where am i

Well, we made it. Both of us. While I was writing a big fat check, Oldest Daughter was given a list of instructions for post surgery. Then they took her back. I was fine. I had tea and knitting and a new Seattle Metropolitan magazine. I took a break from knitting and picked up the post surgery papers. Mistake. The first thing listed was bleeding, and then oozing. "Is it getting hot in here?" I stopped reading and began scanning. Stitches? Dry sockets? That was it. Woozy, I set the paperwork down and hoped for the best.


The surgery went well. I was expecting to be in the waiting room for about an hour and 15 minutes. It was under an hour when they told me they were starting to wake her up. Boy was
that a mess. Loopy and numb and disoriented. Poor thing. We made it home and she was a trooper. Me? I was a trooper too. I actually took bloody gauze from her, twice. Big stuff for me.


By the afternoon she was done with the numb, happy to have an assortment of pain relief drugs and insulting her brother. She is going to be just fine.

While in the waiting room I did this.





Almost the entire foot was knit while waiting. I finished the toe this evening. I am not sure I would ever wear something like this. But I made it to fit my big Sasquatch foot, so I suppose I will wear it as some point.


You know you have been living in the Pacific Northwest a long time when you can spell Sasquatch correctly.

pass out

Here is an embarrassing thing for a mother to admit. I do not handle doctors, or injuries, or talk of treatments, at all. It has always been this way. When I was in high school my father was diagnosed with diabetes. While he was in the hospital the nurses had us practice giving shots with an orange. They gave me the orange and the needle, they said something about just under the skin, and that was it. The next thing I know people are grabbing things out of my hands and trying to keep me from hitting the ground. Happened again when Oldest Son was a little guy. He had a high fever and I took him to the emergency room. They drew blood and the next thing I know there is a large male nurse standing next to me with smelling salts. It was at that point that husband took over any real medical issues. Until yesterday.



This morning Oldest Daughter is having 6 teeth removed. Yesterday we were sitting in the oral surgeons office, they were telling us what to expect. I started to shift in my chair. I really wanted to lay down. They kept talking about stitches and salt welter and medication. It was too much. I could feel myself getting pale and starting to sweat. I was wishing I had thought to have Husband deal with this. This morning I am wondering if I will be able to handle it all when we arrive home. Just typing this is causing me a bit of a freak out. I will try to be strong.


While in the waiting room I will be working on this.

This is the newest Rockin Sock Club sock. I think it is called the summer of lace. In this pic you can see the ankle ribbing. Here it is with the cuff folded down.

It is cute and flirty.

This is already in the car, just in case.

Not having worked a heel in the middle is making this rather boring. Round and round and round on size 1's. After measuring I think I will need 9 sets of stripes before I start the toe. I will do the afterthought heel before I begin the second sock. I am just not sure what to expect. If I hate it I can make the second sock in the regular fashion and redo the first one. Oh please, do not let that happen.

slip sliding away

Those of you who had been reading this here blog know that I am not a Yarn Ho. I do not have a large stash, or even a desire to have one. I pretty much hit the yarn store when I have a project in mind. If by some chance I do succumb to a pretty skein, it will be knit up into something before too long. I think last night I may have crossed the line.


Dream In Color is a wonderful yarn. It is soft and cushy and the colors are beautiful. I have knit a pair of socks for Husband with Smooshy and a pair of Flap Top Mittens for Grandma using Classy. I LOVE it. I can not get enough. Apparently I am not alone because the only LYS that carries it is out and Loopy Ewe has been out and I have been left wanting, wanting.




Tonight I tripped upon a Sneak Up at Loopy Ewe and I ordered 4 skeins! Yes, me, 4 skeins! Do I have a single project in mind for any of them? No. I did take the time to ask Husband if he thought a particular colorway was dark enough to wear with black pants. Then I clicked that colorway and another besides. 4 skeins! It is a slippery slope my friends.

no time to be clever

There is new stuff up at The Loopy Ewe. GO!

blogger links is not working www.loopyewe.com

if you're happy and you know it clap your hands

The camera is back. Woo Hoo!

