Because, really, who doesn’t love a hat full of roving? (Hey, I didn’t have a basket handy, and I never wear this one anymore anyway . . .

This is a 70/30 Merino/Kid Mohair blend, in the Copper Slate colorway, from Crown Mountain Farms.

Usual kind of stuff today. Work. Home from work. Reading. Knitting. Some spinning. The highlight of the day? The sun actually sort of kind of came out a little bit AND Chappy got not one, but two walks–one at lunch, and one after work. It was gorgeous walking weather–dry, bright, but not glaringly bright, a touch of coolness in the air at lunchtime . . . just really lovely. Pity it’s supposed to rain this weekend again . . . (grin)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Hat full of roving. // 3 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

1. What is your favorite kind of reading? Novels? Biographies? Mathematical textbooks? Novels, really. Primarily fantasy/sci-fi novels–because they seem to be the type of books I go back to most often, pull off the shelves when I’m sick or tired or just want a “comfort” read.
2. What do you like best about your favorite kind of reading? What keeps you coming back to that kind of book? Following a gripping story? Watching characters develop? Being educated about things and places you didn’t know about? Letting your mind relax into someplace completely different? The comfort-thing, I think. It goes back to fairy tales when I was little, with magic and happy endings. Fantasy is just a grown-up version of fairy tales (some darker than others, of course). They usually have happy endings, and the good ones are peopled with characters that I would like to know, and are good company. As much as I like reading more serious literature, history, biographies, and so on . . . I love to just relax into a completely unique world, with unique problems–a nice change from the news and gossip and tragedy of every day life. (Not to say that fantasy worlds don’t have all of those, but . . . it’s different!) Besides, of all the authors on my “favorite author” list–most of them are fantasy authors. If nothing else kept me coming back, they would!

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Thursday Booking…. // Add Comment »

Well, here it is. My 50/50 silk/cashmere. All spun up.

Isn’t it pretty??

I’ve got about 200 yards of it . . . I think. As usual, I can’t remember if my niddy-noddy measures in yards or in meters, although I’m almost positive it measures two fo them, whatever they are . . . and I also lost count right around 100 turns. There may have been 101 or 102 turns around the niddy-noddy . . . but, whatever. I’ve got my yarn and it’s beautiful.

Despite my care in spinning the singles, it’s still not quite as fine as I had hoped . . . not that I care. I love it anyway. And it IS the finest plied yarn I’ve spun. Just not quite as lace-weight as I’d hoped.

On the plus side, though, it’s pretty balanced . . . see?

The interesting part? Though it hangs nice and straight as a skein, there are individual pieces that curl up on themselves. Why? I’m not sure. I mean, obviously those spots are under- or over-plied (though I can never remember how to tell which is which), but overall, the skein is balanced, so . . . no complaints there, either.

Or here. In this little picture, you can see exactly what I had left when I was done plying. One piece is the sample that I took off the singles as I was spinning. The other is the amount left on the second bobbin when the first one ran out. I’d say I got that just about right, wouldn’t you??

I was working on my sock today, while I was getting my gas tank filled ($2.75 a gallon–the lowest it’s been in months). When it was done, I stuffed everything back in my purse as usual. No big deal.

But. When I got home, somehow the working yarn (of course) had managed to get itself tangled in the zipper. Not the teeth of the zipper, like you’d expect. No, but somehow threaded through the mechanism, as if I’d cast on that way. I have no earthly idea how that happened. I even slid the zipper pull all the way to the end of the zipper, so I could easily see both the top and bottom and . . . where the “entrance” was, I have no idea. There was nothing to do but to . . . cut the yarn. So, as of 4:15 this afternoon, this little beginning sock was an orphan. Nothing but loose ends, poor thing.

Now, my new yarn is drying in the bathroom, after I soaked it in Soak (thanks to the little samples Shelley gave me last month). I can’t say, exactly, how well it cleaned since I don’t know how “dirty” my roving might have been (not very, is my guess), but I will say that I liked the way it smelled. Not overpowering–which is a huge plus. My nose is very sensitive to smells–too strong and they’ll trigger a sinus headache. I abhor room sprays, and I like my scents light. So . . . this was nice. And I can’t wait to feel this yarn when it’s all soft and dry!

And then–the next decision. What does one do with approximately 200 yards of fingering weight yarn?? It would actually probably make great socks (the cashmere and silk . . . makes my feet happy just thinking about it) and yet I can’t help but think that something lacy to wear around my neck would be much nicer, don’t you?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Silky Cashmere // 13 Comments »

I did promise you some knitting pictures, huh?

My sweater’s got one, whole sleeve. It’s got an interesting little bump there, I admit, which look strange when the sweater lies flat. However, when worn (since I did try it on, of course), it makes a nifty little triangle on the arm, with the contrast around the armhole as well as around the bottom of the sleeve . . . I like it.

Okay, so maybe I could have stopped a few stitches earlier for the short rows and avoided that “bump” altogether, but since I like the result when worn . . . serendipity, I call it.

In spinning, I currently have two bobbins full of tiny little singles, waiting to ply. Which, considering my lost plying-mojo, is making me a little nervous (grin). But oh, these singles are just so darn pretty! The color is deep and rich. There’s this lovely sheen because of the silk. And soft. Did I mention they’re incredibly, deliciously soft?

And these are just the singles. Imagine what it’s going to feel like when it’s plied and in a nice, loose skein instead of taut around a bobbin. Sigh . . . Cashmere and silk. What’s not to love?

Thank you for your kind words about my Katrina-anniversary post. If you haven’t seen it, please go back and read the comment Mom’s friend left. And while you’re at it, visit Rachel‘s, who is happily waiting for her new baby now, but who lived through the storm herself last year. Gripping reading, I’m telling you.

Fittingly for the anniversary of a monster storm, it’s been raining here again. All day. Again. The rain did pause yesterday for a few hours–long enough for Chappy to get his first walk since last week–but basically, we’ve had rain for about five days now. Blah.

To make it even better, I also went to the dentist today for a two hour visit and am now the proud owner of two temporary crowns and a tired jaw. And, apparently, I’m the first person ever to knit in the dentist’s chair. Not that I knitted while he was actually working on my mouth, you understand. But during the molding portions when the dentist puts a tray full of goo into your mouth and tells you to close and hold still for a few minutes. Those parts. It was more entertaining than looking at the pictures on the wall. And how many people get to be productive at the dentist’s office? (The actual office, part, not the waiting room.)

My parents actually made it TO the correct movie tonight. I mentioned the rain, right? There was no way Dad could golf today. And after the aborted attempt at the movies on Saturday, they figured they’d try again. They saw “Little Miss Sunshine,” and enjoyed it, even if they didn’t loooove it. Yep. That’s right. While I was sitting in the dentist chair, they were at the movies. I’m not complaining, exactly, but . . .

Okay, I’m going to go do some plying now!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Weather • Permalink:Serendipity // 13 Comments »

One year ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in our nation’s history hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

I wrote last year about a friend of my mother’s, who said, “…We are really scared this time. . . . There’s no telling. I
know one thing, we will not have a home if it comes ashore at category 4. I’ve tried to carefully pick only the stuff that would hurt me most to lose, the other stuff, well, it’s just going to be a memory.”

Since the storm, she and her husband have relocated further north in Pineville, Louisiana. They’ve got a nice trailer home (not one of those FEMA trailers), but they are struggling. They are near retirement age and are having almost to start over again. They have spent months fighting with pretty much every official agency and insurance claims person you can think of. They have tried going back to salvage what they can from their old house, tried to do what they could to repair it from the “toxic gumbo” that flooded it. In the process, her husband fell and badly broke his leg–and endured the long car ride back to their current home before letting her take him to the hospital, because there just wasn’t anywhere in New Orleans for her to stay if they could find a hospital to take him to.

We heard from her yesterday, and she had this to say:

“Tomorrow is the anniversary of Katrina. We have put the house up for sale “as is.” We are tired and the task of repairing now seems even more impossible than it did in December. Contractors are just not available for people with little houses. The contractors, understandably, want the big jobs. We are supposed to get an electrical contractor on September 14th and we rejoice over that; however, it’s not carved in stone he will do it either. He said he will call us the day before and let us know whether or not he can do it. I sent him 30% of the fee to hopefully goad him to it a little bit. We have put the price as low as we can to pay off the remainder of our mortgage. I hope someone who is greedy to become a slumlord on the West Bank will bite at it. Meanwhile, we go down there every two weeks to mow the pasture that used to be our yard (it grows fast down here) and pick up garbage that people dump in our yard.

We are very hopeful and very thankful. Tomorrow, D and I will do an on-the-knees prayer to thank God for His bountiful goodness through all of it, not just for us, but for all of us. It makes you realize just what a miracle life really is.”

Why am I telling you all this? For a couple of reasons. One, because like the 9/11 anniversary coming up, this is not an event we as a people can afford to forget. No matter what the reasons were–too much bureaucracy, not enough caring, plain incompetance, or just the size and scope of an overwhelming disaster–the human side of this catastrophe was inexcusable. Nothing could have stopped the storm making landfall. Nothing (it appears) could have stopped the levees from breaking (since it’s not like we build them like the Dutch–heaven forbid we should ask for some help). But the fact that so many people of all races–with straightened resources were left for so long with no way out of the disaster area, and that they were then shunted about the country with no rhyme or reason–and more importantly–with no way to get back, or to get in touch with loved ones . . . this is something that needs to be addressed because, whatever the cause, it underlines how we failed our countrymen and -women when they needed us.

  Maybe not you and me personally. Let’s not forget the charity drive headed by Margene and Susan, which raised over $100,000 for hurricane victims. I know I gave more to charity last year than in any other year. But as a society, we let those people down. I just watched a special on NBC hosted by Brian Williams which pointed out that–all the other humanitarian issues aside (like, gosh, all those people dying), we lost a great opportunity to address the race and class and poverty issues in this nation of ours. America prides itself on being free and equal for everyone–and the vast majority of us really do believe in the idealism of that statement. And as individuals, we largely lived up to that last year, I think. But, really, in this instance, the government failed these people so badly.

And then the insurance companies came in and offered pennies to people who had lost everything. It’s like the government stood on the side of the road, directing traffic around a bad car crash while the insurance companies came in, like ambulances, and parked alongside the road saying, “Sorry, we’d love to help, but it’s time for our break.”

