Here Comes the Spring

It seems to me that there are a few things I can count on in this life, and I'm not just talking about death and taxes.  One thing that's certain is that seasons will  always follow other seasons, like Spring comes after Winter, Winter comes after Fall, and so on.  (Are you with me so far?) Windy days will follow rainy ones.  Grubs will magically show up in my lawn, and moles will burrow just in case I don't want to pay for aeration. 

And another thing you can count on is that the Winter will have it's fair share of cold, gray, wet days. But Spring will surely have a few warm-ish days like today for instance!  Today the sun has come out, and if you stand in the sunshine, behind a wind break with a sweater on, you can enjoy a little of God's creation for more than a just a few minutes!
And look what greeted me when I was out there:  My lettuce sprouted!!!  Wooo Hooo!

Even the forsythia is bearing a few blooms. All sure signs that Spring's a comin'!!

Since it was so pretty outside today, I took a bunch of wool (mohair and regular wool) to card out on the patio. 

The blend is pretty but might cause a gag reflex in folks unfamiliar with sheep, goats and other livestock.  For those of you with some experience in these areas, please feel free to oooh and ahhh!

On the evenings and afternoons when I had a little free time, I spun and carded this dyed wool blend - still trying to come up with a name.  Curry?  Goldenrod?  Harvest Gold? If you click the photo, you can see it's two different colors.

It does me good to sit down to the spinning wheel when I get the chance.  I find a doorway, if you will, back to what's real and important in life.  Much of our society is hung up about things, the cost of things and the price of things.  It's hard not to listen to all the bad press.  It's important to remember who and what really matters.
If your heart is pure and right with God and your fellow man, nothing else really compares!

You're such a drag!

There are lots of choices when I go to choose needles for a knitting project, but it mostly boils down to two categories when I'm thinking of needle composition.  Slippy or draggy.  (I made up those words myself!)

Inox and Addi Turbos will give you the slippy side of life.  Bamboo or wood will give you the drag you may need so the needles won't slip out of your project, particularly with sock knitting and DPNs.

I started these little wool socks so that I'd have a take-a-long project.  I chose these longish bamboo size 3s because I like the way they knit and there's a decent drag without it being a hindrance.

If you think I'm a drag personally, I wouldn't blame you.  I can't claim to have glamorous hair & nails, jewelry or clothes.  I don't drive a fancy car or speak with a foreign accent or even eat at exotic restaurants.  I am by no means a jazzy kind of gal, but I do think I am thrifty, brave (sometimes), clean and usually reverent.  Scouts honor!

On another note, here is the latest swatch from the yarn of the month club.

Knit entirely (no purls) it's stitch definition is completely lost in its mossy appearance.  The yarn would be great for a scarf, wrap or hat.

It was hard to knit with, though, even when I used my slippy needles!

Last Days of Winter

As February comes to its close next week and the cold days begin to be outnumbered by the not-so-cold days, I am thinking fast about what can possibly be knit before it's over with.

Two fire logs are left in the box, in case it snows again. I still have all my sweaters out but... I'm occasionally pulling out some tank tops and capri pants on warm days!  The weather has been so iffy that even on days when I'm sure I'll be in the yard/garden, I end up staying inside or running errands in the car.

One good in-between-the-seasons project is my new wrap for summer.  It's made of a bulky cotton cabled yarn that I knit something with long ago, then frogged the whole project because the drape was not good.

The yarn is quite-red and appeals to my need for color and my wariness of starting anything big and woolly.

I'm using size 9 circulars but it's knit straight (back and forth) in a pattern called Little Waves from the book 400 Knitting Stitches.  Its very similar to the shell or shale pattern or  feather and fan.  There is not a row of reverse stockinette so the pattern stays smooth except for the yarn overs and K2tog's.

I've got a plain knitting border for stability but it will need blocking before I can wear it, so since it may take a little while, I'm not gonna worry about that today.
In fact, since that's my attitude, I think I'll call it the Scarlet (O'Hara) Wrap.  I'll think about that tomorrow, said a wise woman in 1939!

I've had a good weekend so far and am looking forward to family visits tomorrow night and again next weekend.  Work weeks are good but just like the end of winter, the end of a lot of things can be good.  It leaves room for new beginnings! Right?

And before I go, I have to give a shout out to my friends, family and anonymous readers.   Although I don't  know who reads my blog, I can see that every day somebody, or a few somebodies read my blog.  Thank you so much!  I need to blog to keep motivated to knit, and knowing there are readers out there helps keep me motivated to blog.  Whoever you are,  God bless you!!

Lost in Translation

I received the February installment for my yarn of the month club and am really looking forward to knitting those swatches.  I have yet to decide which one will be first, but I think it just might be the light green. 

That one is called Amalfi by Debbie Bliss and it's mostly cotton with a tiny bit of linen and silk. The other samples are ISR Sport by Pico Accuardi Dyeworks (variegated wool), Camel Hair by Ornaghi Filati (alpaca/merino in blue green) and the last is an alpaca boucle in a dark mossy green called Onda by Lana Grossa.  (Yarn names have come a long way, baby!)

