Lauri's Blog

Its Official!

2006-11-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

I decided to move.
Please come find me at my new blog:

Lauri Knits

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope that you keep visiting me at my new home!

2006-11-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Probably making the change...
I haven't made the official decision, but I am pretty sure that I'll be moving here

For now, I'll be posting only there just to get used to it, so come and see me there while I make my decision.

on making changes

2006-10-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

I am continuing to struggle with the decision on whether to change to wordpress or stay with blogger.

There are a lot of reasons to do either one.

I like the ease of wordpress, it has been really easy to get to know it, I haven't had any troubles with posts, with adding pics, etc. It was very easy to set up a nice looking blog in a short time.

A few things I like about blogger - already set up, familiar, everyone know the address. Also, easy to post pics thru picasa once I save the pic on my computer. It has been relatively easy to change the template, even with the minimal skills I have.

What I don't like about blogger: troubles with posting more than one pic in a post, sometimes I can'tget any of the pics to upload! Recently I have had trouble even accessing my blog, or the dashboard on at least 3 different occasions.

On wordpress, I wish that there was the option to change the template for free. I am not opposed to paying for the blogging service...but...

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So, my question is: what is everyone else's opinion? Should I stay here or move?

shawl update...

2006-10-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

You know how when you are tired and frustrated you tend to jump to all sorts of wrong conclusions....
It is a good thing that I didn't completly overreact last night (I was almost ready to rip it off the needles!
Yes I've made an error somewhere in the pattern, and I am off by one stitch - but that will be easily fixable. The part I overreacted to last night was my fault - reading the wrong paragraph, which made me think that I'd been knitting the wrong stitches since the 7th row...I'm blaming it on the time change this weekend, and being stressed out.
I have more than 100 stitches on the needle already, once I get to 191 I start the lace pattern.

2006-10-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

post deleted - obviously I am not smart enough to read a pattern...more details later when I decide if I should rip it all out and start over, or if I should just change course now...

changes?

2006-10-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of making a change. Blogger gets frustrating sometimes...
I am trying out a wordpress blog right now. I started it yesterday, and like what I've seen so far, sorta.
here is the address http://lauriknits.wordpress.com

In the coming weeks I'll decide what I want to do. In the meantime, I'll be posting to both blogs.

Does anyone have any experiences or opinions they want to share? please let me know.

again, I have no knitting progress to show. I turned the heel on the pink sock, and started on the gusset, only to come to the realization that I might have made a huge error with the pattern - it will require some fussing and moving of stitches...drat!
I also started a shawl last night - and ripped it out this morning. And. NO, I haven't even touched the fair isle sock in days...

Very Fetching!

2006-10-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! I love how quickly these knit up!! They were a lot of fun, and really fast! Two days from start to finish - work days too! I only knit a little during lunch each day, and in the evenings!

They are warming my hands as I type this. I want a pair in every color!! Ok, maybe not that many, but...at least a few pairs.
The Baby Cashmerino worked out well (I didn't have access to the aran weight.) I used 32g of the 50g skein, so lots of yarn left, but not enough to use to make anything!

I already bought several more skeins in different colors for gifts. (ok, and maybe another pair for me...)

The pink lace socks are coming along, but not ready for a photo shot yet. hope to show and tell by the end of the weekend.

planning

2006-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

The schedule was posted today!! I have made up a list of the sessions I want to attend...now I have to narrow it down to a realistic list! It is a good thing that I have 2 weeks to think about itbefore I need to make a decision! Also, I need to make sure my time off request is approved.

The lace socks are coming along. I started the heel flap today. I'm still not entirely sure if it will make a wearable sock, but continuing on. I'll see how the fit is after the gusset. No pictures yet - I'll keep you tempted until I make a decision! hehe

So, as if I didn't have enough projects already in progress....Sherri got in a terrific color of Baby cashmerino - sorta melon-orangy pink. It was screaming at me to use it to make Fetching. Started tonight, and have knit about an inch already!

That's all for tonight, gotta go knit up the gloves- it is chilly here!

new challenges!

2006-10-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Last night I started a new sock. (lol)

I have this beautiful new sock yarn (colorway: Roses, by Pat Fly), after looking through all of my sock books I couldn't find a "perfect"pattern"...

...then yesterday morning I was at the library returning some very overdue books, and of course had to look at their knitting books! I checked out Vogue Knitting's Stitchionary Vol 1, knit and purl!

So, last night after spending some time looking through the patterns, I decided to try to design my own sock! I am using one of the lace patterns, and had to do a little bit of tweaking of the pattern, eliminating 2 stitches, but it is working so far! (15 rows finished!)

No pictures yet, but I will share soon.
One question: the scalloped lace edge at the top of the sock is wanting to curl somewhat. Does anyone have a suggestion for me to try and avoid it?

Since there are no sock pics, I decided to leave you with a picture of the beach (taken last month)

Friday!

2006-10-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the dahlias from my yard. I can't believe how they've bloomed this year!! Last year they didn't bloom at all - and now more blooms than I can count!
The colors are sorta washed out in the picture, the flowers are actually orangy peach on the outside and yellow in the middle. There are dozens more blossoms left!

---

This afternoon I finished the 3rd pattern repeat (of 4) in the fair isle sock. If all goes well, I will do my best to finish the sock this weekend.

Starting again!

2006-10-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight I actually practiced my cello! I've taken quite a long break from playing lately. I am really not sure why exactly - numerous reasons, including but not limited to a few injuries, frustration and knitting.

I had not played at all for about a month, and haven't regularly practiced for quite a long time (I don't even want to admit to myself how long it has actually been!)

It was a wonderful feeling to have the bow in my hand (even tho it started cramping up quickly) and to feel the cello resonating against me. It amazed me that I could actually play for about 20 minutes before I needed to stop for the night, I didn't think that my endurance would be that good.

I did sound pretty out of practice...difficult to find the right positions with my fingers to stay in tune, but that will come back with more practice. I was able to play through several of the pieces that I'd practiced a lot last year, and did sound ok I think (at least the cat didn't go running out of the room!)

To my friends that read the blog regularly -- please hold me accountable to my practicing ok? I feel like I really need to get this part of my life back, and I need a bit of encouragement and prodding to keep at it, especially since I am out of the habit of regularly practicing!

...darn

2006-10-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the fleece artist sock again (now that I finally finished the baudelaires) and this evening, I've now made the tough decision to rip out the sock and start over.

I've been using size 2s, which is too large of a needle, and I don't like the fabric it is making. I know that I'll hate the sock.

I did like the pattern, it is easy to knit, very easy to memorize the pattern. Though, I'm not sure if I'll try it again with size 1s or if I'll try a different pattern.

2006-10-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

I am so angry right now...I can't even come up with a title for today's post!

So, my mom was supposed to arrive here in WA this Friday. She bought her tickets nearly 3 weeks ago. She told her dialysis unit in SD the next day. They dropped the ball and didn't attempt to coordinate switching her care to here until 4 days ago! The dialysis center here ABSOLUTELY positively MUST have 3 weeks notice prior to her coming...therefore "you'll just have to change your plans" (said with a very 'nice' sweet voice)

I swear - they are going to kill her in SD (I don't say this lightly - they have mismanaged her care for so long, in so many ways) Someone is going to get an earful from me tomorrow morning, at least I have overnight to cool off - thank goodness for the time difference between pacific time and central.

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On another note - I finished the Baudelaire socks!!!

And here is the picture of my finished socks that I tried to put up last week:

duh!

2006-10-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is a perfect example of why you shouldn't knit while watching a refrigerator repairman disassemble your fridge...

duh....

Socks

2006-10-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't join the Socktoberfest group, I have more than enough on my plate this month unfortunately.

But I've been thinking a lot about socks, about why it is that I like knitting them.

I guess it is probably because of the function and the folly of socks. They can be worn every day(not the same pair!!), and the nicely made fun knit socks really set you apart from almost everyone else who is wearing plain old white cotton socks.

Last night I spent time looking through the knitting books trying to find the best pattern for Joy's socks. I decided on the Unst pattern from Knitting on the Road. I haven't started yet tho, because I have far too many socks on the needles right now.

So, for a full accounting of my socks:
1. Finished pairs:
- red and black opal, basic sock, for me
- blue/purple wildfoote handpainted, basic sock, for me
- green stripe fortissima, ribbed sock, for me
- multicolor opal DK, basic sock, for me
- blue stripe opal DK, basic sock, for mom
- 2 pair baby socks, cascade fixation, for Kris and Kizmi
- yellow opal, Conway sock, for me
- blue/brown striped Steinbach socks, for me
- 2 pair Silk Garden socks, for me and for mom
- pink socks, Fly yarn, basic sock, for someone as a Christmas gift!
Twelve pairs!

2. In progress:
- Trekking traveling rib sock (1 half finished), for mom
- Fair Isle sock (one finished, other almost half done), for me
- Baudelaire socks, STR yarn (one done, one started), for me
- Fleece artist yarn, small capitals pattern (one almost half done), for me
- Blue, Pat Fly yarn, Unst pattern (ready to cast on), for Joy
Five pairs

3. Upcoming projects
- Purple Trekking XXL socks, for me
- Brown socks, to be determined
- Opal handpainted, shades of brown and rust
- Pat Fly, lightweight sock yarn, (soon on its way to me - thanks Sherri!)

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I've started to feel that I have SO MANY projects in progress right now that I have to make myself accountable for finishing them. Besides the socks in progress, I have too many other wip's: silk beaded scarf, meadow flowers shawl, pinwheel sweater. And so much yarn designated for other projects: Green Gable sweater, Pacific Northwest shawl, multicolor felted bag...And don't get me started on all the fiber from last week!
...gotta go, must start knitting!!

(edited: I've often wondered where the pictures go when you upload them to blogger, but they don't appear on the blog...hmm; well, I tried to add a picture of the socks, but no such luck)

frustration

2006-10-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, its been a really long week. It might be Friday today, but I am working tomorrow at least for half a day, so my weekend hasn't started yet.

This has been a really long and pretty miserable week! It might be because of being sick this week -- yes, sick again! I went home on Wednesday after nearly passing out at the nurses station. Ate only saltine crackers and drank gatorade for a day and a half.

We have been busier this week than I have ever seen it in the 4+years I have worked at this job! Overall, tho, I've been holding up, seeing as many patients as possible, etc...
... So, why is is that just ONE person who is rude, unreasonable, and just NOT nice, can ruin everything!? And why is it that when you're tired and overworked the default physical reaction to the rudeness is a total meltdown? (as in blubering, crying mess!)

----

I think that a couple reasons might be (besides the general very busy week) is that I haven't had a chance to knit more than a few rows on a sock in days, and going cold turkey off of caffeine the last 3 days. I'm planning to take a hot bubble bath, then early to bed, and maybe knit a bit.

(Disappointed that I don't get to go to the knitting group at the library tomorrow. It seems like there is always something keeping me from going - hope I can come next month. I'll be thinking of everyone while working tomorrow...)

update

2006-10-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of the yarn I made from the roving I bought this weekend. I love the colors! This was approx 1/4 of one of the rovings, and I have approx 52 meters; so by the time I spin it all there should be enough yarn to actually make something...

disclosure...

2006-09-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest with myself (and others) on just how much I bought at the fiber festival...

4 ounces of the blue/green/yellow/purple roving:

4 ounces of pink/orange/yellow roving:

1 pound of white alpaca roving!:

a basket of medium and dark brown alpaca roving (weight undetermined):

A beautiful needle felted llama hat:

A hand knit ruffle scarf: (beautiful & I know that I could probably knit one just like it, but would lose my mind doing it!)

two adorable needle felted birds made by the Sisters at the St. Placid Priory:

And last but not least, some apricot pepper jam, yummy!

