How am I doing?

Stuff I need for tomorrow:

Felted clogs: done
Knitted dishcloths: 9 1/2 complete
Knitted cloth bags: 0 (I should get 2 done tonight)
Something to bring to share for the party: no idea what to bring
Wrap presents: started (I'm using gift bags so it goes pretty quick)

Purchasing the rest of the gifts: Sunday.

Monday work has been cancelled so I'll be heading to WI early.

felted clogs

felted clogs
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I realized I forgot to upload a photo of the clogs I already fulled. I think they turned out nice, even though the pattern is a bit tedious.

I soldier on...

I knit 3 more wash/dish cloths last night which brings the total up to 6. I have 3 more skeins of cotton which should yield 6 more cloths.

I felted the clogs for mom and they turned out great.

Tonight I am stopping at the book store for presents. Friday I will be making carmels for the family gathering on Saturday.

My mom's cousin called and gave me the recipe for her family's flat brod. I'm going to try it out and add it to the class repertoire in February.

I have a desire to purchase a grey wool skirt to wear with my new red knee highs.

A day of pampering

I think people underestimate how nice it is to spend a day fully relaxed, and mostly asleep, while people slather different creams, lotions, and balms on your body. It really is worth every penny.

If you have an AVEDA institute near you, go and take advantage of it. The prices are 60% what you are going to pay at a professional salon and I was treated like a queen all day. The only thing that was missing was a locker for my stuff and wandering around in a fluffy robe and slippers.

I started the day with Elemental Nature Facial with a revitalizing eye treatment. I rounded out the day with the Carribean Therapy Body Treatment (dry room version). I fell asleep during both proceedures and I felt amazing afterwards.

Currently the Aveda in Minneapolis has a special for $99 for a facial, massage, manicure and pedicure. Very reasonable.

Day of gifts

Ok you knitters who did not make it to fiber night on Monday, here is what you missed.


It was delicious.

I slept in this morning and when I went downstairs for coffee my gift from P was sitting there for me. There was much squeeing!


Today I have an appointment for a facial at 1 and a massage at 3 at the Aveda institute and then pints after fighter's practice. It's going to be a wonderful day!

Weekend knitting goodness

Subway Mittens: Done!
Matching hat for mittens: Done!
1 clog: Done!

Tonight I will finish the second clog and pop the pair in the washer to felt.

I got an early birthday present on Saturday. A set of Ebony Lantern Moon DPN's in size 2. They are awesome!!! Now I want to cast on a sock.

To Do List by December 22

Felted clogs
Subway mittens (started 12-12)
6 Market bags
6 Dish cloths

This weekend I am attending a baby shower and would like to make a stuffed rabbit as part of the gift. I have one mitten done and will be starting the second tonight so that will be one gift down. I think I will have enough yarn to knit up a G cap to go with it. Saturday G2 is coming over to work on her tent so I will spend the time knitting market bags or cuddly bunnies.

Saturday night is dinner. Sunday is the baby shower. I'm thinking we should go to the Pompeii exhibit this weekend.

Clessidra stockings are done

I finished the toe decreases and kitchnered the second stocking this morning. They look and fit great! I need to finish weaving in the ends on the second and then wash and block both of them. Maybe I can finally rid my hands of the red dye.

Steve's Liquor

We stayed in Madison over the weekend for the event and went to Mill Street Inn and Pub for brunch on Sunday before heading home. After brunch we stopped at Steve's Liquor.

I know that MN has Surdyks and The Cellars but they do not compare to Steve's. They were out of Spurgeon Mead, which is our stand-by drink du jour at Lilies. We did cheer ourselves up by purchasing some new beers:

A single of Delirium Noel, Belgian Ale
A single of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale
A single of Kill Ugly Radio
A case of Grays Honey Ale
A 4 pack of Dogfish Head Festina Peche
A 6 pack of Fallen Apple from Furthermore Beer
A 6 pack of Pranqster, a Belgian style Golden Ale

Our travel companion picked up a couple singles of Santa's Butt.

So far we have tried the Pranqster and the Fallen Apple and both have been delicious.

Toe still hurts

A rather stout piece of wood landed squarely on my big toe on my right foot Wednesday night. Of course I was in the middle of moving something important so I really could not take the time to do the "boo boo ouchy dance" and sucked it up.

Once the pain kicked in I actually felt faint. The color rushed from my face, I broke into a cold sweat and my vision started to go tunnel like. That was fascinating. It hurt like a mother Wednesday night and most of Thursday and today it has the ocassional dull ache, but it's not that bad. I'm pretty sure I'm going to loose the nail.

New gadget

I stopped at Barnes and Noble last night to look for book lights. I've been wanting to pick up a book light that I could use to knit or do hand crafts by during car rides.

