Zippety Do Don't

 The thought that keeps swirling around in my head (there's lots of room in there!) is to go ahead and take a stab at a regular cardigan.  The Mister Rogers kind but with buttons instead of a zipper.  Zippers are from the pits of hell, okay?  Buttons are nice and kind and never hurt anybody, unlike zippers that are evil and cruel and malicious.  They can snag your tummy and can break open at the most inopportune time.  Guys have to constantly remind themselves to check for you-know-what.  No way, no zippers for me.  Buttons it is (are).

I've had such a nice week already and its only Wednesday.  I know sometimes you wish the week was over with and Wednesday is hump day, but I'm not in any rush.  It was just beautiful today once the fog lifted and I don't think the heat has come on all day.  Yahoo! 
Tomorrow we're supposed to have storms but that is always a little exciting, depending on what kind of work you do.  Unless of course you're the UPS guy or postman!  I had plans to spend the day doing lots of "me" things, but my plans may have to be adjusted slightly, since walking in the park may not be near as fun in the rain.  I'm still thinking...

The alterations on the sweater turned out great and I wore the sweater as soon as I'd finished casting off the hem stitches. 

AFTER

 

 

 

 

Done

Ripping out stitches

Re-knitting the hem

This gradient blue hat looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  The decreases have begun and I'm already thinking about what's next. Pitiful, huh?  

December Surprise!

In the midst of getting guest rooms ready for company this weekend, I happened to move some things around and come across a little bag of swatches I had made earlier this year.

 They are all made with yarn I received every month from a yarn of the month club my daughter bought for me for Christmas last year.  One of the best and most unique gifts I've ever gotten!  So I dumped the little paper sack of samples on the bed and realized that there was a sample of yarn I'd never made anything with.  Woo Hoo!

What a sweet surprise - and I'm sure I was saving it for later.  Like finding an extra mini candy bar leftover from Halloween.  What a treat!  Now I can't think what to make with it.  But give me a minute.  I'll come up with something.

I also took up the mantel to finally remake one of my favorite sweaters, and the first sweater I've ever made.

When we moved to Tennessee, I visited a local yarn shop (LYS) and told the lady I wanted to make a sweater: simple, pullover with no challenges.  She helped me find needles, yarn and a pattern and it pretty much knocked a hole in $100.  I know that might surprise you, especially if you have a ton of hand knitted or crocheted "gifts of love" from someone who thought enough of you to make something.  But believe me, no matter how little you thought of it, she thought a lot and spent a bit too!  Anyway.....I digress.  I made the sweater as best I could given the directions and measurements I took.  It turned out pretty well, except for the fact that it was more appropriate for an orangutang.  Arms too long and chest too short.  So I ripped out what I could and balled up the yarn the other night.  I will the give the alterations my best shot next week.  I feel pretty confident that after 10 years of knitting since I made the thing originally, I can probably figure this one out!

This little blue hat has a few more rows on it now, adding in some lighter wool of the same shade. I blended and spun this yarn last year in a gradient fashion.  Four skeins, each progressively lighter.

Two inches of the deepest blue, then two more inches of one-shade-lighter. 



These little bits of hope and joy are pretty timely for me.  The early part of this week, including last Sunday were not my best days emotionally.  Some days are like that.  Not all days are good, or you'd never know the difference.  But, things got better as the week wore on and I am confident that next week will be really good.  My husband and I are planning to do some fun, couple things since his dad will be away for a while.  Papa's going to visit his other son in Birmingham for the week, so we're going to take advantage of the opportunities to paint the town.  Or Target.  And maybe Starbucks!

That's just about enough of this!

Do you have places, things, issues, etc...in your life that make you want to put your palms down on the table in front of you and say, "Now that's just about enough of this!" ?
Surely we all have things that bug the daylights out of us, and we're better off keeping our mouths shut, hoping that the thing will simmer down and  soon enough we'll be in control of our emotions.    I am one of many individuals,  like the Occupiers of Wall Street, who can get a little too stirred up about a thing for my own good.  However, it always makes for spicy conversation if you can get me to talk about the things I'm passionate about.

One thing I love to talk about is of course knitting and spinning.  I love seeing the articles about prisoners learning to knit.  I love to hear how therapeutic knitting is, and how it has changed people.  I hate to hear or see the stereo typical nonsense that knitting is an "old lady" thing.  If you spend much time reading knitting blogs, you'll begin to need an explicit content filter for your computer.  Even image searches can be shocking, or at least funny.  Like the new trend of knitting a beard.  They're in stores, online, everywhere.  Crazy, huh?
Most men hate shaving and would love to be able to grow a beard and not get in trouble with their wives.  But to knit and wear one is a hoot!! Love it!

