Easter

Oh, yes, a week later I am finally getting around to showing you some Easter pictures. First, the celebration at the Country Club. Nini and Poppy are longtime members of the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club, and hosted us and the Ben Sadtler's (Steve's brother and family) for the annual Easter Egg Hunt there. The weather was windy and cold - but the kids did not seem to mind a bit. There were bouncies:

...in addition to the main event, the mad candy scramble. Is everyone ready?

That is Stephanie, Ben and Nini, waiting for the madness to begin. Here is a small sample of what ensued:

And here they are sorting out the booty afterwords:

While the adults tried to stay warm:


(Some of the Williams' clan there - longtime Eastern Shore family friends.)

And I suppose the day would not have been complete without a photo with the big rabbit:

On Sunday, we went to the early service, and the boys and I joined the church we have been attending, Franktown United Methodist. We haven't been attending very long, but we are really comfortable there, and it seems like a good fit for the whole family. Steve is, as the pastor described him, a dedicated Presbyterian, and decided not to join. More accurately, Steve is a free-roaming, liberal Quaker type Christian, and won't be tied down! Apperently, I am the traditionalist in the family.

Hope your Easter was as full and as fullfilling!

We Rogues of Wool

I will write a "real post" soon - but I had to share this.

Read the cartoon:


Sing the song:


Buy the t-shirt:


Enjoy!

Family Here

Family is here (earlier than expected!) for the Easter holiday - so I might not have time to blog in the next few days. But we are having fun, and I will update you with pictures and such when we get to the other side!

Here are a couple of boy-boy pictures to tide you over:

This is what they will be wearing for Easter - now I just have to find some appropriate shoes ...

The Next Big Thing

The impetus behind finally getting (making) myself a yarn swift, after having done without for more than 20 knitting-years, is this one particular project that has been forming in my mind for awhile now. I bought a skein of Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace, 1250 yards of 50/50 lace weight wool and silk, color "Vera", at Rosie's Yarn Cellar in Philadelphia in the fall of '07. I didn't have a project in mind at the time, but gradually I developed a vision of a circular shawl with a fairly plain interior and a deep, interesting, sideways-knit border. The trouble with this design is the danger that you will run out of yarn on the way around the border, as it is very hard to guess how much yarn you will need for the border relative to the body of the shawl. I speak from experience on this one.


Are you still with me?


So, in the book The Best of Knitter's Magazine Shawls and Scarves, Joan Schrouder describes a technique of knitting the two (body and border) separately and then attaching them. So that is my plan - but that involves (in my mind, at least) knitting from both ends of this 1250 yards of lace weight yarn. I definitely needed to wind it into one of those cute, flat yarn "cakes", like what you get from a ball-winder. And I definitely needed a swift, or this could turn into 1250 yards of tangle in a hurry! So here we are:

Yes, I have changed to a champagne bottle. Taller, and nice and heavy on the bottom. The winding actually took me several days, as I kept getting interrupted/bored and putting it down.

Here we are partway through the winding. (Me and the mouse in my pocket.)

And here it is all done - phase one finished! Now, on with the design!

I consulted several lace edging designs from http://www.knitting-and.com/ , and the Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting, and I have decided to make up my own:



Doesn't it look interesting? Time to swatch!

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.

Levi

In his first year:

As I was looking through photos and trying to catch up on the blog a bit I made a horrible discovery: I do not have a single photograph of Levi's 4th birthday, on January 19th! How did that happen? I am not only a bad blogger, I am a bad Mommy!

So to make it up to him (just a bit), here is a little tribute to Levi.

Here's Levi, back in Buckley, WA, eating a little mud:

On his third birthday, at the Tacoma Dome for Monster Jam (January 2008):

During our trip to Williamsburg this summer:

And hanging out on the dock this summer:

Checking out the train display at the Union League on New Year's Day:

How is a Mommy supposed to get any spinning done with this going on?

Today, from the back seat of the car, and apropos of nothing, Levi said "Mommy? If I were a pirate, with a wooden foot, and an eye patch, and I found a diamond - I would give it to you."

There is nothing quite like being loved by a little boy.

I love you, too, Levi!

