FOs, WIP and other glamorous things

I am starting this post with not one but TWO FOs!! First, Mikie's socks. While the knitting and end weaving is done, I still have to put the non-skid bottoms on them, but for all intents they are categorized as FO in my book. Voila! Definitely boy colors. I'm glad I'm giving them away. By the way, it's just perspective in the photo - one is NOT larger than the other.

Okay -- so FO number 2 is the Rabbit Tracks scarf. It was a quick knit and I don't even know where it's going to end up, but one can never have too many "extra" gifts items at this time of year. I'm just putting the close up picture of it so you can see the pattern. The long view is just not that interesting.

After I got done finishing up these little beauties I didn't feel like measuring and picking up stitches for the front of the Scoop de Jour (Oh but maybe tonight?) so I started on a Lisle scarf with some glorious Laines du Nord Royal Cashmere that I got on sale at Webs (which happens to be on close out for 50% off ...... that's $9.99/85 yards). I got two pattern repeats done. It's going to block out pretty wide and I have no idea how long it's going to get with 3 balls but it might even be able to be categorized as a wrap if I block the heck out of it. We'll see.

And last but not least, on this day of many pictures, I figured I'd snap a picture of what is sitting on my dining room table. Last week it was a dozen red. This week, 2 dozen peach-y blossoms. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but whatever it is I hope I can keep it up!!

I thought it was Thursday!

I worked SO hard yesterday - barely taking my eyes off the screen all day long. No run. Ate at my desk. Maybe because of that I skipped a day in my brain ... I don't know. All I know for sure is that I'm going to miss Noon Knitting today because I didn't bring anything to work on, thinking it was Thursday!!! Gaaaa!

I worked on Mikie's sock last night and have only a few more rows of toe decreases and then Kitchener that thing up and I'm done! I am really anxious to get that sock off the needles so I can try my two at once. I should have pictures Friday of the finished socks as well as (hopefully) a finished Rabbit Tracks scarf.

I got two skeins each of Noro Kureyon and Silk Garden yesterday in the mail from Little Knits. I think I'll use the Kureyon for another striped scarf (I wear the one I made last year all the time) and add a striped hat to go with it for a gift. I have two skeins of a brighter colorway than the one I got so it should work out nicely. As for the Silk Garden -- not sure. I have some other odds and ends of Silk Garden from that vest I made .... don't know. I seem to be in a lacy scarf mood these days. Who doesn't like to get a nice scarf for a gift? As usual I have too many ideas and too little time. I am hoping that I can get some good gift knitting done when I'm in Hawaii for that meeting. Sounds strange - knitting and Hawaii - but I'm not talking a lap full of sweater. Just some nice lacy scarf projects. Maybe with beads.

It was a swift weekend

I don't even feel like I HAD a weekend! It was that quick. So much to do and ... well, okay, we did lose an hour ... but still it seemed to zip by.

Friday I was tired after a really long and hard work week. I built a fire and had some food and knit on the Rabbit Tracks scarf (which is zipping right along). Saturday I had tons of chores to do and PJ's football championship game right in the middle of the day. Got most of my chores done, got to the game, which they unfortunately lost, and knit and knit on Mike's socks. I made a stop at the craft store because they are nearly done and I wanted to find something to make them non-skid since he has tile floors. One of the helpful ladies there directed me to some plastic stuff that I can glue onto the bottoms of them. That should work.

I put them aside and worked on the scarf that evening. I don't know who I'm going to give it to yet but I want to get it done (it goes SO quickly) and blocked out so I can see if it's a pattern I might want to make in some nicer yarn for gifts. I was also thinking of using the lace pattern from the Flower Power shrug so I could incorporate some beads into one of them. I have that nice mohair I bought in Paris a couple trips ago that would certainly lend itself to some luxe accessories.

I finished up the foot of the second sock as I watched the Seahawks lose a nail biter. What shame. Not a good football weekend - AGAIN. I watched "Meet the Robinsons" last night and didn't knit a stitch. Just watched. That was a strange movie.

My AWESOME Secret Pal

I came home from a hard day yesterday to find a package on my doorstep! Look what my Secret Pal sent me!! Gorgeous pink and green yarn - the pink is Lamb's Pride and the green is Silky Wool. My super ultra favorite colors! AND some purse handles that, I don't know how she did it, but I have been seriously looking for these types of handles for AGES! Plus a cool button with an "S" in the middle and what looks like to be a vintage belt buckle. Thanks SO MUCH Secret Pal. I love *everything*!!!

And speaking of Secret Pal goodies, I have finally found a pattern that I think will work for the one of the skeins of yarn she sent me in the first package. It's called the Maple Leaves Lace Scarf and the colors would be perfect. Also, I am still fiddling with a pattern for the green skein of Lamb's Pride she sent me - a felted bag pattern. I've started it twice but need to frog and re-start one last time (I hope).

I made yet another boneheaded mistake yesterday with my socks. I was working on them while I was getting my hair done, just finishing up the final gusset decreases on the second sock. Did the very last one, dropped the needle to turn the work and ... the needle fell on the floor. In other words, I used the same needle and now have the whole sock on ONE needle!! arghghg!! I just calmly put it away and will deal with it this weekend. I worked on the Rabbit Tracks scarf last night as I was watching a little TV. I would like to measure out and pick up the stitches for the fronts of the Scoop de Jour this weekend but it is shaping up to be one heck of a busy weekend yet again. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. It's just that I would dearly love to get that cardigan finished .....

A sneaky little start to holiday knitting

As naughty as Tink was Monday night, she was an angel last night and just sat nicely, with her head in my lap and let me knit for as long as I wanted. I decided I needed something new, so I experimented with the Rabbit Tracks pattern that my old SP, Baa Bonny Belle sent me ages ago. Of course I still haven't the guts to try the gorgeous white mohair she sent, but instead used some coned mohair blend I had laying around and got a good start on it. It was a nice, quiet, constructive evening.

Busy busy busy day though ... and I've got to get back to it.

My needy puppy

I can't say for sure what was up with Tink last night, but she was just so needy! I think I maybe knit 4 rows on Mike's sock. She just wouldn't let up. Sitting next to me and if I wasn't touching and petting her she was grabbing at my hand with her mouth. She needs a friend. Not to say, believe me, that I would want an UN-cuddly dog. Better that she wants to cuddle even when I'm busy. I've had an un-cuddly dog and I didn't like it.

I've been brainstorming holiday gift knitting. I should put pen to paper and write out what I want to do and then look at it with a critical and realistic eye and see what I can expect to be able to finish.

Day 3 of a sinus headache. It's clear and cold and that always wreaks havoc on my sinuses for some reason. My run yesterday seemed to help a bit. Today I'm going to go up to the post office to send my sister's scarf so maybe I'll be relatively pain free when I return from my walk. Fingers crossed!

It's true!

It came back to me. No stage fright. Everything went well AND I went looking for new boots and got this killer sexy pair of black boots and a new dress because ..... well because it looked good and I wanted to feel confident. Makes sense, right? So every went well generally, except for the fact that there was an open bar and the guitar player overindulged which meant that sometimes he didn't seem to be playing the same song. I'm serious. Oh -- and I had to sing back-ups on songs I didn't even know. That was interesting. Other than that though it was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon. I would only hope that there could be some more rehearsal. I completely understand that it's a drag to have to rehearse songs you already know with a new member of a band but that's just life.

AND not only that but I finished something! Woohoo! I finished the ruffle scarf for my sister. I had EXACTLY the right amount of yarn. I mean ... it was perfect. And I love that yarn SO much! I want to make other things from it. A whole sweater -- yeah but I have too many projects. This would be wonderful for Christmas scarves and hats though. Just yummy!

Although the weather cooperated I did not do any work in the yard nor chores around the house. I was that busy! Getting ready for the gig Saturday and shopping and getting my nails done. And Sunday I took Tink to the dog park and she got muddy from head to tail. Then it was bath time, fiddled a bit on Ravelry, finished up the scarf and it was time to get ready for a concert I was going to Sunday night. So -- let's keep our fingers crossed for a good weekend next weekend so I can get some work done!

A much less accident prone night

So I quit channeling my inner blond, finally, and managed to get a few things done without totally screwing up. I walked up to Weaving Works at lunch to get the yarn for my sister's Ruffle Scarf. I made so many of those for Christmas gifts a couple years ago ... or was it last year??... anyway she wanted one in black. I was thinking Rowan Kid Classic but when I got to the yarn store it didn't feel quite as soft as I had remembered, so I just kept touching yarn until I found Indiecita Baby Alpaca Brush by Plymouth. Super soft with a nice halo. I got nearly done with the 3rd row (out of 4) of the ruffle. Then it's just two rows of single crochet on the other edge to make the ruffle base wider and there you are. It's really a lovely scarf. I wear my green one ALL the time.

