Socks and Herbs

“Great is the power of habit. It teaches us to bear fatigue and to despise wounds and pain.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

Most of my gardening...no, not true....all of my gardening anymore is done in pots. It is a great thing to see the plants doing so well this year with all the cool weather and rain that is flooding people in this state out. I have been picking the top whorl of leaves off this mint to dry for tea and to add this winter to brownies. Socks for Dad, made from Qutecowgirl's yarn. The toes and heels were dyed by me, first with lime Kool-Aid then in three baths of strong black tea.Socks for me!! Again from Qutecowgirl's yarn. You can't really tell from the photos, but the peachy colored yarn has minute purple places in it. My favorite socks so far, but I say that about every pair.I have found new sock yarn suppliers recently on Etsy. NeuroticKnitterz. And in finding them, I found an interesting site and group on Ravelry. Phat Fibers. I am still new to this group, but I have found if you purchase from one of their contributors, your name can go into a hat for the drawing of a neat box of stuff, go check it out. I am in twice because of this yarn purchase. The colors are outside of my normal range, but the yarn is fantastic. I have already wound one of them into a ball and can't wait to start something with it. I am open to suggestions from any of you currently working on something wonderful. These skeins contain 460 yards.My dear friend Penny gave me this small strawberry pot. My thyme is certainly happy in there this summer. I love it!!Yarn my parents gave me for Christmas. I know it will become a sweater but currently I am trying to decide which one. I have lost a little bit of weight, too, so am trying to decide on a size. I wind the balls by hand, good physical therapy!And my last picture today is of one of the two wire egg baskets I found at a garage sale. I have been stuffing them with all the ends and pieces and leftovers of all my sock knitting. I am currently looking for a good scrap yarn sock to use some of these up.

God Bless,
Lynn

It's Raining

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire.”

Irish Blessing

Here's looking at you through a new computer and monitor, raising my mug of tea. I didn't realise my old computer was ten years young until I took it apart trying to mend a problem. It had been a gift from my Father and had belonged to my Uncle Larry, it got me through for quite a while. I figured since our House and Senate finally did their job, did the right thing, and got together on the budget to keep the government running, I might as well splurge on a new one, a celebration of sorts. So, I am back online.The new mug on my desk, brought back from...well, you know. I have never been there, but am told often I NEED to go. How great are friends who remember you when they are out having so much fun. Thanks, Pete and Kim!

I have new yarn from Scotland, too. I need to take pictures of the beautiful yarns that came recently while I didn't have picture capability. Thanks, Bev!! She added some really pretty earrings that she made herself. They will be in my next post.

I am going through another flare, so I have been doing a little knitting and a little reading. My Mom & Dad sent me a care package of books. Iris Johansen is a current favorite.

This is reclaimed yarn. It came a while ago, but my camera and old computer didn't like to speak to each other. This lovely sport weight yarn started life as an unwanted sweater. Erica, the woman who rescued it, dyed the sweater first and then unraveled 226 yards of kettle dyed rainbow continuum. What a great idea. Check out PirateCatYarns over at Etsy. Notice the cute tiny skein of alpaca she included.

I still love my hand dyed sock yarns from Qutecowgirl best. The socks above are from a skein she named Manly. The toes and heals were some of the yarn I dyed using Kool-aid and tea.

I told you I have been doing a little knitting. These are for me. I refused to wear them until I could get the pictures off the camera and onto the blog. When I am out of her yarn, it will be a sad day.

Take care and God bless.

A Day In May

"An optimist is the human personification of spring."
- Susan J. Bissonette

My family really needs Spring this year. I am not sure how it happened, really. April got away from me. There were bad, bad things, and good, good things. Sometimes the bad steals your breath away and the spinning takes a while to slow so you can understand, and sometimes the good brings tears. The little sign above came to me by way of Brenda and brought tears, thank you, Brenda. Check out the Wool Crazy blog.
Tres Trax Socks by Kay Redding were finished a while ago and I have even been wearing them. Qutecowgirl's beautiful yarns always get compliments, always. This yarn is called First Time and was great to work with. I worked on these while my 5 year old Granddaughter was in the hospital having her tonsils out. I tell you, she bounced right back. Tonsils out at 8:00 AM, corndogs at noon. Little kids are made out of rubber, so says my boss!

Hard to see in the pictures, but there are three tracks (hence Tres Trax I believe) of garter every so often.

My favorite model's new Reading Mitts, that have also been done for forever. Her office is always so cold she asked for a pair of her own.

I finished Brandywine, I am having trouble getting good pictures and it does need to be blocked. Maybe soon.

Happy Easter!

The shortest distance between two points is under construction.

