Happy 4th of July!

Not much going on here.   Believe it or not I am doing laundry and some spring cleaning about 3 months past due. 

On the knitting front:  I am only 14 inches from completing the Lisa Souza Hardtwist Petite scarf.   And as usual I had to cast on something else:   The Berroco Mica scarf called Courant.   I have a confession.   I do not like the yarn.   I do however love the finished fabric.   The drape will be gorgeous.  I cast on the amended 84 stitches only to frog the 5 or 6 inches I had completed.   In order to get the 64 inch length the pattern calls for I’d have to go buy 3-4 more skeins.   I had to think about that and decided it was foolish to buy 3-4 more skeins of yarn I really don’t like.   So I frogged it and cast on 68 stitches.   It will still be wider than the average scarf.  It will still have enough width to show that lucious drape.   But hopefully it will be doable without buying more yarn.

I have pictures of my garden.   Yes it is only a container garden but I still have pretty flowers, one green tomato and loads of white pepper blossoms plus some fragrant lavender.  In the picture of my tiny tomato you see a glimpse of yarn.    My tomato is being stalked!!!   I have these huge starlings hanging out on the fence top like vultures.   I’ve run out to scare them off several times.   I don’t know if they are waiting for the tomato to ripen or if they have not spotted it yet since it still blends in.   But those birds are NOT getting my tomato!   I need to go get some bird netting but until then the strands of yarn (Cascade 220 for those of you who want to know  ) are fluttering in the wind and seem to be keeping them away.   They may wise up.   I’m getting bird netting.   lol

See that picture of the red job ticket holder?   Sheri of The Loopy Ewe tripped us onto that idea.   Marjie and I were considering ordering some when Marjie realized there was a store close to her girls.   She made a call to Jamie and she ran over and got them for us.   Yay Jamie!   Btw, the postage from Dallas to Pauls Valley was going to be $11!!   Ridiculous.   Anyway, back to the job ticket holders.   They are 9 x 12 so a bit larger than a sheet of paper.   They are clear front and back so you can read a two sided pattern if necessary.   They are sturdy enough to stand up.   Oh that reminds me….that green thing holding it….it is a Page Up.   I bought that at Office Ma*.   It is great for holding your pattern upright so you can read it as you knit.   I was delighted to see that the Page Up would hold the thicker job ticket holder.   (Can you tell I am in love with supplies?   lol)

This heat is horrible.   I can’t wait for the cool front to come through this afternoon.   In the meantime, Lexi is laying around under the fan so she doesn’t work up a sweat.  lol   That’s ok cause her mama is sweating enough for the both of us.

Stay cool and knit on!

Ten on Tuesday

Yes, I skipped last week.   The theme was sports.   If you know me well at all you know sports are not my ‘thing’.     

The theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Guilty Pleasures on TV.  I can do this!!

1. Right now…..I watch Frasier almost every weeknight at 10:30.   Yes I’m well past repeats but once in awhile I see an episode I missed some how some way.   But that show does make me laugh.  

2. Big Brother.   The first time I heard the pitch for it I rolled my eyes and wondered how on earth someone could come up with a show like this.   I watched and I’m addicted.   Every summer when the new show comes on I think there can’t be a group of folks more repulsive or immature.   I also think why am I watching this?   And I continue to watch and am thoroughly addicted.   No more explanation.   Sorry.

3.  2.5 Men.    Silly show with adult innuendo.   It makes me laugh.

4. Dancing With the Stars (which is not on right now).   I grew up wishing I could dance.   We didn’t have extra money when I was growing up so once we did I had a choice:   piano or dance lessons.   Piano trumped because the piano would go in my room, an object I could see, touch and play every day.   I still wish I could dance and love watching others do the intricate steps on DWTS.

5. Project Runway.   Another show that isn’t on at the moment but I love seeing the fashion unfold, the drama of the queens and the gals and well…need I say more?  

6. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.   As a kid, taking vacation was exciting but we either had to take the cheap route (staying in the camper and eating sandwiches) or we had to eat in a known chain place.   Daddy didn’t like taking chances with an unknown when it came to food.   So as an adult I get to play by my rules and those are:   you can’t eat at a place you have at home.   DDD tells me about places that I might visit someday.   Plus I love seeing how some of this stuff is made. 

7. The Next Food Network Star.   I only discovered this show the season Aaron McCargo won.   I so wished I could have seen the season with Guy Fieri.   This particular season seems to have several contestants who don’t quite get it.  

8. Desperate Housewives.   I love it.   No explanation.  

9. Gray’s Anatomy.   I don’t love it like I used to.   I honestly think this show would be great without Meredith and McDreamy for that matter.   I am glad Izzie is coming back.  

10. The Newlyweds.   I like this show.   I love how they put the couples through the steps to see how well they communicate and work together.   It’s also funny.  

 

I’m sure there are many other shows I watch more than the 10 listed above but none are popping into my head at the moment.

What’s going on today…

Blogging

Ok, the reason I don’t blog very often is because most often I am lacking content.   I spare you from hearing the details of the daily grind at work and you should thank me for that.     I am knitting most days but when working on a piece that goes on forever and ever I don’t really want to clutter up hard drive space and webspace showing yet again another picture of the same scarf I showed you last time.   All of this to say I’m going to start participating in Ten on Tuesday!!!!  

Here it is Ten on Tuesday .  The theme for this week is 10 Things You’d Bring on a Deserted Island. 

1.  A nice tall man (emphasis on nice).

2.  Lexi (and she may be number 1 if the tall man isn’t nice but I digress)

3.  Sun screen because I have the complexion of a red head.

4.  Ten tons of bottled water (btw did you know that you can use the empty bottles so that condensation can form resulting in a water supply?  just saying).

5.   My pillow (are you getting the drift that my comfort takes a priority here?)

6.  Materials with which to knit and that includes every needle I own, every skein of yarn I own, all patterns and every implement needed.  Whew!   And those of you who have a clue about my stash know I could knit for a year or more on my stash alone. 

7.   Many books including one entitled “How to Survive on a Desert Island. 

8.  Carmex (the lipstick variety)

9.  Bug spray (yes, I’m a woosie when it comes to insects).

10.  My favorite knitting peeps (and you KNOW who you are)!

Knit on and prosper!

To go where no man has ever gone……

That’s right.   We went to see Star Trek today.   First let me say I am not a science fiction fan but let’s face it I grew up on the original Star Trek.   So science fiction or not, it’s part of my childhood.   I had no real excitement to see the movie when I first heard it was coming out.   Then I heard a few people talking about how good it was and had someone else who went to see it two times in about that many weeks.   lol   I decided I needed to see it on the big screen.   It is good.   It grabs you from the first minute and except for one brief moment, keeps your attention the entire movie.   I read somewhere else that the movie stayed true to the old Star Trek and that is 100% true.   And without revealing too much there is a blending of the old with the new.   I loved it and would highly recommend it.   It is the best movie I’ve seen in a long while.

Knitting front:   Still plugging away with the Lisa Souza Hardtwist Petite…again I can’t begin to say how much I enjoy knitting with that yarn.   I’m going to get more in August since she’ll be at Sock Summit.  Yay!

Don’t have anything more.    Oh wait…knit on and prosper!  

Monday June 1

Have you ever started walking to your car in the grocery store parking lot only to realize you can’t remember where you parked?   It happens to me ever so often.   Most often it happens at the Wal*art parking lot.   You know the HUGE parking lots where you have to wander for a couple of rows…..yeah that is where it happens most to me.   I’ve always wondered if it is just part of aging.   Well today I found out it isn’t.   Let me preface this with I promise I’m not being tacky, ok?   lol   I noticed a lady in her early 30’s coming out of the grocery store.   She was dressed in a sharp outfit with heels on that would break one’s neck if you fell out of them.    She was walking with purpose.   Marching with her cart of groceries straight to her car.   I was pushing my empty cart to the cart carrel  when I noticed she hesitated.   She kept her back very straight (she had poster to be envied) and turned her cart to the right and made a sudden cut through the line of cars.   When I turned around to walk back to my car she was pushing her cart up the next row away from the direction she had been walking.   I couldn’t help but smile.   I hope no one saw me because they wouldn’t understand.   She made me feel better and not so old all because she couldn’t find her car.  

