Fiber Inspired

2011-12-24T16:52:00.000-06:00

Wishing you and your family all the health, happiness and good cheer that you deserve. May your family be helpful when you are rushed and in a precarious spot. May your expectations not be set too high. May you know that you are loved and that this is a season of giving that love to others. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Priceless

2011-07-31T11:23:00.005-05:00

What is priceless about this? Well maybe not priceless but close.

35 skeins of bulky yarn at 3.29 per skein = $115.15

$2 per bag in a grab bag sale at Michaels = $10

7 skeins per bag = .285 per skein

I have never used the yarn before but at .285 per skein I will do something with it.

Amber Waves of Grain

2011-07-10T07:03:00.004-05:00

The theme for the June/July Etsy Team challenge is "Amber Waves of Grain". If you haven't seen Kansas wheat fields in the days just before they are cut you really should add that to your bucket list.
Stop by our blog, listed below, to see how 5 Kansas artists have interpreted this theme and vote for your favorite.

http://kansasetsyteam.blogspot.com/

Kansas Etsy Team: March Team Challenge - Springtime in Kansas

2011-03-12T10:22:00.001-06:00

Stop by and check out the March Team Challenge for the Kansas Etsy Team. I have only been a member a short time so missed out on participating in this challenge. There is some wonderful talent in Kansas. Please vote for your favorite.

Kansas Etsy Team: March Team Challenge - Springtime in Kansas

Wedding Knitting - and sewing

2011-03-08T15:20:00.007-06:00

My daughter's best friend was married on February 26th. It was a snowy, cold day but so much fun. We started the day early as part of the wedding party was staying with us and all the girls were getting ready at our home. I had breakfast items for them and got to see each one briefly before we left to photograph the wedding of a good friend and co-worker. Wedding #1 was a lovely, small wedding of mostly family followed by a reception at the restaurant that catered the wedding reception of wedding #2. I ate two, well more accurately three meals as we ate again around 11 p.m., from the same restaurant, had wedding cake twice, shared beautiful memories and danced the night away all in less than 24 hours. Of course any day that you get wedding cake twice is a good day.

There was a dollar dance at wedding #2 and since it was quite a large wedding I felt the maid of honor and best man needed something to keep the money in. I used the Cabled Baglet pattern from 101 Designer one-skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. The yarn I used hides the cables especially in the pictures but was perfect for the couple. They attend Kansas State University and used purple in their wedding. I held two yarns together, one a solid purple and one variegated. The variegated finishes out the top of the bag by itself for a softer ruffle.

While waiting for her turn with the hair dresser the bride gets to see the bag for the first time.

This is my daughter, the maid of honor, during the dollar dance and claims the bag was very useful.

The groom is a golfer and what golfer can't use a new golf towel? I ordered the towel from Logomos on etsy and she did a terrific job for me. I then sewed the the towel into a bag using smaller than basting stitches so it can easily return to being a golf towel.

The bride loved it.

The best man did too.
Now that the fairy tale weddings are over I have started a pair of toe up socks. I am using the Sock It To Me Toe-Up Chevron Sock pattern from elann. Brown may not be the best choice for a so far dreary March but it is a luscious shade of brown from Knit Picks. It is Simply Cotton Sport in Reindeer Heather. Plus I really needed brown socks. My store bought ones wore out much too quickly.

2011 Calendar

2010-11-28T07:51:00.005-06:00

For the third year I am honored to have participated in a pattern calendar to raise funds for breast cancer research. I test knit the ribbon shaped cloth in front of the word 2011. It was a fun cloth to knit and my first shaped cloth. If you would like to purchase a calendar for any of the three years the link will take you there.
http://www.fitterknitter.com/Images/BCCalendarCover.gif

The End of the Road

2010-11-22T19:18:00.004-06:00

I hated to see summer come to an end. The seasons in Kansas are wonderful especially the fall but I love seeing things growing and blooming. Saturday I made the final cut on the plants that will stay indoors over the winter and which ones go into the compost pile. All the bits and trimmings from the plants that are staying indoors went into the worm bin. No worms were available for pictures as they had quickly gotten out of the light back under the newspaper and wood shaving bedding. If you look closely right at the end of the wooden spoon you will see a bit of yarn. The worms love bits of natural fiber yarns too.

Crazy

2010-11-22T19:06:00.001-06:00

Well, it about drove me crazy but I finally got rid of the old and tried something new. There are so many options I may be playing with this frequently.
Stay tuned for some real content.

Yikes

2010-11-16T20:32:00.000-06:00

I am trying to learn how to change the background and am failing. I will have to try again another day.

Giveaway

2010-03-13T16:55:00.000-06:00

I just love Jodie's embellies. Check out her website here http://creativityandlove.blogspot.com/2010/03/update-night-and-giveaway.html for a chance to win $50 in embellies. Don't wait, go now as the clock is running.

Breast Cancer Fundraiser

2009-11-15T09:24:00.001-06:00

For the second year I test knit a pattern for this breast cancer calendar. Mine is the third on the bottom row. I have already signed up to test for next year. The patterns are all new, designed especially for the calendar and never before published. Click on the image on the side bar to go directly to the site to order.
I have had friends and family members with breast cancer and have had a biopsy myself. Thankfully the biopsy came back negative but it made me all the more aware of the reality so many women and men face everyday. A little bit of yarn and a little time is the least of what I can do to help find a cure.

In the Middle

2009-11-14T07:47:00.000-06:00

Do you sometimes just not feel like doing something, even something you enjoy doing? I just haven't felt like blogging. Summer was pretty uneventful. There was no exciting knitting, knitting but not exciting. I just didn't feel I had much to share. I'm not sure I have much to share at this point but I feel like blogging again.

This is some recent knitting. Two baby hats, one child's hat and two baby bibs and a scarf that is stash busting at it's best. My friends and coworkers are accumulating children and grandchildren at what seems to be an alarming rate. I think this is linked to my age. I was at yet another funeral recently when I realized I am in the middle of my life. Considering the average life expectancy for a woman I am over half way but I don't like to think about that. What I came to realize at this funeral is that being 50 something I know a lot of people younger than I am and a lot of people older than I am. I have friends not much older than I that are going to be great grandparents and I have co workers who are younger than my own children. Working in health care and photography I see all phases of life almost daily and I realize what an amazing place I am in. I have been given the gift of caring for friends of my parents in their declining years, comforting and assisting their children in dealing with this new phase of their lives, sharing in the joy of my childrens friends marrying and starting families and I am still healthy and active enough to enjoy it. Many, many times I have heard elderly patients state they don't see what is so golden about the golden years. I now believe the golden years are the middle years. The years you can see the beginning and the end and appreciate what you have right now in the middle.

I wanted to try a pair of fingerless mitts. I picked this fun stripe from my sock yarn stash and knit away. What I learned from this project is, try them on as you go if you intend to wear them yourself. That way you would realize you would like the cuff a little closer fit and they could be a little longer here and there. The result was a fun little knit and a few teaching moments that hopefully I remember.
So, what do you do when you have knit fingerless mitts and still have yarn left over? Not enough for a pair of socks, maybe ankle socks but I didn't think of that at the time. There was this water bottle cover pattern I had been wanting to try. Perfect! Mindless knitting, perfect for a road trip and a little TV knitting. Actually remembering what I just learned from the mitts I tried the cover on my favorite water bottle. Perfect fit! While the water bottle clothed in it's new cover sat on the kitchen counter I realized I really didn't want a cover on my water bottle. I just liked the idea of a water bottle cover. Plus, there was still too much yarn but not enough to do anything with. I left the project lying on the floor next to my chair for a day or two and then it struck me. It wanted to be a reusable gift bag! So I knit on making it as tall as possible and still have enough yarn to make the icord closure. Two fun little projects, some lessons learned and just a little yarn left over. See it lying there in the middle? What do I do with that?! I am now on the hunt for a project to use up little bits of leftover sock yarn. Any suggestions?

My daughter was home for the 4th of July and we decided to make a fruit pizza for dessert. She created fireworks out of the fruit pieces. I enjoy having her home. It is amazing the things we talk about when we are working on projects together. I miss her.

A good friend, local retired doctor and nationally known author passed away this summer. I loved reading his articles each week in the newspaper, was honored to care for him when he was ill and am thankful for the influence he had on our family. He always closed his articles with, see you down the road. Thank you Don.

We Took a Little Trip

2009-05-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

My daughter was home for a week between school sessions and we took a couple of days to run around Kansas City. We went to Independence, MO to the Truman Library. We spent some time on the Plaza and at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. We saw "Angels and Demons", shopped a little and saw the Steamship Arabia. I would highly recommend seeing the Steamship Arabia. It is amazing that items can look that good after being buried for 130 plus years. There were food items that were still edible and a bolts of fabric that looked as good as they day they were loaded on the ship. The following pictures were some of my favorites from the Nelson-Atkins.

The Iris is Giving the Roses Some Competition

2009-05-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

This iris was by far my favorite this year. I do not remember it being this vibrant in years past if it bloomed at all. It is one that had to be transplanted a few years back and it may just now be recovering. A couple of the transplants have never bloomed since I moved them.
This reminds me of a Kansas sunset and I feel these colors knit into a garment or pieced into a wall quilt out be breathtaking. Cathie I think this looks like a piece of your beautiful work.

Look. Socks!

2009-05-26T20:46:00.001-05:00

My first pair of socks. I am so excited mostly because they actually fit fairly well. I have since started my second pair of socks this time toe up. That is a bit different but I think I would like to know how to kit socks either direction. So far I have knit about a million stitches and the sock is barely a toe cover. Nice mindless knitting though.

Roses

2009-05-25T10:59:00.000-05:00

Full blooms and buds alike. I love my roses.

Brown spots don't lessen the beauty in my eyes. Kansas wind tends to beat them against the deck and bruise the buds.

Even the clippings of a spent rose are a lovely site.

When that Kansas wind blows the clipped blooms to the deck floor and scatters them into a work of Mother Nature's art who am I to argue?

Then I toss them all into a basket with the trimming shears and there is more beauty at least in my eyes.

Snow, Ice, Rain, Coats and Sweaters

2009-04-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

Granted this was back on March 28th but if you will notice there is green grass, budding leaves and the promise that soon we could put away the coats and sweaters. But, oh no. Instead the weather people spent a week telling us we would have anywhere from 6-12" of snow, maybe some ice, sleet, freezing rain but no sunshine. Of course it depended on which weather person you listened to and they changed their predictions at least daily. So we prepared to be snowed in with a pot of chili, movies, the generator tested, extra candles set out and the lamp chimneys cleaned.

Oh yes, and plenty of knitting. I decided if Old Man Winter was going to give us one more blast I was going to knit accordingly. Side note, he wasn't done that weekend either but I digress. I love this little scarf. It is stash busting at it's best. Three complementary yarns held together in a fun little twisted drop stitch. I found my hands hurting after a few rows so I was alternating between this and my first pair of socks. Pictures later.

The rain started on Friday. A lovely mixture of rain, wind, sleet but no snow. By 11:00 p.m. it was freezing rain and the trees were starting to get heavy. Saturday morning the wind really kicks up and it starts to snow. That's the first picture. Lots of little flakes and at times these huge clumps of snow. That's when the branches started to break. This is the one that hit the deck after it drug itself along the edge of the roof and invited several friends to do the same. Fortunately the bulk of it hit the ground and there was no damage to the deck or the roof. Click on the picture and you will be able to see the beautiful Cardinal sitting on a branch. There were two pair that played in those downed branches all day. What a delight to watch.

A co-worker has a new grandson. Charles Thomas, Charlie to those who know him well. But not Chuck. He isn't a Chuck. This is one of his burp cloths. Both patterns are from Mason Dixon Knitting. I love that book. Great little projects that you don't mind giving away because you didn't invest your heart and soul in them.

This is another burp cloth and a bib. I just love the little bee button.

