Do You See Trees? I don't know about you, but when I look at the lacy cuffs on this shrug I see trees. I think they are so cute. One sleeve down and one to go. I may have this thing done by the time a good stiff cool breeze comes to Tennessee!

Quiet vs. Shy: Most often shy people are quiet people. They tend not to overly talk. There are rumors out there that a lot of actors are really quite shy and that acting is an outlet for what they wish they could say or do in their real lives. That is a whole psychological thing I'm not prepared to get into. Quiet people on the other hand are most often not shy. My middle son for example. I have a house full of guys and by in large they are all very boisterous. My husband and youngest being the loudest. My middle son is the most quiet. He talks rather low and loves to talk but only when he has something to talk about. He is probably the most opinionated of the three boys and has never been "shy" about telling his point of view. As a matter of fact, he is hard to persuade otherwise. Also, he will speak up for himself and take matters into his own hands quicker than you can blink. When problems arise at school or things happen away from home and I say, "Well, you need to . . ." I am often interrupted by, "I've already taken care of it." Pardon me. So, he has a job and it is working with the chiropractors father in law at his winery. She (the chiropractor I work for) met him the other day for the first time and said to me later, "Your son is really shy." I just looked at her, kind of blank and glazed over. Then I smiled. I smiled because I thought #1 you really don't know him do you and #2 oh, you'll see how shy he can be if he feels he needs to speak up. Ha!! anyway, I just thought it was interesting the whole quiet/shy thing.

We had a "pee-free" night in the house last nite. Winston did not pee in the bathroom. I looked and looked and no wet spots to be found. Don't get all congratulatory because the day before he peed in the house 3 times in the span of 2 hours. We were not amused.

Watched the first episode of the season of "Bones" last night. I love that show. Can't wait for the new season of all of my favorites to start. We watch way to much tv in our house, like most Americans I would guess. Oh well, have a great day. . . Peace~DAWN  ¶ 9:30 AM |

  Shrug "Skin" Ooo, those colors look sickly! yuck! sorry about that. The lighting in my dining room is dim so the colors look washed out. Anyway, that is the Interweaves shrug. It was taking a blocking break for a few hours. Now I am working on the lace sleeve/wrist part. It is coming along nicely. I just hope it fits!!

Winston is taking a snooze. He is doing really well. Way to much energy sometimes for the other two who run from him like he has cooties. He is pretty good about going pee and poop outside. Yesterday, he went into the kitchen to pee. At least it was on linoleum this time and not carpet.

We had a very hectic weekend. It felt like all we did was get in the car and go somewhere. I am looking forward to this coming weekend where I plan on doing a lot of nothing in the comfort of my own home. I do have big plans for cleaning my house in the near future. Stop laughing. Stop it. Anyway, I want to go room by room and completely empty out the contents and put back only what we really use/want. I have so much crap it is not even funny! My organizational skills in the past year are practically non existent. In my bedroom alone me and my husband are literally drowning in clothing. It is everywhere. Who could possibly wear that many clothes? Obviously not us. We definately are in the US consumer mode. Not proud, just saying...

Okay, the first room to be gutted is the bathroom (start small, that is always a good confidence builder). Here I go. . . Peace~ DAWN

  ¶ 9:14 AM |

  Quote "If you are overly empathic, you struggle when you see someone else in pain; you want to make it go away. But if your empathy extends to taking on someone else's Karma by trying to take away pain, you're invading that person's boundaries. The same is true if you allow others to invade your psychic space. It may sound callous, but sometimes letting others struggle to find their own way can be the greater gift."
~Yoga Journal MAY 2006

I never thought of it as taking on someone else's karma before. When I read that, it really made me think. I liked it and thought I'd share it with you.

Peace~DAWN  ¶ 8:26 AM |

  Last days of Summer Well, the college boy has two days left of "summer". He begins his classes on Monday! The girlfriend arrived in town yesterday and this weekend we will help her get settled in her dorm. They are off to do some registration stuff and to get their books today. I'm so nervous for them.

