Blue on Blue

Leftover DiVe mohair and ww Encore went together nicely for this diagonal scarf. This soft blue shade is so pretty and soothing. My pictures don't show the diagonal lines of stitches. Should have shot from a different angle!
The pattern for the Diagonal Scarf is available at http://www.patterncentral.com/ I used a 10.5 needle which yielded a rather tight fabric. I would try an 11 on another one with this combination of yarns. It is a fun quick knit. I'm thinking of using some stash yarn to make another diagonal scarf or a baby blanket using the diagonal pattern.

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Not afraid of heights...afraid of widths.

Saturday Sky

Dog and Books on Thursday

OK...here's the deal...we have to set something straight here. Lailah is so cute--yes---but I have never had such a high energy, full -speed -ahead Boxer puppy like Lailah!! There's playful, then there's PLAYFUL!! I console myself--and Max--by saying that this will pass as she matures. Gotta tell ya, deep in my heart I fear she will forever be this over-energized, wild woman! Difficult to believe in this picture, isn't it?

Two dogs and a monkey

Buy A Friend A Book Week is October 1-7. During this week, you’re encouraged to buy a friend a book for no special reason.

What book would you choose to give to a friend and why?

I just mailed books for a Friendship Swap. One book was by Janet Evanovich on the recipient's book list. The "friendship" book I chose was Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. I've reread this book over a period of years, something I seldom do. It resonates to the individual reader in specific ways, however the emotions and experiences of friendship as it develops and grows and simmers are common to most women and girls. What book would you chose in this scenario?

Note to Terri: The Wordless Wednesday pic of the door from a week ago is something I see when I go through our bank's drive through. One day, as I was waiting for the bank transaction, I was struck by the lines I saw...the verticals and horizontals of the door, window, One Way sign, the flower box placement...I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple pix. I found it quite appealing.

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The speed of time is...one second per second.

Wordless Wednesday

I Got You, BABE!

Thanks to Michelle for the lovelies she sent for the BABE swap. That's Book and Bookmark Exchange with the friendship theme for September. I haven't yet read The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, a good choice by Michelle along with a book of quotations about friendship. The soothing vanilla scented gel and lotion smell delicious! I appreciate each item and just realized I forgot to include the key chain with the Serenity Prayer!! Thanks to my BABE pal for everything!

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A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself.

Gotta See This Quilt!!

I just saw the MOST beautiful quilt at this site

http://kakki-kakki.blogspot.com/2007/09/huzzah.html

The colors and combos are amazing! Wouldn't this be fun to translate to knitting with plain colors along with printed, painted, variegated, whatever else there is to place as the printed fabrics in this quilt? Seems like an amusing long term project! Mmmm....just what I need-another long term project! With several WIPs, shall I start something like this?? I wanna!

Well for heaven's sake! Why didn't I see the resemblance between the quilt and the Babette ghan??! Here's a crocheted Babette beauty:
http://grannyalong.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-babette.html

I have been playing around with Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket (EZ's BSJ) trying to get a size four. I've made a smaller one with left-over yarn in the past. It's on this blog. Anywho...I finally decided to order bulky yarn tonight since it's never gonna get to size 4 with WW and biggie needles with any sort of eye appeal!! I have literally spent HOURS searching for just the right bulky for toddlers, in just the right colors (red & white for him/yellow & white for her), at just the right price for a sweater that may be worn for a year if I'm lucky. HOURS, I tell you...many many.....like all afternoon and evening. It's ordered and its Encore Bulky and I am SO relieved!!! Whew!!

I'm devouring The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown in large part due to her superb writing. This treatment appears to be quite even handed concerning the people involved. Blame cannot be heaped on one person. Life is much more complex than that. Additionally, this book details aristocratic life in England. These are real people with lives and circumstances that are quite a sham, usually public, and generally unfulfilling. All in all, it is an engaging read.

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I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

John 10:11

Thursday Dogs-n-Books

Little Lailah--ever watchful--four months old

Got a new book stack via Amazon and Paperback Swap.com. Mary Kruger's title, Knit Fast Die Young makes me laugh at its cleverness. I never knew knitting was life threatening!! The Secret Language of Knitters is a funsy book for a swap partner. Anne of Green Gables is for a read-along. I'm now reading The Diana Chronicles and am enjoying Tina Brown's writing as well as her entree to British society.