Below are some photos of what I was working on during the year and only one project was a complete failure (not pictured).  I'm not through with the gray socks so they don't count - they're fine and will be done this week. 

January 2011

February 2011*

March 2011

April 2011*

May 2011*

June 2011*

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011*

November 2011*

(Starred items are handspun. )

Every year I spend a lot of time in December thinking about the upcoming year and all its potential.  I love a new start and I love leaving behind past failures in favor of finding new successes.   I am now calling these goals Pre-Solutions rather than Resolutions.  I have been working on a sort of outline that helps me collect all the odd bits and pieces into a collection that is cohesive and resembles a short list.  Like things together, you know.  My larger topics seem to be the following three categories: Knitting, Reading, and Personal which includes everything from gardening to cooking and fashion.  Shows you what really matters to me! ( I'd rather be knitting/reading than jogging. )

So 2012, here I come, ready or not.  I will be doing more, doing less, and trying to balance what I have control of.   By the way, I can tell you from experience that its impossible to have New Years Resolutions that involve other people.  You don't control others, and you can't, so forget-about-it!  Just stick with yourself and you'll be better off.  And so will your friends, family and co-workers!

Three Easy Payments

Every item that might sound too expensive at first is usually advertised not by its actual price, but by a third of the price.  Three easy payments of.....
It seems to me that we're either too cheap for our own good, or bigger suckers than we'd previously thought.  The things I'd really love to have are almost always way out of my price range.  Take for instance the cute purse I saw at the luggage store.  It was more than cute, judging by the price tag.  When I commented about it in the store window, hubby said, "Go on in and see how much it costs".  But my response was, "Oh, its at least $150."
Wrong.  Try closer to $300!  See what I mean? I'm too cheap for my own good.
So now you know why I'm a spinner.  I love great looking yarn for knitting, but it usually is way out of my price range.  The yarn on Etsy that I finally decided was worth a second look costs $95 a skein.  What??  So, I'm a spinner, who can start with white or gray wool, silk or alpaca and end up with beautiful, colorful yarn, perfect for any project.

I decided to vary my dull gray existence with a little color - something spicy from south of the border, so to speak.  Doesn't this color just remind you of a wrap skirt in an exotic country?  Its supposed to rain the next couple of days and then turn cold, just in time for Christmas.  That means I need to pick up some firewood!

I'm making a little knit cap that's knit flat and sewn up later.  I started with a ribbed border and switched to a rib variation for the body. 

The gray socks are beyond the afterthought heel thread and I will start the toe soon. No pics today, sorry.

My Christmas present arrived Friday afternoon, and was completely installed just before we had to leave for dinner with friends.  I love these folks, but all I could think about all night was my new stove!  I went to bed that night feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve.  I woke up and looked at the clock in the middle of the night to see how much longer I had to wait before I could get up and try it out.  It was only 11:45 so I just had to go back to sleep.  When I did wake up, I made a pot of coffee on the stove, but then was afraid to use it any more.  I didn't want to wake anybody else up, but also, I just didn't want to mess it up.  So clean and pretty and shiny.  And by the way, there's a new microwave too.  They kind of go together nowadays, because of the stove hood factor.   And the microwave went out last week anyway.   So, I made molasses cookies and split pea soup.  Both old favorite recipes.  And today I made pot roast with vegetables and a pot of rice which boiled over. Dadgummit.  Clean up will always be a challenge, I'm told, but its worth it!   Can I fix you something to eat?

Where's the inspiration?

Today I have to admit that I am feeling under the weather.  It takes a LOT for me to give in to not feeling well, but there's just no other explanation.  I have a headache, sore throat, sneezing, achy sinuses and my skin hurts.  I almost never have to blow my nose but I did just that this morning.  When I was a kid, my mom made us homemade "cold remedy" out of whiskey, honey and lemon juice.   Can somebody go to the store for me?

I've put off the rest of the decorating, at least my front porch and the stairs, until the weather turned sunny again and I had a whole day to spend on/in the house.  Well, heck, its sunny out there today and I'm home, but even the best laid plans are shot to pieces when you just don't feel good.  And if you know me very well at all, coffee is my drink of choice but its being hedged out in favor of hot tea.

