Oh my!

Where did the day go? I managed to finish the quilt today. Here is a sneak peak. Its in the dryer, but hopefully it has survived its washing. (Fingers crossed!) Its hard to tell but I outlined all the boxes and then stitched into the seams within the squares. It shows really well on the back. If all goes well tonight in the dryer I should be able to show it to you tomorrow!

We have a cardinal and his mate that are DETERMINED to get into the house via an upper window in the great room. They bang into the window throughout the day over and over and over. They've been doing it for MONTHS. I finally managed to get a shot of him today.

I have some video of his mate as well, but those are not terribly exciting. Its a lot of staring at the time go by and then a short viewing of a bird and more staring. Speaking of staring, what do you suppose Penny was doing while that cardinal was on the fence? (Notice the tail movement?) She was about ready to pounce. Which means standing on her back legs, plastering her belly to the glass, and moving her arms around really fast. Its not terribly effective but more fun then doing nothing.

Soaking up the Sunshine

This is Penny's main occupation. That and meowing. I took this picture and 20 minutes later it looked like she had melted into a puddle on the windowsill.

Grass

For some reason I love this photo. I think its just that color of grass is so pretty. I think this would make a lovely yarn color. I'm certain the picture was taken somewhere near my office but I'm not really sure where. I'm taking a lazy Friday and just posting this bitty post and then going off to play fetch and knit a bit.

PS. Just found out an old blog server from 2005 is closing down. I sorta didn't want to loose some of those posts so I'm slowly moving them over here. I'm reading them now and thinking I seem really really young to me.

Looking Forward

I've been thinking about sweater knitting for several weeks now. I won't start anything until after the current stuff is finished but I'm already speculating what I want to knit.

I have 16 balls (2352 yards!) of this Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK in Paper Rose. Love, Love, Love this base yarn so much. Ages ago I bought some to knit Chris a scarf. I wear that scarf all the time in winter, he doesn't because he never gets cold, but I love it. It looks fabulous still after its third winter. I found an awesome deal on this yarn at some point and couldn't pass it up even though I hadn't at that time been thinking about sweaters. I'm pretty happy about this color too. Really really lovely.

I have 18 skeins (2646 yards!) of this Queensland Kathmandu Tweed DK in some unknown colorway. Its basically the same as the Jo Sharp above. I found a similar awesome deal for it. So since its the same base it had to come home with me too. This color will make a really practical cardigan that will go with a lot of stuff I think?

Having 16 and 18 skeins, plus one skein of a dark green, means that I can basically do whatever I want with them design wise. I want to make a couple of cardigans because its hot here a good bit of the year and I want to be able to wear them indoors in the air conditioning but take them off outdoors in the heat. So cardigan is more practical then a pullover I think. I haven't managed to decide on a pattern yet and I'm looking for suggestions. Any ideas?

Working On

I liked last weeks working on post so I thought I'd do one this week too.

BOOK - Wildacre by Phillipa Gregory. This is the first book in a trilogy. Started yesterday. I am 150 of 650 pages in. So much has happened so far it could almost be a book in itself. I can honestly say this is amoung the weirdest books I've ever read. I can say that having read the last book of the Twilight series too. I recommend this one as engaging reading, but buyer beware. She's got an interesting (flowing) writing style but the plot is kind of way out there and there is definitely incest and murder and tons of non-incestuous sex and gypsies (who foil murders with their second sight) and who knows what else when I get through the next 500 pages. I'm told that book three is totally and completely out there. We'll see when I get there.

CHICKEN - I need to trim him up a bit for I attach him to his greeting card, but for all intents and purposes this guy is done and you probably won't see him again. Isn't he cute though?

QUILT - The binding on the quilt is all of a quarter of the way done. This is slow going because I have to find time when the bulldogs are NOT around to work on it. I thought that it would be best to not get bulldog hair all over it. I figured I'd let my boss's dog contribute the hair on this one.

SHALOM - Finished and blocking. Well it will be blocking after I finish posting tonight. I still have quite a bit of that yarn left and I'm thinking I'll knit an even littler small sweater with that too. Its got to wait though until after I finish my current bit of the Brea Mod because they are using the same needle.

BREA MOD - Its half way and a little bit there. So far so good. The most I can say about this one is that I am not going to run out of yarn (I think). I really really like this pattern too. I need to find out if I have another needle this size, I'm not totally sure what size it is though.

SUNSHINE SCARF - Its gotten nowhere further then it was last week. Mostly because I didn't knit much this weekend except for what you saw on Sunday night of Shalom and about that much again of Shalom on Monday. This is very much a weekend project. The lace is pretty slippery on my circs so it doesn't go well with sitting on the floor playing fetch with bulldogs and I just don't like straights enough to switch.

KIILA - I've finished clue 4 on the first sock though I haven't bound off yet. I was slightly afraid that I'd bind off and cut the yarn and discover I didn't have enough for the second sock so I figured I should just wait until I'm sure they will both be the same size. I've never run out before though, so I don't know why I am so suspicious this time. After all these are somewhat short socks in the pattern.

WASHCLOTH - My car travel project for long red lights and sitting waiting for trains. Simple, simple washcloth with stocking stitch center and seed stitch border. Started yesterday afternoon on the way home from work while waiting for a commuter train to pass. I thought my car travel project was going to be those pumpkin spice socks from last week, but the yarn is so thin that I frogged them and put the yarn on my trade page. If you look very carefully this yarn is blue (actually a LOT bluer then it looks) and green. Yes BLUE. Its called Water's Edge and if you know me well that name has special meaning for me so I had to buy the skein regardless of the blue. Then again of course blue because its water. It was one of the first purchases I made on Etsy. Something like two years ago? So its been in the stash a while. Its the only cotton yarn I've knit with and its actually really nice and soft. I'm not letting myself work on anything else in the car so the blue yarn will get knit.

