January Starts and Goals

So, here we are in January of 2018.  So much has happened in such a short amount of time!  Kelly and Jim were married in September.  They seem to be very happy with their three boys, Val, Jacen, and Abraham.  Baylor and Ashley got married yesterday, January 26.  It was a lovely little courthouse wedding, but I believe there were more people there than Ashley expected.  Our family was represented by Steve, Jay, Nat, Vern, Angie and I.  Her family was represented by Becky and Ron (her mom and dad) and her mom's parents.   We went to Red Lobster for lunch, then later to Mele's for a more inclusive reception.  It was very nice, but you could tell Harper and Ashley were both very tired by 8. So I guess I get to start the New Year with a Son In Law and a Daughter In Law.  Not too surprising, but wonderful.  Here is a photo of Baylor and Ashley:

And one of Kelly and Jim:

Well, this week I have received a lot of goodies in the mail.  I received this book in the mail.  I am really into Hygge lately and want to learn more about it.  

Also, the Multicultural Book Club is preparing for it's second book.  This time, it's a book from an African author.  I am not sure which one I want to read, but I will make a decision this weekend.

Stash Aquisition

I also received several yarns this week.  Since one collection is a gift, I will show you what I can.  Last Christmas, Ethan gave me a gift certificate from Backyard Fiberworks.  It took me a year to decide what I wanted to do with that gift.  This week, I finally figured it out.  The Stonington Socks 2018 group are making a pair of socks called No. 5 Union Street.  They are so pretty and fun!  Check it out:

So I purchased these colors to make a pair or two.  Ethan likes it and so do I, so maybe a pair for both of us.  There should be enough to make two pair with extra left over.  EEEHHHHH!!!!

 
  

WIPs

I've been busy working on so many projects and, in reviewing what I have in my Island of Unloved Projects, I have found so many items I really want to complete, but tossed aside for the next 'bright shiny project".  I am not going to give up starting new items, but need to complete a few items that I have on the needles.  

This weekend, I am making a few dishcloths.  I want to make 52 or so this year.  They make great gifts, everyone can use one or two and I have a ton of cotton I would love to use up.  I could probably make dishcloths for years and not use up all the cotton I have!

I am working  on a pair of socks for Box of Socks 2018.  These are the Hedgerow Socks in Seawall Fibres Laguna Agate.  It's a beautiful soft sock yarn.  The Box of Socks socks needs to be a fingering weight sock.  The idea is to knit a pair a month.  I am just over halfway completed with this pair.  I am really enjoying making them.  

Additionally, I am working on a pair of bulky weight slippers.  They are difficult to make because after using fingering weight yarn, the bulky yarn is like using rope.  I had a difficult time with the pattern, but now that I know how to read it,  it's a lot easier.

 

Finally, my LunchTime WIP is a pair of camp socks I started in 2016.  They are out of Cascade Heritage 150 Paints in sport weight.  I started them right after a trip to Lewisburg WV and got the yarn from Country Road Yarn House.  It's nice yarn to work with, but so PINK!!!  I finally decided the thing to do is to add white heels and toes to make this pair more palatable.  I think it will help a lot. 

The LunchTime WIPs are the WIPs I started prior to 2018.  I am using the ones that are in the Yarn Vault or the Room of Creativity.  This is the second I am working on since January 1. I am working on WIPs all this year during my lunch hours.  It's a good way to get a lot of these projects completed as it is 40 minutes about 4 days a week.  The first was Jacen's OSU Cardigan, which is completed and given to Kelly.  Which takes me to...

Finished Items!! 

As I said, I completed the OSU Cardigan for Jacen.  It came out lovely and is completely washable and dryable.  Perfect for a little boy to wear.  Pattern is the Lennix Cardigan and for the cost of the pattern, you get sizes 2 month to 12 years in 3 different yarn weights - worsted, DK and sport.  This one is made of Hobby Lobby Sport in Toy Elephant, Black and Cherry. 

 

I also completed a cowl.  It's the Obverse Cowl.  It is made of some stash yarn I bought at the Wool Gathering.  It is Queensland Rustic Tweed in Charcoal.  I still have enough of this yarn to make another, if I chose to, and may do it after the first of the month.  Here is the finished item, though:

Plans for future projects in February

As I said earlier, I would love to do the No. 5 Union Street Socks next month.  They will go in my Box of Socks.  I need to decide if I am going to make these or another pair of socks.  That's why I am making dishcloths this weekend.   Sometimes it's good to make something simple to clear your mind and make you feel accomplished.

I am hosting the Cold Hands Warm Heart KAL on Ravelry's Knitting for Boys group.  It's a chance to make some warm accessories for our wee ones.  I want to make the Yukon Blast hat for Val, maybe one for Ethan as well.  Val's would be acrylic or wool blend so it's easy to care for.  I am also going to participate in the Ravellenics.  Hard to believe it was about 10 years ago I heard about this idea through the Yarn Harlot!  I am hoping to participate in WIP Dancing, Ariel Unwind (frogging), Hat  Halfpipe, Sock Hockey, and Cowl Curling.  I know that sounds like a lot, but I believe it is doable.  

