Weekend:
Cleaned closet of clothes that no longer fit.
Finished Harry Potter.
Almost finished the "On the Point" vest. I hope to sneak out and find some buttons today.
Messed around with my template, adding cool % bars from Anna, and making most of my links pop new windows.

Did about two hours of car knitting on the way to daughter's summer camp. She is thrilled as two of her favorite counselers from last year are working, AND, her unit is in the "tree houses". How cool is that?

Arum update - This pattern is called a "bunting", and is supposed to be finished at the underarm. I think that it is a stunning pattern, but a stupid shape. So, I'm carrying the diagnoal mesh down another five inches for the body and arms to make it a proper sweater. It's sort of in an awkward place for photos, but here we are so far:

Well I made it past the mysterious row 37 of Arum. (Anny Blatt) The pattern changed from an ever expanding chevron yoke to a lacy mesh. I had an extra yarn over in there somewher, and didn't quite rip out enough, or maybe I put it back in a few times. Anyway, I had to re-work it several times before I got it right. But it's sooooo pretty!


Smooth sailing now. Wish I could say that for the rest of the day. Too many commitments are going to keep me driving from place to place. Once there, I have to appear focused and calm. Friday is coming.

Happy Monday.

I'm sore from sailboat races this weekend, and loving it. It was light and we were postponed for quite some time on Saturday, but eventually got in two races. Sunday, it kicked up a bit early, and we had to actually hike. (ouch) Went around the course three times. We were beat from too much fun after the first. My skipper loves to try the port tack start, so we did one just for kicks. There is nothing like having and entire racing fleet comming at you when you don't have any right of way at all to make you feel alive. WhooHoo We were solid middle of the fleet, but had a great time. And, like Wendy, my fingers are torn up. I don't get out on the race course very often these days, so, while it may seem strange, I enjoy that after small boat racing beat up feeling.

Now - knitting. Went backwards on Friday, and didn't touch it all weekend. I'm obsessed with this dumb baby sweater, though it seems that it's knit two rows, rip three. I think I got overconfidant about the time I figured out how the lace yoke worked, and plowed ahead, not realizing that about that time, the pattern was supposed to change. I ripped it back quite a bit, while waiting for midnight on Friday night so we could get our Harry Potter books.

Here it is:


and a close up:


Who out there would be obsessed with this as well?

What I did last night instead of getting new carpet pad and dry wall:


It is now in it's envelope and about to cross half the U.S.A. and the big ocean to go to Europe to join other six inch squares made by Fluffa fans.

Vacation Hangover
I wanna go back to the beach. Waaah.

We came home to an overflow in the A/C pipe, so Monday I got to play plumber and rip up carpet and dry wall. Got stuck in torrential rain while picking up the pets, and a drive that should have taken 20 minutes took over an hour. Shiloh spent the afternoon dancing around in circles, just being happy to be home. GingGong needed to excert control over her life by going in and out and in and out and in and out. Husband left for Peru, and I had heaps of laundry from our nice beach trip. The Gifted/Talented co-ordinater does not have the paperwork she needs for my daughter, so I have to start the public school scavenger hunt. The car needs alignment, and it appears that last month's power steering repair has a problem. The other car needs a safetly check. There are weeds in the front, and oh, yes, two huge work projects that must be done this week. Gaak.

Tuesday was a little better. Still was stuck in traffic for some strange reason on the way home. One of the gals at work took a knitting class, and I've been giving her remedial help on demand. We got together yesterday; she even reserved the conference room so we could work in private. I don't understand how a five week knitting class can only cover knit stitch. Sounded like there were too many people in the class for any attention. She was trying to teach herself purl, and was making the sweetest little twisted stiches. I showed her on her swatch how ever other row looked different. Blinding flash of the obvious, but how did she do it? Then I watched her, and she was taking the yarn under the needle, up and forward then through. I demo'ed how it was supposed to work, and she agonized through a few rows. Poor beginner, she seems to have way too many thumbs. She's stubborn though, so I expect to see her work again in a few weeks. Since she has really gotten knit down, she understands how after a while her hands will take over for her brain. She had also tried seed stitch and had really gotten depressed. Seed stitch is hard if you don't know what you are looking at. I pulled it out, and started her on a nice k2p2 swatch to work after she got the stockette down. I also taught her how to cast off. How do you take a knitting class and not cast off? Yeesh. She wants to make a blanket for a pregnant sister, so she won't have to increase or decrease for about a year as far as I can tell. Good thing too.

So after having a horrible trip home, I grilled a steak and shared it with my daughter. Then curled up with a glass of wine an some baby yarn, and listened to my audio book until my eyes wouldn't stay open. Yawn. I deserved that.

Let's hope today will get better still. Yes?

Back from a lovely week at the beach.

Tank was finished and worn. See?


Hank did not sit alone all the time. He was a bit much to take out on the porch. It was breezy, which was nice, but a little awkward for him.


And, the sit and chat project was the "On the Point" vest from Knitters a few years back. It's done except for a side seam and some buttons.

This vest is for a gal I work with or grows organic veggies with the same passion that I have for yarn. She has given me lovely beans, carrots, squash, and a cabbage as large as my head. However, when asked if she grows tomatoes, corn or peas, she is quite possessive. She cans all her tomatoes, and the corn and peas don't leave her property alive. I'm hoping the gift of this vest as a "thank you" may also eleveate me to at least tomato status. We shall see.

Swatchy's gone on vacation!
Back after June 16th

Back from a quick business trip, and about to go on vacation. I have had no problem at all bringing knitting onto airplanes. I suppose that my circulars are not much more impressive than a pencil or pen. Tank back is done and I'm guessing I'm about half way up the front. Don't know if I'll finish before vacation, but I really don't care right now.

I added that bit of Java to find out where any visitors are coming from. Also a hit counter. I'm curious who's looking at this, if anyone at all. Guess I'm just lonely in blogland.

Got to work on both Hank and Tank this weekend.

Hank is now sporting sleeve stiches:


Tank has most of her back done. See the way the sleeve decreases are done some thirty stiches in from the edge, and the edge crawls out to the decrease point. Cool.


The knit friendly event this weekend was a Yu-Gi-Oh! event at the local shopping mall. My daughter lost all her pick up duels the first day, but was determined to go try again. She won two out of three on Sunday and was quite happy. Smart parents had paperbacks and there was me with the knitting. The others looked awfully bored.