My new favorite thing!

For the past week I have been obsessively knitting these wrist cuffs. I have endless little balls of yarn in my stash, as we all do, and what better way to use them up? They are super quick and super portable.
Now that my fingers have learned the linen stitch, I can sit in the back yard, enjoy the weather and knit mindlessly.

Now the closures. Hmmm, I don't have a stash of buttons anymore so I went on a quest. I hit up the Red Barn ( our local flea market) and wandered all through that to find buttons. Somebody must have a jar of buttons like the one my momma had - right ? Oh sure, I ran across them, 18 bucks for a Mason jar full... really? I might have considered it if they had been some really old buttons, but they were just your run of the mill buttons cut off of run of the mill shirts! Bull Ca!!

Oh well... I guess if I want a button collection like the one mom used to let me play with, I'd better start saving them myself! 

I ended up at Michaels and Hancock Fabrics and found some cool looking buttons there. Some nice guy at Michaels gave me a 50% off coupon so that was a bonus!

~Hahaha here is the start of my collect~

I still have one cuff on the needles but here are my finished Pretty Twisted cuffs. My first one I used a size 1 needle, since that what I usually use for socks, but I discovered it was a pretty tight weave.

 Cuff # 2 ( the green one) was on size 3. It turned out to be quite a bit looser, so just like Goldilocks, I found size 2 to be just right! I was going to make all three but I decided 70 something stitches was too much to fool with on a single couple pointed needle and was too lazy to find a circular in a size 2.

I still have one on the needles but last night I went back to my wimple to finish the lace repeat I was on before I forget and loose my place...must knit wimple, must knit wimple, must knit wimple...


I am already looking for something new to get into, my affair with wrist cuffs is now over- no longer my favorite thing.

I keep thinking there must be something I can get into with the sea shells I keep picking up on the beach...ideas welcome!

A done do-over!

I think one of the most heart breaking things for me to deal with here, besides watching my formerly robust father fade away, is to watch him struggle to maintain a measure of independence.

I come home from work yesterday to discover this. Scared the bejeezes out of me I can tell you!

Dad trying to cut down a tree, with a reciprocating saw. I felt like I was the parent watching over the child while he was trying to cut the branches. [ the whole experience was nerve positively nerve wracking] 

Dad was trying not to notice me hovering while I was pretending not to hover over him.  Finally I managed to convince him to let me do it, without hurting his pride. "Let me try" I say.

Tomorrow I get to help him fix the leaky toilet tank! Yay!

I had some trouble getting the rhythm of the linen stitch [video link] Not because it is hard, but because my mind didn't want to pay attention to my work until my fingers got the memory down pat. Eventually I did get it down pat after I ripped the first one out and started over. No more bumps on the right side or rather in pattern speak, the wrong side (ws), or wait was that really the right side?? Like I wasn't confused enough in the first place! 

Bumpy side aka the side that started with row one ;-)

The only way I could get through it was to stop looking at the ws' and rs' and remember the purl side needed a stitch marker! Because to me the whole thing felt backwards. 

Cuffed is one of the Pretty Twisted Cuff's posted in Knitty's First Fall issue. What a great way to use up all those great little balls of sock yarn leftovers (Dawn your girls will love these).

Starts with a cable cast on [video link] and ends with icords. Clever little pattern!!

I am on to the next one. 

I am thinking of trolling the thrift stores for some really cool buttons. I think we have a thrift store damn near on every corner around here...like Kenosha with bars...haha

I think Raine needs some cuffs too!

'Cuffed' sans buttons.

Big Scary Bridge !

Last week I had to drive across that big scary bridge again...aka the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

This is me on the way up...

This is me at the top...(white knuckled of course)

And starting the descent- for some reason it is not quite as scary on the way down.

I know my pictures leave a lot to be desired, it is very difficult to take a picture while keeping both hand in a death grip on the steering wheel.  But I think the this next picture courtesy of Wikipedia gives a much better view!

SEE!?!?!? I told you... BIG SCARY BRIDGE!!!

Just over 4 miles of sheer terror...for me at least. Unfortunately my doctor happens to be on the other side of that bridge from me.  Did I happen mention they close  that bridge on a regular basis due to high winds?

In the mean time...

I am still plugging away at my wimple, I am nearing the end of the second repeat...geez louise!

And I decided to try something a little more, erm mindless...riiiiight

  I am trying my hand at a wrist band...specifically one of these Pretty Twisted Cuff's.

