July is Finito

July was purple Project Spectrum month and of course, I stitched my pincushion to reflect this. Other than that I didn't do too many purple things. Just like the blue month, I had a tricky time finding purple things around the house.
Today: 103º Tomorrow: 84º, what in the world??

In other news, my mom started a blog to chronicle the building of their new home, go check it out!

Alton Brown Has Got it Going On

Last night I caught the premiere of Alton Brown's new special Feasting on Asphalt. I've always been an Alton Brown fan so I couldn't miss his latest adventure. He's traveling from SC to CA on his BMW motorcycle making stops along the way at roadside restaurants. His first stop? A hot dog stand, I love this! In the frist episode he made his way through SC into GA and back up to NC. Didn't make much headway on the route but he did find a few food gems along the way like an egg salad sandwich & chocolate malt at the sandwich counter in a pharmacy.

One of his rules: No eating at national chain restaurants. Amen.

Don't worry...if you didn't catch the first episode last night it's replaying a few times this coming week, check your local listings!

Saturday Sky Take 6

All I can say about the weather we're having is h-o-t. Compared to most places, 93º isn't too bad but since we've surpassed our average number of over 90º days in a typical summer and it's not even August I'm going to say it's been hot. Now, please don't take this as a complaint. I know in the middle of Winter I'll be wishing for days like this. I'm just sayin' it's hot, not complaining that it's hot! It's looking as if my camera lens needs a good cleaning. The spots seem to be internal...eek.

Casey agrees about the heat, he's been taking it easy.
This coming week I'll be bringing my laptop in for repair so you may not hear from me for a few days. Sorry about the lack of blogging by the way, I can't really tell you what I've been up to because there isn't anything to tell. Maybe I'll knit tomorrow. Tonight we have a BBQ to attend, hopefully it'll cool down a bit so it doesn't feel as though I'm the one being BBQ'd!

Pansy Pincushion

I slaved away in my craft room this afternoon on my Pincushion Challenge entry for this round, flowers. I foundation pieced a pansy using batik fabrics and simply stitched it into a pillow. It got a bit wonky in a couple of places but I think that gives it character.
I'm also counting this as my Project Spectrum project for July. Why the heck do you think I picked a pansy??

Blogging Berries

I think I have too many blogs to read. Even though I use Bloglines, it still takes me forever to keep up and don't even dream of falling behind... The bottom line is I need to scale down.
So, what I want to know is which 5 blogs could you not live without? Which blogs give you the biggest inspiration, make you laugh the most? Try not to duplicate mine...I'll go 1st:
1. splatgirl creates
2. super eggplant
3. good to be girl
4. knitting iris
5. sweet georgia
I apologize if anyone feels left out...I do read another 159 blogs not listed, you're probably in there somewhere!

And, does anyone know what these berries are? They grow along my back fence on a vine-type thing.

Saturday Sky Take 5

It is a perfect day in MN! Eighty-three degrees, a little breezy, we even turned our air conditioning off for the day.

Knitting With Friends

Moto-Knitters is usually a once a month event but since the weather has been so nice and a couple knitters couldn't make it last week, there was a decision made to hold it again last night. Once again, the weather was PeRfEcT and the company was even better. It's always nice to knit with friends.

They're Here! They're Here!

A quick trip to the post office this morning netted me this lovely sockapaloooza package from pixeldiva (who has a fabulous blog), all the way from London! She also included hand dyed alpaca/silk yarn and a photo of St Pancras Chambers Clock around the corner from her office, very cool! The socks fit like a glove, and they're knit with Lorna's Laces...one of my favorite sock yarns. I love the way the colors spiral around the leg. These socks were SO worth the wait. Thanks pixeldiva!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Five Full Moons

This past weekend we went to the racetrack. Kyle finally made his 'racing' legal and earned his license. At the end of his 1st race, his 5 buddies gave him full moons and luckily I was there to document the occasion. It was hilarious.
On a knitting note, guess what's waiting for me at the post office? My sockapaloooza socks that my sock saviour knit for me!!! Whoo hoo!!! I'll be taking a trip to the post office tomorrow morning!!! Thank you sock saviour!

