Knitting, puppies and friends….the perfect fall day.
We’ve been having an absolutely gorgeous stretch of weather here in Colorado.
Today’s Saturday Sky:
MJ hosted a puppy party/knit group at her house today.
Felicia and I showed up with knitting, food and puppies.
There was a lot of playing:
Followed by a lot of resting:
I’m making progress on the At First Blush Blanket:
There’s mystery knitting going on, too. The first project is almost finished.
I’ll close today with my favorite picture that I took today. It’s of my darling Kishka, being most unladylike:
Mystery knitting and the weekly feast.
I have been knitting, but I won’t be showing pictures just yet. I’m participating in a virtual baby shower for Kristi and I don’t want to post the items I’m knitting for her until she receives them. I’m sure the triplets (yes, triplets!) were enough of a surprise for Kristi and her hubby, but I’m funny like that. I like people to be surprised by gifts. That’s what makes it so fun to give them.
As always, it’s time for Friday’s Feast:
Appetizer
What is your favorite herb or spice?
Well, this question assumes I know what I’m doing when I use herbs/spices. I don’t. I just kind of wing it when I cook and I most often use the all purpose italian seasoning.
Soup
Name a song you like but haven’t heard in a long time.
Melt With You by Modern English. It’s one of my favorite songs in the world and I haven’t heard it in months.
Salad
If you were to take just one minute to write down as many things as you can think of that you need (not want) to do, approximately how many things would there be?
I’m not sure I understand this question. Does it mean things I need to do every day (go to work, feed the dogs, etc.) or does it mean in the grand scope of life? Regardless, silly question. Next!
Main Course
Tell something interesting about one of your family members (nothing scandalous, please, just something unique).
When my grandmother got married (in the 1930’s), she didn’t tell anyone. She was a nurse and would have gotten fired.
Dessert
What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed awake?
I’m a night owl, so staying up until dawn is not a big deal. I try not to do it very often because it throws off my sleep schedule, but on the weekends I’m usually up until 2 or 3am. The longest amount of time I’ve been awake without sleep is 36 hours.
After all the stops and starts…
The Minty Fresh Blanket and I are back together.
I don’t trust myself to restart this in the middle of the pattern, so I frogged back to the border. This blanket will not defeat me!
Neither will the Green Eggs and Ham Socks:
They look finished, don’t they?
They’re not. I ran out of yarn on these socks and my attempt to salvage them failed. I will be taking the toes off these socks and using them to knit the heel of the second sock. Then, I’m going to do the toes in a different yarn. This won’t happen anytime soon. I can’t face anymore frogging right now.
Earlier tonight I caught Kishka sleeping like this:
How on earth is that comfortable?
Driving to work this morning I had to pull over and take some pictures. The morning was too beautiful to not capture on ‘film’. (Since the camera is digital, there’s no film. But it just doesn’t sound the same to say I captured it on memory card, does it?)
Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods:
Cheyenne Mountain:
The foothills of the Rocky Mountains:
There’s snow in them thar hills!
Pikes Peak came out from behind the clouds long enough for me to take my Saturday Sky picture:
Friday’s sunrise was pretty spectacular, too:
At First Blush is coming along:
I started a scarf, dubbed the Rainbow Camouflage Scarf (thank you to Felicia and MJ for the name):
Tonight I visited with an old friend:
The Green Eggs and Ham Socks!
Parker helped me with the photo shoot and he kept trying to bat the camera:
Sky, dogs, feasting, knitting, what more does a girl need?
Doesn’t it look like fall?
There’s been progress on blankets:
At First Blush…
Deep Blue Something…
Log Cabin #2…
Taking the photo of the Log Cabin blanket was actually a bit exciting. I was balancing on the edge of the bed. Sam kept shifting position, so the bed was moving. I was trying to think of a good cover story to tell the doctor if I fell off the bed and broke something. Somehow I think “I was photographing a blanket on my bed for my blog” would raise a few eyebrows.
Speaking of my bed, Samantha has taken over:
I hope she’s comfy, because she won’t be staying there. 🙂
Max was looking especially photogenic this evening:
And I caught a moment of sisterly love:
During my travels in knitblogland recently I’ve noticed several knitters asking readers where to find the perfect knitting bag. Knitting bags are so personal. Every knitter I know has their own vision of the perfect knitting bag.
I like my knitting bags cheap:
That’s one Ziploc Big Bag, two carryout bags from Chipotle and one bag from Picnic Basket Catering.
I do own more traditional knitting bags but right now, these are my favorites. They contain all my blankets!
When Lion Brand announced last year that they were discontinuing Cotton-Ease there was a bit of an uproar in the knitblog community. I will admit that I mocked the people who were upset about this. I didn’t understand it. What’s the big deal about a cotton/acrylic yarn?
Then, I knit with it.
