Butterflies in the Garden

Awhile ago, Sososleepy asked me about who visits the yard. I have been blog neglectful, I apologise. I thought I'd post a pictorial reply.

Monarch, newly hatched

Long -Tailed Skipper

White Peacock

Cassius Blue

Zebra Longwing

Sulphur

Orange Barred Sulphur

Gulf Fritillary, newly hatched

Queen

Polydamas Swallowtail caterpiller

Giant Swallowtail caterpillar, affectionately known as Poo!

We also get Tropical Checkerspots visiting occasionally, a couple of different Sulphurs, and Skippers. I'd love for the Viceroy to come by, and maybe a Malachite or two! You never know!!

Saturday Sky

Early morning pretty pink and blue sky. It was a beautiful, warm day. 80's in December, anyone??

We interrupt the knitting.....

My new Internet time waster : Dumpr

photo created on dumpr.

I love this site! My kid, my dog, the knitting, it has all been displayed on the museum wall! The amazing circles are cool, too.

Knitting:

Knitting circle:

Cute!

Hello!

I AM still here! Sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog. Let me get things up to speed: New job started November 8th, and going very well! Old job, weelll..... the gentleman who was hired to replace me either has the most incredible bad luck, or a stroke of dishonest genius, because he fell down on his first day at orientation and had back surgery the next day. Such bad luck! Or, if you are a scammer, workers comp!! After a few hours on the job!! I'm going with horrible luck, those who know him say he is an upstanding kind of soul. This affects me, as I can't in good conscience leave the old job without anyone in my old position. So, I have been going in about 3 times a week after the new job to help out. This amounts to about 60 hours of work a week. Translation- no real knitting time :( I have to strongly reevaluate my Christmas knitting list, I know I will not have the time to make the things I wanted to. I discovered when I was knitting Miss Dashwood, I am definitely a process knitter, the joy is gone when a deadline is looming or I feel like I have to knit rather than want to knit.

I'm still working on the Morning Surf Scarf, I have about 6 inches to go. I fit in a few rows here and there.

A little over exposed, but here's the front and back. Unblocked. This is where I can sneak a few rows in here and there, in the car! Yes, I'm a car knitter. The traffic lights are unbelievably looongg here in South Fl, I'm also stuck quite often waiting for trains, and drawbridges over the intercostal waterway. I can get quite a few rows done! Car knitting does not lend itself to all kinds of knitting, but short row items work well, and socks make for good car knitting. And, no, I am NOT knitting while I am driving! Only when stopped. Today was a particularly pretty top down day.I want to thank the kind people who take the time to comment, and say I'd love to respond if I have your address. Blogger does not have auto reply, so I cannot respond unless you leave an addy. I don't want to be rude and not respond. So, thank you for taking time to comment if I have not contacted you. I do appreciate it. And lately I've been dead tired to do any surfing or commenting. Hopefully this will get better as Old Job looks for a more permanent solution to their problem.

Happy New Job to Me!

I'm changing jobs! I have forgotten how exhausting the whole process is! Saying goodbye to familiar faces and routines and getting ready for something new is exiting and exhausting. Knitting has been calming, and stress reducing, like a good friend. I'm going to move from community mental health to this place, a local hospital in my city. My office is actually located under the Children's Hospital sign, that is the Behavioral Health Unit. The Children's Hospital is really in the building behind the Behavioral Health Unit, and is part of a larger, general hospital. Better hours, better benefits, better pay. You know what that means......

More Yarn!! To celebrate, I treated myself to 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Devon. This is the Morning Surf Scarf, by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer. If you are on Ravelry, search this pattern and see how beautiful it is. The picture on the pattern website does not do it justice. I would have surfed on by looking at the picture. That's what I love about Ravelry, being able to see a pattern made up in a multitude of different yarns, and how people make the item their own. For this scarf, I only cast on 26 stitches, as I don't need a thick scarf in South Florida. I'll wear this with light jackets and for color more than warmth. Although you can't believe how cold a lot of places keep their air conditioning! I start the new job November 8th. Yippee!!

FO Monday: Miss Dashwood

Miss Dashwood is finished, and on time! I had a month to work on her, and since I am a monogamous knitter, I thought I'd have pleeennty of time. Ha! It came down to the wire. She came with me on a trip to Rhode Island (plenty of airport knitting time). She got to go on a trip to Orlando. She even made an appearance at Stitch n' Pitch. She got around!! I knitted this for Child of Mine, who was a bridesmaid at a wedding in late September. The day before The Child left, I was down to the wire to finish the *&#@ thing! I think it was about 11 hours of knitting on that last day. Plus, I had a raging head cold for the last 3 days before finishing the shrug, knitting was the last thing I wanted to do. But, it is done, it fits, and it is appreciated by The Child.



check out the dress seam and see how poorly this dress was made



Pattern: Miss Dashwood, by Chic Knits

Yarn: Berroco Bamboo, 8 skeins

Needles: size 6 circulars

Started August 27, 2007

Finished September 26, 2007

Modifications: I shortened the sleeves, because knitted as written the sleeve came down to my wrist. I also did a plain bind off, as I couldn't get the bind off as written at 9 at night after knitting ALL DAY. It does make a difference, the edge does not have a lot of give. I may go back and redo the bind off.


