June 28, 2007

Yarn Crawl

My DD, Alcariel, and I met in Des Moines (that's Iowa) on Friday afternoon. Friday evening we spent a great time at Borders in West Des Moines knitting with Cheryl and her knitting group. On Saturday morning, we met Cheryl at Knitting Together to start the crawl and went on to Purls the Yarn Studio and Creative Corner. Yes, I did break the yarn diet and Cheryl reminded me that I'd need to reset my counter.
My brother's family hosted a surprise 60th birthday picnic for my sister-in-law early in the afternoon. Since it was on the east side of the metro, we just made it after the crawl. About 3/4 of the way there, I remembered that the present was back in my car at the motel in West Des Moines. Thanks to the USPS in Omaha, the gift was sent on the way today. Her birthday is actually July 3, so maybe (???) it will make it.
Alcariel and I then went to Omaha for the rest of the week-end and so I could watch her co-ed church softball team win ... it's really a celebration when that happens. We celebrated at Cold Stone Creamery. After going home, Alcariel and I had a knitting session ... finished turning the heels on both of the STR socks on magic loop. Now just to finish the gussets. I fell asleep knitting on the Clapotis for a friend ... Alcariel continued knitting for most of the night.
On the way home to northern Iowa, I stopped at another shop in Carroll ... The Yarn Basket. It is fantastic .... has many Addi turbo circs ... had the one I needed! Also acquired something for Alcariel .... items for gifts don't count ..... right???
I got home to two very hyper dogs ... my mini poodle Toffee wouldn't stopped squealing .... yes, she is quite vocal. Cozi, on the other hand, just jumped up a couple of time. I'm glad to be home. TLGB

Dentist Visit

This morning while drinking coffee with a group of friends, a large filling came out of one of my molars. Well,.... after a visit with the dentist to evaluate the tooth and smooth rough edges, the decision was made for a root canal/crown. However, I cannot get back to the dentist until July 19th, unless there is a problem. There wasn't any sensitivity to cold/heat and no decay that was beneath the filling. That's good news! Hopefully, the tooth won't bother me this week-end. TLGB

A Dumpster Full!

How much junk, memories, worn-out things, etc. does a 4 cubic yard dumpster hold? A lot!!!!
After living in this house for the past 30+ years, I decided that one summer chore would be to get rid of "stuff" in the basement that we haven't looked at in years, old clothes that might fit some day, and some things brought home by Alcariel, our daughter, from college. Well, we had the dumpster for two days and it was finally filled yesterday morning. After the company had picked it up, I went down in the basement and thought that maybe we could have filled it again. That may be for later this summer or weekly by placing an extra "bag" out with the garbage.

Due to this basement purging, I really haven't worked on too much knitting ... I am almost ready to do the heels on the RSC June sock .... Summer Solstice. This is the second pair of socks I've started on a magic loop .... the other one I placed on dps so I would have the 47" #1 Addi free for the socks. As I said before, I did do 3x2 rib for the first 8 rows ... really like the way the top looks.

This week-end Alcariel and I are meeting in Des Moines for a sister-in-law's surprise 60th birthday .... but ..... Friday evening we will be at Border's in WDM for knitting with a Des Moines group. A short yarn crawl throughout the city on Saturday morning .... how much damage can we do in a short time? Then we meet at a shelter house in Pleasant Hills (east metro area) at 1:00 for a surprise picnic. Alcariel and I will then head to her place to do some belated spring cleaning ... carpet shampooing from my DH that doesn't believe in wiping his feet even when he was standing in mud in her backyard to stain her fence.

Have a dentist appt. .... lost a filling at coffee this morning. UGH!
TLGB

June 24, 2007

Spoiler - Sock Club



I love the June STR selection. I decided to try knitting both socks on magic loop ... I had only gotten about one inch into another sock when the kit came, so I pulled it off the needle. I'm using an Addi #1 (37 inch, I think). I did have problem when starting with the pattern as written, so I frogged and did 8 rows of 3x2 rib before starting the pattern. I am about halfway through on my second pattern repeat. It is working up well .... had small puddles in the ribbing, and those are beginning to appear in the pattern stitch, too. I plan to use the heel flap/gusset that works best for my high instep ... other than that, plan on following the pattern.

I bought a new digital camera last Friday ... our old HP digital is about six years old .... the big, bulky kind .... it still takes good pics. I bought another HP .... this time M627 Photosmart. These pics were taken with the new camera.

June 19, 2007

Blue Moon Fiber Gals Rock!

