I see a hole out there

There's been a bit of goings-on here at Chez Knit'n Lit.

Last week we had not one, not two, but three visits from the Water Department. A lovely man named Renaldo was here Monday, to tell me that they are planning to dig up our street, and asked me if I knew where our pipes were. Um, don't you work for the city? Yeah. After digging around for a bit and sticking some measuring tools in the ground, he seemed satisfied and left.

Tuesday morning, as we are about to walk out of the door, he returns. He needs to put some green powder in our toilet, flush it, and see which side of the house the green powder turned up on. The first trial lasted about 20 minutes, after which he returned for trial number two. Another 20 minutes, and he was back, with the not-so-great news.

Renaldo: So it looks like you pipes go to the back.

Me: You mean they're on the same line as the apartments (behind us)?

Renaldo: Yes.

Me: So....

Renaldo: We want make apartments on own line.

Me: So....

Renaldo: We change you pipes to go front.

Me: So.....

Renaldo: ??????


Renaldo left without giving us a clear indication of what this would entail. Basically, my assumption is this: Our water runs through our backyard and ties into the line that the apartments feed into. Their line runs through our side yard and into the street in front of us (but Renaldo led me to believe that our water does not end up here - I'm confused). The city wants to put these apartments on their own line, as condos are being built at the end of our street, and they will have to join our line.

Wednesday morning a different city employee was back to tell us that they'd be out Monday or Tuesday to tear up our side yard, but it would be just to check the grade and he didn't know when they were going to tear up the street. He also asked me where Renaldo had marked our pipes as he didn't see any lines. I pointed out the spray paint on the side yard and he said that was our neighbors.

Me: "He mentioned something about our lines going to the back."

City employee: "Oh. You're the problem house."

Nothing like hearing those words from the city.

They came back yesterday to "check their grade*."




They also tore down part of my fence - to get the backhoe in. Nice.

Our poor dogs were cooped up inside all day as I admonished them to stop barking at/growling at/stalking the water men.

This is what they left behind.



I sure am glad we couldn't afford to resod our backyard this year.

*How funny is it that every time I typed "check their grade" I actually typed "check their gauge."

The Amazing Lace pt. 4

So, the new Amazing Lace challenge is: "If you bound off your lace today, what could you do with it." Hmmmmm.



Perhaps a kerchief?



















But my favorite is the tube top. Everybody needs one!

I know, sort of lame, but I just wasn't too inspired this round. And last round I couldn't even muster an entry, mostly due to the vacation rush, and due to my general "eh" attitude toward poetry. However, this is a favorite of mine, and I think it applies to those of us who love the lace. You can read it here.

I have big crafty plans for tomorrow - an entire day of craftiness!

Oh so hot

I know we're all saying this, but it is freakin' hot here. Ugh. And only mid-July. Ugh.

My sky isn't very exciting today - I tried to get a good sunset picture, but it didn't work out so well for me.



However, I have been gifted with two lovely items recently. While in Colorado, my momma passed on the lovely skein of alpaca that she got at the Fort Wayne Fiber Festival a few months ago. It is super yummy, and I think will become a simple hat for me. ('Cause I only have four handknitted hats. I clearly need another.)


And the lovely Jen knitted me up an oh-so-yummy pair of cashmere socks. Yep. Cashmere. They are "congratulations on getting a job" socks. Heck, if I had known that I would get handknitted cashmere socks, I might have tried harder to get a job sooner! ;) Clearly she loves me! They are oh-so-soft, but, sadly, a bit too warm to wear these days. I can't wait to slip them on when it gets cold out! Thanks so much Jen!

M is for Music

El hubbo and I have a fairly large music collection. We have hundreds of CDs, and over 100 LPs.





When we moved in together (I know, sinners!) we had a lot of duplicates, and got rid of about 50 CDs (thank you ebay), but we still have a ton. (In all honesty, we kept several of the duplicates - our favorites - so that we could both listen to them in the car without any fights.)








Music was a very large part of our lives when we were younger. I grew up listening almost soley to the "oldies" station - so much so that I didn't really know who Debbie Gibson, NKOTB, or Tiffany were until much after everyone else my age. However, I could name nearly all of the Beatles tunes, knew the entire catalog of 2 Neils (Young and Diamond), was in love with the Boss, and could sing along with anything recorded prior to 1975. I find it very ironic now that my dad comes to me (and hubby) for musical recommendations.








We are lucky enough to live in an area that many artists tour through, so we have had the chance to see many of our favorites (though I stil haven't seen the Boss).






