WIP Wednesday - 6/21/2023

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my knitting gauge was spot on after blocking my swatch; so, I started my new summer sweater.

In other news, our usual hotel when we visit our oldest son is still under construction. It really needed the updates.

MK out.

FO Friday - 3/17/2023

Happy St. Paddy’s to the stalwart three who actually read this blog!

I have an FO today, but it needs a bath and a block. Here’s a sneak peak:

You will get to see it next week after I’ve taken glamour shots.

Here’s a few snaps taken in one of my favorite cities, for distraction and entertainment purposes. #iykyk

I may have purchased some fabric there that may be turned into something that y’all may see on this blog someday.

Have a great weekend!

MK out.

Movie Monday - 2/13/2023

Kia Ora y’all! I haven’t had a chance to watch any movies, since I’m out touring New Zealand, but I did visit a movie set yesterday.

MK out. 

Book Chat - 2/9/2023

Our trip down under has begun. We landed in Auckland yesterday morning NZ time. I started a new book on the plane. I would like to finish it, but my iPad ran out of juice. We need to purchase current converters.

I did finish one the other day though!

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

When a beloved couple drown on their way to a romantic sail for their anniversary, many secrets affecting their tight-knit group of friends come to light. It was so good! 

MK out.

FO Friday - 7/6/2018

I finished a pair of socks recently.

Pattern: Plain Vanilla Socks with a Fish Lios Kiss Heel
Yarn: Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs Strychnine in Fresh Start
Comments: Nice base...too bad the company went out of business.

In Iceland.

Having a wonderful time.

Wish you were here.

MK out.

I'm Back!

"Since my last post, I've been doing lots of celebrating. Firstly, we are in the middle of the infamous Birthday Season - which started a little early this year; more on that in a bit. Secondly, this past Monday marked the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of Chez Merry Karma.

Y'all know by now that my Birthday Season starts on September 15th every year, but several days before, we set out on our 30th Anniversary European Extravaganza. This post will be first in a series...of not too many, I promise.

We landed in Frankfurt in the morning. Since our hotel room wouldn't yet be ready, we jumped in our rental and headed to Wurzberg, the home place of the Dallas Mavericks' beloved player, Dirk Nowitzki. Apparently, he had founded a youth basketball program here.

A scene from the town:

We ate lunch there - and it was quite good. I was looking forward to eating German food and I wasn't disappointed at all.

The next day, we set out for Munich, but made a quick stop in Pfaffenhofen. Maybe, some of the knitters will recognize that it is the home of Wollmeise:

Here's a pretty building in the town square:

That evening in Munich, we took the train to a shopping/eatery district. I love this old cathedral:

Sadly, Oktoberfest didn't start for another week, but our restaurant had their beer offering available and we had some with our "appetizer":

The next day, we got up and headed to Switzerland. The drive was beautiful.

We had lunch in Innsbruck, Austria - with a view of the Olympic ski jump.

We drove through through Liechtenstein:

Tune in next time...more Alps and other cool stuff.

MK out.

Knitting on the Wild Side...

So, I got to go to a knitting retreat with Lucy Neatby and a few other folks.  The setting was a little island off the coast of Nova Scotia called Big Tancook Island.  The big is relative, and is used to differentiate it from Little Tancook Island.

The Husb and I drove there, making a couple of important stops along the way...

 


We went to WEBS...and I didn't buy yarn!!!  

I know, right?

 



We took the factory tour at Ben & Jerry's...and we got to taste the flavor that they were packaging up that day.  Yum!





We watched the marine layer roll in at Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor....
 
 


....and watched the action at Thunder Hole.  It was pretty impressive.

 


Finally, the husb dropped me off and I boarded a ferry to Big Tancook with a group of eager knitters.

 

We were treated to a nice mixer and dinner the night before classes started. 

 














Lucy brought Fiona over for a visit.

 

The cottage where I stayed had a great view.

 


There was no shortage of food...

 

 ...or drink.

 

In fact, it seems that we were always eating.

