The Revolt of Duncan

Meet Duncan!! He has been with me for 6 years now. I adopted him when he was 5. As life goes on, he has been a fairly good cat. He seem to understand that he was to large for furniture leaping, counter top crawling and lap sitting. Duncan weighs in at about 28 lb these days. He has been on 'catkins' for several years with out much change in his weight. I feed him what the vet recommended in the amounts the vet told me to give. Does this please the 28 lb flying cat? Not always. He wants more. If I fill his bowl in the morning its gone by 9 AM.... so his feeding schedule has been little bits all day long so he doesn't throw up all over the house by one feeding. We have worked this out between us and until about 10 days ago we have done ok.

10 days ago you ask? Well the war began. Duncan decided he would take over the house. It was his domain to control. He leaped to the counter tops... walked around till he came to the breakfast table. (a small drop leaf table that is very old) If he got a fast enough run on the counter top he would leap to the table. Five or so flights like this and the table folded up on him..... crashed down to the floor taking a chair with it. Before the table folded up on him he could then leap to the bar between the kitchen and the dining room.... then on over to the dining room table. I ask WHO of you told him he was supercat? He has no leotards with a big "S" on the chest! I thought I had groomed Duncan quite well. Brushing almost daily. But he tended to leave some ugly stuff all over the counter tops. Kitty litter caught in his paws and I won't describe what else!!

I covered the counter tops with everything I could find that he could not push off to the floor. But no, that wasn't enough. Off goes the butter dish. If I turned my back the 1/2 and 1/2 carton would be leaking out all over the floor. I was sick that my cat was turning into a monster..... sweet little Duncan was no longer the cat I had lived with for 6 years.

Yesterday morning I got up and found he had climbed over everything to get to the coffee pot and it was full of fur and what ever. I had it... I was as mad as hell!! You can do alot to me, but if I can't have coffee as soon as my eye lids open, the day is going down hill fast. I looked this cat in the eyes and told him "the war is on Duncan'. I sprayed him with a spray bottle, he ran to hide. As soon as I cleaned one small section of the counter in order to make coffee he was back. That is when I moved his bowl of water, food and bed to the laundry room. I was mad as hell and wasn't going to take it any more!!

Duncan is now given a spray of water and locked in the laundry room. I now refer to this as Duncan's room. Yes am sad to say we do 'Duncan Time Outs'. The strangest thing happened. Duncan likes his room. Now when he comes out he follows me around for a bit, and goes back to his room. I am not sure I am allowed in to even do laundry. I am determined to win this War!!!! Anyone want to place bets?

Yarn Life:

For my birthday I received 8 skeins of the most beautiful pale blue baby Alpaca from Son and family. He actually went to his LYS.... which is where I go when I am at his house, and picked this yarn out himself..... I was amazed, happy and giddy. I spent hours yesterday pouring over my knitting books, on line, in Ravelry seeking out the perfect pattern. I have narrowed it down to 3 and will do gauge and see what I work out!!! Thank you son, daughter in law, and 4 beautiful grandkids.... you are all the best.

I have no pictures to post as they are all secret things that can't be revealed until after Christmas. I have 2 items to finish. One is 3/4's done and the other just started. Knit Knit Knit.... as fast as I can.

I am going to leave you with a beautiful picture of my favorite mountain, Mt. Shasta. I did not take this one but enjoy this mountain so much I have to share it with you.

Knitting and more Knitting

I have no pictures to post as all my knitting this time of the year is for Christmas. I have the largest knitted item off the needles, waiting to be blocked. The second largest is about half way complete, and hope to have it done by the weekend. I then have 2 small items to complete. Wow, every year the same thing, and I swear I will not over commit myself to holiday knitting again. I want to get back to knitting for myself.

I am dreaming of casting on for the following :

This is a sweater from Knitty.com . A great pattern that Felted and I are doing as a knit along. That is the formal name for it, really its a support system to make a person complete things with in a timely manner. That is what I need most. I have gotten the yarn. Katmandu in the same color way, browns, blacks, that I knitted up one of my Christmas Gifts out of. Great feeling yarn and works up well.

Felted has to order her yarn yet, but there is time. We have 3 weeks of December to finish Christmas items.

I also intend to pick up the Doctor's Bag and finish it. One side of the bag is completed the other cast on. I am so familiar with the pattern now it should knit up faster. I have not bought the lining for this bag yet but there is time during the January sales to do this. It feels good to getting back into the UFO's and think of a sweater sitting here bagged up and waiting for me.

We had a great time at Felted's house last Sunday. "Scones and Skeins". Good food, lots of laughs and a good deal of rows completed on one gift. We talked patterns, things we all dream of knitting and poured over a stack of her knitting books. Its fun to see others books and patterns. Ideas just accumulate on projects.

Today we had 3 of us at the Tuesday knitting meet up. The Swatch Queen, Felted and myself. We need to get our others back into the groove of meeting. We miss CC and Little Cathy, MM and the Head Frog. Today we were actually able to sit outside in the sun and relax in the great weather.

Keep those needles going. Three weeks left!!

In An Attempt........

In an attempt to enter the holiday spirit, when mine is not real high this year, I will be listing my knitting projects. I will be doing this so as to be committed to do all the possible speed knitting I can accomplish between now and Christmas. Have some of you heard me say in the past I won't be doing this anymore? Well I guess I fibbed cuz here I am the weekend before Thanksgiving attempting to do the impossible. (from this you can easily guess what my New Years Resolutions will be once again on Jan 1st.)

1. ________ for Mother. Yarn in stash.
2. ________ for Son. Completed (yippie)
3. ________ for Daughter. (3/4's done)
4. ________ for Granddaughter #1
5. ________ for Granddaughter #2 (yarn purchased)
6. ________ for Grandson #1 (haven't a clue what it will be)
7. ________ for
8. ________ ENOUGH!!!!!

