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I'll show them these pictures I took of a woman walking her birds down the Beach in Virginia.   Ahhh we love to make our pets happy. If I am a bit crazy today, it may be because Fireman watched the RYDER cup golf game all day yesterday.  Literally....ALL day.  Now, I love golf, but not as a spectator so much.   Although the atmosphere at the Ryder Cup is Jubilant and loud.  This is so unlike the stoic golf stuff we usually see. I can see the allure of it... On the other hand, I was able to knit lots and lots yesterday.  I am halfway through the shawl knitting and really loving it.    This is definitely going to be a potato chip pattern for me.... I'm already thinking of what yarn I'll use for the next shawl.   anything making you crazy this weekend?

 Having old friends for Chili and a campfire tonight.  Flowers make a house look so amazing don't they? Here's my shawl. Coming right along. No issues now that I'm using a yarn that's friendly. As Marguerite says, this is a hobby right? No need to use MEAN yarn. PRODUCTS THAT WORKED FOR ME THIS WEEK: Now that Beatles and Tank wrestle daily, Bea's coat is a bit smelly at times.  I found some  I PET HEAD DRY CLEAN spray.  It makes Bea smell wonderful.   Found it at Target. Speaking of DRY shampoos, no one had a good review for me when I was asking..... and guess what? I found one that works----  Salon Grafix Invisible Dry Spray Shampoo .  Found it at Walgreens. My NOOKA watch band got really dusty in Yosemite on our horseback riding trip.  It is white. I went to the website and they said to use a pencil eraser to clean it up. It worked like a charm. Finally, I'll plug another bloggers soaps and lotions:  Bird Bath Esse...

PUDDY AND BABKA GOT ADOPTED TOGETHER YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AT LONG LAST...TO A COUPLE THAT PROMISED TO SPOIL THEM. more later kathy b

I SHOULD have bought this t-shirt to wear at work.  The other night all the babies were howling at the same time......it's a good sound.  When our babies get to the point of howling, they are ready to go home. Earlier this morning I tried to post, and google claimed I'd used up all my gigabytes or some such stuff. Now I have to be the first to admit, I've gotten a great free ride from BLogger since 2004 with this silly blog.   I haven't paid dime one.  So, I'm due I guess.  Yet when I tried to add space, I got a malfunction message.  So One of two things happened: I gained some gigas for free or I bought some bytes and it went through this morning. Has this happened to you? Next topic:  The Shawl isnt' going so well.  I bought some sugar cane yarn at the Sister's knit shop in Virginia......it was gorgeous blue colors.  That yarn is so slick and slippery it wanted to knot itself up. Al wound it into a well behaved ball, for me, bu...

 This Boat was aptly named, for someone...... It amused me.  I love a creative boat name....a cute license plate, a well named cat or dog. Here I am trying to amuse you in front of the USS Wisconsin.  Nothing like a battleship to make you look a little smaller......I'm holding up my current shawl knit up.   Flying saucer knit.  Rather, the baby beret blocking on a teacup saucer.... What's amusing you today?

Stiff comes highly recommended by Al.   A bit of a dark topic; deals with the reality of undertaking .... Bonk ....interesting topic for sure.   All about sex in a NPR kind of way. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? This book is being read by several young women that I know.  The author is on the OFFICE TV show. I hear it is a pretty hilarious read. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness.....very highly recommended by friend Linda who loves all things Africa... The Swamp, was being read by the fellow sitting next to me on the flight home from Virginia.   I gather it has to do with Florida politics after reading the whole title. As for me, I'm reading patterns. Patterns and Knit books.  and blogs.... What are you reading this weekend?

 Williamsburg ....... and then Virginia Beach and then  Al's new blanket. I'll start Boo Hoo -ing , as a co-worker used to day, if I explain how full my heart becomes when I am with my AL and my Zach and my Fireman.   It has been a wonderful little trip.

 Clue Number One:  People Wear Colonial Dress Round These Parts  Clue Number Two:  This Mermaid has exposed her breasts  and she's not suing anyone over it... Clue Number Three:  AL and I found this perfect pattern for her to knit ..... Life's good when you can spend time with your grown kids.  Oh, and I fell in love with a Ham today.  Does a Ham count as carry on luggage?  I'm carrying some on......This Ham tasted so good it was like ham but like sugary bologna at the same time......I broke my vegetarianism for a bit because of this amazing ham.   How many Hams can I carry on a plane?  I've never had a Ham so wonderful..... so have you guessed yet?

