Dear Secret Pal 9 (which I now know is Kat of As Kat Knits)

I saw the mailman walking up the drive today with two packages.  I knew one was from you.  Tears already started forming because I knew it was the end.  The end of the secrecy, the end of the surprise packages of love, but the begining of another friendship forged through my passion for fiber.

In this package, Kat sent me some yummy soy silk.  I have never tried it before.  It feels sooooo incredibly soft.  I can’t wait to dye some up and spin it.  There was a skein of laceweight yarn.  I am thinking of weaving a scarf or shawl with it. Also a candle, chibi and case, much needed hand lotion, loads of hugs for me (ok they are really kisses but well, you know…and I can have one at a time of those and won’t be on a sugar overload.)  She also sent candy hearts (which the kids are eating as I type this) and hot chocolate for the kids and Jim.  Thank you so much, Kat, for being an awesome pal.  Thanks for becoming my friend and caring for my family.  It’s not an ending though.  We’ve already agreed on that.  So the tears were happy ones.

The other package received was from my Sock-ret Pal.  To no way lessen your wonderful package, my daughter and I DOVE through the pattern book and she has already marked all the scarves she wants to make or wants me to make for her.  The sock monkey kit is just too cute and I will be making that.  I have never in my life had or made a sock monkey so this will be a first.  And I just love to dye yarn, so the knitpicks sock yarn to dye is totally perfect.  Thank you for the package.  You are great!!

You know, before I had kids, I had a washer and dryer.  I had a car.  I had a bike.  I had a coffee cup.

Since aquiring my children (don’t ya just like that?  Ok maybe not, but I did HAVE the kids so you know…anyway) I have also aquired a name for everything.

I now have a wonderful Cashmere (love the sound of that) colored Suburban called Beauty.  We have a bike named Elliot, my coffee cup is called Connie and my new washer and dryer are called Wendy Washer (left) and Dan Dryer (right).

And let me tell you, they are quite personable as well.  They are quiet, user friendly and really do a great job.  Wendy and Dan arrived on Monday.  Since then they have done 15 loads of laundry without one single complaint or off balance load.  I was able to do ALL the kids bedding in one day instead of breaking it down over a few days time like I normally have to do.  We’ve done all kinds of towels (I mean with 8 people living in the house all taking showers every day we have towels to wash…not to mention all the animal towels I had to do yesterday after kitty bath day).  It is so cool to have the dryer actually done BEFORE the washer cycle is over and have dry clothes.  I swear Wendy and Dan talk to me.  When I press the power button they want to know what kind of cycle I am doing.  I tell them and they preset everything else.  It’s pretty cool.  Eerie in a weird way, but cool.

Now, who can tell me who Squishy is?  Seriously, if you can guess who our Squishy is, there might just be a prize in it for ya. 

Yup, it’s been way too long since I bathed the cats.  I am allergic to cats, but does that stop me from having 3 of them?  No way.  Zippy is 11 years old, Sarai is 9, and Bear is 2.  We’ve had all of them since they were baby kitties.  I break out in hives from the dander.  Normally we bathe the cats every three weeks and all is fine.  However, due to all the recent stuff (you know, moves, cold weather, holidays, etc) time really slipped away from me.  But when I have been attacked by hives and the doc has given me a double does of allergy meds and I still have the hives on my eyes…. it was time to bathe.

Cassidy took the following pictures of the process of bathing a cat.

First we started with Zippy (short for Zipporah).  She is the more vocal of our cats and surely let me know she was displeased with her bath time.

After her bath, she was dried with a towel.  She hates the blow dryer and totally freaks out over it.

Next came Bear-Kat.  He isn’t very vocal but quite acrobatic.  Cass couldn’t take pictures fast enough to capture the rolls, jumps, twists and turns. (Bear and Zippy look a lot alike, but he is much leaner and longer then she)

He tried to escape numerous times and was not a happy camper.

Last but not least, here is my Sarai baby.  She so docile that she just stands there and lets the water stream over her and lets me really work the shampoo in.  Cass, however, snapped a picture while Sarai made her one and only complaint.

How can someone just not love this face?

When all was said and done, I was a very tired momma and need of yet another allergy pill. 

