Singular Stitches

Recycle and Reuse

2011-01-08T15:19:00.003-05:00

I'm so glad it's the weekend!

This past week has been so busy at work. I'm on a team that's designing/testing/implementing a new business system for our manufacturing floor. We go live in April, so it's been crazy. Usually, I cross stitch or knit during lunch to help chill out, but I haven't had time for that. They just don't seem to feel that my crafty therapy is a higher priority than Oracle. *sigh*

So, in the absence of astonishing numbers of Xs to share, I thought I would share my new project containers.

The brands of skin care and cosmetics that I use periodically offer those lovely GWPs, and so I wait to buy anything I need until there's an offer. Most of these come with cosmetic bags, and over time, I've accumulated more than I'll ever use for my cosmetics, so I thought I would upgrade my normal project case of a Ziploc bag to one of these nifty (and much prettier) freebie bags.

Way better than Ziplocs!!

And (and I have no affiliation) if you do buy the brands that offer GWPs, I found a fabulous blog that lists which department stores are offering them. It's called My Gift With Purchase.

And a Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T15:59:00.004-05:00

Welcome to 2011, Everyone!!

Ready to start a fresh new year? Yes? Good to hear!!

Though it's going to be incredibly hard getting used to being at work, focusing for 8 hours, no Farmville, Farmtown or Frontierville for hours, after over two weeks out of the office. And dressed - no sweats, with makeup and hair somewhat styled.

Oh, shiver.

I sort of, kinda tried to start the blog back up last summer, but it just didn't go, so I'm using the new year as sort of a kick start to get back out there on the blogging circuit. Yay, me. :o)

Anyways, another incentive is that I'm cross stitching more than I was previously, and other than my own blog, there's really not a good place to offer up what I've been working on, and quite honestly, it's even more incentive to keep stitching, because, otherwise, it would make for very boring progress photos.

Here's what I've been working on recently, and since I didn't realize I was going to blog about it, you'll just need to take my word for it that I've actually made progress. It's called Live With the Creatures (you'll need to scroll down a bit on their website) by Carriage House Samplings:

Any of you who may have read my blog previously might remember (because I know you all remember what I've blogged about maybe 3 or so years ago...), DH and I love BBC tv, miniseries, and movies. Since we've been off over the holidays, we've watched a bunch that I've stitched along to:

Lark Rise to Candleford - Yes, I love British period pieces, and this one is probably one of my favorites. I want Dorkas Lane's wardrobe!! And I loved Julia Sawalha as Dorkas (Lydia in A&E Pride & Prejudice). It's uncertain if this series is going to be canceled or not, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for season four.

French & Saunders - It took me a little bit to get into these two, and only after seeing Dawn French in Lark Rise, did I give them a try and I'm glad I did. Dawn French is a little much for me, but Jennifer Saunders is a great balance (and actually my fave of the two), and we've worked our way through this set of DVDs. Hysterical!!! I'm terribly bummed that the BBC said they could no longer work together. Anyone know why??

Cranford - We watched Return to Cranford a couple years ago, but didn't realize there was a second part. It was less happy than the first part, but it has an overall happy ending. There are SO many of our favorite British actors in this one, too many to mention, but it's got one of my all-time faves, Dame Judi Dench.

Sherlock - I must admit, I'm a Jeremy Brett diehard for Sherlock Holmes, but oh. my. gosh., Benedict Cumberbatch is the next best updated version of Sherlock since Mr. Brett left this earth. It's funny, Benedict was in a BBC series we recently watched (no surprise there) called Fortysomething with Hugh Laurie. He was Hugh Laurie's oldest son, so it's funny to have seen him as a college-aged kid to being the next Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, this series debuted in 2010, and there were only three episodes in series one, so we'll have to wait a while 'till we get to see series two. Maybe they'll put it on BBC America. Oh, pretty please......

And, last night, we just finished up series two of Clatterford (AKA Jam and Jerusalem) - This is another French and Saunders series, and they're both in it, and I think Jennifer Saunder wrote them. It's about a group of women in a branch of the Women's Institute (Remember Calendar Girls?), and they're really a bunch of misfits from totally different walks of life, and the only thing some of them really have in common is membership to the ladies' group. It's really grown on us, and we're hoping to get the third series shows up at the library. I heard they may cancel the series before they film series four, which is really a bummer.

Wow, didn't realize we watched so much over the holidays! Oh, well. It's cold outside and what's better than to curl up in a warm family room with DH, a kitty on your lap, watching good BBC tv while cross stitching??

And, I'll leave you with a recent photo status of the kids. They're going to be 15 this year. It's hard to belive they were just little balls of fuzz when we adopted them so long ago. They're doing well, still active, still in good health, but slowing down.

Keeping up the cuteness

2010-07-27T17:03:00.008-05:00

I won't bemoan the weather. It's hot and miserable, and I'm trying to move on. Soon it will be September and it will be 'all good'. OK, done.

To fill the time until then, I've been busily knitting and stitching in the dark coolness of The Bat Cave (what my sister calls my house). Below are some updates. The kitties felt they had much to offer and took it upon themselves to help with improving the overall cuteness of my projects.

First up, the 'before' of my Batch of Pumpkins:

And the 'after' with a nice dose of cuteness, thanks to Abner:

Onto some knitting content. I finished the first and started the second of my Dad's Christmas socks. Here's Itchey to increase the cuteness quotient by at least 10X:

I thought it would be fun to join the over 4000 other knitters on Ravelry who are already making their very own Citron shawl. It's a half circle shawl with varying rows of increases and decreases to make rings of puckery knitting. I just started it last night, using a variagated yarn of mid to dark purples. The colors remind me of blueberries. Mmmmmm.

Abner wanted to help add to the overall cuteness of this project, but suddenly became enamored with the needles and decided they'd make a good chew toy. I didn't quite care for *that* kind of cuteness, so he was removed from the photo shoot.

I feel like such a heel...

2010-07-17T15:44:00.004-05:00

Perhaps a poor try at humor. :o)

I've finished the heel part of Dad's first sock. I've finally had the mental capacity to sit down to comprehend the instructions. It's not that they're hard, but it just requires concentration, that I just wasn't able to give it until yesterday evening.

Now, it's just the same until it's time for the toe.

Onto happily knit in the cool darkness of The Ladies' Parlour with a kitty or two...

Christmas Knitting in July

2010-07-07T17:55:00.003-05:00

When I begin knitting a pair of Christmas Socks, I get the sensation that I'm in a little black bikini, jet skiing in the Arctic Ocean just off the coast of northern Greenland, with fine ice crystals spaying up and hitting my...

Ahem.

I've decided to try mind power to keep cool with the current hot, muggy and oppressive weather plaguing the Mid-Atlantic. I'm hoping that by imagining how nice and cold it will be outside when I present Dad with his yearly installment of hand knitted socks on Christmas Morning, it will make it feel like 32F instead of 92F. Yeah. We'll see.

I just don't like how any of the socks fit that I've knitted for myself. So, I've stopped making them for me. I've tried different patterns, adjusting those patterns, using different sized needles, etc, but I still don't like how they fit. They just feel wrong. Since I'm able to knit socks for my parents that fit them perfectly, they can benefit from my love of sock knitting.

Typically, I make Dad patriotic socks. He loves all things American Flag or some combination of red, white and blue. Part of the fun is hunting down yarn that fits the bill, but looks different from anything I've made him previously. This year, I found yarn, that by the colorway name alone, I've opted to briefly forgo patriotic.

The colorway is called Poison Ivy, and it's varying shades of green. It's just so perfect for my dad. Hard to explain, but if you knew him, you'd totally agree.

The pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks. It's called Maddler Ribbed Socks, and is a simple (6X1X2) ribbed pattern, which is great to show off the variagated color way. You do notice, however, that I am using a patriotic row marker...

Well, the mind thing is just not working. I'm still too darn hot, but at least Dad will get a lovely pair of socks, even though right this minute, it's difficult to believe that it will ever cool off enough to need them!

Indoor Activities

2010-07-05T17:40:00.007-05:00

I couldn't wait to get some stitching done so I could post! Ooooh, it's so fun to get back into blogging. Facebook is fun, but sometimes I just have much more to type about than a single sentence! :o)

It was even more fun to see that many of my blogging friends are still around! Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do to read what you lovely ladies have been up to while I was away!

No surprise that with July, the three H's have come again (hazy, hot and humid), so the order of the holiday weekend was to stay inside with the air conditioning and, of course, get some needlework done.

I worked on Black Willow Farm (Carriage House Samplings) this weekend. Lately, I've been drawn towards more primative designs, which I think will look good in my dining room. I'm really liking Primative Needle designs, too (Hornbrooke Angel, and Follow Me).

Here's the before:

And the after:

Wow, it's been a while

2010-07-04T08:50:00.000-05:00

Hello again. Nothing drastic has happened to stop me from blogging, in fact, life has happily moved on as usual. I guess I just wanted a break from the blog.

I look forward to reconnecting with all the wonderful stitchers I've met along the way.

It's nice to be back. :o)

Lying face down in a dark room...

2008-12-20T13:52:00.017-05:00

For the knitters reading this, Elizabeth Zimmermann mentions in one of her books that after putting steeks (slits cut - with scissors! - into the sweater body so that sleeves can be added), because of the stress of cutting into a knitted item, go into a dark room and lie on the floor face down.

I can totally relate.

I've made almost a dozen cross-stitched Christmas stockings, and every time I go to sew them into a finished stocking, my stress level goes off the charts. Taking scissors to completed cross-stitch just feels wrong.

Since DSis's DH is now 'official', he gets the 'Now-you're-part-of-the-family-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it-now' Christmas Stocking. Every family member has one made by me. I made DSis a Shepherd's Bush stocking in 1998. The design was Sophie's stocking:

The stocking I made for DSis's DH is Christian's stocking, also by Shepherd's Bush. I did a personal best for completing it in record time. I started stitching it on December 3rd, and completed it on December 20th.

Come, share in my stress....

1. Draw the desired shape of the stocking and cut it out (don't forget the seam allowances!) I'm really, really picky about the shape of the stocking. Just getting the shape right is the most stressful for me. This was even worse, because I also had to make sure it matched the size and shape of the one I already made DSis.

2. Cut out the backing and lining fabric. The plaid is the backing, and the stars are for the lining.

3. Make the piping.

4. Make sure the shape matches DSis's before sewing on the piping.

5. Sew the backing to the front, and sew the lining pieces together. Then sew lining to outside of stocking.

6. Finished!

7. Testing them out on the fireplace.

It's at this time that I realize how much my hands are shaking!

I'll be going to lie face down in a dark room now...

In the merry old land of Oz!

2008-11-16T11:18:00.005-05:00

The Wizard of Oz was on TV last night, so I was looking for something mindless to knit. I've been wanting to make the Bristol Neck Warmer, so I pulled out some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, US#6 needles, and cast on.

It's a four stitch repeat across all 120 stitches, and you repeat every row, so it's easy to remember, especially while singing along with Judy Garland.

The yarn is doubled, so there's nice body to it. In the picture, I have about 2" done, so I only need about 3" more to finish. It's such soft yarn, and it's going to be very warm, so I'm really looking forward to getting this done as soon as possible. Next week we're going to have highs in the 30Fs (Snow!!! Yay! :o)

Earlier last night, I was catching up on Grey's Anatomy (how did I manage to get behind three episodes???), and was working on Mum's Noro Vneck Cardigan. I finished the second sleeve and all that's left is the front/neck band. I talked with Mum last night, and she only wants one button at the V, so that will make it even easier to complete.

See you in Oz, folks! (yes, different movie!)

Mr & Mrs DSis

2008-11-14T08:37:00.008-05:00

DSis and her husband just passed their one week anniversary, but here are some pictures of the happy couple on their day!

Mum of the Bride Shawl

2008-11-05T10:51:00.009-05:00

As I've mentioned in my last post (so long ago in September!), DSis and The-Guy-Formerly-Known-As-DBF-Then-DFiance-And-Now-DH-After-11amEST are running off to get married on November 5th (That's today!). I was asked to make a 'Mum of the Bride' shawl for my mum to wear to their reception later today.

For the last two months, I've ate, slept and breathed pink laceweight wool, knitting it up into a Swallowtail shawl. Mum wanted it larger, so I approximately doubled the pattern size (maybe a little more). It went quite well, with minimum error, and no major frogging!

The details:

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark (Interweave Knits Magazine)
Needles: Knit Picks Harmony Interchangeable Circulars, US#4 (Hated the join on these!) and Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN, US#0 (Used for the p5tog's of the nupps)
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint Twist (Used 1.5 skeins - very nice to work with)
Modifications: Increased the main pattern from 14 repeats to 24 repeats
Begun: September 1, 2008
Finished: November 1, 2008

Just off the needles:

Blocking:

Detail:

Finished!:

Congrats to Mr & Mrs DSis!!!

Pictures to follow!

A Wedding Interrupt

2008-09-02T08:00:00.009-05:00

When the president of the company for which I work has a data request, we call that a "Bob Interrupt". If someone else needs data from me, I tell them I'm working on a "Bob Interrupt" and it's a given that Bob requests pre-empt all other requests. (Bob is a really, really great guy, so everyone totally understands the "Bob Interrupt" concept)

I've just been given a "Wedding Interrupt". A knitting project that puts all other projects I'm currently working on in hibernation until this project is completed.

DSis is "going to the chapel and she's gonna get ma-ah-ah-rried..." (I never was a particularly good singer :o) Although she won't be going to a chapel, she is getting married. She and DFiance (the guy formerly known as DBF) are having a very small, private ceremony with an intimate soiree afterwards, gathering only family and very close friends.

Blush and Bashful are her signature 'cahlahs', so she's asked our "Mum of the Bride" to wear something to coordinate. Mum has asked me to make her a lacy shawl. I bought Prism Lace from The Loopy Ewe in, can you believe it, the Blush colorway. How perfect is that??

Mum likes the Swallowtail Shawl I made for DSis, but would want it bigger. Just to try some things out, I cast on for the Flower Basket Shawl, with some Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud (Peppermint Heather), which I had on hand, but am not sure if the Flower Basket pattern is formal enough.

I have two months to complete this shawl, as DSis's special day is November 5th. Since I've already made the Swallowtail Shawl once, and it was a very quick knit, it's sort of the front runner. And thanks to all those wonderful knitters on Ravelry, I was able to find some knitters who have increased the Swallowtail, so I know what I'd need to do to make the shawl larger without having to figure it out myself. I also have time until I the Prism yarn shows up on my doorstep, so I'll keep an eye out.

