Cast Your Vote!

The British Columbia Socks are coming along swimmingly. I love this sock yarn, by the way. For some reason, the center pull ball I wound was all in knots last night. It was a massive PITA to rewind.

Without further ado, please cast your vote for my next pair of socks.

The first one is Koigu. The second is Tofutsies. Third is Bonkers. Fourth is Spunky Eclectic.

Tonight, I am making Royal Chicken Cooked in Yogurt (Madhur Jaffrey) and Cabbage & Cauliflower in a Spicy Tomato-Mint Sauce (660 Curries).

Finished!

Here is the Baby Surprise Jacket.

What I learned: Be sure to slip the first stitch when making this for cleaner selvages.

Yesterday was the first day of Summer of Socks '08, which I am participating in on Ravelry. I cast on for a pair of socks using the sock yarn I bought on vacation. By last night, I was making the heel flap. Consequently, my fingers were a bit sore. So, today, I've taken a break from actual knitting and finished up the jacket and plied the multicolored roving. The yarn is drying. I plied it with a purple-ish sewing thread.

We also made garlic scape pesto.

One Month

It's hard to believe that I've been on vacation for more than a month. It sure doesn't feel like it at all. As usual, I guess I had lofty goals set.

Recently, we made some Limoncello to add to our homemade moonshine. It uses 2 pounds of lemon zest to one quart of liquid. So, I have tons of lemons to use up. We used some of the lemon juice to grill some shrimp on the barbie along with chipotle pineapple. I just love grilled pineapple.

I've finished the Baby Surprise Jacket. I just need to sew it up and add buttons. I'm particularly proud of this because it's the first thing I've made made with my hand spun. The colors look like a sunrise to me. I rented the DVD from the library to help me out. I'd love to make another one, but I don't really have a baby to give it to. I just thought this pattern would work well with hand spun yarn and I wanted to give it a whirl.

While making the jacket, I had to stop and ply some more yarn. So, in a fit of startitis, I cast on for a cowl. Kim says that cowls are all the rage to make instead of scarves. These are great projects for gift giving.

The yarn reminds me of peacock feathers.

Here is the booty from our CSA bag this week.

Check out the wild purple cauliflower! I just love it when Dan gives us wonky veggies. I've made Cauliflower with Panch Phoran for my lunches this week. Later today, I'm going to make some Cabbage Borscht Soup with all the beets I have.

Here is the latest spinning. I love the colors of this one.

Happy Birthday Piddles

Piddles is one year old today. Here's a picture of her right about when we got her. I tried to snap a photo with her birthday hat on today, but I can't seem to get her to sit still long enough for a picture. I'll keep trying.

Piddles is such a silly puppy. We play with her using the laser pointer (her name is Dottie) quite a bit. She still hasn't figured out it's not alive. We wondered what would happen when she saw her first lightening bug. Sure enough, she ran all over the back yard chasing them and eating them until she puked. I also like to put a few ice cubes in her outside water dish. She likes to stick her nose in the bowl and blow bubbles as she bobs for the cubes.

I've been working on the Baby Surprise Jacket out of my hand spun. Fortunately, I rented the DVD with Meg Swansen from the library. Right now, it just looks like a lump to me.

I've also been spinning up some roving I bought at the community organic farmer's market in Victoria. I forget the breed of the sheep. It's a natural brownish gray. I plied it with black crochet cotton. It's kind of boring looking, but I think it will make a nice pair of fingerless gloves. Spinning and knitting with black (or almost black) is monotonous, but everyone loves to wear those colors. I think it will be someone's Christmas gift.

The walnut tree in our back yard has been the bane of Sam's existence for years. Recently, I found a recipe for Nocino, so we made some today. I'll have to have a nocino party around Christmas to try it out. I'm also thinking of making pickled green walnuts. Later on, I can use the ripened hulls to dye wool. It makes a lovely brown.

The weather was clear enough over the past couple of days that I could process a small amount of wool. It seems to be raining about every other day here, so it's slow going. I'm not worried about it all that much, as it stays quite hot here until October.

Here's some more photos of Buchart Gardens.

Back to the Midwest

Why is it that one needs a vacation after a vacation? I thought I had left the house in good shape before I left, but, alas, it seems that things got messy while I was gone.

It appears that it has rained and rained in my absence. It is hot and muggy here. I was glad to get home, though. I was SO glad to be able to take a long shower. You know how you have to have good bathroom manners when staying at another person's home (the 5 minute shower). I was very glad to be able to spin for a while last night. All my peeps were snuggled around me during the thunderstorm.

I've completed the Victoria Socks. I guess when you are only knitting on ONE thing, it goes fairly quickly. I finished them before my flight out, so I worked on the Perfect Storm Socks until my fingers told me to quit. A responsible knitter would work on the projects that she needs to complete. I'm fighting the urge to cast on for a new pair of socks or to start the thrummed mitten kit I bought in Victoria.

The last day of my vacation, I went to Buchart Gardens.

More stories and photos to come. Many thanks to Joe D. and San D. for taking care of my dogs.