So I said I'd be back after that last meme...two weeks ago. Oops.

I did finally finish something! The kids need a new bath mat in their bathroom. I should start out by saying that their bathroom is green. Really green. It was green when we moved in, and it's still green.

GREEN!

We already had some other higher-priority repainting to do when we moved, so that got done first, and I decided to work with the green. It's a kids' bathroom after all, and the green went nicely with a fish theme that I was able to make with, of all things, items from the Target dollar spot some years ago. Some drawer pulls

And some of those plastic stick-on things for the mirrors and the shower

Along with some colorful towels

And the green didn't look half bad. The fish bath mat, however, which with its blue and yellow looked great when I got it, but now...not so much.

I thought about just buying a new one, looked around at what to replace it with, and then I saw this pattern for a blanket, and an idea struck. I played around with kitchen cotton, and after a few iterations came up with these:

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Many fish later (okay, so it's only 20), a new bath mat is born!

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Each fish is made with a double strand of Sugar & Cream, one multi and one solid. I added in the orange fish to represent the Garibaldi swimming in California's waters, especially around Catalina Island, one of our favorite getaways. And I love the pop of color--you can still tell that the blue and green ones are fish, but the orange ones really stand out.

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And it goes great in the green bathroom! Much better than the dingy old fish.

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Pattern: A Recipe for Fish by April Broken
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream, in Summer Splash, Playtime, Hot Blue, Hot Green, and Hot Orange (double stranded one multi + one solid)
Needles: US9
Dates: 5/16/08-6/20/08
Notes: These fish, at least as I knit them, don't lay flat. The head part domes out a bit. I didn't feel like figuring out how to fix it once I had made several, but if I were to make a whole blanket out of them, I would play around to see if doing the decreases to the tail differently would help.

In other news, we went to Disneyland/CA Adventure last Sunday, hoping for a last chance to get a good day in before summer craziness ensues. Whether people aren't traveling yet or because it was Father's Day, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. We had a great time. They've been having this "Year of a Million Dreams" thing for their 50th anniversary (which seems like it's been going on much longer than a year, but whatever), where supposedly the workers can grant people "dreams" as they wish. A worker at Space Mountain, for example, could pick a family at random and send them to the front of the line. In all the times we've been going (we have passes), we've never gotten a single lousy dream. Well, Sunday was it! We went on the Boudin sourdough bakery tour at California Adventure (because the kids like the free bread sample), and we were told that we were a chosen tour to get a special prize at the end. On our way out, we each got a Mickey head shaped sourdough bread! Perhaps not the most exciting "dream" they give out, but it was cute, the bread was fresh-made and really good, and the kids loved it.

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And while I'm on the subject of Disneyland (and Disney World), for anyone who goes more than once or twice a year or is willing to spend a little to make the most of a Disney trip, I can't recommend Ride Max more. It's a web site where, for a subscription of $25 a year (or only $15 for 90 days for those using it for a single trip), you put in when you're arriving and when you're leaving, the list of rides you want to go on, and it plans out your whole day for maximum ride-age and minimal line-age. They have historical wait times for every ride at every time of day, and they can calculate what's the best time to go on Indiana Jones (which for us has always been smack-dab in the middle of the Fantasmic/fireworks show), when to go and get fastpasses for a ride later, and it knows all sorts of tricks and tips to help you get the most out of your day. It builds in breaks for meals, and even takes into account how long it takes to walk from one ride to the next one on the list. We've used it a few times now, and it's AWESOME. One time we had Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion on our list (they're right next to each other), and we walked by at one point and both lines were insanely long, more than 30 minutes a piece. When we got there at our scheduled time only about a half-hour later, we walked right on both rides. It was incredible. There are some rides (Space Mountain, Indiana Jones) where no matter what you do you're going to wait, but the schedule tells you when to go and get your fastpass so that when you come back you can get in the short line. We LOVE it. They have it for both Disneyland and CA Adventure here (although obviously the historical data is more extensive for Disneyland since CA Adv. is pretty new), and they also have it for Disney World. It is well well worth $25 a year for us, and would even be well worth $15 if you were only going for a single weekend. Or a single day. It's that good. And I should say that I have no association with Ride Max at all other than being an extremely impressed customer!

Advertisement over, and on to a bit more knitting. Did I ever post these socks? I don't think I did.

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These were another dual entry for the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown for April and the Townsend Socks KAL Yahoo group. And yes, my last pair of socks were also Jeanie Townsend and also Knit Picks Essential...I liked the combination! I'm not too often a lace sock person, but I do love these.

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Of course, it's 90F today and I want no part of wool socks, but I'll get a ton of wear out of them in the fall, the Dusk color goes great with jeans.

Pattern: Cascading Leaves, by Jeanie Townsend
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, in Dusk
Needles: US1 using magic loop
Dates: 4/27/08-5/27/08

I also finally finished a dishcloth that I started AGES ago, while trying to figure out entrelac for my entrelac scarf last year.

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It's Dave's great Garterlac Dishcloth pattern, and I made much use of knittedkitty's photo tutorial that can be found in her Flickr here. If I hadn't set it down for more than a year, it would have been a quick and fun dishcloth. As it is, it wasn't so fast, but it was still fun, and it's a great use of variegated kitchen cotton!

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Pattern: Garterlac Dishcloth, by Dave of Criminy Jickets
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream in Countryside Ombre
Needles: US8

Whew, I think that's it. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Ack, it's been forever since I posted. First, glittrgirl tagged me for a meme. I haven't done one in a while, so why not...I'll try to get back later with some WIPs!

