i love the people i meet in ravelry!

feathersong is a lady i have been playing with in 'the herd'. today i went pocking around in her page and on her blog looking for something done with buffalo yarn.  what i found in her blog is a kindred soul who likes flora and fauna as much as i.  and photography....the difference being, she can get them out of her camera and into her blog! (ok, ok, i am working on it!) give her a visit. i will list her here and also in my list of blogs of friends. 

feathersong

rmartin is a hoot...she saved me from suicide on the bsj i got into...what fun is there when the numbers just don't jive but somehow it is right! she is one of the few that stayed with me thru thick and thin...laughing when i needed it, and consoling me when i was ready to frog it all! o, and there are patterns there!  check it out!

rmartin

have you met my friend, civilbitch, she is a very talented lady! she is a magnificent knitter who's projects you should see. i have included her blog site because i enjoy the mix she writes about. she enjoys so very may things which she so willingly shares.  in person, she is just as great...she was the first to share with me the joys of knit picks needles and magic loop.  

shelley, civilbitch

iffer, does instructions for socks for those of you wanting to see yet another set of instuctions... she is doing toes up...i watch and read every set of instructions i can find. some of us do need all the help i can find so do check her our. she does other stuff as well but this is what she's doing now that i need her for most!

iffer

suzanne i met at dfw fiberfest...she just has to be cool, she's another army brat! she now lives in georgetown, texas, is on the way to my mom's so i might just have to visit her if we ever can afford the gas! i had such a great time talking to her. i told her how much i enjoy watching spinners at work...soooo very soothing. she (great little sales lady) suggested i learn to get the added soothiness. no, not for me with my fixed ankles. o, yes, says she and starts demoing her mechanical loom! i love her humor and spark! she loves horses which counter acts her thing for cats! with horses you need a jack russel terrier! they are just as good at mousing!

suzanne

i found it and i won some buffalo gold!

maybe winning the buffalo gold yarn (THANK ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED!) helped me find the pattern; which i just did! and i printed it and saved it to my desktop and will put it everywhere else i can!  it is a wonderful pattern found in NASHUA HANDKINT NATURAL FIBERS - CREATIVE DESIGNS ... CROPPED KIMONO DESIGNED BY SANDI ROSNER! you can see it in my projects list in ravelry.  i want to make one with my green yarn but i also want to make one with some wonderful possum yarn i was recently given...and figure out a way to trim it with the gold i got....or i will make an adult surprise jacket and use them both.  i am just so very glad i found the pattern again!  can i tell you a secret, i really want to stop the sox and jump to using the yarn!  shhhhh, don't tell him!

him is out finding more breaks in the sprinkler system that must be fixed. oscar is helping.(?) mysterypup is guarding me so i know when he comes in the back door.

i have to go now and answer the 100+ yahoo messages (do not know how that go so full!) and see what i missed in ravelry.

did i remember to thank everyone? i did? well, i just can't thank everyone enough to help me win some buffalo gold that i would not ever be able to have otherwise! and if you haven't been there...GO!

cherribye~

i am soooooo

fill in the blank!  i found a wonderful kimono pattern ...had a picture of several ladies show several different lengths and sizes ...a picture in color ...i can't for the life of me find it! and i want it and i know what i want to do with it! it wasn't in ravelry...so it is not marked there. it is not marked in my yahoo knitty folder...so i didn't find it there. WHERE DID I PUT IT! i am going to go the the store and think of something else and see if i figure out where i put it!

i am back.  it didn't work! i am still frustrated! 

when you're down and out, and you need a friend

thank you paul simon and renie for a new blog site judywise.blogspot.com. she does have gentle words for all of us!  go see!

yesterday, after a visit to the viper, we went to the cultured cup (culturedcup.com) and the doggie shop next door. the cup is a not close but worth it. the smells that great you as the door opens is just the start. the displays are a gift to your eyes.  the tastes of teas i might want to buy make you lust to more. cups and saucers and teapots galore! and i forgot i can take pictures with my cell phone! well, my dears, i guess i will just have to go back so i can show you.

