Independence Day
05 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
This weekend we headed down to my in-laws’ place to celebrate the holiday. We started out by making Friday a lazy morning, and headed out early afternoon. After purchasing a new kayak for Wes, we drove over to Manhattan, Kansas.
On the way there, Wes suggested that we stop in Wamego, a town best known for housing THE Wizard of Oz Museum. Thought we didn’t tour the museum, we visited the yarn shop a few doors down, Settler’s Farm. I’m trying not to buy but I did come away with a few goodies. We also visited the Oz Winery. We got to taste a few wines and came home with a citrusy white, “Witch Gone Good,” and two bottles of an excellent port, “Lion’s Courage.”
On Saturday we waited out the clouds and mid-morning headed over to Millford lake to take the boat out. We cruised through several coves, and boated around Mrs. Goose Island, where Wes and my MIL were itching to climb aboard and search for a geocache (they went back this morning and nabbed it!). Although it was cloudy, the water and the day were warm and it was a fun ride.
Towards the end Wes decided to give the new kayak a run. I stuck with letting the motorboat do the work!
After the lake we headed out for some BBQ. Then we hung out at home until late in the evening when we set off fireworks and became mosquito food.
Now we’re home and conquering Mt. Laundry. I’m knitting and trying to get a handle on my unfinished works in progress. I could use another day of vacation… how about you?
Kiri
28 Jun 2009 1 Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Farm Fresh Foods, Off the Needles, The Boob Tube, Weekend Update
I realize that as of late I haven’t really been updating. I don’t know whether it’s the summer heat (for the past week we’ve been in the 110+ range with heat index) or that I’m just spending so much time engrossed in my knitting and Ravelry, that I don’t feel I have much of interest to say.
I am, however, knitting quite a bit. And I have a new project to show for it. It only took me two weeks which AMAZES me. I present to you, Kiri:
The Pattern: Kiri
The Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock, 2 skeins
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: In this pattern the yarn did all the work. Noro is delightfully dyed and the colors are fantastic. I was a bit apprehensive about the bright orange in this skein, but as it turns out I love the finished product. I love that this photo shows that I didn’t make any errors in the pattern, and how clear the lace looks. I’m definitely on a lace kick – you’ll be seeing more shawls this summer!
Let’s see… what else have I been up to? Yesterday Wes spent the day with friends so I spent my afternoon beating the heat and catching up on Season 1 of True Blood. I only just recently read Book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse series. The book and the TV show are a bit different, but I have to say that I quite like both. Who thought I would be into vampire series?
We’re also still growing the garden. At this point we harvested our big cucumber (it tasted great!), but had to forfeit the rest of the plant. Unfortunately it had succumbed to some kind of root rot or fungus and wasn’t growing well. We’ve cleaned out the container and started with fresh dirt and are putting together another crop! Our peppers are growing great – we’ve got half a dozen in various sizes and our jalapeno plant is boasting one perfect looking spicy pepper. Remind me not to eat that! Our carrots are harvesting sweet and crunchy. Our tomato plants look full and green and leafy and smell great, but so far we have no tomatoes. We’re going to look into fertilizing soon. All told, not a terrible crop for our first foray into gardening!
Hope you’re enjoying your summer!
C’mon summer.
09 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in Fabulous Friends, Off the Needles, Weekend Update
It’s starting to warm up for summer and I keep wanting to get out of town. This weekend I did just that!
This past weekend I went to North Carolina to visit Light, her hubby and her adorable little girl! Light and I have known each other since high school. Even though we see each other rarely these days, we can always pick up where we left off and have a great time doing it. Most of what we did this weekend was hang out, eat good food, watch movies and play with her daughter.
When I showed up, I came bearing gifts. Which brings me to the knitting:
For Light’s birthday I made her a mesh bag for when she goes to her wonderfully yummy farmer’s market right near her house. (We may or may not have had white chocolate baguettes there on Saturday!)
The Project: Everlasting Bagstopper
The Yarn: Fantasy Naturale 100% cotton
The Needles: US 5′s and 10.5′s
The Verdict: This was a simple easy knit and a great bag. I did make a few mods: I knit the bag with sightly less height, and I tapered the top so it wasn’t quite so floppy. Also – while the yarn was perfect for the project, I found the cotton very hard on my hands, so I could only work on this a bit at a time.
