Winter Storm = Knitting

This was the perfect weekend if one was not planning on going anywhere.

Our first winter storm. We had 6 inches of snow, topped with 1/2 inch of ice. The snow was incredibly heavy and difficult to shovel. I have no pictures (too busy shoveling and pushing DH's stuck car off the street and into the driveway).

As it was the perfect weather for staying indoors, plenty of knitting happened in between laundry and a tiny bit of cleaning this weekend and I've finished some easy knits. (Click on them to see the colors up close.)

Scarf made out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. Simple pattern of k5, p5 with slipped stiches on the edges. It's very "sqooshy."





The pattern for this is Amy Anderson's Hat Trick. The band is made from Artful Yarns Merino. The crown is Cascade 220 in a denim blue.



The last is a simple scarf out of Frog Tree Alpaca Handpaints which I had picked up on sale at 50% off the price. It is also a very soft, sqooshy piece of knitting.





The first two might be gifts, but the last may end up around my neck this winter.

(Note - this post edited. The pictures weren't appearing, so I tried again. Let's hope Blogger works.)

For Jean

The other day Jean Miles commented that I have the cat she's always wanted.

I'd never had a cat before and had not planned on having cats. I was more of a dog person - our family had a great dog when I was growing up.

Then three and a half years ago, on our way back home from a trip to the western part of the US, my husband and I stayed with friends who live on a farm in Minnesota. A very friendly pregnant cat had adopted their farm. Three to four weeks before our arrival she had given birth to a litter of kittens. My friends had set up a cat bed on their unused back porch and were monitoring the new family - with 2 cats and a labrador dog, they had as many indoor pets as they could handle. A few hours before we arrived at their farm, they found her in the road - killed by a passing car. The kittens were not weaned at this point, so we used a bit of the formula they used to bottle feed calves. We tried to teach the kittens how to lick - 3 of the 4 learned, but not the runt. I began feeding the runt by using an eyedropper to force the fluid down her throat.

I was often on that back porch that weekend feeding and playing with the kittens - or at least the 2 that would come out of hiding. The runt was very curious, extremely outgoing, and always begging for attention. When her brother would see what she was doing then he would join in. The other 2 of the litter stayed in hiding, coming out only to eat.

My husband steadfastly ignored the plight of the orphans - trying to delay the inevitable. I begged and begged to take the runt home - "she's going to die without our help!" was my mantra. She was losing weight during the 2 days we were there. Finally, I took her and her brother into the house, put them into his lap and said, "how can we not help these?" He knew the battle was lost. Surprisingly he agreed to take both, concurring with my logic that they would be company for each other when we were gone all day at work.

So the kittens rode home with us in a Pepsi carton lined with an old towel. The kittens were so small when we got them home - one would fit in the palm of your hand. We fed them with a bottle the first night and after that a gruel made up of soft cat food mixed with kitten formula per the advice from the vet. (I never knew before this that you could buy kitten formula, just like baby formula.) All the little girls in the neighborhood would come to our house as soon as we'd drive up after work, asking if they could play with the kittens. As a result, the cats are quite social and at times, to me, act like dogs; they run to the door to greet whoever is at the door, they often roll on their backs to have their stomaches petted, and they have a "pack" mentality in that they don't like being alone and are happiest when DH and I are both at home.

The white tortoise is the female runt, who was so ugly when we brought her home that our sister-in-law called her "Ugg". I have to admit - she really was ugly. She didn't seem to have much fur and her skin was translucent. She looked like an albino bat. She is a real life version of "The Ugly Duckling." My friends say she looks and acts exactly like her mother. Her favorite activity is jumping to the top of the doors in our house (which measure about 8 feet high.)



This is one of her favorite "hiding" places when they are chasing and stalking each other around the house.



The tabby is her brother and he's just a big bucket o' love - a mama's boy. Cuddling on my lap is his favorite activity.



