Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hot Dog!

Fickle has FUN!
Crazy images on cup holders!
Hot dog with the works!
Hamburger with...
T-Rex
(Sorry, I had trouble with formatting, and intended for these 3 posts, today, to be one.)

Fickle Cup Holders!



Look what I found!



  ficklephonebug's Swirly Frosting Cupcake - cup cozy

  

Knit Groups on Ravelry

I helped create a local knit group on Ravelry called "Knit One, Drink Too".  As opposed to  most groups on Ravelry that are connected only through the internet, we meet face to face.  "Ficklephonebug" is a member online, but after this display I hope she gets a chance to bring her many FO's from August so we can properly Oooo and Ahhhh over them.
See more at Ravelry.

Monday, August 30, 2010

FO's at Knit Nite

Here's Ms."One Sock a Year" with her prized possession.  Alas, it's a gift... but borrowed back for show and tell.  What a beautiful FO.  Miles of ruffle!! And completed in ... a month!

And the infamous Skew Sock was modeled:

Hmmm.  Doesn't exactly fit the FO category, but finished enough to know that it's too big.  Last seen before ripped back past the heel.
And today:

Friday, August 27, 2010

Knitting Out!

The Doctor and the never-ending blankie

Every few weeks we knit socially.
Officially called "Knit One, Drink Too" we are a pretty tame bunch without D to lead us astray!!
There are snacks:
The grapes were still there when I left! The chocolates?  Not so much.
But sometimes snacks mean, "pick up dropped stitches":
J keeps comments to herself.
Why don't you try smaller needles or a more complex pattern?
Gorgeous sock to be

The Music Stand Pattern Holder
Watch where you hold those!
K's fraternal socks from Zauberball: We're waiting to see the colors!  And...
Looks like a hospital!
How do you know someone has been laid up with surgery?  Look for the person knitting a swatch!




Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Mountain Man

My hub came home from the mountains.  He was in Silverton, Colorado last week to toot his horn.  Yes, there was a lot of horn tootin' at 9,300+ feet altitude. 


They look happy breathing thin air!
And he brought home this:
6 lbs, 6 oz or 2912 grams
I couldn't weigh it without splitting it in two.  But alas, 
not so pretty inside!  We chucked it.  Don't worry: You can still enjoy a meal at our house!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Shawls

This seems to be the season for shawls... I thought I was the only crazy person casting on, however, two of my bloggers recently showed up with FINISHED shawls.  
What's THAT about?  I guess I don't know what knitters knit in the summer...


I highly recommend that you visit Laurie at Tying Holes Together  and ogle over her beautiful shawl in her lead photo, and peruse the many projects she has listed.  Also there's a NEW shawl pattern that I think is worth a look: A new shawl pattern by Eskimimi.  What caught my eye was 1) the colors  2) the shawl pattern  and 3)
She used the Magic Zauberball yarn which has tempted me to fall off the wagon.  Can I wait until 2011 to buy the Zauberball?  I've fingered a lot of them...


OK. Time to go back to swearing at my nupps!
To the right of the left orange marker is a nupp and a nupp-to-be.  Teeeny!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Home Alone

What can I do with a few days, and extra room to spread out?  First, I decided I needed to get rid of stuff!  What a noble project.  A closet? A drawer?  A shed!? 
I've been giving thought to my extensive stash of yarn, and then I remembered my "other" stashes...  I'll name only one: Fabric, left over from two decades of quilting.  (I wasn't knitting...)  
What am I going to do with all that fabric?  I know: Donate it, OR make something.  
I spent yesterday pulling all my fabric out of its hiding places in bins. I sorted it into colors.  And I figure I can sew up a quilt top, and sit and quilt in front of the TV ALL winter. 
I selected a colorway, and beginning in the middle, free form, (that is: NO pattern in mind) started to sew pieces together.  That's fine for the middle of a quilt, but from the middle, the quilt size grows... Yep, every time!  Hopefully I'll know when to stop!
Here are 3 placements of my triangles.  Feel free to comment.  BTW, I took the pictures NOT because I wanted to bore my blog readers, but so I could get a good view of the patterns.
I get a little too creative
A little too stripey: Why did I cut all the fabric?
This looks a little more orderly, AND like a quilt pattern.
Boring!  Now I'm stuck.
Lest you think I strayed, I have two huge bags of fabric to go to charity, and a lesser amount in the trash.  Still have 3-4 quilts' worth of fabric stashed.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Too Bad, So Sad!

