Quail Hill Knits

Clark Intermediate Winter Percussion

2010-05-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

My youngest son, Kenny, joined Clark Intermediate Winter Percussion this past spring Semester. The director was a remarkable young teacher named Joseph Avery. Joe and his friend, Donald G. Durham, arranged the music and choreographed all of the moves. The kids, who are all seventh and eighth graders, attended practices for an average of ten hours per week for four months. And the result? They won the Championship. (Kenny is in the right hand corner playing the chimes).

Twenty Things I Learned About Being Stuck in a Hospital Bed

2008-09-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

1. Any motion picture that has been "Edited for Television" is missing most of the scenes that explain the plot.
2. A dropped ball of yarn will roll directly UNDER the hospital bed completely out of reach of my extendable "grabber" only when my boys and husband are out of the house.
3. The phone will only ring if I’ve fallen asleep.
4. It will be a wrong number.
5. It is not a good idea to try to turn a heel after taking Vicodin unless experimenting with yarn sculpture was the actual end goal.
6. No television commercial which sells perfume makes sense.
7. Jeffrey Goldblum utters the phrase "Must go faster, must go faster" in the movie, Jurassic Park in the scene where the tyrannosaur is chasing the jeep. He says the same thing in Independence Day when the aliens are chasing him and Will Smith through the alien spaceship after they launch the bomb.
8. Four dogs cannot physically occupy the same place of honor on a hospital bed – although they will try.
9. It is quicker to have a 12 year old reset the "Tivo" unit than trying to read and understand the Instruction Manual.
10. If you ask your husband or son to retrieve a set of double pointed needles from the other bedroom, they will bring three needles of one size and two of another size, then look utterly mystified when you tell them they brought two sizes, while arguing that all the needles are the same length.
11. ALWAYS inspect the laundry basket BEFORE the load is washed when your sons offer to "do the laundry for you".
12. The more annoying the television ad is, the more likely it will air over and over and over again throughout the weekend. A funny or cute commercial is seen once.
13. A walker is not a suitable substitute for a swift when winding balls of yarn from skeins.
14. The instruction "drink plenty of fluids" is in direct opposition to the instruction "limit the number of times in and out of bed during the first three days after discharge".
15. Husbands get cranky when you wake them up a 2:00 a.m. for a glass of water, then again at 3:00 a.m. to help you to the bathroom.
16. Hospital tape is designed to stick to everything EXCEPT the bandage it is holding is place.
17. It is quicker to have a 12 year old turn off the Spanish subtitles you accidentally turned on than trying to read and understand the Instruction Manual.
18. Boys are not amused when you tell them that the skein of yarn they brought you after spending thirty minutes searching through your stash is the wrong dye lot.
19. "Tastes just like homemade" really doesn’t.
20. Sponge baths are no substitute for the real thing.

Farewell to Dallas

2008-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Thus far, 2008 has not been a good year at all.
In March, I caught the flu and was very sick for nearly six weeks.
Then the economy has been taking its toll on my business, meaning that although I am doing the work, I am only getting partial payments, or in several instances, notices of bankruptcy filings where I am a named creditor. This means lots of appearances in the federal courthouse to stay on the list of creditors who are apportioned something.
In June, one of my workers announced she was getting married in July. Apparently, getting married leads to total lack of common sense and she opened an email with a "greeting card" attachment. Now, I have a very strong rule with regard to my office computers which is as follows: -- NO emails are to be opened unless they are on an approved list of senders and the original email address checks out (which generally means we call and determine if we have been sent the email). I have very good and very expensive virus software. All of which was useless when "Miss-19-years-old-and-I’m-in-love-and-what-if-the-card-was-sent-from-Prince-Charming?" decided to ignore office policy and hit the "open the attachment" button in the email. You guessed it – after ten house calls from my computer whiz, restoration of my backup files (which thankfully were not corrupted) and entering two weeks worth of work, we were back in business.
That same month my quarter horse, Dallas, developed colic in the intense heat of summer in Fresno. It was 112 Fahrenheit when Dallas started showing signs of distress. I immediately called his vet who came out and treated him. Dallas was given pain killer, mineral oil, antibiotics and lots of water. We kept him walking for almost 26 hours straight. It was touch and go, but he pulled through. The vet was concerned that another bout of heat would be bad for Dallas at 27 years of age.
But now my left hip was hurting so bad that I could barely walk, sit upright, stand, or lay down for any length of time. I was referred to an osteopathic doctor who determined that I had no cartilage left on the top of the femur. So off to the surgeon for a total left hip replacement on August 27th. All went well until they were "seating" the prosthesis and split the femur to my knee. (In layman’s terms, the bone broke in two) That required installing clamps around the bone before continuing the original surgery. I’m home as of yesterday but have been cautioned that I will have limited mobility for at least six weeks before the leg becomes "weight-bearing". Translation – I get to walk with a walker or crutches until mid October.
Fresno was 107 Fahrenheit yesterday. This morning, Justin went out and Dallas was down. Justin took me out to the barn in the back of my car and Dallas got up for me. But when Dr. Stabbe got here, he told me that Dallas’s heart rate was 85, there were no bowels sounds detected in his intestines, his temperature was subnormal and the rectal exam showed the intestines were bloated and twisted. Dallas was in a lot of pain and Dr. Stabbe said that he was "not confident" that treatment would save him. Dallas has been a cantankerous and crusty character, but he was been my faithful companion for fifteen years. I was not going to put him through the agony for a slim chance of survival. We did that in July and here he had now coliced again less than five weeks later.
Dr. Stabbe offered to go his horse trailer and take him to his clinic and euthanize him there since I was not in any shape to load and drive Dallas by myself.
Dallas left my house for the last time 15 minutes ago.

The Endless Afghan -- Twenty Two Down - Eighteen to go

2008-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

This block is featured in The Great North American Afghan and was designed by Deborah Newton of Providence, Rhode Island.

It was very easy to knit. I cast on while waiting for our flight from Seattle to San Jose last weekend. I was at the halfway mark when the plane touched down two hours later. I can't knit in the car (I get motion sick) so I had to wait to finish it this weekend at my Saturday morning knit together.

I blocked it Saturday afternoon and this morning I have yet another square completed! Although I am now more than halfway through my goal, there are still 18 more squares to knit. I have been thinking that I may modify my plan and add a large border and keep all the squares on the top of the bed. I 'll have to play with the measurements.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

2008-02-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

Dan and I decided to fly up to Washington for the weekend. We arrived on Friday morning. Dan immediately started working on his amateur radio equipment. I filled my birdfeeders and set up my camera for the "Great Backyard Bird Count".

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts.

Participants count birds anywhere for as little or as long as they wish during the four day counting period. They tally the highest number of birds of each species seen together at any one time. To report their counts, they fill out an online checklist at the Great Backyard Bird Count web site. As the count progresses, anyone with Internet access can explore what is being reported from their own towns or anywhere in the United States and Canada. They can also see how this year's numbers compare with those from previous years.

A Black-capped Chickadee at the feeder.
This was the first time I had seen a Red Breasted Nut Hatch at the feeders.
A Steller's Jay watches the smaller birds.
And a Spotted Towhee cleans up the spilled seeds.

On Saturday morning I woke before sunrise and dressed for a walk at the Theler Wetlands. The Theler Wetlands covers some 75 acres near Belfair, Washington and the Hood Canal. An agreement between the Wetlands and the Washington State Department of Fish and Game has allowed development of a trail system encompassing 135 acres. Four separate trails are open to the public free of charge during daylight hours, seven days a week. The site is a popular stop for birdwatchers and photographers. There is a wonderful variety of birds throughout the trial system. I arrived ten minutes before the gate was unlocked. When it opened I started down the trail. I saw.......

.........a pair of Mallards........ ......and Northern Pintails.........

........and some Green Winged Teals. I had never seen this one in the wild before although they are apparently fairly common in this area.

Further down the path a stately Great Blue Heron surveyed the trail. .

and overhead -----a sight I never tire of --- a Bald Eagle in flight.

The weekend ends far too soon. Dan and I closed up the house and headed home Monday afternoon. I can hardly wait for Spring Break.

The Endless Afghan - The Twenty First Square

2008-02-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

I have been working on the afghan as much as I can. I would like to finish it this year but, quite honestly, that may not be realistic. But whether I do complete it or not, I am having a great deal of fun which each square.

This block is from the book, The Great American Aran Afghan. It was designed by Marian Tabler of Cincinatti, Ohio.

The twin cables wander back and forth throughout the square giving the block a "bas relief" look. Best of all, it knit it up exactly at gauge!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2008-02-05T22:14:00.001-08:00

On January 29th, Justin, Kenny, Miguel (Kenny's friend) and I headed to Monterey, California to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is located in a former sardine cannery on Cannery Row, is one of the largest and most respected aquariums in the world. It has an annual attendance of 1.8 million and holds 35,000 plants and animals representing 623 species.

The Aquarium has preserved sections of the original cannery as part of its exhibits. Shown here are two of the original boilers.

Among the aquarium's numerous exhibits, two are of particular note. The centerpiece of the Ocean's Edge wing is a 33-foot (10-m) high tank for viewing California coastal marine life. In this tank, the aquarium was the first in the world to grow live California Giant Kelp using a wave machine at the top of the tank (water movement is a necessary precondition for keeping Giant Kelp, which absorbs nutrients from surrounding water and requires turbidity), allowing sunlight in through the open tank top, and pumping in raw seawater. The second exhibit of note is a one million gallon tank in the Outer Bay Wing which features one of the world's largest single-paned windows. The window is constructed of four panes seamlessly glued together through a special process. We were excited because for the third time in the Aquarium's history, the Outer Bay was the temporary home to a juvenile Great White Shark. It took a while for us to spot the shark as it swam in the Outer Bay tank. He wa a dark grey-blue and blended into the background. But once we finally located him, we could see that the Great White had an entirely different build than the Hammerhead sharks and the Galapogos sharks which were also part of the display. He was heavier and his jaws were larger. Twice, as the shark swam by, he stretched his jaws and we could see his teeth --- rows of very sharp triangles. Overall, it was quite interesting to see him. And it turned out, it was also the last weekend he was on display. On February 5th, 2008, he was returned to the Pacific Ocean.

Perhaps my favorite exhibits in the entire aquarium are the jellyfish. "Jellies" live in virtually every part of the ocean and come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some, like the aquarium's box jellies, are no bigger than a thimble. Others, like the Arctic lion's mane, have umbrella-shaped bells that reach 7 feet across and tentacles that stretch 100 feet or more. Jellies often use their tentacles to sting and snare prey, such as small fish, while drifting with the current. Mediterranean jellies are also called fried egg jellies, for obvious reasons—namely, their smooth golden globes on top of their brown bells. But despite their beautiful purple and white colors, these jellies are no treat in Mar Menor, a coastal lagoon in Spain. Fertilizer runoff there led to an oversupply of the plankton that’s a staple of the jellies’ diet. Now there’s an oversupply of jellies, too, threatening fisheries and tourism.

Like a large bird egg cracked and poured into the water, that three-foot, translucent bell is yolk-yellow at the center, with hundreds of tentacles clustered around the margin. The egg-yolk jelly is one of the larger species of jellies commonly found in Monterey Bay. This massive jelly usually drifts motionless or moves with gentle pulsing. Acting like an underwater spider web with a mild sting, an egg-yolk jelly captures other jellies that swim into its mass of tentacles.

Nearly as beautiful as the jellies are the Anemones. Sometimes called flowers of the sea, Anemones are ancient and successful animals. They lack heads, but have a ring of tentacles around a mouth that opens into a tubelike body cavity, where food is digested. Anemones are voracious feeders that eat almost anything. Stinging cells (nematocysts) on their tentacles paralyze small prey animals. Anemones can even ingest small crabs and then spew out the shells.

After we left the Aquarium, we drove along the famous "17 mile drive", a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach before heading back home. Much of this highway hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions. Along the way, we saw sea lions, whale spouts, and sea otters along the shoreline as we drove. All in all, a wonderful time was had by all.

The Endless Afghan - The Twentieth Square (or only 20 more to go!)

2008-02-05T17:13:00.001-08:00

Last Monday, our receptionist had the flu but came to work anyway. When Bear found out she was sick, Bear immediately sent her home but apparently, not soon enough. On Friday, I felt the first chills and slight headache. By Saturday afternoon, the fever had arrived as well as chest congestion and stuffed sinuses.

Since it was obvious I wasn't going to be out and about over the weekend, I settled into my easy chair, wrapped up in a blanket, and picked up my knitting. I decided to knit a square from The Great American Aran Afghan.

This square was designed by Barbara McIntire and features Celtic cables as the centerpiece as well as the borders.

As with all cables, it was important to pay attention to the direction the cables crossed each other. Once I got the pattern memorized, the square knit up quickly. It blocked beautifully. Only twenty squares more to go.........

Road Trip -- Law Office Style

2008-02-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Each year, I try to do something special with my staff to show them how much I appreciate their hard word and dedication. One year we went whale watching in Monterey Bay, another year it was dinner and a show in San Francisco. This year, I flew my paralegals, Bear and Molly, to Washington for a four day respite after the long hours we all put in in December. Our first night in Washington, we were greeted by this clever couple. The raccoons apparently thought that I had filled the bird feeders for their exclusive use. Unfortunately for them, I hung the feeders too high for them to reach. The pair tried for over an hour to crawl up the outer post, all in vain. They finally gave up.

Neither Bear nor Molly had ever been to Canada. They were excited to go so we had planned a day in Victoria, British Columbia. I asked my neighbor, Lennie, if she would like to join us and she said yes. On Sunday, January 13th, 2008, we caught the ferry from Port Angeles and headed for Vancouver Island. While we waited in line, I filled out the customs forms for our group and discovered it was Lennie's birthday!
Once we cleared customs into Canada, we headed up the street to do the tourist thing. Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia. Lennie, Molly and Bear posed in front of the Inner Harbour.
One of the prominent landmarks along the Inner Harbour is the Parliment Building. The Parliament Buildings were designed by a 25 year old creative architect named of Francis Rattenbury in honor of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Construction began on 1893. Construction of the Parliament Buildings utilized, as much as possible, local materials, resources, and expertise. Granite rock foundations were brought in from nearby Nelson Island, the facades were imported from Haddington Island, and much of the brick, lime and Douglas Fir were from Vancouver Island. The Parliament Buildings were completed in 1915.Equally impressive is another Inner Harbour landmark, the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This 460-room hotel was built in the Edwardian style and was recently restored to its original grandeur, complete with antique furniture and luxurious décor. Considered to be the most photographed attraction on Vancouver Island, The Empress was also designed by Francis Rattenbury. It opened in 1908. This year it celebrates it 100th anniversary.

Molly takes a pictures of the Empress Hotel while Bear and Lennie look on.
We next headed to the Royal BC Museum. The first thing we saw in the lobby was John Lennon's "Yellow Submarine". This car was manufactured in 1965 by the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, Crewe, Cheshire. The car was fitted with a limousine body by Mulltner Park Ward and finished in Valentines Black. When completed, the Phantom V was then delivered to John Lennon on June 3, 1965. The car measured 19 feet long and weighed three tons. It was originally painted black with chrome trim.
John eventually became restless with the "matt black overall" and decided to paint the car "psychedelic". A Dutch team of gypsy artists did the work. They designed and painted a pattern of scroll and flowers. The newly painted psychedelic car drew public outrage. In fact, an old woman, in London’s downtown, attacked the car using her umbrella and yelling: "You swine, you swine! How dare you do this to a Rolls-Royce." Obviously, the Rolls-Royce is passionately regarded in England as one of the many symbols of British dignity!
The Beatles used the Rolls exclusively in their heyday from 1966 to 1969. After the band broke up, it was donated to a museum.

The Royal BC Museum is one of my favorite museums so we headed there as our next stop. It houses one of the finest collections of totem poles in North America and a wonderful collection of spindles and woven articles.
After the museum, we all decided it was time to eat. Lennie didn't want anyone to know it was her birthday, so, of course, we immediately let the waitress know. Lennies was surprised with a huge piece of choclate cake.

After lunch we headed for the souvenior shops. Bear poses with a Canadian Bear.

All to soon, it was time to head back to the ferry. As we waited to clear customs, this car pulled into line. The car is a 1928 Graham-Page 610 Touring Sedan, an antique beauty with original motor, upholstery and accessories, now decorated with decals from car clubs and museums, the names of the 20-plus countries they've visited, and two signs. One says "Driving from Argentina to Alaska." The other says: "Tres Americas -- Una Huella." (Three Americas -- One dream).
The couple who own the car, Candelaria and Herman Zapp set out from Buenos Aires in January 2000 to fulfill a long-held dream: a road trip through the Americas. They figured it would take them six or eight months to reach Alaska--(the car has a top speed of 35 miles per hour) but instead, have been on the road eight years and have covered an incredible 50,000+ miles.
A poster inside describes the car's snaking route up South America, across Central America and into North America, past New York to Nova Scotia and Quebec, then across the continent to California, most of it traveled on back roads. "America has a lot of dead ends," comments Herman.
The car has no radio, no tape player, no GPS, no compass. "We have only the map of the next place we're going to be," he says. "If we get lost, so what?"
Even more amazing is the fact that they have three young children --- the youngest was just 6 weeks old!Planning next to cross Asia for three years, they're financing their travels in part with a book, Spark Your Dream, which they sell from the truck of the car. Here Bear and Molly get their books and pose for a picture.

