The Crafty Lizzard

These little guys were introduce last Thursday by K at knit knite as "Diabolical Cuteness". She really is evil (yes, you heard me, K...Evil!). This pattern is SO easy and fun. It's like Lay's potato chips -- you can't stop at just one. It's impossible. This is the perfect way to use up all the little bits of yarn that won't make much of any other project. As another knit knite buddy thought up -- these would also make wonderful catnip toys or even sachets for drawers! How wonderful to have a little alien lurking within your drawers! (She chuckles to herself.)

I have now finished the Diminishing Ribs sweater! It's now washed and blocked (sort of). I'm trying to wait patiently for it to dry....it's hard, really hard.
I made my goal of having this done by the Clambake (more on this later) so that makes me the happiest! Now I need to do a bunch of socks while I figure out what the next big project will be.

In other news, I made the best sandwich EVER for dinner tonight. This is one of my reasons why summer is my favorite season -- fresh tomatoes! This is a beautiful BLT with the first beefsteak tomato from my garden! Nice crisp bacon, tasty Tuscan bread, spring greens...mmmmmmmmmmmm. It was very messy but oh, so worth it! Hopefully, this is the first of many.

Now, a word about the clambake. My family has a clambake every year. This is basically our "family reunion". We steam a ton of clams, have lots of grilled chicken, corn, and tons of other food. (Oh, yeah, drink too!) This party has been happening since long before I was born and I believe will continue for a long time. We always have some family that can't make it and they are always sorely missed. The whole day is spent eating, drinking, playing and just talking. Last year, as we sat around the fire pit (til the wee small hours of the night) we were really missing having some musical fun. (Most of my family are musicians of some sort or another.) So this year I decided that I would take matters into my own hands and have been working up a setlist of simple (like, 4 chord simple) guitar songs so that we can have at least a little sing along. Wish me luck...I have 5 more days...the party is Saturday!

It seems like the Blog-o-sphere and I have not been getting along lately. Maybe it's summer telling me that there are better things than putting your thoughts down for the world to see. (Or perhaps my thoughts just want to turn off when I get home.) Maybe it's the lack of really exciting thoughts...wait...that's not it. (What it would be like to look into the crazy randomness that is my brain!) At any rate, it seems like I'm always doing a catch-up post! Argh! This summer I have averaged 1 post per month! 1! Wow! So far it seems like the summer has been taken up with work (ugh), working outside [ ;) ], and enjoying lots of family and friends (yay!).

Some of the wonderfulness of the summer has been the al fresco knit knites! Sitting outside, watching 3 very energetic kids play, knit, and converse with a bunch of great ladies has made this summer so fun! The teasing, book gossiping, yarn fondling and just all round good times is more than any girl can ask from friends.

On that creative front, I finally am getting to my Diminishing Rib sweater! I'm so ready for this sweater to be done. Not because my tired of knitting it but because I want to wear it and am hoping that it fits and is comfy. I'm making this out of organic cotton and as I work with it, it keeps getting softer and softer. The goal is to have it done in time for the family Clambake. (That's 12 more days -- good thing I only have 1 more sleeve to go!)

And of course, I am never without a sock going so here's the most recent one of those --
These are being called my Lizzard socks. Between the color and the pattern I chose it reminds of lizard skin.

Ok, I will try to get to posting more than once a week. For now, I'm off to go practice (I'm the bonfire entertainment at the Clambake) and start the second sleeve.

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted. I've actually thought about it recently -- just haven't actually sat down to do it. So here I go:

#1 happy event -- Not your typical high school reunion

Instead of having one class get together for a reunion, we had a band reunion. We even managed to have all three band directors there. For anyone that was involved in high school band you know the friendships that are built during the mega amounts of time spent together. This was an entire day of reminiscing, smiles, sights, smells and laughter. It was also an afternoon that was too short.

#2 happy event -- The garden coming alive.

I come by my green thumb honestly and have loved talking with my dad about the garden. It's been so amazing this year to watch the stuff I planted last year grow exponentially! The flowers are exploding into bloom, the vegetables are slowly appearing, the mint is aggressively taking over, the sage has a lovely fragrance, and the comfrey is slowly turning the waste pile into compost. Every afternoon there is a feast as all the bees come to collect. The other afternoon had an added surprise when I looked out saw this butterfly (or moth....not too up on my insects)!

