What I Did On New Year's Eve...

I got those creative juices flowing!

While putting away a new blanket, I saw an old, old, and very tattered quilt I bought at an auction years ago. Thinking I should move out something old since I was moving in something new, it seemed a likely candidate.

But I have had an idea fermenting in the back of my mind about that there quilt. And I just can't through out a hand stitched quilt...no matter how used...and this one is very well used.

So I looked over the article and found a section a bit 'less' used. I started cutting and sewing and sewing and cutting....the singing Singer (a.k.a. the Rocketeer!) worked wonders.

And this is what I ended up with.

One might ask oneself, 'is she taking that bedroll somewhere to sleepover?'

But it is not a bedroll. It is a my spiffy new needle holder for my single points, both shorties and longs!

Is it not the coolest ever!

Three levels of pockets, the lower just deep enough for 8 inchers, and the 2nd and 3rd just right for longer needles. (I sewed across the 3rd pocket to adjust it's depth.)

I have some vintage reproduction fabric that worked perfectly with the quilt pieces and colors.

This is the back and outside cover. This was the 'best and least used' piece, but still it need mending. So I cut good pieces from the scrappy parts and just zigzagged them over the really ratty pieces. Funny how certain fabrics just didn't last.

This is what it looks like all with my needles all tucked in.

I am so pleased with the results. My single points have a cozy home (now the dpns are all jealous, and jonesin' for their own sweet crib!)

Mostly Back To Normal...

...whatever that is...


I mean I went back to work today. But that's a far cry from normal. Some more people are gone today. Hard to tell being the in-between-the-holidays week, though. One could toss a brick and not hit anyone...this place is so empty.


Eldest Daughter and Lovely Step-Daughter return to their respective homes tomorrow. I am missing them already. My holidays were the better for having the kids around.


I reminded Dearest Sister that we are going to have to get cracking on quilt, part deux for Grandbebe Two. She replied 'I have my squares already embroidered.' Well then...I guess one of us is already cracked! Seriously though...I want to have it quilted before summer. I am pretty sure I won't be wanting a junior sized quilt across my lap in July while I am quilting away. I know myself that well!


I won't be traveling anytime soon. I burned through all my time off, and then some, with this little 'fix up' of mine. I hate that. I spent many years following the X as he progressed through his career, starting over with new jobs, and the subsequent restarting of earning the vacation time. Since the dee-vorce, I finally have reached a point where I have racked up some hours in the bank. I enjoyed being able to have that flexibility. I know it was a good thing to have for just such an occasion, too. That's what it is there for, after all. It will re-accumulate readily, too, I suppose.


Bottom line. The 'fix-up' seems to be working, and I am really liking that part of it!


Besides...I do not know what this year will hold for me at work. Vacation accumulation may be small potatoes! I may have more time off than I know what to do with.

What can I say...I have to share this.

Eldest Daughter, enjoying Grandbebe Girl, and Bebe Momma catching it on my camera, knowing I was too exhausted.

Eldest, Wonderful Guy, and I swept the after Christmas sales, and I. Stocked. UP! for next year with some good booty. I didn't pay over 40% for anything!

I got my flannel lined jeans, which I intend to wear today when we head to the mountains.

I got my sock blockers. (Oops. Those were only 20% off...but those were 20% off!) Wait 'til I show off Wonderful Guy's alpaca sox on them!

I showed my 2nd lys to Eldest Daughter.

I got more cotton yarn. (What a relief!)

Then the whole crew (minus Middle Daughter who remains in Utah) was over for chili dogs and/ or chili frito pies...and brownies by Bebe!

Yes, I was totally tapped out.

Lovely Step-Daughter arrived lately for Christmas so opened her gifts last night. She wore her calorimetry out. To hang with her grown-up friends! And Eldest Daughter has worn her shorty handspun scarf EVERYWHERE. When it works, it is really wonderful to give handmade gifts!

P.S. The Grandpup's sweater was store-bought!

