Observation and Commentary

In the past few weeks, there have been some events that are disturbing me. At a construction site, two separate incidents of nooses being found have been reported. Also reported is the FBI investigating because of racial overtones.

Friday a bomb threat was called in to the company that will be at the construction site when the buildings are completed. Right now, the company is located in 10 sites around town with the majority being downtown. People were evacuated from all sites and I haven't read any media reports of any device or suspected device being located.

Each day I drive by a hospital. Several times there has been a man standing on the edge of the sidewalk with a sign about his mother's final days at the hospital. If all he reports is accurate, there were some really terrible mistakes made in her care. I'm not medically trained but I would think at least one of those mistakes could have contributed to her death.

I have said for years that there are at least 3 sides to every story. One side, the opposing side and the reality. The above demonstrations are the result of people wanting their side known. One does it in a peaceful manner - standing, holding a sign. One is sneaky and disruptive to many others, not just the one or the few that the complaint is with.

I do not know the hospital's side of the story or any actions being taken by the hospital to investigate. I would hope they are checking what is on the sign. I have respect for the man with the sign. I have sympathy for him and the pain he's going through with the loss of his mother and his feelings of why she died.

I also don't know if the nooses and bomb scare are related but I'm going to assume (dangerous word) they are. The person(s) behind this does not have, nor deserve respect. There are more effective ways to try to resolve a situation which someone feels is unjustified.

I've ranted long enough. I was once told "You are SO 60's!" Yes, I am. I do wish for peace and for people to try to understand each other and their viewpoints. I'd love to live long enough to see that happen.

First Day

My first day at work today - new employee orientation. This is the absolute first time I've ever had a formal orientation with a job. This is also about the 12th permanent job I've had in my life - plus a bunch of temp work. Things I liked: friendliness, humor injected into dry subjects, free lunch. Dislike: the -20F temperature in the room - even with over 50 people in there - I think it got colder as the day progressed. Even with windows on at least 2 sides of the room. Most of us were cold and found sun during breaks. I also walked back to the parking area - about 2-3 blocks away - to warm up that way. I seldom feel cold but this one took the cake. Training begins tomorrow at another location and I'm going to have to hunt for a quicker route. I'll be at that location until March when we move to a new campus about 15 minutes (in traffic) from my home.

On the knitting front - I finished my first McGregor's Garden sock and started the second. Toe is done and I've finished 1/3 of the pattern before Peter appears in the garden. Knitting group is tomorrow so I can head there after work and meet folks. I'll take my spinning there so can work on the spindle for a while.

I'll try for photos either later this week or early next. Meanwhile, Enjoy!

Thank you to Blarney 'n' Grits

1 Put the logo on your blog
2 Add a link to the person who awarded you
3 Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4 Add links to those blogs on yours
5 Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.


Thank you again to Claire at Blarney 'n Grits

Now for 7 other blogs... hmmmmmmmm

Ok here goes:

Knitting and Spinning with Ewe - Peggy always has something wonderful to say about everyone in the kal's we've been a part of. She's a good enabler too.

Fugue State Knits - This lady is so interesting - attorney, singer, musician, friend, mother, grandmother and on and on... I always enjoy reading her blog!

You can call me Al, formerly Love as Is... Al is a wonderful lady - as much in her blog as in person. She's a warm, funny, super person.

A Few Stitches Short - This lady has a beautiful way with words and with her knitting. She's a terrific designer too.

And back to both Claire and Dani - both of whom have blogs I love to read.

Finally - From Lorchen's Lair... I hope she will see this but Lorchen has such a busy life. She teaches children with special needs - and that takes a very special person. I have two grandchildren with special needs so I do know just how much time, patience and love is needed.

I raise my glass (of ice tea) to all of you!

Here Come de Photos

Here come the photos as promised...












Here's my new drop spindle with Glacier Lake in process. See the sparkly stuff? That's Angelina, something I've never spun before. Lots of glitter with this one.
Next is Winter Jewels, being spun from a 80/20 Merino/Silk roving from All Spun Up on Etsy.com. This stuff is a dream to spin. I've only spun about an ounce so far - out of 8 oz.












Next is the last of Blue Suede Shoes. This is a superwash Merino (machine washable) in a 2-ply. I think I have enough for a shawl with this one.
Last but not least is B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bag) from Knitty.com. This is being knit in a cotton yarn. I'm almost done with this one. The next one will have something else instead of the lace insert. It's a big shopping bag - bigger than I thought it would be.
More photos when I have more to show. I've picked up the new hire packet and had my photo taken for my ID card. Now I have lots of reading to do and papers to fill out to take on my first day - next Monday. I'm so excited about this!

One final note. My DS has a birthday tomorrow. He'll be mumble.mumble years old (I can't have a child That old) and I'm wishing him a Happy Birthday with many more happy years to come. Here's to you, kid.

