At the Beach

I went down to my daughter’s trailer to take Keven his birthday presents and enjoy the beach.  It was a beautiful day and we had fun.  I brought home some crabs that I need to pick for crab cakes.  I may freeze it for next week when my son comes.

I Changed my Mind

I worked the 44 rows for the leg of the socks.  I looked at it.  I left it laying out.  Then I took it apart. 

So, I started another sock.  It’s from More Big Girl Knits.  This is the cuff.

Opera Gloves are Finished

I am happy with them,but I don’t think I used the best yarn for the pattern.  The only trouble is—–they look GREAT!  So what do you do? 

I started making socks.  I decided on Hypnosis from The Eclectic Sole.  The Mini Moochi is a wonderfully soft yarn, but I worry about durability.  You can’t have everything.

I took off the first thumb I made and did a matching color.  You can’t even tell where I picked up the stitches and knit in the opposite direction.  I like the yellow finger.

I thought about putting the thumb I removed onto the other glove, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

If your arms are not model skinny, I would suggest adding more increases.  I added three sets for a total of twelve stitches.  I made the first two increases where they are on the pattern, then I switched to every seventh row.  They fit perfectly.

Too Nice Outside to Be Inside

You know.  I have things to do inside, but I can’t get myself to stay inside.  The weather has been perfect.  It is so unusual for July.  We’ve only had the air conditioning on a few days.  So, I’m outside enjoying myself.  I am so far behind in my blog reading it’s embarrassing.  I have e-mails to answer and clothes to alter.  I even bought new shorts at Walmart so I’d have enough for the week.  I have been getting some knitting done out on the deck.  It’s that nice.

A friend asked for pictures of Flo.  She’s hard to catch when she’s awake.

Aren’t they pretty? 

Update on Opera Gloves

I’ve gotten a lot of work done on my gloves.  I’m anxious to get them finished.

Ray

I wasn’t certain if I wanted to do this.  I don’t want to come across as morbid, but I am getting older and it should be expected.  Plus, I feel that everyone should be remembered in some way.  Yes, it has to do with a death. 

 My friend, Agnes,  called to tell me another old friend of ours, Ray,  had died.   We worked together for several years.  He was a clerk when I started infiles.  I moved on up, but he was always a clerk.  He was a bachelor and he told me once that he was perfectly happy being a clerk.  He had a little place of his own, a couple of cats and his opera collection.

We were opera buddies.  We saw Pavarotti together and had season tickets to the Baltimore Opera for a few years.  We were at the opera once, watching Romeo and Juliet.  They were played by a young, nice looking couple.  We were watching the bedroom scene.  Romeo had on white tights.  That’s all.  Juliet was wearing a filmy nightgown.  The scene was very beautiful and moving.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  Ray leaned over and whispered in my ear.  “Picture this scene with Jessye Norman and Luciano Pavarotti.”  It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.  I could have beaten him to death.  But that was Ray.  He absolutely loved it.

I’ll never forget you, Ray.

Shrimp

I steamed a five pound box of shrimp the other day.  That’s a lot for two people.  I’m running out of ideas with what to do with it.  We ate our fill the first day, then I made enough shrimp salad for two more meals.  Last night, it was shrimp in vodka sauce over small pasta shells with peas.  So, tonight, we went out to eat.  Yeah.  I never thought that I would get tired of shrimp.

We’re going to a little picnic on Saturday.  I’m bringing a cake.  Should I make pineapple upside-down or blueberry with strawberry sauce?  I think I’ll go down to Mernie’s tomorrow and see what they have. 

I started on the second opera glove.  So far so good.

I Have One Opera Glove

I got to the elbow and decided not to go any farther.  I stopped  twenty rows short and made a six row knit1, purl 1 ribbing.  The directions called for a tubular cast off which I didn’t bother with.  It’s like a Kitchener stitch which I can’t stand.  I bound off in rib.  It looks good and still has plenty of give.

I’ve decided to start the next glove at the elbow and work to the fingers.  If I have trouble weaving in the ends, then so be it.  Except for one time when I fell and got a hole in the middle of a glove,  I tend to wear holes in the thumbs and forefingers.  So any repaired fingers will start at the base and end at the tips.  It was interesting making fingers from the top down, but not practical.

Cora in a bowl

Progress Report

Hey Jupiter socks

I forgot to show you a picture of the finished product.  Another great pair of socks!  I’m going to have to update my heading.

And here are my opera gloves.

I know I haven’t written anything lately.  Actually, there are several things that I haven’t done lately.  I can’t get myself to stay inside long enough to do any of those things.  I even weeded this afternoon.  I have some impatiens coming up from seed.  They come up every year here.  It never happened at my old house.  I had to plant new ones there.  Most of my plants are perennials, but I like to put some pots out on the deck over the summer.

Opera Gloves

Well, I’m really happy with the way these gloves are moving along.  The directions are very good and I was pleasantly surprised when they said to sew the gaps and weave in the ends at this point.  That’s what  I was planning to do anyway.  My only complaint is the chart.  It’s too small.  I have to look too closely.  If it had been put on two whole pages instead of two half pages, it would be a lot easier to read.

Cora  is a little pooky today.  She sneezed a few times and she slept a lot today.  Her apatite is good.  I looked at her teeth.  She’s teething.