(I will not, however, disclose exactly how much I spent on all of this!)

wow!

2006-09-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

So...after I wrote last night, I decided to try some more navajo plying with the singles that I spun yesterday at the fiber festival. It went much more smoothly. I was so thrilled with the yarn that resulted that I HAD to knit it up right away!!

I LOVE IT! Colors are just like a sunset out at the beach!

Then I had to start spinning up the aplaca...

(maybe I should watch that video that I linked to last week about obsessions again?)

----
On another note, it is somewhat reassuring that things don't function smoothly at work without me. I've been on the phone with a coworker and my boss twice already this morning...its nice to be needed

yarn!

2006-09-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to just go ahead and ply the singles that I spun from the bright colored roving that I purchased at the OS Arts and Crafts fair.

I had been unsure of how I should do it since I divided the roving lengthwise into 3 (of course unequal size). The 3 different singles of course had different lengths of each color...Well, I decided to just let the colors do what they wanted to do.

The effect is nice, I think. Although the colors are not true in the picture. It slowly fades from one color to the next.
With the small amount of single ply I had left of one of the singles, I attempted to learn how to navajo ply. The result is the smaller skein. I like it, but will need LOTS of practice.

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The fiber festival today was a lot of fun. I bought roving: some wool very similar to what is pictured above; also some nice alpaca (brown and very dark brown) I can't wait to try spinning it! Then I bought 2 needle felted birds, they are adorable.
(pictures of what I bought will come hopefully tomorrow)

Help?

2006-09-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have a chronic problem with my socks...(OK besides the ever present second sock syndrome!)

Does this happen to anyone else; and if so how do you fix or avoid it?
- on the heel flap, the slipped stitches on one side look very nice, even, etc.
- on the other side they are bigger, loopy, sloppy looking.

For a long time, I thought that it was just me being uneven with my stitches, but on the last several socks, I have consciously tried to even things up, and now with trying several different types of heels and coming up with the same problem...Well, I know I must be doing something wrong!

The looser stitches are always on the side that is at the end of the knit row / beginning of the purl row.

(sorry for no pictures to illustrate this)

one down...

2006-09-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

I finished my first Baudelaire sock (finally!!) I was even a very good sock knitter and cast on for the second sock within ten minutes of finishing the first!!!

I have a 3 day weekend! I was very happy to see the end of this work day, it was a very long week.

This weekend is the Schafer Meadows Fiber Festival. I can't wait!! I just have to try and avoid spending too much money.

lessons learned...

2006-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

1. Lace sock - I haven't yet finished a lace sock, this is only the second that I've attempted. I really like this pattern. I love how the texture looks both off and on the foot. I think its beautiful!!

2.Short row heel - I haven't done a short row heel before, and thought that this would be the perfect time to learn. I had a pretty easy time of it, and am only disappointed in two things:

a. there is a gap on one side, despite my numerous attempts to make the stitches tighter
AND
b. AFTER TURNING THE HEEL AND STARTING TO KNIT IN THE ROUND....THE SOCK IS TOO TIGHT IN THE INSTEP!!!!!

3. Pattern designers know more than me! This is not really difficult for me to admit, but I guess it's hard come to terms with this more than halfway through the sock. I didn't think that it would matter so much which heel I did - I thought that they would be interchangable. And, maybe they could be, but with some tweaking of the pattern.

4. Ripping back and picking up lace stitches (actually I haven't learned this one yet, but will soon!) So, I get to rip back 1 full pattern repeat on the cuff, the short row heel and at least several rows on the foot -- and then I'll do what the pattern told me I should do.

But not today. It is too nice to spend the day inside, I'm going out to the garden!

So...

2006-09-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I talked about being tempted by Eunny's socks.
well,
somehow, instead of starting them, I started a sock from the Sensational Knitted Socks book. Here is my progress so far, 2 full pattern repeats done.

I made a few modifications: different toe cast on, started with more stitches so I didn't have a really pointy toe. (sorry it is a bit blurry)

Here is a nice picture of Terry (but I think that he looks sorta sad here.)

Also, I added a button on the sidebar to subscribe to bloglines. I've just recently started using it too - saves a lot of time!!

Dangerous!!

2006-09-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

Eunny's blog is DANGEROUS! (at least to a distractible sock knitter like me!)

Here are a few examples:
entrelac socks!

beautiful cables!

I already have 3 socks in progress, and sock yarn for 4 more pairs. And the yarn that Joy bought for her socks I promised her. And now I feel like dropping everything and starting both of these socks...
...instead, I'll go spin some wool.

The Fair!

2006-09-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

I decided this morning that I would go to THE FAIR! Despite still feeling a bit under the weather - weak and achy - I had a terrific time and am very happy that I went.

No pictures yet, but several nice things were purchased!
-- Some lovely 100% tencel yarn (shades of orange, rust, brown and a bit of green - fall colors),
-- some beautiful wool to spin,
-- and I volunteered to knit Joy a pair of socks in exchange for some other handmade crafts (tins covered with her beautiful marbled paper!) - Joy picked out some very nice dark blue sock yarn by Pat Fly (the same brand as my socks that I just finished). I was hoping to meet Pat, but her shift didn't start until late in the afternoon.

Had loads of fun looking at all the animals! Joy knew one of the families with goats, so we stood there and talked, got to pet the goats without getting in trouble, and the goats had fun chewing on and licking my bag of wool - luckily I noticed before they chewed through the paper!!

More details tomorrow...when I'm not so tired.

Obsession?

2006-09-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like this?

When Knitting Becomes an Obsession

I know that I have sometimes knit almost obsessively, but not this bad! I found this link on Marlene's Blog

Wow!

2006-09-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

These socks knit up faster than any other socks I've knit!
Details:
- done in 7 days!
- My basic sock pattern (originally from Sherri, with a few modifications)
- Size 3 needles (I think that this yarn would knit up better on size 1 or 2)
- Yarn: Fly Super Sport, Monarch, Ruby Redmond colorway

(ssshhh, don't tell anyone that I spent my sick days knitting - I had to do something while I was just laying there on the couch!)

beautiful day!

2006-09-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a lot of fun. After church this morning, I went to Ocean Shores to the Arts and Crafts Festival.

I talked for awhile with Betty from the Shafer Meadows Fiber Guild. She was selling some of her handknit items, also yarns and rovings! I bought some lovely hand dyed / handspun mohair and silk boucle. It will make a terrific Christmas present for someone. (Sorry the pic is a bit out of focus, but it shows the colors)

I also bought 2 ounces of corriedale roving in very fun bright colors! (the photo makes it seem even brighter than actual) I split it down the middle and already spun the first half!! It was easy to spin, and I have to resist spinning the other half tonight - other things to do!

After I left the art show, I walked out onto the beach. Its strange...I live only 40 minutes away, and go so infrequently! I think that I need to get out there more often, since it relaxes and soothes me. I feel so much better now. :-) I sat there and knit in the sunshine, listening to the waves for over an hour.

I've made very quick progress on the pink sock that I started yesterday, turned the heel this morning, and am several rows into the gusset!

I'll leave you with a picture of the roses in my front yard:

Saturday

2006-09-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

I realized on Thurdsday (the day after my last posting) that the reason that I was so crabby and out of sorts, was because I was getting sick. I'm not feeling terrible, just really achy all over, especially all my joints. I went home from work early that day to get some rest. Luckily, the next 2 days (Friday and today) have both been very slow days at work, and I've only had to work half days.
-----
This posting will be full of lots of unrelated but fun things!

1. Proof that I actually cook sometimes! I made Stuffed Zucchini for a dinner on Labor Day. This was taken after stuffing it, but before baking. I got the recipe here but made a few changes. They were a hit. Yummy!

2. Dahlias from my yard!

3. I realized that I never posted a picture of the socks that I made from the Noro Silk Garden Yarn. I took so many pictures, and NONE of them accurately showed the beautiful colors! They were finished in March (during my long break from blogging).

4. Progress on the pinwheeel: Done with the loopy edge, started on the first sleeve, and finished only 4 rounds before becoming distracted but all the other projects...

5. Proof that SSS hasn't really taken ahold of me again! I've started on the second fair isle sock (even tho I said that I would finish the pinwheel first...)

6.However, my case of ADD has kicked in. Sherri got some new sock yarn today. I nearly started drooling!! This is wonderful stuff! After much thought I chose: Fly Super Sport, color: Ruby Redmond. This picture is the best of the 5 or 6 that I took and NONE of them turned out good. The colors are actually BEAUTIFUL!!! (Light and dark pinks, and dark brown).

----

(Added later: I was telling a friend about this website that I found. I used it to help convert the Green Gable pattern. I haven't yet cast on. So I don't know how helpful it actually is. But it seems useful.)

2006-09-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a long and sorta tough day.
So I thought that a few flowers might brighten things up. This is the amazing color show that my rhodies put on this spring:

[--- I'm trying to come to terms with frustration with others, with things that are out of my control, and with not being angry about those things... because they just make my day worse and won't make things any easier or better - and the meltdown just makes your friends worry about you... (I can't really elaborate on this because there are several examples just from today!) So, I guess I'll go and take a bubble bath and head to bed early, and hope that I'm less crabby about things tomorrow.]

actual knitting progress!

2006-09-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

I've been making some good progress on the pinwheel sweater!

After lots of thinking, I decided that I would follow the pattern and do the loopy edge. After that decision, I had another...which colors to use!?!

Luckily, I quickly made a choice. But I wasn't sure...but every person I asked which colors they would use selected the same (without any prompting or biasing!!)

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Terry would love for me to knit a sweater for him! I can hardly believe how sweet and innocent he looks in that picture!

More distraction tactics...

2006-08-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures to distract you from the lack of knitting progress!

The roses are from my front garden!

This is the first ear of corn from my garden! There are 5 more coming soon! What a feast!! (for perspective, look at the size of the cob compared to the size of the plastic holders on each side!) Despite its small size, this was the very best corn on the cob I have EVER tasted!

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Here (above and below) is why I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done lately. We are making some changes in the church I attend, and needed to move the kid's Sunday School rooms to the basement - which hasn't been used for decades!! I am helping, with 3 other friends, to do the pre-kindergarten (green), and the 1st thru 3rd grade rooms (yellow).

It has been a lot of fun, and a learning experience too! I love how the rooms have turned out. We are almost done - one more coat of paint on the floor of the yellow room. and the trim around the chalk boards in both rooms.

I'm almost inspired to get back to work on my own home!

2006-08-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

To distract you from the lack of knitting pictures...

(I really have been knitting, but there are no pictures to show for it...The pinwheel is slowly growing, and I've decided that I will do the I cord loopy edge. I decided to go on with the Baudelaire sock, and have now made another critical error, so it looks like I'll be ripping back about 10 rows or so.)

decision time...

2006-08-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have been stalled out on the Baudelaire socks for a few weeks (working on the other projects...) because I am undecided about how to deal with a mistake.

After finishing the heel, I made a mistake on the first 2 rows of the pattern on the back of the ankle, and have ended up with 2 large YO holes. I know that I need to rip back and fix them...but the thought of ripping back is disheartening - hence the 'time out' for the socks.

pinwheel

2006-08-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Here is an update for the pinwheel. I'm in the garter stitch section...wishing that I was finished!

