La la la la la...

Beth finished her LaLa! She was quite surprised to find that one of her stitch markers had become quite attached to the project...

Things have been humming along here at Chez Melon d'eau. Last Saturday was a case in point. Not only was it the first anniversary of our Pasadena Daytimers SnB group--a lovely lovely luncheon:

Mary and Madge, trying to get Marie to sit up and smile for the camera--those are regular iced teas, honest!

FayLynn and Annette were trying to confuse our waiter, Tyce...

Beth and Jillian, I apologize if you don't like this picture. You are both so much prettier in person. Now, Mary has a smile that can light up a room all by herself... Those gift bags on the table were from Joan,

who had filled them with knitterly goodies, most of which she had either made or painted. I need to get some pictures of them so you can see too!

The next stop for me on the busy trail was an open house/shower for my new grandson:

He had a lovely time at his party. This is mostly what he did. Actually, it's what he mostly does. At one month, I guess that's to be expected--gee, after almost 30 years, is it any wonder that I've kinda forgotten what newborns are like?

Once again, though, I had to leave. Work beckoned. Actually, it sort of stood there with a flaming sword and said, "Come!"

But, as the LaLa picture will show, the luncheon/LaLaLong was a great success. And when we gathered on Wed. for our usual free-for-all, there was show and tell!

Now it's back to work for me... I do remember thinking, once upon a time, that it would be a good idea for me to get a job. Guess it's still a good idea...

Knit Fix

Well, a girl needs some place to go to "get her knit on" and as y'all know, mine is Zephyr on Wed. Here we are enjoying the a/c (which they keep at a reasonable level) and this month's selection of art, which is pretty neat. Patty is doing a Flower Basket shawl in KPPPM and Joan is wobbling along on her tote--she's doing the back in stripes so she'll have a double design. Mary's doing wrist warmers (closeup on her blog) and Marie was trying to figure out how she did the beaded scarf. Me? Worked on the ribbing on the sleeves of Mystic, and did a few more rows on the baby blankie. It was a small group but we had a great time anyway! It was a good way to ease back into the "normal" routine and put me in a good mood to go to work!

Back Again...

...as in, There and Back Again. Successfully negotiated the marathon plane trip home (gee, I'm glad Atlanta airport has a train to take you the freakin' MILES between gates!) with just about enough time (thanks to LA freeway traffic) to feed the cats and get to my quilting class. There is just something about getting up at 5 am EDT and finally getting back to bed at midnight PDT--thank goodness for coffee!
So here are some pictures of my haul from the East:
This represents several places that I visited, including Webs, Northampton Wools, Northampton Wools Too, Creative Fibers, Sit n' Knit, and Marji's. Note the preponderance of bright crayon-y colors suitable for making baby/toddler gear... and the pattern books for baby stuff, too. I think Grandma has fallen hard in love with the new baby.

Still a little too tired to do much more blogging today--I promise pics of my finished--finished!--MOTW sleeve soon, and a few more interesting things from my travels. I'll spare you the shots of #1 grandson's graduation--we were in the bleachers and it was a little too far to focus but I have some other treats in store. Oh, okay, one more.

This is the most beautiful tree, in full bloom, on the lawn approaching the Soldiers' Home. I don't know what it is, and no one I asked did either. Any ideas?

Traveling Woman

... have Shopfinder, will shop! Here I am in the heart of New England visiting family, and wouldn't you know my Knitter's mag Shopfinder came the day I left home. So I've been making use of it, naturally. So far I've hit 5 yarn stores, with at least one more in my future before I get on the plane for home. I've been taking pictures, but since I'm on a borrowed computer it doesn't seem right to download all my yarny photos onto it. Just wait though, once I'm back on my own machine I'll make up for lost time. In the meantime, here's a shot of my grandkitten, Sam I Am. He's a beautiful Maine Coon (rescued) who lives here. He's been a little shy but so far he does love him some gramma rubs! Anyway, I guess I'm making up for missing my Pasadena Daytimers' yarn crawl and doing one of my own. My daughter-in-law has fallen onto the wagon with me--so far she's bought new needles, started a prayer shawl, and bought some velvety chenille to make a scarf. It's probably a good thing I'm so far away--she'd be knitting with me all the time! Seriously, she's a darling, and I'd love to be able to spend more time with her. But then, I feel that way about my "kids" on the other coast, too. How ever does one resolve this dilemma??
Yarn pics, and also quilt pics (found a delicious quilt shop here, too) coming soon!

Progress Report

This is my MOTW project--the Misery Loves Company Knit-A-Long, the fourth sleeve I've made for this item--as of the end of our SnB day on Wed. Now here it is today:



And a snap of the baby blankie:





Quality knitting time happens when you are sitting in a hotel room with a new baby, his doting mother, his even more doting auntie, and are his delighted grandma (me). New babies sleep a lot. They also make adorable faces. And it's entirely possible to knit, and watch the baby too!

