A Beautiful Christmas card

A friend sent this link to me for an interactive Christmas. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://ecard.ashland.edu/index.php?ecardYear=2004adm

Peace and joy for the new year!

Finally, I am back online again!

After a major computer crash and other realities of life, my son is loaning me his laptop until I can save enough for a new computer. Which may be a while!

I just moved into the senior apt that I had applied for, waited for, prayed for! Of course, not one to do things the easy way, I managed to have fever and diarrhea for two weeks before the move! Lost 14 lbs. (I do NOT recommend this as a diet strategy!) Had to go to the ER one Sunday as I was so dehydrated to get an IV. And keep packing whenever I could manage to sit on the edge of the bed for more than a few minutes!

Thankfully my church came and moved me into the new apt., helped Pat get moved into his new apt. Pat comes over now and does my shopping, laundry, etc. We've come through the worst of it!

I kept myself from going totally crazy by knitting socks for myself. We had one huge snow storm that dropped 2 ft of snow on us here in upstate NY. I have a lovely view of the city from my apt, perfect for snow watching! I'm on the fourth floor, the apt. has elevators (no stairs, hooray!) and I go out as rarely as possible!

Ann is going to share some of her acrylic stash with me so I can make baby things and kid things for the Rez. Hard washing, hard wearing lovely acrylic! I love knitting with wool, but new moms need easy things to take care of and no worries about shrinkage.

I may soon have a female cat. I contacted the local Humane Society and as always, they have an abundance of cats ready to be adopted. They told me that they have a number of cats that have very reduced adoption fees, which is what I would need with my skinny budget! But it would be so nice to have a furry little companion! I will have to make a place on the window ledge where she can watch the snow come down. There is a large tree by my living room window and the top of it can be seen. I got up the other morning and it looked like the tree had been dusted with powdered sugar! Of course, Spring will bring green leaves and birds to visit, which will be a treat for the cat and I.

I hope all of you have a happy holiday season with your families. Patrick is going to visit friends, so it will be a movie/knitting day for me, which is fine.

Pictures at Last

I finally took some pics of the socks I've been knitting for Akkol. Here they are:



The red/white ones are Joan's Socks pattern and the red/brown ones are Wool of the Andes with afterthought heels. The blue/white ones at the top are another pair of Joan's Socks in progress. I really like that pattern. I use one strand worsted and one strand of sock yarn--both wool. You can find it here:
http://www.knitlist.com/95gift/joan.htm

Tomorrow is a Resting Day

I had a 9 AM doctor appt. and finally got home four hours later, totally wiped out. I took along my washcloth (which will be sent to Rabbitch) to knit on and managed to get a few rows done here and there as I WAITED. I love KIP as it makes me feel less like at least something good is getting accomplished. And it also starts up a lot of conversations.

But tomorrow is Resting Day for me. I really don't have much energy for anything else, but it makes me happy to know that I will have big blocks of time for working on my socks for Akkol. I have two pairs in process and will post pictures later. My next pair will be using the Joan's Sock pattern from the Knit List. Several people have commented how much they like that pattern, so will give it a try. Since they are knitted with two strands of worsted yarn on size 8 needles, they should go fast. And warm. With 40 below zero temps at the orphanage, the kids need warm!

Sewing is at a standstill for the moment. Just can't get anything started. So knitting is what I am doing until some other mad inspiration strikes me.

Off to see the mechanic!

Well, I've gone and done it now! I bought myself a Sebring convertible and it is great. I got tired of working out rides with family, so now I can get to where I need to go so much more easier. The exhaust needed repairs, which the dealer is paying for, so I will be sitting in an air conditioned waiting room with some knitting to keep me company. I have no idea how long it will take, but I have a 9 am appt.

I plan to take some socks that need to be finished. Have gotten to that endless foot section on both socks, so this will be a good chance to make some progress. These are of sock yarn on size 1 Addis. Will get a photo up of these socks when I finally get them finished. The NEXT pair I make will be for Akkol for the orphanage there. Those have to be thick and warm for the cold winters. A boot sock type. Those will knit up a lot faster on wool worsted and one sock yarn for extra color!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mittens_for_Akkol/

I have some cone yarn that is well aged and ready to be socks for the kids there!

