Right Sides Together

Socktoberfest

2010-10-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not technically participating in the Socktoberfest happenings at Ravelry or anywhere else, but I finished a pair of very October-hued socks. Same old pattern I always use, but I thought I better ease back into knitting with something easy. (I rotated this photo once, not sure what happened here. . .)

Another photo from Fall Creek Falls. We stayed in the park hotel which was right on the lake. It was great to walk right out of your hotel room and fish and skip rocks. The girls went kayaking. We also biked -- there was a nice paved trail right by the hotel and of course the girls wanted to escape from us on the bikes.

The fall has been busy with lacrosse:

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It has been Indian summer around here, still in the 80s, but cool at night. Can't wait for it to get cold. I'm so tired of summer clothes.

My last day at the *real job* is Tuesday, so I am finally seeing some daylight. I gave them two months notice, which was WAY too long. As disillusioned as I was about working there, it felt like torture staying on. I had some deadline work to finish up and my clients were very passive aggressive about waiting until the last minute on everything. I tried to warn them, but no one listens to me. After one of them had to pay a huge fine for lateness, maybe they learned a lesson. Doubt it.

I had one last minute project turn up on Friday that is due at the end of this week and I'm trying to decide whether to go with my original plan to leave Tuesday and stranding a coworker with the beastly last-minute clients, or to stay and service them myself. Think I'll leave. . .

I hope to blog more and I have a few projects for the house I've been putting off. Dh painted the downstairs bathroom this summer and I need to make new curtains and buy new towels and rugs. I also want to sew some clothes for myself once it cools off a bit.

Fall Creek Falls

2010-10-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

We took a nice long weekend vacation to Fall Creek Falls State Park in Pikeville, TN.

A beautiful Tennessee bird bath.

The trees were just starting to turn.

The day time temp was in the high 80s, so it was perfect for being out and about.

The falls were running a bit slow because of all the dry weather recently. It had been 30 years since my last trip, but the trail is just the way I remembered it. Hard. . .

Tomato Time

2010-07-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

They'e coming in at last.

A Teeny Harvest

2010-06-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I picked a bunch of zucchini, squash, and pumpkin blossoms and made cheese-stuffed, fried blossoms. Fantastic! I had these as an appetizer in Italy last year. There are tons of recipes on the internet if you want to try it. Great way to use the male blooms.

I'm growing some cherry tomatoes this year. Hoping they will mature and ripen faster than your average size tomato.

Green bean vines are producing about a handful a day. Maybe I'll have enough to cook a mess by the end of the week?

The first zucchini. I hope I can harvest a few more before the borers strike. Yesterday the local paper had a huge photo of borer damage on a squash vine and basically said it was a difficult problem to solve. I put some foil around the stems but now I'm worried that I won't be able to see what's happening under there.

Not much else going on except lots of time in the pool and keeping an eye on the garden.

June

2010-06-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

I got to this point on doily about a month or so ago, when I realized that I was short one repeat, so I tried to add in an extra (where the pencil is pointing in the photo). I know I can't get away with it and I need to rip it out back to the starting row, but can't bring myself to do it. None of my crafty projects are going anywhere.

Mostly when I'm not working, I'm reading. It seems like it's all I have the energy for and yet I do feel bored often. Making an effort to have people over seems to help a bit.

I'm also watching the garden grow.

Butterfly Bush. Low maintenance, does its job of attracting butterflies.

Green beans on the fence, okra is the small plant in the foreground.

Dh's giant pumpkin experiment. So far it's responding well to the constant watering. I'm keeping an eye out for the dreaded stem borers.

Blue hydrangea. These are everywhere in the south, so I guess I shouldn't be so proud, but I planted 5 of these about 3 or 4 years ago and only this one survived. Last year it was tiny and only had one bloom on it, so it's nice to finally see it doing well. (Probably because we cut a tree down behind it.)

It's going to be a quiet summer. Not many trips planned, kids are doing a few short camps and volunteer projects. Dh's job ends at the end of the month, so we will be trying to figure all of that out. In a way it was good to finally get the bad news we were waiting for, but scary too. My job isn't as busy as it could be, but I'm hoping that business will pick up and I can get more hours. Working from home is wonderful compared to commuting. I have so much more time and can get all my chores done at once, even with kids in the house (late sleepers).

Garden

2010-05-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

So dh is trying a new project. He's planted a pumpkin in this self-watering container. He found the instructions online somewhere. I admit I'm a bit sceptical because I've never had good luck with growing vegetables in containers. We actually have a big spot of ground he could have used, but he didn't want to water every day.

This is a summer squash plant. I am going to stay on top of it this year and not let the stem borers defeat me. You have to watch out for sawdust, which tells you that they are eating the stem. Then you cut them out and pile more soil around the stem and let it reroot itself.

The gardenias are just starting to bloom on one side of the porch. They start on the south side and go around. It seems early to me.

Strawberries are coming in like crazy. I made a batch of freezer jam yesterday and I hope to make at least two more batches before the season is over.

I made a set of curtains for my sewing room last weekend. I've only had the fabric since we moved in over five years ago. Embarrassing. Still haven't made cushion covers for the window seats. Maybe I'll get to it this summer.

I begin working from home this week. I have no idea how that will pan out. I'm afraid it will make me feel like I've always got something hanging over my head and I'll never be able to relax at home. On the other hand, not commuting will give me an extra 8 hours a week of time and I don't have any privacy or a phone when I'm working at the office. So far I've been sharing space with the boss, sitting at a desk in his office. It's hard to concentrate with meetings and conference calls in the background. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

Parts of a Sewing Machine

2010-05-12T03:52:00.000-07:00

I love this. It came from regretsy. (Not safe for work, y'all.) Just a quick drive-by post. Last day of commuting to the office, yay! I'll be working from home for the summer.

parsley worms

2010-05-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of these this year. Lots of swallowtail butterflies.

Weekender Sunshine Top and Buy This Book

2010-04-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is the Hot Patterns Weekender Sunshine Top. I've never made it before, so I used a thin rayon/lycra jersey knit in Vanilla, which is a little bit see through. (Also, that was the thread color on my machines, all I had to do was change to stretch needles to start this project.)

I like how it came out and I want to make it again in some darker colors. I have teal, brown, and lime yardage, all of which I bought from fabric.com a couple of months ago.

I probably should have read some reviews of this. The instructions had you apply the bodice and back to the neckline all as one instead of to just the top layer. I knew I wouldn't like that, so I serged the edge of the inner neckline layer and topstitched it down. A little tricky to do with such a stretchy fabric.

The neckline is a little bit lower and more open that I would like, so I think I'll shorten the front neckline piece a bit the next time I make it.

Go over to amazon and buy this book. This is a compilation of projects designed by my brother and his firm. I think I want to move into the Cabo Beach House right away. Really, it's gorgeous. Check it out.

Doily

2010-04-18T12:54:00.001-07:00

I was planning on taking another photo of this doily against a dark background, but then I realized that if I waited to get that done, I'd never get a post up at all.

I don't really like doilies, but I love to make them. I get so sad going into a thrift shop and seeing them for sale for 50 cents and thinking about how much work someone did on them.

The pattern for this one came from a Leisure Arts Booklet, A Year of Doilies Book 5, and it's the design for May. They show it in yellow, with a Mexican fiesta theme. The thread I used is Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread in Zen Green. I find complete irony in the fact that such an old fashioned product as Aunt Lydia's has to get with the times and make an eco-friendly thread. (Worlds are colliding here!) That said, the resulting doily is softer and fuzzier than regular cotton and I think I prefer regular cotton.

I have no idea what my next project will be. I've been working over my strawberry patch this weekend, but not getting much done because it wears me out. Hope to have it weeded and fertilized by the end of the week if I work a bit each day. Planting tomatoes next weekend.

I'm having my book club over tomorrow night, so I'm trying to clean and finish reading the book, and think about food to serve. I'm choosing the next read for us, so I need to put some thought into that as well.

About the new job, probably the less said the better. The commute is taking the wind out of my sails, so I'm hoping to transition to work from home ASAP. My stress levels might return to normal and I may be able to sleep again, I hope.

I Sewed (But I Hate It)!

2010-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

This is a top from the Spring/Summer Ottobre Woman. I know this isn't a great style for me, so I used my least favorite cotton voile that I ordered recently from fabric.com. The scale of the print is bigger than I realized, the top has way too much volume to be flattering. I have a few poly sheer print peasant tops I've bought from Target and other RTW places and they don't use so much fabric, I think.

Oh well, the fabric was a dream to work with and I loved the actual construction of the top. It went together great. I had posted a photo of it without the belt tie, but it was SO BAD. A muu-muu. . .

I've been working for three weeks now, commuting in every day while the kids are at school. I took this week off for spring break, but I think when I go back I'm going to request the work from home option, beginning as soon as possible. I don't want to have to buy any more work clothes or pack any extra lunches. I feel like my day will be so much better without the 1 1/2 to 2 hours drive time. I am in awe of people who do this every day. . .

End of Winter?

2010-03-11T08:22:00.001-08:00

This is what it looked like here, one week ago.

And I have spent the entire winter knitting one cotton sweater for spring.

I haven't ravelry'd it yet, but the pattern is called Sprout Growing Roots. The yarn is Lion Brand Cotton Ease. (Picot hem treatment.)

It's a top down raglan, very basic, with a cable up the raglan line.

It was one of those very open-ended, design it yourself patterns, which I like. Need to go button shopping after it finishes blocking.

I haven't been blogging much lately and I'm not sure whether I'll get back to it. I'm starting a part-time job next week (employee benefit consulting of a sort) so that's going to take more of my time. I'm having mixed feelings about it, I haven't worked in 13 years, but I think it will help me keep my family from having to relocate possibly. Damn recession. . .

Look Who the Cat Dragged In

2010-02-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

My decidedly indoor cat spent the night outside las night. Looks like he made the most of it.

January Projects

2010-01-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

This tree skirt was the cover photo for Crochet Today magazine, the November/December 2009 issue. I hemmed and hawed about making it, and then when we put up the tree and I couldn't find my tree skirt I decided to make it. By then, it was December 18th or so, and none of the stores around me had any of the yarn in stock. (I guess you have to buy Christmas yarn in October or something?) So, I ordered it and it came right around Christmas. Next, we took the tree down and I got started on it.

The yarn is Red Heart Holiday, which is an inexpensive acrylic. It's not the softest yarn, but it won't be worn next to anyone's skin. Here's a Ravelry link if you're interested in more info. As you can see, the makings for a bag are still lying on my sewing table, no more progress on that so far.

We had some unbelievably cold weather here in early January. I made another pair of Knitty's Fetching Mitts because I lost one of my old set.

These match a hat and scarf I made last year at the end of the season. The yarn is Knit Picks elegance, which is really soft and nice.

I have some light blue Lion Brand Cottonease, enough for a sweater. I've been looking for patterns on Ravelry and I think I'll be making a top down raglan cardigan. Still studying on that, but I'd love to have a new sweater for spring.

I haven't been very inspired to make much lately. We have a lot of questions and uncertainty on the employment front, which makes it hard to decide what to do. I'm going to be redoing a bathroom soon, basically just repainting it and making some new curtains. I'm actually thinking of purple.

2009 Wrap Up

2010-01-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to sew a bag, but I can't seem to get in the groove. I have a lot of helpers who like to lie down on my batting. I've decided to quilt this bag since it's made from quilting fabric, so I'm not following the instructions in the pattern. I guess I'm not in the mood to think on my own right now. I always have a problem with fusibles coming unfused and bubbling.

I knit another Noro Silk Garden scarf. I gave this to a friend for Christmas.

The fall garden is paying some small dividends. I have a few radishes, white and red. Some critter chewed them to the ground back in October, so I'm happy to get a few little things. I don't think I'll have enough lettuce for a sandwich, now that it's so cold here.

I knit this Lace Beret from the Fall Vogue Knitting magazine. I don't think I've ever used one of their patterns before. I wore it to the bus stop this morning and it's a little small, I like to have my ears covered when it's cold. Took me forever to knit it because I was too distracted in December to follow a lace chart.

I met my goal of reading 50 books in 2009 and actually read 51. I am proud that at least two of them were over 1000 pages (these should count for more). I'm setting the same goal for next year, that's the perfect amount of reading for me.

