Portmanteau

I took a nap today and then took a walk with Number Guy and Neatnik. While we did see four bunnies on the walk and I knit about half an inch of a sock gusset, that was about it for the interesting and exciting.

Yes, I know that isn't all that interesting or exciting but this is my blog and if I want to call it interesting and exciting, I will.

Or I will just call it a day of rest.

As this day of resting was drawing quietly toward a close, I cruised some news headlines and followed a few weather links. We like to follow the weather reports around here. At the end of an article that foretold a possible overnight frosting nearby, there were a few comments and I learned a new word: sheeple.

I loved it.

In which trek reviews The Candy Shop War

I had to add two more books to Neatnik's book blog this morning and one more to my own list. While I was updating the book blogs, I remembered that I'd read that Barnes and Noble was sponsoring a summer reading program for grade school children, running from May 26th to September 7th. To summarize the program parameters, your child reads a book, you write down the title and author on a log sheet along with the part of the book the child liked best. When the child has read eight books, you take the log sheet to your local Barnes and Noble and they give the child a free book.

Neatnik read nine new books since the beginning of the program, so I wrote down the eight titles and authors and asked her what she liked best about each book. I was very proud of her: she reported her favorite parts and sometimes the favorite part didn't have anything to do with the plot directly, but it was the thing that she found the funniest or the most entertaining. When we brought the sheet to the nearest B&N, we picked out a book to bring home and I thought that was it. Au contraire, mon blog peeps! The nice lady at the counter told us apologetically, "You can only get two free books."

Two? I thought Neatnik could only turn in one log sheet and get one free book. Two books? Bonus!

The second log sheet is currently sitting atop our printer, waiting for Neatnik to finish her next book. This will not be hard, seeing as how she has a stack of library books in the living room which is so high that it resembles Pisa's perpetually pitched tower and the library called yesterday afternoon to advise me that five Pet Keeper Fairy books await.

Asking Neatnik about her favorite parts of her stories reminded me of the best and the worst aspects of several of the books I have recently finished reading.

Sheepish Annie posted a while back that she had checked Fablehaven out of the school library. Sheepie and I have similar tastes in children's literature, often enjoying the same books, so I checked it out of the library. I have read the second book in the series, Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Starand am impatiently awaiting the phone call saying that the library has the next installment in the series, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague. While waiting for the arrival of volume three, I checked out another book by Brandon Mull, The Candy Shop War.

As far as difficulty level goes, Neatnik could read this book. As far as the content, no way would I let her near this one. Amazon.com categorizes this book as appropriate for readers 9-12 years old. Borders and Barnes and Noble both give it a reading level of 8-12 years old.

Mull's writing style is entertaining and the idea of candies which endow a person with (temporary) magical abilities is clever. The action moves right along, so it is a very fast read.

<Spoiler Alert> On the other hand, the protagonists are a group of four fifth graders who proceed to break just about every safety rule we try to teach our children: they take candy from strangers, lie to their parents, unwisely keep secrets, use drugs to cover their illicit activities, sneak out at night, break and enter, steal, dig up a grave, the list goes on. Adult characters lie, cheat, and blackmail. And this is a children's book?

I have to wonder: who rates children's books? What are the criteria they use?

I've also read a couple of young adult books in the past week or so. These were volumes one and two of The Veritas Project series: Hangman's Curseand Nightmare Academyby Frank Peretti. I've read several of Peretti's adult fiction novels in the past. His writing is a melding of suspense and modern Christian fiction.

I found these two books to be very fast-paced. The leading role is shared by the teenage Springfield twins, Elijah and Elisha; parents, Nate and Sarah, play strong supporting roles. While I understand that in a book about kids, for kids, with kids as protagonists, the kids have to be heroes. They can't rely on the adults in the story to make everything okay. That being said, the underlying premise of these two sixteen year olds being part of a deep undercover investigative team is hard to swallow, but if you can get past that, the stories hold together fairly well.

<Spoiler Alert> In the first volume, Peretti paints a picture of what could happen when the marginalized and bullied students fight back, using, instead of guns or bombs, what amounts to biological warfare, witchcraft, and curses. The plot is fairly well-constructed, but I have to wonder why, in a book published in 2001, didn't someone do some Googling before the last couple of chapters? Could have saved a lot of trouble plus a few lives.

<Spoiler Alert> In the sequel, Peretti again places the action in an academic setting but this time the students are not enrolled in your typical local high school. These students are all runaways who have been brought to the Knight-Moore Academy to be part of a secret government experiment. Criticisms of the current educational system form an undercurrent for much of the book. The themes of bullying and misuse of power are present as well; think Lord of the Fliesbut without the cannibalism.

