Knitting in the Hottest Days of Summer

I started planning this project after getting the beautiful yarn from my secret sock dyeing pal Emy from Singapore. Yarn was too soft to use for socks! Around the time I got the yarn, the new Knitty came out and there were fingerless gloves.. they looked lovely.. I went to the LYS to get yarn, yet they didn't have anything I liked... So I decided to use the hand dyed yarn. It was one of the coldest days when i planned to make the gloves.. Breezy and rainy the first or second week in July. When I finally got around to knitting the first glove.. it was the hottest day around here.. I had to knit in front of fans in order to not have sticky hands! 97 degrees around here, is about the hottest it gets.. no need for air conditioning the rest of the year.

This is the first glove... almost done.. I may start the second before doing anymore of this one. I love the pattern and yarn.. looking forward to cool days when I can wear these and enjoy knitting while watching the kids play at the park!

Dye-O-Rama Package Arrived!

All the way from Singapore! I was so excited to get a notice, to pick up a package at the Post Office.. that was Saturday. I waited until Monday afternoon (the lines were long in the post office, figured it was better to go by myself than with the kids!) ... so many yummy things. I did start knitting socks.. I plan to start them overagain, so I can do it toe up, two at a time.. I want to make them as long as possible. I'm so excited.. I can't wait to knit while at the park or Science Center.. where ever we end up today. Hope everyone has a beautiful sunny summer day!

Flowers, Sushi & Kayaks

We were on our way to I LOVE SUSHI at Lake Union in Seattle, when I saw this flower. I love flowers. They have very short lifespans. It reminds me of my grandmother. She's lived 96 years. It's an amazing number. Unfortunately the quality of life isn't that great. Especially these last few years, mainly sitting in someone's home and trying to read with half the time remember what is going on and the other half not. It makes me think a lot of how I would like to live and die.

Basically I would like to live an active life, and enjoy everything. Then go quickly and peacefully into death. I'd rather not spend years and years in a nursing home, or adult family home slowly losing the ability to take care of myself. I am not so concerned about losing my consciousness to what is happening around me. I believe it's simply something which helps detach from our bodies.

I wonder if having people around us who really want us to keep living, if this would cause us to live longer. It seems to me it would be the case. I've had three of my grandparents die so far. The first was very fast. It was my father's dad. He was married to the grandmother that is still alive. He went into the hospital for something, and ended up dying. It was very unexpected.

The mother's parents deaths were very different. They were Christian Scientist and didn't believe in medicines and surgery and all that. My grandmother was bedridden for a year and a half before she died. I remember a week before she died it was Christmas. She wanted me to write a poem down for her. She could no longer move or talk very well, or eat. Yet her mind was as clear as day. It was so sad to me that she had the wonderful mind yet couldn't do anything. It was also moving to know she had composed a simple poem in her head. She had me write it down to include with a gift of jewelry to her daughter, my mom. After my grandmother passed away, we found out it was luekemia. My grandfather remarried 6 months later. He lived another 6 years. I was a senior in college. Spring quarter, I ended up going back to visit my family to see my grandfather because he was doing so poorly we didn't know if he be alive by the time I was out of school. At the moment, when I went to visit him in the hospital it was very hard, he was curled up in bed and moaning. It was a hard one. I had always seen him as being a strong character, and very ... i can't think of the word... very dignified. He was about 6'6" .. that too may have something to do with it. Luckily the last time I visited in the summer, after graduation, he was wake and talking a bit the sun was shining, and birds outside his window. I don't remember his face so much then, or anything we said, simply grateful he wasn't in any pain anymore.

I'm thinking of all this because my grandmother is getting worse and worse. My dad has came out to visit with his sister and see his mom everyday for about five days. She is doing poorly. It's hard for us, and hopefully not so hard for her because of her memory. That is what I can hope. I just hope it happens more quickly for those around us to die. It seems a hard way to go, of not really being able to walk for so many years, at least 6 years with a walker. Then everything else that has happened in the last few years.. I hope there is a better way to go for us all.


On a lighter note, we had a chance to do a lot of things while my dad was here. Sailing a little boat on Lake Union. There is a boat rental right next to I LOVE SUSHI. I've always looked at it, thinking it would be fun, yet never trying before. My dad use to own a boat and live at Lake Union. It seems so fitting we got a chance to go! We arrived Monday around noon to rent a boat. They didn't have any then, because of a summer camp. We watched the kids for a while get in the boats and sail off, also the kayaks. We had lunch, and went to the Seattle Science Center for a bit, then back to the boat rentals. My oldest son had a great time! He had the biggest smile on his face. My youngest was disappointed we wouldn't be going out on kayaks until the next day. (Actually we weren't going to, yet he really, really wanted to..) We figure out a way to get to kayak with my dad and still have time to get to the airport for his flight. We just made it too! I personally love the kayaking more than the sailing, unless it's a big sailing boat where you can walk around, eat, sleep, etc. This one was very tiny, you know the kind you can use to get to shore when you have a big boat. Amazing that boats can be as much as a house! I don't like the tipping of the boat so much either.. Kayak it great. I like being closer to the water, and paddling was fun. My youngest had the best time! He didn't want to leave, and wanted to go again today or tomorrow. Um.. I am more uncertain about going by myself with two kids. Yet we'll see.. you never know.

