Who's Been Here?

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.- John Muir

When the kids were toddler's we went to an environmental program up by the lake. We picked up a book by a fellow Pennsylvanian, Lindsay Barrett George called Around the Pond: Who’s Been Here? The kids loved this book. We read it every day… several times a day to the point that they could recite the book.

I think they were drawn to the book because we took them fishing by the river and they helped picked berries from when they could walk just like the book. We use to take them for walks down a road with two streams and they would “fish” the streams. This consisted of getting a fishing rod (aka stick) and “hooking” a leaf or piece of grass(aka fish). These streams weren’t big enough to sustain fish but the kids had fun.

So yesterday I walked out to check the chicken/duck’s water and saw footsteps and it reminded me of that. So here is my Who’s Been Here…

Dog, chicken, cat, duck. Since it was nice out I decided to go walk up into the woods under the ledges

And I found...

Deer and the last I'm not sure on...it is either a chipmunk or a field mouse as they were small and side by side. And then some tracks need no explanation.

I came down out of the woods, locked the animals in and came inside to a cup of coffee the man made for me. Life is good! We had a quiet evening so I was able to finish knitting a sock. And since this is supposedly a fiber blog I took a pic of what I have finished. I may have written about it but I need the visual for me to remember what I did do. So there is the 5 hour baby sweater (takes me about 8-10) the bonnet to match, baby socks done on the two circs (didn't like doing it that way) the man's stocking, a baby bib and a pair of socks done with the magic stripes. Everything still needs the ends woven in and to be blocked but I moved on already and started on another pair of socks. I just got to the heel flap on the second one so I should finish them today.

Morning diamonds

That which is striking and beautiful is not always good ~Ninon de L'Enclos

You can definitely say that about water. We woke up this morning to a world that sparkled.

The last picture isn't very good this small but all those little white dots looked liked diamonds just lying there.

It is hard to believe that water in it's different forms can be so beautiful yet so deadly. A gentle summer rain with a rainbow is beautiful. A horrendous thunderstorm or non stop rain with the resulting floods is anything but. A little snow on the tree's is beautiful

yet a blizzard or avalance is not. And the force of water in it's different stages is impressive to say the least. It can carve thru stonegranted it takes time, millions of year for the Grand Canyon, but this pliable substance can make mountains.

Here in the winter, what starts out as one innocent little ice chunk

can turn into one big ice jam, which if it doesn't melt slowly or gets forced down river by a melt up river can take out anything in it's path. There have been years where they have used dynamite to break it up.

Lao Tzu said “Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful."

We may not be able to change or control it but we can't live without it.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

L-O-V-E, love

I have never met a person whose greatest need was anything

other than real, unconditional love. You can find it in a simple

act of kindness toward somone who needs help. There is no

mistaking love. You feel it in your heart. It is the common

fiber of life, the flame that heals our soul, energizes our spirit

and supplies passion to our lives. It is our connection to God

and to each other. --Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Happy Ba-a-a-alentine’s Day! That is what my card said and it had a sheep on the front…that man knows me well. My kids will tell me that it is stupid that I would find that too cute. But they, like him, feed my fiber addiction even though they don’t understand it which to me is love. And I know that even if they don’t wear what I make them that just the fact that I did make them something shows them I love them. Like Robert Heinlein said... Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.

So today when I am done with my coffee, I plan to finish the socks I am making (gift for someone) and then start a baby project. I just found out a family member is due in September. I am not allowed to say who, as others weren’t told yet.

The snow we were expecting is letting me down. I wanted those 20 inches and it is mostly sleet and rain. It is 13 degrees how can it rain?!? But there is enough snow to cancel school so I am sure the day will involve lots of wet clothes and hot cocoa.

I wish everyone a day of love and happiness. "In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away" - shing xiong

Did you know?

Did you know February is National Blah Buster Day? No. Well, me neither until yesterday. And how do you celebrate this? Well last night my daughter’s girl scout troop had their overnight at the mall to break up the dulldrums. We stay in a locked down mall overnight, we are not allowed to sleep but we go from station to station and play games all night.
This year’s theme was obscure February holidays and there are alot more than you think! So you get there at 9:30. register and go to your spot. Each attending troop has to pick a holiday and their swaps have to coincide with that holiday. We did Groundhogs Day. We gather up our can’s of food to donate to a local food pantry (Feb is Canned Food Month) and go to the food court for the welcome. We exchange swaps with other troops and from then on it is just up and down flights of stairs going to whatever activity is scheduled for you. Two local colleges have waiting lists to get in and do this as a community project. Their activity has to be entertaining enough to keep the girls active (aka awake) for 30 minutes and be in theme. And should you fall asleep the mall has plenty of these

to sit on to wake yourself up!!!

At 12-1 they rotate the troops to the food court for pizza and soda. Then back to activities until 5-6 when you return to the food court for a breakfast. Then parents pick the girls up at 6:30. By which time you are ready for February 28 which is Public Sleeping Day!

