"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

9/27/15

Love Is In The Air

People will tell you that spring time is the time for love. I beg to differ. For a goodly part of the animal kingdom, autumn is the season for romantic encounters

It's rutting season! For some reason the four legged hooved critters have decided the Parkarosa is the romantic place to be.

This morning we had a pair of moose hangin' around. The bull was quite obvious with his intentions (can you say horny?). He followed the cow all over the yard with his nose close to her behind trying to have his way with her. Despite his efforts, she played coy and hard to get. Click on the pics to embiggen them.

I first noticed Bull as he strolled by the living room window. When I got my camera and returned to the window he was rubbing his nice pair of antlers all over my snow berry bushes.



Missy Cow was hiding behind the tractor. When she realized I was no danger to her standing in the window watching her, she strolled over. Mmm, a tasty snack!



She's a Diva, so she had to pose for the camera.



As moose go, she's kind of small, but very pretty.



Bull didn't like having his picture taken, so he moved out of camera view to stand behind the trailer and watch Missy Cow daintily slurping up all the snow berries.



She wandered to the backyard. He followed her, nose first.



Eventually the two settled for a nice rest in a corner of the lawn by the garden fence.



A few minutes later, two Whitetail does showed up in the same corner. They walked right by the moose within touching distance of each other. They were very shy of me though, so they headed over behind the garden.



A couple minutes later I heares Ruth say "Mom, there are three bucks down the hill!" They were following the does. I couldn't get a pic of them. They went into the bushes and refused to come out.

None of this seemed to bother Bull and Missy in the slightest. They hung around for about an hour more, Bull resting in the grass, and Missy chewing on things here and there,



then slowly ambled away. His nose was close to her behind. I expect he'll follow her until he gets what he wants. Daughter says "He's gonna have a long day."

The does and bucks came back, but I chased them away. Cabled needed to pee.

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/19/15

Layette Set #4

I haven't had much time for blogging lately. But I'm managing to make time for knitting. Layette Set #4 is done.



The blanket.



Pattern: Double Crochet Edging

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 282 Rust

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 312 Black

Hooks: Size C and G

Started: September 8, 2015
Finished: September 9, 2015

I've done the foundation row in rust, then a row of single crochet in black, then a row of double crochet in rust. I crocheted in the back loop of the black row to make a little black ridge to sort of mimic the black row in the cardigan pattern.



The cardigan.

Front

Pattern: Super Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea

Size: 0-6 months
Made for: Knitwits

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 282 Rust

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 341 Light Grey

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 312 Black

Needles: Circular Size 5 and 7

Cast on: September 2, 2015
Completed: September 10, 2015

I've done this pattern before, though it was a few years ago. I really like how it works up.

Back

The stripe pattern is fun.



I especially like how the stitches for the neckline and button bands are picked up and knit as one continuous piece. It makes for a very neat appearance.



The hat.



Pattern: Magic Coffee Baby Hat by Tracey Kay

Size: 3-6 months
Made for: Knitwits

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 282 Rust

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 341 Light Grey

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 312 Black

Needles: Circular Size 5 and 7

Cast on: September 18, 2015
Completed: September 18, 2015

My hat looks quite a bit different than the original pattern. I just used the pattern as a foundation for my own ideas. I put a garter stitch cuff and matching stripe pattern in it so it matches the cardigan.



The booties.



Pattern: Seamless Garter Tassel Booties by Karen Strauss
Size: 6 months
Made for: Knitwits

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 282 Rust

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: 312 Black

Needles: Circular Size 7

Cast on: September 15, 2015
Completed: September 18, 2015

Again, I've modified the pattern. I did 2.5 inches of 1x1 rib, then a garter stitch cuff to match the sweater. I also knit in a row of eyelets so I could put in cord for laces.



Tomorrow I am working in the Inland Northwest Freethought Society's booth at the Spokane County Interstate Fair. This will be my third, and last shift. The fair ends tomorrow night.

Our booth

On Saturday, September 26, I am going to the Southeast Spokane County Fair in Rockford, Washington to demonstrate knitting. I will be joining a couple other ladies who I met in Knitwits for this fun little adventure.

After that, fair season will be done for me. Next on the agenda will be Parktoberfest, the annual Park family party. Then sweet hubby and I are taking a trip. We're hooking up the trailer and driving to Sault Ste Marie, MI to take care of my property. The appraisal came in. offers were made and accepted, and now the sale of said property can go forward. It will be nice to get this monkey off my back.

The weather this coming week is supposed to be wonderful. In the 70's with sunshine and fluffy clouds. I'm looking forward to it. I hope I can get some deck knitting in. This past week was chilly, grey, and a bit damp. Indoor weather, and a sure sign that winter is coming.

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/7/15

It's Labor Day!



It's feels extra important to me this year that this holiday be celebrated. Happy Labor Day to all the hard workers of this country of ours.

Live long and prosper! \\//

9/4/15

North Idaho Fair 2015 Report

I am all done with fair stuff for the year. Yay! Here's my things and how they did.