Surprise!

So my "secret project" is a baby blankie for the little guy in the picture, who is my newest grandson! My "middle daughter" and her husband are adopting him. We think he's absolutely adorable, and we're all looking forward to meeting him. He was born out of state so there's a waiting period before he can come home.
Meanwhile, his blankie has been having adventures. It has disappeared twice, to the point where I have begun wondering if it's "meant to be." Pictures of it when it looks a little more like something besides cast on stitches!

something different?

Found this while looking around the net:

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

The interesting thing about this? French is my first language; I didn't speak English until I went to school!

Something New

Please refer back a few days to the picture of the distressed driveway. This is what it looks like today. I'll spare you the photos of the trucks and bobcat and the guys spreading the "mud" but if you really want to see, email me and I'll send you a link to the online album! On the knitting front, I did start a new project. Three times. I think the third time's the charm, and it's coming along. I hope that I will be able to post a picture of it, and its intended recipient, in the next day or two--in the meantime, I'm playing it cool. It's one of "those" situations when I need to just be calm. Deep breaths. It's hard!! We did have a busy weekend, with a visit from Eldest Daughter and a family BBQ to just be together. Unfortunately, I am going to miss my weekly knit-fix, since I have to work tomorrow. The real downer is that our SnB gang is going to the Yarn Lady Bag Sale this weekend--and you guessed it, I have to work too early to be able to go! I think I must have some bad knitting juju going on here. Between my nasty knitting funk, and the work thing messing up my knitting time, I think I need to reboot my knitting life! Maybe my current project will do the trick. We'll see! In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy life with a new driveway, just one of the first steps on the road to "getting my house in order."

Another Finished Project

Well, let's see what our friend Blogger does with these photos. I think they are pretty self-explanatory, since no one will confuse the two pictures of my finished black-and-white shawl with either the pretty rose (a David Austin variety called Sceptered Isle) or my poor busted-up driveway. This ruin is the result of a 150-year-old oak tree falling over in Jan. 2005, after all the rain. Needless to say, the driveway had been undermined by the rain as well, and the heavy truck plus many trips with a heavily-loaded bobcat took their toll. Monday is now set for the date to rip this all out and replace it with a nice new concrete driveway. We'll see how it goes. I am of course now having second and third and fourth thoughts about the whole project.

Still Stitching

I decided yesterday before heading out to my Daytimers SnB that what I have on my plate right now is a knitting funk. My projects are--well, to give you an idea, I finished the black-and-white shawl, tossed it in the washer and dryer, and it's still languishing in the dryer. I will get it out and deliver it to its new owner today, I hope. The blue shawl (formerly sweater, see a few days back) is now a LARGE ball of yarn. Other People are getting things done... this is Marie's silk sweater from Interweave Knits. She blogged about it a month or so ago http://ldymstymorn.blogspot.com if you want to check it out! Anyway, I grabbed a couple of balls of Jiffy and started another Candleflame Shawl. That seems to be my default pattern these days, and I made a lot of progress on it. Between my time at SnB--which was, as usual, very soul-soothing and inspiring--sitting in the foot dr's chair, and then the quilt guild meeting, I had lots of knitting time. Did a few more rows at the Social Security office today, too. Having mentioned the quilt guild, here's a picture of their current Opportunity Quilt (one can't say raffle, as raffles are "gambling"). Pretty thing, isn't it? The appliques are nicely done, the quilting is exquisite, and we are hoping to get lots of "donations" as this is the guild's main fundraiser this year. Most years, we've done a mini-quilt auction and/or boutique, but this year the decision was made to forego that effort and concentrate on selling opportunity tickets instead. Makes a lot of sense to me!

One More Thing Done

New rosebushes! Two of them, little shrubby ones, each in its own pot. Right now the pots look kind of overwhelming, but they'll grow into them, right? The color on these is a wonderful fluorescent red, ought to be a nice touch of color for this otherwise rather drab yard. On the knitting front, not much has been done this weekend, but I'm looking forward to a nice evening's worth of knitting. Two hours of my favorite "house porn" Extreme Makeover Home Edition, then maybe a couple of hours of CSI. Tomorrow, I hope I can blog about some progress on the knitting front. Rain is due, which means no temptation to be out in the yard instead of on the knitting couch. I'll take any respite I can from moving the sprinklers around!

