Thursday, September 29, 2022

Rehab of Charlotte the First, Part 1

I knitted my first Charlotte’s web shawl in 2005.  You can see it in my first blog post on this site.  I wore it to our Sunday knitting group at Papa San and my knit sibs wanted to knit it, so we started a knit a long.  We met twice a week to accomodate schedules.  It is a great shawl, but the pattern is not well written. I reorganized it to fit our needs and developed a cheat sheet with row by row stitch counts.  I have knitted 4 of these so far.  This is the saga of Charlotte the First.  

Those of you who have known me for a while have undoubtedly heard about Mr Tang.  He had a penchant for eating fringe on the sly. I wore this Charlotte all the time and in would get tossed onto a chair in my bedroom in between wearings.  Perfect for drive-by fringe snackers like Tang.  

Who couldn’t love a face like this?  Especially with a drip of whipped cream on his chin😂



Here he is after a “snack-by”pass
Yummy Tang fiber source

This was after I blocked it in 2005.  And I thought he was “helping” hold it down for the photo session on the kitchen floor😂 when in fact was was taste-testing.  Apparently Koigu agreed with his palate, it is the only yarn he ever ate.  

Charlotte the First in September 2022.  Munching happened around 2012, Charlotte was created in 2005.  It has taken me 10 years to talk myself into rehabbing this shawl. 

Fringes removed, ready to figure out what to do next.  Follow my blog for the progress!




Monday, September 26, 2022

Crystal Cove Hike and Yoga on the Beach!

Fun day!  This was a guided class through REI.  Amanda was a great guide, there were only 3 of us plus her in our group.  We started at 8 and finished around 11:30 after yoga on the beach.  Lots of people were just getting started as we finished, it was quite hot and the trails would have been pretty crowded if you started after 10.  Fun! 





Tuesday, September 20, 2022

 New header!  Secret Life of Cats (and Dogz), Ala Casapinka.

Back to Blogger!

 Just trying this out because it was certainly a lot easier to use than Wordpress!  Planning a big trip in November and I want to be able to blog easily about my travels as well as post photos!  

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

This page will disappear soon!

You can find me on    allthingsknitterly.com from now on!  All of these posts have been imported to my new page--see you there!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Do you have an iPhone???? Do you have a Smartphone????

Hello there!  This is the full version of my iPhone saga.  If you have an iPhone, it is very important that you activate Find Your iPhone and know how to use it.  This is why........

Wednesday, 14 May
I met a Knit Sib at Kneader's on Avenue B at about 3:45.  We chatted away, ate a high calorie dessert and shared knitting projects/plans.  We were seated in a booth.  Another friend of ours (not a Knitter) showed up with his son.  They bought some drinks and desserts.  If you are familiar with Kneader's, they sat at the long table between the booth and the soda dispensers.  My Knit Sib left, I kept talking to our other friends.  Sometime during this time, I pushed my knitting bag which pushed the keys to the wall end of the table and they were lodged in the space betweent the end of the table and the wall, about a 1" space.  I thought it made a surprisingly loud noise.  I plucked them up and set them on the table closer to me.  I think that is when my phone fell off the table.

The other friend, his son and I all talked for about 15 or 20 more minutes.  We got up and exited through the patio door.  I was pulling my wheeled tote with one hand and had my keys in the other hand.  I walked on the asphalt around to my car, they went to theirs.  I loaded up my stuff and left.

I stopped briefly at Walgreens then went home.  I sat down in my chair and realized my phone wasn't in my pocket.  It wasn't in my knitting bag or in the wheeled tote.  I went back out to the car, no phone.  We got rid of our land line several months ago.  I was the only one who used it, and the only thing I used it for was to call my phone do find out where it was.  Funny how those phones get lost under  the paper, the mail, etc.  When I couldn't find it, I immediately went back to Kneader's.

It was no more than 30 minutes since I had left.  I looked under the table, no phone.  It wasn't under the benches or adjoining boothes.  I asked the two ladies working at the counter.  They looked at each other, said neither had seen it, no one had turned it in.  One went to the manager's office and returned, saying that it wasn't there.  I went home again.

By this time it was about 5:40.  I retraced my steps in the house.  Looked in all of the usual places where I may have tossed it-the bed, bathroom counter, makeup table, washer, kitchen island, recliner, etc.  No phone.  I put the foot rest on the recliner up, tilted it upside down and only found random stitch markers and runaway beads from recent knitting projects.  No phone.  Curt came home and I told him the story.  I used his phone to try to call mine.  It went straight to voice mail, like it does when you power it down.  He went to my car and moved the seat around.  There are lots of nooks and crannies around car seats.  No phone.  We both left around 6:15 to different destinations.  I wanted to go back to Kneaders again because I couldn't believe it had vanished.  I wanted to run my hand along the back edge of the table and check at Walgreen's.

