HUGes are done

Iphone bluriness adds to the mystery.

Excited about simple things

I don't wear much make-up. I think it comes from being raised in Colorado in the mid-70s. With my long straight hair, Cher and Emmylou Harris were my style icons; a girl could pretty much get away with a little shadow and mascara, and be done with it. When I was in the military, the older I got, the less spackle I messed with. After I got out, well, that's when my carefree makeup approach came to a screeching halt.

Somewhere in the past 20 years, I lost the ability to wear eyeshadow. Gasp!

I have greasy eyelids. Say that at any beauty counter, and the sales girl (yeah, I said it) will remark that your eyelids have no oil glands (and therefore you must be nuckin' futz, lady). That does not impede my ability to crease both expensive and cheap eyeshadows in less than half an hour. Even the waterproof stuff. I've never been able to wear the world's most popular mascara (Maybelline Great Lash) because it migrates and then I look like a tired, rabid raccoon.

I had to work for a PRK study to figure it out. One of the opthamologists mentioned that there are two kinds of tears-oily and regular. Some people have oily ones, some are normal.

Oh.

Which explains why I don't have pronounced crow's feet, despite smoking for years, but my (non-smoking) little brother does. My eyes are like my mom's, and his are more like dad's.

Well, that knowledge was useful, but not necessarily power. Now I learned to look at labels-most eyeshadow primers have beeswax or mineral oil in them. This weekend, I got a sample of Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. My eyeshadow is uncreased!

I feel like a teenager that just GOT permission to wear make-up!

Pretty Greasy Chili and Entrelac I won't finish

It was 62 this morning. That signals fall for us. DH is having co-workers over for a proposal writing crunch this afternoon, so I am making the best chili known to mankind. It'll clog your arteries in a heartbeat. It contains sausage AND butter. And hamburger. And chili meat.

Yeah, I know. But it's also pretty. Black beans, white beans, kidney beans, tomato, and three colors of pepper. It's a party in the bowl.

Here in Texas, real chili doesn't contain beans. Yeah, so sue me. I went to Alice Cooper's Town restaurant in Phoenix and ate Frito Pie once. (It's one of my little brother's guilty pleasures) After a few bites, I leaned over to my brother and said "This has KETCHUP in it!" Which must be how MamaAliceCooper made it when he was a kid. So if you wanna bitch at someone about their chili, go talk to Alice. I make pretty chili. And it's pretty tasty.

Two weeks ago, I had nothing on the needles, and was still in mid move. The last box in the door was Needful Yarn's Cotton Joy.


As it turns out, it was a bit too orange tropical to suit me, so I added some Lara to anchor it firmly into the red zone.


Trouble is, I never seem to finish my entrelac projects. My knitting ADD takes over....

Lookie!

My niece sent me a text as I was pulling into Hancock Fabric's parking lot. "He's here, I can hear him crying!" So I picked up the two lousy skeins of floss that I drove a total of 70 miles to get ... that IS freaking ridiculous, isn't it? For seven little stitches?

But I NEEDED them. I am really pleased with the way it came out!!

And look at what ELSE I have to show you:

(Dang, that is a schnoz!!)

I present Brandon, Le Nephew!!!  I have NO idea what the middle name is.

I christen thee 'Paste'

A while back, I posted about baby names on Ravelry. That thread grew and grew and grew. Opinions are like ---holes, and everyone is very sensitive about what they name their children. My brother is going to bring a small one home at the end of the month. They've got a delivery appointment, but if left to his own devices, this kid could pop on my Dad's birthday. Of course, THAT can't happen, because everyone's standing in line for the OB. He emailed us about names today.

They have decided they won't name him after Dad. Ok. They've selected Brandon as a first name, but they need help with the middle name.

"However, everyone can have input on his middle name. The choices are Michael, Justin, Jacob or Tyler."

Those are nice names, but Brandon is SUCH a common name, and all the middles are super common too. I am slack-jawed and drooling, here. This is like a random sampling of baby names from the Social Security Administration Baby Top 40 of the past 10 years.

