A bit of mush for brains...

Thanksgiving was great, good company, really great food, the only thing.....I woke up the next morning feeling....tired...then just not quite right which turned into a full blown cold and I've felt fairly wretched ever since. A little bit of knitting going on, not as much as I would like, haven't even touched Shedir in that my brain is just so much mush.....Those purple things? Fuzzy feet..they'll get felted, will show when finished...


The weather has been so incredibly mild for the past week, we've had 7 days of temps in the 70's (F) with the lows...not very low at all. But today, it started out around 68F and it's starting to drop, tomorrow they say we're not to get above 25F, and that, my dear friends, is Oklahoma!

So I've taken a few photos, and hopefully they'll all upload to Blogger...yes, bless the Blogger...


I'll be cutting the geranium back, way back, and I've got the pot nestled in a huge black bag full of leaves, I'll pack more leaves on top and cover it with another bag, as I don't have the space for it in the house nor the energy to get it in here even if there were space.....





Here's a not so little friend of mine, he/she has been living here on the front porch all summer, although he/she did scamper off during the colder weather we had a couple of weeks ago, when the temps turned mild again she came out, surely looking for some food, we have a deal going, I try to not run into her web and she 'screens' visitors, she gladly takes care of any wool eating moths who are trying to come visit and I so appreciate that.

Now, although I do avoid the crazy lady spider dance, not to mention I wouldn't want to hurt a 'harmless' spider let alone have spider goo in my hair....I do not mind spiders at all, for the most part, I think some of them are quite beautiful and their spinning?? Absolutely beautiful.


Happy Knitting to all and continue to make good time.

Comfort Package...just in the nick of time.....

As you all know, yesterday here in the US was Thanksgiving day.....I do have a tremendous lot to be thankful for, the love of my husband, family, and friends.
Today? I'm very tired. We have the dinner at our house and it takes from the weekend before through Thanksgiving day to prepare and then enjoy the feast, then of course there's the cleaning up and putting everything back where it was.....so yes, today has been a very quiet day here, I've spent a bit of time 'puddle-jumping' through blogland but it's been pretty quiet out there also...have been up to a bit of knitting, of course.

So......I first heard the neighborhood dogs barking, always a sign of the mailman, I heard him out there dropping mail into the box but...what was that? Something more....yes indeed.

Check it out! (you can click on the photo for larger view)



My secret comfort pal is Faren, who surprisingly enough, lives just maybe 200 miles north of me, in Kansas! Talk about close!
So.....the yarn is some truly beautiful Hello Yarn, hand-dyed sock yarn, colourway Flame, oh, it's soft, the colours are...well, like flames! There's even a little button/pin with their logo , they also enclose a sock pattern, called 'simple sock', it has the sweetest picot edge on the cuff. Faren also handmade a few of the gifties, and these are her first attempts at these particular items, and Faren, you did a fabulous job of it, the straw knotwork (I love this), 6 little stitchmarkers and a box for their storage, I really love these! Some of the best smelling soap ever called Kansas Milkmaid's authentic handcrafted milk soap Lavender Calendula, some seriously heavenly smelling soap. They have a friend who is a bee-keeper, and from the beeswax...Tuckerbees hand moisturizing bar and lip balm, this couldn't come at a better time, believe me, with all the washing up yesterday, my hands are loving the bar and my lips couldn't be happier. She also sent a Garlic-Veggie Dip mix and a Spinach Dip mix, mmmmmmmmmmm, is it wrong for me to be glad that it didn't come before the holiday? If so,........oh well. I'm looking forward to mixing it up and enjoying it. Can you see those rocks? Well, the darker one is one from western Kansas, it's a fossil rock and the other one...now, they're both beauties, for sure, but the smaller one, just took my breath away, the colours are wonderful and, get this, this is what she wrote "I found it in a median waiting for my tour bus to load onto the ferry to go from Venice to the mainland." Now, how cool is that! And now it lives, in all places, Tulsa, Oklahoma... I love these rocks.....Thank You Faren! You are most kind.

Happy Knitting to all and please, continue to make good time.

Whoops

It seems like it's been a long week around here, and although this week is known as a 'short' week, it won't be for me. I host Thanksgiving dinner, which means all kinds of tidying up around the 'clubhouse' (think more old school Mickey Mouse, not the posh Country Club,USA), baking, cooking, setting up, then the actual dinner, then it's on to the cleaning up and putting everything back in it's original spot.....a long week.

First up.....let's hear it for the ooohs and aaaahhhs....I received this in my post on Saturday from Celtic Jo, that on the forward left is some of the silk/cashmere, and of course the photo doesn't do the colour justice, at all, on the back right is a 'purl cotton' in a lovely cream, THANK YOU JO! There's a portion of my brain dedicated to the sole purpose of thinking of projects for these lovely yarns.