So that's all the news I have for this week.  I think that I will try to continue writing this blog weekly t get my goals and thoughts down so I know more of which direction I want my crafting to go.  I don't see me doing a podcast, but this... this I can do. 

It's time to party... and by party, I mean knit! Or crochet!

I've set this blog aside for almost three years.  A lot has happened, but we will get in to that later.  For today, I want to invite my fiber friends to join a fun event.

I love independent workers, people who are entrepreneurs.  Not surprising because I have been surrounded by them all my life.  My father, my husband, my son, cousins and friends.  It seems like many people in my life are working on their own, full or part time.  We've never been without jobs because we would create our own.

But this is an opportunity to enjoy those who design.  So fire up your needles and hooks, organize your independently dyed yarns and get ready for the Independent Designers Gift Along! 

So what is this thing I speak of?  Well, are you on Ravelry?  If not, and if you are or want to work with fibers, you should be.  It's free (best price ever!) and a great way to expand your skills, learn new skills, meet people who have similar experiences and enjoy knowing you are not the only one who has 10 totes of yarn and more needles than your family would ever know about. 

Anyways, once you are in Ravelry, search for the Indie Design Gift-A-Long and join the group.  Don't be overwhelmed by the enormous amount of posts per day.  Don't try to catch up, just read the last few pages and jump in.  Luckily Ravelry will let you know when someone replies to your posts.  And you WILL get replies. People who understand why you needed 6 skeins of yummy fingering weight despite your 150 skeins at home.  People who will share recipes, ask for photos of your dogs, want to see what you are working on, people who will give you validation as only another fiber artist can do.  It's glorious!

But what is more glorious is that on November  21 at 8 PM EST, the REAL fun starts.  Many independent designers who want nothing more than the opportunity to allow you to enjoy a great pattern written by an individual with a unique vision will offer some of their patterns at a discount.  A Discount, people!!  Hundreds of patterns available to you at a low cost.  The patterns I have acquired in my three years on this group is mind boggling.  There are designers I follow and I feel I know who they are.  I've seen their designs, talked about their families, compared other designers we like, talked about dyers we liked.  Because these designers don't just offer their wares and disappear.  Oh, no.  They are part of the group!


 



Another reason to be part of the group is the games, the prizes, the friendships.  Wait, did I say PRIZES!! Yes, yes I did.  There are games and competitions.  There are opportunities to win goodies.  You not only get the opportunity to buy great patterns at a discount, knit or crochet a WONDERFUL gift for a friend, family member, or yourself AND win prizes.

So how do you win said prizes?  Once you join the IDGAL (the acronym), buy your pattern, and get started, stay with the group.  Start your project.  Join the group that best describes your item.  Enjoy hearing what others are doing and perhaps you will find someone who is making the same pattern.  It's always more fun to  have someone join you.  

Will I see you there?  I hope so. I'll be there with my needles at the ready!   I'll be discussing this GAL as it gets started.  It will be fun!

A new start

Well, last year was a total bust as far as writing goes.  I was way to involved in the real world to be part of the digital world.  Here are some of the highlights of 2014:

• Last spring I took two classes instead of one.  One of the classes was Ornithology.  It was a great time and we went on 6 field trips. The other was Pilgrimages.  I added 3 places I'd like to visit to my bucket list.
• Kelly had a baby boy!  Valerian joined our family in the spring.  He is a little sweetie.
• Ethan and Baylor graduated from college.  I can't believe both my boys graduated the same week.  It was a very exciting week.
• I went to South Carolina for a week of enjoying time with my sister, Laura.  My niece graduated high school so we (Lou and I) went to South Carolina for the party and  spent the rest of the week on the beach. 
• Our 4H club got third place with our booth.  In my tenure as an advisor, we've never placed!  This year, we placed 3rd.
• I got a lot of knitting done this year - knitting up about 15 completed projects.

Now looking forward to the goals for 2015.  I am a part of two challenges to (hopefully) get my numbers down.  One is a Stashdown project.  What is Stashdown?  It is buying less yarn than you use during the year.  Hopefully, but the end of the year, I'll have a negative change in my stash numbers.  I am starting out pretty well - using up (and staging some) several projects from stash.

The other is a WIP reduction challenge.  A WIP is a Work In Progress.  I am down to 10.  I cleaned up my stash and frogged 12 projects I will probably never finish.  I can repurpose the yarn to some other project that interests me. I haven't started any yet, but plan on choosing one on February 1.

I am also hoping to do some other crafting this year.  I hope its a good one.  I'll be posting photos of the items I complete.

A week goes by...

and life continues.  I have a lot going on at work.  Way too much. There is so much that needs caught up that I am not sure if it will happen.  I haven't done a lot of demographics in about 5 weeks and just because we are closed, doesn't mean people don't move, give birth, get married, etc.

Ethan will be leaving for school this weekend.  It was a nightmare, as he needed to have several THOUSAND dollars to go back because his Fall semester bill wasn't paid.  It would have been so much easier if we (Ethan and I) knew about it before Monday, but Steve didn't say anything until Monday. Oh, well, we have a small fix that will buy us some time.

