Nostepinne Zone

Monday night we watched the Dallas Cowboys play a terrible game that they actually won.  It was humiliating I'm sure for the Redskins who seemed to be playing pretty well, to lose to a team who couldn't have played much worse. And it seemed that Tony Romo was the only factor that kept the team ahead at all.  That and many field goals.  Maybe the credit should go to the kicker, since that accounts for the majority of the points scored all night.

I am sure that the team of newcomers were taken to task over their sophomoric performance.  There is just something to be said for skill and experience.  You could tell Tony was looking around for some skilled players all night and was caught off guard lots of times when the only ones around were the ones he would have to coach through the remainder of the game.  But at least they won - you gotta give them that!

During the game I was completing the crimson stocking and it turned out beautifully.  Here it is pressed and ready to be lined.

I have managed to get a couple of pics from the yard.  This tree was planted less than 10 years ago and it is as tall as the house now. 

The petunias are leftover from the summer - wave petunias never let me down.

And this wasp is mesmerized by theses pink buds.

Finally this little plant comes up every year like a weed (I'm sure it is) but I let it go all summer so that I can see the awesome flowers.

While I don't have access to my community garden plot anymore, I did plant these radishes - not much to look at yet, but hopefully there'll be something for my salads soon!

I mentioned in my last post about carding and sticky wool.  Here's another little tool that is very old school and low tech. Its called a nostepinne.  It sounds like "No Spin" if that helps!

This tool is used to make a center pull ball so that when you're knitting, your ball doesn't roll all over the floor seducing and beguiling your cat.  The stick is made of wood and is similar to a small baseball bat, just in case you need to knock someone in the head!

Sticky Situations

Several times in the last week I have taken a little break and retreated to the garage for a little wool-carding.  This time of year is the absolute best time for carding because I can open the garage door to keep from inhaling so much wool and dust, and enjoy the stable temperatures.

I have quite of bit of sticky wool that I have washed countless times and still have not gotten out all the lanolin.  At first it seems quaint, that lovely fresh-from-the-farm smell, faint but still hanging around.  You pick, you card, you re-card, and take it to the wheel to spin, and it's still downright gummy. I think it would work well at this point for flannel graphs in a preschooler's Sunday School lesson.

I worked hard to complete this batch, dyed last year and looking super attractive until I touched it.  I truly hope it comes out soft and clean when I wash the plied yarn (again!) next week. To knit something with this could be dangerous.  Picture a cool looking scarf that swings when I wrap it around my neck, and grabs the sunglasses off unsuspecting bystanders! I will have to be selective with my project if this stuff doesn't come clean.....

We had a little adventure this week, and not the kind I'm a fan of.  On Thursday my dad collapsed from an abdominal aortic aneurysm.  That's the second dad in our family to have one of these AAA events in the last six months.  Cancel my subscription!  Wow.  Talk about life hitting you in the gut.  I love my dad dearly, and I'm well aware that he's a bit past middle age, but this kind of thing is no fun at all.  My dear mom called me, clearly trying to keep it together long enough to give me the information she herself was having a hard time processing.  The whole scenario is the stuff that nightmares are made of.  People don't need this kind of stress in their lives, and I feel sorry for ER nurses and doctors.
Mom said the hospital had to get a courier to bring a stent from a nearby city, but he took forever getting to the hospital because of rush hour traffic.  Five units of blood and almost ten hours later the leaking/rupturing artery was repaired and dad was in the clear.  The chances of his survival was about one in ten.  I believe in prayer, period.  THAT's what saved him.

Somethings fishy and I don't mean sushi!

I am way down the line with my crimson stocking.  When I laid it on the chair for a progress photo, I realized how much it looked like a fish washed up on the beach!  How icky is that?  I hope it doesn't smell.

I also recognized something else.  I made it plenty long enough to hold lots of candy, Starbucks cards and knitting gadgets.  *Hint, hint!  Yes, I think  this one will be my stocking  for Christmas this year.

