"Houston, We Have a Gauntlet"

Indeed! We have the first of two Elegant Gauntlets, from now on to be called Gigi (Thanks, Jen!) I had a good long time of sitting in the past couple of days and was able to knock it out with little problem.

Hands down, I think it's a hit!!


I was excited to get the thumb done, too. I think I'll have to get some shorter DPNs, though, those 6" DPNs were running into everything!!


I decided to check the web to see if there were any corrections I wasn't aware of -- alas, none for these beauties, but I did find some to print out for some other books I have.

Plymouth Rocks!
Saturday I took a class at my LYS for the Ladies Sampler Scarf from Plymouth Yarn Co. I know the stitches, really, but there are a couple of cables in there. Since I never really got rolling with the Inishmore back in May, I enjoyed trying cables again with a teacher close at hand. The beautiful Baby Alpaca D.K. and the pattern were included with the class. I cast on and started the first "sampler" that day!



'Round and 'Round on the Carousel
I finished the scarf with Super 10 Cotton in the Carousel colorway. I finally decided on an edging for it to try to help the stockinette not roll in so much. After three other edging attempts, I settled on Crystal Palace's Squiggle (a favorite from last autumn's scarf-a-thon) and a nice red. I think I will block it to make it lay nice and flat, then I'll give it to the lovely lady at church who first admired the yarn as I began knitting it up.


It's Beginning to Look ... a lot like AUTUMN


Samson's Wordz
"Happy Birthday TOOO YOUUUUU! Quack, quack here."

Wet Feet

Somehow I never quite get the "Isolated Thunderstorms" figured out just right. Tonight, for example, I was going to ride my motorcycle over to see my sister. There were a couple of water drops on the bike seat as I prepared her to head out. Alas, the drops multiplied as I headed south and my rain gear was at home. So I guess this one was "isolated" -- south of my house and closer to sis's. Here's evidence of what happened:

(note picture was taken from my perspective, but turned over in hopes of making more sense from your angle??)

(okay, I can't even tell my legs are wet, so I guess you're just gonna have to trust me on that one)

G.'s progress
Until Gauntlet gets a better name, I shall give her (them?) the stylish chic name of "G." At some point last evening I had an impulse to look at the instructions. I was perfectly happy in my mindset that the whole thing was done in K1, P1 ribbing. Alas, checking the instructions I found I was right where I was supposed to be to change to stockinette knitting for another 5 inches. (whew - dodged that froggin'!)


Fair skies at night...
So how does that rhyme go about fair weather and red skies? Well, here's last night's sky ...

I guess the sailor that was delighting was the one that left port this morning before the rain rolled into town.

Samson's Wordz
"Where's Samson!!?"

Back Up Three Yards and Punt!

Football has always been one of my all-time favorite spectator sports. I don't totally understand everything, even today, but I do enjoy watching. I'm glad football season is here because mom and I can listen to the game while we're in the kitchen playing cards on Sunday afternoons. But today's title has more to do with the Gauntlets than football.

Last night I was finding an extra rib sort of in between two of the DPNs. Decided I'd just knit two together and go on -- first project on DPNs -- didn't have to be perfect -- was just for me... Well, when my little Samson decided he wasn't going to bed without a bite (of me, that is), I decided to wait him out and sat down on the couch at *something* after midnight.

Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Well, apparently my decision to completely restart the Gauntlet was more time consuming than I realized, or I had sat down later than I thought, because it was 1:30 when I put down the nice new start on the Gauntlet and decided to talk to Samson one more time about the value of a good night's sleep inside his house.

No go. Apparently he can survive without me actually making sure he's safe inside his house and covered up for the night - but not a practice we're going to encourage (or tolerate) one bit.

So try # 7 appears to be going splendidly along for the Gauntlet. Anyone want to name them? It seems kind of funny to just keep saying "Gauntlet."

Work Smirk
We receive ComputerWorld at the office each week. I try to read thru it when I have a moment. There's usually something useful to me or our team every few weeks. The following item, however, was a bit depressing. We figured if we added all of our salaries together, we might make what the folks in the Washington DC area are making. Maybe I'll leave them to flounder and sneak off for a job in northern Virginia ... hmmmmm

From the September 12 issue (click picture for an enlarged view):


(Oddly, King of All Remote Controls, they do not mention your place of work. Must be too busy to subscribe to or read -- or respond to surveys -- from said pub.)