The Rules:

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:
Enjoying kidless life with M! We'd been married three years, and were planning a trip to England and France for that September. Work-wise, we'd just finished the Neurolab space shuttle mission (STS-90), and were in the midst of post-flight data collections every so often with the crew. And lots of data analysis! And training a student to do even more data analysis. For that mission I took M, my parents, his parents, and his aunt and uncle with me out to Florida for the launch. It was the first launch for all of them, and it was really great to have them there. We spent a fun day at Epcot and of course a day or two touring around KSC.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
Since today is waning, I'll make this my list for tomorrow.
1. Make C's lunch and walk him to school with J in tow, giving C his practice spelling test on the way there.
2. Get laundry detergent and a few other things at Target, and go to the grocery store.
3. Possibly go in to work, again with J in tow, to hook up a mass spectrometer to a vacuum pump to rough. I meant to do it today, but completely forgot about it until about 5 minutes before I had to go.
4. Pick up C from school and take him to a doctor's appointment.
5. Go over to BIL and SIL's house for a barbecue for MIL's birthday. I'm bringing vegetable gyoza from Trader Joe's (my all-time favorite appetizer!) and baked potato fixin's.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Nachos (with the works--cheese, beans, jalapenos, sour cream, guac), Cheez-it crackers, fruit (especially cherries), M&M's

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
Oh man, this is hard. I'd pay off debts, put a ton of money into M's business so that it could really take off, and find a great charity helping kids get their educations around the world. I would probably also stop working and get maybe a part-time "fun" job during the kids' school hours. That way I could take them to school and pick them up, help with homework, etc. Oh, and of course I'd go over our trust with the attorney so that Uncle Sam doesn't steal it all when I die!

5. Places I have lived:
1. Anaheim, CA (age 0-5)
2. Bellingham, WA (5-11)
3. Fullerton, CA (11-18)
4. La Jolla, CA (18-20 at college)
5. San Diego, CA (20-31)
6. Carlsbad, CA (31-present)

I feel guilty that I have neither posted in my blog nor read too many others in so long, I won't tag anyone from here. I'm sure that most people I'd tag have done it already and just don't know it because I've been too swamped to keep up.

I still haven't started on the second Rainbow Sock, but the orphan Spring Twists sock now has a mate!

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Pattern: Spring Twists, by Jeanie Townsend, which can be downloaded when you join the Townsend Socks KAL Yahoo group.
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, in Grass. These only took 56g! They're shorter than the pattern specified, but not that short. I'm already using the leftovers...
Needles: US1/2.25mm
Gauge: 8 st/in
Notes: I accidentally started the first sock doing only three cable twists per repeat instead of the four in the pattern. I decided to just leave it, and thus my socks are a little shorter, not a bad thing when it's already in the 80's here some days. I'm happy!

I also did something totally fun with my knitting group that I'd never done before...dye yarn! Wendy had us all over to her house where she had a super-cool setup in her backyard with tables tilted so the water ran off the back and everything. There was Knit Picks Bare in every weight, Koolaid in every flavor, and margaritas. Obviously, we had a ball. I dyed some red, some blue/green, and some stripes! Kelie made her own warping board and she brought it (she has more photos of the day posted too). I wound some fingering weight to make stripes (with her pulling the yarn off the swift for me as I went, a HUGE help!). Here it is during the dye process, with Ice Blue Raspberry, Lemon Lime, and Lemonade. The clear one is just water, I was afraid if I left it out by itself the other colors would wick into my "white" stripe.

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Drying:

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And wound into a cute little cake! There are actually two of these, but the other one is the ugly twin...

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Here are the green and red ones:

I'll leave you with this beautiful shot of everyone's yarn drying on Wendy's umbrella. Isn't it beautiful?!

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First, I've started leaving orphan socks around. I've never had much trouble with "second sock syndrome," but for some reason, I have two lone socks finished with their mates not even on the needles yet:

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Pattern: Rainbow Socks, by Susanne Kitzmann, from the former MagKnits. I believe the designer (who is German) is looking for a copy of the English translation from MagKnits so that she can post it. Ravelers are working on the problem, stay tuned.
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici, in Arugula
Needles: US1.5/2.5mm

I like these, but still am not sure about the fit. They may be a tad loose. I may start the second sock on US1/2.25mm needles just to see the difference, but all of my US1s are taken right now, so it's on the back burner.

Orphan #2:

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Pattern: Spring Twists, by Jeanie Townsend, which can be downloaded when you join the Townsend Socks KAL Yahoo group. She has a lot of great patterns, it's worth it to join!
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential, in Grass
Needles: US1/2.25mm

It's Townsend month in the Ravelry Sockdown, not to mention that I always have to have a sock in progress in my work bag (you know, for those unexpected waits here or there), so the mate for this sock will be on the needles by tonight. It may be just a tad snug, but I sort of like the effect of the rounding of the ribbing between the cables caused by the stretching.

What has caused this sudden distraction from finishing socks? A couple of things. First, I have to announce that the Adirondack Pullover is on the move! See here for the state it's been in for over a year. Sad, isn't it? Well look at it now!

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Pattern: Adirondack Pullover, by Elizabeth Morrison, which I got from The Garter Belt, but which she now has on her personal web site. She mentioned lately that TGB might be going the way of MagKnits, so I highly suggest heading over there and downloading anything you might want from their "Complimentaries" section before they disappear, there are some great free patterns over there!
Needles: US7/4.5mm

I decided that it was dumb to be intimidated by this sweater, letting it sit in the bag untouched for so long. This being my first adult sweater, I've been so afraid of doing all that knitting (man knitting, even) and not realizing until the end that it didn't fit. With a top-down it's easy to try on, but with 80 kajillion stitches on the needles before the arm split, even the act of putting it all on waste yarn was overwhelming. But I finally did it, had M try it on, and continued on my way. Had him try it again a few inches down from the arm split, and I think it might be coming out okay. I'm sure it'll be done during a time when he'll want no part of a wool sweater, but at least he'll have it for next winter.

Last but not least, I may be in trouble here. I've started a sock yarn leftovers blankie. I followed very closely Shelly's progress as she knit hers, and sort of had in the back of my head that I would like to make one, too. Then I got started making my Wee Tiny Socks for my wall decoration, and figured that would be a good use of my leftovers. But I still had more! Finally this weekend, in a moment of weakness, I cast on. I started on Friday with this:

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And, um, I might now have this, less than two days later:

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I do believe that this blankie is the crack of the knitting world. I have now run out of sock yarn leftovers (without repeating the ones I have), so I'm stuck with either waiting until I knit more socks and have more leftovers (a torturous wait) or starting to use skeins I haven't even used for socks yet, thus defeating the purpose of the "leftover" blankie. I refuse to stoop to this level. So I suppose I'll put it out there that if any of you have sock yarn scraps of the semisolid, striped, or variegated kind that you don't have plans for, I'll be more than willing to take them off your hands. Even very small lengths would help, on two squares so far I've used multiple scraps that weren't enough by themselves. It's crack, I tell you! For anyone considering this project for yourselves, you have been warned.

