Because I Could

Because I could I make another set of shoelaces, I did.  This time they are for my lime green hightop converse tennis shoes.  These lace are 60 inches long and instead of the four stitch I-cord, I used three stitches.  I think they make my shoes look snazzy.  One of my friend saw me preening in my new hot pink laced hightops said,  "You know I have a shoelace maker at home?"  I guess knitting shoelaces is not as impressive as I thought.

 

Pink Shoelaces!

Pink Covington Plymouth Yarns

I think everyone who knows me knows I love bright colors.  I can't help but notice pops of color whenever I am lucky enough to spy the bright hues.  Wednesday night my friend Chris showed up in tennis shoes with bright pink laces I could only say, "I wish I could find some hot pink shoelaces too."  The laces reminded me of the eighties when neon bright laces were all the rage.  Nostalgia and envy fueling my wish the words would be pushed out into the cosmos and the wish granting fairy would wave her magic wand and make it so.

Friday one of the knitting newsletters that shows up in my email sent out a pattern for shoelaces ( http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/friedrich/friedrich.html ).  I am sure Berroco had a call from the wish granting fairy ordering them to fulfill my wish.  By Saturday night with needles and cotton yarn in hand I set out to knit myself some hot pink laces for my beloved lime green chucks (I told you I like bright colors).  The hardest thing about the project was trying to decide on an aglet or not.  After trying it both ways, I decided against the aglet.  Just in case you don't know what an aglet is, it is that little plastic tip on the ends of your laces.



Lime Green Chucks and Hot Pink Laces

 I am so happy with the outcome, I am convinced I need a second pair for my hightopped chucks. 

Though I am pleased with the wish granting fairy, I can't help, but wonder what if I had substituted the words "Million dollars," instead of shoelaces. I just might have been posting to you from Paris instead of St Louis, MO spending hot pink money.  Are you still listening wish granting fairy?

Mother's Day and Sungazing

Some days it just does not pay to be my friend.  My poor, wonderful, friend Sungazing of Sungazing Photography ( http://sungazingphotography.com/ ) knows the truth of that statement.  Mother's day I had lunch with my mom and sister in Eureka.  I looked across the table and not only did they look fabulous, but we were all wearing shades of brown.  I couldn't get the coincidence of color choice out of my mind.  I do not think we could have planned to match so well.  On a hope I called Sungazing and she graciously took these wonderful photos of us.

My mother's photo practically glows.  I can't get over how beautiful she is at 69.  She has been beautiful most of my life, but that she still retains that vitality and spark after the last 3 years is an inspiration to me.  Sungazing did a wonderful job of capturing that essence.  I also like the photo of my baby sis and I together because she is smiling.  I like it when she smiles, it reminds me of what a cute baby she was. 

I just can't thank Sungazing and her husband enough for taking the time out of their busy Mother's day to give me images that I will treasure for the rest of my life.  I am so lucky that she is my friend.  I can't really say she is so lucky to be my friend, but I hope that she thinks she is a little lucky to know someone who has such a pretty mother.

Lady Alice, Or One Damn Big Apple

I love apples.  If I could, I would eat one everyday with my lunch.  I am a Granny Smith apple girl preferring the tart firmness of that variety to the mushy sweet of the delicious family of apples.  My wonderful friends at Rivendell happened across some enormous apples last weekend and brought one home for me.  The apple was destiny for my lunch this week and today I packed the apple with some cheese and crackers for lunch.  I really only needed the apple.

The lovely apple in queston is called a Lady Alice apple.  I am not sure on apple naming conventions, but I would have called it the Brunhilda the Valkyrie apple because they are so big.   And from one big girl to another I liked it.  This apple would be perfect for that day when you want a self-contained, healthy meal to go.  I did do a little research and discovered that these are fairly new apples.  A farmer, Don Emmons, discovered the apple tree between his red and golden delicious orchards in 1979.  This parentage explains the red/yellow color of the apple's skin. 

I am not a red or golden delicious fan, finding both to be too sweet and lacking in the crispness that I love in an apple.  This apple laughs in the face of wimpy apples, each bite resonated with crunch throughout the lunch room at work.  I got a few sidelong looks from co-workers, I like to think they were jealous because my apple was so large and beautiful, not because it was so amazing loud.  (Note this is not a stealth apple, so don't sneak it in your bag when going to a movie theatre, you will get caught).  The apple was sweet, but not overbearingly sweet.  Oddly enough, I did notice that it was more tart on the yellow parts than the pink parts.
I also liked that it was juicy and overall a very good lunch.