Presidents Day

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

- Thomas Jefferson

February

 

This is that time of year when the rest of the country gets a good chuckle at Mr. Groundhog.  But if you live in Minnesota or any where north of there, Groundhog day gets hardly a nod.  Six more weeks of winter is mandatory and then you can safely tack on a few more just for good measure.  We authentic north folk don't let that furry fellow lure us into believing that we may have only 6 weeks of winter left.  We've had snow well into April.  

 But this year, winter in Minnesota has yet to get started.  This wacky weird weather we've been having (colder in Texas than here?!) has been making it difficult to go sledding, skiing, snowmobiling.  But it's been great for playing fetch with little Stella here.

Happy Knitting.

Oh yeah. My little blankie.

I forgot to mention my little blanket.  I was not loving the color scheme.  They were just a bit too mushy or too acidic for me.  So I finished it off with a nifty little edging that I got out of this book and gave it away.

It now belongs to a 9 year old who, upon me presenting the blanket said, 

"But it's full of holes."  

It's crochet, kid.  

That's what it's supposed to look like.  What can I say.  She's been raised by a Knitter.

Seeing Red

Blood red knitting - test knit - more to come . . .

It's Valentine's Day here in the States.   We had a mother from England come in with her child's Valentine card for the class.  She did not understand that there were to be Valentine cards for the class - one for each child.  She looked boggled until I explained that you could make little heart shaped cards or stop by the grocery store and pick up 30 premade cards for $3.00.  This got me thinking.  I took for granted that this minor little holiday was known around the rest of the globe, but I was mistaken.

So here's the deal (preschool style):

our cute little students

Little kiddos wear red and pink to school and bring Valentines for all their friends.  These can be store bought mini-cards or you can make cards at home.  There is usually a small piece of candy attached to the Valentine.  

We put up a few decorations in the room to make it more fun and festive.

That's a red velvet donut hole.  Breakfast of champions.

Our classroom mascot.

Each child decorates a bag or a box either in school or at home (teachers choice) and brings their creation to school on Valentine's Day.  There are usually cookies and games.  Each child then delivers his or her Valentine's to the boxes and voila, your child comes home with a months supply of chocolate and lollipops. 

This was my stash - sort of like Halloween but a lot less work and I don't have to dress up and go begging for my chocolate.  It's literally dropped into my bag.  Nice, huh?   We, of course, like to participate and drop little surprises into their little bags, too.  This year we choose bubbles and stickers.

My 9 year old made her box at home.  I am really quite impressed with her work.

 The older kids will often make Valentines, but around 5th and 6th grade (11-12 years old), the idea of handing out Valentines to boys, or boys giving Valentines to girls, is just too embarrassing for the average pre-teen and they end up having skating or sledding parties at school instead. 

I hope that sheds some light on our little corner of the world.

And may I say,
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Girl Time Getaway.

 My gal pals and I are up north for a sweet little vacation away from laundry, driving, diapers, jobs, dishes . . . you get my point.  And I brought my bad of fiber and needles. . . and hooks. 

We drove into town today and walked into a store called "Utrinkets" which boated your usual cabin town sundries of souvenirs.  When low and behold at the back of this very understated, nondescript joint was a place of heaven on earth.  A yarn shop.  A full blown, mother-truckin' yarn shop with all the bells and whistles.  The shop is owned by a friendly husband/wife team; the husband was knitting while we browsed. 

 I remained strong and made no purchases.  It was difficult for me, so we headed to the local pizza joint for some pizza and a pitcher of beer.

 Full of our libations, we headed out for some shopping and landed our booties in the little coffee shop.

 It was cold outside but we were warm and toasty inside sipping our very suburban soy lattes and talking about kids, cats and dogs.

Good times and good friends.

WARNING: Cussing Ahead

I came downstairs in the middle of the night for a glass of water (so cliche) and was passing a big window when the outside security light switched on and this gal scared the shit out of me.  I couldn't come up with a better word than that.

This bird feeder is a few feed from our windows and apparently this is the reason we go through bird seed so quickly.  

Anyway, so this is what I've been up to when I crawl into bed.   Watching some boob-tube: 30 Rock reruns.

I've been making these Baby Hearts.  

I got this quick and easy little pattern from Spindles and Spice and can't seem to stop myself.  

This pile represents only a fraction of what I've actually made because I've been giving them away and scattering them around the house which I thought was a cute, fun idea until I realized that the dog has eaten some of them but that makes for a huge run-on sentence.  And so I go on.

I have been keeping the hearts in this little plastic tub I pulled from the recycle bin.

