Independence Day

I seem to be failing miserably at this whole work vs. life balance thing this season.  Since I'm struggling to have new knitting projects to show you and my recent posts have obviously been hastily written and published without much thought and I don't see things improving around here any time soon, I've decided to take a short break from the blog.  

A little mini vacation if you will.  Just for a week or two while I try to get my head together and some yarn balled so that I could knit if I should find the time.

I imagine my need to talk about knitting and my family's and coworker's desire Not to talk about knitting will lead me back to the blog quicker than expected.  Meanwhile,

photo courtesy of officeholidays.com

I'm wishing all my American friends a safe and happy Independence Day!

Makers' Monday

Oops! Better late than never.  I almost forgot today was Monday.  Actually, what happened was yesterday, I thought it was Saturday and that I had another day to get this week's Makers' Monday post written.  I've definitely got the 'KD Confusion' thing going on.  I get this way each summer.  I never know what day it is.  I just go to work every day and when I run out of clean uniforms, I pray it's my day off.

Anyway....  Because of my date confusion, you're being treated to a hastily written post today.

I've almost finished knitting my Blue Heron cowl that I mentioned last Monday.  Although quite splity (or is it splitty?  I'm a horrible speller and Spellcheck says both are wrong,) this yarn has been a delight to work with.  I'm absolutely loving the drape of the knitted fabric.  My original plan was for this to be a long, twist around your neck a bunch of times type cowl but....  Since I didn't check my gauge or even count my cast on stitches....  It turned out to be the perfect mini poncho size.    I'm only a few rows from casting it off and can't wait to wear it to some nice, chilly, air conditioned event.

But even more exciting than my knitting....  Do you see my shirt?   I know it's upside down but....  It's a tank tank. 

Stolen Tank, photo courtesy of RVAMag.com

Did you hear about the stolen military 'tank-like' vehicle that lead police on a chase through Richmond  a few weeks ago?  While the reality of it is pretty scary - I mean, what if the thing had been armed and the driver angry rather than just in need of a ride home.... 

I was at work.  Where else would I be?  Photo courtesy of deskgram.org

But honestly, it was pretty dang funny.  You can see a brief video of it here.  And because it was funny, the news went viral.  And because it went viral, there was a t-shirt made.  Or rather, a tank.  A Tank tank.  I had to have one!

And with that, I'm going to leave you so I can go deal with that awful scraped up nail polish and get back to knitting.  Happy better late than never Makers' Monday!

Makers' Monday

With no other plan than 'a cowl with some super simple lacy bits on the edges and a bunch of stockinette in the center,' I cast on an unknown number of stitches while hanging out in the waiting room of the local tire shop the other day.  It was a day for living dangerously.  Just like making the decision not to put air in the slowly flattening tire before driving to the tire shop, I didn't bother with gauge or even a stitch count.  I just cast on stitches until I couldn't stand it anymore and the Need to begin knitting took over.

Casting on

Then I came home and finished my So Faded sweater.  Yes! You heard that right.  I finally finished it!

So Faded Sweater

Okay, okay.  I finished the knitting.  There's still the matter of a few loose ends to deal with and it needs a bit of blocking.  But I finished the knitting and it fits perfectly.  I should clarify - it fits me perfectly.  My mannequin is slightly petite with weirdly pointy boobs.  I am the exact opposite.

And I'd like to add that So Faded is officially my new favorite basic sweater pattern.  There was no sewing up involved.  None at all!  And the neck line is brilliant!  There are short rows, well, not really - just extra rows, on the back that help the front lay flat instead of doing that weird bunching up around the neck/across the collar bone thing that so many raglands do.  Oh and the cuffs were an inch of ribbing instead of three or four. 

Yep, this is definitely my new favorite sweater pattern!  And the sweater deserves a much nicer photo but I'm working with the little bit of time I have.  A hastily snapped cellphone picture in front of a mountain of unorganized junk will have to do.

Blue Heron Metallic Cowl

As soon as I cast off So Faded, I went back to knitting the Blue Heron Metallic cowl.  The yarn is slightly splitty but I'm loving it's sparkle!  Assuming that my living dangerously method of casting on produces a circle long enough to wrap around my neck twice (and it looks like it will) I think this cowl will be perfect for indoor/outdoor wear on our milder winter and/or over air conditioned summer days.

That photo has me stumped though.  The project bag is showing up with the exact correct color, the knitted yarn is almost exact, but the yarn bowl....  In the photo, the yarn bowl looks like it's been left out in the weather for about 15 years.  In reality, its wood has a much warmer and polished-to-a-shine tone.  Weird. 

