Y is for a Year of Hats

Reese was 11 months old on Christmas day, and it's hard to believe. It seems just yesterday that she was born and yet I can't remember what it was like with out her. Anyway I've been thinking of all that I've knit for her and how much fun it all was. Mostly how much fun it is seeing her wear everything. So without further ado, here is Reese in a year of hats.

Baby Santa Hat

Jive Turkey Baby Hat

Easter Bunny Hat

Pea Pod

Top Down Bonnet

Just a hat I made, no pattern

Pompon Beret

This one has been Cherry Pie's favorite. My favorite is whatever Reese is wearing.

Merry Christmas

I've had so much fun blogging this year and I want to thank you all and to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My ornament for this year, a little knitted ice skate

The Christmas Poncho

Do you have daughters? My daughters have gotten a little bossy as they've become women. And so they sometimes,a lot of times, tell me what to wear, how to act, how to do my hair...well, you get the picture. So a few Christmases ago, Cherry Pie gave me a present. When I unwrapped it, it was on a hanger and it was red and fuzzy and covered with snowmen. I drew a blank, I honestly had no idea what it was when someone said "oh a Christmas poncho!" I can't even imagine the look on my face but what I was thinking was "OMG NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO WEAR THIS IN PUBLIC!!!!!!!" When we laugh about this now, Cherry Pie admits she was going to try to get it on me and take a picture but someone came to my rescue and informed me that it was actually a Christmas tree skirt not a poncho. We've had quite a few laughs over the story and it has been retold every Christmas since then, and other times, too. I do love it as a tree skirt but I'm so glad I never had to wear it. And here it is.





What will always be known in our family as the Christmas Poncho.




I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas, and I hope no one gives you a Christmas poncho.

Christmas Stockings

I liked making the Christmas stocking so much I made three of them. One for Reese, one for Little Sister, and one for her husband Swimming Man. It was comfort knitting, that's a lot like comfort food but not fattening at all.





I've been asked about the pattern by Short Old Lady (go visit her blog, she makes beautiful lacy things) and I've tried to Google it. It's not on Ravelry and I can't find anything at all about the designer. I got it free at my LYS when I bought the yarn (remember it was a long time ago) and the LYS has since been sold.





Anyway, I'll share what I know about it and maybe someone else can find out more. It's really a beautiful stocking and very nice to knit. It's a 24 row repeat but easy to remember where you are and it's knit just like a really big sock.






The pattern is called Holly-Aran Christmas Stocking by Pat Clockedile copyright 1991. It was distributed by A Likely Yarn in Yarmouth Maine. And that's all I know.



If anyone finds out anything more, let me know.

X Marks the Spot

I eat while I knit, well actually I snack while I knit. And sometimes I spill things on my knitting. This time it was iced tea. And if you look really closely, you can see the x on the picture. It took a lot of soaking to get it out. And I'm not really sure it is all out. So if anyone knows a cleaner that works on wool, let me know. I'm sure this won't be the last time, I know it wasn't the first.

Pattern
Dragon Skin Wrap by Angela Hahn
Interweave Knits Holiday 2007
Dale Baby Ull

Wash Day

I was doing the wash, a never ending job, and I thought I'd share this picture of my socks drying.



It just struck me as funny.

W is for We Won

So, I was in a swap and it was a lot more involved than I thought it would be. We had a blog, and contests with really hard questions. But my team won! And for winning I got these.



It's a sweet little journal and beautiful stitch markers. I've never had nice stitch markers before. I have some of the little plastic ones that come and go in our house. I have no idea where they hide, but they reappear now and then. For the most part, I use paper clips or safety pins or scrap yarn. Now I have pretty ones. I hope they don't hide.



And my swap partner sent me this. I was so excited I could hardly wait to open it.



Inside were all these surprises. Thanks so much justajenjen! I love it all.

V is for Vaccuum

Have I ever told you that Mr. Truck likes to vacuum? He really does. And I encourage him. We have quite a collection of vacuum cleaners. Aren't they called Hoovers in England? Anyway, this is the one that I use the most. His name is Francois. You push his on button and off he goes and when he's done, he docks himself. He doesn't vaccuum as well as one you push yourself but he's pretty good. He also makes some funny noises to let you know what he's up to. Our cat Penelope used to turn him on in the night. Poor kitty is in kitty heaven now and Phantom is really afraid of Francois.




This is the upright that Mr. Truck uses on the rugs. We have two rugs so I'm not sure why exactly we need this one.



This one is very convenient because it has a really really long cord. You can do the whole house and never unplug it.



Mr. Truck uses this hand held one for the furniture and the stairs. Oh yes, and Duffy, too. Duffy loves to be vacuumed. Dunkin hides from the vacuum.


We actually have a shop vac, too but that's in the garage and it's cold out there so no picture. That makes five vacuums. Have I mentioned that Mr. Truck likes to vacuum?

