Staying Focused

On the inside, looking out

2012-01-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

Tom let a bird into church today. I don't think he meant to, although as a pastor I supposed he should encourage all of God's creatures. But a blue jay really isn't happy inside, and this one kept running into windows trying to find a way out instead of using the doors we propped open for it. At one point, the poor thing literally knocked himself silly, and we thought for sure we would be burying it before the end of the day. But Tom managed to coax the bird outside, and it flew off without a backward glance.

No Resolutions

2012-01-16T20:25:00.000-05:00

I have come to a realization. I'm a list-maker. I've always been a list-maker.

For a long time, I honestly thought I was writing out goals. That's what you're supposed to do, right? Make a list of everything you want to do (your goals), then do them. So I wrote my goals out. A list of goals to accomplish for the day. A list of goals to knit for the year. A list of goals to accomplish by the time I reached my 50th birthday. Weight goals. Household goals. Life goals.

And every day, no matter how much I get done, I never managed to complete the goals for that day. Or that year. Or that lifetime. It's very discouraging. No matter how good my intentions are, I'm a failure because I just can't seem to meet all my goals.

This past week, I've been making a list of my goals for the year. I have a list of things that I want to knit (many of which were on my list from last year). I have a list of things I want to accomplish (many of them left on the list of things to do before my 50th). I have a list of things I want to get for the house. Then I thought of a list of places I want to go. And a list of books I want to read. And a list of things I want to try. And I started looking at my lists, and realized that they weren't lists of my goals. They were just lists. I'm a list maker.

Each day at work, I list everything that needs to be done. I'm never going to have time to do everything on the list. But by writing it all in one list, I can see which things absolutely have to be done, which things I should do, and what I can do when there's time in between the important tasks. I'm not getting everything done, but the list gives me the opportunity to see the possibilities.

I like that -- I'm listing possibilities rather than goals. I don't have to feel guilty for being a failure because I didn't meet all my goals. I can be proud of how many possibilities I met. This year, I'm going to embrace the listmaker in myself, and the only resolution I'm making for the new year is to enjoy the possibilities.

What's for dinner?

2012-01-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

One of the joys of living in Florida is finding lizard in the house. I don't really mind. They're kind of cute. I just wish that they would find a better place to hide than my oven...

December Book List

2011-12-31T23:08:00.001-05:00

Books Read in December

178 - 01 Plain Truth, by Jodi Picoult (12/4)
179 - 02 Tenth Anniversary, by James Patterson (12/6)
180 - 03 Jigs & Reels, by Joanne Harris (12/8)
181 - 04 A Thread of Truth, by Marie Bostwick (12/9) AUDIOBOOK
182 - 05 The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (12/10)
183 - 06 The Cat Whisperer, by Claire Bessant (12/12)
184 - 07 The Body in the Gazebo, by Katherine Hall Page (12/16)
185 - 08 Spin a Wicked Web, by Cricket McRae (12/18)
186 - 09 Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons, by Blaize Clement (12/19)
187 - 10 An O'Brien Family Christmas, by Sherryl Woods (12/20)
188 - 11 June Bug, by Chris Fabry (12/24)
189 - 12 Black Sheep, by Georgette Heyer (12/26)
190 - 13 Beauty and the Werewolf, by Mercedes Lackey (12/29)
191 - 14 Cousin Kate, by Georgette Heyer (12/31)

SInce it's the 31st of December, my official book count for the year is 191 books read. Not a bad number, even if a majority of those were "junk" fiction. But not everything I read is junk.

My friend Winnie recommended The Help, and she was absolutely right that it is a Must-Read book. I loved it. I think it's one of my favorite books for the year. My daughter read it, and she loved it. Becka brought home the movie, even though we were both convinced it wasn't going to be nearly as good as the book. And we were right; the book is definitely better. But the movie is very, very good.

I also enjoyed June Bug, by Chris Fabry, a lot more than I expected to. I picked it up purely on impulse at the library. The Lantana branch, which is the library I've been haunting since my move, has the New and Popular shelves alongside the checkout line. Which means that as I'm standing in line, I have the opportunity to grab a couple more books. The book started out slowly, and seemed to have a very predictable plot. And while the plot may have been (somewhat) predictable, the characters and relationships surprised me. I need to look to see what else Chris Fabry has written.

Organization is the key to a happy office

2011-12-27T19:39:00.003-05:00

BEFORE

AFTER

I've been at the church for three months (or close to it), and I finally feel like I have a handle on the job. It's a wonderful place to work. I still love the people I work and interact with. I have enough variety and creativity to keep the job fun. And there's never anyone throwing tantrums or making derogatory and/or political statements.

I've probably said all that before. But really, except for the fact that I miss my students and I don't make nearly as much money, this is a much better job for me.

Now that we've made it through Christmas, and before the financial report obligations of the new year start, I had a little bit of extra time. I decided to use it to rearrange my office. It's a big office, but everything seems to end up being stored in it. And really, there's no need for me to work in a storage closet anymore.

So I took a day, and with Rose's help (one of my wonderful volunteers), we cleaned out all of junk. Some of it was stored in the actual storage rooms. And some of it (four huge trash bags) was thrown out. Then we rearranged the furniture. I still want to get a small table with better chairs for meetings. Otherwise, I'm really happy with the new arrangement. The room seems so much brighter now!

Flowers in the Neighborhood

2011-12-26T07:23:00.002-05:00

I have a funny story.

Yesterday, during dinner, the kids kept trying to get rid of mom and me (or so I thought). I don't have a dining room table, so we were sitting in the living room eating. The kids kept suggesting that mom and I go out on the patio to eat, since there is a table with two chairs out there. I didn't want our family dinner to be broken up into two groups, so I refused. After dinner, the kids suggested that mom and I sit outside and chat while we knitted, with them staying inside to play one of the games PJ had gotten. Again, I didn't want to break up our family time so I refused. There were a few more attempts to get me to sit outside without the kids, and I was starting to get annoyed. We have so little family time, why would I want to waste any of it?

When PJ was getting ready to leave, he mentioned the patio lights. I had asked him to come over the week before to help me hang lights on the patio, but time ran out before he could get down to me. I never did get the lights up, and there he was, offering to help take them down. Sigh.

Then, to make matters worse, he brings up the flowers. I've been wanting hanging plants for the patio ever since I moved in. I've been hinting, and trying to find the money to buy them myself, but I just haven't gotten any flower yet. My ever-so-subtle son asks me how I like the flowers. "I don't have flowers yet," I grumble (or I would have grumbled, if it hadn't been Christmas - okay, I grumbled even though it was Christmas).
"Then those must be the neighbors' flowers I see," he tells me. How annoying can a boy be, not to tell whether something is on my patio or across the parking lot. But I went over to kiss him goodbye anyway, because after all it was Christmas.

And that's when I saw the flowers hanging on my patio. It seems my daughter conspired with my mother, and they managed to sneak two hanging plants onto my patio.

Sometimes, the kids are really, really wonderful. (Mom is really wonderful all the time.)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T23:13:00.001-05:00

It was a very nice, although a little strange, Christmas. I'm used to being woken up early by the kids and unwrapping our gifts in our pajamas. It was hard learning to have Christmas with one of the children missing. (I hate that my oldest lives so far away). But this year, ALL the kids are grown.And Christmas changed completely.

Mom had to go to church (she counts the collection, so she had to be there), so we decided to have an early Christmas dinner at my place. PJ decided that he would wait to come over in the afternoon, with his grandmother. That left just Becka and me (my oldest still being in NYC). So Christmas didn't start in the morning, in our pajamas. Instead, we had time to sleep in a bit and to get dressed, keeping the holiday festivities waiting until the others arrived. It was still Christmas, with family and stockings and gifts and lots of food. Just calmed down a bit.

I'm not sure I approve of the children growing up.

The first step is always the hardest.

2011-12-10T19:03:00.001-05:00

My apartment complex has an exercise trail. Actually, it's more of a sidewalk that runs along the outer edges of the complex. There are two picnic areas along the way. (I'm not sure how that fits in with the exercise theme, but it's nice to know the grills and picnic tables are available.) There is also three spots with traditional exercise trail equipment: a chin up bar, a slanted sit-up bench, and these:

I imagine if I spent more time in a gym, I'd know what they're called. You stand on them and swing your legs, mimicking skiing. While I found it a lot of fun to do, I really don't understand why they're on a walking trail. I mean, you're already getting in the aerobics by walking. What other benefits can swinging your legs in this machine give you?

I'm carrying around an elephant

2011-12-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

This is knitting up relatively quickly. If I actually concentrated, I'd probably be done by now. I probably should be honest and admit that I've slowed down because as soon as I finish the other half of the under-gusset, the ears and tail, I'll have to sew it all up.

* ~ * ~ *

Blanket Update:

216 squares in 319 days

(Status: I've now knit more blocks this year than I did last year.)

Sheffield Tawny Port

2011-12-05T17:13:00.012-05:00

I like port. So when I needed a sweet red wine for my Thanksgiving cranberry relish, naturally I looked for a bottle of port. I found one from Sheffield Cellars that wasn’t too expensive, so I decided to try it.

This is a Tawny Port, which means it’s been aged in a wooden barrel (in this particular brand, an oak barrel). As it ages, the wood gradually turns the red wine a more brownish, or tawny, color. (This is, of course, a very simplified explanation, based on my simplified understanding. You should probably go google it if you want a better, more detailed explanation.)

The aroma was heavily oak and prune. Sometimes I have trouble distinguishing the subtleties in an aroma, but there was nothing subtle about these. I also found a faint mustiness that made me think of the Regency Romances I indulge in, where the men always seem to retire at the end of a meal to enjoy their port while the women go off to gossip together. This is definitely a man’s port (compared to the sweet port that remains my favorite).

The taste was sweet without being cloying, with black licorice and something that made me think of my PopPop’s pipe. It tasted like Thanksgiving, which is very weird considering (1) we don’t drink port on Thanksgiving because (2) we don’t really drink any wine on Thanksgiving.

I definitely liked this port, and I’ll probably treat myself to it again. I'm giving it three stars.

1 star = It was okay but nothing special
2 stars = It was good and I liked it
3 stars = It was good and I'd buy it again
4 stars = I really, really like it, enough to call it a favorite
5 stars = It's mine, all mine! And I don't want to share.

It's not Christmas without Cookies!

2011-12-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

I ended up not spending the day the way I expected to spend the day. (And for the record, the way I expected to spend the day was not how I had originally planned to spend the day.) But despite the way things twisted and turned, it turned out to be a pretty good day.

Part of that was because I gave into the impulse to bake. I made chocolate chip cookies. I ended up with 7 dozen cookies, so if anyone wants to bring the milk I’ve got cookies to share!

A Sugar Sand Moonstone

2011-12-02T22:19:00.003-05:00

It was a beautiful day today. We’ve passed most of that hot, humid weather and it’s now cool enough to spend time outside comfortably. So after work, I decided to go letterboxing.

According to both Atlas Quest and LBNA (the two main letterboxing websites), there was a letterbox planted at Sugar Sand Park – which just happens to be near my job. It’s also one of my favorite parks in Palm Beach County. So that’s where I went.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the box, even though I followed the clues carefully. One of the landmarks listed has changed, and I suspect the box disappeared around the same time the trail was altered. (I mean, that just makes sense.) I did check possible locations based on where the missing landmark probably was, but despite poking around every Palmetto bush in the vicinity, I was not able to record a find.

I don’t really mind that I didn’t find the Moonstone. I still had a beautiful afternoon walking along a really nice nature trail.

November Reading List

2011-11-30T15:41:00.070-05:00

Books Read in November

157 - 01 Bookplate Special, by Lorna Barrett (11/3) AUDIOBOOK
158 - 02 By the Sword, by Mercedes Lackey (11/3)
159 - 03 Winds of Fate, by Mercedes Lackey (11/7)
160 - 04 Wicked Appetite, by Janet Evanovich (11/9)
161 - 05 Snow Angels, by Fern Michaels (11/9)
162 - 06 Provocative in Pearls, by Madeline Hunter (11/10) AUDIOBOOK
163 - 07 Smokin' Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich (11/12)
164 - 08 Full House, by Janet Evanovich (11/12)
165 - 09 No Ordinary Child, by Darlene Graham (11/13)
166 - 10 Scared Stiff, by Annelise Ryan (11/14)
167 - 11 A Single Thread, by Marie Bostwick (11/18) AUDIOBOOK
168 - 12 Slightly Tempted, by Mary Balogh (11/18)
169 - 13 Simply Perfect, by Mary Balogh (11/20)
170 - 14 Wedding Belles, by Haywood Smith (11/20)
171 - 15 Liar, Liar, by K. J. Larsen (11/20) AUDIOBOOK
172 - 16 Three Weddings and a Kiss, by Woodiwiss, Anderson, Chase & Kleypas (11/21)
173 - 17 Home Improvement, Undead Edition, edited by C. Harris & T. L. P. Kelner (11/26)
174 - 18 Slightly Shady, by Amanda Quick (11/27)
175 - 19 Charmed & Dangerous, by Toni McGee Causey (11/27)
176 - 20 Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs, by Blaize Clement (11/28)
177 - 21 Beginner's Grace, by Kate Braestrup (11/29) AUDIOBOOK

I've read a couple of really horrible "why am I still reading this?" books this month. A couple of them were so bad that I finally did put them down before I reached the ending (but not before wasting several hours thinking anything to read was better than nothing to read). By the way, the ones that I didn't finish, didn't make it onto the list.