Here's what I've knit so far on the Flower Basket:

And a closeup of a basket:

I made this swatch using a US#5 needle, which is what the pattern called for. I don't like how it looks. It looks too 'thin', like the yarn is spread too thin. I'm a loose knitter anyway, so I'm going to try a repeat of the basket lace using US#4 needles to see how that looks.

A Chevron Scarf of My Very Own!

2008-08-16T13:58:00.005-05:00

Well, it's not quite a fully grown scarf...yet.

I've been coveting all the gorgeous Chevron scarves I've seen on Ravelry. I finally decided to start my very own. I've had two skeins of Koigu KPPPM for ages. They're two different colors. I have no idea why I bought two single skeins of two different colors. Maybe I was clairvoyant and just knew, that some time in the future, a pattern like The Chevron Scarf would come along and I could use up those two single skeins of Koigu. Yeah, right.

When I finally pulled out those two skeins out to start my scarf, I didn't think they'd make a good Chevron scarf. The colorways were too similar. So, last night, at Knit One North's first Ladies' Knit Night Out (which was very fun!), with the kind help of Dawn, I was able to find another colorway to go with one of the skeins I already had. It's a beautiful pumpkin, gold, and coral mix (it's the skein on the right, below). The result is a really pretty Autumn colorway.

Thanks, Dawn!!

I also completed another pair of socks. They're just plain socks, using some skeins of Regia I had in my stash. Itchey approves.

And here's Itchey, enjoying the breeze coming in the front door. August, which is usually 3H weather here (hazy, hot and humid), has been absolutely gorgeous, and very much like September weather.

I can just imagine what the neighbors think we do to the cats. Just before I snapped this picture, she was on her back with her paws up in the air. She looked like rigor mortis had set in!

Today, DH and I got together with my parents, DSis and her DBF to celebrate my Mum, DSis, and my August birthdays. We all met for lunch and exchanged gifts. DSis and I both pulled out Sephora bags for each other, because we both got each other Sephora gift cards! (great minds think alike!) It was really funny, because the GCs come in a little black mirrored compact, and we both thought how cool they were as we were wrapping our gifts for the other. Now we each have one!

Knit One North

2008-08-02T14:28:00.006-05:00

Fellow knitters, we finally have a knitting store up in the northern far reaches of Pittsburgh. Woo hoo! Knit One (North) has finally opened!

I managed to trick DH into making a ~~pilgrimage~~ trip on the way back from picking up kitty food at the vet. The store is just as happily painted as the one in Squirrel Hill. There's lots of great nooks and crannies for yarn to be stashed, and plenty of room, so you're not climbing over other people to see the yarn. I got to meet Stacey (proprietress), and Caroline (manager) and two other ladies who will be working there (unfortunately, I didn't catch their names). They were so nice!

Of course, I couldn't leave empty-handed, so I picked up the cutest pattern for an enclosed kitty bed, called (aptly!) Cat Cuddler by Gooseberry Designs. For this project, I selected Cascase 220 (Color #9539), which is a brand-spanking new tweed colorway with dark brown, tan, light gray and dark gray (all colors that coordinate nicely with both of my kitties).

I've also almost finished Mum's Kitchen Hand Towel. This has been such a fun knit!

And finally, after knitting about 5" of the bottom ribbing, I realized I was doing it wrong. I made all the ribs cables, so, after about 5" I ripped them out and started again. I took a look at some of the other finished Mr. Greenjeans, and saw one where the knitter made the bottom with just plain 4X2 ribbing, without any cables, which I really liked, so that's what I'm doing:

And, here is Abner, on the arm of my cushy chair, feverishly helping me blog this afternoon...

This is the way we wash our hands

2008-07-31T18:09:00.004-05:00

I have no idea if that's really lyrics to that nursery rhyme, but it sounds good and it's appropriate.

I've taken a little holiday from my regularly scheduled knitting to make my Mum a little something. On Ravelry, I came across the cutest dishtowel pattern that has a little tab on top with a button that can be hung on a kitchen drawer handle. It was a freebie from Kraemer Yarns, featuring their Tatamy Tweed cotton yarn. With a name like Tatamy, I just had to use that yarn for the towel. I bought two skeins in a really pretty oatmeal color, which I think they call Birch, and another in the color of coffee with cream (or coffee flavored cream, as I tend to have my coffee). I plan to make one for Mum, one for DSis and one for me. Each towel takes one skein.

The Tatamy Tweed is so soft and has been fabulous to work with. I've never heard of Kraemer Yarns before, but they're located somewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania. I might have to try some of their other yarns.

Here's my progress so far:

I have about two more inches before I start the decreases for the tab on top.

Summer corn!

2008-07-14T09:09:00.006-05:00

Another hot and humid weekend, so I stayed inside and knitted.

I finished my first Nibblet sock! I'm not really enjoying this pattern, or yarn. There's a lot of switching between purl and knit stitches, so it's hard to get a good rhythm, and the yarn doesn't move easily on the bamboo needles, so that slows me down, too. I'm looking forward to finishing these socks (to get them OFF the needles)!

Here's the first sock:

I also picked up Hecate a little this weekend. I just started the second section, which are the Crossroads. It's a nice, easy to follow 27-row repeat. Which is good, because I'll be in this section for the majority of this project!

Here's the start of the Crossroads:

And, I also worked on Mr. Greenjeans. I'm to just below the arms. I have the arm stitches resting nicely on ribbon, so I can finish the body, then go back and knit them.

Not sure what happened with the color, but this is nowhere near what the actual color is!

I did have some movie action to go with my knitting. We watched Notes on a Scandal. Judi Dench shows again how she can play any role! (Though it's a rather creepy character!) It was a really odd movie, but I recommend it.

Hecate

2008-07-04T14:00:00.010-05:00

...Goddess of the crossroads.

I'm finally at a point where I can post some pictures of (one of) my latest knitting pursuits. I've been craving lace knitting, and so I cast of for the Hecate Stole, which I'm making for DSis.

The pattern:

I've just completed the first section, called the Moonrise panel, which is the small edge on the bottom, just below the 'crossroads' (the criss-crossy section). It's the part circled in yellow:

Here's my progress so far, helplessly pinned down on my dining room floor:

That ugly seafoam green yarn at the bottom is a crochet chain I used for a provisional cast on, so I can pick up those stitches later to complete the knitted edge.

A closeup, where you can see the pink beads:

The vital statistics:
Pattern: Hecate Stole (from Bad Cat Designs)
Yarn: Lane Borgosesia Cashwool in black
Beads: Smoky gray lined with pink (because pink is DSis' signature color)
Needles: US#3 circular needles.

This is my first time using Knitpick's Harmony wood needles. Besides being absolutely gorgeous to look at, they're very decadent feeling and the tip of the needles have nice sharp points, which work well with lace knitting. And the joins are far better than the Addi Naturas!

Abner, as always, supervised.

And a Happy Birthday to the U.S.A.!!

Getting ready for the harvest

2008-07-01T13:03:00.002-05:00

A little knitting content today. I came across a yarn by Crystal Palace called Maizy, which coincedentally, is made from 85% Corn Silk and 15% Nylon. I bought a couple skeins in the Iguana colorway (which I picked because the colors are yellow, green and brown - planted corn!) and cast on for a pattern I found on the CP website called...OK, you can laugh...Nibblets. It's a lot of knit and purl stitches (kind of like seed stitch), so it's been slow going for me, but I'm really liking the results.

Should be done in time for first harvest on August 2nd! :o)

Very overdue...

2008-06-23T12:44:00.013-05:00

I've been around, and have been crafty, just not posting about it. The dying battery in my camera may have something to do with it...

A few weeks back, we got an early dose of 3H weather (hazy, hot and humid), which ususally doesn't start until late July, early August. So, inside with the AC, I decided to go through my cross stitch projects to see if something caught my eye. A couple did, and I pulled out:

1. Homespun Elegance, Love is the Star. It's one of those projects I started years ago, but knew I'd come back to.

I've always loved the sentiment of this piece:

"Love is the star that lights our way when evening brings us home".

Since I last worked on this piece, I finished the bricks on the house and started the front walkway, fence and little fir trees. Which I did while listening to The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - an excellent book which I highly recommend!

2. Prairie Schooler Book 60 Spring Samplers, again, something I started years ago. This is so old, that it's discontinued, and so I had to find a picture on eBay. I'm doing the one on the far left:

And here's my progress:

I guess you'll have to wait until I stitch some more to see who all is working together! ;o)

The green border at the bottom, looking like it's going nowhere is what I worked on during lunch today. It was so beautiful outside that I gathered up my ziploc of cross stitch (it keeps it fresh!) and went out to the front of our building, and sat on a wall by some flower beds. I did not want to come back in!

I've also been knitting. I almost always try to have a sock on the needles. They're so portable, and if you get stuck waiting somewhere, you can pull it out and feel like you've accomplished something!

It's funny, I started a post a little while back, and had an update picture for the first sock of this pair of socks, but from the time I took the picture until this post today, I finished the first sock and cast on for the second! :oP

I was shopping for some lace yarn (for a stole I'm making for DSis - I'll post more about that when I actually have some progress to show!) at The Loopy Ewe - Excellent sock/lace online yarn store!! - when I came across Riblitts.

What an adorable design! I bought Dream in Color's Gothic Rose , a fingering (sock) weight yarn, and am knitting it on US#0 DPNs. The colors are a dusty brownish mauve and a muted violet, almost like the colors of faded roses and violets. Very gothic looking.

It's been a fast, enjoyable knit. This is the first mitt, and up just up past the thumb opening. The thumb stitches are patiently sitting on a green ribbon, and when I finish the hand part, I'll go back and work the thumb.

And here's a closeup on the under-wrist, which is cleverly knit in 1X1 rib, so they fit snugly at the wrist:

DH and I went to the Three Rivers Arts Festival. It's a well-known Pittsburgh fact that it always rains during the Arts Festival. And, while we were there the weekend before last, it didn't disappoint! We were able to see all the arts & crafts booths before the rain really let loose, and even found a bench sheltered by a leafy arbor (so we only got dripped on occasionally) to listen to a steel drum band made up on local high school kids. They were fabulous and the music was awesome!! (The bench was behind the stage)

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T13:40:00.007-05:00

For those living in the US, today is Memorial Day, the day we honor those in the military who have died dedending our freedom.

DH and I took Friday off to give us a really long weekend (we're also off today). Yesterday, DH, me, DSis and her boyfriend went to my parents' home to cookout and spend some time together. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to playing Jarts.

I want to thank Erin, at Fairytales and French Knots. She completed this project a while ago, and I loved it! She kindly asked if I would like the chart, and it recently found itself delivered to my doorstep.

Thank you, Erin!! I love this chart and can't wait to get it started! :o)

I've been knitting a good bit, and was able to finish two pairs of socks recently, my Jaywalkers and my Popcorn socks.

These are the first socks I've made using a short row heel, which resembles the heels of purchased socks. The silver stuff by my toes is a ribbon from a Christmas present that the kitties decided makes a wonderful toy.

While watching American Beauty (an odd, but interesting film) today, I cast on for a new pair, though there's not enough to photograph yet.

Gifts from nature

2008-05-12T10:51:00.004-05:00

This is what my lilac bush looked like on Friday afternoon. I can't remember it ever flowering as much as it has this year. The branches are bending under the weight of all the blooms!

Such pretty gifts from nature really brightened up my kitchen island. (And surprisingly, there weren't any kitties up on the island inspecting it, either!)

This weekend was a bit on the cool, gloomy side here in the Mid-Atlantic, which was perfect weather to curl up in The Ladies Parlour with some hot tea, two kitties and my knitting. I was able to get the entire heel section completed, and started the foot part.

Popcorn!

2008-05-09T11:50:00.004-05:00

I finished the first popcorn sock, and started the second one. I call them popcorn socks not because of some fantastically intricate stitch I've mastered, but becauase the colors remind me of those jars of popcorn kernels you put in a popper that are multi-colored.

This is the first socks I've made with a short row heel, which looks like store-bought socks, rather than using a heel flap. I found a fantastic set of directions for the heel, but for the life of me, can't remember where I found it.

Dusting the cobwebs off the needles

2008-05-08T11:58:00.005-05:00

I decided to start a new project, one I've been coveting for ages: The Village of Hawk Run Hollow, from Carriage House Samplings. I'm not particularly enamored by silk floss (nothing against it, but it doesn't excite me), so I'm doing this with DMC floss, which really reduces the cost of this project.

I also know I'd go blind stitching it on 40ct fabric (maybe 10 years ago!), so I chickened out and am using 28ct lunana in a cream color. For something this small, I'll do better with an evenweave over linen, and because it's so small, lugana is a more substantial fabric.

Will it be 'ezee'? I doubt it!

Egads, the last time I posted was March!

I really can't blame it on anything, except that I haven't been particularly crafty. In April, I finished up yet another class in my quest for my masters. I can't even say it kept me away from my crafty pursuits, because it wasn't a terribly time consuming class. It was TQM (Total Quality Management), and was quite interesting because it was taught by a VP at a local manufacturing company, who actually uses the tools he teaches, so it was a very practical class.

Here and there I did a little knitting (My Jaywalkers and Popcorn Kernel socks), worked a little on Fairy Flora, but otherwise, I've been reading, and discovered Peggle (which is even more addicting than Bejeweled).

And, I worked a little more on Hawk Run during lunch today:

Will it be a 'breeze'? Ummm, probably not, but it will be fun!

Been around, doing this and that...

2008-03-19T14:11:00.005-05:00

Although I haven't been blogging, I have been stitching. Flora is still in my good graces, and so, has received my full stitching attention. She has been sharing it with my colored popcorn socks, but being the sweet-mannered faerie she is, doesn't mind a bit.

The bottom left is almost totally filled in, and I've been working on the very bottom of her gown.

And, I couldn't resist this one. A couple weeks ago, I was working from home because of the weather. When I work from home, I set up my laptop in the dining room, close to the back window, and open the draperies so that I can enjoy the view while working. Since it was cold and icy, I left them closed to keep out the cold, and bumped up the heat a little. Itchey wanted her privacy while enjoying the heat...

This is their typical configuration when I work from home. Notice Abner in the background.

A little visitor...

2008-02-20T19:19:00.007-05:00

...for the kitties. :o)

I've been a little travelling lass these past two weeks. I was in Austin last week and St. Louis the week before. Of course, going from 62F in Austin, catching two connecting flights, and coming back to 20F has thrown my sinuses into utter chaos, but otherwise, they were great trips. Unfortunately, I had little time to sightsee, but it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Would you believe that when I went through security at Pittsburgh International, they didn't question my two sets of circular needles, my extra emboirdery needles, or even my Gingher scissors (which could easily amputate a finger), but the way my car keys were lying in my bag looked funny and they had to pull them out and examine them. Go figure.

