KnittyOtter

Giftie Socks and a Hazy Saturday Sky

When I was seeing Cookie last Saturday I finally gave her the socks I knit for her last year. Plus the ones I knit for her during the current year.

I had some mailing trauma last year, that's why she didn't get them sooner. o.0

Here are the socks I knit for her last October during Socktoberfest. I think I finished knitting them a day or so after it ended. I took my sweet ol' time weaving in the ends though. I believe I did that in January or so.

Clickety Biggety!

Both pairs of these socks were knit with lots of love and respect for my best friend. The ones above are in fact my second attempt at knitting her socks. You may recall the overly tight twisted stitch socks I knit for her in 2006 that were my very first socks. When I knit her these socks I wanted to make sure they fit her and were super comfortable. I hope I succeded. She tried them on in front of me and I think I got the first part down pretty well. :D

Pattern: Hiiumaa Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I didn't do her color changes, just used the basic construction of the pattern and made contrasting heels &Toes. This is the perfect basic cuff down sock pattern. :D This is the same pattern I used for my Honey Socks.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, 100% Superwash Merino. The variegated colorway is Country Garden and the solid color is Mulberry.
Yardage: 420 yards/4oz per skien. I have enough leftover of each yarn to make myself a semi matching pair with a solid sock with contrasting toes & heels in the variegated yarn. :D
Needles: Knit Picks Harmony DPN's US 2 / 2.75mm
Again? Of course. I love the round toe and the eye of the partridge heal on these socks. They are easy to fit anyone and rather snazzy if I do say so myself. ;^)

These next socks I started knitting in January around Cookie's birthday. Everything but the toes on these things were finished in April or May. What can I say my knitting had been hit or miss for a bit of time there. Life ate my head. o.0 I finished the toes, wove in my ends and washed/blocked them the evening of June 20.

Clickety Biggety!

Pattern: My Own Dizzy Otters Spiral Ribbed Socks. It's just a basic spiral ribbing along with an eye of the  partridge heel and a round toe. Though I considered doing a different type of toe. But seeing as I completed these socks the Friday night before we were going to get together I went the simplest route.
Yarn: Seacoast Handpainted Superwash Sock, 100% Superwash Merino Wool. The colorway is Cherry Fizz.
Yardage: 560 yards, There is a bit left as I didn't want to make her super tall socks since I don't think she likes that sort of thing.
Needles: My beloved  Bryspun Double Points - US 2 / 2.75 mm. I love these needles SO MUCH. I wish they had a 2.25 mm, but they don't go down that small. *sigh*
Again? Heck Yeah, I need to write up the pattern while I'm at it.

The yarn for both of these socks came from Deluxe Yarns here in Reno. :D

Didn't Cookie do a great job modeling and photographing those socks?! Those are super faboo photos. When I grow up I wanna be able to take a good modeled sock photo.

In other news the California fires are still going and their smoke is still here. While it is not as bad as Cookie is dealing with, we had blue skies today and yesterday, it is still a pain in the ass. Or the lungs as the case is.

Here's my Saturday sky photo taken around 10:30 or so.

Clickety Biggety!

That doesn't look too bad at all in comparison to Cookie's Sky. o.0 It just looks weird because normally you can see the mountains in the distance and everything in between.

Here's what our sunset look like on Monday. The honey called me over to have a lookie. It was very odd, looked like the sky was on fire. The photo really doesn't capture how eerie it looked.

Clickety Biggety!

Well off to go get some ice cream with the honey before I get back to knitting on my Cookie Cutter Toe Up Short Row Socks. I am loooooooooving these!! :D

Saturday Sky, Snow & a New Year Oh My!

It's the first Saturday Sky of the New Year! (Clickey Biggety all photo's in this post!)

A little after I took the top photo the snow started to move. You can see it moving towards us in the next photo.

*blink blink* If the rest of the year is like the first week of the year you can have it back.

I hatez the stupid people... and that's all I'll say about that.

*sigh*

So on top of the life stuff I've been dealing with (mostly work and such) the weather people here have had their panties in a bind over the white death that we were expected to get. After a TON of rain, in which I got soaked through and through while out running some errands, it finally came. (Yes, the same rain/precipitation Cookie's dealing with.)

The white death, it is here. o.0

This morning the honey and I got up and ran outside to play shoveled the driveway and sidewalk. He wanted to wait but I wanted to get out in it before the sun made it slick and caused me to fall down a million times. (Otters have more grace in the water than on land, dontchaknow.) We only have one shovel so we took turns. It looked really nice... until a few hours ago when more snow fell. But at least we removed the snow soon enough so that the sun melted any ice that was hanging around.

Here's an action shot of the Honey shoveling some of the snow in our driveway.

It was kinda fun to shovel snow... I'm betting it won't be as interesting tomorrow or Monday. :P

The kitty made a brief visit to the backyard. I mostly held her, but she was allowed a brief walk from the fence to the door. It soothed her curiosity fairly quickly. *L*

After "playing" in the snow all morning we decided to go out into the world to the book store. I got a book on socks, Stitch Style Socks. It has skull socks in it. :D Not that I need another book on socks or anything... but there you go.

Speaking of knitting, yes I knit. Shut Up!

I have a few finished knits I comeplted in 2007 I need to post. Need to take their picture first.

Here's the iPod Sock I knit for Rendogg this past Autumn.

Those were the Cantaloupes that didn't start growing until Autumn was almost done with. They didn't get much bigger. The yarn is some kind of wool in the Gryffindor colors. Helpful, aren't I. I really should take notes on these things I suppose. :P

Maybe tomorrow I'll see if George wants to go outside into the snow for a photo shoot.  We'll see, his been such a Drama Whore since Christmas.

