Saturday, December 26, 2015

Try not to think too much

I'm enjoying the sunshine, and freezing temperatures of Denver this morning. Found two geocaches in the hotel parking lot, however, my pen doesn't like to write.

Then I started to think, IF we hadn't been delayed, we would be here:


Instead of here:

Knit faster

December flights...
It's here! Our trip to Puerto Rico is here, and just because we are SOOOO looking forward to it, the weather has changed our plans, and we get to look forward to it one more day!
The snow is beautiful, for sure, but I enjoy it more from my living room sofa with knitting in hand. Yesterday I didn't enjoy it while my husband white knuckled the steering wheel to the airport.

Wanting to go outside this morning but only 1-½ mittens available!  REALLY cold in Denver...

Friday, December 11, 2015

My favorite morning

Focaccia in the bread machine, fresh rosemary roasting in the oven, and the kettle is on. Happy weekend! 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Six Years of Blogging

Crazy winter in early November;  haven't seen the snow since...
And look how our backyard has no snow, but a nice dusting on the neighbor's yard.  That's because his yard is exposed and ours has trees to block the wind.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Happy birthday caching

Update: From Late October

John celebrates 98 years + 37 days by finding his Birthday geocache. Another cacher placed this a month ago in honor of his birthday. Took a few wrong roads, then stopped short of driving across a creek, and finally hiking through the brush to get the honor of signing the log! Thanks to all cachers!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

New top - Finch's Wings

A fun pattern, and a fun story behind it. 
First yarn, then pattern, then four months later a change in yarn as my mind imagines something else.
Knitters beware!  The tactile senses of yarn shopping, made me do it...along with 8 other knitters standing nearby, shopping, making encouraging shopping noises, peer pressure for sure...  It was a summer day in Warsaw NY, summer knit camp outing... do you see where I'm going?  The yarn was yummy, and since I had the yearn for yarn, I also had the yearn for a pattern (booklet) that featured that yarn... hence, Finch's Wings was born.  Yet when I opened the booklet, I had other stashed yarn in mind, that I had purchased years before... and now, I'm not totally happy with my choice.  
The pattern looks lovely after blocking, however, to really enjoy it, I will have to crochet a little something around the neckline.  It's a bit too wide, and tends to slip off my shoulders.  And I used up all of the yarn so it will be trimmed with a contrasting complimenting color.
A note about the yarn:
by Regia
Lace / 2 ply
71% Wool, 29% Nylon
656 yards / 100 grams

Link to my Ravelry page HERE.

My expectations of what the colorway would look like surprised me, and not in a good way, but it is what it is, and I think I will learn to like it.  Just not what I expected.

The Pattern:

Meanwhile, the yummy yarn awaits...plenty of nice patterns in the booklet...

Friday, November 6, 2015

The Harvest!

My spooky neighbors!  They (she) LOVES Halloween, and begins with a few things at the beginning of October.  By Halloween night that house across the street is crammed full of bodies and pumpkins (only 59 this year), and lights.  It's a spectacle, and a great one!
The time came a few weeks ago, to pick most of the tomatoes from my one plant.  When I lifted the towel which has been giving a little extra night-time protection, I found a preying mantis cocoon.  I love those guys!  They are so ferocious, the way they eerily turn their heads to stare you down, and give you the creeps... and they take care of many garden pests, so I would like this one to survive.  I carefully replaced it and will remain as patio decor over the winter.
Still thriving, I decided to put the tomatoes in the garage, and have canned tomatoes and onions for the future.
Halloween?  This is all of the decorating I can muster...
Above photos from October 23, 2015.  Since then, we've had frost.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Scraps socks

What I need to carry with me for those "down" times: Waiting for appointments, in between gigs when I don't want to go home...
My thrifty nature is satisfied:  It's called stash busting the remnants of other socks.
Combining these two yarns, randomly with purpose, colors are pleasing to me. I haven't found many remnants that I wouldn't accept in pairings. And no pattern except 2x2 ribbing, trading yarns every row or every other row.  When I get to the end of the row, I play genius and decide if I switch or continue.  Since both yarns have many colors, my mood determines what I do next.  I wonder if it will work for two socks...?
Yarns:
Fingering / 4 ply
75% Wool, 18% Nylon, 7% Acrylic
206 yards / 50 grams

