Tudoring Myself

I've always been fascinated with The Tudors- not admiring, mind you, just amazed that so many cataclysmic changes came about because Henry couldn't manage to sire a son with Catherine of Aragon. My guess is that a break with the Catholic Church would have happened regardless, but not then, and not that way. How would the world be different if he had? Or if any of the Tudors had been more prone to the Y chromosome ( their only choices in the family were Mary, Elizabeth, Mary of Scotland, Lady Jane Grey...)(and we know what happened to the last two).

The latest fascination with Henry, et al, was triggered by watching the first 2 seasons of The Tudors ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758790/ ), which played fast and loose with a lot of the history (including keeping Henry young and buff long past his young/buff expiration date), but which also made me sympathetic enough with Anne Boleyn to cry just a bit at her execution.

I went from there to Anne of a Thousand Days ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064030/ )- where Richard Burton made a much more historically accurate Henry, and Genvieve Bujold a totally unbelievable Anne (with 60's hair, regardless of historical era). One thing these fictional accounts all agree on: Thomas Boleyn was a monster- willing to sacrifice three of his children for his own financial gain. That and C of A rocked the unibrow.


Blockbuster bundled Anne M with Mary Queen of Scots ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067402/

) , which I am watching now, starring a very young and beautiful Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson. I'm not very far into it, but it's good.

I also have A Man for All Seasons ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060665/) on hand, which, at least as far as the cast list goes, tells the story of Henry and Thomas Moore without mentioning Anne at all.

And coming, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066714/ ) which is a BBC mini series from 1970.

And what am I doing as I watch all of the Tudor excesses? Finishing Orion's Socks (which do not want to photograph well- maybe those colors confuse the autofocus), and starting a pair of mitered cuff socks from Twisted Playful leftover yarns. I decided, a little late in the game, that I want a new pair of socks for each day of the Sock Summit- despite the fact that Portland in August is absolutely not wool sock weather. I already have 2 pairs done (the Entrelac socks, and Orion's), I'll have the mitered cuff socks done before we leave on vacation in less than 2 weeks, and that just leaves one more pair to knit, which I can do on the road. I haven't knit this many pairs for me in a row since I first gave myself permission to spend money on sock yarn. I have to say that I'm enjoying it enormously.

Side note: I'm having a hard time getting links to copy/paste correctly, and I have never been able to embed the links properly. sorry

Future Jelly

Even though last year's batch never did jell, I plan to make Crabapple Jelly again. Looks like I'll have plenty of raw material (I'll buy extra Pectin)(extra pectin... extra pectin... extra pectin... I like how those syllables sound together).

And yes, we're that close to the train tracks.

The Field Report, Orion's Sock, The Absence of Bugs, and Waves

Soybeans love heat and humidity, and the occasional downpour. The soybeans have been very happy this week.

I finished the first Orion's Sock, the official Sock Summit Sock Pattern. I wound 2 skeins of each color (Koigu, KPPM and KPM) but I might actually be able to squeeze a pair from 1 apiece. We'll see.

The cicadas are emerging. I don't know if we have every-year cicadas, or if the multi-year ones are staggered, but we hear them every summer. However, I had never seen one until this morning, when my husband brought one over to the pool as I was swimming laps. It's a very cool looking bug, and would have made a nice picture for the blog. Unfortunately, by the time I got out of the pool, showered and dressed, it was gone. But this tree trunk is where it would have been, if it was still there.

And it's not amber, and it's not grain, but the hay waves beautifully. It'll be ready to cut soon.

The Marvels of Modern Technology

This is something of a test run. I’m writing and posting from my new mini computer. I’m going to be traveling a bit this year (vacation to the west coast in a couple of weeks, the Sock Summit in August, and SAFF in October- and anywhere else people invite me to come and speak) (hint hint), and I plan to blog from all of those places. We have a laptop, but the notion of lugging a 17 incher on assorted planes was depressing (not to mention the fear of computers displacing flight knitting supplies…). I figured a mini computer was the perfect solution- I can post, and surf, and blog while on the road, without weighing myself down.

Isn’t this the cutest little thing ever? (it’s a Dell, 10” screen). It doesn’t have WORD, but it does have WORKS, which I am using to compose this post. It seems to work just fine (and, in fact, looks a whole lot like WORD).

