On Purpose

Do you remember way back when, in the olden days, before Christmas when I started these fingerless mitts?

Well, since I've really truly completed the infinity scarf for my daughter, and closed the toe on the second Pebble Beach sock, there was only one thing left to do - grab the UFO basket and get busy!

This yarn may be acrylic, but it is super soft and cushy and springy; so much so that I found myself holding the mitt in my hand every time I evaluated the progress.
I knitted over twenty rows tonight while watching a documentary about the Kindertransport. It was very good to watch but out of nowhere, at the very end, a quote by a survivor made me break down and cry. He said he knew he survived because there was a purpose for his life.
I guess I'll just have to name these mitts the Kinder-Mitts.  I'm sure it's a perfect name.

The holiday season is almost over, as New Year's Eve is tomorrow night.  That means it's time for my resolutions list to be finalized.   I have a few that I'll go ahead and mention.  One I mentioned before, is that I'd like to go to more 'real' movies in the future.  Another is the subject of my photography.  I think I'll be focusing on trees this year.  Two years ago were sunsets and last year was clouds.  This year's topic should be a breeze.

I have begun to receive those glorious and welcome seed catalogs, and they are beautiful.

Cooks Garden has the lettuce I'm looking for, and Burpee has lots of good veggies.  I feel so wanted when they all send me their catalogs at once!!!!

Merry Christmas!

 I love the holidays when everything falls into place, even if it takes a bit of finagling to get it there.  All good things in life require a little extra effort, don't you think?  Some things are just worth the effort, and them some, I'll say. This year has required a good bit of effort to pull off a decent holiday, but it paid off.  I was able to see my parents & brother down in Mobile; my brother in law and his family came to see us.  My daughter and her husband came to see us twice and my son and his wife drove to NC to bring back my father in law for the week of Christmas.  My husband and I will be taking him to Birmingham tomorrow then my brother in law will take "Papa" back to NC on Tuesday.  Everybody had to carry a little weight while still maintaining their respective jobs, budgets, and commitments to their local charitable organizations.  Our schedules have been brutal of late, but like I said, some things are just worth the effort.  Family is important and worth working at maintaining.

Well, like a little kid on Christmas morning, I get to say, "Guess what I got!"  My DS and DDiL gave me a digital picture frame so that I can scan all my odd framed photos and keep them in one place.  (I asked for this gift excessively!)  And my DD and DSiL gave me a three month subscription to the Yarn of the Month Club.  This is like crack for knitters.  Crack delivered to your door in a variety pack like those General Mills mini-boxes of cereal we all wanted as kids.

YOTM is not a new idea.  There are lots of clubs like sock of the month and fiber of the month clubs.  (I've heard Martha Stewart has a shoe of the month club!)  I am excited because the YOTM club will be sending me not one skein but 4 samples of yarn each month, a new pattern each month as well.  Ho Ho!

The big gift that my husband will be getting me is a large order of wool processing to Ohio Valley.  I have several fleeces but I'm not spinning much lately 'cause they're not carded.  I have limited spare time and I really don't want to be spending that time carding.  I hope to make some cool things this year with all that carded wool I'm about to get.

I'm working on my New Year's resolution list.  I've been mulling it over for a while now.  I have several things in mind and I'm getting better and better at this each year.  I've kept several from last year and probably will not 'renew' the ones I didn't keep.  Life is always different from year to year so that makes my resolutions list need to change as well.  The first one my hubby and I discussed last night.  I Love to go to the movies but we never do it.  I told him last night at the theater how happy I was to be there and he said we should do it more often.  So I'm hoping to spend our 'date night' at the theater at least once or twice a month in the coming year, depending on whether or not there are any good movies to see at any given time.  Maybe Thursday nights since he's usually off Thursday nights.  I'll reveal the rest of my resolution list in my next post.  We are taking a little trip this week in honor of our 25th anniversary and I'm sure I'll be inspired when I get back!

When days really do count!

Sometimes we're told not to worry with quantity but quality.  That's true with leather shoes and good makeup.  In other words, one pair of good shoes are better than a dozen cheap pairs of shoes.  One good blush that costs a lot will last ten times longer than drug store blush.  Agreed?  But, on the other hand, a marriage that lasts for 25 years is considered a to be a very valuable thing, if for no other reason than that you've beaten the odds, by the sheer number of years that the marriage has lasted.

