What To Do In The Middle Of A Blizzard....BINGO!!

One of the things that a person must do when they live in the north is have a backup plan for everyday in the winter.  The weather can shift in an instant and any plans that you had for the day could totally explode in your face.  For example, when I went to bed last night it was 45°+ with dense fog and a very light mist.  I drove with the windows open at 7 o'clock last night to pick up pizza and wings for the fam - yup - totally punked out on making dinner.  I woke up this morning inside a snow globe.  It is currently 20° outside and the temperature is dropping.  We will get roughly 8" before the evening is over.  And because I live in a rural farming area, there are not a lot of trees so the wind is insane around here.  Yay.

I had planned today on going to the grocery store, post office and my local yarn shop.  So, yeah.  We instead will be taking down the Christmas tree and I will be playing Bingo.  And knitting of course. That never stops, no matter the weather.  I could be lounging on the beach with a Mai Tai, garnished with a lil' umbrella, the palms listing gently in the soothing tropical breezes as the ocean waves playfully lap along the untarnished white sands, littered with tiny unique seashells that have made an amazing journey throughout the seas, and I, hoping they would share their stories of what they have seen and experienced.  But I would be swearing at the pattern that I am trying to hammer out and failing at an epic rate.  It's messed up I know, but hey, at least I would have alcohol.

I do miss playing Bingo at a local Moose Lodge, church, or rec center.  I play Bingo Blitz for free on my tablet. It's fun and cool but it lacks the little old lady surrounded by her multitude of trolls, 6 different colored ink blotters and her worry stone she rubs the entire time she's playing, all the while greatly impressing me that she has 24+ squares in front of her and I'm struggling to keep up with 8 squares.  I once had a lady who was sitting next to me blotting my numbers as I was falling behind while she had stamped all of hers, had a sip of coffee, crocheted a dishcloth, washed her car and fed her cat.  But that instant where you get to yell "BINGO!" and have every eye land on you, wishing they could shoot laser beams through your skull is awesome!  Unless you are the one wanting to shoot the laser beams.  Especially with a big pot; they can reach into the thousands.  You're a liar if the thought doesn't flash through your mind of knocking out an old lady in the parking lot.  I call liar, liar, pants on fire.  And don't forget the knee high pile of pull tab cards...

So to all of those on a beach right now, I really don't like you.  I am stuck in the house with two top-of-the-line weirdos cheering on the snow, screaming "More! More! More!"  At least I would have alcohol with my knitting on the beach.  OH!  Wait!  I think I have some Smirnoff left!  Gots ta go! Hafta take my anti-weirdo liquid medicine!  BINGO!

Brighten it UP!

One of the things that keeps me going in the long, drab, cold and just plain icky winter months are really, really bright colors.  I like to surround myself, literally, with things that are brightly colored - and then it's a little bit easier for me to ignore what's going on with the weather outside.

As I live in a house full of winter-loving-odd-folk, I seem to be the only one that suffers this particular affliction.  Seriously, my house if full of the oddest people.

In any event, here's a little something I made to help keep the colors close over these long, grey winter months - you know, that type of winter that seems like it's decided to stay forever...

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Merry Festivus! Happy Hanukkah! Feliz Navidad! Happy Kwanzaa!

Soon little boys and girls will be squealing through the house, checking the plate of cookies and glass of milk to make sure Santa came, wondering what could be behind that wrapping paper with dancing bears and reindeer, and jumping up and down on the bed to wake you up.  Of course they don't know you went to bed a half hour ago because you just got done wrapping their gifts.  Merry Christmas Santa!  Ho! Ho! Ho!

But to me it is worth the lack of sleep for the hours of cutting, taping, stuffing, ribbon tying, and the paper cuts to watch them have that moment of wonderment, curiosity and eeps of glee in a hurricane flurry of tissue paper and pretty bows.  I do miss having a little one running around at times but as they get bigger, taking them to different things is pretty awesome too.

If you have never been to the great city of Chicago, make sure you add a trip to your bucket list.  We went to Daley Plaza where the infamous Picasso is located.  You know the one...it's a lady, it's a duck, it's an extraterrestrial that gave Picasso some space drugs...it's in "The Blues Brothers" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".  Every year they set up the German Christmas Village and have proprietors sell their authentic wares from Europe.  You can find hand carved Austrian cuckoo clocks, wooden shoes, German hard candies, traditional wooden toys, gut busting bratwurst (yum), fresh roasted almonds and the Biergarten, of course.  They set up around the Picasso sculpture and have a Santa for pictures with a more Norman Rockwell traditional look.  The man they had this year was a dead ringer; it was almost unsettling but awesome!  Kids were going bananas.  I am not much of a connoisseur of shortbread style cookies but ooo-me-oh-my there was a clutch of French nuns (wearing the traditional "flying nun" habits) that were selling fresh baked butter cookies.  Wow.  Those didn't make it home.  I also got some hard candies that remind me soo much of what my grandmother would bring home from her latest trip to Germany when Dori and I were children.

