Walking & Biking Route

I'm sparing you a photo of me pedaling on the trail, mostly because I feel like I look cool but a photo would prove that I look like a middle-aged, overweight woman on a bike wearing a red and black helmet and a goofy grin. I keep meaning to take the camera when I walk or ride but always forget. Julie has a camera phone and took a few pics for me yesterday. Yay!

This is from the boat launch up toward the Hwy. 172 overpass a mile away (it's the blue line through the sky). We walk a mile past the bridge and back on our morning walks.

Here's what it looks like when we're almost back to the start, and beyond the boat launch parking the trail continues on through DePere and down the river to Denmark. (No, Denmark, WI, not Europe.)

This is a part of the trail that we especially like because the trees arch over. Can't wait until more leaves turn colors.

I rode my bike the way we walk and am convinced that it's uphill both ways--or it could be mostly flat but my legs are in crap shape. It's pretty along the river and behind fancy houses. When I grow up I want to live by the Trail so I can play on it every day.

Startitis Isn't A Disease It's A Condition

I'm weak. I think we've established that here, here, here and here. The wanton expenditure of my "mad" money until all I've got left is a little "out of sorts" money has happened time and time again, but it makes me feel so good that I don't try to stop. I just refuse to use a credit card or check for any of it. If the green's not in my wallet then there's no buying happening. Works for me.

I was very intrigued by Karla's scarf the other day. She used Debbie Mumm's Traditions yarn which JoAnn's has discontinued. (boo!) I found a skein of green and one of brown at JoAnn's the other day but no others. I did find a few people on Ravelry who have single skeins that they're willing to sell so I've got messages out to them, and have heard back from one of them so I'll get that $$ Paypal-ed off tonight. Back to Karla's scarf. She has a stitch-a-day calendar (I think she said) and picked out the Purse Stitch, cast on 24 stitches on US 10 needles and knit, well, purled actually, away until it was as long as she wanted it to be. I loved the shiny greenness of it. I cast on one with US10 3/4 needles (because that's what I grabbed) and Patons SWS (because I was drawn in by the russet). First I cast on 24 stitches and knit about 6" worth but it was too wide, so I frogged it. Then I cast on 12 stitiches, but that was too narrow, back to the frog pond. Now I've got 16 stitches and it's ju-u-ust right. (You can call me Goldilocks. Teehee.)

I Shouldn't Be Allowed Out Alone

I ran errands yesterday. I had a list. A firm list. But it was a cool and sunny day (my favorite) and I foolishly thought that we were in the home stretch getting the rental unit ready for a new tenant. I went to Stein to get a bag of crocuses for $6.99 because my current crocuses have the seasons confused. They're up now, just the leaves, no flowers, and nothing happens in early spring when I really really need them, so they're going out and new ones are going in. You can see them in the center of all those shiny packages with the pretty colored pictures of flowers on them. If you look closely you can see the small neon orange sale stickers on each one. (Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!) I'm a total sucker for flowers on sale. I don't mind digging in the dirt and getting all messy either. I used some of my stash of mad money buying them.



My next stop was at Jo-Ann. I wanted to pick up one skein of yarn, ONE!, to knit a narrow fashion scarf like my knitting friend Karla was wearing when I saw her last week. I had a bunch of coupons in my purse. Big mistake. I walked up and down the aisles, up and down, since they'd rearranged all the yarn I needed to look at it all. Every. Last. Skein. I consulted with a stranger who is making a lap robe for her dad and was conflicted about colors. I fondled the needles a bit. Skeins kept jumping in my cart. Turns out they're discontinuing the yarn I wanted to buy one of each color of, so I had to look at all the rest to find others that would be adequate to my needs. I picked out a bunch of good single skeins for scarves. I bought a copy of 60 Quick Knits too because all the books were 25% off but forgot to take a picture of it. I've already cast on, knit a dozen rows, and frogged the first scarf. I'm starting again with half as many stitches. See? That's it at the lower edge of the photo. And that's what happened to the other half of my mad money.

Late in the afternoon yesterday I loaded up my bike (I need to name it) and rode the northern end of the Trail through downtown. The trail goes under the bridges over the river and the middle one, the Walnut Street Bridge, has a lovely steep chute-like tunnel to ride through. I pedaled like a madwoman to zoom down and shoot back up; it was lovely. One of these days I'll remember the camera so I can show you where I ride. I guess I rode about a mile and a half, one way. It was nice. I meant to go again today but scrubbing the stove at 1508 kept me at home. Grr.

Post #500!!!

In some ways I'm surprised that I've posted that many times, but in others I'm surprised that it's only 500. It's a nice round number and I've got just a few more dives racked up in a much longer time, but then posts don't last at least an hour each and they're not weather-governed here in the frozen tundra of WI, home of cheeseheads and most of the nation's toilet paper.



I have knitting to show you. It was very slow at the dive shop this week so I got lots of sock knitted. See? I finished the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up, knit and decreased the gusset stitches, so now I'm ready to knit down the foot toward the toe. I'm very pleased both with the pattern and the yarn.




