An Answer to the Question - "Are You Packed Yet?"

Packed, unpacked, repacked, unpacked, partially packed...rethinking my packing, packing again, packing tonight, packing tomorrow, unpacking Saturday, repacking Sunday.

Finally packing Tuesday night.

(I figured I'd rest up on Monday, eh?)

Just Foolin' Around

You can make your own MadMen inspired icon here

Only 7 More Days!

I can't believe it's so close! (And also that in another 14 days, I'll be home and back at work! Hmm...not as exciting a thought at all.)

There's a ton of stuff to do, I've almost finished my mini-skeins for swapping, and I made two more of these - I wanted a total of 25, but I needed one on my suitcase to make it quick to find, so here are Mini-Socks #25 and 26:
The yarn is a single skein of Claudia in the colorway Poppy. It was in my gift bag two years ago from NoSo Knit, and short of making baby socks (which I'm thinking of doing with the rest of it!), I didn't have enough for a pair to fit even my small feet. So I've included some of it in mini-skeins, too. I said it sorta reminded me of neon Dreamsicles...heh-heh.

Tonight I slaved over a hot stove to freeze my CSA produce (and you can read about that over at Nana Sadie's Place). I'm taking a break from it next week (since I won't be here to eat it!), and will pick back up later. LOTS of vegies got put away, and my little refrigerator freezer is filling up fast.

I had to take back the small black suitcase I got to replace the too-large purple damask one, because, upon opening it, I found it had a rip in the lining. I ended up at another store, with something entirely different, a bit smaller - and you know what? I think I can actually make it do with everything in it. Surprise! Probably won't need the Hot Flash mini-sock to tell it's mine, as it's a muted grape with gray circles on it. Yes. I know. Well. What can I say, I will find it in the overhead compartment easily. (And it's better than the purple and fushia butterfly wings I was looking at that was about $50 more! I can get it locally for $25 less than that link shows it!)

I did get a bit crazy when I went to re-up with Verizon. They had this:
and so of course, you know that now it's MINE...

It's really more plum than that photo indicates...and it almost matches my wallet.
(I'm incorrigible.)

The best thing about it? I downloaded Michael Buble and Mozart ringtones! (Even an opera overture...yes, I know, I'm very odd)
*wink*

Help a Fellow Knitter Who's Also A Researcher!!

Jocelyn is a professor of linguistics in California and has created a study about knitters. She'll be doing her research online, and at knitting events (even Sock Summit!) over the next bit, but you can take the survey online if you're interested.

Yes, it's a knitting survey. And you'll be contributing to the knowledge base about knitters - who we are and why we do what we do.

If you'd like to take the survey, you can Click Here to take survey.

Or you can go to Jocelyn's blog (it's a fun and fascinating place to be, if you've not stopped by before) and read more about it before you decide to take the survey.

Thanks!

Countdown to SS09

There is still, thank heaven, another weekend between now and Sock Summit, but I'm feeling the pressure to get things finished! Not just knitting either. Because when I return, there will be bags to make for the National Capital Cat Show and it will surely feel as if there's very little time left for that! So this weekend has been all about doing laundry and cutting and sewing bags, mixed in with running errands (I feel like the Eveready Bunny - I rarely stop!)

While I'm still hurting, I am better, and hopeful that the dry heat that is Portland's summer will be helpful to ease some of it (we can hope, as they're saying the temps this week out there will be in the 100s. (oy!)

When I get a minute, I work on these:

The Trekking XXL 322 Feather and Fan socks (hope I don't regret the cuff choice - as this yarn isn't the tweedy I thought it was, it's a muted stripey!

Still so far, so good...and aren't those colors familiar?

Yes, here they are again:

Shawl That Jazz is finished! I'm not happy with it, but then are we ever totally happy with a knit? This wonderful squishy yarn had some interesting pooling going on (no, I'm not thrilled with it in a couple of places, but I'll live), and in addition, I don't think I did an acceptable job of attaching the ruffling (with the M2 in the pattern, I think I goofed on how to do the second one - much later, but not quite at the end, I suddenly read the part that said, "both will be twisted stitches," and I can promise you I didn't twist that second stitch. It doesn't ruffle nearly as much as I'd like, and there are holes. I have three options: rip and reknit; rip and reknit with the option of the rufflier edging; sew up the holes (which I certainly am capable of doing!). Oh, I guess there's a fourth option - Leave it and call it a design feature!

