The sock that I carry in my purse goes to the mechanic to have an oil change. Actually, the Honda had an oil change and the sock just sat back and watched. At least there was a nice breeze so it was fine to sit outside and knit.Went to Half-Price Bookstores the other day and picked up some treasures. On top of the good prices they were also having a 20% off everything sale. Score! This little cookbook ended up being under $2.50.

Also found a couple of knitting books.

Everyone should have a Lily Chin book.Lookie what came from Patternworks today! My Mini Mochi yarn and a fun free wristlet pattern. I love the color-Intense-I think it will match my crazy socks. I am all finished knitting triangles and seaming them together into diamonds!! Now onto knitting the sleeves. I was going to use my size 3-16" needle but I can't find it anywhere. Now,I keep all my needles in the same place and didn't pull them out to use on anything. I hate when that happens. So I just ordered another pair from KnitPicks and they should be here in a few days. I suppose I could use the 40'' circular I have but the cord is so long and such a pain. I think that I shall cast on for my wristlets....*whistling and looking the other way*.

Here are lots of pictures. These are fancy little chocolate cream cookies that I bought down at the Indian grocery down the street. I like to buy the little treats to try. These are very good (and vegan!); not too sweet but with a nice amount of chocolate cream in between. And you just can't go wrong with anything chocolate! These are pictures from down at the park.The creek getting a little lower since we haven't had any rain for a week but still chuckling merrily away as it runs over the rocks.
At this park there is a historical village with houses and barns and they have programs rather like a living history. Last week was the civil war reenactment there. One of the largest in the area. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to go but saw some of it on a PBS program about Ohio from last year. We were sitting at the park a few days before it happened and they had schools come so the children could experience it. Unfortunately we didn't know they were going to shoot off the cannons! My needles almost flew out the car window and I jumped about a foot. Geesh!


New yarn acquistions. I went to the lys the other day, just to browse,you understand. I mustv'e blacked out somehow because these came with me. When I walked in, the two employees said "Didn't you just buy some sock yarn the other week?" Well, first of all, it was last month and secondly...I already knitted those socks. And I don't need to 'splain myself to you. No,no, no. I really didn't say that last bit but chuckled to myself as I browsed the yarn. I think they should be talking me INTO buying more yarn, not remembering what I bought the last time....teehee.

The yarn on the left is DiVe and is destined to become a cowl/neck warmer. I used some of this to make one last winter and really like it. Plus, it was on sale. Score!

The yarn below is a lovely baby alpaca lace weight that either will be a small wrap/shawl or a very extravagent pair of socks. I bet they will be sooooooo soft. And I "loves" the color. So rich.

And the obligatory sock yarn. I like the muted colors. It's got some bamboo which makes for very comfortable, soft socks.

Here is lunch from yesterday. A lovely, crusty ciabatta grilled with soy margarine and soy Parmesan until toasty.With radishes, avocado,spinach, and a soy mayo/dijon mustard mix. Very tasty. I really enjoyed it. With a fresh mango on the side. Delish!

Here's a shot of the pretty flowers that sis brought the other day. Just a drop in because I've been remiss about blogging.

On the knitting front....I have finished all the triangles for my celtic poncho and have 2 side ones to do before the sewing together and assembling of the diamonds and then the sleeves. More tomorrow.

Here's what I made with some of my new tasty herbs. It's a lovely herb foccaccia with roasted tomatoes and onions. Why look! A piece is missing. Hmmm. Wonder where it went? Very tasty.Now for dessert. Some mini vegan coconut "cream"pie tarts. My copy of Vegetarian Times came and one of the articles was by a blogger www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com that I read all the time. And I have her cookbook which is great. So I went ahead and made a few of the recipes and they were delicious! And the tarts are wonderful. Just the correct ratio of pie to crust. Yum.

These are some shots from Jungle Jim's where we went on Mother's Day. They have a great produce department and got alot of wonderful deals.