There is knitterly things going on in my home, but alas, they are in the boring "blob-like" state. I have almost finished the body of the InterweaveKnits shrug and then I need to block it and add the cuffs. It is looking good and I am so excited for cool weather so I can wear it. Did I just say I was excited for cool weather. Hmmm, odd. I am also working on another hat for donation but I'm not crazy about this one. That is probably why it has been on the needles for over a week.

Puppy love is growing around here. Timber and Buster are being more playful with Winston. Timber is much older so he tolerates him like an uncle would while Buster is still a youngin' himself so he is up for some tusseling every now and again. I just wonder how the deck will be stacked when the boxer puts on his extra 40+ pounds and little 20 lb. Buster stays the same. Interesting.

Peace~DAWN  ¶ 10:32 AM |

  What the Harlot Says, What the Yarn Harlot says, Dawn does (well, at least in this case):

In the chapter on "Know Your Stuff", the harlot suggested putting all printed out patterns in file folders on your bookshelf so that you could go directly to them or stuff them directly back in when you where done. I thought that was brilliant! Why have I been messing with trying to stuff them in a labeled binder in individual plastic keepers? It is only more steps to follow and more steps lead to procrastination and that leads to just plain not doing it at all. Which means you have pattern bits laying all over the place and you can never find the one you want. So, I took the advice and walah! I am happy and semi-organized.

And because some of you asked for it (and some of you didn't, but you know you wanted it), here is another glamour shot of Winston:

I know, I know. You could just eat him up. Look at his little face! There is nothing better than puppies and babies. Peace~ DAWN

  ¶ 2:06 PM |

  "Fetching" Winston Welcome the newest addition to our stable of dogs. This is Winston, a 10 week old Boxer. He is just too cute for words. All I wanted to do was stop by and see all the boxers in the back of the pick up truck. I just wanted to smell them. There is nothing like puppy smell. Next thing I know my husband (who is a boxer freak and has been jonesing for one since our last boxer died in 1999) is making the guys an offer and already pointing out the one he wants!! Hey, hey!! I just wanted to smell them. . . now we have 3 dogs. The other two are over joyed. Well, my german shepard is anyway. The beagle is jealous to beat the band.

On my "paws" are the Fetching gloves at Knitty. I just finished them this morning and thought that they would be cute with the dog. Here they are alone:

Stats: Fetching pattern

One ball each of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran wool in green and blue

Size 6 DPN's

Here is what I learned: 1)Debbie Bliss merino aran only has 76 yards, not 98 like the cashmerino aran. It was on sale at my LYS for $2.40! so I bought 2 balls thinking I'd make one pair of blue and one pair of green. Not! so I compromised and made one pair of blue/green gloves. 2)Read the pattern and follow "as is", not "read into the pattern". I literally for 2 days stressed over the hole for the thumb because I was reading INTO the pattern and not following it as it was written. I woke up at 4 a.m on Thursday after dreaming about it and finally figured it out. Now that is knitting dedication. No one should ever question my commitment to this craft, EVER! 3) I don't like the picot bind off and will not do it on my next pair. So there. I added a few extra rows to the thumb and I will make my next pair longer to cover more of my fingers. Otherwise: Great pattern and very useful fall gloves. Make a pair--I dare ya.

  ¶ 12:23 PM |

  From Blue to Green The concert was awesome! We had the best seats. We were in Row 9 and maybe 2 seats away from being dead center. The kids had a blast. The young one grew a bit tired ( Lynyrd Sknyrd didn't take the stage till 9:30). It was a sold out show, so leaving the arena took forever. We made it home safe and sound.

These are a pair of fingerless mitts I'm working one. It is the third time I started them and got to about this point before frogging. The first time was because I twisted the cables all to hell and back. The second was because I realized I was using the wrong yarn and my yardage was off and finally the third time is the charm. I decided to make then bi-colored and that way I don't have to purchase anymore yarn. I know, blastphemy, however, we still need to eat and pay bills so. . .

The other day when were going somewhere my husband called me to the drivers side of the truck and pointed to this:

It is a cicada bug breaking free from its crunchy cocoon. Look at how fluorescent green he is! Incredible! It kinda looked like a vampire hanging down. We took a different car so that it could complete it's transformation undisturbed.

