Cool ZooMobile

I had to pick up a couple of books from the library yesterday (YES! I actually got out of the house! It's an absolute miracle!) and I was excited that the Zoomobile would be there so the girls could enjoy it.

Well...lets just say that my expectation of their excitement was premature. They're growing up faster than I care for. They love animals, they just weren't as enthused as I thought they'd be.

And...there were mostly smaller kids there, BUT it's not like mine are 16 yet! geez!! We ended up staying (my choice) and I think they enjoyed it after all. Especially after my oldest found out that when she's 13 she can volunteer at the zoo. Right now she can attend zoo camp, but later is when she'll really get to be more hands on with helping out. She's totally jazzed, only a little more than a year to go. Of course, will her desire still be there in one year?? I sure hope so. We have so many books on mammels, sea life, reptiles, birds, etc. that she's amassed over the years you'd think we had our own library. She's a huge animal lover.

The Zoo goes around to different library branches and brings small animals to show. This snake was the second one, the first was a huge lizard thingy that lives in the rainforest. I can't remember where this snake came from, I'm not a huge fan of them so it blew right by me...oh, I do remember that it's some kind of rat snake, maybe from Africa.


This was the best though, this is a little fox from the Sahara Desert and it was just the cutest little thing! All the kids got to pet his back. I just wanted to take him home, until I saw his claws and teeth. We'll let Mr. Foxy stay in his own den.
His ears keep him cool in the desert. Aren't they cute?

I was a happy camper and learned a little knowledge that I didn't know before. It makes me wish I could volunteer at the zoo. But I can't even get thru one episiode of Meerkat Manor (it just breaks my heart) and my kids can watch with no problem. She's probably the better choice and she's been an Animal Planet watcher since she was a toddler. Keeping my fingers crossed that she'll still want to do this in the near future. xx

HEY Kool Aid!!

Once upon a time (quite awhile back), I ordered a skein of Great Adirondack Nassau yarn in the Tourlamine colorway from an online yarn store. (No doubt I had a pattern in mind for this "at the time" but I'm so flighty when it comes to projects I have No idea what it was now -uhh... like I knew a WEEK after this came! I crack myself up ). Anyway, I'm pretty sure this isn't the colorway I ordered and instead of bothering to return it I just kept it. This is what arrived:

I was expecting the colorway that is in the link above (whom I DID NOT buy this thru but probably should have if they were selling it way back when). I received this lime green, pinkish, orangey neon thing which would have been okay if that was what I had ordered. But it wasn't. This ball has been sitting in my stash for over a year at least so I decided, "why not change the color!"

Nassau is 50% cotton/50% silk so this is "iffy" in dye land with kool aid (works best on animal fibers = wool) but I've been wanting to try it so bad I figured what the heck?. After reading up on the What a Kool Way to Dye board on Ravelry and asking if this would work - I soaked it for about 30 minutes in luke warm/cool water, mixed my kool aid and a bit of water in a cup, then put the yarn & mixture in a microwave safe dish and ran it thru for 2 minutes at a time for a total of 8 minutes. In between I would let it set a bit so I wouldn't cook my yarn. When the water gets clear, the dye has been absorbed in. Mine seemed to be okay for the most part even though it looked like this in between trips to the microwave:

Looks a little like icky I'd say. But it's part of the process. Then I just let it sit and cool.

I gave it a few rinses in cool water to try to get some of the excess dye out. Red is a hard color to stop from bleeding no matter what kind of dye you use. This is it in a white bowl, so not too bad considering how dark it was to start out with. This is what I got once it dried. It's still not anywhere near as dark as I had hoped for but the neon greenish spots turned "gold" which works okay for me. I may still give it one more go, I'm not sure if I used enough KA and need to ask on the board. I used 5 packages: 2 Cherry, 2 Black Cherry and 1 pink lemonade (just for the fun of it). I don't have a scale and I think it's one packet per ounce. I think I may use all cherry next time too.

