Kentucky

Wow! What a fun trip:)

My darling SiL Sarah graduated with multiple honors: Cardinal Scholar, Kentucky Scholar, Governor's Scholar, and her gown was so colorful with all of the club/organization cords she had. I took her to Magpie Yarns, but although it was a beautiful store, it really wasn't what I imagined. pretty much it was the run of the mill yarns every LYS has, minus any spinning supplies. I was tempted by the Brittany needles, but the only interesting yarn was the Claudia Handpaint. Everything else I can get for the same price at Unwind, or on the Net. I ended up getting her some baby cashmere in a fab hunter green and some dpns to make her first hat.

Amy, the older SiL, loved her drawstring pouch and BSA alpaca&silk. In fact, she used the bag as a purse the entire time we were there!!!! :) I felt so good that she liked it, and I plan on making more goodies for my new sisters in the future.

On Friday Phillip and I taught Swing/Lindy hop at Sarah's project graduation. It was pretty fun, and I got to see Sarah with her high school buddies. She was so proud to show off her big brother, and I was so proud of her and her friends.
We didn't get to go caving on Saturday. We had to make it to church at 5:30 and we could not have been able to wash the cave-funk off of us in time, so we took Sarah to the stores and to see Pirates of the Caribbean: The End of the World. Not too bad, better than Dead Man's Chest, but not as good as the original. Sarah wore the Pirate-themed Threadless shirt I gave her. We went to church, and then took our cousins M and O to college park to play on the slack line. A good tie was had by all, and M learned a valuable lesson: if you ask cousin Phillip to spin you on the tire swing endlessly, he will do it. She learned a lesson "Some adults will do what is good for you, and some adults will do just as you ask them too. Make sure you know what you are asking them to do" Thankfully, she did not barf in my car on the drive back to JoJo's (the grandmother). And M promises she won't ever spin around that much again. (My hubby is a jerk, I know. He pulls the same 'life lesson' crap with me, too.)

Sunday we took his parents MaryAnn and Perry, along with Sarah to the Red River Gorge for some climbing. We tackled a 5.7 bolted climb, and stayed there the whole day. I wish we could have gone out there for longer. I reached my second wind after we left for the day. I lovelove love climbing! I would go every weekend! Perhaps one day....

In crafty news, in case you made it this far:
I finished my first sock!!!!! The first of the Desert Sunrise socks happily awaits it's mate. I learned a lot from this first sock, and I have a feeling the second sock will be far better than the original, but WHO CARES!!!?!?! I finished a sock! Yay for 10 hr car drives where my darling husband drives the whole time, and I get to knitknitknit until I make myself car sick going through Jellico Mt.

Pictures to come after my camera battery charges enough to let me download my photos.

Tata for now, I must unpack and do laundry. Happy crafting!!

I have been tagged! Here it goes:

The rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. I was hit in the shoulder by a javelin in high school. I was told that I would have died on the spot if I wasn't so strong in my shoulder muscles from swimming.

2. If I bite into something in my food, I immediately get sick. No if, ands or buts! Instantanous barfing.

3. I cried at the movie Casper when he became a real boy for an instant. In front of the swim team 9-12 yr old girl I took to see the movie. Oh, and wanted to smooch Casper, what a hottie!!

4. I used to be afraid of heights, but Phillip has broken me of that. Now I crave going up high. On mountains. Not in airplanes that people want me to jump out of. That is for CrazyPeople.

5. I was an Archaeology student in my old life. Loved it, should have stayed in it, but I think I was meant to be a nurse. Or a nurse who has a super-archaeologist alter-ego. I miss my poor Moche sometimes. I bust out the old Fagan for some good reads....

6. I used to make jewelry, and once had two offers from different shops to sell my work. I never took them up on it.

7. I am addicted to lip balm and have about 5 different ones in my handbag at all times. And what by chance do I actually use on my lips? JASON Organics Shea Nut Butter. Figures.

Wow, easier than I thought. everyone I know has currently been tagged, so I tag all of you!! Go to it girlies, and let me know when you post!!

My second F.O. (sewing, that is)

My SiL Amy is unable to do the yarn crawl with us on Friday, so I made her a consolation prize:









A drawstring pouch containing two skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Alpaca and Silk, and an easy shawl pattern from my LYS printed on a nice notecard by the shop. I love how easy the pouch was, and I really want to make myself one with handles for a cute handbag! In fact, I am planning it!

Ok, we have to get up super-duper early in the morning, and my husband can't sleep if I am not in bed. Ahem.

Good night, friends.

Lookie what I did!!

Made out of this:

5.95$ roving dyed by Sarah at Unwind, and a basic, not really pretty spindle. Oh, God..so addicting! I want another, prettier one!! And another, and another, and MORE ROVING!!!

Oh, man. I'm in deep!

To dye, or not to dye.

So, hokay. Here we go. I want to dye yarn. I have a spare crockpot left over from the wedding, and I think I would enjoy dying. Is an end-all, be-all tutorial of dying? A book or magazine I should read? A particular post of a kind soul I can be directed to?
Thanks!
*cross-posted 'round the intarwebs*

Lovely, lovely day...

