WOW! Entry February 2009

I have missed 2 months of WOW!. How did I do that? Anyway, we shall start with this for 2009.


It's a yarn distributed by S.R. Kertzer called On Your Toes. I saw green and purple in the same skein. My two favorite colors! It feels a lot like Opal, so I suspect it's probably made by the same mill.

I think it's true. Spring is coming early. I'm sure of it. This morning my bird buffet was visited by some fellows I haven't seen in months. The Red Crossbills are back. They're a full month earlier than last year. The Junco's and Flickers are back too. I am so excited! Though the Junco's and Flickers wouldn't stand still long enough to get a picture, I did get pics of some of the other diners.

Red Crossbill (male)

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Hairy Woodpecker (male)

Last night I finished the first of the many flowers I'm making for Sarah's bridal bouquet. My first carnation.


The stem is too thin, so I'm going to have to add some strength to it. But other than that, I think I've got it right. Sarah and Frank love it. So I know I'm on the right track any way.

Tomorrow will be the 2nd anniversary of this blog. I am going to have a contest just like I did last year. So tune in tomorrow for the contest info.

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for November '08

Enter My Contest

Novembers WOW! entry is another skein of Opal Petticoat, this time colorway 1292.



This yarn will be knit into a pair of socks for me. It is the last pair of socks for the Sock A Month KAL. I can't believe I will have knitted a whole year's worth of socks.

I am going to use a simple garter rib pattern. Being that the holiday season is upon us, I think something simple and brainless is in order.

I took that walk I was thinking about on Thursday. I took the boys with me. It was so beautiful out, but a bit chilly. I walked 1.5 miles. My gimpy leg started hurting about a third into the walk, but I made it go anyway. Boy, was I sore the next morning, but very proud of myself.

The boys seemed to enjoy it. Tommy especially. I wish I could have just a quarter of his energy. Morgan started to give out about a quarter mile from home. I keep forgetting he's old. I picked him up and carried him for a bit so he could have a rest.

I made a peach pie yesterday. Mmmm, was it ever good. I used canned peaches. I've never really been one to used canned fruit for pies. Don't know why. It works great. I will have to do it more often.

It's Saturday today. I'm gonna be lazy and useless.

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for October 08

It's time for the October WOW! entry. I thought I'd taken a picture of this yarn in the skein last year when I bought it, but I can't find such a thing so I must be mistaken. Anyway, Sunday evening I started knitting with it before I realized I didn't have that supposed photo. Oh well.



This is a skein of Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock yarn in the Deep Forest colorway. As you can see, I am knitting socks again. These are to be a Christmas gift, to be precise (yes, it's that time again). I'm doing my own pattern.

You know I'm feeling better when I start knitting again. The Panic Attacks have stopped. I don't even need to take the Clonazepam anymore. What a relief! I still feel a little 'weird', but each day it gets a little better. I'm getting more energy each day too. I also did quite a bit of walking over the weekend. On Sunday my daughter Ruth went with me for a walk on the Parkarosa. We did almost a whole mile. Unfortunately my leg swelled right up afterward. I may have overdone it just a bit cos walking in the woods is harder than walking on pavement. There's lots of pine cones, branches, and weeds to wade through and over.

While on our walk we saw a grouse, and we found 3 wild apple trees with apples on them. Ruth took a whole bag of them back to school with her.

Now for a bit of nature. This tree is in my back yard. It is called a Tamarack tree. It is one of the few conifer trees that turn color in the fall and drop all their needles, like deciduous trees do. We don't have a lot of them on the Parkarosa, but a few miles drive from here are whole mountain loads of them.


They turn such a wonderfully bright shade of golden yellow that I had to share it with my readers. Here's a close up of the same tree.


That's all for now. Have a great evening.

WOW! Entry for September

I thought I'd get the WOW! entry done for this month while I'm thinking about it. This is a skein of Opal Petticoat 1296. It's purples, lime green, yellow, white, and a very nice heathery light brown.


