Happy Halloween!

"Hark! Hark to the wind! 'Tis the night, they say,When all souls come back from the far away-The dead, forgotten this many a day!"~Virna Sheard

Do not be afraid when going out tonight. It is only witches, ghosts and goblins, well... and also a Nemo and Wall E, out to frighten away the bad spirits. (AND to get all the candy they can).

"A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween." ~Erma Bombeck

We lived overseas when our girls were little. Halloween was not celebrated. There was no "trick or treating." But, they did get to dress up for school parties and they did get candy (so they were not deprived of the "amassing great quantities of candy" experience). Our youngest daughter's birthday is October 30th so you know I had great fun in baking and decorating a pumpkin cake and having a Halloween themed birthday party! I hope my girls had as much fun as I did.

It is a joy to watch the kids all dressed up to scare way "spirits" and to hand out candy. Although it is hard to part with chocolate. Every year I say we'll buy candy we don't like so we won't be tempted to eat any. It doesn't work. I just go back and buy candy I do like!! I wonder if the grandkids will have any candy left when we go visit them... hmmmm.

"When witches go riding,and black cats are seen,the moon laughs and whispers,‘tis near Halloween."~Author Unknown

No more baseball

"The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league game. The second-greatest feeling is to lose a major league game." ~Chuck Tanner, quoted in The Sporting News, 15 July 1985

Last night the World Series Game 5 was continued. As much as I wanted Tampa Bay to win, it did not happen. Sad. But it was great they made it to the series! The games were good (sorta of). And I am not totally upset that Philly won. Just dissappointed it didn't last longer and I now have to wait until Spring.

"That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball." ~Bill Veeck, 1976


What will you be doing/watching until baseball season starts again?

Socks, fingerless glove, and baseball... oh and yarn too!

The BFF Socks, pattern by Cookie A, are finished! Yep finished. And they are finished in time to qualify for Sockdown! Sep.

I love the fall colors and the tiny cables. Too bad they are a bit big for me. I made the medium size (8) but used bigger needles to get the correct gauge. So they will be a gift.

I did not cast on for the Sockdown! Oct even though I had the yarn and pattern picked out. It seems I have a few other projects that needed attention. I am excited about Sockdown! Nov and plan to cast on for the Mystery Sock. I have never done a mystery kal. We were told we'd need a main color and two very contrasting colors. So I picked:

OR:

Bad news: the second choice doesn't contrast enough. Good news: I can use the lime green or multi-green/blue in the first choice with the solid mauve or multi-mauve in the second choice. Yes, using a lime green is way outside my comfort zone but hey, it should be fun to see how they turn out.

Another FO is the "Under the Rose" fingerless glove. Yes, it is only one, so I do have to work on the second one but one is finished and I like it very much. I think my mom will like them too! I hope to get the second one finished before being seduced by more yarn for another project! I already hear a hank calling to be wound into a cake for another scarf.

BASEBALL UPDATE:
As you've heard by now, the Tampa Bay Rays are down 3-1 in the World Series. I sure thought they'd be whipping butt! I still cling to the hope that they will come back and stomp the Phillies. I'll be watching game 5 tonight after my monthly Knit & Crochet meeting at the Wool n' Cotton Shop.

Crochet?!

Yes, I crochet too. I like to crochet afghans and baby blankets. So when I found out the Fiber Arts Guild of West Texas has two service projects, I was happy to help.

In Feb, May, and Aug, they donate Preemie sets (blanket, cap, and booties) to the two local hospitals. In Nov, they donate lap throws/blankets to a nursing home.

I like to knit (or crochet) while traveling and since I'm the navigator, I have plenty of time to do it! So my latest project has been "Lacy Blocks" from the book Quick and Cozy Afghans. I used Carron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic. I used 3 (6oz.) skeins of white and a size H crochet hook. I did modifiy the pattern by changing the size so I only chained 121 and did the repeats 5 times. This gave me the required size of 30" x 40"

I love this pattern and have made it several times. It works up quickly and is an easy pattern to memorize. But I'm not crazy about working with the Carron yarn because it splits easily. It is soft so it does make a wonderful blanket.

So now that project is finished and ready for Nov's Fiber Arts Guild meeting.

And...I've started another crochet project. I am hoping this one will be done in time for Christmas. I know we have at least two trips planned in Nov so I should be able to get this one done in time to mail for Christmas.