A Nice Surprise!

Ann nominated me for Rockin'Girl Blogger! Pretty nifty! So now I get to nominate 5 other girl bloggers that I read.

1. Sherie at http://whimsyknits.lightshines.net/
Love her charity knitting projects.

2. Marguerite at http://stitchesofviolet.blogspot.com/
Who does CIC knitting and makes wonderful patterns.

3. Margie at http://www.fairisle53.blogspot.com/
Who does really incredible socks and inspires me to make my own!

4. Wool Winder at http://woolwindings.blogspot.com/
I love the spinning info and pictures of the flowers.

5. Lisa Grossman, AKA the Tsarina of Tsocks at http://www.tsocktsarina.com/blog/
She talks to her yarn and gets it to do wonderful things!

There are many others, of course, but I do enjoy these for the variety. Probably my favorite blog is Sheep Shots. But Ann has been nominated already by Mariella.

Knitting:
Mittens for Cora's classmates.
Thick wool socks for Akkol.
A hat for the Rez.

Sewing:
Cool ties for the troops.
Some shorts for myself, but I keep putting them on the back burner! Maybe I should make them pants for the winter!

Material Arrived

Well, the material arrived for the cool ties--but not the crystals! Maybe early next week. I'm not sure the material is going to work out. It is homespun gingham check and the color is okay, but I will have to make a test cool tie to see if the material is dense enough. I ordered some more cotton material in case it is too thin. This time, 200 ct cotton. That should work just fine. I couldn't find a thread count on the homespun. If I can't use it for the cool ties, I'll use it to make summer shorts/pants for the kids on the Rez. Nice medium green that boys or girls can wear.

The yarn for the Mitten Stash is full of as many bright colors as I could find for Cora's class. I'll probably put stripes across the palms to make them into pairs, etc. Cora wants her's to have a string so she won't lose them. Probably a very good idea! The ones for the mitten box will just be singles, though. Easier for the teacher to dole them out. And the kids won't necessarily care whether they match or not as long as they get to go outside for recess!

That's about it for today. Still writing letters to the troops.
Check out
http://www.halosandheroes.com/Ways-to-participate
I joined the Letter Writing Team. They send me addresses each week and I write at least one letter to them. Sometimes they write back and we become penpals. I'll be sending cool ties to them when the crystals FINALLY get here! I just write about ordinary things going on in my life. To someone who is getting shot at, "ordinary" sounds pretty good. And gives them a little break from the stress.

It doesn't matter whether you approve of the war or not--these guys and gals deserve to know that someone cares about them. They are young (18-20 yrs old), in a hot miserable country (whether Afghanistan or Iraq)and truly in harms way. When I watch the news and hear about more troop deaths, I can't help but wonder if one of them was one of my soldiers.

Happy July 4th!

We are having a rainy 4th of July--nice and cool but I think it will delay the local fireworks until this weekend. Cora is excited about seeing them. And of course doesn't want to wait.

No pics today. Will try to add some next time. I'm making mittens for Cora's class and the Mitten Box we are making. I have neon green, bright orange,variegated yarns and of course, pink, for Cora.

I bought some material for cool ties for the troops. I hope my crystals and other material arrive soon so I can get started on them. The temps in Iraq are really hot now.

I have 5 new soldiers to write to this week, so will let this do and get to the letter writing. Mail call is important to them and some of them don't get much mail.

I Cutted It, Grandma

Another Cora adventure.

I got a new book about knitted toys--The World of Knitted Toys--and Cora found some kittens that she wants me to make for her. She loves to look at the pictures in my books, but this time she did more than just look. She just finished Kindergarten and they had been practicing cutting out circles. (It did look like a big circle, I must admit!) She brought me the picture of the kittens and said "I cutted it for you, Grandma, so you won't lose it."