Stupid Walmart

This is almost done-I need two lousy skeins of embroidery floss to finish it up-but someone in corporate WallyWorldLand decided that there was no need to carry DMC in 4-H Land.  Now I gotta drive 35 miles for two lousy skeins.  It's for soon to be born nephew.

Moving is

a lot of work

 full of potential

look, knitting!  This is a blog about knitting-a 100 yard hat for Knita's challenge.

when you are reminded that your common things are beautiful

a time for hopeful possibilities

Moving and the Gangs of East Cupcake

We've spent most of the weekend moving. Not a whole lot actually moved, but we dragged some big heavy stuff across town. I have the bruises to prove it. (This actually got me some sympathy from DH. This is good.)

Yesterday, we went in to SA to get 'stuff'. We both had tummy trouble, but neither would admit it to the other. Too much restaurant food. After the fact, I told him he was making me NUTS going in circles in the parking lot, looking for a space (there were PLENTY). He told me he almost lost it in the home accessories store. They had a lot of bath accessories, and they had plenty of potpourri stench to cover anything. We had a good laugh about that.

We came home, and I was fussing around the kitchen. Holy CRAP! There were four figures on the porch!! "HONEY!"

They whirled around to look at me. You could see the animosity building on their faces, their hair literally stood on end, and the leader mumbled in a low, throaty tone. The little pregnant girl looked at me with scared eyes.

Sugar trotted over to look.

Yes, I was terrorized by a gang, a herd of chihuahuas. And they are mouthy little shits! They charged DH twice, and then he led the whole marauding band back across the street and told their 'dad' on them. Damn neighbor kids!

A Noro color tutorial (how Mr. Noro determines his colorways)

Have you ever wondered how Mr. Noro comes up with his fabulous color combinations? Have you ever wondered why he takes a string of delightful colors, and throws in that particular shade of lark's vomit? How does he do it? Where does he get the inspiration???

I've wondered for years. A few minutes ago, I was on the phone discussing Niji, a discontinued frothy bit of mohair and wool that came in the mail this morning. I looked down at my kitchen table, and saw a make-up bag and hankie, the remnants of a parcel my cousin sent me two weeks ago.

Oh.

Ok, I totally get it now. Gomenesai, because I couldn't see it earlier. I feel like a wonkin' idiot. Someone in the family tree is gonna disown me. Here's a scan of the bag, a hankie, and a scarf that my mom gave me years ago. Do you see what I am trying to show you? They're just textile palettes. That's all.

The only thing that's wrong, that's not a direct copy, is that his proportions are equal. The particular shade of lark's vomit (aka mustard) that serves as an accent on the coral scarf, for example, actually has equal footing to the coral, grey, navy and green in his yarn. Which is why it seems like such a vast expanse of that color. Because it is.

A pregnant pause

All right, here it is. It's cute enough. I am a leetle worried about the sizing. As in, it may be too tight-especially in the arms. So worried, in fact, that I decided not to sew on the buttons, and figured I would just tuck them into the package. I'll mail it tomorrow, and hope.

Yarn used Berroco Mosaic (railroad) and Elann Bag Wool (single ply bulky). 1500 yards.

Need another opinion

I am trying hard to finish up UFOs. I ran across this, an entrelac sweater started last October, in Austermann Inverno. I figured out where I was, sat down, did a few squares, and really looked at it.

There is no way the front will match the back. Given entrelac's tendency to spread, the front is a good 5" wider than the back.

It's kind of....quiet. Misty. Do I really want such a serene sweater?

I was a little worried. I started the project based on yardage, and a little nervous, because I know I need to reknit the back to fit the front. I wasn't sure I had enough.

Then I saw my big ball of Berroco (mumble becauseIdon't remembertheyarn's name ..crap... Mosaic Iusedonthe cardi) Optik, that I salvaged from something else I frogged last week. And it just might look really good with the Inverno.

In order to do that and have it come out looking ok, I would have to take it back 2 tiers, and then add in a total of 2 tiers. I have 6 of 10 done.

In the meantime, more Inverno has surfaced. So running out of yarn is no longer an issue.

What do you think? I am standing by to listen. (Actually, I am sewing buttons on that last cardi, but you know...)

