STRING ALONGS

Joy in the Morning

2011-11-28T13:26:00.000-06:00

When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself. ~Tecumseh

I think this relates to attitude. The way you look at what happens effects how you feel. To a certain extent: Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise—then you will discover the fullness of your life! I know this doesn't always work for the truly depressed but it can certainly help-along with simple things like taking your dog for a walk! Fresh air and sunshine can make a huge difference. Making sure that you do the good things for your body every day can help with chronic pain. Ask me about Chronic pain...it colors everything you do and can make life VERY hard. But I thank God I am alive. Even if I have pain I still see the beauty of this life-my animals, my work & family-all make life a joy.

We have no money and it only gets worse...but I have most everything I need anyway. Don't need to buy anything and people prefer gifts that are hand made or from the heart anyhow.

But there are ways to live the good life...not by having a lot of stuff but,

All of this requires discipline. And practice. But I always tell my knitting students that if you practice something fifteen minutes a day, in two weeks you will have learned it!



Ring the bells that still can ring.
    Forget your perfect offering.
      There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets it.
        -   Leonard Cohen

Love to you-
Lynda

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

2011-10-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

Pumpkin seeds must be completely dried out in the oven before combining with spices
1 medium pumpkin
5 Tbs. sugar
1/4 Tsp. salt
1/4 Tsp. ground cumin
1/4 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. ground ginger
Pinch cayenne pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbs. peanut oil

Directions

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut pumpkin open from the bottom, removing seeds with a long-handled spoon. Separate flesh from seeds, and reserve the flesh for another use. Pumpkin should yield 1-Cup seeds. Spread seeds on parchment in an even layer. Bake until dry, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Let cool.
In a medium bowl combine 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, cumin, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne pepper. Heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add pumpkin seeds and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook until sugar melts and the pumpkin seeds begin to caramelize, about 45 to 60 seconds.
Transfer to bowl with spices, and stir well to coat. Let cool. These may be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Apple Filling
    4 to 6 lemons
    5 to 6 medium to large apples*
    *Cook's Note: A mixture of Crispin, Granny Smith, and Cortland is nice if you can.

    Apple Filling Seasoning
    1/3 cup raw sugar (castor, unrefined, large granule sugar)
    2 tablespoons flour
    1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
    1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    2 to 3 dashes Angostura bitters
    Assembly
    1 egg beaten
    Raw sugar, for sprinkling on top
    1 teaspoon sea salt (flake)
    Special equipment: Mandolin for slicing, and a pastry brush
To make the pie crust:
Prepare one 2-crust batch of your favorite all butter pie crust. Roll the bottom crust to fit a 9-inch pan, and cut the top crust as a lattice, approximately 1-inch in width or as desired. Chill the rolled crust while you prepare the salted caramel and apple filling.
To make the apple filling:
Juice the lemons into a large mixing bowl. Core, peel, and thinly slice the whole apples. Cook's Note: A mandolin works great for producing very thin slices.

Dredge all the apple slices in the freshly squeezed lemon juice to prevent browning and to add flavor. Set the prepared apples aside.

To make the apple filling seasoning:
In a large measuring cup or small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and Angostura bitters. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples in the mixing bowl. Use your hands to gently mix and coat the apple slices.

To assemble the pie:
Preheat the oven to 375 to 400 degrees F (depending on the hotness of your oven).

Gather your rolled pie crust, salted caramel, and apple mixture. Begin by layering 1/3 of the apples in the bottom of the crust so that there are minimal gaps. Pour 1/3 of the caramel over the apples. Add 1/3 of the apples and caramel for a second layer, and then add a third layer of apples, and then the caramel again. Cook's Note: Save a small portion of the caramel to pour on top once the lattice is assembled.

Assemble the lattice crust and flute the edges of the crust. Pour the last bit of caramel on top. Brush the crust with the beaten egg and lightly sprinkle with raw sugar and sea salt.

Bake the pie on a baking sheet larger than the pie pan for 20 minutes (otherwise the caramel will bubble over and burn on the bottom of your oven). Reduce the oven temperature to 325 to 350 and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. You can test the apples for doneness with a long toothpick or small knife. The apples should be just soft.

Let the pie cool, then slice and enjoy.

Yes it is Autumn and I love this weather and the foods that go with it (in my mind, at least).

Talk to you soon-I'm listing some knitting and embroidery on ETSY!

Lynda

What Are You Knitting? Part Deux

2011-10-02T12:48:00.000-05:00

Just cast on these socks:

Aren't they fantastic?

Still plugging away on the entrelac scarf.

Also worked on the Garden View Shawlette yesterday while riding around in the car with Joe running errands!

Have to have something to get me through the boring sport Sunday...

Oh and I started reading a really wonderful book. The Wildwood by Colin Meloy illustrated by Carson Ellis.

Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one's ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Well off to do a little knitting!

Talk to you later,
Lynda

What Are You Knitting?

2011-09-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grace-31

I just cast this one in an olive-y green.

http://www.spudandchloe.com/blog/2011/04/oink-free-pattern/

Just go the yarn for this from Susan's Fiber Shop, My son Patrick Lagodney works there-8)).

And some embroidery:
Flowers from Buttonhole Stitch

Well, off to make some soup-Potato I think...
Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Embroidery for Everyone

2011-09-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

This is an embroidery I have been working on as a sample for a class at our local craft center-Waupun Craft Center

This is just a little peek of something that still needs blocking and then will be given away!

Take care and enjoy the cool weather we have been having here.
Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Summer Reading

2011-07-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

At different times I have been a VERY serious reader and a frivolous reader. I have tried to read classics and had some success. There are some classic novels that I can recommend with a whole heart. And interestingly I seem to read these in the summer. I wonder why. Perhaps the warmth of a summer day encourages one to lay on the chaise and read something dreamy. I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles that way, and War and Peace, and Swann's Way by Proust. I read Colette in the summer, and many more. Too numerous to mention, really!

I also like to read what the reviewers call "Beach Reads." Frivolous, light entertainment that doesn't break your heart if you forget it at the cabin! As a young woman I read Valley of the Dolls in the summer-real trash that! I think I read The World According to Garp in the summer. You might argue that it is not SUCH a trashy novel.... I read Stranger in a Strange Land one summer when I was young and impressionable-I read it later and it didn't hold up!
One summer in the early 70's I read Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King and loved it-again not trash!
The problem here is that I don't usually finish anything that is toooo trashy. I always figure that there are too many really good books out there to read something I don't really like! I give a book about two chapters and if it hasn't caught me by then-out it goes. That is part of the reason why I check so many books out from the library. If I don't like it, I just can't be bothered to finish it!

To tie this all together, right now I am reading murder mysteries. I just finished Death of a Cosy Writer by G. M. Malliet and it was good fun. I am reading a Georgette Heyer mystery called Blunt Instrument. It is a classic and I am enjoying it so much that I am trying not to rush through it!

So now here is the question for you-What do you read in the summer? Trash, classics, or something in between?

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Arnold Lobel

Summer Music

2011-07-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

This is the first of two posts about summer-the best time of the year!

NPR had an interesting program about summer music and the songs we remember as real summer tunes. Made me think about the songs I remember that seem to be playing in the background on my summers. Of course one thinks of Beach Boys but there are some other greats that make me think of summer-I think mostly summer music is pretty light-hearted. In my youth it was pretty much British Invasion for me! They sounded SOOO different.
The Beatles,Paperback Writer; The Kinks, Lola; really early Moody Blues.

My best friend Irene and I listened to the Rolling stones a lot and I always think of her when I hear anything from Between the Buttons. Love that album!

My sister Jeanne really liked that British stuff too like the Dave Clark Five!

What music best makes you feel like the summer?
Talk to you later,
Lynda

If music be the food of love, play on.
William Shakespeare

Fish Heads

2011-07-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

So I went to my LYS Loose Ends yesterday and our friend Michele was knitting a fish hat among other things! This is the Fish Hat:

I made me think of the song Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes.

"Fish Heads" is a novelty song by comedy rock duo Barnes and Barnes, featured on their 1980 album Voobaha. It has often been played on the Dr. Demento show, and is the second most honored song in Demento show history.

The song is about fish heads and all the things they can (or, more often, cannot) do, such as playing baseball, wearing sweaters, dancing, playing drums, or being seen drinking cappuccino in Italian restaurants with Oriental women. It is accompanied by a high-pitched chorus, achieved by speeding up the tape, which repeats the original's chorus.

Actor Bill Paxton directed and appeared in the music video for the song, which aired on NBC television on Saturday Night Live, on December 6, 1980.

Imagine my surprise that Michele had never heard the song! Well I include it here for her benefit! Hope it doesn't get stuck in your head!

On the knitting front, I am still working on my Bias Loop but I am not making mine with mohair as I don't like mohair close to my face!

Also still working on my lace curtain.

I have started reading a really good mystery series based in northern Wisconsin by Victoria Houston. They take place in Loon Lake and feature a retired dentist and a woman police chief. They are really good and I am starting my third one today! I just love it when I fond a series and haven't read ANY of them yet! I have about 6 more books to go by this author!

Well talk to you later,

Lynda

Lunar Eclipes

2011-06-15T20:11:00.000-05:00

I got a post from this astrologer about tonight's lunar eclipse. She said there is another eclipse on July 1 and that this can be a real shaky time for many of us, bringing unexpected twists and turns as our Destiny takes shape. Phyllis goes on to say: The decisions, actions and agreements we make now might have very far-reaching effects. Check out her blog for lots more!

Oh and it is also the last game of the Stanley Cup Hockey Finals tonight and my husband favors one time and my son Brian favors the other! This could be very tense!

My husband Joe made a "loose meat sandwich" the other night for dinner. These are soo good you can hardly believe it! His recipe is loosely (get it?) based on Maid-Rite Sandwiches from the restaurant chain in Iowa, but much better. Of course I am prejudiced! Think Sloppy Joe's without the sloppy.

Here is Joe's recipe:

Take 1 1/2 lb. ground chuck or round and using a heavy fry pan heat until the pan is fairly hot . Add the ground beef little by little, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. As soon as all the beef is added, start adding chicken stock. Turn heat to medium low . Add more stock as it boils away, using around 12 oz. of stock all told. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed at the end.

Heat your hamburger buns-they're traditionally steamed for loose meats-and use plenty of pickles on the side! We don't use ketchup or mustard on ours but you may like to. UMM. It makes me hungry to write about them!

Well, talk to you soon and don't worry too much about the eclipse...

Lynda

Summer Knitting

2011-06-07T11:34:00.001-05:00

Yes I knit in the summer and yes I am using different fibers in some cases, but I knit with wool even on dreadfully hot days like these. I am coming along really well on Adeline , back finished and nearly at the armhole on the first front piece. Still have a sleeve to finish on Cerisara but it is a knit on type sleeve so I have to keep turning the WHOLE sweater to knit. I do like that type of sleeve as you are finished when you are finished and no setting in the sleeve but it makes for a bulky knit at the end!

