Missing, but lots of Action

Yeah, so I have neglected by Blog for more than two months. But it doesn't mean that I haven't been knitting. I got a wild hair a while back and decided that EVERYONE needed house socks for Christmas. You know what I mean by "House Socks," right? Socks meant to be worn around the house to keep toesies warm. Not for putting into shoes and wearing around. So following the purchases of MANY skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash (and any other kind of superwash wool I could find), I have embarked on a house sock knitting frenzy!

For Mom:

















For One of the Nieces:


The Nephews:


For a Niece:
















And Another Nephew:


















And there was a little crochet Christmas decoration action, too:


Yes! Crochet!! I know, I know, near blasphemy, but hey.....Snowflakes are more like crochet than knitting, anyway. And I can tell you even this kind of simple crochet takes me to the ragged edge of my crochet skills. But it is going to be the perfect finish to a tree that will be auctioned off for a scholarship fund.

Last time I wrote, I was on the road, taking my middle son to college. Well, he will be home for Thanksgiving in a little more than a week, apparently sporting a rather rugged beard and mustache for "No-Shave November." I PROMISE pictures....this should be really good. #2 son is the one who really can grow some impressive facial hair (something he can be quite vain about BTW). He has sported a beard of sorts for quite a while, now, but never a mustache. THIS should be fun to see.

I'm about to take off on another trip tomorrow, to a REALTOR convention in San Diego. My biggest consideration when packing....what will I take to KNIT!! My latest house sock....check. My snowflake garland.....check. Back up sock knitting....check. Why do I always travel with this fear of running out of knitting? They DO have yarn shops in San Diego.

Well, still some things to do........

Things I Have Missed

Things I have missed while on this God-forsaken roadtrip......

1) my Husband
2) my youngest son
3) my dogs
4) my BED!!
5) Kate Hudson at the Mariner's game (apparently)
6) eating decent food
7) being able to sleep past 6am
8) decent quality toilet paper (do NOT ask)
9) not having heartburn on a daily basis
10)my knitting stash (I have been working on the same socks for 4 days straight, and it's beginning to drive me batty!)

Things I have discovered while on this God-forsaken roadtrip......

1) there are a number of clean bathrooms in gas stations these days
2) there are no Chevron gas stations east of Idaho
3) because of #2 the balance on my AmEx is going to be HUGE this month
4) although the drive is boring, Wyoming has some awesome geology
5) Wyoming also has awesome wind farms
6) contrary to popular belief, most of Colorado is FLAT, and I mean F-L-A-T!!
7) the world needs a vegetarian fast food chain of restaurants
8) lightening storms are cool in Kansas (as long as you're in your comfy hotel room)
9) I'm really dreading the return trip
and........
10) next time my of my kids decides to go out of state for college.....He's FLYING there....ALONE!!

Eastbound and Down!

Tomorrow, we begin the great trek East to take #2 son and his esteemed girlfriend (the one who decorates cake with Fondant!) to their home away from home for the next four years - Wichita State University.

Wichita State University!!??!! What's up with THAT, you may ask. Well, with an across the board 17% tuition increase at Washington State Colleges and Universities, and the $3000 academic scholarship he received from Wichita State, it is actually CHEAPER for #2 son to go to college out of state, than right here in Washington. Besides, they have an awesome baseball program (we're keeping our fingers crossed for that one) and an amazing business program there.

OK, so that's the positives of the school, but no matter how you cut it, this drive is gonna SUCK....BIG TIME. Nine hours a day of driving for three days, across half the dang country!! Only good thing to think about is that when I'm not doing my driving shifts, I can be knitting. Maybe I'll get the mate to this sock done............



Absolutely sucky picture, I know...but hey....Ansel Adams, I'm not. Sock #1 was finished on a road trip to San Francisco via the Oregon Coast. How beautiful!! How Romantic!! You may think......Not so. First it was for a business trip (although the drive in the Corvette WAS nice)...and second, this is mostly what our views of the Oregon Coast looked like:


Beautiful.....but kind of, um.....foggy. All the way down the coast!

I would show you all the pictures I took of San Francisco, but - um - well, it would be pictures of one hotel meeting room after another. Finally got more than 5 blocks away from the hotel when we hit Fisherman's Wharf for lunch, on our way out of town!

So tomorrow, it's on the road again...........

Yech!

Still Hot.
Still Uncomfortable.
Getting grumpier every day.
Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler.
Yeah, right.

Hot! Hot! HOTT!

Ok, I will admit it. I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and we are used to beautiful, pleasant, mild summers. A place where we consider brief periods when the temperature goes over 80 degrees to be "heat waves." But for the second time this summer, we are experiencing an extended period of 90+ degree weather. This, my friends, is flat out intolerable. You see, we Northwesterners don't usually have air conditioning in our houses. Why??? Honestly, hell if I know. Being used to rather mild weather most of the year, we aren't used to heat even for a few days during the summer. Ao don't you think we would make air con a priority? Unfortunately, Pacific Northwesterner practicality tells us that having air conditioning for just a few days of unpleasant weather is just ridiculous! That argument sounds really good in April when we are just getting out from under months of rainy, overcast gloom. But during the last week of July...that argument is just plain stupid!

I am hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, and can't manage to wear little enough clothes to make me comfortable without causing a scandal. And I tell ya, menopause does not make this summer any more tolerable. I have begun thinking that moving to Iceland would be a good idea. I've heard the men are tall and handsome there. And have names like manly man Viking names like Gunnar and Gudrun. To hell with that....it's cooler there! That's all I care about at this moment.

Sorry, two posts and know pictures. But I don't think you want to see pictures of melting middle-aged women.

Support the Harlot!!

Pardon me while I step up on Soap-Box for a moment........

There is some crazy person harassing The Yarn Harlot via her own blog and attacks on Steph’s blog - see the deets here - If you haven’t done it already, tweet your support on your Twitter, or any other venue you have. Personal attacks (and actual threats!!) on a blog just meant to entertain is flat out WRONG!! The community has to put pressure on cyber-stalkers!

Steph herself is trying really hard to take a rational and reasoned approach to this person’s vitriol - which apparently started with Steph’s latest Canada Day post (which I always find enlightening and hilarious!). The “stalker” decided Steph hated Americans (yeah…..right) and proceeded to attack her at every opportunity. I believe only an avalanche of love and support will silence this hater. Let the hater know she is allowed to have her opinion, but personal attacks will not be tolerated by those to love/respect/admire/like to laugh with/ the Harlot.

This blows me away totally, because I see knitters/crocheters/crafters as totally caring and giving people, but apparently there is one giant hater out there. It’s scary!!

I now open the Soap-Box to others ...........

Dorkiness - Puppisonified

My big old 90-pound lab, Otto, is a supreme dork.......


And I'm being driven slowly insane knitting this.......



Miles and miles of garter stitch. I've committed to doing this for my son heading off to college, but damn! It's really starting to drive me batty! And I'm only half-way done! It will look beyond cool when it is done however:


And I've begun to cheat......I've been caught crocheting......CROCHETING....headbands!

It's so girly, it almost makes me Puke!