Anyway, in non-computer news: look at this box of yarn. It’s Marshmallow (80% alpaca, 20% merino) from Decadent Fibers (link in Stash Enhancers on the right of the page), in a new set of colors called Nutty for Nuts. This yarn is even softer than it looks, and I just want to take a nap on it. I see a Fair Isle sweater in this yarn’s future.

And here’s Orion’s Sock- the official sock pattern of the Sock Summit (I think you can buy it even if you’re not attending). I love the pattern, and the beads. I wanted to use STR (Socks that Rock) yarns, but I only had 1 skein of lightweight on hand, and it wouldn’t play with any other yarns I tried. I cast this sock on 3 times before giving up and using Koigu. I am modifying the pattern just a bit- I’m working cuff-down, and doing a short-row heel.

Oh, I haven’t made it to the field for a soybean pic yet. I’ll remedy that in a post a little later today.

1987 Jewel Secrets, #1537

We're into the Really Big Hair Era, and six-pack abs (and very tight shorty-shorts), and extremely weird waistlines.

I know there were actual dolls in this line, but I can't remember why their skirts were so odd.
(Google is my friend: the skirts on the actual dolls also turned into drawstring purses. That accounts for the odd construction, though not for the notion of a skirt that turns into a purse).

The Little Shawl on the Prairie

When most people think of South Dakota, they picture Mt. Rushmore. I take nothing away from The Hills (well, okay, maybe I do. I grew up in the shadow of the Cascades, so to me, The Hills are just that- pretty hills with a few trees on them), but there is more to South Dakota than a carved mountain and a drug store that gives away free ice water.

I live in Eas Triver (SD Parlance for the half of the state that is east of the Missiouri River), the land of the 360 degree horizon, where you can watch thunderstorms building up 100 miles away (a handy thing, especially lately), where 20 mph steady winds are considered a breeze, where there truly are amber waves of grain.

I was happy to represent my part of the state as the South Dakota knitter for the Traveling Shawl ( http://www.traveling50statesshawl.blogspot.com/ ). I expected to take some pictures of The Shawl on the prairie (after all of its travels to big cities and the like, I thought a quiet day or two in the country would be a relief), and I knew that I would marvel at this amazing project, and at all of the knitters who have contributed to it so far. I expected to feel proud, both of the knitters, and of myself, for being part of an enterprise that is so much more than the sum of its participants. I expected to be blown away by the beauty of the design and the softness of the yarn, and I worried that my own knitting skills would not be up to that of the previous 45 knitters.

All of those things happened (my skill was likely up to standard, but I was still intimidated by the possibility of making a mistake).

What I didn't expect, and what caught me totally off guard, was the emotional wallop of seeing the shawl, this work of love and dedication, and the accompanying journal, in person.

The shawl itself is gorgeous, worked in a softly variegated dark mauve, and the yarn is incredibly soft (and even the needles are pretty- KP Harmony circulars). I oohed and aahed over it for a bit, before opening the journal to find page after page, each written by a different knitter, most dedicating their work to specific women and men, battlers, survivors, and those who lost their battle with breast cancer.

The stories described on every page of that journal were amazing, and overwhelming. So many people affected, so much love, so much courage. So much grace. I am not ashamed to say that I wept.

I talked about the emotional connection I felt to the writers, and to the men and women mentioned, whom I will never meet, to the TV and newspaper reporters yesterday (one, whose writing was a little slower due to numbness and redness in her hands, from her own chemotherapy), but I'm not sure I got the point across as well as I would have liked. I talked about how amazing it is to contribute to a single piece, crafted by so many hands, each working with love.

I talked about the women I dedicated my work to- our neighbor Paulette, who lost her battle, and my knitting and spinning friend Deb, who is still battling. I talked about the mundane things, like how to go about donating to this amazing cause. And of course, I talked about myself, because that's the way I roll.

But last night, when I was doing the actual knitting, I thought not only about Paulette and Deb, and the other men and women mentioned in the journal, but about all of the people in my life who have faced cancer. I thought about my husband's mother, and two of his brothers, all gone far too young, and his sister, whose cancer was caught early and cured. I thought about my friend Diane, whose mother, and two grandmothers all battled the Big C. And my stepmother. And Betty at the library. And Kevin. I thought about my aunt, dying of lung cancer in her 40's, and a cousin who died before reaching adolescence, and an uncle with brain cancer. And I thought about my son, whose dire prognosis eight years ago, laid me flat. He faced his ordeal with much more grace and courage than I did, and came through with only scars (visible, and non) as reminders of that dark time.

