You DO NOT want to miss out on this!!!!

If you love to crochet and you love snowflakes....you'll want to have this!  Please take the time to check out the Snowcatcher blog post about how to get her patterns in PDF format.

A past blog post about my sister, Doris, ties in with Snowcatcher, and her husband, in what they are doing.

What needles do YOU use to knit socks?

These are the needles "I" use to knit.

They may look small but they sure can crank out a pair in no time at all!!!!

I use them on my antique sock knitting machine or CSM. The shorter one makes the purl stitch and so that leaves the taller one to make the knit stitch.

In the knitting process, the shorter one lays horizontal while the taller one sits vertical.

So, once again, what needles do YOU use to knit socks?  Hmmm? ;)

What is a CSM?

I went to the Lacey Retreat, this past weekend, with my antique circular sock knitting machine. It's a Legare 47 and was built to knit socks for the troops during WWI.

When you click on the picture, look for the two black cones of wool and scroll up.
I mainly knit socks by hand since I love to do a lot of fancy stitches. The CSM is a great one for ribbing and stockinette stitch. Lace patterns and flat work can also be accomplished. Every time I work with my Legare, I learn something new!

Something about....me

As you might have guessed...I am wearing a police uniform in that picture.

I used to be in law enforcement and did that on and off for 10 years.

How or why did I do that? Here is the story:

I dated and married a Yavapai County Deputy Sheriff when I was 21. We later moved to Coconino County where he, at the age of 39, made me a widow just after I turned 26 and 2 days before our 5th wedding anniversary. (His children were from a previous marriage -- we had none together)

I learned a great deal about law enforcement from him and how to ride a motorcycle. An Arizona Highway Patrol Motor Officer once rode next to me as I was on my way to work. He was in the same lane I was in!! Not a whole lot of room with his big ole bike and me on my 650 Kawasaki. He turned to me after the ride and said I was a very good motorcycle rider! I came to realize that it was a great compliment coming from a person who graduated from the Motorcycle academy.

So, back to why I decided to become one of those people with the ticket book.

I like to give back to the community where I live. I wanted to do something not everyone could do. I found that since I had good credit (yes, that counts), respect for the law and physically fit, I would try out for the sheriff's office AND the city police department in Washington state. I went through the testing (background, psychological, polygraph, physical agility and THE INTERVIEW) and passed for both departments. Now I had to choose which one I was going to join. Mind you, I would have to KNOW the entire area I would work in so I decided to join the city police department as it didn't seem as big as the county.

I went through the 6 month academy while I still worked 40 hours a week. Did I mention, I was not going to get paid for the police position? It is called being a Reserve Police Officer. Your duties and training were the same as a paid officer. Like I said, (I knew) not anyone could or would want to do this and it was my way of giving back to the community.

I made a good name for myself there. I didn't have a chip on my shoulder as many of the female officers I've met did. The Chief and other officers respected me and could count on me.

I loved the white collar crime part of the job with traffic stops second. I very rarely cited anyone for speeding but did cite for no proof of insurance.

I'll never forget one of my first traffic stops. My training officer and I were walking back to the patrol car when he asked me if I believed everything the guy said. When I said I did, he just slowly shook his head and said I had a looooong way to go. My response was, "He lied to me?!!!" That was a hoot! I grew up in the country where a handshake meant something and never thought about people lying. I have come to realize that people who lie are very busy. They have to remember who they lied to and then what they lied to them about. That's a lot of work!

I haven't been in law enforcement now for over 6 years. It was an interesting part of my life to be a part of the "Thin Blue Line" as a widow and an officer.