Solstice Saturday

And officially it's Winter, having arrived at 1:08 AM here in Pennsyltucky. This week's snow is gone with us being between weather fronts. The high today is to be 51 with 58 the high tomorrow morning , then dropping temps all day for flurries Sunday night and Monday. Not a White Christmas due here. Weather prognosticators tell us we only ever have a 24% chance of snow on the ground at Christmas, anyway.



Yesterday was the last day of school for 2007. Whether or not anyone's to give presents, thanks and love are more than spoken. Bus drivers are no exception. DH got a load of goodies. A lot of candy and gift cards, a school bus driver mug and gift cards. Some people have all the luck of having an excellent driver and excellent kids.




DH has a very rural bus route. The other drivers say he drives on the turkey trails, which isn't too far from true. He has a 66 passenger bus that has to be driven the back roads, some which are not paved and are just wide enough for his bus to traverse. There is one road he drives on which should he meet a bus from another school district (about twice a year) one of the buses has to back up. He sees wild turkeys and deer almost every day. Last year, in fact, two deer committed deeracide into his bus. One crashed down a wooded hillside into his bus and the other ran right into the side of his bus.

It is a much-loved bus. DH washes and waxes it frequently, sweeps the foot dirt each day and hardly ever has to empty his two wastebaskets. There's a lot of respect and faith riding that bus. Kids tell him they're proud that their bus is the cleanest and best bus in the fleet, even though it's not the newest. But it's a Freightliner, and Freightliners are 'Kewl', so I'm told! They even occasionally will bring a friend onto the bus at loading time to show the friend their bus. There are many good kids in this world, with these being just such an example.

Bella Coola arrives

Now, this is more like it! Look, Ma, no poirple!

The final Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock club package arrived in this very mailbox yesterday. (As always, click on pics for detail!)

I am so much more pleased with this selection. Tina's 'basic blueness' that created Blue Moon Fiber Arts shows through here beautifully. Should all the skeins have been so beautiful, I would not have gone on my rant after receiving the last one. Plus, I would have rejoined for next year. But, I'm not rejoining.

And that money will go toward Camp and other projects.

It was such sharing the excitement and packages for two years. Just like a kid, I do "lerve" a good package!

It's time to knit on(ward).

Navajo Afghan

From 1979 to 1984 I taught on the Navajo Reservation in Northeastern Arizona. It was a public school, not a government BIA school. I loved that land and its indigenous people. I had been living in the Phoenix area before I'd gotten the position and had read every Native American book I could in the Glendale Public Library (of which there were over one hundred). One of the most intriguing and vital things I learned was that Navajo rug patterns are very similar to the Scandinavian patterns of my paternal heritage. I felt spiritually comfortable.

The cafeteria manager at my school gave me the vintage Navajo afghan pattern. I made one for each of my (then) stepdaughters. Never one for me.

Well, I still never have made one for me, but years later crocheted this one for my mother for a Christmas present from my handspun polypay, corriedale and collie.


This 'little' guy is for a seven foot long couch. He has felted a bit throughout the years, but is so cozy and warm and 'loverly'.

And there's still one more afghan to show later on...

! Whimple !

The very first year I learned to spin, my spinning lesson (yes, just one) was in July. By the fourth day of practice I was spinning cobweb lace weight yarn. That became my 'standard' for a long time.

By the fourth Christmas I decided that my Christmas present to my mother that year would be a handspun, handknit whimple. Lace whimple. It was my first knitted lace. Because the yarn was cobweb lace weight, it took seemingly a very long time to knit it and I remember I needed to add at least one more lace repeat to the pattern. I believe the pattern was in a Spin Off magazine, since that was the only fiber magazine I was subscribing to at that time.

This first picture I took of me in the hallway mirror this afternoon.


This second picture is the whimple on the bed so the full patterning can be seen. The ribbing along the face area is white angora rabbit. The rest of the whimple is corriedale and polypay (the white). I loved corriedale! For several years I would buy at least one corriedale fleece from Moonshadow Farm in Minnesota. I could hardly wait for her sample cards to come of the shearings, both the adult and especially the hoggett fleeces. Oh, those hoggett fleeces were perfection. And so wonderful to spin! And just opening the boxes, the fleeces smelled so-o-o good! I've never had fleeces that smelled so loved. (Something only a spinner and sheep aficionado understands!)

