That Sinking Feeling...

...when you realize you're supposed to knit ACROSS the turned heel so you're on the proper side to pick up the gusset stitches.... 

Crap

Let me explain for the non-knitter readers: you pick up stitches along the side of the heel so that you make that "right turn" to work on the foot of the sock. But if you're an idiot, like I am apparently this morning, you have picked them up on the OPPOSITE side from where you're supposed to be. And you end up purling across the instep.

See, in knitting socks, you're knitting in the round. That means, normally (unless the pattern says otherwise), you ALWAYS just knit. No purls. 

So. I could turn the thing inside-out and proceed, but there's the dilemma of picking up the other side backwards, if you will. 

So I'm just going to frog it. I saw a set of stitch markers that had various phrases that I'm using. "Crap" is one of them. 

Turned heel

Otherwise, I did turn the heel, finding a source for the math. Go ahead - laugh. I should know this, and knitting involves math, but I'm just a dunce when it comes to that. 

So I did that last night before I toddled off to bed. So that's the excuse I'm using: I should have knitted across, but I was too tired. 

And it was even worse. Of course, yesterday being July 4, everyone in the neighborhood becomes a pyrotechnics expert. In spite of the fact that it's illegal in IL. And in spite of the fact that it's just plain neighborly to not be lighting off M-80s in the relative 'burbs. 

I didn't fall asleep till about midnite, and the noise didn't abate till then. Yes. I can call the cops. But no. It won't do any good. We've had that argument before, and really there are too many idiots buying the stuff. We would need better policing at the border between Indiana and IL to really make the point, but nobody wants to do that. And our state troopers are busy getting drunks off the roads. 

I'd rather they do that. If someone blows their hand off, I'm not very sympathetic. It's your own blasted (sorry) fault. 

Biking...

New duds

Got me some new biking duds!! The shorts have a nice gel insert. I have some older pairs, and the padding has flattened. So I have new gloves (I rather like the older ones, but these are lighter), and tops and the shorts. 

So we went off yesterday, before the real explosions started, so we could be home with the girls in time. 

Hitch

Hubby says he's going to order a hitch for my truck. Here's what we have on his: it's a multi-use thing where you can put a ball on it to haul a trailer. This also hauls the bikes nicely. You can lock it, too, so that you can leave your bikes if you need to. Normally, we don't lock it, but then we're not leaving our bikes for an extended period of time. 

You can tell we're on the edge of the country. The trail we chose was a mixed-use trail. There were 2 guys on horses. We rang our little bike bells (yes, the ones you had as a kid) and went carefully around them. Though I'd have preferred to get ON the horses!! So the trail isn't totally paved. It's got that finely crushed limestone that the horses prefer. 

There were walkers, folks with strollers, runners - everyone uses the trail. The bad part is with that surface; it's a little wonky now because of the recent rains. In some spots, it's washed out, and in spots, the gravel has pooled, which makes it interesting to navigate. You have to be consistently on the watch, and it's a little rough on the body, too. Couple that with the fact that I gained some poundage over the Convention, I hadn't been on the bike in 3 weeks or so, and we had a headwind... It was not a fun ride. 

Hitching rail

I mean it was; I'm proud that I did it. But it was a pretty wimpy ride all things considered. I only did about 6.8 miles. 

Here's another way you can tell it's a mixed-use trail. That thing I'm hanging onto is a hitching rail.

Yes, I think this will be my "before" shot. Spandex is nobody's friend, but truly it does make the ride a lot more comfortable. 

As far as the biking itself is going, I don't think I'll be doing any today, but maybe tomorrow we can get out if the weather cooperates. It's a very nice way for me to get exercise in addition to the yoga. 

Moving Out...

Kid #2 and I are going to his new area to look for apartments. He needs to get there by mid-July, and it's fast approaching. He's been dilly-dallying, and I think the little birdie needs a shove out of the nest.

We've decided to put bookshelves in his room, make it truly my yoga room, and store the massage table in there (it folds up). When we have guests, we have a queen-sized air mattress that isn't all that bad, frankly! 

Supervision necessary

My office (Kid #1's room) has become a dumping ground and it really needs to be cleared out better. 

