knittinggenes.blogspot.com

  My leftover mittens are not quite a match, but I'll call them a pair. I ran out of Zara in the pink.  I still love them. Sparkle yarn in Peony pink, (see mine below) and cuffs in Zara.  Last night on the porch was absolutely perfect to me. Best night of 2015 so far.  Just humid enough to be cozy. Nice breezes. Bugs coming to the screens for endless cat entertainment.  Knitting mittens and even taking out a thumb and reknitting it successfully.   I would have stayed out all night, but my snoring would certainly alarm the neighbors.  ***  I spent this morning racing to list  50 Things I love about my sister, who turns 50 next week.  I had to get her gifts and list to the post office by noon. The list is my idea.  Growing up we were NOT close.  We are 5 years apart. Now she is my dearest sister.  ***** Thanks to each one of you who commented on the reading glasses/b...

  *Took photos for the Shop blog yesterday. *This is: My Favorite Summer Top by Shi bui *I can't get into the feel of their yarns. *Scratchy *You'd have to be very thin to wear this well, I think. *So I really like it, for someone else to knit and to wear! In fact if you have any breasts at all I don't think this top would flatter.  Who designs these? And who do they think can wear them?  I did find a cute something at the checkout counter.   *The turtle tape measure is just my kind of whimsy. *It is a perfect summer day here, the kind of day I long for in the winter.  * Question:  Do you like your transitional lenses if you have them? I've decided I'm going to get an eye exam and just get reading glasses.  Looking in the RIGHT spot and pointing my nose is no longer working for me.   I do think my eyes have changed this year.  Do you use readers or trifocals? 

  Let's play fill in the blank I'll give you a ----- a day.  a. xanax b. poem c. daisy  After inputting names address etc into the Shelter's new computer system,  I realized I need new -------  Again. a. cats b. glasses c. rabies shots I also realized some folks have great email addresses. Most have their nickname and a birth year.  What with all the news about hacking, you'd think folks would get more creative.  If I had a new email it would be: a)kathyscats  b)not to be confused with kathys scats...ew c) potatochipknitter d)silvernotgold I need to listen better. Fireman and I are together all day most days and we love it that way.  However, my listening skills are poorer now than before  retirement.  Too often I say, "what did you say?" because I was reading, writing, talking to the cats or in some way  not listening.  Maybe we haven't been...

  I'm combining some Zara pink with the sparkle berry left overs for the next mittens.  Zara has almost perfect stitch definition.  I do recommend this yarn.   Here is my review of the Book,  Beautiful Eyes, by Paul Austin. The book is touching and tender.  It is a father's true story of learning to parent his daughter.  She has Down Syndrome.  He is a ER doctor. At times the chapters he devotes to chromosomal analysis  and history of the diagnosis, are a bit too long and a bit too in depth. He lost me from time to time there, but he never lost me with the conversations he had with his wife and his daughter Sarah.  He discusses the ADORATION painting from the Renassaince and I had to look it up. One of the angels clearly has Down Syndrome.  This is a beautiful painting made even more so by the perfect Down's angel.  I had to show you...see?  Are you reading?  ...

  As you enter my yard this is the side garden along the fence. The dark leafed plants are chocolate joe pye weed.  They are supposed to attract butterflies. They didn't read the book because they simply haven't called a butterfly to them in the 6 years or so that we've had them.  You cannot see the moss rose border.  They have just been planted and need a good month of neglect to blossom and spread. After years of having no success in those patches, we tried moss roses last year....and they took.  The small irises were given me by a neighbor from her extras a few years ago.  This is their best showing ever.  At the very end of the patch is a Stonecrop that another neighbor gave us last year.  On tap for today: more mittens to knit leftover pasta salad, baked beans and burgers from our barbecue and a bike ride between the raindrops.  That's a lot of b's. So, in true Sesame Street styl...

  Honoring all those who have served and still serve.  I'm so happy we have religious freedom in this country.  I think of all who died in the name of that war and all wars.  Coming to know Virginia, while Al lives there, we are able to explore our history, and stand on the soil of the battlefields.  She lives in Norfolk, where so many continue to serve, in the Navy.  I''m delighted to be OFF this holiday from work.  We are having a small barbecue, with friends, today.    I'm reading this father's story of his baby born with Down Syndrome.  He is a doctor, so that is an interesting perspective.    I finished a pair of Regia sale sock yarn mittens last night.  Then, I frogged my cashmere mittens as the after though thumb is not to my liking.    I'll be casting on another mitten pair this afternoon.  I like the Regia stripes and the machine wash and dry factor....

