Finally doing a post!

Haven't posted in a while but I have been knitting alot! I've found with blogging, ravelry, facebook, etc. it's just too much to keep up with. I would rather be making something than spend all day on the puter. I even deleted my facebook page. Never posted to it anyway.
Now about my knitting! I bought a digital scale from Amazon so I could weigh my left over cones. It took 2 days but I got them all weighed and labeled. Then I made a spreadsheet with all of my yarn and how much I had. It really is nice to look at the list and in a few minutes I can see exactly what I have instead of looking thru closets. I also made a spreadsheet of all my gauge swatches. I have a lot of machine knitting mags that are old and the yarns used in them are no longer available. With the spreadsheet I can look at my gauges and see if I have a yarn that is close in gauge to what the pattern calls for.
I've also been making a bunch of short sets for the summer. I used up some 10/2 cotton and made a top in thread lace with matching shorts. I've also made several tops in different tuck patterns. I'm really liking the tuck patterns!
Right now I'm working on a housecoat pattern in 2/20 in tuck. I saved this pattern a long time ago when I first got my machine as something I wanted to make. It called for a 4 ply angora look yarn that is no longer made. I tried the 2/20 doubled up but decided that was too thick for the weather here. I wanted something light. I also found a site that has old machine knit mags and this pattern was actually in it! I've got the back, 1 front finished so far. Each piece is 798 rows but it goes pretty fast. I had some problems on one of my tops in thread lace when I had to rip out a row so I'm not knitting too quickly. It's a real pain to rip out the tuck stitch and get everything back in line. That's where I messed up last time, I got the card on the wrong row or something.
When I put up my winter sweaters I went thru my clothes and decided to rip out some sweaters I made last year. I messed up on one and it's too short and the sleeves are too long. I had the wrong measurements in Knitware. :( Another sweater is just too short. I love the colors so I want to reuse the yarn. One is a dark green the the other a dk turquoise.
I also made a bunch of stuff at Christmas for family. Mostly just hats, scarves. Oh yeah I also learned to hand knit! I even managed to knit a lace scarf at Christmas that came out really nice. It was made with some MK yarn that was like a brushed acrylic that was a green/grey marl. Really nice yarn, wish I had more of it!
Since the weather has gotten warmer I've been working in the yard every day all day long. My lillies are doing great! My lilacs bloomed like crazy this year too! First time. I don't know if they just weren't old enough or if it was the extra water but they smelled soo good! They are the dwarf Miss Kim variety. If we can get thru this weekend hopefully the weather will settle down. We have what we call the 'Memorial Day curse'. Not matter how nice the weather is we always have cold/crappy weather on Memorial Day weekend. My lillies are so big I don't have anything large enough to cove them. Hopefully it won't get too cold. Later..

Thrift store finds!

Boy did I get lucky today! I went to the local thrift store and found a bunch of knitting books, some purse handles, some tiny crocheted buttons, and a lot of rick rack all for $11! Woo hoo! The best part is I got a book by Michele Rose Orne called 'Inspired to Knit' and it is full of gorgeous knits! Retail is $24.95! :) and I got a book called 'Needlepoint in Miniature' by Nancy Noland Kurten.

Today has been a bad day

Let's see, where to start, hmm at the beginning I guess. Several weeks ago my hubby found a heater that was 95% efficient. Ours is 15 years old and not going to last much longer. The more efficient ones have no pilot light, I think they are electronic. Anyway, he called a local installer and set up an appointment. The man assured us it would fit in our manufactured home. The day before the appointment, they called and said they had overbooked and couldn't make it. (overbooked?!) So we set up another appointment, which was today. Guy came out took some measurements, called the boss, he came out, and guess what? It won't fit without making a lot of changes which would include a carpenter moving walls etc. or not being able to get to the washer. He has another unit that is only 90% efficient that he knows will fit but will cost him $2000 and then there's labor and parts, so that ain't happening. We were both really bummed out about it so I decided since the weather was reasonably nice I would go pull some weeds. While I was pulling weeds next to the grape that is climbing on the patio I noticed a big hole in the gravel next to the 4x4. I thought it was a mouse hole but when I started digging around I realized the bottom of the 4x4 was rotten completely thru! I went and checked another one and it was rotten too! Shit! These 4x4's, 6 in all hold lattice work that covers the patio with the appropriate stringers for support. So now we have to figure out how to disassemble the thing and take it down without someone getting hurt. It's been there for 15 years so the screws are probably not going to be easy to get out. I still don't understand why the wood rotted, it was supposed to be redwood which shouldn't have rotted. The guy that put it in also did our front and back steps, now I'm wondering if all of the posts are rotten! I tried to call him to have him come over and look at it but he didn't bother to call back.  I just hope we don't get a bad windstorm and the whole thing comes crashing down into the house. Now every time I walk under it I get the heebie geebies. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
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Nice day and yard work!