#3 happy event -- 4th of July

This has turned into the traditional photo taken on a very traditional picnic day. Ever since my parents moved to a house on the parade route the Troyer and Willis clans have worked, watched and feasted at the Troyer house for the 4th of July. (This year marked [we think] the 20th year!!) We have added other clans and friends throughout the years but the party remains the same. After getting our ears blasted by the quarter mile line-up of fire trucks we head to the back yard for some wonderful grillin' and food with some fun thrown in after -- messy sandboxes, lots of kickball, some monkey-in-the-middle, some swinging and lots of laughter!


And because through all this I have not been neglecting my knitting:
This is almost finished and this is the first picture I've taken of it. So sorry. But here it is in all it's soft glory. Soon it will be headed to the intended target. Hope she enjoys it!

So far this has been an awesome birthday weekend! (Well, technically my birthday's not til Sunday but...)
It all started with the awesome ladies that I knit with on Thursday nights. Some were missing because of the all-important Knitter's Connection (stay tuned...) but it was a lovely night. We had a few extra party members (S, L and E) and boy, did they party hard. I know it was very hard for her but kudos to E for keeping this...
a secret! All enjoyed and now I have WAY TOO MUCH cake at home. If I could virtually send some to everyone I would. Really. But thank you thank you anyway.

Much delight and laughter was had over the CPH FO (thanks to K and her FB status) even though it's 100% wool and it was about 85 degrees outside! K had the camera out and was documenting the entire shindig so here ya go...this might be the only time you see me in a wool sweater in the summer.


Today was the wonderful, wonderful class at Knitter's Connection with Cat Bordhi! It was such a fun day with lots of knowledge, lots of laughter, seeing new socks, and praising Jeni's Ice Cream! How can that ever equal anything but a very cool day? Oh, I forgot, a wonderful goodie bag full of yummy goodness and shopping!!Even Bailey had to check it out!

I also have something to admit to the knit knite ladies...after all the talk last night about not doing another lace project...I bought more lace yarn today. (She hangs her head sheepishly.) You have to admit it's pretty. It's hand-dyed merino and was worth the money. I promise to bring for closer inspection. Now just to figure out what to make with it...

I know it's a weird combination but with the lack of knitted FO's to share I thought I would least share a little cuteness.

I had an attack of the must-get-this-sweater-finished energy this past weekend. After the small setback with my Central Park Hoodie (Not blogged about here because I was still mad at myself and hated admitting my own stupidity!) I desperately wanted to get the thing finished. So this weekend I managed to finish the second sleeve (again!), block the second sleeve (again!), finish the edging, and sew in the fist sleeve and side. The plan is to sew in the seond sleeve and side tonight -- pics will follow shortly.
Anyway, while I was working on that I had a gaurdian making sure that my yarn made it from the ball to the sweater correctly. I thought I'd share the fluffy cuteness that watched over me...


As far as the fruit...summertime is one of my favorite times of the year because of the berries. I love fruit and berries most of all. Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, but especially blackberries. Last spring I planted a blackberry bush in my backyard and over the course of the summer reaped a total of 7 (that's right - 7) blackberries. Bummer. This year the bush has been growing exponentially and I've been checking it all the time. Waiting for the day when I can have fresh berries. After a very long day yesterday I came home to a surprise of blackberries ready to eat! So I had a nice small cup of blackberries for dessert!
(with more to come....yum!)

during Choir class of my 8th grade year, I was summoned to the Principal's office. I guess I must precede this story by saying I wasn't the type of kid to get called down to the office. My brain shorted out until my dear friend turned to me with great excitement and said "It's the baby!" This being my best friend (who's part of the family), she knew that my brother's wife was pregnant. I got to the office and there was my dad with my 2 year old niece. To make a very complicated story short -- My niece, Amy decided very quickly to make her appearance in the world. No one was left to watch her sister so I was called into Aunt duties from school.