I love Christmas and I always kick off the season by watching Home Alone.   I am fully into the Fall weather right now though, as evidenced by my very large Autumn wreath on the front door.  If you're in the neighborhood and notice it, honk your horn when you drive by!  I'll try to run to the door and wave back. :-)

The Ravelry group for glove knitters has brought up the idea of a Fall glove knit-a-long or KAL for short.  They're calling it a GAL (glove-a-long) which I think is adorable!  Not that gentlemen knitters aren't welcome, but you know, leave it to the ladies to get creative with a name.

I really like the Knotty glove pattern and am trying to decide if I want to make them gray or pink.  Why pink, you ask?  Why not?

Earlier today I watched our president give his speech to the general assembly and he spoke about peace in the middle east for a while.  I appreciate that he did not take the obligatory, politically correct position of siding with the Arabs.  He did, in fact, address the pressure that Jews in the Middle East face on a daily basis.  Good for you, Mr. President.  And while I'm at it, God bless America!  (How's that for being politically incorrect?)

The Long and Short of It

It's hard to believe that I'm already this far along with the crimson stocking.  It's time to put in the afterthought heel thread.  Or......I can make it a long, skinny stocking and keep on enjoying the mindless knitting I've had the last week.

The pattern is completely committed to memory and I hardly have to look at the page to see what's next.  I do keep making the same mistake over and over again, and in exactly the same place.  What's that all about?  You'd think I'd learn, but I guess I haven't paid attention like I should.

It keeps happening at the end of the row where I start to expand the medallion.  I've decided to leave in one of the errors 'cause I already lost a couple of hours frogging the thing, twice!   It gives it character, right?  Okay, maybe not.

Anyway,  I have not even thought about the next stocking, if that's any indication of how much I'm enjoying this little thing.  Every night after dinner I sit down next to it on the couch with a cup of coffee and knit for at least an hour.  Woo hoo!  It's the little things!

I dropped my honey at the airport this morning, before the sun came up.  He's headed to Texas for a few days, but on my way home I saw the most amazing rainbow as the sun was coming up.  It seemed like it was there just for me!  Well, it was, as a matter of fact.  I know it was because my husband and I had just prayed before I dropped him at the curb.  It's good to know Somebody's listening!

And I have spent the majority of the week sorting through stuff in the garage.  I literally am just now putting last years' Christmas decorations back in the attic.  I threw away homeschool papers that would cover my behind in case the law came-a-looking.  Homeschooling is a legal nightmare, I don't care what people say.  So now that both kids are out of school and married and employed, I figure it's safe to toss the evidence.  I also bubble wrapped a set of dishes my grandmother gave me years ago - dishes that I am going to store for a while, since I've painted the dining room lighter and put light colored dishes in the china cabinet, instead of the ruby red ones.

This morning I finally planted some Angelique tulip bulbs for next spring.  They'll have to compete with the passion vines that just keep coming back up. Can't seem to get rid of them.  Either way, the flower bed on the hill will be lovely next year!

Medallion of Honor

I feel like I have redeemed myself a little with this medallion cable pattern.  I'd lost a little self-esteem on that last stocking, feeling like I was in one of those dreams where your feet are like cement; not moving nearly fast enough.  I had not reached any sort of panic yet, but I knew I'd better get back into the swing of things with my knitting or all this stocking momentum would be gone.

The weather is decidedly cooler now, by at least ten degrees, and we had a pretty cool few days at the end of last week.   When the weather is like that, I make an effort to spend time carding in the garage.  If it's too hot out there, or too cold, I can only stay for limited amounts of time.  But Friday the weather was comfortable and I had two goals.  To steam the carpets (high traffic areas) and card some more of the Jacob fleece I got on our last dye day.  I did both.

I had washed the carp* out of the fleece but there was still an awful lot of VM left so, carding outside was a great idea.  And the weather was outstanding!  It probably stayed in the 70s for the entire day.  Just enough breeze to keep the dust moving away from me, too!  I am so proud of what I've accomplished, and I know this will give me one more spinning project to look forward to.  And I still may add some camel down to the batch, if I find the time to card a little more.

I have the greatest of intentions, by the way.   I woke up today thinking of how I was gonna clean out the garage, get rid of stuff and make way for the many boxes that will surely be coming our way  when we   liquidate my father in law's house and possessions.  We intend to store a lot of it.  I expect that some of it will come to roost in our garage and attic, and if that's the case, I will have to clear out the Christmas decorations and most of the empty boxes I keep saving  "just in case I need to mail something."  That's not far away from keeping extra twist ties and washed aluminum foil.  I need to purge not hoard!