I'd like to see another Veritas Project novel hit the shelves.

A handful of topics

Tonight's post might not be purely entropic, but it is certainly a Thursday Night Bullet Post.

• I am researching vacation options. Some of the destinations which have skittered through our pointy little heads include Hawaii, Toronto, Disney World, San Diego, a cruise.



• We've never been to Hawaii. How does one decide which island(s) to visit?



• Toronto is supposed to be a really clean, pretty city and it is near Niagra Falls, and we could make it a big ol' road trip, but it is just a city in the final analysis, isn't it?



• We have been to Disney and Number Guy would agree to go again but it isn't at the top of his list. I think he'd prefer Cedar Point but Neatnik's way too short for the coasters she would want to ride.



• San Diego has the zoo and SeaWorld but we'd have to take into consideration the cross-continental flight.



• Cruises seem to require booking a year in advance for the most part. Unless there was some great last-minute deal, I don't think a boat is viable for this summer.



• What's the blog's opinion: where was your most memorable vacation and why was it so?



• I was thinking about test driving a few cars next week.



• No, we aren't in the market for a new vehicle but there are a few new models that I think are pretty neat looking and I won't get to drive them any other way.



• It's sort of like trying on jeans at the store even though you really aren't planning to buy them.



• Do you think the sales people will hate me? I don't think so. It will probably break up their otherwise boring day given the state of automotive sales these days.



• Neatnik is so excited that her book blog lists more books than Mommy's book blog right now.



• I do not know why this has become a contest. I suggested last night that we could just be happy for each other and see how many books we could read together.



• That did not fly.



• Fine. How am I to compete, however, when the child zooms through three books in one afternoon?



• I told her she has to start reading longer books.



• Number Guy agreed. He told her that she should read books that can keep up with her.



• We promised that she can still read the short, quick books - just not exclusively. This way, I won't have 20+ thin, paperbacks checked out of the library all the time either.



• Neatnik's socks continue to move along, although a bit slowly.
  
  
  Objects in photo are stretchier than they appear
  
  but the matchy-matchy is still present.



• Since I wound the whole 100gm skein into two 50gm balls, and found no knots, I have high hopes for the matchy-matchy to stay.



• Number Guy went for an eye exam today. Neatnik and I had to tag along since he needed to have his pupils dilated, since driving with your pupils resembling twin black holes is not a very good idea.



• His pupils are still huge.



• While Daddy was waiting for his eyes to stop burning sufficiently dilate, Neatnik tried on a zillion several pairs of glasses.



• No, she does not currently wear glasses, but she will; Number Guy and I have had ours since childhood - as have all of Neatnik's first cousins.



• Somethings are inevitable. As CivPE says, "You can't escape DNA."



• Poor kid.



• She did look cute in several of the frames.



• I need to vent about a major complaint I have with eye doctors.



• I wear contact lenses. I have done so for over twenty years. My prescription hasn't changed in the past fifteen years, nor has the brand. If not for expiration dates, I could pop in a 1993 vintage lens and it would be perfect.



• So, why on earth should I have to pay an optometrist a contact lens fitting fee every freakin' year?



• I had one other thing I wanted to blog in tonight's bullet post but I can't remember what it was right now. I'm sure it will come to me later.



• Probably at 3am but then I will simply roll over and go back to sleep and not be able to remember anything in the morning.



• It had better not keep me up all night, that's all I have to say.

Speaking of sleep, maybe I should start making my way towards getting some. The alarm clock chimes early and tomorrow's forecast calls for many errands to be run followed by a play date (complete with pizza and cupcakes) here at chez trek.

I'm going to need all the sleep I can score.

Nighty-night.

Bristliness

If you are a reader with delicate digestion, one of those people who can't bear to think (or read) about certain bodily functions, you might want to give today's post a "bye" and come back another time. Like tomorrow. Or even next week. Wouldn't want to be responsible for anybody destroying a keyboard through projectile puking.

Steel-stomached souls ready to continue? Then, onward!

Just before the weekend, I fumbled under the bathroom sink, seeking a container of blue commode cleaning gel. Having located the angle-nozzled bottle, I turned to the closet to retrieve the toilet brush.

Armed with both weapon and ammunition, I at
tacked the Porcelain Throne, seeking to impart a sparkly finish within its watery depths. While I was swishing and scouring, I happened to notice that one side of the wire loop was a bit flat and the blue nylon bristles seemed to have become flat. They were no longer at all bristly. All of the bristliness had been scrubbed clean out of them.

