I couldn’t wait to start knitting up the rainbow blank I painted on Friday.  Yesterday I pulled some black out of my stash and sat down in a comfy chair and put on a movie.  I cast on without a plan.  This is what emerged.

It was really fun to un-knit the blank and reknit it into the hat and another Christmas present is finished. I will be casting on shortly for another “unplanned” hat.

Last night we decided to head north (after all Friday night we headed south) and see the Festival of Lights in the park.  The kids and I went last year with my daddy and Barbara.  This year, we decided to take Daddy-Man.  We got the great idea to get out and walk the park with cups of yummy hot chocolate in hand.  I carried my camera in hopes of taking lots of pictures and getting the “perfect” Christmas card shot.  But watching the kids twirl and swirl and skip and play was just so much more fun.  I did however, get to capture this one lone shot of them on the amphitheater stage.

I just thought the picture was fitting because the kids are practicing a play written by oldest son.  He’s written parts for several neighborhood kids as well and they even held auditions last week.

I hope your Sunday is relaxing and gives you a chance to recharge your batteries for the upcoming week.

Finally I can post some pictures of some things I have finished.  As I posted earlier, this week was crazy and not a lot had been finished on the fiber front.  Well, yesterday that changed.  Daddy-Man took the kiddos out for several hours and left me home alone to do whatever I wanted to do.  Sound of Music got loaded into the DVD player and I broke a rule, and brought my dyes inside.  I DO NOT do this with kids in the house.  Too many accidents can happen, ya know?  Anyway, I had machine knit some blanks earlier in the week and painted the wool blanks.  (I still have lots and lots of cellulose blanks to paint up)

No real plan with this one in mind.  I just wanted to play with some gradients.

I have a special order woven scarf I need to do.  The gentleman wanted a “denim colored” scarf to go with casual and dressy clothes.  I like how the colors turned out.  Now to get it to the warping board and see what we can come up with.

For Kelly who wants Christmas socks.

Just because I wanted to see how it would turn out.

And how could I not paint rainbows without painting a rainbow.

I had left over dye and was running out of time before kiddos were due home, so I overdyed some lavendar roving.

And finally….a finished object…..another Christmas present.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to you.  Thank you for being a part of our lives for the past several years.  We’ve enjoyed sharing with you and look forward to another year of it.

I apologize for not writing and keeping you updated on the comings and goings of life at Casa de Chaos.  It’s been…..um chaotic at best.  We finished up school for the week today, had a doctor’s appointment today, walked the Commanding General’s Fitness walk Tuesday, ran errands on Monday and did chores.

We are hosting Thanksgiving here at the house tomorrow and Jim invited his soldier’s to come and join us.  At this point, I am unsure how many people will be here, but I am prepared for an Army (ha ha ha ha ha ha).

Today is youngest son’s 12th birthday.  He’s already opened gifts as we knew he was mainly getting money or gift cards.  Daddy-Man will take him shopping tonight for the things he wanted (Havoc Heli and The Wave) so he can play with them tomorrow and Friday.

Looks like a busy weekend is on tap as well.

Hopefully things will settle down again soon and I can post some finished projects and such.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  I am so thankful that the deployment is over, Jim made it home safely, and we are all a family under one roof again. I am thankful for a family with good health, stable income, and for a God who loves me even though I am so far from perfect it isn’t even funny.

Please feel free to let me know what things you might be thankful for this year.

oops….blogging escaped me this weekend.  Saturday was bowling and out to eat for Jacob’s upcoming birthday.  Sunday was just a chill out day and some down time.  I did head out late Sunday night for a special event.  My friend’s husband was coming home and I wanted to be there to support her, him, and his unit.  I took pictures and converted them to a DVD this morning complete with music and “special effects”.  Probably a no brainer for some, but very cool for me.

I was quite amazed at the amount of active duty soldiers (probably ordered there by their command), veterans (that considered it an honor to be there), and so many family and friends that showed up to support the homecoming heroes.  Due to Jim’s MOS (job) in the MP field, they tend to deploy as small groups or as individuals like Jim did.  So, we took Jim to the airport and sent him on his way and when he came home, it was just the kids and I to greet him.  While that was nice, it was also cool to see a unit march in to music and cheering.  A VERY brief speech was given lauding the accomplishments of the unit then the soldiers were released to their families for hugs and kisses and to go home after 15 very long months of being apart.

Today I hope to do some wool painting and prepare for cellulose fibers on Friday.  Wednesday and Thursday will be pretty tied up with a doctor’s appointment (ick), Jac’s birthday, and starting Thanksgiving preparations.

Hope your week is wonderful

Yesterday while spinning this:

I realized why l liked it so much:

It matches my bag!  I did very little else yesterday but spin as this roving is spinning quite beautifully and I so want to weave with it so I need to get it all spun up

Quick Project

I took one of my recent hand woven towels and folded it in half, then stitched up 2 1/2 sides, flipped it right side out, added 2 cups of UNCOOKED rice, then stitched the remaining portion.

