Celebrate the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

Let the games begin!

I joined the festivities at Ravelry for the Summer Olympics. Now, I am officially in training and counting down nine days to Cast On.

I will bet you want to know what training for Ravelympics consists of. Well, let me share my approach.

First, I drop lifted my pattern binders to find the proper projects to enter into the events. Since this is my Holiday Gift Knitting season I chose things that I plan to give as gifts for this Christmas. I thought: what better to put some pressure on getting these things done than the chance at a "gold medal."



Next, I did some mental training by reviewing the chosen patterns for needle size, yarn recommended, gauge requirements and suggested tools. I also did a run through of applicable abbreviations and researched any errata that might have occured for the pattern since published.

This accomplished, I went into my closet and did some strength training by lifting and restacking the tubs that hold my stash until I found most of the yarn I will need for these projects. Please note: I said "most." It looks like I do need to purchase at least a couple skeins of the right color for these event hopefuls.

Then, I practiced my tech abilities by adding each of the projects to Ravelry, tagging them as directed and reviewing the rules and regs for the games. After that was accomplished I went to the Team Colorado thread and introduced myself to my team mates.



My plan for the next few days is to assemble tools, wind yarn and package each event's project for ease of identification and mobility. I will be knitting every AM, noon, and PM for 17 days and do not want any down time while looking for things that have gotten scattered by my official score keeper and coach, Pedro.

After that I will be practicing my dexterity with practice trials of the elusive Moebius cast on.

Hopefully with all this training to accomplish I will have time to swatch for gauge on the two new patterns I am knitting for the first time. I would not want to be frogging (do over) during an event. That would be like having to swim the butterfly stroke backwards to start over. :-0

I will be posting an events list and pictures of project beginnings later this week.

July: Things to Celebrate

July has flown by. There were so many things to celebrate this month. Two of the biggies are: National Cheesecake day. I'd say to hot to bake one, so go out and buy at least a slice at your favority bakery to celebrate on July 30th.

And while you are eating your cheesecake say a very special Happy Birthday to one of the best writers of the last decade -- JK Rowling on July 31st. Without her we would not know a thing about quidditch or snarkles or Hogwarts. And we would not know a billionaire author. Way to go!

And a very Happy Anniversary to my folks on July 31st as well.

Updates on Fancy Sock Knitting

Loopy, as seen here, examining the completed top of my BullyWoolies sock.

I came home last night from the Stitch N Pitch, looked over my progress of about 4 inches of knitting in the foot and decided that I was going to have to rip it out and start over from the gusset. This revelation occured after trying it on. It was too large in the foot section. The top of it is a little snug however I will NOT be ripping out all that colorwork. So I decided to sleep on the decision.

This morning I ripped! all the way back to the beginning of the heel turn. Then I spent a diligent hour picking up all the stitches and reknitting the heel turn and picking up the gussett.

Now, the pattern calls for these socks to be knit on size 4 needles. I thought that seemed a bit large and got this far on size 3s. I will be making the matching sock on size 4 for the top and size 2 for the foot from the gussett down. I believe that even the size 2 may be a bit loose and will probably use 4 and 1 on the next pair.

Nothing like a little experimentation with a pattern to help you fully understand sock construction and de-struction.

I hope you are all finding fabulous ways to spend your days!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Stitch N Pitch was a great experience. I understand that they sold 61 ticktes for the event and, from what I could tell, most everyone showed up. We had a great section just off the first base line. At some point in the evening we were referring to is as the "shooting gallery." I have never seen so many foul balls.

Loopy enjoyed the game as well. He was photographed for the Table Rock Ravelry group and the Sky Sox Stitch N Pitch gallery. Go see if you can find him there.

They had fun entertainment between innings with Sox the Fox mascot weaving in and out of the crowd. Most of the time he was being followed by a parade of youngsters all trying to mimic his walk. that was hysterical.

BirdZerk was also visiting from St. Louis. He was very funny and talented.

And I met some new knitterly folks and traded pattern ideas and looked at everyones projects. Knitter's Kove and Table Rock Llamas had tables set up with giveaway items too.