Let's see, haven't posted in several days. Saturday had a get together with K at my house this time. She was the teacher and she brought over a knit pattern for us to work on together. It's called the Fertility Blanket but we are doing a scarf. It's called fertility because it looks like female genitals. LOL And it really does! It is a wavy pattern in the vertical with a bobble in the appropriate place! So far so good on the pattern. I've done about 3 or 4 repeats and it's looking like the pattern. I had a couple problems with some of the rows but I think I fixed them.

A while back K and I went to a thrift store and I found a neat cross stitch pattern of wild Mustangs. It's done in all one color. I decided to make it for my living room to go over the wall above the windows. I was thinking today of painting the frame on the wall or maybe getting some material and putting it up there. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. I may try out a couple ideas in Paint Shop Pro to see how they look together. I don't want the background to overwhelm the picture.

Had a really nice day today. It was cool with a little breeze but perfect for digging in the yard. Got the side beds turned over and put some more manure in. The sand is finally starting to smell like dirt! Hopefully next year it will be more soil and less sand. It seems to take about 3 years to get everything broken down and built up. I planted Cleomes, French Marigolds, put down some Alpine Strawberry seeds. I did that last year by our grape and it came up last year and made it thru the winter. Maybe I'll put down some more to make it a bigger patch. Those berries are so good! I also planted some more Nightstocks. A few have come back from seed but I really want to keep them coming back. They don't open until the evening and they have a wonderful scent. I also put down some more Hollyhock seed and put some of the French Marigolds and borage in the front bed. The old Hollyhocks seem to be coming back but I put down more seed to make sure I get some, in case they get frosted. They really block the wind. Everything looks really good this year. The French Tarrogon is coming on and the Columbines look really nice. Must be all that bird poop! LOL The bed for the Columbines is under the Honeysuckle where the birds hang out.
Oh yeah, tried the food color dyeing in the microwave! The yarn dyed! I didn't put enough color in the water so it's just a regular green, was supposed to be Teal. Will have to try again. I also found some more color mixing recipes on the net. I have some Mary Lue's wool that is WW but not sure I need socks that thick. I like the regular sock yarn. They sell undyed yarn at Knit Picks so may do that. It was fun tho'!


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Pics of summer top

 This is the finished top I was experimenting on. Considering I changed things up it came out pretty well! The main part was knit circular so there are no side seams.

 This is the bottom edging done in a picot, cabled rib. I really like it! The straps came out well too I think. It's hard to see the detail but it has an eyelet row on the edges and a doubled stitch running down the middle. The left side of the strap is the front, the right is the back. Knit in Bramwell Savannah 100% cotton.

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A night of observing!

Got my telescope out last night! The sky was so pretty and clear and it's been quite a while since I've done any observing, really enjoyed it. The last couple of years we've had a lot of cloudy days, which is kind of odd for this part of the country. In fact today it was cloudy and misty all day. Supposed to be more of the same for the next few days. They are even calling for snow in the mountains and valleys. Snow in April out here is just downright strange! 
The last few days I've been working in the yard getting it cleaned up and compost put down then last night observing I think I've overdone it! It was kinda nice that today was cloudy and rainy as I couldn't go outside and work in the yard! After cleaning house today I was just too pooped out to do anything else so I just laid down on the couch and listened to the wind  and just relaxed.


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Copper King Lily pic

I remembered taking a pic of that lily so I went searching for it. This is from 2009 but still shows it well. Could've  sworn I took one last year tho'!

I like taking pics of my yard so I can see how things have grown. The bed is full now with the lily, creaping carnations in the back and mexican primroses in the front. The lily has a half circle concrete border on it too. Their natural habitat is Africa in the flood plains. When the the spring rains come the plains flood and then the lilies come up and they stay in the lakes until the water dries up and then they go dormant. For some reason this one has done really well. I had two other ones I planted on either side that never came back. Go figure.

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