Bridal Shawl Pattern, Part VII

Hello, Everyone,

It's a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon in San Diego, a bit breezy and cool, but just lovely.  I have a cold today, so I'm drinking tea and resting and trying to shake it off.  Listening to Bream peacefully play Isaac Albaniz (Classical guitar).  Dan made lunch for me, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  All gooey with melted sharp cheddar cheese running out everywhere.  You know,  he does a great job when he cooks.  The official myth is that he can't cook, but don't you believe it.  When I'm under the weather, he comes up with some great stuff. 

Well, it's time to finish the Bridal Shawl pattern.   Now that you have it all blocked out and can see just how wide the corner lace turned out to be,  it's time to address the slits at the corners.   I used the tails I had left dangling to gently stitch them up.  Don't pull it tight, just gently float the stitches in there and hide the ends.   The stitching needs to have the same elasticity as the shawl.   Yes, I could have done the edging all in one piece and there would not have been any stitching required, but it would have been rather unwieldy with 1200+ stitches in the edging rows.   This method is rather easier to handle, but does require 2 tiny little seams at the corners, which probably strengthens the shawl where the bead tassels attach anyway. 

Then I stitched the bead "tassels"  firmly onto the corners,  make this stitching good and strong.   The 3 strands of beads for each corner Heather had prepared in advance, so they just needed to be stitched on.   The beads will pull on the corners, so several stitches through each, please.

I'm searching on my hard drive for the photo of the shawl tassels in place.  Kodak uses this really evil hyper-aggressive software when it develops your pics and when you upload them, it puts the photos where IT wants them, not where I can find them.  It is so hyper-aggressive it acts like a malware program.  I may have to add the pics in when I find them.  Phooey on Kodak!

Found it! here it is...

Then all the ends were worked in, which was not many as I tend to arrange the order of work so that I do not generate so many ends.  All done!  Wear it and look fabulous!

Lilo caught a gopher in the yard last night and brought it into the living room.  She was playing with it and "lost" it as it crawled away from her behind something.  Big sigh.  This afternoon, I need to tear the place apart and find the (by now) dead gopher.  Lilo is a newbie, just getting the hang of hunting, and is not clear on what to do after she catches them.  BTW, a live gopher bites with big long nasty orange digging teeth, so I have learned to use the long BBQ tongs to pick them up when I find them.

See ya,
Julie

wet blocking a big shawl, Bridal shawl part VI

Hello, Everyone,

Tonight is a nice, calm Thursday night after a very windy day.  Unusual for San Diego. I feel fine, listening to Julian Bream's classical guitar.

I was out of town for a few days, but I'm home now.   A friend came into town and wanted to see Palm Springs, so he said he'd pay expenses if Dan and I drove him.  So I had a nice little mini-vacation in the desert.  The desert is lovely right now, not too hot yet. This time of year it is usually already hot, but not this year.  Since people schedule vacations bassed on the usual weather, the town was empty, even though it was nice and cool.  Kind of Twilight Zoney.

On the way there we went over the "Palms to Pines" road, the one everyone remembers from the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World".  We had a great meal at Agua Caliente casino, biggest, fattest shrimp I've seen in a long time.

Then we had a great breakfast at Elmer's.  The homemade biscuits are great. The classic Dutch Baby combo was amazing.  http://www.elmers-restaurants.com/images/menu/ELCoreMenuBrkfstSB.pdf

Date ice cream at Shields is a must do for us, too.
We stopped in the Red Earth Casino just for a break by the Salton Sea.

On the way back we went over Borrego Springs, then up the Banner grade to Julian.  More intense switchbacks.

Desert to pine forest in a brief drive.

Julian was cold, 36 degrees.  We had a great dinner at the Rong Branch Cafe.  The chicken livers appetizer was fun, Dan liked his trout and I enjoyed a pulled pork bun with Bumsteer BBQ Sauce (they sell it there, too).    Very good.  The homemade Apple pie was great, of course.

Enough about our mini-vacation.   Now, let's talk about wet blocking.    This shawl needs to be wet blocked.

We washed it and put some conditioner in to the rinse water and let it soak at least 20 minutes to make sure that the water had penetrated to the very core of the thread.  We had tea and talked and in no time it was ready.  We lifted it out of the water and let it drain.  Then we rolled it up in a towel to remove excess water.  We zipped it into a 1 gallon Zippy bag for transport. 

Then we went to a park where they had a 10-foot table big enough to stretch the shawl out (it turned out 8 feet long after blocking).  We laid a sheet on the table to keep everything clean and stretched it out until it looked like lace.  Then we pinned the center top, and then the bottom center.  Then we worked out way out to the ends of the "wings" pinning each point out with a rust-less safety pin.  This yarn is so fine that the dry time is next to nothing.  We left in the fresh breeze to dry in no time at all. 