I haven't set any resolutions for this year, except just to get moving a little more. I've been very sedentary this last year, not getting out and walking or letterboxing or geocaching as much. Uh, of course it's too cold for that right now! Ha. . .

December Slipping Away

2009-12-15T06:05:00.001-08:00

We've been busy with horse shows, two this month.

Also, birthdays. Mine and ds's.

We planned this party for the skateboard park, but it rained, so we played video games intead. Boys are so much wilder than girls. . .

I've been baking cakes and cupcakes.

Christmas cookies too.

We got a new computer, so I've been chicken to try uploading photos. Turns out that it's quite easy, why did I wait?

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

My mom cooked the turkey and most everything else. I made a pecan pie, sweet potato supreme and some jello salad. I grew the green beans, so that counts for something, maybe. . .

It was a month of turkey crafting for me.

I embroidered another towel. Pattern from Here. She already has her December pattern posted. I'll get right on that.

I made this set of Thanksgiving dish cloths as a gift for my mom, since she was hosting. Pattern is a Ravelry download. A fun project and I hated keeping them secret from her.

Did she use them to wash up after Thanksgiving? Of course not.

Not much shopping for us, my brother makes his special black fruitcake on the day after Thanksgiving. It has to soak in bourbon before he sends it out. Saw New Moon with a friend and her daughter, it was fun and funnier than the Twilight movie.

Bought a dress for dh's company formal. I'm not making anything this year. It's going to be the last party, which is kind of sad, the company has been sold. I bought some gorgeous shoes and a bag at Shoe Gallery this morning. A great place to go for accessories. . .

Tom Turkey

2009-11-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Seems like this month has escaped from me somehow. I just finished reading a 1458 page book, so I guess that's why I have so little to show for myself this month. (When a long book like that ends in a way you disapprove of, there is definitely a period of anger to get through. I've given months of my life to these people, and for what??? No spoilers, I promise.)

This is Tom Turkey, a free pattern from Lion Brand. I made another one to give my mom when I was visiting her a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a closeup of his tail. None of the pattern photos show it in a helpful way (so you can arrange the colors properly), so I thought I would in case anyone is working on it and wants to see. . .

My other project is a secret for now, but I'll be able to post it after Thanksgiving. I need to work on making some online photo albums, holiday cards, and calendars over the next couple of weeks.

I have a tote bag in the sewing queue. I bought a couple of new Hot Patterns, but haven't gotten beyond studying them at night and falling asleep with them in my bed. Sad, but true. . .

Basketball season started, so that means I need to get out my tiny Christmas ornament knitting once again. I have a bunch of sock yarn leftovers to play with.

Green Wool Coat

2009-10-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

I love simple garments like this. It looks like a nice *boutique* kind of coat, but a non-sewer would never know how easy it is to make.

I bought the green wool at fabric.com. Looks like now they only have pink. When I was shopping, they had a purple that was very close to the Ottobre pattern photo, but I was also considering a robin's egg blue. I have a lot more lime in my wardrobe, so I decided that was the best color. For sewing details, check out this Patternreview.

I had some almost matching wool embroidery thread, so I made a handsewn buttonhole. It looks awful, so I'm too embarrassed to show it to you. I ripped it out once and redid it, but I learned to make the buttonhole first and then open it up, duh. . . I wasn't planning on sewing it at all, but once I cut it I decided to do it. Also, I couldn't get the back on the covered button. (Hammered and hammered, I hate those things!) I just sewed it and steamed it. Here's hoping it doesn't go anywhere if I'm gentle with it.

A sort of side view. The pockets aren't level, so I need to redo one of them. This pattern runs big!

Hanging up, you can see the unlevel pocket.

I made this scarf from a kit I bought at my yarn shop a couple of years ago. I thought the *bubble yarn* was so fun and it's really soft. I haven't ever worn it because I had nothing to go with it. Now I just need to make a top out of some lime or bright blue and I'll be set. I might even have something in my stash of kid's knits. I have a couple of lime-ish tops from RTW, but I'm not sure if the colors will work, they are a muddier green.

Here's a shot of the neckline seam, covered with ribbon.

I pretreated the fabric using this method, sorry you'll have to scan down the page, the entry is dated 9/7/2009. Basically, you put your yardage in the dryer with some wet towels and tumble it on hot for 40 mins. Seems to have worked just fine, my wool looked great coming out.

I have one more pattern traced from this Ottobre issue. Dh's company is having their holiday party this year (the last one) so I will need a new dressy outfit. I traced the taffeta skirt pattern, and bought some fabric, so I might get it made. Need to figure out what to wear with it.

Haunted House

2009-10-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

As you can see, it's looking a little haunted around here.

Ghosts and pumpkins all around.

These are some Free Crochet Patterns from Lion Brand Yarn's website. They were really fun to make, although mostly I used Caron Simply Soft to make them, since I have a huge stash of it in all colors. The pumpkin is made from Lion Brand Wool, because I used it a couple of years ago to make a felted pumpkin and had a little bit left over.

The candy corn is about the right size for a cat toy. I think I still have some catnap that is perishing in my shed, where I took it inside to protect it from frost and forgot about it. I might make a couple more and hide a little catnip inside. Fun projects, very quick and satisfying. Best of all, they're free patterns, and I already had the yarn and supplies on hand.

Socktoberfest 2009 - Second Pair

2009-10-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I made two pairs of socks this month, it's been a long time since I knitted that much.

These are the Discovery Socks from Cat Bordhi's new sock book. Details are at Ravelry.

Basically, you knit a foot starting at the toe, trying it on as you go to get a custom shape for the foot. It was a little bit of a PITB for me since I like to use double pointed needles, because you have to transfer it to a string for all the try ons. The fun part is that you put lifelines in for the leg opening on the top of the foot and knit the heel first. Later, you close the heel with a three needle bindoff. You have to cut the yarn on top of the foot and open it up and knit a tube on the top for a leg. Very interesting construction.

Here are the star toes, which is where you start, invisibly. This was a new method for me, I don't think I can even explain it - go buy yourself the book -- it's cool. The book also has a section on the very stretch bindoff that I used for the last pair of socks from knitty.com. Can't wait to show this to my mom.

Star heel with the three needle bind off. I'm curious to see how this heel will wear, I'll let you know.

The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy (color is Flamingo Pie). First time I've ever used it, but I loved the pumpkin color and wanted to knit something out of it very badly. I always want to use fall colors in the fall, then I switch back to blues and greens in the winter.

I have another small project to post tomorrow. Seems like I go for weeks with nothing and then all the projects wind themselves up at once. . .

"Every Woman's Favorite" Cardigan

2009-10-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

I made this up over the weekend. It's from the latest Ottobre Woman. It's not the most flattering thing I've got, but it'll be nice for walks to the bus stop and walking the dog.

The fabric is a sweater knit from Emma One Sock. Looks like it's sold out, but it's mostly wool, but very light weight.

Picking out the buttons.

Neckline closeup. The buttonholes went badly, as usual. I need to learn to make them by hand, I guess. (Or get a new sewing machine, maybe?)

Inside facing. The pattern calls for coverhemming or using a decorative serger stitch to sew down the facings. I decided to topstitch them on the sewing machine, because I felt like my accuracy would be better. I coverhemmed the hems on the bottom edge and sleeves to give them some stretch.

This makes five patterns I've used from this issue, which might be a record for me. I'll try to post a review at patternreview.com before I forget all the details.

Next up is the "Salma"Boiled Wool Coat. I need to research how to pretreat the wool. I haven't traced the pattern yet either, so it might take me a little time for this one. We're finally having some cool weather so I can wear some of these new Fall clothes.

The Last of the Summer Garden

2009-10-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

We had frost twice this week, and it's way early for us here in Georgia. This is the last okra I'll have and I admit some of it got away from me because I wasn't cutting it in the rainy, rainy weather. I had to throw the really huge pods away because they're too tough to eat. Someone at the Apple Festival was selling okra pods painted with winter scenes as Christmas Tree ornaments. I loved it! There's an idea. . .

I planted some pots for my front porch. Too bad they can't be seen from the street, too much slope. I know that they're there. . .

I cut all the peppers yesterday. (Bell, ancho, and jalapeno.)

Pickled them today. The liquid is cloudy, but I think it's because I ran out of white vinegar and substituted a cup of cider vinegar and a cup of rice wine vinegar.

One of the lids was kind of blown out and dented. I think this is from overtightening the rings. I've never had it happen before, but I'll make sure to keep this one for myself and eat it within two weeks, just to be safe.

I still have a few apples left, and I want to make this caramel apple jam next. Then I'll be finished with all the canning for this year. You would think that I would have a full cupboard by now, but I've given almost half of it away as gifts. It's so nice to have something homemade in hand as a hostess gift for friends.

North Georgia Mountains

2009-10-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

A little fishing. We only caught a few minnow-sized fish. Could they be darters?

Leaves were just starting to turn.

Jumping at the Apple Festival. The kids got to ride a mechanical bull and a real camel. It rained, but we survived.

Now I have my work cut out for me. Apple pie, apple sauce, baked apples, sliced apples, etc.

Happy to be home.

Socktoberfest 2009

2009-10-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

I finished this pair of socks in time for Socktoberfest. Amazing, I know. I cheated and started them in September. The pattern is Midsummer Night's Dream from www.knitty.com . More info at my Ravelry page.

These socks are knit from the toe up, with short row heels and toes. My main issue with these is that there are no gussets to accomodate the shaping of the instep. That's why I prefer top down, heel flap/gusset socks.

The heel looks like it has a nipple on it. I guess the fix is to stop knitting so many of the short rows. I just can't imagine who has a heel that looks like this. . . I'm noticing some holes where the heel joins the leg too. I think the pattern is pretty and I wanted to give this sock style one more chance. I've only made one other pair and the yarn felted right away, so I didn't feel like I gave the method a fair chance.

However, I really love this new-to-me Bind Off Method. It was easy and works great, very stretchy. It was worth knitting the socks just to learn this new bind off.

I bought the new Cat Bordhi sock book and I'm going to try making a pair from it next. This book has you make a reusable pattern shaped to your foot, but specific to a weight of yarn, so that you can make custom socks again and again. I think the book uses a star toe and heel, which I've never tried, but incorporates gussets to shape the foot.

Here's my innocent-looking, wooden sock needle chewer. She literally steals the sock out of my knitting back to chew up the needles. Bad girl.

I have a lot going on on the home front right now, but I have some photos from our trip to the mountains last weekend that I'll post tomorrow. October is flying by.

Memento from Yellowstone

2009-09-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

When we went to Yellowstone back in July, I didn't buy any souvenirs in the shops. The mass produced stuff is all the same and since I own an electronic embroidery machine I can put any message on any tshirt or hat any time.

I saw this hand embroidery design right after we got back from our trip, so I had to make it. The designer (who I don't know, just so you don't think I'm a shill) has an Etsy Shop where she sells art work and embroidery designs.

I used Sulky spray to adhere the paper to the dish cloth and traced it by light of the window with a water soluble quilting pen.

The finished design next to the print out. I used french knots to make it look like purple loganberries on the stems. The gift shop sold loganberry products, so I assume they grow in the area. We never saw any. (Also, I'm not sure whether they're like a blackberry or a blueberry.)

Hanging on my oven door handle. I always keep a hand embroidered towel here. It's about time I changed them out, the last were a set of Kewpie towels that I've had up since February I think!

Teal Undies

2009-09-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try the Ottobre Panty pattern (size 50) and I still had the machines threaded in the teal color and had teal lingerie elastic (miracle of miracles!). I used some scraps from the dress. The panties fit great. They're a typical hipster type fit. I think I might try making a morphed bikini front pair, keeping the back with the same hipster coverage. I prefer bikinis so they don't show over the top of my pants but it's rare to find them in size 9 (except Hanes makes a pair I like).

See the cocoon on back of the little guy's head? I'm not sure whether one of the parsley worms made it or not because it's gray instead of green. Are they capable of camouflaging? I don't know.

The butterfly hatched out today and ds missed it. The dog chased it away a little while ago, but I'm glad I got a photo to show to ds. He'll be sad.

