Happy Fourth Of July!!

This was made last year on July 4th on our way to see the fireworks show on Lake Logan Martin!! Spectacular sunset and GREAT fireworks!!

Blue Sky From Trussville Alabama

Happy to join in the Saturday Blue Sky!! Looking forward to checking everyone else's little blue part of the world!!

Pic shot from my front yard at 11:45 a.m. We live on a hill surrounded by BIG, TALL trees, so hard to get a shot of the sky without including trees for a bit of perspective. Started the morning on the back porch, drinking coffee, catching up on my Southern Living Magazines from May and June, blackberry muffins, more coffee, watching the Carolina Chickadees munch out on a never ending supply of sunflower seeds!! Watching the cat watching the birds...hee, hee....so close but so far away!! All this leisure activity to get ourselves motivated to do YARD work (sorry for the four letter word there!.....I know it is nasty...but nevertheless a necessary evil!). Grass to cut, weeds to pull, pine straw to spread around.....got a few plants left to plant..stacking some rocks to make a small dry creek bed to stop some erosion ....all in the glorious, wonderful 90 % humidity and high heat!! Ah....life in the south!!! What could be better???? Keeping the sweet tea handy today!!!!

Talked to my Princess Cupcake earlier....she came home from the hospital late yesterday, not feeling too bad but not feeling good enough to knit.....bored to tears and wanting to know when her Aunt Darlene is coming to visit (entertain) her!!! Did manage to perk her up a bit when I reminded her that Chicks with Sticks will be meeting a full week from the time of her surgery and she should be able to travel to visit with us......she's looking forward to it already....gonna be a L.O.N.G. week!!

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!!

Saturday Sky Blog

I was checking out http://www.sandysknitting.com/ which I recently found through someone else's blogsite and saw the entry for Saturday Sky. Check out Sandy's website and sign up! Basically, Sandy thought that since Saturday is a slow day to blog that she would start a post where you walk outside and take a pic of YOUR Saturday Sky! Best of all.....there will be a contest to win yarn!!! How much better can it get???? Winner will be drawn on July 1st.

A bit of humor!

As I have nothing stupendous to show for my knitting (not that I ever do)....I thought I would post a bit of humor!!

I HAVE been knitting a bit but it is so hard to do anything!! Have you ever been in a sauna....?? Well that is what it is like here in Alabama....triple digits last week with about 90% humidity! The AC units run full blast and STILL you can't breathe or move for all the heat and humidity!!
It absolutely wipes you out!!! By 7:00 p.m. the energy is GONE but I REFUSE to go to bed while it is still daylight outside!!

I have been working on getting my Sugar and Cream stash depleted....slowly. I'll try to get the energy to drag out my camera and post some pics. I did get my heartbeat up when I found out about the KnitPicks interchangeable knitting needle set!! Guess I'll have to break down and get a set so when I get my knitting MoJo back I'll be all set to go!!

My sweet little Princess Cupcake (otherwise known as Montana) is having surgery this Thursday and appreciate everyone's prayers for her!!! (see previous posts). She has promised to let me make a picture of the scarf she is currently working on BEFORE she gives it away!! She finished her "warshrag" she started at Chicks with Sticks but gave it away before I could get a picture of her with it!! But that is just the way she is.....sweet little giving heart!!!

Future Yarn Collector!!

Montana with all her knitting "utensils" as she called them!! LOL!! She was sooooo excited about choosing her own "utensils"!!! I believe she is off to a good start!! Although I was a bit disapointed when she said she didn't want to buy anymore yarn until she had finished this "project".....oh well....she is young.....plenty of time to corrupt her!! LOL!!

YUM!!! Birthday Cake!!! NO Calories!!!!

Happy Birthday Mother!!!

Made a quick trip home to surprise my Mother as today is her birthday.....and don't you think it is cool how the nation flys the flag in honor of her birthday???? Yep....she's just that special!!!