I love summer.   This weekend will be all about summer things I love to do and plan to do.  Here goes: *I'll be knitting mittens.  How many pair?  I don't know.    * Summer is for sitting on my screened porch.  *Nurse friend Maureen brought me a bag of her Auntie Mar's needles and such.  I plan to have Fireman help me make shawl pins from these needles.  Auntie Mar's bag had a good little ruler and some stitch holders that are already in use.  *I plan to knit a pair of pink mittens from Auntie Mar's last stash and donate them in her honor.    *Vacationing is always part of our summers.  We are  so blessed. This year we head to the OUTER BANKS to enjoy Allison and pals for a week.  Channon had  a hand in this!  We are renting her aunt's cottage.  I plan to see the wild horses and take a horse tour.  *This year will be different as I have begun ...

I give you the ShiBui Mittens.... Although it looks as though the thumbs are too small, they are in fact good sized.  The gusset is started in the SUMMER CAMP variegated color way and finished in navy so that creates the illusion.  I was inspired by Dee who knits some of her socks with a solid cuff and heel and toe.  Thanks Dee!  There is a Ravelry community that collects mittens for kids in need and this pair is going along with others.  I wanted them BIG because some kids are built bigger and need warm hands as well.    The yarn was pretty had had some nice give to it.  Do you think I should tag the mittens with a hand wash sign?    My Columbine are blooming.  Someone told me they are the symbol of the Holy Spirit.  Love that.  Baby Fezzik has the laundry gene.... Happy Friday blog pals!

We all start somewhere, and here are my cosmos seedlings. I hope they will be tall and beautiful come August.  *****   Many thanks for all the prayers for my Mom.  You are the best!  I watched, STILL ALICE last night.  What a fantastic movie.  It may seem like pouring salt in the wound, but I was ready to watch it.  I want to learn about this disease of the brain.  The good news, of course, is that knitting is a great brain activity!  There is sidewalk chalk art appearing in town, now that the weather is improving.  I love seeing what children draw, don't you?   When I worked in the NICU siblings often colored the funniest, sweetest things for their new babies.  We hung these little masterpieces on the isolettes.  What with all the technology we surround ourselves and our children with, there is something so good about a child's drawing.  They say it is good for a...

  Fezzik has come at a time when I need to laugh.  And I do.  He's growing by leaps and bounds...and I mean that literally.  My mother has been placed in skilled care for her Dementia. I treasure visiting her, but I leave and sob.  This disease, as so many of you know, robs her of so much.  If you pray, please pray for my mom, Noreen.  I pray that those who dress her and feed her are kind and good people.  I know I cared for sick babies for many years with the tenderness that they were my own.  I pray for the same for my mom's caregivers.    On with knitting and the joy it brings me. Another mitten.  I copied Dee's sock strategy using solids for parts of the construction.  This is my biggest mitten so far.  I think I have determined which charity I'll send them to in the USA.  More on that as More mittens get knitted.  My family loves Irish Soda Bread. I r...

  We had a beautiful May weather day yesterday, so we went bike riding.  We saw a horse named Hank, and a baltimore oriole.  The skies were gloriously blue. My new seat made my arse feel fine for the entire ride.  I also borrowed Fireman's riding gloves and you know what? My hands did not fall asleep once on the ride. FYI: the Des Plaines River Trail. I used to think, as a child, that all of our water was polluted.  Yup really.  Now, I know we have sandy/muddy bottomed rivers and that makes the water look dirty even when it isn't.  I thought people in other parts of the USA just had blue clear water because they were cleaner.  The river at its most shallow looked very clean and clear yesterday.    We  enjoyed the day to it's fullest,  and I treasured how lucky I am to be retired.   We never touched the ground so I did not have to worry about ticks.  The trail wa...

Smiling because I've knit another pair of mittens.  I had this yarn in my stash for years and it finally found a purpose. (misti alpaca from a yarn shop sale)  Next up: another pair of mittens much like the sock colors Dee is currently working on.  You inspired me Dee. The yarn is Shibui and it's yarny name is Summer Camp.  I have a question. When you work a round finish and you have about 6 or 8 stitches to pull through, there are HOLES between the stitches after I pull it taught.   How can I adjust the closure so this doesn't happen? No one wants a draft in their mitten tips.  That's just counterproductive.  I have been weaving yarn around the holes afterward, but I don't love the look if I'm not very very careful.  Thoughts?  (and I don't want a double decrease and kitchener option, because me and Kitchener just don't get along.) 

