stockinette
Knit your sock down from heel flap start to the toe, and graft
Pick up provisional cast on and knit remainder of ball in pattern design, ribbing or stockinette for cuff.

Saturday Sky for December 2

2006-12-03T23:06:00.000-08:00

By now you are all familiar with the view from the front of my house. This is basically what it looks like 4-5 months out of the year. Pretty bleak! Yes it's bleak in the summer too since there are no trees but extra bleak in the winter. Our skies cloud up in November and stay pretty cloudy till March-ish. Sometimes lighter grey, sometimes darker grey. Usually without any entertaining weather to go with it. At least else where when it looks like this you get rain or snow to go with it!

Biscotti and FO

2006-12-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

When it's cold out I like to cook. Last night's dinner was Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash. Let me tell you - there aren't very many leftovers from that meal! (and it wasn't me that ate it all) This afternoon I baked biscotti. I couldn't find my favorite, tried and true recipe. The one I used only came out OK, not great. But I'm sure they'll be snarfed down. Tonight I made chicken and dumplings. Yum!Tried Christmas shopping over the weekend and ran out of budget about the time I ran out of ideas. My Dad's birthday is Thursday, I'd knitted him the green cabled neck gaiter but need to get something else to go with it before I ship it.

When I was at Best Buy I found software to take DVDs and burn them for loading on to my video iPod. Got it, works great. So what was my first movie? Disc One of Sister Wendy's American Collection. You do know who Sister Wendy is don't you??

Then tonight I sat down and finished up the Shape It Scarf. As soon as I find someone to model it, I'll post a picture. Can't decide whether or not to block it. The wool is so lush with out blocking that I may just tie in all the loose ends and call it good.

Recent FO's and recent acquisitions

2006-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

Lavender Sheep Hand Dyed Sock Yarn

Painted Tiger Hand Dyed

Lavender Sheep Hand Dyed Handspun Worsted to Bulky

My handspun 80 yds, mixed content. Not yet washed and set.

Toddler Hat and Mitten set in Mountain Colors 3 Ply

Sock one, baby cable rib. Mountain colors Elderberry

Saturday Sky from 11/25/2006

2006-11-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Squishably Soft Instant Gratification Scarf

2006-11-30T07:25:00.000-08:00

Is that how squishably is spelled? I don't know but you get the drift. I started the Shape It Scarf last night and I am soooo happy with my yarn choice! Have you tried Di.ve' Autunno yarn? It's one of Cascade's Italian yarns, very yummy and comes in great colors with very subtle verigation. I think I like it for other reasons too. The color reminds me of my hand dyed handspun I did last year called Cow Patty. And it's warm while knitting on a cold evening. It was 18 degrees out most of the night. Inside we were warmed up by the cats. We are supposed to get a sleet/snow storm this morning. Oh Oh maybe they'll send us home early so I can knit!

I've been wanting to knit the Sonnet sweater from Knitty.com. The Autunno just might be the yarn.

It drove me crazy

2006-11-29T07:51:00.000-08:00

But I am there already...
Ever get a pattern you want to knit into your head and then can't remember where you saw it? And the pattern is so simple you don't really need it. But it bugs you till you actually find it? Sometime last week I got it into my head that I wanted to knit a certain scarf, with a small triangle and narrow scarfy part for my friend Ginny for Christmas. I could have sworn I saw it knitted up as a sample at Knot Another Hat or Coastal Yarns. So I went back to those two to search for it and show Graham. Nope not there. Well maybe it was at Sheeps Clothing.

Last night after I finished Elderberry sock 1 I wanted to see if I had stash yarn I could use for the mystery scarf. I went through about 20 pattern books before I found a picture of it in "The Knitting Experience: Book 2: The Purl Stitch". It said it was on page 46 of Book 1. Took me another 20 minutes to find Book 1. So here is a picture of someone else's "Sally Melville's Shape It Scarf".

IMPORTANT STUFF
Cabin Cove Dave has a job interview today. Please send every good vibe you can muster to Boston so Dave gets his dream job!!

Well crap, I missed it

2006-11-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

On November 18th I posted my 300th KitKatKnit blog.

As usual, photos to follow

2006-11-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

And a good excuse for no photos I think. I'd brought a CD of photos with me today so I could have prints made after work, plus load them here. But I had soup for lunch today at my friend Ginny's house and she wanted to see the pictures so I left the CD with her. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Thanksgiving recap with more details
Hubby Dave and I left the house last Wednesday our usual time, getting into Hood River OR just in time for a latte and the doors to Knot Another Hat to open. We like the store and stop in there both both on our way to Portland and on return trips too. I'd been trying to run into Yvonne (a.k.a. Lavender Sheep) there because it seems every trip I buy another skein of her cool handspun hand dyed wool. And yes I did again! It's called Sea Turtle. 167 yds destined I believe for my first try at toe up socks. Somewhere past Hood River I cast on for the Mountain Colors toddler hat in Lady Slipper 3 ply.

We hit torrential rains as we went through the Oregon Cascades. The kind of rain where the windshield wipers can't really keep up with the downpour. By the time we got to Portland the rain had let up just a little. We decided to go to Habibi again for lunch. The owner now recognizes us since we've been in there quite a few times lately. Graham's train came in on time and we immediatly got on the road to the coast because we know the later it gets in PDX the worse the traffic gets on the evening before Thanksgiving.

We took a quick beach walk right after we checked into our rental in Cannon Beach. Then I checked to see if we could "borrow" any bandwidth from our rooms. I could get one tiny short bar but couldn't access the internet. Bummer. The rest of the time we'd use the internet at the bakery/gallery across the street or Bella Espresso downtown. Wednesday night I finished the hat and cast on for matching mittens. Came out cute!

Our main agenda when we are at Cannon Beach is to take long long long beach walks no matter what the tide, wind or weather. We dress prepared with GoreTex coats and pants. This trip was no exception. Each day we'd usually take a very long morning walk, well south of Tolovana Park to where you can't go around the point (except during low low tide) after our latte and muffin breakfast. Then another walk, either the same or the walk north to the river in the afternoon. A few trips back and forth to the north end of town on Hemlock are made each day too. We love watching dogs play on the beach. Friday I was attacked by a kamikazi fighting kite, slipped on a half hidden round rock and fell (ta-da!!) and was nearly plowed down by a Great Dane romping at 37 miles per hour down the beach!

Anyway by Thursday night I'd finished the little hat and the matching mittens. I'd also brought some socks with me that I needed to re-do the toe on. Those came out and went back into the bag a couple times. Friday night I turned the heel on my Elderberry sock 1. Saturday the gusset and Sunday knitted clear down to the toe decrease. Amazing what I can do on #2's when I put my mind to it.

It was wonderful spending time with Graham for 4 days. He'll be home on Christmas break in a few weeks. He plans to knit his beautiful girlfriend a Noro scarf as one of her Christmas presents.

Bella

2006-11-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

After another trip to the Cannon Beach LYS, we've parked our knitting, laptops and behinds at Bella Espresso. We're very lucky to get a seat! We lucked out and got a window seat with a tiny table. Hubby Dave is knitting, G and I blogging. There are currently 22 people in line for coffee and all the other tables are now filled. Pretty sure because a nasty cold front has hit and everyone else had the same idea. We have an internet cafe bakery across from our rental but it closed at 4pm.

Tonight we are making clam chowder for our final dinner here. This morning we had our traditional breakfast at Duggers. We can't come to Cannon Beach without eating a breakfast of Razors and Eggs. YUM!Anyway, about the yarn shop. Coastal Yarns. They are between Hemlock and Larch on 2nd. They carry the usual Noros, Rowans etc. Not a skein of 220 in sight! (or was there and I was wowed by other things??) One whole section is dedicated to Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns.

