doncha just hate it when....

you know with absolute certainty that somewhere in this larger than life stash of unfinished projects and random bags there IS a #6 circular needle longer than 16"??... and 30 minutes of agonizing searching fails to uncover (literally)it??? I hate it! Tonight I decided to resurrect the Sakori vest/could be jacket and managed to finish the seed stitch border on the other side (bottom front edge up over shoulder and down back edge), re-read instructions for creating the front borders, was ready to start and all I could find was the 16" #6 circ. and that just isn't going to work!! So, i gave up the search and will go to bed. It will be the second night in recent history when it's cool enough to sleep and will probably require a blanket... yippeeee.

and a note for the garden diary: picked the first red ripe tomato today (yum) and there are 3 eggplants almost ready to harvest, and several more cucumbers and zucchini squash. Jim got all the raised beds lined with wire so the underground rodents aren't eating the beets and pulling the green bean plants down into their dining rooms. whatever these creatures are, they are bigger than gophers and have been known to chew thru the main large (probably 3" to 4" diameter) roots of 10 year old wine grape plants.

my birthday

well, it's a little past midnight and it's 82F outside right now, probably about that here on the second floor of our house. tho it's air conditioned in the basement and first floor, the cool just doesn't get up here very well. but, this is OREGON, for goddess sake... it is just not spose to be this hot for a prolonged period of time. it's not spose to be 104F for 2 days in a row!! damn! anyway, it's my 68th birthday and i just don't want to be this old. don't want to be dead yet either, so i guess 68 is the alternative to dead. My dad took us out for dinner tonight at one of our 2 favorite Greek restaurants. one reason to go there was that we had a 2 page hand-written letter from Marina, a friend in Vamos, Crete... written in Greek.. and we wanted to get it translated. The owner, Denny, did that for us and it really made me nostalgic and missing Vamos to hear what she wrote. It was mainly a response to what i'd written her in January and the pictures i'd sent. i love the people we became friends with there and miss them so much. I'd love for my dad to go with us to Crete in November. My heart is just so heavy tonight. Pop is in pretty good health for a 90 year old man, but he is just so sad and lonely without DeDe. He's outlived 2 wives, had a very full life, realized many of his ambitions, is successful and well-respected and loved... and he's lonely and tired and just doesn't have much energy for life. i think he's really wanting to die and i'm not willing to give him a lot of pollyanna shit about bucking up and there's lots to live for and yadda yadda yadda... because he wouldn't believe that and i have too much respect for him to do that. we (the family) have tried to help him focus on short term goals that would be interesting/fun etc., but he sees right through that. i totally believe that his 90th birthday party/big bash was from his point of view, a living wake which gave him an opportunity to connect with people who had been an important part of his life. he and i had a touching and teary conversation after dinner, and i told him again that i'll miss him so much when he's gone, and that i do understand why he hasn't much enthusiasm for living. he told me that he spends a lot of his time reading and re-reading DeDe's diaries, many of them dating back to the times before he married mom and she married Rush. he told me he's been doing some writing about his time with DeDe. and despite all this, i do wish he'd decide he had the energy to go to Crete with us... i know he'd love it and everyone there would adore him... and that couldn't be a bad thing. that long, long airplane trip is tough though.

more fiber/yarn

tried again on the other part of the current project, and was much more successful!!

I'm calling it "October" ... that's what it made me think of. Carolyn said the other one reminds her of violets.... so that's its name.

Oh, yeah, October!.. that's when we leave again for a big trip. departing Oct. 16 for 12 days in Italy, then back to Crete til Nov. 23. We will be renting the same house we were in last fall, so it will be kind of like "going home". We received a letter this week from our friend, Marina, in Vamos, Crete... a 2 page letter that looks like it's just chock full of news. The problem is... it's written in Greek. So this week we'll go to one of our favorite Greek restaurants (Santorini) in Portland and see if our friend, Nikos the bartender will translate it for us. And ... we'll probably have to have a glass of Mavrodaphne and dinner!

new yarn

this is what I am currently spinning. It's BFL (which I love spinning!)

It was actually destined to go to the shop, but I grabbed and stashed it, along with a slightly different color combo (the photo of which looked crappy, so will try again on that one). Kept 2 pounds total, so it ought to be enough to do something with, tho i haven't been visited by my muse on that one yet. stay tuned, i just might come up with something.

and more photos

this fiber is a merino/cashmere blend which I bought at BSG from Dicentra (Lisa Milliman. it is just heavenly to spin and makes a poofy, drapey yarn. With the fiber and yarn is a spindle that Jim Child (Hatchtown Farm) made for me after our first trip to Greece. This was from a chunk of olive wood that I brought back from Crete. I've forgotten its specifications, but it is tiny and spins silk beautifully. This yarn was spun on my Ernest Mason wheel which I've been using lately.... the spindle was just lying there begging to get into the photo!


The next photo is a baby kimono sweater I recently made from well-aged stash yarn (wool). The pattern was in Mason Dixon Knitting, a book i am really enjoying, tho would never have bought it based on that cover!! wonder who talked the authors into that??!!
this is a sweater i know i'll knit again! easy, made up quickly! won't do stripes next time... too many friggin' ends to deal with!

flowers

I was inspired by Angi to put up some of my flower photos. One of my favorites:
and then one of my favorite day lilies

4th of July

in Sewanee, TN. There was a mutt show where Lynne and Monk placed with a new Monk trick! here they are receiving their trophy
next to them was the clown who was nothing but an annoyance to the MC.

Lynne and Monk resting after the awarding of their trophy


and back at home, Monk got a cigar (doggie treat) as a special award!
isn't he cute??

Color in Spinning and Knitting

Back in Sewanee with Lynne now... and it was a fantastic class/retreat/workshop weekend at The Red Rooster Retreat in Alabama. There were 10 students, 7 were from the workshop last year at Shakerag, so it was great to see old friends and meet some new ones.

Everyone learned something and loved it... no matter their experience in spinning and knitting. It was so great to be in a place where the classroom and sleeping rooms were in the same building... in fact, everything was in the same building...!
Lynne has such a wonderful gift as a teacher. She is so clear in her explanations and demonstrations, and so patient. Her classes at Harrisville and Michigan in August are full, but there is still some room in the class in Taos, NM in October... just before the Taos Wool Festival. http://www.taoswoolfestival.org

I had so much fun as an assistant/helper! got to spin and knit and learn some new knitting techniques, and just hang out with kindred spirits for 3 days! i'd do it again in a newyork minute. Am already missing my home tho, cause i know the flowers are just glorious and Jim is lonely there with just the dawgs (that gets old after a few days, i know from experience) and of course, i miss Meika and Tasha. But i am looking forward to 4th of July celebrations in Sewanee and then going to Knoxville to spend a few days with my sisters (the bio ones)... life is good!