Socks, Triinu, and Salsa

STS. Yes, if that acronym sounds familiar, then the title of this post is a reminder. Where Are Those Photos?!?

But of course, I had to cover myself, and get the photos of MY newly blocked scarf up first. Triinu (the mini-Triinu, actually) is blocked. And I have photographic evidence to prove it!


So, that covers the Triinu part of things. The socks were a desperation project. One simply can't not have a traveling project, especially if one plans to sit in the car for 5 hours. So, I snagged what yarn I had enough of to make a pair of socks, packed it, almost forgot my needles (yikes!) and knit. Day 1 saw 2 pair of child's socks knit up in Esprit on size 6 needles, and I got through another 3.5+ socks in the rest of the time. And next week, I'll be getting more sock yarn! I love getting yarny boxes in the mail.

The last project in the Knit from your Shelf 2009 is going to be the Sandwater Jumper in blue, from The Art of Fair Isle Knitting. I'm hoping to order the yarn directly from Jamieson and Smith, except their website doesn't quite have a shopping cart yet. I'm hoping e-mail will work.

And as for the Salsa? If life gives you ripe tomatoes, you make salsa! That's on the docket for the rest of the morning. The hard part is peeling the critters. Then comes adding Mrs. Wages' mix, and it'll be practically done.

It's hot outside

Summer has arrived.

I know it's a paltry summer, since it's just this one day, and the temperature is just tipping 90 degrees. Since when is 90 degrees hot, anyways? We have a tornado watch, which means it's more fun to watch the colors on the weather map change than it is to listen to the corn grow. The breeze (which detracts from the summer swelter) disrupts listening to the corn grow. And the corn is probably in shock (not in the shocks) that it's warm enough to grow, finally.

The start of the traditional US school year is approaching, so I buckled down and plotted out our calendar and books. Foreign language, math, science, and writing are easy choices. Lit and history have not made it onto the formal list of subjects, though. Since Filia is a 9th grader this year, I decided it was time to have something that would really LOOK Lit and History-ish. Enter Ambleside Online Lite Booklists! We read tons of books to begin with -- their list looks intriguing and I think I can stick with it.

I got some luscious yarn for a test knit yesterday, and blocked it this morning. That means I'm back to just one project on the needles, the Triinu scarf. With 9-st nupps (and I've snuck an 11-st nupp in there as well. Gotta love those Addi Lace needles!) I need to come up with a better project for traveling knitting. I don't need the pattern for Triinu, but I do need to look at it. Does the knitter exist who can knit lace without looking?

The little egg on the milkweed leaf that Filius was raising for his Insect merit badge turned black at one end, just like the websites said it would when the larva was ready to hatch. Except then the whole thing turned black, and it's fuzzy on the outside. I think we have mold on a dead egg. Time to go hunt for another egg!

Summer, Full Speed Ahead!

Summer is finally here. The books are edited, the bookkeeping is caught up, and my days stretch ahead of me like summer days. It will take me a day or two to get used to having an empty slate in the morning. Not that it's really empty ... its just that the Tyranny of the Urgent is gone and I can now turn to the Delights of the Organized Person. Or at least pretend that it's that way.

On the needles now is the Triinu Scarf from Nancy Bush's book. I'm using a laceweight yarn and decided to play with 9-st nupps. So far, so good! All my other knitting projects are done at the moment. No socks, no sweaters, no nothing. There are things on the horizon, but they're not here yet. And - with one book left to use in Knit From Your Shelf 2009, I'm starting to think about next year. I just got Haapsalu Sall (which doesn't count for this year, because I said so.) Maybe next year will have an Estonian theme! Or a Baltic theme. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania could keep me quite occupied.