There are ipods, and iPhones and other various electronic gear that I have yet to personally embrace but they give me more reasons to knit. So, more stash busting and what do I get? An iPhone cozy. It fits a naked phone perfectly but my daughter prefers to keep the hot pink protective sleeve on her phone. She practices safe iPhone ownership. I guess that means I will have to knit another one slightly larger. I could do something with that sentence as well but I will leave it alone. This is a pretty neat little pattern in that it includes a pocket for your ID or driver's license. I also found that between this and the socks I am learning to really like DPN's. In my last Knit Picks order I got the 4" wooden ones. The next sock gets to break, I hope not literally, those babies in.

Due to the weather mentioned above my daughter has gotten quite a bit of wear out of her arm warmers. I took this picture while visiting her over spring break. We had great fun shopping, eating and believe it or not reorganizing her closet. While shopping we picked up some shelves and storage tubs. We then gutted the closet and started over. I brought home quite a lot of items to donate to our church garage sale and she is able to find all her stuff. She even found a few things she forgot she had. It was a nice break from studying. This is a tough semester for her but it is close to over. She is looking forward to some less intensive studying classes next semester.
And last but not least this little item. I love my insert name brand here mops for quick cleaning but refuse to buy disposable cloths. More stash busting but from the "too small to start a full size project" bag I am knitting reusable cloths. This one has more mistakes than I care to count but considering it is a mop cloth, who cares? I refuse to use precious knitting time ripping out mistakes on a mop cloth. I do plan to make more of these. They work great.

Well, it is time to get ready for church. I had hoped to wear something springy and cute based on yesterdays weather. But noooooooo, mother nature wants me to wear my drab old winter stuff at least one more time. I think I will wear black, all black, because I am so tired of winter that I am in mourning.
Enjoy your day and if it is spring where you are go walk barefoot in the grass for me. Thanks ever so much.

What Do You Do?

2009-03-15T08:30:00.000-06:00

What do you do when you have plenty of yarn left even after knitting your daughter a scarf, and an ear warmer? Well, I test knit Opulent Armwarmers .
I find I don't knit fast enough to be a good test knitter but I certainly enjoyed these. The cables are beautiful, they aren't difficult as long as you don't try to knit them during an exciting basketball game or shoot um up type of movie. I think I messed up the cable on one of them during a particularly exciting ball game. Of course I didn't realize it until I had finished that armwarmer so the cable is going to stay that way. Since the mistake is high up on the arm my daughter's coat will cover my mistake. I took creative license when photographing them and put the mistake on the bottom. They are blocking at the moment. What do you do to properly block something like this? I gave them a nice gentle bath and then stuffed them with plastic bags. I will take more pictures when I have a hand model available.

What do you do when the grand kids visit and it is almost 80 degrees outside? Well, we play in the leaves, ride our bikes and dig in the dirt. We have LOTS of trees around us so there are always plenty of leaves collecting around the house and the girls love playing in them. Grandpa is sitting on the studio steps playing with a new camera. These two either ham it up or ignore the camera completely.

What do you do when there is a lovely Sunday ahead of you with no obligations other than church? I plan to photograph some knitting in progress, take a long walk, work on my to do list and knit. Have a wonderful Sunday and let me know what you are doing.

February? Are You Sure?

2009-02-21T08:49:00.000-06:00

I really love this little car seat blanket. It has already found a home with my great nephew Wyatt. His middle name is Cooper. I like the sound of that, Wyatt Cooper. I predict great things for this little cowboy. He is my parents first great grandson and has two girl cousins. Seems like just a little while ago his daddy was a small boy.

These three vests were knit primarily at the hospital. My mom had a total knee replacement the end of October and I spent a lot of time with her. About a month later my dad broke his ankle and spent one night in the hospital. I spent the evening trying to convince him that yes he needed to spend the night in the hospital for a couple of reasons he wouldn't want me to mention here. He left by noon the next day right after my mom's physical therapy appointment.
Scattered around in there were a few emergency room visits for my father-in-law and those offer a lot of opportunity to knit, talk about knitting, teach a little knitting and in general pass time waiting for test results. Do you like the buttons I used on the vests? I know, I can't see the buttons either. I can't see them anywhere. I have, somewhere in my house, the cutest flower buttons in the perfect colors for these vests but they are hiding from me. So, I did a tiny little braid and tied the front of each vest closed and the girls slip them on over their heads. I actually kind of like the look but I really want to find those buttons.

My daughter purchased a new coat and of course needed some knitted accessories. We were in a wonderful little shop in Manhattan, Kansas called Wildflower Yarns and Knitwear. She picked out this lovely purple in Lamb's Pride Worsted as her school colors are purple and white. We bought several skeins thank goodness. I have really enjoyed this yarn. I have had difficulty getting the purple to photograph well but the colors in the neck warmer are close. It is a little darker and richer than in the photos. Anyway, I have completed a scarf, a neck warmer that I test knit from a pattern on Ravelry called Dear by Holly Peacock, Calorimetry and am test knitting a pattern for arm warmers. There are also supposed to be mittens in this yarn but I haven't gotten there yet.
I have knit a second Dear for a man and he is currently wearing it to determine where exactly he wants the button and if it is too long or not long enough. I adjusted Holly's pattern in length only and used completely different yarn than shown here and it is sooooooo yummy. Pictures to come when he returns it for any adjustments.

This was such a fun little cloth to knit. I have a Ravelry friend who lives on a lovely farm, has a beautiful country home and is just as helpful and giving as the day is long. She lost a son last year and when I saw this little scene on a cloth I knew it was ment for her.

Hopefully this launches me back into blogging mode. I had better get the camera outside and photograph some works in progress. There are always a few of those.

Join In

2009-02-06T18:02:00.000-06:00

If you haven't visited The Dizzy Sheep lately go take a look. I have my yarn and I plan to make a square for The Blanket of Change. How about you?

http://www.dizzysheep.com/Archive/Blog/2009/1/30/United-Blanket-of-Change-Participation

Is There Anything More Beautiful?

2009-01-22T22:28:00.000-06:00

I have never had much use for politics or politicians. I said repeatedly right up to election day "will it really make a difference" who wins?

After watching as much of Tuesday's events as possible I have decided that yes, it did make a difference. Tuesday was a new beginning. There was so much symbolism, so much beauty, so much hope and so much emotion that I don't remember seeing except with the passing of someone who touched the lives of a few or the masses. The poetry, the prayers, the speech, and the music from the the quartet to Beyonce singing "At Last" were moments in history that I think I will remember as well as I remember where I was when JFK was shot, and what I was doing on 911.

Saturday I will also listen to poetry, to prayers, to music, and to memories that filled 86 years of one man's life. Saturday we will gather to honor my husband's father. He left us peacefully on January 8, 2009 surrounded by his family. His breathing changed as the sun set and he took his last breath as twilight faded into night. I had prayed two days before that he could go home with the sun and my prayer was answered in Our Lord's time, not in mine. He loved to dance and the only time I have ever felt the true joy of dancing was in his arms. He called me his street girl with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. I only had the pleasure of really getting to know him the last few months of his life and I will cherish those months until my last breath.

So, in January 2009 I have seen the book closed on one man's life and a new chapter begun in all our lives. May we all cherish the minutes, the hours and the days that we have to make music, read poems and create memories.

I Want to do This

2009-01-18T16:53:00.000-06:00

I need a jump start after our rather hectic last few weeks. I will fill you in later. In looking for a new project or something new and different I ran across this project on Ravelry and I have decided to participate.
Check it out and I hope you will want to be a part of it as well.

http://sticksandstitches.squarespace.com/the-milkweed-project-you-p/

2009-01-13T18:56:00.000-06:00

Fiber Fest 2009

February 14, 9:00-3:00
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
828 Commercial, Emporia, KS

• Buy, sell, swap yarn, patterns and accessories.
• Learn or brush up on knitting or crocheting.
Knit: 10 a.m. (basic) and 11 a.m. (intermediate)
Crochet: 1 p.m. (basic) and 2 p.m. (intermediate)
• See demos of weaving and spinning.
• Talk to knowledgeable fiber fans.
• Get some help with your dropped stitches and other problems.

...And there’s no admission fee!

For general information, contact Karen Whittlesey at (620) 794-9107.

To buy table space to swap or sell your yarn, contact Ann O’Neill at (620) 342-6998.
Tables are $5 each, which will be donated to St. Andrew’s to help the needy of our community.

Snow date: March 7.

We are excited to host our first fiber event in Emporia. We do not have a local yarn shop but would welcome any and all vendors to join us. Currently there are several of us who have stashes to destash setting up tables.
There is a quilt shop Prairie Pieces, Plum Bazaar craft store that any beading enthusiast should not miss, as well as a variety of other businesses within walking distance.
We hope to see you in Emporia on February 14. Contact me if you have any questions.

Christmas Panic

2008-12-20T16:07:00.000-06:00

It was brief but it was true PANIC. You know how you just know something? Deep in your gut you KNOW this something but it is still driving you crazy? I KNEW I hadn't lost the cash I took out of the bank for Christmas gifts but I couldn't find it, ANYWHERE. I needed to divvy it up between the credit card bill, the checking account and finish shopping but I could not find that bank envelope. I needed to get out the door to finish shopping but I was so concerned about that money I couldn't enjoy myself. After all, if I didn't find that envelope I was spending money we REALLY didn't have. Since I KNEW I hadn't lost it and that I would find it I went on about my shopping but with a heavy shadow dragging along with me. Fast forward a few hours and I am home checking email, sipping a Coke to try and console myself and retracing my steps from the day I went to the bank. Self I said, the envelope should be in the bank bag with the checkbook but you have already checked there at least a dozen times. Self said, check again. So I unzipped the bank bag and realized that not only was the money not there but neither was the checkbook. If the checkbook wasn't in the bank bag that means I had actually sat down, reconciled the checkbook with the bank statement and put everything away in the fire box as I was supposed to do. Check the fire box and there it was. All of our Christmas money safe and sound and waiting to be spent. The new question was....... when did I do this? I am usually not that punctual with my book keeping and everything would have normally still been in the bank bag. I keep trying to get myself organized and when I do it comes back to bite me.

Fall - It Came and Went

2008-11-29T11:39:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome back. Actually you haven't been gone but I certainly have been. I have been gone much too long and fall is over with nary a post. We have had a bit of family illness of the parent variety with several trips to the emergency room including one ambulance ride and a few days in the hospital for Jerry's dad. My mom had a total knee replacement. Her knee is doing great but she had some other complications that has made recovery a long, slow process. All of this has lead to lots of impromptu over nights by various family members, canceled plans, last minute changes of plans, etc. I know most of you have been there. To top it off blogger has eaten two very nice posts. I have no idea where they are but if anyone finds them please let me know. I think they were some of my best posts ever.

We have had some fun and there has been a fair amount of knitting going on. So, let me entertain you with a few of the highlights of fall.

We went with Jerry's daughter and her family to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.
We had so much fun. We did face painting but on the arm so it could be seen and enjoyed by the one painted on.
We got to know some very lovely sheep.
We looked through holes in walls simply because the adults told us too. They thought we were soooo cute.

Grandpa bought us flower shaped fairy hats. It was a day of making memories. I am printing a book of all the pictures from that day as a Christmas gift.

I knit this pattern back in August and love the pattern. I have started knitting it again in I Love This Cotton! from Hobby Lobby. It is so soft and yummy feeling I am truly enjoying knitting this little baby blanket. There are several babies baking and will need sweet little things knit for them. As soon as I get done with Christmas knitting I will be back to this blanket.

Speaking of Christmas knitting..... I have three granddaughter's under the age of 6. They are each getting an outfit for Christmas. I am knitting the vest and buying jeans and matching shirts. If time allows there will be a belt and/or headband. The pink and green is for the youngest and the pink one is for the oldest. I have yellow and lavender on the needles for the middle child. One front is complete and almost 1/2 the second front.

I keep a prayer shawl on the needles all the time and this is the most recent one. These multi-color, multi-yarn ones have been very popular.

I have talked about this shawl before but I like this picture much better. A dress form opens so many more opportunities for making a shawl look like something. I love the textures in this one and there are just hints of colors that the light picks up.

While talking about scribble lace shawls this is one of my favorites color wise. It is made with cotton crochet thread so isn't as slick and drape able as some of my others. I actually prefer it as a scarf.

Finally the mega afghan/blanket is complete. In case you have forgotten it's humble beginnings you can see it here.

