Clouds

Sometimes, you just have to play! Thanks to Jackie for sharing the fun!

Want your own word cloud?

Light Red Scarf finished!

The Light Red Scarf for the Red Scarf Project is done! Kaput. Finished.

Much thanks goes out to my financial scarf partner, TheresaC.
The lovely Pink, er...light red yarn ran out right at a crucial edging time leaving a dilemma in it's wake. I hemmed, I hawed and finally did this:

Multicolor Fringe. Not light red, but coordinating colors nonetheless. I hope the photo conveys it to be pleasing. I have to admit to being unsure about it until Bethany all of a sudden exclaimed "I Love the Fringe! That makes the scarf!"
Well, blow me over with coordinating fringe. She has never previously made known a knitting opinion. I figure if a Teen says it's Okay, then it's Okay. So, I leave it alone!
Wanna meme?
I got tagged at this a while back by Miss Mini. Here it is. ( I think I still owe one to Meg. Don't rush me, I'm a slow memer)
4 things meme, the last on the planet to do this:

4 jobs you have had in your life:
~Flower delivery
~Store clerk
~phyical therapist with mentally challenged adults
~physical therapist in public school

4 movies you could watch over & over:
~It's a Wonderful Life
~Sleepless in Seattle
~National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
~Empire Records

4 places you have lived
~Gardner, Massachusetts
~Danvers, Massachusetts
~Beverly, Massachusetts
~There is no 4th place and I intend to keep it that way! My roots are planted, what can I say?

4 TV shows you love to watch
~ER
~Desperate Housewives
~Days of Our Lives~I've been watching this since I was 15 years old. I do not get to watch everyday anymore, but I keep up on it and watch it every chance I get. Danged life, getting in the way!
~Three and a half men** Carol was right, the show is called TWO and a half men. Mea culpa.

4 places you have been on vacation
~Bermuda
~Tampa, Florida
~Hershey, Pennsylvania
~North Conway, New Hampshire
~~~How could I have forgotten my favorite trip of all?? Niagra Falls and Toronto, CANADA!

4 websites you visit daily
~Bloglines
~Google
~Hmm.. there must be more?

4 of your favorite foods
~Roasted chicken
~chicken salad sandwich
~Butternut Squash
~Roasted Brussel Sprouts

4 places you would rather be right now:
~Hmm, there is nowhere I'd RATHER be, but here;s 4 I hope to visit someday:
~London, England
~New Brunswick, Canada: my family's roots
~Grand Canyon
~Alaska

4 bloggers you are tagging
~I've never been good at the game TAG. So, if you'd like to do this meme, please consider yourself invited. Be sure to leave me a comment so we can all crowd over to your blog to read your answers.
~~~
We will try to crowd in an orderly manner!

This Blog entry brought to you by the letter B!

B is for Bethany, of course. Bethany is a wonderful young woman with infinite compassion for others, a great sense of humor and a will of steel. She was a breach baby and the nurse told me, NAY, warned me that she would be headstrong. Truer words were never said. I have confidence that nobody will ever push Bethany around. Ever. She is feisty. And stubborn and wonderful. And dedicated.
I admire her sheer will as she joined the ice hockey team, never having played hockey once in her life. She gets up of her own free will every weekday morning at 4:15 am, practicing her hockey padded bum off. Do not, however try to rouse her before noon on weekends. You've been warned!

She goes from this hockey player (in the white jersey) to this young woman:

Amazing me all along the way.
But that is not all.
B is also for Brussel Sprouts, cooked my favorite way, roasted!

I have long tried to love brussel sprouts, to no avail. I ate them boiled, steamed, stir fried, undercooked, overcooked. Blech. Until I tried this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, coincidentally another B.
Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts:
wash and trim ends of brussels, slicing in half if large
Put them in a roasting pan.
Sprinkle with olive oil
Sprinkle with salt
Roast in 350F oven for about 45 minutes until crispy and brown
Sprinkle more salt and pepper
Yum.
There you have it. B. One to eat and one to love. Please don't confuse the two!