And you know what? Lennie and I couldn't resist the books either!

The Endless Afghan - The Nineteenth Square

2008-01-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

I am finally knitting again! Christmas is over, the office has slowed down back to normal, and Kenny’s homework is under control. What better project to celebrate "I-have-time-just-for-me-again" than the endless afghan.

This square is from the Great American Aran Afghan and was designed by Julie Levy.

It features interlocking diamond cables at the center of the square and a single row of diamonds at each of the edges.

Overall, a intricate looking square that is not difficult. And I am now one more square closer to finishing.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

Last July, as Dan, Kenny, Justin and I pulled out of our driveway in Washington after a wonderful and relaxing summer vacation, Kenny gazed back wistfully at the house and wished that we all could celebrate Christmas together in Washington. During the long drive home to California, I imagined a happy family scene for Christmas, 2007:

My family is settled around a brightly lit and richly decorated Christmas tree. A cheery fire snaps and crackles as it burns in the hearth, while outside the window a lovely white snow blankets the yard. The scent of Christmas candles mingles with the aroma of Christmas dinner. Christmas carols pay quietly in the background as Justin, Kenny and Dan carefully unwrap their packages, all of which are "exactly what they wanted".

Happily deluded by my private dream, in a moment of utter insanity, I said "Yes, let's spend Christmas in Washington."

By October, reality was beginning to rear its ugly head. It started with airline reservations. Any other time of the year (except maybe Thanksgiving) I could locate tickets for $79 to $99 each way. Now, despite the fact that I was making reservations three months in advance, the cost of each ticket was roughly three times that of the National debt. (Apparently, airline companies aren't affected by the Christmas spirit.) I finally located tickets at a reasonable price but they required travel out of San Jose (two hours from our house) on Christmas Eve. Quickly deducing I was not going to be able to find, purchase, and decorate a tree in less than ten hours once we arrived on December 24th, I decided to decorate a tree during my October vacation.

In California, this didn't seem to be much of an issue. All the major stores start to display their Christmas inventory before Halloween. In fact, it is not at all unusual for many of the stores to be sold out of the majority of the "good stuff" by October 20th. But when I got to Washington, there was nary a decoration in sight. After checking ten different stores, I explained my dilemma to the manager of Scott McClendon Hardware. Wonder of wonders, they had a pre-lit, eight foot tree left over from the year before which they were willing to sell to me.

Next I had to locate decorations. After checking with local merchants (and enduring looks that suggested that they thought I was some kind of lunatic), I was finally directed to several gift stores in Seattle, Silverdale, and Shelton which carried Christmas ornaments on a year round basis. The catch was that all of the shops required at least a forty five minute drive to reach --- and all in opposite directions. Four days and seven trips later, I finally had enough ornaments to decorate the tree. I even found a tree skirt, a wreath, and a present for Dan!

Speaking of presents..............Oh, oh! The only way to get them to Washington on time was to ship them. Over the next two months, I became a clearing house for Christmas packages. I wrapped and reboxed everything, then made roughly 6,654 trips to the UPS store. Once each box was on its way, I had to track it online and notify my neighbor, Lennie, that a box was on the porch. She then retrieved the box and took it inside. Now add in the stress of the holiday season in Family Law. I began to feel like the Grinch in that Dr. Seuss cartoon. More than once I caught myself walking around and muttering "I must stop Christmas from coming!" to myself. It didn't work.

Before I knew it, it was December 24th. Alaska Airways recommended passengers arrive two hours before the flight to ensure time enough to get through security. Since our flight left at 6:00 a.m., we arrived at 4:00 a.m. Alaska Airlines apparently didn't read their own memo and didn't open Baggage Check-In until 5:00 a.m. Dan ranks waiting in an airport somewhere between having a tooth pulled without Novocaine and contracting a raging case of the flu. He paced in front of the ticket counter for a solid hour. Once it opened and our bags had been checked, we dashed to security. There is a math equation which states that the speed an airport security line moves is directly related to likelihood that you will miss your flight. Needless to say, it was close. Once in the air, there was turbulence.....lots of it. As we bumped and bounced on our way to Seattle, Kenny began to get air sick. You know, those air sick bags DO come in handy.

I was rethinking this whole "Christmas in Washington" thing when we finally landed at Sea Tac International Airport. I was relieved when we boarded the Kitsap-Bremerton Shuttle to Port Orchard, where our neighbor, Lennie, picked us up and drive us the remaining 20 miles to home.

Surprise! Lennie and her husband, Duane, had opened the boxes and finished decorating the house. Duane had hung Christmas lights on the outside of the house. Lennie had stocked our refrigerator. As a final touch, Duane had lit the pellet stove and turned up the heat while Lennie retrieved us.

This is what we saw when we opened the front door.

Kenny helped me finish up last minute issues, including folding luminarias. A luminaria means "light" or "little lantern". In New Mexico (where I grew up), luminarias are made from brown paper bags weighted down with sand and illuminated from within by a lit candle and traditionally displayed on Christmas Eve. These are typically arranged in rows to create large and elaborate displays. Tradition states that the lights will guide the spirit of the Christ child to one's home.

As a fund raiser, Kenny's class sold luminarias pre-cut with a candle cut-out. I folded them, Justin added a cup of dry sand to the bottom, and finally I added a votive candle (they last 18 hours). As night fell, we lit the candles.

Kenny turned on the tree lights and set up the Ipod to play Christmas Carols. And wonder of wonders, the Christmas spirit finally began to arrive. Gone was the stress and exhaustion. Instread, we were a family happily settling down for the night.

Christmas morning was happy and relaxed. We had a wonderful time finally discovering what was in those boxes. Dan found the most adorable sheep for me.
It moves when its back is stroked and bleats. Dan said he went to over seven stores trying to track it down.

After packages, I fixed crepes. Halfway through breakfast, it started to snow!!!

And boy, did it snow! As the snow got deeper, the boys donned hats, coats and gloves and headed outside for a snowball fight.
It was sort of one sided since Justin is so much bigger and stronger. But it didn't matter, Kenny had a great time.

As I stood at the window watching (I'm no dummy -- those boys would have hurled snowballs at me if I had gone outside), I realized that we HAD had a perfect Christmas.

I'm Back.........

2008-01-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have been on a blogging hiatus. Being a Family Law Attorney is often stressful. When a marriage is dying, divorcing couples are rarely at their best. Now add in the stressors of the holiday season and things go from bad to worse. The time period from the end of November to the middle of January tends to be a very intense time at my office. This year was no exception.

My staff and I had to prepare for and put on four trials lasting one to two days each. In between the trial preparation, I also participated in fifteen office settlement conferences with opposing counsel and our clients in an effort to peacefully settle Christmas visitation schedules between upset and angry parents, who tend to each want Christmas their way. These conference typically last two to four hours before we are able to reach an agreement. Once an agreement was brokered, I had to draft a Stipulation and Order which had to be signed by both parents, both attorneys, and a Judge. As if all this wasn't enough, domestic violence is always an issue during the holidays and this year I appeared at six emergency hearings seeking restraining orders as a result of domestic violence. Add to the mix all the clients that want to their divorce paperwork filed before the end of the year and new clients who need immediate appointments and you get a scheduling nightmare. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, seventy hour work weeks are the norm for my staff and me. By the time December 24th arrived, we were all exhausted and looking forward doing to our winter break (I close the office from December 24th through January 2nd each year).

As if this isn't enough, I still have to try to decorate the Christmas tree, purchase and wrap presents, help Kenny with his homework, attend various school plays and band concerts.

I haven't been knitting........

I haven't been blogging.......

I haven't been weaving.......

I haven't been reading........ (except for reading endless declarations and case law).

But now, finally, things have settled back down to a semblance of normal and I can now catch up.

December 17th was the 50th birthday of my sister, Kris. Before the holiday madness began, I knit her a shawl.

I used Royal Bamboo and a lace pattern I particularly like.

I finished the ends with Swarovski crystals.

This is the knit side.....

.....and this is the purl side.

I really like the color of this yarn. Too bad it is a discontinued color. However, I saved enough of the yarn to make a scarf for myself.

Dan, Justin, Kenny and I spent Christmas in Washington. I just downloaded the pictures and will post the highlights tomorrow. In the meantime, I finally cast on a new square for the Great American Aran Afghan.

Happy 12th Birthday, Kenny!

2007-11-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

The Endless Afghan - The Eighteenth Square

2007-11-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to finish another square despite all the homework assignments Kenny has been bringing home from school.

This square was designed by Ann Strong in Olympia, Washington.

It is based on a pattern called "pomegranate" and does resemble the fruit after it has been cut in half.

The side cables are also interesting. It alternates a solid knit cable with a seed stitch cable intertwined with each other to create an unusual look.

Overall, there is a lot of seed stitch throughout the square which gives the square a very pretty and very distinct look. It was also fun to knit.

The Liberty Belle

2007-11-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Dan loves vintage airplanes. When we first started dating over 16 years ago, he took me to an airshow to see a Boeing B-17 nicknamed "Sentimental Journey". He happily gave me tour of the plane, explaining all of its history and quirks. Years later, Dan and I had the opportunity to fly in a B-17 called the "Nine-O-Nine" sponsored by the Collins Foundation. The flight, which stretched from Torrance, California to Monterey, California was, and remains, a very special memory for each of us.This week, Dan was excited to learn that another B-17 called "The Liberty Belle" (owned and operated by The Liberty Foundation) was coming to Fresno. He wanted to take Kenny to see this piece of history, and give him the opportunity to tour the inside of the plane. Boeing built 12,731 of these aircraft in the from 1936 to 1945. Today, only 14 are currently airworthy. Operating costs are on the expensive side, running approximately $3000 per hour. As a result, it is a real treat to see a B-17 that can actually fly. (Most of the remaining B-17s are part of ground based museum collections.) Kenny took a picture of his Dad posing by the front wheel.

After Dan explained to Kenny how a prop is different from a jet engine, we were allowed inside the plane.

The plane was nicknamed "The Flying Fortress" due to heavy armament to protect the aircraft during raids in World War II. Before the advent of long-range Fighter escorts, B-17s had only their .50 inch (12.7 mm) caliber machine guns to rely on for defense during the bombing runs over Europe. Because the bombers could not maneuver when attacked by fighters, and during their final run they needed to be flown straight and level, individual aircraft struggled to fend off a direct attack. In the picture above you can see two of the defensive guns and a yellow oxygen cylinder.

Because this B-17 is airworthy, all of the instruments in the cockpit actually work.
Dan in the cockpit area explaining the various instruments and how they work to Kenny.

Kenny discovered his favorite part of the plane. He said that it would be "just great" if he could sit in the nose gunner's area if the plane was in the air because"you can see the whole world from here".
And now Dan and Kenny get the surprise. I had booked them on a flight over Fresno. They attended the pilot's briefing then climbed aboard. The Liberty Belle taxis to the main runway.

Take off!

Kenny got his wish as he sits in the nose of the airplane and watches the world go by underneath his feet.

Kenny took this picture of the propellers over the Sierra Mountain Range.

Kenny took this picture of his Dad at the communications desk in the aircraft. I think Dan looks like he's enjoying himself, don't you?
After 45 minutes in the air, Dan and Kenny returned to the Fresno Air Terminal.

When Kenny and Dan exit the plane, both are all smiles. I was glad they both got to enjoy this bit of history together.

I Thought That I had Already Completed 6th Grade.

2007-11-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have a complaint about 6th grade. Where is it in the teacher's manual that says that homework assignments should take between 2 and 3 hours to complete each night?

Tonight's homework assignment was the following:

1. Review this week's 20 new spelling words. Look up the definition of each word and write it down.

2. Read pages 79-92 in the Literature Book and write a paragraph about storyline. Be sure to include the names and description of the three main characters.

3. Complete problems 12-32 of the Math Workbook.

4. Draw a picture of a flower and label all of the parts, including petals, stamen, pistol, stem.

5. Read about a current event in the newspaper or on-line. Make a copy of the story and bring it to class for discussion.

Now take a look a typical evening schedule in my life:

1. I leave my office between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

2. Drive 20 minutes to Clovis to pick-up Kenny at his great-grandmother's home. Arrive between 5:20 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. Chat with Meme (Kenny's great grandmother) for ten minutes.

3. Drive home. Arrive between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

4. Start dinner while Kenny starts his home work.

5. Eat dinner at 7:00 p.m. usually ending about 30 minutes later. Clear and wash dishes while Kenny starts his home work again.

6. If all goes well, we finish the last assignment between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Kenny helps feed the dogs, takes a shower and gets ready for bed.

7. I now have about 30 minutes free time to try to blog, knit, or read before I take a quick shower and head to bed myself.

I don't remember spending all my evening hours as a 6th grader doing homework. I distinctly remember having time during the evening hours to be with my family --- to have "fun time" with my Mom, Dad, brother and sisters. I know that school work and learning is important but Kenny has already spent the entire day at school (he gets out at 4:00 p.m. because he is in drama) and now spends his entire evening doing homework. It is no wonder kids are sick of school by the time they reach high school!

Halloween

2007-10-31T23:26:00.000-07:00

For some reason my Halloween post remained in "draft mode". Kenny was disappointed because he was allowed to wear a "cool" costume this year and wanted me to post it for all the knit bloggers out there. He imagined that he would be the talk of his classroom on Halloween as his classmates tried to guess who it was under the mask. Instead, the Drama Coach spotted Kenny as he walked onto campus in his costume and promptly cast him as the "Ghost of Christmas Future" in the school's upcoming production of "A Christmas Carol". Kenny came home and somewhat disgustedly asked me why I didn't tell him he had picked out a "Christmas" costume!

The Endless Afghan - The Seventeenth Square

2007-10-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

While in Washington I was able to complete two squares for the Afghan I am making.

This is the second of those squares which features an oakleaf and acorns.

The design is featured in the book "The Great American Afghan" and was fitting as the oak leaves were just starting to turn red.

Can't Get Enough of Banana Slugs?

2007-10-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

For those residents and visitors to Washington State who can't get enough of Banana Slugs........

You can now own your very own, hand blown glass version!

Dan though it was cute. I'm just not sure what I am going to do with a glass slug.........

The Endless Afghan - The Sixteenth Square

2007-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

With all the rain, I had time to work on the Great American Aran Afghan. I chose this square designed by Judy Sumner because I like spiders.

It was actually quite fitting for vacation because there were several large Orb Weavers making webs by our front deck which I enjoyed watching while knitting.

Here is a close up of the spider....

And the web with a bug...

And finally the leaves and branches with a "X-O" border. I think this is my favorite square so far.

Home Again

2007-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

For the past sixteen years, Dan and I have set aside the first week of October to share ten days special time for just ourselves. Although in past years we have used this week to travel extensively, this year we both decided we just wanted to head to Washington State to simply relax. We arrived at Sea Tac airport just as the sun was setting and walked past a sculpture/wall hanging in the main terminal which I think is fascinating.

The centerpiece of art named "Landing" was designed by Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter. It is made up of 2800 individual sculptures arrayed in such a way that they form the image of a snow goose landing on a calm lake.Mr. Helmick and Mr. Schechter have individually and collectively completed twelve major public commissions, including major sculptures for the Midway Airport in Chicago, the new international terminal at Philadelphia Airport and the Melvin Price Federal Courthouse in St. Louis, Illinois. Their collaborative work began in 1994 with the creation of Ghostwriter, for the Evanston, Illinois Public Library. They are know for art work which is comprised of thousands of precisely suspended cast metal elements. These small elements then coalesce to become a larger three-dimensional composite form.

The next morning, I opened a box from Jennie the Potter. Inside was a bowl and mug I had ordered last July. The design is features whimsical sheep and a ball of yarn. The pieces are very well done. The colors are vibrant and not the somewhat dull colors my camera phone captured.

But the big excitement was my new loom and accessories from AVL. The Workshop Dobby Loom is AVL's smallest, most transportable, and least expensive computerized dobby loom. I chose a 24 inch loom with 24 harnesses. I chose to have the loom outfitted with sectional beams so I also ordered a warping wheel.

The loom and the box arrived in a series of large, heavy boxes. After locating the instruction sheets, I started the task of assembly. The instructions are easy to follow and I was able to construct the warping wheel and the frame in two days.

While I would have loved to immediately start warping the loom, there is an important component missing --- the computer dobby and shafts. The day before the Loom was to be shipped, AVL contacted me and asked if I would like to become a BETA tester for their latest upgrades. And the best part -- the upgrades would be added at no charge. The only problem was that the dobby would need to be reconfigured and it would not arrive before I left Washington. I took some time to think it over (at least 10 to 15 seconds), then decided to go for the new changes. The dobby will arrive next week.

The forecast was for lots and lots of rain so it was time to settle down and knit. More to come.....

Happy 19th Birthday, Justin!

2007-09-28T01:20:00.000-07:00

Where did the time go?

In Law Enforcement, They Call it a Clue......

2007-09-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

THE SETTING:

The city of Fresno is bisected by State Highway 99. This busy thoroughfare, which stretches nearly 300 miles through the central valley of California, is a well traveled route to many of the small towns and villages located between Sacramento and Bakersfield.

My husband, Dan, often travels on Highway 99 during his work as a detective with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. When he is on duty, Dan wears street clothes and drives an "unmarked" car. By "unmarked", I mean the car is plain white. It does not have a light bar mounted on it roof, nor is it painted with the distinctive green stripe and big gold star, like the cars in the patrol division.

It does not mean that it is difficult to figure out it is a cop car of some kind.

