If it wasn't for bad luck ......

What is it with me and buses?  I always seem to be having some sort of mix up or other.  Yesterday I took the bus to Northgate so I could pick up some face cream and save myself a trip to the mall during the weekend.  I got there just fine but the getting back to work .... not so fine.  I waited on 5th for the 68 bus, assuming that it would be going to the University.  Ha!  Plus, oh it was late.  So I waited about 20 minutes for this bus that took me around the corner to the transit center across from where I used to live.  It was then that I realized that I had mistaken the 68's route.  It is not circular!  I then caught a 67 which is the bus I used to take to work.  I could have walked over to the transit center after my purchase and caught a 67.  Well at least I figured it out because I have to go back today because I got the wrong cream.  *sigh*

It was nearly 90 yesterday but the clouds moved in and now it's not even 70 and it was thundering and raining this morning.  I wonder if I should have given Tink a pill.  Well, too late.  Hopefully she won't be too freaked out.  The rain shouldn't last and I should be able to have some good garden time tomorrow.  I plan on going to Flower World in Maltby.  It's supposed to be very cool. 

I am SO looking forward to the Seahawks tonight, although I don't think any of the first stringers are going to be playing.  It doesn't matter.  It's back, that's all.

When do you call it finished?

I know that many many people post their projects on Ravelry and keep up with the progress of the item by posting pictures and then post a finished date.  I call a project finished when it is blocked but I think some people call it finished when it comes off the needles.  Unless you can wear it or use it I don't think you can call it done.  But I am a very picky and precise person so .... you can ignore this rant. Here are some pictures of the lovely shawl being blocked.  I am sorry that the beads don't show up as well in the photos.  They really pop in real life. You can kind of see them in the picture on the right.  Or if you look very closely at the bottom of the tear drops on the left.  I am anxious for it to dry but I won't be able to use it for weeks and weeks if this summer keeps up like it has been. 

We had thunder showers yesterday and the air is moist today but it will still be in the high 80s.  I think Friday it's supposed to cool down.  I hope it's nice on the weekend though because I want to work on the garden and the planters around the patio and porch.  I just don't like to garden at all when it's cloudy.

I had a quiet evening last night and will again tonight, hopefully.  Tomorrow night?  Ah, the first pre-season Seahawks game!!  Woohoo!!!

Finished Shangri-La

I finished binding off the Shangri-La shawl and it is SO gorgeous!  It needs to be blocked so I don't have any pictures.  I brought it in today to show the noon knitting group before it's blocked and tonight when I get home I'll give it a good soak and pin it out.  I need to be aggressive about it so that the nice mesh work can really show off the beaded tear drops.  Hopefully we'll get a winter this year so that I can wear it.

I worked from home yesterday afternoon after spending the morning at a doctor's appointment.  We've finally got all of the dosages right so with any luck I won't have to see her again until next May.  It just doesn't make any sense for me to drive to work after a morning doctor's appointment though.  It is expensive - tolls both ways and parking - and it takes an hour.  All of my files are on the cloud now so I took care of business as well as let Tink in and out a million times.

Since my Shangri-La was finally finished I decided I'd knit up the project from the Yarnbox ArtYarns shipment.  It's gorgeous yarn but I'm not crazy on the colors.  And right now I need a small project.  It's still so very very hot and not weather to start a sweater, which will be my next big project.  A lace panel drapey cardigan.  Monika made it and it's a great pattern.  But I'm weeks away from that.

What else?  All I can seem to do is complain about the weather.

Super Duper Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend!  It started out with a work at home day Friday because I had someone coming over to clean the furnace ducts. Actually I thought they were just coming to give me a bid, but they just started doing it and I had nobody else coming to give me a price so I just let them go ahead.  It needed to be done and they were done in 30 minutes.  The price was fine and I'm happy. 

Saturday and Sunday I got a lot of knitting done and I've finished up the body of the Shangri-La and I started the picot bind off last night.  However, after the third one I realized I had forgotten the bead!!  There is absolutely no way in the world to tink back to add it so I put it down.  I need to have all my wits about me when I do this bind off and I was distracted by the first pre-season game.  Ahhh, football. 

My birthday celebration Saturday was low key but really nice.  First I slept in, then after breakfast went to the mall where I got a new Seahawks 12 jersey.  Then some grocery shopping and a light lunch.  The main event was dinner at Preservation Kitchen.  It was super good. 

Sunday was a lazy day.  We had a party planning meeting at 3 o'clock and otherwise is was just knitting and football.  I don't feel bad about it at all.  It was still my birthday.  Next weekend I'll work on the planters and otherwise be more productive.

Mists

Yesterday evening the rains came and it really poured.  It smelled so nice - wet earth.  And it sounded lovely too.  I had had a bad day yesterday - except for noon knitting - and it was rather soothing.  This morning it's not actually raining, but still the air is wet and it's misty.  It won't last long, but I think this cooler weather will be with us for a while and for that I'm grateful.

I managed to dial in to my meeting yesterday and get on the correct bus - yay me.  The meeting went on long enough for me to get to the Transit Center, drive home in horrific traffic and walk Tinkerbell.  In other words, it went over time.  I just don't know ..... things are SO weird and things are still up in the air.  It is not going to be easy to get through another entire year of this, but I must do it.  Day by day.  Today I get to go to the gym.  There's a good thing.

I've got to get the heating air ducts cleaned before we turn the furnace back on this year.  After that remodel and the floor refinishing the ducts were NOT cleaned and I believe it did not do my asthma any favors.  This year it will be done - the sooner the better.

My Shangri-la is getting to have some weight and substance and it is such a comfort to work on.  I got another couple of rows done yesterday between noon knitting and the evening stupid TV time.  (Although stupid TV time now includes football news so that's good). After I finish the next beaded row I will take stock of my yarn and see how much further I can go.  I think four repeats and the edging will be fine, especially blocked, but if I can make it another repeat I shall do it because I like my wraps to be long.

Oh I hope I can stay awake.  While I love this cloudy weather it does make me sleepy.

Memorized

My Shangri-la is coming along nicely.  Now that I have the pattern memorized it is really zipping by.  I got another two rows done last night before I crashed and I will get two more done at noon knitting today.  Because I'm now working from the previously knitted portion of the Jo's Pride it is going to be difficult for me to judge if I will have enough yarn to add another pattern repeat.  But I'm a week or so away from having to make that judgement.

Yesterday was another present day on my birthday week.  This one a bottle of a liquor I am fond of.  But it can't keep up, I'm sure.  But while it is happening I'm liking it!!

The clouds have rolled in and with it cooler weather.  No rain though, which is what I was looking forward to.  And it won't last long either.  We'll be back in the 80s by Friday.

Football .... that's basically all we're hearing about now.  Especially after that horrible end to the Super Bowl.  Preseason games start on the 11th, I think.  Although the Hall of Fame game will be on this coming Sunday.  Guess what I'm going to be doing?

Hooray for the birthday week!

The best week of the year.  We'll discount the time spent at work, of course.  I doubt the gifts will continue every night, but last night I got a wrapped gift to begin the birthday week.  What was it?  Only a copy of the Fantasy Football Index!  Okay, it's just a magazine, but it's a great fantasy football start for me.  I got the email yesterday to join our league and this year I'm going to be prepared!  So besides studying this magazine I'm going to join the ESPN Fantasy Insiders.  I'd just like to be in the playoffs!  I don't need to win the whole thing, which would be awesome.  But being in the playoffs would be great too.

I finished up the laundry and had a pretty lazy evening, which is how I like Do-Nothing Monday to be.  I even got some knitting in, albeit with the fan blowing straight on me.  I needed to get to bed early and I had a nice night, for the most part.  It was bloody hot, but fans work well enough to let me fall asleep.

I wanted to go to the gym yesterday since I wasn't able to go even once last week.  But I had to go to Northgate because I did not want to have to go to the mall on Saturday plus I was totally out of Chanel mascara.  It took as long to go to the mall as it does to go to the gym.  Not that anybody notices anyway.  Today it's gym time.

I think we might get some more rain tomorrow.  At least it's cooling off this week and I noticed that finally my tomatoes are starting to put out some flowers.  The cherry tomatoes have fruit on them but the other two, with the exception of the 3 tomatoes on the Early Girl that were there from the beginning.  So maybe by the end of August we'll have some tomatoes.

Not what I expected

Friday was a very busy morning, plus it was Seafair weekend and the Blue Angels were flying, so I90 was closed making 520 impassible.  Therefore I was picked up very late and we didn't get to the ferry line until after two.  It was packed!  We didn't end up getting on the ferry until 5 o'clock.  No matter.  We had a vacation mindset, and cocktails.  After checking in to the hotel we went out for a meal and then walked the town.  The music ..... mmmmm, not exactly what we were expecting.  After doing a bit more research we found that this is mostly a workshop type of week culminating in various concerts around town.  This is acoustic blues, not dance music. 

We had a wonderful breakfast and then drove around, visiting the historic fort where the workshops were being held, among other things.  In the afternoon we walked around all of the galleries and shops and I fell in love with this clock.  The little swirl is blurred because it is the pendulum.  I just LOVE it and so I bought it.  A birthday present to myself, a week early.  I didn't have anything particular in mind to buy myself this year, so I am very happy I found this.

We had a little rest and then went back out for a late lunch and then, since we weren't all that enamored with the music we settled in on the balcony with snacks and lots of tequila and played cards.  I was the winner.  I cleaned everybody out!  That is the first time we've played poker and I was the big winner.  The downside is that I had to buy dinner, but it was well worth it.  And we laughed and laughed.  I was sure my stomach was going to be sore the next morning, but it wasn't.