Some tape and time and it is now mostly back in the book. And I managed to save the pattern so I can make those kittens for her!

Still making mittens for the Rez. Using up some dark colors so the boys will have some choices, but I would rather make pretty ones!

And Another Pair Hits the Dust!

Sport yarn, doubled. Makes a nice tweed pattern!

I think I will make the next pair with doubled worsted wt yarn and see how that goes!

Letter Person Parade

Today was the Letter Person Parade at Cora's school. Each of the kindergarteners got to choose their favorite letter and then wear a costume for that letter. The kids were so cute!

Cora chose the letter A and she and I planned her costume together. Made of pink fabric (of course!) it pulls over her head and has a giant A on the front. On the back panel, I had Cora use a permanent marker to make lots and lots of A's. Then Cora came up with the idea of making "flaps" with the same green fabric and putting more A's on them! Which we did! No problem knowing which letter Cora had chosen! Not to mention the fact that she got to be at the head of the parade! Hmmmm--smart girl!

I finished a pair of wool baby mitts and have only the thumb to knit on a pair of Purple Mittens. Very pretty. I think I may make some thumbless toddler mitts now.

Collection of Mittnz so far

Just a quick post to include a picture of the mittens I've finished so far. The beige ones on the left are sewn of fleece and are nice and warm. I'll probably make more of those later.

Cora Can Tie Her Shoes!

Now this may not seem like much to adults, but to a 6 year old, this is big stuff! Cora has a pair of pink shoes (her favorite color) that she has been begging to wear to school. Her mom says she can't wear them to school unless she can tie them herself. (I suspect the kindergarten teachers agree!)

Rachael showed Cora a few times, but got frustrated with her. After watching all this for a while, I told Cora that I would make her something to help her practice tying. So I made her a small pink pillow about 4 X 8 inches, sewed pink bias binding into strings and sewed them on the pillow. Now she has something large enough to see and to manipulate. We spent several afternoons and evenings learning how to make bunny ears and how to wrap them to make a tie. Slowly Cora began to master the process.

This morning she got up, got her pink shoes out, AND TIED THEM HERSELF! I was so proud of her! And off she went to school with her pink shoes on! One more milestone in her life! It is so great to be able to participate in her life this way. Wish I knew if Piper can tie her shoes. She is 8 yrs old, so I suspect she can. Will ask her next time we talk.

Knitting News:
Working on a blue and white 5 hr. boy sweater. Turning out nicely.
More mittens in the works.

Sewing News:
Trimming up the pattern for Snow Sack. Looks like an easy pattern to make of fleece for the babies at the Rez. Has small, large (up to 25 lbs) and two doll sizes. I plan to make some doll clothes, too.

Will trim my pants pattern tomorrow. I have grey knit fabric for those.

More Sideways Mittens

This is such an interesting pattern to knit. You can find Mariella's Sideways Mittens here. The variegated pair is the child size version. She also has an adult version, which is what the orange pair is. They are both are made the same way. I slip stitch each mitten together instead of sewing them--I crochet better than sew! It makes a strong attractive seam. Because they are made in garter stitch, they are warm mittens even in acrylic--more so if made in wool. It is a great pattern for using up small amounts of yarn.

I plan to make child size mittens for my local school. They always have children who forget their mittens or simply don't have mittens (poor kids are everywhere). We get cold and snow here in upstate NY. And the kids have to have mittens to put on if they are going be able to go outside at recess. I thought I would put together a Mitten Box and take it to my granddaughter's school in Sept/Oct. If you live in a cold part of the country, you might consider doing the same. As a retired teacher, I can tell you that we appreciate community support for caring for our students.

Right now I'm still working on the Mitten Blitz for Cheyenne River Reservation. Those will be mailed at the end of September. The goal of the blitz was for each participant to make 7 pairs of mittens and send them to the Rez. I've more than made my personal goal, but will continue to make more to send to the Rez. Over 600 kids at the Rez, so we can't make too many!

Movies:
Love Comes Softly. A Hallmark production set in the west. Nicely done and enjoyable.

