A New Day

 Last Thursday night my son and his wife joined us for dinner, and afterward my son helped his dad with a few work projects, while I joined my daughter in law for a little chit chat downstairs. On Friday my daughter and her husband joined us for dinner and more chit chat. They had arrived in town to pick up the key to their new place, moving back to our area after finishing school.  All six of us get along really well. Both of the boys are graduates this weekend and have an awful lot to look forward to.  Commencement speeches remind us of the big world that lays ahead, and they path they'll take to get there.

As a kid I remember my folks saying that if we didn't like the way things were, "There's the door!"  Teenagers don't like to hear that but it's probably good advice.   It prods the kids to be thinking about leaving someday and what the future will hold for them.  Often a boss will remind an employee how lucky he is to work for them, and if he doesn't like it, “There's the door!”. We are all looking for new opportunities but many times we have to walk through a door to get there.

As both my son and son in law have graduated they are thinking about "the door" to their futures; leaving school and academia, tests and papers, projects and the like - what kind of jobs they will be entering into, and how they will approach them, they will be looking at how their skills and acquired knowledge will fit into someone else' vision and/or needs.  There are other options as well, but whether one is self employed or employed by someone else, "the door" is there to be opened, as they say.
I'm so happy for my kids and their bright futures.  (I will have to admit selfishly though that I tried never to use the door analogy with my kids 'cause I never wanted them to leave!)

I love a good collection

My daughter is in the midst of moving and she and I talked on the phone briefly while I was on my way to the doctor this morning (speakerphone, heavy morning traffic with serious rain, going through a construction zone).  She could hardly hear me and I could hardly hear her but one thing was clear.  She's just like me.   She finds comfort in organizing things.   When you organize things, you realize that you have sorted stuff, like you did at the little table when you were in kindergarten.   Some things go together, and others don't belong with this group.

Last night I finished another Harlan Coben book (not on Kindle) and found a real satisfaction moving the books on my office bookshelf to make room for Live Wire to sit next to the four other hardbacks by HC.  I do have some of his paperbacks and even something on my Kindle by him.  So I realize I now have a collection of his books.  I have Mary Higgins Clark, Harold Bell Wright,  and several others on my book shelf.   Once I find an author I like, I will pretty much ready all their works.   It probably goes back to my OCD habit of collecting things and keeping them together.  I even imagine that people will look at my things with a critical eye and wonder why all the (fill in the blank)'s aren't together in a group like they should be. Like why are the salad forks mixed in with the dinner forks?  (Of course they're not!) But that would really bother me if people thought that.

In the garage, all my spinning stuff is together, but all my knitting stuff stays in the house.  It bugs me if something gets in the wrong guy's area.  Yarn technically can go in either place.  Weaving stuff pretty much stays here in my office because I say so.  Socks go in the sock drawer, shirts go with shirts, and pants go with pants.  Got it?

And when I finish a knitting project I have to put the needles back in the zippered knitting-needle tackle-bag I bought at the Bass Pro Shop. It has one side for DPNs and one for circulars, with ziploc pouches for each size.   I had to explain my putting-back action to my husband the other day, telling him that if I didn't put them back exactly where they came from, I would never be able to find them again.  But I realized as I said it that I was justifying all this to myself.  Organizing comes from wanting to have some sense of control over my environment.  Especially when you don't feel that you have any control whatsoever over your circumstances.  This is a permanent state of mind for me, and is probably why I retreat to reading or knitting whenever I can.  Nobody messes with my knitting and nobody takes your book away while you're reading it.  Two boundaries everyone respects without having to remind them or give them a dirty look.

Now, with all this organizing I have spent little time knitting anything much lately; and that is another story altogether.  I won't chase that rabbit.
But I will chase this little Cocoa Bear Hoodie.

I've finally finished all the pieces but ran out of yarn and had to get another ball.  The front left and right will need button bands  after I press the pieces tomorrow.

I'll pick up the stitches on the left and right front pieces, and allow for buttonholes on the left side.
Then I can sew all the pieces together and do one last blocking session.