Still knitting things I can get done quickly...

I had gotten some Tofutsies in an effort to branch out in my sock yarn for the Summer of Socks last summer. I didn't manage to use it during the summer, but finally got to it this month. It was Ann Budd month in Ravelry: Sockdown, so I chose the On Your Toes Socks from the Summer '07 issue of Interweave Knits. Since the yarn has a lot of cotton content, I made them anklets. I've worn them several times, and I like them a lot! I have to say, though, the yarn was really splitty. I didn't particularly enjoy knitting with it, but I like the variegation in the colors and I like how the sock feels now that it's done.

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My usual stockinette sole shot:

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One breakthrough with these is that I finally got a short-row heel to fit. I haven't done that many of them, primarily because my first attempt wasn't too successful. Those socks fall down under my heel every time I wear them. I figured it was because they don't have the structure of the heel flap to keep them up, and I've avoided short-row heels since then. With February being "new heel" month as I said last time, I had wanted to give short-rows another chance, but didn't get to it. The Ann Budd pattern I chose for this month is toe-up with a short-row heel, so I got to do it this time around. At the suggestion of Debi in the group, I followed her instructions to make a mini flap before starting the short-row heel, knitting the heel as written, and then picking up just a few stitches along the flap at the end and decreasing them out. The heel fits MUCH better than my previous attempt, and although I have to admit that they sort of feel like they're falling down sometimes, they're actually not. They don't move at all, and I'm really happy to finally have found something that works for me!

I'll note here, too, that the other thing that always turned me off of short-row heels? Picking up wraps. I HATE it. The yo short-row heel in the pattern was the first time I'd tried this method, and I'm totally sold. The p3togtbl on the purl side can be tricky, but I'm more than willing to put up with some purling through the back loops if it means I don't have to pick up wraps.

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Pattern: On Your Toes Socks, by Ann Budd, from Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: SWTC Tofutsies, in #736, Under Foot
Needles/Gauge: 8.75 st/in on US0/2mm needles
Dates: 3/8/08 - 3/24/08
Notes: I used the cast-on in the pattern, but I like Judy's Magic Cast-on much better. And as I mentioned above, I knit a mini flap of 8 rows before starting the heel. I knit the yo short-row heel per the pattern, and added the eye of partridge pattern to the heel per Deb's suggestion for durability. I like how the EOP turned out in the yarn. Finally, I made them short.

And still more short socks! These are kid socks to boot. My friend who I made the BFF socks for has two daughters. They were recipients of two of the pirate hats from last Christmas. The older one also inherited my First Socks Ever after that unfortunate run-in with the dryer. She's been wearing them as slipper socks this winter. The younger daughter mentioned to her mom that mom had socks, sister had socks, she didn't have any socks. A problem which must be remedied! I had 30g of the Smooshy left over from the BFF socks, so I thought I'd try and squeeze some anklets out of it for her. I started out doing another Ann Budd pattern, the Mock Wave Cable socks from Favorite Socks, thinking I could get a second March Sockdown entry in. But alas, the first sock was taking way too much yarn. Lace was definitely in order. I had seen this pair of toe-up Hedera socks a while back, and stored it in the back of my mind. Faced with limited yarn and the need for toe-up, this was definitely the pattern for me. I modified the chart by taking out the outer two columns of purl stitches to make the repeat 8 stitches instead of 10, so that I could fit three repeats along the top of my 52-stitch sock.

As it turned out, it was really close. I was concerned enough about running out of yarn that after getting as far as I dared on the first sock, which was one repeat of the lace pattern as the cuff, I didn't bind it off. I left it connected to the ball, and knit the entire second sock from the other end. That way if I got to the end of the second sock and didn't have enough to complete the whole repeat, I could rip back the first sock and use that yarn to get the second sock to the same point. It wasn't needed, I had enough to do one repeat on each. I only had yards left after binding off, though! Phew.

I haven't given them to her yet, and C staunchly drew the line at me asking him to put on pink footies for a blog picture. So you get "on the counter" shots instead.

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As always, the stockinette is beautiful, too:

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Pattern: Hedera, by Cookie A, from Knitty; heel done using number calculator and instructions from the You're Putting Me On sock form
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, in Cool Fire
Gauge/Needles: 8.5 st/in on US1/2.25mm
Notes: I used the chart from this post, making it an 8-stitch repeat by omitting the outer two purl columns. I went toe-up starting with Judy's Magic Cast-on (linked above), and increased to 52 stitches. I did the heel flap per the You're Putting Me On socks, because there's the handy chart there for figuring out how to do the heel flap with all different numbers of stitches.

So although New Heel Feburary Sockdown is over, I've continued my journey in new sock heels, learning both the yo short-row heel (and the mini flap to improve the fit) as well as a new way to knit a toe-up heel flap. The only one of those I'd ever done are last month's Widdershins, which incorporate the heel flap as you knit it, while the You're Putting Me On socks are more traditional, knitting a flap and picking up stitches. I really love learning new things, so this has all been really fun for me. And that new yo short-row technique is coming in really handy for my new socks on the needles...more to come!

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Just some little things this time. Seems all I'm able to knit these days.

First, some socks for C the older. These were for February's Ravelry: Sockdown, during which we had to choose either a Eunny Jang pattern or a sock with a heel that was new to us. I like a lot of Eunny's patterns, but I have been really excited for February to come around so that I could learn a new heel. I love learning new things I haven't tried before. Believe it or not, I'd never made a toe-up sock with a heel flap before, so I chose Widdershins from Knitty. Can I just say that the designer must be the loosest knitter on the planet? The suggested gauge for these socks is 7 st/in on US0/2mm needles! I'm a pretty loose knitter and often need to go down a needle size to get gauge, but yow. Even I get 9 st/in on US0 in sock yarn. But it worked out in my favor, because I wanted these to be for almost-8-year-old C, so I knit them per the pattern on US1/2.25mm needles, and they're perfect! At 8.75 st/in, thankyouverymuch. Something was off on my row gauge on the second sock--I started the gusset increases at the same point in the stripe pattern, but somehow I got to the required number of stitches before the first one. So from the heel up they're slightly different, but it doesn't bother me. C will certainly never notice or care.