Well, count down to Saturday night when I am, after all, singing with that band. Only doing 4 or 5 songs myself, which is just dandy with me considering the lack of rehearsal. I'm working like a fiend trying to memorize those songs. You know, I never ever used to get stage fright but I think just this once, I might be a little scared. I am hoping that once I put foot to stage and hand to microphone it'll all come back to me. If not ... well, let's not even go down that road. It will happen like that and it'll be fine. Thank goodness it's a party rather than a nightclub so people are going to be a little looser.

An evening of boneheaded mistakes

I have heard it said many times that if you're going to make a mistake, make a big one. I took it to heart last night. Or maybe I was channeling my inner blond? I had a dentist appointment and so took off from work at around 2:30. I got to the parking garage and realized I didn't have my keys, that I had left them on my desk! So I called the department administrator but she doesn't have a master key to my office! I had to run all the way over to another building to get the key, then dash back to the garage and drive like crazy. I was only 10 minutes late, but still .... I hate to be late!

I had a nice night of knitting planned. First I finished up the sleeves for my Scoup de Jour. Since I am a little short on yarn I thought it best to sew the shoulders together and do the ribbing before I sew any other parts together so I can have the maximum amount of yarn to knit with. So I sewed the first shoulders together, ever so carefully. And then realized that I had sewn WS to RS. *sigh* Good news is that it is a small shoulder seam but nevertheless I managed to take out a stitch or two of the back shoulder as well!! With head screwed back on correctly I got the shoulders both sewn on and then realized that I wasn't up to measuring and counting to start picking up the stitches along the fronts, so I picked up the sock.

I had finished up the heel flap at lunchtime and was quite anxious to get those gusset stitches going! I got them all picked up and then I'm looking at my work -- what the heck?? Something was very very wrong. It just didn't look right and one of my needles was almost in a circle. What the heck? So I looked in the book again and realized that I had neglected to turn the heel! What a dope! So I carefully tinked back the instep stitches - luckily for me it's a simple rib pattern - and turned the heel and THEN got the gusset decreases started.

I've decided on the yarn for my sister's Ruffle Scarf that she wants. She said while shopping she saw a scarf and almost bought it until she heard my voice in her head telling her that I could make that!! So I'll walk up at lunchtime and get the yarn. I'm going to use Rowan Kid Classic. It'll be perfect. And a quick project to make since it's crochet. A nice little break.

And I still have that start of a felted bag project from the yarn my Secret Pal sent. I've decided to rip it out one more time because I do want to start from the bottom. I think my mistake before was that I was using too long a circular and I couldn't pick up the necessary stitches. If I shorten the cord I should be able to pick up the stitches and work up, which is how I want to make this particular bag. I even sketched it out! Picking the button is going to be tough because she sent me three beauties.

My super power

Yes, I have a super power! Whenever I walk out of my office .... my phone rings!! Isn't that awesome? Now what can I do with such a super power, I am wondering. Hmmmmmmmm ...

Yesterday was an incredible day - over 70 degrees and just gorgeous! Not that I took huge advantage of it, since I was at work all day. I'm going to run today and, of course, it's going to rain. I just need the weekend to be relatively nice so I can get in the garden and ... mow the grass one last time. I will need to rake leaves in the back too, although they are going to be continuing to fall for a few more weeks. It's nice to start getting them up before they're soaked and heavy with rain.

I drove in yesterday because I had an errand in the morning and so I decided to stop at the grocery store on the way home - most efficient. Yes until I realized while I was in the store that I had left my phone at work. Back I went in rush hour traffic to retrieve the phone. No land line at home and my sister down in California in the fires -- I wasn't about to leave my phone at work.

I am starting to think about getting a jump on my holiday knitting. My sister has asked for two things - and her birthday is in December so whichever one I get done first she can have for her b'day. Still, I've got a few other people that I'd like to make something special for - a couple hats and maybe a nice scarf or two. At the rate I'm going though - I've not had a true FO for a while now. Time to step it up!!

It's good to be home

I had a lovely vacation - really I did. BUT I was watching wildfire coming ever closer Sunday night and it was a bit scary. I was very happy to be able to leave, although I hated leaving my sister. Thankfully she has friends and a boyfriend close by so I don't worry too much.

I got the leg of Mikie's sock finished on the airplane and am nearly done with the heel flap. Won't be long now and I can start using my new book and knit two at once!

Work is very very VERY busy. The weather here is unbelievable - at this moment it's blue skies and 71 degrees! That must be a record. And tomorrow -- forecast says 55 and raining. Yeah -- that's Seattle for you.

It's pouring rain

and a big storm is on its way. I am thankful I am heading south! That's not to say that it doesn't rain or storm in SoCal but it's not supposed to be doing that this weekend!

I got lots of work done yesterday and had some lovely surprises. First of all, the Rowan Calmer I ordered from Elann arrived and the color is perfect! I didn't take a picture but will do when I get back so I can add it to my Ravelry stash. I also found 4 BIG bunches of wood on my porch! That was a GREAT surprise. I think they were from the band leader of band "B". He works construction and they were bits of construction wood. Really nice. Burned great.

So - back to work for another hour or so and then I'm off.

Will it never end????

I swear .... I remember now more vividly than ever why I prefer top down, in the round construction. These freaking sleeves are taking FOREVER!!! Also I should have done them first, like I usually do when I make a pieced sweater. Well so ... I knit on those sleeves for 3 hours last night. I'm working on the cap. And here's another horrible thing -- it looks like I'm running out of yarn. Can you believe it?? I have options - I definitely have enough to finish the sleeves, even if I might have to work both ends of the last ball to finish them. I will have to get another ball and hope the dye lot isn't off too much and use that for the ribbing and button band. It'll be a feature.

I'm working from home today and multitasking like a crazy person. I did go into the office for an hour to do some work that can't be done from here but otherwise I can handle most everything else from here AND get laundry done. Bonus. I've got to go into the office first thing tomorrow to finish up a couple things an then off to sunny SoCal. I'll send pictures from my phone.

Wow - that didn't last long

I checked back with Elann's web site yesterday afternoon and ALL of the Calmer was gone! Even the super ugly colors. I was logged onto their site and as soon as 9 am rolled around I ordered. I think a lot of people must have been waiting for that. It's nice that Elann is on the west coast because you'd have to get up at 6 am if you were in NY if you wanted to get in on some of that action. It's kind of a pay back for every time Hirschner's has something decent in their closeout email and by the time I open it and go to the site it's sold out.

No my Scoop de Jour sleeves are NOT done and I am ashamed of myself. I want to wear that darned thing!! I am motivated to get it finished, believe it. It's just finding the time. I worked late, then dashed home and up to the post office to get my Secret Pal's package posted, then relaxed and read the paper. Then by the time dinner was consumed and a few phone calls done there sure wasn't much left of the evening for knitting. I'll be very disciplined tonight. I've got to get laundry done so I can figure out what I'm going to take Thursday on my little trip to SoCal and knitting and doing laundry works out well. I love going down to visit my sister this time of year. It's still nice and warm and sunny and here it's definitely autumn. I get to wear skirts and T-shirts and sandals all weekend. Ahhhhh

One of the beautiful things about Seattle and my commute this time of year are the trees. The leaves are turning and when it's not cloudy, like this morning, the sky is so very blue in contrast to the leaves. Just gorgeous.

I Kitchnered my first toe!

Yes I did, I got out my book and sewed that sucker up! Yeah! Then I looked closely at it because one thing was bothering me as I got near the end of the stitches -- I had an extra stitch on one of the needles. Now I was pretty sure I had started with the same number of stitches on each needle but there's a chance I didn't, right? Anyway I was happy because it looked pretty good! Pretty good UNTIL I looked very closely. What was that little loop there? About three or four stitches into the toe closure here's a loop sticking up! Not good. A live stitch is what it looked like and by golly ... it's a live stitch! Holy cow! I must have accidentally slipped one of them off while I was looking at the book or something. I don't know. I carefully put it back into the knitting bag and this evening I will, with steady hand, catch that little live loop and corral it away into the inside of the sock somehow. Good heavens! It is SO lucky that I was inspecting that toe so carefully because I could very easily have missed that teensie lone loop.

I broke one of my yarn rules this morning but how could I resist? Elann has Rowan Calmer at 50% off! Sure, the four colors are not the best but one of them, Sour, is a color I particularly like so I got six balls which will be enough for a simple cardigan or ... or maybe Fifi (this picture is using I think the color I bought), which I have been aching to make ever since I saw Nonnahs' gorgeous version. And then after I checked out I looked at my Elann account and I am less than $12 away from earning my $50 certificate! Oh .. yarn yarn yarn ... my stash grows and yet my time for knitting does not. Sad but true. I could be getting to that point of having more yarn than I could use in a lifetime. Nah ... I have seen pictures of some serious stash. Mine is bush league.

I had a busy weekend and managed to get lots done including mowing the lawn for the last time this season (I hope), and I ran errands and did a little knittin', got a package ready to send off to my secret pal. I'm going to visit my sister Thursday for a long weekend and Friday I telephoned the airline to make sure I could bring my knitting so to that end, after I sewed up the toe of sock number 1 I got a good start on sock number 2 to bring along. I think tonight I'll finish up the sleeves of that Scoop de Jour that has been languishing yet again.

