Knitting

Got Back

July 9, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT WE DID

Our trip to Stuttgart aka the Duck and Rice Capitol of the World to check out the Papoose’s new digs was amazing. The parsonage was really nice, if a little dated, with big rooms and a great backyard, the Papoose is really loving it, lots of running room. It’s right across the street from the church, so they can just walk over. The congregation was very welcoming and warm and put on an awesome potluck after church. I suppose I should mention that the church I’m going on about is Grand Avenue United Methodist, in Stuttgart, Arkansas and my best son in law, Clefton Vaughan, is the new pastor.

Susannah Grace aka the Papoose

Babydiva aka Harper with her Uncle Clefton

As usual, when we all get together (forgot to mention that Babydiva and her entourage was also there), a good time was had by all, with everyone talking at the same time, someone looking for a snack most of the time and, of course, paying homage to the Papoose and Babydiva, the prettiest and smartest girls ever.

It was hot so Mr. Iknead and the Papoose took a dip in the pool, where the Papoose made sure that her Papa was well watered, pouring water over his head from a watering can. Cutest thing ever!

ON THE NEEDLES

I don’t really want to talk about it, it’s painful you know, but I frogged back about four inches of heel flap and sock leg on the 9 to 5s. I still haven’t a clue where the wheels came off, I looked and looked, and counted and counted, never figured it out. Fresh start on the heel flap tonight after work. Frustration doesn’t look good on me, so I hope to get it straightened out so I can move on.

Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes. John Dewey

Knitting

July 5

July 5, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

I’m happy to report that Wingspan is finished and I can stop feeling guilty about the Nine to Five socks that have been on the “as soon as I finish ________” list and they’re now first in line.

Here’s Wingspan

And to prove that yes, it does take just one skein, here’s what is left after binding off

This quite possibly could be the only green grass in Little Rock. It’s been something like 22 days since we’ve had any measurable precipitation, according to Barry Brandt, weatherman whiz and if lawns don’t get watered every day, they get brown and crunchy. As far as I can tell, we have no real chance 0f rain until Saturday or Sunday, if then. But I digress…

I think I’ll block it tomorrow since Mr. Iknead and I are making a trip to see the Papoose (and her mom and dad, of course).

A quick look at the Nine to Fives –

HAPPYS

Coffee with fancy creamer, Josie the Pug, books and babies.

BY THE BOOK

I’m nearly finished with Inconceivable, an excellent, excellent book, and have Tom Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter waiting to be started. Looks like a really great read and I’m excited to get into it.

I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. Oscar Wilde

Knitting

Monday

July 2, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

I finished the seventh of eight triangles on Wingspan and got started on the eighth. I’m having a little anxiety about running out of yarn but this is normal for me at this point in WIPs. I’ve promised my languishing sock project that it’s next in line, but I also have a baby hat that’s halfway to the finish line that I’ve made promises to, is it odd that I talk to my projects? It’s not like I expect them to answer or anything…..

BY THE BOOK

Will finish Song of Susannah, Book VI of the Dark Tower series, with a Lawrence Sanders novel, The First Deadly Sin, next in line. Mr. Iknead’s father got me hooked on Lawrence Sanders years ago, he passed 20 years ago, but when I go back and revisit books that he and I shared with each other, he feels very close.

IN THE OVEN

Nothing, of course, at this very moment. I don’t cook really during the week, by the time I get off work, exercise and stop on the way home to visit my mother, it’s close to 7 p.m. and I don’t have the energy. I make up for it though by cruising recipe websites and checking out cookbooks, with a little bit of Food Network for good measure. I made a Lemon Blueberry Cake on Saturday. It tastes good, but has an odd texture. I’m suspicious that my oven thermostat is off, it’s been taking 10 to 15 minutes longer to cook than the recipes say. That may be the cause of the texture issue, maybe not quite done in the middle, but nice and brown on the outside. I think I’ll get a oven thermometer and check it out further in the next few days, now I’m curious.

I ran across this on Pinterest. I’ve been a little obsessed lately with pot and pan storage – I’m rapidly running out of it and short of buying a new home and designing a house around a kitchen, it’s going to continue to be a challenge. Here’s what I dream of –

Nice, huh? OK, I’m officially weird, I fantasize about kitchen storage.

