Ahoy, me hearty readers!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, happening since 1995, but it really gained recognition with promotion by Dave Barry. It is also significant to Pastafarians, because they consider pirates to be divine beings. So, go talk like a pirate today! (Check out the links too if you want more than just my word for it.)




This was the view from my kitchen window at lunch time today. Well, not exactly. This is really from DTY's bedroom window because the kitchen one is just too dirty to take a picture through. So this is from the floor above the kitchen, but you get the general idea. I think I will clean her window though, it turns out to be a great place to take pictures of the backyard. Of course, I don't know how to run the camera to the best of its abilities; hopefully there will be pictures using the zoom soon. There were a couple more deer that didn't make it into the picture. That part is a bit sad, because there was a mix of deer that had changed color for the fall as well as some that hadn't. I was hoping to show you all "fall deer" compared to "summer deer." Maybe I'll still be able to pull that off. (I think I will clean the kitchen window too.)

So, I figured out the fits I was having with the computer earlier (or the computer was having with the operator, whichever the case may be) that kept me from showing you the very cool stitch markers that Jayne sells over on Etsy. So here they are in their very cool coffee bean glassiness.

I also mentioned that she had very pretty yarn and this is just one of her color ways. She also has one that looks like fall leaves, but you can go and see for yourself what a beautiful job she does.

Dishcloth Swap Topic of the week

Here is the latest installment of the "Getting to know your dishcloth swap partner" postings. (Which I think is really a great idea and very helpful!)

When you knit dish clothes, wash clothes or face clothes, what do you use?Well, I have been using a lot of "Sugar'n Cream" lately, with a little "Peaches & Cream" thrown in.
What size needle? A size seven Clover Bamboo circular. (I think it is about twenty four inches long.)
Why do you love that needle so much? Well, for starters, because it is a circular. That means I don't have to worry about where "that other needle" has been set or rolled off to. Also, I can just push all the stitches to the middle, shove it in the bag, and be good to go. For this weigh of yarn and the way I knit, I like the density of the resulting fabric. Not to tight to knit, and not to limp when it is done.
Is there one you are dying to try? Well not that I can think if at this time. I have a lot of the afore mentioned cottons and managed to stumble upon a bunch of Cotton 100 that was hiding in my basement. This yarn was discontinued long enough ago that it doesn't show up in Berroco's list of discontinued yarns. I plead the "It was on the $1.00 table at my LYS in Salt Lake City years ago." (Read, we moved to MN in 1999.) Hey it is soft and all cotton and will soon be turned into dishcloths (or maybe dishtowels or a bathmat).
Is there a particular yarn you love and use all the time for clothes? The previously mentioned Suger'n Cream or Peaches and Cream.
What is so special about it? Good sturdy all cotton. Knits up quickly, machine washable and dryable, and comes in a ton of both variegated and solid colors. All that and the price. It runs about $1.50 or less as the regular price and goes on sale for just over a dollar at Hobby Lobby on a fairly regular basis. I can get two BallBands out of two skeins with a bit leftover. I have made a couple of smaller than "standard" Chinese Waves dish clothes out of some leftovers. I also made a couple of Mandy's Candy bags out of the leftovers.
I will say that I have used 100% cotton chenille a lot in the past and really liked it a lot, especially for face cloths. It is very soft and holds up well in the wash.

Coffee beans, beads, yarn

I found these really cool stitch markers. They look just like coffee beans! They are made out of glass beads. Just in case you haven't gone over and looked at them yet, you better go now. I promise I'll still be here when you come back.

See, aren't they really cool?! I am thinking I need some, but I might turn them into earrings instead of using them just for knitting. Or I might have to get two sets so I can use them for both. Won't be getting them this week or next I don't think, but... (I suppose one could consider this a hint for a present if they really wanted to.) Oh, she has really pretty yarn too!

Oh look! I can just order the beads! In light or dark roast! The same ones as above, but two color choices, and it is a string of twenty-five! I will just say that I think these are really, really cool and awesome pieces of glass! Just in case no one had figured that out by now!

BTW, I would just give you a picture of them, but I can't figure out right now how to load the picture to the proper place (and my remaining helper of such things is gone on a business trip). So, you will just have to click on one of the links and go see for yourself how cool they are.

Addendum: The other thing about Hubband being gone in regards to computer stuff (besides not being here to help me figure out the picture thing? I can't use the printer until he gets home. The remaining desktop computer got moved from "the computer room" to DTY's bedroom after she left for college. The printer got moved from the computer room to Hubband's office. Just as he got done packing up his laptop to leave yesterday, he realized Kaylee and the printer won't be able to talk to each other without his computer as a go between. Fortunately, this is not a big problem and he is only gone for a few days. Luckily, I know since he is such a wonderful guy, he will fix this problem before he goes on a long trip.