Both that have been prescribed to me, make me loopy so I have informed the hubster (I think) that I cannot be held accountable for yarn purchases made while under the influence of these meds. :)  I am sure he is hoping for a quick and speedy recovery.

Last night my dad wanted to take us all to Red Lobster.  My kids have never been there so we loaded up and went.  As a kid I have fond memories of a place on the east coast called Beef Steak Charley’s.  They had the most incredible all you could eat peel and shrimp.  We would eat it by the bucketfuls as we sat on the intercostal waterway watching the boats sail by.  I think daddy was a little nostaligic for that.  Anyway, we went.  It was crowded and we had to wait.  We are used to that.  Anytime our whole family goes out to eat, we generally have to wait.  The kids have started asking if I’ve brought my knitting.  Chances are, when I bring out my knitting, our wait time is decreased.  As we were standing there waiting with the other would be diners, I took out my knitting and began to knit.  I was working on my double stranded super secret mittens.  A couple of people sat there watching totally entranced.  I was able to knit with both hands and both strands, watch Jac and Jess at the lobster tank, discuss what Josh couldn’t have on the menu, play some sort of guess the fish game with Cass and also talk with Jim all at the same time.  Even Jim was a little impressed.  I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “Welcome to my world.”  The couple standing close to me laughed and smiled and said very kind things about my mitten.

After we were seated and had some food in front of us, Jessi led us in prayer.  Those around us were very quiet for some reason so her voice rang out thanking God for our food, asking HIS blessing on it, and asking that Grandpa please have enough money to pay for our dinner.  Chuckles sprang out all around.  Quite comical actually.  We had an enjoyable dinner full of new experiences and lots of laughter.  Jessi asked me what a galley was pointing to the sign over the kitchen area.  I told her and then somehow we got onto a discussion of being on a boat.  She asked me if I was ever on a boat before.  I told her lots of times.  She wanted to know about that.  So I talked to her about deep sea fishing when I was her age (8), talked about sailboats, and my all time favorite, navy ships.  She asked, quite surprised, if I was ever in the navy.  Somehow, the diners around us got quiet again as if they too were listening and waiting for the answer.  When I told her no I wasn’t but I had dated someone in the navy before I married hubby, she got quite appalled and very quickly (and loudly) asked if Jim knew I had dated a someone in the navy before he and I got married.  He sort of played it off and said no.  Jessi’s next comment clinched it for everyone.  She said, “You have a lot of explaining to do to daddy later tonight, missy, and it won’t be pretty.”  I was laughing so hard I nearly fell off the chair.

 Hope everyone has a wonderful day today.

to say…

 Happy anniversary to my blog.  Ok, the Woven ~N~ Spun blog has been around for awhile, but it’s a year old today on Word Press…thanks to my pal Kiki for helping me get it up and running.  Now I just need help her find the time so she can help me update to the newer version (HINT HINT HINT )

I have been busy this past week working on some special projects and I hope to have pictures soon.  Also need to post pictures of recent spinning.  Just being lazy in the posting department, I guess.

I did get together with another local knitter today at a coffee shop close to both of us.  While we didn’t get to meet for as long as I had hoped (Sears was running a special 20% off appliances and since my washer needs replaced, today seemed the day to do it…more about that later) we did agree to try to make it a monthly thing.  So any local fiber lovers, contact me for details as we plan to meet the last Saturday of each month and perhaps we can set up some workshops (dyeing, spinning, other techniques) as time passes.

I did buy a new washer and dryer after our trip to Sears.  The ones I currently have are 10+ years old, have never needed repairs until now, and really it’s just a heating element that needs replaced on the dryer and a timer on the washer.  However, we bought both of those before kids and since I do multiple loads of laundry a day now, we just felt that buying the new ones would be more energy effecient.  The only down side is that the washer is a front loader and I won’t be able to wash my wool in there, I don’t think.  But maybe so.  You know I will give it a try.

Have my “weekend” kids today as their mom has to work.  We are so used to having them here, it’s like they belong sometimes.  They (3, 5, and 6) just come in and make themselves at home.  They know where the toys are, help themselves and blend right in.

