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

7/30/08

WIP Wednesday 7/30/08

Having finished three pair of socks in one month, I'm feeling some super hot sock mojo going on. I have already started the next pair.

I'm using this wonderful hand dyed sock yarn I bought some time last summer. It's Cheeky Monkey Fibers Sock Yarn in the Water Nymph colorway, which is a pastel lime green, violet, and white in a 75% superwash merino wool/25% nylon blend. It is one of the softest sock yarns I've felt in awhile. Almost as soft as cashmere.




I've cast on a pair of Summer 2008 socks by Wendy Johnson. She designed this pattern special for those of us participating in the Summer of Socks kal. This is my very first toe up socks pattern. So far, so good. I tried the Turkish cast on for the first time. It went fairly easily for me.



Now, this is certainly a work in progress. My tomato plants finally have tomatoes. Hurray! Now, lets just keep our fingers crossed that we don't get that stupid annual frost the first week of August.



There won't be anymore posts from me the rest of this week. We are going on another one of our camping trips. Going back to Priest Lake again. The weather looks like it's going to cooperate in a big way. Not too hot, not too cold, not raining. I can live with that.

Today is Sweet Hubby's birthday. We are celebrating tonight, at the lake. That way we can celebrate both the twins at the same time.

Happy birthday Sweet Hubby!


Happy Birthday Sweet Brother in Law!




Have a great weekend.


7/29/08

What I Did on Sunday

Each year, in July, the Coeur d'Alene Indian tribe hosts the largest Pow wow in the northwest called Julyamsh. Representatives from tribes all over the U.S. and Canada come to this Pow wow. I've always wanted to go, but every year we've been out of town on that weekend. Not this year. This year I finally got to go. Ruth went with me. We enjoyed genuine Indian food, and watched the proceedings. There was drumming, and dancing, and wonderful ceremonies. At one point there were 800 dancers in the ring, all dancing at once, in their bright colorful regalia. It was a fascinating event. I took tons and tons of pictures, a few of which I'm posting here. Please click on them to enlarge.

The ceremony started with the Victory ride, which memorializes the hunters, or warriors, returning in victory. It was led by this fellow, who is a chief, but I don't remember what tribe. The photo, of course, does not do him justice. Actually none of the photos do the subjects justice. And this horse was absolutely magnificent! I've never seen a more beautiful horse in my life. It carried itself with such majesty.


There are basically 2 reasons why I wanted to go to Julyamsh.

First of all, I am part Indian. My grandfather was a Chippewa of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa tripe. This is information that I have not known long, and the day I learned about it (my grandmother told me) I was quite shocked. I just thought Grampa had a really good tan all my life, because he was such an outdoors man. Besides, if you saw my Dad-as fair skinned as they come, with freckles and red hair, and both my sisters are fair and blongd, you'd doubt the existence of Indian blood in us too.

Anyway, I have been curious about my Indian heritage. Thus, the desire to go to Julyamsh.

The second reason? The beadwork! I have been dying to see the beadwork on the regalia. I was rewarded with awesomeness.

This ladies horse wear was even beaded. Beautiful!



Most of the men had gorgeous beaded cuffs on their wrists.



During the dancing ceremony, this young man was really putting his heart and soul into his dance. I really enjoyed watching him.



These two young people were sitting down in front of me. Beautiful bead work in her hair, and her head dress.


This fellow stopped in front of me to lean on the rail and rest a bit. They danced for well over an hour in the hot sun. Many of the dancers were wearing multiple layers of buckskin garments. There were ladies who's job it was to walk through the dancers and hand out ice cold bottles of water.



Most of the regalia is made by the wearer, or the wearers family or friends. Each symbol embroidered, appliqued, or beaded has a symbolic meaning. Some of them are tribal symbols, some are personal. Many of the materials used are natural, like skins, furs, bone, shell, porcupine quills, feathers, and whatnot. I did see some modern materials too. One fellow had actually used CD's in his head gear. It was beautiful. Much thought goes into the design and construction of these outfits because they have great spiritual meaning to the wearer.

All in all it was a wonderful experience. I'm so glad I went.