There is such a tendency to hang on to things that really have outlived their purpose.  The older I get, the more I tend to hang on to things, and the more I have to make myself toss, toss, toss.  To pine away for things that are over with is useless.  I have been good about giving away baby clothes & blankets, odd bedspreads and old TVs. I have even thrown away boxes of books when we moved.  (Shipping books is expensive by the way.) Last week I threw away CDs and DVDs, and this week I plan to go through my closet, purging the old summer clothes that I never wore.  I've heard that you can safely pitch stuff that you haven't worn in a year.  I know I have things I haven't worn in two years or more.  I have a slew of suits from my old office job that are still in dry cleaning bags in the spare bedroom. Surely somebody needs those houndstooth skirts!!

Skein of the Crime

 While visiting family last weekend, we stopped at a local fabric store so that I could buy fabric to line the two completed Christmas stockings.  Half a yard of green, half a yard of blue. Easy.
The green one is done.

I've finished  the blue stocking and will probably make the lining for it this week.  Now for stocking number three!

Yesterday I started this pattern for a solid crimson cabled stocking.

No fancy charts, and an easy to memorize, if not complicated at first to figure out, pattern.  The pattern is written for flat knitting, so I had to make some minor adjustments in order to knit in the round.

Apparently knitting reverse stockinette stitch is not the same as just purling, but that's what I'm doing.  So there!  Not gonna fiddle with trying to figure out "the perfect way" to do this.
I did have to rip out the first several rounds and start over - bummer.  There was no way around it.
But now it looks good and I think I've got it right.


 I am not a perfectionist about most things.  In fact pretty good is usually fine with me, and I'm not hard to please in almost every circumstance. 

But, if you're talking about coffee, I'll have to say Whoa Nelly about that.  I am a purist when it comes to coffee, as you should be, too.  Life is short, I'll admit, but not that short.  Not so short that you should drink so-so coffee when its so cheap and so easy to get really good coffee. (Cheap being a relative term.)

Our addiction to coffee in America has led us down some very expensive paths, the most expensive lately being the Keurig and the little cups that are starting to rival Starbucks drive-through prices.  So our friends bought us a simple drip coffee carafe and filter holder, for when we make coffee for several people at a time.  No electricity needed except for boiling the water; and you might have a gas stove for that.  Anyway.......my point is that you don't have to go high tech to have good coffee. 

And, to wax philosophical on you, I have to say people are the same way.  Most of the time you don't need a degree to deal with people whose problems seem complicated.  Most of the time good old fashioned common sense is all it takes. The kind of advice you'd get from your grandma.

The times, they are a changing

I can't believe I've finally started on the heel of the stocking.  I now have the feeling you get several weeks after having a baby.  During childbirth you swear you'll never, ever do this again.  But later on, you forget the pain and concede that having babies is a good thing after all.
This stocking isn't as cute as my babies were, but at least I'm not looking at it with a sideways glance.  I am ready to take on another stocking after this, but the next one will have lots of easy repeats and no crazy stitch patterns.  It does look good, though.  And I'll admit, it even seems to be worth the effort.  Don't you?

We took a trip this weekend to visit my family after we dropped my father in law at my brother in law's house nearby.  While they made their way to a follow up doctor's visit in NC, we headed to the Gulf Coast.  I had no idea until the night before we left that there was a hurricane (tropical storm) headed that way.  Lucky me!

We got to spend almost the entire weekend watching water pour off the roof like we were in a giant car wash.  And the blowers were on! Gee whiz!

But it was good to get in some knitting and reading time.  I enjoyed seeing family and came home like I always do - thanking God for my home sweet home.
I had my smart phone with me, but for some reason the internet access did not work.  I had my laptop, and it did the trick, but there was at least one bit of technology that I did not have at my fingertips for the stay. And that was good.  Cause it made me close the toe of the stocking and get to the heel!