I did, however, read (okay, listened to and then read) a really wonderful book on, of all things, prayer. I had loaded it onto my ipod on a whim. Actually, what happened was that there wasn't anything I wanted to listen to available to download from the library when I had access to the internet. So I took the only half-decent thing I could, thinking that it would tide me over until the next trip to a hot spot and I could try for something better. The book surprised me. Once I got used to the awful cadence of the reader (la-la-la, la-la, la-LAA-la - regardless of the sentence being read), I found I had a difficult time turning off the ipod. The author is a chaplain to the forestry service in Maine, and is Unitarian in her theology. There's just something about her down-to-earth practicality in her approach to God that appeals. You just have to listen to a pastor who recommends the standard "Oh God, oh God, oh God" prayer for any crisis situation - crisis being freely defined by the person praying. I actually went to the library and took out a copy of the book so I could take my time when I re-read it.

So what's next?

2011-11-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the Phellogen socks. I still don't know why it took me so long. I loved the pattern. I love to cable. So the only possible explanation is that the socks unknit themselves at night so that I would keep working on them forever.

They do look much better on than they do in this picture, by the way. It was totally worth the time it took to knit them.

Blanket Update:

207 squares in 319 days

(Status: Why am I still trying to give updates on this?)

You know how good I am at this.

2011-11-27T15:18:00.001-05:00

I finished weaving the cloth for the bag, and I love the way it turned out. I could tell you that it's just a simple tabby weave on a 2-2 warp with an alternating 2-pick weft, but that would just be showing off my new vocabulary. Basically, I just did a simple under/over/over weave (aka tabby). I warped the loom with 2 strands of the red, then 2 strands of the blue and then I wove (the weft) using the same 2 stands of one color then 2 strands of the other combination.

It's amazing how quickly I was able to weave these pieces. The first one is 29" long, and the second is 72".

Now I just have to finish the project by sewing it all together. I wonder which will come first, the slippers or the bag.

Deep violets, you liken to The kindest eyes that look on you, Without a thought disloyal. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

2011-11-26T17:10:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how excited I am over this.

You do see it, don't you? It's my first little bud. There will be more pictures when it actually blooms, I'm sure.

This one is for Becca

2011-11-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Festival

2011-11-19T22:22:00.002-05:00

I spent the day demonstrating weaving and spinning at the church's Thanksgiving Festival. I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. We (Melissa, Anita and I) had a blast showing off our skills and teaching the children how to drop spindle and wave. Actually, Melissa deserves most of the credit. She made up a bunch of spindle kits that she gave away to any child that seemed really interested in the spinnning. I kept being called away to fix this or that, or to take care of some minor crisis (the problem in trying to volunteer where you work is that they expect you to actually work if they need you), so it was really Melissa who did most of the demonstration and teaching. Anita and I were able to relax (in between the cries of "Sandi, I need you) and enjoy the day.

Showing my boss' daughter how to spin on the wheel

The amazing and wonderful weaver, Ms Anita

Demonstrating how to weave on my tabletop loom

My new toy

2011-11-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

I am now the proud owner of an electric spinning wheel. It's beautiful, with a remarkable mixture of handcrafted wood and modernized gadgetry. The idea of powering a spinning wheel with an engine (although a tiny one), also amuses me.

Sometimes, I have the most amazing luck. First in meeting, by pure chance, an amazing weaver who was/is willing to share her knowledge with me. (Thank you, Anita!) And then in her generosity in giving me her old wheel.

I'm so blue

2011-11-15T18:46:00.001-05:00

You know those kitschy t-shirts, "my parents went to ___ and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"? Well, my daughter went to NYC and all I got was blue m&ms. I would have much rather have gone on the trip with her. (And in all fairness, the opportunity was offered to me. Several times. Unfortunately, finances and logistics of a new job prevented me from taking the opportunity.)

But really. Blue m&ms. Everyone knows that the blue m&ms are horrible. I literally pick them out of the bag and get rid of them before hunting out the good flavors (like green, brown, red...). Sigh.

At least I'm going to get to eat a couple of "real bakery" cupcakes. (Mom was so tired when they got home from the airport, she left the treat from the girls at my house. And naturally they'll be too stale to give to her, so I might as well eat them.)

Lizard's Wild Ride

2011-11-13T19:49:00.000-05:00

I rushing off to a meeting, and noticed this on the hood of my car. Can you see it?

It was a lizard, looking absolutely terrified. He had to have been sunbathing on the car when I left my apartment. I have no idea how he managed to cling to the hood as long as he did. But I was approaching the entrance to the interstate, and I knew that once I hit full speed the lizard was going to learn to fly.

Instead, I pulled into the first driveway, and carried him to the curb. (I tried to shoo him off the car, but the poor thing wouldn't move. He was clinging to the hood, by golly, come speed or scarey lady.)

I felt bad that I had to leave him so far way from his home and his family. But just think of the story he's going to be able to tell his grandchildren of the wild ride he once took.

St. Joe's is the place to go!

2011-11-12T14:16:00.002-05:00

I'm a day late with this, but my favorite thing this week is St. Joseph's. More accurately, it's the people of St. Joe's. I spent a little over 8 hours volunteering with the most wonderful group of people. The church was hosting the diocese convention, and I went in to help prepare, serve, and cleanup the dinner.

And let me tell you, it was quite a dinner. Father Marty is an amazing chef, who I was told learned while in Italy. We (the volunteers) were able to sneak off and have a share of the dinner and it was incredible!

Even better was the way everyone just accepted me and made me a part of the group. Most of the workers have been long-time church members and therefore have long-time friendships. But from the very first person I met, I was made to feel that I was just as much a part of the friendship and fellowship as everyone else. By the time I dried my last dish (around midnight), I felt that it was one of the best days I'd spent in a long time.

And I don't even really mind that I can barely move today. (It was a lot of hard work!)

Warped and ready

2011-11-10T17:43:00.000-05:00

The most difficult part of weaving is warping. Warping consists of cutting a great many long pieces of wool and putting them, one at a time, through the loom so that they all line up properly.

Actually, I don't mind warping at the loom. I have a rather obsessive need for order, and threading the yarn piece by piece through the proper heddle can be relaxing. (Unless, of course, you get a bunch threaded and go around to the other side to grab them only to watch them drop backwards because you didn't allow enough slack.) No, the problem I have is getting all the pieces cut the right length without tangling them up.

The trick to cutting the yarn is to use a warping board. And it's a trick that, until now, I wasn't able to use because that's the one piece of equipment I wasn't given. But, being the wonderfully adaptive and inventive person I am, I came up with an affordable warping board alternative.

I bought several large hooks for the wall. They can be moved around without leaving any marks on the wall, so they're perfect for my apartment.

I even found the perfect spot for my "wall art warping board" -- in the entryway behind the front door. To be honest, I wasn't sure it was going to work. But I was able to measure off 90 pieces of Sugar'n Creme 103" long in just a couple of minutes. I had the loom warped in just under an hour and a half.

An hour later, I am well on my way!

Beware of the Tinking Fairies!

2011-11-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

With all of the knitting I'm doing on these socks, I really should be finished by now. I can only think of one explanation - my house is infested with "Tink"erbelles. Seriously. I think the fairies are sneaking into my knitting bag at knit and tinking back any progress I might have made during the day.

These are still Round 2 socks from the Tour-de-Force, and Round 5 is being released tomorrow. Those darn Tink-erbelles better skedaddle quick.

Blanket Update:

207 squares in 312 days

(Status: How far behind am I going to get before I throw in the towel?)

I want a cookie!

2011-11-08T22:21:00.001-05:00

It doesn't look like much yet, but this is the start of some really yummy cookies. Now I just need to decide if I'm going to make pumpkins, flowers, butterflies, or (Becca's choice) elephants.

Funf Riesling

2011-11-07T17:53:00.018-05:00

I'm blaming (crediting?) this wine purchase on one of my knitting friends, Sean. He had first mentioned this wine to me, pointing out that it would be worth buying just because the bottle was pretty and the name was cute. Supposedly I'm beyond buying wine just because of the bottle. But apparently peer pressure still works. Because when I saw this wine on sale at the grocery store as buy-one-get-one-free, I came home with the two bottles.

It's not bad. Slightly sweet, and very fruity, it seems like a nice cheap white wine that went well with the salad I had the first night, and with the leftover pizza I drank it with the next. I will say that I like the bouquet better than the taste; but then, I usually do.

So anyway, this was pretty good wine. I'm giving it two stars.

1 star = It was okay but nothing special
2 stars = It was good and I liked it
3 stars = It was good and I'd buy it again
4 stars = I really, really like it, enough to call it a favorite
5 stars = It's mine, all mine! And I don't want to share.

One out of ten isn't bad. Is it?

2011-11-06T17:00:00.001-05:00

Things I planned on doing today:

Go to church
Warp the small loom for towels
Unpack a couple of boxes
Vacuum and dust the bedroom and living room
Clean the bathroom (sharing with a teenager means this task is done almost daily)
Write my thank you notes and birthday greetings (I owe 6 notes)
Ply a skein of yarn on the wheel
Make cookies
Make a loaf of bread
Plan next week

What I actually did today:

Went to church
Tried to warp the towels, but got frustrated when the yarn tangled for the third time
Gave up and went to Starbucks

And I wonder why I never manage to cross everything off my "To Do" list. Sigh.

Today's Giggle:
Overheard at Starbucks: "Hey, you know what we could get while we're here? Coffee!"

Playing Footies

2011-11-05T23:08:00.003-04:00

My daughter had me in hysterical laughter. I was sitting in the living room, minding my own business, knitting as I watched the ending of some stupid show. I looked up just in time to see her strutting across the room in her brand-new footsie pajamas with a smug expression on her face. I couldn't help it. I burst into laughter, and didn't stop laughing until after I fell off my chair.

She is so-very-proud of those silly footsie pajamas. And yes, I am jealous of the utter coolness of Footsie Girl.

Monster Pops

2011-11-04T18:27:00.001-04:00

Cake pops are NOT my favorite thing. They're yummy, especially after they've have a day or two to set properly. But they are a royal pain to make. I have no idea how Bakerella does all those gorgeous shapes and designs.

The important thing is that mom and I had a lot of fun making these together. My kids might be too old to play in the kitchen with me, but at least my mother is still willing to have a little culinary fun together. Although I had to let her lick one of the beaters instead of keeping both of them for myself.

Preparation is all the work

2011-11-03T23:14:00.001-04:00

Tuesday I decided I wanted to warp the tabletop loom for kitchen towels. If I warp it this week, I should have enough time to get two towels woven before I have to warp the loom for the demonstration I'm doing at the Thanksgiving Festival on November 19th.

Of course, I didn't think to print out the waffle pattern for the towels. No problem, I said, I'll just run over to Starbucks for a couple of minutes so that I could copy it down. Yeah, maybe if I had settled for just the tabby pattern (shown in the bottom right of the photo). The waffle weave was a lot more involved than I thought it would be.

Now I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to warp it AND weave it in the week and a half I have available. Especially since I still have to ply two fingering weight skeins of yarn that are taking up my bobbins. (The demonstration is for both spinning and weaving - in pilgrim costume, no less.)

Missing MoJo

2011-11-02T17:41:00.002-04:00

I haven't been doing very much knitting lately. I'm not sure why. For a while I was blaming it on the move. After packing up my stuff, and transporting the boxes, then unpacking everything only to return to the old apartment and repeat the process again each day; I was just too tired and sore to think about doing anything at all.

Now that the big move is over, and (most) of my stuff is put away, I'm slowing picking my fiber back up. And it is about time.

I had managed to finish the first round of the Tour-de-Sock. I really liked the Calaba pattern by Regina Satta. I thought it was a fun knit. I was surprised that the Penny Rose yarn striped the way it did, but it went well with the cables.

I did get knocked out of the competition in the second round. Not only did I not finish the pair in time, I'm still knitting them. I missed round three entirely, and it doesn't look like I'll get to knit round four. (Even though I'm out of the competition, I can still knit each round in order to earn points for my team.)

As you can see, I still have a ways to go with Round Two. The pattern is Phellogen by Glenna C. I'm using Knitpick's Stroll, which is supposed to be a tonal but seems more like a variegated to me. The socks are really pretty, but the cables are kicking my butt for some reason. It's frustrating. But now that I'm finally on the heel, and the end is in sight, I think my pace is finally starting to pick up.

I really do need to get my knitting mojo back. Not only do I have to catch up on the Tour-de-Socks, I also have a cabinet full of UFOs that I need to get finished. I just don't have the room anymore to accommodate this many projects!

