knitorious

One small step

Maddy did indeed use the car last night!  She made a special mix CD to play for the occasion, too.  I don't recognize the names of most of the songs, but have heard them all.  I'm listening to "Thriller" right now (damn, he sure had it once, didn't he?), and I see that the affinity for "New Shoes" runs in the family.  ; )

In Wisconsin, the first nine months as a licensed driver is a probationary period and there are restrictions.  Maddy will only be able to drive alone between 5 a.m. and 12 a.m. unless it's to home, school or work; she can only have one* of her peers as a passenger; and if she has two or more moving violations, points lost are doubled.

*This is the one I can really get behind -- there are too many In Memoriam names in my high school yearbooks, most of them victims of car accidents, often multiple fatalities from one crash -- three, five at a time.  Can you imagine?  It's been 30+ years since those losses occurred and I still get choked up -- now, with the added perspective of a mother.

I have been grappling with my feelings about cleaning out the closet and what it means and my adult children and newly licensed driver child and their growing independence -- sometimes effervescent -- Katie's off to Madison today to meet the property manager and her future roommate to sign a rental agreement -- it's all good, but man, sometimes it makes my head spin.

The watched peonies are opening ever-so-slowly.  So worth the wait!  And both varieties of sugar snap peas are now sporting flowers.  That reminds me... I'm going to have to string up some supports for the beans soon.

This weekend, during my breaks from reconstructing my Quicken files from the pitiful last backup in October, I'll be working on a couple of projects I have in mind for the "Special Swap" masterminded by Lynne.  This is my first time as a Special Swap participant and it couldn't be more fun.  The theme this time is "In The Garden" and my swap partner is Lynne, herself!  I'll admit that I was first very excited about that, then a little nervous (it's Lynne), but I'm back on track and having a blast bringing all my ideas and things together.

I also plan a trip to one or more hobby/craft/fabric/yarn emporiums for, among other things, the necessary bits and bobs to finish my Larger Than Life Bag!

And there's been knitting!!  It's been hot here this past week -- too hot to knit -- and if it hasn't been hot, then it's been sticky and/or damp -- too sticky and/or damp to knit!!

What in the world is WITH me, though, that I haven't awakened in the middle of the night BECAUSE I was HOT ever since it GOT HOT?

I also was totally swept away by Craft in America a few nights ago -- what a great series -- and it was especially interesting to see Wisconsin artists, Dona Look and Ken Loeber, featured.

Anyway, a while back, I brought home some Berroco Ultra Silk and Rowan Summer Tweed to swatch for my Vintage 1959 Vogue #33-inspired project.  I started out with the Ultra Silk, trying to do the "pebble stitch" described in the pattern and a) I didn't get it and b) it seemed kind of fiddly.  I pulled out my Barbara G. Walker "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns" book (a wonderful find that DH bought at the library for no more than $1 one day after it had been "withdrawn" from said institution) and didn't find a "pebble stitch" listed, so paged through with my little sticky notes, flagging possibilites -- none of which resemble pebbles at all.

On the left is a "Vine Lace" swatch underway.  It's a very simple 9-stitch, 4-row repeat.  The two on the right are "Double Wing, Openwork Version" -- it's the same pattern used for Monkey (minus the last knit round/row), which is so funny because I've begun to sense that "monkey on my back," even printing out the pattern the other day, yet I haven't pulled out the sock needles (probably feeling guilty about the three -- at least -- WIP pairs of socks somewhere around here).

I need to finish, then block; knit something with the Summer Tweed and do the same; then consider the possibilites -- which may end up looking nothing like the original #33, but I guess that's where the "inspired by" part comes in.  I love working with the Ultra Silk -- it actually reminds me a lot of Rowan Calmer, but even softer and without Calmer's tendency to sometimes split.

Fickle...

