Wake Me Up When September Ends

Wait . . . you mean it's already ended and I missed it? Sorry to have delayed so long in posting! All 3 of you who read the blog have been wondering, I'm sure! LOL

First the knitting . . .
I have fallen in love with the Baby Surprise Jacket. I've now done 3 This one is in cotton/linen, and it was fun to knit because of the colors. It was a pain to finish because of all the weaving in of the ends of those lovely colors, but it's done except for the buttons, so we're near the end.


This one is, obviously, the same pattern. It is Crystal Palace Painted or something like that - wool, with some Cascade 220 for the stripe and edging. I like the simplicity of the pattern so much. I modify the length by doing only 5 ridges in the middle before picking up stitches again. (I realize it makes no sense to those who've not knit this sweater - sorry).

This is the knitted hedgehog, and will actually really be cute once it is felted and stuffed. It's not so bad now, I guess, but it'll be better - trust me!

This most recent weekend was like a retreat for me, although it was really just my college homecoming at Grove City College. One of my dear sorority sisters flew into Columbus from St. Louis, and we drove together, picking up another friend near my parents' house on the way. Although it was stinking hot, it was a lovely day, and I spent so much time smiling and laughing that my cheeks are sore! This is a group of us at the football stadium (I hear there was a game going on, but we didn't really watch - lol). Sally and I in the front row, Linda, Stephanie, Nancy, Kim and Karen in the back row. It was great to see old friends and re-connect. I'll post a few more pics tomorrow.

Nancy raises Alpacas (and lots of kids) and brought along some fiber and yarn. Mom and I practically spread it out on the Living Room floor and rolled in it - it is so lovely! Mom purchased enough for me to knit her a sweater vest! Yay! I get to use it, Mom gets to wear it - totally a win-win! I've still got a moratorium on buying yarn - trying to knit up my stash - at least until Thanksgiving. Gack! I tell you, if you could feel this lovely alpaca yarn (and see the adorable pictures of the animals from whence it came) you'd nearly have caved in, too! I'm so thankful that Mom bought some!

So that is what's happening in my neck of the woods. Oh, we did manage to have a Birthday party for Simon, a big music party, work a lot, get back to school, etc. I'll try to keep up better, though, I promise!

Finally catching up

I've been on vacation for the last few weeks. Yes, I said a few weeks! 2.5 weeks off, actually! WOOHOO! We went to Club Gramma (my parents' house) first. Here are my folks and my kid outside the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. We mostly just spent time lazing around and going to the pool and stuff. It was great!

I finished my first-ever Baby Surprise Jacket (and Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern). I gave it to my friend, baby Elizabeth the next day. The yarn is Bernat somethingorother in green with trim of double-stranded sport weight, Lorna's Laces Child's Play leftover from my shawl. The buttons were all culled from my mom's button box. Baby E said, upon seeing it "Try on? Try on?" :-)

We also went to Glow-in-the-dark Mini Golf. Fun!

After my mom and dad's, we traveled South to Marietta. On the way we visited Beaver Creek State Park and looked around. Nice little park. The flooding was starting by then, though, so we didn't canoe.


We had a good time in Marietta with my in-laws, and then back home to excavate my son's room and get him ready for school. We managed to finish our chores with enough time for a nice little paddle on the Hoover Resevoir. We saw the typical shore birds, got some sun, had a good time.

Oh yea . . . excellent writing

You must check out Stitchy Mcyarnpants' great parody of My Humps . My words can't do it justice.

What's in your coffee cup?

After reading Yarmando's blog about the Starbucks Oracle, I had to try it.

The all-knowing Oracle of Starbucks
Behold the Oracle's wisdom:

I first entered Venti Iced Chai, lowfat . . .
Personality type: Pseudo-intellectual
You're liberal and consider yourself to be laid back and open minded. Everyone else just thinks you're clueless. Your friends hate you because you always email them virus warnings and chain letters "just in case it's true." All people who drink venti iced chai lowfat are potheads.