Which brings me to my second reason for this. Not only can we not afford to forget this massive failure, we owe it to them and we owe it to ourselves to do something about it. Write letters to our congress-people. Make donations on behalf of the people who are still struggling 12 months later. Knit them something soft and cozy. Or even something as simple as say a little prayer.

Because I want you to note how my Mom’s friend ended that email. Not full of bitter recriminations, or hatred, or despair (though yes, I hear it, too). But in hope. “…We are very hopeful and very thankful. Tomorrow, D and I will
do an on-the-knees prayer to thank God for His bountiful goodness through all of it, not just for us, but for all of us. It makes you realize just what a miracle life really is.”

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I need to live up to that, somehow.

Red Cross. Humane Society. Mercy Corps. Habitat for Humanity. DoSomething.com. Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Network for Good. Noah’s Wish. ASPCA. Humane Society.

(Climbing down from my soapbox now. There’ll be some kind of knitting content tomorrow–after my mouth recovers from today’s visit to the dentist. New crowns, ick.)

• Tags: General, Weather • Permalink:One Year // 9 Comments »

  I felt kind of badly about the mediocre “Rocking Chair” picture I used yesterday for my “R” post. I love this rocking chair and it deserved better. I bought it for myself when I was in college–the very first piece of furniture I ever bought. And don’t think the symbolism escaped me–it was right around the time I took up knitting, and my Dad in particular was forever teasing me about being a grandma, knitting in my rocking chair.

This, of course, was before my mother became a grandma and he was no longer able to make those kinds of jokes (grin).

But that didn’t matter. I love this chair. It sat in the corner of my bedroom for years, and I spent hours and hours sitting here, reading, or sewing, or talking on the phone. It’s a beautiful chair, made of cherry wood, smooth and comfortable.

It lives, now, in the office/library because it doesn’t really “fit” anywhere else anymore. Both Mom and I prefer cleaner, more modern lines to our furniture–nothing too “fussy”–but still. I love this chair. It’s clean and classic, with just enough detail, but not so much that I look at it now and think, “Oh.”

(Have I said it enough? Because I really do love it.)

First, it was replaced by the white loveseat/chair that was comfy enough for me and Jilly to sit on together. You’ve seen that one many times, slip-covered now, but Chappy’s favorite place to sit. Then four years ago, that was moved down to the dining room, and I got my new, red chair (which you also saw yesterday). The rocking chair has been trying to find its own spot ever since, and has thus, yes, ended up in the corner of the office. I’ll sit it in now and again while browsing for a book, but mostly. . . it sits there, still. Kind of sad (and dusty), really.

I always kept my afghan draped over it, rather than use a cushion. The cushions, which I did try, were always too think and raised me up too high to comfortably rest my elbows on the arms of the chair. But the afghan? Perfect.

Not least of which because my grandmother made it for me. True, it’s crocheted in acrylic yarn, in rather bright pinks and greens (seen better in yesterday’s photo)–which was ironic, because when she started making it for me, my bedroom was yellow.

The point, though, is that my grandmother made this, just for me. It’s the only knitted/crocheted item that anyone has ever made for me, at least since childhood. She had been determined to make one for each of her two sons, her five grandchildren, and her (at the time) two great-grandchildren. As I recall, she had planned on leaving them to us in her will, but decided, instead, to give them as gifts at what was to be her last Christmas, in 1984. She wasn’t up to doing Christmas shopping that year, anyway, and this way she got to see our faces as we opened the boxes. Much better, don’t you think?

Really, that’s it for today. A little chair reminiscence. I’ve been fighting a bad headache (not a migraine, but a throbbing, light-sensitive headache nonetheless) all afternoon, and so . . . this is it for now. (You don’t suppose the 2,009 pages worth of reading I did this weekend could have contributed to the headach, do you? You know, in addition to spinning those cashmere/silk singles? Naaahh . . .I didn’t think so, either.)

Although, frankly, sitting in my rocking chair, curled up in Grandma’s afghan sounds pretty appealing . . . The only drawback? There’s no room for Chappy . . .

And, if you haven’t yet–go visit Carole, would you? She had a sad weekend….

Amanda, too….

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Rocking // 9 Comments »

  Red Chair

  Roses

  Red Vase

  Red Frame

  Railing

  More Roses

  Red Roving

  Refrigerator

  Rocking Chair

  Red Rocks

  Still more Roses

• Tags: ABC-Along • Permalink:R is for Random // 6 Comments »

  Well, here’s my second installment of Sundara’s Petals Collection sock club. A very pretty purpley-blue with hints of rose, “Hydrangea” yarn. Really lovely! The picture of the actual yarn is far too dark (rain and dark skies ALL day), but the colors in the picture of the picture of the finished sock is pretty accurate.

And the pattern that came with the socks is lovely, too, but I’m already thinking about converting it to a toe-up sock. I knitted the last pair cuff-down as written, but I really prefer toe-up, you know? By a lot.

Of course, you would think this was perfect timing, since I only just finished my last pair of socks, but here’s my dilemma. I’ve had a sock pattern idea in my head for a month or two now, and was determined to do that next, but now that this has come, I want to do this sock, too. What’s a girl to do? Well, really, I think I’ll do my own idea first, see how that works out. I’m sure the pretty hydrangea yarn won’t mind waiting just a little longer, right?

I have done some spinning this afternoon, though. I pulled out the cashmere/silk that Kathy my Yarn Aboard spinning pal sent me, and then pulled out my never-before-used high-speed flyer for my wheel and started spinning, concentrating on spinning as finely and evenly as I could. I want to stretch this gorgeous stuff as far as I can, and so am shooting for 2-ply laceweight when all is said and done. It’s really just so, so pretty!

And then there’s the sleeves to my sweater. I started one last night,
but had barely picked up the stitches around the armhole, when I had to
stop to think some more . . . so, that’s . . . brewing, too. Full of
knitting ideas, but with no real knitting progress to show you.

It’s been a quiet Saturday. Dad got a call this morning that the golf course was closed due to rain, so he’s been (sulking) around the house. Mom and I opted not to go out at all, not even for coffee, and I’ve spent the bulk of my day reading. But not JUST reading. I also baked bread for the first time in months. Three loaves of it, one of which we’ve all sampled and judged it to be good. As usual, I didn’t use an actual recipe, just kind of flung things into the mixer bowl while the yeast was proofing. In this case, there’s oatmeal, cornmeal, molasses, walnut oil, dried cherries, milk, some yogurt . . . It’s good to know I haven’t lost my touch–it’s delicious.

At the moment, my parents are out–they decided to wile away some rainy-Saturday time by going to the movies and left about 3:30 for a 4:00 showing of “Little Miss Sunshine.”

At 4:10, the phone rang.

“Well, we left the movies.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, we were in the wrong theater.”
(Naturally I assumed that meant that they drove to the wrong multiplex, had perhaps looked at the wrong listing in the newspaper, but no . . . )
“We went in and got our seats and by the time we realized we were in the wrong theater and went to the right one, there weren’t any seats left.”

This is particularly funny because my father’s always teasing my mother about wanting to leave so early to go to the movies, because she wants to get good seats, but according to him, the theaters are never actually crowded. And as they left the house at 3:30, he was grumbling (in a teasing way) about how they really could wait longer before leaving . . . And apparently the theater they WERE in only had about 5 people, and so he was teasing her even more about how “crowded” it was . . . except, it turns out that the theater they should have been in was crowded after all, but they were too late, even though they left the house in plenty of time. Ah, the irony!

According to the phone call, they were heading over to Applebee’s for something to eat, and then would be coming home. Now, we eat early in my family anyway. 5:00 is not the least bit unusual, which is fine by me–it just makes the evenings longer and better for relaxing. But 4:10? That’s too early even for me–especially considering I’d had tea and homemade bread at around 2:00. This leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. When my parents are out for dinner, I always make it a point not to start cooking my own dinner until they leave, and of being done, with the kitchen clean, by the time they get back. There’s something uncomfortable, I think, about eating dinner in front of people who haven’t eaten yet–and I always feel rushed if I’m still eating when they get home. Usually, we have no trouble timing these things . . . but tonight? This is going to be a problem I did go into the kitchen, I did know what I had planned to cook, but when I opened the vegetable drawer . . . it was just way too early to be cooking dinner! So, I ate a few mouthfuls of some leftover chicken chow mein, and now fully expect to be starving by 7:00, by which time it will be far too late to make a meal. (In my family, anyway.)

Oh well, at least I’ll have bread!

Oh, and did you hear? There’s a winner for the Wings of the Moth shawl race already. In less than two days. Wow.

I don’t have a Saturday Sky picture today–it’s been raining all day, and really, there’s really no sky worth photographing from my window, so let me refer you to some of the pretty Sky pictures I took on Martha’s Vineyard in May, instead. They’re really much nicer to look at.

• Tags: Baking, Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Petals // 6 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday. (I actually had another one in mind, and all ready to go, but then I realized the date . . . that one will just have to wait until next week!)

In honor of Chappy’s anniversary (you can read more about that here), I’m doing a study in collars today.

The small one is his very first collar, which he wore when he came home at 7 weeks old.

The larger one is his current collar.

(sniff) He’s gotten so big!

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Chappy, Eye-Candy Friday, Family • Permalink:Collared // 14 Comments »

  Ta da! Here are my finished socks, made from the yarn that Lu sent me as part of the Knitter’s Tea Swap. Aren’t they pretty?

I love, really love, the colors in this yarn. Blues and greens, with hints of cream and taupe . . . it’s just so lovely. And exactly the kind of variations I love–not as structured as a striped yarn, but still with this nifty, horizontal hint of a stripe.

Love them.

In other news, I imgine Mickey Mouse is quite upset tonight. Pluto has been demoted. Apparently, we only have eight planets now.

Speaking of dogs, do you know what I was doing five years ago tonight?

Sitting in a hotel room in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, nervous and jittery and excited, waiting until morning . . . when I could go pick up my puppy!

I can’t believe that five years ago tonight I was puppy-less. No little woofy in my life at all. Isn’t that just a terrible thought? For me, at least! Good lord, what would I have named this blog if it weren’t for Chappy??