It was a terrible terrible terrible football weekend. Terrible. I don't even want to talk about it, it's that terrible. Awful. And I was at the game and we left before it was over. Ugly.

What a week!

Wow, once again I am very glad it's Friday. This has been a heck of a week. It was a pretty good rehearsal last night. I have a lot of work to do and getting those guys to book a rehearsal is tough! Everybody is going every which way. The guitar player is crazy - and not in a good way - the bass player's wife is in the hospital plus he's going to be gone this weekend so we'll just have to rehearse with the keyboard player and vocalists, OR just the guitar player and drummer, which makes it pretty darned hard to learn new material. Well ... enough complaining. It sure keeps me running, that is no lie.

I am looking forward to my little weekend with my sister coming up. I got online yesterday to find out the definitive word on knitting needles on airplanes since I want to take my socks with me for the plane ride. I figure that way I can really knock them out quickly. Plus socks are small enough to knit while sitting in a plane seat.

It's going to be another killer weekend. I don't know where I'm going to be able to find a few hours to myself to mow the lawn and run errands and learn a few more songs, let along knit! I feel so sorry for the dog when I'm so busy like this. She gets to spend about 30 minutes with me and then back to solitude. Thank goodness she sleeps so much.

Thank goodness for Wednesday knitting ...

or I would hardly be getting any knitting at all done this week! I got the sock decreased all the way down to the end and now I just have to Kitchner stitch it together and get crackin' on the second sock. I don't know, the second sock always goes faster than the first. Some people just hate the second sock but I don't mind at all. That being said, as soon as I finish this pair for Mike I'm going to try to do a pair at the same time, following the instructions in Knitting Circles Around Socks, which could work for me. I tried it last year following instructions for some sock on Knitty and ended up ripping both socks out and going one at a time. I am a visual person. I need good clear pictures.

Had a pretty good rehearsal last night. Got another one tonight with the band that actually has jobs. It's a bit nerve wracking, all the work I have to do. But I know one thing for sure. It's going to be FUN!!

It's been wet and blowing here lately but my lawn has been growing. I couldn't do anything about that while I was sick and now I am just praying for one dry day so the grass will dry out enough so I can mow it one last time before the winter. It looks like we might have a dry Saturday so ... fingers crossed. Oh!! And I got invited to the Seahawks game Saturday night (edit) of course I mean SUNDAY night ...- super good seats. Now if they only play a bit better than last week.... ergh

And the sock goes on

I finally finished the foot portion of the sock last night and have started on the toe decreases. I've got noon knitting today so might be able to finish it there. I won't be knitting tonight (rehearsal), nor tomorrow night (another rehearsal), nor Friday (dinner party). My life has all of a sudden gotten so busy! I have to make a date for myself just to get some alone time with Tinkie.

After a phone message to the leader of Band "B", who supposedly want me to sing with them at a party on the 27th and we've yet to rehearse any of my songs(!), I got a call back and we hashed out a rehearsal schedule and made a definite list of my songs and then others for the other two singers that I have to learn back ups for. This is a HUGE list, as you may well imagine. His problem, besides being a scatter brain, is that he's trying to phase out a keyboard player and guitar player and phase in a new keyboard player and guitar player without either of them knowing about it. The job on the 27th is being done with the OLD guys so we have to do songs they know. Well ... it's super complicated and my life has now become very complicated. I definitely have my work cut out for me these next couple of weeks. Then there's Band "A", with no bass player in sight, who want me to sing with them twice a week. To what end? We have a birthday party booked in January, which is quite a ways away. Tonight Band "A", Thursday Band "B", Friday fall over in a puddle of exhaustion. If I didn't have to work for a living life would be infinitely easier, yes?

And work -- we're winding down the big class - final exam on Thursday. I have gotten all of the parts in order and all I have to do now is make 166 copies of everything. Except. Except someone decided this would be a good time to put the copy machine out of order for some maintenance or other. What now? I think I'll sit tight and have another cup of tea and do some deep breathing. Maybe knit ......?

Am I shallow?

So I was out shopping Saturday - before the food poisoning incident - and ran across a display from Juicy Couture at Nordstrom. Now I am totally and completely wanting .. nay CRAVING one of these bracelets!! They are so adorable! And the charms ... too cute. I must stay out of stores!!

No knitting last night. I made the mistake of starting a really good book, then the phone rang and *boom* ... away went the evening. Tonight.

Is the saying "Bad things come in 3s?"

Well whatever or however it goes -- I am feeling it. First my back goes out. Then I get the flu for a solid week. I was just feeling better, went to work Friday and Saturday was having a great day and, you are not going to believe this, I got food poisoning!! A very mild case, thank goodness. But still, if you've ever had it even a mild case cuts the legs out from underneath you. It was gruesome! I'm laughing now because of the bad timing but at the time - not so funny.

So -- on to better subjects. I knew I was getting better last Thursday when I was awake at 1 in the afternoon rather than sleeping as I had been for 5 days before. I wanted to knit! Wonderful! So I worked on Mike's sock and all was well in the world. I got the heel turned and on to the foot. This is the first top down sock I've made in a while and I am going to learn the Kitchner stitch this time. There is no reason not to. I am sure it's very simple and I like the look of the toe. It's almost as nice as a toe-up toe. I knit a good bit on them Saturday when I was recovering from my little tummy problem but nothing yesterday. I WAS going to rehearse but luck was not with us. Doug lost his power about 30 minutes before I was going to leave to head over there. So I just watched the Seahawks stink up the joint, read the paper and lazed around until it was time to go to a Canadian Thanksgiving party. Which was nice.

It's going to be a heck of a week, if all the things I've got going on my schedule actually happen. Which hasn't been the case but ... you never know. Plus which I am going to finish a sock and cast on for another one! For sure!! AND I've got to start thinking about my Secret Pal's second package. Big week.

I have not fallen off the earth

I am just very sick with the flu. I've been in bed since Sunday. Hopefully I'm on the mend.

Hooray!!

My hand seems to be much better. I knit at noon yesterday with minimal discomfort and went at it a bit more last night while watching "Inside the NFL". [Have I said just how happy I am to have HBO again?? Am I a geek or what?] If I keep on track knitting-wise, meaning no further injury to my hand, I should be able to get this cardigan finished up in a week. Maybe when I get to sewing this up I'll stop being so lazy about the Isabella!

It's been a bad week for my back. I had to go home early Tuesday and yesterday and get horizontal. I am feeling MUCH better today. Just minor ache. I was into major tweak on Tuesday but getting flat and taking naproxen really seems to work. Sometimes faster than others but if I can keep myself from jumping on my bike too soon I should be okay. I could have ridden today but decided to err on the side of precaution. And I'm glad I did because sitting is a bit uncomfortable still.

The Huskies are playing USC this weekend. They are going to get mauled. And unfortunately it's an evening game so it's not like I can record it in the daytime and speed through it at night. Ah well ... maybe they'll surprise everybody.

Oh my little no bark-y miracle!

My little Tinkerbell can be a bark-y dog. She is a terrier after all and the squirrels are ALL out to get her. No, seriously. They taunt her. They run along the fence and flip their tails. Not to mention all of the other distractions out there - people walking by with dogs and without dogs and the other dogs in the neighborhood and the wind and the ... well, you name it. Sometimes she's quiet for hours outside and other times I am up and down a million times bringing her in or trying to quiet her down. Enough. I thought I'd try one of the citronella anti-bark collars and lo and behold - it works!! She hates it, of course, but it keeps here much quieter. She'll do one little bark, which is acceptable and much better than her little doggie tirades. She spent a good two hours outside last night, which is garbage night and her bark-a-thon night, typically. Just a couple little woofs. Ahhhh, bliss.

I enjoyed the peace and quiet and tried to calm myself down after all of the aggravation yesterday. No knitting although I was just really really wanting to pick up one of my 3 (or is it 4?) WIPs. I read catalogues and the newspaper and did the crossword puzzle and cooked dinner and watched TV and my fingers twitched for my knitting. Tonight I will pick up something and see how the hand is doing. I guess I could sew up my Isabella ......

Can you hear me screaming??

I wish I hadn't taken my run already because my frustration level just went up another bazillion points!!! Gaahhhh!! I could make this whole entire post nothing but a rant but I'd rather just take a few deep breaths, count my blessings and go on from there. Oh but I'll rant just a teensie bit .... I was SO looking forward to rehearsing with my new band this week but got a phone call saying that the new keyboard player had a conflict with Tuesday and could only make tonight at 8 and they were just going to go over instrumental things. So I figured okay ... Thursday. No, that was off too and he'd get back to me tomorrow. Dang! I know we're all busy and it's hard getting 6 or 8 people together but CRAP!!!!

So now here's where we start looking for the good -- ummm ... I can knit!! I didn't get much of anything accomplished knit-wise this weekend. Saturday was an Oktoberfest and Sunday .. football! The Seahawks played a real nail biter. And won. I started working on my latest bag and ripped it out once and re-started and I'm going to have to rip that out as well. That's fine - I'd rather get it done right. Perhaps I'll work on the sleeves of the Scoop de Jour tonight and see if I can't get them finished this week. That would be a very good goal. My hand doesn't hurt much - but then again it's only 2 pm and I've got a lot of work left to do this week.

