Something wicked........

This is something I've had with me since I was 10 or 11 years old! So for 40 years, I've taken it with me, with each move.
My youngest sister, Debbie, gave it to me.

I wonder if any of my wonderful readers know what it is. Hmmm?

The 3 bears.......felted

Well, here they are felted. The bears got a little smaller.

Just need to embroider the eyes and mouth.

Here they are - before.

Got BIRDS?

Birds visiting my mother’s farm (in her own words):

Killdeer – stays the summer in the pasture
Bobwhite – year round
Scaled Quail – year round
Great Horned Owl – year round, catches all the mice
Long Eared Owl – year round, catches all the mice
Snowy Owl – passes thru
Red Tailed Hawk – year round, catches rabbits & ground squirrels & mice
American Kestrel – year round
Mourning Dove – year round
Ringed Turtle Dove – year round
Barn Swallow – stay thru summer, catches all insects
Common Red Shafted Flicker – passes thru, eats ants
Common Yellow Shafted Flicker – passes thru, eats ants
Red Naped Sapsucker – passes thru
Calliope Hummingbird – stays the summer
American Gold Finch – passes thru
Yellow-Rumped Warbler – passes thru
Hermit Warbler – passes thru
Kingbird – stays the summer
Meadow Lark – stays the summer
Fly Catcher – stays all summer
Scots Oriole – passing thru
Rufus-Sided Towhee – spending the summer
Black-headed Grosbeak – passing thru
Robin – all year, takes all the worms out of my garden
Hooded Oriole – passing thru
Northern Bullock’s Oriole – passing thru
Western Tanager – passing thru
House Finch – all year
Purple Finch – all year
Some Wrens – passing thru
Mocking Bird – all summer
Red-winged Blackbird – passing thru
All kinds of Sparrows – year round, a pest
Starlings – year round, eat my chicken feed
Common Grackle – all summer, eat all baby song birds
Brewers Blackbird – all summer, eat the baby birds

Besides birds, I also have:
Skunks, Badgers, Coyotes, Pronghorns, Swift Foxes, Cotton Tails and Jackrabbits – mainly in the pasture
And Bull Snakes

Today, I could water my vegetable garden without the wind blowing 40 mph. I sat down with my beloved Saint Bernard dog beside me and watched all the birds. As soon as the water flows, the swallows are there. They pick up the wet soil with some straw and fly into my barn to build their nests. I have, at least, 15 pairs here. These fragile little birds have to be the most acrobatic flyers on the wing. It is also amazing to me, to understand how they can catch their meal in flight.
Then there is the Robin, trying to pull all the worms out of my garden. I know they have to eat, but why the worms that I need for my garden soil? Oh, well!!
…and then there is this pair of Mocking Birds. The male starts to sing by my bedroom window hours before the sun comes up and he does sing pretty. It is also fascinating to watch these Mocking Birds catch their meal on the ground. They open and close their wings while their tail whips up and down.
I love to hear the cooing of the Mourning and Turtle Doves. All night long, I hear the Great Horned Owl hooting. The little Finches also sing pretty all day.
It is amazing to watch all these little critters in my place, considering that I live in the prairie.
Some folks call us Flatlanders, but I did plant hundreds of Rocky Mt. Junipers, some Pinon Pines, Aspen, Lilacs, Roses, lots of different types of shrubs, berry bushes, etc. No wonder everyone feels here at home.

Question: Have you noticed how many birds you have around your place?

Cross stitch today

Here is where I'm at today, May 31st.

It's slow going as I haven't had a chance to work on it every day.

This is the bottom left corner block of the pattern. There will be 2 more blocks to the right of it and then picture 2 more blocks of sections on top of them. Sigh ----

Me and the 3 Bears......

I saw a picture of a papa bear knit with a spool knitter and figured how to make it with 2 dpn's. Then I made some math calculations and knit a mama bear and thought, hmmm, I wonder......and then, using US sz 0 and more math homework, made the baby bear.

The picture is BEFORE felting.

