You Got That Right!

Today we headed into Westfield, west of Chesterfield and north of Indianapolis and Carmel, so I could go to Stitches ‘n Scones - a lovely yarn store that boasted a ‘man chair’, for Skip to sit in while he waited for me. I saw some lovely Freedom yarn and a pattern book with patterns featuring this yarn. There was a tam, scarf and wrist warmers made up in the store. The yarn was SOOOO soft and yummy. But I held off. I did buy two balls of yarn on sale to make a water bottle caddy. Something that would keep the condensation from dripping off.

We then went to a Mexican food place for lunch. I only wanted a tamale and an enchilada but the only lunch special with those items also featured a burrito so I got it and we took the burrito with us. I’m having it for dinner.

After lunch we drove back to Golfsmith so Skip could buy his range finder. Then we went over to Knit Stop a big, lovely yarn store in Castleton. I didn’t find anything on sale I needed to have nor anything else ‘to die for’ so I just had a look around and we left.

We came back to Todd’s and Skip took the car to the driving range and I stayed and I did more knitting on my stained glass purse.

Last night I finally got some photos of Todd and Shingo modelling their socks.




























Tomorrow we will be bidding farewell to our hosts, Todd and Shingo, and heading to Franklin, IN south of Indy where we will spend the next two nights - before and after the Indiana University football game against the University of Akron Zips. We are quite looking forward to that.

A Lazy Day

Today Todd and Shingo had errands to do so Skip and I headed out on our own. We drove to Muncie and had lunch. I then dropped Skip off at a golf driving range and I went to Danner’s a yarn store in Muncie. Danner’s is also a book store and gift store but its most popular item is yarn. The store is laid out in an interesting way. Instead of brands or weights of yarn being displayed together, the yarn is displayed by colour. I saw some brands I had never seen before such as a couple of brands from South Africa and Malabrigo. I bought a variegated merino wool to use in my felted stained glass fan purse. I also found the Opal sock yarn in the Raupe colourway - simulating a monarch butterfly caterpillar.

After shopping, we went to Anderson, IN and visited a couple of stores: Hobby Lobby and Dunham’s. Skip bought an Indiana University hooded sweatshirt. We then picked up some groceries at a market and returned to Todd’s.

Tomorrow we may head back to Carmel to explore more stores. We may also explore Mounds State Park.

"Indiana Wants Me..."

On Saturday, I attended the Knitters’ Fair at Bingemans in Kitchener - Waterloo. I found the people selling the Addi Turbos for $12 (as opposed to $18 and up) and bought Valerie the 32" 2.5mm circular needle she wanted. I also got myself a 5mm 32" circular and at another booth some 5mm Clover bamboo dpns. I also bought a 2.5mm 32" Hiya Hiya circular needle as I have read so much about them.

I was looking for Noro Kureyon yarn for the Stained Glass Fan Felted purse. It required 6 skeins from different colourways. I spent the whole time looking and finally just minutes before I had to meet Skip, I found someone who had a variety of the Kureyon yarn. I had not found anyone selling the Noro yarn so was thrilled to find it. Unfortunately they didn’t have any black worsted wool so I’ll have to pick it up on my travels. I also saw Stephanie (The Yarn Harlot) Pearl-McPhee with her entourage. They were beside me when I was buying the Philosopher's Wool DVD.

After lunch we drove to Petrolia and visited with my sister, Valerie. She prepared a lovely roast beast beef dinner with steamed veggies and new potatoes. We stayed in the guest suite - ‘Sleepy Hollow’ - in her building; very comfortable accommodations.

Sunday morning we got up bright and early and headed for the border. Even at 8:30am there was a lineup for Customs on the US side. After getting through, we drove to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We then headed west on I-69 and at 3:30pm (with a stop for lunch en route) arrived at our host’s home in Chesterfield, IN. Todd and Shingo were there to meet us as well as Todd’s mom, JoAnn and her husband, Jack.

