Welcome To The World, Little One

I just found out that my friend became a grandmother (for the first time!) earlier this week. He was born on Monday, prematurely weighing in at 4 lbs 10 ozs. Mother and son are doing well, though still in the hospital. I forgot to ask his name.

It's time to knit a baby hat!

Children's Indoor Garden

Saturday we went to Longwood Gardens for the grand opening of the children's indoor garden. The garden was lovely with a childsized seashell-lined passageway and a childsized winding staircase. The children were intriqued by a fountain which was fed by bronze animal mouths from above. That fountain also spewed upward with small blurbs of water which little hands and teenaged-hands found fastinating in their attemt to catch. Occasionally, a child would lean out and look downward, getting gently splashed in the face.

The grand opening of this amazing addition to the world famous Longwood Gardens included a fun-filled schedule: juggler's performance, bubble show, dancing rainforest creatures (by Annie Hickman) and kitemaking. We had a great time! My girls say they liked the insects (rainforest creatures) best!

It is Majestic

My knitting buddies sure like the color of this yarn. Gina, remember when we looked at the ball band for this yarn and it had a name of #589? Your remark was something like "Oooh, aaah, that name does it justice, yes, # 589, drool." Whatever you said had me rolling on the floor with laughter. I've just learned now, that according to Rowan's site, this lovely color #589 does have a name - Majestic.

I finally knit a Moebius I like, color name - Majestic!

Pattern: Cat Bordhi, Simple Moebius from A First Treasury Of Magical Knitting

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, #589 Majestic, .75 skein

Needles: US 2, 26" circular

Start Date: 9/09/07

Finish Date: 10/24/07

Notes: MCO 360 sts, it is more narrow than I'd like; next time knit the whole skein.

It is the correct length for twisting and coming up over the ears - just as I intended!

I may add an edge to make it a bit wider.

Next time I'll knit, then purl so the scarf does not do the center switch from knit stitches to purl stitches. My knitting buddies think that may make the loose centerline less obvious.

Ta Da!

Finally, at the sewing machine, I made the mate to match the first. I'm happy with the result and what a sense of completion!

Morning Glories

For the past couple years, I've planted morning glories in the corner of the yard. This year the plant did particularly well; the opposite side of this fence looks just as lush. Against the fence hangs a rusty old bike frame that I pulled out of the creek (drainage ditch) that runs by our home. I'm an avid bicyclist in my past life and was intruiqued with the piece. My MIL and husband did not share my enthusiasm for the find and as a joke, nailed it prominently to the corner of the fence. "That looks great - perfect!", I said. Now the joke's on them. The bike frame has been hanging there ever since; you just can't see it this year due to the prolific morning glories.

See those ugly white lamp posts behind the beautiful morning glories in the photo to your right? You can't? Good! I hate those posts and I've hated them for the past four years. Thanks to another great idea from Marsha (Marsha has great ideas), this year I planted morning glories to hide the post. Why didn't I ever think of that? I thought to put morning glories in by the fence which now cover my beautiful bike frame.

The first time I planted them from 4" pots, I put them right into the ground at the base of the post. Little bunnies had a feast overnight, next morning, no plants! So, I bought new plants and put them in large pots thinking that maybe having the delicious plants up off the ground would deter the rabbits. I don't know if that's what did it or not. But, it worked.

Astrogeology

Today's commemorative link on Google's home page celebrates the 50th anniversary of Sputnik. It reminded me of my work as a cartographer for the USGS in Flagstaff, AZ from 1986- 1992. I worked in astrogeology mapping Mars using imagery from Viking missions. NASA's Viking Project found a place in history when it became the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on the surface of Mars and return images of the surface.


Our team was working on a control point atlas of Mars. I have no idea if that atlas has ever been published. Someday I should contact some of my colleagues there and find out the status of that project.

Checking out USGS's Flagstaff website allowed me to reminisce about the folks I used to work with there. Many of the people are still there. My closest friend at the USGS works with planetary nomenclature. She names new stuff being discovered out there: planets' moons, other small bodies orbitting the sun in our solar system (yep, small bodies is the technical term for stuff such as astroids and comets) and beyond (nebulea and stars) How cool is that?


I worked with an amazing group of people there including Carolyn and Gene Shoemaker - a very kind and lovely couple. Carolyn is the most successful "comet hunter" to date.

Holiday Knits

Here's progress so far on the Christmas stocking I'm knitting for my youngest daughter. There are about 120 charted rows and I've completed 20 rows. It makes the greatest snowman stocking. This post shows the same stocking I made for my older daughter. I want to incorporate some sort of change in the second stocking. I'm thinking a colorful stripe in the hat or a beaded snowflake added to hat brim.
I've got several gifts I'd like to finish in time for Christmas (in order of priority):
This Christmas stocking
Hat for my husband
Miniature stocking ornaments (3 of them!)