THE CLUES:Clue No. One -- The car has a "California Exempt" license plate. Also note the bracket surrounding said license plate which advertises "Fresno Sheriff's Dept. Recruitment" with a phone number.

Clue No. Two -- The car has been assigned a number and sports two bumper stickers. One bumper sticker asks if the person reading is an organ donor and the other is a D.A.R.E. sticker to keep kids off of drugs.

Clue No. Three -- Two guns (a shotgun and an assault rifle) in their brackets are easily visible through the rear window. Also visible is the cage protecting the driver from a violent passenger.

Clue No. Four -- The car is a white Ford Crown Victoria with the model name "police interceptor" clearly visible on both sides of the car.

Clue No. Five -- The car has a steady red light beacon (required for a traffic stop in California) mounted on the driver's side door and a spotlight on the passenger door which are folded forward when not in use. Also visible on the dash is the top of the mounted notebooks and other equipment required by the Sheriff's Department.

AND THEN THERE'S CLUELESS.......

Dan is traveling north on Highway 99 in the "fast" lane. Traffic is moving at a good clip with most cars moving along at approximately 70 m.p.h. (The speed limit is 65 m.p.h. along this stretch of the road). Glancing into his rear view mirror, Dan sees a gray BMW rapidly closing in on his bumper. The driver is obviously in a hurry and rapidly closes the gap between his car and Dan's Crown Victoria.

The BMW pushes its nose to within five feet of Dan's rear bumper and begins tailgating. Now, at this point, one might think that the impatient driver would begin to notice those aforementioned clues we talked about. But noooo, he appears to be oblivious to them. After tailgating for about a half mile, he then begins to flash is headlights at Dan, a signal that Dan should get out of his way.

His curiosity thoroughly piqued, Dan decides to pull to the middle lane and let the driver through. As soon as he is clear of the fast lane, the BMW blows by him at approximately 85 m.p.h. and accelerates away. As Dan watches, he begins to weave in and out of the fast lane, passing slower cars, then careening back into the fast lane.

Now, you have to understand Dan. He hates, and I mean HATES, to write traffic tickets. In fact, in the 16 years I have known him, the number of speeding tickets he had issued could have been counted on one hand.....until now.

Dan sped up and began to pace. When the GPS unit on his dash reached 110 m.p.h., he had had enough and hit the red lights. It took three more miles before the driver of the speeding BMW noticed that he was being red-lighted and finally pulled over.

As Dan walked up, the driver confidently told him that he couldn't be given a ticket because Dan was not in a "real" police car and he obviously wasn't a "real" cop!

Wait until he get to court and discovers he will owe a "real" fine of $721.

Ravelry

2007-09-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

There is a huge downside to Ravelry.

I started cataloging all of my stash and decided it would be easier if I had it all in one place.

Now, my husband Dan has never, ever, ever seen the sheer size my stash.......
He stood in shocked silence as he looked first at the piles of bright colored yarns waiting to be photographed.......

then slowly turned and looked at bags and bins stuffed full of twenty years of accumulated yarn acquisition.....
.........and finally ended with the stacks of roving waiting to be spun into yarn .

Poor Dan. He looks a bit shell shocked -- you know, that deer caught in the headlights look?

Which leads me to the question ---- Should I tell him that there is yet still more yarn in Washington?

Loaded with Preservatives

2007-09-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered why airline snacks always taste like cardboard? I think I discovered the reason why during our last flight.

Look closely at the expiration date..........

Apparently, these chips are best when consumed before April 3007!

The Endless Afghan - The Fifteenth Square

2007-09-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

This square is from the The Great American Aran Afghan and was designed by Meredith Morioka. It consists of an intricate center cable and a seed stitch and lace pattern as the side borders.

I finished this square last week but apparently I misread the instructions and used a needle size too large. Previously, all of the other squares I had knitted were fairly consistent as to size. In fact, all of them had blocked nicely at twelve square inches each. But this square was huge...... and I do mean HUGE! When I measured it, the tape measure revealed the thing was fourteen inches wide and fifteen inches tall.

After mumbling a few choice knitting words, I frogged the entire thing, reduced needle size, and started over. The re-knit version happily was right on gauge so I have added another finished square to the stack! Twenty five more to go!

The Yarn Harlot AND Yarnhog --All in the Same Day!

2007-09-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last June, Sanger High School had the temerity to schedule Justin's graduation ceremony without first checking The Yarn Harlot's tour schedule. Although I would have loved hearing her speak, you don't invest eighteen years into your kid and miss out of one of life's payoffs.

Consequently, I have been watching her "Harlot on Tour" posts hoping that she would be scheduled in California again before the end of the year. As luck would have it, she was the featured speaker at the Los Angeles Public Library on September 15th. When the schedule was posted on the Internet, I made reservations for two, hoping that Yarnhog would be able to attend as well.

Although I had never met Yarnhog (a.k.a. Suzanne), she and I had been commenting on each other blogs for several months and have an seem to have an almost eerie connection at times -- we are both fairly tall, we are both attorneys, we both have boys, we have the same make and model of computer, both of our fathers worked in the same field.......the list goes on and on. I emailed Suzanne, asked her to join me, and she agreed! The Harlot was scheduled to speak at 2:00 p.m. Suzanne and I wanted to get a good seat so we agreed to meet at my hotel at 10:30 a.m. She arrived right on time. We spent two hours getting to know each other. What a lovely woman. Then, since we wanted to get a good seat in the auditorium, we headed over to the Public Library.Even though it was only 12:30 p.m., there were knitters everywhere! It seemed Suzanne and I weren't the only only who thought arriving early was a good idea. We joined the line and did what knitters do best when confronted with a long wait --- out came the knitting needles, spindles and projects.
Suzanne sat down and started on her Icarus Shawl. Suzanne is knitting the shawl for a friend's wedding and her posts on it have been hilarious. She ordered the yarn on line. When it arrived she was stunned to discover that dental floss is thicker. She commented that she has completed 7943 rows and it seems to have increased in size by a whole inch. The wedding is rapidly approaching so she was working on it whenever she could. As we knit we chatted with other knitters/bloggers, including Cat Book Mom, Bee Bonnet and Dizzy Ewe.

When the door finally opened, Suzanne and I were delighted to snag front row seats! Next to us is Audrey, the lovely program director and librarian who set up the event.

The big moment finally arrived. Stephanie entered to a huge round of applause and immediately took pictures of the audience with the traveling sock.

Then she spoke to the assembled crowd. She was poised, charming and had the crowd in stitches (forgive the pun) with her offbeat sense on humor. Then, despite a grueling schedule which has her in seven cities in seven days, she graciously signed her books and chatted with the crowd.

This is Jean Roosevelt (goldenpurl.blogspot.com), the lovely knitter who collected the knitted hats donated to charity at the event.

And finally the requisite picture of yours truly with The Yarn Harlot herself. All too soon, it was time to leave and say good-bye. But what a wonderful day!

That's different.....

2007-09-14T20:44:00.001-07:00

When I lived in Southern California, I hired a Certified Public Accountant named Mark to help set up my office accounts and prepare my taxes. Twenty five years later, he still prepares my taxes. Since I am in Fresno and Mark is in Los Angeles, I drive 200 miles each way when I have to close out my fiscal year. This morning, I headed south bright and and early. The day was hazy and traffic was light. All in all, the trip was boring until I saw a truck in the distance hauling a strange load.

It's not often one sees a giant toucan and parrot out for an early morning jaunt!

After meeting with Mark, I headed to The Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. I checked in, then headed for the elevator. A plaque just above "up" button noted that the elevator had been used when filming the movie "In the Line of Fire".

While I was standing there waiting for the doors to open, I wondered what the crowd in the lobby would do if Clint Eastwood suddenly ran through and jumped into the elevator. Then the door whooshed open and this got out.

And you know what? No one paid any attention.

Tomorrow, I have reservations to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee speak at the Los Angeles Library. She is a wonderful speaker and it should be fun.

Block Party

2007-09-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is what I did this afternoon.

Before......

......and.....

After!

It never ceases to amaze me as to the difference blocking makes!

A Tale of Two Men....

2007-09-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today is the 6th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that have become known simply by the date 9/11.

I remember walking out to feed the horses that horrific morning only to be surprised by clouds and the distant smell of rain. Curious if the weather forecast had been revised, I turned on the television to witness a living nightmare. Television cameras were focused on the Tower One of the World Trade Center as billowing smoke poured from the raw wound where the plane had hit. I watched in confusion as the news man tried to explain what he was witnessing – and could not find the words to describe it. Then, without warning, a second huge jet came out of the blue sky and slammed into the other Tower and a fireball exploded from the facade. Then came the Pentagon.....the collapse of Tower Two....the collapse of Tower One, and word of the end of Flight 93 in that Pennsylvania field.
Throughout the remainder of that terrible day, my staff and I witnessed the continuous broadcasts and endless re-plays of the planes appearing out of nowhere, the slow crumbling of the towers, the raging fire at the pentagon, and the numbed faces of the survivors. Yet, despite seeing it over and over again, it was impossible to truly comprehend.
At the same time as I was watching the news on television, far away in New York City, one of my clients, a man named John was actually living the nightmare. John worked for Morgan Stanley and had been sent to New York City for a training seminar to be held on the 72nd floor of Tower Two. John had arrived in New York the day before and checked into the hotel across the street. He was issued a security key card to access the building and arrived bright and early on September 11th. John was standing at the window with another employee looking at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty when a dull bang reverberated through the building. Minutes later, papers and other debris began to drift down in front of the window. Neither John nor his companion knew what had happened. They were soon joined by other employees who wondered aloud if they shouldn't leave the building. Because Tower One was behind Tower Two neither John, nor the other employees could see the gaping hole and the billowing smoke. As the employees wondered what to do, loudspeakers in the building began to advise them to remain calm and stay where they were – Tower Two was not affected. However, John’s companion remained nervous and ultimately decided he would rather be on the street than in the building. John and he made their way to a stairwell and started down. It was a decision that saved his life.
As they reached the landing of the 50th floor, the building was suddenly rocked and the smell of jet fuel assailed their senses. At that point they realized they had to get out and hurried down the stairs, all the while being joined by more and more people all seeking the way out. After nearly thirty minutes of steadily moving downward, they reached the street, pushed their way onto the street, and raced toward the plaza. As he walked onto the plaza, John was confused by a large reddish spray across the concrete and what looked to be a bundle of paint covered rags. Slowly his brain deciphered what he was seeing and he turned and ran. As he neared a side street, a low rumble filled the air, distant at first, then building until his entire world was a defining roar. He turned and watched as Tower Two crumbled in slow motion. And as the building fell, a choking cloud of plaster rushed toward him faster than he could run. Blackness covered him and he fought to breath in the thick plaster. When the light slowly returned, John started to walk. He heard Tower One fall, but his mind was too shocked to totally comprehend it. He started to go back to the hotel, but it, too, was gone. John wandered for the next ten hours. He had no cell phone (it was back at the hotel) and no way to let his wife and son know he was alive. When he finally was able to place a call, he had no words to tell them what he had witnessed.
Three thousand miles away, in Clovis, California, Dave McDonald, the CEO of Pelco, Inc. (Pelco makes all those surveillance cameras we see everywhere) was deeply affected by the overwhelming loss of firefighters, law enforcement officers, soldiers, and the innocent passengers of the fated air craft. He resolved to help in any way he could. His company supplied the cameras that where initially used in the search of the rubble.
But Dave wanted to do more. He decided to build a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives. But he wanted to let the friends and families of the victims know that California cared about their lost loved ones and he wanted to honor those victims be remembering their families. So he invited survivors their families, and the families of those who had been lost, to attend the dedication ceremony at his expense. Dave ultimately paid the way for 1,150 New York Police Officers, Firefighters, Port Authority Officers and others to fly to Fresno via a chartered Boeing 747 and other commercial flights. A huge dedication ceremony was planned with California Highway Patrol, Fresno Sheriff and Fresno Police officers, Clovis Police officers and various California government officials and celebrities. The general public was invited. The ceremony on March 13th was a time for remembrance. Pelco continues to maintain a museum on site of artifacts and photos from the terrorist attacks.
Today it was only fitting that Kenny and I went to the Pelco Memorial and witnessed the laying of a wreath to honor those who lived through that day and those who died that day, never knowing why or who was behind it. My prayers are with them all.

Identity Theft Alert

2007-09-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, there has been a huge surge in identity theft over the past few years. Studies have shown that every person in the United States and Canada will have their personal information compromised at some point of their lives and some folks will suffer serious financial losses.
Dan recently told me about one of the latest concerns in the law enforcement community. It involves credit or debit cards and the use of a small, handheld device called a "card reader" very similar to the one pictured here.

The card reader plugs into a PDA or cell phone. The thief makes a deal with an employee of a retail or service business such as a waitress, retail clerk, or gas station attendant.

The typical scenario is as follows: The waitress brings the bill to the table, then tells the customer that she will take payment to the front when the customer is ready. The customer takes his credit card out of his wallet, hands it to the waitress, who then walks away. On her way to the cash register, she swipes the card through the card reader, which in turn stores all of the information from the magnetic strip on the credit card. The credit card is then charged and returned to the unsuspecting customer. He puts the card back into his wallet, totally unaware that it has now been compromised. At the end of the shift, the waitress meets the thief who pays her $25 or more for each card swiped. He then makes a duplicate card using hotel key blanks and uses it at gasoline stations or other locations which don't require a PIN number. The spending spree continues until the theft is discovered (usually when the billing statement arrives) and the original account is closed. In the meantime, the thief has had ample time to put significant purchases on the account.

Prevention is the key. No matter how many times you have been to a restaurant, store, service station, etc., NEVER allow your credit card to be taken out of your sight. Personally carry it to the cash register and watch as it is swiped through that business's card reader. Insist on a receipt and write the name of the cashier on that receipt. If unauthorized transactions do occur, those receipts will assist law enforcement in tracing back to the time of the compromise.

The bottom line is we all must be very careful of our personal information in the age of microchips, scanners, bluetooth technology and micro-processors.

The Endless Afghan - The Fourteenth Square

2007-09-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

This square is the one I worked while on the road. The pattern is from The Great North American Afghan book. It is a combination of various Aran patterns which require careful concentration to avoid crossing cables the wrong way.
It also has lots and lots of bobbles which gives it a lot of texture. I was concerned that it was going to be slightly larger than the twelve inch square called for by the pattern but its final measurements was an acceptable 12 1/4 inches square. What a relief! I really did not want to re-knit it.

Road Trip

2007-09-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Each year, Dan and I plan several "getaway" weekends. Everyone in our family looks forward to them. Justin gets to spend time with his friends, Kenny gets to spend the weekend with his grandmother, and Dan and I get a chance to spend time alone together.

Since Dan I and I both enjoy history and antiques, we chose to visit Humboldt County, California. Humboldt County is a county located on the northwest coast of California on the Pacific Ocean. It is about a eight hour drive from the Fresno area, so we had to leave early. The drive took us through San Francisco, up the Coastal Highway and through the coastal redwood forests.

These trees are truly amazing. There are so tall and thick in places that they block out the light of the sky. The dominant trees in coastal redwood forests range from several hundred years to over two thousand years. These forests are truly ancient. Their appearance has changed very little over time. Only a couple of trees per acre, per century need to appear to sustain the population.

Dan and I stopped at one of the Scenic Vista point to get a closer look. That's the back of our car near the base of one of the trees which gives you a sense of their immense size.

Situated along the spectacular Northern California coastline 280 miles north of San Francisco is the City of Eureka. The city is bordered on one side by beautiful and functional Humboldt Bay, and on the other by mountains lush with giant redwood.

Eureka has a population of around 28,000 people. Established in 1850, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Landmarks as Historical Landmark No. 477, It offers all the charm of a European village. Beautifully-restored buildings dating to the 1800s make up the downtown shopping area comprised of several blocks. Within an easy walk is the incredible Victorian Carson Mansion, one of the most photographed structures in the world.

The Carson Mansion was constructed in 1884-1885. It is a three story, eighteen room structure with a tower and basement. The house was designed by the Newsom Brothers of San Francisco, well-known architects throughout California. Perfectly situated to the south of his lumber mill, the Carson Mansion has become a local landmark.

The mansion is a fairy tale like structure, with gables, turrets, cupolas, complex windows, porches and pillars. It is adorned with Stick-Eastlake characteristics. The wide porches with large ornamental pillars make for a grand entrance. A complex combination of gables, turrets, cupolas, and pillars constitutes the exterior of the Mansion. The second story balcony has wrought iron framework with the Masonic Order insignia combined with his initials, W.C.

To the west of the Mansion sits another grand Queen Anne. This home was built in 1889 by William and Sarah as a wedding present to their son John Milton Carson. This house was also designed by the Newsom Brothers. The Queen Anne façade is dominated by a large domed turret, so characteristic of the style. Layering, spindle work, and surface undulation also help to define this home as Queen Anne.

