Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

Honestly, I have been knitting! The thing is though, when you're working on a new design, you have to keep it secret.  This is a cowl that I've designed and now I need to write the pattern out and publish it. It's a nice, close knit pattern great for guys. This morning I wore it outside to test it out since it's 41 here in WI. I'm also working on a stranded hat.  There's about 10 skeins of Knit Picks Palette that I scored for 50 cents a piece at Goodwill some time ago.  I've been playing with different stranded designs.  Sometimes I just want to mess around without a real aim.  The Aidez is taking a time out mainly because I am afraid to mess up the bind-off on the sleeve re-design. I know, ...get over it! It's getting colder, so that might be my impetus to get it done. I find that some of my homework reading is done better if I am knitting at the same time.  I concentrate better. Bantam chicken update: we have 10 baby chicks under two hens i...

Let's start with Mango. Mango's taken on the personality of a cranky wild-child. He wanted to go planking, so sure...we went planking. Ok, he planked, I took pictures. He then noticed my frustration at a certain child who is on the cusp of graduating High School. That child has become so unfocused that he's almost useless. If you tell him something, you might as well staple a post-it note to his forehead. NO, I won't staple it...maybe some duct tape? Mango insisted on head butting him to remind him for the 4th time to take the compost bucket down to the heap. That's when Mango lost his button eyes. So I sewed them back on. Mango then announced that he needed a friend. Stuffed animal creation is actually ideal for stressful situations. Great for ADD: Mango and Papaya aren't really that chummy yet. Mango's ticked because I haven't given him a tail yet. Papaya's eyes are embroidered so they won't fly off in a fit of anger. Graduation: Yeah. I...

I recently was talking to a very knowledgeable person about my reading material in the restrooms of my house. Yes, I have reading material in them....sometimes it is the only place I can get a few uninterrupted minutes to read. One of the books is the "Great Mortality" about the Black Death plague that hit Europe in the mid 1300's. This visitor to my home enjoyed the downstairs reading: A book about how famous persons died and where they were buried, and asked about the one upstairs. "It's about the Black Death." "The what?" "The black death: the plague that decimated 2/3 of the population of Europe in the 1300's" About this time I'm reminded of the ex-boyfriend who didn't know what Stonehenge was.... "I've never heard of that." Ok, what are kids being taught in school these days? Not even that, but the History Channel digs out their documentary on it at least twice a year and shows it. In the scope of humanity...

I made the Kitty Pi for out largest cat, Tigger. It was a great way to use up some more handspun that my sweetie found in the back of the pantry. Looking at the pattern, I made some revisions due to the huge girth of the intended feline, and to stabilize it against the intended feline. Sorry for the blurriness of the photo. It was taken in low-light and I guess I flinched. But there lays Tigger, over-running the kitty Pi with his ...furriness. Darn, I will have to start again, with a larger bed. OH, and I got a new laptop. It's very nice and comes with a number pad! This one was about 32" across before felting. The sides were strengthend by doing the following: row 1: sl 1, k1, -repeat row 2: knit all around row 3: k1, sl 1 - repeat row 4: knit all around I repeated these rows 3 times. I think my next Kitty Pi will be larger around. I'll extend the sides by a few more repeats of the 4 rows so that it can cover Tigger better.

I fully intended on blogging about my vacation. Willow River State Park in Wisconsin is a beautiful park. There is barely a mention on the website about Willow Falls. It's a shame really, because they are beautiful. This picture is from gowaterfalling.com as I cannot see to actually alter the pictures that we have take. The falls can be walked through, and it will not sweep you away. There were kids playing and jumping into it. I've got pictures of Alex and I in the falls, but I can't see right now. I pulled a bonehead move and broke my glasses last night. I can't see very well with Alex's old glasses but they keep me from injuring myself. Also, my KIP Bags were featured on Lime & Violet's Daily Chum . COOL!

My neice Kate was here last week to get new Garb made for SCA. The bodice took the longest time and 4 different fittings before I was satisfied with it. The pleating of the skirt and attachment took an hour to do......stitching by hand! Kate's going to finish up the underskirt and the sleeves by herself. Doesn't she look nice in it? It's crushed velvet with a silk chemise. If you're a SCA or Rennie, I'd recommend the silk chemise. It's worth the extra money and time. This is one I made some years ago out of silk from http://www.dharmatrading.com/ Buy the silk in 11 yard bolts and they are about 5 bucks a yard. That's cheap! I've been working on getting rid of that huge stack of fabric. The goal is to move the sewing area to Tim's room once he moves back with his folks. Right now, he's still in Boot Camp. I've not heard from him but his Mom has. But back to the fabric. I had an idea and sewed some recycled drawstring bags out of fabric that w...

My son has been given the task of reading To Kill a Mockingbird for English. He does not read. To a parent who reads almost rabidly, this is gobstopping to me: not read??? I never understood why he did not enjoy reading. We've tried different books, different genres to limited success. He enjoys the heck outta manga, but they don't make To Kill a Mockingbird in Manga. So, we brought the issue up to his counselor because his reluctance to read this book is causing him to get behind in English. After talking it out we realized that he could not utilize his brain to visualize the story while he read it. His counselor suggested the book be read out loud to help him visualize the story. So, I'm reading 2 chapters a day until it's done. Yesterday I read sitting crossed-legged on the kitchen carpet while he chopped veggies for Chicken & Dumplings. When this book was written, it was normal to describe a black person using the 'n-word'. In the book, it gets ...

I've finished off the newer and bigger skull cap. OK, I've actually made two of them out of Misti-Alpaca with Misti-Alpaca laceweight liner. These do fit actual adult humans. I've got another one to make. I only wanted to make one, but as you see, this one does not come off my son's head. He'd sleep in it if he could. So I had to make another one for my Nephew and then another one for my Niece. She saw it and had to have one. The shawl and stole are at a standstill. My progress on a lot of things was halted. My Great-Uncle passed away on Sunday Night and we had the funeral yesterday. Uncle Ken was 88 and loved horses, old tractors and bluegrass. I've said 'to heck with it' on the smoke-free effort. I'm smoking 3 ciggarettes a day these days. On day 5 without a cigg, it took me 3 tries to fill the coffee maker. I finally admitted that I was not prepared to become the most frustratingly awkward person on earth just because I stopped smoking....