So on to goals for the year.  None are really accomplished yet, but I have plans.  I was going to do a down and dirty cleaning in the living room last weekend, but got sucked into a project for Steve.  He has a 15 passenger van and wanted to build a bench to go between the front two seats.  He built it, but wanted a cushioned cover over it.  I was in charge of that part- and it HAD to be completed last weekend.  I spent most of Saturday designing one out of old blue jeans.  It came out pretty good, but it wasn't my plan for the day. 

What I have accomplished is some knitting.  I got one slipper done, one to go.  It will be glorious when it is felted.  I am working on the second one now.  I am also working on the Age of Brass and Steam shawl in Lion Brand Amazing.  It is a great set of colors- bright blues, oranges, fuschias.  It's so much fun to knit that I don't mind the miles of stockinette stitch. 

I am still reading The Book Thief and it is very good.  I almost have a hard time putting it down, it's so good.  I highly recommend it. 

Classes start on Monday and I am happy/scared/ excited all at the same time.  As I said, Ethan goes back to school over the weekend.  Baylor heads out for Tucson next week.  It will be me and the dogs again.  I'll miss my boys, but they are on the downhill slide of finishing school.  I hope it all goes well.

New starts and snowy days

So, here we are at a new year.  I love new starts - the opportunity to think about what you would change in your life.  If you could change anything about yourself, what would you choose?  To lose weight?  Organize? Purge? Quit procrastinating?  All of the above?  That is what I want to do.  I also want to be more grateful for all the things in my life.  One of my goals is to be grateful and try to seek out the good in life.

I am a naturally upbeat person.  Many think it's because I am uninformed, maybe even a bit daft.  Its just the way I am wired.  I could look at life and see things that are negative, but I chose not to - to look at the way things could be and the bright side of the event.  Oh, sure, I have times that I get down, overloaded, all too sad, but I don't stay there long.

Here are my two grateful things so far:

January 1
I am grateful for my friends that I can go and play with for an evening.  They got me out of the house yesterday before a snow storm and allowed me to enjoy some time without my family.  I love my family dearly, but just needed a break.

January 2
I am grateful for snow.  I love snow, even when it causes travel issues.  There is something very exciting about snowy weather.  The chance for a snow day always hides in the back of my mind.  I don't get them very often any more, but I still can dream.  Even when you are at work, there is a change in the air on a snowy day.  You feel like you live in a snow globe.

Knitting goal:
As always, I have goals for knitting.  This month I am finishing my Christmas gifts, hopefully before the 7th.  I am also working on the Age of Steam and Brass shawl.  It's an easy shawl so I am doing it in bright colors. I need to finish a WIP, but that remains to be seen.

Household goal:
I need to finish cleaning the living room this weekend.  Maybe even get the tree and some other decorations taken down.  I think I'll get another tote or two to be sure I have good ones for the Christmas stuff.  Maybe do some moving around - move yarn out of clear totes into colored ones, move Christmas stuff into clear totes.  I don't have much up that needs taken down, but do have a few things that need completed.

I would say that takes care of at least three areas of my life for my resolutions.  I need to look for text  books and see if renting would be cheaper than buying.  It would have to be significant to make it worth my time, but for now, I believe it's time for some ice cream.

Baby knitting

I don't know why, but lately I have been obsessed with baby knitting.  Maybe it's the idea that baby stuff is little.  You can knit a pair of booties in an evening.  Really.  OK, some of you may be saying 'yeah, right, I can't do that', but I can and I am sure you could do it in maybe two evenings.  To knit a pair of socks takes me significantly longer.  The only problem I have is that there are no babies to knit for currently.  My kids are in their early 20's.  It will probably be a few years before they even start considering having families of their own.  The only child I have that has kids won't talk to me, so I don't even know HOW to get knitted goodies to his children.

So, what should I do to solve my dilemma?  Well, I mentioned something about this dilemma tonight at Sit and Knit.  These people are GENIUS, I tell you!  I guess that is why I love them so much. Terri said I should go ahead and knit a few items.  Just tuck them away somewhere for future use.  She said once my kids start having kids of their own, it will all be at once.  This way, I can get a jump start on it and still solve that bit of an itch I have.

I know, why would I knit for a baby that I don't know the gender of yet?  Well, I used to make things for my kids before they were born and I didn't know their gender.  Added bonus - I love brights for babies.  There really is no 'gender' to brights and gem-tones - I am talking about lovely ruby reds, beautiful sapphire blues, rich emerald greens, the sunshine southwest feel of turquoise, all of it.  I love these colors. I am so excited, I cannot decide what to knit first. I believe it will be one of my goals for the year.  I'll try to knit one item (or two) a year so I can scratch my baby itch and get a few things made up for my future grandchildren.

What a great idea!  Thanks Terri!

Labor Day

We celebrated Labor Day in the way only we would do- with lots of labor.  Ethan and Baylor are both back at school, Ethan on Sunday and Baylor on Monday.  Steve was working all day and so was I.

Ethan had school on Monday, so he had to go back on Sunday to finish any homework.  Walkie, though, spent the night with Steve and I.  It was a lot of fun.  He's such a big goofy dog, but wouldn't let anyone hurt any of us.  He is just a big sweetie that loves spending time here on our farm.  He runs up to the barn, rides around with Steve and TJ, and overall just has a great time.  We are glad that Erika doesn't mind us keeping him occasionally.  He will probably come over at least once a week until Ethan gets bogged down in all of his school work.  Even then, he might be over.

