snow!

and that it did... although not much to accumulate. Fun to watch, not so much fun to drive in.

fetching for.....

Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niameth
Yarn: Some acrylic bought on Scalabrini Ortiz in BA
Color: Black (obviously)
Needle: US8 dpns
Recipient: BFF Gail

so i started these on the plane home from BA... I knew she wanted acrylic so she could wash them. This stuff was really soft and felt silky smooth. I didn't have a clue on the yardage since they sell it by hank and without ball bands when they make it there themselves. I only knew how much it weighed .... if I had a McMorran balance I could have figured it out... or if I had had a scale could have divided it into 2 equal parts, but had neither with me in BA so I just started knitting on the plane, not paying very close attention to the directions... finishe one mitt and read the directions.. lo and behold I had put 5 cable repeats in the mitt... and then wasn't sure if I had enough yarn to finish the second. I liked the extra repeats, but...I started the second and knit up to the end of the 3rd cable repeat.

so after I got home I weighed the finished mitt and the remaining yarn with the half finished 2nd mitt and found that i was just shy of enough for the second mitt. So I ripped out the first to the 3rd cable repeat, finished the second mitt as per the pattern, and then finished the first in the same way. I skipped the picot bind off... for me it did nothing to the mitts... phew.. there was about 6 yards left.

I got a bit too much sun today while waiting for DD at her swim lesson. It should be fine tmrw though and really makes me look as if I've been spending time in summer weather, which it hasn't actually been. I'm not complaining at all. We've had really lovely weather since we got back from BA.... sun and not too humid or hot.. I'm lovin' it!

as if

I needed more holiday stress, I signed up for NaBloPoMo for December... sort of go out of 2008 with a blog bang.

I'm procrastinating doing school work, by blogging and knitting, but at least this will force me to post daily at least a word or two or picture.

I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I cooked... we had too much food, the kids were great and it was very relaxing spending time with the family. I could show lots of stuff from the 5 days off, but it may be wise to save some of that for this month...



So I leave you with thoughts of snow.....the theme of the chorus concert this year. DS1 woke up the house yesterday to announce the ground was white.... and it's not even December 1st... he was really excited. Of course, it rained the rest of the day and the snow was gone in short order.

I'll save more of the weekend stories for this week. Enjoy December!

what the hail?

yet another day of summer storms, with hail the size of small grapes. So cool for the kids to feel snowballs in August, right here at their own home!

stormy weather

yesterday, we had the greatest summer rainstorm! The sky was green-gray, the wind whipped, rain was torrential, hail fell, and the storm drain lids popped all down the street. It was like watching old faithful. Usually they build up pressure and pop and that's that. But yesterday, the one in front of our house popped and the water erupted about 2 feet in the air. For a while, the street was flooded as was the sidewalk. Naturally DD, who has been obsessed lately with weather (I mean really obsessed) was freaking out. The storm ripped the bark off the higher porportions of the sycamore trees that line the street. After the water subsided, we sat on the porch. The electricity was gone. The kids sang songs and read. I carded and spun. It was wonderful. DH brought dinner home from a local restaurant. The kids watched a movie on his laptop and I went on the porch and spun by candlelight. Loved it!

I'll post more later with some pictures of stuff

oh what fun it is to ride!

Friday afternoon when the snow stopped falling, we went sledding.. well at least the kids went down the hill (OK I did once, too) They had such a blast. DS2 would scream woo-hoo as he was sliding down. It was great that they finally got a snow that was worth playing in.


Sunday afternoon was perfect weather for building a snowman. The sun was shining brightly but the snow still lay on the ground. This boy's decorations were provided from a snowman kit that my SIL gave us years ago. It's helped a lot of snow become people. This kept the kids outside for an hour or so.

DD lost a tooth Sunday night. The kicker is that the fairy left no money.. I told her it's cuz she wasn't in her bed, but I was there in stead so she thought I was trying to scam her ;-) hope she bought it. There's cash in the pillow now, though

I'm about halfway through my second skein of wool for dad's vest. I finally decided on 8s which make a thick cloth, but I like it better than on the bigger needles.

I also cast on a cloth for a co-worker tonight.. of course procrastinating doing work. The forecast for tmrw is glum. Snow then freexing rain and sleet until 11AM so I'm wondering if we'll have a late start or maybe nothing at all????

I better get my school work done. I'm sleeping at the computer while I type.

happy crafting everyone!

another year older and no smarter

the half century mark is approaching more and more quickly. I was so glib to tease my brothers when they turned 50, I'm sure it will come back to bite me in the behind when the day comes.

DH was so generous to me... I'll post pictures soon, but right now isn't the time. I can say he bought me almost all things wool but nothing for me to make. In other words, no yarn, already FOs... from Donegal Square (one of my favorite stores downtown) and a beautiful necklace from the same place.

We went out and got the 2 oldest kids new mattresses. Ready to be picked up Thursday.

It's snowing now.. I can pray for a snow day tmrw. Half of me wants it and the other half dreads it.... never make this old woman happy!

I worked on mom's shawl this weekend. Was knitting on the way to church (a long commute) and noticed a dropped stitch before the last lace section... so I'm frogging back to the stockinette section. I was so hoping to finish it today, but I'm afraid that won't be happening.

We went to see the folks today. My younger older brother brought dad from rehab to the apartment both yesterday and today so that he and mom could spend some quality time together (and to get him out of that place) so we all had lunch together. The kids were pretty well behaved but 3 hours of being in the 'village' was about all they could handle. Next week I'll go alone and try to get something accomplished for them. I know the visit with the grandkids was good mental health for mom. Dad gets annoyed with them behaving like little kids (which of course they are.. he'd reather have grandchildren that were 3 5 and 7 that behaved as if they were 18 and older) He's back to his old self again... but he's looking worn. I hope he gets to move in the apartment soon. He needs that.

Happy crafting!