A Bag and Bad Grass

No, not a bag OF bad grass! What are y'all - a bunch of old Hippies?

We have had too many days in a row of over 100 degrees and our grass is showing it. We have been watering but there is no fighting the searing heat.

Thankfully, the tomato plant is still growing well. I have gotten 6 tomatoes so far, and another is still ripening and 3 more are green. There are flowers but no new fruit - too hot! I hope to get another harvest in the fall when it cools down. It was such a treat to eat yummy home-grown tomatoes this summer I think I will plant them again - earlier next time - and maybe 2 plants instead of one.

The BYOB is only a few rows from the top color change:

The seed stitch was really boring me but the openwork in the middle was okay. I hope to finish soon as I am getting tired of it. I love how it is turning out - it will look great when done and worth the boredom. I'm not sure I see another in the future, though.

School starts on the 25 of August and I am trying to plan the schedule of my university students along with my home studio of 32 oboists. I always tell myself I won't teach so many, but then they just keep multiplying! The numbers are a bit out of control right now so I think I will weed out some of my non-practicing pain in the arse kids and encourage them find a new teacher.

Next week begins Mahler 6th Symphony with Ft. Worth Symphony so I will have my hands full. I am also trying to schedule a short trip to NY to see Mom. Yikes - there are not enough hours in the day, days in the week, etc. to accomplish everything.

I hope you stay cool and your upcoming week is joy-filled.

PS - I didn't get to wear my Flutter Sleeve cardigan because it was too hot in Utah too!

Tagged and Bagged

I was Tagged by

Jane.

Here are the Rules:


1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

I have been married to the same man for 22 years.

If I had the room, I would have a workshop with power tools.

I would LOVE to compete in the Amazing Race with my husband.

I never wanted children though I love to teach them.

I prefer a hot climate rather than a cold one. Good thing I live in North Central Texas!

I am not ashamed that I drive an SUV.

I love snuggling on the couch in the dead of winter (as it is here) with a roaring fire in the fireplace and a glass of dry red wine in my hand.

3. Tag 7 people by leaving their names and links to their blogs.

Marj

Lesley

Mer

Sharon

Jessica

Bonnie

Mason

Bagged

Here is my progress on BYOB. It seems like it would be a fast knit, except my patience for rows and rows of seed stitch is limited. I am knitting with the old Cotton Ease yarn with #4 Options.

Once again Blogger is doing something weird with the spacing - sorry.

Thanks for all your great comments on my last few blogs. Sorry I didn't thank you sooner - just count on the fact that I am a delinquent. Er, I mean late in getting to it.

BYU, Friends and Rockies

Here are some scenes from Provo

A view from the campus

Me and my dear friend Fumiko

My name tag has a green ribbon on the bottom because I was a "presenter."

I liked that people knew I was playing and was more recognizable.

People looked at that and commented on our performance.

The Rockies from my plane window

Willa

We even let a clarinet player in. Hi Mary!

IDRS and Oboes

Dear knitting buddies ~ I confess that I have not touched my needles here in Provo. Instead, I have been making reeds, rehearsing and performing. Our recital was this morning and went pretty darn well :-) Then I tried and compared instruments for hours and decided to spend a pretty penny on this:

I have been looking since I sold my other one last summer. This one has a gorgeous sound and I hope will break in nicely. Methinks I will be on a yarn diet for a while. Hmmm ~~~ how much yarn does the cost of an oboe translate into?

I am coming home tomorrow and look forward to not having to race around for a few days and get back to my knitting. On the needles are the BYOB and a pair of Monkey socks. My first priority is the bag (right now, anyway).

Oops - Got to head out for a quick bite then back to BYU for the evening concert. Enjoy your evening.

Back from the beach

We're back! And I am in Provo..... More later.

Thank you

For all your lovely comments. I am looking forward to wearing this one :-)

But before I get a chance to wear it, we are spending a week on the Mayan Riviera with family and friends

lounging on the beach, partaking of fine food and cold adult beverages.

We almost had a crisis when last night our brother in law discovered his passport expires TOMORROW. He was able to make an appointment in the Houston passport office for today, flew there this morning, got there in time and managed to get a new one issued right away.

