Rachel John, Extreme Knitting, 1000 Strand Knit! WOW

You have to watch this video! Wild.... I can totally picture Molly doing this.

Checking back into my life.....

Today we, myself and 11 other jurors, convicted a man with 6 felonies, including murder. There I can finally talk about it. These decisions were not taken lightly and I feel the verdicts returned were fair and just. They were very difficult and a few times prompted tears in the eyes of us jurors as we deliberated the facts of the case.

Just the two words Jury Duty brings about many different feelings in people. Today I can fully appreciate the seriousness of what is tasked of a juror when seated. To see a witness give testimony while in prison garb and shackled. Just the simple task of itching a scratch challenging for them. This is enough to make the hair on the back of the neck stand at attention.

I sit here this evening at home with a glass of wine. But I am thinking about the man returning to his jail cell this evening and his family returning to their town. Their lives will never be the same. I am also thinking about the person murdered. His family. His mom in the parking garage thanking us for what we did. I am grateful there were two guards that walked us to our cars. It could have been a very different scene all together.

I admit I am a little numb right now. I am sure over the next couple days I will settle back into my life and this will be less personal that it feels right now.

Life Altering.....

Have you ever participated in something where you know it is going to have a profound impact on you for the rest of your life? I am currently participating in something that I feel will be life altering for me. I can't talk about it just yet but I can feel my "alert level" is elevated and there is really nothing I can do to stop this process and how it will change me. It isn't good or bad it just is what it is. I know stop with the Cryptoquip as my husband likes to say. :-) All in good time I will share with you. I promise!

Speaking of my husband. He is in DC this week starting his new job. This is an exciting time for him as he embarks on the next phase of his career. Congratulations baby! I just love this pic of him taken last week at our favorite Chinese place.


On knitting news I have a few things to share.

Back in November of 2007 I participated in a swap. As part of the swap packaged I received this mug from Darcy. It didn't take me very long to fill it with DPN's and crochet hooks.



Remember the Calvary that arrived in April? I purchased another handmade case from Sarah of Sarahkincheloe Etsy Shop which I totally love like the circular case.


It is a pretty pink and holds all my wonderful DPNs and crochet hooks in a nice roll.

Our next door neighbor is expecting a baby girl in July. I knit up these cute Baby Bib O' Love for her and baby. I realized after I took the pictures the coral bib is bottom side up but hey you get the idea.

These are Eunice socks by Cookie A.

So the life altering "thing" I mentioned above is leaving me a lot of time where I can knit something very simple. I picked the Pinwheel blanket.

Jubilee

OH my.... I have to makethisassoonaspossible...... I am thinking of cutting out one repeat and using the worsted alpaca I bought at the Alpaca Fest. This Jubilee is calling to me hard.

When ladders go bad....

Yesterday morning this is what the second Clapotis looked like. I was really unsettled about the orange stripe. The only reason I used the orange was due to being afraid of running out of the other colors. I thought I was losing my mind because I thought I had way more blues and charcoal color yarn to finish this project when I started. For some reason over the course of a couple weeks the yarn found it's way to multiple hiding places. Yesterday morning while looking for my Sock Innovations book I found where 4 more balls of the yarn were hiding.

So last night I ripped it back past the orange. Now I am realizing its a bigger pain in the ass having to deal with the dropped stitch ladders. I am going to have to put the stitches back on the needle and use a crochet hook to bring the dropped stitches back up on the needle . Is it worth it? I am considering just frogging the rest of it.

Turkeys and catch'n up! (no knitting this time)

Here is the first loaf of bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I made the basic recipe to start with. I can't wait to get into the others though.

Of course I didn't think to click a picture until the pretty loaf was already cut. It was perfect. It took me about 15 minutes to get the batch prepared early yesterday morning. I think that was just my learning curve. I can see where it will be 5 minutes to put everything together. I love that the dough will keep in the fridge for 14 days. Warm bread after work anyone? OH my!


I planted some of the seedlings yesterday. The tomatoes didn't like me so I think I will be replanting some of those perhaps next weekend. Just a little to soon for them yet.



Here is a picture of the new dining room floor. The picture isn't the greatest. I will try again on a better light day.


Saturday afternoon I went with Jimmy so he could practice bowl. He is starting a new summer league this week. Here is an action shot. He recently went down a pound in bowling ball and is shooting strikes like crazy and had two games well into the 200's.

And I kept seeing these turkeys flashing on the scoreboard. :-)

Really? 5 minutes a day?

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So I place the "blame" on Lime & Violet for purchasing this cookbook. They talked about it in a recent episode of their podcast. I also "blame" Ria for inspiring me to make an attempt at this over the weekend. She is going to make Scones for her hubby this weekend. I am going to start with the basic "starter" recipe and see how it goes. Ria I will attempt to take some pictures of the process and post them. :-)

Sunshine on a cloudy day....

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

So yesterday started out cloudy and damp. I put on my Sunshine socks and sang "I got sunshine on a cloudy day" all morning at work. Those socks are amazing. :-)

Clapotis progress

I have decided I will be using the funky orange next color change. It is sure to give a wild contrast. I so love this and can't wait to finish it.

I have decided to use the funky orange next.

Alpaca...

Aren't they cute?


Here is a naked alpaca!


I met up with Julane and Kristie at the Alpaca Fest over the weekend. That is Kristie knitting with size 50 knitting needles.

That is a very serious look of concentration Kristie. I really wanted a set of those needles but not for $50 bucks.


I bought two hanks of super soft alpaca. I can't stop petting that yarn.


After the Alpaca we went back to my place for lunch and knitting. Here is Julane working on a secret Christmas gift.


I finished my Sunshine socks while hanging out with the ladies.


This week I have been working on my second Clapotis. I really love this yarn and pattern together. Must get it done so I can wrap up on cool evenings by the fire.

Don't Do This!

Old Wives Tale or perhaps jealousy....

There seems to be a rumor floating around the knitting community that needs to be addressed. I think it started when local yarn shop (LYS) owners decided to start a nasty rumor about Knitpicks. It is said they use inappropriate means for obtaining their yarn inventory to sell. Now why would LYS owners do this? Because they are angry and jealous of Knitpicks success at providing low cost, great quality yarn.

I have attempted to research this claim to no avail. I can't find a single written article to support this claim. It seems Knitpicks has addressed this issue on their website below. I find it interesting they invite anyone to visit their manufacturing partners. I am pretty sure if there was anything inappropriate going on it would be well documented other than a nasty rumor by word of month.

Our Manufacturing Partners

Knit Picks has very high standards for the International manufacturers we choose to work with. Executives from Knit Picks have visited each of our manufacturers' factories personally to ensure that their facilities and labor practices are in line with both Knit Picks' and our customers' expectations. Specifically, Knit Picks works only with manufacturers who:

• Institute management practices that respect the rights of all employees
• Provide a safe and healthy work place
• Promote the health and well-being of all employees
• Oppose the use of child labor
• Have an active role in the positive development of their local community

And if you’re ever interested in visiting our facilities in India, Peru, or Italy, e-mail Customer Service for more information, and we’ll connect you with a factory representative.

Thanks Julane!