What's this? !

Could it be my knitting mojo coming back home?
This is the Interweave Knits Nordic Mittens, Winter 2004 knit in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport Weight, which is a great yarn, take my word for it!
I started my mojo quest with this:

I know. Love My Goat wine. Who knew? It was okay. Not horrible. But not my favorite, which I am linking to here. I cannot for the life of me, write the name out on my blog because I am afraid of the google hits.
Chicken!

King Midas has nothing on me!

Snowy morning, spring like afternoon. Who can figure out this New England weather?
And like the weather, who can figure out my knitting? I am really taking up room in the knitter continuum. Wasting needle space. Hogging knitting karma. All for naught.
Every single thing I knit needs to be ripped. It's too big. It's too small. It's not right. It's right and I hate it. ON and ON and FREAKING ON!
My charmed knitting life seems a bit challenged.
Am I up for it?

Lessons of Kool Aid dyeing!

Today, the knitting news is not good. I ripped out the jaywalker socks. For the third time, or is it the forth? For those who are counting. With the help of the Jaywalker creator herself, I realized that they will be too small. Too small as in "Can't get them ON". That's not good for a sock. So re-do I must. Let's look at the bright side, shall we? I will be really REALLY good at this pattern! A Jaywalker expert of sorts!
~~
I thought I would address some of the questions from the kool aid dyeing post. Thank you for all your fun comments. You warm a bloggers heart!
Here goes:
Candi asked about my curtains. Here's a better view of them:

Yes, a shadowy view but a view nonetheless. And if you see any dust or cobwebs, they are indeed, NOT my curtains but someone elses.
These curtains were given to me by a friend who bought them in Sweden. Apparently, they sell curtains on a bolt there, complete with rod pockets, ready to stitch the edges into neat seams. Let's just say I went for the fold over method instead of the seams.
Jo in Boston asked if that was my new Ikea breadbasket holding the yarn. Yes. It is. It was handy, what can I say?
The magazine I was reading was called EveryDay with Rachael Ray. She is the wearer of the wonderful socks.
Minnie noticed that I used aged white wine vinegar. It wasn't planned, that was just what was in the cupboard. Or I could say that I planned an upscale dyeing session all along, either way, pick an answer!
Minnie also asked if I let the yarn cool in the pot of water. I did not. And I did not notice any of the color rinsing out when I gave it a cool water rinse at the end. Perhaps the aged vinegar did it's trick?
Manise noticed that there were still Christmas lights on the porch. What?! Is it Valentine's day yet? Do I have to take them down?
Alex knows her cookbooks! The waffle recipe was indeed from Joy of Cooking!
~~
My final thoughts on kool aid dyeing. I love it! It was fun and I learned a very very important lesson. You know the little piece of yarn/sting that holds the skein into a nice, neat, orderly ring?
Yeah.

Leave it on!

A Sunday with Knitters!

Honestly, when I started blogging, I never even imagined myself in this kind of setting:

Look at all the knitters!
There were more on the other side of the room:

And more in the kitchen:

Really! Cate is probably drinking water! Honest!
Knitters as far as the eye can see! And although there are a couple that I wish I had spent more time with, I came away satisfied, fullfilled and just all around HAPPY AS A CLAM.
What kind of a saying is that anyway?
So? Shall we have a Claudia's Party in pictures?










Thank you, Claudia! You are the hostess with the Mostess!
Wish YOU were there!

A Day to Dye for; In pictures!

I am not a kool aid dyeing expert, but I will play one here on this blog! All in thanks to my secret Better Pal!