In spinning news, I spun some of this very soft, if not dirty midnight blue roving last weekend.  It is very pretty on the bobbin, don't you think?

And finally the pair of Uncle Albert socks were drying on the patio table Saturday morning.  I'm extremely grateful for any little bit of sunshine lately.  It feel like Seattle around here lately!

I will be somewhat busy the rest of the week but in a good way.  And it's good to be busy to keep your mind from worrying about other things.  Kind of like going to the beach or reading a good book.  Being busy is an escape that costs very little and serves you well!  Like organizing your collections!

New Kid in Town

This is the new kid in town, in my back yard.  All the other trees have been here a while, but this one came up on his own and I decided to leave him by the fence, figuring that one day he'd be a nice addition to the edge of the flower bed.

Right now, like all new kids,  he's just getting stares from the other plants and shrubs.  The big trees are by no means intimidated by him.  They are mature, strong and tested by the winds and downpours.  This new kid will eventually be a veteran and another young sapling will assume the role of 'new kid' in the back yard.  By then, the veteran will have realized he's not got all the answers after all.   He will have learned to keep his mouth shut and at least appear to know what he's doing.  It takes a while to grow up.

My son will be graduating from college next weekend;  I got the invitation to his graduation ceremony in the mail last week, and I can't tell you how proud I was to read it.   I know how hard he has worked, keeping up with assignments, working and maintaining an adult life.  He's been on his own for a while now.

January 1991

I remember his first haircut, I remember when he learned to ride a bike, I remember his dad teaching him to cut the grass, and I remember him telling me he'd accepted Jesus as his Savior.
Almost two years ago, the week after his sister's wedding, he went to a ball game with some college kids from our church, and spent the afternoon with the lady who is now his wife.  They were married last summer. He and his wife came over last weekend, and he shared some of the work he'd been doing to finish up the school year; putting sound effects and music to three different motion picture clips.  I was blown away.  That's all I can say.   Blown Away.  Josh,  You are awesome!   Congratulations - we're so very proud of you.

With all this pomp and circumstance, I have to share a swatch with you that I made from my yarn of the month selection.  This is called Dolce Merino by Universal Yarn. It's actually Merino and Microfiber. 

I'd highly recommend this yarn! It's very squishy and springy - perfect for socks.  I am knitting a 1x1 rib on size 7 wooden needles.  Very knowledgeable looking gray if I do say so myself!

 And this second swatch is made of baby alpaca and merino but it's called Camel Hair by Ornaghi Filati.  I knit this on some antique Boye 5's.

Lovely isn't it?  Soft and light with a little halo. 

Sunshine on a cloudy day

The Uncle Albert sock stared at me the other day; rudely, if I may say so, until I picked him up and started picking a hole in his middle until he settled down.  He was trying to get my attention, I'm sure, and well, he got it!

I've reminded myself of how dumb it is to used a waste thread for the afterthought heel that is virtually the same color as the sock.  It was nearly impossible to find the dad-gum stitches!

I finally got them all on a couple of needles and began knitting around the heel opening and decreasing the number of stitches.  Hallelujah! It's time to put that UFO to bed!

I have been watching more than a reasonable amount of YouTube videos of weaving techniques.  I am ready to try the direct warp method.  Instead of doing the whole warp thing on a warping board with a criss-cross, etc, (you weavers will understand), I'm going to try the Readers Digest condensed method where you just pull the loops through the heddle slots and cut and thread the holes.  I need to pick up some warping yarn on a cone soon.
But I'm way, way too tired to do that tonight.  I'm having a hard time typing this post to be honest.  It has been a long day (several days actually) and I'm ready to prop my feet up tonight and watch a movie.  I plan to knit on my red wrap because it's bright and I don't want to wear my granny glasses to read a pattern.

I just want to do some of that plain ole' brainless knitting. That phrase is just laying on the table ready for a smart remark but please don't do it, okay?   Remember how tired I am right now?
 
We had a nice cup of coffee last night after dinner, outside on the patio.  The birds were all feeding, before the storm came through.  The wind was blowing but it was warm and the sun had not set yet.
Those are the kind of moments I cherish. Just talking and chatting about nothing in particular. Enjoying the moment.  That's when you know you are real true friends.  

