We have puppies!

As often happens, the puppies were unplanned but mother and babies are doing well. Ginger had 8 puppies, 3 male, 5 female, average weight 13 ounces. Some have a curly coat, like their mother, and some have straight like their father (Junior).

Ginger has done a great job taking care of her litter, but after 10 days she seems a little put-upon and is happy to take advantage of offers of short car rides and walks. She has been very gracious about allowing family and friends to admire her children, as long as she gets an appropriate amount of attention herself. Junior has shown some interest in the puppies, and is a little frightened of them I think, but Ginger makes sure he keeps his distance.

Sorry about the poor photo quality. I've always had trouble photographing puppies, and the light in my office is poor. I managed to catch some sunlight coming in a window at the perfect moment over the weekend. While the pictures are still pretty lousy, at least I didn't get a 'low light' message on my camera.

This is the best picture, how cute is he?



A couple blurry photos...





Puppies feeding...



Mom taking a break, feeding 8 children is hard work!



The puppies are just starting to open their eyes now, and in a week or so I think we'll really have our hands full. :)

Vintage needlework

I was set to wax all poetic about vintage needlework, you know - about the connection to previous generations of women, the importance of preserving the work of those that came before us, and encouraging future generations to appreciate the fiber arts and carry on the tradition. I don't wax poetic well and, to be honest, my attempt at doing so was just a little embarrassing.

I do talk to my kids, and anyone else that will pretend to listen, about my knitting until their eyes start to glaze over. I have knit multitudes of hats, scarves, and assorted items for friends and family. And I offer to teach anyone seeming to be even slightly interested in learning to knit and/or crochet.

Something else I can do is pull the few pieces of vintage needlework I've accumulated here and there out of the drawers and display them and/or encourage their (careful) use.

These crocheted doilies were found in the back of a drawer while clearing out the home of a deceased relative. They were in the back of a drawer in my home until recently. I didn't do a terrific job of mounting and framing them but I enjoy seeing them on my wall.


This sweater was found in the home of the same relative. The body of the sweater is knit, the button and neck bands are crocheted, and the yarn is really awful plastic-y acrylic. I was delighted when my daughter asked if she could wear it. It fits her perfectly.



I don't even know what this is. Maybe a cozy of some sort, though it's rather small for a teapot. I don't, and never have, embroidered (too tedious) but it seems to me that there are about a gazillion embroidered stitches on this piece.


The construction is interesting - it seems to be a single piece of fabric with fan-type folds. Anyone seen something like this before or have any idea what its purpose may have been?


I purchased this last piece at an estate sale for the unbelievable price of $70. My husband thought I was crazy, but I still can't believe my good luck. It is a rectangular piece measuring approx. 70" by 92". The work is exquisite. I can't imagine the number of hours represented by this work.


The corners and edges are just beautiful.


I can't imagine what useful purpose I might have for a piece this large. I briefly considered draping it over a decorative curtain rod - I have 7' windows and it would look lovely. It would also get dusty very quickly and there's always the chance that my cats could decide to climb it. It's too nice to use on a bed, and a lace tablecloth is just not my style. So, for the time being this is carefully wrapped in the top of a closet. It's a shame but one day I'm sure I will find a use for it.

My knitting mojo is selective...

everything I cast on for myself lately (or pretty much ever, for that matter) turns out to be a disappointment.

I can knit for others and end up with a very satisfactory FO. I can make killer dishcloths for myself, otherwise any personal handknits have just been duds. Now mind you, they make perfectly acceptable gifts that are loved and appreciated by the recipient. That must mean something, right? Maybe I'm just meant to be a hatless, scarfless, and sweaterless knitter.

The Chevron Scarf is going on the back burner, again. I haven't completely given up on it, it would very likely make an excellent gift...

Clapotis is going well, but then again I have just gotten to the straight section and haven't begun to drop any stitches yet. At this point I have complete faith in my ability to screw it up.

Any knitting going on around here in the near future is going to be of the log cabin, garter stitch variety - brainless, back and forth knitting requiring absolutely no mojo of any sort on my part.