Warm

The "light red" scarf is coming along. I am holding the 2 yarns together by the way. GGH Kid and Farmhouse in case you've forgotten. The kid does not really show up in the finished knitting but I think it will fuzz up a bit when it is worn making a cozy halo.
~~
I wish I could secretly take a picture of snoozing Bethany right now. She'd hear me and I'd never get away with it. She is wearing her beloved HOCKEY COAT! The long awaited coat arrived yesterday, bearing her name and her hockey number. She does not want to take it off. And although it is quite warm and springlike outside (read: GRRRRRRR) it is chilly inside. Hence, sleeping with the coat on.
Kids. They really can warm your heart sometimes, can't they?
~~
Interested in an Unloved Sock Yarn Swap? Go see Beth for details and sign up! Sounds fun!

Did I fall off the turnip truck and not know it?

Well. I wanted to show you a picture of the "Light Red" scarf. But really, just glance back to yesterday's entry and you'll see what it looks like. Only longer.
Then I was going to show you my jaywalker socks. But, you know, they have actually shortened in length. The dreaded 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I am currently UN knitting about 9 rows back to a mistake. I denied the mistake in my mind. For 9 rows. I denied. Until I could deny no longer. Fine. Mistakes were made. And that is the knitting I bring to work lately. My mistake. So I must unknit. Must. Because the truth is, I do not like to make negative progress. I have been known to let mistakes sit for eternities. The Jaywalker socks are nice enough to want better for them.
~~
Has anyone seen Winter? I miss it! It's not right to have 50F days. In January. (That's 10C for you metric fans!) Some things are just not right. Cold in winter. Hot in summer. Rain in spring. Crisp in Autumn. The seasons of life.
Let's not mess it up, Mother Nature!

Red Rover

When I bought the yarn for the RED scarf, my thoughts drifted back a couple of weeks ago to when I bumped into Knitsmith Terri at Cranberry Fiber Arts. Serendipitous indeed. She showed me a luscious scarf and hat set she had knit from malabrigo. Well, the instant Malabrigo love is a story for another day. This is the story of me falling in love with a stitch. The Mistake Rib Stitch. I knew this Red Relative scarf had to be Mistake Rib Stitch. Well, blog readers, that declaration was a bit easier than laying my eyes on the stitch specifics. I did search, but I did not come up with a clear cut HOW TO. Eventually I did, of course, and I put it here for posterity's sake.

Mistake Rib Stitch:
*K2, P2* Repeat ending with K2, P1
Repeat every row. (on front to back stitching)
There you have it! Fun, easy and incredibly good looking on a Relatively Red scarf!
~~
In other Red Relative news:
I had a dream. This is a coincidence to actually being the evening of Martin Luther King Day, is it not?
I had a dream about Cara, who I have never met in person. So it's interesting that I dream of someone I know only through words and pictures.
In this dream, I was knitting a pink baby sweater. Cara told me it had to be red. She changed it into red. Now, I'm not saying that Cara knows magic or anything, I'm just saying that she could change a color yarn in a twitch!

Public Gratitude!

Did you ever wonder why you are so lucky? I did on Saturday. I came home after running myself ragged with errands and found a package from my Better Pal waiting for me. (Don't worry, it's still a secret, I did not peek!) I put it aside, knowing it would be more appreciated after all the groceries were in their rightful place and the dinner was cooked and consumed.
As I sat down to relax, my attention went to the box.

I am stunned by my secret wonderful pals' generosity! Stunned!
3 balls of meilenweit sock yarn! 1 ball of sheepjies (Cindy, are you reading? i have been wanting to try this since our trip to NYC!) a ball of Regia And a ball of fortissima socka! All of them: Every single one in colors I would have chosen myself! A wonderful set of Brittany size 2 sock needles ( well, I'll need more sock needles with all this yarn calling me, won't I?) a sheepy tape measure, 4 skeins of natural wool to DYE FOR! Kool aid dyeing! Who knew I even wanted to do that? My BP, that's who! One envelope of Strawberry kool aid made it's way into a pitcher which was hastily sipped by Derek and Bethany! So, they thank you too!
Okay, take this moment to look at the notebook. It's there, on the left? A cat wearing a hat! The cat in the hat never looked this cute!
Doesn't the words THANK YOU not seem enough?
So, Bp:
Gracia!
Merci!
Ringraziarla!
Dank u!
Obrigado!
Спасибо!
Takker De!
There. That begins to cover it!
(All Thank you's were found on free translation.com)
~~
Are you a sky watcher?

