Garter

Well, the garter is blocked and starched. Now I need to sew the darn thing together. I looked in my craft supplies and don't have a white spool of thread. I need it to sew the bias tape to the back of the garter. It still looks too big, but I know it'll shrink down once I have the elastic sewn in.

Knitting update

I have finished knitting the garter but now have to wash and block it. I've never blocked lace before and am dawdling - gotta stop that.

I'm also playing with writing a new pattern. It's based on Mo Willem's Pigeon character.

Of course I'm in the throws of creating it right now - complete with knitting and frogging and re-writing my pattern as I go.

So far I am really woring on the butt to get the shape right.

M's Summer Story

Since summer is in full swing and M is home, we are doing our own form of pseudo homeschool in the morning. On Monday, M has to write out her story in printed letters. On Wednesday, she rewrites it in cursive, and on Friday she types the story into a Google Doc.

Well, I'm a terribly proud mom and have to share. So here goes the story so far:

Chapter One:

Once upon a time...

There lived a little penguin. She was a pink penguin.

Everyone thought she was the cutest thing! By the time she was 5, she was able to play guitar really well. She even got her own show...Rock On Toddler! The only thing is, she never talks. The only one she spoke to was her mother.

Chapter Two:

The only reason she didn't talk was that her mom died, and her dad was King.

But she couldn't go into the castle because it was a "no kids zone".

On her birthday she got a guitar and became famous!

She took the bus while making herself look like a high school cheerleader.

She lived in an orphanage and went on lots of field trips.

Her FRIENDS knew she was Princess and kept it secret.

Chapter Three (this week's installment):

"My dad killed the queen," she said. "The King killed the Queen!"

Everybody looked at her and screamed with joy.

"Why are you soooo happy?"

"Three reasons," said Beca. "One, the queen was bad. Two, you spoke. Three, we get to name you."

"Bella?" asked Trixie.

"Mary?" said Jackson.

"No. Katie!" she said.

"Katie sounds great," said Ms. Oak

Stay tuned, and happy summer!

Bird

For the past few weeks we've been visited by a strange bird - he comes and tries to get into our home every day around the same time - 11-ish in the morning. I think he's trying to attack a bird that just happens to look a whole lot like him (i.e., the reflection in the window).

I finally looked around the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site to try to identify it. We initially thought it was some kind of wood pecker - mainly because the beak was long and thin.

But I finally figured out that it's a Great Crested Flycatcher. It's really a beautiful bird.

My Brute

M and J got into this absolutely silly web site called My Brute. I finally got involved and now have two.

If you want, you can sign up here:

http://queenmargaret.mybrute.com

I'm trolling for pupils!

It's super simple, and I have to admit, a little fun.

Salsa!

Our good friends who also make stuff (cheese, beer, wine, yogurt, etc.) had us over to dinner a couple of weeks ago and opened up their most recent experiement - Salsa.

Oh, man. It was the perfect kind of salsa. I don't like my salsa chunky and I like a little heat - not something that will scorch your mouth, just a little kick.

Last Saturday, J went and picked up the Jebus food and they had lots of veggies that are salsa compatible. I asked our friend for the recipe and proceeded to make my own yesterday.

I got 6 wide mouth jar's full of salsa.

Here's the recipe (I'm putting it here so I won't lose it - I also added cilantro to the batch 'cuz I loves me some cilantro).

El Fenix hot sauce

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups green peppers
1 cup jalapeno peppers, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste

Mix all together and bring to a slow boil for 10 min.

(Note: The batch seems like it's not very liquid-y when you first mix everything together and you're gonna want to add some water - don't. The heat combined with the vinegar will break down all the veggies and it'll get nice and soupy)

Run in batches through a blender (or food processor) and then pour into canning jars.

Seal in jars and cook in hot water bath for 10 min.

FO - Baby Surpise Jackets x 2

These are for twin boys of someone I know.

I wasn't happy with the way one of my BSJ's turned out so I ripped back and re-knitted it. This one is done with stockinette instead of garter. I think I like the garter a little better - which surprised me.

Just need to sew on the buttons - which I find to be tedious.

FO - Hemlock Ring Shawl

Yeah, I know I just said I don't understand the whole shawl thing, and here I go, knitting another one.

I cast on for this shawl during the hemlock ring rage on Ravelry. I do like it. I just HATED the bind-off. Really. Hated it. It took me months to do it as I just lost interest every time I started working it.

I still need to block it - I've never blocked lace so this will be a new thing for me. I'll post a photo after I have washed/blocked it.

FO - Self Fringing Bias Shawl/Scarf

I now understand why people rave over the Brookes Farms yarns.

They are just lovely.

The Mas Acero I bought just shines in the sunlight. It's really pretty.

I was afraid of dropping the stitches for the fringe, but it worked out great.

I'm a little luke warm about owning shawls. They're pretty and all, but I just don't know how to incorporate them into my wardrobe - I live in Texas for goodness sake.

But this little shawl/scarf is really perfect. It fits in my purse and I use it now when I go into a building that has the AC on a little too low.

Yes, you cold weather people. It's almost manditory to have a sweater at your finger tips during the summer down here. You go from 90+ degrees outdoors to 60 degrees indoors - you'd freeze, too.

Socks!

I broke out my CSM machines because I have too many socks to make as I've promised a lot of people a pair of socks.

I made a pair for a church auction - and forgot to get a photo (buh) of the finished item. I made them on my LeGare.

Then I made a pair of socks on my AK - and it's interesting. My AK likes making socks on the 72/36 combo better thank the 60/30 combo. I set up my AK and had no problems with ribbing the men's sock. The yarn I used is luscious - truly. Virgin wool, cashmere, angora - man are these socks nice. They're for a friend whose son is graduating from high school and going off to college (TAMU) in the fall - hence the maroon.

School, of course, is coming to a close. I made socks for the teacher and teacher's assistant.

I also whipped up a pair of socks for me - these are made with the hand painted yarn I made from a knitting retreat in February. I am so happy with the colors. I think I have enough yarn to make a low cuff pair for my mom - shhh. Don't tell her, it's a surprise.

On the three socks I knitted on the LeGare, I've learned on my 54/36 combo to put all my needles into play on the ribber dial and have every third needle removed on my cylinder. This makes a 1x1 rib. Do the selvage the normal way you do a 1x1. On the hand painted socks, I knitted 1x1 for 20 rows, transferred the needle that is located between the two cylinder needles to a cylinder needle for a 2 x 1 rib.

I can say that I honestly don't see a difference unless I look really closely to the 1x1 to 2x1 and it makes a nice tighter cuff on the top. I'm really pleased with this combo and it'll probably become a standard for my smaller socks.

I do love my LeGare - it's really a great little work horse.