I picked my book yesterday night thinking that it didn't have any purple so I wasn't going to match my knitting projects. Ha. I defeated myself. I didn't even notice this until after I started this post because the book and the car knitting don't exactly go near each other since I don't read in the car.

In the field

First I feel a deep desire to discuss the green/brown yarn used in these projects and my MAJOR frustration with it. This is the same type of yarn that I knit my first sock madness socks from this year. That skein was awesome. This skein was a lesson in frustration. Don't get me wrong the colors a gorgeous. The skein is soft and shiny and pretty. The frustrating bit was that their were four knots in this skein. FOUR. Also this skein was underweight by 30 meters in a 350 meter skein and somewhat tangled. (The first skein didn't have any knots and was fine on weight and rolled smoothly from the skein winder to the ball winder. I don't know about the third skein I have but didn't see any when I laid out the skein to glance at it.) I've also discovered that I'm not so fond of bamboo. Which makes me sad since this dyer has gorgeous yarn but most of it has bamboo. Ah well. I wasn't about to knit socks with this. I'm sure I would have run out before I hit the toe. So I doubled up the yarn and knit myself some soft cushy washcloths. My first ones ever...

Pattern: Traveling Vines Dishcloth from Smariek (my ravelry project)
Materials: .25 skein Hedgehog Fibres Merino/Bamboo/Silk in colorway Field (basically I used the yarn up until the first knot)
Made for: me?
Needle: US4.5 24" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 12 May 2009
Completion Date: 12 May 2009
Size: Really pretty small. My gauge might have been off.
Notes: Nothing changed in the pattern except that it might have wanted thicker yarn. I'm calling it Field Vines. This one was pretty fun. Also I'm unsure on the actual knitting dates at this point for any of these but I knew how long they took so I just picked a date.

Pattern: Fern Lace Cloth from let me explaiknit (my ravelry project)
Materials: .5 skein Hedgehog Fibres Merino/Bamboo/Silk in colorway Field (This would be knots two and three.)
Made for: me?
Needle: US4.5 24" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 12 May 2009
Completion Date: 13 May 2009
Size: Biggish
Notes: Not much else to say on this one either. I'm calling it field leaf.

Pattern: Red Carnation Pot Scrubber from Priscilla's Crochet (my ravelry project)
Materials: .25 skein Hedgehog Fibres Merino/Bamboo/Silk in colorway Field (This would be knots after knot three and including knot four.)
Made for: me?
Needle: US4.5 alluminum crochet hook
Start Date: 13 May 2009
Completion Date: 14 May 2009
Size: Hand sized.
Notes: I altered this pattern in two ways. One I didn't use plastic yarn so I could have a bath scrubber rather then a pot scrubber. Two my yarn even doubled was clearly too thin. This came out really small so I added a fourth layer which is the brown Cascade 220 superwash. I like the effect, but it was really hard to photograph. I'm calling it field scrubber.

Two

Dallas, Texas - Augustus Von Widderhausen, Chairman and CEO of BullyMade Industries celebrates his second year today. Over the year Gus has seen his freedom to play and experiment has grow, he's learned how to hoard and hog things that his sister is chewing, and how to give kisses back. He's totally learned how to drool (video - gross-ish) but only when he's eating ice cubes. He's gotten crazier and somehow even cuter. The year doesn't seem to have aged him at all.

As usual I had a hard time pinning him down to a photoshoot time and it took most his day. He was having trouble sitting still.

His birthday is being celebrated with fireworks over the lake, general game playing, ice cream, cookies, a few short naps and a couple of long ones. There was also a game of bobbing for ice. Usually a big hit, it was sadly not appreciated today by Gus. Abby was all over it.

He did enjoy playing in the muddy backyard chasing sticks and goofing off with Abby. Also apparently eating dirt.

Happy Birthday Augustus!!!

I hope it was an excellent one and we didn't bore you too much wanting to do "human" things.

PS. Abby wanted to say something...

Gus, dis awesome days. You has birday more? I likes ice ceam. Thanks so muchs! We have goods day bob for ice cube, eat ice ceam, have fetch and tug and games. Funs! Happy Birday Gus!! Loves, Abbys.

All the knitting is far away.

My knitting bag was down the stairs and across the house and I was in the middle of doing something that didn't involve my hands, but wasn't letting me run off either. There was yarn and appropriate needles nearby however.

What's a girl to do? (Sorry for the crappy photo. Its already night here, not that it got very bright today anyway. POURING RAIN. Also why there isn't a finished project post today or tomorrow either because its a special day.)

Shalom Cardigan in XXXS (at least). I'm modifying the pattern hugely just because I only have a little of the yarn and I really wanted to make this cardigan from this teeny bit of yarn for some reason. Its moving fast. This is 20 minutes of work.

:: :: ::

I did manage to finally get what I think is the rest of my stash into Ravelry today except for 5 yarns that didn't photograph that well in the dark weather. I'm going to add them anyway and take pictures later when the outside light and my camera cooperate with each other.

I've also put a ton of stash in the for sale or trade section. I went through my whole stash today. Its been overwhelming for me to have so much unknit yarn laying around. I find it somewhat stressful. So stuff that I know I won't knit is going in the trade or sell page, that way I don't feel like I need to stress over it still hanging around. Most of that stuff is really good yarn but for whatever reason I don't want to knit it. Usually this means that its too skinny fingerling (I like heavier fingerling like koigu), I don't like the colors (I'm figuring out I'm not that fond of pale or light colors unless they are neutral like beige, I like brights and darks), there isn't enough to do anything without getting more (less then half a skein of something? Well a lot of those I've listed as free or basically pay for shipping so someone else can maybe finish a project without buying the whole skein), wrong fiber (apparently I'm not so fond of bamboo or cotton), or whatever else I found wrong with it. I'm making sure when I decide to sell something that I really won't feel like I'm missing it after it is gone. It feels really good to have made the decision to let some stuff go. I suspect that I will probably put a few more things in there later too when I've really decided I don't know what to do with them. Stuff like this skein below. Called Picasso. I love it, but its got blue. Quite a bit of blue. Will I knit it? Or better yet will I have a pattern I want to use it for and discover that I can't knit it because of my blue block? These things drive me crazy, totally batty.

