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!

Today was a good day

After

Today was one of those beautiful days that just sent me straight outside to the garden.  I have overgrown flowers, shrubs and grasses that desperately needed pruning.  If they could cry out loud, they would have been wailing by now, screaming for a haircut. So I gave it to 'em.  Boy did I ever.  Sorry guys, you may need a ball cap for a couple of days!

Before!

After pruning, raking and cutting all those tiny limbs and branches into pieces small enough to fit into the designated "yard waste trash can", I stood back and started dreaming of what I could plant in all those bare places.  I dug up old day lillies and swore off letting them come back ever again.  I dug up some old mums that no one sees, around the back side of the house.  Anyway, it looks better.  And I felt pretty good about myself until I walked back to the patio to go in the back door.  There was the small flower bed bordering the patio that just looked at me with mockery.  I looked back and waved my clippers at it.  "You're next," I said.  "You just wait."

The slouchy gray cable sock(s) requested by my dear daughter is coming along a little slowly, but it's fun enough to keep me interested, even though it's a little challenging.

I keep looking at the pattern book like a man in a bar, checking out the goods.  So many cable patterns to choose from, and I am gonna be a while with these socks.  What I can do, is play with some sample swatches, and try out some of the yarns in my stash.

I like this pattern, called the folded cable.  I want to get out those Knit Picks needles I ordered a while back.
Their new catalog just came out and I love, love, love the color palettes.  Every yarn comes in colors so outstanding, I can hardly wait to try my hand at dyeing some more wool.  Or maybe blending some of what I've got.  Lots of color!
Kind of reminds me of the kids who came to my door on Halloween night.  They took one look at my huge bowl of assorted candy and made wide-eyed comments about the pixie sticks.  I'm so glad I bought them.  Mostly for nostalgic reasons, but they were a hit, anyway.  And God bless those little ninjas, princesses and teddy bears!  You all looked great!

The Luxury of Fall

If every time you saw a leaf, you thought of how much Jesus  loved you, you would feel mighty rich this time of year.  Leaves are falling all around and you can hardly walk outside without stepping on some.  They are everywhere and they are beautiful!

Today we went to the local Pumpkin Festival, where all the streets of the quaint downtown district are blocked off and filled with vendors and people.  People who are walking dogs dressed like pumpkins and kids dressed like characters from Star Wars.  Literally, there was a little boy just like the one in the commercial from the Super Bowl, only when I saw him for the last time, he was crying like he'd just found out that Darth Vader was his daddy.  There was BBQ, hot dogs, fried pies and funnel cakes.  What a perfect day!

Franklin, TN

Earlier this week, I really needed a break.  Its not often that I do, and usually knitting or spinning will help, but on that  particular day, it was urgent that I get away for the day.  So I went to a local botanical garden that I'd never visited before.  It was wonderful.  My husband joined me and we meandered around plants I'd never heard of.  Plants with names like Bear's Breeches and Curry.

Bear's Breeches

I thought curry was a spice that came from a mixture of other spices.  I had no idea there was a real live curry plant.  But if you stop and rub the leaves gently between your fingers and smell them, you will absolutely smell the curry.

Thyme

I stopped and smelled the oregano, basil, rosemary and mint.  Such a treat, and exactly what I needed to feel better.  Life can be challenging, and sometimes its more than you can handle.  Those are the times to stop the clock, take a time out, and pull yourself together. For me it meant going outdoors for a few hours and smelling the roses herbs!

My dear, lovely daughter told me last week that she found a picture of some socks that she really wanted me to make for her.  Here is that picture.

Inspirational cable socks

Not being one to shy away from a challenge, I went-a-diggin through all my stitch pattern books and found a couple that would work with the yarn she had chosen.

The yarn dictates the needle.  That gives you a figure called, "stitches per inch".  If the yarn and appropriate needle give you 4 SPI or 8 SPI, then you have to multiply that number times the number of inches around the ankle or calf.  If you calf is 10 inches around and the yarn gives you 4 stitches per inch, you'll need to start with 10 times 4 or 40 stitches.

