SpiderWomanKnits

I have to say I have been in quite the funk for the past few days. When the days start getting a tad shorter and the sun is not beating down as strong I downgrade from the hare to the tortoise. But as we all know slow and steady wins the race so all will be ok. Here are those mittens I have been working on for the good farmers over at Lakeview Orchard. This pair has been slightly felted, or fulled, just enough to maintain stitch definition but add strength. The mitten on the right has not been "shaved" yet. It really makes a difference. They shrunk down just enough to fit man hands nicely. Just as I had planned hoped. Dontcha just love it when things work out that way? The felting gods were on my side today!
And here is the second pair in the works. See that thumb part...yeah... the part that looks like I should just bind the blessed thing off? Well, I should have, days ago, and started the next mitten but I haven't and it has been sitting in the basket just waiting for me to do a 8 stitch bind off! That is the tortoise taking control of my life! 8 stitches people!

What might you ask have I been doing that wouldn't allow me time to bind off 8 stitches? Frankly, not much. What have I discovered over these past few days?

1. Once a year I need to catch up on all the sleep I have missed by having a toddler who mimics a roosters behavior. Yes, once a year, I sleep ALL day. My DH gets me up to eat dinner and then points me back toward the bed. It really does work.
2. Every now and then I need to stop knitting and smell the roses.
   

But knit I must, so, stay tuned for the big 8 stitch bind off and susequent matching mitten. Perhaps sometime in the next century I'll even have FO pictures of that cardigan that I have been ignoring for way too long.

My web based business Revoltees and my blog have both been accepted into the Girl Wide Web! Oh, how happy can I be?!

On Friday I had an extra 1/2 hour before I had to be at work. So, what else was there to do but take a trip to my LYS, Wonderful Things? I thought I would be able to include a picture of my spoils but my son was feeling silly this morning and I think he is begining to wonder about his mom who is always taking pictures of skeins of yarn. I picked up some more Lopi (I can hear Cathy sighing right now...yeah yeah I know...I really do knit with other yarns beside Lopi...I think) and I scored some yummy Classic Elite Lush in the yarn orphanage.

All of these yarns are heading for holiday alley. I do this every year. I tell myself I am going to get a head start on the gift season and it starts out great then...well, you all know...it doesn't always work out the way we planned. But I did start another pair of mittens that will warm the hands of one of the local farmers, at Lakeview Orchard, where our family gets our vegetables all through the growing season. The farmstand is run by a husband and wife team and I will gift a pair to each. I really believe it is so important to support local farmers. My son and I do as much of our grocery shopping as we can during the growing season at farmers markets and independent stands. That way he knows where real food reallly comes from and we have a great time picking and harvesting in the process. So, the race is on! I have a good idea of all the gifts I want to make, now I just have to figure out how to enter the Matrix so I can manipulate reality in order to have the time to get all of them done. Wish me luck!

Just a little yarn flower to brighten the day of a fellow blogger and friend JessaLu who has been having a pretty stressful week.

Meet our new baby Trixie. We had been waiting anxiously for her arrival. So far she is doing great! Our old timer, Obie, isn't so thrilled with his new housemate but he'll warm up. He's a gentle soul.

I am so used to Obie respecting the stash (and he really does) that I forgot what it was like to have a cat in the house who doesn't have all the restraint. So, I spent most of my knitting time today having the needles batted out of my hands as stitches were hopelessly dropped and my yarn was dragged across the living room. With a face like that though I couldn't get mad. She'll learn (I hope). I never thought I'd be grinning like a fool as I watched a coveted ball of mohair being tossed around like a primal kill. Love and Kittens are good things I guess.

Wow! Thanks everyone for such a warm welcome to my new blog home! I was feeling cramped over at Blogspot. But I am also one of those people who has to rearrange the furniture in their house constantly and is never fully satisfied with paint colors etc. so it wasn't long before some redecorating was needed. My DH says I am a change addict.

I am so happy to be accepted into the Knitting Blogs web ring! I just adore the greater knitting community out there and appreciate being even more connected to all the knitting lovlies out there who are so inspiring!

I had a little bit of bright yellow Bulky Lopi left in my stash from an old weaving project and decided to whip up a quick pair of "Sunshine" mittens for my son this winter.

One look at these on a grey winter day will surely do wonders for the North Eastern winter blues. I used the really easy and fun pattern out of Weekend Knitting and then felted them just enough to maintain the stitch definition but add some strength so they stand up after some serious snowball fights and angel making. My heart and mind are still in a very meditative space. Today is a day of reflection for my family and I as we all grew up in NYC and my husband used to work in the WTC just before the attacks. (We had just moved to Upstate NY but were in the city on September 11 when the planes hit). My warmest wishes go out to all those who still carry the burden of loss.