Third Place

Well, the doll photography contest is over so now I can tell you about it. I won 3rd place, which is not bad. I have to admit the 1st place winner was pretty darn good.

The theme of the contest was Favorite Television Show. Well, Star Trek! What else? First, though, I needed costumes for my dolls, which you'll remember, I knitted.

Here's the pic I entered.

Here's my poem:

To boldly go, brave explorers they be.
Aboard the Enterprise NCC-1701 B.
Strange places and species they get to see.

Some aliens are dangerous and others friendly.
Spread out all over the galaxy.
Their captain, so wise and handsome is he.
With all that excitement, how can it be?
Miss Ellowyne still has her (yawn) ennui.

No one said I'm a good poet. My story was they're waiting for Scotty to beam them up after a successful mission welcoming the planet Dragonia into the Federation of Planets. They're making friends with two of the natives while they wait.

Hey. I got third place. The prize was my choice of an outfit donated by group members. I chose a Pink suit with black trim that comes with a book entitled The Pink Suit. It should be here soon.

Live long and prosper. \\//

WIPs for the New Year

This is my first WIP post for 2016. I haven't been knitting a lot lately. I've been rather sick since Christmas. The demon cold got substantially worse this past week. I've just about coughed myself inside out. So I've been doing a lot of laying around and sleeping. If things don't start to improve by Monday, I'm hauling myself to the doctor.

These first two FO's are what I knitted on the cruise. It's a couple of doll tops. Not much, but then, I didn't have a whole lot of time to knit either.

This project I started New Years Eve. I worked on this and watched season 5 of Downton Abbey, in preparation for the start of season 6 next week. It also helped me stay awake until midnight so I could toast in the New Year with a cup of Nyquil.

It's another layette set for Knitwits. It will go with this fleece for the blanket.

I do not have enough of the lime yarn for both the blanket and outfit, nor was there a label on the skein, so I don't know what kind it is. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. Maybe I will find more of it at the next meeting, or I'll use a different color for the blanket edging. I have enough fabric for two blankets. I hope to snag some yellow for the second set.

We are still up to our thighs in snow, though it hasn't snowed much since my last posting. It's been very cold. The high today, so far, has been 14F. I felt well enough that I dug out the hot tub so I could check the water and do the regular weekly maintenance. Didn't do it last week, nor have I even opened the lid, so was expecting some really skanky water. To my surprise, it's just fine. Water was as clear and clean as it could be. Temperature was good. Everything is working perfectly even though the power has been out half a dozen times this past week. So, I went and got my swimsuit on and got in it. It looked so inviting. Felt so good too. Here's the view I had.

It's a bit steamy. That's a glass of ice tea. Don't want to get dehydrated.

We've got lots and lots of icicles on the house. This is the back side (from the hot tub).

I should take a pic of the front side. I thought I had with my phone, but it's not there. We have a double row of icicles there. One row hanging on the roof edge, and the other row is hanging on the Christmas lights.

Here's another odd photo I took the other night.

This is icicles hanging on the Christmas lights outside the living room window. I said it was odd.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Inspiration Photo Contest

I have won second place in a photo contest that was held in the Imagination Wilde Yahoo group.  The theme was a woman who inspired you. I chose Barbara G Walker. Her series of books "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns Volumes 1-4" were a huge inspiration in increasing my knitting skills. Here is my entry photo.

Later in my life she also inspired me with her writings on feminism and philosophy. She wrote a very popular book called The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets as well as many others.

The prize was my choice of Ellowyne Wilde outfits in the Wilde Imagination shop. I chose the Resisting A Rest outfit.

Now for an update on my husband. Sweet Hubby came home last Wednesday night. He is recovering very quickly. Initially his left arm and hand were numb, he'd lost his left peripheral vision, his face drooped, and his speech was very slurred. I doubt you could tell he's had a stroke Now.  My life has changed considerably. It's full of chauffeuring him around until he can have a driving assessment test. I've got to take him to appointments for practically every day for the next two weeks, plus I've got 3 knitting classes coming up to teach. I'm feeling very overwhelmed at the moment. How am I gonna get all this done? There are people I can call for help if I feel the need. I may go ahead and do that. I will also probably get a lot of knitting done cuz I'm gonna be sitting in a lot of waiting rooms for awhile, waiting.

