Handmade Memories
I wanted a nice new closet system in my office closet and the construction was slow but it finally got done and looks great. The only problem I had with the whole idea is, how on earth do I get all that stuff back into the closet?? I am a pack rat by nature, but for the most part it's organized. I love putting things into zip lock bags or boxes and labeling things. Okay, I do not have OCD, but I just hate having to look too long for something when a notion has taken hold. I hate waiting on hold on the phone listening to promotional miss mash and I hate standing in line at a restuarant. So instant gratification is a good thing. Hence the little bags and boxes in my life that have cluttered up my office closet.


So all that clutter came out and some is still laying on the couch and the rest is out in the hallway waiting for some decision on my part, what to save and what should go. This is the bain of my existence right now. Mind you, the majority of this stuff is NOT mine but my eldest son's things. Okay, well maybe it's mine, sorta. It's stuff that all mothers keep to remind them of a child's past. I have things in there like one of his first art projects in high school, a baseball tropy, his winning Pinewood Derby car, a bench he built in shop class, and on and on and on...and one very old suit case from the 60s.

I was on a cleaning jag this morning and was going to put all of this stuff in the hall closet when I decided it was too much for the little closet and now what was I going to do; dig through it of course! I opened the first box and almost teared up.

There on the top of the pile were hand made baby things and a pair of baby shoes from my first son. Now what mother wouldn't stop and pick those things out and admire them? So, I fished them out and had a thought. Why not blog about hand made things from the past? These items were not made by me, but were gifts from some lovely person who gave of her time and efforts to make a timeless keepsake treasure.
These are those lovely items that I found (except the shoes). There was a very small blue and white afghan, a little white jacket and only one bootie.

Here is a close up of the baby afghan. It seems like a very simple pattern but I do appreciate every stitch and the time it took to do everyone. I can't remember who made it but I do know that I saved it because it was made with love 25 years ago.
I feel the same fondness for the little jacket. Now that I look at this picture closer, it looks like it was crocheted. I know that shell stitch anywhere. I guess I put it on the oldest boy once or twice, because I can see stains on it that look like, well... you know-yak.

So my sort of Meme for all of you who breeze through here is to talk about some treasured hand made item, that was not made by you but an item from someone who loved/loves you enough to give it as a gift. Happy Hand Made Memories!

7 Random Things About Me
I got tagged by 3 Sleeves To The Wind to tell you 7 random things about me. I have no earthly idea where to start. I am a pretty boring person as far as I am concerned. So here goes.

1. I met my husband on a blind date that his best friend arranged. I dated him for 10 days and after 7 months of letter writing and a long distance romance, we eloped and now have been married 28 years. …and they said it wouldn’t last!
2. I ambidextrous.
3. When I was 19 I did some hair modeling for Jermac Hair Products. I was discovered when I was about to get my long hair all cut off. The person freaked and said I needed to keep my hair to do the modeling and I did.
4. When I was in the 4th grade I lived next door to a girl whose father had Playboys under his bed. We used to sneak in and look at the pictures. I secretly wanted to be a Playboy center fold until I was about 14. I didn’t know that they didn’t take 5’2” freckle faced girls. I was devastated. I got over it.
5. I am a chocoholic.
6. I have had gastric by pass surgery and lost 110 lbs. Sadly I have gained about half of that back.
7. I am a city girl, but lived on a dairy farm my last few months of high school. I can milk a cow by hand.

Still Here

I really am still around. I have been busy trying to finish things on my knitting list. Yes, I have a knitting list. It's posted right to the left of my computer on a bullentin board. I see it everyday when I sit here. I try to keep a running list of things that I would like to do and who they are for. I know that seems a bit strange but I find that having a goal helps me to stay focused. I could go bonkers and buy yarn constantly with no project in mind. I know plenty of knitters who do that, but I don't have the money or the space. So...

The list

As you can see I have crossed some items off the list, but when I cross something off, I end up adding more to the bottom. Since I have not figured out how to list all my projects and the progress bar on the side, this works.

I have finished another Mary scarf by Wallis Knits and have another one on those lovely Addi Lace Needles. I just can't rave about them enough. If anyone knows me (hint, hint-Joan and Patty), they would make lovely Christmas presents. You just can't have too many of them. Plus I have a lace shawl by Lily Chin (Fiber Trends-Charlotte's Easy Lace Shawl) on the needles and it's going to have to be ripped out again. Which by the way, I have done at least four or five times now. I set it aside because I was getting cranky when anyone (hubby) would talk to me while I was trying to keep track of my rows. I also have a pair of socks on the needles and they have been sitting there for over a month now. I will get to them later this summer. I have four of those Wallis Knits scarves to finish by August.