The man came and picked us up as I didn't want to do the hour drive home after not sleeping for over 24 hours. When I got home I slept for 2 ½ hours and then spun an ounce of camel and tussah and then promptly fell back to sleep for 4 more hours. I have to admit I am getting old because even now my brain feels like mush.


So for your entertainment while I go back to sleep...

February is . . . . National Blah Buster Month, National Embroidery Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Snack Food Month, National Weddings Month, Responsible Pet Owner Month, Return Carts to the Supermarket Month, Creative Romance Month, International Twit Award Month, Canned Food Month
February 1 is . . . . . Serpent Day
February 2 is . . . . . Purification Day
February 3 is . . . . . Cordova Ice Worm Day
February 4 is . . . . . Create A Vacuum Day
February 5 is . . . . . Disaster Day
February 6 is . . . . . Lame Duck Day
February 7 is . . . . . Charles Dickens Day
February 8 is . . . . . Kite Flying Day
February 9 is . . . . . Toothache Day
February 10 is . . . . Umbrella Day
February 11 is . . . . White Tee-Shirt Day and Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
February 12 is . . . . National Plum Pudding Day
February 13 is . . . . Get A Different Name Day and Dream Your Sweet Day
February 14 is . . . . Ferris Wheel Day and Valentine’s Day
February 15 is . . . . National Gum Drop Day
February 16 is . . . . Do A Grouch A Favor Day
February 17 is . . . . Champion Crab Races Day
February 18 is . . . . National Battery Day
February 19 is . . . . National Chocolate Mint Day
February 20 is . . . . Hoodie Hoo Day

February 21 is . . . . Card Reading Day
February 22 is . . . . Be Humble Day and Walk the Dog Day
February 23 is . . . . International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
February 24 is . . . . National Tortilla Chip Day
February 25 is . . . . Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)
February 26 is . . . . National Pistachio Day
February 27 is . . . . International Polar Bear Day
February 28 is . . . . Public Sleeping Day
And if that is not enough…. http://library.thinkquest.org/2886/INDEX.HTM will give you a month to month list.

Whether the weather be fine...

“Whether the weather be fine,

Whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather,

Whatever the whether,

Whether we like it or not” ~Anonymous

And baby is it cold outside! It was – 0.4 when we woke up yesterday. The kids had a two hour delay at school…not that it made that much of a difference as it only warmed up to 2.8 degrees by the time they left. Today we had a heat wave…it was 1.9 at 5:45. They have another two hour delay. They haven’t used any of their snow days so they are enjoying the delays.

The ducks and chickens never left the barn the past couple of days. The cat doesn’t venture out and the dogs only go when they have to.

Keeping everyone in unfrozen water is almost futile. It would not be so bad if the incessant winds would stop. They keep funneling down the river valley at 10-15 mph with 35 mph gusts.

Although this weather can be beautiful with the clear blue skies, frost on window panes and the ice sculptures it makes it can also be brutal if you are not prepared. Looks menacing doesn't it?!

So I will only venture out when necessary and I’ll sit inside with this thought to keep me warm….

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.- Proverb from Guinea

Happy Groundhogs Day

Today is Groundhogs Day and Full Snow Moon. I also read in the Old Farmer’s Almanac that it is Candlemas Day. They had this verse...

If Candlemas be mild and gay,
Go saddle your horses and buy them hay;
But if Candlemas be stormy and black,
It carries the winter away on its back

Which would lead you to believe that since it is mild (29 degrees) and gray (overcast) we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. But alas, the groundhog didn’t see his shadow so that foretells an early spring. Maybe the time of day will change things as we are due to get some snow later this afternoon which would make it stormy and black!?! I am all go for the early spring. Half of the plants are already in bud or coming out of the ground. We haven’t had any snow to speak of. If you added all we got together I don’t think you would get to 2 inches.

Cyndy,http://riverrim.blogspot.com/, has told me that all seed orders need to be in by this date. Knowing this date was coming, last weekend I did work on sorting thru the catalogs and narrowing down the list of “wants” to a more realistic, manageable size. So this morning I put aside the knitting and decided to finish the task. I usually order from several magazines to keep them coming but this year I decided I can look on their websites if I really want to order from them. I narrowed it down to two companies …Victory Seed and Seeds of Change. This has made me change some of my picks but I can work with it. So here it is…

The Seeds of Change ~ Nutri-Bud Broccoli, Delicata Squash, Amish Paste Tomato, Royal Burgundy Beans and Cherokee Wax Bean.

Victory Seed ~ Late Flat Dutch Cabbage, Mammoth Red Cabbage, Straight 8 Cucumbers, LI Cheese Squash, Red Strawberry Popcorn, Atlantic Broccoli and Broom Corn.

