Friday at long last

Saturday, this weekend, looks to be a busy one -- just keeping up with obligations while trying to have a little fun too! The fun includes an arts and crafts show at a local high school 9am - 3 pm (TG Designs participating) and a craft-y meet-up (10 am - 2 pm) organized by another friend - of course both events happening simultaneously.

The weatherman is calling for seasonal weather, which in Virginia means anything goes from cool and windy to humid and sticky to you name it! I hope it's on the cooler side b/c I really dislike humidity and have had enough. Visually, the leaves here in central Virginia are still pretty and hanging onto the trees - that means the color parade is still on!

I have not done any more weaving this week, but I have been giving it a lot of thought... though I have not come to any conclusions about how I am going to proceed (go back and reweave or forge on ahead).

On the knitting front, I am trying to get C's sweater / jacket finished up so I can proceed on some other gifting projects. Between errands and personal taxi-ing services, I have not gotten much done any evening this week! I think the dogs have missed me, too!

Week-end update...

It rained. It rained a lot.

Saturday started with me oversleeping and getting to Cherri's studio late; sigh. What can I say?

I listened, watched and did as instructed from 9:20 am to 9:00 pm (quick lunch break and about 1.25 hours dinner break). I learned a lot - I learned practical things about warping and measuring and about how different looms produce different results.... my Penelope is a Tapestry Loom - one is meant to weave a tapestry on it. She is not a 'regular' loom - (table or floor). She will not, nay can not produce the same type of patterning that a multi-heddle (? is that a term?) loom can.

For the amount of time the four of us students put into preparing our warps and the looms to weave, their products (we all intended to made scarves) came out prettier. Now, I know, granted - it was a first effort and no, I was not making a tapestry (which is what I should have gotten Cherri to work with me on). But, I am afraid that my expectations were not in the correct realm, for lack of a better term; therefore, I was disappointed. But I am learning - I remind myself. again.

I have not decided whether I am going to persevere and complete what I started or if I am going to unweave some really unattractive weaving and start again. I'll have to let you know.

Here I have just gotten the warp onto the loom and tied up:

Halloween, Thanksgiving then Christmas ... oh where has the year flown?

Tomorrow, Halloween, I am taking an introductory weaving class with The Maidens Weaver, aka Cherri Hankins, fellow member of Virginia Knits. She will teach me (hopefully I will learn) to dress my loom and start to weave something. My friends Robin C., Alice (aka Lady of the Loom) and the blogless Cathy L. have inspired me with tales, photos and actual pieces of fabric they have lovingly woven (?) on their looms. Cathy and Alice are veteran weavers where Robin, like me, is a novice. But, fiber is fiber, right?! Of course right!

About a month ago, I ran across a LeClerc Penelope loom on Craigslist that needed a new home. The owner had had no nibbles so when I offered a lower than listed price, she accepted, much to my surprise and pleasure! As it turned out, she too is a downtown Richmond legal employee so we were able to meet pretty quickly and sort out details. Since the Penelope is a table top loom, it wasn't that big a deal logistically, but it was fun to get it so quickly! My loom looks alot like the below Penelope II.

But what about my knitting, you wonder? I'm still knitting away on several projects simultaneously:

- the man sweater: still in the works, about half done

- Beautiful Ishbel: languishing... due to attention being taken by gift knitting..

- Beige Alpaca Coin Lace Clapotis: coming along fine - probably also about half done

- gift Main Morning Mitts (fingerless): 1 down, second one almost finished!

- gift outwear team-colored garment: starting nicely, moving along quickly (vagueness necessary, sorry)

Chris, Tom and the furbabies are all doing pretty well. We lost one of our older dogs recently, though I have not blogged about it because I just didn't want to. She was very, very old (we're not even sure how old b/c she was old when she came to us) and was past ready to go to doggie heaven and chase butterflies and chomp on bones all day long.... she was not happy that she was not able to be a 'good girl' inside anymore and we were not happy cleaning floors several times a day.... sometimes it stinks to be the grown-up, doesn't it?

Thanksgiving will be upon us soon, and I hope everyone enjoys readying their homes and hearts for the holidays.

Missing Tech Student

Today, Thursday, new details emerge - the young lady who mistakenly left the concert while looking for a bathroom, ended up outside of the Arena - she could not get back into the concert because of a no re-entry policy... while I understand the philosophy for the policy, what are folks thinking leaving a teenager (and a FEMALE one at that) outside in a strange town while her friends are inside attending a university sponsored event?? Click here for original article on Richmond TV station website.

