Pischi Days

I've Always Depended on the Kindness of Strangers...

When you sign up to a swap, you definitely take chances that the person that you've been assigned to has a different standard of gift-giving. Thats OK. You also take a chance in that you will be left out of the process altogether. Thats OK, too. It can happen. Many feel that they've over-committed and can't quite find a graceful exit so they go underground. Perhaps situations at home or at work are so overwhelming and...well, we've all been there.
I signed up for the Hurricane Swap Party this year. I have had two fabulous swap experiences, nay, make that three. Our fabulous swap hostess, Christybelle, was my angel and sent a box my way when my person couldn't.
I arrived at my desk this afternoon and waiting in the chair was a little box. Our small office was curious. Everyone shook the wonder package, even the dog. Inside were a cavalcade of surprises. Nestled among endless leis and plucky pink flamingos were, treats to eat, yarn to knit with, needles and snazzy tissues in fabric cases (lovingly sewn), soap for the lingerie drawer, and a lacy sock. I have another WIP! 
Thank you ever so much for your generosity, Christy. You shouldn't have...but I'm glad you did!

Mail Call

Hey, guess what these are. Maybe I'm the last one in the know (again), but I'll share anyway. They're MOO mini cards. Mine happen to be calling cards with my contact info on the back. How to order, you ask? Easy. I used my flickr account, choose  images that I liked, cropped them to my liking and divested my PayPal account by $20.00. Cheap and cheerful. The cards arrived in less than a week in todays mail, from the UK, no less. They are small but oh, so cute. I can just hand them to anyone interested in finding me  or my blog...
Just a little knitting update so I can say that some knitting has taken place. Tom and I actually put the boat into the water for the first time this season. My sock went along for the ride. I am rotating between Victorian lace Sock 1 and Marble Arches Sock 2. Most of the weekend was spent cataloging yarn and projects in Ravelry.

Here is another item that I received in the last weeks mail. Firebird is the newest STR yarn installment. I am woefully behind knitting up the sock yarn. I also snuck two skeins of the new Handmaiden Fleece Artist Sea Wool into the stash. Now that I have the Vintage Velvet off the needles, I think that I will concentrate on the Stormwater shawl that I've let languish as a WIP for to long.
To end my missive, a bit of gratuitous kitty photography. Here's Kittywitz hanging out in the backyard hammock. Just don't put your hand beneath the hammock in the vicinity of her paws. You've been warned...

Reveling in Ravelry

My daily trip to the email box yielded my invitation to the new fiber site, Ravelry. I admit , I was starting to feel left out of the revelry that the podcasters and bloggers who belonged were talking about.
Unfortunately my invitation was read on my lunch break and I had to wait until last evening to really take time to become  acquainted with the site. To begin, one starts by filling out a profile with as much or as little information as one is willing to impart. You probably know the drill. Thats when the fun begins. The notebook is an area that lets you comprehensively inventory your yarn, needles, projects in gory detail. You can then add photos from your flickr account to illustrate your stash and projects. The stash can be labeled with a project idea or you can earmark the unloved skein for sale or swap. The benefits, along with gaining an understanding of what you own, are inclusion in Ravelry's database of projects, finished, in progress, queued, or stashed using that yarn. Brilliant. Now I can type in the name of that pesky skein that I can't seem to find a project for and find instant inspiration and some reviews of the yarns performance. All this info link back to other blogs that I never new existed. I can inventory my books, needles of all sizes and types, and my projects that are complete or in the works. The site goes a bit further and matches your profile with those who also shared your projects at one time or another. There is an internal mailroom with which to make contact. After about a day, your public profile will find your blog feed and place a miniature picture of your start page along with a list of your most recent blogposts. As I was drunkenly careening through Ravelry's corridors, I received 3 messages, 2 from old friends, Amy and Scarlett, whose blogs I already enjoy.
Does all this activity take time away from knitting. Well, in my case, you bet. My take on this is that once the initial time is spent cataloging your stuff, all you have to do is dust and polish occasionally. The benefits, to this knitter, are incalculable. I so impressed with the work that has been done by Casey and Jesse, that this is a service that I'm will to pay for.