Why let knitting stress me? Even though I get a lot of knitting done because I knit fast, I'm doing it in short bursts and not long sustained periods. I want to completely enjoy my knitting time so why knit skeins I'm not going to enjoy? I kind of want to get to the point where I'm deciding on a pattern and then ordering yarn for it while knitting my latest thing. I might have to do this a couple of knitting projects in advance because I knit pretty fast and I don't want to have NOTHING to knit. I just don't want a million projects bouncing in my head saying "knit me now! knit me now!" and I have stuff already on the needles that I want to finish and will finish first and have that other thing totally dogging me. I have dogs for that.

A milestone!

I think I heard the word bed. I don't like that word at all.

Something happened last night that has never ever happened in this house before. Not something we expected would ever happen either. I put Gussy to bed at normal time because he was being cranky and trying to tear stuff up. Abby on the other hand was under the bed napping so I let her "stay up" late. Why wake her up just because Gus went to bed? Well then it got to be my bedtime and I questioned why I needed to put her to bed at all. She'll sleep out of the crate rather then wander around and try to play. She won't eat stuff she shouldn't, though she did have access to eating some plastic dog toys because I didn't clean them up before bed. She won't bother Chris or me and prevent us from sleeping. She won't get on furniture she isn't allowed on. So why not let her "stay up" for the night?

So our milestone is that almost three years after she started living with us she's spent a night outside of her crate. I never thought that that would happen just because she LOVES her crate and we believe in crating. I did make her get out from under the bed after I set up a pile of pillows for her. This sort of thing will be a treat because she can't stay out every night as she'll get up too early most days due to my schedule, but I think the small change will be good for her overall. Mr Gus is a LONG way from proving he can handle it. I'll be shocked if we get here with him, but isn't that sort of how I feel about Abby staying the night out of the crate?

We had a bit of play yesterday afternoon. I've noticed something about my dogs. Gus is really really good at sad, pout-y, worried, put-upon dog faces. He has big time puppy eyes. He's also really good at smiling. Really good. But his range of expressions is somewhat limited. Too much heavy face with all that skin?

I love cows. I hate photographs. Will you leave me alone?

Abby on the other hand has a human-like range of facial expressions. I wish I could photograph them all, but a dog expression is fleeting. She raises and lowers her eyebrows, rearranges her ears, or adjust her mouth and the tilt of her head, all in connection to what you tell her. She can look inquisitive, happy, blissful, sad, pout-y, worried, confused, scared, torn, determined, and a whole myriad of things in between.

"I thought I heard you say something?"

This pose is immediately followed by this pose.

"You did say something!"

Which is immediately followed by this pose. Which looks like bliss to me. Oh those Italian words that make her happy. She just wants to hear them over and over and over.

Its wonderful. Say it again!

Penny likes to self injure

I thought I was going to get away with not having any animals in the car for the next month or so. You know no dog hair and no cat hair. No footprints on the seat or spots on the armrest where its been drooled on or licked. Except the cat hair bit I'm not doing too bad with this after a week. Today I had to take Penny to the vet because her allergies are acting up and she likes to self injure. See what's she's done:

Its been cleaned up a bit here but she's licked this spot (and several others) so much that not only is there no hair, but its bloody and crusty and gross. At least this time she didn't attempt to scratch a hole in her head. So off we went to get a cortisone shot and some antibiotics (thank goodness for the one time injection antibiotics) and hopefully she'll be back to normal soon. Fortunately she rides in a carrier so there wasn't too much hair floating around my car. She's usually a screamer/screecher in the car, but today she was really somewhat relaxed the whole way to the vet. She still talked but it was at a more pleasing decibel level. I think she likes the new car. Could it be that it doesn't have any scent of dog whatsoever?

In search of knitting

The problem with showing all the projects I'm knitting on all at once is that I haven't had time to photograph that one finished project (don't worry its not at all exciting) and so then all of those projects from yesterday are not much further along seeing as I've been at work all day. Therefore there isn't more knitting to show. A good point was brought up yesterday though that there should be some variety in what goes into a blog because if its all knitting, or all books, or all sewing, or all bulldogs all the time it just gets a bit boring. Okay so maybe bulldogs never ever get boring, but the other stuff. We can always find an interesting way to pose a bulldog.

Today's attention getting words were "vada banale?" said with the question mark on the end. Please understand that slight uplift of syllable that makes it a question is part of what makes her head cock to the side. It doesn't really matter what I say if I say it the right way. Though they do both respond more exaggeratedly if whatever it is isn't in English. Gus is rather fond of "Salut, ça va?" which makes him practically bounce with joy, but that's not conducive to good images.

There is of course yarn that can be talked about today because I haven't shown off my newest stash which is more of that FiberOptic yarn out of which I'm knitting Kiila. These are the other two birthday/wedding skeins. The first is Raisin. Its got that purple vibe going on again with bits of brownish yellow in there. I seem to be drawn to purple and green lately for some reason. Though now that I think of it the green is really what I was drawn to last month. This month seems to be very purple. Wonder why that is?

