In the Middle

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.

Snow, Ice, Rain, Coats and Sweaters

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.

February? Are You Sure?

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.

Fall - It Came and Went

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.

My Weekend Adventures

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