Being my first heel flap, I definitely had to trust the pattern while knitting the first sock. I had no idea what was going on until it was done. During the second sock, of course it made a lot more sense. And the fit is much better than the short-row heels that his previous toe-up socks had. So I'm happy about that. I'll have to try a toe-up heel flap for some socks for me, so that I can compare how they feel.

It was my first time using the (relatively new) Knit Picks Felici, too. Ooh, and making that link I notice that they have new colors! I really loved knitting with this yarn. It's really soft. I can't say anything yet about how they wear, but the feel of the finished socks is really lovely. I got some balls for myself, too--I want to try the Rainbow Socks from MagKnits with one color, and some knee-highs with the other.

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Pattern: Widdershins, by Brooke Chenoweth Creel, from Knitty
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici, in Firefighter
Needles: US1/2.25mm
Gauge: 8.75 st/in
Dates: 2/25/08 - 3/8/08
Notes: I don't think I changed anything on the pattern, other than knitting it at a tighter gauge. I enjoyed learning the new heel!

Next, something really small. I've had this Curly Purly Egg pattern printed out for ages. I had some leftovers from this scarf, and these two socks that I thought would be perfect. With Easter around the corner, I finally got to knitting my egg. Super fast pattern. I wonked up the increases, but I think it's still okay. Then the stuffing showed just a tad, so I felted them slightly to tighten them up.

Before felting:

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After felting:

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Pattern: Curly Purly Egg, by Marnie Ann Joyce
Yarn: Yarn: Leftover Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Carrot and Debbie Bliss Maya in color 16
Needles: US7/4.5mm
Notes: I couldn't get the paired increases next to each other the way she mentions in the pattern, without creating a hole. So I spaced them out, and I think it worked okay. I think I'll try the other pattern in the link below next time, to see how they compare.

I wish I had more variegated worsted yarn, these are fun to make. I did find this pattern, though, which reminded me that I can just stripe or make other patterns, so I see more Easter eggs in my future!

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Sheesh, I'm really slacking here. In the blogging, anyway, if not the knitting.

We just got back from a long weekend of skiing at Mammoth Mountain up north of here, and since none of the Christmas of hats were for any of us, I made a couple.

The first one's for me. I've wanted to knit the Koolhaas hat since I first saw it on brooklyntweed's blog, and it was the reason I went out and bought the IK Holiday '07 magazine. I didn't know what yarn I wanted to use for it, though. I was rummaging around the stash a couple of weeks ago and found the leftovers from my MIL's felted slippers, a whole ball plus a partial. I happened to have my ski jacket out as well, and lo and behold, they matched! So my Koolhaas was born.

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It's surprisingly hard to get a photo of the top or back of your own head, even with the timer...

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Pattern: Koolhaas, by Jared Flood, from Interweave Knits Holiday 2007 issue
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, in Mulled Wine
Needles: US6/4mm for the ribbing, US7/4.5mm for the rest. I could or perhaps should have gone down another size (this was already one down from the pattern).
Dates: Feb. 16-18, 2008
Notes: I really like this hat a lot. I love the lines of it, and, along with everyone else, the way the decreases follow the pattern as they spiral up to the top. I wore it the whole weekend. I did find that by the end of the weekend it was pretty stretched out, but still stayed on my head. I've washed it, and if it's still stretched out I may toss it for a very quick whizz in the dryer to see if I can shrink it back up again. All in all, very happy with it!

Next, I have another FO to blame on Ravelry. There's a thread on the boards there asking what your favorite "obscure" pattern is. Defined as having around 20 or less projects listed in Ravelry. (Note: This thread is guaranteed to triple your queue. Enter at your own risk!) Someone there posted a link to a pattern for an R2D2 beanie, and C happened to be standing by my computer when I brought it up. Of course, he asked for one immediately. Loving the hat myself, I complied, of course:

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Isn't it great!?! I love it. He got a lot of compliments wearing it around town. Here's the back:

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Pattern: R2D2 Beanie, by Carissa Browning
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Grey Heather and odds and ends of black and red, and Red Heart Super Saver in Royal Blue.
Needles: US6/4mm
Dates: Feb. 21-22, 2008
Notes: I did the bottom blue stripe stranded, as I had to get this done quickly and all of that grey duplicate stitch would have taken me way longer. Because of this I changed the chart slightly in the large square area. I made a shorter camera/eye (3 rows) on the front. I also added the red “eye” light that wasn’t on the chart.

The final hat is a quick one that I made for my niece. She needs to have medication put on her head that makes her hair look greasy, so she wears a lot of hats. This is one of the few patterns I saved out of last year's SnB calendar, and it was really quick. Again with the self-photography:

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The crown decreases were different from my normal spiral:

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Pattern: Boarder's Beanie, by Lauren Sanchez, from the Stitch'n'Bitch Calendar 2007; size small (88 sts)
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky, in Carnival
Needles: US5/3.75mm
Gauge: 5 st/in
Dates: Mar. 3-6 2008
Notes: I don't think I changed anything on this one, except use smaller needles to make it fit an almost 7-year-old. I think she'll love the colors!

Finally, some socks. These were my Ravelry Sockdown socks for January, in which we were to knit a sock by Cookie A, or one with intarsia. I went with Cookie A. I've had the BFF socks printed out since not too long after I got back into knitting again, so I was glad to have an excuse to get them on the needles. This was my first time knitting with Dream in Color Smooshy, and it really is smooshy! I liked it a lot. It's a bit thicker than many sock yarns, and is soft. Lasted forever, too! It comes in 113g (4oz) skeins, and even though these were for women's size 10 feet, I only used 80g. I bought this pink, and also some black. I'm not much of a pink person (although I loved this yarn), so these socks have gone to a friend.

The color isn't quite right, I took these pictures at the pool at sunset. It's not too far off, though. The pink is a nice bubble-gummy pink with purple flecks throughout.

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Cabled socks take me so much longer than most any other patterning, but I do really like cables a lot. Here's a closeup:

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Pattern: BFF Socks, by Cookie A
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, in Cool Fire
Needles: US1/2.25mm
Gauge: 8 st/in
Dates: Jan. 8 - Feb. 25, 2008

Whew, sorry for the recent post-and-go behavior.

