I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

Do the men in our lives understand fashion?

This week, I bought a new top. I wore it yesterday. Before leaving for work, my standard procedure is to give JR a kiss goodbye and ask him how I look.

  "Well, It's interesting." What is that supposed to mean?

I called my daughter Katie, and asked to come by for a quick outfit review before I left town. We met on her porch. "It's cute," she said. "Flattering."

I go to work. EVERY woman I encounter comments on the positive side of the scale. "I LOVE that top." "Where did you get it?" "Adorable!" " It looks so nice." "That is so pretty."

The Men?

Pastor D... (with exaggerated hand movements to reflect  a  kimono, I guess) " So what's with all the Kimono stuff?"

Scott... "Wow, that's different."

The Dobmeyer Janitorial Supply delivery guy..."Nice top." (as he bows from the waist in front of me, with his hands folded as if in prayer.)

I don't get it. I really don't get it. 

Something else I don't get... why am I finding this stuff on my desk at home?  I think this is the second time...

Go ahead..click on the image...FUNERAL PREPARATIONS? MY PERSONAL WISHES?

I want to be buried in my Kimono, darling.

Sucked into the CottonEase vortex once again?  The colors are nice, thankfully, but most are not of my particular preference, so I won't be too tempted to stock up! I did buy "Lake" to do a little summer sweater.      Any guesses on what this little swatch will become?  Of course,you can't guess! I've selected the SitCom Chic  for an "instructional" sweater. I may add the eyelet row to the bottom of the sleeves, as well. Let's see if I can knit it in a few weeks time so I can have it ready for class!

Having also  had my sights on the Lion Brand Organic Cotton,  I was glad to have a chance to see it, as well. It's nice yarn, but I have to say I like the Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton much better. There. I can move on to other things...

Like...what are the hot knits for Spring and Summer? What are you knitting?  Of course, we find ourselves in love with far too many projects and far too little time to knit them all, so I wonder how you decide?

Every woman's husband should come through the door with  flowers.  Especially when he has been away every night of the week and all weekend doing a sales thing. My man knows how to make it up to me..

An armful of Orchids

  and a fresh bouquet.    Then, he told me the Latvian mittens are the

prettiest things I have ever knit!

  And I just may have to agree.

I am having such fun working this pattern. It could be that stranded knitting is my favorite technique, especially having learned how to work the yarns without getting them twisted and tangled.  And, I feel like the colors are perfect for this pattern. It's a happy harmony of color and design, which makes it all the more pleasant to knit.

Don't you love when that happens?

What started as a gray day...

 

brightened considerably.

Ben was in just a few miles away, doing an outreach for Freedom Village, so of course, we were there.

  My mom, who is a very huge supporter of Ben and FV.

  Meghan, big sister and encourager.

  Me, the Mom, and our friend Sally. We all made up the Crying Row.

But the best part of the morning was when Ben's friends all filed in...

  and with grins and great admiration, they saw him for the first time in a year!

 

It was a bright day. Love of friends, love of family. When you are seeing a young man with a future that is so bright, the day just follows.

Mitten from Latgale...

  I like it.  A lot.

JR said it  looks  like Good N Plenty!      

I am Good and Plenty Up To My Ears with unfinished projects right now. Up to My Ears! AND with Spring here, and the snow melting away, I don't think I'll ever get two cold weather sweaters finished.

    

Not to mention Lady E,    another lace shawl, the mittens and my Bloomin' Feet socks.

                    

I also have the "basket 'o' afghan squares" to seam....before the end of April. So, even though it is contrary to my nature, and very hard for me to do, I am going to put one of those sweaters away for next Fall....and maybe even Lady E. I am a finisher,so this will be a real challenge for me, seriously.

My knitting time has been compromised once again and I have some choices to make, what with the Spring Pattern line-ups and all.  Besides, I so want to be on Amanda's Bloomin' Feet Weekly Update!

And, I can't get a sock done if I'm knitting all those sweaters.    

Why is my knitting time diminishing? Well, my husband has a new job. Which means, we cannot ride to work together any more. That kills more than one hour of knitting a day.  Also, the house is on the market once again, with open houses planned,and resuming the search for a new house, which means...I will have to actually clean my house. Every Week. 