I've been thinking about making a change to the pattern. Instead of the loopy edge that is called for, I'm thinking about a ruffle edge. Not too sure How it would turn out, but I've been thinking about it for a week or two.

done (3rd post)

2006-08-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

:-)
I really like the construction of this pattern - at least for the gusset and heel. I'll have to decide about the toe as I wear it and see how it feels.

done (2nd post)

2006-08-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

The lighting isn't ideal, but the colors show up best in this picture.

done!

2006-08-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

(Since it won't let me upload anymore pictures to this post, I'll try uploading the others through picasa too...)

sock!

2006-08-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

This is how the sock looked yesterday afternoon. (I've since knit about another inch!)

I decided to live dangerously and not put in a lifeline, and almost came to regret it! After finishing the heel and joining back in the round, I had a large gap. After knitting a few rounds I decided that it had to be fixed - that was scary! I had to rescue a stitch that tried to run away from me (it had escaped down about 4 or 5 rows!)

In the end, all is well now. There is still a small gap, but I'm hoping that it will not be too bad.

-----

I went to the county fair last night. It was lots of fun. After looking at the various knitted items that won ribbons, I am REALLY wondering why I didn't enter the baby sweater that I knit!

heel? not today!

2006-08-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I am now ready to turn the heel on the sock!

I decided that after the kind of day I had, trying to turn the heel of a fair isle sock was just inviting a disaster, so I decided that the heel could wait for another day or two.

I really wish that the colors would come through a little better in the pictures. It really is so pretty! From the top to the heel the colors are lt blue / white & pink fair isle / pink / white & lt pink fair isle / darker pink / white & pink / lavender / lt pink / white & dark pink / then back to the blue again.

It really is amazing how it is turning out. I am very surprised, but happy because it is almost exactly as I was imagining it would look!

It will be a snug fit getting it on and off, but once it is on it fits me very well! It isn't too tight at all.

So, the plan is to add a lifeline tomorrow, then try and turn the heel. I have done a bit of fair isle purling on swatches, but this is different! It actually matters how it turns out! Yikes!

sock progress

2006-08-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the progress so far on the sock! It is knitting up SO FAST. I am now 4 rows away from beginning the gusset, I'll be learning as I go - has anyone ever used lifelines in a sock? I do when I knit lace, but never really thought about doing it for a sock!

The colors don't really show up as well as I'd hoped. I didn't get the pictures taken while the sun was still shining. I really like how the light colors are working with the blue.

grrr

2006-08-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

(So, I tried to post this last night, and the computer lost it somewhere...)

There was a 'tragedy' last night.
I sat down to knit on the socks and was missing one of the dpn's! It is NOWHERE to be found! I looked through the entire house, I called starbucks, I looked in the car.

It is not a total tragedy, as I can switch to using only 4 needles instead of 5, and will still be able to knit...but I am frustrated!

Here is a bit of color to distract us! It is a closeup of the hydrangeas in my yard.

crazy?...

2006-08-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Have I gone crazy?! As if I didn't have enough projects on the needles already, I started another last night.
I thought almost obsessively about this on Friday at work. I don't know what came over me! I have never done any fair isle knitting (other than small swatches). The idea came to me at work - a fair isle sock, with one dark solid color and one light colored self striping yarn:

The pattern is "Waves and Rivulets Sock" from The Tongue River Farm Sock Collection by Katherine Misegades (courtesy of my dear friend Leslie) The yarn is: Brown Sheep Wildfoote Blue Flannel and Treking XXL Color 133 - shades of pinks, lt blue, lt purple and white.

My sock in progress is sitting over the example page in the book. I am frankly amazed at how quickly these are knitting up! I started last night at about 9:30 (ok - so I stayed up until 12:30!) I am a bit worried about the fit - I think that they might be a bit snug - I've compared them to another sock and it is close (but not very stretchy!)

busy!

2006-07-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

If Saturday was for being a slug on the couch...today was for getting lots accomplished!!

Big meeting at church this morning, voted on whether to sell one of our buildings. Luckily it passed. But lots of discussion. After I came home, I got busy in the kitchen and the yard!

Repotted a plant finally:

I spent more time in the kitchen today than I have for several weeks combined! There is a huge rhubarb plant in my yard, and I hadn't done anything with it until today. I used the recipe from here:

to make this: a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie!

YUMMY!!!! I somehow was able to stop myself after only one piece, but I sure wanted more!

I also made these tonight (for breakfast this week):

Here is the progress on the English Lace beaded scarf:

and a closeup (sorry it's blurry)

Inspired

2006-07-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am awestruck by Eunny's newest sweater! It is a very good thing that I have several months before the winter Interweave Knits comes out so that I can become proficient at fair isle knitting.

Nothing really new to speak of here. I spent most of the day Saturday just being a slug on the couch! I did go outside a few times and work in the yard pulling weeds, etc. I frogged the pinwheel sweater back 6 rounds so I can re-do the sleeve openings. Knit about 8 rounds on the baudelaire sock

I also needed some gratification on the spinning progress (or lack of...) so I decided to ply together what I'd done so far to see how bad it looked. Honestly, the more I spin, the worse I get at it! I started with some of the hardest to knit - very short messy dirty mountain goat fiber picked off the ground and trees. I loved spinning it, and made a fairly even and decent looking yarn. My attempts at wool so far have been pretty poor. I'm not even going to share a picture. I knit up a swatch to see how it looks - didn't really improve the looks of it at all!

The sun is shining, I'm going to go and weed the garden!

Stitch and Pitch!

2006-07-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening was Stitch and Pitch at the Mariners!

Sherri, Bunni and I went. (Thank you Sherri!!) What a fun time we had.

It was the very first baseball game that I had ever gone to. (I know that sounds crazy, but I swear it is true. I've just never really been a baseball fan, and growing up in South Dakota there weren't really a lot of chances to go to baseball games...I'm more of a hockey and football gal). I have to admit I paid more attention to my knitting than the game, but I did watch quite a bit.

I spent A LOT of money last night! More than I had planned, but it was definitly worth it. I bought some absolutely wonderful orange laceweight baby alpaca yarn, some nice Fleeceartist sock yarn, and a kit to make a beaded silk english lace scarf:

We had lots of fun, came home with a dozen krispy kreme donuts to share with my coworkers this morning at work. Crawled into bed at about 1:30, and managed to be at work by 7:25! It was a long day today, but the evening was worth it. I'm planning on getting to sleep early tonight.

-----

I made lots of progress on the Baudelaire sock over the last few days. It is going quite quickly. I really like how the heel turned out! It fits me perfectly! I just started up the leg - beginning the first row of pattern.

Another KAL!

2006-07-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

I decided that since I was already knitting the Baudelaire socks, I'd might as well join the knit along for them, so now there's another button on my sidebar! :-)

But, no new pictures of the sock today, I haven't knit a single stitch since the pictures last night! I got off work on time today. Drove to the Cedar Falls Nursery, just to ask a few questions about transplanting a couple plants, and come home with 4 more!! Three peonies (white, red/white, and red) and a gardenia! So, my knitting time tonight was taken up by the gardens! I couldn't resist the peonies since I love them to begin with and a 50%off sale is irresistable!

Stitch and Pitch at the Mariners is tomorrow! Sherri, Bunni and I will be there! It will be my first ever baseball game, I can't wait.

Baudelaire socks!

2006-07-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the progress so far on the Beaudelaire sock. I like this pattern a lot. It is quite easy to knit, and I like the toe up part too, since that is a new technique for me.

I know that the pattern gets somewhat lost with the colors of the yarn, but I do like how it is knitting up. I like the socks that rock yarn, but have really struggled to find a good pattern for it. This is my 3rd attempt at a sock with it! (I started a toe-up, ripped it out, started the pomatomus sock, ...) I hope that this goes better than the last attempts.

Well, I suppose that is enough blogging for me today! Three times in a day. And I also did get lots accomplished outside too. Pulled weeds in the front yard, watered the grass and gardens in the front and back. The only thing that I didn't do that I wanted to was ride the exercise bike tonight. Oh well, I will tomorrow.

More gardening...2nd post today!

2006-07-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

I decided to write a 2nd post for today. One about the vegie garden, and then this one about the flowers!

The hydrangea bushes haven't really liked the heat of the last few days Some of the leaves look burnt, and by the end of the day, the flowers are looking pretty wilted. But once it cools off, they are going back to normal each night.

I shudder to think of what my water bill might be like this month, with all the extra watering that I've been doing. But, in the months that I've lived here, I've only been above the 'minimum charge' one month - in May, when the water heater died...

Now, for the pictures:

Last, but not least: The one holdout strawberry plant! I guess the previous owners of this house had a strawberry patch and ripped it out (can't imagine why....) But, there was one loldout left! Growing in the crack between the bottom step and the sidewalk! I had 3 berries in June from it - very sweet and delicious! I thought that the heat would just bake it there in the hot sun with the concrete around it - but no, it is growing like crazy! It is also sending out lots of runners. I'm trying to send them all in the same general direction where they will be able to grow. I can't wait until next summer!

"Lauri, how does your garden grow?"

2006-07-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

( Well, here's to a second try...I accidentally posted this to the Pinwheel Sweater Knit Along the first time!! LOL, I'm sure everyone wanted to read about my garden there!! I guess that when I click on the "Blog This" button in Picasa, I need to actually notice which blog that I am posting to!! )

Remember back to May... Jill was here in WA, and we planted a garden. Well, most of it is still alive!! I am frankly amazed, as I usually tend to have a pretty 'brown' thumb.

Only 2 of the corn plants died! And, of the 7 that have survived, there will be 6, yep that's right six, ears of corn for a feast this fall!

Two of the cucumber plants lived, and there are now 3 or 4 flowers on them, so, maybe I might just have a few cukes.

The Shallots aren't doing as well...there are 3 left, and they don't look so great.

The tomatoes are growing, and there are a ton of flowers. I hope that this warm / HOT weather will do them some good. I am really looking forward to the tomatoes most of all, there is nothing better than fresh home grown tomatoes!

I will also have TONS of squash! All of the plants have survived so far, and are looking like they will be abuntantly producing lots of both the acorn and the butternut.

Hot!

2006-07-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

It is almost too hot to knit!

Now, I realize that "hot" has a different meaning here in the mild Pacific Northwest! When I first moved here 4 years ago, I used to laugh at the people here who moaned about the 'heat' once it was above 80 degrees.

But I've become one of them!

And it really was HOT yesterday, and will be again today. Mid-90's! With all the windows open, it cooled off in my house to 69 degrees overnight. I have to fans on now to try and bring in the cooler air.

I couldn't work on the pinwheel sweater because it is too large and warm. So, I started a sock! I started trying the Socks that Rock yarn again. This time with the Baudelaire pattern from Knitty. I know that a lace pattern is not always the best for a multicolor sock, but, I'm trying it anyway!

I'm through one pattern repeat. I like the toe up design, using the figure-8 cast on. It was interesting getting started, and if I do it again (besides on the 2nd sock...) I will cast on more stitches because the toe is pretty pointy for me.

pinwheel progress!

2006-07-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick update on the progress of the pinwheel sweater. I'm at 25 stitches between yo's. The sunlight is pretty bright, and so the colors are sorta off...from the center: mulberry, victorain pink, creme (up next - pistachio).

Pinwheel Sweater KAL!

2006-07-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the world cup KAL is over, I decided to join another KAL (like I didn't already have enough to work on...)

Anny Purls is hosting the Pinwheel Sweater Knit Along. I like the look of this sweater, and cast on for it today just after lunch. I'm making very quick progress! There will be pictures soon - I can't take any right now, because my camera phone has a dead battery - gotta let it charge for a little while first.