Also drinks: Sparkling water

Can also be found at: Designer grocery stores

Then I entered Venti Decaf, black . . .

Personality type: Freak
No person of sound mind would go to an EXPENSIVE COFFEE SHOP to get a drink WITHOUT CAFFEINE. Your hobbies include going to ski resorts in the summer and flushing $5 bills down the toilet. You are a menace to society.

Also drinks: Non-alcoholic beer

Can also be found at: Pools with no water

Purple Hair!

I promised the kids at my library that if enough of them (50%) finished their Summer Reading Club stuff (12 hours of reading over the summer), I'd color my hair.

Well, all of our goals have been achieved and passed, so today was Turn Purple Day! My friend Billi did the honors.

I love the colors! Since my hair is already lots of colors (although mostly gray and brown), it turned a nice array of different hues from darkish brown to lavendar.

We had enough dye for my friend, Gary, to do his beard. Isn't it great?

Socks!

My new socks are done! Aren't they pretty? They feel nice on my feet, too! For the details of the yarn, pattern, etc, see my last post.

I had to take this pic of Simon this evening. This is how he looks much of the time we're home. He's drawing, he's got a reference book to his left so he can make sure his details are correct, and he's got other paraphernalia around him. Rosie found him fascinating, too.

OK, Back to knitting. I've started some more socks, these for my young artist. I'm trying two at one time, toe-up as my sock sensei has suggested. More on these as they progress!

I've finished my bag-o-bags. I knitted strips of plastic grocery bags on size 17 needles. I'm going to make some kind of straps - any suggestions? Seems to me like plastic would be unstable, stretchy and sticky. Maybe some scrap fabric I have laying around. Nothing will be purchased to make this bag!

SIP

Socks in progress! I'm using Yarmando's pattern for the Mash-Up socks. They are toe-up - a first for me - and I'm doing them with the magic loop method, as you can see by the SIP. I'm also making the instep and cuff parts a little bit lacy with a pattern called Anastasia Socks, but I can't find a proper link at this point. I know I got it off the internet, but the link on the pattern doesn't work this evening. I got the yarn at Knitter's Connection, and I am enjoying working with it. It's from Yarn Love, in Fuschia and Spring Morning.

Finished!

I finished my shawl! I had started making a neck scarf with this beautiful Lorna's Laces, sport weight yarn a while ago. I so thoroughly enjoyed knitting with it and I love the colors so much (called "Child's Play") that I asked the LYS to order me more so I could make this into a shawl. They did . . . I did . . . yay!

Upon consulting with the KnitWits yesterday morning (and with great deliberation for the last few days) I decided to bind off with a picot edge, and then decided to pick up stitches on the other 2 sides and picot those. Ah! I'm so glad I did - it looks fantastic!

Domesticity

A few weeks ago I felt an inexplicable craving for sweet rolls. Now, we go to a shopping center quite often that has a Cinnabun shop. All through the place you can smell that delicious cinnamon/butter smell. It always makes my mouth water, but we never buy any. They are delicious, don't get me wrong, but they're not homemade sweet rolls . . . the taste may be extraordinary . . . but for me, a key component of having homemade sweet rolls is the visceral experience of making them. I love working with yeast, watching the dough change it's properties while you knead it, let it rise, punch it down, let it rise, roll it out, form it up, let it rise again, and bake it. I love making sweet rolls, and usually I only make them once a year . . . at Christmas. But this time, I knew I had to make them for my book group potluck, which is tomorrow. When I was a kid we used to go to big family picnics several times each Summer, and someone would always bring sweet rolls (store bought, but as they were from great bakeries, they were very good), slathered in icing and butter.