...but Fetching.  Well, it's a partial pair of... this must be a Fetching-ette -- I see now, in morning light, where I misread the directions, and why I have only two cable crossings at the cuff rather than three.  I just couldn't see what I was missing last night and thought that perhaps I was reading right through something about a variation...  My cast-off edge is quite loose, also, and with the clarity of the new day, I think this shall be frogged entirely.  Love is all I can say about it, though.  I'm using the same yarn that Carole used for hers (it's where I got the idea!) -- Classic Elite Wings.  It's stash yarn, one of three mis-mmatched skeins (though I can only locate two at the moment) that bought on a whim for a specific project and, well, I don't know what I was thinking.  This is a much better use.

I needed a break from all the garter stitching on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Rib Warmer, though the shaping helps to keep the knitting from being too tedious.  I'm also using stash yarn for this, some Filatura di Crosa Nikerboker from ages ago.  There's a little bit of alpaca in the mix, and it develops a very soft, fuzzy glow.  I have plenty of this in gold, and also some blue, and think I'm going to use the rest of it all up to make a little sweater for Mack.  There was a cute pattern in Yarn Play that might work.

The current plan is to finish the Rib Warmer (knit the other half) and Coup d'Etat (button band, collar, seaming), a pair of Fetchings (quick, soft, warm... quite fetching), and re-work the bottom of Williamsro, and then I'll be ready for Latvian Mittens.  I am thinking of January 31st for a starting date.

Ali is moving back to the dorm at school today -- classes start again soon.  Last week, she and two friends paid a deposit on a house to rent for next fall; she'll be moving in with another friend over the summer.  I'm not sure she'll ever live at home again.  It's kind of weird.

On Saturday, Katie's heading to Madison with one of her friends to look for a place to live in fall, too.  She has applied to Madison and, considering they've accepted her a couple of times before, I see no reason why she won't be accepted again.  She needs to "get on with it," as she says.  She may never live here again, either.  It's also kind of weird.

It's all part of everything and the way it goes, and I'm fine, but there will be some adjusting.  I think it'll be a big adjustment for Maddy, too.  She and Ali have become so close -- amazing, really, when I think on all those years when Ali just barely even tolerated Maddy's existence.  That's the way it is, though, an ebb and flow in all relationships.  Maybe Maddy and I will find more a flow to our relationship.  I hope so.

There's a new photo album in the sidebar.  Currently showing only one photo of one little thing, it will grow during the year and by the end, there should be 100 photos of 100 Little Things.  I've been wanting to do 100 of something, and something with photography, and there are so many little things around here...  I think it can work!

Buttons and bows bobby pins

Progress continues on Shirley Shrugs. I did a lot of knitting in the car -- and fixing, too, because it was a pretty drive on Saturday.  We even saw a full rainbow in the evening.  I have worked the second short-row shoulder and in some ways it's better than the first, and in other ways not, but it is what it is and it does what it's supposed to do.  I showed Mom yesterday and she lit up.  That will help me with this long march down the arm.  ; )

The Packers won their first game!  My fantasy team didn't do badly either -- I have running backs on both sides of the ball in tonight's game -- should be exciting.

Meanwhile...

Katie's been knitting!  She knit some leg-warmers recently and this scarf.  The scarf was knit length-wise on a circular needle -- I don't remember what size -- using scrips and scraps from the stash and self-fringing at both ends.  She used everything from sock yarn to worsted to bulky, down-home wool to stuff with a little glitz and glam (but no fur, thanks).  It's about 20 miles long, as you can see from the number of times it's wrapped around her neck, but she likes to wrap 'em so it's good.  She made the button necklace, too, using fishing line and mostly buttons from the nearly full drawer in her great great grandma's sewing machine -- plus a few large coat buttons found at a recent antique stop.

Long live the pincurl.