Tonight is the Celebration & Thank You Dinner for my camp staff. Then I can close the camp book until January. Woo Hoo!

As previously posted, Friday was my first mammogram. The LYS sponsored the Swedish Bus and promised goodies for all who took the time to have their breasts squished. The goodie bag presented was spectacular!

Not at all what I expected. Makes the squishing go down easier and I will do it again next year.

While at the LYS this jumped into my bag.


MMMM Dragonfibers Hand dyed Blue Face Leicester Roving color Candy Corn MMMM


Rockin' Sock Club August kit.



Very cute, a little lace fold over anklet. The colors are very Peter Max. Should be a quick knit. Tan added little beads to the points of her cuff. She's so smart

I did some spinning this weekend.

I am trying to move my spinning skills along. I now have the motions of spinning and drafting simultaneously. Now I need to even it all out. So much fun.

And finally, the Mariner socks for Oldest Son.

I have never used yarn that stripes so precisely. As I came to the point to make my heel flap I realized that the heel would make the stripes all wonky. Twisted Sisters provides good instructions for the afterthought heel. It requires cutting the fabric!! I resisted it all day, but last night decided it would be good to learn something new. So I am knitting round and round until the toe. Heel later. Cross your fingers.

M I C K E Y

The daughters had an ultra-fabulous time at Disneyland. Oldest Daughter went to bed right after dinner. Youngest Daughter talked and talked and talked about every ride. She talked in the car on the way home. She talked through dinner. She talked while we had a fire on the deck. At some point I realized that her words were slurring, she sounded drunk and needed LOTS of sleep. Now she sleeps.

I spent this afternoon at the airport. FYI, Sea-Tac is not in Seattle. It is south of Seattle, in between Seattle and Tacoma. For those of us that live at the north end, a trip to the airport is like a trip to hell. Only in hell I imagine good music and tasty things to eat. At the airport you get crap.

So here I am am, up late, researching schools for Youngest Daughter. I am tired and switch to blog checking, and it hits me. I have not checked the mail toady. Pitter patter across the street and there it is, the new Rockin' Sock package. It has been sitting in the box all day. Pics tomorrow, I am a spoiler.

The camera is home, Yahooee!

getting to know you, getting to know all about you

I am one of the lucky ones and was able to join Ravelry months ago. I began to put things up right away, but was sidetracked. I am back at it. This evening I have added a couple of people to my Friends list. At first I was not sure I should be adding people. I mean, Tan, sure, I feel like she is my friend. But who else? There are blogs I read and comment on, shops I frequent. Are those OK to add to my Friends list. I added a couple but am now wondering if I should take them off.

Books will be the easiest to add. It is a click and drag sort of thing and I think I will do that next.
OMG, I just finish my library. I have an embarrassing number of books. There are even a few I had to leave out. Does anyone else out there have a library like mine?

After books will be stash. Stash is small, but I will need to learn how to work the Flicker and Ravelry together. Finished projects will take longer. Pulling them out and photographing may or may not happen. Lastly I will get to patterns. Considering that I am still working on writing them down, that may take awhile.

So who is on your Friends list? Am I being too sensitive?

ch ch ch ch changes

Oldest Daughter's shawl came out very well.
~insert picture of Wide Triangle using Mustang Sally~

Now I have begun 2 sock projects. One of them is Mariner socks for Oldest Son.
~insert photo of manly Mariner stripes~

They will be a Hanukkah present. Because they are a present I do not want him to see me working on them. When I hear him about to enter a room I quickly shove them back into my bag and pick up a different sock. So far it is working.

I took a peak at the spoilers for this months Rockin' Sock Club. It is cute and will only take a few days to knit up. Holiday knitting is going well and I think I will stick with that before this kit.

This year's Rockin' Sock Club kits are not doing it for me. Last year was great. This year is so-so. I am contemplating not renewing next year and trying to get in on Loopy Ewe's club instead. Of course Loopy Ewe's club is much smaller. It is possible I will end up without a sock club next year. I guess that is OK too.