We tried to get tickets to the Coaster Theater tonight, but it's sold out. Figures, itis one of my favorites - Fiddler on the Roof.

All the downtown businesses have been busily decorating for Christmas. The lights and boughs look festive. It almost puts me in the mood

Post Turkey Report

2006-11-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours. We are in Cannon Beach OR, a 6 hour drive from our house. Bech walks, rain and we found a little yarn store - open on Thanksgiving!! I'm heading back there today.

Knitted a hat and 1 of the two mittens for the set for my collegue's daughter for Christmas. #2 mitten should get done tonight. I may be able to load pics tomorrow. We don't have internet where we are staying, but a coffee shop,gallery across the street does.

Well it is getting to loud in here for my tastes so I am headed out for another beach walk! More tomorrow.

Saturday Sky for November 18

2006-11-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am a little late in downloading. This was taken from a hilltop park in Richland looking ENE.When Graham was little he used to call these Mornings on Venus. I wonder if he still loves foggy mornings? I'll have to ask him!You know how little things tend to pile up in your car? Knitting project bags, your iPod, your camera, work files. Well I've got nothing on this guy. His junk goes up above his windows. I spied him when I snuck over to one of the LYS's at lunch today.

Top Secret Project

2006-11-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

Only one person knows about my top secret project, code name "Wasabi". The Wasabi project is about 50% complete. When complete Wasabi will be shipped in a brown paper wrapper, to an undisclosed location where it will be traded for another yet to be disclosed project. Plans were discussed this morning. Now I have possibly reveled too much. Please dispose of this blog by your favorite means.

One

2006-11-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

Sure I should be clearing up the dinner dishes after making a giant pot of chili. Watching the last minute of the Apple Cup game. U of Dub better win. That's all I am saying.

But no, I am doing The One Word Meme. Here are the rules: You.Can.Only.Type.One.Word. No. Explanations. Steal. It.

1. Yourself: creative
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): cuddley
3. Your hair: 60's
4. Your mother: tiny
5. Your Father: handy
6. Your Favorite Item: scooter
7. Your dream last night: short
8. Your Favorite drink: icetea
9. Your Dream Car: Alfa
10. The room you are in: kitchen
11. Your Ex: none
12. Your fear: illness
13. What you want to be in 10 years? comfortable
14. Who you hung out with last night? hubby
15. What You’re Not? competitive
16. Muffins: banana
17. One of Your Wish List Items: WoolieWinder
18. Time: short
19. The Last Thing You Did: cooked
20. What You Are Wearing: jammies
21. Your Favorite Weather: cool
22. Your Favorite Book: bunches
23. The Last Thing You Ate: chili
24. Your Life: changing
25. Your Mood: middle
26. Your best friend: Betsy
27. What are you thinking about right now? dishes
28. Your car: silver
29. What are you doing at the moment? imbibing
30. Your summer: hot
31. Your relationship status: married
32. What is on your TV? football
33. What is the weather like? windy
34. When is the last time you laughed? dunno

Oh no

2006-11-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

Excuse the shakey terrible picture but I just had to show you. This went up last week a few neighborhoods over. Our recent windstorms knocked a lot of it out over the weekend and the owner spent tons of time putting it back together. The whole right side still isn't re-lit. Anyone else spotted any early birds?

Stop me before I buy again

2006-11-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

Yup a few happy moments at Etsy, and checking with one of my favorite Hood River spinners and I done spent money again.

I got my yarn inspiration from SockPron - go halfway down the pageShe'd knitted knucks in her own handspun hand dyed dark gold to brown wool. Finished edging in hand spun black.

First I bought from a regional spinner whose work I love. I have a few skeins of Yvonne's (in stash) that I just love! So from her collection I bought the two skeins shown here on the far right. Search at lavendersheep.etsy.com for the rest of her inventory. Then I searched for handspun or hand dyed at Etsy and found this by RobinDodge.And this one by ThePaintedTiger.

Worthless Bug Ninjas

2006-11-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

You know you give those cats one job single dedicated job, which should be easy for them and they balk at it. They earn their allowance by acting as bug dispatchers. We don't care how as long as they get rid of bugs, insects, spiders, flying things etc. Usually they all do a good job. OK sometimes we have to point out the opportunity, but the job is done.

Well they failed me this morning. It felt like a blue jeans day at work and a freshly washed/dried pair was hanging outside on the line so I grabbed them before I hopped in the shower. Afterwards I put them on and as I was walking to the family room I thought my cell phone was doing its pre-ring vibrate buzz. I got to the phone charger about the same time as I realized the buzz was coming from the jeans! You wouldn't believe how fast I got those off and threw them on the floor. That brought the cats out of hiding. I told them bug, get the bug. Each one would walk up to the jeans, give it a few kat karate chops and run for cover. They wanted nothing to do with it.

I then took the jeans back outside, shook them as hard as I could and put them back on the line.

Mark Your Calendars!

2006-11-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

The 2007 Packwood Fiber Weekend is tentatively scheduled for Friday May 4 through Sunday May 6. I have first dibs for that weekend at the cabin we rented last year. (not 100% verified yet but I am on the list). It again is the same weekend as the Packwood Mountain Festival.

The cabin can comfortably sleep 12 inside, a couple more in the full but unfinished basement. Parking for 4-5 cars if we really crowd them in. We cook a couple meals and go out a couple meals. Last year we had enough wine to float a cruise ship in. (no, we didn't drink that much wine, we had that many bottles available!). Jessica provided EXTREMELY YUMMY baked goods and we never ever went hungry.

For some pictures from 2006 click here and scroll down towards the bottom of the pagel.

A Fetching Effort

2006-11-14T08:15:00.001-08:00

I was ready to jump on the Fetching band wagon big time after Blogless Kim came to Friday Night Knit Night with 1.65 pairs of Fetching. Last night I took my unfinished rib and cable mitts out of their bag for their monthly airing, put them on, put them back in the bag and sat in front of my yarn stash. Pulled out everything that was somewhat in the weight range of Cashmerino Aran (50 gms/98 yds), tossed back anything that was too fuzzy, too verigated, too many oz (not wanting to break up a large stash that could be used for something important), too etc. Grabbed 65 gms of grey Cascade and did about a 2 inch swatch. Decided the grey was too boring to go on. Made a cat toy out of the progress and decided...

I love Knucks so ever much more!

Sunrise 11/13/2006

2006-11-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars. This is the first day of fall that I drive to work in the dark and drive home home in the dark. And have an inside office. So unless I walk over to the other part of campus, I don't see the sun till the weekends! Anyday now I should be getting the shell for my truck!! This isn't an actual picture of my truck, mine is a 2000, same color, better wheels. We'd been talking about getting one for years and decided with our upcoming Thanksgiving in Cannon Beach OR, that this was the time to do it. For those of you unfamiliar with Cannon Beach below is a picture. I've been going to Cannon Beach since I was a baby, so has Graham. My Dad started going there when he was in his teens. I'll be packing plenty of knitting and probably my wheel.

Sunday Snapshots

2006-11-12T22:11:00.001-08:00

Ok so I am borrowing the Sunday title used by Cabin Cove Dave. I somehow caught a cold and I'm feeling a bit icky tonight and uncreative. I think I caught it over the phone from a collegue in Seattle. She's the only person I know with a cold right now!
I went out to work to check on the weekend status of a project and cut through town to get there. As soon as I turned north on Wright/McMurray there were crows, hundreds of crows. I parked the truck, grabbed my camera and started trying to take pictures. By the time I'd get close enough for a good picture they'd fly off. I think they'd found someone's walnut trees.A few blocks further I noticed that some old tagging had a few new colors added. You don't see to much of this in this zip code.