:P

Now to go knit on one of my nine unfinished projects while we watch that Knocked Up movie.

I think I see Hot Cocoa in my near future too. ;^)

Blink and You'll Miss It... How Time Flies

Dear Time,

What the hell? Seriously. I have no idea how we got off on the wrong foot, but I'd be pleased if we could be friends again. You know me living in real time and you not running all over my ass.

So yeah. Get on that.

Much Love,
Otter

Last week I told My Best Friend that I intended to blog everyday to get back into the swing of things. Or was that two weeks ago? o.0 That's just sad.

I'd say I'd lost my whack again, but I'm starting to wonder if I ever really had any whack to be out of in the first place.

It's been a long long summer and having lost myself in the spring I'm at a loss for who I am this Autumn.

Well not exactly...

I guess I'll start by telling you what I've been up to most recently.

I finally got my car back Saturday Morning.

Oh yeah by the way, some asshat ran into the back of my car while RenDogg and I were stopped at a stop sign on August 27th. It had been in the shop for the past three weeks while they fixed it. Joy. Ya know, being without a car sucks ass. Totally threw me off track the last few weeks. We were fine if you're wondering.

The first snow of the season hit the mountains last week or so. It hailed pea size hail down here. Pretty funky stuff going on weather wise actually. We've been on Tomato Watch 2007 trying to gauge when the perfect time to harvest them would be. The weather has been kinda up and down so it's hard to tell how long is too long to let them stay on the plants. I've gotten some advice from Cookie on how to bring them inside to ripen so we should be okay. We even have 4 or 5 that are pink now. If we can hold out a few more days as the weather warms up during the day we might actually get to taste them fresh off the vine. Of course Saturday we woke up to snow on the ground and roof so who knows how that plan will work out.

I took some sky photos for last weeks Saturday Sky Post, but never got around to posting them so here they are. Clickety Biggety!

Thursday September 20 - Snow on Mt. Rose.

Friday September 21 - view from backyard

Saturday September 22 - view from backyard - covered in clouds

Saturday September 22 - view from back door towards Peavine Mountain

Sunday September 23 / First Day of Autumn - Frost and Fog - we covered the tomatoes and other garden items with towels the previous evening so they were okay

In addition to watching the sky and weather we've been winterizing the house. Last week we sprayed outside around the house for Spiders. The honey also set out natural herby spider repelling satchels inside. I hate spiders.  Although I do have several serving dishes that have spider designs on them... a candelabra as well. But that doesn't mean I like them or anything.

Lookie what we found outside by the front door after he sprayed.

Yes,  that is a Black Widow Spider. *Icky Shudder*

The Honey Squished it for me just to be certain though. I hope it didn't have Babies. o.0

Other then the occasional spooky spider I LOVE Autumn. Last Sunday was the first day of Autumn and since I realized it a few days before I was able to throw together a small get together to celebrate. I had 10 or so people over for an Autumn Tea Luncheon the 23rd. Much fun. Though I think I was slightly brain dead when people arrived... but that's my new norm. I wonder if I'm spending too much time with George.

I made a yummy Barley Soup that featured late summer veggies and Buffalo and Beef. There was of course a variety of Autumn Tea's to be sampled. I also made several types of tea sandwiches and an Apple, Pecan, Gorgonzola green salad. Dessert was my yummy Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Frosting Cookies and mini apple pies with fresh whipped cream. All homemade of course. ;^) I'll be writing up the apple pie recipes soon... well at some point. I had a few people over for dinner Saturday and made the mini pies again. Though I tried to bake the apple mixture halfway before putting it in the crust cups. Bleh. Better to stick to my original plan. Keep it Simple!

This past Saturday was kind of a busy day for us. Besides having people over for dinner we picked up my car in the morning. Then I went and had coffee and hung out with some friends. Then the honey took me to see that Eastern Promises Movie. Me-ow!

It was a good movie. How could you go wrong though, David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen together again. They did A History of Violence together a few years ago. Even if you don't know what this movie is about I'd recommend going to see it. All you need to really know is this:

Viggo Mortensen Full Frontal Nudity

Actually it's more of an every angle kinda thing. o.0

So yeah. That was a nifty movie.

After that we came home and I made dinner and knit until it was time for people to show up.

I've been knitting with intention lately. I even finished two projects. I'll tell you about the second project I finished this week now.

Last Sunday after everyone left I wanted to relax and I was at a point in all of my knitting where I had to use my brain. We'll my brain was having none of that. My seemingly only option was to continue to knit on my Trouble with Tribbles Mohair Wrap. But for some reason that just wasn't appealing to me. I think it's because I need to call the store and have two more balls of the yarn sent to me. *sigh* But a thought popped into my whee monkey brain and without really thinking I grabbed that project and got started.

So with one sock done and needles in hand I cast onto my second Midnight in the Pumpkin Patch Sock. Yes. Finally.

I knit with intention and completed the sock Thursday night during CSI. Sunday to Thursday for one sock. That's a record for me. I even wore them to dinner with friends Friday Night.

Here they are in this years Pumpkin Patch with the Pumpkin known as PIE.

Clickety Biggety!

The sock on the left with the Green Toe is the one that was finished last week. :D I really love how the toes are different like that. Heh.

