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  I think these are better than Haribo.  Not Zach.  They are so soft.  Trader Joe gummies...mmmm and not too bad for me.  Malcolm Gladwell writes so readably.  I love this book.  I think being retired has fostered my reading books again. I'm reading more than ever this year.  I just didn't have the time before and the emotion of reading was too much with the emotion of the NICU.  This has been a great surprise to me during my first summer of retirement.    I have a few other new finds to share: *We found a baby tooth that Fezzik lost this week.  Do you know that felines have canines?  It is true.  Dr. Seuss would have loved that.  * I have learned how to have Siri read my text messages to me while I am driving. It is so cool and so safe.  * Last but not least,  I learned how to LOOP while singing last night.  Well I sang, and Zach looped my voice.  It was soooooooo fun.  What's new with you?

  I don't know what came over me.  I made a bunny finger puppet.  I found the basis in the book:  30 min-knits by Carol Meldrum.  No less than two of you posted bunnies in your yards today on your blog posts.  I think you inspired me.   I completely enjoyed this one. .... Just Sayin, there may be more.    For the more serious knitters out there I have to say I touched this yarn yesterday at my LYS.  It is beyond soft.  100% Super Baby Alpaca.  Too bad I can't wear alpaca next to my skin without erupting in a rash, because this stuff is seriously soft.  Have you seen the cowl pattern knit up in Cria Stripes? It is so lovely and reminds me of a Trap Scarf in some ways.  Happy Summer Night.  The day got away from me so I'm posting late.  The cicada's are singing and the moon is full.  There is next to no humidity and a slight breeze. Picture perfect.  Hope yours is too

  I should show you my baby blanket but it isn't too impressive right now.  I have been knitting on it pretty much a week, including what  felt like 2 weeks at the smart phone store yesterday.  Thank God I had my knitting with me.  The blanket is all leftover sock yarns, very easy, and will be warm and wonderful..just maybe not anytime soon.  I can feel it tugging on my already sensitive right shoulder, so I'm knitting baby booties today.  I really like Melissa, my Physical therapist for my shoulder.  She's preggers with her 3rd child.  If only she can find a way for me to sleep correctly and I"d be out of her hair.  My shoulder is painful in the mornings, and she says there is a nerve trapped in there.  It is not horrid, not anything that deserves your sympathy, just something I have to move on before it.... shhhhhh... interferes with knitting.    I live a block from my Public library. I stopped after PT this morning and found a few baby

  I would love for Fezzik to be a therapy cat.  Beatles already could be.  Fezzik won't wear a collar yet, but he didn't mind the bandanna.  And I am the kind of crazy who will put him in more bandannas...   I made a turtle at a friends party at a pottery shop in March. I finally saw her again, and got my finished turtle.  I had tons of help.  I like him.  He is currently on the toilet tank as a decoration next to the hand knitted toilet paper cover.  He got too lost outside in the yard where I had planned to let him live.  To all my wildflower pals, Especially Mrs. Macawber, is this thistle?  I have a big old bush of this outside my garage and it is going to have lots of purple blossoms.  Is it a weed?  I won't call it that... I don't want to offend. Katherine is in trouble for suggesting crock pot cake.  I made a crock pot chocolate cake to bring my mom's caregivers and it was so dense, so moist, so lovely... there will be more.  I

Zach's friend Sara Jane bakes over at Wildercakes.com. She makes Boozy bundt cakes.   Sara asked Zach to photograph her grand opening event.  Sara sent home a plate of cake tastes.  All of these cakes were amazing.  We all had trouble picking a favorite.  I loved the John Daley: A sweet tea bundt with vodka lemonade.  oh my, OH MY! Sara would love you to contact her at sarajane@wildercakes.com. When Al comes in I'm ordering cakes from Sara Jane for the party.  There is nothing quite as disappointing as a dry cake...... you won't be disappointed in Sara's bundts.   The are the moistest cakes I've ever tasted.  ********* On another sweet note, my mom and I had a great visit last night.  She was laughing and fun.   She may have alzheimers but there are times she is in her element  and last night was a delight. She thinks she is at home, which is an answer to ALL your prayers.