The Day After...

The GrandPup...in one of her rare, calm moments...

I had a good day yesterday.

I continue to learn about myself.

#1. On Christmas Eve, I am filled with the anticipation of an 8 year old. I want to open my presents NOW! Puleeeeezzzzze!!!! Just one?????? Just my stocking?????

But I was made to wait.

#2. On Christmas Day, it is enough to be with my kids, and watch those I love receive what I have labored and toiled and chosen especially for them. I sat with my gifts on my lap watching others open theirs.

Eldest Daughter was thrilled with her shorty handspun scarf. Both she and Only StepSon were truly filled with adoration for their KU Jayhawk fingerpuppets (colorwork!). I gave away All. My. Dishclothes. Yes I did! But I already have two more knitted up. Youngest Daughter was most appreciative of the BSJ (of cashmere and merino) I knitted for Grandbebe Girl, who we found out is to be a big sister next August. Yes, I will have a Grandbebe Two to knit for soon. Middle Daughter loves her home-sewn scrubs, too. She believes her scrubs to be the envy of all her nursing peeps.

'I going to have to share what Aunt Eldest brings?'

Also, the shopping bags of cotton yarn, and calorimetries seemed to be well received as well for stocking stuffers. Easy to knit, and functional. I highly recommend them for ease of knitting, use of inexpensive yarn, and/or small quantities of nice yarn, and free patternage. What's not to love! Start now for next year to impress your family and friends....oh sorry....I lost myself there for a moment...

So far, Wonderful Guy and I did good on the gift giving, surprising and scoring with things needed and wanted. Lovely Step Daughter arrives today, so we will see how we do on the things we chose for her.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Gratuitous Grandbebe Photo

Today we have one thing to exchange. I got the wrong size for Eldest Daughter. I bought her flannel lined jeans which she loves. And I have wanted for 3 years. But have thought no too expensive. I even tried them on last year, after Christmas, and carried them around the store for a while before putting them back. When we exchange hers this year, I am so buying a pair for myself.

Also, JoAnn's has cotton yarn on sale. And OMG! I am down to only about 18 balls....I am truly going through withdrawal!

It's traditional half-price calendar day.

And My Sister Knits has ordered sock blockers and I want a pair.

Happy Holidays, Everyone...

Whether it is the Solstice, or the Jewish Festival of Lights, or Christmas...

(I am pretty sure 2008 is drawing to a close for us all.)

Anyway.

Here's a wish of peace for the sake of us all.

P.S. Thanks for reading.

Greensburg Homecoming-1961...My Way

I have a story. It is a story of a younger sister who was always the cute one, who everyone always liked better, and got picked for all the good stuff.

It's a sad story.

In our hometown of Greensburg, KS, the tradition of Homecoming held that there was a flower girl and a crown bearer chosen from the kindergarten class. And, of course, Dearest Sister was picked for the glamorous task when the opportunity presented itself. She was always picked for stuff.

Not so when it was my chance.


Yesterday Dearest Sister published this photo of the 1961 Greensburg Homecoming. This was the year I was in kindergarten. That little girl on the back of the float....not me. (Actually it was Melissa Rice, who had the longest hair in our class. She was popular.)


Now the reason our mother photographed this float...twice...was because Deeply Missed Sister is the Homecoming Queen. She is the one with the white dress and dark sash. Talk about someone who was glamorous!

Well.

Popular I may not have been. Glamorous may not describe me....but I am not without resources. I have photoshop skilz. I can be on that float.


In fact. I can put the whole clan on that float! Even Only Brother (...who I believe only rarely reads this effort...which may be a good thing, because I think he may have certain photoshop skilz, and may take this as a declaration of hostilities....)

P.S. For further insight into the relationship between Dearest Sister and myself, visit her blog! I do!

Z is for....

....Zork.


Zork is Dearest Sister's cat.

Zork came to live with via Galaxie Guy. He is a massive fellow. (Zork. Not Galaxie Guy!)