The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl Streep as a fashion tyrant! Enjoyed it very much. What a view of the fashion world!

Both of these movies were great knitting movies!

Sewing:
I picked up a couple of patterns for myself this week. One has capris, shorts and tops and the other one has dresses in several lengths.

I want to make some shorts and pants for the hot weather. Later I want to make some casual dresses in cool fabrics. Heat and humidity! Ah, yes, summer is definitely here!

I will also be sewing some shorts for the kids on the Rez.

Fun for Feet!

I finished the socks I've been knitting for myself this week. I love the sport wt yarn as it works up a bit faster! This pair I made with an afterthought heel which is really slick. You knit the sock down to where you think the heel ought to be, knit across 1/2 the stitches with waste yarn, put the waste yarn back on the left needle, and then knit across those same stitches with the main yarn.

(It is the same idea as Elizabeth Zimmermann's thumb trick for mittens. She tells how to do it in Knitting without Tears. That is such a great book.)

You just keep knitting till you are ready to shape the toe of the sock (about 4 inches on these socks). Once that is done, you remove the waste yarn, put the stitches back on the needles, and shape the heel as if IT was another TOE! The amazing thing that happens is when you put the sock on your foot, that pouch becomes your heel! It is called a Peasant Heel and has been around forever. Very easy to reknit if you wear a hole in the heel. Which is why women started making them that way, I'm sure! I had to darn a lot of my socks this past winter and decided that making a Peasant Heel made a lot of sense. Instead of darning, I'll just take the heel out if necessary and knit a new one--any old color will do! Can't you just picture a beleaguered mother trying to keep socks on the feet of her many kids, knitting away! Better yet, teaching the older ones to knit their own socks!

The sock itself is very comfortable. I haven't blocked them yet, but wool is always so accomodating to shape itself! I rarely block my socks, just pull them on and let my foot shape them. Over a little time, they find the best shape! Hey, these are "keep my feet happy" socks!

If you want some step by step directions for the Peasant Heel (and a lot of other heels, as well) check out Nancy Bush's Folk Socks.
Fascinating book with lots of history and techniques. Enjoyable reading!

I have another pair of mittens about 1/2 done. Two strands of fingering yarn to equal a sport weight. I used a self-patterning yarn with black and it is making an interesting tweed. I also found several cones of Brown Sheep sport wt yarn that had been buried in my stash: rose, blue, and teal solids. I'll probably play with peeries and Fair Isle and see what I can manage. I have the book by Sheila McGregor called Traditional Fair Isle Knitting.

The photos are wonderful: hats, sweaters, vests, etc. Again history of the knitting styles and the last half of the book is devoted to nothing but charted patterns of all sizes! Small to large! The small patterns are easily used on mittens and socks.

Knitting is such an amazing activity! We get to play with color and string and make dashing clothing for ourselves and our families!

Back to my Clover DPNS

I've been working on a pair of socks for myself using Magic Loop and Addi Turbos sz 3s, but the light has been glaring off of the needles and really bothering my eyes. Ever since I had cataract surgery I've had trouble with night vision and reflected lights. I remembered that I had some Clover bamboo size 3s so I switch over to them and they are MUCH easier on my eyes! No more glare! I love knitting Magic Loop and I did try Clover circs, but really didn't like the cable--too stiff. But the 7" DPNS are working fine for me now, so I went online to Knit Picks and ordered a few more sizes. (now don't laugh, Ann!) It's a good thing that I learned to make socks on DPNS many years ago, so it's not a BIG deal! But I will have to reorganize my knitting needles a bit differently now.

I found directions for sewing a simple school bag from Bev's Country Cottage. It is from the LDS Humanitarian link she has posted there:

We are doing a School Supply Fund for the Cheyenne River Rez and I am collecting the monies for that for us. We will be purchasing paper and notebooks for the kids online in early August and having them shipped directly to the Rez--hopefully for free if the order is big enough. So after looking at the School Bag directions, I decided that I would make some of them and fill them with everything on the list EXCEPT the paper. That way each child will have the essentials to start school with, Julie can supply the paper for them at the Main and I will have the fun of knowing that I am working for individual children.