I'm a sky watcher!

See on the right? A new button. The first ever button made by me. Take it. Spread it around, always remembering to LOOK UP!
Needless to say, save to your own server before using.

Woot!

Knitting Red, sort of

Don't you love a new in town yarn shop? This one is called Yarns in the Farms. Now, for those of you not from around here, if you are refering to Beverly Farms, you must say it like this:
The Fahms
got it?
In fact, yarn would then become Yahn. Yahns in the Fahms. Don't they package their yarn, erm, yahn in a fun way?
Want a closer look?

The yahn on the left is Farmhouse yarns. Yes, Fahmhouse Yahns, to be sure. The wonderful yahn store girl wound my yahn, how lucky am I? The yahn on the right is called ggh soft kid. Love.
The plan? I do have a plan for this yahn. And it's one of the best plans I've ever had. EVER.
This will be my contribution to the Red Scarf Project hosted by the Orphan Foundation of America. Pink is a relative of Red, therefore I feel justified in making a pink scarf and calling it a red scarf.
Thanks to Miss Norma for ringing the bell for this worthy cause.
Kids. They are never too old for love!

The wonder of the jaywalker

This time I cast on 68 stitches, instead of 72 for these Jaywalker socks, made with Tiffany yarn. This is a perfect fit for this yarn. Instead of counting to 7 between, I counted to 6. And believe me, for a while it was like a kindergarden in here.
1-2-3-4-5-6, like a mantra over and over. I got dirty looks, I'm not ashamed to tell you!
So, THERE are the nice straight lines. THERE are the wonderful zig-zaggy pattern. Welcome home, jaywalkers! I am a dropout no more!
~~
I wondered if I could capture the beauty of the predawn sky. You know, the light peeking in at the bottom, the sky turning shades of deep blue instead of black, a day in the making?

Perhaps my words are better than this picture, but in my defense, I was in a hurry. You know, standing on the front porch in my pajamas, wild hair, camera in hand. You never know which neighbor is waiting to call the hospital on the crazy knitting neighbor lady! But even though the picture lacks, oh, I don't know, unblurriness, it still shows the wonder of the colors.
Look up at yours today, okay?

Jaywalker dropout!*

I don't know, people, my Jaywalker socks don't look anything like yours. Where are the wonderful straight lines? Where are the zigzaggy parts? I must have gone wrong with my counting skills somewhere along the lines.
Counting to 7 is harder some days than others. I never ever claimed to be a numbers wiz. Not once!
Now comes the hard part. Should I rip them out and start again? (I failed to mention that this is the 2nd attempt at them) Or do I just not have the double decrease knack? Is there a trick that I do not know? And Tiffany is right. I should have made them a bit smaller with this yarn. Should have listened to the Tiff. (Did you all go buy some of her luscious yarn? That's what mine are made of. YUM. Okay, everyone but you stashbusters. You are not invited to go there. Don't dare. I don't want to be blamed!)
*
Am I the only one that is humming the song Beauty School Dropout!

singles only

One finished sock a pair does not make. But it's something! And instead of casting on for the second sock, for the first time EVER, I veered off to another pair. Cheating. I never thought it would happen to me. Unfaithful. But honestly, who can resist the jaywalking siren call? Not me, certainly!

warning: sock does not look as wonky in person as in photo. This is what I get for taking photos in the dark!
I am weak!

Here I am!