Casting On

Love of my heart (Great Niece) Montana is showing me how she has learned to cast on!! She is REALLY good at this!!! Montana is just learning to knit and is only 10 years old!!! Oh how I wish I had learned when I was her age......might actually be good by now!! LOL!!

Future Warshrag Queen of Alabama

Montana is working on her first "warshrag". I am SOOOOOOOO proud of her!!!! Her knitting stitches are very good!!!! She is going to join me tomorrow night at my knitting group...Chicks with Sticks.....and she is very excited!! We are going to go shopping tomorrow for some of her "very own" knitting supplies!!!

As she only has the ball of yarn she is currently working on I feel it is my DUTY as her Great Aunt and yarn collector to get her started down this road and will do my best to fill her knitting bag tomorrow!!!

Warshrag Stash

Nothing new to post regarding knitting....been quite busy lately!!

After 14 years I broke down and bought a new car this week! It is AMAZING at the features on cars these days! When I bought my last car CUP HOLDERS were not even invented! LOL!!
I keep trying to find excuses to drive it is so much fun!! But alas....the bliss will end next month when first payment is due! LOL!! Been 8 years since I've paid on a car.....OUCH....that's going to bite into my yarn budget!! Boo Hoo!!

In light of my recent purchase I have decided to try to knit from my stash for awhile. As it is summer and I don't want to knit anything big I'm going to focus on knitting up all my "warshrag" yarn.....I know I have more....will have to dig through my stash to find it all!

If you are a sock knitter in the south check out Becky's blog...http://knitting-interrupted.com/
cute sock KAL for the hurricane sisters.....of course you won't see my name included because I'm STILL sock challenged!! I plan to knit up all my "warshrags" then get back to the sock knitting. I feel so inadquate!!!! Everyone talks about how they whip out socks, how relaxing and fun it is and I just can't quite seem to "get it". Oh well....just add it to the list of all the other things in life I "just don't get"!! LOL!!

I will entitle this "What I DIDN'T do on my Summer Vacation".

In my blog ramblings yesterday I ran across a this pretty little button and on further investigation discovered the Summer of Stash website. http://soskal.blogspot.com/. After my initial horror at the thought of NOT buying any yarn over the Summer season I realized this is probably a good thing for me as my last count was a little over 200 skeins of yarn on hand!! I seriously need to go on a "yarn diet"...not to mention other diets!!

If nothing else it will force me to knit up some of my stash making room for.......you guessed it.....MORE YARN!! LOL!!!

A few Warshrags

O.K. so I haven't been a TOTAL deadbeat lately despite the fact I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks!! Now that summer is here (which here in the south mean HEAT and HUMIDITY)....I'm struggling to knit! I do like making the dishcloths.....anyone that has a pattern and wouldn't mind sharing please feel free to contact me! Still haven't completed the ballband warshrag from Mason Dixon....may try to make one this weekend!

I'm overwhelmed with other projects that need to be done but just can't get the energy to do them.....like major yard work...exterior house maintenance...clean out the basement, the list goes on and on....oh and in the midst of everything else we are moving the contents of our business warehouse to another location.....all in the HEAT and HUMIDITY!!! Oh well.....we G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised In The South)......have GREAT complexions.....no lines on these fabulous faces!!!! Humidity DOES have it's benefits! LOL!!

Still haven't attempted my second sock.....will try to get motivated to do this at some point in the near future. I have a few other projects I need to get finished.....like my vest and all the pretty sock yarn I bought before I figured out I was "sock challenged"!

Lazy Bones!

This is how I feel today.....LAZY!!! I don't want to work.....I don't want to do ANYTHING....well...anything but knit that is!

My perfect day would be to sleep late, wake to a pot of coffee and some REALLY good pastries (because in my perfect world I would be thin and could afford the calories), stroll through my perfectly clean and neat house (oh yeah...I'm dreaming)....while gathering up my knitting and head for the porch (which is pollen and cat hair free)......knit for a few hours.......blog for a few hours to catch up on what all the good knitters are doing and dream about what I can do some day!!

