Epiphany

I know most people finished with Christmas on December 26th, but because of the hectic pace of my day job and because I put together the holiday services at my church, I've made a conscious decision to not give into the pre-Christmas panic but to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. The first day is Christmas Day and it goes through the next 11 days. Yesterday was day 12. Today is Epiphany, the day that traditionally celebrates the revelation of Christ's birth, and the end of the Christmas season for me.

Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas was an epiphany of its own for me. Instead of trying to get everything done before the 25th, I had the freedom to knit some extra gifts and celebrate some birthdays (our family has 3-4 birthdays during the 12 days (if we include my daughter-in-law's sister).  On day 10 I delivered my last gifts and didn't fret about them being late. Next year I'll be even more intentional about birthdays, parties, and even write and mail my Christmas cards after the 25th.

My mind turns to Easter. Yes, my Christmas tree still sits in my living room, but Easter is only 88 days away. This is the Winter version of listening to Christmas music in August. I need to pick songs, create arrangements, and teach the choir their parts. Three months is not enough. I'm listening to Easter music as I cast on the hat that I finished last night and frogged today. I have matching mittens on another set of needles. I may be thinking about Easter and Spring, but it's 19º right now and I have a new coat that needs matching hat and mitts.

The theme for my knitting this season was #KnittinMittens. I made 9 mitten/hat sets, an extra pair of mittens to match a coat, plus 7 lone hats, which brings me to one final thought. I went through my Amazon Wish List for my Secret Santa and bought a couple things that have been lingering for a few years. One of them was Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. I borrowed it from the library a few years ago and wanted the mitered mittens pattern. Those are the mitts I have on my needles right now. The last of my #KnittinMittens tag of the season. It's time to wrap it up.

Happy Epiphany Christ is born.

Resolved!

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. Like most people, I have great plans and then forget them by week's end. Still, I've known that I need to get out of the habit of watching Doctor Who on BBC America in the morning before work and get back into the habit of walking every morning. This just got easier. As of tomorrow, my cable company is dropping BBCA.

Right?

This is both the best and worst thing that can happen. I'm being forced to break a habit and I might as well make the best of it. Time to start walking again, even if I don't get back up to 1/2 marathon distances. We're going to drop down to basic digital cable, as I've been threatening to do, and boost our Internet speed to account for my working from home and the hubs streaming video on his days off. Who knows? Maybe eventually we'll get to the point where we cut the cable altogether.

Is this thing on?

June 2012. That's the last post I wrote on this blog. I'm ashamed. There was a lot that came between me and this space. Mostly work, but also leading worship at church. The physics that surround my desire to pick up something that equals the necessity of dropping something won out. I can't promise that I'll do better this time, but I'll do my best.

Looking over the posts from 2012, I realize how much has happened since then. 

• We added a granddaughter. We now have a total of four
• We followed up on the new squirrel-proofed windows with new siding
• Then we remodeled the kitchen.

I never knit those cool socks that reminded me of LOTR, but I have knit a lot of socks, hats, mittens, scarves, and even sweaters for the grands. I've learned to run loops using Ableton software for our worship team at church, and I've taken over not only arranging music, but leading the choir.

When I look at that list of what I have been doing, I realize why I haven't blogged, but there have been more than a few times lately when I've thought that I should be sharing this. So, I'm giving it another go.

With any luck, I won't be posting this and then forgetting about it again. Here we go.

Middle Earth Socks?

I hope that gave you the same feeling I got from reading a quote from Tolkien after clicking a link in the new Knitty. The link was for learning a new language, and I was curious since it's a knitting magazine, after all. What language did they mean?

The language was Bavarian charts. Since I'm currently knitting from a chart, it seems fitting. I'll admit that when I first glanced over the picture, I thought, "No way." But after reading Ethnic Knitting Adventures, the descriptions of sweaters and waistcoats, diamonds, and braids, my mind traveled to some place between Moria and Rivendell.

I've done some fetchings with a cable, but I've not tried socks. Still I'm fascinated. There is something about the pattern that makes me think of Mount Doom. I'm going to have to give these a try.

Password Rant

I am taking this moment to rant about the insanity of people and their usernames and passwords. We've all heard about people using "1234" or "999999" or *gasp* "password" as their password, but I just took a call from an organization who wanted to give everyone signing up for their fundraising event the same password so staff could access the participants pages.

*blink* Does anyone think this is a good idea?

The answer is yes. This is the second request I've add for this kind of access this week. *smh*

No wonder people get hacked.

Oops!

I didn't really mean to take the month of April off. It just sort of happened. If it makes you feel better, not only have I not been writing blogs, I've not been reading them either. I am about a 3rd of the way through Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. One thing that I've noticed about where I spend my time:  I can't add anything more to my to-do list without dropping something.

I'm way behind on my knit-along. I'm still on the socks for the month of March. *sigh* I took a side trip to some finger puppets

and Dr. Watson's scarf.