I ended up buying this item.

I'm thinking I can clip it onto my waistband or on the back of the seat in front of me and it should work. We will see.

I also picked up the holiday edition of Interweave Knits. weeeeeeee Tonight is a long drive to Madison for Boar's Head on Saturday. My new gown is done, except the hem.

I'm hoping to color my hair before we leave cause my roots are a fright.

Clessidra heel

100_1192
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I've reached the heel flap on both stockings. I've added a reinforcing thread to each heel flap and will use it through the short row shaping for the heel cup and the toe.

I'm liking how the stockings look, but dang they are taking a while to complete. Please keep in mind that more than 2 weeks is a long time for me to complete stockings. Now that the cabeling is done in the back most of the knitting will be seed stitch so that should speed up the foot.

Silk!

100_1191
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

The silk was delivered this morning. WOW! The color is wonderful and it is so even. I can hardly wait to begin!

Garb progress

My wool gown was sewn together last night and I tried it on with one of my fitted gowns to check how it looked. I must say I'm loving it. I started adding the fur and I sewed the center seam. I still need to hem it and tack down the fur trim, which I will start tonight at the Baronial meeting.

Tonight we are collecting Toys for Tots and we are expecting memebers of the Marines to join us. Last year we had a lot of fun and I expect this year to go well too.

It will be funny if TRM's call with their decision tonight since all 3 tickets will be at the Baronial meeting.

Garb for Boar's Head

The theme for Boar's Head is Agincourt so I am sewing a Burgundian gown to wear over one of my fitted gowns. It's a deep burgundy almost brown color. I pre-washed the wool and hung it to dry. It fulled a little in the wash, but not bad. I cut everything out on Sunday and last night I attached the lining to the front and back and tacked it down. I reinforced the V neckline with a strip of silk so that it doesn't stretch on the bias. I sewed the sleeves, lined them and attached a strip of fake fur. The fake fur is grey and almost looks like squirrel. I still need to hand tack the fur down, and do a bunch of other hand sewing.

Tonight I am pinning and sewing the gown together. The construction is fairly simple: 2 sides, 2 back pieces, 2 gores, and 2 sleeves. The front will be sewn together and then close with a hook and eye. The closure will be hidden under a belt. Most of the construction will be done by machine with hand finishing to secure the fur to the gown and finish the hem. I'll need to finish the interior seams eventually, but I may not have time to do this prior to the event.

I have not made this type of gown before, but I understand the theory behind it. Either it will look fabulous or it will be a hot mess. I really wish I had a decent hat to wear with it. I should have something tall, but I can't imagine that I will have time to whip something together before this weekend, which is when I plan to wear it.

Onto December

Ok now that November is over I can return to my more sporatic blogging nature.

P was giving me crap on Friday that I was just shy of having a post for every day in November hense the reason for the 2 silly posts in one day.

On Saturday P and I braved the roads, wind, sleet and snow to travel to KWAR in Minneapolis. We went primarily to meet with TRM's so they could speak to us about the Baronial selection for Nordskogen. I thought the meeting went well. They just received the polls that day so I'm not sure if they had time to look at any of them before they spoke to us, which is too bad but what are you going to do? They did speak to the former Barons and Baronesses, which I was glad to hear, I think that makes a lot of sense.

At this point I really have no idea how this is going to go. All of us will find out sometime this week and the rest of y'all will find out at Boar's Head. However it goes I'm going to be happy with the decision and it just means that I will know if I'm in the kitchen or not at 12th Night.

Done!

ok, that's 30 posts.

This just in

Yep, still a dork

Plimoth Stockings

I received more yarn to complete the Plimoth stockings on Thursday the 29th. I only needed to spend another hour to finish knitting the foot on each stocking. Overall I think they turned out nice and washing the stockings improved the feel of the yarn a great deal!

I'm still hot and cold about this pattern and would really like to pick the designer's brain about her choices. I don't agree with a lot of her choices, but I don't have access to her research, just my research.

They are complete and I have a glove pattern and yarn that I can start next.

Fancy Silk Sock

I finished the second Fancy Silk Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks over the holiday. I took the second sock to the family's Thanksgiving gathering on the 23rd and finished it when I got home that night. It's really pretty, and the pattern is not that fussy.




I really loved working with the yarn. I used Knit Picks Pallette in Navy and I really like it.

Another Christmas present is complete!

Exercise bike

P found a recumbent stationary bike on Craig's List and we went and looked at it last night. It's by Pro Form and it's in nice condition. It has 7 different exercise programs, a seat that adjusts to 4 different positions so that one can use it as a weight bench (comes with a set of 3 weights) and the seat adjusts enough so that P and I can sit at it comfortably. It runs pretty quiet and I'm hoping that it will encourage both of us to use it.

