I went to Twisted Yarns again today. We had another good group of ladies today. It was fun to talk and compare projects. I worked on socks for a while, the February Lady sweater for a while and the other project that I'm not ready to blog about yet. As usual, Twisted Yarns was a riot of colors and textures. I love to go there and just look at all the beautiful colors of the yarns and projects displayed.

Things are pretty quiet here today. Not too much to post about. I am working on a new pair of socks. This is Lorna's Laces sock yarn in the Jeans colorway. It's my usual plain vanilla pattern knit on US 2 (2.75mm) needles. I need something mindless to work on sometimes and this is it.

I am still working on the February Lady sweater, but not too hard. I also started another project (like I need another one), but I am waiting to see how it works up before I decide to talk about it.

35th Anniversary

Thirty-five years ago today, Wally and I got married. We did not have a big wedding. As a matter of fact we got married by a justice of the peace at the Bell County courthouse in Belton, TX. There are no photos of our wedding, and I don't have any photos of us together at that time, but here are two individual photos that were taken around the time we got married. They are some real classics!

And...here we are today. Sarah took this photo of us this afternoon.
Hopefully, we'll make it another 35 years!

I went to sit and knit again yesterday. It was pretty quiet since a lot of people were on spring break with their families. It was fun just the same. I worked mostly on my current pair of socks, but I did get two repeats done on the sleeve of my February Lady sweater. I was good and did not buy any new yarn although I was very tempted. Twisted Yarns has been getting some really lovely things in the shop lately. Cindy was teaching classes on shadow knitting. She showed us some of the things she has done. It looks like an interesting concept to try after I get some of my other projects finished. Right now, I really am trying to finish works in progress.

Mr. Greenjeans Cardigan

So here is the Mr. Greenjeans cardigan blocked and buttoned. I tried taking photos outside thinking that natural sun light would show the true color better. It does and it doesn't. The photos where the sun is shining directly on the yarm make it seem teal. The yarn is not teal, it is green with a slight bit of blue in it.

Here's a close up of the cables and the button. I found the button today at Hobby Lobby. It is slightly translucent so some of the green color shows through the button. This is not a good representation of the color at all. Too much sunshine!

I did try to take some photos of the cardigan on me, but they did not turn out very well. Plus, it really doesn't fit me very well either. Being the pear shape that I am, the top is too big and the bottom almost fits. I need to learn to alter patterns to fit my body type. Will I wear this sweater??? Maybe around the house. It is very warm and snuggly. It will be a good sweater to cozy up on the couch reading a book in cold weather.

Last Tuesday I had two teeth worked on. Two crowns to be exact. Friday I started having some swelling on the side of my face where the work was done. The dentist thinks it's just a hematoma, but I am on antibiotics just in case.

I blocked the Mr. Greenjeans cardigan on Sunday. It is still drying.

I started another pair of socks. I did not work on any socks while I was trying to finish Mr. Greenjeans. I need to work on something less intense for a while, although I did get out the February Lady sweater that I had put away in the closet. I am going to try to get that finished now.

Done

I finished the Mr. Greenjeans cardigan last night to the point that I even wove in all the loose ends. I am going to try to block it today if things go well. I not sure I like the fit, but I will reserve judgement until after it is blocked. I am beginning to think that raglan sleeves are not the most attractive look for me. I think my shoulders are too narrow and sloped to wear raglans well.

Last night we went out to eat at a new restaurant up on Market Street in The Woodlands. It was called 1252 Tapas Bar. I had never had tapas before, so it was a new experience for me. Wally had tapas when he was in Spain several years ago and raved about how good they were. The food was good, but I can't say that it was my favorite. I may need to try it again to try different things on the menu. They did have a really good rice pudding though. I would go back for that.

