Moi Peu D'ami de Chaussette

I've completed clue one of Mystic Light. This one is proving to be just as gorgeous of its sister, Mystic Waters.

I also completed my "Spring Socks" and their teeny weeny sister. Last week I signed up for this Wee Sock Swap thingy where you are given a swap pal on Friday and over the weekend you knit a teeny tiny sockie and Monday you stick it in the mail to your swap pal. So, my little fellar is head off to Canada to live with Rochelle. You will never guess where my little sockie friend is coming from!!!!! France!!!!! Now if you know anything about me whatsoever, you will know that I love France and all things French. You can imagine how excited I was to receive an email from Yvette stating that she would be sending me moi peu d'ami de chaussette (my little sock friend).

Now I'm off to work on Clue 3 of Gammy's Hope.

There's Another One!!!!!

Yep, there is another lace KAL to report. I can't remember who first told me about this one, I've had several people message me about it. But, I do know they are all very wicked and evil women. Mystery Lace KAL starts April 18th, after that date new members will not be accepted. Come on over!!!!!!

Can We Communicate? Can We?

As many of you know, I am involved in a lot of KALs (knit alongs). I mean A LOT!!!!! Some of these KALs are based here in the United States and several are based overseas in Europe. The talent of the designers both here and abroad is amazing. I so love these things and I've made some great "on-line friends." People I would never have met had it not been for these KALS.

Since my first KAL, Mystery Stole 3-July 07, I have been somewhat amazed at the comments some people, both American and those from other countries, have made. If I can't make a positive comment I don't make one. I realize that we all come from different cultures, different schools of thought, etc. therefore, I attempt to think the best. Do I grow weary of seeing people ask the same questions over and over? You bet your sweet bippy!!!!!

Some even go as far as to make very mean spirited comments directly to other group members. This doesn't only happen in on-line groups, it happens everyday in our churches, work places and sad to say, our homes. Stephen Covey has written many wonderful books on communication. In his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," he brings up several great thoughts.

1) Seek first to understand and then to be understood. How many of our arguments could be averted if we would stop long enough to cool our jets and try to see things from the other point of view? To try first to figure out exactly what is being said.

A funny story:

When our Sara was little she always got words mixed up. She still does. When she was 5 we lived in Tulsa, OK. My husband, David, was attending Oral Roberts University. Being a poor student family of 5 we were always looking for fun, FREE things to do. The University had a gym, the Aerobics Center. One Friday night we headed over. David and our oldest, Aaron-7, stayed downstairs to shoot some hoops while Sara-5, Jordan-3 and I headed upstairs to the running track/gymnastics center that over looked the basketball area. Sara was practising her ballet in the mirrors. Jordan had fallen asleep on one of the mats when Sara informed me she needed to go to the bathroom. I told her to go right down the stairs and Daddy would show her where the bathroom was. She wasn't gone hardly any time when she reappeared at the top of the steps.

I asked her "Sissy, did you go to the bathroom?" Now, you have to realize the kids were attending a private Christian school and we didn't use foul language around the house in order for you to understand my horror at her response. She said, "Yeah, I went to the bathroom and took a couple shits." I sat on the floor next to Jordy with my mouth drooping wide open. Surely I had misheard her. "You what?" "I went to the bathroom and took a couple shits." Now, my mind is racing. Where has she heard this term? Is that what she really said? "You did what?" This sweet little thing was so patient with her poor stunned mommy. "I went to the bathroom and a took a couple shits." This time when she got to the "shits" portion of her statement she acted like she was shooting a basketball. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, shots, you took a couple shots!!!!!!" "Yeah."

Sometimes we have to put things in context and sometimes we have to remember we are having a language breakdown or hitting a barrier. :)

2) We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are. This one is a little more difficult to understand I think. It took me a while to grasp it anyways. We all have an invisible filter around us. Everything we hear, or experience, has to come through that filter before it can be assimilated. Depending on what our experiences have been depends on how we view situations or others. Again, we need to not just react, we need to seek out the truth of what is really being said or done.

Another funny story:

When Sara was around 10 she and her Daddy had been out for a walk. When they returned David said, "Sissy, tell Momma what we saw in that yard." She proudly and boldly said, "Oh yeah, we saw a Version Mary." After much laughter I told her it was a "Virgin Mary not a Version Mary." She said, "Oooooooooh, I thought I was a Version Mary because that was their version." Well, makes some sense huh?

