Summer Begins

Even though the calendar says it is not really summer, the weather here definitely says it is. Yesterday, the air went out so we are a little warm here at Chez Halverson.

I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow just to be cool.

Time to get the flipflops out.

Almost Perfect Sunday

aka Drinkin, Swatchin, Sweatin. Baseball and Indy
RoseKimKnits turned me onto these cups so while in Peoria I had to buy me one! So I'm doin some drinkin....water at the moment.

Swatchin on my sweater that I bought yarns for yesterday. Have changed my mind on the original intent for the yarn, after to talkin to my pal Debbie...who just so happened did me a huge, and I do mean huge favor today....mor swatchin on this later.

And sweatin....it seems the air condition went on the blink while I was in Peoria today, so now we got the big fan going and I'll muddle through until Tuesday when I'll see if they can come out on Wednesday to fix. Thank goodness, it isn't super hot, but hot enough today.

Oh, and watchin the Cardinals play and taping the Indy 500 so I'll have something to watch tonight....don't tell me who wins, I want to be surprised!

What A Beautiful Day

My version....got up swatched a couple of yarns. Went to Knit 4 Together and knitted with friends this morning.....three of us went over to Morton and I got some yarn for a project for camp (hopefully) and for a Debbie Bliss sweater.

Came home, and now am going to enjoy the rest of the day, knitting and watching baseball....maybe some laundry.

I'm Ready To Steek

But, I think I'll wait til the weekend. And as EZ would say, wine will be involved....after the cut though, not before.

Yep, I Really Do


Knit at stop lights. And I am glad I always have a little knitting project right behind me.

Today, I used it quite often as I went in a different way to work....got stopped I don't know how many times at a couple of lights. Then, I had to go out to weigh in at lunch....another wait several stop lights. And finally, while going way across town tonight for a pedicure, it came in real handy for the crosstown traffic.

With Summer comes, road construction, need I say more?

I Should Be Cleaning

But today is the first day in a long time, where I don't have to go anywhere or entertain. So, I'm doing laundry and I am going to sit in my chair and do a little knitting.

The projects are calling me....I might even venture into the yarn room and doing little straightening.

All Of A Sudden

It's summer here in Central IL....tomorrow and the next couple of days it is suppose to be 90 degrees. Come on, where is Spring?

We are losing a great friend back to Switzerland later this month. Christiane and her husband will be returning home after being a part of our Peoria group. Today, was the last time at the shop that I would see her.

She will be missed! But, how much fun is she going to have with her grandson and a new grandchild on the way!

Our loss will be her home’s gain. It’s hard to say good-bye to someone who has been such a joy to know. Always, welcoming everyone into the shop, her no nonsense attitude is refreshing. Her European style was so much fun to watch and her knitting unbelievable. She challenged me in my knitting!

So, we are not saying good-bye, because I feel that our paths will cross somehow somewhere, so we will just say so long, see you and perhaps a tiny au revoir!

Just A Few Tidbits

Franklin is going to have a calendar for 2011....this might be a nice one for the office cabinet.

Dover is putting out a hard cover edition of Knitters Almanac, with color photos of sweaters reknitted by knitters. How did I miss that? Don't know the release date but wow, guess I'll have to have a gander at it.

The garter stitch book from Schoolhouse Press won't be ready until late Fall, early Winter. Bummer! I was hoping for camp. The title, Knit One Knit All.

Thats Me!

I'm like the old woman in the shoe....instead of children though, mine are knitting projects.

I have several Spring/Summer projects that I want to knit on. It is such a short season to knit these and they are calling me.

But then the realization that Knit Camp is like less than two months away! So many things are calling me to knit for it. My contest project, the Green Sweater, my Show and Tell, the Wool Peddlar Shawl from Kauni, the Steek Sweater project...OMG,

There was a semi-old lady in a small little house, she had so many knitting projects, she didn't know which to rouse....okay, so I am not a poet.

Let the frenzy knitting begin and FOCUS is the word.

It's Been A Year

It's hard to believe that a year has went by so fast...and at times so slow.

Today, it was chilly, rainy and dreary. A year ago, the sun was shining and it was warm.

I have to say I have an amazing mother-in-law and neice. Both of them remembered and let me know that they did. The Tall Guy remembered too....he also remembers that tomorrow it will be 5 years for him since his incident. I am thankful that he remembers.

Parrot Bay by Rob

I had my friend Sue do a little shopping at Threadbear Fiberarts for me. Look what she brought home. It is one of Rob's hand dyed sock yarns.

I thought I might do sox for me out of it. But, Kendra started me thinking about a scarf she was doing and I remembered one that I had in my favorite pile....it is based from the Karius and/or Baktus scarf. I wish I could credit the author of the pattern, but it looks like I had copied and pasted it to a word file and left that info off.