So this morning I got out my favorite bowl, my favorite spoon, and let the ingredients all come to room temperature (just like my home ec. teacher taught me). It struck me, then, how very sensual and marvelous this whole process is for me. It's ritualistic, almost like some pagan right of nature. The perfect handmade stoneware bowl . . . the well-loved wooden spoon (oh, how many batches of brownies and cookies and sweet rolls it has made with me), the old pyrex measuring cup (inherited from my Grandma's collection when she passed away), and the recipe card, written out in by my mother in her perfect teacher's script. Then there are the ingredients themselves: yeast moistening in warm water, eggs rolling around on the counter, my luke-warm milk in the glass container, and of course, real butter (never used for anything other than cooking very special baked goods in this, The House of Heart Disease). At this beginning point, it is all about anticipation.

Then I mix - I put in all the ingredients, mixing them slowly together in the bowl at first. As the flour is added, I have to mix more strenuously, putting real muscle into the process as the dough becomes sticky and unyielding.

There is always a point in the process when I must move the dough to the counter, and when I think to myself "Oh, yes, this is why I don't do this very often." The dough is sticky and messy, I put my wedding ring into my pocket and start pushing and mixing the last of the flour in, on the counter. It is so messy that I nearly always falter, I think I may never get to the smoothness that I long to find.

But then, sweet bliss! The dough starts to take on that new quality of smoothness. It becomes elastic and firm at the same time. There is nothing that feels like this kind of dough at this point. It is beautiful - that transition into real dough. Soft, just a bit sticky, but not sticky enough to stay on your hands. This is when I fall in love with the baking again, and I love kneading this, my dear friend, the dough. But soon I realize that if I keep on kneading, it would make the dough too tough and chewy, and I must gather it into a smooth ball and place it aside to rise.

I put a thin layer of oil (today I used softened margarine) all over the inside of my perfect, beautiful bowl, and slather a thin layer all over my ball of dough so it won't stick or crust in the rising. Then it gets covered in my clean linen towel (another beautiful item that inspires me) and placed on in a warm spot. Now I am free for a few hours, knowing that soon, soon I will get to punch all the bubbles out. As the day goes by I'll let it rise another time before forming it into the delicious rolls.

Socks!

This truly is the summer of socks! Here is a pair my good friend Yarmando made for me - aren't they delicious? They're Cider Moon, the color is "Hotflash" (perfect, eh?) and they have spirals! Woohoo! And I think they look great with my purple pants, don't you?

These are the new socks I've cast on (twice) this week. I'm using Yarmando's Mash-Up Sock pattern, but I'm adding some almost-lace patterning in the instep and up the cuff. This yarn is Yarn Love, and I forget the color names.

WIP and HB to Me!

My first pair of socks completed for Summer of Socks! Love them! They're too big for me, though - gift time!

My shawl - Lorna's Laces Childsplay. Lovely!

Plastic bags, cut into strips, knit up nicely on #17 circular - will someday be a swim bag or something. Interesting, huh?


Yup - another birthday come and gone. First photo is "reality style" self portrait with hubby.

And a pic of the group who dined w/me: sis and her hubby, Dave, Rick, my hubby. Si was not feeling up to going out. :(

Q and A

On the needles at the moment:
Plastic Bag Knitting: cutting up grocery sacks and knitting them on enormo needles - pics to come soon.
The Tank that never ended: still no progress because I have to chart more of the pattern before I can continue and it seems daunting
Another Preemie Hat: just to keep myself engaged
Socks: duh

Questions for knittingbrow :

Sock Clubs

Are you a member of a sock club?
Nope . . . but I would be if I felt I had the bucks.
Which one(s)?
See Above
What do you like about your sock clubs?
I think it would be great to get new yarn and a new pattern each month.
Do you like to have a choice about yarns and patterns?
NA
Do you always knit the socks with the pattern you get? Why?
NA
What do you wish there was available in a sock club?
Yes, I think the month-by-month fee is a good idea, or the ability to pay for 2 months or 4 months or whatever so someone could get you a gift of just about any size. Frankly, I'm not going to pay more for the club than the sock/pattern would already cost, so I'd be looking for some kind of deal.
What would you change?
The price!
What is it all about for you?
I also really like KALs . . . do they all have blogs or community type stuff included?

