Museum

I enjoy museums.  I volunteer at this one.  This is the permanent display of Navajo rugs and simulated trading post.

This summer I've spent quite a few hours looking at this:

It's a small portion of a great display of art from a museum on Long Island with many well known artists.  Usually there's no cost to see our exhibits, but this one is special and will cost you a whole $5!  Well worth it!  (What else can you do for $5?)

Caching in on August!

Geocaching... Why is it fun?  Because it's a challenge, and I feel a little more "smart" when I'm successful.
A few years ago, someone at Geocaching Central (for lack of a better description of the powers behind geocaching.com) thought they should make awards possibly creating incentive to cache different things.  They are called Souvenirs, and they appear on your page as digital badges with images showing what you've accomplished.  So far they are connected to where you cache (one for each state, province, country) and most world-wide events (Anniversary of geocaching, etc.)  Here are a few I've collected:

I guess it works (the incentive part) because I'm currently caught up in their new campaign which challenges cachers to do a streak of finding in August.  The goal is to find a cache every day of August. And I took the bait. (You get a souvenir each day, too!) Unfortunately August snuck up on me, and I didn't realize it was August until the 2nd, so there goes "every day".  Instead I've been finding at least one each day since the 2nd.  The souvenirs are a bit lame, but I realize now that it's the streak I'm going for and not the souvenirs, although it would be nice to see them all lined up.

The Fair

I'm proudly admiring my handiwork that I submitted to the San Juan County Fair, 2013.  Last year there was an abundance of rosettes given out.  Best of Show in EVERY category.  I guess nothing measured up this year, since I saw only one and it was given to a crocheted afghan.  (All you who know my opinion of crochet should collectively gasp, however, I looked closely at it--it was Gorgeous (except for the texture of the fiber: Ah ah ahcrylic) and I was truly amazed that the stitching had been created by crochet.) I digress...

Next I carefully put away my wares and took the ribbons (there are 6 Blues, my friends) and detached the little paper tags, and wrote names and dates on the backs.  Imagine my surprise when I saw one that had, "lovely" written on the back!  How nice!  It was a comment on my striped vest!  And sure enough, on the next tag there was a long diatribe that stated that I got Blue as a sympathy award, and next time I had better clean up my loose ends on the inside...  I was aghast!  What?? Loose ends on the inside?  All neatly blocked and... I looked.

Gasp!

Sure enough:  One shoulder seam tacked down, and the other NOT!  Plus, well... you can see.  And the yarn there was enough for a full side seam... how I didn't notice, or thought to turn it inside out...?

I thought it was finished.  Very embarrassing...  probably could have gotten a Rosette.

After I took the first picture above, I neatly folded my Red Bird Pullover and put it on the shelf for my 4 year old's impending visit!  Now I have something else to do...

And Music Plays On

Church music, underestimated? I practice, maybe not hours and hours, but I don't go in cold!
How little do some people know about church music? A year ago, I was asked what I do (in general) and when I spoke of being a church organist, the other person was NOT impressed. I didn't mean to impress him however he said something hinting that it was the same music over and over again. I realized that meant liturgy was repeated. I pointed out that I play three or four tunes from 3 books of 1,600+ hymns/songs, plus incidental music of my own choosing, but rarely repeated more than twice a year.
What happens when the fingers fail you?  A few weeks ago I was practicing for something, maybe a choral anthem, and I kept missing the same note.  OK, so there were several hundred other notes that I was playing, but it became evident that I wasn't getting this one thing.  I had focused on it, repeated it slowly, and still when I went through that passage, I was missing the same *** key!  It was annoying, and then I realized that my --- (I swear it) my fingers have changed.  When did it happen?  Mostly, it's my little fingers.  Over the past few years, my little fingers have been giving out.  My previous posts have attested to their plights, but just at this one moment it meant that my left little finger wasn't able to bend to get to that above mentioned *** key.  Luckily, just identifying that funny little unbendable finger was enough.  I didn't miss it again.  Curious.
I thought I was losing it! But since then I've accompanied regularly and irregularly, meaning the odd summer concert.  It was held as part of the city's Summer Terrace Concerts at the Museum.  Luckily, we cranky classical musicians insisted on having it inside, and without the distractions of nature (insects, wind, weather, dust, and nothing to reverberate) it went very well.  The audience was a bit miffed at first, with folding chairs and picnic lunches in tow, but they were very appreciative!  (Even before it was over... You never know if the sustained applause at the end is relief that the audience can stand up and move around!)
Here's a picture from one of the museum displays.  If you are ever in Farmington New Mexico...stop by!

Time flies

No excuses... Everyone seems busy, and I've been least busy. I sure do enjoy a good Audiobook and a knit on the sofa!
And many hours are spent there! It isn't that I knit incredibly fast, but that I enjoy it, and spend my time knitting especially when I feel I'm multi-tasking.
In the past month I've completed the 4 year old size pullover with crazy colors, and a vest for myself in jewel-tone colors.
Both of those pieces are going to the Fair next week along with a few other projects from the past year. I have been nagging adamant that others enter knitting so it doesn't look like my show, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

So, first to the knitting:

1. My striped VEST!  I can't believe it myself... Those hours on the sofa, with the fan blowing, and wool in my lap... I love it.  Someday it will be chilly enough to wear!  A simple pattern from Creative Knitting Magazine.  See my Ravelry page, and I "only" used a month...  I wanted to use up some colors/yarns I've had for awhile, and used two different blacks.  I didn't mean to, since I have lots of both left.  I wouldn't have noticed except when I entered the yarn usage into the Ravelry page, I found two bands for the black.  I guess they can be used interchangeably for most discerning eyes!  I didn't notice it, and it was in my hands...
2. I'm working on my Suki poncho, that is really a shawl pattern.  Using Casbah Sock yarn which is so yummy to my hands.
3. Was I trying to reduce my stash?  Why yes, I WAS, until I saw a sweater that might hopefully will be a perfect gift for the SIL in Norway.  And rather than mess with the altering of pattern to accommodate my stash, I went to the web and purchased:

   

   Cascade Eco Wool

That's worth a blog, someday...

Growing Up, Second (Finished) Post

After WRITING THIS BLOG about lengthening sleeves, and having an unsatisfactory look about it, I pulled out the newly done part, alas, with sideways glances from the airport public. (Nothing says crazy like a lap-full of snarly looking yarn!)  The first-attempt yarn was a PERFECT match of color, and a tiny bit heavier, unnoticeable to my eye... but the "creative" pattern I came up with wasn't so pleasing to me.  AND, more critical, there wasn't quite enough length to make it anymore than a temporary fix.
I threw it in a bag and continued to knit a sock until I arrived home.  Here I have the EXACT same leftover yarn, that had never been washed... I used it, soaked it:

And, as you can see, that after numerous washings of the original, the old yarn succumbed to water whereas the new yarn just sat there, with its protective coating.  It had a long soak and the final result is:

See?  The new yarn is really a bit darker because it hasn't been in the washer - EVER!

My original problem with "twisting" of the body is still evident, but no little girl of four stands still enough to notice!  

Giant knits

Really... A rug photographed at IKEA in Bergen.  I couldn't help myself...