Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I have more to say? That's impossible!

I neglected to post pictures of my recently completed Fetching Mitts so here they are: Mrs. Lester's Fetchings These are for my son's teacher, handspun singles, superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms, Ain't No Mountain High Enough (dyed by the sadly no longer doing so Teyani).

Izra's Fetchings These are for my daughter's friend, who requested them after I made some for another friend because they were too small for my son's teacher. Again, handspun singles, superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms, American Pie (yadda, yadda, yadda).

I'm choosing yarns/rovings based on people's color preferences. If I have yarn that will work, it will be used. If I have roving, I shall spin. If neither, I will purchase. Haven't bought anything yet, but the season is still young.

why mitts And these are finished for my son, although I have not gotten a modeled shot yet as he loves them but is inexplicably embarrassed to wear them all the way to school. Ho hum. Noro Kujaku. I would wear these myself but they are way too small for me. Need to make more, they are so wild!

And so I move on. I have almost finished the first Princess Mitt for my daughter's teacher and then three more pairs. My goal date for finishing is...are you ready for it?...December 12th. Then I can start my sweater finishing jag early!

Oh, and if you miss the politics, come on over to GroundReport and read my stuff. I'm having a blast!

Peace.

Monday, December 1, 2008

I Would Like to Point Out That...

I am NOT participating in any "knit 12 sweaters in 2009" knitalongs OF ANY SORT. NO. Sock Madness took it out of me (although it certainly put it into my sock drawer) this spring and, well, let's just say it wasn't acceptable to be driving around looking for Wi-Fi to keep track of the group at inappropriate moments. Just saying.

Which is not to say that I am not a stasher-of-yarn and could not, if pressed, do it. I live in fear that my yarn/fiber budget will be (and it has been so don't think this is hyperbole) so small (who are we kidding, it is now) that yarn purchases are right out. Completely. For an unknown period of time. But the stash is an important sanity-retaining device. For if I had nothing to knit, who knows what trouble I would get into!

Instead, I propose a knitalong of my own devising, in which I will contentedly be the only participant (although others are welcome and encouraged!). It addresses the aforementioned problem of USING UP THE STASH (this would be bad) and also my desire for NEW SWEATERS to appear with reasonable frequency. And my children's concerns about my sanity, as I will be able to keep knitting.

I will call my knitalong NaFiExpleDeUnfiSweStaSa, or National Finish Expletive Deleted Unfinished Sweater Stash Saving. Can't I do better than that? How about SoCalFiSwe or FiGDUFO? Ooh, that's almost Finish it, Doofus!

Obviously, suggestions are needed.

WTFAYSASF? (WTF Are You Starting A New Sweater For?)

It is to be profoundly hoped that the prospect of so many newly completed sweaters will stop me before I cast on again. But I'm only cautiously optimistic on that.

Here are the culprits:

evil raglan finished... I knit this sweater as a mindless project for standing in line at Disneyland, the yoke is handspun, the rest is lovely sale Montera that my mom got me in New Jersey. I've worn the thing. And I love it, except that the neck opening is a bit large. Always intended to steek it and turn it into a cardigan. Ought to be able to complete that before going away for the holidays, right?

scoop sleeve This is Scoop du Jour by the always talented Bonnie Marie Burns of Chic Knits and, notwithstanding this picture, is about 75% completed. The yarn is beautiful (way on sale) Merino in my absolute favorite color. I could take this one with me on my trip and finish it while I'm gone, easy peasy.

must have 2 This lone sleeve is the extent of my Must Have Cardigan. I really liked knitting this sleeve and have had a crush on this pattern FOREVER. While I attack my next project, this will be the one on the needles in January/February, if I can resist the urge to cast on...Kauni, Tangled Yoke, Tempest, Mr. Greenjeans, February Lady, all of which are in the stash. Calling my name.