We got up and out in plenty of time to make the ferry without having to wait in line.  We couldn't pick Tink up until 3, but that gave me time to shop for food and start laundry.  Oh it was hot.  Too hot.  The weather is supposed to cool down a bit this week and I can't wait.  Hopefully we'll get some rain as well.

Things are absolutely bizarre at work.  My sanity is hanging by a thread.

The Blues with a capital B

I was tasked with the job of finding a hotel for a weekend away in Port Townsend.  I think that was in June.  Anyway, my choice of weekends was very limited due to family obligations and other things, so I ended up picking this weekend.  Then when I went looking for a hotel to find two rooms I was having a very hard time and ended up finding two rooms at the hotel farthest away from the center of town.  It wasn't until about two weeks ago that I found out that the reason it was difficult to find a room was that it is the Acoustic Blues Festival weekend.  We are all fans of the Blues so we are all looking forward to this vacation.  Add to it perfect weather and good company and you can't beat that.  I'm leaving at 1 o'clock and we're heading to the ferry dock.  Hopefully we can get on the 2:15 ferry.  Yay for the weekend.

It was of course bloody hot yesterday and I was in a rush after work.  I had to take Tink to the doggie boarding place and they are very strict with their pick up and drop off times.  Then to the dry cleaners to pick up, since they are closed on Sunday.  And finally a quick stop at the grocery store to get a pizza for dinner.  Huff puff ..... and then back home to soak the plants so they will live over the hot weekend and to clean up the mess I had left in the kitchen the night before.  AND I had pulled a broken glass out of the dishwasher so first I had to completely empty it and find the shards.  In the process of doing that I found a piece of the dishwasher on the floor of it.  Hmmm ... where does it go?  It wasn't broken so it must have worked itself loose.  Well, I had no time to figure that out. Besides -- not my job.  By 7:30 I was packed up for the weekend, showered (but hair left wild because I simply cannot straighten it in this heat) and relaxed.  It's weird not having Tinkerbell around though.  I miss her. That being said, I really do sleep well when she's not rooting around on the bed all night.

Well I've plenty to do this morning before I take off. 

How I turned my 1 hour commute into 2 & 1/2 hours

Yes, you're reading that correctly.  Typically I leave here on a 4 o'clock bus, arrive at the garage at 4:30 and get home at 5.  However, last evening as I was waiting for the bus I had to dial in to a conference call meeting.  My bus was a bit late but my app said it was arriving now so a bus pulled up just as I was asked to enter the code for the meeting.  I glanced up, saw the numbers and got on.  It wasn't until the bus pulled off the freeway that I realized I was on the wrong bus.  I had gotten on the 540 rather than the 542.  In a panic, I got off at the very first stop.  That was wrong.  I got onto the metro trip planner and found that I needed to take another bus to the next stop where I could catch a third bus that would take me to the Redmond Transit Center.  Well, I missed the correct bus because I didn't realize I needed the one saying Kenmore.  And when I finally got a bus to the next stop, the Kirkland Transit Center, I had just missed the bus to the Redmond Transit Center by one minute.  ONE MINUTE!  That meant that I had to stand in the 90 degree heat for 30 minutes.  I arrived at the garage at 6 o'clock.  Needless to say I didn't feel like doing anything when I got home.  I was SO mad at myself!!  The dog had already had her walk, so I stripped off and had a nice shower, made myself a big bloody Mary and calmed down.  What a bone headed mistake. 

It's another hot day and I'm very busy.  At least it will go by quickly. 

Caught up

I went to bed early last night and I believe I was asleep before 9 o'clock!  Ahhh, but I'm all caught up now and I feel good.  Noon knitting today will be much appreciated.  I still haven't done a stitch since my great knitting orgy of Sunday.

The heat is getting turned up even more today and each day through the weekend.  I must say, I hope we get an actual winter this year.  I miss it!

I must have been in a bit of a fog this morning because I put in my contacts and I didn't really want to wear them today because of noon knitting.  When I have close lace work to do, it's just easier without them since I wear two different ones.  Ah well, I'll make do.

Football training camp here in Seattle for the Seahawks starts Friday.  And then we're on our way to autumn and football!  I can't wait.  This baseball season has been just horrible and you know I've never gotten into soccer so ... it's a wasteland sports wise.  Not for long.

Pinch me!

Good heavens am I drowsy this morning!  I almost nodded off on the bus.  I don't know why really.  I got to bed at a decent time and I had a good night's sleep.  Probably just not enough since I was down a quart from staying up too late Sunday.  Well I'll just have to try to get to bed earlier tonight to catch up.  This is annoying.

Yesterday went by in a flash!  I hope the rest of the week flies by as well.  I'm looking forward to the weekend in Port Townsend.  And then at the end of August a trip to see my sister.  I was looking for a hotel in Laguna Beach for a couple of nights because there is a big art festival there in August and Sunday the 30th is the last day.  We arrive in LA Saturday at around 4 pm, so we're going to drive straight to Laguna Beach and spend the night there so we can enjoy the art show on Sunday, then we'll stay Sunday and drive back to LA on Monday after the traffic thins.  Well so I was tasked with finding a hotel.  No problem except they are all pretty darned pricey.  Instead I went to AirBnB and found us a beach house to rent!  Awesome!  Right in Laguna Village, walking distance to everything.  We're going to have a great time.   And my nephew is trying to get the football draft set up so we can do it together.  It's not easy getting everyone together - no, we're all over the country but we do it on line and even then, with the time differences, it's not easy.  Fingers crossed.

No knitting last night.  I was just too tired to count.  Maybe some tonight.  I won't be doing any on the weekend, that's for sure.

Things change

I have been waiting for things to pick up and they sure did on Friday.  I have so much work to do this week, which is a complete change from the way things have been these past few months.  I am trying not to get too worked up about it but I must say I'm glad it's finally starting.  I knew people would start getting frantic.  Now it begins.  I have to leave early this coming Friday so everything needs to be finished by then.  At least this one part of the job.  It's very nerve wracking waiting for the unknown, isn't it?  Now I know.

The rain came for the weekend and it was a lovely change.  I didn't get to the garden store.  I don't like to garden in the rain.  I had my hair appointment Saturday and got the shopping done and looked forward to my Sunday.  It was an orgy of knitting, I must say.  Oh I walked Tinkerbell and played ball with her.  I did laundry and baked cupcakes.  I made a complicated turkey meatloaf.  But I also knit and knit and knit and knit.  I am SO glad I changed yarns for the Shangri-la shawl.  I knew I was not into the Jo's Pride shawl and the yarn is much better suited for this project.  I finished the first repeat of the beaded pattern and got a few rows into the next.  It's just beautiful.  And it was a really good day.  I got enough real work done to feel like I hadn't wasted the entire day and enough knitting done to feel like I had a nice rest.  I did stay up a bit too late last night though and I'm SO tired this morning.  But once I get into my work I'll perk right up, I'm sure.

A cooler weekend

Gosh, I'm actually wearing shoes and socks today rather than sandals.  It wasn't even 60 degrees when I got up and out to walk Tinkerbell.  It's a relief, actually.  The hot weather is coming back, I know that, but for now it's nice to be cooler.  And with all of this hot weather so early in the season, it actually feels like the end of August rather than the end of July.

So what's on tap for this weekend?  Hair appointment.  And a trip to Home Depot to get some plants for the patio in front and perhaps some planters for the porch.  I accidentally killed the blueberry bushes - I totally spaced watering them because I didn't do it at all last year - so I've got those two planters to re-plant with seasonal annuals for some color in the front.  That'll be fun.

And, as I said, if I can get all of my chores and running around done on Saturday then I'll have loads of time on Sunday to just knit and knit.  I truly do need some of that zen time.  I need the type of day when I can just sit and knit and let my head fix itself.  Next weekend will be super busy in Port Townsend. I am looking forward to that.

I am all alone here in the office suite today.  Monika is on vacation.  Bill is on vacation and Sandra is off on Friday.  It's going to be very quiet.  I hope I can stay awake.

Sports talk

Ever since I finished up the Outlander series of audiobooks, each one of which was about 50 hours or more, I am running out of audiobooks to listen to before the next credit is available.  I love audiobooks but they can get pretty darned pricey, so that's why I only allow myself one a month which at the club price is fine.  Once in a while they'll have a deal of the day that I snap up at steep discount, but often those are flawed in one way or another.  This last one I got I frankly just didn't like even though I had read some of the author's other books and enjoyed them. So I didn't want to listen to the end of the book and therefore I have been alternating listening to sports talk radio and music on my commute and dog walks.  The thing about sports talk radio is that it is the same thing over and over and over and over again.  Plus I'm really only interested in the football news.  My credit should be available tomorrow.  Now I've got to find a nice loooooong book.  My commute is considerably longer than it was a year ago and so these books don't last quite as long as they used to last.

At noon knitting I got ready for the set up row of the pattern portion of the Shangri-la, version 2.  And last night I did the set up row and purled back.  So I'm only now one pattern repeat away from when I threw in the towel last week.  I should be able to get lots and lots of knitting done this weekend, since Ben is golfing on Sunday.  And the course is on Whidbey Island.  If I get all of my chores and hair appointment and manicure done on Saturday that means I'll have the entire day to knit.  What a luxury.  The following weekend is going to be spent having fun in Port Townsend.  No knitting there at all.

