The Answer

A baby sweater! This is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket - or BSJ, if you are in the "in" crowd. A friend of mine back in WA just had a baby, and I thought the little boy might need a summer sweater. So Tami and Michael, if you are reading this, Surprise! You will be getting a little sweater in the mail soon. I just need to sew up the seams and add the buttons. And maybe show it off to a few more knitter friends. It is just too cute, if I do say so myself.

What is this?

Any guesses? Answer tomorrow.

I forgot to mention...

- There was a girls' night out earlier this year, in case anyone was concerned that the girls were being left out at the elementary school. I have no idea what their activities were.



- The spinning wheel on ebay sold for just a couple of dollars less than you can buy it brand new. Not smart, bidders! But it saved me some money, anyway. Phew, that was close!


- Bonus points to the anonymous commenter (Mom) who knew that the swift-bottle came from the Elk Head Brewery in Buckley, WA, my former home. I mean Buckley was my former home, not the brewery. Anyway, stop by there if you are in the area, it is a clean, well-lit garage where you can get a really good beer.



- A gratuitous fiber photo. Here is a recent project - felting soaps. I found some nice glycerin soaps at the dollar store and decided it was time to try it. They are currently on sale at the Bear and Cub in Pungoteague!

And then there was me

One thing I notice as I read various blogs - the bloggers rarely put up photos of themselves. We all think that we look bad, I guess.

Anyway, Riley grabs my camera once in a while and takes dozens of pictures all around the room - most of which I delete. But pictures that show recognizable people (and occasionally, dogs) I keep. Here is what I look like to my children, apparently:

Scary.


Here's another, blurry, but I think kind of a good picture of me. I am getting jowly like my mother and grandmother.








(I hope my mother and grandmother don't mind me saying that!)

It is what Steve calls my upside-down smile - that turns down rather than up. It counts as a smile anyway, in my book.

News on the home front - Riley has ANOTHER ear infection! He was home from school on Friday as we took him to the doctor and pharmacy for more antibiotics. He managed to rally by Friday night, though, as it was "Boys' Night Out" at school. All of the boys were invited to come to the school from 6:30 - 8:00, they had karate and wrestling and basketball, as well as sandwiches and other snacks. Riley loved it. There were only a couple of other boys from his class there, but I guess that was enough. And I got to sit around for an hour and a half and knit on a sock for Steve. Levi and Steve had a little one-on-one time. A good time was had by all.

Fiber Update

Because I know you are all dying to know!


I made Mom a scarf for her birthday - woven on my Ashford Knitter's Loom with some handspun soysilk/wool and a commercial microfiber yarn. It even arrived on time! Total success! This does not happen to me often.

I've been tinkering again. So, having successfully made myself a lazy kate, I found myself in need of a swift. Actually, "swift and ball winder" has been on my Christmas list for years, but no one has taken me up on it. So I googled (of course) "homemade yarn swift" and it came back with several references, almost all pointing back to this creation by Crafty Diversions. But then I came across this, which is entirely more my style. Bonus points to anyone who recognizes where that bottle came from.





I have a nostipinne, (spellcheck?) which is basically just a thick stick, tapered a bit toward one end, on which to wind a center-pull ball. So I don't need a ball-winder anymore, either. Oh, the money I am saving! Can I spend it on this?





What, you might ask, given the current economic state of everything, do you need another spinning wheel for? I love my Traditional, but it is not terribly portable - I need a wheel to take with me to spin-ins and such, right? Well, obviously, it is not that I need it. I want it! It is a Roadbug, the latest model from Merlin Tree, and there is one on sale on ebay. And it is even a lefty - just exactly what my little heart desires. And the bid is (as of this writing) only $55! Egads. I would not be in the market for a wheel right now (although I definitely want one of these eventually!) but if it is going to sell that cheap on ebay, I can't afford not to buy it. Right?

There are several more days on the listing, and while there is only one bid on it now, there will probably be lots before it is over, so I am probably getting excited over nothing.

I've got more fiber stuff to show you, but I will save it for another post so as not to overwhelm you.

Later!

Good Morning

The view from the front porch this morning.

We have had lots of rain lately, occasional snow and freezing temperatures, as well as the odd day that gets up into the 70's. Since this is my first winter here, I don't know if this is unusual or if the winter weather always bounces around this much. But this morning, the sun is breaking through the fog, and it is predicted to get into the 60's. I have some already-sprouting tulip bulbs I bought half-price, and a couple of packages of ranunculus tubers (or are they bulbs, too? Odd looking things, anyway.) Also some poppy seeds given to me by a friend back in WA, with a reminder to "bloom where you're planted." So this morning, Levi and I are going to dig in the mud a bit, before it starts raining again, and hope for some blooms soon.

Beale enjoying the view.

Sorry to leave you hanging...

When I wrote the last post, Riley had just been to the dentist (whose office is right behind his school - they bring him from his class to his appointment and back again, I don't even have to be there! Unbelievably convenient!). I called them after his appointment, to see how it went, and they told me that they had done his crown ... so I was expecting him to come home with his "silver tooth" in his mouth. (He is very excited about getting a silver tooth, by the way, and I am just letting him be excited, even though I am not.) So that was going to be my news about Riley - and a potentially good photo, too - only when he got home, he only had a filling done. Nothing so dramatic.

So to back up a bit, years of sucking on socks and blue blankies has caught up with us, and Riley's teeth are full of holes. One really big one, on which they are planning (at a future appointment, apparently) to put a stainless steel crown. Can you imagine a crown on a primary tooth? On a 6-year-old? Can you imagine what a crappy mom this makes me feel like? Or how much it is going to cost, even with (thank you God) dental insurance? Just good, good news all around. We had him at a dentist in Washington, about a year ago, but he was so hysterical at the appointments that they could not do any fillings without sedating him, and with no insurance at the time, that was just not going to happen. So here we are.

Anyway, Riley has lost two more teeth (the good way - got wobbly and fell out!) and here is some very blurry evidence:

Also, his hair was getting very shaggy - which bothers some members of the family (not me) a great deal, so when he said his hair was making him feel hot the other day and wanted a haircut, I had the clippers out within seconds. I love the before-and-after haircut shots - always such a striking difference. Riley always looks so much older right after a haircut.

This is from October of '07, all baby teeth and no giant holes! Notice the jaunty scar through his left eyebrow. That is how our coffeetable came to be known as The Evil Coffeetable of Death.

And this is one of my favorite little-Riley pictures, from September of '05:













One more? OK This was earlier in '05, with his new baby brother:







Everybody say: Aaawwwww!

We're famous!

Well, we are in the paper, anyway.

There is a story about my knitting group in the local paper - here. I am not so savvy with the hyperlinks, so I apologize if that doesn't work.

If the link doesn't work, try going to www.delmarvanow.com - we are on the front page today, and after that, maybe search for "pungoteague"? The title of the article is "Needles, Yarn Keep Group Together"

Also, check the Photo Galleries link, below the picture, where it says "The Knitting Circle". There are several more pictures. No pictures of my face, but my hands made the paper!

In other news, yes, we have had snow lately. Three inches or so, and cold enough temperatures that it has stayed around for a few days. And you know how they are around here, the schools were all closed on Monday and Tuesday, and two hours late today, so Mommy has not had time to update the blog just lately! But I do have pictures, and I will get them posted soon. Also coming up next: news about Riley. Stay tuned.