The biggest thing right now is the therapy for Doug. He has to meet with three different therapists. One does physical, one does occupational, and one does speech. I'm hoping after the first assessment meetings (Friday, and Monday), one or more will cancel. I don't think he needs speech therapy. His speech is back to normal now. I guess we'll find out on Friday. Doubt he'll need physical therapy too. He went for a 48 mile bike ride today. (Daughter went with him so he wasn't alone.)

My daughter Sarah flew in on Thursday. She's staying until next Sunday. It's been wonderful spending time with her. Last time she was here I didn't get to see her much cuz she went on a week long bike ride with her father.

As for how I am? I am exhausted. I feel like I will never stop feeling tired. I know this will pass in time.

I think I'm gonna go sit in the hot tub for awhile.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Lizette Is So Pretty In Pink

A few days ago I decided I needed to alter this little tunic.

It was too long and rather bland for my purposes. So I shortened it just a little over an inch, and put a garter stitch hem on it. Then I knit a little belt to match. After that, I took this photo and entered it in a contest in the Imagining Ellowyne Wilde Yahoo group.

Modeled by All Natural Lizette Spice

The contest theme was Your Favorite Pink or Green Outfit. This is my favorite pink outfit, so far. My sister made that lovely little skirt. I made the hat and jewelry. I love the Martha Washington Geraniums in the background. They are spicing up my deck this year.

I won the contest. I am SO excited! The prize is 3 pairs of earrings for my dolls.

As much as I love this outfit, I specifically made it to sell and have put it up on Ebay. It already has a bid on it. Woo Hoo! And the real joy of this is if I decide I want one like it for myself, I can make another one.

I am so stoked! My little business is starting to take off. Time to get a state sales tax number. I've put 5 outfits on Ebay and 3 have bids. I might actually make a success of this idea. Yay! Have I finally found a way to make my knitting pay for itself? Here's hoping!

Also, Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all those brave people who serve our country in the armed forces. Couldn't have freedom without you.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Snowy Sunrise

On Friday morning I got up just as the sun was rising. The view out my living room window was stunningly beautiful. The sky had cleared some and the sun was shining on the top of the mountain. I got the camera.

View down the driveway

We got about 8 inches of snow from the storm. The trees looked so pretty.

Something happened on Friday that is indeed rare. A temporary peace truce was formed in the interest of being warm on the fuzzy blanky.

Couch Detente

They were almost touching each other. It's amazing what can happen around here when it's cold and snowy.

I've decided to do the Ravelry Ravellenic Games during the winter Olympics this year. I'd been kicking the idea around in my head. First I was, then I wasn't, then I was, then I wasn't. Yesterday I looked into what the events, and rules, are and decided I will. That's my final decision. I joined Team Yarn Hoars. I'm entering the following events:

WIPs Dancing - finishing the Gansey. (Doesn't matter when I started it or if I'm working on it now. As long as I finish during the Olympics, it qualifies for a medal. Woot!)

Sock Hockey - Don't know if I'll actually get this done in time or not, but I'm gonna try and make those Mukluks for Susie.

Mittens Moguls - Since I'm making fingerless mitts anyway, this gives me an actual goal as to when to finish them.

Nordic Color Work Combined - the Mukluks are fairisle.

Single Skein Speed Skate - the mitts don't use more than a single skein.

Yesterday I prepared. I wound all the necessary skeins of yarn into nice yarn cakes. I wish I would have taken a pic of my set up (why didn't I think of that?). My dining room table edge is most unsuitable for clamping a yarn ball winder and a swift to it. It's curved. So I clamped them to the back of the dining chairs. I had the swift on the top of the back of one chair, set to lean a bit to the right. And the ball winder was on a second chair, clamped upside down to the top. I stood between the two, cranking with one hand, and adjusting the yarn tension with the other. Somehow it worked, wonderfully. I shall do it that way from now on instead of involving the extremely wobbly piano bench in a weird way like I have done in the past. Anyway, needles are gathered and sorted, patterns are printed out, yarn wound and ready. Let the games begin! Cast on is at 8 a.m. February 7th.