Tonight, that niece looked like this....
Amy has made it through high school. Loving band, hating math, laughing with friends. All the trials and tribulations that make up the drama of high school. And yes, she will learn to deal with some of us saying, "Oooh, the day you were born..." (and to us it will feel like it was just maybe 5 years ago.)

Sitting up in the balcony, paparazzi-like were her sister (Cora-now 21) and I. With cameras poised we were set to catch the action in the beautiful venue.
This is the beautiful Civic theater in downtown Akron. An old remade movie house. Awesome. As I walked in tonight, memories kept flowing. I realized that I had not been to this theater since my prom was held here 14 years ago. They've made some changes and it's nice to see it's still wonderous.


May the good frenzy that surrounds you in this picture stay with you. Congrats!

So today on my little mini-vacation, my mom and I took a trip to the local yarn shop her are of northeast Ohio. Yes, we visited Miss Chickpea's Funky Fiber. Personally, I was on a mission to pick up some Malabrigo Sock -- and to see the store because a new yarn shop is always heaven! While I was searching the sock yarn rack, mom found a vest pattern that she wants to make for my niece. She asked me how they got the color like it was on there and as I looked up...I whooped in excitement. Mom was standing in front of the many, many colors of Noro. It has been a long time since my mom has knit with any really good yarn and I was bound and determined she needed to experience the love of Noro. After showing her how the colors go and that the particular Noro she was looking at was a worsted weight (so therefore, easy for her to knit with) and she really didn't need that much for the project she jumped in. Pretty soon my mom will not only have a vest for my niece but one for herself as well! Yay!

As for me, I did find the Malabrigo and couldn't resist 2 of the colors there....Grape and Turner.
I will have to come up with the perfect patterns for these.


I also picked up a hank of Happy Feet in a bright, bright pink.

So now, after today's field trip and Kristie's generous de-stashing Thursday, I am not allowed...repeat, not allowed....to buy yarn for a while. (read: major yarn diet for the next few months. I was supposed to be on one anyway.)

Well, I'm off to bed for tomorrow is my niece's high school graduation...I know that it's cliche but wow... time has flown. She is 18 and no longer the little girl that said "double-me" instead of "double-u (w)". Now she's a very beautiful young woman with so much road to wander.

So, in the past few days I have actually gotten a lot (a lot, alot) done. Or at least it feels that way. Many projects are coming along very nicely....others are just hanging out (like the dusting and vacuuming. Maybe I can say that I'm contributing to the population of dustus bunnius.). But here we go:

First of all, there was a minor tragedy in the garden this weekend. Saturday I came home from work and one of my tomato plants (that were ordered special to get certain varieties) looked like it had been trampled flat by what I could only assume was the mailman. Ooh...the mailman was not in my good graces at that point. On closer inspection, I noticed that there was another tomato plant down and they had definitely been chewed on!! It could only have been Bunnies! (I don't think the mailman would've done that.) They were fine when I left for work that morning....Argh. While checking out the tomato plants I noticed that the ground was disturbed around where I had planted bean seeds. Oh no, someone got to those too-- but no, after my initial freak I noticed that underneath the ground were green things coming. The pic is from the next morning and now the beans are up about 3 inches! And now that the tomato plants have also been replaced, steps have been taken to prevent the bunnies from feasting again!

I was able to get a little experimenting done with the alpaca this weekend. The very first stuff I did was not pretty. Not at all. It varied in width from a huge thick bundle to little teeny cord. After working for a few hours though I'm seeming to work out a routine to get it a little smooth. At least it's starting to closely resemble yarn, sorta.


Also, amongst the yard work and the bbqing I managed to finish my Bellatrix socks.
The "runs" look a little like bobbles but it's a very cool effect. The yarn worked really well with the pattern and I love the way it kinda pools in the "runs". Now on to the next pair....

...after a brief hiatus. To my fives of readers I greatly apologize for the lack of blogging that has occurred the past month. I have no excuse but I will say that between going through a major anti-social phase, spring yard work, and being busy working and playing, the blog fell way to the back of the line. So.....now prepare for a very picture loaded post.