When it was absolutely 100% dry we folded it up in the sheet and took it to Heathers, where we unpinned it stretched on the back of her sofa.   No joke on the 100% dry part.   If you unpin them too soon, the blocking doesn't hold and they collapse into their unblocked state again.   Ask me how I know....  Well, I got it right this time.

Heather unpinning.

Ta-da, all unpinned.   Lily of the Vally branches waving back and forth.   Hearts in the edging.   Points with beads.

Next time we will talk about the final stitching of the corners.

Lilo is helping me post again tonight. She is strutting back and forth rubbing against my legs and wants to be sure I tell you how beautiful and silky soft and white she is.  OK, Lilo, I told 'em.

Goodnite,
Julie and Lilo

costs and skill levels for a bridal shawl

Hi, Everyone,

It's a cool Sunday night in San Diego. I'm happy and listening to Julian Bream play classical guitar.

My friend Kai came to town and we went to dinner at Fat City since I had a 2-fer coupon.  The food was good as usual there.  I had the pork chop.  I do not know how they get them so juicy.  The server was nice.  The salad was crispy, the dressing home-made.  The sour dough rolls with unsalted butter were good, too.  Fresh (not frozen) veggies.  Fat City really does try.  Kai had the New York steak, which they do well.  They have an ageing locker like Emeril does in Las Vegas.  Their beef is always yummy.  Good value, too. 

Afterwards we went for dessert at the Bali Hai, which sticks out into San Diego Bay on the must beautiful point.    It has been recently renovated and the Hawaiian woodwork is really beautiful now.  The night view of the city lights and ships and harbor action is to die for.  As we were leaving you could see the first wisps of night time fog drifting across the bay.  Lovely peaceful view.

I had the Rum Baba, which was very good.  Dan and Kai had the Chocolate  Lava cake.  Wow! was that spectacular!   I'm gettin' that next time.  The Hawaiian music was fun.   Gotta check 'm out when you get the chance.  They even renovated the doof on the roof.   What's that you ask?    Look up as you approach the building. 

Ruth wrote me asking about the skill level and costs to make the bridal shawl.  Thank you for the compliments, Ruth.  The yarn for the shawl cost $16.00.  My sister Evva gave it to me, but I just googled "skacel merino lace" and found it for that price.   One 100 g ball of Skacel Merino Lace and you will have enough left over for a nice scarf.   Considering the spectacular result I do not think that is expensive.   Just be sure you get the yarn shop to wind the hank into a center pull ball for you.  1375 yards is not a hand winding job for the faint-hearted.  Add a few beads if you so desire, or leave them off.   My sister Heather bought the beads so I do not know exactly what they cost, but I think not too much, they came from Michael's, not Jessop's.    EZ wrote in Knitter's Almanac that the finer the yarn the more cost effective it is.  She was right.  The yarn for an ugly chunky bulky sweater might cost $300, but the superfine lace weight for an unbelievable art shawl is $16. Hmmm,  I think I knit lace to save money.  What do you think?  Especially if you figure dollars divided by hours of entertainment, pennies for an hour of lace knitting fun.

Skill level?  Well, give it a try, maybe on a smaller scale.  If you cast on about 90 stitches and otherwise followed my pattern, you would get a triangular scarf.  Maybe that would be more reasonable for a new lace knitter to try.   Lace is just yarn overs and knit-2-togethers, arranged in a pattern.  Oh, yeah, plus nupps for this one. If you omit the nupps and just plain knit the nupp stitch instead, it also makes a pretty lace pattern, and is not so challenging.  

This fine lace means that the needles seem 'way too big at first for the yarn, but that is what it takes to do this, so just try and get used to it.  You will think it is working up way too loosey-goosey, but then when you block it out, wow, it all pulls into place.  All of a sudden you are looking at lace so beautiful it amazes even you!  So trust me on the needle size for the first one.  The yarn shop that sold me the needle told me I needed a much smaller needle for this project, so, I can tell they must not be lace knitters...

While this is not a beginner's pattern, it is also not over-the-moon hard.   Why don't you try it, Ruth?   If you get stuck, you can email me for help.  I should warn you right now that lace knitting is like eating potato chips,  you probably can't do just one...

Next post we will return to the next installment of the pattern, the edge points. 

Lilo is helping me blog, curled up on top of my blue Norwegian knit slippers..

