Love Shack

The final song in this week's mood boosting music videos is Love Shack by The B-52's.

It's a jungle out there

Today's song, straight from the  80's is Jungle Love by Morris Day & the Time.

The mitered square "thing" continues to grow, slightly.

Now, I'd like to take a short break from singing oh-ee oh-ee oh & knitting to congratulate my son & his team mates on their big win.  Their bowling team won first place for the season at Bowl America's Monday Night Adult League.  I'm so proud of Zack for being a part of the winning team.  Not only were they short a man most of the season, but it was also Zack's first full season bowling as an adult.  Way to go, Zack & teammates!

Maybe if I congratulate him enough, Zack will use his winnings to buy me more yarn.

A mom can always dream.

Supermassive

Although I'm not a Muse fan, I love Supermassive Black Hole & find it oddly energizing.

So a few weeks ago, my teen daughter took off for six weeks to visit family in Florida.  I guess she's having fun.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry

Today's mood boosting song is I Want to be Sedated by The Ramones.

To stray from the topic of knitting even more, I'm happy to report that the new repairs to  our drainage ditch seem to be working.

The lot across the street from us used to be swamp land & when we got heavy rains, the road would flood.  Our subdivision Powers That Be dug a drainage ditch that runs from the road into the woods behind our house 15 - 20 years ago.  As time passed, the ditch filled up with weeds, dead leaves & other forest debris.  We'd rake it out a few times each season, but our efforts weren't enough.  Five to ten years ago, the drought came along & the swamp across the street dried up so a local builder promptly built a house there.  Then the drought ended & the new home's yard would flood every time it rained hard.  Our subdivision Powers That Be once again dug the ditch out, except  this time, they dug it sloping in the wrong direction.  The house across the street flooded even worse every time it rained.  Last week, the Powers That Be showed up unexpectedly & re-dug it once again, sloping in the the correct direction this time & it seems to be working now.  We had a really hard rain that almost over flowed the ditch but within an hour...  well, you can see the results.   No more neighbor complaining & no more standing water & mosquitos for us.  Yay!  Thank you subdivision Powers That Be.

Bust a Move

Today's song is Bust a Move by Young MC.  Need I say more?

I've been enjoying headband knitting.

They are so quick & simple & best of all, they fit in a clear ziplock bag which is the only type of bag I'm allowed to carry into work.  I see a lot of headbands in my future.

During the ten minutes a day I'm both home & awake, I started another mitered square "thing."

It's too early to tell if it's a pillow, lap throw or a full sized blanket.  Honestly, I started it because the needles were on the desk, the tub of little left over stash balls was beside the desk & my feet hurt too bad from standing through out an 11 1/2 hour shift to get up & go in search of a real project.  It may quickly become a UFO because another mitered square "thing" is not on my knitting to-do list, but it is good, mindless knitting that holds my interest because of the constant color changes & it is the perfect after work calm down project.  On the next day off, I'll probably abandon this & go in search of something from the to-knit list.

Meanwhile....  Max is not crazy about the new camera.  He doesn't seem to like it being pointed at him & he gets shy when ever I try to take his picture.

Ready Steve?

Tuesday's song - Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet.  Are you ready?

Music week - songs to boost your mood

Have you noticed that most of my posts lately have been super short?  It's not my normal style but I've returned to work at the local theme park for the summer.  I count the money.  And since I love to count money but have none of my own,  it's the perfect job for me.  But the hours are long and it doesn't leave me a lot of time for blogging or knitting.  Thus, all the short, not necessarily knitting related posts.

So, this week, since I'm starting to feel the affects of working every day for someone other than myself, I thought I'd post a link to one of my favorite mood boosting songs each day.  No matter how tired, angry or depressed I may be, the songs I'll be linking to always energize me & make me feel better about life.

Today's song, What I Like About You by The Romantics.  There's just no way I can sit still when this song comes on.  Enjoy!

Speed writing

Welcome to the world's fastest scribbled blog post.  Sorry for incomplete sentences & typos.  I need to get to work & have no business trying to blog in the 2 spare minutes I have but since this is a knitting blog & I haven't mentioned my knitting in a while....

Here's what I've been up to this past week.

The yellow lace poncho is still unblocked so please don't judge.  It's going to be a summer weight cover up for wearing over a bathing suit or sundress.  It's knit with lace weight wool from the stash pile & #4 needles.  Although you can't see it in the photo, the bottom edge is beaded.

And, a cabled headband also knit from wool from the stash.

It has been blocked & will get listed in my Etsy shop.  Eventually.

And here's Max, happy because he just turned over three (yes, 3!) trash cans in search of anything remotely edible, including used tissues.  Used tissues seems to be his favorite.  Yuck!

