Felt Like Knitting

Some random things I've learned recently

Nutella is very, very good.  I bought my first jar yesterday and was surprised that Nutella tastes just like Ferrero Rocher candies.  That shouldn't have surprised me since apparently the same company makes both products.

I should also not be surprised that the weight I gained over Thanksgiving and Christmas is not coming off because I keep eating leftover treats.  And buying Nutella...

Have you heard of CouchSurfing?  I hadn't heard of it and I doubt I'd get involved, but what a cool concept.  It sounds like a bed and breakfast but free and you really could be sleeping on someone's couch.  The friend who told me about it had positive things to say about it even though she had a somewhat scary experience with it.  The key is to make sure your host has lots of positive feedback.

Okay, okay... it really is a good idea to read through a knitting pattern before one starts a project.  Mary says she always reads through her patterns before she starts.  I'm usually in a hurry to just start so I take a quick glance then jump right in.  Last night I started Villemo and had 16 rows done (fortunately short ones) when I realized I was supposed to be increasing every once in a while.  I ripped out half the rows then knitted more later in the evening.  It's coming along and it feels very soft because of the Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

And this last item is not something new to me, but it might be new to you.  Are you familiar with the comic strip Zits?  It's my favorite and it's my life.  Really.  The main character is a 16 year old boy and my life's main character is a 17 year old girl but that's about the only difference.  This comic strip is so true and so funny.

Happy weekend, everyone!

My little big kid

My daughter got her license recently and I have to tell you it is a really weird feeling to have her out and about on her own.  I've never had a problem with her being out with friends or whatever but one of us always dropped her off and picked her up.  And I want her to be independent...it just feels strange.

So how could my grown up girl want this?

Emma wanted a hat with ear flaps so I'm using Thorpe and adding the features of the other hat.  I feel like this project has been going forever because I haven't worked on it much.  Maybe I can finish it up this weekend while she's out driving around.  :)

Happy knitting!

Odds and ends

Peony time!

Hi there, everyone!  Life has been pretty busy and I haven't taken the time to blog.  (I haven't read many blogs lately either.  Hope you are all well!)  I've had some people inquire about my safety during the tornadoes.  We're fine in our part of Georgia and I feel very blessed to be able to say that.  Thank you for your concern!

Holy Week and Easter are a busy time of the church year for the Worship & Music team at any church.  From that point of view, I breathed a sigh of relief when Easter was over.  :)  But I loved, loved, loved the worship service we had!  It was a joyous celebration.  One of our band members called it "Easter to the max" and I think that fits.  Another special thing from that day was "flowering the cross."  (The poor photo quality reminds me of photos from the 70s and 80s!) 

Did you watch "the wedding" this morning?  I didn't think about it until after I was done checking my email.  They were just starting their vows when I tuned in on my phone - almost missed it!  (Okay, I have to say that I think it is really cool to be able to watch on my phone from across the globe.  I guess it makes me old to think this is fun or unusual.  But when I was growing up, people would have just read about it in the papers the next day.  Would it have even been broadcast here live?)  The music in that service was beautiful, wasn't it?  And the wedding dress?  Fabulous!

Prom is this weekend.  And a friend's play.  And a couple of meetings.  I guess this is a busy time of the year for anyone with kids in high school!  I hope you all have a great and safe weekend.

 

Soggy Monday

Hey there!  Things got kind of busy and I'm way behind on my blog reading - and writing!  We had a really rainy weekend and it's a little soggy outside.  

While I as away from my blog, I celebrated a birthday.  It was so nice and relaxing!  Steve and Emma gave me a Bluetooth headset so now I can talk on the phone and knit at the same time.  Love it!  Of course, I could also do chores when I talk but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.  ;)  My friends made me feel so loved, too.

About the same time I started worm composting.  After a day thinking that I was killing them, I can say now that the worms are doing well.  My mom and I keep joking around about her "grandworms."  Below are pictures of their house, their bedding, and the worms at work under the bedding (sorry for the blurry photo!).