This big buck trotted up behind us in Yosemite Valley.   Fireman and I were enjoying lunch in the meadow when he surprised us.   Isn't he beautiful?  I was glad he was not a Bear, at the time, yet the waitress we spoke to told us these are more dangerous than bears.  Well, she said the Momma Deer are serious when you get near their Bambi Babies.....I've always heard that males are goofy during their rutting season.   On the needles, a baby beret.  Sweet, soft and swift.  I'll likely finish it by tomorrow.   I think a saucer is going to be the perfect size to shape it over.   I should know, I gave a  few baby bath's this workend.  I love when their hair stands up all clean and fluffy after a shampoo.   I love the clean smell of baby shampoo in their damp hair. Bambi, babies....berets.......all good here at Irisheyes .......all good.

I am not good at change in general.  Some experts say the more we change it up, the better we get at change.  Some say those that live into their 90s handle change well. I have to work on CHANGE.  I drag myself through Change with it's unknown frightening face.   I remember my dear Nana, when 90, put into a nursing home said to me tearfully, "I'll get used to it." She never really did, but she championed the change by helping others in the nursing home.  It wasnt' for HER, that she was there, it was for them. She would  'Adopt" a resident and make it her business to get them to the dining table on time or to Mass with her.   She was an amazing woman.  She loved to laugh. Maybe I should TALK to her as Change rears its head these days.  Do you talk to someone who has died? Even Change that I construct myself can throw me off.  How do you work through Change even when it is for something wonderful? On the knit front, I changed my...

 Happy Friday!  I'm using KnitPicks Chroma in worsted to make a pair of wool socks.  There will  be no machine wash and dry for this pair.  They'll be dipped in the sink and dried on the radiators.... They are super thick and, as you can imagine, super fast to knit up.  Al, for one, wears socks to bed for her cold little tootsies.  In the winter, I head to bed in socks and kick them off during the night.   This does too count as one of my 13 pairs in 2012......(does not....does so!.)  This makes pair 6 ....so I'm a bit behind .... I found this pattern in my inbox yesterday.  I think this may be the answer to my inability to knit reverse neck shaping.  Sure looks like a rectangle to me.  I can knit a rectangle.. Have any of you wonderous knitters out there, knit a pattern like this?  Is it as easy as it looks?  Do you know of any others?  I would not knit the fancy pattern into it.   But I love the loo...

The Front  The Back I am thrilled with the blanket.  It may be one of my favorite Knit ups.  Yes it was lots of piecework but I love the outcome.  I am glad I knit a garter back for hiding the ends.  Yet, it seems a bit unfinished.... ideas anyone?  Fringe doesn't appeal to me on this one.  Perhaps I should just crochet a non-frilly edge around the whole thing.  Suggestions are encouraged. I spent a good part of the evening yesterday decided what to knit next.   Without further ado, I shall tell you that some socks from a month ago ended up in my hands.   It feels like sock time to me again.    Finally, Da Bears play The PACK tonight.  I have no hope whatsoever that Da Bears can win the game.  I'm not a magical thinker.....All you Packer fans out there will enjoy handing us a good licking.        I'm kind of a Packer Fan myself.......

 We all knit, but we all share other things on our blogs as well.   I come to your blog for knit inspiration and LIFE inspiration.   Sometimes was talk about marinated grilled cherry tomatoes, and sometimes we talk  about Hummingbird nests .  (This is my friend Kath's nest in L.A.) So today, I'll say a name and you say the first thought that comes to mind... (My answers are in the comments section today) Ready?????? Major Jennifer..... Meredith..... Donna B...... Channon.... Nancy..... Marguerite...... Emily..... Kim KSD...... Lynn from Michigan...... Grace..... I wish I could put everyone's name in the list....if I left you out,   I'll put you in another time! 

 From the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream Waters, this land was made for you and me. 9/11 brought me back to knitting.  I had such difficulty sleeping after that day; my wise neighbor Abby asked me if I knew how to knit.  I said, I did.  I told her I hadn't knit anything in at least 5 years.   She suggested I start knitting again and keep the needles at my bedside.  So I did. I fell in love with knitting again as it soothed my frazzled nerves. .. ...... I believe in silver linings.  John Milton came up with the phrase hundreds of years ago. "Every cloud has a silver lining" It is a gorgeous September morning, much like the one of 11 years ago when the Twin Towers fell and our hearts were sucker punched.   I'll hug my Fireman a little tighter today.......

