Nothing happening here - move along.

Except for a cup of tea  - or six. I have a cold with a bad cough; it is very cold here and I got a rigid heddle loom for Christmas. That should be enough said, right?

See you in the New Year!

Let the wild snow rumpus begin!

But before the big snowfall (okay, guys, this is Minnesota, right?), I thought you might like to check out this:


Mombot has the perfect fashion accessory for a thrifty soul.


Now, back to your regularly scheduled snowstorm. Just in case I don't fight my way out of the snowdrifts in time, 


Merry Christmas!

One down, two to go . . .

Okay, I'd pretend it was Saturday and time for the Seven but that would be too easy.

Holiday preparations are starting to cut into my free time - but with yesterday's Monday Book Club meeting, I have one holiday starting point out of the way. We had a great time - we read short plays at our holiday meeting - and now I've got Christmas cookies to bake . . . a college student to get home and another to visit the doctor.  I am so glad the snowing won't start until Christmas Eve!

I finished one of the Bella Marie Mittens and am working on the second. I think I'll try the "Two at a Time" technique the next time I make these mittens.

I also spent a little time spinning up the remaining green wool from this summer. Maybe a hat? Mittens? Hmm. Next up on the spinning wheel, the Anonymous Fleece from GFMelissa!

Saturday's Seven were a sweater, two tee shirts, a turtleneck, two pairs of shoes and a mattress pad. I don't know why I hung onto the shoes for so long - they just never fit - and the mattress pad fits a youth bed. Was I going to wait until we had grandchildren to use that one again? Off they go to the St. John the Evangelist Big Sale!

Time to finish up the Christmas cards and put the cookie dough in the fridge to chill. Then, a little recuperative knitting!

Your heart is full of unwashed socks.

"Oh, really?" you say. That is just another, more eloquent way of saying - you're a crab cake.

Just in case your puzzler is tired - Enjoy this clip from "How the Grinch stole Christmas." I can't rouse myself to give you anything more . . .

Stop and say a prayer

I think I've mentioned my friend Mary who taught me to knit. Her daughter - the same age as one of mine - has Ewing's sarcoma.

She is going into yet another lung surgery today for tumor removal before she can undergo more treatment.


I thought I would let you read what her mother wrote on her Caring Bridge site today:

Hi. We left for the hospital just after 5 am. J. was in good spirits. She is not in surgery yet, but now that she is 18, the parents aren't invited to be with her as much. They will call us back before she goes in. We already know that this is going to be more involved than we first thought. We got 2nd and 3rd opinions from friends of ours who also happen to be in radiology. Looks like the operation today will involve Both lungs now. The left will require the big incision, but they might be able to do the right with a scope. If not, she will have the 6-7" incisions on both sides of her back. It makes for 2 chest tubes and a longer recovery,, in any case, but we want to make sure that all measureable cancer is removed before she goes to the stem cell transplant in late Jan. Sooo, please pray that the surgery goes well and gets all the cancer. Pray for the surgical team and for a recovery without complications. Thanks everybody! She will be in for many hours, so don't freak if you don't hear back before 3 or so. Thanks! Mary 

J. is such a nice girl who has undergone quite a lot of treatment over the last two years but kept very positive. Just keep her and her family in your mind today during all the holiday whirl. She could be any of our children . . .

The holidays struck early!

Good Friend Melissa stopped by early on Sunday morning for a little Saint Lucia Day festivities. She brought everything but the coffee cups and the wreath! Yum! I didn't make any saffron buns this year - just too busy with the weaving on Saturday - but I enjoyed all her hard work.

GFMelissa and Mr. Daisy enjoying a cup of Swedish coffee!

And if this didn't get you into the holiday mood, stop by

The Minnesota Knitters' Guild annual Holiday Party & Silent Auction

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Our annual holiday party caps off another fabulous year of knitting. Bring a treat to share with the group and high-quality yarn and knitting notions to donate to the auction. The proceeds from the silent auction are used to fund the Service Committee budget.

Location: 3000 University Ave SE Minneapolis, MN
Contact: (612) 436-0464, ext. 115
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

See You There!

A one day project!

