Another year, another goal not met

So far: 23
Goal: 48
January:
1 Waking Rose - Regina Doman
2 Midnight Dancers - Regina Doman
3 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
February
4 The Practice Effect - David Brin
March
5 Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
6 Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
April
7 The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright
8 The Four-Story Mistake - Elizabeth Enright
9 Then There Were Five - Elizabeth Enright
10 Spider Web for Two - Elizabeth Enright
May
11 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
12 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
June
13 Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
14 The Prince of Omeya - Anthony Fon Eisen
15 Anne of Green Gables
16 Anne of Avonlea
17 Anne of the Island
18 Anne of Windy Poplars
19 Anne’s House of Dreams
20 Anne of Ingleside
21 Rainbow Valley
22 Mocking Jay - Suzanne Collins
22 My Own Two Feet: A Memoir - Beverly Cleary
23 The Birchbark House - Louise Erdrich
Maybe I'll reach 50 next year. I don't think I can read 27 books in December (and I mean chapter books!)

Camping: Take 3

Our 3rd camping trip this year was our annual family campout at Cape Lookout State Park over Labor Day weekend.. I love that place! I think we started going when I was in middle school or early high school. We always have so much fun. I took Sabrina when she was 5 months old (that’s actually been the easiest camping trip I’ve had with her, go fig.). Last year was fun because she was walking and showing some independence.

However, this year she screamed in the middle of the night for no reason every night we were there. I still don’t know what was up. It’s not like it was her first time camping. We did end up having a good time, but it’s hard camping with Sabrina when Richard isn’t there. (he had to work)

The weather was nice, we swam in the ocean, took a small hike, rode bikes around, sat by the fire… just general camping stuff. It’s kind of like our last hurrah for the summer.

And, we took a little class on cooking in dutch ovens. That was pretty cool. The ranger guy that lead it was a sweet boy scout type. In the end we got to sample the food we made: pizza and peach pie. I'll be getting my self a dutch oven before next summer. Of course I took a picture of my piece of pizza:

I really love this picture. That's my Aunt Teri (Aunt T as all the kids call her).

That one looks like a good Christmas card picture? I hope J.P. & Erin use it!

Camping: take 2

For our second camping trip, Sabrina and I went to our church camp-out at Metzler Park. Richard had to work, but my my mom, brother, SIL & the kids came. We pulled in and immedietly saw big signs saying "No fires." Apparently there was fear of wildfires.

We woke up the first morning freezing! (okay, not really freezing, but we were really cold). Then Mom crawled out of the tent to tell us she forgot breakfast. So we piled into the van and got bagels/cream cheese/coffee in Damascus... or was it Estacada? or ?? We were close to home again, but I hate to admit it... I don't really know the area southeast of us.

Then there was Sabrina's sleeping issue. She did.not.want.to.take.a.nap.... or go to bed in general. She was a little stinker about it, but she needed it and eventually fell asleep.

The church group had some potlucks and a softball game. I really enjoyed this campground. It had showers, a nice playground, softball field, basketball court & a swimming hole!

Camping!

This summer was filled with CAMPING! I love camping. We use to go all the time when I was a kid. We would just pick-up and go on the weekends. As an adult, I'm lucky to go once a year. Richard can only get weekends off if he asks for them well in advance. This year was different, I got to go 3 times!

When asked what I wanted to do for my birthday (Aug 2nd), I said camping. Since it was too late to get a spot in a state campground, I polled my facebook friends and came up with Indian Henry's in the Mt. Hood National Forest. No shower, but flushing toilets! And it was right on the Clackamas river... plus, less than an hour away from our house.

The ride in was beautiful:


We had a secluded site:


It wasn't very noisy, even when the campground started filling up on Saturday.

Sabrina had a lot of fun:

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

June, 30th 2007

Richard surprised me with a new ipod! And it's green! He even loaded our "song" on it (and by "song" I mean the one we finally agreed on for our first dance, it took months!) My mom came and babysat so we could do dinner and a movie (California Pizza Kitchen & Toy Story 3). Thanks Mom.

We still haven't scanned in any of the professional pictures, even though we have permission. I just browsed through my flickr set and none of the ones taken with my camera are very good.


My two grandmas



My mom and my dad. In the same picture... pretty weird, but I'm glad it was taken.



