I will admit that Christmas in my favorite holiday, bar the commercialism and the over-the-top approach that some take these days. To me Christmas is about being with your loved ones, helping those in need have the a good Christmas too, and finding the "perfect" presents.
This year is a new type of holiday season for Ted and I. We do not have the snow we are used to (not that we miss it) and all my family is far, far away. We are lucky that we do have Ted's sister and her family in Fresno and we are looking forward to visiting them this weekend.
Ted and I took the Homemade Pledge this year and we have been pretty successful with it except for a couple of things. I decided that a book from a local author and an easel in which to make art is close enough. I have been knitting like a mad lady since Thanksgiving, but can show anything until Christmas is over just in case there are some peeping eyes about.
The first weekend of December was our decorating time. I gave away a lot my my holiday stuff last year in preparation fo moving, but our tree and all my ornaments made the trip without any damage. This is a very good thing since all my ornaments are glass.
I started collecting glass ornaments a few years ago. I was attracted to their colors and shinyness. How they are made is quite an nifty process too. My goal is to find the most interesting ornaments (to my eye) that I can, whether is is because of colors, design, or what ever catches my fancy at the time.
Christopher Radko ornaments started to appear in the collection very quietly and in the smallest way. They have become my annual present to myself, though others have helped me with my little collection.
One year at an after Christmas sale, I found some Radko's that were not made of glass that decided that they should come home with me. This is one of my favorite decorations of all. Meet Mother Nature and her campaions.
I just love the details on this peice. It always makes me smile when I bring her out of her box.
I definitely have falling off the Blogging wagon and need to get back on it.
I have been pretty productive lately especially on the baby gift front. All three of my coworkers have had their babies which is quite exciting.
Here the finished Tulip Baby Sweater:
I also did a sweet baby cap:
And Saartje's Booties (still need to put the buttons on):
Both are made from by BMF Rockin' Sock Club yarn.
I also made Ruby a sweater, which she does not really care for...she tries to shake it off. Hopefully she will get used to it or she will be one cold puppy this winter.
I also made my self a pair of fingerless mittens, Snow On Cedars from Knitspot. They went into use right away so I haven't taken any pics yet. I made them out of some alpaca yarn that I picked up last January at Ancient Pathways. Not sure who the yarn is from, just know they are from CA. The mitts are very soft and warm which makes me a happy girl.
Ruby's been a part of our family for two months now and we have learned many a thing about her. On Sunday, she "graduated" from small dog obedience class and she's officially a "good girl." Though she has made huge strides forward, we are having a bit of a set back right now with her submissiveness, but we have been told that it is normal for rescued dogs to go through this phase.
One of the more interesting things we have discovered about Ruby is that she loves to run. And she's a fast little bugger. I had a heck of a time trying to get a shot where she did not look like a blur. Unfortunately, Ted and I are not sprinters so we have made a game for Ruby to run back and forth and around and around us.
Ruby likes her freedom quite a bit and we are letting her off leash on the UC Berkeley and PSR campus a bit more. She still has some difficulties on the regular sidewalks so we keep her leashed for those parts. We bought her a new harness and she is not thrilled about it and walks like a little old lady when we first put it on her. I personally really like the harness because it has pink pigs with white sheep in the background. It's quite cute!
Ted and I broke down and Ruby is now our bed companion at night. It was either that or being woken up the the wee hours of the night to go outside. Now, she will stay in bed under the covers longer than we do. She is also nice to have around for a foot warmer.
Ruby is quite a cuddler and I am her favorite lap. We keep eachother warm on the cool East Bay evenings. Sometimes it makes knitting a challenge and Ted has become my "assistant" by finding things for me so that I do not have to get up and distrub the Ruby from her spot. I don't think he really minds.
On Friday, Ted had quite a unique experience with Ruby. We have a mouse problem in our apartment complex right now. We have caught four in our place and we have found more in the basement area. On Friday, Ted was working on laundry with Ruby at his side when the both saw a couple of mice down the storage room hall. Ruby took off and soon presented Ted with a "present"; one swiftly killed mouse. I have given Ruby another new name so she is now known as Ruby Sunshine Mouse Killer Arrindell. I wonder how long her name will be next month?
It's taken me a bit longer to get back on the blogging wagon. Things have started to settle down in the new home. Routines made, schedules worked out, yarn and roving unpacked. The one thing that has changed the most if our lives is our new pack member...
Meet Ruby:
She's a little mutt of some sort..maybe beagle, maybe Chihuahua, maybe dachshund. We rescued her through the East Bay SPCA three weeks ago. She's a special needs dog, though you can not tell from the picture above.
Ruby lost her eye as a puppy, through mysterious (to us at least) means. We also think she has some neurological damage that was probably caused by the same thing that took her eye. It does not hinder her ability to love at all though.
Ruby has a fear of dogs, especially large ones. We are working with her on this. She probably will never be 100% comfortable around then, but we want her to know they will be a part of her life. She has made some progress and has tried to sniff a couple already.
We are using Cesar Millan's philosophy when working with Ruby and have see postivie results. We always go for a walk before we feed her. We use calm-assertive energy (and a lot of patience) around her and other dogs. She is a bit more on the submissive side, but we are working on building her self esteem. Things that bothered her in the beginning are no longe paid attention to. We have make some great progress and I am looking forward to going to formal training classes with her to learn what else we can do together.
On other news. I am hoping to get things caught up. I received my package from my fiber swap pal and have some moving pictures to share.
It feels good to be back!
Sorry it's been a bit since I've posted. We are in the final phase of packing and saying goodbye to family and friends and there hasn't been much time to do anything else.