As far as organizing goes, Hubby built me a new place for my shoes. Kid #2 can take the old rack to his place; he's kind of a shoe maven too...And right now, they're all piled at my back door. Size 12s take up a LOT of room!! 

So as he's doing that and I'm turning the heel of the Fluro sock, I hear him laugh. This is what I see down the hall. 

Raisa apparently thinks he needs supervision. She wandered over there and plopped herself in the middle of his job and just waited him out. 

What a silly dog!!

The Garden...

Lookee what I found on my dill!!! My friend Susan B says that this is a swallowtail butterfly-to-be! They love dill. And this is really why I planted what I planted this year. 

Dilly Caterpillar

I didn't get any good shots of the bees on the coneflowers. But suffice to say, their little legs were LOADED with pollen. 

Again, we'll have more dill than we can use, so let the butterflies have it. 

The French Lavender is coming along nicely, and the petunias are nice and bright. 

We have a problem with one of our hummingbird feeders. I think it's leaking. And we're sad that we're not seeing more hummers this year. 

I'll try to get pics of the coneflowers soon. 

There's still a few weeks to wait for cucumbers. We're lettucing like crazy. And perhaps at least 2 weeks till the first tomato.

A Quote...

Here's a quote that actually pinpoints what SCOTUS just did to us.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.  Abraham Lincoln

It's already started. Now the religious whackos are after their own version of Sharia law: let's discriminate against ANYONE who's NOT US. So they're already lining up to see if they can get a "religious exemption" so that they can NOT hire LGBT people. 

Because, you know, Jesus likes the hating. 

Random Picture...

Bubble, bubble

Just because I like the water action. Hubby got a new bubbler for the one bird bath. It took a while to get the solar panel into the sun (we want to keep it in the bed so that we don't have to worry when mowing) and when it did, it took off!

Again, taken with my phone. This 41 megapixel camera is crazy-good. 

I turned up the two smaller ones in the other bird bath, but I have one "bubbler" and one "trickler" - which is fine. Anything that keeps the water moving reduces the chances of mosquitoes laying eggs. 

We just have to figure out what to do with the birdbath in the back. Probably move it off the patio and closer to the driveway, so that it gets more sun. It's very shallow, though. So maybe its ultimate destiny is a base for a planter. I keep going back to that. Put some pea gravel in it, stick a pot of flowers in there and let it be. It's even too shallow to be an actual planter itself. 

This weekend, I have to find some time to make up the jelly. I found a recipe for Herb Jelly and Tarragon Jelly. It's all coming up at once!

Mr. Squirrel, You're Not Getting the Point...

As I was up at just-after-dark:a.m., after taking the dogs out for their morning ablutions, I looked out my kitchen window while my water was heating for the morning tea.

This is what I saw... If you click on the picture to make it larger, you'll notice that all my herb plants have screens on them. That was to keep the squirrels out - the little buggers like to dig to plant sunflower seeds. So I thought I was pretty clever. 

Squirrel on the wire

This guy, however, (before I grabbed my camera) was looking right at me...Sitting up on his hind legs. Now, these things are sharp! I just grabbed one yesterday to cut some tarragon. I walked quietly away, grabbed my camera and shot this through a kitchen window with screen, so it's not as sharp as I'd like. By the time I came back to shoot, he turned around. Flicked his tail. And scampered off. 


He obviously "didn't get the point" even though he was sitting right on it!

And then the other day, we brought in all the birdfeeders - at least setting them on the porch, in anticipation of yet another major t-storm. Kid #2 put one on the porch and I didn't think anything of it. I had put a couple there after I filled them. I ran an errand, and then since we didn't have another storm, I figured I'd put them back on their hooks. Walked out to the porch to see one of the more "open" ones dumped over. 

"What???" Then I saw it. A chipmunk. Little stinker had tipped the thing over and was porking out on the seed! He scampered away and there was really nothing I could do. I grabbed a dustpan and just tossed the seed onto the lawn. They may as well enjoy it. 

Cooking: So today I made sort-of-Italian chicken in the crock pot with my own canned sauce. I cut up peppers and chunked an onion. Layered that on the bottom, snipped 2 large sprigs of Rosemary, grabbed some basil and layered the chicken, the herbs and the sauce. Added salt & pepper, added about 10 oz of water and slapped it on "high." Made some pasta that Kid #2 brought home and we just ate that for dinner. Got enough leftovers (or "plan-overs" like they used to tell us as Tupperware sales-ladies) for the week.

