Knitting Bones; Knitting Cardigans

Big moment around here! Here is the fruit of my post-surgical, lay-about-the-sofa, past two-and-a-half weeks! My first knitted cardigan! Yay Me! I did make a couple of alterations to the pattern, namely I changed the neckline and ties to 4 rows of stockinette stitch instead of garter stitch, as I wanted it to curl; also, after consulting with Cheerleader, I decided to make the sleeves 3/4 length, rather than having them bell out to a wide, full length. Cheerleader thought this looked better - not so old ladyish (she's 16 now - :HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEERLEADER: so anything I wear must, by definition, be old ladyish!).
And I leave you with a photo of Ripple, looking as she has for much of my recovery period! Who knew when we bought a neutral colored sofa that the dog would blend so well? If not for the colorful blanket, she would be too easy to miss.

Not a Sign of Hipocracy . . .

Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see . . .
Now, I had noticed that the back yard was making me feel very serene all summer, I had not realized that is was so sincere, however! But just look at the evidence . . .
It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! And it grew in our very own back yard. 126 lbs!

* On an unrelated note - the second sock is finished and the sweater is progressing famously!

Knitting and Vicodin

Ahhhh! Another sock, half a pair - isn't it lovely? Warm and woolly and an interesting texture and color!
Look at the kitchener stitch I used to graft the toe together - seamless! (The yellow line is the grafted line).
This is my week - the reason it didn't matter that I've only got one half the pair of socks finished! I won't be needing the other half until the end of the coming week and I'm turning the heel on that sock now.
You know how with pain medication - like Vicodin - there is that little warning: MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS use caution when operating a car or dangerous machinery? Should be another line: also use caution when knitting a sock! But I managed to rip out 6 or 8 rows once I switched to ibuprofin and all is well with the sock now.

The Ecstasy and the Irony . . .

Looky what I bought!! Isn't it BeaUtiFul? It's my first purchase of :REAL: yarn - Alpaca/Wool blend and it is delightful. One and a half pairs of socks into knitting - and I am trying a real, honest-to-God sweater. Ecstasy . . .

Because beginning next Monday (the 5th of October), I am going to have a bit of time on my hands. See the unsightly bulge on the side of my foot? Can I just say, owwww! So, there will be one full week of me sitting on the sofa with my poor surgically repaired foot elevated and then a couple of weeks of very little activity. How better to spend my time, than finishing the aforementioned half a pair of socks, and beginning a sweater?

So, the ecstasy part of this post is the knitting and how much I really enjoy it. The irony follows: I have been crocheting for a very long time (20+ years) and I can't tell you how many people have commented on my "knitting." I have spent years trying to describe the difference between crocheting and knitting and explaining to people that I didn't really know how to knit. So, forward to two weeks ago - my total knitting experience was approaching 4 weeks when Cheerleader brought a new boyfriend home. He saw me on the sofa working on the first pair of socks and said, "Oh, you crochet?" WHAT?! Most of the universe doesn't know that there is such a thing as crochet, they figure any project involving yarn is knitting, but a 17-year old boy sees me knitting and assumes I'm crocheting? Is that weird?

A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever . . .

And I'm not talking about the dog, this time! I just finished my first knitting project - woooot! A nice, woolly pair of socks for Sunshine.

Speaking of things of beauty - look at these hibiscus blooms from the back yard! I took these photos last week and I think they're mag!

Knitting is the new crochet!

I've been gone awhile, I know. I've heard some complaints, and yet. . . I've been BUSY!!!! Remember several posts back when I said I thought I'd learn to knit since I had such a wealth of yarn (though most of it is crap)? Well. That's what I've done. I learned to knit! And, I looooove it.

Here is a photo of my first sock - which is still in progress, but I expect to finish by the end of the week.

If you ever think about taking up knitting - first read Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. If she doesn't convince you how totally cool knitting is, no-one will.

Camping

I hate getting ready to go camping. And I hate cleaning up after camping. But I LOVE camping!

Especially when there are nice surprises. There are three campgrounds within 1 1/2 miles of each other along the South Santiam River. We had previously camped at two of them and enjoyed ourselves very much. So it was with some fear and trepidation that we started noticing campgrounds with full signs as we headed up the mountain! And sure enough, our favorite campground was full.

Now we had a decision. Drive further, to the third campground and risk finding it full, or drive back 1/4 mile to the first campground of the three (which we had never been to) and see if there was room there.

We drove back and found one. empty. campsite. ONE! So we set up camp. And now I have a new favorite campground. It was absolutely perfect. It embodied all the reasons I love Oregon! Really, one can't ask more of a campground than that.