Christmas 2010

For the first time in years we had good weather for the drive to my mom's. It's only 5 hours, give or take, but it sure can be a long drive if there is lake effect snow. This year no fog, freezing rain or snow. Travelers who were flying can't say the same thing. I hate the thought of people sleeping in airports. It does not look comfy at all.
I took a picture when we stopped for gas on the way down,

you have to love it when a snowmobile pulls in alongside your car to fuel up. On the way home we saw lots of trailers loaded with snowmobiles on their way north, hopefully we get some fresh snow for them.

While we were visiting my mom she asked me if I remembered this:

I made this when I was 5. My brother made one the same year, 1976. My flag is brown, not sure about that choice.

Baby hats complete!

I finished knitting the baby hats for the NICU over in Canada. One dozen hats were delivered, all decked out in gift bags:

They knit up quickly, but after a dozen I was ready to move on. The boys' hats are "Wintergreen" and the girls' hats are "Peppermint".

A serious discussion

Jim and Gorby had a serious talk tonight.

It started with me asking Jim where he was going and somehow Gorby decided she needed to know also. He didn't go far, it's too cold out.
We had hockey tonight, the Lakers won. And it was the night when we got to throw stuffed animals on the ice after the first Laker goal. The toys are then donated to charity. It's alot of fun.

It's a rough life

It's a rough life being a cat in our household. For instance, you have to make a choice. Either the bed,Or the couch:>

Beaded Bag

The beaded bag was knit by stringing all the beads on the thread before knitting. The kit can be purchased from www.baglady.com , it's the Summer Odyssey pattern.
We were the lucky ones last night that had snow, as of this morning 8" and more to come. Unfortunately I am old and don't get snow days anymore! Fortunately we live in town and I can get to work.

WoW!

Long time, no post! I am in pre-Christmas hectic knitting stage. But I will get everything done, just because I always get it all done in the end. I am knitting a dozen Christmas hats for the NICU in Canada, I have 6 more to go. I was off for quite a bit at the end of last month, I actually took vacation time. We went to Dayton for Thanksgiving and then swung through Toledo on the way home and had lunch with Pat and did a ton of shopping. All I can say is that I have Irish breakfast tea to last me through the winter and I now have a dressform so I can knit freeform garments.

We are getting snow. And we are supposed to get alot of it. I am hoping for a snow day but I also know that isn't going to happen. Big sigh. :-)
I do have a few pictures of a beaded handbag I knit for my friend Kathy for her birthday. It is small, only about 3" long. But I love the way the beaded knitting feels, and Kathy likes it too!

Monday is over

Monday is officially drawing to a close and I am happy that I only have to get up early 4 more days this week. I never understood why people liked the weekends so much. Then I got a full time job. And now I know how magical the weekends are. Time to stretch out on the couch for a nap, or being able to read a good book until the wee hours of the morning without having to get up early for work the next day.
I am in the middle of several books right now, one is a book about breast cancer and one is Shakespeare's Champion by Charlene Harris. I want to read through some of these books I have piled in stacks around here.
My new laptop has sticky notes you can put on the screen and I am using them to keep track of my knitting projects I need to finish. I have started the baby sweater set for Teri L., and it's very pretty, the new mommy wanted red, and it's fun to knit a baby sweater with a primary color instead of a pastel...

Taquamenon Falls

We went over to the falls this weekend, gorgeous!!!

And then as we were leaving the viewing area, I saw this stump. Doesn’t it look like fingers???

Fall Colors

Today is a very pretty day, the colors up here are in their peak, well, maybe a few more days they will be in their peak but by then I’ll be at work. I really do enjoy this time of year, the feeling of getting ready for winter and settling in.

I would love to live in a lighthouse, just for a month!

Can't get enough of this video!!

http://www.cmt.com/videos/kenny-chesney/571287/coastal-invitation-only.jhtml
I love this song!!!! Now I suppose I should get ready for work. :-) I have 4 pumpkin hats done and the 5th is to the top, thanks to knitting with Jody last night....