1. The Yard...

After a long wait for the schedule to line up, Cat and I finally made it to the Yarn Market. This is wonderful place where knitter's can go to be in heaven. I am actually being serious. The Yarn Market is an online yarn store whose warehouse just happens to be located on the south end of town. Heaven exists because they encourage people to come into their warehouse and browse and shop. There is also a wonderful staff who will let you fondle any yarn that is there (and point you to "cloud 9" when you're standing in "cloud 7"). I went strictly looking for sock yarn and on a budget so the haul looks small.

However, that haul equals 5 pairs of socks, armwarmers, and a hat!
(Yes, there's already a project attached to all of it!)

For some reason today as I was fondling all the beautiful yarns, I kept being drawn toward the silks. I've never really knit with silk before but the softness and slinkiness of it was really pulling me in. Maybe it's because it's getting warmer outside so I want to move away from the heavy pure wools....I don't know. I do have one hat that was made out of recycled sari silk and maybe that was another inspiration. I do know that the at was the inspiration for the hat project -- I love that hat so I decided to make another.
This yarn is made from the bits leftover from textile factories in India and the colors are amazing! There is no name for the color -- well, actually there is -- it's called random. It's a mixture of every color and is silky, soft and twisty! I love it. I'm itching to see what it knits up like!

With all this beautiful yarn the colors get a bit overwhelming...especially when you're faced with bins and bins of Noro. I know that this yarn is not the softest or squishiest but I CANNOT resist these colors. Since I was in the mood today (and I've used the Kureyon before) I opted for the Silk Garden Sock yarn. There was a reddish one that was gorgeous but because red will always grab me so I went for the beautiful blue/black/green one. Something different.

The yarn that I fell in love with today was Lorna's Laces.
I've fondled this yarn before but today it grabbed me and would not let me go! Every combination they had (wool, wool/silk, angora, etc.) was soft, squishy and beautiful. It's just too bad they don't have a silk blend in a sock weight -- While the colors are not as shocking and bold as the Noro, they are gorgeous in their own classy way. This one reminds me of a flower (and not just because that's the name of the color) -- brown for dirt, green for stem, red for flower!

I also picked up 3 balls of the Tofutsie yarn to make myself and my 2 nieces socks out of. I've been curious about the cotton/soy/chitin combo would work and I am anxious to see how the colors turn out. The 2 black balls are for another pair of armwarmers for me -- for when I have to be the 'woman in black' and I'm sitting in a freezing pit. (Yes, the inspiration for those hit me last night during Sound of Music.)
And don't you worry all you knit kniter's reading this.....there will be much yarn to pass around next week. You will all have a chance to fondle the goodies!

Once we finished eyeing, fondling and purchasing of the yarn, Cat and headed to the Bucket or our favorite "shrimp and beer" for lunch. And to top it all off (and to introduce Cat to it), we finished with dessert at Jeni's ice cream. Can I just say "yum"! I think I could live on their Black Coffee ice cream! Such a good end to a wonderful morning!

Ok, so I finished the blanket for Jeff and Marie's Little One. I knew that I had to soon because her baby shower was this past Saturday. Little did I know that I would finish it because he decided to grace us with his presence on that very day (and at the very time no less!). Simon McKinley Hurt was born around 2 o'clock on Saturday. He weighed in at 5 lbs 15 ozs. and was 18" long. Everyone is healthy and happy! (Plus, all are a little relieved that the new dad won't have to leave the wedding that's in a week and a half!) According to Jeff, he is still getting used to the world and they are already getting used to the different sounds that he is making.
So here are the final pics of the blanket:
First a full view:
The final dimensions are roughly 32" X 30". I love the textures that happened with this stitch pattern: a border of garter, a stripe of stockinette, a cable on a background of seed.
And now for a close up of said texture:


Now to finish up some of the other projects that I have going on (of course, this is going to happen while again being SO busy I crash almost as soon as I get home - read: when I finally get home.) Let's see: another Solo & Ensemble, another musical, a wedding, a Good Friday gig, another Solo & Ensemble -- yep, I'm Busy! This weekend I do have some free time -- Yay! Hopefully, I'll actually get some time to socialize with my friends!

...or as normal as I can be!