Except that the brush itself seemed somewhat less than clean. Not that I plan to eat anywhere near the long-handled potty polisher, but we do expect a certain level of cleanliness in our cleaning brushes. And bristliness.

This brush had neither. It had given its all in providing clan trek with a tidy bowl. And, honestly, I will admit that I had gotten my money's worth from it: it was a Dollar $tore purchase.

I toted the brush outside to the big green behemoth which is our municipality-provided trash can and made a note to replace it.

Over the weekend, Number Guy, Neatnik, and I stopped at the Dollar $tore for a few little things and, of course, I searched for a new bowl brush. Given the use to which I will put it, I really can't stand the idea of forking over more than a buck for a new one.

Have you ever noticed how the Dollar $tore's inventory tends to be rather unpredictable? One day, you score half a dozen cat caves but after that, nary a cat cave can be found for weeks, perhaps even months, on end. Bowl brushes are the same way.

There I was, down the bathroom aisle, and I did not see a single wire-loop-and-bristle-brush. Not a one. Not even a bent and twisted out of shape one. What I did find, however, was a whole bin full of pot and pan brushes looking a bit like this.

The handle wasn't quite as long as the previously used and discarded wire loop model but the bristles were stiff and oh, so very bristly. They were arranged in a dome-like pattern for the most part but then there was also this small little group jutting upwards from the wand, sort of imitating a really brawny toothbrush. Hmm, sturdy, with many stiff bristles, contoured to reach all the way under the rim, and no wire loop to bend out of shape? And only one dollar?

Sold.

This is what we call thinking outside the box, blog people! Sure, it is labeled as a kitchen tool, but so are butter knives and I know you have, at one time in your life, used a butter knife to pinch-hit for a flat-headed screwdriver.

Why allow the kitchen gadget label define the scope and limit of this fine brush? It is perfectly shaped and suited for bathroom bowl use! It isn't as though I would ever, having used it in the bathroom, ever allow this new tool to enter the kitchen.

Sometimes, you really do have to trust your instincts and ignore the sales tag.

Except where it says $1.00.

Plus tax, of course.

In which trek photographs phfood

Fruit is coming into season! Yay, fruit!

We really like our fruit around here. It is great alone as a snack or dessert. It is wonderful with a chunk of cheese as lunch or with a waffle as breakfast. Sometimes, though, a random heaping of fruit cubes looks a little, well, boring. That's when a Mommy has to be a little creative.

I kept singing Fruit Saladin my head
while prepping Neatnik's Sunday breakfast

Sunday was the final night of a local fair. It is a really small event but the community organization which runs it donates some of the proceeds to Neatnik's school in exchange for parents helping with parking duty.

Sunday was also Bracelet Night, although since they didn't issue bracelets but, instead, stamped the kids' hands with nearly irremovable paint, shouldn't they have called it Paint Night?

We ran into a few people we knew while we were there. These dinky local fairs tend to be a good place to meet people and catch up.

While we were there, I noticed that the Minnesota State Fair isn't the only place to see food on a stick.

Chicken on a stick:
I thought the wee slice of
French bread on top was so cute.

I didn't take a picture of our annual zeppoli-fix: they didn't last long enough. And the chicken on a stick wasn't even ours. I asked a total stranger if I could photograph her food.

The things I do for my blog people.

Star Trek

Prior to Friday, it had been ages since Number Guy and I saw a movie on the big screen, so after taking Neatnik for her celebratory ice cream, we secured a babysitter and headed back to the movie theater.

Not stellar, but fun

Notice the price on the 4:50pm ticket: $10.50. The price on the 10:25am ticket is $6.00. Matinees end at 4pm now, instead of at six o'clock. Yeah, it's been that long. When this movie theater first opened sixteen years ago, night tickets were $5.50 and they offered a Tuesday date night BOGO promotion.

I think we've now met our movie quota for the decade.

Wolverine

Number Guy was on travel earlier in the week. They were taking their product on the road to demonstrate its capabilities to some decision making people. The demo went very well; everyone was very pleased; the guy in charge of the project told Number Guy and the rest of the crew to take today off. This was a cool thing since part of the product demonstration included twenty-plus hours of driving to get the materials to and from the demonstration site.

Of course, having a four-day weekend instead of a three-day weekend is very nice, too.

We placed the Neatnik on the school bus and then we considered the day before us. We thought for a little bit and then we decided that we would do something that we almost never have the opportunity to do: we went to a matinee!