I also had to make something for Light’s little girl:
The Project: May Day Dress by Vicki Howell
The Yarn: Mandarin Cotton
The Needles: US 3′s
The Verdict: This was an easy knit and makes such a cute little summer top. It can start as a dress for a little one and end up as a top, which makes it able to survive more than one summer! I upsized this one a bit and it’s a little big for her now, but I’m sure she’ll grow into it!
The weekend was a great one away! I had a fabulous time even though I didn’t get a lot of sleep (someone is a bit of a finicky sleeper….) But who couldn’t love this face?
Take me out to the ball game!
01 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in Knitting Content Ahead, Weekend Update
This weekend was Stitch ‘n Pitch 2009 in Kansas City, and so a group of us from MisKnits went to see the Royals play the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately the White Sox won but we had a great time!
We knit, we ate hotdogs and peanuts and cotton candy and drank beer and even saw The Village People! (Photo evidence is coming!) It wasn’t too hot, and we snuck to the back of the stadium and sat in the shade so it was a really great afternoon!
Here’s proof that I do indeed go to major sporting events… especially when they offer special deals to the knitters! 
Honey, I’m home!
26 May 2009 Leave a Comment
in Adventures in Travel, Family, Farm Fresh Foods, Weekend Update
Wes and I just returned about an hour ago from a great weekend in Chicago. The l’il sis had the starring role in Measure for Measure, so the fam all met up in Chicago for a weekend of theatre, good eats and fun.
Wes and I drove up on Friday/Saturday and checked into our hotel about 4pm. Then we met up with my parents and some cousins for a fabulous dinner at Francesca’s in Edgewater. The food was really delicious, the company was good and the best part is that the restaurant was across the street from the theatre.
We then went across the street and were entertained for two plus hours. The play was really excellent, and we all had a great time. If you’re going to be in Chicago any time in the next few weeks you should catch this one!
Sunday we all met up for brunch, and then the l’il sis went off to her matinee and the my parents, Wes and I went shopping and touring. I caught a few fun photos around the city, and my dad took this one. All we need is a pitchfork!
Now we’re home, attempting to catch up with Mt. Laundry and get ready for work tomorrow. The garden didn’t seem to fare too badly for a few days without water. We’ve moved it outdoors now and we’re seeing some produce! We’re most impressed with our cucumbers:
Some carrots:
And of course, the tomatoes:
Knitapalooza
20 Apr 2009 1 Comment
in Knitting Content Ahead, Off the Needles, Weekend Update
My knitting has been very (frustratingly) sporadic of late due to my weird retail hours. So it was with great glee that I finished my last retail shift (ever I hope!) this past Thursday and headed out for a knitting weekend with my friends.
This weekend was the Sunflower Knitters Guild’s “Sunflower Spring Knitaway (SSK)” down in Harveyville, KS at The Harveyville Project. It was a fabulous weekend! We arrived in Harveyville late on Friday. After delicious hors d’ouvres and sweets, we traded/sold/swapped some yarn and headed up to bed.
Because the location was an old school building, the bedrooms were old classrooms. Lunch was in the basement cafeteria, and we did lots of knitting and spinning while sitting in a wide circle in the old gym.
As for me, I took a few dye classes. The first was an acid dye class, where I created a beautiful semi-solid skein of 1500 yards of Shetland Lace. I combined colors like Violet and Crimson, sometimes adding a little black. I hope to use this to make a wonderful lacy shawl.
I also took the Kool-Aid dying class. Here I decided to have a little fun and dyed 770 yards of Kona Superwash sport weight in Berry Blue and Orange. It’s bright and fun and I LOVE it.
While out in Harveyville we got to mingle with the chickens and the sheep and the lambs. That’s right, I went into the sheep enclosure and held one of the new baby lambs, Ronnie. She’s only a few weeks old and so sweet!
Last, but certainly not least I got quite a bit of knitting done this weekend. I did some that I can’t picture yet, but I did manage to finish a great pair of socks that have been on my needles forever.
The Pattern: Seaweed Socks by Wendy Johnson
The Needles: US 1′s
The Yarn: Trekking XXL in Green (I like to call it Seafoam!)