The flights were long enough to get some knitting and cross stitch done.

I was able to finish one of my 'colored popcorn' socks, and start the second....

Here's a closeup of the colors:

And I finished in a little more of the bottom left side of Fairy Flora...

I'm so happy to be home with DH and the kitties...

200 Already??

2008-01-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

As I was going through the process to create this post, I saw that this was Post 200! How time flies when you're having fun!

Thank You! to everyone who stops by to see what goofy things I manage to get up to. You're the best part and make getting to post 200 very enjoyable!

Here's my latest picture of Flora. The part I just stitched is the really dark teal and rose on the far left side, around Flora's knee:

Now my poor father doesn't have to hop

2008-01-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

They say haste makes waste, and I'm living proof. After discovering the stitch shortage on my Dad's 2nd sock, I hastily got it restarted and, of course, in my rush, made some mistakes (nothing as big as the previous one) that caused me to rip out and reknit.

So *finally*, here are my father's completed Christmas socks:

And the other side:

That's the fun of hand painted yarn, you just never know exactly how the colors will arrange themselves. I bought both skeins at the same time, but they look totally different.

For the non-knitters out there, those sections of the same color, like the white secions, and that big red and white stripped secion - that's called pooling.

These were finished while watching Stardust. It was a wonderfully-magical-fairy-tale-and-of-course-you-will-need-some-tissues-for-the-ending movie. Robert DiNero's character was very amusing. I highly recomment it.

Now that these are done, I felt the need to start not one, but two new projects:

1. A scarf for DSis. She likes animal print so I started this scarf:

It's Caron Jewel Box in the Deep Jasper colorway. I'm using a ChicKnits Buttonhole Chic scarf pattern on US#9 needles. about 7" up, there is an opening knit into the scarf so the other end of the scarf can feed through, and the ends cross over.

2. Socks for me! I just love the 2-circ method of knitting socks, so I'm making another pair, this time, I want to learn the Short Row Heel mothod (the way the heel is made on store bought socks). I'm using these instructions from Cosmic Pluto's blog for the heel. Otherwise, it's just a plain top-down sock.

The colorway of the yarn intrigues me. For those of you old enough to remember non-microwave popcorn, there was a jar of corn you could buy that was all colorful. The popped part would still be off-white (I remember being so bummed that it wasn't the color of the kernel), but the kernel attached would be some pretty color. The colors of this yarn remind me of a jar of that corn.

And, would you guess who jumped out of my Xstitch basket and demanded some stitching time? None other than Fairy Flora!

Indeed! It was like meeting up with a dear old friend. *sniff* I thought I took an updated picture, but it doesn't appear so. I started stitching on the turquoise part on the left by her knee. It was a darker color (924) below what's there. I'll try to get a more updated picture soon.

Resolutions

2008-01-02T08:09:00.000-05:00

I'm not one to make resolutions. They're too much like rules, and once I make them, they confine me, and I immediately want to defy them.

But, I am going to make an effort to post more. So here you go. ;o)

I took a little time off from Dad's sock to make DH a new pair of slippers. He wears a size 15 shoe, and it's always hard to find him slippers, so I usually knit them for him. This time, I tried using something a little more densely knitted so hopefully they'll last a bit longer.

These were a very fast knit (only took me two days) using Paton's Rumor on US#8 circular needles.

And here's DH modeling his new footsies:

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

We rung in 2008 at Dave & Busters with my sister and her boyfriend. Normally, DH and I are asleep (at least I am) by about 10pm on New Year's Eve, but it sounded like such fun, and we had a fabulous time! I don't normally like video games, but I've always had fun watching DH play. (and I did play a little) We also made sure we played some pool. Though I play very poorly, I always love playing! I didn't even have any stray balls jump off the table!

Me and DH (and that's an IBC rootbeer bottle you see!):

DSis and her boyfriend:

And I even have some finished project news! The second skein for my sister's mitts came in the mail a couple days ago, so I was able to finish her mitts, and I think it's safe to say that she's happy with them.

Happy New Year, everyone! May all your wildest dreams come true in 2008! *HUG*

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

We celebrated Chirstmas Day at my parent's home with my parents, DSis and her boyfriend, me and DH. It's always so fun to gather with them!

As for the knitting, I didn't get either my Dad's 2nd sock or my sister's second mitt completed, so I wrapped up the completed one and told them the second one was coming shortly. I would have finished the mitts, but I ran out of yarn with the second skein. Luckily, the store I bought the second skein from, Bonnie Knits, had more of the same dye lot, so on the 26th, I called in an order for a 2nd skein. I've been working on Dad's sock (I just knew I wouldn't be able to reknit a sock before Christmas). Both were happy, though, and are excited about getting them soon.

Here's the remake of Dad's sock (sometimes the remake is better than the original!):

My cross stitch is quivering a bit, because not only did I walk past my stitching basket (it's been in the far corner of the bedroom for quite some time now), but I picked it up and put in some actual stitches. (we're all recovering from the shock! :o):

I know it doens't look a whole lot different from the last picture I've posted of this (and that was a long, long time ago!), but I worked on the roof parts of the two side sections and started the roof on the main part of the house.

So very, very close...

2007-12-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

I almost had Dad's second sock completed. I was about mid-way through the last pattern repetition (I was at the 15th row of a 32 row repeat) and just about ready to start the toe decreases (the home-stretch) when realization hit:

The 2nd sock has 6 fewer stitches than the first one. Yup. I cast on only 72 stitches instead of 76. You can kind of see that the width of the sock on the right is smaller than the one on the left. I just didn't notice until this morning.

Sooooooooo....after the 'deer in the headlights' look wears off of my face, I'll frog it and start again. I doubt that I'll get it done before Christmas, so I'll wrap up the first sock so Dad can at least see what he might have received. *sigh*

Well, it takes some of the stress out of these final days before Christmas. :o)

Abner is very sorry about Mummy's knitting, but wants to know if he can still chew on the needles... (Mummy, can I?)

Itchey doesn't even want to look at the offending 2nd sock...

They lied!!!

2007-12-19T09:03:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm not a happy Chirstmas knitter.

I've been knitting away and Dad's 2nd sock is almost complete. (I love the 2 circ method!) I don't have it with me today, so I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. (2 posts in a row???? Scary.) Mum's socks are complete, but I wrapped them before getting a picture.

In between that, I've also started DSis's mitts. In my last installment, you saw the first completed mitt looking all happy and pretty and waiting for its mate. I started the second mitt and came across Dilemma #1:

1. They Lied!

The pattern called for one skein of Tahki Jolie. So, I bought one. I guess I could have bought two, and if I only needed one, I could have made a dainty scarf to match the mitts. But, I blindly believed. (It is Christmas, afterall)

Not even remotely enough. *sigh*

So, last Saturday, I frantically called around to local yarn stores to find another. I finally found one at a store called Bonnie Knits. It was a different dye lot, but as I bought the yarn some six months ago, I didn't think there was much hope. They're local, but not local enough (especially in all the holiday traffic) to drive to, I asked them to mail it to me. They said it would go out Monday, and don't you know, it was on my doorstep Monday night!

(Bonnie - a million thanks! You must really have some clout with the US postal service :o)

I was (kind of) prepared for Dilemma #2:

2. Those who created the notion of dye lots have a cruel sense of humor!

I have two skeins of entirely different pinks (You know, Blush and Bashful, DSis's signature cahlahs). The new skein is bigger than the first skein. So, after careful thought, I decided to start a new pair of mitts from the second skein.

I'll keep you posted.

DH and I don't exchange gifts. He's so hard to buy for and I just want everything. We don't exchange for birthdays or our anniversary either. It's so much less stressful, and besides, we have each other - awwwww. (Thankfully, we decided this a couple years after he got me the kitties :o)

But, our Niecelets and their Grammy (DH's Mom) do and so we received a whole boxful of lovely wrapped Christmas presents for me, DH and even the kitties to put under our carefully decorated, non-artificial ceramic tree (that incidentally, has been out since last Christmas).

As you can see, Grammy loves to spoil us at the holidays, and on Christmas Morn, gleeful shouts of 'Hey, I didn't know they sold that at the Dollar Store!' can be heard from here to Maryland :o)

Obviously, Itchey knows which gift is ~~hers~~ theirs and so after taking this photo, we thought it best to put it on the top shelf in the pantry. :o)

On the Christmas Home Stretch

2007-12-03T20:08:00.000-05:00

I've been madly knitting away on Christmas gifties. That constant ticking of the clock counting down is all I can hear... (at least it's better than the voices! ;o)

Mum's socks are very close. Since taking the picture below, I'm almost at the toe decrease.

I finally finished the first of my Dad's socks. The circular needles really made the sock go fast. I just love the coloring of hand dyed yarns. You have a general idea of what it kind of maybe will look like, but it's always a surprise in the end.

While DH was outside raking yet MORE leaves in the yard yesterday afternoon, I decided to start DSis's finger less mitts.

These were stunningly fast to knit, and by today during lunch, I completely finished the first mitt.

And, to get everyone in the holiday mood, here's some snowy pictures out my front door this evening. It's our first real snow where even the roads are covered:

I think they're soaring

2007-11-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

I made the switch from DPNs to two circular needles on Dad's socks. At first, this method was a little cumbersome, and uncomfortable to hold. At one point, I managed to pull a bunch of stitches off one of the needles. So I spent Friday lunch fixing them. No progress there.

But, I stuck with it, and it's gotten easier, and actually to the point where I've noticed some real progress:

From about the end of October through some time in March, we put up heavy drapes in the entry to the doorways of the family room and kitchen. This really keeps out the cold from the chilly entry way. (and hides any dirty dishes that might be on the kitchen counters from anyone at my front door :o) We use spring rods to keep them up. While not my first choice in design, I was impressed that I was able to find something that somewhat coordinates (and isn't totally hideous) in the clearance section of Bed Bath & Beyond. They're great because they're a little too long and wide, so it makes a good seal around the doorway.

And, every year, when the kitties see us getting out the drapes and rods, they get all excited. I'm not exactly sure why this is such a treat for them, but they love walking through the doorways where we've hung the drapes. They take extra laps around the downstairs just so they can walk through them. Being the picture adjuster I am, I am forever straightening them because once the cats walk through, it leaves a little opening, which kind of defeats the purpose of closing off the doorway. Maybe once each year, they'll accidentally pull one down, while in hot pursuit of one another.

I caught one of the culprits this morning staring out at me (and looking oh so innocent) from the familyroom doorway:

A foot

2007-11-09T08:48:00.000-05:00

Last night during Grey's Anatomy, I finally finished the first of Mum's Christmas socks. I was starting to get nervous, because I came very, very close to the end of the skein, but finished it up without incident.

Here's a closeup of the pattern. It's a 4X2 rib for about 7 rows and then it shifts for about 9 rows and then another (offset) 4X2 rib. Rinse and repeat.

My dad's sock is on US#0 DPNs which, for me, are very slow to knit with. (Kind of like stitching on 25 ct evenweave over one) You stitch and stitch and stitch and even after a few hours, it still looks like you didn't do anything. So, as we're getting awfully close to rug cutting time, I'm switching tactics.

I've heard good things about knitting socks using two circular needles, that it's very fast. I've also heard of Magic Loop (and I even bought the book to check it out), but that just doesn't appeal to me. On my doorstep yesterday, my two US#0 24" Addi Turbo circs arrived from elann.com. I had the Cat Bordi book from a number of years ago, so today at lunch, I'm going to see if my 'Socks Soar' too. :o)

Update pics

2007-11-04T11:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but this will be a very short post. I've got a nasty sinus headache today. I call it the Smashed Face headache, because it feels like someone used a sledgehammer on my facial bones. A couple months ago, I started going to the chiropractor to help with my sinuses. It's been a great success, but the one thing we're still trying to determine is how often I'll need to go to keep the pain at bay. This is my first bad headache since going (it's been almost a month since my last apt), and it's typically worse in the Spring and Autumn, when the weather is in such a state of change.

I promised some update pics, and here they are. The first is Mum's sock. I worked on Dad's sock yesterday while DH and I finished up the Duchess of Duke Street series (all gone :o( ).

And here is my Batch of Pumpkins:

My monthly update...and I do have some progress!

2007-11-02T14:10:00.000-05:00

It's now November and the cold-sweat realization that I have to put more time into my Christmas presents than just during lunch is beginning to settle in.

Here's the latest progress on Dad's sock. (You'd think I was reproducing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in knit by how long it's taken me on this sock! (I'm still on the first sock! - you can stop laughing now. Really.)

With some luck, I'll get both done and the poor man won't have to hop!

I will try to post a picture of my Mum's sock soon. You could just look at the picture of Dad's sock, and imagine the colors are black, gold, white and grey.

And while I don't have a new picture, I've been knitting a bit on MIL's scarf. Here's an old picture. The update is really the same, just longer. With some luck, she might get this before the Spring thaw.

And 'lo and behold, I've picked up my cross stitch!

...I'll give you a minute to pick yourself back up off the floor...

Yes, DH and I have been watching the English series 'To the Manor Born' (very 70's, but funny), and I was looking for something to do while watching and just happened to pick up my Batch of Pumpkins.

I've finished filling in all of the icons on each pumpkin, and have started filling in the orange. I have the top one done and am about 1/2 way through filling in the second pumpkin down.

I can feel that pull of blogging starting up again, so who knows, you might not have to wait until December for another post! :o)

Taking a little break...

2007-10-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted. Wow. I'm really sorry if I worried anyone.

Nothing bad has happened. I've been enjoying the fall weather (this is my time of year). I just haven't been crafty enough to be blogworthy. Been reading and watching old movies and catching up on Grey's Anatomy before Season 4 started last week.

I have been working on Christmas presents. I was so proud of myself that I got them started over the summer, but now that it's October, I'm not as far along as I should be and Christmas will be here before I know it!

My Taurus SHO (Ricky) finally died in a puff of smoke a few weeks ago. (Not bad, we kept him over a year after we initially started looking for a car...remember the Camry saga?) He was replaced with a little red wine colored Ford Focus which I've aptly named Merlot.

I will continue to visit blogs, but this one might be a little sporatic.

Laboring away...

