Almost!

The Freedom Marigolds are ALMOST done. Just two pattern repeats remain on #2 (the picture shows it about two repeats ago):

There is enough yarn on the ball that I could have started the second sock about the same place I started the first, but where would be the fun in that? Besides, if it's even a hair off and you've tried to make them match, it's even worse than just planning fraternal twins from the beginning. So these guys are fraternal by design. The second sock was started where the heel turned on the first sock. I like the look. Interestingly, though I had to excise six knots before I turned the heel on the first sock, I have only run into one knot since. Go figure.

I decided to just do a couple of garter ridges at the top rather than ribbing. It allows the top of the sock to be nice and loose, and for my calves, that's never a bad thing (I can never indulge in the SW passion for cowboy boots). The socks are a little large, but I figure I can either shrink them or give them to someone with bigger feet. We'll see.

And since I'm on the subject of modifications, the only other mod I made was to do a figure eight cast on for the toe rather than the short row toe called for in the pattern. I just cast on 28 stitches and worked increases every other round until I had 64 stitches. If I can avoid a provisional cast on I will.

I like this pattern a lot and will probably make more sometime, though probably not this summer. I have made a vow to myself not to repeat myself for Summer of Socks. Goodness knows I have enough sock patterns around here to keep me in unique patterns for many, many summers of socks.

In other news from the not-so-dry-anymore southwest, mere moments after I posted Thursday's post, we got hit with a pretty fantastic storm. Compared to the storms we will see in the coming weeks, it was a baby, but after months of dry, it was spectacular nonetheless. Poor M had to drive a colleague to the airport in it -- at one point it was raining (and hailing) so hard she had to pull over until it let up.

So, photographic proof that it rains in Tucson:

Oh, that oddly shaped hunk in the background? It's a quail block. Not, mind you, that many quail partake, but the sparrows, finches, and doves really like it, too. And it's a lot cheaper and less messy than loose bird seed.

Poor Lady B didn't know what to make of the excitement on Thursday. It's been so long since she's seen rain that I'm not sure she knew what it was. This is where she spent much of the afternoon:

K-man, on the other hand, spent the afternoon hiding from the thunder. Poor little guy doesn't know what he's in for this summer.

Mystery Project is proceeding. It has ceased (for now) giving me fits, which is always a good thing. Oh, and I made it in and out of Tucson Yarn with only the needles I needed. I'm proud of me.

The Monsoon is Coming! The Monsoon is Coming!

Last evening we had quite a fireworks display and a bit of rain; this morning when I headed out for my bike ride (at 5:30am since it's too darn hot to ride after about 8am) there were puddles in the road. Now, in most of the world, this probably isn't newsworthy, but believe me when I tell you that most of the year, when we are lucky enough to have rain, the puddles don't stick around but an hour at the most -- these puddles were still there hours and hours after they would have been vaporised a couple of months ago.

And the wind has changed, and so has the sky. This is what it has looked like much of the week:

That may not look like much to you, but here in Tucson, clouds of any kind are rare, and a sky filled with steely dark clouds can mean only one thing: the monsoon is on its way.

This provides buckets of delight for Tucson meteorologists who, face it, have a pretty boring job much of the year (how many days in a row can you say "sunny with a high of 105" before you start to go out of your mind?). For a few fleeting weeks, they have actual WEATHER to report. And when we have weather here, it's WEATHER in all caps. As I tell my family back home: it never rains in Tucson, but when it rains, it RAINS.

On Kureyon Sock

First, a picture:

This is the first Freedom Marigold nearly done. I am not yet sure if it's getting ribbing at the top or just a couple rows of garter to finish it off. Will have to decide soon, however.

I am loving how this socks looks, and I have to say that even without washing the yarn doesn't bother my foot (in fact, I've taken to putting it on my foot and leaving it there for admiration purposes while I work on Mystery Project -- I find its presence soothes me). The yarn, however. Well....

1) I have so far had to excise six (6!) knots. Fortunately, none of them interrupted the color flow too much, but, lordy how I hate weaving in ends on a sock.

2) What's with all the nearly un-spun sections?! I have to admit that they give the finished product an interesting rustic look, but honey, tryin' to ssk or k2tog with yarn that could be DK weight on 2.5mm needles ain't fun.

And yes, that's most of my lunch in the background: tea in the Eeyore mug, Diet Coke (caffeine free 'cuz, you know, I'm old), and tortilla chips. I swear there was also some yogurt, so there was protein there, too.