Blowin' this pop stand

When Alison was in fourth grade... um... cripes, I just can't believe sometimes that time has passed so quickly... I was chatting with her teacher during a conference -- I'm going to say that it was a spring conference, so maybe closer to 9 years ago (oh yeah, that makes me feel better...) -- and she told me about this fantastic garden she'd recently visited, only a couple hours away, that was full of hostas -- Foxfire Botanical Gardens.  I don't remember how or why we got on the subject -- you all know how much I like hostas, but it really doesn't come up in everyday conversation regularly, especially not at parent-student-teacher conferences, and I don't think I was even into hostas all that much at the time.  The whole hosta-lovin' thing has come about very gradually and mostly as a necessary by-product of living in a very shady yard -- if I wished to have any fun landscaping at all, hostas were going to play a big role!  This teacher of Al's was one of the most efficient ever and when she told me that she'd send information home, you can bet that it was in my hands within days.  It got tacked up to a cork strip at the bottom of the magnetic calendar holder on the refrigerator and it's been there ever since -- you can tell it's been there and been moved around (and maybe looked at) numerous times because the top right corner has been perforated to a pulp with the thumbtack!  It hangs there still.

Upon her return from Knitting Camp, I read all about Foxfire at Sarah Peasley's blog in her July 26th post (scroll down -- you can't miss it) where she not only summoned me to the blog, but posted tantalizing pictures as well.  Well.  Well, well, well... today, I'm finally going to see the actual gardens for myself!

I'm going with my mom and we're picking up her two sisters on the way.  Interesting, that, since I just posted recently about my own sisters.  My mom doesn't get together with her sisters very often.  They still live around Marshfield, where they were all born and raised -- where my dad was born and raised, too -- where the mere mention of all the little cow-towns all around evoke fuzzy, soft thoughts of my ancestry -- Rozellville, Hewitt, Arpin, Stratford.  Oh, especially Rozellville -- we'd drive through there frequently when I was little -- my mom would point out which was her grandmother's house on the main drag, reminisce about when she was a girl, staying overnight, and how she'd hear the cars go by -- whoosh-whoosh-whoosh, whoosh-whoosh -- after the dance hall closed on Saturday night; how her younger sister got cut herself badly while swinging on the cemetery gate across the street and couldn't really tell how it had happened because she'd get in trouble.  Great Aunt Isabelle and Uncle Joe had a farm in Rozellville (oh, there was something about Aunt Isabelle -- I hardly knew her, my strongest memory being from Joe's funeral, but I think of her as one of the sweetest ladies who ever drew breath), and some of the cousins still live and work on the old family farm.

It won't surprise anyone to know that I've been thinking a lot about family lately.  I think I've been dwelling on my sisters, and on my mom and her sisters, and kind of avoiding thinking about my daughters -- as sisters, young women, students, employees.  I'm thinking about them now.  It's that season -- the third fall that someone is going off to college.  This time, it's Ali.  It's not anywhere near the last time, but not nearly as hard as the first time -- not as far, and I'm more experienced or conditioned or something. It's different.  And it's good.

She's so different from Katie.  Katie talks to me about almost everything -- blurts it out, sometimes, like she just can't keep it in.  We were up talking for about an hour past the goodnight kiss the other night -- blurt, blah-blah, blurt.  With Ali, I don't get nothin' unless I ask questions and it isn't always easy.  She's sometimes moodier, sometimes shorter in temper -- a red-headed Aries!  Oh, my goodness, I love her to death and she's so sweet and sensitive, but sometimes...

I worry.  I think she's doing some things that I'd rather she didn't -- like smoking, either regular cigarettes or clove ones, which, in my opinion, can't be any good -- and it stuns me.  Didn't she see me struggle with quitting, continue to struggle; didn't she beg me to quit, complain about the smell (I never smoked in our house).  And I think, NO!  Well, YES!  Yes, she did see me struggle, but No, it doesn't always make a difference -- at least not as I might like.  I was the same way, I know I was...

OMG, it's scary!  When my sisters and I were their ages, we drove from Wisconsin to Oregon -- Karen and I were the only ones with licenses -- and spent a week camping down the Oregon coast with our dad and his wife and her kids -- and then we drove back, scrounging change from under the seats on the way back for Egg McMuffins, and then barely having enough money for gas!  (Renewed appreciation for Mom for not freaking out about this trip -- it's amazing, really -- and we didn't even have cell phones!)  From here I think about all the other things...