I also finished the little sparkle hat for me.  I wish you could see the angelina fiber in the yarn, but it hardly shows up in the photos. 

This hat is based on a rib pattern, but has enough of a change-up to give it more style.

The people who create yarns like this for a living are true artists.  They know what colors to mix, what fibers to add in and keep out, and the right proportions to keep them practical so that folks like me can use them.  Folks like me who know nothing about art but everything about the ooh-ahh factor!

My husband is one of those artistic genius types.  I've known it for years; his ability to come up with something beautiful, and then craft & master the details until it looks easy and approachable.  But I know the time, effort, concentration and true gifting that goes into every project he does.  Just like the yarn designers from Italy and South America.  There's a facet of creativity that is only given to a few people on this earth .  I sure enjoy being around it, that's for sure. 

Today I came home from a tough morning, and yesterday was about as bad.  I talked to my husband on the phone this evening and he had had a pretty tough afternoon. We both wound up venting to each other for a little while.  It helps to know that someone else in this world understands and can appreciate what you do, even when there is no real monetary reward.  But I do know that Someone is watching and clapping, even if I can't hear it.  I did see a note of thanks in the sky yesterday, and I thought you'd like to see it. 
Isn't it lovely?

How do I love thee, Saturday mornings

This morning I woke up and did one of my favorite things - I read in bed for a couple of hours. It was a delight to grab a cup of coffee, turn on the night light (it was before 5 am) and crawl back into bed with my Kindle. ( I had gone to bed early last night exhausted so I was well rested when I woke up at 4:30)  The book I picked is now a bestseller and I read the whole thing before eating my oatmeal (okay, I finished while eating my oatmeal around 9 am).  It was that good.
I'm almost finished with my audio book that's been on my iPod for centuries.  It's about time for something new, don't you think? 

This week I knitted the entire crown of this hat and much of the sides whenever I had random amounts of time.  I took it babysitting, I knitted in bed  and of course watched my TiVo'd shows while knitting. 

I love the pattern, 'cause it's easy to memorize and once you've got the stitches situated on the needles correctly (5 dpns) there was no more looking at the pattern.  I don't own a hat, believe it or not, and my friend Susie recommended that I make one for myself, so I am! There will, of course, be no more cold weather once I've made the hat!

We've had snow for sure this week.  Lots of it.  I am okay with snow, cause it's February and the ground is drinking up the moisture.  It will make for a lovely spring.  AND my lettuce needs lots of moisture to germinate the seeds...... selfish, I know!  I cannot wait till the weather is garden-ready.  I'd really like to plant some baby potatoes.  I planted potatoes when I lived in NC, with the help of some dear share cropper friends.  They encouraged me not to water after the initial planting, but just to wet them 'real good' on the day I put them in the ground.  Potatoes, by the way, are grown from small pieces of potato, with the bud or eye facing up.  My friends lived off the little garden behind their house.  I'd say they knew their stuff!

 The wind is blowing outside, which is normal after a lot of rain, to dry things out.  I'm sure the leftover snow will all be gone by tomorrow.  There are patches outside on the north side of every house in the neighborhood, but the sun is shining, so guess who wins?

Post Script

I just had to update the blog with this important announcement!  I made the knitting-needle-roll-up-thingy in just a few hours after I had posted the last entry.

Isn't it the cutest?  And as life hands you little clarifications in the most random ways,  I realized I only have one pair of size 4 straights and about a hundred size 7 and 8s.  And just to make me feel even more unorganized, I found that I have zero pairs of size 4 DPNs!  That was so hard for me to believe until today when I stopped by Hobby Lobby to pick up a set.  They were sold out!  Now it makes sense.  That has probably been the case every time I've tried to buy size 4s.  I'll  bet the stores were out the last time I tried, and I just opted to buy another size to improvise (did that just rhyme?).  Like buying skim milk when you really want 2%.  Compromise.

So after my haircut this afternoon, I hope to grab a set in the greater Nashville area, before the snow sets in.  I'm starting a pair of kids cabled mittens!

A Better Way

                                                              * Pruned Tree *

After reading Yarn Harlot's post (2/7/11) about sorting her needles, and after having cleaned my house really good, gotten a shower and consequently read the aforementioned post while listening to the Soul Channel on XM Radio (Al Green - Love & Happiness, Smokey Robinson - Special Occasion, Dramatics - Whatcha See) gave me so much inspiration that I almost choked.  I'm not kidding.  And you know what happens when I get inspired, don't you?
Empty whirling chair followed by a curl of smoke where I was sitting, and maybe a few feathers settling to the ground (picture Tweety Bird's cage swinging) and there I am in the garage looking, digging, flinging things until I find what it is I'm looking for.  There it is, the leftover bit of quilted fabric from making my husband an amp cover, and the piece of checkered fabric I've been saving for over 15 years because I just really, really like it.