Hugh Jackman is easy on the eyes.

I noticed that our movie theater is very knitter-friendly: they had personal yarn holders on each armrest. I'm sorry that I couldn't take a picture of one for you. My cell phone's camera does not have a flash. I promise you, however, that I did use the yarn holder and knit a few rounds on Neatnik's 911 sock during the previews.

Yeah, we're a wild pair, aren't we?

In which Neatnik finishes fifty

Thursday evening after softball: a good time for a Thursday Evening Bullet Post...

• Neatnik has read 50 new books so far this year.



• Not only are we proud of her, I'm taking her out for ice cream to celebrate.



• When she reaches 100 new books for the year, we'll have a celebratory dinner at a restaurant.



• I've read 50 new books so far this year but nobody has promised to take me out for anything.



• And I even completed my Support Your Local Library Challenge.



• Still, nobody has volunteered to take me out for a treat.



• Just saying.



• My back is still quite unhappy with me. I am icing it as I type.



• I think I may be sending my chiropractor on vacation to Tahiti this year.



• On the subject of vacation, Neatnik has only 12 more days of first grade remaining.



• I was at the school during the lunch hour today: the kids know the end is near and it isn't pretty. Or quiet.



• Neatnik and I saw a few interesting things in the yard and in the neighborhood yesterday, including
  
  
  some pretty yellow flowers,
  
  
  some pretty purple flowers,
  
  
  a very determined young tree,
  
  
  a well-dressed goose,
  
  
  and a positively hysterical caution sign.


• This sign is at the far end of a driveway. If you are in a car, in the driveway, getting ready to back out onto the street, there is a very large, old tree directly behind you.



• A very large, very old tree.

Upon that note, I shall bid everyone good night!

PS - Number Guy was on travel earlier this week. He brought home a pocket full of quarters to toss into the tea tin. I added a couple of quarters to the tin as well.

It's getting closer...

In which trek is reminded

Anyone care to guess what's happening here?

Similar, but not identical

You there, in the back. Yes, you, in the black tee. What's your guess?

Ah, yes. Very astute student you are. Kudos.

The sock on the left is the one from yesterday's post. The sock on the right is a newly begun sock in the same yarn, started at the exact same spot in the pattern repeat of said yarn but with more stitches and all ribbed.

Have you ever done something for so long that you kind of forgot exactly why you did it that way? Uh-huh. I've been knitting Neatnik's socks with ribbing all the way down the leg and instep for so long, I sort of lost track of why I was doing all of her socks that way.

I knit her socks with all that ribbing because a young child's foot tends to have a higher instep (proportionally) than an adult's. Or at least my child's foot does. Knitting her yarn socks with ribbing allows that extra bit of stretch over the instep while at the same time ensuring that the sock does not puddle around her slender, shapely ankle.

That's what is happening here.

Overdue

It is a very good thing that Neatnik does not manage things owed to her the way the library does because this pair of socks is long overdue.

Back in 2007, I broke my ankle (for those of you who do not remember it, I've linked to more details on the Infamous Ankle Incident) and Neatnik truly saved the day: while I was lying on the basement floor unable to get up, she ran to fetch the phone and made sure that the front door was unlocked for the emergency personnel to enter.

She was only four years old at the time. My little hero.

I told her to select some nice yarn for a special pair of socks. Neatnik picked this yarn from my stash. She liked the pinks and the blues a lot.

"Ooh, pretty! Is this sock for me?"
-Keeb

Number Guy is really impressed with how the self-patterning yarn is, well, patterning. I have to say that I'm agreeing with him. It's been a while since I worked with yarn that is truly self-patterning and watching the patterns emerge is rather hypnotic and addictive: a knitter is always looking forward to what the yarn will do next.

I wonder if there is enough yarn in one skein of Opal for two pairs of Neatnik socks.

Her feet are still pretty small...

Bingo!

Neatnik's school hosted Candy Bingo on Friday night. It's a fun way to spend a family evening. The kids in the late primary grades especially get into it, cheering when they have a number and groaning loudly when they do not.

Number Guy isn't usually a big bingo fan but goes because Neatnik enjoys herself so much. Why isn't he such a big fan? He never wins at bingo, whether is is straight-up bingo, four-corners, inner or outer round robin, or full board. Or never did until Friday night.

B12, I19, Free Space, G49, O65
Spells Bingo!

Yup, that's his winning bingo card. All of the parents let their kids bring the boards up to the caller so he gave it to Neatnik to run up to get the card verified.

So what if the prize was a pair of candy bars and a bag of potato chips: Number Guy won his first bingo game.

