Hat Noros

 

Somehow I got lucky and snagged these from and online sale mention on the KR. They are going to be transformed into Santa Cruz hats for my twins. Tomorrow I'll swatch and put them on the needles.

My sister came today and we had tea and sympathy. I just wish I had BIG BAGS of money so that I could scoop us all up and move north and closer to the DDs. I want my own family back together. When I think of how hard it was on family members who were left behind when people emigrated to America, I do feel luckier than that. But, it only takes a few minutes to wear off.

I'm still searching for an organic, free trade banana. I am meaning one that isn't 485 miles away or even forty miles away. There has to be one. Meanwhile yes, we have no bananas. Apples are surprisingly good for breakfast. All my flowers come from the Vista flower fields. DH checked as he goes to the farmer's market every Friday to get vegetables, tamales, and flowers for the table. There's a lot of good stuff there. There are lovely walnuts and almonds prepared with honey and citrus rind and baked to dry. Yum

The gloves made it all the way to DD2, she loves them and is happy to have another pair. She thinks she might want to learn how to make them. Yay! Another glove knitter!

Hope your days are sweet, with lots of good things in them. Take care and stay well!

That's enough blah blah!

Moon February Sky 07

 

The beautiful moon, with a wisp of the departing storm clouds.

This is just too funny not to pass on

I hope you will get a kick out of this spoof of "Social Etiquette for Women"

Proper Social Etiquette for Women

By the way, casting on hundreds of stitches can make you permanently cross eyed. The only cure is to watch several terrible horror movies in a row on a big screen, so that you are forced to open your peepers WIDE!

PS: after you've seen the first clip, check out the Bugatti clip. I love to go fast and that car is the fastest non formula one car in existence

Winter Sunset at Pacific Beach

 

Our friends took this sunset picture when they came to California last month. It was too beautiful not to share. Thank you Keetch and Annie.

I've been a sky watcher all my life, starting as a kid when I was sent to bed early for months over some infraction or other. The moon on the clouds was a favorite. Hope you all have happy times doing your sky watching. There's a pretty new button but sadly it doesn't link back to Sandy's Blog, where it originated. I also snagged her nifty Saturday Sky button.

Also, since I'm not walking much, for many reasons, I've dropped out of the 100 miles by April 1st blog. I've gotten in a mere 9 and a half. I am walking 20 mins a day, plus all the running around wildly pulling weeds, knots in yarn strung between chairs and all my hair.

Project spectrum started this month, this from Lolly's "Lolly Knitting Around" blog. I'm doing Moo Hat in celebration. Now, back to figuring out how to link those buttons. Getting them to show was a major brain twist.

Hey L, Something for you

I put up Bossy Little Dog's Mama's new blog just underneath his blog. I know you like to read it and she has moved. Also, be sure to run through the knitting rings because there is beautiful knitting and great blogs in them too. Some of them are already in my blog list. I've also added more blogs, but be no means all that I read these days, that other's might like to follow.

Today, I am on my own again, not something I'm not used to, so I'm going to cast on the various things I'm starting - Moo hat, 2 sets of fingerless gloves, TrekkingXXL boot socks- as well as to get Gretchen up to speed on a new cast on, and it's time to frog out the Aran so that the yarn can relax while I knit the new 240+ cast on ribbing. I feel nuts already! If the oven wasn't broken, I'd probably bake some toll house cookies. It's not quite back to a calderon of soup over an open fire in the backyard, but the stove is going to get a big BIG send off to the recycling center asap. It's been a good stove for the last 20 years and deserves to be buried with honors but what the heck. We did get the burners to work. A plus for a cook of DHs caliber.

New Aran Sweater Pattern

This is from the Drop Design Site

I have enough yarn(in yardage) of the Knitpiks Alpaca Silk. I have to frog the little bit of the back of the sweater that I had done, and start this one. It's an "in the round sweater", and something I've never done before. The sock knitting should help. You can see the whole sweater here

He likes it better than the other one, too, which is a bonus. I'm so glad to be away from the other pattern.

I'm starting a pair of trekkerXXL in the red color way a piccie of which is somewhat over half way to the bottom of this page in December.

With Gretchen on the needles, and the Aran and the little boot socks, I'll have enough knitting. My sister is getting sicker, her sweet little cat had to be euthanized this morning after a long illness, and my DMIL is still trying to get enough back on her feet to be able to go home. Oh, the card reader died. There's another reader than I can use but it involves jumping through two flaming hoops and climbing a mountain in the snow to reach my Guru. Well, so as you can see, there will only be sporadic pictures for a bit.

I love flowers but I love people more.

I have gotten very slow and thoughtful about many things, especially the impact my spending has on world troubles. Every little bit can help or hurt. I don't like what has happened all over the world and particularily in the United States in the crushing of labor unions. I now know too much about the whys and wherefores. Straight answers at LAST! So, my money goes where my heart is. If death squads still wander the streets of Guatamala looking to kill union organizers because they are standing up to their politicians who sign away jobs for sweet deals with foreign companies, then I am going to hunt down all such tainted products and black ball the companies.