Baylor left yesterday to go back to his internship.  There were some changes to the internship - not sure how it all works, but he's only getting 32 hours in per week.  He's trying to get another job to supplement his income.  Also, he may spend the spring semester in Tucson!  How exciting is that?  I need to try to get in touch with my cousin who lives out there.  It would be nice for him to get to know some more family members. 

Steve is working in the field.  Hopefully, we will get another cutting of hay before the season ends.  None of the row crops are ready for harvest yet, but they will be soon.  The beans are turning yellow and in some places will be ready in two or three weeks.  The corn ears are starting to drop and the stalks are browning nicely.  This week, the temps are in the 70's and low 80's dropping down to the 50's at night.  It is beautiful.

I took an extra day off work to get some things done.  Linda and I went together and bought the rights to a 10 yd roll off dumpster.  We have it for 10 days and I don't know how much more we'll be able to get into it.  I am hoping it sifts down a bit before next weekend because I have a lot of stuff I still want to put in it.  So far, though, I got to clean out my garage and got rid of a lot of stuff - old fold up chairs, lots of paper, plastics that are not recyclable, lots of stuff went out the door.  My goal is to actually park my car in the garage this winter.  I did a lot of purging and sorting so far.  I have another day of purging and sorting to go and then I'll put it all away!  I am going vertical to get a lot of this stuff up off the ground.  There is so much that needs to be organized, but now it's not as bad as it was.  I am so close to parking in the garage.  YEAH!!!! 

Some people consider January 1 as the time to set goals and start working towards something.  For me, the first of September always feels more like the time to do this reflection and goal setting.   I am already well on my way to actually completing one of my goals.  To keep the momentum going, I am writing down all  that I've completed.  It will keep me motivated.  Just a note in my planner of what was done when. I am hoping to get caught up on many things I've let go (knitting, cleaning, etc.).  I am really happy with all that I've accomplished and would like to do the same thing with the basement, but that will wait until after the holidays. 

Here is to goals.  I like that term so much better than resolutions.  Resolutions are made to be broken, goals are attainable.  What will yours be?

Bad, bad blogger

Wow, I am a terrible blogger.  One of my goals for 2013 was to try to write at least twice a week.  I haven't written a word in 5 months! 

So here we are, at the end of August.  I glorious time it was, too.  Ethan was home all summer and was busy as can be.  He and his dad built a greenhouse and he sold vegetables at the farmer's markets all summer.  It was an interesting endeavor.  We still have tons of tomatoes, squash and cucumbers.  I need to figure out what to do with all of it.  I don't know if Ethan is going to come home from school and go to a few more markets or not. 

He didn't do it all on his own, though.  He had a lot of help.  Steve was really excited about the whole thing.  They traveled to Indiana, Michigan and other places to look at other greenhouses.  They've talked to other people, emailed, and facebooked.  Several of the local farm market owners helped Ethan with advice, ideas, etc. 

He went to State of the Plate in Champaign County.  He was very excited about that evening as he was introduced as the youngest producer at the market.  At the end of the season, he was asked to be on the board at the Mechanicsburg market.  I would say that is quite a compliment.

Baylor wasn't home all summer, but get home at the end of the fair.  He got to spend some time out there with his friends, which was great.  In his few short weeks home, he got to visit with his buddies, spent a lot of time with his girlfriend and I think he had a really great time. 

I haven't seen much of Kelly, since she works 10 PM - 7 AM.  By the time she is getting ready for work, I am winding down for the night.  Oh, well.

I've been busy working, knitting and having fun.  It was a wonderful summer. I'll try to be a better blogger and post more now that school has started again.

This I believe

This week's assignment for class is to turn in a draft in the style of NPR's "This I believe".  I am writing on creativity, one of the things I truly believe is life affirming.  I wrote two.  The following is the one I am not turning in, because I need to read the report.  I would not be able to read this without having a very difficult time, so I went another direction. It just seems a shame that I won't turn it in, so I will use it here.  I'll be publishing that one after I edit it.

Anyway, here is my rejected because it is too emotional "This I believe":

Knitting – the word evokes images of grandmothers making those funky little slippers that no one really likes.  But for me, knitting is a creative outlet, a chance to unplug, to create and discover a hidden history of people from around the world, a chance to touch the past and the future.  Knitting has been my saving grace, my creative outlet, and my prayers.  Working the yarn back and forth on the needles has provided me with an opportunity to fill otherwise empty time.  I’ve searched it out in literature and in my everyday life.  

 When I first learned to knit, choices were limited.  There were the itchy scratchy acrylics of RedHeart,  the itchy scratchy wools, or the way-out-of-my price range luxury items – cashmere or angora.  Today there are myriad colors, handpainted yarns in colors the designer dreams, colors that you would never guess would go together, yet somehow form a tapestry of hues rivaled only by Mother Nature, tonals in different values of the same color, solids, heathers, the list goes on.  Lately I have enjoyed dyeing colors I see in nature – the Pokeweed colorway in rich blue-black purples, purplish-reds and greens ranging from olive to muddy reddish green, the Field Corn in deep yellow golds, tans and just a hint of the strawberry pink that imitates the cob. To get the colors, I go out and look – really closely look at the natural world. 

