Is at: Between Stupid and Clever

Stop by and say "hi"!

I swear I haven't abandoned blogging or knitting for that matter. It's been a whirlwind since getting back from the Bahamas. We've had multiple houseguests & gone up to the lake for a few days.

I attribute my lack of blogging to two things, global warming & blogger sucking.

It was 107 in my car yesterday. Stifling hot I tell you. Heat like that just doesn't lend itself to being very active.

While I can't do anything about the heat I can say this "blogger I am sick of your fickle crap, next time I post it will be to provide a link out of your hell". Even today as I tried to post this it was mocking me! No more I say!!

Isaac & I are plugging away on the layout for my new blog. It may be a couple more days before we have it all "purty".

So to tide you over how about some fantastic pictures of paradise?




We had an amazing time on Grand Bahama Island. The weather was great (about an hour of heavy rain each day- for the rainy season that is fantastic) and temps around 86. The water is clear and warm. You could see forever with snorkeling gear. We kayaked and rented a hobie cat sailboat. Our favorite adventure was snorkeling at deadman's reef where we shared the water with the most beautiful tropical fish, a few barracudas, stingrays and a 10 foot nurse shark. It was unbelievable!! Relaxing, romance & adventure! Perfect I tell you!

You can see the rest of the photos we took here if you are so inclined.

I also knit a lot on Orangina. So much so that my next post might just have two finished objects, the new blog & Orangina!

before I hop on a plane to the Bahamas!!

I wanted to show off my half finished Hanging vines stole:






As well as my prototype for my knit sock kit swap (whew, that's a mouthful) bag:






My partner favors a ziplock so I thought I would make an "upscale ziplock". This version is mine (I wanted to work out all the kinks). The yarn you see in the pouch is for my Orangina. I plan on working on her a bit while on holiday.

I hope you guys all have a great week! I will be peeking in with the wifi connection at our hotel (I mean a girl can't go without her blogging peeps for 6 whole days right?!?!).

I leave you with a gift from our friends over at Williams Street (aka the Cartoon Network for all you non-Atlantians).




This billboard has popped up here in Atlanta as well as Nashville, Birmingham & Brooklyn. It's been getting a lot of talk on blogs all over. There is also one here in town that says "yes." as well as "I pooted". I have pictures of those as well (just not uploaded). The good people at CN really know how to entertain us while stuck in traffic.




This one is just to remind you that you can catch a new episode of my favorite show the venture brothers tonight at 10:30. I love this show so much that I swear I squealed like a little girl when I saw this billboard last week.

So knit, watch the show and enjoy the toe picker billboard folks!

That is exactly how I feel about blogger right now. I wrote a really long involved post last night & blogger ate it. Am I angry enough to jump ship to my own site yet?

I am seriously contemplating it!

So on to our regularly scheduled post!

This is my wind down week before 3 weeks of vacation. I'm working very little, mainly taking Liz to the mall or the pool and trying to get her really excited for her week at sleep away camp. One of the things I find most common in children with developmental disabilities is they are creatures of habit & schedule. Elizabeth loves order and a schedule so going to camp for a week is a scary & exciting thing for her. I know she will love it when she gets there but it's just a lot to convince her not to be so nervous about it.

I've been taking a lot of pictures this week too. My flickr account is bursting with pictures of a Japanese potty training book that we found at a thrift store. A new set of photos from the cadets show at the pit. Photos of our taste test of a Jack's "Rock n' Roll" cookie. It tasted a bit like figgy ginger bread. Weird I know. I guess that's what you get for buy a $.39 cookie at a truck stop in Cordele GA because of it's "rock n' roll" claim.

My Saturday Market bag is complete!



Kym was right this is a fun, easy, fast (about 4 hours) and cheap (1.5 skeins of sugar & cream) knit. It's perfect to hold some sunscreen, a hat, books and any other miscellany that we may need at the beach next week.

I'm also officially halfway though my hanging vines stole with only 17 more repeats to go. Now that we finally have a sunny day I'm hoping to get a progress picture. The next challenge for the amazing lace is poetry. Bryony wrote a great haiku for hers. I've been toying with the idea of a limerick. I'll try and work on it a bit today.

I've also picked out a pattern for my sock kit swap bag as well as the yarn. Now I just need to choose a pattern to send her with the yarn. Jaywalkers are an obvious choice & believe it or not she hasn't made them. Any ideas on a good pattern for self-striping sock yarn that I can send her?

I had a great weekend in Jax with my folks. I spent Saturday out with my Mom. She just found the most adorable kitten in her yard on Saturday morning. He was so tiny and helpless and adorable. It took all my restraint to say no when she asked me if I wanted to keep him. Max just wouldn't want to share!!

Yesterday was spent on the boat with my dad, stepmom, my sister & two of her friends. It was a great day of touring the city, too much beer, fried food & BAD "funk" music at Whitey's fishcamp and a ton of merriment in the rain on the way home.