Notes: Overall I enjoyed this pattern and it came out cute. To do over, I probably would knit this in a more traditional yarn to appreciate the stitch definition more. The Bamboo is a ribbon- like yarn, therefore the stitch pattern is not as visible, IMHO. The Child, who selected the yarn, is happy and that's what counts.

Finished Object Monday

Later this week I will post pictures and the tale of Miss Dashwood, but for today I have some fast fall knitting: the Illusion Cloth. This was a fun, easy knit and I love how it turned out!

When seen from above, looks like a plain 'ol striped cloth. But change the angle you see it, and candy corn appears!

It's cool, I leave this out on the counter and the pattern is visible. Get closer, and it disappears. Oooooo.......spooky!! The pattern can be found here.

Stitch 'n Pitch

I'm baacck! Well, with limited access, and my computer is not 100% yet, but I can now post with more frequency. Woo Hoo!
Last Sunday was the Florida Marlins vs NY Mets Stitch 'n Pitch. We had a lot of fun!! Knitters were well represented, but I may have seen more cross stitchers than knitters, at least in the area I was sitting. I brought my Miss Dashwood shrug to work on, and did manage to get a few rows in. It was kinda wierd to either half pay attention to the action on the field, or the knitting. I liked seeing what everyone brought to work on. I was suprised I didn't see any socks being knitted, I did see baby sweaters, and scarves, someone was working on a blanket (!) and I saw a tank top in progress. I noticed a couple of crocheters, and a little girl doing the cutest needlepoint! Lots of families, couples and non- crafters came with their stitchers to enjoy the game. The weather held out, it was overcast and threatening rain all day. Stitch n Pitch was well organized, and local shops had tables they attended to with displays and such. I'd do it again! The Marlins also do a Bark at the Park, where you bring your dog to a game. I may try that out next year, too.

Here is our section, we're packed in and ready to cheer on the home team (well, about half the stadium anyway, lots of Mets fans in attendance).

Notice how full our section is compared to the rest of the stadium, I'd say we were well represented with at least 150 people.

Some of us found creative ways to hold that extra DPN.

Here is the goodie bag and its' content. Local stores put in discount coupons and candy, there were cross stitch patterns, a crochet magazine with the most ginormous crochet hooks, and lots of novelty yarn I'm still not sure what I will do with it.

If you were there, I was the one wearing this shirt. I love it! You can find it here.

Oh, and the Mets fans went home very happy with yet another win!!

Bloggus Interruptus

Oh, blog, how I have missed you! Missed my computer in general, which is sick at the moment. My laptop took a leap off the table and pancaked itself on the floor when one of the dogs ran by and caught the cord with her tail. Worked OK for the rest of the day, but wouldn't start up the next day.Sadly, the drivers are corrupted. I've had a computer tekkie friend trying to recover hard drive data, but it is not looking good. My knitting patterns! My book marks! My photos! And music! Oh, the horror! Thankfully most of the music and photos were backed up about 6 weeks ago, but not the other files. Lesson learned! I'm using a borrowed laptop, so I probably won't be updating the blog until I fix my computer. Thanks for all your e mails, which I have responded to. See you when I'm up and running again!!

A Nice Sunday

Today was a lazy day inside, almost sloth-like until I made myself get up and move around! There was knitting to this:
Watching the US Open!! OK, this image is not the US Open, but it is Roger Federer. This shot is from the Nasdaq in Key Biscayne (it was renamed this year to the Sony Ericsson). The Ericsson tournament is worth a day out of work to attend every year,I thoroughly enjoy it. But the Open is my tournament, I overdose on the coverage every year. Bless you, USA Network!


There was knitting to this, too:

The Boston Red Sox! Oh, yeah, I'm a member of The Nation!! I have followed the Red Sox since high school,and here in Florida I catch the games on MLB.TV. They won today, but last nights' no-hitter by the rookie Buchholz was as good as baseball can get. I got NO knitting done during that game! Today, I was torn between the two sports, so I watched both! And did some baking:

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread. The recipe is here. May not look pretty, but the house smells wonderful and it tastes really good. I think this will make great french toast.

And I can't forget about the knitting! Here is a peek at Miss Dashwood: She is coming along with no major problems, thankfully!

My New Toy

So, when I was at my LYS purchasing yarn for Miss Dashwood, 9 skeins of yarn seemed like a lot to wind into balls. I'll get a ball winder, I thought! I don't have a swift, but that was not a deterrent. I brought this home:

I love the look of the "cakes" of yarn it produces.