It's blocking now:

This is width-wise of my queen bed, and it's hanging off the edges...

Here you can see the holes along the edging - but they're not regular (like lace) because you increase at different intervals along the side of the shawl...(sigh)

I loved the pattern, and it was a pleasant knit (even tho' it began to feel like a slog towards the end). I still have a lot of yarn left, probably half a skein, or perhaps a bit less than that. I think I'd have enough to reknit it with more ruffle.

The CC thinks I should relax and enjoy life.

Doesn't she look good here? She seems to be hanging in just fine, going on 19 and all...

Promise I'm Still Here!

I'm even knitting!

And feeling better, tho' after spending tonight standing in the kitchen putting the CSA Share in the freezer and making dinner (you know, I don't really LIKE to cook anymore!), my back is hurting again...not as badly, but still. Frankly, I think the ESIs handled the inflammation in my spine, just dandy, but now my long-ignored fibromyalgia is saying, "hey, don't forget about me, I'm here, too!"

I would just as soon it would take a hike!

Which basically is what I did on Sunday! I walked the entire length of the huge Valley View mall (from Macy's to Sears and back again) looking for a suitable carryon bag - one that would fit Delta's requirements - and a few other miscellaneous things. I didn't find any of them on Sunday (I did last night, tho'!), but I was so pleased that, while my back wasn't completely pain-free, I was able to pace myself pretty well, and survive the long walk. This bodes very well for Sock Summit and Portland in August! Whoohoo!

Anyway, I told you I was working on bags and such for me to take/carry to Sock Summit, and I have finished! Here they are:
Jocelyn asked if the fabric was velvet when she saw them - no, that's Japanese Dobbie Cloth. It's a nubby, rustic cotton, and I love it. These were experimental bags. The fabric is more expensive, harder to find, and a bit more of a challenge to work with, but I do like the results.

And yes, those seem to be my colors these days - navy, dark purple, a burgundy-plum, taupe, and sand...hmmm...reminds me of the Beached colorway of Blue Moon's BFL Sport that I'm making Shawl That Jazz from! (And I started the ruffled edging today, too!)

Wonder why those colors have made it into my summer attire? My pal Lynette would tell you that they've been my colors for years (she's right) - especially the navy, burgundy, while/taupe combo. I have a bedroom set in the mix, lots of clothes, used to have a navy car (oh, heck, I had a burgundy Mustang - yes, I know, don't go there - once, too!).

Anyway. If you follow that link up there to Nana Sadie's Place to read about my CSA share, you'll find out why The Meezer was having so much fun with this box:

I do love it when Mommie gets the Cuisinart box out...It's just the right height for me to love on while sitting up regally!

Saturday Update...

Today has been better, tho' tonight I'm feeling as if I did too much. Probably did. You know me.

I scurried up to the post office today to meet a gal from the cat show to deliver her bags. While there I stopped at my box. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't been there in awhile. Here's what I found:
Birdsong asked for her friends to send her remnants of their sock yarns so she could make a Friendship Shawl. I mailed a small envelope of several different colorways off to her right away, and completely forgot that she'd be sending back to me what she called a "pocket angel." When I opened the envelope I was delighted. And immediately trundled down the road to a small local jeweler - they were kind enough to put a small hole thru it and add a jump ring for a little bit of nothing and I brought it home, and found a nice little chain to put it on to wear around my neck. Pocket angel? Well, I don't have pockets as a general rule. So this is much better for me! Thank you Birdsong...what a lovely gift.

I also had to attend a memorial service today, so that took up a portion of my afternoon. I started an order this morning that I will deliver at Sock Summit next month, and finished when I got back this afternoon:
Jocelyn ordered this with the intent of receiving it in Portland when we see each other.
That isn't orange. My camera does NOT want to photo the coral flannel I used. The green is a touch more to the side of sage, as well. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out (since it's only the second Violette I've ever made).

Then I began to work on the bags and accessories I'm planning to take on the Portland trip. I don't often make items for me, I usually just start using what is still around after a couple of shows. Tonight, I made a coordinating Oressa doublepoint needle case to go with my Violette.

And here is the inside:

Now I'm off to find the heating pad and pick up Shawl That Jazz. I worried I won't have that done for the trip. It's been such a slog!

And that ticker is just ticking away up there - 18 more days?
I'm getting excited!

It's FRIDAY!