Meme - 16 days til the movie

. . . and 27 days til the book!

The sorting hat says that I belong in Ravenclaw!

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Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest."

Ravenclaw students tend to be clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable.
Notable residents include Cho Chang and Padma Patil (objects of Harry and Ron's affections), and Luna Lovegood (daughter of The Quibbler magazine's editor).

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

SWAGgering

Wednesday night I got an email from an old friend and sorority sister, Nancy. She and her family, who live down near St. Louis, would be driving through town Thursday . . . would I have any time to get together? Well, the workday was out with as busy as it is there, so we drove out to her brother-in-law's house for a few hours last night. Mind you, I've not seen her in about 9 years!

Simon came with me and did a great job of playing with the younger bunch of her 9 kids. Yes, 9 kids! Ranging in age from 16 years down to 16 months. Here is Si drawing for Susannah, and regaling her with stories. Susannah is 11 ( I think). She and her slightly older brother were adopted from Guatamala a little over a year ago.

Here is Nancy's husband, Tim, with their daughter Elizabeth.

. . . and another of Simon drawing for the kids. Now he and Susannah are joined by Samuel and Jubilee. It sure was great to see them all! 2 hours isn't NEARLY enough, though! Hopefully Nancy will be back through town for GCC Homecoming!

On to knitting . . .

In bragging about the great swag I got at the KC last week, I starting wondering what SWAG really meant. I found a site that gives a brief modern definition of the word as "stuff we all get", but my good friends at Wordcraft found a much more authoritative, reliable sorce at Michael Quinion's World of Words, and I thought all y'all would want to know. It's a great word with a long and fascinating heritage!

I haven't done much knitting this week. Ironic after breaking the bank on yarn last weekend, eh? It's been too busy at work, and I've really just come home and collapsed in a heap every night. It's Summer now, in full swing, and all the little darlings are coming to the library in droves. I'm going to KnitWits this morning, though, so I'll knit and maybe even start a new project, and I'll update you later.

Friends don't let Friends buy Bad Yarn

This past weekend was the long-anticipated Knitter's Connection. It was a great Wed-Sun of classes with a yarn market, etc. Great convention by all reports. I didn't get to go to any of it, really, except for the market, but that, alone, was awesome! It seemed, even on Saturday morning, like a lot of the sellers were getting low on stock, so that's good for them, too, right?

Everyone who pre-registered for only $10 got a great goodie bag o'swag. Yarn and mags that I would probably not have bought on my own, but it's thrilling to have some of these odd balls around to play with, and since I never buy mags it's fun to have those to look at and maybe even try a pattern from!

Of course, don't for a moment think that I didn't buy any other yarn! Oh no, my friends! Just look at all the delicious hanks I procured! Yum! Sock yarn coming out the wazoo! New Stash from Yarn Love, and some really cool "Evolution" yarn (100% wool that has been super-stretched and heated to change the molecular makeup so that it drapes like silk and still wears like wool from Chameleon Colorworks and some great 'silk soc" made from silk and nylon (feels like heaven) from YarnSmiths
Neighborhood Fiber Co who also gave out her logo stitch markers made from printable shrinky dink sheets,


And the title skein for this blog, you ask? Look at it's lovely brightness! Look at the fantastic mix of contrary colors! If only you could feel the sweet, smooth merinoness of it . . . and smell it's delicious "I'm going to be even more beautiful on your needles" aroma. Let's all drool together! Knittingbrow knew that I would love it - I walked up and he had this in my hands before I could even say hello. "Here," he said, "It's Vegas Brights." And I was sunk. Sold. No need to look further. Every yarn seller in the universe should have KB at their booth. This is from Interlacements.