A Skew too many, I guess!  My sock is indeed "skewed" and rather than being a nice fit... my dainty foot doesn't reach the toe.  Even my beautiful daughter with a size larger foot won't get this one.  It's too large for her, I bet.
Here are some pictures:
No really, it's OK.  The pattern even says there's a hole to be sewn up!
Can you tell that the toe is empty of "foot"?  The tip of the toe, from the first yellow stripe doesn't have anything in it.   It's a shame, because I'm going to rip out the heel and make the foot shorter.  Why didn't I try it on earlier?  Duh... I dunno.  One thing:  I was in disbelief that there was going to be a heel.
And the front part of the ankle seems a bit saggy. Maybe it's my petite ankles...
Wish me luck!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Protecting My House

Looks who's guarding the front door:
I think I'll invite him in!  NOT kidding... I picked up and squished way too many bugs last night.  He would be fat and happy in here!!


The cats are worthless in THAT department.


By the way, I got quite a response from my previous blog about Mr. Toad.  And not ONE of you agreed with me...  What kind of friends are you???  I know; you like "BIRDS" and "Pretty Cardigans" and such...;-)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I must be CRAZY!

Startitis all over again!
And this time, I must be crazy.  I haven't punished myself enough with loooong, time consuming projects.  Too many done-in-a-flash baby clothes, or socks.  Even socks take awhile considering the small size of the needles.  
And then I decided on a shawl:  The Europa Crescent Shawl.

I've been locked into and/or mesmerized by the Shawlette with its crescent shape.  I really enjoy the way it fits the shoulders, and it wants to stay on me.  Triangular shawls make me pull and re-wrap myself.  No manner of pinning keeps it in place.

I'm hoping the Europa will act similarly.  One major difference is the needle size and the uniform lace pattern.  The Shawlette begins with 3 stitches (neckline), and Europa begins with 643 stitches at the bottom edge.
Lots of stitches, and .... teeeny tiny too!
What do you say?  Christmas?  2011 maybe?  Or will this be a multi-year work?  I'm lovin' what I'm seein'...
Hand Dyed Merino Laceweight, 880 yds/100 grams
Bought it at Pagosa Springs Fiber Festival, Colorado

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Toad goes a-hunting

There's something about toads.  I think they are lovable.  

Yes, when I really think about what I'm saying, I know it puts my in a class of about 2 out of a 1,000.  
But whenever I see a toad, big or small, I want to protect it.  I swerve when driving and I step around them on the sidewalk.  When I'm on a path of destroying weeds, I skip the area if I know a toad is hanging out under there.  
The other evening, I heard a rustling around in the corner of the garage, under... well, things that are piled up in the garage.  I assumed it was a mouse, and I decided I needed to protect the house by closing up the "cat door".  I realized then that the house certainly was NOT protected by my actions, and I hoped the cats would show some interest.
Tonight, as I drove into the driveway, and opening the garage door, there sat a largish toad right in the middle of the garage door opening.  He/She was just sitting there, quietly, and I couldn't bring myself to drive in.  What if he/she suddenly leapt up and hit the car.  What if he/she decided to flee at that moment, and ...  I couldn't take the chance.  So I did what any toad-lover would do:  I got out of the car and helped him choose a path that would give me some room.
The oddest thing though: Instead of fleeing away from the garage, he continued right along the line where the garage door would be, and acted like he wanted to come in.  Now I'm not so sure it was a mouse.  It could have been my toad resident in the garage.  (Totally OK.)  And then what was even more dramatic, he (yes, I'll call him "he") stopped short about 3 inches from a grasshopper.
Honk if you are sympathetic to grasshoppers....   I don't HEAR anything...  Who would think a grasshopper lovable?  Well, maybe a hungry toad!  In fact, the way he just sat there and did the act like he was really a stone, and not a live, hungry toad, told me that he was thinking of supper.  I unloaded the car, keeping an eye out for any drama, and returned with my camera, but by then the deed was done.  One tasty grasshopper had bit the dust, and my friend, the toad was all happy with his treat.
I wish I had seen it go down, but all that was left were the legs hanging out each side of his mouth.  (In both pictures!)  Nature at work.  I KNEW I liked toads for a good reason!  Go ahead, get a good look:  Click on the picture for enlargement.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

FO

Yes, I finished something!
They are Sunshine socks from  Sock Innovations.  This is the easiest pattern (I think) from the book.  I didn't have to watch the chart because the pattern was repetitive, and I could see where it was going, as opposed to some of the other sock patterns by Cookie A.  This I managed in the car and still able to enjoy the ride.

