**Very picture heavy post** 

To bring you up to speed, here’s a little backstory. So, without further ado - the KB5 is finished! Well, all but the flatbed (I’ll save that for another post).

1949 International KB5 - The horn and electric windshield wipers even work.

My Dad spent three weeks buffing this grill - by hand. Began as a very dull nickle - now it’s so shiny I could use it to apply eyeliner.

Overheard:
Dad: It makes sort of a gurgle sound (insert more mechanic speak here).
Red Hat: Throw a couple marbles in there, that’ll fix her.
No Hat: Nah, burn some kerosene.
Dad: I was just thinking that.
Me: What?!?!?!

How do I make this go? (Of course I had to have some nephew shots…. they were all over this place like white on rice).

Love Granpa’s truck

Yep, I drove it. I had to - he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Dad’s John Deere B (with spoke wheels, apparently that is a big thing) - this was also a hit, but not as much as the truck.

More nephew shots…. Totally can’t resist (He spent most his time up a tree).

Earlier in the day: Garden omelete - sans cheese. Wheat Challah toast with strawberry compote with…….

Ashley and her breakfast. Sorry Ashley - I’m can’t remember for sure what the name of this was, but it certainly looked tasty. Almost as good as the knitty conversation. Then, there was just a smidge of yarn buying:

Jade Sapphire 6ply - 40% off!!! 5 skeins totaling 750 yards.

Had to throw in an action shot.

After the down pour - Of course there was rain (and another power outage!).

What’s your favorite way to spend a summer weekend?

Ellen tagged me.

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

• Ten years ago my only sister had just been married, Plucky girl was 6 (and was the toothless flower girl), I’d been married 7 years and was working as an executive assistant to the owners of a fire protection company and had NO idea how to knit or that I even wanted to learn.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?

• Get on treadmill, do laundry, clean the house, go to the bank and make arrangements to get our A/C fixed.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

• Dark chocolate. Spicy cilantro hummus. Fresh fruit. Fresh veggis. Ice Cream.

4. Places I’ve lived.

• Michigan. Michigan and Michigan. How about places I’d love to live…. Now that’s quite a list.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Buy a dumpy little cottage (with tons of character, of course) by the sea and fix it up. Make sure my family was taken care of. Travel. Travel. Travel. Give a bunch away.  

6. What are some jobs you’ve had.

• Babysitter, Rug Doctor character at a trade show (hey, I was 16 and it got us a trip to Chicago and San Francisco, right Niki?), assistant at a substance abuse clinic (among other things, I had to, um, watch the female participants deposit their samples to be sure they were theirs… and fresh), Executive Assistant, Office Manager.

7. People I want to know more about: Consider yourself tagged!

A little handspun eye candy~

Gherkins Bucket - Love!

MudCreek Handspun. WOW!

Everyone, meet Carol - Carol, everyone.

Maxx New York Sonata Satchel (from the !!clearance rack!! at Nordstrom in Seattle). Had to have something to carry all that yarn home in….

Dee always has fun questionnaires. Here are my three things and, please feel free to play along.

Three Things That Scare Me

1. Rodents
2. The unknown or what if’s (sometimes I just think too much)
3. Airplanes

Three People Who Make Me Laugh

1. Gavin
2. Mr. Plucky
3. Sam (I know he’s my dog, but seriously, he makes me laugh - a lot!)

Three Things I Love

1. A pedicure 
2. Farmers Markets
3. Watching an old movie while knitting or dyeing yarn

Three Things I Hate

1. Bananas (with all my heart and soul I hate bananas)
2. Raw meat (won’t touch it)
3. Computer trouble

Three Things I Don’t Understand

1. Unreasonable people
2. Hedge Funds
3. HTML (would very much like to learn)

Three Things On My Desk

1. Yarn
2. Back issues of Martha Stewart Living (thank you Mary!)
3. A Zeiss Microscope and eye pieces

Three Things I’m Doing Right Now

1. Listening to iTunes
2. Wishing for warm weather
3. Making plans

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Go to Europe
2. Have a successful small buisness
3. Live in a tiny cottage by the sea (or at least stay in one for a while)

Three Things I Can Do

1. A back bend
2. Dye
3. Remember alot of very random, odd  and obscure bits of information

Three Things I Can’t Do

1. Touch my tongue to my nose
2. Alegbra
3. Eat a banana (nope, can’t. Physically incappable).

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To

1. Your Dad (or suitable parental unit or subsitute… you know, someone you are certain has your best interest at heart)
2. Wait, Wait - Don’t Tell Me on NPR
3. Frank Sinatra

Three Things You Should Never Listen To

1. Your insecurities (one of these days maybe I will take my own advice)
2. A Naysayer
3. Hmmm. Must give that some thought.