I thought about how much I whine and moan, how little time I take to appreciate just being here, and being with those I love. I knitted my six rows on the Traveling Shawl as a contribution to a cause, to a fight, that I wholeheartedly support and believe in. But The Traveling shawl gave in return- a renewed awareness of my own good fortune and happiness, and a hope that should I face this battle, that I will be even half as brave as the people in the journal, as my own friends and family have been.

I am honored, and humbled, to be a part of this project.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Publicity Machine

The Traveling Shawl arrived yesterday, and since then, I've been in a kind of whirlwhind of publicity, and publicity arrangements (not to mention some nasty storms in between, and a 100 mile road trip). I taped a TV spot this morning (for the locals: it will air on KSFY, possibly at 6:00 tonight, though that depends on whether anything actually interesting happens in the interim, in which case the story will be bumped. If that happens, check tomorrow), and did an interview with the Aberdeen American News (not sure when the story will come out- I'll get back to you all on that), and I have one more newspaper interview to do, possibly this afternoon.

The shawl is amazing, and the journal that travels along with the shawl, is even more amazing, filled with stories from each of the knitters- tales of their own battles with cancer, with stories of the survival of friends, relatives, and neighbors, and stories of those who lost their battles. Reading it is a deeply moving experience. I'll add my bit tomorrow, after I finish knitting my rows, and just before I get the shawl packed up for the next knitter. I am #46, so the shawl is nearing the end of its journey.

I'll report more fully on the shawl, and this heart touching/warming/piercing project, with pictures, tomorrow. I may also know, by then, if I said anything really stupid on camera- I never remember what I say to microphones afterward. We'll keep our fingers crossed that I was at least coherent.

Not in Kansas Any More

I present: The Oz Quilt

You can't see the little tornadoes I quilted on the sashings (the downside of invisible thread, I guess), but I am very proud of them.

Next up in the quilting dept: My daughter in law asked me to make a very special quilt from The Grands' baby clothes, and so I spent some time cutting 6" and 4" squares from rompers and dresses and shirts (what an odd experience that was- I remember almost all of those outfits, and bought several of them). I think I'll turn them into simple pinwheel blocks (with white)- that'll keep the project from becoming boring, while still not overshadowing the fabrics themselves (which are the reason for the quilt in the first place).

I also finished the Entrelac Socks (Twisted Fiber Arts, Kabam, Leisure). The Entrelac portion is a little loose, but the bulk of the design itself holds the cuffs up. If I knit this pattern again, especially from heavier yarn, I may drop to 7 rectangles (42 sts) rather than 8 (48 sts). But otherwise, the socks are lovely, and I am glad I reacquainted myself with Entrelac (I took a class once, but forgot all of it. Sort of like the 2 years of Russian that I took in high school).

This week's knitting is already planned- I'm starting Orion's Socks (the official Sock Summit sock pattern), and I am the South Dakota knitter for The Traveling Shawl, which should arrive today or tomorrow, for my portion of the knitting. I have 2 newspaper interviews and a TV spot lined up for publicity for the shawl, so if it's here, my next couple of days will be pretty busy. Check out the Shawl and it's travels here : http://www.traveling50statesshawl.blogspot.com/ . It's a pretty amazing project, and I am proud to be participating.

So I'd best go swim my laps and head to the Post Office.

Let Them Knit Cake

The Best Father's Day Cake. Ever.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check out the not so great Father's Day Cakes in the earlier posts.

The Field Report 06-19-09

The grands are here for their last visit before moving across country, so I'm not online much. But I did sneak out to the field and get a couple of pictures of the soybeans. We had some rain this week...

Interesting weather we're havin'

The first three were taken an hour ago from my front porch- no rotation, so it's not a funnel. But straight winds and downdrafts are nervewracking too.

And then from our back porch, just moments ago. That's heavy rain, and maybe some hail (going the away from us).

It's always interesting on the Plains.

Thursday Tab- Whitman Barbie & PJ- A Camping Adventure, 1973

I remember when coloring books often had paper dolls inside. This book had tons! I'll post more pages (including a few just for colring) next week.

