Knit or Knot » 2008

Archive for July, 2008

Knitting Olympics

July 27th, 2008

I have decided to participate in the 2008 Ravelympics, an event for knitters that is concurrent with the 2008 Olympics. The challenge is to start and finish a project during the Olympic Games. I have entered the Laceweight Long Jump, and have already picked my project and my yarn. I am eager to begin the challenge!

Attention Knitters: I am eager to know if you are participating! If you are, what team/event(s) are you going to sign up for? What project(s) are you planning to knit? If not participating, why not?

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Forget about the Ides of March

July 19th, 2008

Beware, instead, of the 19th of July. Last year on July 19th, a storm knocked out our power during a downpour on a hot summer day. The previous July 19th, a strong summer storm rendered us powerless for an entire week in 100+ degree heat. This year, rather than storms, floods, and power outages, we instead lost our water. Our entire town of more than 35,000 people lost water. According to the local news, the main pipe to the water tower burst around lunch time today. No word how long we will be without water. Aargh. It’s hot. We sweat glisten. I like showers.

Update (Sunday morning): We now have water, just not much. It is brown. Ugh. Can one really get clean in a brown water shower? Eeeewwww. To shower, or not to shower, that is the question.

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Red Hot

July 18th, 2008

Hello and happy Friday! It has been a wild and crazy week here at Casa de Benjamin and Heather. In preparation for the arrival of our new furniture, I have been doing some very late spring cleaning…or maybe it is early fall cleaning. We needed to shift furniture around in other rooms so that the chairs from the living room could be relocated. We talked about donating our old couch, but I was so busy with work that I forgot to call and arrange for it. Last night the guys carried it out to the curb and I put a “free sofa” sign on it. (We figured if it did not disappear by noon, then I could call the charity.) This morning a woman came by asking about it. She knew someone who was struggling financially and could really use the couch. She asked me if I would hold it for until this afternoon when she could get a truck. I said sure, and she was so excited she hugged me. Poor woman; I was still in my pajamas because I was doing some last minute floor cleaning before I showered. Who knew so much dust could build up under furniture?

So…our new furniture was finally delivered today and it is VERY RED. I love it! Here are a couple of early pictures. I still have to put the area rug back out and accessorize. And remove the tags (but I wanted to wait until my hubby got home and saw the furniture before doing this).

Wow…I just realized how cluttered the top of the entertainment center looks. I guess it is time for some reorganizing up there. It is above my eye level, so I often miss things up there. It has become the perfect place for my husband to hide a remote control or DVD from me. Maybe if I can ever get the glass shelves for the sides of the cabinet, then I can move some of the clutter! Hmmm…always more projects.

This week also brought news that I actually won something. I can count on two fingers the number of times that I have won things. One of my sisters used to win things all the time. She was the one who also found money everywhere…on the street corner, in the pay phone…. Anyway, I won a yard of fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew in last week’s Free Fabric Friday giveaway. I chose one of Anna Maria Horner’s Garden Party prints - centerpiece in turquoise:

If you love gorgeous fabrics, you must stop by Old Red Barn Co. and check out the Ginger Blossom quilt they are giving away! I think this would be the perfect quilt to compliment my new sofa. Gorgeous!

I also want to apologize for the blog malfunction that occurred yesterday. My husband applied some bandaids, but my template was lost. He was able to restore most of my content. There will be changes coming in the future (hopefully) as I search for a new template. I am completely blog design ignorant, so I must rely on the design genius of others. I have yet to find a template I really like. (Except those on other people’s blogs, of course!) Oh…and the yarn pictured at the top? Another fabulous yarn from the lovely Yarn Chef. Her yarns are good enough to eat! The particular one shown is Creme Brulee (50% merino wool/50% tussah silk) in Polished Sapphires. It is destined to become a Lyra shawl.

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Blog maintenance

July 17th, 2008

Knit or knot is currently undergoing maintenance. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Update: The blog should be functional again. I apologize for the appearance, but I was forced to upgrade to the new version of Wordpress and the old themes no longer work. Heather will get to have some fun finding a new theme.

-Benjamin

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Summer Knitting

July 15th, 2008

I enjoy knitting lace in the summer. When our midwestern temperatures climb and the humidity becomes unbearable, air conditioners blast frigid air to combat the heat. I find that lace shawls work very well for warding off the chill of overeager air conditioning in church, a restaurant, or the movie theater. I usually carry one in my handbag, ready for the chill. Over the weekend, my Laminaria shawl made an appearance at the movie theater, while during a previous weekend my Spring Things shawl made an appearance at church.

The Spring Things shawl was a very easy knit. It took me only two weeks to actually knit, but it was on my needles for three because I had to wait for the beads to arrive. And the beads…I love the beads. I love this color yellow, but I really do not wear it very well. Beads were the perfect solution! I did make modifications with regard to needle size and pattern repeats, which are detailed on Ravelry, along with more pictures.

I enjoyed this project so much that I immediately cast on for another.