- Noelie Alito

Another pair of reading mitts, this pair for my daughter. The first one is finished, the second is under construction with a little help from Dexter....AKA the Dextinator....everybody needs a little buddy, or in his case, a rather large buddy...this is 30 pounds of cat who really wishes he could knit, too.
Also under construction for the month of March, Tres Trax Socks from Kay Redding . These have been on my queue for a while and I am excited to have finally started them. They are my second pair that have been designed by her. This wonderful yarn is from Qutecowgirl.

Isn't it a crying shame when you are so proud of something you are making until you look at the photo for the first time? You never see the problems when the work is up close and personal. I have two months to finish this one in between sock of the month, should be a breeze. This is Brandywine Shawl by Rosemary Hill. I am in love with the pattern and want to do another one for me. The yarn is, of course from my favorite designer, Qutecowgirl.

I stopped into the LYS to pick up a ball of Lima to finish the reading mitts and decided to ask about a swift. I wind all my yarn by hand, it is good physical therapy. I did come home with a new swift, but also with this hank of handspun that is to die for. 124 yards of bulky that I am still not exactly sure what I will do with.

This is a ball of recycled super bulky hand dyed yarn I picked up off Etsy from SpinyNormanKnits. I know exactly what this is for, a bobble-less tea cozy. Now I just need 4 really cute buttons or beads. If it goes well, there will be several made for Christmas presents this year. My daughter, who never comments on my yarn except to tell me she does not like it, loved this yarn as soon as it came out of it's package and wanted to know what I was using it for. It really is quite lovely. Thanks to my new swift, both hanks were wound right away.

Decisions, decisions. I have two sets of buttons for my Neck Down V-Neck Cardigan. I think I am still hoping for polymer cane buttons to show up in the right color.

But I am leaning toward these from eBay.....

Things Finished

The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values.
Norman Thomas

Susie's Reading Mitts are finished and with their new owner, modeled here by my daughter. I enjoyed making this pattern so much, I will be starting a pair soon for my daughter. She would prefer nit to have hers made from alpaca. Have to pay the model.
My 5 year old Granddaughter's socks are finished. I am not sure which pair I will be knitting in April, but I know who they will be for.

A bookmark recently finished.

And the 5 year olds best friends! Meet brown duckie, the all time favorite, and yellow duck....

People Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up again.”

Vince Lombardi

Meet my best friend. She, unlike me, is just a petite thang. The snow that seems to go on forever can't even be seen over the top of her head. That still puts that snow bank well over 12' tall and it goes on for at least 75-80 feet. There are little rooms cut out of it I am soooooo ready for Spring.
February socks are done and headed for a cute little girl in northern Montana. And according to my son who was home on leave this month, "yes, Mom...you do have more snow on the ground than we do." Exactly what I was aspiring to. >sigh< This is my current tween (the in between socks project). These are adorable and so soft, being a wool and alpaca mix. The pattern is on Ravelry.
No big surprise, I have MS. I was diagnosed late last year. I have been dealing with a relapse for the last couple of weeks. I lived through my first bout of IV infusions of Solu-Medrol, I made out much better than most, but I am still waiting to feel better. Any tips would be appreciated. The wool you see on the table, for the Wool Crazy Sew Along (you will find a link on my sidebar), is a part of my physical therapy. I used to make beautiful cotton quilts with fine stitching before MS. My therapist thinks this project is a great idea, it should help the cramping in my hands. I told her the stitching would be larger and more rustic and I am pretty excited about it. She wants me to keep knitting. I am also winding all my yarn by hand, but I always have. I love knitting, but I really miss quilting.

Another Snowy Saturday

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

~Author Unknown

My son came home this week. His Grandmother passed away and he was a pallbearer. I know it was a very sad reason for him to be here, but I treasured every minute of our time together. This was a difficult time for both my children.

This beautiful yarn was from that Magic Yarn Ball that came last weekend, thank you Rhea. I could not wait to start knitting with it to see what would unwind. There were beautiful treasures inside, more on that later. The buttons just got sewed on today. They were part of my Grandmother's buttons and appear to be walnut. The pattern was Be Squared Neck Warmer on Ravelry.
I started a pair of socks for my Granddaughter in Montana. This is a Regia yarn, Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Flusi Das Socken Monster, very fun to knit up. I wish I could be there to give them to her in person later this month.

Holiday Mondays are Wonderful!

