another club covered

This time a club cover for my aunt.

I keep thinking, darn who knew I'd be buying fun fur again when I cleared out my entire stash. Oh well, it went to a good cause. I do think that I will knit a few more for other woods.

A tale of three shawls

I discovered a strange looking yarn over in version one of my Aquataine shawl. Of course it didn't jump out at me until row 43. Of course the wonky looking yarn over was back at about 20. I tinked back, and dropped a stitch which ran before I could catch it. So I decided to use it as a "learning experience" and frog the whole thing.

I cast on again using size 7 needles, the pattern calls for 6's. It just seemed a little dense to me. So I cast on again using size 10. I decided not to frog the 7's until I could compare the two.

The winner is the one on 10's.

I like the more drapey feel. The yarn is a wool/silk blend.

I decided to knit the yarn over's on the purl side rather then purl them. It means the yarn over holes are not as big. I'm not sure how I feel about it. The big holes make the waves more pronounced, but for everyday I'm thinking less holey/lacey might be a bit more practical. So I'm going to continue as I've started. I'm going with the theory "third times a charm"

No knitting but lots of fun

first a better picture of someone really enjoying his lunch.

Yesterday our immediate neighbors all went to the small lake to watch the sunset and enjoy some nice wine, great snacks and socializing. We were not disappointed.

Jack along for the ride.

DH and I. For my friends "up north"...note the complete absence of snow.

Silliness abounds

In my knitting.

After seeing similar knit club covers I had a "I can do that" moment. So looked at Ravelry patterns and improvised my club cover using Deborah Norville Everyday Worsted and Bernat Boa. The Everyday worsted is a really nice acrylic yarn. I'm going to use it to knit a club cover for my aunt, in different colors.

And on the golf course I had to take a picture of this squirrel. He was sooooo enjoying eating his pine cone. He paid no attention to us at the tee box not 12 feet away. Stretched out as long as he could, looking a little like a squirrel rug.

And for my friends back north, a few pictures of my flowers. I hear its getting colder, possible flurries. So thought I'd share a little sunshine.

Not knitting

Reading books about knitting! Read two this weeked. The first was knit with love by Lisa Bogart. A collection of essays about knitting for charity. She was on a book tour and stopped at the Minnesota knitting group I attend. This group knits an amazing number of things for charity. I wasn't able to attend but a dear fried (thank you Marcie) got a copy of the book for me , had it autographed and sent it. I read it in a day. Now I passed it on to my Aunt and asked that when she finish she donate it to her church library. There is a very active group of charity knitters at her church, so it seems fitting that the book be passed on so others can enjoy it. In the book Lisa mentioned the book The Beach Sterret Knitting Society and Yarn Club. I lookedit up on Amazon. There was a kindle version available for less the $3. So I ordered it. It was a very relaxing read, a little like The Friday Night Knitting Club. No patterns, darn. But a nice way to spend the day.

Now I need to spend a little time knitting, instead of just reading about knitting.

looks like its gonna rain.....again

There is still a tropical storm hovering around. We never got the much predicted rain yesterday, only grey clouds. More of the same today.

Very little knitting completed. One quick trip to Target turned into stops at 4 other stores....cause I was in the neighborhood. This lead to my new cast on last night. I almost can't believe I'm knitting this....a fake fur topped golf club cover. A knitting neighbor has made a few and that caused me to have a "I can do that" moment. I will knit one for my aunt and one for myself.

Made a little more progress on my Aquataine shawl. NCIS and NCIS:LA are good knitting tv. They don't require much concentration and I find them entertaining background.

I tried roasting cauliflower last night.

Yes indeed I posted a picture of cooked vegetables. It really was yummy. drizzle with a little EVOO, some ground pepper, and I sprinkled on some Tastefully Simple Paprika blend, just because I had it. Then baked at 350 for around an hour. I would highly recommend it. I've roasted beans and asparagus in the past with equally good results.

looks like its gonna rain.

For the next two days. So I plan on "hunkerin' down" with my knitting and a movie.