Lately I've been seeing a little something making the rounds where a well known person does something pretty impressive for a little less than 10 minutes.  This small act has convinced lots of people that this person is the real deal.  Someone to admire, respect, and support.  This really, truly bothers me because I know for a fact that anyone can act "all nice" in public for short periods of time especially when a lot of people are watching.  But take a look at  that same person under pressure.  Watch that person when they are seriously inconvenienced, or even pushed just a little too hard ( beyond their comfort zone).
Do they lash out at others? That is when you need be forming the decision about whether this person is the real deal or not.  Whether they should be respected.  How do they treat the people who work for them?  How do they talk about their fans, employees or support personnel?  Do they become rude and impatient, demanding that somebody  take care of this 'thing' now? We should ask ourselves, "Do I act this way?"
It's extremely important that we not continue to teach our young people that celebrity is to be admired.  Rather lets applaud character, kindness and integrity.  Truthfulness and patience should be rewarded.  I love the quote that says, 'Be nice to the janitor, he may own the company someday!'  You can bet that he will remember who treated him poorly back when he was "just a janitor".

Not a dream weaver

As a novice at almost all things in life, my expectations for my latest weaving project were minimal.  The warp is really old and I have been adding all sorts of yarns to the weft but this week I decided to finish off the thing.  There's a ball of linen singles in the garage that is amazingly white and shiny and looked like the perfect finish to the warp.

It is so easy to weave on this little frame loom (rigid heddle loom) that I only lift the heddle and lower the heddle.  That's all.  But the finishing is the part that requires more skill and is probably why I kept putting the loom in the back-most part of the shelf in the garage.

Tying off the threads in a fancy little embroidery stitch doesn't necessarily look nicer than the square knots (overhand?) that I usually use, or the twisty technique I've used in the past.  But I did it.  I tied off everything last night and clipped and removed everything.  There will be coasters and a potholder as well.

front and back of potholder (my first!!)

navy blue coasters

As the rains have finally ceased today, I found a lovely purple flower trying to peek into my back yard this morning.  It looks like a little child being sneaky!

And with all the rain, and subsequent sun, my lettuce is off to a great start.  I added a little garlic clove last week and it came right up.  That was fast.

I got my results back from the doctor yesterday and they were pretty good with one minor issue. Above 'optimal' LDL cholesterol.  Dangit! It's like getting your test back from the teacher with a great big A-minus at the top.  I want to dismiss it and try to eat less cheese, but my husband sounds the bell of truth.  Honey, just face it; join the crowd.  The rest of us have to deal with all that stuff and now you do too.  You haven't done anything wrong, you're just getting older.  (There it is again.)

Bon Appetit, Italy!

The new issue of Bon Appetit arrived yesterday and I flipped through it while eating my supper last night.  Usually it does not pique my interest but this one is different; it's just really cool with lots of Italian things including espresso, pasta and tiramisu.  Hoo Rah.  (By the way, I made a couple of killer pizzas Monday night!)

Here's a gift I received a few weeks ago from some people I work for.  Two award winning wines.  Hoo Rah again.  Gratitude comes in all kinds of shapes! I like it when people choose to show appreciation rather than say it!!!

The little Cocoa Bear Sweater is almost done.  I've completed all the parts except for the front which I started tonight.

what's left of yarn

back, arms, hood

front left

I will block it when finished and then wash and block again after piecing it together.  It will need to full and shrink a bit since it's looking a little large right now.

Yesterday I spent the entire day cleaning the garage.  Yes it looks like a million dallahs! I listened to an audio book and did not stop cleaning till the job was finished.  And I couldn't wait to make a place for this stuff.  More of what I got from my friend Saturday morning!  (Carded Wool)

I feel so blessed lately, in spite of the vivid reality that there are things I cannot change about this world or the people in it.   I have a bookmark my father in law made years ago that says simply this, "Be still and know that I am God." Ps. 46:10
Life is always a challenge, and many times we have to hold our noses and take the plunge, so to speak.  Dive in and do what we know we have to do, regardless of the repercussions and/or consequences.  Sometimes it's scary, and sometimes we just don't know what to expect.  Then when we've done it, all that's left is to be still and wait.   That's almost as hard as the 'doing' part.

