Monday, January 28, 2008

And If We're Good... Part 2

You may remember that ceramic plate that wonderful woman in Texas sent to me just before Christmas.







Well, I was talking on the phone to my Aunt Dinah not long ago and asked whether she remembered such a thing. There was a long silence, and then she asked if I knew who gave it to my grandparents.


Of course not.


It seems that my dad's cousin June (aka Claud, Junior) and his wife had a small pottery business in Dallas or Plano or someplace like that in the late 1940's, and they made decorative wall plates. This was one design that they produced.


The plate now in my possession may have been made by them ... or not.


Weird.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

You Can Knit Only So Many Dishrags ...

...until your drawer is stuffed to overflowing.


So, what to do with all the Sugar & Cream you bought at the Michael's sale (and all the other sales throughout 2007)?


Mason Dixon Knitting has some handy uses for these inexpensive balls of cotton -- baby bibs and burp cloths. The bib uses almost a full ball, the burp cloth uses 1-2, depending on the size (your mileage may vary).


Easy, mindless garter, cute result, useful for moms and babies alike. Very portable. Nice change from dishrags and socks, too.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Final Knitting of 2007

I finished the Faux Russian Shawl on New Year's Eve. I stretched it over the dining table just to see how long it is:




Here is some detail




When (if?) I block it, I will photograph it in all of its glory.

Here is the final tally for the 2007 knitting.
  1. Faux Russian Shawl in Knitpicks Shadow from Stash
  2. Socks in Wildfoot from stash
  3. Solaris jacket in Caron Simply Soft Shadows
  4. 2 IPod cases in stash yarn
  5. Baby Booties in Mexican Wave from Stash
  6. Oregon Vest in Passport Dublin from stash
  7. Secondpair of socks in Regia from stash
  8. Pair of socks in Regia from stash
  9. 2 wash cloths in Sugar & Cream
  10. Beach Bands Bag from in Sugar & Cream from stash
  11. Shapely Tank in Royale Quick Crochet Thread from stash
  12. Shapely Tank in Lionbrand Microspun
  13. Diagonal dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
  14. Amanda's Squatty Sidekick in Colinette Skye from stash
  15. Tote bag in Philosohpers Wool from stash
  16. Roundabouts in Philosophers Wool from Stash
  17. Another Circular Dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
  18. Curve of Pursuit in Philosophers Wool from stash
  19. Circular dishcloth in Sugar & Cream from stash
  20. Another baby hat in Mexican Wave from stash
  21. Tweed hat in Bernat Denim from Stash
  22. Two baby hats in Mexican Wave from stash
  23. Lace scarf in Baruffa Bollicina from stash
  24. Baby Hat from stash
  25. Raglan Pullover in Bernat Denim from stash

I was pretty good about Knitting From My Stash for 2007, and have made significant inroads into the pile. I may continue a modified version of this for 2008.

Now...what to knit next.....

And So A New Year Begins

I had every intention of wishing all of you out there in cyberland a Happy New Year. And Good Riddance to the Old One. Please accept my belated good wishes.
Christmas Eve was a blast at our house. It was only immediate, live-in family, so we had a pleasant dinner in our most comfortable clothes, listened to music, and talked a lot.

At around10 PM we put out a snack for Santa and the reindeer

and in the blink of an eye we found this --

Santa made this an entertainment Christmas

And he also reminded me that I need to put in a little more effort into my housekeeping by bringing me a new mop (I am not making this up, it was under the tree).

We intended to go to Midnight Mass at our parish church but, instead, attended Midnight Mass at the Vatican. Christmas Day DD#1 came and ...well, let's just say that I intend to spend Christmas Day someplace else in the future. Like Arizona. Or Texas. Or Baghdad. Somewhere peaceful with no recriminations, no bad feelings, no frosty silences.

On New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house and drank champagne with them at 10 PM (they correctly figured that we would probably not make it to midnight).

I hope to make 2008 a better year than the last one.