12 pumpkin baby hats

I am on hat #4 of 12. I would have been on hat #5, but one went to Andrea. So I keep knitting and knitting. On my lunch, at home on the couch, on the neighbor's couch, and tomorrow night on Jody's couch. These are cute hats, and they do work up quickly. But I wish I was on 12 of 12!

Our weather here is turning to fall quickly and that makes me very happy. I love fall, I love the leaves swirling around my feet while I walk. And I don't even mind winter, when I can curl up in my flannel pjs with the kitties and knit while watching hockey.
But first, I have to knit 12 pumpkin hats.

We had diva club on Saturday. Paige did her own thing while most of us cut out the block of the month quilt we are going to be doing. This is a finished quilt, it came out about 13 1/2" square.

Paige did it all in one day. I cut out 3 blocks and started knitting. Pumpkin hats of course!

Adorable.

Just plain adorable. Debra Norling's fruit hat pattern, done in pumpkin. I am knitting a dozen of these for a hospital in Canada, but our new little neighbor lady is just so adorable I couldn't resist giving her one.

Isn't she just all that? :-)

New knitters

Every time a fairy clicks her knitting needles and new knitter is born...
I have been having a hard time finding knitters to knit with here. I don't know why that is, it just seems that most people quilt. Which is fine, because I joined up with them too. :-) So last night I started to create my knitters. Kind of like Frankenstein's monster. There were 3 victims (students), and they did great!!! We will meet every other Tuesday, I don't want to stress them out. But I am on call in case they want some help in between.
One of my observations I made last night was that how when you are little and learning something new, you just went for it. If it's not perfect, that's ok, because you're learning. I found last night that my students were very intent on getting it "right". And we all know that when you are learning something new that it takes practice to get it right. I wonder at what age do we lose our fearlessness of "failing" at something new? And can we get it back?
The best part of last night was finally having a knitting group to call home after so long! (And the laughter, and the off-knitting talk.)

Time won't slow down!!!

I cannot believe it's the end of August. The kids are back at the college and it's nice. Time to get ready for fall, and prepare for winter. I have plenty of yarn, and I always have a bit of chocolate in the house, so I guess I am ready.

I took these pics of the back of our willow tree.

Looks like knitted cables to me. :-)

Last weekend...

I've been thinking about last weekend and how great it was. Not only did I see an old friend, Pat, but I met Lynne-Marie, and we hit if off very well. Thoughts are even turning to next year to see if we want to do it all over again! And of course have some more of that pizza! The B&B was really wonderful, and within walking distance of downtown, so we could park and walk the whole weekend, except for when we went to the fiber mill, and to have dinner with Lynne-Marie's mother. The scenery was stunning, and makes me appreciate living in Michigan.

The B&B!

Last weekend Pat drove up from Toledo, and I drove down from the Soo, and we met in Grayling, MI at Borcher's, http://www.canoeborchers.com/. It was wonderful! Here are the pictures to prove it, first the wonderful breakfasts:

And the wonderful view off the second floor balcony:

And our room was wonderful, the door opens up onto the balcony:

And when you don't have a swift, you make do.

All the canoes!

Don't forget the lucky dog that lives here:

And the wonderful pizza downtown at Bear's Den Pizzaria:

And the fiber mill in East Jordan...

My goodies:

And Pat got me two suprises from Debra's Garden!

Acts of caring

I was asked to fix the new neighbor girl's blanket. She's three. And I had a deadline, I had to have the rips fixed before bedtime. While I was sewing it up, I was thinking about the handsewing, and how both men and women have been mending blankets, clothing, etc for hundreds of years. Out of necessity, out of wanting to save a treasured item for future use. I fixed the blanket, on time, and delivered it back to Emily. I told her it was mended, and she wanted to see my work. I think it passed. :-)

Trying to finish up!

I have many projects on the needles, so I am trying to finish up some of them. I am knitting a cardigan for me, a wrap, a scarf, socks....the list goes on. I do that, I cast on many projects and then work at them in turn until they are all done and then I start all over again. Tonight I worked on the cardigan, and the only thing left to do is to knit the collar and sew it all together. Hopefully I will finish that up this week. Then on to finish something else!

