Hello All,
Joining in with Kat and others for the last Unraveled Wednesday of November 2017. Time is flying by!!
No pictures today - I forgot to take a picture of the yarn-barf socks (because, you know, I've put them away for a little while), and the knitting I'm working on is a secret. However, I will say there was no unraveling this week and I did manage to get quite a bit done yesterday. YAY!!
On the reading front, I finished Lisette's List which was ok...maybe 3.5 stars. I've enjoyed her other books more. I'm currently reading Grief Cottage and so far, so good (only about a quarter of the way into it). Two others just came through on Overdrive: "The Girl Who Wrote in Silk" by Kelli Estes and "The Keeper of Lost Things" by Ruth Hogan.
That's it for me today. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the sock. I have a couple of other things on the needles, but keep finding new (at least to me) things that I want to knit right now! I need to stay a little more focused....
Hope your week is going well!
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
The Winner!!
Good Morning All!
What a beautiful morning. A bit of a nip in the air, but it is supposed to get up to 60 today! Guess we have no snow in the forecast for a little while....
Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who participated in the I LOVE Fall KAL hosted by Dee (and not so much by me). It was a lot of fun, wasn't it? If you remember, I have a prize to give away and this morning, using the random number generator, I drew a name: Valerie!! I had planned to have Tyg chose the winner, but he was outside more than in last night and he left the house early this morning (before 5 a.m.!!).
Val - please email me (velane4@gmail.com) your snail mail address and I'll get your package out pronto.
Thanks, too, for your comments on my yarn barf. I had checked the yarn and could see no sign of any critters...no egg cases or little larval cases or anything. The weird thing, too, is that each skein broke in roughly the same place (I've looked at 3 and have 3 more to attempt to wind). Each skein is an ounce and each one breaks around 0.8 oz. All my other yarn is fine (as far as I know...). These particular skeins had been (and still are) in a plastic bag.
Anyway, for now those are put aside and I will pick them up again once I complete some secret Christmas knitting (some of which is in the bag I brought to work today...hoping to take a nice healthy lunch break and crank out some knitting).
Has anyone looked at the latest MDK Field Guide - Sequences? Corrugated Shawl is calling out to me. It is beautiful! All of the projects in this Field Guide are super. If you haven't seen it - check it out.
What a beautiful morning. A bit of a nip in the air, but it is supposed to get up to 60 today! Guess we have no snow in the forecast for a little while....
Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who participated in the I LOVE Fall KAL hosted by Dee (and not so much by me). It was a lot of fun, wasn't it? If you remember, I have a prize to give away and this morning, using the random number generator, I drew a name: Valerie!! I had planned to have Tyg chose the winner, but he was outside more than in last night and he left the house early this morning (before 5 a.m.!!).
Val - please email me (velane4@gmail.com) your snail mail address and I'll get your package out pronto.
Thanks, too, for your comments on my yarn barf. I had checked the yarn and could see no sign of any critters...no egg cases or little larval cases or anything. The weird thing, too, is that each skein broke in roughly the same place (I've looked at 3 and have 3 more to attempt to wind). Each skein is an ounce and each one breaks around 0.8 oz. All my other yarn is fine (as far as I know...). These particular skeins had been (and still are) in a plastic bag.
Anyway, for now those are put aside and I will pick them up again once I complete some secret Christmas knitting (some of which is in the bag I brought to work today...hoping to take a nice healthy lunch break and crank out some knitting).
Has anyone looked at the latest MDK Field Guide - Sequences? Corrugated Shawl is calling out to me. It is beautiful! All of the projects in this Field Guide are super. If you haven't seen it - check it out.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Thanksgiving and Yarn Barf!
Hello All,
Not such an appetizing title for a blog post - sorry!!
Let's start with the appealing stuff. Thanksgiving was great! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and tasty food as well. Damon (Fletcher's brother) and his wife Peggy arrived at our house around 2 p.m. Thursday. By 3:30 we were on our way to Colin & Mailing's. Mailing's parents, her uncle and her grandmother also were there. We had some drinks and appetizers and then sat down to a delicious meal. Mailing's grandmother speaks absolutely no English. So, whenever she would taste something I had brought (chutney, pies, carrots & parsnips roasted with maple syrup), she would slap my arm and give me a thumbs up sign. Too funny. Here's a picture of Colin and me with her before dinner:
We got home late, but stayed up talking for a little while. Friday was a gorgeous day. Damon, Peggy, Fletch and I had tickets for an 11 a.m. tour of the Esherick Museum. What a treat! I've been there at least 5 or 6 times, but each time I go I find something new or something I hadn't remembered from a previous visit. I didn't take any pictures, but the web site (Wharton Esherick Museum) has some really pretty pictures of the studio. The furniture he built is gorgeous and copper sinks in the bathroom and kitchen - love them!