I picked out 4 colors of Lamb's Pride worsted weight. The colors are: Mulberry, Victorian Pink, Creme and Pistachio.

undecided

2006-07-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Now that I have finished the sweater...I am at a standstill!

This week has been kinda crazy, I haven't really had a lot of knitting time anyway, but even if I had, I haven't had any real inspiration. Sherri mentioned to me that she felt the same after she finished her Knitting Olympics project. After focusing so much on one project, now that it is finished I feel unsettled, and undecided about what to work on!

I knit a swatch of the beautiful Blue Heron Yarn (Rayon Metallic) that was originally going to be for the dropped stitch sweater pattern out of Vogue Knitting. (remember that one...go back in the archives if you've forgotten -- too stressful for me to knit it!) Then I was pretty sure that I wanted to make the Green Gable sweater with it. Well, the gauge is not quite right, and I'll have to do a fair amount of math to figure it out - I could do that, but do I want to...hmm? I might if I stop being lazy!

I love the yarn, and really like the way it knits up on size 4 needles. OK, so, I just need to find a good pattern to use that will complement the colors, my body, and the drapy character of the rayon yarn. Sounds not too hard, right? Well, I haven't had much luck at all in my searches. If you have any ideas about what I should make, please leave a comment!
(I would like to have a pullover sweater, with short to 3/4 length sleeves. No tank tops, etc because it doesn't get warm enough here to ever wear that!)

Better Picture

2006-07-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I was told that the sweater looked like it was pink! The color is actually "Mango". Here is a better picture with a more accurate representation of the color:

Finished!!!

2006-07-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished the "Ripples in Time" baby sweater from the Inspired Cable Knits book by Fiona Ellis. I swear - it is so cute! I almost wish that I had a little one to put it on!!

I knit it as my entry in the Knitting World Cup.

I loved how the neckline was constructed:

ok, so this second closeup is a bit blurry...

Here is one last picture of the adorable sweater hiding among the hydrangeas:

This was my first sweater. Actually, it is the most complicated project that I have undertaken in my knitting. I started out knitting this because I am getting ready to make a sweater for myself, and decided that I ought to work at a smaller project first, just to see how it would turn out.

Knitting this sweater during the last month has really challenged me. I tend to start projects, and they linger for a while (...although I only have one abandoned sock). I have made myself stick with this project and only briefly picked up some yarn to start a washcloth because I bought the KnitLights needles and really wanted to try them out.

I felt like I made good progress on the sweater. But over the past week, I started to feel panic - silly me! I had plenty of time to finish by the end of the World Cup Knitting Challenge. (as of right now: 2 days, 17 hours and a few minutes...) This really challenged me - in my time management skills, endurance, creativeness and problem solving, and letting things be once finished.

- Time management: knitting during lunchtime, knitting while sitting on the front steps enjoying the sunshine, avoiding ALL household tasks to get the knitting done (even during a plumbing crisis...)

- Endurance: I think that like those athletes pushing themselves out on the field, I pushed my poor hands to their limits...a few days of rest without knitting will be in order. my joints ache a bit, but no numb fingers or anything like that!

- Creativeness and problem solving: Having never made a sweater before, this was new to me. Also, the only cables I've done were just in swatches (for the other sweater I might make...) I had to learn how to bind off stitches and make decreases in pattern with cables...overall it went fairly smoothly!

- Letting things be: I tend to be a perfectionist at times. There are a few mistakes in this sweater. Two miscrossed cables, one cable omitted, and an overall pattern of difficulty with gauge when I transition from a knit stitch to a purl. I have learned to be OK with this ( ok, so maybe with all of it except for the last bit - I can work on that in future projects) Few, if anyone, will notice the small mistakes.

Almost finished!!

2006-07-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

No pictures - no time to take any!! It is getting down the the last minutes (ok - days...but I still feel like it is down to the wire) Technically I still have 3 days and some hours to finish the sweater for the World Cup.

I just now finished weaving in all the ends. Now to block the pieces tonight. Then sew it all together tomorrow!

My hands will thank me for taking a nice long break from knitting for awhile. I have been feverishly knitting, and for someone who tends to knit pretty tight, and then throw the cables on top of that -- it has been pretty tough on the hands!

I just was rereading the instructions for the sweater for when I sew it together and discovered how the neckline is formed. I LOVE IT! no details tonight, but there will be pictures soon.

I hope to have finished pictures by tomorrow, Friday at the latest!

---------
Addendum:
So, after blocking the pieces and then a nice long soak in the bathtub for me...I decided that I HAD to take pictures and post them tonight. So here it is!

Here is the front (or back):

The sleeves:

And here is a closeup of the pattern on the front:

Fun Day!

2006-07-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today was quite a fun day. I love it when those 'spur of the moment' things turn out so nicely!

After church this morning, I got home and the clouds/fog was just starting to burn off. I was just really feeling like I NEEDED to spend some time outside, and a good hike seemed in order. Called up Joy and within about 20 minutes I was out the door!

Not too sure if a total round trip of about 150 miles is unreasonable or not for a 5 mile hike, but we had a great time. We met at the 1/2 way point in Shelton, then I drove the rest of the way to Lake Cushman. Once there, we hiked along the southside of the rapids to the 'big cedar' then returned and hiked about 2 1/2 miles in along the North Fork Skokomish trail. It was a relatively warm day, but not quite hot. The bugs weren't too bad either (I remember the other time I did this hike, the mosquitos were terrible!)

There were lots of helicoptors flying around and many search and rescue people out - looking for the missing person. We were startled at one point during the hike: a bird had a call that sounded a lot like a whistle, had to listen to it call out twice before we realized that it wasn't a lost person. I sure hope that he is found, alive and safe!

Here is a picture of Joy:

and me:
There weren't quite as many people out hiking as I expected on a long holiday weekend (long for most people, I have to work Monday!) There were even a few camping sites open! It would have been nice to be able to stay and camp. But instead, after our hike, we walked down to the river and sat with our feet in the VERY cold water. Joy was able to get her ankle feeling better - she twisted it during the hike. And I was able to find a nice place where the beach wasn't too rocky, and the water got deep quickly - laid with my feet in the water and looked up at the blue sky!

What a great day!

My Birthday

2006-06-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post, since it is pretty late.

I just got home after a wonderful evening at John & Joyce's home, Diane was there too. They gave me a delicious birthday dinner, yummy cake, great gifts...life doesn't get much better! :-)

I tried to take pictures of all of the gifts, but once I loaded them all on the computer, most of them had turned out pretty blurry...so better pictures will be coming in the next few days.

---
Diane, John & Joyce:

Me, John & Joyce:

Me and Diane:

A beautiful necklace, a gift from John & Joyce!

And finally, some wonderful old knitting magazines (also from John & Joyce)!

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Thoughts for the day:
- one of the patients that I worked with today (for those of you who know me well - you know where I work on Thursdays...) told me that I was "a saint!"
- Another patient told me that the new haircut makes me look a lot younger.
- But, when I told someone else that it was my birthday, she said "Oh, 40?" OUCH! Ouch! I think that was just plain mean!

PROGRESS!

2006-06-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the progress that I've made so far on the Ripples in Time Baby sweater:

I know, I know...the couch really isn't the best place to show off the sweater parts, but really it was the only place that I could pin the pieces down to take a picture!

Here is a close-up of the sleeves. I finished the second one earlier this evening. Now just to start and finish the back, neck and sew it all up. Think that I'll make it in time? I really want that world cup prize!! I think that is motivation enough for me to work hard!

So, since I started out with no specific recipient for the sweater, and my size 2 needles were in use, I decided to go ahead and use size 3's. I am very, very close to having the correct gauge. But this sweater is looking a bit large right now. I am following the directions for the smallest size! I guess in the end - it will fit a baby at some point in their growth, and larger is really better I think. I guess I'll see how it is once it is blocked and sewn together. One change I did make is the sleeves are 1/4 inch shorter that called for (I remember a recent entry on the Yarn Harlot's blog about baby sweater sleeves always being too long...that and it seemed like a good point at the end of the pattern repeat to start the decreases!)

---

My neck is feeling better each day, but still some muscle spasms. I ran out of the pain pills - tonight I took the last one. Not sure if I want to call the doc and see if he will renew the Rx or not. I really don't take them often, just in the evening before bed since by that time of day I usually have a headache. I might just try to tough it out for a few days and see how it goes. I have another PT appointment tomorrow afternoon, hope that it continues to get better each time. I have been good and did all my stretches and exercises today (a few times!)

Today I almost ended up giving myself another reason to need PT! I might have mentioned it here before, but in case you didn't know - I am a huge klutz! I can manage to injure myself in almost any situation, I have a special gift for that! Today, I was cleaning up the rehab gym during some slow time and nearly fell down the stairs (the set that patients practice on before they go home). I talk to patients all the time about safety, etc...so what did I do? I was carrying a couple walkers and had the stairs piled high with supplies, turned and hit my knee and nearly went down! Just bruised tonight......I'm glad that I didn't get hurt again, since I am just almost over the thing with my neck! I could imagine explaining that to my coworkers and patients..."Gee, Lauri, How'd you break your leg?"

I rode the exercise bike for 30 minutes tonight! I really wasn't even tired when I quit! My bottom just hurt from sitting in one place for so long. I might try to modify the seat a bit, or add a towel or something. It seems a lot less boring to ride the bike, when I can sit in front of the TV and be distracted by it, makes the time go faster! So far, I've gone 12 miles (2 yesterday, and 10 tonight)

------

Here is a picture of the yellow Flower Petal Washcloth (from Weekend Knitting) that I finished last month. I don't remember if I ever posted a picture of it or not - thinking not, since the picture hadn't been downloaded off my camera phone yet...

I guess that's all for tonight, must cast on for the last part of the sweater!

distracted or just procrastination?

2006-06-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight, in an effort to avoid most of the things that I really should have been doing (unplugging clogged drains, knitting a baby sweater, weeding the flower gardens...), I went shopping. Had to exchange a shirt at Ross, looked at printers at Staples.

And came home with an exercise bike from the sporting goods store!

It really isn't the 'impulse buy' that you probably think that it is! I've looked at bikes several times, really considered a few. But with not a lot of $$ but still wanting a quality bike...the choices are somewhat limited. Tonight there was a decent quality bike, on sale no less! Then when I got to the counter, it rang up even less that it was supposed to be! The guy helping to cart it out to the car for me told the cashier that it was the right price, and I didn't even think about it until I was out to the car! Now I have a moral dilemma - do I go back and tell them they undercharged me? Or do I just enjoy my bike!?

I got it put together already, and rode for 10 minutes. That's enough for today.

Better go, so I can work on my physical therapy exercises. I am trying to be a good patient and do all the homework that I am supposed to. I am feeling better after PT today, but pretty sore too! I think that we have almost everything back in place, and muscles are calming down. I should have put some ice on my neck tonight, but never got around to it.

Hmmm

2006-06-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

I thought that I had a plan for today!

knit, church, building work party for a little while, come home, laundry, knit.

That doesn't sound so unreasonable does it? Now, looking at the list, I did accomplish most of that, at least partly, except for the last 2.

No knitting done at all this afternoon. Because I was dealing with the joys of homeownership:

When I use the washing machine, the floor drain (which connects with the pipe that the washer water goes into) backs up water onto the floor. Yuck. Usually it is just a little bit of water, and it goes away in a few minutes. Well, not today! No! water backed up everywhere!
So, 2 trips to ACE, one bottle of liquid plumber, and a poor attempt at using an auger. All to no avail. I think that I might have to call in the professionals. grrr

At least it gave me a good excuse to go out and buy some new clothes (so I could wear something to work tomorrow!)