Sunday night we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We took them out to a really nice dinner and gave them a DVD with some of our old home movies on it. My sister arranged most of it, and I was really impressed - it was great. I persuaded hubby to bring along his camera for some nice pictures. My folks are in the front row with me, then my brother, sister, bro-in-law, son and hubby in the back row. We have a small family, but it's still rare for us all to be together. We watched the movies during dinner (the restaurant provided the TV/DVD player) and it was nearly perfect. Don't my folks look great? Doesn't seem like they're old enough to have been married 50 years . . . but it's all true! Congratulations Mom and Dad!

Great Poem

Found this in my wanderings . . . a poem about how to knit a sock.

Go read it!

That's all for now. There is a great Knitter's Convention in town, but I've not been able to get to it yet because of work (blah) and church (ok, yea). I am going tomorrow morning, though! Yay!

Finally some knitting!

Before I get to the knitting, just a few little things. Can you see the faint but beautiful rainbow? This was last week. Right across the street from our house!


Ok - now for the knitting - another baby hat using remnants of Lorna's Laces. It's knit on size 8 needles, which gives it a very loose weave, but I think it's good for Summer babies. This will go to the Ronald McDonald House via my friend Gerry. :-) She gave me a picture Friday of one of the little babies wearing one of the hats I made - very sweet!

These socks (look how far I got in a week!) are from great yarn sent to me by my buddy, Slang, last Summer for my birthday. My goal is to be able to wear them by this year's birthday! I should make it as I have over a month left to go. :-)

Here is Simon with Mike after the Court of Honor at Scouts on Monday. He advanced 2 ranks (up to First Class, now!) and received one new badge. Yay! It was fun to go see the ceremony and watch all the kids get their things. I like the boy-run atmosphere. It's good to see boys taking leadership seriously.

Flickr

Just a quick post to tell you I'm posting my knitting project pics at Flickr.

More Birding pics and a Meme

First the meme - please post your answers to these questions either in my comments, or on your own blog, and then let me know you've posted!

4 Things to know about me: I love puppets, I love to tell and listen to stories, being around people cheers me up, I'm generally a positive/happy person even in the midst of trials

4 things that may surprise you: I sometimes lose sleep at night worrying, I have never bitten my nails, I sometimes like to be alone, I used to be even more talkative than I am now

4 jobs I have had: Librarian, puppeteer, seamstress, music teacher

4 places I've lived: Columbus . . . Boardman, Ohio . . . Grove City, PA during college (only 2 for me)

4 favorite foods: sushi, cheese, dark chocolate with nuts, high quality ice cream

4 favorite TV shows: The Muppet Show, Ned's Declassified, Wild Thorneberrys, The Simpsons

4 places I'd rather be right now: on a beach, camping in the mountains, with friends at a coffee shop knitting, sleeping

4 people who will post answers: Yarmando, Aunt Gerry, Mom, CychoLibrarian and maybe Sock Princess (yes, I know that is 5)

Now for a few pics . . . here you see my Mom, Mike, Dave (if you look closely you can see him kneeling behind my mom) and another birder, all trying to identify a warbler. Warblers are all small birds, smaller than my fist, all about the same shape. They're tricky to ID because they're all the same silhouette. I was not up to the task, but I did enjoy seeing and hearing them.

This is a cool shot of the fallen trees. I like the rugged, un-touchedness of this.

Here is a cool log - rotted out and growing new plants. My mom called it "nature's planter" and her pic of it was better than mine, but I figure I'll be humble and show you mine. Sigh.

This is a little barn swallow posing for me. I was close enough to touch him, but he was being very indignant.

This is why - he was protecting his nest. You can see the tail feather sticking out if you look closely. This is right at the entrance to the visitor's center. Very cool. Did I mention we saw over 100 species on Saturday? Well . . . Mike saw them. I wrote them down, and I saw some of them . . . but not all.