Breakfast for dinner

Shit, that woman is lazy.


I know, I know. I just talked about Eggs Benedict a few weeks ago. They are wonderful. You can imagine my longing, my drive to make something equally, magically, as good from almost nothing. It shouldn't surprise you that this recipe caught my eye. The tag line was irresistible:


If you slow things down a bit, you can turn scrambled eggs into something spectacular: Cooked very slowly, and stirred constantly, scrambled eggs can be a dish that's creamy, rich and luxurious enough to serve as a first course at an elegant dinner.
Try it once, and you may never do the quick scramble again. Try it twice, and you'll never fret again about a brunch menu.


Once you serve that recipe to people, you'll never have guests again. You won't even have any friends.


Mine came out like softboiled egg paste. DH didn't go for it either, and in the amount of time it took to prepare, I could make chicken or something. I was so flummoxed by the egg nastiness, I surfed to Cook's Illustrated and wrote the editors to ask about that recipe. Could that method ever work? I'll let you know if I hear back on that.


I love Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. Unlike a lot of recipe magazines, they focus more on the method (the right cut, the right temperature, to salt before or after?) than the recipe (1/4 tsp of gnat's wings, and a core from the Golden Snitch). Recipes I have. Teach me how to cook! I am a much better cook than I was 10 years ago, and I will credit both of those publications. And right now, Cook's Country is looking for recipe testers.


Several months back, I was leafing thru a Taste of Home, and guess who I saw? It was Gracie! She was a field editor. I was stunned-I've been buying that magazine for years & she's been in it for years! And I was a little in awe, because that magazine packs in some serious yumminess. So when I saw Cook's Country's blurb, I signed right up, so I can be just like Gracie. And maybe not have any trouble coming up with what to feed DH-THAT'd be nice.



I am almost done with the preggo cardi. It needs a bath and buttons. I can sew up the baby cardi, and mail both to DD this week. Elann has SERIOUSLY beat my butt this week-it's been multicolored yarn fest, and I need to finish a few UFOs. Look at that Noro Niji! How could I turn my back on it??!! I spent so long on that lace cardigan this year that I am really itching to crank some yarn.

Nom, Nom, Nom!

Gracie nominated me for this award. Which means I have to perpetuate it, but hey, what the hell.


So here are the details-

Please take accept this award from me and ...
1. Please put the logo on your blog.
2. Link the person from whom you received your award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put the links of those blogs on to your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them!

So let's see-Jean, Lib, Benne, Marie, Lisa, Enid and Joan.

Whoa-I gotta come back to this later. Spotty internet due to weather.

There will be a point deduction-

It was a good idea, but I didn't really want to reskein a sweater's worth of yarn. Soooo I tried it without skeining.

Baaaah.

Now I HAVE to reskein everything, because I have to redye it.

At one point in the process, all the yarn was in a blue bath. I expected the dye to migrate more, instead of just hitting the fibers and glomming on.

I used our favorite blue raspberry koolaid. I think I will go buy some big girl dye to throw on top of THAT.

I don't think I can make the colors worse

What would genius do?

I found a whale of a sale on this yarn. The reviews said it was WONDERFUL yarn. The price was great. I couldn't quite make out the color. I didn't think it could be THAT bad.

The yarn came in today~all the reviews were spot on. I, on the other hand, was WRONG. The yarn is every pastel under the sun, and they all cancel each other out, leaving a murky, muddy mess.

I could dye it. There's a fair amount of rayon tucked in with the animal fibers. I could add another strand and carry along. Either way, this yarn needs a personality makeover. (For a lazy woman.) Right now, I have two possible solutions: stb or pra. I abbreviated them, because I want to hear what other people think.

Colors in the yarn: mid orange, pastel yellow, blue, green, lilac, pink.

What is your solution?

ETA: Be specific! Please tell me what color would you use!

Reknitting

It doesn't look like this anymore. After finishing the collar and all the hems and bands (one big circle), I bound it off, took a look, and thought yuck. I knit it up using a fairly big needle, in keeping with the lace at the bottom hem, and it just wasn't good! It was floppy and unsatisfactory. So I ripped out ALLLLLL the ribbing, went down 3 needle sizes and cast on again. Wish me luck!

