It's Nothin' but party, Party, PARTY

I'm tired! Christmas was loud and messy, but fun. New Years Eve was loud, fun and fortunately NOT at my house ergo someone else's mess.

And, on Sunday January 6, I hosted my parents' 50th Anniversary party for over 50 people.

Again, loud and messy, but fun. (no, I do NOT have a 50 person house). My kids and husband helped a bunch and my friend Beth followed behind the old people picking up and cleaning all day so almost all of the 400 meatballs I made were eaten so, except for dog poop which is a whole 'nother deal, the mess was really minimal, considering.

Knitting? yes. I've been helping my daughter knit her first mittens. She chose a pattern that ends up looking like an alligator puppet, so the construction is . . . different. And, she's moved over to the continental way of knitting so that has all been a fun challenge.

Here are some pics of some of the felted clogs of Christmas giving. 3 pair were given as felt-it-yourself projects. NOTE: Ya gotta remember to throw some towels in the wash when you felt because even with boiling water added, and over an hour in the washer, they will not felt.

I completed 7 pairs and have 5 more pairs on the to do list. (Mom, MIL, Meredith, Alex and mine).

Alex's scarf is a fairly well behaved WIP at this point. It's made from stiches I adapted from the Knitty.com RPM sock pattern.

I'm fixin' to cast on socks of this lovely RED Tempted sock yarn.

I'm 3 days away from my trip to the Yarn Barn to fondle, pet and see me some wheels. And, knit night was fun as always. Sue brought BIG cones of wool she formerly used for weaving, her ball winder and her scale so we could all wind measure and take home mass quantities of good stuff. Some of us brought yarn to trade or give away, there were cookies, and Marianne brought me a bar of really cool natrual soap I hope to try if I ever start bathing again--HA! I'll use it tonight.

Be it therefore RESOLVED . . .

I CANNOT (or will not) stick to any tpe of New Years resolution. Were it otherwise, I would be svelte, fit, would not swear or live in a messy house, or car. So, my quasi-annual self improvement takes the form of learning something new.

Four years, five photography/darkroom courses and 8 cameras, assorted lenses, filters, tripods and vats of chemicals later I can take a photo, develop the film and make a print. THEN came knitting . . . Christmas 2006, my daughter wanted to learn to knit. Although I learned as a kid and re-learned when my kids were babies, I never actually completed anything. Now however I can (and do) knit (and complete) mittens, socks, and most anything I put my mind to doing (not lace). I have put my mind to knit quite a bit. AND, I've acquired a comfortable backlog of projects and to dos as well as a handsome yarn stash. So, what's next?

DECLARING I have no interest in a subject is often the precursor to my complete immersion in it. Based on this observation, my path in 2008 is already cast. In much the same way that I proclaimed I had absolutely no interest in doing darkroom work (note: i LOVE it), I have said I have absolutely no interest in spinning. UH OHHH!!

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, I received a spindolyn spindle for Christmas from very attentive and champion gift-giver gal pal, Beth. That, of course required that I purchase and secure expedited shipping for some fiber to spin--of COURSE. I have yet to spin anything, but there are only two possible outcomes for attempts at spindle spinning: 1) I'll make a mess of some great fiber and hate it altogether, which will make the case for obtaining a spinning wheel because of the inadequacies inherent in spindle spinning; or 2) I'll absolutely love it, which makes the case for obtaining a spinning wheel because I would love that even more.

AS LUCK WOULD FURTHER HAVE IT, barring an ice storm or other natrual disaster, I am taking my daughter to school in Atchison by way of Lawrence, home of the Yarn Barn, which just so happens to also sell spinning stuff (spelled W-H-E-E-L-S).

IT JUST SO HAPPENS, that the listing for the sale of my medium format camera on e-bay will end in enough time for me to have the money in hand before I leave for Lawrence.
(Note the beautiful symmetry in the sacrifice of the noble tools of one hobby to feed another--circle of life, baby! Awwwww, don't get too teary-eyed at this Disney moment, I still have 7 cameras that I use).

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the convergence of so much luck and so many just-so-happens, it would be plainly foolish to resist the temptation to get a wheel. In fact, so many signs are in line, the wheel is probably not temptation at all, but divinely ordained. Who am I to resist such a force?

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED I can justify just about anything.