          

I have a ton of things to catch up on today so I'll close.  Later this week I'll share what I'm knitting - a shawl and a sweater.  A sweater?  That doesn't happen very often!

 

Shaking it off

  It's amazing how many more cherry blossoms there are after just a few days!

Today's Ten on Tuesday topic is a fun one but I don't have a list.  And yesterday was pretty much wasted so I don't have anything interesting to share.  I spent most of the day getting my car repaired (8AM - 1:30PM) then ran home and took Emma to the mall so she could visit with friends.  This was followed by a quick salad then a church council meeting.

But today I am going to shake all that off and get some serious work done.  (I especially have to shake off the car repair.  Toward the end it was not a good wait and the repairs were expensive with more promised at the next service.)  Monday is my day to do the laundry, clean out the fridge, make a grocery list and clip coupons, and get the trash gathered.  None of that happened yesterday aside from getting one load of laundry done.  Fortunately I don't usually schedule much for Tuesdays so I should be able to get caught up.

I can get a lot done each week when I am able to stick with the schedule I've developed.  (Sticking with it is often a problem!)  How do you divide out your chores and responsibilities?

 

Wow!

We don't often see this much snow around Atlanta (about 4.5 inches).  It was really pretty out there this morning.  I shoveled for about an hour (which used up close to 500 calories according to my Lose It! app).  Then it was on to making vegetable soup, spaghetti sauce, playing cards with my in-laws and Steve, and doing a little bit of laundry and knitting.  

I hope that it is safe and warm wherever you are!

Edited to add the current Atlanta traffic map.  I've never seen this much yellow/orange/red before!

 

Paperwork

A belated "Merry Christmas" to those of you who celebrate.  We had a nice, relaxing day.  In fact, I didn't change out of my pajamas until I decided to get a shower in the late afternoon.  And then I put on pajamas again!  Nice...

We had a white Christmas this year.  According to what I've heard, it's the first one here since 1882.  It sure made it pretty outside.  Church was cancelled yesterday so I got two pajama days.  :)

And what did I do?  Watch movies - no.  Knit - no.  I cleaned!  Two of my brothers are coming down and I got ready for their visit.  I've mentioned before that I tend to move piles of stuff around when people come.  This time I finally attacked some of the junk.  Yesterday I went through two boxes of old school papers and here is part of what I had to recycle...

What a relief to have that sorted out.  Now I'm on to another bedroom, getting groceries, putting a roast in the crock pot... and I just got a text that they are only 6 hours away.  Time to get back to work!

Annihilation

If you have gotten to know me through my blog or in person, you might say that I'm kind of a quiet or reserved person.  Not today.  Today I'm showing you my other side.  The side of me that likes the sound of this:

annihilate:  to destroy the substance or force of, to cause to cease to exist, to vanquish completely.

We have a fruit fly problem.  And I am on a mission to destroy conquer annihilate these little pests.  I Googled and found a list of ideas and have tried a few.  I really am a little shocked at myself at how satisfying it is to kill these flies.  I usually catch and release things I find in my house, but there is no mercy for these boogers.

*  Swatting:  Effective?  Fair.  Satisfying?  Yes!

There is something very satisfying about swatting one into oblivion.  But then there are the residual fly parts on the cupboard door.  Plus did you know that fruit flies carry yucky diseases?

*  Bowl trap:  Effective?  No.  Satisfying?  No.

This didn't work but I think it's because the hole size wasn't right.

*  Hair dryer:  Effective?  Okay.  Satisfying?  Yes, fun even.

The idea is to suck them up on the intake side of your hair dryer which pulls them into the heating element.  It's fun to see them get sucked in but often they fly away before the dryer gets close enough.

*  Oven trap:  Effective?  Very!  Satisfying?  Very!

I recommend this method.  I sliced some bananas onto a plate and let the flies wander in until there were about 25 of them on there.  "Slam!" went the door and "whoosh" went the gas.  Except that I forgot what temperature was suggested and I set it at 450.  When I told Steve about the technique, he said "Yeah, I think you got it hot enough."  Mwahaha!!!

