Bron's Blog II

Getting There

Rhubarb & I have a lovely relationship so far:

Hey Mikey! It fits!

Because I've been knitting & pretty much guessing this entire time, I decided I'd better try it on. You know - just to be sure.

The sleeves are perfect - just enough stretch to fit tight without cutting off circulation. To accommodate the girls, instead of darts as some have done, I just added about 2" to the cast on for the bottom of the neckline. Risky, yes, but ultimately I think it will pay off. I won't have extra fabric for the bust, I'll have extra space. (Yeah - I'll be wearing a cami under this one.) I will also add an inch or two to the neckline ribbing - just so the neck doesn't fall open & frame...um....things unattractively. ::wink::

It looked like this was going to be too roomy UNDER the bust, however, so I started the waistline decreases early:

I've done the required number in the pattern, but will continue decreasing for another 5" or so (until I hit my waistline) and then I'll increase back out, making it much more fitted...and eliminating some of the danger of the cotton stretching after washing & wearing.

So far, so good!

If any of you are looking for a photo printer, my Canon Pixma iP6220D came in yesterday and I absolutely LOVE it. It actually worked right out of the box. (Trust me - that NEVER happens to me.) And the pictures are great quality - better than the Kodak Printer Dock that crapped out on me.

Plus we can print pix directly from our phones via the Bluetooth technology. Will wonders never cease.

My Camera Went Fishing...

...or else I would've been here a bit earlier. ::wink::

Both Dylan & Colin caught their very first fish. Here's Colin & a friend of ours with his:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Rhubarb & I are getting along quite well:

I made a couple of changes. First, since the row gauge changed drastically with the bigger needles I'm using AND I'm really going for LOTS of negative ease, I joined the back & fronts about 2" earlier than specified in the pattern. To compensate, I did 2" of stockinette below the sleeves before I joined to work in the round. Also, I went ahead & finished off the sleeves so I don't have to go back with dpns. :)

Soooooo...now I have lots & lots of TV knitting while I do the body. I should call this sweater "Soprano" instead of Rhubarb 'cause that's what I've been watching. ::Grin:::

Thanks for all the "Yays!" yesterday in regards to the renter $$. Like you all, I can't fathom that there is a lender out there who would fork over money to these people to buy a house. Come to find out it IS the house they're in that they're buying. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the owner saw how trashed it is and gave them the ultimatum we did, "Either buy it, or get out!"

I think the mortgage guy IS the guy lending the money...I think his relative owns the house, actually. Talk about muddying the waters!

Oh - and a couple of you asked about the court costs - those were rolled into the judgment amount so we aren't out any of the fees & things.

Whew! - good riddance! I wish them all well. hehehe

Have a great weekend! As for me - Tony Soprano awaits!

Proof That Good Guys Sometimes Finish First

(New readers to my blog, forgive me, but I need to post the ending to a 6 month saga!)

Those of you who've been around through all my bitching about suing our old renters for back rent and damages to the house....this post is for you.....

Yesterday we get a call from a mortgage company. The renters are buying a new house (not sure if it's the one they're in now or a different one) and lo & behold, our judgment against them showed up on the credit report. Since no-one will lend money with an outstanding judgment hovering over a client, the mortgage guy was calling to make a deal.

First it was, "Well, will you take $1,000? My client really doesn't have any more money than that." Doug held firm. Then we heard..."OK, how bout $1,500? It's stretching it, but he could probably get it to you & you'd get most of your judgment back."

Doug said, "We really need the entire amount. It's the principal of the thing now and besides, we can get it by garnishing his wages. They trashed our house and we're not taking anything less"

Mortgage Guy, (after lots more hemming & hawing) "I'm sorry. Please call xxxxxxx at Fidelity Title and she'll cut you a check for the full amount of $2,239."

Yes - you all heard it correctly. :) Our check is ready to be picked up for the full amount of the judgment. Obviously, they're rolling the payment into their mortgage loan.

We finally effing won.

The timing on this is seriously spooky. The day after the money from the rental house sale went into our bank account, this happens. I swear this is a story straight out of The Secret. LOL Now we are finally, fully done with that whole mess - house & people who lived there. We don't need to give any more physical or mental energy to the situation at all.

Was it worth all the work, pain & aggravation for the last 6 months?

Yes - because we didn't let him get away with it. Too many deadbeats get away with too much every day. I'm glad we held this one accountable.