Picasso at Daley Plaza in Chicago

From there we walked on over to Ed Debevic's for some verbal abuse.  It was awesome.  They have pretty good food and the staff there is rude and obnoxious.  Not to an unbearable extreme but there is a whole lotta sass rolling around in there and it's set up like that, on purpose.  The staff has a lot of fun and I have never seen anyone leave from there insulted and pissed.  It is a great place to check out and it's just a mile over the Chicago River from the plaza.  Not to mention the plaza is about a mile from the train station so everything is well within walking distance.  If in-your-face sass isn't your cup of tea, you are only a hop, skip, and jump away from The House of Blues, Bar Louie's, Rainforest Cafe, The Hardrock, Harry Caray's Steak House, even the two story rock 'n' roll McDonald's.  There are soo many different places to choose from in a very small area, in city terms.

I have to say the only part of our trip that just plain ole sucked was the non-stop drizzle.  Just light enough you can ignore it but just wet enough that it drenches you.  My pant legs were soaked up my calf to just below my knee.  My knit hat was starting to droop from all of the weight of the rain but my head was dry!  Even with the shoddy weather, there were a ton of people at the plaza, giggling, taking pictures in front of the large Christmas tree, enjoying good eats and creating memories.  No one was rude or pushy, complete strangers warmly smiling and new friends being made at a spur of a moment. So although I no longer have a little person at a center of a living room wrapping paper tornado, I found myself unaware of how drenched and cold I was and how wonderful it felt to share that time with my loved ones.  We had a smashing time in Chicago and the train ride home, well, that's another story.  Let's just say I laughed so hard I came close to popping out my contact.  

We wish you many blessings of health and happiness during the holiday season and throughout the many years to come.

Dori & Karen

An Invitation to FLASH!!

So, this post is going to be all about FLASHING!!

I'm so totally going to flash you!

With my stash -

of yarn.

Boy, you've got a nasty mind...
:)

Mind you now, this is actually not even close to all of it...

So, here goes...

Oh, I should probably mention that this unit is just over two feet deep - and the yarn is starting to push it's way out.  Oh, oh and did I mention that 70% of it, or so, isn't even in this shot?  Oh, oh, oh, um, also you want to know the worst/best part?  There's more coming from Knit Picks sometime this week - and I can't find a single damn skein that works just right with the project I want to start next. *le sigh*

<3

Consider this an invitation to flash (your stash of yarn, please)!

I'm May Not Be A Lawyer But This Much I Know

My sister Dori and I can be easily described as fiber fanatics.  To the extreme.  What can I say, we love all things fiber!  From grabbing a pair of sticks, or a hook, some string and a pattern to make something beautiful to trips to our local yarn shops to frolic happily through all the lusciousness we can get our hands on.  One of those joys is meeting new knitters/crocheters and helping them learn a new stitch or how to pick out the right yarn for a project to teaching them how to read a pattern/chart and all the abbreviations that can be absolutely overwhelming and confusing when you are first starting out. Thus leading me to a very frustrating and completely irritating point.

There are literally thousands of patterns available on the web as well as in magazines, books, leaflets, and the hand-written ones skritched on a napkin while dining.  You can find a pattern anywhere & everywhere.  Many fiber art forms have been around for thousands of years, so the vast majority of patterns you see are comprised of thousand year old stitches.  Sometimes a designer comes up with a new variation of a stitch, bind off method, cast on method or the like.  Even then, any pattern that is publicly distributed, whether for free or for a cost, is only legally covered to an extent.  Let me expand on this statement.