I haven't decided what I want to get myself for my birthday this year.  A spa day?  I can't decide.  But it's fun thinking about it.

When you dream you have a bad headache

Sometime in the night Monday the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped and my head ..... I was dreaming that I had such a bad headache that I was searching around for ice to make an ice pack.  And then I woke up and that was indeed the reality.  It was terrible!  I was awake most of the night with it and stayed home yesterday.  I slept for the greater part of the day, thank goodness.  It's still with me today but not nearly so bad.  I can only guess that the weather change aggravated my sinuses.  Not fun.

What is fun though is getting just what you want.  Yay for me!  I put the Ancient Arts Fingering and the linen yarn on the Yarnbox trade board on Ravelry and found a woman who will trade the Ancient Arts for an older Artyarns box and the linen yarn for the cashmere from the very first Luxe box I missed out on.  Perfect!  I'll pop that in the mail this morning.

Also on the agenda this morning is my annual review.  And this might be my very last annual review, which is pretty awesome.  And it's noon knitting.  It's going to be a good day.

We all have our little dances in the morning and I've talked about that from time to time.  If you miss a step or get distracted, who knows what can happen?  Well I looked in my tote this morning on the bus and what was on top of all of the other stuff I dragged in today?  Tinkerbell's leash!  The logical extension of this is that I put something else on the top closet shelf in place of the leash that lives there.  But I don't seem to be missing anything so ... all is well, so far.

Happy hump day, world.

Haste makes waste

I was in such a hurry to get out of the office on Friday that I forgot to turn off my personal fan!  It's still going, so no harm done.  But I guess that shows just how anxious I was to skedaddle.

It was just crazy hot over the weekend.  Sunday even hotter than Saturday.  I slept in a bit on Saturday and, without coffee because I had forgotten to stop for milk, I set about doing my chores.  When it's hot like it has been Tink is pretty easy.  She's just happy to lay in the grass and once in a while come in for a break under a chair and a drink of water.  If it cools down in the evening, then she'll play for a while.  Otherwise she's content. 

After all of the partying and family gatherings last weekend I was just looking forward to some quiet time.  Chores finished, we went off for some lunch and food shopping.  We had the BEST seafood tacos I've ever had at a restaurant in Redmond where our Trader Joe's is.  We probably could have just shared but we didn't.  Piggies.  I picked up some nice bread and some olives and cheese while shopping for the week and that's what we had for dinner.

I was working on that shawl while we were watching a movie and I finally just acknowledged the fact that I simply am not in love with the yarn I was using for the project.  I love the pattern but the yarn was not doing it for me.  Too many colors I think.  I just don't care for the variegated yarns.  Especially the pink/purple/blue.  So I frogged it!  I'm going to put it up for sale or trade on the Ravelry Yarnbox page. 

Sunday was again CRAZY hot and I'd about had it.  I do not do well with the heat.  I'm crabby and unhappy.  My hair won't dry.  We had to go to the mall but lunch plans didn't work out with Steve and Ginny because we had too many other little things to handle later that day.   When you have lunch with Steve and Ginny it often turns into the rest of the day.  Which is awesome usually but we couldn't take that time.  Ben had an outdoor project going on and I decided I was going to have some ME time and I cast on for the same shawl in a different yarn and got to work on the tedious stockinette portion.  I even brought it with me on the bus.  I am already much happier with this project.

But not much happier in the whole scheme of things.  I need something to plan for.  Work is so up in the air that it's very difficult to make plans so perhaps that's the source of my discontent.  I'll work on pinpointing it so I can fix it!!

The mileposts

How do you keep track of events?  Of time?  I mean, when you are asked a question like "What was the weather like this time last year"? do you think back to a birthday?  Maybe a major purchase - "Hmmmm ... well I bought my car in May and .....".  Mine is, of course, Paris.  And it was CRAZY hot there this time last year.  All over Europe, in fact.  Emma and I just sweltered in Belgium and Luxembourg.    We're heading for another hot weekend here.  Oh joy.

So, time again ... it's weird.  It has now been 12 weeks since I've been to Paris and it feels like AGES.  It feels as long ago as last summer, which I don't really understand.  Perhaps I should stop thinking about time.  It doesn't make any sense to me.

I am leaving work early today.  Ben & I are going out to dinner to celebrate.  We're going the Saffron Grill, one of our favorite places but someplace we rarely visit any more because it's near where I used to live and not easy to get to, especially during rush hour.  But we'll leave early and it won't be too bad.

Sleep is tops on my agenda for the weekend.  And chores and maybe lunch with Steve and Ginny on Sunday.  The following weekend Ben is golfing so I'll have most of Saturday to myself.  Maybe if I work hard I can get the shawl done.  I was knitting on it last night, but then I got distracted and my stitch count got off!  Grrrrr ... then I dropped a stitch as I was trying to fix it.  I brought it in with me and hopefully I can get back on track at lunch.  I won't go to the gym today because we're going out right after work and I don't want to have to do my hair.  I want to git!!

And now there are more

The coyotes were at it again last night and there were more of them howling.  It sounded to me like three of them.  I didn't get much sleep.  Tinkerbell was doing her crawl under the bed and then whine routine.  It is a continuing mystery to me why she does that.  After startling me three times at the brink of sleep I finally got on my hands and knees and dragged her out from under the bed.  And then she slept ON me the rest of the night.  Perhaps there was some thunder way far away because there were also two little cloud bursts.  Needless to say, I am very groggy this morning. Hot tea -- into my stomach or over my head?

I got two rows done at noon knitting and another one and a half in the evening.  I would like to get this project done and the Artyarns project started before my next Yarnbox Luxe arrives.  That's September.  I should be able to do it if I can get some nice quiet time to knit on the weekend.  Maybe not this weekend, since it's supposed to be VERY hot again.  But the following weekend Ben's golfing so .....

I could have chosen better tomatoes

I don't know what possessed me to buy the Early Girl "bush" variety of tomato plant.  I only bought three this year because we had so very many tomatoes last year but they are not doing nearly as well.  Granted, I didn't spray them with Miracle Grow either and it has been beastly hot.  The cherry tomatoes are doing well.  There are lots of flowers on the plant and it's by far the tallest.  The Roma is finally getting some fruit as well.  The Early Girl?  There were one or two little tomatoes on it when I bought it and they are growing and one is even starting to show some color.  But there are no flowers on the plant and it doesn't look like it has grown much at all.  I am disappointed because those are by far my favorite of the three. 

I got some really good knitting done last night as I caught up with a couple of the good programs I have been recording on HBO.  The weather stayed nice - not too hot.  And I got to bed at a decent hour.  In other words I didn't "just one more row" myself into the wee hours.  Then again the coyote woke me howling.  It also makes another weird noise...... still it is a way off in the distance.  But loud enough that it wakes me up!  I did remember that last year I saw one on the side of Avondale on my way to the Transit Center early one morning.  Just standing along side the road.  I think they are kind of creepy.

I ran yesterday!  Thirty strong minutes on the track.  No pain then.  No pain now either.  I thought I'd be a bit sore, but it doesn't seem so.  I think I'll do it again tomorrow and see how I do.  I don't want to over do it, but at the same time I've got to push myself a bit.  It would be really nice to be able to race this fall.

Scary

This is a first for me -- I heard a coyote howling last night!  I have heard them before, in California.  But I have never heard them around my house.  I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, but it was definitely a coyote.

I left my iPad at work yesterday.   How annoying is that?  My knitting patterns and book are on my iPad.  Yes yes, they're on my iPhone as well but it's not nearly so comfortable using the iPhone in that way.  I had to drive home over the bridge last night.  It's the first time I've done that since I've moved out there and it went well.  The traffic was light, which made it tolerable.  I can't imagine having to drive back and forth in that traffic every day.  I would just hate it.

I didn't get as much knitting done as I had wanted last night. I was tired.  And I spent 45 minutes on the phone with my sister, talking about our upcoming visit. I was in the mood to read but, as I said, not on the iPhone.  Maybe tonight.  The cooler weather has been such a relief.  It is supposed to get hot again this weekend though.

Is Tuesday the most boring day of the week?

I need a rest from the weekend!

Oh heavens what a busy weekend!  I hit the house Friday evening and it was just go go go!  I got the cake made and baked and the mess cleaned up.  And then it was a silly movie and early bedtime.  Saturday morning I had to get up and get the laundry started, my hair blown dry and the frosting made and the cake frosted.  The recipe made WAY too much frosting but what the heck.  It'll keep and maybe I'll make some cupcakes later this week.  The party started at 2 but we got there early and took Tink.  She was SUCH a good doggie.  Didn't run off once.  And there were three other little dogs there and tons of kids.  So she was super happy.  We were expecting clouds but not rain.  But it rained and we had to move everything until the garage until it blew over.  Not a hard job since it's at least a four car garage.  Plenty of room for everybody and everything.

We ate and drank and ate and drank and played and I was ready to go home and go to bed.  I must have been asleep before 9 o'clock!  Sunday we were meeting everyone at the Mariner's game, taking the bus rather than fighting traffic over the bridge.  So we got up and headed to the grocery store to get the shopping done, then I got rushed out of the house, forgetting my hat and asthma inhaler!  Ooooo, I was not happy.  I do not like to be rushed.  I especially don't like having to get up early and then getting rushed.  We ended up getting to the park 2 hours before the game!!  Two hours!!  Granted there's a lot to do at the baseball park as opposed to the football stadium, but still.  I know, it was about the socializing but ..... well, I was a bit crabby.  Our seats were awesome though.  Too bad the Mariners lost so badly.  They were just awful.  We left at the top of the eighth inning.