Anyway, I thought I'd at least post a progress photo of the slouchy sock #2 and later talk about inspiration. This sock is going really fast so I'll probably do some good knitting today/tonight when I get the chance.

  I had really wanted to go to Threaded Bliss' knitting group tonight, but if I don't feel any better, I guess I'll be staying home.

Also, I've done some occasional spinning and finished two bobbins.  I feel sure I'll spin one more before plying. Maybe I'll call it Trinity Yarn!  (three ply, you know)

I'm obsessed lately with silk, in the form of hankies, cocoons and caps.  The wheel is occupied right now, but my next spinning project will definitely be silk!

I added some links on the upper right corner of the page to showcase the blogs I read for inspiration.  They're mostly knitters (except for three) and all have their own unique attractiveness for me.  Most everyone has heard of Yarn Harlot and Wendy Knits, but I like to check out the others when I get low on inspiration.

I have nothing really funny or interesting to say today.  The only really newsworthy thing is that my stove and microwave will be replaced on Friday.  A series of unfortunate events sent us to Home Depot this week to check out the specials.  In the interest of fire safety and the well being of my neighbor's houses on either side of us, we bought a new stove and microwave.  Merry Christmas to me! 

Oh, and we watched my new favorite Christmas movie the other night, A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey.  It looks beyond amazing, to me.  I saw it in the theaters and my hubby bought me a copy this past week.  We watched it with his dad and he immediately said he wanted a copy too! Maybe I need to dig out some more Christmas movies to watch today.  Any suggestions?

Hard to tell

Occasionally I have a handful of needles that are different sizes and can't tell which ones are which,  particularly if they all look alike and are the same color.  See?

If they are more than a size or two apart, I can lay them all flat in a line and roll them back and forth like I'm making a play-doh snake until I can feel which ones are thicker.

Or like I did just now, I can push them together like spaghetti at one end and the other end will tell me that the longer ones are all the same size and the shorter ones are the other size. Ha Ha!  My detective skills are phenomenal, I must say!

I finished Slouch Gray Sock Number One.  Its also phenomenal.  Now to top myself with my skillful knitting ability,  lets see if I can do another one exactly the same.  I doubt it.  But here goes anyway! 
I did a few alterations; hope it won't look like a neanderthal man knitting the thing.  Fingers crossed.

Slouchy Sock One

Thanksgiving was wonderful and this year was especially nice because my daughter and daughter in law helped cook the meal.  It really freed me up to enjoy the day more.

Spice Girls!

In fact, we made a bunch of homemade pizzas on Black Friday night, since the Turkey Day cooking wasn't so bad. I went shopping Friday afternoon with the girls and avoided most of the crowds, but the boys braved the midnight sales and 5 a.m. door busters!

Southern Living Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Turkey(ham) and dressing - uh-mazing!

Getting ready for the big day!

Those that didn't cook washed dishes (what troopers!)

And Saturday, my father in law took us all to a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel down the street (we go there a lot).  So today we finally got out the leftovers for lunch after church.  Just in time to watch the football game, and boy was it a good one!

I started decorating for Christmas yesterday after everybody left, and realized I still had some more boxes to get out of the attic.  Gosh I hate going up there.....

Fear of Decorating

I've begun working on the heel stitches for the the first sock and will have to do some Speedy Gonzales knitting tonight after dinner. The waste thread has been pulled out and I've put all the heel stitches on two needles.  Once I've completed the heel on this first sock  I'll get to start sock number two.  Woo hoo!!

And I really, really want to finish it quickly so that I can go back and finish the other skinny sock stocking (below)  before Christmas Eve.  I'd like to be able to hang the stockings and stuff them with lots of goodies and gift cards!

After the Thanksgiving weekend, I plan to decorate the house for Christmas, so its crucial that I get this stocking finished.   Motivation to get my hiney in gear and knit!

Decorating for Christmas is not my favorite thing to do and I'll tell you why. I really dread getting down all the boxes of decorations from the attic.  The pull down stairs in the garage are narrow and precarious, and I am already afraid of heights.  Plus, someone I used to work with stepped through the attic floor at his house and broke his back a few years ago moving boxes of Christmas decorations, so I'm doubly nervous about the task.  But, guess what! Yesterday I went to the garage  to start cleaning around the area where I'd "land" the boxes from the attic when I realized I'd never actually put the boxes in the attic from last year!!  Oh my goodness, what a surprise! My lazy streak (fear of the attic stairs) has finally paid off.  Now I only have to walk into the garage and drag them into the house, scaling only two small steps at the back door.  Unbelievable! 

