Well...

I have spent more time on my book blog than here, obviously. We mostly skipped Fall here, Summer was officially over Nov. 17 when the temp went from nearly 80°F on the 16th to freezing and snowy the next day, haha. Until then, the weather had been unusually mild.

And with the cold comes the knitting! I am much more motivated to knit when it's cold out, haha. I finished my Blackrose socks in Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Socks That Rock, Morticia colorway. I love them in all of their purple and black glory! Now I am knitting a blanket square with the left over yarn.

It's weird not having a sock on the go though. Must be time to look through Ravelry again, see if I can find something fun to start. I am getting quite a bit more confident in the knitting now, changing patterns to suit me (I kind of winged it on the heel length, gussets and even the toe shaping of my Blackrose socks, haha. I got about 2/3 done with the 1st sock before I decided I didn't like the heel as written and tinked back.).

Next up is to umm, finish the thumb on the 1st White Witch Mitten and then cast on for #2. Maybe have a full pair before winter's end?? Maybe?

I'm stash knitting now, since I still haven't gotten a job and I have dental bills from hell to pay and therefore no yarn budget at all. Most of what I have is bits and bobs of sock yarn. I see multiple blanket squares in my future.

I have a ton of red cotton that I bought to make a Cherry Bomb, but it's been hibernating for so long I think it probably needs to hit the frog pond, since gods only know where I stopped, haha. And frankly, who wants to knit a tank top in winter, haha.

I even walked in to the teen's room the other day and found her knitting again, so apparently she's also decided the change in weather means knits!

Finally, some rain.

Like I said in my previous post, it's been super dry and hot here.  Yesterday we got lucky and things cooled off early.  Yay, for being able to open the windows before midnight!  We also got rain off and on all night.  It's now starting to rain again, which is brilliant.  First because, you know, cooler weather.  Second, because I don't have to water.  My container garden needs watering every day.  The tomatoes get a gallon of water each, most days.  The jalapeno, not so much, but it still needs watering.

Then there is the little yard out front that while there's no grass, still needs watering for the lilies and the bushes and the two sad trees.  One was dead on top, so last week I sawed the top half off.  The other one is an evergreen, that is mostly red.  If it were my tree (we rent), I'd have cut it down by now.

Of course, as I watch it hail and absolutely pour down on my plants, I am a wee bit worried for them.  I would normally pull them inside but I opened the door and got a face full of water, so hey, you're outdoor plants, deal with the rain.... And 2 of the tomato plants are over 5 feet tall, so not easy to move.  Strangely, the two tall plants are not the same type of tomato.  The one to the left is an Early Girl, which has multiple fruit on the vine, the other two are Big Beef plants.  The jalapeno is finally about to flower!

And I do like the rain, now that the hail has stopped. Plus, it's Colorado, so I give it a few more minutes and the storm  will move on.  And then the humidity will come back, haha.  We're not supposed to be humid, we're in a high desert climate.  But today the Midwest was way less humid than we were.  What's up with that??

And on that note, I'm going to go open all the windows again, watch some ghosty shows on YouTube and knit on my newest sock, Black Roses for Morticia.

Summer

Summer is officially here. It's even damned hot here in the foothills. Unlike a lot of the west though, we've been lucky *knock wood* We've had two small wildfires started by lightening, but both were contained the same night. Which was good, because we're tinder dry right now, after having a nice wet spring.

The good news is, my tomato plants are loving it and are flowering madly, with a few baby tomatoes on one already. The jalapeno, well, it's not as happy this year. I think we went right from too cool to too hot for it. It comes inside in the afternoon, as soon as the temp hits close to 90°.

As for me, as a result of the warm weather, the knitting has slowed down. Who wants to knit wooly things in 95° F weather? (Although I did just ball up a skein of yarn for a new pair of socks, and I also just finished another blanket square) So I've been spending a lot of my time reading. I am pretty well hooked on Cozy (though I hate the term) mysteries, as can be seen on my book blog, Give Me a Book. I have had a great time with NetGalley, getting books and reviewing them.