In which I explain my absence

This is a story about aging and facing others aging. I told you about the MIL's accident. And she's getting better, really. But what we found out as a result of her accident is not getting better. MIL is or has been spending way more than she has and as a result is in very bad credit card debt, can't get homeowners insurance on her house and can't pay for it even if she could. We've had to make some really big decisions that children, no matter how old, shouldn't have to make. They involve lawyers, incompetancy, and a power of attorney. So all of our energy has been on handling this part of life. And dealing with all the temper tantrums resulting from this. Mr. Truck's sister, my sister by heart, has been bearing the brunt of all this but we have been directing things from afar. We are all exhausted and sad that it has come to this but really, it is the best thing for now. MIL is in her house, her bills are paid on time and she can't have her check book or credit cards anymore. She is extremely angry and ungrateful for this and I can understand that. My hope for us is that we don't ever make our children go through this. I don't want to outlive my independence or my money for that matter. Through all this, I've been knitting. A lot. And one thing I found out again is how comforting knitting is. The familiar motions and soft clicking of the needles, the slide of the wool through my fingers, the faint smell of sheep. I don't have to think about what I'm doing most of the time and I find that amazing and yet not unexpected. I've been working on a Christmas stocking for Reese for the past couple of nights. It's a pattern that I've had for almost twenty years now. I've made a lot of them, for family and friends. It was the first sock I ever knit. It started me knitting real socks. And as I pulled out the pattern and started, I remembered it without even thinking, my fingers knew the next stitch without me even looking at the words and I find that so comforting.

U is for Unexpected

When I entered the Ravelympics this summer it was just for fun. But at the end I was one of the very lucky ones to win a prize. I never expected it and it was such a nice surprise. And here it is.





A beautiful ebony crochet hook from Laurel Hill . I want to thank Kelli from Laurel Hill for the nice gift. So unexpected.

BOO!

Happy Halloween!

I Was Too Overwhelmed To Spend All My Money

and that's a first for me. But I was so busy touching everything and looking at everyone that I couldn't concentrate on actually shopping. That's not to say I didn't buy anything at all. I did get two skeins of this for a cardigan for me.


Briar Rose Grandma's Blessing. And it is so soft.




Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock yarn for a sweater for Reese. I love the colors, it looks like ice cream.


Little Barn Heavy Metal for hats for some little girls I know. They should love the bling.

Rhinebeck

My first trip to Rhinebeck and I don't even know how to begin to describe it. The trip wasn't too long, the weather was beautiful, cool enough for sweaters, the scenery was amazing, and the fall foliage was just perfect. And the fiber, there aren't enough words to describe it. The only thing missing was funnel cakes. I had promised Mr. Truck funnel cakes and all they had was fried dough. Which was close but not quite as good.





We saw lots of sheep, I liked this one a lot.






Some of the sheep were in pens,




some were being judged (although they honestly looked all the same to me),






and some were getting haircuts. She didn't mind at all, I asked.




And quite a few were being herded by dogs. That was Mr. Truck's favorite part, he loves the dogs. And I had no idea sheep could run that fast. There were also rabbits, and llamas, and alpacas. And I can now tell the difference between the llamas and the alpacas. I think the alpacas have cuter faces.

I saw the most amazing yarn and sweaters and felted things, and weaving and spinning and crocheting. And the most wonderful sweaters and scarves and socks that people were wearing. I also talked to someone who saw the Yarn Harlot at the ATM machine but I didn't see her. I did see Franklin autographing books.





But the best part of all was the knitters. It was so fun talking to everyone about knitting. And the best part of meeting the knitters was the Ravelry meet-up. I was so happy so see everyone even though I don't know anyone without their Ravatars.

T is for Tree

I had an idea for T, but how do you take a picture of time? So I'm going with Mr. Truck's Ginkgo tree. He planted this tree from seeds he found at work about ten years ago. It spent its childhood in a pot buried in the garden and when we moved, it came with us to a new garden. A few years ago it was shorter than I am, but we decided to give it a permanent spot by the road. Apparently, it's happy because it's about doubled its size and grows taller and fuller each year. And the kids have stopped teasing us about the "stick" we planted.




The Latin name is Ginkgo biloba because of the two lobes on the leaves. It's a very old species and it's supposed to help memory. Unfortunately, we have no idea which part of the tree we're supposed to eat so we're as forgetful as ever.




We have more baby trees growing, now. I have no room for them so we're going to put them up for adoption when they're bigger. These two are about 18 months old now, and we can't tell if they're boys or girls but if you want to adopt one, let me know.

No Sheep for Me

As a warm up to Rhinebeck, Mr. Truck and I went to the New Jersey Sheep & Fiber Festival this weekend. There were lots of sheep. Mr. Truck would not let me get one but I pet them all.









This one wouldn't pose very well but I really liked his horns.



There were bunnies



and llamas, or is this an alpaca? I got a little confused.


I knit with REALLY BIG NEEDLES.



Mr. Truck loved the herding dogs.



Our dogs are so not smart compared to these dogs.




But he liked the funnel cake the best.



We met cheekeyredhead and Zarzuela and I bought some beautiful roving from Zarzuela and a spindle. And some plain roving to practice on. We met a bunch of other Ravelers, too and now Mr. Truck realizes that my friends don't just live in my computer, they're real. And we really looked at the spinning wheels.




I also got some really nice yarn for my swap, but it's a secret. (hint)