Goodnight,
Julie and Lilo

Bridal Shawl Pattern, Part III

Hello, Everyone,

It's a nice Saturday night at home in San Diego.  I'm listening to flamenco: Nicholas Marks, My Broken Heart.  I feel tranquil. 

We had a errand in North Park, so we had dinner at Rudford's again.

I had the Hawaiian Omlette and Dan had the taco salad with a chicken substitution.

We were both happy.

Now to the important stuff, the bridal shawl, ta-da....

 Shannon's Bridal Shawl, Part III

Now we are ready to work back and forth again on the edging, beginning on the straight side.

Lace Heart Edging:   The heart edging is a slightly wider spaced variation on Evelyn Clark's edging on the Swallowtail Shawl.

First you will need to count stitches on the straight edge.   The heart edging is mitered at the corners, so expect the stitch count to increase as we go.

The heart pattern is a multiple of 10+5 (plus 8 edging stitches) in the first row.  If you have a few stitches over an even repeat, you can spread them out and make them disappear.   Working with this many stitches there is slim chance you will come out exactly even anyway, so I have built the fudge factor into the process.  Decide how many stitches you need to make disappear to have an even multiple of 10+7 (plus 2 garter edging stitches on each side).  For example, if you have 281, you are even.  If you have 283, you need to make 2 disappear.  Got it?  However many stitches you need to fudge away, that's how many safety pins you attach to your work, roughly evenly spaced.  With these large numbers of stitches, approximately evenly spaced is OK.  As the  VP of Quality at my last job told me when the product was blowing up and catching fire in the field, "anything under 2% is OK".  LOL, my fav quality joke, and he actually said that.  Anyway, back to the shawl, as you work the first edging row (the fudge row) you will k2tog and remove the marker whenever you come to one of these marker safety pins and by the end of the row you will be even on the stitch count.  The number you need to remove will be less than 10 or you are doing the math wrong.   

I have written up the patter properly and now offer it on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search?query=Julie+Lanner

Tomorrow we will work the points.

Lilo is "helping" me blog tonight.  She appears to be sleeping at my feet, but from time to time she reaches over to swat at my toes, just to see if  I will notice.  HA.  Silly kitty.

Goodnight,
Lilo and Julie

Bridal Shawl pattern, Part II

Hello, Everyone,

Today was a cool and sunny Friday. I'm at home in San Diego listening to Lena Horne's greatest hits.   It's late now, and I'm tired, so I'll just add a bit to the Bridal Shawl pattern

 Now we are going to decrease 2 stitches at the beginning and end of each right side row. Continue like this until about 48 or so stitches remain.  Try to end at the end of a repeat.   If you like a pointier bottom edge, continue to a smaller number.  48 will give you a rounded bottom edge for a semi-circle effect.  Next we do 8 rows in garter stitch. The center section is done. Do not bind off, as you be using these stitches for the lace edging.

Transition rows:  Pick up along the garter edge 1 stitch per row (1 in the "bee's knees" and one in the "Valley") then make 1 stitch with a backwards loop.  You are picking up 3 stitches for every 2 rows.  Continue until you reach the safety pin.

Now pick up along the garter edge 1 stitch per row (1 in the "bee's knees" and one in the "Valley").  You are picking up 2 stitches for every 2 rows.

When you come to the top edge, place a marker and begin picking up 1 stitch for each cast on stitch, adding in about 20 extra stitches for ease.

At the end of the straight edge, place a marker and pick up 2 stitches for every 2 rows as above until the safety pin.  After the safety pin, pick up 3 stitches for every 2 rows as above.

Work 4 rows garter stitch in the round (knit 1 round, purl 1 round).  Work 2 rows stockinette stitch in the round (knit both rows).

I wrote up the complete pattern nicely and it is available on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search?query=Julie+Lanner

Tomorrow we will talk about the lace edge.

Lilo is napping by my side.

G'nite,
Julie

Bridal Shawl pattern, Part I

Hi, Everyone,

It's a cool Thursday evening in San Diego, too cool for spring, and I'm at home keeping warm, drinking herbal tea and waiting for my potatoes au gratin to come out of the oven.  Rossini's clarinet variations are playing on XLNC.com.  I went swimming with Heather today so I got a chance to move all my joints and I feel good.  I'm knitting on a pair of socks for Heather.  Dan says I have a sign on my forehead that reads, "Will knit for food", LOL.  You guys know me by now that I'm always knitting something, unless of course, I'm crocheting or blogging.

Ok, now that all the excitement over the shawl has stepped down a notch to a low roar, I need to write up the pattern for the bridal shawl so you can all knit one!  Needles to the ready position, get set, GO!