I stayed up knitting and watching an episode of True Detective.  I didn't have to be at the doctor's office until 9 o'clock which meant I could sleep in until 7:30 but instead I woke up at 6 and stewed and worried for an hour and a half before getting up.  Stupid.  Then I drove in to work and here I am.  It's quiet.  Happy Monday, world.

I almost fell for a phishing scam!

In the morning my iPhone is my alarm clock.  It goes off and I hit the snooze and then wake up while I'm going through the night's collection of email.  One of the messages was purportedly from Apple telling me that a purchase had been made on my Apple iTunes account from a device unknown and that if I wanted to cancel the transaction I should click here.  A few years ago something similar happened to me.  I awoke and found quite a number of eBay transactions on my phone that I hadn't made.  My account had been hacked.  So I clicked on that link but then realized that I couldn't see the address from my iPhone.  You know how when you're on a laptop or desktop computer you can hover over the link and see the address.  But ..... but it was freaking me out that my Apple ID could be out there so I clicked the link and signed in.  Ah, but then there's another form asking for billing address, phone number, etc.  Nope.  I was willing to let it go until I could be sure it wasn't a phishing scam.  The forms and logos were flawless, at least at 6 am on an iPhone screen.  But when I got in to work and logged on, sure enough it was a scam from Australia.  I have changed my Apple ID password just to be sure.  They are going to hook a few for sure.  It's very well done and no spelling errors. 

Hooray it's Friday.  Tonight when I get home I'm going to bake a cake for the party tomorrow.  I will frost it in the morning.  And on Sunday we're going to a baseball game.  It should be fun.  And bonus!  The weather has cooled down some.  What a relief.

A little cloud cover

Oh what a relief!  It's still hot, mind you, but the sun is not burning down.  Last night it was so very pleasant in the garden.  The little evening breeze and high clouds made it perfect.  And actually I think that perhaps the clouds are mostly smoke from the Wenatchee files.  That's not so great.  My eyes were burning yesterday.

I got my first beaded row done at noon knitting yesterday.  There are, I think, three more repeats of those tear drop rows.  It depends upon how much yarn you have left over.  If I can do four I will.  I am itching to wind up the Artyarns yarn and start on that project as well, but I am going to try to resist for a while longer.

My sister is at ComicCon and I am SO jealous!  I told her I'm going to come with her next year.  That's something to look forward to, isn't it?  But first I've got a weekend in Port Townsend at the end of this month which happens to coincide with the Acoustic Blues Festival at Fort Warden.   Nice.  Then the first week of September in LA.  And then .... I just don't know.  But I'm going to push for another trip in April.  Just two weeks this time.  Maybe go to the south of France with Eoghan and Deidre.  Or one week in Italy somewhere and one week in Paris?  Ah well, there's time to figure it out.

A cup of coffee does help

I am sleepy again this morning, but I had my coffee on the way to the transit center and at least I didn't nod off on the bus.  Because Tink is not on the bed when it's so hot I have actually been sleeping quite well, despite the heat.  But it's rather slow around here in the summer and it's very difficult for me to wake up.

Speaking of Tink not being on the bed ..... I have found little puddles on the floor these past few days.  I believe that because of the heat she is drinking more water than usual and finds herself in need of a pee in the middle of the night.  Unfortunately she hasn't barked to go out or ... just thought of this ... perhaps the sound of the fan disguises her cries to go out!  At any rate, I'm going to have to make sure I take her outside before I finally go to bed at night.  Not that I stay up very late, but I'm sure another little piddle at 9 or 10 wouldn't hurt.  I'll give it a try.

Knitting at home is still a no go because it's just too hot.  As is blowing my hair dry.  I can't do it!  Well, maybe if I had a couple of fans blowing on me while I was trying to do it, but it's not worth it.  So I've been wild and curly lately.  I don't mind.  It is kind of nice for a change.  Blowing my hair straight is a hassle in the best of times and in this heat and humidity it's practically impossible. 

I got my first Yarnbox plus Artyarns shipment yesterday.  Oh it's lovely yarn.  I love Artyarns.  I don't really need another shawl but this one is going to be very cute and colorful and oh PS, with beads!  I think I'll check my color selection though because I was sure I had blue as my favorite and I got (more) purple.  I can't keep track.  I am glad I stopped the classic box though.  I have enough projects in the queue.

Missing my caffeine

It was a little cooler this morning thank goodness.  In fact I still have my little lace jacket on.  It won't last, of course.  One of the unfortunately side effects to this heat wave we're having is that I don't really want my normal cup of coffee on the ride to the transit center.  And boy am I groggy today!  I guess I could make an iced coffee.  But this morning my commuter mug was in the dishwasher, running, so it wasn't possible.

Yesterday was hot as blazes here in the office and I was worried the gym would be as bad, but they were cranking that AC, so it was tolerable.  And I must have done something right because I can hardly stretch my arms above my head.  I am very sore.

It was too hot to knit last night, of course.  The evening breeze never showed up yesterday so I didn't even go sit in the shade.  I probably won't do it tonight either.  My next row is a beading row and I need to be in a good, well lighted space for it.  At least for the first one.  Noon knitting tomorrow will be the place.

I still can't wake up.  Time for another cup of tea I guess.

A very hot long weekend

Oh my goodness.  I am going to try my best to NOT complain about the weather but it's going to be very difficult.

I did get to see Jane on Thursday because she picked me up at a point I could get to easily and her ex-husband (don't ask) then drove me back to Market Street where I could catch a bus back to work.  Nobody missed me.  It was that quiet.  Besides, the administrator had told everyone they could knock off early.  My plan was to take the 2:40 bus and get to the nail salon by 3:30 so that I could get the manicure and pedicure done before the long weekend.  That was not to be, unfortunately.  The bus was late, packed with summer school students and then it broke down.  Before it reached the transit center.  We waited for another bus to take us to the transit center and by the time I got to Cottage Lake it was almost 4:30.  I rescheduled for first thing Friday morning and I headed home.

So I was up and out early on Friday and then we worked.  I cleaned the house and it was a sweaty job in that heat.  In the early afternoon I finally collapsed and had a little nap, then we went out to play cards and I lost.  It's just friends and we don't play for much, therefore I only lost a few dollars.  But it's not very fun when you can't get ONE win!  Then we stayed up much too late reading so that we slept in on Saturday.  I am not complaining.

Saturday was another project day and we worked in the garage and shed, putting garbage into the truck for a last(!) trip to the dump and donating the rest of the things to Ben's niece who sells it.  Fine.  Great.  It's gone is all I care about.  We were planning on going to Gregg's for the 4th of July party but frankly, the heat was just killing me.  It was the very last thing I wanted to do - get into the car and drive 45 minutes each way to hang out in the heat.  Plus Tink is so freaked out with the loud noise.  The pills the vet gave us this time, an anti-anxiety, worked very well for her.  I'm pleased.  They didn't just dope her up, but instead calmed her down.  I do feel guilty about miss that party though.  I'll give him a call today.

So on the last day of the 3-day weekend we again started out with labor.  This time a trip to the dump.  Then all of the shopping for (at least) the week - Costco and Haggen.  And then I washed my vehicle and I was cooked.  Ben wanted to work on the privacy screen in the front but it was by that time (just after noon) on its way to 90 degrees.  Insanity.  We put the fan on and watched the baseball game and then later in the day the Women's World Cup.

I am going to swelter all week in this office.  It's going to be crazy hot for another week at least.  I am sick of it.  Sick.

It was a long day

With a party to go to at the end of the day, I had to take the bus to the transit center rather than drive.  It's been a while since I've done that and I forgot how that second bus ride seems to make the commute that much longer.  I was sleepy when I got to work, so I had a nice latte to start my day. 

Noon knitting in the conference room was tolerable.  I was afraid it would be too hot but it stays cool enough in there in the morning.  I can't imagine I'm going to be able to get any knitting done this weekend unless I can find some quiet time in the morning.  My guess is that we're going to be up and out doing something or going somewhere.  Gregg is having a party on the fourth and they're setting up a stage outside and he wants me to come up to sing.  I am undecided. 

I left work around four, thinking I'd take a slow bus downtown (with air conditioning) and then find a place for a drink while I waited for the others to arrive to go to the party.  Well I had it partially right -- the bus was slow but the air conditioning was nonexistent and I was pouring sweat by the time I got off.  I found a nice bar though, full of people watching the soccer match.  I ordered a nice martini and then I am thinking I should probably have some little snack so I don't get too high before the main event.  I didn't want fries or nuts or scotch eggs - something healthy, I'm thinking.  Well, they had crispy Brussels sprouts on the menu so I ordered them, feeling so virtuous.  But they were just unrelentingly bitter.  I couldn't eat them.

The party was fun but too many "in" jokes.  It is to be expected since it was the going away party for the CEO.  I managed to keep it together.  And I had a great night's sleep.  My prize for being such a good girl.

This morning I'm going to take another try at getting to see Jane.  This time she's picking me up at a point I know I can get to.  Wish me luck.

A real cluster you-know-what

I had an appointment yesterday at lunchtime to see my friend Jane.  Since I never ever drive in -- the traffic is just too crazy -- I had to take the bus.  Now normally this is not an issue, because she meets up with clients in a friend's house off of Greenwood.  But this time she's doing her appointments at a boat at the Elliott Bay Marina.  I did my usual Metro Trip Planner research and found the bus I had to take.  But when I got off the stop I had somehow forgotten I had to take a second bus.  I thought I could walk the rest of the way.  But you can't and I got mixed up despite my best efforts with my Google Maps, and then another bus picked me up and further complicated things.  Long story short, I just had to bale and head back to work.  There is a bridge involved.  And I can't walk over that bridge, I had to take a bus.  That's what confused me.  You don't see it on the Google Maps app.  I was SO angry with myself.