And then I get to thinking about Maddy and I wonder what's going on with her and, the poor girl, I think she feels my eyes boring into her head, me trying to get my brain waves to make contact with hers, and she wonders what's up!

Heh.  Katie's not the only one who can blurt, blah-blah, blurt.  There's a famous quote from a famous sportswriter, "local boy" Red Smith:  "There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."  I sometimes I feel like salty tears are in the mix during the blood-letting, especially when it's about family, especially when it's about my girls... who are young women... flying the coop, blowin' this pop stand, what they're meant to be doing.  I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, too, learning the lessons that my mother and all the mothers before me have learned.  Those "time flies" and "just wait 'til you have kids" warnings -- things I used to scoff at -- they are so absolutely true.

Birthday #3

Oh, what a busy, busy week this is!

Fifteen years ago today, we welcomed Madeleine into the world!  Some of us found her to be quite fascinating.  ; )

My labor with her was pretty quick -- and I knew better some of the things I could do to help it along.  When the doc arrived at the hospital at about 8:30 and saw me still walking the halls, he mumbled something about having been called too soon, that I wasn't even close if I was still walking.  I had a different doc for each delivery, and even though this was our family doctor, he didn't know much about my birthings.  Shortly before 10:00, my nurse (same labor nurse I had for Ali -- and she was an elementary school classmate) allowed me to get up and go to the bathroom.  Well, that did it!  Maddy was delivered a few minutes later by the nurse who was telling me not to push (I had no choice, of course) while DH was hollering down the hallway for the doctor who was visiting at the nurses' station (he didn't make it in time, but did knock about $300 off his bill); the nurse handed me the little baby bundle and said, "Here, hold her; I've got things to do!"

Happy 15th Birthday, Maddy!  (My baby...)

* * * *

I am awaiting Helen A.'s mailing address -- she was the 67th entrant (the number chosen by my recently returned world traveler and "random number generator") and winner of the Inter- and Trans-Continental Connections of Mason-Dixon, Dairyland, U.K. and Europe, Homecomings, Birthdays, Candles, Cake, Beer, Dishcloth Cotton, and my 2.8-lb. loss Contest and will soon receive her prize, a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting.  Congratulations!  I wish I could send a copy to everyone -- it was great to hear from so many people (and a surprising number of "locals").  Thanks for playing!!  It's a good thing the drawing was held before tonight's weigh-in at WW, as I'm not so sure there will still be cause for celebration.  ; )

* * * *

Katie's home!  She had a great birthday in Munich (lots of beer, lots of kissing), a wonderful time overall, is very glad to be home.  I'm so glad to have her home.  Robyn suggested that Katie write a blog entry about her experience and I think that's a fabulous idea!  Katie liked it, too, so there may soon be guest blogging!  Today, she's doing her best Sleeping Beauty impersonation...

Twenty-one candles

Happy 21st (Earth Day) Birthday, Katie!  I love you, and can't wait to give you a hug!!!

This isn't the first birthday Katie has been someplace other than home...  On the way home from a school trip to Washington, D.C., on her 14th birthday, the whole plane joined in song to wish her a happy birthday!  This year, she's winding up her semester abroad, spending her birthday in Munich and I hope she's having a beer to celebrate!

Cake on Tuesday!

It's birthday season!

The second-born of my three April-born offspring is the first to celebrate her birthday -- TODAY!

Happy 19th Birthday, Alison!!