I am still working on my Mohair Bias Loop not knit with mohair. This will take as long as a large scarf and I just keep plugging away.
Knitting a baby sweater as usual. One never knows when you could use a baby sweater! Working on an old pair of socks for a friend but I bet it is hot where she is too. She will get them soon...
Just finished the latest mystery by Jacqueline Winspear in the Maisie Dobbs series. Really good mysteries that I highly recommend. She is a wonderful character and her calmness and sensitive handling of investigation really appeals to me. I also just finished a really good book called Under the Harrow by Mark Dunn. Booklist gave it a starred review but I just picked it up off the new book shelf without knowing anything about it and I was stunned! Here is what they said:
Dickens lovers, rejoice! Dunn folds a nineteenth-century writing style into a delightfully original story spiced with wonderfully evocative names and personalities from the Dickens oeuvre. Every word in this leisurely paced treasure is meant to be savored. Every scene is a theatrical masterpiece, providing plentiful opportunity to bark with laughter, raise eyebrows in amazement, and sigh in despair. Dingley Dell, hidden in back country Pennsylvania, proceeds in its anachronistic Victorian style as an experiment begun decades ago, when Darwinian scientists wanted to know how a small society would evolve, given no new input from the outside world. Unaware of their true role in a larger scheme, people in the Dell are informed that a horrible plague has occurred, and they are to be quarantined for safety. Government corruption, greed, classism, and distrust are at the center of this story, told by Dell resident Frederick Trimmers, Esq., for the edification of Outlanders. Dingley Dell is truly “under the harrow”—that is, under fire—its residents the victims of a most dastardly deception. Similar to Orwell’s Animal Farm, with a hint of Jasper Fforde, this story will make you think and laugh at the same time. I loved it!

I have been trying to meditate. I look for my calm center and focus on trying to handle stress that way. My husband Joe and I were talking today about taking a yoga or Tai Chi class. I am looking to improve my flexibility after the knee surgery and have heard that Tai Chi is good for that. I am also trying to walk on the treadmill 20 min. every day!

Here is our silly Smokie! This kitten is a very entertain girl but has yet to learn to leave my knitting alone. I have to hide it from her or she chews the yarn! Bad kittie!

Talk to you later,
Lynda

By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind. - Tarthang Tulku...

The Third Man

2011-04-30T14:57:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen the file "The Third Man"? Joseph Cotton, Orson Wells and Valli?
I just watched it again for about the tenth time. What a good movie! It is just so compelling as Joseph Cotton as Holly Martin moves from naive author of formula westerns to weary and world wise. And the music! What perfect music behind this story-zither music and the third man theme. I am never sure if the Third Man is Harry Lime or the man that Harry kills and puts in his own coffin.

I went to the library today. I had about ten books to take back including Peer Gynt illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Are you familiar with the story at all? Peer Gynt is a character in Norway that makes some very bad choices and lives the life of egotism. Not a very sympathetic character. Similar to Harry Lime in The Third Man, now I come to think of it.

This illustration is from the volume I had checked out. It show the trolls which the author Ibsen seems to connect to the selfish life that Peer Chooses to live. They are that way as well-selfish. Not a very pleasant fellow, Peer and a wasted life!

I got a book that I have been waiting for called The List of 7 by Mark Frost. It sounded really good.

The novel opens in London of 1884, where protagonist Arthur Conan Doyle, a moderately successful young doctor, unpublished author and part-time student of the supernatural, attends a seance at the request of an anonymous lady in distress. When the evening erupts into gruesome violence and murder, Doyle finds himself on the run, engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a cadre of ruthless satanists bent on incarnating the spirit of evil. He finds an ally in the mysterious, resourceful and supremely capable Jack Sparks, on secret assignment to the Queen. Sparks's own brother is the mastermind of the ``Dark Brotherhood'' they oppose, and his character will, much later, supply Doyle with the inspiration for his Sherlock Holmes.

Just my sort of thing. But on a similar note-do any of you know what steam punk is? I see things on Etsy described as Steam punk and while I have looked up the word, it isn't really clear what it might be. Wikipedia describes it as:
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.[1] Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history.
I think that this List of 7 may be steam punk but I am not sure....

On the knitting front, I am still slogging away on the sleeve of my sweater, Cerisara. I love the way sleeves look when they are knitted on but it sure is clumsy turning the whole sweater round and round as you knit the sleeve...oh well, I hope to get it done yet this spring!

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Poetry? Not Me!

2011-04-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

Or do I? As a rule I feel that poetry is hard-I wonder why the poet doesn't say it in prose? All that work to figure out what they mean. Can't it be said in a simpler manner?

But lately I have been looking at poems. Don't know why exactly. I have been kind of down in the mouth and poetry seems to open me up a little.

It all started with T.S. Eliot. Yeah, really. The Waste Land. Really. It is because of this difficult month that I sought it out. You can get things like this for free on your Kindle from the Gutenberg Project. We read this at university and I thought it obscure at the time. Of course I was a kid. This didn't really speak to me then. I have the experience to understand more of it now. It starts:

I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

and goes on a little later:

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,                                  20
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

That last bit refers to the Book of Common Prayer  that says from

dust we came and to dust we will return.  Scary.

I just never understood Eliot until I started reading him now.

And I am just beginning.

What next? Well how about this meditation on the Mother.

That is Mother with a capitol "M".

Meditation for the Day: The Creation of Woman by Eva Ceskava
by Skinner House

I’m standing in your kitchen, Grandmother.
You and my mother are busy with late-morning housewifery.
The breakfast dishes are nestled in their cupboards.
The August sun has heated the corrugated tin cellar door;
Already it’s too hot for sliding down.
So I’ve been drawn inside to the aromatic chaos of your kitchen.
The evaporative cooler droning away in the front room provides the only relief
from the dry West Texas wind.
You are so very large,
oh, mother of mother, forbidding to one so small.
Yet you reach to hug me and I am lost in your enveloping flesh,
Your damp cotton dress sticking to us both.
Your large form rises from your throne at the end of the table.
Oh, Great Mother,

I watch in awe as you slap down the risen dough, punch and knead and form it,
Thou, Creatrix of the Universe,
Your huge arms and strong hands creating new shapes,
recognizable forms in miniature of our staff of life.
Sitting again, sighing under your own immense weight,
You catch sight of me and pull me close once more in a sweaty hug.
Then, holding my broad little face in your damp hands,
Your countenance brightens in self-recognition
and you call to my mother over your shoulder,
never dropping your gaze from my eyes, every bit as green as yours,
“Oh, Margaret, look.
We have made woman in our own image, after our likeness.
And it is very good!”

I am blessed.

Well, it gives you something to think about, doesn't it?

I think I need to spend more time with women friends. I stop thinking about myself so much and think about others when I do.

Or maybe I need to plan a new knitting project? I exchanged names for our guild Christmas in July/August and now I need to start thinking about something for her. How about this:

This is the Adelei By Wendy Neal.
Or how about Haruni? By Emily Ross.

Just starting to think about this. It can keep that gloom away a little.

Or maybe I just need to read a good murder mystery. Any suggestions? I don't like too much blood so more of a cosy type. Talk to me.

Lynda

Finished!

2011-03-11T19:13:00.003-06:00

Finished my twined hat for Patrick. Loved knitting it but it took a VERY long time to finish!

Finished my Winterscape socks but don't have a finished picture yet even though I wore them once already!

Finished Caller Herrin' by Kate Davies and knit with Alice Starmore's Hebredean yarns which are a joy to your hand!

On a completely different note, My knee replacement is coming along well but I HATE therapy. Awful stuff!
Sorry to have been so long about posting but I was not comfortable at the computer for a while! Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Finishing a Project (or Two)

2011-01-11T13:21:00.004-06:00

In keeping with my resolve to lighten the load, I have finished a couple of things.

This is Sea Lace by Sarah Punderson Published in Sarah Montie Handknits. I bought the kit last year and it was, for me, a chance to use that Lion Brand Wool Stainless Steel without buying a whole cone of it. I love this necklace! It looks so ephemeral but it is really strong because of the Stainless Steel.

I just have to seam the shoulders, weave in ends and sew buttons on a Baby Surprise Sweater for my nephew Chris' son Cameron. Oh and I think I will put a collar on it too. That square neckline is quite open I think and could benefit from a collar.

This isn't my sweater but you see what I mean about the collar here.

The next thing is a toddler sweater for a one year old that goes to my church. Then Joe's Red Vest!

Then I think I will dig in the attic for "Mom's Sweater"- Wow, I just hope I can find enough yarn to finish it!

Talk to you later,
Lynda, getting things done in wintry contentment

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
Aristotle

Knitting Resolutions

2011-01-10T14:59:00.003-06:00

Do any of you make resolutions about your knitting? About how many projects you have or how much yarn? Usually I find this sort of thing to be depressing as I don't last for more than a month or two on any resolution. Here are a couple of things I have been thinking about though.

I am going to have another* surgery done the end of this month and once I am not too medicated I will need to have projects at hand as I won't want to be digging in the attic for stuff for a while.

I also have many unfinished projects that deserve to be finished-yes Mom this is the year your sweater gets finished!

I would like to lighten the load some...I have bout five full fleeces that I haven't spun into yarn yet. Maybe it is time to give half of it away?

The same goes for yarn. If I haven't used it in years, why is it still here?

Of course, I would have to actually organize things in order to figure out what I have worth keeping and worth giving!

I am really interested in historical knitting and want to get "into" that more deeply. I sure have enjoyed Twined Knitting and will do more of that. I also want to knit a Fair Isle Vest this year (or two).
I want to spend more time spinning.
I want to spend more time embroidering/Hardanger/biscornu/bookmark size things that I can actually finish!

Oh and on another completely different note, I need a kitten!

*Knee Replacement, right knee

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-01T11:33:00.003-06:00

It Has Started.

2010-11-28T15:21:00.011-06:00

Christmas music has officially started at our house.
It helps me stay on task with knitting for my Christmas Craft Sale!

I am making these little cork ornaments among other things. Also lots of hand spun yarn. Just hoping to make some Christmas spending cash!

Yeah the music has begun!
Looking forward to actually starting gift knitting. Grandma needs a new pair of socks! And our Patrick needs new twined fingerless mitts and I am going to make him a hat with twined knitting too!
Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Either I've been missing something or nothing has been going on.
- Karen Elizabeth Gordon

Z is For...

2010-11-06T10:43:00.005-05:00

Well, here we are at the end of my little excursion though the alphabet and I hope you had fun with it. I did! and today we have the final Z is For...

Z Twist: Clockwise or right twist which is inserted into the fiber by spinning with the drive wheel turning towards the right or clockwise. The angle of twist inserted matches to the / line in the letter Z.

Twined knitting is worked in the round, according to Anne-Maj Ling, author of Two-End Knitting, using two ends from the same ball of yarn (or one strand from each of two colors) and throwing with the right hand. The ends are alternated stitch by stitch, and the strands are twisted around one another in the process. First, one stitch is knit with the first strand of yarn, then the other end of the yarn is carried over the top of the first strand to knit the next stitch. Each strand is carried over the previous one in this way as the strands are alternated producing a dense, warm fabric.

Due to the twisting of the strands, Two-End Knitting is traditionally worked using Z-plied yarn. A standard S-ply yarn will become more and more tightly twisted in the knitting of a piece, causing a more obvious bias of the stitches and the piece itself if the twisting should become too severe (most of the yarns typical to handknitting are S-Ply – see the links at the end of the post for references regarding S-ply vs. Z-ply yarns).