P paid $150 for it, which is a good price.

The plan is to put it in the basement where the DVD player is so we can pop in one of our DVDs and watch while we exercise. I'm going to look at my schedule and see where I can fit in an extra 30-60 minutes per day for this. Just a little bit each day will be good for both of us.

I'm hoping we can get it down the stairs OK.

Silk!

The silk for the uber awesome silk hose is being shipped to me this week!!!! YAY! I can hardly wait to start them. I friended the person who's pattern I am using for the hose on Ravelry.

I am totally loving Ravelry. I am meeting so many people who do historical knitting both in and out of the SCA. I'm having so much fun.

The silk is from Halcyon yarn and is a 2/12 weight. I'm knitting it at a 12 stitches/ inch on size 00 needles. The swatch has a heavenly hand and I can hardly wait to see the color that Drea got with the cochineal. I think my fingers will be red for a number of months with the silk and my wool.

I knit another decrease on the Clessidra stockings last night. I slipped them on and they fit perfectly!

Clessidra stockings

100_1175
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I knitted another inch or so on the pair last night. I completed the 3rd decrease and am half way to the fourth, only 7 more to go after that (84 rows). I'm making the stockings longer so they can be held in place with garters. They are being knit on size 1 circulars and it is slow going, but the pattern keeps it interesting.

I might actually have them done for 12th night.

Quick knit for a sick girl

100_1172
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

My boss' daughter was taken to Children's Hospital on Monday for emergency surgery. She is 5. I decided to knit up something special in hopes of cheering her up and luckily I had a pattern for a stuffed bear and enough yarn to make it in my stash.

The pattern is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and there are instructions for making a rabbit and an elephant. I think one could easily make a cat or dog too. I think there is enough of this brown yarn for another stuffed toy, which I could use for a present for an expectant mom.

I sat and knit while G2 sewed her pavilion. It was a good productive night AND I received confirmation that P and I got feast tickets for Boar's Head.

Turkey Knitting weekend

I love long breaks from work, it allows one to get a whole lot done.

Thursday was spent doing a lot of knitting, but also making some stitch markers for 12th Night gifts. I finished 12 sets. I baked a pie and lefse on Thursday and brought the uber apple pie to my aunt and uncles for Turkey Day on Friday. About half of their immediate family was there and all of my immediate family. The pie and lefse was a sucess and I got caught up with the whole family and the college students. I brought the second lace sock to work on and finished it Friday night. I'm going to wash and block the lace pair and the snowflakes tonight.

I was supposed to have G2 over for pavilion sewing on Saturday but plans changed. It was an excellent excuse to get up early and do some cleaning so I'm glad that time was not lost in bed all morning. I cast on for my Clessidra stockings. Hmmmmmm pretty. I obviously did not rinse the yarn well enough when I did the overdye cause my hands are a nice shade of red in places. Every time I go to wash my hands, I'm suddenly concerned that I have cut myself. Yeah, not too bright. I'm knitting the stockings at the same time on 2 size 1 circs. I have done 2 calf decreases and they measure 6.5". Not bad for a couple days knitting.

Thanksgiving Friday

And I'm at work. ::sigh:: That's ok cause I'm the only one here, no one is calling, I've gone through the bills, coordinated two wires and now I'm listening to my podcasts and doing some filing. It's a good day.

I'll be out of here by noon to go home, pick up P, grab the lefse and pie and head to Lonsdale for the family gathering.

I do not understand the Holiday shopping in the early am. I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that I'm making most of my gifts. When I'm in charge I would make a law that would not allow stores to open before 9 am on the Friday after Thanksgiving so that everyone can enjoy it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My turkey day with the family will actually be on Friday so today I am sitting at home, enjoying the day off, knitting a second sock out of the navy yarn, re-knitting the heel for the Plimoth socks (they look a lot better), and baking.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One sock done

1 fancy lacy sock completed last night and another inch worked on the Plimoth socks at the super secret knitting cabal at G2's.

(shhhhhhhhh, we are knit'n yarn and you can't come)

We also solved all the problems in the universe so that was a nice evening's work.

No Ohio trip for us so I can take Thursday to do my baking. Maybe I can make a nice dinner for Thursday night. Friday is Thanksgiving dinner at the Goodoiens.

One gift started

Thursday I purchased some items to make gifts for my knitting friends for 12th Night. I have not started assembling them yet, but I will probably do that this week. I started the socks for my sister.

I began the Fancy silk sock by Nancy Bush on Saturday and I have almost one done. I have 4 inches left on the foot before I start the toe decreases. The Palette yarn from Knit picks is working well in this application and I like the design. It's very delicate.