And it was mayhem when I got home with all of the doors and windows wide open.  Tink had a great day though, since the workers had to have the windows and doors open, she got to spend the day out in the yard in the shade.  She didn't even want to go for a walk when I got home!

This heat is crazy.  I think we've got at least another week of it.  I have been sleeping a lot better than I was at my old apartment though.  That's something.

Maybe I'll nail down the trip to LA today.

It's all about football

For me, anyway.  It's five weeks until the start of training camp and this is the time of year that I'm just dying for anything football related.  I listen to sports talk radio. I watch old football movies.  In fact, last night I watched North Dallas Forty.  Well, most of it.  I forgot how much I hate the female lead in that movie.  The actress was just so wooden.  I wonder how much of it was direction and how much of it was just her.  She never really did much after that either.

When I got home the workers were still swarming over the house and sanding the deck in the back, so I had a quick shower (the windows were covered in plastic so I couldn't open them) and headed outside to the front where there was some shade and I could be away from the sanding.  Hopefully they can finish up today but I suspect not because they're going to have to do the porch and deck, two coats each.  Luckily we can come and go through the garage so they can do them at the same time.  I must say, it won't take them long to dry.

Tomorrow I've got to take the bus in to work because I'm going to a cocktail party right after work.  That's going to make for a long day.  It's noon knitting though so it won't be a complete bust of a day.  Plus I'll have to hang out for a while in the evening and I can knit. 

For now I'm enjoying the cool of the morning.  It won't last long.

Heat wave for sure

Friday was just plain miserable.  One of the faculty came into my office and exclaimed that it would be illegal for her to keep animals at this temperature.  Amen sister!  It is ridiculous and only going to get worse as the week progresses. 

It was too warm to knit on Friday so I sat in the shade and read for a while and ended up going to bed early.  The heat just saps me!  Therefore I woke up super early Saturday morning, which was good.  Ben had to work so he was out of the house before 7:30.  I got up, got cleaned up, got Tinkie walked, got a bunch of chores done and the laundry going and then ... then I had three solid hours to knit in the coolness of the morning before my hair appointment.  It was wonderful!  I got the first few rows of the pattern done.  It should go pretty fast, if I can carve out quiet time for knitting when it's cool enough.  But Sunday afternoon, before we had to go to a party, I had some time again to knit and ran up against another stupid knot in this ball of yarn.  Again, totally and completely my fault.  I spent another hour re-winding that ball.  Now we're good to go though.

I am getting SO antsy for a vacation.  A proper one, not just a long weekend, which is what we'll be having at the end of July.  Kelli wants us to come down to LA for a week, so I'm going to start working on that.  She wants us to come down in August, but I don't that that'll be possible.  More likely September.  It's something to work towards anyway.  And then .... Europe in April?  I'll have to count up vacation days.

First though I have to get through this hot hot day.

It's already hot

Oh lordy, it's going to be a long, hot day.  We are having a heat wave in Seattle and it's going to be in the 90s for the next few days.  The fan in my office does pretty much nothing.  And the house now is warmed up from the week of warm weather so there's not much comfort their either.  I think we'll have to bring the fans in tonight.

To make matters worse, I can't go to the gym today because I am stuck alone in the main office!  Monika has gotten that nasty stomach bug I had earlier this week and Bill is out at a meeting all morning.  I'll have to content myself with a walk up to the Ave at lunchtime.  I need some Clinique things anyway, so I can go up to the U Bookstore.  That will save me from having to go to Macy's this weekend. 

As soon as I got my chores done last night I sat down to untangle that ball of yarn.  It took a while, but I got it done and did a few rows as well.  I am not ready for the set up row and since there's Women's World Cup on tonight I know I will have the quiet time to do it.

Poor Tinkie got another ear infection, this time the right ear.  It's the heat causing the yeast to grow, I imagine.  She spent most of the night either in the bathroom on the cool tile or under the bed, but about 4 she wanted up onto the bed.  And then she was growling and barking.  I suspect there were critters out in the garden.  All of the windows were open, but I couldn't hear anything.  I don't have her hearing, that's for sure.  The only thing I have ever heard is a deer walk past the bedroom window.  I could hear its little hooves crunching on the gravel.  Kind of creepy.

Ball winding mishap

I will admit that I was a bit careless when I wound the yarn last weekend for my current project, the Shangri-la.  Sometimes when one is cranking the ball winder a little too fast the yarn will slip off the ball and wind itself around the spindle.  I try to catch it when that happens and unwind the yarn from the spindle and get it back onto the ball.  Then there are other times when I don't catch it until the ball is complete and it's nearly impossible to unwind at that point.  In this case, I hope for the best which is that the strands are near the end of the ball.  Not so with my latest effort.  For a while at noon knitting I was unwinding the yarn carefully around the wodge of yarn that had come up through the center of the ball.  But last night it just all went to pieces and the entire ball split into two equally snarled balls.  I cut the yarn and started the second ball but tonight I'm going to have to try to sort out the mess.  I am pretty sure I'll need that yarn to complete the project and I need to tackle the problem before it gets worse.  So much for getting some good knitting done tonight.

It's already hot in the office and it's going to get hotter today and tomorrow.  I have my blinds closed against the sun and a little fan blowing but it doesn't do much of anything.  No air conditioning in our office.  If I need some cool air I have to go out into the hall.  Stupid.

I saw a deer last night, finally.  Tink and I were on are way back from our walk and there standing in front of the driveway was a big doe.  Just beautiful.  It stood there for a while and I was trying to take a picture to send to my sister, but then Tink barked and it took off.  I know they are coming around at night though because you can see where they lay down in the garden.

True Detective

Since I wasn't feeling 100% Sunday evening, I forgot all about watching the premier of True Detective.  I remembered yesterday though and set it to record, so last night we watched the first episode.  Was I confused?  Yes, yes I was.  That is the point, I guess.  All of the actors were very good.  I might have to watch it again before the next episode.

Noon knitting today and it's going to be a hot one.  It was hot yesterday and each day this week is supposed to be hotter.  And next week as well.  It even looks like we'll be getting a hot July 4th weekend, which is always unusual.  We don't have any plans though.  There is a family party on the 28th of June for a graduation, and then another family party on the 11th of July for visiting relations.  I don't think we'll be able to host a party on the 4th so maybe we'll be able to just have a quiet long weekend.  I wouldn't hate that.

Some weekends just zip by

It was a quick one.  Saturday was chores and chores and then a graduation party.  The weather was great but I wasn't in the mood for a big ol' family party with a bazillion people I didn't know, so we didn't stay very long.  Just long enough to have a bite and talk to the major players.  

On Sunday all I had to do was grocery shopping and laundry.  Which was fine because I was not feeling all that great.  I don't know if something I ate didn't agree with me or if I had a little bug.  Whatever I was down most of Sunday and yesterday as well. 

On Friday I decided that I am not going to use that linen yarn but instead found a very cool wrap to make with beads (sound familiar -- I am stuck in a rut) to use the wonderful Ancient Arts Fiber Crafts merino bamboo from one of my Yarnbox shipments.  I am going to make the Shangri-la wrap.  Now I know I have a lot of wraps but my thinking was why make something just because I should use the yarn?  I mean, I enjoy making wraps and knitting is about enjoyment.  I know what happens when I knit something I should knit.  I don't.  It languishes in my pile of WIPs.  So maybe I'll trade or sell that linen.  I do have the yarn for a nice cardigan I'm looking forward to making so I don't see any reason to force myself to make a cardigan just to use the linen.  No, I don't want a linen wrap. 

Other than that .. starting a new project .. things are pretty stale around here.  I need something to shake things up.

It's all about the US Open

Oh my goodness.  That's all you hear about ... well, that and the Seahawks mini camp.  But this US Open course is very different and yesterday was the start of the tournament.  The course is very hilly.  I'm not much of a golf fan, but the general public is really getting into this event.  And of course the sports talk guys are also all over it because the Mariners are sucking SO bad and the Seahawks just started their 6 weeks off.  Or another way to look at it -- six weeks until the start of training camp!

It stayed cloudy yesterday, most of the day, but no more rain.  This morning it is sprinkling and you can almost hear the ground sucking it up.  Again, it won't last long but I didn't have to water my tomatoes or herbs yesterday.  Back to sunshine tomorrow.

I sure love the IMA during the summer.  It is so quiet in the locker room and I don't have to fight for space.  I might run today.  My foot was a little bit tweaky though so perhaps I should stick to the bike and try running next week instead.

Last night after a little trip to Triplehorn I got the ends woven in on the blanket and popped it into the washing machine.  It came out looking super good and now it's drying on the table and pads.  I will give it to Mai tomorrow.  I still don't know what I want to start next though.  I kind of know what I want to do but I can't find a pattern that does it.  Except maybe the Breezy Cardigan.  My problem, if you can call it that, is that I have to incorporate stripes into it because I don't have enough of one color.  I have four white skeins, two of beige and one of brown.  It will be a very classic neutral piece.  I think I'll just buy it and dig in.  It seems to be a very good TV knitting piece.  While I would love to dig into a difficult project, I don't get the long amounts of peaceful knitting time I used to get when I was single so I can't be doing those types of things exclusively.  I always need to have a somewhat mindless project to hand.  And I am looking forward to my Artyarns Yarnbox in a few weeks and I am hoping that will be my tough project.