I'll end with a picture my oldest took, of my youngest at Lake Union between the boat rental and I LOVE SUSHI. They both had cameras, and were taking pictures of each other. This just happened to be on my camera.

Spinning & Knitting

I tried my hand at spinning tonight with a little help from my youngest son. He had fun spinning the spindle for me. Since it was my first time it helped. I wasn't able to keep the spindle spinning while creating the yarn. I am looking forward to reading books from the library about spinning. It looks like so much fun.. I may dye some of the fiber first and then dye it up. It looked so good when someone did that for the dye-o-rama. The ball is so small. I will definitely spin more soon!
I've finally started a sock with the sock yarn I dyed during the dye-o-rama time. It's being knit up on size 2 needles using the Interweaves pattern for Embossed Leaves Socks (Winter 2005). It's wonderful fun. I love the lace knitting. I only do a few rows at a time, since I need to concentrate so much on it (not something to do with the kids around). Yet when I do get around it's extremely relaxing.
Last week I sent out a scarf for a present. The picture is a closeup of the mistake rib. I love the effect. It will be fun to do again.

Fish & Yarn

I love the colors of this little skein of yarn. Maybe it will be enough to make a wallet, a felted one.
My fish has a new home, we'll see he is healthier in a week or so.. He hasn't been coming up to the
top of his bowl for a while. It's a rainy day here, refreshing with sunshine too.

My attempt at crochet is ok. I mean the stitches are even. Just can't seem to find the last stitch or two that I need to make at the end of the row. So the little coin purse, I was going to make for the niece, ended up being slanted, instead of rectangluar. Ah, well. I will try again. I did find it relaxing. I'd done some crochet when I was little. It takes more patience when doing because I am just learning, which is fine. when things are stressful, better for me to stick with knitting, because I don't have to think about it. I'll probably put it away for a few weeks, or at least the weekend, and come back later, when life is settled down, and I don't have to worry about entertaining etc. (not that I will put away my knitting. I will not put away that which makes me calm.)

Seems there is a brownie crumb next to the yarn, I let "steam" over night... That is funny! my tummy is full of brownies... though an omelet sounds more appealing... there is always a little while from now, after doing dishes, making beds, and general getting the house ready. A clean house, makes me feel like being more creative, yet actually cleaning the house, isn't really the first thing on my list. Maybe I can try a little moderation... a little of this, a little of that, a little more sleep would help it all out. (yet I figured I won't get a chance to really blog this evening, so nows the chance!) It makes me think of shopping for more Kool-Aid. Sure I have tons of orange, and cherry and other flavors, yet no BLUE... That is my favorite. I am thinking I will dye the silk/merino I have into a blue.. with different shades.. and maybe a little green or turquiose.. It will be perfect for a scarf... Yet for me or someone else, I simply don't know!

During Christmas, I was knitting so much, and so stressed trying to get all the presents done. I promised myself I wouldn't knit for presents unless it was fun. Christmas? I don't want to knit for, unless it's all done WAY ahead of time... maybe lot's of socks? Though I doubt my stash of things made will make it that long.

I was surprised the red bag, ended up with cables on it still! I can't decide if it will go to someone for their birthday or not. It still needs to be lined. It turned out nicely. I loved how it was before, and I will try to make one of those later, with thicker yarn, simply a denser weave of the yarn... I like this in it's own way. A friend who I consider a "real" artist, says nothing ever turns out exactly how one envisions. It's hard for me to accept that... I get a definite idea in my head, and then when I come to try to make it happen, whether by painting, or knitting, I sometimes get disappointed when it doesn't happen. Actually more with knitting now. I've accepted with painting that things happen, and mistakes aren't really mistakes,... I mean you can change the so called mistake into something different.

Ds youngest, was looking at a painting while eating lunch yesterday (in a restaurant). He said look at the painting. Isn't it pretty? Then a few moments later said, "They did their best."

Brownies & Dyeing Yarn, Yummy!

Tomorrow evening, my in-laws are suppose to fly into town. Of course, I decided to postpone cleaning and arranging things for their visit, in favor of dyeing some yarn, and making brownies. It seems easier to get the kitchen clean, make some food and other things when I can do a little dyeing, or planning for a project. The kids are talking and playing with cards while I write, a bit distracting. ah, well that is just how life is, right? It was quiet while I was dyeing, DH taking an evening nap, and the kids were playing together.

Our deck was a bit rainy when I was dyeing the yarn outside. It's humid tonight, not the usually rainy that brings the the cool breeze. Maybe it's because our apartment gets sunshine, and the air doesn't flow through it well. It will be a hot summer. Maybe we'll go camping, or find some parks nearby to hang out, until it's cooler here.

Yummy brownies. and Yarn.. Maybe next time, I'll make some yarn that is different shades of the blues. I have noticed the yarn from Knitpicks absorbs the Kool-Aid and food coloring different from the super wash yarn I got from wool2dye4. I love how the super wash wool absorbs the colors, it's much brighter and it absorbs immediately!

I am very sleepy, even with the brownies... hence the picture of the tea that was overflowing, while I was trying to rinse out the yarn to put in the steamer. 'night.