So it's Tuesday

Ok, so I am not up to much; finishing some last minute gifts for Christmas.
I uploaded a pattern for sale and a freebie on to Ravelry, the freebie is for a pair of slipper socks using Lion brand thick and quick yarn. The pattern calls for size 13 dpn's and you can feasibly make a pair in a day if you are quick, other wise a couple of days.

Here is a picture of one of the slippers, I made these for a nephew. They are so warm and cozy!
I completed a pink scarf as well, however I neglected to take a picture, silly me. 
I am now off to Jo Ann's to acquire more yarn for a couple more pairs of slipper socks for friends at my Thursday craft night.
If my enclosure link works, you will be able to access the pattern for the slipper socks here. 


Happy Stitches to you.

Feeling cold, punky and need motivation

It is winter, I have sweaters to finish and wear THIS YEAR. I am and have been feeling a bit punky (Possibly on the edge of a cold) for the last week and have no motivation; horribly I did not knit one stitch yesterday.
Today I am like the little ant who did not gather up enough sunshine before winter and had to rely on the lazy grasshopper, unfortunately I do not know a lazy grasshopper and need to look elsewhere for the sun and motivation I need.
The weather man did say there may be sun this weekend; I fully intend to take advantage of that when I find it.
For now I seek encouraging words, or perhaps just a "get over it and knit"!
Sinus medication, coffee, protein, now go knit, right.
Go me! Get those stitches going. (lame rot, attempt at a cheer, I was not a cheer leader).




Happy Stitches

Blank check for the president of afghanistan era is OVER!

On November 1st I wrote a commentary on fact checking, writing, talking and meeting with your elected representatives as well as how the President of Afghanistan is on the CIA payroll.
I did write to Amy Klobuchar, I have not yet heard back, however, breaking news on the stations is that the blank check to the Afghan President is done. 
I am elated, I hope that everyone that read this had written to their people and let them know how they felt about this.

Yes, he plans to ramp up temporary troops in Afghanistan, and plan to get them all out. The President is focused on a long term strategy and and solid benchmarks to reach this goal.

This is a refreshing intelligent and focused man, and I really have to say I am grateful after the last 8 years (this is my opinion and everyone is entitled to have thier opinion).

I say Kudos to stopping the Blank check! There is no solid proof that it EVER did us any good!

On the lighter side I am finishing a knitted hat and working on my many other projects.  

Happy Stitches to all

Thanksgiving 2009, more knitting and such

Sadie and I made it to Heidi's for Thanksgiving, actually the day before, we arrived on Wednesday. Blueberry (my niece Tia) was still here and we knitted together for a bit, I showed her how to bind off and she took her knitting to her dad's for Thanksgiving. Blueberry she is the one who called me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I could teach her how to cast on and knit over the phone. Funny girl, I had taught her to knit a couple of years ago, then she lost interest until earlier this year when I taught her mom, Heidi to knit and then started to work with her brother in September.
The problem created by this is that she took her brothers needles and yarn to make her scarf, so, today Blake, Heidi and I went to Mary Loues Yarn and Ewe in Mankato to buy more yarn and needles so he could start a scarf in a bright Blue he picked out, forgoing the cast on lesson, I cast on a few stitches, knit a couple of rows and he is working on his knit stitch. On my last visit I had picked up a pattern and yarn to make felted baby booties, this is the first one, not yet put together or felted.


 





Back tracking to Thanksgiving. Sadie and I drove down to share Thanksgiving in Mankato with family, and if you are wondering about DH, he does not like crowds and high volumes of noise which hurts his ears. Wednesday was bonding time with Heidi and the kids, we ran a couple of errands and then one of my nieces and her family arrived to help with the prep work for Thanksgiving, making salads and such. Thanksgiving was full of families and children. I had many little friends when I opened a bag of chips, and my two year old grand niece was adorable when she would say "bless you" whenever anyone sneezed. They are all adorable, even the ones who cannot seem to stay out of mischief.
A Connor update; he is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up on things, making all the baby gibberish sounds and said his first two words this morning. Connor woke up as my brother in-law was leaving for work, as he walked out of the bedroom door closing it behind him, Connor said "da da" Heidi said he fussed for a minute and then said "ma ma" which was when Heidi went and got him out of the crib.



Today we went to St. Peter to The Tangled Skein, imagine, a yarn shop I had not been to yet, there are a few and this was one. And it is off the main street in St. Peter.
http://www.thetangledskein.com/





 



I was wearing my fair isle sweater, which brought some great compliments. I looked at some adorable patterns and did purchase a couple of skeins Dale of Norway Helio yarn in Red, to make Sadie another little fair isle sweater, they take no time at all to make.

I am making progress on my red cable sweater, the pictures I have at this point are not as far along as I am now, but still here is the picture.














I have quite a bit more completed than what this picture shows. The color in real life is better than it shows here, I am looking forward to wearing it as I have worn the other sweaters I have made.


Today was Knitting Our World Together At a friends house, which I missed because I chose to stay in Mankato and watch little Connor today. He is so good natured and cute! he just ooozez cuteness.