This being a cotton/silk blend, it's not going to work as well as it would with wool, but I like the variations that still exist in it. It's certainly no worse off than it was when I started out! And I have to say, this is some SOFT yarn, another one that I want to just have by me to "pet". I may order that Tourlamine on ebay after all (once my yarn diet is over). If you haven't kool aid dyed yet, you're missing out. It's fast, fun and I can't wait to try it again.

I QUIT.

Recipe for Disaster:

1- take one tired, pain-ridden little girl
2- let her knit socks for her hubby.
3- expect her to read a pattern correctly.

Mix together and this is what you get:
Hmmmm. What's wrong with this picture?

Do you ever get that achey feeling in the middle of your head when you begin to wonder "why does this sock seem longer?"


I had started on size 3 needles, but then switched to size 2's after working it up for a bit. Well, I DID do the ribbing on the first sock on the SIZE 3's..... But.....something happened on try #2...I completely and totally skipped it all together. Why? I have no idea. I guess in my tired, pained head I was thinking "I already did it".

Sooooo.....do I frog these? No. I'm too disgusted with myself for NOT NOTICING until I was almost done with half the foot part of sock #2. (I POSTED PICTURES of the first sock and NEVER NOTICED it was wrong - and I hadn't even started sock #2 yet !)

I can't rip back that far, I just can't. I don't have the strength. I'm going to just pick up stitches at the top of sock #1 and do some ribbing, No, it won't line up "perfectly", but OH WELL, It's time to move on. If I don't I'm gonna cry. Anyone have any good Father's Day gift ideas?

The pattern (Monogrammed Gentlemen's Socks) was in the February - April 2007 issue of Cast On magazine. I couldn't find the link in Ravelry by doing a search for the pattern but checked with Chrissy Gardiner and she said I should be able to add it when I post a picture (big IF on that one now!). Hmpf.


Pink...I think I need something Pink.

Saturday Stuff

Today was errand running day. Thank goodness I actually woke up in time to enjoy some daylight for a change. It feels so good to be out in the sun enjoying the day with most of the world instead of being asleep. My nocturnal ways are really getting old (and a little depressing). I'd give almost anything to turn my clock around for good. Maybe someone needs to konk me on the head or something. Where's an anesthesiologist when you need one?

ANYWAY, it was another hot day today - in the 90's - but thankfully it wasn't as humid as I was expecting. Last week when the girls and I took a walk it was only around 78 or so - but it FELT like being in a sauna at a spa. How high do those things go? Drip. Drip. Drip. That's all I have to say. Ew. Even the 70 year old lady who can easily walk circles around me looked like she was ready to drop that day!! She does 6 miles a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. She really makes me feel pudgy and slow! I would walk with her but she leaves me in the dust...literally. Well, we do what we can.

Today was Wal-Mart day. Sometimes you just need stuff but I dread going there for many reasons. One: the crowd. If I could get up early and be there by 8:00 AM it's not bad at all, but that's the time when I'm falling asleep nowadays so it's "time to find your space in this busy world and arm wrestle a cart from some little old lady" kind of shopping. A little stressful, yes. And Two: I SPEND MONEY. I went for another paper shredder (my old one lasted many years but doesn't criss-cross shred) and $300 later we left. Funny how that happens?? Well, I also got a crock pot to try some new dishes since cooking is NOT my thing. This seems pretty "no-brainer" and I'm the type who has to cook the HECK out of any kind of meat since the memory of a family member having food poisoning from some chicken has always stuck with me. We also got another TV for the guest room since mine blew up and I took that one. (That helped my total get up there. ) All in all we had a great day. We had lunch at Olive Garden (I dreamed of fettucini and had to have it..)

and then we stopped by Borders.