Overrun by BEAVERS!!

Most of Tulsa and the surrounding area lost power for days due to an ice storm . . . or was it? Believe the ice storm story if you must, but for me the evidence points convincingly to a massive city-wide assault by crazed, drunken and woefully disoriented --- BEAVERS.

Mother Nature's little architects seem to have gone on a wild binge (no doubt caused by global warming) and have left their handiwork in yards all over town, even those miles from the nearest stream. A cursory glance down any residential street in Tulsa will confirm the theory as practically every yard has its own useless beaver dam.
Some houses are nearly obscured by the damnable dams:
I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish by bringing this to light. I mean the beavers no harm, but think it is time for those destructive critters to move on.

My Cup Runneth Over . . .

. . . and I'm not talking about my bra, although I could be.

Thanksgiving is a distant memory -- the food was delicious and the company interesting. The day was perfect, except I didn't get a bike ride in. I fell asleep while the last two pies were baking the night before, didn't hear the timer go off and consequently they were burnt to a crisp. So, I had to re-make those in the morning. Plus it was a little cold outside for a bike ride. Well, maybe the day wasn't quite perfect, but it was darned close.

The Christmas knitting is coming along nicely, but I foresee being jammed up in a week or so--oh well, 'tis the season for hurriedly completed projects.

Lately I've been in a baking slump--everything I've baked has been gross. The expresso-hazelnut bread went in the trash. What a waste of innocent hazelnuts. Now that I think of it, that bread deserved to be gross--the recipe doesn't even sound good. The carmel-iced banana muffins went where all really bad muffins go--trash again.

I had a firm plan to move to Montana, raise a few Alpacas and play in yarn, darkroom chemicals and bread dough in the shadow of the mountains for the rest of my life. That fell through last week when some folks in Rhode Island got the powerball money I was counting on. Fortunately I had a back-up plan. Unfortunately that plan mostly involves working and paying taxes.

This weekend (Dec 7-8-9) I'm chaperoning some Bishop Kelley high school kids on a retreat at a state park. I thought the days of doing such things were over since my kids both graduated but I was asked and . . . You can call me Ado Annie cause I really cain't say no. (lame Oklahoma! reference--sorry). The retreat should be an opportunity for LOTS of knitting since the extent of my role is to be a warm bodied adult, a task for which I am remarkably well suited. BUT, that means the Christmas decorations and the attendant cleaning won't occur this weekend. Oh well.

To continue . . . on Monday I'm driving to get Meredith from school in Atchison, Kansas. (Meredith calls it Atchi-town, residents are Atchi-folk, and odors are Atchi-stink or Atchi-funk, etc. ). I'll leave at about 4:30 am and get back home by about 5pm. It always amuses me when I drive all day and end the day in my own bed where I started. The good news, aside from having Meredith home for a month, is that I drive through Lawrence and will stop at the Yarn Barn. Maybe I'll buy a drop spindle and some roving . . . I've never tried spinning and probably shouldn't. I do NOT need to enable my stage 4 PCD (project completion disorder). But DANG, as I sit here I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that's what I'll do.

Even though the Christmas decorations haven't made an appearance at my home, I apparently got overcome by seasonal cheer because I invited my MIL to ride along to Atchison. ARGHHHHHHHH I figure 10 hours in a car with her following on the heels of spending a weekend virtually locked inside a cabin with 12 high school seniors ought to move my Karma-meter waaaaaay out of the red zone. OR, does talking about the Karma-meter counter act the stored good? I am not making fun here--I just like to know the rules. Regardless, the weekend and the drive will be certain fodder for future blog posts, unless those folks in Rhode Island give me my money, then I'll just blog about that.

Felted Clog Heaven (or Hell?)

I've momentarily abandoned all sock, hat, mitten, shawl and sweater knitting in favor of my newest passion--FELTED CLOGS! At least I'm hoping these will be a passion because I've purchased enough yarn for a baker's dozen of these nifty slippers. (That would be 70 balls of yarn).

Two pair are for pre-Christmas birthday gifts, ten are for Christmas gifts and one pair for ME. I got most of the yarn from KnitPicks, and the rest from Loops.

I have one pair done, except for felting . . .
And one pair in progress . . .

