Almost Ancient

When we added TomTom Tiger to our household, he was about 3 months old.  Our "senior " kitty, Miss Hinky Boo, was 15 months.  We did the math, and found they had both been born in March, one year apart.  Since then we've had the Cat Birthday on the Ides of March.  There seems to be some debate as to whether the Ginger Bomber is going to be 19 or 20 years old this month.  He's just hella old for a cat.

☆☆☆▪▪▪☆☆☆☆

I have a new lot of yarn from my favorite enablers, KnitPicks.  It's mostly  their Gloss Fingering, soft & shiny.  I got Cranberry, Plume (they could have left off the "e"), and River Rock.  I was hoping River Rock was just a shade darker, but it'll have to do.  Also present: two balls of their City Tweed HW in color Harbor Seal, for the Plaidman's new hat.  Later I'll have to take pictures & record these goodies in my Ravelry stash.  Any day spent playing with yarn is a good day.

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March 13

Shoot, I keep forgetting to hit "publish" on here, before closing the WIFI on the phone.  Today is cloudy outside, so quite dim inside and unsuited to pictures of yarn.  I did knit a bit last night, putting in the "sore thumb" for one fingerless mitt.  Today I'll attempt to do better on the other one (I dropped a stitch last night).  The third clue is about to be dropped for the KAL, but I haven't even started clue 1 yet.  I feel like Plaidman's hat can wait, since it's so warm here.  But I am so close to being D-O-N-E with these mitts, which were started when our heating was only firing on one cylinder, that I must just suck it up & get 'er done.  

>>>>>>>>>

Erm...that was 4 hours ago.  I remembered I had an email about a tax document, so I looked that up.  While I was in the email, I found an important message from my sister that had to be handled.  Amazon had sent me some suggestions for my Kindle, and I looked at those.  Next, I got onto Amazon ' s site, hoping to see some books I'd actually be interested in reading.  That led me to Crafts,  and a happy half hour of looking at yarn.  No orders were placed.

exhibits b & c

Not yesterday, but the Sunday before, Plaidman made dinner.  He made something that each of us has cooked up many times, with minor variations based on pantry contents.  We were to have a beef meatloaf, which we usually "finish" with some sort of tomato product drizzled over it.  We've used tomato paste or sauce, or commercial bottled spaghetti sauce, mixing a bit into the loaf before it's shaped & put in a baking dish.  Then we spread the tomato product over the top for nice color & flavor.  Sunday evening, he made up his beef, egg, & oats mixture and went to the pantry for some tomato goodness.  He could see none at all, not a bit of tomato sauce or paste.  We live less than a half mile from the grocery, but instead of putting the loaf fixings in the fridge & making a quick trip to the store, he decides to just do without the flavor & savor of the sauce.  Our meatloaf was dry and not tasty, for which he apologized and explained the lack of tomato.  Now, I'd had occasion to get into the pantry recently, and remembered seeing some spaghetti sauce there.  I asked if he'd noticed it.  He had, but didn't want to open a full jar for a half a cup of sauce, and didn't want to throw out the rest.  What?  Why not use the half cup, put the lid back on, and put the jar in the fridge?  He shrugged.  The idea had not occurred to him, even after literally years of doing just that whenever meatloaf was on the menu.  This piece of info had fallen out of his memory.

******  *******

Yesterday I asked for Raisin Bran, heated up in the microwave.  He seems to enjoy making my breakfast.  I had an egg scramble as well, which came to the table before my hot cereal.  I'd nearly finished my egg, when the bowl of cereal wss placed on the placemat.  I gave it a stir : yes there were raisins, no it was not Raisin Bran.  It was cream of wheat.  Good thing I like cream of wheat with raisins.  This is one example of breakfast confusion, but it's happened at least once a week for a while now.  I'm going along on his next visit to his doctor.

*****   *****

I frogged & rent three rows of Sis' wrap.  That' all I've managed in two days.

slow Tuesday

All quiet on the southern front, here in Antioch.  I read an article from the Tennessean about the history of our local mall.  Hickory Hollow mall was one of the largest in the area, and very popular the first few years after opening.  The newspaper pins the decline to "rising crime rates" in Antioch, but I think that may be politi-speak for "too many POC in the mall".  White Nashville did not want to frequent a shopping center that had a predominantly black clientele.  Antioch, at the time, was one of the mostly black areas of town, with a lot fewer large apartment complexes and those that were here were older & considered low rent.  Now there are many that have opened in the past few years, with more springing up every few months.  All advertise the latest amenities, so I don't imagine they're inexpensive.  We've got a town house in a mixed

neighborhood, much more urban than where we lived before here.