I wish I knew more about photography.  I really should take a class.

Makers' Monday

I broke the rule.  I rebelled and went yarn shopping.  Yarn shopping before I'd knit up an entire drawer full of yarn.  I'd promised myself no yarn purchases until I had an empty yarn drawer.  But seriously!  Who was I kidding?  And actually, I've done better with the goal since I set it way back in November than anyone ever expected I would.  I've had many more months without yarn hauls than with. 

And I only bought two skeins.  I got lucky My wallet got lucky.  I'd completely forgotten why I don't venture into the city more often.  I hit every single stop light in the state of Virginia and even more traffic jams on the way to the yarn shop.  I didn't arrive until about fifteen minutes before they closed. 

And before you say anything, I went in for needles.  Needles that I'd called about, they said they had, but when I got there, discovered that they don't carry them after all.  I was disappointed and frustrated to say the least.  So you can see why I broke the No Yarn rule.  

Only two skeins.

I must be missing wearing my jeans because oddly, both skeins are called Denim.  And even more oddly, when I insert the photos into the blog, the yarn changes color.  Both skeins are much darker/grayer.  They both look much more like actual well-worn, faded denim than they do in these pictures.

Cascade 220 Superwash Aran Splatter

This Cascade 220 Superwash will most likely become a pair of fingerless mitts, or maybe a hat.  Probably mitts.

Blue Heron Metallic

And this Blue Heron Metallic will be a cowl or scarf.  I'm not normally into shiny sparkles but this yarn just called to me.  It literally jumped off the shelf and threw itself into my arms.  Well, that's not true.  The aqua green skein threw itself off the shelf and into my arms.... but I decided the blue would go with my fall/winter clothes much more so than the aqua.

I'm so excited about knitting with the Blue Heron Metalic yarn, I'm thinking seriously of binding off my So Faded sweater sleeve right where I'm at so that I can start knitting with it.  I mean, it wouldn't look weird at all if one sleeve was a normal, long sleeve length and the other was above the elbow.  No, it wouldn't look strange at all.  Knitters would understand.  Right?

Right??

Dammit!  I guess I'll finish knitting the sleeve.  But I won't be happy about it.

Three on Thursday

Three very random facts...

1.  We had over 12 inches of rain last month.  It's made driving to work a little tricky for some folks.

2.  I have Friday and Saturday off this week!  A Friday And a Saturday!  Two days, back to back!  On a weekend!  I'm slightly worried about what the boss might be buttering me up for.

Rock the Red!  photo courtesy of nhl.com

3.  The Caps just may bring home the cup tonight!

Join me over at Carole's for today's Three on Thursday link up.

D-Day

D-Day doesn't get much attention anymore but it has always been acknowledged in my household.  Our 'celebration' is fairly solemn.  We fly the flag and we spend a few moments thanking and remembering those men and women who gave so much that fateful day.

Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944; photo courtesy of irastehmann.com

Since I'm off to work in a few minutes, I'll simply say a little prayer and leave you with a link to a previous D-Day post.

Makers' Monday

I'm hoping this post improves as time passes.  As it stands, although this is Monday's post, I'm typing it on Saturday night.  Saturday night while I'm a bit more focused on the Caps' game than I am the computer screen and I have a few celebratory drinks under my belt.  And, as I type this, the post is currently photoless.  I'm hoping I remember to take a few shots tomorrow before I head into work.  We will see.

But shots of what, you ask?  Well, I've knit a sleeve and a half on my So Faded sweater.  Well, okay... honestly, I have a sleeve and a quarter.  Maybe closer to an eighth.  The point is, I've started the second sleeve.  I'm making progress. 

So Faded

The second sleeve is knitting up a little slower than the first.  I decided to use the Arleta colorway for the sleeves instead of fading them.  Although my Arleta skeins are the same dye lot and were ordered at the same time, they are very different from each other. 

photo courtesy of twitter.com

Woot!  Woot!  We scored again!!

Sorry.  I'm a little excited.  And a lot distracted.

Anyway....  The first sleeve was a big old beautiful mess of fluctuating color and the second sleeve was coming out all stripey.  Luckily I had a partial skein left over so I'm alternating the rows.  No more stripey affect.  Knitting time wise, it's no different but untangling the twisted yarn time wise....

Second Sleeve

But it's fine if the sweater is taking me longer than planned.  You might be sick of looking at it but I'm Loving knitting with the Hawthorne yarns and I'm quite pleased with the way the sweater is turning out.  And it's June.  I won't be wearing it anytime soon!