I knit a bit on the Plimoth stockings too, but they are still on hold for a while.

I need to send in my Baronial Poll today.

Yummy food

I made November's dish in the Cook A Long and it did meet the almost 1 yr old test and was happily gobbled up to bouncing and yummy noises.

DJ socks

DJ socks
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I was a bit inspired last night and whipped up a pair of socks for DJ. I used left over Baby Ull from his sweater and the pattern for Festdrakt socks from Soft Treasures for Little Ones. Not bad for an evening's work.

Today I tried the November Cook-A-Long recipe. I'm quite pleased with it. It has a nice taste, but I think it should be thicker so next time less broth. I have enough broth to make a couple more batches, just need to buy more squash.

Sweater made by un-godmother G

Sweater made by un-godmother G
Originally uploaded by Margareta Saunfayle

How cute is this boy????
I do need to knit him new socks since these no longer fit on his chubby feet.

My turn

Since the boy was good enough to haul off 2 old CPU's, 1 old monitor, 1 old VCR, 1 lap top station, and 2 old tv's the other day (do you hear the chorus of angels??) It is my turn to wait in line to drop off some items from the office (along with my busted VCR from the sewing room and an old phone).

Free recycling for electronics ends Saturday! Edit: It ended today......too many people brought stuff. http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1555790.html

I'm still having breakfast at IKEA for a treat.

Will the next project come on down!

Snowflake socks: Done!

Plimoth stockings: on hold.....

What I should be knitting for gifts:
1)Another pair of felted clogs
2)pair of navy socks
3)cotton market bags
4)cotton dish cloths

What I should be knitting for the raffle:
1)Another pair of blue and white socks of a design TBD

What I should be making for 12th Night:
1)Gifts for people
2)A new wool over gown
3)Re-soleing my leather shoes
4)Sew up a new pair of wool stockings
5)Sew up a new smock for Eleanor
6)New blue velvet gown
7)Fix my blackworked chemise

What I would rather be doing:
Casting on my clessidra stockings in the wool I dyed with G2.

Who wants to guess which is going to win out?

Snowflakes

Since I ran out of yarn for the stockings, I picked up my discarded Snowflake socks again from the Fall Interweave Knits magazine. I have one finished and the second started. I finished the second one to the heel, made the heel flap, completed the gusset decreases and started on the foot. I have 2 more pattern repeats before I start the toe.



Once they are done I will wash and block them for the raffle at 12th Night. Looks like they will fit women's size 8-10 foot. I had no trouble getting the finished one on my foot (size 10). The yarn is nice and soft.

I can has yarn pleze?

I reached a small snag on my volunteer knitting for Plimoth.



Um, yeah. I'm out of yarn and I don't think these are supposed to be scoggers that I am knitting.

My gauge is correct. I'm following the pattern that was provided to me (even though I think the stockings look way wierd) and yup, out of yarn. Guess I get to ask for more.

Knitting progress

I have 7" left on the Plimoth Stockings before I start the heel. (2 of 6 decreases remaining). I'm starting to get concerned that I am going to run out of yarn, but I'm staying positive.

I finished one of the snowflake socks and started the second. I actually knit 3 rows at the trendy club on Saturday. I think I lowered the "cool" in there by several dgrees. Ah, heck, it's good for them.

I picked up more yarn for another pair of felted clogs for Mom. Deep purple for the soles and a varigated yarn for the uppers. I think it will be very cute when done. I already have dad's wrapped.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday. Where is November going?

Birthday celebration weekend

Went out on Saturday to celebrate my apprentice's birthday (a bit early since her birthday is on the 19th). She made reservations at Chino Latino, which I have never been to before. The decor was very opulant, quite trendy, and very stylish. The company was wonderful! Filled with laughter and much merriment. The food? Well I ate an early dinner so I was simply planning to get an appetizer and a dessert. The average price for an appetizer was $11 and every dessert involved either exploding chocolate in some form or bannanas. I chose to stay with my mojito and a cup of coffee; with tax and tip my bill came to $17. I had a lot of fun with my friends (when I could hear them over the music) but there was nothing about the place that I could/ would recommend to anyone. It's really overhyped.

After settling the bill I proposed we walk to Zeno Cafe, which is a dessert, coffee, wine bar less than a block away. That was a lovely place! I ordered a White Chocolate/ Raspberry/ New York Cheesecake and a french press of Zeno signature coffee. It was fantastic! Now I want to go back and eat the giant wedge of chocolate cake that Gabe ordered. I probably would expire on the spot from the sugar load, but man would it be worth it.

I got home around 2 am. It was a grand evening filled with new experiences.

Plimoth stockings

I received my kit for the Plimoth stockings this week and last night I cast on and started the stockings. Naturally Nehemiah wanted to give his approval.