Blanket Update:

207 squares in 305 days

(Status: Is it still an "update" if there's been nothing to report for weeks?)

It's starting to feel like home

2011-11-01T21:25:00.001-04:00

I'm not very good at decorating. You would think that with all my crafting skills I would have picked up on how to make my house look pretty. Unfortunately, I can't manage to pull it all together. (I can't accessorize outfits, either.) But right now, I'm really liking the way my living room looks.

Just don't look at the other side of the room...

What am I going to do with all these boxes? There's no more room to put anything!

October Reading List

2011-10-31T15:39:00.001-04:00

Books Read in October

148 - 01 Waking Up In Dixie, by Haywood Smith (10/5) AUDIOBOOK
149 - 02 Death Qualified, by Kate Wilhelm (10/14) AUDIOBOOK
150 - 03 Ravishing in Red, by Madeline Hunter (10/18) AUDIOBOOK
151 - 04 The Oathblound, by Mercedes Lackey (10/20)
152 - 05 Oathbreakers, by Mercedes Lackey (10/22)
153 - 06 Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey (10/23)
154 - 07 Oathblood, by Mercedes Lackey (10/24)
155 - 08 Arrows Flight, by Mercedes Lackey (10/28)
156 - 09 Arrows Fall, by Mercedes Lackey (10/30)

I think there were two, maybe three, other books I read in the beginning of the month. It's been a rough two months. September was spent commuting back and forth from the new job (1 hour each way), plus school, plus hunting for an apartment. I took off from school in October, which should have made things easier. But it still ended up being just as bad. I was still making the commute, plus I had to pack up everything for the move to my new apartment. There was a lot of stuff I had to sort through, since my new home is much smaller than my old apartment. On top of that, I decided that of course I could enter a knitting competition. Not such a good idea. I made it through the first round, but I was eliminated in the second round.

The good news is that I am now living much closer to work, so the drive is much nicer. I still have several boxes of things to unpack as soon as I can figure out where to put them, but the new place is feeling more and more like "home." I have a patio, which I'm very excited about, and even a sunny window with a ledge for African violets! I don't have internet access yet at the house, but I'm hoping to have the money to add that soon. In the meantime, I've got a terrific Starbucks just down the street so I'll be hanging out there a couple of afternoons a week in order to update the blog. I may even get the podcast back on air soon!

September Reading List

2011-10-31T15:05:00.001-04:00

Books Read in September

139 - 01 Homespun Bride, by Jillian Hart (9/1)
140 - 02 Hired: The Boss's Bride, by Ally Blake (9/1)
141 - 03 Pumped for Murder, by Elaine Viets (9/3)
142 - 04 Nobody's Baby But Mine, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (9/8)
143 - 05 The Manning Sisters, by Debbie Macomber (9/18)
144 - 06 Murder is Binding, by Lorna Barrett (9/22) AUDIOBOOK
145 - 07 Full Scoop, by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes (9/27)
146 - 08 Bookmarked for Death, by Lorna Barrett (9/28) AUDIOBOOK
147 - 09 Family Blessings, by Fern Michaels (9/30)

You might notice that there isn't a textbook listed this month. That's because I really disliked the English Composition II textbook that we used. It was focused on pop culture writings, which I image was an effort to appeal to the typical college-aged student. I didn't get most of the references, which just made me feel really old. On top of that, I thought it was a bit like when I try to be "hip" with my teenagers and only come off looking like an idiot. After the first two weeks, I gave up reading the assigned chapters. Instead, I only read the essays that I had to respond to in my homework. I felt like a total cheat, but that was better than suffering through "modern" writing that just annoyed me.

I love my new job.

2011-09-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

I have a big office that came with a computer...

...and a great view.

I hurt.

2011-09-18T13:03:00.001-04:00

Fibromyalgia is horrible!

But Fiber In was totally worth the pain.

Fiber Fun!

2011-09-17T23:58:00.002-04:00

We made it to Orlando last night, just in time to check into the timeshare and then go out to dinner. We did manage to get a little knitting done, with thanks to Peggy who volunteered to be our designated knitter. (The bottle of wine, Dr. Heidemanns' Riesling, was delicious!)

This morning we enjoyed coffee on the balcony before heading off to Fiber In. I was very glad that we were on the second floor. It seems everywhere I go now, there's a duck looking for my knitting.

(I did tell you that story, didn't I? The day that I took the bus to pick up Becca's car, I had to transfer at the VA Center. The ducks there are very aggressive, and one of them came up and bit my toe. I was wearing sandals and had old nail polish on, so I think that the duck might have been nearsighted and mistook my toe nail for dropped food. When he bit my toe, though, it scared me and I dropped my dpn. The duck grabbed it and waddled away with the dpn in his beak. I spent the next bus ride just holding my knitting since, for the first time ever, I had chosen to leave the extra dpns at home. Darn duck!)

Fiber In was wonderful. I love being with other people as fiber-crazy as I am. There were spinners, and knitters, and hookers (aka crocheters). There were probably also some weavers, but since looms are difficult to travel with I didn't manage to find any. And I resisted, by virtue of being totally broke after buying the tires Thursday night, from adding to my stash. Although I was tempted.

I did get to show off my Hide-the-Horrible-Hairdo hat in the hat parade.

Peggy and Mom, two of the Fiberista Foursome.

And Rebecca.

We had such a great time, we've decided to do a Knitting Retreat / Women's Weekend. After looking at the calendar, it will probably be in the middle of January. We're thinking that Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando sounds like a perfect plan, although Daytona would be another possibility. I'm already counting down the weeks!

Happy Blogaversary!

2011-09-16T14:04:00.001-04:00

I'm in a bit of a hurry. I need to drop off my computer with a tech/geek, and then I'll be heading to Orlando for Fiber In. But I did want to take just a moment to thank everyone for putting up with my ramblings for the past six years. It's hard to believe that I've been Staying Focused since 2005!

Knitting Saved My Life

2011-09-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

I don't have a picture for today. I should have taken one, but I was so distracted that it never crossed my mind. And by the time that things settled down, it was too late. (I know. I'm a bad blogger. I should have had my camera out before doing anything else.)

It started with the decision to go to the Thursday night knitting group. I considered just going home after work, since I had homework I wanted to do. But it was Thursday, and I was already in Boca, and the justification was made in my mind.

So I passed the turn to get onto the interstate, and drove one more block before turning onto the highway toward the shopping plaza. As I turned, my "Low Air Pressure" warning came on. Normally I can go a while before I absolutely have to stop to put air in the tires, but since I would be traveling the interstate at night I made a mental note to stop at a gas station after knitting. I drove just two, maybe three miles on the highway and then made my turn into the shopping plaza.

Just as I turned, I heard a loud "plop!" Then my car started going "ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop." Since my car doesn't usually go "ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop-ba-bop" I pulled into the first empty parking space I found so that I could take a look. My front tire was completely, totally flat.

My knitting friends were great. They quickly organized things, calling AAA to put on my donut and getting me pointed towards Sears. Luckily, Sears was still open (even though it was evening by then) and I was able to get two new tires. It took my entire first paycheck, but i was grateful that (1) I had a job and (2) that it just happened to be my first payday.

The mechanic at Sears, after taking a look at the flat tire, asked me where I was when I had the blow-out. When I explained about turning into the plaza when the tire suddenly went flat, he told me that I was very lucky. According to him, if I had been traveling at any rate of speed, I would have had a full blow-out and that it would have been bad in my tiny car. So I'm very glad I decided to pass the interstate entrance in order to knit.

Sock season is officially open

2011-09-14T23:30:00.001-04:00

I finished the baby socks that I knit two-at-a-time on magic loop. With Tour-de-Sock quickly approaching, I wanted to practice this technique. I've always be a firm dpn lover, but who knows what they will throw at us for the competition. It was actually fun using the magic loop method. I think that having a decent circular needle made a big difference. I bought Addi turbos to use. When I had tried magic loop a few years ago, I probably only used the cheap cables from Joanne's, since back then I hadn't learned the joy of having good tools to knit with.

These socks are actually closer to a toddler size, rather than an infant. So I'm not sure who I'm giving them to. Put your bid in (to be paid in complements not cash) if you have a child they would fit.

As soon as the toddler socks were off the needles, I cast on the next pattern in Cookie A's Knit.Socks.Love. This is the Mona pattern, and I'm using Schoeller&Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka yarn out of my extensive stash. The pictures in the book really don't do this pattern justice. If I hadn't decided to knit my way through the book I probably would have skipped this pattern. And yet it's turning out to be a really nice lace pattern. At the rate I'm going, everyone I know is going to get socks for Christmas!

Blanket Update:

207 squares in 256 days

(Status: So very far behind.)

A 50x50 update

2011-09-13T19:48:00.000-04:00

Sadly, here's my update on the 50 by 50 list. I wish I had a bunch of items that I could cross off. But that would mean actually working on the list. Instead, I keep changing my goals and going off on other tangents.

9. Take a trip to NYC. Naturally, I haven't been able to do this yet. However, I did get an invitation. For my birthday, my three children have offered me a trip to NYC for a week in October. I've always wanted to go to Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival. (Okay, I haven't always wanted to go, but only because I didn't know about it when I was younger. Now that I'm an avid knitter/spinner/weaver, I really would love to go since this is one of the biggest fiber festivals in the country.) The birthday trip from the kids includes Rhinebeck. They really are amazingly wonderful children. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can accept, since I literally just started my new job which means that I don't have any vacation time coming to me yet. But I'm going to talk to the powers-that-be, if I can figure out who that would be, and see if I can flex at least a few days off. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Even if I don't get enough time to make it to the festival, I might be able to still get up to spend a few days visiting with my daughter.

12. Write 50 thank you notes. I am a really bad person. Because a good person would have written several notes by now. I owe thank you's to so many people. And even though I sent emails thanking them, a handwritten note would be so much better. I really have to make this goal a priority.

13. Go to SAFF in October (or any of the big fiber events). If I can talk enough time off from work, I may be attending Rhinebeck. Which is way better than SAFF.

16. Finish or frog the 10 existing WIPs. I actually got to cross off one of my long-standing WIPs. The lemonade sweater was frogged and then knit into a shawl that I actually like.

23. Start recycling at home (for at least 3 months). It's been over 3 months, and my recycling bin is still in use. I think I can call this goal a success.

41. Change my job. Although it wasn't what I had in mind, I have totally changed my job. As of this week, I am the Administrator of a church. It's a little bit of a commute, so I'll be moving when my lease is up in October. I think I'm really going to like this job. I get to do a lot of different things, so it's not going to be boring. The people are great (although I do miss my students). Best of all, there are no angry rants or politic bullying.

44. Podcast twice a month for 9 months. I have tried twice in the past week to record the next episode of the Lilypad. The first time, I erased the entire thing because I went off on a tangent and never came back. The second time, everything went beautifully. It sounded great. But I wanted to tweak it just a little bit, so that the intro music and the conclusion music merged a little smoother with my words. Unfortunately, I was very tired and didn't remember to save as I went along. There was a system crash, and my files were lost. It took every bit of willpower to keep the computer from being lost. I'm having tech service done with the computer this weekend, so I might be able to record on Sunday.

It's a pretty short list, considering how long it's been since I updated it. But on the plus side, at least I was able to cross off several items. So that's a good thing.

Today's favorite

2011-09-09T21:50:00.001-04:00

I love avocodos. Sliced on sandwiches, as guacamole, or just plain, I really love avocados. Which is why I was so excited to find a SlimCado with 50% less fat than regular avocados.

I'm still giggling over this!

To think that the day started out so dreary...

2011-09-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

GOOD:
I'm having a lot of fun using Magic Loop to knit two socks at a time. And I'm getting pretty good at it.

BETTER:
I had a call this morning from Pastor Tom. I'm going to start work tomorrow morning. Just when I was about to give up, life is looking better.

BEST:
My daughter called me this evening. It seems that my children have gotten together and planned a special surprise for me. I've been invited to visit New York, which would be wonderful enough. The best part of the surprise is that I would be going up the week of the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival.

Knitting Magic

2011-09-07T16:45:00.081-04:00

I have several things to show off this week. Fist of all, I finished the Florida A/C Shawl. This had been the Lemonade Shawl, until I frogged it and tried a different pattern. I don't know why I resisted frogging this for so long. I guess I just hadn't wanted to admit defeat and give up on it. But I'm so much happier with the new pattern. I've been keeping this shawl out in the living room so that I curl up in it. It's so soft and pretty, I think I'm going to get a lot of use from it.

I also finished the Hedera socks Wednesday evening. It really is difficult to see the lace pattern in the picture. The variegated yarn gets most of the attention. (It's pretty yarn, so it deserves attention.) When the socks are worn, the lace blocks out really nice. I think this may be one of my favorite sock patterns so far. It was fun to knit, just difficult enough to be interesting but easy enough to memorize so that you could knit it in public.

I'll be casting on the second pattern from Cookie A's book, Knit.Socks.Love, soon.

I think I mentioned the Emergency Hat in Friday's blog post. I did finish it early Saturday morning, and I've been wearing it almost everywhere. The Florida Fiber-In is next weekend (September 16-18), and one of the activities is a hat parade. I think I'm going to use this as my entry.

