Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Trying Something New


Several new things to be exact. Here's the pair of STR socks that I started a while ago. I've finally gotten them up to the heel. I have only ever done the afterthought heel...but this time I'm trying the short row heel from the book Crazy Heels & Toes. I am just ready to start them but don't have enough stitch markers...so tomorrow, when I take Billy to work, I'm going to stop and get a pack of those tiny rubberbands you use in your hair. Yes, that's what the author suggests using! For once, I *totally* understand the directions! Well, I say that now! LOL


The next new thing...a cable shell for my sister. The name of this pattern is Twisted Stitches and the desginer is Sarah James. This is quite a ways beyond my knitting ability...or I should say, my attention span! LOL I am swatching the cable pattern to check for guage and to see if it looked OK using two strands of yarn. My sister picked this yarn and it's a bit thin for the patter. If I use two strands I get the guage listed on the pattern. Soooo...there you have it! Two new-to-me things! :)

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Billy & his Girl Friend


Well, here they are! Billy and Nicole...at the band banquet last week. Billy won two awards; most reliable award and a gold star attendence award. He had the best attendence of the entire band. He missed three practices that we can think of; one for a dentist appointment, one to take his Life Scout board and one due to work. His work is great...works around most of his band schedule. He had seven of the past nine Thursday nights off work (Thursday is after school band until 5 and then drumline from 6 to 8:30). He had to leave the banquet early to go to work...but he went, ate, and supported Nicole through her awards. She's in the Middle School band, plays trumpet for concert band...and is a color guard for Marching Band. Billy plays quads in the High School Marching Band and percussion in High School Concert Band...and is a peer mentor for the middle school percussionists.

Monday, May 29, 2006

PATCHOULI!!!!


Oh my...look what I found at a new-to-me greenhouse!
Patchouli
My all time favorite scent is patchouli...now I have a real live plant! :)

Sunday, May 28, 2006

STR socks - progress


Well...some progress, abet slow, but it's still progress! I'm beginning to think these are going to be too big. When I try them on my foot they seem loose...hmmm, wondering if the yarn will shrink any after being washed?

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Flowers & Plants

Cornflower...that's what mom called it! Pretty...a big mound.

Here's a close up of the flowers, complete with a bumble bee!


And a picture of the neighbor's Rhododendron with a pretty butterfly.

Here's a planter Billy made me many years ago...and what I put in it; screw grass, nicotinia, bacopa
My hypertuffa pots filled with intersting flowers; I love the Tiny Tunia's on the right!
And...AC...this is what she thinks of following me around the yard!



Thursday, May 25, 2006

Grumblings and Nothings

I can't believe it's Thursday already. This week has flown past and I've gotten absoultely NOTHING accomplished! Nothing..nada...zip! I will start to do something and then get distracted by someone/something else and never get back to doing what I started. The proof is that the bathroom is half clean! I have gotten my hanging baskets planted...with those plants I bought last Saturday. I still have lots more planting to do. It's been too cold to put anything in the dirt...so cold that we haven't even bought our bedding and garden plants. That is tomorrow's job.

Billy failed his driver's test...parallel parking screwed him up big time. He is use to parking on a street with real cars...for the test he had to park in a parking lot between cones. I'm not sure if I could do that without the curb, painted parking stall lines, a parking meter or a car or two to judge distances with. OK...this weekend we are digging out the old soccer cones and practicing parallel parking! He can retake the test next Wednesday. Sooo...here's to another week to carting his butt all over the county!

This is a holiday weekend...don't know how much holiday-ing we're going to get accomplished. Satruday Billy has school until 2 and a drumline show in the evening. Monday he has a parade in town and then he works Monday night. School is out on the 2nd of June...only a few more days of that for him. I can't wait to see what his summer work scheudle is going to be like.

And, I don't wanna hear no complaints about not having a picture in this post...I can not find my digital camera! Well, not since the band (Billy's in a band) was here using it Tuesday night! I'm sure it'll turn up...I just don't know where they put it!