The yarn is called "camel". Good match don't you think? Especially considering the color of both of my cats.







Nehemiah was using it for a pillow, but I didn't get the picture soon enough. Hopefully none of the interpreters are allergic.

(I plan to wash and block the pair before I send it off.)



The yarn is New England Shetland by Harrisville. It has a very loose ply, which makes it interesting to work with. On the next pair I may skein and wash it first before knitting with it. It is rather rough.

Chicken Soup

Last night I made chicken soup from scratch to help Tim win his battle with the cold that has taken hold of him. Also it makes the house all warm and humid, and smell good to boot.

I started with a whole chicken (about 5 lbs). Added approx 4 qrts of water (enough to cover), a whole onion peeled, 2 carrots cut large, 2 sticks of celery cut large, fresh sage, salt, whole pepper berries, bay leaves, parsley and tyme. I let the whole thing simmer while I went to the Nordskogen meeting. When I got home I removed the chicken and poured the stock into another pot through a seive to removed the veggies and spices.

I chopped 2 onions and 3 stalks of celery and sweated that in the soup pot with a bit of olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper, about 5 minutes. I added the stock back to the pot along with the shredded chicken, a bag of frozen baby carrots, more parsley. I added about 4 cups of water to increase the stock, but that's going to depend on whether you need to thin the stock or not. If you are worried about wattering down the stock you can add some organic chicken stock instead. I brought the soup back to a boil and added the no yolk egg noodles and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. I think it needed more salt, but I purposely left the salt content low for Tim.

On that note it's time to heat up my lunch. Chicken noodle soup naturally!

Viking coat

Well that's the name my friend gives it. Honestly I have not delved into the subject to say what coats the Vikings wore, if any. More likely the origin of this style is from Russia or the East.

The body is constructed as one would a simple tunic, the only difference is you cut open the center front. All the material was provided by the recipient and the trim was picked by her because of her love of camels. The fur is fake. I think it turned out pretty good. The coat material is a bright red wool/ cashmere blend. It's just luscious.


Full length shot


detail of the cuff

I have a fancy pewter hook and eye that I need to sew on, but I will be delivering the finished coat and leftover material to Kay tonight.

Chilly

I caved and turned the heat on this morning. It was 56 degrees F in the house and the wind was howling. We were fine with the cats and blankets, but it was getting a bit chilly.

We have a programmable thermostat and it turns up the heat in the morning, turns it down when we go to work, turns it up again when we are returning home, and turns it down over night. I purchased it and had maintenance install it when we moved in several years ago. It's not a super fancy item, but I love it. It makes so much sense to use one. I also replaced the furnace filter this morning.

In honor of the slight flurries yesterday I have started these.


Snowflake socks from Fall 07 Interweave knits. I'm using leftover Dalegarn Baby Ull from DJ's sweater. The finished pair should fit a Women's 6 1/2-8 foot and they are going in the Quill raffle at Nordskogen's 12th Night.

Flurries

It's official. There was white stuff coming from the sky when I ran to the bank and post office this afternoon.

Maybe we will need to put the heat on tonight.

Christmas knitting begun

First knitted gift was started and finished this weekend: felted clogs for dad.

I think they turned out nice and hopefully they are the right size. I may make another pair for mom and Tim and possibly Kate, but we will see.

I finished the stockings with clocks for Constanza.
I also attached the collar and fur on Kay's coat. I just need to hand stitch it in place and it will be done. I will be caught up with my largess items then.



I have a bunch of cotton waiting to be made into market bags and dish cloths, and I should start that this week. A little every day should mean that I am ready once Dec. 25th rolls around.

Otsukimi pictures/ Japanese garb

I got the pictures last night and I think you will agree they were worth the wait.

So the following are pictures of Padruig and me in our Japanese clothing that we made for Tor Aerie's Otsukimi event on the 20th.

Just think ::Raito::

Oh who are we kidding?

And yes I did fix my kosode after the picture so I was no longer dead.
(You are supposed to wear it with the left side over the right. Wearing it with the right side over the left means that you are dead.)

Hello November!

I just have one question for you: what happened to summer? What happenend to the year? We have primary's next week. Huh? Where did 2007 go?

Last night we handed out candy to the little gouls and goblins, superheros and ninjas. I would say we had about 50 kids and most had an attempt at costume, although we did get about 7-8 disaffected 'youts'. We'll still give them candy, keeps them out of trouble.

Maybe next year we can have our haunted house again, but we might be in a new house by then, fingers crossed

Lefse Fantastique!

My second class for St. Paul community ed was last night and it was wonderful!