I really want to get my hands on some Wollmeise.

mammory glands, oh oo oh

How is it possible that the Yarn Harlot is going to be in town on the night of Oldest Daughter's 18th birthday? Totally not fair.

The calendar has been blissfully empty this week. Only one thing looming. Friday brings my first mammogram. Yeah, I'm late to the party, but better late than never. The good part is that the LYS is sponsoring the Swedish Breast Care Express. This is a huge semi truck with traveling mammogram equipment. There will be yarn shop goodie bags!

square peg

Does anyone else besides me remember the song from the Square Pegs sitcom?

In case you had not noticed, all of my blog titles are song titles. Bonus points if you can actually name the references. Some of them are pretty obscure. It is a running quiz in our house. Everything has a song. A few years ago the kids used to ask me to stop singing songs for every thing. Now they join in and it is great fun. There is a song for everything. Yes, everything. Potato chips? got it. Peaches, Volcanoes, I got it. "you got it?", I got it.

SSSHHHH! I used to be in the Music Industry. AAAHH, I can not believe I just shared that bit of information. It must be the vodka. Thank the Music Industry for the vodka dependence.

The yarn purchased for Tyrolean Socks does not want to be Tyrolean Socks. The pattern calls for this yarn to be knit on size 3's to get a gauge of 6 stitches per inch. After fighting for a couple of inches I said "uncle". I was using size 4 ebony! and could still feel the needles flexing during the stitch work. Size 4 ebony flexed! So the yarn will instead become a rug that lays in front of the sink, I will work it on size 10! needles. I am still in love with the Tyrolean sock pattern, but I will chose a different yarn. Maybe a Dream In Color, or a plain ol' Cascade 220.

I finished The Log Cabin socks this morning. Pics next week. This afternoon I realized that I am supposed to be blocking Oldest Daughters birthday shawl while she is in Disneyland. I will get that spread out on the bed first thing in the morning. I wish I could take pics. I will take pics after the fact and you will have to imagine it spread out, in all its glory across the mattress.

Holiday knitting is going really well. I have a skein of Mariner striped yarn to make into socks for Oldest Son, and Husband really wants of pair of Log Cabins for himself. That leaves a couple dragon scarves. SO doable. I have been squirreling away holiday knitting projects for months and it is paying off. Come Thanksgiving I will be all done and feeling good.

the tom and jerry show

No new pictures, but here is an old one.

This is our cat, Tom. When he was brought into the local vets office as a stray they called him Tomcat. A week later we brought him home and he was no longer a Tomcat, but the name stuck.

Now Tom has been known to eat some odd things. Bread is one of them. He has in the past gnawed through a bread bag to nibble on the contents. It has been a very long time. This morning I walked into the kitchen and found the top eaten off a pound cake, through foil! My first thought was Tom, but I am not convinced, desserts are not his thing. Could it be a new mouse? I certainly hope not. Cross your fingers.

i'm going to disneyland

I washed the smelly wool not once, but twice. It still had an odor, but much less. I hung it outside in the sunshine to dry. As the sun went down we lit a fire and I moved the skeins into the smoke drift area. This morning they went back out with the sun. By afternoon they smelled fine. There was a little sheep smell, just a little. The yarn has also become fluffed up, but not any softer. I am glad these socks are meant for myself. If this yarn was to be a gift I would need to buy something else.



This is what I did while waiting for the wool to dry.

This is the Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. The yarn is really a tweedy brown and they are gorgeous! The socks are for Dad, he will love them

The pattern is quite simple for such dramatic results. Husband tried them on and immediately wanted a pair. I think I will make his in red.

That will be the last picture I am able to post until Saturday. Daughters, with camera, left this morning for Disneyland. Youngest Daughter has not been to Disneyland since she was 2 years old, so this is essentially her first time. She is SO excited.

oo oo that smell

My package from Green Mountain Spinnery did indeed arrive yesterday. The yarn is bulkier than I expected, but very nice color wise. This is the Organic Maine. I had originally ordered the Organic Vermont as suggested in the Tyrolean Sock pattern, but they were sold out.




