Still Snowing...

I, for one, really didn't mind (much, except for the mud) the non-winterness of November, December and part of January. Let's face it, you don't have to shovel rain. I just checked on Accuweather and it has snowed for the past 17 days around here. No big storms, no big amounts, just some snow every. single. day. There is snow in the forecast for the next 8 days, too.

To cheer things up a bit, I knitted up a pair of mittens to coordinate with the Branching Out scarf from Knitty. They are Elizabeth Zimmermann's mitered mittens from Knitter's Almanac. Nice pattern. The little leaves on the back are from Nicky Epstein's Knitting On the Edge.

Bubba is unimpressed with the monotony of the weather. It continues to amuse me that this cat, who has many, many softer options for snooze locations, has chosen to sleep in a too small box.

Bad Blogger

Yes, I've been a bad blogger lately, haven't I? Let's add another good intention for the new year and try to blog 1-2 times per week. Surely I can manage that.

I could use some good mojo sent this way, though. I had a phone interview that I think went pretty well. Please keep your fingers crossed that something comes of it and a job gets offered.

I did get a pair of mittens done, but I haven't blocked them yet, so you'll have to wait. Good thing, since winter has finally decided to arrive. Remember that freezing rain we had awhile back? Well, it has continued to be quite cold, so we often have to let our firewood thaw out in the utility sink before using.

I saw the most humungous grapefruit in the grocery store the other day. Just beyond the giant one are standard, normal-sized grapefruits. You really have to like grapefruit to get one of these!

I'm pretty sure that many of us spinners and knitters tend to put domestic-type things off so that we can pursue more interesting, fibery activities. Has anyone else seen fruit get quite this furry?

Diamonds in the Sky

Normally, when we have freezing rain, it gets warmer the next day and all the ice melts away. Not this time, today it got colder (much colder, it's down to 16 F, -9C).

In between lake effect snow, sometimes the sun would come out, turning the landscape into a sparkling, almost blinding wonderland.

When the wind blows even just a little bit, all you can hear is the ice creaking and branches knocking together.

From the weather forecasts, it looks like winter has finally arrived. There is snow in the forecast every day for the next 10 days or so. I guess I'd better get knitting on some mittens!

A Thyme for Ice

The ice storm that's been messing with the midwest finally got here today. We've had about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of freezing rain. It can be mighty inconvenient, but also mighty beautiful.









However, no amount of ice can improve the looks of some of my "so ugly that they're cute" garden occupants.

Must. Have. More.

In the spirit of stash reduction, or as I prefer to think of it, making room for more stash, I have finished a scarf for myself. I've got to say, I have been absolutely in love with this project from start to finish.

To begin, I bought this Fleece Artist merino/silk blend last summer. This souvenir fiber was one of the best spins I've ever had. The ease of spinning, the wonderful feel of the fiber, the colors...they all added up to a wonderful experience. I chose to navajo-ply to keep the colors separate, then happily started to look for the right pattern.

I found it at Knitty.com, the Branching Out scarf from Spring05. Lace is often a love/hate relationship with me...love the look, hate tinking (lace often tries to defeat me...but this time all went well. The pattern is well-written and easy to follow. I think I would even use it again.

The picture is a bit dark, but then it's been a bit of a dingy kind of day. It really doesn't do justice to the richness of the colors and the sheen from the silk.

There is enough yarn left to make a pair of mittens and possibly a hat or headband. I'm searching about for a motif to run up the back of the mittens so that they coordinate with the pattern in the scarf. Yet more enjoyment out of my souvenir!

I must. have. more. of this stuff. I looked at Fleece Artist's website and, to my budget's dismay, found that they have a retailer very close to me. My only hope is that they are carrying only the yarn, which is likely. I might be able to resist that. Maybe. Oh forget it, you know I'll cave.

Good (possibly) Intentions

Many of my fellow bloggers have been writing about their New Year's Resolutions, or, in Mamacate's case, intentions. I rather like intentions better; it doesn't seem quite so cast-in-concrete to me. I often don't have any resolutions, er intentions, but this year, I do.

