april showers

... rain today is good for the plants.. good for the earth... good for me.. i like the rain - especially when i can smell it coming...

a pattern today is another blogger's pattern - a felted bag that uses up all your "dregs" of feltable yarn. There is pattern work to keep you interested. You can see the bag by clicking the word bag here. I don't have any additional pics of this one - go on - go look at it i bet you'll like it...

i am in the decreased ankle areas of my sfs socks. over the weekend purchased some toiletry items to include when i get to sending point.

hope all works well in the rest of the universe....

beginnings..

... there are beginnings all over... spring is here.. flowers are peeping up... trees are blooming... and live begins anew...

... over on the bbca - a new season of Robin Hood began last night - watch it, come on you KNOW you want to...

... in socks, i am almost to the point where i can drop down a needle size to help my ankle shaping ... almost have 8" on each rib and need to get to 12 before the heel...

... in patterns - received this free sock pattern via email (leah thanx) - i've not used maizey yarn and have No affiliation whatsoever... just like to post patterns ... lol

in other things... oh well!

it's a podcast type of thing...

this blog has been mentioned in sherrill's Belle of the Ball Podcast - welcome if you are visiting from there... hope you find something interesting for you...

today will be an "in and out the window" kind of day... so i hope to be able to write a bit more later... there IS a pattern to look at though - it is a Knitty Pattern called Tudora - the pic here is from a ravelry member called Madhatter and I thank her for the opportunity to post it for you to see... can you NOT see these stacked up in a basket for quick gift giving.. knit now and you won't run around crazy later.. come on you KNOW you want to....


sherrill mentioned bbc - and yes, i am and i do... and in that particular vein.. two pics from one of my faves - The Vicar Of Dibley.... Geraldine... Jim... harry...pics are from the "finale" a Wholly Holy Happy Ending....

music... One Republic... everyone else probably already knows... but i didn't... Come Home is one... and (Say) All I Need is another... remember the youtube thing is just for listening... if it is a video i will sooo say it is for the video. If you like youtube videos about period dramas, you have to check out two of my favorite "filmmakers..." Heathdances and Spikebint. there are others but these two.. la di dah di dah...on my way out the window - hope to be back later....

Inspiration - thy name is...

...Ravelry... why didn't i think of this before? immerse myself in ravelry and the inspiration will come back to me.. (come back to me...) - i belong to several groups on the Ravelry site - but the one i landed on is called Bags Bags Bags. There was a post from a member ticking off mesh market bags and she mentioned Eliza's Nest Bag - the picture i am using is of one by ravelry member Juliaemily - free pattern - however NOT worked in the round - you can fix that, can't you? come on, you know you can...

Then there is the Everlasting Bagstopper - a knitty pattern by Amy Singer - the picture is also used with thanks to her for posting it on knitty and ravelry... this one is knit with hemp and has purchased handles but it has an interesting fold in on itself principle that could make you want to make at least one....

i posted a different mesh bag yesterday without a picture because my computer had decided that yesterday (and apparently today) are not days to capture... what... ever... wait - wait - it worked! here is the fantasy bag that has its link in yesterday's post...

i knit socks again today. Funny enough my right hand thumb is sore from (probably) gripping the stick too tightly (hockey reference - gotta do something to make myself remember other teams are still playing...)- but i am getting to the point where i should be slipping down a needle size and i am feeling in the need to order a few more sets of harmony needles - it's a sickness (gimme gimme)....

music... i am still listening to V.A.S.T. - the songs i am looping are ONE MORE DAY and FLAMES ... off the chart of different - and why??? i am listening to an old rendition of Return to Me by Dean Martin... do NOT go there since i explaining it will not help... (thanks YOUTUBE for making it so easy to let people hear music...) and a favorite of all is Lifehouse's FROM WHERE YOU ARE which was written for a friend who was killed in an auto accident... matters not how they left the plain... just that they did... and how lovely and wonderous that someone took the time to write music about it.

I Will Be

I've taken photos! There is a picture of my finished Men's Large BBS (Big Black Socks for Socks for Soldiers - Join the Group - come on, you know you want to) and the Green Socks that will be BBS once they are dyed at the end of the day! Joining Socks for Soldiers gives you an easy and friendly way to learn how to knit socks. And if you learn how to knit socks, you will never - NEVER be at a loss for a gift for someone ever ever again. Everyone loves the treasure of a pair of hand made socks caressing their feet - either hiding in work shoes like a secret, or pampering their feet at the end of the day at home...

Also took a picture of my cupboard with my most recently "caked" sock yarns... yum... and and and... maybe a floral pic or two - if i am feeling expansive!