Busy Life

I see I haven't posted in over a month so I'll do an update on my life. First of all, I'm going to be a grandma again! Baby is not due until February and I'm not a patient person so this is going to be hard on me. As long as there are 10 toes and 10 fingers and everything is in the right place, I'll be very happy.
Next, I'm employed! I'm going through all the pre-employment stuff right now but I've been hired and start work Aug 11. This will be great!
I've been knitting - started B.Y.O.B. (Bring your own bag) from Knitty.com Summer 2008 and I'm on the upper band and handle area. I have enough cotton yarn to make another one too but will do basket weave instead of openwork on that one.
I've also been spending time spinning. I've done about 800 yds of a 2-ply finishing my Blue Suede Shoes from Crown Mountain Farms. It needs washing and whapping and drying then I can figure out what to knit with it.
Next is a fiber club/spinning group with fiber from AllSpunUp. She created a special color-way of merino/silk for us. Photos can be posted after Aug 4 so I'll wait until then to post any photos. I love the colors and the yarn has named itself. I've spun 1/8th of the first roving - maybe 1/2 oz. Love the way it is spinning and the shine from the silk is beautiful.
The other spinning I've done is on a spindle. It's been years since I've done much spindling but I bought a cute spindle and some beautiful fiber from Butterfly Girl on Etsy and am having fun learning again how to do this. It's a new-to-me blend with merino, bamboo and sparkly stuff. Only 3.3 oz to spin but... I should be able to make something pretty with this when it's done.

So I'll do photos next week of all the projects above and update on the other stuff. In the meantime, enjoy!

Oh, almost forgot - both my sisters have birthdays in August. One is tomorrow and one is on the 10th. So here's a photo of the 3 of us and happy birthdays to both. Ignore the doll. I think that was my Christmas present.

Busy Busy Bee

I have been busy with my knitting and stitching - and some visitors, both welcome and not so welcome. There is a split in the frame of my front door and some yellowjackets moved in. Today was the second trip by the exterminator - hopefully the last. I had been out of town so discovered them when I returned. Also waiting for me was this:
This is a Luna Moth. The color is flaky as the shutters (in the background) are dark green, not blue. The moth is actually almost a lime green. I believe Luna Moths are the largest moths found in the US. Feel free to jump in and correct me if I'm wrong.

Unfortunately I don't have a macro lens so I can't show details. Moths and butterflies fascinate me. If you look at them under magnification you can see the actual scales that make up the wings.

On to other things. Caledonian Mist socks are finally done!
The last stitches were done tonight and the ends woven in. So that's one happy dance for me.

I've also been working on Magic Carpet Ride. This is so much a dream to work on. The pattern is lovely and the yarn is magnificent.

I've started something new. This was
inspired by the current issue of Spin-Off. It's the cover scarf, Morning Surf. The yarn is Dream In Color Smooshy and the color is Cool Fire. It will be gifted to DDIL when done.

On the stitching front, there is no significant progress on Queen of Roses so no photo there. I finally got the fabric for Wisteria so had to start that one: It's on 22 ct Hardanger and stitched over one. I do use magnification and don't stitch
for very long at a time - but enjoy the challenge.

Updates and recaps

Oh, let's see what I have photos of... On the left is the latest photo of Queen of Roses by The Silver Lining. It's stitched over 1 (one thread over one thread) on 28 count evenweave.

Next is the update on MacGregor's Garden. The first photo is showing the short-row toe which I now love thanks to Susan's hint in the directions. It's neat and it fits like a dream. The color on this first photo is bad but the others are much more like reality.

Next shows the rabbit ears in the cabbage patch. They are cute and fun to knit.


















Now for the profile - the heel is done and there is a twisted stitch setting off the heel from the pattern. Now I'm starting on the 4 cable patterns that are inside the cabbage patch. After that a bit of ribbing and then the first sock is done.

I can't gush enough about both the pattern (from Sunflower Designs) and the yarn from Kim at The Woolen Rabbit.


Above are two of the other cross stitch in rotation right now. On the right is Fire and Ice by Kustom Krafts in Canada. On the left is my own design, based on a photo my DD took of my younger granddaughter seeing herself in the mirror. The name is Dragon Eye because my DD named it that when I sent her a scan of the upper left part when I had started stitching it. The chart was made using Pattern Maker for Cross Stitch by Hobby Ware. I scanned and imported the photo but had to tweak it a few times to get the resolution the way I wanted it. One thing I did learn (the hard way) was to adjust the number of colors BEFORE you save the thing otherwise the default is 99 colors... It was too late to fix this as I'd already started stitching, but I will remember in the future.

The last item in rotation is not started yet - I'm still waiting for the fabric... It is another design from The Silver Lining called Wisteria. It will be done on black Hardanger fabric, 22 count. It will be a companion to Lilacs - which will also be done in black sometime in the future. I have many projects lined up and in process - and my goal is to complete at least 5 projects (both knitted and cross stitched) that are already in process by the end of the year. I should be able to finish at least 3 knitted projects (2 pairs of socks and a shawl) but I do want to finish Dragon's Eye and Fire and Ice. I also would love to finish Victoria Sampler's Heirloom Christmas. It's about 75% done and I do have the matboard for it. I'll try to get photos of it in the near future.
On the left, a delayed Friday Flower Photo - a yellow Iris from my former home in Farmington AR.

The weeds show up really well too. Oh well.

Enjoy the week and I'll update again in a week or so.