Mandy

We are very sad.

Mandy died today after a very sudden, very quick illness.  I knew her for 11 of her 14 years (longer than I've known Paul!).    She was so very sweet and we will miss her a lot.

Two Pretties

Pretty the first:

Yay! A new bed that we hope will be the most comfortable thing ever.  It was delivered today.  Talking about beds and mattresses seems really personal so I'll just say we really needed it and leave it at that.  Isn't it pretty? (as pretty as it can be without bedding --- the windows are open and I'm airing out the new/factory smell of the mattress)

This was our Christmas present to ourselves for the past 5 years or so.  Paul and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas or birthdays.  Our gift is just being together.  Yes, I totally just went there.  But really, what started out as a financial thing, has become a "we just don't need to" thing.  The fact that it is Christmastime is just our way of justifying buying the bed sooner rather than later.  Somehow, we've just settled into the idea that if there is something we want or need, and it's a big ticket item, we talk about it and get it or not get it depending on finances.   And if it's a little ticket item we don't talk about it, we just get it.  On birthdays we go out to dinner and have cake.

And speaking of delivery... don't you just hate that we'll-call-you-the-morning-of-and-give-you-a-three-hour-window thing?  Ugh.  Makes it so hard to plan things.  I had the dog scheduled to go for a bath (boy did she need that) and a chiropractor appointment, both in the morning.  Of course, they called at 7:45 and said they'd be there between 9am and noon, necessitating a quick call to change my appointment and a plea to the groomer to hold onto Mandy if she was done before the delivery arrived.

But isn't she pretty?:

Being a little diva-ish, refusing to look at me...
P.S. I was in the rain and she was under cover.

And speaking of Christmas... I'm sure you are wondering how my Christmas knitting is coming.
I still haven't found the thing that I started that I wanted to finish for someone.  To be honest, I haven't looked terribly hard in the "not-obvious-everywhere" yet.  I figured that will come when it's the only thing left to knit. The problem is, it's something to be felted and will need a few days to dry, so it can't be too close to Christmas.  Which is only 2 1/2 weeks away, by the way.  I realized that yesterday and suddenly my knitting list made me a little panicky.

I did finish these:

Not telling who they are for....

And made some good progress on this:

Sorry, you aren't getting
more than this until the gift is given!

But I've got several more projects to do.  Plus the shopping shopping.

What makes it worse is that I gave in to temptation and purchased this:

Yarn to participate in the Mystery Sock V: April Showers sock knit-a-long from Knitters Brewing Company.  That picture is the yarn and the first clue to the sock pattern, as well as a commemorative stitch marker (meant to be a raindrop - how cute is that?).  So, we don't know what the sock will look like and we'll get clues every week for 4 weeks (I think.  It might be 5 weeks.).  Fun right?

Here's the rub:  The knit-a-long doesn't officially start until January 11th.  The clues to the pattern are free and you get the first clue starting on that date.  But if you buy your yarn from them starting on December 1, you already get the first clue to the pattern.  Therefore, as of right now, i have everything i need to get started.  Which I want to do.  And which I won't do, since I have so much other deadline knitting to do.   It's not like I can knit these for a gift since I will only be able to get a little way and then have to wait until a week after Jan 11 for the second clue.  But it's sitting there staring at me and making it very difficult.

I totally could have waited until after Christmas to order the yarn but something about being able to get the clue ahead of time just made me write down on the calendar, on Dec 1, that I should order it as soon as it was available.  (Have I ever talked about my impatience problem?) And just a little note about Wendy at The Knitter's Brewing company:  She is so incredibly nice and always includes a hand-written thank you note with my purchase.  Excellent customer service! (Click up there on the pink to go to her website.)

Ooh and I forgot to tell you about my Small Business Saturday purchase:

This sideways thing is going to make
me bust a blood vessel in my temple!

