Christmas 2017

The new couch was purchased and put in place.  My living room is now a haven for reading, knitting and spinning.  It makes me very happy.

Christmas decorations were put in place.  I didn't find everyone that should have been put out but the house still has a festive vibe.

Kristin came home Monday, December 18 with Nala.  Nala immediately decided that her favorite spot was under the Christmas tree among the gifts.  She occasionally tries to climb the tree, but a firm "Down!" sends her scurrying.

Santa came and even brought a gift for Nala.

Christmas evening was spent in Cincinnati with my siblings.  We managed to get a group picture with big smiles from all of us.

While in Cincinnati I got to meet my new great-nephew.  Isn't he a sweetie!!

Of course, I didn't get all of my Christmas preparations done.  Ed and I were finishing up the cut-out cookies at 10:00 on December 23.  As mentioned, not all of the decorations were put out.  Trisha's cowl didn't get finished.  I did finish it on Thursday and gave it to her last night when she and her boyfriend came by for dinner and to watch the Cotton Bowl game.  It isn't blocked yet.  I'll do that and then she can take it home.

However Nala thinks it is fine the way it is.

Last night it started snowing.  This morning we have a good 4 inches on the ground.  It is still flurrying, but I don't think we'll get any more accumulation.

It looks like a good day to relax in my new living room with a cup of tea and some knitting.

Christmas is when?

Christmas is less than 10 days away.  I've barely gotten any shopping done.  Not many decorations are up.  Knitting is way behind schedule.  The wreath has been on the front door and the Advent candle has been out.  That was it until Thursday night when Blake put up some exterior lights.  It is time now to get focused on Christmas.  But I am not stressing about it this year.

The last knitted gift that I am committed to making by Christmas is on the needles.  I may get a few rows in this morning.  The rest of my day is going to be focused elsewhere.

This is not a huge bouquet of flowers on my kitchen floor.  It is the top of our new Christmas tree.  Ed thought he'd assemble it yesterday but when he saw the bubble wrap he stopped.  Our last tree came with a heavy plastic storage bag.  This one does not.  He decided that I should unwrap the pieces since his method would result in the destruction of the bubble wrap. 

The side table in the foyer has been cleared of pictures.  It is now waiting for the carousels and snowman statues. 

There are two reasons (excuses) for the lack of preparation around here.  The first is my job.  It has been awful.  Long, stressful days that result in complete exhaustion when I get home.  The second is this, my new carpet.

I couldn't decorate half of the house because of the carpet installation.  I finally have new, beautiful, lush carpet in my living room, stairs and upper hallway.  The empty space in the above picture is going to be filled with a new couch, to be purchased today.   YAY!!  I've been waiting a long time for this.  This room is going to be my haven.  It is where I will drink my tea and knit and read and gaze out the windows and renew my soul.  This is my Christmas present to myself.

Checking Things Off the List

Preparations for Christmas are slowly coming together.  Last month I made a hat for Blake.  This week I finished one of the Kallisti cowls I am making for the girls.    I don't know if this will be Kristin's or Trisha's.  Past experience tells me that however I decide to do it they will want to switch.  The hat and cowl are currently hanging out together in the sink getting ready to be blocked.  (Sorry for the upside-down picture.)

The mittens I planned to make for my euchre club gift exchange have been scrapped.  They were going to be way too big.  I instead decided to buy a gift.  

Yesterday while browsing Ravelry, I came across the Cornflower mittens.  They looked very lovely and seemed like a quick knit.  Before sitting down with my husband for an evening of television viewing, I ran downstairs and dove into the stash.  I came up two skeins of Mirasol Miski.  I don't remember where it came from.  I believe I may have purchased it, but I don't remember when or why.  The when will probably remain a mystery, but the why most likely was because it is some of the softest year I have ever touched.  It is 100% baby llama.  I'm nearing the end of the first ball of yarn and desperately hoping I have enough to finish the the mitten.  I'd hate to frog the work I've done.

Once the mittens are done, I'll decide what I'm going to do with them.  They are going to be a bit too large for me.  They may be gifted but they may be too lovely to part with.  I'll decide later.

With all of the chaos around here lately, I totally forgot to work more on my sister's headband.  I came across it while rooting around for needles for the above mittens.  It is now in a prominent spot where I'll be sure to work a few rows each day.  I'll see my sister at Christmas, so I plan to have it done by then for her.

I have other projects in the works, but I'm going to leave those of the blog until after Christmas.

Socialization

Being a full-time working mom doesn't leave much time for a social life.  My husband and I have never had a group of friends that we regularly socialize with.  "Going out on the weekends" usually just meant the two of us going to dinner at a restaurant and maybe a movie.  Now that they are all out of the house we are starting to do more activities.  We have started travelling more, I've joined a few groups that allow me to socialize with other women and we are doing other things besides just dinner and a movie.

This week we went to see Brain Candy Live at the Palace Theater in Columbus.  We parked in the garage where I usually park for work and walked through the Columbus Commons.  It was decorated for the holidays.  Quite lovely.

The show was fantastic.  Adam Savage and Michael Stephens are very entertaining.  The geek in me loved all of the nerdy jokes.