• Tags: Chappy, Family, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Mickey’s Going to be Upset // 11 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

1. Have you ever wanted to travel to a place described in a book?
   Definitely. I’d love to visit Mary Stewart’s Greece, or L.M. Montgomery’s Prince Edward Island. Hogwarts. Pern. Middle Earth. Sharon Shinn’s Samaria (if only to hear the music!) Whether the place is fictional or not, there are some locations that just sing.
2. Have you ever ACTUALLY travelled to a place because of the way it was described in a book?
   Some, anyway. I made a point of driving through Concord Massachusetts because of Nancy Bond’s “Best of Enemies.” I visited race courses in England in college thanks to Dick Francis….
3. And if so, did it live up to the expectations, feelings, emotions you expected from the book? Did you feel like Anne was going to come romping around the corner of Green Gables? Was it as if Jo was upstairs at Orchard House, scribbling on a story? Or was it just a museum, or just a city street? Like Abbey Road without the Beatles?
   Yes and no. There’s a nice feeling, knowing you’re standing where an author you love must have stood in order to describe something so perfectly. There’s a sense of connection, visiting the home an author lived in. But at the same time, there’s that tiny sense of disappointment that the characters aren’t there. Not that you expect them to be–they’re (usually) fictional, after all. But still, if you’ve read an adventure story that takes place on the Mall in London, and you look around, expecting something exciting and the most you see is a tourist with a camera . . . well. What could you expect? (grin)

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Booking Geography // 4 Comments »

2 plus 2 equals 2.2?

Hmm, that’s not what I remember learning in math class.

And yet, when I plied two sets of two bobbins, I ended up with two bobbins of yarn, and a little over.

Obviously, I’m pretty happy with the yarn, huh? I lost count of how much yardage I have. Something in the vicinity of 500 yards, I think. The one pair of bobbins, the yardage was pretty close–a couple extra yards on one bobbin, but quite close to equal. But the other pair? I have quite a lot of singles left over, and am not entirely sure how that happened (grin).

The bad part? Really not very balanced at all–hopefully setting the twist with a weight at the bottom will help that. Oddly, when I started spinning and was just horrible at spinning even singles, my skeins usually came out pretty well balanced. But the better I get at the actual spinning part, the worse my plying is, in terms of balance. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or why I’ve lost this knack that came so naturally at the beginning, but . . . well . . . it’s still nice yarn! I just need to figure out what want to do with it.

Anyway, my legs are actually pretty tired from all the treadling I’ve done the last few days. I spun and plied 8 ounces of wool since Saturday. That’s five days. That’s unheard of for me! No wonder I’m so tired…. I didn’t even do Chappy’s nails tonight, badly though they need grinding. Nor did I work on the sleeves to my sweater–I was just too tired to think.

No, my knitting tonight was concentrated on my socks–which are coming out just beautifully. I figure I’ve put enough pictures in this post, though, so photos will have to wait. I think about another half inch of ribbing and they’ll be done. You can wait that long, right?

The meme? “List 5 weird things about yourself, your children or your pets. Tag 5
friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs
about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Don’t
forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their
blog!”

1. Chappy loves to rub his head against any hanging fabric–bedskirts, shower curtains, skirts, towels.
2. Actually, he’ll do this to fabrics on the floor too–rugs, dropped towels, laundry on its way to the washing machine.
3. And, of course, there’s the pillow fluffing. He’ll also head-butt pillows, rubbing his ears, his jaw, his cheek hard into the pillow, tossing them to the ground or about the bed, or wherever.
4. When he sees someone worthy of being barked at in front of the house, he’ll bark at the window, and then run into the backyard to continue barking–you know, actually outside, so the barking comes across that much louder and forcefully than blunted by the window.
5. When he says hello, he’ll do this sideways, sidling approach. It goes back to when he was a baby puppy and would roll on his back for tummy rubs. He stays on all four feet, but the impulse is still there, and the head and shoulders have that pre-roll posture . . . it’s very cute.

Now, the tagging? I’m not tagging anybody in particular–but please do join in! And leave me a comment so I know.

• Tags: Chappy, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Two Plus Two // 9 Comments »

Really . . . I’ve got nothing tonight. A neckband on my sweater. Four more rows of lace on my Peacock Stole. (I’m on row 67 out of, what 250?) Halfway through that fourth bobbin of singles. Otherwise . . . Well, hopefully, I’ll have something to say tomorrow!

Meanwhile, go leave a comment for Liz/Lizzy B, would you? She had a really lousy weekend . . .

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Uneventful // 6 Comments »

I did promise you some knitting tonight. I finished the body of my Aurora 8 sweater. (Ends woven in and everything!)

Next up–the neckline, which I figure will be just a few rows of ribbing in the green. Nothing too fancy.

The arms? I’m still playing with ideas in my head about the arms.

I originally conceived this as a vest. But then I thought that I’d conceivably like to be able to wear it on its own once in a while–and even if I wore sleeveless tops, the weight of the yarn makes this too heavy for summer wear anyway. It needs at least t-shirt style cap sleeves of some kind.

Although I still want to be able to wear it over another top–and I absolutely hate having too much bulk around my arms. So . . . the ideas about the sleeves are percolating.

I’m happy with the way this is coming out, though. I like the random stripes. I love the 5×2 ribbing. It fits pretty well so far–not too clingy around my stomach. And I still love, love, love the colors.

And, in spinning, I’ve got my third of four bobbins filled with singles. One more 2-ounce bump of fiber waiting to be spun, and then I’ll be able to ply them. I really can’t wait to see what this is going to look like when plied.

Although, the fourth bobbin is going to take a few days. You know, that pesky work thing cutting down on my leisure hours.

Have you heard in the blog world about the race to make Anne’s Wing of the Moth shawl? That’s quite a competition going on, there! (grin)

Now–go read this lovely little post about the road not travelled.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Then There Were Three // 8 Comments »

I have been spinning a LOT this weekend. Or at least, a lot for me.

I mean, really, I’ve only just this week finished the first pound of merino/silk that I got at Rhinebeck last year. (You know, the fiber I bought three pounds of . . . I don’t know what I was thinking.)

But, anyway, the point is that yesterday I took that bump of 8 ounces of “Great Balls of Fire” Superwash merino. I split it into quarters, and so far have spun half of it into singles, and am now actually about halfway done with the third bobbin. Wow.

I thought about stopping after the second, and then plying the first half together before spinning up the rest of the singles, but decided not to for two reasons. One, the singles are spinning up so quickly (though that’s going to slow down since I have to go to work tomorrow), it makes more sense to keep going, to make sure the singles are consistent. And also, two, while it’s not that difficult to switch to the plying head of my wheel, it’s still a bit of a pain . . . I decided I’d rather wait and do all the plying at once.

Oh, and while I’ve sat at my wheel this weekend? I’ve been in my quiet bedroom, no tv, radio, cd-player, or mp3-player. And what’s been going through my head almost constantly? And with a really good rhythm for spinning? Any number of songs from the Pirates of Penzance, but mostly, the “Tarantara” song of the policemen and the “Come, Friends, Who Plow the Sea.” Great, infectious rhythm that’s really good to treadle to. If I’d thought about it, I might have gotten up and pulled out the cd and played it . . . but it was probably more fun this way.

In knitting, I’ve almost got the body of my sweater done. I’ve got one side of the front done, and just have the second side, which should be done tomorrow. All I have to do is remember how I shaped the neckline, so I can duplicate it (grin). (Because, duh, writing it down would have made SENSE.) It was pretty much impossible to get a decent photo, but once both sides are done and the shoulders are joined . . . hopefully tomorrow.

Oh, and if you’re interested in a Chappy-health update, he’s not coughing/sneezing nearly as much, but his nose seems to be dripping a bit. I’ve considered giving him some Benadryl (because I do still believe this is allergies for him, not a virus), but am concerned with any possible interactions with the antibiotic–which I think is more important. And I’m not so eager to give him an antihistimine that I want to call the vet to ask about it. (Hey, I hate taking antihistimines myself–I’m not anxious to give them to my dog. He doesn’t seem miserable or like he’s suffering, and he’s not making as many snuffling noises, so . . . I figure he’s doing fine without the Benadryl.)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Whirling Dervish // 12 Comments »

Okay, here’s my entry for the Amazing Lace Challenge #6.

Or, well, an attempt, anyway.

The challenge? “Your challenge — your final challenge — is to post a photo of
your lace being proudly worn or displayed by the strangest, funniest,
or most unlikely model you can find. Perhaps you can get the mayor to
model your lace shawl in front of the town hall. Or the high school
quarterback to model your lace socks while in uniform. Or that famous
statue of Cupid in Piccadilly Circus to hang your lace cami off his wings. (Now that
would be a feat and make you an instant finalist.) Maybe your model is
alive; maybe it is an inanimate object. Maybe it is human; maybe it
isn’t. It just needs to be clever and unexpected.”

But, see, I don’t know how “unexpected” this is, really. A peacock modelling a Peacock Feathers stole . . . But since it’s never modelled anything else, and since it’s really quite vain about it’s, um, natural tail, it took a bit of convincing to get it to try out the lace. Because, well, you know how peacocks can be!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Tail Feathers // 6 Comments »

Here’s what our Saturday Sky looked like this morning. It didn’t actually start to rain until around 5:30 tonight, but still. . . kind of gray, huh? And rather humid, though thankfully not a hot day.

Still, Mom, Chappy and I went out this morning. She’s home from Martha’s Vineyard and needed to pick up her vacation pictures. (We’re nothing if not prompt in this family.) So, the three of us headed into town, picked up the pictures, and then hung out at Starbucks for a while. A nice little outing for all of us.

And, see what mom brought us back? A “Chappy” sticker. I don’t want to put it on my car . . . I mean, I would, but I don’t like putting stickers ON the car. The window is okay, but the bumper? I’d rather not. But still, I love it. So for the moment, it’s balancing on my bedroom mirror.

And here’s a look at my spinning wheel. I’m taking a little break from the merino/silk blend I’ve been spinning since November. This is the “Great Balls of Fire” roving that Kathy, my YarnAboard2 pal sent me. Except for that Targhee at Liz’s house last month, this is the first time I’ve spun pure wool in months. I’d forgotten how fluffy it can be. This roving is a treat. Thanks again, Kathy!
Oh, speaking of the Yarn Aboard exchange–my spinning pal, Leah, got her box the other day. It sounds like she liked it!

