A Finish (Well, a HO), Some Luxuries, Practicing and a Surprise!

Hello All,


A Tuesday Afternoon and it is back to HOT Phila. weather.  Whew.  Between Fires in the NW, Hurricanes in the Atlantic, Earthquakes in Mexico and weird weather EVERYWHERE, I'm thinking Mother Nature is one pissed off individual (and I can think of several reasons why).  Hoping everyone is safe and having a good week.


That's a pretty long title up there, so let's get with it.  Here is my finish (or in Dee's famous words, my HO):

That's one Nutkin finished and one started.  Yippee!!!  It's a crappy picture, but now that I've figured out how to knit this sock my way, I just love the pattern.  With 80 rows after the cuff and before the heel flap it's longer than I usually make socks and I really like that...I will continue to do that (provided boredom doesn't set in).  And, yes, I'm proud of myself.  I cast off the first sock yesterday morning and cast on the 2nd one last night.  No SSS here!


The luxuries and the practicing go together.  Sunday was Fletcher's birthday.  Some time ago I decided to take this Monday and Tuesday off.  Originally we were going to go away, but we couldn't come up with any place we really wanted to go (and spend money) - especially with leaving for vacation in just under 2 weeks.  So, a little luxury is having a couple of days off with no plans and I told Fletch that really I was practicing for retirement - LOL.  Happy to say that will be no problem (well, at the moment I still have a paycheck...retirement will make a huge difference, I know).


Since we were not away I cooked for the birthday boy.  I made angel hair pasta with mussels and shrimp and a big tossed salad.  So good.  And a pound cake - which fell apart when I took it out of the pan.  Not pretty, but pretty tasty just the same.  Good thing we were not having company.


Yesterday Fletch decided he wanted to go to Cabela's to see if there was anything (else) I could get him for his birthday.  We took back roads which included some detours due to road construction up to Hamburg, PA.  Fletch found a couple of small things and I found a fleece vest for only $17!  Not bad.  The ride was long, but nicer than highway driving (and we didn't have anything else to do anyway).


Today we had absolutely no plans.  I ended up going to a yarn shop in Kimberton called Purls of Wisdom.  I had been there once in the Spring, but didn't have much time and didn't buy anything.  What a lovely shop it is!  Well stocked and friendly people.  And, plenty of "come in and knit" times on different days of the week.  I did not buy myself ANYTHING!!  Shocking I know.  But I did purchase some things that will comprise my give-away for the I Love Fall KAL hosted by Dee and moi (mostly all by Dee, really).  So that is (for now) the surprise.  My question:  Do you want to see what I got for that?  Or should it remain a mystery/surprise?


One last little luxury - a shower at 3 p.m. today.  Normally I would be working.  What a treat to not have to wash my hair after dinner and then wait for it to dry (forever), or to get up early to shower before work.  Little things, I know...but they make me happy.


And, Leslie (my bestest friend for 50+ years) is calling tonight and we're booking our flights for Sisters' Weekend in October.  Life is good (despite the HOT weather).


What are you up to?

A Mess, A Start (2), and Falling Behind

Hello All,

 

How are you on this gloomy (in Eastern PA) Tuesday?  Somehow the weekend got away from me and work is continuing to be busier than usual.  Yesterday was a mess!  When I got home last night at 9 after yoga, I finally looked at some blogs on my phone.  Reading Dee's Blog blog, I realized I have done NOTHING for the I ♥ Fall KAL – NOTHING!!  Well, I did pick out my yarn, and I know I’m knitting Nutkin, but nothing else.  Like Dee, I will be pulling together a little give-away for those participating, but for now that will have to be a secret (even from me – lol).

 

Despite the weekend zooming by, I did manage to get a couple of items started.  First up the Close to You shawl:

 

 

But then last night (again after yoga when I was really too tired to see), I pulled it out and started knitting and this is what happened:

 

 

I had wound the yarn into a center pull ball and a HUGE knot came out.  So now I have to spend time trying to separate that mess and then I will re-wind the yarn into just a ball (no center pull).  I hope I can do this.  I am loving the yarn (so soft!  Gorgeous color!), and now that I’ve switched to my wooden circular needle, the shawl is much easier to knit.

 

Friday night I made a start on the other socks I will be knitting – Charade.

 

 

This is the Scottish wool my friend got at a yard sale and the color is Blue Tweed.  It is looking like a dark speckled yarn and I am loving it.  I have enough yarn that I will be making these socks much longer than normal, but the pattern is an easy one to memorize and quick to knit.  Hopefully they won’t take me all Fall to complete!

 

Our shish kabob dinner with Colin and Mailing on Saturday was great and the strawberry shortcake was yummy.  It was cool enough that we had another fire in the pit and I actually had a sweatshirt on!  It was chilly.  Sunday I made gazpacho with garden tomatoes, cukes, onions, peppers and garlic.  We added cold shrimp to it:

 

 

Sunday I snuck in another walk along the canal.  There were a ton of people out and about – both on the trail (running, biking, walking) and on both the river and canal (kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, rafting, fishing).  It was a crowded place!  I was having a terrible time on my way back to the car – nose running and eyes watering – there had to be something in the air.  I saw a lot of gold finches feeding on seeds from wild flowers and then came across this bird on the other side of the canal:

 

 

At first I thought it was a cormorant (which would have been weird in our area), but I’m not sure.  I wasn’t able to see his/her feet.  The picture isn’t the greatest – hard to do a distant shot with my phone.  But look at that beak!

 

So, that’s it for moi.  I’ve got a very busy week at work and am looking forward to a nice, long weekend with (hopefully) lots of knitting.  Colin and Mailing are going away, so Fletch and I will be on cat duty – going up to their place twice a day to feed and play with Marcel and Talbot.

 

What are you all up to?