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....

Lose One, Gain One

When we lose one blessing, another is often, most unexpectedly, given in its place.
C.S.Lewis

From the time I was 16 and drove a 1948 Chevy pickup with a deluxe cab, that was geared down for towing and had the most delightful wrap-around windows, I have always owned a clutch. Always. I am a type A control freak that needed the control of a clutch. Now I am much older, 51 if you can believe blogger (I think they must have miscalculated). This baby is an automatic. Losing my clutch is the most recent battle that MS has won. I am turning this loss into a gain, who needs a little red sports car when you can drive a big, beautiful, black beast?

I finished the reading mitts, I just need to get a good picture. I have started 5 year old socks, but left them in Penny's car after an appointment last Friday. I have one remaining UFO besides the socks.....I could be free to start a new project soon....soon....

Thanks for stopping by. Take care and God bless.

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.

Magic Yarn Ball Received

If it's not fun, you're not doing it right.
Bob Basso

I got my magic yarn ball in the mail! Didn't she do a wonderful thing, here...I want to do this again! Stop over at her blog and take a peek, she is a wonderful photographer. This ball of wonder will become a Be Squared Neck Warmer. There was a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk in the box, but since I am not sharing that with anyone (mine, all mine) I will not tempt you with a picture. It is absolutely my favorite, barring none. The true moral in all this is never desecrate chocolate with nuts and never, ever share! Sharing yarn is good, but Cadbury is not a team event!

Magic Yarn Balls

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.
Dr. Seuss

I joined an online swap started by T Does Wool. I am usually tempted, but seldom join. Magic Yarn Balls. If you are interesed in taking a peek, we have a Flickr site. My swap partner has already received her package so I can show you now what it looked like when she took it out of the box. The premise of the ball is that you take a skein of yarn, alpaca in this case, and wind it into a ball, winding little trinkets and bobbles into it as you go, starting with something somewhat round in the center. That way, when your swap partner is knitting from the ball, little things begin to appear. Sounds like great fun, doesn't it? I had a blast putting this together, I hope she likes it as much as I did. Even my friend, Penny, got involved and found me a tiny pair of wooden knitting needles to wind in.

"So Long, January" Sunday

"A new British survey has revealed that 9 out of 10 people like Chocolate. The tenth lies."

- Robert Paul

Last weekend was spent with a good book, great tea and new yarn. I am loving the way the Bamboo feels. It does split a little more than Superwash Merino does, but with a little care taken, it is well worth it.
And they came out so cool!!
This beautiful yarn is, I believe, destined right now for the Evenstar mystery shawl on Ravelry. I have signed up, but I haven't finished my sweater yet and I may put the pattern with the yarn for another time. I still wind all my yarn by hand, I am a very tactile person that way.