The store is full of all kinds of wacky items and lots of jungle animals with sounds,etc. You can wander around there for hours and still not see everything. There are all kinds of different sections from India to England and everywhere in between with items from each country. And ever so many teas! Here is one of the things that I've been working on now. It's the Bluebell socks from "101 Designer One-Skein Wonders" and the yarn is Tofutsies. I like the yarn but it's a little splitty so will use a needle with a sharper point next time. I have been working on it mostly when we go to the park so it's taking a little while to finish.

Although...ta dah! Here is the first one finished.

I've been working feverishly on the Celtic poncho. Yes, the very one UFO and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm off to work on it now while I'm on a roll.

This is what I finished knitting this week. They're for mom and she loves them. The yarn is Berrocco Comfort Socks, which I don't really care for because it's just so soft. I knit the ribbing on a smaller size needle and it seems to have done the trick.

Here are my new herbs. The flowered ones are chives and the flowers are edible. I think a nice salad will be in store for those. Then I bought Candy mint,which has a subtle peppermint smell. Lemon Balm and more basil round them out. They smell soooo good.

For dinner tonight I had ravioli (tofu garden herb) with a butter(soy) sage sauce. Absolutely fabulous! And the pineapple sage is so tasty.
Went to Trader Joe's and here are the flowers they had outside. So pretty. Bought some baby bok choy and some good looking brussel sprouts and can't wait to make them. I love bok choy. Nice and crunchy.

Here is what I made for dinner last night. Spinach tomato pasta bake. Even better the next day. Which is often the way with casseroles.I have been knitting on the never-ending UFO of the Celtic poncho. The end is getting close! I'm going to finish it this month or know why not!

. Loooooooooooong day. But very nice. We had a break in the days of rain so it was time to run out and try and get the lawn mower through all the very thick, wet grass. And then weed whacking which always is a pain. But most things look nice except the ditch where there is standing water. Some of it is from the rain but the majority of it was from all the rushing water from the water main break 2 doors up from here. What a mess! Nasty, muddy dirt and water everywhere.

Here is what I've been doing this week. I am no good at growing plants and things but really love fresh herbs. But don't want to pay the prices! So I decided to go and buy some and try my luck. Aren't they nice?

The one on the right is a mix of 5 different herbs that was already mixed (sounds good and easy to me). They are : sage, thyme, basil, chives, and rosemary (which I really don't care for at all but I'll try it fresh, maybe it's better). The pot on the left (which I planted myself, thank you very much) is dill and this fabulous smelling and tasting spicy globe basil. I can barely restrain from eating the whole plant it's so good.

The pot in the back I just planted today. It's oregano and some wonderful pineapple sage. Oh it smells so tasty. And is tasty as well. I have been putting herbs on just about everything. Just so marvelous. I can't wait for the basil to get some more on it so I can make some pasta.
Went to Traders World today which is a gigantic flea market. Found a very nice purse that looks like a Vera Bradley but not. Nice and roomy in a charming black/white print. And a new non-stick skillet (not Teflon which is very bad for the birds if it overheats) and .... the best treasure of all: a knitting book. "The Art of Fair Isle Knitting" by Ann Feitelson. And it was only $4.00. Woot.
I'm very tired and my little arms are sore from swinging the weed whacker around. So until next time. Have a great, knitty weekend.

Been quite a few couple of days. Spent yesterday mowing the lawn and repairing parts of the driveway. Got the filler that you dump out into the hole and then "tamp" it down. Boy, were my arms tired after that! Quite a workout though. It was so windy out that mowing the lawn was interesting. Nothing like having grass and dirt blowing about and in your mouth. Fun.

Did finish my socks from the flat. I enjoyed working with it. Although the crimp made it hard to knit the first row after the cast on. Rather tight. I'm sure once I wear them they will straighten out just fine.

Here is my new spring mug. Actually I've had it for a few weeks but it's still new.

Nice and cheery isn't it?

Inside shot!