This title unintentionally left blank

Hi, blog people!

Mommy says to tell all of you thanks for the sympathy on the haircut horror. I don't really understand what all the fuss is myself: all of us sheep get crew cuts every year. It grows back, so what's the big deal?

I told her to do some happy stuff today, to take her mind off her hair.

Mommy and Daddy are bringing a cheesecake to a party tomorrow. I am all kinds of impressed that some of this

Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, pinch of salt

and some of this

Cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cream

make some of this

CHEESECAKE!!!

While the pie was in the oven, Mommy finished up her Rockyview Socks, but didn't take any pictures.

She did remember to bring the camera outside when she took Neatnik to the church parking lot for bike riding. There were two of these furry critters there but this one was the more photogenic.

Clicky to embiggen to check out the notched ear

So down

It isn't because of the weather.

It isn't because of the back injury.

It isn't because of having too much to do in too little time today.

It is because of the haircut.

Yesterday, I got a haircut. I've had this stylist for about a year or so now. I told her that Number Guy says he likes it when my haircut is "fuzzy". My hair is very fine so scissor cuts show easily. When she uses a combination of clippers and comb instead of clippers and scissors, the hair lays nicer and has a soft, "fuzzy" look to it. I asked her to go a tiny bit shorter for the summer.

Everything was going well. The top was shaping up nicely and she was ready to do the sides. Then it happened. There was an oops! with the clippers.

You can't leave the hair salon wearing an oops! on your head but the only way to fix an oops! is to trim everything else around it shorter and wait for it all to grow back.

Neatnik, of course, noticed my hair as soon as she got off the school bus yesterday. It isn't like she could miss it. She says she likes it but that it's "a little too short, Mommy". My child the diplomat. Have I mentioned that she's growing her hair out so she can have a proper pony-tail out the back?

Number Guy likes the haircut. He also admits that it's "a bit short". He is overdue for a haircut himself. I normally clipper cut his hair. He actually volunteered for a 3/1 cut instead of his normal 4/2. Solidarity. I don't know whether to laugh or cry: his hair is longer than mine right now. About the only person with shorter hair right now is GI Jane - and TazzDad, but he shaves his dome.

I decided: I am crying as I type.

In which trek sees pink

Our azaleas are in full bloom. Since they are on the north-facing side of the house and get a lot of shade, they haven't grown very quickly. It is a noticeable difference from when we planted them twelve years ago, but they grow so slowly that we haven't yet had to do major pruning.

Very pink blossoms

What's that hiding under the azalea bush? It's the new softball mitt I just picked up for Neatnik. Instructional softball begins tomorrow evening.

I was a little apprehensive about how much this mitt was going to cost me. This is the first time Neatnik is trying out softball. Who wants to spend a ton of money on equipment for a six-week instructional league just to discover that the child isn't really interested? I had posted wanted ads on the local Freecycle lists but there were no second-hand gloves to be had.

Full of fear and trepidation that I was going to drop a Ben Franklin, I arrived at the sporting goods store, located the mitts, and this pink and black number jumped out and burned me with The Cute.

Why, yes, it *is* a girly mitt...

The doctor says that while it is a fairly severe cute burn, it should heal fine. We could speed up the healing process by exposure to a high school boys' locker room, but I think I'll just allow it to heal naturally.

Continued exposure to high levels of The Cute, especially the pink varieties, will build a cute burn tolerance, too.

Back in the sporting goods store, the glove was tagged $14.99. I said, "Sold" and made my way to the cash register. The nice young man swiped the bar code, hit the Total key to add the governor's share, and announced that I owed him $8.53. Psych! I love to score a sale and getting change back from my Hamilton? Wonderful.

Did I mention that there's a little button near the thumb that activates the blinky lights?

Festival recap

Number Guy and I picked up the Neatnik from school at two o'clock on Friday afternoon. After a quick snack and a change of clothes, we headed north, our destination Manchester, New Hampshire.

We punched the address of the hotel into the GPS unit and everyone settled in for the ride. Number Guy was the designated driver for the weekend. I was the knittigator. Neatnik read for a while, then colored, then watched a movie. We, the front seat occupants were highly grateful for the integrated wireless headphones.

I was going to work on the right front panel of the cardigan but realized in the first row that it wasn't going to work. It was too sunny to take off my sunglasses but the yarn is too dark to see clearly while wearing the shades. No matter: I had my Rockyview Sock!

Number Guy's GPS unit seems to be programmed with extreme bias against

this bridge

and with an intense infatuation for Interstate 95. It likes I-95 so much that it sneakily refers to it by the local alternate names just to suck in the unwary driver and navigator.