Apples and Oranges

Last year I got my first batch of apples from this apple tree and if the blooms are any indication, I should have more this year as well.  Yahoo!

And now that Spring has fooled us into thinking it would be warm (said with annoyed inflection), we are having another round with cold winds and rain.  So my Snowball Tree is looking right at home in this cold weather.  I'm glad I snapped this picture last weekend when it was sunny! Such a lovely tree when it blooms, even though it desperately needs pruning.

check out the bird's nest!

Today I paid a visit to a friend who's having several rounds of chemo and some radiation.   She patiently explained to me what exactly is going on with her body and the treatments, as I have very little firsthand knowledge of cancer and how it's treated these days.  Both my grandfathers died of something akin to lung cancer and my grandmother died of ovarian cancer, while I had a cousin die at a very young age of a rare form of cancer.   All these happened at least 25 years ago or more and research has come a long, long way since then.   Treatment is so much more effective and doctors are able to diagnose cancer at a much earlier rate than ever before.  So my friend has a much brighter future than anyone I ever knew as a young person.
Thank God for doctors and researchers!

While we visited, my friend allowed me to peruse her stash of carded wool, and I came away with some very nice goodies for my spinning wheel.   One was this box of carded camel down.

It's as soft as it looks and I am so anxious to spend some time with it; maybe later tonight or Monday night. And here's a whole pound of carded mohair - very shiny and sturdy.

I have to take a moment this week to pay a special tribute to another lovely lady, my mother in law.  She passed from this earth April 19, 1997 quite suddenly and her loss is still felt.

                                                                   Tom & Betty 11/95

She was another classy person who was dealt her fair share of grief for one lifetime, yet she maintained a strong faith in Jesus and saw to it that we all knew how much she loved her family.  I was very intimidated when I met her, and I'm sure she had now idea how nervous I was.  I was very aware that I would be taking away one of her boys and she had run a tight ship, so I had a lot to live up to.  Over the years she taught me lots of things about cooking and keeping house and raising kids. Her advice was always wise and straight up, but only when we asked her for it.  She was careful not to interfere.  She did a great job of raising her boys, and I will always be grateful for her example.  And if that weren't enough, she could knit as well!  Holy cow, what a lady!!

Euripides, please

Some people are born with class, others learn it, and still others earn it.  I have met an older woman this year who is very classy, and you might miss this if you met her at the grocery store.  She is genteel, kind and soft spoken.  Her personal tragedies have led her to re-evaluate what's important in life.  Though her home has bookcases lined with books like Euripides and Walden, her home is also filled with a sweet fragrance. Love, kindness and respect.  She leads a low-key life (keepin' it on the DL!) but has taken great pains to ensure that all of her family feels loved.  Its amazing how loudly some people's quiet works speak to us.  And it's important that we remember those who are the loudest are not always the most worthy of our attention.  Sometimes we overlook those who are moving mountains one shovelful at a time! 

Now for some fiber, after I've waxed philosophical.  My lovely spinning wheel has been under the influence lately.  I am sure that I have raved about yarns and wool before, but the key to all good spinning is keeping your wheel oiled.

Every time I change out a bobbin, I am making sure I put a few drops of oil on the shaft of the flyer; and it really makes all the difference.

Every spinning wheel deserves a little oil and a good wheel is made all the better with some TLC.   I now keep a bottle of oil on the table next to my spinning wheel chair so that I never, ever forget.

Here's my new sock form modeling the first of the Uncle Albert socks.   The form looks so big without anything on it - much better wearing a soft wool sock!

 I'm a bit under the weather this evening.  I think I caught a bug from work.  A few folks I know went to Las Vegas last week and came back sick; apparently not everything stays in Vegas!  Last night I felt funny, but got through the day okay.  My friend at work today said she felt yukky and I think even my husband has caught it.  Vague nausea, chills and sore joints.  Maybe I need to go find the spinning wheel oil. Or maybe I'm just not looking forward to my annual doctor's appt. tomorrow.  Oh me.