Once I have the colors I am looking for comes the pattern search – looking for the pattern that will accentuate the colors, yet allow the texture of knitting itself become apparent.  Will it look better as a lace, with the negative space accentuating the colors of the yarn?  A cable with its twisting winding road home?  Perhaps just a simple rib with the hills and valleys?  Sometimes plan knitting in stockinette or garter is the answer.  Sometimes even deciding what the yarn wants to be is difficult.  I’ve had several yarns that I have started in socks, only to tear it out and end up making a scarf, shawl or hat from.  Yarn designated for a hat for one son became a hat for another. 

You may think that with all this knitting, I would have lots of beautiful knitted items in my home, winter wearables to keep warm and cozy, my adult children wearing hats, gloves and scarves lovingly made by their mother.  You would be wrong.  Honestly, I am not about the finished product.  I am more interested in the process of knitting – the feel of the yarn through my fingers, each stich becoming a prayer for safety, for compassion, for needs of the recipient.  Watching the colors flow from one to the other or the play of light on specific fibers – silk’s shining face, merino’s warm bloom, alpaca’s ultra warm fuzziness.  I picture my sister and her grandchildren wrapped in a warm ivory shawl on a cold winter day – reading stories and laughing together.  I envision my son, hunting in the woods in his ‘lucky hunting hat’ – hunter orange with black deer knit in fair isle – keeping him safe and bringing him a big buck.   The lamb stuffed animal, reminiscent of the lambs we raised when we were young, that I was creating for my mother when she passed last spring sits on my work desk as though she is watching over me.

The amazing part is that all of these items – lace, cables, the shawl, the hat – all are created using two stitches , because that is all there is to knitting.  I’ve known people who tell me they cannot knit, it’s too complicated, takes too much time, they don’t have the patience.  To these people I saw no.  No, knitting isn’t complicated.  It takes time and some understanding of the language of knitting, but there are enough resources to explain. I always find it remarkable that people say they don’t have time to knit when they are doing the same thing I am – watching a sporting event, riding in a car, plane or bus, or enjoying time with friends at our county fair.  We are all doing the same thing, yet my hands are busy with a simple pattern, creating something to be enjoyed.  You don’t have patience to knit, you knit to learn patience.  In a world of immediate gratification, that can be a valuable lesson.  We don’t always have to have immediate satisfaction and sometimes the greatest joy in a life is the time it takes to create a work of beauty that takes a little time and effort.

As an adult, my fiber obsession has seen me through some very difficult times.  When I was diagnosed with cancer, knitting allowed me to have a connection to my past, since both my grandmothers knitted, and my future, creating items for my children, nieces, nephews.  When I spent hours of time in the hospital with my mother, we would sit and talk about what my latest project was and who it was for.  She would pet the yarn as she would a beloved pet, comforting us both – her with petting, my ticking off stitch after stitch.  When I am stressed to the point of breaking, I find myself looking for something new to start, something to jump start a positive flow in my life. 

The creative juices used to knit an item are very individual.  I love that even though I use the same pattern as hundreds of other people, my choice of color, yarn content, even the very way I knit creates a unique item that no one, even myself, can recreate exactly.  I believe this uniqueness is what draws me to knitting in a way that other crafts do not allow.  The portability allows me to bring items with me to work on in odd times- during my lunch hour, perhaps while waiting in line at the bank, if the pattern is pretty easy, while I am reading. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many men and women who share my passion, meeting to have lunch, go to events, just to sit together and knit and discuss what we are working on, where we got the yarn, what needles we enjoy, etc. etc.  Inevitably, I am allowed to glimpse in other’s lives by doing this simple craft, having people ask what I am doing, recollecting their mother, grandmother or aunt knitting.  I enjoy other creative outlets – music, cross stitch, beading – but none satisfy or allows me to talk to others quite like knitting.

Books and writing

 Well, I didn't notice until I had published my last post, but I had a comment!  An honest-to-goodness comment!  From someone I'm not related to!  I am so surprised.

The comment asked for some information on the books I am reading for my class.  Well, here is a partial list.  I will have to add more as I go.  I will also comment on my impressions of the books. 

First up is The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.  I am not sure how I feel about this novel.  It's relatively short, about 150 pages.  I am about a third of the way through it.  It is - unusual.  Written in the mid '60's, it's the story of a women, Oedipa, who is the executor of a past lover's estate.  It is kind of interesting.  I keep plugging through it.  What is making me a bit unbalanced are words like 'groovy' being used, not as dialogue, but as adverbs throughout the description.  It really brings home how we should try to leave description as generic as possible to allow for the longevity of a text.

Next up is going to be Sula by Toni Morrison.  I love this book.  Sula and all the characters in this book are interesting, well developed and wonderfully multifaceted.

In other news, I am working on several projects I want to complete before the month is over.  There are about 4 more I am dying to cast on, but want to complete these first.  The first one is the Frolicking Deer hat.  This is for Baylor.  I am better than halfway done, but am looking at about 15 hours of work on it yet.  The second is Platomon, a shawl.  I have 7 rows to complete an it will take about 7 hours to complete.  Well, I guess I am further along than I thought!