The second skein is Curried Spice. Its brownish yellow with bits of the purple in it. I don't think this was planned but they seem like opposites. Its easier to see it in person because you can rotate the skein and move it about in the light and really see all the pretty colors. Wouldn't 3-D stashes on Ravelry be cool? Wonder what sort of camera equipment you'd need to make that happen.

I am flighty.

I'm not just saying that either. Its completely true. Just ask Chris. Speaking of, Chris has told me no less then six times that he was meeting clients for dinner tonight. SIX TIMES. I took the dogs for a walk tonight and wondered where he was. I got stopped by the neighbor to talk for 30 minutes and wondered why he hadn't driven up to rescue me. I came in the house and started to think about what I wanted for dinner (stuffing - one of my oddity foods since I HATE soggy food - stuffing is soggy but I LOVE it...) and wonder where he was again. Finally after being home an hour and a half after he was supposed to be home did it occur to me that maybe he said something about having a dinner meeting? Yes, yes he did. I really need to work on my listening comprehension skills. This really wasn't what this blog post was going to be about. I'm flighty for plenty of reasons but I won't go into that.

This blog post was supposed to be about things that I have been working on that involve KNITTING. See I've noticed something on other knitting blogs. Blogs that I really enjoy reading and people that I really like. They call themselves knitting bloggers and they show you knitting related images and talk about knitting related things. I've also noted that several blogs recently have linked back to me. My first thought about this was along the lines of "How awesome are my blog friends? I love making new friends so maybe some new people will stop by! Knitting friends rock." or something maybe less cheesy to that effect. My second thought was more along the lines of "Oh crap! If any new knitting people come to visit my KNITTING blog then maybe I should actually show some knitting since I can't remember the last knitting related post and they might be coming for that?" Now I know my last knitting related post was probably less then a week ago, but I've been sadly neglecting showing the stuff I am working on and the stuff that is finished (or mostly finished). So today's post is about knitting.

Oldest to youngest then?

CHOCOLATE - This is the test knit for Erica. Its totally done but it goes along the lines of the Green Bean in that I can't show it to you until some point in the future when the pattern has been released. Knitting started the 6th and finished the 7th. Sewing took a bit more time. Started the 17th and finished today. Since I can't show it to you this is just a tease and a little note for me to remember when I worked on it for when the time comes that I can blog it. Knit with a teeny bit less then one ball of Paton's Classic Wool in a deep chocolate color. Hence the name chocolate. Also I'm seriously considering knitting a sweater (cardigan?) out of this yarn just because I love this color so much.

KIILA - Sock Knitter Anonymous Group's May Mystery Sock. I saw someone's version in my friend's activity page on the 5th or 6th of May and knew I was going to knit these. So I cast on the day the second bit of the pattern came out (May 8th). The life line was placed one small-cable repeat before I thought I needed to start the gusset just in case I adjusted the length wrong. It wasn't needed because the length worked out perfectly. I'm through with the third clue for both socks and am now just waiting for the next clue. The yarn is FiberOptic Footnotes in the color Spring Lilac (OOAK) and can I just say I LOVE this yarn. This was a birthday/wedding gift for me, with two other skeins, and I so want to go get some more even before I've knit those other skiens! Totally soft and squishy and gorgeous. I'm telling myself I have to wait and that she'll have more yarn in the future.

BREA MOD - A long time ago I knit a Brea bag. I really loved the look of the bag but it didn't seem like one I would use so I ended up frogging it. I got this idea last week for a modification that means it should get used, but I'm not going to go into just in case my idea doesn't work out and it becomes a different sort of modification. Anyway it seemed like one of those things I just had to cast on. I cast the first on 12th and the second on the 13th, both just took one day. I needed something to knit while my sock needles were busy. I think there are going to be 6 total and all the rest haven't yet been cast on. The yarn is Reynolds Whiskey in a plummy purple heather. I'm knitting with two strands held together.

SUMMER SUNSHINE SCARF - A wide summer weight scarf. My current lace project. The pattern is courtesy of Barbara Walker and the Knitting Linguist who told me what she did for her wisteria scarf so I could totally be a copy cat. So far its coming out exactly as I hoped. I cast on for this one at a Saturday afternoon knitting group this weekend. It was a small group and the pattern is easy and fun. So far I haven't had time to touch it again but its calling to me. The yarn is Robyn's Flock of Feathers sock in the colorway YarnPig. Its incredibly soft which is what made me decide it definitely wasn't for socks and completely needed to be a scarf.

PLAIN SOCKS - And finally, cast on this morning at the doctors office because I needed something portable and really the cabley Brea mod and the lace weren't that great for just tossing in my bag without care where I was in the row when they called me back to the office. These will be just plain socks with a gusset heel and some ribbing at the top. I was inspired by these awesome socks from Carolyn. I just totally love plain knitting socks. The yarn is from ThankEwe (who apparently went out of business due to health reasons in November) in the colorway Pumpkin Spice. Its knitting thinner then the sock yarn I usually use. I had to pull out my one and only knitpicks needle. I sold my other two because I don't like them that much. Too lightweight, but I really needed the 2.25 instead of the 2.5 and Addi doesn't make a 2.25 that isn't a lace needle (which I also don't like) so I'm going to live with it. I love the base and the colors and the feel of this yarn. I only have one bone to pick with this yarn. I wanted it to POOL and FLASH and do all those crazy things mostly you don't want yarn to do but variegated tends to anyway. I wanted that for the Pigs in Mud socks too. Sadly these dyers keep foiling my efforts because this doesn't look like its really going to pool or flash or anything fun like that (except maybe the gusset part - we'll see when I get there).

Working on

I've spent a good bit of the last 5 or so days with my sewing machine. The baby quilt is totally quilted except for the border. I haven't decided the pattern for that yet. Then will come the part where I figure out how to do binding. Also trimming all the little ends I made while quilting. That's going to take a bit of time. While I'm working on that I'm already dreaming about what's coming next.