I didn't have the right size dpns when I knit this hat, so I had to make do with my KnitPicks Harmony circulars. I've done Magic Loop in the past. It's no big deal, I just prefer my dpns. Something this time just clicked, and I fell in love. Maybe it was the needles. Having a good wire and joint on the circulars makes a big difference. Maybe it was having a duck steal one of my dpns the other day. Whatever, I just really enjoyed knitting with Magic Loop.

After the Hedera socks, I had cast on a baby sock to knit as my purse project. Since I was missing a dpn anyway (darn that duck!), I decided to knit the second sock with magic loop. The first sock (on dpns) was finished Saturday. The second sock (using magic loop) was started on Saturday and finished on Sunday.

At this point, I think I've become obsessed. I decided to knit another pair of baby socks Sunday so that I could try doing two socks at a time. It looks like I can have these finished tonight.

As my Nana used to say, "Now I'm cooking with gas!"

Blanket Update:

207 squares in 249 days

(Status: Sigh.)

Yummy!

2011-09-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

I made a peach cobbler for mom yesterday. It's so good. The recipe in the Family Cooking blog, if you want some.

Wine for Normal People

2011-09-05T15:01:00.002-04:00

I have been sick for the past week, so I haven't been in the mood to try any new wines. But I did discover a wonderful podcast about wines, called Wine for Normal People. It is hosted by Elizabeth, who despite being a Sommelier with years of experience in the wine business is able to talk about wines without making the rest of us feel dumb. Her co-host is Rick, who is a computer nerd that just happens to like wine. It works out really well between them: Rick asks the types of questions that the most of us would like to, and Elizabeth explains the answers so that even I can understand. I think my favorite episode so far (I went back and listened to everything) was episode six. Elizabeth explained some of the terms used to describe wine, such as earthy, minerality, and acidic. I loved the way that she used situations to tie memories into the wine terms. Really, you need to go listen to this podcast. It's fantastic.

Afraid to get his feet wet

2011-09-04T15:25:00.002-04:00

I may actually get to like being the passenger. As the driver, I probably would have missed seeing this duck hitching a ride on the back of another duck.

Ice Cream!

2011-09-03T16:59:00.001-04:00

I've discovered an advantage to having a teenager with a learner's permit. As the passenger, I can take pictures of the odd things I see on the road -- like Peanut Island's ice cream boat. (We caught up to him at the red light, but he wouldn't sell me a creamsicle.)

Knitting to the Rescue

2011-09-02T22:17:00.001-04:00

I was determined that I was going to get my hair cut today. It's been a while and my hair had reached that awful too-long-to-style-but-not-long-enough-to-pull-back stage. For the past two weeks I've been stopping by to see if my usual stylist was around. (I use the word "usual" with a very broad definition, since she's only cut my hair once but I really liked the way it turned out.) I probably should have just made an appointment except (1) this isn't a fancy enough place to have an appointment book (okay, I confess -- it's a Walmart location) and (2) I don't have a clue what her name was because I lost the slip of paper I jotted it down on.

So, this morning when I didn't see her I was feeling horrible enough that I took a chance on the stylist that was there. Without even taking time to watch him cut someone else's hair to find out if he was any good. But he seemed nice.

Even a child knows better than to trust a stranger just because he seems nice. My haircut turned out horrible. Not just horrible, but oh-my-gosh-who-attacked-you-and-are-they-in-jail horrible. And if it wasn't bad enough to have one of the world's worst haircuts, he charged me a fortune for it. I take that back. He only charged me $16 for the haircut. Which is what I expected to pay. (And for $16, I truly didn't have that high of expectations -- and yet it still turned out really far below them.) But then he charged me $30 for blow drying it. What?! Really?! The explanation was that it cost so much because he had to use the metal round brush.

Being me, I paid him without too much of a fuss. Although I was mean enough to only give him a small tip. (Sigh. I still can't believe I tipped him at all. Although I did feel I was being very mean with the small tip.) Then I went home and cried. But after a while I managed to get up enough mad to call the manager, who naturally wasn't around. So I called the national headquarters. And they called the manager. Who called the store. Who called me and asked me to come back in so that they could fix it. So I did.

And they tried. Of course, first I had to have a long phone conversation with the manager about the charge to dry my hair, since that really was a legitimate charge -- if my hair was long and thick. Unfortunately, the longest (random) pieces were less than 2". Once we got that figured out, they refunded the entire cost and tried to restyle my hair. My hair is now extremely short, and still horrible. But I'm feeling a little bit better since I didn't pay almost $50 to look this bad. Plus I've cast on an Emergency Hat using a skein of my handspun yarn and I think I can get it finished before I have to go out in public again.

Dakota

2011-09-01T22:59:00.000-04:00

My daughter bought a car. She's been shopping for one the past couple of months, and she finally found a really good car at a really great price. I'm very proud of her. I'm also very nervous, since I don't have any excuses left to prevent her from taking her driver's test. I'll also admit to feeling very old and lonely, since this is my baby that will soon be driving off without me. I might also be a little jealous of the sun roof in her new car.

But mostly, I'm proud of her.

Oh, Dakota

I know our love is new

I barely know ya

I've fallen over you.

-- Oh, Dakota, by A Rocket To The Moon

August Reading List

2011-08-31T20:26:00.001-04:00

Books Read in August

123 - 01 The Real Macaw, by Donna Andrews (8/5)
124 - 02 Death on Tour, by Janice Hamrick (8/6)
125 - 03 The Trouble with J.J., by Tami Hoag (8/7)
126 - 04 Just Murdered, by Elaine Viets (8/9)
127 - 05 Murder with Reservations, by Elaine Viets (8/10)
128 - 06 The Secret Mistress, by Mary Balogh (8/13)
129 - 07 Clubbed to Death, by Elaine Viets (8/14)
130 - 08 The Baby Planner, by Josie Brown (8/15)
131 - 09 Human Communication, by Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth, Harter (8/16) textbook
132 - 10 Sixteen Brides, by Stephanie Grace Whitson (8/16)
133 - 11 How to Woo a Reluctant Lady, by Sabrina Jeffries (8/19)
134 - 12 Dead Reckoning, by Charlaine Harris (8/24)
135 - 13 And Thereby Hangs a Tale, by Jeffrey Archer (8/25)
136 - 14 April in Bloom, by Annie Jones (8/26)
137 - 15 Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise, by Joyce Magnin (8/28)
138 - 16 Griselda Takes Flight, by Joyce Magnin (8/30)

Death on Tour, by Janice Hamrick, was a very easy-to-read mystery. Even though I had figured out who the murderers were by page 37, it was interesting enough to keep reading. I'd put it in my "junk-food books" category, with mystery instead of steamy romance. (There was a romance, but very g-rated.) I did find one quick kniterary reference: "In the evening, board a felucca and sail across the sapphire waters of the Nile to the lush botanical gardens on Kitchener's Island." I suppose only a die-hard, obsessive sock knitter such as myself would immediately add Egypt to the list of places she absolutely has to visit, based only on the botanical gardens of Kitchener's Island. (For the non-knitting readers, "Kitchener" is a way of seaming two pieces of knitting often used to close the toes of a sock.) On the negative side, and almost making me abandon the book, was a far-too casual, " 'No, I'm not retarded,' I snorted." This is an expression that I truly hate, and I don't understand how it managed to work it's way into a newly-published book. Seriously. Publishers would hesitate to write "nigger" or "kite" (there would have to be a legitimate literary need for those words), so why is a casually-used "retard" okay? It was the one bad note in an otherwise pleasant book.

The dreaded "retard" appears in another book this month. In fact, it made several appearances in Just Murdered, by Elaine Viets. Normally I let it something offensive in a book get past me one time. The second occurrence is when I will put the book down and move on. But in this case, I stuck with the story since it the character using the term was supposed to be a horrible b*tch that wouldn't mind offending anyone. The book, while still being easy 'junk-food' reading, actually had a well-written mystery.

One of my favorite books this month was And Thereby Hangs a Tale, by Jeffrey Archer. It's a collection of short stories that are wonderfully engrossing. Out of the 15 tales, 10 are actually based on real events. I will definitely be looking for other books by this author.

It's my baby's first day of school

2011-08-19T10:36:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about how disjointedly time seemed to flow, passing in a blur at times, with single images standing out more clearly than others. And then, at other times, every second was significant, etched in my mind.

(Stephanie Meyer)

Meet The Tools Of The Trade

2011-08-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

I am still so extremely excited about the new looms. I still can't get over the fact that I was given (yes, given!) two beautiful looms. The floor loom was made by Tools of the Trade. According to my web research, it was built by Arthur Weitzenfiled around 1978 - 1980. Mr. Weitzenfiled built approximately 450 looms in the 1970s, and weavers still look for these as good "working" looms.

There are no manufacturer's markings on the table loom, but after hearing the history of the original owner, I have a feeling that it was also one of the Tools of the Trade looms built in the early 1980's.

The floor loom is a 35" four harness, six treadle loom, and it seems to be in wonderful shape. I just have to do some dusting, and maybe a little bit of wood oil.

The loom is 49" wide and 43" tall. Fully open, it takes up 42".

But when I'm not using it, I can fold it up to just 26" deep. So it takes up the same amount of room as a bookcase would.

The table top loom is almost as big. It just doesn't have legs. And it doesn't fold up. It's 31" wide, 22 1/2" tall, and 26" deep.

This loom is also a 4 harness, but only has a 25" weaving width. (Listen to me: "only." That's a lot bigger than the 16" Kromski Harp I was hoping to get someday!)

The first thing I did after getting the looms was to visit the library for information. I've checked out all the books on weaving, and on recommendations by Ravelry weavers I'm reading Learning to Weave, by Deborah Chandler. There is so much to learn! Terms like warp and weft, shafts, heddles, and dents, shed, and so many more. It's an entire language to master before I can start to follow along on the how-to-do-it portion of the book!

My first step is to learn to do is to warp the loom. You warp the loom by threading the vertical lines on the loom. This is more complicated than I thought it would be, since the path each piece takes helps to determine the pattern in your woven cloth.You have to plan out in advance which heddle in which one of the four harnesses each length of thread/yarn will travel from the warp beam before it passes through the dent and gets tied to the cloth beam. Depending on the thickness of the yarn used and how wide you want the finished cloth, there could be as many as 600 to 1200 lengths to be threaded.

Are you feeling intimidated? Because I certainly am.

I was also given a whole bunch of extra stuff with the looms. Supposedly all of this goes along with the looms, but that was based solely on the fact that it was all stored together.

I'm hoping that something in this pile will turn out to be a warping board. I need a warping board to measure out all the lengths of yarn so that I can warp my first project. Too bad nothing in the piles look like the illustrations in the book.

While I try to figure out if I have a warping board or need to get one, I'll probably start by organizing the many boxes of yarns I was given. I may not know what I'm doing, but I have enough yarn to do it for a very long time!

Daily Topics

2011-08-17T23:58:00.001-04:00

Monday - Wine or Dine
Tuesday - Tuneup / 50 by 50
Wednesday - WIPs and FOs (knitting)
Thursday - Spinning or Weaving
Friday - Favorites
Saturday - Anything goes!
Sunday - Anything goes!
Last day of the Month - Reading Log

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I've been trying to keep to a regular schedule with my posts. For one thing, it makes it easier for me to post everyday if I already have something in mind to talk about. More importantly, a regular schedule lets you, the readers, anticipate the day's post so that you know whether or not you want to visit me. If you have no interest in knitting (I totally don't understand that, but okay), then you know to avoid me on Wednesdays. On the other hand, if you are as fascinated by my newest love interest, weaving, you will be anxiously waiting for my posts on Thursdays. (Thursdays used to be Photo Meme Day, but it's being bumped out by the new loom.)

As always, I don't make any promises to how strictly I will be following the schedule. It's a guideline, not a rule.

Works in Progress

2011-08-17T23:22:00.003-04:00

My floor loom made it home today, thanks to my wonderful friend Kim. I'm very excited, and all I want to do is (1) show it off and (2) start playing with it. But I've decided to wait until tomorrow to post pictures and talk about the looms. Wednesdays have always been my primary day to talk about knitting (Wednesday's WIPs and FOs). When there's something spinning to talking about, it usually just gets added into the knitting discussion.

Now that I have two looms, I plan to document my progress as I learn to weave on them. So I've decided to give the looms their very own day.Well, the looms and the spinning wheel get a day. Thursdays will be LeToTT for me. "Le" for Lendrum, my spinning wheel, and "ToTT" for the looms (which were made by Tools of the Trade, affectionately known in the weaving world as ToTT.)

Since today is Wednesday, let me show you what's on my needles:

The Hedera socks are coming along quickly. I've knit about three-quarters of the pair. I can probably finish these this weekend. I really like them, even if the color is a little too busy (okay, a lot too busy) for the lace pattern. The pattern was so easy to memorize, which is one of my favorite things about a Cookie A pattern. They all look so complicated and intricate, but once you start knitting it's all very intuitive.
.