Keeping up with the times is a good way to keep away the cobwebs.  When I met my husband, who is a musician, I learned what BGV's mean; background vocals.  (Not to be confused with BVDs which are underwear!)
Tomorrow I will add another acronym to my repertoire; VCGs -  virtual community groups.   I am taking part in a video chat with some other ladies whose husbands are in ministry.  We all have one thing in common, and that is the need to remain discreet with lots of sensitive information that could cause unnecessary pain or confusion in the lives of other people.  The downside is that there's no one to confide in.  Minister's wives are some of the loneliest people around, even though they are surrounded by people almost all of the time they are outside of the house.
It is important to maintain confidentiality when you are exposed to the private details of other people's lives. It's also important to act like you're mentally competent at least 75% of the time.

You see, church leadership comes with a hefty price tag. You want to be together and uplifting to all of the people you come in contact with.  You try to agree with and support all of those above you in the food chain, and meet their expectations for excellence.  Those who have a problem with religion or the church are just waiting to make an example out of you. Your family sometimes gets pushed way down the totem pole of priority, if you want to appear "a good leader".  Your children often have to take the leftovers of your time when it comes to holidays, special occasions and family get togethers.  I know this because my husband and I have been in ministry since we married in 1985.  It doesn't matter where you live or how old you are, or how what kind of church you serve in, the rules are the same.   My son took his first steps in the church nursery. We have celebrated countless Christmas Eves at 10pm so that the kids could open a gift before going to bed ( but they had to wait till we got home from the church's Christmas Eve candlelight service).  The rewards are great but the sacrifice is equally great.  Tomorrow, I hope to meet with some great ladies who've been in the same boat for a while as well.  We hope to encourage each other, but I've heard the groups are more fun than anything else.  I can't wait!

Qui tacet consentire

This Latin quote sums up a worthy principle for our society to take note of - to be aware of a problem and do nothing about it is to give consent to it.  It is often applied to political issues, but I think the application is broad. 

To apply this to knitting is my forte.  I love to knit.  I am so not into this stocking anymore.

I've added the afterthought heel thread and am a little less than two inches of pattern (graph) from the end of the pattern.

I know its a lovely pattern, and I know its gonna be worth the tedious hours of pattern reading, but I'm as impatient as it gets when it comes to finishing a project.  The only solution to this problem is to set goals and my goal is to complete at least one inch tonight and one inch tomorrow night of the pattern.  Then I'll switch to solid blue, and complete the toe, then do the heel.  I envision the whole thing being done by the weekend.

And I have a lot to look forward to this weekend!  I am going to see my parents, and I haven't seen them in over six months.  A lot has happened in the last six months and I feel like a teenager coming back from camp.  Sometimes you just need to see their faces and give them a big hug! 
I left my job last week (I'd been there a year) and have rearranged my life and schedule for the better.  We can't control people's actions and reactions, but we can control ours.  Just ask Viktor Frankl! 

As the gardening season comes to a close, there's a bee in my bonnet, so to speak that I have to let out.  I have two spinning wheels and I only use one.  My plan is to sell the old one

and buy this!
Ooooh I am really wanting this greenhouse.

Sometime before the snowy weather arrives would be good.  I think the temps today will be in the 90's so I've got time. 

Falling Behind

Locally grown organic apples (from my back yard)

I used to crank out two blogs a week, sometimes even more.  The point of the blog is not to bore you, but to update you on knitting progress and other relevant 'stuff'.  My current knitting project is this great blue and white stocking; looks kind of like Blue Willow dishes to me.  I realize that this kind of knitting is really not fair isle, but just two colors with no repeats of any kind.  Its slow as molasses in January;  like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.  Better not get in too much of a hurry, cause it's gonna be a while.

The reading of each row is so much like cross stitch, its not funny. And I mean that.  Its not funny.  Its not even fun, at this point.  This is the last of these stockings I'll ever do, even though I've only got part of this one under my belt, so to speak.  Trying to knit while watching TV is pointless, even with the CC on.  I never look up, because I'm always counting stitches and looking at the pattern.  Enough!  Just about to put this aside and listen to my inner child; the one that says, "Are we there yet?"