I loved my weaving class at the Yarnery today! It was challenging to think about using yarn in a different way but I really loved getting a project done in a day. We started at 10 a.m. and went to 4 p.m. with a break for lunch. It ended up being about 64 inches long and 9 1/2 inches wide with fringe on either end.

This photo is before it was washed and hung to dry. It's upstairs right now - I can't wait to wear it!

It's a beautiful mix of burgandy, gold and green - very pretty!

In other fiber news, I've started another pair of Bella Mittens for Youngest Daughter. The same yarn (Karabella Soft Tweed) but in gray but and one size larger needles (8).

Teeny-tiny was the theme of this week's Saturday Seven.  A pair of Youngest Child's twill pants, a sweatshirt, two polo shirts, a tee shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of mittens. Man, that kid is just grow, grow, growing! He didn't even get to wear the mittens (I bought them at the end of the season last year) so they are going to the mitten tree at my church.

Just in case you have a spare pair of mittens or gloves laying around (knitted or otherwise), my church is sponsoring its yearly "Mitten Tree."

Randolph Heights Presbyterian Church in Saint Paul collects new hats, mittens and scarves for distribution at the Naomi Family Residence, the women and children's residence program of the Union Gospel Mission of the Twin Cities.  The RHPC Mitten Tree is collecting until December 20, 2009.

If you are interested in contributing a pair or two, please send them to:

Randolph Heights Presbyterian Church

Attn.: Mitten Tree program

435 Hamline Avenue South

Saint Paul, Minnesota 55105

Have a lovely weekend!

On the way out the door -

Hey! I've got a dinner and a movie date ASAP so this is one quick link. And if any of you are in Saint Paul tomorrow - I'll be enjoying the all day weaving class over at the Yarnery! Yea for yet another hobby that will make me a good person to know come the revolution (or the economic collapse - your pick!)

 Enjoy!

Snow day means (wool) wash day

This morning, I decided to use my snow day (at 15 degrees F. and blowing snow - no way was I going outside!) to check out the RDF (Really Dirty Fleece!) that I've been cleaning bit by bit.

I have six bags of cleaned and carded fleece. Each section is a different color.

Mostly gray - black, dark black/brown, dark gray, medium gray and light gray!

The last section of cleaned and carded wool is a nice colored gray but I don't think I'm going to be able to use it with the other colors. It is just the dirtiest section . . .

that what looks like heathered gray is really - VM. Vegetable matter. 

It got to the point today when I looked over what I was cleaning and I just bundled up that section and tossed it. The remaining sections -  dark brown, black and dark gray - were relatively clean so I washed them up and I'll get a final carding session in later this week. I don't really know what I'm going to get yarn-wise but I'm hoping to get something good enough for hats and mittens. 

One of my favorite links that I've gone to over and over this week is Spinning Forth. Ruth MacGregor's great links, videos and articles make me think this nasty old fleece might actually make some fun yarn!

Saturday, Saturday

Today was the day we planned on having the Christmas tree put up. It didn't quite work out as planned - we do have a nice clean spot for it in the living room, though!

I feel the same thing about my knitting! I have a have a plan for knitting but not actually much going on. Mostly, I've been checking out the other patterns in my "Two at a time" sock book. Is it wrong to want another pair when I've only worked about five inches so far? I'm stalking the Twilight sock pattern and it is calling, calling to me. Maybe I'll use this yarn?

Or the remains of this:

I have been working here and there on my Road Less Travelled scarf as well.

This must be the world's largest ball of yarn - I'm not expecting to finish up until sometime in the New Year!

Since Saturday is once again here - here's the Saturday Seven! I cleaned out the toy box and pulled out five stuffed animals and an Iron Man costume. The chair was the last folding chair of a table and chair set I got from my parents after graduation. They were used when my parents bought them so they had a long and full life - fly, little folding chair, fly! Actually, the whole load is going off to the St. John the Evangelist Sale.

I did have a photo of last week's Saturday Seven - but it was bad. Very Poor. Sucky. Icky. And it's all gone anyway. I dropped it off on Monday morning as part of the "Let's clean up after Thanksgiving" game plan.