November Knits by Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley.  Love this book!  It has some really pretty patterns in it.  These designers also did Vintage Modern Knits which had the Brigid Jacket that I made. Click there to see my project page, but you can click here to see the pattern page, since I HAVEN'T PUT THE BUTTONS ON IT YET! (i finished it about a year ago....)  Both books have several patterns that I would like to make.   Check out your local yarn shop to find/order these books.

And speaking of books.....  I'm just going to go ahead and tell you about the book I'm reading now, since I'm still not done.  But I really like it so far: Charley's Web  by Joy Fielding.  Joy Fielding's books are usually extremely suspenseful - see a previous post/review of Mad River Road  here (And click on those book links to purchase on Amazon.) - but this one isn't quite as in-your-face suspenseful as her others.  It's more subtle.  So I'm expecting something big to happen but don't know if it will (der - the definition of suspense?).  Charley Webb is a journalist for a newspaper who gets chosen by a death row inmate to write a book about her.  She committed an awful crime, of course, and Charley is having some doubts about whether she should be doing it since the interviews are upsetting her.  The interviews are also making her take a look at her family relationships, and upsetting her as well.  In the midst of this are some threatening emails and we don't know yet how/if they are related.  And then there is a little bit of conflicted romance going on.  All in all, very engaging.  I'm only a little more than half way through this 581 page (!) book , so it might be a minute or two before I can give you my full review.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep this in mind during the time leading up to Christmas (again, only two and a half weeks!):
"Stress is an ignorant state.  It believes that everything is an emergency.  Nothing is that important."
~Natalie Goldberg

The You-Know-What

Bright and early (5:30am) Saturday morning, Paul and I were on our way to see Denny and Renee in ... Ohio.  To get this (the You-Know-What):

That's Renee's cool Jeep in the background.  I settled for
that since neither she nor Denny wanted to be
in a picture.

I'm sorry --- did you need a closer look at this 1970 Buick Skylark with no windshield, no hood and....

...no engine?!?!?!?!  Yes, that's right: we drove 7 1/2 hours to pick up this gem.  Apparently, it really is a car in pretty good shape.  It doesn't have much rust for it's age, the frame is in good shape and the body is in good shape; it's a "Missouri car" if that means anything to you - it doesn't to me.  The very best part of it, according to Paul, is that it is the same exact model as his first car in high school.  Supposedly it will give Paul a chance to get rid of A LOT of parts he has.  For example, he didn't mind that there was no hood because "I have one of those in the garage." Huh.  Also, there is a spare engine in the garage too.  If you remember, we made another trip recently for that.  While the front and back windows are not currently in the car, they came in a box with a lot of other spare parts. Oh and did I mention, it's "for me"?  He's fixing it up so I can cruise around in it.

So, we got there by 1:00pm, loaded up and visited with Denny and Renee for a while, then we were on our way again...

Of course, I had my knitting in the car with me....

Finished my Lucy Hat!  Just needs to be blocked (it's drying right now!) and the brim sewn up.  Also worked on my Harumi Cardi.  The only exciting thing to tell you is that I've knitted my 14" from the cast on and now I can start the lace pattern.  Couldn't do this in the car since it involved lots of marking of stitches and looking at the pattern and I would have gotten nauseous.

We made our way 2 1/2 hours back toward home and stopped to stay overnight in Jamestown, NY.... the hometown of Lucille Ball!  And let me tell you, she is EVERYWHERE.  In a good, tasteful way.

This was my favorite one:

I love, Love, LOVED that Vitameatavegamin episode!!!   We ate at the Taco Hut in this picture for dinner, which also had lots of her pictures inside.  YUMMY Mexican food.  We have yet to find a good Mexican restaurant where we live.  Anyone local want to recommend????

