Practical wisdom

Raising kids often requires you to impart some wisdom to your children that is more practical, more "Been there, done that" kind of know-how that no book can ever give.
For instance, you can tell a child not to touch something if its hot or sharp.  You can tell a child to be careful with something fragile.  You can tell a child not to put something in their mouth, for obvious reasons to me and you.  But sometimes when we're older, and wiser, we've learned a few other things, mostly because we had to learn the hard way, that we need to teach to the younger generation.  Things like who you can trust, how far is too far, how not to appear too needy (or trashy if you're a girl!).  These things are so delicate and gray-area-ish that they're somewhat hard to explain.  But we try because we've been there and don't want to do that again!

I have a regular habit of sitting down to watch television at night with my knitting.  Its usually after dinner and only for an hour or so, but its a very relaxing time for me.  However, I've gotten a little snobbish with my television choices.  Again, this is a gray area, because what's not great for me might be awesome for you.  I won't even mention what I like and don't like on television, other than to say that I am a hands down fan of Downton Abbey.  For once, there's a show that depicts the importance of discretion, propriety and moderation.  Unlike most of what's out there, this show portrays how even the subtlest of remarks are weighty.  But you don't have to be cerebral to like this show.  In fact, I think it's appealing to lots of people, and it's very good at "teaching" the hard to explain points of wisdom.  Practical wisdom!

This week I've been learning to use my new Turkish spindle and it seems the best way to learn is from folks who've used one long enough to post a video tutorial online.  What a blessing!!  I learn best by watching others (don't you?) and I have to try it myself, right away.

I got it for half price at my LYS, using my birthday gift certificate!!  Woo hoo!  (I also finally got a WPI tool.)

This spindle is so different from the other two I own.  I have a small spindle for spinning cotton, but its just not fun to me.  I've tried it and chalked it up to experience.
I have a regular Ashford spindle that's kind of heavy and not one you can use with very short fibers.  Great for beginners!
But this Turkish delight is so easy to use, and has a specially engineered function for winding on as you spin to make a center pull ball by disengaging the two arms from the shaft.
Here I am using it this morning.  I just had my hair  done!

What's in a year?

homemade wreath from found items

My birthday was Saturday and my kids and their spouses cooked dinner for me Friday night. We had lasagne, salad and focaccia, all favorites.  Dessert was my all time favorite, Strawberry Shortcake!  I haven't had that in years, and its not hard to make, just hard to come by.  I had a wonderful night, and it was in fact the best birthday I've ever had.  We laughed and talked and just enjoyed each others' company.  

Earlier in the week I made myself some pajamas with fabric my mom gave me from her stash.  I found this ad in the local paper with exactly what I had envisioned, so that was my inspiration.

Pajama inspiration photo

pattern with newspaper alterations

top stitching the waistband

finished PJ's with drawstring

I've been spinning some red and cream Shetland wool with this note card as my color inspiration.  I'm trying to do the #spindown2012 challenge!

rose red

paisley notecard

And the cardigan is coming along great!  One sleeve is done and the second one is underway.  Easy to knit and I should have more than enough yarn for the entire project.  Woo hoo!!

watch out Mr. Rogers!

I guess its about time I came clean about some things, in particular my opinions.  I try not to ever talk politics or "religion" in this blog.  I want to share my knitting, spinning and other fiber-y pursuits here.  I am on FB and  Twitter so you can often find my personal biases there.

*deep breath*
I feel the same as everyone else regarding the upcoming election, but I feel the need to interject something here.  Our current president has another whole year to serve in office. There's another whole year of important decisions to be made, and demands on his ability.  He needs wisdom and we ought all to support him with our prayers if we call ourselves religious at all.  How can we not?  I would think it goes without saying, but I'm afraid it needs to be said.  Please, no matter how you feel about the coming election, please don't forget our duty to uphold the sitting president in our prayers! 
*whew, glad that's over*

Reaching Out

If we ever lose sight of our purpose, we have entered into a dark place.  My husband told me that yesterday was the most depressing day of the year, according to statistics.  What a bad thing, to know and anticipate something like that!  All day yesterday I made a concerted effort to not speak negatively.  I was surprised at how often I had to catch myself leaning into the negative side of things.  Politics, media, people, etc. but if I looked in the mirror, it all came back to me.  My outlook is extremely important in how I perceive the world to be!
We must try our best to look OUT and not IN.  Finding uplifting things around you is a learned habit, and takes a little effort, but it can be done!