I love projects like this--I always loved starting the new school year! My grandmother would take us shopping for a new outfit, my folks got us new shoes (which always pinched my toes after being bare-footed all summer!) and there was the excitement of finding out who our new teacher would be for the year.

PS No more Adult Surprise Sweater. Unraveled it. Hated the colors when knitted together, so will have to try again another day! I love being the boss of my knitting!

Have Cast on For My Adult Surprise Jacket

306 stitches later, I am finally knitting on my Adult Surprise Jacket. I've made lots of the BSJs, but this is the first adult version that I've made. We are having a knitalong on the knitbabysurprise group so it seemed like a good time to get it underway. I'm using red, off white, yellow, sage green, dusky blue and medium beige. Will be fun to see how they all work together!

I enjoyed a long talk with my granddaughter, Piper, in Calif today. Thank goodness for free minutes and mobile phones! She has learned to write her name in Japanese and said she would sign my Mother's Day card in print, cursive and kanji! I'll have to frame that one!

After Piper and I had a long talk, she wanted to chat with Cora and they talked and talked and talked! I loved listening to them! Cora told Piper how I sing to her at night before she goes to sleep and wanted me to sing to Piper. Which I did! Cora told her that I call them my Baby Dolls and that I love them both very much. She then turned to me and said, "Piper said she loves you very much, too, Grandma" I guess you know my heart was full of joy with those two little ones--they give so much love!

Piper told me the colors she wants for her Christmas sweater. I will have to make the ASJ for her this year as she is getting bigger. Love that percentage system. Cora orders up something new everyday!

I got the movie World Trade Center in the mail today, so will turn that on and knit on the ASJ. I hope it is as good as the Da Vinci Code which I watched yesterday. Boy, that one kept me guessing right up to the end!

More Mitten Patterns

This one from Elizabeth Durrand
This looks like one I will want to try.

Also this one from Projects for Community Knitting It has a thumb gusset that is in ribbing.

And one more from Sivia Harding based on EZ's percentage system. So jump right in and make some mittens for the Rez!

I'm off to start a new pair now!

Knitting Help videos

I've been making Mariella's Sideways Mittens and needed some help with the short row technique. I found this site on the web. It has helped a lot. By the time I finish these mittens, I should be pretty good at it!

Mittens are great for learning new techniques: fair isle, cables, etc. Small enough not to frustrate too much, but big enough to feel successful!

Here is a pic of Cora's pink mittens in progress. She can hardly wait to try them on, even though the weather is hot now!

Allergies are kicking up now. Guess there are some things out there blooming that my body is objecting to breathing!

Sneezing and Knitting anyway! (The Kangaroo bag I made from material I brought from my trip to Australia when I was still teaching and had money to travel. Beautiful place!)

It's Mitten Time Again!

Time to start knitting mittens for Cheyenne River Rez again. Oct. 1st is the mailing date if you want to participate in the Challenge. 7 pairs of mittens for 2007. See details for mailing on Ann's blog, Sheep Shots May 1st entry.

I've been trying to learn how to use the link button in Blogger, but so far no success! At least it lets me paste in the links in the regular way. I just think it is neat when a word lights up the little hand and then you click and it takes you to the other site. Well, I'll keep trying.

(Hooray and many thanks to Ann for helping me to learn how to use the Links! I feel so computer adequate right now!)

My little pink BSJ is coming right along. Got some new movies from Netflix today, so will be doing more knitting and movie watching tomorrow. Had some rain showers today, another good excuse (as if I needed one!) for staying in and knitting. Maybe I'll start a pair of those mittens.

5 Hour Finished!

Okay! Here it is!

I'm really happy with the way this little sweater turned out. I'll be packing this off to the Rez after the 1st. It is light weight enough that some little girl will soon be wearing it.

I think the next sweater will be a cotton or cotton blend with the hotter weather coming up. Of course, I'll be sewing, too.