Coffee yarn and used books

OK folks, here you go. This is a picture of coffee-dyed yarn, along with a bit of what the color looked like before it was dyed. As a bonus you get to see a bit of my weaving. Not pressed weaving, since it is a scarf and has been (obviously) wrinkled up all summer. Hey, I never promised ironing!

Here is a pile of dyed thrums(the leftover warp that gets cut off when you are done weaving) and the original yarn. This yarn is dyed to be fairly dark, because I thought the color was prettier than the lighter color I experimented with. To answer the question that I am sure some of you are wondering, "No, the darkness of the roast has no bearing on the darkness of the dyed yarn." It is all about the weight ratio of the dye stuff to yarn. Not as much dye stuff (coffee, onion skins, bugs, snails, etc.)to the amount of yarn, you get a lighter colored yarn. The more stuff you use, the darker your yarn. I used only your basic mordant of alum and cream of tarter. You can skew the colors of natural dyed yarns by tossing in other chemicals, safe ones being things such as vinegar. Not safe ones include heavy metals like copper. Yeah, I go for not messing with my septic tank and ground water too much. When I clean the basement this winter I should come across the experiment samples of different colors. When I find them, I'll pass them on.


Have I ever mentioned that I think buying/getting/giving used books is a perfectly acceptable thing to do in life? I mean, if it isn't used before I get it, it will be used right away. (Well, I don't give used books to others if i don't know how they feel about it.) I don't "collect" cookbooks, but I sure do like them. I will admit to owning quite a few of them (don't even ask), but I don't need random ones just for the sake of owning another cookbook. I have been looking at this particular one for a while now, but haven't thought it was worth $30, or even the price it would be at B&N with my mom's member discount. I even looked at it at the store this summer on our day trip in Portland. It was cheaper there, but I still wasn't sure it would be worth the money. I figured I would check it out from the library first and then decide if I wanted to own it. Can I just say how much I love AbeBooks? I figured as long as I was looking for a few other books there, I might as well check prices for it too. I found it for only $4 and it showed up in my mail box yesterday.
I was looking for this book, which I had to get. It had already fallen into my "Should I buy this cookbook?" criteria of, "If I have checked it out of the library three times already, it makes sense to buy it." I love this book (obviously since I have checked it out/renewed it at least four times and had over due fines on it), and we will see how the Bob's one is. It can't be too bad for the price (and no, shipping wasn't very much either!).
That same rule has been known to apply to other types of books as well. Mason-Dixon Knitting is on my Powell's wish list. Why? 'Cause I have renewed/checked it out several times already (I have lost count, so it has to be more than three) and probably will again soon. I want to make their baby sweater for a friend, so need to read it again for that pattern. Besides, you would think that I might own it for all the Ballbands I have made already. (Powell's didn't have what I was looking for at the time, and AbeBooks doesn't have a wish list. I'm not really picky about where used books come from, but it is really cool that Abe is all independent booksellers.)
Now I am off to test the "The house will blow up if you turn on the furnace before October 1st" theory. It isn't even dinner time and is only 63 degrees in the house, plus there is a frost warning for tonight. I figure I can test the theory and maybe blow up, or I can definitely freeze! Plus, I need to make bread and it will take a lot longer at this temp. (Of course it is supposed to be seventy plus by Monday, but hey, I know how to turn it back off.)

Ponds, plants, and missing Kitty

This is a picture of our porch pond in the spring. We haul it out of the shed every spring, put it on the front porch, check for leaks, fill it with water, bring the goldfish out for the summer, and buy just a couple of plants to keep the water oxygenated, and to make the whole thing worth it. We used to put a pump/fountain in it each year, but I have replaced it twice in seven years and just never got around to the third needed replacement this year. Which is a bit sad as I really miss the sound of the moving water. You will note that there are three plants in this thing. The taller plant, a water hyacinth, is the one that gave us these awesome flowers.


This is what it looks like today. See all those plants? Yeah, they propagate like crazy all summer long. There are now seven of the water lettuce where there had been two. I also have four of the water hyacinth. Yeah, there is a reason these are classified as invasive non-native plants in a lot of places. I don't worry about them invading much since I keep them contained. They also won't winter over. The first year I brought the whole thing in to keep it gurgling away inside. Well, that didn't work very well for several reasons. DTE's cat, Kitty tried to drink out of it, but she fell in. I was not too crazy about a wet, long-haired cat running around the house! The next thing we learned was that Kitty did not like the plants. She would grab the plants and drag them all over the house, beating them up in the process. No matter how many times we put them back, or reduced the number of plants see if that helped, we would find a bedraggled water plant somewhere in the house within an hour after returning it to the water. All of those things, and the dogs banging the heavy ceramic pot into the wall and splashing water all over as they ran past it while playing tag, led to putting the pond pot in the shed, getting a bowl for the goldfish, and donating all the plants to the girl's high school biology lab.