Sadly, this genre is being hit by major cuts. The genre is glutted. I mean, you name a subject, there's a cozy mystery based around it. Like popcorn? Yep, there's a popcorn shop mystery series. Cheese? Yeah, there was one of those too. Knitting, soap and candle making, crochet, paper making, scrapbooking, tea shops, gluten free bakeries, spice shops, the list goes on. Ever looked in the mystery section at your local bookstore? You're spoilt for choice! And even I can't read everything, haha. I certainly can afford to buy everything.

And a lot of those books are "Write for Hire," meaning that the publisher comes up with the basic idea, and the writer just fleshes it out in to a full-fledged book. So when the publisher says, "no thank you, we don't want any more" there's nothing the author can do. The author in fact, usually doesn't even write the books under their own name, think Carolyn Keene and Kathryn Kenny, of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden fame.

No matter what, it means that some of our favorite mystery series have to go. Many contracts weren't renewed, with little to no notice, so we'll never see closure for some of these series. That makes me sad.

So I am doing my little part, asking my library to purchase the books I can't get, posting reviews on my book blog and Goodreads. Meanwhile, I've read some great books lately. And a few not so great as well, but those are few and far between.

Meh.

It's weird, because I usually love this time of year, but right now I just can't get into Halloween.  I have my two wreaths up from last year, and that's it.  I do love the cooler weather.

The sad thing is this meh attitude is creeping into everything.  I had a huge pile of library books, and I would guess that most of them went back to the library with only a chapter or two read.  A few of them were good, and A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire was outstanding.  I'd been waiting for that one and it was so nice to read something that lived up to its promise.

I tried a few new series, some I thought were ok, and I'll give the next book a try, some of them just made me want to never read another thing by the author ever again.  Yes, Jim and Joyce Lavene, I am talking about you!

One cool thing that has happened, the kiddo has joined her Knitting Club at school and is knitting hats for the homeless and cancer patients.  We knit together a few nights a week while we watch CSI on Hulu, haha.  I'm working on her second pair of socks in the Greenwood Fiberworks Stardust in Watercolor that I bought in April.  We decided on the Vanilla Latte pattern, because it has just enough detail to make them fun to knit and it doesn't over shadow the pretty yarn.  I'm about to the point where I'll need her to try the first sock on so I can see when I need to start decreasing for the toe.

The scary thing is, after these are complete, I am out of sock yarn!! Hubby seems to think I have enough pairs of socks and that I should find something else to knit.  :(  But I love the portability of socks.  Instead, I am going to start knitting my own hat.  The kiddo bought me yarn for Christmas last year, and I think I am going to use it for an Acadia Cap.  I love the thick, warm looking band and I have some leftover sparkly red yarn that I think will make the band even more fun.  And really, it's time to push myself out of my comfort zone and try something new and the cabling on the band is a good place to start cables.

We're also going to go pick out some material this weekend so I can make Isabel a knitting bag.  She's using one of my backpacks , but since it is knit, it's not the best thing for a project bag.  She's got a ziplock baggie inside actually holding her needles and bits and bobs.  I offered to sew her a bag with some pockets that she can keep stuff in instead.

My plants are crazy, my little cherry tomato is slightly confused about the season, there must be twenty tomatoes on it now and at least that many blossoms.  It and my jalapeno have moved into the house for the winter.  We'll keep them going as long as we can.

The kiddo also lettered in Academics for last year.  And she was elected VP of her Interact Club (The Youth version of Rotary).  What started as a mandatory class project ended up something she enjoyed and has continued with.  So proud of her!