1. Keep on going to the gym. I don't seem to be losing much weight as yet, but I do feel better. I guess that counts for something.

2. Try to eat a bit better. I'm not holding my breath on this one, but I will try to eat a bit less of the high calorie goodies.

3. Get rid of that big pile of ebay candidates in the corner. I have started this activity; there are currently 17 items listed.

4. Get a job. I work at this one every day; hopefully something will pan out soon. As much as I love puttering around the house, it is time to get out into the working world again.

4a. Try to stay optimistic while job hunting. Definitely a tough one.

5. Try to be a bit more organized at home. I'm working on this one...see #3. I do have all my yarn and fiber stashed away in bins, so this is more concerned with other areas, like the kitchen and pantry.

That'll do. Too much improvement can't be good for me.

Little Mittens

It continues to be unseasonably warm around here, so perhaps knitting small mittens is having an effect? At any rate, I have made definite progress in small mitten land. The pink ones are for the girl and the blue ones are for her younger brother. Mitten strings have been crocheted and are ready to use if Mom wishes. The pattern is pretty much (with the addition of ribbing) the one from The Mitten Book. I really like this little book. The basic mitten patterns are straightforward and the stitch patterns are really charming.

Along the way, I've learned a few things (See, I can be taught!). I knitted the pink mittens on a set of 5 double-points. I often use only 4 dps as that is how I learned. Adding the 5th needle makes a huge difference when knitting with 2 colors and virtually eliminates any laddering, too.

I used the Magic Loop technique for the blue mittens as I was really getting a little tired of needle wrangling. Let me tell you, that Magic Loop technique is just tailor-made for knitting small things for even smaller people. It was, at least for me, much easier to work with the fewer number of stitches on these little mittens. I still have to practice a bit more to smooth out the transition between the 2 sides, but most of that blocks right out.

What is this third pair of wee mittens for? Well, I had thought that I could do a little stash busting by knitting the mittens from some leftover Trekking sock yarn. I knit the body of the mittens in eye-of-the-partridge to make them thicker. Great idea, but, alas, I did not have enough yarn to complete them. As I had knit (and reknit) this little pair more often than I care to admit (It seems that there are many days when I am unable to count to two.), I am now totally uninterested in knitting them yet again. For now, I'm regarding them as an alternative method to store leftover yarn.

New Toys

I had a great Christmas and I sure hope all of you did, too. DH got me the iPod I asked for, so now I'm all set to listen to tunes and podcasts when I get back to the gym. I seem to have given myself a week or so off. While not going to the gym, I did finish one pair of Christmas mittens for the little ones next door. The other pair is in rework. You see, I only had a small amount of the yarn selected and, of course, ran out. This is easily, if annoyingly solved by ripping them out and making them a few stitches around smaller. Yes, I was that close to having enough. Sigh.

I've also found some new toys to play with. First up is this nifty strainer. I know, a strainer does not sound like a toy, but it's quite amusing. It's silicon and goes from flat to a strainer when you pour stuff into it (or pretend you're a pirate and flick it ). I am so easily amused!

Finally, my last toy for the week is completely free. DH allowed as how we really ought to think about painting the living room/dining room (and, of course, the ceilings). This brings us to the nice people at Resene EzyPaint. They have written a free, downloadable software package that allows you to import a picture of your intended paint victim and virtually paint it. How cool is that?!?!

Note: I'm reserving judgement as to how cool it really is until I can play with it more.

Last-Minute Holiday Stuff

Like everyone else, I have projects that just aren't going to get finished. Here's a pair of mittens with only the thumb to finish. They might actually get done, but I still need to start/finish an even smaller pair. I didn't even start a headband for DD. I think I'll just aim for finishing before New Year's! It's still unnaturally warm around here anyway.

We got this nifty gift basket the other day. Isn't it pretty? And it tasted just as good as it looked.

