Thursday, May 31, 2012

10 Summer Goals

Over the weekend it occurred to me that summer was actually upon us.  It got me thinking about what I wanted to do over the next 3 months.  Each year the months seem to fly by and I look back and say "what did I accomplish".  Carole put up her 10 on Tuesday post this past week and it was exactly that - 10 goals of summer.  So here is mine:

1. Knit the Evenstar shawl.  I bought myself a set of Signature Needles with stiletto points and have some lace yarn in my stash.  I'm not sure if I am up to the challenge, but I want to give it a go.

2. Go hiking.  I have so many trails and great places to walk and hike and I never go.  The following goal might make it easier:

3.  Go to the gym.  I have a membership but I never go.  I'm just not in the mood when I get home from work around 6:00.  I'm thinking I will go early in the morning (the gym is open 24 hours) and see how that works.  Whatever the time - I need to make it.

4.  Have a yard sale.  I usually hate to do this, but I have so much "stuff" in my house that I don't want to just throw out.  I am going to have to dedicate a weekend to gathering, selling, then subsequently donating whatever does not sell.  I dread doing this, but I know I will feel so much better afterwards.

5.  Warp my loom.  I have a few projects in my head that I would like to work on.  I love weaving outside in the summer.

6.  Read.  Alot.  My whole life I was a huge reader.  Until.  I.  Started.  Knitting.  With the Nook I can do both at the same time if I am working on a simple project.

7.  Start researching that "later life career".  You know - when you are getting ready to retire, but don't want to quit working entirely?  I have some ideas and plan on doing some research.  Mid-life is here (as much as I hate to admit it) and if there is no plan...... well, you know how that goes.

8.  Eat more local food.  I am reading (can you call listening to an audio book reading?) "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and it fascinated me how eating local affects so many things such as fuel consumption, etc...

9.  Give up soda.  This my friends, is going to be the toughest on my list.  I love my coca cola.  And I don't do the diet kind - I love the hardcore old fashioned full of sugar and caffeine variety.  An exorcism might be in order to rid the craving.

10.  Enjoy the summer and relax.  Stressed out seems to be my new normal and that is just plain old silly.  Life is way too short.

Anybody have any goals for their summer?

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Yarn Along

I feel like it's the same old thing over here these days.  Piper's Journey is coming along.  The lace edging is taking longer than I would have thought, but progress is being made.  I really didn't knit all that much this past weekend with all the activity going on, but I should be able to focus better this week.  I have lots of plans in my head so let's see if we can make it happen.  In the meantime, Piper...
Here is a close up of the edging.
It's difficult to see the details between the yarn and the fact that it's not blocked.  Overall I am pleased.

I haven't spent much time reading this weekend, but I did get some Barnes and Noble gift cards so my Nook will be reloaded soon.  I am thinking about checking out 50 Shades since everyone else seems to have jumped on the bandwagon.  I'm kinda curious.  I did download a new book to the Ipod that has me intrigued - Finding Ultra - Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of  The World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself. I am only into chapter 2 and I'm enjoying it so far.

So I am linking with Ginny in her Yarn Along.....

What are you reading and knitting lately?

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

No Rain..... Mostly

As I mentioned last week we had a very busy Memorial Day weekend planed.  Besides the annual birthday celebrations (it's mine & my best friend Lisa's birthday the 24th and 25th so it's usually our big weekend to celebrate) and a few other events, it was Nicole's Jr. Prom on Friday. We were watching the weather forecast all week and it went from good to bad to "we have no idea" by Friday.  The day started off with promise, but by 12:00 it was raining.  We held our breath until 5:00 when the limo was to arrive and hoped the rain would stop to at least take some pictures outside.
We got our wish.  While the sun never appeared, at least the rain stayed away.
The girls needed bottles of hair spray to keep those curls in due to the humidity (OK - Nicole didn't.  Her hair just gets curlier in this weather)
The all looked beautiful.
It was hard to recognize some of the boys in their tuxes.
They had a great time and Nicole said it was everything she dreamed it would be.

Friday, May 25, 2012

One of These Things is Not Like The Others

The odd one in the middle is Nicole.  Last night we went to take pictures with all her friends that went to Senior Prom.  Tonight is Nicole's Junior Prom.  So today is all about getting ready, taking pictures, getting them into the limo and the adults going out to dinner afterwards.  There is a post-prom party at the school where they will have activities and food to keep them busy till 6 AM.  Most of them will return to our house for an early breakfast and maybe catch some sleep (oh to be young again and not need sleep).  Have a fun weekend!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Soooo.... What Did Ya Get???