Honey bees on sedum. I've been looking for these bees all season. I guess I didn't have the right kind of blossoms to tempt them until now.

Today's project: canning pickled peaches. These take two days, which is actually nice because you can rest between the steps while your peaches are chilling in the fridge overnight. My grandmother used to make these and serve them at Thanksgiving and Christmas, which will be here before we know it. Her peach pickles had visible whole cloves in the jar, but my recipe called for steeping them in a spice bag, so I don't know how close these will taste to hers.

Thanks to Rose for the recommendation on the Teal dress. I ordered a bit more of that fabric, so I should be able to make some ties to insert in the side seams. It can't hurt. The next two items I want to sew are from wool, but it's still pretty hot here, so I might wait to get started on them. Nice to have a few new things sewn up already.

This is a crazy busy week. Some friends/family are visiting and we're seeing the Grey Gardens musical and going to a Journey concert on Saturday. Everybody's staying at my house, so I have some work to do around here.

Teal Dress

2009-09-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

I made a dress today from the latest Ottobre. I'm wearing this issue out, which is fun. I know this is not a very flattering dress. I used to wear a lot of these back in the late 80s/early 90s, except they were more drop waisted. But it's very comfy and the fabric is wonderful. It's this rayon/lycra jersey from Emma One Sock.

It's No. 9, the "Pigeon Grey" knit dress. I'm not sure if I'll do a pattern review, maybe tomorrow if I feel like it.

The magazine shows it over pants, but that girl is way smaller than I am and I think that would be a lot of bulk on me. I might make some leggings, just to complete the cliche of the look. I want to make them with outseams instead of inseams, but I'm not finding any patterns for those. I don't think it would be too hard to change up one of my Kwik Sew patterns for leggings. Cut it down the grain line to form an outseam and then tape the inseams together. . .

Closeup shot of the neckline. I think it came out looking very nice. The skirt gathering is done with clear elastic, which was very simple and leaves you with a stretchy seam. I have just enough fabric left to make a pair of panties and found some matching teal lingerie elastic in my stash. There's a panty pattern in this issue of Ottobre, so I'll probably use it.

Sewing and Canning

2009-09-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here is another top I made this weekend, from the same rayon/lycra fabric as the last one. I'm relying on brown as my basic wardrobe color these days. Black, next to my face, makes me look washed out, brown is better.

This top is identical to the last except it has a turtleneck. I usually hate turtlenecks, but I knew this fabric was heavy and drapey enough not to feel tight against my neck.

This morning I got the fabric I ordered, so I'm prewashing and hope to sew a bit this week.

These are the last of my tomatoes. I ripped the plants out this weekend, since they weren't doing anything. I tried to make green tomato salsa from the green tomatoes, but I blanched them and still couldn't peel them and they had hard cores, so it wasn't worth the effort.

This is *Jalapeno Salsa* from the Ball Blue Book of Canning.

All that work for two pints and two cups.

I had a little of it that was left over and didn't fit in the jars. Wow, it was hot! I didn't seed the jalapenos. I like it though, the sweetness of the tomatoes along with the cider vinegar is a good balance.

I want to make a couple of jellies next, but there's no rush since I don't have anything much coming from my garden except okra and green beans. I typically freeze those. I ordered some jars and I'm waiting on them. Realizing that the last time I canned salsa was 8 or 9 years ago, before ds was born. Wow. . .

Some Sewing

2009-09-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

I made a top from the new Ottobre Woman Magazine. I went to JoAnns and picked out this rayon knit, along with fabrics to make This Pretty Outfit for dh's company holiday dance. But, I was busy trying to convert the centimeters into yardages, and wasn't paying close attention and ended up buying fabric for the top and jacket and THE PATTERNS DON'T COME IN MY SIZE. Argh. I can make the skirt though. I'll have to look through my Burda Plus to see what kind of jackets and tops I can find. I don't have the mad grading skilz to make the Ottobre patterns bigger.

If you want more details about the top, I did a Pattern Review. I'm planning to make the other top, that has identical sleeves, but with a turtleneck next.

I ordered some wool melton from fabric.com to make the "Salma" boiled wool coat. I ordered the green, but I also love the royal blue. They have some fun bright colors. I ordered some brown sweater knit from Emma One sock to make the "Every Woman's Favorite" cardigan, along with some rayon knit to make the Pigeon gray dress. I might try to make leggings to match the dress, so I can wear them with tall boots. I guess you can say I'm planning a whole fall wardrobe this year.

Chuy in her submissive pose. She's saying "please don't put me in my crate."

We have one cocoon from all of the parsley worms. I guess the birds or chipmunks ate the rest, but there's another worm left and I hope he also makes it into his shell.

Mostly Canning

2009-08-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

August is almost over, somehow, but the harvest continues to come in. I tried some pickled okra. I didn't pack the jars as tightly as I should have. I am learning something new every time I do this. All my new supplies came in this week and, surprise surprise, I had an enameled metal canner in my basement, that I forgot I owned.

Yesterday I made pickled green beans. I think my MIL loves these (or is it okra?), either way I'll be gifting some of these. Supposedly the green beans are wonderful as a replacement for the celery garnish in a Bloody Mary.

Moon vines on my front porch. They bloom at night, right behind my porch swing, but it's usually too buggy out for me to spend much time there. The idea of it is nice.

Parsley worms on my parsley. These will turn into Swallowtail Butterflies, so I allow them to feast all they want. Ds is loving watching them eat, there are about 6 big ones and a tiny one. Hope to be able to watch them make their cocoons, they camouflage them very well.

He was sitting like a statue. So hard to take a good picture of a black cat inside my dark house.

It's been a tough week, with a family emergency and other things going on. Dd was very good during the crisis and babysat her brother, taking care of all the details at home for me while I was gone. She's a good kid.

I'm getting ready to start a little embroidery project if I can ever make it out to the store for floss. I am IN LOVE with the new
Ottobre Woman. I have no suitable fabric, so I'm going to have to do a little shopping if I'm going to make anything at all. Darn it.

All I have to Show for Myself

2009-08-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

School started two weeks ago, so you would think I would be luxuriating in all my extra free time. Instead, it's been parties.

We had dd's 13 birthday party at a painting studio. They had fun and I really didn't have much to do in way of prep, etc. so it was pretty easy. After that I had a book club meeting at my house, which means a lot of cleaning and cat fur removal, since the cats sleep in the living room, where the party was held. We had back to school parties (exhausting evenings out in the heat), more book club, curriculum night at school, etc. I am tired.

Of course, by the calendar, and my garden, it's still summer. I finally made some Pepper Jelly. I made this a couple of summers ago, and the tartness of the cider vinegar works some kind of magic on the peppers. Much better than blandly sweet store bought jelly. Wish I could figure out how to keep the peppers from floating to the top.

Also, I made a pepper relish, which is not sweet. Not sure if I'm going to like this, and I had problems with the jars leaking during processing, so I'm a little unsure about it.

I finally decided to break down and buy some Serious Canning Supplies along with the Famous Blue Book and this newer book. Of course now that I've ordered them I'm pining away. . .

I'm planning to make pickled okra next week. The okra's coming in at last and I had to throw a bag out because I didn't get around to it -- hate that. Still freezing green beans, but tomatoes and peppers are slowing down. Summer isn't over for me yet.

Harvest Time

2009-08-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

This is my fruit bowl in the kitchen. The tomatoes are here and they came all at once. Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of my time in the garden or putting away things from the garden.

Green beans, white half runners. I really don't tire of these. I snap them while I watch TV and they freeze easily. I've been trying to cook them in the pressure cooker (like my Mom does) but I keep letting them dry out and burn. Maybe I should start measuring the water more exactly.

Next year, plant only one jalapeno plant. I plan on making jelly from these. I've used them in quacamole and salsa and I want to make some poppers too.

Tomato ripening spot. I had an attack of ants, so I had to move everything to the other side.

Varieties: Green Zebra, Celebrity, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple. The Celebrity is a hybrid, the rest heirloom. I'm finding the Celebrity bears more fruit, but it's not as tasty. Cherokee Purple is least prolific.

If you have read Crazy Aunt Purl lately, she's been making salads from Marc Bittman's 101 Summer Salads article. Here is a picture of #2, peach and tomato salad. I've also made #1, watermelon and tomato, #21 avocado cucumber, and #54 roasted red peppers and mozzarella. These are fun and easy and things I mostly have around anyway. Wish I wasn't the only at my house who eats them! I think today I'll make a tuna salad for lunch (#59) and eat it with tomatoes.

We have back-to-school open houses today and tomorrow. I am ready. We're taking it easy this week before we have to submit to the routine on Monday. I'm having dd's 13th birthday party at an art place on Saturday, so not a whole lot for me to do on that. I'm very much between projects when it comes to knitting/crochet/sewing, but I did finish a crochet project which I'll try to post tomorrow.

No Pattern Brown Skirt

2009-08-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

I bought this brown cotton gauze at JoAnn's the other day. I searched through my patterns for a skirt pattern, wanting basically a straight skirt with a ruffle at the bottom. Couldn't find anything, so I made it without a pattern. It fits just fine, think I'm going to like it.

I measured the widest point of my hips (saddlebag area for me) and added two inches for ease, plus seam allowance. The fabric was thin, so I doubled the upper section, basically making two skirts and sewing them together at the top and bottom.

I doubled the ruffle too, cutting a 12" strip, 1 and 1/2 times the width of the skirt, folded it in half lengthways and pressed it. Then gathered it and sewed it on. I didn't want to make a narrow hem on the ruffle and I had enough fabric double it. It's much easier and I think it hangs nicely with the extra weight.

I cut the front waist two inches lower than the back, for tilted waist. I used 1/2" elastic for the waist. Very comfy. I love these fast and easy projects. I have an almost identical skirt I made a couple of years ago, but the brown fabric has sequins on it and my kids make fun of me for wearing it. I guess sequins are not a look I can pull off, imagine. . .

Wyoming Animals

2009-07-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. We also spent a few days in Jackson, Wyoming, where we went on some float trips on the Snake River.

American Bison were everywhere in both parks. They like to make dust burrows to sleep in. Some of these are right by the road.

Bison traffic jam. It was fun for the kids to get this close in the safety of the car.

Baby bison, a/k/a Red Dog.

This big guy likes to hang around the Old Faithful complex, along with two females with babies. We stayed in the Snow Lodge and got a surprise. None of the hotels have air conditioning and it was really hot. I mean hot.

Black bear. We went on a sightseeing tour in an old 1930s tour bus. It's nice to go with a guide who can show you where the animals are.

This is an immature bald eagle. We saw it on our Snake River float trip. It's mother or father was in the background, but I wasn't fast enough to get a photo of them together. It was on the log eating a fish that the parent caught for it.

Ground squirrel, Jackson square.

We saw quite a few other animals, some of which dh got a photo of. He has a better camera, so I'll try to put up some of them if he ever downloads them. He took some photos of elk, closeups of the bear and the bald eagle. We also saw a marmot, which is a large rodent-like animal, beavers, a coyote, a fox, weasels, chipmunks, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, osprey, hawks, etc. The kids wanted to see a moose and a wolf, but not this time.

It was a great trip. Both kids are sick now, so we have to get over that. School starts in two weeks and I can't believe our summer is almost over. Dd goes to Sea World camp next week, and I need to plan and have her birthday party before school starts. I am glad to be home and have all the trips behind me for now.

Grand Tetons

2009-07-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

Coming home today.

Grand Prismatic Lake

2009-07-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone National Park.

Grand Geyser

2009-07-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone National Park.

IMG00027-20090715-1843.jpg

2009-07-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

Relaxing in Jackson, Wy.

Garden

2009-07-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Can't wait for the tomatoes to get ripe. I've seen a few of my neighbors selling theirs by the roadside, but mine are ripening so slowly. . .

This is my first try at bell peppers. They are supposed to get red, so I'm going to leave them on the plant for longer. It's tempting to go ahead and harvest them, before something gets them. I have a ton of jalapenos and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. I'll probably make some jelly, but I have more than I can use for that.

Okra blossom. I made fried okra the other night. I really love it, but I'm the only one at my house who does. . .