---

I finished the sleeve for the sweater, and have knit 2.5 inches on the second sleeve. I had hoped to finish it today - I figured out that it should take me 4 hours to knit the sleeve (used the Yarn Monkey's countdown timer for the KAL to time knitting a pattern repeat -- too much time on my hands?...) Maybe I will come close tonight.
I don't have a picture of the sweater parts yet. Haven't had time since I've been working on the plumbing. Hope to take some tomorrow.

--

So, I broke down and started using my birthday present (to myself) and gave Sherri hers yesterday. I couldn't wait! Here is a picture (kinda blurry)

They are stitch markers and a shell case to keep them in! Too cute! I started using mine last night. They are for up to size 10.5 - awfully large for a size 3 needle, but pretty!

FRUSTRATION!!!

2006-06-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited this afternoon! Getting so close to finishing the first sleeve, thought that I was in the final 15 rows of it...then started realizing that I still had an aweful lot of stitches left on the needle.

Well, 7 rows ago it told me to start decreasing 1 stitch at EACH end of the next 10 rows. "Each" end being the key phrase in which I neglected to see the word EACH....

so...I guess that I get to learn how to rip back 7 rows then pick up cabled stitches. I should look at this as a learning experience I suppose, but it is frustrating.

No picture it would be too painful to look at.

---------

UPDATE:
so, about 30 minutes later! I managed to rip back 6 rows, then tink the last row - thank goodness it wasn't a cabled row!!

Somehow, I still have the correct number of stitches, and I somehow managed to pick up all the stitches in the correct direction, not even a single one was twisted!! I don't think that I could do that again if I tried!

I now have a headache!
But that really was a good confidence booster! I didn't think that I could do it! :-)

Nonknitting Thursday

2006-06-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

So, today I worked an 11 hour day! Left home at 6:30 and returned at 8:00. a short lunch break and just over an hour for my PT!

No knitting accomplished today, not even one stitch!

But, managed to avoid any meltdowns today! Which was a great possibility, since it was the busiest day since I don't know when, short staffed, ten new patient evals, and to top it all off: JCAHO unannounced visit! Any of you in healthcare will understand why it was a rough day! (for those of you not in healthcare JCAHO = Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Organizations, or something like that...)

enough said, I'm going to bed soon!

busy!

2006-06-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Somehow, just when you think that you are on top of things...everything can get shifted around so that you are at the very bottom! I thought that my day was going smoothly (besides having an assistant call in sick this morning); however, as I went back to the office to get ready to leave for my appointment (thinking that I was done for the day) there were FIVE new patient orders!! FIVE! Then, by the time I got back from the appointment, at 4:25, there were 2 more! Thinking that I had things relatively under control, I decided to tackle one order first - putting a machine on a patient's leg -- well, 40 minutes later, I had to call in a coworker because the machine was broken! And by this time everyone else was eating supper...
...and people tend to get pretty grumpy when you ask to interrupt their dinner for physical therapy - I can't imagine why?.........

So, I ended up leaving 6 or 7 evals waiting for the person who is working tomorrow (sorry I hate to do it, but I can't stay any later).

I called her to give a short report, found her upset = She had just gotten the news that a close relative had passed away. And she would have to be leaving town tomorrow (probably morning) to go to the funeral.

.....So, all those evals that I left -- now mine to do (probably)! And I'll be working this Saturday again too, (I volunteered) because it was her weekend to work. The good news is that it will be at least 8 hours of overtime for me this week!!

---

All of this is eating up toooo much of my knitting time and I resent it!! haha
Actually, I am starting to worry a bit (a lot) about getting finished by the end of the world cup! Here is the progress on the sleeve:

and here is a picture of a secret purchase from ebay, only the box for now! Presents are involved, so I have to get you excited and wanting to see what's in there (I bet the suspense is killing you! - probably not...) (Never mind about that pic - blogger is not working right again! You'll just really have to be is suspense!)

Now, off to finish a sleeve.

Progress

2006-06-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am making progress - even if a bit slowly - on the first sleeve of the Ripples in Time Sweater!

No pictures tonight, I'm already upstairs & the camera is downstairs (see yesterday's entry about laziness...) But the sleeve is 3 inches long (out of a total of 7.75 inches).

I am really liking this pattern, it is really pretty, especially with this great color yarn! I am knitting with Nature Spun Sport Weight, Mango colorway.
I had the 2 skeins that Sherri gave me last year for my birthday - yes I've had the yarn just a few weeks short of a year!! I had been admiring the color of the yarn for ages and really wanted to make something, anything out of it but each time I started something, it just wasn't right. So it sat there in the stash until now. I had to go buy 2 more skeins so I would have enough.

So, now the question will be what to do with the sweater once it is finished. I don't have a baby to wear it, no one I know well is expecting a baby. I have thought about donating it to a charity, or maybe as a silent auction item in one of the various events that go on around here. I guess that I will just keep thinking about it - I know that when the time comes the right person will end up with it!

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Well, I will finally be starting physical therapy for my neck and back tomorrow. Overall, I think that I am about 80 to 90% better, but it's just the achiness and especially the headaches by the end of the day that are bothering me the most now. They are really tending to make me pretty grouchy too; although, I am doing my best to hide the grumpiness. Today was the first day in more than a week when I didn't have a splitting headache by the middle of the day, just throbbing... I can't wait to see how much the PT will help tomorrow.

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I better get back to knitting. I really want to finish the Sweater in time - It is my World Cup Knitting project (see the link in the sidebar!) and I would really like to have a chance at winning the incredible prizes that are being offered! WOW, I was almost drooling while I read about it all! I WANT IT!

Trying to decide if I am lazy...

2006-06-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

So, since I moved to my house (9 months ago) I've been planning on checking out how long it would take me to walk to work. Tonight I finally went for a walk with a friend to check it out.
(now I have gone on numerous other walks too! Just not figuring out how to get from home to work!)

It took roughly 35-40 minutes, walking at a comfortable pace. It is up and down hills, and involves having to take a dirt trail about 500 feet from one neighborhood to another since there is no road that connects the 2 areas! Lots of fuss - I'm not too sure that I would want to climb over the rusty barrier that is there to keep the 4-wheelers out while in my work clothes...

I like the idea of walking to work, but I think that the reasonable amount of time is 30 minutes or less. I would like to try and get more exercise, and use less gas. But I'm not sure if balking at the time is reasonable or just plain laziness.

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So, I finally joined the Green Gable KAL. Not too sure why I finally joined it now, because it will probably be weeks before I can even start on it!. But I have appreciated the knowledge that I've gained just from reading the various posts!

I made progress on the first sleeve of the Ripples in Time Sweater - about 4 rows! (Well, it is better than nothing, I guess!) I've been looking at the front that I finished. Trying not to be too critical of myself. Expecially since it probably won't even really be noticable...but the neckline on the left side where the cables end wrong is driving me crazy! It was easy for me to figure out how to bind off with the cables on the right side - no problem! but why is it harder on the other side? (or is it just me that has this problem?) I don't plan on ripping back to fix it or anything, especially since it will probably be covered up with the picked up stitches for the neck.

No new pictures yet of the sleeve - 10 rows total is nothing to take a picture of!

finished front of sweater!

2006-06-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Irresponsible......

2006-06-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine told me at church this morning, "Lauri, when you start doing things like that it is because you just need a break and some down time! Don't worry about it."

I am not one to forget about my obligations and appointments. So when I slept through dinner at a friend's home to celebrate a birthday last night, and then slept through helping out at the Lion's Club Father's Day Pancake breakfast (I said that I would be there early to help set up) and completly forgot about it until just as I was leaving for church...I felt pretty disappointed in myself.

But thinking about what Dolly said, I think that I really needed the rest this weekend. I never, ever take naps, and that was the 2nd in 3 days. I just could not keep my eyes open!

I've made a little bit of progress on the sweater. (slow progress...) and I think that I am ready to start the neck shaping on the next row. I have to measure again to make sure. I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish by the end of the world cup, but I'm going to really try!

I found the website (thanks Sherri) to order the purse handles. I tried to order 3 sets today, so I could finish the sweater bags. However, they are not able to accept orders online right now, so I will wait until Monday. I really have to get to work, especially on the blue Gap bag, I wanted to give it to Diane, and her birthday was yesterday! (the dinner I slept through.)

I also have been sucked into spending way too much time on ebay! Like I really need to spend more money! I did buy 2 things yesterday, but they will remain a secret for a few weeks, since they are nearly identical (and one is a gift!) Last night, I almost bought some shoes! AAAHHH stop me! I need to save money to reshingle the house, and pay other bills. I have enough shoes (just keep repeating that Lauri!)

So, since it is a relatively nice day, I am going out to the park to knit, and hopefully will have some pictures of a finished sweater front to share by the end of the day! I'll leave you with a wonderful picture of the rhodies in my back yard from a few weeks ago: (Well, I tried - I wonder what happens to all the pictures that I upload that never appear anywhere...do they just float around in space...do they end up on someone else's blog...hmmmm good question! I uploaded the picture 3 times, it spent lots of time loading it, I clicked done, etc, and there is still nothing there!)(addendum - it must just be that picture, because the pictures of the sweater in the next post came up with no problem!)

Not much new

2006-06-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

Not much new to speak of today.

Since I got off of work, I've been knitting. But I feel like I am in that black hole or warp in the time space continuum or whatever it might be - the one where you knit and knit and knit. and yet make ablsolutely no progress when you measure your work!! (it seems even worse when you begin to obsessively measure it after every single row, just to be sure!) I still have 1.5 inches to go before I start on the neckline shaping! I know that I'll get there eventually, but not sure when!

I forgot (forgot...) about spanish class tonight. I really did plan to go, even tho I was dreading it, since I haven't looked at anything since I last went to class 3 weeks ago! Then I sat down in front of the TV, started knitting. and now class will be getting over as I type this. I guess I've given up on this attempt. It wasn't quite they type of class I thought that it would be, and with the differing levels of knowledge in the class, it became quite frustrating to all involved I think.

This morning I went to the employee open house at the new emergency department. It is very nice now that it is finished (almost - about 1 more week then it will open). I got a chance to speak to one of the ER docs and thank him for the increase in referrals straight from the ER for PT. I don't usually get a chance to talk to them very often. What am I doing talking about work on my blog!?!? STOP IT!

I tried to take a picture the other day of the hummingbirds that are enjoying the hanging flower baskets by my front door - they were gone by the time I got the camera. It was sure fun to watch them!

I keep wanting to start some new project, knit anything other than the sweater. But since it is my World Cup project and I now have some nice incentives to finish in time, I have to stop myself from being distracted! (see her blog entry for 6/15!) But I almost cast on for a small noni carpet bag last night - I have some good colors in the stash - it would be so pretty!!!

No new pictures for today - didn't really see enough progress in the sweater to warrant the picture! Hopefully, by tomorrow I might have a finished front (orback) to show off!

excerpts from yesterday...

2006-06-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

So, today will just be the pictures from yesterday's attempts...
(see yesterday's message for the details. I'll just provide brief captions today.)

Here are the pictures of the Ripples in Time Sweater. (above, and closeup below)

Here is the sweater that I felted: And the beautiful and very fragrant peonies:

I give up (blogger problems tonight...)