So all this talk of fiber festivals and I don't think I have shown you any of the goodies I got.  I must admit, I used restraint and while I definitely bought more than last year I wasn't too indulgent.  I am having a hard time looking at all that hand spun I have in my stash these days.  If I get a chance this weekend I will get the bag out and inventory it all on Ravelry.  Onto the new stuff....

Besides some cables for my Knit Picks needles (speaking of Knit Picks, have you seen the latest catalog?  They have some amazing patterns, sock yarn and even batts by Hanks in the Hood.... I was very tempted impressed) I only bought this in NH:
I just love the packaging
I bought two of them.  I think I will spin each one and ply them together to try and keep the colors together.

I was a bit more indulgent at RI.  Let me preface this with saying that I only bought from vendors in our guild and it felt great to support them.

I got this from Renae at Terra Bella Spun.  Correction - my wonderful friend Lisa got this for me for my birthday.
Look at that batt!  It's a mixture of merino, bamboo,silk and angelina.  I saw the colors and fell in love with it.  I am thinking about plying it with this
This was a gift  (also from Terra Bella) from my awesome friend Glenda (do I have the best friends or what?  And how nice of my mom to give birth to me right in the middle of sheep and wool season?  That woman - she has vision).

I usually don't buy yarn but I could not resist this.
It's from another guild buddy at June Pryce Fiber.  She has some gorgeous fiber on her site.  I had to take a couple of pictures to show all the colors in this skein.
It's dk weight and right now it's saying "autumn shawl" to me, but we will wait and see.

And let's a hear a round of applause for our friend the sun, who, had it not decided to make a cameo appearance this evening would have made this a boring blog post today.  Let's hope that yellow ball sticks around for a few days.  We have some important things happening around here that would be much better without rain.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Yarn Along

I love Wednesdays.  It's the middle of the work week, it is usually spinning night for me, and I get to check out what others are knitting and reading in Yarn Along.

I am up to knitting the lace border on my Pipers Journey.  We are having another day of rain here which makes for some sad picture taking.  I can't get the colors to look right and the yarn is too dark to really see the pattern.  I am hoping to get some good pictures of this this weekend (maybe some finished ones too if I persist).  I have been spinning my Loop batt and it is finished.  Again, excuse poor photography.
I spun it with the intention of using it as a single.  I wanted to keep the colors separate.  I think I was pretty consitent.
It's really hard to see the different color changes.  I can't wait to see what it looks like after it has soaked and set and wound into a ball.  I have been putting it off due to the very damp weather.  I am afraid it won't dry very well.  Unfortunately it looks like we are in for some humid weather for a stretch so I don't know how long it will sit here.
I still haven't read much.  I am hoping with the 3 day weekend coming up that I can sit on the deck and catch up on all my books!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

10 on Tuesday

Before we get to 10 on Tuesday, we have reached the 500th comment!  The 500th comment was on Friday by Allison at Homesprout. Please go and check out her blog.  It is a wealth of information from knitting to cooking to gardening.  I will be contacting her on Ravelry so I can get her prize to her.  Now onto Tuesday business and linking up with Carole.

10 Things I Wish I Liked
1.  Black Coffee.  That may look like black coffee but trust me it's not.  It's the Dunkin Men In Black coffee and it is good, and full of calories and yumminess.  I wish I could be one of those people who drank plain old coffee and actually LIKED it.
2.  Veggies.  No joke - I really don't like them.  I love my salad and will eat lettuce, baby spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and celery.  As far as cooked veggies - onions and mushrooms (and occasionally eggplant if it's cooked right) are it for me.  Can we count corn and potatoes?
3.  Because of #'s 1 and 2, it would be very helpful if I liked to exercise, but that's a no as well.  I think I would like to walk more if I didn't live at the bottom of a hill.  It is just so defeating to start off huffing and puffing.
4. Flying.  I love vacation but I hate to fly.  It just makes me nervous, and it's not because of 9/11.  I have never been a real good passenger.  Most of our vacation destinations these days have been by car.
5.  Roller coasters.  I obviously have motion sickness issues. I have never been on one and probably never will.  I have been on a couple of scary rides and hated every minute of it.  The older I get the worse I get.
6.  Beer.  I hear you laughing.  Yes it's true - I hate beer.  Even on a hot day and the beer is wicked cold.  I still don't like the taste of it.
7.  Cleaning.  Come over to my house - this one will be evident immediately.  It's not dirty, but it's just clean enough so that DCYF won't take my child away.  I am amazing at ignoring the dirt as I knit.  It's a talent I have developed.  You will however, always find home cooked meals (mostly by my husband) and a lot of laughter.
8.  Sci-Fi Movies.  I can't relate.  My dad loves them.  I don't get them.
9.  Sewing. Eh - it's probably best that I didn't have another hobby anyway.
10.  Yard Work.  I never touch it.  I planted my seeds and that's probably all my contribution will be this year.  God is good though.  He gave me a husband who lives to work in the yard.  I was talking to my parents about this over the weekend and was saying how I don't even plant flowers anymore.  I start with good intentions but they don't happen.  Then I realized what was different.  Back about 4 years ago I was working about 18 hours a week.  Now I work about 50 hours.  That will make a difference in how you spend your leisure time for sure.