Pop it in the microwave for a few minutes to get the rice hot and you have an instant heated pad for aches and pains.

These are reuseable and are wonderful, especially in the winter time.  Just do not put in the washer or get wet or you will find you have mushy rice inside.

I am hoping to devote showing off newly spun yarns on Thursday.  We’ll see how that goes in the future.  But today here’s 4 ounces of the pink pop that I showed off here on a previous Threads on Thursday.  I plied it with a strand of purple nylon sewing thread.

Here’s what is currently on the wheel.  Gem from Fat Cat Knits.  It’s 4 ounces of BFL and in the colors I just love.  My first attempt at spinning with beads.

And this is what is on tap next from Susies Perchance To Spin, 8 ounces of super wash merino.  I see it combined with some black alpaca and the loom.  Stay tuned.

I’ve always been a “traditional” spinner I suppose but after about 6 years now am feeling like spreading my wings so to speak and try to spin the trendier type yarns.  At least for a season or so.

Swaps

I took part of the Color Swap on Ravelry.  A very neat idea where everything in the box is to be one color or color theme.  The box I sent out included all kinds of green things.  The one I received had jewel tones in it.  I love everything and am currently using the row counter bracelet with my latest pair of fingerless mitts.

A very windy and colder day day is in the forecast.  What a perfect day to stay inside and knit, weave, and/or spin.

Friday night movie continued last week and we watched Iron Man.  The movie was ok, but what transpired during the movie was really cute.

Zippy crawled into my lap as is the norm.

Then either Jim or Caleb, or both, got jealous and this is what happened:

Then I got jealous and here’s the result of that.

Younger kid’s enjoyed all of the playing.

New Stove

It got delivered yesterday right after lunch.  It’s so pretty and new looking I didn’t even want to cook on it. :)  The service guy turned it on so he could check all the connections and such and the kids and I stood in amazement that burners could light that fast.  Then, after only a few moments, the oven was actually hot.  I mean, seriously, within 5 minutes the oven was hot and ready to cook rather then 15 minutes into the pre heating phase and the oven not yet even tepid inside.  WOW.  Cooking is going to be so much fun again.  Yippee!  Hopefully we can work out any kinks before inserting the big bird week.

Christmas

Can you believe it’s just around the corner?  Furthermore, can you believe that Jim and I are done shopping for the kids?  Seriously, we are.  He picked up the last present last night after a stop to get his hair cut.  We had shopped on line for this item and couldn’t make up our minds about it.  Then he stopped for a hair cut on the way home and there it was right in front of him at a cheaper price even and he couldn’t walk away.  Now if I only I can figure out what to get Jac for his birthday which is next Wednesday!

Got a lot finished yesterday so I will show off today.  First up.  A basic pair of fingerless mitts.  My own pattern.  These are huge and fit a big boy’s hands and combined with a pair of black gloves shall make a nice Christmas present.

I have another pair on tap that I cast on last night.  Hopefully I can get those done this week.

Then, I finished up this scarf.  I am calling it Remnants as it was made from a lot of little balls of my unraveled mystery sweater project.

Specs:  Worsted weight acrylic/wool blend warp and weft.  Just a simple 2/2 twill.  I just threaded it so that each color block went in the opposite direction of the color next to it.

Then, I sat down with the kids to work on some beading projects and came up with these stitch markers.  The cord is made of silk and they won’t snag on anything.  These 4 are going in a swap box that is getting mailed a little later this morning.

Later this afternoon I am getting a new stove.  YAY.  I’ve had problems with the stove since we moved in.  It got way worse this summer but we were transitioning to a new housing authority and the old one didn’t even come out after repeated calls (it wasn’t an emergency).  The new company took over on 1-November, came out last week to fix, and ordered my new stove.  It’s in and will be installed later this afternoon.  I wonder if they will be installing it while the plumber is here to fix the bathroom sink that keeps getting stopped up?  It’s an older house, but it’s currently a very warm older house that I feel blessed to be in.  It’s home.

It’s the little things that keep me floating on cloud nine.  Things like Jim cooking the main portion of last night’s dinner.  Things like it being cold in our bathroom and he turned on the heater before I went to take a shower.  Things like hearing him breathing in bed at night and knowing he’s home.  Things like a quick kiss or an impromtu hug.  Things like holding his hand during prayer time.  Things like saying, “go ask your dad”.  So many little things, but so big to me.  And while Jim’s gone back to work and it looks like the hours are going to be a little (ok maybe a lot) crazy (and believe me that’s nothing new) he’s here doing those crazy hours.  Life is good.

I even made it to the loom for a bit yesterday.  Hopefully a picture tomorrow.  We’ll see.  Knitting is happening too.  Christmas presents are still being worked on and and hoping for a finished project there this week.