Have a good day.

7/28/08

Purple Charades

Today I have two choices. Post about what I did yesterday, or post what I finished last night. I decided to go with the FO. That gives me more time to process the photos of what I did yesterday.

I have finished a third pair of socks this month. Wow!


Pattern: Charade by Sandra Park

Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn

Colorway: Midnight Passion

Needles: Size 2 Addi Lace Circular.

Cast On: July 11, 2008
Completed: July 27, 2008

Comments: I love this pattern. I love the yarn. I just wish the pattern showed up a little better in the yarn.


Have a great day.

7/27/08

The First Time Meme

I don't have anything to write about today, so I'm going to do another meme. I will say, it is a day of celebration. It's the last day I have to watch bony butts bouncing on bicycle seats. Yes, the final stage of the Tour de France. HURRAY!!!!! I've missed Good Morning America. Not seeing it has screwed up my morning routine. Now, on to the meme.

When Was Your First Time

Who was your first prom date? Mike Skyles. No one from school asked me. Mike was my best friend. He was a couple years older than me, and never went to his high school prom, so I talked him into going with me to mine. We had a good time.


Do you still talk to your first love? No. I have no idea where he is .

What was your first alcoholic drink?
Wine. My parents made it. They'd made an apple wine that turned out really sweet and I got to have some of it. I remember it being very good.

What was your first job?
Picking raspberries. Hard work for very little pay. I earned $1.10 after 8 hours in the hot sun.

What was your first car?
A 1972 Plymouth Valiant, bought just a couple weeks before my daughter Sarah was born. It was in mint condition. I loved that car. Definitely made for women.

Who was the first person to text you today?
No one. I don't even know how to text someone, let alone read texts coming to me.

Who is the first person you thought of this morning?
Sweet Hubby. He woke me up by banging the bathroom door and my first thought was "Why is he banging that door?"

Who was your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Williams. I have very fond memories of her. She was a sweet person.

Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
I went to Detroit, Michigan to visit my Aunt and Uncle for a couple weeks when I was 14. It was a United Airlines 747. So exciting! I worked very hard for the money for the plane ticket. I paid for it myself, at the airport, in all $1 bills. I don't think the clerk was too happy about that, but that was the way I'd earned it. One dollar at a time.

Who was your first best friend and are you still friends?
Gail Ashland and Lori Richardson. We were the 3 muskateers. I was 4 or 5 years old. Gail moved away to california and we lost touch. Lori dumped me when Gail moved away.

What was your first sport played?
Softball, and I really sucked at it. Actually, I still suck at it.

Where was your first sleepover?
My friend Gails house.

Who was the first person you talked to this morning?
Sweet Hubby.

Whose wedding were you first in?
Mine.

What was the first thing you did this morning?
Let the fur boys out to do their morning business.

What was the first concert you went to?
Seattle Symphony. (I'm a violinist.) Got to see them when I was a kid. They played Beethoven's 5th symphony. Most exhilarating!

What was your first tattoo or piercing?
Don't have any.

What was the first foreign country you went to?
Canada. It's so close.

What was your first run in with the law?
I've never had a run in with the law. I'm a good girl.

When was your first detention?
Never have had detention. See above answer.

What was the first state you lived in?
Washington. Born in Renton.

Who was the first person to break your heart?
Lori Richardson. She dumped me as a friend at the tender age of 6. Broke my heart cos we were best friends. When our 3rd muskateer moved away, Gails toy organ was given to me, instead of Lori-a determination made by our parents. Lori got very angry about that. Sigh. She never forgave me for it.

Who was your first roommate?
Sue-Mathas Hall dorm, Western Washington University. You do not know how long I had to think to remember that, and I can't remember her last name. We weren't roomies for very long, and I did not like living with her. A huge difference in morals.

Where did you go in your first limo ride?
Never been on a limo ride.

7/25/08

My Gusset Tutorial

I have posted a new sock pattern on my Beadknitter Patterns blog called the Happiness Socks. To go along with that pattern, I have created this tutorial on how I pick up stitches for the gusset when knitting socks on 2 circular needles.