Strangely Apropos

Yesterday, as I was sewing little tornadoes on the Oz quilt, there were tornadoes on the ground everywhere, including one less than 10 miles from where my husband and son were working (a farm house with no basement. And no root cellar). It was a hairy afternoon, one of those Interesting Weather We're Havin' kind of days that South Dakota specializes in, with storms popping up on top of storms popping up on top of storms, for about nine hours straight. Over the last two days, we got about 3" of rain (so the soybean pic tomorrow should be good), and a whole lot of rumble, boom and flash.

Though I had the laptop, flashlight and cell phone handy, with the TV on for constant weather updates (they do that here, when it's stormy), ready to make a mad dash for the basement if the sirens went off, I (mostly) calmly worked on the Oz quilt. I got the final borders on, the backing/batting sandwiched and pinned in place, and the entire top quilted. I am thrilled with how it turned out. I will never be a machine quilter's machine quilter, but my skillz have improved steadily with each project. I was able to make little faux tornadoes on the vertical sashings, and outline the rainbows on the squares, and highlight the faces and figures on the panels. All in all, I am happy with it (and I remembered to straighten the edges afterward).

Last evening, I worked on the Entrelac socks- I have about 1 1/2 rows of rectangles left on the second cuff. I no longer have to look at the instructions, which is nice. These cuffs are going to be a little loose on me, though the ribbing is tight enough (and the bulk of the entrelac itself will stiffen the sock). I think if I make another pair (and it's probably safe to say that I will), with the same size yarn and needles, I'll drop down to 7 rectangles (I'm doing the Medium size with 8 for this pair). And I'll definitely need to drop down if I knit entrelac socks with a heavier fingering weight yarn.

Today I plan to get the Oz binding assembled, pressed, sewn on, and tacked down. I shouldn't have to duck any more storms until this evening. I hope.

...and your little dog too

Usually, I let a yarn or fabric to tell me what it wants to be, but I have a deadline on this one, so I couldn't wait for the Oz panels to get chatty. Instead, I just started cutting. I laid out the big panels in a sort of symmetrical arrangement, and then cut up pieces of the coordinating fat quarters and filled in the blank spots. And whaddyaknow... it turned out just fine, even without Dorothy's input.

I still have to put a wider cream on cream border around the whole piece (it's going to be about 55" x 62"- a nice lap/display quilt size), but otherwise, the top is finished. I haven't quite decided how to quilt it. If I had time, I'd do it by hand, but I don't have time. So machine it is, but I'm going to have to be all fancy schmancy with the sewing because I don't want to *texturize* the faces. It'll be an adventure.

P.S. the dark brown print and the one I'm using for the wide border were purchased locally (and they match perfectly- how lucky is that?), but the other prints and panels are all part of Quilting Treasures Wizard of Oz collection http://www.quiltingtreasures.com/content3834.html )

Entrelac

I would have made a pun on the word entrelac (I was thinking of something along the lines of entre vous et moi, but my French is nonexistent, and I don't want to look more stupid than usual). So, no puns this morning.

But I do have a finished entrelac sock cuff to show you all. Once you get going, the process is almost mindless- fiddly but not complex. The color changes in the Twisted Kabam Leisure yarn aren't quite matched to the rows, so here and there we have matching colors together (especially where you have to turn and work back the other direction at the end of a round), but the tones are subtly mottled and they all look so good together, that it doesn't really matter.

The instructions are a little sketchy (pattern link in yesterday's post), and I'm still not sure that I did the ending triangles properly because I worked an additional decrease in each triangle beyond what the pattern called for because it seemed like they each needed one there. But they look okay, and I don't want 66 sts on the foot/heel anyway (I knit my socks on 2.75mm needles with 56-60 sts). The foot will be striped, which will play off the entrelac nicely, I think. (note: the colors in today's scan are closer to the actual yarn colors than yesterday's pic).

I finished the heel (with the coordinating yarn) of the first sock, and then decided to cast on the mate while the process was fresh in my mind. I intend to take/wear these at the Sock Summit (despite the fact that August in Portland can be searing) (I have never been so excited for August to arrive).