TNK, WIPs and FOs and other things not alphabetical

Last night was TNK - one of my favorite nights during the work week! The group was relatively medium this week - only about 16 of us! I was going to say 'small' but once I counted, I realized that it wasn't a small group after all... Barabara #2 had celebrated a birthday over the week-end and brought a stack of books to share with us - and lots of chatter - as her family had been quarantined over her birthday-day due to both children having the H1N1 flu!

Christina returned (after quite a lengthy absence I might add), and it was nice to see her. I did not get to catch up with her much, but I am sure we will soon. Mary and Alice were handspinning and knitting (respectively) ... we are a diverse group. I did not (remember to) bring my camera, so sadly no photos to post... sorry :( Renny showed off a lovely shawl (Rav link) made from Tilli Thomas and a linen yarn alternated... the sheen was amazing!

I have not an FO in sight and too may WIPs! Chris' sweater is still in progress, as are my Ishbell and Coin Lace Clapotis shawlettes.

Do you see Jetta's little face up there at the top of the photo? She is almost touching the project ... a whisker might even be doing it (I bet she's thinking she's gotten one over on me!)! Kids!

I vote for dogs too; a WIP and a FO

Yesterday, my dachshund daily desk calendar (say that five times fast) contained the following statement:

I saw a bumper sticker that said: I love DOGS and I vote.
I want one that says, I vote for DOGS.

... just when you thought I was getting political! LOL

Knitting and working both continue. Since my 9/11 post, I attended a wonderful knitting retreat in Staunton (see review here on Virginia Knits) and I have completed a new shawlette -- it is a combination of 2 ideas/patterns, so I guess I have come up with a new design... ? What do you think - can you guess what two popular patterns on Ravelry it is based on?

I have also been busily knitting on Chris' jacket/cardigan/sweater -- here's a wip photo:

Can you tell that the sleeves are on waste yarn waiting for me to finish the body? I think it is coming along nicely and will fit grreeaatt! The fabric is so soft and will be really warm (wool and alpaca both) - and manly too!

9 - 11

Never forget.

'ears to Tico and Joe, too!

Doesn't he have the cutest ears and the sweetest expression? Doesn't he look like a little 'huahua? Well, he's not! Tico (short for Taquito) is a sato, which is a stray from Puerto Rico, and he is a 'huahua mixed with something terrier-like.

I am posting Tico's photo (again) because the folks over at Munchkin Memoirs are having a contest. If you go to their blog post, you can play too!

After re-reading above, I decided that Joe needed some cheering up so here's one of Joe sitting in the cart at PetsMart (which is truly unusual if you know Joe) after having seen the resident veterinarian (*who was great with him btw). It is difficult to see, but Joe is wearing an Elizabethan collar to keep him from chewing his rump (which you can't see in this photo b/c it is covered by a towel to hide the wound which had just been debrided! ugh). His sweet ears are tucked by his head, little lovey boy! Doesn't he look pitiful?!? The photo was taken on Aug. 28, Friday evening. He is doing much better today - yeah!!

Chan and Sue are at fault, I mean responsible, for passing the contest along to me, so I want to give credit where due!

I hope everyone is doing well. I am looking forward to school starting back up on the 8th (yes, it is late this year) and I think DS is too. He's a senior and I just can't figure out where the years have gone....

I have a couple of FOs that I have not passed along lately (and I have some frogged projects too alas). This one is my second attempt at this particular pattern (BYOB), and, frankly, it stretches too much, even knitting it MUCH smaller than the first one. It is pretty though, yes?

Last Tuesday we were at Virginia Beach

Last week, we spent two nights at Virginia Beach. Chris got a great deal through Priceline, and we stayed at the Cavalier Hotel.



The Cavalier is a local icon, a grande dame in the best grande-ole-hotel tradition. There were rooms available, which surprised me given the great rate we were given online.... The beach is private for hotel patrons, there are tennis courts, an outdoor pool, a kiddie pool, a gazebo, lawn chairs strategically placed for however many folks want to gather and visit or not gather and just sit and read / drink / think / what have you. Years and years ago, in the days of Prohibition, legend has it that bootleggers met folks out behind the Cavalier to peddle their wares... can't you just see it?

Walking on the beach we saw dogs having fun with each other and their owners, folks sitting and sunning, surf boarders, swimmers, shells, some jelly fish, boats - military types and commercial shipping, sea gulls, crows, peligans, dophins... all the things you want to see as well as others you had not thought of!

About Cats

Refrain from becoming a crazy cat lady: divide your age by 12. You should own no more than that number of cats. Example 2 for a 24 year old. You can have 5 at 60!