Fingering / 4 ply
75% Wool, 25% Nylon
437 yards / 100 grams

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Conquering Cedar Hill Arch

In August, John and I got to this point, but needed to scale a second bench.  I wasn't brave/foolish enough to attempt it, so we turned around.
Then John called a climbing friend to accompany us.  He came with ropes and rappelling gear.
Looking down at where we started.
This is the part that scared me off the first time.
It wasn't as bad as I thought, of course, it never is when it's behind you!  Speaking of behind, I gave John's friend permission to touch my butt!  He asked politely if I needed help, and I told him he could give me a push.  Thanks! That's what I needed to make the last few handholds.
Smiling, because we were confident we could make it from here!
 The Arch is peeking through, and we discovered something from the past.  A horse trough?
At last.
The top:
And another reason we brought John's friend: He found the geocache!

Perfect day.  Noticed a mini-arch forming on our way back.
Preparing for the descent.
I took the steps and handholds with a safety rope tied around me.
John decided that rappelling was the fastest/easiest for him.
Yay for climbing!  My thighs complained for the next two days.

I love the Southwest, especially in the Fall. 

Thursday, October 15, 2015

My friend, John!

A few weeks ago, my friend, John, turned 98.  I met him several years ago when he was just starting his 90's, when he took my class on Geocaching.  He was smitten!  And now we go out several times a month.  The more caches the better.  
But on his birthday, as he has for the past 8 years, he goes to the climbing wall at SJC.  Here's his performance.




Next:  You won't be surprised at where we went last week!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Going to work

Just an amusing aside, for all of my friends who ask, "What does Mick do?"

He now has a part-time job! Although he goes to gigs all the time, for all his years, it's somehow different seeing him pull out of the garage going to a "job".  What is it?  KSJE Roving with the Arts program.  Part-time, so his shows will air twice a week.

Congratulations!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Sheep in clothing


Each one has a sweater... Isn't that cute?
It's from a book called A Tower of Giraffes.
Each page has a different animal group and they are clad in prints of fabric or wall paper.  The sheep are appropriately clad in knitted patterns.  ❤️  A nice surprise for a knitter/grandma.

A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in GroupsHardcover – September 8, 2015

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Pants Saga

Chilly, damp weather is on the way... in Bergen.  A little girl needs WOOL!
This will be the fourth (or fifth) pair of warm pants.  But it turned into a saga of yarn!  (If I was clever, I would compose a rhyme...)
It started with... "I need wool, superwash wool, in girly colors, of a certain weight..."  Normally, a knitter would have a look around the LYS, however, there exists none within 50 miles.  (sigh)  That just makes me dumpster dive into my stash, and there, sitting in my living room is a big BIG BIG bowl of yarn. (You know what I mean, Denise/Kay/Jennifer/Jenny. It's been there for years.) Fingering weight (used double), various colors, and I decide to use it up. (This yarn was purchased for a sweater, but I lost the pattern and didn't find it until 3 years later. In the meantime, the size became obsolete, and I got fed up with trying to locate it and used some of it for other projects: Here, here and here.  (Seven projects in all; see below for Ravelry link.)

But without knowing how much I needed (exactly), I started out using two colors at a time. 

And then another color combination, and...
Another combination.  Now I knew how much, but not really crazy about mirroring my original, so...
I ripped it back and ... made a new combination!
This one I like! It's a keeper.

 Patterned pullover 4.6 skeins = 979.8 yards, 230 grams
 Turkish Socks 0.25 skeins = 53.3 yards, 12 grams
 Child's Redbird Pullover 5 skeins = 1065 yards, 250 grams
 Bonnet for Fiona 0.92 skeins = 196 yards, 46 grams
 Little cow mittens 0.12 skeins = 25.6 yards, 6 grams
 ELF cap 1.3 skeins = 276.9 yards, 65 grams
 Removeable sole socks 0.7 skeins = 149.1 yards, 35 grams

Friday, September 18, 2015

Peach jam

Found I had a surplus of peaches, so I (surprisingly) wisely cooked up peach jam with cinnamon... yum...

Taking over the kitchen! Only made six small jelly jars. Any visitors? I'll give out samples!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Sock drawer

A little (very little) housecleaning... my sock drawer (after only, no before photo...)
I counted 18 pairs. I chucked one pair beyond repair.
Not included are the many that are in a sock drawer in Norway, plus:
How can I resist? So many patterns, so many yarns...

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