The original instructions that go with this method strike me as being rather cumbersome. You have to transfer 9 sts of the turned heel to the second needle, then pick up stitches for the gusset with needle one, then knit the instep stitches, pick up the second half of the gusset stitches, then knit the 9 stitches you transferred at the start on the second needle. Now, this works all fine and dandy. However, when it comes time to shape the toe, again you have to mess around with transferring the stitches around in order to get them were you need them to finish your sock.

There's actually an easier and much less hassling way to do it. That's what this tutorial is about.

So, lets pretend you have just finished turning the heel of your sock. You have your heel stitches on needle one, and your instep stitches on needle two. We are ready to start picking up stitches for the gusset.

Along the side of your heel flap there are stitches-usually slipped ones to make it easier. But if you didn't do that, it's okay. This will still work. Here's kind of what it will look like.



Put your needle through underneath the first stitch.


Wrap the yarn around the needle, like you're going to knit the stitch.


Pull the wrapped yarn through the slipped stitch to the front. Voila! You've just "picked up and knit a stitch".


Repeat this all the way across for the required number of stitches.

You do not have to do this next step. I do it because it decreases the chance of a hole forming between the gusset and the instep.

Slip your left needle from front to back under the bar between the stitches of the instep and the heel flap, creating a loop on your left needle.


Knit through the back of the loop.




There, the first side of the gusset has been picked up.


It will look sort of lop sided because the other side hasn't been picked up yet. Now, knit across the instep stitches as instructed on needle two, then drop needle two and go back to knitting on needle one. It will look like this before you start the second gusset side. Notice how I'm returning to using needle one now. Yes, there will be a weird empty gap, but you are going to fill it up.


Now, with needle one, slip your left needle from front to back under the bar between the stitches of the instep and the heel flap, creating a loop on your left needle.


Knit through the back of the loop like you did for the first side.



Now, slip the right needle underneath the first stitch of side two of the heel flap.


Wrap the yarn around as if to knit it


Pull it back through to the front. You should now have 2 stitches on your right hand needle.


Continue picking up and knitting the stitches across the heel flap to the desired number.


Then knit the rest of the stitches on needle one.


Voila! Your gusset stitches are now ready for working.


You knit your gusset decreases and heel stitches all on one needle until you have the correct number for the bottom of the foot, and finish your sock. When it's time to decrease for the toe, your stitches will already be where you need them to be.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.

Happy sock knitting.

7/24/08

My Prize

This week the prize I won in the Sock A Month KAL for last month arrived! Hurray!

There's a very cute little bag, hand made by Zonda.


A skein of Gypsy Knits hand dyed sock yarn in a nice bright colorway. Btw, this yarn is nice and soft.


A set of hand made beaded stitch markers, and a sample pack of Eucalan wash. I love the way these stitch markers are made. They won't catch on the knitting because the bead covers both ends of the jump ring.



Originally, I was going to give Ruth the little bag because she's a new knitter and doesn't have any nice bags for her knitting tools (not that she has knitting tools), but now that I've seen how perfect it is for toting around a sock project, I've changed my mind. I will find something else for her tools. She will get the stitch markers though. Her birthday is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm giving her knitting tools, a tote, and a 'goody bag' for the tools. (I'm hoping she's too busy with work to read this.)

I had an interesting day today. I was scheduled to have lunch with my friends. I thought I was going to have a leisurely morning of knitting, blogging, and drinking my coffee when someone rang the door bell. A fellow in neon yellow with a bright orange vest and a hard hat informed me that they were installing a gas line down our street and were about to dig a deep ditch across my driveway and I wouldn't be able to get out for about 3 hours. Arrrgh! They figured they'd be done around noon. That wasn't going to work. Both me and Ruth were planning on leaving at 11 for our respective destinations (me-lunch, her-work). So we quickly got dressed and headed out early.

I waited in my car in the Applebee's parking lot, knitting my Charade sock until lunch time arrived. I had a lovely lunch. I ordered their Quesadilla burger. Oh, man, it was SO good! I had a wonderful chat with my friends too, catching up on all the gossip.

