I hate to be a pill, but just to verify, all pictures posted here and on my flickr site are copyright me. Using them with out permission is bad manners of the professional kind. Credit & link or do not post, and asking permission is greatly appreciated.
Matt and I took Friday of last week off and headed to Joshua Tree National Park here in California. I had no prior experience with the high desert before (being a Minnesotan and all) so I was pretty excited. Matt and I are campers. One of the things that brought us together in the first place was our love of nature and how important it is to protect it and experience it before we as a race, destroy it all.
On the way there we passed the great Wind power generators. The wind flows so rapidly and regularly through this canyon that there is a great wind farm here. Wind turbines as far as the eye can see. We as a country need to get our butt’s in gear a little bit more and develop this kind of power a little more readily. Wind will never be depleted and never needs to be replaced. These are things that really come to mind when you are deep in the heart of some untouched lands.
These are just HUGE! And the possibilities with these machines are endless.
Things in the desert sure know how to protect themselves!
Joshua Tree National Park is famous not only for it’s fona but also the huge rock formations. It’s quite a popular spot for rock climbers. The boulders are a very course granite & grip quite well even for non-climbers as Matt and I found out. Scrabbling over rocks is quite fun, but there is a point where you get high enough & know to stop.
Matt takes in the view from a higher perch.
It wasn’t as hard to get up the back of the rock as it looks, but it’s still really high up.
Much Climbing around was done. Though I have to admit that I’m much more of a wuss than he was about it. Though we were not as stupid as people we watched climbing around after dark with flashlights & no gear. That is just ridiculous!
Much hiking and poking about was done and enjoyed. Joshua Tree has just enough to see in a single weekend. The weather was beautiful, middle 70’s during the day and middle 50’s at night. Just beautiful & SUNNY! I don’t know how people camp here in the summer. This is the real desert people! Something in my blood, where it still deep down craves some snow, recoils at the thought of actually living in a place like this. But people did, and do.
I don’t think you could ever get over this view.
For some reason my legs look really short in this picture!
The desert was in full bloom and so were my allergies. Funny that a Minnesota chic with family all from Finland I would be allergic to the desert. Even through stinging eyes and runny noses it was still worth all the effort to hike the trails and enjoy everything I could.
And Because I always seem to see the craziest things (actually Matt first spotted this, way to go Matt!)
World Famous no less.
GOD it’s been a busy month. I’m surprised that I have any sensation left in my fingers at all!
__ Projects completed.
1. Child’s First Sock by Nancy Bush
2. Little Child’s Sock by Nancy Bush
3. Child’s French Sock by Nancy Bush
4. Leyburn Sock by Mintyfresh
5. Kerttu Socks by Paula Paajanen
6. Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark
Project Frogged
1. Media’s Socks (after I had already turned the heel on one too! but it was tiny!)
If you would have asked me at the begining of the month what my favorite color was I would have shouted “RED!” seems that yellow and green take a bit more stock in my life! Two greens & two yellows. I have another skien of yellow in my stash too!
Yarn: I Dream In Color “Smooshy” colorway Happy Forest
Needles: US 2 DPN’s
Mods: None. Knit to pattern exactly.
Verdict: Love the socks. They weren’t the most fun to knit but I see them getting a lot of use in my daily life & they have a great texture. I don’t think I will be twisting another stitch for a while though O_O
I don’t know how I really feel about the yarn though. In the skein it’s, well, smooshy but when you are knitting it seems a little bit scratchy and stringy but in the actual sock it’s smooshy again. It was weird. The color on all three of these pictures is pretty accruate. A very good green in my honest opinion 
I’m trying to make these the last pair of socks before the start date of Sock Wars, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I do have some knit pick’s felici at home that is begging to become stripped plain knit socks.
These were my Media’s Socks before I frogged them for being tiny!
Also, what do you all do with your bits & bobs of left over sock yarn? I was thinking mitered squares but does anyone else have any good ideas? I’d love to hear them!
Also, for love Thursday here are some things I love.
Silly Stallions. (I didn’t notice he had his tounge out till I loaded the picture onto my computer)
I really miss having horses. 
Mmmm hand spun yarn!
And I love time warps on the 101. I also love that my husband swerved in & our of traffic & gunned our little 4 cylinder engine to catch up to this guy so I could take a picture. He’s such an understanding man!
Have a happy weekend everyone! I’m off to Joshua Tree today for some camping time with the husband. The Mr assures me that he read that the Joshua Trees were blooming so I might have some really great pictures when I get back
Also, we have decided to hit up the Grand Canyon for our Anniversary this year. There is so much to do and my SIL is going to bring the Baba up for a visit. So deffinately a no brainer there.
Becky randomly stated to me that she was reading the Submissive Wife forum on Ravelry & being nosey I had to poke around. I guess being a UU I don’t quite understand that, but it’s ok. It makes me glad that I have the choice not to be submissive, and it makes me also glad that they have the right to. It’s not how I would choose to live my life, but I’m thankful I have the right to choose. I am thankful every day that I don’t have to live a certain way, or think a certain way and be prosicuted for it.