I cast on for a sock that takes no thought with this yarn over the weekend. I am too anxious about the coming surgery to work on Bayerische. I found myself tinking more than I was knitting. It's just a bit too complicated for a mind that is dumping things out faster than I can put them in (I get real forgetful when anxious). So I'm putting it to the side for a bit, until I'm recovering, and more relaxed, and need something fun to work on.

Ah yes, the surgery. I met my surgeon, Dr. Holman, on Friday. I like him very much. He has a very kind demeanor, and treated me with respect, which I've found is a rare quality in doctors. He checked me out, told me what's gonna happen, what to expect for recovery, answered all my questions, and passed me on to the front receptionist to schedule the day. I feel quite confident in his abilities. He seems to know his stuff, and he's done hundreds of hernia surgerys over his career.

September 15th is the day, the time is 2:00 pm. He says I'll be in and out in just a few hours, barring any unforeseen circumstances of course.

Since knitting is hard for me to do when I'm anxious, and beading actually relaxes me when I'm anxious (so does counted cross stitch-but that's another story), I started a major beading project yesterday. I'm working on a Christmas ornament cover.


The topic for this month in my Yahoo beading group is netting. It occurred to me that I don't have to make jewelry. So I dug this pattern out. It's a Cathy Lampole design called Faith Victorian. I've chosen pale yellow and a dark red violet that makes me think of my Mom's blackberry jam for the colors.

Over the weekend I pretty much took it easy. I'm supposed to do that for the next few weeks. This hernia is pretty nasty and we don't want it to get worse.

On Saturday I went with Sweet Hubby in search of a new chair for his office. He wants a really really sturdy one. SH is a rather large fellow, 6'5", and not a light guy. Most chairs are designed for people who weigh 225 or less. If you weigh more than that, you automatically void the warranty when you sit in it. They tend to wear out in just a year or two for him. He wants something rated more for 300 lb, so it will last forever! Now, a large percentage of the population weighs more than 225. The stores around here seem to have missed that observation. We were unsuccessful. We came home in dejected defeat. He's gonna have to order something from the internet.

On Sunday, I puttered in the yard, enjoyed the sunshine, beaded, and watched movies. All in all, a very relaxing day.

Today I'm going out to lunch with Sarah and Frank. They invited me this morning. Hmmm....I wonder what's up?

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for July

Thought I'd do July's WOW! entry. I bought this yarn last year.

Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn

Content: 100% superwash merino wool

Colorway: Midnight Passion

Weight: 4oz/550 yards

Gauge: 34 to 40 stitches to 4 inches on US #0-1 needles (2 to 2.25 mm)

And now for some aimless ramblings...

Thanks to all the folks who complimented my turkish loop necklace. I appreciate it. Makes me feel like I might know what I'm doing. LOL!

Cas asked: "Just love the Turkish loops. Would you share where the pattern came from or did you design it yourself?"

I made it up myself. It's basically a 2-loop chain. One loop has 4 gold beads, 1 black, and 1 dark gold druk. The other loop has 4 gold, 1 black, and one grey marble druk. You split each loop between the black and gold beads. For instructions on how to do Turkish loop, please scroll down in the sidebar. It's listed in the beading tutorials.

It's a lazy Saturday for me. I'm home alone, 'cept for the fur kids-who are all napping at the moment. Sweet Hubby went to nephew Shawn's house to work on our tractor, and Ruth is working until 11pm tonight. You'd think I'd be knitting like crazy. I did for awhile. Yesterday I started a sock, using the yarn pictured above, and I'm already to the gusset. I'm doing a pattern called Charade by Sandra Park (no relation that I know of). My fingers got tired though, so I'm being lazy and watching the Hulk movie (2003 version) on tv.