The Verdict: I liked these socks. They kept getting pushed aside for other projects, which is why they took so long to finish, but they were a fun, simple knit and I love how they turned out!
That’s all the news for here. I arrived home this afternoon about 5pm and I’m getting to bed early because I start the new job tomorrow. More to come!
Pictoral Update
12 Apr 2009 Leave a Comment
in Family, Weekend Update
I’ve been out of the blog loop for a bit, but I’ve been busy and happy!
Last weekend Wes and I started experimenting with mead. We’re trying new flavors this month: Apple Cider, Ginger/Vanilla/Peach and Blueberry Pomegranate. We’ll let you know in a month or so which one turns out best!
This weekend we headed down to my in-laws’. Little did I know that the Easter Bunny (and my mother-in-law) love showing a 30 year old Jewish girl what she has missed all her life. There’s dying eggs:
And of course… there was an Easter basket with chocolate:
Time
02 Mar 2009 Leave a Comment
Sometimes I can hardly believe how fast or slow time passes.
For instance, this past week, work has lasted an eternity at the store. Without sales going on, we’ve had very few people in the store. Each 8-hour shift has been interminable; wandering, searching for customers, straightening the shelves, and waiting. I HATE being unproductive and just standing and waiting.
Then I think about the last year of life. The fact that it seems like I just turned 30 and that here it is early March only a few months from my 31st birthday. I think of this weekend, the first full weekend I have spent with Wes in a long time. I managed to read not one, but TWO books and we went on a real date – dinner, shopping and lots of laughter.
I’ve been knitting too…. since I last posted I have finished a beautiful grey alpaca sweater that I started around Thanksgiving and finished this past week. I have also whipped together a tank top. Clearly I’m anticipating summer even though it snowed almost 4 inches this weekend.
And life is looking a little more hopeful. I had a phone interview this past Friday for one job, and I have an in-person interview this Thursday morning for a job that I think I’d really like.
Stay tuned for more news and pictures of our growing vegetable garden, more knitting on the needles, and hopefully new career news!
It’s the most wonderful time….
29 Dec 2008 Leave a Comment
in Off the Needles, Weekend Update
I hope you all had great Christmases! I’m sorry for the little absence, but we’ve been busy enjoying our time off! We spent Christmas Eve and day with Wes’ family. There was a small tree, amazing food, and lots of presents. And of course I forgot to take photos until after everything was over and done with. I managed to document the tree:
And Wes in his usual humorous style managed to document the aftermath of presents:
Not pictured: the cat who LOVED the ribbons and paper. You would have thought it was her own personal Christmas celebration. This year we decided to go smaller on presents, given the wedding and honeymoon and expenses this year. But everyone managed to get something fun. I got my long lusted-after blocking wire kit (now I need to finish the lace shawl I’m knitting to use them!) and the full set of the Twilight series. Lots of reading in store!
My favorite gift that we gave this year is the one we gave my mother-in-law. She had told Wes a while ago that what she really wanted was one of those glass cubes with pictures laser-etched inside. Given the wedding, we had lots of photographic material from which to choose. And what we came up with was this:
I love pretty much all of our wedding photos, but I love how this one got captured within the glass.
Finally, there was, of course, lots of knitting. With the Christmas rush over, my work schedule has been a bit less demanding and during slightly more normal hours. So I’ve had a lot more time to be knitting. Which brings me to these:
The Pattern: Winter Twilight Mittens
The Yarn: Collinette Jitterbug (Teal) and Dale Baby Ulli (Black)
The Needles: US 0′s
The Verdict: I LOVE LOVE LOVE these mitts! I always loved the pattern, but when I found the deep teal colored yarn I was settled. I started this project back in October and, as it was my first foray into colorwork, it took me a while to get the hang of it. The first mitt took a few weeks and a little bit of ripping. The second one went like lightening though. I cast on Christmas Eve, and finished it this morning! Now I just have to decide what I want to do about making it a set (I have enough yarn for matching hat and scarf!) I’m thinking about making a tam mocking the pattern in the gloves and then doing something lusciously cabled for a scarf.
Of course today it is 51 degrees out and too warm for mitts! But I’m sure I’ll be using them soon!
Happy Holidays!
24 Dec 2008 Leave a Comment
in Funny, Weekend Update
Ralphie and I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and a wonderful New Year!