Caution: Spinning Content

I received a WoolLee Winder for Christmas from my sister, and it is such an amazing product. It really speeds up your spinning - and I suppose it will help with consistancy, too, as I get used to it. It feels different than the flyer and bobbin that came with my wheel, and I have had to goof around alot with the Scotch tension to get everything to flow correctly.

The WoolLee Winder came with 2 bobbins, and I ordered a third so I would be able to do a two-ply without having to use the old flyer & bobbins at all. I will probably order at least one more, so I can do a three-ply or a cabled yarn.

So I spun 2 bobbins full of superwash merino singles, but when I started setting up to ply them onto my third bobbin, I discovered that these new bobbins don't fit on my lazy Kate! They are bigger than the Ashford double-drive bobbins - and hold a lot more fiber - but it's a bit of a problem. So I Googled "homemade lazy kate" and in a few seconds, had several good ideas about how to make a quick, tensioned kate. And a few minutes after that, I had this:

A shoebox, a pair of 14" aluminum knitting needles, and a piece of string, and you have a perfectly usable tensioned lazy kate. I love the internet.

And a little while later, I had this:

I am planning on using this for some more of those kool-aid dyed fingerless gloves - I haven't swatched yet, but I think this will look pretty nice.

And, by the way, what ever happened to that last bit of spinning you showed us several weeks (or was it months?) ago?

I was trying to make a 3-ply sock weight yarn. My 3-ply came out more like worsted- or even heavy worsted-weight. Ah well, I guess I just need more practice, right? It's still a nice yarn, it will be good for something. Maybe some really THICK socks.

We had some cold weather here a while ago...

I am playing catch-up here a little bit. Here are a few photos we took on January 18th - a cold and snowy (sort of) day. We walked over to Nini and Poppy's dock to check out the frozen creek. We kept Beale on a leash for fear that he would go on the ice and fall through. Lucy we left on her own and she skittered around on the ice like a crazed thing. She really loves the cold weather!

And here's a little video sample of the craziness:

As Promised...

The monster truck show.

For those of us who have been to a proper Monster Jam program at a nice-sized venue like the Tacoma Dome, this might have been a bit of a disappointment. The arena (the Wicomico Civic Center) is really small for monster trucks. The races took a fraction of a second as the trucks jumped from one end of the floor to the other, and quickly slammed on their brakes. Add to that a little disorganization on our part - Steve and I completely neglected to bring any cash with us, and the t-shirts were cash-only! AND the tickets we had (contrary to what the website said) did not include the "pit party", so we were not able to get close to the trucks. The boys handled all of that really well, and seemed to enjoy the show - especially....

Transaurus!

More later - ttfn!

Getting familiar with the local hospital

I could have named this post the same as the last one - long time no blog! Sorry about that, I have to get myself on a new routine. I really am trying! We have decided to send Levi to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, full days, which should theoretically free up some of my time, but it is not working yet. I'm not sure I am up to catching you up on everything we have been doing since I last blogged properly, but let me fill you in on this week at least.

Levi went to his preschool for a half-day, both Thursday and Friday (a week and a bit ago) and of course caught a cold, which he brought home to the rest of the family. Monday Riley went to school as usual, and of course Levi was at home. Tuesday and Wednesday were teacher-in-service days, so Riley was off school. Tuesday Levi went into preschool for his first full day, but of course, no free time for me because now Riley is at home! Wednesday, they are both home, and by Wednesday night, everyone is feeling pretty sick, and the boy's eyes have gone all red and yucky and itchy. Boys (and Mom and Dad) have a terrible night sleep, lots of coughing and such. So I woke up Thursday morning knowing that I needed to get them some antibiotic eye drops at least. (Mind you Thursday was SUPPOSED to be my first full-day "off", and I had plans!! I was going to bring my spinning wheel in to the knitting group to do a little show-and-tell ... I had a lunch date...)

Thursday. I called the clinic at 8:00 when they opened, and they took my number and called me back some time later saying that they had no openings for today, but they would call back if they could get me in. I waited for awhile and started to fret - tried calling Steve to see what the hospice nurses would advise, but he is not at his desk. Called our friend Lynn, she suggests trying the clinic in Onley. I called them, and they said I would have better luck at "our" clinic (in Franktown). So I fret awhile more, and finally they call back and say we can come in at 1:00.