Did I ever mention that Sweet Hubby built a bird house last spring and put it on one of the posts along the garden fence? He did, and now it's loaded with baby birds. Unfortunately, I can't get close enough to see the parents. They're little tiny brown birds and fly beyond the reach of my glasses whenever I've tried to get close enough to see them well. Shy little buggers. They chirp at me a lot if I walk within 50 feet of the nest. In addition, Sweet Hubby is a rather lame designer of bird houses. You can't open this one up and look inside. I've asked him how he expects me to clean it out when the birdies are done with it? He's rethinking his house design. I'm thinking about a pair of binoculars.

Ruth is still knitting. She finished her gauntlets and has started a new pair for one of her friends. I need to nail her to a spot so I can get some pics. She's been working a LOT the past couple weeks so we hardly see her. She went from being trainee to head dishwasher rather quickly (complete with a nice raise). It pays to be a good employee! But they're really loading her with the hours. She's worked 60 of them in the past week.

Last night I made a magnificent dinner. I finally got the rotisserie working on the bar-b-que grill. Hurray! I stuck a boneless chuck roast on it. Mmm, was it ever good. A little tough, as chuck roast is want to be, but oh so incredibly tasty. We had corn on the cob, green salad, and Sarah made garlic biscuits to go with. For dessert I made a raspberry/blackberry pie - from scratch - with fresh berries from the local grocery store. They were on sale-but it still cost $12 for enough of them for a pie. Oh my god! It is SO good! Well worth the money. I'm gonna have to make another one. I love summer fruit pies.


After dinner we watched Fools Gold with Mathew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. I enjoyed it immensely. The opening sequence is hilarious! Not a movie to be taken seriously. Just pure entertainment.

Well, that's probably enough rambles for now.

Have a nice afternoon.

WOW! Entry for June '08

I almost forgot to do this months WOW! entry. Whew! Glad I remembered before the end of the month.

Last year I went through this red phase when I wanted some really red sock yarn. Eventually I found my Shi bui, which I used for the I Love Gansey socks, but before I found that, I acquired this one from Harmony Yarns in Coeur d'Alene.


Name: Anne from Schaefer Yarns

Color: Don't know. It's not written on the label and I can't find it on Ravelry or the Schaefer site.

Content: 60% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Mohair/15% Nylon

Weight: 4oz., 560 yards.

Gauge: 7-8 sts per inch

Have a good evening.

WOW! Entry for May

Time for the monthly WOW! Sock Club entry from my stash.




This is from Fearless Fibers. It is 100% Superwash Merino wool in subtly variegated shades of Deepest Forest green. There's 550 yards of fingering weight yarn in this baby. I'm not sure when I'm going to knit it up into socks, but I will eventually. I just love this colorway.

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for April

I'm gonna kill 2 birds with one stone-figuratively speaking. I'm gonna post my April WOW! and brag about my newest sock yarn acquisition.

Even though this yarn is technically new, I did not buy it, and it is in my stash--now.

Yesterday I received my prize from the contest I won last October. I really like it. It's nice and bright, very springy in color.




You'll notice a yellow arrow in the photo. It's pointing at the senders name. (I have blocked out the address on purpose.)


Yes, that is Barbara Bretton the famous romance novelist. She knits!

I discovered this bit of info while digging around her blog, Romancing the Yarn. I'm not one for Romance novels, but I decided the least I can do is read one of her books since she so generously and sweetly sent me my prize months later after I won it. I went to the library yesterday to get one, and they are ALL checked out (they're popular!). So I'm on the waiting list for the first one that comes in. Which title doesn't really matter since I'm not familiar with Barbara's work. Who knows? I might really enjoy it and then I'll have a whole new section at the library to read.

In addition to heading to the library, I also called my daughter Ruth about this. She wants to be a paid writer of fiction in the worst way. So having yarn from a real author elevates my status in her eyes. I think I will knit her a new pair of socks with this yarn.

In addition, something else cool happened. I'm not usually one to gush over/about celebrities (unless Pierce Brosnan were to show up at my door), but when it comes to authors, I really admire. I have a secret wish that I too could be getting paid to write-which is why I'm writing the book on beaded knitting.