I found these fabrics at the store when I went on Sunday after running out of thread for the baby quilt. Oops. I thought I had bought enough. Guess not. Aren't these fabrics lovely together? I think I have enough for a really decent sized larger quilt once I get some dark brown. So, while I was originally considering these for the second baby quilt (even though I started something else earlier), I'm now rethinking that and considering that I might like to make a big quilt from these to keep around the house. Most likely a king sized for the bedroom because really teal and green don't match the decor anywhere else, but I could make it work in the bedroom I think. I do think that if I make a king sized quilt I'd have to send it somewhere to be quilted. I don't think my little machine can handle that.

Seeing this fabric is what made me decide that I needed to figure out my next quilt already. I totally love this fabric.

The other reason I've been at my sewing machine is I've been test knitting a pattern for Erica that requires some light sewing. Its enough though that I'm trying to make a detailed tutorial which may help for other knitting patterns as well? Anyway. Its taking a bit more time then I thought it would. Doesn't everything end up that way? The important thing is that I am enjoying myself.

I've really and truly been knitting. Its just that I'm trying to use the light outside for the tutorial and by the time I think of "oh I should have taken a picture of that!" the light has faded too much. Mostly it is stuff I am working on and not finished projects but there is a finished project to show once I sew in the ends. Maybe I'll manage to remember to photograph the knitting tomorrow. Oh and I've been working on the pattern for the bamboo socks but for some reason that is slow going too. hmmm...

Cows and Cattle Egrets

I love that I live in a place where this a common sight rather then a rarity. I wonder though how long this area will stay this way. The Metroplex will always encroach but I hope that since there is so much protected land around us that the cows and horses and wild birds will always be found. That guard rail is only there to keep people from running off the road into the cows. Smart thing to have. Cows don't like to get hit by cars...

Want a better look? To me these are just standard Texas cows. I'm sure they are of a type but I don't know what that type is other then to make the guess they are beef cows. We are in the right area for these to be longhorn cows. Also its probably a group of females and their babies obviously. Thats about all I can tell. I did notice that they don't like the traffic. This is the intersection where the highway ends and becomes a regular two lane road at a traffic light. I was on the intersecting road and I don't blame them for not liking it enough to even look at it. Those cars off the highway are often going really fast if they have a green light in front of them.

Now about the birds...did you notice them cleaning the cows? Those I know about and find interesting. Those are cattle egrets. They have an interesting history but I'll just link to Wikipedia and not bore you with the details. They are one of the many water bird species that live around the lake. They really are quite lovely birds to spy on a bright spring day. I've been trying to get pictures of the birds around here, but I think I need Chris' camera because mine is often not fast enough or I need to be too close. For instance I would have loved to zoom in on this but this is the best I could do from the car while waiting for the light in front of me to change. I suspect if I had walked up to them the birds would have flown off. Ah well, next time...

Goodbye Little Red Mini

I'll miss you. You are an excellent car. I hope you get to motor along with another loving family soon!

This is the best I could do for little red Mini photos. I know I have others, I just can't figure out where they are. We hadn't really thought to trade in the Mini for another car at all. The most we had "discussed" it was for me to say that I thought my current tires had about 35000 miles on them and I'd probably be needing new ones soon. I mean that little red Mini had 65000+ miles on it and had never had any issues besides a broken blinker (from when someone rear ended me two years ago) that took two years to actually blitz out on me. Excellent car. Fabulous. So I went last week to the dealership to get my blinker light changed (so I could pass inspection), get a new rear windshield wiper and get a state inspection because May is when I do inspection, buy insurance, and register my car. I failed the inspection. Can you guess why? TIRES. Dead, dead, dead. Probably overdead. Chris was horrified. (They weren't dangerous though. Yet. Give me another couple of weeks and a 1000 miles.) So then Chris and I had to make a decision. We had to make it fast because my inspection was going to expire at the end of the month. New tires (and basically a guarantee that I will drive that car for another year or year and a half and likely get the mileage up to 80000 or 85000 thereby bringing down the value of the trade in, but getting our money's worth on the tires) or new car (and get really top dollar for a 5 year old super resell-able car)?

Hello little black Mini...

We opted for a new car. The pluses were just too great (interest rate, trade in value, warranty, current pricing market, etc...) and the chance that topping 75000 (which I would definitely have done this year - just give me 9 months) or 80000 without having issue with the little red Mini (i.e. transmission, engine, etc...) just seemed like tempting fate. Cause wouldn't that be just the thing to buy new tires and make the decision to keep the car longer and then the engine dies?

So Chris came home Friday night and said he'd been talking to the Mini dealership and we were going to go buy me a car right then. We test drove a regular Mini Sport which is basically what I had before but with a sport package. Then we test drove a Mini Clubman. That is their new very slightly bigger model. Its about 12 inches longer. I liked the extra room (8 inches deeper) in the boot for groceries and whatnot. I liked the slight extra room in the backseat (4 inches or so). Also the fact that there is a half door which means that I can put a bulldog in the backseat without said bulldog having to climb through the boot and over a folded down seat. This means backseat bulldog has a LOT more space because they will have the WHOLE backseat instead of half. Bonus. I also liked that the passenger airbag only turns on when the weight of the "person" in the seat is more then 70 pounds. Gus and Abby are both under so no airbag. Its a lot safer for them that way.

I didn't get the car I test drove it was a pretty dark gray with black stripes but the inside was cheesy tan pleather seats. I couldn't stand them. Yuck. Then I saw this beauty sitting on the showroom floor, brand new off the truck, 12 miles on it and, of course, it was the hardest to get out of the showroom. At least I make them work for their commission. Isn't it tough looking? Tough like a bulldog. Fierce. Works for me.