My other project this week has been the Lemonade Stole. Actually, I frogged the Lemonade shawl because I just wasn't happy with it. It was part of a knit-a-long, and the intention was for the group to spin the same fiber and then knit it into the same pattern in order to see how different spinning techniques affected the knitting. It was a great idea. And I loved seeing the different results. I just didn't love the pattern we were using. It was a very pretty pattern, and well written. But it ate up yarn, and so my finished project was going to be way to small to ever be useful. I finally banished it to the WIPs pile in favor of a "better" project. But I really am determined to clear away that pile of WIPs, so the Lemonade Stole was frogged. On the suggestion of my friend Paula, I used the yarn to start a new stole using the The Three Way Scarf pattern by Diana Gonzalez. I am totally loving this reincarnated project. This pattern is a very quick, easy knit. And it shows off the yarn beautifully. I've renamed it my Florida A/C shawl.

My only other knitting is an announcement that the Tour-de-Sock will be starting on October 1st, and I've decided to compete. There are six stages, and the goal is to be be the first to finish knitting a pair of socks at each level. (If you aren't the first, you have to at least complete the entire pair within the nine days allowed for each level.) There are prizes and bragging rights involved. Wish me luck! Better yet, join me in the competition!

Blanket Update:

199 squares in 228 days

(Status: I need to get caught up before the big competition!)

When life hands you lemons...

2011-08-16T19:34:00.000-04:00

A reincarnated Lemonade shawl

Tuesdays are supposed to be Tune-up days, where I update on my progress with either my health goals or the 50 by 50 goals. I don't have anything new to report on either one.

I probably should have something to report. It's not like I don't have time for myself. With my son moved out and my daughter's busy schedule (work, social life, college starting this week AND a new job), I get lots of "me" time. Which I've been busy spending either job hunting or cleaning/decluttering the house.

Maybe I'll get back on track for next week. Maybe.

A Virtual Party

2011-08-15T21:13:00.001-04:00

This weekend's wine was a gewurztraminer from Washington Hills Paradise Peak. (Please don't ask me how to say gewurztraminer. Even after listening to The Crush, I don't get it.) This bottle was opened, by the way, so that I could take part in a virtual taste testing party. I've joined a Ravelry forum group that combines fiber and wine. (I know, real friends wouldn't let friends knit drunk, but we're only virtual friends.) Anyway, our current topic is wines from Washington State, so I had to have a glass of my Paradise Peak in order to hang with the cool kids.

So anyway, this was pretty good wine. I'm giving it three stars.

1 star = It was okay but nothing special
2 stars = It was good and I liked it
3 stars = It was good and I'd buy it again
4 stars = I really, really like it, enough to call it a favorite
5 stars = It's mine, all mine! And I don't want to share.

The aroma was nice and fruity (grapefruit and pear, maybe). It had a light, bubbly taste. It was slightly sweet, and citrusy, with a hint of spices. I started out with it very cold, and as it warmed up it seemed to be sweeter. (Now that I think of it, was it sweeter as it warmed up or as I drank more?)

I paid around $9 for the bottle, so it was a pretty good bargain. A good wine to go with the jalapeno-cheese stuffed chicken breast I had it with, but it would be even better sitting out by the pool. (I have to find a way to disguise my wine glass so that I can do that!)

You will need to find your passion. Don't give up on finding it because then all you're doing is waiting for the Reaper. (Randy Pausch)

2011-08-14T23:11:00.001-04:00

Meet my new loom. It's a table top, rigid heddle loom. And that's really all I know about it.

To be truthful, I'm only guessing at the rigid heddle part. It sounded good, though, didn't it. Almost like I knew something about weaving.

But I am very excited about it. I've wanted a loom of my own for a long time. And now I have two. (There's a floor loom that was also given to me, but I couldn't get it home in my car. I'll be picking that one up later this week.)

The looms came with a whole bunch of accessories. I've got to find someone to teach me, since I don't recognize any of this. I'm not even sure which loom these parts go with. But I'm going to have a blast trying to figure it all out.

I really am excited. I want to start playing with it right now. Only I can't, because the warping board stayed behind with the floor loom. (See. I actually do know some of this weaving stuff.)

Along with the two looms, I was also given a stash of yarn for warping the looms.

Lots and lots of yarn. Just for the looms.

Yeah, life is good.

My daughter loves me!

2011-08-13T23:59:00.001-04:00

Look what Becca brought home from work. A new hot sauce for me to try. One of her customers is Mr. Breeze himself. They were chatting, and Becca mentioned that her mom was a hot sauce fiend. So he gave her this Garlic Pepper Sauce for me to try. (It isn't their hottest sauce, but it's his favorite tasting recipe.)

I suppose it would be wrong for me to just sip it straight from the bottle?

2011-08-12T23:28:00.001-04:00

I made ice cream! Yummy, yummy ice cream!

I followed the recipe I found on the Brown-Eyed Baker's blog. It was very easy. Just mix whatever flavorings you want into 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. (Anything with sweetened condensed milk has to bee good.) For my ice cream, I mixed in some chocolate chips. Then whip 2 cups of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk. Cover it with an airtight lid, and put it in the freezer. According to Michelle, it will take about 6 hours to completely freeze. But if you can't wait, go ahead and sneak a taste after just half an hour. It's very good "soft serve."

Ice Tea, please.

2011-08-11T20:22:00.001-04:00

Oh, wait. Just asking for an iced tea gives it away that I'm a Yankee. Southerners just ask for tea.

We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. (C.S. Lewis)

2011-08-10T23:08:00.000-04:00

I have a finished object. Finally. I had finished knitting the Special Olympics scarf early last week. I think I mentioned last Wednesday that all I had left to do was to finish weaving in the ends. Well, I finally sat down this morning and wove them all in. I could cross at least two more WIPs off the list just by doing the finishing work (sewing up seams and/or weaving in ends). Knitting is fun. Finishing is not.

Anyway, this scarf will be going to the Ohio Special Olympics. I recently found out that one of my friends from high school has a son that participates in the Ohio Special Olympics. So this year any scarves that I knit will be going there in honor of A.J.

The other project on my needles is the Hedera Socks from Cookie A's Knit.Socks.Love. book. The yarn is from Creatively Dyed, in the Envy colorway. I love the yarn, even if it is a little too variegated for the lace pattern. Although the color and pattern work well once the socks are put on and the lace is blocked (stretched) a little bit.

Blanket Update:

194 squares in 221 days

(Status: Why do I bother setting goals?)

It's the start of something good...

2011-08-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidencd of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense. (Arnold Bennett)

2011-08-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

BEFORE

AFTER

If your heart is warm with happiness, you'll need a glass - if sorrow chills your heart, have two! (Hannu Lehmusvuori)

2011-08-08T17:23:00.003-04:00

This weekend's wine was a recommendation from my daughter. It's one of her "go-to" wines that she described as being worth twice the price. And she was right. It was great.

I'm talking about Red Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought a bottle of 2008 at my local Publix store for just under $10. Red Diamond is a Washington cabernet sauvignon, blended with a light touch of syrah and merlot. It's a nice, dark ruby color, with a spicy aroma. In some of the reviews I read, the aroma was described as leather, heavy cherry, and even chocolate. I didn't pick any of that up, but I've had blocked sinuses all week so you can't really trust me.

You can trust me that it tasted yummy. It was smooth (the reviews called it velvet) with a heavy berry taste and a lingering spicy finish. Some of the reviews described a dark chocolate taste, which I didn't catch but may have been why I liked it so much. It was terrific with the cheese pizza, but I think it would also be a nice sipping wine for an evening of knitting or socializing.

This is going on my list of wines to buy again.

Empty Nest

2011-08-07T22:04:00.001-04:00

If I had thought to take a "Before" picture, this corner of my son's room would be filled with electronics: a big screen TV, video games, a tower filled with movies and games, etc. Now it's just a dusty corner in desperate need of a vacuum.

My son moved into his first apartment today. I want to be happy for him. It's an exciting rite of passage. It's something that I knew was coming someday, and that I encouraged. I just wasn't prepared to find out on Saturday night that he was leaving on Sunday. I'm hurt that he involved his father in the process, but left me completely out of the loop until the last minute.

Plus I already miss him.

Seriously. Enough already.

2011-08-06T22:55:00.001-04:00

I was trying to drown my sorrows in Starbucks and knitting.

Except that I didn't have enough yarn for the project I wanted to cast on.

And then I spilled the Starbucks putting the knitting away.

It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like. (Jackie Mason)

2011-08-05T23:47:00.011-04:00

I like this flower. I don't know what it it, but it's pretty.

It's actually from the tree that grows on the side of my apartment.

The flower from yesterday is from the tree in front of my apartment.

In the mood for a little culture

2011-08-05T20:12:00.000-04:00

I want to go to a museum. I'd really like to go to the Met with my daughter, but I suppose I have to settle for the Norton. Anyone want to come with me?

Go look at this blog post, which was in one of my favorite blogs, The Panopticon, today. Did you check it out? Not yet? Really, go look at it. I'll wait for you.

You're back? Good! Now do you want to go to the museum with me?

I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. (Richard Diran)

2011-08-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

Thursday Challenge

"garden"

The Good, The Better, and the Bleh

2011-08-03T23:46:00.001-04:00

The Good:

I finished walkcloth #2 this week, and I'm halfway through my third walkcloth. I figure that by the time I lose ten pounds I will have knit enough dishcloth's for Becca's new apartment.

I almost finished the first scarf for the 2012 Special Olympics. The knitting is done. I just have to finish weaving in all the ends.

The Better:

I gave my speech (for class) today in front of some of the Fiberistas. I'm not sure how well it really went. My friends told me it was good, but then they're my friends so what else would they say. I'll watch the videotape tomorrow and see what I think before I send it to the professor. I would feel a whole lot better if I hadn't had to cut half the speech out at the last minute. Somehow when I was practicing I timed myself for the five minutes, but really talked for ten. The time limit allowed is only five minutes, with a penalty for every minute you're under or over the limit. On the way to knitting, I ran through the speech one last practice and realized that I had gotten the timing wrong. Hence, the need for the last minute change.

That, however, was not "The Better." The Better was teaching a 13-year-old boy (the grandson of one of our knitters) how to spin. He had volunteered to be my camera man and videotaped my speech for me. Since he was busy during the speech, I took some time afterward to give him a private spinning lesson. I have to say that he was a joy to work with. He was very polite, smart, and eager to learn. I caught him trying to knit earlier in the evening, and later on he came back to ask me more questions about spinning and knitting. I sense a future Jared Flood (well-known knit designer).

The Bleh:

I was wounded in the call of knitting. While I was waiting for my daughter to finish up at work, I reached into my pocketbook for my socks to work on. Somehow, one of the bamboo needles punctured my palm. Bamboo dpns are not very sharp. And they have a tendency to break when put under pressure. (I've broken a number of my bamboos.) So how in the heck did I manage to poke myself hard enough to draw blood? Ouch!

Blanket Update:

191 squares in 214 days

(Status: I didn't catch up. But I didn't fall any further behind, either.)

2011-08-02T23:09:00.000-04:00


Palm Beach State College

I feel like I'm such a slacker. It sounded like such a good idea to make a list of fifty things to accomplish by 2013. "It would be fun," I thought. Instead, it's turned out to be another long list of tasks that I can't quite get to. Sigh. At least I have a couple of items I can update.

16. Finish or frog the 10 existing WIPs. This past weekend I finished Timothy's scarf. It just needed to be bound off, which I was able to do with the help of a youtube video. I also had to weave in all the ends where he had changed colors (I had him change colors each day he knit, so stripes showed us how many days he worked on the scarf and how long he was able to stay on task.) The idea of weaving in all those ends were what kept me from finishing the scarf sooner. But once I got started, it wasn't too bad.

23. Start recycling at home (and continue for at least 3 months). We're starting month three of the recycling. I would love to say that it's working out wonderfully. Unfortunately, the children aren't 100% into the idea, so I find myself pulling things out of the trash and moving it to the recycling box. Yeck. But there are two full bags (one of glass/plastic and one of paper) to be taken to the recycling area today, so I can feel good about that.

24. Write a letter every other week (at least 12). I wrote the first letter this past week.

41. Change my job. I'm still looking for work. I had a promising interview last week, but I never heard back from them. I went to a job fair yesterday, but I came away with only one promising lead. It's really difficult, both financially and mentally, to be unemployed.

And that's all I have to add on the 50 x 50 list.

How I spent a sunny afternoon:

2011-08-01T22:18:00.000-04:00

Listening to a class lecture on my computer.

(The good thing is that nobody noticed I was knitting the whole time.)

Monday morning wine

2011-08-01T10:00:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I opened the bottle of Conundrum that's been chilling in my refrigerator since May. (Has it really been that long?) I had purchased this bottle after my Wine 101 class on the recommendation of the instructor. My question to her had been, "Is there anyway to keep a bottle of wine from going 'off' if you don't drink it all the first two days, since I'm the only one in my house that would be drinking?" I hate to buy a bottle of wine for myself, knowing that I'm going to be wasting most of the bottle.