I was so digusted about having to rip out the Lily Chin shawl so many times that I had to get to some "Stupid" Knitting. That's what one of the knitters I knit with every Thursday calls it. I agree completely, but surely there must be another name. "Stupid" knitting just sounds so mean.

I have finally finished an acrylic shawl I started months ago. I have some before and after shots for you. Here is the before...

It was still on the needles when this picture was taken earlier last week. Now the after picture.Can you see what is missing? Yup, the fringe. I hate fringe. Someone else pointed out to me that if the shawl is going to a nursing home, no one will take care about the fringe when it is laundered. So, I spent and hour plucking out what I had already done. I am glad I listened to reason.

It's a nice size triangle shaped shawl. Here is another view...

Not only have I finished that one...I have started another project made from donated acrylic yarn that I picked up at the Knitting Guild meeting. I need an easy mind numbing project to do while knitting on the 4 lace scarves. I am surprised that I like it and it's going pretty quickly. I won't have enough yarn to make it as long as it says it should be, but I don't really care. I just want to use up the acrylic stuff and give someone a nice throw. This is the pattern card from the box set called The Little Box of Knitted Throws. I love the little projects in the box. I got it a while ago and have only made one throw from it, but just knew it would be worth having, and sure enough it was. This pattern is called Rhythm in Blue. The top and bottom edge is the seed stitch and the rest is called Flame Wave Pattern. Here is what mine looks like after two skeins of knitting... I have a ways to go, but I am sure that someone will be glad that I am totally frustrated with knitting lace right now. So I haven't been slacking, honestly!

Maryland Sheep and Wool 2
I am just tickled pink that I was able to attend the Maryland Sheep & Wool Show again this year. I don't think it was my imagination When I say that it didn't seem as crowded this year. I am not sure whether it was the overcast sky, cooler tempertures or the impending threat of rain that did it, but who cares; less competition for me to worry about.

I went on the Knitting Guild's bus with about 31 women. We left at the crack of chickens yesterday and got back long after a respectable bed time. Hubby was waiting with the van when the bus arrived at the Mall parking lot. It was raining and I was thrilled to be home. My bus buddy Susan and I were pooped. I think we started talking before the bus ever pulled out of the parking and stopped talking when we hugged goodbye and went home.

As much as I love to shop, it was exhausting! My credit card is cooling off on the desk beside me and has told me it won't even think about recovering until the next billing cycle rolls around. Compared to Susan J, I was conservative in my spending. She was a MS and
W "virgin" but I had one year under my belt to decide what I wanted to buy and where to go. I felt priviledged to get a copy of the offical copy of theMaryland Sheep and Wool Festival book from shop owner Susan S to take home with me. I went through all the vendor ads in the book to see who I wanted to visit. I also printed off the vendor list from the internet and then promptly left it sitting right here with all the highlighted vendors on it. I made notes and more notes. Good thing I remember many of them off the top of my head. My mission this year was way different than last year.

This caught my eye at the end of the day after I had already bought some different yarn someplace else. This is On Live. The colorwary is called Beach. It's German and is a superwash. I can't read German but I did pick a key word on the label-Machine. This means to me, that what ever I make from this, can be washed in the washing machine. Yeehaw for machine washing! Next...This sock yarn was purchased from Tess Designer Yarns. I had never been to their booth before, but let me tell you! It was a color Mecca. All the yarns were grouped according to their colors. It was a feast for the eyes, and packed to the gills with crazed women. They had two or three tents connected together outside and it was still too small. When I see a line someplace, I know they have something good. I really regret not taking a picture of their booth; too many people in their to get off a good shot. Take my word for it; it was fabulous. This yarn is Super Socks and Baby. Again, it's a machine washable yarn. It's 80% wool, and 20% Nylon. There is about 450 yards in each of the two skeins that I bought. While I don't usually wear a lot of yellow socks, I just love the softness. The color is like a butter yellow. I have no idea what I will make from this, but who cares!
These three skeins were in a plastic bag together. I just couldn't seperate them so I bought all three. I have a project in mind for these but no pattern as of yet. This was also purchased from Tess Designer Yarns. It's a superwash 100% Merino lace wool. I am not a huge fan of pink but they were so pretty I just couldn't resist. Are we starting to see a pattern here... Again, I was on the lookout for lace yarns and I purchased this from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. It is 110% Merino lace. It has 500 yards. This is also from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Again it's lace weight and has no purpose intended other I just loved the colors.