We also are very lucky to have some very talented friends. Two of them sang at our wedding, and are currently performing in the area and are planning to record an album soon. If you are a myspace member, you can hear a bit of them here. The male half of the duo is uber-talented, and has played in several local groups, and is currently touring with Jason Eady, and you can hear some of their songs here.

So, who/what is your favorite music/song?

Hey, I'm on vacation

When we're on vacation we all like to indulge a bit, yes? Well, I'm on "sort-of" vacation until August first (some call it vacation, some call it unemployment). So, on Monday I indulged myself a bit. To the tune of several new projects.


A lovely "mini-Clapotis" from Mountain Colors. I'm using the original Knitty pattern, but I only worked the increase section once, and I'll do the straight section until I decide it's long enough, then decrease and finish. I love the colors, though they're really hard to see here.






A chunky scarf in some discontinued Mountain Colors funky stuff (I think). This and the skein for Clapotis were gifted to me by one of my momma's friends who has moved to Florida and decided it's too hot to knit. Yay for me! This stuff is fun, and will be a gifty for someone.








A restarted Branching Out in Misti Alpaca Lace. I ripped this at least twice last fall, but I really like the pattern, and wanted to try it again. And I needed another project like I need a hole in the head, so why not! So far, so good - two repeats down, many more to go. My fingers are crossed that all goes well this time, as I don't think the yarn can stand to be ripped again.






My first toe up socks! I'm using the "magic cast on" from the Spring Knitty (too lazy to link). It was a little fiddly at first, but much easier than the figure 8 cast on I tired last year. I did rip and reknit it several times, for both practice and to get gauge. I'm using the yummy Koigu, and I'm hoping to have enough from one ball for footies - I'll use a different color for the cuff if I need to.





And finally, I've been holding out a bit on you. I started another project in the car on the way home. A wee little project. Yep. I'm Log Cabining. And I'm really enjoying it. This one will be a Christmas gift for The Girl. This one has grown a bit more since I got home, and I'm already planning more. The only real problem, is that even with airconditioning, this will be really hot on the lap real soon. It will probably get put aside until later in the fall when it does. Until then, I'll keep knitting!

So, what did I knit?

Sadly, little knitting time was had overall on our adventures.


The Baltic Sea Stole got another repeat.



One Trekking sock was finished, and another started.


The blue feather & fan sock turned one heel.


The purple Jaywalkers were cuffed.


And the purple cabled footies were started.

I know. I'm still playing catch-up. But I promise, we're almost up to live knitting action! I'm also behind on my ABC-along pictures, and I need to attempt the Amazing Lace Challenge #4, since I ran out of time to do #3.

I'm still adjusting to behing home, and not working. I'm so out of it that I forgot today was trash day until I left to run an errand and noticed everyone else's cans outside. Of course, I didn't realize it until I was almost on the other side of the neighborhood and it occured to me why all these things were on the curb. Luckily, the hubbo was home and he got them out in plenty of time. Whew. Especially because my MIL forgot to take them out while we were gone, so the garage was STINKY and I might have had to drive to the dumpsters if we missed pick up.

Must sleep in order to be productive tomorrow. What have I been up to since we got home?

On the road home

When I was planning our route home (and by planning, I mean checking mapquest and googlemaps), I noticed something we must travel through to get home. Hmmmm, who lives in ABQ? A few emails later, and we had plans to meet!


Ms. Dye-o-rama herself and I had a lovely, though too short, visit. I got to explore her job, meet her co-workers, and help her look through samples of other dyeable fibers for her store. I look forward to another visit in October!


She wanted to pose with the sock too, which the sock loved. (It's hard to see here, but the sock is blushing.)

So what did I bring back from our travels? Our first stop was at Yarn in Durango. A nice store - many higher priced items (I suppose to cater to those with $$ who ski up there), but a cute store with a lovely "tea room" inside as well. After a second visit, I decided on a ball of ONLine cotton sock yarn in lovely pinks and greens.

Sadly, there is no yarn store in Telluride (someone move there and open one! There is so much money to be made in that town! That is, if you can afford to live there!). So our final stop was Village Wools, where the hubbo was saddened to find a skein of sock yarn that he really liked, but they only had one of. We are on a search to find it locally, so that he won't be too depressed. I, of course, wanted to buy half the contents of the store, but limited myself to two balls of sock yarn (of course!). Yummy Trekking in a colorway I've been looking for, and some lovely Opal Petticoat. They have a great selection of sock yarn (and pretty much all yarn), so if you find yourself nearby, make the time to stop in!