I briefly considered drowning my knitting mojo sorrows in an all-day spider-solitaire-fest but I'd just hate myself in the morning.

Note to self: uninstall . spider . solitaire

FOs from the garden

I've continued to keep busy in the kitchen as evidenced by pictures of some nonknitting-related FOs.


Here we have more tomatoes, cherry jelly, and blackberry jam. All came from our garden. The fruit was prepared with Splenda instead of sugar - an experiment in taste and texture - and I haven't had any complaints yet.

Speaking of tomatoes, have you tried this? This is an upside-down tomato planter that is hanging on our porch and I think it's pretty cool. DH was given some tomato plants this year that produced very, very small tomatoes.

We've ordered a couple more of the planters to try this winter (our porch is closed-in and heated during winter) and will plant a variety that bears larger fruit. I'm not sure whether this method will support the weight of a largish tomato, guess we'll find out.

Our upside-down tomato still has fruit on it, and new buds ... in October ... can you stand it?


And here we have strawberry jam. We also have raspberry jam (can't find the photo). Both were made from frozen fruit purchased at the supermarket and contain sugar. And they are really, really good.

Next week, if I have a little more energy - this week I'm really dragging you know what - I'll do bread & butter pickles and sweet pickle relish.

In keeping with my pledge to observe moderation in all pursuits, I am not putting up hundreds of jars of fruits and veggies. I think I'll have enough to last the year and I'm recording quantities of each so that I'll know how much to do next year. Amazing how moderation improves a person's health, productivity, and appreciation of the fruit (haha) of their labors. I'm learning.

On Ravelry, FOs, WIPs, and UFOs

Things I love about Ravelry...

1. I've entered all my books (or the ones currently in Ravelry's database). Hopefully, this solves the problem of duplicates as it's much easier to look at Ravelry than it is my bookshelves and project bags.

2. I've entered all my needles and hooks in Ravelry, printed out a little card on card stock, and made multiple copies. I now know that I have 10 Addi Turbo circular needles in both 2mm and 3 mm, and 14 2.25mm. Good to know.

3. I've entered all my stash. Every bit of it. Well, I drew the line at anything less than 1/2 a skein. I can look at my entire stash, complete with photos, in one place without ever getting out of my chair. I can also download my stash to an excel file, which has eliminated the spreadsheet I maintained prior to Ravelry and is a big time saver for me.

4. Destashing is easy as pie on Ravelry. You enter your yarns to be destashed, post a thread on their ISO/Sell/Trade forum, and people want to buy your yarn. Sometimes people want to swap yarn, which you can go look at. I've destashed 75 yarns to date, have 5 yarns pending, and another 40 (less anything my good friend, who gets first dibs, picks out). I've sold some and swapped some and am having a great time.

5. Ravelry's queue is my new best friend. I can add (but have not yet, it's on my to-do list) all the patterns I've earmarked in books and magazines but can never find again. Sweet.

6. I've adopted Ravelry's standard of counting yarn and this alone (well, along with the destashing) has done wonders for my 'way too much yarn' anxiety. Before Ravelry, I perceived my stash size in numbers of skeins and yards of yarn. Ravelry refers to stash size in number of yarns. I can wrap my head around '10 yarns' much more readily than I can '10 yarns times the number of skeins times the yards per skein.' My stash has shrunk exponentially right before my eyes.

There's more, but you should check it out if you haven't already. It's brilliant.

There's not been much going on in the FO department, not knitting FOs anyway, around here lately. I did finish a couple things.

Pattern: Ruffle Cravat, Leigh Radford's One Skein
Yarn: Knitting Fever Cashmere Luxury Aran, Olive (3 skeins, from stash)
Hook: Size H
Size: 5" x 72"

A satisfying quick-crochet project, finished in a weekend. Sometimes you just need some instant gratification.