Hello Sunshine!

What a beautiful day!  Sunshine, breeze, and low humidity. Perfect weekend weather after such a long, damp winter.  I saw some little vegetable plants at a fruit stand, as well as marigolds and even herbs.  I am sooo excited about starting my garden.  I saw an episode of a reality show where a couple of fellows bought a place in upstate NY and began to be gentlemen farmers.  You can tell, it takes some skill and strength to run a farm.  I personally have always dreamed of a life like that, but many friends have warned me that it's not as romantic as it looks.   So I'll stick with a  vegetable garden for now!  No livestock allowed in my subdivision.  LOL!

The little Coco Bear sweater is such a sweet thing to knit.  It's small and very easy knitting.  Stockinette with a few shaping details.

I've seen some projects using this pattern on Ravelry and I think I'll do some decreases on the hood.  That's probably my next segment.  I cast off the back today.

I visited Yarniverse yarn shop in Memphis this morning and bought these.

I've wanted a pair of these sock forms for a while and frankly they cost more than I thought they would, but I'll only have one pair and they should last a long time!  Thank goodness. I'm not gonna fool myself and imagine that I could make a pair of them myself.  Let the pro's do it who have a blow torch and know how to use it.  I'll stick to peeling potatoes and planting lettuce.  (BTW, my lettuce is doing really well now that the sun is shining!)

                                                   (Mississippi River)
My daughter's husband is about to finish graduate school this next month.  As a couple, they have sacrificed and worked hard to maintain a decent lifestyle while reaching a goal.  Life takes balance and not everyone can achieve that.  Lots of people get multiple degrees, some addicted to academia.

                                               (Mud Island, Memphis, TN)
Lots of people jump into to making money hand over fist.  But few people have the ability to keep normal, realistic lifestyles while achieving a worthy goal.  I am so proud of these kids for keeping their sense of humor and perspective when the pressure has been beyond reasonable.  They will receive their reward soon enough and there is not a greater reward for hard work and endurance than fruit from your own labor! Congratulations to Adam C. Davis, JD and the little missus!

Coco Bear reigns supreme

It's not hard to make progress on a little bitty sweater.  I love it!

I am knitting on the back, having already completed the arms of the little hoodie.  It's so cute.

It's light weight and portable - perfect for travel. 

I unexpectedly got the day off today which worked out well.  Heading out of town for the weekend, I was glad to have a day to do some things around the house and yard without being too 'under the gun'.

Since its so terribly lovely, I thought I'd grab the hedge trimmer and clean up the bushes in the back yard.  The pampas grass, maiden and zebra grasses all needed a hair cut and so did the forsythia.  I got a hair cut the other day, so why shouldn't they, right?  Out to the garage to find the extension cord and trimmer.  So far so good.  Unwind the cord, all the way, as I hear my mom say in my subconscious, "Do it right, Brenda".  Now to make the little loop on the end of the handle so the cord doesn't come out while trimming.  But where's the plug-in part?? Only little tracks.  Then it hits me this is a re-chargeable trimmer that I had not used.  Looking for the charger, all I find is the battery pack for the electric drill, and lots of dust bunnies that I remind myself to vacuum later.  Finally I find it.  The battery pack for the trimmer.

And in much less time than it took me to get it all set up, I've got all the stuff trimmed in the back yard;  I'm now a fan of cordless hedge trimmers!  No callouses or blisters from those over sized scissors (loppers), and no nicked orange electric extension cords.