The project that ate my time!

I finally finished a project. I say finally, but really, I have knit it one and a half times (at least), frogged it, and it spent a lot of time in time out-that was several short time outs, not one protracted time out. It's Shirley Paden's cardigan from VK S/S 2004, #11, knit in Elann's Camilla yarn.

To make this easier for you, I recommend-

1) Photo copy the chart and put it in a document protector. Use a Post-it to move up the chart as you work. Write down each row as you finish it. As soon as you finish it. Store the pen in the document protector so you don't have to look for one at the end of the row.

2) Buy deluxe post-its. The super sticky kind. This is no time for shoddy bargain post-its.

3) Mark the "right side of the garment" with a safety pin, a scrap of yarn, SOMETHING.

4) Since the entire garment is knit by the charts, I found I did better when I was alone.

5) Knitting the sweater body takes about 250 stitches a row. It could be that 2 rows may be all you can manage in a session, and then you have to put it away! This is why good record keeping is essential.

6) There were times when I picked it up and could not understand where I was in the pattern. Some days it took me 10 minutes to see it. If you can't see where you are in the chart, just sit with it in your lap. If you can't see it in 15 minutes, just put it down. It is not your day to work on it. I had trouble reading right to left, and then left to right on the pattern. This is true lace!

7) This is not a forgiving pattern. It's extremely linear, and a stitch out of place SHOWS. Fudging doesn't work well. Since the pattern changes every row, I found it difficult to memorize.

8) There is a big paradigm shift on the facing. Study the chart before you begin, and notice how it differs from the main chart-look at how the diagonal travels, and what happens in the wake of the stitches. (Yes, I reknit this portion.)

9) I knit facing A and facing B separately up to the slant points. Then I photocopied charts A and B and taped them together. Then, I worked them concurrently, using markers to designate the increase sector (which I just worked in rib).

10) It might be easier to knit the sleeves in the round. I think I would like it in wool.

Edited to add: I slipped the first and last stitch of every row on the collar and front opening to give myself a springboard for a 3 needle bindoff to attach the collar. It worked great.

I did the same thing at the under arm, and that about killed me. The jacket had a very narrow armscye (is that the right word??), and the sleeve top was fairly wide. I just about screwed myself there.

Learning to cook

Yes, I know how to cook. Lately, I've been trying to learn how to cook well. I've been making dinner around here for years, but I dunno, maybe it's all the exposure to Top Chef. Or not having to juggle work and cooking.

A few weekends ago, we went to breakfast in San Antonio, and I saw a bunch of articles cut out of the paper, and framed on the wall. They heralded places that served Eggs Benedict. All of them served it exclusively on the weekend, including the restaurant I was in. So I ordered it.

THAT was a mistake. I hate poached eggs. Yet today I was obsessed with creating a home version.

I found a recipe for hollandaise-

3 large egg yolks
1 TBsp fresh lemon juice
16 TBsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
Hot water
1/8 tsp. cayenne
Blend egg yolks and lemon juice in blender till frothy - 10 seconds +/-. With blender running, slowly drizzle in HALF of the butter until mixture is quite thick. Blend 2 tsp. of hot water. Continuing to blend, add remaining butter, about a minute. Blend additional water until sauce coats the back of a spoon. Stir in cayenne, salt and pepper. Use immediately. If you can't, set sauce in a pan, and then another pan of warm water, covered. Since it has raw egg yolks, try to use it quickly. Note: I added a little tarragon and ground mustard, and made 1/2 a recipe.

I thought that if the butter was hot enough, it would cook the eggs. Sounds reasonable, yes??

I discovered why Eggs Benedict is a weekend dish-it's not difficult, but there are so many steps and layers, it's a bit of a dash and a juggle. Here, I had to

• Make Hollandaise
• Slice and toast ciabatta (not burn, just toast-I was going to get English muffins, but got sidetracked at the grocery)
• Scramble eggs
• put together a little salad
• Layer the whole thing properly-toasted bread, Canadian bacon, SCRAMBLED EGGS (because poached eggs are too fussy and I don't like them anyhow) top with sauce, and get the salad on the plate.

