VaCaTiOn all I ever wanted...

So I'm on the cusp of my departure for the Outer Banks, my old stompin' ground. I'll be back early next week and will post something again by mid-week. I finished the body of my summer tank and completed the upper back, I should be able to finish the front in the next couple of days and will post a picture. I should be closing on the house next week too so I plan to get lots of R&R before the big move. I know, not much sympathy for me as I'm heading off to the beach...but think of it this way, I will probably end up with a nice red painful sunburn despite careful application of vegan SPF 30--does this help?

Closing Time...

No, it's not "one last call for alcohol." I'm talking about my house!! We are going to be closing this Friday, August 11th! I can't believe it, finally, we will own a house! This day was great--my guy came home (was visiting his relatives for a great big Old Homes Day extravaganza) AND we got the word from the bank. I am also heading into a nice vacation this Friday--woo hoo!!

Not much new in knitting, I've been busy sorting and packing and cleaning our current place since my landlord is now bringing new potential renters by. Two couples came back-to-back this past Saturday and she told the first couple she had put the wrong ad in the paper, that the rent would be more money than advertised as she had confused us with the peeps next door. I figure neither of the two couples were interested after that. Four hours of cleaning and getting the place perfect for nothing!!

I did make some pillows last night, I will post a picure tomorrow. I worked well into the evening while catching the bluegrass show on WYEP. Anyone out there in Pittsburgh who doesn't listen to this station should check it out--it's the best! (They don't play bluegrass only if that's not your thing).

I also am getting an itch to research who owned the house back when it was built in 1921. Maybe a flapper? Probably a steel worker, but a flapper sounds so much more jazzy, doesn't it? Current read= Flapper by Joshua Zeitz. Chapter 5 is calling...

PiCk uP sTiX

SO I did manage to pick up the stix this week a bit, and made some progress on my knitting, but it is very boring progress indeed (straight stockinette up the body now since I finished my decreases--knit in the round for that matter so I do not even need to complete a dreaded purl, just monotonous knit stitches, one after the other). One place I did knit was in the CAR on the way to our REALTOR's office. We made it through the home inspection--all systems are go!

This weekend we went to Home Depot to scope out some stuff we need/want for the house (pending everything continuing as planned and we close...). I have never looked at toilets in my life before but did so with great zest and zeal recently. This home ownership thing may have me becoming an adult after all.

My lost rune also came home to me in the mail this week--check out msotherdenartglass.com Molly sent my Ehwaz, which was missing at the time I purchased the set. They are handmade glass runes in the loveliest green shades. If you go back a few posts, you can also see her earrings and yes, stitchmarkers as modeled by my lovely assistant, Sittin' Grampa. You can also see my current project in the background.

My only other news is sort of sad. A whole day smearing henna into the old mop and no one even noticed! Henna is a nightmare, kids. It's the consistancy and color of goose poop (not exaggerating here either), it is hard to coat every strand of hari, you must sit in it for hours with your head wrapped in plastic, and it leaves your hair smelling of hay for days. Plus, in order to help cover the gray, I added some vinegar and fresh brewed coffe to the henna. Just imagine the smell of that one! When you rinse it out, millions and billions of fine leaf particles hit the shower head and spray over the shower walls, floor, shower curtains and shampoo bottles, necessitating an intense and thorough cleaning to prevent perma-stain. Your hands if unprotected also turn a fine shade of pea green. My guy told me my hair looked very shiney that evening though. Shiney is not worth the trouble though! So back to gray for me, seems to be where I belong.

I am most certainly not dead...

...but I am pretty hot right now. Now I know TONS of people flock to this site daily to see what exciting knitting adventures I am embarking on and all of you must be sick with worry about me. It's been a while. Let me explain. I am BUYING MY FIRST HOUSE!

After months of searching we are on the cusp of home ownership. The inspection takes place tomorrow AM, I am excited and scared and anxious and relieved all at once. We got as far as this once with another house in March but the inspection revealed about 5 areas of structural damage. Please keep your fingers crossed and think a positive thought for me tomorrow AM!