Saturday Sky for November 11. And an unblocked FO

2006-11-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a view of today's Saturday Sky. In the background is Rattlesnake Mountain. It rises up off the ancient riverbeds and is 3524 ft tall. Rattlesnake has the dubious distinction of being the tallest treeless mountain in the western hemisphere. (some sources say northern hemisphere, some say the lower 48 states). My office is about a 1.5 miles NE of this view, a block from the Columbia River. Here is another view, showing the farther SE ridge.Below is the neck gaiter I made for Dad for his birthday. (Dec 7). One more holiday project done! Unblocked view. 5 extra points for telling me whose blog is in the background.

Knit Night Report

2006-11-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

Nice crowd last night! The stack of books and magazines we "reviewed" was even taller than usual. The one we liked the best was "Knitting With Balls: A Hands-On Guide to Knitting for the Modern Man" by Michael Del Vecchio. Filled with fun projects.I don't think any of us ended up buying it but it sure would make a nice present for a newbie knitter, guy or gal. Some how I left without buying the new Interweave Knits. I put it in the return to shelves pile that Jessica was collecting and forgot completely about it until I got home. Doh.

Hello to Jo-Beth/Beth-Jo. Hope you start joining us.

Only four of us showed up for the Long Underwear (scooter) Ride today. It was cold and windy for the West Richland Veteran's Day Parade. We met at Baracudda's in Richland and warmed up inside with latte's then scooted over to West Richland. The West Richland City Clerk had assured us that Van Giesen would be open to traffic till 9:30 am up to Grosscup. Of course not... So we rode past the West Richland Golfcourse instead and got a good view of the flooding. Rather than park at Tri-City Fence/May's Fresh Express we parked at Hot and Sweet.

Good news with the new location was it was warm inside, more hot coffee, great selection of breakfast items, plenty of parking and had restrooms!! Great vantage point for parade watching. Parade was great, fun watching the kids (including Karen, ok and I confess, me too) grabbing candy (Tootsie Rolls).

None of us froze to death, though it may take till Monday for Karen to thaw out!

Cables

2006-11-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

I had almost a whole skein left of the green yarn I'd used for Dad's hat so I decided to knit the Cherry Garcia cabled neck tube from Helloyarn.com. It's been a fast knit. I'm on the second cable repeat.

We had blue skies today, a little windy. But kind of pretty out. The leaves are certainly changing. I have my work cut out for me this weekend raking leaves. I took a lunchtime walk today at Howard Amon Park.p.s. all of a sudden we are having a downpour, odd for around here. The Yakima River by my house was already flooding in spots this afternoon. Can't wait to see it in the morning! (I live on a hill so no worries)

Congratulations Mike, you've done it again!!

2006-11-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

This my friend Mike Coffman. We've been friends since the 5th grade when United transferred my Dad to Denver (Aurora CO actually). Mike and his family lived on the same street and we went to grade school thru some of high school together. Mike, Betsy and I always hang together at every one of our high school reunions.Mike is an amazing guy. He dropped out of high school and joined the Army while the Viet Nam war was still going on. Then went back to school, owned some small businesses, went to college (University of Colorado (GO BUFFS - me too) and the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University) and some where in there in his spare time joined the Marine Corp. Mike was later elected to the Colorado State Legislature. During Operation Desert Storm, Mike took an unpaid leave of absence to return to active duty as an infantry officer during the conflict. The legislature put yellow ribbons at his seat while he was gone. In the 90's he ran for and became Colorado's State Treasurer (still is until January). He and I kid that he is the most famous dropout we know. Last year Mike again took unpaid leave from Treasury to serve as a Marine Corps civil affairs officer in Iraq, helping the Iraqi’s with two nation-wide elections.

You want to know what Mike did this time? He ran for Colorado Secretary of State - and won!!!!!

I forgot to mention

2006-11-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

my only purchase in Seattle! This book.

And the winner is....

2006-11-05T22:56:00.000-08:00

But first a word from our sponsor. I forgot to mention that I packed both knitting and spinning with me for our Seattle trip. Knitting never came out of the bags. I did however spin on my top whorl. Got a great hint from a friend, put a small notch on the whorl. I did before I left the house and now I have absolutely no problem spindling! But boy dies it take too long... Here is an hours worth from Friday night. Last night I added about the same or a little more. And now on with the show. I got lazy by 10 pm tonight. Instead of printing up 43 little slips of paper I went to the Research Randomizer at www.randomizer.org

I asked for 1 Set of 1 Unique Numbers Per Set 1 Set
Range: From 1 to 43 -- Unsorted

Job Status:
Set #1:

33
And that makes the winner Gwen at Shoes and Yarn! So Gwen if you are reading this please email me your mailing address!

But that's not all. Someones blog was so sick, so magnificent, so Art History Major, that I had to pick it for a special recognition award. With a BFA in Studio and Graphic Arts I sat or slept through what must have been 9734 art slides. Obviously so did Kathy with her life, I mean Gallery devoted to David Krumhotz. You are just not going to believe it!!! You must go see her website. Not to mention the website of Neal linked on her website. Neal loves, well, you just have to go see for yourself. So Gwen, send me your mailing address too.

Guess it's time for me to fess up. All my TVFBs are a bit young for me since I am of the AARP demographic. But here is a start.

Hugh Laurie from House. 6'2" - ok so I like tall, give me tall in my TVBFs. My ballpark for age. Kind of. Love the attitude dude but only with the US accent and not the Brit accent. Boy I am fussy but it's my fantasy.
Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. 6'1". A little young but I bet I could get him to clean toilets and kitty boxes!
I don't watch much other TV so I may be missing out on a lot of something out there.
Prefer Kevin Bacon over Keifer S.
Like Jane, Illya Kuryakin was my very first TVBF (now I say ick, what was I thinking?)
Since it is my contest I get to cheat and say my very favorite TVBF (since he has been on like 48 TV shows, per www.imdb.com) is Kevin Kline. He can leave cracker crumbs in any room!! Plus for once, someone older than me...and my favorite tallness.

Saturday Sky called on account of rain

2006-11-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Too rainy to get my camera out of the bag. We braved the weather, went to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Frey. Then went on a gallery crawl. By the time we got back to the room we were nearly soaked to the bone except for where we were covered with Goretex.

Seattle U has a new art installation. The now have a Chihuly in the Pigot Business Building.We found many a fine specimin of Amanita Muscaria on campus..

Knitting all packed and ready to go

2006-11-02T23:29:00.001-08:00

We're leaving at daybreak for Parents Weekend at Seattle U. I will be nice to see Graham, first time since he left in mid-September. He won't be actually coming home till Christmas break this year. We'll be celebrating his birthday while we are there. Plan on trying out the Acorn Street Shop.

My Nikon is back from its vacation in El Segundo. The replaced the aperture part, cleaned, polished, upgraded all the firmware to the very latest version and about 6 other things. I am one happy camper to have it back for the Seattle trip! It had been so long since I'd used it to take pics of the cats, that they had forgotten about it. (Rosemary was asleep so I didn't bother her by taking a picture)

And the best news...the pink yarn has been spoken for!

The verdict is in

2006-11-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

I hate pink.

I tore up the toddler sock/slipper thing and knitted up the pink yarns into the Peru hat from Knitty.com. It had so much potential when I saw it under the lights at my LYS. I hate it so much that I am about to throw it into the trash can. I think it's this pink yarn vomit has given me my migraine this week. So, when I get home tonight I'll post a picture of the yarn that anyone can have. I'll even pay the postage to get rid of it. (2 balls, one is slightly used)

KitKats on Halloween

2006-11-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

Every year on Halloween I put on my cat ears and show Rosemary (our 14 yr old cat). And every year I get the same reaction from her. Her ears perk up, her whiskers move to the full front position and she starts talking in a funny little voice. She always says "Momma, I know you really are a cat and not a human. Why do you hide your ears and only show your true self once a year???". She really says that! Ruby and Rufus just give me a "duh what" look. Again no kids showed up at our door because they are too lazy to go up the little spur road that our house sits on.