Also finished a pair of socks that I started some time ago. Just used the plain sock pattern from the Yarn Harlot 'cause I was knitting them when I couldn't sleep so needed something plain that didn't require any thinking. The yarn is Sockotta...a cotton/wool/nylon blend in blue/pink/yellow that reminds me of cotton candy. I wasn't sure that I would like the yarn since it seemed to knit up rather loosely but as it went on I decided I did. And they seem very comfortable but won't really be able to tell since it's in the 80*s here and going to be warm for several days. No socks here! As a matter of fact I am wearing shorts and sandals...woohoo. Always such a strange feeling when you switch from one season to another (clothes-wise) but it does feel good to stop layering. I get tired of the same thing...sweater, boots, coat, after awhile and then when I'm getting out the next season's clothes it's amazing how many things I have forgotten. It's like running into an old friend you haven't seen in an age! I was saying, "oh, I love this shirt...shoes...." Ah...simple pleasures.

"Artsy" shot! This is down at the park and this "dandy-lion" is growing out of the base of a tree. Looks like it's trying to lean away from the sock.

A yuck,rainy day today. Just working on my second sock and enjoying being inside the house. Much better than being in the soggy outdoors. I got to be outside yesterday and Friday, which were both absolutely fabulous days. Nice and sunny and warm. Went to the park Friday for lunch and just sat and ate and looked over the waterfall. A nice time.

Sneak peek of my latest project. Cool.

Loves the yarn.

And the pattern is just fun!

Ooohh ooohh...lookie what I bought for myself today. It has some of the coolest socks ever. I can't wait to get the beaded ones done so I can pick one of these. I think the hardest thing will be deciding which pattern to use.

Happy Resurrection day to all. May you have a blessed day in Jesus' name!!

This is part of the sweater that I am knitting. It's called Ragna and it's a lovely cabled sweater. It's from Elsebeth Lavold's "Viking Patterns for Knitters" and it's going to be really cool. These are the flaps that are at the bottom of it. It's a fairly easy pattern once you get working on it so I'm really enjoying it.

The yarn is just Red Heart Fleck,cheap but shows the cables quite well. So far I'm pretty pleased and hopefully it will go fast.

Here's my dinner. Marinated mushroom and spinach salad with avocado,corn and carrots with a few other things. Very tasty.Rainy night tonight. The grass is just growing and growing. I need to mow tomorrow. Oh fun!

Here is the first finished beaded sock. I am pretty happy with it. Except the ribbing was a little loose. I used a size 4 needle (which was the recommended size) and everything else fit fine but I wasn't happy with it. It's knit from the top down and flat until the heel so I figured that I would just unseam it and pull out the ribbing and re-knit it on a smaller needle. I wasn't really worried about the ribbing being upside down because, well, they're mine and who's going to look under my pants leg. So I did (and what a pain THAT was) and it's all done but I won't do that again. Much easier to live with it being a little on the big side!

Ahh! Nice spring trees. Better enjoy the picture. Going to be in the 20*s tonight so hopefully not many of the flowers will freeze. :( This is my new speaker for my "ipod". I got it on clearance at Wally's and it's very nice. It has a little pull out shelf for it to sit on and I don't have to worry about knocking it to the floor! And it has it's own case ( how fancy).
New yarn! Yes, yes, I bought sock yarn. I can fill up my stash and don't have to break the bank for a project. I bought yarn but I really want to buy the sock book "The Eclectic Sole". Has some of the coolest patterns.



This is the other new yarn. I went to Lambikins...www.lambikins.com. It was hard to choose but I feel good about my decision.

Then went to Hobby Lobby and found these. They are a sport-weight and will make some cuted socks. The orange didn't really come up true color 'cause it's SO bright that people will see my feet coming waaaaayy before me.

Time for a hot cuppa and some jimjams...cold and rainy/snowy so the perfect night to huddle up and knit.

Here is another shot of the beaded sock. I have just turned the heel and now it's on dpn's and joined in the round. Pretty easy pattern and very sparkly and ''bead-y".