Ok this isn't working. I can add this up already.... I may be praying for out sourcing to compete what I do have planned, and I realize now I have nothing planned for those not getting any knitting. Do you realize why so many people get so depressed at holiday time?? We try to do to much. I will continue this post on News Years Day with a list for next year and what I won't be doing again!!!

May I wish you all a wild shopping adventure next weekend! If you are attempting to go to a mall, be sure to take sleeping bags, food.... it may be a long day.

It Fits!!!

I just received a photo of my daughter in law, modeling The Bump Sweater!! Am very happy to say it fits and she loves it. I am so pleased, as she lives 3000 miles away and I had no idea as I was making it if the fit would be ok.

They also unwrapped all the baby knitting that I completed over the summer and early fall. We know that they will fit as the baby grows.

Tonight is 'Chicks with Sticks' night and I will be working on my second Christmas Gift. Can't say what it is here in case someone stops to read this. But its family.

I have so many plans for knitting this winter and they are, for the most part, from my stash. This is good news for me. I love looking around and making a plan and being able to reach out and have the yarn on hand.

I spend last weekend organizing my needles. They are all in needle cases and labeled with sizes. I still dream of getting the Option Needle set from Knit Picks. But its always a good thing to dream of something.

How Time Flys By

How time flys I didn't realize how many weeks it has been since I last posted. Life throws us lots of lemons at times, and not being a great cook, I forgot how to make lemonade.

On to the knitting front at my house. I cast on last night Monkey Socks. Now I did this so I would have something simple to knit on when meeting up with other knitters. I find I am not able to knit in pattern..... WHAT was I thinking?? These will be done at home also, and for a change I am doing 2 socks at once so I don't catch that dreaded 'second sock syndrome' illness. I just have the worst time with a second sock. I want to move on to something new and exciting. well this way I am planning on doing section by section and both socks at once. This is a Colinette Jitterbug yarn. SOOO nice to knit with.

I have completed son's Christmas present. A nice scarf made of Kathmandu Aran yarn in browns,tan, gray and black tweedy yarn. I did it in a herringbone pattern. The texture shows up so nice and I am very happy with this. Finished this Sunday nite and it will be blocked this afternoon. Picture will follow after blocking.

Flair for daughter is cast on. I picked a brown yarn for her also as it seems to be her favorite color. This yarn is Paton's with some orange and yellow flecks in it. My Flair sweater has been set aside till I complete 3 Christmas gifts. I am attempting to avoid last minute panic..... or as I did one year, "out sourcing' my knitting to make the deadline.

My package of baby items including a 'Bump Sweater' for daughter in law was shipped last Monday and due to arrive today in DC. I wish I could see their faces when they open the package. I managed to get 3 sweaters, 3 hats, 3 pairs of socks, along with a few items I bought for the soon to be newest member of the family.

Finally... what you see to the left is myself and Franklin Habit from The Panopticon Blog. The Camellia City Stockinettes, contacted Franklin and invited him to Sacramento to photograph knitters in this area for his book "1000 Knitters". Not only am I please to possibly be part of this book, I was delighted to meet the nicest man who I felt I knew very well from 2 years of reading his blog. This yarn world is strange. When you know someone knits, and you follow their fiber lives on a blog, you have an immediate comfort when you meet. Franklin you were just great. I am only sorry Dolores had a touch of illness,(Franklin mentioned her and something about the bar at the hotel the night before), hope the flight home made things better for her. Next time Dolores!!

Put it in Writing, does it really happen?

The Bump Sweater is almost complete. About 4 inches left on sleeves then sewing up and dealing with all the little ends.

That will end my finishites for the time being. All other projects will be put on hold...... see the picture here. It shows holidays coming at us in warp speed. That means I am selecting which small projects I will be knitting and who they will be for, has to be decided this weekend. I think I have already selected the 3 small items I will be knitting....... and 1 large one. The large one will involve me putting aside my Flair and Doctor Bag. I will add them back to the line up around my knitting chair. Soon I will be unable to leave the chair and someone will have to pipe in some food to me. I will stumble and fall and break a leg trying to escape the chair.

One project is in the new Holiday Knits, Interweave Mags. It is a small teddy bear for youngest granddaughter. The other a scarf for son.. something in heather tones.. I have it visualized in my mind. Then the large one is for daughter dearest. I think I shall be doing the Flair for her.. I like top down knitting and she likes things in brown tones. Yarn is already sitting here waiting to be made into something.. perfect!!!.... I refuse to have to out source my hobby like I did 2 years ago when my holiday knitting was out of control. How many of you out there in blog land over commit yourself to holiday knitting? How many of you have wrapped up yarn and a picture of what you intended to knit? By putting this in writing to you all I am committed to start early and finish what I have stated., I can do this! I can do this! I can do this.....Its in writing now.. will that really make it happen?

I challenged my Weds night knit group to add up all their sock yarn..... how many pairs of socks do they have still unknitted...... Confession time next week girls.. don't forget it! I will be rounding up all my stray sock yarn this weekend and pictures will be taken. Be interesting to see who ...........

Things that go bump in the night

Remember this? The bump sweater! Well I got a case of finishitis and drug it out to finish it up. Its always a good thing to finish up a project before the expectant mother delivers the baby. This is for my daughter in law. Two things sort of hit me while making the first half of the sweater. One DIL is very tiny and am not sure even making the small version is small enough for her. Second: Making short rows make me nervous. But am back on track and almost have the front finished and will cast on for sleeves by tonight I hope.

I intend to drag out every thing that is setting on needles and line them up around my chair where most knitting is accomplished. I think the chances of me either tripping over them or frogging them will clear up this issue. I am focused on completion now.

The few small items that I have planned for Christmas will also find themselves in the line up for completion.

The new rule here!!! Keep those needles moving.

Friends and one more done!!

