Finished Things

A couple of finished things that have come out of not working lately:

1) Submissions to Stampers Sampler:

The first is for the turquoise challenge. I pulled a color combo from an Amy Butler print that was in some magazine. Turquoise, grey and peach. Her print was pretty mod, but I like the results I got from my paper choices. Love the embossing powder, but the black detail is hard to do cleanly.

and the second is for the Floral Fourth of July Challenge: Not so fond of this one. I think it meets the challenge, but I think the colors are just too... just too much I think. I tried to go beyond the basic flower box and flags and come up with something different, but we'll see.
And, they might not have gotten there in time. Such is the snail mail.

2) Some things off the needles:


The first thing is a stole that I've been working on for more than a year now. I used to drop stitches every time I picked it up and I just couldn't get into the rhythm of the thing. But lately, it's been in the car - ready for me to knit on any time I have some free time between appointments. It's made of Alpaca and is super soft. I did a very soft block on it, just to spread the yarn overs, and it ended up being about 6 feet long and about 18 inches wide. I'm so glad that it's done now.

The second thing is my first pair of socks. They are ankle socks, done in a worsted weight super wash wool turquoise yarn. I bought the yarn to take my sock class, where we did a very tiny sock, but learned the basics. So, to be sure that I knew how to adapt them, I did a sock for my foot. Once I was done with the first, the hubster said it wasn't done - where is my second? I guess I'll never have a case of second sock syndrome. I didn't think I had enough of the turquoise yarn left over to make the second sock, so I grabbed a remnant of mystery acrylic to stretch the wool. The stripes actually made the second sock seem like it was moving faster - I could see progress as I went along.




So that's some of the fun things. I'm trying to work on getting some of the house taken care of along the way.

Day 003: A defining word...

I've been reading around blog land on this idea of choosing a word to "define" your year. Something that can be used as a sort of guideline to determine your actions perhaps, or to ruminate upon, or something to give you pause to think. I first thought that I would choose the word "finish" as there are so many projects that I do actually need to finish this year, projects that have been left half-baked for two or more years even. However, I think that a better defining word will be "continue". I want to continue to do the things that I have started in the past year, continue them in spite of the interruption, and continue them to completion. Whether that be the sweater I still really want to work on, or the guest suite remodel, or the weight loss journey that I have started. All of these things are in progress at the moment. I want to continue to work on them, enjoying the process and enjoying the final results. Continue, as you have begun.

On another note: Cards have been started, and are ready for mailing... I just need to get the last letter finished and on the way. I'll post the pictures of them over the next couple of days.

Day Eleven (or Playing Cards)

I love to play cards. I've been playing cards for most of my life. I still remember being just out of middle school, sitting down with a bunch of young airmen at a picnic and playing poker. I remember long nights of cribbage trying to get used to the new time zone half a world away. I remember sitting in for one of my parents when they were playing pinochle. I've played cards for as long as I can remember. Old Maid, War, Crazy Eights, Egyptian Rat Race, Spoons, Canasta, Sets & Runs, Solitaire.

Last night I went to Bay 101 and played some 6-12 limit Texas Hold 'em. Just because I haven't played cards in about a month, well since Vegas which was a disaster of a trip when it comes to cards. But last night, we got seated about 8:30 and left around 10:00. The table was not real wild, altho there were a couple of people playing every single hand. For some reason, I was able to win most of my pots with either top pair, or bottom two pair, or even the occasional full house. I never flushed, or even filled in a straight. Got beat a couple of times when someone had a good hand, but I didn't bet when I didn't have the winner. And yet I walked away doubled up plus. I like hit and runs like that. I don't play well over long periods of time. If I win early, I should know to get my ass out of the chair, take the money and run.