o, i need to show you the doggie shop next door! they let me taste a couple of the biscuits they sell...what? gross? no, no! there are no additives! i bought a bad of "sweet potato dog chewz"(dogswell.com) (nothing but dehidrated sweet potatoes).  and 2 pig snouts...not as dangerous for the dogs and not messy...kept oscar and mysy busy for a long time! they see the box and go bonkers! i will find the card from the doggie store and post it later.

o, and they support the greyhound rescue group, one of which happened to come in...such a lovely dog! i would so love to have one in my house but 3 dogs! not until we figure out how to get another van...the saturn is just not built for 2 big dogs, 1 small, 2 people, and a wheelchair! 

i wish i knew how disabled people with low incomes or fixed incomes manage to afford converted vans!  this sucks! i really do not like being pushed around! you do not get to see what you want to see when you want to see it! i want my electric chair back under my butt! and i wan to use it when we go out!  the pushy chair makes me feel disabled! dependent! f;sfewnrwuerpne

sorry for the screaming.

back to the dogs.  we will have to take them to the doggie shop. but how to do that and go to the tea shop? maybe in the fall when it is cool enough to let them visit the shop either before or after we check out cultured cup. they love being car watch dogs and riders!  oscar wants to see and smell everything! mysy just wants to go along with us.

help, i need you, not just anybody!

boy, aren't cha glad you can't hear me singing!  

ok, here's the deal ms darcy is running a contest and if you go there and tell ms darcy i sent you, well, go see why i want you to help me and then you get some people to help you; 'cause trust me, the prizes are so worth it!

but watch out, she's as crazy as i!  o, she is also trying to beat me in a ravely contest at THE HERD...not the HEARD, as i have been known to spell it but THE HERD! you join the group, THE HERD, and then go the CONTEST AND GIVEAWAY thread and say that you heard about it from ME not that knotty lady....well, ok, she is knotty but nice and she can help you with your knitting so much more than can i!

this is so all in good fun! enjoy yourself!

why is it the that every time i cull i end up with more?!

does this ever happen to anyone else?  you look at the number of groups you are in and realize there are some that you are just not into any more.  it is time to cull! so you do. but then you get into more and cull them but some how you never end up less...the number keep growing and growing! it's like the coat hangers in the closet that mate over night! and we are not dry cleaner people! i think it happens in my craft room too! my yarn collect does the same thing!  it is probably a good thing i didn't make it to the knitting group last night as there was lady with lots of yarn she wanted to get rid of at half price! and she had some greens and...well, i wouldn't want to encourage my stash to find new mates!

domedweller (you really have to see her house) had a quiz on the blog...i took it...like her, i found mine remarkable close.  i thought i would share it with you guys so you know what to expect.

The Giver

You strive to maintain harmony in relations ships, and usually succeed.

Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections.

Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.

You find the most energy and comfort in social situations where you shine.

In love, you are very protective and supporting.

However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite ease for you to get jealous.

At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential.

You would make a good writer, human resources director,  or psychologist.

How you see yourself:  Trusting, idealistic, and expressive.

When other people don't get you, they see you as :  Bossy, inappropriate, and loud.

What do you think?

i will add to the list

thru buffalo gold i have expanded my friends! so as i add them, i will have to update my list of blog friends.  do you begin to see why i sometimes do more reading, and writing than i do knitting!  i do so love making new friends and letting them get to know old friends.  to be honest, i sometimes forget who is old and who is new...they are all just friends!

yesterday i got a surprise from hilarygermany...3 count them 3 sets of 4 stitch markers! and a card with a picture on the from of daisies on the front...the picture was of from her friend's garden! made my day!  i will take a picture of them and get it in here so you can oooo and ahhhh over them like i did...she made them with her own hands just for me!  i am so proud to have them!

edit:  as soon as i learn how to get them off the phone! or how to use my new camera!  hang in there i will get these things worked out!

ta ta

with the exception of one blog, i got everyone's blog in here (those friends of mine who have them).  it's a long list which explains why some days i spend more time reading than writing! ;-] there are some really neat words of folks in here; so go visit some of them.  you'll have fun reading and learn about some cool folks!  who knows, after reading their blogs you might end up making them your friends too!  i am so glad i figured out how to do this!  and i love gifting my friends with new friends!

this is fathers' day.  my dad, the doctor, is gone but it is good to spend time thinking about him and the wonderful stepfather i was also gifted with.  they added so to my life.