Best part? The interior is all black too. I do so like the cleanness of monochromatic in a car.

Yesterday's photo was of the runner board when you open the door. It seemed so obscure that it wouldn't give anything away but could let me be a tease.

What I've been up to

Most likely no good, but good stuff comes of it. I spent quite a bit of yesterday afternoon making stitch markers. Or more correctly finishing stitch markers.

This set is a favorite of mine. Really pretty and shiny in person. They were among a group that already finished except for their split ring. Now those have their split ring and I've made up the rest from my stash of beads intended for stitch markers.

I didn't realize that I had so many nearly finished ones. Basically all the ones on the left side were already finished. Wonder why I let them just sit for so long?

I got some new threads as well. Ready for my next stitching project. Its another little small one like the chicken that I finished yesterday afternoon too. I'll show him off later because today is dark and raining.

I have to be careful with my new threads though because Gus is really interested. Speaking of...

Peek under that door jam and you'll see his elbow and his nose/face. He always guards the doors when I won't let him follow me in. Or well he sleeps right up next to them anyway.

And this is what I did with my evening last night. When its not actually raining I'll take a better photo so you'll get the full effect.

Got Nothing

Very busy afternoon/evening. Here is a view from my office this morning. At least I have something lovely to look at all day long even with the overcast sky.

What do you do...

What do you do if you see the green camera light flash on the wall next to you? Yeah, I ignore it too. Abby's method is to smash her face into the wall repeatedly in an attempt to eat said light.

What do you do if you see the green camera light flash on the other bulldog? Yeah, I ignore it too. Abby's method is to smash her face into Gus' side repeatedly in an attempt to eat said light. Thereby pissing Gus off and instigating a fight that lasts for 20 minutes until they are totally exhausted (seemingly) and the photographer (me) tries to take a picture again thus inciting Abby to smash her face into Gus side and instigating another fight. I've learned my lesson, be careful photographing dogs in fading light...

(She's pretty speedy with the running though, isn't she? She would be the white ghost like blur if you hadn't figured it out.)

Bean Stalks

Pattern: Vinnland from AntiCraft (my ravelry project)
Materials: .9 skein Maui Yarns in colorway Tide Pool
Made for: me
Needle: US1.5 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 30 April 2009
Completion Date: 5 May 2009
Size: 11m

Notes: Lots of alterations. I think I've forgotten some but the biggest is that I didn't do the pattern up the back of the sock. I simply knit it in the 2x2 rib that is behind the pattern. It pulled too much and made it too difficult to get the sock on and wasn't that comfortable to wear either. So that had to go.

Second big (noticeable) change is the heel flap. This sock is designed with a short-row heel. I really do dislike those. Not that I couldn't just make a gusseted short-row, but I really like the look of a flap so much better.

I think I made some other very small changes too but I can't remember now for sure. I probably did add a couple of stitches to the leg considering one of my rib sets is a 4x2. Not that it matters anyway. You'll knit it how you like if you like the pattern enough! I really like these socks and how they turned out with my mods. They fit really well and are exceptionally comfortable. The yarn is awesome too. Very soft and actually somewhat light. Maybe a bit better for summer? We'll see how the lighter yarn holds up to wear though.

3

Happy Birdday to you!
Happy Birdday to you!
Happy Birdday dear ABBBBBBBYSSSSS!
Happy Birdday to youuuuuuu!!!!!

Loves,
Gussy

PS. Tanks for have birdday, I likes ices creams too!

So today is a special day because the baby girlie is THREE! I'm still in shock from that. Seems like just yesterday she came to live with us and now its just short of three years!

Here's what she wanted to do with her afternoon. Maybe you notice a theme? I couldn't get her to stop. I swear she smelled the whole yard.

Finally I said the magic words. "Abbys plays soccer??" Then we went crazy nuts with happiness. Well she did anyway. I was pretty normal and Gus just looked at her like she'd lost it. We didn't play much because she's not allowed still and its hot out but it was nice for her for a couple runs across the yard.

After soccer we took a short walk and came inside for dinner and doggy ice cream. She's ready to play some tug and fetch so I'm off to sit on the floor and oblige her but we'll finish this post with a year by year (1 to 3).

Happy Birthday Dear Abby Girlie!
You are for sure 1 in a million.

(Yes I know she'll never read this but it makes me happy to do it so why not?)

Small Update

I was going to show you a finished project tonight. Alas I don't have time to write out that whole post (there were a LOT of alterations to the pattern), tomorrow is a special day precluding posting of any other sort except about said special day, so maybe Wednesday? I also knit another project Thursday, Friday and Saturday that I can't show you yet because its a test knit. There is a bit of finishing left to do too.

In the mean time I started Ziila this weekend. Its a mystery pattern from Yarnissima from the sock knitters anonymous group. I'm really enjoying it so far. I've started the gusset for the first sock. I'm just going to knit one gusset until I have heel instructions because I have to lengthen the foot due to US9.5 shoes (which is the fit for size large) being too small for me. The only problem is that I'm really not sure how much I need to lengthen by hence the green lifeline. That will take me back to about .75 inches after I was supposed to stop accourding to the pattern. I know I should need at least that much as my foot is one and a half sizes larger, but I knit another pattern repeat and then started the gusset. So my plan is to knit one gusset then the heel flap and etc when it is released next weekend and see if I've guessed the right amount to adjust by. If not? Well I'll rip back to the lifeline and try again. Also I'll be happy I only knit through one gusset and don't have to rip out two. (Also the yarn is Fiber Optic Footnotes Sock. Its yummy and yes this skein really is bright.)