My knitted items were not displayed very well. In fact, I thought the whole  building looked terrible this year. Don't know what was up with that. I guess they all can't be winners.

I got a blue ribbon on my black and pink Polarized hat,



I won a red ribbon on my red Little Brick Checks mittens. I won a white ribbon on the little Teal baby set.



I won a blue ribbon on my bead embroidered bracelet, Cat By The River.



Knitwits did wonderful this year. We had 50 entries. We had one Best of Show in crochet, and one Second Best of Show in knitting, 23 blue ribbons, 14 red ribbons, 8 white ribbons, and 5 honorable mentions. We're way up over last year. I am very proud of our group and how they did.

Got to do some deck knitting this afternoon. Only an hour, but I sure enjoyed it. I worked on the cardigan for Layette #4. The sun was shining. We had beautiful blue sky with fluffy clouds and a nice cool breeze.



Summer is definitely gone. What a change in just a couple days. The leaves are turning and the air has that crisp sweet fall smell, heavy on the pine. The lawn is starting to disappear beneath a building layer of pinkish orange pine needles. Winter is coming.

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/1/15

Layette Set #3

Third layette set is done. I'm very happy with it.



I've already posted details on the raglan pullover. I also have a hat.


Pattern: Magic Coffee Baby Hat by Tracey Kay

Size: 3-6 months
Made for: Knitwits

Yarn: Pingoun Sport Crylor (discontinued decades ago)
Content: 90% Acrylic/10% Vinyon, Worsted Weight
Color: 56 Pale Green

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Maize

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Black

Needles: Size 7 circulars

Cast on: August 20, 2015
Completed: August 23, 2015

These are the booties.



Pattern: Seamless Garter Tassel Booties by Karen Strauss
Size: 3 months
Made for: Knitwits

Yarn: Pingoun Sport Crylor (discontinued decades ago)
Content: 90% Acrylic/10% Vinyon, Worsted Weight
Color: 56 Pale Green

Yarn: Red Heart Classic
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Maize

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Black

Needles: Size 7 circulars

Cast on: August 20, 2015
Completed: September 1, 2015




Last, but not least, the crochet edged blanket.



Pattern: Granny Square Edging

Yarn: Pingoun Sport Crylor (discontinued decades ago)
Content: 90% Acrylic/10% Vinyon, Worsted Weight
Color: 56 Pale Green

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted Weight
Color: Black

Hooks: Size C and G

Started:  August 13, 2015
Finished: August 23, 2015



Taking it to the Knitwits meeting tomorrow.



On Sunday we got our new pickup truck. I have to say, it's the prettiest truck we've ever owned.

Sweet Hubby and his 2015 Ford F150 Supercab XLT in Ruby Red

Sweet Hubby is very happy with it. I am too. Hopefully we'll get a lot of good years out of it.

We took a good drive later in the evening when we drove to the west side of Spokane to the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights where we attended a concert featuring Huey Lewis and the News. It rides very nice. My sister-in-law, Sue, got tickets through work. Free delicious drink and food came with it. I enjoyed myself immensely. Huey still has it. He's a very good entertainer and I love his band. Very talented and skilled musicians.

His opening act, though, was awful. Eddie Money performed, if you can call it that. He needs to retire. He's lost his voice and his energy. He was wearing a blue leisure suit straight out of the 70's. (What is with that?) It was very hard to watch him. I'm glad Huey Lewis was after him. Huey made up for it.

This week I'm having the property in northern Michigan that I inherited from my father appraised. The next door neighbor wants to buy it very badly. I don't have any plans to live there ever, nor do my daughters want it. So I'm going to sell it to him. We are now planning a trip to Dafter to get the property cleaned up (I still need to take care of daddy's belongings) and perhaps get paperwork done for the sale and whatnot. We're going to drive back, towing our trailer. Gotta try out the truck with it's tow package.

The money from the sale will be used to build a much needed garage. We had planned to do that earlier this year with money we'd saved up, but then Sweet Hubby had the stroke and quite a bit of our savings went into paying the bills not covered by our insurance. Plus a couple other things that came up. 

Our weather has changed considerably. On Saturday it was hot and very windy. The smoke was so thick we couldn't see the mountains, and then we got a dust storm on top of that. It was a miserable day. But on Sunday it cooled off and clouded up. It actually rained! Almost all day long! It was  wonderful! The clouds cleared up and the sun came out just before the concert. All the smoke and dust was gone from the air. It was perfect timing. We're supposed to have cooler weather for at least the rest of the week. Today it was perfect weather and the air smelled so good, but I did not get any time to sit out on the deck and enjoy it. Hopefully, tomorrow afternoon I can return to deck knitting.

I picked up all the fair entries on Monday. I'll be turning them in to Knitwits at tomorrows meeting, along with 2 layette sets, 2 pairs of mens mittens I've made, and a red sweater I finished (was donated partially done). I will be glad to get them out of my life at long last. I get a 4 month break, and then I start collecting entries all over again.

Live long and prosper. \\//