the June from Hell

Hey! My life's been hectic...yours?

I'm hoping that the above picture which represents the impending doom of this month will now give way to more time enjoying things like this...


Lots of folks in the Midwest that are dealing with way-more difficult times than we are here. I'm thankful every morning when I get up that we are once-again in a position to be the helpers rather than the victims.

Showers, weddings, graduations, b-ball tournaments, knitting events, getting a $wap package together and Bashin, oh, and working everyday, lol. Didn't even have time last week to post here. Seems like from the middle of May until Bash Day (that's a 14 hour work day for me, thankyouverymuch) it's non-stop - now there's a smidge of time to take a quick breath, catch up on laundry, Swiffing ...ooo, isn't that a pretty green Swiffer? Have to check into one of those... used mine so much that the handle is all bent and woogedy...oh, sorry, getting off track...must be tired from yesterday... the dog hair and blogging.

Really want to say hey to everybody that loyally stops in here to check out my life and projects. I'm truly honored by your steadfast support. Rena, Cheryl, Purl, Grace, Nichole, Bubblesknits, Alana, Darcy, Cass (although Cass is so famous now that I don't hear from her much anymore, LOL) and then there's my new friend Georgeanne, she's been working on a great charity project out there in SanDiego, maybe you could help her out...

Especially like to thank AlisonH for leaving a comment and leading me to read her blog for the first time this morning. Alison, your story about the toucan touched my heart, thank you.

A good bit of knitting has been done here this past week, as amazing as that may seem. Finishing a couple of small projects is so rewarding and motivating. Nothing like a few dish cloths to get your knitting-mo going. Managed to get a few stitches done on this cloth yesterday.

And couldn't resist showing you this little beauty I picked up at City Knitting on Friday night during the Late Night Yarny Party.
This Panda Silk is so soft and shiny, can't wait to knit it up into some luxurious socks.

In addition to being so busy, The Saint has been away for a couple of days celebrating our nephew's ending bachelorhood (wedding next Saturday) and tomorrow he'll be driving a big truck loaded with relief supplies for the families of fellow Teamsters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hopefully he'll be back home on Thursday. If you think of it and could send up a few good thoughts for a safe journey for him I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

contesting...contesting

Hey! Darcy (one of my new Ravelry friends) is having a contest to celebrate her 200th post.

Go leave a comment on her blog and tell her I sent you.

We could all win prizes!

Yay!

It's raining, it's pouring...

Hello all! Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I noticed the other day that I've managed to pass the one year mark blogging. Who'd a thought I'd still have something to say? Certainly not me!

We've had a wacky weekend, weather-wise, here in W Mi. Alternating between periods of sun and severe thunderstorms all weekend. Flash floods and high winds, sheesh!

I saw our grandson play his last game in the Macker for the weekend this morning. They were so disappointed after doing so well yesterday. There's always next year.

I did manage to run out just before the last storm rolled through and get my gerbera daisies, dahlias, basil and parsley planted. Now if the rain just doesn't beat them down I'll be all set.


We're in one of those-trying to be sunny but not quite making it-times right now so I had a chance to run out and pose my last minute swap project. Isn't it pretty and sparkly?



The yarn is Lana Gatto Arianna in the Marigold colorway. It's a braided yarn with shiny gold running through it. Of course, you can click the pics to make them larger. These small size shots don't show you how glittery it looks. I hope my spoilee likes it. Is it looking like a little purse to you?

I got to spend a few hours at City Knitting yesterday and made great progress on my Mardi Gras sock. I may actually get it finished by next weekend. I got a couple more rows done on the thistle stole but that is pretty slow going, two rows forward and 3 backward, gah!

I'm reading Tales of the City my Armistead Maupin. I read his newest book, Michael Tolliver Lives, while on vacation and found it quite interesting so now I'm going back in time and reading his series about San Francisco in the 70s. Very interesting and entertaining.

I really appreciate you all commenting and giving me encouragement. It's nice to know someone is actually reading some of this stuff.

A great week to you all!

tomorrow's Monday again...

Even though I was feeling a bit weary today...see bottom of post for reasons...I managed to cast on 83 stitches and get the first few rows done of the Scotch Thistle Lace Stole.

I think it's going to be pretty. I've gotten started on my second Mardi Gras sock too and I have the heel flap done on my second Eggplant Louet Gems sock.

This is truly amazing since I spent a big part of Saturday at a meeting of the Obama campaign and then hanging out looking for folks who still need to register to vote. Along with a little party we had last night.

As promised last time a few more pics from our little getaway weekend...

I really like this cute little shack, it's a salon on the channel in Fishtown.

You can't miss the 6ft long lure-shaped weather-vane...

it's actually at the top of a telephone pole.

And the old tug boat that's always docked whenever we've been there...

such a fun and interesting place to visit.

