Sunday, February 01, 2009

EZ surprise jacket


EZ surprise jacket
Originally uploaded by fiberbrarian
Finished! Paton's Kroy sock yarn. LUV the color of the variegated. Found it by chance at Michaels after reading that they now carried sock yarn. Went back to buy more...gone. Clerk not really clear on if they would be getting more. With the economy as it is, I guess I should be happy that they're still here.

Still. It's beautiful.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Close call!


handspun Romney shawl
Originally uploaded by fiberbrarian
My (almost) worst nightmare happened last night: My car got unplugged.

I'm sure there was no malice - someone must have tripped over the cord as they walked by. (All the cars are plugged in with cords that cross the sidewalk and plug into the building. Not great design.)

The car definitely was not sure that it wanted to start but just at the point where I had to decide to continue turning the key - and taking the chance of totally killing the battery - or stopping, the car turned over and started. WHEW! The temps won't get high today, so I'll be out starting and warming it up.

Last night I finally got pictures taken of things I will send out via Macuwita Sni. The handspun Romney shawl is the big item. Roving from The Fold and the wonderful Toni Neil. Great person - super teacher - excellent vendor.

This cold spell has been hard on more than cars. The bunny pictured earlier has been around. He's not crazy about the 'wild life' food I bought for him. I saw a peanut shell, neatly opened. The raw uneaten peanut sitting there. Even its red covering had been removed. All carefully left behind. Uneaten. And s/he doesn't like corn either. I'll get some bird seed. That seemed to get eaten. By something.

The squirrels have built tunnels in the snow. I discovered that when I put some seed out under a tree - heard a squeek and saw a flash that disappeared. Eventually tracked it to a snow burrow. Pretty smart use of the environment! There's not going to be much thawing until April.

Wow. That is a depressing thought. I notice that I'm knitting with bright colors now. Must be a reaction to all this white! Luv the Romney shawl, but I admit I wanted to throw it in a dye pot and give it some zip!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Bunny catching some rays!


dec28_2008 005
Originally uploaded by fiberbrarian
Look what I saw when I opened my curtains this morning: A bunny, soaking up some rays! Obviously a very smart bunny, resting its back against a black rubber heat-attracting tire. (And his brilliance was reinforced by the fact that he took off when my neighbor showed up to get in her car.)

Post celebration shock. Or maybe it's mid-celebration befuddlement. There's so much to do and yet it's intersession - aren't we all supposed to be on vacation, taking life easy?

Monday, December 08, 2008

It's beginning ...




Christmas - front window/yard
Originally uploaded by fiberbrarian
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Snow and lights and cold. (and somebody's bike on the front porch)

I'm on vacation - just stopping in to empty the camera and check e-mail/Ravelry.

Not too much going on outside ... can you see my new green extention cord? The car LUVS being plugged in! Starts right off. And I love the lime green cord. Makes me happy just looking at it.











I'm sending off a big box to Macuwita sni today. Here's the contents:





17 hats, 7 mittens, and 1 scarf. I had hoped to find someplace to send them in North Dakota, but it's getting too late and too cold to hold out for preferences! These knits want to warm someone - NOW!

Off to the post office ....

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Christmas knitting

I am spurred to write this because of the Yarn Harlot's annual I've got the Christmas knitting undercontrol post. This year's Unstoppable was posted Monday, Dec. 1...basically spitting into the wind.

My holiday knitting plan is different. I knit - and then decide who gets the item. A very simple solution. This comes from many years spent laboring over hand-quilted, -sewn, -crocheted, and -knitted gifts that have been treated as if they were bought at WalMart.* I admit to several post-holiday times when I'd find my carefully made item in the kids' toy box or under a plant or somehow in harm's way. It took me years to finally realize and accept that most people mean well - but they have been raised in a throw-away society.
We'll buy another one later.
And when they see all the cheap handmade items in the stores (and don't see all the poorly paid labor that went into making them) no wonder they don't respect my gifts! I'm not holding myself up as someone beyond this mentality! I can be just as wasteful as the next guy. But I am learning. And I am drawing a line.

This year's holiday knitting goes to afghans for Afghans and Macuwita Sni (South Dakota).

And maybe I should start thinking about my New Year's resolutions -
  • be more public in my knitting/quilting/spinning
  • start teaching these arts and crafts
Maybe. We'll see. In the meantime, I need to get some boxes packed and shipped off! Good luck, Yarn Harlot!

*NB: I do have a few people (only one of which is a Muggle, though) that appreciate and respect my labor. They've been known to get a present or two from me.

Monday, November 24, 2008

HolidaySwap 2008 from OzKnitter!

Here's the open box from OzKnitter that arrived on MY BIRTHDAY (!) November 22, 2008. Part of the HolidaySwap on Ravelry, we agreed to open only one present before Christmas. OK was nice enough to include some unwrapped snacks, too. The top left shows a magazine of beautiful food and tables. The silver envelope includes my card and ornaments. ORNAMENT PIX COMING!

Why did we agree to wait??? LOL

Monday, October 20, 2008

First frost on the car = First day of winter

First frost on the car = First day of winter. Or at least the slippery slope is viewable.

I hate scratching car windows. Brrrrr. A shiver of (negative) anticipation just went through me: shin deep in snow, trudging a path to the car. Starting the engine, hearing that annoying beeping sound as I leave the car running and get out to start scratching. Swearing, realizing I've got the wrong mittens on. (Yes, I actually have HUGE ungainly mittens for scratching. Warm but so bulky that I can't drive in them. Perfect for scratching.) Annoying dinging again as I dig inside the car for 'ice-scratching' mittens. Ding ding ding ding ding. (Like I don't know the car door is open.) Ding ding ding ding.

This is the about the only thing I don't like about winter -- scratching the car windows enough to be able to drive to work.

Because the first frost also means that I can put out the bird feeders and the suet thing. And only 66 days until Christmas! Plus this weekend I saw a gorgeous sugar maple just a few blocks away. And I saw a special display of lefse makers at a department store this weekend, too! And lights are starting to show up in windows.

That's one of the nice things about winter darkness - seeing lights in the windows. They are especially sparkly in the cold frosty winter air.

NOW I'm starting to remember what I luv about winter.