Gazania. I grew a couple of these plants from seed and they are blooming beautifully right now. The blooms are very distinctive looking and they can take the heat very well.

I'm leaving for a week in Wyoming tomorrow, we're staying at Yellowstone for part of the time. I hate to leave my garden right when everything's coming in, but this should be my last trip of the summer. Dd is already ready for school to start. We've been gone a lot and she's missing her friends (although they text each other all day and night long!). . .

Annette from Knitty

2009-07-07T03:54:00.001-07:00

I just finished up Annette from Knitty. Details are at Ravelry. I wore it out to dinner last night and I love it. Now I wish I had one in white or cream, and it's fast and easy enough to make it quickly. I was at my parents' last week, so I had a little more time to knit (no chores!) and I managed to finish the knitting there.

Here's a photo of it blocking, the stitch pattern is *fishnet*. You start at the bottom and knit up and it's made all in one piece.

Closeup of neckline. This is some yarn I had in stash, St. Tropez from Almedahls. It's a blend of cotton, linen and acrylic. I have three balls left and I have no idea what I'll do with them. I guess it's enough for a scarf or something.

I caved and bought some silk dupioni curtains from Pottery Barn last week. I wanted to sew them, but my windows in my living and dining room have been bare for a year since we repainted and I just wasn't motivated. They were on sale enough that I don't feel too guilty about it. I want to make only what I enjoy making and not feel like I have to sew EVERYTHING.

Black Skirt

2009-06-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

I made this skirt from Ottobre on Sunday.

Okay, for the photo I pulled it wrinkled out of the laundry basket, but I wore it to a funeral yesterday with a black t shirt and black embroidered linen jacket. I realized I had nothing to wear except a winter skirt from faux suede, so I managed to find a length of black cotton/lycra jersey. It had some bleach spots on it, so I had to cut carefully. It's a 10 gore skirt, and I love using one pattern piece, so easy.

Ottobre fits me well, I didn't even have to shorten this one. I only made a small adjustment for tilted waist. It's nice knowing you have some patterns that will always fit with very little tweaking.

Green beans are going gangbusters.

Tiny baby jalapenos.

The skirt gave me the itch to make a few more things. I don't really have any fabric that I love right now, so maybe it's time to shop a little bit. My rotary cutter is about as sharp as a mill wheel, so I need to go to JoAnn's for new blades.

I've got a knitting project going, but I think I'll wait until there's more progress to post it. Getting ready to go out of town again next week, whew. . .

Garden

2009-06-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here's my first green bean harvest. I'm going to cook some when I get another handful. These are White Half Runners.

The vines are really huge. I have a few pests on the green beans, but never enough to jeopardize the plant, which is nice. No spraying required.

Okra on the right, peppers on the left. I'm growing jalapeno, ancho, and red bell peppers. I didn't grow any peppers last year, so I hope these do well. Peppers are supposed to be easy.

I took this photo of a pearl sized tomato on Tuesday. Today, they are the size of golf balls. Growing well.

I wish I had some summer squash and zucchini, but after least year's stem borer heartache, I'm just. not. doing. that. again.

Needless to say, these lazy critters are no help in the garden. . .

Beach Trip

2009-06-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

It's the 8th year that dh's family has taken this trip, renting a big beach house in the same neighborhood. We used to stay in a smaller one 3 rows from the beach on a golf course. Now we're staying ocean front and close to a hotel because the teenagers enjoy walking down there to (watch boys?) drink virgin daiquiris? Something.

Shelling was bad when we first got there, so we chartered a small boat (if you can call it a boat, it was a rubber raft with a motor on it) and went to a neighboring island on a shelling expedition/dolphin cruise.

Riding in the boat.

Dolphins! It's so hard to get a photo with a digital camera.

More dolphins! The shelling was terrible on the island, but after we got back to where we were staying it picked up. It's a mystery to me what determines whether the shells are abundant or not (weather? tides? season?).

I don't have a photo, but we found 5 or 6 shark's teeth on this trip. There were a lot of patches of small broken-up shell and if you looked through those you could find them. I found two black ones, the rest were more gray or gray/pink. This is the first time I've ever found any.

There was a big piece of driftwood right in front of the house. You can see one of the shell patches around it. People were stopping to sit on it and take pictures constantly. We had a professional photographer come to take some photos, need to go pick mine out, it's gonna be expensive.

Starfish. Love the pattern he was making in the sand.

This year's tattoo. They never last long enough.

I got about 3 letterboxes, the mosquitoes were rabid, so I didn't do more than that. The kids parasailed, we got our nails done, worked some jigsaw puzzles, played mini pirate golf, painted pottery, shopped some. A very nice trip. Now I'm headed to Snapfish to work on a digital scrapbook. I need to do last year's too, thank goodness I didn't take a lot of pictures this time.

Tupperware

2009-06-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Using my new chips and salsa set by the pool. See how the salsa cup clips to the side?

Beach

2009-06-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

Having a great week at Hilton Head.

Miscellany on Barcelona and Rome

2009-06-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

First the souvenirs.

Limoncello and olive oil. I gave the olive oil to my house sitter, but it had spicy red pepper in it. Haven't tried the limoncello, but I might take it to the beach next week.

Bought myself this handmade leather bag in Italy. It was around $100 US, smells fantastic. The shop had them in every color you can imagine. It's lined with a pretty silk print.

This is a *guns and roses* display in a perfume shop. Weird, huh?

The Coliseum. This was very interesting. We wanted to spend some more time looking at the ancient things, but our guidebook failed us again on what route to take, so we got hot and frustrated and got a taxi out of the area.

This is one of the direction signs at St. Peter's square that is a clue in Angels and Demons. I couldn't remember which exact one was THE one, but this is what they look like.

That's it for the photos. Now, notes on the Kindle: I loaded several guidebooks onto my new Kindle (Ebook reader) for this trip. That was a mistake. You cannot read any of the maps on the Kindle, which makes the books almost useless. I had Rick Steves' Rome, Frommer's Rome and Barcelona, and a couple of cheapie no names that were worthless. I actually used and had physical copies of Fodor's Rome and Barcelona because they weren't available on the Kindle and I carried them with me. I like to be able to point to a location on the maps for my cab drivers and this would not work at all with the Kindle. Of course, we had quite a few failures with the Fodor's Guides, particularly in Rome. Next time I'll carry all the heavy guidebooks and just take my novels on the Kindle.

This is all from me for this week. We are leaving for our annual beach trip with dh's family on Saturday, so I'll be back after the 13th. . .

The Promised Food Post

2009-06-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

The first set of photos is from Rome.

We ate gelato every day in Rome. I didn't order dessert at the restaurants, but dd typically did. She had tiramisu, cheesecake, and chocolate cake. Sorry, I didn't snap any photos, they were gone too quickly for that.

Sorry this is blurry, but it made me laugh was I was walking by and I was trying not to disturb the diners with my picture taking. We had bad luck with the food in Rome. The restaurants recommended in the guidebook were nonexistent, or unfindable, or something. We ended up eating a lot of bad tourist food. The best meal was the first night we got there, in the hotel restaurant.

This is gnocchi with a tomato, mozzarella and basil sauce, and it was pretty good. They charged me an extra 2 Euros for the dish because the gnocchi was fresh. ???

Veal scallopine that dh had. He didn't comment either way.

Spaghetti carbonara. The pasta dishes are supposed to be a first course, between the appetizer and the main course, but I always ordered mine as a main course. I don't see how anyone can eat 4 or 5 courses. . .

These photos are from Barcelona. They seem to use a lot of olives there, so dd wasn't a fan. I loved it.

Caprese salad. They give you bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to put on it. Yum.

This was an appetizer from a tapas place in Barcelona. It had fish and olives on the bread. Tasty, but a bit strong.

Bread with tomato juice and olive oil with a dish of olives on the side. A very popular appetizer.

The Iberian ham is a big deal here. I had some at the hotel restaurant, along with some fruit (pineapple and kiwi), just fabulous. This at the Boqueria market again.

Bad photo, but the best meal I had in Spain. Chicken with apples at a restaurant with the menu in Catalan. Dd is taking Spanish and I wanted her to help me with the menus, but neither of us could figure this one out. The nice waiter translated. She ate a wonderful cheesecake here for dessert. Oh, and we had Tortilla Espana, which is potatoes and onions cooked like an omelet in scrambled eggs. Very delicious.

This is a pizza dd had at a really touristy stand in Barcelona. She liked it just fine.

I had this paella at the same place, and it was just plain bad. Okay, I was starving and I ate most of it anyway, but this was definitely my worst meal in Barcelona. Wish I had time to seek out a better place to have this dish.

So, that's the overview. I really didn't take the time to research the restaurant situation, we played it by ear, so we ended up with a few not so great meals. Maybe another time when I'm not focused on the sightseeing I can focus more on food.

Rome

2009-06-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

This was our first trip to Rome, or Italy for that matter, and it was a lot to plan. I feel like I'm studying for an exam or something when it comes to trip planning, obsessing over guidebooks, trying to figure it all out. We used a guided tour for the Vatican Museum Collections and it was fabulous. The name of the company is Context Travel. Our guide made sense of this massive museum for us, showing us all the highlights.

This is the Map Hallway leading away from the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

Lacoon, also at the Vatican. I remember studying this sculpture in art history class. We saw a ton of college kids there on tours and taking notes.

And of course, we also went to the Zoo in Rome.

A wandering peacock. The Rome Zoo was decently sized, but not very well kept. It had a lot of empty exhibitions and it looked like they were getting ready to do some upgrades. I loved seeing all the little Italian kids there on field trips.

A view of the river from Castel St. Angelo.

This is a not so great photo of the Bernini fountain in the Piazza Navona, where the Cardinal in Angels and Demons gets put into the water tied down to a weighted handtruck. We tried to find as many Angels and Demons spots as we could. Saw the movie the night before we left.

Inside shot of the Pantheon. Another favorite from Art History class.

Trevi Fountain. The only picture of both of us. A couple from Atlanta(!) took it after we took one of them. Note to self: must rent La Dolce Vita movie to see the fountain scene.

A glove shop. I thought the colors were so beautiful. It's hard for me to fathom a shop selling only gloves.

Spanish Steps. We sat out here for quite a while, people watching and taking it all in.

By the fourth day of this trip, dd was ready to go home. Our telephones didn't work at all, so it was hard not being able to text her friends (poor kid, I know!). She also needed quite a bit of rest and downtime, so I was constantly having to balance that with all the sightseeing and walking. I think it ended up about right, letting her do somethings she enjoyed (zoo, shopping) every day and then limiting the boring museums to some extent.

Barcelona

2009-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

We made it back from our trip safe and sound. This is me in Gaudi's Parc Guell. I really wanted to see these benches because of an Almodovar movie with Penelope Cruz sitting on them. They looked so intriguing in the movie and the real thing did not disappoint.

The lizard is on the stairs at the entrance to the park. I bought a tiny version of it, about three inches long, as a souvenir for ds.

DD (age 12) and I were in Barcelona on our own and she really wanted to see the zoo. It was a great zoo, very big and well maintained, with lots of animals. There were peacocks running loose, and making their scary sound, which gives the place a lot of atmosphere. We even saw a peahen with tiny chicks.

Dolphins, although we were too late to see the dolphin show. I would rank the Barcelona Zoo on par with the Houston Zoo, much better than the Atlanta Zoo.

This is a Gaudi house and museum that was a block down from the hotel. The mosaics were so gorgeous.

This is the Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi cathedral. This building was begun in the 1880s and they're still working on it. You can see the workers in the middle of the church, pouring forms for the decorations while touring the church (and the cranes in the photo). It was amazing, you could see a figure or animal almost every place you looked.

Vegetables in a stall in the Boqueria market, on the main tourist drag called *La Rambla*. This street had lots of stands with rabbits and turtles for sale.

We shopped around in some Juniors or Teens clothing stores and dd bought a couple of tops. I had to snap a picture of these jeans. . . The young girls in Spain are all wearing M. C. Hammer pants. I never thought I would see the day. Some of them were knit capris, but the crotch was down between the knees. You could fit at least a few Depends under these things. . . Every time we saw a pair, I would start humming *U Can't Touch This* much to dd's chagrin.