I so Freak in there. My eyes dart everywhere at once. People must think I'm on something. I'm a big library kind of gal because I read like the wind and don't have the space for that passion, but seeing what new books are out is so cool. AND, there are so MANY knitting books that I get all flustered, excited, and have warm fuzzies since the tiny little Waldenbooks at the mall close to us has about two titles at a time. I really enjoyed browsing through a lot that I had on my Wish List on Amazon and was glad that I had held off on some of them. I a l m o s t bought one of the Harmony Guide books, I think it was the Lace one but I did good and stepped away before anyone (my wallet) got hurt. After that prior shopping trip it was time to be frugal (I'm so cheap). I came home with just these (all on clearance):

Joel Osteen is an awesome Pastor. I really enjoy his sermons & books and I've needed some uplifting thoughts lately. The cook book is really cool and it was only around five dollars. The journal is for me to start tracking my good (?) & bad days. What hurts, how bad, how long, etc. My mind is mush anymore and I rattle on & on (how come I can't write a short blog post?) then forget what happened yesterday. I want to start tracking my symptoms and pain issues so when I go to the doctor and she asks "How are you doing?" I'll have an inkling what to say.

The Big Guy is sparking up the grill (nothing like good old fashioned charcol to bring back great childhood memories.) so I'm going to go help. Happy Summer.

Father's Day SOCK

One Father's Day sock done. Full of cat hair and a few snags (Sophie got a hold of it! Bad Kitty! Grrrr!) but it's done and going to be washed (again!).

This pattern turned out a little big unfortunately. Yes, I had him try it on because I was having a hard time knitting these at nighttime and I was crossing my fingers hoping it would fit. It's a 72 stitch cast on which is BIG - but for a guy I figured I'd be okay.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Sport Weight (I should've used fingering I'm thinking) in Charcol and I used size 2 needles rather than size 3 that the pattern called for. I don't much care for the Cheshire Cat stripes on these I must say, I think I would prefer a solid yarn. Ok, they aren't "that" noticeable in truth, but they make them seem more like "fun" socks than fancy dress socks to me. Good thing The Big Guy rarely has to dress up for work, his standard outfit is jeans, nice shirts, and tennis shoes (being that it's a manufacturing plant), but every so often he has to suit up for meetings with customers. It was so funny the last time we had to scramble for a suit for him...he had to borrow a tie because we had given them all away years ago!



Well, he just informed me I have to make the other one so I guess I will. He can wear them around the house and let the cats lay all over them (they LOVE them!) It just sort of bummed me out because I usually make his socks a little too snug!! Oh well, someday I'll get it right!

I WANT this....

Oh, If only my yarn diet was over!! This has changed the whole yarn diet concept for me. Six months... for six months I've been good. I think I deserve this. Yes, I do.

I read about it on Harlot's blog but I didn't actually click on her links to SEE the scarf made up. Then I got my online newsletter from Sandra Singh and saw it actually done up on there. It made me itch with anticipation. It's made with beads. Pretty beads. I want one like yesterday. Apparently it's all over Ravelry too, I'm always the last in on things. I don't know if I want to use Schaefer yarn tho, they bleed something awful....

Hope you're all staying cool. It's going to be in the 90's later this week, so it's going to feel like...oh say - 520 degrees here. I guess the walking thing is history. I better go do some yoga on my wii. yeah. sure.

Uggy Muggy

Last Monday we went for our walk (I'm trying to still go twice a week) and it's getting to that stage of summer that I absolutely cry over- high humidity. Hot. Humid. Icky. Frizzy hair. Sweat. Stay Inside Kind of Weather. It's funny how I can't get used to this part of the south. I can take 100+ temps in CA (even in pantyhose by gosh!), but high humidity just makes me unable to breathe. It feels like being smothered. Does it get any easier?

This is the first time we took the wooded trail and they weren't kidding in that sense. It was kind of spooky with all the trees around, I pictured some wierdo hiding in there waiting to jump out and try to kidnap us! (I watch too much forensic tv...) All that tree coverage does nothing for the intense heat, you feel like you're in an oven. I think we'll stick to the regular walking trail out in the open from now on. And the BUGS..ew.... we won't talk about the bugs in there...I guess I wouldn't have been a very good Maid Marion after all... .

After going up and down (it's pretty steep in some areas) and around and around we came out on this part. The golf course is there and it looked so pretty. We went back though, it wasn't great for bike riding and my oldest had her's. It was a great workout though, I haven't sweated that much in a long time. Being outside here now is like walking into a sauna. Why aren't the pounds falling off?? I didn't make it out there the rest of the week, maybe tomorrow...