Saturday, May 24, 2008

Off To Camp!

Twice a year I go up to the tip of Door County, WI to a folk school called The Clearing for writing class. My kids always said that it was Mom's camp. They even told people they were checking it out to see if it was okay for me to be there when I took them to see it. Today I go for the first time in 2008 for Poetry Camp. I have my laptop and printer, my thesaurus, dictionary and synonym books, my notebooks and pencils. I also have this:





and this:








just in case the words don't come. I hope the words are waiting for me up there and that I com
e home with a handful of poems (even one I'm really happy with will be great) and a bunch of balls of yarn instead of blank paper, six pairs of slippers, and a sweater back. I really do.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

One Sleeve, Two Sleeves!


Even though I spent the weekend becoming a mother-in-law (wedding stories to come) I did manage to finish the second Red Licorice sleeve!

Tomorrow I cast on the back. Dun-dun-dunnnnn. (suspense music)

I also made another pair of Guinea Pig (Three Strand) slippers with Lion Landscapes yesterday to give to my new daughter-in-law's mom last night to encourage her to relax after all her hard work making that fairy tale wedding come true. Way to go, Holly! (Unfortunately I neglected to take their picture. Trust me, they looked good and felt even better.)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

So Close to Being a Bad Mother


Last weekend, no, it was the weekend before... anyway, I gave my DIL-to-be the Desert Boots slippers because in the tossing frenzy before they came home from CA she tossed her old ones. (I thought, how much room could they take, but then I've been in those kinds of frenzies before so I understood.) She was happy to get them. Then last Friday DS came over for lunch and I asked if he minded that I'd made just her slippers. He got that endearing little boy pout on his face and said, "I didn't mind that you made her some first." Now, what mother can resist that? So instead of finishing the second guinea pig slipper of this yarn that I had just cast on I knit a man-sized pair of slipper boots. Lovelovelove the yarn--knits up great, nice and bulky, and the color pleases me on some elemental level--it's this in the Deep Sea colorway.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Fern Feet *Edited*


I'm still on the slipper jag, even though I should be knitting on my Red Licorice sweater sleeve. I am knitting on it, I am, aiming for at least 8 rows a day, but I can't resist quick knits. I promise to "sleeve" while I watch TV after supper. Cross my heart.

These are made with this pattern and Patons Rumor, which is evidently discontinued because it's not on the Patons site. Too bad, because it's nice acrylic and alpaca yarn. The only change I made to the pattern was I used US 11 straight needles for the first 18 rows so the stitches stay on the needle and don't sproing off the recommended US 11 DPNs.

*I decided to give these to Mom for Mother's Day anyway. She'll figure out a way to get them on, I'm certain. And I had the idea of whipping up a pair for each of my roomies at writing camp in Sept. so I'll have to make a few more pairs. Aw, too bad.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Secret Projects Revealed



Last night was the couples wedding shower for our son, David and his bride, Abby which means I can finally put pictures of the things I made for them on the blog. The shower was hostess-ed by six of Abby's mom's friends and it was very nice and a lot of fun. Abby's brother and his wife came from Minneapolis too. The food was terrific. What is it about hors d'oeuvres that makes you want to eat only them? I could have stood next to the kitchen island and scarfed down cheese and rumaki (water chestnuts wrapped in bacon) and taco dip and cheese and dates wrapped in bacon (to die for but they're really hot right out of the oven) and did I mention cheese? The main meal was 3 different kinds of brats, German potato salad almost as good as Mom's, sauerkraut, some yummy baked beans and a grape salad. I'd never had it or heard of it but it's red and green grapes in a sauce of vanilla pudding and sour cream topped with brown sugar and chopped walnuts. Now that's my kind of salad. Oh and nearly everything had Nueske's bacon in it or on it. That's the best bacon on earth. So basically we ate cheese and bacon with some pudding-topped grapes on the side. With apple kuchen and cream puffs for dessert. Everything was delicious. For entertainment there was a beer and wine tasting game, which I totally sucked at, and a song or two by Jane who can really sing but can't come to the wedding. Then the gifts were opened. Finally. I was getting impatient, I can't imagine how eager David and Abby were. Fortunately, our gifts were a big hit because we worked hard to make them just right. I crocheted a ribbon and pearl purse for Abby and knitted a stuffed beer for David (it says Laundry Room Ale on the side which was the first beer he ever brewed--in the laundry room of his army barracks in Ft. Lewis, WA). Here's a pic of them opening Don's gift, a treasure chest full of things for them to take on their honeymoon to Bonaire. Get your minds out of the gutter! It's pictures, brochures and restaurant recommendations from Bonaire that Don collected when we were there in January to share with them. Tsk. You people.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Desert Boots Done!


Actually, I wouldn't recommend wearing these in the desert since they might be a bit too warm but their real name is Dorm Boots and I don't live in a dorm and the name of the yarn color is Spring Desert so I'm calling them Desert Boots. I could call them Dessert Boots when I'm eating my nightly bowl of ice cream but then I'd feel like I should be having dessert for breakfast too since I wear them when I get up in the morning and I try not to eat dessert for breakfast. Sometimes I do, but mostly I eat healthy things like bagels or cereal or, if I'm feeling very healthy, oatmeal with dried cherries. Anyway, here's the picture of the finished Desert Boots.

I'm quite impressed that I managed to knit two pairs of house slippers out of 4-55 yd. skeins of yarn and have about a half a skein left over. Imagine that.