I still have to pick up seed for yellow squash and the Fordhook vucchini that I like. I might even have some as I haven’t checked the seed stash. I know I have pumpkin for the kids and jalapeno pepper, sugar snap pea, Riesentraube tomato and Blondkopfchen tomato, Yellow Pear tomato and I think I still have some Green Zebra tomato seeds. The beefsteak tomato plants and seed potatoes we buy locally. I will have a bigger root cellar this year so I was thinking of carrots, leeks, parsnips, turnips and brussel sprouts but I can buy them at the farmers market and store them. I decided to not do green peppers this year. I will buy them locally and freeze them. Mom may chime in with some others but that is the list as of now.

I guess while we have no snow I should go clean up the garden and get ready…no it’s still winter and I will stay inside and do fiber arts, there will time for that later. Before you know it I will be in the greenhouse and will have less time for the fiber.

Snow

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered—”Snow.”
~ Rachel Lyman Field

Something might have told the wild geese but they didn't tell me. I drove into town and was surprised by how busy the stores were. I asked a clerk what was going on and I was told it was going to snow.

I finished my errands and started home. The ice was forming on the river because it was so cold. It would be nice to have some snow to go along with that cold. And within 10 minutes of arriving home, it started to snow. By the time the kids got home from school the ground was covered. They had snowball fights on the walk home. Homework was put aside until later as this was the first "snow" we have had, every other time was just a dusting. Out came the snowboards and sleds and they were gone. The snow continued into the night. The kids went to bed with visions of no school the next day. Last week we had a dusting and they had a two hour delay so they just knew they would awaken to the TV saying school was closed. Little man thought it would be a wonderful birthday present. But alas, the morning arrived and the kids went off to school. Ever so slowly they drug their feet down to the main road to the school bus. Happy Birthday Little Man I wish there more snow so you didn't have to go.

To Err is human

The saying goes....To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish ~ Benjamin Franklin And how does that pertain to knitting you might ask? I will tell you how.

I taught myself to knit. The book I had showed the English, throwing method of knitting. I had to knit with the yarn held in my left hand (aka Continental knitting,German-Style Knitting, left-hand knitting or European knitting) I knit this way as it was easier for me because I was use to holding the yarn that way while crocheting.

Moving on…when I knit in stockinette stitch the fabric veers off to the right. I was at spinning group and asked about it and was told I was probably twisting stitches. I decided it didn’t matter because I could block it out. The infamous… "You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink" ~ Dorothy Parker

Today I was reading The Knitting Answer Book and got to the part about twisted stitches. It read “If you knit with the yarn in your left hand, you may be bringing the right needle up under the yarn (instead of over it) to form a knit stitch …”

So I went and got my knitting and knit a stitch. Yes I am that dense that I have to have it in front of me to know how I do it. Anyhow, I put my needle thru the stitch and went under the yarn, lifted the tip of the needle up and over and pulled it thru. I went on the internet and watched not one but two videos which confirmed I was doing it wrong. See how it slants to the right? I was going to dismiss this again because how much of a difference could it really make. But then I figured for shits and giggles I would give it a try and see. I sat back down and tried it the right way and it wasn’t that hard to get in the hang of doing it the right way so I kept on. Well what a HUGE difference it made. The man even noticed the difference and that in its self is HUGE! The bottom 1/2 I knit the old, wrong way and the top is done the right way. The stitches on top also lay flat while on the bottom the one side is higher than the other. I still have to work on the tension thing a little but it still looks better.
Excuse the yarn…I spin the same way I knit, slightly avant garde…I guess I have to work on that also.

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing" ~ John Powell

I did learn that I should have tried doing it right when they told me a year ago what was wrong. I did learn how to do it the right way and will continue in this manner since it looks a thousand times better.

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing".~ George Bernard Shaw

To Knit a stocking..

When I first started knitting socks, about two years ago, I found a poem on line for knitting Victorian stockings. I printed it out and put it away to do later. Fast forward to Wednesday, when a package arrived at my mothers from my sister. The package was full of books for my mother, stuff for my daughter to use in college and there was a SnB page-a-day calendar for me. Thursdays page read…”Victorian knitters were so into making stockings, they even wrote a cute rhyme about it: To knit a stocking, needles four, Cast on three needles, and no more, Each needle stitches eight and twenty, Then one for seam stitch will be plenty.”

Since I was almost done with a project and remembering that I wanted to do that stocking I went searching for the rest of the poem. The whole thing can be found here… http://www.onceuponapattern.com/custom/stockingpoem.html When I started this I wasn’t home and only had #5 needles and some white with black Shetland yarn I had spun. It does not tell you what size needles or yarn but I am sure I am using the wrong ones! The Ladies Useful Stockings in Knitting Vintage Socks uses a #1 needle. So far I am at the first decrease. It is going to be big. I have thought of making the stocking shorter by decreasing more frequently but have decided to keep to the original pattern. I have tried finding where people have knit this to no avail. I will use it as a Christmas stocking if I can, which would make one thing done for the Holiday Headstart.