I'll try to blog the rest of the trip in separate entries over the next couple of days. (A food post is coming for sure.)

Sewing Again

2009-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

I made a robe to go with the rose pajamas.

I used this pattern, which has a cut on sleeve, which makes it very simple to sew and cut out. The only change I made was to add a loop at the neckline. I used up all of the white pointelle fabric. I always forget how much fabric robes take, it's a lot.

I had a little bit of the floral fabric left, so I made another gown.

I used some old panty elastic as trim. At least if the elastic fails from age, it's only decorative here and not *load bearing.*

I ordered this Kindle bag from Janine King at Etsy.

I have a Kindle 2 with a leather case, and it fits, but just barely. The bag is padded to protect your electronic devices. I fell in love with the fabric, great colors. Of course I'm looking at it and thinking how easy it would be to make, but would I ever get around to it? Probably not.

Pajamas

2009-05-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

I made a set of pajamas today. I have a ton of fabrics left from the days I used to sew all the kids' clothes. They make good nightwear for me. The white fabric is a very pretty and subtle pointelle knit in cotton. The rose print is from a coop of a fabric line called Painting Red Rhinos -- does it still exist?

The pattern is very simple and easy. I needed to get a one-seam pants pattern that fits me now. (I know the pattern drawing looks like the pants have an outseam, but they don't.) I had to lower the front waist by two inches, then cut an entire inch off the top, to lower the waistline some more all over. Fits great.

Closeup of neckline. I should have topstitched the trim seam allowances down, but my sewing machine is giving me a zig zag instead of a straight stitch when I push the straight stitch button. GGRRR. . . Hope that little problem resolves itself. . .

Made some easy freezer jam with my strawberries. I used the instructions inside the pectin box, which have always worked well for me before. Ds is eating jam and bread like crazy. Might need to make another batch this weekend.

Nightie

2009-05-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

I made another nightie, it's a Kwik Sew pattern, probably discontinued, don't see it at their site. I had to shorten the area between shoulder and bustline, to bring up the neckline and armholes, but now the pattern is perfect. It takes just over a yard of 60" knit fabric to make one, very fast and simple.

Closeup of neckline finish. I remember that this lace trim faded very badly when I used it before. I don't think it will break my heart if it fades, but it looks nice now, and I used all of it up. I have a very ancient elastic stash and that stuff goes bad, so it's risky to use it.

I took up the shoulders on the light blue nightie, still kind of saggy but at least the neckline isn't open down to my belly button anymore.

A day's strawberry harvest. It's been very wet, and they're a little buggy, but you can cut the bad parts off.

Dh brought me some tulips from Holland (Amsterdam airport, actually). The cats haven't knocked them over yet, yay!

A Teeny Bit of Sewing

2009-05-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

I made this nightie from some light blue rib knit, feels like a poly/cotton blend, that I'm sure I bought to make baby clothes for ds (who is now 8). Same for the elastic, I remember sewing diaper covers with it. I haven't tried it on, but it might be a wadder, the neckline looks too big and I didn't pull the elastic tight enough. Tried to steam it with my iron and it shrunk some, but not enough. Even if I can't wear it, I enjoyed making it.

I ordered a bunch of T shirts from Land's End and they were all too long, so I cut them off and hemmed them. Those are the scraps.

I desperately need some nighties, so I'll be working on a couple more in dribs and drabs. I love working on it, but it makes my little dog so unhappy. . . She chewed through the cord on my embroidery machine and sits and cries if I don't pay attention to her, so I have to crate her while I sew. Maybe it'll be better this weekend when the kids are home to play with her.

This is a picture of Tufted Titmouse babies in a knothole of one of our cherry trees. Ds found them while climbing the tree and of course the mother was going crazy. Need to teach him how to use the zoom feature - click on it to make it bigger.

I'm not going anywhere. . .

2009-05-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

You'll have to drag me out of this garden. . . This is what she does when I correct her for digging in my garden. She goes all submissive and rolls over on her back. Funny little thing.

The first red strawberry.

I finally finished the little credit card/business card holder. I bought this kit in China in February and have been working on it ever since. I have to admit that it got a little boring after a while, it was just so tiny. . . But it inspired me to order some Moo cards from my Flickr photos, so that's a good thing.

Dd at the last horse show of the season. (This is a professional photo, I bought the rights to it. My photos are usually terrible with a digital camera and no tripod.) Her team came in last (she was the only one there, so it figures) but she got a blue ribbon in one of her events. My ILs were here this weekend to watch her compete.

Craftwise, I'm in limbo, not sure what to work on next. I just got an Amazon Kindle 2 for Mother's Day and I've been a little distracted with that. So far, I really love it. Spent a lot of time this weekend reading and don't have any complaints, easy on the eyes and easy to use.

In the Garden, On the Porch

2009-04-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

I've switched over to summer clothes, the air conditioner is on upstairs, but I'm spending mornings in the garden, then on the porch.

Sage blooming.

Geraniums.

Veggie garden. Need to spread the mulch. Loving my soaker hose.

Stawberries are going crazy. I'm on ripeness patrol about five times a day. Don't want the birds to get to them first!

Green Socks

2009-04-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with Tilt Shift Maker which is supposed to take a photo and make it look like a miniature. Here's my front porch.

With Tilt Shift.

Original photo.

Pretty cool. I don't really take a lot of photos with the kind of fullness of field you need to make a good one, most of mine are closeups, so maybe I'll try to take more of these, or at least think about it. (I saw this on another blog, but I don't remember who.)

I started these socks on my spring break trip, for something to do in the car.

As you can see, I ran out of yarn and had to substitute something else for the toes. Luckily I have a large stash of green yarn. I blame my inattention on being in the car and making the cuffs too long, without checking on the yardage. The yarn is Knit Picks Parade, which is discontinued, but each ball only had 137 yards. Seems small to me. I rarely have this problem.

Looks like we are going to Barcelona and Rome for a week in late May as soon as school is out. Dh has a business trip, so dd and I are tagging along and leaving the younger one at his Grandparents'. I am a bit of a reluctant traveler, but I'm feeling like if I could handle (and enjoy) China, then Europe is no big deal. I've only been to the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, so this will be a couple of new countries for me.

Dd has had two years of Spanish and her assignment is to learn the food words to help me decipher restaurant menus. I'll be working on the Italian food words (I think I know a few already. . .)

Dh bought me a Kindle for Mother's Day, so I've been spending way too much time on Amazon shopping for tourist guides. Now that I've ordered it, I'm DYING for it to get here. Of course, I selected the 5 day free shipping, being the cheapskate that I am and now I regret it. Same old story.

Blackberries and Strawberries

2009-04-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have to rave about my new Blackberry Storm. Since I don't have a laptop computer, this is the next best thing. I've also been looking for some kind of PDA type device to store letterboxing and geocaching clues. The paper I used to print on would be a stack as tall as I am.

Here are things I've been using on it:
1. Web browser -- great for crossword puzzle stumpers
2. Camera -- you've seen the pix here, nuff said
3. Email -- wonderful to have access while out of town
4. Texting -- how I communicate with the kids
5. 3rd party apps -- Facebook, Twitterberry, Cacheberry, Flickr, Google Maps, I'm sure there are more, but these are what I'm using now.
6. Calendar -- trying to go from paper to Blackberry - only wish they would show the evening hours, instead of only day time.
7. Phone

Not using -- VZ Navigator (not paying extra for GPS when I have two devices already), Visual Voice Mail (wha?), IM programs, or Games.

I've only had one of the buggy problems this phone is known for, and that is it suddenly losing its connection. You just have to go to the Manage Connections menu and reconnect.

I now know how to get rid of the Verizon tags that were appended to my blog posts I sent in. I read somewhere to add #end to the end of your entry and that will strip away the spammy stuff. Need to test it out.

Shout out to Teri, you were right about the Blackberry!

On to strawberries.

Blooming and looking good. Not seeing much bee activity. Hmph.

I love this photo because you can see the stages of the berries forming. Hope it won't be long.

Took my little buddy geocaching this morning. Had to bathe her because the poison ivy is sprouting in the woods. She is napping like a champ after the hike and the bath.

Miscellany, Easter, Restaurants, My Sorry Skin

2009-04-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

I'm hardening off the seedlings this week, which basically means leaving them outside to acclimate to the weather before you plant them. Dh added compost and tilled the plot last weekend, so I hope to get them in the ground soon. Still seems a little cool to me though. Also, I noticed rabbit droppings in the backyard, so here's hoping the neighborhood hawks step it up and catch the buggers before I plant my garden.

The annual easter bunny cake. Seems like I got his from the Parade Magazine back when I was a teenager and my mom let me make it. I have been making it ever since.

The required eggs. Ds helped me dye them. I made them into devilled eggs and a green pea salad on Monday.

The boys on the fishing boat. I am a wimp who suffers from motion sickness, so I skipped this outing.

We ate so well last week on that trip. We ate at Paula Deen's in Savannah, which was wonderful. The kids had the buffet and declared the mashed potatoes the best in the world. I had crab cakes, which were great, although the fried green tomato appetizer had too much breading and not enough tomato to it.

My favorite of all in Savannah was called Cha Bella, which was advertised as Italian in all the food guides, but actually was a local, organic kind of place. I realized that after I made the reservation and was thinking the kids would hate it, but thankfully they had a flatbread pizza that the youngest would eat and the food itself was out of this world, fresh and wonderful. I had flounder on a stew of vegetables, and the pot liquor it was cooked in was divine.

A neighbor had recommended a home-cooking cafe in St. Simons, The 4th of May, and it did not disappoint. The kids loved the 5 cheese grilled cheese and the desserts. I had a vegetable plate with squash casserole, tomato pie, black eyed peas and macaroni and cheese. The kids stole the mac n cheese from me. We ate there three times and I bought the cookbook!

Okay, so I'm writing down the restaurants for my own purposes, so I can remember them next time, but thought if anyone needed recommendations, here they are.

I have a terrible rash from a sunscreen allergy. My face is peeling and my neck, ears and wrists have hives all over. Seems to be a little bit better, but it's going on a week now and getting old. (Note to idiot self: do not buy Neutrogena sunscreen again. ever. You made this same mistake last year!) Also having some strange cramps in my right thumb (too much knitting and cross stitch?) Hoping that will resolve itself. I dreamt I was hand quilting a small quilt last night, wonder what that means?

Spring Break Photos

2009-04-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

For Spring break, we went to Savannah and Tybee Island, then stayed in St. Simons and spent a day kayaking in Brunswick and ferried over to Cumberland Island for a day. (All in Georgia.)

I found a great letterbox series which features all of the St. Simons Island tree spirits (faces carved in trees). There are only 3 that you can still see. It was my first time there, and the letterbox tour was a great way to get around the island and see some things.

Cumberland Island was once owned by the Carnegie family and they built a mansion on it called *Dungeness*. These are the ruins. It's owned by the National Park Service now, and you can go over on a ferry. We had a great day there.

There are wild horses on the island, left from the days it was a working plantation. They were rolling in the ocean, galloping in the dunes and grazing around the ruins of the mansion. My horse-loving daughter had so much fun.

Savannah was fun too. I would have liked to have more time there. For some reason my kids don't like going into old cemeteries to hunt letterboxes or geocaches with me. . .

This is the lighthouse at Tybee Island. So cold and windy that day.

We ate lunch at a touristy crab shack on Tybee that had gators. Lots of gators.

Dh and ds chartered a fishing boat on Friday and caught a bunch of whiting, which we fried up and ate last night. Yum! I think I can sneak into the fridge and steal the last piece for a sandwich.

St. Simons Island

2009-04-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Cumberland Island GA

2009-04-09T12:38:00.001-07:00

Tybee Lighthouse

2009-04-07T10:53:00.001-07:00

Closed on Tuesdays, darn it.

Tybee Island

2009-04-07T07:24:00.001-07:00

So cold and windy at the beach today.

Palm Sunday

2009-04-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

We bought these cross and roses from a man making them from palm fronds. His work was very neat.

Spring Break

2009-04-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just arrived in rainy Savannah.

Spring Things

2009-04-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

My spring seedlings are coming along nicely. I've been careful to keep the cats from digging them up this year, but when I open the sewing room door, they whoosh right in there. I'm trying a lot more types of peppers this year. Last year all my pepper seedlings were eaten in the night by a mysterious creature. Crossing fingers.