Back to School

Tomorrow is back to school night for the kiddo.  Though she's not really a kiddo anymore, since she's 15 and about to get her driver's permit!  Normally I would skip back to school night, since she has a good idea of where all her classes are, but she's taking an AP class this year, and we need to get the info for that.  Blech.  Of course, G gets to skip it, because he has to work late tomorrow to get ready for inventory.  He's working his fanny off, trying to train someone to take his place so he can finally move on up!  *Crossing my fingers that it actually happens this time*

It feels like fall at the moment.  Last week we hit 97°F, ick.  But the last two days we've been in the mid 70s during the day, and down in the 40s at night, with some pretty wild and wooly rain storms, causing me to bring in my vegetable garden, as G. calls it.  No rain tonight, but the plants are going to start coming in at night, I think.

Really, there have only been a few nights this summer that we haven't been able to turn off the AC and open up the house to the cool air, but I am really happy when I can just leave the house open all day so I love this cool weather.   Yeah, I know, we're sure to go back up in temp in the next day or two, but I am enjoying it while I can ;)

I finished Isabel's socks, and a blanket square with the leftovers, today.  Tomorrow I will ball up the other yarn I got at the Interweave Yarn Fest (that I talked about here.).  Going to go with the Vanilla Latte pattern, since it's a little different without too much pattern getting in the way of the color (and sparkle!  We can't forget the sparkle!).

If you hear someone cursing loudly, it will be me, as my yarn invariably tangles, haha.

Pssst...  Halloween is right around the cornet!  Along with all things pumpkin!  I love this time of year! 

Summer is nearly over

The last month has flown by.  My gardening efforts this summer have paid off much more than previous years. I have a ton of jalapenos on my plant and still more flowers on their way to being peppers. My cherry tomato is doing well, we've gotten probably 10 or so, so far, with a ton of babies on the vine and a ton more flowers. Sadly, I shocked my regular tomato plant to death trying to put it outside after living inside for months. Next year I will know better. They go out for a short period each day, getting a little longer each day, until about two weeks pass and then they're set. And I think I will go for two regular tomato plants, since really we eat them more and we've not gotten enough cherries at one time to put in anything. But I still consider it a successful crop :)

Also learned, next year the jalapeno will go in the pot I have the cherry tomato in, so the cage will support it a bit.  The tomatoes flat out must go in 5 gallon buckets again, because having to water twice a day means the cherry tomato isn't holding hardly any water, since by afternoon it's wilted :(  Also, the buckets are heavier.  Right now, my tomato falls over at the slightest gust of wind.

Strawberries aren't doing much, but that's to be expected of first year plants. Hopefully we get a nice return next year.  Just have to mulch and stick in the garage and, this is key, remember to water at least once a month!

If hubby's job has been a pain in the ass.  They've been promising to transfer him to sales, but it keeps getting put off.  If it does finally come through, we should be able to save some money and once the kiddo is out of high school, think of buying our own place (and maybe actually be able to help her pay for college!). Then I will have a small garden (though I will likely still have containers, raspberries choke a garden out fast, so I'd love a big barrel planter for them) Of course, if I have a garden I will need a drip feeder for it, since we're so hot and dry in July and August.

Kiddo goes back to school in 10 days! I'm thinking I should probably start looking for a job, lol. It's been nice just hanging out, but don't tell anyone, I'm getting bored! I've gotten Isabel's second sock in Rainbow Bright nearly done. And I have read a ton of books this summer. And watched probably way too many home construction shows on Netflix, haha.  And law enforcement tv, there's a lot of them out there now too!

(Not so) Tragic!

One of my Buffalo Feathers socks, made from Buffalo Wool Co.'s Tracks, sneaked its way into the washing machine this week. Hubby found it when transferring everything to the dryer. It has a big ol' hole in the sole! I have leftover yarn, so I am going to try and repair it. I'm ever so sad.

Better news, my kiddo finishes school this week. She already has a reading assignment and a paper to write on it over the summer! Wow. I think she's going to find her AP Human Geography class a bit more of a challenge next year. She rarely had homework this year, but I think that will change, at least for this class.

