All Caught Up

 Miss Bah Humbug (me) had an absolute blast on the boardwalk with all the other geeks during the eclipse yesterday. I didn't have any glasses when I first got down there but there were plenty of nice people who were willing to share so I could get a peek.

There was a crowd. You can tell what side the sun was on. I thought the pier might tip over.

 We had some cloud cover but it only added to the excitement.

 The wind was really whipping the waves up. The beach crowd was loving it.

 The Mister found a lady who had glasses to spare so we had our own by the time things got good. We tailgated under a shady tree to pass the time.

 As the moon made its way across the sun the world turned gray.

It got a little spooky. It made me think of this scene from Independence Day and we all know what came next. Was there going to be lizardmen or a global apocalypse? Yikes.

 The sun ducked behind some rain clouds just at the moment we had all been waiting for. We got sprinkled on.

 When it emerged it was met with oohs and aahs. It was a pretty sight.

 The kids on the boardwalk were fascinated by the patterns it was making through the trees.

 Pup was loving the fact that she could walk on the pavement without burning her little feet. It didn't get really dark here but it got much cooler during the moon cover. The Mister and I had to laugh at how many people warned us not to let the pups look at the sun. As if.

Back at home I had a surprise waiting for me. Thanks to Cindy of Delighted Hands I've got some goodies that will always remind me of this fun day. A sunflower dishcloth? What could be more perfect. The watercolor card is frame worthy, and that shoe kit...you can't get more fabulous than that. I'll have to hide that skate bag from Daughter. Just wait until she sees that. Thanks, Cindy. I love it all.  And a great big thanks to Kathy B who arranged the swap!

In the Dark

 Somehow I didn't get caught up on all the hubbub about the eclipse.

I didn't order any glasses so I guess I won't be seeing the partial thing we are expecting at about 2 pm. We just may head down to the beach to bask in the shade-as if we don't have enough of that around here everyday anyway. We really haven't seen much of the sun since the leaves filled in.

Long before the internet made it easy to get the glasses, I remember doing this. I wasn't very impressed by this as a kid so I probably won't be any more impressed as a grown up. The next one isn't until 2024. Maybe then I'll be more excited about it. Maybe not.

When Knitting Attacks

 Whenever you see a pile of yarn next to a lace project it's never good.

 I was knitting along minding my own business when I turned my work and about two weeks worth of progress fell off the needles. No problem, I thought. I just found my way to a good starting place and went on.

 Except a few days later I looked at where I came from and noticed-it looked awful. First I must have started on the wrong row. The lace was off. Then the stitches where I attached the border were so stretched out they had left holes. Tink. tink, tink. I started again and this time I used another thread to attach the border. Then I put it in time out for a while. Naughty old thing.

 That wasn't all. I made this baby hat for the Purple Hat Project from one of their patterns but it wouldn't fit a grapefruit. Too small and too awful. That yarn is horrible to work with and horrible to look at. Ugh.

 I didn't give up. I started again with different yarn but this time I think it's going to be too big. Goodness. This is not going well either.

 Next in my long line of failures this week is my Tracery vest. I've been happily knitting along not realizing that all those arm and neck decreases were making my vest disappear faster than I think it should have.

 Not counting the steeks, there is not much left on the back on on the fronts and still a long way to go to get the right length. I am not sure where this is going or how I'm going to fix it. It's in time out too.

Except for socks the only other thing I have on the needles is this giant blanket and it's too hot for all that yarn in my lap. This just hasn't been my week for the sticks and the string. I need cooler weather or a cooler head.

Three

 Three. That's how many sheep samplers I have going. How did that happen?

 The newest one will be the Sheep Virtues. You have to buy each little sampler separately and then put them all together.

Like this.  I've got the middle four to get started.

 They were going to be a part of a larger piece that had this project in its center but I got tired of working with such a big piece of fabric and decided to let the little guys go their own way.

Finally I've got this fairly simple one going that I have to say, I am enjoying working on the most. This time of year, when it's so hot and muggy that grouchy is the only gear I have, simple is best. Baaaaa....

Thursday with Daddio

 This was not a good knitting day. No matter what I tried to do I ended up mucking it up. First it was the lace edging on the shawl. That was a nightmare that I will spare you photographs of. You can use your imagination. It wasn't pretty.

At the nursing home, I managed to pull the needles out of the sock I was working on. Live stitches were everywhere. It was a sign. This wasn't my day to knit. There was more but I can't go there right now. Later. When I can deal with it. Jeesh. The knitting gods have not been on my side lately.

Daddio's got the right idea. When you can't knit, read about it. Pass me the Knit Picks catalogue, please.

Put a Ring on It

That's the box of materials for the new epic paper piecing project. I can't open it though until the wedding ring quilt is done.

 I thought I was finished making the rings but I miscounted. I needed two more-I thought.

 It was slow going after a while because I sewed a hole in my finger. I couldn't find my fancy little sticky pads but I discovered that electrical tape works just as well. Maybe better.

 Sewing the big pile of snaky rings together was interesting. It was a bit like wrestling an octopus.

 But once I got going it was a quick sew.

 I miscounted-again. I had one poor little ring leftover. It made me sad but not sad enough to add another row.

It ended up being bigger than I had planned. It's now three rings by four rings because....well, because of math. Now I am off to figure out what to use for a backing. I need a big piece of something. It will probably be plain old muslin. I looked at the prices of extra wide material and I'm not going there.

Keeping It Simple

Daughter's birthday towels are finally done but not without lots of drama. In spite of my climbing under the loom every few inches I still had some boo boos on the back side of the waffle weaves.

For the towels I have on the loom now I added an extra layer of insurance. I am taking the flashlight with me and giving it a real looking over along with running my hand over it to try and catch any mis-woven areas.

 It helps that this is a very easy twill. I am not juggling so many things that I can't remember to check as I go. I should have started with this kit long ago. It's simple.....

...and fast. It took only two sittings to have these done and ready to finish. That's my kind of pattern.