Knitting? Not much, but I did do several more inches on Rhubarb - I'll be joining for the body today:

I also finished the 3rd dishcloth for Auntie Helen:

I picked up Bianca's Jacket, figured out where I'd left off, and did 3 rows. it's not going to be hard to finish, it's just going to take awhile because of loooong rows!

Speaking of looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong rows, I did 4 of them on Aztec Waves (Pacific Waves shawl from Elann) the other night. Holy Cow! This will never be a front burner project, but something I'll work on over the course of several months. I'm sure I'll love it when it's done, so that incentive to keep on truckin'. ::grin:::

Happy Thursday...I'm wishing a bit of good news for everyone out there - gotta share the joy!

Best Laid Plans...

I'd planned to make lots of headway on Rhubarb but I dropped everything yesterday to make some dishcloths for Doug's Aunt Helen, who's going through a tough time right now:

Obviously, "bright" was my theme! It isn't much, just something to stick in the package when I send pix of our new house. Aunt Helen is a knitter and LOVES getting anything knit by others. :) She's 84 and not in a good place right now so hopefully a little package will cheer her up. She lives in CA so there isn't a lot we can do from here.

i did work on my new bag:

(Complete with cat hair.) I think I'm really going to like this when I'm finished.

Speaking of best laid plans, I took lots of pix yesterday to send to Aunt Helen & guess what died?:

Not that it was ever easy to use to begin with but still - I have oodles of ink & paper that now I won't be able to use. Luckily, I kept the old camera dock for the Kodak Easy Share camera so I was able to upload this morning. I'm going to pop over to Best Buy today to see what they have in the way of photo printers. Amazon has a really nice Canon printer for 75 bucks but I'd rather not wait for shipping time. (I'm tempted to get the Canon A550 digital camera while I'm at it, but I realize that would be a knee-jerk reaction to the printer dock dying and somewhat excessive.) ::wink:::

On the other hand, new yarn can never be excessive. I got this in the mail yesterday:

It's Knit Picks Crayon in "Brick" but I swear this is a gorgeous burgundy instead. I just love it and the softness is comparable to the Blue Sky Organic Cotton I'm using now for Rhubarb. This Crayon is destined to be the Plain Vanilla Sweater. This will be the comfort food of knitting...equivalent to mashed potatoes with lots of butter. ::wink::

It's next up after Rhubarb is finished. Can you tell it's the dog days of summer (almost) and I'm only interested in semi-mindless knitting? hehe

But before I veg out completely for the month of July, Wanda, I swear I'll finish Bianca's Jacket. Talk about best laid plans going awry! I just have the yoke to finish so I need to suck it up & get ON with it. LOL

Taking A Moment

As of 4:15 yesterday, the rental house from hell is someone else's problem. We had Chinese to celebrate.

I'm gonna take today & just be grateful it's gone...a la' The Secret! ::wink:: The buyer was thrilled to get it, so it's a win-win for everyone.

Oh yeah - I'll be knitting & crocheting too. Back tomorrow with progress reports!

So, Ya Wanna Know The Secret?

Well, the secret to good knitting is good yarn:

Knit Picks Shine Sport in "Sand" - I can't tell you how much I love this color. It's a lovely caramel in real life.

And a great pattern to go with it:

The Katherine Hepburn cardigan from Lace Style.

These two will meet on my needles soon....

Now, if you're looking for The Secret, that's a little more problematic. I've read the book:

(Which is appropriately all cool & Da Vinci Code looking) and seen the movie (with the intro being appropriately all cool & Da Vinci Code looking) and I'm here to tell you I'm totally, 100% behind maybe...um....50% of what's presented.

The Secret is an amalgam of several different teachings that aren't new. In fact, the author claims to have discovered "the secret" that only the very wealthy have known and shared amongst themselves throughout history. I dismiss 90% of the "set up" of the theory as hype, pure & simple. However, there are some core lessons here that I've adhered to throughout most of my life and while I don't claim miracles, I do think the ideas work...with caveats.

The secret is the law of attraction - what you think about, who you hang around with, what you do in life - attracts more of the same. Now, I've always believed this. "What goes around comes around," "You get what you give," "If you think negatively, negative things happen to you," etc., etc. This book takes it one step further & wants you to actively visualize what you want in life - "stuff" (cars, houses, jewels), good health, the perfect partner, etc. - and through the power of positive thinking/visualization, you'll get what you want.