Needless to say, I've not been knitting. It's so hot here and I sit lifeless and dream up what I plan to do with my house. You're right, I could still dream away as I knit but I'm just in a weird slump. I did finish beading the CD cabinet my guy made for me. It was half-beaded for months and this week I finally completed it. Maybe it was the waning moon. Maybe it was the thought of how cute it would be finished in our new place. It's hard to say. The important thing is, it's done. You can also see the kitty condo my guy made in the background. That's a very wilty Quandary helping out as usual, holding the condo down for us.

I also purchased the book, Generation T, 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt, by Megan Nicolay. I turned my classic John Lennon in New York t-shirt from a frumpy too-big shirt that I never wore into a sleek-fitting tee that also has yet to be worn. It has some cute ideas though, I have been pulling out my old t-shirts from the bottoms of drawers and have grand designs for all of them...

I have also given in on the hair. I will be dyeing my hair with henna this weekend. After we signed our contract for the house, my guy and I stopped into our local watering hole to celebrate. The female bartender asked for ID, then stated mine was not required but my guy looked very young. I am exactly 9 months older than him. That did it, I give in, American advertisers, I will dye my hair.

Hopefully I will have some knitterly goodness to blog about soon! Maybe a new Knitting Room in my new place?

Love that July!

I am so in love with July. It's smack dab in the middle of my fave season, summer. Cherries and peaches and strawberries are in full force, not to mention the blackberries. Kay's birthday, lightning bugs and Independence Day. And my favorite crafty festival, the one, the only, Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival, set in the lovely Twin Lakes State Park. I spent Sunday the 2nd out there with Kay and my sister and even dodged the storm that blew through in the late afternoon. I managed to find myself some presents--behold:

The blue stitch markers, set of 5, are on the left and a pair of earrings with red oak leaves are on the right. These were made by M. Sotherden. I also bought a beautiful set of runes from her as well, blogger will not let me post any more pics right now so I will post more pics later. The stitch markers and earrings are being modeled by my smoker, Sitting Grandpa. You insert an incense cone in his body and the smoke comes out his mouth. I have wanted one of these for a while and happened to find him a few months ago at a discount store for $7. They retail for around $50 at Krys Krindelmardt around the holidays.


I love to purchase things created by someone else. I love to pick up the item and touch it and imagine what the person was thinking, where they were when they made it, how long it took. I really needed these things in the end to help soothe my spirit a bit as a woman by the llama exhibit asked if my sister was my daughter. I am exactly 13 months older than her. OUCH!! My ego is still feeling bruised four days later but I will not relent and dye my hair--it's staying the way it is. Take that, evil beauty industry! This is one chica who will not be swayed by your pressure to conform! It also frees up some more cash for yarn stash...

I managed to catch the fireworks at the point, my first time ever. They were FANTASTIC, the best I have ever seen! Even better than the last four summers on the beach. I can't wait to do it all again next year!

So finally, my recent project. This one has not been coming along easily for me, I had to frog it twice already (1st time too big, 2nd time I somehow twisted the cast on edge when I joined the round). It will be a sleeveless sweater, knit in the round to the armholes. I will then seperate front and back and finish her off. It really shouldn't take too long but then again I can be a pokey knitter.
Here's a picture with Madison Penelope inspecting it for errors. Her full report will be posted once it is completed. She likes to keep a running tab on it all.
Now get out there and enjoy yourself some summer, cause it's going way too fast

Stash Embellishment...