Shannon's Bridal Shawl

This shawl is a semi-circle of Lily of the Valley lace with an edging of hearts and simple points.    When knitting the center portion, the edges have a 4 stitch (8 row) garter edging.     The "extra" first and last K2tog are for the shaping of the shawl.    Every right side row will decrease by 2 until row 148, then each right side row will decrease by 4 until about 48 stitches remain.    The ending border is knit 8 rows garter.    The outer pointed edge is picked up from the garter edges and knit outward in 2 sections, the straight edge first and then the curved edge.   The corners are mitered.   The bind off uses a doubled thread for strength during blocking.    Beads are attached to the points during the bind off row.    The shawl is wet blocked severely.    After blocking and then stitching the corner seams first, bead tassels are added to the 2 end points.   The weight of the beads holds the feathery lace down in position when worn.    Otherwise it floats about in the air as it pleases, as the shawl weighs next to nothing.  I drew the finished shawl, beads and all, through my wedding ring, the traditional test of fineness in a wedding shawl.

Materials:

1 ball white 100 % wool very fine lace weight, I used Skacel's Merino Lace, 100 g, 1375 yards (!).   If you decide to use non-wool, make sure it will block out nicely, swatching is your very best friend.   Some synthetics do not block out.

1  40 inch size 4 circular needle, I used an Addi Turbo Lace, sharp points a must for nupps!  Crystal Palace also has very long sharp points.

about 25 markers, I used safety pins without coils

beads as desired to decorate the points of the lace

large eyed needle to sew the little corner seams and attach the tassels 

The circular needle is to accommodate the large number of stitches, we will be knitting flat, back and forth.

Size: 8 feet long and 32 inches wide at the widest point.

Gauge: 4 stitches to the inch after blocking.  Making a small swatch of the pattern stitch and then wet blocking it is a good idea. You will be able to practice a few nupps before beginning the actual shawl and you can adjust needle size if needed to produce the right size shawl. 

I finished writing up the pattern in a more proper form and now offer it on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search?query=Julie+Lanner

Let's talk about the next part tomorrow.  This is making me tired.  Even Lilo is yawning.  She approves of pure white bridal lace shawls, BTW, being a specialist in the area of pure, white lovely-ness herself.

This blog editor is running amuck, putting things from the end of the sentences to the beginning of the line without me asking.   Wacky time.   Ok, all fixed, sigh, time to turn in.

G'nite

Julie

    

More bridal shawl, Ichiban

Hi, Everyone,

It's a windy, cold, rainy Wednesday night in San Diego.  I feel good, although tired.  I'm listening to a Violin Concerto by Vivaldi on Xlnc1.com.  ITZHAK PERLMAN, VIOLIN & CONDUCTOR.  You can tell I copied so I would not have to think about how to spell his name, LOL. 

Heather sent me some more pics from her camera of the bridal shawl.  Her camera is better than mine, so you will be able to see details better.

The process of blocking begins with a wash in shampoo, a rinse with plenty of  conditioner and a 20 minute soak.  The conditioner helps the shawl slip on itself and block out bigger.  Here we are soaking.

We went to the San Diegito Lower Park, or something like that.  It has nice 10 foot tables that are metal mesh which lets the breeze through, the better to dry the shawl with, my dear.  One pin for each point..... 

Pinning away...

All pinned out.

After the shawl was dry, we unpinned it and spread it out on the sofa back to see it.

This shows the plum beaded dangles on the tip of each shawl point.

I love this shot, you can see the lily of the valley nupps and the beaded dangles.

Heather playing in the shawl.  Heather sez the bride, Shannon saw this blog and loves the shawl.  Yeah!

Now I need to change the subject.  Dan and I had an errand in Hillcrest yesterday  and we stopped for lunch at Ichiban (1449 University Ave, SD 92103).  The sushi was very good.  We had spicy California roll because it was the special of the day.  And eel roll because we love eel. And a salad to be good and 3 piece seafood fry to be bad.  It was all great.  While we were there, the waitress, Michiyo, who is a friend of mine, asked me if we planned on entering the Sushi Eating Contest on May 16.  This sounds like too much fun!!!  Check it out, $15 to enter.  You get mass quantities of Sushi and a chance at the three prizes: $290, $150 and $80 in Ichiban credit.  Hmmmmmm.. Sounds like a great idea to me!  Need to sign up by the 14th.

Lilo is sitting by me, wishing the rain would let up.  It rained off and on all day.

Well, good night, Everyone!

Julie

Bridal shawl is cast off

Hi, Everyone,

I'm so excited!!!  I just cast off the bridal shawl!!!  I'm off to find a place with good light to get a pic and I'll finish this post when I have lots of pics.