I Can't Believe I Did This

Normally, I can live with mistakes and bloopies. I ignore them really well. But the *wide spot* in the border on the Merry and Bright table runner just would not allow ignorance (heh). So I gave up and ripped the binding off, trimmed the edge, and stitched it back in place. It's still not perfect, and the other edge (with the narrower border) is simply not fixable, but it's much better. I can safely ignore it now.

In between dips in the pool (it finally turned Summer-like), I started a pair of Entrelac socks. I was going to use my precious Twisted Playful Netherfield yarn, but it's a heavy fingering weight and the pattern I'm using was written for Noro sock yarn, which is very fine (which yarn I do not love, by the way). So I went with Twisted Kabam (wool/bamboo) in the Leisure colorway, with coordinating heel and toe yarn.

I took an entrelac class a few years ago, from Rick Mondragon no less (editor of Knitter's magazine), at the North Country Fiber Fair. The entrelac part didn't stick, but I did come away knowing how to knit back backwards, which has served me very well. But enough of the entrelac process came back that I was able to use this pattern: http://buttercupia.blogspot.com/2008/04/noro-entrelac-socks.html to get my socks started. It's a bare bones pattern, and if you've never done Entrelac before, you might want to find a tutorial for the basics.

At any rate, I got about 4 rows of squares done before I realized that I was using needles that were too big (2.75mm) and the sock was huge (I had already modified the ribbing because I knew that I did not need 72 sts for the upper cuff, but the entrelac portion was way too big as well). So I sighed and tore it out to the triangle row, and dropped down a needle size (to 2.5mm). I'm much happier with the size and texture now, and am becoming re-familiar with the whole Entrelac notion. Twisted yarn is perfect for this kind of pattern- it really shows off the beautiful color changes. The process is fiddly (though knitting back backwards makes it so much easier and faster) and fun, and I love love love the look.

I hope to get more done today, in between laps.

I can't believe I'm going to show you this

The Merry and Bright table runner went together very well. I've done enough machine quilting now to play a bit with the serpentine quilting (varying the direction of the curving lines to match the direction of the pieced blocks). The binding matches well and I got it stitched down in a minimum amount of time. I took a few nice pics (I really like the one with the morning sun showing through the blocks)

And then.... I turned it over.... and this is what I saw.....

Oh well... And no, I'm not obsessive enough to take it out, straighten the edge and sew it again (which wouldn't work anyway- the backing shifted a bit in the quilting too)- this is the back and it looks okay, if not perfect, from the front. But I may end up keeping this rather than gifting it as I had hoped. Or at least I can't give it away without a note saying I know it's crooked, and I'm sorry. This is what happens when you pair me and a pre-printed border. If the backing had been all-white, I would never have noticed it (it would still have been crooked, but I would have remained blissfully ignorant of that fact).

Also, real quilters will notice that the points on my sashing stars aren't quite right- that's because I used 1 1/2" squares rather than 1 1/4". Oops.

But the Firefly Mitered Cuff socks turned out perfectly. I'm not going to bother writing up this pattern. If you want to make some- search the blog for Mitered Square instructions, then make a cuff with 4 rows of 6 squares. Pick up 60 sts across the top and work 4 garter stitch rows. Sew into a tube. Pick up 60 sts across the bottom. Work 1" of stockinette, and then finish the heel and sole as per your favorite Vanilla sock pattern. Voila! (P.S. the socks are not for me- that's why they're too long)

Next up- I think I'm going to try Entrelac with the Twisted Fiber Arts Playful yarn. It'll be an adventure, and it'll probably look better on the back than the table runner.

The Field Report and Merry Runners

We have had an unseasonably cool June (a couple of days in the 80's, but lately, we've been lucky to hit 70, and a few days were in the 50's), and only a little rain, so the soybeans aren't growing very quickly. But they have a few more leaves than last week, and soon, it'll look like a field of something, rather than teeny green lines.

While I was contemplating whether to make a baby quilt or a holiday themed wall hanging with the Royal Order quilt blocks (Moda Merry and Bright Charm Pack fabric- bought for half price, neener neener), I remembered that I also picked up a couple of coordinating Merry and Bright panels. One has a large motif and several smaller squares echoing the designs in the Charm Pack fabrics- the kind of thing that you cut apart and use with other blocks, which is fun but not what I wanted for this project. But the other panel is... get this... a table runner! A table runner that is exactly the size I need as backing for the 8 quilt blocks that I have already done. So, a table runner it is.