Z is For...zeal

1. excessive fervor to do something or accomplish some end; "he had an absolute zeal for litigation"
2. a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause); "they were imbued with a revolutionary ardor"; "he felt a kind of religious zeal"
3. Passionate ardor in the pursuit of anything; eagerness in favor of a person or cause; ardent and active interest; engagedness; enthusiasm; fervor.
4. To be zealous.
5. plenty of vigor
6. fervour
7. eagerness
I especially like definition #3 as we hope to have Zeal for what we create! I often fell zeal to complete a project. It is wonderful to feel that passion in pursuit of a project.

Z is For..
ZigZag Mitts and Hat

This is really pretty! Z is For..
ZigZag Lace Scarf

Well, I have to go get Joe at the hospital after his back surgery now. Talk to you all later!
Lynda
The back surgery seems to have gone well by the way!

Y is For...

2010-11-03T18:03:00.008-05:00

Y is For...
Well you know...Yarn!

Hand spun blue faced Leicster

Hand spun and dyed

Don't you just love these colors? I could go on and on!

Y is For...
Yak
Another yarn can be spun from Yak.

This yarn is made by Shokay which is Tibetan for yak. Shokay yarn is made of luxurious pure yak down fiber, hand-combed from the yaks in the exotic Himalayan regions. The down is spun into a Worsted-weight yarn, bringing you the same warmth that protects the yaks at sub-zero temperatures. This unique hand-knitting yarn is amazingly soft to the touch and comes in a variety of beautiful colors. Shokay yarn is perfect for one-of-kind projects and gifts and is also machine washable.

I made Joe a pair of mittens from Shokay. He guards them as if they were made of gold! Very warm.

Well, I hope this post hasn't made you yawn!
Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Seek simplicity, and distrust it.

Alfred North Whitehead

X is For..

2010-10-31T10:35:00.007-05:00

X is For...
Xavier Cugat

Cugat was born as Francesc d'Asís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu in Girona , Spain. His family emigrated to Cuba when Xavier was five. He was trained as a classical violinist and played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana. On 6 July 1915, Cugat and his family arrived in New York as immigrant passengers on board the S.S. Havana.
Cugat recorded on Columbia Records (1950s), RCA Victor (1950s) and Mercury Records (1960s). In 1940, his recording of "Perfidia" with singer Miguelito Valdés became a big hit. Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha, and the twist when each was in fashion. Several of the songs he recorded, including "Perfidia", were used in the Wong Kar-wai films Days of Being Wild and 2046. In 1943, "Brazil" was a big hit, reaching #17 in the Billboard Top 100.

Cugat did not lose sleep over artistic compromises:

"I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve."

X is for Xysticus

Xysticus is a genus of ground crab spiders. Xysticus and Coriarachne are the dark brown or reddish-brown crab spiders often encountered on weeds or trees. While similar to the flower spiders, they tend to have shorter, sturdier legs and more patterned abdomens. They move slowly, and tend to hunt by stationing themselves in a high-traffic area and grabbing whatever arthropod passes close enough.
Of course, I am Cancer the Crab so these are interesting to us!

X is for...
Deus ex machina

deus ex machina (Latin for "god out of the machine"; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object.
The Latin phrase "deus ex machina" comes to English usage from Horace's Ars Poetica, where he instructs poets that they must never resort to a god from the machine to solve their plots. He refers to the conventions of Greek tragedy, where a crane (mekhane) was used to lower actors playing gods onto the stage. The machine referred to in the phrase could be either the crane employed in the task, a calque from the Greek "god from the machine" or the riser that brought a god up from a trap door. Although this phrase is somewhat diluted in transliteration as earlier in history, the phrase "god from the machine" implies the old use of mechanical manipulation, i.e. to be made with one's hands. So if there were a more generally accurate way of translating deus ex machina into English, it would be "god from our hands" or "god that we make", implying that the device of said god is entirely artificial or conceived by man.

A deus ex machina is generally undesirable in writing and often implies a lack of creativity on the part of the author. The reasons for this are that it does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is often so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though perhaps more palatable, ending.

I hope this last X/ex isn't too far a reach but X is hard to find unless you speak Chinese!

Well Talk to You Soon,
Lynda
Speak when you are angry--and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret.
- Laurence J. Peter

W is For...

2010-10-29T19:49:00.007-05:00

W is For...
Working for the Weekend!
Yay! The weekend is here and we have the family all at home and relaxing in various places around the house. Cookie is sleeping on the back of the chair and Ed is under the library table as I write this. The Dear Husband is taking a bath and I am playing on the computer and listening to Three Dog Night-Mama Told Me Not to Come! How pleasant...My radio station on Pandora is Eli's Coming and they are playing The Who, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker and many more well loved rock songs.

Our Patrick asked me if I am having a mid-life crisis and I was flattered that he would think I was "mid-life"! He then replied, "OK then, No-life crisis!"

W is for...

Woolie Bird Shelter

Our friend Terri sent us this link. Aren't these cute? I think we could make these ourselves...

W is For...
Waning Gibbous Moon
Did you see it tonight? It is lovely. Check out this photo!

W is For...
What Are You Reading?
P. G. Wodehouse-Right Ho Jeeves? and Very Good Jeeves! Great lighthearted stories!
The Case of the Ill-gotten Goat by Claudia Bishop Good Cosy Mystery with a Veterinarian as the Detective and Goats and Goat cheese in the story line.
The newest Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight-so good, he makes me laugh and think and even cry a little at the wisdom!
Hand dyeing yarn and fleece : dip-dyeing, hand-painting, tie-dyeing, and other creative techniques by Gail Callahan. Very interesting-lots of technique...
Native American medicinal plants : an ethnobotanical dictionary by Daniel Moerman
In Native American Medicinal Plants, anthropologist Daniel E. Moerman describes the medicinal use of more than 2700 plants by 218 Native American tribes. Information -- adapted from the same research used to create the monumental Native American Ethnobotany -- includes 82 categories of medicinal uses, ranging from analgesics, contraceptives, gastrointestinal aids, hypotensive medicines, sedatives, and toothache remedies.
Native American Medicinal Plants includes extensive indexes arranged by tribe, usage, and common name, making it easy to access the wealth of information in the detailed catalog of plants. It is an essential reference for students and professionals in the fields of anthropology, botany, and naturopathy and an engaging read for anyone interested in ethnobotany and natural healing.
I see Amazon has this in paperback used for $14.00. The original hardcover is over $200. An amazing piece of research!

I suppose I will stop here! I am always reading a lot...
Lynda
You can cover a great deal of country in books.
Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912)

V is For...

2010-10-23T17:28:00.006-05:00

V is For... Variety
Variety is so important to me as a fiber artist. I need to find different ways to do things all the time or I get bored. I don't mind making the same thing if I can change something every time.

V is For...
Vocal Music
Well I also want to include Glee here-I do love music that you can sing along to-from popular song to rock and roll, choral music and gospel. We were musing the other day about how full our lives are of music now than life must have been just 100 years ago. To be able to afford to go to a performance was a luxury and to own an instrument was a blessing. But we have had our voices and could sing to entertain each other. The human voice is really the foundation of all music; and whatever the development of the musical art, however bold the composer's combinations, however brilliant the virtuoso's execution, in the end they must always return to the standard set by vocal music. ---Richard Wagner

V is For...
Visual Arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts (photography, video, and film making) and architecture.
I also have included fiber arts-my favorite!

This is a pretty artistic piece, I think!

This too is an amazing use of color!

Talk to you later,
Lynda
Let each man exercise the art he knows.
Aristophanes (450 BC - 388 BC), Wasps, 422 B.C.

U is For...

2010-10-22T15:18:00.007-05:00

U is For...
Umber
Last weeks' Word of the Day" were Autumn words, including Umber.

MEANING:

noun: A natural brown earth, used as a pigment; a reddish-brown color.

ETYMOLOGY:

Via French from Latin umbra (shade, shadow), which also gave us the words umbrella, umbrage, adumbrate, and somber. Umbria, a region of ancient Italy, has also been suggested as an origin for this term. The color burnt umber is made by roasting umber.

The other colors were ecru, Of a pale brown color, like raw silk or unbleached linen; beige.
russet A moderate to strong brown.
sorrel A light reddish-brown color. A horse of this color.
subfusc Dark, drab, or gloomy.
My husband and I took a drive this morning and I was so enjoying these autumn colors. Nothing drab about the scenery right now. A little later when everything is umber it gets pretty dull. But not now! The Sumac outside my kitchen window is vivid! I love this time of year just for the colors!

U is For...
Unusual

Unusual patterns, like this:

Bainbridge Scarf

And this:

Sunray scarf/cowl

U is For...
Unexpected

Oh the joys and trials of the unexpected. How wonderful to run into a friend you haven't seen in ages and get a chance to catch up. How scary to have an unexpected illness-yours or a child's.
Remember those trips to the emergency room with a bleeding little boy? Life is changing all the time so why do we find that change so unexpected? We never really are ready for that unimagined, unexpected happening.
I had the nicest talk with one of my sisters today on the phone. I didn't expect to hear from her and it was a nice connection.

My Sister and a muskie!
Talk to you later,
Lynda

T is For...

2010-10-20T11:30:00.009-05:00

T is For...
Top-Down Raglan Sweater

I love top down design. It seems to fit my sloping shoulders pretty well.

This is Peasy by Heidi Kirrmaier

Einstein Jacket by Sally Melville

Sage Blouse
by yellowcosmo

T is For...
Twined or Two End Knitting

I have not made a hat like this but I am going to! I have a pair of these half-mitts on the needles right now.

T is For...
Thoughts
Now this can be dangerous. Letting ones thoughts ramble on...Thank goodness no one can read our thoughts. But there are thoughts worth thinking. Ones that illuminate our minds and make us better people. I strive to be better. Doesn't always work, but it is a worthy aim.

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!" Abraham Lincoln

Talk to you later, Lynda

S is For...

2010-10-19T13:49:00.007-05:00

S is For...
Smiles

We went to our monthly String Alongs fiber guild meeting last night and it was smiles all evening. Good friends, nice food, great stories and lots of laughs. We also hold each other up through the tough stuff we all go through. It is so nice to come home after a get together and have my face be sore from so much laughing.

S is For...
Seasons Changing

I do love the change of season. It is always so exciting to get a break in whatever weather we have been having. After the garden and yard are cleaned up, I love the slowing down of fall. It is also a time of starting to think about the coming holidays and what do I have to make before then. Good time to get a head start!

S is For...
Silence

Silence

A day of Silence
Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence
Can help you listen
To the Soul play
Its marvellous lute and drum.

Is not most talking
A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here
To surrender in Silence,
To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within
In celebration of Love’s Victory!

From: “I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz: by Daniel Ladinsky.

Copyright © 1999 by Daniel Ladinsky. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Talk to you later,
Lynda

R is For...

2010-10-18T13:21:00.006-05:00

R is For...
jack Russell

R is For...
Reindeer

This is the Baby Norgi from Knitty

This is the Olympic Reindeer hat from Ravelry.