However, as you have suspected, I will be spinning this winter as well. And I have big ambitions. I have stalled on my Bettna sweater out of handspun (and you can see it has not yet resurfaced), although almost all of the yarn has been spun. This one is hard to work on as it requires yarn changes that mean I either have to be home or carry around a huge bag of stuff. What I should do is take the (endless) time to make a ball of yarn that changes on its own and then just carry that around till it runs out. We shall see.

If you remember, last year I was spinning up samples for October Frost from A Fine Fleece. I was going to try to use fleece that I have in the garage, but the wool I carded up did not want to be spun into the yarn that I want for the sweater. So I am back to my original plan of Oatmeal BFL. News at Eleven!

However, since I don't yet own that, and in a terrible paroxysm of switching fiber in the house for fiber in the garage, I believe that I can spin for a Tempest with two lots of fiber I have here. What I want are two analagous yarns, one light, one dark. I don't need a huge amount by weight as the sweater is knit with sock/laceweight. So my new spinning project is:

blue targhee too light Targhee for the main color. This fiber is MUCH darker than shown here, very dark blues and purples. I have about 6 ounces.

acadia roving And for the contrast color, Acacia from Spunky Eclectic's Fiber Club on Finn. I lurve me some Finn.

These pictures really do not show the contrast in value of these fibers. And I am hoping that my Acacia will come out like the yarns I have seen already spun up and even itself out to a light bluish green sort of yarn. If not, I will move on, but since I'm going to end up with sock yarn either way, I won't be disappointed. Handspun socks are always welcome here!

Is this long enough? Sheesh!

Meanwhile, life goes on around here. We're working as hard as we can, volunteering as much as we can, giving as much as we can and looking forward to spending some time with our families far away. This week is all the usual stuff plus: getting DS through his requirements for the Computer belt loop for Cub Scouts, cantoring a Christmas Carol singalong (cross your fingers that my currently-gone voice reappears by Wednesday), Girl Scout meeting with our girls and a troop of Brownies to make stockings for sick kids in our local hospital, Parent/Teacher conferences. And the kids come home early every day this week. But it sounds a lot worse than it is. Hey, next week it will be time to bake cookies, rehearsing for and performing a radio play of "Little Women," a birthday party at Build-A-Bear and two Caroling parties with the kids. Luckily, it's all fun until someone loses an eye.

Hope your Thanksgiving was fun and filling!

Peace.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Alleluia!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I Have a Dream"
Delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.


I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!


And if I might add it...

YES WE CAN!

Peace.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

If the Bible is an authoritative source

Proverbs 6:12-19

“12 Troublemakers and villains,
who go about with corrupt mouths,
13 who wink maliciously with their eyes,
signal with their feet
and motion with their fingers,
14 who plot evil with deceit in their hearts—
they always stir up dissension.
15 Therefore disaster will overtake them in an instant;
they will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
16 There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up dissension in the community.”

Sound like anyone we know?

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

And now for something completely different...a working drumcarder!

Well, it always worked. But I haven't used it for a LONG time. And not because I don't want to. But processing wool in my kitchen is a long, arduous process of boiling pots of water and such and I have just been looking longingly at my beautiful machine. However, at the moment I have a couple of issues that the drum carder can help me with:

1) No money for buying fiber. Which means October Frost will go the way of all things this winter unless I think of some other way to get the wool. I wanted to use Oatmeal Bluefaced Leicester from Paradise Fibers but no way, not right now.

2) I do have 1 whole raw fleece and 2 half raw fleeces in bins in the garage. Which I haven't really been able to reach for a year and a half. But DH has been redoing the garage (since the happy end of our now ex-friend's extended stay with us) so that we can reach things like books (!) and the children can play with their large-format toys. So the fleece bins are reachable.