My STR package came yesterday ... I was going to wait to open it to see if my daughter, Alcariel, also had received hers, but ..... the will power just wasn't there. The colorway is gorgeous, the pattern awesome, and the little "surprise" great! I didn't cast on yet, but will probably do so today.

I've been knitting on the clapotis for a friend from church .... I do have to do more repeats since the yarn is finer that what's suggested, but it is turning out nice. Hopefully I'll be ready for the "straight" section in the middle of the shawl. TLGB

What's knitting?


Just worked the ends in on twelve more squares for the Greensburg project that Alcariel and I have knitted the past week. So far, that's 36 squares! It is very "mindless" knitting, but very fulfilling in knowing that the afghans made will be warming residents who have lost so much in Greensburg.

Picked up the Cozy shawl I'd begun last week for a church friend who just lost her husband to cancer and discovered a dropped stitch. Well, it went to the frog pond and I've decided to do the Clapotis from Knitty instead since I don't need to follow the pattern so closely.

This past week-end the DH and I travelled to Alcariel's (our DD) to clean and stain her deck and fence. The DH had bought a paint sprayer, so once he succumbed to reading directions, the fence job went a lot faster. We couldn't find more cans of the waterproofer/stain that Alcariel had chosen. The fence is 90% done and the deck 0%, so guess we'll have to visit again to finish. I spent a lot of the time moving the hose/sprinkler in her backyard that had just been sodded on Thursday. The saleman said to keep the sod "squishy" for the first couple of weeks, so the water ran continuously most of the day.
Better get the envelope with the squares mailed. TLGB.

June 9, 2007

More Squares for Greensburg

My daughter, Alcariel, came home this week-end for a friend's wedding. She brought five squares for the Greensberg project and finished a sixth before she went home. Well ..... I have four done when she came and completed two more so that we would have a dozen to send this week. I've tried posting with pics of all the squares and have been having trouble, so if only one pic shows, the other two have disappeared. Wish me luck! I will probably try to knit some more squares this week, too!

I started the Cozy shawl from Knitty in Mountain Colors Indian corn colorway. It really is turning out beautiful! Since the yarn is lighter weight than the pattern calls for, I increased the sts from 85 to 121 and am knitting with KPO #6 circ. The st pattern is showing up okay ... I'm only done with the first 8-row pattern repeat. Hopefully I'll be able to do 2 pattern repeats each day and get the shawl completed in about 30 days. We'll see???!!!!

I also have to do some serious sock knitting. I have three different pairs on the needles. The Broadripple socks from Knitty are about halfway down the leg on the second socks, the Crooked Cable Socks from Sock Bug are both on a magic loop with about 1 inch completed (but on both socks!), and the BMFA Air-Conditioned socks in Trekking are about 4 inches down the leg of the first sock. Wow! I do have a lot of sock knitting to finish.




Knitting Update

It has been a while since a post ... I've been knitting, gardening, "coffeeing" with friends, general household chores, and mourning the loss of a dear friend, almost an "adopted" Dad for us since our parents are all with God in heaven. Toots was an almost 82 year old farm boy who still like to drive a tractor ... a Farmall M that he had entirely redone ... even painted and clear-coated ... did it ever shine in the Band Day parade last fall. He was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly before Christmas. He chose to forego any treatment since he was ready to be with his Lord. He stayed at home until his final week or so when he was placed in a care center for hospice care. He passed away on Tues. with his celebration of life (funeral) yesterday.
I'm still working on knitted squares for Rebuilding Greensburg Square by Square. It takes about two hours to knit a square. Alcariel (my daughter) and I have been knitting them since Memorial Day week-end. On Monday, I sent a dozen to the First Baptist Church in El Dorado, Kansas. Alcariel came this week-end, bringing 4+ squares with her. I'm just about finished with my 4th ... had a minor accident earlier. I decided to soak my feet just for relaxation and they were a bit dirty from gardening this morning ... well, I knitted while the feet soaked ... got up to take the tub of water back to the bathroom ... only I pulled my 2/3 completed square off the loveseat into the footsoak tub. UGH! I pulled it off the bamboo needles and gently rinsed the dirty footsoak water out of it. It is in a "bunch" on the edge of the tub drying. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it tomorrow afternoon.
Alcariel and I bought the DH an early Fathers' Day present ... a purple clematis similar to the one that his parents had growing up a small decorative windmill at the farm. We also purchased a trellis for it to climb. That was planted this morning. Didn't have the camera outside, so haven't taken pics yet.
Later after the squares are finished, I'll post pics. TLGB