news!

camera is a nikon d60 with two lens.  

i have not gotten any photos off the cell phone.  i have not watch the nikon school dvds.  why? you are such a nosey lot.  ok, i spent 2 days having tests run for the neurologist, who, tho looking like a very large cherib, may be sadest!  the mri was fun as i am such a noneck kid! and they want you to lie flat which my body is not designed for.  but he said i was the best testee he had ever had, doing exactly what he requested and holding so still....see what 62 years of training will get you? a 30 min as opposed to a 45 min trial.  yesterday i had the rest of the testing.  if electroshock treatments are anything close to that...anyway they want you to relax while they do this shocky stuff...the start of which on the major nerves will make you and your relaxed arm become very, very unrelaxed! and then they do it again!  after the major nevers (those with a truck load of feeling), they go to the little ones which generally are not too bad...until she cranked it up a bit causing my fingers to jump around.  thank god, i was taught by my parents that as a doc daughter, i was to set an example and not scream....hold my breath, clench my teeth...but not scream!  i did that a lot.  oh, then she had to do the other arm...and you know what is going to happen...and you are still supposed to relax.  well, she said i was a good egg and she left.  so for something better to do, i started back on the sox.  the doc came in and said he had the results:  i do not have carpel tunnell  yeah!  i do have more buldges between the vertibra and some spurs that were not there last year.  he does not think anything requires surgery.  he does think that pt might help teach me to relax my shoulders and neck.  i have high hopes!  i would love my body to really understand what the hell that word means!  RELAX.  we shall see.  anyway, i have spent most of the day listening to harry potter and resting my body. hopefully it will be ready to learn tomorrow.

i did have to scrap the socks AGAIN.  i made such a mess in the doc's office that i could not figure out what i had done so could not fix it.

o, i almost forgot! the saturn is in motion once more!  houston, we have take off!  about the van?  we are still talking about that one.

i think this is enough for right now as i am feeling fatigues again...later...

we have the right cable

now i can't find the phone book to tell me how to get the pictures off the phone and onto my desktop thenst to here!!!  it is not a intuitive as i thought it would be...or i have no female intuition?

it's 7 pm and dh is still working on the saturn so can't enlist his help.  maybe i should be patient and wait until tomorrow.  after he has had a bath and a good night's sleep.

and it died again!

the "fixed" saturn. this time when he was almost home with dinner! but not with the dog.  just with dinner congealing beside him!  and me with some knitting pals blathering on about FOOD! it's a good thing we got him the phone.  mr rescue finally came after a bit more than an hour!  i should have gotten his noodles; they were great cold (he let me taste them). so, it's back to the drawing boards for him.

it was a good day tho...i got one of the tea swap boxes! (i was in line for 2)  i had a good rummage and got it back off within hours of receiving...well, you don't want others to be waiting like i have been waiting on the first of the tea boxes!  i took some stuff and then stuffed it full up again.

o, i did start looking for a clear teapot for showing off flowering teas and i think i found the one i want...the strainer is in the spout.  

i got no, yes, i said it, i got no knitting done yesterday.  for some reason my email was jamming! and truth be told, my back and arms were not helping much either.  i love the rain. my body does not seem to be as happy with it.

have you even tried typing with a dog under your arm?  it is most fun.  especially when oscar keeps trying to put his head on the cat (the little square thing us laptop users used instead of a mouse...history lesson:  the cat was the precursor to the mouse...get it, cat mouse?  see what you learn from 20 years with xerox?).  both of my critters think i am nuts as after i got them playing, i stayed in the game. growling, snarling, sneezing. periodically, mysy would look up at me with mystified eyes....oscar just kept up with the game.

o, camera phone...why no pictures? they sent me the wrong cable connection!   

new camera? sometime this week.

for dog lovers:  sometime i will get a pictures off the phone and onto the computer so you can see oscar in his upside down mode!  back legs are wide apart, front paws are folded over like a bunny. have you  got the picture?  he had been outside to do his thing and come back in (love doggie doors!).  jumped on the bed and went into his head stand mode which means, i'm back, so scratch what you can see of my head and back! and then he rolls onto his back.  i, a well trained human, did as told while continuing to talk to dh.  out of the corner of my eye, something seemed amiss.  so i turned to see...to see what appeared to be a large dried leaf over his private bits!  it really cracked me up!  like a little doggie fig leaf, it was!

enough, i have to call a hundred people or so for this that and the other.