Yesterday, I washed some fleece. Here is the raw material: gray fleece raw This is a beautiful fine gray fleece with tan tips that I purchased at the very last L.A. County Fair Fleece Auction in 2005? I think it's about 6.5 pounds. The first year that I competed in the spinning contest (and won the Novice Class). It is super bouncy and soft. Here is some of it drying out in the sun: gray fleece washed It doesn't look like much now, but I will have pictures of batts later today, I hope!

Of course, the first batch was a bit sticky and had to go through one more wash and two more rinses. Ho hum. I should have better luck today as the second batch was clean after 2 washes and 2 rinses. I just MUST get the water hot enough to melt the lanolin.

I think this wool will make a beautiful gray aran sweater that I will wear for years and years. The Oatmeal BFL that I bought for sampling will make a couple of gorgeous pairs of socks. Now the trick is to spin yarn that won't pill. I plan for a true 3-ply, nice and firm. And I know there will be enough, yay!

Here goes! I'll be carding while watching MSNBC, C-Span and CNN all day. Can't miss anything!

Peace.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Ooh, Not really tagged but here I go anyway!

Amy Boogie of Spunky Eclectic fame has tagged whoever wants to be so I will take her up on it. Love her blog, love her fibers! And I believe she has a pattern in the new Knitscene, congratulations Amy! Here goes:

1. Where was I 10 years go.
Pregnant with DD and working full-time as a legal secretary for a solo practitioner in L.A. When I took the job he only came into the office three days a week or so but by that summer he was coming in every day and crazy busy. I was pretty close to telling him I needed every other Friday off 'cause it was taking the joy out of my summer. And that worked out. I worked for him until I went on maternity and never went back to an office job (so far).

2. 5 things on today’s to-do list
Swimming lesson
Summer Reading Club show
Finish transcribing tape of lifestory of HUGE drug addict (rather overwhelming)
Spin at least 10 minutes
Finish second Marigold sock

3.Snacks I enjoy
I am a low-carb girl and have been for almost six years, so lots of snack foods are off limits, like chips, which I love. Nothing like the smell of a new bag of Ruffles! But what I eat are peanut butter, pickles, peanut butter, mangoes, peanut butter.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.
Buy a house. Buy a Hybrid car. I'll go with Amy, spin and knit and travel. Pay back (or forward) all the money everybody's ever lent me or given me or anything to help out. Make an endowment to my church. Go to SOAR and pay for scholarships. Mostly I would stop worrying, which would be a great thing and billions are not even necessary for that.

5. Places I have lived.
Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Minnesota, New York (Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan), California and summers in Illinois, Alabama, West Virginia. We always talk about moving back East to be close to our extended families, but the film industry pulls us back in. Maybe next year! The kids are extremely ambivalent about this.

6. Jobs I have had.
Start from the beginning? Fast food worker, Movie theater cashier, Temp Legal Secretary, Singing Bumble Bee, Actress, Soloist, Legal Secretary, freelance Transcriptionist. I like what I do now, sing and type, just wish it involved health coverage...

7. Who would I like to know more about.
Whoever is reading this, there aren't very many of you. Let me know if you do it so I can drop by!

In knitting news, I have almost finished the Marigold socks and will surely finish them today. Good news, they are lovely! Bad news, they are totally different sizes. My two skeins spun up one right after the other are really different gauges. Now that I have more bobbins, I'm going to start real 2-plying instead of Andean all the time to even it out. But both socks fit me and the colors are just right. Thanks again, Amy! I will be casting on Rivendell as soon as these are done with my newly finished yarn, which probably has the same problem, so I might do more knitting from both skeins, but that's no big deal. I can spit splice.