I attempted to take a picture of my son with it before he left on Thanksgiving but I didn't have a memory card in the camera. Relatives took pics for me but I don't have them yet.

Congrats to KU in their win over Mizzou today. Thanks to the Olpe Eagles for a great season. I am so proud of you for making it all the way to state playoffs and for playing a good game against Smith Center.

Breast Cancer Knitting Calendar 2009

2008-10-26T11:17:00.001-06:00

I joined a group on Ravelry that designs and knits dishcloths. I'm not a designer, yet, but have aspirations. When I joined the moderator had just started breast cancer treatments and wanted to put together a calendar fund raiser. I was fortunate enough to get to test knit one of the designs. Mine is the little lace cloth in the bottom left corner. There are 12 new, never before published patterns that are perfect for gifts or for yourself. Click on the link in the side bar to order the calendar. It is a direct download that you print out yourself and can then have spiral bound at your local office supply store. If you have questions or would like more information email me. tschrock@swbell.net

My New Love

2008-10-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

This is my old love. It is the sign next to the door of our studio.
Though I still love it, something new has moved in to vie for my affections.

Isn't it lovely? It is a bird bath or bird feeder or just lovely garden art. What ever I want it to be.

After a day of rain several robins were perched on the edge enjoying a cool drink. Of course they didn't want to be photographed.
This is the detail of the legs.
All this metal work is done by a dear friend of ours. He was an orthopedic surgeon who dabbled in iron work until he retired. Now he does amazing things with metal. You can see more of his work here. Thank you David for adding new loves to my life.

More Football and Fiber

2008-10-10T07:55:00.000-05:00

Why not start with the fiber? I like it better than football anyway. I took advantage of the early morning overcast sky and tried a black background but am not happy with the way these yarns photographed. The colors are off. This is a really yummy Tussah Silk lace weight from SeeJayneKnitYarns.
She calls it Sand and Sea Glass and that describes it perfectly. I purchased it for a shawl that isn't started yet so it is a lovely stash enhancer.

Guess I had already photographed this yarn. If you combine the two of these, the shine in the first and the color in the second you have pretty much what the yarn really looks like.

This little jem is also silk. I see a theme happening here. I didn't have a project in mind just had to have the yarn. It is called Peridot and is from No Two Snowflakes.

This is a work in progress and it is a great TV watching project. The pattern is easy to remember and as long as I pay attention to which side I am on I don't have to rip. I had a little trouble the other night during "Pushing Daisies". I love that show and there were scenes that were so funny I couldn't knit. If you haven't watched it you ought to go back and watch from the beginning to pick up all the story line but if you like dry humor, inuendo and knitting, yes one of the characters knits and uses/wears knitted items you really should check it out.
This is a scarf for my daughter who attends K State so of course chose purple. It is a much richer purple but I could not get it to show up well. The yarn is Lamb's Pride Worsted in Amethyst. She has a grey coat to wear with it.

10/2/08
The football I watched last week was my nephew's freshman game. He is #59. It was fun hanging out with my sister.

Bad Juju

2008-10-06T15:42:00.000-05:00

9/29/08

Imagine you are a 26 years old. You have had a lump in your breast for at least a year but since you have no family history and you are so young no one is concerned. Now imagine that lump is actually cancer. Fast forward 6 months. You have had a double mastectomy, radiation, a lung biopsy that is thankfully negative, your jerk of a significant other becomes an even bigger jerk and you finally send him packing and you are now facing radiation.
As soon as I saw the pattern for this I knew my friend Keri needed one. I don't like knitting things like this and I HATE stuffing anything so this was a stretch for me. I intentionally tried for unattractive since his lot in life is to be stabbed repeatedly. The heart on the front is of course for the jerk and the big C on the back is for cancer. She really is handling all of this better than I think I would have and she has a tremendous group of family and friends helping her along the way. Her life is better without the jerk and the cancer is loosing to her strength and faith. To Keri and a long, healthy life.

Hot, sweaty and gross

2008-10-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

Kansas State University football game last Saturday. I hadn't been to a K State game since I marched in band day back in high school. Things have certainly changed. There are huge screens, instant replays, commercials, you name it, they got it. We were sitting with our backs to the sun. The students were opposite us facing the sun. My daughter is somewhere in that crowd near the goal line. I never did spot her.

The band was great and the cheer leaders, yell leaders and various other dance teams were working as hard as the players were.

Do you see the fire truck? That brought in Willie our mascot. He is just clearing the band in a yellow firemans outfit mid photo. The "bad guy" from the Ragin Cagin is at mid field about to be tackled by Willie. All part of the pregame fun and games.

Here come the players! What I really wanted in this picture is the smoke and the players running through it. Who is this guy sticking his arm up just as I take a photo?

Displaying the colors.

My daughter and I and why I call this post hot, sweaty and gross. We were all three. Though my Tshirt is pink it is a K-State shirt and the button I am wearing has a special story. A friend of ours has raised five daughters and they attended K-State some years ago. When she heard I was going to the game she drove home, got the button she had worn and brought it back to me at work. It says "my daughter goes to K-State". It is now on my inspiration wall next to my desk. I will pass it on to another K-State mom someday.

Motorcycles and Pretty Spiders

2008-10-03T10:16:00.000-05:00

9/20/08

The weather was perfect all day long. Not too hot, not too cool, a very gentle breeze and productive. Late in the evening we were enjoying the end of the day on the deck and I got up from knitting to check the roses. This is who I found visiting my rose bush. Isn't she beautiful. I don't know that she captured her supper but she had the tip of the rose wrapped in a web. She had no objections to having her picture taken. Yes, I asked. I have this habit of talking to nature. Flowers, bugs, weeds... Thank goodness they don't talk back. I thought is was interesting that the browned tip of the rose is the same brown as she is. Coincidence? If the red/green/brown color combination works in nature it may inspire a future project.

9/21/08

Good friends, good food and a beautiful morning. We found a wonderful little cafe in Burlingame, Kansas that serves breakfast followed by an awesome bbq buffet. Wonderful people and amazing food. They love the biker groups and treated us like royalty.

Since we were already so close to Lawrence we rode on up to see the grand kids. It was a short visit as I had to be back for a meeting at church but a wonderful addition to the day.

I took this picture with a simple little point and shoot camera I carry in the car or on the bike. Obviously the date is wrong. It took me a while to figure out how to change the date and then remove it from stamping the photo. So much for simple.

What Can I Say

2008-10-02T07:46:00.000-05:00

Have I been on vacation? No, but I am now. Seven days off work, add in four days for weekends and that totals eleven days that I do not walk into the job that pays the bills. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job. I have awesome coworkers and my patients are fun and challenging. It is amazing that for as much physical discomfort as I cause my patients they are usually grateful and happy to come back to us day after day until they are well again. For the next eleven days am I going to miss any of that? NOPE. So if I haven't been vacationing for the last month what have I been doing? First off I want someone to explain to me where the month of September went. I mean come on, I just turned the page on the calendar and now I need to do it again. I really like that picture on the calendar and it seems barely enjoyed let alone time to be hidden again. Just turned to October and that picture is pretty much beautiful as well. So I am officially in October. I do have a few fun things to share with you from the past month before I let October take hold of the blog. Here goes.

8/31/08

Labor Day weekend. None of the kids are coming home, I have a three day weekend and we have never been to Atchison, Kan sas. It is the home of Amelia Earhart, beautiful mansions and reportedly many ghosts. I saw Amelia's birthplace, a couple of other museums, many beautiful mansions, the river, good food, a good time, but no ghosts. We plan to go back for some of the official ghost tours. But it won't be this year. Tickets go on sale in June and though there were a few random slots open none when we could attend.
This is the side view of the house below.

This is one of my favorites of the many we walked around. It was a beautiful evening to stroll through neighborhoods enjoying the architecture and hoping to see a ghost peeking out a window or gliding across the lawn to the carriage house. Notice the gargoyles on top the house?

Side view of these awesome guys. They sit above the side view in the very first picture.

He looks a little scarier from this angle to me. Like he is crouched ready to pounce as you walk out to the carriage house or sit in the back yard.

As the sun is setting they become the guardians of the night.

A little newer home, later 1800's than the one above. I liked the bunting hung out front and I love wide front porches. Every house should have a front porch.

This one is open to the public but we got there too late. It is falling into disrepair but still lovely.

This is behind the picture above. Isn't it beautiful? I would so love to sit here with a cool drink and some knitting.

Some flowers blooming on an old wrought iron fence. The flowers were so thick you couldn't see the fence.

I love the old street signs.

The river walk and veteran's memorial.

This little guy found a cool, shady place for a nap.

Another view of the river at the south end of the river walk. At the north end was a lovely little cafe where we ate supper.

I don't have pictures from the Amelia Earhart birthplace and museum but it also had a front porch complete with rocking chairs.

We had a wonderful time and certainly plan to go back.

TGI Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-30T11:23:00.000-05:00

This image is from a few days back but I just love this time of day. This is taken from inside the house. Why didn't I step outside????? It doesn't show up any of the pics I took but the gravel is crisscrossed with I guess spider webs. They were reflecting light like jewels. It was really pretty.

The roses continue to bloom. I just dead headed this a.m. so had to take some pics. Yes this one is a lame attempt at camouflage. You have to get that water away from the house somehow.

I plan to watch this one all weekend.

Do you ever read someones blog and they tell you they will send you a little something just for commenting, answering a question, etc? Well I enjoy reading Mary's blog. She was doing a little cleaning out and sharing with her readers. Look what I got! I am so excited.
This is the top layer. Oh yes, there were layers.

I loved the little extras. A wooden spool, a strip of leather, odd buttons, wire for beading.....

A kit for a bookmark.

A box of baubles.

This eye candy is a combination of things. The lovely pink yarn I received along with a packet of teas, they were wonderful. I'm not sure why I received this package. It must of been from a long ago swap that I have forgotten about. I hope I kept up my end of the bargain. The purple is the yarn my daughter picked for a scarf to go with the new coat she plans to buy this fall. We were at Wildflower in Manhattan, Kansas where my daughter attends school. I was so overwhelmed and couldn't decide what yarns to purchase when my daughter saved my budget by telling me she would love a scarf. Needed some shorter DPN's as well. I could have bought oh so much more and within hours of getting home I signed up for a new KAL. I will have to go back.

I had entered three items in the Ravelry Olympics. I metaled with this one. It is a scribble lace shawl that looks great with a little black dress I bought recently. The other wip, my son's log cabin blanket, is still a wip but I am hoping that a road trip tomorrow will finish it off. Lastly I was going to learn to knit socks. Foolishly that is what I was trying to do during the opening ceremonies. The ceremony was simply too amazing to get much of anything except plain old garter stitch done.

My Weekend Adventures

2008-08-02T16:46:00.000-05:00

8/2/08

I read brooklyntweed's blog so I already knew I liked these mittens. Stopped by the book store to see if Vogue had hit the newsstands yet. I didn't even see the title until after I have picked it up because of the cover. I love the cover. It has it all, color, texture, expression, balance. I rarely buy a magazine but I brought this one home in part because of the cover. Thankfully I like some of the projects and articles inside as well.

My husband is in Sturgis for the big motorcycle rally. The original plan was for wives to go along but I couldn't go because of work and other wives had other issues. We wanted to take a support vehicle so the guys wouldn't have to carry so much on the bikes, we could take turns riding with our guys and we could actually lock up things like cameras. My husband almost never travels without a camera. This week he will have been in at least four states other than Kansas with no camera.
So with a week to myself, other than work, the fair, and who knows what else crops up I hope to get a good amount of knitting done. That much knitting requires a few movies. I went to the section marked 2/$1 and picked up some that I wanted to see and some I had never heard of. I actually got home with one I didn't intend to get. It may turn out to be the best of the bunch.

Saturday morning I took four projects to the county fair. Two received red ribbons, one didn't receive a ribbon at all and I didn't expect it to. It was one of the scribble lace shawls and other than the yarn they are nothing special. My Everlasting Bagstopper, I don't remember if it got a ribbon or not. Our display space is adequate at best. To see the bag I had to get down on my knees to look at the bottom shelf. Next to my bag was a lovely garment of some sort but I couldn't see the tag to see whose it was or what it was. There were several other items in the same predicament. I believe when we meet at the fair for knit night this week we will be discussing the display situation.