His wife wound up doing all the packing and will have to travel to Houston tomorrow to meet him, then they are off to Mexico. Let's just say she was not too thrilled when we spoke tonight.

But, the crisis has been averted.

We get home on Saturday, then I head to Provo on Monday for the conference and will be looking at this

We head out Sunday so no news for a while.

Happy knitting, dear fellow fiber friends.

FO Flutter Sleeve Cardigan

Here 'tis

This is Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from IK Spring 2008.

I am pretty happy with it. I used 5 skeins of Micro-Spun and #5, 4, and 1 Options. I cast on May 31 and finished on July 7. My plan was to finish in time for the International Double Reed Conference at BYU in Provo, Utah. The University dress code requests no sleeveless tops.... I thought it would be appropriate to comply. Wearing my little hand knit sweater :-)

Harp Fire 2008

Since I last posted, I have taught numerous oboe students, practiced like a fiend and attended Harp Fire 2008. Here we all are:

There were 34 participents and 6 faculty. It was hard work but a real blast!


Here is the Adult Ensemble up in the back

and if you look closely, the arrow is pointing at me.

I didn't get a lick of knitting done this week 'cos I was just too darn fried. But I did finish knitting Flutter Sleeve before camp began and am ready to seam it up. And one of my fellow adult students was a knitter and spinner! We had fun playing together and talking fiber.

All in all it was a great week. Have a GREAT July 4th.

Where were you when the lights went out?

I was in the pit at Bass Hall! We are in the middle of the ballet performance (click for the review - our concertmaster played a breathtaking solo) and suddenly the stand lights went out. We were in the middle of Khachaturian's Spartacus when POOF! half the orchestra was in darkness. A few lights did remain on, so the players with crucial parts (like solos) sidled up to a light and played. Our conductor said he heard all this scurrying about but since he was looking at the stage he didn't know what happened. As soon as we finished the piece, I ran upstairs to alert our stage manager who was already on his way down to help. Our conductor halted the performance (at the end of Spartacus) while Justin figured out what had happened.

Can you say fried extension cord? The fix was quick and we were back on our toes in no time. Ah, the excitement of live performance :-)

I didn't have a large quantity to play so I got in some quality sock time during rehearsals. This is Meteor from Knitpicks - it was in the sock sampler from a few months ago. And I am knitting another pair of Cookie A.'s Monkeys.

Flutter sleeve is moving albeit a bit slowly. I have finished the ribbing on both fronts and am into the sleeve and neck shaping on one. I couldn't take it to rehearsals - too much counting involved.

Thank you for your buttony input. My friends here who have seen them also thought they would be a nice addition. And Bonnie! That is so funny! We have great taste :-)

The tomato plant is growing very happily and has a few itty bitty tomatoes on it. I put a bird mesh over the top since you warned me about it (thank you, thank you).

I hope your Sunday is restful and the upcoming week is energizing.

See you soon -

Cosi fan tutte

We are in production of Cosi fan tutte.

It is really hilarious (meant to be, thank you) and I hope we have a good turnout.

Since we have been rehearsing until 11:00 pm this week, my knitting time has suffered.

I have managed to get to the ribbing on both front pieces.

(No photo, not much to see.)

But here are a few IK shots of the Flutter Sleeve

And I found these buttons.

They are clear with bits of real lavender suspended in them.

I think against the creamy vanilla cardi they will look really pretty.Yes?

Time to go make reeds for tomorrow's performance and work out those last few measures that are still eluding me.

See you after the weekend ..... Have a good one

From Wallis to Flutter

Thank you for all your for your "harpy" comments. Yes, it is difficult but I am having fun with it. Unfortunately, this week I am consumed with rehearsals then performances of the Mozart opera Cosi fan Tutte and do not have much practice time. After teaching lessons, making reeds all week, trying to learn my part and rehearsing for 5 hours yesterday, practicing harp was not at the top of my priority list.

However, knitting was. Instead of that beautiful Wallis Cardigan, I am in the middle of Flutter Sleeve from IK Spring 2008. While I love the style of Wallis, I am thinking it would accentuate the tummy area - which needs no accentuation, if you know what I mean ;-)

Here is the completed back:

I am using Micro Spun for this and find it very sweetly soft. It is quite splitty, but with the Options seems not too bad.

