I was grumpy and unpleasant today.  I didn’t get much sleep and then I got up and went into work at 7am for Weight Watchers, only to learn I’d gained 2lbs.  Not a good way to start the day.  Three (large) cups of coffee later, I hadn’t bitten anyone.  After lunch and 3 meetings, I was starting to perk up a little, just in time to go home.

I’m having major shoppig cravings because I’m feeling depressed.  Unfortunately, there is no Paula here to go with me and tell me it’s ok to buy things.  That depresses me even more.  At least I get to go to the yarn shop tomorrow and be enabled.  Maybe I’ll buy something soft and pretty that I can pet and keep and call George.

On the sock front, I have 2 inches to go before I can decrease for the toe.  Then I have to knit the other one (I’m trying not to think about that too hard).  What’s next?  Who knows.

As for the 4th of July, we’re not going to the coast this weekend as was originally planned.  First we couldn’t find a hotel for the 4th, so we were going to go on the 5th.  Then, Sam’s Little Red Truck needed a visit to Dr. Jason for a little brake job which turned into a BIG brake job.  Long story short, the LRT needs new brakes… new rear brakes.  It won’t be pretty on the pocket book, but in the end it will make driving his truck much nicer.  Oh well, I wasn’t really feeling like a long drive anyway.  Maybe I’ll take the time to work on my craft room some more.  In any case, there will be grilling and steak and yumminess this weekend.  And probably more pain.. There is still 3 ton of hay waiting to be unloaded.

Maybe I’ll get a couple skeins of yarn…

Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I am hurting.  Today Sam, Dad, and I went to visit a nice fellow named Darrin and help him out of five tons of grass hay.  We hand-loaded all five ton (plus ten extra bales courtesy of Darrin) onto a large trailer, Dad’s truck, and Sam’s truck.  For you city folk who have no idea what I’m talking about, a brief explanation.  My sister and I each have a retired horse that lives at Mom and Dad’s.  These horses eat about 8 ton of alfalfa or grass hay per year.  Our normal supplies hiked their alfalfa price to $250/ton this year, so we had to find something else.  I found this grass hay on Craig’s List and the horses deemed it worthy of eating (the last ton of grass we got, they pee’d on).  All in all, we loaded approximately 135 eighty-pound bales.  Think about that.  That’s lifting 135 sleeping elementary children onto a large truck and trailer.  Ok, funny visual, I know, but it gets the message through.  That’s a lot of lifting!

Anyway… This all happened in around 2 hours and we were done before noon (thankfully).  We followed Dad out to the house with only two stops (the straps came loose, but nothing major).  These stops do not include when a tree branch grabbed the strap on the way up the driveway and dumped 8 bales in front of us.  Sam and I, being the good kids that we are, just loaded them up into the truck, strapped them down and kept going.  Apparently, the truck was being rather naughty and overheated on Dad.  He was very freaked out that he’d fried the water pump, but after lunch and an hour of rest, the truck was more refreshed than we were.

We unloaded the hay out of Sam and Dad’s trucks, but left the trailer for later.  Dad isn’t the spring chicken he used to be and he’s finally admitting that.  Sam and I tried to do as much as possible, but it was still extremely physical work for two sedentary office people like us.  In an effort to avoid the inevitable pain that was coming, we went out for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Solarios.  It was delicious and probably not on my plan, but oh well, it was worth it.  I think I earned enough bonus points with the heavy lifting to make up for it.

On the needles:

Edit: I’ve nearly finished the little hat to go with the Just Enough Blanket that I finished last week.

I’m also working on the Raindrop Lace Socks.  I think they will be a gift for my Grandma W. for Christmas this year (if I don’t get sick of them and not finish).

I’m fighting a major case of start-it-itis, but I don’t think I’m going to win.  I’m feeling the need to cast on for something new, maybe a blanket or a sweater or another pair of socks or…

Well, it’s official so I can tell you all about it.  I got a promotion!  My new title is Catalog & Promotions Supervisor (I think).  Basically I get a new title for the job I’ve been doing for several months.  I do get a bit of a raise and some management responsibilities (officially), so that will be nice.

I do owe you a summary of the last of our trip.  We had a lovely family reunion.  Pictures can be found here.  I must warn you, there are almost 200 of them.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Teamwork

Family Portrait

Snoozing Sam

After the reunion, we went to visit friends in Portland.  We had dinner at the Portland City Grill (yum!) and had a lovely time.  If you can make it, do!  On Monday, we headed back by way of Abundant Yarns and Ikea.  I have to say, Abundant Yarns is glorious.  This is the first yarn shop (save my lys) where my husband sat comfortably and was not ready to go by the time I was done shopping.  They have an incredible assortment of yarns, including every color of Cascade 220.  Not only that, they have a great little cafe and a bubbling foot soaking tub!  We sat in the cafe area on a comfy couch and played for a bit while finishing our coffee.  I worked on my project and he read teh internets.  After that, we headed off to the wonder that is Ikea. Sam picked out a desk, but it was too big to fit in the car (we’re going to order it) and we had yummy food in the cafeteria.   After a very long time wandering around in Ikea, during which we still didn’t see it all (2 1/2 hours and we still could have spent more time!), we headed home.  The drive home is always longer than the drive there, but it did allow me to nearly finish a project.  With a couple more rounds when we got home, I finished the Just Enough Blanket from the newest issue of Interweave Crochet.