It is getting colder. I've had a fire downstairs the past two nights and I think I'll take the fan out of the bedroom window when I get home too. Fall is definitely here.

I got creative ...

unfortunately, my creative bug came to me at ... oh, around 2:30 am. And I couldn't get rid of it until around 4 am. Zzzzzzzz I hit the alarm when it went off at 6:30. Well no, I didn't hit it. I turned it off. But I was only 30 minutes late. Not too bad.

Anyway it was that skein of Lamb's Pride sitting on my dining room table that did it. That perfect Kiwi green. I want to felt it and I was thinking of what kind of bag to make and I came up with, what I think, is a very good design idea. So - you know what that means. Everything else is now going to have to be put on hold until I can whip this prototype out and get the monkey off my back. I don't know when though. I have a busy and fun weekend coming up. Maybe I'll give up sleep for the weekend.

Busy busy busy day at work again - to end the super busy week. In fact I should be stepping away from the machine and trotting over to a meeting right this second!

What was I thinking?

I was looking at the Modified Clapotis I had started and thought it might be wise to check on the yardage recommended. hah! I am not even close with the novelty yarn I thought would work! I would definitely have enough of the recycled cashmere but it would not be a very interesting scarf with that. So .... I guess I'll rip it out and think of something else to do with it. I do like the way it goes with the two strands of cashmere (even though they're all wrinkled now) so maybe I'll just make a simple drop stitch scarf and then hope the kinks get washed out of it.

I have been thinking that I'll do a lace leaf pattern scarf with the yarn my Secret Pal sent me. The colors remind me of autumn and there are a couple pretty lace leaf patterns - Knitty's Branching Out, which I've already made, or Liesel. They look very similar, don't they? Or maybe I'll check out some wrap patterns. There is a lot of yarn in that skein.

I actually haven't been doing much knitting because my left hand is still hurting. I took some naproxen this morning and only knit a few rows last night on my sleeves. I had to stop because the purling hurt too much. Doesn't that suck??!! Once work calms down a bit and I'm not typing so much I am assuming that the inflammation will calm down. And in fact it's not typing as much as it is copying and pasting, which I have also been doing a lot of. Terrible when work gets in the way of life, eh?

My awesome Secret Pal

Check out these fantastic goodies from my Secret Pal! She said this is her first secret pal exchange and I'd say she's got it nailed, wouldn't you?? My super favorite color of green Lambs Pride and then a gorgeous skein of a wool and silk blend. Can you see the beautiful sheen of this yarn? It's a very generous skein and I think I should be able to make a simple wrap or large scarf from it and it would be stunning. Then the cute buttons - perfect for a felted bag and a Rowan Felted Collection book. Just wonderful! Thank you SO MUCH, Secret Pal!!

Work is getting in the way of my knitting. I've been laying off because of the soreness in my hand. Tomorrow is Wednesday lunchtime knitting so we'll see how I do there.

And I got some great band news yesterday! I have been rehearsing with 2 bands, one of which has been working but lost one of its singers so I auditioned a few weeks ago and now they've got jobs in October and a new keyboard player and want me to join up! Unfortunately I made plans to go visit my sister on the weekend of one of the jobs but that's the way it goes. I can do the second one, which will be an early Halloween party. This means now two a week rehearsals. I am SO excited!!

I had a ggggreat run yesterday. It's so funny how some days I can barely make it for 30 minutes and other times I'm just flying! I must say I prefer the flying days.

Oh I could just kick myself!!

My Secret Pal's first package arrived on Saturday. I was so excited!! She's a VERY mysterious pal, unlike me. I took pictures and what did I do with my camera? I left it on my desk!!! I had to bring my laptop in to work today so I was packing that up, AND my clothes, AND my lunch AND my workout clothes ... well I sure as heck hope I left it on my desk and not laying in the road somewhere between home and work. Nah ... I must have left it on my desk. Too bad I can't call up Tink and ask her to take a peek for me. Anyway, it is a most excellent package with some gorgeous buttons and wonderful, stunning yarn. I'll definitely post it tomorrow, assuming I can find my camera.

All in all it was a pretty wonderful weekend. Friday was just vegging out. I has purchased some very lovely, skinny ladder yarn at Tuesday Morning, which is a type of "odd lots" store that someone mentioned on Craftster as having yarn once in a while. I started tossing all sorts of oddments into my basket until I realized that they were NOT cheap, even at 50% or more off. So I contented myself with two skeins of a lovely pink/silver/purple for a new scarf. I thought something with a drop stitch would work to show off the yarn. Friday night a tried a couple things and ended up with two strands of recycled cashmere and one of the ladder yarn. And since everyone else in the knitting community is doing Clapotis, I thought I'd do a modified version.

Saturday was errands during the day. I was just finishing up the first of my 12 row repeats of that Modified Clapotis that evening when I realized that my printer had clipped a few very important characters and I'd have to look it up. But at that point my doorbell rang and so I put it down and spent the rest of the evening with two of my girlfriends. They had generously volunteered to come over to help me clean out my closets! Oh no ... it's not something I could do on my own, easy as it sounds. And we had a wonderful time! And I ended up with organized shoes and clothes and bags and bags and BAGS of things to take to Goodwill or whatever. All color coordinate .... *sigh* ... gorgeous.

The only dark spot on Saturday was that the Huskies lost. To Ohio State though, which is nothing to be ashamed about. Contrary to the Seahawks who lost to Arizona on Sunday!!!! Oh ... I don't even want to talk about it.

Sunday I visited the remodeled Seattle Aquarium with my nephew. It was very interesting. I had a great time.

And now another huge week ahead. Hopefully I'll get the rest of the stuff for my secret pal's box and get that out this week. My friend Ruth is having an open house for her new office space. And I'd like to get some good knitting done, if my hand will cooperate.

A gorgeous morning

What a beautiful day. Too bad the cement trucks are outside my window again. Probably all day long too. I am just hoping that this is not going to be going on for the whole time they are working on that building. It's very nerve wracking.

This morning has been busy busy busy! I'm just now taking a breath. I have nearly finished up with the web sites for the start of the real autumn quarter, which is good news because I have to build a brand new one from the ground up for a new course one of the people I work with is just starting to chair this year. And I can see that it's going to be one of those last minute jobs. I don't mind really. It sure makes the time go by quickly when you're working that hard. And then ... then I get to start a brand new project and I'm really looking forward to it. Not to get too geek-y but it's a database thingie that I'm going to put together. I have some great ideas and now I have to figure out how to implement them. That's the fun part of my job.

Okay - here's a terrible confession and perhaps by laying it right out here in the open it will keep me from doing this again. Yesterday I didn't run. Why? Because I had a new skirt on and I wanted to wear it to noon knitting with my buddies and I didn't want to be all sweaty sitting there! Oh yeah .. I'm going to run and run hard today! Nobody will be around to see me sweating this afternoon.

But while I was knitting yesterday my left hand and shoulder were hurting something terrible! When I purl it really hurts and, of course, those sleeves are stockinette stitch. It's a combination of knitting (or rather, purling) and using my keyboard that is aggravating my hand/arm/shoulder. This morning I could hardly squeeze the brake handle with my left hand! I totally laid off the knitting last night. I guess this would be an opportune time to sew up Isabella, wouldn't it?

Does this go without saying ...

that I'm not looking forward to summer being over? This time of year we are just blessed to be able to go to the grocery store and have fresh strawberries and blueberries and blackberries and peaches and nectarines and pears and melons, just to name a few! It won't be long now, I know, that our only choices will be oranges and apples. I do eat apples all year 'round and I love them, but it is also nice to have other choices, right? So you can bet I'm taking advantage of it. Just last night my salad comprised pear and strawberries and spinach - which was a lovely combination. But I also had grapes and blueberries to hand and I had to choose - fruit salad or veggies? Actually I didn't choose, did I? Best of both worlds.

The one single thing I will be thankful for when the weather turns is that it'll be too cold to keep my office window open. It is so noisy out there!! I can barely think sometimes when the trucks are going, revving and beeping. I don't hate my little cubbyhole of an office way out here. It's nice and I get lots of work done because I don't have many distractions, people-wise. But oh the noise is so terrible! And the spiders ..... but we'll let that one go. I have heard of people see much much worse.

I had such an awesome run yesterday even though it was beastly hot. I looks like the clouds are going to stick around for a bit longer today so hopefully I can have another good run and it'll be cooler. It takes me so long to cool down when it's 80 degrees outside.

No knitting last night although I hope to get some good work done this lunchtime with the lunchtime knitting girls and tonight. I am chomping at the bit to start something new but I will NOT until I can finish some things. In fact, I was feeling guilty about my poor Isabella, languishing and awaiting finishing. I put it in it's work bag after it dried and then cleaned up and put the project on top of a shelf so it's not right in my face. I need to take it down and plop it in the middle of the table so I have to look at it all the time. I'm only a few hours away from completion!!