A final funny story:

When Jordan was little the church we pastored was Glad Tidings Christian Center. He was probably around 6 or so when he said "Mommy, why is our church called Glad Tidings Christian Sinner?"

Can we communicate?

I finished clue 2 of Gammy's Hope (Christine's Rose Garden). This baby afghan is so very pretty. I'm going to have to make another one in white as a baby dedication afghan in a lace weight.

Gammy's Hope Part One

I finished the first clue of Gammy's Hope (Christine's Rose Garden). It is turning out very pretty. I love this yarn and the design.

I haven't said anything about it because I guess I felt so bad about it, I felt so guilty, that I hadn't been a good owner.......a couple of month's ago my little Katie Scarlet, my Yorkie, went missing. I wouldn't let her out during the day or she would high tail it down the hill to the neighbors but I found if I let her outside when it was dark she would go out, do her business and come back in. This particular night after I let her out I heard a bunch of barking, when I went to the door only Jordan's dog, Roegun, came in. I went out and called and called but no Katie Scarlet. The next morning I walked all around the property along the fence rows, by the ponds, the woods and in the barn but couldn't even find any sign of her. I made a sign and put it up and went to the neighbors down the hill knocking on doors but no one had seen her. Either someone or something got her.

This week I went to the Bowling Green Humane Society and found the most precious little baby anyone could ever find. She is a mix but they called her an Australian Shepherd and she is approximately 6-7 months old. They had found her as a stray out in the county somewhere. She is so sweet, docile and obedient. She and Roegun get along beautifully. I named her Sadie. And I always have to give a middle name, I don't know why, I guess it is another one of those Southern thangs. Meet Miss Sadie Mae.

Gammy's Hope

I have been going non-stop since..............................well, seems like for a long time. But, I took time to swatch up for Christine's Rose Garden which I have named - Gammy's Hope. About a year ago the owner of my LYS, Starla, contacted me telling me that a couple ladies had been in the shop asking about local knitting/spinning groups and she had told them she would give me their email, that I could probably steer them in the right direction. I contacted them and thus began a wonderful friendship.


They are a mother daughter team and two of the coolest people you will ever meet. Rolynn is the mother and Ashley is the daughter. They are the kinds of friends that I haven't really talked to them since last Fall until just recently and we just picked back up as if we never missed a step. I was so excited to hear they are opening up another LYS, Enchanted Yarns & Fibers. They also have an Etsy store by the same name.


Tuesday night I went to the Barnes & Noble Knit Group and we got into a discussion about the proper pronunciation of Etsy. Is it "ITsy?" Is it "EEtsy?" Is it "E" like egg? No wonder the world is in such a mess!!!!!!!!!


Anyways, as you know I joined another KAL, Christine's Rose Garden. I blame my good French Canadian friend, Sylvie. I asked Ashley to custom dye me some yarn for this KAL. Instead of laceweight I decided to go with a fingeringweight superwash. I don't know about you guys, I want a baby afghan that can be used and used and used without messing it up. OMG, this yarn that she dyed up for me is gorgeous. It is a superwash merino/bamboo blend that is simply unbelievable. I love the soft, spongy characteristics of it and the colors are so perfect.


Here is my swatch for this project, it measures 5" x 6". It is 30 stitches across so by using the fingeringweight and US Size 4's my finished baby afghan should measure approximately 32 inches.

I'm A Wild & Crazy Knitter

Okay, I don't know, I think I'm just a wild and crazy knitter. I re-swatched for Mystic Light using US Size 4s. I like it so much better and will be using these. The wild and crazy thing is my blocked measurements are the same as when I swatched in US Size 5s, 14cm x 8 cm. I probably blocked this one a little harder and still not as hard as I will the finished shawl so it should work just fine. Take a look at the previous post and this one and let me know what you think.

Oh,yeah, some people are blaming me for getting them into various KALs. It ain't my problem if you have an addiction problem!!!!! :)

Mystic Light

Sometimes it's kinda rough being a loose woman, a loose knitting woman. The Mystic Light KAL is set to begin this week. I've had my swatch done since last week but have had too much going on to take any photos. The designer calls for using US Size 7's, since I am a loose knitting woman I went down to a US Size 5 thinking that would be the ticket. However, I'm not too sure, I think I'm going to have to use a US Size 4. The measurements of mine just lightly blocked is 14 cm x 8 cm, just a little shy of the designers 16cm x 11 cm. The yarn is Schaefer Yarn - Anne, 60% Merino wool superwash, 25% Mohair and 15% Nylon. I'm signed up for a couple other KALs that start this week as well, but I've decided I'm going to focus on this one and just save the clues to the others. One I am excited about is a Baby Afghan KAL - Christines Rose Garden. I do not have any grandbaby's in the works but a Gammy has to be prepared!!!!!