A bit of colour, not nearly the blooms but what a trooper, eh?

Some socks I'm working on, a lovely simple pattern, Thuja, from Knitty, first saw some at Kate's, and I really like the pattern. And yes, as you can see, it's that old cheat...2 strands, US 3 dpns, but hey, they're part of the holiday knitting and due to the fact there's lots of it....

And to show you just how insane I might be right now....Shedir....this is the whoops. I've looked at this pattern many many times, I just love it, it's soooo pretty. Brooklyntweed knit one up in a beautiful brown that I drooled over quite a bit, again, I always keep a bit of a towel close by when cruising the knitting blogs...

What prompted the knitting of this cap? A friend of a friend of my Mother's.....has recently been diagnosed with cancer, I don't know the particulars.....I do know her first name, Betty, anyway, someone had asked her if she was going to wear a wig...absolutely not....well, that did it, I printed off the pattern, trotted myself off to the lys and picked up a ball of the Rowan Calmer and started in. It's a bit fiddly. But of course, I kept after it...hmmm, first one little mistake, oh, it's close to the bottom and back...then another little mistake...crap....but then around round 40something a big mistake...double/triple crap...frogged it back, all the way, started completely over. I'm not that crazy about the yarn, it's a cotton 75, acrylic microfibre 25, and for that there's still not much 'give', but that said, I am finding the start-over going lots smoother, and have reached round 28, some of those rounds are incredibly fiddly, and seem to take forever.....also, right before I started over I made myself a little treat....I've made several stitch markers and given them away as gifts, so I sat down and made myself one, I love it, because the knitting, it seems to go on for so long, 144 stitches per round, but when I see that little pretty coming up....it's silly I know, but I actually get a bit of a thrill.....yes, it's silly, but that's alright.

Seems like there was more I was wanting to write about but already, the week's chores are crowding the mind and I must get on with them.

To all who are celebrating Thanksgiving this thursday......Happy Thanksgiving!.....

And to all, Happy Knitting and continue to make good time.

Oh, 'dem Blues....

Yep, see that button to the right? Go ahead, click on it.....well, that is if you're for the BLUE....join in.
Here's some of the blue stash. Yeah, I like blue.

This is going to be a hit and run kind of post...first of all......I'm good. Well, certainly not as good as Peg and ok, not as good as Ms. Knitingale, but I am.....pretty good. I'll tell you why, we all joined in on a Comfort Swap and the post deadline is the 4th thursday of November, which in this neck of the wood happens to be Thanksgiving...which means packages had better post before then. Peg sent her package off, at least a week ago, well, it seems like it's been that long, Florence got her package off yesterday. I gathered the last bit this morning, packed it all up, turned to my pc to open that email that has the address and....nothing.....cable connection down.....damn. I did a few minutes of fretting, and just had to give in to it, would probably be going to the post office on monday....putzed around the house, it is friday after all, which means tidying up, otherwise known as damage control....eventually taking me into the spare room (which is DH domain) where all the computer stuff, connections etc, and I happened to look at that 'box' and noticed it is again all lit up like a bitty Christmas tree, YAY.

Got into the email, got the address and off I flew to the post office. Secret Buddy, your package is on it's way!

A couple of people were asking about my tonsils...they were never removed surgically, I didn't even know I no longer had them until the late 1980's, I had an interesting job at the time, was running the office for a methadone treatment program, the Dr. was in town, we were going over charts, doing the usual, I had a sore throat or something and he offered to take a look, asked me when I'd had my tonsils removed...uh, never?, huh! you don't have any.....and then he asked me if I'd ever been really sick, as in running a high fever for a day or so, well, probably, he told me my body could've burned them out...interesting, eh? All I know, I don't have any and I've not had them removed. That's the truth, and that's all I know for sure.

Have a great weekend, people, happy knitting to all and continue to make good time.

A bit of this and that...

It was a huge disappointment for me this morning opening the daily paper, the state I live in voted 4 out of 5 Republicans for the U.S. House, sheesh, double and triple sheesh. Unbelievable, what on earth were they thinking?

So enough of the totally weird news.

YAY!!!!! I received a link to some photos of the Beautifully huge green felted bag and matching, only as in same yarn (not felted) hat the other day, please, oh please, go see these here, hopefully that will get you 'there' and you can click on any of the photos and get a much larger view, they are so worth the look see and extra click. Misty is a beauty, and sweet, right along the lines of honey sweet. Go on, I'll wait.......