The pink and white color of the home has endeared itself to locals as the “Pink Lady.” The clustering of these two landmark Victorians at the foot of Second and M Streets, certainly helps to define the boundaries of Eureka’s Old Town which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Twenty miles to the south of Eureka is the town of Ferndale. Ferndale was the model for the small town under siege in the movie "Outbreak" starring Dustin Hoffman, Renee Russo and Cuba Gooding. Ferndale is known for well-preserved Victorian buildings. In fact, the complete town is California Historical Landmark No. 883 in part due to the Victorian structures. This is view of Main Street. The blue building on the left was built in 1901 as a commercial Victorian called the S.H. Paine Building.
This building was built in the Eastlake-Stick style in 1896 for P.F. Hart. It has been at various times a stagecoach stop, a saloon, a gambling hall, a house of prostitution and an art gallery.
Another famous Ferndale landmark was built in 1898 as the New York Cash Store in the Eastlake-Stick style. This building was designed by T.J. Frost, Architect.
At the corner of Main Street and Ocean is The Victorian Inn. It was originally built as the Ira Russ Bank Building in a style described as Eastlake-Stick. It was also designed by T.J. Frost in 1891. This building can clearly be seen in the movie "Outbreak" as it is the backdrop for the "hospital" in the script.

There is so much to see that it is hard to get any knitting done. However, I do have another square of the afghan nearly completed and should be able to finish it by tomorrow.

The Endless Afghan - The Thirteen Square

2007-09-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

This is what I did when I couldn't work on the computer. I picked out a fairly intricate pattern out of the The Great American Aran Afghan and I knit.

Contrary to the opinions of the knit critics in the house, this in NOT a pineapple.
Nor is it an decorated Faberge' egg on a pedestal. (What goes on in the mind of an 11 year old anyway?)
It's a fish swimming through the water! It's also one more square completed on the afghan. Twenty seven more to go!

Coke (and Root Beer Slushies) are bad for Computer!

2007-09-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how much we take for granted until it is not around. Take, for instance, my laptop computer.

With the advent of microchips and Centrino processors, the lowly laptop evolved from a expensive plaything with limited capability to a powerhouse that competes easily with unwieldy desktop models. About four years ago, I made a decision to switch from a desktop to a laptop as my personal computer. I have been very happy with the decision. My computer goes with me to court, to seminars, up to Washington, on airplanes, in cars, and trains. Last February, I upgraded to a new Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Entertainment PC. It literally has most of my life packed into its hard drives.
So imagine this tranquil scene. I am sitting at the kitchen table typing on the computer. Justin and Kenny burst through the front door with a surprise for everyone. They had stopped at the local A&W and brought Root Beer Slushies home for everyone. Since it was 105 °F (40 °C ) in Fresno, the prospect of a icey drink was a welcome treat.
Kenny reached into the paper bag the boys had used to transport the drinks in the car, and grasped my Slushie by the rim of the cup lid. He then started to pass it over the computer to my right hand. Just as he was directly over the open keyboard, the lid pulled off the rim of the cup and the entire drink cascaded into the laptop!

I jumped up and quickly unplugged the computer. But the damage was done. I watched in stunned dismay as root beer slushie poured out of every port in the computer. The laptop made a sort of a sizzling gasp, then went dark.
Kenny immediately started a mantra of "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..." as he tried to wipe up the spreading puddle. I tried to soothe him and deal with the electronic catastrophe at the same time.
The next day the computer was off to Hewlett-Packard for repair. I had purchased the "3 year - all inclusive" extended warranty on advice of my husband when I bought the computer (he envisioned that I would drop the computer, not test its capability to mimic a sponge).
The repaired laptop arrived Saturday. I plugged in the computer and opened the screen. Apparently the repairman was not amused at the sticky mess underneath the keyboard.
I spent the weekend reloading all my programs and downloading by backup disks. I’m back in business!

The Endless Afghan - The Twelfth Square

2007-08-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Kenny starts 6th grade tomorrow. This past week has been spent doing "Mommy" things after putting a full day at work ----- taking Kenny shopping for new school clothes, new shoes, school supplies and a new backpack. I have also been informed by my young man that he is "too old" for the kids dressing room so I was relegated to sitting outside the "adult" dressing room and waiting for him to come out show me his choices.

This left me very little time for blogging but a great deal of extra time for knitting.As a result, I finished the twelfth square of the Endless Afghan and have most of the thirteen square completed as well. Hopefully,things will return to normal around here next week.

Sweater Progress

2007-08-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

Working for a living certainly gets in the way of my knitting. Particularly since the Fresno County Courthouse does not allow knitting needles to be brought inside the building and I had 10 hearings scheduled this past week.
Needless to say, the right sleeve on the Elsebeth Lavold sweater has been rather slow going.
But once I finish it, I only have the right front to knit. Then I can block all the pieces and start to assemble them for the front button and button hole bands. Hopefully, I will finish it in time to wear up to Washington at the end of next month. Wish me luck!

What is this??????

2007-08-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kenny wants me to knit him a hooded sweatshirt for the upcoming school year. He has requested "a cool sweater with a dragon or wolf on it". I got out my graph paper and started to sketch out a pattern. I then turned to the internet for some inspiration.But when I came across this on the net, all I could think of was "Why?????"

Why would anyone want to wear a sweater that looks like roadkill?

The Endless Afghan - The Eleventh Square

2007-08-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

Problem: Justin and his two best friends want to attend a 12 hour long rock concert in San Jose, California. Mom is very uncomfortable with the idea of three 18 year old boys driving 125 miles from home over a road nick-named "Blood Alley".
Solution: Offer to drive them to the concert, then hide out at a hotel for a day of uninterrupted knitting.

Reward: The boys had a great time and were very happy NOT to be driving back to Fresno at midnight. I was very happy because all that time alone allowed me to finish the 11th square on the "Endless Afghan".

This pattern is from The Great American Afghan and features a oak leaf and acorn design. I have oak trees at both my homes in California and in Washington so I thought this square was wonderful representation of my ties to both states.

Is it just me?

2007-08-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

I enjoy visiting fiber arts blogs to see what other like minded wool addicts are up too. Sometimes I find a link to a new project (such as the Mystery Stole 3), a tip on a technique I would like to try, or inspirational photographs of WIP's. When I visit, I try to leave a comment to let the blogger know that I stopped by their site.
If you visit a lot of blogs and leave comments, then odds are you have come across a "robot trap". The trap is a bunch of letters and/or numbers that have been stretched and pulled until they resemble a drunken chorus line melting into a lamp post. Right below these distorted runes is a little box. The commenter is asked to type the letters/numbers into the box "as they appear above". The reason? It supposedly it prevents "robots" from leaving spam comments.

When first ran across these little gems, the grouping seldom exceeded 5 letters. Lately however, these sequences are getting much longer. Sequences like "Jfjur" or "yerhn" have now morphed into "gjrnfbbdjfklmblj" or "okgjvjjiivwwvmmnxvvwv". Trying to decipher these encryptions often requires perseverance, luck, and a good, stiff drink.

Not much better is the dreaded "grey box". This trap consists of a rectangle infused with what appears to be swirling sticks and stones in deep, grey, foggy mist. Interspersed within the greyness are six random letters/numbers that appear to be jumping rope out of sequence. They are about this tall, which makes them difficult to see without the use of an scanning electron microscope.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for keeping spam out of the comments. I just sometimes wish there was a simpler method.

We have a Record!

2007-07-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Kenny, being the 11 year old boy that he is, seems to have a fascination is all things slimy, creepy, crawly and gross. However, even he seemed repulsed by the 6 inch (15 cm) long Banana Slugs that seem to favor our deck when the days are warm in Washington.

That is, until this fellow slimed his way into Kenny's heart.

My knitter's gauge was too short at six inches so I grabbed the tape measure instead. Eight inches (20.3 centimeters)!

It appears size does matter.

Pacific Northwest Fiber Bloggers

2007-07-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

During my visit to Washington I had the pleasure of several encounters with members of the web ring known as "The Pacific Northwest Fiber Bloggers".

My first surprise came when I was reading blogs of the various members and decided to enter a "Blogiversary" contest sponsored by Lynn at wrapandturn.blogspot.com. The prize was two skeins of Knit Picks sock yarn in the color scheme "Flower Power". Imagine my surprise when I was notified that I had won. I was even more pleasantly surprised when the prize package arrived promptly and had a few more goodies enclosed. I also received some fun stationary and some special jeweled stitch markers. Lynn also sent a thoughtful, handwritten note. Everything is wonderful, Lynn. Thank you again!

Next I ran into Sachi from the blog "A Day in the Life of Sachi" at the Allyn Knit Shop when I was purchasing the yarn for the sweater. Sachi has just opened her web business and showed me several samples of the gorgeous stitch markers she makes. I couldn't resist and bought these for myself. They are beautiful.

Finally, on Saturday, July 14th, I traveled to Shoreline, Washington, to the Village Knit and Tea Shop. There I met Deb from Knotty Kitty Knits and Danielle from The Knitting Niche. But I was also surprised to find Ginger from http://www.sewcrafty.org/blog/ and several other wonderful ladies. I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting and talking to them all. A truly nice group of people. After knitting and sipping tea, Deb and I went to dinner on the waterfront. Deb is a very sweet lady and I hope to see more of her in the future.

I must say that the bloggers and knitters that I have met in the Pacific Northwest have been an exceptional group of people. Without fail, I have been welcomed and made to feel as one of the group. It is a good feeling to be part of this wonderful community.

Fringe Benefits

2007-07-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about vacation is my "to be continued basket". This consists of a large lined wicker basket that holds works in progress that for whatever reason I have put on hold. Maybe a seam is not coming together properly. Or the project has been infested with a knitting gremlin. Or I am just plain tired of it. Rather than continue to fight it, I will put the project in the basket to await my next visit to Washington State. When I return two to three months later, the project is ready and waiting to be picked up and worked on again. And, wonder of wonders, it is fun again. Last Christmas, my wonderful staff gave me a kit for a Feather and Fan lap blanket. The colors are pastel green and pinks. It is knit on 10 mm (US 15) needles which created a light, airy feel. I carried the project to Washington with me in March and knitted the first 40 or 50 rows without incident. But then, the gremlin struck! I had just completed a row and the stitch count was off by two. I de-knit the row and started again. Again it was off. Once again, I de-knit and re-knit the row and the stitch count ended correctly. But, five rows later, the stitch count was off again. And again 10 rows later. It was time for the afghan to head for the "to be continued basket".Fast forward to July. I went through the basket and rediscovered the afghan. I only needed to knit 45 more rows and make the fringe. The perfect project for sitting on the front porch on a chilly rainy evening!So, in between waiting for all the telephone calls from Justin reporting the ongoing saga of our burglaries, I finished the knitting, cut and attached the fringe, and blocked it. I rather like the finished result.

When It Rains, It Pours........

2007-07-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Telephone calls at 5:18 a.m. are never good news. Last Sunday morning (July 15th), I received just such a call from my 18 year son in California. "Mom!" Justin asked urgently. "Are Dave and Becky back from Europe?"
"No, why?"
"I’m next door watering their yard for them before it gets hot and the back sliding glass door is open. I think someone’s in the house. Should I go in to check?"
Now thoroughly awake, I told him on no uncertain terms to stay out of sight and dial 911! The Fresno County Sheriff’s Department immediately responded and discovered that Dave and Becky’s house had been ransacked and vandalized. Dave’s truck was gone along with a number of his powers tools, his shotgun, electronic items, and a host of other things. The thieves had apparently heard Justin make the call and got away before the deputies arrived.
The rest of the day was spent on the phone helping Justin and the deputies locate Dave and Becky’s son and daughter, calming Justin down, and having him do a careful search of our yard and out-buildings to see if we, too, had been hit. Fortunately, we appeared to be untouched.
But then, at 1:00 a.m. on Monday morning, Justin again called. He had walked out to feed our horses when he heard someone talking and the sound of an electric drill near the garage. He immediately ran back inside and called me once again. This time, I gave him the direct line to the Sheriff’s Department and the whole thing started again. The burglars had come back and were attempting to break into a metal agriculture shed by stripping the siding from the building. Again, the culprits fled before law enforcement arrived. And now we were missing tack for our horses.
Thoroughly spooked, Justin asked permission for his friend, Arman, to stay at the house with him. I readily agreed. At 11:00 p.m. that same night, Arman was sitting by the side of the house talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone when he heard someone jump our wooden fence. The burglars had returned to Dave and Becky’s home and were once again trying to get inside their garage! Again, the deputies responded and spent nearly two hours searching the orange groves surrounding our place.
Realizing that whoever was targeting the houses apparently knew Dave and Becky and Dan and I were on vacation, we made the reluctant decision to return home early. We have now spent several days going through our sheds, our boat, and other out buildings determining damages and missing items. Needless to say I haven’t been able to attend to my blog. But things have settled down and I am now able to catch up. I will have a lot of great things to share starting with tomorrow's posting!

Knitting with Spaghetti

2007-07-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

Every year on vacation I try to take a class and learn something new in the fiber arts techniques. Last March, I took a beginners class in weaving. This summer, I decided I would like to learn how to knit two socks at the same time using circular needles. I have watched other knitters using this technique and I must say, it looked efficient, straight forward and (I so foolishly thought) should be fairly quick to learn if one is already proficient at knitting complicated sock patterns using double pointed needles.

One should not tempt the Knitting Gods.

Lois, the cheerful proprietor of the Allyn Knit Shop, greeted me and gave me a worksheet which listed all of the recommended materials. I spent the next thirty minutes happily fondling sock yarn and picking out colors. That task accomplished, Lois suggested Addi Turbo and Addi Lace needles to start the learning process rolling. She explained that Addi Turbo needles are silver with grey connectors and Addi Lace needles are bronze with pink connectors. Since the knitter (victim?) alternates knitting between each set of needles, Lois said the two colors help prevent using the wrong needle by mistake. She then suggested the first attempt using this method should be a basic sock with 2 x 2 ribbing at the cuff. I listened carefully, still under the happy delusion that this was going to be fun.

The first step required me to cast on sixty (60) stitches using the silver circular needles and one ball of sock yarn. I then changed to a second ball of sock yarn to cast on sixty (60) stitches on the same silver needles for the second sock. Using the long tail method of casting on, I boldly started my knitting adventure. This was to be the first and last row I approached with confidence.

The second step was to take the bronze circular needles and knit the first thirty (3o) stitches from the silver needle using the first ball of yarn, then switch to the second ball of yarn and knit 30 stitches from the second set of cast-on stitches. Suffice it to say that I am not used to knitting with needles that are somewhat impeded by another set of stitches blocking my way. Stitch #25 must have sensed my vulnerability. Suddenly and without any warning, it leaped off the knitting needle and converted itself from a quiet little knit stitch to the more nefarious dropped stitch. I was confronted with two long strands of yarn strung between the neatly purled stitch and waiting cast-on stitch.

Experience has taught me it is both quicker and easier for me to simply yank all the stitches off my needles when I drop a cast-on stitch and start over, rather than try to pick up a dropped stitch. In disgust, I yanked all the stitches off the needles, only to realize in that split second before all the stitches dropped to my lap that I only needed to redo the cast for ONE sock not BOTH!

Determined not to let some pointy sticks or some insolent yarn get the best of me, I doggedly cast on for a second time and started the transfer of stitches once again. After five minutes of careful concentration, I had successfully divided the stitches for both socks and was ready for the next step.

Step three requires that the knitter hold both strands of yarn to the back on the project and TURN the needles 180 degrees so that the silver needles are in the front of the work and the bronze needles are at the back. It was at this point that I realized that knitting with two sets of circular needles for the first time is very similar to trying to knit with two spaghetti noodles after they have been in boiling water for 2 minutes. The ends of the needles hung limply together attached in the middle by the beginnings of the socks. The yarn tails of my cast-on had somehow wrapped themselves solidly onto the entwined twin strands emanating from the balls of sock yarn, which had themselves inexplicably changed places with each other. You know things can't be going well when you hear your teacher mutter "Oh, my!" behind you.

Fifteen minutes of careful untangling left me ready for the next step. It sounded easy. Using the silver needles I started off......Knit two.....Purl Two.....Knit Two......why don't the stitches look right? @#$%^%$!!!!! I needed to start off the row with purl two! I de-knit the 14 wrong stitches and started over. Purl Two.....Knit Two....Purl Two....Knit Two.....All. The. Way. To. The. End.......at which point I realized that I had forgotten to change to the second ball of yarn at the end of the first thirty stitches. I think I showed remarkable restraint when I resisted the urge to fling my knitting into the middle of the parking lot (and then jump up and down on it for good measure)! Groaning, I deknitted the last 30 stitches, changed to the second ball and tried again.

By now more than 90 minutes had passed and I had managed to knit a humiliating one and a half rounds on two socks. Taking a deep breath, I held the yarn to the back of the work, turned the needles, and stared in disbelief as the yarns once again magically, and with great determination, changed from an organized knitting project to a twisted, ugly mess.

And so the afternoon progressed. The three hour session seemed like three minutes (if those three minutes were underwater without air tanks or a snorkel!) I had managed to knit six, that's right, folks, SIX whole rounds! I was exhausted and had the beginnings of a migraine. Thoroughly humbled, I carefully packed up my project, thanked Lois for her patience, and slunk off to my car.

I still want to learn this technique (if only not to let it defeat me!) but I think I'm going to have to wait a little bit before I try again. In the meantime, I have this great little tote and some interesting sock yarn. It should look pretty cute on top of the bookshelf with my other knit decor!

There and back again...

2007-07-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had to go into the office yesterday and deal with an emergency. Since I am currently in Washington State and my office in California, this required more than a simple phone call.

When I headed up to Washington state, the matter that so rudely interrupted my vacation had been settled. The couple agreed to sell their rental property, pay off all their debts, and split the remaining money. Despite the slump in real estate, the property was in escrow. Everything should have gone smoothly--except that the husband failed to inform his attorney, my client, me, or the judge that he had surreptitiously borrowed over $100,000 from his girlfriend and had given her a Deed of Trust on the property in violation of court orders.

