No pics today-sorry-I have to knit (that secret thing-for an upcoming book). I found a split stitch way back, have had to frog (ugh) but now am knitting under bright light!!!!! My daughter went to her first soccer game last night-she kicked the ball a couple of times! Go girlie!

My 8 year old daughter told me last week that there are all kinds of friends. "Like what?" I asked. This was her reply-"There are gold friends, and then silver, then bronze, then brass then lead." I asked about the lead friends. She said that those were the ones you had to be friends with, but didn't like very much. (out of the mouths of babes....) But gold was definitely at the top, as the bestest kind of friend around.
Ruby is my gold friend. Thanks, Ruby.

Well, I am so close to my finished "secret thing" I can taste it. I did take a break yesterday and try out the fancy pants mitten from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. You know the ones -with those way cool thumbs and stripes. I had read from other blogs that there were mistakes in the patterns, and I was kind of tired (had the weekend from hell-more on that when I feel like talking about it)-but I think we had more mistakes. Or else I was more tired than I thought. But check them out-way cool.

The one thing I am not sure I like, however, is the seam down the inside of the hand (as in along the Peter pointer and around Tom Thumb and then down to the wrist). I might try that part on dp needles. I used very much the same colours, except in Mission Falls 1824 wool (love that stuff, although it IS inclined to pill by times).(Oh- I reversed the colours as well).

Oh before I forget-if you have some nice fancy yarns, but just a few yards left-don't toss them out. Find a quilter and see if he/she is doing any embellishments on their projects. They can use those few yards to great effect. I wish I had taken pictures of my sister's purses-you would know what I mean.

Gotta go. Still need to sleep at some time in my life. (Ever notice when you are really upset, that you either can't sleep. or eat too much, or somehow do something that messes up the rest of your life? My "way to deal" is not being able to sleep. This is the third night). Later........

Well- lots happening around the extended family household. My mother's house is the site of the rehearsal dinner tonight (my husband and I are the kitchen help)(we volunteered to let the rest of them have fun). And then tomorrow is the wedding. It is currently pouring rain (with threats of thunderstorms) but the forecast for tomorrow is warm with clouds. Pictures will be nice- although I would love to see a really lovely, sunny day for the two of them.

The picture is of my daughter, when she was a flower girl for a neighbour's wedding. She was about 4 at the time. She is now 8, and I kinda hoped my nephew would have asked her to be a part of his wedding, but.... oh well. She has a new dress, I have a new dress, my husband has a new suit-we are going to go for the wedding IN STYLE!

Have a good weekend-

I gotta rant, here, for a minute. These fake Paypal things are making me nuts. Did you know that the fake ones will NOT be addressed to you by name? I also notice that these criminals use an address with capital letters in it, whereas Pay Pal does not. But why are they picking on me???? I don't answer the darn things. They are just extremely annoying. Extremely. I saw another blogger had a large amount of $$$$ magically removed from her account by the fake paypal. ouch. But it is now resolved (I think) Okay- rant over- on to other things.
I went to physio again today. My leg hurts. Big time. I know it takes time for a knee replacement to "settle", but some days are better than other days. Let me tell ya. Knitting is coming along. I am still working on the secret thing (which I truly love) and also on another sweater-for me. It is made out of Silk Stream by Fleece Artist-in Mermaid colourway Blue, with purples and green and a bit of taupe). I got it from Grand River Yarns in Paris, Ontario (very nice lady)(http://www.grandriveryarns.com/ ) The body of the cardigan is quite wide, made out of diamonds (loosely based on a "Just One More Row" pattern). I am planning a collar-out of some Fleece Artist Ottawa (dragonfly colourway) that I won on ebay from Robyn Gallimore (http://www.redbirdknits.com/ is her business) (another really nice lady). I hope it all works- I imagine I will have to put some of the Ottawa on the cuffs, to tie it all together. More later, when I can take pictures to tell you what I mean.
Now- back to secret knitting and your previously scheduled programming.....................

Hurrah! My nephew is graduating from RMC (Royal Military College) in Kingston, Ontario this weekend, and, like so many of his colleagues, getting married NEXT weekend. His parents(my older sister and her husband) are up from Washington, DC (Daddy is Canadian military). And "Grand Papa" is here from the London area- lots of activity going around, let me tell you! And, for those who are interested, here is the website, ( go here-http://www.rmc.ca/home_e.html ) with a gratuitous picture of the "boy" from last year- isn't he cute? Gotta go and knit- deadline fast approaching!