Pi R Square(d)

In preparing for the first year at Meg's camp, I did take two long sleeved shirts with me, knowing that air conditioning can be a bit on the coolish side. Oh, it was cool, all right! The timer was predictably coldest at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. every day. Those shirts did, indeed, get worn. But I wanted something that I had knit to wear, much as I am fond of denim shirts. There's just something wonderful about wearing your own handknits at a knitting camp.

For Camp 2 I knitted one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's all-time Greats, the Pi Are Square(d) shawl. In the first picture, the shawl is blocking on a double bed, which isn't really big enough for the shawl. But Nikki the cat made sure the shawl didn't go anywhere, in his admiring fashion. Every time I block an item on that bed, Nikki is right there, purring away. And, he never gets on the item! The second picture shows me wearing the shawl, taking an infamous mirror shot. (Nothing like the tshirt printing reading backwards in the mirror!) I really did need to crop the picture for the flash!


I used the pattern in Knitting Around but I didn't use wool (gasp!). At that point I almost felt like a traitor since I knit with wool 99% of the time. I had some lovely cotton acrylic light blue and white denim yarn by Bernat that came from the Yarn Elf. It knits like a dream and launders well, too! It even is block-able! The white edging is an Old Shale variation that Andrea and Amy Mielke had posted on their website. I was able to show them the finished product on the Saturday Market Day at camp.

Sorry for the late posting today and no post yesterday...it's getting a bit hectic. Sheba Sue and Tawny Tornado were groomed and bathed in the bath tub by moi today, amongst other activities. It was the first time I felt confident about my bone/muscle/tendon/ligament strength since the flight to bathe a 120 pound or so collie dog.

Embroidered wall quilt

In the transition days between embroidering and quilting, I created this Christmas mini-quilt (click to embiggen) for my mother for Christmas. We lived on Ft. Grant Rd. then, so it must have been about 1991.

I was so proud of it because I had never put embroidery patterns together before, had never made a mini-quilt, had never used metallic thread.

After mother died, I found it at the bottom of a cedar chest.

We don't want to consider her reasoning on that one.

Saturday Sky 3 p.m.

It's begun.

A Cowboy's Christmas

DH in his Silverbelly Stetson.

For several years when Russ was Operations Manager at KRTZ radio in Cortez, CO, he was ruminating a storyline that became "A Cowboy's Christmas". He wrote it out for recording after we'd been transferred to Willcox. For the recording session, he narrated it while a group calling itself 'Cochise Country' just for this session played in the background. It was recorded on different tracks with each instrument and the narration on separate mikes and separate tracks. I was able to watch the procedure and it was amazing what could be done in such a small space in Willcox, AZ! DH chose to name his record label 'Bobwire Records', rather appropriate for the 'Cattle Capital of the U.S.' as Rex Allen called his hometown Willcox. DH and I took the tape up to Phoenix and it was manufactured into 45's within a week.

He's gifting several copies this Christmas, over 20 years later, and asked me to take photos yesterday. One will be enclosed with each copy.

St. Lucia Day

Today is St. Lucia Day ... which reminds me that I need to be sure to buy my Christmas pickled herring... at least I don't send for the herring from Norway and pickle it in the basement myself like my father used to do! (My mother used to tell me there'd be no more pickling herring in this house because when she smelled the brine and changed it, she was sure she was in a time-warp of her youth when one of her neighbor families was Jewish and would pickle their fish themselves...)

Cookie baking day

Making DH happy today meant spending more hours in the kitchen than I prefer --- baking Christmas cookies.

Today's array were vanilla/almond pizzelles and Russian tea balls (as they're known here. Mexican wedding cookies as they're known in Arizona.)

My biggest problem with Christmas cookies is that I don't sample them. Inhalation Therapy is what my mind believes cookies are inherently. I put off baking any for as long as possible. But,since tomorrow is to start several days of wintry mix/rain/accumulating snow, guess the kitchen and I had better make friends.

Yarn Thrum Ornaments

Last year I saw on a blog that there were empty clear glass ornaments that could be bought and filled with yarn ends. Hmmm. Maybe I could find some.