Counted Cross Stitch

I love knitting first but I also love to do counted cross stitch. This project is something very dear to Ed, my hubby.

Oops, I almost told you what I was making!! I want to keep you in suspense.........I hope.

I have a cross stitch program from STOIK called 'PM Stitch Creator v.3'. It's awesome.

I'm working this at 18 stitches to the inch and there are 149 colors in it. When finished, it should be 11" wide by 12.6" tall. In order to "see" the chart, I printed it out in 9 pages (3x3)..........and this is the result of 3 nights work ~

My goal is to be finished by the last day of July. Hmmm, I wonder...........

"The Wall"

Have you every seen "The Wall"? It's in Washington, D.C.

My deputy husband was killed May 1983; I joined C.O.P.S. (Concerns Of Police Survivors) in January 1986; went to D.C. to a C.O.P.S. get-together with a bunch of other law enforcement widows, for a week, in May 1986 {the get-together had classes on how to cope with our loss}; on one of those days, we ladies took a little walk to see "The Wall"; and.....I couldn't.

I froze when I saw the dark wall.

I could not read any of the names but I could see lighter areas on "The Wall" that represented letters of the alphabet. I'm sure there were numbers on it, too.

All I did was cry. Not only did I cry......I was sobbing. And deeply. I couldn't stop.

I went back to my motel room and stayed there until we left for home. I didn't even get to attend any of the seminars that they said would teach me how to cope. It didn't even seem so important after I saw "The Wall".

It's also "National Peace Officer's Memorial Week". I fly a blue ribbon for C.O.P.S. My heart is sad and full - - all at once.

The Most Effective Form of Birth Control....

.....the Bed Snake Bat!!

Quote by B.S. Laboratories: After years of careful research, the scientists at B.S. Laboratories have discovered that pregnancy is caused by the venom of a small snake called "THE BED SNAKE." And now, after many long hours of painstaking research, we have produced what we feel is the most effective means of combating this little creature.......the amazing tool is called a BED SNAKE BAT!

EVERY woman MUST have this!

Information about the Snake:
The Bed Snake is found in all parts of the world ~~ not only in beds, but it can pop up at anytime, and anyplace, including back seats of cars, bathrooms, back alleys and dark grassy fields.

Directions for when you have spotted the Snake:
~Many women fear snakes, but you must remain calm and not alert the snake.
~Firmly grasp bat, then conceal it behind your back.
~Slowly approach the snake. When it is within striking distance, swing bat furiously, hitting the snake several times, then twice more for good measure.
~Cautiously search for eggs near the snake (usually come in pairs). If found, bash them both three times. By this time the snake should be unconscious. Take careful aim, bash it once more and run as far away as you can.

Letter from one satisfied customer:
The other day I really gave my Bed Snake Bat a good work-out. I happened to take a wrong turn into a men's locker room and I have never seen such a convention of Bed Snakes. I'm sure the snakes must have thought they were well hidden but by the time I got through, there were Bed Snakes lying unconscious, dead or dying all over the place.
The girls and I have decided to plan regular surprise attacks on these new found snake dens!

Addison's sweater..with a little surprise

The design, on the fronts, is called the 'Twisted Tree' - from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Calendar. I made sure the pattern worked all the way to the shoulders. It actually blended very well with the ribbing in twisted rib. {Lace scarf knit by me over 15 years ago from an old Workbasket pattern}

Well, I survived the sewing and cutting of the steeks. They were 5 stitches wide and I sewed along both sides of the middle one. If I had a room where I could lie down after I cut them, I would have.

In order to sew in the sleeves, I first had to sew the shoulders together. I remember the 'Cardigan Details 'DVD of Meg Swansen doing a 3-needle bind off and being fussy about having the wrong sides together and making sure the purl bumps showed on the front side.......I, too, am fussy and did the same thing to this precious little cardigan.