The lust for yarn

I can't explain it. I get emails advertising yarn sales and I always look! And lust! I just don't understand where it comes from. I have yarn for projects enough to last a year. Or more. But I'm always on the look out for something.... else. Something more. Today I got an email from Little Knits and I was drooling over the raw silk. I think I'm going to be a good girl today. I need to get my bike tuned up, not buy more yarn!!

Slow going on my Scoop de Jour sleeves. It'll get there. A few more evenings sitting watching TV should do it.

It is HOT here! Yesterday in the 80s and we're expecting the same today. I'm going to have to get out and have my run soon before it gets too hot.

Go you Huskies!!

It was a spectacular football weekend. Not only was the weather awesome but the Huskies beat Boise State - a ranked team that last year went undefeated AND beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. It was an outstanding game! So very nice to see the Huskies winning again. And then Sunday the Seahawks opened their season with a win against Tampa Bay.

Needless to say there wasn't much knitting done. I did work some on the sleeves Friday night and Saturday during the game. Not at all yesterday. Instead of working around the house and yard I did work work and nothing much else. I haven't had a total complete day off since my vacation week. That's just how it is around here this time of year.

I'm working on getting my Secret Pal's first gift put together. Unfortunately everything I want to give her this time I had to order and one thing is back ordered .... ergh ... Hopefully I will be able to get it off to her before the end of the week.

I am going a million miles an hour

Wow .... I have been soooo busy! It's nice for a change but exhausting! Plus which here it is nearly 3 and I'm just now doing my blog!

I tried, I really really tried, to work on those sleeves last night but it was one of those crazy nights. The phone kept ringing, a doggie walking friend stopped by with two of Tink's playmates, so that craziness was going on and it wasn't until nearly 8:30 that I had a minute to myself. I made a vegie burger and sat down to watch Costas Live - a great show last night about old, injured football players and their lack of pension, etc. And then by 10 I was out like a light.

Tonight I am not sure if I'll get any knitting done either. It's opening game of the football season! Yay!! Football and knitting - a perfect combo, n'est pas? I'm having some company over for the game and pizza so I don't know if I'll get a chance to pick anything up. I will do some serious work this weekend. Maybe even start sewing up Isabella? For sure get a few more inches done on the sleeves. Sunday I've got tickets to the Seahawks season opener so that's going to take up pretty much all Sunday. I just must resist casting on anything else.

And now for the boring part

That length of stockinette stitch that constitutes the body of the sleeve, even when you're doing two at once, is just so boooooring! Even though you must count rows to make your increases (or decreases, depending on the direction you're going), it's just boring. I am starting to reconsider picking Tahoe as my next cardigan project, since is consists entirely of stockinette stitch with the exception of the cute button band and cuffs. I think I'll let it wait a bit and choose another project. I have socks for mindless knitting. Maybe I'll do something in the round, like the T-twist while it's still warm enough to wear. Of course, by the time I'm done with it .... But it should be a pretty quick knit.

Work is huge right now. I love being busy though so it's not too bad. And I sure sleep well.

What a morning

Talk about hitting the ground running .... whew, I have been going nonstop since the alarm went off at 6:15. Major disasters averted, things handled, and I didn't scream at anyone!! As luck would have it, it was not only raining but POURING this morning and the students had to do a lot of extra tromping around outside because of all of our construction around here but we're off to a good start. Thank goodness there is only one class like this - five solid weeks. By the end of it the faculty are exhausted and I'm usually hallucinating and drinking WAY too much.

I had a very busy and wonderful and even knitterly weekend. I got all of the ribbing done on the Scoop de Jour sleeves and a couple inches on the plain part. I photographed and posted most of my stash on Ravelry. Wow, that was a chore, I'll tell you. And I missed stuff and I didn't even go through my bins and do the odd things nor did I catalogue the 2 and 3 balls of things, except the Kureyon. So I guess I'm going to have to do it some more, but I feel like I really got a handle on it. Oh, speaking of "handles", my Ravelry name is PinkieDee. I could have used sgolard but you know, I kind of felt silly and whimsical and I thought, "What the heck" .. and so there ya go. And basically it's just a nickname I call Tink. Whimsy strikes us all now and then, doesn't it? What I didn't do this weekend is start sewing up Isabella.

And oh ... I had a wonderful shopping day on Saturday. Bought new bike shorts and my favorite store, Anthropology, was calling to me so I went in there and lo and behold didn't they have a couple of sales racks with two skirts I HAD to have, and a couple tops (okay .. 3) as well as a looooong cardigan. It was fun.

Sunday I did yard work and washed Tinkie and got my nails done and then had a really good rehearsal. No, we still don't have a new bass player but the old one ... he wants to come back!!! Un-freaking- believable. The leader said he'll let him rehearse with us only when the new bass player can't make it or something ... I don't know. I don't care who plays as long as they play well.

The weekend was supposed to end Monday with rain, but it didn't. It was gorgeous and that was the day I went to Bumbershoot. I wanted to see Joss Stone, which I did. And I was disappointed. I was hoping for more of the R&B cover stuff. She sounded good but I didn't care for the song selection at all.

No surprises

Don't you just love it when things go according to plan? I know *I* do! I planned on finishing up the fronts of Scoop de Jour .... check. Casting on the sleeves .... check. Knitting on the aforementioned sleeves ... check. Plus which the Seahawks won their last pre-season game and got out of there without any (serious) injuries. Yay! Let the real football season begin!

My bone dry Isabella is now draped over a dining room chair, front and back still separate. I'm going to have to bribe myself to sit down and start finishing that. I'll have to think of something good. Maybe get myself a nice bottle of champagne (or at least a foreign sparkler ... Thanks, Trader Joe) and use it as a carrot.

One more meeting today at work, thankfully this morning. Go have a nice run, then babysit the front office because everyone (and I mean every-freakin-one) of the admin ladies are either out on vacation or sick! I only have to do an hour and a half and, quite frankly, I'm totally useless since I know nothing about anything anyone would ask me about. I guess they just want a presence. I'll be all sweaty from my run so I'll bring my laptop and my lunch and sit there and sweat and ... oh! I can buy some memory for my laptop on line. That's a great idea.

The weather isn't supposed to be particularly nice this long weekend. I'm going to Bumbershoot on Monday to see Joss Stone. Otherwise I want to work in the yard and input stuff to Ravelry. Maybe rehearse. Relaxing weekend. Yeah

I'm having knitting withdrawls!!

No knitting again last night, although I did work some on Mike's sock during noon knitting yesterday. Unless my plans completely go south, I should be able to knit tonight. It's hot today but I'll be downstairs watching the game anyway. Should be perfect, especially since it's the last pre-season game and probably not going to be very riveting.

I really really want to photograph the stash and spend some time on Ravelry this weekend. I am going to get some more memory for my laptop. It's something I've needed to do forever but just haven't gotten around to it. Now that one of my web site production tools has been upgraded it's eating up too much memory and significantly slows the machine down so I'm going to have to do it to save my sanity. Oh yes, I procrastinate. But in such odd ways sometimes. Anyway .... what I think Ravelry will help me do most of all is organize my list of projects I want to do. For example, I still haven't made the Rockstar Cardigan and it's been on my list AND swatched for over a year! True, I don't have the yarn, but I know where to get it and what I want. But things keep jumping the queue. Maybe this will help me be more organized.

It's dry!

My Isabella .... I fondled it on the way out this morning and it's totally and completely dry. You know that that means, don't you? I now must steel myself to weave in the ends and start sewing the thing up. Holy cow, that is going to be some tough chore. I'll have to do it in stages. Then there will still be finishing to do on the armholes. I want to be able to wear it before it gets too cold.

My plan for last night was to practice (learn) the songs I'm going to be singing for that new band tonight and simultaneously finish up the fronts of the Scoop de Jour and cast on the sleeves. Well, that plan was derailed by a charming smile and an offer of a dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant. Ah well ... that means I'll be singing as I work today, in between meetings, and finishing up the Scoop de Jour tomorrow evening while I watch the last pre-season football game - Seahawks and Raiders. Or that's the new plan anyway.

I have been dabbling just a teensie bit in Ravelry. I think I am going to be spending a few hours this weekend just putting stuff up, photographing my stash, etc. I haven't really even explored it much yet. There is just so much. It's an incredible place. What an idea, eh? I signed up for a couple groups and haven't even been able to explore them. Now I understand what Baa Bonny Belle was saying about getting sucked in. Wow

Sometimes ......

I just can't believe what a complete scatterbrain I am! I walked by my iPod this morning, sitting in its customary place and said to myself, "Pick that up now and put it in your pack so you don't forget it". But did I listen? Noooooo. I took out the garbage and recycle and got my lunch together and packed up everything and took off. I was half way to work before I realized my mistake. I'm just so spoiled. I hate running without my iPod. I can hear myself breath, for one thing. Plus I like the music in my head. It keeps my feet going. Well I'm going to have to tough it out today.

