OTN...

I've really been getting into these new "arrow shaped" shawl/scarf patterns that are becoming more and more showcased on Ravelry.   I have two on the needles right now and am getting ready to start another one.  The one pattern that I'm doing is so simple.  It is called "Match and Move" by Martina Behm.  This thing is so big!  I've still got almost 80 or 90 more rows to do before I'm done. Besides it being such an easy pattern, it is also one that you can do in so many different ways. To find that out - just check the projects at the Ravelry page for this pattern!!  I'm already planning out some colors for my next one!  But first, to finish this one!

Trying to Get Back...

I stopped blogging quite awhile ago.  I just felt I did not have anything much to blog about. I don't work anymore. I don't really go anywhere - except to the grocery store, the knitting store, the bookstore.  I don't have any face to face friends to do things with - so nothing to talk about there.  My family is 540 miles away.  No kids....  I was just struggling to find things to "blog about"... But I want to try again - find my own blog personality....

I recently bought this magazine.  I liked it enough to get the newest issue last week.  It is interesting to find out how people got into blogging, about the things they blog about - their struggles with their blogs - their reasons for sometimes stepping away from their blogs, etc etc....

Anyway, I'm going to try again - because I do enjoy doing my blog.  Even if no one out there is "listening"...  I still enjoy doing it...

A Book I'm Reading...

this is one of many that I have started.  I'm only a chapter in so far....so can't give any true thoughts on it yet.  However, I know someone else who just finished it and they loved it - so I have high hopes!

The title, of course, was the first thing that caught my eye!  And then I read the blurb inside and that cinched the deal...

"Mrs. Creasey is missing and the avenue is alive with whispers.  The neighbors blame her disappearance on the heat wave (I can relate)...  but Grace and Tilly (who are 10 years old) are not convinced.  They decide to take matters into their own hands and try to bring Mrs. Creasey home"

The knitting that the book is on top of is my ZickZack scarf. I'm determined to get it done and wear it this winter. Of course that is what I said "last" winter. But this time around, it WILL happen!

Knitting Quirks...

We all have them - fess up!  I may have more than many people, but I own it - LOL!

1.  I wrap all my yarn onto paper towel rolls.  Even the ones that come in balls!  Drives my sister batty...

2.  Another thing that drives my sister batty is the fact that I write down every pattern I do onto index cards - every single row - even if there are over 400 of them - like with one of the patterns I'm doing now. But it works for me and saves me during all of those times I get interrupted while knitting.

3.  I dislike double pointed needles. I've tried them over and over - I've watched videos - and on and on. But these needles and me - we are over!

4.  I buy way too many patterns on Ravelry and then end up not doing way too many of them.  Sometimes it is because the pattern turns out to be too difficult for me - or just more "fiddly" than I want to deal with. I always say I'll get around to doing them at one point - but I probably won't!  But I tell myself - hey the pattern wasn't even the cost of a Starbucks.... and then I can forgive myself...
Because I still have the pattern - but the Starbucks is a goner into my tummy - LOL!

5.  I prefer the patterns I knit to be spelled out on how many rows, inches, and so on that you are supposed to do to get it to look like the designer. Then if I want to do more rows to make it larger or longer, etc., I can. I dislike when they say - knit until your yarn is gone.    At least give me the length and depth of your finished object!

6.  When I come home from the yarn shop - I like to pick out each pattern I'm going to use with each yarn and then wind the yarn and put everything into a little shopping bag, along with the needles I will be using. After that is done, I actually start each project - just a row or two - and then set it aside to get back to later.  Sometimes (well, many times) the yarn doesn't want to be what I chose for it! So I listen to the yarn and pick another pattern (or 2 or 10) - to try out.  Until it speaks to me and says - yes, this is the one!

I know I have other quirks, but this is enough sharing for now - ha!

A Book I Am Reading...

This is one of the many many MANY books I have started right now.  I started reading it on Thursday and had to literally force myself up out of the chair to start dinner...  I was reading some more of it yesterday. As I don't want to finish it in one gulp, I made myself set it aside... again!  But I have a feeling it could get finished today!

Arden Arrowood's twin sisters disappeared on her watch over twenty years ago, when she was only 8 years old and they were around two years old.  Everything in her present day life is falling apart.  She has held onto the hope that her sisters are still alive, and it seems she can't move forward until she finds them. When her father dies, she inherits Arrowood, the same house where the twins disappeared on that fateful day.  She returns there, determined to discover what really happened during that tramatic summer.