Meanwhile I took a trip to see my BFF and scored 2 pair of bamboo needles ($3 ea) and a set of hand-me-down #17 needles. I also saw some really fun scarves at the flea market. Inspiration has hit. Christmas knitting to commence soon.

Keeping your place

What a cool idea. Knitting Knoobie's hubby made her a little cardboard window for her to keep her place on her knitting chart. Of course, I use my Nook for knitting patterns most of the time, but I also don't usually knit from complex chart. I have some Fair Isle that I'm looking at. This could come in handy.

March Knitting and Weekend Round-up

So much in my queue, perhaps too much for being in the throes of the busy season at work. I finally finished the January KAL with Keep On Knitting in the Free World. I skipped the February one altogether (maybe will pick that one up in the fall), and went straight into the February and March granddaughter projects. I don't have pix of the girls in them, but I'm hoping that DS2 and his lovely wife will send pics with the girls in them.

My new knitting project is the March KAL, these lovely socks. I'm using Marion Foale 3 ply Wool, and I love the look and feel. I'm not sure if it's from watching Harry Potter "The Half-Blood Prince" while knitting this, but I have this Wicked Witch feeling from these, especially if they were wider stripes and maybe in black and white. I've really missed knitting socks. Last year I usually carried a sock in my purse for when I had a free minute. I stashed this one in my purse when I went to see John Carter on Friday and it was a good thing. My friends were late so I did have some knitting time.


Shortly after my friends showed up, so did these guys, The Shamrock Club showed up to serenade us at Champps. There is nothing quite like hearing the Buckeye Battle Cry on bagpipes. They played for about 15 minutes, and this was only a small section of the group. I didn't count them, but there were probably 20-25 pipers there along with the drums.

The last bit of weekend excitement was the line of thunderstorms that smacked into us late Sunday. The weather guys showed all kinds of pictures of a line of potential tornadoes that thankfully never became actual tornadoes on the opposite side of the city. The weather guy from WSYX mentioned off hand some rotation on our side of town, and we went outside and saw clouds on the SE side of the house moving NW and ones on the NW side moving SE. Fortunately, that was all we saw cloudwise. We did see some of these guys, though.

Randomness 3.1

We spent last weekend at CBTL. It's not heated yet, but the Eden Pure heater kept the chill at bay. *Reminder to look for a pellet stove for next year. With being really overloaded with work, I'm ready to get away.

Meanwhile, while I was trying to write a blog this morning, DH starts talking about The Anxiety Wrap, a jacket that is supposed to keep dogs calm during thunderstorm. I will admit that while I was writing, I was  mildly annoyed by the distraction, but now that I see it, I do wonder how well it works. He's had a couple customers swear by it.

I almost have 40 hours in at work and it's only Thursday. We're kind of toying with the idea that I might be able to log out on time, or maybe early, to go to the Home and Garden Show. Wonder what today will bring.

Where did February go?

I just looked up and it's the 22nd. February is the height of the busy season for me at work. I've had more than a few 10-12 hour work days in the last several weeks. I sort of feel like the groundhog, peeking up to see if there will be 6 more weeks of winter.

Groundhogs aren't really the animal of the month at my house, though. It's this guy:

Squirrels are eating my house. Well, not my house, but the wood trim around my 2nd floor office window and our patio door. DH will be putting new vinyl windows in the upstairs rooms and replacing the wood trim with vinyl on the patio door.

I'm thinking about getting one of these motion activated owls to keep them away. I wonder what the dog would think.

Water Droplets Dancing Around a Knitting Needle in Space

Today's post is about as geeky as you can get.




Hat tip to blog.craftzine.com for the link.

The Granddaughter Project explained

The thought occurs to me that I never explained what the Granddaughter Project is. At the moment I have 3 granddaughters. I say at the moment because there is another grandchild on the way, but before there was this 4th grandchild to consider, I decided that this year I would make something each month for one of the girls, starting with the oldest. This works out so that their birthday months are also their gift months. Complete coincidence.

I finished made this skirt for Lydia. I hope to get pics of her in it this weekend. I had put the ruffled hem on it, but I didn't like how it rolled. You know stockinette stitch. I frogged it back to the row where I had added stitches for the ruffle, but used a K3P3 rib instead. I'd finished the Icord on January 31st, but I didn't realize it was the right length until I measured it on February 1st. I'm calling the first Granddaughter Project technically finished on time.

I can't say as much for my January Stumptown Knits KAL. I'm about 3 pattern repeats away from 1/2 way. This must be why StarAthena decided a hat would be a good 2nd project. I downloaded the pattern for the Mount Hood Snow Cap last night. Lemme just say, "love the bobbles."

Link update

Got this pic from my son. It's his roomie wearing the hat I made him. DS3 says he hasn't taken it off. Happy birthday, roomie.