The next fall when I brought the fish back in they had outgrown their bowl from the spring. Since I wouldn't want to live in a fish bowl myself, I kind of figured they might not either. (Like a goldfish really cares?)
Well I didn't want to have just a boring bowl to look at all winter, so I gussied up the new one a bit.

We have a frost warning for our area tonight so I might just need to move the fish into its winter home. I guess I could leave a plant in it this year since it won't drive Kitty crazy. I would really rather have her and no plants in the fishbowl. I would even be happy with water plants being drug all over the house. Besides, who is going to pet the goldfish this winter with out her here?

Thanks for all the feedback

I just want to thank you all for the feedback you have given for the "New Blog Look" that my FIADS Super Secret Spoiler gave me. It was really her work, just my cutting and pasting.
Several folks have asked about the lack of coffee dyed yarn pictures; I promise that I will have some up soon. I would have them now, but since we have a thunderstorm going on, I am going to wait a couple of hours and the sun should be back out. I will also write sometime about the process, since I have had questions about that too.

Since the week is coming to an end and I need to address the FIADS "Topic of the Week" here goes.

Topic Question
Now that in some geographic locations the weather is starting to turn cooler, do you change the type of yarn(s) you knit/crochet with? No.

If not, why do you not switch and what do you knit/crochet with? For me knitting is about the process of watching something that seems like magic happen. I take one big long stick and "string" and end up with a dishcloth, scarf, sock, or whatever I am making. Who knew I was a wizard? I sure didn't. I love the creative process, thus I do a lot of "What if I did this instead?" I enjoy a project that takes a while to finish (one of the reasons I am making Dr. Who), but I am into instant gratification, thus dishcloths. The Ballband is a lot of fun to watch the interaction of the colors happen as it grows on the needles. Each one is different, depending on the colors and the placement thereof.
Thus, I don't knit with a particular type of yarn based on what season it is currently, I knit with a particular yarn based on what I feel drawn to create or learn at the moment. This would also be why I can work on more than one creation, knitting or otherwise, in the course of a short amount of time. I am also easily distracted!

So here it is!

This new look is the present that my Fall into Autumn Dish Cloth Super Secret Spoiler has already given me. There is a user-error issue with the links to visit area, but I am working on figuring out how to fix that. Should be done with it in the next day or so. One friend of mine looked at it while I was in the process of changing it, so I already have her feedback. Any one else care to add their opinion?

Addendum:
I figured out how to fix the "Links to Visit" but have realized I need to work on the archive part as it doesn't seem to be linking through. So, please be patient while I learn how to read code to fix it. (The daughters would be proud of me if they knew I was learning more code-reading, but I don't think they read my blog.)

Falling off the (Ballband)wagon and presents

Well the other night I just had to make another Ballband Dishcloth. It had been over two weeks since the last one after all! Well, and I had seen the new Sugar'n Cream Twists yarn, so of course I had to try it. Lucky for you all, since I haven't posted any pictures for awhile. I am going to be giving you several more to make up for it.


Today I got mail from my Knit One Tea Too Pal! She sent me all sorts of goodies from The Republic of Tea. There is a cup with its own infuser, Rose Petal Tea, some sample bags of two other kinds of tea, a notebook, some fiber Soak (which I have never used), Tea stitch markers, and a few other goodies, as well as Gingerbread Biscotte. The best part of the packages was the yarn! It is Whatnot Sport, dyed by Joni of Union Center Knits and appears to come via Wool Girl. It is very beautiful! I shall give you a close-up of how pretty it is.


I am really looking forward to making myself pink and brown socks. I am hoping she will send me the recipe for the biscotte because they are really, really yummy! I would love to be able to make them and send them to the Daughters. They love gingerbread as much as I do, and the regular stuff just doesn't ship well at all!

"Fall Into Autumn Dishcloth Exchange matches went out today and I have already gotten a present from my Super Spoiler! I am excited about it, but am afraid you all will have to wait a day or two until I show it to you. There is going to be an outage on Blogspot tonight (as I am guessing some of you already know) and I want to get this post up before that happens.

Needles to drool over

Oh man, I never thought I would desire a knitting needle so much. Now, many of you may remember when the Harlot mentioned these last July, but despite following all the links, I haven't figured out where to get them in the US. Today's inbox included a regular Knit Picks email event, but the picture sent me into drool mode. I don't get all twitterpated about very many things, but these needles have definitely got my heart going a bit faster than normal. I just have to say they are really beautiful!! OK, they are colorful, and I love color. They promise to be nice smooth wood, and I really like smooth wood in my hands (while I enjoy bamboo needles, they aren't as smooth as hardwoods). Oh man, I might need new DPs for socks, or two circulars for socks, or something. Or just pretty pieces of colorful wood to look at and try not to drool on. Well, I am sure I would find something to fill them up with if some of them came to live at my house.