Mystery Project is right now at a standstill because, can you believe it, I don't have the needles I need for the sleeves. I only own about 200 pairs/sets of needles -- but none of them will work for what I need. Go figure.

Now, let's take bets on weather Sandy makes it into and out of Tucson Yarn without any extraneous purchases.

PS. Why didn't anyone tell me there's Silk Garden Sock?!

PPS. The book in the background? It's Richard Shelton's Going Back to Bisbee. It's a memoir which is also a loving tribute to the history (both human and natural) of this little corner of paradise where I now find myself. I am currently reading a more recent memoir of his, Crossing the Yard, about his years as the leader of a writing workshop in Arizona prisons. Fascinating, especially since I've often thought I would like to be a prison librarian.

Random Wednesday

My job brings a lot of the wierdness (and, yes, the unwelcome crap) of the Internet to my computer on a daily basis. Sometimes I can't help but bookmark some of it. So, this random Wednesday, I share.

Matt Miller

Not being a skateboarder (though as someone who was a teenager in the 80s I have always been drawn to people who do it well), I didn't know who Matt Miller was until I ran across this video on YouTube:



I am always amazed by people who can do that.

Virtual Barber Shop

Yes, that's exactly what it says. Put on your headphones (these are essential to the experience unless you have really, really good speakers placed perfectly) and sit back.



Moon Trees

Did you know that when Stuart A. Roosa went to the moon on Apollo 14, his "personal preference kit" included a bunch of tree seeds? The seeds were eventually planted back here on Earth and all germinated. No record was kept of where all the trees went, but a NASA scientist is working on cataloging them.

Random Things To Do

This one is just fun. And I love the disclaimer:

Randomthingstodo.com is not responsible for any bad events that may occur if you actually decide to do any of these things. However, not all of these activities are dangerous and are actually good ideas, so please use good judgement and enjoy the website.

Books Cheap or Free

Frugal Reader allows you to list books you're offering to send to other members and request books other members have listed. Interesting book recycling.

Of course, there's also BookSwim, kind of a NetFlix for books. A membership fee allows you to rent books (there are multiple levels, just like NetFlix) and keep them as long as it takes you to read them. Given the overdue fines and my tendency to forget to return books at the library, this may be a cheaper option for me.

And there's BookCrossing which is an idea I wish I'd come up with.

?????

You have to read it for yourself.

And This

Which is just plain, well, neat.

The Sock Will Set You Free

Mystery Project is still being a pill, but it has satisfied our masters enough that work will continue with (knock wood) no further back tracking.

Summer of Socks couldn't have come at a better time, however, as this little beauty has been keeping me sane while dealing with recalcitrant yarn:

It's a Marigold Sock (pdf link -- Ravelry link here) from FlintKnits. Yarn is Noro Kureyon Sock #182 (not quite a rainbow, but happy nonetheless). I have been looking forward to making this sock with this yarn since I saw Veronique's pair out of the Regia Nation rainbow yarn. They were the ideal first project for SOS08.

Apropos of a recent ranting post, I found this mock Sunday Magazine cover at The Onion:

And now I must off to finish the housecleaning before the Red Sox/Diamondbacks game (one of the few chances I get here in Tucson to see my beloved Sox play).

The Opposite of Knitting (AGAIN!)

So, the mystery project? It's turning out to be a wee bit problematical.

You see, the yarn -- which isn't new but the colorway is -- has a particular personality trait (not made known to me until I'd noticed the problems it was causing) which has made it necessary for me to rip out the nearly 15" I had already knit back down to about 5". Now I need to adjust how I pursue the rest of the project.

Excuse me while I scream into a pillow.

On a positive note: Summer of Socks begins tomorrow! Hooray.

Oh, wait, I suppose that means that I need to find a sock project, no?

Stash, here I come!

Off My Chest

Today, Sandy has just a few things to get off her chest. And it might get long and perhaps even ugly. For those brave enough to stick it out (or impatient enough to scroll down) there will be knitting content coming up later.