These are the first socks I've knit from yarn I dyed myself. I'm quite pleased. I dyed this colorway because my own pumpkin patch was a dying mess without a single pumpkin to show for the effort. At least this year I have the one pumpkin. :p

These were also my Socktoberfest Socks from last year. Now that they are finished I need to decide what I'll knit up this Socktoberfest. *grin*

PLUS we are officially in Halloween Month! YAY!!!

So that's what I've been up to. Well some of it. ;^)

Saturday Sky & Wine Tasting in El Dorado Oh My!

I started this post Saturday. I thought about going through and changing what I wrote, but decided not to. So Nyah. :P

Today's Saturday Sky photo was actually taken on September 2nd at the Primus Vineyards. Clickety Biggety!

Ah the Memories.

Recently I had a very wonderful person come for a visit. I've mentioned him several times in the past, though without much detail. He's in the family I choose for myself, and also just happens to be in the whole blood family dealy. Odd how that works out sometimes. heh. For the purposes of referring to him as something other than my brother while maintaining his privacy, he will henceforth  be called RenDogg.

We actually hooked up in a city a few thousand miles from here for a few days before making our way back to Reno back on August 21st. He had a lot of work to do the first part of his time in Reno so we mostly just hung out and watched Harry Potter movies while drinking lots of Éphémère in the evenings when he had some free time. During that time I also finished book seven, the final book of the Harry Potter series. *sigh* So sad to see it finished.

Unfortunately Rendogg had to go back early so instead of staying here until next week as planned he went back a few days ago. So sad to see it finished.

No worries though I should be able to see him a few more times this year if I play my cards right. *Happy Otter Dance* :D

Before he left the Honey and I were able to take him to do some extra fun stuff.

Last Sunday the Honey drove us over to Placerville California to explore some of the Vineyards in the area. There are a BUNCH. We managed to hit 6 of them.

Why yes I did do my duty to Resolution # 10. Heh. The whole time Rendogg was visiting as matter of fact.

My liver hurts. o.0

Here is the Barrel room at Primus. Clickety Biggety!

Our trip to the Placervill Winerys started with Primus Vineyards. (Is Winery really a word or am I just making shit up as I go along? o.0 Wiki says it's real. One more sign I'm not going crazy!) Good starting place, but we found may other wonderful wine experiences along the way that dimmed the shine off the taste of the wines here. I did pick up an interesting bottle of a wine they called Duo. It's a blend of Syrah & Zinfandel. Normally I couldn't be arsed to give a damn about a Zinfindal, but this blend was quite lovely. I think I'll have some friends over in the coming weeks for dinner and serve this. :D We also picked up their 2004 Syrah... but Rendogg and I drank that already. Very good. Nice anytime drinkable red. I think we had that one night while playing a game of Goth. Primus was the only tasting room that cost anything to get in. $5 a person, plus you got to keep the glass. They refunded the fee if you purchased, which we did obviously.

Close up of grapes at Primus.

Our next stop was at a little complex called Camino Wine Plaza that housed four different tasting rooms. We went to two of the rooms. The first one we walked past seemed to be big on Zinfindals and Merlot so we didn't even bother to stick our heads in. When in an area boasting so many options you can be as picky as you want. So moving past whatever that place was we went into a place called Illuminare Estates. We picked up a bottle of their 2005 Petite Syrah which may or may not be saved until Rendogg returns on his next visit. The best part about our visit to this tasting room was meeting the owner. He told us his story and offered us a taste of his upcoming 2002 Pinotage... straight from the brarrel! How cool is that. Well it's hella cool. He used a special device to withdraw some of the wine and put a generous taste into our waiting glasses. Fantastic. Love this stuff. I like it way more than his Syrah. I think he said he would be bottling it this November. I'll be calling an order in. *GRIN*

Within the same complex as Illuminare was a very tasty room called Findleton Estate & Vineyard. I really enjoyed this place. Every wine was very good. Seeing as this was only our third stop and I already had a few bottles of wine I only got one bottle. I wish I had gotten a few things here. I believe we got a Pinot Noir. Rendogg and I drank that while watching Sideways Tuesday night. Heh. One of the reasons I think I was so enamored with this tasting room and it's delicious wines was that the guy pouring had such an engaging personality. He knew his stuff and poured just the right amount. Enough to taste, but not so much you felt bad pouring half a glass out. I know we actually poured a lot of wine out that day. o.0 But since we had so many options and we hadn't had much to eat it seemed like the wise thing to do. Not to mention he kinda reminded me of John Hurt and how can you not love that. ;^)

We skipped the last tasting room here to try our luck elsewhere. We ended up at the Crystal Basin Cellars. This was one of my top two tasting rooms of the day. :D I wish I'd picked up more here as well. *sigh* Oh well it was a learning expedition. I can always order more and/or make another trip up that way. Here we grabbed 3 bottles. Rendogg got a super yummy Barbera (best of the Barbera's we tasted that day in my not so humble opinion. I made a startling purchase of a 2005 Zinfandel. I know. o.0 Weird huh. I wasn't even planning on tasting it, but said why not. I really liked it. We also grabbed a bottle of their yummy Muscat which I believe we drank on Wednesday the 5th.

From there we hit the other top two Winery by the name of Jodar Winery. We were lucky enough to stop in during a Food and Wine pairing event. Fantastic. It was really interesting to see just how the taste of a wine is altered by pairing it with the right flavor. It was fortunate that we stopped in here when we did because we were also very hungry by this point. *L* I enjoyed everything about this place, from the wine to the atmosphere & people. It was an all around excellent tasting experience. I wish I'd gotten more here as well. We got four bottles, a very yummy port that was paired with a chocolate raspberry truffle. We also got some of the chocolates to have with the port later as well. I think this was had during a game of Dread Pirate. Rendogg won. Bastard. The other three bottles we got here will be saved for Rendoggs next visit. They are a very yummy 2005 Barbera, a sweet desert wine called Eva and a unique 2004 Chardonnay.