I sure hope someone figures out how to revitalize our mall.

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I knit a bit on the Sis' wrap last night, as we watched 30 Coins.  Such a wild & weird show!  Disco doesn't want to watch, so she missed the scariest part of the mirror business.  I don't think I could get her into a fun house hall of mirrors.  Heck, I wouldn't go in one either!

Too cold

It's 3:30 pm and about 15F -- too cold to go outside for pictures.  But I finished my Kara cowl, and have worn it a few times.  It's an excellent layering piece, adding a deep red splash and a warm neckline to any outfit.  I have also been knitting for Sis and Miss A:  Swiffer mop head covers for Sis in two patterns, and the Hans My Hedgehog patterns for Miss A.  There are two of the hedgehog patterns, one making a tiny pocket "hog" about 2.5" in fingering yarn, and the other in worsted which made up to about 7" long.  The larger one used some of the yarn Sis gave to me over Thanksgiving, and looks a lot like Miss A's actual live hedgehog!  So maybe the pet hedgie can have a buddy....

Sis keeps hermit crabs in a sandy habitat next to the fireplace, with a heat lamp for continuous warmth.  They are some pretty weird little critters.  I watched an episode of Blue Planet the other day, that had me cracking up -- a conch had caught a smaller snail, and was emptying that snail's shell with a rowdy audience of hermit crabs all vying to get into the emptied shell!  At one point there were four hermits fighting each other to get that shell, then one actually climbed up the conch and into the shell before the conch turned it loose!  A risky move, as the conch could have eaten the hermit crab too, but it paid off since that little guy hustled away with the shell.

Well, I had to fill out another set of forms for the disability, so much fun.  It's a good thing I scanned and saved the earlier documents, as I had to attach some of them to this new form.  I suppose this will be a nearly endless process, so I'm scanning just about everything.

One of my Christmas presents was a two-week rental of a power chair, pretty nifty.  This one breaks down into four bits, with the heaviest bit just 36 lbs. and well within Disco's lifting capability.  I should get her to take it apart & put it back together several times; she's been letting Plaidman take charge of that but she says she wants "us girls" to be able to go places without him.

Back from the boonies

The entire Plaid Patrol rode to south Texas for the week of Thanksgiving.  It's a long darn drive, but then we spent the whole week with family.  We were only able to do that because we'd hired a pet sitter to come in twice a day, to keep the elderly cat at home & happy.  And he seems to have warmed up to the sitter, even playing with her and letting her pet him, and he was quite happy to see us back.  I would have posted from Texas, but never got near enough to an unused (& functional) computer.
I delivered the Diamond Halter top to niece A, did not get to see her in it but made her promise to send me a picture.  I'm still working on the red tweed capelet, just have about 6" of ribbed turtleneck to go on that one.  I got about an inch of ribbing done while there, but most days we had other fun stuff to do and the knitting just stayed in the bag.  Speaking of bags, Sis did not disappoint in the "birthday present" bag: It's a Dooney & Burke tote with Pittsburgh Pirates themed print on white leather, just gorgeous and a great bag for the knitting.  I will have to send her something wonderful and knitted asap.  Sis brought Pup over from his assisted living facility Tuesday, then Disco, Plaidman, the nieces & I went to the facility the next day and had lunch with him.  Later that afternoon Plaidman went back to Sis', while us ladies went to Savers.  Guess who we found there -- the Shopping Queen herself, aka Sis!  We all spent some time together there, then the nieces departed for home.  I spent way too much money there, even with the 30% discount card Sis gave me.  Most of it was for stuff Disco wanted, I wish I could find the receipt to show her!  We finally got all our purchases out to Sis' Giganto Craft (an ancient Escalade), then it took all three of us (Disco, Sis & me) to get me into the front seat.  I am not anything like nimble anymore.  In fact, since I stayed in the upstairs guest room, I had to climb 16 stairs every evening to get to bed, and come down those stairs (dressed & ready for the day) every morning.  I thought my knees would give out.  Then there was the guest bed, wonderful to sleep in but so tall that I needed both a stepstool and my walker to get into it.  Slept like a stone, until it was time to visit the loo.  And that was for six nights.  I've been home a few days, and I've recovered some.  Thursday we had Pup back over to the house for our noon Thanksgiving supper.  Afterwards, the annual T-Day lawn tournament was held out on the front lawn, with 3 father & daughter teams and one niece + boyfriend team.  Pup teamed with Sis, Steverino teamed with the Peerless niece, Plaidman teamed with Disco, and Miss A teamed with Seth.  Pup has macular degeneration, so his shots were guided by other players standing near the "hole" and waving.  It was agreed that Peerless & her Dad won the tourney.  I wasn't the only spectator, we had some neighbors come by to check out the game.  Then we all went back inside and played LCR; Peerless took a $27.00 pot!  Just her day.  Pup got delivered back to his home, and we all pretty much called it a night.  Friday Peerless treated a bunch of us to a movie, Justice League,
which we all found marvelous.   Saturday we began the long drive back home, and got here about 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Let's have a trumpet blast, please