I finished the Branching Out scarf to go with the hat I made in from the same yarn. It came in handy at the horse show.

She was invited to the finals, which was very exciting. She got one blue ribbon and the rest reds (there were two in her class ;)).

Here is my progress on one of the cross stitch kits I got in China. The finished item will be a credit card holder, to give you an idea of the size. I started this 4 weeks ago and have only completed ONE SIDE. I keep thinking I could have knit an entire sweater in this time. I don't know what's wrong with me these days. It seems like whatever craft I'm working on, I always want to be doing something else. I really want to sew too, but can't seem to make it into that room because once again, it's a mess. Not sure how to get my motivation back.

Going to Savannah and Cumberland Island, GA for spring break vacation. Hoping the weather's cooperative.

Went for shopping and lunch with my neighbor friend this week and found the Most. Comfortable. FlipFlops. Ever.

They're called the Koolvana. My daughter had a pair last summer and I slipped them on to take the dog out and couldn't believe how comfy they are. I typically can't wear flip flips, so this is heaven for me and I can't wait to take them to the beach.

Test post

2009-03-24T06:06:00.001-07:00

Testing to see if I can post from my phone.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

February FOs

2009-03-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

I started these socks on the flight to China, finished them up this weekend and wore them yesterday. Details Here. I don't like the pooling and spiraling, but was too lazy to change things while I was flying. It's too much to have to deal with alternating yarn ends on an airplane.

Here's the Rose Red hat. Glad for this last little cold snap, I wore it to the bus stop this morning. I'm working on a matching scarf, Branching Out.

And last, the Noro Striped Scarf which I gave to my friend in China. I'm planning to make it again, and hoped to make it to the yarn shop this week, but we had to cancel because of a snow day yesterday.

We didn't get much here.

It switched to rain and melted away pretty quickly, but we got a snow day Monday because other areas of the county had icy roads. I'm thinking this will be our last blast of winter, my daffodils got nailed by the snow and wind, but the cherry trees are already blooming here.

Shanghai - Odds and Ends

2009-03-02T05:11:00.000-08:00

This will be my last post on Shanghai, I've already posted the most interesting photos, and I made a photo book at Snapfish, which has already arrived.

Here's a view of a school that was beneath our hotel window. You can see the kids lining up for P.E. It was fun watching them jump rope and do calisthenics from way up high.

A warrior from the Shanghai Museum. I wish I had precise info about him, but I was lax about that. I got some really gorgeous photos in the museum, couldn't believe that photography was allowed.

That's me finding a geocache. This was a *virtual* one where you have a photo taken in a particular place, as opposed to finding a film canister and signing in on a log. I was so excited to find one there, and I only had time for one.

I bought the Garmin Citymap China software for my Garmin Nuvi (which is a car model). Shanghai is building so quickly and changing the roads, so I found it not to be so accurate. Mostly I had it on when we were riding in the car, just to see if I could follow our path, and it didn't work very well. I left it with my friend because she has a Nuvi too, although she doesn't use it because she has a driver in Shanghai. Her teenagers might enjoy playing with it, maybe I can indoctrinate them to geocaching.

I wanted to find a letterbox too, but didn't find any listings for Chinese letterboxes (there must be some, I'm sure of it). . .

Last, I present a very cool feature (if it had worked) at our hotel. There was this little clothes dryer next to the hair dryer. You put your clothes in and then take the hair dryer wand and place that inside the little clothes dryer and it starts to turn. I couldn't get the wand to stay up in there, so I ended up line drying my things, but it's a great idea.

That's it for the odds and ends. I have a few knitting FOs for February that I will post soon. We have a snow day today and the kids aren't up yet, although I don't know what we'll do all day since the snow is melted and it's cold and wet and icky today.

Shopping in Shanghai

2009-02-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

I shopped a lot in Shanghai. Actually, I don't enjoy shopping very much, and really despise haggling. Dh likes to shop for fake goods, and had a long list from his family. (I prefer having the real thing if I'm going to have it.)

We got a great deal on

pearls. This set, of a necklace, bracelet and earrings (dd was wearing those so they don't appear in the photo) cost about $40 US. I'm not any kind of judge of quality, but they were medium size and of a consistent round shape. They string them for you and let you choose the clasp and the length, etc. This was from the pearl market at the underground market place under the Science and Technology Museum metro station.

We also bought glasses at a vendor in the same market.

I bought 3 pairs, and my friend bought 3. I ended up paying around $70 US per pair for one pair of bifocals and two pairs of trifocals. These are mine, bifocals, but they are not progressive lenses, so I'm not that happy with them. The trifocals were progressive and my ILs were very happy with theirs. (Try picking out glasses frames for two people who are not there -- very difficult!) The negotiation for these about killed me, the first number they gave me was over $300 per pair and we ended up at much less. I had to pick up the prescriptions and walk out, etc.

Here's a cute bag made from a Chinese jacquard fabric, covered with vinyl, so it doesn't get dirty or picked. They had some pretty bags made from that fabric, but it's not very durable with out some protection.

Ed Hardy sunglasses. The teen girls in the family wanted Ed Hardy sunglasses and belts, which were everywhere.

Snacks -- squid, sesame walnuts, and flower tea.

Pocky and Lay's chips in Mexican Tomato Chicken and Italian Red Meat Flavors.

Gum.

A fashion magazine for dd on left. You gotta love seeing a Chinese National Geographic, there is irony there somewhere. . .

Chuy the Chihuahua in her Chinese coat.

Chinese Craft Goodies

2009-02-27T07:23:00.001-08:00

My friend took me to the paper goods market in Shanghai, which has craft and party supplies, plus undies and stockings, and yarn. It was on four floors and the stalls were packed. This is a place for the locals, so it wasn't a place with a wide range of bargaining (unlike the tourist fake goods markets). Regardless, the prices were fabulous. The photo is of a lantern and decoration booth at the entrance of the market.

I bought three sets of these (one for my mom, one for me and one for my friend's mom). I think they cost 20RMB, which is about $3 US for 3 sets of DPNs and 3 circulars. (Oops, the double points are upside down, but I loved the fact that the circulars came with a Chinese needle sizer.)

Just look at all these knitting needles, for a song. I didn't buy the bamboo double points because they were so long. I say if you're knitting something that big, try a circular. . .

I paid 20 RMB, $3 US, for six balls of yarn. It said *wool* on it in English, so I thought it might be worth a try.

I helped my friend pick out some cashmere for her mother. It was a box of 6 or 9 balls and cost about $30US, so I figured for that price it has to be the real thing.

Here's a sweater that's knit from the same cashmere. It was so soft, but the yarn was a much smaller gauge than what we knit with in the U.S. I told my friend to suggest her mom try doubling it, if it's too tiny. There were some small spools of different yarn included in the kit, so I think that's what the ribbing is made out of in the photo.

A Chinese amigurumi book I picked up at the supermarket. I wonder if the Chinese use the word *amigurumi* since it's a Japanese word? I haven't had time to look at it, but I'm hoping it's mostly charts and diagrams so I can use it.

I picked up these cross stitch and softy kits at the paper goods market. I think they were also about 20 RMB each, so $3 US. The little monkey kit contains felt, but I haven't opened it to inspect it yet. The vendor in the booth was making an adorable hamburger out of felt, so I got to see one partially finished. Very cute things.

I think the craft market was my favorite part of the trip (either that or the grocery store). My friend isn't a knitter, so she needed some help getting some gifts for her mother. I can't tell you how many bags of googly eyes, fuzzy puff balls, chenille sticks, etc. there were. The expat ladies come to this market to get goodies for their kids birthday parties and classroom craft projects. Wish I had taken more photos! The sheer quantity was amazing.

More Shanghai

2009-02-23T07:23:00.000-08:00

I thought I was finished with food from the last post, but I had a couple of photos from a famous dumpling restaurant, in the Yu Yuan marketplace.

Making the dumplings.

Look at the size of those steamers. The locals line up to eat at this restaurant, but if you're willing to pay more, you can eat in a sit down restaurant upstairs. I didn't get a chance to try it.

This is in the Yu Gardens, attached to the Yu Yuan marketplace. I loved it, we got there when it was very quiet, early in the week. It's exactly how I pictured China in my mind.

Me in a pagoda.

This is a building in the marketplace, hanging with lanterns. The lantern festival was the week before, so there were still some decorations up. As you can see, it was very smoggy.

This teahouse is supposed to be model for the picture on Blue Willow china.

This pic is a little small, but I hope you get the idea.

This is the view from our hotel room window. Skyscrapers as far as you can see. What an amazing place.

Shanghai - Food

2009-02-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

So my first post about China will cover food. My Dad will be dying to know what we ate for breakfast and I tried to document a few meals. First is fried rice. Hot dish.

Cucumbers marinated in a chili sauce. A cold dish.

Dumplings, crab and pork. This was a meal at a high-end dumpling restaurant in the Super Brand Mall called Din Tai Fung. They have locations in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and in the U.S. (Arcadia, CA). We had some decent Chinese wine here too, *The Great Wall* brand.

Next, a few sights at the supermarket.

Squid and mystery seafood.

I think this is called Ugli fruit. It is a fruit that smells really bad but tastes really good. I found the smell to be similar to sniffing a bottle of kids antibiotic medicine (the pink stuff).

Eels, frogs, turtles. To eat. Not pets. Ugh. . .

I should have taken some more produce photos. We were in a large French-owned store, called Carrefour, where my friend normally shops. It was huge, and very similar to a Walmart or Super Target in the items it carried. I found some fun Chinese craft books there too.

Last, a salad.

With Octopus on it. I made myself try one bite, then picked the rest off. The salad was good otherwise, with warm potatoes in it, and some mystery nuts or beans. This was in a Mediterranean restaurant.

We ate breakfast at the hotel since it was included with our room. Every morning there was a chef cooking omelets to order, congee (rice soup that looked like grits) with pickled vegetables, a salad bar, Chinese dumplings or pork buns, fried rice, a pork dish, a chicken dish, bacon, baked beans (for the Brits I suppose), sausage, ham. There was usually a hot American style dish like French toast or pancakes. Cold items were cereals, fruits, yogurts, pastries, breads, juices and milk. They had coffee and tea, the only item I thought missing was water.

We had such a great time. I'll post again with some general tourist photos, craft stuff, and shopping.

Bird Seed Tote Bag

2009-02-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this idea from a link to someone's blog, but I don't remember where. I think she took one of the bigger sized bird seed bags and made several totes from it. I hate to borrow it without referencing where the idea came from, but I honestly don't remember.

My bag was a good size for a tote. The top and bottom edges had been coverstitched with some paper tape, so first I ripped that stitching out, washed out the bag, and hung it to dry. I decided to sew the bottom of the bag right sides together.
The sides of the bag were already creased into shape and I wanted to keep the shape, so I sewed across the short sides, in addition to long ways across the bottom. (I used a jeans needle, a longer stitch length, regular thread.)

To sew the T- shape, fold it back against the first long seam, start in the middle and sew outward. You'll have to flip it in the other direction and sew the other side, again starting from the middle.
For the top of the bag, fold down and press with your fingers (remember, no iron, or you risk meltdown). Sew hem.
Add straps. Mine are made from belt webbing I had on hand.
The finished bag. You could attempt a squared off bottom, so it will sit better, but I decided the sewing would be much easier to sew it straight across because I could turn it inside out. I took it shopping the other day and got quite a few compliments. I think this particular bag would like better with red handles. Mine are short because the bag is longer than a standard tote and would drag the ground otherwise.

Amelia Cardigan

2009-01-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Finally finished. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Black Purl (7 skeins).

Blocking. For details, see my Ravelry entry. I had a few problems with this one.

This is how the neckline looked when I knitted it per the pattern. I think unless your neck is as big as a tree trunk, you might also have to rework the neckline. My best guess is that the grading is off. While people's bodies may grow fatter, their necks don't change nearly as much as, say, their busts.

I'm glad I stuck with it, I really like the finished piece and I think I'll be wearing it.