On the second trip to Kneader's, no phone, althought they had cleaned under the table since my last visit as a toy a child behind me dropped earlier was no longer there.  I went to Walgreen's, no phone.  I got Panda take out and went home.

By this time the phone had been gone for at least an hour and a half.  I signed onto my ipad and opened up Find Your iPhone.*  There were 3 iphones listed, 2 iPads and my MacBookAir.  I had activiated this app on my previous 2 phones.  All were listed as offline.  I locked the one that I thought was my current phone.  All 3 were offline.  The prompts let you sound an alert and leave a message that will show on the screen when the phone is activated.  I did this.  I thought about calling the non-emergency PD number.  Because I had no other phone I couldn't call.

I checked on it periodically through the night.  All three phones remained offline.  I tried at about 6:30 morning, they were all 3 still offline.  I tried about 15 mintues later and it was online.  It showed its location on a map.  It was off of 24th Street in the Manors east of Kennedy Pool.  * I immediately thought to myself that I would just drive over there, knock on their door and asked for it.  As soon as I thought this I realized how stupid that would be.  I got my morning iced coffee and went to school, deciding to talk to our SRO as soon as I got there.

I saw him by the bus lane and explained what had happened.  We went into Admin and signed onto icloud and onto Find my phone.  It still showed that it was at that location but it had moved slightly.  Our SRO, Cpl Resendiz was awesome.  He took over the computer and used Google maps, and eventually Zillow with the GPS location and send an alert and a new message on the screen stating "this phone has been reported as lost/stolen to YPD and an officer is on his way to pick up the phone."  He also left a number so that the person who had it could call to report it.  I had a custom case on the phone that was a photo of a unique sweater that I had designed.  I took it to show it to him because it is easily recognizeable  and unique*

He went to the address and explaned to the man who answered the door the situation and that the phone could either be in their house or the one just to the south.  The GPS location showed it against the far southwest corner of the house.  The man said neither he nor his wife worked at Kneaders, they  did not have any kids who worked there and they had not been there yesterday.  He went to the house next door.

Before he reached the door, one of the parents in this house had seen his YPD car and had called her daughter at her school to find out what she wanted them to do about the phone.  Apparently this parent had heard the alerts and read the screen messages.  The SRO took the phone and went to her school.  He had called our Admin and told them to let me know that he had the phone was still investigating.

He pulled her from class and interviewed her, getting her version of the story, which I won't go into her, except to say that the details didn't add up.  He talked to the General Manager at Kneader's about the situation.  He returned to Cibola with my phone.  It was undamaged and without its case*, which was a surprise to me.  He interviewed my further and asked me to write up a statement.  I noticed that my start up screen photo had been replaced.  The light settings were different. *

I watched the progress of the phone from the house where he found it back to the other high school then to my school via the GPS trail on Find my phone.  When you see this signal, your phone is within 3 feet of that location.  I did not know that it was that accurate.  I did not know that I could have called the non-emergency PD number, I thought it was pretty much a lost cause.  I was not familiar with the app and how to use it.*

So---here are my lessons learned.  *******
1.  Activiate this app on your phone and know how to use it.
2.  When you first realize your phone is missing, sign on to Find My Phone and lock it up.  Send the alert and a screen message.     If there is more than one phone listed on this app you better lock them all.  It is very easy to unlock them, you will be prompted to enter the code you set when you locked it up.
3.  Retrace your steps in your house, your car, where ever you think you may have left it.
4.  Search again.
5. Send  another alert to your phone from the app.   Send it multiple times   This is better than calling it.  If you call, the thief will turn your phone off especially if the screen registers the incoming call as from "Home".  There is nothing they can do to stop the alert tone.
6.  Do not drive to the phone's location and think you can knock on the door and ask for it. To do this would be DANGEROUS and STUPID.  Call your Police Department's non-emergency line.  This is what they do.  They know how to work with theives.  They do it everyday.
7.  Do not be so naive as to think it will  return in the case you had, however special you might think it is.  The person who took it is a thief and will have discarded your case.  Do not be surprised that they have changed your settings.
8.  Check to see if they took any photos with your phone or made and calls or texts.  You should report this to the investigating officer.

Please pass this on to anyone you know who has an iPhone.  I am sure that other smart phones have similar programs.  You need to act quickly.   Don't be naive.  You need the help of your very capable Police Department.  Our SRO, Cpl Resendiz rocks!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

And your Christmas gift is..............not yet completed.............