So, according to my Knitting Time Ratio/Proportion Formula, my knitting time will decrease inversely to the number hours I have to clean my house plus the five hours of passenger knitting lost per week, divided by the number of hours that I am watching "The Office Season Two" and cannot look at my knitting....Which equals... two sweaters may have to be put away for Fall knitting. And a shawl.

Oh, the stress of it all.

It was a good birthday...

New haircut, a new polka dot dress, a RED HOT  purse from my girls..

And loads of other love from family and friends. I can't begin to count up the blessings upon blessings that you all are to me.

Vintage.

  My beautiful yarn, in the Vintage colorway, arrived from Jessica, at Yarntini! It's wonderful! You should all buy yarn from Jessica!  You know I love a good presentation, and she certainly did that...included a little strawberry daiquiri lip gloss, as well!

Vintage. Is that what I am? I collect things that are considered vintage, and they were made after I was born! Vintage things are wonderful. They have a lovely patina and story, even though they may be cracked or faded.  I  like the thought of being "vintage" instead of just "getting older."  Earlier in the week, I did all the doctor's and dentist's things. Pretty much a thumbs up for a woman of 48, until my last appointment of the day with my gynecologist, who gently and tenderly asked me if I was having any hot flashes or night sweats.  I wasn't really aware that I was.

Until I remembered Utah.  I woke up in the night, drenched in sweat...I would have rolled naked in the snow in at 2:00am! Thankfully, being vintage, I have increased in wisdom, diminished in impulsiveness. JR was sure that it was because the house was warmer at night than what we were accustomed to.

This week, my pre-menopausal  vintage sisters, I have had "night sweats" three nights out of the week! Good Gracious! It is clearly NOT because of the change in temperature or climate... it is a manifestation of being vintage! Along with sagging this and that, and sprouting chin hairs.

This morning, my dear mommy called to wish me a very happy birthday.

"Mom. Is this what happens as we get older? We forget when our kids are born?"

"Today isn't your birthday?"

"No. It's tomorrow."

"Well, Happy Birthday anyway. How old are you?"

Welcome to the Vintage Club. A bit of sisterly encouragement is in order.

Lisa, of U-Handblog, drew my name in a little contest she was having over at her place, and she sent, posthaste, all the way from the UK,  The Boomerang Bag.

   This appears to be a vintage fabric, which I love.  Lisa is a fine seamstress, let me tell you. I looked over every inch of that Boomerang Bag to see what I should be doing differently....it even has an attached coin purse with a clear vinyl pocket for my identification! Thank you Lisa L!  I continue to love your blog and your fine tutorials! In fact...go to Lisa's blog to see the bag that Cathy, in the UK made. It's knit fabric, felted and made into a tote....it sure looks like the Mason Dixon Ball Band Warshrag pattern, doesn't it?  Very striking.

Latvian Mitten Update

The object of my affection the past few days...

 

   .. from the District of Latgale.  The instructions are very well written. And encouraging. Ms. Upitis promises me to "...take heart!...with the passing of rows, the interest in the design grows." And when I finally finish the sets of braids, "the rest of the mittens seem to fly by." She really wants me to finish these mittens.

I broke another Brittany last  night, in the process.  Come to think of it, the others are looking a bit like boomerangs as well. Time to call for more needles.

Have you ever thrown a boomerang?

I don't think I knit more than a few rows this weekend. Funny how I thought about it for two days, carried it with me in the car, petted the projects from time to time, and just went on with my weekend stuff. I did start the Latvian Mittens... which began with a two color cast on.

 

It took a bit of manipulating, but I finally got it. I also taught myself the two handed stranding method for color-changing. Fun, fun, fun!

Moses was getting lots of extra loving this weekend, because he had to have some surgery.

He developed quite a growth on his eyelid which grew very rapidly and created some concern. The doc thinks it appears cancerous, so we'll know in about a week when the results come back from Cornell. While he was out, they did a good ear cleaning ( those Lab ears are notorious for getting stinky yeast infections) and he had a pedicure. His paws look so darn cute when the claws are all trimmed close....and it's kind of funny to us that we don't hear all that clicking across the wood floors....it sounds and looks like he's tip-toeing!

