Purling Oaks

Time to find my knitting bag

I'm about ready to turn on the television and start knitting on Sonnet. I've determined that if I read blogs with my morning allotment of two cups of coffee and with my evening meal (at least when I'm on my own on the road) I can accomplish other stuff....like knitting. Oh yes, and paying bills.

I think knitting will be good for me after the news I just got (see below).

*********

Flat Vicki had an outrageous time with the Harlot yesterday. What a fun day for all. *g*

+++++++

Thank you for the well wishes for Clif. I just got off the telephone with DH and he told me the sad news. I'm sorry to say that Clif passed away last night. He had another massive heart attack and now he's gone. Damn. He was a big, nice guy from Minnesota, a great co-worker and a very comfortable person to have a few beers with after work or at conferences. I will really miss you, Clif.

Sonnet progress photos

Here is a pretty decent photo of Sonnet as of about 8 AM this morning. I added several more rows this morning on our drive back to Chez Purling Oaks, so I'm now officially working on the left front. HURRAY! DH and I drove up yesterday morning and visited with my mom. We met for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Oshkosh then went with her to meet with some folks about a memorial for my dad. We stopped at Fleet Farm for some seed starting soil and a few other items then went up to the Farm. DH cut some limbs that were getting a bit too friendly with the machine shed and mom and I picked up branches, held the ladder, and hoped DH wouldn't slide off the metal roof of the shed! (No casualties.)

Some family friends met us at the Farm and we all went to the Century Elm Supper Club for fish fry dinners, a Wisconsin tradition for Fridays. I had fried smelt with a side of potato pancakes. How traditional for March is that? It was a nice evening.

Besides trying to add more rows to Sonnet, today is scheduled for finishing this blog entry, laundry, a trip into Madison for some chicken or turkey sausage for tonight's dinner, as well as, a trip to one of my favorite clothing stores with a coupon for 25% off that expires after today.

My sleep is becoming more settled and I'm having fewer disturbing dreams. I haven't dreamed of stealing anyone's dog in several days now. *grin* I had not really been aware of the physical effects that grief can have on the body. I knew but I didn't really understand how it can hit you. It can really throw you a few things out of the blue. Thank goodness for family, friends, co-workers, and blogging dog-owners that are understanding and supportive.

********

I lost track of where I saw this, some news article compilation--perhaps from www.jsonline.com. This is for Norma:

What do you call a line of rabbits hopping backwards?

A receding hare line!

********

Making tracks:

Sonnet continues....

Sonnet has grown several inches. I finished the box stitch for the right side of the back after several small frogging episodes. I seem to get confused with that stitch if I have any distractions such as husband, kitties, wine, or semi-deep thoughts. Now I'm in the midst of garter stitch and almost at the end of the third skein. That is a pretty good thing, considering I purchased ten skeins and the swatch came out of the first skein. So, three more (fingers-crossed) for the rest of the body of the sweater and four left for sleeves and finishing. Yes, I just counted...I have seven skeins left. Whew. For those of you not familiar with Sonnet's pattern, you select your own yarn (on purpose), work out the gauge, and plug it into Kristi Porter's pattern. She gave two examples of sweaters with two types of yarn and the amount of yarn used for each one. I made my best guess based on that information. Of course, it was convenient, that once I found the yarn I wanted, my LYS only had ten skeins of it left. Serendipity, eh?! We shall see.........

Here's a few things we do with homemade bread here at Chez Purling Oaks. Toast slice of bread, cut in half. Annoint with your spread of choice (I like butter) then apply thinly sliced ham and alfalfa sprouts. This is a super small lunch.

We also make Tomato and Cilantro Canapes. Core, seed, and dice two tomatoes. Mince about a scant tablespoon of cilantro. Toast the bread and brush lightly with olive oil that has had a bit of minced garlic soaking in it. Spoon out a bit of garlic and add to the bowl of tomatoes and cilantro. Add a splash or two of sherry vinegar and some salt and pepper. Let that sit for a few minutes then arrange your toasts on a serving plate and spoon the tomato mixure over the toast. YUM. It will be better with the addition of home grown tomatoes but the sherry vinegar really sweetens the winter tomatoes.

Pending, Current & FO!

Vicki and Cara have both given me a case of new sweater-itis! Vicki did a bit of a re-do to Williamsro which looked fabulous before and looks even more fabulous now. Vicki also wrote about some vesticular activity. Cara is swatching for the Katherine Hepburn Cardigan in Lace Style from Interweave Knits. I love the way her swatches look.

I'm doing a bit of housekeeping -- on the blog, that is, and I'm adding a few of my past finished objects. Here is my very first sweater!
This sweater remained a UFO for quite a while but I finished it in 2006. It is a very nice sweater and while I can wear it now, it would be more comfortable if I spent more time on the treadmill, ya know?

