Side view. The roof wasn't quite right because they didn't quite have all the pieces they wanted.
Bird's eye view, including interior
Front
From the other side
Dork placed 3rd (tied) in a saber competition. He's the one on the right, and he's giving me the "don't take my picture, Mom" look.
As a reward, we ate at Joe's Cable Car Restaurant (mmm, patty melt and onion rings).
I've finished my fingerless mitts (and have been commissioned for 3 more pairs by members of my family).
Started a Scrunchable Scarf in Mirasol K'acha as a mindless project to take to the theater when we saw the Reduced Shakespeare Company in "The complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged)". Fun yarn (not purple!), fun pattern, even more fun show!
Two socks were done. But too bad that they are not mates to each other. However, one is for me (the top one in Regia Galaxy) and one is for The Hubby (bottom, Dream in Color Smooshy), so I guess they are mates after all. I'm working on the matching socks.
Remember this post about my epic Olympic project equipment failure last year? Well, the yarn has been resurrected as the Farmer's Market Cardigan from the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. The pattern actually calls for Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted, which is what I have, in the Dusk colorway. I realized that there was still a lot of excess dye on the yarn, so I would need to wash it again. This time, I used the hottest water I could and a lot of vinegar, hoping to wash and set the color. You can see how much dye there was! I'm still getting a little on my hands, but it's not bad now.
And it's working up beautifully! Since my skeins were from different dye-lots (I had to get one extra, just to make sure I had enough), I'm alternating a few rows from one skein and a few rows from another. So far, so good; I've reached the waist decreases.
The Sea and Shells Stole is finally done!
Crocheted a baby blanket for a co-worker's baby born last week.
In garden news, we got a grand total of 5 butternut squash this year. The smallest of these is a little over 1 pound, the largest is almost 4 pounds!
Remember the pumpkin plant that tried a takeover? Well, we got a total of 6 off the vine. The largest is 19+ pounds, the smallest (a surprise that we just discovered last week under the basil) is about 2-1/2 pounds.
And a friend from school finds these gigantic Fuji apples every couple years and brings me one. The tape measure does not lie - it is almost 13" around (4" in diameter).
Oh, and then there's The Dork and his new best friend, Ellie. Peek-a-boo!
Stroller blanket, auction donation
And here's one project that I didn't post yet - a finished sweater!
In the cooking department, the following food was also disappeared very quickly: a monster pan of tamale pie (from Marian Cunningham's The Supper book) and lots of sourdough bread made by The Hubby.
First up, the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. It's not quite done, maybe about 3 more repeats left. But I don't think I'm going to make my deadline of Thursday (end of school), so I'll have to mail it to the recipient.
One reason why it won't be done is that I thought that I could whip out a couple more baby blankets before school is over. Silly me! Still, granny square blankets using a 6.5 mm hook (size K) and go pretty fast. The yarn is Jo-Ann's Sensations Rainbow boucle in reds and an occasional round of blue. It's kind of hard to see, but there is some variation in the reds, from a bright vibrant red to a deep burgundy color.Okay, one item finished in the last couple weeks:
The Rainbow Blocks Blanket (once again)
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy
colors: Lipstick Lava, Strange Harvest, Happy Forest, Nightwatch, Visual Purple
Size I hook (5.5 mm)
Finished size 35"x35"
In among all those projects, I'm trying to finish a Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl from some Dream In Color Baby yarn in Pansy GoLightly (purple, of course) (pictures later) for one of our counselors who is retiring this year, and I should get one more baby blanket done before Thursday for the other counselor who is due next month!
Which basically means that I should get off the computer and keep knitting.And A Meme:
1. What was I doing ten years ago? About the same as I'm doing today: mom, school librarian, thinking about buying our first house
2. What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
A. Take The Dork to a fencing competition
B. Loads of laundry
C. Knit / maybe finish the retirement shawl
D. Put medicated drops in The Dog's ear
E. Knit some more
3. Snacks I enjoy: anything cheesy, chips, berries/cherries
4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: pay off debts, ongoing donations to several charities that we support, renovate the kitchen/add on to the house (a fiber room, maybe?), put $$ away for The Dork's college education and our eventual retirement, take care of The Parents and The In-Laws
5. Places I have lived: Norwalk CA, El Toro CA (now called Lake Forest), Los Angeles, San Jose
6. Jobs I have had: babysitter, word processor, receptionist/secretary, office manager, librarian
Specs:
Pink Dot socks - done!
Then I thought I should make The Dork's fencing coach a shawl for Christmas, because she admired my Kiri that I made last spring. Gee, darn, Purlescence got some Sea Silk last week, and some fell into my knitting bag. After swatching and trying out several patterns, the Diamond Fantasy shawl rose to the top. I'm going to see how far I can get with one skein. I absolutely love how soft this yarn is, but the silk doesn't "give" the way wool does, and it's been a bit hard on my wrists. Around row 40 on this one.
Looked out my kitchen window to see this cheeky bugger in my 4-1/2 foot tall persimmon tree.
Guess the rest of the persimmons were ripe!
My other project is a baby blanket for one of our admin assistants. She's a new grandma, and our book club had a "Grandma shower" for her last week. As she will be picking up her granddaughter and babysitting every afternoon for a couple hours, she needs lots of fun stuff! The blanket I was making for her wasn't done yet, so I wrapped it and put a note with it "if this is returned to me, I'll make it big enough for you to wrap the baby in..." I arrived at the party a couple hours late, as I had to take The Dork to his fencing class (and traffic...ick!) first. As I walked in, Grandma said "where's your crochet hook and the extra yarn? This needs to get done!" This weekend should do it, but I'm making it up as I go, and have had to rip out several rows because it wasn't quite right.
Had loads of fun & laughter at a Build-a-bear party with the Purl Girls. See the recap here. This is Booker T. Bear and he is going to live at school for the kids.
That time could have been used on this project: started and almost finished a stockinette shrug to wear for our anniversary (17th) dinner last night at Sent Sovi (love you, sweetheart). As of 3:30 yesterday afternoon, I had just joined for the 2nd sleeve, but there was no way to finish it by a 5PM dinner date. Dream in Color's Classy yarn in the color "Good luck jade".
Pink dot socks are moving along. I've already turned the heel and am headed up the cuff now. I'm trying to decide if I want to go further up than my usual 3" or so. If I do, I'll have to figure out how to work increases into the waffle stitch pattern.
Started a new crocheted baby blanket for a "Grandma shower" in a couple weeks. The funny part is that the yarn originally came from the new Grandma a couple years ago in a secret pal swap at work!