Quickly.

It's not hard, but with a dog in the middle of the kitchen floor praying for a delicious kitchen accident, and a man who can't work sideways, it's a bit of a struggle to get the timing down. My experience went to hell when the butter exploded in the microwave. And the bread smelled like it was going to burn. Gaaah!

My mock Eggs B were very good. Buying ciabatta, Canadian bacon, eggs and salad still had me far under the cost of one plate with leftovers galore. And I didn't have to wait until Saturday.

My recommendation? Learn how to do it, and delegate tasks. Next time, DH is going to get salads and toast.

Yay! A truthful journalist!!

From The Times
July 25, 2008
He ventured forth to bring light to the world
The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers
Gerard Baker


And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.


The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.


When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”


In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.


And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.


He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the
Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.


And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.


From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.


And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.


And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.


From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.


In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.


As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.


And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.
The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.


And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.


Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.


And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.


Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.


But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.


And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.


Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.


On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.


And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

Six dollars

I stuck my head into LYS yesterday to check for some more Mosaic and a new circ. Yay on the circ, but no on the Mosaic. S' ok, I will do some more looking, not a problem.

Our LYS was sold recently, after more than 35 years under the same owner. Look at the stack I got for 6.00. There are 4 mid-nineties issues of VK, and I thumbed thru them (I own them, but it's rare that I sit down and LOOK at them. Usually, I am pattern crawling). There were articles on up and comer Pam Allen, as well as a spread on Adrienne Vittadini, who has recently shut down the knitwear segment of her line. (Sigh) I thought it was kind of interesting to see where people had been, just to compare to where they are going.

I found this particularly interesting cardigan. I think it would work well thru a really snowy January on a pregnant woman. What do you think?

More yarn!!!

The yarn gods have smiled on me. According to my invoices, I have another bag of this antique blue color floating around somewhere. That's good. I was getting a little worried about having enough. Turns out, I may be hunting for more of the Mosaic. Which suits me just fine. My imagined low stockpile of this wool is the reason I chose this style vs. the February lady (seriously-they are practically the same thing anyhow.)

So do we like this fabric??

I've been thinking about a preggocardi for DD for a few days now. I asked some folks, looked at a few places, and there's not a ton out there in maternity wear. Forget Mommy Snug, that looks like a pain, I have seen the directions!!!

So I started a top down cardi. The sleeves are cellular stitch, and after the bodice underarm, I am starting traveling vine. Both stitches are from the Blue Barbara. I don't have a ton of this yarn, let's hope I can stretch it like taffy!!! It's blue Elann Bag Wool (a store mistake that's been marinating for a few years) and some Berrocco Mosaic that was marked down to .97. Hell, I had to buy THAT!

Anise, or Mocha Marvel from January's Simply Knitting, is probably next.

Tell me why

I don't like Mondays. Actually, I'm ok with them, I just am in the mood to hear Bob Geldorf and those staccato lyrics.

And he can see no reasons

'Cos there are no reasons

What reason do you need to be show-ow-ow-ow-own?

But it's been a rough one.

I woke up stumbling to the bathroom this morning. Surprise! On my way back out, DH said "Wait, it gets better." Huh? "Suggy peed herself when she got up." Oh. Poor girl, it's not long now. At least she did it to DH, so I won't have to bring the topic up to him. But he didn't want me to feel like the stuckee, and told me he'd probably get crapped on at work.

Don't want anyone to feel left out around here.

The little sandwich inspector got up later and made her rounds to check that I didn't drop anything.

I got my IWK hurt book sale orders in. They were both wrong. The people were reasonably pleasant on the line. The duplicates I ordered weren't included, but they should be along shortly.

On a brighter note, my kitchen is lookin' bitchin. I ordered a new stove, a new fridge, dishwasher, and a bad-assed micro-hood-convection set-up last week.

What a difference!

I decided to compare yesterday's stitch pattern to plain SS, and I just knit the jacket sleeves in plain stockinette.