I promise hereby that I (aka knitterati) will start my Christmas knitting in July.  I swear it.

I promise myself this every year, but especially this one.  Not that any excuse is valid here, but I have been busy.  You know, just like you have been.  Are you as much a procrastinator as me?  It's not that I didn't want to knit these things, its that I thought I had more time.  

First priority goes to brides 'n babies.  There have been a lot of them, they just pop up out of nowhere and BOOM!  I am 4 projects behind.  Right now, all the babies are caught up.  I am however, one bride behind.  I gifted three babies between October and now.  

I keep having these ideas about blogging and I need to start acting on them.  If I can also re-learn how to do photos within the blog I will add those too.

My TAs at work are mostly girls-7 girls and one boy.  The girls were easy--I made them each a beaded Conglomeration bracelet.  Easy except again I procrastinated the knitting after I strung the beads.  And I gave them before the clasps so that I could get the sizes exactly right.  I knew I wnted to make my boy TA a hat but could not decide on the color.  Had an epiphany about 4 days before gifting that I should do it in USC colors, as he is a big fan of the Trojans.  Gave it to him ready for the decreases.  Finished them in time to deliver at his house the same day, except that the decrease section looked like crap.  So I frogged and reknit, gifted the  next day.  He loves it.  

I taught a beaded bracelet at Wildfiber in Santa Monica in early November.  It was a great fun time, and I realized that it took a lot of prep time.  I wanted to be completely prepared.  I was, but we had so much fun that I could have stayed with these ladies all afternoon.  A couple of them completed their bracelets.  Again, if I figure out the photo thing here, I will add photos.

I just got back from buying gift bags and cards.  Gift bags for the gifts that are not yet finished:/
Can we postpone Christmas a few days??? 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Wow!  Spent the better part of Sunday in a Felfs class with Cat Bordhi.  If she is teaching a class anywhere on the continent where  you live, you should attend.  Well worth however long the trip is to get to the class.   I am going to my 3rd Island retreat at the end of March and I am so looking forward to it.  For now, it is late and I still have to unpack my bags.  Too much driving and not enough knitting today (actuallyI mean on Sunday).  Later!

Friday, September 07, 2012

I know it has been a long time, but check this out-----

allthingsknitterly.com

Friday, June 22, 2012

Finish on Friday!


I just finished this pair of Aquitanes today.  They are the first items dedicated as Christmas 2012.  I cast on last week an blew through them in less than a week.  I love this pattern by Sivia Harding.  I joined her Mezzaluna Shawl club last week too.   Every other month she will send a kit with one of her beaded shawl patterns complete with beads and yarn from Indie dyers.  It starts in August, I can't wait!  If you've never knitted one of her patterns, you simply must.  They are well written--a joy to knit.  I made a list of all the projects I have on the needles in order to figure out what order I should finish-there also is a list of things I am itching to cast on.  I wound yarn for an Anemone hat.  I have these socks underway to0---


I am knitting these for a friend in Iowa.  The
one on the left, with the brown stripes was knitted first, up to this point.  Then I mailed it to her so she could check the circumference,
length and fit of the heel.  She mailed it back to me, and I knitted the blue one with the
changes.  I mailed it to her to double check the fit.  In the interim I started the mates for these two, as shown below.


Yup, as you might observe, I am knitting them two at once on one circ.  Once I get them up through the heels they will be caught up with their mates.   Should be good fora few comments when I knit on them out in the real world.



What do you have on your needles?

Monday, May 28, 2012

Hmmm....What knitting shall I work on?

This was hard to decide--I need to set aside some knitting to work on over the next few weeks.  I have to be strict with myself.  The whole purpose of this exercise is to pull out the WIPs that I really want to finish, preferably before I cast on anything new.  Sounds easy.  If you are a knitter, you know it is never, never easy.  So here are the WIPs (the only ones that I will admit to.  The hidden message here is that there are more of them lurking around in the dark corners of my Yarn Sanctuary, aka extra bedroom, but we won't talk about admit to them).


Starting at the top, 12:00, there are two socks, one in the browns and one in the blues; under the blue sock is my Osprey scarf in Elsebeth Lavold silk that is a KAL with Shirley and Helen; under that is the raspberry-and-chocolate-beaded-shawl-that I-was-going-to-wear-to-Weston's-wedding-in-November-but-didn't-get -done(whew!); at the 7:00 position is a vest-drapey thing out of Rowan recycled yarn that I got at Churchmouse in April 2011; under that is a scarf out of Alcemy's Haiku fro Twist in Manhattan Beach (have!); at about 10:00 is my Stephen West KAL shawl in green, eggplant and multicolored sock yarn from Hazel Knits (Wildfibers in WA, April 2011) and in the very middle is the oldest of these WIPs, an Urban Bubble Scarf out of Blue Moon's SilkKidMo for my daughter-in-knitting (but don't tell her!)--it was so long ago that I started it that I am embarrassed to admit it. (??Christmas 2010?)