I reached my goal last month.   You didn’t know about it because I didn’t tell anyone until I had made it.   When I came back from Atlanta I made a goal of knitting every single day for a month.   I made it!   There was one night where I was really tired and didn’t want to pick up the needles but I did.   When I first started knitting again I probably knitted every single day for months on end.   But somewhere along the past 5 years that stopped.   I’m going to try to set aside some time every day to knit.   Wish me continued success!

I’m working on the same scarf I showed last post.   I can’t tell you enough how much I love the Hardtwist Petite.   I plan on buying more when I attend Sock Summit.

No pictures tonight since the scarf looks the same only a few  inches longer.   It’s past my bedtime and my eyes are drooping.

Knit on!

Ta-da!!!!!!!

Ta-da?   What is the Ta-da for?   I’m so very excited.    Remember a while back I said I was so tempted to go to Sock Summit 2009?   Well I am!!!!!   That’s right.   I managed to get three classes at Sock Summit and I am about to burst with excitement.   I had vacilated for months about going.   After Stitches South that urge became more insistent.   So I talked to Marjie and we decided if we could get into some classes we wanted that we’d go.   The 26th rolled around and I was poised with credit card and computer at the ready.    After an hour of frustration, pages not loading, a reboot of the system at work and then all the classes showing ’sold out’  I gave up.   I was worried that the volume of people wanting to enroll would be too much and it was.   I also knew the classes would fill up within minutes and I wasn’t far off base.   I was about ready to leave for lunch when Marjie called and said there are classes showing available.   I pulled the page back up and managed to get 2 of my first choices and one of my second choice classes.  What did I get?   I nabbed Holes in Your Sock with Anne Hanson, Toe Up for Travelers with Lucy Neatby and Beaded Cables with Sivia Harding!   I really wanted to get into Barbara Walker’s Mosaic class just for the sake of taking a class from Barbara herself.   That is the one everyone else wanted too.   Darn it.   But!   I will get to see Barbara at the book signing and I did get a ticket for the Luminary Panel.   Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!   Ok, I’ll try to settle down now.   Breath deep……. 

Yes I have knitting content.   I’ve been working on a scarf with the Lisa Souza Hardtwist Petite that I got while at Stitches South.   I do love that yarn.   (She’ll be at Sock Summit btw)  Here is the progress so far:

I can’t begin to describe how enjoyable this yarn is to knit with.   I love the color variations.   It reminds me of Monet’s Waterlillies.

I went to visit my mother this past weekend.   When I was leaving we saw this:

It’s a little toad and this is a birdhouse sitting on top of a pole.   How on earth he got up and in there is beyond me.   But my mother said he was in there last summer too….or maybe a different toad?   lol   Anyway, he just blinked and posed for the camera.

Hope all of you have a great weekend and hopefully filled with lots of knitting!

Diners Drive Ins and Dives!!!

Guess who is across the street at The Diner filming an episode of Diners Drive Ins and Dives!!!!   Guy Fieri!!!

And yes, I do have my picture with him but I so hate pictures of me.   lol   So this will have to do!!

 

ETA:  To correct title and add his name.

Monday in May

I have knitting content!   A FO and a new WIP.

Ruffled Baby Hat

This is the Ruffled Baby Hat I finished yesterday.   The yarn is Claudia Handpaint Cotton.   The colorway is Desert Dusk.   Marjie and I both picked up this yarn at The Needle Nook in Atlanta.   This is the result of cobbling a pattern from several other patterns.   Does that make it mine??      It is obviously for a newborn.   I’ll make another soon and make it larger.   It is way too small for my glass head so this tumbler had to be my model.