'cept, this will be my first attempt at linen stitch, and you know how I hate to pay attention. So while I'm thinking it looks pretty good on the 'wrong side',,,the 'right side' looks like this!

Not supposed to have bumps on this side...grrrrr!!

Do over!

Sh...Happens

It's kinda funny how things happen. I have really been making some headway on my wimple- determined to finish it right this time round.
I should just really just expect a comedy of errors when it comes to my knitting.
Yet again a small tragedy has befallen my wimple.

Picture this - knitting laying on the bed- I throw the covers back- grab my MacBook - ready for some quality FB time (Bejeweled Blitz doncha know ) and lean back- craaaack- loud expletive ( insert imagination here) and then, without a second glance, I throw it on the floor!
Yea...That was adult like behavior!

Today I remembered my little tantrum and picked my knitting up off the floor only to discover about 4 inches worth of stitches hanging in the breeze. Ouch! Weell that's what you get for acting like a spoiled brat!
That was a lot of yarn overs to put back on the needles! But still, I must have done it right since all of my purls ended up in the right places.

I'm really glad that I had bought an extra set of Harmony's!

I think I am nearly back to where I started over from. And looking pretty good too if I do say so myself. 

My dad says " What are you knitting now??" Hmmm how do I explain to him what a wimple is? 

"Well...it's a kind of hood" I say,

"  A hood?? for what?? "

"Um..to wear in cooler weather?"

Yup- he still looks at me like I'm from Planet X.

Eat your heart out!!! Yes.. I have a Tangerine tree in my back yard...with...wait for it... 22 tangerines!!

Yup ...Dad counted them.

Then we have this pathetic little orange tree that we are going to try save. It seems to have only one good live branch, it even has some viable oranges on it.  Kinda looks a little like it was struck by lightening, the poor thing.

Got my toes in the water...

And my ass in the sand.         Thank you Jessie for making that song stuck in my head!

Somebody told me the other day that I look like a Floridian. What exactly does that mean?? What? I'm fat? Ugly? Dress funny? Frizzy Haired (hehe)... Okay, I am guessing they are referring to that perpetual mango-ey color my skin has now become from my frequent "day off at the beach" sojourn. 

Some people call it red but I like to call it mango...my son's word, I used to call it apricoty. I'm trying to be careful with my skin so I don't end up wearing shoe leather on my face. That would be a serious tragedy!

My friend Rick, back home thinks I spend all of my time there, All of his phone messages start with " are you at the beach?".  But the reality is maay-be once a week is about all I go.  

The other day there was a guy who was flying a kite at the beach. Now I have seen people fly kites but never quiet like this. This kite had two strings and two handles.


Kite Dude was would let the kite fly high in the sky then swoop, low over the water and just make it hang there.

Pretty dern cool to watch while I walked in the surf and tried to take pictures.

It was kind of funny to see how the "real" birds reacted to the kite bird. They didn't like this large "bird" so much.

This is Kite Dude, playing with his bird and getting in the way of my sailboat shot.











More Kite Dude getting in the way...

Since I couldn't keep Kite Dude out of my picture  I finally decided to crop him out! 

However- after taking another look, I thought to post this original just because I think it looks kinda cool.

Here is the sun hat I keep thinking I am going to work on while I sit on the beach...Oh yah, like that was really going to happen! I keep bringing it and thinking about it. Sometimes I may even crochet a couple of stitches.

But then I realized I had this birds nest and said Eff it and put it away.

Wimpy Wimple

Recent conversation with my dad.


Dad- " I think this cottage cheese might have had it"


Me- "Well don't eat it if it is not good. "


Dad- " Oh I'll eat it, it is not bad" 


Me  silently -Okaay


Dad- "I bought it at Walmart"


"but it is a Kraft product and I'm not going to buy it again"


Me-" Why is that, you don't like Kraft products?"


Dad- "Well it's all they seem to carry at Walmart"


Me- "Whats wrong with Kraft"


Dad- "It's just not the same as what you get from the dairy."


and I'm thinking to myself- you haven't had anything from a dairy in probably more than 40 years, why is that an issue now??.

I have many such moments as these.

__________________________________________________

This is the progress I have made on my Wimpy Wimple so far.

 It is pretty slow going because of that whole counting thing, you all know how I LOVE that! But I have managed to get through the repeat and have started the second. Lace is definitely not my forté but I am determined to overcome my handicap. The weight of the yarn is just about right for knitting in the tropics, lace weight, not heavy enough to to be uncomfortable (under the fan of course) while I work. I am determined also to finally finish this project, it has been sitting on the shelf long enough! 