 

OTN...

I'm close to finishing my gradient scarf.  It is done the long way - so 400 stitches I have to knit each row - aghhhh! Therefore, I only do about one row each time I pick it up - so have been knitting on it for awhile. Very simple pattern - just knitting so many rows with each color - making an eyelet row - and then switching to the next color. The gradient kit came with 5 colors - but I'm leaving out the last one - which is a yellow shade.  One reason - I just don't want to add it in with these other colors for some reason - and another, I'm so over wanting to have this scarf done - LOL!  I will use it in some other project one day. I have another gradient kit which is variations of grays. So I thought the yellow with that would add a nice pop. I just have to find the right project for it all!

Yarn Shops....

My yarn shop - the one I love so much - is closing by the end of this month. The owner wanted to retire. I can't blame her, and am happy for her. But so so sad for me....  I went there for years....sometimes two times a month (or more).... It was only a 15 to 20 minute drive from my house. I could spend as much time in there as I wanted... just hanging out, chatting, looking at yarn, buying yarn...  She had such a huge selection of yarns.  Her shop was small, but she had it packed with all types of fibers, brands, colors, from low price to high price - and in between.  Tons of needles, buttons, pattern books, on and on....  I could return yarn with no hassles... She had a good rewards program....

I've gone to 4 other yarn places since I got the news about the closing - trying to find my new "spot".  Here is my review...

the first place has been there for a kazillion years.  She had about two brands of yarn...that was it...  one rack of needles, that was mostly empty.  How she is still in business, I really do not know.

the second place was more of a drive to get to and not a pleasant drive on top of that - lots of construction going on - lots of traffic.  When we got there, it was mainly her own hand dyed yarns.  Only one or two other brand names - and not brand names that I use.  None of my "go to yarns".... Nice yarns she hand dyes - don't get me wrong. But just not what I want.  The yarn shop was cute and had "atmosphere"... but I won't be going back...

the third place is near my house - closer than my favorite shop even.  And she did have some name brand yarns - one or two that I've used in the past. But still none of my "go to yarns".  She also had lots of yarns that are hand dyed by local people.  And I can see myself buying them.  I found out that unless someone takes over the shop - she too will be closing - within the next year.

the 4th place was decent - had one or two of my "go to yarns.  and some yarns that I've seen online and wanted to try... had never seen in person - so that was fun. But her shop is really disorganized and that bugged me. Too many different brands stuffed into the same bins.  It is about a 45 minute each way drive...  But I will go back.  Not often, but from time to time...

I guess I'm spoiled by my favorite shop and it will take me awhile to get used to it not being there anymore. I know, that like me, other people that went there for years and years - are going to be in for a big shock when they start looking around for a new shop.

There is one more place I would like to try - and will at some point. But I cannot see myself going there often.  They have some yarn brands that I use and some that I want to try out. But it is over an hour or more each way - and there is no free parking....

I can foresee myself doing more and more of my yarn shopping online. Not something that I want to do - I enjoy going to the shop and touching and seeing the yarns up close. But if the shops around me do not carry my "go to yarns", then I have no choice...

and I am bummed.  Happy that I can find them and more online, but bummed out that I can't find them in a shop....  sigh....

OTN....

I recently started a pattern called "Kallara" (on Ravelry).  There are quite a number of patterns out there that resemble this one (altho there are differences of course)....  I love a lot of those other patterns, however, they just seem soooo huge!  So when I saw this one - I clicked the "buy button" very quickly. It is easy to do and I think you could change it around a bit - and do the stripes 4 rows per color, rather than 2 per color.  Which I may do when I knit this again.  You have to keep marking the center stitch, which gets a bit fiddly - but less so as the rows get longer. Granted, you could do away with the marker. I tried that a few times, but since I have a tendency to veg out when I'm knitting (either because I get caught up in a tv show - or my thoughts), I was afraid I would just keep knitting right past where I'm supposed to do the center stitches!  When I bought this pattern, I wanted to start on it right away - so just grabbed two yarns I had here - a blueish gray and a red (not the colors I would have chosen).. but I'm actually liking it quite a bit.

