Back Again

Whew!  I really haven’t been gone all this time, just not blogging.  Busy, preoccupied, not in a bloggy mood.  The thought of doing all the picture resizing needed to start on the WorldCon report is more than I want to do today, so I’ll start off small.

First, the baby birds flew away while we were in Denver, leaving us with

Empty nest

yes, an empty nest. A precursor to our status this September, when our daughter goes off to college.

I’m participating in an interesting phenomenon, the “doing something nice for someone you’ve never met in person” thing that the Internet has made so easy to organize.  An independant dyer on Ravelry has had liver surgery and others are organising a knitted blanket made up of squares  knitted by Ravelers and friends around the world.  Here’s my first square.

Pinned!

The requirements are: any washable fiber, green, 8 x 8 inches.  I’m taking this as an opportunity to explore some of the stitch patterns in  my new Barbara Walker Knitting Treasuries.   This is Halved Diamond, from volume one.  The yarn is Lamb’s Pride Superwash, color Midnight Pine.  Although I’ve never met the recipient, and haven’t chatted with her that much in the dyers’  forums, it’s nice to do something that will bring cozy joy to someone recovering from major surgery.

Now, off to the dyepots!  I’m dyeing the last yarn for the summer yarn club. No peeking . . .

Rose Follow-up

I ran into Jon Singer at Denvention, and asked if he could recall the name of the rose he gave me,  giving him the details: pink, striped, good scent, climberish in form. “Ah, Ferdinand Pichard!” he exclaimed, and so it is. He also promised me a cutting of another rose — my notes say  Von Steinforth, but I can’t find a rose by that name, so I clearly have written it down wrong. I’ll pass along a cutting of Ferdinand Pichard to our mutual friend Amy Thomson, along with a chunk of root from the rhubarb, another Singer gift. Thus does vegetation make humans submit to its bidding.

More Denvention reporting later . . .

Honorable Bobs

Remember the Bobs? The photo of them making a snowbob has been given an Honorable Mention in the photo contest over at Mochimochiland.  I am ridiculously pleased.  Check out the other Honorable Mentions —  the semi-finalists will be up soon. To see all the entries, go to the Flickr group for Mochimochiland.  More cuteness than you can shake a (cute, knitted) stick at!

Nap Time

The baby birds are getting quite large and feathered — teenagers, if you will.

Just resting

The past couple of days when I’ve peeked in, they’ve been asleep, the parents off getting bird take-out meals to bring back. It’s hard work, growing up that fast — I’d need lots of naps, too.

Comic Con Wrap-up; Socks Done

Here are the last few pictures from Comic Con:

Bathroom sign

I’m so glad that they weren’t allowing giant insectoid aliens into the convention center bathrooms. But the next question is, where could they go to  . . . err  . . . deposit frass?

Super Family

Comic Con is very much a family event.  This group included fans of The Incredibles, Super Girl (love the gloves!) and The Flash, plus a tiny Batman behind his dad, who is holding hands with The Flash.

Great power, indeed

But perhaps the coolest thing was this voter registration table, on the sidewalk across the street from the convention center.  They were there during all the daylight hours, and always were signing someone up.  Love it, just love it. 

 And how about you? Are you registered to vote, or have you moved since you last voted? Or will you be 18 by November 4? It’s not too late! Generally, you need to get registration squared away  by 30 days before the election, but check your local requirements.

I finished the bind-off on the Seal Rock socks while sipping a margarita with friends.  Even though it was rather chilly, and even rained during our get-together, by gum, I was determined to have a margarita!

Seal Rock Socks

The bind-off didn’t suffer.  I’ve  become a convert to the EZ Sewn Bind-Off for toe-up socks.  It’s very stretchy, and easy once you get the hang of it.   Knowing left from right is important, though.

I’ve recently purchased a blender, and have been enjoying smoothies for breakfast.  Today’s was especially good.

Peachy keen smoothie

 Put a dollop of orange juice (about a 1/4 cup) into a blender, add a roughly chopped, perfectly ripe peach, top with 1/2 cup or more plain yoghurt, blend till smooth.  Pour into a glass and  top with chopped almonds.  Yes, it’s a crunchy smoothie, and it is an oxymoron, but it’s  really good!