Three Things I’d Like To Learn

1. To bake good bread
2. To speak French
3. To Sew

Three Favorite Foods

1. Ice Cream
2. Grilled Asparagus
3. Soda Bread from Paddy Coynes (now if I could just figure out how to get some from Tacoma….or the recipe). Anyone know of a good soda bread recipe?

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid

1. Little House on the Prairie
2. Family Ties
3. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (of course I was too young to stay up that late so I would sit in the hallway and watch from there…).

Three Things I Regret

1. Saying things I shouldn’t have - especially in anger or frustration
2. Missed opportunities
3. Wasted time

Yesterday’s cryptic post? Don’t worry, I won’t keep you guessing for long. And, on another note, I’m getting really close to the 2,000th comment… Now, we all know what that means. Yep, free yarn. The person that leaves the 2000th comment will receive a skein of plucky yarn.

Dr. Marten’s -Christina

Monica and Mick both included me in theirs list of blogs that make their day. Thank you ladies!

“Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

There are many, many sites that I visit frequently but I can’t list them all (got to follow the rules). So, without further ado, I give you my list of site that totally make my day:

Here they are, in no particular order~

1. Kirsten from Through The Loops. What a talent. Can she whip up the patterns, or what?

2. Carrie at Sommer Designs. The zeal with which she has taken up knitting is infectious. That, and I totally sympathize with her “what to make for dinner” angst she’s been having.

3. Susan - of Itty BittyHats fame. I think my love of knitting baby hats (or hats in general) is pretty well established. I have, by far, knit more of Susan’s patterns than any other. She’s so whimsical - love that.

4. Veronique- I envy her love of knitting math - I aspire to be a knitter just like her.

5. Lolly, of course Lolly. Her enthusiasm for knitting, reading, traveling and, well, life lovely. What a talent.

6. MLE - They way this girl cranks out the sweaters is truly impressive. Have you seen the latest? How cute is that?  In fact, I was actually awake at 2:00 a.m. (thanks Sam) today thinking about Emily’s sweater and into my head popped this yarn that I have had in my stash for over a year now. Hmmm…. For some reason this sweater pattern doesn’t scare me as much as some of the others. Perhaps because the pattern is pretty vauge and I can botch it up any way I choose?

7. Dee- Ahh, Dee. She the very reason, ok, maybe not reason, but the very person who pushed me to start The Plucky Knitter. Thank you Dee!

8. Megan - Everything she knits is artwork. And, I want her stash.

9. Amanda- I’ve learned so much from you….. thank you!

10. Nora. Eye Candy. Enough said.

Phew! That was tough keeping the list to just 10.

Well, you are probably wondering who won the contest? Before I get to that, what can I say except - Thank you. Thank you for the congratulations, compliments and best wishes.  What a year it has been!  

While there was no entry that hit the number spot on, there were some pretty close guesses. Who was the closest you ask? (**insert drumroll here**) ~

Liz419

Liz - please leave a comment or email me with your contact information.

And, because it was my one year anniversary, because there were so many entries and, well, because I can - I decided to randomly pick another entry for a second yarn-y give away.

Becky - Again, please leave a comment or email me with your contact information.

Again, thanks to everyone for playing along. That was fun!

Yep, I was serious about the camera. I adore Amazon - not only are they super fast, but they have a fabulous selection and great prices. What’s not to love?  

What’s that on my head you ask? Why that is the beret! Can you believe it? I knit something!

• Pattern: By Kat Coyle from Greetings from Knit Cafe
• Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight - Color 525 - Deep Green
• Needles: Knit Picks size US4 16″ Circulars (2)

And, because I promised to show more pictures of the test knits (and I wanted to test out the new camera…..here are a few more pics of test knits they had yet to make their appearance….).  

Mad Color Weave by Mai - Yes, you’ve seen these before, but here they are modeled on my feet - See Mai…. they fit!

Knit by Anna, Anna of the Flying Fingers fame. Please see Anna’s post for lovely modeled shots, but I couldn’t resist playing with the macro setting. It’s the Diamond Fantasy Shawl - so pretty!

And then we have the Easy Flame Lace scarf knit by Rachel and the Opera Scarf knit by Nicole. Thank you ladies!

And, one more FO for Plucky Girl (took one Grey’s episode and 1/2 an ER). Just your basic drop stitch scarf with fringe. Yarn by FeltStudioUK - Retro colorway.

Recently I have had quite a lot of people ask if I had a mailing list to notify of shop updates. If you are interested in having your name added to my mailing list, please leave me a comment to that affect and I will add you to the list that I will be making up this weekend. Please rest assured I will keep your information strictly confidential.