I had 4 students, 3 of them representing 3 generations of one family. Fantastic! I had 2 ladies and 2 men. I'm guessing the 2 ladies were probably older than me, early-mid 40's. The two men were the grandfather and grandson of the group. Poppa around 60ish and the grandson approximately 10. They were wonderful students! I demonstrated the first piece and the GRANDSON did the second. He rolled it out perfectly, lifted it onto the griddle and baked it like a pro. It was perfect!!!

My best compliment was when we were eating the finished lefse and the grandfather took his first bite and sighed "Just like I remember".

We were finished by 8:30 and I did get a recommendation to add flat brot to the menu, which I am considering and it was certainly possible to do with 4-5 people, but might be difficult with 10. I'll have some time to experiment before my next class in February.

The grandfather was also a knitter so we chatted about his stuff and I showed him the stockings that I had with me. He learned to knit to make chemo caps for friends and charity. I meet such wonderful people teaching this class.

Lefse class tonight

This will be my second class that I have taught for St. Paul Community Ed. My first class was in May, they have already scheduled me to teach a class in February too. Yay.

As someone who loves to teach people, and kind of does that all the time in my hobby, it's wierd when I get compensated for it. Nice, but wierd.

Crazy Aunt Purl!

Came to Minneapolis to sign her book at the Mall of America, and didn't get a chance to shop. That seems almost criminal, don't you think?

She was absolutely lovely in person. A fantastic combination of Lee Anne Rhimes and Reese Witherspoon, or maybe it was just the accent. She kept asking us if we understood her. "Ya sure, you betcha"

She read the intro and first chapter of her book and it made me want to read more. I really admire her courage to be so honest about coping with her divorce. It's amazing to see the person she has become coming out the other end of that experience.

Like I said, that bastard leaving her was the best thing he could have ever done. She is so much better off. I think this book will speak to many people, regardless if they are knitters or cat owners or not.

Moving on to new projects

Now that the Japanese garb production line is complete I can move back to my other projects.

I started a wool coat with trim and fake fur a week+ ago for a friend who supplied the material for me to sew together. She won the largess competition a year ago so it is high time that I finish this project for her. It is a very simple tunic shape and I had that cut out and sewed in one evening, all the finishing and detail work is what takes time. Monday I hand finished all the seams. Last night I re-attached the front decorative strip and hand sewed the bottom decorative trim. The remaining parts are the collar and fur. She picked out a really nice fake fur that is a rich black, almost sable like and it will be attached to the front opening, the cuffs, along the bottom and at the collar. The coat will close with a single hook at the neck, which I need to determine if she has, or if I need to supply it. The coat is a think wool melton in bright red. The trim is a brocade that features a train of camels. I'm really pleased how it's turning out.

I have started on the red stockings for Constanza for her largess prize. I'm working on size 2 circular needles and am knitting both at the same time.

The yarn is Louet Gems, 100% Merino Wool Sport weight in Cherry Red. I have about 5" knit in total. I'm using the pattern for Stockings with Clocks by Nancy Bush.




I just found out about a chance to do some more historical knitting. Plimoth Plantation is looking for volunteer knitters to make stockings and gloves for their interpreters. They supply the materials and you supply the labor. I requested a kit yesterday, but I don't know how long it will be before it arrives. I probably won't start until the end of January, holiday gifts come first, but what a wonderful way to provide something historically accurate! They provide the patterns and the research that they have done on 17th c. knitted goods too. Bonus! There is no deadline to get the finished items back since they are items that can be used all year long. I can't wait! Maybe I'll try my hands at the gloves too.

Sunday

I decided to be girly so I got a manicure and went shopping.

Film at 11.

I received a really nice compliment on my Dikinson sweater. The clerk at Eddie Bauer asked where I got it so she could buy one. She was impressed and a bit disappointed when I said I made it.

New Garb

This coming Saturday the college SCA group is hosting a Japanese event and I have been working on making new garb for this event. I purchased the fabric last Monday and washed and ironed it over the weekend and started sewing Monday night the 15th. I finished one piece Monday and cut out a second. Last night I finished 2 more pieces and have one more to go.

I'm using a friend's website for construction information and information on the proper wearing of the garments since this is a culture that I have not delved into. Quite frankly my persona would never have known about Japan and the closest info I would probably know would be the stories/ tales of the travels of Marco Polo who made it to China. The Portugese weren't even allowed to land in Japan until the late 1500's.

My outfit is constructed entirely of cotton and consists of the following.
1, white cotton kosode (robe)
1, red cotton hakima (pants)
1, outer kosode, also of cotton (I still need to sew this item so the color/pattern will be determined once I stop at the fabric store tonight)
1, obi (a sash I'm borrowing from a friend)
1, uchikake (unbelted coat that goes over the whole thing)

Considering that I'm nearly 6' and blond I'm going to look rather odd wearing Japanese, but I'm excited to try something new. I'll probably arrange my hair in a single braid running down my back but I'm going to wait for my friend's advise when he comes to town Friday for the event.