The Deed of Trust had not been recorded so a previous title search failed to turn up anything amiss. But when the girlfriend discovered that the Husband was cheating on her (go figure-- he cheated on his wife with her), she recorded the Deed of Trust. When the escrow company did a new title search for the sale, the newly recorded Deed showed up and a demand letter was sent. Girlfriend demanded all of the proceeds be given to her. The escrow company informed my office they intended to honor the Deed, which would had effectively deprived my client of her rightful share.

As you can guess, Monday was spent at the computer emailing drafts of a Request for Emergency Court Orders, setting up an emergency hearing, and making plane reservations.

On Tuesday, I got up at 4:00 a.m., dressed for court, and drove to Sea Tac Airport. I caught the 8:30 a.m. flight to Fresno, arrived at 10:30 a.m., and headed directly to my office. I spent the next five hours negotiating a temporary agreement in my client's favor, drafted a stipulated Order, arranged to have the Judge sign the temporary order, filed it, and sent my staff out to serve conformed copies. The monies will be held in trust until a formal hearing in August.

At 4:00 p.m. I returned to the airport to check in for the 5:55 p.m. flight to Sea Tac. It was an hour late! Thank goodness I had tossed my knitting into the flight bag at the last minute. While I waited, I knitted on the back Elsebeth Lavold sweater. We finally boarded and took off at 7:10 p.m. I continued knit throughout the flight. I managed to reach the beginning of shoulder shaping by the time we arrived at Sea Tac International Airport at 9:00 p.m. I reclaimed my car and drove 45 miles home. I arrived at 10:30 p.m. and discovered that Dan and Kenny had a lovely home cooked meal ready and waiting! Although I did accomplish quite a bit on the sweater, on the whole I would not want to do that again anytime soon!

Scavenger Hunt

2007-07-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

Problem: I am excited! The house is clean. Dan and his mother are off on an excursion. I have a new book with a beautiful sweater pattern that I can't wait to begin. I have cashmere and silk yarn that is as seductive as the siren's song, and ...........I have an 11 year who has just announced that he "is bored" and "there is nothing to do". I want to knit and need some time relatively free of distraction. What to do?

Solution: Hand Kenny my digital camera and tell him he is on a scavenger hunt. His mission? To photograph as many different creatures on our property as he can find. Since Kenny is NEVER allowed to touch my camera, he is both awe stuck and excited. Tossing a careless "Bye, Mom!" over his shoulder, Kenny is out the door.

I wind center pull balls of yarn --- thirty of them. Then I cast on 104 stitches for the back of the sweater. At the end of five rows, Kenny is back. He proudly shows me his first captures........

A swallowtail butterfly.....

......and a honey bee. Then he is gone. I am now ready to begin some minor shaping. I change my needle size, decrease 2 stitches on the each end of the sixth row, and knit 6 more rows. I check the gauge just to be on the safe side and am relieved that it is exact. As I pick up my needles to start the next row, Kenny is back. This time he has photographed.......

.........a banana slug.........

.......and another swallowtail butterfly. I tell Kenny that he has already photographed a swallowtail butterfly and he indignantly tells me this is a different butterfly (it is lighter than the other one). Sensing that I may end up with scads of butterfly pictures, I quickly change the rules. I tell Kenny that the animals have to be different species. "Oh." he says and off he goes. I knit another 10 rows. The yarn is almost worsted weight so I am beginning to see significant progress on the back.

Here comes Kenny. "Look, Mom!", he says as he shows me the display picture. I don't see anything. "Look closer" he insists. There, in the center of the picture, is a tiny toad's head. "In case you couldn't see it, I took another one."

Then he is out the door again. I continue to knit. The back of the sweater is stockinette so it is mindless knitting. I am enjoying the feel of the yarn and the quiet rhythm of the needles. The sliding glass door opens. "I need help getting pictures of this one, Mom!", he yells. I need a break to stretch so I stand up. "What do you have?"

"A snake!" I look. Kenny has captured a garter snake. No offense to the snake, but I have baited hooks with worms bigger than this fellow. I obligingly take the picture. And so the morning goes........I knit....he takes pictures. By the time Dan and his mother return, Kenny has photographed.......

.........Mothra (this moth was almost two inches long). I made sure that it went outside immediately....you can't trust any moth around wool..........

..........a squirrel (in the bird feeder, of course!).........

.........and the biggest prize of all... this doe.

As for me, I was able to knit a significant portion of the back of the sweater relatively undisturbed.

A good morning all around.

The Endless Afghan - The Tenth Square

2007-07-06T14:14:00.001-07:00

This square is also from the The Great North American Afghan. The design is a diamond inside the square.

Instead of using bobbles, the pattern is created via small eye cords of ten rows each. These cords are knitted on double pointed needles and worked directly into the square. The effect is quite striking although a trifle slow to knit.

The book states this technique is very old and has been used in the past to create intricate patterns.

As I finished pinning the square onto the blocking board, I suddenly realized that I made a slight miscalculation. I figured it would take roughly two weeks to complete two more squares on the afghan. Eight days later, I have completed both of them and the rest of the yarn is in California! I now had nothing to knit! Feeling faint, I headed to the Allyn Knit Shop for a wool fix just as the waves of nausea were beginning to surface. I made it just in time.

There, mixed in with the shelves of cashmere, wool, cotton and silk, was Elizabeth Lavold's Book #10 - The Kasmiri Love Collection.

The pattern that caught my eye was 'Lavinia". Silky Cashmere is unbelievably soft. It also has a fairly impressive price tag per skein and the pattern called for thirty skeins to knit the sweater in my size.Hmmmm. To knit or not to knit..........that is the question. No wait, there is no question. To knit!

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

"The 4th of July is flying flags in colors of red, white, and blue. It is getting together for picnics, barbecues, fireworks and fun with all of your friends and family. It means parades and marching bands. July 4th is the birthday of our country.

It is also a time to remember the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. We want what is best for all our citizens. We are free to say what we want, travel where we want to travel, be with the people we want to be with. We can marry who we want. We have stores that sell us food and enough food in the stores for us to eat. We can own homes and cars. We have hospitals with doctors and nurses. We have TV, the Internet, and cell phones. We have a lot of things, more than a lot of other countries. I'm glad America was born! (Excerpt from a school essay written by Kenny in 2007).

The Endless Afghan - The Ninth Square

2007-07-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

Look....actual knitting! This is the latest square I completed for the afghan. It is from the second book from Knitter's Magazine called The Great North American Afghan.This square has a lot of texture to it and really stands out on the blocking board. However, if knitted according to the directions it was 12 inches by 10 inches (30 centimeters by 25 centimeters for my Canadian friends) instead of 12 inches (30 centimeters) square. I ended up changing to smaller needles and added an extra pattern repeat to make it square up.

I liked the lace work surrounding the body of the knit. It adds interest and also helped prevent the edges of the square from curling.This square has great possibilities. I would like to re knit it in a larger version of 36 inches x 36 inches (92 centimeters square ) as a baby blanket. It would also make a beautiful full size afghan. I can see the same version using stripes at each junction of the triangles. I'll have to get out my graph paper and see what I can design.

"Are they wild pigs?....."

2007-07-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Despite the lack of big, strong men to help us load, Kenny and I finally finished packing the trailer at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night. After a quick nap, we loaded the dogs and bird, and rolled out of the driveway at 3:00 a.m.

Traveling with a lot of dogs means that I have to occasionally stop to fill the car and drain the dogs and kid (if you know what I mean). In order to accomplish this in a time efficient manner, I set up portable runs and let the dogs out all at once. Because Schipperkes (pronounced Skip-er-keys) are an uncommon breed, it is not unusual for other travelers to come over and see the dogs.

Now these are dogs. They bark. Their bark sounds like a bark. They act like dogs. So I was totally unprepared for the couple who approached us yesterday and asked "Are those wild pigs....you know, javalinas?" Hmmmmm....

A schipperke looks like this....

A javalina looks like this......

Again. This.......

......Not this.

Even after chatting with the couple and explaining that they were dogs, they remained unconvinced. As they walked away, they said they had never heard of Schipperkes and they knew every breed of dog there was. Oh well, obviously not.
We crossed into Washington state at 8:30 p.m. and arrived home about 10:30 p.m. Tomorrow we unload and I can get down to some serious knitting.

It's like Magic!

2007-06-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

This is the weekend that I need to load the trailer and all the big, strong males in the house have simply disappeared. Dan had to go to Las Vegas with the detectives in his bureau. Justin got a call from his employer requesting he work Saturday instead of Sunday. Even my neighbor, Dave, is gone. So it is now up to Kenny and me to finish the job. This may take a while...........

Rockin' Girl Blogger

2007-06-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

This morning whilst checking Bloglines for updates of my favorite blogs I was somewhat startled to see that Shannon over at "Chickenlips Knitting" (I love the name!) had awarded me a Rockin' Girl Blogger award. It comes complete with a cute button. I am now supposed to nominate five of my favorite blogs and send the button their way. So, in no particular order are the following:

Danielle over at The Knitting Niche. I stumbled on her blog as she was attempting to design her first pair of socks. A lovely lady working on a lot of great projects.
Suzanne at Yarnhog. She is an attorney living in the San Diego area. She and her husband Ross are very busy, but Suzanne still manages to write such thought provoking articles as "When Does the Five Second Rule Apply?" when you drop food on the floor.
Asa who writes The Knitting Nutter. Asa lives in Canada and is running her first yarn contest. She just bought a cabin with an absoluting breathtaking view and responds to comments with a gracious thank you.
Suzanne, the Alaska Stick Girl. Suzanne posts gorgeous photos of her wonderful state. I have been stunned by the beauty of the snow covered peaks, the ice covered inlets, and a moose grazing in her yard. A fun place to visit if you can't travel there in real life.
Deb at Knottykitty Knits. Deb is a registered nurse who just started a new job. She has some rather amusing cats and beautiful knitting posted on her site.

There are a host of other ladies out there that I enjoy reading but if this is anything like being tagged, I need to leave some sites open for the rest of you.

Minus Three and Counting

2007-06-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

My husband, Dan, is fairly reserved. In his 18+ years working in law enforcement, he has seen the worst in people on a near daily basis and has to deal with the aftermath of a family's worst possible nightmares. As a result, Dan tends to keep his opinions to himself and strongly dislikes turmoil in his home life. In our nearly sixteen years together, he has come to view my fiber obsession as amusing at its best and annoying at its worse. He knows that I have definite stash issues and rarely comments when new yarns, fleeces, books, equipment or software programs make their way into the house. He did raise his eyebrows when I purchased a 48 x 12 foot construction trailer and installed it in the back yard as a studio for my knitting mania. But aside from a gift card to my LYS on my birthday or Christmas, he doesn't contribute to my addiction. And to put it bluntly, he thinks all the sheep plushies I have been given or collected over the past 15 years are just plain silly. So imagine my surprise when I came home Monday night and I discovered this sitting on the television set in the bedroom.

Just when I think I've got him totally figured out, he up and changes the rules of the game. And the sheep is seriously cute.

I am in the process of getting ready to head to Washington State. Kenny and I will leave on June 30th. We will be driving my car and pulling a small U-Haul trailer. Going along with us for the ride are our four Schipperkes and Kenny's Ring necked Parakeet.

Since I found the missing skein of Sublime, I decided a good project to take up with me is the vest I have been working on. I now have enough yarn to complete the bands for the arms and neck. This is the front of the vest in its pre-blocked state.

And this is the back. I hope to have them blocked tonight so I can post the "before" and "after" pictures for a comparison. It never ceases to amaze me the difference blocking makes.

My final play toy is the new software for my sewing and embroidery machine. I like to embroider designs onto knits, particularly children's clothing. I haven't installed it yet but if the reality is only fifty percent of the hype it should make digitizing patterns much easier.

Secret Pal 10 Revealed

2007-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Picture this: The attorneys for a divorcing couple are sitting with their paralegals at a conference table working diligently on a proposed property division. Everyone is concentrating on appraisals and blue book values. The discussion was bogging down and the attorney for the petitioner felt the beginning of a monster headache coming on. At that moment, the postman arrived and placed a package on the front desk. The attorney for the petitioner could see the package sitting there and realized it is from her Secret Pal 10. So the attorney did the only thing she could do....

She excused herself, grabbed the package, brought it back to the conference table and opened it. Inside was a treasure trove of knitterly things.......

A Woolly Felted Pumpkin pattern and a Mini Sock Key chain kit..... A gorgeous skein of Fiesta La Luz silk. It was soooo soft.

To-Futsie Sock Yarn derived from a very interesting fiber base....

It contains a fiber that is made from shrimp and crabs shells! The attorney laughed at such an unlikely source of fiber.

She next discovered a lovely handmade felted notions bag from Nepal.....

.....with four adorable sheep buttons hidden inside.

A sheep tape measure...

...and this beautiful merino roving from Matahari Spinnery.

Two Balls of DiVe Merino Wool in the Autummo colorway. The attorney envisioned a scarf pattern in lace to go with a beautiful silk blouse she owned....
As each successive item was pulled from the envelope, the attorney happily shared her new treasures with the paralegals and the other attorney. She was met with blank stares and a polite nod. Obviously her audience had never been introduced to the joys of fiber.

The final item in the package was this clever card. Inside, the attorney discovered that her Secret Pal was also an attorney from St. Paul, Minnesota named Amanda, http:/knittinkninja.blogspot.com/. With a smile, the attorney closed the card, repacked the package and got back to work.

Thank you, Amanda.

The Endless Afghan - The Eighth Square

2007-06-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie "Alien"? There is a scene where the alien larvae leaps onto the face of the victim and attaches itself. That larvae is called a "Face Hugger". How do I know this? Well, my son has a "Face Hugger" stuffed animal. (Don't ask.)

Now take a look at the square designed by Ginette Belanger.

Remind you of anything?

Don't get me wrong, I think the square is lovely and it was a lot of fun to knit. But when it was done, all I could think of was the movie.

Book Review

2007-06-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

Kenny and I are leaving for Washington State June 29th. We are driving our car and plan to pull a U-Haul trailer so that I can transport a bookshelf, a barbeque, an knick knack cabinet and assorted boxes. I decided this would be a great time to go through my craft books, weed out the duplicates, and make of list of all the books I currently own.

It has taken me 12 evenings working off and on to rearrange the bookshelves. I found several duplicate books (a result of receiving one as a gift after I had already purchased the same title) which I boxed to take up to Washington. I also organized the bookshelf into categories (1) Spinning, (2) Weaving, (3) Machine Knitting, (4) Hand Knitting, (5) Embroidery, (6) Sewing, (7) Pattern Drafting, (8) Miscellaneous Crafts, (9) Knitting novels and Humor, (11) Designing, and (11) North American Birds (I know -- birds aren't a part of the fiber art group but I like to watch them and have bird feeders all over). I added a shelf for DVD's and my notebooks. When I was done, I could actually find books I was looking for without reading every title.

I also started a swatch of the yarn I just finished spinning and plying. I decided to make the shawl as a Christmas present and have absolutely no idea what gauge this will knit up at -- hence the swatch.

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite photographs of Dan and Kenny taken on Father's Day when Kenny was five years old. Dan was on duty but had stopped by the house in his patrol car to see Kenny. Kenny ran outside, climbed into his Dad's lap and demanded I "take a picture for his room". I did and here it is.

The corn in our garden was ready to harvest so Kenny and I picked all the ears, stripped off the husks, blanched it for two minutes and sealed it all in plastic bags. All told, we have nearly 80 ears packed away. We have time for one more corn harvest before winter so we planted more corn.

The tomato plants are also producing at full peak. I picked nearly 30 tomatoes this morning and plan to simmer them into tomato sauce. We are also enjoying fresh tomatoes slices as well.

I am also pleased with the towels I am weaving. It took a while to work out the pattern. I had some trouble with the warp because it involves color changes to make the stripes. I had originally wound off for a plain white warp then changed my mind and decided to add color to the original warp. This meant that I had to remember to skip heddles when I threaded them to leave room to add the colored warp threads. It took me nearly three weeks to finally get it right. I then had to program the computer to lift the warp in the proper sequence and remind me what colors I needed in the bobbins. I started out with one boat shuttle but quickly acquired three more so that I didn't have to keep changing bobbins. The first towel went quite slow and has errors in spacing and color changes. The second towel went much faster. The third towel (pictured above) seems to be coming together better than I anticipated and is the first towel I was willing to photograph and post in the blog. Weaving seems more difficult to me than knitting, but I realize I am still in the beginning of the learning curve. And I have to admit that the last towel has actually been fun.

I also finished plying the wool I have been spinning and have now wound it into center pull balls. Last month, I purchased a wonderful shawl pattern from Anne Hanson at Knitspot called "The Morning Glory Wrap". I think that this yarn will work well for that project.

Polergeist!!!!

2007-06-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Webster's Dictionary defines the term 'poltergeist' as "a supernatural being supposedly responsible for physical disturbances such as hiding belongings or throwing objects about."

A poltergeist must have moved into our house recently. I know this because in the last month things have been disappearing. At first it was just a little things --- like the extra skein of Sublime yarn I desperately needed to complete the vest. Then my car keys vanished into thin air. Since I tend to misplace them with startling regularity, no warning bells were set off in my head that a supernatural phenomenon had apparently found a new home under our rafters. But then the electric power cord to my laptop computer mysteriously vanished into thin air. It turns out the power cord is a fairly important piece of equipment for my computer. Without it, the battery cannot be charged and the computer turns into a shiny, black paperweight, which is useless for blogging.