So I just got back.  Dan and I went driving asround our neighborhood looking for a place with bright lights to get a good photo of the bridal shawl.  We decided Del Taco had the brightest lights!   Now, bear in mind that this is totally unblocked, and it will be a totally different animal after we block it!  I'm sure the kids at Del Taco thought we were nuts.

Here you can see the beads aqlong the bottom edge.

 One of the corners.  See that curled top edge?  That will be awesome when it's blocked out into points.  The beads are each at the end of a point.  I can't wait to block it.

 More of the beaded edge.

 It's over 6 feet wide and about 30 inches deep.  After blocking it should be considerably larger.  Heather and I are going to block it on a big ventilated picnic table in a park near her house.  I'll keep you advised....

My friend Zee is a great beader.  I'm a knitter who occasionally strings a bead or two together.  When I showed her the juzu prayer beads I made, she told me how to finish the ends better.  Instead of putting the crimp bead on the end, she suggested putting it before the tassel bead, then run the end of the line through the tassel bead,  then the little end bead and back into the tassel bead and then into the crimp bead and the next ones as needed to hide the end. When the tension is right, crimp the crimp bead.  That way the end of the line is hidden where it can't scratch anyone and the crimp bead is protected from wear.  Youza, what a great idea, Zee!

Well, it's a peaceful Monday night in San Diego after a warm and sunny day, I feel really good  (La-da-da-da-da-da-da , as James Brown sang long ago) and the music is off.  No reason, just forgot to turn it on.  Ok, now it's on: It's raining men, hit crew.  Ha, you can tell my mood, huh?

Lilo is MIA, probably enjoying the warm night air.  As soon as I write about her, she comes in for some attention.  I swear that cat is psychic.

Cheers,
Julie

The Significance Of The Prayer Beads

Hello, Everyone,

It is a rainy Sunday night.  I just had the best Vietnamese dinner ever at Phat on Convoy St. in Kearny Mesa, same place as previously blogged.   Thank you, Dare.   Pho as you like it.   Endless appetizers and salads.  All very light.   I feel just fine. Go when you can.

On Feb 27 I posted a "reciepe" for making juzu prayer beads.  This following is in response to the resulting requests for information on the significance of the prayer beads, which we SGI Buddhists hold when chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo or when doing morning or evening prayers, called Gongyo.  It is quoted from a booklet by Ed Gwin, called the Treasure Map of Life.

"The Significance Of The Prayer Beads

The basic number of beads is 108, which is said to represent the number of earthly desires which common mortals have.

The beads form a circle with two strands (1) and three strands (2) that end in tassles. These sets of two and three strands are equal distance and opposite from each other.

Where these strands are attached to the circle, there is a large bead. These large beads are called the father's bead (3) and the mother's bead (4). Both represent the Buddha.

When the beads are used, this circle is closed by crossing them once (5). This is done for one reason. When crossed, the circle is closed so that the benefits of practicing and chanting Daimoku will not fall through.

Between the father and mother's beads, there are 108 beads of the same size that represent earthly desires. You will also find four smaller beads (6). Two of them are opposite each other on either side, seven beads away from the end with the two strands of beads attached to the figure. The second set are 14 beads beyond the first set on either side.

These small beads represent the Four Leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth -- Jogyo, Jyogyo, Muhengyo, and Anryugyo. These are the four virtues of the Buddha's life:

1. The True Self of the Buddha

2. The Purity of the Buddha

3. The Boundless Eternity of the Buddha, and

4. The Happiness of the Buddha.

When we use beads during Gongyo, the end of the figure eight, with the two strands, is placed over the third finger of the left hand. The end with the three strands, over the third finger of the right. They lie on the outside of the hands, which are placed together with palms and fingers touching each other.

Directly under the father's bead, is a smaller one (7). This small bead represents the essential nature of the Law, which is absolute truth, which has existed since the beginning of time.

All together, there are five strands of beads that lie outside the hands when the palms are placed together with fingers touching.

The four strands of beads (8), which have four larger beads shaped like jars, represent "ichinen sanzen" or three thousand worlds in a momentary existence, and the mutual possession of all of them. These beads, then, represent the true and essential nature of all life, which is 3,000 worlds in a momentary existence, each one of which is a perfect manifestation of cause and effect.

These beads, shaped like jars (9), are called "The Jars" in which we store the benefits we have accumulated.

The remaining single strand of ten beads (10), are the counting beads.

If you use the beads to count Daimoku, you should count the beads on only one side - going from the father's bead to the mother's bead and returning back again along the same side. Each time you do this, you should skip over the four Bodhisattva beads.