We had a great knitting group this afternoon. The Gauge Queen, Felted, Little C, MM and the Head Frog., oh yeah and myself. We haven't all managed to get together for some time for a Tuesday Knit Group. It was nice to see so many of us together again. And of course, see what everyone is working on. We managed a lot of catch up.

My knitting news consists of finishing the EZ Baby Surprise Sweater. Yes, another one done for the soon to be new addition in our family. I love the buttons they are little mittens. And what does a Grandmother knit if there is left over yarn? Another hat of course! This baby will be warm living in cold Washington D.C. Next project is the last hat to go along with the other sweater I knitted earlier this summer. THEN I AM DONE WITH BABY KNITS!!!

Time to move on to other projects I have on needles. I am anxious to finish up my Doctors Bag and my Flair sweater. Then I have a few small things I would love to get done before the holidays. I said I wasn't going to knit for family this year. But I can't resist a few things. And 4 other Grand kids in D.C. think they need hats now. I have received my orders, without even asking for them. Its going to be a busy winter with needles.

Where have I been for a week you ask? No where, but knitting lots. Hot on the needles is Flair. This is a pattern from Wendy @ Knit and Tonic. This is an easy knit top down cute little jacket. Am ready to put sleeves on waste yarn and start on body. Knitting this out of stash.... Araucania Nature Wool Chunky. Colorway teal. Mindless knitting is just what I need lately. My mind wanders to far from home to take on detail patterns. This is so fast and easy I do have another one in mind for a Christmas present. Wendy writes a nice easy to read pattern, and has a few she has written on her blog. My next show and tell for the last day of Sept. is this Cascade 128. Its in a dark gray colorway that is being discontinued by Cascade. I love knitting with this yarn works up easy and fast and feels like a dream. Not sure what sweater this will be yet but couldn't pass up the great price at my LYS. Its alway nice to find enough for a sweater on a sale table.
The last two items for new baby. Hat to match the already posted sweater. I seem to have not realized I had another skein of this yarn as it yelled at me from my shelf.... HAT HAT HAT..... so that is an evenings knitting this week. The box of goodies to go back east to the new baby is just about complete. The sock pic is the last little tiny pair of socks to get knitted for him. Again this is a fast one evening knit.

The final picture of the day is my real find of the week. The neighborhoods semi annual yard sale was Friday and Saturday. I work in the mornings and thought it a relief I would not be shopping at the sales. As I returned home at noon I figured it would be safe to make a couple stops at houses. Well first stop and with in 3 mins I had bought 2 trunks for $10.00. One very old covered in canvas with some of the leather straps missing. But otherwise in great shape. The second is a metal small newer trunk. Both are good for Yarn stash storage. As I made 2 fast trips around the neighborhood bringing home the trunks I made a terrible find..... the above 2 wicker chairs. These are vintage I would say. Some glue, to refasten the wicker and lots of white paint will be required. I took them out of the garage this morning and sprayed them down good with some bug stuff. I know wicker can carry bugs around. I will not be finishing these up till I get the roof on the back deck. Then they will be there along with a small white table that also needs painting.... working and putting this house back together seems to never end.

I had a great dinner last night with my 2 grandkids and son in law. I always love my time with them. Then Shelby turned 13 today. She lives on the east coast and also lives for soccer. She ordered a hat for her birthday. Now to find out what style and what color and of course it won't get delivered today. Happy Birthday my soccer playing granddaughter.

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round n' Round

The wheels on the bus go round 'n round. Gee, thanx Cher, I am glad to be done with this sweater so I can quit singing the song. It is a top down pattern of Ann Norlings, and I do love doing the top downs. Easy knitting.

I have yarn in my stash for 2 nice cotton t shirt type top down sweaters for myself. They will go great with jeans for work this winter. Very easy knitting.

Next photo is of the newborn hat and socks. I am sending these with a note that the baby better wear them home from hospital, cuz they won't fit much longer than that time line.

The bottom photo is of EZ Baby Surprise. I am doing it with my Friday Nite Knitters in a small KAL....I will be back knitting on it tonight.

I also want to start the Flair sweater from Knit and Tonic's blog site. I have some Paton's shetland Chunky Tweeds, in a charcoal colorway. The weather has changed here and some mornings a sweater is needed. The weather has changed enough that its time to dig out all the larger items I had started and do some serious finishing. My list of to do can wait.

Car Cover anyone?

Not a lot of knitting this week. Seems I have been side tracked with painting, deep cleaning of closets and kitchens. I do miss my knitting and am just sure this car vest will look lovely on my VW bug when I get around to it. I probably have the required yarn around the house here and won't have to buy much more. The buttons may be a problem, finding them the right size.

I did manage to bind off on the top down cardigan for baby. I now refer to this as the wheels on the bus go round and round, as this is the sweater with the cute little bus buttons. Someone mentioned reading that and the song has been floating around in my empty head for a week now.

I have also cast on for an EZ baby surprise sweater. The whole pattern looks confusing to me and I think I may of made 3 attempts at starting this and ended up frogging them all. This time I am in a small KAL with the Friday Nighttime Needlers group.

Since the extreme temps have dropped here I am wanting to finish up all baby knitting and move on to some things for my self, sitting on the shelf here starting at me. I so far only have one reasonable size project in mind for Christmas knitting. But first all baby items finished and in the mail. Then back to our regular schedule knitting.

Please Remember

Tomorrow is the 6th year since 9/11. Please do not forget to fly a flag and remember all those serving in the Middle East and other nations. We have been safe from attacks for the last 6 years due to the military and others protecting us.

On the knitting front, I have finished another small hat and socks set for the new baby. They are so cute and miniature looking I don't want to even send them off. I just want to look at them and how tiny they are. On the needles now is a top down cardigan for a 9-12 month old. I am knitting this in a dark blue with the cutest little school bus buttons. I am trying to plan for a early spring baby, so he will have something to wear the following winter. This is the new Cotton Ease yarn, which is great and easy to knit with.