Her solution was for me to buy a smaller half-bottle with one of the new Stelvin screw caps. After I drank that bottle, she said for me to wash out the bottle and save it. Then when I opened a bottle with a cork, I could use a funnel and transfer half of it into the smaller bottle to be saved. The screw cap would keep the wine good for a longer time period.

So I bought the Conundrum mainly for the bottle. Which is kind of funny because I took the class so that I wouldn't be buying wines just because of the bottle. But she had assured me that Conundrum was a pretty good white wine (I like whites) and it would be a good possibility as my personal "house" wine.

Well, she was right that it was a pretty good wine. The Conundrum, out of California, is a blend of chardonnay, viognier, muscat, and sauvignon blanc grapes. It's a nice crisp white. I thought it had a nice floral aroma, and a bright floral taste with maybe a little lemon and an herb finish. According to reviews, there's a bit of honeysuckle in the aroma and a taste of honey, but I didn't catch that. And even though it was good, and would be very nice sitting out by the pool on a hot day, it isn't going to make it on my list of favorites.

And by the way, I had found a bottle stopper at Williams-Sonoma that has a great seal so I don't need to transfer the wine in order to save it.

July Reading List

2011-07-31T10:40:00.072-04:00

Books Read in July

104 - 01 The Knitting Diaries, by Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, and Christina Skye (7/2)
105 - 02 Not My Daughter, by Barbara Delinsky (7/8)
106 - 03 Deal Me In, by CynthiaThomason (7/9)
107 - 04 Running Hot, by Jayne Ann Krentz (7/10)
108 - 05 The Doctor's Blessing, by Patricia Davids (7/11)
109 - 06 The Untamed Bride, by Stephanie Laurens (7/12)
110 - 07 Beauty and the Beast, by Taylor Ryan (7/13)
111 - 08 A Silent Fury, by Lynette Eason (7/14)
112 - 09 Smoke Screen, by Stephanie Newton (7/16)
113 - 10 The Pursuit, by Johanna Lindsey (7/18)
114 - 11 Taken by the Prince, by Christina Dodd (7/18)
115 - 12 Write Now, by Karin L. Russell (7/19) textbook
116 - 13 It Happened One Night, by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D'Alessandro, and Candice Hern (7/20)
117 - 14 Logged On and Tuned Out, by Vicki Courtney (7/21)
118 - 15 Dangerous in Diamonds, by Madeline Hunter (7/22)
119 - 16 Create an Organized Life, by Marcia Zina Mager (7/22)
120 - 17 Dirty Deeds, by Suzanne Price (7/26)
121 - 18 Heart of Evil, by Heather Graham (7/29)

The Doctor's Blessing, by Patricia Davids, was a quick "Love Inspired" romance. I think it took an entire hour to read. It stands out, though, for the fibromyalgia reference. One of the very minor characters keeps coming into the clinic with different complaints. First her head hurts, then her arm, then her left heel and right toe. This becomes a running joke, both with the main characters in the book as well as between the author and reader. However, the woman is finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia and we learn that she really had been suffering. The situation is so true for those of us with this condition!

Heart of Evil, by Heather Graham, was one of the books my daughter gave me. On the front of the book it's noted: "Not For Sale. Advance Uncorrected Proofs." Inside, on the title page, it's signed: "Sandi~Hey! Best wishes and happy hauntings! Heather Graham." Is that cool, or what. The book itself is a mystery-romance. Actually, more of a mystery that happens to have romance in it. There is also a lot of civil war history and a couple of ghosts. I enjoyed reading it.

It's the Subway Rats!

2011-07-30T22:46:00.001-04:00

Okay, this picture isn't the subway rats. This is Anthony Ryan Auld, from Project Runway. This picture was taken on the first episode of Season 9 which aired this past Thursday. I haven't seen the actual episode (I've got to go check Hulu right away!), but apparently Heidi went crazy over Anthony's scarf. And I don't blame her.

I knit the same scarf for Cari back in February 2008.

I've heard that Anthony claimed to have designed his scarf. I don't know about that. It looks a whole lot like the pattern I used. And I bought my pattern from Morehouse Farm.

Speaking of Morehouse Farm, they have a really cool pattern for a frog scarf that I want to knit.Or maybe the frog hat instead. And the flamingo scarf. And a wormy apple hat (for Becca). And alligator scarves for Cassie and Logan. And a green dragon scarf for the next class reunion. And an alligator bag. And I have to stop looking at the Morehouse Farm site. My queue is already too long!

(Although if somebody wanted to buy a kit, I could probably be convinced to knit it up for them - as long as I got to keep the pattern afterward!)

Bourbon Ball Cupcakes

2011-07-29T22:57:00.001-04:00

I'm still waiting to hear back on a job interview from earlier this week, and I am not very patient. I want to know NOW what's going on. Not knowing means that I can't really move on and plan anything else. So I decided to cope with the stress by baking.

The Bourbon Ball Cupcakes from the Reynolds website seemed like a good choice. They're chocolate. With bourbon. What's not to like?

It's an easy recipe. Basically you make chocolate cupcakes using a cake mix, except that you add 2 tablespoons of bourbon to the mix. I used 3 tablespoons because I think that Four Roses is a rather mild bourbon and I wanted it to have a bit more of a kick.

The frosting is a basic buttercream recipe, but with 2 tablespoons of bourbon added and some finely diced walnuts. Again, I added 3 tablespoons because I wanted to be sure to have the bourbon flavor.

The only other change I made was to dip the tops of the cupcakes in a little bit of bourbon (and let it dry) before frosting them. I had read a tip online (I'm sorry, I wish I could credit the source but I don't remember it) that it helps keep the cupcakes moist if you seal the tops with either alcohol or a simple sugar syrup. I like the little extra flavor it adds. (Try a simple sugar syrup with a bit of lemon juice on otherwise plain vanilla cupcakes - yum!)

The spicier, the better!

2011-07-28T22:43:00.000-04:00

We had a busy day today. I took Becca over to take the last of her placement tests, and then she was able to register for classes. Let me tell you, they really don't make it easy. When I registered at Keiser, it was a very easy process. I was able to talk with my counselor and she was able to help me through the process. I'm even able to chit-chat with my financial aid officer. Like I said, it's an easy process. But at PBSC, it's almost impossible to speak to anyone higher than a receptionist. Everything is online, and you're expected to use your homepage to figure things out. It got very frustrating. We finally got lucky, and Becca has her classes all set for the fall semester. Best of all, they're all paid for!

When we came home, I felt like cooking. I don't know why. So I made a pot of chili. Spicy, of course, because that's the way I like it. And then I decided to make tortillas to go with it. Coggie had talked about homemade tortillas on her podcast, and that reminded me how much I liked homemade tortillas. I haven't made them in years, though.

They're very easy to make. You will need to buy masa harina. I found it on the baking aisle, near the flours. You just mix 2 cups of the masa harina with 1 1/2 cups of water and a little salt. I needed to add a little extra water. But be careful, because it doesn't take much. You just want the dough to form. It helps to mix it with your hands. Once you have a soft dough, divide it into 16 pieces.

Form each of the pieces into a ball, and then flatten. It's best if you have a tortilla press. Coggie suggested just flattening them between your palms, since she doesn't have a press. I found that putting the ball between two pieces of wax paper and using a plate to flatten it worked really well. I got nice, evenly thin tortillas.

Then you just cook the tortilla on a hot griddle, for about 50 seconds per side. I kept them warm (and flexible) by putting a kitchen towel over the plate of finished tortillas.

I was impressed by how well they turned out. And how quick it was to make them myself.

I just need enough to tide me over until I need more. (Bill Hoest)

2011-07-27T23:08:00.001-04:00

Walkcloth #1

I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with my knitting. I spent a lot of time this week working on the You-Know-It's-Going-To-End-Up-A-Dog-Bed-Someday Blanket, trying to catch up on my 2011 goal of one square a day. I haven't managed to keep up with any of my other knitting goals (like the one that says I'm not going to start any new projects until all the old WIPs are finally finished). So I don't know why it's so important that I keep up with the square-a-day goal. Although really, I have a better chance of catching up with the squares than I do finishing all the WIPs.

The good news is that I knit 12 squares this past week. The bad news is that in order to be caught up, I need to knit 30 squares this week (or 4.25 squares a day). Sigh.

I have to confess that I did start a pair of socks. If you will indulge me in a little self-serving logic, socks don't count as a new project. I need to have a pair of socks (or sometimes a preemie cap for charity) as my pocketbook knitting. Pocketbook knitting does not count, since it's purpose is to allow me to carry around a small project for those times when I have to wait in the car or in line, or any other time that I need to keep my hands busy so I don't lose my mind.

So anyway, I started a pair of socks. I'm knitting Cookie A's Hedera pattern, using yarn from Creatively Dyed Yarn. It's the Envy colorway, which is probably a little more variegated than I thought. (In the skein, it looked more tonal than a real variegation.) I almost frogged it, since Cookie A's patterns look so much better in solids or semi-solids. But this color has grown on me, and I think it's going to work.

My new sock goal, by the way, is to knit every pattern in Cookie A's book, Knit.Sock. Love. Hedera is the first pattern, and that's why I cast them on. The good news is that I have enough solid/semi-solid yarn in my stash to knit 12 of the 19 patterns in the book.

The only project I finished was a dishcloth that I knit during my morning walks. I've already started number two. (These don't count as new projects, either. Just for the record. The "walkcloths" are incentives to exercise and are therefore not really WIPs.)

Blanket Update:

184 squares in 207 days

(Status: I will catch up. I will catch up. I will catch up. Maybe.)

Excercise relieves stress. Nothing relieves exercise. ( Ikkadu, Hosaka, and Kawabata)

2011-07-26T23:20:00.001-04:00

I'm almost proud of myself. I've been getting up every day between 6 and 6:30 am to walk for half an hour. I go around the pond (hence all the duck/geese pictures), knitting dishcloths as I walk. I still haven't found a workout that I feel I can get obsessive about, but at least I've started something.

It does help to get out each morning to remember that I'm working toward the P.A.L.A. patch. I like earning patches. The deal is that you og your exercise, whatever it is. If you are active (exercising) for 30 minutes, you get a point on a star. Five days of activity earns you the complete star for the week. The idea is that you have to exercise or be active 30 minutes for five of the seven days each week. When you have filled in six stars, you have earned the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.

Once you have gotten the P.A.L.A., you can go on to other challenges. I think the next one for me will be the Bronze Medal.

I'd love to have some company with the challenges. There is a group feature, so we could cheer each other on. Just let me know if you are interested.

Duck, duck? Geese!

2011-07-23T23:42:00.000-04:00

Friday's Favorite - A Memory

2011-07-22T17:45:00.000-04:00

I submitted my last essay for English Composition today, and I am so glad to be finished with that course. I thought it was coincidental that today's essay prompt went along with the Friday's Favorite theme:

So I have decided to totally cheat, and post the essay I wrote. Please feel free to share your favorite childhood memory. (It doesn't have to be 500 words.)

In 1976, Hurricane Belle threatened the Jersey coast. I was 13 years old, and it was the first summer after my father left. My mother, younger sister, and I were still living in the same house, and we were still trying to figure out how things worked without my father around to take care of them. Even though there were lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area (I have huge, close-knit family), my mother was determined to figure things out for herself.

When the warnings of a major storm could no longer be ignored, my mother pulled out the rickety old ladder, and attempted to replace the screens with the storm windows. It was my job to hang onto the ladder so that it wouldn’t wiggle in the wind and make her drop the glass. My sister was left to watch from the safety of the house. I remember learning several new words that day; words that I still have trouble crediting my mother with knowing.

Just about the time that we had finished, my grandmother called. Claiming that my grandfather was worried, Grandma made my mother promise to leave the house and go straight to their home where it would be safer. Apparently the fact that our house was several miles further inland had nothing to do with the relative safety of a newly-divorced woman and her children. Giving in, my mother loaded the two of us girls in the car and drove into the storm to my grandparents’ house.

Grandma was waiting for us when we arrived. We didn’t even have a chance to go inside before she was putting us back in the car for a quick road trip. Totally forgetting her worries about our safety, my grandmother drove us to the beach so that we could watch the storm. At one point we were stopped by a policeman who tried to persuade my grandmother that a mandatory evacuation of the coast meant that nobody was allowed to go to the beach. Quietly reaching over, Grandma pinched me. Then, pointing at my tears, she very calmly explained that we had forgotten my kitten. I’m sure that my pinch-induced tears immediately dried up at my wide-eyed astonishment at the news that I suddenly had a pet. But the policeman believed her, and my sister and I were able to watch Hurricane Belle toss the waves and sand until the pier was completely destroyed and the water was up at our feet. I can still picture the dark skies and the waves, and I remember hanging onto a lamp post as the wind picked up my feet. The drive back home, however, is a blur of flooded streets and further language lessons. My memory skips instead to being in my grandparents’ home, as the wind continued to shake the windows and we drank hot cocoa. I can still hear Grandma telling my mother, “Now, wasn’t that adventure worth it?”