Yesterday I started a sponge starter for bread and the bread came out of the oven this morning. I mixed the bread dough last night and it had an overnight rise in the icebox. It really tastes great and it is one of DH's favorite breads.

Here is a current photo of the progress on Sonnet. It is still on the needles so it is difficult to see I'm in another section of box stitch. Because of the new sweater-itis that is going around, I thought I better work furiously on Sonnet this weekend so my guilt level won't be so high if I happened to have visited a LYS after driving through the blowing snow to *ahem* find yarn on sale.

*if* :-)

Mirror, mirror in my mind....

Some progress was made on Sonnet this weekend. I'm certainly not a speedy knitter but, like the turtle, I make my way slowly but surely to the finish line. I am at the midpoint of the underarm of the right side. I'm pretty pleased with the texture of the fabric and it looks about the right size. As you may remember I modified the pattern so the neckline is more modest. At this point, I've used about 1.75 skeins of Rowan summer tweed - I purchased ten skeins in all. Looks like I better go looking for a few more skeins if I want long or even 3/4-length sleeves!

I did some cat food shopping on Friday and found a new brand with a canned food variety that made me laugh so much I had to buy it. Turducken for kitties! Can you imagine?!! Actually, the label has the first four ingredients as meat/protein so it is a quality food. The cats gave it a "one-paw" up rating....they enjoyed it but didn't polish it off completely. We give our four kitties one can of food between them for an evening treat---otherwise they eat dry food. Fuzzle wasn't so sure about the packaging......

Crazy Aunt Purl wrote recently about body image and dieting--or rather not dieting but eating with an intent to be healthy. She touched on a topic where a lot of blog readers live --- she had 362 or so comments just for the first post on the topic. I have to say I live there, too. The photo of me knitting in the airport really surprised me. Do I really look like that??! That image doesn't match my internal image of myself at all. Nope, not at all. My internal image is not quite so, um, triangle-shaped! There's no quick fix for the woman in that photo or the woman reflected in my brain's mirror, sigh. I am thankful for Runagogo (or Walkagogo, in my case) and for blogging that made me connect with my inner --or should that be my outer-- self-image. That photo is still in the front of my mind when I'm making food choices. The map of heart disease from the February 2007 issue of National Geographic also made a huge impression on me. Yeah, I live in Wisconsin, which had lower than average deaths between 1999 and 2003 but, for some reason, that map has been influencing my food choices to some degree. I think I'm going to print it out and stick it under a refrigerator magnet.

Here's a little doo-dad measuring tape I've been keeping with my Sonnet project. I love that it has an automatic retracto-button and can you see the little spool at the end of the tape?! Very cool little crafty gadget.

Friday morning coffee, YUM!

I woke up in my own bed this morning (yeah!), kissed my honey, and slippered into the kitchen to make coffee. We love coffee in the morning and we especially like it made in a percolator on the stovetop. We've tried other methods, but this is our favorite. We made it this way when camping a number of years ago and decided we shouldn't just enjoy it when camping. (Especially since we don't find a lot of time to camp.) When visiting, both our mothers comment on how good the coffee smells. I am sure some of that aroma comes from the freshly ground beans but the method must play a part too.

There was a package waiting for me when I arrived home last night. It was from Blue Moon Fiber Arts! Could it be the first installment of the 2007 Sock Club??? No, it is a bit too early for that.....but it was my order of January One and G-Rocks! They are both lovely colorways and these are my first skeins of STR but not my last, for sure.

Finally, for this morning, there is some actual knitting content!! I made some progress on Sonnet this week. This chilly weekend may also lend itself to knitting so I hope I'll have another photo on Sunday that shows me knitting the back!

I had some help with the photography this morning. Fuzzle found the beginnings of Sonnet acceptable.....

You guessed it...frogging

Yes, some knitting has been accomplished. Or rather, UNknitting, ripping, frogging, etc. Thank goodness it was just a little bit, but still pretty annoying. My grand idea of learning to hold the yarn in my left hand while knitting Sonnet did not take into account my lovely swatch that was knitted holding the yarn in my right hand! I now know I can definitely achieve a looser fabric with a left-hand hold. Ha! Thought I was so clever, eh? By the way, the beverage was enjoyed after I ripped.

I think I'll start the left hand on a scarf. *grin*

Outside of this minor ripping, I seem to have a fairly unsettled state of mind. Certainly, this low light season contributes to less than happy feelings and this odd mild weather seems so out of place. In a few days, we may be back to more winter-llike temperatures or so they say. Maybe I just need to get a pair of socks on the needles?! What do you think?