Our sixth and final stop of the day was the Boegar Winery. This was a good solid winery and I always love it when they have part of the Vineyard on site. Though the tasting counter was large in comparison to some of the places we had been the place was packed with people. I think a bus had just dropped off a bunch of people or something. Either way it was still a very tasty experience. Plus the lady who poured for us told us a great place to have lunch/dinner. Though it was closed as it was Sunday. We ended up at a chain pizza place in desperation. And yes we still managed to have a beer with lunch even though we'd been drinking all day. Resolution # 10 was working into overdrive. *L* They had a lot to choose from and we ended up walking away with a Barbera and a Muscat. I'd like to go back sometime and have a tasting when it's not so packed so I can savor each wine more.

Some great stuff came out of this day trip. Besides the obvious spending time with RenDogg and My Honey I learned a bit about wine and Vineyards.

I also learned since I'm this close there is very little point in buying without first tasting it. Of course this only applies to local-ish wines. It was amazing to me how much a year made a difference in the taste of a wine. At the first place the 04 Syrah was dramatically better than the 05. It also amused me how the smell of a wine could be completely different than the taste.  At Findleton we tasted a wine that seemed almost musty in scent, but was deliciously light in taste. I would have expected the wine to be strong and dry from the scent. Tasting was great, but having the opportunity to smell so many different wines was an experience in itself. I kept trying to get the honey to smell my wine. His taste for wine isn't as sharp as it is for Scotch so he said he didn't see much difference. Now I love the smell of Scotch, well good Scotch, but I can't handle the taste. Too burny. Rendogg is unique in that he has a taste for both. Which is great because I can enjoy wine with him... and beer and just about anything else. Yet he can also enjoy Scotch with the honey. Next time he's here I'm going to be the Designated Driver and take them out for a scotch tasting somewhere. :D

At each stop on our impromptu wine tasting tour we tasted 5 or 6 wines. I'm not sure how much we actually drank  during that time as it became apparent early on that we'd have to take small samples and pour out those wines that weren't as exemplary or when we simply at the end of our palate at that stop. Drinking water and swishing helped us to try as many wines as we did.

It was deffinatly a fun experience doing all those tastings. Something I hope Rendogg and I can do many many more times. There are hundreds of Vineyards up in those hills to try yet. :D

Here are the remaining wines left from our trip up through the El Dorado. Clickety Biggety!

I'd have taken more pictures of our journey if I'd been thinking. Instead of thinking I opted to drink and have fun.

Good Times. Good Times. /Jerry Blank

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend...

Yesterday after the honey took me to see Transformers (LOVED IT) we encountered a dust storm on the way home. So in place of Saturday Sky photos you'll get those. It's always something these days. All three photos are clickety biggety.

Recently my sweet little kitty TKK has had a string of bad luck. It started last week when she was sitting in her living room kitty bed near one of the coffee tables. While she was cutely minding her own business she had a sudden and brief storm of tea and ice cubes rain down upon her. Naturally she was startled and jumped up looking confused. My honey who happened to be sitting on that end of the couch jumped up started as well. He had a sudden and brief loss of a glass of ice tea.

Meanwhile I dropped my knitting and grabbed some towels.

Laughing and laughing and laughing all the while.

I laughed while I dried off the kitty, the cat bed and the carpet.

The honey accused me of being cruel towards the kitty. He felt very bad for giving her an ice tea bath. It's not that I'm mean it was just really funny.

After she was dry she got up on the couch and sat very close to me looking a little paranoid, but I guess she figured she was safe near me.

So you'd think it would be less funny the next night.

It was not.

This time she just lay there in the cool puddle that pooled around her.

And I laughed and laughed and laughed some more.

I dried her and the bedding off and told the honey to stop doing that. Though I laughed while I said it so I wonder how seriously he took me. She moved to sit next to me and has been sitting there whenever I'm on the couch.

She's been dry for several days now. heh.

This morning she had a different kind of shock. One that woke all of us up in a most unpleasant manner.

She fell between the bed and the night stand, about a 3 or 4 inch space. Between that space I have a narrow waste basket. Yup, she fell right into it. Her wittle head and front paws sticking up were all you could see. As you can imagine she yelped out in a very unhappy and scared way. 

I'm fairly tuned into her activities at night and the moment I heard her slip and the coaster fall off the night stand I was awake and had the light on. I scooped her up out of the waste basket quickly and made sure she was alright. Within a moment she was on my pillow purring and happy for the early morning company.

I did not laugh.

That was around 4:30 am. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was pretty much awake. The honey was awake too so we had a philosophical discussion on the principals of cat butt. If she is licking my face in what direction does her butt point and is it close to another's face. He thinks his argument proves she should not be on the bed.

Just about that time several high pitched howling sounds pierced the air and we both got up to explore the source. Well explore it was much as we can from our backyard. The Coyotes were on the other side of the fence, across the road a ways. They howled for a bit and then went on their way. After that I was pretty much up for the day.

*zombie face*

I have not been getting enough sleep. It's too hot and weird. Plus I just have too much on my mind. I'm kinda stressed and just about ready to snap.

Lemme tell ya, when I do I'm taking out all the stupid people who have been irritating me. I am so fucking sick of biting my tongue when someone says or does something stupid.