Something else you really should take a few minutes and see, Katariina has been completed, and Lene has done such a stunning knit of it, honestly, she, Katariina, will take your breath away! It's her Sunday, Nov.5, post.

Here's another tree, lives across the road going a different way, there's actually 2 trees here.




The autumnal colours are reallly coming out now, well actually for the past week or so. My SIL and I drove to Haskell, OK on saturday, to visit the Lavender Farm and also Stone Bluff, it was a great little drive and I found quite a few goodies to stash away for gifties, also sending some of them along to my secret buddy, heh. Hope she likes them, honestly, is there *anyone* out there who doesn't like/love the smell of lavender? (Besides my DH, he thinks it smells like something rotten, seriously) Anyway, I would love to hear if someone else doesn't like the smell.....

This will be a quick post, plenty to do and plenty to try and get accomplished today, I have a pot of Anasazi beans on for dinner tonight, looking forward to that.

And now this, for what it's worth.....

47 Things About Me

1. FIRST NAME? Marianne
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? When Blue, my dog, died, like a baby I cried, I wasn't fit for human consumption cried. Although...my granddaughter came into my life after Blue died and I got to be there for her grand entrance into the world and I cried. Cried tears of joy.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Ms. Knitingale wrote that her handwriting looks like a 3rd grader's, our handwriting is *very* similar except mine has 12 years on her's so yeah, mine's a real mess, a 'matured' mess.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Peanut-butter.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? That really is a 'crazy' question, I mean, that 'another person' could be like *anything* for example someone who may love Bush, in which case the answer would be a flat no,(I'll say right here and now, that if any of the fabulous people out there in blogland where I leave comments on their blogs, it's because I like them and what they're doing, so..if by chance any of you are Bush fans...well, let's just promise never to bring 'him' up, ok?) if we're talking I'm still 'me' would I be friends with the 'other' me?, sure, I'd probably be gifted with some nice handknits..seriously, I can be just that nice to my friends. I'm talking 'socks' nice.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just this blog, and yes, you can laugh now.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? No, I don't, but interestingly enough they were not removed surgically either (meaning I did have them throughout my childhood and early adulthood). oh yeah.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Heh, no.( I'd *want* to though.)
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Old fashioned rolled oats or the coarse Scottish type of oats, either kind cooked with fruit and a bit of honey and cinnamon. No milk!
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Those would be my 'sneakers' and no.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, physically, mentally and emotionally, physically more so when I was younger, but I'm still pretty darned strong.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Mint Chocolate Chip, and I can't even remember the last time I ate it, it's been at least a couple of years, it's that dangerous.
14. SHOE SIZE? I have no idea. My feet are 9 inches long and 4 inches across the widest part, do* you* have any ideas on what 'size' they are?
15. RED OR PINK? Yep.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I can be what I call 'blunt' but DH and friends are more apt to call it being a butthead. go figure. seriously? I have a nasty mean streak, don't.piss.me.off. (actually, my friend, Chris,loves my bitchiness,really)
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad, Mom (maternal grandmother) and Blue.
18 DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Just who the hell is 'everyone', anyway.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Green khaki pants, a brown wool sweater (handed down from DD, I think she accidentally shrunk it, but it's nice and soft), no shoes, I'm in the house.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? A pear. A gloriously juicy ripe pear and I loved every second of it. I want to eat another one, oh wait, there's one more left...hold on.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The hum of the computer.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Indian Red
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Can't do it, too many, right now it's that 2nd pear I'm eating.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mother.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Facial expressions, maybe the eyes, body language....
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Excuse me? I didn't steal this. To say I like her is quite the understatement, I love her.
27. FAVORITE DRINK? At the time, plum juice cut with a bit of water(otherwise it's too sweet)
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Knitting
29. EYE COLOR? I had blue eyes until I was about 6, then they turned a green/hazel/gray and depending on what I wear for the predominant colour
30. HAT SIZE? About the same size as my head.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, glasses though.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Sushi, Vietnamese vegetarian,black beans.(how can a person have just *one* favourite food?)
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Neither, really. I like a movie with substance, ya know? a good story, and done well.
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I like them both but lean towards winter, for purely selfish reasons.
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes, please.
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? This is another crazy question, and I really cannot answer.
37. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I have no idea, but I hope someone does.
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Most everyone?
39. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier, it's the 2nd of three books recommended by Jo of Celtic Memory Yarns.
40. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Just my mouse and my hand.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? A Dick Cavett rerun of an interview he had with Ingmar Bergman.
42. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Wee bitty babies laughing, chuckling and giggling, that's just the best, when something tickles their minds...and believe me it can be a real crap shoot, but I LOVE those sounds.
43. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? excuse me, there is no 'or', so...Rolling Stones AND Beatles
44. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Toronto, CA
45. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? The muggles around me believe it to be knitting, I do bake well enough, and can and do make cream puffs, those go over really well.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? The Naval Hospital in San Diego, California
47. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Ms. Florence Knitingale, Herself. (although she didn't actually 'send' it to me, she rather sweet-talked me into it.