I am also taking more knitting classes.  My friend and I took a brioche class at our favorite LYS, Knitting Temptations.  The class project is a scarf with straight brioche knitting.  Cindy and I plan to expand our brioche skills with a Craftsy class.

The green raglan is slowly moving along.  Having this done by Christmas is not likely.  I'm hoping that it will be done sometime this winter.

One of my social outlets is a monthly euchre club.  We aren't going to play cards in December.  Instead, we will go out to dinner and exchange small gifts.  I am hoping to have a pair of mittens finished by the night of the dinner.  I designed a pattern that will have the different suits on them.  If they don't make it by the dinner, I'll have to find another gift and save these for next year.

Raglan Angst

Knitting a sweater that fits me causes great angst.  Even though I have taken a Custom Fit class from Amy Herzog, own several books on the subject and have had recent success (Superbulky Grandpa sweater) I was still very anxious about starting my raglan pullover with the yarn I bought at Rhinebeck.  I made a gauge swatch and measured it about a half dozen times.

The pattern I originally intended to make had a different gauge.  Even though I think I could do the math, I wasn't in the mood to do all the calculations because I wasn't in love with the neckline.  I then searched Ravelry and found another pattern.  Its gauge was still a bit different, but I liked the neckline better.  I cast on and began knitting.  A few inches into it I started having doubts.  Back to Ravelry, I found Holiday and thought it was almost perfect.   I had to do a little bit of math, but I can handle that.

I frogged the original cast on and restarted.  I am now knitting away and love how the fiber is growing.  My goal is to have this done to wear this winter.  The cold weather that has settled in here is motivation to get this going.

Progress will only be interrupted by Christmas knitting.

When the kids were babies, I sewed each of them Christmas stockings out of fuzzy fleece.  The stockings have been filled by Santa every year of the past 2 decades.  These three stockings were always hung on the mantle.  Another stocking that I made for Ed, back when we were dating, was hung on the hearth tool rack.  Every year, there was never a stocking for me.  But now I think it is time to retire those old stockings and have a new set which includes one for everyone.  I am making a set using Knit Purl Hunter's stocking pattern.  I want this to be a secret project so I'll have to be careful when I knit on this.

Another Christmas project is almost done.  Blake is getting another knit cap.  I have a few things in mind for the girls but those aren't on the needles yet.

Now it is time to run the vacuum.  Someone is coming soon to measure the house for new carpet.  YEAH!!  My plans for a new living room are turning into reality.

Rhinebeck 2017

Last weekend was the New York Sheep and Wool festival in Rhinebeck, New York.  For the second time two of my sisters, Mary Anne and Patty, and I was able to participate in the festivities.  This time we brought my friend Donna.  Patty and I are the only two fiber enthusiasts in the group, but there were plenty of cute critters to see.  I didn't take many pictures on this trip, but the ones I did were keepers.

A llama with an attitude and a hipster haircut.

An adorable pygmy goat.

We went to the festival on Saturday and spent Sunday in Saugerties, New York.  Saugerties has a lighthouse on the Hudson River.  We had to hike a half-mile through the woods to get to it.  A sign mentioned that a bed and breakfast is operated on the second floor.  I just wonder how many people take advantage of it since you have to carry your luggage so far to it.  If the weather were bad it would be an awful hike.

The weather was perfect for our brief visit.  The back had a deck that overlooked the Hudson.  This bench looked so inviting.  I wished I had had a book and the time to idle away the afternoon on it.

I was able to keep my purchases to a minimum.  When we first entered in the morning, we passed the Briar Rose booth.  Some green yarn caught my eye, but I resisted buying it.  As we were leaving I was still thinking about the yarn so we looped back around to see if it was still there.  Luckily there were 3 hanks left.  These beauties are going to become a comfy raglan sweater for me.

I don't typically buy ready made products, but this alpaca headband was too lovely to pass up. 

I got an autographed copy of Gossamer Webs.

I had hoped to finish my Autumn Color socks by the weekend, but they didn't make it.  There were completed on the ride home thanks to Donna doing some of the driving.  Can't wait to put them on after I take my shower this morning.

The weather was nearly perfect for Rhinebeck.  If it had been just a bit cooler, more wooly things could have been worn.  

Wooly weather has now hit central Ohio.  I woke up to freezing rain and snow.  It is a perfect day to watch football and start my raglan sweater.

2nd Annual Anniversary Trip

September 30th was our 28th wedding anniversary.  Last we took a trip to Savannah, Georgia to celebrate.  This year we took a cruise through New England and the Canadian maritime provinces.

On Friday we drove to New Jersey and spent the night at my sister's house.  Saturday morning my brother-in-law dropped us at the train station.  We rode the train into Penn Station, which took about 90 minutes. We had to schlep our lugging around, but that forced us to pack as light as possible.  This was Ed's first time riding a train.  As you can see he was fascinated with the scenery as we rode into NYC.