About two weeks later I found some at JoAnn's Fabrics in Lower Burrell on sale. This past weekend I saw them in various shapes at the Yarn N Darn in Lower Burrell;so, they are still available.

Throughout this year I have saved some of my yarn ends from knitting projects and put them in several ornaments. Although I have them hanging from the chandelier in the dining room, I placed them on a wreath in the living room to be better photographed. I find it curious to know that I can look at these ornaments in 50 years and note exactly which thrum came from which project!

You can see just a bit of the outside through the wreath...it jumped to 60 with hazy sunshine this afternoon. This weekend it's not to get above freezing, so this afternoon is to be applauded.

Some of who I am

Although I am allergic to many pine trees, which is why I no longer have a live Christmas tree, I have always wanted a Norfolk Pine as a house plant. I saw them for years in Arizona looking ever so gracious and at the holidays, often reminding me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! They were so beautiful in the country decorating magazines I used to peruse. I just couldn't find any to buy....except for one costing $100.

This past weekend we finished up our Christmas shopping and there was a display of Norfolk Pines, including little guys like this one for $4.95. Now, that's more like my tree budget.

During my last decade in Arizona I learned to spin and to weave. I'll have to go to my cousin's over the Four Way to see if she'll let me take a picture of her grandmother's spinning wheel that was the impetus for me wanting to learn to spin since I could remember. Her grandmother was my step-great grandmother and lived next door until the State of Pennsylvania decided to build part of a divided highway through my hill and taking Becky's house along with six others.

The last years I was in Arizona I'd demo spin at the Willcox Apple Festival. The last three years Greta the Sunizona, AZ ceramic painting teacher was at a table across from us (often it was a threesome spinning -- Layl and Tina and me). Greta always had sheep among her display. The sheep in this picture was from her grouping one year. With my penchant for sheep, I had to buy this one that reminds me so much of my Cleo, one of my first three sheep when I was 5.

And the salesman snowman? He was a present from Tiffany one Christmas when we both worked at the Arizona Range News. Neither of us knew when we might get back to snow country. I had to return before she did.

Soppy Sunday

At least the 1/2 of predicted ice didn't materialize. Snow is melting in 39 degree temperatures added by a cold rain. That venison roast and vegetables in the oven will make for a much more pleasant early evening.

Third Mouse of Week

And what we have here is the third mouse of the week, this year's mouse for Nikki before it's wrapped. (That's a gift bag with animals portraying all the roles in the Nativity scene...)

The perennial favorite pattern from Wendy Johnson served to guide me toward a quick FO. The pattern is available in her archives. It really wasn't hard to find a section of runnered pantyhose to use to contain the catnip. Hint: keep a damaged pair around for just this project. Having a project like this each year takes the edge out of runnered pantyhose....one can say, "Oh, well, another catnip mouse in the running!"

Saturday sky is....grey. Supposedly precipitation is over for now...then ice overnight into Sunday, then into 40's.

Meg's KAL stocking finished + Surprise!

We have a finished Christmas stocking! It's attractive and 'ginormous' because I knitted it in worsted as a decorative element, not in J&S shetland as a usable Christmas stocking for someone. I used Coats and Clark and Lamb's Pride and mystery yarn. The first two are courtesy of Yarn Elf...the mystery yarn was part of my unlabeled stash baskets. They were knit on #4 circs, except the hem knit on a #2. DH insisted that it go in the middle of the fireplace between our stockings rather than in the stairwell or on the front door. (Which meant a new place for my quilted and embroidered Christmas mini-quilt I'd created years ago.) He wants anyone who comes to see the stocking. Gotta hug that man!



Stocking has been a real joy as my companion the last few weeks. The name on it "God Jul" basically means "Merry Christmas" in Swedish. I used a Celtic Alphabet generator to come up with the lettering and the number style on "2007" inside the hem. (The KAL will remain up on Meg's website until the middle of January.)




I also added a star on one side of the name section, which matches the stars further on down the piece.




As I always try to knit projects that have elements I've not done before. This one has an afterthought heel which worked up well. And, I had not knit a message in a hem before, so that was fun! I did not make any afterthought pockets since it wasn't going to be a person's stocking. But what a great idea it is to knit pockets into stockings to hide yet more gifts! There is duplicate stitching for the yellow in the stars which I had worked once before. Yet, I had done duplicate stitching in embroidery years ago, so it wasn't a totally new concept.