In spinning (oh, some of that was spinning, huh) 10 Minutes a Day has been great and I have moved on to the last 2 ounces of Dandylion to Navajo ply for socks. The first two skeins are VERY fine for my 3 ply so trying to match that is taking a while. But, hey, those will be some happy socks! Here's a picture of the first skein that won a Blue Ribbon at last year's L.A. County Fair: Dandylion 3 ply

This year's fair entries are rather sparse but they will go out soon. I think I'm mailing to avoid the gasoline for driving back and forth two extra times. I will attend the Fair itself at least twice so this is a good idea. At least for my carbon footprint. I have two yarns for sure and one pair of socks. I was going to send Marigold, too, but the size issue is bothering me regarding judging. I will figure this out once they are blocked. Of course, there is a sock contest this year that Joy (!) and I will be attending and competing in so if I end up with something gorgeous that's where it will go. I should start the new Spunky Club fiber and see if I can get it nice enough to enter, since it's a blend and will fall into a different class than the others. Or some silk. Or something.

I started out the year all excited and ambitious about the Fair and have fallen into a malaise. I just don't feel like getting all het up about anything. Having a nice time not being het up, I guess, not dreaming about stuff I have to do that doesn't exist and all. Didn't come close to finishing the sweater, am not obsessively spinning yarns, just sending in socks that I made for something else. I've even thought of not entering at all, but since I have some stuff already done, why not? Can't wear the wooly socks till fall anyway.

That was a seriously too long post with not enough pictures! Thanks for sticking with it!

And Wes Clark did not impugn McCain's service. He merely said that his experiences do not have any bearing on whether he would be a good President. Which they don't. I wish the news cycle had been all about McCain's property tax delinquency instead, mind you, but this is ridiculous.

Peace.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Can you hear the crickets?

Finally a quiet week at Shadowlandwest. One of these days I'll even make them practice piano!

We did get some good relaxing in this week, thank goodness. Kids were too tired to go to open swim in the afternoons, would rather stay home; me, too so there wasn't a lot of motivation to roust them out. They did go to swim lessons every day and had a playdate on Tuesday at our house.

Lots of spinning and knitting was accomplished. 10 Minutes a Day is a great motivator, expecially since it turns into 30 or 40. Finished Grand Opening and started a sock: marigold 1 which is luckily going much faster than the Obama sock. Handspun is magic!

Other than that, it's been a lot of laundry, dishes, cooking and work for my writer who is doing a book about a model who became a rock star wife and a big drug addict. Very interesting story, indeed! Between this book and the next one right after, I should be set up for money to carry me over the vacation, if I ever book the tickets. Lazy or in denial about the airfares, whichever. It's hours and hours of stuff, though.

Trying not to drive much and that seems to be working out. It was just too hot to bike last week and the best times are certainly early morning/early evening. I think the pool really is too far for the kids, mostly for coming back at the end of the day.

Almost finished with the second spinning project for the week, some Spunky (I think) South African Fine that I spun half of when it arrived. pastel singles It's not really as blue as this but I'm shooting with the video camera's still picture mode as the point-and-shoot is not working and needs to be sent away for repairs, ho hum. Software all mucked up. But it is lovely and will make some nice socks from The Eclectic Sole. Haven't decided which ones as I don't yet know the yardage. I simply must start getting more yarn from my 4 ounce bundles, though. 350 would be fine, but 290 is too nervous making!

Hope you're having a lovely week. Contact your Senator and Representative about their FISA vote, if you can. A Constitution is a terrible thing to waste.

Peace.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tooting my own horn

Don't get to too often so here is the video of my solo part in our big Bach/Haydn concert of 10 days ago.



Peace.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

What Makes me Happy?

Heide's friend Christy is having a Birthday Contest! She wants to know what makes us all happy. In addition to the following, of course, prizes, prizes make me happy! Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I can certainly find quite a bit for myself:

1) My children, my greatest accomplishment, my joy and my consternation. Sometimes I can't really believe they are real and I ask them, "Are you real or are you a dream?" They think I am weird. And I am.

2) My husband, especially when he is feeling good and empowered, which he doesn't feel often enough. Wish I could make that better!

3) My church. I'm not a particularly "religious" person, but my church is amazing, full of amazing people who show me every day the love and grace of God and allow me to feel like I'm giving to the world, not just taking from it.