This book is the first in a series I heard mentioned on the book group I run online.  I love it!  I've already bought the next book in the series and will order the third one this week. I think there are quite a number of more books still to come (can't remember how many). It is about a single Mom with two kids who lives in the town of Deadwood...along with a motley crew of other characters.  Her kids are a hoot!

An Easy Spagetti Recipe....

This is not a "wet" spaghetti sauce - but more on the dry side.  I'm sure you could add some type of liquid to it if you want more "sauce"....

Ingredients....
1 pound of ground beef
1 ... canned Italian Diced Tomatoes (you could use two if you want)  I use Hunts brand...

1 cup of chopped onions
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of Italian dressing

Brown the ground beef and onions
Add in the rest of the ingredients
Bring to a boil...then reduce the heat to medium low - cover the pan - and cook for about 5 minutes.
Serve over pasta noodles of your choice

Random Ramblings...

After days and days of incessant sun beating down, it was nice to see some clouds yesterday!  And then a bit of blessed rain.  It was still hot, but the sun was gone for a bit. However, it is back today!  Constant sun drives me a bit looney!

July 22nd was my Dad's 90th birthday!  I wish I could have made it back to Ohio to spend it with him, but I couldn't... However, I did get to skype a bit with him!
Also got to "talk" a bit with my Mom. She has dementia and cannot sustain a conversation, but I still got to hear and see her. At first she thought I was her Grandma...  then when they said it was Linda, she sat there looking at me really hard and then said "I Love You"... I later broke down and cried.  For that little moment, she knew it was me...and it brought me some peace.

I wish someone could explain to me, why it bugs me so much when I go to Barnes and Noble, and people line up the wrong way to go through the check-out line!

We lost our power for a little bit a week or so ago.  So we went up to wander around the mall and stop for a cold drink.  On the way home, there was half of a rainbow!  Haven't seen a rainbow in awhile, so I was thrilled...

OTN....

This is my teeny tiny start on a pattern I really love!  It is called "Dichotomy" (pattern on Ravelry).  Due to the notes I read while looking at other people's projects, I'm adding some yarn overs to the edge side of the "solid" side...  makes it all look a bit more lacy and open.

I'm doing mine in Mountain Colors yarn (really like this yarn - wish it came in solid colors)....  Loving this variegated green!

I adore books about houses and food and other locales. And this book fits all of that!  I've been meaning to read this book for years now - and am finally getting around to it....

"N" is for...

many things...

notes.... I'm a big note maker (list maker, what have you). Most of the time, they keep me on track and keep me sane. If it is down on paper, it cannot be forgotten.  I may not get to things on my notes for days or weeks (or months)...but I still feel calmer knowing that it is written down and will be taken care of eventually. Sometimes, however, all my notes drive me almost crazy!

NASCAR....I'm a big fan of NASCAR.  Became one after I married and moved to Virginia. Somehow my husband and I started to watch and the rest is history.  My favorite driver was Dale Earnhardt Senior.  After he was killed, I just didn't want to watch the races anymore.  I eventually got back into it, but my heart wasn't (and still isn't) totally "there"....   Now I have various drivers that I like... and cheer for... but none that will ever catch me up the way he did.

Newpaper....  I still subscribe to the newspaper - 7 days a week, it is delivered to my paper box....  I sit down every morning and read it.  My favorite is the weekend Sunday edition with all the extras that are there....  I read the paper before going to work (when I was working) - I just did it faster and earlier.  My favorite sections are the FOOD section on Wednesdays, the Health Section on Tuesdays, and the Travel section on Sundays.    There have been some mornings when the paper didn't show up (and I got it late). My mornings always felt a bit unsettled during those times....  I know, I'm odd - LOL!

OTN....

First, let me apologize for the photo - this is the cat's stool and I didn't realize you can see the spot where he has scratched the fabric on the stool - LOL!

This pattern is called "Drop City"... it is a paid pattern on Ravelry. The pattern is written a bit oddly, but if you keep the "potato chip" scarf in mind - you will get how to do it. And as I always say, if I can figure it out - anyone can - ha!

I wanted to get started on it after buying the pattern, so I used one of my Lorna's Laces yarns.  If I do this pattern again, I want to try a self striping yarn. The projects I saw done in that type of yarn for this project really stand out!  But I'm still liking mine too - don't get me wrong!

The book is a re-read for me.  I liked it quite a bit the first time around - hopefully the second time around will be just as good, if not better. She has a new book coming out today called "The Light of Paris".  I will be buying that one when I make my weekly B & N trip on Friday!