Our church, like many, experiences a downturn in attendance in the summer. Ours is possibly exacerbated by a) the large number of "snow birds" who return somewhere north of here for the summer; and b) the extreme heat of the summer months here in Tucson which makes many people just want to curl up with a fan and a bowl of ice. Anyway, like many churches, we adjust our summer worship schedule accordingly, going from two Sunday morning services to one. M decided (I admit, I pushed) to use this as an opportunity to explore having adult Christian education offerings on Sunday (we currently have none, unless you count the self-convened group that sprung up on its own). So, Sunday morning's schedule for the summer includes a 10am worship service preceeded by a 9am Christian education time for children and adults. We are offering a single Adult/Teen class and the usual array of Sunday school for the little 'uns (the rest of the year Sunday school generally happens during the 10am worship).

Two things you need to know about this to make sense of the following: 1) we have had no children attending Sunday school (something which didn't come as a huge surprise to anyone); and 2) the first series of Adult study sessions (which have had a fantastic attendance -- surprising many, but not me) has been exploring a faith-based approach to environmental issues, including climate change and environmental justice.

To the parent who sent M an email explaining that the reason no children are coming to Sunday school is that 2 hours a week is just far too much time to expect any family to devote to church:

Honestly, I was so floored by a) this attitude (in someone who used to work in CE in the church); and b) the lack of any sense of embarassment about expressing it that I really couldn't react at first. I had the same response when I saw the truck belonging to Tucson's Week Night Church ("Because you have better things to do with your weekend.").

I guess this basically sums up an attitude that I have been saddened to see everywhere we've been in recent years: Church is very important as long as it doesn't interfere with my life. From the teenagers who only attend worhip or youth group when they don't have something better to do, to the families who stop attending in summer because "we're on vacation", to the parents who drop their children off for Sunday school and then head out for brunch with friends, it's just so sad to me. If church doesn't matter to you, it doesn't matter, but if you're going to claim the badge of Christian, you could at least make some time in your life to worship and fellowship with others, no?

I grew up Baptist, and to me the very idea of no adult Christian ed is anathema. Church on Sunday morning was at least a two hour committment between worship and Sunday school for everyone. Let's not even get started on the hours and hours my family spent at the church for other purposes.

Oh, and neither the family of the email writer nor the other family cited as an example in the email have attended EITHER CE or worship at all this summer, so I guess that means that even 1 hour is too much to ask.

To the scientist (one of the signatories the Global Warming Petition -- if you're not familiar, click on the link and read the first paragraph or two) who keeps bringing copies of his slides "proving" that global warming is a myth or that we didn't cause it or that we can't stop it or that it's a good thing or some such to the adult study:

STOP! Have you not figured out by now that this isn't a science class or some sort of Al Gore liberal environmentalist indoctrination seminar? Put away your slides, open your mind, and listen for once. No one here is going to argue "facts" with you because a) we're not going to change your mind and (surprise!) you're not going to change ours; and b) that's not what this is about.

Even if you were able to convince us that global warming doesn't exist/wasn't caused by humans/can't be reversed anyway/is a good thing, would that change even one iota our responsibility as people of faith to be better stewards of G*d's creation and each other than we have been?

Would it justify the tons of toxic waste we dump every year in third world nations and in the back yards of the poor and disposessed in our own country? Would it justify our consume, consume, consume lifestyle which only considers environmental impact when it becomes pocketbook impact? Would it justify our addiction to a finite resource (fossil fuels) at the expense of research and development into renewable sources of energy?

Would it make it a bad thing to be more conscious of what we consume or what we dispose of? Would it make it a bad thing to maybe consider the impact of our decision to have a lawn in the desert/run the air conditionning at 65/leave lights on unecessarily? Would it make it a bad thing to consider fuel economy perhaps even more highly than style points when we make our next vehicle purchase?

Would it make it a good thing to sit by silently while our government, our industries, and sometimes even our churches make decisions which, while convenient and expedient, will eventually (or even immediately) cause harm to someone else?

Believe the global warming/climate change arguments or not, we as people of faith have a duty to ourselves, to each other, to G*d, and to our children's children's children to take better care of what we've been gifted.

And PS: solar panels DO work, and they work quite nicely, thank you.

To the bank which this week foreclosed on our neighbor's house and hauled everything in it off to a landfill despite the pleas of the ex-wife -- who'd been kicked out of the house a year ago by her ex-husband and not allowed to return to claim any of her belongings -- to let her take some cherished family heirlooms:

SHAME!

(speaking of divorce) To our friends who may or may not be headed down the road to divorce:

Divorce is not an admission of guilt/failure/anything else bad. Divorce is sometimes simply the ultimate response from two people who've grown apart. It happens, and acknowledging it and responding appropriately is the ultimate in un-failure. Failure would be forcing each other to remain in a relationship-that-isn't, getting more bitter with each passing day.