The power cord is only ever in two places --- the laptop case or the wall plug in the living room behind my chair. There is no reason for it to be anywhere else. But when I went to plug in the computer, it wasn't there! I checked the computer case. Not there either. Nor was it in the kitchen, bedrooms, dining room, or family room. I even looked in the bathrooms. It had simply vanished.

I did, however, find the missing skein of yarn. It had found its way to the laundry room and was sitting on the dryer. Since I never knit in the laundry room, the only explanation as to how it managed to get out of my knitting bag and migrate to the laundry room has to be a supernatural one. How did I come to this conclusion? Simple really. When I quizzed Kenny, Justin and Dan as to the missing items, they all looked at me blankly and told me the same thing....."I didn't do it".

I know that a poltergeist must have hidden it.

Since the power cord was nowhere to be found, I decided that I would simply replace it and have a spare in case the other one ever turned up (it still is missing). Grabbing a phone book, I telephoned every electronic and/or computer store listed on both the yellow and white pages. Apparently, the power cord for the HP-9000T is not stocked in any of the 32 electronics and computer stores in the greater Fresno area. To make matters worse, each laptop uses a different type of power cord that it unique to that particular computer model. I was informed that using the wrong cord can damage to the computer (something about amps and voltage). There was now way around it. I had to order a new one and wait. Joy of joys, it got here yesterday. I am now back up and running.

Justin is now officially a high school graduate! He had a great time as the center of attention and really was excited that my parents flew all the way from Atchison, Kansas to be present for the ceremony.My parents, Justin's girlfriend, and our neighbors, Dave and Becky waiting for the program to begin. The traditional processional walk began the evening.

And finally posing with his proud grandparents after the ceremony.

I was also able to knit the next square in the The Great American Aran Afghan. This square was designed by Dagmara Berztiss. This square was beautiful and fun to knit. I love the design.

I also have been spinning and should be able to ply the yarn tomorrow. I already have a project in mind.

Aghhhhhh.....!!!

2007-06-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

I need a vacation. Last week, Justin's teacher called me and said he had to have at least a 78% on his final in Geometry to pass the class. Now, I don't do math. I have a computer and calculator for a reason. But Justin needed help so for three days we worked and practised and worked some more on his math skills. And it paid off. Justin passed and will graduate from Sanger High School on June 8th (tomorrow!!). I can't resist -- here is his official senior portrait. Proud mom and all that!

In the meantime, my parents arrived for a visit and to attend the graduation. They flew into San Jose so I drove up to collect them (8 hours round trip). They don't drive so I am now ferrying them back and forth to their hotel and our house.

Kenny is finishing up his last week of school so I am helping him study and pass all his tests. In addition, they are having a special day for the science class to launch model rockets so Dan and Kenny are building a rocket ------all over the kitchen.

Then there is work. I need to finish drafting five Marital Settlement Agreements, review two Orders After Hearing, go through a HUGE stack of mail, attend four court appearances between today and tomorrow, then host a graduation party and head to graduation.

If you are sensing that I haven't had any time for myself (much less knitting or blogging!!) for the past week -- you are right. When I finally was able to knit a little on latest square on my afghan, I discovered that I had miscounted the pattern in the first two rows and have to start over.

Everything should settle down after Sunday. Hopefully, I will post the latest square at that time and the finished vest.

I've Been Tagged.....

2007-05-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Just before I left for Washington last week, two of the blogs I regularly read (Yarnhog and Knottykitty) let me know I have been "tagged". This strikes me as somewhat amusing because I can say with absolute certainty that I have always tossed any chain letter I have ever received into the trash, thus depriving myself of untold riches, boundless good luck, health and other assorted sundry promises. But in the spirit of blogging I decided to play. So here are my eight random facts:

I am a licensed pilot rated for both hot air balloons and single engine planes. My first hot air balloon was a purple, blue and white Raven RX-6 named Skybird. I continue to like that color combination and use it frequently in my knitting.
My husband and I have been together for nearly sixteen years. I met him when he arrested my client in the courtroom on an outstanding warrant (Dan was working as a bailiff in the Family Law Department at the time). He doesn't fully understand my huge collection of books and/or yarn stash but has managed to learn to quit looking surprised when he discovers yarn stash in unusual areas in our house, such as in the book shelf, in the pantry, in the hall closet, under the bed......
I am a published author and have had stories appear in Guideposts Magazine and Reader's Digest.

I have owned Schipperkes (a breed of dog) continuously for the past 35 years. Quite a few have became champions in confirmation shows.
I am over six feet tall. For those that are wondering, I am about five inches taller than Dan.
I like to ride horses and have owned a rather cantankerous American Quarter Horse named Dallas for the past 14 years.
Both my husband and I have ham radio licenses.
I like power boating. Dan and I have a 30 foot Sea Ray Cabin Cruiser named Blue Moose. Two years ago my son's Cub Scout Pack decorated the boat and our truck and entered it in the Clovis Children's Light Parade. Otherwise, we take the boat to the California Delta and stay on board for up to seven days. Unfortunately, the recent huge spike in gasoline prices has curtailed much of our boating this year.

I have checked nearly every blog that I read and this "Eight Random Things" tag seems to have spread like wildfire. As a result, every blog I frequent has already posted their random facts and it seems unfair to tag someone I haven't read on a regular basis. If you haven't played, and want to be tagged, post a comment requesting that I tag you and I will be more than happy to oblige.

Remembering All Who Have Served In The Armed Forces

2007-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

(Taken by by son, Kenny, then aged 9, of the flag flying above the sunken Battleship "Arizona". )

The Endless Afghan - The Sixth Square

2007-05-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

The sixth square I chose to knit was designed by Suzanne Atkinson. Since this was Memorial Day weekend, I thought the church and tree were fitting.

This is a close up of the tree.

And here is a close up of the church. I really liked this design and the final result.

Prom Night!

2007-05-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

It seems like only yesterday that Justin thought girls were gross. Now my young man on his way to the senior prom!

Secret Pal 10 and Other Packages

2007-05-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I discovered two packages on my desk when I got home from Washington.

The first package contained 4 skeins of beautiful hand-dyed yarn I had ordered from Yvonne at Lavender Sheep Fibers. I am currently designing a fair isle pattern for an afghan featuring a wisteria arbor in full bloom.

I want a yarn that has subtle changes in color to give the blossoms more depth. The yarn Yvonne sent me is 100% Merino. It is called "Sugar Plum Fairy" and is everything I wanted.

I also received my first package from my Secret Pal 10. The first surprise was the postmark. It was from Minneapolis, Minnesota. In one of those strange twists, my mother was born in Minneapolis and a number of my extended family members still reside in that part of the country. My Secret Pal had wrapped the various items in tissue paper.
Inside was the following:

A great postcard featuring chocolate cake and a note from my pal. Chocolate cake is somewhat of a joke around my home because one of my son, Kenny's favorite comedy routines is Bill Cosby's "Chocolate Cake for Breakfast".

Two skeins of lovely green sock weight yarn. The color is perfect for some of the leaves in the aforementioned wisteria pattern.
A Godiva dark chocolate bar;

A package of Godiva dark Chocolate almonds;

A package of stitch holders;

A package of stitch markers;

A cute, little wooden crochet hook;

A row counter;

A skein of luscious green, blue and hunter green yarn; and

A felted sheep!

Kenny spotted the felted sheep and immediately ran to his room and retrieved his felted Teddy Bear. After putting the two together, he wholeheartedly approved of the choice by my secret pal.

The Endless Afghan - The Fifth Square

2007-05-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have finally had the opportunity to work on some knitting. And because it has been one week since I posted my progress on the The Great American Aran Afghan, I decided to work on a square designed by Barbara Selesnick.

This design features two vertical rows of cables which resemble hearts, as well as some open work crossed cables on the edges. This square was fairly easy and quick to knit.

This square knitted up slightly smaller on the recommended needle size so I traded up .5 mm and it came out exactly on gauge. After inserting the blocking wires, I steamed it to set the stitches. Here is the closeup of the finished square.

I took these pictures and downloaded to my flashdrive before work this morning. When I got to my office, I found two packages waiting for me --- one from my Secret Pal 10 and one from Lavender Sheep Fibers. I didn't have my camera with me at work and I was due in court so will post about the packages tomorrow.

Give a Man a Chainsaw...

2007-05-18T14:22:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning we arrived in Washington State. I imagined four days of quiet knitting and spinning. It got off to a good start.

When we pulled into the driveway, this little doe was grazing in the front yard. We also saw a Bald Eagle flying overhead but it was too far away to get a good picture.

I went to the Allyn Knit Shop and found new sock yarn.

Can you tell that I like the color blue?

But when I returned home from the knit shop, I immediately heard the buzz of a chainsaw. There, out in the overgrowth, was my husband. I had given him a chainsaw for his birthday last June (it was on his wish list!) and he had decided that this weekend was the perfect time to attack 30 years of dead fall and forest litter on the far third of our property.

The area in which we live in Washington was logged about 30 years ago. The logging company left the stumps and dead fall that was not worth their time, then sold the acreage. It was later subdivided and parcels were sold. The original owners of our property cleared the area closest to the home, but left the remaining forest alone. As you can see from this "before" picture, the growth was substantial. In fact, it was nearly impossible to walk more than 15 feet in the jumble of stumps, branches, ferns and huckleberry bushes.
Dan cut and I hauled out. It was a long, hard job and certainly not the weekend of knitting and spinning I had envisioned.

Slowly, the ground began to emerge.And I discovered some of the forest creatures that inhabit the undergrowth. This is an Olympic Torrent Salamander

This is one of the famous Washington State Banana Slugs. I put a knitter's gauge next to it so you can see it really is 6 inches long! Sometimes they are bright yellow, sometimes dark olive colored and sometime they come spotted like a pinto pony!

By late Saturday afternoon the rains had moved into our area and it was time to pack up and close up the house. But, as you can see from the above "after" picture, there is a substantial dent made. Dan says we will work on it some more this summer.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to knitting on the plane home.

Back to Washington

2007-05-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning Dan and I will head back up to Washington for a week. Which means I have a big decision to make.......

What project will I take with me on the plane?

The Endless Afghan - The Fourth Square

2007-05-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

It happened without warning. One minute I was happily knitting on The Great American Afghan. I had turned the pages often enough to know every square. I'd read and re-read the various directions and had developed an easy familiarity with the patterns. In short, we were growing comfortable with each other.

It was a chance encounter. I was lingering near the book rack at Janna's Needle Arts when I spotted it. Another afghan book with a similar name. Intrigued, I casually picked it up and gave it a quick once-over. There, under the heading of "pattern 5" was this....this square. It was designed by Jacqueline Jewett. There were no words to describe it. The directions stated it was knit on two straight needles --- yet the pattern looked as though it was knit in the round. In short, it was unlike anything my other book brought into our relationship. Well, there was no harm in purchasing The Great American Afghan, was there? Maybe I could knit a few pillow covers later on.

Dan saw my purchase and raised an eyebrow. Wisely, he said nothing. I figured I could put the book in my bookshelf and take it out occasionally. No such luck. This new book wanted attention! Then, in a moment of weakness, I rethought my idea of knitting two sets of squares from The Great American Aran Afghan. Without carefully considering the long-term consequences, I decided that my 40 squares would all be different. Little did I know that this new square had sadistic qualities cleverly masquerading as bobbles. And not just any bobbles either. These bobbles required lots of turns to be satisfied. And the pattern was greedy. It seemed that no sooner had I completed one bobble that the pattern called for another!

The square knitted up slowly, openly defying me as I pushed toward my goal of completion by Mother's Day. I refused to let this bit of fluff get the best of me and was finally able to join the completed edge late Sunday evening. I was too tired to block it until Monday.

I'm back with The Great American Aran Afghan. Only time will tell if it has forgiven me.

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Ferry Tales - Final Round

2007-05-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

In March of 2007, I was on my way to The Weaver's School but had a few difficulties with the ferry crossings. When the ferry was delayed until 11:15 a.m. on March 20, I gave up and drove to the Kingston rather than wait (I wrote about it in my March 20th posting.)

This afternoon Alice, our mail lady, brought me a large white envelope from Madelyn Van der Hoogt! Inside I found a lovely note and a copy of The South Whidbey Record, a local newspaper printed on Whidbey Island. Madelyn wrote "Page A-5" on the left right had corner of the front page. I turned to page A-5 and discovered a header which read "Ferry Passengers Recall Rocky Ride". The story was written by Gayle Saran and recounted the 11:15 a.m. crossing (the one I would have been on had I not headed to Kingston).

Here are some excerpts from the story:

"Passengers traveling aboard the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island got more of a ride than they bargained for when a big wave swept over the deck. No one was injured in the incident, but several cars were damaged when they slammed into one another because of the wave. The ferry Klickitat was between Port Townsend and Keystone when high winds and rough seas created the powerful surge. One man who was in his van during the incident thought the ferry was going to sink. “I was more scared than I have ever been before, and I served in the Marine Corps,” said Ralph Magdaleno of Port Orchard.
"It started to get really windy and choppy out in the water, and I was really nervous about 15 minutes into the trip,” he said. Magdaleno said his van was damaged when it was pushed into the car in front of him, and a car behind him was pushed under his bumper. "

Mr. Magdaleno took a photograph of the cars after they had slid into each other. “There were 40 knot winds during the noon crossing,” said Susan Huether Harris, spokeswoman for Washington State Ferries. “The wave was estimated to be 6 to 10 feet high,” she said. Magdaleno, who was sitting in his Chrysler Voyager, said the water was up to his van’s side window. “I suddenly felt a jolt and heard a big thump, and my van was moved two feet forward and into the truck in front of me,” he said. “I started to panic because I thought that the ship was going down. A few seconds later the water started to recede,” he said. Magdaleno said there was a second surge that soaked the inside of his van with a foot of water. “Then I started to get out of my van and the tires on the loaded logging truck beside me started screeching, and the truck was leaning toward me. It looked like it was about to tip over and land on my van,” he said.

Once ferry workers untangled the cars he was able to drive off the ferry. A Langley woman was not so fortunate. Terri Ash was on the last leg of a 4,000-mile journey when the surge of water swept over the deck. “I had just been down to my car to grab a warmer jacket so I could stand outside on the deck and watch the swells in the water. I just made it upstairs when the wave hit,” she said. The power of the water pushed her Ford Focus partially under a loaded logging truck. “My hood was dented and the protective coating that protects the catalytic converter was totally ripped off,” she said. Magdaleno said he was amazed at the amount of damage. “About six vehicles and the logging truck seemed to have damage to them,” he said.

Well, as Madelyn wrote, it was apparently my lucky day.

The Endless Afghan - The Third Square

2007-05-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

I only have to complete the neck band of the Sublime vest. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn. I know I purchased an extra skein of the same dye lot but I have a bad feeling it is in Washington (I took the vest with me in March). It certainly isn't here. I'll look for it next week when I head back to the Pacific Northwest. Since I couldn't work on the vest, I decided to go back to the afghan. Here is the third square I have completed. This square was designed by Hanna Burns. The design includes a fairly intricate cable in the center of the square. I had pay close attention when crossing the cables to avoid a mistake. To the left and right of the center cable are opposing spirals. Kenny watched as I was knitting this square and told me it looked like twin DNA strands. I looked at the design again, and you know, I can see the resemblance. Now I am going to think of that every time I look at it. Oh well, at least he is paying attention in science. This square did not not knit up at the correct gauge initially so I switched to larger needles and tried again. It was better the second time but it still ended up considerably shorter than the other squares. I had to recalculate the length and add rows to make it work. Despite adding additional rows, I still had block it carefully to ease it to the correct dimensions.
Three down, thirty seven to go................

Happy 75th Birthday, Dad!

2007-05-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Wishing a wonderful 75th birthday to my Dad!

The First Harvest

2007-05-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

The first fruits (tomatoes are a fruit, right?) of the garden have been harvested! However, it was not exactly as I planned. I have been watching the garden with great anticipation. Last night, I planned to fix a dinner salad with fresh picked lettuce and the 20 or so cherry tomatoes that had ripened. Imagine my surprise when I went out to the garden and couldn't locate a single red tomato! As I peered into my plants looking for the missing 'maters, Kenny, my 11 year old son, called out excitedly. "Hey Mom", he yelled "You gotta see this..........."

".........Toka likes tomatoes!"

The Endless Afghan - The Second Square

2007-05-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

The Endless Afghan is progressing! This is the second square of the Great American Aran Afghan which is now on the blocking board. The square was designed by Ann McCauley. It consists of a cherry and stem pattern in the center and opposing cables and bobbles on the sides. This main feature of this square is all those bobbles.

During the knitting of this square, I was very concerned that it was going to be too long and too narrow. However, the blocking appears to have amended that problem.

Here is a close up view of the bobbles and the cables.

The garden is also progressing and has nearly doubled in height in the past week.

We have strawberries.

The grapes are beginning to show. These are seedless Flame grapes.

The corn stalks are now about 4 feet high and the tassels are developing inside the top of the stalks. Although hard to see, there are potato plants in front of the corn. They are nearly two feet tall now and should be developing potatoes. To the right of the corn are our yellow squash plants. We had the first taste of the squash for dinner last night. If only the afghan was growing as fast as the garden!