Yesterday and the night before I played with my Wolf for not nearly long enough, but it got late enough I decided to stop. I had my towel pattern all figured out, sampled perfectly, but I needed to order yarn for them. Yeah, I have lots of yarn already, but not the right (weft) yarn. So it is on its way. Then I will be making towels like crazy for my Towel Exchange. I am very excited about the pattern I designed for them. Don't know if anybody else will be, but I am and that is good enough for me!
Oh, I found this really cool pattern recently and think it is pretty awesome too. Maybe I could knit a colorful bag on colorful needles? Sigh. Maybe I should put these on a wish list for Hubband.

"Fall into Autumn" Dishcloth Swap

Yep, I am signing up for another swap. They are fun and I get to knit a specific thing, instead of my often "random, what do I do with it now" stuff. Plus I like hand knit dish/facecloths. (I actually am planning on signing up for one more swap in the next week. More to come on that soon!)
So here goes for my "Fall Into Autumn" Dishcloth swap question and answer entry.


1. Do you knit or crochet? Knitting
How long have you been doing it? since 1997

2. Have you made dischloths before? Yes
Do you use them yourself, give them as gifts, or both? Both

3. What's your favorite cotton to make cloths from? I usually use Peaches and Cream, Sugar 'n Cream, or 100% cotton chenille.
What cotton would you like to try that you haven't before ?
I am kind of wondering about Panda Cotton, but I am not sure if the stores here carry it. I am also thinking about trying Knit Pick's CotLin.

4. If you knit, do you prefer circular or straight needles? Circulars
For all, do you prefer wooden, metal, or plastic needles? Wood or metal, depending on the yarn

5. What are your favorite colors? Bright colors, at least for this. My kitchen is white and black for the most part, so I try to toss in lots of color.
Any colors you don't like much? Nope, I like them all (even black and white).

6. What do you like best about Autumn? The crisp air at night and warm days. Planting bulbs, the crunchy leaves, the deer changing color along with the maple leaves. ( I promise deer really do change color!)

7. Pies: Pumpkin? Apple? Pecan? All of em? or No Thanks!
All of them. Also apple-cranberry and Cranberry-pecan.

8. When you were a kid, were you the one who couldn't wait to get started with school , or the one who overslept on the 1st day?
Well, I don't think I ever overslept the first day, but I am not sure I was chomping at the bit to have it start either.

9. Do you celebrate Halloween? (The real key here guys is especially knowing if you have an aversion to the holiday or little goodies/decorations associated with it, given the time frame of the swap)
Yes, but not as much since we moved to a street with six houses on it and only four little kids. But I always loved making super-cool Halloween costumes for my kids. We still get use out of the one I made nineteen years ago this year. And I still have never seen another Pile of Leaves costume in all that time!

10. If you had to choose just 3 edible 'goodies' to eat for a full year, what 3 would you choose? (Well, coffee because I hate caffeine with drawl, but I suppose that is a drinking item, not eating.) Greek Rice Pilaf, Greek Souvlakia, and Ginger Scones.

11. Do you have any pets? Kids? Husbands who seem like kids? ;)
2 Basset Hounds, one Hubband, and those kids that are away at college (or where ever they really are, claiming to be at school!)

12. If you were to describe a particular yarn that shares traits of your personality, what would it be and why? Umm, I don't know. Oh, maybe variegated yarn because I can be very creative (those Halloween costumes would come to mind) and variegated yarn seems to add lots of possibilities for creating stuff. (???)

13. Do you use your cloths mostly for dishcloths, or as facecloths? Both. I have a couple of chenille one that are nice for facecloths, and I have several in the kitchen that get a lot of use (and another one for me on the needles. Very portable knitting.)

14. Favorite Fall Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving and why? (Feel free to share another fall memory if you do not celebrate either of these holidays)
I think it would really be my dad's birthday in the middle of November. Mostly because I remember the first time I ever cooked something all by myself was Gingerbread for his cake the year I was almost seven. He and I almost always had Gingerbread for our birthday cake 'cause it is way better than chocolate any day! Oh, can I add that as one of the things I would want to be able to eat as a treat for a year? What would I give up though? Maybe the rice.

15. Do you have any allergies or aversions your pal should know about?
Cigarette smoke and strong perfume smells.

In the interest of previous dish cloth swap questions, one could go here for the Dog Days Swap answers, if it is any help.