School is in Session

Yep, the kids and I are back to work, with the exception of the eldest~~he will start back after Labor Day as he is currently working 40-50 hour weeks. His job is seasonal and will no longer be open during the day after Labor Day. I'm looking forward to having him around the house more. I hope you didn't take the lack of posting as a sign that I wasn't knitting or didn't like you guys anymore. Never! Just a reflection of how busy I have been getting ready for and then starting school.

I have been reading and reached my Summer Reading Program bonus goal of 20 books last night while Mr Fix-it watched preseason football. Here's my last SRP update. (I may continue to write reviews of books I've read, although I'm sure the lists won't be as lengthy as Deb's, for she is a true voracious reader, the likes of which I can only aspire to.)

#19 The Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter, 1975, 282 p. The first of the Inspector Morse books. I became interested in his books after watching some of the Inspector Morse mysteries on PBS's Mystery on Sunday evenings. The book was okay. I don't know that I will pick up another Inspector Morse for a while. I'm really not sure what put me off.

#20 Unnatural Causes by PD James, 1976, 236 p. The fourth of the Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. Quite good. I do enjoy PD James' books. The Adam Dalgliesh series is set in England and revolves around mysteries solved by Chief Inspector Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. In this book Dalgliesh finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation while on holiday. Only on this case he is not the investigator incharge, merely a spectator, and almost victim.

It's been the summer of mysteries for me, and I'm not sure in what direction I'll head now. I do have in the library bin a fictional book centered around the War of the Roses, a history of the Middle Ages (one of our history topics this year), and a memoir of sorts of the life of a chef from his first days as a potwasher to becoming a world famous chef. Along the way he reveals secrets of the culinary world most of us don't know, and probably wish we still didn't know after reading the book. In whatever direction I head, it will be a definite change of pace.

What I haven't been reading are my bloglines subscriptions. I just popped over there and found that I am up to 575 entries behind. Gads! Maybe I'll be able to catch-up on some of the reading and commenting in the coming week. If you're used to me commenting on your blog and have missed my posts~~well, this explains it. I'm not snubbing you :o)

On the knitting front.....
I finished my test yarn socks made with Sweet Feet Sock yarn. Love. Them. Soft, comfy, and tall! Not knee socks, but they come up pretty high on my leg. Definitely not just little crew socks. I'll post pictures when my camera batteries are charged.

After finishing those I sorted and re-sorted my sock yarn looking for the next one I wanted to start with. I landed on the Trekking that was one of the prizes for guessing when I reached 1000 miles on my bike. I'm knitting Jaywalkers (only my 2nd pair) toe-up, two at a time on Magic Loop. After all the socks I've knit, using the Magic Loop is still my method of choice. Two at a time is pretty much a must now, too.

My birthday loot has finally started to arrive! It's been pretty exciting here at Chez Jenny Raye when the mail carrier or UPS driver come by. I still have a few things that haven't made it here yet, but hope to have them in my hot little hands soon. Some of my birthday purchases have been blocking wires to use on the three rectangular shawls/scarves I have on the needles right now, BW's 2nd Treasury (I got tired of borrowing the one from the library), 3 skeins each of Alpaca Cloud in Iris and Autumn--gorgeous and soft, and one of the new circulars in size 2~~ all from KnitPicks. From my lys I bought 2 skeins of Claudia's Handpaint fingering weight in Carribean blue (unbelievably beautiful colorway) and 2 skeins of Koigu (my first Koigu). At first I had this bright pinky, red varigation, but didn't like it so much when I got home. More colors came in recently, so I went back yesterday and exchanged my original choice for #112. Much better.
I haven't received my purchase from Hill Country Yarns--I ordered some of the Sweet Feet Sock yarn that I test knit--this time in the Chocolate Covered Kisses colorway. It wasn't available as an in-stock color, so I had to go the custom route, which means a 3-4 week wait. (I'm not sure what the deal is with them right now--they're not showing any in-stock yarn. Strange. I'll have to keep an eye out on the site. Ahh, I see now....looks like they've put up their own site since I ordered from discountyarns.com. Nope, that's not it, it still directs you back to the discountyarns site to order online. Maybe they're only going the custom route now. Don't know.) Anyway, in non-knitting related purchases I ordered the first and second seasons of Lost on dvd. Love that show. I wanted to get M*A*S*H, but understand they will be releasing a new complete set in November when the 11th and final season finally makes it to dvd. I'll wait until after that to order--maybe the price of individual seasons will drop once the complete set hits the market. Oh yeah, lastly was an exercise video. I'm currently searching for a good cardio video that lasts more than 20 minutes. Just cardio--no weights, no toning--just cardio. If you have a suggestion, please leave it in the comments or email me.