I then revisited two great books, in my library, that I refer to often - 'Knitting Workshop' and 'Knitting Around' by Elizabeth Zimmermann - to pick up stitches around the fronts and neck to knit the band in garter. In continuing with my fussiness - where the front bands turn to go around the neck, I maintained the stitch (with increases on either side) in stocking stitch on the right side. After 3 ridges, I strategically placed buttonholes with a YO, K2tog. At the same time, I decreased 4 stitches at the back of the neck between the shoulders so it would lay against the neck and not stick out - as Meg and EZ would do. I knit another 2 ridges and did a lovely 2-stitch I-cord cast off.

Lastly, I neatened the cut edges using red woolly nylon.

Going to my LYS (Yarn 'N Things, Chehalis, WA), I found the perfect Lady Bug buttons with an extra one for the surprise hat I made by casting on my gauge times Addison's head circumference. I topped it off with a little I-cord and knit it long enough to tie it into a knot.

Well, here is our sweet, sweet granddaughter.
Her mother appreciates hand made items and is such a good mom. She sent this picture, today, of Addison dressed in the sweater.

....hmmmm, I think she likes it. :)

PS~ I designed this cardigan especially for Addison and with some help with Sweater Wizard, too.

Addison's little Red Cardigan Sweater...

....to match her socks.

Once again, I used Cascade 220 Super Wash and US sz 5 for the ribbing/US sz 6 for the body.

Here are the parts:
2 sleeves knit in the round, cuff down
1 body knit in the round, with steeks

Rather than casting the shoulders off, I put them on waste yarn to do a three needle bind off.....after I sew and cut the four steeks (2 sleeve steeks, front steek and Kangaroo pouch for the neck)...>gulp<

I'll tell you how I did it all in another post. :)

Now I'm at this point

I'm just about finished. Here, I am sewing under (or neatening) the cut steeks. The sweater is inside out to show you.

I'll finish this little creation up so I can wash and block it!!

{Yes, that's a doily I crocheted years and years ago} :)

I remember Wilbur

I was 9 years old when our mom brought home a baby Red Duroc pig. My two younger sisters and I gathered around to watch the little pig learn its way around the huge pen. We named him Wilbur - from our favorite book, "Charlotte's Web".

Every day, after school, we would run into the house to change our clothes, do our chores and play with Wilbur. We scratched his belly after he finished drinking water from the hose. We washed his feeding trough and made sure his bedding was fluffed up in his shelter. He quickly grew big and strong and would even let us ride him. This went on for 6 months........it was inevitable that we fell in love with Wilbur.

One day, after school, we could not find Wilbur! He was gone!! I don't remember exactly what mom told us.....

Days later, mom had prepared a ham dinner. [Mind you, my mother was a German gourmet cook] Us 3 girls were all seated around the table when mom brought our plates of food. We sat there silent, with our eyes wide open - staring at the ham. The silence was broken when mom said, Come on! Let's eat!

It was either my sister, Doris, or me that asked with a shaky voice and bottom lip sticking out - Is that Wilbur?

Mom said, Yes it is. I told you girls, over and over, to not play with him because he was going to be butchered. Now let's eat!

Oh, you should have heard the wailing!

Well, us girls didn't eat any meat that night but mom tells me, we eventually did - days later.

Addison and her Red Socks

Oh. My. Gosh.

It didn't take me long to start knitting for this adorable grandchild of DH's. Now I know what all the fussing over a grandchild is about. :)

I measured her little feet (slightly longer than 4") and knit these with Cascade 220 Superwash Wool, casting on with US sz 5 dpn's and did a hem-top picot edge. I then switched to US sz 6 dpn's for the rest of the sock.

I'm just about finished with a cardigan I designed especially for her that I'm knitting in the round with steeks. That will be another post.........and soon, too!

Lace edging section blocked

Looks like I might get some help to my dilema!!

I'm crossing my fingers!

A plea for help on my lace edging!!

For those of you who have been following my blog, I am not a stranger to lace knitting but I am stumped!!!!!
I need help with figuring out the pattern for my lace edging I started, oh - some years ago. I misplaced the pattern. I thought I could tink back and write the instructions down..........well, instead I lost a whole repeat!!!