4) Knitting. Yes, well. Also sane, accomplished (sometimes), creative (sometimes). If I need some happy, this is my path.

5) Spinning. Also peaceful, also gets me kind of high. I really feed off colors somehow. Just watching the colors passing through my fingers, making something useful and beautiful is fulfilling.

Thanks for asking, Christy! It's always a good idea to be reminded, especially when we are SO busy and so full of frustration sometimes. I told my DD last night that this week coming up is one where I need to recharge in the short breaks between activities so I don't turn into "Monster Mommy." Let's hope I can remember to!

Peace.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Better late than never?

SM round 3 done

Finished Round 3, only 5 days late!

Mods: Size 1 needles, 2 extra stripes, standard toe decreases.

The socks are very cushy and I will enjoy them until the laceweight merino gives it up, which probably won't be a long time. But I shall think positively (I almost typed "tink" which would be ironic since I did so much tinking on these socks).

In other news, DS has reached a first grade watershed moment: DS gap grin

He's had the same smile for so long!

Back to the litany of busyness and hoping I remember to call my mother tomorrow (sorry, Mom!!!).

Saturday: rehearsal for concert; extra solo rehearsal for concert; volunteer at school carnival; attend school carnival; volunteer some more; piano/guitar practice torture (hopefully not); DH rented me "Lions for Lambs" to watch tomorrow, isn't he nice?

Sunday: Church; DD rehearsal for play; Target for NEW BIKES!!!; rest? Concert.

Up side, I feel great about the concert music, truly. There should even be a YouTube of some sort afterwards. Our bass likes to video everything. I don't have the mental wherewithal to do it myself.

Speaking of DH, he went to a funny political protest this evening. They were giving out flag pins to Disney employees as they came out of work! I am SO glad that the PA primary is finally almost here. This has been an excruciating wait.

Your question for the evening: Does your pastor love America as much as you do?

WTF?

Peace.

Monday, April 14, 2008

I'm out but I have a good excuse! (picture heavy)

What a weekend!

Sock Madness Round 3 had started on Thursday night and I was trucking right along. On Friday we had an L.A. area knit together at Unwind:

SM 2 knit together

Great thanks to Lisa, Luke and Hailey for having the kids over so Mommy could play! We had a lovely time, Lambiebird, GoldenPurl, Technoknitter and I! Also thanks to Stephanie at Unwind for letting us invade the store for a couple of hours. We'll probably do it again, although only Lambiebird is still competing (and Star but she's moving today to Portland. Good luck, Star!).

That was Friday.

Saturday started with an orchestra rehearsal for me for my Bach aria and recitative in our Spring Concert on the 20th. It went VERY well, thank you, but there are no photos.

Then DS's first T-ball game. He did great!!!

DS tball star

And his first hit: DS tball 1st hit

Lots of fun but very hot.

Sunday morning, DD received her bible from church: DD bible

She is very proud to be old enough to have her own bible!

THEN, we went to the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby where DS won Most Creative Tiger Cub car for the Pikachu he and his dad made: DS creative car

THEN, I took DD to Chuck E. Cheese to her friend's birthday party. By this time, I was pretty fried. I left the camera with DH so he could take pictures of DD's illegal car in the final event of the derby: DD with illegal cars

At that point, there were two spots left in my Sock Madness Division. I had only reached the stripe above the heel flap on sock 2 and was planning to make it longer than sock one anyway. I was done. I went to bed before the children. Stick a fork in me.

When we got home, we were shocked to find this scene of carnage: ginny and the hamster Luckily, it was her own toy.

I've been knitting the sock today in hope that I can finish them (including a new longer toe on sock 1) by our school Carnival fundraiser on Saturday as they are our school colors: SM round 3 2 But it will probably be too hot!

Hope you are having a great Monday!

Peace.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Puppies are funner than I thought!

