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.

What I've Been Up To

In no particular order, here's some of what I've accomplished this week, so far-in no particular order.

I have finally reached the point where I've edjumacated myself enough that I feel confident to start making the flowers for my daughters wedding bouquet. I'm starting with the carnations.
These are just the first pieces for the first flower.


I have about 5 more pieces to make and I can put it together. I am planning to make 5 carnations at the moment. However, I've been asked to make flowers to put on the wedding cake too, so a couple more may be in order.

Finally, after tinking the heel no less than 5 times, I got it RIGHT!


Now, after getting the gusset going I've discovered I made a mistake in the stitch pattern back about 3 inches after the ribbing. There's an extra row in it. ARrrrrrrghh........ I am not tinking that heel again. The mistake is now officially a design element. I may even put it in the second sock just to be ornery.

I went grocery shopping. They had fresh raspberries. In February!! This is a first for my favorite local food foraging center. They're one of my most favorite fruit in all the universe! I could not leave without enough to make a pie. I emptied the checking account for this pie.



It didn't even come pre-baked or anything. I had to make it myself, from scratch. So add the cost of labor Although close, this is not the most expensive pie I've ever made. I just wancha to know that.

Yazi shots earned so far-4.


Baby sweater is coming along nicely. I'm almost to the armholes.

My days are getting busier. Especially Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's a good thing. I get to interact with other humans. One of my projects in the works is a weekly knitting class that will be held on Thursday mornings, 10:30am-12:30, at CDA Yarn and Fiber. I'm aiming for the class to start near the end of March.

I'm thinking of naming it Workshop with Linda Jo. Basically it will be a class where students can learn anything they want about knitting. You want to learn how to knit socks? Come to the class. Tell me, I'll teach you. Cables, fairisle? I can teach you that. Never knit a stitch before? I love teaching beginners. Wanna do some bead knitting-come to me baby. Bought a kit and need someones hand to hold? Come see me. I'm really good at hand holding. Everyone will probably be working on something different, but I've done that sort of thing before so I know how to handle it.

When I had my own store, these were the classes that I had the most success with. Trying to get a class going for a specific subject is hard. This way if someone asks Andrea if she has a class on a particular thing she can say yeah-we have this one.

I will make an official announcement here on the blog when we get all the details ironed out.

Oh look! Sunshine outside." Hello my lovely. Long time no see......"

Have a great day.

Another Beady Beaded Bead

They're addictive!



Made some modifications on this one. It fits my 20mm bead much better. Look at that nice square hole on the end.


All three at once.



Can't decide which one I like best. By the way, I've acquired some new knowledge about my photo editing program. Frames are fun!

Have a nice day.

Beady Beaded Beads

I am thoroughly hooked on making beaded beads. I'm participating in yet another beaded jewelry exchange. The project is to be violet and green and a necklace. It's supposed to be something spectacular. Showing off our skills and whatnot. I've decided to also take the opportunity to use it to learn some beaded beads. I'm going to do a necklace with beaded beads in it.

Here we have the first one I've made. It's got a bit of herringbone stitch in it.

It's about 1 1/4 inches wide. I've used size 11's in 2 shades of purple, metallic silver, and pale metallic green. Also some size 15 metallic silver, and 4mm pale lavender glass pearls. For a first try, not too bad. When you look at the ends though, not so good.


So I made another one.


I used 2 shades of brown, turquoise, and metallic silver in the Japanese size 11. Also metallic silver in size 15, and some matte transparent turqoise 4mm druks. I wanted to use crystals, but do you think I can find any in a turquoise blue? I will have to remedy that. I know, it's not violet and green. This one is for me.

As you can see, I've improved considerably. A nice square hole.


I am going to make another violet and green one with better ends.

Though I made some major adjustments to it, the inspiration for this bead comes from this pattern:

Scaph's pg1 Scaph's pg2 Scaph's pg3

It's in french, but the graphs are very very good.

Finding this pattern led to me finding other blogs and eventually to a French beading forum, which I've gone and joined even though I know very very little French. I took a year of it in high school but most of it did not stick with me. Probably because I've not had any use for it. Now I do, and I wish it would all come back to me. For now I'm depending on the Google translator which is working very well. I'm hoping it will help me regain some of my French. I'm having fun. I guess that's what's important.

Yesterday was me and Sweet Hubby's 27th wedding anniversary. We had a fun day. First, we slept in and goofed off. Doug cooked me breakfast. Then we went and did a bit of shopping in Coeur d'Alene picking up some necessities.