Good news/Bad news?
Well, today I got my copy of "Big Girl Knits", with the prototype of the sweater I designed for the book. I love the sweater (okay-why would I design then knit this thing if I hated it?) And, for those who do not know me, I designed the "Whichway Funnelneck". The yarn is lovely-Filatura di Crosa 127 Print in a wine, with a variety of colours for the stripey bits. It is soft, knits up evenly-I love it so much that I have sweater quantities in black and in rusty red, and about 6 balls in lilac for a scarf. So far, this is all good news, right? Right. Now the bad. This sweater is not my size. When I got the specs for the model, I was asked to knit a sweater in about a size 16-18. And with shorter arms than I need. So, when I tried on the sweater (before I sent it) I felt like SWAMP THING! So-now what do I do with it? Sell it? Trade for it? Is anyone interested in it? let me know in the comments-

After cruising through my list of blogs that I read in the morning(now that I am off work for awhile-the "knee surgery" holiday) (No, it still doesn't really feel like a holiday to me), I have noticed that many knitters have cats. Not me. Oh no. I have one rather shameless fur guy-Mr. Boufu Butterscotch. How did he get the name? Well, years ago, when I was first married, I was enjoying a little extra sleep in time, when my husband (getting ready in the bathroom) turned on the hair dryer. I sat up, wondering, "What the...???" (my husband is the drip dry and go kind of fellow)-so I called out- "Is that you? What are you doing?" He replied "Yeah, it's me, and I am boufu-ing my hair." Well, I rolled out of bed laughing (my husband has not used the hair dryer since- on his hair, at any rate-he may have used it to set some glue on an airplane or something). Anyhow- the word "boufu" stuck in my head (does anyone know the first usage of the word ontv?)-and so, when I got this little guy (for my first anniversary present, by the way)-he became BOUFU (the Mr. was because he likes to be formal, and the Butterscotch is because he needed a last name). And this is what he is doing right at this moment-the brazen fellow. And I am knitting furiously on my secret project (I promise I will show something soon that I CAN show). Ta ta- must knit! Deadline approaching!

Today is Mother's Day-and so far, so good! My daughter (she is 8) and her daddy took me out for a lovely brunch, and then a movie ("The Wild") -very funny, by the way. And, after a luxurious middle of the afternoon bubble bath, and a quick nap- now we are off to visit my mother and make supper for her. Quick question-When I go to the movies, I always bring my knitting. It had to be something easy- not a whole lot of pattern-basic stuff. Does anyone else do that? I have looked around, and don't see many knitters, but maybe they, like me, wait until the lights go down before taking out the yarn? Where else do you folks knit?
By the way- this picture is for Ruby-this is my Booga Bag, witha little Phildar wool blend eyelash at the top (I can't remember the name of it, but it felts, too!- well, the part that is wool, anyway!)

Good morning all! Today I absolutely HAVE to get going on my top secret project! I can tell you that it is for an upcoming book, and that I got my contract from Interweave this week. I can also tell you that the yarn that was chosen for the project (not by me) is absolutely GORGEOUS and very "rich and creamy". I have to say, the yarn is not one I would have chosen, because of the very high cost. I had selected a less expensive yarn, thinking that even with this yarn, it was a costly proposition. But, when the selection committee asked if I would consider another yarn (of course, thinking that I had gone too expensive), I ws floored when I was shown the new yarn!!!!!!!! Very luxurious. And fun to knit, since I don't think I could have ever afforded anything out of this yarn! So- enough talking- MUST GO KNIT! (and drink coffee, to make the knitting go even faster!). Have a good weekend, folks!

This is the second posting of the day- I am trying out new fonts- just to see what I might like (I told you I was kinda new at this!!!!!!) A while ago, I tried my hand at Kool- Aid dyeing. I used the microwave method. What I really wanted was something that looked like the hand-painted stuff I saw for a gajillion dollars, and had a wide range of rich colour in it. I started with some baby yarn (mostly wool) that I had gotten on sale somewhere. It had a thread (multi-coloured) that wrapped the length of it (I suppose that was where the polyester came in- it was only 5% or so). And, after playing for about an hour or so, this is what I got. Now the next task is this- what exactly do I do with it now? I had 8- 50 gram balls (no yardage information on it) It is definitely fingering weight. And each skein is very similar-I arranged the colours in a rainbow/spectrum-red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple. But what to make? Any ideas?

I read a lot of blogs- mostly knitting ones. And I have often thought to start a blog of my own, but never had the "get up and go" to start one. Now I do. I am recovering from a major knee surgery, and I need something to do. A friend of mine once said, " A mind like yours at rest is, well, not pretty to watch". So now you know the origin of this title!!!!!! I am new at this- so bear with me if I make mistakes. This blog will be about knitting, rambling, ideas, knee surgery, kids- whatever strikes my fancy (except work). Welcome aboard!