It's fitting that we'll be going to my brothers for a short visit today.  It was 19 years ago today that I stopped in where he worked, between labor pains, to drop off his updated resume -- he was looking for a new job and if I didn't do it then, I didn't know when I'd get to it.  I'd awakened that morning with a twinge or two, but decided to go to my preg-o exercise class, anyway.  Uh-huh, all that movement -- even a little jumping around -- made those twinges a bit lot more meaningful.  I picked up Katie, stopped in at my work, stopped in at my brother's work, went home and called DH and my mom, and waited -- as the labor pains got stronger and stronger and pretty soon I was on the floor and Katie was bouncing a ball around -- I got to the hospital at about 1:00, popped soem Tums in the labor room, and Ali was born a couple of hours later.  I used a birthing chair, thinking I was being all down to earth and natural and whatnot, when in reality it was like a carnival ride -- I was so ridiculously high up in the air, the doctor, looking like she should have been wearing a catcher's mitt, sat on a stool below -- there could have been a peanut vendor or a Sno-cone wagon nearby -- it was ridiculous.  Not really what I'd intended.  But anyway, I pushed and she was born and I heard, "It's a Girl; she has red hair" and I didn't believe them.  They were telling the truth.

Alison, I love you.

Since the first moment she laid eyes on him, Alison has wanted an Oddfellow.  She got one for her birthday!  I finished him up this morning, while she and Maddy looked for their Easter baskets.  Maddy insisted on the hidden baskets.  For several years, when the kids were littler, my sister and I did treasure hunts for our kids with riddles and clues that eventually led them to their baskets.  We were inspired by a similar Easter treasure hunt one year when we were kids.  This year, my sister stayed home (they got a new puppy yesterday!), but Maddy made her own little treasure hunt for Alison -- who had to hunt for her birthday present this morning, too.  I'll have to do the same for her.

April is a very busy month; still to come is Katie's birthday on the 22nd (though she'll be celebrating in Munich this year) and Maddy's on the 25th!  Also celebrating April birthdays:  two cousins on April Fool's Day, an aunt who shares Ali's birthday, an uncle whose birthday is tomorrow, my nephew, and my grandpa.

Scenic interlude

Windsor Castle and the garden in the dry moat on Saturday; Katie at Stonehenge on Friday.

Okay, so now I want an old, dried up moat -- what a cool garden!!  I remember when I was in Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas, how I admired the gardens even though they were dormant -- the design and settings were fabulous at any time of year!  Katie's a little out of focus there at Stonehenge -- she sure looks happy!  A week from Friday, she'll be in Paris for the first day of frolic on the continent; home in less than a month.  Amazing.  Wasn't I just whining yesterday about letting her go???

Ali bought a brand new used car and she is way beyond tickled pink.  She has been without a car since December and saving diligently; yesterday, she took ownership of a white, 1998 VW Beetle.  A little bug has been her dream car since the first time she ever saw one.  Yay, Al!

Sandy, my dear, this one's for you.  I was on my way to pour my first cup of coffee this morning when I spotted the rising sun and had to grab my camera and step out on the back porch in my robe -- it was even more red than shows up here.  I hope you're feeling better.  ; )

A morning peek

Oh yeah.  I pinned out the front of St. Brigid last night and had myself a little peek this morning.  Someday, I'll buy some better pins and a Spaceboard; in the meantime, I work with what I've got:  a motley assortment of regular sewing pins and a cardboard thing that I bought at a rummage sale for $1.00.  It's big, folds up like an accordion, it's gridded in both inches and centimeters, and I haven't perforated it to death yet.  It's getting a little warped because I have even used it for wet-blocking.  I had concerns about odor from wet paper, but so far so good (nothing's ever sopping wet).  For the front of St. Brigid, I blocked in the manner instructed, using a freshly washed towel, spun on the "max extract" cycle, to lay atop the knitting.

Kristi has finished her St. Brigid!  Go see!  Inspiration...

I finished the back last night and got one of the sleeves back on the needles.  Today, after I do our taxes run the vacuum and do a little dusting -- okay, maybe I'll do our taxes organize (or even put away) paperwork the mountain of knitting books and stuff that's accumulated around my chair -- I'll do the taxes saddles.  Why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?  Taxes.

Okay, now that I've set my priorities and have a plan...

Ali has a clay class for art.  Second semester has just begun and the pottery is already flowing.  I might need a whole new cupboard or something just to display her stuff.  Katie had an aversion to the wheel; Alison has taken to it like a duck to water.  The morning sun is streaming into my kitchen this morning -- just the kind of day I like for doing the taxes cleaning and knitting.