And here's Max after Momma came home & discovered the mess left behind after his trash can foraging.

Top 10 shows to watch while knitting

Here's my top 10 favorite shows to watch while knitting:

1.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2.  Firefly
3.  Weeds
4.  Supernatural
5.  the Pirates of the Caribbean series
6.  the Terminator series
7.  Castle
8.  Freaks & Geeks
9.  Glee
10. White Collar

Those are the movies & series that I am always happy to watch again, over & over, while I knit.  Toss one of those bad boys on the screen & I can happily sit & knit for as long as it takes for the series to run.  What are your favorites?  Any other Joss Whedon fans out there?

ABC's of yarn

The ABC's of my favorite yarns:

A is for Anzula Yarns
B is for Blue Ridge Yarns
C is for Crystal Palace Mochi
D is for Dream in Color
E is for Elsebeth Lavold
F is for The Fiber Company
G is for Great Adirondack Smoochie
H is for Hikoo Yarn
I is for Imperial
J is for Juniper Moon Farm
K is for Koigu Yarn
L is for Lorna's Laces
M is for Manas del Uruguay
N is for Noro
O is for Opal
P is for Prism
Q is for Queensland Collection
R is for Regia
S is for Sirdar
T is for Tahki Yarns
U is for Universal Yarns
V is for Valley Yarns
W is for Way Out Wonderful Yarns
X is for X-press
Y is for Yeti Yarns & Dry Goods
Z is for Zen Garden

What are your favorites?

63,297

As you might guess from the title, I finished binding off the Wendy Knits Pi shawl.  And yes, my version has 63,297 stitches in it.  I'm a little surprised by that number.  It felt like more.

The pattern was a breeze to knit but it did start to drag on about half way through.  Probably because of all that white.  It wasn't the most stimulating of yarn choices.  I got a little lazy/impatient there at the end & stopped knitting 4 rows short of finishing the pattern's instructions.  But, I do like it.  It was the perfect pattern for that yarn and I can't wait to see it blocked.

The blocking process could get interesting.  I'm not sure I have enough blocking mats.  As is, the shawl measures 44 inches across.  I expect it will grow another 15 - 20 inches in width during the blocking process.  I may have to wait for my husband to go out of town so I can use our bed.  I wouldn't mind spending a night on the couch in the name of pretty lace, but I don't think  the spouse would feel the same.

Here's a close up of a few of the unblocked lace panels.

Okay, so unblocked it looks horrible but I'm still having fun playing with the new camera.

Here's a photo of the yarn when I started.

And here's what's left over.

And because I'm still playing with the camera, here's a photo of my lone daffodil.

What the heck is wrong with me?  I'm southern.  I live in the south.  Why can't I grow a yard full of daffodils?  The neighbors all have them.  The interstate's median looks like a scene from Holland.  My yard?  One daffodil.  One!  Or maybe it's not even a daffodil.  Maybe it's a jonquil.  I'm really not even sure.

Pie

There's been lots of pie in my life lately.  I made a chocolate pie last week that I'd planned to share with you on Friday, but some how, it got eaten before it was photographed.  Darn!  Guess I'll have to make it again.

And then there's been pi.

I have finally started binding off the pi shawl.  It may take me a week to finish.  Good grief, it's got a lot of stitches!  It also doesn't look like much there.  Lace never does look like much until it's been blocked, plus it's sort of in a heap because most of the shawl is still on the needles.

I can't wait to block it.  Actually, I can.  I'm not a big fan of blocking huge, giant lace circles.  But I am super excited to see it after the blocking process when the lace looks like lace instead of a bunch of non-uniform stitches.  I also can't wait to see how big it actually is.

I also wish I knew what I was going to do with it.  As much as I love to knit circular shawls, I'm not a fan of wearing them.  Normally, I'd list it in my Etsy shop but since the pattern isn't mine, that won't be happening.

Meanwhile, in non knitting news...  My daughter got invited to go to Florida for six weeks.  There was a lot of last minute shopping for shorts & sunscreen.  There was a lot of "I'm going to miss you" hugs to share and even more laundry to do.  They pulled out early Monday morning, in the pouring down rain.  A few hours later, we got a call that their transmission had "fallen out" & the car was being towed to a nearby repair shop.  Luckily it turned out to be only a loose hose & nothing too serious.  They were back on the road within a few hours.  I hope the rest of their trip is a little less dramatic.

And even more concerning than my daughter taking off for six weeks....  The bear is awake.  He/she/it came strolling by this morning.  I happened to be out sweeping the porch off when the dogs suddenly came rushing out & began barking.  That's when I looked up & saw it.  Naturally, it was gone before I could get the camera.  So, instead of taking bear photos, I took pictures of Minnie.

She needs to wash her face.

Squirrel!

Nap time.