Faith is always a hard subject. My mother always taught me that there were two things that we do not ever talk about with people we don’t know all that well. Politics and religion. We all believe diffrent things, even as people of the same faith. We are all human with vast imaginations, views, thoughts and ideas. It is hard when there are people who like to tell you how wrong you are, but as long as they are living a good life, doing harm to none then I will gladly let them tell me how wrong I am. I don’t have to agree with it. That is the beauty of life, and of our freedoms.
This year the Mr and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary. (I think we may have been suckers to fate because not only is this the Mr’s 30th year of life, it’s also his parents 35th year of marriage too. So many big events in one year, and we are guaranteed that every 5 years it’s going to be a big deal all around, in the next 5 years, it will be our 10th and his parents 40th!)
The Mr and I don’t really celebrate our anniversary. We are not an uber romantic couple to begin with (he “proposed” over the phone when he was living in CA & I was in MN, and I received my ring in the parking lot of a Home Depot after picking him up from the airport) maybe it’s because we had a super short (ie 4 months) courtship, maybe it’s because we worked together for 4 years of our marriage, or it means more to me that he cleans out the cat box without me asking than it does to ever receive flowers? I don’t know. We love each other unconditionally & feverishly, but I guess we try to express it every day rather than in grand gestures. Maybe because we were soooo broke the first year of our marriage?
The point is that we have cruised quite easily and quickly through almost 5 years of marriage. Now that we work at different companies we are able to take a full week off work and go on vacation. This year we have planned it around our anniversary. But where to go?
We have been thinking about Sanibel Island FL, but since we now again live every day in a temperate beautiful climate, would it be as wonderful to go to Florida? Then we thought about Flagstaff AZ because I have never as an adult experienced the Grand Canyon. I kinda thought Santa Fe NM would be fun. I’ve always wanted to go to Boston (but maybe not for a full 10 days).
I just don’t know. Any ideas? We are definitely not tropical people. We enjoy crisp much more than any other weather.
Veronique wrote the other day of keeping a mental list of things she wanted to buy. I think we all do this to some extent. Some of us (ahem, me) might be a little more obsessive than others about it.
Hello boots. I love you very much.
I have been on the look out for engineer inspired brown boots since I was 15. That’s 10 years of looking for these boots. If I had been blessed with a smaller foot size I probably would have easily found them & gotten over it already. But as it is, my shit kickers are a size 12 so it’s not always easy to fofill my shoe dreams. Idealy I’d love to prance around in Sarah Jessica Parker via Carrie heels but with two patela’s that don’t like to stay where god put them it’s just not going to happen.
So what’s a girl to do? Obviously she picks the oddest shoes to add to her collection. I have blue suede loafer style doc’s, flame embossed boots (I bought them in NYC in 97 before they were cool!) a tri color suede pair of fluevogs, bright red doc 12 eyelet boots, and a fantasticly chic pair of white boat shoe inspired lacoste tennies. These ugly engineer boots are just the icing on my delusional cake.
Best side of this whole deal? I found them at Nordstroms Rack. Do you all have the Rack? It’s discounted Nordstrom’s stuff. Awesomely cheap sometimes! Also I have to say, if you have a hard to fit foot Nordstom’s is one of the best places to go, they have usually up to a size 14 womens in store, even on their dress shoes. Macy’s doesn’t even go above a women’s size 10 in store. Nice huh? Bet you didn’t know that. I can’t think of any way to make a women feel more rejected & unwanted than say that to her in a snotty tone. Especially when my average shoe costs me 120+ dollars.
These are going to be perfect for the Gold Dust Gala (which is country inspired this year)
No pictures, sorry. But HA! I just tried to get my foot in them as I have passed the heal & NOPE! IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! lol. Great. I meant this for my mom for mothers day. I think I will probably finish these off & find her another diffrent pair & give these to one of my small footed friends. I think you’d need to have a size 8 or smaller foot for these babies. God, sometimes you can really think you are a fantastic knitter & then BAM! you are proven that you are still a dope. Nice.
Another pair of yellow socks. I wish I could say that I didn’t have more yellow in the stash, but well, yellow is pretty right?
Yarn: ArtYarns Supermerino 3.5 Skiens
Needle: Size US 4 DPN
Pattern: Kerttu Socks
Mods: Well, another sock pattern that wouldn’t commit to a heal, but knitters are nothing but resourseful. Math was used & all worked out well. Details of the heel flap, turning of the heel & gusset treatements can be found here. I added more leg repeats than called for because since I was already thinking of making these slippers I thought the longer the better.
Obviously I didn’t notice that random cap by my feet when I took the picture!
Over all I loved the pattern, loved the yarn and loved when they were done. I don’t know how well these are going to hold up though, the yarn already seems to want to fuzz. I plan on putting suede slipper bottoms on these as to not slip & fall flat on my face when yarn meets tile. (Because, if you know me, you know it WILL happen)
The patterns was extremely easy to memorize and I love the effect of the fake cables down the front. Especially when they are stretched out. This is one of those patterns that looks way more complicated than it really is. So you look like a master knitter for something that really wasn’t hard. I love when that happens
All in all an enjoyable knit. A good way to use up some DK or Worsted weight yarn you all might have in your stash. You know the ones that are to much to make just a hat but to little to make a scarf? This is a nice alternitive. You won’t have to use as much yardage as me either because I’m doubting you have my big foot issues
I’m a copy cat. Thanks Cassie!
I’m # 912
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