These cotton socks found in Egypt are some of the earliest knitted pieces. From L to R: Textile Museum, ca. 1000 – 1200 AD; Victorian & Albert Museum, ca. 1100 – 1300 AD; Textile Museum, ca. 1300 AD

http://sheepandstitch.com/the-history-of-knitting-part-1-mysterious-origins/

This evening I was searching through patterns, both free and pay-for, to match with some awesome sock yarn to make shawls.  As I am searching through the hundreds of pages of available patterns, several copyright notices were written beyond the scope of what the copyright actually encompasses.  The only part of the pattern that is legally protected is the pattern itself as it is originally presented, ie: any pictures included, title, the written pattern, charted pattern, special instructions, etc..  It does not cover, however, the completed item.  You may do what you wish with your completed item.  You can gift it, sell it, donate it, or wear it while dancing nude through the streets, it is your item and the designer has no say whatsoever on what you may do with the item.

I have been finding designers stating in their "copyright" that you may not sell the completed item for profit without their permission or not at all, that donations are acceptable only with their permission and that a link/reference must be tagged with the completed item.  One goes so far as that once you pay for the pattern and download it, it pops up a disclaimer stating that with the purchase you have entered into a binding contract that disallows you from selling your completed item.  Ummm....no.  That is all sorts of illegal.  You cannot force a contract onto someone, especially when there is no form of notification of said contract prior to the purchase.  So yeah,  I do not have to do any of that.  I can link/reference your pattern to my completed item out of sheer kindness but there is no law stating that I have to.  The only thing I cannot sell, transmit or distribute is the original pattern in its original presented form without prior consent from the designer.  If I alter the pattern at all; say I find a shawl pattern I love but it is not beaded.  I then alter the pattern to include beading.  And I also decide I want a different edging.  I now finish said item, take pictures and present that as my own pattern because it is not the original pattern as it was presented.  Now copyright laws only cover my pattern as it is presented in its original form.  Someone else can come along, make alterations, and it is now their pattern.

What concerns me are these bogus copyright disclaimers that are totally and completely invalid, and frankly laughably ridiculous at best, will scare away those new to the fiber arts.  The majority of patterns do not have these unenforceable disclaimers, but now and again one pops up and I just start frothing at the mouth.  Some people you just wanna grab by the collar and smack them across the face. But then I will happen upon a pattern where the designer states that you may do what you will with your completed item and to enjoy it but to please not sell their original pattern.  Fair enough.

Yup...hasn't changed.

So to anyone who has come across any type of copyright disclaimer stating that you cannot sell, donate, gift or dance nude through the streets with the item that you have made, they are talking out of a malfunctioning colostomy bag, a.k.a., their mouth.  The cops, however, may wanna have a chat with you about the whole nude thing.

Creativity is Great ... Now Let's FINISH Something!

Hello, my name is Dori and I have FO Syndrome.

For those of you unfamiliar with this rather harrowing syndrome, I'll be happy to explain.

In crafty terms, an FO is a Finished Object.  This syndrome is very specific.  It does not inhibit our ability to create, or to conceive of a lovely, or to see all the fabulous possibilities for that very cool pattern, or even cooler yarn.  It does, however, hinder our ability to FINISH these projects.

Ask an avid knitter or crocheter how many projects they have in any stage of progress and you might be surprised by the answers.  Of course, there are those lovely people that begin a project and work the entire project and then finish, block, weave in ends and photograph and share all before even buying the yarn for their next.  I haven't actually MET one of those lovely people, but, I allow for the possibility that one exists, somewhere.

Well, I have been afflicted with FO Syndrome for years and years.  I've learned to deal with it.

Which is to say, I've learned to ignore it and get really happy over the items I actually DO finish.  Hats and such little things, don't really count toward the Syndrome - they're too fast.  But, well, lace shawls, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.  Sometimes, putting down a complicated piece of lacework is just a mechanism for preserving your sanity.

So, what this post is really all about, in the end, is that I FINISHED A LOVELY SCARF AND WANT TO SHARE IT WITH YOU!!!  :)))

Here is my version of the Clockwork Shawl/Scarf by Stephen West (isn't his stuff just fabulous?):



Just getting into the groove - loving the colors

 


OK - we're rolling now!

 


FINISHED OBJECT!!

Although I still suffer from FO Syndrome - - I am seriously NOT going to even speculate on the number of projects I currently have in the works - - even I can finish something that I've started.  There's hope fellow Syndrome sufferers!  :)






I Love My New Truck, Even Though My Husband Thinks It's His

We were trying very hard to wait one more year before getting another vehicle.  We haven't had a car payment for several years and were having a hard time swallowing the thought of absorbing a payment again. We have three vehicles: his Ford Escape that everyone hates named The Grinch, my Lumina named Dragonlily and an older Ford Ranger named Lil' John as a back up in case one of the other two broke down and could be used until the broke one was fixed.  By the way, my daughter is in charge of naming the vehicles...have no clue where she comes up with some of these names.