So, by the 20th of December I should have found my way to Felted Clog Hell. I have a different Holiday Hell for myself every year. . . the more memorable ones were:

bike shorts hell . . that year I made chamois-lined lycra cycling shorts for EVERYONE because the kids were so small, I couldn't buy any to fit. I re-drafted adult patterns to fit my pre-school kids. So, while I was at it everyone in my family who bikes got a pair, I made shorts for 10 people.

AND, there was apple pie hell. Kelly asked me to make apple pies for everyone in his department for Christmas. It was all fun and games until about pie 15 and I had 9 to go. 24 STUPID double crust apple pies. (for the record, there was NOT full disclosure on the number of pies to be made--the number sort of grew as the pie-making weekend progressed) Anyway, you can't start making homemade crusts and using fresh apples and go to frozen and canned implements. And, you can't decide at pie 15 this is too dumb--what do you do with 15 pies? You can't give pies to some and not others. You just have to keep making the stupid pies. I started Friday evening and by Sunday afternoon, I was ready to kill Kelly. Every freakin' flat surface in our house had pies cooling, and I was a wee bit cranky.

That's quite enough revelation of my nuttiness for one sitting--no need to re-live wire & bead bracelet hell, or cotton throw jacket hell right now.

Nice Buns!

(Rolls, really--cinnamon variety)
I made these sourdough cinnamon rolls for Kelly to take to the office today.


If you are in the mood for a delicious and EASY pumpkin treat to share, check out Phara's recipe for pumpkin pie bars.

Today was a big-crafty day for me. I wore my newly completed sweater/jacket/cardigan and hand-knitted socks to work today. Note to self: The extra 10" of visual girth added to silhouette by sweater knitted of extra bulky weight yarn is NOT flattering to the queen-sized frame. Oddly, I like the sweater anyway.

I decided what to do with some of the Mountain Colors homespun (lupine colorway) that I've been hoarding. I'm making the Loops 3-some mini-wrap. (again, with the super bulky weight). The stitch pattern doesn't show with this yarn, and it will not drape like the cashmere the pattern calls for, but I know that and it's OK. I LOVE this yarn -- wool and silk and deep colors. If I could afford it, AND if the whole gamut of Mountain Colors was available locally, I'd knit EVERYTHING with it.

AND finally, I HATE EASEMENTS!!!! We have this mess of electrical crap in our back yard. The mess was previously hidden by bushes, but for some reason AT&T was not happy with that situation, so last week they tore out bushes and relocated the post from the hidden spot to a more visible locale. (See the bright obelisk in the center of the photograph).
Notice the tree stump and the tilt of the green electrical box in the picture? A monster cottonwood tree grew atop that stump once. It was up-ending the electrical box, so we notified PSO of the problem and they graciously removed the tree. That solved the worry we had that the big tree would someday crash into our neighbor's house. BUT, the idiot sticks left the stump which is still causing the electrical box to tilt. So, PSO solved our problem, but not their own. We've called over and over to advise PSO. They've sent crews out who (no kidding) eat their lunches and take naps in our yard but are unable to work on the stump.
So, one day the stuff in the electrical box will overheat or short out like it has before. And, several houses or even the whole block will be without power, like they have before. And, PSO will replace the box, like they have before. Unless PSO takes action on the e-mail I sent today. We'll see . . . anyway, THAT's why I HATE EASEMENTS!!!!

My first EVER sweater--Completed

I just finished seaming up my FIRST EVER SWEATER!! It was made with a bulky yarn, Trendsetter Savvy. I wasn't exactly sure what I would use to secure the edges while I sewed the seam. THEN, I noticed a #2 circular needle, all lonely and needing something constructive to do. I sort of basted the seam together by stringing the needles and cable through the seam. It made the sewing easy to complete and was simple to remove. That's probably something other knitters do all the time, but I've never seen that suggestion.

AND, in other news . . .

Halloween pointed out what a pathetic person I am with an empty nest. You need not look any further than THIS for evidence. Lacking other ways to entertain myself, I made some properly burnt toast (homemade whole wheat sourdough) and smothered it with pumpkin butter (not homemade) and then . . . TA DA. . . decorated the toast with canned whipped cream for Jack-O-Toast. I said I was pathetic!

Then, there is THIS:

A co-worker brought SCARY chocolate body parts to share. As it turns out, it looks like MY finger was the model for this particular scary part.