But.....Reality Bites!!! Back to Work!! LOL!!!

A Few Good Books

I am having to put the knitting aside for a few days...."tennis elbow".....I am referring to it as "knitters elbow"! I have a few books I have not had time to read so I guess I'll be reading about knitting rather than actually knitting for the next few days! Maybe by the time my elbow is better I'll be ready to tackle my sock mate! I'm not starting another pair (even though my sock yarn stash is WAY prettier than the Wildefoote sock yarn).....until I have finished the first pair....considering the sorry state of my first sock I'm hopefull my second pair will be made well enough to actually WEAR!! LOL!!

FINALLY!!!!

YES....that IS the Halleluiah Chorus you hear!!! I will no longer refer to this as the @*#* sock but will now be called THE SOCK!

Fortunately you can't see all the picks, dropped stitches, etc. I am ditching making the mate as this sock really isn't wearable because of dropped stitches and I just can't rip it out and re-knit at this point. I'll have to put it on my desk and look at it for awhile. BUT......I have completed it and I now have a grasp of the pattern concept!! I'm picking up the Modea Self Stripe yarn I originally started on and hopefully will now be able to complete a PAIR of socks!! I've got to get good enough to knit up the box of sock yarn I bought!! Not sure if I am going to fall in love with making socks as so many are.....the judge is still out on this one! Hopefully by the time I have knit up my sock stash I'll be crazy for socks....or may just be crazy!!! LOL!!! I hope I get good enough that I'll be addicted to socks as it is a great project to take with you and knit on the go.

Upon finishing THE SOCK and excitedly modeling for my DH he gently takes my sock clad foot in his hand and inspects from all angles, declares himself proud of me for being able to complete THE SOCK, sweetly smiles asking will I be able to DUPLICATE THE SOCK so I'll have a MATCHED PAIR....while gently touching all the spots my bare foot is showing from the dropped stitches!!!! DId I mention that DH doesn't ALWAYS stand for Darling Husband? Sometimes it stands for @*&$@ Husband!! LOL!!!

Shy Kitty

No knitting to share today....still working on my sock....hopefully will have it finished in another couple of days! It's not going as well as I had hoped....but it's a learning process. Silly me....I had envisioned sitting down and whipping out a pair of beautiful socks in a matter of a few evenings....I guess I'm a slow learner! Since I have no knitting pics to share...(well....I have knit two baby blankets....I'll try to make a pic of them and share later)......in the mean time here is a pic of my sometime shy, sometime crazy kitty Gracie. Don't let this picture fool you.....she is INSANE!!!

Sock In Progress

Well......it's not great....but it IS progressing!!! The yarn has separated in several places and on close inspection looks "picked".....but at this point I'm just trying to finish it so I will know what I'm doing when I start my first PAIR!! I have ripped and re-knit this yarn so much it is really in bad shape.....I'll make it's mate for practice but don 't believe I'll buy the Wildefoote yarn again. I think I'll stick with a more tightly woven yarn for my next pair or two......the knitted part feels really nice to the touch....it's just so hard for me to work with a this point. Need a bit more experience.....then may give it another shot. I hope to be able to be down to the toe by the end of the week. (Oh to be like those of you that can whip out a pair in an evening or two!).

Blog or Knit?

Why oh Why must I be forced to decide whether to spend my few free minutes each day visiting and catching up with my favorite blogsites or knitting? Life is tough enough as it is!!! Can someone PLEASE make blogs SPEAK?? That way we can knit while "listening" to our favorite blogsites!!

"One Ring-y Ding-y, Two Ring-y Ding-y"

Back to the Wildefoote...

O.K. So I'm back to the Wildfoote sock yarn....note the BAMBOO needles...NOT the slick aluminum ones that I could NOT hold on to!! I have somehow managed...not sure how.....(I guess the 329th time is the charm)......managed to TURN A HEEL!!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!! Oh Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!! NO bumps, NO lumps....just a SMOOOOTH heel cup!!!!