I’ve long wanted to cast on something with one of my yarns from Brooks Farms in Lancaster, Texas.   This is Solo Silk that I picked up at Stitches Midwest in Chicago this past summer.   The pattern for this project is Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson.

Morning Glory Wrap by Anne Hanson out of Solo Silk by Brooks Farms

I’ve got a ways to go but it seems to go by pretty quick.

When we found out Karen couldn’t  go to Atlanta with us she told us we’d have to buy some yarn for her.   Karen’s second love is pottery.   So when we saw the yarn bowls at the Knit Witch’s booth I knew Karen would love to have one.    We wouldn’t tell her what her ‘hard thing’ was as we wanted it to be a surprise.   Because of that I couldn’t post about mine because Karen was stalking the blog hoping to get a clue.   Well she now has her ‘hard thing’ and I think she is very pleased.   I know I love mine and here it is:

Yarn Bowl

I love putting my yarn cake into the bowl, threading the yarn through the notch and knitting away.   No matter how I yank on the yarn the cake stays in place.   I really like it a lot.

I’m thinking out loud here…..have you seen the roster for Sock Summit?   It is INCREDIBLE!!   And the prices are very reasonable.   $70 for a 3 hour class.   $140 for 6 hours.   Stephanie and Tina have already made comments that this may be a one time deal.   I am really tempted to go.

Lexi had a rough day last week.   I have a picture on my living room wall that is pretty heavy.   I’ve used the same hanger for this picture for years.   It’s rated for 45 lbs.   For some reason it fell last week while Lexi was sitting just feet from it.   Needless to say it scared her terribly.   I’ve never seen her run for cover so hard and quick before!   This happened before I left for work.   I came home around 4:30 to let the AC guys in.   I didn’t see her but then she wouldn’t make an appearance with strangers in the house.   I couldn’t help but notice she had not visited her box nor had she eaten any of her food.   I left after the AC was recharged to meet the gals to knit.   I came home around 8.   I started looking for Lexi and after half an hour still had not found her.   I even tempted her with a midweek treat and she wasn’t showing.   I finally sat down and about 20 minutes later she made her appearance.   That was the night we had the storms come through so I put her and essentials into my closet and closed the door.   I joined her twice when the sirens went off but left her when I came out to check the weather on the tv.   When I went back to let her out she wasn’t there!   I knew there was no way she could have gotten out so I looked again and there she was laying on top of a pile of my shoes with my shirts hiding all of her except her eyes and nose.   lol   If only I had my camera in hand!

Mama....why are you telling about my stressful day?

Keep on knitting!

Knit or Tink?

This week it seems everything I touched had to be frogged or tinked.

I took the lovely Hardtwist Petite by Lisa Souza that I picked up at Stitches South and started Ishbel.   One would think that after nearly five years of knitting that I would know how to read a knitting pattern by now.   Sigh!  I was nearly finished with the ‘boring’ knit of the pattern when it was brought to my attention that the small scarf size took over 600 yards of fingering weight.   My skein was 500 yards.   Grrrrrrr……I frogged it.   It was such a beautiful fabric.   So I found a gorgeous pattern for The Checkerboard Lace Scarf.   I cast on and by row 8 I was tinking.   I tinked back 3 rows when I threw in the towel and ripped the whole thing out.   I wound the yarn back around the cake and gave it a loving pat and put it in time out.   It isn’t the yarn it is me.

Today I picked up the Andrea Reversible.   I messed up immediately and tinked back three rows.   I ended up ripping back to the lifeline.   Then I put it back into the project bag and put the needles down.

I think my mojo is injured.   So I’ll practice some things for a few days before I pick up a project again.   Sometimes the planets are not aligned as they should be.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Happy knitting!