SOCKS

my current obsession! and getting past the first 3 rows!  why? because i have never done them before.  why? fear...they sound so complicated!  people with toothpicks the length of kabob skures!  you could poke an eye out with those things!  and then i, the spass master, tried them...double points but not the toothpick size...closer to a pencil...what a disaster!  no, ney, never no more!  and i knew i would end up single sockitis too!  and then... hold it!  and then... magic loop was introduced to me... neato!  and then...wait for it! and then toes up concept came in...cool! and then... are you ready! and then... liz had to destash and she had sock yarn for sale! ah!  and so begins the current obsession.  i am so like that!  i have until august 14 to learn on my sox and then to get a pair done for him for our ...what is it now... or 22 anniversary! for the slowest knitter in the west this is a tall order...we shall see.  the good news is i have gotten past the nasty 3 row hurdle.  what, you don't know the 3 row hurdle?  it's where you have to cast on (tail too long or short) excessive times (rats, i didn't twist the yarn right...start over) (when will you learn to count...8 on these 2, 9 on these 2),  you can't knit for beans (i forgot again, the ones on the back for the first round must be knit thru the back)...got the idea now? one must learn to love the frog!  i am learning this method of casting on magically.  these are not mistakes but learning experiences! this can be accomplished!

chicken little strikes

its i...chicken little.  i am so afraid i will run out of yarn for charlie's socks that the first pair of socks to come of my needles with be for me.  and i frogged what i had and am starting over.  i am the most frustrated knitter...it's like no matter what i knit, if i can get past the first 3 rows i am fine but the first 3 generally get me hell!  

i have tried something that may not work...give me an a if it does.  when you are viewing this posting, try clicking on the question mark in the box and see if it sends you to my flicker pictures of my critters.  ok, here we go!

i just went to marthas vineyard fiber farm

ok, i had to do it thru the web but what fun! go to the farm yourself and see all the critters!  read about the farm...oogle at the yarn...read about life there...the comments are good too.  (can you tell this excited my fancy?)

on another note, high c (bad joke), one of the tea boxes is on its way from hawaii! (o, this is a tea swap box that travel from knitter to knitter...you take tea out, you put tea in and send it to the next person on the list).  the first box i am in line for is stuck somewhere.  i am also part of the traveling button box...it has come to me once and i want it to come again!  it was great fun to look at what others put in.  

i got the phone cable so i can attach it to the computer but as it did not slip in easily to the phone, i did not force it...waiting for him, the inhouse engineer, to awake.  he will know if  it is safe to push it harder or not.  (it's saturday morning...he gets to sleep in even if i can't)

cameras:  we went to wolfs yesterday.  they should have better sale on for father's day but sale catalog not out.  i am so confused...i think i want a nikon d60 but then i look at the catalog he gave me and i start to wonder if the olympus or pentax in the same price range would be better. what to do...what to do?

ah, vehicles...THE SATURN TOOK ME TO THE NEUROLOGIST AND THE CAMERA STORE YESTERDAY!  yes, i am screaming!  it runs!  the weird thing is, after riding in the van for 10 years, i feel like my bottom is 3" off the pavement!  ah, but the ac is soooo nice.  i saw the trailer charlie is thinking about and wonder if one of the white boxes would be better.  a box would automatically be covered for weather protection (sitting on a wet seat can be sooo...ucky!).  i am also thinking about donating the van to i can so kids can learn while fixing it up.  it would same money (tax and insurance) but it would leave us with only one vehicle.  but if i the money i would have paid on insurance in a separate account marked car and every time i put paid insurance on the one, i put money i would have paid into a van savings account, maybe in a few years...