And a very pretty table runner it will be. I'm following the pattern and putting teeny little stars on the sashing as well. It's not a difficult process but it is tricky because, unlike the quilt in the magazine, each of my teeny stars is a different color, which means that I have to be very careful which end of which sashing piece gets which folded corners. It should not surprise you to know that I got the colors wrong in several places before I laid the whole thing out on the floor and stopped trying to assembly-line it. I should get the rest of the runner assembled today, and maybe the whole thing sandwiched (I've been looking for a hand-quilting project, but I don't know if this is the right one- lots of seams to work around in this design). I have some nice green fabric to use as binding.

This project is a good stash buster- it's using up almost all of both of the Merry and Bright Charm packs, plus the table runner panel, plus a about a yard of sashing/block fabric (which was, in itself, left over from the backing of a larger quilt), plus the binding (all of which I had on hand). I feel really virtuous about that.

And I am almost done with the Firefly mitered square socks, but I decided that a shot of an additional stripe on the foot was boring. I will probably have a Finished Pair pic tomorrow.

Thursday Tab- Original B & S Summer, paper and magnetic

Here's another one of my original, digitally designed sets. The paper set has clothing with tabs- print on paper and card stock. The single magnetic page (with no tabs) should be printed on a magnetic sheet.

The clothes should fit last week's dolls as well.

What Global Warming?

(and please, the header is a joke, not an invitation for anyone to *educate* me on the subject. I do believe in Global Warming. I do believe in Global Warming. I do believe in Global Warming).

The high temp so far today is 63 degrees (and that's F), which makes it warmer than yesterday and the day before, which were both in the 50's. I finally had to turn the pool heater off after my husband gently mentioned that spending more to heat the pool for one month than it cost to heat the whole house last winter is not a sensible allocation of funds. Of course, since I want the weather to be warmer, it's chilly. I remember one year, when our friend Jane visited from Portland on her birthday (which happens to be June 11), and it was 112 degrees. I'm not hoping for anything like that kind of heat, but the 80's would be okay. I get cranky when I can't get in the pool.

Since I'm indoors, and dry, I've been knitting and sewing again. I started a baby quilt (or a wall hanging, I'm not sure which), using the Royal Order pattern from the Aug 09 issue of American Patchwork Quilting, and Moda Merry and Bright Charm Packs (holiday themed). It's a lovely, and fairly simple, pattern- the blocks will have sashing between them, and I think I can get by with 12 or 16 (depending on the size of the sashings) and a border. It's just a quick and fun smaller project, and a good way to learn a new technique (making star motifs with folded corners). Since I'm beginning with 5" squares, and not strips, my cutting/construction is a bit different than the magazine directions, but the end result is the same.

I'll finish the Mitered Square Firefly socks soon, and I have just a couple of inches left on the body of the Grey Goose sweater before it's time to divide for the armholes. It's coming along swimmingly. (oh good, way to remind myself of swimming... sheesh)

Back to Normal, Sorta

The grands just left, and so I have a quiet house. They'll be back in a week, but after that they're moving. A long way away. It's a good move and they will love where they're going, and we're very happy for the new opportunities and adventures, but Grandma is just a bit sad over the whole *halfway across the country* thing, so bear with me if I'm mopey for awhile.

There wasn't time for sewing this past week, what with farm visits, and swimming, and movies, and general romping, and hugs and kisses and Pride and Prejudice (and the absolute joy of introducing that story to a young reader), but I did get more knitting done than I expected. I'm making progress on the Grey Goose sweater. It's a lovely basketweave pattern, and the yarn is a super delicious blend of wool, silk and mohair called Creme Brulee (pattern and yarn both available from Decadent Fibers- link in Stash Enhancers).

I finally scored some Netherfield (speaking of P&P) from Twisted Fiber Arts. Netherfield has been #1 on my wish list since I started buying from Meg, and I am so happy to have a skein of Playful (heavy fingering weight). I give a lot of my handknit socks away, but this yarn is for Me Me Me! (I haven't checked for a few days, but last time I looked, there was still yarn and roving available from the latest Twisted update- link in SE as well).

I'm past the heel on the second Mitered Cuff Firefly sock and I love them.