My cousin Chuck (a groomsman) and my niece, Alive (flower girl)

I need to have a scanning party or something. I wish the photographer had just given us the digital pictures. I think that's the wave of the future. Oh well. He did a good job.

Maui & the Big Island

I have way too many pictures from Hawaii. I'll probably end up making a set public on Flickr. Richard had been feeling homesick for awhile and airfare was cheap. So we went. It was kinda weird. We bought our tickets 2 weeks before we left, so for me, that was a last minute vacation. It just happened that it was Mother's day and my MIL's birthday while we were there. We spent a week on Maui, a weekend on the Big Island, and then another 5 days on Maui.

Sabrina LOVED it! She loved the beach, she loved the water, she loved the avocados... And she loved her Nana!

Old FO

I mentioned in October that I knit a toddler sweater in one week, but I never blogged about it again. Well, here it is after a winter of use:

Pattern: Child's Placket-Neck Pullover by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted - Mill End so it doesn't have a colorway
Needles: US 8

Notes: I love this pattern and this yarn works so well with it! I used less than one ball of yarn, probably have enough for a hat. I realize that the pattern and the colors look a little boyish, but Sabrina doesn't mind.


(cheese face)

50 books in 1 year, July 2010 edition

March
5 Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
6 Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll

April
7 The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright
8 The Four-Story Mistake - Elizabeth Enright
9 Then There Were Five - Elizabeth Enright
10 Spider Web for Two - Elizabeth Enright

May
11 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
12 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

June
13 Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
14 The Prince of Omeya - Anthony Fon Eisen

I guess I've read 9 books since my last update. Most of them are in the youth section, but I'm fine with that. Jane Eyre was a bit of a slog. I did like it, but I guess I don't understand why it's some people's favorite book. It was a bit depressing for me. I also knew how it would end since I read The Eyre Affair last year.

I love The Prince of Omeya. I read it a long time ago, probably middle school (I know this because soon after I read it, my dog Socks chewed it up and Socks passed away before high school). I thought the book was a bit hard to read when I was younger, but I flew through it this time.

I'm looking forward to The Postman because I really loved the other David Brin book I read this year (The Practice Effect). And no, I haven't seen the Kevin Costner movie.

The books I'm currently working on are: Congo, Anne of Green Gables (for like, the 10th time, whatever, don't judge) and I'm still halfway through Heaven's Net is Wide (prequel to the Otori books I read last year)

And that's about all. When I returned Jane Eyre and The Prince of Omeya to my mom, she handed me another stack of books. Thanks mom. Next time I'm going to borrow Darwinia because I can't remember much about it, but I have this weird picture in my mind about the book, so I guess it's time to re-read it.

Where was I again?

So I just went to my blog for the first time in months... Yeah, months! My last post was in March. Some things have happened since then. We went to Maui for 2 weeks in May. I've read some more books. I don't think I've finished a single knit item. Sabrina turned 2! I ordered more yarn. Sabrina had a scary asthma attach. My SIL Erin and I started a weekend yard work exchange program. We've had work parties at my house twice and we cleared a bunch of weeds, shoveled a bunch of rocks and built a 6'x4' garden box (for square food gardening). It's finally summer in Portland... well, maybe. It's a bit cool again today, but we've had some 90 degree weather. Richard and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.

That's where we are now. I'm hoping to put up some posts regarding all that stuff I just listed out.

50 books in 1 year, March 2010 edition

I have set myself up for failure in my quest to read 50 books in a year:

So far: 5

January:
1 Waking Rose - Regina Doman
2 Midnight Dancers - Regina Doman
3 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

February
4 The Practice Effect - David Brin

March
5 Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

I am currently ready Heaven's Net is Wide (a prequel to the Otori books I read last year) and Through the Looking Glass, which I meant to finish before seeing Alice in Wonderland, but I ended up going on opening night. It was a great movie. I love Johnny Depp.

I've borrowed a few books from my mom, but I don't seem to find the time to read with all this knitting, going from the Olympics to March Madness (I have 8 squares done, I'm behind by one, hopefully I can catch up on the weekends)

Olympic Round-up: Project 5

(still need a better picture)


Pattern: Toasty
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu
Needles: US 6

Notes: I tried out my new 9" cirs on these. I'm not sure that it was any faster than using dpns, but I'll keep trying. I didn't know how much yarn I would need and I didn't have much left after a scarf and 2 other pairs of toastys, but I made it with plenty of yarn to spare. I didn't make these as long as the pattern. Using the smaller needle made these a little too tight for me, but they should fit my aunt much better. I already gave her the matching scarf (which I still need a picture of).