For me, this story sums up the dynamics of my family. We cared about each other’s safety, even as we encouraged each other’s reckless insanity. And to answer my grandmother, yes, the adventure was worth it.

What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears. (Seneca)

2011-07-21T19:21:00.001-04:00

It's still not safe for me to talk with anyone. Whining is so unattractive. So instead, I'm just going to offer you this pretty picture.

At least it fulfills two memes today:

The Daily Shoot: Make a photograph featuring nature in some fashion.
Thursday Challenge: "yellow"

I'm hiding in a hermit cave

2011-07-20T20:10:00.002-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, misery does not love company. Misery much prefers to wallow hidden away and alone, at least in my case. It's easier to hang on to the notion that you're unloved and unlovable that way.

Yeah, depression is out in full force today.

It started this morning when I attended a resume workshop at the Workforce Alliance. I've had such little luck in my job hunt that I decided to take advantage of the help offered by the state, even though I know how to write a good resume and cover letter. Except that apparently I don't know how to write a good resume. Thanks to the computer age, which I mistakenly thought I was keeping up with, resumes have different key words and are expected to be tailored to the individual application. Even thought I have a well-written, beautifully formatted resume on good quality paper, it's probably not getting passed along to the company decision-makers. In fact, scanning programs are probably dumping it into the computer's trash bin before any human eyes can read it. Sigh. One more thing thing that I thought I was good out, tossed out the window with the rest of my dreams. (I did mention that I was depressed, didn't I?)

But at least I still have knitting.

Ha! Just take a look at the plain vanilla socks I just finished knitting. I was feeling very proud of them, since I did it from memory only. I even managed to knit short row heels, which are not my usual style of heels. Do you see the problem?

You probably noticed it right away. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until after I finished kitchenering the toe and I had woven in the ends.

Yup. I have a dropped stitch way back, just before I started the heels. Somehow I had picked up a stitch so that the count was correct as I finished the sock. But the originally-dropped stitch is just sitting there, waiting to unravel. If that was the only problem, I could just go in with a scrap piece of yarn and sew a stitch or two to catch it. But then there is the problem of the hole left with the short row heel. The other side of this sock, and the other sock, have perfect heels. It's just this one spot that I didn't wrap the stitches well enough to prevent the hole. Again, I could go in and fudge it closed. If there was only one problem or the other, that's what I would do. But with two problems on one sock, I'd never be totally happy with them. I definitely can't even think of giving them to somebody as I had planned.

So I frogged the pair. I unravelled a totally finished pair of socks, just because of two stupid little mistakes that probably wouldn't have made me cry on any other day. But drastic moods lead to drastic solutions, and the pair has been frogged.

I'm turning in my Ninja-knitter badge, along with my sense-and-sensibility patch. I'll be off finishing the open bottle of wine, and looking for secret stashes of chocolate. I'd invite you to the pity-party, but there arent enough tissues to go around.

Blanket Update:
172 squares in 200 days
(Status: I'm still behind. But 16 squares in one week is still pretty good.)

It's the same things again. Sigh.

2011-07-19T21:25:00.001-04:00

I thought I would do a quick update on my 50 by 50 list, and I've realized that I'm stuck still working on the same things. I really need to pick a couple of the other items and get them done. Otherwise, I'm going to be scrambling to fit everything in at the last minute. (Which is my usual MO, but who really wants to admit that?)
Anyway, here are the items I can update:

2. Exercise regularly for 3 months

The truth is, I hate to exercise. Really. Obviously.

I keep thinking that as obsessive-compulsive as I can be (just look at my knitting or my organized work habits), I should be able to come up with some activity that I can obsess over in order to get fit. The problem is that it has to be free, since I don't have any money at all right now to spend on memberships or even supplies. (I found a water aerobics class nearby, but even the $5 per class is out of my range right now.) It also has to be Florida-friendly. Because face it, it's really hot outside so any activities (like biking, or hiking) are going to be uncomfortable, especially since I'm very overweight and actually sweat. (I didn't used to sweat, when I was younger and thinner. Strange, but true.) And it has to be something that I won't feel like a complete idiot in front of people. (My neighborhood offers free Zumba lessons, which are actually fun. But when you're the elephant clomping around in a room full of hip-swinging size 2 physically fit bodies - it's embarrassing.) My daughter suggested yoga, which has possibilities. And there are some yoga sessions available on Direct TV that I'm thinking of trying. But I really need to find something that makes me want to treat daily exercise sessions as if they're skeins of sock yarn.

I did sign up for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award. The deal is that you are active for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for at least 6 out of 8 weeks in order to get the award. It can be any activity you would like to do. I've signed up as an individual, which will hopefully give some motivation to getting out there and doing something. If anyone would like to get involved, let me know. We can set up a group and cheer each other on.

14. Organize my papers and receipts

In my last 50 by 50 update, I misspoke. This item was reported as having been done. Actually, most of it was done. But "most" is not "all," so I lied. I did organize the papers that were on my desk in in my box of "file these someday, maybe-please." But when I went to reconcile my July bank statement, I found out that I had only reconciled through April 2011. Oops. This is not a good thing. And it's probably not something a person studying to become a CPA should admit to. There are also a couple of boxes of files in my closet that I wanted to go through and try to consolidate. So I'm putting this back on the list of items, and it's back on my task list. Drats.

15. Give up soda for 1 month.

I actually did this back in March. I managed to stay away from sodas for almost 3 months. But the past couple of weeks I've been backsliding. I had one soda because it was cold and I was thirsty, and the next thing I know I'm drinking an entire case in just a couple of days. I think the only reason I'm not completely hooked back on colas is that I just don't have the money to be buying cases of it every week. So I'm going to do the responsible, mature thing and give it up now before it gets a chance to become a problem.

19. Birthday Cards

After sending out cards in May, I managed to miss all the June and July birthdays. I'm making a list, and my goal is to start this again in August. With apologizes to all my friends and family who were bone in June and July. I'll remember you next year!

25. Fix 5 new recipes for dinner.

I haven't done as much baking and cooking as I would like. Even though I have the time, I don't really have the money to go out and buy "exotic" ingredients. And by exotic, I mean anything that isn't either on sale or normally in my cupboard. But I have become addicted to several food blogs. It started with the cupcake blogs, and progressed to cookie bloggers. Now I'm starting to be attracted to other food blogs. The result is that I have a long list of recipes I want to try, once I can go shopping again. I did try one new recipe, Egyptian Pea Stew, and it was wonderful. Very easy to make, although I think I need to do a little more research to learn how to properly "caramelize" the tomatoes. This is definitely going to be on my "make again" list.

41. Change my job.

Just in case you didn't catch it, what with all the whining I've been doing about finances, I'm still looking for a job. It's getting very discouraging. It's so bad, I've been applying at fast food places and practicing saying, "Do you want fries with that?" (I know a lot of people who have good jobs in the fast food industry. But they've been in it since they were much younger than I am, and they're mostly management by now. I'm only whining about having to resort to this because I'm way too old to have to start way back at the very beginning. Not to mention that I'm losing the competition for the jobs against high school kids!)

And that's about all I have managed to get done on my 50 by 50.

Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever. (Aristophanes)

2011-07-18T11:42:00.003-04:00

This week's wine selection is Condado De Eguren Tempranillo. My friend Paula's husband had recommended a tempranillo for me to try when I first got interested in learning about wines. Tempranillo is a grape grown mostly in Spain. When I asked at the wine shop, they recommended the Condado De Eguren as a good tempranillo. And as usual, I liked their recommendation.

I drank this room temperature, and ran it through my aerator first. My first thought was that it was a very light wine. Researching tempranillos, I learned that they do tend to be light, with low alcohol and heavy acid. The Condado De Eguren was a dark ruby, with a fruity nose. There may be a little bit of leathery notes, but I'm really going more on my research than what I noticed since my nose is still just learning. I did find the taste to be soft and fruity, and almost sweet. I thought it left a puckering feel, which might actually make sense with a high acid content.

All in all, I liked this wine. It's a good sipping wine, which isn't how I normally think of a red wine (other than my favorite port, of course). In the class I took, they recommended having a favorite "house" wine in both the red and white as you build your wine cellar. This tempranillo just might become my house red.

I found knitting!

2011-07-15T19:58:00.000-04:00

It was a ridiculous book. Of course, a lot of the stuff I read is just ridiculous. But as I've said before, I happen to appreciate junk romances. They go well with m&m's and wine.

Anyway, I was reading Beauty and the Beast, by Taylor Ryan. I won't bother going into the plot, other than it was a regency romance so you can assume girl meets boy, girl is demure while boy is needy, girl falls for boy, boy turns out to be rich jerk, girl rejects boy, boy then falls for girl, and they live happily forever after. Oh, I guess I did just give you the entire plot. Sorry.

Anyway, this particular romance turned out to have kniterary references. The first one is about mid-way through the book:

It sounds a lot like my own storm supplies.

Later, knitting comes up again.

It's amazing how often knitting appears in books, once you start looking for it.

Not My Daughter

2011-07-07T23:50:00.001-04:00

Click on picture for link to Amazon.com

I've been reading Not My Daughter, by Barbara Delinsky and it is a wonderful kniterary novel. I hadn't expected it to have anything to do with knitting. My mom had read the book and was quite upset by it. Since she had such a strong reaction, I had to read it.

It's the story of three high school girls who make a pact to get pregnant. Naively, they believe that because they planned their pregnancies, everything will work out the way they want it to. Being teenagers, they never considered the impact their pact would have on their families and their community. The book centers on the mothers of these teenagers and how they come to terms with their daughters' decision and the consequences it has for everyone.

Throughout the book, the mothers and the daughters connect through their knitting. There are even Saturday mornings spent dying wool! Best of all, the knitting and the wool are just as commonplace in the story as making dinner. A nice change from other knitting-based stories I've suffered through lately. (NOT that I'm going to stop reading the junk-knits any more than I'll ever completely give up knitting with acrylic even though the alpaca or bamboo blends are so much nicer.)

It's nice to accomplish something for a change

2011-07-06T23:38:00.145-04:00

I finished quite a few projects, and I'm feeling proud of myself. The 10-stitch baby blanket is done, and ready to be mailed out. It's a small baby blanket, but I think it's a good size for using with a car seat, or when they're out hiking with the baby. (Yes, I said hiking with the baby. This couple likes to hike and I don't imagine they will stop just because they have a child to take along. And I can mention this because I really don't think either one of them reads my blog, so I'm not giving away the surprise.) I really hope that they turn out to be knit-worthy, because I've seen quite a few pretty little baby girl sweaters that I would love to knit and they live in an area that baby sweaters would actually be very useful.

This is Blanket Bob. Blanket Bob is a lot of fun to knit. Blanket Bob (the blue one) is going to baby Bode because even if the family isn't knit-worthy, Bode is definitely adorable enough to spoil with knitted surprises.

I finished both of the ruffled flamenco scarves. The blue is from the yarn I was given, and the pink is the yarn I bought because I felt to guilty about accepting the blue yarn. (It made sense to me at the time.) The scarves are gorgeous. I was going to give them as gifts, but now I'm thinking that I might just be selfish and keep them both for myself.

I finished knitting the FromMemory socks, and I think I did a pretty good job. I'm excited to know that I've knit enough socks that I have the basic formula memorized. (This pair is for me. I've become very selfish with my knitting lately.)

This is my new sock project. It's another pair of FromMemory socks, using Patons Stretch Socks yarn. I got to the heel, and decided I didn't want to ruin the stripes by doing a heel flap. So I'm trying a short-row heel instead. I don't usually use a short row heel, so its going to be fun to see how many tries its going to take me to figure it out.

And finally, a quick update on my Someday-It'll-Be-A-Sock Blanket. Even though I'm still way behind on my goal of one square a day, I've hit a milestone. If my math is correct, I need 1050 squares plus the four sides edged. Fifty percent of 1054 is 527. Since I've finished 533 squares as of this week, I am officially halfway finished!

Blanket Update:
146 squares in 186 days
(Status: If I do 2 squares a day, I can catch up by the end of the month.)

I'm falling by the wayside

2011-07-05T21:43:00.005-04:00

I haven't been making a lot of progress on my 50x50 list. Here's a quick update, just to keep me honest.

1. Lose 100 lbs (lose 5 lbs per month). - I don't think I want to talk about this one. Not only have I failed to lose 5 pounds a month, I've actually gained a couple of pounds this past month. I'm blaming it on the depression. I've heard people say, "When I'm upset, I can't eat a thing." Not me. Sigh. I seriously need to do something about this goal. Soon.

2. Exercise regularly for 3 months.- If I were working on this goal, I probably would be doing better with the first goal. I had a good excuse for not exercising in May/June (medical problems), but it's time I got serious and started to do something.

5. Declutter my bedroom - This has been done! Yeah for me! Is it perfect? No. But it is definitely better than it's been in a long time. I'm happy.