What a difference from such an easy pattern!!! Technically, they look the same, but the surface texture breaks up obvious pools.

Bunch of breeders--

Herrschner's had Nashua Cilantro on sale a few weeks back, and it sounded appealing. A little cotton, a little stretch-what's not to like?? I picked up a few balls.

Every side of the family is racing to have the next kid-my brother, my niece, and possibly my DD, so I went ahead and cast this on-it's out of Creative Knitting, and seemed like just the thing. I'm nearing the end of the hood, and have only the sleeves left to do.

I know the baby is cute, but I'll stand up for mi familia and say at least one of them will probably produce a cuter one. (No conceit in my family!)

Stitch pattern used: (Multiple of 6)

Row 1: *P3, K1, YO, K2tog*

Row 2: P3, K3

Row 3: K

Row 4: P

The stitch pattern is a champ on variegated yarns.

Edited to add: I am using the colorway "brights" which is the knitted column on the left.

Other swatches

I've had a really big WIP at my house since January. My WIP IS my house...my new house. I live in the house we bought when we moved down here 13 years ago, right after we'd been to court for the kids and still had big legal bills, and knew Mark was getting out of the military. We've lived in the little modest house for a long time. So in January, we started this ball rolling.

House from scratch is a lot harder than you might imagine. For one, the architect, who is a licensed "a professional" may be a flake. (I was going to use a different term that I never ever use. You might think 'douchebag' is part of my everyday venacular. It's not.) One of those people who owns the credentials but doesn't do the work? More on that later.

So here are swatches-



I found it difficult to pick these things out, because unlike choosing yarns or fabric for projects, redoing whole interiors isn't something I get to do all the time. And it's difficult to know how things are going to translate into the real world. Like the bold berry colored stain on the red-oak sample I circled? My cabinets are not nearly as red as you'd think, and this shot shows them as fairly red. Actually, they are primarily a cool brown. (I have maintained for years that my best brown is mauve, and I think it's STILL true.)

And the granite? That was selected in March, and I stood in the stoneyard with a list of stone varieties "in budget" sweating like a pig, trying to visualize slabs the size of small U-Hauls as my kitchen counter. They installed it yesterday, and I walked in yesterday evening at 8:30, and holy shit. I thought I had snow leopards mating on the counter-tops. We had to have a fight about it today. DH was annoyed because I was not over-joyed, but seriously suspecting my own taste level. I was scared I screwed up and ordered really expensive fug.

I turned it over in my mind and thought about this-it seems so loud because it is the only patterned thing in the whole house. And I went to visit it today. In the late afternoon light, I see fewer leopards, and more rivers of gold and bits of berry and it is ok. DH likes it better too.

And they turned on the power last night too. See that big towering structure to the far right? That's the garage. And above it is the yarn cave.

Because it pays for itself-

DH has driven a 1999 Chevy Silverado around since the day he picked it up off the lot. It's got 175,000 miles on it, but looks and runs decently. Recently, I made him go to the dealership.

I'd been eyeing cars for weeks. Would DH accept an economical car? He'd come home and complain how much it cost to fill the truck, but would he really accept anything that wasn't a he-man truck?? That's a question akin to "will my dog accept the stray puppy on the side of the road?"

How come all these new cars don't have decent gas mileage? Why is there very little fuel savings between an 8 cyl Silverado and a 6 cyl? Or even the Colorado? Even the econoboxes don't get awesome mileage-for example the Nissan Versa gets 33mpg highway, and a 4 cylinder sedan (like the Chevy Malibu) gets 30mpg. I guess the 50 mpg is the reason folks are dusting off their Geo Metros aroung here.

The big ol' truck and many many miles a day, multiplied by gas prices - it made me cringe.

"I'm not ready to pay for another vehicle," DH declared.

"But honey, you are-every time you buy gas!"

Silence.

As it turns out, he liked the Chevy Malibu 4 banger, which is a highly rated family sedan. The fuel economy is significantly better than the truck, which we are keeping for a while. We won't have to play "When's the truck gonna crap out on us?" and I am glad about that.

This past week, he tracked his fuel usage and costs. He spent 70 dollars less on gas. It really will pay for itself.