2007-09-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

This past weekend in the US was the Labor Day holiday weekend, with Labor Day itself on Monday, giving us a nice long weekend (and we took Tuesday off too). It marks the end of the summer holiday as most school-aged children know it.

Does anyone remember the TV commercial (Staples, I think), where 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' is playing and the Dad is happily going down a school supply aisle with the shopping cart and the kids are dragging their feet along behind? Hee Hee

I did some laboring of my own, and here's what I have to show for it:

A bit on The Marriage of Minds:

And some on Shifting Sands:

I had a bit of a quandry with this project. I originally bought a Debbie Bliss alpaca/silk blend yarn to make this scarf for MIL. However, when I started knitting it up, I found that the yarn was not substantial enough for the pattern. I didn't like the way it looked. I don't know how else to describe it, but the stitches looked wimpy, and it was hard to really see the affect of the 'shifting sands' (or, since I'm using light blue, is it rippling waters? :o)

I was in JoAnn Fabrics and came across Bernat Satin, which is a really soft, acrylic yarn. I bought one skein to try it out. It's a little bit stiffer, and the pattern really stands out nicely. (It also comes in a beautiful light blue, which is one of the top criteria) I'm not a yarn snob, and neither is MIL, so although I feel a bit bad replacing silk with acrylic, the acrylic yarn will better do the job, and it's very pretty and feels very soft, so that's all I have to say about that.

To get me laboring along, DH and I watched Charade, That Touch of Mink and The Howards of Virginia. I watched Broadway Melody of 1940, Royal Wedding, Follow the Fleet, and Silk Stockings. DH has been on a Cary Grant kick and I've been working my way though Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies.

That Girl

2007-08-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

I want to thank you lovely ladies for the birthday wishes! It really made my day to read your sweet comments.

Remember Marlo Thomas' funky flip haircut in the 60's TV series, That Girl?

I loved her flip hairstyle, and I've been thinking about doing something different with my hair, so after getting about 9" cut off my hair (it feels fabulous!!), I now have my very own, updated for the new millenium, That Girl flip. (It had a little more flip before it was windblown on the ride home)

Of course, the new 'do is to divert your attention from the fact that I've done absolutely no cross stitch or knitting at all so far this week!

When I start a new xstitch project, I have this thing about starting from dead center (or as close as absolutely possible). I wanted to start Marriage of the Minds, but in the project package from Needlecraft Corner, the color I needed was missing. I emailed the proprietress, Drema, who replied with a profusely apologetic email and promptly popped it in the mail, which arrived today.

If you're looking for a great online xstitch store (it's in the US), Needlecraft Corner is fabulous! Very fast, courteous service. Drema is so nice to work with.

Now that I have Gloriana Silk #117 in my little hands, I might put some stitches in this evening...

Birthday Funnery

2007-08-26T19:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Hour was a blast Friday night. Here's a picture of my sister and some of her friends we met up with at Joe's Crab Shack in Station Square. (DSis is 2nd from left. DH and I weren't in the pic.)

The Wildthings game Saturday night was really fun. Unfortunately, some thunderstorms blew through with a cold front and they called it in the 2nd inning. But, otherwise, we had a fantastic time.

When the Wildthings pitcher threw the very first strikeout of the game, they tossed out these little foamy toilets with a local plumber's advertisement on it into the stands. It's like one of those foamy things you squeeze when you're all stressed out and need a release. Anyways, DH caught one. It's his 'Major Award'. :o)

Me, DH, DSis, Dad and Mum:

DSis and DSis's beau:

Even my Jaywalker got in on the fun.

And, of course, there were prezzies:

This was from DSis. How purr-fect is this??? It's going on my desk at work.

Mom and Mum & Dad each gave me some green prezzies (This is what I got last year, and the year before that...notice a pattern forming? :o), so I made an etrip to Needlecraft Corner and bought all the fixin's for Marriage of the Minds. I can't wait to get it started this week!!

And this Every Day Needlework Bag from Namaste was from me to me:

Gelato and Mum's Cardi were well received. Mum's Cardi fit Mum perfectly! Unfortunately, it was very hot and humid, so she didn't keep it on long enough for me to get a picture.

This wasn't part of the gifties, but I also got some sock yarn (from The Loopy Ewe) to get started on some Christmas presents for my Mum and Dad:

The Lorna's Laces (Red, white and blue) is for Dad (he loves all things patriotic), and Claudia's Steelers (The black, gold and white) is for Mum (she watches/listens to all the teams: Steelers, Pirates and Penguins). I'm going to make both socks with the Switchback Socks pattern. I'm not sure who will get the Flared Lace Smoke Ring (moi? :o) but since the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a cold, snowy winter in the East, I will definitely be making it...for someone.

Since it was my birthday today, and because the weather was so gorgeous, DH and I decided to take a ride here. We came home with almost $70 more than we went with. This was mostly thanks to DH, I was the Human Money Funnel. (Well, more than usual. It was just more concentrated today)

I also was left messages on the answering machine from the niecelets, and other various family members, singing 'Happy Birthday' to me.

It was a great birthday.

Pumpkins!

2007-08-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

I keep ~~deluding myself~~ hoping that if I work on Autumn themed projects, we will have Autumn weather. So far, my theory has fallen flat on it's face. It's supposed to be 92F today with dew points around 70F. Now you know not to ask me for any good lottery numbers!

I've been working away at my Batch of Pumpkins during lunch. I got a lot done yesterday while participating in an Oracle conference call from the comfort of my desk. (Hey, I can't help it, it was scheduled during my lunch hour - the fun of working for a company headquartered in the Central Time Zone)

I probably won't get much more done on it this week, so this is probably going to be the last update before moving onto the next project in my rotation.

We've got lots going on this weekend. Tonight, DSis organized a Happy Hour gathering at a local haunt to celebrate her making it to her 30's with her boyfirend and a bunch of coworkers. Even us old fogies were invited, and although this is something DH and I rarely do, I thought it would be fun to get out and pretend we're not old and boring. :o)

Tomorrow morning, I have to put the finishing touches on Mum's Cardi and DSis's Gelato and gift bag them up. Later on Saturday, we're gathering at Mum and Dad's house to exchange gifties before going to the Wildthing's (Minor League) baseball game. The game Saturday evening (provided it's not storming) will be the collective August birthday celebration for Mum, DSis and me.

I also need to work on my Jaywalker sock before the game Saurday night to get it past the turnheel so I don't have to do it while at the game. It's not that it's hard, but it does require a bit more undivided concentration than other parts of a sock.

Sunday, I'll probably sleep in to some obscenely late hour, like 9. :o)

Afternoon Edit: Here's the result of my lunch time knitting today on my Jaywalker. I finished the turn heel and started the side gussets.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone! :o)

My Little Sister Quilts!

2007-08-23T13:36:00.000-05:00

My sister and I are pretty much 180.

- I'm the Suburbanite and she's the Urbanite
- She wears DKNY, I wear Lands' End
- I like wine, she likes tequila shots
- She bar hops with the girlfriends, I curl up with a good book and tea
- I watch Sense & Sensibility, she watches Rosemary's Baby

For all of our differences though (including she's 9 years younger than me), when we are together, we're always laughing and having a great time, and you'd know in an instant we are sisters. But, for her swanky, downtown lifestyle, now my sister...quilts!

I guess she couldn't fight the draw...it's in her blood. Mum sews, crochets and cross stitches. I sew, knit and cross stitch. And now my sister quilts. (Even Dad does woodworking)

I wanted to share the gorgeous potholder she just made for her kitchen. The center looks like you're looking down on a blueberry pie with a star cut out to vent it. (I don't think that's what she was going for, but that's what it looks like to me, anyway :o)

The really, really cool thing is that she's making me one for my kitchen too!

What a weekend!

2007-08-20T07:48:00.000-05:00

1. Mum's Cardigan is finished! All ends woven in and buttons are sewn on. I'm still thinking of sewing around the button holes, because they seem a little loose.

With all the pictures I took this weekend, I somehow forgot to get a picture of the cardi - hmphf.

2. Felted DSis's purse. It went very smoothly! I did have to run it through the wash three times (we have a front loader), but did manage to get 6 bath towels washed in the process! :o) I have to sew on the snap. I picked out some prospective buttons for the flap, but she and I have very different tastes, so I'll show her the buttons I've picked out, and let her pick from those, or she can find something herself.

The blue stuff in the purse is a plastic bag from the grocery store with crumpled up newspaper so the bag would dry in it's finished shape. The little ball thing on the flap is a pin, so the flap wouldn't dry all misshapen.

Every time I'd pass it (it was on the kitchen island), I'd make some adjustment in it's shape. I don't know if it's the engineering gene, but I have a thing with symmetry. I strive to keep my world even and symmetric (I am, however, able to restrain myself from adjusting crooked pictures hanging when at someone's house. :o)), so obviously, every time I stopped to examine the drying progress, I had to stick my hand in the bag, make a pull here a yank there and many, many adjustments in between. I'm surprised it doesn't have bruises!

And, yes, after taking the picture above, I did adjust the flap to the right so it was even between the front handles.

3. Since I was felting anyway, I pulled out a pair of Fuzzy Feet I knitted a while back and felted them too.

I really like them, but they're a bit big on me. I don't want to have to wear socks under them, so I think I might give them to MIL as a Christmas present. She wears a half size larger than me, so they'd be a better fit for her. They were a fun (and fast) knit - just a huge pair of socks, so I'll just knit myself up a smaller pair.

4. I am finally down to the heel on my first Jaywalker!

5. I finished up my week with The Liberty Inn, which I mostly worked on during lunch at work.

6. Last night, I started the next piece in my rotation, Batch of Pumpkins from Homespun Elegance.

7. And, since yesterday was cold and rainy (It didn't make it out of the 50's!), most of my day was spent curled up in the Ladies' Parlour. The kitties joined me.

Abner curled up by my right shoulder, on the back of my stitching chair:

He must have been watching Itchey do her version of an Itchey Enchilada:

You might recognize that as the Basket Weave afghan I've been working on here and there. Yesterday was a perfect day to work on it, but Itchey made it clear that she'd rather test it out early, so I put it down and worked on something else. They have me trained well, don't they?

Please excuse our dust

2007-08-15T07:16:00.000-05:00

Remodeling of The Liberty Inn is coming along quite nicely, indeed. We're right on schedule. Please watch your step. And be careful not to brush up against anything, you'll get dreadfully dusty.

The front room is almost complete and we'll be starting the Parlour and Music room soon. The windows will be in this afternoon, so no drafts in your room overnight. Don't want anyone to catch cold.

Tea is at 3pm, out in the gardens. Do have a lovely day.

Grinning like a fool...

2007-08-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

I used to be such a computer nerd back in the very early 80's, but somehow, technology ~~ran me over~~ passed me by. I've been bored with my blog title for a really long time now, but since I hadn't the foggiest idea how to change it, so it remained. And I really want to learn HTML. I grew up on DOS commands (and I've even programmed assembly language), so it can't be impossible, right?

In a spurt of divine inspiration today (while I should have been doing other things, like those I'm paid for), I put together that magic combination of HTML code to display a custom header! Since then, I've pulled up my blog page about a half dozen times, partly to make sure it's still 'working', and because I'm just so smug with myself I figured it out. (Kind of like when Tom Hanks created fire in Castaway)

It doesn't take much, does it? ;o)

Hope you like the new look...

Santa takes a rest

2007-08-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the blurry picture - it must have been before my morning coffee! :o)

I finished up working with the Santa of the Forest stop in my Rotation this past Sunday. Now that I'm following a rotation, I should have been working on my next project, but we had some movies to watch, and I wanted something I could do on overdrive.

We watched Miss Potter, an adaption of the life of Beatrix Potter with Renee Zellweger. 5-star Chick Flick. Excellent movie, but you'll need kleenex.

And we also watched Thunderpants. No surprise here that DH added this one to the queue. It was...interesting, but kind of cute. A kid with uncontrollable flatulence saves the world. Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley) was one of the main characters (not the one with flatulence) and there were a smattering of other English actors. This is a must watch for goofy adolescents and goofy adolescent husbands.

To close out the evening, we watched an episode from a new English mystery series I found at the library, The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries which is a series of mysteries (PBS Mystery!) solved by a lady, divorced (gasp!), and educated in criminology (double gasp!) back in the 1920's starring Diana Rigg as Mrs. Bradley. Very good, and very English - right up my alley.

This was a little lighter than the movies, so I started up the next project in my rotation, Liberty Hill Inn, from Little House Needleworks. There's not all that much excitement (more time was spent getting the floss and general new project preparations), but here it is:

Aren't you excited? ;O)

I get by with a little help from my friends...

2007-08-12T13:12:00.000-05:00

With the help of Knitting in Plain English, The Knitting Answer Book, some paper, a pen, and my trusty HP calculator (Inverse Polish Notation rules!)...

...Mum's Cardi now has buttonholes. All knitting is complete and all I have to do is weave in about a gazillion yarn ends and sew on the buttons. Originally, I was going to use six buttons, but since this sweater is meant more as a jacket I went with seven so the buttons would be a little closer together. (Keeping Mum warm and cozy)

And I wanted to share some yarny goodness that showed up on my doorstep yesterday. Six balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK to make Grumperina's Shifting Sands scarf as a birthday present for MIL (It's in early December, but it never hurts to get an early start)

Here's a better closeup of the soft blue color:

Projects on my plate

2007-08-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

I started this post yesterday (Thursday, as the date above shows), a few hours before we got hit with one of the scariest thunderstorms to hit the Pittsburgh area in my recent memory. Around 3pm, round two of severe storms for the day moved over the West Virginia/Pennsylvania border, moving southeast but north of downtown Pittsburgh, and blossomed into a huge severe storm, complete with a tornado warning. (We very rarely see tornado warnings, let alone an actual tornado) It was as dark as night outside, very windy with heavy, heavy rain. The industrial park where I work was in the direct path of this storm, so they herded us all downstairs to the manufacturing floor just to be safe. I hate thunderstorms as it is, so this was not a fun day.

I'm not sure if there actually was a tornado (and if there was, we don't see much more than an F0). There were lots of trees and branches and debris everywhere. The typical locations were flooded. Thankfully, there were just minor injuries and, as far as I've heard, no fatalities. It took almost two hours to get home (usually 35-40min). Some traffic lights were working, and some were out, some roads were flooded, some had a lot of debris, and the occasional fender bender, all of which made traffic terrible. (Pittsburgh doesn't have a highway beltway system like other cities, just a handful or so of main thoroughfares spoking outward from the city and lots of back roads, which, when something like this happens, makes traffic very difficult).