We head out to Berkeley on Friday afternoon if all goes well with the packing. We are taking the northern route (following 94 up to North Dakota, through Montana, then heading south west of Yellowstone). The plan is to get to Berkeley late Monday morning so we can start unpacking the truck and be done that afternoon.
I took my last trip to one of the LYS I like to visit, Needlework Unlimited. A couple of weeks ago, I had gone in to fill up my "frequent buyer" card so I could be my free stuff. Low and behold, the new Cat Bordhi book was in, so that's were my "free stuff" funds went. The book looks rather interesting and I wish I had not packed up all my sock yarn. I guess I can use it at an excuse to get some new yarn and needles.
I am not sure when I will be able to post again, depending on how things go. We don't know if we have internet access at our new apartment yet so it may be a bit before I have access.
Saturday morning was spent with family and friends at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. The market is huge, taking up almost a whole block when you put everything together. One end holds more crafty type stuff with the run of mill nockoffs and other cheeziness you can find out there. The rest of the place is food, flowers, and fun!
Tonight, I ventured down to the 35W bridge to make the whole thing real to me. I have to drive by the north end every day on my way to work, but there was still that feeling of wonderment in me that needed concrete proof that what happened on Wednesday really did occur.
This is what I drive by every day to work.
I was at Target tonight when I started getting call after call on my cell. First my dad, then my husband; my mom from work. The 35W bridge in Minneapolis by our home had collapsed and they were calling to make sure that I was not on it. Thankfully, the need for food and the desire to see a new store saved me from being close by.
Ted and I drive over 35W twice a day with our commutes to work/school. Ted's college is just a few blocks away and our home is 2 miles down the road on the opposite side. I had over the course of the summer cursed at the highway because our on-ramps for the bridge were closed due to the construction repairs. Now I don't have anything to curse, all I have is shock and awe inside of me.
After the challenge of finding a way around the site and all the other construction on 35W to get home, all I could do was watch the news and see what was happening. Was anyone I knew on it? Were the kids in the bus okay (the answer is yes, some injuries, but nothing too serious)? How was I going to get Ted to school tomorrow? Basically the same none sensical stuff that everyone else was thinking....not much else you can do as you are processing what happened in your head.
I want to send my compliments and thanks to the rescue workers that worked at the scene. They did an amazing job at responding and helping those at need. From the local police, fire departments, paramedics, military; all did a wonderfully amazing job. There were also the normal every day people that helped those in need out. I can tell you now that there are 60 sets of parents that are grateful that they took the time to help their kids out of the bus even though there was a burning semi near by.
I also want to thank the friends and family who checked in on us. Ted and I are respecting the request for people in the area to not use their cell phones (we don't have a home phone) so that the lines are not clogged for those who really need them right now, so I hope you can understand why was are not anwering. From the start, we got text messages from Ireland and a call from California (from a person who has never met us) to see if we were okay. It's time like these you find out how loved you are and how much your loved one mean to you.
With love,
Sara
I signed up for a fiber swap with Spindle and Wheel last month and I finally got my swapping partners this week. We are exchanging 6-8 ozs. of fiber, with goodies of course. It sounds like it will be a fun swap the way it is set up. I can't wait to see what I get and if my fellow swapees like what I send them.
Melanie is my swap swapee. I will be send her a package first and then she will send me a "thank you" gift.
Susan is my swap swapper. She will send me a package and then I will send her a "thank you" gift.
I started hunting for goodies for the packages last night with a run to Needlework Unlimited. I had a frequent buyer card that was just $55 shy of being filled up before I could get my freebie stuff ($20 in merch) so I though this was a good reason to go for a visit. I can't say anything about what I got for the swap, but I did get something for myself as well. It's lace weight soy silk yarn and it's yummy. I can't wait to show it to you, but that will have to wait until later.
In other news, my nephew, Ben, was born yesterday. He was 2 weeks earlier than planned but weighed in at 11 lbs. so my Sister-in-Law, Beth, thinks they calculated the date wrong on their end. I can't imagine how much the guy would have weighed if he had to wait another 2 weeks. Beth was able to give birth naturally at her home in Fresno, CA as she wanted and mom and baby are doing just fine. I can't wait to see pictures of him!
Once I finished Harry Potter, I was able to get back into the swing of thing knitting wise. I don't have too much knitting time right now because the packing has begun.
Here's how things are progressing so far:
The Tulip Baby Sweater is going well. I have all the stripes done for the body and can start on the edging. I really like the colors on it so far though it took a bit for the Strange Harvest to grown on me. The only problem is that the needles I need are being used for on the Baby Surprise Jacket the 2nd so I am focusing on that right now.
I finished up the arms tonight and have started on the body, making up stripe patterns as I go. It's been fun to see how they turn out.
I started my 2nd basic ribbed sock at work this week and am half-way done with the leg.
I have some other WIPs around, but they are going to be in boxes soon so we won't worry about them right now.
For Christmas last year, my dad requested a golfhead cover that would match is golf bag. It took me forever to find a decent pattern so I only gave him the yarn and knitting needles for a gift. I am proud to announce that 6 months later, I was able to present him with the headcover.
Now, on to the harndspun yarn. These were finished a bit ago, but I haven't taken pictures until now.
Forest Handspun, unknown whole with natural dyes
Tidal handspun, mix of fibers including alpaca and mohair and glittery stuff.
Tartan Handspun, Merino Wool
I also played with dyeing yarn with Wilton's cake frosting dye and this is what came of it. The colors turned out really bright, but you can't tell the difference between the red and orange. I think I am going to pick up some darker colors once we move and start playing some more.
And that's that!