You ain’t gonna learn what you don’t wanna know. Jerry Garcia

Knitting

Hot Hot Hot

June 30, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

AT THE MOMENT

Need I say more? It’s not as hot as yesterday according to iPhone weather, but let’s get real, shall we, anytime you get over 100 degrees, the actual temperature is irrelevant. iPhone says 104. Whatever. All I know is that I’m not getting out again today, even though I’ve spent most of the afternoon working on my grocery list. I just can’t brave the asphalt parking lot this afternoon. Most of the afternoon has been taken up by alternately knitting and surfing Pinterest.

BY THE BOOK

As usual, I have several books I’m trying to read, two audiobooks, two Nook books and two paper books. They run the gamut, a couple of novels, a memoir and a book of essays on knitting. I do this at buffets too, a case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach. I’m particularly in love with Inconceivable, by Carolyn Savage, the memoir. A synopsis can be found in all the usual places (I apologize for not knowing how to put in a link, that’s on my list to learn this weekend). I started out with it being my “on the treadmill” book but very quickly decided that it’s my “read every free moment” book. It’s a definite repeater.

ON THE NEEDLES

I’ve started the seventh of eight triangles on Wingspan, I’m anxious to get it finished. It’s supposed to take only one skein, I hope that’s right, since I only bought one skein when I decided to knit it. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just finish up with a different yarn and call it a “design feature”. I’ve done it before. ; )

JOSIE THE PUG

I love this picture, with her sweet face. She brings much joy!

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may not remember. Involve me and I’ll understand. Native American proverb

Knitting

It Pays

June 28, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

A HAPPY

Somehow, I’ve stockpiled 45 extra minutes of worktime this week. This means I get to leave and start my weekend just that much sooner. Hard work really does pay off! Now, to decide what I’m going to do with the extra time – grocery store, yarn store, extra walk time (on treadmill as today’s high is predicted to be 106) or just going home and enjoying the cool quiet.

HOW HOT IS IT?

It’s off the charts hot, even by Arkansas standards, and I don’t think we’ve had any measurable rain in at least a month. Our lawn is brown and crunchy, even with daily watering and I’m glad we procrastinated getting new sod and landscaping. Thanks be that I have a cool, air conditioned office to work in. When I left the house this morning at 7, I saw some roofers already hard at work, they must begin work at dawn to be able to get any work done before it’s too hot.

THE GRANDS

Babydiva in her Bumbo Seat – Three months old tomorrow!

UPDATE – HOW HOT IS IT?

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.

Knitting

Wingspan Shawlette

June 27, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

, a photo by loonyhoot@sbcglobal.net on Flickr.

Knitting

Do Over

June 26, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT??

You mean to tell me that my blog pictures aren’t there? Why can I see them when I post but they’re not there for anyone else. A little slow on the uptake lately, me, especially when I have Flickr on my phone and it’s a million times easier to post from there. My kids are always saying I’m always a day late and a dollar short when it comes to technology; give me a break, when I learned to type (back in the Dark Ages, 1974 or thereabouts), electric typewriters were on the cutting edge.

Before and after pics of the French Market Bag

Before Felting

After Felting

I hope these show! It took about five trips through the washing machine before I was satisfied with the felting. This was my first felting project and I was surprised at how much it shrank. I think I might try a big bowl next.

BY THE BOOK

At the moment, I’m still listening to Part 5 of Stephen King‘s Dark Tower series, Wolves of the Calla. I’m nearly finished and have a new book waiting in the wings, A Time to Love, by Barbara Cameron. I think it’s part one of a series, Quilts of Lancaster County. I should probably mention that this was a Free Friday Nook Book from Barnes and Noble. Every Friday they offer a different free Nook Book and it has been a great way for me to break out of the “reading rut” I find myself in sometimes.

ON THE STOVE

Thanks to a friend at work, Mr. Iknead and I have enough fresh okra and tomatoes for at least a week. I think I’m going to freeze the okra and do salsa with the tomatos. Hurry up work week so I can get started! Thanks C., Mr. Iknead and I appreciate you and your garden.

The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds. Jawaharlal Nehru

Knitting

Sunday night

June 24, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT I DID

Ending up the weekend and this feels like the first time I’ve had more than a couple of minutes to put my thoughts in order. I did some baking – made Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread yesterday and Chicken and Rice Casserole today. Oh, and I went to the grocery store. And knitted on Wingspan. Besides that, I don’t have a clue where the time went.

ON THE NEEDLES

Wingspan is coming along nicely. But, I keep reminding myself, while I’m getting a lot done on it, three (minimum) projects are languishing on the back burner and I seemingly have a low guilt threshold because I feel guilty when I see them and then once again pass them up.

