Little rabbit prisons . . .

Be vewy, vewy quiet . . . I'm hunting wabbits!

It's not a veritable vegetable penitentiary - it's rabbit prison.

Ok, so this is a little bit amusing, at least for me. First off, let me apologize, this pictures are at least two weeks old. It rained a good bit this weekend, so no new pics yet, but soon. Just imagine the picture below except the tomatoes are at least twice as tall, there are even more peppers (and more on the way, it's contagious I tell ya!), three bamboo stake teepee's in the back boxy areas for cucumbers and beans, two mounds for squash, and a small boxed in herb area.



There shall be the following goodies in the backyard this year . . . if all goes well:

2 Brandywine tomato vines (pink fruit)
2 Gold Medal tomato vines (yellow fruit)
2 Green Zebra tomato vines (green fruit with light green/yellow stripes)
3 Amish Paste tomato vines (for canning)
2-3 Brandyboy tomato vines (a hybrid given to us by a sweet friend, also pink)

1 Orange Bell pepper bush
1 Sweet Paprika pepper bush
1 Jimmy Nardelo's sweet red pepper bush (long skinny, good for roasting)
3 Jalapeno pepper bushes (we'll likely smoke those, chipotles!)
1+ Aurora pepper bush (only one seed sprouted so far, pretty colors, some heat)
1+ Poblano pepper bush (again, some smoking, anchos!)
**possibly more bell peppers as well, if I feel like it

Pole beans
Fancipak hybrid cucumbers (smallish)
Pickling cucumbers (smallish)
True Lemon cucumbers (small, round, yellow skinned)

Yellow Zucchini (yellow summer squash, really good grilled)
Leaf lettuce in the deep shade - to see if it works

An experiment to see if I can grow carrots - we'll see

Towards the end of the summer we'll put in:
Collards
Snap peas
Spinach
Lettuce
Turnips
Broccoli, perhaps



These are the tomatoes and peppers from Seedsavers - buried up to their necks, as the plants were a bit leggy. Now their thick and lush and strong. I'm imagining many tasty and colorful tomato sandwiches and salads this summer.

As to the rabbit references . . . as some of you may know, I battled with a rabbit last year who successfully killed off my snap pea crop. I even found myself sweating in the back yard two days before the wedding screwing old shutters together to keep the little guy out of the beans. Since that strategy seemed to work pretty well, we're hoping that "our high stone walls" will fend of the bunnies this year as well. I'll keep you updated.

A proper pair of witches socks . . .

A proper pair of witches socks should be elegant, yet simple in design. They should appear normal to the muggle passersby, hiding that which makes them special for only magical eyes to see.



I had a great time knitting these. I decided what I was going to do when I saw these on Eunny's blog. It's a fairly basic toe up sock, changing the color of yarn every 4 rows, with a short row heel and a bit of ribbing at the cuff. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Sunshine and Cranberry. I used the method Eunny suggested to minimize jogging, and it seemed to work fairly well:



I hope my pal likes them! I liked them so much, I decided to knit some more. I started today on a pair in sunshine and blackberry for my sister to take backpacking in Europe. When I finish those (she's leaving pretty soon) I'll start a pair in jeans and rainbow. I hope to finish my sister's pair over the weekend, since we're flying to Indiana and back. We'll see.

I've been tagged

by a blue turtle!

Here are the tag rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog the 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you are tagging a note in their comments so they know they have been tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

Seven Random Facts:

1) Many sweet people gave us wine glasses as wedding presents - my favorite use for them? Chocolate milk!

2) I rarely go to the downtown mall without going to the library - it makes the parking free (although I walk a lot) and I love books.

3) I don't pack my lunch for work because it saves money; I pack my lunch because it leaves me with more time to knit at work.

4) I can't have a normal schedule in my current field - my work day either has to start at 4am, 11am, or 3pm, there are no holidays and weekends are basically expected.

5) One SIL is also a friend from college, and I almost had a BIL who had the same name as my husband.

6) I think roast goat may very well be the best meal I've ever had.

7) My current cooking related goal is to make a decent pie crust from scratch.

I am ending this trail here, because I don't know who to tag. If anyone reads this and wants to play a long, feel free to continue the thread.

Life List Update - May 07

3. Master fluffy biscuits
. . .
32. Learn three more languages to a 4th semester college level
33. Raise bees and eat more honey
34. Spin the whole fleece of a sheep I've had a chance to meet
35. Own a spinning wheel
36. Collect a few attractive and useful drop spindless
37. Find a job that I don't feel guilty about and do that for a living


On a less lifechanging, yet similarly self-referencing note . . .

Finish your blessed thank-you notes you freakin' slacker!!! For the love!

I didn't buy any yarn . . .

. . . but I'm getting to be very fond of the spindle. We've been hanging out in the evenings. This is my first two ply handspun, isn't it cute?? All of about 40 yards and it varies in weight from lace to worsted, but I did it.