6. Declutter the living room, including the book shelves. - Clearing up the bookcase was the hardest part about decluttering the living room. I decided to limit the books to what actually fit on the bookcase shelves, which meant getting rid of a lot of books. While Cari was down we took the cast-offs to the used bookstore, where we used the credit to get more books. But everything still fits on the bookcase, and the living room is looking "company ready."

12. Write 50 thank you notes. (Works out to 3 per month) - I haven't done any of these. I should have, since it might have made me feel better about life.

14. Organize my papers and receipts. - Done!

16. Finish or frog the 10 existing WIPs.- I'm trying to stick to the plan and knit the existing projects first. Honest. But did you see that new pattern...

17. Take a wine class. - I did this!

18. Win the lottery - or at least buy a ticket every paycheck for a year. - I'm trying to win. It would be a lot easier if I had a paycheck and the money to actually buy tickets. (I'm really going to hate it if the numbers I pick out "just for practice" each week actually win.)

19. Send out birthday cards for a year. - I sent out birthday cards in May, and then missed getting the June cards out. Sigh. I'm going to try to get July greetings mailed in the next couple of days.

21. Save all my change until the 50th - Does it count if I put the change in the jar each evening, then raid it every couple of days in desperation? I really, really need to find a job soon.

23. Start recycling at home (for at least 3 months). - I set up a rubbermaid box in June for the recycling. I keep two trash bags in the box; one for plastics and metals, and one for paper. I like the rubbermaid box because (1) I already had an empty one that I could use, instead of having to buy new trash cans and (2) it has a lid that the dog can't get off. The kids aren't really on board yet. We have valet trash, which means that we can set out the garbage just outside our door and they take it away each day. But we have to take the recycling bags to the dumpster area ourselves. I'm lobbying to get the complex to include recycling with the valet trash, but so far there isn't a lot of interest.

24. Implement a plan to keep the house clean. (Keep up with it for at least 3 months.) - Since I'm out of work, I felt like I had no excuse not to be working on this goal. The house has been clean enough for drop-in company for 6 weeks now. Too bad company never drops in to see it.

25. Fix 5 new recipes for dinner. (Cupcakes don't count.) - The other night, out of desperation, I made Pasta with Garlic and Oil. I thought it was pretty good, but then I love garlic. PJ liked it, but Becca refused to eat it after the first taste. Although the reviews were split, my vote wins it and this stays on as a permanent choice for dinner.

38. Don't complain for 1 full week - I hope nobody's counting on me actually accomplishing this one.

41. Change my job. - Still working on this one. I thought the economy was getting better and that there were jobs out there. Apparently I'm both over-qualified and under-qualified. I'm tired of being out of work and out of money.

45. Take a class. - I think going back to school (full-time, online) for a degree in Accounting counts for this. I received an A in my first class (Intro to computers) and I'm in the middle of my second class (English Comp). It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. But I'm enjoying it.

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T23:05:00.003-04:00

Everyone celebrates in their own unique way. This year, my way was blueberry pancakes for dinner, followed by a glass of my favorite port for dessert. Please don't judge. At least it was red, white, and blue.

The Macchia Port Dangerous (2007) is one of the wines I purchased at the Wine 101 class back in May. It really is a wonderful wine. I will be buying another bottle, since this one was finished up tonight. Produced by California's Linsteadt Vineyard in Armador County (in the Sierra foothills), the Dangerous Port is made with zifendal grapes. (I really don't understand the significance of some of what I just said, but it's stuff that wine-lovers are supposed to know.)

To me, Dangerous Port is a very fruity, sweet drink with a spicy twist. It should be served warm - and trust me on this. The bottle was accidentally put in the refrigerator, so my first few sips were chilled. The port was much better after I had left it sitting on the table for a while; it had a much rounder taste. It makes a wonderful dessert on its own, but it is even better paired with dark chocolate.

Medical term: the heebie-jeebies

2011-07-03T23:40:00.007-04:00

I need to learn to meditate.

For the past several weeks I've been driven crazy by a mysterious rash that is covering my body. It gets so itchy that all I can do is scratch until I'm bleeding. We thought bugs, so I've been staying inside. Then we thought allergies, so I've been tracking everything I eat, touch, and smell. We also thought I was nuts, so we blamed it on the fibromyalgia. (Actually, the fibro is partly to blame.)

The itching gets so bad at times that I'm tempted to take a knife and cut the rash out of my body. I probably would have done it, too, except that I only have cheap kitchen knives with dull blades.

It turns out that it's a stress rash. And I'm not supposed to itch it. Camomile compresses were recommended, except that I react badly to camomile. So it's ice packs to keep from scratching, and meditation to lower the stress.

(I was hoping for chocolate and wine to deal with the stress, but apparently these only make it worse. Which I totally don't understand!)

My card is what?!

2011-07-02T23:30:00.001-04:00


The Daily Shoot Assignment: feature a plant

I'm having a very bad day, and it will probably end up being a bad week. I say this because I am officially broke. There's money in the bank (so you don't have to feel too sorry for me), it's just that there isn't any in my wallet. Normally I rely on my debit card. Unfortunately, this afternoon as I attempted to pay for lunch I discovered that my card is "invalid." Looking at my card, I realized that the magnetic strip is torn which is the only reason I can figure out for the "invalid" refusal. Naturally the bank was already closed, and since Monday is a holiday it is going to be Tuesday before I can find out for sure what is going on and get it fixed. Sigh.

Thank goodness Becca was carrying cash with her, so she treated to lunch.

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. (Bernard-Paul Heroux)

2011-07-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

At the moment, my favorite thing is the Teavana TeaMaker that I bought while my daughter was visiting. I really didn't need another teapot, since I have a collection of china teapots plus several infusers for making individual cups. But I was indulging myself in celebration of her visit (poor child, to be blamed when really any excuse would have worked) and so the TeaMaker came home with me.

I had heard good things about this gadget, which is why I wanted one. Well, my friends were telling the truth when they said that it was like, the greatest teapot ever. You simply put the tea leaves in, and fill it with hot water. Once it's finished steeping, you put the TeaMaker on top of your teacup and the tea is released into your cup. You can lift the TeaMaker at any point, and it will seal itself back up so that the tea doesn't leak out. It's very cool. I confess to lifting the TeaMaker, putting it back down, lifting the TeaMaker, putting it back down - just for the fun of it!

I also like that you can use the TeaMaker on any size cup. I've filled a tumbler with ice, then placed my TeaMaker on top of the glass in order to make brewed ice tea. Add a little guava (also a new favorite item, again thanks to my daughter) and it's sweet tea for the summer.

June Reading List

2011-06-30T22:21:00.002-04:00

Books Read in June

86 - 01 6 Rainier Lane, by Debbie Macomber (6/7)
87 - 02 Not Another New Year's, by Christie Ridgway (6/8)
88 - 03 Knit Two Together, by Connie Lane (6/9)
89 - 04 Wicked All Day, by Liz Carlyle (6/9)
90 - 05 Needled to Death, by Maggie Sefton (6/12)
91 - 06 Everything's Eventual, by Stephen King (6/14)
92 - 07 The House on Tradd Street, by Karen White (6/17) *audiobook
93 - 08 They Never Came Back, by Caroline B. Cooney (6/17)
94 - 09 A Deadly Yarn, by Maggie Sefton (6/19)
95 - 10 Microsoft Office 2010, The O'Leary Series (6/21) *textbook
96 - 11 The Bargain, by Mary Jo Putney (6/21)
97 - 12 Dakota Born , by Debbie Macomber (6/23)
98 - 13 Dakota Home, by Debbie Macomber (6/24)
99 - 14 Always Dakota, by Debbie Macomber (6/24)
100 -15 - The Secret Wedding, by Jo Beverly (6/26)
101 - 16 - I thee Wed, by Amanda Quick (6/28)
102 - 17 The Life of Reilly, by Sue Civil-Brown (6/29)
103 - 18 How to Bake a Perfect Life, by Barbara O'Neal (6/30)

Knitting at Day Break

2011-06-17T20:20:00.001-04:00

7 am, watching the sun rise as I sit on the beach and knit.

Add caption

The first stripe of my Special Olympics Scarf.

Adventures of a KIP Hunter

2011-06-16T21:38:00.009-04:00

Becca had off from work today, so the two of us went off together to gather up a couple of KIP locations for me. I'm one of the founders and moderators of the Great Gold Coast KIP Hunt, and yet I only have logged in four points so far this week.

I had an overdue book, so we started off at the library. I was good and only choose one book to bring home with me. Not that I really was trying to be good. It's just that I still have "A Game of Thrones" to read this week, and I really just wanted to sit and knit in order to get my point. I found a nice, comfortable corner where I managed to finish the pink ruffled scarf. I got a lot of compliments on it, too. Once the Flamenco scarf was finished, I started right in on a scarf for the Special Olympics.

Our next stop was across the street for lunch at the Gardens Mall. I sent Becca off to Starbucks for some coffee, first, which gave me a chance to sit and work on the Special Olympic Scarf. After lunch, we sat in the food court while I worked on my second sock (my "purse project").

After eating, we felt adventurous so went decided to head downtown. We caught the trolley at CityPlace, earning a Public Transportation point for me in the KIP Hunt. The ride was nice and breezy, and we saw some really interesting art along the way. I only managed to get one picture, since my hands were busy with the knitting and I couldn't put it down in time to pull out the camera.

We rode the trolly to Clematis Street, where I got to knit at the Fountains. This is one of my favorite places to bring out-of-town visitors, especially if they have children. I do not recommend knitting in the fountain; it's much more comfortable to take advantage of the lounge chairs on the nearby patio.

After a while we got bored watching the kids play in the water and since we hadn't brought towels with us (which meant we really couldn't join them), Becca and I decided to go off and find another point. We figured in such a history-rich location as downtown West Palm, it shouldn't be hard to find an interesting historical location.

We found a playground! There were no children around for me to entice with yarn, but at least I got a picture. I got a lot of knitting done, too, since Becca refused to help me down from the jungle gym. What a brat! She knows I'm afraid of heights! But I had my knitting to keep me occupied, so I wasn't too worried. I knew that she would get bored before I would. Sure enough, she ended up helping me down so that we could continue our exploring.

By the time we found our historical location, the old county courthouse, it was closed. It's a shame, too, because there was a sign advertising their current exhibit - The Barefoot Mailman. Now that I know how to get to the old courthouse, I'm going to have to make a trip out there to see the exhibit. Today, I settled for knitting on the front steps.

Then it was back onto the trolly, to head home.

Except, we didn't really go right home. There was a Michaels along the way, so I stopped to check out the yarn. (I behaved myself. Mostly.)

I actually got to knit more than I planned at Michaels. They had a Make It/Take It class that was just getting started when we arrived, and Becca decided it was her turn to have fun. So we stayed while she made a duct tape wallet.

Tomorrow, Becca has to work a double shift so it's just me. I'm thinking the beach. Or maybe the zoo...

I've been knitting.

2011-06-15T23:37:00.000-04:00

I finished the 10-stitch baby blanket this week, although I didn't take a picture to share. I like the way it turned out, though, and I'm anxious to see how well it's received.

I decided on the Pink Flamingo Scarf as the next project to tackle from my WIPs list. I wanted something quick and easy to take along with me, and most of my other WIPs are either bulky (like my February Lady Sweater), intrigate lace (several shawls), or complex cables (the Kingdom gloves). Sigh.

I really like the scarf, though. Once I got going on it, it knits up really fast.

I also finished the first sock of my From Memory pair. I knew I could do it! The Debbie Norville sock yarn is really splitty to work with, but oh-so-very-comfortable to wear!

I have decided that I am pathetically OCD, even without trying. I jumped right in with the first sock, without taking the time to plan out the stripes so that they would match on the second sock. My intention was to knit a pair of fraternal socks. Really. I wanted fraternal socks. So when I finished the first one, I just jumped right in on knitting the second sock without even checking for the stripes.

I cannot believe I matched them this closely without even meaning to.

Blanket Update:
139 squares in 165 days
(Status: I'm still 26 squares behind. Sigh.)

Favorite Things: A woman and her purse.

2011-06-12T21:54:00.001-04:00

While Cari was down last week, we went thrift-storing. (I know "thrift store" is not really a verb. But the way my family does it, it might as well be.)

One of my purchases was this purse. I spent a whole $2 on it, and it's already my favorite pocketbook. I love, love, love it! I like the compact shape of it, and that I can carry it by the handles OR use it as a shoulder bag. It's small, and yet I don't look ridiculous carrying it. It might even be real leather, but I don't really care enough to figure out for sure since I like everything else about it.

Best of all, it's huge inside despite its compact appearance. I can fit my calendar/notebook, my knitting, my wallet, my camera, ipod and accessories, and a book to read, as well as my lipstick and comb. (I wish I could say that I didn't just list everything in order of importance to me.) I think it was a wonderful use of $2.

And to think I almost didn't spend the money. I'm so glad my daughter convinced me to splurge!

Yarn It!

2011-06-11T23:21:00.000-04:00

I spent the day with my mom at Yarn It! for the opening celebration of the Second Annual KIP Hunt. We had a really nice time, socializing with everyone and knitting. I mean, how could it be anything but a great day?