And, I’ve got one more day to get my last entry in for the Amazing Lace. I’d better get a move on!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Martha's Vineyard, Sky • Permalink:Sticky // 3 Comments »

Cape Pogue Lighthouse. One of the last wooden lighthouses in the world.  The stairs going up to the top of Cape Pogue Lighthouse, on Chappaquiddick. (I stretched out on the floor to take this picture–just couldn’t get the angle right any other way.)

  Their curve mimics that of the Nautilus shell. (They keep a handy sample at the lighthouse to show people.)

  Here’s the view from the top of the lighthouse, facing back toward Edgartown.

  Here’s the actual light–powered by a tiny little lightbulb (think “candle”), which this casement refracts and reflects to make it big enough and bright enough to be seen from a distance.

  The view up to the top of the lighthouse, from the base.

  And, last but not least, of course, the lighthouse itself.

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday, Martha's Vineyard, Sky • Permalink:Pogue-ing Around // 12 Comments »

I did promise you knitting tonight. So here you go.

It looks awfully strange, I grant you, but here’s my sweater.

What you’re seeing in the picture is the bottom of the sweater, knit in the round in a 5×2 rib (which is making the whole thing look a lot narrower than it really is). I’ve got the underarm stitches waiting on holders, and the back is completely done.

I’ve just added yarn to start the front, and will make a point of making sure the stripes match. It’s handy, actually. It’ll make knowing where to start the shoulder shaping that much easier.

Here’s a closer look at the shoulder shaping on the back. Please keep in mind that it’s still on the circular needle, so that last green stripe doesn’t LOOK straight, but it is. But what I did for the shaping, was short rows, to angle the shoulder toward the arm, as well as to put a little curve into the neckline. It’s just really hard to photograph. (Especially when the phone is ringing just as you snap the picture.) I left all the stitches “live” for later. I figure I’ll do a three-needle bind off for the shoulder seam, and I will, of course, be picking up the stitches around the neck later on . . . so why make it harder for myself?

We just talked to Mom on the phone. She sounds really tired, but happy. I mean, why wouldn’t she be happy? She’s still on Martha’s Vineyard . . . for a few more hours, anyway. Their ferry leaves tomorrow morning at 7:00, so she should be back between 2 and 3 tomorrow afternoon. (Or later, depending on whether they all stop for breakfast or not, or how long the rest stops are.) Oh! They went to the Agricultural Fair today, and she stopped and said hello to the woman from the Up Island Eggs blog. (I wonder if she knows about the Knitting Martha’s Vineyard Lovers webring?) Small world, huh? I wonder if she saw Carole’s daughter Hannah anywhere, too? Not that Mom would recognize her, mind you, but still . . .

Okay, one more spinning picture (for now).

See the pretty roving I got from Crown Mountain Farms today? This is a 70/30 Merino/Kid Mohair blend, in the Copper Slate colorway. SUCH a great colorway. I bought 6 oz, with a plan of turning this into 3-ply sock yarn.

(There was other stuff in the box, too, but that’s for my YarnAboard2 Sock pal, so . . . no peeking, sorry.)

My biggest problem, for spinning, now? What do I do next??

I’ve got about 2 more ounces of my current “bump” of the merino/silk that you’ve been seeing for months. And actually, I think I am going to spin that up next, to get it off my desk. (And hopefully empty out the roving left on my bobbin.) Then I’ll have a full pound of that roving spun up. Current count is about 870 yards of that yarn . . . at this point, it would probably be really helpful to know exactly WHAT I plan on making with it, so I’d have a better idea of how much more I need to spin.

Either way, I’m going to take a break from it after I finish that last little bit. But then. . . .what? There’s the Baby Camel, Shetland Moorit, and Suri Alpaca that I ordered a couple weeks ago. All luscious and tempting, but I think it can wait a little longer . . . because there’s that beautiful roving I got from Kathy, my YarnAboard Pal. You remember, the silk/cashmere and the superwash merino? And then, of course, this. Frankly, I think I’m going to go for the “Great Balls of Fire” superwash merino. But really, this is NOT an easy choice! (And it doesn’t even include the 8 oz of green merino/silk I have in my closet, or the Blue Face Leicester in there, either. No. We’re not even thinking about them!)

And, last but not least, a photo of my happy Chappy, playing with his new toy.

Hey, what can I tell you? I love him, he hasn’t been feeling well, and I was placing an order at JBPet for vitamins anyway . . . the boy deserved a fun new toy! And really, who wouldn’t love a cute, purple dragon whose tongue and tail stick out when squeezed?

• Tags: Chappy, Family, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Wheels and Needles // 4 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

This week’s questions were inspired by Caroline. She can’t read The Joy Luck Club without thinking of potstickers and wontons… And no, we’re not talking about cookbooks here. Please leave those out of this discussion.

1. Do you enjoy books that have cooking or eating scenes in them?
   Doesn’t everyone? There are some books that make certain dishes or beverages sound so good, I get cravings. Yummmmm.
2. Have you made or eaten anything that was inspired by a recipe or scene in a non-cooking book?
   Absolutely. All sorts of things, too. A pot of coffee. A specific kind of cake. If the author makes it sound good enough, I want to eat it, too.

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Booking // 2 Comments »

I wouldn’t want you to think that I haven’t been keeping busy, that all I’ve got to talk about is Mom’s vacation or Chappy’s vet visit.

Oh no. I’ve been spinning. See? A bobbin-full of merino/silk 2-ply yarn.

Now, the outer “layer” of the bobbin actually doesn’t look all that good–the amount of twist varies from section to section, some spots are badly over-twisted, and it’s not as good as I’d like it to be.

Or, for that matter, as consistent as the yarn further into the bobbin, or in the batch I finished a couple weeks ago. And believe me, it’s bugging me.

See, as I got near the center of my Woolee Winder bobbin as I plied last night, it decided it didn’t want to turn on my Lazy Kate anymore. It started sticking. A lot.

It wasn’t the tension on the Lazy Kate, because I loosened that to the point where the string was hanging off the bobbins. It wasn’t the “regular” bobbin–that was still spinning fine as I tugged at the singles.

No, this was the trouble-maker. So much so that at one point, I was able to lift the entire Lazy Kate from the floor simply by trying to get the singles to unwind from the bobbin. And finally, at 11:20 last night, I gave up. I was way too tired to have to fight–trying to get the singles to feed off the bobbin and manage the timing and tension necessary to have the plying feed correctly onto the wheel–all while getting frustrated and fighting yawns . . . well, I called it a night. With just this much more on the bobbin. Practically nothing! You can almost see the lighter-colored leader thread underneath the singles. So frustrating, really–I was so determined to get the whole bobbin full last night.

So . . . there’s going to be a certain number of yards of less-than perfect yarn, from the last ten minutes or so of plying, before I faced the inevitable. I’ll have to see just how bad they are when I wind this off to the niddy noddy tomorrow. (It was going to be today, but it’s too late now.) If it’s truly worse than the standard of the rest of the bobbin–or those two skeins I already have done–maybe I’ll put it aside, only use it if I need it later on. I mean, I do plan on making a sweater out of this yarn, and it would help for the yarn to be consistent, don’t you think?

Now, Chappy wants to thank all of you for your kind thoughts. He hasn’t been sneez. . . . er . . . coug . . . um . . . hacking as much today, although he seems to be a little itchier. He’s licking at his paws more. I personally think the medicated shampoo is to blame for that. In my experience, that stuff–even if it says “moisturizing”–is drying to the skin. Certainly his fur feels drier today than usual–it doesn’t have its usual soft fluffiness. I think on Friday I’ll give him another bath–this time with the moisturizing Oatmeal-Aloe shampoo I prefer for him. I tend to think that it’s more important to moisturize than medicate, at least when you’re talking the whole skin. I’ll dab some tea tree oil on the actual infection.

Meanwhile, he hasn’t been sneezing (coughing, hacking, whatever you call it) as much today, although he’s been doing it a little more the closer we get to bedtime. But isn’t that always the way? When you’re sick you always feel worse at the end of the day! He very much wanted to go for a walk today, though, but we didn’t. I’ve been wheezing myself all day. I pulled out the Albuterol inhaler I got last March when I was sick. (You’ll remember, an ear infection, lung infection, and bronchial asthma.Yeah. Good times.) But still . . . I more or less felt short of breath all day and since I know for me it IS allergies, well, I didn’t want to mess with my lungs any more than I have to. According to pollen.com, New Jersey is dealing with Medium-High pollen levels this week, which I believe. Every person I know with seasonal allergies at all is suffering this week. All the more reason for me to think that this is what Chappy’s got, too . . . but, who knows?

And, as to his diet? Chappy does already eat a home-cooked diet. We don’t do the raw-food diet (mostly because the home-made method is just way too messy and difficult, and the prepared raw-food diets are too expensive), but he does get food made with my two little hands. We use Sojourner Farms dog food mix, to which I not only add good, fresh meat, but also skin-friendly oils, garlic powder, some veggies. Also Missing Link. And he gets vitamin E, too, and Prozyme. I think I’ve pretty much got that covered, but . . . maybe not!

Oh, and I’ve been knitting, too, but the progress photos don’t really show that much . . . still, I’ll try to get some sort of progress shown tomorrow.

• Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Bobbin-along // 4 Comments »

Do I have a good boy, or what?

Here’s Chappy, looking all wet and miserable (“You’re not going to put that on your BLOG are you?”), sitting in the bathtub for the mandated five minutes that the medicated shampoo is supposed to stay in contact with the skin.

Medicated shampoo?

Well, yes, the shampoo I got at the vet today, for Chappy’s recurring staph infection. (Which, if anyone has a recommended course of treatment OTHER than the antibiotic from the vet, let me know.)

Because, of course, we were at the vet because of Chappy’s hacking/sneezing/coughing. It’s hard to describe exactly what kind of noise he’s been making–like a cross between a sneeze and a trying-to-clear-the-throat kind of cough. You know, like when you’ve got phlegm at the back of your throat. Which, apparently, he does. As well as a touch of bronchitis. No idea where he got it from, or when, exactly, he picked it up. It’s only been the last couple days that he’s been, um, we’ll call it sneezing more than usual. Or, noticeably, anyway. But it’s not like he’s doing this all the time–mostly when he first wakes up.

