Hibernation

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I left you for so long.  I don't know what happened to November.  One day it was here, the next it was gone.  If you feel that I do not love you anymore, you are wrong.  I have been passing the time knitting like a crazed women on meds.  I do not have any pictures because I am too lazy to put them onto the un-rewritable discs that the stupid pharmacy make me pay $4.99 for each time a take pictures.  I have failed you miserably and for that I am sorry.  Now, get over it.

Hibernation:  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary hibernation means one of two things: 1."to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state." or 2. "to be or become inactive or dormant."  Last night I thought for sure hibernation was setting into my household.  My husband and I both went to bed at 8:30...and it was wonderful.  I thought for sure we were becoming dormant and then I remembered last weekend. 

Last weekend a beautiful snow descended upon our western Kansas prairie, and I went into a knitting frenzy.  I made delicious soup, settled myself on the couch and started/finished I don't even know how many projects.  Now, if by dormant the dictionary means that for all intensive purposes I never left the couch, then by all means call me dormant.  But, because the production of knitwear does actually require me to sit down (not always..I used to knit while bartending) does that in fact mean that I am dormant?  I choose to say no. Do these sudo-dormant days of endless knitting, soup eating, movie watching in fact create an end product....yes!  So my conclusion is that I am indeed not dormant, just choosing weather appropriate activities. (I know, I know....I would do these activities in the middle of the summer if I had air conditioning, but touche) 

This is my favorite weather.  I was born in the winter and I think that every winter I feel like I have come full circle into my time of year.  I love the cold.  I love wrapping up in all of my woollies.  I love taking walks in the cold. I am so happy to be having a winter baby, I just can't imagine how my knitting would have turned out otherwise.  I love the winter.  Weird I know.  But if I could live in perpetual winter, or at least a longer winter and cooler summer, I would.  Happily.  Graciously.  I envy those who do, doesn't anybody have a job opening in Canada!  (I'm up for anything and have a wide variety of skills sets....just FYI).  To me winter is the baring of the soul of nature.  There are no pretty, green coverings, no beautification, just raw, unkempt beauty.  The starkness and contrast of bare trees and earth against soft white snow and crisp, fresh air is like refreshment for the soul.  A re birthing if you will.  Nature needs a birthday and that comes in the winter.  It's a time to rest, recoup, reheat the soul...to hibernate.  

Happy hibernating.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, my absolute favorite time of the year, came and went without a hitch this year....well, for the most part.

We start off with several work days and this year we decided to make the balls for the berox bigger..(I've been waiting all day to type that!) I mean, who doesn't want bigger balls, but I digress...  Anyway, everybody is happier in this state of bigger balls because bigger balls means more meat and more satisfied costumers. 

There were a few unforeseen problems, we'll start with the obvious..

1. Bigger balls use less dough.
2. Less dough usage means more dough leftover.
3. More leftover dough means making more cinammen rolls...and finally
4. Bigger balls means less berox. 

Crap.

We didn't plan on that...but what we did plan on was that there were two really big weddings going on in town and a free engagement dance at the local American Legion.  We'll be fine.  We weren't.  We sold out of those babies in a hour flat.  We had to start selling the hot berox for the food line for the people that buy them by the dozen (usually frozen), and even then we were worried about making it to our 7:30 deadline.  I left early from the stress of it (actually, I'm pregnant, and I couldn't stand on my feet anymore), but everyone seemed happy and got their berox fix.

My Aunt Emmy happily making her balls! (Seriously, it never gets old!) These balls are actually for Galuskies (cabbage rolls..no idea how to spell the German name).
Happy October (the best month in the whole calander!)

Baby Surprise is here!

Introducing.....my first baby surprise jacket!!

Surprisingly easy to knit, (pun intended!).  I was worried about figuring out how this little guy was going to go together, but it literally just plopped in place.  Like it couldn't imagine being any other way!  How do you like my stripe "design"?  Another one of my wonderfully placed stripes (attempt to make beautiful red hand-dyed NOT RUN OUT!!)  I have to say, I just keep getting better at this striping thing.  It makes me want to cry a little...I'm that good, not to mention prepared!  I think being prepared is always the key.  Don't ever just go down to your stash and say, believe how many yards it says your project will take...bring a striping friend just in case.  Definitely DO NOT go down to your stash in a panic and try to find a companion yarn to magically insert a stripe just any old place...be prepared, like the boy scouts.

I just had to make the Yarn Harlot's adorable baby booties.....

I actually ended up with three of these adorable little guys...in three different sizes to boot!  These are the closest matching two.  That always happens to me..the first one always turns out monstrous and the other two more closely resemble something that wouldn't be put on a giant baby.  This happens when I knit socks as well, but I just tell everyone one will be bigger than the other, and deal with it.  Cause I ain't knitting three socks!  It is a strange phenomenon I must say, and I haven't really encountered anyone else with this problem.  If you have this problem, please let me know I am not alone in the foot wear knitting world!  Thankfully, these little guys have ties!

It's about scarfing time!

IT'S ABOUT SCARF TIME!!!  Sorry...I didn't mean to yell at you I just got a little excited!  I love scarf weather.  There is just something about the crisp autumn air the puts a spring in your step.  The crisp apples, the different colors all around....I just get excited!  After the heat of this summer, it is nice to cool down and throw a scarf on.  I made this cute scarflette last Christmas for my sis.  She hates putting things around/over her head because it creates so much static..(I think it's awesome watching her walk around like she's plugged into a light socket.  Sometimes I don't even tell her that her hair looks like it's trying to reach Pluto...why would I?  It's just so darn funny.)  So this was a perfect solution, I just added a button and off she goes.  I am kind of sad to see the other worldly hair style go bye bye..but...