 

Like - all the time!

 

There was a girly fort...

 


...complete with chandelier.

 

We even became honorary Tancookers.

 

We really did have classes and we learned quite a bit. Lucy is a wonderful teacher, and if you ever have the chance to take a class from her - do it!!!  

The retreat was more than knitting though and I have many great memories that I will always cherish.

MK out.

FO Friday - 9/28/2012

My bloggy hiatus is still in effect, but I have some things to share; so, I thought I'd put them out there.

I recently returned from a little trip that involved knitting.  I will tell y'all all about it very soon.  Monday's picture had something to do with it. I will not be giving specifics about the picture, though, because what happens on Tancook Island, stays on Tancook Island...sorry.

While on said adventure, I made three hats.

The Tancook Hat - a Lucy Neatby pattern, using Kauni yarn and 8mm circulars:



A hat for Barrie - an improvised pattern using MacAusland's Woollen Mills 3-ply medium naturals yarn and 4.5mm needles:



A hat for Patsy - another improvised pattern, using Briggs & Little Softspun yarn and 4.5mm needles:



Barrie and Patsy owned the cottage where I stayed during my adventure.  They are marvelous people who happen to be from Massachusetts and they happen to spend several months of the year at their cottage in Nova Scotia.

I finished a gift except for grafting the toes.  (Hence the not-so-artistic, artistic shot...)  I used Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband and two 2.25mm circular needles:



I did finish another project, but I don't have a picture of it, and it is currently residing in Nova Scotia.  I hope to be receiving a shot of it soon, at which time, I will share it with y'all.

Since I didn't do a WIP Wednesday post this week, I am going to go ahead and show two partially completed projects.  First, I am so close and yet so far away from finishing the Tara socks. 



They are my April 2012 socks...so what's a few more weeks?  I think I have about forty rounds left to go...

And then, there are the September 2012 socks, aka Pillars.  The heel flap is next:



Don't ask me about the August 2012 socks.  They've been banished to the corner like a naughty school child.  I don't really know why, except that I do not like the needles they are on and need to finish the Tara socks to use those.

So, that's me...How about you?

MK out.

Yes Virginia...

...there really are Knitting Police.



MK out.

Movie Monday - 9/05/2011

Not much movie watching this past week:

Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Ian McShane and Geoffrey Rush star in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  Captain Jack Sparrow is forced to find the Fountain of Youth after being hoodwinked onto Blackbeard's ship.  It was not the best effort of this series.

They remade 1984's The Karate Kid, but this time, Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan star as the pupil and teacher.  Dre Parker and his mom move to China from Detroit.  He is harassed by the class bully, who happens to be very good in kung fu.  The maintenance man comes to his rescue by teaching him the secret to succeeding in the martial arts.  It was cute. 

The 400 Blows is an old black-n-white (subtitled) French movie from 1959. It is thought to be one of the founding films of the French New Wave. It is said to be based on the director's early life.  In it, Antoine is a young teenager who is misunderstood and typecast by his teacher and fairly ignored by this parents.  He spends most of the movie either skipping school or running away from home.  He resorts to petty crime. At their wits end, his parents turn him over to law enforcement.  He ends up in a juvenile detention facility, and ultimately runs away from there. I liked it.

There was some baseball watching.  Notice where our group sat:



In June (the birth month of The Husb), a trip to Boston to watch the Rangers play the Sox in Fenway Park was arranged.  It was supposed to be part of an RV trip that would have included stops in Vermont, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.  Unfortunately, situations at home prevented an extended amount of time away; so, we flew to Boston just for the games.

The Rangers won Friday night, 11-0.





On Saturday morning, we had a little tour of Fenway.  We went inside the Green Monsta':



The group spent a little time with Michael Young:



We watched a little batting practice:



We were acknowleged on the Jumbotron:



Unfortunately, the Rangers lost that game, 7-11.

They did come back and win on Sunday, 11-4.  We watched that game at the airport...our flight was a little delayed.

MK out.