Wednesday, November 29, 2006

See this?

That's Kristi, also known as "Mommy", loading the hand knit gifts for her babies into her mommy-mobile.  We scheduled a very quick hand-off in a parking lot this morning -- it's been rough getting our schedules to coincide.  You know how it is -- having two sons, each with their own activities scheduled at different times and in different places . . .

Wait -- was I talking about Kristi, or about me?

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I'm still knitting away on Christmas gifts, so nothing to show yet.  Another scarf or two will be presented for your viewing pleasure soon, I hope.  (Ooh, can you stand the suspense?)

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Oh -- I told you I had news!  Well, it's not really exciting to anyone but me, and not really applicable to anyone outside of the greater Lansing area, but . . .

My new Winter/Spring 2007 class schedule is posted on my website!  Classes are scheduled all the way into June!  And I've added another teaching location!  And I'll be teaching on Saturday mornings!

Thrilling, isn't it?  I'm giddy with excitement.

I really am thrilled, because now I don't have to do any more scheduling (which is my least favorite part of this teaching gig) until next August.  Hooray!

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Looking for ideas for the holidays?

Order some homemade toffee from my Knitting Camp roomie Beth Walker-O'Brien (but do it soon -- she'd like to receive all her orders by the 30th of November, which is, like, NOW!).  Available in milk or dark chocolate, $8.00 for a 1/2 pound bag, $15 for a 1 pound bag.  I bought a bunch last year and gave it as gifts to my sons' teachers, my mail carrier (who brings a treat for Keiko every day), my sisters, myself (yummy!) . . .  You can e-mail me for contact information for the toffee.  Beth also has new patterns published in some very affordable little pattern booklets, available on her website. 

Order some hand made goat's milk soap and lotion bars from my knitting buddy Anne at Hanley Fold Farm.  The lotion bars are very cool indeed.  They look like round bars of soap, which you rub into your hands.  They come in cute little tins.  I keep one in my knitting bag and one in my purse!

Order some sock yarn from Susie at Perchance to Knit.  Luscious yarn, gorgeous colors, reasonably priced, and she'll dye to order!

Order honey products, fiber products (check out those spindles her husband made!), and, apparently, cranberry products (see her 11/24 post -- yum!) from Karen, or order one-of-a-kind wooden bowls and vases from her husband John.

Order gift certificates for knitting classes from your local knitting instructor, and give them to all your family and friends!

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Go check out Pat's fun new blog Moohlahknits (say THAT ten times fast!).  She posted for weeks before I found out about it -- stinker!

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And now for something completely different:

This buffalo lives down the road from me.  It is very friendly and appears to be very well groomed.  It belongs to the family of one of Son Number One's friends.

I want to know:

• What is the buffalo's name?
• Is it a boy buffalo or a girl buffalo?
• Can I bring it some carrots or something as a treat?
• Will it bite my arm off if I try to feed it a carrot?
• Is it lonely?
• Does someone brush it?
• If so, what do they do with the "brushings"?
• Can I have some of the fiber to take to my spinning friends?

I ask Son Number One these questions every time I pick him up or drop him off at this friend's house.  He keeps forgetting to ask, and asked me to write them down.  So I did.  Do you think this is what he meant by writing it down?

Sarah

Tuesday, November 21, 2006                                   

Back again!

I've been very busy, as usual, but a little moreso.  Here's a peek of what's been happening, along with some updates on the windows.

Front wall:

We used to keep the couch backed up to the window, but this seems much nicer, view-wise, except for that darned television.  The other people who live in this house won't let me get rid of it. 

The back wall:

We paid extra for the window shades that are sandwiched between two of the three panes of glass, so we no longer have to have any window treatments, and we can actually see all that wood trim we paid so much money to keep.  Just try to find window people who will put in WOODEN window frames with actual, honest-to-gosh WOOD trim, stained in a color to match the rest of your house (which is heavily trimmed in oak).  Next to impossible, and therefore incredibly expensive.  But well worth it.

The kitchen:

I like this next photo better, because it looks more dramatic, and my kitchen looks really clean:

So there you have it.  Our first major home renovation, and it basically looks exactly the same as when we started.  Except for the fogged glass.  And the mildew.  And the weatherstripping falling off around the outside.   And the cranks that kept falling apart with the window stuck open.  And the screens that were all bent out of shape from yanking them out of the windows to get the windows to shut after the cranks fell apart (usually during a severe rain storm).  And the dusty vertical blinds that the cat liked to munch on.  Other than that, though, exactly the same.

Next job:  Finding someone to custom build the perfect bookshelves. 

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End of an era:

They're done, and were put in the mail today, and mark the end of my custom knitting career.  For now, anyway.  The celebratory wine and dark chocolate truffles were delicious.  I think I'll celebrate again tomorrow.

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While Kristi and Noel were saying goodbye to baby Eli, I was busy wrapping gifts for Eli's brothers Gerrit and Austin.  And wrapping.  And wrapping.  And wrapping.  I had to pack the two 66 quart Rubbermaid containers twice to get everything to fit.  That's 132 quarts of hand knit baby gifts, which works out to 33 GALLONS of hand knit baby gifts.  Can't picture 33 gallons of hand knits?  Try this:

Can you see how deep those boxes are?

Amazing.  And I'm still receiving more gifts for the Garcia boys (yay!).  I'm in negotiations with Kristi and Noel for "the drop-off", which will be some time after Thanksgiving.  Kristi was being released from the hospital tonight, but is still under restrictions.