The Honey Color Affection is off the needles!!  Please excuse the quality of these cell phone pictures; I just wanted to give y'all something to look at.  Let's see it again:

As you can see, it still has ends to be woven in.  I haven't washed & blocked yet.  But the knitting is D-O-N-E done like dinner.

Ok, this one might be a bit weird -- just tilt your head to the right & look at it.

I am so freakin' glad; now to find another project.  I want to make some Fuzzhogs and yes you can find that pattern on Ravelry.  About an hour a go I went into my craft room looking for my Trendz interchangeable needle set -- didn't find it, not surprising since only about 4 sq feet of the room has been cleared & everything is jumbled -- but I did come across some eyelash yarn!  and I have fingering yarn left over from the Color Affection!  I believe I'll make some pets.  

In home news, we are under attack by carpenter bees.  They are chewing the heck outa our deck, but just today Plaidman found a product to take care of them.  Of course, getting the gear is not the same as getting the job done, so I'm not holding my breath.  My other roomie, the peerless DiscoDame, got read the riot act after I got home from work,  Seems she's forgotten that the terms of her having that nice big room downstairs, with her own TV with cable and her own bath & her own entrance etc etc, was that she was to devote 20 hours a week to housework.  She pitched a fit when I told (not asked!) her to do the dishes (load the dishwasher -- what a hard life she has).  So I pitched one right back at her!  She loaded the dishwasher, and she'll do it again later since the crockpot liner took up so much room that half the dirty dishes are still on the counter.  

That's the bay window in our master bedroom.  Look out the right side & you can see a bit of the second story deck.  Disco's patio is directly beneath the deck.  

Here's the living room before the furniture arrived.  The door goes out to the deck.  We have a fireplace!  But Plaidman wouldn't open it because the chimney hasn't been cleaned yet.

Aww, what a good kitty is our Miss Hinky Boo.  Here she's helping me tension the yarn for the Color Affection.  She's so comfy on our new couch.

Almost forgot

I'm supposed to be blogging about our library.  Where we're at now, we have one just about a half mile away.  And it's new!  And very nice.  The Plaidman and DiscoDame were there just a couple of days ago, and brought home a small stack of reading material.  I'm reading The Miniaturist (sorry, it's not in front of me & I can't remember the author's name), and I hope to finish it tonight after supper.  It's an historical novel, life in Amsterdam for a young lady from the countryside, who becomes wife to a powerful merchant.  Not at all a romance, and has a good share of oddball actors.  Everyone's got a secret, few of them are pleasant.

The other great thing about the library is, it's not just books!  We've brought home movies, CDs, and audio books -- heck, you can even check out a magazine, as long as it's not the current issue.  Unfortunately, only one knitting mag seems to have made the "cut" at the library.  (You knew this would get back to knitting, right?)  I don't know why this is the case; there are several I'd like to look through (usually before buying them, what can I say?) but only one available.  Maybe they need a suggestion?  or a donation of a subscription?  The other real drawback to our nearby library is the handicapped parking, which is oh, about a block away from the door!  There's no parking at the front of the building, and it's a lo-o-o-ng building, so I just have to hike from the side lot to the door. 

Hopefully, we'll be having the plumber in today to fix a few small problems; nothing major unless it's the pressure regulator.  Our water pressure is super high, and could be contributing to a couple of leaks.  I know the home inspector found the gauge, and wrote up the high pressure as part of his report, so I'm assuming we have a regulator somewhere.  Oh, here's a funny:  I just remembered that DiscoDame woke us up at about 2 a.m. a few weeks ago, because she heard someone walking around in our crawlspace.  She's absolutely terrified that somebody will force the crawlspace door and come into her suite.  The Plaidman went down and took a look, but of course there wasn't anyone there by the time he got downstairs.  So now the door has a deadbolt, keyed on the inside only. 

I found another item I want from Bass Pros Shops: VaxTrax ice cleats!  These puppies slip on over your boots/shoes, and apparently last for years.   I had so much fun trying to get into the office after our ice storm, what with the road conditions (refrozen slush with ice underneath, such fun!!) it took about 1.25 hours to go about 11 miles.  Then when I got to the building, the lot hadn't been scraped or salted, and neither had the handicapped ramp.  I just knew I'd be breaking a hip out there, but managed to get inside ok.  There's handicap parking in back, but no stairs or ramp, so I parked there today.  Whew!  I've had my share of fear & loathing this week. 