Jamestown was pretty at night too:

And here is a morning-after glimpse of the almost-disaster:

Looks pretty normal right?  I bet you're thinking, "What in the world could have almost-happened?"  We decided to unhook the trailer in order to be able to drive around town and find a place for dinner.  So, there was Paul doing the usual unhooking of all the wires and winding the trailer post down onto the wooden block to take it off the truck hitch.  It released from the truck hitch, like usual.  Then.... the car and trailer started to ever so slightly MOVE BACKWARD.  Then it was oh-my-gosh-what-should-I-do-how-can-I-help-are-you-holding-that-by-yourself-should-I-hold-it-with-you-is-it-going-to-fall???.....  Me getting in the truck to try to move the hitch back under the trailer.  Nope.  It had moved to far.  Me climbing up the side of truck to find the rubber tire stopper thing in the back.  Wrong side.  Run around to the other side of the truck to climb up the other side to grab the stopper.  Meanwhile, Paul desperately using all of his weight to hold the car and trailer to keep it from rolling backward.  Maybe three dessert traditions are not so bad in cases like this...  Luckily, I was able to get the stopper under the back wheel of the trailer and all was fine.  Holy smokes that was close!

Now, Paul has unhitched trailers many, many, many a-time.  The surface looked flat.  He knows how cars on trailers work and when/how they roll.  Usually.  It may have been the fact that the car HAS NO ENGINE and therefore was not heavy up front to keep the trailer in place.

The next morning, we were on our way to make the 5 hour trip home, stopping here along the way for lunch:

I haven't been to a Cracker Barrel      in some time.  I forgot what a old-time-candy-and-other-stuff-you-never-knew-you-always-wanted trap that place is!   Luckily we were in a hurry to get back on the road, so I only got a little package of some coconut/chocolate candy.  For my first (and only) lunch dessert.  I could have done some serious damage if I lingered.

While checking the tie-down straps before getting on our way after lunch, I asked what this was:

And apparently I had discovered a "bonus" feature for this car!  I forget what it is now - but Paul was pretty excited about it.  Some sort of heating element thingy for which there is a gauge inside the car.  I think.

It was a pretty ride back home through the southern tier of New York, passing through towns such as Friendship, Angelica, Cuba, Painted Post and Almond.

Gorgeous view passing through Almond, NY.  I would
love to live here simply for the name.

Also, passed through Corning and this is my attempt at a picture of the Corning Glass Factory:

The trip home was different knitting, since the Lucy Hat was done and I couldn't proceed with the cardi...

These are the Simple SKYP Socks, (click there for the FREE pattern!) made with Shibui Knits sock yarn.  They will look like this:

SKYP refers to the main stitch pattern:  Slip one stitch as if to purl, Knit the next stitch, Yarn over, Pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and the yarn over.  Making them for a Christmas present for I'm-not-telling-you-who.   When I was getting my project ready in the hotel room before heading out, I discovered I have this many size 2 Knitter's Pride Dreamz double points:

There are 13 there.  Which is weird since they come 5 to a pack, so I should have 15 if I'm going to have 13.  Not to mention the two other sets of 5 I have in other brands.  Anyway....

What I love about this SKYP pattern is that the top ribbing is only 10 rows, and it's in 2x2 rib (knit 2, purl 2).  Usually, I sort of dread starting a sock, because my basic pattern is supposed to entail two inches of 1x1 rib which is about 20 rows.  1x1 rib on small needles with skinny yarn is somewhat tedious and makes me want to poke my eye out with one of my 6 extra Knitter's Pride needles.  So, the beginnings of both socks went lickety split and now I will be on to the main stitch pattern on the leg.

Two more things and then I'm ending this marathon post...

I had heard about Siggi's yogurt some time ago, but hadn't been able to find it in my grocery store until today.  It. Is. Yummy.  Definitely pricier than other yogurt but I think it is worth it for a treat.  Thick like Greek yogurt but really it's thick like Icelandic yogurt - where the maker is from.  I tried the Orange & Ginger one today and loved it.  Definitely recommend it if you can find it - I hear they have it at Whole Foods, which we don't have.  I found it in the health food refrigerated section of Hannaford, which is nowhere near the regular yogurt refrigerated section.

