That time of year

Getting ready for a move of this magnitude has been a little like therapy. My goal was to go through everything and make sure we took the 'right things' and discarded the items that were not useful. Much progress has been made and there is little left to scrutinize.

All of the activity has been exhaustive. My family came for Thanksgiving - our two dogs, Bugg's one dog, mom brought two of hers and my brother brought his two. The bunnies were isolated from the canine factor and they were the lucky ones! 7 dogs is enough work to exhaust anyone. Most of the warm bodies have departed and there was enough time this afternoon for me to reflect on the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Sending Christmas cards is one of my favorite things to do. Every year I compile a collage of photos showing us and the kids in memorable activities throughout the past year. I LOVE doing this and was saddened at the realization that there was not enough time to accomplish my annual ritual. I also don't like just signing our name and addressing an envelope without personalization. Why bother?

The cards that stick in my memory are the ones where the sender took time to say a little something about themselves or about us. Anyway, I sat down and began to tackle the annual Christmas card event, braced to prepare the inevitable generic sayings and printed generic greetings.

I found myself writing personal notes in each card. There are things happening in our lives that we want to share with those that we love. This is an exciting time for us. I wrote and wrote and wrote then realized one very important thing. The annual photo collage will not go out this year, but individual personalized cards filled with love will. In all of this craziness, I was still able to find time to let our friends and family know that they are special and we love them. I am thankful.

Turns out she has monkey arms, too

Mom arrived yesterday and it was her birthday. True, this sweater was supposed to be for Christmas, but with the impending move I though it would be better to go ahead and gift it.



The timing was fantastic because the snow has been coming down since morning and the thickness of this jacket really takes the chill off.

Mom insists that the sleeves are perfect (thank goodness) so no alterations were necessary. I was wondering how that would be pulled off!

We ended up getting a different clasp that looks much better and not so overpowering as the one that came in the bag. I've made her promise to wear it, but as soon as we came inside she tucked it away to avoid "getting it dirty."

...somebody shoot me!

Finding time to knit

Thank you so much for your well wishes. It is a whirlwind of activity and it overwhelmed me a bit yesterday afternoon. My strategy when the feeling hit was to get out the post it notes and trash bags. We've moved and let them just pack everything before and I don't want to make the same mistake again. Three main areas were gone through and it made me feel better. After that the yarn closet was tackled...there is SO much yarn and spinning fiber. Maybe half of it is in plastic storage containers and we'll go get more today. I hope the movers can move the plastic containers as-is.

There were three projects nearing completion and two are finished. Handspun Angel Lace was blocking when we left to visit Louisiana last week. What a thrill to know that this yarn was spun by me on Georgia.

Originally, the plan was to dye this shawl after it was complete, but given the timing it will remain natural and may be dyed later.

Bluegrass socks are also complete. This pattern is from 2-at-a-time Socks but were knit one at a time. The 2 at a time approach leaves my arms

aching and turns out to be more of a chore. This is Sailor's Delight and I decided to work the foot in stockinette to avoid any chance of the sock twisting when worn. The yarn is Brown Sheep Wildfoote which was a birthday gift from my friend, Mitzi. This sock has a little of my favorite things - coming from Mitzi and being the colorway 'bluegrass' - for Bugg's foray into Kentucky.

As if this wasn't enough to do, the bunnies need clipped. This is my first attempt and I hope bunnies don't get pissed when you butcher their beautiful coats...because I did.

...wait for it...

I need to re-watch the tutorial. to maximize the amount of fiber and minimize the shame this poor bunny must feel.

Then there is Bella who also needed a haircut. After seeing Edward, I didn't have the heart. The tutorial will hopefully help after re-watching.

Be careful what you wish for

We are moving to Louisiana.

Honestly, I am excited and anxious but also nervous. The nervous part comes in when I look around at our accumulation of goods. I realize that the economy is not lacking because of my hesitation to consume. Although my spending has slowed, there is still a huge amount that just overwhelms me.

We have a great place to live on an interim basis and my son's school is top notch. Best of all, this snow will be left behind for the more balmy weather that has always called my name.

My posts have been infrequent, but maybe some Cajun thrown in will spice this all up.

I'm taking ALL of my yarn, now where is a box?

I wove a scarf and I liked it!

So, this warp was on my loom for a l-o-n-g time. A couple of the hettles were twisted and needed to be fixed before any weaving could be accomplished.



A couple of weeks ago, something possessed me and I got the loom going.



In a matter of a few hours across two days, I wove this scarf.

My favorite youngest son marveled at the finished scarf fresh off of the loom and then he touched it.

"Ouch! That is pretty scratchy, mom. Who would want to wear it?"

True, true. This kid is amazingly intelligent.

Into the washer went the scarf.

With a little bit of wool wash and the hand wash setting, I waited nervously for the result.

...and I liked the result very much.

Fast forward a few days and the scarf is presented to my son for inspection. He frowns at first, thinking that he will touch scratchy.

"What happened to this? Is it the same scarf?"

Delilah turns 7 weeks!

Delilah is 7 weeks old and she has grown so much!

She has a sweet disposition and her cheek and ear furnishings are just coming in. Her wool has a nice crimp next to her skin and I can't wait until her first fur comes off.

Ok, I am going to go hold her some more.

The sun shined and I spun

I've been working on a couple of different patterns this week and the momentum broke yesterday.

The sun was shining and Georgia called to me.

I had never spun Masham before and it was exciting to find some at The Ann Arbor Fiber Expo a couple of weeks ago. The fibers are very long making it easy to spin. There was neglect on my part to take photos before spinning, but Coby has some in her Etsy shop here. The goal was to spin thicker yarn and finish it in a manageable amount of time. There were 4 oz. and it took about 3-4 hours to spin 2-ply at 10 wpi. There are 128 yards in total.

The thought is to get more of this fiber and mix in some of Bella's soft wool. Admittedly, it isn't super soft once spun up, but the angora would definitely add to that. I have been keeping the fur from her regular groomings and nearly have a sandwich bag full. She looks like it is almost time to clip her and that would provide plenty.

Speaking of Bella, her behavior has improved a bit. She is still not allowed to run around in the play pen outside of her cage, but I have been taking her outside on our deck every day. This mixes up her routine and gives her an opportunity to get exercise. Her litter pan is taken outside with us. She uses it and has not had an 'accident' on the deck.

Stubborn girl, if only she would behave so well inside.