I never would have dreamed that some handy item from the kitchen would be such a handy tool in knitting, but it is.   I cannot remember where I read about using a salad spinner to rid a knitted item of excess water when blocking.  I am guessing I read it on Ravelry but it has been so long ago I forgot.   I know I looked at different salad spinners in the store but most had a point in the center bottom or along the sides and that would not work with knitting.   I had it in my head that my salad spinner had one single point at the bottom center and I was wrong.   Yay!   I first tested it while blocking Ostrich Plumes.   It worked like a charm.   I would highly recommend using this on your next blocking project. 

Speaking of Ostrich Plumes:

The pattern is Ostrich Plumes by Anne Hanson.   I promise the pictures do not do the item justice.   (Most pictures of knitted items don’t, IMHO.)  The yarn is Prism Saki in the Tumbleweed colorway.   I bought it at GYC in OKC.   Don’t go rushing up there to buy that colorway as they are out.   I was knitting on this in L & B one Sunday a few weeks ago and two customers wanted to know the yarn and name.   One did rush up to GYC and bought the last two skeins.   lol   But they do have many other gorgeous colorways in stock.  The yarn is a joy to knit with.   I loved the way the colors pop and did not pool.   This pattern is so easy to memorize.   There is one ‘working row’ and 3 simple rows.   I counted my stitches after each ‘working row’ and didn’t have to worry for 3 rows.   Easy to knit on while talking with other knitters.   No deep concentration or constant searching a chart or lines to keep your place.   Easy Peasy.  

I also picked up a long forgotten UFO, my Bubble Bag.   I’m using 15’s or 17’s with a strand of 220 along with one strand of Kureyon.   I think I last knitted on this a year ago.   It is into the portion where I’ll knit forever to get it long enough.   I cast on 2.5 as many stitches as the pattern called for.   I wanted a bigger bag so we’ll see how that goes.  

I bought a set of the Zephyr needles from Knit Picks.   I haven’t used them yet but I will soon.   I bought them for the express purpose of knitting with darker yarns.   I also bought two packages of the blocking pins.   Ugh.   Tried to use them today when blocking a scarf and I do not like them.   I have some dressmaker pins that are rustproof and I’ll continue to use those as they are much easier to push in and remove.  

Welcome Charlie!   Charlie is my betta fish.   He was given to me by my co-workers.   Believe me, he was a complete surprise.   And surprisingly to me, I really enjoy him.   As I am prone to do since I’ve been on the internet, I’m researching care of  betta’s and realize this bowl set up has to go.   It is inhumane in my books and while I am trying to find the better tank for him I am doing frequent water changes.   There is so much information out there and much of it conflicts with what you just read.   I finally got a book on betta’s published by Animal Planet.   I know the new tank needs to have a heater and filtration.   The pump is the big question.   A pump with too much current is not good for Charlie but one with a light current could be fun for him.   Decisions!   Decisions!!  

I walked into the living room last week and there was Lexi….lounging around with one paw draped over her favorite mouse.   Good thing it is covered with sisal rope.   Believe me, she gives it some rough treatment.   lol 

I really loved the fall weather we had last week.   Today’s heat spell is too much in my books.   I’m so ready for fall!  

Hope all of you are knitting and relaxing on this Sunday afternoon.

Question:   Why is it when you walk into many restaurants you can’t smell the cooking anymore?

Question:   Why is it when the media reports a GOP protest it is a mob and when it is a Democratic protest it is a grassroots protest?

On the knitting front:   I am plugging along on the Anne Hanson’s Ostrich Plume Stole.   I’m using Prism Saki in the Tumbleweed colorway.   I originally bought 2 skeins as that was 860 yards and the pattern calls for 700 yards.   I am at the 30 inch mark and only have a row or two left of yarn from the first skein.   I picked up a 3rd skein Sunday because I was afraid two skeins would not be enough.   Now I’m thinking if I get 30 inches from one skein, 60 inches from two surely when I block it I’ll gain 12 more inches?   Oh well, if I don’t need the 3rd I can always use it for something else.   It is a very pretty colorway.

Is anyone else addicted to Farm Town on Facebook??   I am in need of neighbors.   Hint hint.

Stay cool and knit on!

Today’s theme is ten sounds you love to hear.   Ok, this should be easy peasy. 

1.  Sometimes when Lexi is napping in the chair next to me, she’ll wake up, make this trilling kind of meow and raise her head to me.   She wants me to pet her for a second and then she lays her head down and goes back to sleep.   Hearing her do that warms my heart.

