Where do the days go?

Somehow it has been a week since I last blogged. I don't know how that happened. Really, I write a lot more frequently in my head, but that is probably hard for everyone else to read. Knitting continues. The good news is that I've made some headway on some new designs (yay)! Being creative to a deadline is hard; it is also difficult to take time out of a day and say, "Ok, right now I am going to go an create something new." I find it easier sometimes to work the creativity into the nooks and crannies of the day. Of course, when the creative juices really get flowing, that's when I'm screaming for a big chunk of time, and that's when I don't have it. Murphy's law will always get you. I'd really like to take some time out and do some "funky art stuff" but I haven't found any time lying around in bottles. I'll keep looking, though.

Nashville registration got mailed off Monday - hopefully we'll make the cut again this year. I've really got to get on the ball because February is much closer than you think (stitching-wise)! Unfotunately, all of my best ideas right now are Halloween-themed - which need to be released in early summer. I'll stick those on the back burner for next summer.

I've got some other goodies simmering in the works, but I dont' want to say anything official yet, so I'll just have to tease you by saying that hopefully you'll be seeing Cross Eyed Kat in more LNS's soon. Also, I hope to be diversifying a bit soon. :) We'll see how it goes.

My new obsession

Recently, a pair of light-up knitting needles came into my possesion. For a techno-geek crafter, these were just too cool. They appeal on some fundamental level both geekiness and crafting. It became apparent that I must learn to knit - these light-up knitting needles had to be put to use! Luckily, my manager at the day job is a knitter and gave me a lesson and some extra yarn. Soon I was making a baby blanket! Now, I don't know what baby I was making the blanket for, but I was tootling along fairly well. A blanket, even for a baby, is a fairly large item, and I was starting to run out of room on my super cool light-up knitting needles. I also found that they were a bit awkward at the baseball game; I had to be careful not to hit anyone sitting next to me. An expedition to the "Yarn Store" was in order as I needed to upgrade my needles to circular needles.

The Yarn Store was much like an LNS for a craft-junkie: fiber heaven. I was very good, and bought only the circular needles I needes and one pattern I really liked.

One pattern, is all it takes though. Much like a new cross-stitch design that begs to be started, the knitting pattern occupied my thoughts. What yarn would work with it? I had to learn about gauges and weights. I was sent links to online yarn stores. I had another problem: the pattern was written in another language that was accented by cryptography. Full of funny letters and symbols, I borrowed a book to dycrypt the secret language and learn the stitches I didn't know. Finally I found a yarn that would work I started the design. I worked through the border and was very excited when I changed to the second color. Then I had a problem. I didn't like the second color. I thought about another color, and a third. I bought balls of these colors of yarn (luckily I wasn't using very expensive yarn). I did a test bit with the second color, even stitching a portion of the sleeve. Hmmm...maybe. I stitched on one portion, then the other. I did a test swatch with the third color. Definitely no. Finally, I went back to look at the yarn colors (why weren't there more?) and made a terrible decision. I would have to start over again. Two brand new colors were selected, but they would definitely work this time.

So that is where I am. Knitting away. But I will put the knitting away for a time this weekend and work on the cross-stitch designs because they are starting to invade my dreams! They are demanding attention!

Jury Duty and Migraines

I had put it off long enough, twice in fact, so it was finally time to go and do my public duty. Although the county has this handy-dandy website that lets you reschedule your jury duty if it does fall on an inconvienent day, you only get to do that twice. I got to the jury room in plenty of time, and settled in with my latest obession, knitting (a post on that later). An hour later, they started calling jury pools, and I was in the first one. Lucky number 42 of 65. Roll call and then they troop us all down to the criminal courthouse. I managed to cause a bit of a stir at the security station with my knitting needles and the scissors I had forgotten were in my stitching bag, but the nice security guy decided my scissors were too small to cause any damage, so they didn't have to hold them for me. Then up to the 16th floor and more waiting. Finally we go into the courtroom. The last time I had jury duty we never went into the courtroom - the person plead out while we were standing in the hallway. Anyway, we sit in the benches in order so the lawyers can know what number we are. The judge talks to us for about 45 minutes and asks a few questions of the panel like, "Does anyone think a policeman is always right, or has anyone ever had a problem with a policeman?" and "Would anyone hold it against someone if they didn't testify in their own defense" Then each set of lawyers talked for a while and asked their own set of questions. The only time I raised my hand was when they asked if anyone was related to a police officer. I thought for sure I was going to be picked because a bunch of people had raised their hands to other questions. About halfway through, I started to get a headache and feel bad. I knew this wouldn't end well. Luckily they didn't pick me - I guess they didn't like something basic on my form or that I was related to a police officer. Unfortunately, now I had a migraine hitting in full force. How to get from downtown Houston back home? The only way was to drive and drive fast! Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad yet. I made it home, barely. The couch was the only place for me the rest of the evening.