My biking miles have plummeted as I was spending way too much time away from home and things just weren't running as smoothly as I would have liked in my absence. So now, I'm up early, spend 40 minutes or so exercising while the kids eat breakfast, and then it's right into chores and then school. Seems to be working better all around. I do miss my bike rides though. I was able to hit the road yesterday for a good ride. A bit on the hot side, however.

Catch Up Day!

Whew! Where has the week gone? My two teens have been at camp this week, so it's just been the Tiny Terror and I during the day. I hate to admit how much television he has watched while I worked on lesson plans for the coming year. Some knitting was accomplished in the evenings...but no reading to record. I hope to have a completed sock to report--the second of the test yarn pair--by the end of the weekend. Haven't touched the lace at all this week. By the time I finished researching and writing this week, I just couldn't handle picking up knitting I had to think about--mindless sock knitting was the order of the week.

First things first.....I give you.....Saturday Sky. The temperature is very nice again this weekend, so I hope to be able to get outside and enjoy it this afternoon. The morning has been spent cleaning and baking. But now I'm ready to play for the rest of the weekend guilt free and enter the week with no worries....at least in those two areas :o)

Next on the agenda...gifties that have been sent on their way! The first gift left Virginia last Friday....oh, just checked, already told you about that. The second package to leave Chez Jenny Raye was Henry the Navigator from YarnAboard2. You will recall from my previous post that I was Henry's first stop on a voyage around blogland. He remained in drydock a little longer than expected, but finally was able to get underway on Tuesday or Wednesday...can't believe I can't remember. He ventured from Virginia to Kari (blogless) in Minnesota. She reports that he has already arrived safely in port, and that she is thrilled with the cargo he bears.

That's two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock (machine washable, as requested) in Tuscany--one of my absolutely favorite colorways, which I haven't indulged in yet. A Sock it to Me sock calculator card--Kari informs me that this gift was most welcome as hers has recently gone AWOL. A large bag of Dark Chocolate M&Ms because my girl is a huge dark chocolate fan. (BTW--see what contacting a company about an item can bring about. At some point in the past dark chocolate M&Ms were released as a promotional item between Mars and the Star Wars people--I think when it was released on dvd. Something about the Dark Side of the Force. Anyway, people loved them, contacted the M&M people--and voila--Dark Chocolate M&Ms are now a regular part of their line!) Lastly, a box of Fruit and Almond herbal tea. Herbal fruit tea is a fav of Kari's, so I thought this might fit the bill. Enjoy, Kari! Can't wait to see where Henry is headed next!

I almost forgot....I received gifties this week, too. From Thorny came my August Birthday swap package. (Okay, blogger must really need to get some exercise or something...seems to be able to do two maybe three reps of loading pictures, but you ask him to go for a 4th rep, and he's just like 'Nope, babe, just not gonna happen. You've wiped me out with the other three. Take it over to Flickr, he's in way better shape than I am.' So here I go, off to Flickr so I can add one more photo to the post.) Thorny sent a can of Republic of Tea's White Tea, a super big (I love me some big tea mugs) mug with great colors, and a luscious skein of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat Rose Hips. Aren't the colors fabulous? I'm thinking a hat right now......but may lean toward some nice, chunky, warm socks. Thanks, Thorny!!!! I love it all!!!!