No Knitting Here, Well, Maybe a Little

Yup - you read it right. There is minimal knitting content on this knitting blog! (At the end if you want to pass all the other words.)

But I do have some Harp content - Yes indeed! I am taking lessons from Laura so I can attend Harp Camp and not embarrass myself too much. Here is this morning in her studio after my (2nd) lesson.

Daily news - we had to replace our mattress last week. It was a drag not only because of the price of a king, but our old one was only 3 years old. We decided it was defective since one side had no support any more. So we got a Simmons Beautyrest in firm. It felt very supportive bit a bit hard. After doing some research, we decided to get a mattress topper and are much more comfy now. This one is from Walmart and quite inexpensive - but according to Consumer Reports, people liked it more than the $$ ones.

Now it feels very nice indeed :-)

Ocean Cardigan is ready for assembly. I was thinking about the effectiveness of blocking since this ribbon yarn is 62% nylon and 38% cotton. One suggestion made was not to block until I seamed it all together. I am trying to decide what to do since the edges roll alot.

What do you think? Will this fiber block? Or just jump back to it's unruly sproingy shape?

My next project:

Wallis Cardigan from IK Summer 08. The suggested yarn was way too $$ for my budget, so I bought some Lion Brand Micro Fiber in a lovely Vanilla color. the weight is very similar and I figured it would be good for the conference at BYU this summer.

Spinning and Tomatoes

Thank you to everyone who has commented. I loved refinishing the wheel - maybe that should be my next avocation. Yeah, right, in my spare time! And the Baby Surprise Jacket and Mary Jane Booties were so much fun. Annie came by yesterday to pick them up - and she loved them. She thought they would fit their soon to be new born baby just fine!

Here is what is on the first bobbin on the Scholar. I am not sure what the fiber is; it is from my classes last summer. My goal to get comfortable with the new girl is to fill the bobbin, spin some white fiber I have and then ply them.

A crazy note - since my blood pressure is pharmaceutically controlled, I do monitor it from time to time. Two days ago, after 1/2 hour of spinning I checked and it was lower than it has been ever since I can remember. Hmmm - does spinning lower blood pressure?!

We are going to plant this little tomato plant tonight and see what happens. I would love to have fresh veggies and herbs..... this will be the first sojourn into plants to bear food.

Have a beautiful weekend and Happy Memorial Day!

Awwwwwwwwww...

Mary Jane Booties

to go with the BSJ.

Same yarn, #3 needles.

2 FOs

Here is EZ Baby Surprise Jacket before seaming:

And here it is all seamed up:

The yarn is Red Heart Luster Sheen, the color is Baby Combo. I used #4 options. I think this is a good newborn size - at least I hope so. Annie's baby is due in a few weeks :-)

And the next FO is my Scholar:

You can see the damage



And here is my repair

And she spins!!!

I washed all the wood, gave it 2 coats of stain and one coat of wipe on Poly. Deciding I didn't like the look of the poly, I went over her with steel wool and rubbed in a few coats of Watco Wax Finish. I am much happier with the look.

Phase 2

My little Scholar arrived safely on Wednesday. She is actually in great shape with only one large chip (now repaired) and the wood in need of moisture. I took her apart, wiped down all the wood and let it dry overnight. This morning she got a light sanding and the first coat of stain. I am using a mahogany color gel and will most probably apply another coat tomorrow. After the color is satisfactory, I plan to use a wipe on Poly in a low gloss so she will be sealed and ready for traveling. I know the purists think it should be hand rubbed oil, waxed, etc. ~ which is how I finished my Traveler ~ and the other camp is into painting and decorating but I want a nice deep color wood finish that is very durable and low maintanance. Do we hear Minwax Gel Stain and Wipe On Poly? Easy to apply and will be done by Sunday. Yeah, baby!

Have a great knitty weekend!

A little further along

EZs Baby Surprise Jacket is moving along:

I am about halfway at this point. The Sirdar is also moving along, but taking a picture of the black yarn doesn't come out so well.