Once we got closer to home, it was like being in a different country. No debris, no flooding, all traffic lights working. The worst of the storm skimmed a bit south of our house. We did get a lot of rain, and we must have lost power at some point, because my coffeemaker was blinking 12:00 and the microwave was asking to be RESET. I could tell it had been a long day for Itchey - she likes thunderstorms as much as I do! :o)
Abner just wanted his dinner.

Onto more fun subject matter:

This week is Santa of the Forest's turn on the Xstitch rotation. I did some fill in on Mr. Bear's paw and arm, and I want to get a little more done on Santa's cape in the bottom right of the picture.

Lots of knitting content to follow!

1. I picked up one of my 'Forgotten Socks'. The first sock was done maybe a year ago, and I only put the starting stitches in on the cuff. To clean up those skeletons in my knitting basket, I'm going to get that 2nd sock done. I'm using Lion Brand Microspun (on US#3 DPNs), and I'm making these to be slipper socks because they're so soft and cushy.

2. My pair of Jaywalkers for the KAL are underway. I opted for the Austermann yarn (over the Trekking XXL - pics in a previous post) because it's self-striping, and from some of the finished Jaywalkers I've seen, the stripes tend to enhance the zig-zag pattern of the sock.

3. I also cast on a cardigan similar to Mum's, but this one is for me. It's a Knitting Pure and Simple Vneck cardigan (I really like their patterns), while Mum's has a rounded neckline. It's actually in the same yarn that I used for Mum's Cardi, but in a deep red (like a Maple leaf in fall, but a little lighter than what my picture shows). I'm using US#9 needles so it won't be as densely knit as Mum's sweater.

After all the wild weather we've had this week, this weekend is supposed to be lovely - sunny with low humidity. If you bet, put your money on that part of my weekend will include stitching out on the deck. :o)

The Dog Days of Summer

2007-08-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Since we've been having typical 3H August weather (Hazy, Hot and Humid), DH and I have been hibernating in the cool darkness of our house with the air conditioning set to 'freeze' and all the blinds and draperies tightly closed. (my sister, the sun worshipper, calls our house the Bat Cave :o)

We've just started watching another BBC series, this weekend, called The Duchess of Duke Street. The main character is Gemma Jones (the mother from Sense and Senibility and Madame Pomfrey from Harry Potter). It's been an enjoyable watch, and I've gotten a lot knitting and cross stitch done since Friday evening.

I wrapped up my week of The Prayer. Towards the end of the week, I worked on it during lunch and I got a lot done last night while watching about 4 episodes of The Duchess.

It's time to move onto another project in my rotation. This week, I'm going to work on Santa of the Forest. (Maybe working on a Christmas-themed project will offset the 90F weather forecast this coming week.)

I've also been working on my Flame Wave Sock sometimes during the commute to and from work. Is it me or does it seem that I've been working on this same sock for about the past decade? Surprisingly, I'm getting close to the toe decreases, which I consider the Home Stretch. (And I still have the second sock to do!) But, I am enjoying it, because the ride should be as enjoyable as the destination, right?

I knit and also cross stitch, so I share part of my blog time in the Knitting Realm and part in the Cross Stitch Realm. It's interesting to see the differences in overall blogging style, which I think, is partly due to the nature of each craft.

Knitting blogs seem far more competetive, where the most read blogs are those whose owners are very fast knitters and can show great progress with each post. Since cross stitch in general is a slower craft, cross stitch bloggers/readers are more laid back and are happy for any forward progress on the current project(s).

When it comes to either a knit-along or stitch-along, I think the knitters are more organized, simply because of the sheer numbers of knitters involved. It's not unusual to have a knit-along with at least a hundred participants (some have hundreds of participants). Because of this, there's typically a blog set up specifically for the knit-along and all the knitters have access to the blog to post their progress.

Because I do both, it's fun to see how different each are. Neither are better, just different.

It's been a while, but I've recently joined some Knit-alongs:

1. Knitty KAL - Knitty is a free e-mag with patterns submitted by fellow knitters (usually members of the knit blogging communitiy). This is a knit along for anyone who is knitting a pattern that has been in any issue of Knitty. For this KAL, I'm going to knit Wisp.

2. Favorite Socks KAL - A couple posts ago, I showed a sock pattern book of the same name as the KAL (and the purple Flame Wave socks are a pattern in that book).

3. Jay Walkers KAL - A knit blogger named Grumperina designed a sock pattern called Jay Walkers that were on another e-mag called MagKnits.

For my pair of Jay Walkers, I haven't decided if I'm going to use this yarn:

Or this one:

What I like about the KALs I've joined is that they're open-ended, which means there isn't any starting date or end date, and you can knit more than one project for the KAL, so if I knit another pair of socks from the Favorite Socks book, I can continue to post on that blog.

Some time around the beginning of September, someone starts a Christmas/Holiday Giftalong, which is a KAL where those of us ~~crazy~~ knitters who decide to knit their holiday gifts can all stress together to encourage getting those gifts done in time so that we're not up all Christmas Eve night knitting those last stitches.

There's also KALs based around TV shows, like the Grey's Anatomy KAL, where you knit while watching the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, and post your knitting progress (as well as thoughts about the latest episode) on the blog. I didn't participate last season, but I hope it's started up again for the season this fall.

Here's a link to all of the 2007 Knit Alongs.

Had I felt like felting, I would

2007-08-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

Here's Gelato in all her pre-felt glory. She's done, bottom sewn up, all the ends woven in, ready for a dip in the washing machine.

And towards the end, it was getting a little scary, that I might run out of yarn. Luckily, I had enough left over for Itchey to curl up with. Whew!

A little Gelato, anyone?

2007-08-03T06:45:00.000-05:00

Gelato is knit with two strands of worsted weight wool on US#11 circular needles, so it's a very fast knit. You're looking at the body of the bag, which is done, and only the straps and flap are left to knit. The bottom is open, so before felting, I'll need to sew that closed too.

I just might have to knit myself one of these...

Since Mum's, DSis's and my birthdays are all mid-to-late-August, we typically get together once to celebrate all three (too many calories otherwise). This year, we're celebrating with a fun night out at a local minor league baseball game. This means the 'due date' for my birthday knitting projects (Gelato for DSis and Mum's Cardigan for Mum) is August 25th.

Bits o' this and that

2007-07-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

The mail-lady was very sweet and left some lovely little packages on my doorstep.

Favorite Socks has the Flame Wave pattern I'm currently making (the lilac socks). I got the book out from the library, but saw so many patterns I simply must make, and since I didn't think the library would let me keep it indefinitely, I just had to get my very own copy. And no self-respecting knitting Harry Potter fan should be without Alison Hansel's Charmed Knits. My 'To Do' list increased ten-fold. Seriously.

And, I can now start DSis's Gelato bag. Both needles came, plus I even picked up the yarn for her Christmas gift. The pink yarn is Tahki's Jolie, which is a sumptuously soft angora/merino yarn. I found the cutest fingerless mitts pattern, and they'll look adorable on her. Pink is her signature color.

I'll never profess to have a love of gardening. (Not a gene inherited from Mum - see earlier post) In fact, I really think I should have just inherited a large English Manor, complete with a full staff to attend to all gardening. It would be my job to walk about the extensive gardens, adorned in a pretty silk frock, and having tea brought out on the terrace as in most Jane Austin novels. Don't get me wrong, I'd treat them very well. I think the Brady's had it right, with that green astroturf in their yard. How many episodes did you see Greg or Peter out there mowing the grass? No, they spent their time having potato sack races!

I don't plant many extraneous plants because it's one less plant that will eventually die, with me suffering right along with it trying to save it. However, since we moved into our house, I've wanted large stone urn planters for either side of the front porch. The stone-urn-price to plant-kill-rate ratio was a bit unbalanced to expect the Appropriations Committee (i.e. DH) to approve of such a purchase, so I compromised and went the bronze-looking-resin route. Appropriations had no issue with this purchase except for cracking snide remarks about the expected life span of the poor plants that would reside in them once they became mine. For such rude remarks, the Appropriations Committee had to not only carry said items to the truck, but also help relocate the plants.

After getting dirt in places I can't fathom how it got there, and getting totally soaked watering two plants, here is the fruit of my labor:

The flowers are Hardy Mums. I'm partial to them because I have a 'Hardy' Mum. She's about 98lbs soaking wet, but she's as hardy as the Rock of Gibraltar. I like the rust colored autumn version, but these are a gorgeous burgundy color. There are also about a gazillion buds on them, so I should expect a few flowers to bloom. ;o)

And here's an update of The Prayer. A little last night while watching The Barkley's of Broadway (Astaire-Rogers) and a little during lunch today.

The New Fall Rotation Lineup (picture heavy)

2007-07-29T12:33:00.000-05:00

It's been a great while since I've followed a stitching rotation. I had one, then Fairy Flora got in the way, and well, you know, that was a runaway romance that's run it's course for now.

I was doing some straightening and came across more of my very old stash and put togehter some 'golden oldies' along with some newer projects to make up my 'New and Improved' fall rotation.

First up, The Prayer by Moiria Blackburn (I just love the sentiment, perfect for the one who doesn't like bumps in the night - me):

"Lord keep us safe this night, secure from all our fears. May angels guard us while we sleep till morning light appears."

And my starting progress, which is from maybe five years ago:

#2 is Batch of Pumpkins by Homespun Elegance, also started a number of years ago. Autumn is my favorite season (and not far away). In anticipation of changing leaves, cool nights, hot apple cider, and of course 'cuddle weather', I wanted something fall-ish:

And so far:

#3 is one I started for DH in the very early 90's (DBF back then). The Eagle Has Landed from the booklet Reach for the Stars from Stoney Creek. It's done on black fabric, so I'm sure you'll understand why it's taken so long. Poor DH picked it out and has never said anything about never getting it, so I figured it was time to finish it for him.

Where I'll be starting:

#4 is Liberty Hill In by Little House Needleworks. I've been seeing so many LHN designs popping up on so many other stitchers' blogs, and I love their designs, that I wanted to add one to my rotation:

I haven't started it yet, so there's no progress to show.

#5 is Home is Where the Cat is from Margaret Sherry. I've recently started this so you've seen it before. I really like it and so it made the cut.

And my starting progress:

And rounding out my rotation at #6, is another Golden Oldie, Santa of the Forest from Lavender & Lace:

And here he is from when he and I last met:

I like to get into a project, so I think I'll work on each one a week, then switch onto the next one for a week, and so on. Of course, knitting Christmas presents will occasionally pre-empt as it gets closer to the holidays, and the time to complete things ticks down to zero...

And I wait...

2007-07-26T18:16:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start DSis's birthday gift, but that's not to be. Is it me, or in the spaghetti that you call your circular needles, you have every needle ever made, except the one you really need? I need US#11 20" and 16" circular needles.

So, I put an order in last night at jimmybeanswool.com and once the needles arrive, I'll get Gelato started.

I've also joined the Favorite Sock KAL. This book has so many socks I want to knit...I've done a little more on the Flame Wave sock. I finished the heel and am working on the foot:

Wow. (No Deathly Hallows spoilers)

2007-07-22T19:06:00.000-05:00

We just finished the audio book. We can now emerge from the safeness of our home, turn on the TV and radio, surf the web, and talk to other people without fear of hearing or reading something that might spoil the last Harry Potter book.

J. K. Rowling outdid herself.

And listening to book 7 really got my fingers going...

The sleeves on Mum's Cardigan are done.

A few more rows done on the Basketweave Afghan.

And I completed the cuff part of the first Flame Wave (I'm ready to start the heel) from Favorite Socks.

Our set is complete. :o)

Book 7

2007-07-21T00:12:00.000-05:00

This blog will temporarily be interrupted until Book 7 is completed...

My tattoo

2007-07-19T19:37:00.000-05:00

Sylvie shared her tattoo on her blog and so I'll share mine too.

It's on my inside left ankle and it's a Celtic knot of three entwined cats. It's not obvious, but if you start from the outside at one of the three little hooks, which are the end of the cats' tails and follow one back in, you can see them. The very center is where their front paws meet.

I got it about four years ago, and it was my sister who got me to stop thinking about it and actually get one (she has 5). It didn't hurt much more than plucking eyebrows and after a while, the area went numb.

I like that it's not obvious, and at work, it's fun to see the look on someone's face when they realize that I have one. (I guess I just really, really look like I wouldn't have one. It's my personal form of rebellion from my Surburban Soccer Mom persona. I want to get another, but I'm not entirely sure what and where. I have seen a really cool shaded pencil design that looks 3D of a gargoyle. Maybe a shaded gargoyle on my back hip...

If you've got a tattoo and want to share, please post a picture and it's story on your blog!

An arm and a half

2007-07-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

If my Mum's right arm was half as long as her left arm, I could call the sleeves complete, but as they're the same length, I have a bit more knitting to do.

Can I help, Daddy, can I? I know the answer to 5 down!
(Abner has an English accent)

I now understand

2007-07-17T06:43:00.001-05:00

I've heard that TV sales go up around the time of the Super Bowl and the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I'm not into those sports (I like ice hockey) but I guess if you really are, that would be a great time to upgrade.

You could say that DH and I have done something similar in anticipation of the very last Harry Potter book coming out this Friday evening (my coworker has informed me that we're now under 100 hours until H-day). For a while now, I've wanted a small stereo in our bedroom to enjoy background music while reading or stitching and be able to hook up my iPod so I wouldn't have to always use the earphones.

So, in anticipation of the last book on CD, we've upgraded our stereo system. I now understand.

And while DH was hooking things up, I got a little stitching done on the Winter sampler.

You mess with my Mummy's knitting, you mess with me!

2007-07-15T17:44:00.000-05:00

Abner ferociously guarded my knitting this afternoon. So well, that I ~~couldn't bring myself to interrupt his nap~~ was afraid to try to move him.

Last night I worked a little on my Silly String sock. And this is how it typically is, both kitties curled up with me. I feel a bit like the Pied Piper. :o)

Because I couldn't get to Mum's Cardigan today (please see above), I did finish the Silly String socks. Stick a fork in 'em, they're done!

Around the time I put Flora down, I've kind of lost my xstitch mojo, and have been knitting more as you all can see by my recent posts. But, as I recently went through my xstitch projects (I'm thinking of getting a loose rotation going again), one project in particular has been giving me an itch to stitch. It's a Homespun Elegance design called 'Winter House Sampler'. I started it a few years back, but I feel like picking it up again.

And how can I not share this sweet little face? (Just look at that little pink rubber eraser nose!)

Who squished my cat?

