Kayaking

A beautiful day Sunday and the plans to take Max out to kayak actually came to fruition. Besides struggling with the car top kayak set-up, which eventually worked out nicely, it was an enjoyable trip from start to finish. Patriot Lake at Shelby Farms is perfect for kayaking. Small enough to be manageable and smooth enough to work on stroke techniques. Max did a few rounds and then let me paddle a bit. I really like his "creek boat" (Old Town Otter XT) better than his whitewater yak. I wish I could afford one for myself too, but then we'd have to invest in a real roof rack to transport both of them. That is a big Cha-CHING!

I LOVE my family!

A gigantic enormous hug and kiss to my brother, sister in law, neice and nephew for hosting us this past weekend. What fun! For the first time ever we just had a non-planned visit. We let the kids hang out, play, imagine and it worked like magic. No tears, no shouting, it was pure unadulterated heaven. The food was phenomenal thanks to Roxanne for breakfasts and Andy for lunches and dinners. My parents joined us for a fabulous dinner, even better than Carabas. Andy really could be a chef if he wanted to. He enjoys it as much as Roxanne and I do. I think if we lived closer together we might set up a catering business.

The cat is out of the bag

I am a person who thinks there are some things that just should not be knit and when the knitting goddess hears me say this, she laughs. I think knitting a grocery bag/sack is ridiculous, yet I just finished one knit out of organic cotton for heavens sake! The cats LOVE it. Adore it, as in "gee, that's great, how did you know I wanted one!" Witness the photos. Knit sack, Cat outside bag, cat INSIDE bag!
I can't make this stuff up. Friday is market day and I'll see how well it holds up. It's an altered version (I made 2 loop handles on the side, like those plastic sacks at the store) of this

The nature of the beast

Here is William's cat. She's a handsome one year old now and quite the huntress. She's brought us many a gift and despite bells, whistles and being confined to only our yarn, she continues. (If you are offended, don't tell me, just be grateful you're not here cleaning it up! And don't tell me she shouldn't be outside, she's an inside cat with access to a dog door. I won't keep the old dog from his potty access.) Max's cat went through a similar phase (remember the flying squirrel incident?) fortunately she's outgrown it. I am hoping Galadriel will too. Until then we document her prizes occasionally.

recycling yarn from thrift store sweaters

There are good tutorials about this thrifty knitting technique on the web, but I have been reluctant to try it. Thankfully Sarah showed me a sweater she had purchased and then proceeded to frog it at a MemphisSnB group so I was brave enough to finally give it a try. I purchased 2 sweaters at the local DAV on super mark-down day. I washed and dried one before frogging, the other was 100% wool and I decided to frog it instantly. It was a window pane sweater and probably not the best choice. I apologize for not taking before photos, but was too eager to actually start. The boys enjoyed holding the sweater while I wound the resulting yarn into balls. They ran through the house and one of them even ran out the back door with the sweater swiftly unraveling behind him! Here are some photos of the boys then winding the balls of yarn into hanks and a photo of after hanking and after washing. The yarn is fingering-sport weight. Not sure what it will be. There is an angora blend sweater that I also quickly (and much more easily) frogged that is also lacking any photos. Note that one child did chair hanking while the other did roaster pan hanking. His own idea. They worked diligently. Maybe they were both hoping the yarn would be their next sweater?

PeaceJam Memphis 2007

I regret that I invested heavily in another event during the weekend of PeaceJam so was unable to attend as an advisor. I am, however, thrilled that another homeschool mom and 3 of her kids agreed to go along with our kids. Here are a few photos of the weekend compliments of the Eclectic Homeschool group. Next year I vow to concentrate on this event to the exclusion of others. Bridges is the sponsor locally, but the event is international in focus. Betty Williams was the Nobel Peace Laureate who participated this year. She is, from my very brief encounters with her, a warm and passionate individual. As our fourteen year old son said "it was all very deep". PeaceJam was not a feel good event, but a thinking event that spured our already heavily motivated and involved children to even greater events. Thanks to Rody for including us.

William's sweater

Here's the first part of his sweater. It's literally on hold now as it is not a cardigan and we appear to be having spring. I think he's going to grow too much to invest any more knitting. I'll pick it up at the end of the summer, probably when we're at the beach, and finish it. I got the yarn to finish it and had to round out the order with yarn for Max's cardi and (of course) some more sock yarn.

KnitPicks Bare Donegal socks (another pair)

These are the 2nd pair of socks I got out of one hank of Bare. One was knit on size 1's the other on size 3's. Size 1's are better, but sure take a lot longer. The yarn is soft, incredibly soft, and because of that it doesn't wear as well as it might. Be careful about wearing these with any shoes that have friction. I tossed them on with a pair of old tennis shoes and the back of the heel pilled some. (note I did not do a reinforced heel). I will happily knit with this yarn again, I might try a different heel due to the softeness, but probably not. It's great. It's available in colors as "essential tweed" from KnitPicks. Speaking of, I want to rant a bit about their current magazine/catalog format. YUCK! Pages upon pages of books for sale and projects shown from books knit with their yarn and then at the BACK they have TINY rectangles of swatches of their yarns. I want BIG picks of the yarns so I can dream. How about you?