I shall leave you with this finished hat.  I needed a quick no thinking project and made this out of DK weight yarn.  I am thinking of dyeing it a rainbow of colors….what do you think?

 More later.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

That song has been playing in my head today for some reason.  Oh well.  Not a whole lot new going on here today.  Typical back to work/school day.  We spent yesterday just kicking back relaxing.  The big storm never came…at least not as snow.  It rained all day Saturday and it was a cold rain.  There were a few snow flakes in there, but alas, nothing to write about.

I have been working on a few projects.  I finished spinning and plying the neon rainbow and the twist is setting on that along with several other spun skeins.  Will post those later this week.  I did get out to they dye pots today.  Just dyed solid colors but it was nice to pull the dyes out and have fun.

The four skeins on the left are superwash sock yarn and the 4 on the right are DK weight.  I used Jacquard acid dyes for each skein.  The “like” colors were dyed at the same time and it always amazes me how the superwash takes dyes so differently.  Even though it doesn’t show as much in the photo, they turned out darker by about a shade.  But that’s ok as it will all work wonderfully for the super secret project.

We should be able to work on the back wall again this week.  I know I still owe photos on that, but I plan to put them on my regular website with a link over to it, I just haven’t done it yet.  But I will this week.

Co-op tomorrow.  We are celebrating one of the other girl’s birthday by having a general birthday party with party games and foods and stuff.  I don’t have to teach this time, so I can sit back and relax.

I am off to knit or spin or something fibery.  Catch ya later.

Mit Kit Swap

I received my wonderful package yesterday from my swap partner, Michelle.

Included in it were two shades of purple alpaca/wool yarn from Berroco, some handspun from Vermont, a tape measure, buttons for the pattern and a convertible type mitten.  The bag is a green velvet.  Jessi keeps running her hands over the bag telling me how much she loves the feel of it.  Thanks again for such a yummy package.  I can’t wait to dive into the yarn.

New Hat

Here’s a new hat I designed.  It’s called Flowerz in My Garden.  The family gave it a thumbs up.

Weather

Thankfully (I guess) we didn’t get the 8 or more inches of snow predicted.  It turned into a rain event which has created a mess outside and will freeze over tonight.  It’s also created quite a mess in Jim’s office.  The roof is leaking and while we knew that when we moved in, it’s getting worse.  I figure we should be able to throw down the kiddie swimming pool soon, add one of those bathtub spas, and we can have our own family hot tub :)  Jim and the kids have spent the afternoon in front of the fire place playing Army monopoly.  It’s been fun listening to them play.  We have some real cut throat players who won’t give an inch and some very generous players who will buy a property 200.00 and sell it to a favorite brother for 9.00.  Me, I’ve been knitting on the Super Secret Mittens and hope to have that pattern perfected soon.

Birthday

Today is Shelley’s birthday.  Do me a favor and, if you haven’t already, please stop by her blog and wish her a happy one.  Thanks.

Kelly and I decided to knit a hat together.  She finished one and started another.  I started my first while she was still on her second.  I finished my first and designed a second and finished it before she could get done with her second.  (confused yet?).  Then she had to write  a comment on HER blog about sending my kids “fartsy” cards as pay back.  Well, you can read it on HER blog if you want.  But she did call me a Knittng Wonder Woman (anyone got a great graphic to go with that…I’m too busy designing another hat to mess with it ha ha).  So hear me roar.

Anyway, here’s a picture of the finished Purl’s and Arrow’s hat we knitted as a KAL.

The pattern as written was too big.  Even modifying it a bit made it too big for me.  However, I will be sending this off to Charlotte for her charity auction as I still think it’s a lovely hat and will fit someone else just fine.

Here’s the finished photos of the pattern I wrote.  It fits wonderfully and I can’t wait to wear it to church on Sunday (that is if there is church since the National Weather Service is currently advising up to 8 inches of snow on Saturday/Sunday).  The colors were inspired by a wonderful light purple shawl/scarf that my friend Anne sent me for my birthday 2 years ago and a lime green shirt that I recently bought.  I wore the two together the other day and loved how the colors contrasted sharply.