In fact, that’s just like me during allergy season. (And, I’m sorry, isn’t it kind of early for allergy season? But I’m sniffly/coughy/wheezy this week, too.) Going from horizontal to vertical first thing in the morning induces a fair amount of snuffling and throat-clearing as the phlegm rearranges itself. But anyway, he woke me up a couple times last night . . . and I’m such a sound sleeper, that should say a lot . . . so I made the vet appointment first thing this morning. And of course, he barely sniffled at all while I was home at lunch, but I brought him at 3:15 anyway, and yep. A touch of bronchitis, along with the staph infection. Could they be connected? Could there be an allergic reaction there since my sinuses have flared up and dogs usually present allergies via itchy skin. But the vet poo-pooed the idea, but he tends to do that anyway. (It’s a clinic with an assortment of vets; this wasn’t my favorite, but for a last-minute appointment, you take what you can get.)

Anyway, he’s now on an antibiotic–which means I have to stop at the grocery store tomorrow to pick up some active yogurt for him, since his stomach is sensitive to begin with–but otherwise, seems entirely himself. In fact, he’s been very playful since we got home. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve thrown his sneaker for him since I sat down here, but he’s happy, so I’m happy.

Although, really, he says he’s tired of being five now. Can’t he go back to four? Or skip to six? I don’t have the heart to tell him that these health things tend to get worse not better as you get older, but yeah. I agree with him. Five hasn’t been all that fun! Well, except for the fun (if exhausting) parts.

• Tags: Chappy, Family • Permalink:Medicine // 17 Comments »

Kind of like last year, here’s a vacation picture from Mom’s vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

She’s been up there since Saturday, but my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew all drove up today to join her. They called here about 6:30 and said they were waving . . .

It’s impossibly grainy, of course . . . my brother-in-law is the tall one in the back, in the white shirt. Mom’s got a black shirt on, my sister’s in red . . . my niece is pretty hard to see here, but my nephew is sitting on his bike. Trust me, there all there.

You know. On Martha’s Vineyard. Without me.

But hey, I’m here with Chappy. And Dad is back from the trip he took this weekend to a seminar in Kansas City. (Yes, my Dad was one of the lucky people to fly last week amongst all the security chaos, although luckily, he had no trouble at all.) That meant that Chappy and I had the house to ourselves all weekend . . . though now that Dad’s home, I have to look after him, too . . . (grin)

Chappy–who apparently really is having trouble with being 5–sounds a little stuffy-nosed today. He’s sneezing more than usual, sounds a little congested when he’s sleeping, and is doing a hacking-cough kind of thing every now and again, much like I do when I’ve got phlegm in the back of my throat. In fact, my sinuses seem be to be doing the exact same thing . . . isn’t it too early for Fall allergies? If he doesn’t sound better soon–or, definitely, if he sounds worse–I’ll take him to the vet to get his lungs listened to.

Otherwise . . . well . . . the perfectly-beautiful weekend is over, the heat and humidity are back (though not those brutal, broiling temperatures of two weeks ago). Mom-and-company are on one of my favorite places. Chappy and I are sniffling together . . .

Yep. It’s Monday, all right!

• Tags: Family, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Deja Vu // 7 Comments »

Quilt, of course.

These are all quilts that I’ve made (although one of them remains incomplete–it’s got about another 15% of quilting to do, and an edging sewn on). That one, and the mosaic sunflower were both machine-pieced, but all the others–and all the quilting–were done by hand. I really much prefer sewing them by hand.

For the mosaic wall hanging, though, there wasn’t time. It was for a wedding gift, and I only found out about the wedding four months before it happened, and it was due exactly the same weekend as the quilt I was making for my nephew’s bed. It was quite a rush, there, to get them both finished . . . and not surprisingly, that was the last time I quilted at all until four years ago when I started the Eternally-Unfinished one heaped in the corner of my bedroom. For some reason, I felt just a little burned out on the quilting thing for a while!

Oh–and for a couple other “Q”s I thought about:

Quest. Or, Quiet.

• Tags: ABC-Along • Permalink:Q is for…. // 8 Comments »

Here are some Saturday Sky pictures for you. It’s a beautiful day today, so Chappy and I went to meet our friends for a walk in the park. Then we came home, Chappy got a bath to make him extra curly, and then sat out on the deck. Just . . . ahhhhh . . .

And now, that’s where we’re heading . . . back to the deck, after a quick stop in the kitchen for a cup of tea. Ta ta!

• Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Sky • Permalink:Park ‘n’ Deck // 4 Comments »

So, there we have it. A nice, turned heel on my socks.

Two, in fact, of course, since I’m doing both socks at once.

This means that all I’ve got is about 6″ of the leg of the sock, and they’re done. The color in the photos is pretty accurate, even though the pictures are a little dark (depending on the monitor, of course). I can’t say enough about how much I like the colors in this yarn. I love the shades. I love the subtle striping–not actual “stripes,” but this nice, horizontal line that kind of gives the impression of a stripe. Really, Lu, thank you.

And then, there’s this.

I can’t show you the INSIDE. (Well, I could, really, but then the person who’s going to get this in a couple of days–if she reads this blog, which she may, or may not, I really don’t know–wouldn’t be as surprised as she deserves to be.) But I CAN show you the outside!

So here it is. My YarnAboard2 Spinning Box, the Marco Polo, on its way out the door tomorrow. Isn’t it exciting?

I may have gotten just a little carried away with the stickers . . .

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Socks and Box // 5 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday. The Atrium at The Breakers Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

For those of you who don’t know, Newport was incredibly popular with the rich and famous during the Gilded Age a century ago, and of all the amazing mansions, The Breakers is considered the best. The grandest. And by far, the most elaborate. (They didn’t call this the “gilded age” for nothing!) This 70-room “summer cottage” was commissioned by the Commodor Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1893 and designed by Richard Morris Hunt.

It’s huge. It’s beautiful. And oh, is it ever elaborate.

I went there with my niece three years ago–I brought her for the weekend as a combo-birthday-8th-grade-graduation present, and we had a wonderful time. We toured all the mansions (or, all the ones we really wanted to see–The Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff), and had a great time together.

I took this picture from outside on the patio. They’re very strict about “No Pictures” inside the mansion–which makes perfect sense–but this actually IS outside. I couldn’t take the picture while on the actual tour, but could easily snap this shot afterwards from the grounds . . . so I did. Because really, that tile work is amazing.

We had such a great time on this trip, too. Which is good, because I’d never really seen Newport before.

Well, once. Here’s the story.

One one very memorable trip to Martha’s Vineyard with Mom oh, I don’t know, ten years ago? The entire trip was an adventure. We got caught in traffic trying to get over the Tappan Zee bridge for hours on Friday night, and didn’t make it to our “halfway” hotel in Mystic CT until about 11:30, and yet we giggled all the way–opting to be silly rather than cranky. We rented bicycles–which was the first time Mom had been on a bike in years and years . . . and her first experience with hand-brakes. She got on her bike outside the rental shop and promptly tottered across the street, collided with a stone wall, and had to head back to the room for bandages. But still, we made it all the way from Edgartown to Oak Bluffs and back–about 12 miles in all–and had a lot of laughs. The whole trip was like that–just a little “off” but in a fun way.

Anyway, we had planned on stopping in Newport for a night on our way home–it’s not really that far out of the way–but when we pulled up in front of the B&B? Well . . . Mom says she expected Lurch from the Addams Family to answer the door. We went in and she was immediately creeped out and said she couldn’t possibly stay there. We ended up using the bathroom and then leaving (losing, I might add, the fee for the room for the night). We stopped in the center of town for lunch, and had a wonderful one. Outside, right on the water, at the Mooring, which has some of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. Great lunch. The best part of the whole visit to Newport. Then we called home and left Dad a message that we were coming home early, and got back in the car. We called again when we reached New Jersey, to let him know we were getting close . . . and he hadn’t listened to the message at all. Even though Jilly (our dog at the time) kept running over to the machine, trying to get his attention. We still think he ran around like crazy to pick things up, make the bed, before we got home about 45 minutes later. (The dishwasher, incidentally, was still warm.)

Prior to the visit in 2003, that had been my sole exposure to Newport, but Mom always told me that I’d like it if I tried again, and with the right person. I guess she was right!

  I have always wondered, though . . . WHY is there a snitch on this old, stone arch?

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Breakers // 4 Comments »

Look!

Look!

See what came today?

My Yarn Aboard 2 spinning package.

Isn’t it pretty?

I love all the stamps. I have a thing for pretty stamps. I don’t collect stamps by any means, but I do make a point of buying nice ones from the post office (well, www.usps.com), and always appreciate seeing something other than the usual stars and stripes.

The best part, though, is that, of course, it’s even better inside. (Although it took me a while, I opened this super carefully so that I can turn the paper inside out and recycle it for my pal–since I don’t know where I could get more of this stuff! I just hope she wasn’t hoping to be able to do the same thing.)

Anyway, mine is the Marco Polo box.

Here we have, the illustration of Marco himself, no doubt on his way to discover pasta and gunpowder–or, more likely–Chinese silk for all us spinners. Because, he brought some with him! There’s 2 oz of Silk/Cashmere roving in here, in the “Reds” colorway. You heard me. Silk. And. Cashmere. Wow!

And then (because, yeah, there’s more!) 8 oz of Superwash Merino in “Great Balls of Fire,” which is so lovely, and so autumn-y, I can’t wait to see what it looks like spun up. I haven’t actually spun a real, multi-colored roving in a while. (Sure, the merino/silk I’ve been working on has variations and touches of other colors, but I wouldn’t call it multi-color, you know?)

  And, let’s not forget the little extras–as if all this roving goodness wasn’t enough–a “C” charm for Chappy’s collar, and a bar of dark chocolate for me.

Does my pal rock, or what??

What’s that? You want to know who she is? Well, I suppose she does deserve the credit, huh? Lots of it, really, let’s face it. Kathy from Knitigator.

Kathy, I’m blown away, I really am. Everything is gorgeous!!!