Knitting groups

I posted on Ravelry to see if anyone wanted to get together to knit in this area, and that failed. I miss my knitting friends from Ohio. In fact, Pat and I are getting together to knit next month. She is driving up and I am driving down and we are meeting partway to relax for a weekend. I've not done something like this before so it should be interesting. :-)
Went for a long walk last night with a student. She's very bright and full of energy. I wasn't really planning on that long a walk but before I knew it we had walked over 3 miles. And this morning I feel fine! I need to get more exercise, and if our schedules allow we'll meet up again this week to walk again. Have to take advantage of the nice weather, soon we will be in our houses for the winter again.

Level 1 complete!

I rec'd word, I have completed level 1 of the master knitter course. I have ordered level 2, but it is being revised so I have to wait. I was going to take a break but Jim convinced me to keep going or I would never finish it. So of course I listened to my husband. :-) While I wait for it to arrive I have plenty of other projects to do. My studio remodel will begin this coming spring I believe, so I want to use up some materials so it's easier to clear the room. I think I have decided what I want the room to look like, but of course that is subject to change. I want my studio to be well organized, and comfortable to work in for hours. The desk my dad built me will be tucked in the cut out by the closet, Jim will make it a bit wider so it will fit. The closet will be outfitted so I can store my stuff, and I do think that one whole wall will be cabinets so that I will never run out of storage. (Never say never? :-)

15 years ago

15 years ago today I was in our rental house in Ohio and I heard a kitten yelling her head off. We found her in the lilac bush, and then she went under the neighbor's deck. We used a bowl of milk to lure her out. She was a filthy little thing, covered in fleas. Someone had dumped a litter of kittens, and this is how Shadow came to live with us. Turns out she wasn't grey, she is white. And she is spoiled and loved and I am so glad she is part of our lives.

Happy Anniversary Shadow!

Baby hats....

One of the women I work with at the health department helps new moms learn to breastfeed and asked me to make something to give to them as a small gift. I went to town:

I couldn't resist putting little labels on the jars, "blueberry", "lemon", etc. I will take these to work tomorrow, and I know they will be used. The pattern is Ann Norling's Kid's Fruit Cap, and it's great!!!! Next on the "to do" list are some caps for the NICU downstate.

The bistro set

I am enjoying the front deck and the bistro set we bought for out there.
Breakfast last weekend,

Last night, knitting, and some refreshments:

It's really nice to be able to sit out there and do nothing but relax. I love it!

Pink Ribbon Golf Classic

So this past weekend was the Pink Ribbon Golf Classic. It was great. Everyone helps, Sherri Buckley does an excellent job organizing this whole thing. She does this every year and we're lucky to have her. I snapped a few pics.

Yummy Yum!! And then the raffle prizes. You could pick what prize you wanted to win, buy the tickets and put them in whatever bag. There were hotel night stays, etc

The weather could have been better, but the day ended with a steak dinner and prizes. And all the money went for a good cause.

A big thanks to the Quilted Moose!!

A big thanks to Chris at the Quilted Moose! We are having a Ladies' Day at work, which means we are going to screen as many women as possible for breast and cervical cancer. Women that make an appointment and come on that day get a goodie bag. I have been sewing potholders, and when I said something to Chris, she donated a dozen homemade pillowcases!

The goody bags are going to be great! :-) I made the potholders and my friend Kathy helped me turn them all, so a big thanks to her too! :-)

Hard to believe it's June 1st. Summer came quick to the Soo, it's been actually hot. And being pasty white, I am hiding from the sun in the house. And getting lots done...

Wow, almost the weekend!

It's been another busy day at work. And a busy week. And I am ready to sit and knit. I have a sweater that I just need to knit the sleeves for, so that is on the agenda, as well as curtains for Jim's library. He's excited to get furniture for down there, I have to admit it's coming together nicely. He did a good job, from the walls to the floor.

And I got flowers today at work,

from my cats for mother's day. They are gorgeous, don't you think?