Ella Noro Rasta Khan Hat

I loved the Ella pattern in the Cathy Carron book, Hip Knit Hats, so I tried it with two strands of Noro Silk Garden held together. Now that I have proven that I can knit entrelac, the hat is headed for the frog pond. It's just too big.

A quick link to the pattern errata for this book is on Carron's own site.

What is purple?

A flying purple people eater!












Purple prose that turned out to be a purple poem.

Summer Socks

I have been spending about an hour a day outside in the hammock chair, listening to This American Life podcasts, and working on these socks. The yarn is Patons Stretch Socks in Kelp. I am still not sure I like the variegated sock yarns, but after spending so much time knitting these up, you can be sure I will wear them. The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. These particular socks are knitted top down using the Waffle Rib II pattern. A caution for the uninitiated: check the website for pattern corrections, and correct the patterns in your book.

What is yellow?

I joined a swap with the theme, "What is Yellow?" and designed these cards: Marilyn's Hair, and Golden Sands.

I am still struggling with photo stamps. Because they are screened, they are fussy about ink and types of paper. I stamped the Maryilyn stamp using Document Stamping Ink by Stewart Superior, after I found that my StazOn Jet Black had gone dry. These permanent inks are a little sticky and normally produce a good image when used with photo stamps. I used a clay coat paper, but should have used glossy to get a crisper image. I colored her dress and hair with chalk. I want to say the Marilyn stamp is by Stampsmith, but I am not sure.

I had some wonderful metallic card stock from CutCardstock.com, and used it as the mount for this simple card. The John Donne quote is from Silver Crow Creations. This company is an excellent source for quotations! I paired the quote with an old PSX stamp of the beach. It is hard to see, but I used gold, green, and silver inks on glossy paper for the card, hoping that the metallic stock on the bottom would make the veining pop.

Pony Express Day April 3

An ATC in honor of the Pony Express. Before the telegraph, the Pony Express relay riders provided the quickest mail transport between Missouri and California - making the ride in just 10 days. Those good little horses were changed every 12 to 15 miles, over a distance of 1800 miles.

The Pony Express Overland Mail Service debuted on April 3, 1860. There is a National Historic Trail in honor of these riders, and the National Park Service site has photos and a history from the trail.

The Pony Express was in operation for just 18 months, but its impact on American popular culture remains.

The Library of Congress has a life history of George A. Stiers, who rode for the Pony Express as a young man, then went on to work as a scout for the federal government, and after that as a hand with different outfits in Colorado and Texas. He joined the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, made a couple of movies, and also performed on the Vaudeville circuit. Here he is describing a horse he liked to ride when he was working for one of the Colorado cattle outfits:

"Bud Roberts had a buckskin hoss that looked like a chunk of dog meat rolled in some hoss hide but it had the running works and the guts to do it. There were several hosses around there that folks thought could run and we had several races during the spell we stayed there getting the herd together. Sleepy, that was the hoss's name..."

Here is an engraving that shows the Pony Express rider passing the telegraph linemen. When the telegraph line was complete between California and Missouri, the Pony Express ended.