Unlike his sister, he's able to be on my lap while I knit because he can withstand the temptation to attack the yarn. He's also quite smart and has figured out how to open doors - which was an unpleasant discovery on my part as the door he had opened was the closet door to my stash. There were casualties - not the cats, although they came close - but a few skeins of yarn that were discovered strung ALL over the house (2 stories) one morning. The closet door now has heavy boxes permanently stacked against the door.

This is the usual scene at our house - at least when they're not bouncing off the furniture or trying to break into the stash.

Open House

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I drove out into the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin. My destination?



Blackberry Ridge had an open house. Even though I've lived in the area for 5 years I've never been to the mill. I arrived late in the afternoon and had a personal tour.







For a non-spinner who lives vicariously through those who blog about their spinning, it was a very informative look at the process that produces this...




Of course I got the skeins in this part of the mill...





These also happened to fall in the bag. Oops.







The photos could use better light.

And a better photo assistant.

Potpourri

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Eliot.

I love autumn. The air is chilled, the landscape is a potpourri of muted and brilliant shades of reds, golds, greens, and browns, the leaves crunch under your feet, and it's cold enough to wear knitted woolen items. Everything about this season calls to the knitter in me. The season does have its disadvantages - I really dislike going to work and coming home in the darkness.

A few pictures of autumn in the midwest - taken while out and about on work-related travel.





A few weeks ago I attended a baby shower for a dear friend. This was dessert.



Work has been worse than usual lately - thus the lack of recent posts. In my spare time I'm scouting possible destinations for the knitting safari which my guild has each spring. Yes, it is quite a burden to have to visit yarn shop after yarn shop after yarn shop - but one does what one must for one's craft and guild. (She says as she drops gracefully onto the nearest fainting couch, blotting non-existent moisture from her forehead.)

On my first foray, I visited Knitch,









Just 4 Ewe,



Calico, Canvas and Colors,



and Fiddlehead Yarns.



I had never been to these places before - and each was interesting. Knitch is in an interesting town. I'd like to go back and explore. Just 4 Ewe is VERY small - but has interesting fiber and roving - I bought some handpainted fingering weight there. There is also an interesting bead shop 2 doors down. Calico, Canvas and Color is more quilt shop than yarn shop, but they have a large selection of sock yarn in addition other yarns. Fiddlehead Yarns is a bright, airy shop. I completed this tour of yarn shops on a Sunday - a day Fiddlehead isn't normally open. True to the information on her website, I called to see if the owner was in the shop - she was - and let me stop and shop while she decorated the shop for Christmas.

I was mightily tempted at each of these places, but unusually restrained (due to budget concerns, not stash concerns).

In the meantime, knitting continues at the Stash Haus - an hour an evening is about the average lately. I'm so close to finishing the Landscape Shawl, but have RUN OUT OF YARN. I may have finished it this weekend if not for that sad circumstance. A scan of my list of contents of the stash show plenty of skeins of Mountain Colors, but not what I need.

Next time - tour of a wool mill.

How 'Bout Some Cheese To Go With That Whine?

Yes, I'm whining.

For the first time in my life, I've missed Thanksgiving.

I don't know about you - but the typical menu in our family at Thanksgiving is one of my all-time favorites. The turkey, the mashed potatoes with gravy, the green bean casserole (with A LOT of french fried onions on the top), the pumpkin pie, the custard pie.

Then there is all the family togetherness - playing games, going for walks (depending on the weather, naturally), telling or retelling of family stories.

Instead, I was stuck at home, alone, nursing 7-Up and saltine crackers.

I don't know what hit me - but some kind of stomach bug which included a fever as high as 101. And made my stomach revolt at the smell of anything cooking.

It was the kind of sick where I didn't even feel up to knitting. Blech.

So the cats had a good time napping with me all day - for which they were thankful.

I'm thankful that this seems to be a quick 48-hour kind of flu.

Hope those who were celebrating had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.