Preparation Day

 Bill picked up our equipment for the fireplace! 

 I got to peek in at the firebox........

 .....but the rest looks like this!  Kind of hard to see what's what but it's here!

 I got some superwash roving dyed.

 And dried and ready for some spinning tomorrow when some friends come over.

 A new pair of socks are on the needles.

 Another garterlac dishcloth is off the needles and ready to go to Mom and Dad's-here in Florida as they arrive tomorrow!  Their phone is on, the windows and doors unboarded and the  heat is on-come on, Mom and Dad!

Bling, who is usually camera shy, has helped me post this.......what a teddy bear!

Trip to Georgia in Review!

First, I finished the socks for Marsel; against all odds.........here you can see that I had to rip out some from the first finished sock to be able to knit the second.  I did perservere and she got to wear them!

Abigail loved her flannel nightie and the one for her new doll, Samantha, too.  She was so snuggly in her nightie-Abigail, I mean!

David put on his new Gator fan socks.........I love to make things for the kids!

Their cat, Mindy, kept us entertained and on our toes........she was determined to steal my knitting at every opportunity!

Marsel and I worked on a New Year's Day mystery quilt.........getting a different clue every hour throughout the day was a ton of fun.  The guys were playing Caleb's Kinect and watching football and did want to eat occasionally but we had a wonderful time together sewing this-a new tradition is born!  (I have brought the quilt to my house to put it on the quilting frame-you will see it again soon!)

Sunday was a bit chaotic in the morning, Matthew needed to get his stitches removed-big sister to the rescue!

We did manage to get a quick shot of all of us.........since Bill and I arrived sick , then Matthew and Caleb came and got sick, too-we mostly stayed in the pj mode of dress so no one wanted to be in any photos, but just before Bruce, Marsel, David and Bill left for church and Matthew and Caleb left to go home ....we tried to capture the moment.

This is where Abigail spent most of the day.........and I with her, books and snuggles.

Monday, Bill worked on and fixed Marsel's washing machine.  He has learned a LOT about the innards of a washer!  (He was thrilled to pose for this pic-the things you have to do because your wife blogs....!)

Marsel and I did get to sew together and make her a new pair of pajamas......using a pattern that I have used to make pjs for her for years!

I cast on a pair of socks for me as I was gifted two new skeins that were just eager to hit the needles..........

And finished them on the trip home........Nyki had to rub them and get the Mindy smell off of them!

 It is good to be home because the visit was such a full and wonderful one!
Welcome to 2011; My love to you , family!

The Last Word

 So, I remade the sock toe up so I would know how much yarn was left and reduced the number of stitches according to the directions and..........it looks too skinny.

 I ripped back and recalculated the pattern and left it with the same number of stitches as the foot and...
it was too fat. 

 I decided that a 2x2 rib is better than entrelac on a sock leg.  On to the second sock!

 I am not sure if PuffDaddy understands what the suitcase means but he has claimed it for his own....we are going to spend a week in Georgia, spending New Year's with Bruce, Marsel and family-even Matthew and Caleb have a few days off so we will celebrate Christmas and New Year together!

All the packing has tired us out............on meds from the doctor; should be right as rain soon!

Family First

We enjoyed a wonderful day of each other's company, good food and lots of laughs.

(The green tape on the wall is marking where the fireplace and mantel will be goin in!)

The weather was mild, mid 70's and so we played a lot of shuffle board!  Bill and I did not do our generation proud........

Today, the boys are back in their home and Bill and I are in the sick ward.  Tomorrow we will be celebrating the new week by a trip to the doctor's.

What a social life!

Merry Christmas!

From my house to yours...........

Just Kicked!

                                
I ripped out the entrelac sock, I just prefer to make mine toe up and so I ripped it out and cast on for the toe.  After the foot is done and I am ready to do the leg again, I will try the entrelac again.  There was too much poofiness in the entrelac area compared to the ribbing and the stockinette stitch just before the heel.  It just didn't look right to me.  Once again, I am grateful that yarn is reusable! 

Getting ready for my two youngest sons to arrive this evening, the cookies are made, the shelves are stocked full of snacks and we are ready to savor the weekend.

This was my view while trying to have computer time this morning.........Bling and Nyki had bath time.

JD wanted to see the cool solitaire graphics and PuffDaddy was on my lap asking for a good head rub. 

Kicking It Up!

I am using my newly learned skills of entrelac and applying them to sock knitting!  Once I wrapped my head around the circular differences, it is going well!  This was another one of the skeins from Marsel.  I hope to finish it so that she can wear them next week!  I am really enjoying this knitting.  (I am using a pattern from Ravelry titled Entrelac Socks for Noro Kureyon)

I finished the secret project........wonderful knit with only one skein of sock yarn required (450yds)!

Hitting the Speed Limit...

 Quite a large number of turkeys were enjoying the feast of cracked corn in the feeders out back.

 The frosty temperatures have yielded some amazing color for our trees!

 speaking of Frosty, here is a snowman done Southern style! 

 I opened my birthday presents and cards this morning with help from my felines!  (Yarn, fabric and quilting mag....is there a theme here?!)

 And this evening, I enjoyed some delicious pizza and great company!  (When your own family isn't close, God provides some very special people to fill that need!)

Be sure and catch the lunar eclipse tonight-I have set my alarm to wake up to watch it at 3am!

(The title was a hint at how old I am........but not interstate speed yet!)

Winter Blast

I dug my old quilt rack out of storage just in time to hang a Christmas quilt!  Both are projects from long ago.....

Yes, the freeze has hit us hard.  Tonight should be our last freeze for a while again.  I am ready to have it move on!

We kept the sprinklers on all night to give the plants a little insulation.  Our temperature hit the 22F mark again, which is pretty cold for us!

What do you do when it is so cold outside?  Play on the computer.......

.........knit,

...and wrap packages for Christmas.

This is a gift from a friend.......made by a knitter for a knitter!  Isn't it clever?!  Thanks, Sandy!

The needles have been busy.  We had to go to Daytona yesterday and have the car's oil changed and so I had plenty of knitting time on the way and back.  This is for Marsel; she mails the yarn, I knit it and we are both happy with the results!

I also have some Christmas knitting going on, this has been blacked and whited to hide the colors of the yarn but it looks good in this color, too!  More on this project later........

Suffolk Yarn

Last week I dyed the last of my suffolk wool,

blended and carded the fibers into batts,

Next, I rolled up the batts to ready them for spinning.

The yarn spun up sport weight size and into two skeins of yarn.

I used the last little bit of natural roving from the suffolk fleece and ventured into the world of thrumming!

These are so luxurious to wear because they are light weight, soft and yet so warm!  I have enough to make another pair which I will be casting on today!  It is amazing how warm your whole body becomes because of heating up your wrists.  (If you linger over the physics of warming your wrists, it makes perfect sense but to know this by experience is how the light bulb goes off for me! :')