                                                     
When I married my husband twenty five years ago, I had high hopes that it would last, but I knew the statistics were not necessarily in my favor. I've known lots of good people who tried very, very hard to make their marriage work and they did not find success.  I feel extremely blessed and out of the ordinary to  be a part of a marriage that has lasted  this many years.  It is something I'm asked about over and over again, and  I can only say that I have a wonderful husband.
He is truly a kind, loving and forgiving person.  He is selfless and generous. He is a wonderful father to my children and he makes me laugh every single day.  We get along so well, it's hard to imagine anyone else making me so happy and content.  He is the love of my life; my friend.

I have never knitted him "The Love Sweater" and yes, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm not superstitious, I'm just smart.  The curse of the love sweater is real, not because there's a real curse, but because making a sweater for your man is just a bad idea.  Like cutting his hair.  Some things are best done by someone else.  Comprende?

Now it is perfectly legitimate to knit gloves, scarves and hats, with the understanding that they 1)picked the yarn and 2) they were aware of the pattern you were going to use.  Making a hat is one thing, but making a Where's Waldo hat is woefully wrong.   A great hiking scarf or plain rib scarf is almost always acceptable, but making a Harry Potter scarf for a grown man is foolish.

So, I've made exactly one scarf and one pair of socks for my man.  I think that's enough.

My daughter requested this beautiful moebius scarf (infinity) and I believe I've completed it tonight.  I will let her look at it tomorrow and see if it's long enough for her, then I'll join the ends.  There's enough yarn to add several more rows if necessary, but I don't want to knit and then rip.  I rejoice that I've gotten all my Christmas knitting projects done before the deadline.  I am grateful!

Auld Lang Syne

I'm sitting here listening to Al Green, once again, and rehearsing the sad notes of the week.  My DH lost two good friends this week, both good men who loved their kids and contributed much to the world.  One friend, Danny, goes way back to when my daughter was born (she's 22). He was our pastor then, and our friend. Our kids spent countless hours before, during and after church running up and down the pews and around the church parking lot, waiting for their parents to quit talking and take them home!
The other fellow, David,  is a new friend whom my husband often shared lunch with on weekdays when the two would get together with another fellow and talk 'real guy' talk. They shared popsicles, hamburgers and inside jokes.  David was full of wisdom and candor, and always left my husband encouraged after their visits.
Both of these departed men will be sorely missed.  
A friend can't really be replaced, once lost.  There's no price tag, and no value for insurance purposes.  They are one of a kind and should be appreciated when they're around, since you never know when they'll be gone. 
The holidays are a terrible time to lose a loved one.

When you're hot, you're hot!

I crossed a threshold the other night, and felt an awful lot of pride when I did it.  I finished the second Pebble Beach sock and picked up the circular scarf.

Yes, folks, I'm in the home stretch.  And to boost my pride even more, I'm tying on the second skein of yarn for the scarf, which wins me double imaginary points in my little brain!!!   Yahoo!

(photo above of the classic plastic-umbrella swift and plastic skein-winder - so low tech!)

The president called me the other day, to ask me how I can accomplish so much and I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled.  "It's a gift," I told him. 

If ever life was spinning by uncontrollably, it's now.  I am usually a very organized, together kind of person, but with the change of everything to digital, I'm finding it harder and harder to keep up with things.  Life doesn't slow down just because you can't keep up, and I am having to dig deeper in my bag of tricks to find ways to manage.
I used to keep a small 'day-timer' with me at all times -it had notes, phone numbers, addresses, dates, passwords, directions etc. in it.  If I needed something, it was there, all things in one place.  But now our music, books, phone numbers (contacts),  and everything else is digital and stored in another world altogether, so I'm working on learning a new program called OneNote to help me keep track of all that kind of stuff.  ( I still have a little paper calendar, which I don't think will ever be totally replaced, but don't tell anyone.  That's our secret~!)

I'm syncing the program with its twin on my new laptop, a Christmas present gotten early, in order to gain some momentum with our taxes.  I really hope this will solve all my problems.  If not, I'm just gonna have to get out the old yellow pad and pencil!

Curvature of the Heel

The long, snowy, weekend has lent itself to me catching up with my knitting.  Also being too nauseus to do much of anything else gave me a chance to turn the heel of Pebble Beach sock # 2. The rounds are all straight ahead to the toe, with all decreases done!! Hallelujah!

I have put a little time into the circular scarf but am saving it for after the socks are done.  Don't want any of that nasty Second Sock Syndrome that's going around. 

The holidays are happening as we speak and we've had more than our share already.  My cup overflows with love - many, many people around me that I love and care about.  It truly makes all the 'stuff' pale in comparison.  Some of us have lost loved ones and have to make do with the memories of past Christmases with them.  I have very good memories of my grandmother who always knitted us slippers for Christmas.  They were a very basic pattern knit on straight needles with worsted weight acrylic.  I still love them; I only have one left of the last pair she made and it has a hole in it.  But they are a sweet memory of a dear lady.