The pattern for the top down sweater is an Ann Norling. I have done 2 small top downs, this one and another that was a Pure and Simple pattern. I have to say I think both patterns are great. The Ann Norling for the multi gauge sizes the pattern gives you to seek out different yarns. The Pure and Simple patterns are much easier knitting and I think I will be sticking with them in the future. I have a couple of the Pure and Simple sweater patterns for myself. Great easy knitting.

Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti left the world with more fans than Opera ever had before. I was lucky enough to see him perform in 1996 at UNR in Reno. Was an amazing voice.

Hot! Heat! and Socks

My only completed knitting in over a week. Blue for a baby boy. This was a fun knit for a couple days. Just a basic little hat and some small socks to match. Mindless knitting in the heat.

During the heat wave I was scheduled to have windows replaced in the kitchen. On the day the largest window was removed we hit a high of 106 degrees. Yeah!! I did alot of wandering around the house...... mumbling, moaning, and am sure whining out loud. So knitting was not getting done at this house. I did catch up on some blog reading and want to send out congrats to Cara who is has announced this morning she is to have a new little one. Her excitement for knitting spreads over all who read her blog. I hope she finds the same excitement in knitting for a little one.

Windows are in, the finish work needs to be done and I am back on track with knitting small items. Nothing for me, as those are big projects are on hold till the heat wave passes. I do tend to be moved by Brooklyntweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket . This man has so much talent its impressive to follow his knitting. Jared has also had his first pattern published in the Fall Interweave Knits.

Leaving you with the next small hat and there is enough yarn for small socks to match. Like I said at the start.... Nice Mindless Knitting at what I hope is near the end of the heat of summer.

Results are in !!

Results are in and I am not good at remembering to take pictures! I can't hardly even remember to take photo's of completed knitting projects.... so on that unhappy note I only have words to discrib our Thursday Road Trip.

Felted, SSChar and myself made the trip up Hwy 49 first going to Nevada City. It was fun to see Meadow Farms Yarn Shop again, even if they had moved. I don't know that they have as much space as they did before. Maybe a little more space for the back room. I did violate the look only, no buy rule I had set for myself. I got some sock yarn for a baby boy. 1 small skein of Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace Yarns. Colorway is shades of blue for a boy. Have not knitted with this before so will be a test drive for me. I also bought Knitting Pure & Simple Neckdown Wrap Cardigan pattern. This one is fairly new and I am so addicted to top down knitting. This will be my third sweater knitted top down.

Next stop was Ben Franklin. They still carry a good supply of yarn. Lots of Lions Brand, and of course the standard Red Heart. They also carry Berroco but mostly in the ribbon type. I am not much into ribbon yarn knitting. We did find the little leg posts for our Doctors Bags. Before we had to order them on line.

After lunch we moved on to Fibers in Grass Valley. This shop has also moved since I was last up in Nevada County. It now is on Mill Street and about the same size as before. Felted was on a search for the Mano's yarn for her Doctor Bag. She found her color but not enough for the bag. I again bought a pattern from Berroco for Yin & Yang, a little sweater that is asymmetrical. Very cute.

We also made a stop at Auburn Needleworks. This shop now has a new owner and a change over in yarns is being done. Lots of Cascade, some Mano's and small lots of kinds. Nothing purchased.

Was a fun trip as we always have plenty of laughs to go around. The heat was not enjoyable for me, as it never is. I think the hardest part was not getting homesick seeing Nevada County again. I know I miss living there still.

FO's include a Premmie Hat for a baby shower today. Fast knit and easy in the heat when you don't want to hold 5 lbs of wool on your lap. I also knitted a small pair of baby socks out of some left over sock yarn. I have cast on a small hat in Rowan's Cotton, color blue !! I will be tired of my favorite color after knitting for the new one. I need to get back to my Doctors Bag knitting. One side is completed and have cast on for the other side. Its wool and hot. I am ready for fall, or at least some kind of cool down.

Pictures on next post, as I also need to do some photo's for the Ravelry site. I spend more time there than I should...... whoa is me !!! So much info so little time.... when your yarn stash is threatening to fall over on you.

Yarn Crawl

Tomorrow I am going to Grass Valley and Nevada City to visit both yarn shops there. Both have moved to larger locations since I last visited them. Meadow Farms Yarns is in Nevada City and was my LYS for a couple years and it will be great to see Ellen and Eileen again. Fibers is in Grass Valley and I had only visited it once but will look forward to seeing their new location. The other place for good yarn is Ben Franklin. Before I moved from Nevada County this store had expanded into some great yarns and patterns.

The trip is being taken with Felted and SSChar.... which will involve a lot of laughing.

Being I am still recovering from bailing the car outta Auto Jail. I will be going as an observer.

Update on how much Felted and SSChar spend on Friday !!!!!

Not One Stitch Knitted !!

Not one stitch was knitted on this trip to Mom's. I have been spoiled by son and daughter driving and me in the passenger seat knitting the miles away. I didn't take the usual token photo of Mt. Shasta this time as I had a shock when I got to Shasta Lake. See the water level? In all my life I have never seen Shasta Lake this low. About the middle of the below photo you can see a boat loading road that ends at least 30 feet from the water line. Does that mean these boats are there till the rains start again? I am guessing so. When I pulled into Bridge Bay Resort to actually see the water levels I was stunned. First off there was actual parking there. Hardly anyone was there. The low water level has destroyed the tourist industry. I went by this lake the end of June and the difference between then and now just amazes me. The widest part of Shasta Lake now looks like a river. There are a few boats on but there are signs that they can not go over certain speed limits. Water skiers have run out of places to safely water ski.
The above photo is the Pit River Bridge. After the bridge collapse in Minn. several weeks ago I developed a fear of crossing the bridge. But then when I arrived I was just spell bound looking at the lake. Standing down closer to the water and looking up at the bridge did nothing to stop my fear of the bridge falling down. First of all I didn't realize that trains were crossing on the same bridge right under the deck for auto's. Yikes !!!! Maybe I shouldn't of looked at this bridge from this angle.