Aloha Granddaughter

I've put off the first Granddaughter Project all month. If you haven't heard, I decided to make something for a granddaughter every month all year, starting with Lydia. This is her skirt. I'm not fond of the hem. I think I may. Be ripping it out, but it's going to be best to sleep on it.

Better late than never

Some days the bright shinies win. Today was not one of those days. The fact that I'm posting Wednesday's blog after 1 AM on Thursday is your first clue. I, however, realized it when I set an hour long playlist so I could have a timed block of writing and ended up never hearing the whole list because I was on the phone that much.

All this to say that yesterday, Tuesday, for the calendarly challenged, I conquered my knitting knojo with a little bit of crochet. I made a delightful sock monkey inspired baby hat, that coincidentally resembles something decidedly Buckeye.

Making the hat, and a new day, helped. I have recovered my mojo and knitting has recommenced

The Standstill

Well, this is awkward. I finished the Link hat and got it in the mail to my son and picked up my scarf to knit, but it felt uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it was switching from worsted to sock yarn or switching from Continental to English, but my hands didn't seem to want to do what I needed them to do. I set down my needles and perused my patterns and yarn, knowing I still need to get my 1st Granddaughter Project underway (looks at the calendar), but the idea of casting on 104 stitches seems like a terrible idea. My knitting mojo has hit a nojo.

I'm sure this is a temporary condition. Meanwhile, take a look at the link hat. It's crazy long.

Link hat is done and in the mail.

Out of a fog

I won't deny the events of earlier this week left me in a fog. I'm coming out of it now and realizing that January is almost over, but I don't have my January projects done. I'm nowhere near. I did get two of the Pay it Forward 2012 gifts done and sent out, and I have learned to knit both the linen stitch and the herringbone stitch. Let 's not talk about the number of times I frogged, shall we?

Getting the hang of herringbone - Willamette scarf

I had plans for today to sew something for my Granddaughters Project but, like after Christmas, I'm having a twinge of startitis and I want to start everything.

Like this sock monkey hat for a cyberfriend's baby due next month.

Where's my magic ocarina? - Link hat

And how could I have forgotten about the Link hat that I'm supposed to have to my son before Groundhog Day? I cast it on last night in a moment of panic. If I were Bill Murray, I'd have plenty of time to get it done again and again and again and again....

Meanwhile, I'm completely distracted by the Lanesplitter skirt. It's been in my queue forever. Can't I  just cast on right this minute? *sigh*

A tale of two Hannah's

This is a tale of two Hannah's and how their lives impacted my week.

One Hannah is musical. One of my earliest memories of her is as a toddler, holding her violin and asking her mother, her teacher, "Please teach me." She is a couple years older than our youngest, but they grew up together. They were in the same class at church. We spent Thanksgivings at her home. Our families would get together for dinners and haircuts. Our sons wore her brothers' hand-me-downs. Hannah stayed home, studied music at Ohio State, and met a nice boy.

The other Hannah is literary. Her dad is the youth group leader and the worship leader, and our younger sons and I served on the worship team with him for several years. As gregarious as her father is, Hannah is quiet. She retreats to the world of words and would love nothing more than to spend a chilly afternoon with a cup of tea, a book, and a fire. My youngest son and she were part of the same kind of nerdy crowd who went to the midnight premier of LOTR in costume, and again, they were in the same class in church. This Hannah went off to college in Texas where our two younger sons are, and met a nice boy.

This week their lives mingle with ours in different ways. Their stories will bookend next week. For the last 5 years, our musical Hannah has been battling cancer. She lost her battle Tuesday night and she is now complete and whole in Heaven. We will bury this Hannah on Monday. I'm honored to be choosing music to play during the calling hours and the celebration of her life following internment.

The week ends with a celebration of another kind. Hannah, the wordsmith, will be getting married the following Saturday. She's marrying our youngest son's former room mate. While I'm busy knitting a gift and sewing a dress for this Hannah's wedding, I'm also picking out music for the other Hannah's farewell--one Hannah's soundtrack forever coloring the wedding memories of the other, but in a good way. For me, tying these projects of love together celebrates the lives of both Hannah's.

Ecclesiates 3:4 describes this week the best:

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Cold on the outside. Warm on the Inside.

This is what it looks like outside:

This is what it looks like inside:

This is what I'm working on this morning:

Ready for the sister of the bride:

That was fast part deux

How did I not post since Sunday? Things were going so well posting reasonably regularly. Oh, right. My queue exploded. Well, that and life.

I've set aside my Willamette scarf while I work on two projects for a wedding next week. One is a gift for the bride, gleaned from stalking her Pinterest.

I'm using the same wool that I used for my cousins leggings to make this gift. Can you guess what it is?

This is the same wedding that I'm altering a dress for. I had hoped to have it delivered yesterday. Did I mention that life exploded. I'll share details on that tomorrow. Meanwhile, I will drop it off to them either Saturday or Sunday, along with this finished project and and the rest of the gift.