I have been working on a beaded scarf kit that I bought at Stitches this year. It is called Gilda, from Twisted Sisters Knitting. The yarn is their Rayon/Cotton called Mirage, and you knit beads into the scarf as you go. First you string beads onto the yarn, the directions say to string 7 strands of beads on. I happily knit along following the directions, a fairly simple pattern, moss stitch with a bead every 5 stitches. At the ends each panel is scalloped by sliding 10 beads between the panels, then 9 then 8 etc… Like so:

It was all going just fine until I ran out of beads with about half of the scarf left to knit. AHH!
so I unraveled the ball of yarn remaining and started stringing on more beads. (My friend, Char gave me a floss threader that works much better than the copper wire I was using) I slid the beads along the yarn toward my knitting then, the yarn broke! Beads went everywhere, in my lap, between the couch cushions, on the floor…….. now it all is a big messy disaster. I am about ready to just shove it under the couch and pretend I never started, beaded scarf? what beaded scarf? I’ve always wanted to try beaded knitting. Maybe I’ll forgive it tomorrow.

Brian has been growing pickling cucumbers this year, so every few days now a basket of them appears on the kitchen table. I could ignore them, I’ve tried that, but they just get all moldy and icky and I have to throw them in the compost pile and that goes against my grain. So I make pickles. I’ve made several batches of bread and butter pickles, and different recipes of dill pickles. (he also finally got some dill to grow in our yard too) Someone gave me a recipe for Hungarian sun pickles, but I just couldn’t bring myself to try it. It calls for alum, and leaving the pickles out in the sun for three days. I’ve tried just the standard kosher dills, and also some that you don’t process at the end but store in the fridge. I am hoping that these are more like the refrigerator pickles we sometimes buy.
It takes a couple of days to make a batch because the first step is always salting or brining the cucumbers overnight.

here are some cucumbers salting with onions to make the bread and butter pickles. The dill pickles get soaked in a salt water brine without onions.Here are the ingredients gathered for the dill pickles. Cucumbers, salt, dill, pepper and garlic.

both the bread and butter pickles and the dill pickles get packed with a hot vinegar brine. The bread and butter recipe has sugar, turmeric, pepper, and mustard seed.
Here are the bread and butter pickles getting heated in the brine.then they get packed in sterile jars, the dill pickles get packed cold and have hot brine poured over them, the bread and butter pickles get packed hot.

Then they get processed in the boiling water cannerand voila! jars of pickles!
Today I am making another batch of bread and butter pickles. I have given away a few baskets of cucumbers too, let me know if you want some. We are eating the traditional cucumber and tomato salad too, but I think Brian is just about ready to pull out the plants and move on. Tomatoes are not coming with the abandon we are used to, it has been a troublesome year for them. But that is another blogstory…….. At least I have my weaving class today so I will get to fondle some fiber.

Here is sock at the ocean. My bff Sheila has brought me to Fort Bragg for my belated birthday tradition. It is the most lovely afternoon. Shopping in Mendocino, some local seafood for lunch, and soon some more for dinner. A couple of girl movies and here we have a great recipe for my beach getaway. Wish you were all here.

We had dinner with our pal Kristi and finally got to meet her boyfriend Javi. Here they are, Javi looks a little bewildered about holding sock, but that is half the fun of traveling with a sock project. Kristi served us a fabulous lasagna and an unbelievably good peach crisp. I tried making a peach pie the next night and was terribly disappointed. It must have been the peaches. Javi works at the Berkeley Bowl and so Kristi always gets the BEST produce.

Poor sock has been dragged around to many events this week, dropping the old Mercedes off for repair, many rows knitted since the shop wasn’t open when we got there, Rose at the orthodontist getting her spacers, a few rows here, watching our goddaughter Katy perform in Grease, a few rows there, waiting to pick up Joe at drivers ed, and a few more rows everywhere. Here is Rose this morning when we stopped for a much needed latte (for me) after shopping for her school supplies.

a few more rows while sipping and chatting. This sock is just about done. I love shopping for school supplies and so do the kids. They always look forward to the new school year, it is great to start off with fresh new markers and notebooks, and a brand new supply box. Besides it is the only time of year you can find folders for 10 cents and binder paper 10 for $1. It appeals to the Scot in me.

Unpacking is my least favorite part of travelling. I like it even less than waiting and hanging out in airports. Of course when you are a knitter you look forward to waiting as a socially acceptable opportunity to knit. I got a lot done on the sock. Now that we are home I look forward to Pat's reflections about all the places we visited.

Almost forgot to show you, sock at the Plaza Hotel, no sign of Eloise though.

Uncle Peter took us on his special tour of the monuments around the Washington DC mall at night. It was very moving to see the Vietnam and the Korean war memorials. We needed a little levity. Here is Peter holding up the oblisk

And Pat touching the tip

And finally Rose and Uncle Peter in the unemployment line.

It was beautiful from any angle, we looked at the Jefferson memorial, the Lincoln memorial and the FDR memorial too. Nighttime was the best way to see them, it was cooler, parking was better and less crowded.

We got lucky, there is a B&N right on campus of William & Mary that is having a midnight party. Rose and I ventured out to get our book. We just figured out that we are buying it three hours earlier than we would have if we were home in CA. We'll try not to stay up too late reading!

Here is sock, on Amtrak from DC to NYC. We are taking Pat up to visit NYU and Columbia. It is a whirl through NY in 2 days then on to Virginia. I decided against trying to work on MS3 while traveling. Mistakes are too likely. Better stick with a mindless sock. Am trying a new toe up pattern, In Blue Moon Lightweight, typhoon tina colorway. More later.