Could there be hope for my sock yarn stash??

Woe Is Me!

WELL......since I have no pictures to post of my knitting....(it is too sad...didn't want to depress anyone!). I thought I would post this picture.....as this is pretty much all I have of my socks....a couple of balls of yarn and my sticks!! I have ripped and re-knit the infamous socks so MANY, MANY times my Wildefoote yarn is in shambles....shredded as if ripped by wild animals!! After some encouraging words from Emily (a.k.a. yarn miracle, did I also mention I don't know how to add links?).....I am not giving up!! Besides.....it is a matter of PRIDE.....my DH upon seeing me pull out my knitting seems to take great delight in asking me...."oh...is that another pair of socks you are knitting?".....knowing FULL well by the many "knit fits" I have thrown it is STILL the same pair!!!! I think I'll knit him some really "colorful" socks (he's color blind)....then hide all his other socks, forcing him to wear them to work as punishment....Hee! Hee! Hee! Ah...revenge is SWEET!!!!! I feel empowered already!!!!

I can't say enough about Emily.....how kind she has been to this fumbling beginner!!! We have shared many "knitting consultations" not to mention all her encourgement!!!

I was able to get to the YS to have my vest pattern written out....so at least that is one positive thing.....oh....and I am working on a baby blanket.....so maybe things aren't so bad after all!!

Hope to have the weekend free to knit and hopefully have something worthy of posting Monday!

O.K. Valuable lesson learned.....SIZE DOES MATTER!!! I'm happily knitting along on my sock....to the point of beginning the heel, checked with my knitting mentor and sock queen Emily to be sure I'm on the right track. I decide before I start the heel that I can't stand it another minute....I just HAVE to try on what I have to see how STUNNING it is going to look when I am finished! WELL......much to my dismay I discover that while I did use the size needle stated on the pattern that apparently my gauge is off by one stitch resulting in a sock top that is WAY too big!!! So here we go again with the ripping!!

DH that he is suggested that perhaps I should have waited on buying sock yarn until I had actually completed a sock!!

So I poked him with one of my LOVELY double point needles!! Hee! Hee!

I reminded him that the things we work for the hardest in life are the most appreciated and MAN am I ever going to appreciate these socks.....One of the Days!!! I'll not post a picture of what I have....not worth getting the camera out. Oh well.....today is another day and hopefully I'll get enough knitted this weekend to have something worthy of a picture on Monday.

Second First Socks!!

O.K. so it isn't my FIRST sock.....remember my "dysfunctional"relationship with my Wildefoot yarn and aluminum needles? How I thought I HATED those needles and ordered bamboo to use? WELL......needles arrived yesterday.....I am using the bamboo on these socks (which incidentally compared to the first yarn and needles feels like I am using Playskool toys!).....but NOW I don't like the bamboo needles!! (Don't tell my DH....he already says I change my mind too much!!)

I guess it is all a learning process....but I think with the tiny yarn I will need the bamboo for a measure of control and on the thicker yarn such as this I will definitely use the aluminum so I can work with it easier!!!

Is there a Cliff's Notes for Knitting out there somewhere??????

Box O Bliss

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy......look what the UPS fairy just delivered!!!! I can just SEEEEE the socks....can't you? (I know I haven't got a single sock finished to date......but I have got a million of them in my mind)! If I can just find enough time to make a single pair I'll be a happy girl!

Now to the real dilemma.....do I add this to my yarn stash or must I start a SOCK yarn stash? Oh dear...where to stash my NEW stash????

Now You See It

Gracie was TOTALLY not getting into the sock part....however she rolled the skein around till she got it fixed JUST RIGHT!!!! After all.....it IS all about her highness's comfort!! (Check comments below).