I only took 3 pictures on the island Sunday, on the way back. Saturday was just too rainy and dark. Here is a picture of the dock and the surrounding islands. It was still quite cloudy Sunday morning, as you can see. But just so green and gorgeous! Definitely too remote for my taste, even for a vacation house, but nice to visit. I suppose if one had a plane it wouldn't be so bad but still, you couldn't really fly to Seattle to see a play or anything without a lot of hassle.

And finally, here's a picture of my Isabella, pinned out and drying. I didn't have room on the table to pin both the back and the front, but I washed them both and pinned the tricky part, the front. I don't think I'll both pinning the back. And by the way, the difference in the dye lots is so apparent, especially when wet. Thank goodness I only have that problem on the back.

I fiddled a bit with Ravelry yesterday afternoon. I hardly know where to begin! It's quite the thing. I can see how one could lose days there.

A comedy of errors

Yikes ... back at work after a glorious week off and the morning couldn't have started out crazier. First of all I turned off my alarm and awoke 10 minutes before I should have been stumbling out the door. But I got myself in gear and made good time, dashing out the door in about 45 minutes. As I rolled my bike out of its little cupboard I was recalling what my friend said to me as we were biking Wednesday afternoon ... those words were , "Is there something wrong with your back tire"? Since I was powering up a hill at that point I wasn't going to stop and check but I looked back and it didn't look flat so I said, "No, I don't think so". I had put air in it before we had gotten going too far and indeed we only rode 11 1/2 miles. But whatever ... when I rolled it out this morning that rear tire was flat as a pancake. Dang! Already late, I just dashed inside, threw on some jeans and a top and rearranged things between my pannier and a backpack and dashed back out to the car. It was only when I was 3/4 of the way to work that I realized that I should have put the bike in the back of the car so I could take it down to be repaired after my run at lunchtime! What a DOPE!! Now I'm going to have to go back home after work and then come back down here ... crap. But I just wasn't thinking. It happens.

I had a very interesting weekend. Saturday afternoon I went out to a private island for a concert and party. By "private" I mean that it has NO PUBLIC LAND and is entirely owned by the few inhabitants. There is no regular ferry service, just a boat that you can schedule to run you out. Most of the people living there come and go by airplane. I am not kidding. It is just incredible. Since it's rather remote not many people live there full time, but a few do and one of the full time folks sets up parties and concerts every year. The venue is a saloon that reminds me of Disneyland. I stayed in a vacation home that was so grand - three floors, log cabin type with windows looking out over the water and decks and balconies ... just too much. I was traveling with the talent and crew for the event but since I wasn't actually working nor entertaining I got to be a guest. Best of both worlds. There was a little pre-show dinner given for us by some lovely people who happen to own one of the larger wineries in Washington. I got to the house and everyone is sitting around chatting and drinking wine and the host introduces himself and suggests I pour myself a glass of wine. Oooo, I love this wine!! It was lots and lots of fun.

There wasn't much knitting this weekend. I tried to knit on the little shuttle boat coming back from the island but it was too choppy and I started feeling seasick. I did ... ta da! ... finish up Isabella last night!! Woohoo! Tonight I'm going to block it so I'll take pictures after it's pinned out. And then I'll finish up the fronts of the Scoop de Jour and cast on the sleeves. I haven't decided which project to tackle next. I have so many to choose from.

And to top the weekend off I got my Ravelry invitation. I haven't yet had the time to activate it. Maybe this afternoon after I put out a few more fires.

I 'm lovin' this vacation thing!

The weather has been gorgeous and I'm having a wonderful vacation. Yesterday I had a nice bike ride, then got my hair done and then .... ahhhhh .... nothing. I was going to work on a web site for a friend's business but I figured since he's been without one for years another day won't kill him. I am actually working on it this morning and that's the ONLY work type thing I'm going to do today. After I get one page up for him I'm going to get cleaned up, wash my doggie and then get my nails done. Maybe another bike ride this afternoon if I'm feeling like it. I'm going up to the San Juan Islands for a party Saturday so I want to get Tink washed up before I send her over to her doggie friend.

I haven't finished up Isabella yet ... gah ... but I have been doing some good work on Mikie's socks. There are only so many hours in the day. I've been reading for a nice change, catching up on my Vanity Fair magazines. Maybe tonight I can finish up Isabella. Or ... not.

Proof - I have proof!

I am finishing things ... yes I am! Here's a picture of the finished socks. They are not very pretty, I know. I don't like the width of the stripes, nor the colors actually. But they are comfortable and will be good with boots or clogs for the winter. And I must admit I'd rather wear ugly hand knit socks than store bought ones.

I got a surprise in the mail yesterday -- it was a good day, really. My secret pal spoilee from last round (SP 10), Jen, dyes yarn. I could hardly wait for the exchange to be over so I could go to her Etsy shop and purchase some sock yarn. And as luck would have it she had just finished up a new batch of yarn and had a gorgeous colorway all set to sell. So as fast as I could I clicked into her Etsy shop Knitting Like Crazy and purchased this beautiful hank of yarn, which she calls Forbidden Forest. Isn't that beautiful? I can't wait to get started. Oh but I must -- I have lots of sock yarn now sitting on my shelf waiting for their turn. Click on over to her shop though and take a look. It's beautiful stuff.

And finally, I got the right front of Isabella finished and took the stitches off the holder and got a good start on the left side, before I went out last night (for the best Italian dinner I've had in years but that's another story for another time). Here's how she's looking this morning. I have a one o'clock massage appointment and I am going to be in the neighborhood of Little Knits so I am going to stop in while I'm there. Hopefully I can get some more knit on this tonight. Maybe even finish it? We'll see.

Hoorah for vacation

Okay ... even though I'm not going out of town, I'm still happy about having a whole entire week to sleep in and just do whatever I want. I had planned on doing gardening this weekend but it has been raining so that was out. Today after I do a few chores around the house I'm going to settle down and tackle Isabella. I have finished those socks and my resolve is set. I'm going to finish up Isabella and then finish up the fronts of Scoop de Jour and cast on and start the sleeves before I cast on another project (except socks, which don't count. I do already have another pair of them going).

Other things I want to do this week are get my circular needles into the great needle case Pam gave me, my SP10, and sort and straighten my stash. But hey, if I don't get to it I am not going to beat myself up. This is supposed to be a rest for me and I tell you, I have been resting! I think my friends are right when they say that my constant exhaustion lately is mostly likely a backlash from stress over all that I've been through this past month. I can't get enough sleep, that's for sure. Saturday and Sunday afternoons I slept! Napped!! But oh it was good. And today I got up at 8 to let the dog out, read the paper and then went back to bed and slept for another couple hours. I wonder when I'll be caught up?

What a fabulous event!

Yesterday evening I went to Chateau St. Michelle winery for a wine auction and picnic. The woman who does my hair invited me to come along with her. She had been given 2 tickets by one of her clients, who runs these types of events. It was gorgeous. The Northwest Wine Society (or something like that) does a couple of very high end charity events to benefit Children's Hospital. One of them was last night and then on Saturday is the grand extravaganza event. But the one last night was just wonderful. There were more wines to taste than you could even imagine, and I've been to a few industry wine tasting events in my time. And the food .... I couldn't believe it. The cheese table alone was mind blowing -- French and Irish and Italian English and everything in between. And there were lamb chops and salmon and ... well, you name it. It was just wonderful and I had a super time. She was the designated driver but somehow got sidetracked. I think she was doing too much drinking and not enough eating. I ended up driving her back home but I was fine because I was doing plenty of chatting and eating along with the drinking. Can you tell I had a good time?

And I'm still smiling today! I have been working on a rather large project for the chairman of the department. When he first asked me 2 years ago if I could do a web site for a meeting he was in charge of in Hawaii I said sure, but that I'd probably have to go to Hawaii to make sure it all went well ... I was just being glib. But as the time has drawn closer and I've not only done the web site but planned and set up the program for the meeting, I'm gathering the abstracts and basically coordinating the whole meeting and today when he came in for a short talk about a few things and I mentioned that I might be gone around Thanksgiving he was a little dismayed and said "Aren't you coming to Hawaii?". I said I wasn't sure he was serious about that and he said oh yes he was and he was also hoping I could come a few days early to help set everything up. Oh. Okay. So it is now a fact and not just wishful thinking. Woohoo! I guess I'll have to go to Europe in January or February.

Again, no knitting content. Tonight I plan on starting some socks for my friend Michael and I'll have a whole week to do nothing but knit and goof around. I got some yarn from Elann yesterday. They are so fast! Of course, they're not far from where I live but still - I just love that about them. That and the fact that I have less than $50 to spend before I get my $50 certificate. Niccccccce.