Famous Last Words:
"Are you ready for nighty-night?"

Happy Birdie To You!

Well, that's sort of what we sang to the birdies yesterday! Samson, and his sister, Annie (who lives with my mom) celebrated the 6th anniversary of their hatching this passed week! My mom made the birdies yummy corn muffins. Both eyed the cupcake-papered muffin with suspicion (having not seen one for about a year!).

I ended up unwrapping Samson's "cake", turning it over and putting banana pieces on top -- mmmm enticing banana!!


My little boy is growing up *sniff*.

Knitting Addiction
Or maybe it's knitting-shop addiction. I was off last Friday and spent a few hours at Close-Knit Cafe. Went there for a visit on Saturday, too. Then, by chance [I'm in denial], I took this afternoon off work. I was just gonna stop in for a bit since tonight was Knit Night and I knew I'd be back around 6:00 p.m. As I was finally leaving at 8:00 p.m., Judy said, "Gee, Heidi, too bad you couldn't stay too long today!" ARGGHHHH, they're on to me!

DPNs?
No, not adult diapers! Although I may be wearing adult diapers by the time I get the hang of using DPNs (Double-Pointed Needles for you not-so-acronymically savvy). I have now restarted my first DPN project, Elegant Gauntlets (Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch, p. 122), six times! And today I was really going well but then found I had purls on top of knits and vice versa. I tried tinking back, but I don't tink think it's going to save my sanity, so I may just frog it back a couple of rows instead of going back to the beginning AGAIN.


Yarn Fast
A new term I learned from Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter. It means to not purchase yarn for a period of time - fasting. I'm trying to do just this. I am on a fast until this Friday.
What?
I get paid on that day?
Really?!
How fortunate the end of my being broke fasting occurs on a pay day!!!

Samson's Wise Words
"It's Grandma!! Hi Grandma! I'm fine thanks. How are you? I'm fine thanks" **kissie noises**

"Get Motivated!!"

I am so very exhausted motivated!! Our work team attended a Peter Lowe Get Motivated seminar today. It was actually a Zig Ziglar gig, but Peter Lowe figured into it, so I figure their partnering on Success now!! Got to hear Jerry Lewis, Bob Baffert, Pat Day, Rudy Giuliani, and some other persons of note in sales, investing and real estate talk.

My co-workers were very excited to be there. See?


Sorry, Phil Town, Louisville's motivation-needy do not know what a CL55AMG is - even if you show us a picture. But we are indeed not a "pick-up truck with a gun rack in the window" town, either. We have two Ford plants in Louisville though, so the fact you own a Chevy pick-up in Jackson Hole, WY, was not truly endearing to the crowd, either.

But James Smith, real-estate guru, (no website found thru Google) was a hoot. He's so deadpan and very humorous. When I was catching on to his monotone delivery being a sneaky way to get his wit out there, I was listening intently. You gotta find a guy interesting whose virtual first question upon meeting you is, "Do you rent or own?"

Do I sound a little negative? I don't really mean to be, I'm just worn out. A lot of energy created for 7 hours can wear one out.

Now for the KNITTING!
But on to the more important things occurring at this seminar. I knit a gauge swatch for a hoodie I'm contemplating (and got gauge!! [a shock to me since it's the first time I knit a gauge swatch]). And I knit a soft soft soft scarf. (Did I mention that the scarf is soft?)

Here's the gauge swatch from Stylecraft Linen Look DK:


And here's the scarf from Sirdar Wow! I only used one skein and it's smallish for an adult, so I may be gifting a child with this one!


And a close-up of the Wow! mmmmmmm


Samson Sez
"Apple. Apple. Apple. Can you say 'Apple'?"

Sittin' and Knittin'

Knittin'
Notice that I'm not freaking out over the past week. Work went smoothly (boss out 3 days) and a co-worker helped me get a tedious project rolled out. I've actually been knitting and am ready to tell about it!

I mentioned I was working on a scarf in Super 10 Cotton. Here's a pic (sideways):

Colorway: Carousel -- 40 stitches allow for a river up the middle (on US 9, each color is about 15 stitches wide).

I treated myself (shock!) to an Elizabeth Austen bag from Close-Knit Cafe.


The LYS had its Grand Opening Celebration Friday and Saturday so I spent a while there both days knittin' and talking to customers (there were lots!). Here's a picture of Mylinda and Judy with John Fischer of the Mayor's office.