Vintage Knitting

My fondest wish is to have knitting fly off the needles. As I read through the lengthy blog feeds and see tanks tops, sweaters, intricate lace shawls materialize before my eyes, a girl can get a complex. Right, Kristin?!
I am happy to debut a project off the needles. This should have been a quick knit but my knitting time has been spotty at best. Macon was where I first fell in love with this type of plush yarn. It was in the form of Plymouth Sinsation in a rich crimson color. I found a cable pattern online and proceeded to knit a scarf. Not long after that, Pam Allen's book Scarf Style  found its way into my book collection. The Vintage Velvet caught my eye. I found 3 skeins of Muench Touch Me in a smoky rose color on the now defunct "Destash" site. I had to supplement the 3 with 2 more at full price. The yarn is a wool and microfiber blend is soft and supple to knit with. The pattern utilizes cables throughout and is an excellent introduction for those with cable phobia. As an added bonus the pattern is the same on both sides. After the scarf is complete, it takes a bath in the hot cycle of the wash and a preliminary spin in the dryer. This produces a felted chenille fabric with the look the Vintage Velvet.



The scarf is shown posing among the Hollyhocks along the fence of our herb garden.

DeStash No More

Once upon  a time two knitters, who had nothing better to do (they must have been out of stuff to knit), decided to get the rest of us knitters organized by setting up a site where one  could display their unwanted, unused stash for other to purchase and love. All the knitters rejoiced and proceeded to their closets to clean out old patterns, books, notions and yarn. After they photographed and posted a short description of their unwanted treasures, floods of other knitters flocked to the sight and bought up the goodies. On the knitter's side, things were going smoothly. The word spread and soon yarn was flowing back and forth across the country and sometimes around the world.  What the knitter's didn't know was the enormous amount of time that it took our two heroines to maintain this wonderful site.  Alas and alack, all wonderful things must come to an end. Our heroines must have found a nifty pattern to knit instead of ministering this site because they have decided to bring the curtain down on "Destash - Cash for Your Stash".
A collective moan was released when the knitters everywhere clicked the links on their sidebars and found this sad message.

Thank you so much, Susan and Terri. It was great while it lasted!

Now if we could all just get our Ravelry invites...

Only the Best For You

Since my last blueberry foray (scroll down) to Holland Farms yielded blueberries for a year, I was thrilled to be able to pull on a hat, strap a bucket to my waist, and scour the bushes again. This years harvest was picked over commercially and I really had to work to reach 20 pounds. It took me two days and several passes through the rows. The results were worth it.
I am sharing my favorite blueberry muffin recipe with you. It is truly the best recipe that I have come across. Saturday's breakfast muffin's were baked by Tom Terrific. I polished the last one off and am wiping the crumbs off my chin as I type. Enjoy!

The Best Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, or less depending on the tartness of the blueberries
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup blueberries (mash 1/2 cup with a fork)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Heat oven to 375º F. Grease 12 regular muffin cups, include the area between the cups or use foil cups.
In a medium size bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla, baking powder , and salt.
Mix mashed blueberries into batter.
Fold in half the flour with a spatula, then half the milk. Add the remaining flour and milk. Fold in the remaining blueberries.
Scoop the batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with the nutmeg sugar.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the muffins cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.

3...2...1...Stop

As the mother of a boy on the verge of manhood, quality time spent together is running thin. Yesterday was  among those priceless moments that made all the heartache worthwhile.
We live close to the banks of the Indian River. Just across the water lay the launch pads for NASA. You can see the vehicle assembly building quite clearly. We have witnessed all the launches, those successful and regretfully those that were not so. I had no plans to watch this launch. It was Friday, and I was glad to call it a week. Then I experienced a pang of impending regret, one of those fleeting feelings that this moment, if not acted upon, would be lost in regret.
As I was driving home from work in the increasing chaotic traffic, north on US1, toward home, I called Erik who was horizontal on the couch in front of the TV escaping the sweltering heat and requested his presence in the driveway. The minute I pulled up he tossed his skateboard into the bed of the truck and joined me in the cab. We  sped off back in the direction of the river. On the spur of the moment we decided to head towards the old downtown area and my friend Terri's antique store on US1. The traffic had doubled and all vehicles in Florida were converging onto the same road, or so it seemed. We found an oasis of forgotten parking behind the bakery. Across the street we found Jon, Terri, and baby Mia watching the bumper to bumper traffic, all those who were looking for the perfect vantage point to watch the launch of Atlantis. Jon pulled out a conglomeration of chairs and we settled companionably to watch the parade of humanity, in cars and on foot. The variety of people and vehicles was staggering to watch.
During the last 10 minutes prior to liftoff, we packed up chairs, marched through the store, out the back door, down the block to the rear of the post office on the river. We barely had time to observe the diversity of people when everyone pointed and shouted. There was the liftoff, a huge white plume led by a blinding spot of light heading on a southeastern trajectory toward the space station.
After launch, we settled back in our variety of chairs from the shop, beer and wine in hand, and watched all those people attempt a speedy departure. Only it wasn't very speedy. I was reminded of those scenes in the movies where the grizzled men sit in front of variety stores and watch humanity go by. We sat companionably well into the night, chatting and observing the sky turn a rich blue. Erik and I bid our hosts good bye and headed to one of the last remaining drive-ins, the Moonlight, for a BLT for me and a burger and chocolate shake for Erik. With our tray hooked to the window, the radio playing in the background, we munched our supper in companionable silence. Erik looked over at me and said, "Mom, I had such a great time tonight". So did I, son, so did I.

