Yes, We Live in the City

So, looked what turned up on our garage to take a little bath yesterday.  Unbelievable.  Now, we have had several bird aficionados  weigh in on what kind of a hawk it is.  Whichever kind it is, isn't this super cool?  I really cannot believe it.  What fun it was to watch!

Planning The Next Project

The Summer of Shawls is winding down.  Now, I know that Summer is not really over for a few weeks, but schools around here are starting and in just a bit it will be Labor Day.  One of the shawls that I had a plan for this Summer is now going to be put aside for next Summer.  There just isn't enough time to knit it and I am getting itchy to start on my Fall Sweaters.  I'll still have a shawl or two on the needles (the Pi Shawl is always in my purse) and the Hap Shawl is at my feet to knit on when I get the urge.  My one and only Summer sweater should be blocking by the end of the weekend, so it will be time to start thinking seriously what the new project will be.

And that does not just happen for me.  The price you pay for having a fairly large stash and multiple projects is sometimes, it is real difficult to decide where to go.  And, also, a whole lot of effort goes into it as well.  So many possibilities.

And all of these went into this basket, that is now housing things in the future, that I might want to knit. But, none of them, this morning are making the cut.  A good nights sleep helps to keep the squirrel moments at bay.

This morning, I went to my trusty book that I started in January.

And realized, I have some great ideas here for Fall/Winter that I want to duplicate.  Only a couple of them really came to fruition, before Spring set in.  I realized how much I really liked these plans, and this morning, I am very much closer to knowing what I am going to knit next.

Most of all, I want my closet to reflect that I am a knitter this Fall, and I finally think I have zoned in on what I want to wear.  Sometimes, a good nights sleep is all it takes, that and a trip to the yarn shop this morning.

The One Where I Don't Go To Stitches

But, I still end up with goodies.  If you remember last weekend, we were at Baby Boy A's graduation from the Law Enforcement Academy, and I missed Stitches.  But, still I managed to get some goodies.  Friend Debbie, shopped for me.

I've always wanted to try Signature Needles, but did not want to commit to circulars since I really like the needle sets I already have.  But ever since Susan B Anderson has been talking about hers that she uses for socks, I have been coveting a set.  I'm going to use my new ones for a pair of socks for me.  When I am done, I'll be sharing the sock pattern on the blog.  It's a super basic pattern that I have done first for Norma years ago, and then for me.  I've changed the pattern up so many times in the last 20 years that it no longer resembles the original pattern, but is pretty similar to all the other ones that are out there.

The deal was while Debbie was shopping around, if she spotted something she thought I would like, she would take a pic and text me.  This is her find and I love it.   Now, what shall it be, 800 yards of loveliness in a sock weight?

I'm super excited about my goodies from Stitches.  I guess you could say, two birds with one stone, eh?!

The Summer of Shawls Rolls On

I do not think we have ever had a Summer where we ran the a/c this little.  Makes me wonder what this Fall/Winter will be like.  In the meantime, I have another shawl off the needles.  This one I have been knitting on since May.

I have blogged about this before, but the really ah ha moment for me, was when I put those markers on every repeat.  It made me a believer.  It was so easy then to keep track of the repeats and the numbers of stitches I was supposed to have while knitting.

I did have a bit of a yarn moment, when right after camp, I ran out of yarn.  I knew it was going to be iffy since I had used a bulk of it on my Downover Shawl earlier this Summer.  I just sent a SOS to Cheryl and she had me a skein in the mail pronto so I could finish my Birds Nest Shawl.

There is an ever so slight difference in the dye lot on the new skein, but to the naked eye or galloping horse, one will never ever know.  I used Stephen West's Stretchy Bind Off on this one again.  I do believe it is going to be my go to bind off for now.  It is just what I needed for the long bind off on this one.

Now, I am off to find my next shawl to finish for the Summer.  It won't be long and the Summer of Shawls will be over and then well, you know it will probably be Fall for Shawls time.

Another Proud Moment

A dose of sadness, a dose of happiness, life goes on.  

Baby Boy A graduated from Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.  14 weeks of training and being away from home.

Miss Mona Lisa loves Uncle Baby Boy B, sometimes too much irritatingly so…

We are so proud of Baby Boy A!  

Now, back to regularly scheduled life, well maybe by the end of the weekend.

What to Say?

Last year, I blogged about our friend moving away.  It was tough, but I knew that she was still around and that I could pick up the phone and talk to her.   This morning we learned that she had passed away. 

Last night, the Radical Knitters met for the first time in about a month to knit and catch up.  We learned then that our friend was not doing very well.   I think we all thought that something was going to happen, but we were not sure when, and I thought perhaps she would still pull it out of her to stay (because that is the way she usually is.)

 After I got home last night, it was a bit difficult to wind down and go to sleep.  During the course of the tossing and turning, I did something that I have only done one other time, I said to the sky, it is okay  to go if you want. (Really, I did!) This morning, after I got to work, we received the email that our dear friend had passed away early this morning.  I was kind of expecting it.

The Radical Knitters, I think, all believe today that it was bashert (a phrase that my friend said once and I have since used it many times myself) -( meant to be) that we were all together last night before she passed getting the latest news on her, knitting and laughing together.