Quoted from Rules of Thumb. Lots of really, really interesting things here. Check it out.

What's going on?

So many things non-knitting related have been happening that I don't even know where to start!

Mid week (last week) the house was not really cooling which was annoying since the humidity had settled back in (had been on a little tiny hiatus which was most welcome). By Thursday evening it was apparent that the outside unit (as opposed to the unit in the attic) was not whirring correctly (the fan blades were not turning despite the machine's best efforts - which is what clued me in - an unnatural sound from the side yard). Friday morning I called the repair guys to see if they could come and take a look at it. They were able to come Friday afternoon! What a coup for us ... usually it is a day or two before anyone can come out but I guess humidity's hiatus was lucky for us and bad for the hvac business.

In the meantime we had no telephone or internet service... what's going on?!? Friday evening I got on the phone with Verizon so they could walk me through some steps to determine if the problem was in the house (our fault-we pay for service call) or outside (their fault-no charge). Despite our best efforts to find something easy, nothing seemed to be wrong inside (yeah / boo ... yeah b/c it would not be something they'd charge us for / boo because that meant that we'd have to wait days until someone could come out and see what the problem actually was). Sunday a nice young man come by in a Verizon van and determined that somehow a line must have been cut b/c service was not getting from the box to the house. He rigged us up a line and put in a request for someone to come over and bury the new line.

Saturday evening, I cut up leftover pork roast to make BBQ (for you non-southerners that means I cut the roast up to cook it down into shreds of pork and seasonings to make sandwiches out of). I crockpot cooked it overnight and the house smelled great when we got up on Sunday morning. Also Saturday evening I made a frozen lime pie for Chris's dad who'd had a birthday during the week. Both dishes were more than worth the effort involved... yum!

Did I tell you guys about Chris putting in some new plumbing fixtures because we needed some upgrades? No? Well, here's a photo of The New Thinker posed upon an outgoing fixture.

Didn't want to have an entirely photo free post, now did we?

Honest Scrap Award

Honest Scrap Award

Sandra has honored me with this award and as honoree I am supposed to tell readers ten things they may not know about me. Relatively easy (maybe) . . . and then I have to tag 10 other people with this award, let them know they have received it, and then let Sandra of Thistle Cove Farm know I'm on board. I say relatively above because Sandra has an adventurous streak in her!

OK - 10 things you may not know about me -

1. I was born in Kansas - Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in fact. For most folks, when they hear Fort Leavenworth or Leavenworth - they immediately think of the federal prison...

NO, I was not born in prison (despite my sister's assertions that I was)! Fort Leavenworth is the location of an Army college. My father was a student and since they have family quarters on post, my mother (me in utero) and sister had accompanied him to school.

In order to put my being born in our nation's heartland into focus, I have to mention that my sister just happened to be born in Paris, France, which naturally brings to mind haute couture, divine food and champagne.


2. I love yellows and oranges -- they make me happy. I can't wear them, but I love them... so I have a yellow and white kitchen!

3. Joe, my dachshund, is my I-have-wanted-a-dachshund-all-my-life-dog. He has filled in those shoes wonderfully, too. He is a darling little guy.

4. I threw myself a 40th birthday party a few (ahem, be nice) years ago.

5. I worked in NYC for 2 years after college and lived upstate on the Hudson River in Ossining and Peekskill, New York. Each day I commuted in on the Metro North train. I loved learning about the area and riding the train to work remains the best way to go! The Hudson River in the morning is one of the most beautiful sights ever.

6. While I lived in close proximity, I never got to visit the Statue of Liberty. I did go up in the World Trade Center (don't remember which Tower). A friend, Avril, was a clerk typist for a law firm and she took me and another friend up to their offices to see the incredible views up there. It was quite a magnificent view of the Statue.

7. Speaking of New York, almost four years ago (September 30, 2009) I had the pleasure of accompanying three good friends to see Paul McCartney live at Madison Square Gardens. It remains the best show I have ever seen, even topping the thrill of seeing Yule Brenner in The King and I on Broadway.

On that same trip to NYC, we visited the 9/11 site. This collage hung in the little church adjacent to the site:
8. The house I live in now is the place I have been the longest ever... since dad was in the Army, we did not settle anywhere. I have lived in this house for 15 years, for me a world record.

9. I love leather furniture but not leather upholstry in cars...

10. I'm engaged.

I don't want to tag anyone or put anyone on the spot, but I'd love some of my fellow bloggers to do this too... how about it, Robin C., Chan, Roseann, CJ, Alice, KSee, Jane, Christina, Beth, Robin H. if you have time... and anyone else too, please!