Even More Instant Gratification Necklaces

Here I was having fun combining my wire pounding and bending lessons with the necklaces.

Turns out the little bits I practiced various techniques on (like the scroll pictured at top) were just the perfect size for attaching the “little pretties” that Susan brought home from Shipwreck Beads.

There is one missing from this group…a horror story of sorts.  You see, I was knitting on one of these at the Dr. Office with Chris (he needed a ride home from a procedure on his toe, which we won’t explain here) and one of the Dr. assistant types asked to see them when they were finished.

So, I send a baggie stuffed full of them to Chris’ next appointment,  and she takes one!  And I freaked!  I mean, who said anything about helping yourself to these for free????  And besides they aren’t really mine, they are Susan’s, for her booth/shows.  So, I really freaked.

and the funny thing was, I had just read a post on Ravelry about this very subject…people wanting our knitted objects for free…as if the materials, skills & abilities and our time mean nothing!   So, I  guess I am not the only one…but still…

People, at least give us the compliment or courtesy of offering some monetary compensation.  That’s all I am saying.

About:

Abstract Fiber Mighty Sock in the following colorways:

Steelbridge, Marionberries, Sangria.

Knitted on a Spool Knitter, or Knoddy Knitter for 24 to 30 inches in length.

Silver Wire, 22 gauge

Glass leaf, Swavorski Chrystal & Pewter Sunflower from Shipwreck Beads

Woobu Cardi Progress

Still knitting on this, still love the yarn and the colorway.

Some may remember when it was about to the waist, and I ripped back about six inches and added a Simple Eyelet Stitch pattern instead.  I’ve just about got that six inches knit back up and am much happier with the look, which echos the yarnovers on the raglan sleeve shaping.

About:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Woobu, Bleck colorway.

Size 6 needle

Knitting Pure and Simple Summer Cardigan

Swallowtail Shawl KAL

I’m just over the 100 stitches mark, and asking myself, “Why did I sign up for this KAL?”

The Swallowtail KAL and Support Group on Ravelry is being run by one of my good ATC  Swap pals, that is why.   Start date was June 30 and we are supposed to be done by August.  Oh, hey, my birthday:)

So far, my best work was accomplished in the traffic jam coming back from the Oregon Coast.  Maybe I just need another traffic jam time, because I am having an awful time concentrating on this anywhere else.

About:  Swallowtail Shawl is a free pattern by Evelyn Clark, a gazillion knitters have made it already, it is small and uses less than 500 yards of lace weight yarn.

KAL = Knit ALong

ATC Swap= Artist Trading Cards Swap

Ravelry is my online time suck knitting community that I belong to.

Yarn used is Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Fingering Weight, De-Stash Sale.

More Ripples on the Koi Pond

A while back I made a scarf using this Koi Pond colorway from Abstract Fiber, now I am expanding the Lace Scarf pattern into a Stole.

Deep breath, here we go, 264 stitches jammed on my circular needle.

Boing! Boing! More Shop Hopping!

Chris was up for a drive down to the beach, via the Quilt Shop Hop Way, so we loaded the car with water, warmer clothes and hopped on down to Albany.

Where we waited for the shop to open.

Then we got our “passport” stamped, picked up our free quilt block design and material, and a few more star fat quarters for Chris’ collection.   He is collecting star fabric and he thinks I will make him another quilt.

We spent all day driving only to actually make it to two more shops before closing time.  Between Sunday Hours and the miles apart, we could only “hop” to three shops.

So, we made the best of it by stopping to shop at the Outlet Mall, most particularly, The Big Dog Store, where Chris was happy to pick up three new Big Dog shirts.

Native Tourist

Jeff, Joanne and I went to visit the Oregon City Municipal Elevator.

Here I am, a Webfoot Oregonian, and here I’ve lived, in Oregon City for over five years now, and I have never been to “The Elevator”.

So I took my trusty point & shoot, coolpix and acted like a tourist, in my own town.   We entered and rode up from the bottom of the cliff.  The tunnel that goes under the railroad tracks is lined with all these 3-D or holographic pictures of the original wooden structure thru the re-building of the one we see today.

To tell you the truth, those pictures make me feel a little dizzy, every time you move, so do they.

If you feel adventurous, you don’t have to use the elevator, you can take the stairs and hike all the way up the cliff side instead.  Joanne did.  Jeff & I weren’t feeling the adventurous feeling.

So we rode up and took in the view.  Its a stunning view, all the way up I-205, across the old Arched West Linn Bridge, and down the Willamette River and the Willamette Falls Locks.  (The Locks is another area I have yet to go see up close and in person.)

Joanne takes one look from 130 feet up and steps back against the column.  She tells us she can see just fine from there, Thank you!  Jeff I and go right up to the windows and marvel at the view.  It is a really good clear day, we can see a long ways out and around.

Here is what we can see just from two directions.  I was trying to refrain from taking a ton of pix from every angle.