It's all about cookies the last few days around here. I don't know why I feel that I should bake an excessive amount of cookies around Christmas. There are not many of us in our little family and we sure don't need cookies at all, let alone dozens. I've baked treasure cookies, chocolate crinkles, ricotta cookies and spritz. Toffee (the crunchy kind) will be made soon. It would make a lot of sense to just bake a few dozen and freeze the dough for another day, but that just never seems to happen... I did, however, package most of them up and stashed them out of sight, to be brought out when needed (at least until I forget and just leave them all out!).

Know what? It's worth following the advice of experts now and then. A small ice cream scoop speeds cookie production right along. And parchment paper (maybe even those silicon baking sheets, too) is a wonderful, wonderful thing. That paper can be used for multiple batches, prevents scorching and, most of all, prevents sticking!

This nifty little treat was on Juno's blog. She sure can find amusing stuff!

My Fortune Cookie told me: A bird in the hand makes it awfully hard to blow your nose. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

On that note, just in case I don't post for a few days, Happy Holidays to you all!

Part 5 Yet More from the Christmas Store

I told you I had taken quite a few pictures at this place. It really is a nice store, with many, many beautiful ornaments, decorations, toys and a truly impressive array of model train stuff. The array of fabulous garlands is terrific and were very hard to resist.

However, your tour guide seems to have a kind of odd frame of mind, so we continue our tour with this decorative object. Unfortunately, it was solid, rather than an actual flask, which is what it looked like to me. I might have brought it home with me if it had been a usable flask.

And, finally, nothing says Christmas like...

...dancing sheep!

Part 4 Even More from the Christmas Store

I don't know why I kept finding all these odd (or at least odd to me) things at the Christmas store. Believe it or not, there is even more that I'm saving for tomorrow or Saturday.

Santa here seems to be in his stockings, getting ready for a dip into the bowl. The legs are out of some type of flexible something, so are not as fragile as they look.

On the same tree as the previously pictured busty fish and suggestive bunny, was this little cherub-like bundle. Let's face it, he's faking it; there is no way those little wings are going to get any lift!


And now, for today's contribution to "Nothing Says Christmas Like..."

...Aliens (lots of them).

Part 3: More from the Christmas Store

This store is really quite large. About half the store is all about model trains. There is a really big model set up that's really fascinating (and trains aren't really my thing). There are towns, railyards, stations, bridges (with bungee jumpers) and then there was this. I'm sorry to report that there was a terrible accident here (lower center).

Here we have a large selection of heads. Personally, I find all these little heads on hooks a bit disturbing.



Finally, nothing says Christmas like...

...a pile of dead livestock?






Finally, I swiped this quiz from Juno, and I'm sure that none of you are surprised at the results.

How evil are you?

Part 2 of the Christmas Store

When you first enter the Christmas store, you are greeted by some really large animals. The bear is pretty close to 8-foot tall; his sign says "Do Not Touch, I Eat People". How welcoming.

I've heard that Halloween decorations are getting to be a really big thing. Wouldn't it be better to have all the Halloween decorations together, rather than scattered among the Christmas decorations?


Finally, nothing says Christmas like...a crow?

The rest of the tree had some reasonably nice looking birds on it, like parrots, cardinals, peacocks, etc. And then you came around the other side and there was this ratty-looking crow.

Part 1 of "Nothing says Christmas like..."

Oops, the other day, while in Toronto, I actually did take a Saturday Sky picture. Here's the sun setting over Lake Ontario.

Yesterday, DH and I went in search of a new tree topper. We were unsuccessful as it seems they are not all that popular right now. However, while in this very Christmas-centric store, I found quite a few photo ops. I will try to post a few every day this week. Here we go.

Nothing says Christmas like....

...a busty fish

...or, well, I don't think I want to know what this little bunny has to say.

Rockin' Saturday

Yesterday, I went with my Mom on another one of those bus trips. This one was to Toronto to see the Rockettes Christmas show. The show was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. No pics allowed in the theater, so go here and here to see more.