Back to knitting. Still working on the doctor's bag, which I finally got a part of a picture posted on my Ravelry profile. I do love that Ravelry site but it sure can eat up computer time when you are surfing around on it. I have several WIP, that I am promising all you readers, that are on my completion list. If I promise here is that like taking a oath and do I hold up 2 fingers like I did in Brownie Scouts? If so I am so committed. The Motto for Knitting Scouts should be 'KNIT ON'. (so glad there is no uniform involved) Thank you one and all for holding my feet to the flame on these items.

Off to catch up on laundry and figure out where I am with the sticks and string.

Knitting Continued, Car out of Jail

Remember this little sweater I started back in June? Sure you do, cuz I am just sure you retain every exciting, thrilling word I write on this blog!! Well I can now tell you I am ready to complete the front of this sweater as I know which sides to put the button holes on. I will be putting them on the........ (should I really tell em?) Ok...... we are going to have a little boy. Exciting, that will give me 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. I will be glad to do the 2 fronts then sew this together. I have yarn for some small hats and some baby socks. That should finish up small people knitting for the summer.

I am also working on the Doctors Bag and loving the yarn and the texture. My Henley sweater is comfortable, but will wear more of it this fall. I forgot to tell you I found some sweet little buttons in my grandmothers button box. They look great on there and I love using old items. Still no pictures of it as I can't seem to remember to buy batteries for the camera.

The last bit of news is...... see the photo above.... yes! I am back on the highway to Mom's tomorrow. I always show you Mt. Shasta because that is my destination and I start watching for it about 150 from there. In clear weather you can see it first from Corning, California. Will be a short trip this time, just long enough to take care of Mother's business. See ya next week. Maybe have pictures even.

I am happy to report the car is out of jail, and almost off probation. The drive north will tell me how it goes.

No Picture Post, Stash and Cars

This is going to be Stash Knitting month for me. Not that I don't have it to knit, cuz I do. I completed the top down Henley with yarn that I got free from a Yarn Frenzy we had last fall, I have also made a Constant Companion from the same stash. I am currently working on the Doctor's Bag, which I posted a picture of last month or so. I have one side completed. Am making this from Malabrigo, Black Forest colorway, 2 strands of yarn held together. This is not going to take long to finish. Why you ask????

The reason is, along with the stash knitting faze, my car is in car jail. Knitting time really adds up when you can't leave home. Some small red light came on Friday, and I was a half block from home. I hurried into the garage and got the auto manual out. Now reading these manuals are not as easy for me to wade through as a good knitting pattern is. But I did find that the reason the light was on as I needed coolant added. Well that sounds simple does it not? hmmmmm I got up Sat morning called my regular garage and they said come over right now and we will check the coolant levels. $1,400.00 later I will be bailing the car out of their custody. Seems the water pump went out, which leads to new belts, which leads to brake pads being replaced which leads to a general service I knew was due.... which leads to................ on and on and on!!!!!!

So the moral here is to HUG your car today. Give it lots of respect and love. Cuz if you ignore it matters only get worse. I have always been one to stay on top of needed service for the car, baby it with new tires and such. But I have to wake up to realize the little blue bug is 10 yrs old this year and in car years...... thats really old!!!!

The reason no pictures you ask? Need new batteries for camera !!! It just never ends.

Finally!!!!

Finally I got my invite to Ravelry !!!!! What an awesome site. Am still learning my way around and continue to find new things. I have started listing my needles and realize how many I do have. If you havn't signed up yet there is a long waiting list, but it is worth the wait. I have linked the site that gives you an overview. Go check it out.

Under the Influence

How's that for a title. It was sale week for one yarn shop. I restrained myself and bought yarn for one sweater. Like I don't have 2 others here to knit already, and some yarn stash that is, in my mind, planned for a couple sweaters. Felted, SS Char and myself had a grand time digging through the yarn bins, planning and then off to Starbucks to actually do some knitting. Now we have to come home and face a few dozen yards of more yarn. I am currently looking for a speed knitting class out there in the yarn world. Anyone know of one?

But I felt better after I saw the lady with all the Koigu yarn stacked by color out on the floor. Now Koigu was not on sale, but this young lady is from Ohio and unable to locate Koigu yarn in any of her yarn shops locally. I was a little taken back on a busy shopping day, first day of yarn sale, to see all this yarn stacked and laying out on the floor. I felt like Paul Harvey, I had to know the REST of the story, so yesterday I went back out to this yarn shop and my first question was........ what happened to the Koigu Lady? Well it turns out it was a great sale for the shop. The lady bought 50 skeins of this yarn which is 175 yds for about 13.95 a skein. Now that is a purchase!!!!! I felt much better knowing I had bought far less. The arrangements for this yarn are to be shipped to her home.... arriving a day her husband is at work, I am betting.

I am close to finishing the Henley Sweater. The top down from Knitting Pure and Simple. I am still very happy with the ease of knitting this sweater is. Which since I was on muscle relaxers and pain meds for about a week, was a good thing. So the point here is, Knitting under the influence can be done with right pattern and yarn. I am finishing the second sleeve, and neck band today. The sweater has been tried on so I could measure to make the sleeve 3/4 length. I have plenty of yarn and will like that length better. I love the fit. I am ready to start something else and am waiting for Felted to finish her shawl so we can cast on for the doctors bag. That will be a good portable travel project for next week even if it is wool.

Time to pick up sticks, stitches are waiting to be made.