Reindeer Socks

R is For...
Russian Folk artist Ivan Bilibin

Just ran into this artist today and I am stunned! What gorgeous work! I would that I could draw like this and tell the beautiful and scary stories of Russian folk literature.

Ruslani the character in this poem says:

"Have you not heard the true refrain: A giant skull, a midget brain? I ride and ride, straight down the middle, And when I strike, I do not fiddle!

These pieces remind me of Aubrey Beardsley:

R is For...
Reality
I will repeat the old question, "What is reality?" Many of the more sensitive in our culture have a desire to escape reality for at least a time. That is why mood altering is so popular. War, poverty, all the various cruelties are very hard to stomach. My husband watches Chicago news every evening. He "says" it is to see his favorite weatherman Tom Skilling, but I can't sit through the violence of Chicago news to hear Tom. I usually leave in about 10 minutes and I tell Joe I have heard about three murders and I am done! We try in our little ways to effect the crap around us and I think those little efforts matter. But "what is reality?" Is my running away from too much murder changing that reality? No. I am just ignoring it. Which brings me to this quote:
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
- Philip K. Dick
Or in the words of the immortal Journey, "
Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy
Born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night

It goes on and on and on and on
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night

Streetlight people
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

Talk to you later,
Lynda

Q is For...

2010-10-16T10:33:00.004-05:00

Q is For Quartz...
the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. Rose Quartz is one of my favorite stones. I have a rose quartz crystal that really glows in the sun. They are supposed to promote forgiveness!

Q is For...
Quality
What is Quality?
One definition is Essential character; nature: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd" (Shakespeare). We aim to live lives of quality, I think. But sometimes I wonder if people realize how their choices directly shape the quality of their lives. The best choices are made when we recognize and understand our emotions and have skills at using this awareness to manage yourself, your choices and relationships with others. The ability to understand our emotions and the emotions of others is an important emotional skill to have when making choices. How philosophical I am today...

Q is For...
Quiet
Did you ever hear the phrase, "Quiet the dragons of worry and fear"? Sometimes I let worries take over my thoughts. Not productive and it can make you sick.I know when the dragons of worry and fear gnaw on me because my stomach starts to hurt.
It is possible to take control of worry. The Dalai Lama recently said "Everybody wants a happy life. But sometimes people, in order to achieve a happy and successful life, rely entirely on external means like money and power. I think this is a mistake. Ultimately, the source of happiness and joyfulness is within ourselves. And once our mind is more calm and joyful, then our activities can be more effective."

Enjoy this quiet Autumn day,
Lynda

Put duties aside at least an hour before bed and perform soothing, quiet activities that will help you relax.
Dianne Hales

P is For...

2010-10-15T11:05:00.006-05:00

P is For...
Pullover
Classic sweater formula by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Add some color work and spice it up.

Or go all out and do cables and a turtleneck!

This is all the same sweater with some very interesting design changes. We can do this!

Joe's cabled vest is coming along really well. I should be putting it together this weekend and then the ribbing for the button bands and neck and armhole and I am finished!

P is For...
Pumpkin

And Pumpkin Mitts!

And from a blog called Pumpkin Pie Baby.

Reverse Rice Stitch Cowl.

Gotta go now, going to Michelle Z's house for lunch and a movie and then fish fry tonight with my cousins on my mother's side!
Talk to you later,
Lynda
I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.
- Seneca

O is For...

2010-10-14T13:46:00.005-05:00

O is For... One Skein Knitting Projects
One Hank Poncho

One Skein Noro Sock Scarf

One skein Hooded Baby sweater

So cute and knit on size 10 1/2 needles.

This is my version of a waffle stitch fingerless mitten.

I love all these patterns. Interesting things you can do with very small amounts of yarn. I can't buy all the yarn I want but I can certainly knit all the yarn I have and make some varied projects!

Really great day here and I hope you are having one too! Talk to you later,
Lynda
About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends.
- Herbert Hoover

N is For...

2010-10-13T10:18:00.004-05:00

N is For...
Nocturne
A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations.
Chopin's Nocturne op. 9 Like much of Chopin's music, this nocturne is tinged with melancholy.

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Momento Mori

2010-10-11T16:15:00.004-05:00

Daisy 10-10-10
Go easy girl...

L is For...

2010-10-10T13:41:00.004-05:00

L is For...
Lace

A fine open fabric, typically one of cotton or silk, made by looping, twisting, or knitting thread in patterns. Lace is sometimes considered the pinnacle of knitting, because of its complexity and because woven fabrics cannot easily be made to have holes. Some consider that "true" knitted lace has pattern stitches on both the right and wrong sides, and that knitting with pattern stitches on only one side of the fabric, so that holes are separated by at least two threads, is technically not lace, but "lace knitting".

Lace knitting can combine simple stockinette with the yarn overs.

Whatever the level of difficulty, lace knitting is my number one favorite thing to knit!

Talk to you later,
Lynda

K is For...

2010-10-09T10:27:00.006-05:00

K is For...
Knit
Bet you never guessed what today's letter would stand for! Of course, knitting is my thing. Not that I don't do other close work, but I knit every day. It's what I think of when I wake up in the morning. Well, that and the song that is in my head most mornings, but that is a different post!

K is For...
Knitty

Many wonderful free patterns some of which have become classics already. Some like the Clapotis have over 16,000 projects listed on Ravelry alone!

K is For...

Kunststricken: Decken, Garnituren, Spitzen Band 408/760

by Herbert Niebling

This is Egeblad by Christine Duchrow. I have knit this and it was a fun project!

This is Lyra. I have the pattern but have not knit it yet. I will!

K is For...
Key

The Three Keys to Happiness

1. Something to Do. This is why I think people who create things are happy. And creating can include really anything-cooking, making a fence, knitting, painting...

2. Something to Love. Friends and family are such an important element to our ultimate happiness. This also includes giving back. Find a way to share what you have. If you have no money, make sure you give your time to something. My mother is constantly involved in charity work and I know that is part of why she is such a young 80 year old.
If you are single, you may have a best friend that always knows just how to pick you up, or make you laugh when you want to cry. Pets can even be an incredible source of companionship, there to greet you at the end of a long day. I’ve had pets all of my life and marvel at their willingness to love us unconditionally. The love for God can be a huge strength for you as well.

3. Something to Hope For. Everyone should have something to hope for. Something that drives them towards a goal. It’s been said that if you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Have something to aim for; a dream that you hold close and never let completely out of sight. When people lose hope they get complacent, and complacency often leads to a poor attitude. This self-perpetuating cycle of negativity can lead to serious depression, and ultimately harm cherished relationships.

The secret to making these keys work is to act. You sometimes have to force yourself to make the effort but it will work in the long run.
The bottom line is we are responsible for our own happiness. Government programs, promises from elected officials, and pats on the back from bosses may offer temporary mood boosts, but ultimately happiness is a self-induced state of mind. Be responsible for your own happiness.

Talk to you later,
Lynda
The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.
- Samuel Butler

J is For...

2010-10-08T11:56:00.009-05:00

J is for...

Johnny Cash John Lennon Dr. John

Well Johnny Cash is really for Michele who dearly loves his work-me not so much...
John Lennon who with Paul McCartney wrote some of the most intellectually stimulating songs I have ever heard. And Dr. John for sheer craziness! This I need in my life regularly. Which brings me to:

J is For...
Jeeves and Wooster

What I wouldn't give for Jeeves to bring me my paper and coffee in the morning. And scrub my back and take care of my clothes and well, I could go on and on don't you know?

J is For...
Journey

Not only the group Journey, which we have been listening to a lot around here. Seems like we have all been on an 80's music kick around my house. What fun and you can sing along!
But also Journey as in the path our lives travel as we live. Peregrinations, travels, pilgrimage. It doesn't seem as if I physically go anywhere but my life has had some interesting paths and the dictionary says that a pilgrimage is a long journey and if life isn't that long journey, I don't know what it is. We make itineraries but where we end up isn't always where we thought we'd go. I guess the important part is really the journey and what you did along the way. And how you lived-a life aimed at doing the right thing, for me. Not always easy to figure out but I'm trying.

Looking for a moral compass,
Talk to you later,
Lynda

Even with the best of maps and instruments, we can never fully chart our journeys.
Gail Pool

I is For...

2010-10-07T15:11:00.006-05:00

I is For...
Inspiration
Inspiration is all around me. The hundreds of patterns I want to knit. The Yarns I want. The places I want to go. I am so drawn to my work every day. The first thing I think about when I wake up is what I will work on today. The second thing is where is my book. Life can be so busy that it is important to breathe deeply and enjoy. Inspiration is rooted in breath.
Some of the photos I find on others' blogs inspire me greatly:
This is from Moonstitches:

This is from Tying Up Loose Ends

This is from Ysolda Teague.

These colors are amazing. Mango Moon from Wild Fibre.

This I found On wazz' Ravelry project page, so new the pattern isn't posted yet! The designer is Kate Davies.

Inspiration is everywhere. A sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea is as essential to life as the act of drawing in breath. It is all so tied to my relationship with God and the people I love. That desire to create echoes God's creation and makes life worthwhile.

Well, talk to you later, I gotta go make something.
Lynda

Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.

Pablo Picasso

H is For...

2010-10-06T09:53:00.009-05:00

H is For...
Hats

H is For... Mike Holmes
My newest crush if for Mike Holmes. Is this guy amazing or what? Honestly, at every gathering of women I go to to, You just have to mention his name to get the girls going! Everyone loves him, from my mother to kids my sons' age! Not only is he honorable, he is cute in a VERY rugged way!

H is For...

Beautiful, very magical movie based loosely on a book by Dianna Wynn Jones. This film created by Hayao Miyazaki is a masterpiece. Gorgeous animation and a lovely story. Get it, watch it, love it!

H is For...
Hardanger

One of my favorite types of embroidery.

Hardanger, or Hardangersom, is a form of whitework using counted thread and drawn thread work. It is worked on evenweave fabric of either cotton or linen with linen or pearl cotton threads. Though traditionally worked in white thread on white fabric, color has been used for many years now, both in the fabrics and threads.

While the history of Hardanger embroidery is not well documented, it was popular during the Renaissance period, when the use of linen for clothing increased. It spread its way to Italy, where lovely lace motifs of Punto Taglito and Punto Rialto were done. There it developed into the Punto Aria patterns of Venetian lace. Some motifs of Hardanger show an Assyrian and Egyptian influence which can be traced to the Vikings' many sea forays far into the Mediterranean Sea. The eight-pointed star of Hardanger embroidery is also found in the embroidery of India and is a universal symbol.

As these patterns and textiles moved further north, they were modified into Norwegian Hardanger, Danish Hedebo, English Ayrshire work and Ruskin Lacework. Originally Hardanger was called Norwegian Drawn Work.

H is For...

Home

He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.
~Robert Montgomery

Talk to you later,
Lynda

Home is where you can say anything you like cause nobody listens to you anyway. ~Author Unknown

G is For..

2010-10-05T10:49:00.006-05:00

G is for... Guitar

This is hard to believe but Wikipedia says Jeff beck is 66! What! Not so...
Jeff Beck is one of the best guitarist in the world today. Really right up there with Clapton and that is saying a lot.