Now You Don't

Despite the fact that the sticks look sort of like needles in a voodoo doll I promise it isn't!! (Although come to think of it wonder why I didn't think of that sooner!! LOL!). I feel like I FINALLY got the hang of this sock business....(at least as far as the top of the sock goes)....when I took a good look at it there were just too many mistakes that I had made and while I know my first sock isn't going to be perfect.....I would prefer that the mistakes be ones that only I would be able to see......SO.........out it came!!! I almost cried!!!! 326 hours of work (well....maybe not QUITE that many!)....and out it came in about 2.4 seconds!!!! BUT......I am picking it right back up and will hopefully have a cuff to post in the next few days. Work is still and issue for me right now so I am limited on time to knit....of course another problem I have is checking out all the blogs!! Oh....I fear I have created another addiction!!

Working on a way to "flash my stash".....I feel the need to come clean about this. Will try to think creatively....may take me awhile.....Hee Hee!!

Poor Max (a.k.a. Scar Butt)

My Poor Max.....had a fatty tumor that popped up on his back and had to be removed. Max, no stranger to the vet (we are personally responsible for my vet's new beach home).....threw his usual....Dear-God-In-Heaven-Don't-Leave-Me-Here-How-Could-You-Do-This-To-Me.....throw down fit when I had to leave!! It always breaks my heart to leave him...he HATES the Vet!! Can you say $200??? Max and I BOTH say OUCH!!!!!

2 Days Later

O.K. So you take two evenings.....total about 4 hours...and what do you have??? ONE ROW!!!! It was a fight, we wrestled back and forth but I think I won this round!!! I guess I need to stick to "mindless" knitting when I am this tired!!

I am not working tonight...Chicks With Sticks meet tonight! YEA!!!!! Looking forward to sitting around with my knitting buddies and enjoying time spent with good friends and having time to knit!!

I may not have had time to knit at night much these past few nights but while working I have managed to order oh.....I think it was 8 or 10 skeins of yarn for socks!! I thought positive thinking here by ordering yarn for my future socks would be a good thing! Don't you think? Isn't ANY excuse you can come up to buy yarn a good one??? Also have some patterns on hold at Knit Nouveau and I just KNOW they will have some sock yarn there to temp me!!! Just not sure when I'll be able to get away!!

I also ordered bamboo needles and can't wait to receive them! I am really struggling with keeping this slinky thin yarn in control with these slick needles!! Hoping the bamboo will give me a measure of control. I can tell I love the feel of the aluminum and I am sure once I get used to working with them and the smaller sock yarn I will most likely be glad I have them!

Future FABULOUS Socks!

WELL......I'm down but not out!! After three and a half hours of work last night I am back to my original 64 cast on stithes. I think I ripped out 10 times!!

For SOME reason I could NOT get the little bugger joined without losing a stitch! At one point I DID have all 64 stitches (not sure how this happened).....actually knitted 3 rows but discovered I had let the joined area slip and I had a big gap that I wasn't able to pull together.....I believe this was rip out number 7 or was it 8.....but I digress.

I am going to try to run out to the LYS today and have someone show me the proper way to join...I KNOW I am going to feel like a complete IDIOT when they show me! I guess I am just too tired right now! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!) LOL!!

Oh....and did I mention I couldn't find bamboo needles which is all I have ever used and had to buy aluminum? Can you say wet spaghetti......GREASED????

I'll definitely be ordering bamboo needles to use for the next pair of socks I knit, (note: I DID say NEXT pair!).....I R.E.F.U.S.E. to let a tiny ball of string and sticks get the best of me!!! So Watch out stringy yarn and slick needles......I'll pick you up again soon and knit you till you are tight, composed and no one will EVER guess you were just a ball of slinky, stringy mess!!!!

I feel SOOOOOO much better!!! Nothing like a good "knit fit" to get your frustrations and hostilities out! LOL!!!!

Glad SOMEONE was able to get into my knitting basket this weekend!!! Worked all weekend, hope to get some knitting time in this week. My mother (computer guru) created something I was going to post on April 1st....but I was caught up with work and didn't realize I had completely missed the date! Oh well.....ready for next year!