Well, hello there!

Long time no see. I was nudged into updating by my Ravelry friends, so here goes.

Since the last post, I just went crazy doing Christmas knitting...lots of socks, scarves, hats, a fabulous multi-color purse for my granddaughter, charity knitting...I look back and wonder how I found the time. Latest is the Clasica coat which will be sent to my daughter for her birthday. She was also the recipient of the Aeolian shawl in the most recent post...hopefully I will be able to post some pictures before I post this entry. I haven't been spinning much, a little here and there, but plan to get back to that soon (wishful thinking).

So here's a shout out to my Freeform Spinners friends - I am spinning in my head, believe me.

Oh, yeah, husband is fine, dogs are fine, all other critters are fine, baseball tomorrow so life is good.

More to come!

What I made part II

Called Part II because somewhere along the line I have written a post called What I Made already.

This is the finished Aeolian shawl from Knitty, overdyed. It's real purty and I'm glad I stuck with it to the end. I will post modeled photos if I can ever find someone to hold the camera.

If you click on the first one you can see the beads. They are pretty heavy and make the shawl just swing and sway in a wonderful way. The whole thing weighs just over 8 ounces.

I just found a big fat mistake in that middle picture but you know what? I don't care.

Calmer waters

Apology received from Knitpicks, although I wonder how I will dye it after it's finished (yes, I will finish it). Knitpicks is going to add a disclaimer to this yarn warning of dye inconsistencies and urging knitters to alternate rows. At least I hope they are. The yarn was cheap but my efforts are not.

I am so screwed

Look at this.

Can you see it? I sure can. I am waiting to see what my pals at Knitpicks have to say. Just imagine: this is only part of about 10,000 stitches which will have to be removed (along with the beads. Can you see the beads?). Oh, I am just so furious!!

The Power of Knitters

This is where I wanted to go. This is what happened. It's just as well, since it would have cost me over $1000 to learn how to make socks better than the ones I'm already making, and to have the opportunity to worship at the feet of some of my heroes. As a die-hard Cubs fan, I can say, "Maybe next year".

On June 13th I'll be doing this (how I love the "insert link" option). Sounds like fun, huh?

Meanwhile, how about a picture or 2 to make your day a little brighter?

Pickle Surprise

I just had to share this

I love Paul Rudd

I got this from BloomingKnitter's blog, and it sounded like a lot of fun. So here goes.

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me “sometime during this year”. The prize is a surprise and will be mailed anywhere in the United Sates. I will spend some time visiting the three winner’s blogs to try to get to know them better, to give me a better idea of what might make a nice gift for them.

Then they will unexpectedly receive a gift from me at some point during the year. You must post this same thing (Paying it Forward Giveaway) on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you’re in, along with a link.

Remember, only the first 3 comments participating in the Pay It Forward Giveaway will receive a gift.

Recap of the Rules:

1. Be one of the first three to leave a comment to this post, with the link to your Pay It Forward Giveaway post.

2. Be willing to follow through on sending out one prize each to three lucky winners of your contest.

3. Make sure your profile has contact information available.

Happy Birthday, dear Jaime

Well, my delightful daughter wrote a sweet blog post that involves ME (what a great subject) and birthday gifts. Who knew she would like those birds as much as I do? (Well, actually, I did.)

Go visit her and wish her a happy day, mmkay?

Happy Birthday, Jaime, I never dreamed I would be such a lucky mom to have you in my life.

Chihuly visit

I went with 3 friends to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix yesterday and took a ton of photos - go look and enjoy...there are a couple of repeaters but it took over 6 hours to upload 'em all and I ran out of time to really edit them. There are a couple of really nice butterfly shots in there that I'm very pleased with.

Here's my favorite:

Ships of Ireland

This video is my beautiful granddaughter (she can be seen sporting the fantastic blond hair) playing viola in her school orchestra. She's in 7th grade. I think the music director is doing a great job, since so often you see grade school orchestras playing what could pass for funeral dirges, and here the kids are lively and seem to be enjoying themselves.



March 11th Concert

This is worth the 5 month wait

I have missed you all, but my new boyfriend has been keeping me so busy. Here he is at work

And of course, you need a photo, so here you are:



It's my Wakame Lace Tunic (from the fall (I think) IK). Only shot I have of it.

Creepy Critter

Sorry we had to kill this girl, but just looking at this gives me the creeps. First black widow I have seen since moving here nearly 5 years ago.




Bonus track: a beautiful butterfly sipping lantana cocktails last weekend.






Bonus track: a beautiful butterfly sipping lantana cocktails last weekend.

I just bought tickets

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/saltimbanco/intro/intro.htm

(I swear to god I tried to make a link here but couldn't do it)

go look at this...half of the purchase is a birthday gift for my oldest friend, the other half is for me.

Alpaca loveliness

This is 8 ounces of the softest alpaca EVER. Daughter gave me the fiber for Christmas and this is how it spun up. I think the color is pretty true. My friend Holly has designed a lace cowl pattern that I'll be test knitting, with the hope that I can do one with the alpaca. I wish you could feel this stuff. It's like BUTTAH

Ha! Ha!

10 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

Last of the Best

2 days ago, we lost Stinky, our last, great cat, who was 17. I think once Rocky left us, Stink didn't have much left. She had outlived 5 other cats. She was found at the age of about 2 weeks in a gutter on Milwaukee Avenue, and I called dibs on her the minute I heard about her. When we finally were able to bring her home, she kept curling up in her litter box. She was dubbed Stinky thereafter. I don't think we'll have another cat - it's just too damned hard to lose them. Here's a picture of her from last year. I took some last week but haven't uploaded them yet.


Here's my picture from last week. Glad I took it!

Gone and never to be forgotten

Today my 16 year old cat Rocky curled up on her little bed at my feet (right under my desk) and died. Just like that. She was healthy and happy to the end, so I am thankful that she had a good long life and didn't suffer at all (I've had way too much experience with that). I'm down to one cat now, which is really hard to believe. Of course Buster the Boxer has the energy level of at least 3 dogs and a half dozen cats, so I think we won't add to the menagerie.

Here's my pretty girl, who was named Rocky Raccoon for her beautiful multi colored coat, doing what she loved: inspecting boxes.

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...