After that we went and saw the movie Taken. If you like lots of action, Liam Neeson, and a fair amount of gratuitous violence, you will like this movie. I hardly breathed through the whole thing it was so intense. All in all, I enjoyed it very much.

We went to Wolf Lodge Steak House for dinner after the movie. I don't know why we haven't been there sooner. It has quite a reputation around this area-a well deserved one I might add. I had the Ribeye steak, with baked potato, tossed salad, bread, and the best baked beans I've ever eaten in my life. I had White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake for dessert. It was all very tasty.

Have a great day.

We Need a Small Rodent Sacrifice

All that I have put my needles to do has ended in disaster this week. I've had to frog it all way too many times, a few times over and over on the same project. Take, for example, Wednesday and Thursday. I worked on my Kimono jacket and the Mexican Waters socks. Today I find I have to un-knit all that I did those two days on the jacket-literally. I managed to forget to start the armhole decreases way back on Tuesday.

I'm trying to do the heel on the sock. So far I've knit enough heels for at least 2 more pair, but none of them turned out correctly. So here I am, heelless again. These aren't hard things to do. If you've read this blog any time at all, you know how many pairs of socks I did last year! I know how to knit sock heels!

It's not just me either. My friends are suffering the same thing. Patricia, who is trying to knit the same sock as me (I'm writing the instructions for her as I go) couldn't get past the first inch of knitting. We finally figured out she was knitting the sock inside out and backwards-somehow. We both still aren't sure how she did it. Lest you think she's a beginning sock knitter, let me just point out she's been making socks longer than me-since the days when double pointed needles were the only tools for sock making.

Andrea is working on a baby sweater-only to miss that the hem is supposed to be 7 rows of garter stitch, and then when she finally got past that one discovered she was knitting with the wrong size of yarn (she carry's both weights in her shop). Or was it the wrong sized needles?......curse you elderly brain cells!

Anthony is trying to knit a hat in 2x2 rib. 5 inches into it looks really pretty, but it ain't looking right. By this time, it's decided the pattern he has-which spirals rather nicely but doesn't in the least bit look like 2x2 ribbing, is better. We advised he just keep going.

Who angered the knitting gods? And what did they do to cause it?

By the way, I found this funny cartoon. I can so relate.



Off to do some beading instead.....

Have a nice day.

Peaches and Grapes

I finished it. Took days for me to get around to sewing on that button. I hate sewing on buttons.



Pattern: Super Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea

Size made: 6 to 12 months.

Yarn: TLC Heathers in Grapevine. Unknown acrylic worsted in peach.

Needles: Size 7 Addi Turbo Circulars.

Cast On: January 12, 200
Completed: February 14, 2009

Comments: I made this for Knitwits. A fun and fast knit. I left out the stripes along the hem and cuff. Just being a bit lazy. There were a couple math errors in my print out of the pattern, but I see she's fixed that now, and added a larger size. Cool!

I also whipped up a matching hat with some of the leftover yarn. I winged it on the hat, so there is no pattern.


Have a great day.

WIP Wednesday 2/18/09

This weeks WIPs are a beaded bead I'm learning how to do in herringbone stitch. I'm doing it in violet and green because I'm in another beadswap and that is the theme-violet and green necklace. I thought I'd do something in beaded beads of some sort.


Let me tell you, I am lovin' this project. I think I've found my niche in beading. Beaded beads are a LOT of fun. By the way, the tutorial for this bead is here: Scaphs. It's in french (which I know just a tiny bit), but the diagrams are wonderful.

This is a new knitting project I started over the weekend. One of my daughters best friends just had a baby girl so I thought I'd make a little cardigan with a ruffled hem for her. I've chosen a yarn that's been in my stash for awhile called Candy DK from King Cole yarns in the Cinder Toffee colorway.

Unfortunately, I'm finding the pattern to be incredibly booooorrring. It started with casting on 274 stitches. Thankfully, that was the ruffle, so I've since decreased down to a much more reasonable number of stitches. Still, I'm having a hard time not nodding off. A lot of stockinette stitch does that to me. I need to get this sweater done so today I purchased a bottle of Yazi ginger vodka and I will reward myself with a shot on the rocks for each day I work on it. This has worked for me before, so it should work again.

While I was at the liquor store I found a bottle of this:



With a name like Sheep Dip, it has to be good, right? Actually, I first heard about it on someones blog a few weeks ago. That got me curious, so I did a bit of research and found it is getting good reviews. It's a scotch blend of several (18, if I remember correctly) high end single malt scotch whiskeys. Since I was at the liquor store for Yazi, I figured I'd see if they had this in stock. They did. I took a little sip as soon as I got home. I had to know! It is very very very good. Nice and smooooooooooth, and not expensive either-as good scotch goes. I'm so glad I've discovered it.