With feeling

There's a "movement" (and how many of us think of Alice's Restaurant when we hear that word?) afoot, about helping crafty folk reclaim time for their crafts: http://cre8time.org/
The aim is to set aside 8 hours a month, for crafting.  Well, I think I already do that, but I like the idea of setting up a designated time.  I pretty much work on either knitting or crochet whenever I'm parked in front of the TV.  Last night was an exception, because I wanted the overhead lights out so I could watch a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones, season one.  Yes, we bought the DVDs.  The Plaidman & I are just completely hooked on the books, and have finished all that have been published so far.  I was reading a fan site last week, and the gossip seems to indicate at least two more books coming, but not soon -- it'll likely be 2018 before Winds of Winter makes it to the bookstore.  We are officially jonesing for more G.o.T. at Chez Plaid.  Last year it was the Malazan Empire holding us in thrall; at least we're dealing with (mostly) humans this trip.  Boy howdy, if someone could figure out how to turn Tales of the Fallen into a series, we'd be over the moon. 

Oh look, the folks over at AllFreeKnitting ( http://www.allfreeknitting.com/sweeps/sock-yarn-shawls-book-giveaway/ml/1 ) have another really nice giveaway!  I have a little shawlette I made last year, that I wasn't wearing because it jest seemed too tiny, but lately I've been using it as a scarf.  I get lots of compliments on it!  It's Wendy's Seriously Simple Shawl, worked in sock yarn from the Loopy Ewe.  I like it so much, I would like to have several more.  So heck yeah, I want this book!

And we're off!

But not running...I don't "do" running.  DiscoDame & I both have potato chip scarves, in various shades of pink.  I'm wearing mine at work today.  I'll get pictures of us wearing them tomorrow.  Which reminds me: charge the camera batteries!  Charge the phones!  Charge some more yarn online! No, wait, skip that last one.  Christmas is coming, and I gotta get my ducks in a row so I can spend happily.  Although it's doubtful Webs will still have any Waterlily yarn left.....*Sigh*
ETA, 4 days later:  We survived.  After arriving at the Race for a Cure site at 6 a.m. (it was still dark! and very cold!), we mosied over to the Survivor tent for some breakfast.  At first, a couple of gals without a clue tried to keep Disco out of the Survivor area, although their pamphlet & website both said survivors could bring in one guest.  Oops.  Poor Disco went around the other side of the enclosure to get a pom-pom shaker, to cheer for her Survivor, while I went on in & fixed her a cuppa coffee & grabbed a muffin for her.  The gals handing out the shakers asked if she was a "Co-Survivor" and she said yes, so they said she could go in too.  We found a little table, which we needed 'coz I already had two bags of swag that was being handed out, both specifically for survivors.  After fueling up, we took a walk around all the vendor booths lined up around the area, and collected more goodies & many more nice fabric bags -- I won't need new knitting totes for a while!  Well, we were getting rather loaded down, so strolled back to the car and piled up the trunk: 

Then we went back, and found another whole circle of vendors with more stuff to give away!  Rinse & repeat, as it were.  I had my picture taken on a pink motorcycle!  But that's on Facebook -- I'll have to get it later.

Somehow, in all this walking around, we managed to find only two other walkers from our team, and the folks manning our booth.  We were stankding in line at the Komen trailer, to get Disco some gloves (did I mention that it was COLD!!??), when it was announced that the Survivors were to gather in front of the stage.  So she stayed for the gloves, and I left for the stage.  Got to see the Survivor of the Year, and her pace car driver -- Sterling Martin!!  Yes NASCAR's champ has a soft spot for the cause.  Then we had an announcement that Survivors were to move to another tent, only it wasn't described very well...and I wasn't the only one lost in the confusion.  Wound up at the Survivor tent again, had a snack (an apple), milled around and asked everyone,"Is this where the Survivors are supposed to be, for the Pink Parade?" -- no one seemed to be real clear on that.  Oh well, I just went around & collected more goodies from the vendors, and back to the car to put those in the trunk.  Then I saw the time, and decided I'd better get ready to walk my mile.  This, after walking all over the Race grounds for the previous 3 hours, turned out to be quite a slog!  But I did it, and was cheered at the finish line, and then had to wait at least another hour for Disco to come thru -- she'd been walking with some other teammates (the only ones I ran into, one had recently had knee surgery and was moving at a glacial pace), and they finally told her to go on ahead & finish.  I took pictures:

Dudes in Pink

Disco!