Disappointing peach

In my opinion, one of the sole reasons for venturing across the mountains into Eastern Washington in the summertime is the fresh fruit. Just right over the mountains in Cashmere and Wenatchee it is just one orchard after another - peaches, nectarines, pears, apples, cherries, not to mention corn and tomatoes and beans ... far as the eye can see. Little mom and pop fruit stands line the sides of the road and I was really looking forward to getting some fabulous fruit for this week. I can only assume that it was simply bad timing on our part because we couldn't find much at the fruit stands! Oh plenty of jam and honey and kitschy junk, but the fruit and vegetable selection was slim to say the least. There were huge peaches and good sized nectarines with good color, but rock hard. The cherries looked good so I bought some of those for my friend Ruth for taking care of Tink. The tomatoes were ripe and I got a couple of those and a few rock hard nectarines and peaches, figuring I could ripen them up in a bowl on the table. Yesterday evening one of the peaches and one of the nectarines felt ripe so I popped them in the fridge and now am eating the peach. And hmmmm .... not sweet. The texture is good but the flavor is not what I was hoping for. It could have used a few more days on the tree is what I'm thinking.

The weather has taken a strange turn for the worse and wouldn't you just know it! I have been invited to a party this evening at a winery -- a gourmet picnic and wine auction. The forecast is for rain but I don't care. I think it'll be fun anyway. The winery is lovely and humidity makes my hair curl! It's a good thing.

I finished up a pair of socks last night! Yay me!! I finished something!! Woohoo!! I should have taken pictures for proof. I'll do it tomorrow. Mike has been bugging me to make him a pair of socks so maybe I'll do that next. He lives in Phoenix - it doesn't make sense to want some warm hand knit socks to me, but he says the floors in his house get cold in the winter so whatever. I'm happy as long as someone will actually wear what I knit for them. McG is being a much better house guest than last time, I must say. I suppose partly because he hasn't been in my house as much and he put the bed away downstairs when he left to visit his mom and sister. I think it's a case of when I make a critical remark on how he is treating me and my house he's going to be worse, and if I ignore his messes he cleans them up. Kind of immature, isn't it? Truly - some people never ever grow up.

Public enemy No. 1

Yesterday afternoon I strolled up the Ave to send off a felted bag and to get new pictures for my passport renewal [I was thinking ... I've had a valid passport since I was 16 years old and I won't say how many years that is!!]. Anyway, there is a copy shop that I passed by that also takes passport pictures so I stopped in. The man that owns the place was talking to me as he was setting up for the photo, didn't even give me a "1,2,3" and shot the picture. Now I know we're not supposed to smile any more for the picture but I thought I had at least a pleasant look on my face. Not so .. not so my friends. I look like a convict. You know you see those booking photos of celebrities, like Nick Nolte when he was pulled over for DUI? Or Mel Gibson? You know, that slightly crazed look in their eyes, kinda droopy and drooling? Yup, that's what my picture looks like. Not only that but the lighting was bad and do I need to tell you what bad lighting can do ladies and gentlemen?? I am seriously considering getting another one taken. It's hideous.

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday evening WIP-wise. I had forgotten that I had finished all of the decreases, both neck and arm, for the fronts of the Scoop de Jour! I just have to finish up knitting on the 11 stitches until the length is the same as the back. I wish I had had the foresight to count rows like I did in the Isabella. It is just so hard to get an accurate length measured with Calmer, especially if there's ribbing. It's stretchy.

No knitting ... no ranting either

Last night was dancin'! I was exhausted after work yesterday. I barely made it through my run at lunchtime. I can only surmise it was just my body telling me I had had too much late night and party the past few days, but I had made arrangements to go dancing with my friend MaryEllin and I wanted to go! So I took off from work a little early, dashed home and walked Tink and then went down for a nap. Man ... I slept hard! I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and slept for 1 1/2 hours. But then I felt great! And we had a fun time, too. I learned something new as well. But oh my goodness.... the air conditioning in that club was not working very well and I was just drenched by the time I got done with a couple dances. Next time maybe a sleeveless top would help.

Today I'm going to get my new passport picture. I realized as I was looking at my calendar and day dreaming that IF I'm going to go visiting friends in Europe in November I'd better get going on renewing my passport. They are backed up and saying on the web sites that you need to allow 10 to 12 weeks (!). One does have an out though. If your passport is not in your hands and you have 2 weeks or less to go before your trip then they will expedite it. But I don't want it to get that far, so I'm getting the picture today and getting that thing in the mail ASAP.

Must fill out my SP11 questionnaire and get that posted. I believe we're starting tomorrow.

Just the barest HINT of a bite in the air

When I went out to get the newspaper this morning I detected the slightest hint of a bite in the air. I know it's only mid-August and maybe it's purely psychosomatic on my part because preseason football has started and football = autumn. But still it was a little brisk this AM. I'm not trying to hurry time. Things move too quickly for my taste as it is.

I have sold a bag from my Etsy shop! I got an email from a woman this morning asking if she could purchase a ready made bag and I told her I just hadn't gotten around to listing them yet but I'd do it first thing and before it even showed up in my store she had purchased it. Fun! I'm curious to see if the kits go. As I said before, the ready made ones seem to sell but I would think a kit and a pattern would be a good seller. We'll soon see, won't we?

The newest Secret Pal starts Wednesday - Secret Pal 11 - and that means I've got to stop messing around and start back on some real knitting so I can have some interesting pictures to post. Heaven knows I've got some WIPs and I may even resurrect my Ogee Tunic! That'd be something. I am, truly, motivated to finish things but I keep getting side tracked - mostly by felted bags. This weekend I had plenty of time before and during the "concert"/party thingie and I worked on the sock ribbing until it got too dark to see. I have two more stripes to go and I can cast those suckers off (and away). No, I'll wear them. I love the feel of hand knitted socks. And it doesn't matter if they're ugly because I don't wear them with sandals.

It was a long weekend. McG and I drove from Seattle to Wenatchee on Saturday, I got a brief nap and then we headed off to the Columbia River where the party was going on. It is an annual party a woman friend of Mike's throws every year in a neighborhood that is mostly summer homes, but there are people that live there year around - about 20% according to one of the "natives" I spoke with. The music is mostly mediocre to bad with the exception of Mike, one other guy and a blues band. The rest of the time - this goes from 7 to midnight - it's just one excruciatingly bad performance after another. Yes, I am a bit picky when it comes to live music but still - amateur hour for sure, with the exceptions. My favorite part of the evening was the end when the children had gone off home and the locals were out in all their drunken glory and I was dancing on the grass in my bare feet. That was nice. Then at midnight we went back to the Best Western in Wenatchee and Sunday morning drove back to Seattle via the scenic route, stopping at a fruit stand on the way to get peaches and nectarines and the tastiest tomatoes in the world! OMG - I just about swooned when I sniffed those gorgeous tomatoes. I didn't even put them in a salad last night but just sliced them and sprinkled them with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Yummy!

The Seahawks played well in their first preseason game last night, beating the Chargers. I just watched the game - no knitting. And there won't be any tonight either because I'm going out dancing. But this week and the next - I'm going to be a knitting fool!!!!

Can you say football?

Oh my goodness - football season again! I watched the first pre-season game last night and finished up my latest felted bag. Knitting and football - it's just so .. so... right. Now if it would only cool down a bit so I could have a lap full of sweater and not be sweating to death. No - I don't mean it. I don't want to hurry the cool weather. I am just a bit anxious to get back to knitting garments rather than accessories. It's my own fault, but still.

So - I had a productive day working from home. There is so much going on work-wise this time of year. It's lucky that I have projects I can do from home because that dish guy didn't leave until nearly 2 o'clock!! It wasn't worth changing into my biking clothes since I was already handling stuff from home, so I finished up the day there. Then Tink got a bath - she was so dirty!! No matter that I put bark in all of the flower beds, she just scuffled around in them until she gets to the dirt and then plops down! I didn't let her out again after that except for the deck and the patio because if I don't watch her carefully, as soon as I let her outside after a bath she rolls in the dirt.

The latest felted bag experiment went surprisingly well. When I looked at it during the felting process I was not too happy, but I let it go all the way through the cycle and it has turned out pretty good. There is some tweaking to do with the pattern but overall I am happy with the structure and proportions and general design. I'll take pictures - it's drying now. I think I will add a button closure and re-think the structure of the handles. But I'm going to take a little break from bags and finish up a couple of my WIPs. Isabella first, because I am so close, and then the Scoop de Jour. I must! The new Secret Pal is starting up next week and I've got to have something new to talk about!!

Weekend in Eastern Washington. It'll be hot and dry. Maybe I'll take some pictures there as well.

They can't all be fabulous

Mid-week birthdays are .... boring. I did my best. Had a little sparking wine, got some nice cake and it was fine. McG came by and brought a cute card and more wine and we had some laughs. What more can you ask for, really? Good friends are what it's about.

So, today I'm home. The cable box is gone and as I type the Dish man is putting up not one, but two satellite dishes because they need a separate one for the HD signal. What I did not count on, however, was that I would be seeing those (ugly) dishes when I look out of my window toward the deck. They had to mount them on the rail along the floor of the deck, above the patio, because of the sight lines to the satellite. Because my house has no fascia and the gutters are small and there isn't much clearance between the house next door, and it's illegal to mount them over living space (i.e., on any part of my roof), that was the only place the guy could put them. How long before I stop seeing only them when I look out my window? I'm really not happy about it but I'm kind of stuck now. If I find it's too steep a price to pay I can change it out next spring. I think I can stand it for a year. Well, I'll have to I guess. At least they're not visible from the street.