No knitting content from last night. Too busy. Took Rufus back to the vet for an eye recheck. Still looks a little funky but she doesn't need to see him again. Then I had to catch up on some work. Then when I was going to pick up the needles I fell asleep on the couch instead.

Still no camera back. It's been sitting on the bench at Nikon since the 24th. I can torture my self by logging in daily and checking the status. So bummer, I won't have it for this weekend in Seattle.

Hubby Dave was wondering if I'd like a new fast laptop for Christmas. Well of course!! So I am printing up an example order for Santa, er I mean Dave so he can see I'd like to replace my old iBook with a new MacBook. Then I'd either sell the iBook or give it to my Dad to try out.

Cat fights and hair pulling

2006-10-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

I sure hope Mike Rowe and Keifer Sutherland have the stamina required.... Looks like they are the busiest of the TVBFs so far. So lots of cat fights and hair pulling will be going on in TVBF world.

Sometime Sunday I started the toddler socks in varigated pink and by the time I got past the heel turn and gusset I decided they were stupid looking. Could just be that I just really hate pink. I'm thinking of frogging back out to the ribbed cuff and turning them into mittens. You know the ol' "Mittens are just socks with a thumb". The hat pattern calls for bulky so I'll probably carry the neon pink Cascade 220 leftovers I have with the varigated pink. I might just start the hat tonight and worry about the mittens later. Or not at all...

I tried to swear off swaps lately but I just had to join Scout and Bev's Knit Mitts Kit Swap. So here are my KMKS questionaire answers:

What are your favorite colors? Jewel tones or colors from natural dyes
Are you a new mitt knitter? No How long have you been knitting mittens? 40 years on and off
Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? Depends on the project
What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn? 100% wool
Where do you usually knit mittens? Anywhere but work
How do you usually carry/store small projects? Ziplock bag slipped into appropriate sized knitting tote
What are your favorite mitten patterns? Current fav is Super Mittens from Weekend Knitting
What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques? What new techniques would you like to try? I'd like to try the Target Mittens from Interweave Knits Fall 2006 (I have the mag.)
What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens? Addi Turbos or Inox
What are some of your favorite yarns? My handspun hand dyed. Your handspun hand dyed. Mountain Colors 4-8's, Koigu Kersti, Manos Del Uruguay, Lorna's Laces Shepherd worsted
What yarn do you totally covet? For mittens? Lorna's Laces Shepherd worsted in Lakeview, Tuscany, Safari
Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? No
Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? Circs in Addi Turbo or Inox
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? My handspun hand dyed. Your handspun hand dyed
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I love licorice, Good and Plentys and Bit-O-Honey. Could care less about chocolate!
What’s your favorite animal? Meow
Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts? Fingerless or standard. Not superwarm.
If you were a color what color would you be? Royal Purple
What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? Mt Rainier
Do you have a wishlist? No
Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? Guess not

I want my TVBF (contest for those fessing up)

2006-10-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was cracking up earlier this evening reading this same article in our local paper. All about the advantages of TVBF's. Yes TV Boyfriends. Here are some of the details:

"What is TV Boyfriend? The sole rule is that TVBF must appear regularly (or must have appeared regularly) on TV. No special guest-star bits, no made-for-TV movies (that would make him a TVONS, or TV One-Night-Stand). Otherwise, take your pick: prime-time series, daytime talk shows, TV news, infomercials -- the small screen's your oyster, baby.

This marvelously elastic concept knows no barriers of race, class or creed. Sexual orientation matters not at all: For example, gay men can, of course, have a TV boyfriend, but they could also have a TV girlfriend if they wish. (Henceforth, for brevity's sake, "TVBF" will be used to refer to the whole conceptual megillah, reg"ardless of actual gender.)"

I know there a lot of people claiming Jon Stewart and Steven Cobert as their TVBF's - like you Rachel. Didn't you and Lala lay claim a while back????

So...contest... Fess up as to who your TVBF (or TVBFs) is/are by Sunday 10pm PST and all that confess will have their names thrown into an empty cat food bag and the winner will be drawn at random. Prize? Something fiber/knitting related.

Give me 24 hours or so and I will fess up too!

Gas prices for those that don't drive

2006-10-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

Cabin Cove Dave was curious as to where the under $2/gallon gas was in Boston. I like to go to www.gaspricewatch.com and torture myself. The gas station in question is Fazio Mobil 396 Chelsea St@Saraoga St Boston, MA.

My best friend Betsy's brother showed up at my parent's house this weekend driving a 1948 Bentley that he'd won off ebay. Wonder what it gets for gas mileage??? Good thing gas is cheap in Denver. Below is an example picture of one (not Ted's).

My little one is 20 today!!

2006-10-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well our son is also our only child. So no teens unless you count the cats. We'll be visiting him next weekend and plan on taking him out to eat at some of his favorite places in the Seattle area.

Graham was born 3 lbs 3 oz (he's 6' tall now) and 9.5 weeks early (based on a couple different indicators). His due date was supposed to be somewhere between Christmas and New Years. He tried coming Sept 24 and my OB put me on bedrest till he was born. I knitted a ton of hats and socks for him. Little tiny hats and socks. The socks fit my thumb with room to spare. One of my favorite photos of him when he was tiny is him sitting in his car seat along side his Premmie Cabbage Patch Doll and the doll is way bigger than he is. I'll see if I can find that picture and post it later.

Graham is just the coolest guy ever! He started knitting with one of those knitting frames when he was 5 or 6. Regular knitting a few years later. He doesn't knit too much but will whip up a scarf for a birthday present once in a while. He used to be my warping boy for my loom till he figured out that it wasn't the fun part of the process. I haven't been able to talk him into spinning yet.

And another one and another one

2006-10-29T16:16:00.000-08:00

Siamese mittens (the Super Mittens from "Weekend Knitting".) I'd previously done these in some of my handspun hand dyed. I like the hand spun ones better. Still deciding whether or not to full these just a smidge.And Mr Cabin Cove Dave, what's with gas prices in Boston being under $2 a gallon and you don't drive and take advantage of it? (only kidding) I drive and this week have been paying $2.56. Scooter as my daily commute will probably end because of darkness on the way home. I don't mind riding to work in the dark, but people drive even more insane on their commutes home.

Saturday Sky for Ocober 28 and another FO

2006-10-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday sky is yet another boring picture of a blue cloudless sky. Though I should be happy since soon grey clouds will decend upon us until mid March. Grey clouds that have no other weather associated with them. Boring. This is a picture of Randy, one of the people in the scooter gang I belong to. We decorated our scoots for a spooky scoot ride today. If anyone is interested, the scooter is a Stella.
Another FO. The replacement Noro One Skein hat for Mom since she lost the other one on the Oregon Coast. Started last night at Friday Night Knit Night. Decreases this morning and tada- FO.

Photo op

2006-10-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

I finally snapped a picture of Rufus. You can see that his right eye still looks a little funky. He needs a good chest brushing today, I think looks that way because he can't groom real well with that thing on. He sure doesn't like the Elizabethan collar, new as of his Wednesday appointment. Ruby calls it the Kitty Kat Party hat. Rosemary calls it Rufus's dunce cap.

3 Fake Creamer Day

2006-10-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

eeeeuuuuwwww. Too lazy to make coffee in my little coffee pot this morning so I gathered up 15 cents and wandered down to the coffee pool. It's taken 3 packages of french vanilla fake creamer to mask the nasty taste of the Yuban. I leave the office at 9:45 today so I think I'll treat myself to real coffee somewhere.