Saturday Sky Take 4

We were away for the weekend but I did manage to snap this awesome photo of the sky on Saturday. The temp reached 101º and we were out in it ALL day, plus today. We are exhausted...more later.

It's HOT

Yipee!! I finally have a decent finished object to show. And yes, it took me over a month to knit this pair of ankle socks. Pathetic, but it's summer!!! And summers in MN are short so I savor them when they're here. That means less knitting and more playing. And speaking of summer there's a hot spell coming this way. The temp may reach 100º, not too common here, maybe once or twice per summer.
Started: June 3, 2006
Finished: July 12, 2006
Yarn: Cascade Fixation color# 9955
The socks fit but I think next time I'll cast on 40 stitches instead of the 36 I used this time, it would be nice to have a little extra room.
I knit the socks for the Cascade Fixation Ankle Sock KAL hosted by KnitPastis.

Yarn Dying Extravaganza!

Last Sunday & Monday while Kyle was in Iowa zipping around a racetrack on his shiny green ZX-10, the girls & I dyed yarn! We had a great time as the photos show. Megan chose the front end of the rainbow with red, orange & yellow while Jessica went for the end of the rainbow choosing green, blue & purple. The first attempt with grape Kool-Aid resulted in a muddy skein of yarn so we tried over with egg dye and achieved a much better result. They both decided all they wanted to do with the yarn was make yarn balls so we spent a good part of Monday afternoon winding by hand. I think they enjoyed it!

The photos in the mosaic ended up backwards in the layout so the process starts on the bottom right.

Cleaning the Cupboards

The only finished object that I've produced in the last 2 months, a 'warshrag' from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I started it way back at the Saints ball game during sip, stitch & pitch night. Although just last night I managed to finish 2 socks and I'm now working on their pairs. The new book I picked up is written by an acquaintance of mine, Ann. Her book was recently released in paperback and I'm anxious to get started. Has anyone read A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards?

Saturday Sky Take 3

I've had a very quiet weekend, knitting and watching LOST Season 1. However, I think I've decided to stop joining swaps. Still no socks and still no candy ;-(
Sore loser? Maybe...

To my sock saviour: I've tried to contact you...please drop me an email.

A Perfect Day for Crafting

Yesterday I had my nieces over for what turned into an all day craft fest. We took a quick trip to the craft store and each picked out something fun to do. Jessica went straight to the velvet pictures for coloring and Megan chose sand bottles. I decorated a foam can cozy with tropical themed foam stickies. We also had a picnic and Kyle even baked us some cookies!!













A post crafting photo.










And of course Casey had to get in on the fun too!













Sadly, they hit the road this morning so my visit is over. But since they're moving to the mainland I'll be able to visit them more often so that's something to look forward too, 2 1/2 years is too long to wait in between crafting days.

I have a lot more to blog about from the week so now I'll work my way backwards since I skipped a few days since the 4th.

Happy Independence Day

Twins Territory

The MN Twins played a very good game against the Brewers Saturday night and we were there! Kyle took a raincheck so he is not pictured ;-(.

Summer BBQ

My brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces are here visiting while in between a move from Hawaii to California. We had them over for an impromptu BBQ of pork chops and corn on the cob Friday afternoon. A true Hawaiian, my 7 year old niece Jessica. Hang loose...













Kyle lit off a few tame fireworks and we also had fun with some rocket balloons. The dogs were going crazy chasing the balloons and it was so hot and humid that afternoon.










Casey immediately crawled up onto the couch and fell asleep as soon as all the guests went home.

Saturday Sky Take 2

A much different sky from last Saturday. Happy holiday weekend everyone!