Knitting Cybrarian

Diversity (that is species diversity) in the backyard

We have new neighbors who moved in over the weekend.  Beautiful orange breasts-- Baltimore Orioles.  We got a feeder that holds sugar water, an orange half, and grape jelly.  This pair of orioles just loves grape jelly!

We still have three different types of woodpeckers, if you include the flickers.  Downy, red-breasted (despite the red on the back of the head!) and the flickers.

And tonight, we're hearing an owl.  I think I've tracked down which kind, but I want to hear its call a few more times before I announce my guess publicly!

Deer still abound, and last night on my way home from church I saw 2 sets of 2 fawns in different fields.  I slowed down because I figured mama deer had to be nearby.

Enjoy what critters spring brings to your backyard!

Weekend full of nature

Yesterday morning we got up early and went on a birding trip.  A short trip to Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary and very short walks in the sanctuary.  Only three other hardy folks showed up, plus Mark, our leader (who owns Backyard Bird Center).  The morning was chilly, starting out around 38 degrees, but it was definitely worth getting up and out.  I learned new bird calls and saw some birds I hadn't seen before - a Northern Parula.  And I saw my first bluebirds of the year!

Yesterday afternoon we spent time outside weeding.  Specifically getting rid of the dandelions.  I love my Weed Hound and I highly recommend it for anyone who doesn't want to use chemicals but isn't especially fond of weeding on your hands and knees either.  I wish I could say there are no more dandelions, but I have more work to do today -- or later on this week, depending on today's weather.

This morning I awoke to see 5 deer in or just behind our yard.  And a wild turkey strutting about 30 feet beyond our property line!  Who knows what the rest of the day will bring!

Away from home

I'm at a leadership retreat this week at the Lake of the Ozarks.  I drove down yesterday afternoon, a lovely spring day.  Parts of the drive were pretty bleak, but I did enjoy seeing the blooming flowers, shrubs and trees. 

The first night away from home is usually the worst for me.  Different sounds, different bed, different bathroom.  The food is different too.  I didn't make the best dinner choices, and the rich food didn't go over very well.  Live and learn!  I did sleep, but not very deeply. 

However, this hotel does have an indoor pool, and I went for a brief swim this morning; will try to make that part of my morning routine here.  My room has a small balcony and sliding door.  Last night I enjoyed standing out there watching the birds and the sunset.  It's been nice to have open up the door and have fresh air too.

It's funny the small things one notices, though.  This hotel is not disabled-friendly.  No elevator to take a person in a wheelchair to the spa area (in case they want a massage, or some other treatment like a pedicure).  Some of the upkeep hasn't been done (touch up painting; really good cleaning around places in the pool area); and there are signs of too fast construction (no seals between the bathroom pipes and the drywall -- little open spaces where bugs and mice love to go, although I've not seen any critters, thank goodness!).   

The wireless connection is a little faster this morning than last night.  I'm not putting as much demand on it, either.  Yesterday I thought snails were taking the data packets back and forth.  How spoiled I am by my work and home Internet connections!

Big day ahead with a dinner/reception tonight requiring some dress up.  Hair cooperated this morning, and that's a good sign. 

Wishing my readers a wonderful week!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

• On my way to rehearsals last night, I saw 8 deer (not all at the same time), a gaggle of wild turkeys with a male displaying his wondrous tail, and two molting peacocks (what else COULD they have been).
• After rehearsal, Portia the Cat and I went out on the deck to listen to the peeper frogs sing for love and to watch the rabbits eat grass.

The Bad

• I realized that I handled about 8-10 matters on as many subjects/committees/organizations in 30-40 minutes today.  And I wondered why my head was spinning.
• I knitted half a round on the Koolhaas hat (see my previous post) in the wrong pattern.  Ripping back was a pain because I did the wrong cable pattern, hence working with three needles to rip back every bloody stitch.  That will teach me to think I've got a pattern memorized. 

The Ugly

• I'm leaving Sunday for a leadership development program and returning late Thursday.  I'm driving (2.5 hours).  Gas prices just hit $3.32/gallon.
• However, there is a bright spot.  I won't be commuting every day.  I'll be there, parked.  Hmm.  There may be a bright side to that after all.

This and that

• Sunday morning I overslept.  I woke up about 3 minutes before choir rehearsal started.  Instead of rushing to get ready, I grabbed my cell and sent a txt message to my choir director. 
• I skipped church directly.  Instead, we went grocery shopping, did some housecleaning, and I did some cooking and baking, including:
  • homemade rolls
  • cornbread (in a cast-iron skillet)
  • chili (portioned out for the rest of the week)
• Knitting.  I've been knitting on a hat for a friend with cancer.  His hair has fallen out, so I've got to get this hat finished and to him!  For my knitting friends, this is the Koolhaas Hat and I'm knitting it with ArtYarns Ultramerino 8, color 106. This dear friend has a terrific sense of humor and style. 
• I'm also working on socks, a baby blanket, and picked up yarn and patterns for two more baby projects for my niece.  The report on the latest sweater and hat is that they fit and are darling!
  