In other fiber news, I have finished the baby sweater, another stranded hat (The Fake Isle in which I added some stitches into chart 2)and the socks on two circs. I don’t like the sweater (my own put together pattern) and I think that knitting on two circs takes just as much maneuvering as dpn’s. The only plus side of knitting on the circs is that both socks get done at the same time but I could have knit two socks faster on dpn’s. With more practice I may get better but I think I am just going to stick to the dpn's. Why mess with perfection or at least something I am more comfortable with.

Fiber Geek Questionnaire

The January/February issue of Fiber Femmes Magazine http://www.fiberfemmes.com/ had a Fiber Geek Questionnaire to fill out and post. It has taken me a while but I finally got it done this AM...

1. Do you raise fiber, animals or plant, or are a fiber user only? I have animals
If you raise animals/plants...what do you raise? I have an angora goat, two Finn and one Romanov sheep. I would like to grow cotton this year if time/weather allows.

2. What's your favorite fiber & why? Don’t have a favorite but I have spun Cormo and Shetland the most.

Which fiber do you like the least & why? I haven’t met a fiber I didn’t like but I have only been spinning for 2 1/2 years and I haven’t tried them all yet!

3. What's your worst habit relating to your fiber? I rush things to much. I don’t learn how each fiber should be spun, I just start spinning therefore I don’t do the fiber justice. And even though I know this I have to feel it flow instead of researching it. I am bad.

4. In what ways does your fiber habit make you a better person? I am calmer but I also tend to zone out and not hear people, which irritates certain members of the family.

5. How would your life be different if you had to give up fiber? I would have more room and money for one. I think I would have gone back to smoking as fiber keeps my hands busy. I wouldn't have the animals and I wouldn't have met some of the people I have met both of which have enriched my life.

6. What tools, yarns, books or gadgets can't you live without? Oddly enough I would have to say the internet. I live in a fairly remote area. There is a world of information, patterns and fellow addicts out there no matter what time of the day or night. The access to different fibers not produced in your area, patterns and techniques for knitting that I have never seen or heard of, and the blogs/KAL's with photo's to egg you on to becoming better at what you do is astounding.

7. What was your first fiber project? When I was small I learned to crochet by making a doily. The first thing I made with my own homespun was a shawl on the triloom. The first knit project was a scarf.

8. Do you have any fiber mentors? Yes

Who are they and why? Cyndy from http://riverrim.blogspot.com/. I have learned to not say “I would never do that” in front of her. She has answered all my questions~ so many that if she had caller id she pry wouldn’t answer her phone when I called! She got me weaving on the tri, watching the group spin made me want to spin and I loved a pair of mittens she made so had to learn to knit. From Grace http://antique-spinning-wheels.blogspot.com/ I got two beautiful finn sheep along with advice on how to raise them and some gorgeous wood products her husband made. She fearlessly starts these projects and makes it sound so easy that you have to try them. This has expanded my knitting greatly.

9. Are you a member of any guilds? No guild but a group

If so, which one(s)? A couple of us get together at the local library once a week to spin and show and tell.

10. What's the most exciting fiber project you've undertaken? Spinning my own wool was pretty cool. I literally took it from start to finish there. In knitting I would have to say the Wee Aran Knit http://www.cs.oswego.edu/~ebozak/knit/ck-patterns/wee.aran/ On most things I do, if someone says it is nice, I would just thank them. With this project it was “yeah it IS gorgeous isn’t it!” I love it and packed it away for future grandchildren. Hopefully moths won’t get to it before I get any.

11. How many people have you mentored? A couple

In which fiber arts? I am trying to teach my children how to spin. My son has better coordination but his sister wants to learn more than he does. I taught the local boy and girl scout troops how to weave on the triloom and last week I helped each girl scout learn to knit a square for Warm Up America.

12. Do you consider fiber crafts to be functional or artistic? Both A hat, mittens, sweater can be functional but artistic at the same time.

13. What, mainly, do you make? Shawls on the triloom, and I knit hats, mittens, socks and baby sweaters. I crochet afghans.

Do you keep, or give away, most of your projects? I give them away.

14. Are fiber crafts an avocation or vocation for you? It is an avocation now but I wouldn’t mind it turning into a vocation

15. How many people are you committed to being a mentor for in 2007? As many as will listen to me go on and on about the smell of fiber, the feel of fiber, the cute fiber animals, walking around in hand knit socks etc etc etc

The Cold of Winter

...Please, Late Winter,
Arrive, we're waiting,
So real Winter can begin,
At full speed, steaming ahead,
Faster than the world can take it,
Late Winter... arrive...
~Viraj Bhanshaly

The cold of winter seems to have come as it was only 9.5 degrees at 7 AM this morning. We have yet to see any snow accumulation and the kids want to go sleigh riding and have snowball fights…and a snowday! I am NOT complaining as I have rather enjoyed the warmer temps.