I think it turned out pretty nicely.  I could have done it with only one skein of each color had I eliminated rows 21 and 22, but I decided to do it as written since it was going on display at the lys.  So I’m working on a hat to compliment it since I had to break into the extra skeins of pink and purple.  There may be booties to go with it as well.

Currently, I am working on the Raindrop Lace Socks that are the June SOTM at MYSS.  I’m nearly done with the cuff and it’s a pretty nice knit so far.  I’m using size 0s instead of 2s, so I think they may be a little small.  Oh well, they’ll fit someone…

This weekend is my cousin’s wedding and the family reunion.  Sam and I decided to make a real trip out of it by taking Friday and Monday off.  We drove up yesterday (Friday) by way of a quick stop at BSG.  I procured some fabulous STR mill ends from BMFA (always my first stop), the Rock & Weave pattern by Karen Alfke (Ravelry link), a bat of brown soft stuff (I don’t remember the fiber off-hand, but it’s in a tube and squoooooshy), a paint box kit of fiber, and an Ashford student spindle (only $6.75!!!!).  Sam was a trooper and even carried my bags and petted everything I said to.  We didn’t have much time to play, so we did the whirlwind tour.  But I did make out with some nice loot!

An hour or so later, we arrived at our hotel in Salem.  We’re staying at the HoJo (Howard Johnson).  It’s not a bad place.  It’s a little older, but nicely remodeled.  The rooms are small, but comfortable (but not sound proof…).  Just a warning, no elevator, so prepare to take the stairs.

Last night we went to Thai Orchid and had what amounted to the best Pad Thai and the best Curry we’ve ever had.  Sam asked how we’re going to go back to Thai food at home.  Honestly, I’m not sure…

This morning we’re going to Busick Court for breakfast before running around Salem.  We’re going to visit the Salem Center (sky walks!) for shoes and a haircut.  Well, shoes for me, haircut for Sam.  We don’t have to be to the wedding reception until 6pm, so we get to play for a while.  Tomorrow we’ll be checking out of the HoJo and going to the Holiday Inn in Portland.  We’re going to spend a night there and visit friends (and yarn shops!), with stops at Frys and Ikea.

All in all, it’s going to be a fun trip.  We don’t have to be back until Monday evening, so we’re making a vacation out of it.  It’s one of our first real vacations since we’ve been married.  Normally we have other people staying with us.  But most of this weekend belongs entirely to us!

I know that Father’s Day is just another holiday created by the greeting card companies, but it is still a holiday for my family.  On this day, we celebrate the hardest working member of our family, Dad.  My Daddy is one of the greatest men I know.  He is the hardest working, kindest, and most loving father you could ever hope for.  It seems unfair that such a person only gets one day of celebration, but at least he got to enjoy it.  Both of the dad’s (my dad and Tyler’s dad) started the afternoon like this.

After that, we had steak, potato salad, corn on the cob, and Chocolate Glacier Cake (a 2 layer chocolate cake with a whipped center and chocolate sauce on the outside, my sister’s specialty).  After lunch, we took Dad shopping for his Father’s Day gift.  He picked out a Craftsman Orbital Sander.  It is a fun and useful gift that he is thrilled with.

When we returned from shopping, Tyler tornado had worn himself out and conked out on the couch.  (He spent a good part of the afternoon “watering” my yard with the hose.  He also watered Grandma and the dogs.)  Taking advantage of the sleeping child, I whipped up the Snickerdoodles for the party tomorrow.  My manager is having a birthday and we have been cooking up quite a surprise party.  His super hero nickname is “Flash” (It’s a long story… the short of it is that our VP compared our team to Super Heroes and the team has all been given super nick names.) because he flashes in and out of the department on his way to and from meetings.  Instead of flowers, he is getting a cookie bouquet.  On the suggestion from my sister, five of the cookies have letters spelling out the word “Flash.”

They will all be wrapped in plastic with ribbons like this.  I’m not sure what container I’m going to put them in yet, I still have to figure that out.

In the world of yarn, yesterday was World Wide Knit in Public Day.  Unfortunately, I had another commitment and spent the entire day behind a spot light at a dance recital.  In an effort to still carry on the spirit of the day, I did knit.  I am working on the Seamless Baby Kimono using Plymouth Dreambaby DK in color 202.  Here it is worked to the armholes.

I am nearly done with the fronts now, but no new pictures to show.  It is going rather quickly and I’m happy with how it’s turning out.  With any luck, it will be a gift for my cousin who is pregnant with a baby girl.  We’re going to be up visiting that side of the family next weekend, so I’d like to have it done by then.