Forgot to mention it last night but I was afraid I was going to run low on the Bias Stole yarn! I kept back 1 oz like they said for the fringe and had already pre-cut it. I just kind of eyeballed it when it came to guestimating when to start binding off. Well I gave myself 4" of tail. I've done that on other projects too. And how many times have I not been so lucky when doing a long tail cast on. You know, guestimate you need so many inches and then when you get to cast on number 68 out of 72 you've run out of yarn.

I'm looking forward to Friday Night Knit Night tonight. I always have fun. I'll bring my Siamese Mitten #2 to hopefully finish. And maybe start Mom's replacement Noro Kureyon One Skein Roll Brim Hat. She lost the other one on the Oregon Coast.

Finally a FO

2006-10-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

10:17 p.m. Bias Stole for Mom for Christmas. Blocked and everything. One down, a couple dozen UFOs to go.

Yes, No, Maybe

2006-10-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Yes Margaritas last night.No knitting got done. Just an ounce left to go.
The maybe? Well last night I got to see pictures of a collegue's 18 month old toddler. Her daughter was born in Tibet and she is soooooooooooooooo cute you wouldn't believe it! So to add to my what I want to knit list is this hat from Knitty.com (I've been waiting for an excuse to knit this in a kids size) and some toddler socks. Looking at a bunch of toddler sock patterns, I think I've come up with the generic recipe for worsted weight superwash socks for a 2 year old. Toddler Socks in Worsted Superwash.
#5 needles, 5 stiches/in
Cast on 28 (14 ea needle)
K2P2 for 8 rows (or continue all the way)
Pattern work for another 22 rows
Heel flap and turn heel
Knit approx 28 rows
Shape toe

Resorting to Mime

2006-10-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Work related post:
I have been on the phone nearly non-stop since early Monday morning, talking to graduate students, or leaving messages from them. By 10:30 a.m. yesterday, I'd lost my voice. Today more phone calls and the lozenges no longer are lubicating my throat. So what sounds best for our 7 p.m. work meeting tonight (really, we really do have a meeting) at Anthony's Home Port? Me's thinking big green frozen margarita. Or maybe a lemon drop or two.

In case you've been wondering

2006-10-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

And if you haven't just don't read this.

My camera estimate came from the Nikon service center. The repair estimate was be half the cost of the repair estimate that came in from the authorized Nikon service center in Seattle. So I authorized this one.

Rufus' eye looks a tiny bit better. Today was the last antibiotic pill. Coated with cheddar bacon Easy Cheese as prescribed by Dr Small. That's how she suggested I give him the pill each morning, they even have it at the clinic. He snarfs the pills down! That's right, the same Easy Cheese that is a staple of all Boy Scout camping trips. Of course they eat it without crackers or anything. Just tilt the can and let it zip.

The lessons learned on the felt bag

2006-10-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Cabin Cove Dave wanted to know the lessons learned on the felted bag. And it's not like I hadn't felted before. I've done a ton of felting. Just didn't have my thinking cap on! Dave, can you find your yarn in the felting?
1. Make sure there is no superwash in the palette! Notice the bright orange/gold section that didn't felt, yup superwash.
2. I should have sewn the beads on after it was felted. About 3/5 of them slipped to the backside during felting. Makes the inside of the bag look nice though...
3. When sewing on the zipper I at first used a regular needle, it was a lot of work to push through the wool. After about an inch I switched over to a glover's needle. It worked real slick! Here is an example picture of one.

Fall

2006-10-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

I think fall has finally reached our zip code. Yesterday when I went out to pick up the paper, I could see traces of frost on houses. Trees around us are turning gold or dropping their leaves. Daytime temps are in the mid-60's and night in the lower 40's. I like that range.

Knitted a few more rows on the Bias Stole, cast on for another felted coin purse (though the colors are coming out stupid so I think it will get cast into the trash bin), looked at my unfinished socks and mittens. Judie at Sheeps Clothing mentioned she may do a one evening workshop on W&Ts and knitting backwards. That sounds like fun so I'll be on the look out.

Sometimes I think I'll get back into my painting but haven't in a few years. I did fool around in Photoshop last night and came up with this.But we all know that the watercolor setting in Photoshop really doesn't look like a watercolor painting. Oh well.

Boy when blogger is down, it's down!!

2006-10-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've been unable to reach the blogger dashboard for hours now! I keep threatening to myself to go elsewhere but I'd like to keep all my content. Oh well, while I have this window of opportunity I'd better post. Very last minute Saturday Sky.I finally found a 9" purple zipper for my felted bag. Decided to just use it the way it is. Lessons learned for the next time.Yesterday we went to Portland to have some warranty work done on the Mini. We dropped off the Mini and they asked where they could drop us off for a few hours. We had a quick answer - 11th and Alder!! Home of Knit Purl and their wall of Koigu. Now joined by ShiBui yarn on two walls. Spent a nice amount of time there and a few shops in the general area. That made us hungry for an early lunch at Habibi. Lamb Shwarma. Yum. One of my favorites! Then more walking and gallery stopping in. Since our car wasn't with us I called River City Bikes and asked what the easiest way to their shop was. They said just walk Morrison over the bridge and we'd recognize where the shop was (since we drive there all the time) Sure enough and a mile walk later there we were.

I test rode a couple of the road bikes I am interested in. Their prices are about $70 lower than Markee's here in town plus no tax in Oregon. What to do what to do. Love ya Jerry but I could save $164 by waiting until Thanksgiving and buying in Portland when we are going to be driving through. So unless Jerry has a 2006 model for a lower price...

On the health front, Rufus's eye looks a tiny bit better.

Cause Rae said I had to...

2006-10-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

Photos, Rae wants photos and not of some cat head pasted into other pictures for that contest I am trying to win.Here is how fall is looking at the local university campus. My maple trees haven't started changing yet. This is the Bias Store I am working on. It is supposed to be about 24" x 65" when done but I am not sure if that includes the 7" fringe!! Headed to Portland in the morning, maybe I'll get it done on the drive.

Like I don't have other things I should be doing...

2006-10-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

First a Rufus report. Dr Small couldn't find any eye injury, getting Ruby and Rosemary off the hook for Rufus's bad eye. She is thinking that he indeed has a cold with a sinus infection creating pressure on the 3rd eyelid. Prescribed antibiotic pills plus antibiotic ointment. He goes back in Wednesday for a re-check.

I'm about 1/2 way thru ball three out of four for the Bias Stole. Maybe time for some pictures tonight.

And in news for the scoop the tabloids contest (yes, this is where I should be doing other things or at least get a life):

*************************************************************************************Paparazzi sneaking into the closed set of "Pirates of the Saint Paul River" dressed as cast members snapped this photo of Jack Sparrow about to plant a wet sloppy on none other than Ms Kukka-Maria. Rumors had been flying around town that MS K-M was in the Twins for rehab, or at the very least a week or two at The New Day. "Pirates of the Saint Paul River" filming resumes early next week on location in Phelps MN on the Otter Tail.

AWBH

2006-10-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

I was in our building lunchroom a few minutes ago putting water in my coffee pot, chatting with a few other people that get here early and can't drink the swill of the coffee pool. We voted that today was an AWBH day. Any Where But Here. A chance for us to fantasize this morning. Where would you be this morning if you could be instantly teleported?

I would be teleported to Paris. To the Hotel Marceau Champs-Elysées. Why there? Because I got to stay there once in the early 90's. We were treated to a one bedroom suite (that's right, we did not have to pay!!). The bathroom was to die for with its walk-in marble shower. The ceilings had to be at least 12' and you could open the windows and look out over Paris. I mean how classic it that? Room service breakfast was a simple cart of teas, coffee, juices and croisant with butter and jams. And though it has been so long ago that I can't remember the name of our favorite Paris knitting shop, I'm sure I still know how to get there. It's possibly La droguerie. The shop was in the St Eustache/Les Halles area so I think that's it.

