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.

More Football and Fiber

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.

Exchanges

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