I really had a good time this year and hopefully with a new job next year, I will be able to attend again. Every year I think a become a better consumer. With all the talking with Susan J and the constant shopping, I can't believe that I only got one picture of Cashmere goats at the show. They are cuties, but I will have to do better next year.

On Sale Now!
There is a yarn shop that I have been in twice in the last few months called Knit Wits. I went in the first time because I was curious about what was inside. The shop is now in a serious clearence sale. The current owner has decided that being self-employed has run it's course and it's time to move on. There is a new owner but they won't take over until some time the end of May, early June. I heard from the current owner that the shop will be closed for a few weeks while they are remodeling and stocking new yarns.

Since I stayed too long, I ended up helping out the old owner of her burden of too much inventory. I wouldn't want her to have to pack any more of her yarn that what she needs to, so I lent a hand. So I did my part. I have projects in mind for everything.

Since most everything in the shop was 40% off, I bought the last 5 of Whisper varigated lace weight yarn. I want to either do a shawl or 5 lace scarves of some sort. I bought two of these from Lorna's. It's hard to tell from the photo but it has the same colors as my youngest son's camie uniform for the Army. The shop had a knitted hat that I think both my sons would like so hopefully before winter starts here I will have them done. I have only made a few hats so this will help me stretch my wings. These babies are Mandarin Petit and 100% cotton. They will be made into these items... I saw these at Wool Windings and my brain started working on how I could use these for gifts. So I have a project in mind for the Mandarin Petit.

I was in The Knitting Corner last week and Susan told me she has a shipment of brand new Addi Lace circulars. I could hardly wait to buy my first pair since I have been a lot of lace scarves lately. I have been putting them to good use since getting them on this past Tuesday. I have been making another lace scarf from Wallis Knits and those needles are WONDERFUL! I tossed the straights aside and have been clicking away with my 24" #4s. I will have to have more of these!

Susan also ordered me some more Misty Alpaca in and wonderfully dark green. I doubt that any of my chef buddies read my blog so I can post the yarn here. So I will busy the rest of the summer knitting lace. I was even thinking of taking a lace class at The Knitting Corner. How sad is it that I might have to decide whether or not to spend lots at MS&W or take a Beaded Shawlet class. What happened to having my cake and eating it too??

Opps, I Did It Again...
Okay, I sat a little too long at The Knitting Corner one day. A woman came in the shop and sat down at the table. She had a cute pink and white stripped bag. Everyone asked her what that bag was. She said she had ordered it via the internet a few years ago and just loved it. It was small enough for a sock or something really small. Since I have been getting into socks, I thought this would be perfect for long car rides or sitting at the doctor's office, etc. She told us what she remembered the name was, but couldn't remember the site. I dashed home and got right on the computer. I did a work search and found myself one.

I have to say that I am not disappointed very much by what I order over the internet. This is one of the very few times. I was really excited about getting my little package in the mail. It came pretty quickly considering it came from the west to the east.

I opened it up and this is what I got.

I saw it on the internet before I ordered it, but it was smaller and not as cute as the one the woman brought with her that day in the shop. I will use it but I really don't like the name on the side. As one person said to me when I took it to the shop, I was doing their advertising for them. I don't want someone's name on my rear, so why have this. Well, it was too late. I already spent the money. So I will live with it. Has anyone else seen a cuter version?

This bag contains one 50 gram ball (I wound it up myself) and my #1 dpns for one sock. Notice there are no instructions for the socks in the bag. You will have to photo copy your instructions and then fold them up fan style and shove it into one of the pockets. Heaven forbid it should fall out...

We Interrupt This Blog For... It's pretty unusual we get snow this time of the year. I heard on the news that the latest we have had snow is April 11. So we almost broke a record.

This is the view from sunroom, looking at the neighbor's house. My poor little Japanese Maple is trying so hard to put out some truly beautiful purple blooms. The daffs have already come and gone. So here's to spring!

Been There, Done That
This is my second time going out to my friend Mary Scott's sheep farm for shearing day. I consider it a privledge to go and help out. So here are the pictures from yesterday. It took 6 pickers on and off to get through 21 fleeces. Mary's husband was in the sheep barn helping shearer with that part. I helped with the sheep once they were sheared. Getting out the pen is just as hard as getting them back in. Either way, they have a mind of their own. So here is a series of pictures of the sheep being sheared.

Here are the girls and two withers waiting to be sheared. They are herded into a small space and then one by one guided out of the pen to the man doing the shearing.