Tahki Stacey Leaf Sweater, changing neckline

For those of you who are on the best knitting list in the world (knittingparents at yahoo groups), you might remember I posted a question about reworking a neckline of the Tahki Stacey Leaf Sweater that I finally finished. After some consideration I crocheted in a stabilizing line, fortified myself and CUT the center neckline, began carefully picking out the former neckline only to discover that I could not possibly alter the neckline without ripping out the seaming and frogging back. So I did and here is the new altered sweater. BTW, I am not fond of the stupid thing and have destroyed the pattern lest I am ever tempted again. My body requires shaping all over the place and this sweater doesn't have any. Unless you are board straight and thin, do not knit this pattern even if it is free and the yarn was deeply discounted, you won't be happy.

Yoke Sweater for William

I have started a sweater for William. My idea was to use up some bits of Swish that I had laying about and hope it was enough for a brown sweater with a patterned yoke. HIS idea was for me to purchase more of the brown yarn and make a cream colored yoke that I later duplicate stitch his name is Japanese Kanji. Since it is his sweater and he is a bright and opinionated boy (and since I do not relish spending time knitting a sweater he will outgrow and never wear) I wisely defered to his wishes. I now am stalking the postal carrier for the latest order from KnitPicks so I can get this thing done while it is still cool. The lastest blast of warm weather worries me and I fear it will have to be frogged before he even gets to wear it. Next time I might consider making a top down sweater so I can add length, but it won't help if he grows rounder as well. I am happy using 2 different sized needles and the Options cables for the sleeves. My latest brain problems make 2 matching items difficult to produce, so I knit sleeves, socks, etc, on 2 circs at the same time. I am using size 4&5 for the cuffs and size 5&6 for the body of the sweater.

Scenes from Radiothon 2007 benefitting Ronald McDonald House Memphis

Radiothon benefits Ronald McDonald House Memphis. Ginger is on the board, the boys and I volunteer here. This House is supported by donations, the local McDonald's owners group and St. Jude. I am lucky and get to volunteer for a grueling shift or 4 during Radiothon and I see it live and in person. Last night I served Rendezvous to the families. (a gigantic thank you to the groups who serve meals here, I know why you bring more than one person!) I was a tad inept with the ovens and dinner was a few minutes late. A family who had been at the hospital all day, like most of them are, was tired and waiting in line for dinner and they offered to help. I thought they were too sweet to jump in when I was supposed to be helping them, but that’s an example of what goes on around here. And while I was prepping the pizzas from Papa Johns, I saw a cute little toddler dressed in pink fuzzy footie jammies stop toddling around and silently throw up, repeatedly. Families gently helped clean up, nobody panicked, she wasn’t rushed to her room. Her parents cleaned her up and later I saw her slumped on her mother’s shoulder while her parents ate a quiet dinner together. Life goes on and here, everyone understands.

When I was cleaning up I overheard many conversations. Parents, coming together after a day at various treatments, check ups and appointments were listening to each other. A parent with concerns about a procedure the following day was reminded she could call the doctor to clarify instructions first thing in the morning. There were no tears. While stirring pasta and discussing the merits of whole foods diets, I heard a mother tell of a family she bonded with last year and that family’s child lost his battle with cancer. She continued to cook, the other mom continued to listen. They were able to speak without explaining medical terms to friends and family, they didn’t have to worry about upsetting anyone, they were among a unique family. One mother said “they’re supposed to be children, they’re supposed to have a childhood! But he (her son) doesn’t seem to mind. Sometimes I feel bad.” And for many many children every year, this home-away-from-home becomes a part of their childhood, a weird, fun, painful, healing, part of their childhood. The children here are with a parent; lucky is the child who has two parents here, or a grandparent. Despite having an ill child, there are other children to care for at home, mortgages to pay and jobs to keep so often parents rotate here. One at a time, weekends together, but weeks and weeks apart. Without the daily support of other parents, this journey would much bleaker for them. Their lives are disrupted by cancer, but they have a haven, a space to live and share and care and laugh and learn from others. Studies show that helps survival rates, and the donations from Radiothon and other RMH fundraisers keep this place going.

Thanks for being here, thanks for doing this. If you haven't donated, you can donate online:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2c9hww

There was a birthday in there somewhere

Max is in here, but you can't quite see him. I enjoyed lunch with friends Friday at a Sushi restaurant, dinner with friends Friday and a surprise WONDERFUL German Chocolate Cake (thank you LANCE!) and then Saturday friends called (not knowing it was my birthday) and whined about not having one of their slippers yet (I promised them for weeks) so they came over, oblivious to the fact it was my birthday. They joined us for rice and smothered venison tenderloins and I dutifully knit on her slippers. I did finish them the next day, I just can't quite locate the photos.

I have a fuzzy feet addiction

or so it would seem if you note how many of these I have knit in the last year. Here is the latest pair (before and after felting. Notice in one photo the length extends over the 12 inch tile.) Right. I finished Renee's and CO immediately for another pair for myself. My latest pair has a hole and is wearing thin on the sole. These are knit out of a terribly inexpensive yarn that is 75/25 wool acrylic. They cost me about $6.