Friday night Colin and Mailing came over. Damon and Fletch grilled oysters and I made shrimp BBQ. I'm thinking something a little lighter after Thanksgiving might have been better, but everyone seemed to like it all. The beer and wine were both flowing.
We went out to breakfast on Saturday and then Damon and Peggy got on the road around 10:30. They wanted Sunday to relax at home before getting back into the work week.
Now for the barfy yarn part: remember the socks I was/am making with the Scottish blue tartan wool? I picked them up again after finishing the Close to You shawl. Finally the leg was just about knee high length and I was getting ready to start the heel flap when all of a sudden the yarn broke. The yarn came in pull from center skeins, so I had not bothered to wind it into balls. I picked up the remainder of the yarn and started to wind...and it broke again...and again...and again. I was so freakin' frustrated. I had two more skeins in my bag so I started to wind them...same thing. Here is what one skein looked like:
The messy parts were just too knotted to even wind. This happened Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. I put everything away (in time out) for the weekend. Discovered another 3 skeins in the chest where I store my stash, so I figured I have enough to make two socks. I started knitting on the first one again yesterday. The heel flap and heel are finished. I've picked up stitches around the gusset and am starting to do the decreasing now.
But honestly, I'm wondering if these will even wear well. I have no idea why the yarn keeps breaking. It is 100% wool - no nylon in it. I also don't know how old the yarn is (this is the yarn my friend Carol got at a yard sale several years ago). I'm going to finish this first sock and then give it a rest - I have a couple of things I've decided to knit for Christmas, so I need to get on that pronto.
And now I need to get back to work -- busy, busy after a few days away. I'll be trying to catch up on blog reading over the next day or so. Looking forward to reading/hearing about everyone's Thanksgivings.
Not such an appetizing title for a blog post - sorry!!
Let's start with the appealing stuff. Thanksgiving was great! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and tasty food as well. Damon (Fletcher's brother) and his wife Peggy arrived at our house around 2 p.m. Thursday. By 3:30 we were on our way to Colin & Mailing's. Mailing's parents, her uncle and her grandmother also were there. We had some drinks and appetizers and then sat down to a delicious meal. Mailing's grandmother speaks absolutely no English. So, whenever she would taste something I had brought (chutney, pies, carrots & parsnips roasted with maple syrup), she would slap my arm and give me a thumbs up sign. Too funny. Here's a picture of Colin and me with her before dinner:
We got home late, but stayed up talking for a little while. Friday was a gorgeous day. Damon, Peggy, Fletch and I had tickets for an 11 a.m. tour of the Esherick Museum. What a treat! I've been there at least 5 or 6 times, but each time I go I find something new or something I hadn't remembered from a previous visit. I didn't take any pictures, but the web site (Wharton Esherick Museum) has some really pretty pictures of the studio. The furniture he built is gorgeous and copper sinks in the bathroom and kitchen - love them!
Friday night Colin and Mailing came over. Damon and Fletch grilled oysters and I made shrimp BBQ. I'm thinking something a little lighter after Thanksgiving might have been better, but everyone seemed to like it all. The beer and wine were both flowing.
We went out to breakfast on Saturday and then Damon and Peggy got on the road around 10:30. They wanted Sunday to relax at home before getting back into the work week.
Now for the barfy yarn part: remember the socks I was/am making with the Scottish blue tartan wool? I picked them up again after finishing the Close to You shawl. Finally the leg was just about knee high length and I was getting ready to start the heel flap when all of a sudden the yarn broke. The yarn came in pull from center skeins, so I had not bothered to wind it into balls. I picked up the remainder of the yarn and started to wind...and it broke again...and again...and again. I was so freakin' frustrated. I had two more skeins in my bag so I started to wind them...same thing. Here is what one skein looked like:
The messy parts were just too knotted to even wind. This happened Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. I put everything away (in time out) for the weekend. Discovered another 3 skeins in the chest where I store my stash, so I figured I have enough to make two socks. I started knitting on the first one again yesterday. The heel flap and heel are finished. I've picked up stitches around the gusset and am starting to do the decreasing now.