What's on your list?

Friday, May 18, 2012

The Rest Of NH

I was able to get the rest of my pictures downloaded.  It's amazing what happens when you read the directions.

Onto the fun....

Another beautiful face that I couldn't take home with me.

Spinner's Hill had a nice variety.
I was real tempted with the pottery, but to be honest nothing screamed "Take me home!"

You probably can't see the gradation on the shawl in the background, but trust me, it was a beautiful black/white/plum.  Just gorgeous.
I tried to be inconspicuous while taking pictures but I ended up with some strange faces on some people.

You couldn't ask for a nicer day as far as the weather was concerned.
And the same is promised for tomorrow for RI Sheep & Wool.  I'll be there all day spinning and doing a LITTLE shopping.  Stop by and say "Hi" if you are going to be there!  I'll be in the Sheep To Shawl area.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

NH Sheep & Wool - The Brief Version

I actually made the effort to take pictures at NHS&W this year.  I usually go and get so carried away with the fiber and fun that I neglect the camera entirely.  Not this year.  I took some with the phone to share on Instagram (I actually felt like I kind of experienced MDS&W this year through Instagram thanks to all who posted pics on there) and Plurk.  I had the camera in hand at all times to catch things as they happened.  Unfortunately I am having a problem downloading some of my pics, so until I can get that worked out, here are a couple.

Backtrack here for a minute - this year NH was held in a different venue.  It was closer to me by about 15 minutes so I was happy with that.  The food selections were great - a huge variety.  The fair grounds were nice.  I know of a couple of vendors who were rejected and I'm not sure why - there was at least one more barn that was completely empty and could have fit 20 more vendors.  My one complaint - the flooring in the outdoor barns.  It was made up of sawdust and hay.  And it was windy.  Need I say more?  I ran through that part of the fair, not really checking out the vendors, because I was sneezing and coughing.

This was the first vendor we visited.
Don't ask me the name, all I remember was that they had a great 1 skein sweater available (pattern & yarn) for $15.  I resisted, especially when I realized that 1 skein of anything is never going to fit around this girls body, and that it would take at least 2 skeins, making it $30.

I resisted this fleece.
It wasn't really difficult.  I do love shetland, but I still have that fleece sitting that needs to be carded, so I breathed in some wool fumes and off I went.

I couldn't resist this face and took several pictures as he was humming to me.
What a sweetie.  Thank goodness I have small piece of land or I could be dangerous.

I did buy a sweater pattern.  I just loved this mitered square cardigan on the right in the background.  I am going to use up my left over hand spun for it.
And how can you not love a nun at a sheep and wool festival?

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Yarn Along

I'm joining the Yarn Along today - although there has been NO reading whatsoever and  knitting has been non-existent.  I can, however, show you what is about to go onto my wheel.
My first Loop bump.  I was able to catch Steph's shop update a couple of weeks ago and let me tell you - it's insane.  If you see something you like you better grab it quick, put it in your cart and check out before anybody can cart-jack you.  I think I am going to knit it as a single so I can make a little shawl.  There is about 5.7 oz.  This one is called Mirage and as soon as I can't wait to start spinning!

What are you working on these days?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

10 On Tuesday



I'm joining Carole in her 10 on Tuesday list because it's definitely something I can relate to.  I'm all about lists these days (I'm especially motivated this week - more motivated to make the list, not quite as motivated to get tasks done, but hey - writing it down is progress) so this was good timing.

10 Items on Your Spring To Do List

1.  Organize items for yard sale.  I hate doing it, but it kills me to throw out things that others can use (and hey, why not make a little extra money?).  Whatever doesn't sell goes right to the Salvation Army.