2006-06-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

(Tonight's entry was going to be just a quick update...and it was done, until I accidentally deleted one picture that was essential to the whole post...then the problems began. Blogger then refused to upload any more of my pictures - either from the internet, or from my own computer...)

Hi! I am still here. I sometimes wonder how people who really have lots of things to do ever get them done...because even with my 'few things' I can hardly even find the time.

But I guess I always have knitting time...

Tonight was Open Knit Night at The Yarn Corner. Had fun of course!I was starting to wonder if there was a new rule about knitting with the same color yarn as the clothes you were wearing:

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I've made good progress on the Ripples in Time Sweater:

(JUST USE YOUR IMAGINATION THAT THERE IS A LOVELY PICTURE OF A NEARLY FINISHED FRONT OF A CABLE KNIT SWEATER HERE)

Here is a closeup: (it really is a terrible picture! things are more even, except I am having a problem with a loose stitch each time I switch from a knit stitch to a purl.)

(USE YOUR IMAGINATION AGAIN TO SEE THIS SAME SWEATER IN A CLOSE UP)

Here is a picture of that sweater that I bought at the garage sale on Saturday. It felted down very nicely, and will make a great bag. (Just like the other 2 I haven't yet finished!) I really should get to work on them soon. I just promised the blue one to a friend. You really can't see the colors very well in this picture - there are black, grey, red, dark green, and some blues and purples too!

(NEVER MIND...I'LL SHOW YOU THIS ONE LATER TOO)

And here are some huge magnificent peonies from my garden! They are amazing. And the fragrance is great - unless you are allergic. There are at least a dozen more blooms like these on the one plant that still haven't really opened up yet.

(THEY REALLY ARE BEAUTIFUL AND FRAGRANT! TRUST ME.)

I would really like to get more peonies. I just love them! They say to me "IT IS SUMMER!!!" and they just make you want to smile. My neighbor across the street, who recently moved in also, has some pretty white peonies, that are in the middle of a very overgrown garden area that is not being taken care of...I'm trying to figure out how to ask her if I could get some of them from her! (I've only spoken to her two times, so it might be somewhat rude to just go ask! But she hasn't mowed the lawn in weeks, and the grass is at least 7 inches high!...)

I guess that is all for tonight. Don't be surprised if there are more background changes soon. I am having fun playing with the template. Citrusmoon is so much fun! I am having a blast trying to decide what to do!

Addendum

2006-06-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

Well, here is the continuation of the previous post, since all the pics wouldn't fit!! (See the previous entry for details)

(me working on "Ripples in Time" during the "knittting in public")

(I also couldn't get the pic of Pallas on the last entry)

(a closeup of the progress so far)

(pretty hanging flower baskets!)

Knit in Public Day & Knitting World Cup

2006-06-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

So today was a lot of fun!

A small group of us gathered at Morrison Park in Aberdeen for World Wide Knit in Public Day. It was a bit cloudy and breezy, but we still had fun!

As I left my home, I saw a sign for a rummage sale! I stopped...really only a bunch of junk, except for a 100% lambswool sweater for $.25! I think that it will make a very nice bag. I forgot to take a picture of it today.

Later I left the park to go get lunch, and spent some time at The Yarn Corner with Sherri. Overall, I have made really good progress on the Ripples in Time Sweater for my Knitting World Cup Entry. Here is the progress so far: (well, I guess not - I tried, and the pictures wouldn't upload...sorry we'll have to wait until tomorrow)

I also made another trip to the Cedar Falls Nursery. Spent just over $100 for 2 hanging baskets for my front porch, and 5 different lavender plants (hopefully they will help to repel the deer!!) Here are a few pictures of the yard: (again - waiting until tomorrow, since I seem to have exceeded the pic quota per entry...)

I don't get it

2006-06-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

So, I've been trying to figure out how to change just the background on the template.

After much experimenting, I got it!
Or so I thought.

When I get the code into the template and "preview" it, it is there and looks great! When I save it, then go to the blog, all I get is a white background! I don't understand. I have the image saved to photobucket, I'm not trying to link it from some other place. And it shows up right when I preview it...what's up!?!

Maybe it will make more sense tomorrow (instead of now - at nearly 1:00am!)

Any suggestions?

Inspired knitting

2006-06-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this "Inspired Knitting" has inspired me to join the Knitting World Cup. Maybe that will help me to finish it a bit quicker than I finish most projects! I wanted to join the Knitting Olympics, but I was supervising a student for a month during that time and know that I wouldn't be able to participate - now's my chance!! (even if I don't really care for soccer/football.)
I have been working on it for a few days now, and have about 3.5 inches done on the front (or back). No new pictures to share yet, as I haven't had time to take any!

This week at work was pretty busy, but at least by today it slowed down. My back and neck still are sore, but not as bad. The massage today from a coworker really helped too. And the bubble bath that I plan to take in a few hours will be nice too!

Hope to take some pictures of projects and more flowers soon. The peonies are unbelievable!! And the calla lilies (that I thought were dead) are just now starting to come up - about 4 inches high now. I plan to go to the nursery tomorrow and buy some lavender and other deer resistant plants...(blog entry coming on this sore subject!)

Mother Nature, and "Inspired Knitting"

2006-06-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today really turned into a beautiful day. It was 70 degrees when I got off work, and once home, I grabbed my knitting and sat on the front steps for awhile!

I don't really recommend trying to knit cables while taking percocet for pain...but I don't think that the mistakes are fatal (but they are obvious...cables going the wrong way)

Then I decided that I had to take a few pictures of the wonders of nature in my yard! I am still so happy to be a homeowner and have my own gardens and home to take care of - even tho it tends to be a lot of work sometimes...I still love coming home to the flowers, (and the starlings and slugs eating the plants in the garden - soon there will be nothing left!)

Well, my neck and back is feeling a bit better. Still sore, but not nearly as bad as last Thursday and Friday. But by the end of the day today I was ready for a rest, and a pain pill. A little better every day, hope that continues!

The easy life..

2006-06-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today's idea is all about making (blogging) life easier! ha

I went to Staples today in search of a card to upload pics to instead of emailing them to myself!
Well, I came out of there with this!:

A picture memory card - which is incredibly easy to use!! A mouse - so I don't have to use the touch pad anymore! A screen cleaner so that I can actually see what I am typing! And a nice lap desk - this will come in handy while I'm sitting on the couch or in bed and using the computer, as it sometimes gets pretty warm sitting in my lap. I'm using the desk now and it is very nice!

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Sorta tired today! Joy and I had tickets to the Seattle Symphony last night. And I didn't get home until nearly 1:30. Joy tried to talk some sense into me and have me stay at her place until this morning, but I hadn't brought anything that I needed for overnight with me, expecially the muscle releaxants, since my neck was pretty sore last night. So, I got home late and then slept until almost noon today, and missed church for the 2nd week in a row!

The symphony was nice last night, not the best performance I've heard this year tho...the same clarinet seemed to be out of tune again, and during the Beethoven at least one of the basses kept hitting the frog of the bow on the strings or the bow on the side of the bass - not sure which, just sure that it was VERY distracting!

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We made it to Seattle early, since we were expecting heavier traffic because there was a Mariners game, but it was an easy quick drive! So we went to the Seattle Japanese Garden. I had not been able to stop there before - just driven by twice and really wished that I had time! What a beautiful place! (the colors are a bit washed out in this first picture, but it is really pretty!)

(I like this picture, except that it looks a bit like it is in technicolor! All dressed up and ready for going to the concert!)

Well, I thought that it would be fun to try and get this in the picture screen and then rotate it so that it was straight, but I just can't seem to do that -- so You'll just have to tilt your head to get the right view sorry!

Here is a fun picture of Joy and I!

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OK, so here's the bit of knitting content for the day: I finished the yellow flower petal washcloth, but forgot to take a picture! I knit 1 row of mom's sock in the car while Joy drove...knitting while riding in a car and on percocet don't really go together well...I have to tink out a row later today! I also purchased this book! Wonderful!

Well, I better go and fix the mistakes in my mom's socks. Then going to dinner at a friend's home tonight.

Empathy

2006-06-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

I now have a new sort of empathy for my patients who are in pain! Until yesterday, I really thought that I knew what pain was, and I tended to sometimes not have enough sympathy / empathy for my patients who were in 'excruciating' pain, .

I was stretching just before I got out of my car yesterday morning before work. Stretching like I do almost every day. When all of a sudden, pop, and searing pain in my neck and upper right back. I couldn't even move for a few minutes it was so bad. I spent part of the morning at the clinic (one of the benefits of being a PT) with ice and traction. Saw the doc in the afternoon, then back to the clinic to have my boss work on me. By last night the pain wasn't so bad, expecially with the GOOD meds that the doc gave me!

I made it through work today, with the wonderful help of Liz and Carli (2 great rehab aides.) I was very happy that the caseload was low and I was able to leave an hour early. Going back to the clinic in about an hour for ice and manual therapy.

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Despite the pain I was able to find a comfortable position on the couch and was able to knit! I am working on the flower petal washcloth from Weekend Knitting. I made 2 last year, and really want to make several more. (Like I really need to start any more projects!) At first I was worried about how they would stand up to the wear and tear. I used the suggested yarn, in light green, then red. The green started fading almost immediately, but then stopped and has held up well.
(the color is pretty poor in this picture, the yarn is a medium yellow)

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I think that I have found a sweater pattern for the Blue Heron Yarn! I discovered the Green Gable Knit Along. I really like the sweater and I noticed that someone else was considering using the same yarn - I will probably wait and see if it works for her...
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That's all for now, time for me to go get some PT!

Back to Work

2006-05-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well, today was back to work after another long and somewhat busy weekend. I had fun helping Sherri at her store yesterday - It looks terrific!

I've thought a lot about various projects...I really need to make a list in the sidebar about my Works in Progress. Maybe if I had to look at that list each day I wouldn't let things go for so long! (then again, maybe not...)

Today I will rip out 2 of my projects and think about starting over, neither in the same pattern as before!
- First: the Socks that Rock...they don't really speak to me - at first I was liking how they looked in the toe up sock, but decided that they would look better as pomatamus socks. But then they did this really funky strange vertical striping thing that I couldn't decided if I liked it or hated it. Then made an error that was (for me) unfixable. Here is a pic just after taking out the needles:

Look at the interesting stripes!
So, now what do you think this yarn should become? I am not ready to give it a 3rd shot just yet, but maybe in a few weeks.

- Second: The Sweater (see the previous entry). I will rip it out tonight too. I still really like that pattern, but I'm not sure that I can handle the stress of dropping all those stitches - look what happened with the first set of dropped stitches (disaster!) To be honest, I didn't drop a single wrong stitch in the swatch... But now I am trying to think of other ideas of what I could make. I am set on a sweater, but what kind? what sort of sweater would show off the beauty of that yarn? Again, I'll give it a few weeks to think about.

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I got a nice compliment from a co-worker today! She said that the local farmers market has a booth with someone who sells felted bags. She said "Lauri they wanted $xx for them!! And none of them are even close to as nice as yours are!!" Not that I am thinking of selling bags - I am not productive enough to make that many. But the compliment sure made my day.

Talking about nice felted bags. I bought the Noni Carpet Bag pattern on Saturday. I found Twisted Knitter's blog showing the exact bag! I have been wavering as to which colors I should use. I am really leaning toward the black and grey with red flower as in the original and in Janet's. But a colored bag might be fun too...so much to think about!

So to close for today, I have to share a picture of the pink rhodies in my back yard - beautiful!!

Sunday afternoon thoughts

2006-05-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

After sleeping half the day away....(literally) I have managed to be somewhat productive.

