More Spiders

These are some smaller spiders I made. I hope to get a pic of all the spiders together, but that has to wait. An explanation of the spiders also has to wait because if I tell now, I'll jinx things. Maybe tomorrow?

Fiddle Faddle

The Fiddle Faddle is in a box and on it's merry way. There are eight angels, one with the color work, four trees, five stars and two fruit nets. The fruit nets are cute, might work on a few more of those to perfect my technique. I will let you know when I hear any more after they arrive at their destination!

Update: The Fiddle Faddle arrived at it's destination. The email I recieved letting me know that is one I will be keeping for a while.

Arania

Arania (the spider's new name) has been finished, given eyes, photographed and gifted. Her new owner is very happy with her and Arania is now in a position to see lots of young people every day. I think she's happy.

Pictures to make you feel warmer than you are.

A heron in the marsh . . .



Casey in her new shirt (not surfing any waves).

Mom, I'm bored!

Gorgeous sunset thru the spanish moss.

'nother sunset pic - gorgeous.

Up a tree!

What to do when it's too cold to do anything . . .

It's been cold here - really cold. Yeah, I know, you guys always get this kind of weather, but we don't down here and it's cold. It is too cold for man or beast. We had about a half an inch of snow Thursday night, and of course it had to start before the temps dropped below freezing. That left a layer of ice on the roads beneath the snow - which made driving treacherous. So we didn't.

This first pic is some of the snow and Jinglebells, our resident stray cat. Poor thing has been starving since I put the new cat door on the garage, because now he can't get in without a special collar and since he's not really ours, he has none. We felt sorry for him and put a bowl of fresh food on the front porch for him - he ate every bite.

Since the temps on Friday weren't forecasted to be above freezing and there was snow on the ground and ice on the streets, the powers that be decided to cancel school. That meant the girls had nothing to do and were my very own slave laborers for the day. First, I let them have a big brunch - Miss M made pancakes, Miss S made scrambled eggs and I made Bacon. (Casey volunteered to take care of all the bacon grease and did a fine job.)

Then we took all the Christmas decorations off the tree and packed them up. We also took all the garlands off the stairs and the wreaths off the doors. And we gathered up all the rest of the Christmas stuff, placemats, kitchen decorations, candles, bell jars, candy bowls, singing Santa and dancing Mrs. Santa, stuffed santas, etc and packed it all up and then put all the boxes away. The trees are still in the living room but I'm not messing around outdoors in this cold, so there they will stay.

Gratuitous cute dog picture for your enjoyment.

That was Friday. Today I got a wild hair and decided that the bathroom needed some serious cleaning and dejunking. Little girls like bows, ribbons, clips, and headbands for their hair. They like necklaces, earings, jewels and pins too. And they like bath beads, fancy soaps, bath salts, lotions, creams, makeup and all kinds of other smelly, soapy good things. The problem I had was that all these things have been accumulating in my bathroom for the 14+ years we've lived in this house - some we brought along from the last house.

So, first we took all the bath stuffs off the counter. The problem is that as much as the girls love the bath oil beads, they don't take baths. As much as they love all the lotions, they tend not to use them. They love the fancy, pretty little soaps, but they save them because they are too cute to use. And so on. So, we sorted thru the goodies that have been accumulating on the counter and a lot went in the trash. Some went into the guest bathroom for guests to use. Some went into the girls bathroom where they probably still won't get used, but they are out of my sight!



Then we tackled the hair drawer. We still had Winnie the Pooh bows and clips in there. It was so full that it had overflowed - this drawer couldn't be shut at all. The space under the counter where you are supposed to put a small stool to use as a vanity was also filled to overflowing with hair things - bows, ribbons, clips, pins, rubber bands, head bands, curlers, etc. Most of this stuff hasn't been touched or seen the light of day in years. The drawer is now straightened out and can be closed - although it is still pretty full.

The space under the vanity now contains the woofer and a plaque someone sent me. You can see the carpet again (tho it's filthy cuz it hasn't been vaccuumed in years). I did keep all the scrunchies, snoods and other crochet goodies Dena made the girls. I use scrunchies in the summer and thought I'd enjoy them.

Gratuitous cute cat picture for your enjoyment.

On to the Knitting . . . . the important stuff!

This is the blue Mr. Greenjeans sweater that I'm making out of Berroco Lustra. As you can see, the body was mostly finished - I was supposed to work about 8" of the cabled rib pattern and then bind off. I had the 8" but I thought it was too tight - too tight around my mid section, too tight as compared to the rest of the body, too tightly knit, etc. When I put the sweater on, it was too tight and that made the ribbing too short.

So, as much as it pained me, I ripped it out. Now that was a lot of knit and purl and cable and purl and knit and purl. All those cables made my hands hurt. That was a lot of knitting.

It turned out to be a full ball of yarn. Each hank is about 200 yards and I ripped out just over a full hank. That's a lot of knitting. That's a lot of ripping. That's going to be a lot of redo.