Here are the two colors of sheep before shearing. The one with the more long face yielded a whiter fleece. The other girl yielded with black fleece or a black with silver undertones. Either way, they were both beautiful. The first girl to be sheared for the day. She doesn't look too happy about any of this but...

Here she is with about half of her fleece sheared off. See how white she is? The fleece that is closest to her skin is nearly as white. It had a really nice crimp too.
Here is one of the black sheep. Isn't that a nice looking black fleece?
This is the dark wool tarp.
This is the end result of lots a sweating, corraling, chasing, clipping, labeling and picking. This is the light wool tarp.
Then one by one all the fleeces are picked over to get out any gross things. The wool is then bagged up and taken to a processing plant that does all the hard work.

No blog article about shearing would be complete without the "naked" sheep picture to cap things off. ...and here they are!

Fuzzy Wuzzy
I have seen these on two different blogs and I knew I had to make a pair of them. It's my second felting project and one of the few things that I have knitted that I have not taken a class to get them completed. I am still new enough that I feel like I need to see that someone else has done something and how it turned out. I also need someone to hold my hand. "Yes, that looks like you are heading in the right direction", "That yarn does felt and it's a good choice" or "Now look how that turned out".

So I bought the leaflet and had Ruth and Lee from The Knitting Corner help me pick the yarn. They helped me figure the yardage and I was good to go. This all happened in Jan. I wanted to have them finished for Valentine's Day but I was in the throw of "Sock Love" and really didn't want to stop.

Here is the view of the clogs before felting. I used the apple as a point of reference so you can see how large the really get. I used that same apple in the "after" photo.

Here is the view before the washing/shrinking deed. I am always a wreck when I put something in the bag and throw it into the washing machine. I am doing what has always ruined my sweaters. Now I am getting a thrill doing it. What is wrong with me? Nothing...I just think that felting is so cool. When I first started knitting I had tunnel vision. I only wanted to learn to knit...period. Then I needed one of these and the sickness set in. It's sickness I don't desire a cure for. How often do you hear that??

This is the end result...a bit fuzzy but much smaller than when I started. Hubby says they fit. My son tried them on and said he felt like a cartoon character on TV with them on. So what does he know. I know HE'S not getting a pair!!

And the Winners are...

...my happy cold feet. I finished my second pair of socks using the same pattern as the first pair. I am going to do more using this pattern because it's such a quick simple knit and I don't have to keep track of too much row by row stuff. I have the yarn for the second pair and I will have them on the needles probably this coming weekend. I am about to finish my latest project but don't want to start anything else until I get it done.

Here is a better picture showing that I did the heels and toes with extra reinforcement yarn in a teal blue to compliment the rest of the sock. I just love the way they look. I have to say because they are a blend, they aren't as soft as the wool I used in the last pair. What is the funniest about them; is they make a pat-pat sort of sound on the flooring when I wear them. The wool socks made no sound at all. I have no idea why they make that sound. Maybe after I wash them that will change. Does anyone else know what I mean?

Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned
I am not a religious person per say. I am however a very faithful friend. I have been going to The Knitting Corner for over 18 months now and that’s pretty much the only place where I have bought both yarn and knitting supplies. I don’t know how this happened, but I got a Knitpicks catalog in the mail and I sinned. First, I caused my husband to sin with me. Our anniversary and Valentines Day were coming up and I made the suggestion that I would love a book from the Knitpicks catalog. I got the book and a gift certificate for a pedicure (from my favorite place just a bit down the road).

The sin has been committed again. There was a knock at the door 15 minutes ago and the enabler Postman made a delivery. I squealed with joy over the four barking dogs at the door. It’s here! It’s here! Then the guilt and shame set in. It’s so hard touching my new things and feeling the shame of not being a faithful consumer/friend to my favorite yarn shop. Will I single handedly put them out of business by ordering via the internet? How many women will be looking for a new job?

So I must make amends…I must go and shop there next week. Then the shame will be absolved? What happens if I commit this sin again? Perish the thought.

Now lookie what I bought…





I have seen these before and really thought it was such a great idea. I might be traveling on a plane two three times this year. Since the airlines take scissors away from you, I thought this would be a good way to have something that would cut my yarn and not cause me to be arrested at the gate! I have opened it and used it on my latest project and it works like a charm! That was money well spent. Now let's see what happens when I try to get it on a plane in July.





Next...I saw this at a Charity Knit-In for the knitting guild a month or so ago. I thumbed through it and decided that there were enough patterns in there I would use. So I bought it. I especially love the little preemie hats that are in there. I can add those to the Santa hats that I made in December of last year. I have been reading chapters in the book about how all the charities started. It makes for some quick heart warming stories. Again...money well spent.
















