"The first step towards getting somewhere is to
decide that you are not going to stay where you are." 
- Unknown"

I ran across this quote this morning and it struck a cord. My life is good, really good. I have family, friends, an amazing husband, a home, a career, more interests than I can keep up with, the list could go on and on. The thing is everything changes and if you don't keep up you get left behind. This picture is a perfect example. We had our first hard freeze this week.  The greens are changing to yellows, golds, browns and reds. The porch railing is gone and replaced with black iron. When spring comes I will be painting all our trim red. Last night we photographed twin girls who have changed in the last year from fitting in a bread bowl to running around the studio exploring everything. This past week too many friends have said final goodbyes. Life begins and life ends. 

Three years ago we started making changes to the way we eat toward more whole foods and less meat and processed foods. We feel better and lab reports show positive changes. Twelve days ago we took the next step  by eliminating foods my hubby is sensitive too. Already he is feeling better. Along with our eating habits I knew I needed to make some changes in my activity level.  Planned exercise is hit and miss at best. I love working in my yard, walking, hauling wood,  and other actual physical labors but they don't happen often enough. This summer I was chalk drawing on the driveway with a granddaughter. After quite some time sprawled on the concrete it was time to get up and admire our creations. I actually had to think about how to get myself up off the ground. It no longer came as second nature. My body wasn't responding the way I wanted it to.  I spent last Saturday morning watching thousands of people, young and old, fit and working on fitness run in a marathon. I felt very, I don't even know the name of what I felt.  It comes down to, what am i doing standing on the sidelines? I don't know that I want to run a marathon but why am I not taking better care of my body. I am feeding it better, I challenge my brain to keep it active but my muscles and bones feel ignored. This week I started moving forward  because I am not satisfied with where I am. They are baby steps and I know me, I will fall a few times but the object is to keep moving forward. Change is inevitable and I am the only one who can push the changes the direction I want them to go.               

Fall Is In The Air

10/6/13
Brrrrrr, it is chilly and windy this morning. It was almost 90 during the week. I think fall has come to Kansas. KU and KState lost football games yesterday. The Chiefs, 4-0, play this afternoon against the Titans.

I am off to heat up the kitchen with this recipe. It is Southwestern Pasta Gratin from One-Dish Vegetarian Meals. I first made it last March. I almost always follow the recipe exactly the first time but then mix it up to our taste or with what I have on hand. This recipe calls for pinto beans, we prefer black beans. In place of elbow macaroni I used a vegetable bow tie. I add more garlic, added green pepper because I have a lot of them right now. The jalapeno came straight from the garden minutes before I chopped it up.

My knitting this afternoon while watching football will be my Hitchhiker. The yarn is Plymouth Yarn      Diversity in the color 0004. My son bought me the yarn for Christmas in 2012. He is a huge fan of "The           Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" so this was an obvious pattern.        

                                                             

Have a wonderful Sunday and I hope the weather is beautiful where you are. 

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giveaway

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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.