Anyway, one of my most favorite authors is Monica Ferris. She has written a series of murder mysteries about a gal, Betsy Devonshire, who owns a needlework shop in a small town in Minnesota and keeps stumbling into situations where she is solving a murder. These books are by no means great literature, but very entertaining. I own the whole set, and am anxiously anticipating the next one to come out, Thai Die.

I've been reading Monica's blog, Killer Hobbies. The other day I left a comment. She emailed me. I have an email from Monica Ferris. Woot!

We had sunshine all day yesterday. It actually got above 50F degrees! I got to spend some time in it too. Course, with the snow melting fast, there's lots of snow mold laying around. So I woke up this morning feeling like death warmed over. That's okay. It's worth it. Today the sun is shining too, and it's supposed to be a little warmer than yesterday. I plan to sit out on the deck, in the sunshine, sucking up snow mold, and knitting.

The white spot is indeed a tomato sprout. Hurray!

Yes, yesterday was a very good day indeed.

The weather man is still telling us 70F degrees on Sunday. Heh heh...we'll see.

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for March

Time for the monthly WOW! Sock Club entry from my stash.



The last time I was in Harmony Yarns I picked this up. I'm not familiar with Pagewood Farms sock yarns. I've been wanting to try a sock yarn with bamboo in it, though, and this stuff has that-and, of course, it's in shades of purple, the color name being Prism. It's 70% Merino, 20% Bamboo, and 10% Nylon. It's a 4oz skein with 450 yards. What I don't know is if it's Superwash wool. It doesn't say on the label, and their web site is totally useless for finding that out. I guess I will email them.

I'm planning on trying the Pomatomus pattern, which was written by Cookie A and can be found on Knitty.

I did not get much done on the Jaywalker last night. I unknit almost just as much as I knit. I think all this snow has discombobulated me. You know, there were actually school closures and delays this morning? They aren't plowing the roads cos they already put all the equipment away for the year. (So get the #%$^%$ equipment back out!) It's driving me CRAZY!


Dear Snow Fates,

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ,PLEASE MOVE ON DOWN TO AUSTRALIA.

Have a good day.

WOW! Entry for February

Time for the monthly WOW! Sock Club entry from my stash.

Fearless Fibers
100% Classic Merino Sock Yarn
Fingering weight
4 oz. skein
410 yards
Peppermint Pink colorway

I'm going to knit this into a pair of Jaywalkers for moi. When March rolls around my taste turns to pink and lavender. They mean spring to me. Spring is my favorite season, when all the nature around me comes back to life. New leaves on the trees, flowers starting to bloom, the air smells so sweet, and all those new baby animals showing up in the yard. I love spring.

Have a great day.

WOW! Entry for January

We're having a heat wave. It was above freezing today. In fact, the snow was melting very quickly. Large glomps of it were falling out of the trees. One tried to murder me when I walked down to the mailbox to check for mail. Stupid snow!

Thankfully, we did not get whomped last night as predicted. We woke up to about 3 inches of new snow. We get another break until Friday night. I'll take it!

Just before leaving for the cruise I joined the WOW! Sock Club (see side bar). Each month we're supposed to go into our stash and find a skein of sock yarn, take a pic of it, and post it on our blog. We don't have to actually knit it up. Just show it off. As sock clubs go, I figure that's pretty darn easy to do. Here is my first entry. This has been in my stash for about 5 months.

Fearless Fibers
100% Superwash Merino Sock Yarn
Fingering weight
4 oz. skein
550 yards
Sublime colorway

I really like Fearless Fibers sock yarn. My fingers love the feel of it. They are happy when I'm working with it. It comes in so many luscious colors too. I've already wound it into a ball and started a pair of socks for the daughters boyfriend last night. I'm taking a clue from Marguerite's blog. She's knitting a pair of socks in 7x1 rib. I really like how they look. Nice and masculine, yet dressy enough Frank can wear them to work.

Well, the knitting needles are calling.

Have a great evening.