The mania of playing a musical is over. There isn't a solo & ensemble contest for a few weeks. And Spring is on its way -- I saw the first Robin of the year this week! It feels like it's been forever since I've had the chance to sit for a relaxing hour or so at the computer to get caught up. Consequently, I have pictures:

First:

The Jaywalker socks I finished. Since I made them out of the "Seven Dwarfs" colorway, I named them Heigh-Ho. The colors are beautiful and created a very cool "traveling" stripe! I loved knitting this pattern -- it went so fast! Always a bonus in my mind. Plus, the snug fit works well for me.

Second:

An updated picture of Little Boy Hurt's blanket. I'm almost done -- hoping to finish it completely this week. This would be a good thing since he could gracing us with his presence at any time! Hopefully, I'll make it before he comes!

Third:

Berry Eyelet socks! I had to start these when I was a little tired of working on the blanket. This is my first foray into the "More Sensational Socks" book. I love the customization of the book (as I was told I would!). These socks too are flying off the needles -- or could it be that little thing called practice? I think the time to do a pair of socks goes down a little with each pair that I do.

Now I have a list of socks to do -- mom and 2 nieces (plus some more for me!). These are added to the list of other WIPs that I need to get done before the new project ADD hits me again! Wednesday this week has been designated sit-in-front-of-the-tv-and-knit day. It's the first day in a long while that there is nothing on my calendar except what I want to do -- oh, and bread to bake for Thurs (but that's fun). Let's see how much I can get done!

...sort of. While over most of my cold (except a lingering nasty cough) I had a long 6 hour rehearsal on Sat. During which I was again reminded why you should never let musicians get bored. If you've never been around a bunch of bored musicians let me try to explain -- nobody, and I mean nobody, is safe from becoming the butt of a joke. Yourself, others, the people in charge, the composers -- everyone is up for grabs. And the quality of the jokes is directly proportional to how bored you are -- the more boring the worse the jokes. While usually a very fun adventure, it can also get you in trouble from people who don't quite understand it.

After that I sat on my couch and knit, knit, knit (oh, and watched some TV too). I made it almost to inch number 25 of the baby blanket and zoomed through most of the 2nd Jaywalker. (Pictures will be forthcoming.) I had to go back to working on the Jaywalker because I needed a break from the cabling monotony of the baby blanket. I forgot (yes, it's been that long since the first one) just how fast that sock knits!! Before I knew it I was ready to turn the heel and now I'm almost ready to do the toe. I might be pushing it a bit but I would love to have those done tonight!

As far as the baby blanket, I am loving the way it's turning out. The Cotlin is so soft and will only get softer after a couple of washes. Plus, I really like the fact that I included so many different textures -- 4 of them actually -- stockinette, cable, seed stitch, and garter. I would like it to be about 30-36 inches long and I have until March 14th (or thereabout) to get it done. That boils down to roughly 5 inches per week -- perfectly doable.

I also realized that I'm running low on sock yarn -- oh, no! Since the Knit Picks catalog was entirely filled with socks I decided to do another order. This time I went for one of the socks sampler kits -- the Sangria Cocktail Kit. I just couldn't resist all those beautiful reds!

Ok, so now why I said sort of at the top. Because I spent the rest of the weekend knitting I got absolutely nothing else done! No laundry, no grocery store, no cleaning, nothing! eh...even though it'll make me busier for the next week I think I needed to go to couch.

Yes, I'm still here...I feel like I have dropped off the face of the earth for the past week. After another busy week (both physically and mentally) and a weekend of sickness, I feel like I'm back to being human. Although, being sick does afford you more knitting time -- that's if you can stay awake!
So the baby blanket shown here:
(now infamous for its mysterious disappearing cable needle) is about 3 times as long. This is a very good thing seeing as it needs to be finished by the 14th of March. I hit inch 16 today so it's about half way there! I'm hoping to have it close to 20 inches by Thurs so I can work on something else at Knit Knite and not worry about losing my needle again. Although, Cat is working on a plan to help with that -- Thanks Cat!
I'm so ready to be doing other projects too....blast it. I have socks and 2 shawls that I need to finish yet I'm itching to start another pair of socks, a hat and a sweater. Plus, I just saw Knit Picks new catalog and the socks are TOO tempting...and the sneak peek of the new summer yarns -- Yummy! I guess that just means more time knitting!

