Stick a fork in it.

Last week I had someone ask me about the multiple identities that I use online and how I selected all the different names. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how ill-fitting some of the online identities I have chosen are for me now. So I held a little contest among my online friends, and came up with a new name. And so, this chapter is ending, and a new one is beginning.

Join me... at my NEW DIGS!

P.S. This site will remain active for a while, but all new posts will appear only on the new site!

Um.... yeah.

I don't have a witty comment for this. Insert your own if you please.


More info here if you're interested.

The Secret Garden

I know that I rarely post so close together any more, but I've been on a finishing kick lately and I absolutely love my latest project. I can't stop staring at it. Without further ado:


The Pattern: Secret Garden Shawl

The Yarn: Luxe from The Unique Sheep, Gradience, Deep Waters

The Needles: US 6 and US 8

The Verdict: This was a Knit-a-Long with the pattern release in installments, so I've been working on this since mid-July. The yarn arrived early and we worked each section of the pattern, doubling the size every so often, until the circle grew huge. The last section of the pattern actually added half the size and used half the yarn of the entire shawl. I finally finished this late last night and sat down to block tonight. Wes laughed as I played with the pins (one in each of the 250+ loops), but the result is amazing. What was once a few skeins of yarn, and then a growing lump of an object is a beautiful lace shawl with an amazing pattern. I know I'll be treasuring this one for a long time to come.

Is it fall yet?

The weather has been strangely chilly around these parts lately and fall is almost in the air! It was, however, sunny yesterday so I was able to get in a few photos!

Accordingly, I've been knitting sweaters. Since May or so, I've managed to finish two sweaters: one more summery and one that I can't wait to wear this fall!


The Pattern: Full Circle

The Yarn: Plymouth Jeanee

The Needles: US 3's

The Verdict: This sweater is designed by a friend of mine and I got to test knit the medium size. It was a simple quick knit - I finished it ages ago and have already worn it several times. It's comfortable and looks great. A really fun knit!


The Pattern: Baby Cables and Big Ones Too

The Yarn: Elsbeth Lavold Hempathy

The Needles: US 3's

The Verdict: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this sweater. It's comfortable, interesting looking and fits really well. I can't wait to wear it this fall!


Next up: several different lace patterns and more baby garments. Stay tuned!

Baby Surprise Jacket

No, I'm not pregnant! But many, many of my friends are and it has kicked off a season of baby knits. For the past few weeks I've been cranking out a cute little EZ classic!

The Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket

The Needles: US 3's

The Yarn: Artyarns (Teal & Brown), Dream in Color Smooshy (Romeo Blue)

The Verdict: This sweater is a quick knit with an interesting construction. Garter stitch lends itself to movie theatre knitting which is where I've been working on the bulk of these! I can also customize each with fun yarn and cute little buttons. I have a few more planned for September and October babies!


In addition to catching up on current movies (Harry Potter 6, GI Joe and Inglorious Basterds!) we've also been geocaching. Yesterday we headed down to Paola, KS to visit The BBQ Shack (featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!) and did some geocaching around Lake Miola. We were kept from a couple caches by Muggles, but we managed to find 2 out of 3! (which ain't bad!)

The garden is still growing. So far our biggest successes have been the peppers - we've had half a dozen green peppers and a bunch of jalapenos! We've started the cucumbers again and are just getting some spiky buds. Our tomato plants are finally producing blooms and little tomatoes after we got our act together and got both tomato cages and fertilizer. I hope to have pics of those to show you soon!

Otherwise we're cleaning the house today, doing loads of laundry, hitting up the grocery store, and one of us is trying to squeeze in some knitting. My current project? Sleeves. Badly in need of sleeves:

Deep thoughts.

Recently I've been posting most of my thoughts during the day on Plurk or Twitter but I thought I'd recap a few of the ones that crack me up here.

• Hubby brought home roses last night and took me to dinner. Love that man of mine!
  
• There is a cricket in the kitchen at work. If that weren't bad enough I've been told it escaped from the LIZARDS upstairs.
  
• Road Trip Note #1: Sonic is the new McDonald's of the 2000's - there's one on EVERY corner.
  
• Road Trip Note #2: Lake of the Ozarks has ZERO Starbucks - WIN!
  
• Things that are awesome: A cedar cabin with a metal roof in the middle of a huge thunderstorm and downpour.
  
• Knitting round and round on my sweater with this playing in my head.
  
• Nothing says summer like fresh homemade pico de gallo!
  
• It just doesn't get better than this:
  
  

A weekend away.

A while ago Wes and I decided that we were going to take a little mini-trip for our first anniversary. So on Saturday we packed up and headed to the Little Niangua Campground at Lake of the Ozarks. I hadn't been to the Ozarks before but as soon as I looked at a map I realized how big the place actually was. The Lake actually snakes out in a million different directions so there's lots of waterfront. We stayed in the south on this trip!

Originally we had decided to go to the Ozarks for some kayaking. We had chosen this particular campground because it sported cabins boasting air conditioning. The pluses were that we were right on the river, we got to stay indoors in a cute cedar cabin and we were fairly far away from the tourist bustle of the marinas. The downsides were that we had campsite facilities (community toilets and showers) and that we were way off in the middle of no where. Unfortunately it was really hot this weekend (think 90's with heat indexes of over 100's) but we managed to keep busy.


We arrived Saturday afternoon and dropped our stuff and headed out to explore. After lots of driving around we ended up at The Horny Toad for dinner. The food was fabulous and there was live music that was great as well. We even got to sit on the marina for a bit and enjoy the evening as it cooled off. We arrived home late that night and crashed.


On Sunday morning we got up early to beat the heat and got in the water. The water was really clear and slow moving. It gave the whole body a glassy look and the reflections from the trees and cliffs and sky were beautiful. I managed to get a number of great shots, but this is my particular favorite. We stayed in the water a little over 2 hours and then it started warming up so we headed in (well ok I also got tired... I'm a wuss.) It was in getting out at the shore that I managed to dump myself out of my kayak for the first time. Wes is still chuckling at that!


After a shower and some breakfast we decided to relax outside on our front porch for a bit. Between the shade and a bit of a breeze it wasn't unbearably hot yet. I, of course, knit for a while and Wes read for a while. I couldn't resist photographing him.



When it got too hot to sit outside, we got in the car and set off in search of entertainment and food. I knew that there were some caverns and caves around the Lake and had figured it would be a good cool excursion on a hot day. We spent a little time trying to find the place, but we ended up at Bridal Cave for a tour. It was nice and cool, and a pleasant hour underground viewing some of the recordbreaking onyx formations in the world. The cave apparently got it's name back in the 1800's when some Native Americans were married inside the cave in front of one of the formations. Today you can still book the cave for a wedding ceremony! The picture is where people get married - they call the structure The Pipes because it looks very much like an organ (and since most of it is hollow, sounds like an organ in varying tones as well!) For dinner last night we relaxed at a more "beachy" resort, Captain Ron's. Finally we headed back to the cabin for another nights rest.

We had planned to get up this morning and kayak but about 6:30 a huge clap of thunder broke and the great storm started. It was still pouring by the time we packed up and left around 9am. Now we're home, basking in the post-vacation glow, trying to get laundry done before we have to face another week.

If you're interested in more photos, I posted the full Flickr set here.

More on my knitting projects to come soon!