Okay, so I've been wanting to paint my dining room for a while now.  The annual Thanksgiving photo is a booger to get the lighting right for, since the room is dark red and the light fixture is bright enough to light the inside of your car's glove compartment.  Pretty dim, if you ask me, and the ugly brass is so outdated and ugly, that I've had little black shades on the candelabra bulbs to distract attention away from the 80's style finish.That makes the room feel even more like a cave!

I have some time to get a few house projects done in the next couple of weeks, and this room is the absolute first thing on my list.  I am so excited to update this room, since we are having as many as seven at the dinner table nowadays when we all sit down together.  I have a leaf for each end of the table, and need to get a couple of sets of 8 place mats to accommodate everybody.  (These are the things women live for, by the way. Excuses to spruce up the house or buy more table linens.  Just ask the sales girl at Pier One.)

I've picked up the necessary supplies and tonight after supper I'm going to pull all the china out of the cabinet, so I don't break anything during my 'sprucing up'.  Tomorrow will be D-day, and there won't be any turning back after that.  Fingers crossed?
I'll keep you posted as I make the aforementioned changes to our dining room.  Oh, and by the way, the rug needs help; when you lift up the corner, the carpet underneath is truly five shades lighter than the carpet that surrounds the rug.  No lie.

Fair Isle Island

Flowers from friends!

For the unknowing, Fair Isle is a kind of knitting where two or more colors of yarn may be used to create pictures or designs in the pattern.  It is pretty intimidating for most non-knitters and somewhat scary for the novice.  I thought I'd take you through a couple of the steps so that you can see how easy it really is.

Above we have the pattern and the knitting already started. The pattern row is marked with the little red magnetic ruler on a metal board smaller than a piece of notebook paper.

The row of knitting on the needles above starts where you see the green ring in the far right of the first picture.  The pattern on the sheet is read from right to left. (Look below the ruler, starting at the right.)

I am going all the way across, then repeating for the other side of the stocking.  Can you see that the row starts with 5 blue stitches, and I have knitted 5 blue stitches?   Good job!
Then there are white, blue, white, blue, etc. all the way to the end of the row.

 Next row: moving the ruler up the page.

This next row starts with white stitches, then blue.  Back and forth, see how easy it is?  Well, easier than you thought, right? 

And then you knit those stitches as they appear in the pattern.

Life is not always fair, like my knitting pattern.  Life is complicated and tricky, and sometimes downright difficult.  It takes skill to navigate your way through things you may not initially understand, but eventually you will have them figured out.  Hopefully before the next round of challenges come your way.  It's nice to have pictures and directions, but sometimes you don't get any.  Sometimes you just have to figure it out as you go and trust your instincts.  Sometimes you have to hope you didn't make any mistakes, but might have to wait a while to know for sure.  Then later you might get a chance to look things over and get some assurance of what you just did. That's a good feeling!

Our weather has finally turned fair this week; today specifically its about 10 degrees cooler.  We picked up some items and got the car washed and stopped for ice cream cones at McDonald's on the way home.  Its been a while since I've had an ice cream cone like that.  I'm really learning to enjoy the little things, and my husband's dad suggests them all the time; like the ice cream cone for example.  Life may not always be fair, but it sure helps to recognize the things that are!

Ups and Downs

TOE UP SOCK (as opposed to cuff down)

I saw an internet post recently that asked the question we have all asked ourselves (as knitters).  Why knit socks toe up?  Answer: Because it eliminates the Kitchener stitch.  Need I say more?  I never do toe up socks; I don't know how and have only made the tiniest effort to learn.  Usually people just say the advantage is that the you get to try on the sock as you go.
That's not near enough incentive for me to learn a new technique.  Plus, doing a toe up sock would require that I do a short row heel.  I don't usually do the heels 'short row style' (that sounds weird) because I'm too lazy to count back and forth  so I just go with the afterthought heel as the name implies; so I can think about it later. :-)  But to eliminate the Kitchener stitch toe is beyond enticing.  Practically seductive.   Can't you just see a little sock puppet winking at you?
I tried the technique out tonight with some light pink bulky yarn on size 8 bamboo needles.  I used the figure 8 method, if you're curious!