I think perhaps holding in my feelings for so long has me a bit on the edge and the irritation and frustration is seeping out in unexpected ways. I'm starting to say what I think to people who really shouldn't have to hear it and some who should. I'll give a few examples.

Recently I was at a yarn shop visiting with a friend. She pointed out some colorful and loud textured yarn someone else we know might like. Without checking my head filter I just blurted what I thought of it. Which happens to be that I thought it looked like something a cat might vomit up. Classy I know. o.0

In my defense it actually looked like a cat had gone through someone's stash and eaten a bit of this and that. Maybe some merino, fuzzy mohair, ribbon yarn and a mix of anything else you can imagine. Add in some other kitty tummy contents give it a whirl in the old blender and you had this yarn. Bloody awful.

BUT I shouldn't have said anything, certainly not in front of some lady who worked there. I apologized for blurting that out but the damage was done. But at least I didn't say HEY LADY.

The other incident took place last week when the honey took me out for dinner. I ordered a Mango Daiquiri and when it arrived at the table it tasted awful. Too bad to drink even. It was way too strong and you couldn't taste the mango at all. I didn't feel like saying anything, cause most of the time I wouldn't. Though you can be sure I made the honey taste it. *L*

A bit later the waitress asked if the drink was okay. I said it was fine and then she said how she was asking because they were trying out a new recipe. I kinda blurted out, "Oh you really wanna know, you weren't just asking." Then I told her nice as I could what I thought with some constructive criticism. She asked if I wanted something else and at that point I just wanted ice tea so I got that instead. I don't like being the lab rat to some bartender who thinks they are bing creative. *icky shivers*

But mostly I just want to tell those assholes in my life to knock it off. Who knows maybe I'll start being more direct.

I think I'll start by telling anyone who gives me unasked for advice to go suck it. Or maybe I'll tell those people who act out in attention seeking ways to knock it off. There's a bunch of other things that are currently irritating the fuck out of me.

Mostly I just want the clueless to get a clue. Life is just too short to deal with that shit.

Another thing that annoys the fuck of of me... Have you seen that damn visa commercial with the people buying flowers at a nursery or something using their stupid ass fast pay thingy? The music in the commercial is from the movie Brazil. *head 'splodes*

o.0 They are trying to make the commercial seem like if you do the "paper system", cash or checks you are slowing down the system. In the commercial the system breaks down when something very slight goes out of place for a moment, much like in the movie Brazil. When I first saw that commercial I was stunned for a moment and my honey asked what was up. I pointed out that they were using the music from Brazil in the commercial and then he was stunned too.

Did they not see how fucking Ironic that is. Not in a good way that favors them, but that proves how the system should be more flexible. If you have this rigid one way only system that punishes people for doing one little thing different then we're all fucked. Feh. The world is irritating me on so many levels right now. I love that song, how dare they sully it. Fuckers. (yes, yes I know...)

Well I've been a bit long winded here this morning so perhaps I should end this and be on my way.

But before I go I'll just say this, the next time someone asks me what I really think I may very well fucking tell them.

Saturday Sky, Road Trip & Squishy Balls Oh My!!

Saturday a few knitting friends and I went on a Road Trip Adventure to NorthStar in Truckee California. We were going to go up by the lake (Tahoe that is) but the yarn store we were planning on going to had moved locations. It was likely for the best considering the recent fires and all.

The day started off bright and early. Very early. :P

I met some friends for coffee at 7:30 and hung out for a bit before some of us headed off to the appointed meeting place for the adventure. There were eleven of us heading up the hill in a number of vehicle's. I rode up with MonkeySocks and Freddie. *GRIN*

As that was many days ago I can't tell you all the funny stuff that was said or that happened. Ma Brain Is Dead. *zombie face*

I can tell you that I got a Squishy Ball from Freddie. Squishy Ball of yarn that is. :P

It is the same dyelot of yarn as my honey socks. I may be able to complete his socks in one yarn now. Or at least just have his toes be the solid color and not part of the foot as well. :D Thank You, Freddie!

Here are my squishy balls of yarn and the socks at the River Ranch Lodge.

The photo was taken outside on the Patio where we stopped for lunch. :D

It was beautiful by the river, so here is the Saturday Sky.

Several of us split a pitcher of Rum Punch with our outdoor grilled lunches of burgers and fries. The Rum Punch was yummy and fulfilled the Resolution #10 part of the trip.

Then we got back into our cars and made our way further up the hill to the NorthStar Village.

The yarn shop we were looking for was called Loopy. It had a mix of high end luxury fiber yarns and those kitschy flashy novelty yarns. I'll never fully understand those yarns. Though I did see some that would look great knit up as a shower curtain for someone who just came out of a coma from the 1970's.

I picked up some yarn for a project I saw a sample of in the store. I've never been so excited about a store sample in all my life. When I saw it I almost embarrassed the holy crap outta myself. Thankfully I shut my mouth right fast. Only one person saw what almost happened and she was cool about it. Though shocked as you can imagine.

Upon seeing this fuzzy wuzzy awesomely soft knit object I started to call out to the shop owner. I said in a hopefully not too loud voice, "Hey L...", before I caught myself. I looked down with huge freaked out eyes. MonkeySocks leaned over and with a look of pure horror asked if I was just about to call out "Hey Lady". Sadly I was. I don't know what came over me. I'm just glad I stopped.

I have never called out to anyone Hey Lady, much less a stranger. Too weird. This yarn had a hold of me and was not about to let me leave with my sanity intact.