G is for...
Goose

Domestic geese have been used for centuries as watch animals and guards, and are among the most aggressive of all poultry. We used to have them when I was a kid. It took two people to feed and water them as the minute you turned your back to them they would bite you on the back of your leg! They sure did taste good at Christmas though. They really are a good watch bird/doorbell! They always let you know when strangers are around and they are fearless!

G is For...
Glee

Entering its sophomore season, GLEE is a biting musical comedy that has quickly become a pop-culture phenomenon. The highest-rated new scripted series of the season boasts critical acclaim, a loyal fan base of "GLEEks," two certified Gold albums, more than 10 million song downloads and an incredible 19 Emmy nominations - earning it the distinction of being the most-nominated series of the year. To top it off, the genre-defying, award-winning series has been picked up through its third season.
I love this show! It is biting comedy and phenomenal singing! And it makes me happy just to watch it. My family (all men) say it is gay...sounds good to me but go figure. I like music that I can understand the words when sung!

G is For...
Gloves

They still tend to be fingerless though.
How about something to suit the season? Pumpkin fingerless gloves perhaps?

G is For...
Grey Goose

G is For...
Gratitude
I am grateful for this lovely day and the health and strength to enjoy it!
Love to you all,
Lynda

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC), 'Pro Plancio,' 54 B.C.

F is For...

2010-10-03T12:37:00.010-05:00

F is for...
Friends.
You know, I hardly think I could get by in life with out my friends. Humans are social animals meant to live in small, stable groups. Increasingly, we are isolated. I lived for six years in an apartment in Madison and didn't know most of the people in the building.
I don't want to live like that anymore. That is why I enjoy small town life. I also maintain that I enjoy the rural community I live in because I am inherently nosy! I like knowing people's family histories and who they are related to and divorced from...
When I was sick a few years ago and not able to get out for a few months, I missed hanging out with my friends very much. I really need to talk and laugh with the girls!
I think that it is therapeutic...

Here is Terri in the summer with long hair.

Here is Michelle and Maryanne in a blurry picture-sorry!

Janet, Terri, Anne, Sue and Sue's friend.

Craft Center friends.

James, Betty and son Patrick.

F is for...
Free Patterns

Z-Cuff Socks from Vogue Knitting
Aren't these cute?

And sort of in that same note:

F is For...
Fingerless Mitts

Both of these pair were knit with my hand-spun.

And this pair is a free pattern from Classic Elite.

Talk to you tomorrow.
Lynda
My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.

Dame Edna Everage (1934 - )

E is For...

2010-10-02T12:44:00.007-05:00

E is for...
Embroidery

Aren't these wonderful! Can't you just see these on a dish towel or table runner?

This is a free pattern from Caron online.

Another free pattern:

E is for...
Etsy
And more embroidery:

E is for...
Ernesto

This is my son Brian and his cat who started out being named Eve but is now known as Cookie or Kitten. Oh the reason E is for Ernesto is that is Brian's name in Spanish Class!

E is For...
Endpaper Mitts

I want to make these-and soon!

I have finished one of Patrick's Twined Mitts, Nearly finished with the front of Joe's Cabled Vest, working away on a peach baby cardigan with a cable up the front, and i am working on a grey cabled scarf for Christmas. OOps I said the C word. Oh well just ignore the reference to that holiday that is MONTHs away!

Talk to you tomorrow,
Lynda
Energy/Elan Vital
Some of us see the glass as being half-full, while others see the glass as half-empty. The next time you are caught in traffic, begin thinking how nice it is to have a few moments to reflect on the day, focus on a problem you have been trying to solve, or brainstorm on your next big idea. The next time you get in the slow line at the grocery store, take the opportunity to pick up a tabloid magazine and do some “guilty pleasure” reading. Take all that life throws out you and re-frame it with what’s right about the situation. At the end of the day, you will be more content, at peace and be happy. Take the time to begin to notice what’s right and see the world change.

D is For...

2010-10-01T13:45:00.004-05:00

D is for...
The Dude
I suppose you'd have to say the D is for Donny too!

D is for... Deer (and Dogs)

D is for...
Ducks

And Cashmere Duck.

D is for My Dogs...

Eddie

Bibi
Well, I don't have much more to say...check out the patterns and I will talk to you later,
Lynda

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Roger Caras

C is For...

2010-09-30T14:40:00.006-05:00

C is for Color...

Basic color schemes

With colors you can set a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. You can use color to energize, or to cool down. By selecting the right color scheme, you can create an ambiance of elegance, warmth or tranquility, or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness. Color can be your most powerful design element if you learn to use it effectively.

Colors affect us in numerous ways, both mentally and physically. A strong red color has been shown to raise the blood pressure, while a blue color has a calming effect.

Being able to use colors consciously and harmoniously can help you create spectacular results.

The color wheel or color circle is the basic tool for combining colors. The first circular color diagram was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666.

The color wheel is designed so that virtually any colors you pick from it will look good together. Over the years, many variations of the basic design have been made, but the most common version is a wheel of 12 colors based on the ROYGBIV (or artistic) color model.

Traditionally, there are a number of color combinations that are considered especially pleasing. These are called color harmonies or color chords and they consist of two or more colors with a fixed relation in the color wheel.

C is for...

Classic Camel Vest by Tara Jo Manning that I am knitting for my Sweetheart Joe.

C is for...
Cerisara by Bonnie Marie Burns that I am knitting For ME in Louisa Harding Kashmir DK.

C is for Cosy ...

C is For...
Citrine earrings
on Etsy.

C is For...
Cauliflower

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

Ingredients

* 1 head of cauliflower
* 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
* Lemon juice from half a lemon
* Olive oil
* Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into florets and put in a single layer in an oven-proof baking dish. Toss in the garlic. Sprinkle lemon juice over cauliflower and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If the oven hasn't reached 400°F yet, set aside until it has.

2 Place casserole in the hot oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Test with a fork for desired doneness. Fork tines should be able to easily pierce the cauliflower. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Talk to you tomorrow!
lYNDA

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967), (attributed)

B is For...

2010-09-29T09:15:00.003-05:00

B is for Biscornu.

Biscornu is an interesting little eight-sided pincushion that has become very popular in recent months. The word biscornu (sometimes written biscournu) is derived from a French adjective, meaning skewed, quirky or irregular.

Here is one I made from a lovely pink linen and embellished with bead embroidery.

B is for Bat. FUZZY MITTEN'S BAT WITH JACK O'LANTERN

Gotta knit this one real soon!

B is for Bag.
How about this cool Medieval Knitted Bag? Based on an article in Newsletter of the Needleworker's Guild in the Kingdom of the West

Haven't done any color work for a while. Isn't this a wonderful design. I love the birds and the cats! Wendy has made her charts available here.

Talk to you later,
Lynda

And finally B is for Books:

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Arnold Lobel

A is for...

2010-09-28T09:50:00.007-05:00

A is for An Albino (White) Russian is a classic creamy cocktail that is made with vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream, milk or half and half. It is typically served in an Old-Fashioned (or rocks) glass over ice. The vodka and coffee liqueur are first poured into a glass that has been filled with ice, and then the drink is topped off with milk or half and half. The finished drink is usually not stirred, as the dark Kahlua and the vodka should rest on the bottom of the glass below the milk or half and half. Just re-watched The Big Lebowski for the 50th time and it brought to mind the white russian but as I searched the web for a picture of the drink, guess what else I found? 8)) Who knew??
A is for an Albino Russian: To Quote: The plants yield very powerful buds, coated with resin. Very strong, long lasting High, more cerebral than a knockout. Medicinal plant. These seeds can produce plants that are fantastic in both appearance, and effect. One of the most typically indica strains, White Russian is a stable cross of AK-47 and White Widow (a prize winning indica clone). Medium height, consistent plants and dense, very resinous flower tops (crystals appear after about 5 weeks of flowering). With such a strong indica background, the plants smell quite strong during both their growth and flowering period. 2-times Cupwinner!
A is for "aggregates" of ash- Iceland's volcanic eruption yields ash clues
They're really quite beautiful. Some of the aggregates are dendritic, so they're really angular and have long fingers of... material. On a completely different note! Have you seen these? Is this not the utmost in cute? They are Pjusken's Strawberry Booties.... These I will HAVE to make!

I am thinking vests today! Wicked Vest by Joëlle Meier Rioux
Of course I'd make it longer and not so fitting!

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.
- Bertrand Russell

Knitting Washcloths And Other Things

2010-09-06T10:44:00.008-05:00

It's raining today! Great day to knit washcloths! I have found that many of our washcloths are wearing out at the same time. Why does that happen? It's sort of like underwear-they all wear out the same day! Then I go out and buy ten pair all at once and then they all wear out the same day!

I knit this washcloth yesterday and started another with the same pattern, It's really nice and "cushiony". The pattern is from this blog: Knit with KT

I also read two really nice books: The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club and Needles and Pearls by Gil McNeil.

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf . . .

When her husband dies in a car crash--not long after announcing he wants a divorce--Jo Mackenzie packs up her two rowdy boys and moves from London to a dilapidated villa in her seaside hometown. There, she takes over her beloved Gran's knitting shop--a quaint but out-of-date store in desperate need of a facelift. After a rough beginning, Jo soon finds comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch" group; a collection of quirky, lively women who share their stories, and their addiction to cake, with warmth and humor.

As Jo starts to get the hang of single-parent life in a small town, she relies on her knitting group for support. The women meet every week at the shop on Beach Street and trade gossip and advice as freely as they do a new stitch. But when a new man enters Jo's life, and an A-list actress moves into the local mansion, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two.

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings. It's a charming novel that will delight all passionate knitters--and win over befuddled, would-be knitters, too.

A brief affair after the death of her philandering husband yields a surprising result for a shopkeeper in Needles and Pearls, McNeil's warm and fuzzy sequel to The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. Jo Mackenzie's succeeded in rehabbing her Gran's wool shop in Broadgate, a lovely seaside town in England. Her Stitch and Bitch group is popular; her two young boys, Archie and Jack, have settled in; and her Gran's getting married. But Jo's liaison with Daniel Fitzgerald, a globe-trotting photographer, has ended, leaving Jo to sort out what's next. Big changes and a bevy of stressful obstacles test her mettle and reorder her world. It's a on the chatty side, but McNeil spins a comfy, hopeful yarn with believable characters.

Two light but enjoyable reads!

I spun up some lovely fiber that our Michelle Z. gave us at one of the String Along meetings. It is a variegated blue and purple I think she said Romney. It spun up pretty fuzzy for me so I was thinking about what to do with about 110 yards and I think I will look for a fingerless mitts pattern.

Maybe something like these...Waffle Stitch Fingerless Gloves by Jill Toporkiewicz.

Or these, Diagonal eyelet Hand Warmers by Creativeyarn.
Both really cute!

Well back to the knitting,
Lynda

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

What's common among a disc jockey, a spider, a PR agent, and a cricket bowler? They all spin. But this week we are talking about a different kind of spinning, the original kind: the spinning of yarn.

Before modern textile mills, and before specialization, people used to spin yarn and weave cloth at home. Even though a typical home doesn't have raw flax and wool any more, that era has left its imprint on the language.