I kind of find it amusing that this whole Common Core (crap) deal is supposed to more prepare kids for college. Really? Maybe college has changed since I was there, but my professors NEVER accepted late work, nearly every teacher my daughter has now, does. How is that teaching kids to be responsible? I think that it's gotten to the point where it's easier to accept work late than it is to argue with parents that their "special snowflake" didn't do the work on time and therefore didn't pass the class. And teaching kids to add 15 + 5 using a gazallion steps isn't going to help a kid in college!

Why yes, CC really annoys me! As a result I joined the Opt Out Movement, and kept my daughter from taking the PARCC tests this year. I heard way too many negative things about the tests and the way they are scored.

OK, I will step off of my soapbox now. ;) Have a great rest of the week!

300 days of sunshine?

Not this year! We finally saw the sun this evening, after a pretty wicked thunderstorm. Everything is still saturated, and the rivers and streams are over-flowing their banks. Hubby actually got "stranded" at work one day last week, when the river over-topped the highway and they closed the road. It re-opened that evening, so he got home ok, but I am ready for the rain to end. Of course, then the heat will come, and all the snow in the mountains will start to melt and we'll be flooding again. Ah, life in the Rockies! ;)

The kiddo's 1st sock in the Rainbow Bright is finished, with the second sock maybe a third done. I've been working on it pretty sporadically, between books. I just can't stand audio books, so that's not an option, ever.

Isabel is just about done with her first year of high school, and her first year of LISA. She still loves it, and seems to have come out of her shell a bit, thankfully. She'll likely take driver's ed this summer. Eeeeeek!

Spring

It's cold. And raining. Like lots of rain. So now Winnie the Pooh is singing in my head,"And the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down, in rushing, rising rivlets." Funny thing is when I looked it up on youtube the first one was in Swedish, haha.

It's good, we need the rain, but everything is already saturated, which means the rivers are rising. Obviously, it's nothing like the big flood in 2013, but a lot of the areas that are starting to flood are still recovering from that flood. Hubby works in an area that they're still fixing the roads, and the roads in and out of Estes are still not permanently fixed. (It's sad driving up highway 34, the river is so changed and there are still houses that must be condemned, but haven't been pulled down yet. The dam along 34 that used to have a lake and a rest stop is completely gone. But I digress...).

Anyway, I think we'll get some lovely wild flowers out of in when it finally stops raining. And of course, being spring in the Rockies, we're also under a Winter Storm Watch at the same time as we are under Flood Warnings. Ahh, spring :)

In other news, I'm still not working. I'm going to try and pick up something part time, but I also think it might be nice to spend a summer with my kiddo before she flies the coop in a few years. And she'll have her driver's permit soon, so that will be loads of fun, haha.

Yep, tomorrow is her 15th birthday, and she's asking for Driver's Ed. Watch out Northern Colorado!

I've put my Barn Raising Quilt squares on hold again, since I'm knitting the first sock out of Rainbow Bright for the kiddo. I'm at the gussets now, and it's a pretty basic sock, so if I actually sit and work on it in the next few days, I should have it done. Just in time for warm weather again, oops.

When I fall off the wagon, I fall hard!

I fell off the yarn wagon yesterday at the Interweave Yarn Fest. My daughter actually pushed me, hahaha. I brought home 2 gorgeous,sparkly, skeins of sock yarn. Oh yeah, I am part crow, because anything shiny grabs me!

Western Sky Knits Twinkle Sock in Rainbow Bright & Greenwood Fiberworks Star Dust in Watercolor

Both are destined to become socks for the daughter ;)

Highs and Lows

Yesterday was the Estes Park Wool Market. The kiddo and I headed up just before 9 AM. It was a lovely drive, but about halfway there the kiddo started feeling nauseous. We rolled all the windows down and opened the sunroof. She was still feeling pretty crudy when we arrived, but we gamely headed for the alpaca tent. Meh.

From there we went to my favorite place, the vendor barn. I have to say, it was a bit of a let down this year. One of my favorite vendors wasn't there this year. I'm sure there were A LOT of disappointed people, since the Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co. booth was always packed in past years.

