LYS didn't happen....

boo. I guess i understand though, it can get tiring to shop, and eat lunch, all while constantly chatting/texting, etc on your iPhone. Can i just say ANNOYING??? Who does that? I guess I have not been out with my friend in a while, and i had forgotten how OCD she is about that thing, but yesterday she was in rare form. I don't get it. I LOVE the moments when i can go radio silent, and pretend that i do not hear my cell phone ringing, that i can turn off my computer, and just unhook a little bit. I am SO not a gadget girl...probably why i like to play with yarn and do crossword puzzles. The Husband and i finally bought an iPod, and a fancy little docking station for it last spring. I think we have used it once. I sort of learned how to use it, and then promptly forgot i had the thing.
Anywhoot....my friend was too worn out after shopping yesterday to hit the LYS. I was actually ok with it at the time. It was hot and muggy out, and i was pretty beat, too. I would not have put up a fight though if she had still wanted to go! Oh well...i will likely make a side trip down there in the next couple of weeks.
Wondering though...am i alone on the iPhone thing? At one point we were at lunch and chatting, and i was in the middle of telling her a story, and she kept checking her phone. I just stopped talking, and she did not even notice! I was more amused than annoyed, and not really sure it is anything i will ever bring up to her, because I really think she would get the shakes if she could not check her phone! Just one of those little faults that makes someone human, i guess.
Funny sidenote though. I was watching the news the other day, and they had a report on that claimed that if you did not participate in social networking of some type, you run the risk of becoming obsolete and unimportant. REALLY? What happens when you become obsolete to someone sitting right in front of you because you cannot STOP social networking, and no longer know how to carry on a conversation with a LIVE person!?

knitting just sitting

That sort of seems an apporpriate title for right now! At least, concerning my sweater! it is TOO hot and steamy to have an alpaca/wool blend sitting on my lap right now! Summer has evidently arrived in my neck of the woods, and in the land of no AC...my knitting can sit and wait a bit for me!
I have done a washcloth though, so i have not been a total knitting loser! I have so much washcloth yarn, and i am in dire need of replacements, as the ones i have been using really just need to be replaced!

I am taking a trip south tomorrow for a little shopping excursion with a non-knitting friend. I wanted to suggest a side-trip to my CLOSEST LYS, which sadly is 50 miles away, but i did not think that the muggle would be up for it. Imagine my delight when she suggested that we swing by the shop? This shop...it is a stitcher and quilters delight. It is a combo yarn and quilt shop! The fabrics are FAB, too!! Oh....my heart is singing with excitement, knowing that i will be there tomorrow. It does not take much to make a knitter/quilter/sewer happy, does it? I am on a budget though, as The Husband has returned from the deployment (thank goodness), and that extra hazardous duty pay has dried up! We both get so used to that extra cash, it always is a bit of a shock the first few months after a deployment. Oh well...i DID vow to work from the stash this year...but really...what will a couple of skeins here and there hurt? They won't. They will not hurt at all. And neither will a pattern. or maybe two? And some notions? And maybe a few yards of a delish fabric? I am giddy with excitement!! squee!!!

I have bought a great hiking guide for the Adirondacks. We plan on getting the hounds out and getting some hiking in once the heat dissipates a bit. There are so many great trails out there, and we really need to take advantage of them while we are living in this region. We have a great trip planned to Lake Placid this fall, and i am sooooo excited about that!! With the houndies, of COURSE.

OK, so....one more go at it?

Remember when i wrote that i had given up on the Oat Couture cardigan? Wellllllll, i am back at it again. The Feb Lady Sweater was just not working out. I realized i made a big goof somewhere, but i have NO clue where. I had about a million extra stitches on the needles, and the pattern was getting all wonky. Then i tried it on, and did NOT like the way the neckline looked on my broadish shoulders. So....rip. I was pretty down on knitting for a few hours there. And then i remembered that i had NOT ripped out most of the Celtic Cardigan. I picked it up, did my best to pick up the live stitches at the top, and started on it again. I am PRETTY sure i know where i was in the pattern, but a few rows of the back of it will likely look a bit funkay. Good thing i have long hair, right? I feel kind of excited to be working on it again. Winters are long here, i will likely need something time consuming like this. I am just going to keep telling myself that!

Chores

Today we are sanding down the deck, and re-staining it. Cannot be put off any longer, or the boards will warp during next seasons deluge of snow. The dogs are helping.
Yesterday we went and saw that new Harry Potter, which was wonderful. I am actually reading the book this time. While we were on our extended road trip, we listened to Book Five in the series, and realized that you miss SO MUCH if you do not read the book.

My sweater is coming along nicely. I remembered how to the increases, and last night i did one more buttonhole (the last one for the sweater) and i did it correctly! SO hard to get back into the pattern after setting it down for months on end. I will try not to that again! yeah right!

OK...i am cardboard, and this update is putting me to sleep!