Now of course, it’s my turn to send the box out to its next recipient. I’ve got everything ready EXCEPT a postcard. Do you know how hard it is to find a postcard in my town? One that shows a picture of anything remotely like where I live? The couple I can think of show scenic spots that are about 30 miles from here, so where’s the fun in that? Or, the one and only postcard of my town? Shows a picture from about 1956 . . . you’d think no-one had taken any pictures since then. (I wonder if I could get my own postcards printed for things such as this?)

Anyway, my box is ready except for the taping-up part. I’ll see if I can get a postcard tomorrow, but if not . . . well . . . I don’t think my Pal would be crushed if I sent a notecard with a picture I took myself, do you? (I don’t really think so, either. Heaven knows it’s more reflective of where I actually live than a picture of High Point.) I can’t wait–I hope she likes her box as much as I liked mine!

So. In amidst all the near-terror chaos today . . . Oh, as bad as the airport mess is here in the U.S., my heart bleeds for all the people trying to fly out of Heathrow. What a near disaster this was–and really, kudos to the folks in the Intelligence industry who caught this. Anyway, aside from the awful news that we (the world) came this close to another massive terrorist attack, there was this touching memorial to the World Trade Center on msnbc.com today. Not the movie, but the buildings themselves, how our view of them has changed since we lost them.

1. Do you plan ahead for your reading? Work off of a to-be-read pile? A reading list? Or do you wing it, choose whatever you’re in the mood for?
   I rarely plan ahead, or not by very far. When I finish one book, I take it back to my “library” at the other end of the hallway and browse the shelves, looking for another book to catch my interest. I know some people who keep their unread books gathered together, but that’s too much like a quarantine to me–I like all my books to feel free to mingle together.
2. If you do plan ahead, how far ahead? Do you have two or three books waiting in queue? Or are you backed up by dozens of volumes waiting their turn?
   About the only time I plan ahead is for assembling books to read on a vacation–saving a new book by a favorite author, or something thematic for the trip (like a book about Cape Cod to read on Martha’s Vineyard, or something like that.)
3. If you do not plan ahead . . . well, never? What about if you’re reading a series? Or someone gives you a book for a present?
   I DO tend to read series in their entirety, beginning to end (assuming they’re all published), so in cases like those, I do know what my next book will be. And the vacation thing I mentioned above. But usually, it all depends on what my current read “sparks” in interest . . . like, pairing Dorothy Sayer with P.G. Wodehouse, or a book with an anthropologist as the main character, sending me to another, entirely different book that happens to also have an anthropologist. I think it’s much more fun that way.

• Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:All Aboard! // 9 Comments »

Tonight, I’ve got some new fiber to show you, from Crown Mountain Farms.

It’s actually only part of my order–I also ordered some hand-dyed stuff for my Yarn Aboard 2 pal, but it (1) hasn’t come yet and (2) I might not show it anyway, in case she reads . . . not that she’d know it was for her anyway . . . hmmm . . . maybe when it arrives, I will!

Anyway, from left to right, there is some Shetland Moorit, some Baby Camel, (Liz is snickering to herself), and Baby Suri Alpaca. Some luxury fibers I haven’t had a chance (well, except for the camel) to try. And all in such pretty shades of brown, too.

Now, in the past, I’ve waxed rhapsodic about my knitting bag, a utilitarian canvas satchel (since discontinued) from PlanetDog. It’s big. It’s functional. It’s roomy. And yet . . . not the most attractive bag. Not ugly, but . . . no real style. And sometimes, a girl wants some style!

I’ve looked all over the internet for a similar bag and have been completely unable to find one. (Or at least, one that wasn’t actually a real doctor’s bag that cost a mint.) So, I thought, what if I tried making one? I could knit the pieces and felt them, and my sewing skills could handle the finer touches, I think . . . except, the bag still needs that frame at the top which holds everything in the right shape.

So, I searched all over for those, and finally found them just the other day. Or at least, even if it’s not exactly right, it’s something. Not only that, the site has a pattern for a satchel, too (about 2/3 down the page). How nifty is that, huh? Oh, and you know what else I saw, at a completely different site? “Textile Board” for the support at the bottom of bags, which sounds much more functional than cardboard, huh?

I have no idea when, exactly, I’ll make this bag. I’ve never felted anything before, and my sewing skills ARE awfully rusty, but still . . . it would look fabulous, don’t you think? And really, the PlanetDog bag can’t last forever, and it’s best to be prepared . . .

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Fibery Goodness // 11 Comments »

This is all I’ve got to show you. The spinning I’ve been doing. About 3/4 of a bobbin full of singles. For me to have gotten this much spinning done in the last two weeks is pretty remarkable. (I hope you’re impressed.)

I have been knitting, too, of course. The sweater (vest?) is getting bigger. In fact, I’m almost at the armholes. Another few more rows, I think. . . .

. . . Which means, of course, that that means I’ll need to figure out what I want to do about the shaping pretty much . . . um . . . now (grin).

The socks are about a half inch away from the heel shaping. (Exciting, I know.) My Peacock Stole Part 2, I admit, I haven’t actually touched in a few days. It’s a shame, isn’t it? It’s never going to be finished at this rate, and I’ve got so much pretty lace yarn in the closet that I’d really like to work on! But . . . we’ll get there once the siren call of irregular stripes is silenced. Because, deciding where to put the stripes on the sweater is almost as good for incentive as a cable pattern, or a fair isle, where you feel compelled to “just finish this section,” before putting the project away for the day.

Speaking of Fair Isle, look at the fabulous book I got today. I haven’t had a chance to actually read it yet, but get this, it’s actually a knitting book that has pages and pages of real text. Not just a little intro followed by nothing but beautiful photos and patterns. No, real, solid explanatory words illustrated by beautiful photos and patterns.

There’s also an analysis of mixing colors, of designing elements. Now, I haven’t had a chance to read Alice St*rmore’s book on Fair Isle (though, thanks Liz for a chance to flip through it). And I do have Sheila McGregor‘s excellent book which has lots of charted patterns. Actually, that’s the one thing this book lacks–it’s got some, but mostly, just for the specific sweater patterns–but it makes up for it with the great color photos of how different colors can blend in a fair isle design. Really, I’m looking forward to reading this . . .

Huh. Any of you interested in punctuation foibles? Check out this article about a comma that’s going to cost a company over $2 Million . . . phew! Grammar rules really ARE important!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Title? What Title? // 10 Comments »

In the absense of greater inspiration, sometimes it’s most helpful to borrow inspiration from someone else.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find
that I lived just
the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

–Diane Ackerman

• Tags: Sky, Uncategorized • Permalink:In the Absense of Greater Inspiration // 6 Comments »

I know it doesn’t look like much, but this is what I’ve spent most of my knitting time on this weekend.

Right now, it’s true, it’s basically just a tube . . . but it’s going to grow into a sweater. Or a vest. Something, for sure, with short or no sleeves, because I don’t have enough yarn for long sleeves, which is fine, because I didn’t want them anyway.

I tossed in a skein of yarn so you can get an idea of the scale . . . another couple inches and I’ll be ready to break for the armscrye.

Really, except for some sock knitting at Starbucks yesterday, all my knitting time this weekend has gone to this. I think part of the fun is deciding where to put the stripes. I was going to do regular, measured stripes, but Mom and I both thought that random would be more fun. Not truly random, of course, because I have a disproportionate number of skeins, but still . . . you get the idea.

It’s coming out so pretty . . . it’s a shame I can”t quite get the colors to photograph accurately. But the fabric? With the Karabella Aurora 8 plus the springiness of the 5×2 rib . . . it’s just . . . great.

One of these nights I’ll pull out my thesaurus and remind myself of some other, better, lesser-used superlatives like “striking,” “keen,” “awesome,” “meritorious” or “smashing.” You know, something a little snazzier than “It’s so pretty!”. It’s not that I don’t have the vocabulary, or that I think you folks wouldn’t recognize a word such as “prodigious” or whatever, because clearly you are all wise and wonderful people, just . . . I don’t know, really. Is it a cultural thing where you just don’t show off, even something as simple as vocabularly and correct grammatical structure? Is it wanting to fit in, talk like everyone else who’s not an English professor? Or just that these simple words like “good,” and “pretty” are just that? Simple. Straight-forward. Solid, Anglo-Saxon, strong words . . . not fancy like the Latin-based ones?

Although the case could be argued that “pretty” and “nice” have been so overused that any strength they originally had has been diluted, leaving them insipid, weak shadows of their former selves . . . but really? Isn’t that a sad thing to think about any word? Can’t you just picture them, sitting in their recliners, their canes and walkers nearby, reminiscing about the days when they WERE the words to use? The strong, active, cut-to-the-chase words that everyone wanted to voice? “I wasn’t always just ‘Nice,’ you know, I used to mean all sorts of things! Wanton. Coy. Punctilious. Well-bred. Now I’m just a worn-out old catch-phrase.” When, no doubt, the word “Gay” says, “You think you’ve got problems? I used to mean happy and merry, and now I’m a political land-mine. Woo hoo. Hurray for me. I remember when I was just a nice word . . . oh, sorry, buddy,” as the word “Nice” winces, “I didn’t mean you.” All while “Like” is sitting in the corner, twitching . . .

Well, anyway (two other words that probably have some issues to work out), it’s been a pretty quiet weekend. Lots of reading. Lots of knitting. We got out for walks each day (Chappy was thrilled). I baked a banana cake this morning and still can’t find a vanilla frosting recipe that tastes like anything other than pure sugar. I made pot roast for dinner, did some really light cleaning (okay, almost none). Sat out on the deck where I got two new mosquito bites to go with the three from last week (which have finally stopped itching, so clearly it’s time for some new ones). (Don’t get me started on mosquitoes. I hate them.) Trimmed some fur on the bottom of Chappy’s feet so he’ll hopefully stop sliding so much on the floors. Did NOT get around to setting up the new wireless router. Did NOT get a chance to take apart my Woolee Winder and clean it (hence, it’s still sitting, unused). But all in all, a good weekend.

Really, it was quite nice.

• Tags: Baking, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:A Nice Post // 11 Comments »

  A nice, blue sky for Saturday.

Well, okay, technically, I took the picture yesterday, but really, it was the first time the sky has looked interesting in ages.

First of all, it was actually blue. Not that pale, insipid shade of blue that’s been bleached and beaten by the heat and then hidden behind a haze of humidity. No. This was a real blue, and a pleasure to behold.

