While Traveling

I was a guest at Pat's place in Tampa. She bought my favorite chicken salad from Barrow's, prepared my breakfast and left it in the fridge for me, had coffee ready. Great hostess, huh? But the BEST part of staying with Pat is the feline company! Sophie standing, and Zoe in the sink. Both adoptees from the Hillsborough County Humane Society. Lucky Pat, and lucky kitties. And lucky me. Even though Sophie decided to play with toy mice in the bed at 3:30 am - having cats share the bed is always a welcome experience for me.


And knitting progress to report as well. I took some Austermann Step in what I think is color 09, and returned with this much of a generic sock:

This will be for my friend Jenny, assuming she still likes it after the stripes and colors have developed. If she doesn't they're for me, and I'll give her another choice soon.

I also worked on Fetzen socks while I was in the motel in Nashville, but didn't take them with me on the plane. I can't afford to be distracted while working on charted patterns. So those, along with the Lisa Souza petal lace are still in process.

Random

OK, the big-time bloggers can do it. So I will, too. Mostly because it's a bit hectic for me and I can't be coherent. I'm leaving this afternoon to begin the first leg of a trip to Florida and I'll be home on Saturday.

We returned from a fun 4-day paddling outing last weekend. This is what I saw when I got back:

Daddy long-legs convention on the deck ceiling! Way cool. They were still there last time I looked. I have NO CLUE what's happening here, so if anyone knows more about arachnids than I do, please enlighten me!

In addition to quilts, Maggie makes great little tote bags. She makes them as purses, but for me they're the perfect size for traveling with small knitting projects. See?
















I finished and mailed the strawberry baby hat for a breast feeding awareness event. You can read about it here: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2006_06.html; June 29th entry.






Remember my lovely wildflower bed with the "Please Don't Mow" sign?

The mowers came two days ago while I was out discovering my new LYS (yes, can you believe it - a NICE one, too, and friendly, right here in the middle of nowhere, TN - more on that later - it deserves it's own entry!). This is what I saw when I got home. I was fuming! Fortunately I calmed down by the time I took photos to the highway department office. More flies with honey, they say. And the super was most apologetic and promises to endeavor to keep this from happening again.

I have to go now. Here's BC again (who is in need of a playmate - she really, really misses Cali, as much as I do I think).

Bright Spot in the 127 Sale

This is Maggie Porter and here she is with a few of her quilts! Maggie is a neighbor in nearby Clarkrange, TN. She lives right off US 127, home of the "world's longest yard sale." All year Maggie makes quilts and then opens her "shop" for about 2 weeks around the time of the big sale. She also does custom long-arm quilting, and David is one of her favorite customers. Maggie and David both love bright colors.

Last year Maggie's quilts got hit by a sudden thunderstorm, and David helped out by bringing a bunch home for our dryer, while Maggie used hers. This year we won't be at home (we like to leave during the time of the 127 sale, because traffic is miserable and it's our main route to anywhere), so we're hoping the weather will be a little nicer to Maggie this year. If you're at the sale, you'll see a large sign near Clarkrange that says "Quilts By Maggie." Stop in and say "Hey." The sale dates this year start on Aug. 3rd I think.

This is my baby voilet. I propagated this little one last year, and here is it's first bloom. The parent plant had to be divided (it was two grown together), and neither half did well enough to keep. But I have two of the babies, so I'm happy.


I'm leaving shortly for a few days of paddling. Fun in the water during the heat of the summer - THAT's one of the best things about the sport.

Toasty Toes for David

These are hot! And David didn't mean a sizzling colorway. But on a hot July night, I made him try them on so I could take a picture of the completed socks. I didn't quite make it with my leftover of the same colorway. If you look closely, you'll see the last few rounds of one toe are done in a blue Toasty Toes colorway. I should still have plenty in that skein for my own socks. I haven't washed them yet, so the little square corners of the grafted toe are showing. Those usually go away with a couple of washings and wearings.

Anniversary!

BC came to live with us a year ago today! David spotted her hiding in the weeds next to a power pole at a nearby intersection. I had pulled over, oddly enough, to see if I could coax a traffic clueless little dog out of the road. The dog ran away from me, and as I got back into the car, David pointed out the little black face staring out at us. She didn't run when I approached her, and when I picked her up, she was friendly. I couldn't leave her there, and saw no mother cat or other kittens nearby. So home she came.

I had intended to find a home for her, since I really didn't want a kitten and the three older cats didn't either. I didn't want to name her, fearing I'd start to get attached, so I just called her BC, short for "black cat." But she was a lively kitten with winning ways. She even charmed Cali into being her friend. It wasn't long before BC won my heart and when someone finally did phone in answer to my ads, I couldn't give her up.


So here she is a year later, relaxing on the "bird seat."









Sock knitting for David: Interlacements Toasty Toes, and the skein is gone. Size 11-1/2 foot, 8" cuffs with 56 stitches. Good thing I have some of the same colorway left from a pair I knitted for myself. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's enough to finish; I've just completed about 2 rounds past the gusset, so I'll probably hold my breath until the toe is grafted.

Requiem for a Helmet

Slams on the head, hard and at what seemed to be high speed! I learned first hand last Friday the value of a well fitted whitewater helmet. The helmet is toast, but I'm just fine.

I made a major mistake on a rapid on Big Laurel Creek, which flows into the French Broad River near Hot Springs, NC. Being upside down there was one of the most violent underwater experiences I've encountered. The first hit was immediate and very hard. If my helmet had moved after that one, the next two might have finished me. But the helmet held fast, did it's job, and sacrificed itself to save my head.

Here's my Shred Ready Sherlock, post trauma. Of particular value in the Shred Ready helmets is the special back-of-the-head fitting system, which can be adjusted for a snug fit.



There are barely visible cracks on the outer shell, but when the inside foam is pulled out, it shows white areas which indicate where the material has given way.

This particular helmet qualified for Shred Ready's helmet replacement program; they're sending me a new one at their cost plus shipping and handling. Can't ask for anything better.

My only further comment is to suggest to paddlers that if their helmets move around on their heads, they should improve the fit or replace the helmet!

By the way, we had a great time at our 9-day paddling outing. It was hard returning home without Cali to greet me, and I can tell BC misses her inside buddy. But we're adjusting.