Let's Learn Socks KAL

Hey, everybody...Alana has started a KAL for socks...check it out!

Let's Learn Socks KAL

I know my Monkey's would like some company as they grow up or down rather on two circs.

Hope to see you all there soon.

It's gonna be loads of fun...more fun than a barrel of monkeys...really!

I Really Have Been Knitting!

Just so you all don't think I'm slacking in the knitting department, here's what I've been working on like a mad-woman the past couple days...
It will be a re-usable grocery bag when it's done. I found the pattern on the Lion Brand site. It's the Eco-Friendly Expandable Shopping Bag.

What you're looking at in the pictures (click on photo to enlarge) is the bag with the bottom at the top and the handle being worked on my Knit Picks Size 8/32" circular. The yarn is Lily Sugar & Cream in Over The Rainbow.

I'm also stealing an idea I saw on Grace's blog (Hi Grace!) for posting a picture of my favorite place to knit. It's a toss up between the deck and the living room but since I've previously posted a picture of the outside locale here's my inside knitting photo...

Notice the classy lawn chair cushion...the slats in the back of this mission-style chair that Rena and Derder gave me one year for Mother's Day did not make for long-term comfort. But with a little frugal ingenuity, when we purchased some new cushions for the deck chairs voila! I have a nifty chair for knitting in the living room - right in front of the picture window where I can survey all that goes on in the neighborhood while I knit or watch tv or just neighborhood watch. Not that I pay attention to what goes on in the neighborhood, much, LOL, well at least I don't use the binoculars like The Saint does...hee

And speaking of The Saint, he had to go to bed really early since he was up most of the night cleaning those catfish and he gets up at 3:30a to go to work. The fact that I was up as long as he was and he took a couple of naps today are completely beside the point! *hear me snickering?* He packed it in by 8:00 so now I have more time to blog! Woo hoo! He did have enough energy to make this yummy looking dinner tonight though. Rib eye, medium, with guacamole sauce, tomatoes and onions...mmmmm Do you think maybe he's been watching too much Food Network?

Toodles!

My Dog Sam

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Bloglines.com? It's a big time saver for me since I've become addicted to reading about everybody else's life every morning. lol

How many dogs do you suppose there are in the world that look alike? What are the chances that in one day I would run across 2 other dogs out there that look amazingly like my Sam? Well, I did. Lola lives with my new friend from Dish Rag Tag, Nicole, and the other is this lovely pup named Eli. It's a small world, even for animals! Give them some pets for me please.

Sam is my special needs dog. He has to eat prescription dog food of the fish and potato variety since he has allergies. He doesn't really have a lot going for him in the bravery, or intelligence depts but he looks good and is a great watch dog - if you're outside and he's inside. He loves me and he's a great fly catcher. After 6 years he almost has fetch mastered...sometimes. And how can you resist this face?
And doesn't he sit pretty? I never have figured out why he does this but it seems to be comfortable to him. He's not allowed on the couch so he just leans against it instead.
Hard to believe he only weighed 4 lbs when he came to live with us..

Awww, ain't he cute? Anyway, that's the scoop on Sam.

One of these days I'll tell you all about Max. She's the queen of this house.

And on the knitting front...I have yet another dish rag finished. Key Lime Pie is the color...love it! Wanna see?






Not such a good picture, let's try again...



At least in the second one you can see the color. Hey to the Lucky 13 Dish Rag Team!! I'm really excited to get started...

Toodles

Scarf, dishcloth, sweater, whatever!

So Lotus Knits! is having a contest. Here's my entry...technically my second item knitted, the first, a dishrag, is in the laundry bin and not fit to photograph! This simple little felted purse in Cascade wool was Rena's idea. After the beginners class we took together she wanted to do a felted purse and this is mine.

Cass, over at Shut Up I'm Counting clued me in to this contest, I've helped her get another entry in the contest and if you go check it out and enter the contest, mention you read about it on my blog. You'll be entered and I'll get another chance. Tell all your friends! I-covet-Amber!!!

It's been another beautiful day here in West Michigan. The first day of Summer, yay! The roses are beautiful, see...If you click on the photos they'll enlarge...I think:)

But the pictures never look as good as the flowers. They change so much every day. The little bit of rain we got the past couple days really made them pop out.

And, Laurie, I did some work on my irises this week and it looks like I'll be able to salvage enough to start over in the Fall. Phew! I won't plant them alone this time though and only a few. That way I can keep better track of them. Thanks for caring.

Tomorrow night Rena and I will be off to the Late Night Yarnie Party at City Knitting. Should be lots of fun! I'll be chaining this evening for the Chanson En Crochet by Mari Lynn Patrick that was in Knitting Daily this week. I've been looking for a little something I could hook-up with a few skeins of Berroco Soft Twist I picked up in Med Pink. I'll post some pics when I accomplish something on it.

