Flowers, Projects and a new Room-mate

Well I promised photos of my Peonys and here they are. I have 2 Peony 'bushes' for lack of a better term. I had 13 buds on the one near the house and only 2 buds on the one in the back yard. I love the smell of the Peonys.

This shot is my favorite one.

This is the lone bloom on the back 'bush'. Even though there were 2 buds, the other one doesn't look like it will do anything. According to the neighbor who gave this plant to me, this flower is the "old style" Peonys. I think she said it had something to do with how full or how many petals each bloom had. Anyway this is the first year that it has bloomed, so I am anxious to see what it looks like. I looked this morning and it is about 1/2 open. When I leaned down to sniff it, it looked as if it had some kind of cocoon in the petals. When I tried to look closer, a giant greyish spidery looking thing uncurled itself and tried to hurl itself at me. Luckily I know how to jump fast and scream to scare it away. Yeash!

And I got my Cross-Hatch Lace socks finished! They turned out great and they are real comfortable too. Only they are too hot to wear right now.


Now let me introduce you to my new Room-mate. I picked her up on Monday night, but she hasn't yet told me what her name is. As we get better acquainted, I'm sure she'll get over her shyness and tell me. LOL!

Yes, as you can see I have purchased my first spinning wheel. Last year I learned to spin using a drop spindle. I like it, but had my heart set on getting my own wheel. However, even the used ones just seemed to be way out of my price range. I was at the Elkhart Farmers Market Fiber Festival last Saturday talking about my yearning to own a Ashford Traditional, when Charlotte Wolf told me that our friend Liz M. had one that she had been trying to sell. Very reasonable price too. I immediately called her up and made an appointment to see her. And the rest is history as they say.

These are the accessories that came along with it. 6 large bobbins, 4 small bobbins, a lazy kate for the small bobbins and spinning head for the smaller bobbins.

I tried it out at Liz's house, but wasn't able to do much when I got home as I had to mow the hayfield that is my yard. But I will soon.

Just Stuff

I can't believe this week has flown by so fast. Not much has been happening.

Mostly I've been on a reading kick. I have been re-reading some old favorite books by Jude Deveraux (romance).

I've done a little knitting on my Cross-hatch lace socks. After trying them on, I thought I only had an inch to go before starting the toe. Well I knitted the inch, re-tried them on and somehow I still have another inch to go. Either I miscalculated or my feet have grown. Personally I'm betting on the feet growing.

I started a swatch for my Cul-de-Sac Vest. I used size 6 needles to start. I miscalculated on determining what the gauge should be (23 divided by 4 is NOT 7.something) and tried size 8 needles which was too big. After re-figuring the math (should have been 5.75) I figured out that I was getting 6 stitches per inch on a size 6 needle. I thought that might be close enough, but some of the other knitters at Bella Vita, said I should try a 5 based on the gauge ruler thingy since there is only a .25 mm difference between a size 5 & 6 needle. So I open my needle case to switch out the tips on my circular needles and I discover that the 5's are missing. OK, no problem they are probably at home being used on my cascading leaves shawl. Nope, I have dug and dug, but cannot find my size 5 tips. Luckily Hobby Lobby carries the Susan Bates Tips and even better, they are 40% off this week. Think I'll get 2 just in case.

I also started a grocery bag pattern. It is called Liz's Magic String Bag and it was published in the Chicago Tribune. (Sadly it is no longer on their website unless you pay for it through their archives) A couple of the Bella Vita ladies have made them and they are pretty cool. It of course uses a size 5 needle also, but just to try it out, I used a 4. And I grabbed some Omega Sinfonia cotton yarn out of my stash to knit with. The pattern says you need 375 yds and I only have about 218 with the Sinfonia, but I have another skein (not the same color) but I'll use that if I need it.

On to another subject, my Peonies are blooming. They are really big and smell wonderful. I currently have 4 blooming and 10 more buds that I hope will open up too. I took lots of photos, but I just haven't downloaded them. I will get that done this weekend and post them. I was trying to tell my friend McKelle about them on the phone last night, but when I said "My Peonies are so big" she said what???? She was a bit shocked because she thought I said "my panties are so big." We had a good laugh.

Speaking of McKelle, I am going on vacation with her and her family. We are going up to Ludington to go camping. Although their camping is much different that mine. They all have 5th-wheel campers and I have a lowly tent. But it should be fun. I haven't been camping since 2003. I even found out from another knitter that Ludington has a really cool yarn store called Nautical Yarn.