"M" is for...

magazines....

I buy a lot of magazines! Altho I must say, I go through phases...
sometimes buying more...sometimes buying less...  Right now, we are in the "buy more" phase!

I love to read gardening magazines - even though I do not garden...

I love to read magazines about rug hooking and quilting and handweaving...even though I do none of those things...

I love to read books about flea market finds and turning them into something else.  Even though I don't do that - well maybe go to antique stores and flea markets - but I never turn anything I buy into anything else...

I love Country Living magazine - especially the British one...  Period Living is another one I enjoy...

I love to read Where Women Create and Where Women Cook...

And of course, there are the other ones I like to read from time to time - like Oprah, Martha Stewart Living, and People...

I had a lady ask me once - can you really read magazines about things you don't ever do - like gardening and quilting? I said - but of course!  She said, thank you...I am going to do just that! Because like me, she enjoys reading about people who do those things - even if we don't do them ourselves - LOL!

Random Ramblings...

We are getting a bit of rain - hope it cools it down out there! The last few days have been sweltering.  Just hope it doesn't storm....

I can read while the tv is on, but not when music is playing.  My husband can read with music playing, but not with the tv on....

One of the books I'm enjoying is "Delicious" - a fiction book by Ruth Reichl. I tried to read it when it first came out, but it did not "take". But this time around - it is a winner for me!

I love to listen to the different sounds the birds make... To me, a blue jay sounds like it is saying - beep beep! beep beep!.....  there is a bird (not sure which one - could be a cardinal) that always sounds like it is saying teacher teacher - or maybe t-shirt t-shirt - LOL!  And another bird (not sure which one it is) that sounds like it is saying cheeseburger cheeseburger!

Got an email yesterday saying that my favorite yarn shop - the one I've been going to for probably over 8 years or more - the one that is like a home to me...is closing.  I literally sat here in front of my computer and cried so hard. The owner is retiring. Happy news for her - but really sad news for tons of us customers...
I went there today to get some yarn - and I did grab some stuff, but my heart wasn't in it. The sale starts next week and will go until she closes at the end of August. I really do not think I will go back. I have 5 other yarn shops within 30 minutes to an hour away...  and I will go and check them out. But I have a feeling I will not go yarn shopping very often anymore. May do a lot of it online.    But you never know - I'm trying to look on this as a silver lining - maybe something happy will come out of it somewhere down the road....

"L" is for...

Library....

When I was young, my Mom used to take us to the library in our little home town. It was in an old stone building by the river.  The downstairs area was for under the age of 13.  Once you hit 13, you were allowed to go to the upstairs area!  Before that, they just deemed those books too much for younger kids.  Still amazes me to this day when I think back on it - compared to how things are now.

When I was in my teens, my best friend (who lived next door to me) and I, would walk to this same library.  We would get tons of books and walk home and sit outside and read.  Then when all our books were finished, back we would go for more - on and on - all summer long....

In 7th and 8th grades, I volunteered in the school library.  I actually even learned how to bind books - that was fun to me!  I can still picture that library in my mind.  Recently, they tore this school down - so very sad to see it being destroyed.  I saw a video on Facebook that someone from my home town put on there.  The school was called Milford Main - it had two front entrances. And above the entrances were carved in stone - the word Girls on one side - and Boys on the other side.  Always loved that for some reason. The floors inside were old wood and they creaked... another thing I loved about that school!

After I got laid off from my job at Honeywell, back in 2001, I started volunteering at my regional library.  About a year later, I was hired to be a Page.  I worked 20 hours a week - reshelving the library books.   I was there for 10 years - shelving library books - 4 hours a day - 5 days a week!   There were 30 of us at this branch who did this over various hours during the day and night and weekends.  It was a never ending job.  We circulated over 1.5 million books a year - and all those books had to be reshelved!   I  finally (after those 10 years of shelving) decided to retire from working all together.  I did go back and volunteer again for a couple of years - doing the Pick List - this is where you go out with a list of books people have put on hold - and pull them and process them for pick up.  It is a huge job which requires many volunteers throughout the days...  I enjoyed it!  I do remember one time, a man found out we were called Pages.  He could not get over that - I think he thought it was demeaning.  He asked the manager - when do they get to be books - LOLLL!!  We actually did not like the title either - we would have preferred Library Assistants.... or something along those lines.