I plan to stay inside today and try to finish the baby sweater I am knitting. I have been spinning a lot lately. Last night I found the Woolee Winder fits better on the Traveler than on the Traditional. Because of the size of our living quarters while building the house, I kept the Traditional out thinking if it got bumped into it is the older of the two and I wouldn’t get as upset but now the Traditional will be going into storage so I can take full advantage of the Winder. I finished the Corriedale and got 234 yards. Then I started spinning up the rest of the Mohair/BL blend. I just plied that and got 433 yards. I have enough roving of that blend to make an additional 400 – 500 yards. I might try some dyeing today if time allows. I really want to do some more stranded knitting and I have been looking at patterns which will work with the Stranded KAL and the Holiday Headstart KAL. I am thinking stockings might fit that bill. I bought a flyer at a yard sale two years ago. It had knit stockings and I said I would make one for everyone but had to learn to knit socks first and do more than one color. Well the stockings are intarsia and I don’t like that so I am looking more toward the one that was in Spin Off http://transfer.fiberarts.com/spin/spinoff_magazine/corrections/ChristmasStockingLR.pdf or just winging it. I have a Christmas card hanging on my bulletin board as a reminder that these have to get done this year.

The man decided he would only shave when I have a FO and he is looking pretty scraggly and feeling more and more like a porcupine so I guess I better finish the baby sweater first.

Unbelievable Weather

These are not pictures from February 23rd, 2006... I took these this AM. We have had no snow other than two dustings that melted as soon as the sun came out and it was 5o's today. But the calender says it is January so I intend to stay in the house and fiber away.















The SnowDrops




















The Bleeding Heart
















Daffodils

Starting out in the new year

Last night was the Full Wolf Moon and it is called this because the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Nothing was howling last night and I doubt the wolves are hungry this year because it has been so mild. I think I heard December was one of the 5th warmest in history.

I started out the new year with what I thought was a cold and now I think it is turning into a sinus infection and I will have to give in and go to the doctors. Not an auspicious beginning.

On the upside of being sick I have time to try new things. I started socks on two circs using the instructions here… http://www.socknitters.com/2circs/index.htm
Sticking with the resolution, I have also started working on a rug using two strands of yarn, one the Lincoln I spun last year and the other the left over pieces of homespun. I am crocheting it in an oval shape. This will be an on going project when I have pieces left over. My daughter says it is ugly but I love it. She said to make sure to put it in front of the fireplace so a hot ash will get on it. She is so cruel.

And I tried to handpaint some yarn I had spun. It came out okay. I need to buy dyes and have a day of it. I have also been washing small batches of the fleeces I have. I know a guy who gives me all of his fleece for free. The bad part is that you don't know what kind of sheep they came from. He buys and sells sheep so his stock is always changing. I started working on the brown fleeces first. So far one is 4-5 inches long with no crimp and coarse while the other is only 1 1/2 inches soft with lots of crimp. I don't mind the washing or spinning but I don't like to card...we might have to send some out, after all that is not part of the resolution!

Since blogger is being so nice as to let me post a picture, this is a pic of what I finished from Christmas to New Year's Eve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty.
~John Selden

Well I am going to tell my fiber resolution in the hopes it keeps me on the straight and narrow. So here it is…I am not going to buy any yarn, roving, or fleece except at MD S&W and Rhinebeck and the purchases at those places for the above mentioned have to be less than $50. I am going to spin my own fleece and those that I bought or were given to me and learn to dye them to get the results I want.

And I have been reading up on what brings good luck in the new year. Black eyed pea’s, ham, nothing leaving your house on New Year’s Day etc. etc. So what do we have planned for New Year’s Day…we plan to bring things into our house which supposedly will continue throughout the year.

The parents of friends of ours were hit with the flooding that happened in June. The basement was flooded and the moisture ruined the oak parquet floors on the main floor. The furnace, hot water heater etc were lost. They decided to buy a modular and have it placed further back from the river. So the old house has sat and our friends are going to burn it down after their parent’s go down to Florida in January. They asked if we were interested in windows or doors to use in our new house. We went to check and most of the windows and all the interior doors will work. We will have to reframe alittle to be able to use the windows but the savings will be huge. They told us we could take whatever and whatever seems to include the cedar closet and a cedar chest. The chest was laminated and due to the dampness the laminate is peeling off. I want to strip it all off and just sand and poly the surface. There is also a stainless steel sink and counter top which we are going to get to put in the canning kitchen in the basement. Although I appreciate the savings, it was kind of sad knowing that they lost their house. But they said to not look at it like that, but to look at it as if the things we take were getting a new beginning.

To motivate me in the new year, I have joined the Holiday Headstart KAL http://www.spinnerellasattic.typepad.com/holiday_headstart/ in hopes that I will be motivated to do make more gifts and try new things. Something’s I am making just to try a new technique with no recipient in mind but others I know who they will end up with. I have been busy knitting since Christmas. I have done two hats, a pair of crocheted towel tops and baby booties….a headstart on the Headstart? Possibly!!

