SOP

For some of us, this means...standard operating procedures...yeah, stuff you need for work and well to operate/do things.

Not this weekend though...it stands for...

Spinning on the Porch!


Normally, this time of year has me hiding in the AC, but Sunday nite, nope as it was breezy and cool.

Necessities for SOP'ing here in the hot already South are...

bug candle for those pesky gnats & mosquitoes...passionfruit tea (plain sadly ;) and spinning oil...

A nice view...


Now onto spinning.....


I'm gearing up for the Tour de Fleece. It's from July 3-25. Basically you spin every day they bikers ride. I was on vacation last year at this time and well, my wheel owning was only a few weeks. This year I hope to spin through some fiber stash. I like the incentive (not that I'm winning anything, just something fun to do.) Plus it helps to have a local friend to spin along with.



I'm on these 2 teams!
and

Bee Mice Elf

Well off to train spin!

Just the sleeves please....

Yup! Finally there!

When I got here to you know...sleeve island... the realization that that were so big about made me..well let's just say a bit upset. Then after conferring with some friends, I started the decreases immediately to make the sleeve cap/opening/armscye...whatever you call this area, smaller. I surely don't want a bunch of fabric under my arms. So far, so good. We'll see how this goes.

Ribbing..

The buttonband ribbing went pretty well. No buttonholes were planned or made. I like how the colors ended up. I didn't even tweak that. I did run out of yarn from that ball about 6" from the end of the bind off....thank goodness for the russian join is all I'm saying...more on that later.

2 three-quarter length sleeves from this lone ball of yarn...

can she do it....time will tell...

What could this be??

Some kind of sea urchin/creature wannabe??



Hmm...


How about all this rib??


Well..what does it look like to you?

I'm thinking it could be a bit poufier...may undo and add 2 more puff repeats...jury's still out on that.... good thing it's a while before it's needed.

Shroom by Lee Juvan
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky in Brown (gift from Charlotte :) 1 skein and about 2 yds from 2nd skein
US 10.5 circular (magic looped) for ribbing, US 13 for Puff rib pattern.
No mods other than needle sizes. I had enough yarn to knit it more poofier.
FYI K3tog is quite interesting, but doable.

My hat model is on strike!! She will not pose for me, told me today to get a fake head, heh the nerve of some people huh ;)

You win some...You lose some...

Megan and I decided last week after a quick jaunt to the strawberry patch. Let's make some jam. Last week's berries didn't last long, but we knew another trip was needed this weekend.

Well...we didn't have our lovely helpers this week and it was soooo hot...um..yeah, the berry picking on Saturday at the hottest part of the day wasn't fun...we are still paying for that decision ;) (aching bones, not sunburned)

Strawberries in their fresh from the patch state....


Strawberries in the process of being killed er..um..squished...


Megan squishing her berries.... :P


Hmmm what's going on here....

dualling stockpots...which I, the experienced jammer....lost (more on that below!)

Just after filling, while still hot, turn upside down to help with the sealing.

I do this until the jars are cool, then flip over again to their right side. I must report, all jars sealed successfully...now if they had thickened successfully...hmmm

After Megan left, I had just enough berries to make another batch and add rhubarb.

We will not discuss the cost of said rhubarb. Sigh..I remember the days I'd walk out of my back door, rip a stalk off, bring it inside and wash it. Then stick it in sugar and eat! It will not grow in the south so one must pay dearly for it. I make this out of love for my FIL, he loves this jam. I even had a little bit leftover to save for a pie later.

The Winners--Strawberry Rhubarb Jam!

minus 1 jar (see below why ;) Oh...why is it a winner...it's jam, you know thick, lovely jam!

The losers....Strawberry Jam!!!

loosey, goosey not thickened strawberry jam... More like ice cream toppings. This misbehavin' jam will be reboiled and repectinized tomorrow. It'll jam! I fear it didn't boil quite enough, thus the loosey, goosiness of it. Need to pick up new lids and pectin after work and we'll give it another go. The 2 cute jars with the gold tops to the left will be left as ice cream toppings. Can't get replacement lids for those. Good thing I bought an ice cream maker this weekend.

I kept a jar of the strawberry/rhubarb jam for me.

whoa...it was awesome and all I could do not to grab a spoon and finish it off...must behave ;)

Blingin' Magenta...Absolutely!

I'm not much of a bling girl. But when I saw this on special months ago at the Dizzy Sheep, I absolutely wanted it.


As for the bling..um..it's growing on me, it'll definately be a shawl though, have a few patterns in mind.




Despite the bling, still pretty soft.

I've always liked burgundy type colors...guess it's the love of all shades of red maybe.

Dream in Color Starry
450 yds
98% Superfine Australian Merino superwash wool and 2% silver fiber
Colorway...wait...I've been giving clues....

Absolute Magenta!

One day, I'll knit a sweater with this colorway...not the bling, but the colorway ;)






(FYI, at 12 midnite every nite, there is a new special yarn, bag, or needles for sale...shhhh forget I told you, ok! ;)

Mother's Day

This year was pretty low key since hubby is in the Southwest and son is in the Pacific Ocean..err..wait, he's on a ship in the Pacific Ocean..sounds better doesn't it ;)

We had dinner with the in-laws and came home to enjoy this...

Homemade Strawberry Pie with Cool Whip! Just 24 hrs ago, those strawberries were minding their own business hanging from the vine....until I got ahold of them!

My first plant of the season courtesy of my son before he left.

He did quite well I think.

No Mother's Day is complete without my Mother's fruit salad recipe.

Nothing fancy just a mixture of canned and fresh fruit hidden in that pile of fluffy white whipped topping, you know the kind in a carton that you have to whip up. Sometimes I add walnuts, sometimes not. I make it every year, a sort of comfort food, mainly helps me feel closer to her.

Almost 20 years she's been gone and I still miss her everyday. I guess I always will!

Having pooling trouble....

with your sock yarn? Well have it no more! Knit these :)


You may see clumps of colors, but no big areas of one color....the slipped stitches help. Plus it's quite the stretchy sock.


I just love all these colors!

Oh, we must have the toepic pic



The heel, it is an interesting construction. No holes for me for the first time with a short row heel.

SSP-Wrap hints are here to help understand. I really like it, and will use it a lot.

A view from below


Oooops! There's some pooling...well I think it looks kinda cool on the cuff.

It is a double knit cuff, my first and pretty neat. Of course the bind off, I love to K-stitch.
The cuff is a little bit wide and wants to fold down on mine. I did try them on and it doesn't fall and holds up well. No picture of that...don't want anyone to faint for seeing a ghost ;)




Everyone Out Of The Pool socks by Artsygal
Socks that Rock Lightweight in Waterlilies, which was a lovely gift from my Knitty SP Irishgirlieknits so long ago! It was waiting for the perfect pattern.
2.25 mm circular, magic looped

Go on...you know you want to stop the pooling, so knit these socks instead! ;)