2.  Card my fleece.  I wanted to work on it over the winter, but this really is an outdoor job.  There are small bits of hay and dirt that fly around and doing it inside makes me sneeze.

3.  Shop at the Farmers Market.  The local ones are starting up and I'm excited to see what they have to offer this year.

4.  Plant the annuals in the front yard.  Hubby is taking care of this one.  Pansies are my favorite so he's waiting to see them at the nursery.

5.  Plant lettuce in my planters on the back deck.  I started the seeds inside but kitty decided she couldn't control herself any longer and dug up my plants.

6.  Pedicure time.  I don't really get many pedicures over the winter because I hardly ever see my feet behind my wool socks, but now that it's sandal time bring on the massage chair and nail polish.

7.  Sheep & Wool Festival time.  Last week was NH, this weekend is RI (I promise a recap on NH sometime this week) and the following week is MA.  I'm not sure if I will make it to MA because Memorial Day Weekend is always a busy one.

8.  General outdoor clean up.  While hubby keeps the lawn and landscaping beautiful, there are parts of our yard that look like, errrr, the backwoods of Tennessee shall we say?  We have 3 barbecues, 3 smokers, a couple of fire pits, 4 bicycles (we have no garage or shed so that can't be helped) an assortment of planters and miscellaneous items.  Here is where him and I disagree.  I'm willing to go along with the 3 of each thing (I have 3 spinning wheels - I understand the concept).  However, we only have so much room so not everything can stay.  We will battle that out through the summer, or whoever just caves in first.

9.  Get the boat in the water.  Again - this is hubby's project, as I could care less about the boat.  You see, when you are raised with a boat from the time you can walk, and every single weekend, family vacation, holiday, or day that the temperature rises above 70 degrees (we have gone on the boat on Christmas Eve some years - and no, we didn't live in the south, we lived in NY) is spent on that boat - by the time you are an adult you just kinda say "No thank you".

10.  Clean the cars.  Mine was recently done before we went on our trip, but hubby's two cars will need a good cleaning.  My daughter's car will surely be cleaned since it's new to her (and you have that kind of time when you are a teenager).  All the salt and sand from the winter gets embedded in the carpets and it just needs a good overall cleaning for summer cruising.

What's on your To Do List this Spring?

Monday, May 14, 2012

Currents








listening - to computer hum


eating - still deciding on that one


drinking - wanting some iced coffee but haven't quite gotten to it



wearing - black pants, pink shirt with beads


weather - sunny right now but rain coming soon (what else is new?)


knitting - Pipers Journey shawl and that's it.  I never even picked up my needles once this weekend.  That's a first for Mother's Day weekend for me.  I usually spend the day knitting/spinning


wanting - to start spinning my fiber from NH and also the Loop Batt that came in the mail


needing - to organize the upcoming week and my To Do List


enjoying - the peace and quiet right now.  It won't last long




looking forward - to this week in general - I have a lot of things to accomplish and I love to look at my list of crossed off tasks.  At the end of the busy week we have RI Sheep and Wool Festival



wondering - how the garden is doing.  My little seedlings weren't looking too good last time

Friday, May 11, 2012

Friday - With Sun

The rain finally ended yesterday and it is a beautiful sunny morning.  The weekend promises to be beautiful as well, which always makes me happy on Mother's Day.  
I am closing in on 500 comments on my blog (I never thought I would see that) which also makes me happy.  I love the people I have met and "talk" to on an almost daily basis. So for the 500th comment I have a special prize coming your way.  I will let you know as soon as we get there.

Have a great weekend!  

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Getting the Spinning In

Other than my Drops of Jupiter, I have not been spinning much lately.  My poor wheel sits in the corner and doesn't get much action.  I know that will change as the weather is getting nicer - if we ever see the sun again - I will sit on the deck and spin in the sun.  I have been spinning on my spindle lately.
I decided to keep it in a bowl on my coffee table.  Whenever I have a free minute I just pick it up and start spinning.  Right now I am working on some of my Spunky Eclectic fiber I have leftover from when I was in the fiber club.  While I loved being in the club and getting those shipments every month, I found that they were piling up and decided I needed to stop for a while until I could catch up.  I am down to the last couple of 4 oz. batches.  I think this one was "Pie For Everyone".
I am still planning on taking all these 4 oz. piles and spindle spinning them, then taking them all and weaving a blanket on my rigid heddle loom.  I saw the idea in an issue of Spin Off and loved it.  I have a long way to go, but hey, it's progress!  I have a feeling I might come home with a couple more bags of fiber to spin on the spindle this weekend at NH Sheep & Wool.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Yarn Along

Joining along with Ginny at Small Things for her Yarn Along.  Please check the link when you have a free moment.  You will find links to so many creative people.  Not to mention getting great ideas on books to read.