Zork can easily, without much stretching, reach the table top with his front paws, and look at what is on one's plate.

Zork eats his food quickly, and can lose it all just as quickly, so Dearest Sister has resorted to feeding Zork a piece at a time.

She has the patience of Job with her kitties!

She tosses Zork one piece at a time. And he has learned to mostly catch each piece.





Twist and Shout!

Invisible Motorcycle....

Please, Ceiling Cat, just one more piece....

I chanced to photograph Zork eating while visiting the kitties...er...Dearest Sister last year.

How fortuitous for my last enty for the ABC-along.

Getting Better All The Time...

...as the Beatles sing.

And I am feeling better, but still holding back. I want everything 'to set' just right. I wouldn't want to mess up. Someone might disapprove!

I have sent Wonderful Guy out shopping...again. I called a local establishment, checked on two items, which they had in the correct color and size. I had them held in my name, and sent WG out on the mission. Home he came, with one item perfect and the other...a man's article of clothing.

Back he went after another phone call, correcting the misunderstanding with the establishment.

Poor Guy. It is cold and blowy today. But he really doesn't mind getting out. I, on the other hand, am glad to have a reason to stay in!

Middle Daughter called for a recipe. I love it when the offspring want my advice!

I have finished another 2 dishclothes, worked more on the all-silk scarf, and started an entrelac project. There is a learning curve to that one! Being my first entrelac, one would think I would pick a pattern and stick to it, but I am choosing to go my own way, to make the project fit the yarn.

Always a good way to go....NOT! I never claimed wisdom beyond my years.

Also, Barbie has a new dress. It didn't fit. It was too big, so I remade the top. Then it was too small, so I fixed it again.

No frustration. I have nothing by time, after all...

Today I was requested to touch up a photo of Wonderful Guy and myself at the Grand Canyon. It was some detail work, and I was barely up to the task, skill set-wise. So out came the book, blew off the dust, and I have spent some time with Photoshop, acquiring more mad skilz. Getting that book out was something that was on my list of things to do all year long.

It is a bit disconcerting to see that Christmas is next Thursday. And yet, the tasks have been getting checked off the list. Packages are sent. Cards are mailed. Gifts are getting wrapped. I've kept my peace mostly through it all, and Wonderful Guy has been very helpful. What a guy.

So it comes to me once again that I am best served when I can go with the flow, even when sometimes I jump in a little unprepared.

I'm Just Sittin' Here Watchin'...

...the calla lily grow-ow-ow-ow...

Making progress....

We had a hawk on our back fence, too.

That was a fun thing to see.

And I have Star Trek ornaments on my Christmas Tree. Several, as a matter of fact. All ships.

I think my Borg Cube is particularly festive. When we plug in the lights, the 'hive collective voice' speaks, saying, 'We are the Borg. Enjoy your holiday. Resistance is futile.'

I know. I'm such a geek.

I finished sewing the gifts.

I have knitted (is the past tense of to knit 'knit' or 'knitted'? hmmm....) two more dishclothes, and two other little things for stocking stuffers. (which I am NOT going to post photos of until after Christmas! So there, Eldest Daughter!!!) (But it is sooooo cutie wootie!) And another scarf is 1/3 done.

I think I am going to start an entrelac project...maybe...a shawl...maybe...

Two More Dishclothes...

...done, and a scarf started. Maybe some socks will go on the needles later today. But that might be too hard. I am surprised at how much effort thinking is taking. I ordered a gift on line today. The customer service person asked for my address, and I went blank. Totally blank.

I told Wonderful Guy I will never again underestimate the effects of anesthesia. He asked me (somewhat facetiously) if that's what I was blaming it on. I told him that was my story and I was sticking to it!

So back to the important stuff. Youngest Daughter and Grandbebe Girl came over yesterday to help how they could. Peanut butter cookies were made for gifts, and sewing was worked on.