By the time we realized that the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike was really I-95, we were already stuck in heavy traffic. Eventually, we were able to divert from I-95 by sneaking up Interstate 91 and resuming our journey on Interstate 84, our preferred course through lower New England.

Sock accomplished in 3½ hours of knitting -
and navigating through major traffic jams

We pulled off the highway for dinner in a little town called Meriden, Connecticut. I have no idea what else you might find in Meriden, but we found a place to eat and relax for an hour and a half. After dinner, we resumed our travel and, although we did encounter a couple more traffic slow downs, they were mild in comparison to the crawling on I-95 and we made much better time. The knitting was better, too.

Sock after 2½ additional hours -
with no traffic

In the morning, we met up with Number Guy's uncle for the breakfast buffet in the lobby of our hotel and then we were off to the festival. It drizzled on and off during the morning hours so I wasn't able to get very many pictures. Digital cameras don't do well in the rain, you know. The alpacas in the sheltered enclosures were pretty cooperative about photo-ops and these three came out pretty well.

Cimanim - ai luvs it!

Young blue-eyes

Best buddies

One of the barns by the Green Gate had a bunch of farming memorabilia. This one really tickled my funny bone. It is an egg scale. Eggs are sized for sale by their weight.

An egg scale - for sizing eggs by weight

During the morning, we saw a sheep dog competition. Most of the dogs there were just okay. After watching three dogs in a row make really major mistakes, Number Guy started thinking that maybe this competition was just for junior dogs. One poor handler asked her dog to move the sheep through the gate four times with no success! Then a pair of really good dogs had their turns and both had error-free rounds. About the only difference between those two dogs was time.

After these two dogs, we had another dog that was having a really off day. This dog also couldn't get the sheep into the pen. His handler tried three times. On the third try, one of the sheep tried to bolt and the dog brought it down. Um, guess you two are done for the day. We commented to one another then that the handler whose dog botched the gate routine earlier was probably now thinking, "Yeah, it really could have been worse!"

Other demonstrations included sheep shearing, fleece skirting, and how to train your sheep dogs.

To the older woman on the bench in front of me who pulled Neatnik onto her lap to watch the shearing, like I said on Saturday when I pulled my child off your lap: I don't know you and my kid doesn't, either. Hands off. My kid doesn't sit on any stranger's lap.

To the older woman standing next to me who congratulated me on politely telling the other woman to get lost: thanks for the support.

Yes, this really and truly happened. In all honesty, the woman is probably someone's grandmother and was just trying to be nice to the little girl without a seat, but come on, people: you just don't grab someone else's child and drag them onto your lap.

Neatnik's energy level really started to flag after lunch, so we didn't stay through the end of the festival day. I took a "sign" picture and we departed.

Old meetinghouse on the
Hopkinton State Fair Grounds
Contoocook, New Hampshire

Between the fairgrounds and the hotel, we saw a very cool sight and I had Number Guy pull over for a photograph.

About the Contoocook Railroad Bridge

We returned to the hotel where Number Guy and his uncle took Neatnik down to the pool for an hour or so.

Post-pool, we joined up with a second cousin and a great-aunt for some dinner, fabulous ice cream, and family catching up. Good stuff, but what a long day it was.

Word search

I snapped this picture because it reminded Neatnik and I of the kind of old, weathered buildings Bob Ross sometimes painted in his landscapes.

An old barn somewhere in Connecticut, off Interstate 84

We found the barn on our way home from the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. We left right after Neatnik finished school on Friday afternoon and drove north to meet Number Guy's uncle in Manchester, New Hampshire. Good times.

During lunch on the road today, we came up with a list of words from our weekend. Can you find all thirty words hidden in the grid below?

You know you want to download the puzzle,
so you can print it out and get to work!

More details and more pictures to follow...stay tuned.

Oh, and I deposited another dollar in quarters into the tea tin when we got home this evening. Have you entered your guess yet?

Swiffing or swiffering

This was a nice, easy, relaxing kind of knit. And the finished product will be so useful!

Kay and Ann call this pattern Swifty (Ravelry link). I called mine Not So Swift because I needed to rip out the first attempt due to lack of mop head coverage.

Please ignore the permanent stain
on the mop head...

The pattern states that you need two 1-inch diameter buttons. I did not have any 1-inch diameter buttons but I did have half a dozen of these 5/8-inch ivory ones.

I think using a Swiffer should be called swiffing not swiffering. What do you call it?

