Month: October 2012

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 10/31/12

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ON THE NEEDLES

New shawl started, the pattern is Adamas, using Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk in a soft gray.  Very pretty.  Pretty Maids is officially finished, blocked and waiting for a nice day for a picture.  I’m very pleased with it, especially since it’s really my first all lace project.  It blocked really well and turned out way better than I expected.  My patience with blocking anything is pretty limited anyway and with the Papoose helping me, I wasn’t sure what the result was going to be.  I’ll have it up for FO Friday for sure.  In the meantime, here’s Adamas –

BY THE BOOK

Still working on the Six Wives of Henry the Eighth, up to Catherine Parr.  It amazes me how the monarchy works.  I know it’s different now, I mean, what’s it been 500 or so years since Henry the Eighth, but even now, what would it be like to have the power and responsibility of a royal?  Would having your every wish fulfilled get tiresome after a while?  Probably so, but I’d love to try and see what it’s like!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The Cancer Registry’s newest employee:

 

For more WIP Wednesday projects, head on over to Tami Ami’s WIPW blog.  Enjoy!

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.  There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they may seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always.  Gandhi

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Knitting

It’s so quiet!

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THE GRANDS

We had the Papoose from Friday morning until Sunday evening this past weekend and now that it’s just us again, it’s so quiet, it’s “I can hear Josie snoring two rooms away” quiet.  As always, Susannah was a joy, happy, a great napper/sleeper, a good eater and ready for anything.  She kept us on our toes sure enough and I laughed myself into a set of sore ribs.  What’s better than that?  She got a mani-pedi –

Susie with her mani-pedi

and Papa brushed up on his coloring skills –

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What’s not to like?  Right?  Papa does have an odd fixation about staying inside the lines, but Susie and I are working on that and he’s coming along nicely.

IN THE OVEN

Cooler temps over the weekend meant doing some real cooking – I made a beef stew on Friday and Crockpot Burritos on Saturday.  The burritos especially were a winner.  Babydiva, Babydaddy and Babymama came over Sunday after church and helped us eat the leftovers.  Even better then second day!  I’d hoped to bake bread over the weekend but that clearly was a little overly optimistic timewise.  Maybe next weekend.  It’s on the list.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  Helen Keller

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Knitting

What’s up

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COMING UP

Three months ago or so I had to have a tooth pulled and tomorrow morning I’m scheduled to have the first stage of a dental implant to take its place. I’ll be glad to get the ball rolling on this, even though where my tooth was isn’t noticeable, I hate having that empty space. It hurts when I forget not to chew on that side (how does anyone who is toothless and without dentures eat anything??) and just feels odd.

THE GRANDS

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Babydiva

The Papoose

Babysis

Our precious babies! The Papoose is coming for an overnight tomorrow and Saturday and I have a Susannah grocery list going, with her fave foods. I am trying to keep the junk food to a minimum but I confess, I love it as much as she does, so along with stuff like yogurt, Cheerios and fruit, there’s instant mac and cheese, Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream and chocolate milk. Can’t wait!

BY THE BOOK

I’m very much immersed in

    The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth

      . Anne Boleyn has just been executed and he’s married Catherine Howard (I think). I love the intrigue.

      One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. Will Durant

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 10/24/12

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ON THE NEEDLES

I’m on the downhill side of Pretty Maids, I think I have about ten rows left to complete, bearing in mind, though, that these are long, long rows, approximately 350 stitches and increasing by two stitches each row.  I’m enjoying this second go round so much more than the first, I’m sure it’s because I’m not having to constantly check the pattern and the symbol guide.  It’s not flying off the needles by any stretch of the imagination, but it is moving faster this time.

BY THE BOOK

I finished Opium Fiend yesterday during my daily treadmill and have moved on to The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth by Alison Weir.  Very interesting, up to Anne Boleyn at the moment.  I’m finishing my books much slower than I’m adding them and they’re beginning to pile up, but I can’t resist a new book.  I keep telling myself that I’ll get caught up in December and January, when I’ve retired and the weather is too cold and nasty to be anywhere but inside by the fire. 