Last night I picked up the 198 yds. of Mochi shawl again. I need to tell you that the blue doesn't stick out like that in real life, it's much more on the same level as the other colors. I love the soft feel of this yarn. Thanks, Dusty, for letting me yoink it out of your stash and give it a new home where its vivid colors are appreciated.





I was going to knit more rows on the Red Marl Sweater front but I left the gray marl yarn in my other bag so I couldn't. Drat. Maybe tomorrow, if I don't have to paint more next door.

More Birthday!

I love it when special days stretch out so they're more than one day. Like yesterday I went to lunch with DS and then to the zoo to feed the giraffe which was my Mother's Day gift from him and his wife. She had to work so I'm hoping that we can do lunch someday too. I miss seeing her. I could stand there all day feeding the giraffe. It was great to go after school started because I had Hodari all to myself. It was also good that I left my purse in the car because I'd have kept buying "browse" for him to eat just so he'd stay there by me and let me touch him.











Today a knitting friend popped into the dive shop and gave me this absolutely fantabulous bag that she had made. It's got fish! I. Love. It.








And when I got home there was a package from DD with a card with Mr. Rogers on it (his mom knit all his TV sweaters for him, did you know that?) and 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn. It's gorgeous and totally yummy. It might be going to become Fred and George socks. Or something else but it gets to be next, I'll tell you that. Thanks again, DD! I love you.

High "Ew" Factor

I mowed the lawns today, making sure to be outside for the flyover before the Packer game. Four fighter jets screamed over in a V formation. A neighbor stopped by to chat for a minute and I looked down at the grass when he walked on before restarting the mower. At first I thought a dog had pooped on the lawn, but when I looked closer (yeah, I know, I'm not right) I realized that what I was looking at was some sort of growth like a mushroom. They're growing over the remains of a maple tree that was cut down more than 5 years ago. I picked some and took them inside to show Durwood.

On my way to take a bike ride, I stopped at Barnes & Noble to get a shipwreck book and looked in a Mushroom ID book to discover that they are called Deadman's Fingers. Cool, huh?

A Jelly Day

Today was the day Mom and DS and I made pepper jelly. Mom provided the sugar and washed the jars--and it's her recipe. I provided the peppers, vinegar, Certo, jars, and the venue. DS chopped, stirred, lidded & ringed, and provided lunch. It was great. We laughed and teased and talked the morning away.













While we made jelly, Durwood picked his raspberries. It has been a good year--if you like raspberries and he loves 'em.





We got a pizza from Papa Murphy's and while it baked Mom helped DS figure out how to knit on a Knitting Nancy to make a cord to hold up his kilt hose. I forgot to take a picture, darn it.



But I did take a picture of one of the little bread boules we made. I bought this book last year and tried making bread but didn't have enough white flour and was too lazy to go get some so I substituted quite a bit of rye flour. Not the same thing at all. DS and DIL borrowed the book a while back and have become bread making fools so I found the basic recipe online, copied it off, and whipped up some dough. Today while DS was over I asked him to show me how they make it. We made two half-boules and I sent one home with Mom. There's nothing like fresh-made bread.

Swish

That's the sound I hear when I look at the stitches swaying back and forth on the leg of this Underwater sock. It was darned quiet at work this week so I got to the heel flap. It's a bit different than previous flaps; you slip 1, k1 on the first heel row, purl back, then k1 slip1 next time. I'm not very far but I'm anxious to see how it looks. Bet it'll look cool.

Now it's time to grab some supper so I can go to Friday Night Knitting Circle to see my gang.

Lookie!

I finished the back of my Red Marl sweater the other night. It's gorgeous and I love it. I'll cast on the front later and get to work on more two-color knitting which is more intriguing than I ever thought it'd be. DS asked me to teach him to knit a ski hat with a snowflake on it this winter. Cool, huh? I'm tickled.







I'm through one repeat on the first Underwater Sock and I like it. It's still hard to get used to knitting on these short and skinny size 2s, but I'm managing. I like seeing the colors blend and swirl until they look like the ocean in the Caribbean which makes me glad I searched and searched until I found the right pattern that looks a bit like waves.




I finished one of the sock things from the internet pattern. I think I'm going to like them.









This morning we were having breakfast and reading the paper and I glanced at the hummingbird feeder to see a hummer on one side and a monarch butterfly on the other. Naturally the bird left before I got the camera out but the butterfly let me take its picture.




Then DS came over to help me haul all the going-to-charity stuff our renter had left into one room for pickup next week and all of the empty boxes left under the stairs from when DS left for California 3 years (!!!) ago, and he said he'd come back Tuesday night to help me drag it all out to the curb for trash day. Durwood treated us to 2/$1 brats from the new Kwik Trip for lunch. That was nice.