I guess I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing. I haven't posted for a week and I feel like it's been an eon! I know I need to do a knitting post but I'm not that caught up yet...

Anyway, the crazy week is over -- Solo & Ensemble! Yay! Every year I play for a number (this year = 22) of kids when they do their solo. I end up running around most of the day but it's worth it. Usually, it's worth it just because of the kids. It's so much fun to see kids grow and I love playing piano with some other instrument. This year, however, I got a shock when I went running (literally) to get to a trumpet solo in time and noticed that the name of the judge was my high school band director! I have a friend who teaches with him and have always conveyed messages but I have not sesen this man in over 10 years! What little we were able to talk was awesome! Looking just a bit older but not really acting any older -- definitely the same old Mr. Kibler!

Now that solo & ensemble is over I'm back to practicing my own stuff. I hope soon to be able to put sound files up here. I know that many of you don't really care but at least that way I'm being held accountable for me resolutions. I just hope that I can figure out a way to get recordings on here. (without too much frustration, that is...)

ok...so these were actually painted on Thurs. but by the time I got everything up and running and cleaned (because I wanted to prove that my counter is not usually THAT bad!) it was this morning! Here it is:

Now I just have to do a few touch-ups and I'll be done with painting for a while!

As far as my knitting goes....I have been working...not as much as I wanted to over this vacation but I got some done. I also cranked out a couple of really quick washcloths for part of a wedding shower present. I promise I will have pictures soon. I feel like the needles were a little ignored this week because of the whole kitchen thing but I will update here and over at Ravelry very very soon. Plus, I'm lusting over the new Imagination yarn over at Knit Picks -- I see a bit of red in Munchkin -- hope it's a lot! must...finish...current...projects...argh!

Ok....so day 2 went pretty smoothly...I almost had a CATastrophe though. Bailey came down quite confused and looking for her food when she almost put a paw right on the corner of the very wet, front of a cabinet door. I know I'm going to end up doing some touch up anyway but whew, am I glad that didn't happen. (Thanks to my very loud, very scary scream!)
As I started this morning I did have to keep repeating the paint mantra of "it dries darker"-- when I opened the can of paint it looked VERY purple. I looked at the paint sample again and sure enough it said "fine wine". As I watched the paint go up, I thought this looks more like just smooshed grapes. But remembering that dark paint especially dries a different color, I went for it....glad I did! It's definitely what I wanted!

The difference between the two reds is amazing! No more angry red! Now I just have to do the bottom cupboards and finish everything (read: clean) before I have a newish kitchen! Now off to go put a second coat on the inside of the doors so I can hang them tomorrow...

Ok...so this week I took vacation to try and get my big winter project done. I was hoping that I could get a couple of days solid to work on my kitchen. Well, the fates conspired against me and this week is actually going to be a REALLY busy week -- so the kitchen is going in stages.

On Saturday I tool a trip down to Ikea (LOVE this place) to pick up a few handy, dandy things. A new tv stand, door pulls, storage space for kitchen walls, etc. etc. etc. Of course, walking through that store always makes me want to spend so much more money than I have...:(

So with new kitchen toys in hand I'm ready to start. Here's the mess before I started this morning:

Filthy white walls (that I had to splash some ceiling paint on when I moved in just so I wouldn't be grossed out cooking!) and bright, fire-engine red cupboards. Now I'm not afraid of color -- my bathroom is rubber duckie yellow -- but these cupboards have been screaming at me for a year. It doesn't help that the paint job is horrible (that's been a common theme with this house-- half done jobs.) It's not relaxing to cook with harsh colors staring back at you. As far as the walls are concerned, I've never understood the need to have the whole house white (which mine was) so the white walls are now gone!

I know that this picture isn't that clear as to what the color is.....how do I describe? It's tanblushgrey. Ok,Ok,Ok....so the name of the color is actually Unfussy Beige but once I get the cupboards done it will look better. (The red now is REALLY screaming at me -- it clashes like you would not believe!)
Hopefully, I will be posting the finished product in a couple of days -- complete with pretty new stuff and an actual clean counter! Now on to have a sit in my chair!!