“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.”
― Michael Leboeuf

My very smart Daughter-In-Law and Son contacted my favorite yarn dyer, Qutecowgirl, for my Christmas presents. These yarns were dyed with me in mind. The yarn in the foreground was hand-dyed, the dark you see throughout the skein was the word "Health" spelled out during the dyeing process. The yarn in the background was her daughters first yarn. She knows how much I love her daughters yarns. My Son and his Wife sure put a lot of thought into this. Thank you so much, Perry and Kim!
The new sock project bag has been going everywhere with me. It was included in the gift. There is a small pocket inside, just the right size for a little something else. Something like, oh...I don't know, the gorgeous stitch markers that also came along with the gift. All I can say is WOW. I was thrilled to open this package Christmas morning.
Have you ever knitted with bamboo? Well, until this month, I never had. My Dad gets my next pairs of completed socks and I wanted him to have something soft. These feel like chenille.
It is no secret I love hand-thrown pottery. I thought I would show a couple of pieces I collected over the summer and have put to good use. I can never walk by a pair of knitting needles at a yard sale or a thrift store. You never know when you or a friend will need just the right set. And they look like little bouquets!

I have more to show you, I got some beautiful soy yarn from a dear friend....stay tuned.

Magnificent Monday

"You will never reach your goal until you start to take action, any action."
Byron Pulsifer

My KoolAid socks are finished!! I really love the way they came out. You just never know what you are going to get when you take a chance. I need...I need to dye more.....more colors...
I am trying something new. Qutecowgirl mentioned to me how she could knit like the wind with her 9" circulars. I saw Judy at Athena Fibers knitting with 8"ers and had to try them out...wow, I love them. It didn't take long to get used to them either.

They are super affordable and definitely worth a try. I bought a second 9" today, you know, just in case. They have them in metal (my personal favorite) and bamboo.

Sorry for the blur, i thought I could get you up close and personal...ask you to take a few stitches to see if you like it.

Look at these beauties I found on Etsy!!! MadeForFun has a real treasury of beach finds. These buttons are to die for and will be just great on my next sweater!!

And now for something you will really like. Cathy over at Cath's Pennies has listed her very first pattern for purchase. Her pictures and tutorial is much better than my picture. Pop over and take a look. She is getting her second pattern ready for it's debut...I will try to be first in line again....

Take care and God bless.

Sunday Comes Back Around Again

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
Albert Einstein

A long, long time ago, in a land still far from here, my Grandmother taught me to knit. It was the summer I spent with her and my Grandfather, the year I turned fourteen. I learned to knit socks some years later, in a tiny village in Germany. Almost two decades ago, I entered thirteen items in the Sioux Empire Fair and brought home fourteen ribbons. A sweater I knit for my young daughter with blackberries and cables took Best In Show. What a moment that was.

This is my sweater from a class I am taking through Athena Fibers in Sioux Falls. I still love to take classes. I always learn something new, like spit splicing, and I always enjoy the company of other knitters. I enjoy watching others knit as much as I love to do it myself.
I was lucky enough and smart enough to sign up for a sock class. Not just any sock class, but a toe up, short row heel, magic loop sock class. This was a class of many firsts for me. I learned how to do a sewn bind off. It was my pleasure to take this class from a lovely woman named Mary and I am hoping she will give another class soon. Do a great thing for yourself, I encourage you to sign up for a class.
And now...for something I really like. It is no secret I love hand thrown pottery. I have combined this beautiful yarn bowl with my current favorite hobby. Now, if I could just find enough time to get these KoolAid socks finished.

A Good Mystery Is Fun

When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'that knowledge is for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well, George, that's more nearly your size.'
George Washington Carver

Kirsten over at Through The Loops is having a Sockoberfest Mystery. It is a fun little lace pattern, very well written. It was very generous of her to share. She just uploaded the heel, week 3, last Thursday. I really do need to catch up. I need to take a better picture of the little pottery yarn bowl to show you. I found it on Etsy in the Soaringstudios Shop. This beautiful little bowl is perfect for the sock knitter and this one was made specifically for me. She will make them in different colors for you.

Sock Yarn & KoolAid

"Every artist was first an amateur."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

These socks are very special to me. I dyed the yarn myself. This is the first yarn I have dyed that I am actually turning into something. The big secret? It was dyed with KoolAid!
This KoolAid to be exact. A little strawberry, a little grape, I threw in some cherry and berry and I am thrilled with the outcome. I purchased a couple more blanks because I really think I am starting to get the hang of it.
While I was at Athena Fibers in Sioux Falls picking up my needles for a class on Saturday, I asked about a sweater above the fireplace and came home with the book. It is a wonderful book with more patterns in it than I could ever complete.
But I am adding this one to my list of sweaters I will be knitting.....one day.....

This sweater is the next one, though. They are offering a class starting on the 26th and I may have been the first to sign up for it. It will keep me motivated to finish and the two shop samples are beautiful.

Garage sale finds. My friend, Penny, and I took off during lunch on Friday and found a couple of sales. I got this new leather purse for $3 and the doily it is sitting on for less than a buck. Must have been my lucky day!