All in all a perfect trip home!

Now for my sock pal kit who may be eagerly awaiting my answers, here they are:

What are your favorite colors? Red, Blue & green in all their variations.

Are you a new sock knitter? Semi

How long have you been knitting socks? Since December of last year, 4 & 1/2 pairs to date

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn? I like both

What fibers do you prefer in sock yarn? Wool or wool superwash

Where do you usually knit socks? Where don't I knit socks? At home, on trips, lunch break, waiting in line... you get the picture.

How do you usually carry/store small projects? In my purse with all my other stuff

What are your favorite sock knitting patterns? Any of Anna's patterns

What are your favorite sock knitting techniques? I love knitting toe up on two circ's & using the turkish cast on

What new techniques would you like to try? Maybe some new cast on's for toe up.

Do you prefer circulars or dpns for sock knitting? Circulars! All the way!

What are some of your favorite yarns? For socks I love Nature's Palette sock, brooklyn handspun & sunshine yarns sock

What yarn do you totally covet? Anything buttery soft & lovely to touch

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object? Not off the top of my head

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)? I love my denise set but for sock knitting I use addi turbos

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be? Brand?? I just don't have an answer for that one

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack? I love dark, bittersweet chocolate

What’s your favorite animal? Owls, finches, Elephants

Do you have pets? What are their species/names/ages? One cat named Max who is 5 and like a child to us a spoiled lazy cat child!

If you were a color what color would you be? Red, bright, bold red

Describe your favorite shirt (yours or someone else’s).. I love all my super comfy American Apparel shirts. My favorite printed shirts are from threadless.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature? sunrise in the mountains

Tell me the best quote you’ve ever heard or read.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others. - Audrey Hepburn

Do you have a wishlist? Nope

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today? Nope

next to yarn?



This lovely little package is thanks to Angela. It really brightened up my day! Thanks Angela!! If you stop by her blog scroll down & check out a couple of amazing pairs of socks, a breath taking carpetbag & congratulate her on getting into this. I'm sure that last bit was a piece of cake!!

I've also succumb to a new project. It is at least keeping with the theme of the "Summer of Lace".

It's all Kym's fault. She posted a really fantastic Saturday market bag yesterday. It struck me that it is the exact type of beach bag I have been looking for a pattern for. Well not really so much looking but thinking about looking for. It will be just what I need for the summer. Luckily it's a fast knit (according to Kym just a couple of nights) AND is done beautifully in sugar & cream. I love that it's cheap & durable!! Not to worry folks I am still firmly in love with my hanging vines stole. I even bought the sugar & cream but couldn't cast on last night b/c I was too deeply rooted in the "zone" with the stole.

I figure it will be a good project for traveling this weekend! I *think* I can leave the stole at home for a couple of days.

I also signed up for the Knit sock kit swap & will be answering that questionnaire for my partner as soon as I get back from spending Father's day with my Dad in Jax.

Wish me luck letting the stole sit idle for a while! I guess this will be a true test of my willpower!

When the folks over at the amazing lace asked us to be bold, nay brazen in our knitting escapades I was uncertain.

In my experience lace knitting in and of itself is "extreme". The yarnover's, chart reading, general attention that needs to be payed.

As a matter of fact I must admit to a little flutter of joy when I reach the end of a row and all my stitches have matched up perfectly. That little flutter is generally all the excitement I need.

I surprised myself with my willingness to go "extreme" as it were. It all started so innocently. I took my stole with me to take part in world wide knit in public day on Saturday. We ended up at our favorite little veggie burger joint. I knit while I was waiting for our food and I heard something calling to me. A melodic sound of chirps and whistles.

There it was in all it's perfection. The most extreme way I could possibly think of to knit lace...

Driving along at 200mps per hour, throwing caution to the wind, steering with my knees, all while knitting lace!



I know, I know, crazy you say! Insane even! It was all worth it though. The smashing of other drivers cars, cutting full across the track with no regard for the safety of myself or others all for the sake of the lace.

Of course it was probably also the lowest score/shortest race that game has ever seen. I did manage to finish a few rows between the burgers & the race.



This picture is from set 6 of the repeats. Now I'm done with 9, only 25 more to go!!

I'm really enjoying this pattern so much. It was challenging at first but after a few (well....6) false starts it comes so naturally. I feel like I'm "in the zone" where ever "the zone" maybe.



Once you get the feel for the pattern it's like magic. It all comes together so easily the placement of the YO's and k3tog's. It's picture perfect I tell ya!

I feel like I need to slow down & savor every second of the knit. I just don't want it to be over too soon.

With all that love I have a suspicious feeling that I will be gifting some of these this Christmas just so I can knit the pattern up again!

I'm sure no one would mind getting this as a gift!!