Merry Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among all,
To make music in the heart.


- Howard Thurman



I believe the work mentioned above surpasses all human barriers - cultural, ethnic, religious, geographical, economic.

So, dear friends, I hope these days, and those to come, are full of love, hope, happiness, and above all, peace.

Don't Want to Kick This Habit

First, let's start with the contest from Thanksgiving.

After pulling out my Official Contest Bag,



I assigned numbers to the corresponding comments of the Thanksgiving post and put them all in the bag.

Luckily, I did not need a bigger bag.



Number 3 it is -


so Lisa R R from Toronto - you are the big winner!

I will not post a picture of the yarny goodness until she's received the package - don't want to spoil the surprise. So, Lisa, if you are on Ravelry, please PM me there - I'm stashhaus. If you're not on Ravelry, JOIN NOW! leave a comment in this post and we'll get in touch.

Guild

Our guild had Franklin as the speaker this month to present a program on his interest in antique knitting patterns. And yes, we are a hardcore group. And yes, he was a hit.



And if I sound as if the evening was even a shade less than perfect, it is solely because the lovely Tom did not come along.

Franklin brought along the samples he's knitted from victorian-era patterns, including the famous nightcap. Sadly, I did not get a picture of him modeling it.

It looked a bit like this - but without the shawl.


There are few men on this planet who could look sexy in either a shawl or a nightcap. Franklin and Tom manage to do both.

On The Needles

DH's family picks names for Christmas and I picked my mother-in-law's name. On December 1st, in a completely delusional moment, I thought, "I'll knit her something for Christmas." I searched my patterns and searched my stash and came up with this -



Two Old Bags' Summer In Kansas, made out of Wool In The Woods Ballet in hunter green.

This pattern is knit from the neck down which means that each row is longer than the previous row.

I'm on row 115.

There are nearly 200 rows.

Plus the border.

If you do the math, I've managed around 10 rows a day.

But each row is taking longer and looonger to knit.

I think she'll get this for her birthday in July.

I'm feel quite virtuous as the yarn is from stash.

On the other hand, I'm not so crazy honest virtuous that I'd set up a ticker like Jean has - I doubt I'd ever get it over 30 20 15 10 days.

Traffic

Traffic in Smalltown, USA is just not the same as traffic in the city.



I haven't lived here long enough that I could tell you what this is - DH, who spent a couple of summers working on his uncle's farm, informed me it's used for one of the steps in harvesting hay.

Study in Blues

We had our first snow of the season - the kind that sticks around for awhile.



Two projects have been recently finished. The first is Dane made from Fleece Artist Merino in Rose Garden. DH kindly modeled it for me. It's not yet blocked, but you get the idea. I love this pattern - easy, peasy and will use up those smaller amounts of lace weight or fingering yarns. I will be making more.

This shows up the pattern -


but the color is much closer to the this.


The second item is a wimple - a pattern by Amy Anderson called Wayne F. after her father. The yarn is Plymouth Happy Feet. I'll make this again - the pattern is very easy and good "company" knitting - but I'll do 3 less decrease rounds than the pattern calls for while keeping it the same length. When pulled up, the wimple is quite close and tight to the head.



Don't forget - leave a comment in the previous post before tonight (12/4) at 11:59 p.m. (CST - central standard time) and you'll be entered into a drawing for some yarn. It doesn't matter where you live, I'm willing to ship world-wide.

Have A Happy Thanksgiving and Win Some Yarn

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

Harvest celebrations date back to ancient times – they occur on every continent – every country and culture has its traditions to mark the harvest or the change of seasons.

While presidents, beginning with Washington, marked a day as a day of thanksgiving, the regular observance of the day began with President Lincoln who proclaimed on October 3, 1863 the last Thursday in November to be a national holiday. At the time of his proclamation in the US, the Civil War was raging: the siege of Vicksburg, the horrific battle of Gettysburg and the Lawrence Massacre (to name just a few events) had all occurred earlier that year. The government instituted the first military draft and in response were the New York Draft Riots. Also in 1863, Arizona organized as a US territory and West Virginia became the 35th state.