Now what I'm about to say next may shock some of you. So be warned.

I got... I got... some Loopy Mohair. o.0

I fell in love with this Be Sweet Loopy Mohair.

Totally funny considering my history with the Loopy Mohair.

In my defense it's BABY mohair and the store sample was really really soft. After she knit the scarf she brushed it with a stuff bristled brush until it was all soft and fuzzy.

Plus the colors were my colors.

Did I mention it was crazy soft?

Don't look at me that way. :P

I got enough, and it was damn expensive enough I might add, to make a fuzzy brushed stole/shawl type thing.

Now the last time I knit with the Loopy Mohair I learned real fast the downfalls when knitting too tight. The yarns calls for size 11 needles though, so I think I'll be okay.

Yeah no photo, you'll see it once it starts getting knit up. Which may be sooner than later cause I'm dying to see how it'll knit up for me. :D

After we left the yarn shop we started to walk down to a bead shop, but most of us got distracted by a shoe shop.

They had some... interesting looking shoes on sale for 75% off. There were a few crazy cute pairs. MonkeySocks got some really nifty looking shoes and T got some really comfy looking buttery soft leather shoes. In fact I'd say some of the people were more interested in the shoes than the yarn, and I don't blame them. *L* As for the "interesting" looking shoes there were a couple pair that seriously make me question what the hell the designer was thinking.

I'd call them Burlap Sack Chic. No really they looked like Burlap Sacks pieces that had been chewed up by a dog and then glued over the top of a shoe form. o.0

One of the pair was a set of high heals. Cause you just know you want some raggedy looking burlap sack bits when you go out for a night on the town. The other was a pair of sandals.

Either way it seemed like they'd cause your feet to be extremely uncomfortable. Burlap is not a soft fabric. Weird.

After that we went to the Bead store where I found some really pretty aqua beads and some other stuff and some stuff for earrings. The most important part though was that the aqua beads were also coveted by MonkeySocks, but I got them first.

Let's take a moment to reflect upon this. I got 'em, she didn't.

*evil grin*

Having me for a friend is a tricksey sort of thing. :P

The rest of the day was fun, though after leaving the bead store we headed back home.

I had a super fun day with all my knitting peoples.

Had fun with 'em last night too. :D

Which reminds me, SillyBuns (S) give me your email address.

Well I have stuff I gotta go get on with. Hopefully that will include finishing the Honey Socks. :D

Saturday Sky, Kitty & a Swatch Oh My!

So today is Saturday Sunday and yesterday in addition to taking advantage of the yummy 50% all yarn sale that Florrie had going on down at Deluxe Yarns I took some photos of the sky... and some other stuff. :D

Post was started yesterday, but due to weird no rain electrical storms that made the power flicker and feeling like hell I had to shut the computer down and go stare at the wall and make faces at the cat.

Here's a colorful Reno Sunset as seen from my comfy backyard. (Clickety Biggety!)

These next several photos feature TKK as well as the sky. She is such a good photography subject. :D

Kitty with a blue sky background - Clickety Biggety

That's her bone in the background. She STILL loves that thing.

Later in the evening The Honey and I were tossing around a ball and she got all excitde and started chasing it. Ya know I think my honey's desire to have a doggie and my kitties desire to please us and play with us is making her more puppy like everyday. She's an old kitty so she can do whatever she likes, including act like a puppy if she must. *L* It was crazy cute to see her run after the ball though. When she finally got in she sat on it. *L*

You probably noticed her lack of fur in that photo. I shaved her Friday. Couldn't take the fur anymore.

She's a very patient kitty and enjoys being shaved. Purring the whole time. It's weird over here.

But in a good way. ;^)

Well mostly. We do have a crazy bird situation going on. More of a Bird Gang Situation really. o.0

For the last several weeks every time we put TKK outside and she's alone or ten feet away from us this crazy ass bird tries to attack her. The first time it happened the honey didn't believe me. She was walking over to me from the fence and this bird swooped down and took a dive at her. TKK jumped and flipped around in shock. I called out to the honey and told him what had happened. He said birds don't attack cats. Then a little later it happened again. Only this time crazy assed bird brought along a few friends. o.0 Since that day TKK has not been allowed outside on her own due to this crazy shit. Too weird! Also the honey has seen it a lot more and is now ready to kill the damn bird. Nobody messes with our wittle furface and gets away with it. This is war. He chases the bird away when he see's it and TKK has taken to trying to lure it over. I think she believes this is some kind of kill it yourself birdie delivery system. She knows a snack is involved somehow. *L*

The weird thing is that the lead bird is always the same one. It has a feather sticking out oddly on it's right side when he sets down on the tree or fence. I'm calling him Spike. Here's a photo of the offending bastard.

I'm mostly peace loving and all that shit, but this bird is living on borrowed time as far as I'm concerned. Leave my cat alone, ButtMunch!! o.0

I caught her meowing into the wind. I think she might be telling me to go get her a birdie snack. Too cute. ;)

Finally here's the swatch to my current project. I finished the swatch and took the photo on Tuesday the 29th.

When I started the swatch I was planning on doing sweater pattern A. The pattern called for a size US8 needle, so I swatched on a 9 since I'm a tight knitter. I didn't like how the fabric looked even though I got gauge, so next I went to an 8 to try. Well I meant to. In actuality I grabbed a 10. Then my gauge was WAYYYYY off.  So I went to the 8, not understanding how my gauge could be SOOOOO off. When I  went to measure my swatch this time it occurred to me that  somewhere in there I decided to go with sweater pattern B which had a much smaller gauge than pattern A.  *sigh* It's not easy being this brilliant.  The new pattern called for a US size 6, so I tried it with a 7 and got gauge. *L* I like the fabric I'm knitting up much better and the overall patten a lot better for my very own sweater. *Super Happy Otter Dance*

I cast on for my Neck Down Pullover Tunic Tuesday night and am loving it muchly so far.