Excuse me while I close my eyes and travel back...

We have a sick little one at home

2006-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

We are hoping it's just a cold and he has dry eyes. Got home from work last night and noticed that Rufus's right eye looked funky. When he finally let me really look - oh no - that cat inner eye lid thing? It is like stuck 1/3 of the way across his eye! Aside from that the eye looks normal and healthy. He doesn't seem uncomfortable but did take advantage of Dave babying him all night. I'm calling Dr Sheila this morning to see when I can take Rufus in.

I'm scoopin' the tabloids here folks

2006-10-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Go to Memiors of a Feline Empress in Excile to see what this is all about!
**************************************************************************************

Empress Kukka-Maria Gets Hissy, Dame Judi Gets All Pissy

In a rare appearance at an afternoon gala event (between naps), the elegant Empress Kukka-Maria was thunderstruck by the sight of Dame Judith Dench wearing the same royal head dress by Rufio. Kukka had been assured by Rufio that the jewel encrusted head dress was a one of a kind creation, with Kukka having exclusive rights to premiering the design.

Now gentle readers, we all know who looks more beautiful in this jeweled crown, don't we? Off with her head anyone?

oops, no Saturday Sky again

2006-10-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

How do I forget to take a Saturday Sky picture every week? I can't even remember what it looked like. Except a little cloudy. Warning, post below is with out much about knitting at all.

Friday when I was running errands I stopped by to see Jerry at Markee's bikes in Kennewick. He had a large batch of 2006 models in his parking lot marked 50% for Friday and Saturday so I just had to see. My bike history includes a couple French 10 speeds (Gitane and Peugeot, back when they truely only had 10), a Trek touring bike (back when we did extensive touring), and my trusty Gary Fisher Tassajara. About 6 years ago I got into recumbents, starting out with a Vision R-40 and then my current WizWheelz trike. What brought this on? Well I'd gone riding with Dave the weekend before and I could keep up on my Tassajara! We hadn't riden together in years and it felt good. I had a lot of fun.

My Tassajara is one of the earliest models, back before they started putting all sorts of suspension on them. So for a mountain bike it is light weight. My trike weighs 32 pounds, lite for a recumbent trike but I get tired of lifting it in and out of the back of the truck. So when Jerry asked what I was looking for, and he noticed I had just enough space in the back of the truck for one more bike next to the other two, he took me inside (not 50% off). We've know Jerry for years and years and he knows what we ride and how we ride. He steered me towards some beauties. And what did I fall in love with? A 2006 Specialized Sequoia Elite. Do I need it? No. Want it? Yes. Same with a WooLee Winder. Need? Want? D80? Need? Want? Well you get the picture. Can I really justify any of them when I have perfectly serviceable bikes, wheels and cameras at home?

Rainy days and Sundays never get me down

2006-10-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

Or at least that's what Ruby says. She's been napping all day and when she's not napping it's grooming. I left her in this spot at 11:00 a.m. and she's still in the same spot 4.5 hours later. She may have left it while I was gone but I doubt it. It's a nice rainy day out, perfect for napping, reading the Sunday paper, drinking coffee, knitting and antiqueing.Our local fall antique show has been this weekend. Dave and I went out yesterday. The only knitting things I saw (and didn't need or buy) were some bakelite needles and an old old pattern book. We did come home with a wooden drying rack. This one is even taller than the one we use daily in our laundry room.

Too many things on the needles right now. But small projects so if I just sat down something would get done. I'm up to the thumb on mitten 2 of my Siamese mittens. Same spot on my Elderberry socks as I left them last week. And I started the Fiesta Yarn's Bias Stole for Mom for Christmas. Almost through skein 2 of 4 on that.

Sunday's for me? With getting up early for work the next morning? Yup, I'll take the rain and trade Sunday for a Saturday anytime!

Couch Potatoness

2006-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

It's not even the end of Day Lights Savings time yet and the potatoness has settled in. You know, you get home from work, throw some dinner on the table (Nathan's of New York big dogs. Mine w/catsup only, Dave's with KimChee), read the paper and you realize it's just past 7pm and pitch black out already. And no one even cracked open a knitting project bag. I thought about it for about 2 minutes, flipped through Spin Off, decided to put the Wooly Winder on my Christmas wish list this year for my fantasy present from Santa and then settled into a night in the easy chair with Rufus and my laptop. Wrote a letter to Graham.

Graham is just 18 days shy of no longer being a teen ager! I can't believe it. Yes, time has flown. He thinks it's gone by real fast too. He has accomplished sooooooooooo much in his 20 years. I could go on for pages and pages but will leave it to your imagination about how wonderful he is!

It was a wonderful day in my neighborhood

2006-10-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ok boys and girls, I owe you some blog. Make sure you take a look at the added picture or two below for last week.

After I was done with my recruiting on Thursday, I was just in time to take a campus tour with a group of 5 other women. All between the ages of 4o something and 60 something. All there for our own reasons. Mine was the lamest. I just love taking campus tours. All the others were in town for a national meeting of college counselors from high schools.One of the highlights for me was finding out my hotel was right across the street from WQED. Yes that WQED, of Mr. Rogers fame. Even though I could never stand the show, I had a lot of respect for what Fred Rogers did. So when our young tour guide had us do the "I am not worthy" towards this ugly grey concrete building and then told us what it was I got chills.

Then Amy the tour guide showed us something that we all yawned over being girls and all. She took us into a building built on the site of Forbes Field. So we all gave her blank stares, what's a Forbes Field? Oh, where the Pirates used to play before they built PNC. OK, what ever. Then she walked us over to a plexiglass box in the floor and we all yawned again. Sorry. It was the home plate from the 1942 World Series when the Pirates won. So for any ballbase fans, here it is. Upsidedown so you can read the plaque. I slide my foot over it for good luck, just like you are supposed to.

Then after the tour I took the 61C to the front door of Knit One. I'd talked to Sandy at Knit One the day before and she told me what bus to take and to come on Thursdsay because it's one of their late nights (open till 8pm).All I can say is WOWOWOWOOWWWW! What a fantastic shop. Sandy and the rest of the staff were ultra friendly, gave me a shop tour, didn't mind that I had to squeeze every skein in the shop. They carried a lot of yarn that we don't have here, plus some that I haven't seen in Seattle. Plus a much larger selection of colorways in what I did know. I came out of there with 2 skeins of Claudia's sock yarn in Leopard, a Noro Kureyon in the dark blue-ish purple colorway (to reknit the hat Mom lost last week on the Oregon Coast) and a Fiesta La Boheme pattern for a Bias Knit Stole. I'm knitting that for Mom for Christmas. No losing that one Mom!!!

I almost <3 cheap airport WiFi

2006-10-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm at O'Hare now and saw the over head sign saying I was in a Wifi zone. Also noticed there was one seat left at the WiFi and recharge your laptop battery kiosk. SO I grabbed it. WiFi is by Boingo, $6.95 will buy me access for 24 hours both here and Denver International. So sure. It works doesn't it!!! I am so easily entertained.

And when I saw the next easily entertaining item, I though of you Cristina!!! This little device wraps the commode seat with a fresh (sure it does...) piece of plastic wrap at the push of a button. For the record, yes, I did push the button for a fresh wrap, and no I still didn't sit down. Easily entertained, yup.You know I need to get out of town more often.

I continued to knit my little purple tote made from leftover yarns and will be felted. Can't decide whether or not I'll sew some beads on before I felt it or not.

I <3 Free Airport WiFi

2006-10-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

I sat in the Pittsburgh airport for 25 minutes before I realized this in one of the few airports with free WiFi!! So I've been checking out my bloglines and trying to stay awake long enough to get on my first flight. Three today. Mostly sitting in the last row again. I am soooooo thrilled about that. I could upgrade to economy instead of stearage if I want to spend another $116. Or I could use that money to finally get my Nikon fixed. I really really really missed having it on this trip. So I am going to spring for the repair cost, at Nikon, as soon as I get an estimate from them that is hopefully cheaper than the one from PhotoTronics.