Saturday Sky

After what seems like weeks of triple digit temperatures (actually has been less than a week) we seem to be experiencing a cold front.....temperatures are in the 90s. What a relief!!! Please note the hint of sarcasm. Yesterday the sky was actually blue again rather than the normal late summer white. The haze and humidity were washed away Friday night by some awesome, tree-tipping storms, and we were left with a beautiful day. Mr Fix-it and I were able to enjoy some time on the backyard swing in the afternoon and evening, until the mosquitoes arrived to carry us away around 7pm. They are the price we pay for the abundance of rain this summer. The bounty? Absolutely yummy corn on the cob for dinner last night.

SRP Update
#17 The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun, 1986 (1967), 192 p. Qwilleran and Koko are at it again in what I believe is the second in The Cat Who..... series. In this installment Qwilleran has become the editor of a weekly newsmagazine for his paper.....a decorating magazine, of all things. Strange events begin to happen in the homes and to the people profiled in the weekly supplement. The police are clueless, so it is up to Qwilleran and Koko to solve the mystery before it's too late. At the end of the tale a new feline, Yum Yum, joins Koko in the household.

Added August 7, 2006 #18 Babyville by Jane Green, 2003, 438 p. Excellent book! I read all but 50 pages or so last night. Finished around 2:30am. To have or not have a baby from the perspective of three women.....and the men in their lives. I enjoy Ms. Green's writing and will be on the lookout for others.

Henry the Navigator Has Arrived!!!!

As I made known yesterday, today is my birthday......thank you one and all for the well wishes!!! I had a delightful three hour and a half hour lunch with a very dear friend....not one second of a lull in the conversation the whole time, and then I went home during a truly horrible thunder storm. Power out. Traffic Signals not working. Tree limbs down. The works. Upon arriving at home what should I find awaiting me on the steps, but a priority mail box--I won't post a photo of that, you know what they look like. In the return address--Yarn Aboard!!!! Kewwwwllllll. I'm one of the first to receive a box and on my birthday no less--how awesome is that!?!?!?!?! I opened the box to find...Henry the Navigator.
Doesn't the label just rock!?!?! As a former history teacher I think the explorer theme is just so cool! Love. It. Inside the box, even more things to love. Here we have a photo of the goodies in their pristine unopened state, and then one after I tore into them :o) There are two sock patterns, a package of "J" note cards, a Louisiana postcard from the organizer of Yarnaboard II, Amanda, a bag of yummy treats that the kids were after me right away to open, and last, but certainly not least yarn.....from Crown Mountain Farms and Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks in the Brick colorway--definitely my colors. Yummy Stuff!!!!! Here's a close-up of the yarn alone. Pretty true to color, even though I did use a flash.

I hope to get Henry back on the high seas by tomorrow afternoon, but if I don't get to the post office before it closes then he will definitely be on his way again by Monday!!!! Thanks so much, Amanda!!! You really went above and beyond the call by sending out NINE boxes for the sock and fiber swaps!!!! You done good, lady!

In other knitting news.....I finished the baby socks. Poot, now blogger won't add anymore photos!!!! Ughhhhhhh!!!

I also sent my August Birthday Pal's package on it's way to Oregon! Look out Chrissy, here it comes!!!!! (Photos once blogger is cooperating again.)Blogger not cooperating--photos courtesy of Flickr

HOT!!!!

Yeah, it's hot everywhere....but I just had to let you know it is hot here, too. Too hot for me to get out on the bike yesterday. I was forced to ride the dreaded stationary, which wasn't as bad as I remember except for the terrible seat it has that gives me bruises and sores on my legs.

While I have been on self-imposed house arrest due to the heat I have been knitting, as well as getting things together for the upcoming school year. Over the weekend I finished two Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille Flower Blosson washcloths for my brother's girlfriend. I made the huge faux pas of missing her birthday in April. One cloth was in a deep burgundy and the other in a deep plum. Elegant colors for their new New York City apartment. Sadly, because I pulled my usual and finished the second in the car on the way to see them, I have no pictures. This happened a couple of weeks ago, too, when I made two pairs of baby socks and finished them during the baby shower. It was a drop in shower, and I was just a little late. (Shut. Up. I was only an hour late.....and it was a drop in, so technically, I wasn't late at all!) Anyway....the pattern is in Weekend Knits, but I found it in a back issue of IK I had on my shelf.