  I went to Knit Night last night at Three Bags Full. Christine was showing us her TAMPA shawl.  (thank you Grace for the correction)  Wowza.  I'm impressed.  I don't think Lace in that capacity is anywhere in my future.  That's okay.  I'm content in Mittenland... Some ladies, in the know, were raving about the patterns in this book by Hatton and Storey.  One lady said she wanted to knit every single thing in the book.  That's a testimonial.  She wasn't the author either!  I do love to photograph Knit night.  Not because there are treats; I had just one mini cookie.  I love to see what others are knitting, if they like the pattern, the yarn, the process. Head over to the post on  Threebagsfullcorner.blogspot.com for more pictures and inspiration.  I'm off to knit on my porch!  It's gorgeous out! 

  The giant Hosta can be observed moving up and out of the ground in a period of a few days.  I love the leaves when they first emerge and have no ugly age spots.   These hosta are so big I'm not even sure they are hosta.  A family of rabbits could live under them.  You could drink a glass of wine from those unfurled middles.   My back garden is a Mix of Hosta and rose bushes. Some summers I'm into growing vegetables and herbs, this summer I just want my roses to be magnificent.  It is a perfect mix if you ask me.    My friend Meg is crocheting this shawl for her daughter's wedding day.   Meg is a knitting phenom.  She wanted to crochet this one and I think it is going to be magnificent.  The middle back section is where the beading happens.    Here's her start in a sea ice color way.  It is a perfect pattern/yarn mix.   Below: learning from mistakes: ...

  Today's post is mostly about Chewy.com's product mailing this month.  I don't get paid for the reviews, but I do get free products to try.  This is thanks to Channon who passed the opportunity along to me and Sydney at Chewy who organizes the bloggers product reviews. Hope you don't mind.   We tried Crafted by Hill's pet nutrition. I have to say it actually smells good.  Did I say that?  Usually canned cat food has an awful odor.  50% of the time, my cats go right to eating this. 50% of the time they sniff and turn away. These are impressive figures for my cats.  Picky picky picky kitties here. Fezzik's breeder switches up the canned food all the time.  Dry food is consistently the same.  So, I don't mind switching it up here. The other product was Greenies for cats. Noses up for no thanks here on the Greenies.  Fezzik is doing great. Even Beatles is coming around. He does not under...

  That list that I made for Carole's prompt actually got me moving yesterday.  I finished my sister's pillow cover.  Three sides are closed.  She'll have to insert her own pillow and close it. These colors go with her two other pillows ; it is a Bernat bulky.  Once I hear from her, I'm mailing it out. That would make two checks off my list.  (post office =two)   I'm headed outside into the cold but sunny space we call outside. My flowers from Mother's day are still lovely inside.  I plan to feed the roses and weed the nasty weeds. I'm going to brag here. Pie is being so so so good with her new brother Fezzik. She plays with him and tumbles across the floor with him. An occasional hiss keeps him in line. He is bigger than Pie already.  Uncle Tank was the first to welcome him. Beatles is getting there....he is still a bit afraid of this new one.  All in all I'm thrilled we are on ...

  I don't procrastinate with things I enjoy.  Life's funny that way.  Carole's prompt is ten things you have to step up and do: *Make my Veterinarian sister her knitted pillow cover.  I have superbulky yarn in her color choice... I just have to set my mittens aside and do this for her.  She rarely asks for things.  Buy the impatients for the front window boxes.  Get to the post office.  I have one envelope and potentially more that I can mail in one swoop. Gather a few things for the Animal Shelter Flea Market, (it is not called that really)  and Drive it up there.    Feed the rose bushes with Miracle Grow Invite the new neighbors for a porch sit.  Buy a new set of measuring spoons. You'd think I would be able to do this, but I forget until I'm baking... Toss the disgusting cookie sheet and buy another.  Clean my car inside. It is so far gone, it feels like polishing a booge...

  I was spoiled.  Yarn, LUSH products and  new bicycle seat to cushion my arse.   Our weather was really lousy so that meant one thing: knitting inside and being waited on.  I highly recommend it.  Zach made my favorite treats: Rice Krispie treats.    The crazy crinkle pants are the perfect thing for Fezzik and Pie to wrestle around in and plan sneak attacks. He's fitting in earlier than we had anticipated. We used the baby gate over the weekend to allow them to get a little more used to one another. Now we are bringing him down for longer and longer play times.   My four finished pairs of mittens were washed and blocked.  I've cast on another.  It is a bit hard to talk about my sweet Mom right now. If you want to say a prayer for her, I'd appreciate it.  Some of my mom's favorite things: she loves nuts of any kind she loves toffee she loves PEACE at any price she lo...