Rainy Days and Chickies

We have a few new members of the Coop around here……

We have Five chicks that hatched – two yellow and three brown.  No telling yet if they are gals or guys….but they sure are cute right now.  Right after this photo was shot, the little thing zipped up and hid under my hair – which isn’t very long.  They are cute at this stage…..

And there’s a little evidence that although the knitting has slowed – the appliqueing has been going on.  This is what happens when I wander aimlessly around my studio, opening drawers, looking in fabric and viola!  A red and white cutwork quilt I started awhile ago – why don’t I finish that?

Why don’t I finish half the things around here that are, um, not finished?  In my own defense, I don’t have many things like that laying around – and it would look so nice put together…..but I’m so easily led astray.

One panel of the Winter Wonderland Quilt Sampler – it is just awesome – A friend of mine at work showed me a corner of this in a magazine last week – I love Snowman, have collected them since we’ve been married (24 years next month!!!) and when I went to the quilt shop to get some more red for the Applique quilt, this was hanging on their wall.  Needless to say – I’ve started that, too.  All over the place, anyone?  Sheesh,  all I can say is………at least I’m crafting!

And just so you don’t think I’ve abandoned all thoughts or deeds of knitting…

That’s a delicous little bit of Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn – in all my favorite Fall colors.  This is just a plain toe up – but really, with yarn like this – is there anything “plain” about it???  It had me thinking – I just have this beside me on the couch and I love looking at it, picking it up and doing a row or two in between everything else – while the other eleventyfive projects I have in the knitting basket just lay about.  It’s the yarn…its a joy to hold, amazing to knit.   I know all the other yarn I have is pretty and nice and I try to do my best matching up yarn to pattern, but sometimes there is just something about A yarn – and in this particular yarn it is the Colors that are drawing me in.  It suits my mood, the season, and looking out my front window as I knit and seeing all the green still on the trees?  It helps me picture the riot of color that I know just waits around the corner.

I love Fall.  Autumn is my all time favorite season of the year.  I know everything seems like it is dying, drying up and getting ready to sleep away for the winter, but to me it feels like things are so vibrant and the most alive just before  we head into the long winter…..My second favorite season.

So there has been knitting and quilting and sewing and reading and work, work, work.  Talking about reading – that up there is the most recent book in the Outlander series – I have read them all since July – and I’m sooooo sad.  I really want to keep reading about Claire and Jamie – and I know that Jeanne says there will be another book, the last book, but I don’t think its going to be out until September ‘09!   I’ve picked up the first in the Lord John Series, but bah!  I don’t think it will be the same.  If you’ve read these books and have any recommendations for similar series, I’d love to hear them.  I really enjoyed them and I just might start reading them all over again while waiting for that 7th book.

The days are just flying by right now and I can scarcely wrap my head around the fact that September is nearly over.  It makes me more than a little grateful for rainy weekends that force me to stay in and catch up on all those things I like to do.

Enjoy!

Nothing to see here…..

Honestly.  I’m sooooo far behind on anything I wanted to get done.  And yet, I keep throwing things in my own way – such as – finishing up some quilt blocks I started a long time ago. Yes, I said quilting – I am a multi-faceted crafty person.  And that is my other big hobby.  That I haven’t done in like a year.

You didn’t think I was going to put a picture here, did you?

I should be recovering from some surgery right about now.  It’s been a up and down few weeks, but let’s just sum up.  A lump and tenderness on my left breast lead to a doctors visit, which lead to a surgeon’s visit, leading to an ultrasound in which neither I, the technician or the radiologist could locate said lump. (Good times, most fun anyone can have, EVER)  Since the surgeon has assured me it’s not cancerous and just the annoyance of the fibrocystic breastic thingic ( i don’t know really what to call it to make it any less pain in the assy to say) and since I’m feeling ever so much better without the chemical hormones I was taking – we are revisitng the breast in a month.  (Halloooo breast, how are you?) At which time, although no one is going to be stupid here – we are soooo hoping it’s just gone – it has been shrinking.  And as I said – no stupid here, please.