2.  I love the sound of her paws/claws on the carpet when she is playing.

3.  I love the sound of my friends’ laughter.  

4.  I love hearing a shower singer.   I don’t hear that often but when I do it makes me smile.

5.   This is old but when I was a kid I couldn’t go to sleep until I heard the Johnny Carson theme playing.   After it was over or during I’d close my eyes and go to sleep.   Daddy always watched Johnny Carson every week night and I didn’t realize until I was 11 or so how hard it was to go to sleep on the weekends.   lol  

6.  This is another old one.  I can remember riding in the back seat when I was a kid and hearing the clop clop clop of the tires when we’d go over a seam in the highway.   I guess there were bunches of them between Tulsa and Sapulpa because I would drift off to sleep hearing that sound.  

7.  This is a brand new one….but the video on You Tube of Jill and Kevin’s wedding.   I’ve watched that video at least 17 times now and I love the music and it becomes an ear worm.   It makes me smile just thinking about it.

8.   This one voice.   It calms me and is soothing to hear and I feel all is right with the world when I hear it.  

9.  A baby’s laugh.   It is infectious.  

10.  A song I can sing along to.   Sorry….way too many to list just one.  

What sounds do you like to hear?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

This has to be the best way to start a wedding….Enjoy!!

Ok, so I’m a day late.   Tuesdays are usually difficult but easier than Mondays…anyway here goes:

Ten Favorite Places to Eat:

1.  Wildfire in Schaumburg, Illinois.   Marjie and I had the best steak I’ve ever had last August.   We tried Wildfire in Atlanta and it was not the same.   The Illinois location had steak that was butter smooth and melted in your mouth.   Yum.

2.  Lou Malnati’s Pizza again in Schaumburg, Illinois.   (Someone told me Chicago had some great food and they were not wrong.)   I grew up on cracker thin pizza and that is my preference.   This is not cracker thin pizza.   It’s deep dish in all it’s glory.   Butter seemed to permeate the crust.   Lordy, was it good.

3.  La Hacienda in Lewisville, Texas.   I have only eaten there once but it was the best fajitas I’ve ever had.   From what I’ve read online, this restaurant is owned by the same family who had the old Mariano’s restaurants in DFW area.   La Hacienda is a steak house with a few Mexican dishes.   The building is a huge log cabin with a spacious porch and at least one nice rocker.   We had to wait for quite awhile but it was worth every minute of it.

4.  Exit Coneys!!!   Ok, that isn’t the real name but that is what we’ve dubbed them.   Coney I-lander in Tulsa.   Please make note of the name.   There are many others who try to ride on the coattails by using a similar name but this is the place with no S in the name.   There are several locations across Tulsa.   My fave is off 41st and Yale BEHIND the Barnes and Noble.   One of my earliest memories of Tulsa was in the original location that used to be on 4th street.   I remember my Daddy picking me up and putting me into one of the old school desk seats and asking me what I wanted on my coney.   Needless to say that was many years ago.   Daddy used to joke that the downtown location was THE BEST because the elderly man who made up those coneys had bad vision and had to breathe on the coney in order to fix it.      (No offense…..)   Anyway, all these years later and I’ve managed to hook some OKC folks (you know who you are) on these delicious gems.   Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em.  

5.  Ron’s Hamburgers.   Another Tulsa chain.   And I will tell you not all are created equal.   The best location for taste is 15th and Lewis.   It isn’t easy to park nor easy to get a seat (counter seats only) but damn those burgers are good.   The Spanish fries are good also.   Hand cut not frozen.   Yum.  

6.  Pappadeaux’s.   I’m sad to say Oklahoma does not have this chain.   And that is our loss.   I ate at Pappadeaux’s in Atlanta.   I ordered the chicken breast and Marjie ordered fried shrimp.   We split and shared.   The chicken breast was very good but the shrimp was to die for.  

7.  Pappasito’s Cantina.   I’ve eaten at two of these now, one in Atlanta and one in Richardson, Texas.   This is a Pappa’s family chain.   Again the reason I say it is one of my faves is because of the shrimp.   Order fajita’s with the brochette of shrimp.   Jalapeno stuffed inside shrimp wrapped in bacon.   Need I say more?

8.  Paradise Bakery in Denver.   This is the only store I’ve visited.   We ate breakfast there when we did our massive yarn crawl across Colorado in May of 2008.   Get the oatmeal.   Yes, the oatmeal.   They serve steelcut oats in a freshly baked oatmeal cookie with a spread of sliced strawberries on top.   Oh. My. God.   It is good.   Again no locations in Oklahoma. 

