Post-Vacation-Itis - August Edition

Sprout is complete - however I may need to redo the button bands to make them a little wider. Next sweater will be the size larger than I think I need. Pictures later once we're redone. Luckily I have a full ball of yarn left.

All I really want to do right now is go home and play with the drum carder I'm borrowing from my friend Paula - after taking the Color Blending for Spinners class at the very fun Fiber Revival on Saturday it's all I want to do!

Well, gotta get back to work...

Vacation Day 2 or It's Sprouting Again

Ah, day 2 - and after much playing around, putting it off and having to show Laurie everything in my stash (OK, not everything, but we did find a suitable gift for a certain young lady who will be receiving her Girl Scouts Gold Award this week) she got me to get behind the wheel of the Jetta - not until we got up to the Home Depot parking lot (nice place to learn - they have a split lot) - and I think I like it. It really helps to have a terrific, calm driving instructor who will be merciless when it comes to making you start on a hill - over and over and over again! I'm not quite ready to go out on my own yet (soon though, I will do it!)

My other goal (in addition to finally driving our new car) has been switched - I think it is because it was so wet and cool so far this week - currently up to 74F in the dyslectic 90210 (aka - 01902 - other coast) - I have pulled out the Sprout and finished sleeve #1 -



now just sleeve #2, 2 button bands (and learning how to do button holes) and finally sewing on the buttons and it'll be done... hopefully by Saturday so I can bring it with me to the Fiber Revival and show it to the pattern author herself. A girl's gotta have goals you know...

Vacation Day 1

So, today was eventful and hopefully the only "errand" day on my vacation this week. Yes, I got some spinning and knitting in (and I'm off to Knit Night shortly), but I also took Mugsy to the groomer -



And look, he's stepping on the scarf I finished today too.

The other thing I did was go to the Melrose RMV (and they were very NICE!) to order a duplicate title so we can finally donate the Neon... I'll miss the ol' girl. Hopefully tomorrow will be a day of learning how to drive the Jetta!

Day before vacation

I'm trying to stay calm, cool and collected on this day before I head out for a week - my goal is the same as everyone's before you leave the office for vacation - get it all done and get the desk nice and clean so when you come back it is welcoming. We'll see how I do... wish me luck!

Gray + Rainy Day = Long Pants and Hand Knit Socks

The day is cool, gray and rainy - and for the first time in months I'm wearing long pants. I'm truly a skirt girl all Summer long. The nice thing is that I am also breaking in my lovely Ginsing socks today with my good ol' Dr. Marten Mary Janes (and I do mean old - I think that I had these long before I met the hubby and that was a wicked long time ago.) My feet are happy! There really is nothing better on the feet than a nice pair of hand knit socks.

Look - it's an FO!

I did finish a pair of socks this summer - Madeline Tosh Ginsing... yummy!



And I am working on a pair of Curve Ball Socks - so far so good - only had to rip back once. I have mostly been spinning this summer - it just seems a little cooler and more meditative at the moment. It also means I have some fun yarn to play with this winter:

Spunky Club Rosebud Single:


A Yarn Wench Tidepool 2 single:


And a few others... including some that can't be posted until the recipients receive them...

Saturday Morning Treat

Every weekend, usually on Saturday, I get up and make popovers and eggs for breakfast. I don't think there is anything more rewarding to cook than the simple but delicious popover. I used to think they were so difficult - but what is easier than 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and a little salt? The challenge is in the pan and just how much you wisk it together. The pan - best in a popover pan - especially if you store it in the oven and just leave it in there when you are warming it up to 450F - I never actually clean it, just leave it in my oven since it is the most frequently baked item in our house. The two other key things are not over-wisking - it should be a little lumpy - and be sure to spray the pan before you fill it 1/2 way in each cup. 18 minutes at 450F; 18 minutes at 350F and voila you have popovers. Totally worth waiting for - we just serve them up with Strawberry Jam... YUM!



Knitting and spinning content soon - I promise!

Why isn't my vacation next week?

Well, in a way, it's better that I do have another week to get stuff done at work. Our whole building today had major "network connectivity issues" and the day that I was going to get oh so much done turned into a cranky, cranky day. Oh well, only 5 more work days until vacation starts - and tomorrow I get to splurge and eat a piece of cake with real frosting. I love "real" bakery frosting - none of that "whipped cream frosting" for me and when I'm the one who is ordering the cake...

We still haven't gotten to see The Dark Knight yet, and my list is long - Hellboy II (loved the first one!) and of course the new X-Files movie. Even if I wasn't such a fan of the show, I'd still have to see it just for Billy Connolly. Hopefully we'll hit The Dark Knight after work next week...

Time to get the heck out of here. TGIF!