2007-07-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

I was walking back to the house from getting the mail, and saw this:

- How on earth do they get into such configurations??
- Can this really be comfortable?
- What do our neighbors think we do to the cats?

Here's the inside view:

I also made a pilgrimage to my local yarn shop and picked up some fun things for future projects:

Some Fiber Trends patterns:

And some yarn:

The two pink skeins are for the felted purse pattern (above) as a birthday gift for DSis, The two pebble colored skeins (Kidsilk Haze) are for Wisp (see last post for project link), the little aberguine skein (4ply Cotton) is thin cotton yarn for a lace washcloth (for me, pattern also above), and the last is a skein of sock yarn...just because who really has enough sock yarn? :o)

After we got home today, I sat out on the deck and worked on a sleeve for the Mum's Cardigan. It just doesn't look all that different from the last picture, though I did manage to find a 12" circular needle which I'm using instead of the DPNs. This has made it so much faster to knit the sleeve. Of course, until the beautiful weather and breeze encouraged me to nod off...

A bit of progress...

2007-07-13T12:41:00.000-05:00

I picked up the DPNs for the Mum's Cardigan and got a sleeve started. I think I'll need a stretch of unterrupted time to work on the button hole side of the right front band, so maybe Sunday afternoon. I've never done that before, and I'll need my full concentration (and a pot of coffee).

While commuting to and fro, I've been working on my Silly String socks (and listening to HP and the Half Blood Prince). I'm a couple inches from starting the toe decreases.

I'm at the point in both projects when I start thinking ahead to what I want to knit next. About this time last year, I was busily working on the Mum and Mom scarves, and then the Swallow Tail Shawl a little later.

You know when you're buying a car, suddenly you see the model you're thinking of buying everywhere, and wonder how the heck that happened? It's been like that with wanting to start a lace project. On almost every knitting blog I've recently visited, there you go - another lace project going on! It must be fate. I just must start a lace project. Now.

The project I have in mind is Wisp from the current issue of Knitty. I also think I'm going to make, as described in the instructions, the 'Super-Deluxe Version', and use Rowan Kidsilk Haze. This is a very versatile piece (it can be worn as a scarf with a coat or could be worn as a scarf with a sweater or top) so I'd like it in a color that will coordinate with almost everything. Drab, Majestic, and Elegance are my front runners. I think I'll be making a LYS pilgrimage tomorrow.

Worth a vacation day...

2007-07-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts (don't worry, no spoilers):

- The girl cast as Luna Lovegood, IMHO, really captured the character well (she also reminded me of Jan from the Brady Bunch movies).

- Kate Winslet would have made an excellent Tonks (though the part in the movie was so much smaller than in the book). And if Kate was in there, they'd just about have almost the entire cast of Sense and Sensibility in Harry Potter.

- What were the costume people smoking when they came up with the dress they put on Aunt Petunia???

- Thank goodness they took scissors to Harry, Ron, Fred and George's hair.

- Fred and George didn't speak all of their lines in unison! Yay!

- We didn't get to hear 'Weasley is our king'.

- The mayhem that Fred and George let loose is very cool, but we didn't get to see 'poo' (my favorite part of book 5).

Overall, I liked the movie, but I can't understand, that with as long as the book was, they couldn't have made the movie longer, especially since it's the shortest movie to date.

And the last part of the movie, when they go to the Ministry, is 3D (at least in the IMAX), so you get to wear ever so fashionable eyewear. Here's MIL jauntily sporting a pair:

In the wee hours of next Saturday morning, we'll be listening to Jim Dale reading Deathly Hallows...

More on Mum

2007-07-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a slow knitter and stitcher. But, every so often, I shock myself silly and get more done than I thought I would. So, yes, I'm a little more silly today than usual. :o)

I knitted the bottom to Mum's cardigan this weekend. I originally wanted to do 4 inches then the ribbing, but when I hit 4, it looked a little on the short side, so I knitted 5 inches and then the ribbing. (now, here's where the silliness comes in) Somehow, I also managed to finish the neckband, too.

I don't have US#8 DPNs, so when I can get to a JoAnn Fabrics and pick up a set, I'll get started on the sleeves. Until then, I'll be working on the front bands.

And if you ever wondered what true laziness looks like, here you go:

Infamous Fish Tacos

2007-07-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

I didn't inherit my Mum's Gardening Gene or her Painting/Wall-Papering Gene, but I did inherit her Impromptu Cooking Gene, which, of the three, I'd much rather have. She always had the ability to put together a basic, quick meal. It wasn't fancy, but it was really, really good, made with whatever she had on hand and with little forethought or planning.

When I went out on my own into my very first apartment, I wanted all her recipes so I could make them for myself in my very own kitchen. There was nothing she could tell me to write down, because she didn't follow any recipes. You just do what feels right. Years later, cooking for me and DH, I totally understand the concept. I have the Impromptu Cooking Gene! (Thanks, Mum! :o)

MIL has come to stay with us for a couple weeks, and typically, when she does, she asks me to make Fish Tacos. I think I got the recipe from a lowfat cookbook of mine, but I don't follow a recipe for it anymore. They're infamous because she had a heck of a time trying to describe this goofy meal her daughter-in-law made called Fish Tacos. We think most of her coworkers and relatives thought she took a little too much of her meds...

Remember: if you make this, you do whatever feels right and it will come out perfect!

1. Preheat oven to ~350F. (The last time I made this, I probably put the temp at 325F, who knows?) Start with ~15" or so (I didn't measure) of heavy duty, nonstick aluminum foil:

2. Put maybe a couple handfuls of frozen veggies (enough to eat with the fish fillet but not too much to fit in the piece of foil you have) on the foil. I used frozen sugar snap peas, frozen petite baby carrots and fresh vidalia onion. Mix and match, have fun! Surprise your dinnermates! Pick your favorite seasonings, fresh or dried. Since MIL is diabetic, I used Mrs. Dash (sometimes I use sea salt and basil, sometimes not):

3. Put a fish fillet on top of the veggies. Some of you may be lucky enough to live near a convienient source of fresh seafood. I used a bag of frozen orange roughy from Wal-Mart. I typically select a firm white fish that's not too thick (I've also used talapia and flounder). Then I ground some black pepper (or whatever floats your boat) on top:

4. Bring the foil up on both sides of the taco filling and roll it down like you'd do to the top of a brown paper sack:

5. Secure the short ends, by folding them up twice:

6. Put the Fish Taco on a cookie sheet with it's other Fish Taco friends and bake for about ~40 minutes (really depends on the thickness of the fish and if it's frozen or not):

It's a good idea to cut a little notch in an end of the packet to drain the liquid before serving. (rather than letting your dinner companions scald themselves with the liquid - trust me) Then I cut one end off and actually put the pouches on a platter, so they can take their own tacos apart.

Congratulate yourself with a glass of wine... :o)

Sorry, I didn't get the camera out in time to catch anyone enjoying their dinner, but there weren't leftovers, so I guess it passed muster. :o)

The Mum Sweater, Grey's, and Other Things

2007-07-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

I've been working on my Mum's sweater. There is a lady I work with who is almost exactly the same size and height as my Mum (tiny), and she agreed to be my 'Sweater Tester'. Here's my progress so far:

Per my tester, I need to knit four more inches on the body, then the bottom ribbing. This will make the sweater hip length and more like a jacket. I hope to get the bodice completed this weekend.

I think I was able to get so much done because I was also knee deep into watching Grey's Anatomy, 2nd season (I even got DH into it!). Between dabbing my eyes and blowing my nose (Oh, Denny and McDog), I was able to get some serious knitting done.

For most TV shows, I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately. I can never seem to get around to watching a series when it first comes out. I'm just not a fixed-time-or-commercial- TV person. The last series I actually would watch 'live' on TV was X-Files. No, wait, we also watched Carnivale on HBO. It's been a while.

On a bunch of knitting blogs I read, a number of knitters participate in a knit-a-long called 'Knitting with Grey's'. This piqued my interest, so I got Season 1 from the library (it only took about 6 months on the waiting list!) and loved it. So, I requested Season 2 and just finished it up a couple days ago. Season 3 doesn't come out on DVD until September 11th, just about the time season 4 starts up, so I'll might have to do a combination of taping them on TV and buying the others from iTunes so we'll be ready for season 4 to begin. I'm also watching back seasons of Lost, Numbers and Gilmore Girls.

Since Autumn is right around the corner (I can't wait!), I decided to make a cuddly afghan for The Ladies' Parlour. I picked up a JoAnn Fabrics brand yarn called Angel *something* (I don't think it's Soft - that's a brand of TP ;o). It's so soft, and I found a colorway that coordinates well with my furniture. (And, I think the cats will love it because it's so soft, warm and comfy - the real reason for getting it, let's be perfectly honest).

I'm keeping it simple, just a knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, repeating for 8 rows then purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, and so on, making a sort of basket weave looking pattern. On either end, I'm going to add 6 inch fringe. It should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 45"X120" with the fringe.

It's going to replace this (I love the color and I love chenille, but it's really not all that warm and cuddly):

OK, I'll finish up with a recent Wal-Mart purchase that was just so darn cute, I couldn't pass it up. They had these tshirts and boxer shorts with characters from a cartoon strip (I forget the name, sorry I just don't read the funnies). How could I not buy something that has Itchey-esque and Abner-esque images on it? I also got the turquoise matching boxers, too.

A stitch here and a stitch there...

2007-06-23T08:18:00.000-05:00

Not much cross stitch. I really like the 'Home is Where the Cat is' (Margaret Sherry), but it's really attention intensive. I'm still getting the hang of those 1/2 stitches (I've never used those in any previous pieces I've stitched). I'm not used to how she marks them on her charts, and I'm always missing one or more here or there, so I really have to make an effort to look over the chart a couple times to make absolutely sure that I've got them all.

I have been doing mindless knitting, which are projects that have parts that you can just go with.

I finished knitting the second multi-color anklet over Memorial Day holiday (the very end of May for my non-US readers), but just finished up the toe part this morning, so they're a complete set.

The pink anklet was also completed this morning, and I'll be casting on it's partner later today. I call these the Silly String socks, because the yarn looks exactly like Silly String.

The top sock (the purple-y one with the needles still attached) is the one I mucked up a while back. I still haven't gotten up the courage to tackle it yet, but I'll be working towards that one soon.

Abner helped.

I started up my Mum's birthday present earlier this week (her birthday is mid-August). It's a round neck, long sleeved, raglan cardigan in a wonderful Autumny-brown. I'm using a slightly smaller needle size than what's called for because I want it to be a warmer, jacket sweater.

What you're looking at in the above picture is the round neckline and shoulders I've completed so far. (It looks bunchy because I'm not using a long circular needle)

Here's the pattern I'm using:

What's really cool about Knitting Pure and Simple patterns is that you make the garmet in one piece, and don't have to piece together different parts at the end. This makes it a pretty quick knit. Once the body is complete, then I'll knit on the neck band and front ribbing and then sew on buttons.

Before you think I'm all sweet and a totally wonderful daughter (I am, but in this case, there's a little caveat :o), I started a sweater for her maybe three years ago, and it was meant to be a birthday gift for her in 2004, but it gave me such fits (the diagonally knitted pieces) that she never got the sweater, so I've decided to just forget that one for now and actually make her one she might actually get to wear in her life time. :o)

I'll finish off with a kitty pic from earlier this morning. Cats always know where to get the sun.:

SAT - Final Progress

2007-06-19T09:55:00.000-05:00

As I posted before, for the June Stitch-A-Thon at The Robin's Nest, I spent some time with a little kitty. Actually three, if you count my usual stitching partners.

I also think I'm going to modify the wording to say 'Home is where the cat is' to 'Home is where the cats are'.

Out and about

2007-06-16T16:49:00.000-05:00

We decided to go to the air show today, and it was so cool! DH is the one who's really into military planes, but I like going, and it was a chance to get in some exercise and sun while having fun together. I've posted before how DH flies all the time using his MS Flight Simulator, and every time we'd walk by a plane, I'd ask him if he's flown it.

A really big cargo plane:

Another plane (DH will hang his head in shame, because I have no clue what plane this is even though he patiently named them for me as we saw each one)

The really cool formation by the Thunderbirds. (this was my favorite):

And the two of us sitting in the shade, under a plane wing, watching the show:

Home is where the cats are

2007-06-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

OK, I promised a picture of the latest start, but I just didn't have enough done to show. I wanted to get a little more done today during lunch, but DH and I just couldn't stay inside.

The weather here is just gorgeous: low 70's, low humidity, and brilliantly sunny in a sapphire sky, so DH and I went for a walk during lunch. We work in the suburbs in a business park (same company), and our building parking lot backs the most adorable little neighborhood, so we stroll through there during lunch when the weather is nice.

Ignore all those black lines. The only good piece of white fabric I could find was from a previous start of Meow.com that I just couldn't get into.

To give perspective, the dark vertical spot is the kittie's left paw hanging down. Here's a picture with the chart and picture:

I'll also be working on this for the Stitch-A-Thon at the Robin's Nest this weekend.

Shhh! Flora is napping.

2007-06-13T08:31:00.000-05:00

As I've posted before, I haven't been cross stitching all that much. I think my run with Flora has slowed to a trickle. It's been fun, but we were starting to feel like we were joined at the hip, and we both need a break. So, she's going into the basket for a little nap. I'll get back to her maybe a little later this summer.

Here she is so far:

And a closeup of the bottom right corner where I've been stitching:

I've started Home is Where the Cat Is by Margaret Sherry. (From Jenna's site!) Right now, it's just a blob of about 10 dark grey stitches. I plan to work on it during lunch today, so maybe I can sneak in a better starting picture later today. And just in time for Stitch-A-Thon Weekend at the Robin's Nest!

And on a healthy note, I'm almost back to the 20 pounds I lost last fall!! (Just three pounds away!) I've been back to eating healthy (mostly!) and have been on my elliptical 20 minutes, every other day. Getting started with an exercise routine is so hard for me (like trying to budge a boulder), but once I get started, it gets easier, and if I'm totally honest, it's fun, too. (But don't tell anyone I ever said/typed that! :o)

And a happy, happy birthday, to my Dad! 73 years young today!

This was from my Mum's Birthday party last year at our house. (Mum is totally overwhelmed by the calm and reserved demeanor of my Dad (on the left) and DH (on the right)...

My life, statistically speaking

2007-06-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

Just to prove to you all that I'm still here, I found this on Jenna's blog and thought I'd take a try.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	8
Mind:	7.5
Body:	7
Spirit:	9.2
Friends/Family:	6.1
Love:	9.1
Finance:	9.4
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

My craft of choice has been reading, and unlike some really gifted knitters out there, I can't read and knit at the same time. (and especially not cross stitch!)

