Spun Out

Black Horned Dorset from DyedintheWool.biz gave me some up time in the form of spinning.

 I took a very long time to turn this into yarn but it was a very good spin.  Dorset is in the Down wool family which means it is springy and easy to spin.

 The wool was very finely spun so that there was room to bloom after washing!  (If you spin it a worsted weight size, after washing you will have a very chunky yarn!)

I will add this to the stash of natural colored wool which will someday be a Fair Isle Vest for me!

(AN APOLOGY-I LOOKED FOR SOMETHING ON A PREVIOUS POST EARLIER THIS WEEK AND WAS SURPRISED TO SEE MORE COMMENTS THAN I HAD BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT...BLOGGER USED TO SEND THEM ALL TO MY EMAIL SO I KNEW WHEN I HAD A COMMENT AND COULD REPLY;  I GET ONLY A FEW EMAILS FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEIR EMAIL ACCT SET UP WITH BLOGGER NOW.  SO IF YOU COMMENT THROUGH ANONYMOUS, OR WITHOUT AN EMAIL ACCOUNT LISTED, I STOPPED SEEING YOUR COMMENTS IN MY INBOX!  I FEEL BAD AND WILL TRY TO SET UP A WAY TO CHECK MY COMMENTS DIFFERENTLY SO I DO NOT MISS THE COMMUNICATION!)  HAVE I EVER MENTIONED BEFORE THAT I CAN'T STAND THEIR TECH CHANGES !!!!!!!

Getting Upright

 I did well with getting up and showering and staying upright this morning-that meant we could proceed with the plans to drive up to see our newest grandson!  This was my car ride knitting-a new pair of socks for Caleb!

 Last night I finished this hat for Abigail.  It is called the Harmony Cloche'.

I used a single skein of Lion brand Heartland worsted weight yarn for  this.  A good knit once you figure out how to k5tog easily! lol

The happy new family......

...and the star with his great-grandparents!

And with his paternal grandparents.

Ella let me know that he was her baby, in case there was any doubt...

We took a walk outside for some energy discharge and alone time.  There was a lovely pond and gazebo we played in for a good visit.

It didn't take too long to see that Eli and mama were tired so we said our farewells until next time!

We did stop on the way home to buy some more yarn so I can finish the second cable cowl!  It sure does knit up fast on #15 needles!

A Miracle

A miracle happened today, Elijah Joseph joined his family~  all 8 1/2lbs of him!

 Their first father/son talk....

Getting some comfort from big sister during a bath.

 I hope to go tomorrow to meet him in person!

Beauty and the Beast

 Mom knit a hat for Ella.....who, rumor has it, hasn't taken it off since she received it!

I made one for Aria.  But I haven't been to the post office to send it yet...more on this at the end of this posting.

 I beat the blanket vs Elijah arrival-hot off the needles early this week,

 blocked with my new blocking wires-wow, so nice not to have swoops along the edge of the blanket!

 The yarn is wonderful in color but is sticky so be sure and not need to rip out any sections!

 Now just to wait for his arrival.......right after I get over my science experiment...

This week has been a colossal lesson on futility-where a reasonably creative human being has been reduced to a snot-leaking factory incapable of the slightest bit of well, too much of anything.  I supposed most of you have heard that the flu is sweeping the nation.  Well, I think someone should call Homeland Security.  My personal space has been severely invaded by a force of H3N2 or similar fiends.

Hard and Soft Work

 The winter of remodeling continues in my parent's home.  We are pulling up the carpet in the back bedrooms-one room at a time so we have space to pile everything while we work!

 The floor is in great shape underneath this time, so that is good.

 But we are not going to miss the smelly old carpeting in the least.

 The guys spent an hour pulling old staples and pounding in nails to get it ready for the new flooring.  To be continued!

 I finally finished spinning the four ounces of angora!

 Then I wound it onto my yarn winder-397 yards of utter tactile delight!

 This yarn will be gracing the cuffs of fingerless mitts1

 I wound the skein.

 Can you see how soft it is?

And I labeled it because I am old enough to know how well I remember details like this!

 I snuck a bit of work on the new cowl.......

 when I was supposed to be working on this!  So I guilted myself into another two rows which means 2 hours of knitting!

 But this morning, I finished the cowl instead!

 It is out of the softest yarn called Effervesce by Yarn Bee at Hobby Lobby.

I used 1 1/2 skeins (224 yards per skein)  The pattern is from Drops Design 98-1.  If you find it on Ravelry, you will also find that it has been knit by a Russian woman and while I couldn't follow her pattern, I could pick up enough of her alterations to realize that the worsted yarn is knit two strands on number 15 needles.  The pattern unfolds right under the needles, just in a loftier and bigger pattern than the original.  It is perfect.  This is for my sister-in-law who requested it especially!  It will be in the mail on Monday!

Knitting and Knitting....

 We interrupt this Twilight Zone of knitting...........

 to do a quick one night knit-this one is for Will.

Just because he likes hats.  Mom is knitting the one for Ella and I will whip off the one for Aria tonight!  Mom and I are going to the yarn store for some chunky yarn for cowls to make for the northern girls in the family who are freezing!  Such a burden!  (I have to hurry and finish the baby blanket so I can play!!!!)

The Big Reveal

 I have been a bit scanty on my blog posts lately but with good reason.  We have had an under the radar project going on every day for the last three weeks.

 Bill and I decided to do some remodeling for my parents, without them knowing, here at their winter home.  It has been very fun to plan this surprise!  First, we installed a new door-they really wanted one with a window so they could lose the storm door.  Done.

When Caleb was here for my birthday, he helped Bill pull up the old carpeting in the living room but first they had to move all the furniture out.

 They rolled up the top layer and found another old carpet underneath.   (You can see the new bedroom in the background-remember we did that in November and they knew about that!)

 Out with the old!

 Bill uses the carpeting to hold sand on the right of way next to our house so that it doesn't get washed out-great way to recycle the 30+ year old carpeting!

 and then they pulled up the bottom layer!

Now we know why there was this funny black stuff that kept trying to come up through the carpeting when you vacuumed!  The trailer is 50 years old and I think this was the original carpeting folks!

The new carpet is in place and wow, what a difference!

 On to the dining room (my camera died for the carpet removal of this room-old green plush and linoleum in the kitchen)  We laid this laminate that looks like tile flooring!  Perfect for a florida home!

We continued to the kitchen.  The blue is the foam barrier that goes under the laminate.

Isn't it striking!?  We are so excited to see their faces when they see this!

Oh, yes, it was every bit as fun as we anticipated!  They just went from one surprise area to the next!   It is so nice to do something for your parents when they have done for you all their lives!  

 My parents arrived on Tuesday with my brother and his wife.  We dropped them off at their house first and they told mom they were getting a new couch, did she want their new/old one?  She was so excited to be able to replace this one.  (My brother didn't know about the remodel at this point so it was so fun to know what was to come!)

 When Bob and Shelly came over on Thursday, the men took out the old couch...

 unloaded the new and....

 muscled it into its new home!

Voila!  What a great addition to the make-over!

 Last night, both of my sons and their families came to see Grandma and Grandpa and the remodel!

The kids had fun see their great-grandparents after a year away!  There was a lot to catch up on!