Big plans

Edited to add PICTURES!  Sheesh, who knew that y'all would really want to see those dresses!  We aim to please 'round here, so scroll down...

I know, you can't really see what the dresses were like, but it's obvious they were having fun with the cape part.  Quite the color, huh?  It was actually pretty flattering to them both.  Ali had an "okay" time at the dance...

Katie found these huge sunglasses from the '80s while thrifting on Saturday; they're the kind where the arm thingies start near the bottom of the frame and swoop up.  God, I actually had a real live pair of regular glasses like that once.

I had a meeting last night and when I finally sat down with St. Brigid, Maddy was looking for a Skip-Bo opponent; I can't say no.  She won, though I have chalked up a few wins recently.  The end-of-game rules are always different:  if she wins, the loser cleans up; if I win, the winner cleans up.  Guess who's making up the rules (or who's a little slow on the take-up?).

I will surely finish the back of St. Brigid tonight -- only four or five rows to go.  I have big plans for tomorrow, including blocking the front and back pieces and working on the sleeve saddles!  I also plan to find my vacuum cleaner and see if I remember how it operates, but that's another thing.  Do you wonder what my priorities will be?

Thank you to the wonderful knit bloggers and readers who responded to my query about the blocking instructions.  Wow.  I love you guys!

Ali; Ali and her friend Abbey who scored the dresses; Ali and Patrick (the "little boy" who called me fat the other day).  What a uniform does for a feller, huh?

Contrary to popular belief my first impression, these were not handmade dresses, unless the seamstress had access to union tags.  I reinforced the seams by machine last night -- it made me think of Grandma and how she'd reinforce the seams of store-bought clothing on her treadle machine -- either the thread deteriorated over the past 30 years or there was some hearty partying at that first wedding!  There were lots of peek-a-boo holes that shouldn't have been there!  Anyway, aren't they cute?  I think they had more fun getting ready for the dance than they actually had at the dance.  It's senior year, do it now or never!

Okey-doke, y'all (Norma, Yvette, Cara, Katy) happy now?

Oatmeal

This is Oatmeal.  It is to me what Plain Vanilla is to Norma.  Y'all know what I'm talking about.  This is my comfortable, "go to," everyday sweater.  "You're wearing that again?"  It's a cardigan, but I always wear it buttoned.  It's not knit very well (I wasn't purling correctly at the time), but I love it -- the yarn, pattern, fit, pretty much everything!  There's hardly any shaping, and it's mostly stockinette with twisted rib from the shoulder to just below the arm.

I originally knit this sweater in Debbie Bliss DK Merino.  It turned out a little too small for me and none of the girls liked it, so it marinated until I finally frogged and started knitting it again last month.  "Eh," I wasn't thrilled.  I used some of for Mom's Natalya mitts (which she loves, by the way, and they aren't scratchy at all).

My sister had been visiting from Kansas when I was knitting the original and she decided to cast on, too, with stash yarn that she just happened to be hauling around in the trunk of her car!  Once back in Kansas, she decided that she just wasn't into it, so shipped it to me.  Voila!  Oatmeal, my favorite sweater.  I think it's about two years old -- from Vogue Knitting, a special issue in 2002 devoted mostly to men's sweaters (pattern #22).  The yarn specified was Adrienne Vittadini "Emma" (cotton/viscose/silk).  The yarn from my sister's stash was Classic Elite "Mackenzie" (70% wool, 30% silk) tweed.  I wore the sweater to Katie's LYS on Saturday (more on that in a minute) and the shop owner and a customer both described it as "oatmeal" -- with no prompting from me -- and likened the yarn to Peace Fleece, for those of you who know what that's like.

So, Oatmeal is kind of my standard.  And it's the standard to which I'm comparing St. Brigid.  Really, all I want is a sweater that looks good and fits.  Right now, it looks pretty much right on, and St. Brigid will be a little bigger when blocked.  Perfect.