Here she is this morning:

ginny 2

Pretty sure she's figured out a) this is her house; b) we are her peeps; and c) this is WAY better than the shelter. She's fetching toys (sometimes) and really is a very loving little thing. We are all enjoying the process!

However, due to the fact that she is sleeping with DS, I have had some knitting time. Which last night was terribly frustrating.

Lace is not my best thing. And because of that, I have the desire to conquer it. However, I had to frog some of this sock:

lantern festival sock 2

There is patterning on every row which means I had to get back to a row where I could find all the yarnovers properly. I was really afraid that I'd end up frogging the whole thing and that would be that. But I got back to about 12 gusset stitches and only had to try to get it on the needles FOUR TIMES. I'm going to pay more attention now, but I've already been missing all of the actual visual part of TV for a few days. I need a stockinette sock to work on at the same time, there's no question. But I have resolved to knit with handspun.

I think the Magic Carpet Ride is going to come out. Or the Hang on Sloopy. But I know I don't really have enough yarn spun for a whole pair. Or there's always the Celebration...hmm...

Did I post this yarn?

celebration skein

Gorgeous Shetland sock yarn!!! I am getting to the point where, when I have enough handspun for something, I don't want to use it up. Silly! There's always more to be made! There, I shall ball this up today and start a stockinette sock with great joy and gladness!

Speaking of spinning, here's the progress on the sweater yarns:

baked alaska skein

Baked Alaska from Hello Yarn, DK weight, 212 yards.

And on the wheel:

pie singles 2

Pie with Everything from Spunky Eclectic, destined to be more DK for the mitered square sweater in my mind.

Off to make breakfast for the kiddoes! Have a great President's Day if you're in the U.S. and let's all celebrate the end of the current Oval Office Occupant!

Peace.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

And now to pay it forward

Having been named by Heide, I must pay the happiness forward and name seven of my favorite blogs so here goes! I will leave out some ubiquitous ones (this means you, Yarn Harlot) as everyone would list them but here are some people who have been supremely nice to me as a cyber friend and a couple in real life.



I got to meet Star a couple of years ago when we were both entering yarns in the L.A. County Fair. She's as nice as can be and has done some yarn crawling with me. I drove her yarns to the fairgrounds that year and have been keeping up with her exploits ever since. She's moving to Portland this spring but I sure hope she keeps blogging!

I get a huge kick out of Rose-Kim's blog, especially her "What the Hell is this" feature on Thursdays. Snarky, sure. But always right!

Rainy is a person I met over the tubes and then in real life. She's having a rather hard week/year and could use some cyber hugs. She's a terrific mom, knitter and spinner and I hope everyone goes over for a visit! When are we spinning together again?

Trek is another blogger I've met in person. She lives out near my mom and very kindly invited me to her knitting group last summer vacation. She has a cutie little Neatnick and a wonderful way with words.

Can you tell I like actually meeting you all?

Three more...

I know a lot of people read Cara's blog, but I'd like to give her a little encouragement, as some people seem to be very critical of her postings sometimes. I like hearing about her pregnancy tribulations as well as her fibery pursuits and her photography is UNBELIEVABLE!

Someone who's been very kind and helpful to me without even knowing it, I'm sure, is Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist. When I first got DSL and didn't know anything or anywhere to go, I used Melanie's blog as a sort of a hub from which I found all kinds of great stuff as well as really enjoying her blog itself. Thanks, Melanie!

And finally (although by no means is this the last person who's been nice to me over the tubes) Faith at The Needle and the Damage Done. Super mom, super knitter, super spinner and all around fun blog with lots of photos of her lovely family in Europe. She had a new baby, Daisy, this year and is really a breath of fresh air.

So that's it for now. Guess I'm supposed to let everybody know they're listed here and put up the button. Huge thanks to Heide for including me and for putting me on your blogroll! You would be here, too, if you weren't upstream!

And I would like to say that of course Edwards has dropped out, I just ordered my lawn sign. Sigh.

Peace.