But honestly, I'm wondering if these will even wear well. I have no idea why the yarn keeps breaking. It is 100% wool - no nylon in it. I also don't know how old the yarn is (this is the yarn my friend Carol got at a yard sale several years ago). I'm going to finish this first sock and then give it a rest - I have a couple of things I've decided to knit for Christmas, so I need to get on that pronto.
And now I need to get back to work -- busy, busy after a few days away. I'll be trying to catch up on blog reading over the next day or so. Looking forward to reading/hearing about everyone's Thanksgivings.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
A Short Work Week!
Good Morning!
Happy to report that the car is back to running. It was the battery. Fletch was able to get it started and ran it for awhile to charge it up...turned it off...then was able to start it again. I thought we had replaced the battery last year, but it was 3-4 years ago. So, now I'm good to go for the Winter. And, I'm so glad it didn't start at home rather than at the end of the day when I was ready to leave work.
Close to You is now blocking. I gave it a good soak last night and then spread it out. I'm hoping it will be dry so that I can wear it on Thanksgiving day. I put a few more rows into my first Charade sock last night. I'm a tad bit bored with these as I'm making them long (like knee sock length), but I know I'll really enjoy them once they are finished (I need to remember that this is only the first one...). I've decided to not even think about Christmas knitting. I may cast on a hat for Colin (and I do have a pair of socks I made for Mailing), but other than that, nothing. I want to finish what's on the needles so that I can concentrate on NEW and EXCITING things (like ARROWS!!) when the holidays are over.
Today (aside from work) I need to run to the liquor store, Trader Joe's and book a pedicure appointment for tomorrow. Tomorrow, in between making pie crust dough and prepping veggies for Thursday, I want to relax a bit and just enjoy being home. Hopefully that means plenty of knitting time, reading time and, perhaps, an afternoon nap.
Wishing you all a delightful, joyful, restful, tasty and happy Thanksgiving!
Happy to report that the car is back to running. It was the battery. Fletch was able to get it started and ran it for awhile to charge it up...turned it off...then was able to start it again. I thought we had replaced the battery last year, but it was 3-4 years ago. So, now I'm good to go for the Winter. And, I'm so glad it didn't start at home rather than at the end of the day when I was ready to leave work.
Close to You is now blocking. I gave it a good soak last night and then spread it out. I'm hoping it will be dry so that I can wear it on Thanksgiving day. I put a few more rows into my first Charade sock last night. I'm a tad bit bored with these as I'm making them long (like knee sock length), but I know I'll really enjoy them once they are finished (I need to remember that this is only the first one...). I've decided to not even think about Christmas knitting. I may cast on a hat for Colin (and I do have a pair of socks I made for Mailing), but other than that, nothing. I want to finish what's on the needles so that I can concentrate on NEW and EXCITING things (like ARROWS!!) when the holidays are over.
Today (aside from work) I need to run to the liquor store, Trader Joe's and book a pedicure appointment for tomorrow. Tomorrow, in between making pie crust dough and prepping veggies for Thursday, I want to relax a bit and just enjoy being home. Hopefully that means plenty of knitting time, reading time and, perhaps, an afternoon nap.
Wishing you all a delightful, joyful, restful, tasty and happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 20, 2017
Unblocked But Finished!!
Hello All,
It is a crispy morning here. And the wind over the weekend! Yikes - it was like the Mistrals suddenly appeared from France (remember the movie Chocolat?).
I will count the weekend as a success. Everything on my long list of chores was crossed off (and completed...not just crossed off). And, I have a finish. Close to You is done...still needs to be blocked, but I probably won't get to that until after our Thanksgiving guests leave. This was such an easy and enjoyable knit. I do wish it were a little deeper (and I'll be pulling hard when I block), but it is cozy and warm against my neck.
The color is so rich (lighter than what appears above).
Meanwhile, another busy day in work-land. I've already had one conference call and another in 20 minutes. It's a short week for me - just working today and tomorrow. Wednesday will be food prep for Thanksgiving.
On a negative side, my car wouldn't start this morning...not sure what the problem is...waiting to hear from Fletch. Just hoping it is something easy and inexpensive - ha!
OK, time to rock and roll. Have a great week and...if I don't get back to blogging before Thursday, I'm hoping all of you have a wonderful, tasty, fun, relaxing Thanksgiving. Enjoy!!
It is a crispy morning here. And the wind over the weekend! Yikes - it was like the Mistrals suddenly appeared from France (remember the movie Chocolat?).