I've been enjoying Charlaine Harris. She has a wonderfully quirky style (and subject matters) in her writing. I've been enjoying her series where a Southern barmaid has a vampire for a boyfriend, and her Aurora Teagarden series (another Southern lady who has an interest in murders and seems to find herself in the middle of them).

And, I can't forget Melissa de la Cruz. OK, these are cleaned up Jackie Collins trash for older teenagers, but they're fun, mindless reads! I've been reading her Au Pair series.

So much for the 'fine literature' question in the quiz above... :o)

Knitting and PM Tylenol don't mix!

2007-05-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

I was almost finished with sock #1 from Monday's post, and was down to the last 8 sitches I needed to bind off to finish the toe...and I'm not exactly sure what happened...other than I had a nasty headache took some PM Tylenol.

For those who don't knit,let me back up and give you some detail.

You work the sock until you get to about the bottom of where your big toe becomes it's own...toe. Then you start to decrease at the to junctions where the top and bottom of the sock meet, and keep decreasing until you have about 4 top stitches and 4 bottom stitches.

At that point, you give yourself some extra yarn and cut it off from the ball of yarn. You have to turn the sock inside out so when you bind-off, it's inside (kind of like keeping the seams inside). Well, it's a bit difficult to try to turn the sock inside out with the double point needles still attached, so you transfer the stitches to pieces of yarn or ribbon (I like 1/8" ribbon) and get all ribbon ends and the extra length of yarn and try to stuff it into the teeny, tiny hole at the toe. That I was able to do successfully.

Once the sock is inside out, you transfer the stitches back to the DPNs and bind off. My PM Tylenol-impaired brain just couldn't coordinate that intricate task, and drop the stitches and couln't get them back. I think I tossed the sock on the floor in front of my nightstand.

Maybe tonight I'll feel brave enough to try again.

While that sock lay beached on my bedroom floor, last night, I went looking for it's mate skein of yarn in acticipation of getting the other sock started soon. But, as I was searching, I came across another sock where I'd finished the first sock, but only just started the second.

For years, I scoffed at those knitters who succumbed to the First Sock Syndrome (this is actually a documented ailment!). Those knitters who knitted the first sock and were bored and moved onto another project, leaving the one sock alone and unwanted. That was not me! I could never do that to a poor, defenseless sock!

Sitting in the dark, at the bottom of my yarn basket, I came across a single unwanted, unloved sock.

Was I in denial?

Did I too suffer from that same First Sock Syndrome I smirked at others for?

Shock and shame forced me to do what I did next. I picked up that sock and it's barely started mate and promised that it wouldn't be alone for long.

Here's the evidence...

Robin's Nest May SAT

2007-05-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

For as much as I was away from stitching this Spring, an alarm in my subconscious that's been on Snooze from February thru April went off this weekend: "It's a Robin's Nest SAT Weekend!"

The alarm didn't go off until Saturday morning, but, hey, better late than never! :o)

My goal for the May SAT was to complete the bottom right corner of Fairy Flora. Unfortunately, my sinuses refused to cooperate, and most of the weekend was spent with a really bad headache and congestion and just generally being whiny (just ask DH). I did get some done, and am further than I was on Friday. I was just hoping to see all colored in pink.

Here's the before picture:

And the after picture:

Warm toesies

2007-05-17T06:44:00.000-05:00

I usually keep a pair of socks on the needles at all times because it's such a portable project. I started the sock below probably some time back in February, and it's still going and going and going...

I'm using size 0 DPNs, so each round knitted adds *maybe* 1/8 inch to the length. The yarn is a superwash wool from Lorna's Laces in the colorway Mother Lode. (And I still have it's mate to knit!)

I've always been an emotional eater, with stress and boredom my top eating emotions. During last school term, I've gained a portion of my -20 pounds back (can I claim it to the Freshman 15?? :o), so I decided to get back up, dust myself off and start again. I got an early birthday present to help things out.

It's amazing how many muscles I don't normally use!

Cat on a hot tin...

2007-05-07T17:42:00.000-05:00

...bin?

I just couldn't resist taking this picture of Abner soaking up the evening sun.

And a HUGE 'THANK YOU' to those who left comments on my previous posts!! (and also to those still subscribed to my blog on Bloglines) *snif*

I'm so glad to be back among you. Crafty people are just the nicest around!

You should stash too!

2007-05-05T19:46:00.000-05:00

Have you all been to Jenna's new online shop, One Star's Light?? Very nice!

My beautifully wrapped purchase was waiting for me on my doorstep yesterday:

I might have to start this soon... :o)

Flora got a little more done on the bottom right corner:

And, my grade was posted for the Class From Hell. I got a B. It's good enough to get reimbursed, but not nearly high enough for all the crap I had to put up with...

I'm a free woman

2007-04-27T11:01:00.000-05:00

Wow! It was February 23rd when I last post! I am so surprised that I remembered by password!

Don't let the title fool you. I wasn't arrested, or taken hostage by a pigmy tribe on some deserted island, or anything exciting like that. DH and I are also still very happily together. Sadly, as exciting as it gets is that I had THE database class from Hell. This past Monday was my final group presentation, and since then, I've been enjoying not having to worry about class.

I'm *SO* happy to be done with that class, and I'm reveling in just going home and...doing whatever I darn well want! :o)

I have sporatically read blogs since then, but that even slowed down to less than a trickle, mostly because I felt so detached from craftiness.

Over the past couple months, I did work a little on Flora, but not all that much:

The last picture I posted of Flora was back on January 2nd:

I did make a little progress since then, but that was before class really ramped up. I also had one business trip in March where I took Flora and got some done on the plane ride.

Here she is as of April 27th:

It's so good to be back. I'm still not in full crafty mode, but I'm getting there.

I also look forward to reading your blogs on a regular basis again!

What's soft and warm and purple all over?

2007-02-23T11:47:00.000-05:00

Why, a new afghan, of course!

The mindless knitting of the last afghan (and, no, no new hairballs) was so fun, that I started a new one. I'm using up yarn stash which is also a good thing.

It's Lion Brand Homespun, in the colorway Barrington, a sumptuous mix of mainly a deep purple, with some magenta, robin's egg blue and sage thrown in for good measure.

Here's a closeup of the colors:

It's a replica of the first afghan, on US#9 circs, but it's not as many stitches across. The first one I made a bit on the wide side, but it's not worth ripping out and doing again.

And when I brought my computer down to the Ladies' Parlour to blogulate just before, I noticed a cluster of four ears over the edge of my blue chair in the family room. I HAD to grab the camera and share such cutitude...

Have a lovely weekend!

The Afghan

2007-02-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the afghan:

Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn Homespun (Tudor colorway, 7 skeins)
Needles: US#9 Circular
I'm 5'3", so it's just about 5' long and about 3' wide, and very comfy!!

The pale stripes in the center were totally by accident (but if anyone asks, it was all part of the design plan :o). It just happened to be an oddly colored skein of yarn.

Needless to say, the kitties love it! So much so, that Abner felt it worthy of one of his hairballs. So, as I type this, the afghan has had it's first bath and is hanging to dry...

While on the subject of the kitties, we had LOADS of fun taking them to the vet this weekend for their annual check up. Since it's been so cold, DH went down to start the truck and run the heat, and I was left to round up the critters and deposit them in their carriers. (I really think DH planned it that way all along)

As soon as they saw me bring down the carriers, they ran upstairs and hid. (Note to self: Next year, close all upstairs doors before bringing the carriers down) Wow, can they hide! After working up a good sweat on the search and 'rescue' mission, both cats were loaded in the truck, singing us tunes (of love, I'm sure).

We always give the vet the choice: the easy one (Itchey) or the hard one (Abner) first? Itchey won, and when we took her out of the carrier, we found that she must have been so traumatized by the whole affair that she went in the carrier. I had to wash her off in the examining room sink before we could proceed. Other than that, Itchey is very accomodating and typically resembles a limp rag.

Onto Abner. He's not aggressive and has never bitten a vet, but he pretty much hisses and growls the entire time and will squirm. I held onto him and scratched his head (so in between hisses and growls, he'd briefly purr. Go figure).

The sad thing was a comment the vet made about him. She noticed while looking at his eyes that a slight film has begun to start on the edges. It's not cataracts, and it won't affect his vision, just a natural sign of aging. The kitties (my kittens) will be turning 11 this year and this is the first time they've showed signs of aging. My babies are growing up (in human years, they're 60), and there's physical evidence that they won't be around forever.

I guess the reason this has bothered me so much is that a coworker had to put her kitty down Friday evening. He just turned 18, and in a recent picture of him, he really looked no more than 10. Unfortunately, his kidneys stopped functioning and he went down hill very quickly. He was as special to her family as our kitties are to us.

Not trying to be down, the rest of the weekend was spent pampering the Puddies with even more attention, kisses, scratches and pets, cherishing their presence in our lives... :o)

And a happy Valentine's Day to you, too!

2007-02-15T09:06:00.000-05:00

The past two days, we experienced what has been called the Valentine's Day Storm of 2007. Yay.

Tuesday came the snow, not like what New Yorkers have experienced, but a healthy 8 inches of snow. Snow I like.

DH being, well, DH...

Tuesday night brought sleet and freezing rain. Ice I do NOT like.

Unfortunately, this picture is blurry, but is does show what the snow looked like after getting freezing rain. It actually looked like Styrofoam. You can see the light from the lamps reflecting off the surface.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked from home. The kitties loved having Mummy and Daddy home. And don't they have the perfect solution for weathering out the storm?

BTW, that is the afghan I've been working on. It's completed, and I'll try to post a picture when the cats aren't using it. :o)

DH did try to put a positive spin on things, commenting that at least we spent all of Valentine's Day together...

Sylvie saves the day!!

2007-02-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

I looked at the date of my last post. I really have been in hibernation mode! I'm surprised that Blogger recognized me!

It's been so cold, with highs in the teens (F) and lows around 0F. We've pretty much come home from work and curled up under a cover with a book (and a cat or two). Good old Punxsutawney Phil had better be right or we're voting him off the island!

I haven't even felt like cross stitching! (you know it's bad!)

A while back, I signed up for the Crazy Cat Lady Exchange at the Robin's Nest. The person who was supposed to stitch for me went MIA. Sylvie, the moderator for this exchange, kindly became my 'exchange angel' and I recently received her lovely package. The stitched pieces are cushion covers! Adorable! She also included a stitching kit of a kitty that looks like Itchey (I had just seen that kit online recently and was planning to get it!) and an Abner-themed dish towel for the kitchen.

She even included goodies for the kitties...

Here's Abner with Francois (so named by DH). And yes, those are my flannel cat paw PJs I made a number of years ago. The buttons on the top are alternating black and ginger cats... (why, yes, I AM a Crazy Cat Lady! :o)

And Itchey playing with another goodie...

Thanks, Slyvie! This was worth the wait!! :o)

Some of my best friends are flakes!

2007-01-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

And they're laying out in the yard! :o)

Last night a couple inches of snow fell, and we got maybe another inch this afternoon (on top of the inch that's been there). Our first real snow of the season!! I'm a happy girl!

From the dining room window:

Standing on the front porch:

DH playing with the zamboni (as my Dad calls it):

Abner really wanting to get outside with Daddy:

And Itchey, watching from the warmth of inside (us girls had the right idea):

Kitty Stitchin'

2007-01-22T12:37:00.000-05:00

It was another lovely, quiet weekend, spent snuggled up at home with DH and the kittes. I curled up on the couch in the Ladies' Parlour and worked on the afghan. You'll notice that both Quality Control Inspectors were present to test that its thermal properties were up to scratch.

We also had draperies installed on Saturday in the dining room. It's probably our favorite room in the house for a number of reasons. We just love the wallpaper that the previous owners chose (which makes us wonder what they were ~~smoking~~ thinking when they papered the master bedroom!) and there's a lot of wood, but the view from the window, particularly when there's snow on the ground, is just lovely. For this reason, we never put any window covering up (and neither had the previous owners). The back of our house faces West, so it typically gets the brunt of any wind, and in the summer, it lets sun in from about 2pm to sunset.

So, after much reluctance and discussion, we finally decided to get thermal draperies. (You'd think we were making a decision on some life or death situation! :o)

Unfortunately, this is the most snow we've had all season, but here's the view from the window. That tiny little house looking thing attached to the first tree to the right of the center of the windows is a squirrel feeder my dad made for us. Periodically, I fill it up with peanuts.

Every time one of us sees a squirrel sitting on the feeder, we say "Squirrrrrrrrel!" (Like from Christmas Vacation... :o)

Now, what have I been up to?

2007-01-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

Not much, really. It's sad, I can't even remember what my last post was about. I've hardly cross stitched, either. Not intentional, that's just how it worked out. I do have to finish up Vash's RR and get that off to her, too!

I've been pleasure reading. I used to read a lot, but kind of got away from it in college. On The Knitting Doctor's blog, I saw a link to the 2007 "To Be Read" Challenge, where each participant selects 12 books to read over the course of 2007. (Audio books count, too) If you're interested, they're still taking members until the end of January.

Here's my list: (In no particular order…)

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J. K. Rowling
2. The Eyre Affair – Jasper FForde
3. The Mysteries of Udolpho – Anne Radcliffe
4. Thunderstruck – Erik Larson
5. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
6. Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
7. Belladonna – Anne Bishop
8. Od Magic – Patricia McKillip
9. Natural Magick – Miria Liguana
10. The Spirited Walker – Carolyn Kortge
11. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife – Linda Berdoll
12. Lady Chatterly’s Lover – D. H. Lawrence

I just finished #8 last night, Od Magic, which was *very* good. A great fantasy book with kings and wizards and travelling magicians.

I also started up a very simple, mindless knitting project, probably to counter all that lace knitting I did this fall. It's a lap throw for the family room. I'm using up some Homespun stash, in the Tudor colorway (cream, violet, turquoise, mauve and country blue), and really goes nicely with my chair. When complete, it wll probably be around 3'X5'. (And the cats might acutally let me use it once in a while...)

The majority of my Christmas gifts were handmade this past holiday. After finishing up the knitted gifts, I went to start on my sewn gifts. This was maybe four days before Christmas, but it's quick sewing, so I had plenty of time. *sigh* To make life so much more...interesting, my sewing machine decided to be sick. So, I tearfully called my parents and told my Dad that he would get his Christmas gifts after the holidays after I took my sewing machine to the dealer. (He totally understood)

I've had my machine for about 13 years now, and even though it picked a very inopportune moment to not work, it's the first time I ever had any problems with it. The repair bill damage wasn't bad, and now it has it's lovely purr back.

