when life gives you scraps

We interrupt this blog to bring you exciting news. The ever elusive Phoebe has been spotted under the hibiscus plant. Tread softly so that she isn't startled.


But wait... We are being watched. To our left, is the silent hunter known as Ricky. Ever ready to pounce, it seems that he is enjoying a post-breakfast snooze.


And now, back to our regularly scheduled blog...

It has been a busy few days doing mostly chores while the weather's nice. We discovered another wasp nest so we had to deal with that. I repotted about half of my indoor plants and I tossed a few others. One more plant needs a new pot because the old one is cracked but I ran out of soil.

As you can see, the cats have been chasing after sunny spots and snoozing. They have such a hard life, eh?

I finished an alpaca scarf that I started last August (as in 2007). No pics yet as I need to give it a wash & block cuz it's very lumpy and bumpy. But I did finish something else that I can show you.


My quilting group made one last year. Most of the fabrics were pulled from my scrap bin. I did have to buy a few extra dark purples to balance things out. I love scrappy quilts and this one turned out great. I think I'll also make one out of blue & green scraps. And would you believe that my scrap bin is still really full?

"If I look really cute, can I have the quilt?" - Ricky

Don't forget - my contest ends tonite at midnight. Don't miss out on some great prizes. And check back tomorrow to see who the winners are.

fog with attitude*

I'm painting chairs today. So I run outside, paint for 10-15 mins. Then I go inside and wait for an hour. Repeat.

Not much I feel like doing in the hour that I have to wait so you get a quick blog post. And what should I write about? Hmmm - what's on the camera?


My newly cast on sock. This is from a dye-ing experiment with socks blanks from my knitting machine and Kool Aid. Hubby has commented that he likes the blue.


Raspberries from the garden. They look better than they taste. Imagine a regular raspberry with a quarter of the sugar/flavour. Yes, these are incredibly bland. I blame it on the poor weather. But I still eat them.


I was rummaging around in our plastic bag bin and I found this bag. Normally, I see bags with a store logo and maybe a Rocky Mountain logo off to the side. But this one is a little different. Wonder where hubby's been shopping...

* what hubby calls the rain shower he got caught in when cycling to work yesterday morning

Police escorted

Our husbands have been cycling together for a couple of years now, and they belong to the same cycling club. Tonight's the last ride of this season, so they get a police escort to close the roads just ahead of them -- apparently 56 riders did tonight's ride.

That's Dotty's husband on the left, and mine on the right. And our friend Sarah's boyfriend (man-friend? significant other?) in the middle. The kids and I went up to meet them at their final destination, with their bikes.

I'm just wondering if I'll get this post uploaded before Markus gets home! Dotty, how did I do?

Oh yeah, some knitting content. I finished two Pokeball hats (free Ravelry download) for the kids. That's the easy photo.

This is the action photo. They like the hats, but then they have to be Pokemon in them.

make your own title

Pattern: my own; your basic 3x1 ribbing over 52 sts and an afterthought thumb
Yarn: Patons Kroy col tutti frutti; less than 2 skeins
Needles: 2.75mm dpns
Notes: These were commissioned by Iris who likes to quilt on her deck even in winter.


And here is a look at Starsky. I'm using a cheap/inexpensive yarn - Bernat Alpaca because I'm going to wear this cardigan while schlepping around the house. This means that it will get stuff spilled on it and it will be covered in cat hair. I knit a cardigan out of some acrylic/cotton Bernat Denimstyle yarn a few years ago and it's ready to be retired/replaced.


I have to tell you a story about Ricky. He is particularly attached to a quilt that I made for my husband 4 years ago. It's nothing special - just a longish lap sized quilt for napping. But Ricky just loves it. If it's lying around, he'll sleep on or under it. On nights when it's a little chilly, hubby pulls it out and uses it as an extra layer. But Ricky will crawl on top and essentially pin hubby to the bed. So hubby slips it under the big quilt so Ricky can't see it. But he found out where it was hiding and a few nights ago, insisted on sleeping on it. So, he spent the night sandwiched between the lap and the big quilt and wedged between my butt and hubby's hip. This is the first time he's ever done this and all because he had to sleep with the quilt. Sigh...


Phoebe is chasing shadows in the living room as I type. The sun is shining through the tree and the leaves are fluttering. Phoebe is pouncing on the shadows and trying to bite them. Ha ha!

did someone say yarn sale?

Oh my! My lys had a great weekend sale. I smartly refused to line up on Sat morning and took my chances (that there would be some yarn left) and didn't venture into the store until late Sun afternoon. I wasn't disappointed:


L to R: Malabrigo sock col. Persia (purchased at the lys but after the sale), Blackberry Ridge wool/silk lace col. dk. chicory, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock col. African Grey, Koigu Kersti, Socks That Rock Lightweight col. Lauma, Socks That Rock Lightweight col. Korppi (STR purchased from Blue Moon using the gift certificate that Gladys gave me for my birthday), (at the bottom) Noro Silk Garden Sock col. S84.

