The Golden Iris

My vacation last week included some not insignificant travel time on buses and trains, so I was finally able to finish a project for myself! These are the Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd, available via Knitting Daily. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Cool and US 1.5 needles. I'm really pleased with the way these turned out, even if the knitting was a bit tedious. I'm thinking I should knit up more socks at a slightly looser gauge instead of as tight as possible - they feel a little finer and less clunky. These were also my project for this year's Ravelympics, in the WIP Wrestling event. I have too many languishing projects that I need to see through to completion, and I was hoping to get more done, but one finished project is better than none. Back soon with more sample knitting news!

There is nothing like coming home after a day at work to three big boxes at the top of the stairs, each one filled with lovely, lovely yarn. Of course, one box I had to send to myself because I bought too much yarn on my vacation - but the other two.... I have lovely yarn for socks and a top as payment for some sample knitting a while back, and more yarn for more sample knitting! So exciting. Excuse me, I'm going to go play with my yarn now.

Somehow it's August, and I'm not sure how that happened! As the years go by they seem to go faster and faster. All the heat has really pumped up my tropical plants. I woke up this morning to find that my "Pretoria" canna had its first flower. You just can't ignore that glowing orange. It's even more spectacular considering the leaves, which are green and yellow striped, offering its other name of Bengal Tiger. I also have a "Tropicanna" plant, but that one is not quite ready to bloom yet. Next year, come hell or high water, I'm buying "Cleopatra" cannas . I just love the broken color. In other tropical news, my elephant ear is unstoppable. It usually wilts by the afternoon, but I keep it watered and hot and it just gets bigger and bigger. And of course it wouldn't be a jungle without hot things. Jalapenos! Yum... Soon I'll be done with sample knitting, and it will be time for the Ravelympics and whipping up some baby sweat...

Working at a paper store, just like working at any other store, has its pros and cons. For the creative person, it's fabulous - great ideas, great products, and a discount! Of course this means that you end up buying more stuff than you really need at any given time. Take me, for instance. I think personalized stationery is a fabulous idea. It's, well, personal. Of course, to get the real thing is prohibitively expensive for most of us, and who really writes that many letters or notes anymore anyway? Perhaps we should write more. It would get us out from the pale glow of our computer screens and bring back some of that fine motor control we've adapted to pushing virtual iPhone buttons. But I digress. Regardless of how much we really do use it, I found out that personalized stationery is not all that hard to get, and lots of the materials you use to make it can be reused for the next time (you know, after you write a bunch of letters). Ingredients: 8.5x11 paper A2 e...

What was supposed to be a quick trip to the drugstore this morning turned into a much longer trip with several detours. The best detour was a garage sale. 8 books, 2 nearly brand new pair of shoes (to fit my crazy sized feet), and 2 star cookie cutters. $15. What a deal! And even my haul at the drugstore was cheap. Most excellent.

Na na na na na na naaa.... Yes, it's a real Katamari ! I don't have any photos of stuff sticking to it, but with its magnets you can roll it through the junk drawer and pick up all kinds of stuff. And, you know, rebuild the universe. I realized I never wrote about this, even though it was a Christmas gift. Sadly this is a dangerous object in our home - all those strong magnets are dangerous for our various electronics. So it sits in the windowsill, generally being awesome, but kind of lonely. I made mine from Amy Shimel's Magnetic Katamari Pattern , with scraps of acrylic from my mom. And lots and lots of strong magnets and more stuffing than you think would fit into such a small ball. This is usually about as much crocheting as I can stand, so it was a good small project.

This week has brought some lovely things from the garden. Sweet peas... A lovely apricot daylily... And what's this? Yarn? Yarn in the garden? Yes, you guessed it, it's secret stealth knitting time. I received some lovely Schaefer Yarns Judith in an incredible purple (called Betty Friedan). Impossible to photograph, even with a contrast color in the full sun, but still gorgeous. It's a lovely 100% alpaca that looks like it's going to be a joy to work with. I can't tell you much more until the pattern is published, so, until next time, happy knitting. (Don't worry, I won't totally disappear!)