Adventures in Camping

On the weekend of July 4, we went "up north" (a Michigan phrase) camping. We travelled to Mears, Michigan, to camp near Silver Lake. It is a given that we took the dune buggy; to DH, that is the whole point of the trip.

Here is Maddie hanging out at the campsite.

This strangely reminds me of the See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil monkeys. Maddie, Emily, and Maya in a giant Adirondack chair at Mac Woods dune rides.

Here are Dave's buggy and Bill's buggies the bottom of Test Hill at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes.

Here is the top of test hill. If your vehicle can make test hill, you can ride the dunes.

See how small Emily looks running down the dune?

This is at the beach with the lighthouse. We fell into a timewarp here; apparently our Nextels were receiving off Wisconsin towers across Lake Michigan, because the clocks on the phones were suddenly reading an hour earlier. Maya and Emily were trying to get away with splashing in this puddle.

Oh, and let's not forget: I leave you with an actual picture of me smiling. I have been told it is a rare occurence lately. What can I say, I was smashing other people in bumper cars with Maddie by my side, it was fun!

Test knits, horse herds, and health

I have spent the last 3 days knitting a herd of horses. I was testing a knitted and felted horse pattern for Katie Startzman. I have three horse-obsessed daughters, and of course, I had to make one horse for each of them. This pattern is very quick; I was able to knit, sew, felt, and finish each horse in one day. Which is a good thing when you have a cute little kiddo staring you down until you are finished... LOL So I have knit a small herd, and the standing horses are already well-loved enough to have wobbly legs.

On a personal note, I had to have my insurance health screen done this morning. My cholesterol is down 55 points since this time last year! Woohoo! I have been working hard on eating healthier and exercising more, so this was a great reinforcement, and also a great motivator to continue to improve my health.

The Miracles of the Post Office

Wow. This year, I have had 6 or 7 packages of yarn, patterns, books, and other knitting notions disappear in the postal system on the way to me. I actually received a package today that was shipped priority mail from Arizona on 3/4/08. The person I bought it from was even nice enough to refund my money when I told her the yarn never showed up (hi, Erika!). I JUST got the yarn today, where has it been sitting for 3 1/2 months? Who knows, but I guess filing a complaint with the USPS over a missing package may be worth it after all, even if it takes 3 1/2 months. I am so excited, I've been wanting to try some Trekking, and now I can. So I am posting the yarn today to show off what I waited so long for, and to thank Erika for her patience and understanding, and be sure that I am paying her back!

Horcrux socks

I finished my Horcrux socks, a pattern from Susan Pierce Lawrence for the yahoo group, Six Sox Knitalong. Anyone can get these patterns free by joining the Yahoo group, so check it out. There is a corresponding group on Ravelry. These socks worked up quickly, and it is a cool pattern, even if you are not a Harry Potter freak like me. I made these 2 At a Time style. This is my new favorite way to knit socks, so don't mind me plugging Melissa's site. LOL

These socks were a great break in between assignments for my online Financing class, which is a huge pain. When I thought my brain couldn't take anymore, I'd work on these socks for a bit to relax.

Finally, 2 at a time socks!

Well, I finally tried it. I finally made my sample toddler socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes' book, 2-at-a-Time Socks. I love it. I'm completely addicted. I will always enjoy knitting socks on dpn's, but not doing them one at a time. I can see making exceptions to this statement in certain situations. The method was actually pretty easy to get going, it wasn't nearly as hard as I was expecting it. So Emily gets a new pair of socks, which of course, she lost one before I could take a picture! I know, you're thinking I cheated and did one at a time, but I SWEAR, she lost it already! LOL Now I have cast on my second pair of 2 at a times, a pair for me. More about that once there is enough to show off. I'm barely past the cuff right now.

Escalator Socks by Ruth Greenwald

Hello, hello, just an update on what I've been working on since the test knits are finished. I'm making myself a pair of Escalator Socks (Ravelry link) by Ruth Greenwald. The link goes to her Ravelry pattern store (sorry if you're not on Ravelry at this time). I'm using some Regia sock yarn I got from a swap, from my friend Jill. I started using this yarn for a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalker socks, until the first sock was down to the toe and I realized the pattern wouldn't stretch over my foot. Now don't get me wrong; the pattern looked fabulous and I wanted to wear it so badly! But instead I got mad and frogged it, and put the yarn in a time out. You knitters know what I mean about yarn being in a time out... Then I dug it back out and it swore to behave for these Escalator Socks.

Corn Yarn, test knitting, and iPod technical difficulties

Hey, most of us knitters and crocheters know they are now making yarn out of corn fibers. But have you seen this stuff? It is fantastic! I'm currently working on a test knit market bag out of Kollage Yarns Corntastic. You have to see it to believe the vibrant colors. It is very soft and multi-plied, kind of like a mercerized cotton with less shine, but it is also lighter than the cotton. It is supposed to be machine washable and machine dryable. How can you resist that? More on the test knit after the pattern has been published, but it's a good one. :)

I also did a test knit for Knit Fit Knitting, and her yarn is fabulous too. I used some of the hand painted sock yarn, and it is some nice stuff. Great colorways. Again, more on the pattern once it has been published, although my idiot self forgot to take a picture before sending the sock back.

Anyone out there know how to sync an iPod from the Windows Media Player? Dumb question, I know how to download iTunes, but I ripped some stuff from CD's for my sister, and now I can't get the Media Player to detect the iPod to sync with it. C'mon, someone is more tech-savvy than I am, I know it!