On my way home I stopped at a couple of garage sales. I found this lamp. It works. I don't usually go for things like this but it kind of spoke to me. Once I find a shade that works with it will decide its fate. At this point I am thinking of sanding it down and spraying it with one of the paints that looks like stone. I might also do some sort of mosaic or decoupage treatment. Time will tell.

My other garage sale purchase was this box of beads. A nice little assortment to add to my collections.

My last stop was at the craft store in town. They have everything BUT yarn. We are trying to talk them into it because they have employees that know yarn. One of the employees raises sheep, spins, dyes, knits and weaves. We will keep trying.
Anyway, they have a pretty decent bead section. I picked up a few things to work on an idea for some stitch markers.

Here I added some beads from the garage sale box.

Now I have added in some of my own beads. I want to keep the grey/silver tones but add a sharp contrast and I think it will be red. I have lots of red beads.

A lamp project and a beading project. I only thought I was going to get a lot of knitting done.

I am test knitting a pattern for a breast cancer fundraising calendar. I don't have a yarn source close by so when I went to "the city" I picked up every pink yarn I could find that would work for a dishcloth.
I am using the mercerized cotton second from the right and it is working up beautifully. Pictures and info. on the calendar at a later date.

Love this car seat blanket pattern but do not like the yarn. I was on my way out the door and needed something quick. It is sooooo yucky but knitting anything on a long car ride is better than knitting nothing. It will make an OK gift for someone or for the grandgirls and their baby dolls. I will knit this pattern again in something much nicer.

8/3/08
I love ripe fresh from the garden tomatoes. This one has been ripening on the counter for a couple of days and it was perfect on Sunday. I

Pizza or Turkey?

2008-08-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

7/27/08

I made homemade pizza with all the fresh veggies from the garden. There is onion, green pepper, garlic and tomatoes. It was the best pizza I have made in quite sometime.

I love my baking stones. The handles on this make it much easier to get in and out of the oven. My old one had a rack to set it on but I was always forgetting the rack. It was passed on to my son so I could justify this one.

7/28/08

This turkey has several siblings that "hatched" last fall. I knit up three or four of these guys for gifts in a short amount of time. I chose this pattern to knit for the household items category at the fair because it was an easy but visually interesting knit. I knit the first 1/4 of this cloth several times and finally cut the yarn off and threw it away. It was beginning to resemble a well worn piece of string rather than yarn. Once I got past the half way point I didn't have any further problems thank goodness. There is one very obvious error but of course I didn't see it until I was blocking. I'm sure the judge will see it as well but I enter more for fun than for the ribbons. Too bad I didn't remind myself of that when I was having so much trouble knitting this thing. After the fair he goes into the mail to an Internet friend who has mentioned she would like to have a turkey.

In addition to this dishcloth I took a scribble lace shawl, my misknitted Everlasting Bagstopper shopping bag and a preemie hat. There were other projects I had planned to take but it is best if they are completed before entering them in the fair.

Today I cast on a pink dishcloth that I am test knitting for a breast cancer calendar fundraiser. More on the topic in the weeks to come. I have tested some patterns for quilt designers before but this is the first time testing for a knit designer. I hope I am up to her standards. She does beautiful work.

Racoons, Cats, Flowers, Children and of Course Yarn

2008-07-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am in charge of the Prayer Shawl Ministry at our church. We ask for yarn/money donations to buy yarn for our knitters and crocheters to make into shawls. We get alllllll kinds of things donated. When there is something that isn't appropriate for the shawls and I want it I trade appropriate yarn for inappropriate. I am going to try some felting projects with the tapestry yarn.

This is cotton yarn and I love the colors. I haven't decided yet if I am ripping out the things that are started or not. It may depend on what I use the yarn for and if I need to rip. It is large enough and nice enough it could be a pillow cover or something. Time will tell.

This lovely wool I received in a barter on Ravelry. She needed scraps to finish a granny square afghan that she inherited and I had plenty of that to share. This is yarn she bought while living in Ecuador. I envision felted projects. She was very generous and I love the yarn.

I love my roses. They are just off the deck on the east side of the house. This combination of just about to open and half open is so lovely together.

This rose is a trooper. It hung in there after a hail storm and tried to bloom. This is as far as it would open due to the damage I guess. The base was pretty beat up and seemed to keep it closed. It is still beautiful to me.

7/12/08

The granddaughters were visiting again and we were playing outside. During a game of kick ball 4 is about to kick the ball. 2 has found a particularly delightful bug on the grass. Can you guess what happened next? 2 was upset that she lost the bug and 4 couldn't understand why 2 didn't kick the ball back. I think we switched to golf after this.

The raccoons visit when the cats don't clean up all of their food. I think this guy has figured out that if he shows up before supper is over he gets the good stuff not the left overs. I was too far away with not enough lens to get very good pictures but at least I captured this story.

Notice the two cats off to the side. They aren't too concerned.

Soon though, Baby has had enough of this guys backside in her face so she moves.

There that is better.

But then a scratching sound is heard from the tree above. A young male descends to sit and watch the intruder. I don't know how high up that tree he had been but apparently he felt a little braver and came down a ways.

Finally one of the kittens had enough of hiding under the deck and decides to strike out across the yard. Not too close now. I think the score is now raccoon 1, cats 0.

7/7/08

This is one of the most delightful gentlemen I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He is my husband's father. I have only known him about six years and still do not know him well. He lives two hours away and when we do get together it is usually a family reunion, funeral, etc. and you just don't get to know people well that way. After a couple of weeks in the hospital Dad needed some more time to recuperate so we brought him to a nursing home close to us. I have enjoyed the last two weeks immensely. I was able to watch Dad get stronger every day. I have enjoyed numerous conversations with him and I have learned what a witty, intelligent and gentle man he is. Unfortunately I have also leaned how poor his memory is. I fear his days of living at home with his wife are numbered. We hope to move them both back closer to us very soon. I look forward to that day.

7/19/08

I can't believe I missed sharing this lovely lady with you. She resides in a day lilly and iris garden a few minutes from my home. We have an art show there in the spring and we use the gardens occasionally for portrait photography. When I arrived for the art show this spring I was delighted to find this lady right next to our space. I should not covet but I cannot help it. I want this sculpture.

6/8/08

She sits at the top of a rise and looks out over the gardens to the north.

Her back is as lovely as her front.

Gentle Giants

2008-07-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

6/29/08

We were driving east across Kansas on Sunday when we came upon these. We had not traveled east from Hays since state basketball a year ago and these were not here then. It was fascinating to drive for several miles watching these advance toward us and fade behind us. I particularly liked this photo. If you look closely you can see the utility poles running along the hill toward the giant on the left. I remember driving near them in the past thinking how tall they were. Isn't it amazing how things like height are relative?

6/22/08

My kids give me a new rose bush each Mother's Day. This one is two years old and I simply love the color. But then so do the insects. They have been munching on my roses and the leaves but they are still beautiful to me.

Now for the knitting content of this program. Mittens! Yes mittens. In the middle of summer. The special feature at our county fair this year is mittens. I enjoyed making the Peekaboo mittens so much I knew I wanted to make more. Knitting knowing that the item will be judged by someone who knows more about knitting than I do makes it not quite as enjoyable but I still love the pattern.

Remember this? I knit it for a dishcloth exchange back in February/March. I have it on my projects page on Ravelry and Rachel asked to use my photo on her pattern page. I am very honored of course. If you would like to make this dishcloth you can find it here.

A Wonderful Weekend

2008-06-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

We kept two of the grandchildren this weekend.

Saturday morning we went to Council Grove, Kansas to see the Wah-Shun-Gah Days parade.

These handsome young men presented our colors proudly.

Of course there were bands.

This is the reaction of Two when the band started playing right in front of her.

This covered wagon spent the last week on a trail ride across eastern Kansas. The driver is my dad and in the jump seat is my mom. On or around the wagon were various family members.

Four was watching quite intently. She was pretty sure there would be ice cream after the parade. Of course she was right. Who knew two little girls could eat so much ice cream? Strawberry for Four and "choco chip" for the Two.

Other activities over the weekend included naps. Everyone needed a break from all the fun. Then there were wagon rides checking out the livestock. They don't like bugs, they did like the turtle and the cats stayed way far away from the fun.

When the long wagon ride was over it was time to cool off in the pool. The general consenses was the water was still cold but we simply couldn't wait any longer for it to warm up.

A fun time was had by all.

They love their Grandpa.

Flower Dishcloth

2008-06-09T20:58:00.001-05:00

6/9/08

As my Mystic Light lies about basking in solitude I have only managed mindless knitting. Just before I lost the light tonight I managed to get a shot of the dishcloth I am knitting. There is a flower in the middle but it is difficult to make out in the variegated yarn. I love the colors in this yarn.

I finished another Scribble Lace shawl this weekend too but I didn't like how it looked in the late evening light.

Of course the cats were trying to help. I'm surprised that the rubbing on my legs didn't jar the camera.

Oh yes. Insurance picked up part of the tab on the air conditioner and also paid to fix the wash machine. So far no more lightening damage but my daughter's cell phone died the day the wash machine was repaired. The wash machine had died the day the air conditioner was repaired. PLEASE let this be the end.

Knitting Content

2008-05-31T10:45:00.000-05:00

I feel like I am knitting quite a bit but I think I am doing more frogging so there isn't much to show for it.

My son loved the book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" and there is something about carrying a towel on May 25 in honor of the author Douglas Adams. I knit this towel for him for towel day. A pretty mindless knit but has a sad number of mistakes that I just wasn't willing to spend time fixing. Taking the time to fix them seemed to go against the words I was forming right before my eyes.

I am STILL working on the Mystic Light shawl but am almost done with clue one. We won't speak of the fact the KAL is officially over and there are 5 clues.

Doing a little baby knitting and some items I hope to sell at an art show next weekend. I have not taken pictures yet. I had better get that done in case they do sell.

We have been fortunate that the worst of the storms have missed us. We did have to replace the AC and that was probably due to lightening. We have also had to replace a water heater and computer and now the wash machine is on the fritz. I thought problems like this only came in threes. We are one over and I am ready to be done with repairs.

Off to do some Saturday things and think about some lunch. Till next time.

Still More Iris

2008-05-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

I can't help it! I have enjoyed my iris bed sooooo much this year. As of today the winds and rain have pretty much beat what are left to death. But as you can see here last weekend they were just beautiful.
The first picture is with a flash after sunset. It totally distorts the color but I like the effect.

This one is very true to color and I love the contrast between the two shades of purple. Check out the center of the dark iris. It almost looked animal like.

I only had two stems of this color but it is probably my favorite. Or maybe that dark purple. I'm not sure. This stem was completely gone before the second one bloomed and it was immediately broken over by a storm. The same storm we took a lightening strike from. So far the AC is the only thing affected. We hope.

I have been doing a little knitting but need to take pictures to share.

Until next time. Stay safe if you too are in the path of night after night of turbulent weather.

More blooms

2008-05-18T11:48:00.001-05:00

Look what I found Sunday morning. These were still tight buds at 9:30 on Saturday night but beautiful full blooms by 8:00 a.m. I wish I had looked out front earlier.

5/18/08

Iris

2008-05-17T22:02:00.000-05:00

There is something sad yet pretty about this poor, spent tulip. It was a brilliant red just a few days ago and now it looks more like a dried pepper. Today was almost hot and being out in the sun with my camera and the bugs and the flowers was just wonderful. It will take some time for me thaw out from this past winter.

5/17/08

And just across the yard is this bloom so full of promise. After having no iris last year due to a late freeze I am enjoying my flowers all the more this year. The purples have bloomed first but the yellows and reds are not far behind. I think there will be white as well. I had to move many of the iris coming up on three years ago so this is the first good season since the move.

A few other iris photos for your viewing pleasure.

One summer I was wandering through a garden department and found these little people. They reminded me of my own two at the time. They have been in the garden every summer since and my two are 18 and 21.
I hope you have enjoyed the beginning of the iris tour. I can't wait for more colors to bloom.