Most importantly, Grandbebe Girl visited! She saw Grandmama's special beaded tree.

She was very impressed.

Grandbebe Girl thought the little gifts were just her size.

And she thought maybe something her size might be inside, too.

However, she put them down at little urging and picked up the little toys.

She drove them around the table, making the appropriate 'puttering' sounds.

According to Youngest Daughter, Bebe's Daddy taught her those mad skilz.

It was a cheerful day.

It Seems I Must Have...

...missed that part. I thought it was going to be a weekend recovery, but I find myself at home for two weeks doing very little. I was so excited about getting this little issue fixed that I must have skated right past that little part of being mostly inactive for two weeks. How does one who generally has all her ducks in a row do that?

Well, it happens. And embarrassingly so, I must add.

And I think my lesson here may be something along the line of having patience with others who sometimes aren't completely organized.

I don't have my Christmas shopping done.

Eldest Daughter is going to be here the week of Christmas and Wonderful Guy on vacation, and I am going to be mostly inactive, letting things 'get set'.

The good part is I am not feeling at all sliced and diced.

The bad part is I am not feeling at all sliced and diced.

Two days only, and I am tired of sitting and watching TV. Even though I watched some fun movies yesterday. THREE! actually. OMG, when was the last time I watched 3 movies, 2 Sex and The City episodes, a Tudors DVD, and MSNBC news, all in one day. (Wrapped up the evening watching the National Rodeo in Las Vegas. Steer wrestling and calf roping which looks hard, and bronc riding, which I think I could do, but not in the next couple of weeks. Never in my life watched rodeo...)

Three dishcloths and matchy matchy tribbles knitted. Today is calling for something more...challenging.

Also for those who asked, I scanned the well folded calendar page with the instructions for the Grace Kelly Scarf of last post. Embarrassingly simple!

Off (and back on) the Needles of Iron

Oh, the things I have finished! I have knitted up some very yummy yarn into some very nice articles, indeed.

First, modeling the object previously known as...unknown. I could not be more specific as it was for Dearest Sister's Christmas gift. As we exchanged our gifts while visiting together over the Thanksgiving holiday, she now knows what I created for her, and then followed up with another for myself, because I thought it so practical. Which it has proven to be. And simple to knit as well. Presenting the Grace Kelly Scarf from the pattern-a-day calendar from a couple years ago. (I have not been able to find any other information for more proper credit.) It is from a merino/silk/cashmere blend from Lambspun.

Next, one of three felted eyeglass holders (LionBrand free pattern) I knitted while traveling. Verra verra eze! I knit these with Caron Felt-It, and I don't think it felts as well as some other yarn I have used for that purpose. Just saying...

(I didn't knit the sunglasses....)

Third, I present my first ever mittens (Bernhard Ulmann Classic Mittens free pattern). A pretty smooth knit, with minimal snags.

And lastly, the matchy matchy scarf. Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf. I loved knitting this scarf.

First, I love the yarn. I bought one skein at Lambspun, at their semi-annual sale last year for 40%. It is some of their stuff, called Silverton Showcase, 70% merino, 10% cashmere, and 20% silk. 250 yards. I looked at it all year long, thinking what the heck am I going to do with just that much. At this year's sale, I found another skein. So I bought it at 40% off, too. (It has cashmere in it. It needs to be 40 % off for me.) It knit up like buttah! I made the mittens, then started on the scarf.

So second...Ms. McPhee's pattern was just right for this yarn. It was easy enough to memorize, but not tooooo boring. And I knit until I ran out of yarn. Maybe I knit a little too long. My scarf, she is 7 feet long....and I reiterate...MY scarf...this one, she's mine!

Oh. I just remembered Wonderful Guy's alpaca sox. Well, next round of photos I suppose. Really, they look like mine, only not so...graceful!

And what, one might ask, is on the Needles of Iron, lo, these 2 weeks before Christmas?

Nada, but a dishcloth!

Can you believe it?

