Resetting the clock to zero

The long and short of it is, I had a medical procedure done, and decided that I needed a treat on my way home.  The doctors and nurses all advised me not to make any legal or financial decisions today due to the Propofol I had.  Eh, what's a little yarn?

MadelineTosh Prairie (lace) in Logwood.

Treat achieved. This will probably become a beaded lace shawl. Logwood steps outside my normal color-comfort area - I am not a purple lover. 

And now my coldsheep clock resets to zero.

Snow hearts

Finished Project: Franken Cowl

Rockin' the red lipstick again

Pattern: Brioche Moebius Cowl by Nancy McRay for Woven Art
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky Baby Alpaca in five different colorways
Needles: Addi US 10.5 60 inch circulars
Mods: I used a main color for my cast on and throughout the cowl as color A. I then used five different colorways for color B, effectively using up almost all of my scraps from the four other moebius cowls I have made for friends and family. It is extra wide, extra long, and heaven to wear!

I love the way the different colorways stack and play with each other.

The yellow/grey marl was from deep, deep stash, and was used in both sister-in-law cowls, and in a cowl for a friend in Colorado.  The other colors break down as:

* white - for a friend in CT, and one sister-in-law
* purple - bitter green - orange - my mother's cowl
* plum, olive and grey - the Colorado cowl
* grey - leftover from the houndstooth brioche cowl
* teal - my mother's cowl

It gives me great pleasure that my cowl, the one I am definitely going to keep for myself, is made up of bits and pieces of all the other Brioche Moebius Cowls.  It is divinely soft, incredibly warm, and I think of everyone I knit for when I see it.

I have my favorite spots - where bits of acid green and yellow poke through and toughen up the pastel pinks, greens, and blues.  And if I ever make another one I think I will try very hard to make the ends meet all in one area so that I don't have tuffs of woven-in pieces sticking out all over the cowl.

So my stash is now down 200 yards of scrap yarn that wasn't big enough for anything else! Huzzah!

Vintage Buttons 1

I have decided to start documenting some of the lovely buttons in my enormous button collection.  Purchased through estate sales, ebay, thrift store and antique mall ramblings, I can't turn down an interesting button.

My sister also looks for buttons for me, and since she is a die-hard estate-saler, she can find some real treasures.  I love seeing button collections in their natural state - glass jars, cookie tins, shoe boxes.  The buttons are often accompanied by old belt buckles, snaps, and for some reason, masonic pins.  Maybe I will have to take a picture of them at some point!

The "woven" brass buttons are really beautiful, with delicate details.  If you look closely you can see fine lines where one rectangle crosses over or under another.  I have six of them, so I hope they will be used together.

The once-clear plastic button (now aged to an IPA color) brings Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs to mind.  It is a singleton, and may end up as a decoration on an accessory rather than an actual closure for something.

Do you have a button collection, or do you remember playing with a button collection when you were a child?

Zeby turns 4

Today my sweet boy turns 4! I remember holding him in my lap all the way home from Muskegon.  We brainstormed about what his name should be. P tossed "Zebulon" into the mix, and it stuck. Zeby is named for Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a soldier and surveyor of the American West. Pike's Peak is named for him, although Pike never got to the summit (that's okay, neither has Zeby).

Zeby, 3 months.

Zeby - 3 months.

Zeby - 6 months.

About to get his birthday punches - 2 years.

Zeby, 3 years, helping model socks.

Zeby - 3 1/2 years

Zeby - 3 1/2 years

Zeby, Christmas 2011.

His cheerful presence and jaunty approach to life has certainly brightened our lives.  Happy Birthday my Zeby!

Reminders

Sometimes I get a little stir-crazy. I long for road trips with my husband like we used to have when we lived out west.  The air harsh and thin, the dust ever-present. Sometimes I need a reminder of where I have been.  And sometimes it works to tide me over until I can travel again. But, only sometimes.

Painted Desert, 2003.

Chilly Winter Walk

Eight degrees without windchill, fresh untrodden snow, and post-storm sunshine.

Finished Project: Emma's Jacket

A friend of mine recently gave birth to her first child, a little girl named Emma.  Emma may be the most treasured little girl in the world - her parents went through a lot on their way to parenthood - and my friend had a scary episode about a week after giving birth that could have ended very, very badly.

For some expectant mothers I will cast on for a project once they announce their pregnancies.  For Emma I waited until she was safely delivered before I cast on.  I really didn't want to jinx anything. My friend had been through enough.  This entire sweater was knit in two days.  Yes, it is a newborn size, and it was knit on worsted weight wool and size 8 needles, so it was fast.  But there was such JOY knitting this sweater for Emma, I couldn't put it down! I shipped it a few days later, and it arrived while my friend was still in the hospital.  Her mother brought the package to the hospital for her to open there.  I am glad I could brighten her day!

Pattern: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss, from Special Knits, but was available as a free download for a while. Size 0-3 months.
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran, in Oat, 2.5 skeins. Sadly, this yarn is discontinued. And the yarn color changes in the light. I put it on a green surface so it looks more pink than it is.  Most of the time it is a lovely oyster/oat color.
Needles: US 8s for the body, US 7s for the lace.
Mods: I decided to replace the plain ribbing with something a little more special - feather and fan lace.  At the bottom of each button band I knit 3, then was able to fit the lace pattern into the called-for number of stitches.  A single vintage button from my extensive button collection was sewn down with DMC embroidery floss.

More color-accurate - oyster with a hint of dusty pink.

If I do knit this sweater again I am going to make some serious changes to it.  Some kind of edging for the bottom and sleeve cuffs, a better cast-on method for the sleeve edges (NIGHTMARE to sew up in a way that looks half-decent), and a change in gauge, perhaps.

It was a lovely, quick knit that just flew off my needles and bumped up my monthly yardage tally nicely. Welcome to the world, Emma!