This weekend we've got a graduation party for my nephews on Saturday and Tink's vet appointment.  That's about it so I suspect there will be some chores in there as well. 

Finished!

I finished the knitting portion and started binding off at noon knitting yesterday.  And then last night I finished binding off.  It took forever!  Tonight I'll weave in the ends and pop it in the washing machine.  It's a small blanket, but it is for a new born, so I think it's perfect.  Here is a picture of it on the dining room table. I just love love LOVE it!  And I chose to bind of knit wise rather than doing it in pattern.  I like the clean look of the edge.  It looks more finished to me this way.  Such a lovely baby pink too.  I trust it is going to wash up well.  It's Berrocco superwash, so it should be fine.  I won't put it in the dryer though.  I'd love to make another one but larger.  I made this with size 9 needles and I like the fabric.  I wonder how difficult it would be to add another layer, just reversing the last fifty rows.  Hmmmmm

But that's for another time.  Now I need to think about my linen project.  Or maybe the pretty purple very lacy project from the last classic Yarnbox.  I'll check on the website and look at the pattern.  So many choices.  Oh!  Plus I'll be getting the new Yarnbox plus Artyarns in a few weeks as well!  Yips.  An embarrassment of richest.

It was sprinkling a little bit this morning and it maybe will do it some more tomorrow.  We need it.

I am getting jazzed about football.  I have finished my audiobooks for the month and now must listen to either music or sports talk podcasts until I get my next one, which will be the new Shardlake book.  But football.  The Seahawks are having their first mini camp today.  Soon soon soon

Today's the day

I'm going to finish that blanket today.  Maybe not at noon knitting, although I should get pretty close.  But tonight for sure.  I just have a few more petals to knit and then the binding off of 550 stitches.  In pattern, which is a hassle since it's seed stitch.  I did want to do it last night, but what with one thing and another - getting my hair dried, Tink walks, preparing a deeeelicious meal, cleaning up.  At that point I just wanted to watch a little TV, read and fall asleep.  Tinkerbell has a very restless night, unfortunately.  She has an ear thing going on and that might have something to do with it.  Luckily I have an appointment with the vet this coming Saturday to get her some tranquilizers for the fireworks ahead so they can take a look at it then.  She hasn't had that problem for quite a while.  Not since I've been at this house so that's at least a year.  I kept the medicine so I'm able to get the treatment started, which is good.

Since my blanket is nearly finished I've got to choose a pattern for my linen cardigan.  I've got an idea of what I want but I've got to figure out if I've got enough yarn.  This was a pretty generous Yarnbox so I'm pretty sure I've got enough for the style of cardigan I want to make - an open fronted one kind of like the Whisper, but with longer fronts.

Well Saturday is the official start of Summer and the weather is still pretty spectacular as if we've been having summer all this month.  We should by rights be experiencing June Gloom, like they are in LA.  Ah well, no complaints here.  And the critters -- I saw two raccoons "sleeping" by the side of the road this morning on the way to the Transit Center.  And a few yesterday as well.  And the rabbits .... the only thing I've haven't seen yet this year are deer.  Maybe Tink keeps them away.

Where the heck is my gray running skirt???

I am mystified.  I actually thought it was here at work in my bottom drawer, where I keep my workout clothes.  But it is not.  So that's why I bought the new black Adidas one.  However, I would really like to have that gray one so I don't have to wash my gym clothes during the week.  My second guess was one of the bottom two drawers in my chest.  I keep T-shirts and lounging pants, miscellaneous stuff in there.  I did a search and no skirt.  So while we were watching a movie Sunday I took out the two deep drawers that I use for socks and stockings and camisoles and all sorts of things and took everything out.  I ended up with a garbage bag of worn out socks, tights with holes, bras I'll never wear again, old camisoles but did I find a running skirt?  No.  No I did not.  Now my last chance is the closet.  On the top I have a couple of baskets and I can't remember exactly what's in there.  I moved to this house in August of last year and I was sure I was using my running skirt then but maybe not.  Maybe it's up there in those baskets.  I'll check tonight.

It was super hot yesterday.  I had to drop by the doctor's office to check on how my new medicine is working and then I stopped at the store to get things for a nice seafood salad.  It was much too hot to cook and I was craving a salad.  I got shrimp and crab and lots of fresh veggies and then made a nice dressing.  When we were ready we made our own salad.  Lovely.  I think we'll do it again tonight since I bought WAY too much seafood.  Or maybe I'll make some pasta.  I can't decide.

The blanket is nearly done.  I'm on the last row and then the bind off.  Unfortunately on the row before I screwed up almost an entire row of seed stitch!!!  Arghghgh!!  I can't rip it out.  There is no way.  I will have to think of some camouflage or maybe once it's bound off and washed it won't be noticeable .... except for me.  I'll know it's there.  Gah!  If I decide I can't stand it I'll have to rip out about 20 hours of work.  I would have to rip it back to before the seed stitch section starts.  I don't know.  I will have a think on it.

SO close

The weather stayed decent this weekend - as in not extremely hot - and I was able to work on the blanket Friday night and Saturday and some also yesterday.  I am 1 1/2 rows away from the bind off row.  Unfortunately the temperature is set to rise today so I very much doubt it will be cool enough to work on it tonight.  I need to get it finished so I can give it to Mai this coming weekend.  Then I can wind that beautiful linen I got from the Yarnbox Luxe and work on a light weight summer cardigan.

I was awake super early on Saturday and took advantage of it to get to Home Depot before the worst of the crowds.  I got the fence post toppers exchanged for the correct ones and then had to sit in the parking lot for a while before I could drive up to the mall.  The mall doesn't open until 10 am, so I called McG to check on his dog's operation.  Poor little thing has to wear a cone for three weeks!  Max, not McG.

Ben got in Sunday morning and I went to pick him up in the fancy car, top down.  It was a gorgeous morning and we stopped for a meal on the way home.  We sat outside and Tink was nice and content in a shady spot.  Then we stopped at the store where I had shopped for groceries on Saturday and had left the beautiful roses I bought!  The checker didn't put them into my basket and I didn't realize it until I got home.  I phoned and they put them into the cooler for me.  That was nice.  And they are gorgeous.  A really pretty coral.

I have to leave early today to get to the doctor by 3 o'clock.  I probably won't be able to get to the gym.  I still need to check the bus schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to leave around 1:30 and since I don't get back from the gym until 1, I probably shouldn't go.  We'll see.

Running

Yesterday I got an email from an old friend who has signed up to run a 5K in July.  He hasn't done a race in about 20 years so that's really something.  The sign ups are slow so the race committee asked people who had already signed up to forward the message in hopes of getting more participants.  Running was, therefore, on my mind when I got to the gym.  I climbed up to the third floor and decided when I got there that I would run and see how it went.  And it was fine!  I felt great and my foot felt great.  I was awfully tired yesterday evening and today I'm a bit sore but all in all, I feel it was a success.  I'll run a couple times next week and then I can assess the situation.  I truly would love to do the 5K.  It's a month away from now so there's plenty of time to get ready for it.  Oh ... how much fun would that be??  Since I've been doing cardio my wind is fine.  It's just how much wear and tear my toe can take.

The weather has cooled off and it was cool enough for me to knit last night and I did.  I think I did three rows.  Mind you, those rows (rounds, actually) are getting pretty darned big.  I will end up with around 550 stitches when it's done.  It's cooler even today so I can knit some more tonight on it.  Tinkie was pretty good last night, although she wanted to play ball twice in the evening.  She needs a nice long walk.  Hopefully I can take her to the park tomorrow.  I want to take a quick run to Macy's and that's pretty much my day tomorrow except for chores.  And then Sunday morning ..... woohoo! 

Why is traffic always the worst on Thursday?

Why?  I cannot figure it out!  Could it be more people drive on Thursday if they're having a long weekend?  Leave straight from work Thursday so they drive in?  That doesn't seem like it could make that much difference.  What else could it be?  And actually the parking garage was not nearly as full as it was yesterday so clearly more people are driving in.  School isn't out yet, but it is finished for the medical and dental students.  I guess I'll never know for sure. 

I got some good work done on the blanket yesterday at noon because I could put it on the table while I worked rather than having it laying in my lap.  I guess I could also do that at home, but it's not really comfortable to sit at the dining table to knit.  I had a few chores when I got home -- laundry and watering the plants as well as the normal Tinkie walks.  I wanted to knit but I was tired and it was a little too warm.  It is cooling down a bit so maybe tonight?  Let's hope. 

Football is very much on my mind these days.  I know it's basketball and hockey playoff time but I don't care much about those sports at all.  But football will be starting up at the end of July and the OTAs have already started so that means there is a lot of football in the news.  So last night I watched (re-watched, to be more accurate) some episodes of The League.  They never get old.

Disasters

Yesterday was quiet the day for disasters here at work.  One woman's aunt died, another woman's son had a heart attack.  Somebody else has the stomach flu.  Okay, so that's not as bad as the others, but it's a slow news day.

Graduation hasn't even happened and already it feels like the dead of summer.  It's this nice weather when we're expecting June gloom.  It puts you off kilter. 