Oh, and don't forget to change your clocks on Saturday!

I have some dear friends who are sailors. Mr. P has always had a dream to quit his job and sail around for six months, before having kids. He ended up marrying one of my closest friends, and the new Mrs. P soon became enamored with the idea as well, despite the fact that she gets seasick and was violently ill during many of their "training" trips out to the islands around San Diego. That's love!!!

They finally decided to do it--bought a fixer-upper boat, made it good as new, and in 2004 set off for Baja California and the Sea of Cortez...or so they (and we) thought at the time. Turns out that after spending 3 months or so in Mexico, they decided they weren't ready to come back yet, so they made the 25-day hop to the Marquesas. They sailed all over the south Pacific, and after coming back briefly in 2006 to make some money (leaving their boat in New Zealand), continued their adventure. We joined them for a wonderful 9 days in Fiji later that year, and from there they slowly made their way north to the Marshall Islands, making land back in the States at San Francisco at the end of last summer. Three years after first setting sail...and pregnant!

Of course I had to do something really special for these friends, and I wanted it to be tied to their trip upon which the baby was dreamt of and finally conceived. I looked and looked for a baby sweater with a sailboat or fish or something "nautical," but didn't have much luck finding something that was just *perfect.* I had a very specific sweater in mind, and couldn't find it. So I found a plain-jane baby sweater pattern (or one that was easily made plain-jane) with the buttons at the shoulder that I wanted, and set off on my own nautical adventure of creating the South Seas Sweater. My younger son J helped me find the perfect waves. I ran into one of my knitting group friends at the yarn store and she helped me in the excruciating decision of which two blues were the perfect blues--not too stark, not too "baby blue," not too this and that. Of course the yarn was the wrong weight for the pattern I had chosen, so it took a whole evening with the calculator and a swatch to figure out how to modify the size. Started the sweater, it was coming out HUGE. Ripped it out. More math. Finally got it, and set sail once again.

Success!

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I'm so happy with it. It came out exactly the way I envisioned it in my mind, and that NEVER happens. My critical eye notices that the alternate color shows through a bit in the wave part, as I was attempting to "weave" it in back rather than stranding. I didn't want little baby fingers to catch the loops. Not sure if I did it right, probably should have looked up a tutorial before doing it. The back looks great, though! Didn't think to get a picture inside out. And I'm sure a non-knitter would never notice that the fair isle is less than perfect.

Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main...

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My friends love it when pods (?) of dolphins come and jump and play in their bow wake, and Mrs. P even got a small dolphin tattoo while in Tahiti. So with J's help once again, I copied a photo of a dolphin jumping that I wanted to embroider on the arm opposite the buttons. I have to mention here that my previous attempts at embroidering on my knitting looked (in the words of the Yarn Harlot) like ass. So I looked up a bunch of tutorials before trying it on this one, because I really wanted it to look good. It's slightly crooked, but BY FAR my best embroidery ever! Both kids then helped me find silver metal buttons that matched the dolphin.

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After being terrified that the two balls of dark blue that were the only ones in the store weren't going to be enough, I ended up with leftovers. I had just checked out "Knitting for Baby" from the library, so I knit up a quick baby ball. Really fast and easy. I put a jingle bell inside during stuffing.

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So here's the whole set. It got plenty of oohs and aahs at the baby shower last weekend, and most importantly, my friends love it. I am happy beyond belief.

Sweater:
Pattern: Five Fruits, by Amanda Kerr, from Magknits. Modified to be knit without the stripes, and adding the top half of an only slightly modified wave chart from Swell, by Kimmie Kemper, from Knitty.
Size: The whole thing is sized for less stitches because of larger yarn, but I used the measurements for the 12 month size.
Yarn: ggh Samoa, in 15 (navy) and 56 (medium blue)
Needles: US5/3.75mm, US6/4mm
Gauge: 5 st/in
Notes: I think I covered most of it above. The hardest part was having to size down after realizing that knitting the 6-month size in the larger yarn was still going to be WAY bigger than 12 mo, so I'd have to branch out on my own to make it even smaller. The chart ended up working remarkably well with the number of stitches I had on the body and sleeves, so that part wasn't difficult at all. I liked the yarn, it's a 50/50 cotton/acrylic blend that's soft and machine washable.

Ball:
Pattern: Baby's First Ball, by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas, from Knitting for Baby.
Yarn: ggh Samoa, in 15 (navy) and 56 (medium blue)
Needles: US6/4mm, I think
Notes: Quick and fun! I stuffed it with polyfill and added a jingle bell to the middle.

How many blog posts am I allowed to title "not dead"? Life is a struggle right now and I just can't take the time to blog often, nor read blogs much. My bloglines list grows to over 3000 unread posts, and I apologize for not being a great commenter on your blogs lately.

In my usual "too busy to write" fashion, I'll post a bunch of pictures here of stuff I've completed lately, mostly little stuff, with the details but not a ton of commentary. Sorry again.

First we have the first completed socks of 2008, I call them my Foxy Charades. I think they just might be my favorite socks ever! This was my first time using Cherry Tree Hill yarn, and I love it. I had trouble with the yarn pooling when I tried it with the River Rapids pattern last summer, but it behaved amazingly well with the Charade pattern. No pooling at all, it's this type of variegation that I absolutely love. The colors are great, too. And I really like this pattern. Easy but looks great. These were my Ravelry:Sockdown socks for December 2007, in which the requirement was any top-down sock. Or intarsia. Um, yeah, in the midst of crazy Christmas knitting, I'll skip the intarsia socks, thanks.

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I always love to see variegateds in stockinette:

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Pattern: Charade, by Sandra Park
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino, in Foxy Lady
Needles: US0/2mm for cuff, US1/2.25mm for the rest
Dates: 12/23/2007 - 1/7/2008
Notes: I don't think I made any modifications at all to the pattern. Amazing!

Next up I have some fingerless gloves/mittens (glittens?) for my kids. Despite the fact that we live in San Diego, it's cold in the mornings and there is often frost covering the park we pass on the walk to school. I have been wanting to try a pair of those convertible mittens, with the mitten flap that you can flip up or down depending on whether you want your fingers out. How better to test a pattern than on kid stuff, so I cast on using some leftover black Cotton Fleece from the Purdue baby set from last summer. It was only used for the stripes, so I had plenty to spare. I started out with the Knucks pattern from Knitty, since I knew it was a decent fingerless glove pattern, and then added a mitten flap with the directions from the Urban Necessity pattern.