Pattern: Felted Ipod Cozy, available free here.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color 172 (about 1/2 skein), 1 button (both from stash)
Needles: Addi Turbo # 11
Size: 3" x 4.5", large enough for my Ipod Classic and earbuds

This was finished long before I had figured out how to use the Ipod. A good amount of time was spent last week loading it with music, podcasts, and videos.

Currently on the needles...

I finally started my Clapotis. I don't know why I was afraid of it - the pattern is easy to memorize and not technically difficult. Once I fiddled with the yo and decided to ptb of my twisted stitches on the wrong size (which gave me a neater-looking fabric), it was a pleasure to knit. No pictures until I start to drop stitches.

I've fussed and fussed with the gauge for a Chevron Scarf and I'm still not happy with the resulting fabric. I love the yarn - Fleece Artist Sea Wool in the Renaissance and Vintage colorways. I expect to frog the few repeats I've done and am going to crochet (gasp)it instead, although it will have totally different look. Last Minute Knitted Gift's Chevron Scarf reminds me more of a feather and fan pattern than a true chevron.

On the back burner...

The linen handtowels and washcloths I planned to knit for a wedding gift are probably going to become an UFO until I run out of another better to knit. I seem to have a problem following lace patterns and charts because I ripped repeatedly and have totally lost interest. Also, while I love the idea of linen washcloths and towels, it is splitty (especially after repeated frogging) and unyielding.

I had planned to begin the Boogie Vest, free pattern available here, but after swatching I realized the Encore Chunky (from stash) that I was going to use got very poor stitch definition. I decided to go with Cascade Yarns' Baby Alpaca Chunky in the Charcoal colorway. I'm glad I did, the color is really nice and it's sooo... soft, and the Encore Chunky has been destashed.

Also on the back burner are some projects around the house that I just haven't been up to - sorting and organizing photos, re-organizing shelves - stuff like that. There's also big purging going on around here. I have to ask, how many teeny-weeny baskets does the average person collect in their lifetime and why do we keep every one of them? About 40 teeny-weeny baskets were re-organized right out of her this morning.

All in all, I feel really good about becoming the more efficient, productive person I know I can be. I feel great about my changing attitude toward my 'to do' list. I'm getting more done, and I'm not beating myself up about the things that don't get done as quickly as I'd like.

I'm stopping to smell the roses a little bit, or look at cool bugs like the one I spied yesterday. This moth is over 3.5" long and fat and pretty ugly. I was hoping it would stick around awhile so I could watch it turn into something beautiful, but this morning it was gone.

I have some other nonknitting-related FOs to show off, which I'll save for the next post or this would have been way too long. Have a great weekend, and remember to take the time to stop and look at the bugs.

If there are 24 hours in each and every day...

then why do mine (days, that is) seem as if they are getting shorter all the time?

Note: I've inserted photos of 2 new stained glass pieces purchased earlier this summer at an antique sale in Rehoboth in order to mitigate the tedium of this random and somewhat anal post.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the way I use my time and the tangible results of the same. There was a time when I considered myself an extremely productive person. I had a demanding job, busy children, a clean house, home-cooked meals, well-kept gardens, and such. A few years ago I left my job to work at home (actually, I got pissed off at the PTB and took a walk but that's another story). I love working at home at a job that is not demanding in the least. I'd estimate that I actually 'work' at my job about 5-6 hours a week, although the down-side of working at home is that you're on call 24/7. Given a 24-hour day, that leaves approximately 162 hours a week to do with as I will. Deduct 8 hours a day for sleeping (I average 5, but let's say 8) leaves me with 106 waking hours per week, approximately 15 hours per day. If my logic (or math) is in error, please let me know.

Sidebar: This is the largest piece of stained glass we have purchased to date. It is hanging in a window over the kitchen desk, the only window large enough and inaccessible to dogs. I use the word 'desk' loosely here because, due to a shortage of counter space, there is so much stuff on the 'desk' that it would be impossible to actually work at the 'desk.' At one time I really wanted to get an old piano stool to slide in the knee cubby. Over time I realized attempting work at the desk would be futile so why have a chair? Besides, DH in his infinite wisdom had the phone jack installed next to the stove on the other side of the kitchen, which totally negates the perception, imo, that this desk was built for working.