On Saturday, Ali and I made a mad dash to Kate's school because her roommate was moving out; the 'fridge and microwave were the roomie's, so they were going, too.  Katie could certainly survive without a microwave, there being one on the floor kitchen, but absolutely nothing is safe in the community 'fridge, so we went to buy a mini for her room.  We ended up with both for less than $140.  Ali had to be back for work on Saturday night, so we couldn't linger long, but we had a great time -- went out for lunch, did a little shopping, had a car wash (it was a gorgeous day!), and visited Katie's LYS (literally, right around the corner from her dorm).

The LYS was small, but nice.  Lot of samples.  Samples help sell stuff, ya know?  I now have a mitten pattern on back order -- flip-top mitts -- for Ali -- and she made me get the Donegal Tweed yarn for them already.  I fell in love with the Clocks vest sample, from Folk Vests, knit from Mission Falls 1824 Wool, and bought the book.  (It's been a folky few weeks 'round here.)  I've seen that book a number of times before, but that sample did it for me.  And I wear vests.  And there are other intriguing patterns in that book.  I don't know when I'll knit it, but I will.

On Sunday, I was in my PJs -- at least for most of the day -- celebrating International Pajama Day and having a big bowl of Cheerios for breakfast 1:00 p.m.  I was the only one home for much of the day, which means that eventually I had to walk the dog.  So I did have to put on some real pants, but believe me, they were COMFY!

Since I was dressed, we went over to watch the Super Bowl and have pizza at Mom's.  The only good thing about the Packers not being in the game is that I could relax and knit -- and I did.  I'm mid-way through the fifth repeat and I think it likely that St. Brigid's front will be done by the weekend.  Woohoo.  I'll cheer about that since the Eagles gave me nothin'!

Okey dokey, how 'bout some knitting

It's nearly a pair of North Star Mittens!  I ran out of gas at the point where the top shaping begins.  These will certainly be finished by the weekend.  I couldn't be more pleased with how the second mitten is turning out.  I'm knitting looser and, so far, it fits and feels so much better than the first.  I may end up re-knitting the right-hand mitt.

See how nice the inside looks?  In both pics, the first mitt is on the left and the second is on the right.  I'm much more consistent with how I'm carrying the yarn.  I like the inside or wrong side of things to look nice, too.  That's been drilled into my head since before I even took up needles of any kind.  My maternal grandmother died when I was in third grade and I don't have any memory of her actually doing handwork, but she did a LOT.  (According to my mom, she rarely finished any of it.  I finished one of her cross-stitch pillow tops long after she died, and it's a treasure.)  Anyway, at every opportunity, my mom would tell us that her mother always said that it's important to make the back look as neat as the front.  I imagine that great grandma was a stickler, too.  With those words rolling 'round in my head, you should see the back of some of my cross-stitch pieces!

Mail call!  The whole family shrugged and said, "Oh, it's probably yarn from one of mom's knitting friends."  Right-O!  It was Baby Ull in yesterday's mail; my recent effort to help Jody with stash reduction.  The first thing that came to mind is "Tanguy," one of the cute-beyond-words patterns that I recently purchased from Kate.  I haven't checked to see if this yarn would actually work, but I'm hoping.  Can't you see it?

My very own Kate is having fun with her new short hair.  I'm working on replies, but I'd just like to thank you all again for your comments about her gift to Locks of Love and her cute new 'do.  I was surprised at how many people are growing their hair in order to do the same.  It's really a wonderful thing.

For the record

I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.  For the record, the shorn hunk o' hair belonged to my eldest daughter, Katie.  She of the pin-curled 'do seen on these pages from time to time -- it's still pretty incredible to me that she could get curls like that from such long, long hair.  But that's history now -- she'd be a shoe-in for Little Orphan Annie if she tried that with her new locks.

Kate has been growing her hair out for a while now -- a couple of years -- and was only waiting to find a short haircut that she liked.  She finally found one last week (on another blog, I do believe), made the call, and was in the chair bright and early on Saturday morning.

Isn't it great?  It was very, very weird to see and handle her hair like that.  She was extremely proud to measure it (14" was a surprise), pack it up, and address the envelope to Locks of Love.