9.  Elmer’s.   It Be Bad.   This is a bbq joint in Tulsa.    I highly recommend the Badwich.   It is a bun topped with bbq bologna, chopped brisket, one hot link and a rib on the side.   It also comes with two choices of sides.  Elmer passed away a few years ago.  Honestly, I haven’t eaten there since I moved to the OKC area but I remember it fondly.  

10.  Ok, here’s one for the OKC folks.   Bricktown Burgers.   It has a great onion burger.   The sad thing is it is only open for lunch Monday through Friday.   Needless to say I haven’t enjoyed one since I started working in Norman.  

I know this list would be different at a later time….but for now….that is it.

Knit on!

Since the announcement that Paul McCartney is coming to Tulsa, I started thinking about all the concerts I’ve attended.   My first was The Monkees back in 1967.   My last was Alabama probably in the mid 80’s.   In between I’ve seen John Denver, Mack Davis, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Turtles, Lionel Richie, Helen Reddy, Tina Turner, Kenny Rogers, Elvis Presley.   I’m sure there are few more (I wasn’t really into attending concerts).   I think  Tina Turner’s show was  hands down, the best I ever saw.   That woman put on the THE best show I’ve ever seen in person.   Why not Elvis?   Back when he came to Tulsa in 1976, ‘in the round’ concept had not really come to Tulsa.   Let me preface what I’m about to say with this:   I was not a big Elvis fan.   I appreciated that he was a great singer and entertainer but I didn’t get excited and giddy like I would for others.   I knew that I may as well go and see him so I could say I saw Elvis in person.   I had a coworker who was a HUGE fan and she was going to spend the night outside the ticket doors the night before tickets went on sale.   I decided what the heck…I’ll stay with her.   And I did.   It was chaos at best.   Long story short, the sellers refused to let us see a floor map and we ended up with about 12th row seats.   Unfortunately we were on the almost back side of the stage.    That part of the stage was stacked with coils and coils of hose/line of some type.   Elvis had to carefully pick his way over these coiled cords so that he was facing us.   Needless to say he didn’t spend most of this time on that part of the stage.   Big disappointment.

So I have this question for everyone, what is THE greatest/best concert you ever saw?

I guess the other huge news of the week was MJ’s  memorial service.   To me, it was more like a show.   When Jennifer Hudson had dancers swaying around her while she sang, it became entertainment.   I was thinking earlier while seeing some memorial type service on tv this morning….back in the early 80’s when his star was really on the rise, my then brother in law (who had his own graphic arts business) was approached by MJ’s people.   He was asked to do the art on the album cover for MJ’s next album.   I cannot for the life of me remember if it was for what would be the Thriller album or the one after.   My brother in law turned it down.   Why?   Because MJ’s people had one request:   that my brother in law do the work for free.   I guess they felt the mere honor of being asked and doing it for MJ was payment enough.   Tacky.

Knitting news:   I bought some Prism Saki yesterday in the Tumbleweed colorway.   I LOVE this color.   Being the fickle knitter that I am, I wound it and cast on last night for Anne Hanson’s Ostrich Plume Stole.

I had a great afternoon yesterday meeting with a bunch of knitting friends.   We always have the best show-n-tell when it comes to yarn, bags, implements and WIP’s and finished objects.   I guess we are also a bunch of enablers…..it sure does send us into a frenzy of writing down patterns and websites…that is for sure.

I took these pictures of Lexi earlier this week.   These were taken first thing in the morning when the east sun is pouring in through the windows.   This little kitty watches to see when it hits the floor and she lays in the beam.  Smart girl.

Stay warm and knit on!

The theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Things That Turn You Off About People.  Uh oh.   Here we go:

1. Liars.   I may not call you on it but I can tell.

2. Lack of manners.   I’ll say this again:   There ain’t nuthin more attractive on a man (or anyone else for that matter) than good manners.

3. Arrogant people.

4. A smart ass who isn’t smart enough to know when to shut up.

5. People who don’t take good care of their pets.

6. People who drive in the left lane.   Drive right, pass left.

7. People who see the glass as always half empty.

8.  Those who are always the victim no matter what the situation.

9. Fake, plastic, phony, needy of attention people.

10. People who talk too loud or too much and dominate conversations.

Ok, that was pretty much a downer.   Better than sports….but not much fun.  

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!

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.