Peace~DAWN

  ¶ 2:27 PM |

  Lighters Raised, Please Tonite we are taking all three of the kids to their first concert. We are going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and we have really good seats! Me and the husband saw them in concert last year when they were in Nashville and they were filming their concert DVD. We bought the DVD when it came out and my husband says he can "kinda see us", but I am doubtful that those two dots are us. Anyway, we are all (5 of us) going this time. Yes, it was an expensive purchase. Luckily we bought the tickets months ago before all of the shit hit the fan.

I was in the mood and the need of a finished object that didn't reject me, so I decided it was time for another Rad Bad Beanie and I came up with the London Beanie from my stash of patterns. I made a few modifications for it and it turned out great. I have so much yarn in my stash and this pattern worked up in a couple of hours so I think I am gonna try and crank out one a week for the next 4 to 6 weeks and get a nice pile of hats ready to send in time for the cold weather.

The young one was quite pissed at me for something or other and so I had him model for me to take his mind off of it. Nice, huh? Have a great weekend. Peace~DAWN  ¶ 2:46 PM |

  Let the Block Party Begin Well, I have begun blocking the "under done" Seraphim. Here she is being drowned in the bathtub:

And here she is after a bit of strangling:

And finally, here is is being "blocked" on my dining room table. You should know that my table hasn't been this cleaned off in a very long time.

When she is done, I will take measurements and pose with her. Even though my Seraphim doesn't look like all the others out there, I will love her just the same. She is pretty, warm, soft and light.

thanks to all of you who left me such encouraging comments on my last post. I hate to be a blogging whiner but I had been pushed to the edge that particular day and just need to vent without any reprocussions. Thanks for not flippin me the bird and telling me to get over myself.

Have a great day! Peace~ DAWN

  ¶ 9:20 AM |

  The Time of the Locust Well, apparently my life has run off road and I am being pelted by a swarm of locust. All was going along smoothly and then

• $200 dollar tune up on one car
• husband gets a job with better benefits but much lower pay
• fuel pump goes out in the other car ($360)
• oldest starting college (supplies plus new laptop)
• other two starting school (supplies plus lunch money everyday)
• I may have to pay back almost $2000 to insurance because they, Blue Cross Blue Sheid, don't want to pay for the massages that some clients got in conjunction with their chiro adjustment. They paid for them in Sept. thru Dec. of last year but now they say, "uh, no." Thanks, dickheads.
• Bonus locust. . . gas prices are on their way up and 2 people in my household (husband and oldest son) have to drive 40miles each way to work/school.

Apparently the ebb and flow of life has just hit me with a huge ass undertoe. Lovely.

In knitting news (which is why you are here, right?): Serephim got fucked up over the weekend. DO NOT KNIT LACE WHILE FAMILY IS AROUND!! I dropped some stitiches, thought I picked them up correctly, was interupted several times and lost my place so with just under 20 rows left. . . Anyway, I just bound it off and before blocking I have this:

After I block it, I will post a picture. I am so depressed over it... anyway, I am going back and forth now between size 3 needles and size 10 needles for Icarus and the Interweave Knits shrug:

Interesting how they are both in blue. Kinda how I feel. I can't wait to get the shrug done (god, please let it fit me). This yarn is so soft and warm, I will love wearing it in the fall. Better days, people...Peace~DAWN

Oh, I almost forgot... the Taledaga Nights movie was really funny. It was a bit over the top, but still really good. My favorite character was Ricky's dad (he didn't have a lot of parts, but when he did, I laughed my ass off).

  ¶ 12:14 PM |

  Movin' On My sister is moving into a new appartment. We are goinig to be helping her most of the day Saturday. It shouldn't take too long since she has been making mini hauls over to the new place all week. She is really excited. . . this is the first time in a lot of years where she doesn't have a room mate. Afterwards, we are going to see "Taladega Nights: the ballad of Ricky Bobby". My husband is a huge Nascar fan and we both love Will Ferrell, so we are looking forward to this film.

We are finally getting a bit of rain as I type this up. We have been so dry here in Tennessee lately. Some of the trees in my yard have literally dried up. They have already lost their leaves and are bare to the bone. The ground is so hard, it will take more rain than what we will end up with to quinch the earth, but hey, at least it is something.