I was surfing Ebay last night and found an old Ashford Scholar in need of some TLC and a new home. I have been thinking about wanting a little portable wheel thinking it will encourage me to get back into spinning and get going to the local spin-ins. So I set up ESnipe to bid for me and won her! She (for some reason I have applied gender it although that is not my norm) came in at nice a low price and in need of cleaning. I hope to have it by the end of the week and will know if this was a good thing or not.

You see how neglected she is? I hope to easily disassemble her and refurbish her to get that finish or a new one, looking fabulous. I love working with wood and finishes - so this will be a fun project. Cross your fingers on this one :-} that she will spin well!

WIPs

Hi!!! We are nearing the end of the school year, symphony season and just plain crazy work days and nights. Now maybe I can get in some good quality knitting and perhaps even sit at my wheel and figure out this spinning thing.

Lest you think I have not been active with my needles (because I haven't updated in a while) let me assure you there are projects in the making.

Here is the Sirdar Sweater I am hoping to finish soon - It is knit with "Ocean," a cotton/nylon ribbon yarn. I love the texture of the fabric, but it is a bit of a pain to knit with. I have to keep untwisting it so it looks right. I went against convention and used the sleeve as a swatch. After all, why knit a swatch and then start the project? Is it not efficient to just start a sleeve and then measure for gauge? If it is right, I am already in production! So the sleeves and back are finished and I am working on one of the front pieces. Please forgive the crummy shot - the pieces are not being blocked - but the nylon makes the fabric so squishy, I needed to pin them so you could at least tell what they are.

This is the pattern picture:

Next is the EZ Baby Surprise Jacket:

I have started this project 4 times now and think I finally have it right. The groups on Ravelry have been an invaluable resource in figuring out this very unique pattern. The yarn is a little acrylic: Luster Sheen by Red Heart in the color Baby Combo. It is a fingering weight and I think it will be light and sweet for the little girl coming in a few weeks.

I hope your week is filled with lots of knitting time! See you soon.

FO Big Manly Socks

I finally finished my husband's socks. This was the first pair I have knit for him - men's socks are a LOT larger than my little ones! I began these last November and knit sporadically, but I really wanted to finish I so concentrated on them exclusively last and this week.

The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks - Slipped Stitch Rib. I used KP Essential in Grey and #0 DPNS. I did make the heel flap longer to accommodate his high instep. They came out a perfect fit.

I like the slipped stitch rib alot. It kept me from being insanely bored and looks a little bit dressy.

So now there is nothing on my needles and I am searching around for the next project. It is spring here in Texas and the searing heat will be upon us soon, so another sweater (maybe one that fits me this time) may not be the perfect choice. Not to mention that I am hot, hot, hot these days. OMG! Can you say hot flashes?

This weekend will be fairly lazy for me for a change. The only commitments are a few student this morning and one tomorrow afternoon. I plan to do some gardening, maybe get some geraniums for the pots in front.....

Enjoy your weekend~

FO Basic Cranberry Cardigan

I know, it has been quite a while since I posted. Life has been extra-ordinarily busy. Just when I think it can't get any more, something else pops up and I am sucked up into the vortex. I am not complaining - just explaining why I have been delinquent in visiting you and posting here.

• I did finish something: Basic Black Cardigan. (Well, cranberry, not black) Since Magknits is no longer available :-( I cannot link the pattern.

Here is one pic:

And another:

• I realized my gauge was too big and so is the cardi. I have someone in mind I think would like it and can wear it, so all is not lost. I used Sirdar Country DK in Cranberry and Options #5 (should have used #4 and knit the smaller size). Oh well, I gained a bunch of experience and really am happy overall with how it turned out. I might even knit it again in a nice cotton blend.

• My husband's socks will be done in no time now - just the toes to finish. It should only be a day or two for those. The dilemma is what to knit next? Do you go through the indecisiveness and angst when trying to make the decision too?

• We just received the news from our accountant about our taxes and I am now on a yarn diet. But the reality is that I am in the market for a new oboe (KaChing) at the same time as our tax fate was being deduced, so new yarn will be on hold for a while. Good thing that vortex is whirling around us since we will be sending Uncle Sam a chunka chunka change. I hope your taxes come out more advantageous for you than ours did for us.

Have a good rest of the week, dear fellow knitties and I will try to stop by for a visit.