I told you it would happen...I couldn't resist:
And I cast on for another pair of socks. Since I've had this yarn since 2007, I think it's okay to substitute it for my July edition of the Personal Sock Club (which, while I said it was going to be a year-long event? I could knit for another year at least just from stash sock yarn - I know, sock yarn isn't stash, but...).

I'm really glad today was Friday and that I'm through it! We did a big move of supplies and STUFF today at the office, and got it done in an amazingly short amount of time. And no, I didn't do a thing, I sat on my wheeled and seated walker - love this thing! - and let everyone else "do" as I "directed."

Power is a dangerous thing, you know? *wink*

Anyway, things look amazingly good. But as a result? We all felt as if the day was about 4 times longer than any other day we'd ever worked! That's what happens when you do more than a day's work in only 2.5 hours? lol

Still, it's a lot to feel good about.

I'm really, really sore this time from the injection. Different doc, and maybe I should have said, when I saw how young he was, "Could I reschedule?" It didn't go as smooth as the first one, which is probably why it's tougher this time. But - I'm assuming that I'll have relief within a day or so when the steriods kick in!

Fingers crossed.

Shhh...Quickly, I Should Be In Bed!

This is this weeks stash of mini-socks...
number 19 and 20...
and 21 through 24.

I'd not used the Neopolitan Disco sock yarn (the pink and dark chocolate colorway)...and it's so squishy and the colors are so pretty? Well, I'm going to find time to knit a pair of socks in this - plain vanilla. And - I'm going to use my size 1 Addi Lace 16-inch circulars! I realized that I was a bit behind and they had them out and available. I ordered from Angelika and you know she is the ONE to go to for fastest service with such a smile. I just love her.

Ok...I'm supposed to be in bed and resting (and I've taken it easy tonight...promise. But I did want to show you these!

G'night!

I'm In A Blue Mood...

Aqua, to be exact...
The last of the Roanoke Cat Show bags, these will have a happy home with a mother and daughter here in town.

Otherwise, I'm not so blue, but I'm so tired I'm almost prostrate.

Besides all the other stuff you know about that's going on, today was my organization's twentieth anniversary. We had a guest speaker, catered luncheon, and silent auction with raffle of a P. Buckley Moss print. (No, I don't think I won, but those who know me well, know I love her work.)

It was a huge undertaking. And I'm heading to bed early, because tomorrow is the second ESI injection, and I've got to get everything reconciled before I leave the office at noon. If you all don't see me you'll know why, right?

(Friday is another story altogether - more high drama at the office with volunteers coming in to help reorganize our world and create a little space where not much exists...so I'll catch you, soon, but I can't say when!)

But...I promise - I still loves ya!
(((Hugs)))

A Meme from Birdsong

Apparently, most folks have only read an average of 6 of these classics. Oddly enough, I've managed as many as 31. What about you?

Instructions: Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (X)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien ()
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (X)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling ()
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee ()
6 The Bible - ()
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte(X)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell ()
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ()
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens ()
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (X)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller ()
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (X)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier ()
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien ()
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ()
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger ()
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (X)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (X)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (X)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (X)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens ()
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy ()
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams ()
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ()
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky ()
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame ()
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy ()
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (X)
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis ()
34 Emma - Jane Austen (X)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (X)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis ()
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - ()
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ()
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ()
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell ()
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown ()
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ()
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ()
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (X)
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (X)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding ()
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan ()
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel ()
52 Dune - Frank Herbert ()
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ()
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (X)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ()
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ()
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (X)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley ()
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon ()
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ()
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (X)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ()
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt ()
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold ()
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ()
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac ()
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy ()
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding ()
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie()
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (X)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (X)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker ()
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett ()
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson ()
75 Ulysses - James Joyce ()
76 The Inferno - Dante ()
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ()
78 Germinal - Emile Zola ()
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (X)
80 Possession - AS Byatt ()
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ()
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (X)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ()
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (X)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ()
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom ()
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ()
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ()
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad ()
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery ()
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ()
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams ()
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ()
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute ()
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas ()
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl ()
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (X)

How many have you read?

It's A Slog...or...How I Spent My Birthday...

Yup. Today is my birthday. It's been celebrated on other days with other folks, so today was somewhat quiet, which was fine! I got a lot done, including washing all the black sheets I use for curtains and tablecloths in my booth, in preparation for the National Capital Cat Show in September (now if I don't forget to put them in the car!)