Is there anyone out there that might be able to decipher it?

My email address is on the side bar.

Finished for my son

These socks started here.

Yikes! That was a while ago! Sorry, son, for taking so long.
They are a sz 13.

Next........fingerless mitts in the same yarn to match his socks. :)
I've traced his hand and then traced his fingers. They will fit like a glove.....ahem....no pun intended. ;)

Madrona Fiber Arts in Tacoma, WA

This is Pat Fly's booth with her luxurious hand dyed and hand-painted yarns.

You can find them at Little Knits.

Fly Designs is the name. Check her delicious yarns out......you will not be disappointed.

Socks for a dear friends SIL

The process first started with the invitation to do something special for my dear friend, Alberta. First, of all, we are friends for life with a common tragedy - my husband was a deputy killed in-the-line-of-duty in Arizona and Alberta's husband, of over 20 years, was State Trooper who was killed in-the-line-of-duty in Washington.

Alberta wanted to giver her dear SIL something unique and special to her so she asked if I would knit her a pair of warm socks. Of course I would. :)

The next step was to find out what her favorite colors are; some important measurements for a personal fit; how she would be wearing them; and any allergies to certain fiber animals.

I love searching for the right yarn and found Schaefer Anne at Little Knits, called "Puget Sound". As a note of caution: You should always purchase 2 hanks when they are a Limited Edition, because when they are gone - They Are Gone.

So now comes gauge and the perfect pattern from 'Sensational Knitted Socks' by Charlene Schurch called Baby Cable Rib - and I can't believe I got gauge with US sz 1's! Usually, it's 0's.......so with that information and the circumference of her foot, I figured 10% less for ease and cast on 68 stitches (making an adjustment as her pattern is for 64 or 72 stitches) with US sz 3; knit 3 rounds of k1, p1; and then switched to my gauge needles and knit away. I use one needle size smaller for the heels and toes for durability.

So, this great hank of wool and mohair with some nylon went from this........

.....to a great pair of socks.

It's magic, you know, how a long piece of string and be manipulated into something so practical.

Gosh, I love to knit.

Leaving Yreka, CA

Almost home! I decided to take a chance after looking at the cam pictures of the passes at http://www.tripcheck.com/. I will be using that from now on! It's a great place to "see" what you might be in for as you travel the highways.

These scenes, from Siskiyou Pass, are zoomed in.

I only wish the trucks wouldn't follow so close.

Maltese Fisherman Hat

This was taken a couple Friday nights ago after dinner. I knit the hat Frankie is wearing. It's called the Maltese Fisherman Hat by EZ and can be found in 'Knitter's Almanac'.

I used Sheepsdown and found it a quick knit at 2 1/2 stitches/inch. It only took 3 hours. I sent the picture to Meg Swansen and she emailed me the next morning and loved that I completed it with, as she said - "Antic Top Twiddles". :)

I think my son likes it.....and his girlfriend, Becca.

She is really nice......

and knits!

......and then there's Scarlett

If you haven't heard of Scarlett, I think you are missing out. She recently had a contest to help name her blog and Etsy store. My DH came up with most of it and she refined it. Now it reads, Scarlett's Society of Quirky Things.

I would like to take a moment and tell you that I was the first to purchase from her Etsy Store. Scarlett is just starting out and has a new found talent - drawing.......and, by golly, I think she's got something.

I met Scarlett when we were knitting Springtime in Paris socks, from Six-Socks KAL. She is certainly my knitster-in-crime. The quirky in her new name fits. I hope you will take a moment and click on over to her blog.....and get an idea of what she is all about.

Family History.......