She had arthritis in the later years and her bony fingers held on to crochet hooks and yarn to the very end.  She always made chicken & dumplings for our annual Christmas Eve get together, with homemade pies and cornbread.  The tea was super cold and sweet, and often there was fudge made with real sugar, not marshmallow cream.  My favorite was her home made divinity; nothing I've had since comes close. 

Sick Days

Today is the first time I've been sick since going to Guatemala last spring. The way I know I'm sick is by the fact that I don't want coffee.  I have had some juice and saltines and did my best with a bowl of grits this morning, but the thought of anything else is gag-worthy. I know why I'm sick.

My immune system is shot;  I've been going full speed ahead for a while now and my little 5'2" body said, 'enough!'.  So I'm sitting here in bed with my laptop wishing I had a coffee because I'm craving it, but the smell is awful; maybe later I think. I hope. (Check this out to make you feel better!)

I went to see my folks and my brother and his family earlier this week.  It was so good to see everybody and the time was just too, too short.

My nephew is taller than his mom, but is only eleven years old. And my niece is quite the little lady bug, letting me know, FYI that George Washington is dead and he died when her brother was born!  Good to know.  LOL!

I brought back this lovely plant, a gift from my mom. We put up their Christmas tree, had a fun dinner with the kiddos, who decorated the tree and caught up on the latest.

On Wednesday I went with my boss and another lady to Paris Landing in Buchanan, TN where we saw this nifty Santa RV. We worked all day at a private home belonging to a couple who live in Florida; a beautiful home with a gorgeous view of the lake.  It was a long day, and I had to go right back to work yesterday, which explains why I succumbed to the bug.

I hope to be back on my feet soon, since my husband's brother and his family are coming tonight for a quick visit.  The house is ready (I was cleaning my own house last night at 11 o'clock last night!) but I need to do some last minute things before they arrive.  Tomorrow we celebrate my son in law's 25th birthday with the family; 12-14 people for lunch at his favorite restaurant!  Woo Hoo! And congrats to him for making 108 on his MPRE!

So you can guess that I've hardly knit a stitch in a week.  Last night I watched a tv show and got in a few rows.  Enough to make me wish and dream that I could knit all day, everyday. But I did do some spinning the other day (a week ago?) and made some samples of fleeces I've dyed this year.

Merry Christmas (its only two weeks away)!!

Creature Comforts

It takes me a long while to make up my mind about a thing, but when I've decided, I've decided.  I'm not wishy washy and I typically stay with something for a long time after making a choice.  I think it has to do with not liking change, and feeling a certain comfort with things staying the same.  I love my 'things' just the way they are, thank you very much!

I went with my husband today to look at phones; mine is up for an upgrade and I had an unfortunate experience the other night.  I got lost after the police had redirected traffic in a part of town I was unfamiliar with. It was dark and I wasn't comfortable with my surroundings, even though I was in a very safe part of town.  I did find my way home eventually,  with my trusty road map, but DH insisted when I got home that I get some kind of GPS and for the price, I should go ahead an upgrade my phone with a built in GPS.

That night I realized that there are two things at play when you lose your way.  One is the way things look.  I saw all the cars following a certain path when we got detoured from the main road.  I wasn't sure, but thought, "how can I go wrong? they must know where they're going, since they probably live around here. I'll just follow them!" 
The other way to think is to follow the map that you know is right.  I pulled over, checked the nearby intersections and eventually found my way home.  What a valuable lesson; one that I learned in high school about peer pressure.  DON'T follow the crowd. When you have a map, use it.  When you have information that you know to be true and reliable, follow it, not the whims of your circumstances!  Say no to peer pressure, kids!

So how does this fit in with my knitting blog, you ask.  Well, I'll tell you.  Sometimes, when everyone is switching to knitting socks toe-up, you can stay with top-down.  And when everyone is switching to magic loop, you can stay with your trusty DPNs.  I'm not against progress, but I am for making decisions on purpose and not just because it's the popular thing to do.

I love knitting with these DPNs!
I went to my LYS to find some more.  (These INOX are teflon coated, you know.) But the store didn't carry them. So I guess I can find another LYS that does carry them, using my new GPS!!  Ha!  How's that?

Five Second Rule

Most of us with kids (and a few who are kids at heart) are familiar with the term, Five Second Rule.  It means that if you drop your food on the floor, and pick it back up within five seconds, it should be fairly safe to eat.  The obvious exceptions would be concerning food dropped in a high traffic area (subway) or food that is particularly moist (open faced peanut butter sandwich -face down).  Otherwise, it's probably good that we and our kids were allowed to eat at least some bacteria while growing up, in order to build our immune system.  Now we have shots for everything.