Our friend was special, but doesn't everyone say that about their friends?  But, really she was.  When I first met her 20 years ago, I did not care for her.  I thought she was too honest, opinionated and to the point.  If you would have asked me then if we would be such close friends 20 years later, I would have said you were full of it.

We will miss knowing that she is with us, but tonight, I know that wherever she is, she was in control of her life to the very end and has reunited with her husband.  I'm sure of it.

Thank you dear friend for all you did while you were here, we love you, we will miss you and we will knit together again somewhere sometime.  I'm sure of it.  Save me a seat!

It's True

and I am okay with it and I am not apologizing for it either.  It is who I am.  

The Cycle

It is the first of August.  The common thread of conversations I have been having with friends is where did the Summer go.  In two weeks, the kids will start going back to school, not mine, but kids in general.  In a month, it will be Labor Day and we will be looking at Fall coming on.

Me, I'll be saying, where did my program of getting back on track for losing some weight go?  Well, frankly, the whole new house thing has put a bit of wrench in it.  Are you buying that excuse?  You shouldn't, but hey, it is my story and I am sticking to it.

Since it is the 1st of August, though, I am ready to try it again.  I've pre-paid for a couple of months of Weight Watchers and I think today is a good day to start taking advantage of it.  It is a new month, we have been to the store and bought some healthy snacks for me, my treadmill is ready to go in the basement and I am feeling in control.

On the knitting front, I moving along on my one and only Summer sweater and I have a line up for what is next.  I am going really try hard to knit on a couple of things at a time to get them finished instead of bouncing around all over the place.  One knit at a time!

Here is hoping that when a month from today rolls around, I will have some progress to report on both the knitting and the weight loss fronts!

Spreading the Wealth

We have three local yarn shops in a radius of about 1/2 hour from home.  I've done my best to support all three the last couple of weeks.  I really want to cast on all of these yarns.  But, I am going to finish something first.

From Knit 4 Together - the left bottom two are the same color way just wound differently.  They will be the main color of the pattern below for me.  The top will be the contrast.  This one will not be cast on until later this Summer, but the yarn was on sale, so I had to buy.

Fino from Knit 4 Together.  This is a yet to be named shawl.  It was the last of it and well, you know on sale too.

From Ewe-Nique, I've been wanting to knit one of those half sweaters for a couple of years.  I really cannot say why I decided to buy the yarn now.  But, I did.  I think I went in for a pattern and came out with yarn.

And then there was the trip to Fiber Universe.  I was just going to pick up the new Vogue Knitting magazine and take a stroll along the river.  Erin had a Leftie knitted in colors similar to these.  I wasn't real crazy about Leftie until I saw it in person and in my colors.  Now, I am just itching to cast on!

And friend Debbie had her small tulip sweater knitted up and showing off.  Well, you know the rest of the story.  This probably will not happen until next Spring for Miss Mona Lisa or Bella, but at least I will have the yarn when I am ready to knit on it.

I may be over compensating for not getting to go to Stitches Midwest next weekend, by shopping local, ya think?!

Mix It Up Monday

This post is all over the place.  The Tall Guy leaves the mail on the kitchen table for me since he gets home before me.  I could not figure out what the white plastic envelope had in it.  It was this super cute composition notebook cover that I have coveted since Susan B. Anderson blogged about it earlier in the Spring.  Isn't it super cute!

 The other envelope I knew what it was right away!  My Just Beautiful Alpaca from Cheryl so I can finish my Birds Nest Shawl!

While waiting for the yarn to come, I've been knitting on my Summer Sweater.  The back is done with some modifications.   The pattern is the Women's Boxy Pullover from Plymouth.   I am not a boxy kind of gal, so I've used my standard modifications and am making it with cut out sleeves.

I've got the front cast on and ready to go for knitting at the shop tomorrow.

I really haven't had an appropriate post to show a couple of shawl pins that I picked up at the shop a couple of Saturdays ago.  I figured on Mix It Up Monday, it might be an appropriate time to show them off.  When I was at camp earlier this month, I really decided that I needed some pins to keep my shawls and shawlettes in place.

Both of these are going to fit the bill.  Even though, this is on my sweater as a backdrop, isn't this one super cool.  I am just loving it, even as a decoration on a sweater.  Hmmm.

This pin is going to be perfect for almost every shawl I have!

My pins may get a work out the next couple of days in Central Illinois.  We have had some unseasonably cool nights and mornings which I am okay with.  It seems more like early Fall than July. I'm not complaining though.

When You Get Up At 4 A.M. On A Sunday

I started it.  I was thirsty for lemonade and couldn't sleep.  The Tall Guy was up right behind me at 4 a.m. on a Sunday.  What?!  We both should have been sleeping in.  We spent yesterday at the old house getting it ready for the painter who is starting this week.  We found someone who would paint it, the cabinets, the steps for a really reasonable price.  But, before she could we had to get the rest of the stuff out and do a bit of cleaning.

