Doctor Who Scarf and Snow!

It is officially spring and it is snowing.  I LOVE IT!  I love, love, love the snow. Hopefully it won’t stick and make people’s commutes miserable.
I finished the Doctor Who scarf last night and when my camera cord decides to make an appearance I will post pictures. I like to think it snowed today so that David wouldn’t be too funny looking wearing a scarf to work. Yep, he wore it to work, with as close to a 4th Doctor outfit as he could manage.  We just need a hat 🙂  I love a nerdy man 🙂

Now it’s time to start another one, this time for me. I have some nice wool yarn that I got from Knit Picks all ready to go. I just need to figure out what size needles I want to use and how many stitches to cast on. I think this yearn is a lighter weight than what I used for David’s scarf (Vanna’s Choice, nice soft stuff) so I will probably need more stitches. My wrists gave a little twinge as soon as I typed that.

A nice set of needles came from Knit Picks today so I can cast on yet another pair of socks. This time I will be doing TAAT on two circular needles and I wanted to try using 24 and 32″ cables. I didn’t have those, hence the order from Knit Picks. I ordered the nickle plated this time to see how I liked them. I joined a Learn to Make Socks KAL hosted by the Knitter’s Brewing group on Ravelry. I LOVE her yarn. I have several of her colors. This pair will be done with Dreamsicle.   YUMMY.

Sprung forward

I have sprung forward. Now what? I think it is past time for us to do away with the time change. It’s annoying beyond belief and is there anyone out there that it still benefits?

The blogs are filled with people looking for the first signs of spring. And while I’m enjoying the pretty pictures of budding tulips, I am not looking for spring. I want winter to stay around a little longer. Sure the sunshine is nice and the tulips will be pretty, but then comes summer and it is so hot and miserable. Let it stay winter. That would be fine by me.

Meanwhile, my socks are coming along nicely now that I’ve gotten the heels done.

UV Stitch and Bitch

So, I often spend my Tuesdays at Knit Night.

AKA Utah Valley Stitch & Bitch – I ran across this group in Ravelry and decided to check them out. I knew I wanted to join a knitting group and the one I found in Kamille’s at Gardner Village was too far away for me to go to very often, as delightful as everyone was. I adore this group of ladies that call themselves On Hooks and Needles, and I’ve been going regularly since June of 2010. Most of them spin as well as knit and I may be joining the ranks of the spinners soon. I would love to get a wheel! Where would I put it? We meet in the café of Borders in Provo and most Tuesday nights I can be found there enjoying a hot chocolate or decaf caramel macchiato (yum) and good company.

One evening most of the ladies brought their wheels.  Nicole had just purchased a new wheel. Here is a pic of her and her first yarn.

Could she be any cuter?

Another week Kit brought her new wheel.  I’m starting to feel left out! I have decided that I do get to have a wheel, possibly with this year’s tax return, but I have to declutter a lot to make room for one. I’m leaning towards the one that is NOT portable as I like the look of it better. Trust me to make my major purchases based on how they look  😉

They spin me right round baby, right round...

The ladies aren’t really this fuzzy in person.

Denver and a dog

I haven’t felt like writing lately and I’m not sure why. I seem to have many things to write about and there is always something bubbling in my brain wanting to get out. I love the idea of having a blog and letting my friends and family know what I’ve been up to and what I’m thinking about. It’s like writing a letter to everyone all at once. And yet, I often choose to let my brain get distracted.

I went to Denver with my fabulous DH and had a great time. We left on Tuesday March 1st after a morning of packing and puttering around and got on the road by noon. We arrived at our hotel, a very lovely Marriot around 9.  It was a lovely drive through Colorado. The canyon/mountain roads were all mostly clear with only a tee tiny amount of snow. It was an unfamiliar road and dark but the Mustang handled just beautifully and DH didn’t make me too terribly nervous 😉  Apparently I’m fine if *I* drive too fast, just no one else can.

I knit about this much on the Doctor Who scarf during the drive there and back. Sixteen hours of driving. I apparently don’t knit very fast.  I was kind of amused that I could knit most of it without looking so I could avoid being carsick. I don’t know what happened, but I used to be able to read for hours in the car and never got sick. Now… not so much.

David was there to attend a conference for IT guys. MSPU, Managed Services Provider University Boot Camp 2011. I went along to keep him company and to have a little vacation.

The hotel was divine as all of the Marriots I’ve been in have been. The conference served us continental breakfasts, really nice lunches and then we were on own for dinner. It was Restaurant week in Denver so you could get a really nice meal for two at some fancy restaurants for $52.80, two appetizers, two entrees and a shared dessert  (mile high city?  5280 feet in a mile? get it?) We puttered around downtown Denver until we saw a place that we liked the look of and had a fabulous dinner. The dishes were so beautifully presented that I wanted to take a picture of the plates.

I planned on visiting a few of the area yarn shops, but bad Kimmy, I hung out with the nerds and attended a few of the classes and knitted. I also scared a few of the nerds by taking apart my laptop screen.  Apparently a lot of nerds don’t take apart their own laptops. I’ve dismantled every one I’ve ever had at least once. My poor laptop hasn’t been able to close and I wanted to know why. I had to take the screen apart to be able to see inside and find out. The piece of chassis that the hinge attaches to is broken. It’s going to be a permanent desktop now. Poor baby 🙁

We went to the Butterfly Pavilion where we got to see a wide range of insects. I held a tarantula. The place was full of elementary school kids that were doing it and I wasn’t about to let them show me up. I thought it would be creepy but it was indeed, cool.  I think the pink toed tarantulas are just the cutest.  I keep hoping Joshua will ask for one.

There was supposed to be more snow on the way home so on Friday we chose to drive home through Wyoming (here is a shout out to my distant relatives in Laramie – hello Bath family!). There were snow clouds off to the right and off to the left but our roads were perfectly clear the whole way home. We stopped and had dinner at Little America as I had never been there.  The site is where young man was forced to camp out during a storm and longed for a warm fire, food and blankets. Years later he returned to that spot and built the Little America hotel.

We got home around 11:00 at night and fell into bed wanting nothing more than to spend Saturday at home relaxing. We found out Sat morning that David’s brother was very ill and so began a week of many long drives to the hospital.

I am keeping his dog, a little terrier named Romeo, until he is able to care for him again. It could be a very long time. Romeo’s an active little guy and really cute. He’s determined that I am the Mommy and he must be close to me at all times. Jessica and Keaton mostly ignore him, but Miss Ditch is NOT amused.

These won't fit me and that DOG is looking at me.

Why won't you play with me?