One of the planned activities for the tour was shopping at Eaton Centre. I, however, had other (to me, better) plans.

I ditched the tour and walked down to St. Lawrence Market and met Lene for coffee. You know, it just doesn't get much better than hanging out with a friend, with great coffee (cherry chocolate), on the outside deck in the sunshine.

Yep, we were able to sit outside, in December, in Toronto. Freaky.

Fill 'er Up!

My Grammy made each and every one of her grandchildren, grandchildren's spouses and great-grandchildren the best little stockings ever. I think the only exception was for my daughter; my Mom made hers...and made it very large indeed!

A few years ago, I figured it was time for something a little different, so I knitted my Mom a stocking (hers is the Estonian-ish, 2nd from left). She gleefully hands it back to me every year and says, "Fill 'er up!".

As much as I've loved using our Grammy-stockings, they are getting a bit fragile (especially mine...stop laughing, you know why!). This year I had the time to knit new stockings for DH and myself.

DH's stocking is the Rustic Stocking from Knit Christmas Stockings. He thought that the little outside pocket from another pattern was kind of neat, so I added one for him. Mine is the Diamonds in the Rough argyle stocking from Christmas Stockings. Both of them have had 3 trips through the washer to felt them a bit. Felting does make them smaller, but then again, it also makes them very sturdy!

Like Mom says...it's time to fill 'em up!

Squirrels, Stockings & Nog

How about that...another week has disappeared into the never never. I do have some actual knitting content today.

Our newest neighbor recently turned one, so I made this little squirrel. It's a Fiber Trends pattern; I just love their patterns for critters of all kinds. In case you were wondering why he has a red tail, well, that's because some of the squirrels around here have red tails.

I have knitted a new Christmas stocking for DH and am pretty sure that I'm going to full (felt) it as it will snug up the stitches and make it much sturdier so will take pictures after that.

Here's a picture of mine in process. It is the Diamonds in the Rough Argyle stocking from Christmas Stockings. I'll felt it also.

I thought it best to stop knitting on it tonight. You see, I made a batch (actually a partial batch) of Meg Nog.


What else can we say? Meg Nog 1, Meg 0.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Yes, I know that phrase is normally reserved for New Year's, but it is so appropriate for today. Our unseasonably wonderful weather can be seen here (left) beating a hasty retreat after leaving another inch or so of rain. On the right would be the soon to be lake effect snow. Oh well, we knew it couldn't last!

In that same vein, the fall decorations have given way to Christmas decorations. I really love the red, greens and shininess of Christmas decorations.

A few years ago, DH and I decided that we would get an artifical tree. Yes, I know that is just not the done thing in many households; I was the hold out for years. We would go out and cut a 12-15 foot tree, drag it out of the field and wrestle it into position.

Let me tell you, I am now a convert. I can put our tree up right after Thanksgiving (OK, I'm a week late this year) and enjoy it for the whole month with no worries of watering, needles and tree falling over. Yes, we had that experience one year; not fun; although now it's kind of funny.

Alrighty then, do you suppose it's high time I got to knitting some Christmas gifts? I thought so.

A Balmy Wednesday

We are currently blessed with a stretch of unseasonably wonderful weather around here: Mostly clear skies with highs in the 50s to 60s (10s to 15s for our neighbors to the north). This is the kind of thing that makes us wonder what/when payback will be. Days like this tend to send me off to the park with Gypsy. This time we saw this huge burl; you could make a bathtub out of this one.

Gypsy was intrigued by all the geese. I don't know if these are local geese or just passing through. Canadian Geese will hang out here until ponds/lakes freeze over. This gaggle (and there were hundreds, maybe a over a thousand) have taken up residence on the golf course. I sure am glad that I'm not a golfer; these are really big birds that are territorial and leave behind a really big mess.

When we got home, DH was taking advantage of the nice weather and strung lights on our outside Christmas tree. Every year, he says that this tree is getting too big to decorate; I suppose one of these years he's going to mean it.

Today's plans are to put up the inside decorations, so I'd better hop to it!