Since I am only knitting one of the gussets and I'll have that done soon enough I also started another project to be knit while I wait. The only problem is that I'm probably not going to have any "working on" photos because its practically finished (another hour only I think). So it will be a finished project post before it makes it onto the blog other then this mention I would bet. The question then is what do I work on next as my carry around project since both my sock needles (I only have two) are otherwise occupied?

[PS I don't know if anyone noticed that I updated my blog template yesterday. Ideally you didn't notice. Mostly things are unchanged though I lost the yarn header somehow and I've added a cute "cast of characters" section at the bottom of the right hand column which I think is really cute.]

Ready, Set, Queue!

Remember these socks?

I hadn't forgotten that a few people asked me to set them up so you could queue and link to the pattern in Ravelry. Well now its done! I'm not totally hooked up as a designer yet, there also isn't yet a PDF out there (have to finish it and also have to be hooked up as a designer - its coming!!), but the pattern is linked to the blog post so you'll be able to find it easily. You can find it under this link

BAMBOO SOCKS

So exciting! Next thing you know I'll be putting the pattern for Laci's bikini up there!

Etsy

Over the last few weeks I've made a decision regarding my Etsy shop. I'm planning to close down. Not totally, but mostly. I am planning to sell out what inventory I have and then occasionally load a project bag or two as I decide to sew things. The bags take a lot of time and energy to sew and finish. Etsy is not seller friendly as far as listing things and therefore takes time and energy. Mailing takes time and energy and offers a lot of pressure to get things in the post by a certain time. Overall I don't sell enough bags to make the time and energy and pressure worth it right now. Perhaps in the future it will be. I may open start larger uploads again in the future if I feel like I have the time to deal with it.

In the mean time everything in the store is at a severly reduced price. Small bags are listed at $7.50. The medium bag at $10 and the large bag at $12.50. The stitch markers and the sachets are all $2.50. All items will remain at these prices until they are sold and I'm not planning to bring any of these designs back at any point in the future.

two videos for your viewing pleasure

Dogs being crazy.

Me knitting. This was really hard. I'm not use to having to hold my arms out so far in front of me when knitting.

Woodland vs Forest

Ok so this is me rambling on because this interested me and I had little better to talk about and this may be a boring post for those who aren't interested in the outdoors much or the technicality of using words correctly. I decided I had to know what the area behind our house would be called so I did some research this weekend. I've always considered that area to be a forest. Maybe because I think of most wooded areas like ours as forests. Not the neat tidy ones of England and Europe but the densely vegetated ones that are more tropical.

Chris has always called the areas "woods" as in woodland. I honestly didn't really think it made a difference if it was woods or forest and up until a couple of days ago hadn't really thought much about using them interchangeably which is what I tend to do. Then, for whatever reason, I got to thinking that there could be a difference and that I really really should know what that difference was.

Our Hackberry trees provide a great deal of shade in the yard and into the wooded area a bit and they are fairly densely packed. They were also planned and planted along a particular line 30 years ago to denote the protected land. As you get further in however the hackberry, oaks, pines, and the other smaller trees are not so densely packed. They are natural and not planned like the hackberry trees at the border. Each of these photos show a considerable amount of sunlight filtering through those inner trees. That's the difference between forest and woodland. Well if you don't count a royal forest which was really a game preserve and not necessarily full of trees at all. A natural forest has densely packed treetops that allow only a little light through and don't necessarily have as much undergrowth because of the lack of light. A woodland has less densely packed trees that allow quite a lot of light through and therefore they have considerable undergrowth. I think what we have would be considered somewhere in between. Generally though I think it would be called a woodland. The only feature that would make it stand out as a "forest" is that its protected. Not as a hunting game preserve, unless you count stocking the lake with fish to invite tourists, but as a wildlife preserve for deer, coyote, birds (I counted at least 12 different ones while out hunting butterflies this weekend), squirrels, armadillo, bugs, raccoons, skunks (sadly...) and all manner of other medium and small animals. Even for all that the openness to the sky still says it is a woodland. I'll try to call it that now that I know.

The Mighty Zetor

Pattern: Zetor Scarf from Jatta Soheltaa (This blog is mostly in Finnish but the pattern is in English as well!) (my ravelry project)
Materials: .95 skein Dream in Color Smooshy in the colorway Crying Dove (also known as undyed at least undyed as far as I can tell.)
Made for: ?
Needle: US7 32" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 28 March 2009
Completion Date: 23 April 2009
Size: Mediumish. I didn't actually measure it.

Notes: No changes whatsoever to the pattern. Just knit it as its written. This is one of those patterns that I saw on Ravelry and just said "I have to knit that" so I just cast on for it. I really enjoyed this one and I love the final outcome. Lots and lots more pictures on the ravelry page.

I really love how it looks down the columns of stitches. Don't the ones in this next picture look like butterflies or dragonflies? And the ones in the picture above look a bit like moths to me.

Even though he's blurry

Even though he's blurry this really is a *normal* expression for him. He's always concerned about what Chris and I are thinking. He's also always moving around so more often then not my images look like this.

He's also always concerned about the camera and it makes you wonder if he even wants his picture taken. I take it anyway of course because I make a game of it and usually there is something in it for the dogs. A cookie or whatnot.

Abby on the other hand is drawn more toward me then the camera. She's curious what my hands are doing and not what the camera is doing. She really rarely sits still unless she's sleeping. Even sleepy she is a mover.

Together, out and about the neighborhood or at the vets or at the pet store, they are an unbeatable team for gathering attention. Not just from children but from adults.

Abby handles it all very well and is overjoyed with the attention. She loves the people and has never met a stranger. She loves being petted and will be patient and kind with little kids despite the fact that she loves to run over adults. How do they know that they need to be gentle?