Obviously, since she is marketing to Americans, gaining material things is the main focus of this system. After all, you can never underestimate American's thirst for the almighty dollar. Hey - there isn't a thing wrong with that - I like my pretties as much as the next person. If having things is part of the key to your happiness, I'm the first in line telling you to go for it! But I do think the spiritual/social benefits side to this method aren't covered well in the book or movie.

However, I think it's interesting to note that as the mainstream critics take potshots at "get rich quick" New Age systems like The Secret, certain evangelical sects are promoting the idea that if you believe the "right way" (their way) God blesses you with $$, cars, houses, etc. (It's a whole movement - check it out - it makes for interesting discussions.) My point is that "new-agers" aren't the only ones targeting our wallets under the guise of spiritual awakening....so be careful that your own house isn't made of glass when you start throwing stones. ::wink::

The Secret urges us to look at the Universe as one big catalog. To just pick what we want and it'll be given to us. It does neglect to say anything about working, saving up, etc. in order to afford the stuff we want...although once in awhile things have fallen into my lap totally out of the blue - and I'll bet things like that have happened to you too.

I do firmly believe that there aren't coincidences in life and being in the right place at the right time is something you bring about through positive thought and action. "You create your own reality" and "The Universe wants to act fast when opportunity presents itself" are two VERY big concepts in the book. I kinda agree with the first and totally agree with the second.

Let's take our new house as an example. No one will ever convince me that we weren't creating this scenario all along. We had been half-heartedly looking for a new place for a couple of months and had just decided to try and "find the most place for our money" when 3 days later Doug found this house while driving through a few streets randomly after work. As a family we'd been envisioning our perfect house and this one appeared like it had a big red bow on top. The only thing we sacrificed at the time (we thought) was an investment opportunity for retirement. Now we're finding out that we'll still have the bucks for that investment also, so it really was a win-win for us...because we didn't abandon our first scenario/dream just because this house cropped up - we kept feeding it positive thought & energy.

We acted FAST. We really didn't give ourselves time to think. It was a total gut instinct to make an offer for this place & we don't regret it a bit.

Do I believe that positive thought & "believing you're healed" will heal breast cancer? (This is one scenario in the movie.) Hell no! No more than I believe a laying on of hands in a faith healers tent will deliver the same. I'm all for positive thought & mind over matter......while under the very best medical care money can buy.

I believe that negativity begets negativity. If you give your energy to negative scenarios they will, eventually, come about. The book suggests counting your blessings - the things that you're grateful for - every day and I think that's an excellent idea....as have many of the world's religions. If you focus on the good things you have, you're less likely to focus on the things you don't.

OK - I could go on & on, but heck - read it for yourself!The ideas are innocuous enough - and you just might find something worth taking with you.

(Feel free to expound in my comments if you have an opinion on it - I'm interested to hear if you've read it or just have a general opinion.)

The Face Of Despair

What face do you make when you realize your project is doomed???? (Yes - I was channeling Lucy for a moment or two.)

Just a word of advice: In my house, never ask the question, "Does this make me look fat?" without being prepared for the brutal truth...3 times over.

None of them could stop laughing (although Dylan was the worst culprit.) Doug said, "It's just so...poofy!" Colin just quietly snickered to himself.

It's a good thing I tried this puppy on! As I was crocheting along I had thoughts like, "Gee - this is going to be a REALLY heavy skirt. Especially after it's lined." and..."This is really a bright, summery yarn but the skirt is so heavy I'll only be wearing it in winter!" and .... "I wonder how poofy this thing is going to be??" (See comment above by Doug.)

Ahem....

Sigh. I really can't stress enough how big this made my waist & hips look. It's true that the weight of the piece would pull everything down & make it "flow" a bit better when complete, but there's too much material at the waist & hips to be gathered to make this look right.

I could redo this at a smaller size but...I think I'll pass on it for now.

I'm traumatized. I need time to heal.

I'm sure you all understand.

So - stepping up to the plate are "Rhubarb" and ....a crocheted purse I haven't named yet. ::wink:: I re-did Rhubarb on size 9 needles and boy, what a difference a little breathing room makes with this yarn! Above: beginning on size 9s, below, the size 7S.