My step-son had been borrowing Lil' John to get back and forth to college while he stays at his mom's house since it's not that far from where he is going.  It is bright teal with a red tailgate.  His mom lives in a very urban area so every night he would park it under the streetlight.  With those colors it is an illuminated road cone, you can not possibly miss seeing it.  Except for the nimrod that smashed into the back end and totaled it.  And was uninsured.  Actually, it was her uninsured boyfriend's car.  Her boyfriend's new Dodge Charger who lives five doors down from where my step-son's mom lives.  So the girl backed up and limped the Charger down the street.  Thankfully my step-son wasn't in it.  She hit it so hard that it shot it forward five car lengths and left a trail of pieces everywhere. The truck is a manual and we always park it in 1st gear.  You know how hard it is to move a manual left in gear is?  So our backup is trashed.

Then my car decided to take a dump a week later.  Awesome.  I have had it for roughly 8 years and have traveled through and to many states.  From New York to Virginia and back, twice.  From New York to Wisconsin, twice.  Then when I moved to Indiana from New York.  And a few trips to Wisconsin since I moved.  That car has definitely earned its keep.  So what do we do now?

Get a new truck!  We ended up getting a Dodge Ram.  My head clears the bed by about four inches.  I have to lift myself to get in.  From behind, you can't even see me.  From the side you can't see me. And from the front, I look like "Kilroy was here".  I have to stand on my tiptoes to just touch the center console.  I have to use rock climbing skills to get into the bed.  My husband, on the other hand, just slides right in, you can see him from any angle, he can reach across the cab and open the other door, and he can reach into the bed of the truck without stretching.  Even with the seat almost to the floor, he towers over the steering wheel.  So who fits better in it?  ME!

And so begins whose truck is it.  For all intents and purposes, it is our truck.  For all reality purposes, it's mine!  And I have never done well with sharing.  Learning how to share in kindergarten and all that jazz, yep, I failed on an epic level.  So now we do the shoving match to see who gets to the driver's side first.  Sometimes I think he forgets how nimble I am.  By the time he works his way around, I have entered through the passenger side and climbed across into the driver's seat.  I win! Yay for being little!  

But it's fun messing with each other.  And considering how much this puppy costs each month, looks like we are going to have it for a long while.  Plenty of shoving matches to keep us in shape!

People have told me this is what I look like

Coloring with String

I've often had people ask me why it is that I like to knit, crochet, tat, weave and spin.  Mostly, for me, it's about coloring with string.  I really enjoy creating something new.  Something that wasn't there before.  The fact that a stick or two and some string can turn into so many different things is a wonder to me.

I also enjoy the rhythm of this type of creation.  Once you get moving along, there is a smoothness to the rhythm that can be very soothing.  In a life that gives plenty of stress, anything soothing is welcomed here with open arms.  :)

Plus, it's fun to play with color.  I think that Karen and I have made the same beanie hat - in two basic styles probably hundreds of times, and there are no repeats in color(s).  All the string gets dyed all the colors.

Speaking of dyeing (really smooth on the segue there, right?), I've always liked to dye my own yarn, I've just never found it to be very cost-effective.  Well, that's all changed!!  I've found an awesome supplier who has superior quality fibers, fast shipping and the lowest prices I've ever seen.  Now, that I can custom dye our own lace shawl/scarf/shawlette/poncho/ponchette/caplet yarns for a third of the price I was paying - bring on the dye pots!! 

I ordered a very small order the first time through and here are some shots of my adventurous very first run dyeing a slow change/gradient:




Creating a dyeing blank

Soak bath

Dyeing all done and the drying has begun!

This runs from true orange all the way to the palest touch of color.

Just love the way this turned out!



Now, that the new yarn is dyed, dried, caked and lovely - it's time to decided what fabulous thing this will become with just a pair of sticks to do the job!  :)

Being Thankful For All That I Have And More

I am pretty lucky when it comes to gift giving for my family.  Anything you hand them, they are appreciative and display the proper thanks, whether they like/want it or not.  There are no tantrums, no snarled hooks of the mouth or long, disappointing sighs.  I have witnessed many a time at friends' homes when you just want to line everyone up and do a Three Stooges face slap.  Really people?

I do enjoy coming up with unique and fresh ideas for gifts, finding everything, and wrapping it all nicely.  I love shopping for wrapping paper and all the pretties for presents.  And our family loves to do the one, almost impossible gift to open each year.  I used super glue, 3 boxes, and twine reinforced packing tape one year for a single gift.  Everyone laughs and truly takes delight in watching the battle wondering who's going to win, the gift receiver or the gift.