Monday, May 22, 2006

STR sock toes


OK...here you go...an inch worth of sock toes. They want to curl inside out so badly, you can't really tell how long they are. They will not lay flat no matter what...they aren't long enough yet! These are much rounder than my ususal toe...and they look good...sooo, appearently I'm following the directions! LOL I'm off to knitting class to knit some more. This isn't really a "class" my SIL, her mother and I get together on Monday nights to knit, sew, crochet, etc....and gab...and have great desserts! Ahhh, yup, I'll publicy admit to going for dessert and adult girl-talk! :)

Knitting Sister's Swap


I recieved a lovely package last week from my "secret sister" for The Knitting Sister Swap group. I did eat the entire bag of gummybears...so they aren't in this picture! :) The little sheep tape measure is the cutest thing! You pull his arm and the tape measure comes out. And he's black...I'm so the blacksheep of the family...this is perfect! :)) And that book! I can't quit looking at the wondeful purses...I've already dog-eared the pages for three purses. I just need some yarn! Sooo...here's a great big Thank You to my not-so-secret knitting sister partner, Phyllis!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Socks for ME!

Time to knit something for myself. A few weeks ago, I dug this hank of STR yarn from my stash. It was a birthday present from my friend Frances (the lovely lady with tons of patiencs who taught me to knit socks). I balled it up. Now, that was a project! Two balls, equal in size, from one skein. But I managed. I rolled one from the inside, then started the other from the outside...rolled until they were the same size, and then I found the repeat in the colorway and cut the balls apart.

And there you have it...two balls of yarn. I just love this colorway...Fire on the Mountain. It's so *me*. I spent a bit of time with my Crazy Heels & Toes book figuring out a different cast-on method (mine sucks). I have both socks cast on...but have not knit anything yet. It was time to go to my mom's for supper...I'll start these tomorrow and take them to knitting "class" with me tomorrow night. I'm going to try the round toe technique in the CH&T book...and knit these in an allover k3p1 rib or maybe k4p1 rib. This will be my first pair of socks for ME!

Greenhouse Shopping

My sister and I went greehouse shopping yesterday...what lucious finds! We left at 10:30 in the morning...came home at 7 p.m....drove almost 100 miles, ate lunch and stopped at a coffee shop for a "snack". All totaled, we went to seven green houses! I came home with three boxes of plants and she came home with two boxes and one HUGE hanging basket. Here are a couple pictures of my plants.




I bought a Jasmine Sambac for my mom's birthday...oh and a miniature rose bush. For myself, I bought some stuff to make a few hanging baskets; some Calibrachoa, Chenille Plant, Streptocarpella and blue Bacopa. I also bought a Heliotrope, a couple red spikes, a black elephant ear, a Kong Coleus, some red Nicotinia and a pot of Screw Grass. Sooo, I'm ready for this crappy weather to break. I wanna play in the dirt!

More Purchases!

A quick stop at the not-so-local yarn store gained me two skeins of Kroy sock yarn. Billy wants anothre pair of fingerless gloves...in red. And I wanted some white sock weight yarn to use as "scrap yarn" for replaceable heels (figuring it'll be easier to see when I pick up the stitches). I was good...and only bought these two things. Well, she didn't have the three needles I was looking for. Why are Addi Natrua so hard to find? I prefer wood needles, and those Addi cables can't be beat!



My husband asked me if there was anything knitting related I wanted for Mother's Day. And I told him about these two books. He said, "Order them." So I did! :) They arrived on Friday. I've only had time to glance through them, but they look great. And, the Aran Sweater Desgin one came autographed! What a wonderful surprise!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Basketweave (slip stitch) Dish Cloth


...is finished! :) It needs blocked a bit, but it's done. I think I'll do another one and reverse the colors. But FIRST...I'm getting my STR socks started! And next time...I'm going to remember that I can not watch the season finale of ER and count stitches! My goodness there were a few times I forgot to breathe...and how dare they end it like that! How long is it until September???

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Clare's Basketweave Dish Cloth


Wow, this pattern took me forever to figure out! Rows 1 thorugh 4 were easy...knit! Then Row 5 had you turning your work (before the end) twice, working back across it; essentially Rows 5, 7, 9, and 11 are (with the exception of the first and last three stitches) four rows each! It's interesting...and hard to keep track of. This took me a whole dang day to figure out! And to make it more confusing the pattern does not say to hold your yarn on the WS of your work when slipping stitches. That took me another couple hours to figure out why I didn't hae the basketweave pattern. The, after tearing out four inches because it didn't look right, I had a *lightbulb* moment... Ohhh, that little bar of yarn behind the slipped stitches, they have to all be on the same side so the basketweave shows! DUH! Anyway...that was the weekend...now I'm back on track. I wonder how many of these things she wants???

