Happy 2012

I can't believe it is 2012 already.  This is going to be an exciting year.  My oldest graduates from high school and then goes off to college.  She received an acceptance letter from her #1 choice on Christmas Eve.  That was a nice present for her.  She was nervous about not getting accepted, although her dad and I kept telling her she had nothing to worry about.  She has fantastic credentials:  >4.0 GPA, Honors and AP classes, 2 years on varsity volleyball team, National Honors Society member, academic tutor for the school, works part time, great people skills.  Now all she has to do is decide what she is going to study.  She has narrowed it down to business or optometry.  Not exactly similar interests, but I'm sure she'll figure it out. 

With her moving away later this year, I've been thinking a lot about projects to do for her. I've started two things, one a quick project and the other a longer commitment. The first, fast project is a pair of knitted ballet slippers.

These are the Pleated Ballet Flats from Coco Knits.  It is a very fast and fun project.  They look very tiny when finished, but stretch nicely when slipped onto the foot.  It is very important to bind off loosely or with a stretchy bind-off, if there is one (I'm not sure there is).  I bought the pattern and the yarn from Fiberge in Cincinnati while I was visiting my mom last weekend.  I also purchased the Prairie Boots pattern.  Before I make the boots, I'm going to make slippers for my other daughter and myself.

The other Going-Away-To-College project is a blanket.  Kristin likes greens and browns (which I found rather unusual for a teenage girl).  I fell in love with Curve of Pursuit when I saw it mentioned in another blog.  There are so many possibilities for the color variations.  Kristin asked that I make it with the two colors spiralling out from the center.  She wanted it light.  I suggested starting with a dark center and moving outward in lighter and lighter shades.  In the tradition of a log-cabin quilt, I made the center square red to represent the home and heart.  I want her to feel my love when she gets homesick when she moves away. It seems like a fussy pattern right now and there will be lots of ends to weave in on the backside.  I plan to do the weaving periodically as I move along to keep myself from going crazy at the end.


The Christmas holiday was nice this year.  It was different without Dad.  Mom seemed to enjoy herself during the family gathering.  I occasionally hear the sadness in her voice, but she seems to be coping okay.  Her faith is tremendous, so she knows Dad is in a much better place now.

For myself, I'm commiting to taking better care of myself.  I want to live a long time and see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Last year was so stressful and it took a great toll on my body.  This year I'm going to try to manage the stress better and take better care of my body.  (Right now is a great temptation because my son just baked some cinnamon rolls and the wonderful aroma is filling the house!)  I want to work up to exercising 6 days a week, eat healthier, practice relaxation techniques, and be more demonstrative with my love for my friends and family. 

So on that note, thanks for taking time to read this blog.  I know there aren't many people who visit, but I appreciate each one of you.  Happy and Healthy 2012 to you!

Getting Closer to Christmas

I have my trainer's hat finished. 

I made it out of Cascade 220 Heathers and Cascade 220 Paints.  The pattern is the Boyfriend Hat.  I knit an inch with the Heather and then picked up the Paints and used the jumpless striping technique.  I really like how it turned out.  The blue bits are brighter in the photo than they really are, but the other colors are true.  This was a fantastic, fast knit.

I'm not making much progress on the Christmas gifts this year.  The kids have asked for only one thing each.  You would think I'd have it done by now.  I'm still a bit overwhelmed at work, but it is easing up a bit.  This past week I got to move to a private office.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more work done now, with fewer interruptions and distractions from people talking around me.   It has been 3 years since I had my own office.  It feels so good to have a space of my own.

Today my friend Donna is heavy on my mind. Her husband passed away back in July.  He battled leukemia for 15 months.  Today would have been their 29th wedding anniversary.  It has been 5 months since Dean died.  Donna is still having a tremendously hard time dealing with it all.  I am very, very worried about her.  She is receiving grief counselling and has a lot of friends supporting her.  I just wish there was more I could do for her.

Another person I'm worried about is my Mom.  Understandably she sounds so sad every time I call.  She told me that she didn't feel like decorating this year.  My siblings who live close to her took care of putting up the lights and tree for her. It will be good to have everyone together around her this Christmas.

Quick Gift

Friday after work I fought traffic to get to my LYS before they closed.  I made it with 15 minutes to spare.  My hurry was to get some Cascade 220 to make my trainer a hat for Christmas.  I wanted to work on the hat over the weekend.  I bought the yarn and turned to leave when I spied a gorgeous scarf.  I asked for the pattern and the shop owner told me it was something new from Rowan - Kidsilk Creation.  She showed me how quickly this hank of fiber could be transformed into a beautiful scarf.  In case you don't know, Kidsilk Creation is Kidsilk Haze knit very loosely into a tube.  To make the scarf you knit along the side of the tub and then stretch it out to form ruffles.  On impulse, I  bought a hank to make a gift for a friend.  Here it is:

Purple (kidsilk) Haze.  It honestly took me only 3 or 4 hours.  That time was not fully focused time either.  Very easy project for in front of the television.  Here's a close up of the ruffles.  The color is truer in this photo than the one above.

Buffler hat

I finished the hat for Ed. This is made out of Buffalo Gold Earth.  It is really yummy fiber.  I just made up the pattern myself.  It is a long overdue anniversary gift.  Here it is.  Ed wasn't too happy about my photographing him since he hadn't shaved yet this morning.    I liked the way it turned out. He's worn it a couple times while hunting.  We'll see if it gets to go to the high school football game tonight.  That will be the true indication of how warm it is.  Oh, and it is named 'Buffler' because that is how my dad would jokingly say Buffalo. 

Now, what will be my next project to finish?  I'm still chipping away at the Taise shawl and the Pure Love shawl.  I also want to get the Go Live Minimalist sweater done.