knitting:  started two at a time toe up sox on magic loop sox for him this week.  'got in a bit of trouble when i realized the cable was going to be too short.  the easy fix would have been to just knit off to a longer cable with another set of size 4 needles.  problem:  i have only one set of needles.  i do have one 60 in cable.  with much trepidation and procrastination, i did it.  only a bit of confusion in the middle but i did it!  i am very proud of me.  while knitting while waiting for dr, i did a count of stitches again.  suddenly i have one more stitch on one side of one sock than i do on the others.  what to do.  what to do.  leave alone until the morning when you are fresh or figure it out now.  procrastinate! great idea!  so here it is.  morning.  i will count again. if i am still one stitch off, i will frog (rip it out and start over) or as i am still increasing, increase on the other sides but not this one.  hmmmm. at this moment, i think i will opt for the later....but who knows what i will do when i pick up the needles.

charlie:  got saturn running.  fixed sprinkler system (we think). is now working (well, he has to wake up first) on repainting the storm door and frame...both sides.  hmmmm...what honey do next i wonder?  there is the gap under the front door.  the garage door...it would be nice if that was fixed.  do we need a new opener...a new door?  and there is still the fence.  oh and the holes in the wall...he fell into it (don't ask).  and the floors....we have talked about raising the living room floor up and then putting wood floor down in living room, dinning room and hall way. how to pay for any of this...not a clue!  not even sure what we want.  i do know what i would love...one of those walk in bath tubs!  showers are fine but what is would give to be able to soak!  i would stay in until the water got cold and scummy...and then let it out and start over!  it as been sooooo long!  oh, well, i can dream...hmmmm. 

critters:  oscar is curled up between us on the bed.  mysy has gone to the floor (it's cooler). i love watching her play with oscar...imagine, learning to play after 5 years.  they do make me laugh.  and what a joy to watch her starting to be a bit pushy and loping out to great us when we come home!  she is still the biggest chicken in the west when outside or in the car.  her new safe place in the car is behind charlie's seat.  oscar want the back seats to be down...it puts him up where he can see out windows.

he is up and so are the critters so it must be time for breakfast!

tea:  i ... no dogs bought us tea for our anniversary (august 14)...hey, they are dogs!  they just want a long celebration...so surprise!  anyway, we tried the russian caravan and liked it.  the lemon verbina did not go over a well.  today we are going to try the scottish breakfast blend.  

while he was greeting the dogs, we talked about camera and it will be the nikon d60...i can use all my lens on all my cameras as long as i remember that i have to focus when using the old lens on new camera and new lens on old cameras... so i will have an instant gradification camera and the other to require patients for outcomes.  it will be interesting to compare results.  

they do offer classes but the package comes with nikon school dvds, 2 lenses and bag. i need to add the memory card and a filter i don't have to worry about a flash as it has a popup flash.  

now off to see if they have an on line ad.

I GOTTA NEW PHONE

and charlie got a new line and my old phone.  he finally agreed to it when the saturn died on him 40 miles from home, temp with heat factor over 100.  finally got someone to lend him a phone and he got paul to pick up him and oscar and the car to toe them all back home.  it's a samsung which shows big numbers when you dial!  has a camera so can get some pictures for try to get in here and on ravelry of yarns and knitted objects and family.  

today will be long...after i get his nibs up...dress and go to neurologist to see how my body is doing...look at trail him what's to get to attach to the trailer hitch he put on the saturn so we can cart the electric chair around.  i have said no van until he has figured out how to keep the chair in the trailer and how to keep it dry in the rain...i don't want to be stuck because of weather...see what i can get as a trade in for my cameras and lens toward a new digital camera...shop for food...try to get more rows done on my sox for charlie...o, did i forget to tell you?  

sox are the only thing charlie has asked me to knit for him...other than a hat.  i have resisted so long but he is a sweetie even if his round to it has so many angles.  so, i have started...online tutorial has been my teacher.  i got started only to quickly figure out i had the wrong cord...too short!  but how to transfer them to longer cord with only one set of size 4 needles...i figured it out but was so scared i had it wrong that put it off all day...was not as bad as i thought...only got confused once but got it done.  yarn...what yarn...well, you see...uh...one of the ladies in my knitting group needed to destash.  the yarns were so lovely.  i had to have them.  (she is a yarnaholic!) the colors were so lovely on line!  in person, better and they felt so soft!  if i ever figure out how to get pictures in here, you shall see.  

knitaholics have to knit all the time.

yarnaholis have to touch, oogle, buy yarn.

i am the latter.

gotta go...time to get this show on the road.