Rockyview socks

The pattern is written and self-proofed. If you find an error, please contact me and I will make the appropriate correction(s).



Rockyview Socks
Size
women's size 8½ foot (US)

Gauge
30 sts and 42 rows over 4" in circular St st on size 2 needles

Materials
one hank Socks That Rock Mediumweight
one set of five size 2 double pointed needles
darning needle

Yarn substitutes
similar weight yarn (380 yards/5½ ounces)

Abbreviations
c2b: place one st on cable needle, hold to back, knit next st, knit st from cable needle
alt: knit 2nd st on left needle, do not drop, knit 1st st on left needle, drop both sts

c2f: place one st on cable needle, hold to front, knit next st, knit st from cable needle
alt: knit 2nd st on left needle tbl, do not drop, knit 1st st on left needle, drop both sts

tbl: through back loop

Cuff Ribbing
Round 1: [p1, c2b, p2, k1, p2, (k2, p2)4x, k1, p2, c2f, p1]2x
Rounds 2-4: [p1, k2, p2, k1, p2, (k2, p2)4x, k1, p2, k2, p1]2x

Leg Pattern
Round 1: [p1, c2b, p2, k20, p2, c2f, p1]2x
Rounds 2-4: [p1, k2, p2, k20, p2, k2, p1]2x

Instep Pattern
Round 1: p1, c2b, p2, k20, p2, c2f, p1
Rounds 2-4: p1, k2, p2, k20, p2, k2, p1

Foot Pattern
Round 1: p1, c2b, p2, k20, p2, c2f, p1, k30
Rounds 2-4: p1, k2, p2, k20, p2, k2, p1, k30

Cuff
Cast on 60 sts. Divide evenly over four needles. Join, being careful not to twist. Work Cuff Ribbing for 18 rounds, beginning with Round 3 and ending on Round 4. The length of the cuff should be approximately 2" (5cm), being sure to end on Round 4.

The cuff ribbing is bilaterally symmetrical about
the center line of the sock, front and back, with
the cable motifs arising from the cast on edge.

Leg
Work Leg Pattern for 43 rounds, beginning with Round 1 and ending on Round 3. The length of the leg below the cuff should be approximately 3¾" (9.5cm), or desired length, being sure to end on Round 3.

The cables begin in the cuff and continue
through the leg and down to the toe.

Heel Flap
Worked over the 30 sts on needles 3 and 4.
Row 1: sl1, p2, k2, p20, k2, p2, sl1
Row 2: k2, sl1, p2, (sl1, k1)4x, sl1, k2, (sl1, k1)4x, sl1, p2, sl1, k2
Work Rows 1 and 2 of heel flap 15 times (30 rows; approximately 2¼") or until heel is desired depth.

Turn Heel
Row 1: sl1, p16, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 2: sl1, k5, ssk, k1, turn
Row 3: sl1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn
Continue as established until all stitches have been worked (18 sts rem).

Gussets
You'll be renumbering the needles now. Place nine of the heel sts on a new needle. This is going to be needle 1 for the gusset decreases. (The other nine sts are on needle 4.) Pick up 16 sts along the heel flap (needle 1). Work the instep sts on needles 2 and 3, starting with Round 4 of the Instep Pattern. Pick up 16 sts along the heel flap (needle 4), knit to the end of needle 4.

Gusset Decreases
Round 1: k9, k14 (tbl), k2tog (tbl), work instep Round 1, k2tog (tbl), k14 (tbl), k9
Round 2: knit to last 3 sts of needle 1, k2tog, k1, work instep sts as est (needles 2 and 3), k1, ssk, knit to end of needle 4
Round 3: knit all sts on needle 1, work insteps sts as est (needles 2 and 3), knit all sts on needle 4

Repeat rounds 1 & 2 of gusset decreases until 60 sts rem (15 on each needle). You'll end on Round 4 on the Instep Pattern. Knit the 15 sts on needle 1.

I used Cat Bordhi's Hungry Stitch technique
for the ssk decreases here in the gussets
and also later for the toe shaping.

Working the first gusset round through the back
loop adds an extra little bit of visual interest.

Foot
You'll be renumbering the needles now to the original scheme. The instep sts are on needles 1 and 2. The sole sts are on needles 3 and 4.

Work the Foot Pattern for 43 rounds (or desired foot length), beginning with Round 1 and ending with Round 3. This continues the cables as est.

Toe
Next round, p1, k2, p24, k2, p1, k30. This forms a faux seam on the top of the sock.

The faux seam adds a touch of class,
in my humble opinion.