Socks are the priority right now and i am knitting them. I knit them on 2 circulars and knit them concurrently, which means i need 4 circulars in the same size (well mm size anyway - they can be different lengths) and i love love LOVE knit picks harmony/options needles. I have the set of interchangeable needles and love working with them. For anything smaller than a 4, the needles are not interchangeable, but they are still lovely to work with. The nickel plates ones are slick and have a nice point, but the harmony wooden ones have sharp little points that are terrific for sock knitting - and the cables DO NOT KINK OR GET CURLY! i cannot say enough good things about them. I have had two break - and they have been quickly and courteously replaced. so ... there is nothing to lose here... N O T H I N G.

Music: sorta kinda hooked on Leona Lewis - but not the song you think of when you hear her name - the song i love is I Will Be. As before, links are to youtube so you can hear the song, not necessarily for the video...

Was sent a link to a neat looking market Bag for the summer - Called the Fantasy Market Bag - it was sent to my via my local knitting group leader, who always finds the neatest things. There is a good deal of support on Ravelry for this project too.

My blog - this little world of mine, will be featured on a podcast this friday 4/25 - Called the Bell of the Ball podcast it is done by a lovely person i've met on Ravelry - check out the podcasts here and get ready to be entertained!

i am in need

... of inspiration... my "extra" socks are done... and my SFS socks are humming along.. and i've caked up lots and lots of lovely sock yarn... so why do i feel like i need someone to pinch my behind into next week?

i don't know... do you?

April 16th is not the 15th...

... and on the 14th the taxes got mailed. so there! done done done done done... done done.

i am concentrating right now on working on soldier socks. come on, join the group and knit some socks for our military family overseas. You KNOW you love knitting socks - you KNOW you do - so come on over and knit some for men and women keeping the US safe. Everything you need to know is in the files when you join... come on - you KNOW you want to...

i am not going to knit anything else until these socks are done - and when they are - i will be sending them to be dyed. Then i will start another pair. i've let them drift and barely done an inch some days... they should be long finished but i admit to digressing to make a pair for someone who is ill and needed something "footwarming"

Spent the weekend celebrating the anniversary we spoke of last week. P&B were here and loved seeing them and spending time with them. Had a very lovely dinner Saturday night... and a win sunday night to make me smile again.

done

i've expended far too much energy on doing them, i shall not speak of them again. taxes are done. i hate taxes. i hate knowing i have to do them. i hate doing them. that is all - carry on.

today is a special couple's 30th wedding anniversary - how does one stay married to the same person for 30 years? for 32? for 2 even? got me...heh heh...

working on socks - lordy i am sounding boring ...

ritorna me...

Taxes are a 5 letter word

i've been working on them off and on for over a month.. time to put pen to paper and get them out of my hair... today .. not tomorrow or the next day.. TODAY... i hate the shedules stuff and what is gain and what is loss and why... excuse me... why didn't i take them to someone to do???

as to the personal stuff - there be boulders here - let us just let it lie.... i am knitting socks and nothing else. have not been on ravelry in a few days so i don't know exactly what is going on there... but i did get a cute pattern for a bookmark that looks like little socks from my local knitting group pass along...it is a Cat Bordhi pattern but i can't post a picture since the only one i could find is on the pdf. Check it out, you'll like it.

New music - One more Day by V.A.S.T. - also their song FLAMES - i use youtube just so you can hear them - not for these videos by any means...

but if you are in a mood to see a beautiful video based on the BBC (BBCA) show Robin Hood (there are spoilers if you are a watcher) go and check out Somewhere by Heathdances - or her latest Pride and Prejudice video Breathe Me - they are so worth the check-out - i find a good deal of good music this way - Matt Nathanson is also worth a look - but i don't have a link right now...

come back to me....

it's april...

...but the winds of march are upon us and the rain of april too... the cold has retreated a bit...the red-tailed hawk lives behind our yard in "no man's land" but has been reticent to allow me to photograph him. I've got my deer fence and the "deer spa" is finally officially closed. now let's see if it works!

I've been working on the "second" socks and soldier socks besides. nothing else really interesting on my plate - as i want these socks done, washed and posted to their recipients in a weeks time. done with the legs on all of them - for some reason k2p2 goes faster for me than k1p1 so that will always be my leg of choice on soldier socks (and seconds -wink)...

My Knitting Calendar had the cutest baby girl pullover called "Bunny Hop Baby Ruffled Pullover" and it is by Crystal Palace Yarns Dawn Leeseman - www.straw.com - i have not done it, nor have i worked with the yarn but somehow that little ruffle got to me. There are a bunch of patterns on Crystal Palace Yarns site... maybe there is another one that you would like better...

I am reading NORTH AND SOUTH by Elizabeth Gaskell - for reasons obvious to some and oblivious to others, and it is an interesting read. There, as always, is so much more personal development of characters in a novel than in a movie. But... I do love seeing characters already in my head when i read. Especially TDHCMO characters.

Listening to Lifehouse quite a bit, and Snow Patrol and Leona Lewis... letting the slow music allow me to breathe.