Starfish Cloth from Sew Funky  Feather and Fan by Linda Smith Easy Crochet Dishcloth by Sandy Marie Dishcloths.  That's all I got for you today.  It's hot and humid and I Love to make dishcloths in the heat.  I use them faster than I can make them.  I prefer to crochet them.  The three patterns above are free on Ravelry.  They are small enough for me to stay interested in a pattern  start to finish!   Do you Dishcloth?

  Remember this?  It was the CoSaBi knit that never looked right when I put it on.  It had potential in the right knitter's hands.  I won't even mention the pattern because in all fairness this is not about the pattern.  It was a vest that only succeeded in my mind's eye as I ignored all the red flags during its creation.  Since Hindsight is 20/20 let's torture me a bit: *Cotton is a key component of CoSaBi and I know better than to knit in cotton and not expect the garment to grow exponentially even when stored in a flat position on my closet shelf.  *The model in the pattern photo was a good 40 lbs lighter than I.  She was also at least a foot taller....or so I'm telling myself.  The old equation of white + full figure = disaster,  applies.  *Having tried it on numerous times with the expectation that it would improve with each attempt, I called a truce on Monday.  It was a knit failure.  I was going to frog it.  *What's worse

  Yesterday some of  you played, Ten things you love and Ten things you hate.  I'll say ten I love and ten I don't.   Don't 1.mechanical pencils 2. pop ups 3. weather reports instead of predictions 4.college rah rahs 5. anchovies 6. sport water bottles 7. places that don't take reservations 8. high heels 9. waking up to an alarm  10. talking on the phone The list of things I love is much easier for me to make: I won't include the obvious (yarn!)  1. wearing cotton 2. our National parks, state parks, county parks 3. bags: purses, knit bags, cosmetic bags 4. going to the beach 5. watching people ride horses when I am in the woods 6. sunhats, baseballcaps, winterhats 7. seeing the sunset 8. emails 9. stick shift cars 10. malts How about you?

Don't look too closely.  There may be a garter mistake or two, but I was all about the finish throughout this purse project.  I may crochet an edge around the top today.  It is not called for in the instructions but I think I may, anyhow.  Because now that the pattern and I are pals, I feel I can take liberties with it. I'm overjoyed with the results.  I went to My LYS sidewalk sale looking for some yarn for this baby. I found the perfect yarn: Classic Elite's  Wool Bamboo.  This is pretty remarkable because when I substitute a yarn I often get into trouble.  Irreversible mistake trouble.  Find it in the bottom of a bag a year later trouble. Not this time.   Also, It was half off.  So I paid 30 dollars for this cutie.  I used 5 skeins to make my little summer bag purse. You make 4 strips of garter and join them in a magical way as clever Eva Varpio lays out in her pattern.  Ravelry shows the pattern as HDK Bag by Eva Varpio.  I

My cats love tunnels.  When Chewy. com offered to send us  a Kong tunnel we were thrilled. Kong makes durable smart pet toys, in case you are new to Kong.  This tunnel clips closed with bear tooth attachments and folds down to a remarkably flat size.  This means the cats can play in the tunnel for a few days and I can put it away for a few days.  The tunnel can fit on a bookshelf, in a closet or under a bed without taking up much space at all.  The open middle makes for super pouncing and sneak attacks that are part of the daily cat routines around here.  It makes a nice crinkly sound that seems to make the cats crazy for a run through the red toy.  Thanks Chewy.  Another great item carried by a great company that shows they love our pets.  I need to remind all that I am not paid for these items.  I simply post about them and Chewy keeps sending us  great things.  If you order from Chewy delivery is super quick by the way!