More Yarny Fun

So as usual for a Wednesday, the regular group gathers for the weekly knitting, talking, checking out new books, and all the other fun stuff at Zephyr. This week we had a visit from a family who came to look at the art on the walls. The older "mom" apparently doesn't much care for modern art, but she was fascinated by our knitting. Said if she'd known, she'd have brought hers! So of course we told her she'd be welcome any time! As you can see from the picture, Joan took a minute off from her Wobbly to snap some pictures--I think she's planning to make an album. Hard to believe it, but we've been meeting for almost a year now. From a small group of 3 at a Starbucks, we've grown and grown. Such fun! Also, thanks to Marie's speedy knitting, she got both of her projects to a point where she had to stop, and to stave off boredom, she very kindly ripped my blue stole back to a point before the ugly mistake. You can see the ugly spot in the picture from last week's post. Somehow, it always seems to be easier to rip someone else's project back,doesn't it?

Misery Still Loves Company

Remember when I posted about all of my UFOs? And one in particular was designated the "Misery Loves Company" project? My Map of the World (MOTW) sweater? The one that only needs one more sleeve to be finished, but since I've already knit 3 sleeves for it (yes, something has "eaten" the sleeves!) I'm really dragging my feet about casting on that last sleeve. I mean, as in REALLY dragging my feet. In fact, this is what has happened to that poor project. Those are reams of printer paper piled on top of it.So, of course, what else can one do except cast on a new project? I got a little carried away on Mother's Day, what with the girls giving me that old "it's your day, do whatever you want to!" routine. Anyway, this is the capelet that's on the cover of Knitting On The Edge, the pink spirally thing is a practice rose. It's a special request from Caitlin, who wanted the off-white color and, well, I already had the yarn... I got this much done watching Extreme Makeover Home and Survivor on Sunday night. Yes, we were at Caitlin's, and she has Tivo. There was a good dinner prepared by Youngest Daughter (and sweetie, the cheese fondue was great!), and much champagne, and all in all a good family evening. Now to look forward to this week's SnB!

Lilac Time

Spring is definitely underway here. Lilacs just mean spring to me, and I am very very happy that my elderly lilac bush survived its Ordeal By Pruning last year. I think it was actually supposed to be coming out, but the "trimmers" left enough of it that it came back this year. Only three flower clusters, but that's enough to encourage me. Of all the things I miss about living in the East, lilacs, lilies of the valley, and forsythia head the list. Peonies, too, but then I've never been able to grow those anywhere. Well, we'll see what happens as I continue this journey of rediscovering who and what I am, now that the "old" definitions of "wife" and "mother" have given way to "widow" and "grandmother." It's rather scary out here, on my own, so I'm taking baby steps. Also, as promised, a couple more shots from Wed's SnB session--Madge with her finished Wobbly, and the "mystery yarn" blue UFO that was brought to light in my garage a month or so ago. It really is kind of pink, blue, yellow and white all blending together, with some eyelash-y bits in a shiny material. It has to date to 1988, since this is yarn and a pattern that came from Australia. These were probably bought in a little wool shop out on a farm, which had baby goats playing in a pen out in front. Cutest darn little guys! And why, yes, I did buy a couple of hanks of white mohair there as well, and it's out in the garage as well. I know a lot of people have more stash than I have, and some have older, but mine has HISTORY, folks!

More FOs!!

Today was a great day for finished objects at our SnB! Madge had her finished Wobbly Tote, Robyn finished her first sock, Madge finished another tote (black with a fuchsia skull & crossbones) and I finally put the crocheted edge on the Candleflame shawl. The color on the picture kind of washed out, the sock is quite vibrantly lilac and the fuschia is much deeper--and the black is true black, not gray. The Candleflame looks pretty good--you can barely see the blue edging along the top. It's been quite a while since I did much crochet, but it really comes right back. All it needs now is a quick run through the washer and dryer to "block" it and it will be ready for its trip to Conn. I took more pictures, but I'll spread them out a little. Until I can get a high-speed connection, uploading pictures is heavy going. Funny isn't it, how you can trundle along quite happily with something and then all of a sudden it's just not cutting it any more. Of course, last year I wasn't blogging, didn't even have a digital camera, and my computer--well, let's just say that one wasn't as good as my youngest granddaughters'. Now that I'm on the third replacement of that one, I want more more more! But, high-speed access is now cheaper than dialup, so I'm going to go for it. Tomorrow or the next day. After we find out what's wrong with the phone lines (no dial tone). See what I mean about one thing leading to another?? Much better to keep on knittin'!

Another Weekend...