Of course, the sale emptied the shelves so they were restocked with new stuff like Malabrigo sock (I limited myself to one skein) and Misti Alpaca sock (which I sadly put back because I'd already bought too much; maybe next week ;). I was also tempted by the undyed Malabrigo (sock and regular)...

When I got home, I flashed the Malabrigo at hubby (who usually shows no interest) and he actually made some very nice comments. So after some discussion, I'm going to knit him a hat with it. If anyone has a manly hat suggestion, send it my way.

Thanks, Gladys for posting about our 10th wedding anniversary (my goodness! We look like twins in that picture). Yep, we've been married a loooong time. We went out for dinner and I got to wear a new dress that hubby found most attractive ;) And we gave each other traditional tin/aluminum gifts (hey, a 6 pack of Chunky soup counts!). It was a very lovely evening. And then he gave me a small heart attack...

On Mon evening, hubby went for a bike ride with his cycling group. The phone rings right about when I expect him home. It's a cycling buddy, Tony (also Gladys' husband).

Tony: "Hi, it's Tony. There's been an accident..."
Me: ::gulp::

It turns out that a couple of cyclists crashed into each other and ended up in the ditch. They had to call for an ambulance and one gal has a broken elbow/arm. Ouch! So the ride was delayed because of that and then hubby gave Tony & his bike a lift home because it was too dark to ride back. Hubby really needs a safer hobby.

ETA: Hubby wasn't one of the riders who crashed. He was ahead of them but the whole group got delayed and that's why he was late coming home.

And don't forget to enter my contest. There are currently no entries so your chances are good for winning a prize.

Happy anniversary!

I wanted to add to the last post that Dotty and her husband celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary last weekend!

Congrats to you two!

Plus here's a photo of the two of us, taken about a month ago when the weather was a lot hotter!

Just to prove that yes, I am still alive, and still planning to blog more!

Rivendells and the contest

Pattern: Rivendell by Janel Laidman
Yarn: Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette Fingering in Hydrangea; 2 skeins
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Notes: There's an error in the heel turn instructions so I made up my own. When I did the gusset decreases, I decreased to 32 (rather than 31) so that the number of sole stitches equalled the number of instep stitches. I really love this pattern. If I were to knit this again (which I will), I would probably knit a few more rows at the top before doing the wraps. When the sock is on my foot, some of the upper wraps "disappear" into the cuff. I also wrapped too tightly on the first sock so it's a little snug. I loosened up on the second sock but the wraps look sloppy. Oh well... And all pictures of these socks are horrible! They look like ugly flat grey blobs on my monitor but they really are a lovely shade of lavender with bits of pink. And no amount of tweaking will get them to look right. I think it's my camera's fault. Poo!

It's my second sockiversary this month. I've been knitting socks for 2 years now. Yay! My sock yarn stash is so huge that at my current rate of knitting, I'll get through it all in 4-5 years if I never buy sock yarn again (not likely to happen). To celebrate, I'm holding a contest and giving away some great prizes.

1st prize

- a skein of Indigo Moon orangey-yellow sock yarn (the picture is pretty accurate); 404 yds (200g) of super soft superwash sportweight. One skein is enough to make a decent pair of socks i.e. Sivia Harding's Journey Cable Socks (this yarn was used to knit the orange socks in the pattern's picture)
- 2.5mm (US1) Addi 32" circs (not in pic because it's in the mail)
- a reversible sock project bag

2nd prize

- 3 skeins of DGB Confetti Superwash self-striping red/orange/brown (75% wool/25% nylon). This was my very first real sock yarn. I knit my first pair of socks with this yarn and gifted them to a dear friend.
- 2mm (US0) Addi 32" circs (not in pic because it's in the mail)

3rd prize

- sock blocker key chain & instructions plus a little ball of pretty sock yarn to make a mini sock.

So how do you win one of these great prizes? Last year, I made it easy to enter. This year, you have to work for it ;) Find the answers to the following questions:
1. How many pairs of socks have I knit in my lifetime? (only count matching pairs)
Hint: More than 30 and less than 40
2. How many pairs of socks did I knit in the last year (between Sept 07 and now; again only count matching pairs and don't forget my finished Rivendells!)
Hint: More than 10 and less than 20
3. How many sock WIPs do I have?
Hint: More than 0 and less than 5
4. How old is my oldest sock WIP?
Hint: I cast on Feb 2007

Easy, eh? All answers can be found on the blog if you look closely and carefully. Of course, you're welcome to guess. First prize goes to the winner with the most correct answers. If there is a tie, then I'll randomly draw a name from that group. The second prize will be given to a randomly drawn name from all entries. The third prize will be awarded to the funniest comment. I will be the sole judge of that one so make me laugh.

Leave a comment on this post with your answers. One entry per person please and the contest is open to everyone in the entire world. Please make sure you leave contact info (email, blog link, Rav id) so that I can reach you if you win. Contest closes at midnight PDT Sept 14th and I'll announce the winners on the 15th. Good luck!

PS. Allergy alert - yarns are stored in a smoke-free, 2 cat home.

ETA: added hints