After lunch I went to Bead Creative to see if they ever got the Rivoli's in. They did, so I bought some so I could try them out. They also had some new bead caps in pewter that were just gorgeous, and perfect for all the spiral ropes I love to make.

Then I ran a couple errands-looking for various items. After that I went to our bank to take care of a problem that was going on with our checking account. I got there at 2pm. As luck would have it, the very person I needed to talk to had just left for lunch. Could I come back at 3? Sure, why not? I live only 5 minutes away. I decided to go home then come back in an hour. There was only one problem. When I got home, there was still a deep ditch full of guys in hard hats across my driveway. Sigh. So much for done at noon.

I went to McDonalds and knitted in the corner for an hour while sucking on a vanilla shake. I'm so glad I took my sock with me or I would have been bored out of my skull. By the time I got done with my banking things the ditch had been filled and I could return home.

Now I'm home, and pooped. It amazes me how tiring running around doing errands is.

Have a nice evening.

7/23/08

WIP Wednesday 7/23/08



It's a fast knit, but only if you work on it. I finally got back to working on my 2nd Charade sock last night.


I have a beading wip too. I've been hankering to do a Cellini spiral in turquoise and copper, with a bit of black. For some reason I'm in a turquoise/copper phase. I wonder if I could find some sock yarn in those two colors. Hmm....


On Monday Ruth and I went to see the new Batman movie, Dark Knight (that was our 'something fun to do'). I wanted to see Keith Ledgers last movie performance. Wow.....just..wow!

Not a movie to take the young ones to. It's dark, gloomy, and down right scary. Halfway through I was starting to think I didn't want to see any more (I don't like scary movies), but the Joker was so captivating I couldn't stop watching. He scared the bajeebers out of me. The evilest nastiest bad guy I've ever seen. I don't like being scared at movies, but when I left the theater I felt like I'd just seen the best Batman movie ever.

It rained yesterday. We needed the rain. The air has been so smoky with the fires over in Washington that it was starting to blot out the mountains. Fire danger has been pretty high here too. My biggest fear of living in the woods-wild fires. It was nice to have some rain.

Today the air is clean again, and it's nice and cool. It's supposed to rain off and on for a bit, then clear up and be sunny the rest of the week.

Have a great day.

7/21/08

It's Monday

No pictures today. In fact, I've spent the morning deleting pictures off my blog. I found out this morning that most publishers don't like it if you've posted pics of your designs on the internet before publication. So, to remove the possibility of not getting published for that reason, I've been trolling through my blog posts and doing a bit of editing. (First time I've been glad I don't have a lot of readers. Heh heh.) I've also had to edit my Ravelry notebook, and my web albums. Took some time, but I've got it done.

So, how was your weekend? Mine was exhausting. No knitting, and no beading. Just a lot of work.

On Saturday I taught the first session of a bead crochet class. I only had 2 students but by the time I headed for home I felt like my body had been sucked dry of all it's energy. Some times teaching is like that. You'll get students that just seem to be more needy than others. I've had classes with 4 times more students that left me feeling energized afterward, and other times when I felt like I've spent the last 2 hours with leeches stuck to my skull. Just depends on the students. At least the students I had this weekend went home happy, and I think they know what they're doing. (Not quite sure about that last statement.)

After class I went to my brother-in-laws house. We had planned to help them with a bit of creek cleanup, then have dinner together. Often, in the summer, there's a lot of debris in the creek left over from winter and the spring thaw. Dan and Sue like to clean it up so there's a place to swim. Sweet Hubby was supposed to help them out with the tractor, and I was gonna help out with piling the brush and whatnot. However, I didn't know I had students for my class when I made those plans, so I didn't get to do that. When I finally got there after class, there was no one around. As it turned out, the tractor had broken down again, so everyone was at niece Holly's house, where her significant other and all were working on pulling the tractor apart to figure out what's wrong.

Now, mind you, we've just spent 1000 bucks replacing the clutch. That was supposed to have fixed 'the problem'. Apparently it didn't. There's another clutch that manipulates the hydraulics. It's out, and needs replacing. Yes, another 1000 bucks. I keep telling myself "It's cheaper than buying a new tractor." (urp!) Sweet Hubby told me there's actually 3 clutches in that tractor. Wanna take any bets on the third one?