Fleece artist thrummed mitten kit, sent to me by the wonderfully generous Lisa a while back. And me, not publicly thanking her. Shame, really. Thank you, Lisa, this is the perfect pick me up knit for January. And well, my hands could use a new thrum on the block! LIsa is a relatively new blogger. Go say hello!
Fleece artist. Who knew how wonderful this yarn is? I had no idea. I am now secretly longing for more. I must find me a source. Know of any?
We are now up to the segment I like to call, WHY I LOVE TIFFANY SO
Tiffany. We seem to be kindred spirits. And here are the reasons I love her so:
~She understands that quiet times from me are not personal. She's able to pick up and carry on with our fragmented conversations. And I really appreciate this. Because I am. Fragmented sometimes.
~She has a wonderful daughter
~And husband, who used to read my blog. I don't know if he does anymore, I mean with the infrequent postings and whining going on around here, who would really? But I appreciate anyone whose husband will give me a minute!
~She is thoughtful. She recognizes a down mood from way far away. She has yarn and knows how to use it!

~She is talented. Look at the yarn she handdyed and spun herself. I am so impressed. You can buy some for yourself. Go ahead!
~And the final reason I love Tiff so: It's snowing on her blog!
Thank you, Tiffany, for being so YOU!
Blatherings'
Onto the blatherings. There is always some, you know! Going back to work has kicked my butt. I can't seem to get my head above water some days. Heck, most days. I know that I must be having some sort of seasonal blahs, most probably it's hormonal. I'm at THAT AGE, you know. (please, all roll your eyes on the words "That age"). I'm not ready for a looney bin yet. I'm not ready for meds. I'm not even ready for psychotherapy, I just need..I don't know what I need.
My surroundings bother me lately. The clutter that keeps falling when I bump into it because I am in a hurry. I need to weed a bit. I need to stop hurrying so much. I hurry from one end of the day to the other, not accomplishing much but a stomach ache in the meantime.
So, if I were prone to new years resolving, I would resolve to stop hurrying. Smell the roses and such.
Are you with me?
Blue Sky with sun, an unusual occurance here:

What's your sky like?

Sometimes, I really am not worthy!

This afternoon, I saw that the postman was carrying a bubble package. You know the type, yellow in color, boring on the outside, holding riches beyond belief on the inside? I had been tipped off by my Better Pal to be on the lookout for one such package. Being the good doobie that I am, I sent Bethany out to the mailbox to retrieve the package, open it and dispose of the wrappings, so I would not see the return address. I am serious about this secret keeping, people. Don't mock me.
It was at that moment that I sat there holding the wonderous green package, Derek and Bethany poring over the envelope, reading the name and location of this better, nay, BEST pal. They did not tell. They, too, know I am serious.
Inside? Something I always wanted, but never had.

Not just any calendar. Anyone can have a calendar! THIS one has knitting patterns. I own one now. How lucky am I? I did have a quick flip through of the patterns and there are some great ones in there. Okay, I'm not so serious about surprising myself with patterns. So sue me. I peek at patterns, not pals. One doesn't matter. One does. Also a handwritten note. There is something about seeing a note written by hand that thrills me. It makes the blogger more personal to me. Brings them to life. Am I the only one?
Today was my first day back to work after 10 days off. Frankly, I needed vacation to stop so I could get some rest. If I had to choose any day to recieve a great surprise, today would have been it.
Thank you, Better pal. You are.
Better.

A is for Apple: Andy is the apple of my eye!

I have joined in on Anne's ABC-along, a photo journey throughout 2006. You can join in too if you do it by midnight tonight. Quick, go, join, then come back. Don't forget to come back and see my version of A.
A is for
A is for Andy.

Andy and Derek (a bonus face) playing cards at our yearly Christmas poker game at my Mom's. We have Christmas, we play cards. Some dance, some sing, we play cards.
24 years ago, Andy came into my life. We both stood on a porch at a party and started flipping bottle caps onto the street below. 3 short months later he asked me to marry him. I knew from the instant the first bottle cap flew that we would spend the rest of our lives together. Even now I cannot explain that feeling. In retrospect, almost 22 years of marrisge later, our families took it well. I can honestly say that if one of my kids came home engaged after 3 months, I'd have some questions.
Sometimes, you just know.