As soon as I got the first knuck done, both boys were clamoring for that one to be "theirs." The knucks are the same for both of them, but C's mittens are longer than J's for his bigger hands. In the end, I got both pairs done, and they've been wearing them happily most mornings for the walk to school. A success, I declare! Done again, I wouldn't use Cotton Fleece. The cotton just doesn't hold the ribbing well enough, so the mitten flap part on the palm of the hand is sort of floppy. I think I'd attach more of the mitten flap to the glove, wrapping it around the sides of the hand a little more. As written, half of the mitten flap stitches are connected to the glove, and half are the part that goes around the palm. I think next time I'll add a few more connected stitches to each side. And after seeing J's at one of C's recent soccer games, a mom ordered a pair for each of her kids and herself, so there definitely will be a next time!!! I just got some Knit Picks Swish to make them out of, and hope to start today.

Anyway, here are some shots of the ones for my boys. First, the knucks before the mitten cap was added:

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And here's how you pick up the stitches for the mitten cap:

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And here they are done!

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Open:

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Closed:

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Pattern: Fingerless gloves are Knucks, by Pamela Grossman, from Knitty. Mitten caps are added per the instructions for Urban Necessity Gloves, by Colleen Michele Meagher, from MagKnits.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, in Cavern
Needles: US5/3.75mm
Notes: See above, not much more to add

J has also grown out of his pirate cap from last year, so he needed a new one. I opted for a fast and simple beanie, in his choice of Simply Soft colors in my stash. He picked green, and he's happy with it:

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Pattern: London Beanie, by Mark Thrailkill
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, in Dark Sage and Black, and some mystery white acrylic from my stash.
Needles: US5/3.75mm
Notes: This is barely big enough for him. I hope it'll last the winter. Go bigger next time!

I have more, but they'll have to wait, no more time today. I hope you've all had a great weekend!

Happy New Year! Not dead, just busy. Still busy now, so this will be a picture-HEAVY post, finally showing much of my Christmas knitting. Some I had held off posting for fear that they would see it, and some I just didn't get around to.

I have to start out with the Christmas of the Pirate Hats! Talking with my SIL at the beach over the summer about what to knit for her kids (and our good friends' kids) for Christmas, she mentioned that hers would love pirate hats like I made for my boys last year. She has an 8yo boy and a 6yo girl. I immediately had an idea to do my niece's in purples. I didn't really like last year how the pattern got all mushed up toward the top of the hat because of the ribbed folded cuff at the bottom. I also had always wanted to try a hemmed brim like on the We Call Them Pirates hat. So this year's pirate hat modification was to follow the We Call Them Pirates hat a lot closer, using sport weight instead of worsted, and doing the lining with hem for the brim, but sticking with the chart from Jack Sparrow's Favorite Socks that I used last year (which is also based on We Call Them Pirates). I did change the top, though, opting for a spiral decrease rather than the squarish shape of the original, as that shape was built into the chart, and the spirals would just be easier than reworking that into the single-color top I had planned. I had a ton of fun yarn shopping, as I wanted playful linings in variegated yarns that matched the outer yarns, as a bit of hidden fun for the kids. The pictures are modeled on my kids, as I don't have pictures with the recipients yet. I'll post a few of those when I get them. Here's what I came up with!

#1, for my niece (6yo). Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, in Lilac and Grapevine, with Purple Club for the liner, all purchased from emtnestr, my favorite eBay Lorna's dealer...er vendor. This was the first hat that I did, because it was smallest and I wanted to test the pattern on something that wouldn't be as painful to rip if I had to (I didn't).

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And here's a peek at the lining:

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#2 is for our friends' daughter (also 6yo). They live across the street from BIL and SIL (and just around the corner from us), and our three families do tons together. These girls are like another set of nieces to us, so of course they got hats too! This one is the exact opposite of my niece's, as they're the same age, same soccer team, you get the picture. Besides, doing it this way, I was able to get both of their hats out of one skein of each of the colors! Bonus.

Modeled by J--he wasn't crying, he was cold, complainy, and are we done yet? Yep, he's still 4.

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#3 is for the older of our friends' daughters (10yo). She loves the combination of brown and turquoise, and brown and pink. So I knew I would do her hat in brown and one of these. I looked and looked and couldn't find anything that was just right, so I went back to Myra of Fancy Image Yarn, where I got the yarn for my dad's Husky socks. She had a brown and a brown and pink that I thought would be perfect for the main color and liner, so I emailed her to ask if she had a pink that matched for the secondary color. She wrote back that it'd be no problem, she'd just dye them all together to guarantee that they'd match. I figured since she was going to dye them anyway, it was worth it to ask if she could do it in brown and the Tiffany blue that's K's absolute favorite. I can't say enough great things about Myra. We emailed back and forth a few times, she told me to call to finalize things the next day while she was in the store, and when I called she already had the yarn dyed and ready to ship to me! I posted it before, but the beauty bears repeating:

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And here's the final hat. The yarn is DK instead of sport, but that worked out well since she's the oldest and hence the biggest anyway. I love it!

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And the liner, it spiraled! It was so cool to see it emerging.

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#4 is for my nephew (8yo). Back to Lorna's Shepherd Sport, in Charcoal and Natural. I ordered some Aslan for the liner, but the grey wasn't dark enough to match the Charcoal. Oh, darn, now I have a skein of Aslan left over. Socks for me, here I come! For the hat I just striped the liner, and liked how that came out.

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Phew! That's a whole lotta hats, and as much as I love them, I have to admit that I was pretty tired of knitting them by the end of the fourth one!

I'll just breeze through a bunch of smaller Christmas projects, this entry is getting long already!

I made these for the teachers--one for C, four for J, not all pictured. Yep, same as last year (details there). All very well received!

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Then I made wristwarmers for SIL and our friend, moms of the kids of the pirate hats. These were super fast, and took just one skein of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes each. The pattern is A Little Twist Wristwarmers, by Wendi Dunlap. I mistakenly did a five-row repeat on the cables instead of the written 4, and didn't mind it so I kept it. I did the same on the second pair, just because I know I'd have messed it up changing it after already doing one pair. Anyway, the colors are Clematis Heather (my new favorite Knit Picks color, it's gorgeous!) and Indigo Heather, respectively. The Indigo isn't as bright as it looks in the photo, but it was the best I could get it before I gave up getting it to look right.