And I've been able to listen a bit to Jerome K. Jerome's Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. The unconnected essays that comprise the book are more amusing than outright funny (unlike Three Men in a Boat), but I'm enjoying it, though I will say that JKJ occasionally veers into Preachy with a side order of Long-Winded on a few of the chapters. The reader is excellent (Chekris? Chiklis? Chikrus?Check List? Chickets? it's hard to tell when I only hear the name without seeing it in writing). I might not run out and buy the print version of this book (as I did with Three Men), but it is worth the listen.

But I think before I do anything else, I'm going to take a nap. Grandma is tired.

Grey Goose

I started the Grey Goose sweater yesterday- you can actually see how yummy soft this yarn is. It's Decadent Fibers (http://www.decadentfibers.com/ ) Creme Brulee, which is 50% Merino, 30% Silk, and 20% Mohair, and it's going to have a lovely, soft, low halo. It's dyed in the Grey Goose colorway, gorgeous subtly mottled greys. The body of the sweater is basketweave, and the collar is cabled, and it's 100% gorgeous. Yarn, pattern, and kit are available from the gals at Decadent. Despite hosting a sleepover for girls aged 7, 8, and 9 last night, I managed to knit several inches on the body.

Speaking of Decadent, check out the exclusive sock pattern that I designed for them, which is included free with their new Savory Sock Yarn (90% superwash Merino, 10% nylon). This is lovely sock yarn- soft and durable.(http://www.decadentfibers.com/yarn/savory_socks.htm).

And while I'm bragging, Decadent Fibers is offerring a kit for the Dakota Wheat shawl that I designed for The Prayer Shawl Companion. Info about all of the patterns and kits on the Decadent Fibers home page. Link for The Prayer Shawl Companion book on the right of this page.

Expurliber

http://www.paraabnormalthecomic.com/

The Field Report, Farm, Finishings, and Fellows

The Grands and I walked up the road a bit, to take a picture of the newly sprouted corn this morning. We decided that the tiny baby corn plants looked very unlike tiny baby corn plants. In fact, they look remarkably like soybeans. My guess is that they are soybeans. Two years in a row. Imagine that. (likely planting was late this year due to snow, floods, cold, wet and rain, so there may not have been time for even short-season corn to mature). Soybeans are interesting to watch too, though not quite so majestic, and except for the musical fruit ditty, there aren't many rhyming touchstones for beans (unlike the old knee-high by the 4th of July thing). We'll work on that.

Last night, we visited a real farm and saw a real cowboy (there are plenty of Fauxboys in South Dakota too, but TJ is the real thing), and fed some real goats, and petted some real horsies, and held some real barn kitties, and saw a real farm dog with only 3 legs (and like a real farm dog, having fewer than the usual complement of legs didn't hamper him a bit), found some real eggs (beautiful natural colors- I want yarn in that green) in real nests, and stepped in a goodly amount of real poop. The Grands aren't exactly City Kids, but they're not Ag Babies either, so it was a pretty exciting outing for them (though disappointing in that Grandma has no intention of letting those eggs hatch).

Voracious Reader and I finished Pride and Prejudice last night. "I told you so," Voracious Reader said to me when we closed the book. "I am good at finding clue words." And indeed, she is.

I finished the first Firefly mitered cuff sock, and am delighted with how it came out. I'm not so delighted with taking pictures of my own feet (especially wearing a sock that is not intended for me, and therefore too big), but the new camera does a wonderful job of outdoor shots. You can even see the grass between the deck slats.

My current Librivox audio book is Jerome K. Jerome's Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. The reader isn't Martin Clifton, but he's pretty darn good. I'll have to find a print copy of this book too.

Twisted Fiberarts Heads Up

You know how I'm always going on and on about the wonderful self-patterning yarns dyed by Meg at Twisted Fiber Arts? And you know how I order some every time it's available? And how it's not available very often? And how when it is available, it's snatched up instantly?

Well, there's some available now, and if you skip on over, you may still be able to snag some wonderful yarns and rovings.

http://www.twistedfiberart.com/default.asp

Thursday Tab- Original B & S

The dolls (with a different swimsuit for Barbie, and titian hair) are from the 1964 Barbie and Skipper set. The clothes are all original, drawn on the computer. I'm also uploading some blank clothes, in case you want to make some yourself (print them out and color them by hand, or do it digitally before printing).