Speaking of books - I'm still slowly reading Simple Living.  It's basketball playoff season - there will not be much reading for me until June (or until the Celtics and Bulls are eliminated, whichever comes first).

As for knitting, I cast on Pipers Journey this past weekend and it's everything I was hoping for.  I'm still in the mindless garter stitch phase.  I am using the Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport which is super soft.
I love Blue Moon's  colorways.  I used the BFL Sport in my Shawl That Jazz and I wear it all the time.  You just want to snuggle with it.

My goal was to have it complete by NH Sheep & Wool this weekend but then I got real and decided that if I were to do that I would have to take the week off from work and do nothing but knit the shawl.  Not happening.

It's hard to capture the true colors in the yarn.  Especially since I am reduced to indoor pictures again thanks to the rain.  I'll have better ones for you after this weekend, as we are promised that the sun is making another appearance.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How's Those Goals?


Well, it's been a few months - shall we take a peek at the list of goals I wanted to accomplish this year?  I think that by checking in on my list once in a while I can either check items off my list, modify it, or simply get real and remove the goal entirely


1.  Keep schedules better. I think what I struggle with the most in this area is sticking to one system.  While I love to keep everything in my phone I still LOVE writing lists and seeing everything laid out in front of me (maybe it's my middle age eyesight that likes it better).  I'm still keeping my schedule in my phone, but my current calendar system (Pocket Informant) has stopped giving me alarms with the last update :-(.  So I think we need to come up with a better calendar system.

2.  Take more pictures with my camera.  It doesn't look like it on the blog lately, but I have been utilizing my camera a lot more than I had been.  I still take a bunch of photos with my Iphone.  Are any of you on Instagram?  Another addiction I tell ya.  If you are, come find me - of course, I'm Knit1Spin2 on there.  It has made me want a new phone desperately that takes better pictures than my current dinosaur Iphone.

3.  Read more.  There is always room for improvement here, but I am reading more now than I have in years.

4.  Knit my sock yarn stash.  A big win here.  I think I have knit about 5 skeins of my sock yarn stash into something and I'm happy with that.  I seem to be stuck on what to use the yarn above for.  It's kinda funky - lots of white with random colors spread throughout.   I really haven't  bought any yarn since January (can't say the same about fiber though - hey, a girls gotta have SOME fun, right?)

5.  Card and spin my fleece. I haven't done much since last time.  I did spin a bit, but carding is bothering my hands.  I'm considering just sending the rest out to be processed.  It's already washed so it only has to be carded.  I'll be deciding on this in the next month or so.

6.  Publish one of my patterns. I haven't worked on anything new.  The creativity just isn't there lately.  I'm lucky to just get some knitting time at all these days.

7.  Explore the vegetarian lifestyle.  While I eat far less meat than I did, I am far from a vegetarian.  I am embarking on some new healthy endeavors that I am very excited about but that requires a post of it's own.

8.  Take country line dancing. Didn't happen.  This may come off the list and be replaced with something else.

9.  A place for everything.  All I have accomplished in this area is frustration.  I can't control what the rest of the family does, and I refuse to be a screaming shrew in the name or organization.  I am working on my own little happy place and I will probably have a post on this sometime soon.

10.  Change up the blog. Nothing new here.  I need hubby's help with this and he has been busy working (thank you God) a lot of hours, so it will have to wait.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Currents




I was joking around on Plurk last week about if I could actually block my shawl without the cat using it as her special bed - there is your answer.


Onto Currents:


listening - to birds chirping, morning news


eating - cereal - nothing real exciting


drinking - iced french vanilla coffee



wearing - black pants, green faded golf shirt


weather - the sun is actually shining today! That big orange ball in the sky does exist.....


knitting - Pipers Journey shawl and finishing my hand spun socks


wanting - to finish Piper's Journey shawl by NH Sheep & Wool this weekend


needing - to get the oil changed in the car before we go to NH on Saturday


enjoying - reading "The Simple Living Guide".  It's one of those books that makes you go "hmmm"




looking forward - seeing Nicole in her high school play "Fame" this week (and NH Sheep & Wool of course)



wondering - if we can fit a trip to the seamstress in this week to have Nicole's prom gown hemmed

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