I have dinner in the oven that I need to check (YES, I can cook, I just normally do not) Connor is fed and playing with his feet and now we go to the living room to watch the second half of a movie.


Happy Stitches Everyone!

Knit stories, to share or not to share the stash.

And now for our stitching amusement.
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So it has been interesting for me to hear other knitters talking about their spouses, significant others etc., being into electronics, computers, stereos and radios. Nice complementary hobbies, as they do not usually overlap. Can't complain about all the electronic parts with all that yarn stash hanging around and vise verse.
What happens if the person you live with/companion or husband get into yarn hobbies? Saw this the other day at the Yarn shop, a couple came in, both knitters and both buying yarn; he came in to the marriage with the swift and ball winder. After choosing their new toys (yarn) they were asked if they wanted it in the same bag, no they said they would fight over it when they got home.
Sounds like fun for them, but I have a purpose for all my yarn, it is totally designated, packaged even with the pattern of purpose.
My friend and I giggled over their exchanges and that we do not have to fight over stash! More importantly, they had found their local yarn shop, yes, Linden Hills Yarns.
The woman had mentioned that she wanted to learn cables some day. Jan usually says "I can teach you in five minutes if your slow." These impromptu lessons are if Jan has time and free, meaning no charge. Jan asked her if she had five minutes, sat the woman down with some yarn and taught her to cable. She was thrilled, her husband was happy and all was well. It is a good memory.

The night before last, Sunday night, my almost 16 year old niece called me to see if I could teach her to cast on and knit over the phone, her mom was working and she could not wait. Silly girl! I had taught her a few years ago, but she did not remember and she wanted a new scarf. We went on line, she on her ipod touch and I on my computer, we looked up good you tube videos,she watched and followed all video instructions and by last night (Monday) she had about 12 inches on her scarf. The problem came in when, one of her younger brothers, (who I had purchased the yarn for and was working on teaching to cast on) discovered what she was doing and began a squabble over the yarn, thankfully this was resolved by saying there is more yarn to be had and not to worry, it was not the last skein on the planet. I shudder to think of a world without yarn, what a nightmare that would be.

I guess my point is this, I am thankful I am the solo fiber enthusiast in the house!
and, we all know there are worse things kids could get into these days, so corrupting them with a bit of yarn is not so bad.

I mentioned to my niece that she could make a sweater, she thought socks. That is the other thing that me and the knitting people I know do not do, set limits. Why, when there is so much yarn and so many things to make. I remember meeting one of my knitting friends B.T. for the first time, she came into a knit shop by Nokomis and wanted to learn t knit and wanted to start with a baby sweater, she was planning on having a baby. She did as it turned out, get pregnant before the sweater was finished. A lot of people that do start with scarves we push along quickly, there are no limits, your talents are endless, reach! She used to sit between myself and another knitter saying she was going to glean all of our knitting secrets, because she knew we had a lot of them. This person is a very good knitter and has made s few sweaters, socks and hats for her son.

Have you had those moments when your on the phone with someone talking and you are both knitting or some other hobby? It's kind of bonding. Several years ago I had a friend who cross stitched and we would talk on the phone and cross stitch together. I knit and talk on the phone occasionally with friends. Last night while I was on the phone with my niece we discovered we were both knitting as we talked, it was neat.

I finished my pink cable sweater for the cable challenge a while ago and now I am knitting a Red cable sweater with Cascade Dolce'. I love the wool, alpaca and silk blend. The pattern picture does not do the sweater justice, and the rich wine color is turning out to be fabulous. I cannot wait to wear it! and then finish the umpteen other sweaters I have stash for.

This is my year of the sweaters.

Until nest time, Keep your eyes on what is right and Happy stitches.

Richfields Finest

Nothing says good morning like a mind bending alarm going off, the alarm service speaking to you through the panel, messing up the password and having one of Richfield's finest at your door less than two minutes later.

All I can say is, DH messed up this morning! then I messed up a minute later. A nice gift certificate from Linden Hills Yarn would make it all better.

This morning I was jolted out of a peaceful slumber and RUDELY awakened by The alarm telling me that it was armed and there was an alarm at the back door, before I could get to the panel, the hideous beeeeeeeeeeeeeep went off, the next thing I knew I was standing at the panel and the alarm company was talking through it, saying there had been an alarm and they were checking on it.
(Really? I'm not quite awake enough, was that the horrible sound I heard? Huh.) I said that yeah, DH had forgot to un-arm the door and went through it to go to work. The person on the other end at APX asked me for the password, which I do know, but, yeah, said the wrong dumb word. I did not make it to my cell phone in time for their back up call, after I messed up the password and in less than five minutes from the time the alarm first sounded, I am greeting one of Richfield's finest, who was of course called by the alarm company to check and make sure I was okay.
AAARGGHHH! Yes, me in my nightgown, traffic on the street and greeting the officer at my door. Good morning to me!