Spending power is the only power I have. I buy fair traded goods or nothing. It's very important in my plan to be a better friend to the suffering. No one needs to screw people in wages or working conditions to make a profit in selling flowers, for instance, particularily roses full of pesticides. That's what's happening in Central and South America. Dole is one of the companies. They just got my last dollar. Not so much as a small can of pineapple will pass my doorstep. Hawaii was enough and here they are, at it again. No more!

If as is said, that "the inequity will be so great that the love of many will grow cold", then it's time to face up to how I affect the growing inequity and the loss of hope and the comfort of love in those who suffer it. To me, it's that simple. I will just spend my dollars where it doesn't hurt a woman in Ecuador or Bolivia who packages flowers and sometimes doesn't get paid for months. Down goes the gauntlet Mr. Dole! And anyone else who wants my pennies. Just do it right! You sell nothing at all that I can't live without.

PS. I had to correct my worst errors in grammar and spelling. This should be a lesson in trying to post so late at night!

Short fingered Gloves finished.

 

They came out very nicely. They will be mailed tomorrow to my DD2. I'm hoping that they fit you Pookie!

Tomorrow I will redo the center stitches for Gretchen shawl as per Del's link for figure 8 cast on. I want to work on that and the aran sweater without any interruptions. Well, a pair of socks or a hat. Moo Hat, in farrow rib.

.

Squirrel, what Squirrel?

 

Jazzie was too interested in the camera, and whether or not he would get the flashie flashie thingy in his face again, to go into play stance. Little dogs are so cute in play stance.

Valentine Dog with Bow

 

Jazz has been a little sick lately, but he is doing much much better now. He was just groomed today and I promised myself to get pictures before his bow got bedraggled. He sat still for me, very patient little friend that he is.

Happy Valentine's Day to my Readers

Happy Valentine's Day to all the sweetest Hearts in the world. May your Loving Kindness meet with Gentleness and Compassion in the coming year, and may you find the spiritual strength and wisdom that you need to meet your challenges. May you find real Joy in living your days. These are my wishes for you all.

"Not In Vain"

All the while my children were growing up,and until a few years ago, a small, framed picture of a mended Teddy Bear- his footpad was sewn back on with a calico patch- sitting alongside the following poem hung in our little hallway.


Not In Vain
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson

I took the page out of a magazine in the 70's, framed and hung it. I always hoped that it was as inspiring to my children as it was to me. I think they are wonderful and we are very proud of the way they have turned out. They are kind and helpful people.

Yes, Chris, Tis me!

I'm glad to hear that you've read Captain Corelli's Mandolin, too. The other book, Bird's Without Wings, is terrible and fabulous at the same time. What a great story teller! I'm going to be starting a new book, by Ami Tan, as soon as I trudge through the last two chapters of Blowback. If you want to know how hideously short sighted American Business interests are, as well as are the politicians they run, just read the Johnson books. And yes! "Go Tim!"


You should start to blog about your bush gardening and all your textile adventures, and Sailing! It's a good way to keep a journal. Blogger's nice. I've never had too much trouble with it.

Knitting news: The gloves are finished. I will tie up the ends, take their picture and send them off to you B.

Barbaro

I have left in the link to Tim Wooley's Updates and things for Barbaro, if anyone still wanted to follow them.

As you know, Barbaro had to be euthanized on January 29th of this year.

Goodbye Bighearted Boy. May we always remember your beauty and your courage.


Wikipedia On Barbaro

Emily

Emily Dickinson wrote many poems that I love. This one is one of my very favorite ones:


Hope, by Emily Dickinson

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."

------------------------------

Tomorrow I will post another. And maybe a picture of the finished glove. The glove which at this moment has the strangely oriented ( I kid you not) middle finger. I hope to have it replaced and working with the others by this evening.

A Wizard for the Words, well the Font style anyway

I found this little wizard and now have the style I wanted in the first place. Yippie!

I am so easy to entertain.

Go try out a font, and if you want to change go to your HTML and tuck in the name of your choice in the CCSS part where it gives all the fonts. Make sure you take out the old one and make your favorite the first choice in the list as well. To think it took me 3 years to find a wizard for this. Sigh...

Spring header up there til I get sick of it, and the glove sprouted a finger out to the front so I frogged it back, threw it into the sock tote and will tackle it later. Maybe I will start Gretchen instead. *Thinks about it*

Have fun looking at the Wizard.

New little needles to poke into my palms?

 

















I'm really happy with these little needles that I found online here. She got them out wiki wiki! Very pleased am I! I couldn't find them locally so got them online. Even got onesies and twos, too. They are five inch Clovers. Tres Kewl. (NA- or is that NAFTA? blah blah and so forth.)