Signs of Spring and Knitting

2008-05-10T08:07:00.001-05:00

4/21/08

Another dishcloth. The ballband pattern finally makes sense. I had knit one before and I think I fought the pattern the entire time. I just couldn't "see" the rhythm of it. Maybe that is because it was a ball game knitting project and I could never really concentrate on what I was doing. This one went quickly and was quite fun. I love the texture and colors of this one. I hope its recipient is enjoying it.

4/26/08

This little guy came to visit for a couple of days. I'm not sure how long he was sitting on the rail before we noticed him but for the two plus days we watched he didn't appear to ever move. He didn't seem bothered by me or the camera either.

5/4/08

My favorite place to knit outdoors. Depending on the time of day I am in shade or sun. The picture is facing east so it is a beautiful spot in the mornings and shady and calm in the evenings. The knitting is my Mystic Light. Yes I am still on clue #1. It is knitting up beautifully but I can't do it when there are distractions around. I have tried and it was not pretty. I do not like frogging or tinking if I can avoid it. So, I only knit when the world will leave me alone long enough to get a pattern row done. There have been so many other KAL's I would like to sign up for but that is silly with how slow this one is going.

5/5/08

These are my knitting/gardening companions. Two were not present for this photo session but were not very far away. They never are. If I'm outside they are close at hand to help with anything I might need. There is actually four generations in this photo. Mama is checking out the bird feeder that was blown down during the storm the night before. Notice all the leaves blown up against the house? The trees took a beating. On with the lineage account. Next is Baby Mama who is the black one posing in the foreground. Third generation is Baby dressed in white and standing. Last but not least is Lady. The long hair shunning the camera. Don't you like my original names? When Mama and her two babies were dumped on us we didn't expect them to live long because we have coyotes, fox, etc. and cats just don't usually survive. Mama survived and one of the original babies stops in occasionally. Three generations later I finally started naming them because they obviously were going to live with me awhile. Before that Mama, Baby Mama and Baby seemed just fine.

This should be a photo op weekend. I have a baby shower for the daughter of one of my best friends to attend. She is my sons age. Is it possible someone my son's age can be having a baby. Oh ya, they are adults. When did that happen?

My daughter will be home for part of the weekend and of course it will be Mother's Day tomorrow. We plan to all get together for a meal, probably out since my sister and I don't really like to cook either and then if the weather is good off to a lovely garden to see the iris blooming. My camera batteries are charged and waiting. Hummmmm, doesn't sound like much knitting.

Happy Mother's Day to all.

Breakfast Ride

2008-04-20T17:01:00.001-05:00

4/20/08

We took advantage of the second nice day in a row and rode with a group of friends to a little town about 30 miles away for breakfast. Good home cooking, bottomless pot of coffee and lots of fun. Came home and worked in the yard. Hubby mowed and I trimmed up rose bushes, cleaned up plants and took some of the houseplants outside. They were very happy as they just don't winter very well in our house. They love the back deck and will be beautiful by mid summer. Assuming the cats leave the poor plants alone.

This and That - Has Spring Finally Sprung?

2008-04-20T07:47:00.001-05:00

4/5/08

It was a cold and blustery day.... We were at the park photographing a high school senior and these balloons were stuck high up in a tree. I want to believe it was a balloon release at the end of the party to celebrate. My fear is they escaped in the wind and there were many tears shed by the birthday child.

4/6/08

I officially started the Mystic Light KAL. I keep reminding myself this is my first true lace, my first real cables and my first KAL. The KAL part isn't turning out so bad. Of course I would like to be keeping up with the clues but that was never a real part of the plan. I simply don't have that much knitting time and truth be told, I have way to many projects on the needles at any one time. As of today I am all the way up to Row 17 but I have an uncrossed cable 2 rows back. I need to talk my courage up to tink those four stitches back and fixing the cable. Something I have never done. Wish me luck.

4/7/08

I married out of a family that doesn't cheer for any team past the local high school level into a family of diehard Kansas Jayhawk fans. When the Jayhawks and the Wildcats play each other I cheer for the Wildcats and become rather obnoxious about it just because it stirs up so much trouble in this family. But when the Hawks are playing anyone else I support them 100%. The final four was particularly exciting this year. This is a screen shot off of my TV. I did a fair amount of knitting during those games but it had to be mindless and on big needles.

4/13/08

The 13th was my birthday. One of the big ones that everyone seems to dread but I was kind of excited about turning 50. I'm not sure 60 sounds so hot but I have 10 years to sneak up on that one. For my birthday I chose to go to Manhattan, home of the K-State Wildcats, where my two kids attend school and/or work. My son works at a printing company and has a new press that he wanted to show us. He handles all those buttons quite well. What he was printing surprised me a bit or rather seems quite odd. He was printing door hang tags for a famous pizza company. They use them for when they deliver a pizza and the person isn't home! It reads some thing like "Sorry we missed you. Call the following number and we will redeliver your pizza". Do people order pizzas and then leave? He was doing a run of several thousand so this must happen at least occasionally. While in Manhattan we ate at Old Chicago, met my son's girlfriend (very sweet girl. She gave me a bouquet of flowers for my birthday.), had ice cream at Dairy Queen and in general enjoyed the day with my kids.

4/14/08

I won't go into the long story of why my husband has to dig this area out to fix a leak around the sewer pipe but it involves two dead squirrels and rain. We need to relandscape the front of the house anyway so here he is tearing out the bushes. What does he find under the bush he is working on here? Four newborn kittens. Mama had been at supper the night before but not at breakfast so I wasn't surprised that there were baby kittens but now what? I put them in a cardboard box and brought them in the house while the digging was going on. When he finished I sat the box back where he had found the kittens. By 11 pm they had all been moved to an undisclosed location. I am pretty sure there are more than four as Mama appeared to have swallowed a medium size mixing bowl and she is historically a rather prolific Mama. Would anyone like some cats? Please.

Prayers, positive thoughts, whatever you have, please, send it.

2008-04-09T19:13:00.001-05:00

In case you have not read my blog before I recently had a cancer scare. You can read the posts by clicking on those last two words in the previous sentence. I thank God I am cancer free.

In late March a 26 year old co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has now undergone a double mastectomy. Today she found that she has at least stage 3 cancer, she has probably had it for over a year but was told it was probably fibrous and not to worry. She will have chemo, radiation and cancer drugs for at least 10 years. This means no babies for at least 10 years and if the tests done on Friday reveal the cancer has spread, it was found in 4 of the 12 lymph nodes, then she cannot have her eggs frozen and there will never be babies.

Also today we found out about a recently former co-worker. She is 31, has a child approximately. 2 years of age and will have a double mastectomy on Tuesday due to stage three cancer.

What in the hell is going on?

PLEASE check the girls every month, PLEASE insist that a palpable lump is biopsied and PLEASE don't think you are too young, too old, too healthy, too anything to have cancer. I now personally know three women under the age of 35 with stage three breast cancer.

First Flowers

2008-04-05T16:47:00.001-06:00

These were the first flowers in my flowerbeds this spring. I now have more but there is too much wind to photograph them properly. I worked in the beds for about two and a half hours this afternoon and everything looks much better. All the broken limbs are picked up and most of the leaf trash is gone. The wind was helpful in that it was blowing new leaves in as I was removing the old but that is always a problem when you have as many trees as we do.

Mystic Light Swatch

2008-04-03T21:24:00.001-06:00

4/2/08

I haven't started knitting the Mystic Light shawl yet but I have reknit the swatch a couple of times. This is my first attempt at what I consider real lace, my first provisional cast on and my first time reading a chart. I missed a cable, changed needle sizes a couple of times and made a few unintentional design changes but other than that I think I am ready to start knitting the shawl. I found in knitting the swatch that I need the house quiet and maybe even empty to do this very well. That may mean this is a very long term project.

Road Trip

2008-03-20T19:49:00.000-06:00

We seem to have been on the road a lot lately. Two granddaughter's have had birthdays, my father-in-law celebrated his 86th birthday, we have gone to photography seminars, and other fun things that take us up to two hours from home. Each time we have planned to wash the car before we leave town. Each time it has rained or snowed the day before and made car washing pretty much pointless since we drive through a small pond on the street in front of our house. I was actually taking pictures of the mud splatters on the window in the first picture but really like the look of the hubcaps better. Hubby was drooling over some tools in the tool store. I had been drooling at the fabric store earlier in the day.

3/8/08

This my leg. Not very interesting but next to it sits my knitting bag. This is where it lives when we are in the car. Right by my feet. Next to the door in the winter so it insulates my forever cold feet more and summer time, well, it usually has to block some of the AC off my forever cold feet. The knitting project of the day was a prayer shawl. It is nearly complete since the last trip this past Sunday.

Coming up:

Hot cocoa swap

Cold and wet = stew

More Finished Objects

2008-03-19T19:24:00.001-06:00

3/5/08

A sweet little bunny dishcloth. I just loved this little guy and his fluffy little tail is my favorite part. I was pretty proud of the edge as well. I have finally knitted enough that I can control my edges enough I don't want to go back and bind them with fabric or something. I try to pick projects that inspire me to learn if even just a little bit. Though I didn't really learn anything new on this one it was the first time I have worked on the diagonal. I got a lot of practice increasing and decreasing.

3/6/08

My first mittens! I am so excited. They are for my college age daughter. Of course it is now too warm for her to wear them but there is always next year. I love this pattern and will certainly be making it again. They will be great Christmas presents next year. I already have some yarns picked out. This project ~~forced~~ inspired me to learn and try several new things. A huge buttonhole which scared me but turned out not so difficult at all and I really like the ribbing along it. Picking up stitches for the thumb was the first time I picked up less stitches than there were stitches to pick up. This meant I had to decide where to pick them up. That turned out OK too. The very best thing I learned, kitchener stitch! The first mitten I just totally butchered it but the second one I watched the video on knittinghelp.com and it was so easy. I could not figure out what I was doing when I read the instruction in the book but after watching the video a couple of times it was a breeze. I won't remember it when I try it again but hopefully the video will always be there.

OK, so I am a little proud of my mittens. You get a couple more pictures.

And if you can stand just one more, how is that for kitchener stitch? Now I am no expert and this was my first time but I think I did pretty good. In case I didn't, lie to me anyway.

New Yarn in the Mail

2008-03-15T07:10:00.001-06:00

It is so much fun to see a package on my desk when I arrive home from work. If I order anything for my husband that needs to be a surprise I have to have it shipped to another address because he always gets to the mail before I do. That also means he knows how often packages arrive for me and where they come from. I'm glad he is the understanding, supportive guy that he is.

3/3/08

I have joined the Mystic Light KAL and this is the yarn I plan to use. This is not at all the yarn I had planned to use but I couldn't find what I had pictured in my mind and I was on a bit of a budget. Since then I have found a couple of yarns that would have mirrored the picture in my mind quite well. The budget issue is still there but not wanting to spend a lot of money on yarn was based more on the facts this was my first KAL, my first lace knitting and my largest project to date. I did not want to put a lot of money into a project I wasn't sure I was going to like. The swatch instructions were released last week and about 10 minutes into it I knew I loved the yarn and was going to like knitting lace. I was having trouble with my needles though so what did I have to do? Order new needles of course! That means there is yet another package winging its way toward our home. That also helps me justify not spending too much on yarn since I HAD to get new needles. The first clue will be released on the 26th. My needles will be here by then, my swatch completed and I will be ready to knit lace.

3/4/08

Since I was ordering yarn anyway I had to check out the clearance section that a new friend on Ravelry pointed me to. We both liked this lovely little yarn and the price was just too good to be true especially when you divided it by two. I can bust a yarn budget wide open without really trying. This yarn doesn't know what it wants to be yet so it has joined the stash to contemplate its future. I know it will want to become something wonderful. It will also be fun to see what my new friend's yarn grows up to be.

Coming up:

FOs

Road Trip

Another Gift

2008-03-06T07:37:00.001-06:00

3/2/08

This was a gift from the author of the Hot Cocoa Swap I participated in. She sent me a little gift just for participating. It has been gift central around here lately. Thank you Grace and it looks lovely on my end table sporting my tea cup and misc. knitting items.