And at the end of the evening the Oklahoma Redhawks, or was that Red Hots, won the game by three runs.

All in all, a fun experience.

More Summer Fare

One of the joys of reading audio books and knitting is every once in a while I am able to get one of my favorite authors from the library. My favorite light reading is a cozy mystery. My library does not always buy those in audio book format. So I am pleased that they happened to have some of Joanne Fluke's series with Hannah Swensen, the cookie bakery amateur sleuth from the frosty north country of Minnesota. I am thoroughly enjoying Carrot Cake Murder, the 10th in the series. Not only does she make crime solving seem fun but she shares a variety of really yummy recipes and not just for cookies.

In this book she had one for Salmon Cakes and I whipped up a batch this evening for supper to go with cold pork and beans and green beans, with the help of Pedro. It was yummy on a hot summer evening supper. You can make these with canned meats as well. They proved to be easy to fix and goes with other summer fare, like salads plus it keeps you and your kitchen cool.

Salmon Cakes :

6-8 ounce package or can of salmon. If you use the canned version be sure to pick out the bones and skin. Add 2 slices bread, any type, decrusted and torn, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon worstershire sauce, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, dash of salt and pepper, sliced green onion or a dash of onion powder. Mix togehter and shape into patties. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Serve with a dollop of cream of celery soup, undiluted and heated. Meat options include: salad shrimp, chicken, or tuna. Since you cannot possibly use up a whole can of soup for sauce, freeze the remainder in an ice cube tray, then bag and mark for future use. This makes three patties.

And while I experimented with this, Pedro was enjoying the basket he has confiscated from me.

I hope your weekend was full of fun things!

Summer Treats and Small Projects

Record heat and gas prices are keeping me much closer to home this summer. So to entertain myself I have movies to watch and fun knit projects to work on. Smaller projects are better, especially in wool.



Summer farmer's market in Old Colorado City provided the makings for a fun recipe experiment. Summertash. I created this after a radio DJ shared a bit of trivia about the most hated foods. Number 1 is liver. That I will not dispute. The second is Lima Beans. A show of hands, how many of you hate Limas... Good, that leaves more for me. :-)


Summertash:



Cook and cool frozen baby lima beans

Cook, cool and cut off the cob fresh corn (I used Peaches and Cream from eastern Colorado)

Dice red pepper, red onion

Mix 1/4 cup olive oil with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Toss salad ingredients.

Chill for at least an hour.

Serve with seasonings of your choice - my favorite is Johnny's Seasoning from Safeway or the Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.



Another summer treat is getting to read (turn pages reading not audio book) a great author like Clive Cussler. His new book, The Chase , is different from his usual NUMA or Oregon File books. It is a historical fiction with lots of facts about Wild West history. A really fun read that I managed to do while knitting.

And I saw Mamma Mia! at the early movie today. It was excellent. Great singing and dancing from all the stars.

Pedro's Hitchcockian Experience

The Birds! (hum haunting music to further get yourself into the moody for this spooky post.)

We have baby swallows in our yard. The parents built the nest the first week of June. This weekend began Baby Swallow (Fledgling) Boot Camp.

Throughout this process Pedro has been "cat on alert" everyday. He sits in the window for hours watching the nest activities 20 feet above our porch. In the evenings, when I get home from work, he begs to go out on the porch so he can watch some more.

We have seen the birds chase off the neighborhood squirrel, Squiggy, and other birds and a young fox. Up until Saturday they had not seemed concerned about Pedro. That all changed suddenly at the commencement of Flight School.

So, here is Pedro laying quietly watching the bird activity, and all of a sudden one of the adult birds swoops down to attack him. He did what any self-respecting cat would do and swatted at it. He missed but felt defended. The next attack came in the form of two adult birds and successfully drove him into the house to cower. Now when he goes out he either lays under my chair on the porch or just inside the door to watch.

I know he will miss the excitement once they have all flown the coop.

I hope you are all finding small entertainments in your lives!