Another thing that kept me busy was catching up after vacation...you know, laundry, cleaning, groceries...

And, we did a mini-makeover of Ben's room. It was such a young guy room, and he had long outgrown the golf-theme wallpaper and horrid green plaid curtains.

But, you know it's about impossible to re-do a room when there is a teenager in residence. He would have lived in his filth forever, continuing to add more and more thumb-tack holes to the walls, and stacking guitars here and there, and buying new underwear instead of washing the ones on the floor.  One thing I'm thankful for is that at Freedom Village, the boy had to keep his room clean for inspection...including the bed being made! That must have been quite a transition for Ben. 

When I told him what we were doing to his room,  I assured him that we would make it comfortable, and that it would still be his room. He said, "Mom. I left that room a long time ago."

He'll be home  next month, for several days at Easter.  I suppose it is a good thing to not have to come back to a room which represents a life that he let go.

True to my thing, it was done on a budget...some paint, Rit dye for a chair and ottoman slip cover, and some odds and ends from around the house and barn.

I fashioned a duvet cover and pillow covers from two  huge linen table cloths that I found for $3 each at Walmart.  The Pottery Barn curtains were an Ebay purchase, and the bed skirt was a mere $3 as well. I'm looking for a thick shaggy brown area rug and some art posters for the wall. This is my favorite part...

  I love how this vintage dog print fits perfectly in the old stain glass window frame!

Tomorrow, I get to spend the day going from one appointment to another...being tested, poked, smashed, pricked, and gone over from teeth to top to bottom, as I do all of my doctor's and dentist's appointments in one day. What a way to spend a Tuesday!

Wherever you are, I hope your Tuesday is the best it can be.

I had two objectives when I went to Utah. The Needlepoint Joint and Knit Craft Studio. Objectives met. The  Needlepoint Joint is located on busy 25th Street in Ogden, in an area that is under restoration.

  It's a tidy little place, with beautifully

displayed yarn.    Clean expanse of wood floors and cabinets, very helpful staff, as well.  One thing that was a bit odd to me was that much of the yarn was stored in large drawers, necessitating pulling out each drawer, over and over again, to look at the yarn... and then when you decide what you want, trying  remember which drawer it was in. I did, however,find a few treasures at the Needlepoint Joint.

   Yarn for "Walk Like a Latvian." I did choose a pattern from the

Lisabeth Upitis book...I'm such a rule-follower, Vicki. Latvian means Latvian.  But I do think they'll be departure from the traditional just by adding that bright pink. I'm looking forward to starting them.

  This is a Fibertrends pattern for knitted face cloths and soap bags. Why?  Because I happened to pick up the shop sample and fell in love. I have no other explanation. The yarn is Dale Stork, which is the softest baby cotton, and well, I fell in love.

Last, from this shop, I was intrigued by another sample called "Carol's Clever Little Shawl" I didn't get a picture of it, but Shannon, another blogger, made one and you can see pictures of her completed shawl here.   It really is a clever little shawl. I got very practical, bought some Black DB Cashmerino  (since I had to buy the yarn to get the pattern). Being black, and little, and clever, it will become a very  useful addition to my wardrobe.

Oh, one more thing, I almost forgot... just delivered the day I was there,

  Fabulous. FABULOUS. you can get a peek here.

I love this Jo Sharp book...I've picked about 18 things I'd like to knit.

Next stop was the Knit Craft Studio....just a few blocks away.

  A contrast with Needlepoint Join in every aspect.

It is known as the "Haunted House of Yarn."  I navigated with some fear. Fearing the yarn would fall off the walls...

  Fearing that the Noro collection would fall on my head...

  But, Fear Not, I made it out with something in my hands..

....found in a cardboard box on the floor, on which was written in marker  "99 cents."

  Some OLD Cotton yarn, the Sugar and Cream being DK, which I had never seen before.  Then, I spotted this little booklet

   written by a Utah knitter!  Karen had done one of these facecloths and I thought it was the prettiest thing. And I needed a pattern to use for that DK Sugar and Cream.

So, that's my yarn haul. I showed some restraint, don't you think?