To this day - whenever I go into a bookstore, I find myself fixing the books - putting them in order, if they are out of place, etc.  I guess you can take the girl out of the library, but you can't take the library out of the girl!

Random Ramblings....

I wanted to take down some stuff starting to grow up the fireplace. Thought it might be poison ivy. Husband says no... so I pull some of it off with my fingers. I now have a rash!  I don't think it was poison ivy - but maybe some other type of creeper thing that puts out toxic rays!

I enjoy watching professional golf on tv...  Yes, I know some people think it is as exciting as watching grass grow - LOL! But I like it.  The last match I watched - the winner won 1.8 million dollars! Unreal!

I buy a lot of magazines. Sometimes I buy the same one twice.  Not saying that I recently did that or anything, but so glad it was bought at the grocery store (where they took it back and refunded my money) and not at Barnes and Noble - where they will not do that!

After going through a week or more of computer issues, I decided to switch over to Windows 10 while it was still free.  It isn't as pleasing to me (just appearance wise) as Windows 8.1.  But so far, it is working easily - pretty much the same functions as the old version I was using....  I am having problems here and there with losing the internet connection off and on.  Not sure if it is Windows 10 or my ISP.  Thinking it is my ISP...

Most people don't know that....I have an issue lately (well for some years now)...of being able to travel away from home.  Not sure what brought it on, but I wish I could figure out a way to get over it!  I have not been back home to Ohio in 10 years now....

"K" is for...

well Knitting of course!

I was trying to remember how long I've been knitting. I know it is over 10 years - probably more.  I actually knitted a few things when I was around 19 or 20.   But it wasn't "my thing" at that point in time....

I cross-stitched for over 20 years or so - and then it got to where I could not see the "little holes" in the fabric...  Since I had to have some crafting going on - I went back to knitting.  And never looked back!  I eventually got close up lenses and could see to stitch again and did it a bit here and there.  But I haven't cross-stitched in quite awhile.  I think about getting back into it again - and probably will at some point. But right now, my love for knitting (all the time) is too strong. My reading has even taken a back seat - and that is saying something!

My sister always crocheted.  I mean, for a long time.  But once she found out I was knitting, she wanted to do it too.  And she knits all the time now.  She still crochets things once in awhile, but she is mainly a knitter...  I've actually taught her how to do knitting stitches over the phone!  She is in Ohio. I'm here in Virginia. She catches on really quickly and is able to understand my directions while we are yakking.

About a year ago, she got a new phone and was able to get on Facebook. So we can send photos back and forth - and we also live video chat and can show each other the stuff we've made!

I'm so glad I discovered this "art form"...!

Random Ramblings...

Not all that hot out today, but very humid...woke up around 5 this morning to the sound of thunder and lightening and a steady down pour.  Now at 2 P.M.,  it is cloudy and gray - and looks like it could rain again....
I was thinking about going for a walk, but think "not"...

Last week, I was trying to figure out what the next book was in a series that my husband enjoys. He heard me mumbling to myself about it and said - you could just rotate the same four books.  Because he said, he never remembers anything, so would not know the difference - LOL!

Mailed a box of gifties to a friend the other day that lives in Wyoming.  The weight of the box - 4 pounds.  The cost to mail said box - $24.00!  I almost freaked out!  I told them - and you wonder why no one mails anything anymore!! 

When I am in the line at the grocery store and the lady is bagging my groceries - and I say - could you please double bag something, please don't tell me that it isn't that heavy... Just double bag it!

OTN...

 

 

 

I've restarted this pattern (Pincha shawl)...for the third, possibly fourth time!
For various reasons, I just could not "get it going" the other times I tried it...
I kept messing up - and having to start over.  And then found out I was doing the wrap and turns wrong - arghhh!   Aside from that...I didn't care for the yarns I was trying out on it - each time I started over!  So I set it aside for awhile. Then finally got out last week and found some yarn I love and it is working out perfectly for it!  I write up all the patterns I knit onto index cards - row by row.  And this one, I did the same - I have every single solitary row written down - even the repeats of certain rows!  And I'm slowly knitting along, with no issues - so far!  Keeping my fingers crossed as I really love this pattern!
 The book is one I'm re-reading - it is non-fiction. I recently bought the sequel. So once I finish my re-read of this one, I will get started on it!  I love books that take place in Paris!