I did pick up a gorgeous skein of Brooks Farm Acero.

Brooks Farm is always a treat. It's likely detined to become a sunhat for me, possibly Delilah or Windansea.

And I found a new vendor, The Buffalo Wool Co. I bought a skein of their sock yarn, Tracks in the Freakin Red colorway.
It's already on my needles making it's way toward becoming a Feather and Fan sock. I knew bison was soft, but oh my! And they had a blend of bison and camel that I practically had to be dragged away from!

We headed for the food vendors after that, since the roasted cinnamon almonds are always a treat. Normally after that we get a smoothie, but the vendor wasn't doing them this year, just crepes and lemonade. Sad 12 year old girl :(

Last but not least, we hit the Paco-Vicuna tent. They are the sweetest little beasties, EVAH! I loved the "bangs" on this little girl. She was very curious, and came right up to the fence to see us (and look for treats, lol). Her fleece was actually on a table next to her, ooooooooooo so soft! And yes, VERY pricey!

While I left with some lovely wool, I couldn't help feeling a bit let down this year.

But it could be worse. Just north of here there's a huge wildfire burning, 20000+ acres and no sign of containment. It's burning through some beautiful county, filled with historic ranches and buildings, and a lot of homes. We can see the smoke plume from our deck. This evening in a show of terrible beauty, the sunset was glorious. Pinks and purples, reflected in the smoke.

Crazy Quilt Update and other cool things

The weather turned lovely and cool last week, then wham! Shot right back up to 80 today. But it's still very much Fall around here. I have a 3 day weekend to enjoy, so I see much knitting being accomplished while I watch spooky-ooky shows on TV.

I have 7 squares complete, and I plan to lightly block them tomorrow, just so I can see them laid out and pretty, lol. I shall also take pictures! I promised the kiddo a pair of socks, since the very girly ones I knit for her are already too small. *Sigh* I will likely cast on for them tomorrow, but....

I MUST knit this first!

Isn't it cute?? It's Ninja (duh) from KnitWit, by Katie Boyette. So many cute patterns in there, but this guy is first and the DD is asking for a pink one as well, hahaha.

Edited to add: 10-17 I have most of my ninja's head knit, even after having to go back and unknit a row to find my start again after rearranging on my needles to discover I lost my stitch marker along the way, lol. I need to get some polyfill so I can start stuffing him as I knit the rest.

What's the capital of Ohio?

Just watched the season premiere of Glee. Ok, watched is a bit of a stretch. Fast forwarded, more like. Hmmm. Glad to see more of Blaine, hope it doesn't become the Blaine show. Loved Quinn's new look, can she move along now? Glad to see Rachel taken down a notch, or two or ten. Still adore Kurt.

So far, Fall tv just isn't really doing much for me.

There's America's Next Top Model, re-run edition. Didn't like most of the women on there before, why should I care about them now??

Then there's Project Runway. Or as I now like to call it, Project Extra Sleep. Boooooooring. There's not a single person on there that I am rooting for this season, most of them I just want to see go home! Thank goodness for DVR, since I can fast forward to the end, see the finished product and listen to the scathing criticisms, lol.

As a result of lousy TV and a lack of books, I have gotten some knitting done. One of the ugliest socks I've ever seen, and by the end of today I shall have another square for the Crazy Quilt completed. The sock was done in a yarn I wish I had never bought. Full of different lengths knotted together, and really much better looking in the skein than knit up. And the second skein for the second sock is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more red than the first.

But the square is fun, it's got little bits of glitter in :) Probably why it knit up so fast, since I love it, lol.

Edited to add: Argh. I'll say it again, can Quinn just move along now? I find this storyline personally disturbing and sad. the Quinn-witch is a selfish, spoilt brat and only thinking of herself, not of her child. We have enough me, me, me! with Rachel & Santana. Move along, nothing to see here....

Speaking of Rachel. Really? Like Finn doesn't have enough issues without her trying to plan his life for him, just so she can be happy?