Last week was crazy, between my job and family stuff. Kay had outpatient surgery and I drove out to be there with her. Once we got home, she went to sleep and I left Bill to look after her for an hour while I snuck out to Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier. I love this shop, it used to be half for yarn and half for vacuums and vacuum repair, however, in the past couple years the yarn fully took over all the space (sorry vacuums, you are so unexciting next to piles of beautiful fibre). Anyway, Kathy is regularly seen in Interweave Knits and can cable like no one I know. She wasn't there (she is not in the shop on Wednesdays, I believe her husband was manning the counter, pun not intended) but I did manage to find some things I could not apparently live without. Here's a photo:The cream was on sale for $2.95, a nice cotton from Rowan, colorway of Ecru. Maybe a pretty chemo cap for Kay. The multicolored skeins (7 total)are Imagine from Classic Elite in cotton and rayon, asking price $6.25 a pop. Maybe a shrug or cropped sweater? The purple was a lone skein left, I wanted to get a couple but decided I could not leave this lonely skein sit there by herself, she is just too lovely to behold. She is some Mercerized Egyptian cotton named Provence from Classic Elite Yarns, asking price of $12.95. Maybe she would make a nice one-skein wonder ala Glampyre? Hmmm...

Kay's doing really great and is such a trooper, she even spent Saturday outside for a cookout in the yard. We were celebrating Father's Day a day early and much fun was had by all. Bill cooked a wonderful meal on an open pit fire, being careful not to mix up the vegan fare and utensils with the carnivore stuff. I brought some vegan potato salad, it was quite delicious if I don't say so myself. Kay even asked if I had a cookie with me (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the vegan oatmeal choco chip ones they bake fresh at Whole Foods and have been carrying them around with me for desert) but I did not. I love it that they will at least try the vegan stuff I eat.

So my knitting adventures have been a bit lacking of late. Take yesterday. I decided to weave in some waste yarn on my current project, a sweater, and try it on for size. My suspicions were right: WAY TOO BIG!

So I frogged it, wound up the three balls of yarn I'd already knit into the sweater, and tried not to be too upset. After all, at the rate I was using the yarn, I would have been running back to Knit One in panic mode, with the mantra, "please let them have one more ball, please let them have one more ball" escaping my lips as I entered the door. I am taking the positive approach tonight--now I should have enough yarn to finish. I refigured my math (my gauge had changed considerably from swatch to sweater), re-wrote the first part of the pattern and cast on again. I again did not make it to the Bee Hive for knitting. That's two Mondays in a row. Hopefully they will still remember me next week!

I did manage to make a necklace for my sister yesterday. Here's a pic: It's made of hemp twine and has three beads. It was my first attempt at knotwork or macrame or whatever you want to call it. The cats, who love knitting, also seemed to enjoy this craft as well. I plan to send it with some other goodies, hopefully it will get into the mail tomorrow!

Here is a crazy pic of my Izzie (Isabella Maria).
She was sleeping with her tonque out and I tried to get a pic and she woke up but still left her tongue out there.

Have a happy Summer Solstice tomorrow and get out there and enjoy nature and celebrate the day!!! Blessed be!

Weekend's over...enter Monday...

Well, kids, it's over. Why does the weekend go so quickly? Here we are in Monday mode again. I go into work a little late today due to a 6:30 PM meeting. This means I will either be late or altogether miss knitting at the Hive tonight. Oh well, at least I got a public knitting fix in on Sat. for World Knit in Public Day!

A great time was had by all, thanks to Keana's efforts. You can visit her at www.keanalee.blogspot.com. Several of the Hive Knitters also made appearances, it was fun to see them outside in the light of day and out of the Bat Cave. Sock knitters outnumbered all other projects. I now have more respect for the humble sock and may even try knitting a pair. The only sock I ever knit was a very large Christmas stocking for my guy. It was exciting turning the heel, such a mysterious and well-planned execution in a pattern. The stocking was the only thing my guy has ever requested I knit for him. Which, selfishly enough, I am excited about as this leaves more knitting projects for me. I am kinda shy about knitting for others, I usually only knit for family members because they appreciate the time and effort it takes. Other peeps don't seem to understand and I go out and buy mass-produced crap for them. I feel safe saying that because not many people read this blog and I'm sure no one who does not knit themselves would happen upon it anyway.

Sunday I went to the Art Festival with Kay (aka mom). We took the T down, it was a nice day but unseasonably cold again. I found a pair of earrings for me and for someone else. Well, I need to iron my clothes and jet out the door and make the big bucks to support my knitting. Trust me, big bucks is said VERY tonque-in-cheek-like. I work in the human services field, for goodness sake!