And here he is with his (relatively new) brother, my serger:

I want to sew more. I've done a little utilitarian sewing, and made some running pants for my Dad, but not regularly for myself like I used to. I've found some great sewing blogs (it all started with Isabelle's) that have been motivating me to pick it up again.

Oh, yeah, I just realized that back on December 18th, it was my one year Blogaversary. My, how time flies when you're having fun!! :o)

Bye, bye, Birdie

2007-01-05T08:17:00.000-05:00

Also over the holiday, I worked on Vash's RR. Aren't the designs adorable?? They're freebies from Vermillion (can't find the site right now, but they're out there somewhere...).

The Painted Bunting is the bird I'm stitching. (It was so hard to choose!!) Here's a closeup of my square:

I'm planning to get him done this weekend for a Monday mailing.

Thank you for all the sweet comments about Flora. She's been a dream to stitch, but I'm also trying to cram all the wild, unabandoned stitching in that I can before classes start up again this coming Monday.

Last term I got an A in my Intro to Industrial Engineering class and a B in my Statistics for Engineers class. I was a bit disappointed with the B, but (and I'm not making any excuses), the math overwhelmed me. It was a lot more calculus based math than the Statistics class I took for my MBA. I love calculus (in the immortal words of Wierd Al, 'Do vector calculus just for fun...'), but, as they say, use it or lose it...and I have.

This term, I'm taking Database Management (SQL, here I come!!!!! :o). I am really looking forward to this class. In my daily work, I extensively use Microsoft Access for business analysis and forecasting orders from our Oracle system. I'm an Engineer, so I do have programming in my blood, but nothing like that of an IT Developer. I've really hit boundaries using Access' GUI for queries, and know I could do a lot more (and more easily) entirely creating a query using SQL and not the GUI. Can you tell I'm excited? :o)

A restful holiday indeed

2007-01-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

I don't know about where you all are, but for the first day back, it's pretty subdued here at work. Everyone seems to need some time to ease into being in something other than PJs and bunny slippers.

I was actually in the week between Christmas and New Years, but that almost doesn't count, because it's kind of like the tree thing: if there was no one there to see you work (or not), did you really (not) work? :o)

Our time off was spent not doing a whole lot. It was glorious! Although, in an unexpected cleaning fit, I was able to trick DH into some housework just before the new year. I got tired of sticking to the kitchen floor. (because stitching is much more fun than housework!) I was so ambitious, I even took off the cover at the bottom of the fridge, and sucked out enough cat hair to just about knit up a third cat!

DH and I don't exchange gifts, but Santa (a la Mum & Dad) brought me some green stuff so I got a 120G external hard drive for my laptop. Ok, I know, not very exciting, but what can I say, I'm an electronics nerd. My laptop HD is only 30G (Remember when we thought 10M was a lot??) and the remaining space was quickly filling up with music/audio books/podcasts for my iPod (which is 80G). The external drive is now my iPod library.

While I was setting up my new toy, I had plenty of time to do some stitching:

Flora probably got the majority of my time:

I also started a new project, Ye Olde Coffee House (Little House Needleworks):

My RR is back from it's tour of the globe! Wendy was the last to work on it (and really tore it up!) so that I received it just before Christmas Day. I'm counting it as a Christmas present!

Thanks a bunch to Anne, Vash and Wendy for a wonderful RR!!!

A New Chapter...

2007-01-01T14:44:00.000-05:00

Here's to closing out the old year and ringing in the new...

Regularly scheduled posting will resume shortly... :o)

Happy Christmas, Everyone!!

2006-12-24T21:49:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday, surrounded by loved ones and partaking in all sorts of merriment!

And to all a good night...

Christmas Cheer

2006-12-23T09:15:00.000-05:00

We've been having unseasonably warm weather of late, and most likely won't have a White Christmas, even one that we can claim on the technicality of spying one or two snowflakes floating in the air. So, to get into the holiday spirit, I saw this on Erin's blog:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper - shiny silver paper with wide burgundy ribbon

2. Real tree or artificial? We really haven't put up a tree in the last two years. I'm boycotting until we buy a pre-lit model. Here's our tree this year, which was made for us by DH's Aunt.

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Not really, but if I indulge, I choose the spiked version.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Back when I was in high school, one of those 80's vintage tower stereos, with the stacked components, the two glass doors in front and a record player on top.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? DH's Aunt (from question #2) hand-made us a set as a wedding present. We even bought the buffet with our dining room set specifically to put the Nativity set.

8. Hardest person to buy for? DH!

9. Easiest person to buy for? DSis - Victoria's Secret gift certificate and she's done!

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Really, nothing. Growing up, my sister and I would make detailed lists, with catalog page #s, stores listed that had the best price, etc. We would make the list longer than what we knew we'd get so that at least there'd be some surprise as to what we'd get off our lists.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, and typically hand made cards.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation (Where's the Tylenol?), Love Actually, and Miracle on 34th Street

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I try to start my hand-made gifts early, though I don't really start shopping for the 'store-boughts' until after Thanksgiving, which is always done online.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, I really haven't!

15. Favorite thing to eat and drink at Christmas? Traditional turkey dinner, which must be accompanied by Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. It just isn't the holidays without the can marks on the edges. (I almost was thrown this year, when I went to buy it a couple days ago, I almost missed it because they changed the can labels after all these years! :o)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear lights ONLY!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Do They Know it's Christmas (Band Aid), Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano), Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (U2), and White Christmas (Bing Crosby). Honorable mention: The Twelve Days of Christmas (The Muppets)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Just to Mum and Dad's house.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dopey, Sleepy, Doc... Whoops! Better lay off the eggnog! ;o)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither, we put a little nest with a cardinal in it at the top of the tree for good luck.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve, so we can sleep in on Christmas Morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic, traffic and traffic!!

23. Favorite thing about the Christmas Holidays? An over-abundance of merriment, and fun.

24. Most Memorable gift? The kitties!!!

25. What's the one thing you seem to never get done at Christmas time? Keeping the house clean.

Swallowtail shawl is ready to fly

2006-12-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

Last night, I blocked DSis's Swallowtail shawl. Surprisingly, I had no feline supervision. Perhaps it was because I accidentally kicked Abner in the head when I was backing up and didn't see that he was 'roasting' just behind me. Good thing he has a hard head! :o)

Here's the final result:

A detail shot of the design:
*To be uploaded. Sorry Blogger isn't cooperating.*

And a model shot... :o)

Now I just have to do the sewing portion of my Christmas gifties. Those will take considerably less time to complete!

Dainty Bess (AKA The Mum Scarf)

2006-12-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

For the past week, my lunch hours have been dedicated to knitting away at the Mum Scarf to finish her up in time for Santa. And yesterday, at 1:10pm (don't tell my boss! ;o), I made the last bind-off stitch.

Last night, with two overly ambitious felines supervising, I hand washed it, pressed out the excess water and blocked it on my Craftatorium floor, letting it lay out all night with the ceiling fan on high (and door firmly closed to keep out two curious onlookers).

For those non-knitter folk, blocking means I pinned down the edges, stretching it out, and letting it dry that way.

Here she is in her full glory:

And a closeup of the design:

The Details:
Re-started: August 25, 2006
Completed: December 20, 2006
Pattern: Elizabeth I Scarves, Dainty Bess design (from Knit Picks)
Yarn: Alpaca Cloud, one hank (in Smoke, also from Knit Picks)
Needles: Addi Natura Size 4 (as with my DSis's shawl, I did NOT like these needles)
Blocked Size: 10" X 72"

I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was my very first attempt at knitting lace (I started it before starting DSis's shawl), and I think I'm hooked! I have the same yarn, but in a soft pink colorway, that I also bought. Now I have to decide on a lace project for me! :o)

A Girl's Weekend

2006-12-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

No, *sigh* I didn't fly off to some fantastically exotic location for a relaxing spa weekend with the girlfriends. But Fairy Flora and I did spend some quality time together. And since it was a SAL weekend at The Robin's Nest, my timing couldn't have been better.

Before:

After:

And, like all great girlfriends, she didn't care that I wore my glasses, no makeup and hair all twisted up in a bun.

Now, is it me, because I did no stitching on her face, but doesn't it look like Flora is smiling in the 'After' shot, compared to the 'Before' shot? Hmmmm. I guess I'd be happy too, if I finally had arms and some hair... ;o)

Flora has a face

2006-12-14T07:56:00.000-05:00

Miss Flora can now face the world. And put her best face forward. And face the nation. And-- OK, you probably get the idea. :o)

I enjoyed my first evening of guilt-free stitching since my final. Speaking of which, it was a killer! Our class went from 5:20-7:50, and I was about the fifth person (out of about 30) to leave, and I walked out of the classroom at 8:00! My hand hurt from all the writing, and it wasn't an essay test, but all math. I was glad my brain functioned well enough to figure out how to get me home!

I couldn't not include a picture that I took this morning before going out the door of Queen Itchey on her Royal Bed. I would have also had a picture of King Abner too, but he had already run down after DH for his breakfast. Little Missy was far too comfortable to move for food. I really want their job!

Stress Stitching

2006-12-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

We're down to the wire, folks. Tomorrow evening is my Statistics final. When I took stats for my MBA, I don't remember it being as tricky as this class is. This class is geared towards scientific research, so I've had to recall calculus that I haven't thought about for decades! :o)

I usually close out each day with some de-stressing stitching before snuggling under the covers. I have the Mum scarf to work on, but I've been drawn to work on Fairy Flora. I'm not a particularly fast stitcher, so with the little bits of time here and there in between studying and just before bed, here's my progress so far:

Apparently, I'm stressed a little more than I thought. :o)

On the home stretch

2006-12-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

...for a few things, really.

I've been MIA on the blog front recently, and will probably post rather infrequently until after my Statistics final on December 12th. Please send good thoughts!

Over Thanksgiving Holiday, I just couldn't wait any longer and restarted Fairy Flora on 32ct linen (I had originally used 28ct). I like the smaller count a lot better!

This is the top of the skirt on her dress, just below the waistline.

I'm also about .01% from being done with the Mom scarf! MIL's birthday is in a few days, so we decided to send it to her for her birthday so that she could wear it to Christmas church services, rather than just opening it on Christmas.

And, in other news, on Friday, we had a strong cold front blow through with lots of wind and found the top of one of our trees no longer on the top of the tree. The top was dead, so we were planning to get the top cut off anyway, so we just got it done earlier and for free.

For perspective, our deck is 18 feet across. Thankfully, it just missed the corner of the deck and did no damage. (Although I'm sure the thump it made sent the kitties scrambling under the couch in the Ladies Parlour!)

One person's junk... (picture heavy)

2006-11-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

...is another's treasure.

We got yet another installment of free furniture! A while back, my Dad was out jogging and went past a house where the owner had put out their garbage. Next to the trash cans was an end table. The top of the table looked like someone took a hammer to it. Having the eye for well made furniture, he went home, got the car, and brought it home. It turns out to be a piece of Henredon furniture.

He stripped it, and covering the table top with a dish towel, he ran a steam iron over it, about 1" from the surface, which made the wood in the indentations expand, so the majority of the hammer marks were gone. Once he stained it, they're almost undetectable.

It's a beautiful piece of furniture and is the perfect mate to my free chair! :o)

I told him that he should take a polaroid of it and send it to the old owners! ;o)

How to make a polarfleece sock:

1. Here are the three pieces:

L to R: Top of foot/front of shin (A), back of shin (B), and sole (C)

2. Sew B to C at the heel:

3. I used the Elastic Stitch, which is stitch #3 (#1 is your typical straight stitch):

4. Sew A to the two pieces just sewn together:

5. Turn down about 1" and stitch the cuff:

6. Turn right-side-out and you have a warm, comfy sock!

Thankful thoughts and lots of turkey...

2006-11-24T18:49:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone in the US had a lovely Thanksgiving, spent it with loved ones, and thought thankful thoughts. We spent the day at my parents' home. It was fun and relaxed with fabulous traditional fare. I got to spend some quality time with my neices and nephew kitties and neice ferret.

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the sweet comments about the Swallowtail Shawl finish!

Shopping always lifts my spirits, so I paid a quick visit to Needlecraft Corner for a therapy session:

The two top Little House Needleworks designs, 'Ye Olde Coffee House' and 'Liberty Hill Inn' are slated for the kitchen, by the breakfast nook. The 'Home of a Needleworker', which I've been oogling over on other blogs for forever, and the Diane Graebner design, 'Hide & Seek' will probably go up in my sewing room.

The little blob of pink on the fabric below is a restart of Fairy Flora. I originally started her on 28ct. linen, and the more I stitched her, I found I was liking the size and appearance of the stitches less and less, so along with my other stash above, I picked up 32ct. linen.

Vash's RR also arrived on my doorstep, and I just had to put a few stitches in on the adorable little Painted Bunting I chose to stitch in my square:

Of course, with the holidays just around the corner (*shiver*), all holiday gift-related stitching is highest priority. The Mom scarf is just over 3/4 complete!

While working on the Mom scarf, I was able to rip all of my holiday music, which I'm listenting to as I type...

Some of my faves:
Time Life Treasury of Christmas I have an old version of this when it first came out (1997?) and the list of songs on mine is slightly different (and longer).
Excelsis: A Dark Noel - An excellent set of Goth versions of traditional holiday songs done well, not ridiculously. Welcome Christmas (from How the Grinch Stole Chirstmas by Love Spirals Downwards) is awesome, and O Come Emmanuel (by Area) will give you shivers.
Meowy Christmas - By the Jingle Cats. Some guy has a bunch of kitties that he recorded the various noises they make and edited them into holiday music. DH has banned the playing of this CD while he is within earshot. He just doesn't appreciate true quality music... ;o)

And, a gratuitous picture of my little helper...

Swallowtail Shawl is finito!

2006-11-19T23:17:00.000-05:00

I just finished it up this evening (while watching 'Goblet of Fire') and had to share!!

And a closeup:

Tomorrow, she gets a dip in the bubbles and blocked. DSis's Christmas gift (mostly) complete!

Details:
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl (Interweave Knits Fall 2006)
Began: October 2, 2006
Completed: November 19, 2006
Yarn: Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud (Iris)
Needles: US#5 Addi Natura (I hated these needles for lace! The yarn kept getting caught on the join)

Off to work on the Mum scarf! :o)