There are no words to describe my love for this yarn. It’s soft, machine washable/dryable, affordable and a joy to knit with. It is the perfect yarn for my Warm The World blankets. I’ve been cursing Lion Brand for discontinuing it.
I’m cursing no more. Lion Brand is bring it back “in a few months” in “a beautiful new color range”.
I see more Log Cabins in my future.
It’s finally Friday, so time to feast.
Appetizer
Measured in minutes or hours, how much exercise have you had in the last week?
Oh, lord. I am busted. 10 minutes.
Soup
If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?
I’ve never really thought about that. When I decided to blog, the name “Runs With Needles” just kind of popped into my head. Once I Googled and verified that no one else used that name, that’s who I became.
Salad
Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.
Little House On The Prairie. I still watch it almost every day.
Main Course
If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?
I’m a history geek, so would probably buy a history related DVD: Ken Burns’ classic, Civil War Journal, and The Revolution are all favorites.
Dessert
Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or lighter/pastel hues?
I like dark colors (hunter green, burgundy, navy blue, deep purple), but am also a fan of bright colors.
Knitting Jezebel
Fall is in the air.
The past two mornings I have woken up to find a furry creature pressed against me:
Kishka only sleeps with me in cool/cold weather. I love waking up in the morning to a dog on the bed.
Note that I said a dog. Waking up with three dogs on the bed is not nearly as much fun.
The cool weather has brought with it a case of Blanketas Startitis:
This is the Deep Blue Something Blanket.
And yes, this makes four blankets on my needles.
I picked up a blanket pattern booklet today, so my casting on may not be finished.
In geeky news, I won a movie ticket on Blingo a few minutes ago. Yay!
We’re on a break.
The Minty Fresh Blanket and I are on a break. It’s nothing to worry about. We’re still in love. We just need some time apart.
To fill the gap in my heart, I have begun a torrid affair with something new:
I’d like to introduce you to the At First Blush Blanket. The counting on Minty Fresh was making me nutty, so I decided a simple feather and fan pattern was just what I needed.
I’ve been cruising the Internet for blanket patterns lately and have a huge pet peeve.
Why do folks use tiny pictures of the finished blanket or only a tiny snippet of the entire blanket on their pattern page? In order to use a pattern, I want to see what the entire blanket looks like and I want to see what the stitch pattern looks like. A horrible picture is not going to do it for me.
Saturday. Just Saturday.
It’s been an interesting day.
Today started early, before sunrise, when my allergies kicked in and I started sneezing and couldn’t stop. I dragged my carcass out of bed, bitching and whining the whole time (I am not a morning person, especially on the weekend).
The only good thing about being up this early is my picture for Saturday Sky:
I made a bit of progress on the Minty Fresh Blanket today:
Sadly, I will be frogging this blanket again tomorrow. Earlier today I had my count off and that caused the pattern to be off. I frogged back about six rows, put in a lifeline and continued knitting. You can see the lifeline in this picture.
I thought that was enough, but it’s obvious that it’s not. I’m going to frog back a bit more (ten, maybe fifteen rows) and hopefully that will be far enough.
Also in the above picture you can see my new stitch markers. These were made for me by Mr. Blogless MJ. I couldn’t get a good photograph of them and that’s a shame: they are very cool looking!
Speaking of MJ, do you like this shawl and/or this yarn?
MJ is giving it away. Really. If you’re interested, stop by and let her know.
Still no knitting.
It’s time to feast!
Appetizer
What was the very last song you listened to?
If You’re Going Through Hell by Rodney Atkins. I love this song and some days it’s exactly what I need to hear.
Soup
What is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?
I don’t tend to be too vocal about this kind of stuff, but I have never purchased anything at Starbucks. I don’t think I’ve even been inside one of their stores. I give my business to the local coffee chain.
Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?
I assume this would mean having my picture taken and that would be a 3.
Main Course
Besides a bookmark, what is something you’ve used to keep your place in a book?
Postcards and photographs.
Dessert
Name a food that you like that most people don’t.
This is tough. I am a very picky eater and like pretty basic stuff. I do dip my potato chips in mustard, but I don’t think that’s very odd.
Speaking of food, I just took some banana bread out of the oven:
It smells sooooo good. I may have to have a piece before I go to bed.
No knitting, but there’s pictures
Thank you for all the compliments on the Minty Fresh Blanket. I am so glad I got past the false starts and seem to be on track.
Melanie inquired about the source of the pattern. This pattern is in Quick Knitted Afghans.  I love this book. Out of all the blanket pattern books that I own (and there are many!), this is my favorite.
There was another gorgeous sunset tonight:
I saw a license plate today that was both confusing and amusing:
Mmmbop? Seriously? And most importantly….why?
I realize that I am a bit biased, but I’m quite certain that I own one of the cutest dogs alive:
Runs With Needles 