You can find this and other lovely things Grace knits here.

What Was Inside Those Packages Anyway?

2008-03-05T20:35:00.001-06:00

Remember this. I had so much fun opening all of these gifts. I remember asking mom to do this when I was younger. I loved having many little packages to open.

3/1/08

The paper gifts. A Hawaiian cookbook. I haven't prepared any of the recipes yet but it is fun to look at. The notecards were photographed by her husband of flowers in their backyard. I want to go visit her yard!

The fabric and handmade gifts. The silk scarf she hand dyed herself. The fabric is Hawaiian and she made the lanyard.

The food gifts. Tea, coffee and cookies. Perfection.

Soap and a serving set. The serving set filled the regifting category .

Check out the beautiful young girl on the package of soap.

Is this beautiful silk or what?

I was very blessed to receive these wonderful gifts.

Coming up:

FO's

New Yarn in the Mail

I am sooooo excited!

2008-03-04T22:53:00.001-06:00

Why?

1) A package containing yarn arrived today.

2) It was knit night and our group grew by two more people.

3) I finished another dishcloth. No big deal. I make at least one a month but it is really cute.

4) While watching an episode of "24" I finished my first pair of mittens AND learned to do Kitchener stitch. If I say so myself it looks pretty damn good, on one of the mittens. The first one looks like one my granddaughters tried to help me with the finishing. I attempted to fix it but that kind of made things worse. Oh well, they are mittens, they will be warm and they are finished.

I can't wait for tomorrow after work so I can take pictures of all the excitement.

I Have Been Gifted With More Yarn

2008-03-04T07:21:00.000-06:00

A friend who has had a little trouble lately staying on her feet was unable to knit for a while. Since she couldn't complete the dishcloth she owed me in an exchange she offered to send me yarn instead. Though I miss having something that she knitted I had absolutely no problem accepting her yarn. It is a lovely hand painted cotton. It has not decided what it will be yet but it has joined the stash to think about its future.

2/25/08

Top O The Mornin' To Ya

2008-03-03T07:30:00.001-06:00

2/26/08

Yes, another dishcloth. A green shamrock for the recipient to wash away the winter blues and bring in spring and a little Irish spirit.

This was another fun one to knit. I especially liked the background. A bit of a cable look but no actual cable.

I'm really quite disgusted with the weather. Saturday was a warm, 70+ but very windy. For the first time in months I didn't wear a coat and the car felt warm when I get into it. Sunday was again windy but things were starting to dry out. My Man even took a short ride on the Harley. By late afternoon it was a dark and stormy day that ended in a cold, driving rain. What happened to spring?

Color in Glass and Wood

2008-03-02T14:27:00.000-06:00

2/20/08

Two of the granddaughters were here to visit. Grandpa was photographing them for their 2nd and 4th birthdays. The youngest turned two on February 1 and the oldest turned four on March 1. Happy Birthday my precious ones.
So while Grandpa and Mommy were looking at the photos they had posed for earlier Grandma and the girls got to play for a while. We have this large basket of blocks in the studio for when little ones need to be entertained and the girls brought them in to the house to play with. We had to set up two play areas in the living room because Little One was certain that Big One was building towers just for her to knock down. The above it the Little One's "tower". She can build a real tower but just couldn't stand it and would knock it down about three blocks high. I think this picture is when she went over to knock down the Big One's tower when she wasn't looking. The picture below is the Big One on guard duty.

2/23/08

At a lovely Methodist church in Topeka, Kansas I had all kinds of eye candy. All the windows in the sanctuary and the front of the church were this beautiful art glass. This was not my favorite window but the best picture without running it around in Photoshop.

This and That

2008-02-28T21:06:00.001-06:00

2/06/08

Are you tired of snow pictures yet? This was a beautiful snow. We have had a couple more snows since but none this pretty. This is my front porch and I like how the snow deepens as you move away from the porch. This would have been a perfect day to stay home and knit but since I have that pesky thing called a job/career I had to leave this lovely scene and drive to work.

2/18/08

I enjoy knitting dishcloths. I'm not sure why. I have a difficult time using the ones I make or the ones I exchange for as dishcloths but I just like knitting them. I like to try out new stitches, ideas and colors and sometimes I just want something that will knit up quickly to break up the monotony of another project. This particular dishcloth was sent to me by my exchange partner this month and it is a lovely log cabin pattern. This first photo is my Ravelry Project 365 photo but the others are just eye candy. Enjoy.

Stay tuned for; What Was Inside Those Packages Anyway and I Have Been Gifted With More Yarn.

Where Have I Been

2008-02-17T19:02:00.001-06:00

In a fog I think. Time seems to just fly by and I have little to show for it.

I did receive two lovely gifts this week. One is from a dishcloth exchange, stay tuned for photos. The other was a Holiday Exchange in which my partner didn't hold up her end of the bargain. I wasn't too upset by it and had moved on. Then I received a package in the mail. It was from one of the organizers who knew about the problem. She had taken it upon herself to send me a very lovely package of goodies. I had a great time opening everything and as soon as my camera is up and running again I will share pictures of the contents of all these pretty packages.

The rest of the story

2008-02-09T16:22:00.000-06:00

I DO NOT HAVE CANCER! Of course I knew in my gut I didn't have cancer but it was wonderful to hear it said out loud by the doctor. I went back to work on Wednesday the 6th but have just kind of drug through the days. I have had such a terrible cold the surgery was really no big deal. That is until my incision became infected. So I started antibiotics on Sunday and finally today, two weeks since surgery I finally feel good. It is an amazing feeling.
Of course My Man got some kind of bug also and he is finally on the end of it but still not feeling back to normal. We have decided we are done being sick for the remainder of the winter. Enough is enough already.
Stay tuned for my irregularly scheduled blogging and some eye candy as well I hope.

A story but no fiction

2008-02-03T15:25:00.001-06:00

This is the Reader's Digest version of the last week give or take a few days. My brain is still under the influence of cold medicine but I am coming out of the fog.
Have you ever known beyond a shadow of a doubt, deep in your gut, that everything is OK, there is nothing wrong but no one will believe you? Every thing sensible knows you are doing the right thing but it is pointless and throwing away good money that could pay other bills or even better, buy yarn?
My gut knows that lump in my breast is not cancer, my brain knows that lump is not cancer and that is good enough for me. Of course we all know that until something medically tells me that lump is not cancer we must push on for that answer. Two rounds of mammograms read by no less than some cancer detecting piece of software, one radiologist, one medical doctor and one surgeon and I am headed for surgery. No big deal. A nice nap, 20 minutes, a larger than I thought incision and the feeling that my left breast has been run over by a rather large herd of horses and I still won't know until Tuesday that it IS NOT CANCER.
I have never had surgery before and have never been "put under". I apparently "go under" very easily as one Valium made me sooooo relaxed and the half syringe of sleepy stuff left me totally out. I was so looking forward to counting backward from 100 as they put the mask over my face like they do on TV. The last I remember is the back of the rather handsome anesthesiologist leaving the holding area before I ever even went to the surgical suite. I do feel cheated in that respect.
I did get one question answered though. How would I look as a D cup? It really is hard to tell when the dressing is quite lumpy and the other side is considerably less than a D but I think I will pass. Especially since I am pretty sure it would take a much larger herd of horses to equal the pain of increasing to a D.
Then there is the head cold. It actually started the night before surgery but I wasn't sure if I was reacting to chemical smells from work or if I was actually getting sick. I was getting sick and it is a doosy of a head cold. I hear my own heart beating in my ears at times and when I cough I don't know what will hurt the worst, my breast, my throat or my head. Thank goodness they are all sharing the experience so none feels left out. In reality I think if it weren't for the cold I would really be enjoying this time off from work. I can't go back until after my appointment on Tuesday but I really have not enjoyed much of anything so far. I have gotten some knitting done, watched a fair amount of TV often through closed eyes and slept rather fitfully at night. I don't plan to take anymore pain meds at night. I should be writing science fiction from the dreams I have been having.
Is there an upside to all of this? Well, you find out who your friends are. Food has been delivered, numerous phone calls inquiring about my recovery were made and more prayers than I will ever know about have been said. I have talked to my children, parents and sister every day. My children who have little money sent me a beautiful little bouquet of flowers. My sister brought a goodie bag with magazines, chocolate and flavored teas. She knows me well. We curled up on my bed and chatted for a while. I'm afraid I may have fallen asleep but then she didn't mind. Then there is My Man. What a jewel. He has cooked, helped me change dressings, reassured me and nearly had to be kicked out of the house to go hang with his buddies today to play poker and watch the Super Bowl.
The pictures below are the only two taken in the last week. The first is from Knit Night and the second is of the third heart dishcloth I have made. I love variegated yarn in the ball but not much when there is a design in the knitting. Believe me, there are five hearts in that dishcloth.
I hope to return to my regularly scheduled life by tomorrow but I have been up a little too long now. The couch and the Super Bowl commercials are calling my name. I wonder who is playing?

1/28/08

2/3/08

Too many cats

2008-01-28T20:28:00.001-06:00

1/26/08

Saturday I took the camera out with me to walk around the yard. I had forgotten how difficult it is to walk when numerous cats walk with you. In keeping with the theme of feet I want you to know that my feet are in there but obviously well hidden.

The snow is gone and the temperatures Sunday and today have been almost shirt sleeve weather.

Tomorrow is to be at least 30 degrees colder with a chance of rain and snow. Ahhhhh, Kansas in January.

Feet

2008-01-27T17:24:00.000-06:00

1/25/08

One of the suggestions for Ravelry Project 365 this week was to take a picture of my feet. I rarely see my feet naked this time of year so you aren't either. There are actually two pair of socks on my feet in this picture. I didn't plan this picture but as I was logging my new purchases into my stash on Ravelry I dropped them on the floor next to my desk. When I turned to get up my feet were surrounded by yarn. I just slide my feet up into the middle of the pile and grabbed the camera.

Sunrise and shopping spree

2008-01-27T13:18:00.001-06:00

1/23/08

A few items I picked up of the discount rack. 10 packs of cards with envelopes for $1, beads, jewelry findings, binder clips, vacation theme beads for when, not if, I get around to documenting our Cancun vacation and a gift for my Hot Cocoa partner.

1/24/08

Almost sunrise, temperature 22 degrees and no sound. For a few seconds there was no sound. No cars, birds, people. Nothing. It was beautiful to see and to not hear.

A day in the city

2008-01-27T11:15:00.001-06:00

I am no city girl and I don't particularly like to shop. I do love to eat at different restaurants and since we were shopping for furniture I could endure that. There was not a yarn shop within a reasonable distance and our legs hurt and we still wanted to stop by a book store. There should be more yarn shops so I had to settle for one of the big chains to satisfy my yarn fix.

The furniture pictures will come later as the furniture hasn't been delivered yet.

1/20/08

Cotton yarn for dishcloths or other items requiring cotton. Have to keep the stash up you know.

The brown in the back is needed to finish a grandson's afghan. The color isn't exactly the same of course but I am double stranding with black so hopefully it won't be too obvious. There were skeins in the bin that were almost purple. A lesson learned. Always buy way too much yarn. The stash is always hungry.

1/21/08

I like cottontots for baby hats, kimonos, etc. I don't like using acrylic yarns for baby things. What cotton yarns do you prefer for baby items?

1/22/08

Lion Brand Wool-Ease for a pair of mittens for my daughter. They must be washable because she doesn't need anything that requires special care. Freshmen in college who work and carry an A average (had to brag a little) don't need anymore to think about. I have not knit mittens before and plan to use this pattern. I can't seem to photograph reds well. The yarn is actually has more brown in it but this is pretty too.

Another Exchange

2008-01-27T10:25:00.001-06:00

1/19/08

Yes another exchange. A dishcloth one. Didn't I say I don't do many exchanges. Well, I do two, make that three. Two on a monthly basis and the third is a one time thing, maybe.

Monthly I do the theme exchange and a dishcloth exchange. The one time only maybe one is a Hot Cocoa exchange. More about it later.

This is a pattern I cruised the Internet for. It is Valentine Dishcloth by Rachel vanSchie. I love the pattern Rachel.