I still need to weave in my ends and wash the one I did for the Dulaan project. This week I will finish up all that and box my stuff off to mail. :D

Saturday Sky, Big Ass Bug & a Huge Hat Oh My!

It is the early hours of Saturday morning. I survived another week. It was close, but thankfully there was a lack of Barry Manilow so I think it's going to be okay. heh.

Thankfully rather than Barry there was Ok Go with Here it goes again. *L* (The song not the video)

Much better than Berry to be stuck in ones head at the end of the week eh. ;^)

The reason I'm up so early is because my throat (hello Tonsils, please fuck off!) is killing me. The smoke from the recent fires is making it a bit more irritating to breathe. Thing is I kinda need to breathe on a fairly regular basis. I have a real doctor appointment thingy this coming Thursday so lets hope they give me some magical cure for this nonsense.

Now for the Big Ass Bug the honey took me to see yesterday. We had to run a few appointments at the north end of town so he made sure we took a turn past this. He knows I carry my camera with me all the time and love to find interesting visual objects with which to amuse myself. He asked if I could use it for my sky thing and I told him no I'd use it for  Eye Candy Friday. He, having no clue what the heck I was talking about said I was cute and that was that. I didn't have time to post before I ran off, as Vikkie would say, to play yarn with some friends, so here it is today. Notice the sky was a lovely blue yesterday morning. By evening it was windy as hell and looked like rain. Or at least smokey grey. (No Rain, None Expected)

When we first came upon the huge ass bug sculpture it looked like a giant spider.

(All Bug Pics, Clickety Biggety)

Then I thankfully realized it only had 6 legs and I felt a bit more enthusiastic about it. *L*

It kinda makes me think of Spider Man, like something he might fight. :D

I have to wonder if this big black bug got into a fight against Vikkie's Rainbow Barf Bug which one would win. *L*

*pokes Vikkie* Love you. *kissy face*

*pinky wave*

Yeah it may yet be a little too early. *L*

In knitting news I finish this hat last Saturday while knitting with MonkeySocks, Florrie & Vikkie. It's nice to actually finish something. I still need to wash it though. Details Shmetails!

The photo was taken a little bit ago. So yeah no natural lighting, but thems the breaks kiddos.

I started this hat last year... when who knows?! Maybe late November. I think I remember sticking it on a pumpkin. But that may just be my twisted imagination. o.0

Yarn: Lornas Laces. Yummy soft fun to knit.

Colorway: One of them! (No clue what I did with the label...)

Needles: US 9 - 16" circs, and Vikkie lent me some DPN's to finish it off and get it done.

Top: Spiral. Looks kinda neat.

For: Gift For Friend

Tomorrow I'll either be knitting on the honey socks, My tenth Dulaan project: a kid hat or maybe Duckie Hat.

Notice the sweater isn't on the list. *GRIN*

I finished knitting the sweater last night. Now I just need to weave in my ends and wash & block it. 

*Super Happy Otter Dance*

I think I'm going to start my own sweater Monday or Tuesday. And my own pair of Socks for my upcoming travels.

Wheeeeeeeee!! Exciting times at the House of Otter. :D

Sunday Sky & The Happenings

I didn't take a picture of the Saturday Sky yesterday. I intended to. Not that it was a very photogenic sky. Beautiful though it was with it's wispy white tendrils clinging to the mountains and pale blue kisses visible of the teasing sky. Just busy I guess. Or a mind preoccupied. Mainly though the images would have been washed away by my point and shoot camera. I have entirely changed my mind (AGAIN) on the whole camera thing. I really want a DSLR camera, but... well I need to do a bit more research. Plus I want a new tighter point and shoot. Maybe after work Monday I'll run out and have a hands on lookie see. I've been looking at various online review sites, but sometimes you just gotta hold the little bad boys in your hands.

If anyone has any personal experience with DSLR camera's you'd like to share or have any recommendations on brands I'm open for some friendly advice? I was going to make the purchase at Circuit City. That has changed given how messed up they have proven themselves to be by their recent business practices I think I'll go elsewhere. That's just not cool.

Last night as I was waiting for MonkeySocks to show up at a restaurant not far from my house for dinner and I started to take a picture of the view. It was facing towards my house and even though the sunset was muted due to the overcast sky it was still breathtaking.

But then I realized my camera batteries were dead. *L*

Le Sigh, Them's the breaks kiddo. So no Saturday Sky Picture. I do have a new pack for my upcoming trip to Otterland. We leave early Wednesday and will be back Saturday afternoon...  or Sunday afternoon. As for the Morrissey Concert on Sunday. We'll see. I'd love to go, but.. well we'll see.

So dinner with MonkeySocks was fantastic. She was a bit late due to a yarn emergency, but as a fellow knitter I could totally relate and begrudge her nothing for it. Sometimes you gotta put the yarn in the naughty corner and she had some naughty ass yarn on her hands. *L*

It was okay that she was late. It was nice to be in a quiet moment and just think. It was windy and much cooler than it should have been, but it felt nice to just breathe for a moment and look at the sky.