It was good to see that Amy is still kickin over there in MN. Glad to hear from you again. I'm still mourning the demise of my coffee, sniff...hee.

Better get going before The Saint notices I'm holed up in her with the computer again...lol

Toodles!

$497.33 + tax!

Wow, that's what I would have spent if it weren't for the sale...phew! Just for grins I added up all that yarn I was able to fit in that tall kitchen can bag and that's what it came to. Now I don't feel so bad about the $73. I spent some time yesterday filing receipts and re-organizing my yarn stash. Ahhh, I love to be organized...it still looks like a lot of orange though doesn't it?








Also did some clean up around the yard. Even though it was blazing hot it was nice to get out and be in the sun for a bit. Sadly I found that the irises (all 50 feet of them) have been infested with iris borers. Have to cut them down and dig them up, do an inspection to see if there are any that I can save and start all over. Drat! I'm thinking some weed barrier and some river rocks would look nice and clean and be way less work than all those irises anyway. This is what they looked like last spring... *sigh*, sniffle...

Good news: 1 Fast Florida Footie is done! See...

Isn't it cute? Fits perfectly...got the second one cast on last night so I'm on my way to a pair! That stretchy Cascade Fixation is amazing and I'm working them on 2 Knit Picks circs so it's super fast.


Happy Father's Day to The Saint and all you other Fathers out there! We'll be burning some meat on the grill today along with corn-on-the-cob and Martha Stewart's strawberry shortcake.



Maybe an assortment of children will show up at some point. And a fun time will be had by all...

Frogged Pants and A Big Sale!

Happy Thursday everybody!

Here's the pants I had to frog...

once again in individual pieces, it's back to the cutting table with them! Somehow, when I got them all done they were about 2 sizes too big! So much for measuring.

It was both a happy and sad day yesterday as one of our LYS closed it's doors. But - their was a SALE - yep, and I was there, with my tall kitchen can bag, picking up a few last minute essentials. (After Rena and I had already made 2 trips in there the past couple weeks to get everything we could possibly need) But, when you get an email that says these magic words...everything's a dollar, how can you not leave work in the middle of the afternoon to partake?!

Now back when I was younger and had different priorities I would never have thought about leaving work for a yarn sale. But now, with my priorities straight, I was bustin out the office and speedin up Plainfield to get in on the action! And there was plenty of it too. The place was packed when I got there 10 minutes after they opened and after spending 5 minutes getting what I went after, and about another 20 minutes picking out what I couldn't live the next 20 years without, I got in line to check out, rrrright! So much for a late lunch HOUR. I was in that line for 45 minutes. All the while gazing around the shop checking to be sure there wasn't anything I was leaving behind senselessly.

Now, you'd be amazed at what people can wedge into a trash bag. It was like clowns in a VW, some of those bags. I just kept nudging my bag a few inches at a time til I finally made it to the check out stand. I actually made it out of the store with all that yarn and 2 hanging baskets to put it in for, drum roll please......$97!!!!

I seem to have been in an autumnal mood. When I got home with my newly acquired stash-for-a-lifetime, it was mostly shades of orange with a bit of green thrown in, except for the fabo 10-pak of purple Berroco ribbon yarn and 6 balls of Berroco Idol in a pink/gold/purple/red kind of color combo. I believe The Saint would look pretty cute in a pair of size 13 orange clogs. I got lots of Plymouth Yukon in a nice shade just short of pumpkin. hee, hee

Ahhh, it was a fun trip but it was also sad to think the shop won't be there anymore. I know it was Rena's favorite since she learned how to knit there. Sorry, Rena! She did ask if she could come shop the "dollar shelves" when she gets ready to start her next project...you know you can!

Hi Amy! Notice my little Coffee Knitter's stash there on the second shelf? Hope you're enjoying the start of your summer. I totally enjoyed the coffee!

Did anyone see Knitty Gritty this week? Amy Finlay from KnittingHelp.com was on. Hey, Amy! Loved your tips for using that Fixation yarn.

The Saint just got home with his cooler-o-crabs (soft-shells for catfish bait) so, gotta go!

Everybody have a great weekend! Thanks for stoppin in, be sure to say hey while you're here!

You know I love the company.

Footies and Fido

Well, I forgot to put the pic of the footie in my last post, so, ta da!

Here we have the cuff and the heel flap...



And over there we have a bit more...


Maybe tomorrow it will be done? Or maybe not! I'm also frogging a pair of slacks I made a couple of weeks ago. [See yellow pants under the shell I posted last week] It sure is easier to sew all that fabric together than it is to take it apart. Even though I measured myself 65 times they were still too big when I got them finished and did I try them on before I put the yoke facing and the zipper in? hmmm?? Of course not...that would have made some sense and could have saved me hours of picking tiny little stitches out of delicate fabric that I can't get any more of. (taking a deep breath) Do you feel me? Aarrrgghhh!!! Lesson learned.