When I reached into the envelope to pull out the yarn , my first thought was, "It's not soft, this is not yarn I would have brought home from the yarn store." Then the smell hit me. Without mentioning the smell I handed a skein to Youngest Daughter. She said "It smells like a petting zoo." She is right. I will not be able to work with this yarn until it is washed again, maybe multiple times, with smelly soap. I do not even have any smelly soap in the house, I do not like smelly soap, I will have to buy some to deal with this wool.


We are an environmentally aware family. We do all sorts of things that most people do not do just because we are ultra aware of our impact on the environment. This is organic wool, processed in an earth friendly way. But oo, the smell is way too much for this city girl.

once, twice, three times...

3 days. 3 FO's. Very satisfying. First up is Husband's Plain Ol' black socks.





Koigu, it took more than 2 skeins for his long feet.



Next are the Flap Top Mittens.

They were knit and reknit several times. It took me a while to get the flap top right.

They are made from Dream In Color, worsted weight. I used size 5 needles for the ribbing and 7's for the main body. LOVE, love, love this yarn.

And lastly.

This is Everlasting Peace. They are resolable! These took much longer than I expected. I really dislike color work and so would pick up any project other than these. This was my last UFO and could not be put off any longer. Glad they are done. STR lightweight, Fire on the Mountain and Sunstone.

I will put up patterns for the Flap Top Mittens and Everlasting Peace soon. Right now I hear the UPS truck in the neighborhood and a package from Green Mountain Spinnery will soon be at my door.

go ahead and jump

I finished Grandma's flap top mittens. I need to block them before I take pictures. No, I have never blocked a pair of mittens before. These mittens tell me they will look oh so nice after a little soak in water and an afternoon on the deck.

Today I took a trip to Weaving Works for another skein of black Koigu. The first 2 skeins were purchased a month ago. Luckily for me they had one skein left in my dye lot. The new order they had on the shelf was very black. The skeins I have are pretty black, with enough variation to be enjoyable to knit. I will probably finish Plain Ol' black sock for Husband tomorrow.

While at Weaving Works a couple other skeins jumped into my basket.

Dad will be receiving the Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays. I had ordered a yarn from Loopy Ewe for his holiday socks, but when it arrived the color I thought was a dark green/brown is in fact purple. My Dad is not a purple guy.

All is not lost. I think Mother will enjoy the original skein.

And this.

This is the emergency car knitting. For about 2 years I have kept a cotton bathroom project in the car, just in case. It works great. I have made a couple of hand towels for my bathroom and a washcloth for the kids bathroom. This will also be a washcloth for the kids bathroom. No hurry, it just sits in the car for the days when you do not expect to wait for _____but find yourself turning off the ignition and cursing yourself for having left your knitting bag on the table.

At some point this week I should receive a package from Green Mountain Spinnery. The Rockin' Sock Club may arrive the following week. Knit, knit, knit. I better keep busy or someone may accuse me of having a stash.

there was a great big moose

Friday morning I found myself sitting at the dining room table, making swaps, singing the Moose song and it hit me. It was the last day of camp. I have to admit I was sad then, and I am sad now. Maybe if camp ran for 2 weeks? I know, that is crazy talk. I am the only one who would volunteer for a 2 week camp.

Camp this year was great!!!! We shook things up and tried many new things. 120 girls in camp, 14 girls off site, 23 Program Aides (high schoolers) and 29 adult staff. Everything was wonderful. All that is left is to have a Thank You dinner for the adults.

Oh, and the garage. The garage is a mess during camp. Things going in and out of the van depending on the day. Now all supplies have been returned to me. I need to sort, purge, inventory and stack into as small a space as possible. I have tried to find someone else to be our Equipment Manager. People volunteer, but then realize it is more work than they had in mind and it all returns to my house. This year I am excepting that it is all mine to deal with. I am a fine purger and I should be able to condense things quite a bit. Husband is understanding about camp week, but oh so happy to have his garage back.

