Life, Interrupted

On July 16th, when I was coming out of the Thurman Cafe in Columbus, OH...I received a phone call that my father had been missing since July 10.  My father lives in Houston..and we had not been in contact for awhile....our relationship went through ebbs and flows (and my father had many demons)....anyway, after several days of doing what I could on the phone, we heard he had been found and he would be home on Friday....well Friday we got a phone call telling us he was in ICU in Houston....this had happened three years prior..and my brother and I went to Corpus Christi to be with him...we decided to wait a day to see how things went....by Saturday late morning, it became clear that things were not going to improve...my brother and I started on our trip to Houston...however we were not able to make it in time....we were in Alabama this morning when we got the call...we will be in Houston tomorrow and deal with all the things that need to be dealt with during these times....I probably will not blog for awhile and I do plan on doing a post about my dad when I get home....

to those of you who may have estrangements in your family....remember that life is precious and sometimes very short....

Stash Saturday

On Wednesday when I was leaving for Stitch night down at Madison Wool, in my mailbox was the latest Mad Color Mad Geek Tour.  I present Malcolm Reynold's Widow...I am IN LOVE with this color!!!!!  This is a "Firefly" inspired yarn....

Then, of course, being at a yarn shop that night, I picked up some goodies...

This one was on sale and will make a cute hat...

It's Oceanwind Knits in Thyme

And this GORGEOUS skein from Manos Del Uruguay.  It's Alegria..so soft, so pretty...

Then I read on Facebook about a hat design contest for some new yarn..plus they would give you the yarn to work with!  So I put in a request and received these two skeins on Friday...

They are Boston by Schachenmayr...I think I'm going to use the solid as the  main color and the twist one for decoration/edging...

I may be visiting an LYS in Rhode Island today...I am off to visit a blogging friend, who is at a seminar in Rhode Island....yeah! 

How About Some More Hats?

I have two finishes from the past week or so..and they are both hats...

The first is a hat made for the nephew who went on the trip with me...He picked out this yarn at the store we stopped at in Chicago...He just wanted a simple beanie...

It's made with Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash...it's actually quite soft...I have almost a full skein left, so I think I'm going to make handwarmers for myself...as if I run out, I can always use black...

The second is a hat made for me and as a challenge for Nerd Wars..we had to get inspiration from another team and elevators in that nerddom...I went with the Bones episode where they are stuck in the old elevator...

And here is my hat...I used the curlicues and the squares look like the double crochet stitch I used..

Also since I live where Otis Elevator has their test tower, I wanted to get it in the shot..It's that tall building behind me...It was hard to get the hat and the tower in the same shot...so I resorted to this..

This was also my Team Unity submission....we went with Blue Jello....and soens't my hat look like blue jello?

What did you complete?  We are off to go watch Despicable Me 2..although I could not find my Minion shirt...he will be coming along...

Hook up over at Tami, Creative Suburbia or Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Video Thursday - Geek Girls Unite!

I've decided to post videos on Thursdays that I love....so here is the first one...

The song is by The Doubleclicks and it is called "Nothing To Prove" and it has been making it's rounds this week...it's been on Scalzi's blog, as well as Wil Wheaton's..

Since I am a proud Geek Girl....I wanted to share it....

I think this video is just full of Awesome...whether you claim yourself in the Geek/Nerd culture or not....everyone loves something and we shouldn't have to prove the extent of our love for something...

There is also another awesome video that made it's rounds awhile ago...with Wil Wheaton speaking to an unborn baby about "Why it is awesome to be a nerd."

Wil Wheaton is full of awesome...I was never in the "I hate Wesley Crusher" fanbase....but as an adult, Wil Wheaton has just become one of the head geeks and has become so well loved.....

and his advice in this video is true for everything....

So do you have any favorite videos?  Share them in the comments....maybe, if there is interest, next week, I'll make it a linky thing....

WIP and Yarn Along

It's been awhile since I did one of these.....and I've done lots of reading since I've been home....and finished two smaller projects and working on a larger project....

Reading:  I finished A Rogue of My Own by Johanna Lindsey, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and  Sweet Tooth: Unnatural Habitats Vol 5 by Jeffrey Lemire. 

I also started Lewis and Clark: Through Indian Eyes which I bought on the trip.  The book I had been reading, Kate Morton's The Distant Hours....well I had left that in the car and was too lazy to go out and get it...so I read all those others....I grabbed it from the car yesterday....


The one project that I've been exclusively working on the past couple of days is my Cedar Leaf Shawlette...I am almost to the halfway point....I was invited to a Stitch and Beach tonight, so I'll be heading down there to continue working on the shawl...

What are you working on?  Please join up with us...Yarn Along and Tami

Civil War in My Backyard

Well not literally in my backyard...but less than a 5 minute walk up the hill to the park...I happened to read about the event on Thursday...since I love learning about history, I knew I'd go...the Hubs joined me...it was very HOT!!!!!!

They displayed some formation marching and then they fired their weapons...the (not sure of rank) guy in charge, explained what they were doing and why, during the whole drill...

A camp had also been set up, with some civilian volunteers...we ended up speaking to the

we talked to the guy in charge of the mess for quite awhile...he actually wrote a book with recipes from that era....it was pretty cool....

There was also a Chinese-American soldier, Irving Moy,  and he spoke in great length about the Chinese involvement...he also has written a book about Joseph Pierce, a Connecticut Chinese American soldier from the Civil War...and interspersed it with the story of his father....I bought the book on the nook, as both the Hubs and I were interested in the story....An American Journey

He had quite a crowd around him while he was speaking..and one guy who was monopolizing the conversation, so I did not get any pictures of him and his artifacts, but he was very interesting...