Monday, May 15, 2006

The next project...


My friend brought me a pattern book for dish cloths...and pointed out a couple that she wants... Soooo, I'm back to knitting dish cloths! :)

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Mother's Day Flowers


I've been blessed this year! First...one set of siblings I babysit brought me these lovely potted pruple tulips. My favorite flower is tulips! I have lots growing around the house...and always pick them to bring them inside. Now I have a whole pot inside! AND, the best part...I can plant these bulbs in my garden just as soon as they stop blooming. Lovely flowers for years to come!


Second...my son gave me $10 and asked me to pick myself out some flowers. I love making flower arrangements and messing with colors and textures for boquets. I searched all of DuBois on Friday night, didn't find anything that really begged to come home with me. Sooooo, I went to Walmart in St. Marys on Saturday afternoon. I found a lovely boquet of roses...ON CLEARANCE! These babies were perfect...starting to open up. Such an unusual color too...the inside of the petals are blood red...the outside is a kakki color. Very pretty and *different*. The boquet had 20 roses...one was a stem only...and three had their stems broken off right at the base of the flower. Those three buds are floating in a glass dish on my coffee table...the other 16 are in this boquet! Such a thoughtfull kid! :)

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

More done on the Sweater


As you can see, I'm done with the body. I think I'm taking a break for a bit on this. It's for my Sister's birthday...and that isn't until August. I also wanted to make her a summery shell...and I have some sock yarn that is screaming "knit with me"... So the arms and neck ribbing can wait a while on this!

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Porch Steps


1:00 p.m. Old steps tore off.

1:45 p.m. New steps in place!


3:00 p.m. Now they have a fresh coat of stain...

By the looks of it they are going to need another coat tomorrow...but for now, they are done! Bill even got a late start...he put together the new gas grill we bought last night.

The old gas grill was a Christmas present from my parents in 1987. Yes, I'm serious...it was 19 years old! It's had so many parts replaced I can't even keep track of them all. We've been limping it through the past two summers...each year saying we are going to get a new one. Each summer...no new grill! Well...fate took care of that this year!

I had a major problem cooking supper Thursday night... I bought steaks and wanted to grill them... As the grill heated, I was inside cutting up salad stuff...and I heard this loud smashing noise coming from the porch. Knowing the cat is a super-pest and I just put the glass
hummingbird feeder out a couple days ago...I figured she made a dive at a hummingbird and knocked the feeder off. In fact, she was running for her life, down through the yard. Hmmm, feeder is fine, so are the glass oil lamps/pots. I turned facing the grill...and saw what made the noise. The glass on the lid of the grill had exploded! Thank God the steaks were not
cooking...man, would I have been pissed then!

Sooo, clean up began...I knocked the rest of the glass out, took it out of the grill and off the lava rocks...and turned it back on. I was having those steaks; one way or another! ;) After supper I cleaned up the glass so the stupid cat wouldn't get in it. And THAT's what snowballed into the
massive porch clean up! Soooo....I'm was ready for the step replacement job that Bill sprung on me!

Wanna go for a walk around my yard?





Saturday, May 06, 2006

Bill's Weekend Project

Yup, my hubby has a weekend project...even has the new wood...and this time he's made me promise to put put saucers under the flower pots! Personally, I'm impressed...he said he was going to fis the broken step...the very bottom one...it tetter-totters (see the birck under the right side?). I figured he'd fix the one and only "broken" step...but he came back from the neighbor's sawmill with a long board and cut it into SIX stair treds. I'm impressed! :) Hopefully tomorrow night I'll have a a pic of the new stairs!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Sis's Sweater


The progress was slowed down by those fingerless gloves...but I started up again on the sweater. I have the back yoke finished...and a couple inches of the front yoke. I hope to have it up to the neck before she comes home on the 19th. Make sure it fits, before connecting the shoulders and finishing the neck line. THEN, on to the sleeves...

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Billy's Gloves...

...are finished! I can't post a picture because he wore the left one to school...because the right one wasn't finished. He threatened to wear it anyways...with the two circulars dangling off his middle finger but common sense grabbed him and he decided that was too Edward Siccsor Handish for school! KIDS! Now...back to my sister's birthday present...the green sweater...