...spent knitting on the patio scaring the birds, enjoying the slightly shade in the roof overhang, listening to the new Lime&Violet, drinking coffee with heavy cream and vanilla extract, rejoicing when the love of my life shows up and puts out the slackline, kicking the slackline's butt, doing pull-ups in preparation for rock-climbing at the Red River Gorge, finding junky clothes for caving, eating yummy pasta and meat sauce, new sale pants from anthro.

I'll be here next week:

Berea, Kentucky, rock outcrop at the Pinnacle

Red River Gorge, Kentucky, premier climbing area in the mid-atlantic!!

ETA:

add sitting on my patio drinking Merlot while knitting with my husband, listening to the birds chirp, feeling the cool breeze, releasing the husband to go back inside because he doesn't care for sitting outside at dusk.

Whew!

What a week. Work has been kicking my ass. I have come home every night so far and gone straight to bed. No reading, no knitting, no snuggling with the Husband. it hasn't been too horrendous, but steady through the day, no time really for a break. I have the next few days off, before I work the entire weekend, so I am taking my time for myself and the house. Knitting, sewing, perhaps a little cleaning. Tonight is Sit n' Stitch at Unwind. I am sooo there. I will be wearing my new Georgia tee and working on a few projects. I am thinking about looking at a few spindles and "practice roving" tonight, and seeing if they carry the yarn for the Ogee Lace Wrap
and maybe price the yarn for the yoga bag/bottle bag. the bottle bag intrigues me a tiny bit more. My precious Nalgene get no respect, and a lacy home for it could work.

I have some Fat quarters coming in from one of my new favorite etsy shops: Starlit Nest. I went ahead and purchased some Amy Butler and Freshcut by Heather Bailey. The Quilt Corner in Pensacola only had three Amy Butler fabrics, and I wanted a backup incase the Sewing Center in Ft Walton Beach didn't have very many either. I am planning on making the drawstring bag from In Stitches, and a patchwork tote loosely based on one of the pillows in the same book. I really want to make some pillows and a shower-curtain (you'll see!) from her fabrics, but I really want to touch them in person, not just drool over the internet. Hopefully the Sewing Center will have oodles of Amy Butler in stock, just waiting for me to go nuts!

I'm off...hopefully some photos next time!
-Ash-

It arrived!

Socks That Rock! in Nodding Violet and Beryl. I have no plan for these, I just had to drop them into my cart and click BUY. *sigh* I am putting off winding them into balls, hoping that will motivate me to clear off some of the UFOs lurking in my basket.

More later! I am off to clean and organize. The garbage disposal is emitting funkadasious odors and I need to consult Heloise.

-Ash-

*insert ~squee~ here*

Want some of your own? Clicky-clicky!! Just done go and buy it all out from under me. ;)
Now all I need is to buy a spindle and figure out how to turn this into yarn. ;) Sit and Stitch May 16th, here I come!

Tonight if the Greater Pensacola Orchid Society meeting. We will have a guest speaker and Phal. sale. Hoo-boy, I need to *forget* my checkbook at home. Or not, depending on how you look at it. ;) I am kinda bummed about the timing (only my luck, wouldn't you have it) since tonight is the 1st Blues on the Beach out on Pensacola Beach. All of my buddies and The Husband are going. But I simply cannot punk out on Mom tonight. She has been looking forward to Orchid club for a couple of weeks. meh...there are plenty of BotB, and Phillip can't really complain since he missed every single one last summer in favor of Ultimate Frisbee. So there! :P ;)

Recent discovery: brown free-range eggs are yum! As is Organic milk. I am anticipating brown egg and our homegrown tomato sandwiches in the very near future. I just have to keep the bird feeder fell stocked so they leave my little 'maters alone. I am really getting into the whole organic movement, I have been feeling healthier and my skin has been improving. Now to find Rosewater and Jason Organics shampoo/conditioner in town. It feels so good to be reverting back to my greeen roots.

Back to work tomorrow and Thursday, but I am off this weekend! Which will be nice, since I have to work almost all of the Saturdays of this month so I can be off for DSiL's HS graduation up in Kentucky. We are going to go CAVING!!! And perhaps a little jaunt to Wild and Woolly in Lexington, hmmm??? maybe a trip to the Red River Gorge for some climbing action? Phillip already promised to visit his old college swim coach to get heirloom seeds. Maybe I can get him to take me back to that yummy pizza/pasta place in Berea also.

Must resist spending until the trip! Good thing I have my BMFA STR arriving any day now! Yay! for Nodding Violet and Beryl! I just have to figure out what to make that isn't another yummy chevron scarf. Socks, maybe? I need to think on that. Crapmonkeys! I need to get a spindle....ah, well, I don't put in tons of soul-sucking time at the hospital for nothing!

Off to go play on the Lime & Violet MoDDD , (while slogging away on the minisweater, and doing laundry! Duh!)
-Ash-