Gus on the other hand does not like attention unless he knows those giving it. He'll be more likely to hid between my legs. That's starting to change though when we get around males both human and dogs. When we were away at the wedding Kitzy and I thought it would be fun to bring her foster dog Blue back to my parents house where Gus and Abby were. Blue was a bit overwhelmed by Abby (cause she's crazy) but they ended up easily tolerating each other and if they had been near each other longer might even have made friends (once she calmed down). He didn't like Gus at all. This probably has something to do with the fact that Gus bounded over to him (as big dogs are known to do) and Blue backed up and made a small sound. Then Gus made BIG sounds. Not actually at his loudest but very loud anyway. Continuously. I took him outside to see if I could calm him but it wasn't working. Gus wouldn't lay off until Blue left. I can only imagine that Blue insulted his manhood or something because he spent the rest of the weekend trying to hump Abby. That is not a habit he's normally had. If anything Abby is the humper. Since we've been home we've met up with another boy dog in the neighborhood who got barked at and a couple of men out running or just visiting people in front of their houses that also got barked at. Usually a command of "no barking" will stop him from doing any more then grumbling to himself. Its worked every time except for Blue. Guess we won't be doing much babysitting of little Blue.

(Picture stolen from Kitzy.)

On another animal note. My parents and sister have adopted two little little cats. I'm not sure of their names or how old they actually are but they sure are cute. Also don't they just look like mischief makers?

(Picture stolen from Izzy.)

PS. Miss Penny is in the e-collar again. She won't stop licking her arm and has made the length of it red, scaly and furless. I hate allergies. Its all this rain. She doesn't usually get them in April/May.

On Target Socks

Pattern: Target Practice Socks from Knitty (my ravelry project)
Materials: .8 skein Dreams in Fiber Kona Superwash in colorway Snow on Evergreens.
Made for: Me
Needle: US1.5 32" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 23 April 2009
Completion Date: 29 April 2009
Size: 11m

Notes: This was an interesting pattern. I think next time (which there probably won't be) I would do it top down and move the targets a bit up the leg so they can be seen while wearing shoes. I'd also do a heel flap and gusset. The short row heel always feels so wrong. I think because it is a short heel so it doesn't come all the way up my heel and I feel like I should be tugging it up all the time.

Not that these socks don't fit. Those are just the mods I would make for my own sock preferences. That said I did make two mods to the pattern. I lengthened/narrowed the toe by putting in an extra non-increase row after I got to 24 stitches on each needle. So by that I mean two non-increase rows for each increase row after increasing at 24 stitches and for each increase after 24 stitches. I also lengthened the top of the leg and the ribbing because I have a preference for taller ribbing and socks.

I'm actually a little creeped out by the eyeball effect on the first sock but I figure my jeans or pants will cover them so I won't really see it. Plus the second, not having a dark center, doesn't have the effect quite so much. They sort of look like planets to me.

I really like this next photo. Mostly this is just an insight into how my eyes work because there isn't anything remarkable about it at all. Its called "Why isn't the camera working?". I counted to 10 for the 10 second delay I had on it. No camera shutter. I counted to 10 again figuring I counted too fast the first time. Still no camera shutter sound. I started to turn around to see what was up with the camera and got an action shot. Sadly you can't see the socks much at all.

Chicken Feet

On an odd note for me since its been a while. I started stitching up a small project that is a sample kit from a magazine I bought so I could stitch one of the patterns inside of the magazine that I just totally fell in love with. So far I've managed a chickens feet. This is only being done with one thread which seems very weird to me, but I still think he'll turn out quite cute.

Also the first Vinnland sock is finished. I've made a few mods but I'll talk about all that when I post the pair. Today's post is sort of a quickie because time has gotten away from me. I'm about 3/4 of the way through quilting the muslin border stitches and the little squares between them. Its take quite a bit of the day. I love how its coming out though. I'm not sure how I'll quilt the large blocks/squares. I'm ruminating on that one.

Tomorrow I'll start with posting the first of my two finished projects and see where the week takes us. Also last night I picked a random book from my stack of books that I haven't read yet and this morning I looked over and noticed that they match my second Vinnland sock. Its actually a closer match then it looks in the photo.

!!!!! Butterflies !!!!!

I went out in the yard today after it was mowed to get pictures of The Mighty Zetor and my finished target socks and my current work in progress and anything else I could think of. I was trying to drape zetor in my favorite draping tree when I saw this.

Don't get creeped out. That is a butterfly cocoon that the butterfly is finished with. I've been looking for them all over since April started but hadn't seen any at all yet. Today after spotting this one I went looking for larvae or more cocoons (they are green and leafy looking when they are still in use) but had no luck. I did happen to see 10 or 11 butterflies fluttering about the trees and our house.

They are Hackberry butterflies, Asterocampa celtis. We have hackberry trees lining the divide between forest and yard and that is what they live/eat/grow/etc on. The last time we saw them was April 2007. We had thousands and thousands of butterflies in the immediate area. So I guess they were still hanging out by May, but by my history it seems like they are late this year. I'm glad they came though I was worried when none showed up last year. That blog post I linked to has a lot of info about them. You can find more here too and some cool pictures here.

VInnland

I've started my next pair of socks. This really shouldn't surprise anyone I guess. Vinnland. Via AntiCraft.

Its directly out of my queue on Ravelry. Its been in the queue for almost a year. Not only that the yarn has been in my stash since just a couple of days after I queued it. I bought the yarn because I wanted to use it for hte pattern. Sadly the photos aren't showing it that well. Probably because I took them through a break in the gray cloud cover. Not that the clouds had gone away. Its just that they were brighter. Anyway the color isn't quite right but the socks are great.

While fishing around putting together a package of stitch markers for an order I picked up this stitch marker. Its a perfect match. Luckily I have enough of these markers I can claim this one.