Catch you later.

For knitting scroll to the bottom...

2006-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Pitt Day 2. Work - recruiting went well. Lots of enthusiastic students. Tomorrow will be my big busy day since it is the science and engineering recruiting day. The weatherman promised me rain and a big lightning storm. We got heat, 97% humidity and a little sprinkle of rain between 7 and 8 pm. Not much in the way of lightening and I love lightning.

Ate dinner in the bar at my hotel. I'd asked the bartender if they serve the dinner menu in there. Yes, sure, no problem. Ordered a Bass Ale , ordered dinner... and good thing I was in no hurry. And had brought a note card to write. And had a book to read (The Lazy B. The Sandra Day O'Conner autobiography). About 75 pages later dinner showed up. It was decently tasty or I was real hungry, one of the two. Meanwhile even though the bar was pretty darn empty and the bartender wasn't doing to much, he was an equal opportunity ignorer. Since I am on travel, I have to pay for my brewskie and the dinner can go on my account. I didn't feel too bad then when I handed him a $20 for the beer and I got $27.25 back in change. His service stunk. I left him a $1 tip on the beer. It was worth it. I gave him a tip on the dinner only because it wasn't coming out of my pocket.Then I took a little tour of my neighborhood. The hotel is surrounded by the North Central end of campus. I am right next to the U of Pittsburgh Medical Center, lots of churches and something I had never heard of... the Cathedral of Learning. Outside the building looks like a set from one of the early Superman movies. Inside the first floor looks like the enterior of a cathedral except everyone is sitting around studying.Also in my neighborhood is my favorite kind of underground parking. If I had to have a favorite of course! I've only seen these in Europe. I haven't traveled the east coast in years so they may be popular here. Don't know. But I love the grassy park on top of the parking lot.Ok knitting. Highlight of the day though is I called the closest knitting shop - Knit One. The woman that answered the phone was wonderful. I explained that I had no car and she told me exactly where to catch what bus will take me directly to their door. She was sad though that I wouldn' t have been able to make it tonight because on Wednesdays and they close early. But tomorrow she told me they stay open until 8pm and I can spend all the time I'd like!!! Yeah!!! Yeah!!! Good news too since they are open late, I'll be able to sign up for a campus tour.

See ya tomorrow

Don't know if it's the Pitts yet

2006-10-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I made it to Pittsburgh. Since I had to get up so blinking early this morning I didn't do any sock knitting on the planes. I'd packed a gallon bag of woolie leftovers to knit and felt into the little zippered tote shown in Weekend Knits. Yes Dave, your yarn even stars in this! The theme color of this one is my over used purple to magenta family with some Cherry Tree Hill Fall Foliage thrown in for contrast. It's just stockinette on a circ. I can do that with my eyes closed. Pictures will follow tomorrow.

I have to use the business center to do my AIMing. I'm not supposed to blog from the work laptop I checked out. And I can't get my iBook to access the ethernet. SO I hand carried two boat anchors...

I may bring my Siamese mittens to knit tomorrow. Not sure what kind of crowds I'll have at the recruiting event.

Ciao for now kids!

Saturday Sky for September 29

2006-09-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was driving west on Swift thinking to myself "what a nice sunset". WHOA Saturday sky. I hadn't taken a picture for Saturday Sky!! So I crossed at the By-pass light and drove into Einan's or Sunset Gardens. Or whatever it is called since someone bought it out. While I was there I visited my friend Steve. Can't believe he has been gone for over 5 years. He is in the nicest part of the cemetary. There are basalt columns and basalt walls there. Very nice.

Siamese Mittens

2006-09-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

I accidently started and nearly finish mitten one of my Siamese Mittens last night. I was just going to check gauge. Really. I wanted it to throw in my suitcase for some thing to knit if I finished my Elderberry socks while I am in Pittsburgh. They are knit in Vero Tweed color 16. Not enought twist in this yarn. I think I'd better fell these mittens a little bit to stablize them before wearing.My scooter gang went on a ride this morning. We started out with our traditional latte's for an hour at Baracudda's, then rode to the Farmers Market. Potty stop at Fiesta Foods in Pasco on the way back. Actually we stopped because John wanted to buy cilantro and limes. We toke advantage of the time.

Day 4: What I do when no one is home

2006-09-28T20:40:00.001-07:00

I usually freshen up the house and do all my vacuuming on Wednesday night. Too sleepy/lazy last night so instead when the alarm went off at 5:40 this morning, I grabbed the vacuum and ran it around. The cats weren't too happy. Well I'm not too happy when they wake me up every morning at 4:13 am for early breakfast. No one else to hear it, iPod on, vacuum away.
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Had a nice lunch with Kim today, caught up on September. She's knitting some pretty cool socks in pink and lilac Lorna's Laces! I'm saving my sock knitting for Friday Night Knit Night and my biz trip next week. Not getting much else done except watching HGTV. Our cable was out Tuesday so I missed 2 out of 3 of the only shows I watch - House, and Eureka. Friday night is Monk night. Watching Monk depends on how late I stay at Friday Night Knit Night.

Day 3: What I do when no one is home

2006-09-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Pancakes for dinner of course!!
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I got my camera estimate today. Bad aperture assembly. Phototronics wants a freaking $434 to fix it. I paid about $500 for the camera. Damn. Someone told me to try Nikon service instead. I called them and they were just plain rude. Crums. What to do what to do. Another glass of wine will only help for another 39 minutes.

Your Father Is a Hamster and Your Mother Smells of Elderberries

2006-09-26T18:28:00.001-07:00

Well of course I am talking about Mountain Colors Elderberry colorway. What did you think this blog was going to be about? I know I'd be disappointed too. What I am not disappointed in is the socks I am knitting. My favorite (for now) baby cable rib in Elderberry. I am actually at the heel turn, this picture was taken last week.And look what my SP8 Pal sent!! A box full of beautiful lace. That is her specialty. Her work is beyond exquisite. She also collects lace and loves searching antque shops for it.
This is the view from our son's 11th floor dorm room. I guess the view is worth $$$$ per quarter??? Actually it's cheaper than a payment on a loft in the same neighborhood I think. He gets a view of West Seattle, Elliott Bay, Smith Tower and the Olympic Range.**********************************************
Today's What I did while no one was home: I came home to the electricity being out for 6.5 hours and all the clocks blinking, the cable TV is out and all my cable provider can tell me is there is an outage. They obviously have Einstein working there to figure that one out. So what did I do while no one is home? I am sitting on the newly mown grass in the backyard to publish this via wifi. The grass is finally green so I am taking advantage of it before the sun goes down and the little bugs come out!!

Saturday Sky from 9/23/2006

2006-09-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

I was too busy to go out and play on Saturday. But if I had gone to the Bacchus Raucus, this is the sky I would have been riding my scooter under. Thanks John for taking the fun pics!

Day 1: What I do when no one is home

2006-09-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

What I usually don't do is sleep through my alarm. On Monday's I usually don't fall back to sleep well after Hubby Dave gets up to catch his Monday morning work commute out of state. Not today. And the cats didn't help matters. They decided since I was sleeping peacefully they'd better not wake me for a second round of breakfast.

What I did do: ate my bowl of Quaker Oat Squares (my all time favorite) while looking at the Knitty.com patterns seated on the family room couch.
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I finally sent my Nikon D70 in for repair. Hope to hear from them soon. Also hope to hear that it is an easy/cheap fix.