I realized that having containers for my knitting is a big help, because I tend to pick up and leave behind lint and fuzz.  When spinning, there's an enormous amount of 'carnage' left on the floor from my spinning, kind of like when you get up from a hair cut.  When knitting, I for sure leave behind fuzz, stitch markers and spare DPNs. My knitting project usually attracts hair, bits of candy wrapper, and odd thread from previous projects.  So......I've got baskets and tote bags everywhere to keep my knitting clean.  Inside these baskets and totes are ziplocs for travel with the designated project. Perfect for throwing your UFO in the floor or back seat of the car.  

I love the way this cotton scarf looks in this basket.  I think it was a Christmas present a few years ago at spinning meeting.

The stitches are quick and large with so much fun interest.  It kind of looks like popcorn, don't you think?  And I'm truly inspired to learn to spin cotton, for real! This yarn is pretty much a pencil roving with a tiny thread as the second ply.

I found out today that I'm going to see my mom & dad next week.  I'm taking off work next Monday and Tuesday, leaving for their house right after church Sunday.  Everybody kept asking me when I was going to see my family for the holidays and I realized it was only gonna happen if I took off work. Some things are just worth the effort & sacrifice,  and I've been trying for a month to get the dates settled!

To Boldly Go Where I Haven't Gone Before

My daughter, who's in town for Thanksgiving, went with me to my favorite yarn store yesterday.  She asked me if there was something that I don't ordinarily pursue that might be interesting to try.  I couldn't think of anything, but then she asked me if I would knit her an infinity scarf out of a particular yarn.  It was a bulky cotton yarn.  Very pretty natural looking bleached white cotton.  Now there's something I've never spun before, or knitted with.  Bingo!!

The yarn was 40 % off and she bought it for me.  Woo Hoo!  I asked the lady who worked there to help me find a pattern to show my daughter a moebius scarf so that I'd be sure we were on the same page.

We later went to a large upscale mall that had lots of 'infinity' scarves for me to look at and feel and check out so that I would be on the same page as my daughter. So today I cast on to get a feel for gauge and stitch count - I think I'm good.  This little baby should only take a few days and will be fun to do.

Then last night, when my son and his wife got back from visiting her dad, we all went to Target to get some eggnog to drink while we decorated the tree last night.  My husband and I both happened on the same large book that we wanted.  With discount and splitting the said volume's price in half, we figured it might just be worth it - a gift to each other; an early Christmas.  Let's hope it's a good read!

And backing up a day or so, I can't forget to show you my next Christmas present cast-on.

Fingerless gloves knit in very washable acrylic: navy blue with size 5 DPNs.

The pattern comes from The Knitter's Book of Wool, which my son got me for Christmas last year.  I can't tell you how easy it is.

After a few tricky first rows, the glove basically is just 2x2 rib with a claw cable insert.  A short 10 stitch chart with only one row of cable in the four row repeat.  Woo Hoo again!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

If you are feeling down this year, it's okay.  Some years aren't as good as others, but at least you can hope for a brighter future.  We aren't all given the same circumstances to deal with, and I am sure that many, many folks have it harder than me.  One thing I am sure of, God hears my prayers.

I was busy at work today, feeling tired and quite frankly feeling pretty down in the dumps.  I was so very tired and wished my husband could pick me up from work, because I was just about too tired to drive home (an hour in traffic). Then I realized he was working late and that wasn't possible.  I was feeling down because I have yet to buy anything for Thanksgiving dinner and knew I would never be able to grocery shop tonight.  I'm also working tomorrow and our out-of-town company is due in tomorrow afternoon about the time I get home from work.  I prayed, "Lord, I need to get some food for dinner." Within about 30 minutes, someone where I was working walked up and handed me a precooked, pre-sliced ham and a container of fresh rolls. I nearly cried and all I could say was thank you.  Then as I was cleaning up my stuff and getting ready to head home (an hour drive, remember!) someone else came over to me and handed me a fresh from the bakery pie and a container of mixed nuts, packaged with a pretty bow.  These of course were in honor of Thanksgiving, but to me, they were clearly an acknowledgment that God was watching. And listening.  And answering.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Neverending love

I've got a never ending love for you
From now on, that's all I want to do
From the first time we met I knew
I'd have a never ending love for you

~ ~ ~

There has been one staple in my hobby list; one that I will always resort to when I'm stressed and when I'm happy.  Knitting.  I picked up the needles tonight after not touching these socks for a while now, and felt instant gratification.  Everybody has one of those things that just make you feel better immediately, when you make the contact.