FO Show

2007-05-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

My Saturday morning knitting group was awash in FO's today. Thelma has been working for months on a baby blanket which features the alphabet. She choose a beautiful hazy purple yarn rather than a traditional blue or pink. The finished result speaks for itself.

The pattern is the entire alphabet. The letters are formed by knitted lace. This blanket is knitted in one piece. It is not made up of individual squares. Therefore, the knitter has to be careful across the entire row.

The close up at the left shows some of the detail of the blocks. (It was taken before the blanket was blocked).

Once the center portion of the blanket was completed, Thelma added lace edging around the entire circumference.

This is not a project for a beginning knitter. Thelma said that it was somewhat difficult to keep track of the pattern. In addition, mistakes were often not readily apparent until several rows had been knitted, necessitating frogging and reknitting. However, the finished result was worth the time and effort.

Thelma was all smiles as she completed mattress stitching the edging together.

Marie will be traveling to Holland on Thursday to visit family. She has been hard at work over that past several weeks knitting and felting these coin purses to give to her family members.

Vi is all smiles as she models the sweater from the cover of Sublime Yarns pattern book number 602.

We also have a sweater from the same book that is being shown by the shop dog, Scooter. Scooter is a dark grey cock-a-poo sitting in the chair next to the finished sweater. Unfortunately, he is nearly impossible to see in the photo but trust me, he is very cute.

I have just started blocking the next piece of the afghan. I should be able to post a photograph tomorrow.

Back from the Seminar

2007-05-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have been at a Collaborative Law Seminar in Pasadena, California for the past two days.

I worked on the vest and a square from the afghan during the lectures. I'll post pictures of them both after I get them on the blocking board tomorrow.

Secret Pal 10

2007-05-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

One thing I have discovered about knitblogs is the generosity of knitters. Each blog shares a portion of that person's life....their frustration, goofed projects, triumphs, family issues and places they live.

I have also become intrigued with the number of swaps, shares and other secret friend sites. Never having done the pen-pal thing as a kid, I have decided to give it a try. One of the wonderful knitters who has commented on my posts described the wonderful package she received from her secret pal and referenced the site. So, at the urging of my 11 year old, (who cleverly pointed out that I could shop for stash and other things knitty without having to find a place to store it) I emailed Secret Pal 10 and was accepted. There is a questionnaire to fill out the Secret Pal assigned to me so it at the end of this post.

Not much on the knitting front today. I was able to add a few more rows to the front of the vest. Here's a closeup of the pattern on the front of the vest.

THE SECRET PAL 10 QUESTIONNAIRE

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? My favorite yarns are mostly natural fibers. I like wool, wool/silk blends, quivet, silk, alpaca, bamboo and soy yarns the best.

What fibers do you absolutely not like? I do not like cotton and try to avoid acrylics although some novelty yarns are fine.
What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have lots of needles so I have lots of things to store them in, including vases, needles cases, and a Styrofoam thing my 11 year made for me at cub scouts.

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I learned to machine knit in 1979. I started hand knitting in 2005. I have attended numerous seminars and classes, including a weekly get together. I have made numerous garments and sold several of my creations. I do complicated stitch patterns, love lace and cables. my guess is I'm intermediate to advanced.

Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No.

What's your favorite scent? Perfume? None, it gives me migraine headaches. Candles? Gold Canyon French Vanilla, Lilac, or Rose.

Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Dark chocolate with nuts.

What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I knit, spin, bead, weave, sew, embroider, and felt. I don't crochet.

What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? Celtic and new age. Favorite artists -- Enya, David Arkenstone, Windham Hill artists, Cusco, Richard Burmer.

What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Blues, earth tones, browns, peach, pastels. Not overly fond of pinks, avocado or other appliance colors.

What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I'm married with 2 boys still at home (18 & 11). I have 4 Schipperkes, 3 American Quarter Horses, 20 koi, 1 India Ringnecked parakeet and an African Spurlegged Tortoise.

Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Scarves and mittens. Hats occasionally. No ponchos.

What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks, vests, afghans and toys.

What are you knitting right now? A vest, socks, a blue dress, the Great American Aran Afghan, a sweater, more socks and a lace scarf.

Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Very much so.

Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use both straight and circular. I prefer aluminum needles all the way.

Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes to both.

How old is your oldest UFO? The Great American Aran Afghan - referred to The Endless Afghan. It's going on 18 months.

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas.
Is there anything that you collect? Sheep and spiders (except for Serta Counting Sheep --- for some reason I got 22 of them as gifts about two years ago)

Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Nothing I’m dying to get…I subscribe to Interweave Knits, InKnitters, and Knitwords.

Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Entrelac.

Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes. 10 ¼ inches or US size 10 womens.

When is your birthday? December 30.

The Endless Afghan - The First Square

2007-04-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can".........That seems to have become my motto regarding this project.

I have completed and am now blocking the first square of the Endless Afghan (although cleverly masquerading as "The Great American Aran Afghan") The book provides directions and charts for 24 different squares. Each square was designed by a different knitter as part of a contest held by Knitters Magazine.

The concept for the afghan is fairly simple (LOL!). The knitter (sucker?) chooses 20 squares, knits them up, sews them together and knits a border around the entire thing. Sounds simple, eh?
This is my first square, designed by Ada Fenwick. It is fairly easy to knit and is based on the tree of life, with a border of two asymetrical celtic cables.

As you can, I block with wires. The directions call for 12" (30.48 centimeters) squares but I can tell you that some of the squares appear much smaller than required, even though I carefully matched gage. We shall see.

My garden is growing at an astonishing rate. After the rain last weekend, it got warm. The plants have all put on a burst of growth, doubling in size.

The tomato plants are tomatoing.....

...the yellow squash plants are squashing....

.......and the zucchini plants have even decided to grow. I guess they heard me threaten to replace them last week.

Blue Moon Saves the Day

2007-04-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday it was cool, clouding up, and preparing to rain. This Saturday it was 98 degrees Farenheit (67 degrees Celsius). Kenny played too hard outside with a friend, got overheated, and got sick. I brought home a ton of work from the office. The house needs cleaning. Altogether, it was shaping up to be a miserable day. But then, Alice (our postal delivery gal) honked her horn and I went outside to receive this......

It's the latest edition from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club!

The Endless Afghan.....

2007-04-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

Every knitter has one. A project that started with high hopes and great enthusiasm that gradually moves into the category of "never ending". Mine is The Great American Aran Afghan.

Oh, it started innocently enough. A casual glance across the table at my LYS. There, sitting in the book/magazine rack was an unassuming little book. It didn't look like much at first. But as I got closer, my pulse quickened and I found myself irresistibly drawn to its cover. Without thinking, I picked it up and opened its pages. In a moment. I fell for it -- hook, line and sinker.

I decided I had to take it home. In anticipation of its arrival, I purchased 25 skeins of a wool/rayon blend in a lovely shade of cream. I thought that the project would be content with my initial outlay.

But once I cast on the first square, I discovered that this project was going to be neither cheap nor easy. This project was high maintenance and would demand much of my time and attention. In short, it required commitment.

My husband, Dan, saw what was happening and tried to intervene. He gently asked me if we truly needed another afghan living under our roof. He pointed out afghans require extra care and consume large amounts of yarn if not carefully measured and calculated. I pondered his comments and decided Dan was probably right. We did have quite a few afghans. I could let this one go and remain free and unencumbered.

But when I tried to put the project aside, I was once again drawn to its sultry, spiraling cables and its subtle hint of lace work. I decided there had to be some way to fit this beauty into my life. And that's when it hit me. The master bedroom in Washington was rather plain.

What if I simply doubled the squares necessary for the project and made a bedspread instead? It would allow the project to grow with our family and fit into our daily life. It truly seemed like a good idea at the time.

I immediately headed back to the yarn shop and spent the afternoon scouring the shop for that last 22 skeins in the same dye lot. The afghan had me where it wanted me!

And so, the endless afghan moved into my life and has been haunting me for the past 16 months. I need to finish this project and be free of its never ending presence......the way that it sits in the basket and reminds me day in and day out that I haven't worked on it for months. So, with the help of this blog I have decided that Sundays will be dedicated to fulfilling its full potential and letting me move on with my life.

Everyone wants a phone...

2007-04-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

Since last December, my 11 year old son, Kenny, has been vigorously campaigning for his own personal cellular phone. His reasons were many, inlcuding, but not limited to:

(1) Justin (18 year old brother) has one;
(2) He could call Gage (his best friend) if he had a cell phone;
(3) He could call Miguel (his next best friend) if he had a cell phone;
(4) He could call Meme (his grandmother) if he had a cell phone;
(5) He could call Justin if he had a cell phone;
(6) He could call me if he had a cell phone.........

I'm sure you get the picture. When I reminded Kenny that he could call every person he had mentioned on our residential phone, I got the eye roll and the look that said I obviously am not in touch with the latest trend in the life of a fifth grader.

Nevertheless, I resisted all of his arguments until last Friday. Kenny was long jumping at a school sponsered track meet which apparently got off to a very late start. Kenny couldn't find a phone to tell me that the he was going to be about two hours late.

Meanwhile, back at the school, I waited.....and waited.....waited....and waited some more. Not a problem as long as I could knit. I worked away quite contentedly on the vest until I Ran. Out. Of. Yarn.

Unable to knit I used other means to pass the time. I read the Owner's Manual to my car from cover to cover (there are 13 pages describing how to wear a safety belt!). I cleaned out my purse. I played solitaire on my cell phone (I think a need a new prescription for my eyeglasses. I can hardly see those teeny-tiny cards). I organized the glove box. Just as I was about to frog three or four rows of the vest so could knit them again (I admit, I was desperate), the bus pulled into the parking lot and I made the immediate decision to let the kid have a cell phone.

A great burden was suddenly lifted from my shoulders. No longer would I have to listen to the ongoing arguments about the right, nay, the absolute need to talk on the phone. Peace would come to my life. That is, until I turned on the television.....

The TIVO unit is upset. Apparently, it hasn't make a successful daily telephone call for the past 86 days..........

It's raining again

2007-04-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. The dogs were anxious to go outside so I let them out. Such excitement! There was MUD....glorious mud to play in. I hope they're as happy about their upcoming baths.

One Step Closer

2007-04-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

I am always amazed at how fast tomatoes and corn grow once they are planted, fertilized and watered. The tomato plants already have fruit growing. We should have fresh tomatoes within the next 30 days. The potato plants have spouted and and are about 8 inches tall. The corn plants are 15 inches tall and we have already picked the first ripe strawberries. The only thing that has not fared well are the zucchini plants. They seem to have some sort of blight that has whithered the leaves. If they don't perk up by next Saturday, I'll probably replace them.

On the way home from my Saturday knitting group I stopped at Jo-Ann's and picked up the twill tape I needed for the sleeves on the blue dress. The twill tape is basted into the armhole to prevent the knit from stretching out of shape from the weight of the sleeve. Once the twill tape was in place, I set in the sleeves and sewed them into place.

Although most of the dress is now complete, I still need to finish the sleeve cuffs and hems. I like to finish both the cuffs and the hem with an ultra suede trim so I will be cutting out the pieces later this week. Hopefully, I will be able to complete the dress by next week. I'd like to wear it for Mother's Day.

Back to the Blue Dress

2007-04-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

For the past two days I have not been able to upload images on Blogspot. Apparently, the site encountered a glitch when they updated their system which affected their ability to upload or view images on a few blogs.

Since I wasn't able to post, I decided to work on the blue dress. First, I cut out neck pieces from ultra suede. Next, I sewed the zipper into the opening which I had previously cut out. Once the zipper was solidly in place, I positioned the ultra suede pieces into the neckline and sewed them into place. I then completed the neckline with top stitching.

While I was working, my 11 year old son, Kenny, joined me just to watch. He brought Ricco along. Ricco is an India Ringnecked Parakeet, named after one of the penguin characters in the children's film "Madagascar". Ricco can say his name and does some tricks, such as putting a gold ring into a bowl. As you can see from the picture I took, Ricco absolutely adores his boy.

I wanted to try to set the sleeves in place tonight but discovered that I was out of twill tape. I won' t be able to get to a sewing notions store until Saturday so the project will be on hold until then. I guess I'll work on the Sublime vest instead.

A Moment of Silence........

2007-04-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

My thoughts and prayers to the friends and families who lost loved ones at Virginia Tech.

Saturday Morning Knit and Bitch

2007-04-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

This morning the skies were grey and cloudy and the weather forecast is for rain! While rain is no big deal in the Pacific Northwest, Central California is far below its seasonal average. In fact, there is talk of drought and water rationing this summer. The worst side effect of the lack of rain is extremely dry grasses, bush and trees. California is prone to spectacular wild fires. If the lack of rain continues, the fire season will be long and dangerous.

Saturday mornings I join 14 other ladies at Janna'a Needle Arts for our version of Knit and Bitch. It is a interesting and diverse group of women, ranging from a federal judge to nurses, teachers and attorneys.

Janna (the lady in blue in the top picture) owns the store and hosts our group. She grew up in Holland and learned to knit as part of her school curriculum. She is a cheerful, smiley woman who is always willing to share her knowledge or help with a problem. She also is very aware of her customers and is constantly on the alert for new yarns and other products (thus single handedly enabling my stash addiction). It is unusual to walk into her store each each week and not discover a new book, yarn, buttons, purse handles or magazine.

In fact, Janna surprised me with an order for yarn I made last January. The yarn is called Cyprus Mohair. The swatch Janna had knitted from the sample was quite lovely. Although variegated, the color changes were subtle and created a shadowing effect.

I envision a loose, comfy sweater knitted from the yarn. However, apparently the company handling the yarn was difficult to deal with. Janna told me she had to continually check on the status of the order. Each time she was told it was "back ordered". After 8 weeks, the yarn was finally was shipped. It was a good thing I wasn't in a hurry or had a special project earmarked for the yarn.

Janna also had received the Spring 2007 issue of Knitters. I immediately thought of Rose-Kim Knits. Jessica features "Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?" on her blog wherein she posts pictures of the latest knitting faux pas with comments. The cover page of Knitters current issue looks a lot like my first attempt at hand knitting when I was 8 years old. I had no idea how to shape so I knitted two large rectangles and sewed them together. This might have made a cute top except for the fact I used two different kinds of yarn and achieved two spectacularly different gauges. The top was lopsided, uneven, and a general knitted disaster. In fact, it was so bad, I threw it away and didn't try hand knitting again until I was well into my 40's. Turns out I should have waited. That top could have made the cover!

Friday the 13th

2007-04-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

I was excited to receive an email from Angelique from the weaving class I took last month. Angelique has finished her first project since taking the class. It is an area rug woven from Pendelton selvages. The colors in the rug remind me of the American southwest ---- lots of bright, warm colors.

I have been working on the Sublime vest this week, mostly because I have been out of the office. On Tuesday, I received a telephone call from my son's high school. Justin was in the nurse's office complaining of severe chest pain. The nurse recommended Justin be sent to the emergency room so off we went. For the next 4 hours, Justin was x-rayed, poked, prodded, monitored and tested. I was consigned to the waiting room. Thank goodness for knitting!

By the end of the first hour, I had completed the cast on for the front (I completed the back last week) and started the 2x2 ribbing. By the second hour, I was half done with the ribbing. At the end of the third hour, the ribbing was nearly complete.

Ultimately, the doctor informed us that Justin had air surrounding the membrane of his heart, causing the pain. It is fairly serious. Apparently, Justin had been in class and had tried to stifle a sneeze. This caused the air he should have expelled to be redirected into the heat sac. The air will most likely dissipate on its own, but to be on the safe side, Justin has to take it easy over the next two weeks, have follow-up care, and more x-rays.

This afternoon, Justin and I went to Justin's primary care doctor for a follow-up. More waiting! I knitted. I managed to complete one entire pattern repeat and took a picture for the blog. While I was looking at the picture, I saw this!

See the cable on the left? The cable is crossed the wrong way half way up. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened since I look at all my cables at the end of each row. I guess I didn't look closely enough.

Rather than frog back all that work, I grabbed two cable hooks, pulled the offending four stitches off the needles and spent the next 30 minutes repairing the mistake.

Just as I was ready to cheerfully fling the entire project across the room, the telephone rang. It was Michael from our local GMC dealer. My new car had just been delivered and I could pick it up at 6:00 p.m.

It is a GMC Acadia, charcoal grey with a black interior. It is rated for 17 miles on the city and 24 miles on the highway. If it gets gas mileage anywhere close to these numbers, I'll be thrilled. My van (which I traded in) was averaging 13 miles in the city and 18 miles on the highway. During the past two weeks, gasoline has jumped to an average $3.35 per gallon here in California! I used to be able to fill the tank for about $30....now I average $60. This seriously cuts into my yarn acquisition fund. I'm anxious to see if the mileage claims will average anywhere near the reality of the car. We shall see.

Family Court -- You've gotta love it!

2007-04-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

I have learned to expect the unexpected when it come to practicing Family Law. Today was no exception.

As I waited my turn to go through the metal detector on my way into the Fresno County Courthouse this afternoon, three deputies stepped forward and moved toward a tall, bald man standing near the front of the line. When he realized the deputies were heading for him, the man suddenly tried to jump over the metal detector and run. The deputies didn't take kindly to his attempted imitation of an Olympic hurdler and started after him. But before he was able to make his escape, Baldy was tackled. Immediately the fight was on! You could almost see the fur flying! No wait ---- it wasn't fur, it was hair flying --- in fact, huge clumps of hair were landing every which way as the would be escape artist fought the deputies and screamed at the top of his lungs for "Sweet Jesus" to come and save him. Apparently, "Sweet Jesus" decided not to intervene. The man was finally handcuffed and led away, leaving many puzzled bystanders, (me included) staring down at numerous piles of human hair scattered all over the lobby of the courthouse.