Brrr

2009-01-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I can't get the photos re-ordered for this post, so I'll go out of my intended order. Here's the backyard dog with her beer can. She's trying to stop, I promise.

My first crocheted sock. I just loved this pattern, Beaux Jestes Socks, from the Fall Interweave Crochet. Over the holidays, my mom and I went to a new little yarn shop in her area and they had solids of Brown Sheep Wildfoote sock yarn. A lot of people don't like this yarn, but I've knit a couple of pairs out of it and it seems fine to me, maybe a little splitty. I have one pair that I made in 2003 that I still wear and love.

The only plants living in my Fall garden. I'll call them *baby* spinach, possibly embryonic spinach. . .

The birdbath this morning. It's really cold here, I've been battling freezing pipes, etc. Things are better today. We have cub scout activities and a horse show this weekend, so lots going on.

Looks like I'm going along w/dh on a trip to China next month. I got my Visa application in on Friday, which might be slow because of Chinese New Year coming up. I'll be visiting a high school friend in Shanghai while dh is working. I'm excited.

What's going on here

2009-01-10T12:53:00.000-08:00

A little bit of this.

And a lot of this. Tiger and Chuy will lie down together. Batman will not tolerate a dog.

I need to figure out how to fix the neckline on this sweater. I already raised the front neckline by an inch, because I could tell it would be really low. I think I'm going to have to rip out everything and make the scoop of the front neck narrower, so I will have more stitches to decrease in the front section. That will allow me to fill in the neckline more and make it smaller, I think.

I'm at a dangerous point right now, where I want to rip it out and do something rash, but I think it's best if I wait a couple of days and think it over before I do anything else. I hate being this close to finished and then having it not work out. I think it's fixable.

Blah, I've been working on this for over a month and I'm sick of it.

In Case You Think We Only Eat Around Here . . .

2009-01-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

The total number of books read in 2008 was 79. I don't really have a goal, but I think typically I read about 50 per year, or one a week. I blame this on my friend and neighbor who goes with me to the bookstore and twists my arm into buying new books all the time.

Back to the eating, my parents gave us this old burger cooker from the 1970s.

My mom used it a lot when we were kids. It came from Sears, still works great.

The burger chef is proud to be making them all by himself. . .

My MIL gave me a big bag of black walnuts and I had seen Paula Deen make this cake on TV. Also, I got a new Crate and Barrel cake stand and dome for Christmas, which needed to be used.

I haven't tasted the cake yet, but it got mixed reviews on the site. I added an extra banana and a quarter cup oil, plus 1/4 cup baking soda, and reduced the cooking time. All of these were recommendations people made, so we'll see if it's moist when I cut it. I have a terrible time with scratch cakes being dry, so I hope it works out. I don't think anybody in my family likes black walnuts either, so this one will probably not be too popular around here. More for me.

Christmas Illusions

2009-01-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

I spent the holidays at my ILs and my parents, so I did quite a bit of knitting during the down times. (Amazing how much more time you have if you're not in charge of cooking and cleaning.) I couldn't get enough of the illusion cloths.

I'm finding that I hate to use stockinette dishcloths, I only like them if they're garter stitch, because they're thicker and they don't roll up. That limits the number of designs to knit, however, and I can't make only Grandma's Favorite or I would die of boredom.

I gave them all away except for the candy cane.

I'm glad to be home, and we've been cleaning out (or dh has) and putting away the Christmas stuff. I made hoppin' john and spinach casserole yesterday so we could have a lot of green and jingling money this year.

Dd is at horse camp this week, visiting a horse rescue today in the rain. Ds is bored with everything already, so he's having a friend over this afternoon. I rented some movies, so I hope to knit and watch all weekend. It's supposed to rain, so it might be a perfect time.

Cookies

2008-12-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

I made some dough a couple of days ago and we made cookies today. Gingerbread.

A ton of them.

The recipe called for 7 cups of flour and my mixer almost gave up the ghost.

The kids had fun decorating them.

Yesterday we saw the Atlanta Ballet Nutcracker at the Fox Theater. It was so elegantly done, great dancers, beautiful costumes and scenery (no pandas fell into the orchestra pit either).

I've been noodling around with snowflakes.

I saw a German or Dutch pattern somewhere that showed an entire tree in red snowflakes, so I wanted to try them. Now I need to get some red ribbon to match.

Packages are wrapped and we're headed to Illinois tomorrow. I washed all the clothes, packed, left instructions for the pet sitter, etc. Whew. We're leaving bright and early and I think the weather will be cold but clear. I'll see you back here around New Year's.

Bowling Party

2008-12-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a good smattering of photos from the bowling party. My camera isn't up to the task, obviously, and it was *Cosmic Bowling* which means disco lights and black lights with florescent balls. Super fun! The bowling alley has the party experience down to a science, so it was easy for me, and the kids had a blast.

Birthday Time!

2008-12-12T05:14:00.000-08:00

Eight years old and greedy for presents.

This was a week of baking, mostly. Tuesday I made cupcakes to take to school, and then Thursday I made a chocolate cake, which was very ugly but tastes pretty good. Both times I used a really dark cocoa, which seems to make the frosting dry or something, so you have to add more liquid ingredients.

Also, I bought a Sideswipe Blade for my mixer and it seems to make everything slosh out when I use it. My Kitchenaid needs a tuneup or something, I hate to blame it all on the new blade, need to look into having it all realigned, I think. I never had problems with it throwing the contents out of the bowl until recently.

Ds and I made this gingerbread house last weekend, from a kit we bought at Kroger. What a timesaver not to have to make the cookies for the structure. We had a few hours to kill while dd was busy taking a test, so we were able to go out and buy the kit and put it together in one morning.

My birthday is today, and I had a birthday coupon from my LYS, so when I saw this cardigan pattern I went and bought some yarn. I ended up buying a variegated purple, because they had it in stock and said that this particular yarn company was an unreliable place to order from. I am trying not to buy variegated yarn anymore, because although I love it in the skein, I often hate the finished item. So, I'm having buyer's remorse already!

Still working on the felted backpack, I've lost my mojo a little bit on it. I think during the felting process, the whole bag got a little twisted or something, so I can't get the straps centered and it is bugging me. I'm doing small steps on it and then standing back to decide whether to redo or not. I want to love this bag, not hate it.

Tomorrow we're having ds's party at the bowling alley. I ordered a bowling themed cake from Publix for that. Whew, enough baking. . .

Making Ornaments

2008-12-05T05:52:00.000-08:00

Some tiny snowflakes, pattern at Ravelry. I can tell I haven't made anything tiny in a while, I think I need to make the picots in the front of the stitch instead of the back, so they don't stretch out. Ah, no one will notice but me. These are for ds's tiny tree, but he didn't seem very excited about them, so I might use them for mine instead. I put a couple of these in Christmas cards last year, but I hate the fact that people throw them away, so I'll use them as ornaments instead.

These Tiny Sweaters are so fun to make. I've made one every afternoon this week and I'm not tired of them yet. I love using up leftover sock yarn.

The cats are enjoying afternoon sun.

Tiger managed to knock the lid off the catfood bin this morning! And the sad thing is, he WOULD eat it all if he could. . .

We have a crazy busy weekend coming (which includes a horse show, SATs, basketball game, cub scout service project). Must remember to gas up the car. Dh is out of town until late in the month, so I'm doing all the driving. . . I have felted bag that needs a sewn lining and was hoping to be in the sewing room this weekend, but don't see it happening. . .

December's Sweater

2008-12-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

*Where's the chipmunk?*

*He went through there!*

*Darn, I missed him. . . *

Stephen Colbert Socks

2008-11-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

Can you believe the name of this pattern? The book says *we think he is not only a great American, he is the greatest American.* The caption reads *The First Amendment as Expressed by Socks.* The pattern itself is a design-it-your own, hence the name.

You can read more details at my Ravelry entry. I'm trying to decide whether to keep them for myself or give them as a gift. I might keep them because I've never used this yarn before (Knit Picks Essential) and I would like to see how it washes and wears.

It's really cold here, and I think most of my fall garden may have perished, but I haven't gone out to lift the sheets and check. I'm waiting for it to get above freezing. On the bright side, I've been wearing my new hat and the shetland triangle. Yay for cold weather and knit wear.

Horse Heaven

2008-11-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

So dd rode in a horse show this weekend. She did really well, getting 3 second place and one 3rd place ribbon. She's in 7th grade and is competing against a few her age but mostly high school kids, so I think she's doing really well. Luck of the draw on which horse you get seems to be a big determining factor. She had a cantankerous horse on Sunday and he gave her quite a time.

In other news, I just found a very promising plus sized fashion blog called Large. I added it to my bloglines subscriptions, looks pretty interesting. I'm not sewing a lot of my clothes these days, but maybe this site will inspire me a bit.

I finished knitting the Shetland Triangle.

Here it is all unblocked and bumpy. I used Knitpicks Gloss yarn in Pumpkin. It's a silk/merino blend. More info at Ravelry.

Here it is blocking, with my blocking assistant helping out.

*Look at me! Look at me!*

What is it about cats and blocking?

The young adult author, Laurie Halse Anderson, is coming to dd's middle school today, so I'm going to listen and get my copy of Speak signed. I don't have her new book yet, but I've read Speak and it was fantastic. I don't think my 7th grader is quite ready for it yet, but now I want to check out some of her newer books.

Peak Leaf Season

2008-11-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

*Another stupid sweater from the crazy lady.*

November

2008-11-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the obligatory Halloween photo. Ds is Indiana Jones. I bought everything. The hat and whip came from the costume store, the jacket from Gymboree ($20), pants and shirt from Kohl's and Penneys. I figured that he might actually wear these things, so it was worth spending the money on the real items of clothing rather than a cheesy knit costume.

My neighbors have a block party every year, which is a lot of fun. We all put our candy on one table for the trick or treaters and have food and drinks for the grownups. This year it was cold, so we had a fire pit too. The local high school had a football game that night, so there weren't very many teenagers out at all. It was very quiet.

Made myself a hat, details HERE. I loved the colors in this yarn (Hacho from Peru) and cast on for a pair of socks, but it's thicker than regular sock yarn and I knew I wouldn't like the finished socks. I was in a hurry to finish the hat and now my hand hurts from knitting too much this weekend. Must rest.

She's getting a new sweater from the leftovers.

I voted early last week (3 1/2 hours standing outside in the windy cold -- see why I need a hat?), and the kids are out of school for election day, so we're going to the GA Aquarium to see the Titanic exhibit. I'm excited about it, but not looking forward to the drive. I have no idea what we're in for on that front. We rode the subway last time, which didn't work very well because there's no map or sign to tell you where you are when you exit the station. We finally found someone to give us a general direction, and then the walk was up and down a big hill, so we were tired before we ever got there. Well, I was emotionally drained by that point, the kids revived once we got there. Here's hoping the drive doesn't give me a heart attack.

Beginning of Winter

2008-10-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

There is one lonely sunflower in my yard that the squirrels planted. I think the original seed came from the birdfeeder. There's also a sprig of wheat or straw that came up with it. Of course, it's in a weird little corner where it's invisible unless you go back there, sort of a nice surprise.

This poor little bee has been hanging on since the weekend. I think he got too cold and couldn't fly anymore, so he's just been hanging on to this basil plant. We had a freeze last night and I can't believe he's still there. Ds and I check on him every day, and he's moved from one leaf to another.

I completed my Socktoberfest Socks.

The knitalong was just what I needed to keep motivated. It's nice to make both pairs at once too. I typically make one from start to finish and then do the other. It seems faster to do both at once.

Make some Hippie Jeans - Tutorial

2008-10-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

This will be the extent of my Halloween costume sewing this year. Dd wants to be a hippie, so we bought a faux leather vest, some granny glasses and a peace sign purse at the costume shop. I am using an old pair of jeans to make into some hippie bell bottoms.

These are a pair of Limited Too jeans that I've always hated because the fly cover doesn't lie flat and it always looks like her zipper is undone. Good item to use for a costume.

Cut along both inseam and outseam up to the knee. It was easy to see the knee on these because she's worn them for at least two years.

Trim seam allowances. Please do this. If you don't, then the sewing will be a nightmare and you'll break a needle. Ask me how I know.