I will count the weekend as a success. Everything on my long list of chores was crossed off (and completed...not just crossed off). And, I have a finish. Close to You is done...still needs to be blocked, but I probably won't get to that until after our Thanksgiving guests leave. This was such an easy and enjoyable knit. I do wish it were a little deeper (and I'll be pulling hard when I block), but it is cozy and warm against my neck.
The color is so rich (lighter than what appears above).
Meanwhile, another busy day in work-land. I've already had one conference call and another in 20 minutes. It's a short week for me - just working today and tomorrow. Wednesday will be food prep for Thanksgiving.
On a negative side, my car wouldn't start this morning...not sure what the problem is...waiting to hear from Fletch. Just hoping it is something easy and inexpensive - ha!
OK, time to rock and roll. Have a great week and...if I don't get back to blogging before Thursday, I'm hoping all of you have a wonderful, tasty, fun, relaxing Thanksgiving. Enjoy!!
Friday, November 17, 2017
Dangerous Beauty
Good Morning! And, Happy Friday - TGIF
A chilly start to the day here in Eastern PA. Last night was chilly too. Fletch and Colin had a fire going in the pit after dinner...I would run out for a minute or two, but it was too cold for me to stay out there long.
Today's title - Dangerous Beauty - comes from the picture I'll show:
Cool, huh? This is a hornets nest that Fletch cut out of the neighbor's hedge. I think it's fairly large, but Fletch says not so much. Anyway,, there is beauty in it...but thank goodness no hornets present when Fletch went at it. During the summer they were swarming around (especially when Fletch would mow the lawn), but now that it's cold and frosty he was able to extricate it. I love all the swirls you can see.
What are you all up to this weekend? I've got major/massive cleaning to be done. Fletch is doing some touch-up painting in some rooms, but I intend to corral him into helping with the cleaning. And we have to grocery shop (hopefully Colin & Mailing will let me know what vegetable[s] they want me to fix). I'll make the cranberry chutney this weekend. Oh, and of course, there is laundry needing to be done. Oy! The chores don't seem to end. I finally get everything done and it's time to start all over again - lol.
Did you all see that MDK's latest Field Guide is out? It looks great...I'm off to order it right now.
Enjoy the weekend!
A chilly start to the day here in Eastern PA. Last night was chilly too. Fletch and Colin had a fire going in the pit after dinner...I would run out for a minute or two, but it was too cold for me to stay out there long.
Today's title - Dangerous Beauty - comes from the picture I'll show:
Cool, huh? This is a hornets nest that Fletch cut out of the neighbor's hedge. I think it's fairly large, but Fletch says not so much. Anyway,, there is beauty in it...but thank goodness no hornets present when Fletch went at it. During the summer they were swarming around (especially when Fletch would mow the lawn), but now that it's cold and frosty he was able to extricate it. I love all the swirls you can see.
What are you all up to this weekend? I've got major/massive cleaning to be done. Fletch is doing some touch-up painting in some rooms, but I intend to corral him into helping with the cleaning. And we have to grocery shop (hopefully Colin & Mailing will let me know what vegetable[s] they want me to fix). I'll make the cranberry chutney this weekend. Oh, and of course, there is laundry needing to be done. Oy! The chores don't seem to end. I finally get everything done and it's time to start all over again - lol.
Did you all see that MDK's latest Field Guide is out? It looks great...I'm off to order it right now.
Enjoy the weekend!
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Three Things
Good Morning Everyone!
Thanks for your comments yesterday...I guess we all have our rants about insurance...misery loves company, etc. Something definitely needs fixing....
So, today is Thursday and I'm joining Carole for a three post (check hers out for the cutest grandson pictures!!).
- Pumpkin
- Pecan
- Apple
Those are the 3 pies I will be making for Thanksgiving. We will be going to Colin & Mailing's for dinner, and they have requested my pies along with some cranberry chutney (Fletcher's Mom's recipe) and a vegetable (yet to be determined...need to find out what they are fixing so that I don't duplicate). Luckily I am taking next Wednesday off and you'll be able to find me in my kitchen baking up a storm - lol.
Fletcher's brother and his wife are driving up from Virginia next Thursday...they should arrive in time to relax at our house a bit before we all go over to Colin and Mailing's for dinner. Mailing's parents will be there as well.
Black Friday there will be no shopping!! Fletch, Damon, Peggy and I have tickets to go to the Wharton Esherick Museum Friday at 11. We have been to this Museum so many times - a favorite of ours. Check out the web site if you have time. And then that evening Colin & Mailing and some others will join us at our home for a BBQ Shrimp dinner.
I guess I have some grocery shopping to do this weekend!
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