After all that ball winding, I sat down and did a bit of bead knitting. I'm teaching another beaded amulet bag class. It started last Monday. It was actually scheduled to start while I was in Michigan, so I had it postponed. I have one student. A very sweet young lady of 14 years. She is catching on very very quickly and was a joy to work with. I'm looking forward to our next session. I needed to knit my little bag up to the point where she is supposed to be at the next class so I can show her the short rowing steps. I like to knit along with the students, if possible.

I am starting to get back into this teaching thing. I've come up with more classes I want to do. The next one I'm planning will be for the Entrelac fingerless mitts pattern, A Rainbow For My Hands. I need to remember to take the model and class info handouts to the shop when I go in Monday.

Today is Superbowl Sunday! We have friends coming over to watch the game with us. It's the only football game we watch. We don't actually like football, hubby and I. But we do like to know who wins at the end of it all. Plus, it's an American tradition. So we patriotically watch the game just like the rest of the country does. I'm serving Nachos and Fahitas for game food. Yum! Besides, it's an excuse for a party. Being a Seattle born native, I will be cheering for the Seahawks, of course.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Service Berries

Last I left you, I was about to tackle defrosting the freezer. Well, I did it. I'm so proud of myself. Daughter Ruth helped.

First we turned the freezer off and emptied the contents into the camping coolers. Then I set up the big box fan across the room from it (it's a tiny room. It sat on top the washing machine). I left the freezer door open with the fan blowing in it. This melts the ice faster than if I didn't use a fan.

One of the things I hate the most about defrosting it is that I have to empty a cake pan of water every 10 minutes. There's a little drain in the bottom of the freezer that leads to a little hose that comes out the bottom. It is very low to the ground so the tallest pan I can use and have it still work is a cake pan, which fills about every 10 minutes. It's a messy and boring process. However, this year my brain must have been on fire or something cuz I came up with a fantastic idea that removed the pan emptying step out of the process.

You can see the little gray hose in the picture. The hammer is anchoring it down. I made a chute out of aluminum foil and some wood pieces, set it up at an angle out the front door, and just let everything drain outside. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. It made the whole job a piece of cake. Took about 3 hours. While this was going on I knitted, puttered in the yard, cleaned house, and had fun. After it was done draining, I wiped it down with some warm water and a sponge, dried it with paper towels, turned it back on, and put everything back in. Job done.

Saturday was the hottest day of the year thus far. It got up to 88F degrees! In May! In the FIRST HALF of May! I did some knitting out on the deck in the morning. Then we headed into Coeur d'Alene to visit Home Depot to purchase supplies needed to install the hot tub. Spent all day there, pretty much. Spent a couple hours roaming around looking for what we needed. Then we went to Zip's for a quick lunch. While at Zip's Sweet Hubby remembered a couple more items he'd forgotten. So we went back to Home Depot for an hour. Finally, we headed for home.

When we got home Sweet Hubby discovered he'd bought the wrong sizes for two of the required supplies. So back to Home Depot I went. No one human would go with me though. So I took Cable. She enjoyed the ride immensely.

When I got home again I declared no more trips for me to Home Depot for the rest of the weekend! I was exhausted! By the way, I should mention, the air conditioners were not working at Home Depot. It's only the first part of May.

Sunday was Mothers Day and it was a good one. The weather was a bit cooler, and cloudy all day. My daughter Sarah and her husband sent me a lovely basket full of Jonquil bulbs. They've sprouted right away and are growing like crazy. I'm looking forward to them blooming. I spent the day knitting and working on planting the garden.

Sweet Hubby worked on getting the electrical set up for the hot tub installation. He had to go to Home Depot again. I refused to go. It was Mothers Day. I don't have to go to hardware stores on Mothers Day.