Olympic Round-up: Project 4

(I'll have to get a better picture of it later)


Pattern: Winter Night Afghan - Lion Brand
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun
Needles: US 11

Notes: I started this blanket when I found out my cousin was pregnant. The "baby" has turned 5. I never finished it because I use to hate sewing things together. This took me one evening to finish. I was still a novice knitter when I did this, not all the squares are square and my bindoffs are really tight. I don't think I'd do this pattern again, but I'm sure I could do a better job now that I have more experience.

Olympic Round-up: Project 3

Pattern: Branching Out
Yarn: Jojoland Melody Superwash
Needles: US 6

Notes: I started this in December shortly after I finished a Cream of Spinach scarf in the same yarn. I had bought 2 balls and thought I would use them both on the CoS scarf. It turned out that I thought the scarf was a lovely length after the first ball, so I did some research and found that I could in fact knit a Branching Out with one ball of the Melody. I got just a few repeats in when I realized I needed to be doing Christmas knitting. I even forgot I had this laying around until Richard asked if he could use one of my knitting bags to carry our netbook in on our trip to the beach. There it was, the perfect Olympic project.

Olympic Round-up: Project 2

Pattern: generic feather and fan shawl
Yarn: Interlacments Rick Rack II
Needles: US 9

Notes: I started this shawl in 2008 and I had actually lost it a few times. I didn't think I could find it in time to finish it for the Olympics, but I did. It was in the bench storage unit (weird spot for it, but I vaguely remember Richard shoving things in there the day before Sabrina's 1st birthday party, almost a year ago). I thought I wasn't very far on it, but I'm guessing I was about halfway done. I didn't make it as long as I had planned because I'm told it will stretch. It's very pretty and soft, but I think I should have made it longer. Oh well, maybe it will stretch. I might give it as a gift, I don't think it's really my style.

Olympic Round-up: Project 1

I'm starting the round-up with my 2nd finished project because I sent my first one out the door without a picture (I know, lame).

I started this feather and fan scarf maybe 2 years ago. I decided to enter it into the WIP dancing event because it needed to get off my needles. I had about 4/5ths of it done, so it only took me a day to finish it.

I still haven't blocked it, but it's in the rules that blocking and end weaving (I did that) are up the the individual athlete... plus, I think it looks fine without blocking.

Specs:
Pattern: generic feather & fan
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight, mill end, possible Sherbet
Needles: US 7

March Madness?

Wait, the Olympics are over? I can stop knitting like a mad knitter? I think someone forgot to tell my fingers.

I think I'm committing to what I'm calling "March Madness." I think other people are doing something with March, too, I'm just too lazy to look it up right now. On the 1st, I started in earnest my Barn Raising Quilt that I cast on for at Blue Moon Fiber Arts for their Once in a Blue Moon KAL thing. It is now the 4th and I'm on my 4th square. My goal for the month is 31 squares. That's very ambitious for me. I'm pushing my limits already with 1 a day, I don't know if I can keep the pace, but I'm going to try.

I don't know if I really have enough yarn for 31 squares and since I'm only knitting it out of Socks that Rock mediumweight mill ends, I may have to wait till Oregon Flock and Fiber in September to get more. I wonder if Tina would sell me some before then if I begged and pleaded.

Coming soon: Olympic roundup. (2 projects start to finish, 4 wip dancing projects)



(Oxbow park, Gresham, OR)

Ravelympics 2010

I've decided to participate in the Ravelympics this time. I did the Knitting Olympics in 2006 and didn't finish. This time I was planning on a lace shawl, but I've decided I probably won't have the time to do it.

I've joined two groups: Team BAU and Team Blue Moon.

For Team BAU I will be participating in the WIPs-Dancing. I have a feather and fan shawl that has been hibernating for over a year and a blanket that I started over 5 years ago! (really, I just rediscovered it the other night)

For Team Blue Moon I will be knitting a Cream of Spinach Scarf in Woobu. If I finish and have time, I will be knitting matching arm warmers. These are Christmas presents for my aunt and I'm itching to start them since she already knows about them (we've discussed pattern/colors/armwarmers).