I love bulky wool.  I don't hardly ever knit with it because I couldn't actually wear it on my skinniest day.  It's great as and accessory, but not great if you don't want to look like the Stay Fresh Marshmallow Man. 

My favorite green scarf will be back in the rotation again this year.  It has felted  into a different version of itself.  It's still my favorite though and extra soft but the alpaca has a tendency to spring off in tiny tufts and attach to my eyeballs.  The pain we go through for our knitting...if it only knew....

HAPPY SCARFING!!

Flowers...con't..

So, my obsession with the Louisa Harding flowers didn't exactly stop at say, one or two projects.  Like I said, they sort of take over your life...like the first time you tried Nutella...that stuff rocks!

This shawl was for my little friend Onesti.  My mother started it as a prayer shawl, and when she was in the hospital at the end of her earthly life, I picked it up with the need to work on something that she had worked on too.  I will never be able to look at this shawl and not think fondly of my mother, and little Onesti got to have two wonderful sets of hands making this for her. 

Onesti's mom was the proud recipient of these beflowered items.  All my designs except the mittens, which are EZ's Curled Tipped Mittens.  Yarn is of unknown stash origin.  

And speaking of mittens......

I am very proud of this design and it will be coming to you soon via Ravelry.  My hubby bugged me for these shooting mittens FOREVER!  I finally gave in and he is the happiest hunter around!  Warm, but you can still pull a trigger...priceless.

Going Back...

So, baby surprise is waiting on buttons and a bath.  So before I indulge you with baby surprise, which by the way went together practically on it's own, I thought I would take you back for a while to some past projects...

This is Rachelle's hat...it is my own design.  Sadly, I do not have a cool ravelry link for you to buy the pattern, but it is coming soon!  The flower is a Louisa Harding design.  I may have mentioned once or twice that I did get to spend some time with Louisa in the south of France (I am totally name dropping and proud of it!) and this is one of the really fun things she contributed to our knitting party.  I kind of went nutso on the flower making...as you will see later.  The yarn is Knit Picks Crayon Boucle in Lime.  Very fun. 

A couple more of my designs and as you can see, I'm flower crazy.  They're just so cute and you can take them off and wear them on a jacket or sweater if you like and so....my obsession with flowers, (excuse the pun).  These are more of my designs.  I never write anything down when I start something like this, but now I have to hold myself to it since I already said I was going to actually write down a pattern and possibly make it available on ravelry.  These are made out of my all time favorite alpaca, Blue Sky Alpaca, bulky 50/50 wool/alpaca.  I could cuddle up with a skein of this stuff every night. If it was butter I'd butter every piece of bread in the house and eat it up..Atkins be damned.

And last flower design of the day, certainly not the least.....

Once again, a gift started with out a pattern and voila!!  Cute red bag.  I did end up felting the straps, because unlike clothing, straps should just not be stretchy.  This is Brown Sheep, the most felt able yarn around.  And again...flowers.  I'm telling you, don't start with these things because one day you're just trying out the flower thing and the next day they are strewn all over your house adorning things like, coffee tables, table runners, every jacket you own.  Thanks Louise for the new addiction, as if I didn't have enough already.  (Note to Terese: I love you very much, but if you don't start using this bag that I slaved over I will steal it from you and use it for a diaper bag.  I'm not joking!)

And just to put my money where my mouth is......

Me and Louisa....looking very cheeky!!

Baby Surprise

 First I want to thank the Yarn Harlot for such a beautiful post on her blog for baby Marlowe.  Inspiring!

That is the first baby surprise and the second is that I finally started my very first baby surprise jacket for the impending arrival of my very own baby Cash.  I am using the most beautiful yarn that I got on vacation with my good friend Amber from a wonderful artist in Estes Park, CO.  Neota Designs produces the most wonderful hand dyed yarns and I haven't ever seen a red quite so deep and rich and beautiful and....red! 

I am anxious to see the whole "surprise" in the jacket and I am only hoping I can figure out how the thing goes together. 

Speaking of my friend Amber...I have been working on some sketches for her upcoming wedding next Sept. I am hoping to make her dress as I have made all of my friends' dresses.  We are in a bit of a tiff, but I am hoping everything will work out OK as it usually does with two women who know each other a little too well.  I was with her when I got the yarn for the baby surprise, and only the two of us would take 12 hours to get home on a 6 hour drive!  Needless to say it involved one of us sleeping, one of us driving and neither of us checking the map....oops!  Our men were very perplexed, but it's pretty much the run of the mill for the two of us.  You're talking away one minute and the next you are three hours out of your way....it happens!  Amber if you are reading this, I love you for who you are and I love getting lost with you! 

And for surprise number three....My main man and I finally got married last weekend!!!  I can't express how truly amazing it was to say those vows to him and recognize our commitment to each other.  My friend Amber also made me the most beautiful hairpiece and I am sorry to say that the picture does it no justice.  I didn't make my dress, as I didn't know what size I would be and happily, I was too busy knitting to really have the creative energy to make anything.  Those of you who know me will understand how rare it is for me to mark an occasion of this magnitude and not make something for myself to wear,  but when everyday you get up and don't know how big your belly is going to be, it can be somewhat intimidating to break out the shears and put them to some expensive fabric!  Instead I had a handmade headpiece and it was amazing...