Nottin' of Importance

Strange week. Doctor said take it easy and so I did. I was working on Pure and Simple top down Henley pattern with some Paton's Cotton Top yarn (that I got free at the yarn frenzy last fall). I was knitting the body part in the round and it was great mindless, pain medicated knitting.

Friday Nite Needlers are talking of doing the EZ Surprise Baby Sweater as a knit along. The Guru will be leading us in this and gives everyone a chance to use up scraps of yarn. For others it will be the first sweater of any kind. This has minimal finishing so a great place to start learning to advance past scarves and blankets. A couple of our people only seem to crochet so we are encouraging them to take on the Larger Than Life Crocheted Bag. Have found a CAL on line that they can refer to and see if they can find the pattern.

Last Tues 4 of us got together and went to see one LYS, Babbetta's, new store. She had moved over the 4th weekend to a bigger place in the same complex. The lighting is better and it appears the amount of yarn has grown or maybe its just easier to see. Since they have no drop in knitting place we went over to the coffee shop and knitted for couple hours. I miss knitting in the store.... so many times you sit there with others and see things you want to try and wander store and end up shopping instead of knitting. Seems to be a good way for shop to make more money but this appears to not be of concern here. And on the other hand........a desperate knitter doesn't spend more money!! The positive side.

Am waiting to hear from Felted regarding Lambstown gathering from yesterday. I couldn't handle the car ride or heat to go... She will most likely come home with great yarn and make me feel worse for missing it !!!!!!! again a money savings for me.

I promise to get up to speed soon. Maybe even picture of FO.

knitting

Knitting around and around and around and around. Am dizzy !!!!!

Knitting Friends

A while back I wrote about childhood friends. Another group of people have entered my life. Knitting Friends. I have to say since moving down to Roseville from Nevada City, I have joined a rather large and interesting group of Knitters. The first friend here, I met through a Forum called Knitters Review. She later went on to own the LYS and had to close do to family demands. I still think of her as the Head Frog. At her shop I met other knitters, some knitting for years, some beginners. I think I was in the middle range of knitters. We 'ran' into each other every Tues afternoon. Would knit and laugh together for hours. Days moved into weeks and then into months and as you went in and out of the LYS, you met others. By the time the Frog Pond closed its doors there was a good size group of knitters tied together by a common thread........ Yarn. Nothing more just yarn. We come in all ages, sizes, shapes, from assorted backgrounds. Some we learn first names and never last names. A few of us struggle to keep knitting groups going. Sometimes it succeeds, other times it flounders. We just have not found our little circle of chairs and sofa that we had at the Frog Pond, with the right light, within a comfortable to all driving distance.

On Friday nights, we have the neighborhood knitters, or as they are formly known as the Nighttime Needlers. Again all ages. We share yarn. A few do a great deal of charity knitting. Some use that single hook and crochet. I go all week and maybe see one other of these ladies, but on Friday nights there we are. The Knitting Guru keeps us all on track and fixes our boo boos. We just celebrated one of these beautiful ladies 90th Birthday. At her party we had almost 2 tables of her knitting friends. Made her happy to see us. Her family were so wonderful to us, and we were told how much we are a part of their Mothers life. Feels good to have that kind of needlers for friends.

Today a few of the former Frog Pond Knitters met up. Another LYS has the table, chairs, and today they had the right combo of people laughing and knitting together. We had 4 of us from the old Tuesday group. Two new ladies who work at this LYS. And doing a drop in Guest Appearance was Lou. Lou is the king of lace knitting. An amazing man with small needles and 1000's of yards of tiny lace weight yarn. He pulls up a chair and fits right in with us. We had lunch, back to the shop for a few more rows of knitting and sharing this new bond, again Yarn. We will continue to search for the right group of friends, the right location, winter months approaching and all will be right again in the with a circle of knitting friends.

P.S. Knitting Guru, Lou said to tell you hello

Back on Track

Back on track with the bump sweater. Took a while but have gotten the one edging done and ready to start the short rows. This time in the right place at the bottom of sweater and not at the neck line. This is my project of the week. The sleeves will go very fast as they are knitted from seam around. I do think I need to shorten them. I have to remember how small the Mom to Be is.

The rest of the knitting sits here and stares back at me. So many thing I want to make. I do have some stash cotton yarn I got in the yarn frenzy at the knitting guru's house last fall. I am eyeing it on the shelf for a top down Henley Sweater for myself. A free sweater. I do have some other yarn from that day that I need to sort through and lay out some plans for.

The heavy yard work is finally a thing of the past, now its maintain. The huge thorny shrubs out back are way down and cleared up underneath. Walking along the house in the back is not long a tortured trek. For that am glad. We woke to clouds today and a sprinkling of rain. Its only about 85 degrees today. It makes me long for fall and hope we don't go back into the 100 plus weather that makes you want to hide under the bed with little or nothing on to maintain your sanity. I guess I will never get use to the heat again. I am also busy working with the contractor to replace 4 more windows before winter. One is extremely large and is a whole wall from counter to ceiling, in the kitchen. I am loving home more and more with each project completion. I still have painting I need to do in places but it will happen when the mood so moves me.

I am back to giving grandson a ride home from work each day at noon. I can't tell you how sweet that 20 minute commute is with him. Little short chat that makes me feel like I am apart of his life. The best kid ever. The grands on the east coast are going to summer camps. I hope I see them again before the end of the year. They have grown up so fast on me.

Mtns, Babies and old Friends

As promised, a picture of Mt. Shasta taken last week. There is little snow left on the mtn and the summer climbers have started to scale the 14,162 ft mtn. My brother has climbed Mt. Shasta several times, and friends from work have also climbed both in summer and in winter months. Through out my life I have heard many stories of the climbs and of the folk lore surrounding this beautiful peak. I am happy just driving to it and looking at its beauty.