Yay, pictures of the French Market Bag, before and after:

I like the way it turned out. My next felting project will be a big bowl, I think. (See above regarding languishing projects).

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. Paul Valery

Knitting

WIP Wednesday

June 20, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

Wingspan, in Araucania Huasco, Code Color: 7.

Every time I knit with Araucania, I fall a little more in love. It’s definitely a splurge yarn for me, but sometimes I just can’t resist its charms!

BY THE BOOK

I just finished I Am In Here by Elizabeth M. Bonker, about her autistic daughter and her struggle to communicate. It’s a book of hope, courage and commitment; I enjoyed it very much.

I’m rereading (for the nth time) Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Just started Wolves of the Calla this morning, fourth in the series. No matter how many times I read or listen to this story, I find something new; it never gets old.

The measure of a man is what he does with power. Pittacus

Knitting

Now What?

June 19, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

UPDATE

I got my haircut on Friday morning and since Babymama was feeling under the weather, I told her I’d go and help her out any way I could. I think she mostly wanted me there so she could limit her contact with Babydiva, hoping that she wouldn’t catch whatever her mom had. Between the salon and their house, I got rearended by some guy driving a Dodge Ram van. I’m OK, not hurt as far as I can tell, just really aggravated because it was hot, we were standing in the middle of a really busy street and it took the cops 40 minutes to arrive and do the paperwork. Fortunately, I held my temper in both hands, reminding myself over and over to just communicate at a minimum, exchange insurance info, making sure everyone was OK for the moment. My car’s back bumper is probably going to have to be replaced, it’s plastic so it doesn’t take much of a hit to mess it up. Things to be thankful for: I was not hurt, my car is driveable and I have insurance.

ON THE NEEDLES

Here is the promised picture of the Nine to Five socks. I think they’re going like gangbusters. What do you think about them?

Here’s a picture of the yarn for Wingspan. It’s already been started and I’m planning to show off what I have on WIP Wednesday. Here is a sneak peek at the yarn.It’s Araucania Huasco, Code Color 7. I thinks it’s going to knit up really well. The French Market bag is complete and I started the felting process yesterday. I’ll have some before and after pics for all to enjoy.

THE GRANDS

Going in for the kiss.

Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you. Aldous Huxley

Knitting

Back Home

June 14, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

The Maidenhair Fern socks have been reborn as Nicole Hindes’ Nine-To-Five Socks. This picture is not the best, the stitch detail isn’t great, but tomorrow I’ll take the WIP sock outside, the lighting will be a million times better that it is at 8:35 p.m. in my bedroom. I’m using size one circulars and am much happier with a tighter stitch and overall smaller size.

A better picture tomorrow, I promise.

A DUH MOMENT

I can’t believe that I spent an entire hour trying to figure out why pictures taken from my iPhone are on their sides when I e-mail them or try to post them. Also, I can’t believe that the solution to that problem is to turn the phone on its side horizontally first, then take the picture. Duh. Occam’s Razor once again proves correct: “when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better”, also known as Keep It Simple.

HOME SWEET HOME

As much fun as the Girl Power 2012 get-together was, I was so happy to get home to Mr. Iknead and JosiePug yesterday. A great time was had by all but when the Papoose (usually so happy-go-lucky and go with the flow) had three meltdowns in ten minutes, I knew it was time to pack it up and take it back on the road to Little Rock. We rolled back into LR about 5 p.m.; Babydiva needed a bottle STAT and thankfully, we had called ahead and Babydaddy had one waiting. Babydiva was getting ready to more than live up to her name by the time we got home. Hell hath no fury and all that.

It is necessary for us to learn from others’ mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself. Hyman George Rickover

Knitting

Girl Power 2012

June 12, 2012June 12, 2012 mud&stringLeave a comment

GOINGS ON
Just a quick post while the other girls are napping. Babymama, Babydiva and I just got in from a little shopping up on the square. Naturally, I ducked into Handheld and fed my addiction with some Araucania Huasco. It’s lovely and I’m thinking Wingspan shawl.

THE GRANDS
Are wonderful as always. The Papoose and Babydiva adore each other and we’ve got some really sweet pictures. Won’t even try to post them until I’m back in Little Rock.

WHAT’S FOR SUPPER
I think it’s to be catfish but that could change at any moment. Anything but fast food.

There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. Sam Walton