Which could explain the different directions my brain has been running in lately and my extreme lack of focus on my project, mmmkay?  I’m going with that.

And since comments have slowed to a crawl (people, you do know that when I get close to 2000 comments I’m having a contest and er, you’re not really helping the cause here………but I can’t blame you as I have neglected to POST so you could COMMENT)  I’ll be annoucing that when you all drown me in comments on this highly entertaining and illuminating, cliff-hangerish post.  Without Pictures.

Yes, I do know how to keep them coming around.

The Hey Teach is like, maybe an inch in length.  No kidding.  Lets take a vote to see who thinks this will be my Rhinebeck sweater, shall we?  And speaking of Rhinebeck – going, camping, gonna have a great time and hopefully not freeze the tuckus off.  Also, going prepared with bunny carrier just in case anything or any-bun decided to adopt us and head on back here.

And just to make things a little bit more complete………mail arrived today with my very own, often not thunk about notice for Jury Duty.

Don’t you wish you were me?

What I Haven’t Been Up To

What I haven’t been up to this week is knitting on this……

Woodland Shawl.

Or putting in some time with this……

Cascading Leaves.

In fact, I barely managed to get in a few rows on the Baby Cable Rib socks.  I don’t know where this week went, but it just flew by.  I know I’ve been going to bed a bit early, trying to catch on some hours of sleep I’ve been losing here and there – and reading.  But honestly – this is the most I haven’t knit in a long, long time.

Today I put a stop to that – and put in a few hours knitting at Knitting Group – it was nice to see those knitters again.  And a nice lunch with Jeanne started it off, after a busy morning shopping with DH and youngest DS for his birthday gift – he’s going to be 17 on Monday! Happy Birthday Dan!!!

I know I’ve been out of sorts lately with knitting projects – I’ve put Kelso on hold and opted to start Hey Teach instead.  Maybe it’s the heading-back-to-school thing?  I don’t know.  I know I’ve been out of sorts myself lately, and maybe that’s been spilling over into my knitting decisions?  I’m not going to feel too guilty about it – after all, it is my hobby and I’ll knit what I want to.  I’m not wasting yarn – how could you waste yarn?  I’m just re-purposing it.  A little soothing stockinette with a little lacey finish seems just about right, for now.  Who know’s about tomorrow?  I do know, that I’m hopefully finishing more things then I rip.  Right? And I  know that even though I didn’t get to spend time on the things I like working on this week I’ll be able to spend a little time on them this weekend.

Battening Down the Hatches

Although we are not on the coast – we are still going to feel the effects of Hanna today.  She is sitting just to the west of us right now – and I felt the first drops of rain as I was sitting on the back steps, trying to take this photo……

Baby Cable Rib socks using Plymouth Yarn Rockin’ Sox.  See that big honkin knot cluster?  That’s what I’m currently knitting off of.  I started these socks Wednesday after I remembered that everything else I’m working on requires looking at a chart or working from written directions.  These are my work/I can’t think anymore today socks.  I haven’t had time to actually work on them on my breaks at work yet – but once our schedules settle down and we know when are breaks are – I’ll be taking refuge with these  from time to time to clear out the old head.

Getting back to work went well – we have a nice class and I’m lucky to be working with another great teacher this year.  If this past week is any indication – it’s going to be a fun year.  I did forget how much work tends to interfer with my free time and blog time and knitting time and basically all the time I like to do other things, but this is just a matter of getting back to balancing that all out.  I’ve a few unexpected things to take care of in the next week or so – I’m hoping that is all it will take to get these things out of the way – those afterschool appointments are great time suckers too.  But the sock will come along – if anything – to keep my hands busy and my mind occupied.  This soupy weekend will probably be spent just catching up on home stuff and sticking close by.  I opted not to go along with the knitting group to a fiber festival tomorrow – but I’m totally planning on going to Rhinebeck this year.