And please, treat each other more kindly than my neighbor did his wife.

And finally, to those who may actually wonder why the Celtics were able to dominate the Lakers so completely overall in the series:

I refer you to one of any number of videos on youtube of the game 6 post-game press interviews with KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kobe Bryant. All three of Boston's "Big Three" pointed out that there are 13 guys on the team and it takes all of them to win; Kobe -- well, it's still all about Kobe. I'm reminded of the fact that they were never "The Supremes"; they were always "Diana Ross and the Supremes" [edited to qualify: while Diana Ross was with them (thank you to the commenter who, while possibly actually intending to be nasty, actually made my point better than I had)]. Can you say "Kobe Bryant and the Lakers". As long as that attitude prevails, so will the Celtics.

Okay, the prize, knitting content:

This is the progress so far on my scarf version of Kirsten's Rhea Lace Stole. I did only 12 pattern repeats on the end pieces rather than the 24 called for, and picked up an appropriately lesser number of stitches for the body. This is being made with the Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk Hand Dyed that's left over from the weft of my mother's Christmas scarf. The colorway is a test that didn't make it into the final run, but being the fan of tourquoise and purple that I am, I snapped up the sample. I will knit until the scarf is as long as I want or until I run our of yarn, whichever comes first.

Why a scarf? Well, it's a lace scarf which might actually find some use here in Tucson (if it doesn't go into the gift box). And I wanted a lace project I could do on size 5 needles for reasons I can't go into. This one may or may not go into hibernation for the duration of Summer of Socks and the Tour de France KAL. We'll see.

Phew, that was long, and I might think of apologizing, but I won't, 'cuz it's my blog and I can rant if I want to. Besides, I feel better now.

Sandy Knits (and un-knits)

Total knitting accomplished for the weekend:

~7" of endless stockinette-in-the-round (worsted weight) - 3.5 socks = that much closer to finishing the secret project, and some sock yarn to use for something that inspires (not to mention socks that we will wear).

This is what remains of my Happy Feet Socks (I didn't hate them, they had just ceased to inspire me, and I hadn't picked up sock #2 in weeks -- and I wanted to clear the decks for Summer of Socks) and the socks I made ages ago (but have worn maybe once) from Lorna's Laces in the rainbow color way.

I never liked the look of the socks made from the Lorna's Laces:

This yarn was so beautiful on the skein (and even the balls are nice), but what's with the gold-dominance in the finished products? (And gold right now just makes me think of Kobe Bryant, and, well, don't get me started -- maybe in a later post.)

So, the yarn is reclaimed, and just in time for a possible experiment. Look over there on the left and see that I have joined the Tour de France KAL, in the polka dot jersey category. Right now, my plan is to finally learn entrelac (I have heard it's impossible; I've heard it's the simplest thing going -- time I found out for myself). In the process, I hope to perfect my knitting backwards skills as well. I had heard a rumor (probably in the Queer Revelry group over at Ravelry) that if you use the rainbow colorway of LL in entrelac, it might just keep some of its rainbow qualities due to the short rows.

Of course, the entrelac socks I want to make are the ones from Socks, Socks, Socks, and right now I don't have a copy of the book. I suppose someone as sock obsessed as I can be should own it, right? I have a little time before the Tour starts.

Oh, and an FO I forgot all about:

It's, well, it's another baby surprise. This one from Debbie Bliss Merino DK #704 (looks like the offspring of burgundy and chocolate brown) and following the pattern exactly. NOT knit on my trusty Susanne Ebony as all the other baby surprises have been. I needed a project on a size 6 needle that I could work while doing almost anything that would take the better part of 12 hours to complete. Someday I hope to be able to say why, but for now, that's all I can say. And now I have a baby surprise jacket (I swear it's the only one still in my possession).

Happy Father's Day

To the best father, ever!

I know, most people probably think their father is the best, but how many of your fathers undertook a marathon 2600-mile, 6-day trek across the country, sharing a 38' motor home with three women, two cats, and one dog. All so his little girl and her partner could get their cats from MA to AZ with a minimum of stress.

AND he kept his good humor throughout.

So, to the best father ever:

Happy Father's Day!

[The card is going to be late since I've forgotten where I put your new address.]

Oh, and GO CELTICS!

Sedona, Belated

Click on the collage above to go to the entire set of Sedona photos on Flickr. I haven't yet put descriptions and tags on all of them, but I'm working on it.