I found out a dear friend of mine is having surgery on Tuesday.  She'll be in the hospital for 5 - 6 days.  That is a long time.  I am going to try to go see her on Thursday, then see about making her something to heat up the following Wednesday.  Something easy to digest.  I worry because she is under a lot of personal stress.  This stress has nothing to do with her surgery but other events in her life. 

Well, I guess I better get on my knitting.  It looks like a good night to knit.

The year so far

Generally speaking, I am a pretty upbeat person.  I like joking around and am pretty quick with a quip when it is needed.  But honestly, this year is shaping up to be absolutely crap-tastic.  A total shit sandwich.  Let me elaborate.

Here we are at January 14.  I should have had a day or two without some kind of emergency, but it's just not happening.  On Christmas Eve, someone pulled up beside me on Upper Valley Pike and told me that the taillights on my car weren't working.  Baylor and Steve looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong with it.  We let it go until after the holidays, since I was off work.  It turned out that we had two choices - about $2000 to replace the tail lights on a 1999 car, or $500 to put in auxiliary lights in.  I opted for the second choice because we cannot afford another car this year.

So now I am waiting for the car to be fixed.  We have 8 registered vehicles, but can I find one to drive regularly?  No.....  The GMC is too tall and Baylor doesn't like when I use a stepladder to get in it.  Also, it doesn't run regularly.  Baylor had his truck, Ethan had his.  The blue truck - Steve prefers that I don't drive it for some reason.  The service truck?  No way.  Kelly had the Escort, the LaSabre was in Illinois. The Riviera was in the shop.

No sooner got the Rivie back than the Escort blew up.  So now Kelly's got the Rivie.  The upside? Ethan is in the Virgin Islands, so I can drive his truck for a while.  Baylor and Steve went to Illinois so B can go back to school and Steve can get the LeSabre.  All is relatively good for a few days.  The day Steve is to come home, Baylor texts me, followed by a call from Steve and later a call from Baylor.  Steve drove the LeSabre into a corn field and had to have Baylor pull him out.  Baylor was sideswiped by a deer on the way - the same side that he just had $4500 worth of bodywork on after slipping on a patch of black ice.  I got to hear a lot about what happened and how mad B was.

On this same day, my manager's father passed away and our database was so unstable.  It crashed a time or two and I am not happy about it!

So the weekend comes and Ethan is due home.  We cannot get him on the phone and have not heard from him since he left.  We try, but it rolls to voice mail every time. Texts don't go through.  Thought he would be home on Saturday, but no Ethan.  We waited around a while, but no Ethan on Sunday either.  About 7 PM, I get a text that he is in Florida and will be home about 2 AM.  What the heck, you got to be at school on Monday morning.

We find out Monday that Ethan is on Academic Suspension this semester.  But all is good.  He has a plan to keep busy until August when he can go back.  He's looking for a job - preferably with a chemistry twist.  Maybe do some community service as a track coach.  Plus he's planning a trip to New York to talk to someone about worm farming. Sounds like he's going to be productive.

Oh, and Kelly and Al will be moving in to the shop in the next few weeks because Al lost one job and got another, but it pays significantly less.  What a couple of weeks.  Hopefully, we will go up from here.

New Semester

This semester I am taking Contemporary American Novels.  I've been to two classes and already turned in a paper.  Amazing, huh!  It seems like it will be a great class.  We are reading a whole list of interesting books for the semester.  I think it will be fun.

Tonight was Sit N Knit at Panera.  What a great time!  We played 'Last Knitter Standing'.  It's a fun game, but I think we could come up with a whole lot more questions and challenges than they have.

Steve and Baylor went to Illinois, so TJ and I are holding down the fort here at home.  TJ is on point on the back porch right now, so he's doing what he does best.  Me?  I'm about ready to go to bed.  I hope I don't oversleep tomorrow.

This morning I woke up to Steve asking when I needed to be at work.  When I told him at 8, he said 'it's already 8'.  Wow!  What a way to wake up in the morning.  Took me about 30 minutes to get dressed and out the door, so I wasn't that late.  I usually stay until 5:30 anyway, so it was fine.

I have two alarms set for tomorrow so if I oversleep, I have a backup.

I thought I would get some additional knitting time when I got home, but Leslie needed some help with a project.  I haven't done anything as far as knitting this evening.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow.  I need to work on Baylor's hat and get it in the mail.  Then I have Ethan's hat to finish as well.  I'd like to finish my shawl before too long.  Then I can decide what to do next.

I have some items completed, but need to block and finish them.  I'll take photos tomorrow.  I may even get a Christmas gift done, if I'm not careful!

First weekend

It is the first weekend of the new year and life is getting back to almost normal.  I started back to work on Wednesday, so this day off is greatly appreciated.  I cannot believe the whole 3 days that we worked would wear me out so much.  I was exhausted and ended up sleeping until 9 AM.

Ethan is off to St. Thomas.  I hear he made it to Miami and is enjoying his trip so far.  I hope he has a great time.  The turquoise beaches, the beautiful sun and the warm temps... wow that would be tough.  He comes home just in time to go back to school.