The first lesson learned is, of course turn off the alarm. Second, DO NOT mess up the password and then of course there is always the act of waking up looking perfect like they do on TV (ha ha).
I know believe there should be an instant coffee dispenser on the wall by the alarm panel. A few caffeine depth charges would have been nice too.

Now the day is at a close, the panel is completely reset and I I told DH not to touch, I would arm it for tonight! He is more than capable, but after this morning, I really just need to do it myself tonight.

The happy ending to this is that I do feel secure and after a few years of having the system I now know the Richfield Police will be here before I know it if I ever do need them.

In knitting I am working on a cashmere magenta lace crop top and a scarf, which I am going to work on now.

Happy Stitches!

Commentary

In a world with over six billion people, who are all so different in all the ways of diversity and perhaps beyond, it is not to wonder how there can be such conflicts and disparity of emotions and beliefs. What brings us above the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to reason, negotiate and compromise.

Honestly, there is no easy out in this war, it began years ago and now we need to not only stand in it for the short term, but negotiate and work our way out. In the last two Presidential terms, it was Un-American to do and say a lot of things our founding fathers in their infinite wisdom, stated to be truly American. But history is unfortunately destined t repeat itself if we in our modern day wisdom do not learn from all that has gone before us. Look at every war we have had on this planet, what were they about? What did we learn? What came back to bite later?
To comment on that topic would take a book, not something I will do here!

One thing that is burning in my mind, that is not new to America, but seemed to become more pronounced in the last Presidential term, is the use of propaganda, or maybe some of us just noticed it more?
Did we not learn anything from WWII? How fantastically perfect did the propaganda machine work for the SS and the Third Reich? Look how it helped them to persecute so many groups of people up to and into the real goal of eliminating the Jewish population, it worked very well, millions dead, families ripped apart, horrible atrocities committed and sometimes with the help of the everyday people that had been brainwashed by same said propaganda.

Far too few people really investigate what they see read and hear in all forms of media in our lives. News flash people, News medias can be and are slanted in what they put out. You have to know where you can get accurate information and check it at more than one place.

With all the social networking out there, temperatures and emotions run hot with all the information floating around, and humans, such as we are do feel strongly about what we believe in. I have seen so many causes, using so many forms of media and even the ones we believe the most in can and do get caught up in the propaganda wheel. What most people do not realize is that those causes we add our names to, under the guise of petitions, go nowhere, they continue to circulate and circulate, the scary thing is if addresses are added, hm-mm, the possibilities for criminals there.

If someone sends me a video for a cause, I check out the whole story and all sides, I may believe in blind faith at times, but I do not want to be a victim to it. I will not pass on causes, I delete forward emails without reading; if you want to communicate with me, do not do it with a forward email. Nothing in a forwarded email tells me you are really thinking of me.

Propagating viral emails, videos, etc. is not doing the right thing for your cause, sometimes they are put out by other groups with hidden agendas. Now you are probably thinking I am in to conspiracy theories; let us be clear, I am not a follower of conspiracy theories, however, not all of those theories are far from wrong. Check your facts!

A few places you could go is to
http://www.politico.com/
http://factcheck.com/
and
http://snopes.com/
The first two are the places the professionals go and they are regulated for accuracy the third one debunks urban legends and is quite good as well.

I cannot stress enough, that no matter how much you are for a cause, and a video or some other form of media give you the spin you want, "To thine own self be true" check you facts before passing it on, unless you and you cause prefer to pass on lies.

If you really want to make a difference, regardless of how you and your elected public officials differ politically, you are still their constituent, be that small squeaky wheel in the wilderness! Call their office, set a meeting, be even more squeaky if they do not respond. They work for their constituents and making a solid rational case never hurts. Talk to all of them, go to the town meetings talk in a rational adult manner.

Remember, Rome was not built in a day, nor was any other city or cause worth standing for. If you live in Minnesota and yo do not know who your elected officials are, or how to contact them, hold on to your hats, because the State of Minnesota has a web site.

Here is the home page.

http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/home.do?agency=NorthStar

Here is the legislative district finder page, fill in the information and it will show you who represents you. Talk to these people, they have to know who is in their district and what those individuals believe!

http://www.gis.leg.mn/mapserver/districts/

This morning I found my own bit of information to investigate, why don't you see what you come up with as well.

In a commentary on Meet the Nation, it was said that the president of Afghanistan is on the CIA payroll so he will help us, Is it true? if so, when did it start? What if anything can or should be done about it? And what was the relationship between Binladen and the US in the 70"s

Here is the Commentary from Face the Nation Today.

Watch CBS News Videos Online


I have been writing to elected officials and investigating the truth.
Would this money not be better spent here at home, keeping our roads and schools safe? How about that mounting deficit? Health care? Poverty? Children in our own southern states living in horrid conditions and going hungry due to joblessness.

Do NOT take my word for it, investigate all the things I have said!

I always do my utmost to be truthful and accurate, but I am human.

Presently I am knitting a lace top and a Fair Isle coat, pictures to come when I make more progress and speak of them more.

Bu the way, Keep knitting our worlds together and Happy Stitches.