12:45 - 2:00 In the Dr.'s office, waiting, filling out forms, seeing the Doctor. I actually can't complain too much about this, I really like the Doctor, he takes the time to listen to the whole story, explains a lot about his thought process, very personable guy. At this time, Riley has one really sticky eye and a bad cold, Levi's eyes are not that bad, but his cough is a lot worse. His temperature is almost 103. Dr. gives him an albuterol treatment (inhaler-thing) so he can listen to his lungs better. When he gets a better listen, he thinks that Levi has pneumonia, and sends us to the hospital for a chest xray to confirm.

2:00 - 3:00 Hospital, waiting, filling out forms, waiting some more, (with 2 sick kids), get the xray, wait some more, take the xrays back to Dr.'s office.

3:00 - 4:00 Back at Dr.'s office. A bit more waiting, and then back in with the Dr. - yes, it is pneumonia. He calls in prescriptions for eye drops for Riley, and oral antibiotics for Levi. By this time, Steve had received my messages, and he met us at the clinic and took the boys home.

4:00 - 5:00 I did some grocery shopping to give the pharmacy some time to get our stuff ready. I went to the pharmacy at 5:00 and they told me to come back in an hour.

5:00 - 6:00 I decided to wait, rather than drive home and come back, so I put the seat back in the car and slept for an hour!

6:00 Prescriptions still not ready - pharmacy is jammed - more waiting around, but thankfully no sick and coughing children with me this time.

7:00 Finally make it home with medicine for my children!

The good news is, antibiotics work. As my Dad always says, if you get a cold, tough luck, you just have to suffer. If you're lucky, you'll get pneumonia - they can cure that. And they can. In the morning, after just one dose apiece, the boys are feeling much better. I kept Riley home one more day - not sure if that was the right decision or not. (I may get a nasty letter from the school - again.) His eye is much better, but he is still coughing a lot. And Levi's fever is gone - he is also still coughing, but is much more himself.

And today - Saturday - we are off to Salisbury to see Bigfoot! As I recall, the boys (or at least Levi) was sick last year when we went to see Monster Jam, too. Maybe January is just like that.

So, next post, hopefully soon, will be pictures of monster trucks. See you then.

Long Time No Blog!

Well, you can guess what we have been up to - Birthday (Riley's), Christmas, Guests, Moving house. Busy. Sorry for the lapse. Also, the internet connection has been shut off at Nini and Poppy's house for a week or so, and we just last night got connected at the new place. So I have a basketful of excuses to choose from!

Today at 2:30, God willing, we will close on the house, and it will really and truly be ours! There is a little bit of last-minute confusion going on, so wish us luck - but the champagne is cooling in the refrigerator this moment, and we will crack it open tonight if it all works out.

The house is mostly put together, at least the downstairs is in a livable condition. Upstairs is still a maze of boxes, but I suppose it will be for some time. Still no blinds on the windows, and Steve is losing his patience for that situation! We (I) will get to it one of these days.

Again, sorry for the long absence - but it is a new year, full of possibilities. More later!

A Big Day

Maybe THE Big Day.

It was June 12th of this year, the day that we finished packing up our house in Buckley, WA. The day that we locked the padlock on our truck-full-of-stuff, closed up the house, and headed for the airport. No, now that I think about it, it was the 11th that we headed for the airport, but it was the 12th that we flew, and it was the 12th that our truck was picked up by the moving company to begin its' trip to Norfolk. I didn't know where we were going to end up at the time, it could have been just about anywhere in Virgina, Maryland, Delaware, or even Pennsylvania. But in the end, we settled right across the street from Steve's parents, with Steve's job just a 15 minute drive away.

And today, exactly 6 months to the day from when our truck left Buckley, it is being delivered to our new home. Not that it is actually our home yet, but we are working on that technicality. But before the truck comes (sometime between 9am and 5pm, they tell me) I am going to unpack the ceremonial First Box.

A couple of months after we moved out of Buckley, but well before the house actually sold, our real estate agent was in our kitchen looking for the spare keys we told here were there. She opened the drawer next to the stove, and there was all of my cooking utensils and some of my favorite knives - we had missed packing the whole drawer contents! She packed up the stuff, and mailed it to me. And I have had it here, in one corner of my in-law's guest room, waiting for this day.

There is a lot of stuff even in a modest three-bedroom house, and I may not unpack the last box for weeks or even months, but today I unpack the first one.