It amazes me how much people can have to say to one another. We we're there talking for four hours or so, pretty much nonstop. Then after I had called my honey to tell him I was coming home in a bit we decided to take it elsewhere. We went and had mint tea and talking at a place not too far from my house for a few more hours.

This was especially funny since I'd only had a few hours sleep the night before and had sand paper eyelids and was just about to fall over prior to meeting up with her. I can't blame my hyper upness on her entirely... A few hours before we hooked up I had a Grande Non Fat, No Whip, 3 Pump Triple shot Peppermint Mocha (I'm a Pod People!) . Holy Fuck was that yummy. *grin* It did what it was intended to do and kept me going long after my ass should have been in the sack.

When I finally made it home after 2:00 am I slept really really well. First time in weeks I've slept more than 6 hours. That was nice.  I imagine I'll sleep well in OtterLand too.

As for the knitting I'll be taking with me... we'll see. I've got several things going right now. Though I really want to get started on some Dave Lace... and the Kew Socks... and and and... so many things. My mind is a twitter with all of the possibilities. But perhaps I should finish something I'm already on. The honey socks will be good for car & travel knitting. Plus the Ducky Hat or maybe the scarf... I really need to finish something. *L*

As for the Sunday Sky, here is a photo I took back on the 8th when the honey took me to Animal Ark. I love a big sky. One of the reasons I love Nevada so much, you can see where you are.

Clickety Biggety

In other news I made it to the gym two times this week. Plus a little walking on the side. At the gym Wednesday night I first walked on the flat gerbil wheel thingy also known as a treadmill. I did a mile in half the time it normally takes me. *grin* Then I did some weights and topped it off with a lot of laps in the pool. Then Friday when I was with my morning workout partner in crime I did 15 hard fast minutes on the elliptical trainer and 1.3 miles on the treadmill in decent time. I'm feeling pretty darn spiffy about myself these days. *Super Happy Otter Dance*

This week Rachel will be off doing some special stuff and I'll be in OtterLand later in the week so I'm going to try to get my workouts in early in the week. Plus I'll be walking all over OtterLand so that's good. Heh. Anything in OtterLand is good though. ;^)

Saturday Sky & Vikkie Day Oh My!

What day is today? *blink* Where have I been? Lots going on over here for the Otter. It's a very fun time. :D

This past Saturday was an absolutely wonderful day.

Although it was a bit windy and sometimes overcast it was really nice. Plus it was Vikkie Day so it was kickass, just as one might expect a Vikkie Day to be.

Before I go any further let me show you the sky, as seen from the front porch of my favorite LYS.

The day started off bright and early for me. Actually I'm not sure how bright it was then. I got up at 6:00 am and started preparing the Vikkie Day Lunch. I made a baked pasta thingy and salad.  I got to the shop around 10:00 and started drinking lots of coffee and knitting & Chatting with Florrie and another nifty lady who was there.

Guess who was not there? Well two people, but freakishly missing was one Miss Vickie.

How can you have a Vikki Day without a Vikkie? Not like you can just randomly pick one up at the store. *sigh* So that's when the harassing phone calls started. I had to call her twice before she finally showed up. Something about knitting like mad in a crazy sock competition while going to school and needing to sleep sometime. Pfbt! Sleep is for the dead. And the undead. She could'a knit through the pain. :P

(YAY!! Squeee!! I just saw on the sock thingy that she won a prize and I'm such a dork I called her to tell her to check the sock madness blog. Dork History in the making!)

After Vikkie Finally showed up we got to knit and talk and just be plain silly. I'm good at silly so this was mucho fun for me. :D Florrie, Vikkie and I had some of the yummy lunch and then Florrie got back to her stuff and left me to annoy Vikkie all by myself until MonkeySocks eventually showed up. The three of us went outside onto the comfy Patio to knit and talk while we enjoyed the sometimes sunny afternoon. I took a picture of Vikkie while she was knitting. With her permission here it is.

Vikkie Knitting in her natural habitat @ Deluxe Yarns aka Florrie's.

I was stalking her through Florrie's Irises. :P

We knit and talked some more until Rachel showed up after 5:00 and the four of us went to Vikkie Day dinner. I had a few drinks ti further my way along with Resolution #10. *L* I even got Vikkie & MonkeySocks to get a Dirty Vodka Martini. I'm not sure how they liked them. How'd you guys like that? *L* Most people don't care for straight up Grey Goose vodka with a splash of olive juice. Mmmm I love it.  Rachel has people inside her and therefore was the responsible person of the night. There may even have been some yummy Vikkie Day Yarn Giftie involved in the evening. It was a last minute giftie MonkeySocks and I picked up for Vikkie after we noticed her eye balling it all day.

After a yummy dinner Rachel went home and MonkeySocks and I went to Vikkie's to see her yarn and knit things. Also some crocheted things. She has these little crochet purses. One of them looked very much like a Penis Cozy. *snicker*

MonkeySocks drove me home sometime after 10:00 pm... maybe closer to 11:30...

It's amazing how much people can talk about with other people. It was a really fun day and I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to meet all these nifty Reno Knitters.

*Blows kisses at all my Girlies* *wink wink*

So yeah still no knitting content. I have been knitting. Just nothing really new to show for it. The Ducky Hat and I are doing this two steps forward one step back thing. Gotta tink back another row. I really shouldn't have been knitting the chart part of his face during the season finale of Battlestar Galactica. D'oh!

The honey socks are going well. I'm doing an Eye of the Partridge Heal and am LOVING it. :D So cool!

Other than that just dreaming about all the cool knit projects I want to do with all the cool yarn I have. *L*