Just Some More Pictures

A Good Weekend

Some friends from California rolled in late Friday afternoon. We haven't seen them in years, so there was a lot of catching up to do over dinner.



After dinner, we all headed to the park for the Homecoming pep rally and fireworks show (another good one). On Saturday we went to the parade (well, Mr S. was actually in the parade, marching with his 5th graders - but they were toward the front, so he joined us on the sidelines once they had rounded the final corner). The rest of the day turned cold, gray and wet, to we headed to Monroe for dinner at a good Mexican restaurant there.

The weather on Sunday was glorious, cool but bright - a perfect day. So we set out towards Gays Mills in search of Honey Crisp apples.



We found the apples (and fritters and pie and doughnuts) as well as plenty of



and



Then we headed West toward the river. Since Mike is an outdoorsman, we made a stop at



Then on to Pike's Peak State Park in Iowa



where we could look down on the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

Even for a gal who doesn't like heights, it was a wonderful place to be.

Simple Gift

Sometimes the most simple gifts turn out to be the most wonderful.

Last spring, at the end of the school year, one of Mr S's students gave him a seedling, planted in a paper cup. He put it into the ground, out by his bean patch, not sure if it would survive the rabbits and the rainstorms. But it did.



Now it makes my heart happy every time I walk by or glance out the window. Cheerful, cheerful, cheerful. It's a good as hearing a cardinal sing.

Back to the Dark Side

Laura noticed that the current socks are being worked from the top down. Well, yes, yes they are. That's because while in theory I understand the many reasons for working toe up, and affirm them; in practice, when I want a sock I don't have to think about at all, I revert to the comfortable, the familiar, the top down.

However, I do intend to push my limits (and try to get new ways to become familiar ones) by making short row heels. When I went to Knitting Camp this summer, one of my joys was learning and comprehending the yarn over method of working short rows. It's not that I can't "wrap and turn"; I just dislike it. I dislike it a lot.

Unfortunately, after only a couple of months, I couldn't quite remember how this really simple operation works. And my notes were sketchy. So I was very glad to find Mandie's photo tutorial. Yay! The light bulb came back on. Now I just have to finish the legs so I can go to town (or kick up my heels, or whatever).

Now that the weather is getting nippy

I've decided that I need some nice thick, long socks. Nothing fancy, just warm.



Two strands of sock yarn held together, a couple of inches of ribbing at the top, then stockinette all the way.

The Naming of Hats is a Difficult Matter

One would like to have something catchy, or intriguing - perhaps with a hint of romance. Something exciting, something that resonates, something that sounds as though it had a good story behind it; and certainly something that hasn't already been used. Not so darned easy to come up with.

For that hat I just gave the rough and ready directions for, I've gone through and rejected any number of possibilities and finally decided on "Tamarisk". It doesn't really need a name right now, but I might actually sit down and write a proper pattern for it, and in that case it would. So I've tagged all the posts pertaining to it "Tamarisk Hat".