 We rode horseback in Yosemite.  There was a time I was terrified to get atop a horse. My sister was thrown when I was riding with her in the woods in my 20s.  Something spooked her horse and in the end it was just a broken rib and a bruised kidney.   And a scary memory.  Over time I got back on a horse for a trail ride with my kids.   You feel so far UP when you get in the saddle.  There is something unique about riding a horse.   I love horses.  So this is Chance, and he was mighty steady as we rode for several hours in Wawona Valley.   (Okay so I took a xanax before I got on him.....truth be told.. but it was worth it! ) The Baby Blanket came together better than I'd dreamed.  I crocheted them together.  There are a zillion ends in the back.   A zillion is a word......see Dr. Suess please.   So I am knitting a plain garter back that I will crochet to the front and it will be a double sided blanket..... I hav...

 After many thoughts about the baby blanket, I've made the decision that it will be a two color blanket.  Why?  I only liked two of the colors~!   It is going to be a smallish blanket.  A blanket you use for stroller walks and car rides.   Why?  I am ready to move on.    For comparison here is my foot next to a California pinecone.   Our horseback guide said the Indians would grind the cones into meal and eat them.   I am still hanging on every report of Yosemite Hantavirus on the news?  Why?  I don't know.  We did not stay anywhere near Curry Village.   I have a great chance of getting West Nile Virus in my own backyard these days. More questions: *Have you used a dry shampoo? *Have you had someone wash your hair and it felt better than a body massage? *Do you have a pocket knife?  I bought one in Seqouia for my knitting, because I couldn't carry a scissors on the plane. *Did you see the segm...

 This is one clean potty in Seqouia National Forest.  I was overjoyed at it's impeccable state.  Ever camera ready, I snapped this image.... and then this one in the hotel bathroom.  Don't you just see Fair Isle everywhere you look ?  It's a knitter thing... For those of you interested in our Take and Replaced Pattern Swap, it is now on its way to Grace. Kim and Katherine seemed to really enjoy the game so far.  Cecilia and Jennifer you are down the road a piece!

 Half Dome is best viewed here, from Glacier Point in Yosemite.  Some people were actually visible on the top of the dome with a scope for viewing.  I Swear I saw a woman in a PINK BREAST CANCER Cure t-shirt waltzing around the top of the dome.   Good for you lady!  I was sweating just looking at the Dome from miles away.  I was happier on the valley floor near Camp 4 and Under El Capitan. My dear friend Kath made me us a cake for our visit to her place in L.A.  Aren't these dancing cake people just the best???   She has this wacky incredible sense of humor.   We flew from Chicago to LA, then drove to Seqouia, Yosemite and then back to San Fransisco before boarding United Airlines back to Chicago. Fireman Drove, and thanks to the genius of GPS and MapQuest the passenger got to knit.  In the olden days the passenger held the map in the direction she was going, (which drove Fireman crazy) and struggled with routes and advice for the...

It is difficult to describe the size of these giant trees.   Perhaps if I tell you I felt like I was in a Faery Tale it would help describe them.   They were magical.  The few people we saw while we were in the groves were silent as we were.   These living trees evoke such a feeling of wonder in you as you walk among them.   The Sequoias were a highlight of the trip.  One hates to imagine them cut down, but for a moment I imagine them turned into knitting needles.....and I'm sure every person in the world would have a pair of wooden needles in their hands from just one tree.

 Park Ranger Bodie was thrilled to hold my knitting when we entered Sequoia National Park last week.     I have some great images to share with you in the coming days.  As a Midwesterner all my life, California and the Sierra Nevadas  came as an entirely new landscape for my eyes.   It was the trip of a life time.  It is hard to choose words to describe the vast and undisturbed beauty of our National Parks.   We met many European's who shared our amazement.    Below is El Capitan,  which I did not free climb or solo climb.  I enjoyed it with my eyes to the top and my feet firmly planted in El Cap Meadow.   I knitted all the way along our 7 day trip.  The Mitered Baby Blanket squares were an easy portable knit along California's roadways.   We were thrilled to see a Black Bear Mama and her cubs on our first day in Yosemite at dusk.  Our sighting was brief but will be remembered always.  I was no...