A weekend away.
10 Aug 2009 1 Comment
in Family, Knitting Content Ahead, Weekend Update
A while ago Wes and I decided that we were going to take a little mini-trip for our first anniversary. So on Saturday we packed up and headed to the Little Niangua Campground at Lake of the Ozarks. I hadn’t been to the Ozarks before but as soon as I looked at a map I realized how big the place actually was. The Lake actually snakes out in a million different directions so there’s lots of waterfront. We stayed in the south on this trip!
Originally we had decided to go to the Ozarks for some kayaking. We had chosen this particular campground because it sported cabins boasting air conditioning. The pluses were that we were right on the river, we got to stay indoors in a cute cedar cabin and we were fairly far away from the tourist bustle of the marinas. The downsides were that we had campsite facilities (community toilets and showers) and that we were way off in the middle of no where. Unfortunately it was really hot this weekend (think 90′s with heat indexes of over 100′s) but we managed to keep busy.
We arrived Saturday afternoon and dropped our stuff and headed out to explore. After lots of driving around we ended up at The Horny Toad for dinner. The food was fabulous and there was live music that was great as well. We even got to sit on the marina for a bit and enjoy the evening as it cooled off. We arrived home late that night and crashed.
On Sunday morning we got up early to beat the heat and got in the water. The water was really clear and slow moving. It gave the whole body a glassy look and the reflections from the trees and cliffs and sky were beautiful. I managed to get a number of great shots, but this is my particular favorite. We stayed in the water a little over 2 hours and then it started warming up so we headed in (well ok I also got tired… I’m a wuss.) It was in getting out at the shore that I managed to dump myself out of my kayak for the first time. Wes is still chuckling at that!
After a shower and some breakfast we decided to relax outside on our front porch for a bit. Between the shade and a bit of a breeze it wasn’t unbearably hot yet. I, of course, knit for a while and Wes read for a while. I couldn’t resist photographing him.
When it got too hot to sit outside, we got in the car and set off in search of entertainment and food. I knew that there were some caverns and caves around the Lake and had figured it would be a good cool excursion on a hot day. We spent a little time trying to find the place, but we ended up at Bridal Cave for a tour. It was nice and cool, and a pleasant hour underground viewing some of the recordbreaking onyx formations in the world. The cave apparently got it’s name back in the 1800′s when some Native Americans were married inside the cave in front of one of the formations. Today you can still book the cave for a wedding ceremony! The picture is where people get married – they call the structure The Pipes because it looks very much like an organ (and since most of it is hollow, sounds like an organ in varying tones as well!) For dinner last night we relaxed at a more “beachy” resort, Captain Ron’s. Finally we headed back to the cabin for another nights rest.
We had planned to get up this morning and kayak but about 6:30 a huge clap of thunder broke and the great storm started. It was still pouring by the time we packed up and left around 9am. Now we’re home, basking in the post-vacation glow, trying to get laundry done before we have to face another week.
If you’re interested in more photos, I posted the full Flickr set here.
More on my knitting projects to come soon!
Why hello there!
19 Jul 2009 1 Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Off the Needles, The Boob Tube, Weekend Update
Thanks to my six die hard followers who keep up with me even when I’m less than faithful about posting. You’d think nothing noteworthy was happening, but well, that’s just not true!
Summer is in full swing here and (shhh don’t tell anyone I said it) the last few days have been GORGEOUS. Warm but not hot, breezy, not too humid… almost like an LA summer! We’ve been enjoying time both indoors and out.
This weekend has been a quiet one. Wes was gone all day with friends, which gave me the time to wash and block quite a bit of what I’ve been up to lately. It also gave me time to tend to our garden, clean the house in anticipation of a houseguest next weekend, and of course, catch up on more t.v. and knitting.
So here are the projects:
The Pattern: Transition Hat, my adaptation of the Transition Gloves
The Yarn: Dale Baby Ulli in Black, Collinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog
The Needles: US 3′s
The Verdict: Love it! This was a work in progress forever, and this month I finally just sat down and did it. It goes with the Twilight Mittens I posted here.
The Pattern: Clapotis
The Yarn: Collinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: Another from the Work in Progress pile that sat forever, but was done in just a little over a week. Now I have a matched set with the two projects mentioned above.
The Pattern: Pooling Scarf, mine with a little help from Barbara Walker
The Yarn: Socks that Rock, Mediumweight, Colorway: Chapman Springs
The Needles: US 4′s
The Verdict: This one took a little finesse. The scarf is knit width-wise so the first trick was figuring how many stitches to cast on (and in what pattern, on what needle size) so that I could get the colors to stack. I had some great help/guidance from the Ravelry community and I’m happy with this for my first try. Next up… a pooling stole!
I also had a 4th project, but leave it to me to ruin it in the washing. (It wasn’t pretty… I don’t want to talk about it).
What’s next? Oh yes: the garden!
We have a variety of green peppers:
Several Jalapenos:
And we harvested our carrots! (They’re kind of small but tasted great!)
Otherwise we’ve seen Transformers (Punk ass decepticons!) and I’ve caught up and finished Harry Potter Book 7. I’ve got a new shawl and a new sweater on the needles, as well as a second sock and a wrap in the works. And I’ve re-vamped what I’m doing for our wedding afghan (which apparently won’t make our first anniversary either!). Otherwise we’re loving summer and the extra daylight.
More soon!
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!