......and I've been tagged by Romi!
The rules are very simple:
I am to open a book I am currently reading to page 161 and copy the fifth sentence on the page.
Well, it isn't as simple for me since I do more knitting than reading - so....this is a great place to put my knitting down and read the book I stuck a marker in.
In this book, on page 161, 5th sentence - it reads, "She had been beaten and abused by her husband and wanted to get out of Nogales so he wouldn't be able to find her."
The book is "Hidden Treasures of Santa Cruz County" by Betty Barr.
A little history here: In my 30's, I found out my Grandfather, on my father's side, was not my Grandfather. Well, let's see, my grandparents lived on a ranch in southern Arizona (in Santa Cruz County) while working for a rancher named Jim Hathaway. Yup, you got it - HE is my grandfather. Oh, I learned so much and it is sooooo interesting, to say the least.

{If you want to read more about my findings, please leave a comment!!!}

Now for my 5 tag-ees: Scarlett; Kat; Rochelle; Irie and Diana!! Gosh, I wanted to add a few more, but those are the rules!! Ready, set, GO...........

The things I am so grateful for

~ I am grateful for wonderful friends who have sons that can help edit a picture to fit a blog header and move the words around. It's Teri McD, a member of Socks for Soldiers, and her son Keith. Thank you, Keith!!!! I love my new blog header!!

~ I am grateful to my mom. She made me what and who I am today....and more. No matter how tired she was from working to support 3 growing girls, she always stopped when she heard, "Watch ME, mom!" When we sat together in the living room, we raced to see which one of us would be on either side of her and one sitting at her feet. On weekend mornings, she would sometimes be awakened to 3 girls snuggling up to her and she would smile.

~ I am grateful to my son, Frankie Jr. Even though he's grown up, I still see that little boy who fit the poster he had in his room forever. It was a close-up picture of a Cowboy digging his heels in the thick dirt, bulldogging a steer and it said "Boys Will Be Boys". I must have raised him right, right from the get go because he is good and has a level head on his shoulders. He still likes to hug and snuggle with me.....and he loves my cooking.

~ I am grateful to my DH (aka: Darling Husband or Ed). September 13th will be our 8th Anniversary. We have been through a big learning curve with each other. I believe the older we get, when we get together to make a life, the longer it takes to "get" each other and appreciate the differences. It's harder to bend.....but it's much better. Ed gives me the opportunity to devote so much to my passion for Socks For Soldiers. He never once complains about that.....and HE loves my cooking, too.

~ I am grateful to my Internet friends. My goodness, I've made many. I should have warned you all that when I make friends, it's for life. Ask my friends that I call up after 20+ years. ;)

~ I am grateful to my late husband's friends who email or call me every so often to make sure I'm okay. They've been doing this for over 20 years now.

~ I am grateful to have the opportunity to participate in Socks for Soldiers. Nothing touches the heart like seeing the smiles on the soldiers faces as they open the boxes Kim sends. You cry and then want to knit more and faster. Like Kim says, it's "we" that makes her mission to let soldiers know they are not forgotten. Kim and I have never met, yet she made me a moderator. She is also known as Sarge and her keyboard is aka: Command Central. She is tough and soft all rolled into one. My one wish is that every sock knitter knit just one pair to send to Kim. THAT would be awesome......and we would all cry.

~ I am grateful to my sisters. I remember having lots of fun growing up.......and, I would have never learned how to fight without them. :)

~ I am grateful for the talent I have to master anything crafty or mechanical.....and to share my talent with others. I think it would be a sin, not to.

Okay, I'll stop for now. It looks like, since I've missed blogging for a few weeks, I'm trying to make it up all at once!

Oh! One more:

~ I am grateful that I started a blog because............

I met YOU.
When YOU visit my blog, you visit me. I count each and every one of you as a blessing in my life. Thank you.

O Christmas Tree....and dinner's in the crock-pot

I love my tumbleweed Christmas Tree!
Most of the presents are wrapped and one isn't because I took the beautiful red ribbon off the hank of glorious sock yarn. I made it into a cake and stuck some bamboo needles in it. The red ribbon said, "Proud to be an American".
The rooster and hen are in the picture because I forgot to send them to my mother. How could I forget to do that?
Well, I placed them in the condo like decoration and....well....forgot. I'll send them before the new year.
Christmas dinner is cooking in the crock-pot, too! I'm having a non-traditional pork loin and sauerkraut dinner. Besides beef roast, this is a very favorite that I grew up with. I don't have potatoes but I do have a sweet potato to place on top about an hour before I want to eat.