People are strange

Saturday morning was filled with excitement. My partner and I were woken by our neighbor who had discovered that someone had riffled through their car and suspected the same had happened to our 2 vans.

Sure enough that was indeed the case. Some person/s had removed a duffle bag of armor bits from P's van and my "oh shit" wooden box from mine. They hauled this stuff across the street (I assumed it was to use the bright security lights on the apartment building to search through the contents). They dumped out all of the stuff and ended up taking a folding knife that was in my box and nothing from P's bag, everything else they just left. They did not break the windows and the locks on both vans appear to still be working. They also left behind the spare set of keys for my van that was in my "oh shit" box. They easily could have driven off with it, although I think I would have woken up if I heard my car start up.

Our neighbor's vehicle was searched through and they grabbed 2 purses and a couple of headsets. One purse had Ms. M's stuff from bible study and they dumped out the contents and took off with the purse. The other purse had her wallet, money, checkbook, and all the items that you would expect in a purse. They dumped out all the contents on the lawn and left it there, including the purse and the cash. Really strange.

Naturally this occurred while we were home, in bed, and our bedroom window faces our garage where we park our cars. I'm annoyed about the knife, but more wierded out that this happened, to the point that I'm uneasy being away from home. The person/s also ransacked about 6 other vehicles in the apartment parking lot across the street. Emptying out contents and strewing them all around.

When I spoke to the officer on Saturday I was the only person who had made a report to the police. We've lived in this neighborhood for 6 years, going on 7, and this is the first time we have had anything happen like this. The officer did not appear to be surprised.

Sunday morning I installed a motion sensor light at the back door. More than likely it's the punk kids who live behind us, at least that was the theory of the girls on our block.

Anyone know where I can buy a gross of bear traps?

Mixed-Up Monkees

I finished my 3rd pair of Sock Monkee socks, to be delivered in Dec.


With the leftover yarn that I have from the sock monkee socks I decided to knit Mixed-Up Monkees. I used the free pattern for toddler socks. I have one done and have started the second.







What a difference mixing around the colors makes.

Sometimes the truth hurts...

I might need to buy another shirt from Despair.com. Fantastic!

$5 off per shirt for the month of October.

As great as the wedding was....

(with apologies to Aesa and Raito, but really this was amazing!) there was another high point to the weekend.

December came early this year and I was treated to a SECOND ROW viewing of the

Royal Shakespeare Company's production of King Lear staring Sir Ian McKellan at the Guthrie last night!!!!!!!

I was 10 feet from the stage OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! My sister got me the ticket as an early birthday gift. (I think she is covered for a while)

The show was 3 hrs and 40 minutes long and it could have been 10 minutes for all I noticed. I'm certain that there were points that I did not breath and I did not blink. It was spellbinding.

As far as the cast in the show was concerned I knew Ian was Lear but knew nothing of the rest, so my jaw nearly fell on the floor when Sylvester McCoy walked out in the role of the Fool.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ELEVENTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

For those who do not know Sylvester McCoy played the 7th Doctor in Dr. Who and he was brilliant in the role of the Fool. A large portion of the first act is the fool and Lear on stage and I didn't know who I enjoyed more in their respective roles. I was in heaven.

This was my first visit to the new Guthrie since it opened and I must say I love it! It is far easier to get to and the parking is much more convienent than the old location. I was there early so I walked around to see all of the sites.









During intermission Katherine and I walked out on the endless bridge and enjoyed the view of the city and then quick hurried back to our seats for the rest of the play.

After the show I hugged her and yelled "that was fantastic!" I was absolutely elated and gone was the exaustion of the weekend and the drive.

Because I am a geek I hung out at the stage door and greeted and thanked the actors for their performance. (some of them were pretty sneaky and almost passed by unnoticed)

I actually did see Ian (that's his head in the center), he was fricken 5' from me, but really I was waiting for Sylvester.....unfortunately I either missed him, or he went out another door. I looked like a puppy who had been kicked.

It was a fantastic! An amazing performance and I feel so lucky to have seen this. I know all the performances are sold out for Lear, but I highly recommend getting tickets for the Seagull cause this cast will be awesome in anything.

I'm still on cloud 9!

Wedding success!!!

All goals were accomplished this weekend.

1) The bride and groom got married

2) Everyone had enough to eat

3) No one went to jail

4) No one went to the hospital

5) Everyone had a fantastic time!!!!!

Thursday I picked up the bride's mom, sister and sister's boyfriend and headed to Madison, WI. We got there about 11 pm and I visited with the birdies and our hostess and then crashed.