VIOLET

Lately I’ve become obsessed with everything violet and I’m blaming it all on getting my tat, which is a violet ball of yarn and knitting needles.  So last weekend, when I was prowling Goodwill, looking for odd and ends to craft with, I saw these and pounced –

They don’t match anything in my house – yet.  Is it over the top to paint a room around the color of a couple of candlesticks from Goodwill instead of the other way around?  It could totally happen.  My research tells me that people who are drawn to the color violet are usually nuclear physicists or performance artists.  That’s me in a nutshell.  OK, maybe not the physicist part, but performance artist?  Absolutely and I have embarrassing pictures to prove it.

THE GRANDS

The Papoose wants Babysis to sleep in her bed with her.  Bigmommy sent me this yesterday.

Susannah and Annabelle

Is this not the sweetest thing?

 No man is rich enough to buy back his past.  Oscar Wilde (see above paragraph)

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Knitting

As promised

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THE GRANDS

As promised, here are some pics of Babydiva’s baptism.

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Babydiva with her fav cousin, the Papoose.

 IN THE OVEN

I finally was able to do a little baking yesterday, something new I lifted from Pinterest – a cream cheese  pound cake that was out of this world, really.  Although, with three sticks of butter, cream cheese and six eggs, it would be hard for it to be anything but delicious.  I took the time to cut a slice to bring to work this morning as a treat with my coffee.  Yum.

Sour Cream Pound Case

Amazing cake!

Here’s the original Pinterest post:  

 

Technically this is not baking, but I got a sourdough starter going this weekend and I was right about the weather being good starter weather.  I think this one is the fastest I’ve had one develop ever.  Friday I started with the usual half cup flour and half cup warm water and by yesterday afternoon (Sunday) it was bubbly and had the typical sour smell.  It should move into its beery, yeasty smell in the next day or so.  Much as I love sourdough, this is my least liked stage.  Until it matures, it smells like feet.  I have to keep reminding myself that this part doesn’t last long. : )

48 hours old

See  how nice and bubbly it is?

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.  Benjamin Franklin

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Knitting

Still on Pretty Maids

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ON THE NEEDLES

I’m going great guns on my Pretty Maids shawl from Knitty and this time around it’s going very well. Here’s Josie graciously modeling it for a picture or two.

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Can’t tell much about it as it’s a WIP and I’m anxious to have it finished and blocked so I can get the full effect.

LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION

I took my phone with me on my walk this morning and took some pics. I’m trying to get better at it. Here’s a couple –

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I think the lichens found on trees are beautiful with their silver/brown/ gray color palette. There could totally be a knitting project with these colors. But not before Pretty Maids is done! Promise!

He who does nothing makes no mistakes.

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 10/17/12

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ON THE NEEDLES

Plugging along on the Pretty Maids shawl and am so happy I decided to frog the first attempt, the second try is 100% better.  I’m able to “read” my knitting better and as a result, if I make a mistake, I notice it quicker and can fix it more easily.  A much happier project!   Here’s a photo –

Stitch close up 

 

The Big Picture

 THE GRANDS

I have a new picture of Babysis Annabelle and can’t resist blogging it.  Talk about a lucky shot!

Isn’t she precious???

IN THE OVEN

I have big plans for baking this coming weekend.  I’m going to bake bread and attempt to get a sourdough starter going.  The weather should help out quite a bit, low humidity, warm but not hot temperatures.  I’ve missed baking these past few months, first it was way to hot to use the oven, then I was too busy, what with the grands, work, Mom and the zillion other tiny things that seem to be of no consequence, but turn into a mountain with attempts to accomplish them. 

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.  A.A. Milne

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Knitting

Experimenting

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DABBLINGS

I’ve been trying out some different crafts in the past few weeks, mostly jewelry, but also glass dyeing.  I’ve for sure not perfected my glass dyeing technique, but it’s fun to try different things, different shapes and different colors.  Here’s a sample; this what they look like before they’ve dried –

And this is about 24 hours later, after they’ve had some drying time.  I love how they start out opaque and then slowly clear and true colors appear.

 

 

Now my challenge is deciding what to do with them, pretty much every horizontal surface in my house is taken.  I’m thinking I might take them to the nursing home where my mom lives, I think she’d enjoy them on her windowsill.  With the sun shining through, they look like stained glass.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Babymama had a birthday last week, here’s Mr. Iknead’s and my gift.