And now I'm back to talking about knitting. This weekend the Elkhart Farmers Market is going to be having their first ever Harvest Moon Fiber Festival. It is today and tomorrow. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow. I really should be mowing the lawn, but heck I can do that another day.

PS. I found this really neat web-site called www.knitmap.com You type in a location and it gives you a map of all the local knitting/yarn stores. You should give it a try for your next outing.

I Finally Completed Something!

I have been knitting on my Crosshatch Lace socks for so long, that I don't feel like I am getting anything done. The good news is that I only have about 1 more inch to knit before I start the decrease for the toes. Yeah!

However, I took a small break and finished up a felted bag that I started working on in June/July 2007. I used the Tote Around pattern by Janet Scanlon of Knitkit.com. And the I finally remembered to measure a felted project before I felted, so that I could know what the difference was.

Before: 15" wide x 19" tall with a 10" diameter on the bottom circle.
After: 11" wide x 11 3/4" tall with a 8" diameter on the bottom circle.

If it didn't have a circular bottom, it would almost be a square.

So here are before and after photos.


I changed the name from Tote Around to Raspberry Truffles because of the color scheme. It is knitted using Patons Classic Wool Merino. The bottom is Taupe, then stripes in Rosewood(varigated), Pink and Taupe.

PS: Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend. I painted the sewing room purple. It looks like Heffalump (the purple Disney elephant) exploded. I love it. Pictures will be forthcoming. I saw the new Indian Jones movie. It was good too. There was one seen that was kind of hokey, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Yummy Merinade!

I bought a couple of sirloin steaks this week because the local grocery store had them on sale AND you got 5 cents off a gallon of gas per pound. What a deal! I ended up getting 15 cents the day the gas jumped to $3.95/gallon.

Since I am working both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, I decide to grill one of them up. It's big enough for 3 maybe 4 meals and that would pretty much cover the whole weekend. I decided to try a merinade, which I hardly ever do. I usually use a fennel rub, but I am almost out of it and not sure where to find more. (Found on clearance table at LS Ayres) So I decided to look through the back "spring/summer" issues of my Taste of Home magazines to see what grilling recipes I could find. I found one in June/July of 2003 that I had all the ingredients for.

Here it is:
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp Worcestshire Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp hot sauce
dash or two of cayenne pepper

Mix in ziploc baggie and merinade at least 6 hours or overnight.

I made a few mods: 1/2 tsp both salt and sugar and fresh cracked black pepper instead of cayenne. OMG! I was a little leary about the ketchup and sugar, but it was great! I had a sample of it before packing it up to take to work. It was so good, that if I had had more time, I think I would have eaten half of while standing at the counter.

I stopped at the store on my way to work and bought steamer bags, corn on the cob, country crock butter(which I needed but have been forgetting), and pre-wrapped microwave baked-potatoes. I just can't wait for dinner time to get here.

Addendum: (added at 6:41 PM)
BTW dinner was delicious! I steamed 1 ear of corn for 2:30 minutes. I added a little cottage cheese to the baked potato in leiu of sour cream. Added butter, salt & fresh cracked pepper to both with the steak on the side. I was so stuffed. Too bad I was at worked because I really needed a nap afterwards. :o)

7 Random Things about me!

I was tagged by Kary of Living to Tell the Tale.

1. As a young child I believed that if you drank a glass of water while you were on the toilet going poddy, it would just go straight through. Sort of like a check value would suddenly open and water would pour out the bottom. As I type this I am reminded of the Baby Doll that wet her pants after you gave her a bottle of water. That must have been where I got the idea.

2. I was in a "special ed" class for inability to read well as a child. I don't think I was having problems learning to read, I just hated to read when I could be out playing and so was a little behind. Anyway, I never read a book all the way to the end until I was in 7th or 8th grade. I always just read enough of the beginning and the end to write an adequate book report. The first book I read cover to cover was The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. I remember that it was a paperback book that was about 2 to 2.5 inches thick. It was a Sci-fi book that I had seen my dad reading. He was an avid read and sci-fi book club member. Because he had insomnia, he would read a book in night. Anyway, that book started my love of reading. Now I get antsy if I don't have a book to read.

3. I was supposedly born 1 month late, however I just think they miscalculated.

4. I first went to college for Aircraft Mechanics. I graduated, took my written tests but was too terrified to take my oral/practical tests, so never got my license.

5. I bought my very first home in 2001.

6. I can pick up things with my toes and even pinch with them. Look out!

7. I know how to make home made authentic Tamales.

Wow, I didn't think it would be so hard to think up only 7 things about myself. It really is, but fun too. Well, I'm supposed to tag 7 more people, so here they are:

Star Shaped
Avocado Fever
Introvert Reflections
Simple Knits
Into the Day
A Week of Wednesdays
Love Your Bag Designs

The Wedding is Over (Big Sigh!!)