Baylor leaves for school on Wednesday.  He's paid his tuition and is ready for the next semester.  This weekend he's just getting himself organized... getting rid of two of his game consoles, cleaning up his room, that kind of thing.

I'll miss both the boys while they are at school.

Classes for me start on Monday.  I have my books and am ready to get started.  I need to get my bookbag out and ready.

For this weekend, I need to run the sweeper, get some of the dishes rid up and work on Baylor's hat.  I have a swap I need to get together.  At least get it started.  Then it will be out in the mail before next weekend.  I also want to clean out the refrigerators.  Both of them.  They are disgusting and there is way too much stuff in both.  But first, I'm going to clean the ice off the front steps.  They have a lovely sheet of ice on them that is dangerous on these warmer days.

Well, I better get on it or I won't get these things done.

New year, new goals

Here we are in 2013. Many people didn't think we would actually get here, thinking the world would end on December 21.  I told Baylor that if the world should end on the 21st to wake me up.  I've never been to an apocalypse and didn't want to miss it if it should happen.  As luck would have it, no end-of-the-world, so we  are still here and I still had some living room to clean as well as our kitchen.

So I finished cleaning my living room and got most of the kitchen done thanks to Kelly and Al.  It is great to have our living spaces back from the nightmare of the last two years.  I hate that I could only use part of our living room for two years. Although there are a few more things that need cleaned up, it's great to have most of these spaces cleaned up, or easily picked up in a matter of a half an hour.

Here are my goals for 2013.  They are much more measurable than last year:

Home:

1. Do 13 home improvements.  I have a list of several that I want to complete, but need to find a few for inside the house to do this winter.
2. Clean and purge 13 areas of my home.  This is a LONG LONG list.  I have lots of areas that I need to purge.
3. Run the vacuum cleaner 13 times every 2 months.  That is twice a week.  It will keep the living room picked up and cleaned up.

Family

1. Come up with 13 new holiday traditions.  Our lives have changed dramatically in the last year.  We need to have some new traditions that make our holidays feel more 'full'.
2. Complete 13 handcrafted Christmas gifts.  Doesn't matter if they are knitted or not, I would like to have 13 done by next holiday.  I will be starting with my gifts for my sisters. 

Self

1. Lose 13 pounds every 3 months.  That is a pound a week and totally doable.
2. Read 13 books of The List.  This will enhance my English major
3. Do 13 nice things for me.  If I don't feel good about myself, how can I do nice things for others?
4. Create 13 crafts that are not knitting.  I know how to do lots of other crafts and this goal will give me the chance to explore them.
5. Learn 13 new techniques/ stitches.  I am always trying to improve my knowledge of the craft and I have the Knitter's Life List to help.

Soul

1. Do 13 Random Acts of Kindness.  This goal is easy.  There are always people in need of an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on or even just a little something to make them feel better.
2. Write 13 blog posts every two months.  That is a little better than twice a week.  I think I can do that.
3. Complete 13 items to enter in our County Fair.  I don't know if I'll have 13 for this fair, but I'll have a few.  That is better than I would have in the past.

First three day weekend

This is the first of my three day weekends, building to my week off for the holidays.  It was great.  I got a lot of stuff done and am plugging right along on my 'Get Ready for Christmas' list.  It's been great. 

First, I got the entire front of the living room cleaned up.  Things are put away, including the two fair totes.  Steve took the old TV stand downstairs and actually got two of the 'not working' televisions to Best Buy for recycling.  He says he is going to take the other two that are in the basement over later this week.  YEAH!!!  More trash out the door.

Started working on the kitchen.  Hopefully I'll work on it some Thursday night and get it done over next weekend.  Got some of the dishes done and recycling gathered up.

Did all the laundry.  Yes, all of it is folded and put away.

Worked on knitted Christmas gifts.  Should meet my first goal this week easily. The hat is coming along nicely.  It looks pretty good, but is one of many.  I have two more hats to make and would like to make a couple of these really cute mice ornaments.  I have everything I need, but just need a few minutes.

At work, we've chosen our 2012 Christmas recepient.  It's a good choice.  I just need to come up with something for tomorrow.  I got us all set up on Friday.

Things I need to do over the next week:

1. Finish at least one hat.  That means some major knit time
2. Finish my first Pinterest item.  It's looking pretty good - entirely painted and ready to put together.
3. Check Christmas Card list and make up cards for at least the church people.
4. Clean the 2nd part of the living room.  This may take some time, since there is so much piled there, but a lot of it can be donated, condensed or put away.
5. Clean half the kitchen.  Ialready have it started, so it shouldn't take long.

It always helps to have it in writing.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are knit nights, so I won't be working on household stuff too much.  I do have some items I want to make up for the holidays. Baylor will be home on Friday, so I'd like to have some things done.

A sock finished

This is a photo of a friend, Cindy.  She is holding her FIRST SOCK!!!!  I am really excited for her.  We've been working on this sock for about two months.  It is a proud moment.  I am really excited for her and believe we got another hooked.  Now she needs to finish the second one to complete the pair.  These are going to her grandson. 

You can see the pride in her eyes!