Lucky for me, two packages were waiting when I got home too! First is my lovely PS Blue Postcard all the way from Malaysia! I love it - so prety! Thanks!


I also received my second skein from my One Skein pal - a lovely hank of allhemp yarn. Now I just need to decide what to do with it! And I LOVE the pink bag that it came it - right up my alley!

Whew! That wraps up our vacation coverage here - back to you at the station!

Trekking goes Trekking (sort of)

On day two of our Colorado adventure, we headed to Mesa Verde National Park. Another place Hubbo and I wanted to share with The Girl. I really wanted to go on one of their special 100 year anniversary tours, but they were expensive and sold out. Instead, we chose to tour the Spruce Tree House and the Cliff Palace.


The sock above Spruce Tree House


The sock at Cliff Palace

However, due the steep climbs and narrow passages, I did not actually get to knit on the sock during our adventures. I did knit on her during the car ride in and around Mesa Verde though, so that's got to count for something!

Sock number one was finished up on our last day in Durango, and sock two started on the drive to Telluride.

While in Telluride, the sock


watched the fireworks (which were possibly the best fireworks I've ever seen)


rode the Gondola to Mountain Village (and I'm not sure why I'm not looking at the camera here!)


and watched The Gourds in the POURING rain.(I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, but it was pouring. Seriously. Even with a giant golf umbrella, I was soaked through to my undies when we got up to leave. Yuck. However, I certainly wasn't as wet as The Harlot.)

Whew! That's one busy sock! Sadly, with all the rain we got in Telluride (the only time it didn't seem to rain was during the fireworks - lucky for us!), we didn't get to go on a hike. :( The sock pouted quite a bit about this, and is still a bit miffed. However, hubbo has promised to make it up to the sock in the next few days and take us hiking somewhere nearby.

The sock had one more adventure before arriving home, but you'll have to wait for tomorrow for that! And for pictures (and details) of new yarn!

Socks on a Train

So it doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Snakes on a Plane, but it will have to do!

On our first day of vacation (after the driving part, that is), we rode the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Four hours up and over three back made for lots of knitting time!

The trekking sock went along for the ride, but refused to pose for any pictures (she was being a brat), so the blue Feather & Fan Project Spectrum June sock had to take her place.


She hangs dangerously out of the train.


The rest of the family had to document the knitting while standing on the train.


The diva had to have her own portrait with the engine.

Hubbo really wanted to take a picture of her laying dangrously on the tracks, but we didn't have time to get one before the train left.

The best part of the trip was not so much the ride. It was our first stop. We were barely out of the station when we heard a bang. Everyone leaned out of the windows, and this is what we saw.

Yes, an accident. But we didn't hit the car. No. The car hit THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAIN. Even with flashing lights AND A GIANT ORANGE AND BLACK TRAIN, she hit us. Luckily, she wasn't going too fast and she was driving a Volvo, but still. Honestly people. How do you *not* see the big train? (And yes, she was fine. Terribly mortified, but fine.)

The train ride was fun. A little long, but so pretty. If you're ever in Western Colorado, take the time to at least ride it one way. The hubbo and I had both ridden it as children, and wanted The Girl to have a chance too. It turns out, through our crack research, that we were there within weeks of each other in the same year. I was there in July of '87, and he in August. Freaky, huh? We even had our picture taken in front of the same part of the Silverton station.

I have many more adventures to share with you, but blogger, with it's five picture per post rule, will force you to wait until tomorrow!

Saturday Sky

I joined Sandy's Saturday Sky a few weeks ago, but I haven't posted any sky pictures yet. Bad knitter.




Since we're mostly comatose 'round here (after getting home at 1:30 am Texas time), this will have to count for a "real" post today. The sock is recovering and should be ready to share her adventures tomorrow. Have a great day!

Caught

So Chris caught me. I have no reading goals listed for July.

It didn't help that I so grossly overestimated how much I could read in June, and that my July time will be greatly infringed upon too. However, I have been reading a bit here and there.

I finished a few books in June - Julie and Julia, 12 Sharp, and I listened to Mary, Mary.