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. And now I am off to do laundry, clean house and pay bills so that there will be no debt and a clean house in the new year….HAHAHAHAHA Boy am I an optimist!!!!

P.S. Blogger is being a PITA so I can't post pics...again.

Tangible and Intangible Gifts

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

This Christmas was full to bursting with tangible and intangible gifts.

Lets start with the intangibles, the real things that make Christmas worthwhile…1) My daughter was home with us. It just wasn’t Christmas without her last year while she was in Iraq. No matter how old she get’s she will still be my baby girl or #1 daughter as she likes to be called. 2) My mother has always worked on Christmas morning and arrives home about 11, in time to make the meal. This year she had the day off and was able to come to my house and for the first time watch the kids open their presents. Then we went to her house (across the yard) to start dinner and exchanged gifts there. 3) My sister sat on the phone in Puerto Rico listening to it all and commenting so it was close to having her here. Next year if she doesn’t come we will need to hook up a webcam so she can also see it all. 4) My brother and his family were able to have Christmas dinner with us which made for a full but happy house. My daughter requested roast duck with raspberry sauce along with the traditional ham. I have to admit it was great and will probably become a new tradition! It was a fantastic day.

When the paper and boxes settled everyone was happy. I was overwhelmed, flabbergasted, thunderstruck and astounded! My daughter spoiled me something awful. She bought me slippers, a dutch oven, The Knitting Answer Book, decorations for the new kitchen, and she made me a sheep ornament with a star that says “ I love ewe” and she bought me a WooleeWinder!!!!! My mom continued to spoil me as she got me an awesome crockpot big enough to feed them all and the Denise Interchangeable Knitting needle set. My son got me Morehouse Farm Merino Knits from which I am making the booties right now. The younger ones made me ornaments for the tree as reminders of this Christmas. My sister made me the coolest thing. It is a framed bulletin board but instead of cork showing she covered it with one of my grandmothers flour sacks! So I have some of the past brought into the future. I love it! She also got me a coloring book with Spanish and English words so when we go back to Puerto Rico in 2008 I will know how to speak some. She also added little comments on pages which were hysterical. In my defense I did know the important words…gracias (thanks) de nada (welcome) and bano (bathroom)!
There were so many other goodies that I was completely floored. The day was chaotic yet calm, exhausting yet invigorating in that weird way that only happens during the holidays! The kids played with their gifts while mom and I cooked, we ate and then we got the last gift of the day….as we were cleaning up from dinner we got a little snow!

My Christmas Wish

.
My Christmas Wish
If I could have a Christmas wish,
Yes, if such things could be.
There are some things that I'd wish for,
That are just for you, from me.

I know I'd wish when you wake up,
The Christmas day to start...
You'd find yourself smiling,
From the peace within your heart.

And I would wish your mind at peace
As you think about next year.
And freedom from all worries,
And freedom from all fear.

And I would wish you joyfulness,
And strength to reach your goal.
And deep, abiding peacefulness,
And wellness in your soul.

I know I may not get my wish,
But if I could, it's true...
A deep, abiding, heart-felt peace
Is my Christmas wish for you!

I found that poem on the internet and figured that whoever wrote it said it better than I ever could. May your Christmas be wonderful and may you find time at the end of the day to just sit and watch the lights blink on the tree and reflect on the day of joy, new memories and traditions that you made.

Winter Solstice

Yule, is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was to be had as the ancestors awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth and made her to bear forth from seeds protected through the fall and winter in her womb. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider.- Yule Lore

Today is the Winter Solstice and the younger daughter and I have done our annual tradition. Years ago the show Little Bear had a segment where Little Bear and his family hung food out for the birds for the Solstice. Each year since we have rolled pinecones in peanut butter

and bird seed and hung them out for the birds and whatever else cares to nibble on them.
Up to this point we have only had a dusting of snow. Now that winter is officially here maybe we will get some of the white stuff….not as much as Colorado though! I guess the only white I am going to be seeing for Christmas is the white yarn I just finished spinning. I spun three singles and plied them together and got 350 yards of 10 wpi cushy cormo. This is the cormo that my cousin picked up for me at the MD S&W and I love it. I am going to dye some and make another hat.

Tomorrow I have to pick up last minute little things and then I am done shopping/running around until at least the end of next week. Luckily my family is all close so we don't have to travel and this year it will be great to have eldest daughter with us as we all missed her last year while she was in Iraq. And I finally seem to have gotten the Christmas spirit now that I know everything is done and now I can relax and have an enjoyable weekend. Hope you all do too.

Satisfying Weekend

Laziness may appear attractive,
but work gives satisfaction.--Anne Frank

I feel very satisfied after this weekend. I was able to finish the stocking and the crocheted tops to the dishtowels.