Here is the yarn and pattern for what I am working on right now. It's a gift for hubby. I am about half way done so hopefully by next week I can show what I made.

Bookcase Material
I am a new knitter although I don’t know how long I can keep using that term. How long are you new before you are not anymore? 18 months? In the span of a knitter’s life, 18 months seems pretty new to me. Maybe when I hit the two year mark or finish my Mock Cable Sweater, I will consider myself not “new” anymore.

Being “new” still I don’t have much knitting reading material. Since I am chef and have a rather large collection of cookbooks, I think that I should show the same attention and enthusiasm for collection knitting and spinning books.

So I have started my endeavor to fill up a book shelf that doesn’t exist…yet. I have a small cubby hole place in one corner in the living room that has a few books, but it will soon be too small and I will have to come up with a more suitable place for my books. I hate the thought of cleaning out what used to be the X-stitch closet, but I am thinking it’s going to come to that.

I have already gotten rid of most of my craft items but the X-stitch is the last to go. I am hesitate to toss any of it away, for fear I might decide to take it up again. Oh poop, who am I kidding. I will never pick it up again, because I just flat have lost interest. I haven’t done any X-stitch in years so I really have to get a grip and let it all go, but go where? Do I sell it in a yard sale? Donate it to some Thrift Store? How about another X-stitcher who has a hording problem? I keep looking in the closet thinking that I would have more room for my roving and yarn if I would just get rid of the other stuff. I think I getting closer to tossing in and then putting a sign on it saying, "Free to the home of a faithful X-stitcher”. Wonder how fast it would disappear? Anyway, I digress.

I bought two more knitting books and have just been on-line ordering another this very morning. I saw the one I just ordered at a Knit-In and saw some really cute things to knit that all looked pretty simple. So I did the deed. Hopefully in a few weeks my new space-taker-upper will be here. Here are the two that I have acquired so far. One was recommend when someone saw a shawl I was making. Yes, it’s still in progress. Okay, okay, it’s still on the needles because I have just gone off the deep end of making myself socks. The shawl has two purposes to serve. One, is to use up all my old acrylic yarn. The second is to donate it to an elderly female vet at the local Veteran’s Home. So I won’t waste any yarn and when my hands are tired of holding #1 dpns, I can still knit something and feel like I am making some progress on something that really needs to be finished. Some progress is better than none. The second book was recommended by someone at The Knitting Corner on a chance meeting. I have not done any projects out of either but sooner or later I will. I sure hope they don’t end up out in front of the house with one of those signs…

Show and Tell
This past Monday I went to my monthly meeting of the Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia. We meet the first Monday of the month no matter what. We are a diverse group of both seasoned and new knitters. There are so many creative people there its not even funny. During the meeting we have a program. This month was steeking.

Now I am a pretty new knitter and this totally freaks me out. I have never seen anything like this and it really makes me a wreck when I see scissors getting near a perfectly lovely piece of work. Such was the case at our meeting. Jackie Scott talked about steeking and used a fabulous piece knitted by our President, Linda Johnson. Jackie talked about sewing down the stitches made for just that purpose. You could see the sweater had some stitches that all looked alike in a row. Then to either side were stitches from a sewing machine. Below you will see what happened. Maureen took pictures of Linda's face and I got some shots of the scissors doing the deed.








If you look closely, you can see that some of the stitches where the scissors are look like they aren't quite right. You won't be able to see where the machine stitching is, but believe me, they are there.


In this shot you can see some of the machine stitching if you look really close. Take a look at the blue along the scissors. You can sort of see the stitching. Very scary!

In this shot you can see more cutting. Linda was very brave and I was a total wreck. I kept leaning in to see her cut. She was calm and I was sweating. I could feel my heart pounding really hard.


This photo is blurry. If you can make it out, the sweater is struggling for it's life. It knows what's coming. More cutting...poor thing....

Rats! Jackie won. The steeking was done and then was talk about how to put the sleeve so that the stitches matched. The inside seam where the sleeve is inserted into the hole is folded back and then doubled stitched to insure that nothing comes undone. The finishing is lovely. I hope that Linda brings back the sweater so we can see the finished product.

Before Linda's sweater was steeked Jackie talked about a sweater that she made. The colors were bright and so cute.

I really enjoy going to the meetings. If you link to the blog that is set up for the Knitting Guild you can see other colorful sweaters. Martha (one of our very talented members) taught a class where you can take a sweater for a Teddy Bear and do some math and make a sweater any size you like. I wish I had been able to take the class but I had to work. I am hoping to learn this method from Martha some day.