*  Keep things clean:  Effective?  Yes.  Satisfying?  Ugh.

This is harder for me but more effective.

May your weekend be bug-free and full of knitting!  I'm off to wash some dishes...

Long weekend with lots of knitting

This Labor Day weekend is turning out to be great!

Friday I had a teachers meeting (I'm teaching beginning praise guitar) and later in the afternoon I made it to Cast-on for the afternoon KAL (which this week was just like knit night).  I worked on my Seagrass Lace Socks for a few minutes before I went to pick up Emma where she was getting frozen yogurt with friends.  Yes, I did get some for myself because it was hot waiting in the car.  :)

On Saturday I met a fellow Raveler at Cast-on and we had a great time.  We have a lot in common!  We both bought yarn and buttons for Never Not Knitting's Shawl Collared Cowl.  I got Rowan Cocoon in the Clay colorway.  When I got home, I couldn't resist and I cast on right away.  The weather was beautiful and I was able to sit out on the deck.  Steve and Emma were at Dragon*con so I had the afternoon to myself and got a lot done.  Then we grilled out for dinner - such a nice day!

"Fargo" from Eureka and Emma (dressed as "Claudia" from Warehouse 13 )

After church yesterday, we constructed a geodesic dome in the school playground.  I think the kids will really have a great time with this and it was fun to put together.  In the afternoon/early evening there was... more knitting!  The cowl is done.  It's almost done drying and I'm hoping to sew the buttons on later this morning.  I love quick, fun projects!!!

Today promises to be fun, too.  Emma needs my help with an assignment for her creative writing class.  She's supposed to sit at Starbucks and "people watch" then write about three people she sees there.  Drive her to Starbucks and knit while she's working?  I'm all over that!  But if she doesn't get out of bed soon it's not going to happen.  Because this afternoon I'm going to make cards/knit with Mary, Lydia, and friends.  Guess I'd better get moving!

Have a great Monday!  Are you doing anything fun?

My Friday

I've been wondering if knit blogging is decreasing in popularity.  It sure seems like it.  This morning I read an article from a couple of years ago.  One thing from the article that stuck with me is that people often post about a finished project but not the process.  Now, I don't know that anyone wants to read about my knitting process :) but I thought it might be fun to see what today was like for me.  There is knitting involved so it can't be that boring, right?

Last night I realized I hadn't cast on the right number of stitches for today's LYS KAL so as soon I got up I finagled the increases to get the right number of stitches.  Knowing the stitches aren't quite right bothers me a bit but not enough to rip it out and start over.

Then I did a little cleaning so one of Emma's friends could come over.  Her friend's mom and I went to lunch at another friend's house to discuss the drama program.  The lunch was fabulous!  (In fact, I think I used that word several times while we were eating.) We had barbecued beef sandwiches, potato salad made with red potatoes and bacon, make-your-own salads with wonderful toppings, and a terrific, still hot from the oven peach cobbler with homemade whipped cream.  Wow!  I'd like to eat lunch there every day!!!

After that I went to my LYS for the beginning of their latest KAL.  Since I had already cast on and worked a few repeats I already have something to show.  Wanna see?

The yarn is Malabrigo Sock in the Primavera colorway.  The pattern is Wendy Johnson's Double Eyelet Rib sock.  I really like how the yarn looks in stockinette better than in the eyelet rib pattern but I'm still happy with it.  The color changes are just a little too contrasting for me.  Mary is using a Pagewood Farm yarn - I think it may be Fruit Freeze.  Anyway...the subtle color differences in her yarn will really look nice in the socks.

Then I played with the dog and now it's back to cleaning.  We're having a 16th birthday party for Emma this weekend.  It's a pool party but rain is forecasted so that means the house needs to be ready as a backup plan.  Here's the first thing I'll tackle...

Most of my yarn is ready to go back into my room after going through the freeze-wait-freeze process.  Guess I'd better get to it.  I hope you've all had a fabulous Friday and are looking forward to a great weekend!