Of Cameras, Miter Progress, Books (audio and print) and Movies

I have a new camera. At least it's new to me- my son bought a new one, and I'm buying his old one, a Nikon Coolpix, not that it's all that old. The quality difference from my old Olympus is amazing. I took the Nikon, and my knitting, and the grandkids, to the park today- and snapped a couple of arty sock shots. Look at how sharp the yarn colors are! I think this one is a keeper.

I'm back on the treadmill (since I can't run and leave the kids alone in the house), so I finished listening to Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and then immediately ordered a print copy. Next up from Librivox is Jerome K. Jerome's Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. I expect to enjoy it every bit as much as Three Men. I also want to reread Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is a wonderful, time-travel book inspired loosely by Three Men in a Boat. I loved the Willis the first time around, and I have a feeling that I'll get even more out of it now that I know a bit about the source.

I won't spoil UP for anyone, but I will say that it's a lovely, wistful, funny, beautiful-to-watch, movie, that is also a whole lot sadder than I expected it to be. The 3-D effects aren't so much about things coming out of the screen at you, as in adding depth to an already highly textured canvas. And 3-D glasses are a lot nicer (and fit over my own glasses much better) than the old cardboard red/green ones that I had to wear the last time I saw a 3-D movie in the theater (the awful Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl- a truly wretched film). On the other hand, it's also a whole lot more expensive- tickets, even for the 5 year old, on a week day matinee, were $9 apiece! (totally worth it, but still...)

And we're working our way through the slightly abridged version of Pride and Prejudice- when we got to Lizzy refusing Mr. Darcy's offer of marriage, Voracious Reader turned to me and said, "She's going to marry him, Grandma. Just wait and see."

Of Prides and Prejudices, To Say Nothing of the Dogs

Voracious Reader is visiting this week, and we always share bedtime reading aloud on our visits. Last summer it was the entire Spiderwick Chronicles. Yesterday, she selected her bedtime book: Pride and Prejudice. I just about burst with happiness, given that P&P is my favorite book in the entire world. She'd been perusing the bookshelves and found a little illustrated Classic Edition which I have a vague memory of buying from a 50 cent table. It's a slightly abridged version, written in more modern language (with the archaic terms explained a bit), and certainly good enough for a starter P&P. We read awhile last night, and when we got to the part where Darcy thought Lizzy wasn't pretty enough to dance with, VR interrupted me with, "He's going to fall in love with her. That's how it always works."

This morning, I noticed that her bookmark is several chapters ahead of where we stopped last night. That's my girl.

I have begun reading Pride And Prejudice and Zombies and am mostly enjoying it. The integration of the zombies is fine. The notion of Ninja Lizzy is vastly amusing, in fact. I'm running into a bit of trouble with the story on two fronts: #1 Mr Bennet is outright rude to Mrs Bennet, Darcy is rude to a totally oblivious Caroline, and Lady Catherine is a warrior of repute, none of which keeps in the spirit of the original. And worse, #2- not being now (nor having ever been, nor will ever be) a twelve year old boy, the incessant ball jokes are wearying (and yes, I mean those balls), and absolutely out of the character of the story. But outside of those quibbles, I'm enjoying the read.

Since I am running/walking outside most of the time lately, I haven't been listening to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog, regularly (I only listen when I exercise alone- it's an incentive, and lately I've been walking with my husband). I love this book- it makes me chuckle at least once a chapter, and I've laughed out loud several times. As soon as I finish listening to it, I am going to track down a copy and read it.

But today, we're not reading too much- today we're going to see UP. Review to follow

Nap Time

2/3 of the Grandkids are here for a week. It's been awhile since they visited for an extended period. I forgot about Nap Time- the one hour in the day when all is quiet and I can tend to blog duties. It goes by quickly, so I'll make this fast.

My dear daughter in law (and I do not say that ironically), gave me a pile of fabrics that she thought she was going to use and then didn't. I feel a tropical quilt coming on.

And some other fun fabrics, most of which coordinate with the Tropicals, which is nice.

And I finished one Firefly mitered sock cuff, and have started on the mate. I'll finish both cuffs before going on to the heels/soles/toes.

Uh oh, I hear some little footsteps on the stairs. Better run. Will check in as I can.