Really, I must remedy that this weekend.

Y is for...

...Yellowstone.

First time I went to Yellowstone I was about 2. Maybe 3. Doesn't count.

Wonderful Guy and I went again in 2004. I fell in love.

We stopped again coming and going to Glacier in 2005.

I pestered him until we went again July this year. It was another glorious experience.

These falls? And this canyon? I saw the original painting by Moran at the Renwick Gallery in DC. Exactly the same to this day. No photoshopping here, except to reduce the image size. It's just a perfect place.

See this geyser? While it was doing it's thing....

This one started behind it! We actually saw this one go off in 2005. (Got a photo of it then, sent it in, and it was posted on 9News! Yeah, we're famous. Almost.)

This is the Grand Prismatic Spring. It's the one photographed from way up alot, because it is so grand and...well...prismatic. Imagine what the first people must have thought coming over that ridge and seeing these colors. I made a point to see it this trip. We hadn't made this stop the other times. Wonderful Guy was a little tired. I said I really wanted to see this. So we parked and walked up and up and up. And then there it was. Wonderful Guy wasn't tired anymore!

Also, on the ridge behind the Spring, there is the remains of the big 1988 fires. This year was the 20th anniversary and the parks recovery is remarkable.

It's a big place, and there are lots of things to see, from the canyon area, to the Lamar and Hayden Valleys (where we saw wolves this year!), to the Mammoth Springs, to the Lake area.

My favorite place to stay is the Lake area. With the Absoroka mountains behind Lake Yellowstone, the effect is pristine nature, all serenity and peace.

Mornings are perfect.

Evenings are great.

This is something we do...because we can!

And Then There's This...

It started with a person who needed some help just getting started again with a project, a crochet project, actually. Maybe if she could just come over...that would give her the impetus to get 'restarted' with her hand work.

There were the knitters from work, who were no longer at work. We needed to get together. Really we did.

Then there was a neighbor who needed some hints, too. She knitted when she was younger and wanted to again. And Spinning Neighbor, who also knits. She wanted to come, and maybe knit, or maybe spin...

And then there were some other knitting friends who weren't interested in the lys knitting nights. Those can be very intimidating, you know.

Now, a couple times a month, there's an eclectic group of women I have met through my neighborhood, through work, and through other avenues that meet in my kitchen for handwork, help hints, hot tea, and homemade cookies.

I send out an email, and those that can show up. Roughly we meet every other week, but the holidays and my own schedule adjusts this sometime. The time is broadly outlined as well. One shows up when one can, and generally the groups leaves about 'the right time'.

I think it might be the homemade cookies, really, that keeps them coming back.

What else...

...is going on?

Well, it's the holiday season, and as we were just getting back into town last weekend, there was no time for decorating. And next weekend there is this other little thing.

So the decorating HAD to happen this weekend. The tree was found and set up readily. Then the holiday decorations came out.

I have a tradition of which decoration is the first one out and the last one put away. It is a hand made, miniature, beaded tree made by Dearest Sister, who was helped by Deeply Missed Sister in the finishing up of said tree the last Christmas she was with us.

It lives here 11 months of the year.

When it comes out, it is a bit bedraggled.

I wipe the branches with baby wipes in an attempt at dusting, and reshape the tree with some gentle wire-bending.

It comes with ittle bittle presents and packages.

One of the ornaments is labeled. 1988 was the year I received it. Deeply Missed Sister was the lone lefty amongst a family of right handers, and had a distinctive script. This is in her hand.

Look closely at these ornaments. Some of the 'balls' are made from crystal necklaces Dearest Sister found at sales. Others are bells, angels, snowmen, and Santas from beads.

The branches are beads on wire, all loaded by hand, then looped into the fronds.

This is my hand for some scale. It is not over 10" tall.

Like I said, first out, last away.

It's my favorite, for many reasons.

It will be interesting to see what Grandbebe Girl thinks of Grandmama's tree...