I knit most of the leg of the second monkey sock during the drive today and have turned the heel and am now working on the gusset - decreasing to do the foot.

Todd and Shingo were presented with their custom knitted socks. I know they can make good use of them on those chilly nights in Japan. They don’t have central heating and normally do not wear shoes in the house so nice, warm, woolly socks will keep their feet quite toasty.

Yesterday we had a leisurely morning. Then we headed to Muncie so Skip could go to a sports discount store - Dunham’s and I could go to Danner’s - a yarn shop. Danner’s was closed so I went to Hobby Lobby and found the worsted black yarn I needed. I then went to JoAnn’s Fabrics to look at their knitting inventory. There was nothing that appealed to me. We got back in time to see the season opener of the Oprah show featuring David Letterman. Todd and Shingo prepared a lovely steak dinner with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

After dinner I watched the “Philosopher’s Wool” DVD that I had purchased at the Knitters’ Fair. It clearly explained the two-handed Fair Isle technique.

Today we headed to Carmel, IN a northern suburb of Indianapolis. First, we ate at Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Then we went to Borders (a Chapters-type bookstore). I bought Elizabeth Zimmermann’s “Knitting Without Tears” . Then we went to Golf Galaxy and Golfsmith and dropped Skip off . Todd, Shingo and I went to Half-Price Books where I bought a used copy of “Knitting Lessons - tales from the knitting path” by Lela Nargi and Iris Schreier’s “Modular Knits”.

After that, we went to CompUSA where I bought a gel case for my iPod with an armband and the iSongBook Tivoli Audio system. It has an AM/FM radio and docking station for my iPod, clock radio and alarm.

Whilst at CompUSA in the iPod department, Shingo and I checked our e-mail. Sent a few replies. Then Skip showed up and checked his. After that, we went to a SuperTarget store near Fishers, IN off I-69 at exit 5.

When we were first getting off the interstate we noticed that the flags were at half-mast. Later we noticed people with flags and wreaths on some of the overpasses. Of course! It is September 11 - the 6th anniversary of the terrorist attack in the United States.

K2, Sip 1

I went into Toronto today to do some shopping. I enjoyed knitting on the GO train and listening to a book on my iPod. I finished the second fingerless glove. I went to the food court at The Lanes and had a $5 lunch (incl. tax!) - an entree, 2 sides and a pop. I ended up at The World's Biggest Bookstore to check out their knitting books. I spent about an hour there and saw a couple that looked interesting but I didn't buy anything. I walked all the way down Bay (my daily walk - tee hee) and knit some more in the GO concourse and on the train home. I worked on the second monkey sock with the Regia stretch yarn.

After supper I went to the wine and cheese at Kniterary. We chatted and knitted. I worked on the Lady Eleanor entrelac scarf. I'm not thrilled with the yarn because it doesn't change colour fast enough. I'm sure it will look fine but I just wish there was more colour variation. I won a door prize - light-tipped 4.25mm knitting needles!

Tomorrow I'm meeting fellow retiree, Anne Marie, for coffee at Chapters. Then I'm going to CAA to get maps for our trip. Our neighbours are looking after Ollie and the house in our absence.

Today I ordered us two tickets for the Indiana University vs. Akron University football game in Bloomington, IN on Sept. 15. Skip is an NCAA football and basketball nut (we have the NCAA ticket with ExpressVu thus availing us of 800 games from now until the end of May). This will be Skip's first regular NCAA football game and my second. I went to a Univ. of Michigan/Univ. of Missouri game in Ann Arbor, MI circa 1974. There were 106,000 in attendance. The stadium in Bloomington only seats 52,000 so it won't be quite the spectacle. We attended the International Bowl (Western Michigan vs. Cincinatti) at the Rogers Centre last January. We LOVED it! We loved the bands, the cheerleaders, the pomp, the pageantry, oh yeah, and the football.

