First, a Bunny update.
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\nMaxine, the bunny, has gone to a foster home. I found her owners, which is how I learned her name was Maxine. The owner had seen our sign, but she wasn’t planning on contacting us. She was moving her family that night, and they were moving to a rental that did not allow pets. She claimed Maxine had dug her way out from their enclosed patio. I decided not to go see if that were true, or if she had simply released her. She did give us Maxine’s better cage, which was nice. In any event the rabbit coordinator at the local SPCA found a very nice young woman to foster Maxine, and she left on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Second, I am trying to finish a couple of old projects. One of these is a counted cross stitch picture of an autumn harvest scene done in an American Primitive style from The Prairie Schooler<\/a>. I’ve been “working” on it for three years. My goal is to get it finished by mid-October for autumn hanging. I’m not much into this style of art, except for things like Thanksgiving\/Christmas holiday decorations. I’ve done the central three of five buildings, and there will be a horse and wagon and a whole lot of pumpkins and more trees in the foreground. We’ll see if I can hang in there and get it done. Yes, the “evergreens” do turn autumn colors in the design.
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Third, I’ve started Christmas knitting in a pre-emptive strike against relatives “placing orders” as they put it last year, which made me unseasonably crabby. My goal is to have all orders done with the yarn I want to use before anyone thinks of telling me what to knit them for a gift. My friend LC thinks my plan is the way to go. So here is the start of a 4×4 rib sock in Fleece Artist Merino in Lily Pond. The recipient does wear a lot of light colored clothing and open backed shoes, so I think this is a good choice that she would not think to ask for but would like receiving.
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Fourth, I finished the first Stanfield 27 sock using a star toe of three points which takes 3-inches to complete, so I could end the basketweave pattern where it would be symmetrical with the beginning. I’ve even got half the leg of the second sock done. I had my camera set wrong, so the colors are wonky (this is a “corrected” copy); but I show it anyway to prove my progress.
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Fifth, our local U-pick farm has started to get ripe berries, and M and I went on Saturday morning to pick some early Marion berries. Very tasty.
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Finally, a reading update. It’s all orange-covered books here at Molecular Knitting. I’ve finished the latest Dick Francis thriller, Dead Heat<\/em>, which he co-wrote with his son Felix. Not bad, but not vintage-quality Francis either. Too much exposition.<\/p>\n

I’m really enjoying The Soul of a Chef<\/em> by Michael Ruhlman. If you’ve ever thought you’ve taken the worst exam on the planet, and it wasn’t the Certified Master Chef exam at the Culinary Institute of America, you should check out the first section of this book. Less than one third of the chefs who take the exam pass it, and it is 10 days long, and each day is 12-16 hours long, and each section of the exam gets critiqued and graded in front of the chef, and the chefs pay over five grand to take the exam. Now don’t those qualifying\/board exams seem easy peasy?<\/p>\n

For serious reading, I’m pleased to report that I am making good progress on my goal to re-read all my Calvin and Hobbes books this year. Weirdos from Another Planet<\/em> is my current endeavor. I think it’s important to re-read the classics from time to time to gain new insights on the human condition.<\/p>\n

That’s all the random for now.\u00a0 I’d better go cross-stitch a red evergreen tree.\u00a0 Hope all is well with you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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