I was washing up this morning while I was waiting and noticed that the water wasn't getting very hot. Uh-oh... McG had spent the night and so I asked him if he'd noticed anything and he said when he had his shower yesterday he noticed the water wasn't very hot. Grrreat .... I thought I'd check the breakers first because I had flipped one a few days before and sure enough, I had accidentally flipped the water heater as well! Oh joy! That's the good news for the day.

It is a case of the last straw

Comcast ... I have had it! My cable bill is outrageous even though I don't have a single premium channel. But I did have NFL network. DID have it. I tried to watch the channel a couple nights ago and found that they have now put it into a premium tier and if I wanted it I would have to pay for it. That just really steamed me!! I already pay too much. I was reading NFL.com and there was an article about what Comcast had done and they were suggesting calling and complaining (big deal ... like that's going to do any good) and changing to one of the satellite services. I had looked into that before but found the price of the HD-DVR tuner to be prohibitive. However, when I checked again yesterday they were giving them away to new customers so ... I signed up! Tomorrow they're coming to switch me over and Comcast is coming to pick up their equipment. I will have all the channels I currently have PLUS NFL network and I'll save $50 a month. Not bad.

I did not knit last night. McG came over and I cooked and we tried to decide what song I would do with him. I'm having second thoughts.

My arm is not as sore as it was yesterday but I am noticing as I type that it's starting to hurt again. So it's the typing and not the knitting that is the cause but knitting doesn't help it any. I should have taken another Naproxen this morning but I forgot. Oh well, I'll do it when I get home.

I was reading the paper last night and saw that Stevie Wonder announced a date at the winery - August 31. The tickets went on sale yesterday and sold out in 15 minutes! I somehow missed the announcement of ticket sales or I would have been right there! I would LLlllllove to see him! What a legend. My one friend with contacts at the winery all but laughed in my face when I called to ask about getting seats. Oh well ... would have been so cool.

Too much of a good thing?

Last Monday I noticed that my left hand was sore, especially around the base of my thumb. I assumed it was from playing golf, since I do it so rarely. One week later and it's not better. In fact yesterday it was hurting me quite a bit. The pain is now going all the way up my arm and into my shoulder, which leads me to believe it's an inflammation from a combination of the tons of computer work I had to do last week - lots of copy and paste movement - and knitting. I noticed Sunday night that my hand got awfully sore while knitting (yet another) felted bag prototype. Since, unfortunately, I can't take any time off work until August 21, I might have to curtail my knitting. Maybe I'll just try to take tonight off and see how it feels tomorrow. And I have done the major part of the donkey work on my sites for school and spreadsheets for the meeting I'm helping the chairman with. Don't ask why his secretary can't do it ... I have no earthly idea ... and the only positive coming out of it is that I might get a trip to Hawaii in December and I don't know about you, but I'd do just about anything for a free trip to Hawaii in December! It's worth a bit of discomfort. This morning I took a good anti-inflammatory and no weight lifting today. Must nip this thing in the bud.

The clouds have moved in, which is not typical for August. It was raining on my ride into work. At least I had my glasses this time.

The birthday week has begun!

Rather unusually, my birthday week has started before the actual date. I don't know about you, but typically my birthday celebration starts on my birthday and just kind of keeps on for a few days. But this year my friend Ruth invited me to brunch at the Space Needle on Sunday with her son and their Japanese exchange student to watch the Blue Angels perform their air show (which is an annual Seafair tradition.) But it was also a lovely surprise b'day brunch with gifts! (My favorite? A ticket to the Seahawks season opener!) The weather was perfect, we could see the planes flying around and it was just lots of fun. The previous day I had gone to watch the Seahawks at a scrimmage and didn't get any yard work done, so my plan was to come home from the brunch and work in the yard. Hah! All I wanted to do after that meal was snooze.

I didn't do much knitting this weekend either. Got the heel turned and the gusset stitches picked up and am now set to do the leg ribbing. Then I was working on another prototype felted bag - this time I'm getting smart and not doing a huge version but just a small one to check dimensions and see if the new handle idea I have works. But tonight I really want to dedicate myself to finishing up the left side of the Isabella and starting on the right. I am motivated to get that thing done!

This coming weekend I have been invited to accompany my friend McGarrah to a party he is performing at near Coeur d'Alene. He wants company and it would be nice to get out of town. But the coolest is that he wants me to sing a song at the gig. Cooler. It has been too many years since I've actually sung in front of a crowd. I used to love it and never got stage fright. It will be interesting to see if those things still hold true.

Disaster averted ... kind of

I awoke to rain this morning. What a nice surprise and a nice break from the heat. Well ... for Seattle anyway, days and days of 80 degree weather is difficult when you don't have an air conditioner. My office ..... it is hot even with the window open and a fan to circulate the supposedly air conditioned air. I am at the end of the air conditioning duct and it doesn't seem to blow very cold over here. On the other hand, my friend's office on the other side of the building is so cold she needs to wear a sweater. Doesn't seem very efficient does it? Anyway, so I was a little off my game this morning, running on autopilot as usual and as I stopped to pick up my keys and put my bike helmet on I glanced in the mirror and .. yikes! No makeup! Got that fixed up and half way to work, as I was cursing the rain pelting my face, I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses and hadn't put on goggles either. Some days I wonder how I arrive at work at all.

Got the bag felted last night and got my sock up to the "turning the heel" spot. I spent quite a bit of the evening reading the new "Interweave Knits", which did indeed seem much larger this issue. I enjoyed reading it but I don't think there's a single thing in there that I would make, except maybe the cardigan with the cables at the yolk. Not that the designs weren't good, it's just that this issue nothing really jumped off the pages at me. Of course, I've got a few things in the pipeline as it is and don't need any more projects at the moment. Once the weather cools down a bit more I can get back with the sweaters but it is too darned hot for a lap full of sweater at the moment! Although I am just dying to get back to my Scoop de Jour, although that's probably because it's being done in Calmer and everybody knows how nice that stuff is, huh?

Before I finish up -- everybody send Nonnahs and her B some positive thoughts today.

Kick start me!

I cannot get it going this morning. I slept okay, didn't have much trouble getting out of bed even, but I am just barely keeping my eyes open and it's only 9:30. Perhaps it is because I've got so much work to do. Or maybe it's construction fumes. Whatever ... I've got to shake it off and get moving.

Yesterday evening was just lovely - the weather is so great! I had a nice cold Stella on the deck of the local pub while waiting for the sushi place to make my dinner, then Tinkie and I walked back home and I relaxed and nearly finished the bag I'm working on. I could have finished it up but not gotten it into the washing machine, so I left 1/2 a row and binding off for tonight, then I'll pop it into the washer. Maybe I can even finish the heel of the second (ugly) sock. I do so want to finish those up so I can use some pretty sock yarn. [Memo to self: Quit buying ugly sock yarn!!]

I've got a busy weekend building. Saturday the Seahawks are having a scrimmage and I'm going down for that in the evening, meeting my friend R whose son is going to the football camp in the morning. Then Sunday my friend R also invited me to join her and her son and their Japanese exchange student for brunch at the Space Needle and the Blue Angels are going to do a fly by! That'll be cool. Hoping also to get work done in the garden and, if the bass player has been replaced, to have a rehearsal as well AND maybe even go out to hear some music on Saturday. Almost sounds like too much ..... when will I knit?

They don't have to be single to chat you up in a bar

Here's a classic. [PJV, you are most likely not going to like this story.] My friend Lisa and I went out to hear some music a couple weeks ago. When the band went on break the drummer of the band approached me and started chatting. I had remembered him from when he played in another band that I saw a couple times at a now defunct bar near my house. I mentioned that and he introduced himself. Having learned the hard way that not all flirtatious men are sing, I said, "How many wives, girlfriends and children do you have"? He said, "No wife, no girlfriends and 2 sons, 18 and 20". We chatted some more about the music scene and he bought me a drink and then had to go back to work. He said something like ... see you on the next break .... or something to that effect. But Lisa wanted to go and she was driving so we left. I wanted to go dancing again this weekend and I love to dance to that funk and R&B music they play, so yesterday I looked up the band's web site to see if I could find out if they're playing. On the web site there were only dates for July but a link to be added to the mailing list. The link was his email address, so I sent an email saying how much I enjoyed the band and I wanted to thank him again for the drink and sorry I didn't get to stick around for the next break but I wanted to be on the mailing list. I got a message back .... from his wife. She said "Hello, this is xxxxx's wife. There is no mailing list". Can you believe it??? The nerve of that guy. And the stupidity. Let me ask you, do you think I have the word "gullible" written across me in some way that only married men can see? Oh well ....

I had to mow the lawn when I got home last night and then got some good work done on my second whimsical hairy bag. I need to find a name for it ... Anyway one more good night of work and then I should be done and I can put up two more bags on my Etsy site.

It's going to be hot again today. I need to run early so I'd better eat something!