Ok, back to the issue at hand. Since I have 15 hours a day in which to be a productive individual, I have to ask myself why my level of productivity has declined despite the fact that I have significantly less demands on my time. I don't get it and it's starting to really bug me.

As I said, I've been mulling this over recently and have come to the following conclusions:

1. Because I hate waste of any kind, a surplus of anything stresses me.

2. There is an inverse relationship between my stress level about any given task and my level of productivity regarding said task.

3. I feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally when I'm productive.

4. Due to my somewhat OCB tendencies, the enormity of any given task is almost always self-imposed and irrational. As an example, this week I dumped preserves made in 2004. Obviously, I was not thinking clearly when I thought it was necessary to put up enough peach preserves to feed my entire extended family and circle of friends for years.

5. I need to accept that more is generally not better. Sock yarn for 357 pair is only stressing me because I know in my heart of hearts that I will not knit 357 pairs of socks in my lifetime. Check back later this week for news of a huge destashing.

6. I am not lacking in self-discipline or motivation, but I need structure. I need a 'chore list' like Mom used to make that includes daily/weekly/monthly must-do household tasks as well as those I really want to do, but can't seem to find time for: guitar practice, reading, improving my photography skills, and just taking time to chill.

Sidebar: This is the second piece of glass we purchased at the same sale. This hangs in my office. The word 'office' is also used loosely here. Although there is a desk in my 'office' where I occasionally work, the room also contains a 42" plasma, regular additions to an extensive DVD collection, stereo, gas logs, and a couch that is second favorite place for an afternoon nap. My favorite being the bed in my yarn room (after all, who among us hasn't fantasized about sleeping in a room filled with yarn?). I was initially drawn to this piece by the unusual shape. The colors are very muted and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really liked it once it was hung.

Well, my allotted time for blogging has expired. My tasks for today: finish a WIP (30 minutes), formalize a schedule on my desk calendar (30 minutes), run some errands (1 hour), sort mail (15 minutes), and recover bench cushions (2 hours). If my calculations are correct, that leaves 10.75 waking hours in which to be productive today. We'll see.

The next time you visit, I'll have some FOs and new WIPs to show you, and more specific details about a *big* destashing. Stay tuned.

Right now, I think I'll go take a nap.

FOs, knitting and otherwise

First up, the Dream Swatch is finished, photographed, and gifted. Once I got a few repeats done, the pattern was a lot of fun to knit. The manipulation of the dropped stitches seemed very fiddly at first, but actually became relaxing after a few rows. The yarn is Zen String Felicity Sport in the Butterfly colorway. I really needed more traction with this pattern so used size 5 Clover needles instead of my usual Addi Turbos. I hand washed the scarf and blocked it, which really brought out the lacy texture.

My daughter loves her scarf, and doesn't it look great in her hair? I think this is a great project for swatching lace patterns - good practice and a pretty FO to boot!


Next, a quick-knit hat I whipped up for a friend's birthday. The pattern is Harris by Jane Ellison from Noro Knits. Thanks to a heads up from a fellow Ravelry member, I knit a 3" fold-up brim in garter stitch instead of the 6" reverse stockinette brim (folded twice) from the pattern, and avoided running out of yarn. The pattern gives instructions for knitting the hat flat but I knit in the round after finishing the garter stitch brim. I used 1 skein (about 5 yards left) of Noro Iro in colorway 70 and a size 10.5 Addi Turbo.

I love Noro colorways, and I love the hat. I did find one knot in the skein, which was annoying since I was counting on have only 2 ends to weave in. I also had a problem with the yarn breaking while sewing the 3" seam for the brim with Iro. I used a length of sock yarn to sew the seam which worked very well. The most important thing, though, is that my friend likes the hat. So do I, might just have to make another for myself.