When you have done this once, you will have chanted 108 Daimoku. Each time you finish going and returning in this fashion, you slide one of the beads on the counting strand, attached to the mother bead, forward. In this way, you can count 1,080 Daimoku using the ten beads on the counting strand. "   (about 20 minutes of chanting at a reasonable pace).

I hope this was helpful for those who asked for it.  Detailed instructions for beading your own juzu are in the entry dated  Feb 27 earlier in this blog.   Note that modern Buddhists do not usually count Daimoku  (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) when chanting, I have done it only once out of curiosity and to time it.    For example, today I would use a clock to determine 20 minutes of chanting, rather than counting one cycle of 10 counting beads.   However, before clocks were widely available...  counting beads were used in the past.

The bridal shawl is almost done, 2 rows to go.  Sometime this week Heather and I will get together and bind it off using the bead clusters she created and then block it, which is a big deal.  Then it will be revealed in all its shimmering, white, drapey wonderfulness.  I hope.

Lilo is in the sweater drawer again.  That's where she likes to hide from the rain and keep warm.

I hope you are enjoying listening to the sounds of the cars splashing through the water in the street and keeping warm and cozy on this lovely rainy night.  The flowers on the hillsides need the rain so much.

Love,
Julie


Music: Chris Botti, Italia
Location: at home in San Diego

What do Mariachis and knitting have in common?

Hello Everyone,

Today is a cool Wednesday evening.  Today was a breezy spring day, cool breeze, warm sun.  I'm feeling good.  I had a massage with Wendy, and that is always great.

Web went out to Casa de Pico in Grossmont Center for happy hour.  They are located in the same mall as the new site for the Bonita knitting group.  So,  I was able to catch a fun and inexpensive dinner of good Mexican food, complete with mariachis,  on the way to the knitting group, which meets at the Panera in the same mall.  That's what mariachis and knitting have in common. 

Here I am knitting on the bridal shawl. On the home stretch now, the last border.

The place is good, the food is good, the server was nice and efficient, the music nice and not too loud.  The colors were fun and bright, as is true of any place Diane Powers is involved with..

And below is Dan, enjoying a brewski with his happy hour  enchiladas.

After the enchilada break, we went across to Panera.  The knitting group has found a comfortable place.  I enjoyed it a lot.  The only awkward part was a bizarre old lady panhandling from table to table.  Dan told the manager and when the manager asked her to leave, she refused and stuck her tongue out at Dan, LOL.  Finally the manager firmly threw her out and stood by the door when she tried to re-enter.   I think I've seen her before "working" the Fashion Valley Mall by my house.  She must have a "Mall route".  Pretty aggressive old biddy.

Heather's husband, Ron, Likes these little speedboats.  This is the boat basin at Mission Bay Park. 

And this is Ron.

Lilo is watching a candle flame flicker.  Now that she sees herself as the great hunter, she is very interested in things that move.   This is kind of funny, but I hope she does not knock over the candle trying to "capture" it.   I'd better go blow it out.

See ya,

Julie

Location: at home in San Diego

Mood: great

Music: XLNC1, classical I-radio

Anyone for a light appetizer, perhaps a gopher?

Hi, Everyone,

The sun is out and it was earlier, too.  In between we had a little rain shower.  Normal weather in most parts of the country, but odd for San Diego.  Breezy Monday afternoon, I am in good health and feeling great about life.

Well, last night when we got home around 9 pm, Lilo was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, starting to eat a gopher.

While I'm glad she learned how to catch them, and I hope for the sake of the lawn she will eventually catch then all, I am not so crazy about her choice of a place to eat it.  Dan tossed it out the front door with a napkin, then I picked it up with disposable chop sticks and took it out on the porch. 

Here it is on the toe of my swimming shoe, so you can see the size of it.  Then I threw it out onto the lawn, where Lilo finished eating it.   She was very pleased with herself.  Tiny, dainty Lilo casts herself as the great white hunter!  Of gophers!

We had just gotten back from dinner.  Pizza with Dare.  I'm just a kid at heart.  I love pizza,  -  good, crunchy crust under gooey, cheesy, meaty, garlicy pizza toppings.    Fresh, hot bread sticks are also not bad.  Bad for my weight, but I love 'em.  Fresh, crispy salad, BBQ chicken and a size of pasta in marinera sauce.  What's not to like?  We get one of those family combos and share it.  Yum-o.

Here I am working on the bridal shawl after dinner at Pat and Oscars.  I have on my regular glasses, yeah, found 'em.  That was a little crazy for a day with "backup" glasses that are not quite strong enough.   I could see the TV, but not good enough to read.  Knitting lace was a real strain   Big Relief to find them!  Knitting tiny white lace with "backup" glasses really defines me as a crazy, obsessed knitter, LOL.