I ended up having to place an order with KnitPicks for somemore yarn for Ms. Marigold. The pattern so far is really well written and fun to do, but the yarn yardage is way off. I am even using the yarn that was recommened (which I rarely do, so go figure). And yes, I even did a gauge swatch that came out right. So far it looks like it will fit fine. Also, I needed a couple of more skeins of yarn for my Serephim shawl. I have hit a wall with it since I got back from vacation. I have two projects that I really want to make headway with before I get back into the lace ( it is very time consuming).

The Praying Mantis was on our deck railing. He is probably about 2 inches long:
Patient, perceptive and focused this little totem holds a powerful message. When it appears in your life it is asking you to direct your energy, your thoughts or your actions in a different way. Asking the following questions can give you the insight necessary to motivate appropriate changes. Have I lost patience with a particular situation? Have I been too patient, and if so, has this had a detrimental affect on me? Is my perception correct regarding a situation? Have I become narrow minded? Am I focused on my objective? Perception through stillness is part of its teaching.

Well, have a great weekend everyone. I will let you know how we liked the movie. . . till then, Peace~DAWN  ¶ 6:30 PM |

  Slow Poke I am not "slow"; but I read like I am. How long has Ahab's Wife been on my reading now list? ah, since March!! Yikes! I can't help that I am only able to take to one passion at a time. Knit/crochet or read. Read or paint. Paint or make jewelry. Make jewelry or. . . you get the point.

This is where I questions those people who devour books. . . you know who you are. You read a book in like a week or two and your off to the next one. What is that all about. Do you speed read or skip pages. What gives? It is like you swallow down the words like jello, never having to let your teeth work to get it all down. Me-- well, I read (relatively slowly, I guess) but in addition to that I read words, sentences, paragraphs over, sereral times (on purpose, thank you). I ponder what I read and sometimes close the book to savor all those words up to that point. I will wait days with the image of the people and their situations as they are, suspended until I think I am ready to move on with them. So it was with this book. The whole thing fascinated me! The detail Sena went into about whaling and lighthouses and sewing and just everything. It was great. I never new there was so much involved in whaling and sailing; it was inspiring to read and want to research more about the topic. I love how she made Ahab a real person on land and how Sena gave the female heroin such a voice and sense of self. I highly recommend this book. I promise it is a much easier read than my many months of reading it may imply. I am moving on to Death Be Not Proud. It is much thinner (but a bit heavier); hopefully it won't take me all autumn to finish. I have a date to read Frankenstein in the fall. . .

p.s. I have begun reading my new book and coincidentally have run across this passage: "When he read a book, he would often stop, as if considering what he had read, then go back and read something over." Ha! I am not alone.

  ¶ 3:19 PM |

  Everybody Loves Chocolate This--This is the phone that I want!!

It is the new Chocolate Phone from Verizon (which is my carrier, so hopefully I will get a bit of a discount since I am already a customer). It is so awesome! and it comes out on Monday. I will have to check it out and hold it in my little hand to make the final decision. Yippie!!  ¶ 7:21 AM |

  Okay, More Photos So, I lied. Here are a few more photos of our trip. Here are the "boys" at the Daytona 500 Speedway:

And here we are standing on a piece of the original Daytona Road when the race was half road half beach:

And finally, posing as Space Nuts at the Kennedy Space Center:

Mostly, I don't have a lot of knitting content at the moment, so I am posting "photo filler". I did a trial run at a pair of Knucks from Knitty. I love fingerless mitts! and so this issue was a dream for me. I still feel like all thumbs when I use DPN's, but I figure the more I try using them the better I will get. The trial run at the pattern was using a fingering weight yarn and size 3 needles, so maybe with the correct yarn and neddle size, it will be better. Looks like a visit to the LYS, ahh.

I am going to state the obvious for all of those living in the U.S. . . it is HOT~!!!! outside. I don't care how quickly you move from the car to any building with AC, you end up with sweaty pits. I love summer, however so that will be the end of my complaining. When the cold weather arrives, you'll read me bitching much much more;)

Peace~ DAWN

  ¶ 2:06 PM |