(bad photo at my kitchen counter)

So, I try the Berroco Bamboo. I heard a little voice in my head at the LYS saying ' this yarn is too slippery to wind....too slippery.....DON"T GET THE BALL WINDER FOR THIS YARN'!!! I don't listen. I get it home and it's winding pretty. Then I try taking it off the ball winder. Oh, yeah, collapses on itself. Voice in head says disparaging things about now! I try winding it onto a cardboard tube- won't collapse now, hahahaha!! Wrong! Here's my two tries, on the left off the ball winder, and on the right, wound onto a cardboard tube.

Not Pretty.

This is how the other 7 skeins have ended up:

Wound into a pretty ball without the aid of any fancy tools or gadgets!

I do like the ball winder, though. It is easy to use, actually fun! And it makes the plainest of yarn look mighty fancy:

Sugar N Cream, top, and Wildfoote, bottom, in their cakiest finery.

WIP Monday

Meet Miss Dashwood:

Miss Dashwood by Chic Knits. She doesn't look like much yet, this is only one pattern repeat with many more to go! The yarn is Berroco Bonsai, it has a very nice feel to knit with, not too slippery on metal needles, and not too splitty. This is for Child Of Mine, who is a bridesmaid in a wedding in New Hampshire in late September. Since she gets cold when temps dip below 70, she wanted something to put over her shoulders after the ceremony. Her dress is a strapless, mid shin brown number, she calls the look "poo on a stick". (Can you tell she is not too enamoured with this dress)? Below is a photo of the yarn with the dress, I think she picked a good complimentary color, and the dress really isn't that bad (said by one who doesn't have to wear it)!

I'm enjoying knitting this, but I have to pay close attention to the pattern. I'm paranoid that I'll miss a YO or mess it up, and have to tink back. My nightmare is getting 3/4 way done, finding a mistake and getting hopelessly lost in the pattern. As we all know I'm not the fastest knitter, and I have about a month to finish it. Wish me luck!

Saturday Sky

Tropical clouds, rain on the way. It was more overcast today than typical for South Florida.

FO Monday

Pop Tart!

ipod cozy

Pattern: Pop Tart Cell Phone Pocket by Heather Kaminsky at BitterSweet

Started and Finished on August 15, 2007

Yarn: TLC Lustre for the Pop Tart, Sensations wool (store brand from Jo Anns, on clearance, yea!) for the "icing", assorted beads, and a snap closure sewn in.

Needles: size 5, straights

Comments: Saw this on a website and thought it was adorable. Very fast knit (ha, if it's fast for me, you know it is ultra fast to knit)! I increased the width stitches by 2 thinking it would be too small, but the pattern as written would have fit my ipod (video ipod) just fine. I like having different cozies for the ipod, which I take everywhere.

Saturday Sky

Warm, breezy, nice day today. Showers early, then blue sky.

Parrots waiting for their turn at the feeder. Similiar to these visitors:

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens

Since I live in a tourist area, and I am not the most prolific knitter, I thought I'd occasionally share some of the local places that are interesting to visit. My first stop is the Fairchild in Miami.

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens

10901 Old Cutler Road Coral Gables, FL 33156 • Phone: 305-667-1651

The Fairchild is an 83 acre botanical park, located in south Miami. It's a beautiful place to picnic and spend the afternoon among the palms. There is a pair of wild blue and yellow macaws that live at the Fairchild, which is always makes me think I am in some far-away tropical place to see them fly by. The Fairchild is home to a lot of festivals, such the Mango Festival, the International Orchid Festival, and the International Chocolate Festival. Yes, chocolate!! Recently it housed a Chihuly exhibit that complemented the gardens beautifully.

a cormorant checks out the Chihuly

The iguanas are curious.

A nice place to relax and knit!

The Fairchild is really a beautiful place to spend some time. If you have a membership in your local science museum, your membership is reciprocal for a visit to the Fairchild. Bonus!! We use our membership to visit Flamingo Gardens, Miami Science Museum, and The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science. A very nice membership perk, indeed!

FO Monday

String Bag:

Pattern: String Bag from Erin, at My Best Friend's a Dork blog

Yarn: Lily's Sugar 'n Cream in Ecru, 2 plus a smidgen more balls

Needles: body in # 11 circulars

Started July, 2007 Finished August, 2007

Modifications: I added some texture to the bottom by adding purl stitches, only because I got tired of knitting it plain. I like how it came out.

Comments: This was my first time with a circular cast-on, which was not as daunting as I expected it to be. I will knit this again, but probably use a needle size or 2 larger, I am a very tight knitter!

bag bottom:

bag thief:

My other finished object is the flamingo dishcloth, found here.

Sugar 'n Cream cotton, size 7 needles. Took me a couple of sittings to finish it. I think he's cute! I'll enjoy the color until it fades to beige like all the other sugar 'n cream dishcloths. Anyone use a kitchen cotton they like that doesn't fade with repeated washings??