Progress is good!  And I got some sun on my legs and shoulders.  I've got a month to get a tan before my son and son-in-law's graduations.  Hadn't even thought about a new dress till yesterday, and hubby said I should get two; one for each ceremony. Special occasions are worth celebrating!  Woo hoo! And I'm so proud of my kids.  My son came by yesterday afternoon to work with his dad and we all took a moment to go to Sonic for a chili dog.  It was a perfect afternoon outside and I treasured those precious moments with my son.  He is all grown up, married and out of the house, so these times are few and far between.  There's not a sweeter, kinder boy that God could have given me for a son back in 1987.  He is leap years beyond his age  in character and integrity.  He is loving and thoughtful, not to mention talented and smart!  He chose well when picking a wife and they are  perfect for each other. (She's just like him!)   Like the Bible says, children are a blessing!

Vanity of Vanities

I knew once I turned 40 that things would probably begin to change.  I began to realize a couple of years ago that I really needed reading glasses and now I can't read printed materials without them.  Other physical symptoms of aging are more and more evident, like the increased time it takes me to recover from heavy physical activity.  And in the last couple of years I've begun to see more gray hairs.  I wear a pony tail to work pretty often, and one day a girl asked me if I'd ever thought of coloring my hair.  Subtle, huh?  (She's 23.) But today the brutal truth looked me straight in the eye and spoke through my hair stylist.  She carefully mentioned that she saw a few gray hairs and that sometime in the future I might begin to consider a 'stain'.  Honestly, I'd never heard of anything like that, but it sure sounded better to me than the dreaded, "look who just dyed her hair" thing.  My stylist assured me that a stain wouldn't change the color of my hair, just cover the gray.  AKA, Miss Clairol? Anyway, the cat's out of the bag, so to speak.  Or at least the reality of turning 46 this year has come home to roost. (Now I'm really mixing metaphors!)  I am not going to color my hair right now, but I shook hands with the idea today.  Nice to meet you (not)!

I do love to dye wool, though and I think throwing in a little this and that color-wise makes spinning yarn a lot of fun.  A long time ago I took several different colored skeins of home-dyed wool, knitted this bag and felted it.   It's called a Booga Bag and it's one of the first things I blogged about when I started back in the fall of 2004.

The knitting world has changed a lot in the last several years, and people are much more sophisticated in their blog posts and projects.  People are really being innovative in their use of audio and video recording and posting.  Social marketing is keeping us all updated on an hourly basis when someone buys a zipper, returns a zipper, and then gets another zipper.  This may be more than I need to know, but at least it's up to me to decide what information I want to see/hear about.  I love the way women (and men) are connecting and sharing their love of crafts and fibers.  People are way too dependent on chemicals to cheer them up, and I honestly feel that this new world of communication is a real shot in the arm to our mental state.  It's nice to know when people are interested in your project and glad to see the thing finished.  I love to have people say, "Yes, I know, I saw it in your blog!"  How cool.

Coco Bear

 Nice needles plus nice yarn plus nice pattern equals nice knitting.   NN + NY + NP = NK
Sounds like an algebra formula but it's true here as well.  With all the right ingredients, you can almost guarantee a good time.  One bad ingredient can make for a less pleasant experience.  Two bad ingredients, well, you get the idea.

I like the whole package with this little hoodie sweater that I'm going to call Coco Bear.  I just think the color reminds me of Coco Puffs, and the sweater looks like a teddy bear sweater pattern.  Easy. The pattern is published by Bernat and is from a flyer in the store, so it's tried and true.  Also, it's on Ravelry and I don't see any major errata.  The needles are the new Harmony needles from Knit Picks.  So far, everything's good.

 I finished a heel finally on one Uncle Albert sock, and it turned out pretty thick.

That may not be all bad, given the wear and tear on socks in general.  My socks tend to give out in the toe before the heel, but whatever.  It is what it is.  The socks are slowly but surely getting knitted, and I'm about to lose interest - they may soon end up in the WIP pile till next fall!
I don't ever want to take for granted all the good things in my life, but there's a time for everything.  Some things really work well given certain circumstances and seasons, but sometimes the season's change and it's time to move on to something different.

                                           (Time for a new To-Go coffee mug!)

I've begun to do more and more carding and spinning, now that the garage and back porch are suitable weather-wise.  I really am enjoying my drum carder and all the wool I have collected.  Making good use of them is truly fun.  Mixing colors and fibers has turned into more of a creative process than I'd expected!  Who knew?