Now I have to do about a bazillion dishes. I want my dishwasher fixed!! Even if I can't put every single thing in, it would certainly cut down the load, right?

Knitting: On the decrease on the last Robin's Nest sock!! We may have a pair by next week. I have one gripe: Either I've slept on my hands funny, or I need to take a break with a pair of larger needles. My thumb hurts. That hasn't happened since I recovered from the surgery. Urgh.

Dogs: So far today, the dogs have been out of their "restraints." Quinn's been out of the Thundershirt (which we were using to keep her cysts from getting oozy on the furniture. Tippi was in The Collar of Shame. But so far, she's left her leg alone. 

However, tonight, they'll be in their "suits" because I'm not interested in staying up all night keeping tabs on them! Oh, and they're blowing their coats. Big time. 

Work: I have my "too long meeting" tomorrow, then I assist at a yoga class. I also have to plan the sequence for Tuesday's class. And figure out what I want to do for Wednesday's class. Now that I'm teaching it instead of taking it, I do have to get more disciplined in actually doing the yoga practice.

And at training next week, we have our first quiz. Of course, they're not going to flunk us, but nevertheless, I do have to study. It's all based on homework, so I should be ok if I just review everything. Although I enjoy the training, and this weekend will be observing (I don't invert...), I'm tired. I'd like to be done with it. I have to catch up on one workshop I missed, and then I can get my 200-hour certification.

Well, I'd be interested to hear what y'all are doing for July 4. I'm going to be trying to keep 2 dogs calm. They're not fond of fireworks. And our neighbors are, unfortunately, idiots. 

Must. Get. Gauge. ALWAYS

The gnashing of teeth you hear is me. I've finished the pieces of the KAL (Knit-A-Long) sweater I've been slaving away on for the past one and a half months. I'd love to show it to you but right now, I'm in the throes of assembly.

Yesterday, I was in the throes of WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT????????????? as I tried to "block to measurements. Only to find that it's not right. I mean, really REALLY not right. As in about-2-sizes-smaller not right. Crap.

I could blame the yarn. And I might. But...I also need to blame myself. My stitch gauge is right on. 20 sts = 4" and that's what the directions say. What they also say is "30 rows = 4 inches" and that, my fellow knitters, is what's wrong. I'm 1 1/2" too short. Well, I'm not. The sweater is. That measurement takes it from a Large to a Medium. Which isn't going to fit me in this lifetime. Even though the bust measurement is correct, it's not gonna fit. Ever.

So. I'm going to assemble it anyway. And if the Knitting Gods are with me, I'll get the 2x2 ribbing done in time to give it to my mom. For her birthday.

Not that I don't WANT to give my mom a hand-knit sweater. And not that she won't like it. It's just that this was something I was very happy to knit for myself. Because it's only my second sweater. Ever.

And Sonda's not around to help me finish it. I'm on my own. Even Maggie Righetti couldn't help me because her instructions for weaving horizontal seams made no sense. I got it from about.com and it's working. But it's annoying.

I usually am right on gauge. That's not a brag. It's just the way it works. And for some reason, this yarn, probably because of its thick-thin-thick-thin texture, threw me off. (See, I can blame the yarn if I want to!)

I have two options. Frogging isn't one of them. I could toss the whole thing into a bag and bribe one of my fellow stitchers to finish it for me. Or I could just suck it up and do it myself.

Believe me, the "let Doris finish it" option was very tempting. But I have to learn this stuff. It's like making socks: scary till you understand it.

This will give me the impetus to GET GAUGE both ways for the bolero I want to start. And it also makes me think that perhaps my mother will get a few of my WIPs because they're too far along to frog. I may as well have SOMEONE get some joy out of them. (sigh)

So my hard lesson to you, Knitsters, is to always get gauge. Believe them when they say, "Save time now by doing a swatch." It's that important.

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Stay safe. If you're in the heat wave like we are, stay cool and hydrated. And please, please, PLEASE take care of your pets. Keep 'em inside because of the heat AND the fireworks. They get scared. And it's your job to protect them.