iT sNOWeD aLOT tHIS wEEK

Monday we were pretty much snowed in, Tuesday was better (they plowed our street Mon. night) so you could get out if you had to, Wednesday and Thursday I went to work on very clean but still-getting-snowed-on streets.  I looked out the window this morning and the snow has still not melted.  When I got home yesterday, I found a little surprise out in my back yard when I went to dump the compost bucket. 

 (this one's not mine but illustrates my point)
We have two heating/cooling units; one for upstairs and one for downstairs.  The upstairs unit was completed wrapped with snow, inside and out.  All the lines were covered with about an inch of snow and ice and it was not twirling at all.  Normally there is some movement, but I think it had given up at least 24 hours prior.  So I spent a couple of hours scraping, dousing, and blow drying the whole she-bang.  If I could have said last rites over it, it would have been appropriate.  Today I'm hoping for a miracle.  A resurrection if you will.  I'm praying for my little upstairs unit to come to life, so I won't have to call the heating and cooling undertaker.  :-(

The other night my DH asked if I had any of my grandmother's old knitted slippers that he could wear.  I found an old pair of socks, but there was a little puff of smoke where I had been standing, once I handed them over.  You know it girl!  I was in the garage at the speed of light, finding some yarn to knit him some of "Granny's Slippers".

The thing I always hated about them was that there was a big hole in each toe.  What's up with that?? Why would anyone design slippers with a hole in each one, on purpose?  So, I started the slippers at the back, going back and forth, and switched to knitting in the round from the instep to the toe.  I will do decreases and maybe even a Kitchener Stitch closure.  Either way, I am bound and determined to build a better mouse trap!

The yarn is of course acrylic.  Gold, cause I'm out of the navy from the Kinder Mitts.  I had bought three skeins of yarn a few years ago when my daughter was in art school.  Her classmate was doing a fashion design project and needed some knitted hats (I think... I can hardly remember!) so I still have the leftovers in my stash.  I'm using my new needles from Knit Picks; the nickle plated circular, size 7. Actually I've already started the ribbing, so I'm now using bamboo DPNs, same size.

Granny always finished off each pair with an alternate color crochet trim and a pom pom.  Should I?  I'm not sure my husband would find the pom poms so cute, but it would at least give them a little more bling! 

I did quite of bit of carding and spinning on my two snow days this week.  Here's what I carded.

Selection includes Midnight Blue, Coral, Peacock, Bronze (looks yellow), and Terra Cotta.

It may not look like much, but this is about the equivalent of half a fleece! I crammed a lot of wool in these two containers.
 I also did a little spindle spinning and spun and plied a whole hank of 3 ply yarn, perfectly balanced of course.

And I spent some time on the Spin Off Spin/Knit eMag that my sister bought for me. Beautiful!
You see, there's still some good that comes from every kind of weather!

What matters to a spinner who knits

It's so important to knitters to have a yarn that feels good against your skin and that is aesthetically pleasing.  The same holds true for spinners who knit, but with the added requirement that the yarn be organic.  Most spinners want to know what their yarn is made of and usually want to know the number of plies in the yarn.

Those things don't always matter to non spinners but can play a role. The make up of the yarn influences the care of the garment being made and the appropriateness of the gift for the person you're knitting for.  It's understood that most knitting ends up being a gift, and baby gifts should never be dry clean only.  You see my point. Better yarns (those with organic or exotic fibers) require more care and attention!

 I feel the same way about people.  I am very interested in where people come from and what they're made of.  The outside matters and is interesting but I like to get to know people's background and history.  I think it really plays a role in who they are.  I told a friend today that no matter how bad you think your parents were, they must have done something right in raising you, otherwise you wouldn't care about it at all in the first place.  You are probably the result of a few tears and sleepless nights, even if you didn't witness them.

When I'm knitting yarn, I'm very aware of what went into the making of that yarn.  You can tell if a fleece was exposed to too much sun (while on the sheep's back!), if there was not good nutrition or if the sheep went through a lot of stress before being sheared.  There will be weakness in the fibers and they may break easily.  I believe people are the same way.  If they tend to break easily, they may have gone through some significant stress or not received all the nourishment they should have. It's important to remember that we all need a little grace and forgiveness now and then!

Here my friend, is the finished pair of Kinder Mitts, made entirely of acrylic yarn!  Starring Plymouth size 5 bamboo DPNs, Fibertech wooden cable needle, and a pink stitch holder I got from my mother in law when she was still alive.  All of these humble elements went into these now award winning fingerless mittens.  They probably have some serious super-hero powers, if you want to try them on!

The Postman Rang Twice

It's snowing today but that is not a problem for me; I have two wonderful surprises to keep me company this morning (aside from my friends the Cardinals - click the photo to see Mr. C ).