I have finished my first top down sweater and made it in mini style. This is for new grandchild and I am looking at doing a couple adult versions. What a relief to not have to seam one part of this sweater. When it comes off the needles you have a few ends to weave in and its over. I used Plymouth Yarn, Encore Colorspun. For a baby its perfect, 75% acrylic/25% wool. I hand washed it in some dish detergent and blocked it last nite. It was dry by noon today and feels so soft and sweet. Again I have no idea if we are having a boy or girl but think this sweater would look great on either.

The small bootie shoes above were a fast to knit up once I had my favorite knitting guru go through the instructions with me. I was having trouble translating the pattern through my brain to my fingers. (also known as operator error) These were made on size 10 double point needles. I may try another pair on smaller needles.

I have frogged and re casted on for the front of the bump sweater. I want to finish this up so I can start a top down summer sweater for myself. By the time I finish it, I will wish it had long sleeves!!

Last nite a few retiree's from the Sheriff's Office had dinner at one of my favorite places outside Nevada City. I didn't hear about it till 3 PM yesterday and the almost 100 mile round trip was just a little much for me to do alone at nite. I hope they do something again soon on a nice fall afternoon. I do have to make a journey up there soon. I miss Nevada City so much and know I will be pulled back into a beautiful place I spent almost 28 years of my life in. There are lots of friends left up there. Plus a storage place holding things I need to deal with. On the bright side there are 3 great yarn shops up there.

Re entry to my life

Check this knitting out. Izzy is knitting on the set of Grey's Anatomy. I knew she was one of my favorites for a good reason. Now if we could get her to visit Sacramento and a knit group here. I wonder what she is making?

I have returned from trip to Mom's. Was nice there as house finally has A/C after all these years. Son divided up the time with me in taking care of mother and cooking meals. AND........ I got to sneak off one morning to Ashland, Oregon, for a visit to Websters. First class shop. Plus what ever it is you buy there has no sales tax added. Sort of like getting an extra skein of yarn free. I got one more of my Rowan Books to add to my collection. They are all $20.00's there with, again, no tax. Got to love shopping in Oregon.

Time at Mom's goes fast with taking care of her and the house. I forget how use I am to being alone and doing nothing more but dust a kitchen. We did get Mom down to get her hair done and had lunch out. Son took her to lunch one day, while I made my fast trip over the hill to Ashland. One day we packed a picnic lunch and took Mother down by the Klamath River for a picnic. Made her happy to be by the water.

Knitting consisted of making one small pair of baby socks, Casting on for a EZ Surprise Baby Sweater, not sure I won't be frogging that though. I also frogged the front of the Bump Sweater. Was having trouble getting the short rows going the right direction. Coming home Friday was so hot (106 degrees) that I just couldn't handle yarn while sitting for 5 hours in the car.... wasted time that could of accomplished so much. I also think I was worn out. I slept most of Sat after I got up at 3:30 am to take son and granddaughter to airport. Tomorrow is back to norm and Tuesday back to work. I did take a photo of Mt. Shasta with out much snow on it. But have not downloaded yet. Maybe next post.

Can ya hear Willie Nelson singin.....On the Road Again

Can ya hear me singing? On the Road Again..... or better yet just listen to Willie Nelson singing it. Easier on the ears. I am picking up son at noon at airport, along with grand daughter and we are driving north to see Mt. Shasta and take care of Mother for a week. The knitting is packed, the clothes almost packed. I am dreading the heat of the valley and if my air conditioner in car will hold up. I can survive around here without AC but a long road trip is another story. It is to be 106 upon our return next Friday.
I am sending you fireworks early as I won't be posting from Mom's. I havn't moved that side of my family into the techno stage of life. My brother does not know how to make a cell phone work, and the computer sitting in the basement came over on the Mayflower. Happy Birthday America, and Happy Birthday tomorrow Roo.

Bump Sweater (close your eyes Kim)

Knitting along on the 'Bump Sweater' from Natural Knits for Babies and Mom's. This is a Lousia Harding book with great simple but cute clothing for both Mom and Baby. I have also done the Kimono Baby wrap in some teal colored yarn that will be easy to launder and is a contemporary color. Most yarns I have purchased for the new one will go either on a boy or girl. But it will be fun to find out. As to the Mom's sweater, it is an easy knit also done in neutral color to go. I will finish the back this afternoon and cast on for the front. The front part is short rows to give the 'bump' look. Sides are laced up to give some room to adjust as the tummy grows. I have not seen to many patterns for Maternity clothing. This seems to be a wide open area for new designers to look at. Hint Hint. I realize its a short term wear for some but every woman needs to feel good and look her best.

I hope to finish front of sweater on trip north to Mothers on Sat. Thats a good 5 hours of non stop knitting. The sleeves are knitted side to side as is the top.

I didn't make it to knitting group today as I was to have the kids but that didn't work out. I will make it to Teaz tomorrow night for the Chicks with Sticks Meet up. Then Thursday is road trip day with Felted and SSChar. We are going to take in the 2 Elk Grove Yarn Shops and one in West Sacramento. Two of the 3 shops I have not been to. This is not a sit and knit day this is a see and wish day for yarns. I am looking for buttons for my next sweater. I just about know what I want and guess I should take the yarn with me to make sure. I also have my cable sweater to finish this fall and it will need 4 large buttons.

I am soooooo sure I am going to finish this 'Bump' sweater in next 8 days that I have packed up my Doctors Bag yarn and pattern. I would love to have that cast on by time we return.

I am lucky this trip that Jeff will be with me to help on a couple fronts. One Mother and her business that he can do. The other to give a slight break from time to time. I hope to sneak over to Ashland for a quick run through Websters. I love buying there as there is no tax in the state of Oregon. I should remember to make a list of needles and items I can purchase.

The below cartoon sort of expresses how I feel some days. Getting ready for subdivision inspection is driving me nuts. I just think I have the place ready and the wind blows leaves down, the shrubs decide to grow more for re pruning. Never ending!!!!!! How dare they. Ok, Kim you can open your eyes now.