And let me tell you of another fortunate thing. Yesterday afternoon I met a friend for coffee on the spur of the moment.  We needed to do some catching up and before I knew it, the time had flown by and it was time to get home.  On the drive home I was moving along at a good pace (speeding) and had the music pretty loud since I was alone.  I was selecting music from a portable device which is pretty close to texting while driving.  I made the turn toward my little town when I saw a string of tail lights that went on for miles.  Ugh.  Five o'clock traffic ahead, as I looked at my watch and it really was 5:30 p.m.

I decided to make the best of it and kept on listening to my music and was glad that I wasn't coming home from a long day at the office.  Several miles later, I could see that the traffic was so slow because of a terrible accident.  I don't know exactly what happened but the entire northbound lane was closed off (I was southbound) and there were lots of emergency vehicles around a power pole that was bent sideways.  The power lines were stretched and twisted and the police officers had on their reflective vests, directing cars to keep moving past the site of the accident.   What a close call!  I had been completely unaware of what time it was when I left Starbucks, and was oblivious to the danger I could have been a part of, had I left earlier.  You just never know how close you've come; how blessed you are and how your life may have been spared many times over, every single day.   I do believe someone up there is watching out for me!!

Noah's Ark

Many nurseries today are decorated with pictures of animals walking two by two into an ark. They seem to be oblivious to the fate that's about to overtake their friends.

A couple of years ago, I took a trip that began with a flight where the pilot announced we were going to try to take off pretty quickly in order to miss some serious storm systems moving into the area.   I had no idea how bad those storms were going to be, and frankly I'm glad I didn't know.  And I don't think Noah or the animals getting on the ark were aware of what was about to happen to them either, or how long it would take for things to get back to normal. 

When we carry on with our daily lives oblivious to the indicators that storms may be coming, we could be caught unawares.  But if we are diligent at keeping an eye on things, we can avoid damaging winds that could be costly.  Its so easy to keep looking  at the same things all the time and never see how far we've gotten course.

What's wrong with this picture?

three different thicknesses of yarn!

After spinning the entirety of the military blue (midnight blue?) wool, I realized that the last skein of yarn was way thinner than the first and the second skein. Little by little, I was spinning finer and finer.  Dangit!

In order to be more consistent I now have a little string of bright purple yarn that I look at whenever I'm spinning.  Its keeping me where I need to be.  I want to spin this fuller and fatter for a bulky yarn; keeping the ply as thick as the purple example is my goal.

purple standard

future bulky yarn (can you see the face?)

Sitting down to knit at night is such a treat for me.  I really look forward to the whole creative process.  I've made it past the afterthought heel thread and I'm finishing the foot.  Soon I'll close the toe and  begin the heel, then on to the second slouchy sock!

Betsy's slouchy sock #1

Pinterest, Twitter and oh yeah, Facebook

We all have favorite TV channels, places to eat, and websites we go to when we open our computer.  I like the news I suppose, since my home page on the computer is a news site.  But its never long before I check the weather (my cell phone homepage) and then some social networking sites.  Recently I've pretty much left Facebook and stayed mostly with Twitter and Pinterest.  Pinterest is mostly for girls, judging by the photos posted of guys.  But I really like the feeling I get after looking at photos of beautifully prepared food and neat, orderly living rooms and back gardens.  Seeing things that make you feel good should be a medical prescription.  I heard once that listening to music you like  is good for your brain and body, and that's been proven.  I've heard that newborns need affection and touch early on to set them on the right path as well. (I think I've even heard that babies need eye contact.)

We just got back last night from a trip to the mountains for a retreat.  I'd like to know the root of that word, because it really was a "treat" to get away for a few days.  Mostly our getaways are for seeing family or taking care of business, but I really enjoyed looking at the fall leaves while we were in Pigeon Forge. The mountains and valleys looked like calico. Even though the trees are starting to become bare, they have a Sleepy Hollow appeal and the ground covered with leaves makes everything look cool.

The teaching at the retreat, provided via Family Life, was top notch and the best I've ever seen or heard in over 25 years of marriage.  There was restoration of marriage on the brink of divorce and renewal of commitment by almost everyone there.  Fantastic in every way.  So truly, coming home I feel rested and renewed and the pictures in my mind of the leaves and my new friends are things that make me happy today.  I wish I could pin them on Pinterest!