Celebrate Socktoberfest 2007

I found Socktoberfest 2007 and count me in. It sounds like fun, huh? Besides it is just the excuse I need to buy yet another skein of sock yarn. I visited BunkyBoBo's shop on Etsy. The seller is new to Etsy and I met her through blogging. She is a great correspondent, fellow knitter and now new found friend. Her handdyed yarns look luscious; I'm eyeing up Pumpkin Patch and Basilisk. For socktoberfest it has gotta be Pumpkin Patch. don't you think?

Ravelry Invitation

I just received my invitation to Ravelry! I'm psyched. I can't explore it now - headed out to enjoy a beautiful day at a fall festival.

100 Things About Me

This is my 100th post. It's going to be 100 things about me, I first saw the 100 things posted at Gina's blog. Here goes:

1. I think way too much. Therefore, it'll take me forever to do this.
2. My goal is to complete this list in 100 days or less.

Terrible Twos

My baby will be two years old on Saturday and it feels terrible. I'm not ready for it. I'm just not ready for her to be out of diapers and wanting to do things all on her own. I don't want her to grow up.

While in Burlington, VT this summer a man in a parking garage saw us, smiled and commented "The twos are terrific, all that discovery of independence!" I think I'll always remember him saying that. Think about it. It is an amazing time. Right now, it feels painful.

Maybe if I never finish the 2T-3T sweater I'm knitting for her, she'll never grow up.

Cloth Baby Shoes

I have not sewn anything for a long time, but when Marsha turned me towards this pattern for Cloth Baby Shoes, I pulled out the sewing machine. They are so cute, I just had to make 'em. I don't even have a baby in mind for these.

"It's Art"

Today my four-year-old painted this, "It's for you", she said excitedly, running up next to me, painting in hand. I stooped down next to her for a closer look.

Me: Tell me about it.
T: It's Art.

Baby Socks

The baby socks are done. I think they turned out great and pair nicely with the simple hat. Not much else in knitting news, progress is slow on the Debbie Bliss jacket. It's alot of stockinette stitch with baby cashmerino on size 3 needles - a dream to work with, but it's taking me forever.

Sorry, Nikon

I have a friend who once took his older car to have the air conditioning fixed. The service department contacted him to explain that his car is not equipped with air conditioning. Tell me, do you have any stories like this? Here's one of mine.

Today I'm sure I was the laughing stock of Nikon's Customer Service Department. My Nikon D50 works fine and I feel like an idiot because it was never broken. I hate to admit it, but I thought there was a problem with the monitor. Wake up, Beth, the D50 is an SLR! Perhaps it time to read the manual or take a photography course.

My Camera Stinks

See that Nikon D50 pictured above? It is not working - again! How did I get the picture you ask? I took it with my Canon PowerShot SD450 which has never given me any problems. Take that Nikon! Because I've owned it less than one year, it is still under warranty. I will call them tomorrow, they owe me a replacement.

The last time it stopped working I called and they talked me through fixing it by pressing the hidden reset button on the bottom of the camera base. Tomorrow I will refuse to reset again. I've got important photos to take: birthdays coming up, first day of school, Halloween, Christmas...

Am I Four Yet?

We celebrated T's fourth birthday with family members yesterday - lots of food, swimming and presents. I told T. it was her party day and her birthday was coming up soon. This morning when she woke up, the first words out of her mouth were "Am I Four Yet?" How cute is that? On opening most every gift, she got this big smile on her face and said - "Just what I needed on my birthday!" She sang along to "Happy Birthday" and had no trouble blowing out four candles. You have no idea how much this enthusiasm means to me.

The celebration will continue this week as the four of us go out for dinner and as we get together with a small group of T's closest friends.

Knitting Meme

Here's a fun meme I found from friends: Gina, Katie and Marsha.

Bold for stuff you’ve done,
italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and
normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-CORD
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards huh?
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (never, but I know someone who has!)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Bouncing

Today I took T. to a birthday party at one of those a local BounceU. There was a family party at the same time, so we met up with Dad there later.

Dad: How was the party?
T: Good, I bounced all over the place!

Thanks Again, Shawnee!

Many thanks to Shawnee who has spoiled me rotten in the No Sheep For You Swap! Look what I got in package two: 2 skeins of Pakucho 100% organic cotton in lovely green tones, a tube of Udderly Smooth cream, notepad and candies. Shawnee hit the nail on the head with this yarn selection for me. I'm wild about the color. The last time I knitted with organic cotton I made this sweater/hat set for A. I have no other organic cotton in my stash, so I'll be picking up this Pakucho soon!

Now, more on the candies. I've eaten Pop Rocks before, probably back in the 70's and I've had Tootsie Rolls since who knows when, but where was I when Nerds showed up on the market? I eagerly opened the candy's clever packaging - grape packaged on one side and strawberry on the other. You slide a little piece of cardboard back and forth to close the box or dispense the candies. How fun is that! Let me tell you, these little crunchy candies are packed full of flavor! I love them. And here I thought my husband was the only nerd I loved!

Thanks again Shawnee for a lovely package and for introducing me to Nerds.