Hat #19

And, after a two month break in my knit-a-hat-a-week plan, I've finally cast on another hat.  This hat will be number 19 out of 52.  Luckily I was way ahead of the game and now I'm only four hats behind schedule.  I can come back from that.  I'm not totally defeated yet.

And now, back to the Caps game....

Happy Memorial Day

It always seems wrong to wish people a "happy" Memorial Day but...

photo courtesy of onlinelearningtips.com

Happy Memorial Day!

 I pray for peace for all our fallen troops and their families.


And since today is a Monday, and thus a #MakersMonday....

I have an armpit!

I have an armpit!

So Faded Sweater

That may be a strange blog post lead-in for non-knitters but the knitters of the world will understand my joy.  The body of my So Faded sweater is finished.  It fits!  And I have an armpit! 

This Memorial Day weekend marks the start of 'The Season' and more and longer hours at work so my posting schedule is about to become thin and sporadic.

photo courtesy of brookline.com

But I'm wishing all my US friends a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Three on Thursday

I should know better by now.  Karma always wins.

front porch remodel

First, I joked on Facebook that my husband had torn up our front porch in an effort to curb my Amazon/online knitting purchases.  I should have known better because...

photo courtesy of yourpainters.com

The next day, a power washing company showed up and proceeded to make our entries/exits very, very wet for several hours.  Now, I'm afraid Mr. UPS Man won't recognize our clean house.

photo courtesy of athenscountryengineer.org

And the next day, our road was closed due to paving.

Oh, Mr. UPS Man, I miss you!

Join me for today's Three on Thursday link up here.

Makers' Monday

I'm going to have to send my husband out of town while I stay home and eat nothing but cake more often.  I got so much knitting done last week!

So Faded Sweater

The body of my So Faded sweater is almost finished. 

The sweater is a little big.  Cough, cough.  Someone may have failed to gauge swatch before casting on.  But I think it will be okay with a few modifications.  I decreased a few stitches a couple of times and I've decided to do a split hem to avoid that blousy (blousey?? Spellcheck won't tell me.) look at the bottom.  I think I'm going to be very happy with it.  The loose style will look a lot better on me than a fitted sweater anyway.  I'm going to have to figure out something for the sleeves, but I'll deal with them once the body if finished.

So, I need to find somewhere to send my spouse this week.  Got a spare room?

Two out of Three Ain't Bad

So, are you sick of hearing about my birthday yet?  Hopefully not, because I bought myself a couple of gifts and I thought I'd share them with you.

First, I bought The Miracle TimeCube.  I was introduced to it by Amy Landino, a YouTube vlogger that I follow.  I thought it was a little silly, but I Had to have one.  Just Had to!  And I'm so glad I bought one.  I can not believe how handy this little gadget has been.  I have ten minutes to spare before I need to leave for work and I decide to spend them reading...  Instead of spending five of those minutes fighting the timer on my phone, I simply rotate the TimeCube until the "10" is facing up.  I want to do a five minute brain dump - I just turn the Cube to 5.  I have used this little gadget so much in the week that I've owned it, I'm surprised I haven't already used up the batteries.  I absolutely love this little gadget!  

The next, or second, gift I bought myself turned out to be a worthless piece of garbage.  If you're thinking about buying one of these silicone ice bucket molds, don't!

First of all, the mold is nowhere near as big as the advertisement makes it look like.  It holds absolutely nothing!  And as for those 120 ice cubes it supposedly holds.... 

Most hail is larger than this ice cube!

The cubes are tiny.  Look how small they are compared to a normal ice tray.  I've made ice in the mold three times and still don't have enough ice to fill a single high ball glass.  And don't even get me started on how difficult it is to fill the mold with water without making a huge, giant, wet mess.  In other words, this product is total cr*p!  Do not waste your money on it.

Sunstorm Hawthorne value pack from Knit Picks

And third or last, there may have been a yarn purchase.  I couldn't help myself.  I tried and tried to resist Sunstorm but the yarn fumes got to me.  Besides, I needed something to make up for that ridiculous ice tray fiasco.

Join me for today's Three on Thursday link up over at Carole's.

Birthday Cake

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.  It may not sound very exciting, but it was a perfect day.  We had the formal celebration last week because Mike knew he'd be out of town on my birthday and Zack was working.  It was just Sarah and I at home.  