On Sunday we headed for Moscow, Idaho to move daughter Ruth from her 'old' apartment into her 'new' apartment. Three pick up truck loads! When we moved her into that apartment last year, it was only one pick up truck load. The job went fairly smoothly, but it was still exhausting work. Didn't help that it was 95 degrees out either.

Ruth has the day off today, so we're gonna do something fun together. Haven't decided yet what that will be.

Have a nice day.

7/18/08

FO's for Friday

Taa-Daa! My Opal Petticoat socks turned out so purty! I'm gonna love wearing them. I have several shirts and blouses these will go with very nicely.


Pattern: My own.

Yarn:
Opal Petticoat in #1295 colorway.

Needles:
Size 2 Addi Turbo Lace Circular.

Cast On:
June 12, 2008

Completed:
July 18, 2008

Comments:
I made this pattern up myself. I really like the way garter rib patterns look with self striping yarn. I am writing this pattern up to post on my pattern blog (for free) so check in once in awhile to see if it's up. I hope to have it up in about a week. (Maybe sooner.)

Here's a close up of the stitch pattern detail.



This is the cabochon I finished.



I used size 11, 8, and 6 beads in various shades of red and copper. The cab is made of dichroic glass. It's one of those cabs I got a few years ago from a glass artist who sold it for a dollar cos it didn't turn out the way he wanted. There's a bit of gold in the center, but it looks like copper at most angles, so I tried bringing that out with copper beads in the surround and yes, there's pink in this cab too. I chose to let it speak for itself.

On the kennel front: I have found a kennel for the boys while we're in Mexico. It's pretty expensive, but the care is premium. They were a referral from my first choice. Hayden Pet Medical Center is the name of the place. They're a combo boarding kennel and vet clinic. That's a plus to me. If something happens, there's a vet right there. I'm going to visit them for a tour, just to be on the safe side, but their reputation is quite good.

I don't have to cook dinner tonight. We're going to Sarah and Franks instead of them coming here. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe we'll get to play Farkle. Farkle is a dice game that I've developed a bit of an addiction for. It's a lot of fun.

We may play the sheep game though. That's a fun one too. Shear Panic is a perfect game for fiber enthusiasts. I gave it to Sarah and Frank for Christmas, having no idea what it was about. I was pleasantly surprised the first time we played it. Definitely a good one!

Have a good day.

7/17/08

Disturbing News

Usually, my morning routine consists of getting up, visiting the 'ladies' room, letting the boys out for morning business, getting my cup of coffee, then turning on Good Morning America and knitting myself awake while watching the news. However, it's Tour de France time, so for the last couple weeks my mornings have been lacking the news. Instead, I get to watch bony butts bouncing on bicycles. Whoopdeedo. In the interest of keeping Sweet Hubby happy, I'm putting up with it. (Sigh...) So, this morning, while the butts bounced, I decided to grab my laptop and prowl the news sites to catch up.

How did this bit of news get by me? :

InBev Buys Anheuser-Busch for $52B

I am appalled. Granted, I don't like any of the beers AB makes, but still, this is an American institution. AB is right up there with baseball, hot dogs, the Lincoln memorial, Disneyland, Dolly Parton, and apple pie. How did this happen? Why is there not more outrage going on in this country? Billions of U.S. beer dollars are now going to be leaving our country and going to Belgium. ...... I don't know what else to say.

The mind is boggled!

Well, how about some FO pics. (Finished Objects) I think I promised I'd show you Ruth's fingerless gauntlets.


Pattern: Gauntlets from Not Just Socks by Sandi Rosner

Yarn: Opal Crocodile in Green/Cream

Needles: Size 2 double pointed (I tried to talk her into learning the 2-circ method. She'd have none of it.)

Comments: Ruth loves the pattern, loves the gauntlets, loves working with dpn's (she must have got that from her fathers side of the family). She found the yarn fascinating to work with because of the way the pattern changed as she knit. She's actually started a second pair to give as a gift to one of her friends.