Katie said it's especially fun to shake her head!  She's been doing a little extracurricular thinning and trimming this weekend, getting it "just so."  With that perfect oval face, she can do anything.

I forget that we don't "see" each other everyday and that there have been lots of new visitors these days, besides, who have not had to endure the endless parade of kid pics on this blog.  I've only posted two pics of myself -- one as a pinhead in a group shot, the other around Thanksgiving -- so can't blame anyone for missing them!  I do not have red hair, myself, though my stylist found one once (and yanked it to show me)!

Thank you all for the fabulous comments.  Katie had a great time reading them all, too.

Outgoing mail

Fourteen inches.

Color:  red.

Destination:  Locks of Love.

He sees you when you're sleeping

I'm smitten with a mitten, and I'm not the only one. Katie loves it. Maddy loves it. Ali hasn't been around much, but I'm sure she'd love it, too. Maddy wants it/them -- even more than the pink thrummed mittens. I think the thrums will win her over on her first walk with Mickey on Christmas Day when it will be 20 below with wind chill. After the photo op, I picked up the stitches for the thumb (peeking out at left) and knit about half. Woo.

Katie's home! My heart's been warmed this week, reading about holiday prep and homecomings. I couldn't help but remember this time last year when Katie came home after her first semester away at college. We hadn't seen her in four months, and the whole family went for a late-night greet at the airport. I spotted her before she saw us and busted my buttons -- I was speechless. DH stood right next to me and asked, "Where's Kate?" Expecting to see the high school kid we'd sent to college, he didn't recognize the sophisticated, confident collegiate that returned. "Did you know she was going to look* like that?!"

As the Christmas ornament parade draws to a close... Hey, there's Peanut! This is probably the dumbest ornament on the tree, but we've all grown quite fond. It was one of many gifts/ornaments I received at the cross-stitch retreat where I got my tree skirt project. It's a regular old peanut in the shell, painted to look like a snowman -- he has a painted carrot nose and a HUGE charcoal smile. Next to Peanut is one of a pair of small nutcracker ornaments that has a working lever in the back. In the rear is a bunch of gold plastic grapes that Mom gave me; they'd belonged to her mother. I found that there is significance to grapes on a Christmas tree, as well as pickles and many other things!

As at the end of every Christmas parade, Santa Claus brings up the rear. You better watch out! Even with only one remaining googly eye, this Santa can see you when you're sleeping and he most certainly knows when you're awake! This is Katie's second grade handiwork. Our one-eyed Santa joins many, many other ornaments made by the kids -- among other things, there are be-glittered pinecones, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, clay, paper, plastic lids, puzzle pieces and old cards.

In yesterday's comments, Cara wrote, "Every Xmas I send my best friend ornaments for her tree. Every year she says when they set up the tree, it's like I'm there! I love that." That just couldn't be more true. It's been so much fun to share some of my ornaments and their stories and memories with you -- and to hear about yours in the comments you've left and to see and read about them in other blogs! I have plenty of plain jane ornaments, but even many of those have memories attached... the shiny blue and clear green ornaments in the Santa picture were Grandma K's... the crocheted stars made by my aunt... lots of ceramic ornaments made by Grandma B... the glitter-covered, pock-marked, styrofoam balls that hung on the trees of my childhood. ;There's one ornament that I swear I won in a first grade spelling bee, but Mom recalls that I made it -- we "argue" about that every year -- it looks like shit (it's been a WAY lotta years) but it gets a place of honor every year. Katie put her ornaments on the tree yesterday and later told me that she moved that one, briefly wondering why such an ugly thing was on the tree, and then she remembered... That's what it's all about.

*She did get a tattoo while she was away, but that wasn't the big difference. DH was not privy to our chatty, girl-talk emails where I'd learned that she was styling her hair differently and shaping her eyebrows and wearing make-up -- those things were part of it, but even more, I think, was the confident and sophisticated air about her -- there was truly Something About Katie...