Nothing Says We're Back Like a Load of Laundry

I have unpacked and waded through endless piles of laundry, washed, dried, ironed, and folded my Saturday away. Now I can comfortably say, "I'm back."
Our trip to Maui was, as all vacations are, too short. I had never imagined myself ever making the journey there. My flights always take me east to Europe. This was my first experience going the other direction. Our sortie was non eventful and long. We flew into the small Kahului Airport on Tuesday and boarded the bus for the hotel. I was bleary eyed and  stared out the window at the endless sugarcane fields. All of a sudden the landscape changed from agricultural fields in immaculate landscapes filled with plumeria, bougainvillea, ginger, and all types of tropical plants. We had arrived at the Grand Wailea Resort. Spectacular. The Grand is a five star resort that sits on the western edge of the island. The grounds are lushly landscaped with water features, amazing plants, and lots of sculptures among the brooks, lawns, and gardens.
Unfortunately, the resort is far flung from all the cultural sites and local flavor. That didn't stop us. We picked up the local bus schedule and headed out into the real world of Maui. I have posted pictures on flickr and will be spending time updating the titles and descriptions.
As I had hoped, the knitting came in very handy. I was seen knitting at the pool, in the lobby, in line while waiting for a table at breakfast, and on the bus. The results were the completion of one of the "Marble Arch" socks from STR and a partial "Hurricane Sock Party" sock. I shamelessly used one of the countless Botero  sculptures as a foot model. Regretfully her feet were a little too broad.
The completed sock.
Yesterday I cast on the new Six Sox pattern, "Victorian Lace." I am using stash, Lorna's Laces Baby Stripe, yarn that I purchased from Olga on the DeStash site. The pattern uses a melon stitch that I have not tried before. I like the results.
The rest of our first Sunday home started with another great waffle breakfast, courtesy of Tom Terrific, blueberries handpicked last week, and souvenir Maui Gold pineapple.
Today the boys are in the garden, happily spreading mulch and taking frequent catnip breaks.

Better Damp Than Never

With Tropical Storm Barry situated southwest of Tampa, we greet June 1st with much needed rain.
On this, the first day of the hurricane season, my rendition of the "Springtime in Paris" sock has been cast off. I finished the last few stitches sitting and gazing out on a gray sky and much needed precipitation. I had the first sock knit and took sock two on a fabulous trip to Hawaii. Alas, had I read the instructions more closely I would have understood that only one sock was to be knit. My partner was to knit the mate.
Merveilleux, très bon!
The yarn is from the fabulous dyers at Blue Moon Fiber Arts. This is the Downpour color-way. These pair are heading to the press for blocking and then shipped off to Louisiana and onto the waiting feet of my Hurricane Swap partner, Jill. I hope that she enjoys them as much as I enjoyed knitting them.
The pattern , très intelligent, is one that can be worn inside out. The one side represents raindrops while the other resemble many little Eiffel Towers. Très chic
Here is a close up of the pattern. see the little Eiffel Towers? Where can you find this little pattern, you ask? Why, join my favorite KAL "Six-Sox Knitalong". The new pattern was posted today.
By the way, this was my first attempt at "toe-up." Très bon!
Eye Candy Friday
A little segue. I just want to share my favorite summer  slurp with you. Limoncello with a splash of cranberry juice. You can find this lemony delight on the cordial shelf of your favorite liquor vendor.
Cheers.