Here's my baby with Grandkitty Lindy.


I finished the Opal sock before lunch yesterday. I got excited about finishing I guess and couldn't stop knitting until it was done. Now, if I could just get that feeling for the Charade sock.

Have a good day.

7/16/08

WIP Wednesday 7/16/08


I finally got around to taking the pics for my gusset tutorial yesterday, so I can finish my second Opal sock. I had to install the camera manual on my lap top first to find out how the self timer works (it works pretty slick, actually. I'm quite pleased with it). Who's idea was it to put a camera manual on a disk???? Someone incredibly cheap and thoughtless, that's who. I can't take the manual with me to consult it when I need it. Arrrgh.... the only thing I don't like about my camera. Non-portable manual. (I'm sorry, I am not hauling my lap top up granite mountain sides!)

I'll probably have this sock done tonight cos I've only got 4 inches to go (I worked on it after this photo was taken).


This is what my needles look like after picking up the gusset stitches. I don't do that whole "transfer 9 heel sts to the other needle" and all that crap bit for the gusset. About 3 pairs of socks ago I was looking at what I was doing and wondering "Why? There's an easier way to do this." When I get to the toe, I don't have to juggle and transfer sts around before I can start decreasing either. That is what the tutorial will be about.

I also cast on the stitches for the second Charade sock. Now that I've blocked the first one, I'm liking the stitch pattern with the yarn a little better. It does show up. Just not as much as I thought it would. The pics do not do the color of this yarn justice. It's a very rich and royal purple.


Speaking of Ruth, she is working on a second pair of fingerless gauntlets. They will be a gift for one of her friends. She raided my sock yarn stash for the yarn. She picked an old out-of-print Opal colorway. I let her have what she chose (after all, I've got so much sock yarn I'll be 500 years old before I get to that particular skein.)

I was kind of thinking I'd save some of the out of print Opals for my retirement savings. I figure in 10 years or so they'll be worth a fortune on Ebay. Heh heh....if I don't knit them up first. At one time I had 24 copies of Alice Starmore's book Tudor Roses. I stupidly sold them for a pittance during my shops going out of business sale. I wish I'd kept them. They're going for well over $350 bucks on Ebay now. Sigh. I had no idea that would happen.

Anyway, back to the subject, I got pics of Ruth's finished gauntlets yesterday. I'll post them tomorrow.

On the finding a kennel for the boys front: Not having any success. My first and second choices will both be closed during the time we're going to be away. What's with that? I've been given a referral by my first choice. I'll have to see if they're available.

On the weather front: The big winds did not come yesterday. It was a great relief for the firefighters. It's going to be one of those perfect days today. I think I'll sit out on the deck and knit for awhile.

Have a great day!

7/15/08

4 Things Meme

I've been tagged for about half a dozen memes over the past few months. It's time to do one of them so I can cross it off the list.


4 jobs you've had in your life:


1. Librarian Page - King County Federal Way branch
2. Custodian assistant-Camelot Elementary School
3. File Clerk-Dept. of Social and Health Services, Washington state, Federal Way branch.
4. Manager - Sears Watch Repair, SeaTac Mall, Federal Way, Washington


4 movies you could watch over and over:

1. Singing in the Rain
2. Phantom of the Opera
3. Jurassic Park (1, 2, and 3!)
4. Dante's Peak (Pierce Brosnan....drool.....)

These are only the top four. There are dozens of movies I watch over and over again.


4 places you've lived:

1. Federal Way, WA
2. Auburn, WA
3. Sunnyvale, CA
4. San Jose, CA


4 tv shows you love to watch:

1. CSI
2. The Closer
3. Pushing Daisies (it's been a long long wait for the new fall season, sigh...)
4. Survivor - yeah!


4 places you've been on vacation:

1. Kona, Hawaii, Hawaii
2. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
3. Costa Maya, Mexico
4. Penticton, British Columbia, Canada

I've been to so many places on vacation. I'm very lucky to have such a long list.