We have had so many tomatoes (the only thing in the garden that survived) that I put up 18 pints of tomatoes. I had a major canning obsession (see previous post) a few years ago and put up almost 300 jars of veggies, relishes, jams, and jellies. I preserved things we don't even eat. I have a picture around here somewhere of all the pretty jars in my pantry that I'll post it if I come across it. Since I'm currently obsessing about Ravelry, I figured it's safe to do some canning. Next week, I'm putting up blackberry preserves, strawberry jam, and raspberry jam. I'm waiting on my grapes...I make killer concord grape jam. And I'm out of sweet pickle relish. And my guitar teacher's favorite is bread and butter pickles. And applesauce...homemade applesauce is the best. Can't wait! I do plan to be conservative in the amount of food I can this year. According to the FDA, it should only be stored for a year (if I remember correctly) so if I note how much I put up and how much we use I'll be good to go next year!


Speaking of Ravelry (love it), I now have 39.5% of my stash entered. I think my picture taking skills are improving also (they could only improve). I found the ASM button on my digital camera, which prompts me for a 'mode,' one of which is 'close up.' I have no clue what ASM means since I have a real aversion to reading manuals. It does seem to capture the texture and color of the yarn better though. This is Lime & Violet Sasquatch in the Love & Marriage colorway. What do you think? Now if I could just figure out the whole lighting thing.

My name is Linda, and I am an addict...

WARNING: This post contains a long-winded, self-absorbed, banal analysis of my knitting addiction. There are no pictures. Proceed at your own risk.

I've long known that I have obsessive/compulsive issues. This has taken many forms over the years, some healthier (if you can call an obsession healthy) than others. For the past few years, that obsession has been knitting and all things knitting-related...patterns, books, yarn, needles, and notions.

I crocheted for many years and truly enjoyed it. Then, I taught myself to knit...and enjoyed that also. I began to knit for my children, then other family members, than friends. I knit Christmas gifts, and birthday gifts, and at some point my hand knit gift list reached a total of over 90 each year. And then there is the occasional baby, and wedding, and...well, you get the picture. It's no wonder I started to feel as if knitting was a job, one that I really wasn't enjoying.

For some reason I convinced myself that the size of my stash was the reason for this. I decided to have a contest in an effort to solicit ideas about how to manage my stash. It was a lot of fun, and had an unexpected result. It turns out the size of my stash is not the problem (doh).

It should have been very obvious to me that the problem was that I had turned something fun into a chore. In addition to the hours of non-fun knitting that was being done, there were lots of things that were not being done. Like housework, studying, exercise, and on and on. I had also become unhappy with the condition of my house, mind, and body. I was no longer a well-rounded individual with a clean house, clear mind, and reasonably fit body.

So, what to do? I have been spending an inordinate amount of time adding my stash to Ravelry (love the Rav!). I'm not looking at this as a continuation of my obsession because I now have a plan. At this time, 39% has been duly documented in my Ravelry stash. When I have finished adding my stash, I will move some portion of it to the trade/sell tab. I'm also going to add my needles because although they are all organized neatly and easy to find, I'd like to get a snapshot idea of what I have and I really like what they've done for needles.

Now getting organized is all very nice, but that doesn't really solve my true problem does it? I began knitting for so many because I had this nice idea that everyone I love should have something hand knit by me. You know, to remember me by when I'm gone. Morbid much? It's possible that my oldest-child sense of responsibility and old-fashioned Irish guilt had a hand in the whole thing. Well, now they do. So there.

I'm going to knit for myself...gasp! How selfish of me. I'm going to start today and cast on what I want, when I want, and I'm going to enjoy it! And in those spare minutes when I'm no longer constantly knitting on a deadline, I'm going to clean my house, study, walk, and swim laps (as long as DH agrees to keep the heater on because it was in the 50s here last night, brrr). I'm going to be a whole person again. I am going to reserve the right, however, to continue to catch every Loopy Ewe update.

Sounds crazy huh? I can live with crazy. What I can't continue to live with is a dirty house and a fat butt. The first ME project on the needles is going to be Amy King's Boogie vest in some Encore Chunky from the stash. But first, I'm going to jump in the pool and get some cleaning done.