Bad Bug

Okay, we thought the third time would be a charm. HA! Bug still going buggy, so we STILL have not been up to McKittrick Canyon. From what I can understand, the fuel mixture isn't rich enough. Hubby says this is why the car seems a little "gutless." The mechanic said he'll need the car for a few days to fix the problem, so perhaps a rental this weekend? We'll turn over the car when I head out on Monday.

I joined SparkPeople again so I can track what I eat. I forgot they have a journal, too, so this actually added two useful things to what I can do with my iPhone. I dabbled in SparkPeople a little before, but it isn't very useful when you can't get online everyday. When you can, it's great! My ID over there is KNITWALK -- please reference me if you join! And of course there is a group for knitters in the Spark realm, as there is a group for Sparkers in the Ravelry realm...

Knit, Ravelry, Blog... Life

Yes, well, my dear little blog has taken a bit of a backseat with the knitting that must be done as well as my still relatively new relationship with Ravelry. Yes, relationship. For the amount of time I spend there, it should be. We're planning a trip to the Caribbean early spring....

And of course we cannot discount the time spent with continued car troubles (we think it is now fixed -- ha, ha, we think -- bad Bug, bad Bug) and a little bit of bedroom renovation. Yes, we are in an apartment. The couple that lived in the room before us fought -- violently. Supposedly all the splatter marks on the walls were from beer bottles being thrown about. Yes... we may have to repaint a "normal" color when we leave, but for now we will enjoy "Golden Butter" and "Orange Slice" with hints of "Lime Passion." We also put up shelves and a peg board for the knitting, sewing, crafting, etc. that must occur. And there has been walking -- not as much as I would like, but there has been some. The temperature has finally reached something more reasonable here a.k.a. bearable. The nights are cool, but sadly because of the street lights, bus depot, poorly tuned exhausts and booming stereos, we have to shut our windows up tightly at night.

Oh, yes, and there is that other "little" thing... my new phone... new iPhone, that is. Jeff reminded me that seven years ago I said I wanted one device that did it all -- phone, camera, music, PDA -- and here it is! It just blows my mind that I'm holding 8G of memory in my hand -- my first computer was a Mac Classic (see? I have Apple roots) and it had a whopping 40MB memory. Can't believe that was seventeen years ago. Blech. I'm still getting used to the fact that there are things I can say I've been doing for DECADES. Twenty-six years of flute playing -- that's a quarter of a century -- ohmigosh -- grab my orthodics, roll my knee-highs down to my ankles, and I'm off to play bingo...

I'm also gearing up for three trips ("real" ones, requires a plane to get there & back) in the next seven weeks. Praise God we can bring knitting needles on flights.

So that's current life in the Chihuahuan Desert for The Chick. Photos to follow!

BTW, Did I mention I got into Ravelry?

Yes, I'm finally one of the gang. You'll find me as the chickadee under "tayaelaine." Ohhhhh, so that's why blogging has been sparse. Just a little. I really like having my projects listed -- there is just something about seeing the pictures with "wip" in the corner that makes me want to get them finished before casting on the next project. Of course we'll just see how my resolve holds up since I've wound a ball of Solana and rediscovered this Knitty Pattern. Hmmmm, do I dare?

I have an ambitious Socktoberfest goal: finish two pair in progress and complete four. The four are all Christmas gifts, so I do need to get crackin' anyway. Here they are:
I suppose this means I really need to stick with my socks and not start that throw...

Sisters of the Wool Visit

Yippee! I got to knit, dye, and buy with my fellow Sisters! We spent a Saturday at Heritage Arts in Beaumont Ranch dying yarn.
It's a fun setting -- I half expected a fight to break out and a couple of cowboys to fall off one of the second story balconies!
Angeluna was creating a sinister green for her Nagini socks.
The fall decorations were fantastic. I think this one is demonstrating what happens when someone attempts to get between us and our yarn!
Here's some of our beautiful work!
There were a couple of bored teenage girls at the ranch who wanted to try out dying, and they came up with this lovely creation (which magically found it's way home with me!):
I made some mostly red yarn with a little green and navy, which in turn made a little purple. This was my first attempt at dying yarn. It will become a pair of socks for my sis-in-law for Christmas -- trying to decide what pattern to use.
This was my second hank that I dyed -- I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I have no idea what it will become when it grows up. That is real silver glinting through there, with superwash wool and silk.

My camera battery was dead when I showed up to Borders for our Brooks Farm trunk show. So, I can only show my "haul," which includes some Four Play, Solana, and Acero. Three Christmas presents and one unknown project.

I'm a Hooker...

Take it in context, people, take it in context! I took a class at Unravel in Las Cruces and here's my first project completed. I'll finish this one off as a pillow. I've started the next one, but probably won't work on it again until after the first of the year.

Not much computer time over the past few weeks, with a very full visit to the Fort Worth area, and doing a little "home improvement" in our apartment. Posts to follow!