Imagine that everything is going just swimmingly. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all’s right with the world. You’re practically bouncing from health and have money in your pocket. The kids are playing and laughing, the puppy is chewing in the cutest possible manner on an officially-sanctioned chew toy, and in between moments of laughter for pure joy, you pick up a book to read . . .
What is it?

Maybe something like Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin or The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I must say that my reading choices are not entirely determined by my current mood. Most of the time, it's as simple as Oh! I want to read that!!

What books would you choose in this scenario?

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If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

Wordless Wednesday

Glorious Saturday Sky

It's a beautifully, warm and breezy day in Colorado!

Thanks to all the Thursday commenters for the sweet words for Lailah and for great book titles, too!

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I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there.

1 Chronicles 29:17

Dogs 'n' Books on Thursday

More pillow than puppy! And, yes, Lailah did drag that from the bedroom!

Picture a worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better. What fictional work do you read?

My choice would be something by Dianne Mott Davidson or Maggie Sefton, light mysteries.

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The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. Lamentations 3:25

Wordless Wednesday

Ravelry

HI!! Send me a note on Ravelry---I'm listed as (What else?) Pooch. Hope to see you there if you belong to Ravelry. I started a group called "Retired Teachers with Yarn/Fiber". Hope you'll join in if this applies to you!

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Saturday Sky

Mid-afternoon Saturday sky as viewed from my "knitting nest".

Yes! I'm a nester! This is the perfect day for playing around on Ravelry and casting on for a toddler size BSJ for a DGD. Got my Cottontots, got my circs, and ready to knit!

Note to Tina

re: Lailah and Leaves

You are so right! She's also brought dead mice and a flattened frog into the house. Yuck!! Good thing she's so cute!! ;)

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I always wanted to be a procrastinator, never got around to it.

Finishing and Food

I finished this quickie, little garter stitch cotton scarf for our 3-year-old DGD who wanted to watch me knit...also completed a tiny yellow stockinette fringed scarf for her monkey. Alas, no pic of that one!

...finally put some small crocheted squares together to make a blankie for the Dulaan Project (See sidebar). The squares are double crochet and were slip stitched together. The border is improvised.

DH made this scrumptious meal! Ricotta cheese with some added ingredients is in the center with a piece of baguette on top. It is surrounded by slices of tomatoes. Two are topped with pesto, two with chick pea slather, and two with calamata spread. A light sprinkling of bacon pieces top this absolutely scrumptious meal.

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Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.---Philippians 3:8

Thursday: Dogs 'n' Books

Li'l Lailah likes leaves! In the house! She's three months old and needs to chew-chew-chew! Occasionally, she comes bouncing in from the deck with a small branch of leaves and commences to-yes!-chew and scatter leaves and bits of wood throughout the house. Can you deduce all that from this pic? This innocent puppy? Never!

From http://btt2.wordpress.com/

So, this is my question to you–are you a Goldilocks kind of reader? Do you need the light just right, the background noise just so loud but not too loud, the chair just right, the distractions at a minimum?

Or can you open a book at any time and dip right in, whether it’s for twenty seconds, while waiting for the kettle to boil, or indefinitely, like while waiting interminably at the hospital–as long as the book is open in front of your nose, you’re happy to read?

This question is thought provoking because I am a Goldilocks sort of person, yet I do open a book when I have a spare minute or two as in the question above. So, I am surprised to realize that I am not a "Goldilocks kind of reader". Who knew?!

To Pelfy

re: Wordless Wednesday pic

I love this sculpture that I got in Cancun because it reminds me of the great joy I found in jumping rope as a child--sheer delight! The style of this sculptor, Luis Felguerez, is so appealing to me. The detail in the hair style, the individual curls, and facial expression are a pleasure for the eyes. A leading artist in Mexico, Felguerez, used iron covered in papier mache to create this engaging piece. Thanks for asking!

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I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. Leviticus 26:12

Wordless Wednesday

Triangulating

This triangular scarf is garter stitch with ribbon in fuchsia and purple.

It will soon be on its way to "Scarves from the Heart". (See side bar.)

 

I don't mind going nowhere as long as it's an interesting path.