OK, that's it for today, yes, I'm still busy with the holiday knitting but have not completed anything new.

Happy knitting to all, and continue to make good time.

Holy Crapola!

Yay, yesterday's mail brought the new Interweave, happy dance, sat myself right down in the Queen's easy knitting chair to enjoy.....and I did.....and then saw some socks. The Cowgirl Slipper Socks. OK, cute little ankle socks....and then I saw it...they're made with Buffalo Gold 4-ply Artisan Worsted Weight 100% buffalo. SHEESH. I am well aware of just how expensive Buffalo yarn is, but not this particular breed, so....went online to find out. The pattern calls for 2 skeins, keep that in mind people, 2 skeins. Buffalo Gold 4-ply Artisan Worsted Weight comes in a skein of 120yds for $60.00, (that's one skein) so yeah, YOU connect the dots. Now, here in Oklahoma we do have a place that cranks out buffalo fibre and yarn also, so I checked their on-line store...their skein is 118 yds for $48.00 (this is also the worsted weight), which means you can breathe again, but not too much, mind you. Heavens!

I know this stuff is amazing, and really, anyone who is able to have this in their stash I consider to be part of the chosen few......because....well, when you hold the skeined yarn in your hands (I have) you think....ok, what's the big deal....but then they always have THE SWATCH that's been knit and washed and impossibly soft and I don't know about you but I just wanted to cry. Real tears.
Then I got to thinking......it truly is priced right up there with cashmere, but you know, as soft as cashmere is...I don't think it's terribly 'strong', and so I was wondering about the buffalo, well, on the site in OK, they do claim that it's very strong.....but for socks? How heavenly would those feel anyway? BIG TIME.

So, any of you folks out there that do make some of these 'slippers' I want to hear about it, ok?


In knitting news.....I have made a bit of progress, and please keep in mind that on top of what I'm going to show you.....I did knit the Pirate hat (remember?) and also the long Fetching that I sent to Jo, so I've actually been busier than it looks, and I have been diligent...just not as fast as Emma, yeah, she's amazingly fast with those socks.

Here's an overall view.....



Oooohhhh, see those pretty blue Fetching? That is CASHMERE, yep, now you may be wondering how on earth a woman such as I can be able to knit with CASHMERE....I'll tell you how.
Sarah's Yarns, that's how. Yes, every time I hold this stuff in my hands I am dancing, it's more than a happy dance. I love Sarah. It's unconditional. Only because of Sarah am I able to knit with this impossibly soft yarn, it.is.so.beautiful.and.soft.


I will warn you right now, the socks you will be viewing...the pattern is the same (with a couple of exceptions) Pretty Petals, it's a fun pattern, and let's face it, it's pretty!
These are made with KnitPicks Gloss, it's a wool/silk, very nice, soft, and lovely to knit with.


These are made with a wool/alpaca blend, very soft and warm, they'll be staying closer to home and therefore a warmer sock.


You've already seen these, they were in the photo with the very large felted green market bag that ran away to Boston, I've been promised photos of said bag taking on the town but haven't received them yet.


These are made with Bliss Baby cashmerino, and get this, they're not even on the holiday list, nope, my mother, bless her heart, has a friend who's birthday is coming up and she asked me so sweetly if I'd knit up some socks...yep, that's how much I love my Mom.


These are the Father and Son socks from Interweave Fall issue, a very nice sock, I've made them with the pattern on the leg part only,,,,more to do with health issues than anything, but I think the person these were made for won't mind at all.


Doesn't seem like much, does it..but seriously, I have been knitting...a lot....

Has everyone 'met' the beautiful Ms. Faith? You should. Wanda, I keep going back and looking at her and sending her sweet, tender welcomes.
Jo has some really beautiful photos up, nature photos, you really should go and check them out, not to mention getting to see that happy child of hers.

I also signed up to be part of the Dulaan Brigade, actually she's hosting but there's a button to click on and get the information...I found out about this too late last year and promised myself I would get involved this year, will start on that after the holidays (actually, by golly, I am going to make myself some of those felted clogs as soon as I've finished the holiday knitting) well, er, I'll get started on the Dulaan knitting in.......February....yeah! Honestly.

Today is breadbakingday, and yes, it smells good in here, it's been a bit distracting and it's ready to pop in the oven for the actual baking.

Good Knitting to all, and continue to make.good.time.