Besides- all of my other current projects retain waaay too much heat, and I'm kinda waiting for it to be a little less tropical before I start working on them again.

May-be I'll visit the pool first today (I haven't been there yet), then knit later. Yeah..that's it.

I have an LYS!

Or rather- I found two! Eye Of The Needle and Picasso's Moon Yarn Shop! I think there are some more in the area but these are the two that I have been to.  Eye of the Needle had more embroidery floss and needlepoint stuff than anything, but still I managed to find some cotton yarn there, which was what I was looking for. Picasso's Moon is definitely more my style of hang out, very artsy and very eclectic. I spoke for quiet a while with the owner Debra who spins art yarns did tell me she would teach me how to spin. I am pretty excited about that prospect but haven't yet taken her up on it. Maybe now that "cooler" weather is arriving I will make the effort.
There are a couple of more places in the area that I haven't discovered yet, but I'll get around to it.

I made this hat when I first came here. Some sort of sunhat is essential in this state. In fact I see a lot of people that walk around with umbrellas even when it is not raining. I wonder why we ever gave up the parasol. (ignore the horrible grainy picture)

Mostly I just use this hat to wipe the sweat salt water from my face when I'm at the beach since I have a straw hat with a brim to shade me.

This yarn was my Picasso's Moon purchase. My Sun Hat is based on Drops 99-23 which I tried to follow, no really I did, however I ended up ripping it out several times and making modifications to make it smaller. My hat sooo did not turn out like theirs!

Every time I followed their pattern with yet another smaller hook I looked like Dumb Donald from the Cosby Kids.

 Part of the problem is, I'm sure the yarn, I used Cascade Yarns Sierra which is a soft worsted weight cotton. They use their own Garnstudio DROPS Paris, which I have no clue how it feels but it seems to me it might be a firmer- tighter spun yarn. I think I'd like to try it with their yarn to see if I can make a better hat.

Now THAT hat is way cuter!!

Brodie's dirty little secret.

So -Getting ready for work the other day, I am standing in my blue work shirt half dressed (please don't visualize that part) and decided I should probably lotion my legs before putting my pants on. I grab the lotion and I go to pump it from the bottle, completely miss my hand and spews all over what was a clean work shirt!!  Just Flippin' Great! Here I am, pushing the envelope for time already and I have to change into another blue work shirt!! And first...I have to find one not in the laundry!!

My dog has a fetish for lotion, he tries to lick the lotion from my skin *shudders* or he licks it from the floor if I drop some *shudders again*. It is very unfortunate but I can't seem to break him from the habit of licking lotion. Yuk I know but there it is. Never fails, just when I think I have him broken from the habit, I come home to find current lotion bottle on the floor with Brodie's little teeth marks in it. Double yuk! Maybe it's a way of marking his territory- he only does it once per bottle.

This makes it a wee bit difficult to pump lotion, it tends to go it's own direction. Memories...he is making memories for me. Yeah... that's it.

Anyway, how could I stay mad at a face like that!

I haven't been completely idle since I have been in the tropics. I had this pedi sock on the needles when I left Chicago. Easy ribbed pattern and I stopped just short of my toes ( I think this is a Lorna's Laces yarn, but lost that particular label long before the move) This one is also cousin to the yoga socks I made but probably never blogged about. I finally decided it was cool enough to knit the other night and finished it the other night.

Of course when I went to cast on the second sock I discovered the other ball of yarn disappeared into a black hole. So for now, I guess I'll have to hop around on one foot.

Said cousin yoga sock...Sarah's foot. Same mystery yarn. Better picture. Looking like she's hopping on one foot.

Comments always welcome :-)

Time is not linear

Another thing I have learned since I moved to Florida is that time is not linear. Oh I know what you're thinking- she has lost it. Well frankly sometimes I think so too.

Things are just plain different here. Different weather, different scenery, different people, different pace. Part of it is, I'm sure is due to the fact that there are soooo many retirees living down here. Or at least there are part of the time. Top that with this area seems to be a vacation hotspot for people from all over the globe, ( Lake County, IL?...not so much a vaca hot spot).

Unconditional Surrender

Then there is the weather. Seriously, I really thought I was going to expire from the heat and humidity.  Dear ol' Dad seems to like the heat and humidity (really?) 85 is comfortable for him. Sometimes we compromise at 82 but 79 is down right cold!!  Keep in mind that temp is inside the house...high 90's and up outside
No - really!!!
So I have become really good friends with my ceiling fan- yah baby! 