Yeah!! My friend Teresa's wedding went off with pretty much no hitches this last Saturday. I now realize why the happy couple take a honeymoon after the wedding; it is not only to get away by themselves, it is to recuperate from all the running and planning and setting up. I can't imagine what Teresa's stress level was, but I was so tired from all the running around that I vegged out most of Sunday and could've used a real long nap yesterday too.

Here is a picture of me and the glowing bride. I tried to correct for the red-eye, but it didn't work. Anyway, she was a very beautiful bride. The groom wasn't too bad either! :o)


It was an outside wedding and we were pretty worried about the weather. On Friday night they had the rehearsal and it was so COLD and breezy. Everyone had the shivers. But Saturday dawned beautifully. It was sunny and warm with just a slight breeze. But the breeze was enough that the candles at the alter did not stay lit. They did the 'pretend' lighting of the unity candle.

Even though I wasn't one of the bridesmaids, Teresa didn't want me to feel left out. Mark didn't want more than 4 groomsmen, so she had apologized for not being able to ask me. I graciously said thank you and told her I hope she didn't take this the wrong way, but I was a little relieved. That meant I didn't have to buy one of the dreaded BM's dresses. 9 times out of 10 you just can't wear them again. Although the ones her girls picked out were very lovely.

The bridesmaids from left to right: Amy (Teresa's Cousin), Michelle, Amy (Matron of Honor), and Leslie.

I got a pedicure/manicure done on Friday. Then joined the bride at the hotel. I thought we were going to have to start setting out the decorations (center pieces and favors) that we had made. But the staff at the new Hilton near St. Mary's College was very helpful and effcient. They did it all. That left us just enough time to run a few last minute errands for misc. items (distilled water for steamer, gift bags, Gatorade, Starbucks for the bride, etc)

Then I went along with all the girls on Saturday to get out hair done. With the bridal party, Mom, MIL, myself and other various members of the grooms family, there was about 11 or 12 of us. And most of them were getting up-do's. I just know that the stylists heaved a huge sign when the last one of us was out the door. Can't imagine how much hairspray they went through. I just know my hair was NOT moving. It was kind of nice to not have to worry if your hair was slipping or drooping. Between the spray and the teasing, it was a bear to get out the next day. I had to wash my hair twice and use an extra duty cream rinse to get the teasing to relax.

All-in-all it was a great night. Plenty of food, cake, dancing and fun.

Success!

I got the gussets done on my Crosshatch lace socks. For both socks. Then I decided what the heck, let's try the 2 socks at one time thing. So I loaded them all up and "success". Yeah! I was able to do both of them without too many problems. I have successfully completed 2 whole repeats and am working on my third. Here are a few pictures to show you what they look like now.

And I had the wild idea to try them on. Boy was that tricky with both of them on the needles at the same time.

And even better success, I went clothes shopping yesterday with my friend McKelle. I was looking for an outfit to wear to the wedding of my friend Teresa next weekend. I didn't think I would find anything, because I waited to the last minute. And you know when you look last minute, you can never find the right outfit. I was kind of torn: 1) I wanted a new outfit because it is a special occasion and I hadn't bought anything really snazzy in a long time and let's face it, I lost 30 lbs and wanted something to make me feel pretty. 2) but if I didn't find anything that was just right, I have some dresses in the basement that I had bought before I gained the 30 lbs and knew they would fit, even though I really didn't want to wear a dress.

We started our shopping experience at Kohls. I found a pair of dressy black capri's and a blouse that I liked, but neither of them really fit 'well'. They would do, but they just weren't "THE" outfit that I wanted. Our next stop was Avenue and I hit paydirt! I found a pair of dressy black capri's that fit me perfectly and 4 blouses that I liked. I knew as soon as I put it on, which one I would be wearing to the wedding. 3 of the blouses were black/white and the 4th was black/tan. Although I liked the black/tan one, I put it back because it kind of had a fall feel to it. Of the 3 left, one would have required a little tayloring, which I had no time to do and really didn't feel like doing to a $40 shirt. So that left 2. I bought both. The one I am going to be wearing is a crinkle shirt (no ironing!!!), buttons up the front and has 3/4 flaired sleeves. I love the fact that where the pattern turns from mostly white to mostly black hits right at my waist and gives the illusion that I actually do have a waist. Here is a photo of them hanging on the bathroom door.

Isn't it just fabulous? I love it!