Maximum Pink!

A shoe dropped

I wish I could say more, but today a very dark cloud that had been hanging over me for several months has finally moved away.  I'm so relieved, and I just know you're happy for me.

I've started a new knitting project!  I admired a young friend's panache with scarves, and offered to knit one for him -- knowing he'd likely wear it appreciatively, which would of course be a big morale boost for me.  Now, being a dude, his color sense is shall we say on the somber side.  BUT I found several pictures of yarns available online, and he looked them over, and picked a nice variegated (mostly brown!) fingering weight.  I ordered two skeins of Knit Picks Stroll hand-painted in their "Pony Ride" colorway, meantime himself & I are putting our heads together for a pattern.  I tried cables, but they completely disappeared against the ground.  Then I showed him two patterns that were basically about texture, and he picked one.  Then came the swatching, and ripping, and more swatching, and ripping, and finally I had something that looked pretty good.  I've knit about 8" of unblocked fabric, which looks like it'll stretch to 12" when blocked.  If you're on Ravelry, you can look for my "Cowboy Morning Surf" based on Jackie ES's Morning Surf. 

I worked in the ends on my Every Way Wrap, but still don't have the buttons in place.  And I've taken some steps to get a "care box" sent off to Texas, for the nieces & Sis. 

One last bit of good news: The Plaidman has a part-time job!  and it's very close to home, only about 1.25 miles away.  He'll still draw his Social Security, and his little pension, but with the additional funds from his job we just might be able to get the Innerwebs at home again.

I found another really good blog to peruse, check out The Bloggess -- but not at work!  Just  sayin', she's often NSFW.  But hysterical. 

Good weekend

Disco & I made it out to Dickson yesterday.  The sign at the entrance said the fiber fair started at noon, we got there a bit after 10 a.m. and it was already getting busy!  Fiber-folk don't want to sleep in on festival days!  We both fondled lots of pretty yarn & fibers, and flipped through lots of interesting books.  I had a tote bag with my newest acquisitions from The Haus of Yarn, picked up Thursday evening:  a few ounces of Corriedale dyed red, and a hi-lo drop spindle by Schact (did I spell that right?).  I was wanting to see if I could begin to understand drafting before taking Fleegle's class (Yes, THAT Fleegle!) at the festival.  And yeah, maybe getting the fiber & spindle the night before was rather last minute.  I did try to get them from Bliss Yarns earlier in the week, but they hadn't either in stock.  Anywhoo, I got to meet & spend some time with Fleegle -- and I did say I'd buy her Supported Spindling book, but that will have to wait until the next payday.  The class was good, and I did learn more about spindling in general and supported spindling in particular.  Supported spindling seems so much easier than drop spindling!  And Fleegle's class materials included a supported spindle & some nice combed roving for each student, so now I have two spindles!  Disco wanted to go out there again today, but it cost us a quarter tank of gas to get there & back, and the pay just won't stretch that far again.  Either she or the Plaidman must get some work and try to bring some more income into Chez Plaid.  Disco had her display, cards, and lots of stitchmarkers and even found a spot to sit in & try to sell a few -- I'm real surprised nobody chased her off.  She says she'd like to get a booth at the fair next year.  I don't think she realizes how much product she'd have to have on hand to fill a booth.  But maybe she could find someone that will sell her a corner of their booth?  I suppose she'd have to get in touch with Three Creeks Farm, the organisers for this little shindig. 
In knitting news, I have been slipping in a few rows at a time, a couple of times a day, on the Every Way Wrap (aka the world's slowest wrap).  The end is nearly in sight.  Will I actually finish it before the weather turns again?  I'd suggest against holding your breath.  Also I finished the second hat for Princess T, but still haven't blocked it.  That would be a good mini-project for the weekend, no?  So, I must run off to chores and then to the fun stuff (blocking, spinning, knitting?).  TTFN!

Holiday knitting...NOT

Seriously, what with the reception my holiday handknits have had in the office, I've decided to just not knit for these folks. As for the family, well..Miss A has her gorgeous hat, Princess T's hat & mitts lack only the embroidery on the mitts, and I haven't a clue what I'd knit for Sis. Pup still needs his Steelers socks, but I've told him not to hold his breath.
I have started holiday shopping: I bought a calendar for a friend, and a movie for ME. When I was just a little sprout, dear ol' Pup loved a particular cheesy monster movie. It's a 1955 release from Universal Pictures, which would be a real stinker except that R. Harryhausen did the monster. Ready for the title? It Came From Beneath the Sea!! Whenever this grade B came on the Saturday afternoon movie, Pup would have to watch & laugh, and wanted all us kids to see it too. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen this silly thing, but none of them have been recent--it stopped being in the weekend movie rotation a long time ago. I'm saving it for Christmas morning, and I'd like to make it a tradition in our house, so of course when I saw it in the Barnes & Noble catalog, I had to have it. Pup will be tickled when I tell him I've got it. Anyway, one of the bloggers I follow has a Thanksgiving tradition of watching The Creature From the Black Lagoon, which I checked out of the library for our Thanksgiving (what a hoot!), in a spirit of solidarity. However, It Came From Beneath the Sea has a little more of a family connection for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I will probably knit through it.