As far as I know there were no ticks in our bed last night.  I did a complete body check on Fireman, and it wasn't the fun kind. Nothing gets me going like a tick.  I read you should put your clothes etc in the dryer just to be sure to kill any ticks.  I wanted to put Fireman in the dryer, but he refused.  If you are anywhere near the woods or grass taller than my ankles you are suspect.   I bought myself a little garden art at the art fair this weekend. I must be stuck on bugs.... this is a solar bug.  The lady who sold it to me, said,  "You can get two for fifteen dollars." I had just handed her a ten. "No thanks"  She then huffed and said, "I'm just trying to save you money"  Now I'm no mathematician, but I don't think she was trying to save me any money.    I'm plugging along on my little tiny purse.  It is all garter and I am on the fourth and final panel. This time it is all about the pr

  1. Buy the water loving cat a pool.  For eleven dollars it can sub as a cooler with ice and beer at the next summer party.  When the big Cat's away.. the little cats play.  Please note, I stopped short of buying him a goldfish to chase around.  I thought about it though.  I have a few hours left here alone, so you never know. 2. Rent movie made by Disney that husband would never sit through.  Big Hero 6 was a delight.  I'm sure it is a delight to everyone under the age of 8 as well.  I could chatter about how the animation was spectacular, but I come from the generation of the Jetsons.  Rosie, the maid was pretty much the same character with a dose of sarcasm that I prefer in my robots.    3. Control the controls.  There's a creepy power trip going on here. I vacillate between listening only to the sound of my own voice (in my head....I've not been alone long enough to talk out loud to myself...but hey....that could be fun) and turning on the TV with the r

  I finished Lorna Miser's Shrug It Off pattern.  I am in love with this shrug/sweater.  I took me about 2 weeks of regular knitting to make it.  It was so easy, I will make another.  I love the Arucania Pinecone yarn. The slight hand dye skein difference really isn't noticeable.  I used about 700 yards of the merino and alpaca blend.  If you look closely, you'll see I'm getting gray hairs. Call me crazy, but I love them.  I won't color them.  I spent years putting highlights in my hair and now God's doing it for me.  She's so smart! (I should mention the cost of this shrug was about 60 dollars)  I like when people post their costs; it influences me...

Araignee you have won the book!   Thanks to all who played along.   Yesterday was picture perfect in Chicago. 70s and Sunny.  We walked along the Lake in Fort Sheridan.  The water looked like the ocean.  There were so many aquas and blues and the sky was clear.  There are many wildflowers peaking now.  Yesterday was also perfect because I finished my shrug and I love it.  Pictures tomorrow.  I'm sure I'll knit another. I had 9 skeins of Acadia and did not use them all. One of the skeins, although they all shared the same dye lot number, was lighter than the others.   Of course, I did not notice this until I was knitting the end cuff. Once I put it on, Fireman said he really couldn't see the area of the lighter skein.  Fireman is, well, critical so he would have said so if It was a problem.  I talked to my LYS and Lynette said there can be quite a bit of variation even within the same dye lots.  I continue to learn by mistakes with t

Happy Summer.  I'm raffling off this book and you could win it.  You know how this works, Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner tomorrow.  You must tell me a favorite song of yours.  That's it . This large book is really beautiful and full of great knitting information.    My favorite part of the book is the chapter on colors in the back.  All, knitters regardless of skill level will love this book, it says so on the jacket.  Happy SUMMER  Good luck

This baby sweater with a zip up the back reminds me of one I had for Al and Zach.  I took photos of it at my LYS. I don't think I'll be making one anytime soon, but miracles do happen! Last night, My mother knew me!  Her dementia is pronounced, but she said to me I. Know. You. Kathleen!  Small marvelous miracle.  I am rounding the corner and heading for home with my shrug.  This usually means I'll make a big mistake in my haste to FINISH. Let's hope not. So far I've loved the whole thing: pattern, needles, yarn and process.  Can you believe that machine got to Pluto today? There's a miracle ! Oh and a teeny tiny perhaps baby hummingbird came to our flowers last night.  They are sporadic here this summer at best.  He went to the "Deadist" bucket of flowers we have as Fireman said.  Oh and friend and blog reader Lynn who adopted two of my foster kittens  a few years ago, just adopted a new torti girl.