Free to Good Home

I have gotten very little done this holiday weekend, thanks in most part to this 14 week old terrier terror. It's a long story but one of my son's friends purchased this dog when she got her first job and apartment. She quickly realized that working long hours and living in an apartment does not mix well with new puppy. The landlord did not appreciate his cuteness. She brought him to me in the hopes I would find a good home for him (I am a Veterinary Practice Manager) or better yet, keep him for myself. NOT! I forgot how much work puppies are. Seriously I am a cat owner and the two dogs I have had were housetrained adults when they found me. He is going to work with me tomorrow and I will try to match him up with a client who is in need of some "puppy love". I did get some knitting done. I finished my first sock for Summer of Socks and cast on a second pair for the next two week period. I've said this many times before but knit-alongs are so helpful for staying on track and meeting deadlines. It has really made me step up my game and set realistic knitting goals. All that will go down the tubes as I am packing to leave next Saturday for rug camp. (Just like sock camp except we make hooked rugs). It's an annual event and a fun vacation. The same crew of women meet year after year every July in Decorah, Iowa and stay on campus at Luther college. It's a beautiful small picturesque town with miles of bike trails and small shops and great restaurants. We take classes, buy wool, make rugs, knit and felt and ride bikes, canoe etc. It's my favorite vacation by far. Seeing everyone each year is like going to summer camp as a kid, old friends, new ones, seasoned campers and newbies. I'll be sure to pack my socks!

It's my Birthday

I have had a wonderful birthday! I got a weekend to do nothing but play and knit, that's a gift in itself. My best knitting buddy got me this luscious yarn and a wonderful bag. Thank you Suzanne! My son got me the perfect gift for my sock knitting, a Sherpani bag! Anyone who knits socks and leaves the house needs one of these bags. They are wonderful. My husband surprised me with a Knitzi! It's on back order and will arrive later. I have had a great day. The weather is perfect and I am heading out for a bike ride. I am working hard to finish my Summer of Socks entry by the two week deadline. I'm not whipping these socks out at the rate some others are, but just keeping up with the deadline is an accomplishment for me. I keep telling me this is not a race, it's a process. At least it's summer and I am getting some socks done and that's what it is all about.

Back from the Wilds

I am back from our family camping trip. All I can say is conditions must be very favorable this summer for mosquitoes. I have never seen so many. Even covered in Deep Woods Off it was a constant battle to keep them at bay. At least the weather cooperated and we had sunny skies and fairly moderate temps. I was able to ride every day. The paved bike trails in the park and to the nearest town about 7 miles away are wonderful. Although we like to try new parks every year, I'm glad we made a return trip here. On the knitting front, Summer of Socks officially began Saturday. (Actually Friday night at midnight EST). I was sound asleep in my tent after a very long day. Saturday morning, after some camp coffee, I was able to cast on my SOS socks, Hedera, by Cookie A. I am using Panda Cotton I won in a raffle aboard SeaSocks Cruise last year. I won't be as fast as most of the participants, but it's still a fun knit-a-long and why not knit more socks. That's all I knit anyways!

Staying Dry

As everyone probably knows by now, mother nature has unleashed some wrath on the Midwestern part of this country and the last 7 to 10 days have been horrific for those in the path of the storms and the flooding. I live in the midwest and our river (the Big Sioux) crested about 4 days ago. It came out of it's banks, but the flooding was in low lying farm land. Bad for the farmers but homes were spared. Others across the state of Iowa are in much worse shape. The middle of the state eastward has been hard hit and I really feel for these people. To come home to a house that is full of mud and debri and all of your personal items destroyed must be heartwrenching. They are in my thoughts. On a sadder note, Wednesday was a night of tornados in this area and there were quite a few that touched down. The boyscout camp that was hit is within an hour of me and I can only imagine what it was like for the parents of those scouts to get that phone call.

There has been knitting. Sometimes the worse it gets, the more I knit. I finished my Eleanor socks for the Sockdown knitalong on Ravelry. I'm in limbo waiting for Summer of Socks to begin. I participated last year and it is a fun time. Basically you knit socks throughout the summer, take pictures and have fun with some of the contests. There are no set patterns and you can work at your own pace.

It's that time of year again. We leave next Friday. I can only hope it is sunny and dry. I need a vacation. Bikes are going. Knitting is going. Teenagers......yes and friends included.

I just want blue skys, dry land and good firelight to knit by.

Shoes & Socks

These are my new shoes, know why I picked them? They reminded me of my yarn. Let's start from the beginning. My son who is a junior in college and plays basketball landed a job at a large sporting goods store his freshman year and has worked there throughout school and summers. He gets a nice discount which keeps him in nice clothes, but more importantly, supports his shoe addiction. My son owns way too many pairs of athletic shoes. He collects them. For Mothers Day this year, since he knows I have a walking workout I do on days I don't get to ride, offered to buy me a new pair of training shoes. It took me a couple of weeks to finally get an evening where he was working and I wasn't and we went shoe shopping at his store. I am finicky when it comes to picking out shoes. I tend to keep my shoes for long periods of time if they are comfortable and usually won't wear shoes that aren't. This involves trying on lots of shoes, different brands, different styles etc. I finally decided on a model, but then the color choice came. By this time my usually patient son, was starting to tire, at one point he probably wished he would have just sent flowers. So on the spur of the moment I said "I'll take the pink and brown ones" to which he replied, "Really? I didn't think you would be a pink shoe person", I said "I'm not but it matches a skein of yarn I have."

Only a knitter would understand I guess. I'm actually heading out right now for a ride, the first in a while due to stormy weather and high winds.

Three Days Grace

On this three day weekend which is overcast, windy and cooler than expected, I am going to "drop out", relax and oh did I say relax? Yes I have all that I need right around me in my front room. Sometimes it's not about what you "do" on your long weekends away from work, it's about what you don't do. This weekend will not involve housework, large family dinners, trips to the city or shopping. Instead, a few movies, pajamas till 11am, reading, knitting, some nice long walks (too windy for bike riding) and little projects that amuse me. I could so retire tomorrow. It drives me insane when I hear about retired people who "don't know what to do with themselves" and go back to work. Really? Because I could so excel at retirement. I would have so much to do I would have a hard time packing it all in, reading lists, computer time, knitting, visiting, traveling. Now with the economy the way it is I can look forward to all this when I can finally retire at oh about 92 years of age. On a more serious note, I will be thinking of all those that are not with us today.

Elevating Eleanor

I still knit. I just don't get to talk about it as much as I used to. I have been keeping up with Sockdown on Ravelry and have cast on my sock for May Sock using Gigi Silva's "Eleanor" pattern. It's something I wanted to do because I had such a good time as a member of her online "Socktopia" Group. I have had all of her patterns in my "que" from the beginning. The yarn I am using is Regia stretch which I purchased last year at the Webs booth at Stitches Midwest. It was on their incredible sale table and I can never turn down a "semi-solid" my favorite sock color. This yarn is great. I would buy it in every color, except it's available in a very limited color palette and sadly it inlcludes mostly darks. I believe Meilenweit has a similar yarn with some elastic in it. I used Knitpicks Dancing before it was discontinued and the socks look like new except for some slight fading. Cascade Fixation is too thick and stretchy for me. I really enjoy the thinner fingerweights. I am looking forward to dusting off the camping equipment and heading up to Minnesota soon as the weather is finally warming up. I avoid the holiday weekends because the parks become too crowded. Tonight will be the first "Grill Out" of the season. We had to dust off the grill and clean and replace some parts and it is ready for marinated chicken breast and grilled vegetables. Now I need to whip up some kind of dessert. Enjoy your weekend!