Writing

Writing seems to be something I do a lot.  I write in my journal, really my planner, stuff I want to remember.  I add funny little cartoons I see on facebook or on the web.  Things that strike my fancy .  Things that make me laugh.  Things that make me think.  I write about appointments, things I need to do, people I want to remember, and, most importantly  I write about papers I have due.

At work I write up procedures.  How to do all the things that I do.  You would think this is pretty intuitive, but apparently not.  I think the things I do are pretty blah, but they aren't.  People inside my building don't know all the things I do or how they need to be done.  I find it pretty amazing, but it is true.

I write for my classes.  I am always writing a paper, fretting over writing a paper, worrying over the grade I am going to get on a paper, considering how I could have done a paper better, or re-writing a paper.  Occasionally, I get to bask in the glow of having a finished paper turned in.  That usually lasts about a day.  Not much time at all.

So now I am embarquing on a new quest.  I have joined NaNoWriMo.  What is that you ask?  Good question.  November is National Novel Writing Month.  You try to write a book (in my case, a collection of short stories) in a month.  No editing (whew!  That takes off a lot of pressure), just writing.  Writing 1600 words a day.  I know, some people look at that and think OMG That's a LOT!  But really it isn't.  So far, this work has taken me about 10 minutes and I have three hundred words.  About an hour a day of complete writing will get me close to 1600 words a day.  No sweat.

So what will I be writing on?  I don't know... what ever comes to mind.  No editing and no path.  It should be interesting.

The end of summer

Well, the end of the summer is near and there has been so much go on.  We've had our county fair and Baylor did really well.  We got to enjoy two weeks with Brandon Ingerman - Ethan's best friend and a young man I am proud to know.  I am still working on Camp Loopy projects and going through a lot of yarn without getting anything done.

County Fair

 As I said, Baylor did really well, bringing home 4 blue rosettes - one for his grass hay, one for his alfalfa hay and two for his steer.  He won his class in both the FFA show on Wednesday and the Clark County Cattle Producers on Thursday.  It was the best he's ever done.

We missed one of our integral parts of our fair in the person of Donna Fry.  She was in Alabama at her daughter's house and didn't come to the fair.  We really missed her.  I learned a lot about the paperwork, though.

John Nixon was also highly missed and well as my mom.  It's amazing how you always think that certain people will always be at the fair.  When they aren't, it's very sad.



Brandon Ingerman

It's always great when Brandon is home on leave.  He is in the army and we worry about him when he's gone. He's a great young man with a wonderful sense of humor.  I love that he was home during the fair this time.  We got him a fair pass so he could come and go as he pleased, which was perfect.  The best part is that everyone he wanted to see was at the fair, so he only had to go to the fair and see everyone. 

Camp Loopy

I've been working on Camp Loopy projects and gotten exactly 0 done.  I am still working on them, though. 

Lastly, my poor little wubbie broke his leg earlier this week.  We aren't real sure how it happened, just that it did.  He had a plate put in and is walking on it OK.  Hopefully, he'll heal up well and be good as new in no time.

Live from home

Presenting the first post from my home!  Yep, that's right, I bought a laptop and finally joined the 21st century.  I bought an HP.  It's pretty good, has lots of storage and Beats audio.  It takes me a few minutes to get used to the straight keyboard after using the ergo one all day, but I found I am addicted to the internet and am not getting much done.

I am making myself do something else - anything else- for a while before I allow myself to get on again.  I need to get away from a computer screen occasionally.  But there is just so much cool stuff out there, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be looked at.

Baylor's Party

Baylor's grad party was wonderful.  There must have been 200 people that showed up to enjoy the day with him.  Even though it was hot, it was still a lot of fun.  The party officially ended at 7, but there were people enjoying themselves until 10.  Baylor was going to Matt's party, but never made it to that party.  I think B had a great time even though he kept saying he didn't want a party.

Heat

It has been so hot this month.  June was down 5 inches for rainfall, yet we had about 10 days over 90.  This is crazy.  July came in at 90's and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon.  I ache all over and I  don't know if its because of the heat or my age. 

Procrastination

That was the subject of the Yarn Harlot's post today.  How the charming, handsome beast will raise his head just when you need to get stuff done and tell you: "It will be alright, sit down and watch a movie." "you can get this done in no time, no need to go through those photos now."

Yes, the charming beast has been purring in my ear as well.  It's only 5 days until Baylor's grad party, one until his birthday.  What have I got done?  Well, as of lunch today, I got photos chosen (some need to be printed yet, but I'll do that tonight), and table coverings purchased.  What needs done?  A long, long list of stuff:

1. Get photo boards ready
2. Purchase drinks/ chips
3. Prepare dishes and take them to the shop
4. What other decorations do you need?
5. Order a birthday cake for Baylor

I'm sure there is a lot more, but all I can think is that I really want to go home and knit or read for the next 6 hours.  Add to that the 4H meeting tonight at the flower beds and Knit Night on Wednesday or Thursday and I am pretty busy.  I know I'll get it all done, just the when of it all.

My Wingspan scarf is coming out nicely.  If one the camera would play nice with this computer, I would post a photo or two.  I've come to the conclusion that I will not finish Baylor's hat by his grad party, but can still have it done in a timely fashion, hopefully before fair.  That's my next deadline.