Yes, it's another weekend past. Sum total of knitting accomplished: 3 rows on Birch. That's it. Did read through my new books, though: Knitting out of Africa by Marianne Isager, and the Morehouse Merino book. Both good reads, for different reasons. A couple of patterns in each one that look interesting to make, or to adapt. I guess it's a Good Thing to say that I bought no yarn, although I was mighty tempted. This really turned out to be a Shopping Weekend. Middle daughter's department store (can I plug Mervyn's here??) had a Friends-and-Family weekend where we were given cards that entitled us to her employee discount. Woo hoo! Let's just say that I am now "set" for summer nightwear and new earrings. Oh, the food--that food--that's the buffet table Youngest Daughter set out for her husband's 30th birthday party. They also had a Casino Night and other attractions. Me? I was at work, the way I am every Saturday night. It's all part of my Be Out and Around People Plan (as an alternative to sitting home feeling sorry for myself) and I am enjoying it. Maybe some more knitting tomorrow night--Monday is Apprentice Night, and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next. I am such a reality-TV fan, and the cheesier the better. Apprentice, Survivor, Extreme Makeover Home Edition--great knitting TV!

The Fun Never Stops

Wobblies of the world... presenting a couple of in-progress wobbly circles totes! Madge is on the second side of hers... Joan is moving a little slower, but that's because she's been otherwise occupied recently:
Yarny goodness! Joan was a winding machine... by the time we left, the pile looked quite a bit smaller!

This little bit of orange and yellow knitting was the start of an entrelac piece. Un-hunh. The color runs are too short, and the yarn is too uneven to look good in entrelac. Now you see it... but now you don't, because it's back to being a ball of yarn in my knitting bag. I'm sure that this yarn can be something wonderful (right, Junie?) but this sure isn't it. This is the only bit of new knitting that even survived this long; this particular ball of yarn has been knit, frogged, and reknit so many times it's beginning to come unspun. And, no, none of those balls of yarn on the table came home with me. I'm really trying not to add to the bulk of the stash. Luckily Robyn mentioned that she "has no stash"... well, now she does!

May Flowers

In honor of May Day, here are some pretty flowers from my yard. It's been a hard few years on the place, but as you can see on the right, the irises and gazanias took the move well. They were on the strip of garden along the driveway, which is slated for urban renewal soon. Saving them from the construction was a Good Thing. I was also pleased to notice that my lilac bush--which got an extemely heavy pruning last year, in fact almost came out--has a few buds. So tonight, it's the MD knitting book for me, to see if there is a pattern there for my B&B yarn. Oh, and the hunt is on for the mystery-fiber orange and yellow, too!

Equal Time

This is another of my furry babies--his name is Highland, aka Hi-Hi. He's (part?) Maine Coon, very densely furred, no voice, adores curling up in baskets and wrestling with Simon. Since he's almost twice Simon's size, you'd think it would be no contest, but this guy is so sweet and gentle it' almost no contest! The gratuitous kitty-cuteness is because I spent two and a half hours last night casting on, doing a couple of rows, and then ripping out four different projects. First I tried entrelac, with some lovely lovely Bullfrogs & Butterflies in the Happy Valley colorway. Really pretty yarn. Really really ugly entrelac. Rrrrrrip! Okay, try the basketweave pattern. Well, the edge isn't that pretty with cable crossings (3 over 3) on the second row; even less attractive, by row 6, is the striping of the yarn which covers up the pattern. Rrrrrrip! Ohhh...kay... let's see, I have some loverly yellow/orange variegated stuff that I think has longer color runs, is it nearby? Of course not, it's hiding and cowering in fear. But here's a nice seaman's scarf pattern in cables and lace, in a wonderful yarn. Cast on the temporary caston, do a row. Second row? Doesn't fit. By this time, it's dawned on me that I should probably just rrrrrripppp that out too, and go back to WIP-working. Done. Got a few more rows done on the "found" blue hairy stuff and went to bed early. Sometimes it just doesn't seem to be the right time to start a new project, does it? Hi-Hi followed me up to bed, the way he always does, and we all had a good night's rest.

Successes To Report!

Here's Madge, modeling UFO #1--the Butterfly Shawl in Kid Fur. It's kind of a chambray-blue color, a very fine boucle yarn that feels very very soft. It still needs a light press--this picture was taken before I wove the ends in, so that "tail" you see isn't there any more. I think this will be a very nice lightweight wrap, and I might actually try to make another one, in a little heavier yarn, to see how it comes out. It has Faroese-style shaping, which keeps it on the shoulders--the columns of yarn-overs do that. And, you will notice--it's a picture! The new computer is talking to the camera! Now, if only it will speak to the iPod, I will be a very happy camper. Millions of kids can use iPods... how come I can't use mine? (Rhetorical question. I'm not a kid, t hat's why!)
The little guy perched on top of the computer on the right is Simon. He's the only cat I've ever seen that has round eyes instead of oval ones, and he usually has that wide-eyed look of amazement at the world. He's small, and very friendly. Oh, I do have another almost-UFO to report too. The grey marl Candleflame shawl is bound off--I ran out of the yarn, so that was that. I am thinking of bordering it with a bit of blue; I'll take pics to show the process.