We went to our grand-daughter's dance recital last week. She was one of the performers of the Little Old Man Dance their costumes were colorful and they had a fun time.

She's the second from the left. Aren't they cute!?

My son got his tatoo finished yesterday, isn't it amazing? He says the part that looks green now will eventually be blue. It's supposed to ward off the evil spirits while he's riding his mountain bike...I know I'd be scared if I was those spirits...I'm sure I could have taken a better photo but I wasn't really paying attention to details, we were having our annual Fishing Buddies Fish Fry and I had already had a bit of wine, well you know how it is, don't ya? A good time was had by all...

I'm spoiled!...wrotten.

One of my very favorite friends sent me an incredibly nice package...it arrived today...


I was talking to The Saint on the phone when he was pulling into the driveway and I was still at work. He said "what did you order now?" and I said "nothin, why?" "well, there's a big-ass box on the porch and I'm sure it's not for me!" I told him to hurry up and get out of the truck and see who it was from, I had my fingers crossed that it was from who I thought it might be from..."it's from Grace somebody from somewhere in New Jersey"...on my end there was much cheering and squeeling let me tell ya.

Yes, I knew exactly who that package was from and what it may hold for me. Grace, did not disappoint. This is the most amazingly generous package I've ever received, ever! Just look at all this Multi-Tasking goodness...
There were yummy treats including my favs, Lorna Doones, coffee flavor Nips, single serve Cappaccino, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi, Small Batch Baking by Debby Maugans Nakos, Snyders pretzels, nifty office supplies, Jelly Belly,
3 skeins of cheerful orange/yellow Peru Luxury DK from Little Knits that Grace's husband, Tom dyed.

and yes, that is one of her fabulous shawls there...just for me! I even got to vote on it, what a sneak she was too, having that contest for everyone to pick which one she should send.

Here we are, it needs a darker backdrop but I was in a hurry...I packed her up and drove over to City Knitting so someone could take our picture. I'll be taking some better shots soon, promise...

Here is more info on the shawl. And while you're there, say hey to Grace and check out her other fantastic projects.

I can not thank you enough Grace. You made it a super special swap for me, xxx000.

It's great to be back home, part 1.

Hello everybodee! We're back home from our mini-vacation to Traverse City, a bit tired but refreshed from our days away. It was cold up north, typical Memorial Day weekend type of weather. We saw some intrepid souls camping at the state park. Not us! We stayed in a cute little motel where there was a mini-fridge, cable tv and heat! It was in the 30s in the mornings and not much past 60 in the afternoon. Being right on Grand Traverse Bay there was a constant wind blowing and coming across that 40 degree water - it was chilly.

There were some folks out sailing but there were not many power-boats in the water. We saw two large scooners, I managed to get a couple shots of this one with black sails...sort of looks like a pirate ship doesn't it?









We stopped at several yarn shops and I collected a few choice yarns. On Thursday it was Lost Art Yarn downtown, where we had a really nice visit with Gertrude and picked up a couple of interesting skeins of sock yarn - after making the foolish statement that I was trying to knit through my sock yarn stash this summer. I guess my yarn management policy is more like knit one, stash two, hahaha.

Here's the almost finished sock from one of the two skeins...

it's Opal Mississippi, super-fun Mardi Gras colors. The other skein I picked up is Lang Aktion and it came with a tiny little skein of reinforcing yarn to match.


I found a beautiful red Shi Bui for an Irish Hiking Scarf for myself and some hand painted Schaefer Anne yarn to make a stole I saw a model of at Thistledown Shoppe in Suttons Bay. The stole is called Scotch Thistle Lace and was very pretty. I managed to pick up a couple of cute gifty things for my secret swap partner too...

We got to meet Kathy, the proprietor, and she was oh so nice and friendly. Her shop is small but mighty! She has packed some fabulous things in that space and I enjoyed my leisurely browse while The Saint chatted with Kathy from a comfy chair. Although he was disappointed that there was no Sports Illustrated, LOL.

No trip to Traverse City would be complete without a visit to Yarn Quest and I managed to find a pair of skeins of Interlacements "Tiny Toes" in the Carbon Dioxide colorway that will make a lovely pair of socks (they're pictured lower left in the above photo).

So I have to go wash my dishes and enjoy the sunshine and spend some time with The Saint and I'll be back later with the rest of the story...and I know you're ready for a break too, aren't you? mwa-ha-ha-ha!

Grama's got a brand new bag, and a very cute Grandson!

Is this the coolest 12 yr old you've ever seen?

Last night's athletic awards banquet was very nice and Stinky got a couple of awards. What he didn't get in height he has made up for in speed, a great sense of humor and super-coolness. He got the coolness from his Papa, I think...

speaking of cute, how do you like my new bag?
I found the instructions on the Mackville Road blog. Thank you!

I think I may have to make a few of these for some special friends...

Gotta go pack now, tomorrow morning, we're outta here! Have a great weekend!