In Sabrina news: She's growing up! The evidence:













@21 months
(for some reason blogger is not letting me format like I want to)

Last year I didn’t set any goals, so I felt like I was all over the place. I did much better in 2008 with some goals (even if I didn’t meet them). So, here we go:

Knitting:

* Knit from stash in order to fit all my yarn in the spot it’s suppose to go in (HAHA!)
* muir
* February lady - Woobu, Blue Moon
* Shalom Cardigan - thinking about Lion Brand Homespun (unusual choice, I know)
* Make some kind of circular needle holder
* Shrug for Grandma Thanua - superwash wool (cascade?)
* Scarf for Aunt Sharon - Cream of spinach, Woobu (Tanzanite)
* Valentine's Day sweater for Sabrina - Malabrigo? red?
* barn raising quilt - This is for my Once in a Blue Moon cast on. I plan to have it done by the next “blue moon” (not the farmers almanac blue moon, but the two in one month kind), which will be August 31, 2012. I’ve got plenty of time!

Home:

* Organize hall closet DONE (already, I know, gotta start somewhere)
* Organize garage
* Decorate Sabrina’s room - painting done, need some shelves and wall art (fish?)
* Paint some more rooms in the house
* Better garden - square foot gardening

Personal:

* Baby?
* be more healthy - joined a biggest loser competition (although I'm not competing for the $$$)
* Maybe some alone time/personal days - first one this Saturday for the yarn crawl? Don't know, don't have a babysitter yet

Beanie's first picture of the year:


(asleep in the car after a long night of partying! Holding Mickey Mouse toast)

Pile of Toasties

I found an easy pattern and I'm now working on my 7th pair. Crazy.

Pattern: Toasty (rav link)

Yarn: Plymouth Galway Worsted (teal,purple, pink, lilac) & Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu in Tanzanite (second from right). The two that were given as gifts were a second Tanzanite and a blue caron simply soft. I think I like the Galway the best for this project (although something like Malabrigo would be better, but I didn't have that in my stash)

Needles: US size 7 dnps

Mods: Not much, I don't make them quite as long as the pattern. The first pair I thought I should do something to control the rolling and did 2 rows k1p1 rib after a few inches, but it just looked funny. I don't think these roll too much more than they're suppose to.

I think I'm going to continue to knit this pattern for awhile. It's really really easy and I can knit it anywhere. It's great stash busting! I am almost out of worsted weight wool though. I've been thinking about switching over to some of my acrylic, but we'll have to see. The simply soft pair turned out nice and I have a bit of that left in a few colors.

Final book total: 37

Not too bad. I bet I can do better this year.

January:

1 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
2 Twilight (Book 1, Twilight Series) - Stephenie Meyer
3 New Moon (Book 2, Twilight Series) - Stephenie Meyer
4 Across the Nightingale Floor (Book 1, Tales of the Otori) - Lian Hearn

February:

5 Grass for His Pillow (Book 2, Tales of the Otori) - Lian Hearn
6 Brilliance of the Moon (Book 3, Tales of the Otori) - Lian Hearn
7 Eclipse (Book 3, Twilight Series) - Stephenie Meyer
8 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (RR) - J. K. Rowling

March:

9 Breaking Dawn (Book 4, Twilight Series) - Stephenie Meyer
10 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (RR) - J. K. Rowling
11 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
12 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
13 Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams

April

14 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams
15 Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
16 The Harsh Cry of the Heron (Book 4, Tales of the Otori) - Lian Hearn

May

17 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
18 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling

June

19 Little House in the big woods (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
20 Little House on the Prairie (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder

July

21 The Long Winter (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
22 These Happy Golden Years (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
23 The Joys of Love (RR) - Madeleine L’Engle
24 Uglies - scott westerfeld
25 Pretties - scott westerfeld
26 Fahrenheit 451 (RR) - Ray Bradbury
27 Specials - scott westerfeld

August

28 Extras - scott westerfeld
29 The Shadow of the Bear - Regina Doman
30 Black as Night - Regina Doman

November

31 The October Country (RR) - Ray Bradbury
32 The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury
33 By the Shores of Silver Lake (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder

December

34 Little Town on the Prairie (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
35 The First Four Years (RR) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
36 The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
37 The Illustrated Man (RR) - Ray Bradbury

Total: 37 Goal: 50