So I'll leave you with this adorable picture of my grand-dog, Buca (boo-ka). Isn't he a pretty boy? He's a Visla, the youngest in the household and is a trained therapy dog. This picture was taken at the local pet expo last year while he was acting as the spokes-dog for Shaggy Pines Dog Park. He lives with my son and DIL and two other dogs, Mina and Sol...I'll dig up some shots of them and get them posted soon.


Thanks for stopping by. Stop and say Hey if you have a sec...you can never have too much company.

Ahhh! Monday.

Monday, Monday...what a great song! Man, that was a lot of years ago wasn't it? I remember sitting on my back porch with my 2 friends, Karen and LaDonna singing that song as loud as we could sing it...the neighbors probably didn't appreciate it but we were having a blast! Oh, the things you do when you're 11 or 12 that seem to live on forever in your mind.

Mondays are great days for me...I'm best in a "routine" so getting back into structured time is sometimes a good thing for me after spending the weekend running willy-nilly with my daughter on her "off" weekend. We hit the farmer's market early and then shop a bit, especially at our favorite LYS, City Knitting. There's always a stop for coffee. This weekend's coffee stop was Marie Catrib's, our most favorite eating and people watching spot.

Monday is the beginning, like casting on a new project (one of my favorite activities and I know I'm not alone after reading so many other people's blogs). Last night I cast on 16 stitches to make a tiny sock for my key ring size sock-blocker...have you all seen those yet? They're so cuuuute! I'm seeing lots of tiny socks being made here, so I can change them frequently. Wow, I can't imagine the size of the stitches with a "0", which I didn't happen to have, I'm using a "1" - that's the size of the toothpicks on my dining table! Yeh, gauge, smaudge! I knit so tight it will probably be the right size anyway. I had to get out my reading glasses to see those itty-bitty stitches and it was still a strain. I need a brighter light! Nothing like a good challenge though. I only have 4 rows done but I'm already geeked! The Saint just shook his head and smiled...he's so tolerant of my obsessions - and there are many.

I'm about 75% done with the picnic bag I'm working on, the Sanpoku sweater (pictured above) is languishing, waiting for the other spur-of-the-moment projects to get done. I'm just not feeling very sweaterish right now. I'm amazed at how patient some things can be, just laying there...waiting, for long periods of time...It will probably have to wait just a bit longer too, as I found a great market bag pattern on the Lion Brand site the other day. I'll be casting that on, hopefully by tomorrow night. Love those re-usable bags.

Hey to Amy, Laurie and Ruth...glad to know you're checking up on me. Hope you all have a great week!

Life's Little Surprises

So I'm sailing along, minding my own business, trying to get a picnic bag knitted for a friend's wedding, it's this really sparkly, golden yellow, cotton, viscose yarn that looks really scratchy but is quite nice when knit-up...that I got a great deal on from eBay...watching tv, getting through the going to work/coming home cycle...my DH aka The Saint, calls me at work yesterday morning and says, "hi honey, there's been a little accident, you need to pick me up at the med center". "Are you bleeding?!", I asked. "No, I just had 1600 lbs of steel fall on my foot and the doctor thinks, yes, thinks, it's broken" Same leg that had ankle surgery 5 years ago...I'm picturing something akin to road kill by the time I get there. Fortunately, when I arrived they were just getting ready to cast it and I could see for myself that there was no blood and no protruding bones. Phew! So tomorrow we find out if it's broken for sure and how long he'll be on crutches. I'll have to devote some time in the next few weeks mowing grass (that's been fertilized like crazy!) and taking out the trash so that means less knitting time for me. Ah, well. A reminder of just how important he is to the smooth workings of the household. He thinks it's a good time for me to learn how to back up the boat trailer! Yikes...look out! So, back to knitting...

Blame It On Amy

You're getting your way...here, I'm blogging...I hope you're happy now...you may be creating a monster...

I like to have my say in most things but have worked hard in recent years to hold my tongue. I've found it easier to keep friends that way. If we open this door and let this thing loose it may not want to go back to the quiet place. (insert maniacal laughter here) Thank you, Amy, for the words of encouragement and I'm really glad that you like your package of goodies. It was so-o-o hard to put that yarn in the box and let it go out the door! And when you begin knitting those socks be sure to leave some slack in the tension of your stitches so you can get the socks on and off. The first pair I made looked fabulous but I couldn't get them on because I had pulled the cross-over stitches so tight. Ah, live and learn.
Anyway, hello everyone! Here you'll find my thoughts on a diverse list of subjects including, but not limited to, my family, pets, knitting and cooking. Stop by often and let me know if you find anything here interesting or educational. I'll do my best. Have a great day!