I'm so blessed to have found a hobby that I really love.  I have a friend who told me recently that she doesn't really have any hobbies like that.  I realize that some people thrive on social interaction or activity.  Others take longs walks alone in nature.  Some like sports, etc. - you know what I mean.  But for me, there's a little world that makes me feel better when I go there.

This week flew by and this whole month, actually.  I guess that's a good sign, that I'm enjoying these days.  I like my job a lot.  I'm a part of a pretty stable community and I love my family.  And of course the weather is just beautiful this time of year.  I love the fall in particular and we've got at least another month of this according to the calendar.  Times are pretty good, I'd say, even with all the rest of the world in tatters.  If you can find contentment where you are, your are very lucky indeed.  Blessed, I would say!

The things we do for love

Sometimes we are asked to do things we may not want to do; go the extra mile, take one for the team, stand in the gap, however you want to say it.  If you are reading this blog ( a knitting blog) then you are very likely one of those people who go the extra mile.  Usually the only reward for "going the extra mile" is a simple thank you or a wink or at least an appreciative smile.  The thing that makes most people shrink back from doing this again, is the inevitable "taking for granted that you'll do it again, cause you did last time."

I haven't quite figured out yet, how to say a big fat NO.  We all want to say no, don't we? And yet we hope that somewhere there's just got to be a payoff for doing your best no matter what, right?
Well, today I heard some good things about my daughter who's been taking it on the chin, so to speak, for a while now.  She works hard.

She and her hubby were blessed twice this week.  First with a free pair of concert tickets, and then today, dinner for two at a pricey restaurant, compliments of someone who noticed.  Yeah!  That's what I'm talking about!  And have I mentioned that her hubby recently snagged an internship with the District Attorney's office in their county for his last semester of school? Good work!

Now my son's wife, who has been waiting and praying patiently for a job in her field, was interviewed and hired on the spot last week, and she started her new job Monday!

  

And my son, by the way, has been getting some very good attention at his college for his songwriting skills   He's meeting some pretty influential people and only the Lord knows what good things are in store there as well.  He's an accomplished musician, just like his dad.
So you can see, I'm one proud mom, and will take any chance I can get to brag on my kids.  Oh the things we do for our loved ones!  Like knitting sweaters and socks for Christmas!   (You knew I would take this back to knitting somehow, didn't you?)

So I'm casting off the Seraphine scarf that I started in October, and will go back to the Pebble Beach socks for my daughter in law.  Now that just means one thing.  What will be my next project?!
  I'm tossing around a couple of ideas, but I won't say yet, since I haven't decided, but it's sure to be a little something for someone I love!!

Mashed potatoes, meatloaf, red wine and knitting

I was listening to a recent spinning podcast, and heard someone remark that knitting had really made a comeback after Sept. 11, 2001.  A woman from New York was attending a fiber festival later that year and told a vendor in CA that back in NYC people were all about mashed potatoes, meatloaf, red wine and knitting.  I can imagine why!  I loved that I was listening to this podcast as I was taking part in one of my own comfort rituals: dyeing wool.  The weather today is outstanding, for the record.  Breezy, sunny, and just a little cool. Perfect for a me/fiber day.

Picking and carding on You Tube will get you to a new kind of picker (for all you spinners!) that is not as lethal as the one you're picturing.  Instead of a guillotine kind of motion, this one is a small wooden box that sits on the table and allows you to process your wool in it's early stages for under two hundred dollars. Since I don't have one, I took my hot little hands to the garage and began picking and carding some wool and mohair for a sample.

That always inspires me to dye, if the weather permits, so I got out a couple of bags of fleece, some pots and packs of dye and went for it.
Here are two different fleeces with very different staples - the one on the right has a lot more crimp.

The colors I chose are bronze (looks green to me) and terra cotta (blood red?).  Either way, they are beautiful and keep my creative juices flowing.

As I was doing my thing this morning, it occurred to me how different the choices are that my husband and I make. He is always wheelin' and dealin' to acquire what he wants, gadget wise.  Sold an amp on Ebay, bought and iPad.  I go to the garage and grab some wool, dye it on the stove and spin it on my wheel.  See what I mean?  But to each his own, as they say.  So long as a person's hobbies and interests keep them happy, that's all that counts.
When I heard the comment on the podcast today about meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I understood, but thought it could also be a meal of black eye peas, corn bread and iced tea to make one feel comforted. To each his own, as they say!!

And just in case you're interested in some good podcast recommendations, here are a few.
Belle of the Ball
Sassy Sheep
Yarnspinners Tales