And then there is the green top down comfy sweater I'm making. I finally got to the end of the raglan shaping and started the body. I had to knit a few inches of that to make sure it was going to be big enough to go around the bigger parts of me - which seem to be getting bigger every day (all of me is). It was big enough. So then I had to knit a few inches on the sleeves to make sure that they were going to look ok and be an appropriate size for my arms.

They seem to work - I tried it on over another sweater - a tight fitting one that might well end up underneath it when it's finished. The sleeves seemed to be just right. The body seems to be just right. There is just a squosh of something wrong just under the neck - think I must have made the raglan increases too quickly on the chest part there.



Another pic - you can see the extra at the neck, but it's wearable. Miss S says this isn't a good picture of me, but she was nowhere to be found, so I had to use a mirror as my assistant . . . oh well.

And this is Charlotte. She's actually a good bit darker than this picture shows. She still needs her eyes - all 8 of them - but other than that she is done. That's a match box next to her in the second picture for scale.

Isn't she cool?

My Christmas Present

Someone loved me enough to spin some yarn and then gave it to me for Christmas. Golly gee who could that be. I bet if you go back in this blog you might see some pictures of when Teresa was spinning the yarn up.

It is GORGEOUS. Wonderful. Beautimous.

So I had to find the perfect pattern to set it off. I decided on the Eyelet & Garter Shapely Shawlette by Judy Pascale. (If you search the blog you will see where Teresa has made this one a time or three.) Then I saw the same pattern but in the beaded. Called Beaded Eyelet Shapely Shawlette. It is the same thing (as far as my un educated eye can see but one with beads and one without). So I ordered the pattern from FoxyKnits because I also liked the Molly Mobius Scarf.

I have no idea what yarn I am going to use for the Molly scarf but thought it was too beautiful to pass up. And one always needs a pattern to fall back on when you have totally run out of projects to do.

Fred and I went to go look for beads for it. We found some that were okay but just okay wasn't good enough. So last Monday I had to go redo my mammogram (have all you ladies done that for 2009?) I was scheduled for Dec 31 just like every year and something happened and it was a few days late. But it was still for 2009 and 2010 is scheduled for Dec 31. I might wait until the very end of the year but I do get it done.

Anyway, while I was out I went hunting for beads. And found the most gorgeous awesome perfect beads. Then found some even more gorgeous and more awesome. Now the pattern calls for 1550 beads. This I discovered translates into quite a few bucks and more importantly, a lot of weight. Well I had fallen in love with the natural stone beads that I thought complemented the yarn perfectly. It is amazing how heavy 1550 pieces of rock can be. So I looked again and found wondermous beads in a lightweight wood that were to die for. Of course at $5 for 25 beads that is exactly what would have happened.
I finally settled on some Austrian crystal somethings that were light weight enough and weren't going to break the bank. I think they are looking good. I think I am going to do not as many rows of beads as the pattern calls for simply because the yarn is so beautiful on its own. I only want enough beads for a little sparkle and not to detract. I got about the first 8 or so rows done and then ripped it out and started over with a slightly larger needle. Then I got to row 14 with two rows of beads in and decided I wanted fewer beads so I started over. Now I am finished with row 15 and I have decided that the yarn is thicker than what is called for and that I haven't increased the needle size enough. So I will start over with a larger needle, and do only have the bead rows called for. But this is the absolute last time that I am starting over. Especially if I get past row 15.

Don't you think it is going to be the most gorgeous shawl ever? All because of the great yarn I am starting with, of course. Which is all thanks to the most fantastic spinner ever. And a great Christmas gift giver. And my sister. My only sister. Love ya.

In My Pasture

The boys arrived in my pasture. Curt brought them over and showed me lots of stuff.

Stuff like how to give them their worming shots. And Cielito got an antibiotic shot. He will need another one next Saturday.

I learned how to hold these darlings still and how to trim their hooves.


This brown guy is Polo as in Marco Polo. His dad was Marco. He is friendly but more stand offish than Sonqo and Cielito. He is always right there with the herd but in back.

He took treats out of the bucket I was holding but not out of my hand.





Encanto's mother was Serenade. He is friendly but always gives way to Sonqo. He was more than willing to eat the treats out of my hand but always asked Sonqo if he could.
I think he has the most adorable eyes, looking so intelligent. Here is a baby picture of Encanto with his mommy, Serenade (Accoyo America Serenade). He was born in '06




Sonqo is quite a bit shorter than everyone else but has the thickest, fluffiest, softest fleece.
Sonqo also seems to be in charge. He most definitely will eat treats out of my hand while at the same time not allowing anyone else to eat them from my other hand or from the bucket.
He isn't always in the front of the pack but seems to definitely lead it.


Cielito is the old man and the odd man out. Since he was by himself for so many years he is part of the herd here but not really. He always seems to be near them but not really part of the herd. He is so friendly. He is Nancy's baby and has been since he was born. He definitely will eat out of my hand, when Sonqo lets him. He seems to be intimidated by Sonqo and maybe all of them. But he loves people - like me. Likes giving kisses.