All in all, we had a great time on our getaway weekend. And it was exactly what we both needed. You know how sometimes you've just stayed home to long? It's not like anything was particularly wrong, it's just that we hadn't left since we'd moved here, and we were starting to go stir crazy.

The weekend was projected (even here in Tucson) to be cold and wet, and on that score it didn't disappoint. Friday temps were in the 50s, Saturday they crept into the 60s with rain, Sunday it was in the 70s and sunny. The inn where we stayed was nice, but nothing spectacular. We will probably look for a nice B&B next time, but we pulled this trip together on the spur of the moment when we learned that I had Memorial Day off.

Saturday we went shopping uptown, bought each of us crystals (of course), and then (when it looked like it was finally clearing) went on a jeep tour. No, not the Pink Jeep Tour; we wanted a more Sedona experience, so we took a Vortex Tour through Earth Wisdom Tours (recommended to us by numerous staff and patrons in the shop where we bought the crystals). Aside from the fact that the rain returned as we headed out, it was a great tour. We had it to ourselves, and our guide, Hugh, was great. He explained the geology behind the astounding landscape (you can see why it was named one of the ten the most beautiful place in America) and the vortexes and introduced us to what might just be the "most hugged tree in America". Yes, that's right, actual tree hugging.

You see, one of they ways the locals claim you can spot a vortex is to look for the twisted trees, and this one happens to be very twisted (unfortunately, I didn't get a picture). It is also toward the top of a bluff said to have been used for generations by the native people for vision quests. The theory is that the swirling energy emanating from the earth at the vortex causes the trees to grow in helical spirals rather than straight up. I did get a picture of one such tree:

Sunday we went hiking (on a trail recommended by Hugh). It was about a 3.5 mile trail that went straight into a canyon (then a 3.5 mile hike back out). And despite the absolute breath-taking-ness of the landscape, I have to admit that one of the things that struck me the most was that we were walking through woods and there were no bugs. I'm not used to hiking without heavy duty bug repellent, and this was kinda heavenly.

One thing I have not blogged about (partly because it's so weird still to contemplate) is that a member of our church was found murdered in her home the morning of the day we left for Sedona. (M's Senior Pastor told her to still go away for the weekend because we both needed it.) I've had friends die of drug overdoses and in car accidents; I lost a friend in high school to a rare blood disorder (and another college friend to the same disorder); I've seen friends and relatives die in old age of cancer, stroke or Alzheimer's; and all but one of my grandparents are dead. This, THIS, is not like any of that. While the police seem to now suspect that the crime was probably not random, the feeling at this end is one of total randomness.

What does this have to do with Sedona? Well, M and I were finally able to start processing what had happened at this beautiful spot called The Chapel of the Holy Cross. [I didn't take any pictures of the Chapel itself, but there are some stunning ones at the website, and more at Flickr.] It is a small Catholic chapel built into the red rocks, and if you're ever in Sedona, it's a must-see. The chapel itself is beautiful, and the views it commands are stunning.

Believe (or not) what you will about the vortexes, etc. It doesn't really matter in the end. Sedona is, by the very nature of its beauty and it apartness, a fantastic place to unwind and recharge.

RIP Tim Russert, 1950-2008

The rest of this election season will not be the same without you.

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58

Celtics 3, Lakers 1, Sandy Spent

Phew! Thursday's game was, well, exciting? How 'bout downright heart-attack-inducing? I wonder how many of our friends back east went to bed at halftime only to pick up the Globe this morning and go "Wha... Huh...?"

We've been watching the playoffs with friends at a local sports pub (something I haven't done in ages, but plan on doing more of in the future). Thursday evening we found the room we've been hanging in full of Celtics fans (Sunday evening, there were a few Lakers fans in the room who actually headed off to play pool when the Cs took a 20+ point lead). Needless to say, the room was fairly quiet, unless you counted all the grumbling about the officiating (don't get me started on the long-held -- since the 80s at least -- belief that officials are pressured to extend series) for the first half. M at one point suggested that perhaps we go shoe shopping. I had taken some knitting (secret project, but one that starts with a whole lot of stockinette in the round, so is perfect for bar knitting), and Matt decided that I was pretty smart to have brought something to do. At least no one left or headed off into the adjacent room to play pool.