And finally...  I washed the cat/dog bed cover today, and threw Mandy and Phoebe for a loop.  Mandy figured out how to lay on the bed anyway, despite it being folded up:

... and Phoebe went to her old standby:

No, her bed didn't shrink - she if fluffier now that the cold
weather is here.

Had. To. Have.

My birthday falls on/near the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival every year.  So, it makes for a nice treat for me to go and buy yarn-y, fiber-y birthday presents!  We went down to Kingston (near Rhinebeck, where the festival is held at the Duchess County Fairgrounds) last Saturday afternoon and stayed overnight.  A simply gorgeous view from our hotel room:

love, Love, LOVE this time of year!

We went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Never been.  REALLY like the ribs and pulled pork. Our waiter informed us there will be one coming to our area.... Mmmmmm.  Then we went to Shop Rite and got a birthday cake:

Chocolate strawberry short cake.   Mmmmmmmm.   And no, that is not all we ate in case you were wondering.  We are dessert fiends  (I married into, and have hence assumed the tradition of, the Cassidy second dessert --- have a dessert, wait a while, then have another.  Sometimes three.) --- there was a little we couldn't finish.  Can you tell that it really is a small cake?

The next morning we got up early to go to breakfast and then the festival.  Here is the only picture we took there:

Ha!  And that was when we were leaving.  In case this picture doesn't accurately portray --- there were A LOT of people there.  And it was the second day of the festival - there were apparently a lot more there the previous day.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a nice time browsing the vendors and watching the pumpkin chuckin' contest  - area high schools compete to make a trebuche that will throw a pumpkin and other items the farthest.    (Spell check will not tell me how to spell trebuche - it offered Bucharest as an option.  You know what one is, right?  It's a medieval thing with a weight on one end and a slingshot thing on the other.)  At any rate....   we, of course, also ate yummy festival food.  Fried artichokes, wonderfully crispy on the outside but warm and soft on the inside pretzel, and a chocolate/peanut butter cookie bar.  We didn't go overboard this year.  I can't believe I didn't even bring home kettle corn.  It could have been my second dessert for, like, a week.

I did make two purchases.  My first purchase was a total impulse oh-my-gosh-i-have-to-have-this-since-it-is-so-cute purchase:

A Soakbox! (SoakBox Gift Set (Soakbox Celebration - Clark Cable) ) It is a skein of Lorna's Laces sport weight yarn and a fingerless mitt pattern, with matching nail polish (!!), lotion and Soak woolwash.  I just had to have it.  When I tried to add it all up to see if it was worth it ($50), I think it was.  But to be honest I didn't try all that hard to figure it out because i had. to. have. it.  Mine was the Clark Cable box which refers to the mitt pattern.  I actually really liked the pattern in the teal box - there were 5 color sets in all (I think) - and the woman at the booth said that pattern for that was also in the KnitSimple Holiday issue, so that sealed the deal for me.

That's my mitt-in-progress.  The mitts in the magazine are more of a teal - not blue like this picture shows. And the model is wearing the teal nail polish that comes in the kit.  Which is why I didn't get that kit.  Loved the yarn color but not the nail polish.  Blech.  Stay tuned for the picture of me wearing my finished mitts (washed in the wool wash) with my matching nail polish, on my lotioned hands! (You can click up there to be linked to Amazon to buy the set.)

The other thing I bought?...

Fifteen hundred and some odd yards of off-white worsted weight yarn.  To make an aran cardigan - the kind with different cable and other patterns.  Something similar to this:

Something that looks very classic, and will be so warm and cozy.  Now I just have to choose a pattern.  That could take years.

Want another picture of Mandy and Phoebe?