Friday morning we loaded everything up and headed off to the bride and groom's house. We had breakfast, greeted people, especially the 5th bridesmaid, Jess, who had been living in Michigan and recently been living in England for the last 2 months, and loaded up 2 cars to head to the reception site, the Madison Masonic Center. At the reception site we unloaded dresses and other items needed for Saturday into our rooms. The groom arrived and started setting up the lighting equipment and sound equipment for the reception along with the groomsmen, who were going to get fitted in their tuxes that day.

The ladies piled back in the van and headed to the hotel so S, C and E could check in and we could pick up the other bridesmaid Jen. Once everything was checked in we headed out to the spa, Aniu. My goodness was that place nice!!!!! We started in the pool room where we could dip between a hot and a cold plunge pool. There was also a steam room. The steam in the pool room itself was enough that my chest felt instantly clearer, the best it had felt for over a week. Then it was my massage appointment with Nicole. Ahhhhhhhhhh. That was so nice and I didn't cough one, just drooled a little. I'm thinking I need to do a massage and facial for a birthday treat for myself this year. It was worth every cent. After massages we took showers and then headed downstairs for a quick lunch.

After lunch was the manicure and pedicure, something I had never done. I don't take care of my nails at all, and am pretty rough on my feet so Catherine had her hands full with me, especially since I kept trying to "help" by holding my hands for her and it was not helping. I got a light pink on my hands and hot pink on my feet.
A choice no one was expecting. It was a lot of fun, but I felt a bit out of my element, however my nails and feet are gorgeous!!! If I wore more open toed shoes I would deffinately get a pedicure again. I had fun showing off my nails all day Saturday. I even managed to knit a little while waiting for my toes to dry.

After the spa we sped back to the hotel for a quick clothes change before we headed off to the Pres House at the U of Madison campus where the ceremony was going to take place.

I hadn't been to the campus before so I got a few shots of the other buildings including the imposing Science building and the old gym, which is now office space?

We found out that Saturday the campus was going to be hosting "Geek Fest" and all I could think of, "well we know where all the groomsmen will be..." We practiced lining up, walking in, and walking/ dancing out. We had a lot of fun.

After rehearsal we headed off to the Essen Haus for a very nice catered meal. We returned the guests to the hotel and I returned to my crash site and waited for P to arrive, which he did around 11:30. We all stayed up far too late and I finally crashed around 2 am.

Saturday morning it was my job to pick up the bride and take her to Cameo Salon for her hair and makeup. Needless to say I was early. I got to relax in the Serenity room and knit and take a little nap while they got started on Angie and Shiela. My turn came and I got a cute up-do and I really like how they did my makeup. It was really nice having someone else work on my look and all I had to do was get dressed. After our appointments Sheila and I walked the 2 blocks to the reception space to have lunch with the guys and wait around to get dressed. It was beastly hot Saturday, high 80's, but not as humid as Friday.

We had barbecue for lunch and then waited for the photographer, well the bridesmaid's started getting dressed without her. Our gowns were royal blue strapless with a nice beaded detail on the bodice. Our flowers were golden roses, carnelians, grape seed, lemon leaf, and hydrangia. They were just lovely. The photographers took shots like crazy all day long so I did not take my camera out much, just a few pictures.

Bridesmaid dress and wrap

Bride looking stunning.

Groom chatting with guests

Various groomsmen.

We took pictures of the wedding party at the Capital and the Stock Pavilion before heading out to the press house. The girls and flowers were in the large van and the boys were in the "short bus", well that's what we called it.

The ceremony was fabulous and I almost cried when the minister was reading her piece. It was really beautiful. Everyone did a fabulous job. We all showed up when we should, dressed and ready to go and we all looked great.

After the ceremony there was more pictures and then some downtime at a pool hall for the wedding party and friends. We arrived at the Masonic Lodge at 6:30 ish and processed in to a quite lively Pacabell's Cannon done on electric guitar. There was no head table so we were able to sit where we wanted. The dinner was great and very filling.

The cake was really beautiful, and they cut it with a sword, of course.

Towards the end of the night I realized I had not got a picture with Padruig, so we got that sorted out.

And one with Halvdan for good measure.

It was such a fun weekend and I think everyone had a great time. The bride and groom were picked up from the reception in a limo and escorted safely home. We were driven to our crash space in the party shuttle.

Sunday morning we had breakfast, said our goodbyes and headed off to pick up my van at the hotel and our fellow passengers. Sunday was very warm and as we were heading through La Crosse the bank sign read 93 degrees. Oy.

We stopped at the border and got some much needed air and were treated to some lovely views.

We got to Northfield around 3 and home around 5. Great weekend and I was so proud to be there and celebrate this ocassion with my friends. It was such a great time!