From Penn Station we called Uber and got a ride to the cruise terminal in Brooklyn.  It was our first time using Uber.  It ended up being a positive experience.  I highly recommend it.  The driver was pleasant and the vehicle was clean.  We met a couple on the cruise ship that had taken a taxi.  The gentleman's shirt was filthy from the taxi seat.  Not sure what all the black marks were from.  I'm not sure I want to know either.

After boarding the ship we ate lunch and then went to the upper deck to enjoy the view.  I had my new camera and played with the different lenses.  With the telephoto lens I was able to get this shot of the Statue of Liberty.  We really weren't that close.

This is gives a better idea of how far off she was.

We set sail Saturday evening.  Our first stop was in Newport, Rhode Island.  We didn't purchase an excursion.  We did go ashore and walk around the town for the afternoon.  It is a cute town.  Maybe someday we'll go back and explore further.

The second stop was in Boston.  We took a tour that include walking part of the Freedom Trail.  When I was young, my parent took us to Boston and we walked the entire trail as a self-guided tour.  I'd like to do that again.  This time we got a small taste of it, about a mile.

After Boston we sailed for Bar Harbor, Maine.  This was our favorite port.  The town of Bar Harbor is so quaint.  We went ashore early enough to walk around and have a beer before our tour.  The excursion we purchased took us to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.  The view was absolutely stunning.  Here  is a view of the highest peak on the Atlantic shore in the western hemisphere.

Our first stop in Canada was Saint John, New Brunswick.  It was a very foggy day which hampered visibility.  I think Ed was a bit disappointed.  He didn't realize that Saint John was a major city.  He was hoping for something more like Bar Harbor.  At Saint John we took a tour lead by a professional photographer.  One of the stops on the tour was the Reversing Falls of the Saint John River.  Here she taught us about adding "curves" to our photos.  She mentioned that curves show movement and tell a story.  She offered advice at other stops which I hope to practice more at home.

The last stop of the cruise was Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It was a very rainy day, making our excursion to Peggy's Cove quite soggy.  As you can see, the cove offered protection from the raging ocean.

That night it was very rough sailing.  The last day of the cruise was at sea as we sailed back to New York.  Once we disembarked, we Ubered back to Penn Station to catch a train back to my sister's.  We spent the night at their place again and then drove home on Sunday.

On our drive to New Jersey, I finished my Superbulky Grandpa sweater.  As you can see I got to wear the sweater.  The below photo was taken by our tour guide at the Irving Nature Park.

While on the cruise I cast on my Autumn Colors socks.  I have one sock done and the second underway.  I hope to get these finished in the next couple weeks so that they can debut at Rhinebeck.

The trip was a very nice trip with only a couple disappointments.  First, the leaves hadn't really started to change colors yet so we didn't see as much autumn color as we had hoped.  Second, the nights were foggy and/or cloudy making star gazing impossible.  We'll just have to go back another time to look for the Aurora Borealis.

Wool Gathering 2017

We weren't going to go.  We had agreed to that when we had our little shop hop a few weeks ago.  But like true addicts, we couldn't resist temptation.  Cindy and I ventured over to Yellow Springs yesterday to visit the Wool Gathering.  We went early, got a good parking spot ("princess parking" as she calls it) and beat the crowd.  Afterward we had lunch in Yellow Springs and then headed home with our treasures.  It was a nice practice run for Rhinebeck for me.

A group lovely creatures greeted us at the gate.    There were little goats

and big goats.

and alpaca of all sizes

and soft little bunnies

and various sheep who would consent to be photographed.

I had two goals for the day.  Find buttons for my Super Bulky Grandpa sweater and finding autumn colored sock yarn.

A basket of wooden buttons of varying sizes entertained us for a while as we sorted through to find 4 that matched.  Below they are resting on an almost finished sweater.  Last sleeve is on the needles.

I had a very specific idea regarding the autumn colors I wanted.  We came across some yarn that had no green and too much red.  I passed it by hoping to find something closer.   Later we came across a booth that had some that were closer to what I wanted.  I decided to buy this skein thinking this may be as good as it gets.  It lacked the green but it also was not too red.

Then later I found the almost perfect skein.  It was a lovely mix of autumn colors.  The colors are not showing true in this picture unfortunately.

Other treasures from our day included the following:

Tooth stitch markers that can double as earrings.  These will be gifted to my daughter who is in dental school.

The pack of mini skeins from Destination Yarn in the Ohio colorways.  I think I'll make a Hitchhiker scarf in these and name it Hitchhiking Around Ohio.

And my final purchase was 8 ounces of chocolate alpaca-silk blend roving.  It is a beautiful!!

We passed on buying skeins of 100% alpaca DK weight yarn.  The booth had a model of Caissa.  I thought about getting the yarn to make it but decided I'll wait until Rhinebeck for that purchase.

As mentioned above, the Grandpa sweater is almost done.  One sleeve is finished and the other is on the needles.  I should have it finished Monday or Tuesday.  I won't have a chance to block it before it leaves on a trip with me, but that's OK.  It'll get a nice bath after we return.

I recently pulled Relax out of hibernation.  It got tossed aside over a year ago.  It has become my fallback project.  I'm not setting a goal for getting it done.  It will just be my project to pick up when I need a distraction from other projects.