I didn't set my alarm this morning. I always wake up fairly early, and if I don't my cat is the backup alarm, making sure that I'm not late. Except for today. I slowly woke up, rolled over, snoozed for awhile, then looked at the clock -- 11:25!!!! I missed church.

I started the sweater last night. I did a swatch a few weeks ago, and it looked good, except when I counted, recounted and had someone else do it too, we kept comming up with an absurd # of stitches to cast on. So many that you KNEW that it had to be wrong. So last night I started and just did the # that they called for in a medium. I knit 7 rows, then stopped for the night because trying to drop the correct stitch is too scary to do just before bedtime.
...so I waited until this afternoon...
Everything was going well until the last 10 stitches...then tragedy struck.
I dropped the wrong stitch and didn't realize until the last stitch. "No Problem!" I thought. "I know how to go back and pick up a stitch.

I didn't take into account the slippery rayon yarn and addi's, this is what I was left with: (hint - look at the upper left)

that and a temper tantrum! So I am putting that project away for awhile.
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I made a bit of progress on the spinning yesterday. I really like this roving, the colors are beautiful. (the pictures just do not do it justice.)

I am finished with the warshrags for now. I plan to make more eventually, but I need to work on a few other projects again. Here is the collection:
Well, after a week of rain and abuse from the birds, here is my garden. If you look closely, you may notice that there are several cucumber plants that have gone missing....those darn birds! I never knew that they would eat the plants!

Other than the missing cukes, the rest of the garden is looking pretty good. (yes I know that the corn is too close together! There are at least 3 of those plants that were half dead a week ago, so when they go things will be about right...)

I guess I should go and frog the sweater, but not quite ready to start over yet...

Terry the Cat

2006-05-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

So, as promised this will be the story of Terry the cat.

He is a 'very special little boy'. Not just a little strange, but very wierd! And sweet.

Terry likes to try and help me knit whenever possible too (if only he had opposable thumbs...), instead he just likes to eat the yarn or the ends of the needles.

This first picture is of the neighbor's cats sitting on my front step, and Terry wishing that he could go outside and play with them. Sadly Terry is a strictly indoor kitty. He would probably get eaten for supper if he went out to play with them.

I discovered almost 2 years ago that Terry has Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Yes cats can suffer from that too! (Thankfully almost all the problems are upperGI - a bit easier to clean up...) Thus Terry is on a very rigid diet of a low allergen food that is supposed to keep him from getting sick. When he has an exacerbation he gets to take prednisone. Yes, that's right, a crazy cat on steriods!!

I have discovered hoewver that there is at least one food that he LOVES that doesn't make him sick. Motts brand MANGO PEACH APPLESAUCE!! He thinks that this is the best treat ever and will lick the plastic bowl clean and want more! (he only gets to lick the bowl after I've finished 99% of the applesauce.)

When Terry was a kitten, he would get lonely if I was in the shower on the other side of the shower curtain (so very far away!) and would jump in too, as long as he didn't get too wet. He stopped doing that long ago, but still thinks that the only good water in the house is the water straight as it comes out of the faucet. Even if it entails risking almost falling into a full tub of bath and bubbles!!

And last but not least, Terry like most cats has a bit of an attitude. He does what he wants, when he wants. We've been working on the 'no cat on the table' thing for years...I've given up - look at that defiant look!

No longer a 'thief'

2006-05-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

So, tonight I became an honest woman.

I bought my own wireless router - so I could stop using my neighbor's unsecured wireless connection. (I already had my own wired connection, but what fun is that?!)

It was a bit more complicated to set up than I expected, but completed in just over an hour. Once again I can sit upstairs in bed and blog, chat, or just surf the 'net. :-)

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So, catching up on a few things that I have wanted to write about for awhile with no time to do so...

Isn't this picture the best!!!??? I took it just before mom flew back to South Dakota. Do you have any doubts as to what I might look like in about 30 years? ha! Really, I think that this is the best picture that we've ever had together!

Working on another post, coming soon about the crazy cat Terry. In which I will explain this picture and more!!
coming soon!!

Last day of vacation

2006-05-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

So, today is the last day of my vacation. I have enjoyed myself, but I'm not quite ready to go back to work! I would love to have a few more days! The good thing is that next weekend is Memorial Day weekend! (silly me - I just realized that a few days ago!)

Jill left just after lunchtime. She is now at the airport, waiting at the gate.

She finished the 'warshrag' this morning!

Doesn't it look terrific!?! Her first FO. Great job Jill! I can't wait to see the orange and pink one.

I finished the black and multicolor this morning...

then quickly cast on for the next one!
With all of these dishcloths, you might think that I like to warsh dishes...

Vacation

2006-05-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

I love vacations!!
(Jill is on the left, I'm on the right)

Jill and I have been having so much fun! Forgot to even take any pictures at all of the first 2 days! Sorry.

We went to Astoria and Cannon Beach on Thursday. It was a beautiful day, nice and warm, sunny. On the way home we had burgers at Clark's -- yummy!

On Friday we went to Seattle. Pike Place market, Westlake mall, WeavingWorks...where I bought some lovely roving. Started spinning almost right away when we got home.

While riding to and from Seattle (Jill drove), I had the rare luxury of knitting in the car. Made great progress on the black trekking sock. I didn't want to do a plain sock, but I also knew that and complicated design would take away from the yarn, so I came up with this.

Today was originally for being lazy, but somehow that can never happen around me! We started out for a drive and ended up at the Cedar Falls Nursery. And bought plants for a garden. I didn't count on how hard it would be to break up the sod so that we could plant the garden...but here is the finished product tonight: corn, cucumbers, shallots, acorn and butternut squash and tomatoes!

We even managed to spend a few hours at The Yarn Corner with Sherri and Bunni. Made progress on a new 'warshrag', corrupted Jill into buying yarn and needles.

Now, Jill and I, ever the socialites...are sitting at home on a Saturday evening, blogging and knitting. We lead an exciting life, even on vacation!!

mystery solved

2006-05-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

I love the internet! It never stops amazing me just how much information is out there and how easy it is to find out everything there is possible about a subject...

take an azalea for example. Did you know that there is an Azalea Society of America?
But they didn't really help me any more that the nice woman at the home depot. No, through many many google searches and narrowing the fields. I have come up with this:

The Irene Koster Azalea.

count down...

2006-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Only a day and a half until my vacation! The way I am getting so excited about this, you might think that I had huge grand plans for a fabulous trip or something. I'm just so excited for a few reasons: I haven't had a vacation for ages and ages - the time off last summer to help mom while she was in the hospital was NOT a vacation. I haven't seen Jill since Easter of 2004! And I am ready for a bit of time off.

...
Side note:
As I type this someone in the neighborhood is obviously learning how to drive a manual transmission car. I keep hearing the grinding, etc. Ouch, poor car!
...

It is HOT today. Right now it is 83 degrees in my bedroom. I have the window wide open, but there isn't any breeze at all. I kinda enjoy the heat, sorta. Being from the midwest, I still have a tendency to laugh when people here in WA bemoan the heat when its only 85 or 90 degrees! (Cue the old gramma voice) "back where I came from we didn't say it was hot until it was at least 100 degrees!"

Well, whether or not it is really 'hot' I am sweating as I sit here and type.

So, about the flower. This is pretty funny. I cut off one of the stems of the flower clusters and a leaf, and tried to go to the nurseries and plant stores. Well, all were closed by the time I got there, so I ended up at home depot...never a really good option...Well they were 'very, very' helpful. The 'helpful' lady pointed out how it looked like an azalea or a rhodie, so that must be what it was!

Thank you very much...Maybe I should work there too!

Sunburned

2006-05-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today was the most beautiful day! Not a cloud in the sky. Perfect warm-but-not-hot temperature. I had the day off, and had no obligations - just church in the morning, then nothing to do except enjoy the day.

Jill is coming in 3 days! So I guess that I did have to clean the house a bit - get rid of the numerous things growing in the refrigerator…I can’t really say that they were a science experiment! Did a few loads of laundry. Vacuumed the room that Jill will stay in (she's allergic to poor Terry the cat!)

In the midst of doing all this I sat out on the front steps for at least 45 minutes on 2 separate times - knitting in the wonderful sunshine; and worked on the weeds for about 30 minutes too. So Lauri is pink this evening.

Not quite as pink as the adorable ‘warshrag’ that I finished while sunning myself, thank goodness, but I think that you might be able to see in the picture just how pink the tops of my feet are and my shins too.

---

I also spent time last night searching, and today working a bit on a new format for the blog! No more details yet, except that it will be fantastic. As long as I can figure out how to change the template and get the new one working…not quite sure how to do that yet.

One last question. Can anyone tell me what kind of flower this is? It looks like a rhodie or azalea, but the shrub doesn't really look like it, the flower buds were completly different. And the flower has the MOST AMAZING fragrance!

I've caught the fever...

2006-05-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

OK, now I am addicted too!

Also, I finally caught on to how I can use my camera phone to email pics to myself, to save to my computer, to upload to blogger...aarrgghh - complicated but definitely worth it! Now I'll be dangerous!

haha!

Spammers

2006-05-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well, little ol' me is not immune from spammers in my comments section! As a result, I've changed the requirements.
You have to be a registered member and also must use the word verification. Hope that this will help.

Headaches...

2006-05-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at home in the middle of the day today...with a migrane / sinus headache. I tried to go to work today and lasted about an hour before I decided to call it a day.

Wanted to knit for awhile - didn't work! The ribbon scarf was too boring. The pomatomus socks and my shawls all take too much brainpower. and spinning silk is way toooo aggravating when you have a headach and are wearing clothes that love to stick to the fibers.

Its been awhile since I've tried to watch TV in the middle of a weekday. There is just NOTHING worth watching. Boring.

I might just start working on a plain sock with no pattern, or curl up on the couch with my cat.

Fridays

2006-05-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a great Friday (even tho I have to work tomorrow...)

I slept in a bit late - it is nice having a somewhat flexible start time! Got to work at about 7:30, but didn't start on the clock until after 8:00. It was nice to spend the time really talking to coworkers.
Nice slow schedule today. It allowed Liz and I to start making progress on some of the projects that have been on the back burner for awhile. Then we spent an hour in the afternoon touring the new addition to the hospital - its going to be nice, but I have a few reservations about some of the things.

Got off work on time again! :-) Wow.

Once home, I frogged the toe-up 'socks that rock' and started over again with the pomatomus pattern from Knitty. I am now on the 6th row of the pattern repeat in the leg. It isn't as hard as it looks. I am again having problems with the yarn colors pooling - worse that with the toe up sock...but I kind of like how it is pooling! I'll have to go several more rows to see how things knit up.

In addition to knitting, I managed to get 3 loads of laundry done tonight! (What on earth is wrong with me?...this is just a bit too 'functional' for me.)

Looking at my house today - I realized that it is in terrible disarray! And I have 12 days until Jill gets here, so I ought to get to work! But I'd rather be outside or knitting -- or preferrably both simultaneously.

beautiful day

2006-05-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today was such a nice day. I even found myself telling someone that it was HOT outside!

The bonus?...

I got off of work on time today! (Its pretty sad when you're leaving work at the end of an 8 hour day and everyone is asking you why you're leaving 'early'!) Spent some time knitting at The Yarn Corner with Sherri. I'm ready for the next increase row of the ribbon scarf - it will be 1280 stitches after the next row.