While that was going on (and I was getting my exercise up and down the stairs), I made these:
Three orders from the show last weekend! (I'm ahead of schedule, which is fine with me!) Isn't that frog Posy Too cute?

I also had a bit of time, while talking on the phone with various well-wishers, to work on Shawl That Jazz. I'm at the slog point, can you tell?
but I have to tell you that I love this yarn. LOVE.IT. BMFA BFL Sport. Beached colorway. Yummy.

Someone else is yummy:

What do you mean "your" chair? It's MINE, Mommie!

Umm...who's birthday is it, Meeze?

Almost The Weekend

May I say that I'm glad tomorrow is Friday (I am not alone, I know).

And may I say "thank you" for all your lovely sympathies? We will manage to get thru this, but death, when it comes to someone younger than it "should" hurts more, I think. It feels so dratted unfair. But this someone faced it with grace. I only hope to be able to do the same when the time comes.

I'll tell you that the person in question always had a sunny disposition, always went the extra mile to help someone in need, cared deeply about his family and his friends and colleagues, was involved in good works. There will be, for this person, the sort of eulogy that we would all wish for (and strive for, I hope). Sometimes, those things are offered in platitudes, and stretch the truth. But not this time. Not this time.

The world will be much less good without him.

I think I'll be sad for awhile. I think a lot of us will be. But we'll all go on and we'll remember him, and try to do as he would have done. Maybe that's the best testiment to someone...we want to strive to be like them.

During my initial sadness and grief, I finished some knitting:

The Double Bubble socks, tho' I drastically altered the pattern (putting in my own preferred heel style), are finally finished. They took longer than socks usually do, but I don't think that has much to do with the pattern. Everything to do with me, my attention span, and my other commitments that tend to get in the way. I did use my Addi Turbo size 1.5, 16-inch circulars...
and this is how much of the Zen Yarn Garden Discarded Roses colorway I have remaining!

I think, maybe, I'll make a pair of fingerless mitts. Maybe Anne's Delicato?. I'm pretty sure there's enough yarn, and I've had the pattern since it came out.

Anyway...I'll touch base over the weekend, and try to get back to more normal posting next week. Thank you again for being the best pals in the world!
(((Hugs)))

I'll Be Back...

Sadness over the loss of a friend....as a photographer, I think he'd have appreciated this white rose.

Where'd The Weekend Go?

What weekend? Where? I didn't see a weekend? Did you?

Well, I surely hope your holiday weekend was more relaxing and restorative than mine was! While I enjoy doing the various shows, and love both seeing old friends and making new ones, they certainly fly by fast, and take much out of me!

Below is the only photo I can share:

A shot of Big Sis, shortly after we arrived Saturday morning and finished set up.

Now, I'm sorry, I can't share much more right now. It's kinda late, and I've got to go to work in the morning, so I need to get to bed earlier than normal...I'm BUSHED!
:)
(((Hugs)))

Sock Summit is Just Around the Corner!

And I'm getting excited...these came in the mail today:
The three colorways that Tina came up with for Sock Summit - I think they're gorgeous. I couldn't wait to get them, so ordered them right away. (And this way? No worrying about fitting them into a suitcase or mailing them home!)

I'm especially fond of ST-2. That's the shades of red/scarlet/plum up there. Are you surprised?

The cat show hits first, of course. I am ready! Well, after I drive up to Charlottesville tomorrow to pick up Big Sis...
(((hugs)))

Wednesday - If It's Broke?

I'm about to scream - I cannot load Gmail. Period. I keep getting shut down "IE has encountered an error and must shut down, we apologize for any incovenience"
Oh...shoot.

eta: Oh yes, Tiff, you're right - I needed to reinstall IE - so of course, I just downloaded IE 8, as I had version 6 on this laptop (installed at the factory!) Anyway, I'm IN to my gmail account! whoohoo!

So if you've emailed me, I don't know it. (sigh)

I'm better, folks...have the second injection scheduled for mid-month. Now, just the left side hurts...and occasionally the right side is sore...

And I have frogged the second Double Bubble sock back to the turn of the heel twice now. Hopefully, I'm back on track but it surely puts my Personal Sock Club behind.
(sigh)

But...on a more positive note? Tomorrow is "Friday" and the Star City Cat Show is this weekend - Big Sis is coming in to help as Sis-in-law is away. I'll scoot up the valley with Lynette on Friday to meet Big Sis and her hubby in Charlottesville, then we'll fly back down the interstate and set up late afternoon.

See you there?!?