I got home from work in the wee hours of Monday to discover that Sarah had cleaned the house, top to bottom.  Not only was everything sparkly clean, but there was dinner waiting for me.  I went to bed and woke up later in the afternoon to enjoy coffee and cake out on the deck.

Lemon/blueberry cake

Oops!  I didn't even think to take a photo of the cake until we'd eaten most of it.

I never thought anything could replace my grandmother's chocolate mocha cake as my all-time favorite but Sarah's lemon/blueberry cake was to die for!  To absolutely DIE for!  It makes Grandma's cake taste like an old, stale, knock-off store-brand Hostess cupcake.

I spent most of the afternoon sitting on the deck drinking coffee, eating cake (I may have had more than once slice) and reading.  I've been on a massive reading kick lately.  I discovered a Scottish historical romance series, set in the 1300's, that completely sucked me in.  I've read three of them already, just since I got home from work on Sunday night/Monday morning.  (Sunday in my mind, but technically Monday.  Whatever.)

I've also been reading The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery.  Oh my!  This book is SO good!  I'm only a few chapters into it and I'm already tempted to toss my knitting aside and focus my time, attention and money on aquariums.  It's also got me a little hesitant to set foot on a boat ever again.  I'd never given any thought to having my boat attacked by an octopus before, but given my proclivity towards crazy, freak accidents....  I may have to give up salt water and stick to fresh from now on.  But even though I'm a little freaked about boating now, I still want a pet octopus.

So, I spent my 'morning' reading and eating cake on the deck, then spent the late afternoon/evening knitting on the deck with yet more cake and a bottle of wine.  Like I said, it was THE perfect birthday day.

So Faded sweater

I love how my cake, the wine and my sweater are all sort of coordinating purples and burgundies.

And then the sky turned an almost matching purple just before an insane thunderstorm hit.  They'd been predicting a pretty horrific storm for several days so it wasn't totally unexpected.  Sarah and I huddled up in an interior room and decided we should eat more cake and have another bottle of wine just in case the storm blew us off to Oz.

Thankfully, the storm did not blow us away, nor did either of us get sick from so much cake and wine.  Even better, we suffered no storm damage and our lights stayed on.  We were lucky!  There were so many trees blown down in the storm, schools were canceled the next day.  I think the birthday gods were watching out for us.

Makers' Monday

I hope everyone had a

Today's #MakersMonday post is not a normal one because I've been too busy working,

(We even have Stapler wars at work!)

eating Mother's Day cheesecake, birthday cake (today's my birthday) and

a "You wanted lemon/blueberry cake for your birthday but I wanted peanut butter pie" pie.  Sarah went on a baking binge while I was at work and now I've gained about 300 pounds over the course of two days.  Yikes!

Assuming I survive the diabetic coma I'm putting myself into, I'll be back in a day or two to show you my So Faded progress.  I've started color #3 and am so happy with it!  Until then, feel free to join me in celebrating #MakersMonday, even though I didn't make anything  (except about 400 gazillion trillion fat cells.)

I'm fine

Today is Three on Thursday and I pretty much have nothing for it.  All I have done since my last post, like, literally all I have done, is knit around and around and around on my So Faded sweater.

Photo taken at night in fluorescent lamp light.

I don't even have a decent photo to show off my progress because, well, I've been too busy knitting.  My husband even offered to take me out to dinner the other night but I chose to stay home and eat a sandwich instead because, well.... knitting!  I'm seriously, neurotically obsessed with knitting this sweater.

I'm so over the moon in love with the current yarn.  It's the Arleta colorway.  I knew it was my favorite of the group while it was in the skein but....  It's even prettier knitted up!  I'm SO glad I went ahead and ordered a few more skeins the other day to use on the sleeves.  (Yes, I'm going to knit the sleeves with one yarn instead of stripes.)

But, it's Three on Thursday.  I'm supposed to be listing three things, not blathering on about my sweater obsession.

Okay, fine!*

My three favorite motivational quotes, in no particular order:

1.  "Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own.  I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze.  My choice; my responsibility; win or loose, only I hold the key to my destiny."  Elaine Maxwell

2.  "My center is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent.  I shall attack."  General Ferdinand Foch

3.  "Destination, determination, deliberation"  J. K. Rowling


*I'm cheating.  "Fine" is actually my all time favorite.  It stands for "freaked out (or F***ed up depending on the situation,) insecure, neurotic and emotional.  And I hear that in my head every single time I hear someone say, "I'm fine."

Even though I cheated, I hope you'll still join me over at Carole's for today's Three on Thursday link up.