Friday Moments

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Theodore Roosevelt

I came around the corner and my favorite thrift store and bumped into this yesterday. Wow...! I called my best friend over to talk me out of it. She did such a great job that it took me 5 minutes longer to pay the $19.99 for it. You gotta love friends. She knew I would regret it forever. I will let you know it is Heavy. She thinks it may be mahogany. I love the blue though and don't think I can bring myself to strip it. What do you think? Imagine loads of sock yarn behind the glass.....

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

The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.

- Benjamin Franklin

I have new and wonderful things to show you. I have met a new yarn rescuer from the UK that has the most beautiful reclaimed yarn at her Etsy shop. Her name is CastOffCastOnUK. If you have been thinking of doing something a little more Earth friendly and green, it might be a good thing to pop in and take a look. She has some lovely rose and emerald yarns posted, as well as some yarns she has reduced the price on to sell as complete sets.
My Mother's friend past away last year. She crocheted wonderful afghans for the people she loved. I asked my Mother to pick a couple out that she had not finished. I finished on for her and one for her friend's daughter. I have discovered that with is disease, crochet is no longer easy for me, but I am thrilled to have them done and received on the other end.

The Stupidly Easy triangle Shawl by Glenna C. on Ravelry. I found this fantastic suede yarn at a thrift store in town. Probably enough to make a sweater. I needed something easy to work on while waiting for appointments. This was just the thing. No patterns to memorize. My friend thinks it is the best thing I have made in a while, so it goes to her.

There were 6 skeins of this, already rolled into center pull balls, for only $5. Not a bad deal.

Surprise!!

Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.

~Titus Maccius Plautus

Imagine my surprise when I opened the mailbox to find this gorgeous hand dyed yarn. The surprise was not so much the yarn itself, since I did order it from my favorite yarn person. The surprised was how quickly she got it to me. I just ordered this on Friday....late. By the way, if you like this yarn, you can find Qutecowgirl on the right hand side of my blog at anytime under favorite artisans. This yarn is even more richly colored than the photos allow. Just beautiful. There are more socks to be knitted in my future. There is a generous amount in each skein, too. Look at the beautiful stitch markers she sent me. And Dexter was dying to know what I was taking pictures of, that is his handsome mug in the right hand corner, where he is not allowed.
Midnight, in the socks I am knitting right now, was the first yarn I ever bought from her. I am very pleased with the way it is knitting up. It is just beautiful. I think she may be surprised on how this is turning out, too. I never know what to expect when I am looking at yarn in a skein. I just pick colors that I think are beautiful and let the pattern develop from there. My friend Penny is excited about them, too. She tried on the first one last Friday and it fits like a dream. I am thrilled.
Another treasure, fresh from the dishwasher, I bought at the flea market this last weekend. It is smaller than it looks here. I am thinking berry cobbler like my Grandma used to make.

Reflections

Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.
— Søren Kierkegaard

Today after work, I stopped at my favorite thrift store and found the cheese dome with no wooden under tray for next to nothing. I found this beautiful plate with the vining leaves that serves the purpose perfectly, they go together like they were made for each other. You are looking at a nursery for some of my seedlings I will start soon.

My dear friend Penny had a death in her family this week. Her husband's twin perished in a house fire. He lived out of state, as does most of their family. I was lucky enough to be able take a day off work to go to his funeral yesterday. He was a Vietnam Veteran. It was an experience I want to share. What some of you may not know is that I am also a Veteran. As the service was coming to a close, the Military Color Guard came forward to re-drape the casket with the Flag. The Sergeant in Charge addressed the congregation. He let us know that by order of Congress, all veterans, even those in civilian clothes, are authorized to salute the casket. We all snapped to attention and smartly saluted. I will tell you now, there was not a dry eye in the crowd when the bugler played TAPS. I was standing behind his Mother, holding the handles of her wheelchair just moments before. Still standing at attention while they folded the Flag and delivered it to his Mother, I was close enough that I could hear the words he whispered to her and he made me cry again. It was definitely the most moving service I have ever been to. The National Guard did a fantastic job. Their job is not an easy one, but boy is it important to a lot of people.

While I was out of town, I did manage to stop by a quilt shop I had never been to before and I did enjoy looking through everything, touching fabric and talking to friendly people. I brought a small haul home with me that I can't wait to play with.

God Bless and thank you for stopping by.