Inauguration Day

Well, I had this big thing already written about my hopes and fears for the new President, but then erased it all.

Everyone is probably already sick to death of everyone else's opinions, so..


As far as knitting goes, I've been working on a cowl pattern out of some nice thin fuzzy Patons Lacette. It's a nylon/acrylic/mohair blend that's looking pretty and girly. We'll see what happens when I'm done fooling around with it. Keep your fingers crossed because this would be a bear to frog.

If it turns out pretty, I'll get pics up and if not, we shall not speak of it again...

Cold

All I have to say is

BRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

0 degress Farenheit this morning (-17.8 degrees Centigrade)
When they put in the lovely wind chill that's about -12F or -24C.

I am having a hard time wraping my head around it being colder here than in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Happy New Year - finally.

The Holidays are finally over. That sounds a little grumpy, but I don't mean it to at all. We had a very nice Christmas after all. Wow, that sounded sort of grumpy, too.

It was an odd Christmas overall. The first time we had two grandkids to see. The older one is a joy and such a girly girl all around. The youngest was crawling everywhere. What a hoot! She thinks she's so big.

We went to the hub's parents' houses. Everyone was nice and got along and it was so drama free and without stress. When you've had a lot of drama, drama-free is so extremely nice.

I guess the shawl is making it's way across the country at light speed. It's actually ahead of schedule a bit which is great news. The pictures on here and on the blog for the shawl are showing it as a work in progress. I wish people who aren't knitters could envision how it's going to look after it's finished, washed and blocked. The difference will be night and day. It's going to be amazingly beautiful.

I'm reminded of how fortunate we are here. We have a warm place to live, food in the fridge, our kids are healthy, ditto the grandkids, I just got called back to work (not full time, but every bit helps) and our pets are spoiled rotten. Those things are HUGE. Agreed, it's not fun to not go shopping for "stuff", or go to movies or restaurants with no thought, or any of the various other ways we used to entertain ourselves, but we are trying to concentrate on what we do have, and it's more than sufficient.

One thing I want to remember to do this year is a little more charity knitting. When I think about it, there are yarns in my stash that aren't colors or types that my family would like, but someone else may adore, knitting is pretty much an obsession of mine, and there are so many people who would love to be warmer or just to know that someone had a little thought to their comfort. Charity knitting is a win-win for everyone.

Sometimes it does get a little crowded on the couch to be flailing about with pointy sticks:



Maybe if I put a little list thing on here, it will motivate me to do more.

Such a Slacker

Yep, that's me. I just realized how long it's been. Somebody should have smacked me way before now.

First off the important stuff. I'm a participant in the Traveling Shawl that's working it's way across the country being worked on by knitters in all fifty states. The purpose is to raise funds towards breast cancer research and hopefully a cure very soon.

For all the details and links and such, someone else put it much better than I can, so here you go:

• During the coming twelve months selected knitters from across the United States will be going Passionately Pink for the Cure® by working on the Traveling Shawl to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer.
• It’s passionate, because the need to end breast cancer is so urgent. It’s pink, because that’s the color we’ll wear to accomplish our goal.
• Participating is simple. One knitter from each state is adding six to eight rows of intricate lace knitting to a beautiful pink shawl that when completed will be raffled. To enter chances to win the Traveling Shawl make a donation of $5 or more to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the leader of the global breast cancer movement.
• If you’d like to contribute online, please use the link below. In return for your contribution, you’ll get a pink ribbon pin and the satisfaction of helping to move us closer to a world free of breast cancer. To enter the drawing, when you receive an email confirmation of your donation send a copy to travelingshawl@gmail.com . For each $5 donated you’ll be entered in the drawing for a chance to own the completed Traveling Shawl!
• Thanks in advance for your help and for showing your true colors by going Passionately Pink for the Cure.
• Donation page
  
• Follow the progress of the shawl and share the journey!
• http://traveling50statesshawl.blogspot.com/
• Here is a picture of how far it's been knit as of Saturday (12/20/08)

Raffle.. $5 for a chance to win the shawl.. Did you read that? wooohoooo.

Sometimes it gets a tad bit crowded around here to knit, so you HAVE to take breaks...




Sometimes you have to power through and do the sweater and beaded backpack anyway

Lots of cool stuff

If I were getting grades for originality of blog titles, it would have to be at least a D, but what the heck. It's mine and that's that.

I finished up the 'Hey Teach' from the Summer Knitty. It's funny. A really quick knit, easy to remember lace pattern and stash yarn, yet it's gotten more compliments than things that have taken much more time and effort to complete. Just goes to show that a good design shines through.

I've also joined a cooperative knitting effort. You can read about it here. When it's all done, it will have been to all 50 states with people from every state taking a part in knitting it. It will be raffled off to benefit the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer. It looks like the raffle tickets will be $10 each. For the winner, that's going to be a great deal. For everyone else, they should get a great feeling of doing something good for not a whole lot of money.

That's it for now. If I ever get around to putting batteries in the camera, you guys can see some pics.

Hi - Whatcha doin?

Good grief. Seems like we've been busy, but it's spinning our wheels. Which is ok, cause we do like hanging out with each other. Here's about as energetic as it gets:



That's two stubborn animals not about to give up the bed for each other. The cat is Friday and the dog is Skippy. Friday just doesn't look like her old self anymore. She's lost about 13-1 4 pounds and is now a downright svelte 15 lbs. I know, I know, it's HUGE. She really IS a biggish girl, but she's tall and long and carries it well.

As far as knitting goes, I've joined the MS4 knitalong and have finished clues one and two. So far it looks like this:



It's a bit of an odd combination, but to me it seems really 'fallish'. I'm using a fingering weight yarn called Breeze that's 40% alpaca and 60% wool. It just feels squishy and soft and warm. Just the thing for the cooler mornings on the horizon very soon.

There's been some random knitting. I'm working on a little backpack thingy for the oldest granddaughter. How many kids do you think will have a beaded purple alpaca bag? That's what I thought. Not many. Thank goodness the girl likes beads - and purple - and soft stuff. She's most surely a girly girl in every sense of the word. Not like her grammy at all.

Also sent out a few 7x9 inch squares to a local knitter who's working on a blanket for a family member from TX. I guess Ike hit them really hard and comfort items will be a real blessing for them while they're getting re-settled. It makes me wish I was a quicker knitter and could provide more.

FOUND!

The dog from the post the other day is home with his real family.

We found out where he lives. The people are great. He's loved and cared for as a part of their family. He'd just gotten out and gone visiting.


It's GREAT when things work out.