On the needles

The Aquatain shawl from Ravelry. The first yarn just wasn't very pretty, but the pattern is....so the logical thing to do was to frog shawl 1 and cast on same shawl in new yarn. The new yarn was from deep in stash Berroco Softwist. Purchased a couple of years ago from a someone else's stash.Very soft! much better choice.

And a big fat cowl

Plymouth Italia Fingerpaint. A stash down from someone else. They had one wayward skein. I'm making the pattern up as I go. Will send it up north either for DD or to charity.

Put out all my Halloween decorations.

The Dept. 56 Halloween Village pieces I bought years ago. I didn't ship my Dept. 56 Christmas stuff to FL. But for some reason I needed this little piece of my MN home here. Brings a smile to my face.

Another thing that brings a smile to my face is the first bloom on my Azalea.

The plant is covered with buds. It will be brilliant.

Missing

Missing, gone, no more....that would be the description of my downloaded pdf files stored in ibooks, my music and some of my game apps after downloading the new ipad operating system. Luckily most of the patterns I had stored on my ipad were free from Ravelry and can be replaced. I listen to Pandora radio more then my downloaded music and I will slowly reload my personal music over time. I will have to decide if I want to re-purchase Angry Birds and Plants v. Zombies. I started downloading the podcasts I enjoy and in the process found a couple new ones I wouldn't have if not for the missing podcasts.

So in the end the damage will be small and I hope that the operating system will be a good thing.

But it was a little annoying at 1 am when I couldn't sleep and really wanted to listen to a familiar podcast. So there I sat searching the app store and downloading podcasts.

Connections make some/loose some

We left MN on 10/7. Back to being snowbirds. The joy of this is that it allows us to reconnect with the wonderful people we know here, the sad part is leaving DD2 and friends behind. Thanks to the miracle of the internet we always feel connected. Except that when we arrived we were not connected! Comcast said it looked like everything was working on their end, but we had nothing on our side. So we spent 4 days with no service! Monday a technician stopped by, did something to the box in the yard and after one more phone call we were live again. Connections restored! Happy people all around! I finished my "wisp of a shawl" on the plane.

It is beautiful! Light, airy, super soft. It needs to be blocked. I think it will be great here when the temps drop to chilly in Jan/Feb/March. I started socks for DD2

They are short socks out of Cascade Fixation. A free pattern on Ravelry. Since they are short with no pattern they are quick! Changed the toe to a more traditional kitchner style. Started another shawl last night watching TV. Oh we do love to watch some tv at our house! Will post pictures when there is something to see. Splurged and got a manicure and pedicure at the local beauty school. They were selling pink hair extensions as a fund raiser for Breast Cancer. $10 and all the proceeds go to cancer. So I got one.

And speaking of pink

My shrimp plant.

Brilliant combination

A fall day with amazing color and temps in the 80's. What a brilliant combination!

Struck up a conversation with a woman over magazines at Joann Fabrics. Turns out she's a newish knitter. Invited her to join the knit group I attend at a local Culver's. Think there is a good chance she'll show up.

I can see the family gene pool. The women in my mothers family all talk to strangers. I find my self often doing the same thing. It embraced me as a teen and yet I can't help myself! I'm sure somewhere my mother and grandmother are snickering.

Today is brought to you by the letter F

F is for fall.

What a beautiful sight! Fall colors reflected on a still MN lake. What you don't see is that the temp was in the high 60's.....and it got even warmer.

F is for friend, a dear friend began chemo on Friday for recently diagnosed breast cancer.

F is for finished objects. So DD's and I are trying to supply her with a variety of hats. DD2 whipped up 2 before her first chemo. I finished 2 over the weekend. The family dog is a reluctant model.

The purple is Berroco Comfort Sock yarn. A free slouchy hat pattern from Ravelry. The orange is Caron Simply Soft, the Pumpkin Beanie also free from Ravelry. She always wears a pumpkin beanie on Halloween so it seemed perfect that she should have a knit pumpkin for her no hair days.

And finally

Another I love Moss Stitch shawl, this one out of Joann Fabrics Sublime. I started knitting this for her the day I found out she was going to have a biopsy. She is allergic to wool, hence all the knits with no natural fiber. I figure this is not a time to take any chances with irritating her skin.