Oh yah, I started a new assignment at work

2006-09-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

And it takes up a lot of my blogging time that the other assignment left me. This new assignment is funded for 75% of my time and I have peeled off all but 25% of the old one. New one is really cool but a lot of work when compared with the other one. I am now the Non-proliferation Graduate Program Marketing and Recruiting Coordinator at the lab. For once when I was passing around my resume looking for something more entertaining to do and more in line with previous work, someone actually read past my name and phone number on my resume!!!

So I'll be doing a bit of traveling this fall. University of Pittsburg the first week in October, maybe Villanova. Then later in the month possibly some of the UC campuses like Berkeley plus others I can't think of tonight. One of my first job tasks is to reschedule my existing recruiters when possible to more effeciently use my budget. By this season next year I will be plugged into more of the actual recruiting trips.

The good news out of all of this is that I will have tons of knitting time!! So what are some good knitting spots near U of Pittsburg?

Good grief where did the time go?

2006-09-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

A week since I posted last? Does anyone care? And what the heck did I do with the last 168 hours? No knitting. I don't think I picked up my socks all week. I did go to both our local yarn shops. I did look at the patterns at the Fall Knitty.com. Been doing some house cleaning. Hubby Dave and I took out our rolled up carpet collection, vacuumed them, wrapped them in cotton sheets again and put them away again. Sounds like we need a hobby. Oh wait we do have a hobby.

Graham has been up at Seattle U now for a week, Dave leaves again in the morning for his work week out of state. I'll still report every day on my mundane existance. BUT for fun I'll be also publishing a daily "what I do when no one is home". That put you to sleep already?

OK picture heavy and not much in the way of knitting

2006-09-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Let see, we got to Denver the day after my SP8 box of hand crochet lace arrived. I just realized I haven't posted pictures yet! Oh well, tomorrow when there is light.

We arrived on Friday and the first thing we did because we were starving was go to the Villiage Inn Pancake House for dinner. We all ordered breakfast instead. Thena s soon as I got to my parents house I tried the spinning wheel. The mother-of-all was a bit loose but I got it working just fine.Saturday we drove out to Barr Lake to bird watch. There was no water in the lake. Fishing was still prohibited.Saturday sky for Sept 9, 2006.We went downtown to the REI store so Graham could shop for school shoes. We watched kayakers at Confluence Park. Then we had lunch at Larimar Square. Oktoberfest was going on. Only in Denver will you see a Lederhosen Cowboy.Somewhere around in there I finished Graham's Rusted socks.Monday was Mom's 78th birthday so we took a ride in the mountains to the half way mark up the Mt Evans Highway.Note how Mom can tuck right under Graham's arm pit. My Mom is the tallest girl in her family. Her Mom was so tiny she would probably tuck right under Mom's arm.Going from sea level to 11,113 feet made me pretty loopie! Just like it did in 1963 when we first moved from Seattle to Denver and the first ride we took was up Mt Evens. Afterwards we drove to Central City and Blackhawk so Mom could do a little birthday gambling. We both did crappy till she thru some $1 in the $1 machines. At dollar #16 she hit a $120 jackpot. I grabbed the $1 tokens and cashed them out before she could put them back in and loose them all.Tuesday I hung out with my best friend Betsy. We've been best friends for 41 years!!! We never get to spend enough time together. I forgot to take a picture of her last week! We went to one yarn shop. Pretty lame. No I take that back, really lame yarn shop.Wednesday was my Boulder day. We walked all over campus, Graham had a tour of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Studies department. We ate at the Darkhorse Bar and Grill. The cheeseburgers were great, just like they were in 1975 when the darkhorse opened. It's one of those places that has something hanging or painted on every square inch of the place. Includes the bullhead from a Mr. Steak restaurant, a horse drawn hearse and a model of a naked pregnant woman.

Well it is getting late, I know I have forgotten a ton. I'll post more tomorrow or Wednesday.

I'm Back

2006-09-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back, I'm tired, I have to download all my (not many) pictures, drive the boy to college tomorrow to move in and then I'll start my vacation blog post. See you probably Monday. Highlight of the trip (fiber related), I spun on my Great Grandmother's spinning wheel. Dad was thrilled because he hadn't seen anyone spin on it in 62 years. Here is a picture of Great Grandma Ingaborg at the wheel. It was built in 1890. Photos of vacation to follow!

I agree with Heide

2006-09-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

Kayne Who? I had no idea who Kayne West is/was either. Hip Hopper I guess. I don't listen to much past 1960's rock. Our son listen's to '60's rock and classical so he was no help either. Most of his closest friends don't listen to any contemporary music either.

I'm at the office for a few hours today, then off for Denver for a week. I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get done since Dad only has dial up internet and there will be three of us fighting for it (Mom does not do computers). I'll post pics when I get back!

There will be tons on knitting going on. I hope to finish Rusted sock 2 soon even though I am only 3.5 inches into it. I'll have tons of time in the next 30 hours. I should be able to fit it in to my not so busy schedule. Then I'll start on some Mountain Colors socks. Can't remember the colorway name right off. I'm thinking the Thuja pattern or maybe just a 2x2 rib again. Something to show off the richness of the colorway. It hasn't been cold enough (by about 60 degrees) to wear any of my newly knitted wool socks so far. I'm bringing my Cabin Cove socks with me. I may give them to my Mom if she likes them.

Sorry Stephanie

2006-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

No we didn't go back for Bumbershoot day 3 just to see the Yarn Harlot. I had clothes shopping to do. Needed a new business suit. And shoes. Nixed the shoes idea when the ones I wanted/fit in were close to $200 (I'd failed to notice that when I said "and oh I'll try these too".) So I'll dig into my closet and find my black Josef Siebels, I know they are in there somewhere.

Anyway Bumbershoot. Too many changes. It was only 3 days long this year. Plus it was one of those years when their target audience was the under 20 crowd. Here, I took a picture at the Kanye West concert. We were the only people there over the age of 19 I think. My husband insists we go listen to the Mainstage concerts no matter how crappy or out of our listening genre the music is. My earplugs weren't pluggie enough for hip hop. No apologies here. That is not music. Period. There was a lot of knitting going on at Bumbershoot. I got Mom's entire 2nd Glitten done on Saturday. Finished in time for both her birthday (for once) and I could have even entered it as Glittens 2 for Bitchin' Mittens if I had had access to a computer on Saturday. Hopefully this picture makes more sence than my Glittens 1 photo. See fngerless gloves, that's all they are. Yarn is my handspun Oregon Romney plyed with my handdyed and spun Corriedale.I found Graham's Rusted sock yarn for sock 2 on Saturday morning before we left. It was just laying there in the middle of the guest room floor. I think one of the cats was playing a joke on me. I'd searched everywhere but the middle of the floor. So...I cast on and have about 3.5 inches done on the 2x2 ribbing pattern. I'd like to get these done before we leave for Denver on Thursday so I don't have to carry a bunch of projects with me.

Bumbershoot featured knitting and fiber arts this year. Trees were knitted. Power tools were knitted. Deer were eviscerated and knitted. Hilltop had a vendor booth. Right after I took the Bosch tool picture I was busted by the gallery police for taking pics. It wasn't posted no pics so...

Saturday Sky from 9/2/2006

2006-09-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

The lost art of finding lost things

2006-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I used to be able to just close my eyes and picture where I'd left something. But if you've been a reader here for the past year you can see that I have lost that talent. I blame it on my advanced age and my meds.

So what is it this time? The bag containing the needles and the remainder of the Sweet Georgia Rusted Super Demon so I can work on GB's sock two this weekend. At least I haven't lost sock one! Sure I could start another pair of socks but I'd need to buy another set of needles. I've checked the yarn storage in the guest room and Hubby's yarn piles in the family room. Tonight I need to really search.

Confused?

2006-08-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

So here is my submission for Bitchin' Mittens!

Glittens 2

2006-08-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

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.