Cable challenge socks

I started the sock with a 1x1 rib and am using an 8 stitch cable and a honeycomb cable pattern. These may take a while, since I'm not one to shy away from a challenge!

When preparations matter

The other day when I crawled out of bed, I could hear a low rumble in the neighboring subdivision.  It was the sound of a lawn service cutting somebody's grass, probably while the lucky homeowner was drinking coffee in the kitchen.  It sounded so familiar, but not in the way that you'd think.  It sounded like the dredges in Mobile Bay clearing out the ship channel; a sound I grew up with.

The house where I grew up was so close to the waterfront that you could throw a rock from our front door to the beach.  (And if I was a boy, I could have made it all the way to the water.)   We would watch ships come in and out of the Gulf of Mexico, right in front of our house, on their way to load and unload cargo.  Mobile is a port city.  There were always sounds of tugboats pushing barges full of sand and silt, removing sandbars from the middle of the bay.  They had to make way for the ships to come through.  Preparation and planning was essential for things to go smoothly later on.

While I was spinning yesterday, I had a great revelation about this.  About the necessity for preparations.  I  was ready to embark on some military gray wool that I had blended with enough dark blue to give it a 'manly' look.

Military gray Shetland wool blend

I decided to make several adjustments to my wheel for spinning a finer strand of yarn.  While the details are exciting to me, I'll just provide a link, in case you're interested.

lace weight flyer bobbin

Anyway, the revelation hit me after I'd made all the adjustments and started spinning.  It was so much more enjoyable than any time I'd ever spun before.  It hit me that taking the time to make these preparations, specific to the task, were extremely valuable.  I couldn't blame a poor outcome on peripheral things like yukky wool or a cruddy wheel.  Number one, it was my job to make those preparations - to follow the manufacturer's directions.  Number two, it was a no-brainer to get my spinning area ready  if I wanted an enjoyable experience.  Bright light, sufficient leg room, chair height correct, etc.  I even put on some calm classical music and got my coffee close by so that I would be totally "in the moment".

Just like the way the barges clear the channel for ships to come through, my careful preparations make the process of spinning easier.  It takes time, but it's so worth it in the end!!

Hats Off!

Last night we had our very first night time spinning group meeting and all I can say is, Hats Off!  Literally!

Hat #1 with companion brownie

Hats 2 and 3, no brownie included

Hat #4  keeping it real

I am always so encouraged and inspired from these meetings, and I spent most of today in la-la land, dreaming of making hats and trying to decide what kind of yarn looks best with what kind of hat.  So many choices and so few hours in the day to knit.  I could actually sleep less to get more knitting time in, right?

Tonight I'm heading to a bon-fire and chili supper at my friends' house.  She actually came to my house last night, even though I know she had a million things to do today to get ready for her  get-together tonight.  What a gal!!   She's the one who brought all these hats and inspiration to our meeting last night.  She makes hats for all the kids and grandkids every year!  What a goal!  I'm working on Christmas stocking right now for my family, and while  I don't actually have any grandchildren of my own yet, someday soon I'm sure I'll be knitting  some fuzzy hats for little critters too!

I'm super tired today and it took all I had to get on the treadmill.  There just doesn't seem to be enough coffee to wake me up today.  I remember having a day like this a few years ago. Just could not pull it together.

  Its so hard for me to give in to being tired.  Its probably just my body fighting off some kind of bug, and I should take it easy. That would be better for me. And I did sort of  take it easy today, but not by anybody else' standards.  Anyway, I woke up both yesterday and today and went straight to the computer to read on the computer version of my Kindle.  Even though I have a night light to use with my real Kindle, I hate to use it to read in bed. I always feel guilty, like I'm keeping everybody up. (Just who are all these people?  I don't really know...) Anyway I've already had a little 10 minute cat nap today and I'm ready for another one now.   Hope I make it through the party tonight without yawning too much.  I am really getting old, dangit. Just don't call me Grandma.  Not yet.