The glove has only two fingerlets to go, and I will do that this evening as well as to tie up all the ends and pull up any wee holes. I found that the pattern was a little tricky, and that I could pretty much ignore the thing about marking the round. I just used the base of the thumb and measured all stitches from there.

I've been so crabby lately. It's horrible to be this crabby!!! I really need to BITE something! I've got to get a tee shirt like one I saw in the paper this morning. ( It had a picture of a BIG CRAB on it). And, speaking of said RAG!...I read the paper on Sunday and sometimes wish I didn't. It's a useless fish wrapper for international or political news. They trashed the new Congressionals. Ya, I know, Reddest damn spot in a Blue State. Anyway, this is the paper that reported glowingly for years on Duke Cunningham in his career. Oh my, well, there's another big fish they missed! Duh!

See, I'm crabby...

Here's a little love... this is the umpteenth time I've done this so Bloglines subs, I send you deep blue sea apologies..

Forth in a series: Accidental Art

 

I am exploring all the smallest corners of my world for beauty. This came about because I believe in the blessing of the Navajo Elders, that it is we are meant to walk with beauty all around us.

This snap that I took of dried tea leaves inside my mug reminded me of an oriental painting. So I snapped it. The tea was green tea from China.

May you all walk with beauty all around you. It is there in places where you least expect it.

Dearest Rosie

I thought you would like to see this B and L, because you remember the kitten and the cat she grew up to be, with her lovely mascara eyes and sweet ways.

 

Spring and the renewal of life

Spring has come to Southern California. In fact we even had a couple of SUMMER days last week to confuse the plants and the animals, especially the tall bipeds.

The Carolina Cherry Trees are starting to bloom, it is after all, February. Anyway, I put up the cherry blossoms from San Francisco Botanical Garden trees in celebration because I fell down a well a couple of weeks ago. And, as everyone knows, when you have fallen down a well the first thing you want to see when you climb back out is a blossoming cherry tree. So, there 'tis, in the header...

Still knitting gloves, and cutting up big pieces of cloth to make little pieces of cloth. Cutting up things, slash, slash, slash with the rotory cutter, is somehow good stress relief. Ironing with plenty of heat to flatten out the wrinkles is, too. Anger management teams could learn a thing or two from housekeepers.

Number Three in the series of Accidental Art

 

Short Note

Thanks Rho, Maggie, ar and joanm for your comments. Knitting as much as possible really, really is helping, and so is hand embroidery and, oddly, mending clothing. Also, reading the KR helps a LOT, too.

I've started to trust that life goes on, even in countries that have been pummelled beyond belief by aggression, and that people really do care about each other, and the world around them, and will forgive and forget after the pain is gone and normalcy returns.

Out there in the world are some of the kindest beings on earth who will help out when the chips are down, and they never stop addressing and working out problems.

When I broke my wrist last April the garden got neglected. Well, I've been going out there and being very, very careful, have started to take it back from the tree sprouts. They are all over the side yard from the Elm tree removal and disturbance of the ground.

The kitchen, which should have been finished 20 years ago, is on hold and that was such a huge thing to me. I'm trying to get it back into perspective. It still works half ways decently even if it's ripped apart, and DH does all the KP. I can affectively ignore it.

The worst thing is what is going on internationally, and what the part of the US has been since the turn of the 20th century. We've been sleepwalking through our Democracy. I'm so ashamed of the results.

So, I'll go back to knitting, and quilting, and trying to see where I fit in and what I can do. I'll start more gloves, two lace shawls, Birch and Gretchen, and just knit.

A friends Blog

Judy came out to the states nearly 10 years ago, and I had the wonderful opportunity to learn the correct way to spindle spin from her. She is a top spinner and weaver and knits like a dream. I hope that as her blogging grows she will share all her marvelous stories of competitions from sheep to garment, contests that have been going on in Australia for a long, long time as well as her beautiful textile creations. We had a lovely time that summer, and then she went on the the Nashville regional quilt show and met the rest of the Blockheads, a group we both belong to at the time.

Welcome to blogging Judy!

Rho, thanks, I think you are absolutely right. I need to find my place again in this world as I've discovered the underbelly of it and it's ugly. It will take calm silence within my heart to do this. I"ve always believed that we are here to help others, and I need to figure out the best way of doing that in the time I've got left.

Maggie, thanks for you comments. Molly Ivins was a force in the lives of the common folk. Someone who helped them to do things they never thought they could possibly do. We need hundreds of thousands of such people all over the world at this point. Here's to the motivators who don't let the abusive stand behind platitudes and/or lies. Molly will be sorely missed.

Knitting News. I'm knitting the second palm to the pinky finger. The pair are looking sweet. BBS

Molly Ivins

I'm going to be away from blogging for a couple of weeks to calm down, get some knitting and sewing done, and to think about "the meaning of life".

This is a link to an obituary, in The Nation, for Molly Ivins . I will miss this woman for the rest of my life.