Now, Tuesday evening's game was, well, for lack of a better word, amusing. It will be many moons before I lose the desire to chuckle when I remember Kevin Garnett's dunk-that-wasn't. And the fact that the Cs could play THAT BADLY and still lose by only 6 points is, well, evidence that they SHOULD win the series. But it was amusing for the simple fact that we could afford to lose it. We didn't really need to drop two straight in LA, however (besides, some days the urge to smack the smirk off Jack Nicholson's face is overwhelming -- I've been a Celtics fans since birth, you see).

By the time Thursday's game was over and the Celtics had completed the most improbable comeback in NBA playoff history, I felt wrung-out. I think our little gang may have been just as much in need of a three-day rest as the Cs.

So, Sunday night we will be back in our familiar spot at the pub, cheering our hearts out for the Cs to win their first championship in over 20 years. As much as I would like to see them win it in Boston (something the Sox haven't yet done for the city), I won't complain if they end it in 5.

Besides, if the series goes to 7 games, the cheescake might just kill me.

So Very Sad, and a Game

Yesterday, I had two of these:
For those not in the know, that's a Brittany walnut needle, size 7.

Today, I have this:
It's my own darn fault. I had them in a pen cup on my desk (doesn't everyone keep knitting needles and crochet hooks in their pen cup?), and I knocked into them with a box. Everything fell, and the cup fell on one of my dear needles (my precious, they-don't-make-them-anymore needles). The top actually flew across the hall and hit the tub in the guest bathroom. I may never be happy again.

Okay, it's not that bad, but that is one of the sizes I only had one pair of!

To distract me from my misery, a little thing I borrowed from Melissa.

The rules:

• Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
• Using only the first page, pick an image.
• Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Photo credits: 1. Sandy, 2. "What? Sushi? What is it?", 3. TRY ARE FISH, 4. Part 7: Meet . . . Teddybear, 5. Queen Latifah's Star On Hollywood Blvd, 6. GRONINGEN: MARTINI TOWER, 7. Cute Tiger Moth Caterpillar, 8. squared circle of squared circles, 9. Supermodel, 10. me learning french in a few days is just "ridiculious", 11. Cat Conspiracy, 12. Boteh Scarf

My answers:
Sandy, sushi, Brunswick High School, anything but blue, latifah, martini, Australia, tiramisu, knitter, learning, caring, likelyyarns

Still working on the photos from Sedona -- soon.

And I AM knitting, see:


And that's probably all you're going to see of that second one for a while. Secrets, secrets.

Catch Up!

Phew -- sorry I vanished for a bit. Dad probably thought I'd stepped into a vortex in Sedona and vanished into a parallel dimension. Alas, nothing that exciting. What really happened is that I got slammed with a couple projects with quick deadlines -- horrible part, I can't really even blog about them (yet?).

Anyhoo, Sedona was fabulous, but I haven't yet offloaded and sorted through all the pictures. Later this week -- I promise.

In knitting news, I finished the sample socks for Anastasia and shipped them off to Kollage. I'm not as thrilled with them as I'd like to be -- oh, the pattern is great and the yarn is wonderful; I'm just not sure how thrilled I am with my execution this time. Oh well.


Pattern: Herringbone Rib Socks, designed by Anastasia for Kollage Yarns -- not yet available
Yarn: Kollage Yarns Luscious in colorway Pewter, 3 hanks
Needle: Addi Turbo 2.25mm 40"
Mods: Aside from pattern errors, none

I do like the pattern, a lot. It's designed for a guy, and it's very simple and guy friendly. The rib pattern takes a few rounds to get going, but it's intuitive from there on. And, of course, living in Tucson, I love me a great wool-less cotton sock yarn.


Oh, and a couple more Ss:

S is for Seuss
Or Seuss-ish. Every time we walk by this house (it's on our evening walk route), I think of Dr. Seuss. Remind me I need to take a picture of a palo verde that looks like Grinch fingers.

S is for Sanctuary
It's the kind of place that (not to sound too much like Yogi Berra) if you didn't know it was there, you'd never know it was there. There are no signs on any of the main roads or side streets telling you where to find it. In fact, it's down a dirt road and the first sign you see alerting you to its existence is the one at the gate. And even that one you can miss.

It is a lovely, tranquil place with breathtaking views and a great little multi-faith chapel. Behind the chapel is an outside sanctuary which faces due east and hosts a sunrise service every Easter. So, some pictures of a hidden gem (and the beautiful landscape that surrounds me every day). Of course, you can embiggen (a Wendy-ism) them with a click.