So, now that I have the laundry done, what will I do with the next 13 hours?  Something to do with knitting and nothing more.  That is what this Sunday is for.  Oh, I have several projects surrounding my chair.  And I while I am waiting for more yarn for my Birds Nest, I have toyed with a couple of WIPs that fall under my Summer of Shawls (as blogged about on Friday).  And I went as far as to wind a couple of skeins of yarn this morning for a shawl that I wanted to cast on this morning in the wee hours.  But, I didn't yet.

I took advantage of the early morning to get outside and get some pictures of a couple of shawls that I do have on the needles.  My Pi Shawl is my purse project.  It is getting pretty close to the point where I am going to need to figure out what kind of lace patterns I want to use on it.

The original plan was to wait until the final increase to do some lace, but after seeing some on Ravelry that did not have lace until the very end, I decided that it was just too plain looking without something.  I'll want it to be fairly easy because I want to be able to do it with a minimum of keeping track.

I've been knitting a bit on the Scallop shawl this weekend, but unfortunately this pic isn't the best.   It tends to get a bit wrinkled when shoved into the project bag.

I will admit though, the neighbors are wondering what the new lady is doing today.  You see while taking the pic of the shawl I had to have someplace to put the attached ball of yarn.  The light was just begging to hold it for me.

While Waiting For More Yarn To Come

for my Birds Nest Shawl, I got a hankering to cast on a new shawl for my Summer of Shawls.  I have a few that I would love to cast on and so I spread them out on the yarn room floor tonight to think and look at.

I started to narrow it down to a quick knit of one skein of sock yarn from Madlinetosh.

 But my common sense piece told me maybe I ought to work on one that was already on the needles while I waited.  This scallop shawl is one that can be easily put down and picked back up  and is a good knitting on the porch project/

watching the bunnies at night project!

Wednesday Website

http://dairylandknits.blogspot.com

You have to watch this fairly new video cast that I have been turned onto.  I am loving it and I think you will too!

My Shades of Gray

Over on Ravelry in the Knitaway board, we've been knitting on the Birds Nest Shawl for our Spring KAL.  I cannot believe how much I have been knitting on it!  I say again, markers have been my salvation on this and I am now a convert to using them on lace patterns.

I took my Birds Nest Shawl to camp to knit on.  I, also had a spare project in case I couldn't pay attention to what was going on and keep to the pattern.  

But, I surprised myself and really accomplished a lot while there.  Only downside, I ran out of yarn so I have put an order in for another skein from Cheryl.  As soon as I get it, I'll have another shawl done.  Mine is out of Just Beautiful Alpaca which will be a great shawl to throw on in the cold air condition!

On my list since Susan Rainey did her first one is Hitofude.  I ordered Sea Pearl from Chris at Briar Rose in the early Spring for mine.  Since I am waiting for more yarn for the shawl, I am swatching.  I am down to a size 1 needle.  I see a trend in my color ways - Shades of Gray.

And the downsize of this morning.  As I was walking out to go to work this morning, this is what greeted me.  Seriously, what makes someone do this?  I just don't get it.

And Now We Have Come To The End

Knit Camp blog posts will be over for the year.  And so I am double posting for today.

The last pics I am sharing are just some random pictures of camp, tomorrow, we'll be back to the a new work week (where I have to work all five days) and regular scheduled  blogging.

From right to left, Maggie who knits some beautiful sweaters and shawls; Susan, well what can I say Susan is an amazing knitter; and Kim, she has put me onto some really cool little kids things.

Left to right, Elizabeth who is wearing Hitofude, a sweater that I am swatching from Briar Rose, Sea Pearl; and Sandi, the knitter of those unbelievable flower socks from the contest, wow.

Kim and Susan mucking it up for the photo.  By the way, Susan is wearing Vitamin D, another sweater  that I have on the needles.  Mine is out of you guessed it, Sea Pearl.

In the foreground in this picture is Al and Leanne.  Al was our photographer in the past years.  They have had a rough go of it this past year, but they are on the road to recovery and we were so glad they could be at camp this year.

And dear Meg, what a treasure, she is examining Renate's unbelievable swatch and wearing the RibWarmer by EZ.

And thats a bag or rather should I say thats a wrap for Knit Camp 2014!

And Then There Was Mine

More than a year ago, I commented on Linda's Blog that the yarn she had spun was my colors, you know.  At Camp last year, it was her Show and Tell, and I remember Meg asking her what she was going to do with it and she explained that she was giving it to me.  

I had to work at it a bit to decide what it wanted to be and just a few days before camp, I finished it with just this little bit left.

I was so pleased on how it turned it out.  The yarn is super soft and I just love the way the colors graduated out.  I purposely started with the dark so that the  blue would not be covered by my hair.

The pattern is from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, the Triangle Feather and Fan Shawl.

The tails are long enough that I could tie it behind my back to wear at camp, but I have also bought a couple of really cool shawl pins that i will be able to use with it as well.

Here is Linda (the spinner and generous friend and oh yes a Cardinal Fan) and I holding the shawl up for pictures.  And over there on the left is Nancy (Nancy is a fan of another baseball team), hi Nancy!

I am so pleased with my new shawl and will treasure the thought that went into the gift of yarn always.