Someone asked me how many objects I have knitted.  In my lifetime?  No clue, but since I've been keeping track in Ravelry...
33+ projects in 2009
To date in 2010: 22 projects (Two of them I finished after C had done most of the knitting.)  That's 7.5 months.
Nine pairs of socks have been knit since January of 2009. (19.5 months)
Baby clothes for Juju?  Twenty-two items, plus 4 more that are not clothing.  She is 13.5 months old... Two a month!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

My New Friend

Yes, an instant friend to the rescue!  When I got home this evening, there was an email from Fellow Raveler ChrisCope with my missing page attached.  Dang... I love Ravelry!

"I do this all the time"

Have I ever said that to you?  I probably have... I said it adamantly to my friend, P, as she tried to prevent me from ripping out a page from a book of patterns.  
"I don't need to go to the library to make a copy.  I'll just take this one page with me to get me started.  I do this all the time."  
"No, no," she says.  "What if you lose it?"  
"Pschaaaa!"
Now I did it... Two thousand miles later, I had it on my coffee table, WITH the book, (I thought until this morning) and after straightening and cleaning for a month it isn't there.
I'm at the point in the knitting where I thought I should have a look to see how many inches I need of this cable pattern.
And although I don't work on it every day (obviously) it's starting to look nice.  The ribbing is becoming tight.   And to be honest, I was thinking that I might "alter" the pattern.  
Thanks to Ravelry, I have a lifeline that I'm beginning to pursue:  I've written to a stranger in Wisconsin who has knitted this pattern, and asked if I could get a copy of pages 63-64.  
Let this be a lesson!!  I'll NEVER do it again, I'm sure...


Thursday, August 12, 2010

Skewy Sock

Interesting sock making!
The Skew Sock Pattern looks crazy with lines going all over and twisting and turning.  I bought this yarn at WEBS on the yarn crawl purely impulsively.  I can see that the pattern doesn't repeat because THERE IS A KNOT IN IT!  Can you see that at the third red stripe the pattern is reversed?  Hmmm.  No, really, I'm OK with it.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Summer Knitting

Remember last week when I listed all of my "Startitis" projects?  I showed such restraint on Sunday... I bought yarn 3 years ago from a vendor at a summer festival.  I think it's the most beautiful colorway of blues with a hint of green, and it's one of those things that I couldn't bear to knit up for fear that I would waste it on something.

Sorry about the over-exposed picture...

It's this summer's yarn crawl that inspired me to think beyond the 90-100º temps and lust after a yummy cowl to go with my favorite jacket...  and I thought of all the yarn I passed by recently and knew that I already had the perfect yarn.
I pulled it out last week, wound a ball, and then...  I put a few parameters on it.  
I've been knitting on a pair of socks since the beginning of July.  It's a 12 States pair of socks.  I began in NY.  Took it to MA, NH, ME, VT, IL, NM, CO, UT, ID, MT, and WY and finally it was sitting on my sofa in NM again, with little more than a toe to knit.
Here's one of the tours, with fudge in the background.













I snatched it up, 
watched Speed of Life:

And I was ready to cast on in the morning.  
I decided on Cat Bordhi's Moebius Cowl, and I was finished by evening!
It was late... and I couldn't resist getting my wool jacket out for a shot!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

PS

The water came on later in the day.  It's such a crisis when it's off... then no big deal when it's on.  And my blogger friend in N Norway was without water for 5 months because of frozen pipes under frozen ground!  She's the blog to the right called Hege's Hobbykrok.