Tonight we watch the Tour de France go to L'Alpe d'Huez. I've been avoiding hearing the results all day, so it should be exciting!

What I did on my summer vacation

It has been pretty quiet around here, hasn't it? Well, that's because the cat went to the kitty hotel (i.e. the vet's) and DH and I went to visit the FIL at his new digs in Denver. We did help some with the unpacking and reorganizing, but we also found some time to enjoy the change of scenery!

And what a change of scenery it is! Here I am on the approach to Independence Pass - which is around 12000 ft above sea level. Independence Pass is also on the Continental Divide and is closed in winter. A Ferrari passed us on this road (we believe it was headed to Aspen). We had dinner in Aspen at a nice little Italian place. Everyone in Aspen has dogs - big ones. We passes a Needlepoint and Yarn store in the shopping district there, but it was already closed. By a strange coincidence, we were in Aspen the day Kenneth Lay died there, though we wouldn't find that out until later.

My husband, being the wonderful person he is, suprised me with a Fourth of July Hot Air Balloon Ride in the mountains!

It was fabulous! There's no sensation of movement at all - you just glide through the air. We saw a red-tailed hawk, a herd of elk, deer, and a guy in a hot-tub! The mountain views were magnificent, and when we landed there were mimosas and muffins for everyone!

For the rest of the 4th of July, we took in a baseball game in Denver - but it was rain delayed. I'm not quite sure how this happens, we never have a problem with rain at the baseball games in Houston and our friends tell us it never rains that much in Denver! So we missed the fireworks, but I heard the Rockies still won. Oh, yeah, we've got a retractable roof at Minute Maid Park in Houston - that would keep out the rain (and the heat).

Late in the week, we decided to go on a little hike up a little mountain.

Here's the trail (it is the light brown squiggly line along the bottom left - the car is somewhere back in the dark green blob in the middle):

And here we are at the top:

And here's the Altimeter reading near the top:

In case you can't read that - it is over 14200 feet. Yes, we joined the 14er's club. Ow ow ow. That's my leg five days later complaining about the climb. By the way, 14000 feet is really really high (we started at around 11200) and the whole hike was 8 miles - 4 miles in, 4 miles out. Eight miles wouldn't have been a problem at sea level but I have a problem breathing at 11000 feet because someone left out the oxygen. Lets just say it took a while, but I made it. Of course, once you make it up, you do have to make it back down, so as Dory might say, "Just keep hiking, just keep hiking." And for the record, I'm not afraid of heights, I'm allergic to them.

Made it to the top of Gray's Peak, check. Made it back to the car, check. Had fantastic pizza in Denver post hike - mental note to have post hiking comfy shoes ready next time (if there is a next time). Also post hike we went to see "Wired to Win" at the Denver Museum of Natural Science IMAX which combines a storyline about the Tour de France and some science of learning stuff. I think the science part was a way of getting funding to make an IMAX movie about the Tour de France. If this movie is showing in your area (and you like cycling), go and see it. The Tour shots are gorgeous. And you learn things about nerouns.

All in all, Denver was fun, but extremely busy; I didn't even make it to the LNS which is shocking! I know we'll be back, so that is good as it takes the pressure off to see everything - 16th St Mall, Royal Gorge, Estes Park, and the like. Now to settle back into the real world, back into a world where the air is so thick I can slice it with a knife and eat it. Yum. Oxygen.