Also on the needles, but to be finished today, is a pair of baby socks for one Mr Fix-it's electricians at work. Mr Fix-it asked me on Tuesday, I think, to make a pair of socks for the guy at work and his wife as they had just had a baby girl. Hmmmm....another pair of baby socks......for a girl. Stash diving insued, and I came up with some leftover Lorna's Laces Sock in Somerset. (You remember this, don't you? I used it to make socks for a SockapalOOOza participant whose pal backed out. Yeah, sock yarn I had bought specially to make socks for me in a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks. You know, I never heard diddly back from the recipient? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It has just about turned me off sock swaps. Bah!) So, I went stash diving....and came up with the Somerset which is making the perfect pair of socks for a baby girl.....don't ya think?

You also probably remember my Mystery Stole 2 in it's last incarnation, right? Well, it has been reborn as Leda's Dream, and this is what I have about 20 rows into the first 83 row repeat. The blue yarn is the provisional cast on, which I hope I got right this time, for the edging. I really like the way it is going so far! Much better for my purposes and taste than the MS2. And again, nothing against MS2; it's beautiful.....I just prefer more open lacework. (Good grief, blogger is being a pain about uploading photos.....again! The first went like a dream. Now. Not so much.)

In addition to the above I have continued to work on Glorianna and Shenandoah Stole--they both look pretty much the same, just longer, so I'll spare you and poor, beleaguered Blogger the photos.

Since tomorrow is my birthday ;o) I've been doing a little shopping online. One of the first things on my list was some Sock Hop Yarn. I missed out on it last time after Cara posted about it on her blog and all available skeins were gone in what seemed like seconds. So last week I emailed Teyani to find out when some more would be available. I received a really quick reply, thanks Teyani, that lo and behold it would be just a few days. So I waited patiently (right) online the day it was due out. I'd refresh the Sock Hop page constantly, obsessively, compulsively every 15 min or so until finally the page showed that the yarn was available and able to be ordered!!!! I literally bounced up and down in my chair. I quickly ordered two skeins each of American Pie and Great Balls of Fire, just knowing that I would be the first for each. I was half right. The American Pie arrived on Saturday, but Great Balls of Fire is backordered. Now, originally American Pie was to be for my Yarnaboard II giftee, but now. It's. For. Me. Look at it, for Pete's sake! Can you blame me?!?!? Happy Birthday to me!!!!!! (I also have plans to get some of the blocking wires from KnitPicks and maybe some of the new needles....and of course, yarn, to get the price up above the free shipping amount.)

Speaking of giftees......my purchases are all made for my August Birthday Swap pal. Her birthday is on the 11th, so I'll wrap them all up tonight and get them in the mail tomorrow. I'll take photos of the prewrapped and wrapped gifts, but can't post the unwrapped ones until she receives her gift because she knows who I am. Hi Chrissy!

I have a plan working in the back of my head for a Log Cabin blanket. I know, I know....I'm such a follower. Anyway Cara posted on her blog about using a number generator to design a log cabin blanket, and I SO want to try this!!! My ds will be leaving for college in 12 months. Sniff, sniff. Where has the time gone? The primary color blanket I crocheted for him when he was like three just won't cut it on a college man's bed, but I was thinking that a log cabin blanket might be okay under his quilt or bedspread. The only problem is--which yarn? I don't want cotton--I found when knitting the washcloths that I hate knitting with cotton--although something like KP's Mainline might be okay. I was thinking of something in a superwash wool or wool/acrylic mix--but in some nice colors, that don't look plastic. Of course, price is an issue with a project of this size. Keeping those requirements in mind, does anyone have any suggestions of yarn for me?

Better get some work done today. Later.