There was no knitting done all weekend, but I'm ready to jump back in.  The closer we get to the really cold weather, the faster I'm knitting in my mind.  Lets hope my hands can keep up!

Take two

If you're reading this, you must be at least computer-savvy enough to know what its like to have your computer crash.  You probably also spend a little more on internet service that makes everything happen faster, cause you're probably like me.  You hate waiting forEVER for pages and programs to open.

My computer has been so slow lately that I am losing interest in even being on the internet.  My husband is a Mac guy and assures me he never has this kind of problem, but I have had both Macs and PCs and I guess I'll stick with my HP.

Now, back to the issue at hand.  I'm trying to move everything valuable off of the hard drive to start over.  Hopefully this will make everything go faster, so says my hubby. So I know my first step is to copy  everything to an external hard drive.  For some reason I thought, What the hay, I'll do my laptop, too, while we're at it!"
You can stop laughing.  I realized today after I'd finished just the big tower computer, 6 hours and 15 GB later, that doing my laptop as well was gonna take a while.  It did.

 I had to go outside and pretend to smoke a cigarette until I got my composure back when I was through.  (Okay, a cup of coffee and two cookies from the cookie jar made a good substitute.)
When I was all finished I still had to find all the installation stuff that came with the computers, which took a while as well. But I found them.  Yay!

So tonight, after a delicious homecooked meal from Taco Bell, I spent some time unwinding in front of the TV, knitting on this.

Take two - slouchy gray sock!

Voila!  I'm as far along, lengthwise with this second version of the slouchy gray sock, as I was on the other one when I stopped knitting it.  This one's going a heck of a lot faster because I eliminated the confusing honeycomb part.  Now it's just straight cables (8 stitch), with knitting and purling.

Sadly, I had to cancel our spinning meeting this coming Thursday, since everyone had a schedule conflict. I have a prayer meeting that night and  I'm going out of town the next day so it worked out well for me.   My husband and I are going on a marriage retreat!  I'm hoping to take my knitting along and get in some serious progress while I'm there.  (Hope they'll let me knit during the sessions!)

I wish

I wish I could share with you how beautiful this day is.  It is pretty much perfect in every sense.  Number one, it's Saturday, so most people have at least a small shot at enjoying it if they choose to.  Number two, the temperature shouldn't get much above 70 degrees which I think is ideal for fall.  Number three, the sun is shining. Number four, we get an extra hour of sleep tonight.  I don't know what else it would take to make you happy.  That has to be enough; but someone out there is inevitably complaining about something.  I, however, am saying woo hoo for today!!!


The lovely gray sock I've been knitting for my daughter has come to an abrupt end.  I realized that the cables were taking up all the circumference of the sock, and diminished it by about a third.  So I laid aside the needles, found a bigger pair, and cast on again, this time adding a third more stitches.  Take that!  This one should be much better, and will hopefully fit someone who's over 12 years of age.  The previous work of art should be perfect for a skinny little stocking, that I will press and make a loop for hanging over the mantle come the first part of December.

My son and daughter in law spent the night last night and we all went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/brunch.  The fire had not been lit, but the sounds of the holidays were all around.  No dancing Santas but musical elf hats, clocks that chime carols, and of course the vast array of ornaments, one or two I will definitely try to make.

One is a little miniature stocking ornament, and the other was a miniature sweater ornament with sequins.  How can I not knit something so small and so easy?

Future Kitchen Garden 2012

But I can't get my mind off of the yard.  I cleared a flower bed a couple of days ago, that I am planning to use as an herb garden.  It's in a back corner near the fence and has enough space for me to experiment without anyone complaining about how it looks if it gets raggedy.

Perfect posture!

The latest news from my spinning wheel is that I have pretty much mastered the art of tension.  This is what I spun, which seems benign to the naked eye, but to a seasoned spinner, it's truly a work of art.  There is not twist when hung.  Absolutely none.

Straight as a board

  I amaze myself.  The credit however must go back to the Youtube video I posted previously.  Advice when taken, is such a wonderful thing!

Oh, and one last thing.  In October of 2004, seven years ago, I started this blog.

Here is the camera I used back then, which required that I use a card reader when uploading photos, and do all the "blogging" old school with codes and such.  Thank you Blogger for improving my blog experience.  And thank you to the slim few of you who have been reading this blog all these years!  Happy Blogiversary!