I am about 1/2 of the way done with the edging lace for the straight edge.  Then I will tackle the long, curved edge.  Heather and I have been consulting about the best way to add the beads to the edge.   She is busy constructing the cystal, silver, plum and violet bead dangles for the points of the lace.   Maybe 70 points when all is said and done.   I think we will need to consult when I get to the bind off row and maybe make a swatch and try a few things to see what looks best.   I'll keep you posted.   Getting close.  Dan says I need to make another one to keep when I finish this one...?  Hmmmmm ...?  Lots of stitches.......... Would love to have one...... We'll see.

 Bye,
Julie

Mood: Great
Music: Elvis, 30 greatest hits, Jailhouse Rock
Location : at home in San Diego

Doc in an RV

Hello Everyone,

It's a cool, breezy  Sunday afternoon.  Today was breezy, foggy and cool.  I'm feeling good.

I just found this great pic of Nate from Halloween.  He just loves Minnie Mouse. 

This last week he was staying with me and I had a doctor's appointment.  Since I do not have medical insurance, I have had to come up with some creative ways to get inexpensive medical care.  The clinic (Dan found it for me online, gotta love him) handles ongoing prescriptions thusly: you make an appointment with their mobile unit on the day it is in your neighborhood, the mobile unit PA checks your chart for the doctor's instructions and writes your prescription and then the main clinic pharmacy fills it, you pick it up the next business day after you turn it in.  4 stops a month to continue an ongoing prescription (not counting the actual doctor's visit), but it is very low cost and works for me.   So I was visiting the "Mobile unit"that day,  what Dan and I lovingly call the "Doc in an RV" which was parked in our local park for the day.   Patients were lined up on folding chairs in the park, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Nate asked, "Gramma, what are we doing here?" 
"Waiting to see my doctor", I replied. 
Nate, pointing to the RV door in disbelief, "Your doctor is in there?"
"I'll bet your doctor doesn't come to see you in such a cool truck like mine does", I replied. "And they even have this great playground for you to use while Gramma sees the doctor." 
The doc heard me and laughed so hard I thought she was going to pee her pants.

Hey, it works!

I am working the edging lace on the bridal shawl.  I'm working the lace edging in 2 sections: first one for the top straight edge, and another for the semi-circular side.  The shawl will look like capital letter D.

I picked up all the stitches, then I did a couple of rows of garter, then a couple rows stockinette, just to give it a good base.   Now I'm 5 rows into the lace. OK, time to count stitches.

Lilo climbed into the sweater drawer and is napping there, snug and warm in the middle of my sweaters.  And I sometimes wonder why my sweaters are all covered in white cat hair.

Gotta go, dinner with Dare tonight.

Bye,
Julie

Music: Iceberg Jazz
Location: at home in San Diego
Mood: Great

First peek at the bridal shawl, tableside at Aladdin's

Hello, Everyone,

It's a lovely spring Thursday night after a warm spring day with flowers blooming and birds singing. I feel great after a wonderful nap.

Heather and I went swimming this morning.  We had gotten out of the habit to do it every Thursday at 11 like we used to, so now we're trying to get the habit going again.  It's really good for my joints.  The water in the pool at the Boys and Girls Club where we go is kept at 85 degrees F so that they can teach babies to swim, so it is heavenly warm.  All this swimming probably has something to do with the wonderful nap...

After e swimming we went to lunch at Alladin Restaurant, http://www.aladdincafe.com.  We split the Meza,
#7 ALADDIN  MEZA PLATTER:  Hummus, Tabouleh, Baba Ghanouj, Chicken & Lamb Shawerma, Dolma, Falafels, Aladdin's Hot Sauce, Garlic Sauce, Pickles, Served with  Pita Bread.
with a side addition of extra Kebeh.  This is one of our favorite places.  Our waiter, Haithem, is a really funny guy and so nice.  He looked at me funny at first and seemed not to know me with the new red hair, but then he got it and laughed and asked if we wanted the usual Meza Platter, LOL.



Heather with a full tummy of Alladin goodness.  After lunch I was working on the bridal shawl.



Now I know that lace just looks like a mess until it is blocked out, but just you wait, this is going to be absolutely  gorgeous when I get it blocked with the rich plum beads on the edging, and the plum Swarovski crystals on the points.  Very bridal in its Lily of the Valley-ness.  Estonian nupps galore!   The pretty inlaid box is sold at Alladin's, they have lots of that kind of stuff.