Is there anyone else who is having a non-traditional dinner? Tell me about it!

A New Christmas Story

Will The Christ Child Come?
Halfway through December we were doing the regular evening things when there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find a small package with a beautiful ceramic lamb inside. We looked at the calendar and realized that the 12 days of Christmas were beginning!! We waited excitedly for the next night's surprise and only then, with the gift of a matching shepherd, did we realize that the lamb was part of a nativity set. Each night we grew more excited to see what piece we would receive. Each was exquisitely beautiful. The kids kept trying to catch the givers as we slowly built the scene at the manager and began to focus on Christ's birth. On Christmas Eve, all the pieces were in place, but the baby Jesus.
My 12 year-old son really wanted to catch our benefactors and began to devise all kinds of ways to trap them. He ate his dinner in the mini-van watching and waiting, but no one came. Finally, we called him in to go through our family's Christmas Eve traditions, but before the kids went to bed we checked the front step-No Baby Jesus! We began to worry that my son had scared them off. My husband suggested that maybe they dropped the Jesus and there wouldn't be anything coming. Somehow, something was missing that Christmas Eve. There was a feeling that things weren't complete. The kids went to bed and I put out Christmas, but before I went to bed I again checked to see if the baby Jesus had come-no, the doorstep was empty.
In our family the kids can open their stockings when they want to, but they have to wait to open any presents until Dad wakes up. So one by one they woke up very early and I also woke up to watch them. Even before they opened their stockings, each child checked to see if perhaps during the night the baby Jesus had come. Missing that piece of the set seemed to have an odd effect. At least it changed my focus. I knew there were presents under the tree for me and I was excited to watch the children open their gifts, but first on my mind was the feeling of waiting for the ceramic Christ Child.
We had opened just about all of the presents when one of the children found one more for me buried deep beneath the limbs of the tree. He handed me a small package from my former visiting teaching companion. This sister was somewhat less active in the church. I had learned over time they didn't have much for Christmas, so that their focus was the children. It sounded like she didn't get many gifts to open, so I had always given her a small package - new dish towels, the next year's lesson manual - not much, but something for her to open. I was touched when at Church on the day before Christmas, she had given me this small package, saying it was just a token of her love and appreciation. As I took off the bow, I remembered my friendship with her and was filled with gratitude for knowing her and for her kindness and sacrifice in this year giving me a gift. But as the paper fell away, I began to tremble and cry. There in the small brown box was the baby Jesus. He had come!
I realized on that Christmas Day that Christ will come into our lives in ways that we don't expect. The spirit of Christ comes into our hearts as we serve one another. We had waited and watched for him to come, expecting the dramatic 'knock at the door and scurrying of feet' but he came in a small, simple package that represented service, friendship, gratitude, and love.
This experience taught me that the beginning of the true spirit of Christmas comes as we open our hearts and actively focus on the Savior. But we will most likely find him in the small and simple acts of love, friendship and service that we give to each other. This Christmas I want to feel, again, the joy of knowing that Christ is in our home. I want to focus on loving and serving. More than that I want to open my heart to him all year that I may see him again.
Don't forget the reason for the Season.

Get a sandwich....this is a long read

Even though I keep busy with knitting Socks For Soldiers, I still have too much time on my hands to think about the things I miss.

I miss my father:
My mom and dad divorced when I was 6. I am the oldest of 3 girls.
He would visit us each weekend and make us dress up nice. We were reminded about where to place our feet when we got in his car.
Even if the cup was too big or the liquid too hot, we were not allowed to hold it with two hands or "slurp". He was very strict and almost everything I did irritated him. I got to thinking he didn't like me.
I turned 19 and lived a few streets from him. That's the year he disowned me (it's now been 30 years). I wrote him a while later and got the letter back with his handwriting on it - "Refused. Return to sender."
It was unopened.
Like a glutton for punishment, I wrote him for the next 5 years without a return address label. I didn't hear back from him.
Just two years ago, I made a birthday card for him with a picture of me (when I was 6) on the front. Inside, I just wrote that I loved him and missed him. I included my address.
I didn't hear back.