Homecoming

Our friend, H, babysat the house, cats and fed the fish.  She greeted us at the door with: "I've got terrible news to tell you!"  She was distraught...and we feared the worst!
She had arrived a half hour earlier to find the aquarium totally clouded with... fish remains, and ALL of the fish floating.  The only live one was the plecostomus.
Her father arrived soon after, and while H was out back retching in the yard, he "fished" out the deceased and had attempted to dispose of them in the toilet.  But not so fast!  For whatever reason, our water was off!?! Nothing in the sinks or toilet.  How can this be; we just arrived home from "camping"!!!  (This has happened probably once in the past 17 years... and I'm only saying that because I don't remember it EVER happening.)  So as she explained the tragedy, papa S showed off his plastic bag of dead fish.
"It's fine," we said!  They've been there for years and we never could figure out why they wouldn't die! I routinely cleaned the tank every 6 months. So that's the end of the aquarium.  With the unslightly (read: stinky) water, even the plecostomus met his maker and we now have some more floor space!
Before:

After:
It's JUST the fish... I thought the cats had gotten into my stash!

Monday, August 9, 2010

In the car... for hours!

No, really, I like to drive...

but since M didn't mind, and certainly I had my hands full of knitting projects, and maps... and deciphering the way because I didn't bring all the maps.

We traveled out of NM to Colorado, the full length of Utah, into Idaho, and tiny bit of Montana and into YNP which is Montana and Wyoming.  I brought a map of... Utah. Maybe that's why we traveled so much in Utah.  Great scenery!!

What did I have with me, you probably are asking... and I'll tell you anyway:  An empty bucket of pretzels. Perfect for taking things, stuffing or dropping them in, and being able to see almost everything.  Here's what I had with me:
Spreading out on the king-sized bed... the bed was enormous after just 3 nights on a queen airbed in a just that big tent.  The next morning we agreed that it was the "firmest" bed we had ever slept on, and not that much fun!  There was, at least, room for all of my toys from the bucket... I've started collecting pretzel buckets... a knitter's perfect container.  What? Does it look like a mess?  Of course it is....
Chocolate covered cherries, (then clockwise) empty knitting bag with 2 circular needles used for Mr. Foster's completed clothes, a bottle of breath mints for the dog (breathing over my shoulder from the backseat), patterns, granola bars, brimmed hat, Peruvian pouch with sock project, plastic bag of knitting accessories (however I can't seem to keep track of my cable needles), West Thumb Geyser Basin Trail Guide (not really needed, but it needed a home) and SPF 70 sunscreen.  That's half of the contents!
Starting at the top: Purple little girl's top which didn't get looked at for the whole week and is still only an inch long, and below, the sock yarn, partial sock and completed sock, cellphone charger, iTouch, stitching needle in case (blue) and needle sizer.  Then in the left lower corner there's an assortment of knitting needles, crochet hook, pens and pencils, place markers, stitch holders... and see the teeny ball of red above the blue needle holder?  Of course, everyone knows that's my waste yarn!!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Yellowstone NP

I know... Yellowstone Nat'l Park, the most popular of parks, in August, the most popular month for vacationing...  And it was FULL of people. But look at what we saw.  


The geyser basins are wonderful to look at, to breathe in, the weather was hot during the day and cold at night. 


 No rain!  That's very important when living with the elements, i.e. tent camping for 3 nights.  
What made it worth it?
1. Seeing daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter (again, after 11 days...spoiled)
Communing with nature...OK: This is really within hours of leaving the park, where there is NO internet.
2. Seeing granddaughter (13 months old) recognize her grandparents, and grab ahold of grandpa with such earnestness and hold on to him for so long. 

3. Watching Old Faithful with 1,000's,


4. Finding some virtual caches, even though I went in the wrong direction and took the Great Circle Route.


5. Alone time with my hub.  Nothing like 1,600+ miles in the car over 3 days. Talked and talked (I think it was equal time...) and
6. Hiking along the Firehole River Canyon while everyone else drove by.


7. Seeing Bison standing around as if they were statues (until they flap their tails)


8. Sitting inside a huge tent during a rain/wind storm (KOA Montana) playing a game on an iPad. Someone help me out with the name of the game.
9. Sleeping on a borrowed inflatable bed, AND finding it so comfortable that we, yes we, had no aches or pains! (Hmmm. Rethinking the home situation.)  That doesn't mean that we wanted to stay there all day!  We were ready to get up, and getting up from lying on the floor (ground) isn't all that easy.
10. Seeing beautiful Utah, from the ski areas to the red rock canyons.  Drove past Park City and Provo Canyon, stopping in Price just as the bad weather moved in.  This picture is from SE Utah (Moab area).  I found I took very few traveling pictures: Too much looking and knitting!
Six days!  I think I'll sleep tonight!!

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