By looking at these terms in the English language we can tell who used to do the spinning, and what was thought about people related to the job. This week we'll see five words relating to spinning that are now mostly used figuratively.
distaff

PRONUNCIATION:
(DIS-taf)

MEANING:
adjective:
Of or relating to women.
noun:
1. A staff for holding flax, wool, etc. for spinning.
2. Women considered collectively.
3. A woman's work or domain.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English dis- (bunch of flax) + staef (stick).

NOTES:
A distaff is a staff with a cleft for holding wool, flax, etc. from which thread is drawn while being spun by hand. In olden times, spinning was considered a woman's work, so distaff figuratively referred to women. Distaff side (also spindle side) refers to the female side of a family. The corresponding male equivalent of the term is spear side (also sword side).

USAGE:
"Volvo's gender politics are distinctly distaff, with safety and familial obligation easily trumping the sorts of values cherished by the aroused arrows of the world."
Dan Neil; Herr Doktor, Your Ride is Here; Los Angeles Times; Mar 3, 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. -E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

2010-08-29T10:53:00.002-05:00

WHAT TO DO WITH CAMPBELL’S CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

By our Dear Husband, Joe Lagodney

1. Prepare according to the directions, adding one can of water to one can of soup concentrate.

The result is a little watery. I cheat by adding only about half a can of water and stirring gently but thoroughly.

2. Scorch it. You ask: how is it possible to scorch a clear broth? I saw a rookie institution cook do it one time by forgetting to add the extra can of water, then cranking up the heat under the pan. Pretty soon the kitchen filled with the aroma of stuck-on burnt noodles.

3. Doctor it up. Years ago, I worked with an old cook who sometimes referred to himself as The Doctor, based on his ability to get us out of jams with his decorative magic. He always insisted on having a stock of institution size cans of various soups, including Campbell’s chicken noodle. If we were in danger of running out of soup during a rush, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup would appear, containing peas and carrots and lots of chopped fresh parsley. Not only did we get away with this – at a country club, no less, but we received calls for the special chicken noodle soup on regular basis.

4. Make some very addictive Southeast Asian soup, by heating up some Campbell’s chicken noodle soup to the concentration which you like. Then add a few drops of an Asian hot sauce like a Sriracha sauce. Now add a few drops of Asian fish sauce. Enjoy. Crushed red chilies work as well. Louisiana style hot sauces add vinegar to the taste of the final product. I tend to avoid them.

5. Learn from how the soup is made. Here, the ingredient panel is helpful. By law, food products must list their ingredients in descending order by weight. For Campbell’s chicken noodle the first ingredient on the list is chicken stock. This is good because it is not an extract of an artificial flavor or something like dextrose. The second ingredient wheat flour for the noodles; no eggs for egg noodles; no durum wheat for a more golden, resilient noodle. At the bottom of the ingredient list are some extractions like chicken fat and chicken powder. Cooked chicken is also on the list. I suspect that this meat is cut into chunks when raw or partially cooked, and then the cooking and canning process is completed. The result is extremely tender, but not stringy meat.

Thanks Joe! This is very interesting stuff!

Well, talk to you soon,

Lynda

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.

Alice May Brock

Dodge County Fair

2010-08-13T12:29:00.006-05:00

I am working diligently on my entries for the County Fair. Nearly finished the Wings of Fantasy Shawl by our friend Hazel Carter.

Still have to line and put handles on my Hopewell Bag. It is twined knit and designed by Linda Leffelholz.

I got the yarn to knit Cerisara. I got Louisa Harding Jasmine to knit it in.

I can't wait to start it!

Oh and I am sick of too hot weather! Do I have to move to Minnesota?
Talk to you soon,
Lynda who agrees with Oscar Wilde that Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Lucky Me

2010-07-27T12:02:00.005-05:00

I am the lucky winner of a pattern contest from Mary Jane's Tearoom.
She has THE most adorable patterns for toys that I have ever seen!

I also found a sweet pattern and story for knitted sheep from Flutterby Patch.

I am working on things for the County Fair. I finished the bunny pincushion. I have a cashmere scarf almost finished and the cable slippers are nearly done.
I have the border to put on an embroidery I did some years ago and never finished.
Time to get that done, I think!

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.
Mark Twain

A Little, Aloud: An anthology of prose and poetry for reading aloud to someone you a care for

2010-07-10T09:04:00.003-05:00

I just ran into this title, A Little, Aloud: An anthology of prose and poetry for reading aloud to someone you a care for, to be published in September and it reminds me of the pleasure of being read to or reading out loud to someone. We remember it from childhood. The unique comfort of being read to – at bedtime, when we were ill, as a salve for the bumps and bruises of life. We knew it, we felt it. And now, science is showing it to be true.

We are on the cusp of a reading revolution. Increasingly, research is uncovering an intimate connection between reading and well being. The seemingly simple act of being read to brings remarkable health and happiness benefits. It stimulates thought and memory, encourages the sharing of ideas and feelings, hopes and fears. It enriches our lives and minds.

This unique book offers a selection of prose and poetry especially suitable for reading aloud – to your husband or wife, a sick parent or child, an elderly relative. Or to someone who finds it hard to concentrate for long, someone who finds reading difficult or simply someone who has never been given the chance to get into a really good book. With short introductions and discussion topics for each piece there's something here for everyone – from Shakespeare and Black Beauty to Elizabeth Jennings and Helen Dunmore. It puts great books in the hands and minds of people who need them.

Then I ran into this older article from The Guardian, an English newspaper about the healing properties of being read to and book discussion groups:
On the Healing Powers of Books by Blake Morrison.
A really interesting article!
I am not a real follower of poetry but I understand that it is meant to be read out loud and so I gave it a try with this poem by Lucille Clifton called Homage to My Hips:

these hips are big hips
they need space to
move around in.
they don’t fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don’t like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved.
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
I have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top!

Now this is a slightly embarrassing poem but it made me laugh-especially if you say it out loud-try it, it is certainly funny!

It isn't stately-try this:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

or this from the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner:

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

Well, I am not particularly a reader of poems but I do like a big epic story!

Oh speaking of which, I just started reading the Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. And Wow! Caught me on page two!

It takes place at the turn of the 18th century, in Edo-era Japan. The Dutch East India Company has requisitioned the artificial island of Dejima, in the bay of Nagasaki, as a trading post. Theirs is the most significant contact Japan has had with the outside world since Portuguese missionaries were expelled by the Tokugawa shogunate, and Christianity eradicated. Dutch trade on the island is now the one opening Japan has to the outside world – a tiny valve for the exchange of goods and ideas.

Jacob de Zoet is an uptight young Dutch book-keeper, charged with cleaning up the accounts of an operation riddled with corruption as Dutch power fades and English naval power looms. Possessing no navy of its own, Japan is both fanatically insular and increasingly vulnerable. Encountering a beautiful but scarred Japanese midwife who has been granted some limited contact with European medicine, Jacob finds himself in thrall to a love forbidden by tradition, culture, politics and law.

The object of this ginger-haired naive's hopeless desire, Miss Aibagawa, is bound by the highly stratified social order of Japanese society and then purchased by the abbot of a secretive mountain shrine, where a form of sexual slavery is practised by the monks. A rescue attempt, in the form of a samurai raid on the shrine, briefly makes you suspect the novel is going to turn on a thriller plot but, thrilling as this episode actually is, it rather turns on the murk of politics and the complex allegiances of a feudal society. Miss Aibagawa is no cipher of the mysterious "other": her own medical gifts prove more useful to her than her would-be rescuers and, as a character, she is at least as fully realised as de Zoet.

Well, back to it. Talk to you later,

Lynda

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Goings On In My Back Garden

2010-06-29T12:07:00.009-05:00

I sat out in the back garden this morning with my first cup of coffee and marveled at the business of the yard. There were birds everywhere and they were busy!
Both dogs came out and sat with me and a little later both of my sons came out and sat for a while until mosquitoes started biting.
The hummingbirds are visiting the Cambridge Scarlet Monarda. Most of the other birds are eating on the bird feeder. I feed black sunflowers, safflower seeds and nyjer seed. I saw a pair of cedar waxwings and I know they were on the way to my osier red dogwood to eat the berries as the robins have been stuffing themselves on the berries for a couple of days. The chickadees, song sparrows, and house sparrows empty the feeder every day.
We have been seeing this butterfly around in the catnip and the ornamental thistles. It's called Milbert's Tortoiseshell. Don't know who Milbert is.
The robins come and bathe very splashy in a big saucer on the ground by the pond.
I don't let the chickens out until after 11 so that they lay their eggs IN the coop, not out somewhere on the ground-then the dogs steal them and eat them.
The mourning doves eat on the bird feeder outside the living room windows or on the ground. It is safer on the ground as the cats don't lunge at them from the back of the couch!
I had made an appointment to take out dog Bibi to the vet to have a growth removed from her elbow this morning, but I forgot that I had scheduled it and they called me at 9:30 and very graciously rescheduled it! I just hate it when I forget things like that. It makes me feel unorganized-like a scatterbrain, and I really am not. I just hadn't put the note where I would see it and remember...

I read a fine book today. It was called Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey.
Livesey draw readers into her world so gently that the barriers between reality and the fantastic quickly fall. The first time the narrator Eva McEwen sees her "companions" she is six, and living near the Scottish town of Troon with her middle-aged father and her aunt, who came to raise Eva after her mother died in childbed. Though much loved, Eva is lonely, and when a woman who "shone as if she had been dipped in silver" and a young girl with long braids and freckles appear one afternoon in the garden, she is at first unaware that they are not corporeal. Although it is clear that the companions are there more for her protection than to cause harm, they seem capable of manipulating events in her life. From Eva's bucolic childhood through young adulthood, working first as an office girl and later as a wartime nurse, from a failed romance to a happy marriage and motherhood, her angel/ghosts are never far away, helping to steer her. But, in the end, as they repeatedly warn her, they are unable to change the course of her history.
I am going to read more by this author.
All in all, it has been a busy day so far. Now while I sit at the computer, I have been listening to Jeff Beck, guitarist known for playing with Cream among other things. This is much later Beck-2007 Beck and REALLY good. He had this young woman playing bass with him called Tal Wilkenfeld. She is about 20 and plays with such skill I am blown away! It seems to be a day of Guitar! Also have Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughn on this playlist!

White throated sparrow

Mourning Dove

Chickadee

Gold Finch

Chipping Sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Tortoiseshell

Robin

Ruby-throated hummingbird

I will sign off now as I can't seem to stop this stupid thing from underlining

Lynda

People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.
- W. Somerset Maugham

New Knitting Ideas?

2010-06-08T09:53:00.005-05:00

This is a free pattern from Berroco called the
Pike Vest in Berroco Peruvia. Peruvia seems to be a heavy worsted/aran yarn that would be easily handspun. Cute shape I thought!

This is the Ivy Brambles Fleurette Lace Jacket. The pattern is shown in Ivy Brambles 2-Ply Cashmere. Don't know if I would knit it in cashmere, or rather their cashmere but it sure is pretty. Looks like a fun knit to me. So I ordered the pattern. My shopping for the morning!

I am knitting the second half of my Print O' the Wave Stole. I am using Jade Sapphire's Lacy Lamb. Pattern says it only needs one ball but we will see!

Coming along nicely and fun to knit!