*Sigh* I will keep DVRing it, but I'm not much liking anything to do with the main characters, though I love the fact that there's more Beiste and the fact that Puck really seems to want to be part of his daughter's life. Though again, I would like to see him do the right thing and tell Shelby what the Quinn-witch is cooking up.

So...

Not much has changed since I last posted. We're even having Cornish Pasties for dinner again tonight ;)

I've finished 4 squares for the crazy quilt, and I've another sock on the needles now. last few squares have been very pastel, and I felt the need for bright. So now I am knitting up my bright orange and red Bonkers yarn. And it's fitting, since what better way to celebrate autumn than to knit autumn colors?

Yes, fall is finally here. At least for the last two days. We've been in the mid-70s and I love it! Windows are wide open, all except for the dinner hour, and then once the house has cooled back down after dinner the windows open again. Wonderful!

We've had one rather significant change. The kiddo started junior high a few weeks ago (Ack! My baby!). And with that comes trumpet lessons. So we have a sick goose in the living room at the moment. But she loves it, so I guess my ears will recover ;)

And since Blogger decided to eat the rest of my post I'm going to stop here. I've got a heel to turn. See y'all in a month, lol.

No new picture but...

My first square is coming along nicely, I'm about 16 rows from calling it done. I mentioned to my daughter that I only had "70 more squares to go" and I thought my hubby was going to have a heart attack! The idea of me knitting 70 more pairs of socks just about sent him over the edge, lol. But 70 was a bit of an exaggeration, as there are only 36 squares. Still, the idea of that many more pairs of socks is a bit much for him to handle. But I think I can get 2 squares per remainder ball, and I have 3 pairs of socks completed, one on the go and another sock kit ready to go whenever. So that could be 10 squares right there ;) Only 13 more to go after that, lol.

And I already know which yarn I would like next, well, which yarns I would like next as I love several Blue Moon colorways ;) Pepe le Plume, Puck's Mischief, & the Incredible Shrinking Violet to start! Apparently, I am into purples now ;)

Wonderfully woolly!

We went up to Estes today for the Wool Market. This year the weather was most cooperative and it was not too hot, not too cold and definitely no rain or snow! The kiddo and I had fun walking through the vendor barn (or the Yarn Barn, as I like to call it). I bought a lovely sock kit with hand dyed yarn, and nearly bought another ball of sock yarn, but they didn't take plastic. It was a booth for a large somewhat local store though, so the kiddo and I will likely be taking a trip to Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins soon ;)

The lamb booth didn't have any ground lamb this year, so that was a disappointment, but the cinnamon almond vendor was there as always, this year I bought the biggest bag he had (the kiddo ate all of my small bag on the way home last year! I was livid, my once a year treat, gone, waaaaaaaaaaaaa. Not this year, lol).

There weren't nearly the number of llamas and alpacas this year as there have been previous years, due to the equine herpes outbreak we had late last month.

But we did meet some famous names!

For instance, here we have Barak O. Llama!

And we can't forget country sensation Toby Keith! Well, the goat version anyway! And he certainly lives in the country ;)

Oooo, pretty!

Shibui Sock, Anime colorway

I saw this yarn last weekend and it just screamed SPRING! So I bought it. It is so bright and cheerful, yet so unlike anything I would normally buy, haha.

Those bright skeins shall become (hopefully) these socks. I wanted something more than plain jane socks, but the last lace socks I attempted pissed me off something fierce and I went back to simple socks. Hopefully I can handle the Emily pattern ;)

Girly Sock #1

Complete! Time to cast on for sock #2. Woot!

The kiddo's socks

I am working on the gussets on sock #1. It's going so well I am a little scared, lol. But I have my lifeline, so I think it's all ok for the moment ;) DD loves they way it is striping. Narrow stripes on the cuff, a bit thicker on the heel flap, even thicker as the heel turns and now back to narrow around the foot.

Done and Done!