After I came home, I was able to spend nearly 1 1/2 hours working in my yard and flower gardens! Everything is looking so beautiful, green and colorful flowers too. I spent most of the time tonight working on the tedious task of trying to convince the grass to stay within the boundary of the lawn and NOT into the gardens. That, and battling with the weeds! But I do love my yard - that is one of the things about my home that I love the most.

I cooked supper for the third time this week!! That is a major accomplishment for me.

I looked at the "Meadow Flowers Shawl" tonight as I got home after a walk - it was telling me to finish tinking the mistake row..."please?" I just couldn't deal with it. I have gotten much better at tinking recently...however tinking lace is just no fun at all. So the flowers will have to wait another day.

Still alive and well...

2006-05-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that it seems like I've dropped off the face of the earth...those of you who know me know what's been happening.

2 days after I wrote the last entry, I met the real estate agent at what would become "MY HOME!!" September was a whirlwind - everything that is involved with buying a house, packing up everything you own to move about 1/2 mile away!

I've spent the last 7 months getting the house to be my 'home'. Coming along well, but still work to do. Lots of painting, ripping up of nasty carpet... And most recently - finding out as much as possible about water heaters since mine died and flooded the basement!

Mom has come and gone already! She arrived here just in time for Christmas! We had almost 4 months together - lots of fun. (She even knit a scarf!! I was a good influence on her) She left about 3 weeks ago, and is liking it back in SD. But I think that she is missing me as much as I miss her. But, she is enjoying working in her yard, sorting through 'stuff' for a garage sale, etc.

More to come soon.

A crazy weekend!

2005-08-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have had an interesting weekend! But first I have to explain some background as to why everything transpired as it did:
I’ve known for a few weeks that my mom will probably be coming here to Washington to stay for the winter since she will not have anyone in South Dakota to assist her if needed over the winter. Now this is presenting to be an almost nightmare scenario. Aberdeen is quite lacking in ‘safe, appropriate rental housing’ especially when you begin with the requirements for a furnished studio or one bedroom apartment! I live in a large one bedroom, but have no space for a second person except for very short visits. This has been weighing on me for a while and I haven’t been sure how to make it work.

Then, the real estate supplement came with the newspaper on Friday evening…

I couldn’t stop myself from looking! Why? I’m not really sure, I certainly don’t have any money saved to buy a house right now! But there was that cute house that I have walked by a few times and thought ‘hmm?’ So, I drove the few blocks away to look at it, peeked into the windows of the empty house, wandered around the yard – beautifully landscaped just overgrown, and thought to myself: “What if I bought a house for myself that would have enough room for both me and mom?!?!” And suddenly this became the focus of the weekend. I could hardly think of anything else.

I called my friend Diane, went to her house for delicious egg drop soup, then Diane, Trish and I went back to the house. They agreed that it looked cute, that the yard looked very nice and wouldn’t need THAT much work to whip it back into great shape…then we looked up and saw the roof ---sagging on all 4 sides! :-{

Well, I was undaunted (silly me) and thought “well, that could be fixed.” Thought about it all day Saturday at work, then once I got home, called a realtor that my friend John recommended. She agreed to meet me and Joy to show us the house. (My friend Joy was coming from Olympia for dinner and planned to crash on the futon for the night.)

I really am not sure how to describe the house, it is almost beyond description…Joy thougth that I would need a topographical map to navigate the floors they were so bumpy and warped. The master bedroom had the same linoleum as the kitchen. The wall above the fireplace mantle was an unpainted piece of plywood. The bathroom in the downstairs bedroom consisted of, get this, a small shower door that opened directly from the room to a small shower stall, that’s it, no sink, no toilet! And the smell, not quite sure what it was, but didn’t want to figure it out!

The realtor said it succinctly: “I’m trying to find one thing that I like about the house. But I can’t.” I agreed. What a shame, the yard was so cute, and the house looked so nice from the outside.

So, now where to go with this? Not really sure right now. I still need to find housing for my mom for the winter, and I am getting sick of apartment living…

Blue Socks!!!

2005-08-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Yea!
Today I finished my blue socks. The ones that I have been working on since February! The second pair I started to knit (nevermind that I have finished 3 pairs, two single socks, and 2 pairs of baby socks since starting this pair!)

I am wearing them right now and they are beautiful. I was really starting to feel like I would never finish them, It is a relif to be finished.

So, my case of 'second sock syndrome' is getting to be more under control. I now have only 2 single socks without their mates. And sock yarn in the stash for 3 more pairs.

Here is my question of the day: I tried to add a list on the sidebar for my works in progress and finished objects. I went into the template, found the area that says "you can add a paragraph here" (or whatever it said). I typed the list in, saved it, but it doesn't show up on the blog page. How do I get it to work?

Day off!

2005-08-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to have a Monday free from work! Now, I love my job and all, but...after the last few weeks, this day off is very welcome.

I haven't spent it relaxing. I've gotten lots done! It is only 9:45am and I already have 4 loads of laundry almost finished (one still in the washer, the others in the dryer.) And that includes TWO cycles of the washer to try to felt my pink purse. I sent it through the wash then rinse cycles once and it still wasn't enough, so I did it again and it still isn't felted enough for me, but I didn't want to waste any more water. I don't know why my projects don't really want to felt very much, I think that it might be the washer in my apartment building...

The purse is really cute, I can't wait until it dries! There are a few things that I would have done differently had I known how it would turn out, but that is the fun of making something without a pattern. The handle is several inches too long, and the flap is too short. The Brown Sheep Handpainted mohair yarn is shedding all over the place, but it is so pretty that I forgive it!

I will be going to the verizon store today to find out how to get the pictures that I take with my camera phone to upload to my computer. I have no clue how to do it! Once I figure that out I should be able to get some picutres here.

Now that I have the purse done, I really have to start working on some of my Works in Progress! The list is WAY toooo long. and winter is coming and my feet will be cold if I don't have any matched socks to wear.

Anyway...I better go and get my clothes out of the washer.

Food for thought

2005-08-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is my second try at this entry. I had typed for nearly an hour last night…(of course I typed it in word then tried to copy into the blog publisher) Do you think that I had thought to save what I had so carefully thought out and typed? Of Course NOT! I tried to connect to the internet and my computer completely locked up and I lost everything that I had typed. I will try to remember what I had typed.

Last night was quite a night after the computer incident, but I will get to that later…

I get together with a group of friends about once a month for a potluck dinner and then a Bible study. We met last night and had a good discussion over the texts that were included in the study. It was limited somewhat because most everyone was pretty tired.
We usually use a study that is from PLU’s Office of Church Relations. They usually have a study based on the coming Sunday’s designated texts.
This week’s texts were: Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Psalm 67; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; and Matthew 15:10-28.
- The questions for discussion were:
o What do you consider Holy in your life?
o What challenges these Holy things in your life?
o Who do you think are the “outsiders” in today’s culture?
o What do you think is God’s word to these outsiders?
o How do you deal with the areas of scripture where Jesus seems abrupt (i.e.: Matt 15:24-26)?
o How do you think violence in the media is affecting our culture and our faith? [I would just leave out the ’violence’ and just leave it at media…]
I am going to leave many of my thoughts about these questions un-typed for now, several reasons: 1: too lazy to try and type them again after losing what I typed last night, 2: Not fully formed coherent ideas yet…

I thought a lot about these texts being the designated texts for this specific Sunday (13th Sunday after Pentecost). It is interesting and thought provoking that these are the texts for this weekend especially considering the proposals that the ELCA voted on at the National Assembly on Friday. [If you are not aware it was regarding gay/lesbian/etc: pastors, blessing of unions, etc…] Most everyone reading this already knows my feelings about this issue since we have talked about it a few times in last months.

I will leave the Bible study discussion at this point – just some food for thought!

Mom is doing better, but still not sure when she might be going home from the hospital, probably not for a few more days. I will give more details later.

I discovered last night just how much stress I am under and that my body was saying “ENOUGH!!”:
I began to feel somewhat ill around 8:30pm or so, and by 9:30 I was having some pretty strong stomach cramps, in my upper abdomen and wrapping around to my back – only the cramps, nothing else. By 11:30 they were so bad I was almost doubled over in pain so decided that the emergency room was the smartest place to be. Well, by the time I finally saw the doc at almost 3:30am the cramps were mostly gone and all the blood tests came back normal. The doc thinks that it could have been a gallstone; I had an ultrasound this morning and haven’t heard any official results yet (the tech said that she didn’t see anything alarming.) Everyone I talked to today votes for stress as the most likely cause. Granted, I know that I am under a lot of stress, but I can hardly believe that I could have stomach cramps that severe and have no actual physical real cause. I guess that I will find out more tomorrow when I see my doc.

So, I had planned to get the pink purse finished today, but that was before I was up most of the night in the ER. Maybe I’ll finish it in the next day or two. It will be a miracle if I have enough of the pink yarn to finish, if I end up with any left, it will be no more that a few inches I bet!

I’ll try to figure out (soon) how to email myself the digital pics that my phone can take. Maybe soon I will be able to post pictures here.

What a week (or two)

2005-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

I had planned to write more often, but with minimal access to the internet by using other people's computers, I didn't have the chance to write anything for the blog while I was in SD.

What has happened in the last week?

- Mom had her surgery on Friday the 5th. She did well during and after the surgery for a few days, but now has not been doing as well, more details to follow. I just can't really write about it right now - too much stress and uncertainty.

- I finished the first lace cuff ankle sock during mom's surgery. It only took a total of 4 days of not-too-intensive-knitting! Since then, I have started the second sock at least 5 times and had to rip it out 5 times. Trying to knit a lacy sock when under lots of stress is a recipe for failure! I know, you are all thinking that this is just my continuing case of SSS; however, I have really, REALLY tried to start this sock, and it just does not want to be knit right now.

- I drove from Rapid City SD to Aberdeen WA (just over 1200 miles) in 2 days all by myself. I do not advise this as it is a very bad idea only to be undertaken in special circumstances. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my mom, and also had to be back at work on Thursday. I am still recovering today as I try to type this.
Since I was in such a hurry, I had no chance to stop at any yarn shops anywhere! I even saw a billboard for a yarn shop in Montana (Bozeman or Butte I think). A full size billboard for a LYS along the interstate highway!! And I couldn't stop. On second thought, maybe it is a good thing that I didn't have time, because I certainly did not have any money to buy yarn.

- I bought a new cell phone! It has a digital camera, I'm learning how to take pictures. Evidently I should be able to email the pictures...someday, I will figure out how to email them to myself and then attempt to post them here. But first, I need to get some sleep so I can think clearly.

- The Prius got great gas mileage for the trip back to WA. I discovered a few things: Premium gas is really a waste of money (I guess everyone knew that except me...) and I actually got 3 to 4 miles less per gallon with the premium as compared to the regular 87 octane. Also, the best gas mileage is at 55 to 65 miles per hour, anything over that and the mileage goes back down to 44 to 46mpg. I did get 54.3mpg for the last leg of the trip from Cle Ellum to Aberdeen!! but averaged around 46 to 49 for the rest of the trip.

It is so nice being back in cool Washington state! I can't handle that South Dakota heat anymore! Give me a nice 65 degree Grays Harbor day! But I was happy to see the sun finally come out today.

On the schedule this weekend: find a storage unit somewhere in town that is safe and reasonably priced. I brought so much stuff back from SD. It is piled up in stacks in my apartment! I have enough cut out quilt pieces in boxes that my mom and my grandma had started...I should be able to make more quilts than I can count! Back to an abandoned hobby. Haven't been doing any quilting for a few years. Maybe it is time to start again.

I guess that is about all the news I have for now.