And then, the puffy white clouds. Not dark, ominous, thunderstorm clouds. Not, again, the long, transparent hazy clouds that come with high humidity. No. Actual white clouds, with feathery edges and fluffy piles, like they were enjoying the weather as much as we were.

Because yesterday was a welcome break from the excessive heat of the last week. At lunch, it was only about 80-85 degrees (depending on the themometer you looked at), with a breeze and low humidity. How good did it feel? Well, will it help if I tell you that Chappy got his first real walk in over a week? He was as surprised as we were, I think!

It made him so happy, in fact, that last night, he was acting entirely like himself for the first time in ages. He played. A lot. I snapped this picture as he was tossing his squeaky-toy sneaker in the air. (I know, the toy’s in his mouth in the picture, but trust me. It’s an action shot.) He chewed on his bone. And, really, played and played with his sneaker after supper. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that squeak! Because between being either so tired, or stiff/sore, or just plain old bored, he hasn’t played like that in weeks. It was NICE.

This morning, Mom and I went into town for some errands. I got a new passport picture taken since mine is about a month away from expiring. I picked up some Suede yarn for those Ugg baby booties (one of my Summer of Stash exceptions, and it’s for a gift for heaven’s sake so, no guilt). We stopped at the hardware store for a pair of knobs for the roll-top computer desk in the family room, since the ones that came with the desk had apparently given up. We sat outside with some coffee. It’s a little warmer, a little more humid than yesterday, but still quite nice. And so great that the good weather is falling on a weekend!

Oh, and if you didn’t see this on Stephanie’s blog yesterday, go take a look at the Fairy Doors in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I think I’m in love. What a wonderful, precious little series of surprises.

• Tags: Chappy, General, Sky • Permalink:Nothing But Blue Skies…. // 6 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday. (For which I planned ahead since it’s not like I can post from the office, huh?

I figure after the week that most of the country has had (in other words, HOT), it would be a nice idea to show something cool.

And so, here you go.

Pictures of a nice, deep snow from March, 2005.

I took this picture in the afternoon. The snow that we’d plowed from the driveway had softened around the edges the day before, and then frozen hard, leaving these amazing, fascinating shapes.

And then, with the light coming in at that steep angle? Casting shadows and highlighting the translucent parts? Ooh, so pretty.

Not to mention cold!

As in, refreshingly cold.

Ahhhhh…..

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Brrrr! // 12 Comments »

Okay, can somebody explain to me the difference between a skein-winder and a swift? Because they look remarkably similar and have remarkably similar purposes–to hold a skein of yarn, either as winding it into or out of a skein. So far as I can tell, the only “real” difference is that skein-winders are often vertical, like a ferris wheel, while swifts are horizontal, like a carousel. Is there a reason for that? Does anybody know?

I can see that an umbrella swift would be difficult to use as a skein winder, that the yarn would be too apt to tangle on the corners as it would off the bobbin. But otherwise? Because, see, Liz has a skein-winder on her wheel which made making a skein so much easier than using a niddy-noddy. So I’ve been looking at them. I found some very interesting tips here at Knitter’s Review. But when I started looking, I got confused

  First, there’s the Fricke clamp-variety. Which is more or less what Liz was using and looks admirable for it’s functionality and versatility.

  But it also looks awfully like this horizontal swift. More or less the exact same thing, so far as I can tell, except for being horizontal. Not to mention about half the price.

  And then there’s the Goko swift, which everyone seems to be raving about, which can apparently be used as both. It really does look like a ferris wheel, doesn’t it? All it needs is a few cars filled with happy people . . .

Anyway, I suppose my question is–I’d like to get one of these things, and have been thinking about changing my umbrella swift anyway. I’d rather not spend $120 if I can get basically the same functionality for $60 . . . opinions?

Otherwise, not much going on.

Between the weather (alternating between really hot or really wet for most of the month of July) and his sore back (when he needed to take it easy, but which pretty much overlapped with the decent days in July), poor Chappy has not been getting anything like his usual exercise lately. I think that, plus the lack of sleep, was the main reason he didn’t play more with his new friends last weekend. I tried playing with him yesterday, but he got bored in just a few minutes. And really, it was far too hot to even consider a walk this afternoon. So what did I do? I took him for laps around the house. As in, inside the house. After I finished eating my lunch, I started walking the circle from room to room. Kitchen to family room to living room to dining room to kitchen to family room… Chappy pretty much always wants to be where I am, so he started following me–thinking, at first, that I was going to stop at any of the usual places–the sliders out to the deck, our favorite chair, by the leash–but I didn’t. And so he kept trotting along behind me. I should have counted “laps” but we must have done the circle at least 20 times, and at a fairly good clip, too. Fast enough to stretch the legs, but not so fast as to risk sliding into doorways or anything breakable. The best part, though, was the slightly confused, but “Okay, this is new!” eager look on his face.

Hey, at least it got him off the couch. Stop laughing.

I also get Good Daughter points tonight. Not only did I make supper tonight (pasta with fresh zucchini, squash, onions, red cabbage, and broccoli), but . . .well, when I bought my new laptop last Winter, I had always planned on giving my old one to Mom, as an upgrade to the one she was using. But there were problems with my new one (several new ones) and I hadn’t been ready to give up the old one yet, not altogether, even though it just sat here in my bedroom. It basically hasn’t been used since May, when I brought it on vacation (since it’s about a pound lighter). But her computer has been acting weird lately–the fan’s going all the time, and it’s gotten really slow, don’t know why . . . so, finally, I decided it was Time. So tonight, while she was cleaning up from supper (which I cooked), I moved her old one and set up the newer one in its place, and then crept away, leaving it to surprise her. And it did! (grin). I mean, sure, I could have given it to her months ago, but that’s not really the point, is it? I gave it to her when she needed it. Right? It just means she’ll appreciate it more….

Do your reading habits change for the summer months? If so, how??

Not really. Even when I was still in school, and Summer Vacation would stretch out with all those lazy days, the only real difference in my reading was in quantity. I don’t hang out on beaches, so that’s not really an issue, and a good book is a good book–I’ve taken history on vacation just as readily as light fiction.

I wonder if this changes if you have kids, so that there’s a clear delineation between “summer” and “not summer” in your life, rather than just wearing cool clothes rather than warm ones?

• Tags: Chappy, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Swift like the Wind(ing) Yarn // 7 Comments »

So, Scout wanted to see my UFOs?

Okay, happy to oblige.

First, the beginnings of a sweater or vest (I haven’t decided yet) that I’m making with the Karabella Aurora 8 I got last February, in exchange for leftover Olympic yarn. I don’t actually have a pattern, and am kind of feeling my way as I go along. So far, all I can tell you is that it’s about 16 rows, and knitted in a 5×2 rib.

Now you pretty much know everything I do about this (grin).

Second, there’s Peacock Diva Part Two. You’ll remember that I finished the first half last month, and am now working on the second.

As usual, the second piece feels like it’s going muuuuuch slower. I’m just ready to move on to the next chart section, but have a feeling I’ve got a long way to go. You know how some lace projects just zoom along? Well, this isn’t one of them. But, really, it sure is worth it. I mean, Part One, for all her Diva-ness, turned out to be absolutely beautiful.

(For those of you who have forgotten, I’m taking the famous, beautiful Peacock Feather Shawl and turning it into a rectangular stole.)

Last but not least, my socks. Knitted in hand-dyed yarn from Lu (my Tea-Swap pal). These colors are absolutely gorgeous. A little washed out in this photo. But, regardless, trust me when I tell you that this is beautiful yarn. I really, really love the colors.

So, what else? That, honestly, is all I’ve got in my knitting bag. One sweater. One lace project. One pair of socks. Honest!

I got to see my sister, niece, and nephew today, which I loved, although I think Chappy enjoyed it even more. He was so happy to see them! It’s been weeks. I was also very brave, and I gave away my Green Gable sweater. Technically, I gave it to both my sister and my niece, but it was my niece who seemed happiest to get it. And after I left for work after lunch, Mom tells me that my niece was really happy about it, so I think I made the right decision, huh?

Not only that, my sister and niece were at the sister-in-law’s baby shower this weekend. And apparently, except for the few handmade gifts that they made? She got nothing hand-made for the baby (whose name will be Kaitlyn Elizabeth). I’m so glad I decided to make her those sweaters!

Oh, one inconvenient thing–my office’s IT department has blocked all AOL and Typepad access. Sigh. I mean, of course I should be working all the time I’m there, but still . . . That means I can’t check or answer any email, and I can’t leave comments on any Typepad blogs. At least Newsgator and Bloglines seem to be working. And gmail was allowed when I checked . . . I wonder if I could get in the habit of using that email instead of the AOL….

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:UFOs // 6 Comments »

I’ve got some actual spinning progress shots to show you, isn’t that exciting?

Well, yesterday I showed you the baby camel and the targhee that I spun over the weekend.

But after I plied the camel–which I couldn’t do at Liz’s because I had only had two empty bobbins to bring with my Lendrum and I didn’t want to use her wheel because I wanted to be able to concentrate on plying, not on plying AND adapting to a different wheel (besides which, I was tired)–I wanted to do more, to free up some of my other bobbins in case such a situation came up again.

(And yes, that paragraph was one entire sentence. Why do you ask?)

Anyway, so first, I took out three bobbins with leftover singles from other batches of yarn. Something, I might add, I wouldn’t have thought to do if I hadn’t seen samples of Liz’s with different yarns plied together “just because.” They were all corriedale, just in different colors–purple, green, and red. So . . . I plied them together, just to free up their bobbins and ended up with a multi-colored skein with purple all the way through, but 2/3 with green and 1/3 with red. Really, it came out quite pretty.

Then, I was going to spin some more of my Merino/Silk that I’ve been spinning since November. I reattached my Woolee Winder to my wheel. (I took it off before leaving because I only have two bobbins and they were both busy.) Only . . . it’s not winding. Or at least, it’s technically working . . . kind of . . . but not easily. There’s a vibration as I treadle, a slight “chuff” sound on every other rotation, and a whistling noise like you get when you hum through a comb covered in waxed paper. All things that weren’t there before I lovingly placed it on my desk on Thursday night.