Posting Slacker

Sorry about that. I've been busy doing stuff and not posting it. Admittedly most of the stuff I'm doing isn't yarn-related so I don't connect it with posting, but hey, I don't want you to think I'm just sitting around and I know everyone is avidly interested in what I'm doing day in and day out. Hmm, let's see... over the holiday weekend when I had 5 days off in a row (I just love holidays that fall on Monday), what did I do? On Friday, I met Mom at HuHot for our traditional birthday lunches; we eat and she pays my tab and I pay hers because our birthdays are only 2 days apart. This year DS was able to come along which was great. I ate so much at lunch that I didn't have supper!

After non-supper I went up to Harmony Cafe next to Goodwill for Friday Night Knitting Circle where I received 2 birthday gifts. Telaine gave me some yummy Touch Hand Painted yarn from New Zealand that looks and feels like chenille but its all merino, a cinnamon scented pencil (I love cinnamon!), and a little baggie of totally delicious and totally gobbled up homemade chocolate chip and walnut cookies. Thanks a heap, sweetie!


From Zoe, the Yarn Whisperer, I got a blind choice between 2 different yarns, one a little scratchy but very interesting feeling and the other soft and obviously finer. Naturally I chose the interesting, wormy feeling one. It's Dacotah Woolen Mills American Landscape 100% wool grown in the USA. She gave me 3 skeins--558 yds! And look at the color! It's called Sunflare. I don't know what I'll make with it but it has sparkles in it too and it's awesome. ThankyouThankyouThankyou, Zoe!

I worked on that slipper I'm playing with, added a few rows to the red sweater back, and cast on a new sock at FNKC.

On Saturday I scraped the garage doors and the trim around them and primed the raw wood. My brother came up with an antique bed and cherry gate leg table that Grandpa built to stash in our storage space.

On Sunday Durwood and I drove up to Duvall in Door Co. for a burger lunch at Joe Rouer's, a country crossroads bar that has made the best burgers for years and years. After we got home I painted the doors and trim. It looks nice, amazing what a coat of paint will do, isn't it?



On Monday the weather cooperated for just an hour to give me time to take my bike and pedal 4 miles on the Fox River Trail, before the sky opened up when I was at Titletown Brewery having a root beer with DS, who is a brewer there, and poured rain for most of the rest of the day, especially when I was grilling our little steak and sliced squash for supper. After supper I finished the ribbing of the sock cuff and started on the leg chart a bit.

Yesterday, Tuesday I met Dusty and Julie at the mall for an hour's walk, went to the doc to make sure I'm responding well to the new anti-depressant (yes!), and got my nails done. After that I came home and mowed the lawn in the strong gusty winds. It was chilly but nice to get blown around instead of drowning in sweat and humidity. And I worked more on the sock. I'm calling them Underwater Socks for the colors and the pattern. It's Sockbug's River Rapid Socks made with Cascade Handpainted Sock. I'm liking it.

It Pays To Knit At Work

After not too long, you have a new sock. I do like the way the bright body of the sock looks with the black cuff, heel, and toe. What a brilliant idea I had!




Here's the pair. I "purled when ready" the red loops of the first sock and I chose yellow for the second sock before I realized that there are at least four different yellows--yellow-green, yellow-orange, school bus yellow, and lemon yellow. I tried to remember to purl the school bus yellow. Most of the time I managed, but it was hard on the gusset and top of the foot so I just purled when I wanted. Hey, it's going to be stuck in my shoe anyway, who's going to notice?

Fun Stuff But Not Yarn-y

There have been fun things happening over the last couple weeks but since none of it has involved yarn I haven't posted about it. I realized this morning that you probably think I've been lying around sipping lemonade and eating snacks lately but I haven't and here's proof.

Two weeks ago I drove up to The Clearing at the tip of Door Co. to have a meeting about helping to resurrect their newsletter, Siftings. I got to stay upstairs in the Jensen Center and walk around campus a bit. I interviewed their Landscape Architecture intern who is laying the groundwork for next year's projects and the weaver who used historic weavings to create an art piece to hang in the Weaving Room of the Schoolhouse so that I can write press releases to go out immediately and longer articles for Siftings in the fall.

That Sunday was the dive shop corn roast so we went back up to Garrett Bay just down the road from the Clearing to dive and eat grill roasted corn. Here's DS and I going diving (we're the two in the center back facing the camera) and coming out. Sorry there aren't any corn pictures, our fingers were too buttery and we were too busy eating.

Last Friday I went to Sturgeon Bay to interview an artist who is repainting a mural that was painted over in the Clearing's Schoolhouse years ago. I took pictures of him but my camera ate them. I'm going to link to TC's website, that has a picture.

One of the women at the corn roast is a champion sporting clays shooter and she organized a day when we could go to a game farm and try our hand at it. Durwood and I decided to go; he's hunted all his life but I'd never shot a gun once. It was a blazing hot day but we had a blast. The more experienced went off to more challenging "games" and us rookies and Durwood stayed with an instructor at the easiest game. I hit a few (more than Durwood, teehee) and I have a lovely bruise on my upper arm from the recoil. There was a lunch afterwards and we all had a great time. It's not too expensive and we'll go back. Soon.

So, you see I haven't been idle, just not knitting as much.