Home on the range

Ah, back in Texas! I've been at Sis' house for a few days, just unwinding & playing with her "foster" dog. And knitting, of course. Miss A has received her lace beret, and was gobsmacked with it. I think she's worn it three days straight now. Her classmates are also gobsmacked; they should be so lucky as to have knitting aunties. Sis used to teach at the Austin School for the Deaf, so she made up a sign for Auntie Ann; I will have to see if I can get it on video for Plaid Patrol. Miss A's little sib, Princess T, may have been struck green-eyed with envy of the fab hat. So now I'm knitting her a lace beret as well, although it's considerably simpler in design (& hopefully a lot faster in execution!) than Miss A's.
I took a field trip to South Congress, to visit Hill Country Weavers! I'll have some photos of that later. I found some lovely yarn, and sat in on a sit 'n stitch -- which was supposed to be knitting lessons, only everyone there looked quite competent. I had all of 90 minutes there, so made the best of it. South Congress has a lot of fun-looking shops, and the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop -- none of which I got to see this time, but I'll remember them for next time. Well, I'm on Sis' laptop, & not sure how to load up my photos here, so I'll close by saying "stay tuned".

If I could turn back time...

Written 7/13/11 I'm down to the last three days to finish my first ever Camp Loopy project, which is driving me batty -- I think I'm just too anxious to "get 'er done", so anxious that I keep leaving off yarnovers! I have three more rows, which are of course the longest three rows in the history of the world, especially since I've knit the last several rows like, oh, four times!!! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot....but I'm determined to finish on time, even if I may "cheat" a little on the blocking: I'll put this on the ironing board & steam block it for the picture to send to Sheri @ The Loopy Ewe. Later, I'll give it a good wash & wet block it. I've got an entire hank of the Serenity Green sock yarn leftover. Guess I overestimated the amount I'd need. But I'm sure I'll find something to make with that one hank. For my second Camp Loopy project, I was thinking of making socks, but after reconsideration of the time (like, forever!) it takes me to knit socks, I'm selecting a mitten pattern (with cables) -- I've never knit mittens, so this should be interesting.
7/19/11 ETA: I did in fact finish my first ever Camp Loopy project #1 ON TIME!! I took some pics & my DH took some, on the 15th, of a lovely albeit small shawl -- which I'd spent most of the morning trying to steam block on the ironing board. It's cute, but if I were to work this pattern again (Wendy Johnson{Wendy Knits}, Seriously Simple Shawl - free on her website or possibly thru Ravelry), I would a)make it symmetrical and b) work another Chart B repeat to make it lots bigger. The yarn from the Loopy Ewe was fine, although I did notice that the blue (Ice) seemed thicker & fluffier than the green (Serenity Green). It was as if the green were more tightly twisted in plying. I should get a ruler & do a WPI for both colors; betcha I'd find a difference. Anyway, I started some mittens, which I'm "winging" without a pattern per se--I did look at some patterns, but just to get an idea of how many to cast on & how long the cuff should be made. I have one mitten all the way from the cuff to just past the first knuckles of my left hand, and it's pretty. BUT! dummy me put the thumb gusset on the wrong side, so I want to frog 'em & start over. Towards that end, I'm writing my own pattern for the #2 project for 2011 Camp Loopy! Di'ya suppose I'll get extra credit if I send the pattern in to the LOOPIES?