Off to pack a box!

5 hour sweater almost done

I'm using Gail Bable's Baby Boy 5 Hour Sweater pattern:

http://gailbable.tripod.com/id41.html

This one obviously will be for a girl because of the colors, but I like this version better than the original. Gail's pattern is easier for me to knit and I like the less lacey look. Changing the colors makes the sweater for boy or girl. I'm knitting the body of the sweater now and will soon have it finished. I still can't knit it in 5 hours though! Maybe the next one will go faster! The first time I knitted the original pattern, I really struggled and I thought "I'll NEVER knit this again!" But finding Gail's patterns has enamored me of this little sweater and I know I'll make more of them!

I think my next sweater will be from Kids to Grown Ups Seamless Sweatersby Mary Rich Goodwin

http://www.onepieceknitting.com/products.html

They are knit from the top down, like Gail's pattern, in all sizes, so I will make one for Cora and one for Piper. I like the idea of making the patterns in the yoke. Makes good use of small bits of yarn. For kids I use washable yarns--have to be practical!

I went through my knitting lists and dropped some of them. Kept the Native American Support Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeAmericanSupport/

for my major knitting efforts. Decided to cut back and just concentrate on the Rez, which I've been knitting and sewing for many years now. When I get too scattered I don't feel like I accomplish much. Working for the Rez lets me send things more regularly. And goodness knows, the people there need what our group sends.

Payday I plan to get fabric to sew for the kids. Shorts and tees. Summer IS coming!

Back to knitting!

Finally! Camera is online again!

The red, white and blue BSJ.

Waiting for new Ball Winder

My other ball winder broke (ah, the joys of plastic!) so I am waiting for a new one to arrive. Wrote to customer service to check on the order and hope to hear from them tomorrow. They have my money and I want my Ball Winder! The Ball Winder should mount well on my computer desk and be more stable. And cause less trouble.

We still are having snow showers and rain showers.

I need to finish the pink BSJ and the Dulaan hat. Then will make some more hats, I guess. Found a cute hat pattern--called a Cupcake Hat

http://snipurl.com/pdc0

or

http://nownormaknits2.typepad.com/now_norma_knits_2/files/cupcake_hat.pdf

Would use up a lot of stash odds and ends and be colorful.

Enough for tonight

Collegiate BSJ finished

I finished the BSJ for Mary's grandson today and blocked it. It is in USC colors, maroon and gold, and turned out so cute. It will be on its way to California soon. His birthday is April 20th.

I'm going to look at some other college colors for BSJs. Maybe do a large one in CSU-Chico colors for Piper. She sure is growing. And look for the colors for South Dakota for the Rez. I like the way the wide stripes turned out.

I have a pink BSJ on the needles--may do white pin stripes on that one. Sport yarn and size 3 needles. Will be a little one.

No sewing as yet. Do have a new computer desk up and functioning, for which I am glad. Patrick put it together for me on Tuesday. Lots more room for everything and more comfortable to work at.

Have got to hook up my camera, though, so I can start adding pictures again.

Not much else going on.

Square knitting needles?

Always something new! These do look interesting--supposed to be easier on your hands--and I may try them to see if that is true. My hands have been giving me lots of pain lately. Here is the link:

http://www.kollageyarns.com/needles.html

I bought a 47" size 8 Addi Turbo and it came yesterday. Unfortunately, I may have to send it back. There is a major flaw on one of the tips--a deep groove that really interferes with knitting. I started a hat on it and have about 1 inch of ribbing done. It is really irritating me more and more. So I guess I will have to email the store and let them know about it. I've never any problems with Addis before--have always been my favorite needles. I love the 47 inch size for doing Magic Loop and Addis have a wonderfully flexible cord.

The hat will be for Dulaan--100% wool. I love doing Magic Loop for hats as you never have to worry about changing to DPNs.

info about Dulaan: http://www.fireprojects.org/dulaan.htm

The maroon and gold BSJ for Mary's grandson is about 1/2 finished. Really nice colors and very collegiate looking! Will post a photo when it is finished.