Round 1: (k1, ssk, work to last 3 sts on next needle, k2tog, k1)2x
Round 2: knit
Work Rounds 1 and 2 until 28 sts rem, ending on Round 1.

Finishing
Graft rem sts. Weave in ends.

Now I need a title

Welcome to Thursday Morning Bullet Posting. Let's dive right on in, shall we?

• I recently named a computer role-playing game character Ninan.



• That little gem just went so well with today's post title.



• All of my Wednesday morning students have completed their final tests, so I don't have to drive clear across the county in the dark on Wednesday morning any more. Or at least until the next time I draw an 8am class at the remote learning center.



• My Monday students will wrap up their semester next week.



• I baked some New York deli-style crumb buns yesterday afternoon. It makes a great tasting after-dinner snack.



• I made a quarter of the recipe for the cake part and a half recipe for the crumb part.



• Yes, we really like the crumb part. Why do you ask?



• I also decreased the baking powder by half.



• Recipes are a guideline and we really like the crumb part and not a lot of "loft" in our crumb buns.



• Number Guy saw something cool in the yard this morning and asked me to get a picture of it. There's nothing here for scale, since I had to telephoto this rabbit from the second floor window, but trust me: this is one big backyard bunny.


Who are you calling "big"?
• Photocopying cable charts and mindlessly swapping all of the front crossing things for back crossing things (and vice versa) does not exactly work. I discovered this yesterday when I tried to reverse a particular instruction and realized that if I reversed that particular instruction, the outer parts of the cable would look like an hourglass outline instead of a plump oval.



• I stopped to consider the problem for a few minutes. The new plan is to reverse all of the twists which are (a) in the centers of the cables and (b) are executed solely with knit stitches.



• Note to self: think these things through before posting grand schemes.



• The sock pattern is moving right along. I am nearing the toe and hoping to take some halfway decent pictures of the design details to go with the pattern posting.

So, there they are, today's bullets, even thought they are a lot more like BBs than actual bullets.

Hope you have a great day. Stay warm and dry and don't forget to enter your guess in the Quarter QContest.

Guess how much

I have a preferred brand of loose leaf tea. Over a year ago, I learned that Amazon sells Twinings English Breakfast Teain mini-cases of six 3.5oz tins through their Subscribe and Save program. This means several things:

• Amazon discounts the product 15% from their regular price.
• Shipping is free.
• The customer sets up a schedule and does not have to worry about running out of the product.
• Amazon sends email alerts when it is getting close to time to order so the customer has the option of delaying shipment.
• The customer can also login to their account at anytime and request an early (or additional) shipment.

The upshot of ordering my tea this way, apart from saving a bunch of money on it, is that I have a lot of these 3.5oz tea tins laying around the house*. They are awfully useful. I now store my baking soda in one. The tin is impervious to humidity and it keeps the baking soda from clumping. It is also easier to get a measuring spoon into the tin when the powder level is low than into that tall cardboard box from the company. I just cut part of the baking soda label from the box and taped it to the tea tin with packing tape to identify the new contents.

What else are we storing in tea tins? Coins. We used to dump all of our change into an old mayonnaise jar with a slot punched in the top. Now, we sort the change by type into three tins: one for pennies, one for nickels and dimes, and one for quarters. Each one is "labeled" with a coin taped to the outside.

We having been filling the tin for quite some time now with a goal in mind: when the tin is full, when not another quarter can be jammed inside it, we shall dump out all of the quarters, count them, roll them in coin wrappers, and bring them to the bank to exchange for folding money. Then, we shall take our folding money with us and go out for a nice dinner. At this time, there is more than $70 in the tin.

So, why should my blog peeps care about how we stash our pocket change? Because this stashing is part of my blog contest. Having done a variety of blog contests in the past, this time I thought I would do something different and yet entirely simple and traditional. Your mission, should you choose to participate, is to guess how many quarters will fit into the tin.

To help you out, here are a few pictures:

The front of the tin is about 3½" x 3½"

The side is about 3½" x 2½"

The tin is close to full

Updated 06 May 2009, 9:50am: Due to the confusion of the first few guesses, I've clarified the guess parameters:

Enter the contest by leaving a comment on this post with your guess for how much money (in quarters) will fit in the tin, remembering that I already told you there is more than $70 already in there. I can't promise *exactly* when the contest will end since it all depends on how many quarters turn up in our pockets at the end of the day.

*Despite reusing a bunch of tins, I realized a couple of weeks ago that a year's worth of empty tea tins is probably more than any household really needs and recycled about thirty or so.