• My sewing room is a mess.  A huge mess.  I had bought some plastic storage bins, and I spent some focused time Sunday putting yarn in bins (lace projects, nieceling projects, sock yarns).  Is it still a mess?  Yes.  Have I made progress?  Yes.  Enough?  Nooooo. 
• It's the end of the academic semester at my university, which means many projects are coming to a head, the students are frantic, and the temptation to drink coffee all day for energy is pretty high.  Instead I'm struggling with focus, drinking enough water, and trying to keep working away.  It'll get done. 
• I won't mention the looming building project, except to say that my tendency to plan ahead has been noticed in a good way.  So far. 
• Ergh.  I'll be out of town all of next week.  It's for a good thing -- a leadership development program.  I'm looking forward to it and I'm apprehensive all at the same time.  I'm bringing lots of knitting if I'm allowed to keep my hands busy while my mind races ahead.
• I think I mentioned I had surgery on 2/29/2008.  This is what was done along with a few other "girl stuff" things.  I'm happy to report that I've had two cycles and everything's going really well.  The pain issues haven't been totally eliminated, but things are MUCH better.  I'm tempted to give away some of my supplies, but I'm going to wait about six months before I do. 
  
  • One of my friends had the same procedure, but apparently the directions about the recovery were not as clear from her doc.  She did too much too soon, and took a very long time to recover.  I was given some really great pain meds, told to rest, not make major decisions for a few days and to not lift anything more than 10 lbs for 3-4 days.  Some women go back to work the next day.  I'm not so crazy about that in a society that makes it too easy to be a workaholic (and you'll see my photo next to that word in the dictionary).  The rest made recovery much easier.
• Car follow up-- yes, I got my little red back from the body shop and it's looking and running great.  While I enjoyed driving the "pimpmobile" as my friends called it (the Chrysler 300 rental), I'm happy to have Li'l Red and it's MPG.  Speaking of MPG, gas prices hit $3.23 today in Kansas City.  Egad!

Oh so true

see more crazy cat pics

Knitter's Magazine 90 (Spring 2008)

Ergh.  I flipped through the newest issue of Knitter's while in the reading room of the house, and wondered (yet again) why I bought a 5 year subscription a few years back.  Oh yeah, it was that red tote they offered for free.  And the red dye rubbed off on some white yarn I had in it.  And ruined that knitting project.

Well, this issue has a number of ruined knitting projects.  Let's take, for example, Glistening Grapes on p. 64.  Nice idea, until you look more closely at the photo.  You MUST wear a camisole underneath the shell, because that very thin sparkly yarn that creates the horizontal stripes?  Well, it's pretty much see-through.  I'm not crazy about letting that much of my main undergarment show through.

The Fractured Tulip on p. 48 is one of the few designs that a plush-sized woman like me will find sized appropriately in this issue.  However, it reminds me of the machine-knitting gone bad examples I saw at Stitches a few years ago.  This look might work for some folks, but I'm just not finding it attractive.

The men's vest and sweater are not bad designs in themselves, but most of the men I know wouldn't wear anything quite that patterned.

What did I like?  Sand Bars.   Which has a finished bust of 49" (and with wearing ease of 3-4 inches, the largest bust measurement the wearer can have is between 45-46").  Not large enough, Knitter's Design Team.  While I can do the math, and will for a project that's worth it, many plush-sized knitters won't.  It's not as if this has complicated shaping. 

Then there's Garden Rows, which is a nice pattern, but again stops at a 49.75" finished measurement.

And that's it.  Not much in the technical articles, either.  Boy, the summer issue had better be good. 

Second tulip baby sweater

  tulip 2 001 
  Originally uploaded by lauragayle

As promised -- a photo of the finished Tulip Baby Sweater (original colorway) and matching hat.

Knitter's notes

• claps instead of ICord ties
• I was running low on the border color when knitting the hat.  I used the border color at the very top of the hat and did not use it in the main color sequence.

Hope the hat fits -- it's looking a little big!

Weekend update

Warning:  actual knitting content included!

I had big plans for Friday.  However, a necessary meeting at work intervened, resulting in part of a day off.  The meeting included a presentation from a company we'll be working with during our renovation, and I thought it would not be a great idea to skip that meeting.  I did get some housework done, but not too much. 

Saturday morning we got up early.  Joel took his vehicle in for an oil change and we went out for breakfast.  I worked at the Studio, and came home to find that Joel had done some cleaning too, which was nice.

Sunday I worshipped at the Bedside Church of God (sorry, Brett, but that phrase just makes me laugh).  Sleeping late every so often is a treat, so I savored it yesterday morning. 

Knitting content?  I finished knitting another Tulip Baby Sweater (photos to come) for my niece, and this time I had enough yarn leftover to knit a matching hat.  The sweater and hat are blocking, and I'll probably post photos later today. I love this pattern, but I don't think I love it enough to knit more of them.  The Yarn Harlot got hooked on this pattern and yarn and knit 6 or so of them, I think!

Today I have an 8am meeting, a 9am class, lots of work to get done, then I'm off  at noon for the rest of the day.  Our pest control guy comes at 3pm, and I've got to move some yarn before he comes to spray!   We don't have any pest problems, and i want to keep it that way!

about the vignettes

Monday night's post is not necessarily about real life.  I'm trying to flex my creative writing muscles after a very long time, and I thought I would test those flexings on my blog. 

I won't be quitting my day job!