We got our tree and mom’s tree up, the ducks pen cleaned, the greenhouse fixed, the roof finished and all the decorations up.

I am not happy with the stocking but it is done and it is only for a cat so….I do not like the intarsia and will go back to the fair isle after Christmas.

Tonight we go to the mall where the little man is singing with his choir, tomorrow night is Boy Scouts and then we are going to all synchronize our watches and decorate the tree together.

I am the navigator.

Time flies. It is up to you to be the navigator. ~ Robert Orbin

I have not been a good navigator recently. Instead of finishing the two projects that I had planned, I actually added two more! All of these projects are fairly easy and would go fast if the time allowed, but time has been stretched to the limit with the season. The kids have parties for Boy/Girl Scouts and each of their classes has parties next week. Wednesday night was my son’s concert and this coming Monday he will sing in the mall with his choir. Yesterday the Ladies Aux. at the firehouse baked cookies all day to send to soldier’s in Iraq and today we have to package them all.

But back to fiber content. I had to make a pair of mittens and a pair of fingerless gloves. I added a stocking and crocheted tops to dish towels. My oldest daughter wants the last two but the stocking isn’t for her, it is for her cat. The cat’s name is Cleocatra and it is my “grandkitten” or so she keeps telling me.
So I was going to do the stocking using the stranded method I am learning…and so I found a picture of a kitten here http://www.cross-stitch-patterns.us/cross-stitch-patterns-product-282.html, enlarged it and printed it out. I put a graph paper in front of it and got it as close to it as I could. I go threw the yarn I have and I don’t have the colors I need and I do NOT want to go to the store so I decide to make it from homespun. Now I will use my homespun on shawls and for hats and mittens but usually nothing with details because my homespun is not the most consistent or blob free. But I have lots of natural color spun and decide I will dye some red and green. Then I decide the fur on the hat and kitten have to have some angora in it. So I just happen to have white and gray and I spin up some singles of them and ply it with the yarn I am going to use. Then being me I just start knitting obliviously…. and then I realize I would have to carry three colors at one time while working the chart. Being fairly new to knitting I go and research and realize this is not “fair isle” but “intarsia”. So I read on how to do it and find it can’t be done in the round which is how I am knitting the stocking. So I forge on and knitted it flat during the chart and then went back to knitting in the round and will sew the seam when I am done. I am working on the gusset now. I liked knitting the hat in the two colors but I can’t say that I liked the intarsia. I like the possibilities of it but the bobbins were a pain.

So now I am going to navigate back to knitting and hopefully will post pictures when I am done which if I navigate carefully should be tonight!

A full weekend

Friday was shopping for food and presents and a side trip to the feed store.

Saturday I went to the LYS to get circulars to do the Andean Headband. They had a #5 circ but no #3. Then I went and cleaned house for a friend who is in the hospital but expecting company for Chanukah. Afterwards we went to the tree farm to pick out two tree's. We pulled in and saw this sign

who could shop for a tree from the comfort of a vehicle anyhow. You have to get cold and have snowball fights and size the tree up. And who would have thought you could find THE perfect tree …twice!! But we did. Thankfully it wasn’t so cold and it was a great day for tree picking. Then we took the younger daughter shopping so she could buy her gifts and we ate dinner out.

Sunday the younger daughter had two girl friends over. I took the laundry to mom's and was able to get it all done and in between loads get some knitting in. Then the girl’s mom came over and they all stayed for dinner.

So what did I knit…my own version of the Andean. I wrote down the directions for the Andean but not the chart. I didn’t think I would actually have the time to get that far along but I did. Well I knew the chart was fairly close to the chart from the Triple Patterned Watch Cap so I used that chart as I had it with me. I didn’t have the #3’s that it called for so I just stayed with the #5 and I am so glad I did because it just fits me. I don’t like the K2 P2 done in the #5. I am going to make another but use the twined herringbone edge and the duff chart from the Watch Cap.

I need to do a pair of mittens and a pair of fingerless mitts for Christmas so I need to put the stranded knitting on hold until they are done.
And instead of doing my work I am sitting here watching a flock of starlings devour the suet cake. The little downy woodpecker doesn't like them! They started coming on Friday I guess the cold weather brought them in. Hopefully the weather will be warming up a little this week.

The Hat is Done

It is Friday and it is only 10 degrees right now. The kids have a two hour delay because of a snow squall that went thru last night. It is COLD and windy and COLD! To bad I didn’t make the hat to fit me as I could use it right now.

I did finish the hat last night and I will do another. So what else did I learn from doing this….

1. I don’t like that the body pattern is hidden behind the cuff so I will either not turn it or I will just knit plain behind the cuff on the next one.

2. I got the throwing knitting down pretty good and was able to get pretty fast knitting that way. I hold the yarn coming up in between my index and middle finger and going over the last three and back down between my hand and the project. When I need to use the color in the right hand I let go of the needle and just move my hand forward and back to pick up the needle. It is odd but it works for me.