John presented Judy and Mylinda with a proclamation that "October 7 is Close-Knit Cafe Grand Opening Day". How pleasantly unexpected it was for Judy and Mylinda (who were both worn out from preparation for the event).


Stashin'
Here's some Plymouth Royal Cashmere I got to make a scarf and I'm thinking I will border it in the SRK Pom - both are so soft!!!


I'm planning to start on the Elegant Gauntlets from Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience: The Purl Stitch (Book 2). I have two balls of Koigu KPPPM and size US 3 DPN's in my new bag ready to start!!

Sittin'
Saturday my car ran out of gas as I left it running to stop by church and snap a picture of the volunteers working the "Tour de Spirit -- Riding to Break the Cycle of Poverty" bike ride (www.urbanspirit.org). I was only going to be a minute -- 40 minutes later I returned to a quiet car. Fortunately there's a service station just a block away and I now own a gas can all my own! The tank is full and my friends and family don't have to worry (for the next two weeks) that they might have to rescue me!


Paintin'
I helped my mom paint her shed yesterday (photo cropped because I know she wouldn't want you to see her painting outfit!!). She'd actually done most of it during the wamer days last week -- I was left with the back which wasn't too bad, really. I learned we were "slathering", not painting. It made the work go much faster.


Samson Sez
"Kramer! (insert whistle for dog) Is that your big dawg? Hi there!!"

Knitting Season

The temperatures are cooling. The daylight hours are getting shorter. More motorcyclists are wearing jackets instead of t-shirts ... Must be Knitting Season!!! You know what I'm talking about. The weather turns cooler and all thoughts turn to snuggling in the warm house by the fireplace wearing some toasty knitted garments.

Funny how summer-time doesn't entice knitters to knit nearly as much as the fall and winter do. Alas I still have projects on needles from last winter that got put aside as the weather warmed (on circ's, so hopefully no obvious rows sticking out from all these months tucked away!). I suppose if we all lived in Greenland or at the North or South Pole, we'd be more likely to knit regularly.

Happy Anniversary!
It's been a year this week since I started back to knitting. Did I mention my mom said I could open a knit shop with just the yarn I've accumulated in my house? Maybe not a whole store, but I could have a good yard sale (as if) with my stash. I was reading some intelligent knitter-blogger's blog [sorry, cannot remember who, but if I do, I'll put in the link!!] the other day (and Snooze today) and I think she totally gets it. She says that we have those special yarns, sometimes, that we just can't imagine exactly what we want a particular yarn to become, but love having the yarn all the same. Count me in!!

GROWing
Each month a group of us gather the first Tuesday of the month and write notes or make calls to folks who have visited our church. It's called GROW. Here's a picture of the happy gals I get to spend time with each month!


And Katie brought her new best friend, Callie! She's sort of a honey-colored Toto. (Katie's colors are pink and green, though, now ruby red slippers for her!)


Samson Sez
"Do you see the squirrels? Can you say 'Hi, squirrels!'"?

Knitting ADD

Borrowed the title from Holly -- but it's so appropos for this weekend. I went travelling from LYS to LYS and picked up a little something at three out of five. Needed yarn? Sure! I was looking for a pattern (didn't want to look at the books and magazines here at home) for the cheerful Cherry Tree Hill Cotton Boucle Mini in the "Country Garden " colorway I won through the Give-A-Little campaign (see Katrina Relief button in sidebar) created by Margene and Susan.

Here's 510 yards of FUN on a STICK just waiting to happen!


Here's a close-up.


Eunice in North Carolina sent the lovely prize along with "the cutest" card!! (Thanks Eunice!!)


Close-Knit Cafe
So I went to the newest of the LYS for a spot of lunch - Close-Knit Cafe - and another look at the Elizabeth Austen project bags I've been contemplating for a few weeks now.

Here's the cafe-side.


And here's the beginnings of a wonderful future for Close-Knit customers. Judy carries freedom, GGH, Sockatta, Butterfly (a Greek Mercerized Cotton), Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed, and much more! (If the sheep were BLUE, it would be the sib of one of Alison's sheep pictured in her blog button!)


Sky
This evening's sky was as beautiful as the day's weather. Thanks, Sandy, for the reminder to look UP!


Samson Sez:
"Will you be okay if I leave you out while I'm gone?" Here's the apple-covered-beak lovely photographed within the past hour.