This is my new project - 80% black alpaca 20% Silk, and thus far I'm keeping it fairly even. I may dye it, once it's plyed to make the white bits of silk have some color, maybe deep greens, blues, and purples. I'm hoping for enough lace/fingering weight yarn to knit myself a lacy shawl or scarf.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Man was that ever fun! The boy and I drove up into Maryland Sunday morning to check out the Sheep and Wool Festival. We saw so many different kinds of sheep. Have you ever heard of Jacob sheep? They're cool! They can have 4 horns, two that wind around their ears fairly typically, and two that wind down around their jaw. This one only had two.



And they are so cute when they're little!



This one is a Corriedale, check out those cheeks.



Good times were had by young and old. We saw llamas.



And I think these are goats.



We watched a sheepdog demonstration.



And saw a lady spinning angora straight from the rabbit.



And, of course, we had to check out the alpaca. The one on the left is a huacaya, the one on the right is a suri. They were so soft.



There were also some who'd been sheared. This one is also huacaya - just with less hair.



It was a lovely cool spring day; we had lamb for lunch (gyro for me, burger for the boy), a couple of oldfashined sodas, and a great time. And for the record, I didn't buy any yarn. I did buy a little fiber and a drop spindle, but no yarn.

Mini List

1. Leaving town tomorrow, little sister's graduatin' (yay)
2. Work has been nuts lately, and way high pressure (boo)
3. I have mastered the biscuit (yay)
4. We're going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival on Sunday (yay)
5. I don't see much of the boy during the week on my current work schedule (boo)
6. I'm tired, and my feet hurt (boo)
7. Tomorrow is friday (yay)
8. Gray's Anatomy is two hours tonight (yay)
9. I broke a sock needle (boo)

yup, that's it for now.

Formula for Summer

A warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings
plus
hand and power tools yields:



plus
three pallets of cinder blocks, twenty bags of sand, and 30 bags of gravel
plus



plus
another warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings . . . and hopefully it will look like a lot of tasty food growing in the back yard.

Green, Yellow and Pink

If you haven't heard of Project Spectrum, check out the website.

Basically, it began to prompt bloggers who make any kind of art or craft to explore the color wheel throughout the year. This month and next the theme colors are pink, yellow and green. Hmm . . . that sounds familiar . . .



And I found out that the little girl I knit this for was born in the last few days, happy and healthy at around 6 lbs. Congratulations, mom!

To be brutally honest, I'd forgotten about this, so I don't have much in the way of new creations . . . but I thought I might make a photo scavenger hunt of it. So, for your viewing pleasure:

Grr . . .

I've been stalking a book at the library for over a month. A very cool friend recommended it to me. It was due back at the end of March. Now the library catalog says they don't have any copies of that book in the city library system.

I will find the book, I will!!

You're spoiling me!!

I have the greatest secret pal ever! Just look at what showed up in the mail this weekend:



My secret pal made my night Saturday. I went to check the mail and there was a cute little box with my name on it. Inside I found the two hanks of lovely heathered yarn and everything else you see there. The little bottle is lavender scented bath oil, very yummy! The bar of soap has a strong sweet and spicy scent; I think it is destined to live with my socks, to make them smell nice. What you don't see is that in the two days that I've had them, the chocolates are all gone. Very tasty. I'd like to thank my secret pal, she's awesome!

In other news, as I am a glutton for punishment, I signed myself up for another swap, for which I'm knitting this:



My pal for the Hogwarts Sock Swap is gryffidor, can you tell?

All in a row . . .

I had a bit of trouble with this sock. I put the stitches on a holder (read: dental floss) so I could make use of the needles. Once I put it back on, the stitches didn't line up anymore. I must have forgotten something. Or else, the stitches had a dance while they were waiting for me to come back. Either way, I frogged the cuff I had started, and began again. At the time I was taking pictures I had finished one pattern repeat. I have now finished two of the 16 row repeats. I love how organized this sock looks - twisted stitches are so well defined. I'm using Knitpicks bare superwash merino fingering weight that I dyed a while back. I'm just loving the way the colors blend. This is great knitting when you just need life to make sense.

February Sock Club Socks

Pattern: Inside Out (Rockin' Sock Club 2007, Blue Moon Fiber Arts)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Monsoon
Modifications: A few . . . I knit the toe in stockinette instead of garter stitch, I did not rib the sole, worked an eye of partridge arch support panel, knit the heel with an eye of partridge heel flap . . . I knit the foot on 1's and the cuff on 2's, and while they're a bit tight to get over my heels, they feel marvelous once their on.

I have a bit of yarn left, not much, but I probably could have worked another half-a-pattern repeat at the top of the sock. I'm thinking about knitting baby booties out of it, to keep giving to the crisis pregnancy center. Now to find a pattern.

Shetland Triangle

I think I'm going to work on making the finished object posts a bit more official. So here goes.