3. I did two repeats of the body chart and then turned the cuff up. In the pictures there should be some of the body pattern showing and in mine there wasn’t so I did rows 1 & 2 again. AFTER I got done with it and didn’t like the way it came out I tried figuring it out…I was actually knitting to gauge even though I don’t swatch and the pattern said knit the body chart for 3 ½ inches. If 6 ¾ rows =1 inch than 23.625 rows would be 3 ½ inches and I did 22 rows and it messed with the pattern. This could also be because I didn’t do the one row of MC that they said to do between the body and crown chart so…

4. Read and re-read the pattern while knitting. :^D I have a slight tendency to just march forward.

All in all it was fun and kept me going because I wanted to see the pattern. I learned how to knit with two hands and how to work in the floats. I think I am going to make a bunch of the Andean-Style Headbands from Interweave. The pattern is basically the same as the cuff on the Triple Patterned Watch Cap. It only calls for 53 yards of one color and 25 yards of another so I can get rid of a lot of leftovers from other projects.

Knit Ferrari

You need to go check out this link.... http://gadgets.qj.net/Can-t-Afford-a-Ferrari-Then-knit-one-/pg/49/aid/56201 She knit a ferrari! I just caught the end of it on the news so I had to google it and find out the whole thing!

Also, the experts have finally agreed we had a tornado hit our town which is why we had no electricity from Friday to Sunday evening. Do you think the trees down in different directions all over the place was a clue?

The hat is moving right along and should be done in about 10-15 minutes of knitting. I post pictures tomorrow.

Challenges

We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve. ~ Maxwell Maltz

Earlier this year I wanted to start The Triple-Patterned Watch Cap. I saw the one’s Grace made and they were beautiful. So I started but somewhere in the cuff chart I switched the two colors, got annoyed and gave up.
So yesterday while browsing the internet I found Stranded - The Color Work Challenge at http://www.strandedcolorwork.blogspot.com/ . So I joined hoping this would motivate me and it did.
After the kids went to bed I found some black and green Paton’s Merino and started to knit. I did the Twined Herringbone edge and a couple of rows of the cuff. Then this morning after the kids went to school I sat down and started to do more and realized I had made a mistake on the row below what I was working on…I tried just ripping out just that but it didn’t work and had to rip almost two rows back. Now I am on row 9 of the cuff and found that like the Wee Aran Knit that I want to finish just this part or maybe just one more row, or one more row! The charts are still confusing me because the black squares are my green and the white squares are my black so I photocopied the page and used markers in the colors I am using to show me what I am suppose to be doing.


Started

Not Bad

I thought I was doing pretty good with the floats in the back…
Not Bad

Until I saw this….


Bad floats

It seems I don’t pay attention to floats at the start of the rows! And that is not all I have learned already! While talking to Cyndy I realized I start patterns without reading. If I read them I wouldn’t start most of them. Then when I get to a problem area I have to continue because I have so much time invested! Oh I guess most important I am learning to knit the English/throw/American way. My own version of it but I am getting it done.
So anyhow I started knitting the small version of this hat and boy it is small so I guess I will give it to my daughters friend who has a two year old.


The Full Cold Moon

Last night was the Full Cold Moon and it felt like it. It went down to 19 and today they don’t expect it to go above freezing so it is a perfect time to snuggle down and knit!!!

We've Got the Power

Yes we finally got power. Due to a storm on Friday, we were without power from 5:30 Friday evening until about 4:00 this evening. It is so good to have power back. We were lucky and had a small generator to power the freezers and some lights. The kerosene heater kept us warm and we have a gas stove without electronic ignition for cooking.

The man got toned out with the fire department as soon as the storm started to hit. There were automatic fire alarms going off because of the power blinking on and off and they had to check and make sure they weren’t real fires. They had to close roads due to power lines or tree’s being down and contact the power company/dept of transportation. He didn’t get home until about 10. The kids went to their dads and I sat with one oil lamp and spun in total silence. It was actually heaven!

Approximately an hour after the storm hit the skies were completely cleared and the moon was out. The next morning was beautiful.

The fire department is also an emergency shelter so they have a generator. The craft fair that they had planned for Saturday went off without a hitch. The local VFW usually holds a prize bingo in the evening on the first Saturday in December but they didn’t have a generator. The prizes and equipment were moved to the firehall as soon as the craft fair was over and they held it there. The VFW did pretty good because with no electricity people just came to get warm and to have something to do.

So what did I learn from my weekend without electricity….That our community who bickers like family most times can actually pull together like family…..that the generator was an awesome buy as it saved three freezers of food so has already paid for itself…that I should buy a bigger generator when money allows so it will power the well and hot water heater too….that I don’t mind not having cable or lights but I need running/hot water…and lastly I learned that I spun the most consistent yarn I have ever spun when I spun Friday night in near darkness….I am going to have to put blinders on to spin from now on!