I read a blog recently that mentioned betrayal, and it was ironic because I thought this person might be missing out on how much they may have betrayed others. The supposed betray-er may have been hurt and simply walked away out of frustration.  It's so easy to find fault with the behavior of others, pointing out their flaws and misdeeds. We do this without realizing how often we, ourselves are committing various acts of thoughtlessness.  A dismissive attitude, overlooking a valiant effort, or even forgetting to thank someone who picked up the pieces for us in a pinch - all things we do without ever giving it another thought.  Then we wonder why this person is aloof or distant.  Next time, before we are so quick to judge someone else, lets take a moment to check our own behavior first, and see if we don't need to do some "housekeeping" of our own!

Over the weekend, my daughter, daughter in law, and I drove to the coast to visit my relatives.

Moon shining on the bay,  first night!

Of course I planned to knit and read, but was having too much fun to go grab my needles & pattern.  We went window shopping, walked on the beach and even had a crafty- time, learning to make wreaths for the door!

Sunrise Day 2

Shopping with my folks - who never complained about how cold it was!

Check Mate!

My cousin prepared a wonderful meal on Sunday, from scratch,
We ate, watched a ball game, drank coffee, ate cake and before I knew it, it was time to leave.
I love my family and only see them two weekends a year, so when I'm there, there's a lot of catching up to do.  I came home with a sore throat, and I think it was more from talking than from being outside. 

The only fiber stuff I can show today is this cardinal colored homespun 3-ply wool hank.  

This hank is all one color, but I have blended some of  this wool with some un-dyed wool to make a variegated yarn. I'm spinning it currently and will post it next time!

Blues Traveler

I'm headed to the Gulf Coast this weekend for a visit with my family.  I'll be putting some blue yarn and needles in my suitcase, along with a fantasy of sitting in the porch swing of my parents house, looking out on the water and knitting my blues away. Actually it's supposed to be pretty chilly there this weekend and I imagine any knitting will be done indoors while looking out the window or in the car on the way. (Its a girls' trip with my daughter and daughter in law!)  Either way, I'm taking this little treasure with me - another try at the cardigan.

I've switched patterns in an effort to find a better match for my gauge.  This time I'm using bulky yarn on size 9 needle.

I've been looking for this pattern since I decided to make a cardigan sweater as a New Year's resolution.  The other day I walked into the garage near my stash and saw a magazine laying right in front of everything.  There it was, the very issue I'd been looking for over the last several weeks.

I would have sworn the pattern was in Interweave Knits, but I was wrong. It was this one-time issue of Knit It (2002) from BHG.

Immediately I grabbed the yarn called for in the instructions and the needle recommended and lo & behold, gauge perfection!  Woo hooo! (me taking off my cowboy hat and swirling it above my head)

I'm going full speed ahead this time around.  I am giving myself a year to do this project (can't fail, right?) but I keep getting discouraged with so many failed attempts.  So if I do it real fast, I might jump over some of those hurdles, like the scene from Speed where the bus jumps over the unfinished overpass. 

Now in the area of books, I finished a novel by Patricia Falvey and have made good progress with one by Jed Rubenfeld.  I put down a book by Catherine Coulter that was an FBI thriller - no go. But I really like The Death Instinct, the one I'm taking on my trip.  Its based on actual events and isn't rated-R like some books.  The pacing is good and very interesting to me, keeping my attention even while on the treadmill which is saying something for me.  Only I have to keep a clothespin nearby when I'm walking to keep the book open!