Choose fabric. This yardage sort of looks like the print used as trim on her vest. I wanted to use the pink strip, so I cut that section out. It was about 10 inches wide and that determined the width of my triangles to cut. I measured from the top of my cut outseams and inseams to the hem of the jeans and got 14 inches, so I added one inch to that measurement. My rectangles were about 10 X 15. I halved them lengthways and cut a mark in the center to find the center of the triangle.

The cut triangles. The grain goes straight across.

Use a jeans needle.

Sew in the triangles. The important thing here is to make sure you sew both sides from the same direction. Top to bottom (even though it's against the grain) is easy because you can lop off excess fabric when you finish if one side grows on you during the sewing.

Clip out jeans seam allowances at the top of the triangle. This will save you heartbreak and broken needles and allow you go get a neater look when you sew the second seam. Make sure to pull your print fabric seam allowance back out of the way and start sewing right on the jeans seam line when you begin.

The finished triangle. Use a rotary cutter to trim off excess fabric into a smooth curve. I added a 1/4" seam allowance so I could serge and hem the edge.

Press the serging under.

Topstitch the hem.

Done! Groovy. . .

Party Time

2008-10-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight is a *trunk or treat* party at ds's karate school. It's a potluck and then the kids trick-or-treat out of car trunks in the parking lot. So I made cupcakes to bring.

And I decorated the back of the minivan, where I'll hand out candy. I think there's a contest for the best decoration. I'm planning to hang up the skeleton on the door handle, so he'll dangle down and out, but if that doesn't work, I can sit him up back there.

Many of my Halloween things (fog machine, etc.) require electricity, which won't work in here without an adapter. I got some battery powered lights to put into the Jack O Lantern gourds.

My car was a disaster, so this party forced me to clean it out. Wednesday night when we were driving back from a riding lesson, out in the dark in the country, we almost hit a deer crossing the road. Ds had an open box of Cheese-Its lying on the back seat and they flew everywhere, so things were looking really bad back there. . .

Another fun crockpot project, caramel apples. This was really easy to do, but allow plenty of melting time if you are using the crockpot instead of the stove. I washed and stemmed my apples, put the caramels and teeny bit of water in the pot, an hour early so it would be ready when ds came home from school.

It's much harder to decorate them than I expected, rolling didn't work well because the caramel came off in the bowl, so we ended up sprinkling them.

We were meeting some kids to play on the cul-de-sac and wanted to share them, so they were still a little gooey after 30 minutes in the fridge.

I was out letterboxing one morning this week and saw these pretty things. Anyone know what they are?

Mr. Greenjeans Sweater

2008-10-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

At last I finished this cardigan, just in time for cooler weather. I think this is the first project I've knit where I actually have no knitting mistakes. Usually something jumps out during the blocking process, but not this time.

It doesn't fit all that well. I should have sized down for the top and shoulders and up for the hips, but I went with the proper hip size and it's a little saggy on top. I'm planning to machine wash it and that should make it get wider and shorter since it's mostly cotton. More info on the project at Ravelry.

Details of shoulder. I'm finally getting better on the finishing details.

Here's a closeup of the cabling on the sleeve.

I'm very tired of large projects right now. I made 3 cardigans over the summer/fall and now I want to make socks and smaller things for a bit. I have an idea for a felted letterboxing backpack. I haven't felted anything in a long time, but I have to remember I am usually disappointed in that area, so lower my expectations if I go forward.

Fall Fun

2008-10-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

Is that the most pathetic looking thing you've ever seen? The candy corn sweater is a little tight, I'm going to rework it, but I took these pictures when I tried it on her and they were so funny.

Socktoberfest week 3. The heel flaps and turns. We get the next clue on Wednesday.

We've had warm beautiful weather and my petunias are flourishing without the extreme heat. Look in the shadows at the yellow butterfly. They were swarming all around, but moving too fast for a good photo.

Dh ripped out my tomatoes and okra this weekend. I roundup'd (yeah, I know) the weeds, so next weekend he can till it up and I can plant some lettuce, carrots, spinach, etc.

Here is ds shooting a corn cannon. It was hooked up to a propane tank, and you pushed the button to shoot a corn cob at a target. This was at a corn maze/pumpkin patch out in the country. The maze was really fun and amazingly intricate. They design it on a computer and use a GPS to cut it. Of course, there was a letterbox hidden in it, which we found. (I got my 100!)

Here he is loading up pumpkins for the trip home.

Stone Mountain

2008-10-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's week two's progress on the sock. One of the socks is turning out solid navy, the other has some spiraling of green and yellow. I keep waiting to get some more color on the plain sock. The pattern is simple and nice looking, although when I began I didn't realize there was an option for a version with cables and I cast on the wrong number of stitches.

We had a great weekend at Stone Mountain.

It is quite a hike. On Friday, we took the tram up and down, but Saturday we hiked up against a hard wind. The kids really loved it and it is an amazing geological feature.

Saturday evening we watched the laser light show. Quite a crowd, but our hotel was near enough to walk over.

There's an antebellum plantation you can tour, and the dahlia society had a lovely garden there. We picked up a few letterboxes and geocaches. My goal was to reach 100 letterbox finds, but one of the ones we found is unlisted and I can't count it, so I'm stuck at 99 until I can get out again this weekend. (The only reason it matters is that the website I use for finding clues has restrictions on some of them so that you can't see the clues unless you have a certain number of finds.)

The kids are at an age where they bicker and slap at each other constantly, but other than that it was a nice (in-town) vacation. I guess the new word is *staycation*, although it pains me to use it.

I need to start thinking about Halloween costumes. I bought a pattern and fabric that dd picked out for a pirate wench costume. Now she wants to change her mind -- at least I haven't sewn it up yet. Ds will be Indiana Jones. He has a hat, whip and pants, but needs a shirt, belt, bag, and possibly a leather jacket. I might try Goodwill for the jacket, or else he can go without. The kids get out of school early today, so we might shop a little bit.

Socktoberfest

2008-10-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

I decided to participate this year, and I'm making a Mystery Sock this year.

Here's the first week's progress for the cuff. The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot, which I've had for so long I don't remember where I bought it and I've lost the label. It's very subtle, which I like, but so dark I'm having a hard time seeing the stitches. Each week a new part of the pattern is provided, hence the mystery.

I'm still slogging along on the cardigan, which isn't fitting so well. I think I should have just made a simple pullover.

Dh brought me these goodies from Budapest, so that gives me something to play with in the kitchen this week. I made some chicken tacos in the crockpot this weekend, but they also had salsa and chipotle peppers in them, so I'm not sure how much fire the paprika added.

Dd rode in a horse show this weekend. I fed this pretty pony some clover from the yard. What a sweetie.

This new barn we're riding with has lots of friendly calico barn cats.

The kids are out of school for a teacher's workday on Friday, so we're going to spend the weekend at Stone Mountain looking for letterboxes and going to the Pumpkin Festival. I guess it's called an intown vacation. We're staying at a hotel in the park, so we'll be able to watch the lightshow. And maybe it won't be so hot this time. When we went in July, everybody just wanted to go home and cool off.

Cuteness

2008-10-01T07:34:00.001-07:00

I made this dog sweater last week. It's finally getting cool enough to need it. I've been trying to wait to make sure she's not going to grow any more, but decided the cold weather was coming and I couldn't wait.

Such a little trembly shivering thing. . .

I woke the model up from her nap for the photo shoot.

Ooh, sunshine.

If you want the construction details, the Ravelry Entry has details. I forgot to explain how the sleeves work. Basically I knit 5 stitches on waste yarn and put the then 10 stitches on dpns and picked up two at each corner for a total of 14 stitches. Then I knit about 4 rows and bound off. Exactly like a thumb hole on a wrister.

For extra cuteness, here's my friends new kitten, Bella. What a sweetie!

County Fair

2008-09-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to be visiting TN the weekend of the county fair. I have never been before, although the park where it was held was my primary walking/camping spot when I was in college. I moved away 20 years ago and the fair started right after I left.

Ds with a prize pumpkin. It was fun seeing all the vegetables, but many of them were wrinkled and dried out by the time we saw them.

My mom had three entries and they all won blue ribbons:

Her barbie outfit won in the Doll Clothes category. Yes, that is a tiny fair isle purse and a pair of knitted pants. . .

Fair isle hat in Accessories.

Cardigan in the Knitted Clothing category. This sweater is from a Susan Duckworth book. Anyone remember her from the '80s? The sweaters are typically a combination of intarsia and cables, so they're very intricate and rich looking. Sometimes the silhouettes are a bit boxy and oversized, with drop shoulders.

I bought some corn meal that was ground on premises in a big gas powered grinder. It was $1 per pound, proceeds going to the volunteer firefighters or some such. I also bought some honey from the family of a boy I went to school with, but I missed seeing him, talked to his mom instead.

I worked on my cardigan a little bit and when I got home I noticed this:

I made two ribs in a row instead of alternating rib and cable. I'm glad I caught it when I did, so it was only a few rows to rip out.

Spent yesterday cleaning my rugs (aka dog toilets) on the driveway. I used Eucalan and Nature's Miracle in water. I put the wool rug away, so it won't be soiled any more, but put the jute rug back down. It's a cheapie from Pier One anyway, but I still feel like I can smell it. Hope this puppy trains soon, this is getting old. She's so sneaky.

The gas situation was bad up there too, but I got out early on Saturday and filled back up. Now I'm at 2/3 of a tank after the trip home, so I might spend some time today hunting out a gas station. I don't want to get into a bad squeeze like I did last week. . .

Late Summer Garden

2008-09-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Oops, I guess it is Fall, technically.

We found this little guy floating the pool. He only needs a tiny Pina Colada, but we pulled him out and let him wiggle away.

The okra is 8 feet tall now and bearing a lot. I've been making shrimp gumbo in the crockpot, and freezing a lot of okra. I'm visiting my parents in TN this weekend, so I'll take some of it to them. (If I can find gas, that is. . .).

The sedum is almost the only flower that blooms this time of year, so it makes me happy. I got a few little transplants from dh's aunt and uncle in Illinois a couple of years ago and they are doing so well despite the heat and drought. Bees love these flowers.

The last Mortgage Lifter tomato.

Tons of Green Zebras (an indeterminate) still going strong. I just got this Tomato book, which I've been poring over planning what to plant next year. This book gives history and information on about 100 heirloom tomato varieties. The photography is beautiful, a great coffee table book. It has a long list of seed sources in the back too.

I also mostly read Heirloom by Tim Stark, which is bunch of essays on tomato farming and other things. He supplies all the fancy restaurants in NYC, so it was kind of fun to read about the chefs and their requirements. He lost me at the point of discussing Amish/Mennonite baseball (his farm is in Pennsylvania Dutch country). I give it about two stars.

I've been suffering under a nasty sinus infection for the past two weeks, but today is the first day I'm feeling almost better. I'm making slow progress on a cardigan, and reading a lot. We are having our broken and dangerous stairway railing replaced, so I've got workers in the house this week. I plan to spend today driving around searching out a gas station, so I can make the trip this weekend. See you next week. . .

So I Sewed Again

2008-09-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

I made the collared wrap Tshirt from The Latest Ottobre Woman. Here it is in magazine.

And here's mine.

I posted a Pattern Review Here. I think my New Year's resolution 2 years ago was to publish my 100th review there, and this makes number 99. Oh so close.

Here's a closeup of the collar and neckline.

Here are the front pleats.

I like how it came out. Totally wearable and the fabric is a thin cotton knit which will be very comfy (I sweat so much it's ridiculous, y'all.)

I want to make a pair of pants from that magazine, but I don't have anything suitable on hand. I guess that means a fabric shopping trip. Yay!

I've been working on some wash cloths out of organic cotton, unbelievably soft stuff. I ordered some of the new cotton/acrylic blend yarn from knitpicks for a sweater, so I've been studying patterns on knitty for a cabled cardigan of some sort. The yarn looks so nice I just want to jump in with something.

I've been crazy busy with kids' activities lately (and their neglected schoolwork), so I hope things settle down soon. Waiting for some fall weather too, it's been humid and threatening rain but NOT RAINING. If it's going to be so damp, it should just go ahead and rain already. My tomatoes are coming to a halt, but the okra continues on.