Poor Henry Hooty

Today Henry and i were swimming in the pool, and he got stung by a bee. He was so upset, he left his toy floating in the deep end, and swam over to me. He was shaking, and hurting. The bugger got him on his lower lip. I ran inside to get a benadryl, as he is allergic to bees. Looks like it is keeping the swelling down, and Henry is now resting comfortably, under the Husbands sweatshirt. Poor Henry, he is such a sensitive, sweet sweet dog. He runs (or paddles) over to me for comfort whenever he gets hurt. He just needs a quick reassuring hug, and a smooch on the snout, and off he goes...all better.

I picked up my Feb Lady Sweater today and started working on it. I think this is the first time i have touched it since March? Big mistake, as i totally forgot how i was making the increases. I think i have it figured out though, although it took a bit of work. I am sure it is going to look a bit wonky in a few places, but whatever...it is homemade, and not supposed to be perfect, right? We'll see how badly it bothers me, once i get a few more rows worked into it.
The yarn i am using is Ultra Alpaca, Pea Soup Mix. I bought this yarn a few years ago, with the intent of knitting it into the Celtic Cardigan by Oat Couture. I LOVE this sweater. My Aunt knit it, and i COVET it.....but wow, i hated working that pattern. It is all twists, and they take FOREVER to manipulate, and although i had the back of the thing almost done, i knew i would NEVER finish it, because i HATED working on it. It does not matter how much you will love the finished product, if it sits in your knitting bag for a one year untouched because you hate working it THAT MUCH, you should just rip the thing out, and find a new pattern. So i did. And then a little while ago i saw a pic of my aunt wearing her sweater, and i wanted to cry. I still have part of it unfrogged. One day i will get the nerve to frog the rest of it...probably soon, because the skein i am using is just about gone.

Ok G, i hear ya!!

That break lasted longer than i intended it to. Everyone says that though, and then we feel the urge to explain why the absence. Well, i am lazy. That is pretty much all there is to it. That, and The Husband came home from Iraq, so my computer time dwindled a bit, and school was REALLY REALLY hard spring quarter, and my brain was totally fried ALL the time.
Now we are back from our month-long drive cross country. Went to Seattle to see the whole fam, and to Colorado to see the rest of the fam, and then home.

Slowly but surely getting life back in order, and trying to keep the house from imploding, or exploding, or being completely consumed by cobwebs. It kind of started to happen (the cobwebs) when we were away for a month. Ewww.

The garden is intact again finally. The flower garden went totally feral while we were away. My poor flowers were just attacked by vermin and weeds. We have since cleared the weeds, and Fred is slowly but surely clearing the vermin.

We will have some veg any day now, and thanks to Fred and his vermin-clearing mission, i have fresh "cut" flowers on the table in the dining room. Pulled out from the root. How does a dog with no opposable thumbs manage that? He is good, let me tell you.

Have been watching repeats of Meerkat Manor in the house this past week. How did we miss it before? Oh yeah...that pesky war. Anyways, that and Le Tour have us glued to the tv in the evenings. We are LOVING having Lance in it again this year. It has just been a thrill to watch the machine in action, once again. He is kicking ass. Looks like Contador is going to win it all...and THAT is thrilling to watch, too!! The best part though? That 25 year olds biggest competition is 37 years old!! I freaking LOVE that!!!

I have been on a knitting hiaitus since The man returned home. Again, laziness/brainfry. Today i went in seach of my WIP (yeah right, like there is only ONE wip), Feb Lady Sweater, and pitched a complete FIT (thankfully husband was at work, but let me tell you, the Vizslas stayed clear the frick out of my way...poor things) when i could not find it ANYWHERE. Seriously, where the HECK did my husband stick my knitting? Doesn't he KNOW he is not allowed to TOUCH IT???? After tearing the house clean apart for the better part of an hour, i decided to look into last winters purse. There it was. WHY DID HE PUT IT IN THERE?????
Oh...maybe i did.
Whatevs.....

One of these days i will update a little!

I keep putting off writing on the blog, simply because i feel like i am in such a hurry to get off the computer all of a sudden! Why? Well, my soldier is home from the war!!!! WOOOOWHOOOOO! Let me tell you, there is NO better feeling than getting the one you love the most home, and out of a hot, sweaty, stinky, bomby, all-around sheisse-hole of a place.

J is slowly re-claiming the house a bit. Poor guy, he only lived in this house for four months before he shipped out. I do not have to tell you how nice it is to have my personal lawn mower home again. You can refer back to pics from last summer, of that beeeyotch of a lawn mower. yesterday we were at Ace, and i was eyeing the new beauties. The one that really caught my eye had a "key-start". last years pull-cord on the mower almost made me chuck the thing into the pool. but that would have gotten the water all oily and gassy.

Ok...time to skedaddle. I have a Basic Wireworking class today at the local bead shop.
Will try and post some pics soon, Miss G.