It was too warm to do much knitting last night and even with all the windows open it felt stuffy in the house.  Tink was happy for her usual 5 o'clock walk but at 7 o'clock rather than walk up and down the streets she wanted to go around the perimeter of the yard.  Her long line doesn't get her near the tree line and sometimes that's where she wants to go, where the scents of the animals coming up from the ravine are the strongest.  I let her have a good long sniff and then I went to bed with her at 8 and finished my book.  SUCH a good read - A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson.  It's kind of like a companion book to Time After Time, another awesome read.  I have a few books in my wish list but if anyone has a recommendation .....

So it's Wednesday and I know that I'll at least get a couple rows done on that blanket this noontime.  I have got to get it done soon.  Mai will be quitting work to have her baby at the end of this month.

Love Locks and Chipmunks

No, they have nothing to do with each other except they're both in my mind this morning.  I have for a long time been unhappy about those stupid locks on the bridges in Paris (and other places as well).  I noticed them when I was there last July and again this spring.  What an eyesore!  Well, I read last week that they are in the process of being removed!  Hoorah!!  Now if they can do something about keeping more idiots from replacing them.  And fining the people caught selling the locks.  Fat chance.

A few weeks ago I thought I saw chipmunks in the trees but I wasn't absolutely sure.  Well, last night I was inside and looked out to see one on the deck!  A chipmunk for sure.  I was under the impression they were only in the higher elevations because I've never seen them anywhere but in the mountains.  I guess they just don't like cities. 

I really wanted to work on my blanket last night.  But because the house had been closed up while I was at work and because of the heat from the days before, it was simply too hot to sit with a blanket on my lap.  So no knitting since I had left my socks here at work.  It might not be so hot today, but my guess is it'll still be too hot tonight.  Tomorrow though, for noon knitting.  I am rather anxious to get this done. 

My new running skirt was just the thing for the gym.  I was much more comfortable although still pouring sweat.  I would dearly love to run in my running skirt but my guess is it'll be another month or so.  I want to make sure my foot is 100%.

It's not even summer yet!

Heavens it is warm!  Hot!  And it's going to stay like this all week long and into the weekend as well.  Lucky for me the house stays relatively cool, not having any windows facing directly east or west.  That is a huge bonus. 

Friday was not a very productive day for me, since I had to spend the morning taking care of a little health issue.  But I went to town on the weekend.  I got a couple more herbs and some color bowls planted, I got the game/office finished and pictures hung there and a few more throughout the house, I got my yarn sorted and frogged a few projects I know I won't be finishing and hoorah, I found both of my long Denise cords.  The blanket is now on the 52" cord and crowding it something awful.  And I've still got around 25 rows to go!  I also trimmed back some bushes and did all the laundry and the bedding AND washed the dog!  And I still had time to read and laze around.  Tinkie was not terribly interested in going for long walks because of the heat.  She perks up a bit at night when it gets a bit cooler but then comes 8 o'clock and she's for bed.  Last night I put her in there and did not join her, instead knitted in the living room.  That didn't last long and she wanted to be out there with me.  But I threw in the towel around 9:30 anyway.

I am trusting the IMA to have the air conditioning cranked today and I also purchased a running skirt to wear rather than my long workout pants.  I know I have that gray one around somewhere but I can't find it so I got a cute Adidas one - black with a hot pink stripe at the waist.  I'm sure my gray one will turn up, especially if I look a little bit harder.

It seems like Ben's been gone for more than a week, but I suppose that's because he was gone for the weekend.  And this week as well as Saturday.  It's going to be a long hot week.

Blankie progress

I got back on the horse, so to speak, with noon knitting and got two or three rows done on the baby blanket.  Then I got right back to it when I got home, after Tink's walk, etc.  It is growing but still works on the 32" bamboo circular.  This weekend I really should search out one of the two long Denise cords I have and frog whichever project is on that needle.  I will certainly need a longer needle at some point soon.  The blanket will end up with over 500 stitches when all of the increases are done.  I estimate I've got about forty more rows to go and, at approximately 30 minutes a row .... that is a bunch of knitting left on this project!

I got my YarnBox Luxe yesterday.  I keep hoping for cashmere but this time we got seven skeins of Shibui Linen.  That's a lot of yarn, as in probably enough for a cardigan if I don't want to make another wrap, which I don't.   I'd like to make a drape-y cardigan, like the Effortless Cardigan, although I have ordered the yarn to make the Summer Lace Wrap Cardigan but you can't have too many cardigans now, can you?

I finally this week finished listening to the Outlander series.  How long have I been listening to those books?  Forever it seems.  I am now listening to the St. Mary's series and, because the Outlander books were so long, I had one already purchased and credits for two more.  So I got those ordered and in my library and then I see that there's a new Shardlake book available!  Oh hurrah!  I will get it when I get this month's credits and pop it in there to break up the St. Mary's series. 

Well we're supposed to get sunshine today and progressively warmer weather as the weekend goes on.  I haven't had to water my little herbs or tomatoes for the past couple of days, but I'll need to keep up with it for the foreseeable future.  There are already little tiny tomatoes on my Early Girl plant!  And this weekend I've got to get the rest of my herbs purchased and into pots as well as flowers for some color spots and hanging baskets.  I have a busy weekend ahead of me.

Impressed again with customer service

What a lovely surprise.  After being completely blown away when Amazon refunded the price of a rental video they deemed to have had playback issues without a complain from me, I was equally impressed by Sony.  Although I had to spend a couple of hours on the phone to be absolutely sure the player was defective, I sent it back and Monday I got a new one in the mail!  How awesome is that?  Pretty awesome, I'd say.

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday.  I came to work, went to the gym and had an uneventful evening.  Actually, I did a lot.  Of course the usual Tinkie walks and  playing, and I did my hair and cooked a fabulous dinner of roasted vegetables.  I mixed it up a little bit this time.  I omitted the summer squash and instead used a fennel bulb and, also out of the ordinary, I had an ear of corn so I took the corn off the cob and added it in for the last 30 minutes.  I used some fresh herbs from my teensie herb garden plus some Tarragon (which I want to get for my garden) that I had purchased for the mussels that I didn't get around to cooking.  It was SO good and, bonus, I've got leftovers for tonight.  Maybe I can actually do some knitting tonight.

Today is Wednesday noon knitting - we're back to Wednesday thank goodness.  It's cloudy and chilly so working on the blanket will be perfect.  I think it will be only two of us today though.  MaryEllin is gone until the end of July and I believe Diana is off on vacation.   

Cue the crickets

It is SO quiet here this morning.  I am alone in the suite and I haven't heard anyone walk by nor do I hear any distant voices.  It's spooky.  I know the chairman's assistant is here because I saw her when I came in.  But other than that ..... it's almost as if I got in an hour early. 

Yesterday was pretty quiet as well.  I had a nice workout at the IMA, and walked in the rain to get there.  Actually I was a little cold, having only brought a long cardigan rather than a jacket or coat.  It's the same today although not raining right now.  It makes me sleepy. 

I did have plans to knit last night, but I got cozy on the couch with Tinkerbell and just had a do nothing Monday night.  I watched stupid TV, cooked a Trader Joe's flatbread pizza and went to bed early.  I slept quite well so I am a bit surprised that I'm so sleepy but there you go.  Tonight I'll make roasted vegetables and do at least a couple of rows of the blanket.  It goes pretty quickly, actually.  It's perfect TV knitting.  Not totally boring.

June clouds

We had a super gorgeous Friday and the weekend was also very nice.  Not too hot, plenty of sun.  Today the clouds have moved in and we're predicted to get some sprinkles but later this week, it's going to be hot.  We're having quite the nice Spring.  I saw three rabbits this morning and yesterday noticed a round spot in one of the little flower gardens.  I believe something (a deer) is sleeping there.  I really wanted to get some more herbs and some flowers for some color spots around, hanging baskets, etc.  But we had seven stops to make on Saturday and a couple more on Sunday and the garden store wasn't one of them.  Ah well, I've got two weeks, including weekends, to get that kind of stuff.  It'll keep me plenty busy this coming weekend.

Gregg called Friday evening and we had quite a nice chat about reviving our duo.  The plan is that we'll get the songs we know back up to preference level and do a couple of open mike nights, and then add a few more songs so that we have an hour of material.  Then we'll look for a little gig or opening act gig.  It's something to do and I'm excited about it.  It will be so much fun.

I had wanted to make steamed mussels this Saturday and got myself all set for a nice seafood dinner, when there are no mussels to be had!  I guess there's some sort of red tide thing going on in Hood's Canal and/or Penn Cove.  Since we'd had such a late lunch anyway, we ended up with a nice arugula salad with tomatoes and a horseradish vinaigrette - I tried to recreate a dressing we had in Paris that I just loved - and some little beef things on the BBQ.  Just a little bite. 

After all of our running around yesterday I just wanted to knit.  I haven't touched that blanket since last week and I've got to get it done before this month is out!  It's going to be not so hot these next few evenings so I'll really get on it.  But I think I should search out a longer cord.  I changed last night from the 29 inch Addi to the 32 inch bamboo needles and I think it's going to be a real chore to get all of those stitches - over 500 when all of the increases are done - to fit onto that needle.  I've got Denise long cords.  Just exactly where .... not sure.  I think it's time to frog a few more languishing projects.

Just one of those days

I got up early yesterday so that I could get the early bus to work to have time to eat a yogurt before I started the exam.  I was sure I had left in plenty of time and indeed, if I hadn't been behind the school bus I would have made it.  As it was, I pulled into the garage just as the bus was pulling away.  Rats!  So when I got to work I made myself a cup of tea and went downstairs.  I had my audiobook going, so it wasn't so bad and we were done by 11. 