I also find myself each year, little by little, feeling less joyous.  The vastly over-commercialized holiday season just kills it.  I mean, they are advertising for Christmas three weeks before Halloween.  Heck, I've even seen pre-Christmas sales in August.  Please let us enjoy one holiday before you start another.  I remember when waiting to shop for Christmas until December was no big deal and you could find what you needed without issue.  Now if you don't have your shopping done by mid-October, you're screwed.  Sad.  It gets everyone so wrapped up in scrambling to get the bigger and better gift, the meaning in the gift seems to get lost.  But that is what I love about my family soo much, there is no competition factor (which is huge as we all are uber competitive in nature).  From a pack of Bic pens to a laptop to a box full of socks/underoos, it's all the same.  I love that.  

One thing I try to do each year is come up with at least one unique gift or card or anything that is specific to the receiver.  This year for the Grandma's I designed their own stationary sets.  Journals, post-it notes, pens, scratch pads, notecards with matching envelopes, envelope seals and it is all personalized with their names, Grandma & Granny.  Many years ago I took a potato chip bag, cut it down the side, wiped it out and used it as stationary.  I used a Sharpie and then laid paper towel over top so the marker wouldn't transfer when I folded it.  My mother still sends letters from time to time on the inside of a potato chip bag.  A couple of years ago my husband and I had banked all of our savings to buy our home so we had a very small budget.  I made gift baskets.  Homemade breads, muffins, and cookies.  I crocheted sets of dishcloths to coordinate with the recipients home decor.  I also included mixed nuts that I bought from the local candy store, Albanese.  They are Willy Wonka on steroids.  Love it.  I also made dry, pre-mixed hot chocolate and soups in little mason jars.

Donating your time, items, money, or all of the above really keeps everything in perspective too. Next Saturday is a Christmas dinner for the families in my local community that are struggling.  It's hosted by my daughter's high school and the students donate food items and their time.  Every year my sister and I make hats and scarves for the families.  We also try to adopt a family each year to supply them with groceries.  Spending $15.00 on a toy that will literally make a child squeal with glee will make you melt.  Give it a try.  You will find yourself wanting to do it more and more.

So although the grinding commercial machine that mass produces come all, come now or you are going to lose out keeps on growing and churning, I know that like myself and my family, there are many who haven't lost what is considered the spirit of Christmas.  That gives me hope that we will get back to the meat of the holidays...be thankful for who and what you have every day and know that what you want isn't necessarily what you need.

Empty Nest Syndrome vs. Snow Day

The kids love a good snow day.  As we live in upstate New York - they're guaranteed at least one, and more likely three, every year.  I grew up just outside of Chicago.  I can remember and appreciate a good snow day.  But, now, with five kids, four of whom still live at home, I can better appreciate how my mother's mouth would get all tight and thin-lipped whenever we had a snow day.  Karen and I were truly terrible kids, too.  We got into everything.  Every room we simply walked through looked like the aftermath of a tsunami - every single time.  Our mother has always been very house-proud, too.  I think we must have been a terrible trial for her.

I am not my mother, though.  Even growing up with a mid-western work ethic, on most days, I am not too house-proud.  Our home is clean - but lived in.  It is very obviously lived in.  The dishes are done, the clothes and people are clean, but, watch your step in the living room, there is invariably enough dinosaurs on the floor to fill the entire Cretaceous time period.

Currently, all four sprogs are home.  Word World is playing in the living room.  Mine Craft is running on the giant screen in the media room.  The Xbox One is in the middle of some live ops or another and some really annoying teenager music is eeking out of another room.

I have a headache.

I used to read and speak with people in complete sentences.  I used to go out to eat just for the sake of a new flavor.  Someone once told me that you lose 10% of your functioning brain capacity with every child.  That puts me at an operating level of 50%.  I'm lucky I don't need a bib.

I am going to knit and crochet a garland today to run around the ceiling of the craft room (previously known as the dining room) in an attempt to keep my cool.  Every fifteen minutes, or so, one or another of the sprogs wanders into the kitchen to make a snack.  I have to keep running into the kitchen to get them to put things away - in an attempt to avoid the tsunami.

I've been hearing about empty nest syndrome for most of my adult life.  I must admit, though I completely love and adore my children, I am ready to see if an empty nest is all it's cracked up to be.