I finished reading The Loved One for our little Lunch/Movie/Book Club. Can't wait to lunch and talk!

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

We Visit the Madison Arboretum

2010-05-30T15:00:00.003-05:00

Mom, Joe and I went recently to the UW Madsion Arboretum to see the blooming trees. The Arboretum is one of my favorite places in the world. I have spent many happy hours there and it is entirely free! As a matter of fact there is a guided lecture walk On Wednesday evening. Take an advantage of the quality of information here!

Events & Classes: Tour (Longenecker Gardens)

Conifers

Wednesday, June 2 • 7 pm – 8:30 pm

If you are confused about telling a spruce from a fir, a walk through the Garden’s spectacular conifer collection with curator Dr. Edward Hasselkus should clear up much of the confusion.

Here we have Mom and Joe (what a cut-up)!

Here is a gorgeous Lilac Tree.

I have been knitting a stole of a lovely lace weight merino in the Print O' the Wave Pattern.
Free pattern and interesting construction. I am looking at it as a learning piece. I am really enjoying the center portion so far.

Just finished reading Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

Cameron Smith is an apathetic kid in high school. He is a doper, uninterested in college. He also has a perfect, perky sister that makes him look even worse by comparison. That is, until his uncontrollable movements and hallucinations are diagnosed as Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases, AKA mad cow disease. This disease is a prion (mutated protein) that pretty much pokes holes in the brain. It's incurable and fatal. He is spurred by a cute punk rock angel named Dulcie to go on a quest to save the world (and find a cure to his disease) along with a hypochondriac dwarf named Gonzo and a Norse god turned lawn gnome named Balder. Along the way, Cameron battles evil with a legendary jazz musician in New Orleans, narrowly escapes from a crazy happiness cult, helps a group of scientists with an experiment, and goes to Disney World.

Libba Bray has created a hugely unique retelling of Don Quixote. I thought of it as a modern version of the hero journey in mythology as illustrated by Joseph Campbell. Although the book is almost 500 pages long, I was completely sucked in and read it in one sitting. All of the characters were striking and original.

Cameron was initially not a very likable character. He is rude to his friends and family and was just generally uninterested in engaging. From the initial diagnosis to the end of the novel, he undergoes a transformation with every person he meets and every crazy situation he encounters. He slowly turns into a true hero. He gains appreciation for music and develops close relationships with the people around him. The things he revered in his old life are revealed to be shallow and meaningless in the new one. The journey was largely an internal one for Cameron. It can even be debated if the journey actually happened at all or if it was just the product of a deteriorating mind.

This isn't a typical young adult novel. It's one of the most unique books I have run into recently. I really enjoyed this novel.

Hey hope to see you or talk to you soon,
Lynda

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
- Aristotle

What I Have Read Lately

2010-05-15T10:36:00.006-05:00

Island Beneath The Sea By Isabel Allende

The latest novel from Chilean literary legend Isabel Allende follows Tete, a biracial girl born a slave in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) in the late 18th century. Toulouse Valmorain, a French plantation owner, purchases Tete, rapes and impregnates her, gives her child away, and forces her to care for his child and deeply troubled wife. After the beginning of the Haitian revolution, Valmorain, his family and slave Tete move to New Orleans to try to put their lives back together. Tete finds comfort in voodoo and in the charms of the new city while waiting for the freedom that Valmorain has promised her. She has other children that she is able to keep with her to an extent, but this is only a partial benefit for her. This a sprawling epic of a novel, written in Allende's trademark style, with gorgeous place descriptions, a keen eye for history and a predilection for high drama. I enjoyed this book and devoured it in one sitting.

I re-read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Titans clash! The intriguing premise of Gaiman's tale is that the gods of European yore, who came to North America with their immigrant believers, are squaring off for a rumble with new indigenous deities: "gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon." They all walk around disguised as ordinary people, which causes no end of trouble for Shadow, who can't turn around without bumping into a minor divinity. Released from prison the day after his beloved wife dies in a car accident, Shadow takes a job as emissary for Mr. Wednesday, avatar of the Norse god Woden, unaware that his boss's recruiting trip across the American heartland will subject him to repeat visits from the reanimated corpse of his dead wife and brutal roughing up by the goons of Wednesday's adversary, Mr. World. At last Shadow must reevaluate his own deeply held beliefs in order to determine his crucial role in the final showdown. Even when he isn't in top form, Gaiman, creator of the acclaimed Sandman comics series, trumps most storytellers. And I Love This Book!
And on a similar note I have been reading about the Chippewa and Ojibwa spiritual lives and myths and I just got the book:
The Harvard Psychedelic Club : how Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil killed the fifties and ushered in a new age for America
Publishers Weekly gave it a Starred Review. It's hard for folks who didn't live through the 1960s to imagine what it was like to live in a drug- and sex-soaked culture, one where traditional values were drowned in a rush of hedonism and hippiedom. Names like Timothy Leary and Ram Dass bring back all the memories and all the conflicts. In this beautifully constructed study, Lattin (Jesus Freaks) brings together four of the most memorable figures from that period. Each comes across as a flawed genius and irrepressible fanatic. The author says of Leary that he activate[d] conservative anxiety in America, but this could easily describe any of the players in this grim and gritty story. Laying out their stories side by side in roughly chronological form, the author traces the lives of each of the players, exposing a kind of dysfunctional relationship among them that is not part of our corporate memory. This is a fast-moving, dispassionate recounting of a seminal period in our history, and all in all, a wonderful book. (Jan.)

Well, I guess I should put down the books now and go out and work in the garden!

Talk to you later,
Lynda
Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.
- Heywood Broun

Random Thoughts ???

2010-04-27T14:38:00.003-05:00

A couple of random thoughts have come to mind...

Do you think the Dude (Big Lebowski) really doesn't like the Eagles?

No One around me, none of my friends or family likes to dance...none of them just dances for the sheer joy of dancing. I like to dance and I do around the house if the music is right. Mostly to oldies as I don't really know contemporary pop music that well, but I will dance to Modest Mouse or Flobots.

I just never seem to get things finished...wonder if I have an attention problem too?

The other evening I saw Asleep at the Wheel with Willie Nelson on Austin City Limits. While I don't really like Willie Nelson all that much (he sings through his nose), This was a super concert. Really great County Swing and I guess they put out an album of the music they did in this concert that looks like something I would love to own. So I go to I-Tunes to try to buy it and it told me that I had to upgrade to I-Tunes 9 in order to get this album. I tried three times to upgrade but it wouldn't load! I am so frustrated...why can't I spend money when I want too?? The song I really wanted was The Hesitation Blues.

I'm going to go watch Glee now so I will talk to you later,
Lynda
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963), Music at Night

How was your Weekend?

2010-04-19T12:58:00.007-05:00

What did you do this weekend? Hope you had a relaxing, fun time. I really didn't do much myself. I did a little knitting but I'm having some problems still with my wrist so I don't knit for long.
I did make a little top from some very glitzy yarn. It is the Loo Loo top for infants:

Mine is done in metallic pinks and mauves.

I knit some on a shawl I have been working on for months. It is handspun by our friend Bee and I am having a great time knitting it but it does go slowly. You always get more bang for the buck when you knit finer yarns!

I also did a little embroidery. Made a couple of pin cushions and worked on a Hardanger bookmark.

Sat with our friend Terri's dad, Don on Saturday as they went to a wedding and I did a little more stitching there.

I also read a book every day this past weekend! I have been reading like crazy and giving my wrist more of a break!
All in all a VERY nice weekend!

Oh and we have the monthly String Alongs meeting tonight at Terri's house too! Can't wait to get together with the ladies and catch up. Some of these girls I only see the one time a month so it is such fun!
See you there,
Lynda
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

2010-04-14T11:57:00.003-05:00

In Hebrew they say, Ein chadash tachat hashemesh; in Greek, Ouk esti pan prosfaton upo ton hlion; and in Latin, Nihil sub sole novum. No matter how you say it, it comes down to pretty much the same thing: "There's nothing new under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Chapter 1

(6) The wind blows to the south,
and goes round to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.

(7) All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.

(8) All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.

(9) What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
and there is nothing new under the sun.

(10) Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has been already,
in the ages before us.

(11) There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to happen
among those who come after.

As I plant my radishes and sweet peas I am reminded to be hopeful. The writer of Ecclesiastes can at time be weary of life. That is the danger of having too much! Life is so beautiful but there are snags to enjoying this life.

The Buddha said there are Five Hindrances that are the major obstacles to concentration.

1. Sensual desire (abhidya)

2. Ill will, hatred, or anger (pradosha)

3. Laziness and sluggishness (styana and middha)

4. Restlessness and worry (anuddhatya and kaukritya)

5. Doubt (vichikitsa) -- doubt, skepticism, indecisiveness, or vacillation, without the wish to cure it, more like the common idea of cynicism or pessimism than open-mindedness or desire for evidence.

The last hindrance, doubt, can have a profound effect on happiness. We try not to focus on our skeptical thoughts. We try to be aware of all the things around us and "Be Here Now" without thought of how to bend the world to our will. Like The Dude from the Big Lebowski, we abide. Oh and don't forget to breath.

To do no evil;

To cultivate good;

To purify one's mind:

This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

--The Dhammapada

Talk to you later,

Lynda

The love of truth lies at the root of much humor.
- Robertson Davies

A New Post Wherein I Speak Mostly of Knitting

2010-04-07T11:29:00.006-05:00

This is a cute baby sweater:

Free pattern available at this
Chesapeake Ballroom

Also available on the Classic Elite Yarn website was this article on slip stitch knitting. Very interesting as this technique is used in Bohus knitting and Twined knitting.

What do you think of this for me?

I love the shape and it would not be too boring with LARGE amounts of stockinette!
Also from Classic Elite by Pam Allen.

I am just about finished with a couple of baby sweaters for our friend Janet and stumped about a shawl I had been knitting that I WAS going to add a beaded lace edge to that isn't working. So I am somewhat stumped about what to work on next. Maybe just finish some old projects...how boring but it should be done anyway!

Oh and I just finished reading the weirdest book: Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter by Seth Graham-Smith. I thought this would be a mindless & fun read, but it's a lot more than that. I was seriously surprised by how much better this book is than the title might lead you to think. The author clearly put a lot of energy into figuring out how best to meld history with horror/fantasy, and really did a terrific job. He effortlessly captured the deep melancholy of Lincoln's life. And the vampires are awesome...they are not the vampires of other current trends. His vampires are brutal and violent. The backstories he creates (the colonies, Lincoln's grandfather, etc) are terrific.

I very highly recommend it. It was shockingly good, actually--well written, engaging, tight, no filler. A great read.

Well, I guess that's it for now,
Lynda

The Dude: Just take it easy man.
Walter Sobchak: I'm perfectly calm Dude.
The Dude: [shouting] Yeah, waving the f****** gun around?
Walter Sobchak: Calmer than you are.
The Dude: Will you just take it easy?
Walter Sobchak: Calmer than you are.

The Chicken Whisperer

2010-04-03T10:22:00.006-05:00

You can tell it is Spring! My backyard friends Steve, Bob, Taft, Bill and One Eye are happy to be out on fresh grass again. They hunt bugs and worms and eat all kinds of new greens!