I finished it about a week before her actual birthday, it was so hard not to give it to her ahead of time!  I couldn’t wait to find out if she liked it.  She did and has worn it several times since. 

Be aware of wonder.  Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.  Robert Fulghum

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Knitting

Babies and baptisms

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WHAT WENT DOWN

Mr. Iknead and I had 2/3 of the grands in house this weekend, along with Bigdaddy and Bigmommy, and it was a million things all at once – exhausting (we’re not youngsters anymore no matter what we try to make you believe), exhilirating (try not to be excited by the prospect of a walk with a two year old or snuggles with a three week old), humbling (in the face of two year old wisdom, “because I don’t want to”) and joyful (just because).  Babydiva’s baptism was last evening and she handled it with her usual diva cool, not batting an eye when Monsignor poured the water over her head.  Mr. Iknead took pictures but hasn’t uploaded them yet.  I’m moving that to the top of his to do list and hopefully, I’ll have some to show in the next day or so.  Meanwhile, here’s the Papoose and Babysis –

The Papoose

Babysis

ON THE NEEDLES

After the drama with the Pretty Maids shawl last week, I ended up completely frogging it and starting over.  I realized the first go round was a trainwreck, bit the bullet and frogged.  This time, we’re getting along much, much better.  Will get a picture tomorrow in the sunshine.

RECAP

Babies

Baptism

Knit

Frog

Knit

Blog

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.  Before him, I may think aloud.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Knitting

Crisis averted/WIP Wednesday 10/10/12

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ON THE NEEDLES

Ouch!  When I went to take a photo of the ongoing Pretty Maids shawl project to post to WIP Wednesday, I ACCIDENTLY PULLED THE NEEDLES OUT OF THE KNITTING!  My heart just sank.  Seriously, I thought I would throw up when I saw it.  I was three rows from finishing it.   Jeez.  Luckily, I was able to put it back on the needles and am now in the process of tinking it back to a recognizable row to get moving forward on it again.  Even though I know “it’s just knitting”, it’s my knitting and my time invested in it and I love it.  Hopefully, this evening I’ll see forward progress again. 

It’s really hard to make out what it looks like when it’s unblocked lace. Patience, patience and hopefully, it will be finished, washed and blocked by this time next week. 

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.  Albert Pike

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Knitting

So I saw this bracelet in a catalog

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iCOVET

So, I saw this bracelet in a catalog (one of about a jillion that I get) months ago and fell in love with it right away.   What I didn’t fall in love with was the price tag, $88.00 but I kept looking at it, checking to see if it had gone on sale, looking at it some more, then more checking and more looking.  Finally, last week, as I was doing more looking, one of the little voices in my head (yes, I have a committee in my head) said, “You could totally make that, you know”.  So I set about doing just that.  I’ve been playing around with jewelry making and experimenting with different things, I had a spool of waxed linen cording and little silver beads that didn’t work for another project and this is what happened:

 This one’s mine                                                                                     This one’s theirs

TWIG BRACELET 

 Pretty good for a total investment of about five bucks and thirty minutes, wouldn’t you say?  And it fits perfectly (I have very skinny wrists).  I did good, in my never to be humble opinion.

THE GRANDS

Babydiva’s baptism is scheduled for Saturday, so we tried the family baptistmal gown on her Saturday and I’m happy to report that it’s a perfect fit; the bonnet not so much.  She’s the fourth baby to wear it.  OK, technically, she’s the third since her dad, Babydaddy, couldn’t squeeze into it when he was her age.  But, he did have it on for a minute or so, so I’m counting that as a wearing.  If I remember correctly, he was very, very bad tempered about trying it on, too.  Isn’t she a beauty??

 

Babydiva AKA Harper

BY THE BOOK

Am reading American Passage , a history of Ellis Island, which has always fascinated me and on my Nook, Killer Photos with Your iPhone.  I’ve pretty much quit using anything but my phone to take pictures, this book has already taught me a lot, both how to set up a good photo and how to use my iPhone and its features to make pictures.  Hopefully my pics will improve the more I learn.  I’m ashamed to admit that I had to ask Mr. Iknead what kind of phone I have, 3G? 3GS?  It’s a 4.  Learn something new every day.

Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade.  It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit.  Abbie Hoffman