Giving it up

Seems like when the weather warms up (& we're NOT being flooded), I just lose all interest in snail-mail communications. I still haven't sent out the last round of blog giveaways--Mea Culpa!--which I must do this week! As God is my witness, etc, etc. Since I have this problem, I want to do this giveaway thing a little differently: I'm going to package, weigh & number each giftie before drawing the winners! That way, as soon as a name is drawn & I can get a shipping addy, I can just slap a label on & send them to the post office via the Plaidman. Honestly, as SMRT as I am you'd think I would have figured this out before now. I have something to show you:

Just a little background, this is my reply to a friend's asking how long this took:

"Let’s see, I guess I started the first one in January –Christmas knitting was done, so I started this for her birthday (February!). The first one was worked exactly per the designer’s pattern, and came out very tight around the brim (but still wearable) and the top part was more like a lace skullcap. Frogging ensued; back to the drawing board. Another one had just one [extra] repeat of the lace pattern around, worked on bigger needles, and stitches added to the brim. Still turned out to be a beanie rather than a beret! Back to the frog pond it went, maths reworked to add 2 more repeats of the lace without increasing the brim anymore, then I thought I’d run out of yarn (!)—so I got on Ravelry & found someone who’d sell me hers (couldn’t find this color in the stores here), & had to wait for her to send it. Once I got it, I couldn’t find my notes about the brim size….so made it too big, & had to frog again when the notes were found. It’s a good thing I like the process about as much as I like the product, ‘coz this one was all about the process! As far as actual knitting time for the pattern, it’s not that much—hats are fairly quick (Mwah-hah-hah! Famous last words….)"


Is that fine, or what? No, this isn't for a blog giveaway, although it is a gift for a special young lady. It's so lovely, that I've already started another one! And I'll likely make one more in blue or pink, for another special young gal. None of these will be finished this month, as I'm "attending" Camp Loopy this year. I have 3 hanks of Loopy's Solid series fingering yarn, 2 in Serenity Green & 1 in Ice, for Wendy Johnson's Seriously Simple Shawl -- in stripes! I'm also working on Sis's socks, which I should really put down for a little while. The first Camp project needs to be finished by July 15. But what will I give away this month? Maybe a nice cowl? I'll get back to that in a later post.

Survivor, Roadtrip!

We made it back to town without killing each other. Actually, DiscoDame cracks me up whenever we go somewhere together. She's a much better traveling companion than the Plaidman. That may be a bit harsh; before he became 50% hearing-impaired, he was alright as a roadtrip buddy.
I frogged Sis' socks (again...), and was working on them a bit during our downtime at the hotel(s) in the evening(s). I have no idea why I bought this wild lookin' yarn, but Sis admired it so she can wear it.
Oh, yeah...you're curious about where 2/3 of the Plaid Patrol went! We drove up to Kentucky, hitting Paducah about 10 a.m. Thursday. We toured the National Quilt Museum, which is terrifically full of fabric Art (capital "A"!). Go see it sometime. After, we cruised along the Riverfront until our brains started to cook, then decided we'd better get indoors somewhere & cool off. We had a nice late lunch at Doe's Eats. I was getting pretty achy (sciatica strikes again), so we found ourselves a hotel room & just chilled--we'd brought some microwave dinners, and had the appliance in the room, so we didn't even bother to leave the room until the next morning. Free breakfast got us up & out the door by 8:30 a.m., and we found Hwy. 68-80 & the start of the 400-Mile Yardsale! Yes friends, we drove for a while, then plodded around in the sun for a while, then back to the car & do it all again--over & over & over. Lots of sunscreen saved our skin; but we were burning up from the heat. We did this for two whole days, getting another hotel room when we just got too tired & hot to go on. On Saturday, we made it to Bowling Green, with only a few stops along the way. At one rather large sale, we found some items for the Plaidman--he who so inconveniently has a birthday just before Father's Day! Those were my biggest purchases of the whole trip. Sunday, we skipped the free breakfast at the hotel, and went over to Bob Evans restaurant for a great breakfast. Disco said she was about yardsaled out, & could we do something else. Well, I figured the Corvette Museum would be a good diversion, but is it open on Sunday? (Yes) and could I find it again? We'd gone round in circles trying to get to any of the hotels near the museum, Saturday afternoon, so I wasn't looking forward to trying to find the museum again. So...I pretty much decided to just head on home early, and we'd see a movie Sunday evening. We saw THOR, which was kinda "meh", except for the lead's shirtless scene. Speaking of shirtless scenes...many years ago we saw the Conan movie (with AH-nold), the one with the big snakes controlled by the bad guy. Remember when Conan & his team were sneaking into the temple, and Conan wore a loincloth, a headband & some paint? I remember there was a collective intake of breath throughout the theater, followed at once by giggles. Very telling! Anyway, Thor wasn't quite in that league, but he's a lot cuter without than with a shirt. And could the costume/make-up folk not have come up with an actual beard for Thor? His "bad boy" look was laughable--he should have been clean or bearded, but not scruffy. Loki's beardless-ness is more or less explained by his ancestry, at least in this story. No spoiler, I won't say anymore about that!

T minus 3.5 days...