People here also live like they are on vacation. I mean the real world people- those of us that still have to work for a living. That is what one of the vendors at work told me, she and her boyfriend moved here 7 years ago and they live like they are on vacation. Hmmm, now there is a concept. So not like Chicago.

Surreal... that is what time is here in Florida. Sometimes, most times, I don't even notice the passage of time, unless I am at work in which case it drags ( that part hasn't changed). So friends and family- when you don't hear from me it's not that I am ignoring you, I just don't notice it has been 3 flipping' weeks since I talked to anyone.


When I first got here I had no Internet- (Dad was still on dial up) thank goodness for all those audio books on my laptop!!!  I was Facebooking from my phone for petes sake!

Ceiling fan+audio book+ icepack= the zone!


Did I mention it is too hot to knit? Just checking.

I did manage to unearth one of my UFO's that I thought would not hurt me if I worked on it. Wavy Feathers Wimple, because I am so going to need that this winter! Anyway- the trouble with packing things away, no matter how organized you think you are, something always gets misplaced, like my instructions!

No biggie- they are online, but while I was counting back the rows to figure out my place, I notice- oh horrors...a hole the size of my butt- ok maybe it wasn't that big, but there was a hole about half way down the piece. No it wasn't a fubarred stitch, it was a broken stitch. So I now have ripped out almost the whole darn wimple and started over. See hole below.

Remember what it used to look like?? This is going to be one of those projects that takes years I fear... oh wait- I believe it already has!

Why do you suppose spell check thinks fubarr is not a word- WTH!

A long road back!

We all do it...I mean drift away from our blogs at some point. Easy to do, life happens and gets in the way of our good intentions...and time just slips away.

Harder still is dragging yourself back. That's what I had to do d r a a a g myself back. It has been almost a year since I last made a keystroke on something other than good ol' Facebook  or send a text. 

I kept thinking, "oh it's been too long - nobody will be left to read my meanderings" and "I haven't done anything worth talking about" yada yada yada...

I guess that part is not really true. It took a visit from my step-brother Norman, who still managed to schedule blog posts even while he was on vacation here, to shake me from my reverie. "You really should start to blog again" he told me. He's right, we may blog, (and think) about completely different things, but the essence of why we do it is the same- everyone needs to reach out to other people. 

Well Hello- Here I am.

Some of my blogger friends already know that I have have relocated. I sweltering heat of Florida! Some of you may be saying oh lucky dawn! We'll talk about that later.

Last year my dad (who has resided here for the past 25 plus years) got scary sick. Refused to go to the hospital on the premise that he had no family here...WHAT EVER Dad! So I made the very difficult decision of relocating myself, Brodie and all of my yarn to The Sunshine State The Flip Flop State.  

Well I found out what I always knew - It is too freakin' hot here for me and Brodie! Well actually- Brodie has acclimatized - I'm still working on it.

And- while it is too hot to knit- I did get some crocheting in since  have been here. New Baby Carson need a blankey from Auntie. So in-between roasting to death I managed an Auntie Jeanne Star Blankey  Special for him. And it is big enough (no I didn't measure it) that he will be able to drag it by it's tassels when he starts walking. 

 I know - I know- you're thinking- if it's too hot to knit, how is it cooler to crochet? Well it isn't!!! I damn near perished from having that thing so close to me!!

Now that I am surrounded by water ( sure am having a hard time wrapping my head around the water is west of me now) I see a lot of this. I am about 15 minutes from the Gulf where the water temperature is like bath water.

 And I get to do some of this. Not really too much of it though because I need to wear sunblock 5000 down here. And it has been hotter than HADES! I find that some days when I try to go I get heat sick no matter how much water I drink. Usually my beach jaunts only last a little over an hour then I'm cooked.
I sure do love the water though.

But even better is the Market!! I LOVE the Flea Market!! Well I don't care so much about all the booths they have inside...it is the fruits and veggies they have down here!! Everything down here is BIGGER and some of it kinda weird and freaky. But I am trying some new stuff...not that lavender colored eggplant tho...just couldn't bring myself to eat it.

I miss everyone back home more than I can say, especially my girls! But the Internet makes it a smaller world and I no longer have to depend on the mail man to bring me news. Phew...cuz If I had to wait that long to get the scoop...

I starting doing some housekeeping here so expect some changes- and hopefully I'll find something to ramble on about. Maybe even some knitting.