Parrot Bay, isn't that a lovely name....so Jimmy Buffetish.

Good Things

When bad things happen (not the really bad things, but things like broken laptop monitors), sometimes there are good things that come of it.

I have tossed a couple of thoughts around. A different brand....like one from Staples for immediate use. Getting a bigger and better Dell one and waiting. An iPad as suggested by friend Jo. Having mine fixed either locally or sending into Dell. I am just plain torn, so I think I might investigate Christiane's thought of taking it to a guy in Peoria who works wonders with computers. Of course the Tall Guy thinks I have made toast of my current laptop and I should buy the HP for instance gratification.

The good thing is without a laptop on my lap, I am not constantly on it. Since I have to get up and actually go to the regular computer....I am getting some knitting done and some reading.

So it is a good thing for now?

If It Wasn't For Bad Luck

Okay, so last night, the DVD-R through cable wasn't working and my shows didn't get taped....then the screen on my just one year old laptop went black.

This morning I hooked it up to my computer monitor, the machine works fine. So, it's gotta be my screen. And you got it, the warranty is up!

I cannot be without a laptop. So, I think I'll shop locally and get something other than a Dell! I mean if they are only going to work for a year, I might as well not splurge.

I bummed!

Sure Signs

You can tell that things are settling down. I am knitting on projects. I am semi-focusing. I am staying up later. I am getting back on track with the treadmill and food.

This project is not quite sure what it is going to be. It started out to be a tank, but the more I work with the Florens yarn, the more I see a top with some sort of lacy sleeves. You can't tell from the picture, but this sagey green would look awesome with brown pants. I can see the ensemble.

Shopping As Therapy

One week later, things are somwhat getting back to normal. Work is busy, busy, busy. While away, I did knit quite a bit on a couple of scarves for the December party. Anything more than that, just didn't appeal. Now, it is time to kick it back in gear and knit towards finishing some things.


I missed shopping and knitting at the shopping in the last week....but, while checking in on some blogs I regularly read I discovered that Schoolhouse Press had added a couple of items to their website to order.

Sure, I could have waited until Knit Camp, but somehow, I made it a whole day before the bag jumped in my cart and begged to be ordered. It comes in purple or blue....you know which I chose.

And although, I have this pattern in several different forms, how could I not buy it?!

I hope they ship quick!

Will Blog Next Week

The Tall Guy's Father passed away early this morning. The rest of the week will be with family.

Have a Happy Mother's Day! Blog at you later.

Feelin A Little Puny Today

I was a little off yesterday, just had something not right. Went to work. Felt a little better this morning, even got to work early. Then, just did not feel great and after a couple of hours decided it was time to go home.

Came home, wrapped myself up in my sweatshirt and hauled out my electric blanket that I had put away last weekend. Took several hours of a nap.

It's a gorgeous day out and warm, and here I sit in my sweatshirt and blankie. Have not knitted at all, now you know how bad I must feel!

Kind Of Cool

One of the clinics at work was doing a fund raiser for the Relay for Life and I had a time deciding what to buy....so I bought what I liked.

You buy the purse and you get one skirt with it. The concept reminds me of long ago when those small purses with the tortise handles were out there. I must have had a dozen of those covers to go with them!

Oy, eventually if you wait long enough, the concept will come back!

Sheesh! Sometimes You Should Sleep On It

In the wee hours of this morning when I couldn’t sleep, I was swatching on the Feather and Fan Shawl. I did not think I would have enough of the Alpaca that I bought for the North Sea Shawl to do the whole Feather and Fan. And I really wanted something fairly simple to knit/wear.

Since I have two Wool Peddlers in progress already, I knew I didn’t want to start another one of those. And I kind of have been thinking about the Ruffled version of it too.

Now, 12 hours later, I see that the Peddler and the Feather and Fan start almost the same except the Feather and Fan has some increases to keep it on the shoulders better? And now, with the wonders of Ravelry, I see that someone has figured out what I spent most of the morning hours working out in my brain….I can knit the Feather and Fan and put the slightly ruffled version on it….

Sheesh! I should have went to bed! So, now almost 9 hours later, I think I’ll cast on for a Ruffled Feather and Fan.

One Evening Down The Drain

Seriously, I have spent the entire evening on the internet and doing laundry....no knitting, just shopping.

You see, my friend Sue is going to be in the area of Threadbear FiberArts this week...and of course I had this list of things I just had to have. I have narrowed it down a bit.

Then, Webs sends me another email telling me about the new yarns that have been added to the sale list.

Between, there, Ravelry and Threadbear FiberArts I haven't been worth a damn tonight. Which means if I knitted half as much as I surf the net, I'd have a whole lot more sweaters knitted!