During FDR’s presidency, in 1941, Congress declared Thanksgiving a federal holiday. By this time the UK and Europe were battling Hitler and his army. In 1941, Hitler’s troops continued to trample through countries, invading Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Soviet Union - the long siege of Leningrad had begun. The gas chambers at Auschwitz were put to use. Civilians in the UK had been rationing for a year and were enduring the Blitz. Ten days after Thanksgiving, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and we were at war in the Pacific. A few days later Germany declared war on the US and we were at war in the Atlantic and in Europe. In 1941, the USO was created, Bob Hope performed his first USO show, and Glenn Miller received the first gold record for Chattanooga Choo Choo. Cheerios (then called CheeriOats) was put on the market.

I found the historical context very interesting. Perhaps it is during such bleak times that our need to appreciate what we hold dear is greatest.

Since we’ve been together, DH and I have walked the tightrope of "with-whose-family-do-we-spend-which-holiday." One year, after sitting through two separate Thanksgiving dinners within the space of 5 hours, we decided we needed to try to divide the holidays between the families. It was difficult getting used to different traditions. One family is mesmerized by the football games, the other is not - depending on who is in attendance. We can't ever discuss whose mother makes the best pumpkin pie. (Mine.)

One year, early in our marriage, his family went around the table, each person mentioning things for which they were thankful. I was one of the last to speak and I was stuck. Everyone had already mentioned what I would have said – good health, a home, a loving spouse, a job, wonderful friends, pets. As I frantically thought, I realized that I needed to refrain from naming specific people because this is like an Oscar acceptance speech – if you forget anyone important, like your spouse or your mother-in-law, you’ll never live it down.

What I really wanted to include in my list would not have been appreciated by anyone other than my fellow knitters.

Addi Turbos.

Oooh, don't forget Lace Addi Turbos.

Handpainted yarns and independent dyers.

Alpaca.

Wool.

Cashmere.

Silk.

Any combination of these fibers.

People who are turning milk, soy, and bamboo into yarn.

My local yarn shops.

Well designed patterns.

A project that actually comes out to the same gauge as the gauge swatch.

That, considering what happened to the economy, I'm thankful I had the foresight to, erm...stock up, shall we say, on yarn.

Well, you get the idea. You and I both know this list could go on forever. Leave a comment by 11:59 p.m. (central standard time) on December 4th, sharing with us what you're thankful for. I will assign numbers to the comments and will have DH randomly draw one number. That person will get some yarn they will be very thankful for, indeed. Even if you live overseas and don't celebrate Thanksgiving - leave a comment anyway.

And if you happen to blurt out "Addi Turbos" in the middle of thanksgiving dinner, don't blame me.

You Can Thank Me Later

Just head over to Margaret and Helen's Blog and read Helen's Thanksgiving letter.

Heck, just read any entry.

I love those ladies.

I think you might, too.

Menagerie

Guild

Our speaker this month was Terri Shea, author of Selbuvotter. She was a very engaging speaker and was so blown away by the crowd that is our guild that she had to take photos, ala Harlot style.



Finished

My columns scarf made from lovely yarn from Brooks Farm.




Knitting On The Brain
At work the other day, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I spied a stitch marker and wondered how one could have gotten onto my office desk.



Duh!



Seen On My Travels

I saw this lovely, lovely house for sale.



7 bedrooms, 6.5 baths. over 5000 square feet. And 3 car garage.



Asking price - over $600,000.

But here's the view from the front porch.



Recuperating
Thanks for the well wishes for meine Mutter. She is healing fast and doing well considering her surgery was less than 2 weeks ago.

Vanity

Vanity plate seen yesterday on this vehicle.

SIN WAGN.

Really.

The mind reels.

Whether the owners are baby boomers or gen x, my only thought is WTF?

Seen Today

This vehicle with a personalized license plate that says SX PSTLS.

On The Grid

You gotta love technology.

I'm sitting in my mom's hospital room, blogging while she (and Dad) nap. She had knee replacement surgery yesterday and is doing well. Unfortunately she'll have to go through this all again as the other knee needs to be replaced.

Overdue thanks to my Emma, my partner in the Indied Dyed yarn swap on Ravelry. Just look at the bounty.

Package from Italy!