I went to Twisted Yarns (my local yarn store) for sit and knit. We have a Friday group that has been meeting for over five years now. The group fluctuates with different ladies from time to time, because let's face it, Life Happens, and although we would really rather be knitting sometimes we can't. Today we had a good group of eight. It was fun to talk and laugh and try to solve the world's problems. I really do think if women ruled the world it would be a better place. After we solved all the world's problems, we knitted and laughed some more. Laughing with friends is a good thing. We should all do it more often.

On the knitting front, I finished the second sleeve on the Mr. Greenjeans cardigan and picked up the stitches for the button band. I think I must have counted and recounted those stitches two dozen times, but in the end I did get the correct number. Now to knit those 302 stitches twelve times!

Two posts in two days! Amazing. I am currently working on two sweaters. I have not made a sweater in ages. I am almost done with the second sleeve on the Mr. Greenjeans sweater and just starting the first sleeve on the February Lady sweater. I am hoping to finish Mr. Greenjeans this week so I can wear it on St. Patrick's Day. The sweater is GREEN. I don't usually go for green, but this a beautiful true green. Very pretty color. Hopefully, the sweater will turn out pretty, too.

I am still here, honest. I have several projects I am working on and I hope to post photos soon. Meanwhile, everyone take care.

Still Kicking

I am still here, if moving slowly. Not long after my last post I suffered a herniated disc in my back. I am still recovering, but things are getting better. I just need to get stronger right now. Due to pain meds and muscle relaxers, I was not knitting for a while. I just couldn't concentrate. Now that I am off all the meds things are better and I have been knitting a little. I have been reading more. Most of what I read is light and easy to forget, but it is entertaining while I'm reading it. Hopefully, I will be up and around more as the days go by and knitting more, too.

This and That

Oh my, it's July. Sorry, I could not resist. It's been a long time since I wrote. That's because my life is just not that interesting on a day to day basis. So, what's happened since I last wrote? On June 20 my daughter, her husband and a good friend were in an automobile accident. An idiot ran a red light and side swiped my daughter's car and pushed the car into a light pole. My daughter's car was totalled, but my daughter and all her passengers were OK. They all had some bruising and soreness, but that's all. It could have been so much worse.

On June 26, we went for our annual beach fix to Gulf Shores, Alabama. We go there every year for a week or two. This year we were able to stay two weeks. My niece and her family came, as did my brother and his girl friend. It was nice to spend time with family. We love to see the fireworks on the beach for Fourth of July. We were able to stop off in Slidell for a little while to see my mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew, too.

On the knitting front, I finished two pairs of socks recently.

These are Trekking Hand Art yarn knit on US 2 (2.75mm) needles.

These are Berroco Sox, colorway 1477, knit on US 2 (2.75mm) needles. I love the stripes in this pair.

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Take care.

June

I can't believe it is June already. Not a lot going on here. I have been doing a lot of reading lately and a little knitting. I will try to post some knitting here soon.

Look what I got in the mail today. It's a crocheted tiger key chain from Caroline B. She had a contest on her blog a little while ago, and I won. Caroline does amazing things both with fiber and paint. You should check out her blog at Uniqart.

Spring in Texas

It's spring in Texas, and what does that mean? Bluebonnets! Wally and I went out looking for wildflowers on Sunday afternoon. Texas has lots of wildflowers that grow on the sides of the highways. In March, the bluebonnets bloom, and I love them.

We found a huge field just outside of Brenham. This field was at least 4 or 5 acres, and it was absolutely covered in bluebonnets. It was also accessible to people, that is, not private property. Lots of other people had the same idea we did. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and moderate temperatures. Here is a little bit of what we saw. Here's another close up shot. This one also has what are called Evening Primrose here. I don't know if that's the proper name for these pink flowers or not. They are everywhere this time of year, too.

A nice family was kind enough to take a photo of Wally and I standing in the bluebonnets. You can see how big the field is in back of us. Multiply that space by 4 or 5 and that's how huge the area was. And...it was all bluebonnets. You can also see lots of other people enjoying the flowers.