Lastly, I found this rather disturbing bit of fungus in my ivy plant.  It must have popped up overnight because it was not there yesterday.  I’ve put the ivy outside and sprayed the fungus with tea tree oil.  I’m hoping that will kill it.  I have a feeling I’m going to have to completely re-pot the plant in order to save it.  Lovely, but disturbing.

(P.S.  My KnitPicks sock blanks came Thursday but I haven’t had a chance to dye them yet.  I’m hoping to get to that next week.)

Just a brief interlude in my day to let you know that I’m still here. :)  There are big things on the horizon as far as announcements go, but I can’t quite talk about them yet.  In the meantime, distract yourself with this…

New Knitty is up!  I’ve already queued BYOB and Helena.  I have a few projects actively going but some can’t be made public yet.  I have nearly completed the Noah’s Ark blanket, it just needs 2 more items sewn down.  That should be completed very shortly (maybe even tonight!).  I’ve also started a lace shawl that I’ll try to take pictures of soon.

Lastly, I will be in the Salem/Portland area on June 20th - June 23rd.  If you know of any must see sites/yarn shops, let me know.  We have some family events going and there will be a stop at BSG, but other than that, I’m open to suggestions.

More details and pictures are in the future, but for now, my lunch hour is up and I’ve gotta head back to work.  No rest for the wicked.

Is this truly comfort while using your laptop in public?  Personally, I think it’s a little disturbing…

I’m feeling very inspired today.  I’m nearing the end of the Moderne Log Cabin baby blanket for Molly’s shower on Sunday and just itching to start something new.  Yesterday I got the pattern and yarn for this month’s Sock of the Month club pattern from the Shoppe.  I’m haven’t decided yet if I’m going to do the split toe.  My yarn of choice for this project is Really Red from Pagewood Farms.

I also picked up a new book today called Uncommon Crochet.  (I wanted to get Crochet Bouquet too, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much all in one go.  It’s on the wishlist though…) It’s got some neat projects in it with a variety of materials.  I am especially drawn to the bags/baskets that combine crocheted pieces and fabric pieces.  I love how the two compliment each other.

I also seem to be completely pre-occupied from the discussion Kelly was having on the latest episode of the KnitPicks Podcast.  She was talking about Recipe Card Knitting.  Sort of like keeping a recipe book of your most used patterns (like your grandma’s box of favorite recipes on cards).  I have to agree with her that the log cabin and baby surprise jacket should both go in mine.  Beyond that I would definitely add the little crochet sweater from that one leaflet (yeah, I know that’s a really helpful description…  I believe it’s the Elfin Stripes baby cardigan.) as well as the top down baby sweater pattern from Knitting Pure & Simple.  Socks would definitely be in mine (including the 12 hour sock pattern I learned to knit socks on).  I’m not sure what else I would put in it off the top of my head, but it’s really got me thinking.  I’d love to have those best loved/most used patterns all in one central location.  I may just make myself a “Recipe Box” of knitting and crochet patterns.  Who knows, maybe I could use up some of those scrapbooking supplies to do it…

A last thought… if musicians suffer from G.A.S (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and yarny people have lots of S.E.X. (Stash Enhancement Experiences), which would you rather be?

Or rather, a call to put down your needles and donate. Symeon aka Pippi of PippiKneeSocks needs our help. Scout has put out a call to rally and help out a knitter in need. See Scout’s blog for details and incentive (hint: there’s yarn involved). We all know what a difference we can make as a fiber cult community when we band together. Give what you can, every little bit helps.

Literally.  With the help of Mom and Dad and the big truck, we hauled 2 cubic yards of 1 1/2″ round rock today and redid the front yard area.  There are no before pictures because, well, it was just awful.  Imagine unmowed grass/weeds/clover that isn’t sufficiently watered.  That’s how it was when we moved in and until now, we haven’t been able to improve on that until now.  We hired Ed the landscaper to dig out the grass during the week.  He sent his minions, Idiot Boy (the manager’s grandson.  I have no idea what his name is, but he’s a moron) and Oscar (a sweet guy who doesn’t speak English).  They did most of it, but never finished the back line or cleaning up. I’m going to have to discuss the amount of payment with Ed.  I don’t think it’s worth the full amount because he didn’t get the job finished.  But that’s not important here.

Anyway, what you want to see is this!

It’s not a fabulous picture, but as you can see, we rocked the front yard.  It also contains 5 decorative flat stones randomly placed for visual interest.  They have a bit of red in them to pull in the red from the shrubs.

Other than the landscaping (for which I’ll pay tomorrow), I’ve been mostly working.  I had yesterday (Friday) off and used it to get some cleaning done.  I’m not finished, but I made a dent.  I’m working on a major declutter.  In fact I’m feeling an urge to go work on the craft room (maybe it will pass).  The Yarn Harlot has been doing a “stash toss” aka an organization of her yarny stuff and it’s contangious.

Lastly, I leave you with this.  Inara makes a cute little fluff ball when she’s sleeping.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.  Do something fun and try to relax!

P.S. I made no bake cookies.  They’re delicious!