I can't believe how much she fit into the box -


Earrings.


Key chain and coaster.


Shawl pin


All of the above was packed into this accessory bag.


Tissue.


Notepads.


And the gorgeous yarn


And more gorgeousness!


A scarf she knit for me.


A group photo - she also included an Italian knitting magazine and a Jodi Picoult book- this will be the first I've read of her books.


On The Needles

Dragonfly by Susan Pandorf. I found Earthfaire through The Faculty Meeting Knitter. This pattern has hundreds of beads. I don't have it with me as anything beaded (especially with such small beads) is not traveling knitting.





It takes me forever to do a row, but the effect will be well worth it.

And, make sure you're all sitting down...

we have a sock. I'm following the pattern from Cat Borhi's new book, Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters as part of a class taught by Amy Detjen.



Nothing like a sock with a steek.

Stay tuned to see how this turns out.

Finds - Part IV

More finds in local thrift stores.

The first is a 1941 booklet from Chadwick's Red Heart.



Notice how the hats are not all that practical - more decorative than for warmth - none of them cover the ears.



For every stylish businessman -


Look at the braid on that hat - what a complete waste of yarn! Obviously this book was printed and released before Pearl Harbor. I don't think wartime knitting patterns would have patterns like this.




Look at those socks - yes, folks, that is indeed fringe around the entire sock. You are viewing the original Swiffer.


I had no idea Red Heart used to offer "Knitting Worsted 4 Fold," "Shetland Floss," "Sweater Wool," and "Sports Yarn." According to my local expert (my mom) they were a decent quality, dye lots always true kind of yarn.


The second - Lacey's Book of Classics for the Entire Family, Volume 26 - is mainly sweater, cardigan, and vest patterns. Like some of the other booklets I've found, the patterns are not named but are numbered. The first pattern in the booklet, a children's pullover sweater with set in sleeves, is inspiringly called No. 2601.


Again, a pipe is the ultimate male accessory. My dad (a pipe and cigar smoker) was so vogue.


I had to share the back cover page. Notice volume 23 and how the boy is gazing at the girl. Now look at volume 24 and how the roles are reversed with the adults. I'm telling you all - it's all in the pipe. (OK, ya'll - stop thinking of all the euphemisms.)

The Perfect Weather for Fiber

The weather has turned into that beautiful fall weather - sometimes overcast, turning all the colors into muted shades, sometimes sunny with brilliantly blue skies highlighting all the colors of autumn. In the evenings, the smell of burning wood from neighbors' fireplaces is made sharper by the cold air. The landscape around Smalltown, is changing as harvest progresses. It's time for pulling out the heavier sweaters.

This weekend has been a mix of work (blah...) and fibery goodness.

Yesterday I headed to one of my favorite cities in the US - Chicago - for Yarn Con. I was there to scope out vendors for a future guild event and also to find some yarn for a swap. I was successful on both fronts - but I can't show you the results as I don't want my swap partner to see her gift (it's not a secret swap so she knows I'm her partner).




The few hours in Chicago just reinforced that I need to go there more often. (Not the greatest photos being taken from my car at stoplights.)





I detoured from Pulaski Park (Yarn Con's location) to just south of downtown to Dearborn station and Loopy Yarns. They have much more space than their previous location.




Different weights of yarns are located in different rooms and they have a very large classroom space/sale yarns in the lower level.





If you hit Loopy Yarns, be sure to make time to explore the surrounding neighborhood, known as Printer's Row.

I also made a stop here as I'm looking for CD storage ideas.


I'd never been before as it is not a simple thing to get to the store from the interstate highway. It is so huge it's overwhelming. I walked around all 3 floors just to get an idea of all the merchandise and picked up a catalog. I did pick up 2 more holders for my knitting magazines. It took a bit of searching as the majority of their stock are made out of folded cardboard. (Why would one put steel details on cardboard? While it looks nice, it's still cardboard and, in my opinion, flimsy.)

We have a finished object! The Faroese Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. It did not turn out as large as I would like - I was in denial but didn't want to rip out yet again - so instead this item will be a gift.



(This was the best photo I could get - by spreading it over 2 small tables then standing on a chair. Click to see the detail.)