The mystery was solved when I got to the Family Law Department. It turns out that our bald bad guy had apparently decided to visit his children at their school earlier that morning. Normally this would have been fine except for the fact that a pesky little restraining order had been issued barring him from being within 100 yards of the children or their school unless the visit was supervised. The school officials were not amused by his presence and called the cops, who arrived just in time to see Baldy driving out of the parking lot. He ignored the red lights and siren and spent the next hour in a high speed pursuit all over Fresno. Somewhere along the way, he managed to shake his pursuers.

But does our bad guy find a place to lie low for a few days? On no....you see, there was a settlement conference set for 1:30 p.m. in the family court. No way would he allow his soon to be ex-wife gain a possible advantage so he decided he had to attend that conference.

But how to disguise himself? Hey, what if he was bald! That should work, right? Apparently our hapless felon thought so because he bought a razor at a nearby convenience store and shaved his head, stuffing the leftover locks into his pants pockets. Needless to say, his disguise didn't work and all the hair fell of his pockets and scattered onto the lobby floor in the ensuing melee.

People never cease to amaze me!

On a positive note, I was able to do a little sewing on Easter Sunday, I sewed bust darts into the dress. I also was able to cut out a collar from ultra suede, sew it into place and add top stitching. I took this picture and uploaded it. For some reason, the dress looks more green than blue in this picture. But since I'm at work, and I don't what to drive home and take another picture, here it is. Hopefully, I'll set in the sleeves later this week.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Daffodils and Easter just seem to go together.

More on the Blue Dress

2007-04-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy two days. Spring has definitely arrived in Central California and we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather. Today it was 86 degrees Fahrenheit. On the plus side, my perennials are gorgeous this year. My irises, roses, pansies, and allium are all in full bloom.

I decided I had better plant the garden if I wanted fresh vegetables this summer. So I rototilled the soil, raked and leveled the loose soil, went to the garden store and bought flats of veggies, returned home and planted them, put in drip lines, fertilized and watered. Hopefully, we will have tomatoes, corn, potatoes, squash, beans, peppers, radishes, cucumbers, strawberries and lettuce in a couple of months.

In between working on the garden, I worked on the dress. I basted the dress together and sewed up the front and side seams. Since I want a zipper in the front, I measured the zipper and marked its in the dress front.

The pattern calls for a pleated sleeve. Now that the shoulder and side seams had been stitched up, I measured the arm hole, calculated the width of the pleats, and pinned them into place. If all goes well, I will be able to baste them into place tomorrow.

A Blue Dress

2007-04-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

We are back in California. I have been working in the Sublime vest but decided to work on another project I started last December. My favorite hide-away in California is my fiber arts shed. Actually, it is one of those trailers that you see at construction sites. Five years ago, I drove by an auction and saw the trailer had been marked as an auction item. I bid $2500 on it and was surprised when I was the high bidder. The former owner agreed to deliver it to my property. Once it arrived, I moved all of my fiber arts and crafts into it (much to the delight of my husband and boys -- suddenly we had closet space and a kitchen table again!)

The trailer is 700 square feet divided into three rooms, all paneled and carpeted. It has both heat and air conditioning. I have outfitted it with my sewing machines, knitting machines, steam iron and ironing board, looms, blocking boards, craft books, entertainment center, and even an easy chair.

The trailer allows me a place to work undisturbed and not worry about putting the project away so my family can use the kitchen table for such mundane pursuits as eating. It allows me a place where I can work on a variety of projects and not feel rushed.
Such was the case now. In December, I had knitted fabric for a dress pattern that I particularly like and have previously made before. The dress, once it is made up, looks good in court and can be worn with a variety of the blazers I own. The dress pattern is an adaptation of a dress designed by Manon Salois. I have modified the pattern by adding a gathered waist and longer sleeves. I have also modified the hem to allow a slit up the back. I knitted the material on a knitting machine from a Superwash Merino Wool from Silk City.

The pattern for the knit is a stockinette stitch but is knitted alternating the stitches between two cones of yarn --- knit one stitch from one cone, then next from the next cone, then another stitch from the original cone, and so on. This gives the end product a little more weight without sacrificing drape or the look of the finished product.

I backed the fabric with an iron on interfacing then pinned on the pattern. I marked the pattern by basting the pattern outline with contrasting yarn. Once completed, I cut out the outline of the pattern and serged the edges. I did the same for the other pieces of the pattern, including the sleeves, the back and the other front.

The pattern calls for a zipper front and suede panels. I have found a near perfect match in suede. If all goes well, I will start to assemble the dress this weekend.

Spy Cams and Spinning

2007-03-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

My husband had a surprise for me. He knows that I miss our home in Washington (pictured above) when we are in California so he decided to bring Washington to me whenever I wanted. Last week Dan repeatedly went to and from the computer store. When we loaded up the pickup truck, he placed a several, large mysterious boxes in the back seat. Since Dan enjoys ham radio and police scanners as a hobby, I didn't think too much of it. Unbeknownst to me, while I was at The Weaver's School, he was outside our house in the rain mounting cameras and crawling around in the attic stringing cable. On Wednesday night, Dan borrowed my laptop computer. Then, on Thursday morning, while I was in the middle of the ferry crossing between Mukilteo and Clinton, he telephoned me on my cell phone and told me to get onto the Internet. Thoroughly mystified, I dutifully plugged in the air card, connected to the Internet and followed his instructions. And suddenly, this popped onto my computer screen....

It's our yard. Eight color cameras are aimed at various points. I can see our side yard, the front yard, the woods in front of the house, our caretaker's house, the garage, the garden shed and the front door. Dan informed me that several of the cameras have "night vision" so I can see the critters that walk through our yard at night. So now, even when I am in California, I can visit our house any time I like.

Now that I completed The Weaver's School, I decided to paint our fences on Saturday. The forecast was for clear skies and a crisp temperature. Anticipating a dry day, I arose early on Saturday morning to, you guessed it......rain. And not the light drizzly stuff either, this was a full fledged downpour. When it became clear that the rain had absolutely no intention of letting up any time soon, I decided to head over to the Allyn Knit Shop and join their Saturday knitting session. I added 10 more rows to my vest, then headed home.

It was still raining so I decided to set up my spinning wheel by the front window and work on some sock yarn. Saturday is normally the day I try to set aside as my spinning day. Unfortunately, I don't always get to spin as much as I would like because of the demands of my family, my home and my profession.

I have two spinning wheels -- A Schacht Matchless double treadle and a Schacht-Reeves 30" Saxony. Both wheels are wonderfully balanced and a dream to spin on. The Matchless is in Washington and the Saxony is in California so I have access to a spinning wheel where ever I am.

The Matchless is also equipped with a "Woolee Winder" . The WooLee Winder is a custom flyer designed by Robert Lee. It has no hooks on the flyer arm, instead it uses two eyelets. One is stationary and the other moves automatically as the yarn winds onto the bobbin. This moving action winds the yarn onto the bobbin over its entire length evenly in much the same way as a deep sea fishing reel. This allows the spinner to keep spinning without having to stop and move the yarn up or down the hooks. My Woolee Winder was a birthday present to me from my sons two years ago and I enjoy spinning with it.

I had previously knitted my father a pair of boot socks from a Merino-Alpaca blend I had carded on my drum carder, then spun as a fairly thick single. The Alpaca was a variety of grays and blacks with some white mixed in, the merino was white. Although the socks do not match exactly in pattern, the socks are warm and soft. I had my father try on the first one at Christmas and he said that it was warm and cozy.

My new fiber was sent to me by a friend in Washington State. This top is a merino/icelandic blend that she purchased from a local breeder. It is a blend of reds, whites, blacks and greys. I am spinning it fairly thin as I do want ply it x2. I wanted a fairly thick yarn that I could felt into a pair of slippers/booties.

I spent the afternoon sipping hot chocolate, stoking the fireplace and watching the rain. Oh yes, I was able to spin three bobbins full of yarn and plied two of them. I laid a strand of two ply across the remaining bobbin for the picture. As you can see, the resulting yarn is maroon with grey highlights. I think it will make a lovely pair of felted slippers/booties. I can hardly wait to finish the yarn and start knitting.

All Good Things Must Come To An End....

2007-03-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

All to soon Friday arrived. It was hard to believe the week had gone by so quickly. Patty Huffer was busy working on a sewing machine when I arrived. We chatted briefly. Afterward, I went into the loom room to work on my sample.

At 10:00 a.m., Madelyn called us into the classroom and started the day with a discussion of fibers. She covered characteristics of different fibers -- wool, acrylics, bamboo, silk and exotic fiber. Next she showed us how to calculate amount of fiber by its weight. She answered questions about different weaving techniques, including rep weaving, tapestry, rigid heddle and drawlooms. She also briefly introduced available gadgets such as scales, fringe twisters, swifts, ball winders, bobbin winders, and a host of other goodies which, as Madelyn put it, adds up to the "Ka-ching" factor.

While Madelyn was talking to the class, Patty was busy at the looms, cutting off the week's samples and washing them. Once they had been washed, Patty carried them into the classroom and hung them on a drying rack.

It was fun to come into the room as the various samples were placed on the rack. Here Carol is examining the double weave fabric after it has been shrunk in the wash (on purpose, of course).

Maggie examined the color blocks. After the samples were dried, they were cut apart. Each student received the samples they had woven.

Jane surprised us all with an absolutely delicious gingerbread cake she had made. As if that wasn't enough, she topped it off with fresh whipped cream with crushed ginger mixed in. While we are all busy gaining ten pounds eating the cake, Madelyn bound all of our handouts and notes together in one handy binder. Huck was on hand supervising as always.

As the day drew to a close, we gathered one last time for a group photo. What a wonderful week we had together!

Wrapping (Warping?) Up Loose Ends

2007-03-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

"March -- comes in like a lion, out like a lamb."

Boy, they weren't kidding. March, 2007 in the Pacific Northwest began with 6-12" of snow across the North Sound on March 1st. The next 20 days alternated with heavy rain and strong winds. Trees toppled, power outages abounded and flood warning were issued. This Thursday morning dawned to grey skies, and cold, driving winds as yet another low pressure area swept across Puget Sound. But neither rain, nor, sleet nor dark of night could keep our intrepid weavers from their posts.

By now, the class was now ready to warp the practice loom. Our random color choices had been previously alternated between warm colors and cool colors as we had wound our warp. After tying the cross and removing it from the board, Madelyn placed a reed on the table and we each took a turn sleying the reed with the warp with our color.

The sleyed reed was transferred to the loom. Madelyn explained that we were now going to thread the heddles via a draft. A quick lesson from Madelyn revealed that the hieroglyphics (runes?) at the beginning of all weaving patterns is actually the order for threading, tie-up and treadling.We watched as Madelyn divided the heddles and demonstrated the use of a sley hook. (I discovered weaving sometimes brings back memories of a Bruce Springstein concert I attended in my wilder days --- I have to resist the urge to jump up and yell "Speak English, please! I want to understand your message". There are soooo many new terms to learn.) As my tired brain tried to grasp the "simplicity" of the pattern, I thanked my lucky stars I was born in the 20th century. If I had to rely on my skills at warping a loom to clothe my family, they would be running around naked.

We were instructed to tread the heddles with our color. I quickly discovered that this seemingly innocuous activity requires a strong lighting source and good eyesight. Patience also is a plus. The warp threads seemed to develop a mind of their own when it came my turn to thread. The first two threads cleverly switched places when I was concentrating on threading the first heddle. As I untangled these errant fibers, two other warp threads quickly wrapped themselves around each other in a tangle reminiscent of a Gordian Knot. The next three threads seemed to behave themselves but then I ran out of heddles the right side of shaft #2 and had to slide extras over from left side. When I got to the end of my color, I should have been on shaft #2. But my last color was shaft #3 (&#?/%)! I slid the heddles one by one looking for an explanation--- and found it in the eighth heddle. The ninth thread had sneaked into the heddle with the eighth thread. I pulled #8, #9, #10 , #11, and #12 back out and tried again, trying to ignore that voice in the back of my head reminding me that the towel pattern I wanted to weave as the first project after I returned home called for 132 warp ends! If I had this much trouble with 12.......... All told, it took me 15 minutes to thread 12 warp threads. I sincerely hope it gets easier with practice.

Madelyn demonstrates front to back warping in class. The threads are stretched at the front of the loom to help separate them and keep them tight.........

.......then are tied up and the back beam and wound a few turns. Madelyn uses very smooth, sanded sticks to keep the threads from having much contact on the back beam. (Given that wool is prone to felting when given half a chance, this is a prudent step.)

Once the end of the warp reaches the front beam of the loom, the warp thread are divided into small groups and tried onto the front. An even tension across all the ties is the key to success. The treadles were tried up according to the pattern and a random pre-filled bobbin was placed in the shuttle.

Now, the truly amazing result. There was no (none, nada, zip!) planning as to color choices, positioning of the colors on the warp, weft colors, etc. This was practice. And yet, when the twill pattern began to emerge from the warp, it was beautiful.

Power Weaving

2007-03-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

By Wednesday morning, I had accepted that the Port Townsend/Keystone ferry route was not going to be a viable option if I wanted to get to class before lunch, so I substituted the two ferry crossing route in its place. This meant I had to leave the house one hour earlier each day....but wonder of wonders, I pulled into Madelyn's driveway right on time.

Because of my hip replacement effects my ability to treadle for any length of time, particularly when I have to lift multiple shafts, Madelyn assigned me to a 32 shaft Louet Megado (pronounced "Me-gah-do). However, if one prices the loom (they run more than $10,000), the more correct pronunciation is "Mega-dough". Price aside, the loom was exciting to use. A computer controls the pattern and lifts the shafts in the order that has been inputted into the program. The treadle is a large, power assisted pedal that can be pushed down with ease. This allowed me to weave without having to take a break every ten minutes to give my hip a rest. Without this assistance, I would not have the ability to use a large floor loom for very long.

Suzie Liles was an invaluable teacher as I learned the program. She explained the computer program, helped me set up a pattern, and let me weave. Madelyn uses temples which help slow the breaking of the floating selvages ----although I managed to break, not one, but BOTH edges within 15 minutes.

Temples do their job very effectively but must be treated with respect. You see, temples have tines which are wicked sharp! In fact, the tines are nearly as sharp as felting needles.
I chose a twill pattern. The loom was pre-warped with black 10/2 cotton warp. I had fun choosing different weft colors and seeing how they inter played with the warp. I also realized that my obsessive nature demanded straight selvage edges.
The rest of the class was also having a great time with their weaving samples.

This is Margaret.......

....and Torrey. She is explaining the method to weave a color block pattern to Mary.......

........Shirley is working on a color gamp sample......

......while Audra works on a houndstooth pattern .......

.....and Madelyn discusses how to weave a black and white double weave pattern to Marilyn.....

.....while Huck continues to supervise it all.

Once again, the time went by quickly and it was time to head for the ferry. I headed out and decided to check and see if the Keystone/Port Townsend ferry was running. I was delighted to see it pull into port on schedule. A quick crossing and I headed home for the day.

Ferry Tales - Round Two

2007-03-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

Determined to make up for lost time, I decided to arrive early on Tuesday morning and practice some weaving before the lecture began at 10:00 a.m. Arising at 4:00 a.m., I once again made the trek to Port Townsend. The day was blustery and cold but happily the 6:30 a.m. ferry was on time. I drove on board, and settled back into my car seat for the crossing. But as Keystone glided into view, the ferry powered down and stopped 200 feet from shore. The wave size had been steadily increasing as we crossed Puget Sound and now the ferry was tossing and bobbing. Crew members came onto the deck and watched and talked. After more talking, the ferry suddenly powered back up and headed back in the direction of Port Townsend. In disbelief, I listened as the loudspeaker announced that the wind and tide conditions prevented landing and we would try again at 11:15!
Going online (thank goodness for Verizon air cards), I calculated the route to Kingston. When the ferry once again landed at Port Townsend, I drove off and headed to Kingston. I caught the 9:00 a.m. ferry and headed to Lynnwood, where I once again called Madelyn. She got me going in the right direction and I located the Mukilteo ferry in time for the 10:00 a.m. crossing. Off the ferry in Clinton, I was greeted by the charming hand carved sign and a 30 minute drive. I arrived in time to begin learning who to warp front to back.

Everyone in class chose a color and practiced wrapping the warp. Once completed, we all went to various looms and began weaving samples. Madelyn uses a wonderful technique for teaching. Looms are pre-warped and set up to weave various samples. Pre-woven samples are available at each of the looms as inspiration and examples.

Each student chooses a unique color of yarn from the rest of the class. At the beginning and end of each student's sample, that color is introduced in plain weave. In this manner, each student can identify their weaving sample when they are cut apart and distributed at the end of the class.

The samples are beautiful and inspiring. This is an example of an "Overshot" design.

This is an example of a "Block" weave pattern.

This is a black and white silk double weave.

The afternoon slipped by surprising fast, each woman concentrating on their chosen samples. Huck wandered among the weavers, supplying endless energy and comic relief. At the end of the day, it was gratifying to be able to look at my sample and see real progress -- the selvages were becoming straighter, the pattern more firm, and the design emerging from the void. All too soon, it was time to head for the ferry and the commute home.