Julie and Julia is very good. I'm not a huge fan of cooking (I can do it, but the hubbo really enjoys it, so he is in charge of the kitchen), but this *almost* made me want to start cooking more. (Don't worry - I won't be as it would cut into my knitting time!). I had never read her blog, but I may go back and skim it. However, the book is really seperate from the blog. Sure, the blog got her the book deal, but she didn't just reprint it verbatim. One of the interesting moments in the book is when she talks about getting her first comments, and how exciting it is. Later, during a break in the project for the holidays, worries about her readers - will they have left her? How are they all doing in their lives? It really speaks to how I think many of us feel about our little community in our own blogosphere. And of course, above all this, it is a book about finding yourself, figuring out what makes us happy, and how to try to make that work.

12 Sharp is another delightful fluffy book from Janet Evanovich. I started reading these seriously last year, and now can't wait until next summer for #13. My sister had read them for some time and had been pressuring me to pick them up, but I kept avoiding it. Why, I'm not sure, but I'm glad I finally gave in. 12 Sharp keeps the plotlines going, but with a fresh coat of paint, if you will. The story strays a bit from the series' previous books. Stephanie's car doesn't get blown up, they aren't chasing a dangerous bail jumper, but I think the freshness really helps. Now if she could just pick Ranger or Morelli....but where's the fun in that?

Mary Mary is crap. Really, there's just no nice way to say it. I used to like James Patterson's books, but the more recent ones just suck. Please, don't waste your brain cells on this one.

I am reading several books right now, and hope to read several this month - lets say 6 again? We'll see!

Link-a-lot

Still here, vacationing, and I'm working up the posts for our adventures (two more days of fun to go!), but in the meantime, I thought I'd entertain you with some linkage.

Many of these blogs are widely read, but they are all relatively new to me, and so inspiring. Take some time during this holiday week to discover some new crafters!

• Stranded on Fair Isle


• Brooklyn Tweed


• Happy Things


• Dogged.


• Elliphantom Knits


• Knit One Quilt Too


• Simple Sparrow


• Yarn Miracle


• Angry Chicken


• Little Birds


• Hop Skip Jump

Enjoy!

Tidbits

I'm trying to play a bit of catch up here, a few days late! It's time for those crazy nuts insane monthly goals.

From June:
1. Finish Leaf Lace Shawl. HAHA! NOT EVEN CLOSE!
2. Some progress on pink blob. Yeah, I worked on it for a little bit.
3. Some progress on Baltic Sea Stole (wedding shawl). A little.
4. One pair of Trekking socks finished. Nope. Not even one sock done.
5. Blue socks finished. Nope. Not even close.
6. Finish other That 70s Sock. DONE! YIPPEE!
7. Finish one sock for The Husband. Nope.
8. Start some type of summery top. Started. All ripped.
9. Read 6 books (for the summer reading challenge). Haha!


So, what to get done this month?

1. Finish Leaf Lace Shawl.
2. Some progress on pink blob.
3. More progress on Baltic Sea Stole.
4. Finish first pair of Trekking socks.
5. Finish one sock for The Husband.
6. Finish One Skein Swap gift.
7. Finish blue socks.
8. Start purple socks.
9. IF Leaf Lace is finished, start another lace project.
10. IF blue socks are finished, start another pair of lace socks.
11. IF good progress is made on other projects, start Log Cabin Blanket.
12. Work on Kyoto if time allows.


I have one lovely picture of purple yarn for you:

Purple sock yarn.

There is also some purple yarn for a sweater.....here it is.

That's it. I really like purple, but apparently not to knit with! I do want some of the Trekking colorway that is purple (I think it's 78) and I am trying to get my LYS owner to order some more for me.

That's about it from here. We're knitting. We're trekking. We just don't have any pictures uploaded yet! Have a great fourth!

August Birthday Swap

We're having a great time on vacation, and I have lots of pictures to share, but I wanted to get this swap info up for my pal! More from the trip to come!

What day is your birthday? August 16

Are you crafty? I like to think so!

Would you enjoy things like: Buttons, ribbons and embellishments? Yes!

Do you dye your own wool? Not on a regular basis. I have done some sock yarn.

Do you like to scrapbook or make homemade cards? I want to learn to do more with paper crafts, but I haven't yet.

What small project would you be interested in making? Socks, mittens, scarf, hat, baby items, wash cloths, doilies, shrugs etc. Socks.

What are your favorite scents? Vanilla

Do you like stationary and cards? A little too much!

Do you like hand lotions or soaps? Yep.

Do you like to sew or embroider items? I like to sew, but I don't do too many complicated things. I really want to do embroidery, but haven't sat down and learned much yet.

Do you like beads? Yep.

What kind of mail-able snacks do you like to eat? Cherry pull & peel Twizzlers, Strawberry Starbursts.