So much yarn so little time

Am still knitting stuff for the small one and have a sweater on the needles for daughter in law. But I am dreaming of knitting the above bag from Tracy Ullman's book Knit 2 Together. Its called the Doctors Bag. I also had scored enough Malabrigo Yarn in the above color way to do it in. I think this was purchased for a sweater but turns out to be perfect for this bag. Piled on top of yarn is handles that I had bought at Knitterly's in Petaluma. You know a girl can never have enough bags. Also Bags always fit no matter what you eat or don't eat. Another plus for bags. On an emergency road trip last Friday, to a yarn sale in Elk Grove at Knitique. I bought a Namaste bag. Very nice and a great color. I have so many ideas to knit the rest of my life would be needles in hand.

In 2 weeks I will be going on another road trip north to Mothers. As it stands at this time, son will be flying out and driving me up and back. And that means 10 hours of free knitting time. That will get me some serious stitchin done. Plus the time at Mom's when we are just sitting around.

Today was a great day. Grandson is back working with us 3 days a week. It means Grammie gets to take him home at noon and we have commute time together. Next week is birthday shopping day and a trip to the theater with Granddaughter to see Nancy Drew. She is reading the books now I read as a child. My has Nancy grown up. She nows drives a fancier car, has a cell phone and uses a computer. So unlike the Nancy I remembered that just relied on Ned and Bes to help her solve the best mysteries. I am so proud of this Granddaughter. At 8 years old she and 2 of her friends had their long long hair cut off to donate for wigs for cancer patients. Pretty good for a small group of small girls. Granddaughter on east coast is playing soccer like a champ. You go girls.... love it!!! Sad to say only one of the two knits though.

Born Friends

In previous posts I have told you about growing up in Northern California. I actually moved to Yreka when I was three years old and had a built in group of friends all waiting. We were born friends. Most of our mothers were friends before our birth and it was a natural in a small town that we would all become friends. What a person doesn't know at that age, and if you don't ever move away, these are the faces and people you will spend the first 18 years of your life with, and what an amazing experience.


You also don't realize till later in life how important these people are to you. Above is the photo of most of us in Mrs. Newton's Kindergarten Class. I was lucky. This is a group of small people who you really want for lifetime friends. Kindergarten was amazing, once I stopped crying that is. I was scared. I started when I was 4 1/2, having never been to what is now commonly called pre-school. We had stay at home Mom's. This fantastic group had been play mates and birthday party friends. Now I was in a strange place with a stranger in charge. It was flat out scary. My first memory of school was half way through the year and the day Mrs. Newton announced to the class "Isn't it nice that Janice doesn't cry anymore." I had been crying non stop for months. That teacher deserved a metal. My first boyfriend was Jim B. I saw Jim B. last week and all these years later we look at each other and laugh over this time. He arriving at my front door for Valentines Day with the biggest heart shaped box of chocolates a girl could ever wish for. While his mother and my mother smiled at each other over the tops of our heads. In the second grade we had Miss. Lilly. I have heard Jim tell the story of the day he kissed me on the cheek during the Pledge of Allegiance, and Miss Lilly picked up the yard stick and cracked him over the head, never missing a word. Most of us girls joined brownies about the 3rd grade. I still have pictures of us in our little uniforms. Some of the school pictures through out the years show us still in scouting. My new friend from Dunsmuir was Fran. She moved to Yreka when we were 8. Her mother along with mine became our scout leaders. There were others but I can't remember them all.
I remember play times with Susan T., Nana W. Danny B. They were not called play dates, they were just playing outside after school. The other activity I did was take tap dance lessons. My father alway referred to me as 'half step' cuz I was a half step behind the rest during dance recitals. We went to day camp in the summer, swimming lessons at the pool run by Sheryl's mother. Every day at 3 pm the pool would be cleared for us to get out and lay on our towels to prevent us from getting polio. It was a frightening time for this illness.

Other kids joined our class during all of grammer school. They moved from smaller towns into the 'city' of Yreka and stayed to finish our the school years. Alas, I lost Jim as my boy friend around the 4th Grade when the girl I was most afraid of took him away. We laugh so much about this today.

Mother has told me so many times when I was in the 5th Grade Mrs. Lange would call her saying she didn't know what to do with me. Mother said if she heard Mrs. Lange say one more time ' Janice just doodles the day away' she was going to move me to another class. I think a few other mothers heard the same story. We went on to finish grammer school and graduate to Yreka High School. My father had attended school here and the building was still standing. (amazing, huh Dad ?) My new locker buddy was a friend from Grenada who had come into the 'city ' to high school. Evie and I remained locker buddies for the entire high school years, I beleive. She joined our group of life long friends.

The social life went into full swing in high school. How could anyone be expected to study when there were football games, basketball games, drill team, and so much to do. We would go to the old gym at noon and pour change into the juke box and dance. Life was good!! The afternoons that we raced to Sondra's house to watch and dance to American Bandstand after school. There were White and Gold's Year Books and getting as many to sign your book as possible. Not only do I have mine I have my Dad's White and Golds. Mine still sit here in the studio on a shelf, and every so often someone mentions a name I have to look up.

After graduation, most went off to college and a few of us choose to get married and have children. I choose the last. All in all we are a lucky bunch of people. We have all attended the reunions, and somewhere along the line about 10 years ago decided that wasn't enough. We needed to see more of each other. So about every 2 years we meet at Daralyn's home in Yreka. We laugh, we talk, we remember and we hug alot. What a group and what a lucky person I am to have them around.

The second picture posted is Fran, Susan T. and myself. I have several group shots of this kind. I also have one of me in my LIME green satin accordian shirt. Jim S. and I laugh when we think of us wearing those in public even. And yes, I still have my accordian even.

This is just a small part of the years of us that were 'Born Friends'.