I have googled and printed maps our for all the yarn stores within a 30 mi. radius of Chesterfield, IN. Skip also has designs on a couple of sporting goods stores for golf equipment. We will also take our hosts Todd and Shingo to Romano's Macaroni Grill in Carmel, IN. The first leg of our odyssey will be the Knitter's Fair in Kitchener/Waterloo on Saturday.

What Do I Do All Day?

I highly recommend retirement. It becomes me. :-)

This week I've been out for lunch, have golfed with Skip, went to the public library to get more CDs to put on my iPod, am going into Toronto tomorrow to shop, am going to a wine and cheese at my LYS, Kniterary tomorrow evening and am meeting a fellow retiree for coffee on Friday.

I wouldn't have time for these things if I was working so I'm glad I'm not. :-)

I didn't knit much today (except at the library and whilst waiting for my PC to boot this evening) but did get more done on the second fingerless glove. I'll finish it on the GO train tomorrow on the way into the city. I'm also going to start the second monkey sock.

Back to School? Not for me!!!

Today is Labour Day and the last long weekend of the summer. All those in educational fields are gearing up to go back to work tomorrow and I'm thrilled that I'm not one of them. Instead, I'm going to visit one of my colleagues who is on maternity leave and her 5 month-old baby. It'll be strange for both of us not to be going to work on the Tuesday after Labour Day so I thought we should enjoy it together.

Today was a lazy day for me. I slept in and had a leisurely breakfast, watched TV and knit. I'm working on the fingerless gloves. I designed them myself. I made a K2, P2 ribbed cuff and continued it on the palm. The back of the glove has two cables that twist towards each other.















The yarn is actually much more purple than the picture shows.

It's a Girl!

Yesterday Skip and I went to the Ukrainian Festival at Harbourfront. We watched Ukrainian dancing, ate south Asian food and Mexican churros. I bought a folder that had 1472 photos of Ukrainian Easter eggs- pysanky. It is in Ukrainian so I'll have to get some translations for some of the things but the different regions of Ukraine are represented by their typical egg patterns (i.e. Hutsul region eggs have a lot of black on them). This is a pysanka from the Hutsul region:

I started the fingerless gloves with the Drops alpaca yarn and stayed up WAY too late knitting but I just couldn't put it down. It feels so nice. I designed a pattern with a K2,P2 ribbed cuff and two cables on the back of the hand and stockinette on the front. I'll improvise the thumb when the time comes. I started it on dpns (Clover bamboo 2.75mm Clover) but switched to Addi Turbos 2.5mm and they seem to be the same diameter - go figure.

Today we went to the Hispanic Fiesta at Mel Lastman Square in North York. We arrived in time to see folkloric shows from Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia and Bolivia. I ate Cuban tamales, an empanada (similar to a Jamaican patty with a doughy crust), a churro (deep-fried star-shaped extruded dough rolled in sugar) and a soursop popsicle. Skip ate the same stuff minus the churro and his popsicle was mango-flavoured. This is what churros look like:

We stopped in at Fred's mother's nursing home to drop off a couple of magazines. She was eating dinner so we didn't stay. She seemed disappointed but we didn't want to wait. We'll go visit her next week sometime.

When we got home, we were surprised to find that Chewy was out of the chrysalis and had its wings completely unfurled.

I had noticed this morning that the chrysalis had turned dark so I knew it was just a matter of hours before it would metamorphose into a butterfly.

We took Chewy outside - still attached to the lid of the 'Bug Bottle' and just watched to see what it would do. It flew a couple of feet to one of the pepper plants, landing near the bottom. It then climbed up to the top of the plant.

After a few minutes, it flew to the other side of the yard landing on a sea holly where it stayed for about 20 minutes. Then it flew off.

When I came back in the house, I checked information on the Internet to see whether it was a male or a female. Males have a characteristic black dot on each wing.
Females do not have the dots and the black veins between orange patches are wider.

Chewy was definitely female - ergo the title of today's post.