Do you like to wear costume jewelry? Necklace, earrings, bracelets etc. I don't wear much jewelry.

Do you like to play cards or board games? Yes.

What are your favorite colors of yarn? Pinks and oranges, blue & green.

Do you like solid, variegated, heathers, or self stripping yarns? All of them!

Do you like kitchen magnets or key rings? Magnets.

Do you like picture frames? Yes, but I never seem to put pictures in them!

Do you like to make/or use stitch markers?
Both!

Do you collect anything? Bookends.

Do you have any allergies? Smoke, food, fiber, pets, etc..
No, but I don't like smoke.

Do you have any hobbies? Besides knitting? Reading.

Do you like scented or unscented candles? Both.

Are you a fiber snob? A little bit.

That's it! See you soon!

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go

We leave for vacation in T-minus 24 hours. And yes. The knitting is packed.

I'm taking all my current WIPs, and the yarn for them, plus the yarn for the Log Cabin Blanket. But I needed some "just in case" yarn. You know. In case I manage to finish all my current projects. (Really. I can hear you. Stop laughing.)


Yarn for the cute felted sheep.


Yarn for Ene's scarf, Cabled footies from One Skein, Koigu for Jaywalkers and footies, a fresh ball of Trekking, Regia surf for "just in case" socks, and yarn for Branching Out.


My patterns are mostly gathered. I just need to grab some needles and I'll be ready to go!


I'll try to post from the road, but I don't know if we'll have access. If we don't I'll see you in about a week!

ETA: I am such a wanker! I keep forgetting to mention Jen's plan to "Read What You Have" for the month of July. No library books. No borrowed books. Read what's already on your shelf. Can we do it? Maybe. Especially if we ignore the two library books I've already started and won't be able to finish by tomorrow. But aside from them, I'm in! I've got tons of books just begging to be read. Off to chose some for the trip.

State of the Lace

My lace relay team has been quiet this week with trip preparations, but progress has been made since the start of the race.


Feather & Fan sock, Leaf Lace, Baltic Sea Stole, Pink Blob


Feather & Fan hasn't seen any action in about two weeks. Hopefully she'll get some in on the trip. Leaf Lace has been neglected since her trip to the playground. She's pouting in the corner. Baltic Sea Stole has seen a bit of progress in the past few days, but is waiting for ball #2 to be cast on for more progress. And the pink blob is progressing nicely. That's really all I can say about it.



I've been doing a bit of sock knitting this week - getting two socks through the gusset. I need mindless in-the-dark knitting for the car ride (we're driving overnight), so I thought two stockinette socks would be just the ticket. Hopefully both of these will be done soon, but both are first socks, so there's one to go for each.

I've been neglecting my KALs in my attempt to finish up one more thing before we leave. I will be casting on for my purple socks on Saturday no matter what - FO or no FO. They'll be my first pair for the Summer of Socks KAL.

They're not the only thing that I'm taking on our trip. But I must go pack - we leave in less than 48 hours!

Last chance to sign up for the Christmas in July swap! Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

Ah ha! Another FO for the month!

I'm very excited for two reasons - I've written my first pattern and I'm teaching my first class!

The class is a beginning knitting class designed for kiddos 8-12, and right now we have two kids (one boy!) and one adult (who wants to learn to make something felted). I wanted to make a simple project that wasn't a scarf and only used one skein of yarn to cut down on cost.

I'll publish the pattern here after I teach the class, but here's the item before and after felting.



My sample is living at the store now until my class. I'm really excited - class starts in just a few weeks!

Jumping on the bandwagon

I find it very amusing that Stephanie commented on my last post that I should start a Log Cabin Blanket. 'Cause that's what I've been planning to do!

I wanted to make a blanket for The Girl for some time now (I plan on it being a Christmas gift), but I couldn't decide on a pattern. Mitered squares? Ripples? Log Cabin? During the JoAnn's sale last weekend I grabbed two more skeins of yarn with my 40% coupons (yep. I use them for the big $2.89 purchases).

I tried to draw out the pattern with the colors I had, but I couldn't get a good feel for how it would look with only initials for the color placement. Time to dig out the colored pencils!

The more I played with this design the more I enjoyed it. I like how it looks like little paths through the blanket. The colors in my drawing are not accurate to the yarn colors, so here you go.

I am however not looking forward to the heat of knitting a blanket during Texas summers, so we'll see how long my motivation lasts!

I'm resisting casting on right now with every fiber of my being (haha! - fiber!). I really want to finish up one more thing before we leave for our trip, so I'm trying to keep focus.