I WILL make a needle roll.  I have to.  It's not even 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm off today and my work is done.  So I Googled the term needle roll/case and came up with this page: the one that made me choke.
Because I'm a born-organized person, and I love knitting and have a jar full of needles sitting on the shelf in my office, the writing is clearly on the wall. 

It must be said that my spinning wheel is being used a lot lately.  This curry colored wool is beautiful to spin but full of little 'bits' that I have to pick.  I don't think they are second cuts, and the crimp is really fine so they must just be small 'bits' that didn't get carded. Could be...

It's still a little greasy and I promise you that I spent a good deal of time washing this stuff last summer and spring.  I suppose at some point the grease will come out, but you should see my hands when I've done a bunch of spinning.  They're almost shiny with lanolin.  Not all bad this time of year, and especially for a girl who cleans houses. .

And while we're on the subject of cleaning house, I have to say a brief shout out to the folks I clean for during the week.  Three of them are up for Grammy awards this week!  Woo Hoo! 
Tomorrow I'll actually be babysitting then trying out a new pizza/Italian restaurant with my husband in a town called Smyrna, of the acclaimed TV show, "CSI Smyrna".

Little Smitty

When I started blogging in October of 2004, it was all the rage to have a little mascot in your posts.  Some crafty bloggers bordered on the ridiculous with their creative use of props.  At the time I had been given a wooden human mannequin (lg) as a gift that seemed perfect for my new blog mascot.  We nicknamed him Smitty.

                                                    (Smitty, Sr. 2005)
Since that time I've hardly used him in any of my pictures.  I did knit a couple of sweaters for him, and he was featured in a few posts but today I thought I'd bring in his cohort.
Meet Little Smitty.  He was a gift a few years ago that I kept at my desk when I worked for a law firm.  My co-workers would engage him in various poses and make things out of sticky notes for him to hold.  I've been wanting to make a sweater for him (why is this not a girl?) and I decided today was the day!

The design is from a Christmas ornament pattern that I adjusted for his diminutive stature.  (Don't say anything - he's kind of sensitive!) I reduced all the proportions by about 1/3.  

Cast on 18 (divisible by 3 and 2) for a three inch circumference; big enough to pull over his head.

The needles are size three Inox and I made the yarn at spinning group last year when we had a yarn toss. It's made by mixing various types of fiber that we carded and spun just to see what we came up with.  The blend has enough angora to create a halo with lots of warmth for a wooden mannequin.

I noticed something when doing the raglan sleeve increases.  After every row of increases, there's a plain row of knitting.  Almost like a rest.  It helps to stabilize the jogs made by each increase.  The purpose of increasing stitches gradually is to make the finished project smooth and in my opinion, more manageable.  Once again, I've learned a life lesson from my fiber.  When life expands, we sometimes need a little rest before the next increase.  When we are called upon to grow, we almost always need to take a breather before we can handle another one.  I know many people who are going through some trying circumstances and I'm sure they would agree that a little recoup before the next go-around is always helpful!

To Tell the Truth

Here is the finished French Press cozy.  It's not the original, but more like a template, or practice run.  I'm no longer inspired to make the one with the great colors, but this satisfied the itch.

Flat knitting in Fair isle stitch is tough, I'm here to tell you.  What a challenge!  You definitely need stitch markers and a sticky not to keep your place on the chart.

I still haven't put the buttons on (safety pins for now) but they are coming.

I also did my swatch for the week.  This is done with Riverstone yarn  by Louet in 'Mustard'.

I used the Zephyr acrylic needles from Knit Picks, and I think they're size 8.  Stitch pattern is called 2/2 Garter stitch rib from the book, "400 Knitting Stitches".

And I planted my lettuce last weekend, while we had a bit of warm weather.  The ground was still frozen, but I made-do with planters!  Am I clever or what??

So proud of myself for getting these seeds in the soil before the next snow came (today).  I will be glad I planned ahead when spring gets here!!


In the last few months I've started watching the show Lie To Me, and so have a lot of other people I know, apparently.  It's such fun to watch the innocent be vindicated and the liar be exposed.  Not that we don't all lie, but some can tell hum-dingers without batting an eye.  The TV show explains how our body language gives us away.
"No, I love your new hair do!"
"Really, honey, those 'jegging' pants don't make you look fat."  You get the idea.

I can say that without much equivocation, a liar bothers me just about more than anything else in this world.  I don't care if you fail, if you're mistaken or if you're just downright lazy, if you'll just tell me the truth to my face.  But when I hear about someone telling a bold face, out and out, 100 percent flat out lie, it makes me angry.  And the thing that makes a lie just a little bit worse, is when someone else knows about the lie and does nothing about it.   My husband will tell you, that's where I draw the line.  I have lost all patience at that point, and I'm a pretty patient person.
I heard about a liar getting 'caught' this week and I'll have to say, there was a sigh of relief from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.  And I'm so proud of the person who did the confronting.  I know it was not easy, but it shows an awful lot of courage to take on a liar.  They are usually pretty good at weaseling out of things, so it takes a bit of skill and the grace of God to get the truth out of a dishonest person.  Bravo!