On my way

Yesterday I had a little visitor - a young knitter who came over in hopes of taking her knitting to another level.  What a privilege it was for me to not only show her a few new things, but to watch her expressions as she "discovered" things she never realized.  Like how the ribbing on your sweater cuff is knit1, purl1. Or how the flat side of knitting is the side your knit and the bumpy side of knitting (stockinette stitch) is the side you purl - cause it looks like pearls.  She lit up when she not only began to knit on circular needles easily, but small circs were even easier.  What a treat for a veteran like me - she's like an intern in my school of knitting, a real natural!

coaster my little friend crocheted for me! plus grape jelly~

I also had a fun time today checking out the local art museum which had two very interesting exhibits, one of which ends tomorrow.  That one is an Egyptian collection including a real live(dead) mummy and a sarcophagus with incredibly intricate painting on it.  There were reliefs and artifacts as well.  Just realized today how obsessed the Egyptians and possibly Greeks and surrounding peoples were with the afterlife.

My favorite thing today was the collection of European masterpieces some of which were breathtaking. You may be more familiar with Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring, from a later period.  This exhibit was much more obsessed with the birth and death of Christ, a personal obsession for me!

Now for some good knitting news.  I have been working with this lovely indigo looking blue which is definitely sport weight.  This sample swatch is exactly 14 wraps per inch, making it a perfect sport weight yarn.

And how about this red??  It is going to make something stunning!

I melted down a bunch of bits and pieces of candles and poured them into several little glass jars I had around the house.  The wicks came from Hobby Lobby.

I also mixed in some pieces of old Yankee Candle tarts that had lost most of their scent.  Put them all together by color family and they turned out pretty cute!

So what's your point?

Having made another valiant attempt at the cardigan sweater, I still have not achieved the gauge goal that I need.  The cuff ribbing was cast on and knit with size 2's and the arm was attempted with size 4's.

Silver size 2 circulars

Green size 4 circulars

Somehow the gauge is just way off, probably because this yarn has got to be worsted weight and not sport weight.  I don't have a WPI (wraps per inch) gauge to determine my thread thickness, but it's abundantly clear that once I start knitting, the sleeves begin to billow like sails on a pirate ship.  A little fullness is fine, but I'm getting way more than I need and that will surely mean I'll run out of yarn too soon.

So you know what that means don't you?  I know - its hard to accept, but I'm gonna have to ditch this yarn and find something finer.  Yarn comes in lots of thicknesses.  Usually you begin with laceweight or fingering weight, then sock, sport, DK, worsted, chunky and bulky.  To try to substitute is just fooling yourself, because in the end, it will be clear that the yarn you've chosen is too fat or thin.
Knitting is such therapy for me, I don't know what I'd do without it.  I do love spinning too, and that's a close second on the therapy-scale.
Here's some lovely white silk I've been spinning.

It can be very difficult to spin if your hands are dry so I've got some serious hand cream nearby, to keep things moving.  It gets like you're handling cobwebs, and can be frustrating if you don't know how to handle the stuff.  But some good cream or even a touch of Vaseline will do the trick. 

Okay, I will end this post with a few of my resolutions, beginning with the most obvious/common one relating to exercise.
1. I have upped my daily walking goal by one mile and upped my speed as well.  I've also cut way back on the carbs in the last month or two and have lost a little over 5 lbs.  I'm not out to lose a lot of weight, but I need to tone and keep things in check.
2. Another goal is to buy fewer books and read existing ones, either from the public library, my home library, or free kindle books.  I'm really trying to economize and be more green in my choices.
3. I have high hopes to keep a real, true vegetable garden this year, in my own back yard.  I've already started prepping a spot, and have moved the compost bin, having emptied its contents on the new site.
4. I am trying to be more selective in the things I say yes to, and in particular, allowing more "me" time throughout the week.
5. And another goal that's worth typing about is that I want to take advantage of more local culture.  You've heard people talk about buying local, so this is my version.  I have made plans to go to a museum (free to me because of my bank perks) this Saturday, one which I've never been to and I've lived here for 10 years!  There are more goals and resolutions, but that should do for now.  I have actually started most of them weeks ago, to tweak exactly what I could reasonably attain.  I think I'm in good shape.