Thanks for all the kind words and support over that darn mouse problem – the room seems to be only occupied by me – the traps go unvisited and I’m thinking it might have to do with the peppermint oil – or maybe that mouse caught wind of what I was planning on the blog…..I don’t know – but as long as they stay away, things will be fine.  Just to clarify – no yarn was injured in the process – they hadn’t started to chew away at that – thankfully.  They were, from what I could tell, storing food for the cold winter ahead.  And we do, no matter how we try to prevent it, get mice when the weather turns cold – it’s just one of the things you get with an older house in the country – those little field mice love to snuggle down in warm places when it’s cold outside.  We can’t have a cat to help out because I’m allergic and I won’t keep an outside cat.  So it’s up to us humans to control the unwanted visitors in our house.  We’ve lived here for nearly 20 years and this is the first time they’ve dared to try to move into my yarn!!!

Things might be quieter around this blog for a bit – but I’m still around and still knitting.  And planning a contest to celebrate the upcoming 2000th comment on this here blog……..stay tuned and keep dry!

What is Worse Than MOth’s??????

What?  What could possibly be worse than finding a Moth – or several in your Fiber Studio.  In with your yarn, your roving, invading your sacred space?

It all started when I finished the Tidal Wave Socks.  And went to the stuido in search of the yarn for the next pair.  Because you know, you cannot have empty sock needles.  No.

Honestly – I never even thought I could find something worse than moth’s.  That would have been the ultimate bad thing to try to invade my stash.

Until yesterday.

Until I went looking for that next skein of sock yarn.

At first, while I was looking through the “sock bin”, which is one of those fabric cubes you slide into a book case, I thought – Hey, what’s that weird white stuff on that skein?  I picked up the skein, heart beating a bit faster and noticed…………..the corner of the fabric cube?  Chewed.  Chewed and that was the white stuff on the skein.  Slowly, I started to emply the bin.  One skein at a time, looking at each and sighing a little when each one looked ok.  Then, as the skeins left the bin and I could see down into the bottom…..I saw…………bird seed.

Son of a fecking Mouse.

See, we moved my husbands parrot when the oldest came home – he’s a screamer and wakes people up.  So we let him stay in my studio.  He’s fine.  But the bird seed – a big draw.  It’s like a neon resturant for the mices.  And I had/have every intention of moving that bird back into the living room when he left for school – which was yesterday.  Before the cool weather set in and the outside critters started to search for inside spaces – we live in the country – it happens.  After all – they ate our camper.

There aren’t any photo’s.  I was shaking and near tears as I cleaned out that entire bin, and started checking on other bins – one other bin had a corner chewed out but no bird seed “stashed” amoungst my stash.  Feckers.  I hate them.  This means war.

You don’t mess with a knitters stash.  Oh. No. You. Didn’t.

I’ve peppermint oiled on cotton balls every drawer, cubby, bin in that room – I also stuck some in the camper for good measure because – you will not eat our camper again, you little bastids.

And there are traps.  Now – if you are a catch and release person – fine.  I am not.  This is too much.  They are destructive.  They will be taken care of.  And I don’t care how it’s done.  They must be banished.  Gone.  Away with them.

Not in my freaking yarn, you little shits.

Now, I’m thinking it is one wayward soul who’s schedule was a little messed up from the cool weather we had in the beginning of the week – i had just been in that sock bin not too long ago.  All was well.  So it is very recent – like the last week – that this abomination has tried to move in, squat, so to speak, in my nice comfy, cozy, costly yarn.

Ah.  I don’t think so.

The new socks are cast on – picture will be coming.  Gale is finally blocked.  Again, picture later.  Another pattern is picked out – I call it the comfort pattern, because I am well and truly traumatized – and will be cast on later today.  It’s the last of the holiday – tomorrow – work.  But for today – my studio smells like peppermint, it is sunny and breezy, we will be making sauce with tomatoes from the garden and enjoying the last BBQ we can cram in this weekend.

And we will not be taking any new renters this fall.

That is all.