So I'm learning something new.   I'm always game to learn something new if it's beneficial in some way.  If it helps my brain clear out cobwebs or if it has some purpose.  I hear that some of the smartest people in the world do crossword puzzles to exercise their brain.  And the really bold and smart guys do the puzzle in pen.  That's gutsy!  Trying my hand at toe up socks may not be gutsy, but at least I've made the effort!  (Patting myself on the back.)

Cuff Down Stocking

I have been offered a new job recently that has some real schedule benefits and a little better pay.   I'll be learning a couple of new things, but mostly getting to know new people and that is always good.  Strangers are only strangers until you get to know them better.  I've met quite a few new people lately, and it always surprises me how quickly you can come to like someone you've only recently met. Its so important to always be open to new things and welcome changes, even if they're a bit scary.  You'd be surprised at how wonderful it feels to shake a hand, get a smile, and/or become aware that someone is genuinely happy to meet you!  Hooray for looking toward the future!! Better days are always ahead.  Don't you agree?

These are the good ole days

Earlier today my father in law told us the story about his girlfriend in the 1940's named Boots and another friend, House.  Tom had been somewhere hanging out with the other two and as he went to kiss Boots goodnight, his mother and brother drove by and shined the car lights on the smooch.  Tom's brother convinced him later that he'd embarrassed their dear mother~!  (What a rat.)
My husband and I were looking at each other during the story and realized it'd never been told before.  Those were the good ole days, we thought.  But I had a little check in my brain that said wait a minute.  These are the good old days.  Life is what you make it.  We can't just wait around for good things to happen, we have to get busy enjoying the small things while working through the big things.   Enjoy life with the people you love, and take advantage of every single minute, every breath.  Then someday when you're 85 you'll have some funny stories to tell!

This morning, since I was off work today and its been weeks since I went to the garage to mess with my drum carder, I fiddled around with some of the wool I dyed at the last spinning get together.  I spun some purple/yellow Mohair and will try plying it with some gray Romney wool.  Pictures soon!

And I finally, finally got around to closing the toe on the stocking and picking up the heel stitches.

It's been about two months since I got the inspiration for this hot little project, and at least a full month spent knitting.  I pray that I'll finish it tonight so that tomorrow I can start something else.  I know you're eating popcorn every time you read this blog, wondering what the outcome will be.  Like a great mystery movie,  the suspense is building.  Well, now you can switch to the Skittles, because we've finally reached the montage scene in the movie where the characters dance and smile and laugh while cool music plays in the background.  It's a great way to move things along so you can get to the good part.  And here it is.  All but the heel; feast your eyes!

It feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel (no train in sight).  Closure is always good, cause it means something new is just around the corner.

The pot calling the kettle Mac

So I'm sitting in the living room with my hubby watching a documentary about Mac people and their devotion to the brand.  I was privately cringing at the way they talked about their love for all things Apple (including Steve Jobs) and their borderline cult characteristics.  I asked my husband (who is a Mac user) if he thought they went a little too far, and he said no. Okay.
While watching the documentary I was also surfing the internet on my non-Mac laptop.  Checking out the comments and pictures from Sock Summit, I came across the video for the flash mob at the event.  It was clear that I had no room to talk, and I shut my mouth.  Hundreds of knitters holding skeins of yarn in a water-ballet type of dance in a public square with "Time of My Life" playing over the loud speaker.  Obsessed is obsessed, no matter what you're talking about.  Sorry dear!

Since the toe of the Christmas stocking is not yet sewn up, I can only say that I've been busy.  Poor excuse, but it's mine and I'm stickin' to it!   I was given a bunch of cucumbers and decided to try my hand at pickle relish.  I don't quite have the hang of the food processor yet, so all the little cubes are more like little Jenga pieces.  The blade slices the cucumber then makes strips, I'm supposing for french fries, but these would be awfully small french fries.  Anyway, the tomatoes were a lot easier to can.  You just dip them in boiling water, then ice water, slip off the peel and drop in the jars.  The pickle relish took me about three days, which says how not-Martha Stewart I am!  But its done, and I can take that one off my bucket list.  (Okay, it wasn't on the list originally, but I just wrote it on the list in my imagination, and crossed it off.)

 This has been so much fun, and I'm so glad to be able to take advantage of the veggies from friends who know what they're doing.