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Having gotten all of that done, in a bout of really needing some instant gratification, I knit some of these:

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And these:

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Ahh, much better. The tiny projects, they are great for when you're all knitted out.

I have some other things to post, but they have nothing to do with Christmas, so I'll save those for another day!

Um, yeah. This is Christmas Eve in San Diego...

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The birds didn't seem to mind the "cold" at all:

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And of course the family didn't either:

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Despite the fact that the air was about 70F, the water was probably not even 60F. C went right into the water, proving that a 7-year-old boy cannot resist the pull of ocean waves, even at the end of December.

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J was content to stay dry, busying himself with digging a hole until there was water at the bottom to fill his watering can/whale...

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and pouring it out again.

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And then there's the endless entertainment of drawing your own X's in the sand and then digging for treasure:

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Something's washed up on the beach over there, what is it?

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Uh oh...I hope this is not a portent of grief for kiddies everywhere...

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And just to prove that even without snow, kids will find a way to make their own winter right here at the beach by proceeding to trash their boogie boards sledding down the sand berm. Only in San Diego.

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Most of my Christmas knitting gifts won't be given for about a week, so I'll be back after that with a whole slew of FO entries, catching up with my as-yet-undocumented December. Merry Christmas (again)!

I still have no knitting I can post here until after Christmas, so I leave you with this and hopes for peace, strength, and joy for all of us in 2008.

I've been doing a lot of knitting and even finishing, but since they're all Christmas gifts and the recipients and/or parents of recipients read this occasionally, I'm not going to post most of them until they're given. I've got all of them over in my Ravelry notebook for anyone on there who's interested, since it's safe to put them up there while it's still in beta.

I do have one thing to show that's safe. A hat that I really like and is totally versatile, and I have no idea who to give it to. I had three balls of Noro Kureyon that I was going to use for another Booga Bag, but then I saw this Shortrow Watch Cap on Ravelry, and it was the perfect project for a trip up to LA a few weekends ago. Garter stitch, but with a bit of technical interest so I didn't get bored. What I love about it is that it can be worn with or without the brim folded up, and it fits everyone from 6'3" men to my 4-year-old and looks cute on all. Now I just have to find a family who might all get use out of it. Hmm. Anyway, here it is.

On me, with a tiny brim...I think if/when I make another one of these, I'll use more than 40 stitches, as this brim is a tad too small for my taste. I'd prefer at least another 1/2 inch or so.

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On J, with a bigger brim, but the hat is so stretchy that it's not at all too big on him:

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And here's a shot of the top, just because I think it's cool. I don't think my seam looks the greatest, so I've hidden that on the other side. :)

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Pattern: Sideways Shortrow Watch Cap, by Barb Burri
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, in color #149, browns and greys. Just an annoying tad more than one ball. I almost made it, but had to use 6g of a second one. I think I'll still make a small felted bag out of the other almost two skeins that I have left.
Needles: US7 / 4.5mm
Notes and modifications: I had to add an extra "wedge" for a total of nine, as eight wasn't quite big enough. I made no other mods to the pattern, but as I said above, I'll cast on maybe 45 stitches next time to give it a bit more brim.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I have two FOs to report today. Actually I have three, but in the interest of surprising the recipient family, I'm not going to post one of them, I'll wait until after Christmas. Of these two that I'll show you, one is a gift that I think I'm safe to post here, and one isn't for Christmas, so I'm not worried.

First, the non-Christmas gift, which is a hat for my niece. I saw Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Unoriginal Hat (pdf link) that she posted on her blog, and thought that looked fast and easy. I had some Lion Brand Landscapes in my stash that I thought might work, but I only had one ball of two different colors. Fine, I thought--I'll just make it smaller for T, and I should make it with just one ball. Um, I didn't make it. I needed 7g of another ball which I didn't have, so I had to run up to Joann to get more. This is after going to Michael's which is much closer, yet for some reason doesn't seem to be stocking Landscapes anymore. Joann had it. I needed to get supplies for teacher gifts anyway, but I was ticked to have to get another whole ball just for a few yards I was short!

In any case, the hat turned out cute. Here it is, being modeled by my reluctant 7yo. Isn't it cute? I've already given it to T and she loves it.

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As much as I don't really like knitting with Landscapes, I really love the colors in this one, Country Sunset.

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Pattern: An Unoriginal Hat (pdf), by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Lion Brand Landscapes, in Country Sunset. 57g used, just a smidge over one ball.
Needles: US9 / 5.5mm
Modifications: I shortened the hat by taking out the second half of the second repeat, on smaller needles than called for, to make a hat that would fit a 6-year-old.

Now, for a Christmas gift for my mom. It's not too exciting blog-wise, as it's extremely similar to my MIL's birthday gift from last year. I did make some additional changes to what I did last time, though, and I'm happier with it. I knit it in the round from the top down, and at the bottom I did some rounds of garter stitch before grafting to make a more solid bottom on it. I went back at the end and picked up stitches for two handles. I tested it out while doing some shopping today, and I declare it fully functional!

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Pattern: Saturday Market Bag, by Jodie Danenburg, from MagKnits - with modifications, see notes below
Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream, in Sage. About 1.5 balls used
Needles: US10 / 6mm for garter stitch sections (top band, handles, and bag bottom); US15 / 10mm for lace
Modifications: I knit this one from the top down, starting with (I think) 70 stitches. I knit garter stitch around the top, and then the lace until the bag was about 12-13" long. I switched back to the smaller needles and did some rounds of garter stitch before grafting, to make a more solid bottom for the bag. I picked up 6 stitches each for two handles. Handles are 72 rows (36 garter stitch ridges) each. They look short in the picture, but they stretch when the bag is full, so if you're tempted to make them longer, keep that in mind.

I have one more hat that's finished that I'll probably give to someone for Christmas, not sure who yet. It's still drying so I don't have photos of it yet. Will post that when I get the chance.