I miss my first husband:
Mike and I married when I was 21 and he was 34. Two months later, he turned 35.
He was a nice man and we were always interested in what the other person was interested in. Here's one of many stories: He was a city boy and I, a country girl. We had some chickens and he asked me, one day, where the egg came out of the chicken. I was giggling inside when I took him outside, picked up a hen and held her upside down. Her little bottom was right there for all to see and Mike gasped with disgust saying, "Oh, that's disgusting! I'm never eating another egg!"
Well, he did eat eggs after that. :)
Why do I miss him? I realized that not all men were like my father. Mike was nice, caring, protective and loving. I lost a part of my life when he was shot and killed 2 days before our 5th wedding anniversary. He was a deputy.

I miss my first child:
Jacob was born to me in 1985. I remember when I was leaving the hospital and sitting in the car waiting for them to place him in my arms. I was thinking - I don't know how to take care of him and they're trusting him to me! I was so scared but things worked out. He was such a good baby.
I got to have him for 3 1/2 years until his father legally took him from me. I was moving to another state and he had me served with papers preventing me from taking Jacob out of state.
I was already packed and just leaving when I was served. I looked around in shock and then noticed Jacob's father leaning against his car grinning and waving.
Another part of my life was lost.
Lots of stuff happened in between after I moved. I was also going through a divorce from my second son's father who left us when our son was a month old.
My heart hurts to this day with the loss of Jacob. I can never get it back.

I miss my attorney friend:
I met Randy Walker, after I became a Reserve Police Officer, in 1990. He was the prosecuting attorney for the City. We just hit it right off and had a long platonic relationship.
He divorced years later. About a year after that he met and rekindled his friendship with a widow that he knew in kindergarten. How cool is that?! He asked me to knit him a pair of kilt hose in his clan colors to wear in his wedding to Pam. He bought the yarn and pattern and I was more than honored to knit them up. Just about 2 years later, at the age of 56, he made Pam a widow again. I think I cried a long time and not just for myself. Sure I miss my dear friend but I can imagine the loss Pam felt. They were so good for each other.

Well, that's enough for today since I have started crying!
Another day, I'll write what I am thankful for (which is a great deal!).

Thank you for visiting my blog. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

After a snow storm....

......you just never know what might move in.

I was walking around and saw we had two squatters.
I don't know how long they will be around but we will all be keeping a close eye on them.
So far, they're pretty quiet and keep to themselves.

Not the same Mr. Greenjeans I grew up with......

This V-neck cardigan is being knit with KnitPicks Swish worsted in Marine Heather. It's a very deep scrumptous colored yarn. I'm using US sz 8 circulars in 24" and we (the yarn and I) are moving right along......

.....as you can see. The pattern is wonderful to knit and I've modified it only by adding bust darts so the front won't ride up.

The pattern can be found at Knitty.

Longies are finished!

They're done and just in the nick of time! It's getting so cold and they are - oh, so warm, but not too warm - just right.
The pattern is called Nether Garments in "Knitter's Almanac" by Elizabeth Zimmermann.I knit them with US sz 6 needles and flew through the Non-Pithy directions. :)
Will I make another pair?
Yes.
I am waiting for my order from School House Press. The yarn of choice is Canadian Regal (a very close substitute for 'fisherman' wool). This time I will cast on more stitches at the ankle to incorporate a tapered look on the sides. Oh, I can't wait!
My wool order also includes Sheepsdown to knit the 'Hurry-Up Sweater' for my son. That, too, is in the same book.
Once you have the book, you can join the group, Elizabeth's Year, that finally encouraged me to finally start knitting from it.