I tried oiling it. Tried adjusting the tension, the height of the mother-of-all, the ratio. Tried the other (full) bobbin, just to see how it spun. Tried manually spinning it very slowly to get a feel for any rough patches. Frankly, I have no idea. Now, it came with a five page set of instructions on how to disassemble it for cleaning which I suppose might work, but . . . it looks pretty tricksy. Not impossible, or not even necessarily hard. Just fiddly and tiny and painstaking.

So, then what was I to do? Well, for one thing, I decided I would empty off the less-full of my two W.W. bobbins. One of them is (was) completely full of singles, and the other was a quarter or third full (I’m really not sure). I decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a completely empty W.W. bobbin to play with while I fiddled with my Woolee Winder, without risk of somehow catching or messing up the singles on the bobbin.

So. I attached my plying-head flyer to my Lendrum and plied all the singles I had on the smaller bobbin, which leaves the first bobbn something like 3/4 full. And yet I got two, good sized skeins of such a pretty yarn… 75 turns on my niddy-noddy for one, 99 turns for the other–so that’s about 350 yards (or is it meters?) Either way–a good amount of yarn!

And, really, I’ve got to tell you. This stuff is sooooo pretty. It’s a gorgeous deep, charcoaly-purple. In direct light, or with a flash, like here, it looks very purple in deed. But in less-direct light (like that top one of the niddy-noddy, or on the left of the one showing all my weekend’s different skeins) it looks almost charcoal gray. But with the nicest accents of white and green and even a hint of burgundy.

I am just so glad I snatched up this stuff at Rhinebeck! I mean, sure, I may have gone overboard in buying three pounds of it. (Really, how was I supposed to know how much I would need for a sweater?) But, oh. Soooo nice. Soooo pretty. Sooooo soft . . .

Now, you must go over to Liz’s and check out her post about our weekend fun, paying special attention to the gorgeous picture of all four of our dogs standing in the front door. Granted, mine is the hardest to see, but still–beautiful photo. And then go to Shelley’s go see the hilarious picture of me and Liz for which she’s having a Caption Contest. (She has some lovely, “normal” photos too, but that first one is just ridiculously silly. We were all so serious and sedate all weekend, I don’t know how THAT happened!)

And, last but not least–check out this F Minus cartoon my Dad made a point of showing me today. (He says Chappy told him I wanted to see it.)

• Tags: Friends, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:How the Wool Turns // 7 Comments »

Here’s my reading list from July–interestingly, there’s only one “current” book on the list, the bio of Andrew Jackson. All the others are either old books being read for either the first time or for a revisit, or new-ish books that were already on the second reading. Hmmm. Go figure! And, really surprising? Since I was visiting this last weekend, I didn’t read a single thing from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. I literally cannot remember the last time I went even 24 hours without reading something! (No, flipping through copies of knitting books doesn’t count.)

1. SWORD OF ORION by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (276 p.) More of a YA sci-fi book than their usual series. Perfectly nice, but . . . not my favorite of theirs. I do love their Liaden series, though. Basically, I resisted the urge to take one of those off the shelf and picked up this instead.

2. A SUDDEN WILD MAGIC by Diana Wynne Jones (412 p.) She also usually writes YA books, fantasy, this time. This one, though, is written for adults and, again, it’s fine, but not as great as her other books. Basically, I read it about once every five years, and that’s plenty…

3. HEART OF GOLD by Sharon Shinn (359 p.) Next to Archangel, this is my favorite book by this, one of my very favorite authors. Sci-fi, placed in a world technologically very like our own, peopled by three races, the Indigo, the sociologically in-charge, matriarchal race, the Gulden, patriarchal, but the less-powerful race. (Oh, and the Albinos, who basically aren’t important to the story.) Nolan is an Indigo man, engaged to be married to an heiress, but working in The City at a biological-lab in the meantime. Kit is an Indigo woman who has been raised with the Gulden and in love the terrorist son of the Gulden leader. I just find this book fascinating in its exploration of power-bases, morality, and what is and is not important. I love it. Love it. By now, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it.

4. DAMSEL IN DISTRESS by P.G. Wodehouse (254 p.) My favorite non-Jeeves book by Wodehouse. George Bevan is a wildly successful, but lonely composer, who, one day has a girl jump into his cab as it drives through London. He falls in love instantly, but she is in love with someone else . . . typical Wodehouse zaniness ensues. (This was made into a mediocre movie with Fred Astaire and George and Gracie Burns way back when, but trust me, the book is better.) Fun and amusing.

5. AUNTIE MAME by Patrick Dennis (292 p.) Speaking of fun and amusing, this novel of the fictional, madcap Auntie Mame throughout the crazy, Bohemian late 20s, through the Depression, and into the forties, raising her orphaned nephew and Living Large all the while. Hilarious.

6. BREAK IN by Dick Francis (317 p.) A nice, enjoyable mystery with one of my favorite Dick Francis heros, Kit Fielding. He is a champion jockey whose sister and brother-in-law are being unfairly attacked by a newspaper, and dives in to help. I love Kit. He’s smart, resourceful, strong, athletic, and generally just a wonderful guy.

7. BOLT by Dick Francis (318 p.) The second Kit Fielding book, this time helping his fiance’s family deal with a hostile business associate making threats. Light, fun, perfectly decent little read.

8. HAVE HIS CARCASE by Dorothy Sayers (440 p.) Harriet Vane, on a walk on the beach, finds a dead body, and investigations with Lord Peter Wimsey begin….

9. DIE FOR LOVE by Elizabeth Peters (274 p.) One of those light, fluffy kind of mysteries. Jacqueline Kirby, to avoid a Nebraska winter, heads to a Romance Writers conference in New York. There, she meets up with two old school chums, a shifty literary agent, a beautiful writer, a handsome “front” for a bestselling male author . . . it’s murder at its most fun, and Jacqueline herself at her most outrageous.

10. ALDEN AMOS’ BIG BOOK OF SPINNING (473 p.) Finally, finally, I got through this book! It’s been the foundation of the pile next to my bed since November, when I got it for my birthday. Sheesh! Big, complex, really more detailed than necessary. (Were that many equations really necessary for a book on spinning?) And yet, his writing style is darn readable–he comes across as very opinionated, but with a sense of humor, which is the saving grace. Some of the footnotes are well nigh hilarious. But slogging through all that math just before bed? Well, it did take me eight months….

11. NAKED ONCE MORE by Elizabeth Peters (360 p.) Now that heroine Jacqueline Kirby has become a romance novelist herself, she gets a chance to write the sequel to a famous book whose author disappeared under mysterious circumstances seven years earlier . . . but is she really dead? How do you explain the mysterious accidents that happened to both Kathleen Darcy and now to Jacqueline? This was the first book by this author that I ever read, and I still have a soft spot. Jacqueline is a great character, outrageous and yet always a lady (grin). Fun and light.

12. FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J. R. R. Tolkien (527 p.) Do I really need to give a synopsis of this one? The first of Tolkien’s trilogy, where Frodo begins his quest to destroy the One Ring. This book was a huge favorite of mine back in high school, and has been repaired  many times because I’ve read it to bits! I couldn’t even begin to estimate the number of times I’ve read this book. In fact, my copy is the “Silver Jubilee” edition, published for the series’ 25th anniversary . . . 25 years ago! Anyway, I lost count of the number of reads somewhere around 30….

13. THE TWO TOWERS by J. R. R. Tolkien (447 p). The second of the trilogy, and frankly, it’s always been my least favorite of the three, though it has its good spots. Really, though, I could do without Shelob.

14. RETURN OF THE KING by J. R. R. Tolkien (385 p) And, the finale of the Lord of the Rings. What’s not to love? Good conquers evil, love prevails, nobody you care too much about dies (though Theoden’s death is kind of sad). I find, these days, that I have to be in the right kind of mood for the flowery language, but when the mood is right, I still love these books.

15. THE SWORD AND THE SATCHEL by Elizabeth Boyer (311 p.) Sadly out of print, this is a fantasy book that I’ve enjoyed since high school. Take a classic fantasy quest to save the world from Evil, a magic sword, a wizard, a hero, etcetera. Place them in a quasi-Scandinavian world which has a lot in common with old Norse myths, throw in (very important) a good helping of humor, and there you go. It’s amusing. It’s funny. It’s enjoyable. It’s light-hearted, and most of all, it’s pretty unique. She hasn’t come out with a new book in years, and her last several were a lot more serious and not nearly so much fun, but this one? Her first? Sure, kind of derivative and predictable in places, but it’s so enjoyable, who really cares? This and “Elves and the Otterskin” are my two favorites of hers.

16. RING OF ALLAIRE by Susan Dexter (231 p.) Another old fantasy off my shelf, but this one remains on my “favorites” bookshelf in my bedroom. I love all of her books, but this is the first. It’s a very classic  fantasy–quest, wizards, save the world. Yeah. All of that. But Tristan is such a great character–an orphan raised by a wizard, but with irregular control of his own magic. But suddenly, it’s up to him to take up the centuries’ old quest of finding Allaire of the Nine Rings, held captive . . . yes, I know, it sounds typical and dull.  And yet, her writing is wonderfully descriptive, her characters wonderful, and even after all these years, it’s one of my favorites. The worst shame is that it’s out of print . . . a crime.

17. ANDREW JACKSON by H.W. Brands (560 p.) A good, solid biography of Old Hickory. Other than the battle of New Orleans, he wasn’t a man I knew a whole lot about, and it was interesting learning about him.

17. SWORD OF CALANDRA by Susan Dexter (341 p.) The second book of the “Winter King” trilogy, following the Ring of Allaire. Despite the successes in the first book, Tristan needs to find the sword that belonged to the King defeated when Allaire was imprisoned all those years ago . . . It’s just . . . good. Really good. Tristan is not a traditional hero who does everything right. Nor is he a bumbling incompetent. He’s just frequently in over his head–or he thinks he is–and is burdened by a desire to do what’s right, and an accompanying sense of guilt when he doesn’t feel that he’s done enough. Really, I love him. (grin)

18. MOUNTAINS OF CHANNADRAN by Susan Dexter (367 p.) The third of the trilogy, where Tristan and company head to the mountains to try to defeat Nimir on his home ground. Yep. Still love all of these books.

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Books Read in July 2006 // 8 Comments »