We went out for dinner to La Cabana, a Mexican restaurant in Rathdrum. I was in the mood for enchiladas. Dan and Sue went with us and we had a good visit.

One of the wild flowers that grows around here is Serviceberries. They have a dark purple berry that is actually pretty tasty, but by the time I get around to thinking about picking some, the birds have eaten them all. They are in full bloom right now. So beautiful. Here is the biggest one growing in our yard.

It stands about 14 feet tall. It's extra beautiful this year. Here are some close ups of the flowers. The sprinklers were on when I took this pic.

Oddly, they smell horrible. Not unlike the inside of a garbage can. So I don't bring cuttings of them into the house.

The petals are such a pure white.

A smaller bush by the deck has this on it.

There's a star in the center.

Monday was cold, gray, and wet. It rained pretty much all day, which is fine because we needed a bit of rain. Today I have Rathdrum Knitalong, and some errands to run. The day should be drier and just a bit warmer. The fridge is in need of restocking, and I need to go get a State Park sticker for the pick-up truck so we aren't charged extra when we go on this summer's camping trips. The sticker will give us free entrance to the parks too.

The new Star Trek opens this coming weekend. Hurray! I can hardly wait!

Live long and prosper. \\//

A Major Goal Accomplished

Yesterday was a great day! Yesterday was a fantastic day! Yesterday is the day I FedEx'd the final payment on our house! WOO HOO!

It's ours at last!

It's a small house. Not a fancy house. But it's OUR house. How sweet is that?! (By the way, Sweet Hubby mowed the lawn on Saturday. Looks like the Dandelions don't care. That is okay. I have a new gardening tool on order that will fix them!) We will be having a party soon to celebrate. WOO HOO!

A friend of mine gave us a hot tub too. She GAVE us a hot tub! Thank you Dorothy!

Sweet Hubby and his brother brought it home after work yesterday. Now we need to install it. Wow! We have our own hot tub! I can hardly wait until it's all hooked up and ready to get in.

Yesterday is also the day the flowering plum out front burst into bloom. It was 84F degrees and I guess it accelerated things a bit. No open flowers on Monday. All open flowers on Tuesday.

This is the prettiest it's been ever.

Such a lovely shade of pale pink. And it smells so good!

Life is good!

Live long and prosper. \\//

Moss Flowers

Just a quick post because I have to head over to sis-in-laws and get busy on the yard sale shortly. (Did I mention I feel like I've been hit by a Mac truck this morning? My back just doesn't like to work.)

Last night I finally bit the bullet and printed out the photo I'm going to enter in the fair this year. I took it on our camping trip. I took Cable for a morning walk on a trail where I knew we'd not bump into anyone else so she could be off her leash for a little while. She was leaping and dashing around like a happy deer chasing squirrels up trees and sniffing all the wonderful new scents.

We ended up beside a creek in a gorgeous piece of forest. The ground was completely covered in a thick carpet of green moss. The morning sun was shining through the trees and doing awesome things with that moss. I decided I wanted a Macro pic of the carpet. I kind of layed down on the ground and started taking pictures.

At one point, I stopped to check and make sure things were coming out clear because it's sometimes hard to tell on that tiny little screen on the back of my camera. So I took a moment to zoom in on the details of some of the photos. I zoomed in on this one, and to my surprise, it looked like this:

Blooming Moss

I was so surprised to see those bright yellow and red moss flowers. I couldn't see them with just my eyes. Were those really there? I had to put my nose real close to the moss to see them. They're only about an inch tall. Wow! I love this picture! I love the way the sun shines through the moss and the brown bits of bark mixed in.

Anyway, as I was saying, I finally printed it out last night. I was really anxious about it. Would the printed version look as good as the one on my laptop screen? I need not have worried. It turned out fabulous! Better than the screen version. YAY! I put it in a black mat and it's ready to go to the fair. Here's to hoping for a blue ribbon.

Now, on to the yard sale.

Live long and prosper. \\//