And . . . you guessed it.  Crochet bombed it.  Bombed the bajeezus out of it. 

And as for these little hearts.  I think I'll give the teeny tiny hearts to my teeny tiny students.  Or maybe I'll make a garland of hearts.  Or those hippie doorway hanging garland thingies.  Oh crochet.  How I love thee.  So many ways to spread the crochet cheer.

Can't stop. Send help.

Inspired by: Attic 24 Jar Jackets

 Everything in the house, at this point, shall be covered in crochet.  Send help. 

You should see the pile of crochet hearts I've been making.  Oh, I just want to eat them.  That's for the next post.....

Gray Daze

 This was a view of the lake today.

My drive to work.

 My latest creation.  Warm and glowing.  (and yes, Guinifer - possibly a fire hazard, but like you - I am a daughter of a fire fighter and therefore, fully armed with extinguishers in every room - coincidentally, most of my experiences with fires in my homes have been caused by my firefighter father, but those are stories for another time and I digress).

Perfect for Valentine's day, don't you think?

Crazy Town

Where else could I possibly be when I go from knitting sensible things like socks and sweaters to crocheting mum dish cloths.  

Seriously.  What is happening to me?!?!?

Distracted

I have plans to make some really cute Birdie Decorations, but then I found this little ditty on Ravelry and had to make my own version.  I think I'll make a few more with some red sock yarn.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

Sunday's Crochet

If you have been reading my blog for a while, then you may remember that I have a slight aversion to spiders.  By slight, I mean full-blown panic attack at the sight of them.  In recent years, I have been undergoing "Exposure Therapy" wherein the patient is exposed to the source of fear and therefore made more immune to the panic response.  Well . . . that's the idea anyway.

My sessions have all taken place at the cabin where I have had several late night sessions with spiders of monstrous size on my way to the outhouse, and yes, sometimes while I'm IN the outhouse.  Also, while I'm sitting on the dock and sometimes when I'm sitting on the porch.  Inside the cabin is spider proof - don't ask me how, it's fairly complicated and involves duct tape.

Why am I telling you this and how does it relate to the fiber arts?  Last summer, I found a drowned spider in my glass of water that I keep filled on my nightstand.  Don't shudder too hard - I found it in the morning, NOT in the middle of the night while taking a sip.  Thank you Lord.

I came across a pattern for a tradition jug cover.  It was probably something they used in the south to cover the lemonade.  That's what I imagine, anyway.  So now that I'm crocheting like a mo-fo, I whipped out my own version of the Traditional Jug Cover from Learn to Crochet (edited by Sally Harding).  I did not have fancy, artsy beads, so I raided Belle's craft bin and found enough to finish the deal.

Isn't it cute?  No more turning on the light in the middle of the night to check for spiders.

What else did I do this weekend beside crochet?  We took our Lunker out on Tonka for some skate skiing.  It was a beautiful sunny day and there are only a few inches of snow, so it was perfect for cruisin' along.  Stella came too and is now soundly sleeping in front of a cozy fire. 

Love to all!

Color my world.

See this?  This is what my days have been looking like lately.  

Gray.  Dull.  Colorless.  

So my new endeavor to learn crochet has been an opportunity to bring a little pizazz to this quiet, bleak scenery.  Let me give you a little show.

The little tam I was working on was sitting on my desk - like a little squid-like blob and making me feel inferior and lazy.  Just block it and sew in the ends.  That's it!  And true to all of your friendly comments, blocking made all the difference.  She is, indeed, looking and acting like a proper tam. 

I'll try to post pics of someone actually wearing the darn thing.  It's cute.  Here's the pattern, if you're interested.  It's called "Autumn in Garrison" by Kate Gagnon Osborn.  

 And as I mentioned, I thought I'd try crocheting my way through Attic 24.  I thought I'd start with Lucy's Birdie Decorations.  I started crocheting a circle and suddenly found myself with six of them and counting.  So far, so fun.  I'll show you my pretty little birds when they're all done.


And finally.  After a particularly aggravating confirmation class in which I agreed to "assist" the teacher with a gaggle of 7th grade boys (one of them being my own), I was presented with these lovely flowers from one of the parents.   That, and a big glass of red wine with a bow on it on my arrival back home made me reconsider quitting and telling all those 7th grade boys where to stick their . . . well. . . you get the idea. . . .  Thanks C & L & K.  I'll give it another go.  But these gray hairs are multiplying . . .  Pray for me.  (wink wink).

I could eat these flowers up, if I could.  Aren't they divine?