Also-not in the picture because I am working on it now--my Sweet Georgia travel socks (April 2012) in Tundra.

It would be nice to have all 8 9 of them done, but I will be happy if I finish 5 of them.  But don't ask me to designate which 5.



And here is the box of new things that I will work on.  Starting top R, 2 sets of Hiya Hiya interchangeables and my new KA Switch bamboo interchangeables,; 12 to 2 is Brooklyn Tweed's Loft for my Cambridge Shawl (Churchmouse April 2012); just below is Louet Linen Sportwt for a beaded shawl and Araucania linen blend for a Dragon Spines beaded shawl (there are two skeins here, for 2 shawls); below is 2 skeins of Pashmina in Betty Draper's Blues; bottom R Swish Worsted in Truffles for several Deer Hats; at 7:00 STR in My Blue Heaven for Karen's  socks; above that are 2 skeins of STR for a beaded Belle Nuit in the color way Rosemary Rocks(future bridal shower gift perhaps?); above that is more sock yarn for Karen.  Somehow, my unfinished Kusha Kusha scarf sneaked over from the other box.  Also poked in around the corners of this box are a liberal sprinkling of beads, some ChiaoGoo steel lace circa and a set of Addi Turbo Lace Clicks with the 5" tips (fav!).  One of the Dragon Spine scarves will get the first nod-it needs to be delivered early July.  I know I am itching to dive into the Loft Cambridge shawl.  It is fiddly to start but I hear that after a few inches it is an easily remembered repeat.

Check back for updates!


Thursday, May 24, 2012

"You've got to be kidding me!"


Have you ever tried to explain the origin of the Yuma High Criminal?

Curt did last night, to Coach Rodriguez.

Here's how it went----

Curt: I am a Football Coach at one of the high schools here.

RichRod:  Which one?
Curt: Yuma High, you know, the Criminals.



RR:  You've got be kidding, that's what they're called? How do you get away with that?

Curt:  The original school downtown burned and the students were sent to the Administration Office at the Prison for classes for a couple of years.  They played one of the Phoenix schools sometime in the 1920's and won when they weren't expected to.  It was said by the fans of this school that the game had been stolen, and  Yuma High played like a bunch of Criminals.   With that and the fact that they had attended classes in the Prison for a time, the nickname stuck and became the mascot (can you tell he's a History Teacher too?).

RR:  Nobody made them change it?

Curt:  Yuma High is 103 years old and we are still the Criminals.

RR:  That's got to be one of a kind!
*************************************
Yes, and we are proud to me one of kind!  I think we should send him a Criminal Football t-shirt, how about you?  Please vote!  Leave a comment if you like!




Wednesday, May 23, 2012

My Sock and the U of A Coaches! and Wilbur!

     OK, now I know that this doesn't hold much importance for the jocks in the world, but I just took some superb pics of some of the University of Arizona coaches holding my sock.  I know that it doesn't seem like much of a big thing, unless you are a sockSock Knitter.  And then of course, it is a big deal.
     There was a gathering tonight at Lute's Casino hosted by the U of A Alumni to meet and greet the new Head Football Coach, the Men's Basketball Coach, and the Women's Basketball Coach and her Assistant..  We got there at 5:30 and the place was absoLutely (get it?) packed.  I spotted an older couple quietly eating their burgers across the room, on the side by the Endurance Flight photo and they looked like they didn't know what was going on, why the place was suddenly packed.  I went over by their table and hovered  at an adjacent table with some fellow Cibola people so I could snag the older couple's table when they left.  After a while, I put my knitting bag on one of the empty stools to stake out the table, with their permission of course.  Of course I had my knitting.  Why do you even ask?

     When the couple gave me the nod that they were leaving, I slithered off of my stool and onto the new one.  Curt was socializing with some other people.  One of the Women's coaches sat down by me and said "I am mesmerized by your sock-that is a sock, right?"  Which opened up the door for conversation.  They had driven down today, some of the other coaches flew.  She was glad that they had driven since it was windy outside.  Then the emcee asked for everyone's attention.  He did a little intro for Niya Butts who is the Head Women's Basketball Coach.  She was really nice.  Lisa Salgado is her Director of Operations and was the one I had been talking to.    Here they are- Coach Butts on the left and Lisa on the right.  They liked my sock.  They have great smiles too.


