My Teacher told me I'm a Loose Woman! (a loose knitter that is)

Look out, Loose Woman!

So, I'm taking this "Toe Up Sock" class at my LYS. We were to make a swatch simulating "in the round" by carrying the yarn round rather than turning and knitting or turning and purling. So, I got my 40" #2 (3MM) and knit my swatch before arriving to class.

Well, Mom has been telling me, "Oh that's ok, you're a tight knitter anyway!" when we talk about our sock class (we're taking it together). And I keep thinking, "Huh?!" Must be how I knit when I was learning how to knit from her. I've lived far from home until recently. So, we haven't had many chances to knit together.

Well, we get to class and the lovely teacher says, "Oh my, this is quite loose - we'll have to go down at least a needle size." I'm thinking, "Wha?" A 2 is already small - can you fathom holding something that's 3mm in diameter? Well, imagine being told you must go to a smaller diameter. They put me on a #0! That's 2MM. It's like holding twigs! Smaller even!

And - even at that small of a needle size with a DK yarn (Sock Duet DeKay) my gauge is still larger than Mom's and the other ladies in class! They're thinking I shouldn't work with fingering weight for socks as it probably won't be tight enough for comfortable wear. Wow! Little did I know, I'm a Loose Woman! Shall I start a "Loose Women" group on Ravelry now? Hee hee!

Upcoming Performance // --> Puyallup Fair <--

Attention!

Who: Raks Sehr al Shamal, Alahad Shamal, and Nika + FuFu
What: Belly Dance Perfomance
When: Friday September 19th @ 7:30 PM
Where: Puyallup Fair, Education Building

Definite entertainment!
And something different than all that Fair phoey! ;) Well, except the exciting corn dogs. Yum!

Rose Tomato Explosion

My Garden is just growing like madd! It's very very happy. I've had green tomatoes for the last several weeks. Now my heirloom beauties are bursting with color.

My lettuce has gone to seed and I'm attempting to save seeds for next year. All 7 kinds made for a delicious crop.

Somewhere buried are the bullseye beets. I've not had those before. I'll let you know how they taste.



The Roses (all 12) have bloomed 6 times this summer thanks to my repeated pruning. They're very happy, but all have the spotty rotty thing going on - the leaves turn yellow with black spots then drop off. It's sad. I'll see what I can do to catch it next year - I've been trying to keep the leaves out of the beds - that's supposed to help.

Dawgs Dragin Tail

I was invited to the UW vs. BYU game last Saturday. Mostly, the game was fun. My coworker and I had fun chatting, I crocheted a bit on my Cecilia Chemise, but dawg gone if the Husky receivers were not holding up their end of the bargain in this game.

There were moments when the team had it together. And Jake Locker has quite the arm on him. Honestly, he made it look easy. But the receivers, Ugh! Either they just had butter fingers most of the game or the BYU offensive line was just THAT good. It hurt to watch them after going through my era of Huskie football with names like Huard, Looker, and the older Tui. Yeah, Looker may not have been as famous as the other two, but they make my hometown famous, so I gotta give them props.

We decided to wander back up through campus before driving home. So, I showed my coworker the vista designed around Mt. Rainier. (look at the photos) And we were surrounded by BYU fans the entire walk back. Who knew so many would be there? Do they reside in WA? Or did most of them travel for the game?

Being back on campus brought back such nostalgic feelings. I miss school. I miss the city. Keep your fingers crossed for me... I've applied to go back nights.

Kayak through the lilly pads....

M & I went out Kayaking yesterday morning. We waited in quite a line, say 20 min or so.
We spent 2 hours on the water. We kayaked from Portage Bay, through the Montlake Cut, and all through the Arboretum. It was really lovely, some spots of the waterways were quite shallow.

Now here's the bit of beauty. I ROCKED this trip - I've got serious power on the water in a sea kayak.

I've not been terribly active as I was through college (in those days I did overnight kayak camping on Blake Island and the like). When I moved to Detroit in 2001, my extensive outdoor activities came to a screaching hault. UGH - the weather there was nasty both summer and winter. I was totally out of my element. When I moved to the 'ham, my activity picked up a bit - regular hikes, cycling, but no kayaking. Recently I've been swimming once or twice a week plus a bit of walking. Nothing strenuous.

Now M on the other hand is quite the avid swimmer. She races and has been on several teams. In my opinion, she's in significantly better shape than I am.

Guess what!? I kicked her butt! I wasn't even pulling hard and I had to constantly stop and wait to make sure she didn't get left behind or slapped up against the walls of the cut (I'm very protective of my friends). Don't get me wrong, this girl can definitely hold her own - 1/4 Iron Man, Danskin Tri, and Marathons. But, for me, little ol me, to be able to do something athletic (non-dance) so easily and effectively was thrilling and amazing to me! I've got to do more kayaking. I think I'll start checking out more rental places and maybe some day trips to finish out the season.

I'm feeling like a million bucks now!