Found the gray knit material I bought for some pants for myself, so will work on the pattern and try to get them cut out this week.

The Bond is Back in its Box

After having the Bond taken apart three different times by Cora, I decided to just put it away and concentrate on some sewing instead. Will keep hand knitting projects going, but Cora doesn't seem to bother them much.

Took the sewing machine to Gloversville Sewing Center to be checked out and it turned out that a belt had been jolted off the pulley in the machine. No cost to me, thank goodness! Those Delta baggage handlers sure must have been throwing things around pretty hard to do that.

I will be sewing some pants for the kids at the Rez. I'm going to check for some sturdy material on Pay Day--dark colors that will look good on girls or boys. Marilyn is going to go through her stash and send me a box of material--that will help a lot. I did get a folding cutting board to use on my bed, so will trace out some pants patterns and get ready to sew. I really like the patterns in the Kwik Sew book Sewing for Children. I've ordered the Sewing for Toddlers book, too. Kwik Sew patterns fit close to ready to wear size. I think I will make size 10 pants this time. Some of those older kids going to school will need them, I'm sure.

I'm also going to make some summer PJs for Cora and Piper. The weather is actually getting warmer! Piper can use the warm weather clothes now, actually. Her dad says it has been getting up into the 80s at times in California. Piper has a birthday coming up April 21st and some summer nighties and new reading books will be on their way to her before long. She loves to read--so does Cora. Well, Piper can actually read for herself now--but Cora loves to be read to. I joined a childrens book club so I can get age appropriate books for them easily.

I have two projects to do for friends: Mary asked me to knit a BSJ for her grandson, who will be one on April 20th. She hasn't sent the yarn yet. And Rachael's mom, Darlene, asked me to crochet a blanket for her grandson, Devlin. She had planned to crochet it herself, but is having trouble with her fibromyalgia and it is too painful for her to crochet. I did a swatch tonight and the yarn is very nice, but I would MUCH rather knit! I may see if I can talk her into changing to a knitted pattern. I would be happier with that! I will knit up a swatch and have Rachael take it over to Darlene to check it out.

Enough for tonight.

A DAY FOR KNITTING

Today is a good day for knitting. Well, any day is, really. But I only have to go out once to an appt. with the nutritionist at the Diabetes Center, so the rest of the time here I can work on my projects (in between housework, of course). Thank goodness for the Crockpot! It is doing supper, chili beans, and all I will have to do is make cornbread later. I may even make the cornbread in the breadmachine. I've never tried that before, but I do have a recipe for it.

I'm still working on a flap cap for Dulaan. Just haven't spent a lot of time with it lately. The bright colors I got for the stripes are fun to work with. Wool of the Andes is a nice yarn to knit with and will be warm.

THE BOND IS UP AND RUNNING

After some adjustments here and there, I finally got the USM set up on the ironing board and working well. I made the back for a child's vest tonight and will do the front tomorrow. I think I am going to try doing cables. I have the video Let's Knit for Bonders and it is so well done. I watched the whole thing through--learned a lot and gained a lot of encouragement! I also ordered the pattern charts that go with the video and they should be here this week. You can find out more about this excellent video at

http://www.lindascraftique.com/

I highly recommend it as it is well worth the money. Clearly photographed and full of useful info about knitting on the Bond. The price on Linda's web page is in Canadian dollars, so it actually costs less in US dollars. I got the video when I bought a used USM to expand my Bond to a SuperBond. Didn't know what a treasure I had till I watched it! Much better than the standard Bond video.

I also ordered a rice cooker this week. Found a new one on eBay for 15 dollars--Wolfgang Puck brand--it has been shipped already and I'm looking forward to making brown rice, beans, steamed veggies and a whole lot more with it! I had one in Calif and it really made it a lot easier to stay on my diabetic diet by having basic foods prepared and in the fridge, ready to heat up at meal time.

