black and white

knitting, knitting how i love thee.
stitch by stitch.
round after round.
lovely bamboo needle running through.

sure, we are having record warm temperatures and i can drive around in a tee shirt with the windows down, but i am, nonetheless, craving winter. winter, nordic, winter. i was lolly-gagging around ravelry, exploring mittens and perusing the selbuvotter group-- beauty. there is so much beauty in those tiny stitches. i simply had to get the needles working on it. (if you want the long story: it was saartje's adorable baby cap that had to put into my ravelry queue, that had me then exploring the danish groups, the nordic knitters and finally selbuvotter.) well, i'm down right addicted. can't stop. this is what i've cranked out today. last night i had to pull the better part of the reindeer/moose glove i had going. it was HUGE. i knew i had a slightly different gauge, but this wasn't even going to fit papa elf himself. Now i'm well into this mitten, and while it fits me perfectly, i would have liked it to be a bit bigger to fit my father. oh well, new mittens for me.

now, speaking of Folk (it's all folk, all the time around here)
here's another shot of my feather and fan triangle shawl. there hasn't been too much growth recently. for one thing, the rows "all of a sudden" have a gagillion stitches on them. each row takes a little longer to finish. and reason two: i've got selbuvotter. the picture shows the new light browns that are going to make up the feather and fan portion of the shawl. the 2 skeins i so badly had to get.

cheers. happy thanksgiving ya'll. i'm making pies.

"prevention is the best medicine"

it would appear that there is A Cold out there in blog land. that's an enormous blanket statement. but let me just say that it seems many people have been sick and so clearly, The Junk is spreading. That being said, i'd like to leave you with my favorite things to take when i might be getting The Crud.

First Up: Kick Ass Immune. (apparently, there has a been a name change, i liked the old one. it made me feel bad ass, thus unable to get a wimpy old cold. bring it! i'll kick your virus ass with herbs! take that!)

This one is great when you feel that little bit off and the voice in your head says, "i'm feeling odd. might i be getting sick?" Yes, you probably are, and you'd better take something now. And then you should bulk up.

Ultimate Zinc-C

time to kick up the good stuff. what i like about these, compared to other zinc products, is the addition of echinacea, bee pollen (wonder of the world, what can't bee pollen do for your body?!) and slippery elm, which coats your [now] slightly scratchy throat. what i don't like is the semi- metallic taste i have in my mouth at the end of the day, after taking several. That's okay tho, because i wash it all down with: yogi tea Cold Season.
it's got a ginger taste and something else wonderful and with a healthy glug of honey poured in, it's really rather good. my experience with some other cold and throat teas is the overwhelming licorice taste, which I DO NOT LIKE! it turns me off from using teas to help prevent or heal. ick. licorice. i know it's good for you, but really, ick!

and there you have it, some of my favorite things for cold prevention.

santa is a knitter

For those of us that prefer to make holiday gifts, it really isn't too early to start thinking Christmas. that being said, i still don't like hearing and seeing all those holiday jingle bell singin' holiday commercials on t.v.-- it seems too early. i asked tom about this, the commercials being early, and he said, "no. it's just that the weather hasn't changed and cooled off enough." oh. right. Seventy degree days don't make for christmas weather here in the Rocky Mountains.

anyway. every year i love getting The Prairie Schooler Santa issued for the year. I've been making these for my Mother Werner, a previous cross-stitcher herself. I totally spaced it out last year! So, this year i'm on it. And imagine my thrill when i saw that santa is a knitter. Not just a knitter. but, a multi-project knitter. santa's got two pairs of needles with him. And look he's doesn't have just one bag. but a basket and a bag! like me. i've been stitchin' a lot. it's been a nice little change from knitting.



oh, but who am i kidding. i'm knitting too. i've started the feather & fan triangle shawl from Folk Shawls- thanks to Cosette's inspiration!
i'm using the rest of the ecological wool that i had-- and just used for the Tomten. i think i have a new crush on this yarn. i also just bought two other shades to go with it. i drove really fast to get more yarn. it was one of those Must Buy Yarn for This Project Today moments. No, it wouldn't wait until tomorrow. And no, it's not like i needed it to keep knitting. I just had to get it today. So, i'm rockin' it down to the town that has the yarn (yes, i called to check) about 35 miles away. And when i get there, the shop is CLOSED. what!? i thought i checked the closing time online. they "should" be open later. As i approached the door, to double or triple check that they were closed, the shop owner was walking out (you know, end of her business day, ready to go home) and kindly said, "Did you need something?" I sure did. I needed yarn. and I knew just what yarn i wanted. "well come on in and pick it out," she said to me. Can you believe that?! The shop is closed and she's still willing to sell me yarn! I was so appreciative. Ya'll should visit the Recycled Lamb (during regular business hours, of course) if you are needing yarn. Today!

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look people! it's a little dusting of the precious white stuff. of course, it didn't last long after i took this picture. but it's hopeful. and makes for a good soup day. i did a little nordic snow dance (not traditional. i made it up. didn't want you to google 'nordic snow dance' and come up disappointed.).

the button factory

it's only taken me forever to figure out how to get titles for each post. and, i've decided on a new page template. it's a mini-make over. something new.

some projects have been lingering in the "needs buttons" basket for awhile.

little birdies for a little sweater.

something simple for simple shoes.

and a classic zipper for a classic jacket.

the tomten is done and i love it. i love it so much i could just about make another one right this minute!