To the March giveaway! Not much other "news" per se, just stuff I/we have been up to:
The weekend of St Patrick's Day wasn't too dreadful. I did finally get to put the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots (plus 2 bottles of Killian's Red beer!) into the crock pot for Sunday dinner. Did that about 7:30 a.m & we ate it at about 5:30 p.m. The beef was delish & very tender, the veggies tender & flavorful. I cooked a good size slab of beef, about 2.75 lbs., and so have some left for hash or sandwiches.
The purple lace hat has been frogged again. All I can figure is that the designer must knit extremely loosely! I went up two needle sizes for the brim (still using same # of stitches, tubular cast on)--the brim was fine. Then I went up two sizes for the rest of the hat AND added another horizontal repeat of the lace pattern. I wasn't sure I'd have enough yarn to work 4 complete repeats vertically, but the lace was very much "lacier" so I thought 3 repeats would work for a beret. Well, it didn't work..I still had a beanie when I got to the top. (Are the knitting demi-gods laughing? Hope so; somebody ought to get a kick out of it!)
I got some more Paton's Lacette in Maroon Mist! So I'm back to work on the pink stole, with one minor glitch: I was going to pick out the bind off edge & continue on, only I unpicked the cast on. Of course, it's not unravelling--I just don't know what to do with it now! I've put the stitches on a holder, picked out the bind off & am adding more lace panels for length. Now that I have plenty of the Lacette, I can think about putting a wide border on the long edges, and a narrower one on the short sides (ends). Which should I work first? I think working the side borders first would allow me work the end border across the entire width, and might pull the thing together.
Disco says she needs more beads....girl needs to get a job; her hobby is costing me! We're still wrangling the stitchmarkers for the giveaway, so I need to hold her feet to fire now.

A pretty WIP

I'm loving this combo of sock yarn & Paton's Lacette. I can see that buying two more skeins of the sock yarn was the right idea; this needs at least another 24" before ending & working the edging. How about another picture?

What can I say, I'm a nut for knitting lace. I've been on Ravelry today, and found the hat pattern I needed for a commissioned project: The Sgt. wants two more of the chunky hats, please! Now I'll have to look thru the stash to see if I have two hats' worth of the Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. If not, I guess I'll head to the store for more.
I think I mentioned that I'd won a giveaway--the item arrived in the mail last week! It's a tiny & darling neck gaiter, with the loveliest buttons:

Unfortunately, with my double chin this design doesn't exactly flatter me. So, I'm adding it to my sack of holiday gifts, to be given away. And I'll have these pictures to remind me:

GO TEAM!!

Way to go STEELERS!! Heading to the Super Bowl again, let's see if we can make it our own for the 7th time. Pup & I talked on the phone after the game, both of us just tickled to see Franco & Rocky come up to congratulate "the boys". The Jets couldn't keep from tripping on their own feet, except for about a 10-minute interlude of having "it" together. I should have taken some pictures; both DiscoDame & I were in team gear. Pup has another bit of memorabilia that he wants to send, which will likely wind up in Disco's room. Her door has "Steelers Nation" and a logo displayed.
Of course, I knitted during the game--it's got so I really can't watch TV without some knitting in my hands. I'm still working on the Diamond Chain Lace stole, but I'll have to put it aside for a while as I have a commission for the Sgt. He'd like two more hats just like the two I've already made for him, thank you. Wouldn't be a problem if I could just locate the dang pattern! It's basically a watchcap, with ribbing that is first increased then decreased so that the large ribs are leaf-shaped. I'll have to go on Ravelry & see if I can find a link to the pattern on my projects page.

I may not be the brightest bulb...

I came into work today. We're in the middle of a winter weather advisory, but you know me, I hate to miss work. It took me an hour and half to get from home to work, and I was pretty much terrified the whole way. The main drag in our neighborhood was in better shape than the interstate; I think that gave me a false confidence. Now I wish I'd packed jammies and a change of clothes -- I seriously rather check into a hotel out here, than try to get back home in the dark. I might still do just that, after a quick trip to the drug store to see if I can pick up clean socks & undies, & a toothbrush! That will put a dent in the budget.
The stole is coming along swimmingly, except for a few "tinks" to put in missed yarnovers. I've decided to add a different lace as an edging, to make the thing wider. The plan now is to get a section about 3.5' long, finish it with garter ridges, then pick up the cast on edge & knit in the other direction in the same way. The edging will be worked separately & sewn on. I'll try to get a WIP picture soon. I was on Ravelry over the weekend, and noticed that the Lacette isn't listed on Paton's website anymore, but there are a lot of Ravelers wanting to sell or trade theirs. Not too sure I actually want anymore, but it's good to know.