After Coach Butts talked, the new Head Football Coach, Rich Rodriguez, was introduced.  He talked for a while then sat down at our table to eat.  He is new, from Michigan most recently.  He had been talking to Curt.  There was a place that was reserved for them to all sit, but they sat and stood at my table.  I asked him for a favor.  I told him that at football games I always sit in the stands and hear people trash talking the Coaches, including my husband.  Because of this, I started bringing my knitting and sitting a bit away from everyone else.  He said "Oh, you're a football widow."  I asked if he would mind me taking a picture of him holding my sock.  Here  is the first one----







Then he said he wanted to look like he was really paying attention and getting into it--- here is that photo.



Next they introduced the Head Men's Basketball Coach.  His name is Sean Miller.  He sat down last.  Here he is holding my sock.  He wasn't as into it as the other Coaches.  Maybe I should have waited until he was done eating?















And no U of A gathering would be complete without Wilbur the Wildcat holding the sock.  He looks pretty wicked up close.




This is the first time I have ever asked anyone to hold my sock for a picture, I think.  Definitely the first time I asked anyone of any notoriety to hold it.  Not exactly like someone who is possibly going to be the most powerful man in the world.  But nonetheless, plenty cool for this Knitter!  They will probably forget 99% of the people they talked to tonight, including me, but I bet they don't forget the sock.











BTW, I think I am going to use Blogspot from now on.  They have revamped it and it seems to have more options.  Back to my sock!



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I am getting more and more organized for my Yarn in the Yard, the 1st!.  I haven't been posting on blogspot as I am trying to wean myself off of it and onto my own site.  You can find me at
AllThingsKnitterly.com  !

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I have moved!

My blog after 8/2011 can be seen at

allthingsknitterly.com

See you there!

Friday, August 05, 2011

Mystery Shawl KAL

My mystery shawl Color choices in the Steven West knit along on Ravelry

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sparkly and all that...

Organized my beads tonight.....

Monday, July 25, 2011

Stockholm

I visited a Viking Museum while in Stockholm. We had a guide that took us through the exhibits--I was surprised that they let us take photos. This picture shows a recreation of a Viking dress.

This stone is a Celtish pict stone-found along a roadway showing directions. Sweden has an interesting program to help preserve items of historical interest such as these. If you find something like this on your property and report it, they allow you to deduct the appraised value from your taxes. Even items as small as the bracelets in the next photo.



This skeleton is believed to be a 6 year old girl.

This bracelet and ring are reproductions of Viking jewelry. I bought them in the Museum gift shop. They are heavy silver.



This painting depicts the burial grave of a Viking king. He is buried with items that he used (weapons) and things that are considered his prize possessions (see the horses, dogs) Our guide told us that the VIkings are always depicted with horns fixed onto their helmets, but that this is acutally not how they were used. The horns, according to her, were actually used for drinking and when these people were buried the drinking horns were set on either side of the head next to the helmet. She also said that they had been misrepresented in history as being berserkers but they were not at all like that. Interesting.

This is Anna's in Gamlastan---the old part of Stockholm. Bought some interesting locally spun lace weight.

Sweden is an archipelago with many, many islands. Cruising into and out of the port you pass many islands like these with summer homes. They were beautiful--if they are home they have banners flying--


I was waiting for the bus to go back to the cruise ship and ate at this hot dog stand. Check out the hanging bags of mustard and ketchup.
This is part of the Royal Family's residence. Stockholm itself is built on many islands connected by bridges. It was very clean, very beautiful.


Saturday, July 16, 2011

Helsinki 14July2010

The moon at Helsinki. This photo was taken as we arrived in port in Helsinki. Beautiful. And the city turned out to be one of my favorite port.

The Farmer's Market near the city center is unbelievable. You could dive into these strawberries and eat yourself silly.


Like wise with the greens.






This cobblestone was on the pier when we exited the ship. Mesmerizing pattern, very inspirational
Menita was one of the yarn shops on our itinerary. They had a whole 12 foot high wall of mohair in every color imaginable. Alas, no air conditioning though:(
This couple are regular merchants selling at the open air Farmer's Market. They grow the wool and do all of the processing in between. I bought a couple of mitten kits from them and some single skeins of yarn.


The Design Museum was just up the street from Menita. It was very interesting. The exhibitions covered all things Finnish from furniture to textiles to glassware to clothing. I bought this bag in their shop. I love it!

Monkey-Cat-Rabbit were joined by some new friends-finger puppets that I found in the Design Museum Gift shop. They are knitted, crocheted, and felted. Pretty cute!

Next: a day at sea and then Stockholm!