Four-

Went to a gun show with DH today. Four is the number of people I saw with FINGERS ON TRIGGERS in the first hour. OMG, I just wanted to slap them, and a few of them were old enough to be draft eligible when I was little. Ah, see what draft dodging did? Made you STUPID!

I considered telling my single girlfriends to do something at a gun show to meet fellas-DH told me that was a bad idea. I saw a couple of pasty white guys with heavy backpacks on. He was probably right. Better that they stick to dog shows and the like.

Four is also the number of rows in my Queensland Tahiti stitch pattern-after I posted that photo yesterday, someone popped up and said their friend was having trouble with Tahiti biasing in stockinette. I went and looked, and sure enough, she did have trouble. I didn't notice any bias on mine, because I have 3 rows of stockinette, and one garter ridge (knit 1 row on the wrong side). The garter ridge apparently rights all the yarn karma, it's no trouble.

I'm working on 6s, which are 8s in every one else's world.

Summer fun!

I like this pattern for this yarn.

Every so often, I am sure my spouse is abducted by aliens-

Weird stuff comes out of his mouth!

We just got the uber deluxe mattress that the dog has to use the ottoman to get on (and we put it next to the bed) every night. Since we are moving, and since DH wants new everything, I figured new linens were in order. So I ordered bedspreads-one for us, and one for the guest room. They came in today. He didn't like either-and they are attractive. He said they looked too Holiday Inn! Let's hope I can afford return postage!

I ordered an extra bedspread for the MIL summer palace, and guess which one he wants?? I swear to GOD it's a test!!!

Everyone's doing it!

I paid Enid a visit. She was doing this cool Flickr Mosaic visual meme. I just had to try it out!
This is how it works:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? Chocolate
3. What high school did you go to? Thomas B. Doherty
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? The Rock
6. Favorite drink? Diet Coke
7. Dream vacation? Mont Saint Michel
8. Favorite dessert? Angel Food Cake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Famous
10. What do you love most in life? Life
11. One word to describe you. Quirky
12. Your flickr name. Junior Goddess

Here's what I got:
A search for, the man of my dreams (the Rock) yielded a photo of my home town-I have climbed some of those formations. My Flickr name gave up the city where my Dad's cousin lives, and quirky yielded my dolls.


1. 3:49 Betsy McCall goes to School, 2. Untitled, 3. P3290638, 4. Northwest 3, 5. Main Garden, 6. Birthday Bomb, 7. Coucher de soleil sur le Mont St Michel, 8. Lemon Angel Food Cupcake, 9. Nasir-almolk, 10. yodell ♫ lay-od-lay-od-lay-he-hoo, ♫ lay-od-lay-od-low yodellay, ♫ yodallay, yodal-low… ♫ and they fly low supreme! ♫ little egrets from bali- egretta garzetta ♫, 11. Be-Heinz, 12. HISTORY OF THE QUEEN'S HEAD PUBLIC HOUSE

We're kinda slow...

But we mean well.

Today, DH and I went out for a quick 9 holes of golf. Ok, maybe I wasn't QUICK, maybe I am freaking slow, progressing at the rate of 75 yards per swing. Ah well.

We finished up, and I happened to look at the flag pole. "Gee, honey, that flag looks terrible!" "Yeah, I noticed it when I came out here yesterday." He paused for a minute, and said "You know, we have that flag BB sent. We could go grab it, and swap them out."

So we did. On our way back to the golf course, I told DH "You know, he must have won this in a quarterly award or something." Holy crap, I felt terrible for not understanding that earlier. My daughter's ex-boyfriend's little brother won a military award, and sent it to us, and I didn't SEE that. How stupid of me.

We swapped out flags quickly and with decorum. The old flag was so tattered, I cased it while DH hoisted the first one. There was no danger of it sweeping the ground. The golf course cashier kept saying how sweet we were. We weren't sweet. We just happened to have a flag that a 22 year old kid sent us from the Horn of Africa. How lucky we are to know him. DH said "I got to play a round of golf, and we did the flag thing. This is the best 4th ever!"

I totally agree.