No, it isn't the same picture as before.  They lay this exact way all. the. time.  So cute.  And for something different, here is Mandy enjoying this beautiful, balmy fall day:

A knitting FO, a creepy (but GREAT) book and a not-so-sure book

A finished knitting project (or a knitting FO --- "finished object") and two book reviews are on tap for today!

I knit up this E-Reader Cozy real quick this week and will be teaching it as a class at The Spinning Room in April:

It is loosely based on this pattern on Ravelry:  Cabled Kindle Sleeve   ........ but I changed the cast on stitches and the number of knits/purls between cables.  If you are interested in my numbers, check them out on my Ravelry page HERE.  This one fits my Nook (most basic version) perfectly!  Can't wait to get it back from the shop after the class so I can use it..... maybe I should just make another.  It was a pretty quick knit.

Still not enough progress on my Dipped Infinity Scarf or my Umaro to show you.  I got distracted by another potential class project but that pretty much failed so I'm not going to talk about it!

How about some book reviews?????
Mallory's Oracle (Kathleen Mallory Novels) ; or the kindle version Mallory's Oracle (Kathleen Mallory)
(Click there to order this book on Amazon)
This one took me some time to get through.  I was enjoying the story but for some reason kept falling asleep when I went to read it.  So, I only read a few pages at a time and then couldn't keep the minor characters straight (and there were several since they were narrowing down suspects for several murders).   Usually the falling asleep thing is  a clue that I'm not that into a book, but I'm still intrigued.  This is the first in a series with the main character Kathleen Mallory.   She has an interesting history (which gets revealed little by little in this book - and I assume more in the books following - so I'm not going to tell you it here) and it is because of this that I will at least read the next one.   Mallory is investigating the deaths of several people by a serial killer (including her father, who was also a police detective and was killed investigating the same crimes).  Her methods are not always orthodox and in this novel, is getting away with them because she has been placed on bereavement leave.  This aspect makes the book intriguing and exciting.

This was the first book by Carol O'Connell that I have read and the writing style was hard for me to get used to. (Again, this may be because of my sporadic reading.)  The chapters would often end with a sentence that left me saying "what the heck is that supposed to mean? did I miss something?".  And often the story would change to another scene without me realizing it.  One paragraph talking about one subject, the next paragraph felt like I was coming in on the middle of the scene.  Ultimately, I was able to get the gist of the story but I did struggle a little.  Overall I enjoyed the story-line and will at least read the next in the series.  I'm a sucker for series books since I love to follow the changing lives of the recurring characters (ie: Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels; Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie novels; James Patternson's Alex Cross novels; James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels)

Now the next book I read was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games: Movie Tie-in Edition or the kindle version The Hunger Games --- click there to order on Amazon) and this was completely different.  Could. Not. Put. It. Down. -- had no trouble staying awake and in fact stayed up very late to finish it!  I had heard about this "young adult" book and saw a trailer for the movie, thinking it looked a little creepy.  And it is a little creepy.  It takes place in the future with a rather depressing view of how society could end up.   Despite that, this story really reeled me in.  Each year, the 12 districts in this society, put up a girl and a boy to compete in the Hunger Games in which they go to an "arena" and the last one standing wins.  Yes, they have to kill each other.  That's another reason it was creepy and made me think "this is a young adult book???".  But again, the writer just draws you into the story and I couldn't stop reading it!   LOVED. IT.

This is the first in a trilogy and I'll be on to the second one Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
soon....  (kindle version: Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) )

Right now, I've started a book my mom recommended:The Jaguar (Charlie Hood) (or Kindle version The Jaguar (Charlie Hood))  I've only gotten into a few pages but so far there has been a kidnapping, a hidden room behind a wall in the closet and bunkers with lots of money in them.  Stay tuned.

And because this cracks me up, here is a picture of Mandy the Scaredy Dog not wanting to get her pillow back from Phoebe:

Laying on one tiny, little corner.  (She's still wearing the cone so the licking spot on her leg will heal completely.  Doesn't she look a little pathetic?)