It is knit in Sugar 'n Cream in Hot Pink. There is a second one almost exactly like it except for the last 15 or so stitches when binding off. I ran out of yarn!! So I finished in something not even close and will use it myself. I haven't made myself a new dishcloth in ages. A third in a variegated yarn is in the works for my partner in the Hot Cocoa exchange so no pictures until after she receives her package.

Snow again

2008-01-27T10:13:00.001-06:00

1/18/08

Yet again we had snow.

Exchanges

2008-01-27T09:40:00.000-06:00

I don't often participate in exchanges because I am such a procrastinator. There, I said it. I enjoy the exchanges but I am always late getting them done. I have never not completed one but they are always late.

This picture is of a lovely skein of yarn I received from my partner in a theme exchange. The theme was "New Beginnings". This is what she had to say about this lovely yarn.

"This skein of yarn comes from a lamb's first fleece. A lamb's first fleece is it's softest and with shearing, it is the start of a whole new beginning for the lamb as it progresses to maturity."

I don't know what I will do with the yarn yet but I plan to knit something that is a "New Beginning" for me.

1/17/08

Project 365 and some knitting content

2008-01-20T17:01:00.001-06:00

1/14/08

Just a bowl of oranges with an apple hiding underneath.

1/15/08
A fun plate I like to use during the winter months. It looked it's best one year dressed in homemade fudge.

1/16/08

The actual knitting content I promised. This is the Log Cabin blanket I am knitting for my son .
It has grown since that post but it certainly doesn't grow very fast. Why in the world did I use size 10 needles for this?

Woven Shawl 1/13/08

2008-01-20T14:49:00.001-06:00

1/13/08

This handwoven shawl hangs on the back of my computer chair.

This is the detail of the shawl. It is wool and various ribbons. My Man bought it for me for Christmas a couple of years back from a friend who takes her yarns from sheep to finished product.

New TV

2008-01-20T10:42:00.001-06:00

1/6/08
We had planned to buy a big screen/plasma/HD TV as a family Christmas present but couldn't bring ourselves to take the money out of savings. Out of the blue we were able to sell a vehicle we no longer needed and guess what, it was enough to buy the TV we wanted. This is My Man doing all the technical stuff that actually makes it work. He is sooooo good at this stuff. I on the other hand would have had to hire help.

1/8/08

Aren't these the prettiest little bunnies?
We have started a new fiber group in town. We meet every Tuesday night at the coffee shop at Hastings. If you are in town on a Tuesday stop on by. We don't have a name, yet, or rules, or bylaws or officers or any of that stuff. We just meet to knit, crochet, etc. This was our first night and one of the ladies was making bunnies to give with a book/books when a baby is born. Everyone is different in size and
personality. They are just too cute

1/12/08
Ahhhh, the new TV. I should have taken a photo when there was something knitting related but to get that I would need to remember to get my camera before my knitting and I are camped out on the couch. Too much trouble. I can tell you knitting is very nice to watch on a larger TV. Instead you get My Man watching reruns of "Seinfeld".

A Quick Note

2008-01-19T07:57:00.001-06:00

Can you tell I get bored easily? Time to change the blog appearance again.
I have lots to blog about, some of it actually knitting related but we are leaving soon for a day in the city. Nebraska Furniture Mart, jewelry store to have my rings checked, a book store or two, any structure that houses yarn and any other adventures we can find a long the way.
Stay tuned. I hope to have stash enhancing photos later.
Stay warm where ever you are. It is 3 degrees here and there is snow on the ground.

Catching up

2008-01-12T17:45:00.000-06:00

How hard is it to take a photograph once a day? Not difficult at all. How hard is it to remember to take one photograph a day? That seems to be a bit more of a problem. So, rather than quitting, feeling defeated, etc. I am going with this story.
It takes approximately 30 repetitions of something for it to become habit. I have not yet had 30 days in which to develop the habit of taking one photograph a day. As I move through the year it will become a habit and I will be happy with the number of photographs I have taken in 365 days. Sounds good to me anyway.

1/4/08 - 4/365

The nasty stomach bug had left me feeling no worse for wear by Monday. Above you see my clothes laid out to go to work on Friday morning. I never got to put them on. I crawled back into bed and dealt with them later. Unfortunately my dear husband started getting sick Sunday night. It was a very long night for him. He was feeling better by the end of the week but today has been pretty bad again. We are not sure if he is sick again or still sick but whatever it is, he is sick.

1/5/08 - 5/365
I have a Beta that keeps me company in my office/studio/nest. I noticed that I could see our deck through the fish bowl so that is the shot I was going for. I love the second one because I think the fish was posing for that one.

Project 365 - 1/3/08 - 3/365

2008-01-05T16:22:00.000-06:00

My world came to a screeching halt early yesterday a.m. A stomach bug of some sort and I won't give you any details. I am moving more this afternoon but not very fast. I'm not sure my brain has cleared enough to be blogging but I have to do something to stay upright.

I took this photo on the 1/3/08 because I knew the tree was coming down and it was just too good of a subject. The look I wanted to get was more of a night shot, glowing "candles", etc. I got that shot but this is the one I wanted to share. It reminds me of Christmas circa 1958. My dear husband was a wee lad and I was celebrating my first Christmas. The picture is a bit grainy and is in general very much like many of the photos I have of us from that time period.
Camera specifics are: Color mode B&W, ISO 200, 1/60 at 2.8, with on camera flash.

This is more what I was shooting for. Both are straight out of the camera as my brain is not able to deal with anything more technical at this time.

It's a Party

2008-01-05T06:22:00.000-06:00

A birthday party to be exact and the birthday gal is giving the gifts. Check out Phoe's blog and join in wishing her a happy 30th birthday. I picked a light green present. Looks like maybe a book???

I found this delightful blog via another delightful blog Studio D.
Diane is a Ravelry friend and I have learned a lot about blogging, computers, cameras, etc. from her in a very short time.

365 and KU

2008-01-03T20:20:00.001-06:00

KU first.
With this touchdown we are now 17-0.
GO HAWKS!

2/365 Wednesday, January 2, 2008

This is a sweater I picked up at a thrift store. It is 100% wool and terribly scratchy. I can hardly touch it so I plan to fell it and create something else with the fabric. It also has some neat adornments that will go into other projects as well.
No special setting with the camera. The colors caught my eye.

This is the back side of the log cabin blanket I am knitting for my son. It was in a basket next to the chair the sweater was on. Again I was drawn to the colors as well as the additional color changes where I pick up stitches. There are also bamboo circulars and the yarn from a shawl lying on top of the blanket.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T15:05:00.000-06:00

I love fireworks. It was fun to watch them on TV and around the neighborhood last night.

We had a pretty quiet night. Ordered pizza for supper, watched "Stardust" and then watched the New Year's festivities. I did a little knitting and some reading and that was pretty much the extent of our partying. We are headed out shortly to see "National Treasure".
OK, back from "National Treasure". A good action movie, pretty improbable but that's OK. My daughter said it was too intense for her. In all an entertaining movie.

Project 365
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/
Ravelry group: project 365 ers

I am going to try it. Take one photograph a day for 365 days. At the least one a week but I would hope I can do better than that.

Unless otherwise noted the camera is a Cannon PowerShot G9. I will give specifics of the shot if I was trying for a specific technique, learned something, etc. Some of the shots I'm sure will be just that shots for no particular reason.

1/365

I made this rather large dishcloth as part of an exchange and didn't get it mailed with the rest of the package. I took several photographs but liked the texture of this one.
3.5, 1/40, 200, no flash, macro, daylight with reflectors

Had better join the family and get some knitting done. Will need 365 fodder for the coming days.

A White Christmas

2007-12-29T16:34:00.000-06:00

It hasn't happened in years. We had snow on the ground before Christmas and here we are four days later with additional snow and very little melting. We have had four measurable snows and one significant ice storm so far this winter. Very unusual.

Christmas Morning

2007-12-29T12:03:00.001-06:00

This was Christmas morning at our house. That isn't all the presents as there were other grandparent's houses to go to and some had been done the weekend before and some wouldn't be opened until later. So all in all I guess this isn't too obscene as far as gift giving goes as this accumulation is for in the neighborhood of twenty people. The grandkids got things like yoga videos, exercise mats, and outdoor play equipment. Books were big also.

Now this is the story of the year. Grandchildren, almost 2 and almost 4. Pumpkin pie on a dresser in a back bedroom not being heated so I could store such extra goodies as pie, cookies, candies, etc. Very quiet grandchildren who like pumpkin pie. The little one comes to daddy and wants her hands washed. Oh no, where is the four year old? On a footstool pushed up to the dresser eating pie. We had to laugh and take pictures as it was just too funny. Those tracks in the pie go all the way to the bottom crust. We even kept the pie around for a couple of days for the laughs.

The baking

2007-12-23T19:07:00.000-06:00

Notice I don't say The Knitting? There isn't much of that going on. I also didn't say The Wrapping. There is still lots of that to do. That is also what college age daughters are for. She has her instructions for tomorrow while I am at work. She will have the assistance of the almost teenage granddaughter who just blew in from Utah. The Utah family drove through some awful weather and we are very thankful they are here safely. The girls are watching the Polar Express, the men are playing poker and I am making lists, checking them twice and then making some more lists. The menu was set and the shopping was done, that is until I found out this evening I will have four more than I expected for Christmas morning breakfast. No problem, a new list for my man to take to the grocery store in the morning while I am at work. Notice the theme here, I am at work, everyone else is at home. This will be the biggest Christmas morning since we joined our two families five years ago. I can hardly wait. We will be having the main meal for this bunch tomorrow night before everyone moves on to various spouses families Christmas celebrations after breakfast Christmas morning. (I am not going to guess how to properly punctuate that sentence.) The men will be preparing the turkey and the ham, while I am at work. We will also have sweet potato casserole, fancy corn, hot rolls, fruit salad, pumpkin and pecan pie and anything that any roving relatives add to the mix.

The pictures I want to share with you are of my biscotti. The CD's included in the pictures are of the Christmas music playing at the time. The poor oven was on from 10 this a.m. until 6 p.m. I baked the four pies mentioned above, two batches of biscotti, two loaves of banana bread, biscuits and at least two other things but they have probably already eaten it. This doesn't include the big pot of soup that simmered along all day.

Back to the biscotti. I got this recipe last year from Giada De Laurentiis on HGTV. She is my man's favorite cooking show hostess but I don't think he can tell you anything she makes. Anyway, we all love this biscotti. My inherited-son was so impressed that I had made it and I won't be telling him how easy it is.
I must now get back to my lists so that I can sneak off to work in the morning knowing everything will be ready when I get home.

I can dream can't I?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2007-12-22T11:43:00.000-06:00

Ho, Ho, Ho. It's snowing again. Fourth weekend in a row for some kind of winter weather. I love the snow so won't complain a bit. I had some last minute errands to run this a.m. and except for watching out for the other guy it was fun to run around in the snow.
The first picture is from last weekend. Does it look familiar? It is the same view as our first snow picture back in November. Since it looks like we will actually get some snow this year I am going to take the same picture with each snow.

I did finish decorating but did it in shifts. After the Grinch (see previous post) finished repairing the lights without cursing too much the tree sat for several days because I had a nasty infection and by the time I got home in the evenings I was too tired to think about anything. My son was home on the 14th so he added his 21 years of accumulated ornaments. My daughter and I finished on Sunday and as always we think it is the most beautiful tree we have ever had. Of course with it being artificial the shape is the same but the ornaments are better placed, or something. The tree topper is not on in any of the pictures. It is an angel bear I made years ago and she needed a little reworking this year also.

Today we start getting family from out of town. There is more food in this house right now than probably since last year. I have both a ham and a turkey thawing for our dinner on Christmas Eve with Jerry's family. We will be home Christmas morning with who ever is spending the night in addition to my children. Christmas afternoon we go to my mom's for Christmas with my extended family. Between now and then I have to wrap every present I have purchases, fill stockings and cook. I love this part and with extra family coming I will put them to work as well.
Yes, it is certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

God Bless Us Everyone.