NOW we have drape, baby! (I'm not sure why the book says that a smaller needle gives better drape 'cause it just ain't so - on ANY type of yarn! Smaller needle = firmer fabric. That's kind of a knitting law or something.) Anyway, since you can't feel the difference for yourselves, I tried to photograph it. Here's the size 7 fabric:

Can you see how thick it looks? Here's the size 9:

I swear I'm not pinching more to make my point. ::wink::: I'll feel a lot more comfortable wearing the lighter fabric and since the design is top-down (and I was going to leave out the color work anyway) it won't be hard at all to compensate for the drastically changed gauge.

After Deneen told me she was using Sugar & Cream for her version of this purse:

I decided to be shameless & copy her. After all, I have cones of the stuff! I'm doing a black body, bright persimmon stripes and white accents. In this picture is the bottom completed:

And yes - I know everyone's tired of gratuitous cat pictures but heck - I'll post one anyway:

And here is a gratuitous pic of my now 6' 1" (barefoot!) son...who also wears a size 12 shoe now....and he's only 14!!!!

(I took the picture 'cause I thought it would look good on his My Space page. hehehe)

Next time: new yarn and...maybe....The Secret. (Yeah - THAT "Secret!")

Things That Keep A Knitter Up At Night

OK - well - thinking about my knitting really didn't keep me up, but as long as I was sleepless, it was one of the things on my mind.

Since last night was the series finale of Stargate SG-1 (which I truly believe jumped the shark when Jack left - you don't want to get me started..) and the season finale of Stargate Atlantis (which is what SG-1 used to be) I knew I'd need some not-look-at-the-hands knitting.

Enter Tomato. I'd originally intended to make it out of turquoise Blue Sky Dyed Cotton but when I received 6 skeins of "Terracotta" in the mail, my choice was clear:

Although the "Terracotta" is more pink IRL - I'm thinking of naming my version of "Tomato", "Rhubarb." ::wink::

But that wasn't what was keeping me up last night.

The recommended needle size for this cotton is 7-9 on the ball band. Because of it's heavy worsted nature, I'd probably knit this with at least an 8, but most likely a 9. However, the pattern is knit on 7's, "at a tighter gauge than the ball band suggests to improve the drape and wearability." Hmmmm....I'm all for improved drape (you know me and my drape fixation!) and this yarn is so soft, fuzzy & lightly twisted that I'm sure a tighter gauge would improve the wear.

I'm just not sure I trust the pattern. My fabric is coming out very dense & a bit on the heavy side. I'm so concerned I actually checked gauge. (Yes - I heard the gasps - you all know I'm worried when I whip out my measuring tape!)

My gauge is spot on so I'm left with a decision: Do I continue on as I am & trust I'll like the outcome? Or do I stop now and try it on size 8 (at least) needles just to loosen things up & see if I like the fabric any better? If I went with size 9 needles, I'd knit the 35 1/2" size. With size 8's I'd need to wing it a little.

I'm putting it aside for today & will ruminate a bit. After all, it's not like I don't have other things to work on! LOL

Speaking of which, I finished another couple of dishrags - I'm making these with someone in mind so I'm still woefully behind in my "dishrag stash."

I'll leave you with a picture that makes me want to knit with orange:

I was waiting & waiting for those buds to bloom - what a beautiful spot the prior owners created!

I'm off now to water the "back 40." Next time I'll post some pix of my veggie garden.

The excitement just never ends around here. ::wink:::

Catching Up & Mail Surprises

A few of you asked the status on finding the SS# of our old renters so we could serve the garnishment. Thanks to Deneen we have it all figured out. She mentioned a subpoena for information. Long story short, I called the court house & was told, "You said the magic word when you said subpoena. We can get any information you want through subpoenas. Come down here & the one for a SS# is in our dollar packet. Request that at the counter & we'll even serve the subpoena for you." If he doesn't answer the subpoena within a certain amount of time, he can be arrested. (Yay! hehehe)

Evidently because of "impartiality issues" they aren't allowed to tell a person HOW to get a SS#. We have to find that out on our own & know what words to use and how to ask. THEN they'll bend over backwards to help.

Now, I understand about not showing either party favoritism, but...the guy has already been proven to be a deadbeat. You'd think that AFTER a judgment has been handed down they could say something like, "Hey you! Pssssst! Dollar packet! Check it out!"

Sheesh.

Doug was going down there today to fill out the subpoena, but instead it'll have to wait until next Wed. Today he's headed to Espanola (It's about 30 miles north of Albuquerque) to pick up a new oven & dishwasher for us at Lowe's. They no longer ship no-stock items between stores, hence the trip. But it's worth it - the dishwasher that's here now is the loudest thing EVER. LOL

I have more stuff to talk about, but here are a couple of pix to break up all the reading! Remember these buds?