Sunday projects

Today I put away the Christmas ornaments and other auxilary decorations. The hubby and I dismantled the tree and did our best to convince it to go back into the box for reappearance in 11 months. Four feet of packaging tape later, the tree agreed to rest in the box in the boiler room until early December 2007.

I pulled out the fleece I bought on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics and prepared it for blanket making. I'm going to make one of those quicky fringed blankets that only requires a cutting instrument and time to tie fringe. That's about at far as I got. The holiday dismantling must have tired me out. I'll work on it during the week, perhaps.

Yesterday we went to the 2007 Home Expo at the Monona Terrace in Madison. We are glad we went because we found new products or vendors we didn't know about before. The Expo was also a great place to get and keep a sugar high because all the vendors offered chocolate and other candy in mass quantities. This was our first look inside Monona Terrace. I thought it would be cold and blah like most convention centers but I was pleasantly surprised. Frank Lloyd Wright was really a wonder.

An example of what a new product can do for you:

The left image is a naked radiator and the right one has a nice new Radiant Wrap cover. I love these new radiator covers--they update the house. We are still working on replacing all the covers and are expecting covers for the front room and living room any day now. I have no affiliation with the company, it is just a super product for those of us looking for it.

I also can show you a little progress on Sonnet. I started it and this is the project I'm using to make myself learn the Continental (left hand) yarn hold. It is going well but a bit slow as I develop my technique. It definitely feels more efficient.

I'll end this post with a "stocking stuffer" from Santa. Who ever at Blue Sky thought of the metal tin and design for these needles is so clever. I want all the tins now from size 0 through 5, I think. I feel my collector-itis itch starting.

Spring, frogs, moon, sun

The days have been so mild lately I keep thinking of Spring! How can I think of Spring when it is only JANUARY 3!? Must be wishful thinking on my part. I know as soon as I think this is going to be a very mild winter, ba-whamo, nine inches of snow! Please don't think I dislike winter weather, I don't. I actually own snowshoes that I would love to use! But, darn it, I like Winter to act like WINTER! Add this mild weather to the beautiful moon show we've had and I keep expecting to see these little guys on the windows again.

The full (or almost) moon was out this morning and my cell phone camera just didn't capture it. The clouds were just barely obscuring it and it was just above the ridge to the north of the house. Driving to work, especially at the beginning of the week when I have a longer drive, is one of my favorite things. I agree that sounds odd (using coming home from work gets more votes), but it is a beautiful time of day. The sunrise and the countryside are serene. The trees, especially at this time of year, will be backlit, black against the pink and orange sky. I am really thankful for moments like these, that I am able to enjoy the beauty of the earth and sky, and feel the peace of the day before I face my other responsibilities.

No knitting to share today. The needles and yarn for Sonnet are within my arm's reach so perhaps I'll cast on and see how it progresses. My swatch is great except the bind-off is way too tight for this sweater. I'm researching elastic bind-off techniques but haven't found one for stockinette yet. There's always the larger needle trick but I'm holding out for something a bit more polished. I have several inches to knit before any binding is involved so I'm sure I'll find an acceptable solution before then. *fingers crossed*

New (s)

New Finished Object: I finished the Good, Plain socks today. A first for the new year...my first pair of heeled socks, as well as the first pair of handknit socks for my husband. (Well, his feet fit into them much better than mine, though the color is more me than he!) DH has been busy installing baseboard or I would have had an on-the-intended-feet shot. Maybe later.

New Work in Progress: I am swatching for Sonnet with Rowan summer tweed in what I'm inclined to call taupe or cafe au lait. I've made an adjustment to the pattern to add a bit more coverage to the neckline. I'm knitting a larger size and based on the second photo and some other blog comments, I think I need to do the adjusting. I like Kristi Porter's pattern because you can adjust it without doing any guessing except what the new measurement should be and that can be alleviated by a measuring tape and a realistic view of your body. Yes, the realistic body view could be a challenge. I believe I've acquired a more realistic body view as I've gained years. I look at old photos and laugh that I though I was overweight . Silly girl. I looked fine. I wish I would have seen myself that way back in that decade. I wouldn't mind the old body with the new me now. *grin*

New blog banner: What new blog banner? There isn't one?! Well, I would like a new blog banner but I don't want to buy a photoshop program worth a sweater of yarn for one composite photo/banner. I'm using a Mac which adds a bit to my challenge. I'll have to ponder this banner-challenge a bit. I see a lot of very nifty banners out in the blog-ether. I really like Cara's and Vicki's, although Vicki is looking for a new one. I may just fashion one with paper, tape, and sissors.... Hmm