What I made

This is about 155 yards of mohair/alpaca plied with silk (in bigger photo you can see the little silk nubs). This yarn would have been a dud if not for the silk. It was spun weirdly (still can't figure out what I did wrong) but I'm happy with the result. Not as fussy as usual.

6 weeks later

It's so freakin hot here (110 today and no end of 100's in forecast) I bought a portable swamp cooler for my office. It works pretty well, sort of shoots damp air at me, but it's enough to help a bit. Yes, I have AC in the house but the office just never seems to cool off and the computers don't help things. Anyhow, it's a sad day today. I just now finished off the last of my Arizona Diet Blueberry Green Tea, which is no longer available here. Anywhere. (If I am wrong, please let me know!) It seems that Tucson is a favorite city for market testing, and that means the things I love are destined to be discontinued. Wishbone has a new salad dressing, a berry vinaigrette, which is wonderful stuff, good on salad and salmon and chicken. I bought a case of it. Of course, because I bought a case, it won't be discontinued. I ain't taking any chances.

Nice to see y'all - I'll try not to stay away too long...

It's been a couple of months,

But lots of knitting going on - wanna see? I've posted some of this stuff on Ravelry. I think I'm spending more time there than anywhere else, and that's not saying much. Anyhow, here's some stuff for you to see (lots more but no photos yet):
Felted Stained Glass Bag - needs to be lined and handle-d yet, but I just love the colors


Sivia Harding's Journey Cable Socks done with Noro Sock. I was thrilled to match the stripes.


Loksins' formal portrait. I have done 2 more pair but none are as sweet as these, my first


Non-knitting? My roses. I think there are 4 here, and the color is pretty true.


Jaime made the stained glass years ago, and our ornamental iron guy at work made the frame. This window is above my dining room window and the sun was relentless. Danny used perforated steel to calm everything down. It's perfect!


Here's Buster inspecting the turtle. He's fascinated by her.


A very musical finch in the yard. He hung around for quite awhile.


And sunset? You say you want a desert sunset?

Watch this!

I'm not so addicted

But I do like it alot!

61%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I HAVE been knitting

and un-knitting - here's my forest path stole, pre-frogging. I'll get back to that pretty soon (that's 3 years worth of work sitting here - sob)


This is my friend Kari's birthday gift. She liked it.


Oat Couture sweater for my daughter's friend's new baby girl.


And my finally-finished Loksins (after several gauge issues I found great success).


I have more and better photos but I'm tired - I'll get em posted soon.

Gasp...

Officially coming up for air...I have missed posting here. Just want to say hello and post a picture or 2.

This is so cool!

Not much else to say about it. Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

On my soapbox (for a short minute)

I have fought with weight/beauty issues my whole life. (My father told me when I was young that I would grow up to be "handsome", when the idealized beauty was the Breck girl and Marilyn Monroe. To be a handsome girl was to be a real dog. Not that being a dog is a bad thing, but you know what I mean.) Here is a great little movie, sponsored by Dove, that really hit home for me. I think you'll appreciate it too.

Cutest thing EVAH

Go see my friend Kathy's surprise - and check out her website while you're there!

http://uniquedesignsbykathy.blogspot.com/index.html

Go here!

This is too much fun. Couldn't resist sharing it. I made it to level 44. I'll try again tomorrow. And it has been so long since I posted on this that I forgot my password. Ha!! http://freerice.com/index.php

How about a picture to make you happy? It was taken 2 years ago at the Tucson Rodeo right before the cowboy was bucked off.

Thanks, Norma

This is how low rent I really am.

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

At least this proves that I'm actually alive and doing stuff. Knitting's not one of em, some spinning happening, mostly PT on my hand. I don't want more surgery, that's for sure, so I'm following dr's orders and not using my wrist.

Coming up for air

Just stopping in to say hi and tell you that Ravelry is one hell of a great place to be. I can hardly tear myself away! Hopefully I will be inspired to take more photos and keep in touch a little better.

Red Scarf 2008

Go see Norma's post

http://nownormaknits2.typepad.com/red_scarf_project_2007/

(and for cryin out loud I cannot figure out how to make a one-word link to an address - no matter what I try it doesn't work)

and after you're done, you can come back here and click on the PayPal button over there on the right, or donate via Norma Knits. Thanks alot - this is a great cause that needs all the help it can get.

As a reward I will post a cute photo - it's Buster!

Monsoon rainbow

This rainbow was so big I couldn't fit it all in the shot. It's rained every day for a week now and it's a wonderful thing.

Before and after

We had our gigantic palm tree trimmed last week.

Before (actually in the midst) I couldn't find a photo of a true "before" - but those fronds hung down nearly to the ground



And after



It's weird looking now! The neighbor's pool was filling up with palm crap so it was time to trim it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Oops. Sorry. I was admiring my lovely snowdrop shawl photo and decided to enlarge it to REALLY enjoy it and whaddaya know, there is a BIG FAT mistake right in the center of the shot. So the joke's on me. I'll have to take a better shot and post it eventually.

Oh - animal shot!! This is my wonderful Max, looking handsome as ever...

Actual knitting

Well, OK, I finished the Snowdrop, but that was such an old project! I have started a new pattern, Loksins socks, by Cassie at http://cassiana.typepad.com/too_much_wool/ and I tell ya, this is a pleasure to knit. I have been having some issues with numbness in my right arm (I think tied to the severed flexor tendon), which is aggravated by using these small needles, but if I take lots of breaks to rest my hand and arm, I am able to make some progress. It is very nice, no? I'm sort of glad it's slow going since I won't have to take any extra projects with me on the plane.

See you next week! Maybe I'll have a whole sock done by then.

My oughter-graph

Here it is. Proof that I (sort of) met Stephen King. He signed a book. To me. It happened several years ago (I had some really long hair then) but the thrill is not gone. Thanks to Jaime for capturing the special moment for me. Sigh.

Snowdrop Shawl

I can't believe that I stayed on course and actually finished a project (OK, so I started it over a year ago, but hey). Here is my finished beautiful snowdrop shawl (although in this color it's more like the "Slushpile Shawl"). Pattern from The Yarn Harlot, of course.

Are my arms really this fat? Oy vey. Thanks to my production assistants Max and Buster.



Another view - Greta promised a nice closeup and she certainly delivered



And here's one without benefit of a body



This was made with a wool/mohair blend single ply bought on eBay and let me tell you it was a bitch to tink (at least that's what they tell me - I NEVER tink!) but the result is a very soft garment with a soft halo which I don't think comes through very well in these photos. It weighs 2.5 oz.

I actually have finished a couple pair of socks but the dogs were tired of helping me so we'll save those photos for another day. Now, on to the project I was supposed to finish for a friend's 50th b-day - maybe she'll get it on her 51st.