They bloomed:

Pretty stuff!

Does anyone know why I'm getting two colors of blooms (the fuchsia and pale pink) on one plant? Or is that just the way they grow? Frankly, I've never had one of these actually bloom before - I've always managed to kill them straight off!

OK - back to yakking. Speaking of Lowe's, Doug got a semi-large & unexpected raise on this paycheck. It's his anniversary with the company but he hadn't had his review and no-one said a word about a raise. We'll take it, of course - what a wonderful surprise!

It's a sure thing - we're closing on the rental late afternoon on Monday. That will officially be OFF our plate and we can concentrate on selling our old house. The painting is just about complete over there and during the next 2 to 3 weeks we'll do the final push of clearing out stuff - one truck being loaded for the dump, the other coming back over here. We should be ready to put it on the market by the end of July.

Here are more pix to distract you...yesterday I had a lovely mail surprise. Awhile back I won a blog contest over at  Megan's and this is what she sent me. Hmmm...I wonder what's inside?:

Look at all the goodies!:

LB Bolero (which I've never used or even seen before!), needles (pink & bamboo - too cute!), a spool of black lame' thread, yarn needles, two lovely buttons and a tin of Burt's Bee's hand salve. What a wonderful surprise - thanks again, Megan! I never, ever win blog contests (I think the last one was over at Vera's ages ago) so this was pretty sweet. :)

I watched the 1st three episodes of Clatterford yesterday while working on a couple of my new projects and I LOVE it! What got me hooked right away was the opening scene when the president of the lady's society goes in to talk to the vicar and every pew in the church is covered in crocheted & knitted afghans. LOL He is standing beside a stack of crocheted items, with loose granny squares stacked on top. He asks what they are and she answers (I'm paraphrasing) "Well, they are hymn book covers...or candle mats....or...." I was laughing so hard! It's the perfect send-up of this compulsion some people feel to crochet or knit something...anything...especially for charity. Lots & lots of somethings. As if the answer to any problem in life is a comfortghan. (You all already know my opinion on those!)

Later on Sal asks her friend if she should join the ladies society and her friend answers, "Sure you should...and I'll knit you a coffin when you do."

Yeah - I like this show. :::Grin:::

Woman Cannot Live By Cardi Alone

I know I've said it before, but this time I actually mean it. ::wink::

Yesterday morning I had 5 new projects picked out and one UFO to complete:

Clockwise from top: Pacific Waves Shawl (Elann), "Wisp" from the new Knitty (using a skein of Blue Heron Yarn's cotton given to me ages ago by Nat), "Tomato" from No Sheep For You (which is now offered free online through Knitting Daily), and Shell Skirt from "Crochet!" magazine.

Here's a pic of Shell Skirt in case you've forgotten what it looks like:

From "Crochet Today" I chose this set (there's a sunglasses case to match) and I'll be using up my Katia Pisco leftovers:

The UFO is ..... (you guessed it, Wanda) Bianca's Jacket:

True, Bianca's Jacket IS a cardi, but it's UFO status gives it special dispensation to be listed along with my new, non-cardi projects. ::wink::

By the end of the day, I'd received an eBay purchase in the mail which made me want to start some dishrags:

I'd gotten a really great start on Shell Skirt:

And I'd cast on for Aztec Waves (a renamed Pacific Waves Shawl):

Those 541 stitches took me almost as long to do as the 12 rows of the skirt! Sheesh! It took me 3 tries to decide on a cast on method. Grrrr. I finally went with a knitted cast on - I didn't have to guess how much yarn I'd need as with the long-tail and the stitches are looser & the piece is stretchier - perfect for a shawl edge. :)

I accidentally managed to hit on a skirt size that fits me. LOL I stopped when the waistband measured what I thought it should & miraculously it matched the X-large size. I say "miraculously" because I didn't count the rows of the waistband, I just started in on the skirt because the pattern's so easy you can fudge the count & the size if you need to. So, even though I fully intended to wing it I realized I'd ended up following the pattern when I counted the stitches! I've tried it on & it fits, so it's onward & upward....

Hoist by my own petard. hehehehe

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful compliments yesterday (I'll be answering in email today.) I really love the sweater and am happy it turned out so well. Then again, my beloved Cotton Ease rarely lets me down! LOL

Happy Thursday!