Later, we stopped at a Dairy Queen, another Texas classic. Wally had a chocolate shake, I had a caramel shake and we shared some onion rings. It was a lovely afternoon.

Oscar

So...it has been almost a month since we "fostered" Wildfire. Needless to say, he did not go back, and we signed the adoptin papers two weeks ago. We have decided to call him Oscar. He is a great dog, very loving and wanting to be loved. If we let him, he wants to be a lap dog as you can see from the photo below. Sarah is the only one who lets him do this, and he knows it, so he milks it for all it's worth. What a face! When everyone else is at work, Oscar is my shadow. Wherever I am, Oscar is there, too. We have beds in strategic places about the house, but if Oscar can't find a bed, he just plops down anyway, even on the tile floor. When I'm working on the computer, this is what I usually see.

The photo is a little dark as I took it without using the flash. That's my constant companion at rest. Oscar will stay there as long as I'm there, too.

He does have one funny habit. He likes to steal things out of the trash. Not food, because he can't get to the food trash, but things like used tissues or dryer sheets or used swiffer sheets. We have to close the doors to the bathrooms so we don't find surprises in the middle of the living room floor. Oh yea, he also likes balls of yarn.

S3's

So, I have had a serious case of Second Sock Syndrome ever since this past summer. I have three pairs of socks on the needles, and none of them finished. Well, I have finally finished one pair. This yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy. I had never knit with this yarn before, but I really like it. It has a good tight twist and feels great after it is blocked. I knit these socks on US 1 (2.25mm) in my plain basic pattern. The colorway is called Petal Shower.

New Family Member

For those of you who know my family well, you know that we have had retired greyhounds since 1996. We had Dancer, Molly, Ticket, Nikiski and Argus in that time. Argus died last March while we were on vacation. He was at our trusted kennel, and one night he went to sleep and did not wake up. That was very hard on all of us. Also, at that time we were building the new house and Sarah's wedding was coming up. We decided it was not a good time to get another dog. I, in particular, was not keen about getting another dog at all. I am the one who takes care of them the most, and I get extremely attached emotionally. Well, Wally and Sarah finally wore me down. We went to the greyhound adoption agency last Saturday and are now "fostering" this great looking dog. I say "fostering", because we have fostered three times before, and the dogs never go back. This great guy is called Wildman, racing name C YA Wildfire. He is three years old and BIG. He is very tall, even for a greyhound. He weighs about 82 pounds. He is very friendly and loves attention as you can see from the photo. He has wonderful manners other than trying to hug everyone who walks in the door. We are thinking about changing his name, but have not come up with a name that everyone likes.

Current knitting

Here is what I am knitting now. It's one of those Noro Silk Garden scarves that everyone has been blogging about. It looked like fun to me even if it is rarely cold enough here it use a wool/silk scarf. I am enjoying knitting on it. It goes quickly, and I like how the colors are always changing. These yarns are Noro Silk Garden, numbers 226 and 292. Needles are US 7.

I have also been knitting a swatch of the new alpaca yarn I posted about last time, but those photos did not turn out well, and they were boring. I have a couple of pairs of socks on the needles, too, but have been enjoying the mindlessness of the scarf right now. I will get back to the socks later.

End of year post

Yesterday I went to my local yarn shop, Twisted Yarns, because they were having an end of year sale. I didn't really need anything, but I thought I'd go look. Well...I came home with 16 skeins of this. Classic Elite Inca Marl...100% alpaca...it feels so lovely. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I figure it will make a good project for the new year. Speaking of the new year, I leave you with an image of my last finished object for the old year. This is my grandson who is 22 months old. I had knit him a cap when he was newborn, but of course he has out grown it. His mom asked for a new cap for him, and I was happy to oblige. The new cap is made out of Berroco Comfort worsted weight. He seems to like it.

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope all of you have a safe and prosperous year.