Once I finish the child's vest, I will dig through my stash for yarn for scarves. It is still cold on the Rez and a warm scarf to wrap around the neck can really help keep a kid warmer. It lets me use up all my bits and pieces from other projects making colorful stripes. And I plan to make Cora a scarf in pink and Piper a scarf in spring green and yellow.

Still haven't hooked up my camera to the computer yet, so no pictures to share.

2 Feet of Snow!

Well, the storm finally got to us--two feet of snow and more to come. I've been making slippers for the Rez. And today I plan to set up my sewing area. Need to make some fleece scarves and vests. I want to have a nice box ready to mail to the Rez on the 28th.

I'm going to call around today and see if I can find a local homeless shelter to donate things to. Hats and mittens most likely. I have lots of fleece and it makes great hats and mittens.

Do something good for someone else today!

Replacement arrived today

I had to re-order Knitting Workshop (still no sign of it anywhere), so I was glad to see it arrive today. It is one of my favorite books by EZ and I use those patterns a lot.

The pink BSJ is growing along nicely. I'm finding that I like working with the sport wt. yarn.

The cold weather has really been bothering my hands. -12 degrees! Have to sit close to the fire to stay warm! I work on the wool hat for the Rez everyday, too. They are having below zero weather, too.

I'm waiting for my new Lexmark printer to arrive. Got an email that it has already been shipped. My old HP died. Turns out that Lexmark is cheaper to buy and their cartridges are cheaper, too. Sounds good to me.

Keep knitting.

Stash

What is it with Stash? Put it out of sight and it multiplies the next time you see it! I even shared my stash with some friends when I went out to Calif for a few months--and I'm still finding little bundles here and there.

Of course the fact that I have to try out new yarns is not much help either...I just got some Wool of the Andes yarn from Knit Picks and it is a nice soft yarn. $1.99 skein. Not too bad. And I want to try the 100%wool Patons Classic Wool at Smiley's, too.

And somewhere between NY and Calif are some EZ books floating around, which I will probably have to replace, drat it! First on the list will be Knitting Workshop, which I use a lot. I did find my binder with all the leaflets, thank goodness. And I haven't found my Sensational Socks book yet, either. Maybe if I keep digging around some of them will show up. Frustrating, though.

I have a BSJ that only needs a few more rows to be finished. The weight of the sweater makes my hands hurt--arthritis is the pits. But I shall persevere and get it done. Even if it is one row a day. I love making BSJs so this is bugging me. It isn't the pattern, just hurting hands from the worsted wt. yarn.

I've got to get my camera hooked up to my computer again so I can start posting pictures again. Guess that is a project for tomorrow.

Off to my knitting.

New Year, New Project

I decided that I would get a real estate course and work on buying a house for us. Sure would beat paying rent. Went through the materials and looked at everything. I will be working about 1/2 hour a day at first to get familiar with it and increase time later as I feel more comfortable.

Finishing up a BSJ for the Rez, then will start another one. Also worked on the socks I'm making for myself. More sock yarn coming and some wool from Knit Picks. Will make vests and hats with the wool.

Patrick and I are going to rent a storage unit for his tools today. Then he can move his mechanic tools into it until he gets another job.

Now I need to set up my bookshelves and my chair. I may return the expensive chair and get two cheaper ones. That way I would have a comfy chair for my sewing area. And they are smaller and would take up less space in this crowded room!

Back to my projects

New Year, New Blog

Computer problems and lost my old blog. Well, sometimes it is good to get a fresh start. I'm back in NY with Patrick, Rachael and Cora. Things didn't work out in Calif with Mike. Not too surprising.

Snowing today. Lots of ice yesterday. Much prefer the snow.

Bought a little coffee maker for my morning decaf. Makes 2 mugs. just right.

Knitting on a pair of socks for myself. Will be ordering some new sock yarn soon. Also knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket for the Rez. sweater challenge. Want to start knitting black wool hats for the troops for the Hugs Project.

My sewing machine is on the table, but not hooked up yet. I need to get a swivel desk chair for sewing. Maybe this weekend.

Enough for now.