4 websites you visit daily:

1. Ravelry
2. Bloglines
3. Picasa
4. Yahoo groups


4 of your favorite foods:

1. Cheese
2. potatoes
3. beef
4. veggies of all sorts.


4 places you'd rather be right now:

1. Hawaii
2. Priest Lake
3. Costa Maya, Mexico
4. Sault Ste Marie, MI (to visit my Dad)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knitting news: I've finished the first purple Charade sock. Will take pics after I've blocked it.

Beading news: I've finished a cabochon I started ages ago. Will take pics when I take pics of the above mentioned sock.

Good news: Our 'economic stimulus' check finally arrived in the mail. Hurray! We'll be using it to stimulate the University of Idaho's economy. Tuition time is coming up.

It's gonna be another hot day, with smoke. There's a wild fire in Spokane Valley that is mucking up my air. It's about 80% contained, but they're predicting high winds today. Lets all think good thoughts that it won't make the fire worse. 11 homes have been lost to this fire-which just sucks. I think I'll stay indoors. I have enough trouble with the asthma as it is.

Have a good day.

7/14/08

Havin' Some Trouble

This summer, as I've mentioned before, I'm participating in the Summer of Socks knit along. It fits in well with the other sock KAL's I'm doing, and fun too. However, I've found I have a small problem. Instead of knitting my socks, I find myself spending way too much time looking at everyone else's socks.

You see, to get credit for your socks, you have to post a picture of them in the Ravelry group forum. You can also post them in the SOS 08 Flickr album. For each pair you post, you get a shot at a random drawing for prizes, as well as other things going on for prizes. My goodness but there's some absolutely STUNNING socks being made out there! And people wonder why we knit socks? Try buying a pair of some of these at Nordstroms!

There's some stunning knitters too-as in, I'm stunned by how many pairs of socks they've put out already, and the KAL just started June 21. There are some gals going for the 'most socks' contest, and they are really pumping them out. Sheesh! Anyway, if you wanna take a look at the socks, here are a couple links.

Ravelry SOS 08 group (you need to be a member of Ravelry, but it's free, and SO worth the effort!)

SOS 08 Flickr Group

And just cos they are so incredibly beautiful (I wanna make these in the worst way!), here's a link to my favorite pair -- so far:

Fahini's Summer Slide Socks

Now for a BFO (that's Beaded Finished Object for those who are uninitiated)

I got the last pair of earrings done for the earring swap.



I call these Twirly Swirly. They're done in right angle weave with some embellishment. I used some transparent light blue size 11 seeds, some matte silver blue ab size 6's, and some iris blue 6mm flower beads. (Some would call them spacers I suppose.) I laid them flat so you can see their construction a little better.


I've got 5 pair done for the swap. I will pop them in the mail tomorrow, I hope.

It is hot today. I spent some time dead heading the marigolds, pulling weeds, and whatnot, but the heat eventually got to me so I've retreated to the indoors with a box fan blowing on me and the air conditioner on high.

I'm waiting for a phone call now. It's official. We're taking a trip to the Yucatan peninsula next January and now that I know the exact dates we're leaving and returning, I can make arrangements for the boys. I'm waiting to hear from the kennel I want to leave the boys at. They said they were gonna call back hours ago.
....

Oh phooey! Just called them again and they're closed. ARRgh! I've left a message.

I do not want to put the boys through the nasty experience they had last January. (I do NOT recommend Camp K-9!) This kennel I've called they've been at before and it was wonderful. It's also really really hard to get into. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I need to knit socks. So...

Have a good day.

7/13/08

The Butterfly

This morning I stepped outside to see what the fur boys were up to and a butterfly landed on my hand. I tried putting it on a rose bush, but as soon as I did it jumped off and flew back to my hand. I think it was cold and saw me as a source of heat. (Click on the pics to enlarge.)

(Euphydryas chalcedona)


There are a lot of these around the yard at this time of year. 1000's of them, and they're all looking to score. It's mating season here at the Parkarosa.

See the long dark hairs on the back?


They look so soft and fuzzy.


The underside of the wings are as pretty as the top side.


It has golden eyes,


and look at all that fur around the legs!


Getting ready for take off. Goodbye little butterfly...


Have a good day.