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Other people's knitting:

I'm not usually one to force the idea of knitting on people who aren't currently knitters.  I figure the desire to knit will take hold eventually, with little to no effort on my part, and I'll be ready to help when that day comes.  Sometimes this works, as in the case of my neighbor, who knew I was waiting for her to say she was ready to learn, at which point I planned to put needles and yarn in her hands and show her the way.  Imagine my surprise when she learned on the sly and suddenly announced to me that not only was she knitting, but she was incredibly sick of garter stitch scarves and was ready to move on to something more advanced.  I immediately signed her up for my Easy Beginner Hats class, showed her how a three needle join makes a cool hem, and introduced her to a bunch of the yarn shops in the area.  A complete success story, she currently has about fifty projects on the needles, and is buying yarn like there's no tomorrow.

Then there's my sister, Sister Number One, who needed a little persuading.  Sister Number One has been fiddling around with pieces of a pink cotton sweater for about ten or twelve years.  I know there was more knitting going on than that because I distinctly remember trying to tell her how to do Intarsia over the phone a while back, but I don't know what happened with that.  When she became a step-grandma a little over a year ago, I decided to give her a push, and sent her needles, yarn, and a pattern for a baby blanket.  It took a year, but the child received this for his first birthday:

No, not the dog -- the blanket!  From his grandma!  My sister!  Success story number two!

I think I've screwed up with Sister Number Two, though.  She's the one I made St. Brigid and the Maidenhair Shawl for within the past year.  No reason for her to start knitting now, is there?  Silly me.

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More other people's knitting:

Sandra showed up at an early session of our Fair Isle Sweater class with this little vest already done.  I don't think she needs to come to any of the remaining sessions, do you?  Although I guess I could teach her how to sew a sleeve in . . .

And here's a shot of what my latest Introduction to Entrelac class produced:

Very cool color choices here (there are five bags pictured).  Kudos go to Sue who not only included the most beautiful shades of bluey-purple in her bag (I always give extra credit points for knitting with purple yarn), but also . . .

. . . managed to get most of her bag off of the needles in the last session, so we could see how truly enormous these things are pre-felting.  Oh, and did I mention that Sue didn't know how to purl when she started the class?  I think she's gotten the hang of it now!

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And then there's my own knitting:

A wonderfully squooshy garter stitch scarf from some Gedifra Sheela that I found in Rae's sale bin.  (Sheela yarn on Sheila Dummy!)

Is that all I've done?

No.  But it's gift-giving time, and my gifts include a bunch of hand knits.  So you'll have to wait until after Christmas to see them.

And I have more news, but you'll have to wait until after Thanksgiving to hear it.  Sorry!

Sarah

Monday, November 13, 2006

Sarah

Monday, November 6, 2006

Where the heck have I been?

Why, I'm glad you asked!  I've been huddled in a corner of my house while the indoor temperature plummeted into the thirties because strange men tore out my front wall:

And my back wall:

And my kitchen windows:

Can you see why?  What?  You can't?  You want me to clean the window?  Sorry -- I can't clean that giant smudge.  It's between the panes of glass.  It's WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO LOOK THROUGH FOR THE PAST UMPTEEN YEARS WHILE I TRIED TO CONVINCE MY HUSBAND THAT WE NEEDED NEW WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He finally agreed.  See?

Isn't that better?  Oh look!  I have neighbors!

Oh, and we got a new door, too.  Out with the old:

(Hi, Keiko!)

And in with the new:

(some staining still required)

So I'm a happy camper, and can finally see THROUGH my windows.  I'll take some more "after" pictures when I remember.

While out door handle shopping (after putting it off until the last possible moment, because that's what we do), I stumbled upon this:

Anyone have any info?  It's not open yet.  Located on Grand River in Howell, just east of the Wal-Mart, a couple doors down from Los Tres Amigos, which served us a delicious, piping hot lunch in record time. 

(See those big white blobs in the photo?  Snow.  While my house had huge gaping holes in it.  Brr!)

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I finished up an Introduction to Aran Knitting class last week, and managed to get photos of a couple of "almost" finished objects.

Here's Barb's Aran handbag, lined but handle-less:

And here's Sophia's, handled but lining-less:

My crumpled purple one is there for comparison purposes, since future Intro to Aran students were asking if they could make their handbags bigger.  The answer is "yes"!

I missed getting a shot of Jamie's before she had to leave -- hers was lined AND handled.  And purple!

Here's an example of what my mail-lady (or female-man?) has been bringing to the house each day:

Those are presents for The Dutchicans -- can you believe it?!  Okay, it turned out that one of those packages actually contained yarn that I had purchased and then forgotten about (I've been a little distracted lately, what with my house being without walls and all).  I couldn't figure out who would be sending a hank of beautiful purple yarn to little babies, and then I realized that it was for me! 

I'd like to remind anyone who's knitting for Kristi's babies that I will continue to accept their handknit gifts as long as they keep sending them to me.  Thank you for all that you are doing for Kristi and her family!

And now for a little housekeeping:

Thank you to everyone who has been commenting.  I have, once again, fallen hopelessly behind in every aspect of my life, so please accept my thanks and please don't poo-poo me because I'm not responsible enough to return your "calls".  I'm having enough trouble remembering to take Son Number Two to his piano lesson (I forgot twice in one week!).  Have I mentioned that my house has been a bit of a mess?

If you're interested in any future knitting-related trips to Mackinac Island, please contact Kim at The Yarn Garden and let her know.  She's started a list.  And there's no need to fret over having to get blown off drive over the bridge, because ferries leave from both the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula, so no matter which direction you're coming from, you can get to the island safely. 

As long as the boat doesn't sink, of course.

Sarah

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