There's a reason for that silly name. Back in the days, when the British farmers made their own whiskey out back behind the barn, they hid it in barrels marked sheep dip to avoid paying taxes on it. There's an interesting history lesson for ya.

Have a great day!

I've Included the Fringe

Last night I put myself through the wringer of learning a 'new' computer program and drew (drawed?) up a chart for the fringe on the little peyote amulet necklace pattern I posted on my pattern blog yesterday. I asked folks in one of the Yahoo beading groups I'm in if there was a program for doing this. It was suggested that Microsoft Powerpoint could be used for this purpose.

Me: "Hey Doug, what is Powerpoint?"

Doug: "It's a program for making slide shows for presentations."

????????

Hmmm...oh, look, I have it! It came with the MS Office Home I bought a couple weeks ago. Open program......... "It's for making slide shows?" (How in the heck will this help me?)

Doug: "Yes."

I prowled around the program, clicking on menus and tools and whatnot. Yes, it can be used to create slide shows for presentations. But it works very similarly to the way MS Word works (which is what I bought MS Office for in the first place). I 'know' Word. I'll do this there instead.

HA!

You see, I'd upgraded my MS Word 2000 to the current version two weeks ago. Now tell me, why is it that programmers have to change and/or move every. stinking. thing. when they upgrade a program? It took me HOURS to figure out how to draw that chart. Not because I didn't know what actions to take to do it, but because I had to figure out where all the tools for those actions were. Most of them were hidden! And who's idea was it to put the 'Help' online??? Geez, I wouldn't want to be on vacation somewhere where there is no wifi or I'd be up .... well, you get the idea.

I miss the days when manuals were books, written on real paper, that I could hold in my hand.

So, I hope y'all who use that pattern appreciate the torture and pain I went through in order to provide it for you, free of charge. (Unless you want to count reading this rant as payment.)

Have a nice day.

It Needs a Name

I hope y'all had a nice Valentines day. I did. Sweet Hubby and I chilled for the day. I did a bit of knitting, a bit of beading, watched some tv, watched a couple DVD's, read a goodly portion of the murder mystery novel I checked out of the library, ...you know...chilled. In all that chilling I managed to finish this peyote stitched amulet necklace.


This will be the project for the peyote amulet class I'm scheduled to teach next Saturday. I used size 11 Japanese seed beads in dark purple and transparent matte lime for the peyote part. I have made the chart for this bag and posted it on my pattern blog.

I saw a robin last Friday. It's early. Last year I saw my first one on March 9th. Maybe we'll get an early spring this year? I can hope.

Have a great day.

Tommy Gets His Comeuppance

So, yesterday morning I'm drinking my coffee, checkin' the email, and doing the usual 'getting myself to wake up' routine. Sweet Hubby is in his favorite chair, laptop and Tommy in the lap. Tommy is snoozing.

From the side of my eye there is movement. I turn and look. A moose is just a few feet from the living room window, looking at me.

Me: Oh, whoa! Where's my camera? Look at that?

Sweet Hubby: Look at what?

Me: There's a moose right there.

Sweet Hubby: Your camera is right here on the table.

I grab it, stand up, and Tommy raises his head. Then it hits me-and before I can finish this thought: "Oh no! The doggy door is open!" Tommy has shot out the door and is in the front yard doing his best rendition of a large pack of Rottweilers protecting their territory. I panicked. My brain just froze as I watched it all out the living room window. I had no idea what to do. This moose was not gonna back down. No way. No how. My doggy is dead meat!

He's barking his head off, and attempts to nip the moose's leg. The moose takes umbrage.

It charges at Tommy. The front hooves come up....I wince-here it comes....my doggy is gettin' stomped! Aaaauughhh.....

Much to my total surprise and shock--Tommy yelped, turn, and ran screaming all the way to the back yard and in the doggy door. The moose chased him the whole way.

I could not stop laughing. The truth is out Tommy!

I am so glad he ran, or this would be an obituary post.

The offended moose
(My apologies to the animal rights folks, but wouldn't he look great wrapped up and in my freezer?)

I have proof positive that Doug is the best and sweetest hubby in the universe.


Just delivered this morning. My favorite color even! I'm so full of the warm fuzzies I think I'll burst!

Have a great day.