A very special thank you to my SP9 spoiler.  I have so enjoyed receiving the messages you are having other send my way.  Does this draw me any closer to finding out who you are?  Heck no.  That’s probably why my hubby is the cop in the family and I am the knitter.  But you are so sweet and I can’t wait to find out who you are

I am taking some allergy meds right now.  Something has taken hold of me and has me so itchy I can hardly stand it.  I tried to make a doctor appointment it was that bad.  (if you know me, you know I do not like going to the doctor at all).  They were booked through this week but the nurse called me and talked to me.  She now has to run the message to the doc and see what he wants to do…if he wants to see me (but they’re booked up remember) or presribe some different meds.  What I took got rid of the immediate itching and the need to claw my eyes out, but not the swelling.  We shall see.

Brrr…it’s still really cold here.  The ice is still hanging around and probably will for a few more days.  But for right now, we are still ok.  Blessed to be in a home with heat, with insulation, with food, and with all we need to see us through.  Jim had to return back to work today, though.  Bummer for him.  By Sunday afternoon, the worst of our storm was over and grandpa took the kids for a walk through the neighborhood.   I took this shot as they all slid down the driveway.

Caleb wanted to go along too.  Being such a horrible mommy, I failed to knit him a doggie sweater (ok, so I still won’t do that) but we did come up with this for him and he liked it.  In fact, when he came home, he was downright upset that I took it off.

His paws were red and pretty much frozen after a trip around the block, so he came in and the kids and grandpa kept on sight seeing.  What you see on the ground isn’t snow but all ice.  Hopefully by Thursday we will see it start melting off.

The only thing for me to do this weekend was to knit and spin.  I am working on 4 ounces of fiber sent from Lynn last week.  There was no colorway written on this, but we’ve pretty much started calling it the neon rainbow.  I only have a small amount left to spin, then I need to decide if I want to Navajo ply or just ply it back on itself and let the colors fall where they may.  That’s my current line of thinking right now.  Should make for a very interesting sock yarn….I hope.

Knitting included some patterns I am writing.  I need to line up pattern testers willing to felt, knit socks, mittens, and other assorted items.  If  you are interested and can provide photos of the finished work I would love to hear from you.  I can’t offer much right now in the way of compensation, but I sure could use the help.  I also am doing a hat KAL with my good friend, Aunt Sally.  Since I just started last night, there’s not much to show, but hopefully we can show off our work soon.

On my Life Overflowing exchange, we were asked to write about our favorite coffee/tea/whatever mug(s).  I thought I would post here in case someone might be interested. Here are my choices and why…

For my birthday last year, Jim gave me both of these cups.  There were bought from Camila Valley Farms.  Usually I sort of get the short end of the stick when it comes to a birthday or holiday because he’s so busy working (which is understandable) that getting out to shop is really hard.  And let’s face it, I am pretty hard to shop for (even with a wish list) apparently.  But, he researched, he googled, he spent some time and thought into it and he came up with the mugs.  He couldn’t decide which one and therefore I got both.  I used them every day from 1-September until one of my children got very upset with me and on purpose broke one of them.  (this no named child admitted to doing it on purpose because he/she knew it would hurt my feelings and he/she wanted to make me mad…gotta love that line of thinking…NOT)  Anyway, we were able to repair the cup to a condition worthy of viewing, just no longer drinking.  I then put the cups on a shelf to be admired by me and to remind myself how much my hubby loves me.

And with that being said, while public school is out for today (and probably tomorrow) we are in session here at the house, so it’s time for me to go re-check math.  (Yes, Kel, we did math today with little fuss or muss.  Most of the answers were right too.  Miracles DO happen.

It’s cold.  It’s really cold and windy.  It’s really, really cold, windy, and icy today.

The cold air, wind, and ice started earlier then predicted. 

As I was sitting in my chair, I noticed a bird land on my Shepherd’s hook in the front yard.  I was able to snap a few photos of it and the ice landing on it’s head.  This one is my favorite.

I know I said I would post pictures of the wall construction today, but I wanted to get these up first.  Our lights have been flickering so I am going to sign off for now in the event we loose power.  I plan to put some coffee in the thermal caraffe and be happy knitting.

Stay safe.