The substitute postal person still has not brought my stamps, but did find the correct box in which to place this calendar that Marilyn van Keppel puts together from Retreat 2.75 pictures for those of us who wished one. What a joy it is. Marilyn did a great job!

Thank-you, Meg for the many possibilities, for hosting this KAL and for Retreat 2.75!

Baby, it's c-c-cold Outside!

How does a record-breaking 9 degrees at Pittsburgh International sound? (We had a low of a balmy 16 here! We must have been in the banana belt today!)



Yesterday the day was spent taking care of the driveway and walks so VIP's like the mail person and my DH in his truck and bus had passable parking/driving surfaces.






Late yesterday afternoon I took these pictures of the back yard and of DH pushing snow off the driveway with his handy snow pusher he designed and made five years ago. Right after that it was time to go out on his activity run. The roads were not pretty.







Last year about this time it got cold and I got out some of the unspun Icelandic that Meg sells. (Schoolhouse Press has put up the new colors that will be available in January. Hot Tamale!) I'd bought the unspun Icelandic at Camp 2 thinking of a shawl or a Dubbelmossa (Handknitting with Meg Swansen. Chapter 2. Video has been available.) Joyce Williams was concerned that since I hadn't knitted with it before, I might find it temperamental since it is unspun. I responded that since I spin and knit with handspun a lot, I didn't think I'd have problems. Luckily, I was right in that comparison and had no knitting incidents!

Having told you the temperature this morning, yes I did wear it out to the mailbox earlier today....and, the contents of the box from yesterday? ... ('Supposed to be) a Wild Apple bohus (I can't open the box or the tomtens will get me!)....

Anticipating Christmas

This arrived day before yesterday from Sweden...Santa will be able to deliver it on Christmas morning, thanks to the postal elves. And, I must be very, very good or the yule tomtens will get irritated and I'll get coal in my stocking or worse!

Two knitting advent calendar links to share: One from Garnstudio and one from the Lace Guild.

Snowy Sheba Sweater

Our first sticking snow has arrived! This is our pond as of this morning. Tawny and Sheba were having fun and confusion; after all, one can't proceed with one's essential business when all the smells are covered by white!


Wind isn't blowing nearly 35 mph like it was yesterday, so Sheba's sweater isn't quite as necessary as it was yesterday. I'm really not a dog sweater person. And Sheba isn't shaved in the winter, just trimmed (which she needs again!) But she likes her sweater, sometimes asking for it. She remembers exactly how to stand and move to have it put on and taken off, too! Here, she's just come outside.





In this next picture Sheba is searching for bird and rabbit smells. Nothing is better than the smell (and taste) of rabbit droppings. Sigh.



And now, we're ready to come back in to be a Blog Star!



When we lived in Arizona, I would knit and weave all my Christmas presents for my Mother and Step-father and DH's family. In 2000 (I think, maybe 2001) I decided that rather than send a toy or a small bag of treats for Sheba, I would knit her a sweater. Mom had sent pictures of Sheba in winter, always with a sweater on. (But Mom kept her Schnauzer-shaved.) Bernat had a schnauzer in a camo sweater shown on a ball band, so I modified the pattern for Sheba. I totally guessed at Sheba's sweater size. It was a perfect fit at that point!

Christmas knitting

Here is today's update on the KAL stocking. Michelle has posted Meg's last instructions and a picture of Meg's finished stocking. I'm on the hem at the top of the stocking.


Each year I knit Mr. Nikki Pussybuss a catnip mouse. (My Swedish grandmother lovingly called the family cat 'pussybuss' whoever the kitty was.) These are the mice from the last two years. He loves these. I haven't started this year's...the stocking is taking my knitting time along with some reading... (What is it with mice in two consecutive posts!?!)

The Mouse ate my Blog Post

Not this mouse...

My old computer mouse. Had me up till 2 this morning cleaning it to try to get it to function. Which it did this morning...a little. Enough to tell me that it really was a new mouse I needed and not a new computer when Christmas presents have already been bought.

So...


this mouse came to the rescue!

Mighty Mouse!