Still decorating

2007-12-09T11:54:00.001-06:00

The tree is having some technical difficulties so Santa aka The Grinch has taken it back to his workshop to fix the light that won't light on one side.
I think everything else is done though. I will finish the tree when that pesky string of lights gets fixed. It doesn't look bad just the way it is. Enjoy a few of my other decorations. I am off to stir the chili we are having later for supper. Can't wait, it smells so good.

The decorating begins

2007-12-08T15:54:00.000-06:00

Decorating for Christmas. Tune in later for hopefully more Christmas looking pictures. See the corner with no tree below. It is waiting in the car to fill up that corner.

Twenty-two years ago today

2007-12-07T22:32:00.000-06:00

Twenty-two years ago today I was pregnant with my first child. Only I knew and I would keep my secret until Christmas morning.
Twenty-two years ago today my parents lost their third child, their second son. The son who was too tiny and too sick at birth but fought and survived to graduate, work and marry the light of his life. Three months later he was taken away from us.
How different would our lives be today if he had lived?
I love you and miss you.

Let It Snow

2007-12-05T19:31:00.000-06:00

It is already December 7. How did that happen? I wish someone would slow the world down just a little bit. I'm not concerned about being ready for Christmas, I will be. I'm not concerned about daughter's surgery, it will be fine. I simply don't understand how we got to December already.

In turning over calendars to December it seems each one has a lovely snow picture. I have not yet shown you the first snow of the year for us. It came early the morning of November 24. It was pretty much gone by noon but it was a lovely snow. A friend tells me that means we will have 24 snows this winter. Another friend claims it will be a total of 24" of snow this year. We shall see.

December 6 we got more precipitation in the form of freezing rain and sleet. I refused to take pictures of it. I heard that it actually snowed for a few minutes but I saw no indication of that so it doesn't count toward the number of snows count or accumulation totals. All it did was increase the amount of *&%# that had to be scrapped off of windshields in order to get everyone home after work.

Scribble Lace

2007-11-25T16:54:00.000-06:00

I recently completed another scribble lace shawl/scarf. I love these things! The yarns and the needles completely transform the basic idea. This one was too slick to use aluminum needles so I switched to bamboo. That held so much better but then it was not as open and airy as the first one. http://fiberinspired.blogspot.com/2007/09/i-have-completed-two-scribble-shawls.html

The colors on this one are so rich. Both yarns have copper in the name. One is Copper Wire and the other Copper Penney.

The next one in my mind is in blacks and I will go back to a slicker set of needles. At least I think that is what will work.

The basic pattern is from the Mason Dixon Knitting book.

I have a stalker

2007-11-18T16:35:00.001-06:00

I can't get away from him. Everywhere I look there he is. He is in the kitchen, on the couch and once again he creeps into my blog. Will Thanksgiving never get here so I can be rid of him?

Yes, I speak of Gary the Gobbler. This is #3 completed. He seems very happy made from yarn named Camel and I hope my swap partner is going to love her new dishcloth.

I have been playing with my camera after joining a photography group over at Ravelry. I hope my photographs improve and I even learned to get a respectable close up. I just love the look of the tail feathers.

Can you guess who this is? See what I mean? The one above is the one that was blocking in the kitchen and this one is hanging out on the couch. Gary insists I can't stop until my mother has one too.

Gary the third

2007-11-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

It appears that Gary #3 is just over half done. Poor guy is going to loose a bit of his height in a few minutes though. I must have missed a YO two rows back because I should have 37 and I only have 36. I might not matter at this point but I don't want him to have a lumpy breast or broken tail feathers.
This is the yarn called Camel and I really like how it is working up. Gary appears happy with the color as well.
I have found that the seat of this chair in our bedroom is really great for photographing small items when I have no natural light.
Check back for more "Adventures With Gary".

More Gary

2007-11-12T20:48:00.001-06:00

Wally World is the only place in town that carries yarn. So of course I have to cruise by just in case there is something good. Well, I found these colors of Peaches & Creme. The solid is Camel and the variegated is Earthtone. I thought both would make wonderful Gary the Gobbler dishcloths. Not that yellow, orange and off white won't work great I just think these look kind of turkeyish. Do you think Gary will mind being knit from a yarn called Camel?

I am making great progress on the Log Cabin blanket. I tried to take pictures but I really need natural light so will wait until I have some of that. It is almost dark when I get home from work so I may even have to wait for the weekend. Stay tuned for Log Cabin blankets and more Gary the Gobbler.

Fall things

2007-11-07T19:33:00.000-06:00

Meet Gary the Gobbler. He is a delightfully quick knit dishcloth and I have completed two so far. One is in the mail to Ysabeau for a Fall theme exchange. The second one will go in the mail shortly for a dishcloth exchange. I plan to knit more before Thanksgiving to give as hostess gifts and just for fun. My mom loves the knitted dishcloths so she will get one when we go home for Thanksgiving. Both of the kids are out on their own now and really seem to like getting things for their apartments. I am trying to use from my stash and these are the color options that I have left. Not exactly turkey colors but they are after all going to be dishcloths. You can search for Gary the Gobbler to get the free pattern.

Becky sent me this lovely cloth as part of the Fall theme exchange. I need to iron it and get it back on the side table in the living room.

These beautiful fabrics came as a thank you gift from a cyber friend. They are pieces of fabric, beads and charms and best of all two leaves and machine stitched "tree bark" that she created. I have them on my work table and I simply love looking at them. They haven't told me yet what they want to be but they will.

Contest

2007-11-03T06:22:00.000-06:00

Do you enjoy contests with prizes? Do you like blogs about knitting, pets and family adventures? If the answer to either is yes you need to check out "Shut Up, I'm Counting". I found her through another blog I read "loveincomfortknits" and since there was a contests WITH PRIZES I thought I would enter. Well, I looked around her blog a bit and decided she was having way too much fun with life and I had better peek in and see what she is doing now and again. Head on over and mention that I sent you.

This pic has nothing to do with this post but I really don't like posts without pictures.
This is from our vacation this summer. Loved spending a few days just the four of us. And the ocean..... how I loved the ocean.

Scrumbles

2007-10-31T11:26:00.000-06:00

I stumbled across a site a while back that fascinated me. I then joined a Yahoo group and then an exchange within the group. Isn't that the normal progression of getting ourselves into new "trouble"? I have actually participated four months in the exchange but only have two pictures. I forgot to take ones picture and the last one has not arrived at its new home yet so I don't want to spoil the surprise in case she reads my blog. I use a combination of knitting and crochet but mostly crochet. The last one, not yet pictured, has a little bit of beading.
What I have enjoyed so much about these little, about the size of my hand, guys is that there are no rules and no pattern. I find a bit of yarn, a color or whatever inspires me at the moment and add more yarns to compliment it. I try to pick a new stitch or technique with each one and since they are small they are a quick adventure. I seem to have little control over what they want to become. They have minds of their own.

It's my bag

2007-10-27T06:34:00.001-05:00

Everlasting bagstopper....
I love the name of this bag, I love this bag and I love that it won't be delegated to a grocery bag as it was originally planned to be. It is now a bag for anything nice I want to carry, like knitting or books or whatever. It is also a door decoration.

Why is it so special?

I may never wash it either.

Now the disclaimer.
Is this how the bag is supposed to look? Well, not exactly.
Did I use the yarn suggested? No.
Did I follow the pattern exactly? No.
Is any of this intentional? Yes and no.
I used a different yarn because I had it in my stash and I wanted to start the bag. This is also known as frugal.
The bag does not look like the picture because I didn't follow the pattern exactly but it was a TV watching project and every time Jack Bauer gets in a tight spot I tend to loose my place in my knitting. And since Jack gets in a lot of tight spots I get lost a lot. This is also known as taking creative license.
I plan to knit more Everlasting bagstoppers and I may have to let Jack sit the next one out.

One of the babies is here

2007-10-27T06:01:00.000-05:00

Avery Nicole arrived Thursday evening. For the first time ever, well at least in recent memory, the gift was done before the baby was. Photographed, wrapped and waiting to be delivered. What the stork brought me was a BAD cold so I can't go visiting, holding, ooooing and ahhhhhing until the cold is gone. I have seen pictures and grandma is floating around at work. The kimono is from the book "Mason-Dixon Knitting" and the hat is called Baby's First Hat, designed by Abigail Goss of Crotiques. I found it online but I haven't been able to find it again.
Miss Avery is barely 6 lbs. so she will probably need to grow a bit before wearing this. I had baby sumo wrestlers so was very thankful for gifts that were a bit larger.

Ravelry Invitation

2007-10-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

I got my invitation today! I need a user name and some time to play.

Ravelry

2007-10-23T18:28:00.000-05:00

Some interesting numbers. I guess I will be invited to join by the end of the week. I won't be home most of the weekend but I will get to play later. I've heard so much about Ravelry I can't wait to check it out.

9/21 I sent in my info. and I was #34627
10/16 5123 ahead of me and 9984 behind me
10/17 4200 ahead - 10,650 behind
10/18 3527 ahead - 11,028 behind
10/19 3228 ahead - 11,483 behind
10/22 1905 ahead - 12,506 behind
10/23 1204 ahead - 12,937 behind

This is going to be HUGE! Any one already a member? I have heard there is so much incredible inspiration in this one spot. I can hardly wait.

Podcast & Contest

2007-10-17T19:19:00.000-05:00

Monday Vickie Howell posted a contest to celebrate the launch of her Podcast Craft. Rock. Listen. Just for linking to the information on her website she would send a skein of her new yarn. Even though I don't think I really know how to do that properly yet I linked to her web site and today I am listed on her blog and I am watching the mailbox for the yarn. How cool is that? A skein of yarn for just a couple minutes of trying to figure out how to do something.
I also entered the contest for some free books but I didn't win any of those. Congratulations to those who did.
Check out Vickie's site for information on her podcast. She has some great guests lined up.

Finished and their stories

2007-10-13T08:06:00.001-05:00

Catching up on a few things that were recently finished. The bib goes to a long-time friend for a grand baby to be born soon. The multi-color baby hat is preemie/doll size and doesn't have a home yet. Neither does the pink/lavender one though it has a twin that goes with a kimono that is almost complete. The kimono and hat will go to a baby expected any day now. I guess I had better get the ribbons on the kimono so I can photograph and otherwise prepare it for delivery to the new little one.

This prayer shawl has a sad but "it's a God thing" story. I made the shawl several months ago. It is black Lion Brand Homespun and lots of different pinks, variegated and shades that coordinate with pink. I just loved the feel of it and I couldn't seem to get it to the church office to be used as needed. A week ago Wednesday I also had 5 prayer cloths I had made and intended to drop off at the church office after my Prayer Shawl meeting but the door was locked. I didn't take pictures of the cloths. On with the story. The very next day we received word that a niece in her early 30's with 4 small children and a husband has been diagnosed with breast cancer. That saga continues with the possibility that the cancer has spread.
I immediately knew where this shawl was supposed to go to live. With Kelly. Why did I have 5 prayer cloths with no home? Because Darrin and the 4 beautiful kiddos needed something to comfort them as well. It certainly is a God thing.

Scribble shawls

2007-09-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

I have completed two scribble shawls from the book Mason-Dixon Knitting. The first one pictured here I sold right off the needles. I had no intention of selling it. What's a girl to do when someone offers money, enough money to seriously consider selling something you love? 1) Make sure there is enough yarn to make one for herself. 2) Plan on spending the money on more yarn. SOLD!

The second scribble shawl, you can see part of it in the picture below, ended much too soon. The balls of yarn were deceptive and there was not enough of the blue to make the shawl long and swishy. So, it has hung out in my "studio" for the last couple of weeks trying to inspire me to do something with it. Since it would be IMPOSSIBLE to frog that is not an option. A trip to the button box proved the spark to complete this project, I hope. Folded in an uneven rectangle it resembles an asymmetrical shrug that needs something to hold it in place. My plan is to construct a brooch of sorts on a recycled lapel pin with buttons that coordinate with the shawl.
First, a test piece out of white buttons to make sure the glue will hold and my idea will work.

While the Chiefs are trying to loose again, and Clint Boyer is on rain delay I am gluing buttons, deconstructing a sweater and finishing a baby kimono. Hold the phone! The Chiefs just tied the game. Go Chiefs!