This will likely be a short post as we are under a tornado watch...yuck. The rain hasn't really started yet but it's on the way. And it's lightning but not quite over here yet so I figure I have a few minutes.

Here is one of my new knitting projects. It's....wait for it...beaded socks! Yah, what a surprise. The pattern is from "Knit with Beads: Beautiful Gifts" by Scarlet Taylor. So far very easy. The yarn is Red Heart Designer Sport, colors by candi jensen in colorway berry. A nice sport-weight and I really like the color. It's knit flat until the heel then joined and finished in the round.

My new Vegetarian Times came today and lots of good recipes that I'm looking forward to making. Especially salads. Mmmmm.

Okay, gotta go. See ya soon.

We went on a small road trip yesterday. It was a lovely warm day and just decided it had been awhile since we'd done that. So we drove up to Waynesville and went to Der Dutchman restaurant for lunch. Very good and filling. Then we drove up to Springboro to www.woolybully.com and got to fondle some yarn. I forgot to take some pictures there but they had some fabulous yarns. Got a skein of lace weight Misti Alpaca for a shawl for sis.

This is the candy store we always stop at when in Lebanon, Ohio. Sis really likes their handmade honeycomb chocolates so we stop and get a small bag of treats. The car always smells so good afterwards.

Makes you hungry, doesn't it?

Here is a shot of some of the candy that sis got at the store. It smells sooo good in there. And everykind of handmade chocolate you can think of to eat. This is a pecan white chocolate bark. And the other's are caramel bars. MMMMMmmmm.

Not a great shot of the horses in the field but we were going by at about 40 miles an hour. You can at least see the blobs that are the horses!

This is the front of Der Dutchman, where we ate lunch. Very good salad bar and fabulous hot bread! And the best peanut butter spread you have ever tasted!!


I don't know why I didn't get a shot of the buffet. Duh moment I suppose. We were looking out over the little stream and watching the ducks and geese. It's a nice spot to enjoy a delicious lunch.

This is sis's lunch. Lovely,no? Lots of meat though...you go carnivore!!

Well, I just finished the Razor shell scarf...woot for me!! Happy dancing all around. Now I'm off to block it and work on my new sweater. I am knitting from Elsebeth Lavold's "Viking Patterns for Knitters" and the pattern is called Ragna. Very cool and cable-y and I'm knitting it with a burgandy tweed yarn which I think will show off the cables admirably. Once I finally get going on the pattern I'm sure it will knit up pretty fast. We shall see.

Ahhhh. Feeling much better now. Still have the nasty cough but so much better. That had to be one of the nastiest viruses that I've ever had the misfortune to have. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

But the knitting has finally commenced again and is moving right along. I just finished another chullo hat that was a comission and am glad to have it finished. I had to adjust a pattern so much that I might as well have written a new one. But I think it looks good so all's well that ends well.

Here's one of the UFO's that I'm trying to finish. It's the razor shell scarf with Kid Merino. It's almost completely finished and then I only have 1 (count it.1) ufo left. Which is the Celtic poncho and I have been working on that as well.

Had some beautiful weather yesterday and today..in the 70*s and sunny. Now it's raining and maybe some thunderstorms tonight but that's alright. Better that than snow!

The grass is greening up and the bushes have that slight greenish haze that starts when the leaves just start popping. I think that's my favorite sign of spring besides the forsythia blooming.

Sickness has been reigning here at I be knitting. Be back hopefully soon. must crawl back to the couch.......................

This is what it has felt like this week here!

Been awhile since I have posted. Just haven't really been online much lately. But have gotten quite a bit of knitting done though. It's been SO cold these past few days that who has wanted to do anything but sit wrapped up in a blanket with a hot tea and a dvd. And, and of course, knitting. Did manage to get to the library and get some new dvd's to watch while I cast on my new project. I am knitting a sweater in sport-weight and will post the pattern name and a picture of the bee-u-ti-ful purple yarn. And my next new thing to learn is beaded knitting so I found a pattern for beaded socks that I am going to cast on.