Today we went to the Medieval Fair. It was not what I expected. At 9 bucks a head, that is $54 dollars for our family, I expected BIG. It is small. The play at the end of the day made me feel better about the money spent. Also, they only took money, cash, green stuff. Luckily Husband had some cash in his wallet. Usually neither one of us carries cash. The blacksmith was great fun to talk with. No spinners :-( I was really looking forward to talking with them.

spinning wheel

I need help people. I REALLY want to buy a wheel. Money is an object. What, in your opinion is the best beginner wheel? Is it the Ashford Traditional? Or is the Kiwi, at $200 less, a good choice? Or do you have an even better idea?

in with the in crowd

I LOVE Twilight Camp. One of my favorite weeks of the year. Day 2 was great. Felt like the camp was running itself.

After camp I needed to drop off some paperwork. She opened the door, took one look at me and said, "It must have been crazy socks day!"

She was right. I wore this pair with capri pants so that they had maximum impact.

Tomorrow is Super Hero Day. Can you guess who I will be?

easy as pie

I finished a pair of socks and forgot to show them off.

The are knit from Fleece Artist Sea Wool, Hercules.

I love the colors. I love the feel of Sea Wool. I am keeping these. OK, I have already worn them.

The pattern is a simple cable and rib. The first sock was made with Knit Picks needles, the second with Crystal Palace Bamboo. The second sock is a bit tighter, but only because I am Knitter. They feel the same when worn. I did the cables down the leg then kept the ribbing pattern on the heel and the foot, without the cables. A really nice effect. I am thinking I may do that with other socks.

Right now I am almost finished with a flap topped mitten. These will be for Grandma. I found a pattern that made sense when I read it, but turned out to be crap when knit. I kept the join method used for the flap and designed a new pattern for the rest of the mitten. As soon as I finish I will post pictures and the pattern.

Last night the Girl Scouts had an Aquasocks overnight. The Aquasocks are the Rookie Ball team of the Seattle Mariners. I have to admit that I enjoy going to the Minor League games WAY more than the Major Leagues. So last night there were a couple of sections full of Girl Scouts of all ages. We watched the game, we ate junk food, we saw a great fireworks show and then we pitched our tents on the outfield! There were games and visiting and card playing. So much fun. There was a contest for the best decorated tent. We, as a troop, are not decorators. We are however food lovers. So we skipped the decorating and instead gave the judges homemade blackberry pie. The blackberries were on the vine that very morning. MMM. It worked. We received the prize for Best Bribing of a Judge With Pie! Of course there is a cool patch.

Because you all know, it is all about the patch.

Tomorrow is the start of Day Camp. YAHOOEE!!

don't stop till you get enough

It turns out I did have some time to make my holiday knitting list. While the rest of the family was watching Firefly I poured a glass of wine and set to thinking. It is good. I have a couple of gifts done and one that is half done. I have yarn on hand for all but two projects. Croc for Youngest Son and Dragon for Oldest Daughter.



I only have one more order to become a Loopy Groupie, so I will definitely be placing an order there. Blue Moon has a new series out in the fall, The Raven Series. You know I am all over that. Other than those 2 known purchases I think I am good for a while.



Oh, I thought of one more. The Tyrolean Stockings in the new Interweave Knits. I thought I had yarn for those, but I do not, and truth be told there is no way I am going to be able to sleep until until those are on needles.



OK, so three things...Loopy Ewe, Blue Moon and Green Mountain Spinnery. That is all. Done. Don't need anything else. Wouldn't know what to do with it if I had it. There will be more pretty colors and I can wait until I need more yarn. Yes, wait until I need more yarn. Wait.

careful, you are going to want one!

The phone has been ringing off the hook. I leave the house and return to 3 messages, twice. It is definitely the week before camp. Everyone is getting set and calling with last minute questions. It is very busy around here, good, just busy.

Here is the BEST travel present I have ever received. My friend and her family were in Central Europe and she brought this back for me.

Can you tell what she's doing?



How about now?





This wonderful little hand carved fox is knitting...a sock!




There is a heavy wooden weight hanging and when the weight moves it makes the foxes arms move so that they look like they are knitting a sock. BEST ever! Love you Naomi!!!