Snowmageddon!

In case there is anybody left that doesn't already know, we had a big snowstorm here in the City of Brotherly Love Friday night into Saturday afternoon, the second in as many months. This one they claim to be our second biggest in recorded history. Who's doing the measuring? And where?

I was so excited to be snowed in I couldn't sleep the night before. I popped up from bed every other hour to check the landscape for snowfall. It was like Christmas Eve in days of yore (when I was a child) when I popped up from bed to see if the landscape around the Christmas tree had changed, in other words, had Santa been there yet.

From my bedroom window:



I was up before daylight with the LWDs (Little White Dogs) for our potty time. When I opened the back door they use, the snow bank was taller than they are.














Two feet high!

They stopped in their tracks, looked up at me and said (with their eyes) "Are you kidding?!!!"











"Wipe Your Paws"

So off we went down to the front door. They are hesitant to step out the front door without being hooked up to leashes. It's a no-no under usual circumstances. I gave them the okay and they stepped out. The shelter of the porch kept the snow accumulation low and they were able to do pee-pees at the first bush.

They finished and ran back into the house shaking every trace of moisture off their newly coiffed coats. They had just been groomed two days before.

So, I had the whole day to weave, knit and look at movies streamed to my TV. Our local stations broadcast the weather all day long for goodness sake! It was like nobody ever saw snow before. The talking heads were in their element. Puh-leeze!

It was the kind of day to "put on a pot." Hearty meals were called for. Ham hocks and butter beans simmering away in my kitchen. After all there would be a whole lot of shoveling to do--NOT!!! We are past the shoveling age. We had our guy come with a snowblower and clear things out after the snow stopped. However, we did do the hearty eating. One must keep ones strength up. We (at least I) had to check the weather from all windows. You need strength for that. It was also a good time to call friends who are usually out and about. Everybody would be home. All that chatting takes strength too!

A work table I ordered had been delivered the evening before and I spent the time between meals, telephoning and looking out windows putting the table together. The table is actually a computer desk, but just the right size not to make too big a footprint in the studio. It also matches the TV table (coffee table) and side table, inexpensive things from Target that fill the bill. Actually I have filled the bill to capacity. The seven-foot loom and its tripod take up a lot of space when I'm weaving. When its free of weaving the loom is dismantled into three sticks and the tripod folds. The whole thing fits nicely into a corner. But while it has weaving on it, quite a bit of the room is taken up. Thus the need for small scale furniture . . . except for the large dog bed in front of the TV.

While I got no knitting or weaving done on Saturday I more than made up for it on Sunday. Lots of weaving, knitting and movie watching was accomplished. Judy, Janis and Melissa provided plenty of talk time as well. It was another wonderful snowed in day.

My studio is cozy and warm and calls to me. Time to start my third consecutive snowed in day.



Bona Fide Knitter

I'm Seeing Red!

Well, it's February. That's why I'm seeing red. Valentine's Day is this month. Hearts. Red. Get it? But let me backtrack a moment. I am getting the studio set up and ready to rumble. Most fiber arts are boxed, shelved, but not quite as sorted as I would like. While trying to come up with a sort method for this sock-yarn-heavy stash of mine, I had many projects and yarns to revisit, fondle and decide where to file. When did it get to be so much?!!!


So now I've seen all the yarn, the kits and projects started (read UFOs) and unstarted I actually have. There is way too much, actually an overwhelming amount. But I have a new plan of action. Many of my UFOs and some FOs as well will never be all they can be because there is something about them that I didn't like, a mistake, an ugly color, started before my skill level matched the project, some finished and never worn, whatever. I am going to be doing a lot of frogging! I am going to be doing a lot of repurposing of frogged yarn and also of new yarn which will be recatagorized from knitting to weaving and from sock yarn to sweater, shawl or afghan yarn. I am finally going to focus. I am also going to shop my stash this year and as Tim Gunn says, "Make it work!"

I must confess that yesterday I bought yarn. It was Patternworks' fault! I had to buy yarn to get the free pattern for a cowl I cannot live without. I bought three balls of black yarn to make the cowl. And last night, just before the red month started, I went back to a mouldering KnitPicks cart that still contained handpaint Merino yarn in reds I've been hemming and hawing over and bought it. That's it! I'm done! Well, except for some Lion Brand Homespun I need to go with some I already have that isn't enough for the two shawls I want to weave. I am limited to buying only yarn needed to match some I have that isn't enough for the project in mind.

And then I checked out some of my red stash . . . My plan is to frog a red afghan I started some months (a year? longer?) ago that has a mistake that is driving me crazy. I'm not even two inches into it. I should have frogged and started over long ago knowing my OCD tendencies! So today it gets frogged and sometime this month I will restart it. After all, this is the red month.


Bona Fide Knitter

It's Twenty Ten!

The first month of 2010 is half over and I am dutifully doing what I set out to do this year, move into my newly constructed "studio" and bring some order to my hobbies. So many hobbies, so little space. Actually I have space but just too many hobbies that require a lot of stuff. Right now I'm dealing with the "fiber arts" as I call my hand knitting, antique sock machine knitting and stash. Then there is my newest thing--weaving. Christmas 2008 I got a seven foot triangle loom and matching tripod stand. I knew I was in deep doggie doo when I had no space big enough for setup. And then there are the four sock machines and the sock yarn stash that had overtaken the space needed to use the sock machines.

This past summer I had the garage converted to a room I can devote to the fiber arts. It will also house my play doll collection. That is the play doll wall pictured above. I've gathered up yarn stash from all its hiding places and now to organize and store it in an orderly manner that is also pleasing to the eye. That has not been accomplished yet so no pictures will appear at this time. There is prior-to-organization chaos of which I do not want photographic evidence. Get the picture?

I am about to relinquish my title as the "Queen of Unfinished Projects." Please don't jump to the wrong conclusion. I don't intend to finish them all. I am going to take an idea from a podcast I heard and unravel them. Yes, unravel them! I'm sure you all have a UFO (or two or more) that you know you will never finish for one reason or another. Face it. Bite the bullet. Ravel, rest it and start over or ravel and re purpose that yarn! Thank you Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls podcast for causing that idea to finally sink in.

Speaking of podcasts, I grew weary of a few that I liked in the beginning and have narrowed my favorites to Cast On (Brenda Dayne), KnitPicks (Kelley Petkin), The Knitmore Girls (mother and daughter GiGi and Jasmin) and Sticks and String (David Reidy). I tried a new one this week, Savvy Girls (two sisters). So far, not bad. I'll listen to a few more episodes before passing judgement on that one. I also have three non-knitting related podcasts that I follow faithfully: The Splendid Table, Grammar Girl and This American Life.

So here we are, a year and a month later, and I have woven my first triangle shawl on the tri-loom. No pictures yet. I have the fringe to finish before I take it off the loom. In the meantime, watch this You Tube video that I turn to when I need calming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M99sSC8TIOc

Bona Fide Knitter