I'm using Bernat Satin Sport and a size G crochet hook. It is an easy 2 row repeat: row 1, shells; row 2, chain and sc. decreasing a shell every other row. (at least that's how it's looking so far). The pattern is off the yarn label.

Baseball Update:
It was a good game last night even though Tampa Bay did not win. Their starting pitcher was a little shakey the first inning but then settled down. The score was close, 3-2 Phillies. Let's hope tonight is in favor of Tampa Bay!

World Series starts!

The World Series starts tonight!
We are huge baseball fans and are looking forward to watching Tampa Bay kick butt! Not that we're big Rays fans but we like them better than Phillies.
We use to be big Atlanta Braves fans but several years ago moved over to the other side (American League). Our favorite teams, yes teams, are Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers. But since they aren't playing, we'll be cheering the Rays on to victory!!

Here is a good article from mlb.com about the "fresh" matchup for the World Series. I think it is great that the Rays, who have never been to a World Series, get to play the Phillies, who haven't won a World Series in 28 years. It is refreshing that we don't have to watch the same teams play over and over again every year. I say let someone else have a chance.

And now...
I'll be patiently (well, I try to be patient (ha!)) waiting for the game to start.

Harry Potter Yarn!!

Harry Potter Yarn is in and out and back in at my two favorite web shops:
Simply Sock Yarn Company and The Loopy Ewe.
I did manage to get 1 Dumbledore and 1 Hedwig. You can see a slide show of the colors here.

What fun to find out what house the sorting hat put me in!

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Diggory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

Ok, now back to winding yarn for a new pair of fingerless gloves.

Cool again

Once again our weather has turned cool. Yeah! I'm doing the happy dance. It has been around 60 when I wake up and in the 80s by late afternoon. Yep, it is so nice to snuggle under the covers. I think now I can dig out the rest of my wool socks and can wear them in the cool mornings.

Sockdown! September update:
I finished one of the BFF socks and cast on for the second.

I did get gauge but the sock is a little big on me. I am excited that I may just finish these in time to have them qualify in the Sockdown!. With everything else I've been working on, I haven't started a pair for Sockdown! October. I may skip October and be ready to start November. BUT... I do have a pattern and yarn picked out... and I do have until October 31st to cast on... so, we'll see.

And now for the latest sock started:

It is the Anniversary Sock by Nancy Bush from the book "Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave."

I am using the Simply Sock Yarn Co. September sock club yarn. It is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Peacock and Plumage (cuff). The pattern is on the front of the leg with plain st st on the back. I plan to to do the heel and toe in the same color as the cuff.

I don't know how much knitting I'll get done this weekend. We're off to visit the grandkids!

Is it Fall yet??

Our tempuratures had be cooler. If you consider 50 degrees at night and 80 degrees during the day cooler. I do! After surviving 105 degrees (and a couple of days higher) this summer, I was ecstactic over getting up to 60 degrees in the morning. It was wonderful! I could snuggle under the covers early in the morning until I made myself get up. And then, I actually put on more clothes! Yep, in the morning it was cold cool enough to wear socks!! I would sit wrapped up in a blanket and read my emails while sipping tea. Wonderful!

So what happened?! It has been hot, again, for the last three days! It is not even noon and is now 83 degrees! with temperatures climbing into the high 90s. And look:

no clouds. Just blue skies. yep, HOT.

And while I was out getting proof of hotness, I thought I'd share these:

Catus. There is plenty of catus here.

And Mesquite trees.

So there won't be any Fall Folige viewing here. Nope. None. I've been told Mesquite trees do not loose their leaves. They don't even turn colors!!

It has also been mentioned we might have cooler weather in November. What?! I have to wait for November for great weather?

Guess I'll be inside the air conditioning wearing my warm knitted socks.

Reveling in Dish Rag Tag Glory!

The baton (box) made it home!

Yeah! Go Divas! We finished. No, we didn't finish in the top three. No we didn't finish 5th. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the standings because Emily received two other boxes today along with ours.

It was fun and exciting! It was hard to patiently wait for my turn being the anchor. "No pressure" yeah right! And now it is over for our team. Kinda sad really, but I know we've all made new friends, have new blogs to keep up with, and will do it all over again next year.