So my current count is three Christmas gifts complete, one more that's almost done, two more that NEED to be finished in time, a bunch of small teacher gifts that will be the same as last year (the gifts, not the teachers), and a whole lot of other ideas swimming around in my head that I may or may not get around to. I'll just have to see how it goes! So far I think I'm not doing too badly. Check back in three weeks and my answer might be very different!

Woo, I can't believe I haven't had time to post since last weekend! For anyone who's walked in it, seen it, or knows someone who has, it probably goes without saying that the 3-Day walk was awesome. It's just so inspiring, so fun, so emotional, so all of that. I don't have a ton of time right now, so this'll be a picture-heavy post!

First, here's the team: Team C.C.!

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Here's camp, complete with brand spankin' new pink tents set up on beautiful Mission Bay:

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Some great shirts:

It's Wednesday, so I'll include my own version of AssWatchWednesday, courtesy of the awesome San Jose Police, who volunteer their time to come down to San Diego and ride alongside us, playing music, providing encouragement, and keeping us safe.

Here's a beautiful specimen with pink wings:

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And one with my favorite sticker:

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This guy, whose daughter was walking, is just too cute not to include. We saw him several times throughout the weekend, and seeing him up ahead always brought a smile, no matter how our feet felt:

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At the end, we all held up our shoes for the hundreds of breast cancer survivors who completed the walk with us. They were walking in during this photo, but it was getting dark so you can't see them. Trust me, they're there!

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All in all, an incredible weekend. I felt good, my feet felt good (thanks to my AWESOME new walking sandals, MBTs!!!), and we all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who was thinking of me last weekend, it definitely helped!

Two thumbs up!

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Not having a lot of time to knit lately. The San Diego 3-Day walk is this weekend! Our team had our final training weekend this past Saturday and Sunday, and while I love doing the walk and am so excited, boy will it be nice to have my weekend mornings back. Especially these last couple of months that we've been walking both Saturday and Sunday for round about four hours each. But in the end I think we're all ready. You might have noticed the lack of a fund-raising contest that I mentioned a while back, well that's because as a team we reached our goal! There are nine of us walking, and we each needed to raise $2200 for the walk. We did fundraisers all year long and raised about $11,000 with those. Wow! When we combined that with what we each got individually from friends and family, we had more than enough for all of us, about $25,000 total. We're so excited, and proud of ourselves!

However, I was sort of excited to hold a contest, so I'll have to come up with another excuse. I have a couple of opportunities coming up in the next couple of months...stay tuned!

My knitting progress is hardly worth mentioning, but I do have two things active right now. First is a pair of socks for the October Ravelry Sockdown, which if you remember from my first October pair, must be either a Nancy Bush pattern or a pattern with cables. Yes, it's November, but they only had to be cast on in October, and we have two months to finish them. So I have until the end of the month. I'm not sure I'll make it, this is only the first sock. (Note the pink 3-day-i-fied toes, this color is sooooo not my normal thing!)

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They're the Naive Socks by spillyjane, in Knit Picks Essential in Cocoa. Oh, and the cool project bag is from Amber's Green Lotus etsy store--I got to choose one as a prize for winning the August Sockdown challenge drawing! It was so generous of her to donate a prize and I love it.

Next comes some more Christmas knitting. A hat, somewhat like those I knit for the boys last Christmas. Same chart, anyway, from Jack Sparrow's Favorite Socks. However, this time I'm using sport weight to solve my chart-running-into-my-crown-decreases problem from last time, and I used the pattern from the We Call Them Pirates hat for the brim and the liner (when I get to it). So far the outside is knit, I still have to get yarn for the liner. The yarn for this one is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Lilac and Grapevine. I got some Black Purl for the lining, but it's too dark, so I guess I'll just have to go back to emtnestr's eBay store and get some Purple Club, which I think will be perfect. (:: twist my arm ::)

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This one will be for my niece. Be warned, though--there will be three more in various colors to follow when this one's done! It's the second annual Christmas of the pirate cap around chez bioengiknitter.

That's it. I won't get any knitting at all done this weekend, but I'll try and have 3-day pictures for you on Monday! If I can get out of bed, that is. Please wish me happy, blisterless feet. Thanks in advance for that! Cheers.

Okay, attempting to get back to normal life here. Photo albums are back on the shelves, and I can finally post an FO that I had done last Wednesday at knit night but it got lost in the shuffle, being pretty insignificant in the whole scheme of the week. But nevertheless, I did finish my Denmark Socks:

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As I said last time I talked about these socks, I was so sure that they were going to be too big. At 56 stitches on size 3 / 3.25mm needles, I was sure of it. Especially since I normally have to go down a size anyway. But I was wrong! They fit fine. The cables seem to keep them nice and snug, and the sportweight yarn is squishy and warm. It was my first time knitting with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, and it lived up to my love for Lorna's. It's soft and easy to knit with, not too splitty, and superwash. I really love the semi-solid-ness of the color, too. Not totally solid, but not so busy that it interferes with the cables and the pattern. You can see the subtle variegation in the stockinette bottoms:

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This last photo is closest to the actual color of the yarn. The other two were taken in semi-sunset light, so they're too yellow, even after some color correction. I really love this color. I'm not really a "pink" person, but I do like darker pinks, and this color was one that I've looked at again and again when browsing LL yarn. I'm glad I finally broke down and bought some. I even already own a shirt that matches! Bonus. Anyway, this one's the most accurate in color (on my monitor, anyway):

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Pattern: Denmark Socks, by Nancy Bush, from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport, in Manzanita
Needles: US3 / 3.25mm
Gauge: 6.5 sts/in in stockinette
Modifications: As close to none as I'll ever get, I think. The only change I made was to do the ribbing on US2/2.75mm needles to help them not to sag. I even did the bobbles at the bottom of the ribbing! I know, it's unlike me, but they're not too prominent.

Thank you to everyone who commented, emailed, and PMed me on Ravelry to check on how things were going during the fires. This was our first day of blue sky with white clouds in Carlsbad, but there is still a lot of smoke in the air to the east of us, it looks like a big brown fog bank. But the fires are getting well under control now, and all of the firefighters from all over who came to help did such an amazing job. A fire truck from Flagstaff, AZ was driving down the street today. I whispered a "thank you" to them from inside my car, and I hope they're able to get some rest and drive back home to their families soon. They've all worked incredibly hard.