I'm A Hummer

Hey all, I've gotten some knitting done this week but haven't taken any pictures to show. Hopefully I'll get that done this week. The other day I was reminded of a little story.

I'm a hummer, over the years I've come to accept it. I hum. I hum alot........I hum all the time......practically nonstop. My family hates it. I don't even know I'm doing it and usually it isn't even a real song, just something I'm making up as I go. My baby girl, Sara, left this comment on my post entitled "Its Kinda Interesting - Living In The South."

"I love my Momma. I am so proud of her... she is so hilarious, talented (cooking, singing and as you all know knitting and anything involving yarn) and a wonderful Gammy as well as a great Momma. Despite her lolligagging, shenaniganning and constant humming. I love you!!!"

Isn't that sweet? Anyways, back to the humming thing. Years ago I was helping my mother and step-father with some painting, my step-father, Luther, laughed and said "well, I know you are your mother's daughter, she whistles all the time." Isn't that funny? I wasn't raised by my Mother, yet here I am humming, probably cuz I can't whistle worth a toot. :)

Sometime ago while substitute teaching a second grade class there was this one little boy that was so cute AND so very active. He just couldn't sit still or quit talking so I asked him to come sit next to me at my desk and do his work. He was quite happy to do that. After several minutes of him being quiet and working he place both hands flat on my desk and said, "If I'm going to work that humming has to stop." HA!!!!!!!!

I'm A Hummer!!!!!! Knitting news soon, I promise.

Enchanted

I received the sweetest award. It is the "You're Enchanting" award. What a wonderful title. A mother and daughter team I met last year is giving out this award and I am to choose 5 people to bestow it on as well. I will do this at a later time. I couldn't wait to tell you about them. They have a wonderful Etsy shop AND they are opening a spinning/yarn store in Russelville, KY. This is very excited news to all those in our local as we have a wonderful yarn store close by but two is even better than one and we have no spinning shops at all. You just have to see their gorgeous stuff. Both RoLynn and Ashley spin like you wouldn't believe. Their shop is called "Enchanted Yarn & Fiber." Check out their blog where they are documenting each stage of getting their store ready to open.

Can We Negotiate?

What a week, what a week. I have had something going every day and every night. I am wore out - pooped. Thursday and Friday I worked for our attorney friend. Now typically when I work for him I answer the phones, greet clients, make coffee, drink his diet cokes, eat his snacks, update my email, talk on IM and knit, knit, knit. This time the office administrator actually left some filing for me to do AND I had to water the plants. I told the attorney friend we are going to have to renegotiate my pay........if he was willing to pay me $$$ for the original list how much was he willing to pay me for adding the other tasks that are cutting into my knitting time? I don't think he took me serious. :)

So, I got some knitting done. Here is the beginning of some socks I've dubbed - Winterberry Delight. The solid yarn is Panda Silk by Crystal Palace Yarns. It is so yummy, I love the way it feels. The other yarn is a Limited Edition Tofutsie by SWTC in Winterberry. This is a horrible picture in regards to showing correct color. But..........I'm lazy. :)

I've also finished one of the mitts I'm making. I love these little babies. They are so huggy and affectionate and you know how I feel about that. I hate unaffectionate socks and gloves. Now sweaters, eh, they gotta be affectionate in the right places otherwise you can begin to feel controlled or smothered.

And finally, the swatch for Secret of Bad Nauheim KAL came out yesterday. Since I'm behind in all my other KALs what do I do? I cast on and knit the swatch for the new KAL, are you crazy? I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I will probably go down in needle size. The pattern calls for size US 4 for this one I used US 3 but will probably go down to a US size 2, but I may not. I'm also not to sure about the yarn. I love the feel of it but I'm not sure about the colors. But this is what I have in my stash and I really don't want to purchase any more laceweight for now. I might leave it as is or once the shawl is complete I'll overdye, we shall see. This is Knit Picks Shimmer, 70% Baby Alpaca & 30% Silk in Turquoise Splendor.

Tootle Lou!!!!