I held on until 11:30 and then went to get a nice salad for lunch.  Taco salad Thursday!  The chicken they cook for that is just wonderful and I was really needing some food in me, having skipped breakfast.  And then it was time to get the bus to Ballard for my mammogram.  I have been getting mine done there for ... wow, probably 20 years.  But they moved the office a few years and there are newer buildings around and I get lost every time I go there!  I made it in time, but took a very circuitous route.

That done I headed home, having nothing to do at the office.  I wanted a nap.  Unfortunately there was road work that made my commute from the transit center home until a long hot frustrating drive.  And I had to stop at the grocery store so I didn't get home all that much earlier.  Maybe an hour.  I tried to take a little snooze but it was too late.  Ah well.

Today is going to be hot.  I've got nothing on my plate at work although it looks like I might have a nice big project coming up later this month.  Fingers crossed.  Today I can go to the gym, finally.  And what else?  Maybe leave a little early.

Beautiful

It is a stunning morning and it's going to be super nice now through the weekend.  Tomorrow is the last final exam and I've got to proctor.  It starts at 8 am!  Can you imagine?  When I expressed my surprise at the early time, the guy from testing said that the students prefer an early start.  Or really?  I mentioned it to one of the students yesterday and she said that most of the students were not at all happy with that early start time.  They'd been talking about it on their Facebook page.  But they'll be done by 11 or so, which is good because I booked a mammogram appointment for 1:10 that afternoon.  It's only a 30 minute bus ride away so I'll easily make it.  What I am concerned about is waking up!  I typically have my tea when I get in and then about 8:30 do my oatmeal and berries.  I can't see me waiting until 11 to eat breakfast.  I guess I'll catch the earlier bus and get in with a little time left so that I can have a yogurt and take my tea downstairs with me.

I got a good start on the last section of the blanket yesterday at noon knitting.  I didn't knit last night though.  My schedule got off because we were waiting for the contractor to come by to look at the house so he could get a bid together for painting.  Everything was late - he was, of course, late.  An hour later than he said.  Typical.  And I was just so tired.  Already I'm anxious for the weekend so I can sleep in!

A busy long weekend

Wow - we went out three evenings in a row this weekend!  Friday we went to the Triplehorn.  We were both exhausted but we wanted to get out and it was the start of a long weekend.  We took Tink and sat outside, which is always nice. 

I was very disappointed in the music Saturday night.  We had gotten a bunch of people to meet us there, but the band was just awful!  The singer was terrible and the music itself was not dance music - or at least anything we wanted to dance to.  And loud.  Holy cow.  The best part of the evening was chatting with Gregg.  He wants to get together and put a few songs together and I am SO happy about that! 

I got a lot done this weekend including a trip to Home Depot to get herbs and tomatoes and some paint samples.  That place was a madhouse though!  Insane.  Just crammed with people -- rude people.  While I was waiting for my paint samples to be mixed I wheeled through the plants and got so flustered that I ended up with two Thai basil plants.  I must remember to either go early in the morning or try to do it during the week.  The weekend is not fun.

I got lots and lots of knitting done on the Dahlia blanket.  Today at noon knitting I will be starting the last petal section which will more than double the number of stitches I've got on the needle at this point.  It's going to be so cute.

Short week and the last week of the quarter before the students take off for summer.  Then it's really going to be quiet around here.

A rocky start

Yesterday after lunch I decided I would tackle the start of the Dahlia blanket again.  First I re-thought how I was doing the cast on - the suggested Easy Circular Cast On.  I reread the instructions and voila! I was doing it wrong!  It took me three tries to finally get the cast on right and then two or three more times of knitting up to row three to realize I was having a problem catching all the loops on a knit two together with the first stitch a YO.  I was also having problems getting the center of the hole to cinch up.  I finally decided to knit one round before I started the first round of the pattern and that was the right decision.  I knit up to row five and it looks right.  I'll do more today.  It's going to be pretty quiet.

It was very warm yesterday and when I got home the clouds had rolled in, so it was muggy as well.  But I didn't want to be inside, so I poured myself a nice glass of wine and sat in the back and listened to the birds.  Plans were laid for a fun evening Saturday.  My friend Rusty is playing with a band this weekend in Woodinville and the place has a dance floor!  And, bonus, Gregg, who played with us in that crazy band a few years ago and who I had a duo with the last time I sang in public, is also going to be there.  It should be a fun evening.

Other than that though it's going to be a work-y weekend.  The house painters are coming out on Monday to look at the job and let us know when they can start and we've got lots of work to do, most notably dismantling a lean-to firewood thing that is up against the tool shed, which will need to be painted when they do the house.  I've wanted to get rid of that eyesore forever.  But it's going to be work.

And hopefully knitting.  It won't be too warm this weekend.  Of course not. 

The right yarn for the project

As luck would have it, one of my appointments got moved yesterday so I decided to head up to Weaving Works yesterday rather than Friday, being rather keen to start that blanket before it gets too hot to knit on it.  I hopped on the bus and I was there in a few minutes.  That was my first visit to Weaving Works since it moved from the U District (walking distance) to Roosevelt and 65th.  It's not so much a larger space, but it is laid out differently.  They used to have what they called a "super wash wall", super wash indicating that the yarn is machine washable.  But now all of their yarn is done by gauge - smallest to largest.  The yarns that are washable have a blue dot on their description card.  Without too much trouble I found a beautiful baby pink yarn that fit the bill perfectly - Vintage Chunky by Berrocco.  I also had $10 credit on my rewards account there - bonus! 

After I got home and got Tink walked, my chores completed, my hair washed and dried I set about winding the six balls of yarn I had purchased.  And finally I set about starting this project.  It's done in the round and therefore the first few rows are bound to be a bit difficult.  I had to take it out twice and decided not to go for a third time.  I have brought it in with me today and hopefully I can get it done this afternoon.  It's quiet around here and I don't have any appointments this afternoon.  Two tomorrow though.  I was hoping to get out early but I've got one at 2:30.  Well, I'll still be able to leave early.  There is a bus before three that I can get.

Turns out there is a party on Sunday.  But the weather is not going to be very nice so I guess it'll have to be inside.  Oh well.  How long has it been since we've actually had a nice Memorial Day weekend?

Turned!

Noon knitting was just three of us -- in our lunchroom since MaryEllin is still gone and both of our conference rooms were occupied.  I got the heels turned on the socks I've been working on and then I need to do the gussets.  I want to get that done so I'll have a good TV knitting project.  Turning the heel is a bit fiddle-y but once I get the markers in, doing the gusset is easy.  And Monika brought me a library book with the pattern I want to make in it - the Dahlia Blanket from "Knitting from the Center Out".  My challenge is to find the right yarn for the project.  The pattern calls for Blue Sky Alpaca Hand Dyes, which is not going to work for this since it is going to be a blanket for a baby and hence,  must be machine washable.  But there are many many nice machine washable yarns out there.  I must go to a yarn store though because I need to feel them and get just the right color.  Maybe on Friday I'll take the bus up to Weaving Works at lunchtime.  Yes, that means skipping the gym but this is an odd week for that.  Monday I was at home, yesterday I had noon knitting, today I have two student appointments, tomorrow I have the dentist so Friday ... sure, I might as well go to the yarn store.

This coming weekend is Memorial Day weekend, the official start to the summer season.  As usual, rain is predicted but it's not supposed to be pouring so that's good.  So far, no parties are planned although we do plan to go hear some music and drink some wine on Friday night, and my old drummer is playing in a band Saturday night in Woodinville so we might go there as well.  But considering the work I'd like to get done in the yard and around the house, I suspect I'll be pretty tired.

One of the people down the street have a large piece of property that has a flat part with their large house and even larger lawn, and then on one side of the property is a steep bank with trees and brush.  Last month they cleared, by hand, a portion of it and put in a tree swing for their children.  I noticed Sunday there was a plastic fence put up around the other part of the hill and a sign on it about urban goats.  Sure enough, they were there yesterday, chomping away at the hill.  I stopped and had a little chat with the husband and wife team who own the goats.  They own Scottish terriers and so just loved Tinkerbell and she was very curious about the goats.  I've seen goats clearing blackberry bushes here at the UW - well, it was a few years ago.  It's pretty cool.

Work from home Monday

I had such a busy day yesterday.  I had my doctor's appointment and the rest of the time I was home.  The weather was lovely but I was tethered to my computer.  Well, I was multi tasking as well.  On Sunday the Blu Ray player I had purchased on September all of a sudden stopped playing regular DVDs.  I fussed with it a good bit on Sunday, trying to watch a movie.  It was very frustrating but luckily I was able to rent the movie I wanted to watch from Amazon Prime, which runs through that very same Sony Blu Ray player, by the way.  Anyway yesterday while I was setting up appointments for students to see me later this week I was on the phone and on line with Sony tech support.  Three different times, mind you.  Three different people and all three of them had me doing the very same steps to try to resolve the issue.  One hour and 30 minutes later we came to the conclusion that the machine is broken.  *sigh*  But the good news is that I will get a new one.  I just have to send it back to Texas, which I will do today.

The weekend was okay, but not sunny and you know me, I hate to garden when it's cloudy outside.  So no gardening, but a fair amount of running about doing errands.  This coming weekend will be a little more rigorous, since we have to start thinking about getting the house painted and what needs to be moved, etc.  Maybe another trip to the dump.  Fun times.

Noon knitting today.  I'm going to try to get the heels turned on these socks.  And I need a new project!  I'd like to make a baby blanket for my manicurist.  I have a lovely pattern picked out.