These are both of our Oregon City Bridges that cross the Willamette River.  The pix on the left shows the old West Linn Arch Bridge going straight over, the pix on the right shows the green of the newer OC bridge that is part of 205.

From the Elevator roundhouse, which has more historic pix and plaques and info, two paths curve off in opposite directions that take you to the road at the top of this cliff.

Here is my final view, through the lavender they have planted in a little bricked off area, with benches scattered around.  I could not resist the pix thru the lavender, since I have a “thing” for lavender and it is blooming all over the place right now!

Buttermilk Pie

Boy, I feel old-fashioned making and eating a pie like this.

However, I didn’t suffer too much

Recipe is from my trusty Fannie Farmer, The Baking Book.

This pie is easy to make and is a wonderful combination of flavors and textures;  smooth and custard-y, sweet and tangy, with just a hint of lemon hitting the back of your taste buds.

The older I get, the more I feel a kinship with my late Grandma H.  She taught me many of the domestic things that I persue today:  cooking, baking, crafting, sewing, some gardening,  and clever ways to use up what you have to make a meal.

This morning I was peeling yesterdays baked potatoe with a knife, and I stopped and noticed the brown spots on my hands.  How they look like Grandma’s hands:   I watched her peel, or chop something so many times, with the same deft attention.  It was an eerie moment.  Sometimes I think she is right over my shoulder, watching me.

I am sure she would have enjoyed a slice of Buttermilk Pie, even though I never knew her to make one.  But Grandma loved her a good piece of pie, especially Lemon Meringue.

Once she had me drive her over to Fred Myers just to get some Lemon Meringue Pie from the bakery, just because they had it on special.  I told her she could make better herself, and she said, “I know, I know, but its on sale for a good price, and we can have a piece with lunch.”

Well, it was always hard to argue with Grandma’s logic.

Scooter the Wonder Dog Gets a New Toy

Scooter doesn’t do much;   he eats, drinks, dispenses of what he eats and drinks, encourages someone (anyone, really) to throw his ball or toy.  And he chews.

And best of all, he is easily made happy.  We went to Coastal the other day to find 0000 steel wool for my wire jewelry projects and Chris decided it was time to replace the last Squeeker Bone Chew Toy.  One thing Scooter LOVES, is a toy with a squeeker.

Did I say Loves?

Love, bordering on OCD is more like it.

LOVE, OCD, and Single-Minded Desire.

I won’t mention the gooby-slobber parts.  But lets just say, when he finally looks up and realizes we exist, he instantly wants to share.  And that is all I have to say about that.

Lavender is Blooming!

Sachets anyone?  ’cause I got lavender busting out all over the place!

and I still have a bag full in the garage from last years crop.

I seriously need to think of some new things to do with all this lavender.

My trusty Nikon Coolpix  point and shoot can’t do the bee justice, but trust me, the bees are all over this stuff!

Here is “Melissa” lavender, which took me years to find, and two years to get it to bloom out very well.  It appears to finally settled in and is doing well now.

Just about every time I tried to take its pix, a breeze came through, I think my Melissa lavender is a bit on they shy side, after all it is a pale, pale pink!

Lavender Tussie Mussie, Anyone???

Last evening I went out with the scissors and cut a small bunch of Melissa Lavender and then surrounded it with a bunch of my French Lavender, added some Strawberry Ornamental Grasses and made a little bouquet.

When I was done putting in the simple Terracotta glazed vase, I happened to spy this butterfly sitting with my miniature tea pot collection, and stuck it on there too.  It just seemed to want to be there.

This is the view straight on from the street and the front of the house,  I love this time when everything is green, and purple and it looks so verdant.  The zebra grass is back up over my window sill, so when I look out the window I see a nice leafy frame into the front yard.

I hear its good in shortbread, maybe I will have to invent a Lavender version of the “Pink Cookies”

Pink Cookies

These just might end up on my personal “Cookie Hall of Fame” list.

and its all her fault

and if you haven’t read/cooked/baked from this book yet…

what the heck are you waiting for???

Stop drooling, these are mine! 

Yes, I am recommending this book, “A Homemade Life:  stories and recipes from my kitchen table” by Molly Wizenberg.

She writes about food in such an evocative way that it involves all your senses.

On the Pink Cookies:  “A rich shortbread spread thickly with rosy, cherry-scented frosting…”

On eating one of her moms Christmas cookies that she did not think she’d like:  “The crisp chocolate cap buckled under my teeth, giving way to a rush of powdered sugar and, beneath it, a soft, dark, winey chew.  The dried fruits and their accompanying walnuts, finely chopped and held together by a splash of liqueur, had morphed together into a third something, a flavor both floral and musky, familiar and complex, the sort of thing only an adult would like.”

Just from reading her descriptions, without even knowing what it is, you want some.  You want to rush out to the kitchen, check your cupboards for ingredients and make something, immediately.  As in, right now.