Thanks for the request for the curried chicken recipe, Dee.  Dan tells me that curried chicken is the most commonly cooked dish in the UK.  Here's my version.  We had it tonight for supper.  Yummy and the house smells heavenly of curry.

Curried Chicken in the Crockpot for the busy Woman

In a crock pot put:

4 chicken thighs,
2 diced potatoes
4 chopped ribs of celery
1 large sliced carrot (or 2 medium)
1 10-ounce package sliced mushrooms
1 C tomato juice (Low salt)
3 C water
1/3 C minced dried onion (huge time saver)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 C flaked coconut
1T Wocestershire
1T curry powder ( I use Delish)
freshly ground black pepper
1t salt (omit if using salty tomato juice)

Let 'er roll on low all day while you are out and about.  When you get home the house will be smelling like heaven and dinner is ready.

Lilo is curled up napping, dreaming of big fat, juicy mice, probably.

Ta-ta,
Julie

• Location: At home in San Diego
• Music:Nestor Torres, Mi alma Latina

Mountain View

Hello,
It's a warm spring Sunday night and I'm feeling good.  Dan and I  had pho with Dare for dinner and it was good. 

Here is some more on my trip to Mountain View.    When we first got there I gave Evva (number 1 sister) her birthday present, a nice beaded necklace that I blogged previously.  She gave me some very fine snow white lace weight yarn, 1700 yards in a skein.  Number 2 sister, Heather's son is getting married 10-10-10, so I began to think about a lace bridal shawl for Shannon, his bride. 

The first morning we had breakfast at Hobee's.  Its a great little omelet place.  They make a great home-made coffee cake.  Full of fruit and fluffy light.  It's great. 


You may notice I am still a blond. Wait until we get to that part......

After that we went to the Lace Museum.  It was really great, definitely worth a stop if you are in Sunnyvale, www.thelacemuseum.org.  Right now they are showing wonderful lace undergarments from the 19th century and older, very nice lace indeed.  I researched in their collection of great books and decided which Lace pattern to use.   So I decided on a Baltic pattern stitch, rows and rows of Lily of the Vally, oodles of nupps, for Shannon's bridal shawl.  Her colors are violet and plum, so I was thinking of some beads in those colors for the edge.

I love the lace Museum.  I bought some great buttons from their button drawer.  I also had an amazing discussion about nupps with another lace knitter.  What a place!

Then we went up the way to Purlescence, a great LYS in the same mall as the Lace Museum.  Awesome place.  I got some size 4 Addi lace needles, a circ actually, still thinking of bridal lace.  www.purlescenceyarns.com  Great place and great needles with long, slim, sharp tips, perfect for lace and pointy enough to feature prominently in a murder mystery. 

My fingers were itching, so I cast on 251 stitches and started in.  Plunge into the nupp pool.  Later when It gets a bit further along I'll post a pic. Right now it is only a few inches in.  Lots of tiny stitches.   Lots of tiny  Plum beads for the edging.   More on this later.


Notice Evva has her birthday necklace on and I am wearing the hat I knit in the northward train, deep furry cuff and beads in the top lace. 

Lilo sez, goodnight.

Tata,
Julie

• Location: at home in San Diego
• Mood: happy
• Music:John Mayer, Room for Squares

I'm in love with purple

Hello, Happy February!

It's a lovely, cool (60F) clear sunny winter afternoon in San Diego.  The birds are singing and there is a gentle breeze from the ocean.  Lovely and peaceful.

Here is the latest in the series of UFO's I am finishing.  The yarn is the bright stuff from the '60's my friend glommed onto for me at a yard sale.  I love the bright purple color.  I think this one might be mine.  All ir needed was the gray edgeing.



The stitch is Lotus Blossom Stitch, but the blossoms are upside down since I worked it neck down, so they look more like fuchsia blossoms.  I can write up the pattern if anyone wants it.

The UFO campaign I'm on right now is so exciting.  It appears that I have many projects with just a little bit of work left to do.  So, a small effort on my part is yielding a beautiful finished object.  I'm loving it.  The drawer where I stash presents has several items already and it's just February.  My eventual goal is to finish enough projects that I can actually keep the rest in the designated bins, instead of all over the house!  The Yarn Harlot was talking about watching Hoarders and jumping up to get her house cleaned up.  Well, I'm a long way from cleaned up, but the impulse is the same.  Next up is another  pretty little shawlette/collar made from colorful Mexican yarn that only needs a button to be done. 

Enjoy your day!

Later,
Julie

• Location:at home in San Diego
• Mood: cheerful
• Music:The King - It's time for Elvis, Baby