New Yarnz - The Home Version

Not only did I buy yarn, lots of yarn, while I was on my trip...but I came home delivered in the mail...and I think I may need to buy some yarn...I didn't get one of the brands I wanted to try at The Loopy Ewe...and I'm not sure the skein I have now will finish the shawlette I am working on...we'll see.

But what did I come home too? 

This is actually made from 100% soybean...interesting...it is silky and I think it'll drap nicely....

The color is "Everybody Needs a Hobby" I believe from Ironman (I've only seen the 1st one)

The second package that was waiting for me, was my Walking Dead package...

The yarn is "Beth," inspired by one of the characters....I love brown and pink, not sure of the blue..also included were some pretty stitch markers...and a lollipop...and I think it's a paperclip...

Day 15 - The Arch

I had no idea that The Arch actually had another name...It's actually called "The Gateway Arch" and is part of the "Jefferson National Expansion Monument," a national park.  This was going to be our last stop on our cross-country trip.  It was pretty cool!

The park leading from the parking garage up to the arch...

Peeking through the trees...

Once you get to the Arch, it opens up to a terrace above the Missouri River...

To get into the Arch, you go under the Arch...it is a big underground room.  It has several theaters, a gift shop and a museum...pretty cool!

We saw the movie, "Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West."   The movie was fantastic!  It was on a big screen and was just very life-like!  I had read the book Sacajawea by Anna L. Waldo many years ago and it had stuck with me since...I admire Sacajawea and consider her one of my heroes. Although the book is a fictionalized version. she did a lot of research....I think I may have to reread the book!

Then we got in line to go to the top....we had to ride in these very tiny cubicles, 5 people each and they were tiny...

The top was very cool....but also crowded and hot!   Some pictures we took:

Then we rode back down, visited the museum, did some shopping and headed back home.....well we did find a restaurant to eat...we were starving...something was happening on the street, because everyone was outside and the places were all closed, so we ended up going into the casino and eating at a restaurant in there....

That was our last big stop....we made one more lunch stop the next day, at a place he had seen on Man vs Food, in Columbus, OH. the Thurman Cafe...his burger was HUGE!!!!!!  He actually only ate half and saved the rest for dinner....

Then another day of driving and we got home on Wednesday, July 17.....I put almost 5000 miles on my car!  It was such a great trip!!!!! 

I have been a little wiped out since returning....plus some other things came up that I've had to deal with....but we saw so much and ate so much and just had an awesome time....some of the places we visited, such as The Badlands, I will do a separate post at some point....

I hope you have enjoyed the trip with us.....

The Yarn Barn - Lawrence, KS

Today I stopped by The Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS.  I was familiar with their shop, as they have a large booth at Stitches East every year. 

They are in a college town, cute town, cute downtown...lots of other shopping and food places near by....(we had gourmet sandwiches)

When I walked in, I was not greeted...and no one asked if they could help me...I was surprised...

There was a large group knitting/crocheting at a front table....there was also another group at another table in the middle of the store...and another group at the back of the store...not sure what they were doing, I did not wander back there..

Although, I was not greeted, as soon as I asked for help, it was given immediately and with enthusiasm....she was very accommodating, as the pattern I bought..."Baby Lamb Cuffs" by Tiny Owl Knits was done in store samples with different yarn..I liked the store version a bit better, so she was busy tracking down the yarn for me....

I went with the yarn the store used for the background, Lanaloft Sports Weight in a darker grey, (they did not have the other colors in the Lanaloft) I went with Frog Tree for the lamb's body, and Mountain Colors for the legs and head...she also gave me a little packet that they had made for the embroidery on the face! 

This will be the first time I've done colorwork in knitting...I'm going to save it for August to see if it fits into a Nerd Wars challenge....but I'm excited by them!

I also fell in love with a color of Rowan Tweed, so bought it and a matching color..

I did ask to take pictures and was given permission, as long as I did not take pictures of samples..

She was weaving a beautiful piece..I ended up taking the nephew back there, because he picked up a shuttle and asked me what it was..it was easier to show him..

It was hard to get pictures without samples....so these are all over pictures, but not focused on the samples...and mostly of the weaving section of the store...

I thought it was a nice store, but it could be overwhelming to a newbie...it was probably the busiest store I've ever been in, except Webs....but since Webs checkout counter is in the front, you are always greeted right away...

Day 14 - Off to see the WIZARD!!

We are stopped for the night in Missouri, tomorrow we will be heading to the Arch and then onto Illinois and Indiana....

Today, we saw the Wizard....those of you who are long time readers of my blog, know that The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie of all time...and, of course, Dorothy was from Kansas...

Before we ventured to see the Wizard, I had a meetup with a blog friend and Raveler...SuddenExpression and her daughter A....

I don't know what's up with my smiles today..they were not working well...anyway, Laura brought me some yarn she had spun!  Yeah, Yarn!!!!! And handspun from a friend...so special yarn!!  I think it calls for a nice chunky cowl..I love the colors!

Woo-hee!!!! 

Then it was off to see the Wizard....The museum is in Wamego, KS..a very small town..it is mainly the collection of one private collector...it was a lot of fun to see some of the things...the nephew, well, the movie scared him, so he wasn't really thrilled....but I could not, not stop!!!!

I'm just going to post some of the pictures....

 

I got to sit in the Wizard's Chair!

A few of the actors who played the Munchkins had their hands and feet in cement.

They have two of the monkeys used for visual effects...very cool!

I have many more pictures, but I don't want to bore you!

It was well worth the trip....about 15 minutes off of I70 and only $6 with AAA membership!  So if you are traveling through Eastern Kansas....

Unfortunately, the Wicked Stitch, the local yarn shop was closed today....but I went to one in Lawrence, KS....that post will be upcoming....