Ann Hood, "Knitting Circle"

This is the first of the complimentary book from DK that I have completed. KnitLit. Parenting, mourning, women’s lit. as a social worker I had to suspect this woman was writing a great deal of non-fiction in this novel. A quick perusal of her website confirmed it. She experienced the sudden and unexpected death of her 5 year old daughter in 2002. after a 2 year journey through depression and inability to focus, write or think straight, she emerged with an essay on grief and then this book. She is, in deed, a knitter. She did not learn to knit to write the book. She learned to knit to save her life and the book came from that. She has even offered a little gift to the readers, listeners and supporters of her latest effort.

http://www.annhood.us/blog

I will bring the book to DK tonight and pass it along. it was a very quick read.

I'm learning Japanese, I'm really learning Japanese I really think so

Apologies to the 80's band that covered that song. Here are the boys working on their Rosetta Stone Japanese. I was floored that one of them ASKED to work on it after having finished two gruelling tests in other classes. Neat! Also very expensive. Here is a link to the full-version online demo. http://tinyurl.com/y49std

and something still OTN after 17+ years

Our marriage! Seventeen years married and nineteen years together. We had planned to spend the weekend with my family in Oklahoma, but honored my father's wishes that we not travel due to the storms. We missed out on some great fun, but enjoyed a rather quiet and long weekend here. This is Ginger with her present, flowers and card. I'm not telling what she received :)
We had a nice lunch at a dim sum restaurant, shopped clearance racks together for hours and generally enjoyed each other immensely. The boys were good too. Of course an XBox rental helped that along...

another FO or two

Another pair of Fuzzy feet, freshly felted. Shelli is modeling them. They are WOTA mulled wine and Outback Mohair on the cuffs and toes.

The sweater is on the blog back in August or September. I credit Target with getting it finally off the needles. There was a camisole on sale for $4.98. It's hard to find one in my size and this fits over the bra so I could finish this sweater and wear it. As you can see I not only finished it, but washed and blocked it and wore it all in about 24 hours. It's Leaf pattern from Tahki Stacey knit in BS Cotton Fleece in gold dust. (thanks Denise for shopping!)

The postman rang twice...

but that's because I was busy recovering from grooming the dog (no, I'm not really hurting him, he just HATES to be groomed), encouraging the boys to focus on their respective work and doing laundry. When I finally answered the door he was holding the box that contained my KnittingParents gift exchange. thanks Eliz! (sorry, Sara pointed out I had not mentioned the contents! 2 skeins of rowan Big Wool and 2 skeins of Skye Alpaca Organic Cotton! A book I have never seen, written by a lesbian knitter and LYS owner :))

Fudge, super Yorki

Fudge, the super Yorki lounging on his buckwheat travel pillow (outgrown by the boys) on his way back from Tulsa after a long holiday weekend with his buddy Gunner. We're heading back in a few more days so he'll "assume the position" again. He's the BEST dog! Rarely barks except when necessary, hikes, bikes, camps, sails and gets along with all dogs and cats. He's getting older and is the only dog now. He did pull a quick stunt a few weeks ago and stealthily stole the meat from the middle of a sandwich (leaving the bread unmoved). He was chastised and dropped the meat. For years we have said we could leave the thanksgiving turkey on the table over night and he would not touch it. It also turns out we have blamed him for occasionally getting in the trashcan, when in fact, it was the cats! We returned from our holiday trip to find the living room trash can spread on the floor. We would routinely have blamed Fudge, but he was with us the whole time. That, of course, leaves the darling cats as the culprits. We owe him an apology. I don't think a trip to the groomers is considered an apology in doggyland but that will have to do as he's quite a mop and I would prefer him to be more dashing for our upcoming trip.

another FO, but sewing not knitting

This top was a dismal failure
I altered and measured and basted and it was ultimately chucked in the trash.
This top
was not a failure, but despite massive measuring, even sewing a dummy, it still pulls across the bust in real life. so the next one will be altered yet again. Perhaps this is why I prefer knitting? While it takes much longer, the resulting fabric is more forgiving of larger areas.

Pizza!

Homeschool science. While studying about chemical reactions, the subject of cake batter as an example of an endothermic reaction was mentioned. Energy in the form of heat. That lead to pizza dough, which lead to pizza. It was excellent by the way. Look at his cute little shirt too!

some new FO's for 2007

Picasa is not cooperating with the "blog this button" and I have tried 3 times. Here are 3 Fo's. I am not certain when they were done. I think they were all completed since Jan 1, 2007. (remember, I have a dementia problem) the aqua socks are technically a re-knit of my mother's birthday socks. They were too short so I ripped them back to the heel turn and added an inch before turning the heel and changed the cuff to a mini-cable since a K2P2 was simply too boring to do again. The pair flecked with color is KnitPicks Bare with donegal. I LOVE it. They are my father's birthday present. The wine colored pair is actually yet another pair of fuzzy feet for a friend. I have yet to knit the pair for her companion, but I will, I promise.