This week there were two deliveries left at my house.  One was a complete surprise as I was heading to the grocery store. The large envelope was thin and I thought it was probably my two packs of lettuce seeds, which I would not be able to get to until we have a sunny day that coincides with a day off for me.  Instead it was this!!!!!
 The first installment from my yarn of the month club!

I felt like that little pig on the Geico commercial with the pinwheel, all the way to the grocery store.  I couldn't wait to get home and play with my new samples.

Today I knit the first of the swatches.

This is the stitch I chose from my book, 400 Knitting Stitches.  It's call the Andalusian stitch. Perfect for a swatch.  The yarn is call Princess by Filanda; 100% wool and the colorway is #089.

The needles I used were from my second surprise delivery, which came yesterday.  Bought with some Christmas moo-lah!  It's a Knit Picks circular needle sampler containing  size 6 Harmony wood, size 7 nickle plate and size 8 Zephyr acrylic set(s) of points with two 24" cables and the little plastic stoppers for holding your work.

Dear hubby brought it to me last night while I was getting ready for our 'date night'.   He saw my face light up and asked what he could do in the future to elicit that kind of response.  "Buy me more of these!!"

For Christmas I also received an Amazon gift card which I used for a new Kindle book by Agatha Christie.  I had been reading a large history based novel but after 300 pages I have decided to put it away.  Too steamy and not enough suspense for my taste.  

Since you asked

It's been so cold and gray outside today, I think I might as well pretend I live in the Pacific Northwest.  The weather there is supposed to be wet and cold, and it sure feels like that's the way its gonna be here for a while, you know?  So, IF I lived in a really cold, snowy climate, I would probably knit like crazy.  Okay, sounds like a plan to me!

I have been blazing trails with the Kinder Mitts.  They are really easy to knit and the yarn/needle pair up is perfect.  I'll post an update photo next time!

Hubby asked me last night if I've done any spinning lately and I told him no, that I just don't have anything carded right now and it takes several hours to card enough to spin.  I said I'd love to card some in the garage today, but he reminded me that the weather forecast was for pretty cold weather and the garage gets very chilly this time of year.  He said I should just card inside.  Huh?  Inside?  I can testify that whenever I bring that stuff inside, it's only a matter of minutes before I start to hear sneezing in various rooms in the house.  Yet he said he wouldn't mind.  What a saint! 

So guess what I did today.  Go ahead, just guess.  (sigh!) You're exactly right.  I carded wool. Coral wool to be exact!!!

Isn't it lovely?  And there is the previous bobbin I spun several weeks ago, sitting on top of the batts.

I also did a little sample of this medium dark peacock blue.  Very, very soft but lots of VM.  If you click the photo, you can see it in the bag to the right of the carder.  (I had to run the vacuum after I finished, in case you wondered!)  By the way, I was the one who was sneezing today! LOL!

Happy New Year!

There is nothing like a fresh start!  It is wonderful to have traditions and holidays but it's equally wonderful to put things away and start new things.  I promised to share the lovely trees with you as part of my resolutions so here are two, one from the front yard and one from the back.

The weather is cold and gray today, after a little warm weather Friday and Saturday.  We had a very quiet, private New Year's Eve celebration; when I got home from work my husband brought home some great Chinese take-out.  It was perfect!  I had spent the day at three different places.  One was the home of a wealthy lady who needed help taking down her Christmas decorations. She is well connected and told us some incredible stories including a New Years party she went to where some professional athletes were more like gangsters if you know what I mean....
The last stop was to help a couple set up for a party.  They were cooking in the kitchen and needed help setting out table linens and washing wine glasses.  They are also well connected, as they are both famous and have lots of friends.  After a not so leisurely drive home, my quiet dinner at home with hubby was just right!

So, back to knitting!  I am going to allow the pictures to tell you the thousand words I can't think of to say.

Kinder Mitts Progress - step by step

You may have wondered if I had determined somewhere along the way if there was enough yarn to do the second Kinder Mitt.  Proof positive:

Amount of yarn needed for mitt: approx. 1.3 ounces. Amount of yarn left on skein? C4URself.

So there you have it. Cables, thumb gusset, cast off and all while I listened to the Belle of the Ball podcast. ##121, 122, & 125 where she mentions our local Cannonsburgh Harvest Days and Fiber Festival from October (I'm behind on the podcasts!).

I will tell you the rest of my resolutions in no particular order. 

Photograph trees

Go to movies with spouse

Update Ravelry posts every month

Quit smoking cigars

Stop going to monster truck events 

(Okay, the last two won't be a problem, really, but I needed to pad the list so it looks legit.) 

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.