Shetland Triangle, from Wrap Style (Interweave Press)
Yarn: 1 hank Knitpicks Bare Fingering Weight Merino, dyed with Jaquard dyes
Modifications: repeated the body pattern two extra times before starting the border, because I still had yarn left

I love how this turned out. I'm thinking about blocking it again, because I think I need to stretch it a bit more. I can attest that blocking is indeed a miracle process; when I cast off I had a lumpy mass of wool, but after it was blocked and dried, I had a drapey shawl. I'm actually a bit jealous. This is for my grandmother, so I have to let it go. I intend to knit three more - one for each grandmother, by Christmas. Thus far, this is all I have. No idea if I'll finish the other three on time. Thankfully the pattern doesn't take all that long. The other question is whether or not to change patterns at some point. I have found a few patterns that function the same way, but with a different stitch design. I had a great time dyeing the yarn. Perhaps what I need to do is dye some yarn to knit myself one; I really do like the slight variation of my hand dyed "solid" colors. Maybe a thicker yarn, to make it warmer, a bit less frou-frou, and more me. A tanish shade perhaps? Hmm . . .

Days like today . . .

My prayers tonight go up for anyone anywhere who spent even the briefest of moments wondering where their son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, nephew, cousin, friend, spouse, or parent was and if they were safe, or even alive. And for the young man who was so miserable that he sought to end his life and the lives of so many others.

God is not without a sense of humor

and I have proof!

"A nor'easter (also northeaster) is a macro-scale storm whose winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. They also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion and gale force winds." -Wikipedia

We're supposed to be having one of those today. I got a call yesterday asking if I could come into work a little after noon to do hourly weather cut-ins (where we update folks on the weather sitch by breaking into regular programming, we're angering golf fans today) because the weater was supposed to be so bad all day. I'm sitting in the control room now - and guess what! It's bright and sunny outside!! What the deuce??

So . . .

The fellow who runs the station website is thinking about letting me write a craft blog. I'm thinkin' he's crazy. Any ideas? A title? Good topics?

So far I'm thinking of working up posts on (in no particular order):
1.Knitting (General)
2.Crochet (General)
3.Spinning (General)
4.Sewing Clothing
5.Quilting
6.Making soft toys
7.Faux Finishing
8.Furniture Making and Finishing
9.Crafting for Charity
10.Christmas gift ideas
11.Other gift ideas (birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day etc . . .)
12.Good gifts for crafters
13.Sock Knitting
14.Lace Knitting
15.Filet Crochet
16.Mosaic Tiling
17.Baking (General)
18.Bread Making
19.Dyeing
20.Collage
21.Some dish specific cooking (making pasta, pie crust, pesto etc . . .)
22.Making purses and bags
23.Knitting finishing techniques
24.Interviews with some local store owners and crafters

Now, to be brutally honest, I don't know too much about quite a few of these things, but this can serve as a motivation to research and learn myself. I may spend some serious time at the library/on the web. If anyone just loves any of the non-knitting stuff, and wants to share their wealth of knowledge, please do. Suggestions for websites etc . . . would be wonderful.

Am I nuts?? Y'all have read my blog, you know I don't express myself well on the page. I think I may be calling in the services of my mother, as I did in highschool. I might should ask if she's ok with that, huh.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Women's 10 1/2 to 11

3. Foot Length? 10"

4. Foot Circumference? 9"

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a. Brittany 5" (all I have are US 1.5 2.5mm, but I love them!)
b. Knitpicks 6" US 2 3mm
c. I have a third kind, inherited, as in I think they were my grandmother's

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I would love to try other wooden double points, something between 2mm and 3.5mm, lenght is not so important.

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference? I honestly love them both, no preference.

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Absolutely, That would be really cool!

A plea

No, not flea.

I have recieved, from the wonderful mavens at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, a skein of their Socks that Rock lightweight in a colorway called Undertoe. For. Free. (soon to be available to the general public, I think) I am so very grateful, and excited. As part of the sock club, they held a colorway naming contest. The theme was tides, and being a pun nerd I thought Undertoe was a great name for sock yarn. Aparently I wasn't alone. My name ended up drawn from a hat for a free skein of yarn. I will take a picture of it soon, still working on the staging area.

That said, I have a problem. I really like the colors in this yarn - it's pale purple/lavender which gets a little pink at times, tan, and a foresty green. My problem is, after seven or so attempts to start a sock on a variety of needle sizes, stitch counts, and stitch patterns, I cannot defeat the striping/barber polling. I just want to see the colors blend together in my finished piece. Aparently, socks that fit my feet are not the answer. And socks that are just slightly larger and would fit my mother aren't it either.

So my question, for all the knitters who might read this, or for anyone who just happens to have an idea, is what should I knit?? I have around 360 yards of light fingering weight superwash merino, that apparently doesn't want to be socks. Anyone else tried something fun with Socks that Rock that caused the angelic voices to start into the Halleluja chorus when you cast off? I'd kinda like to keep this yarn close, since I won it for naming it. I just don't know what to do, but the frogging needs to stop, now.

Fellowship time is precious

Sometimes it's what you really need.

I meet with a group of kids from church on monday nights, but tonight I had to leave early because I had to be back at work earlier than normal. One of the members was apologizing that we hadn't gotten into the meatier parts of our time before I had to leave, but tonight, when I was tired and still had a shift left to work, the hanging out and telling stories and laughing was what I really needed.

God's good like that.