I heard about this fellow, Andy Schneider, better known as the Chicken Whisperer has become the go-to guy across the country for anything chickens. Over the years he has helped a countless number of people start their very own backyard flocks. He is not only a national radio personality, but also a contributor for Mother Earth News Magazine, Grit Magazine, and Farmers Almanac. He is the owner of Atlanta Pet Chickens, Classroom Chickens, and is the Founder/Organizer of the Atlanta Pet Chicken Meetup Group that has quickly grown to over 850 local members!

Visit the Chicken Whisperer's website here: http://www.chickenwhisperer.net

Also I want to knit this:

It is a funky bolero for a baby. A zany and impractical cropped pullover for a baby! But let’s face it… it’s awesome!
And I got this yarn in the mauve to make it!
Picked it up at
Loose Ends Yarn Shop

Bet you thought I's NEVER use yarn like this but it is so funny, I just had too!

Talk to you later,
Lynda

I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
- Gilda Radner

Theme Songs?

2010-03-10T13:14:00.004-06:00

Those of you who know me in person know that I love King of the Hill reruns and The Nanny reruns! At the Loose Ends Winter Escape this past weekend Michele and Terri and I were talking in our room later in the evening and an episode of The Nanny came on. I told the girls that my son Brian's friend Nate can recite all the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and that I can recite all the lyrics to The Nanny's theme song.
By the time we were half through reciting we were all laughing so hard I thought I'd wet 'em!

She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens, When her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes. What she to do, where was she to go, she was out on her fanny? So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield's door, She was there to sell makeup, but the father saw more... She had style, she had flair, she was there!
And so she became the Nanny!

Oh and by the way, I had a great weekend with Michele and Terri and all! It was so well run and relaxing and I just had the BEST time~Can't wait to do it again!

Here is a bunny I just finished and gave to a young friend of mine who just turned ONE! Pretty exciting and she really seemed to like the bunny and her wardrobe too!

Talk to you soon,
Lynda
Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.
Willa Cather

WINTER ESCAPE

2010-03-03T09:38:00.003-06:00

I'm starting to get sort of nervy about the Winter Escape this weekend in Mayville. It's sponsored by Loose Ends Yarn Shop and Michele P. I am doing a demo/class on Twined Knitting and while I feel well prepared, I've started to worry. Well, maybe worry is too strong a word for what I am feeling. I am feeling more like a general cloud of concern.
Will I remember everything? Will I have enough time to get a sample started for everyone? Will I come off as an idiot or will it seem as if i have ANY understanding of the subject?
Honestly I don't know why I do this second guessing...I am prepared and it's only an hour demo!
I have started making a list so that I feel as if I have everything covered. I always do this when I teach. I have a sort of vague fear that something will go wrong. Yes I know, something always does go wrong. I just go with it and usually people come away with some new knowledge, so it is OK!
I am not as insecure as I sound, I hope. It is just in the preparation that I am so worried.

It is going to be nice to have a weekend getaway. I didn't get to Sheep in the City, and I didn't get to stay over for Susan's Fiber Shop Knitting Retreat, though I did go for the day. It will be nice to relax for the weekend with friends and just knit and laugh and shoot the breeze! Oh and we will be having a lovely soup luncheon on Friday with 4 different kinds of soup! One of the soups will be provided by my husband Joe! Yay...

Here is a picture of the Twined Cuff I designed for the class:

Well, talk to you soon,
Lynda
None are so busy as the fool and knave.
- John Dryden

New Music

2010-03-01T13:32:00.008-06:00

NPR First Listen hear the album Broken Bells in its entirety. Interesting music by one of the guys from Gnarls Barkley and the other is from The Shins. I am really liking this today.

They also have a first listen to the new Gorilla's album Plastic Beach. Good stuff and very popular with the younger set here at my house.

Also finished my Biscornu.

Talk to you soon,
Lynda

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
William Congreve

Everything is Good for Gordon Lightfoot

2010-02-20T13:50:00.003-06:00

Well I was relieved to find out that Gordon Lightfoot is still with us! He is in his seventies I think and certainly looking it but, I am happy to report that he was only at the dentist-not dead!

What did you think about Tiger Woods' apology?
That is one of the Twelve Steps-apologize to those you have hurt...
Step Five is Admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs and Step Eight is Make a list of all persons we had harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.
So I guess he is really working on sobriety in terms of his compulsion.
I am just not sure that doing this in such a public way will help him remain true to his commitment to go and sin no more, if you know what I mean. He really doesn't owe me anything. His wife and child are owed but that is not my business and I don't want to be involved in his attempt to deal with the trapping of his celebrity-too much power. I will say that it is gross that women will just throw themselves at his head because of his fame (and money). Not good form.

We are supposed to get snow for the next couple of days. I am sort of looking forward to a little snow. I mean we still have plenty but a new covering spruces up that old and dirty snow.

I knit a cuff for a demo I am doing at Loose Ends Knitting Winter Getaway. I knit it twined and made up a pattern for the class. Real cute.

Well, talk to you soon,
Lynda

The best way out is always through.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

My Wish List

2010-02-05T12:15:00.007-06:00

Lately I have been ogling some knitting books that I can't afford and I think might really only be coffee table books but I am not sure...
(Got me to thinking about ogle too. Not our friend Kim but the word ogle:

o-gle
Pronunciation [oh-guhl] verb, o-gled, o-gling, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
2. to eye; look or stare at.
–verb (used without object)
3. to look amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently.
4. to look or stare.
–noun
5. an amorous, flirtatious, or impertinent glance or stare.

Origin:
1670–80; appar. < D, freq. (see -le ) of oogen to make eyes at, deriv. of oog eye (cf. LG oegeln, G äugeln)

Well I have certainly been eyeing these books but I don't know about the amorous part....

Norwegian Handknits: Heirloom Designs from Vesterheim Museum

Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa, is one of the premiere centers for Norwegian-American heritage in the United States. As such, it houses one of the country’s most extensive collections of the textiles and handknits that have woven ties between Norwegian communities in America and the Old World, between today’s culture and a rich past. This book collects thirty patterns for handknits from Vesterheim—folk mittens, socks, scarves, hats, wristers, handbags, knapsacks, and sweaters—all inspired by traditional knits housed in the museum. With an introduction reflecting on the history of Norwegian-style knitting and the stories behind the handknits that inspired the patterns, the book is at once a practical guide, a repository of cultural history, and a lovely look at one of the rich traditions knit into the American fabric. I have not seen this book but it sure looks intriguing.

Or Swedish Knits:

Classic and Modern Designs in the Scandinavian Tradition

Booklist says: Knitting fanatics (and, yes, Scandinavian residents) Hammerskog and Wincent impart their vast know-how to those stitchers both with and without experience. What's more, their how-tos act as a foundational resource, providing anyone the basic building blocks of the craft, from the actual knit and purl routine and types of yarn to more than 50 pictured/swatched stitches (cable, lace, edgings, and the like). . . . Yet another reason to fall in love with Scandinavia.

Or this beauty-The Haapsalu Shawl by Siiri Reimann & Aime Edasi

The blurb on the book says it's A glorious, coffee-table size book of knitted lace, Estonia and a binding love between the two. Not a simple pattern book, and certainly not a project book, but a time capsule into a far off world where the soul of a people is captured in the hands that guide the needles to create the indigenous patterns of a rich heritage. The photography capturing this world is rich and the drawings and charts make the techniques and patterns close to a hands-on learning experience.

Again I haven't actually seen this book but it sure makes me want too...

Talk to you sooner rather than later,
Lynda

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. - Buddha

Letter From Satan to...

2010-01-23T11:14:00.004-06:00

I thought this was interesting...
Saw some other things that interest me:
COOTIE CATCHER
An elaborately decorated fortune teller.

A fortune teller, (cootie catcher, scrunchie, chatterbox), is origami used in fortune-telling games. A player asks a question, and the fortune teller operator answers using an algorithm to manipulate the fortune teller's shape. Questions, answers, colors or numbers may be written on the fortune teller. Manipulations are done by various similar methods, for example:

The player asks a question of the person holding the fortune teller; this question will be answered by the device. The holder then asks for a number or color. Once the number or color is chosen, the holder uses their fingers to switch between the two groups of colors and numbers inside the fortune teller. The holder switches these positions a number of times: which may be determined by the the number of letters in the color selected, the number originally chosen, or the sum of both. Once the holder has finished switching the positions of the fortune teller, the player chooses one of the flaps revealed. These flaps often have colors or numbers on them. The holder then lifts the flap and reveals the fortune underneath. Steps may be repeated to suit the users.

These devices can be "rigged" by the placement of only even numbers on one "position" and only odd numbers on the other, causing forced placement to an even position. This will generate only good or bad fortunes.

Construction steps for the fortune teller

Take a sheet of paper.

Fold corner up till it meets the other side.

Fold other corner up till it meets the other side.

Cut off the area at the top.

Unfold it and you now have a square piece.

Fold up all four corners so that the points meet in the middle.

It should now look like this.

Flip it over.

Fold up all four corners so that the points meet in the middle.

It should now look like this.

Fold it.

Work you fingers into the four corners.

Call the Nestle Crunch Hotline at 1-800-295-0051, When you are asked if you want to continue in English or Spanish, just wait quietly for about 10 seconds and you will smile. Promise! Keep going and press 4. Listen to the options...then press 7.

Really do this, OK? you will love it!

Politically I know That company is bad but this is funny and I would eat the candy bar so I am sort of half PC.

Talk to you later,
Lynda

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
- Thomas Jefferson

STRING ALONGS

Joy in the Morning

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

Directions

What Are You Knitting? Part Deux

What Are You Knitting?

Embroidery for Everyone

Summer Reading

Summer Music

Fish Heads

Lunar Eclipes

Summer Knitting

The Third Man

Poetry? Not Me!

Finished!

Finishing a Project (or Two)

Knitting Resolutions

Wordless Wednesday

It Has Started.

Z is For...

Y is For...

X is For..

W is For...

W is for...

V is For...

U is For...

T is For...

S is For...

R is For...

Ruslani the character in this poem says:

"Have you not heard the true refrain: A giant skull, a midget brain? I ride and ride, straight down the middle, And when I strike, I do not fiddle!

Q is For...

P is For...

O is For...

N is For...

Momento Mori

L is For...

K is For...

J is For...

I is For...

H is For...

Howl's Moving Castle

G is For..

F is For...

E is For...

D is For...

C is For...

B is For...

A is for...

Knitting Washcloths And Other Things

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Dodge County Fair

Lucky Me

A Little, Aloud: An anthology of prose and poetry for reading aloud to someone you a care for

Goings On In My Back Garden

New Knitting Ideas?

We Visit the Madison Arboretum

Events & Classes: Tour (Longenecker Gardens)

Conifers

Wednesday, June 2 • 7 pm – 8:30 pm

What I Have Read Lately

Random Thoughts ???

How was your Weekend?

A New Post Wherein I Speak Mostly of Knitting

The Chicken Whisperer

Theme Songs?

WINTER ESCAPE

New Music

Everything is Good for Gordon Lightfoot

My Wish List

Classic and Modern Designs in the Scandinavian Tradition

Or this beauty-The Haapsalu Shawl by Siiri Reimann & Aime Edasi

Letter From Satan to...