Winter in New England is such a beautiful time of year especially here in the mountains.  Yesterday we were christened with 16 inches of brand new snow, even though only 8 inches was predicted. 

Ken and I decided to give the new car a test drive in the snow to see how it performs, so we started out towards Jackson, a little town about 15 minutes away.

A number of years ago, my older children and I suffered a personal tragedy and I decided that not only I, but my children could use a bit of a break, so I moved us atop a mountain road in Jackson, called Tin Mountain Rd or Tyrol, if you are old enough to remember that ski mountain.  This was the view from my living room sliders….not bad, eh?  It was also while I was living on the mountain that I started dating Ken, so Jackson always holds a special place in our hearts.

One of the things on my life list is a pair of snow shoes to go romping thru the snow.  There are some incredibly beautiful woods up here in the Mount Washington Valley and it would be fun to do a little winter trail hiking.  We took a lot of these pictures driving up and down Thorn Hill Rd.  At the top where we stopped for this picture, the quietness of the day was so peaceful and the sun flickering in and out of the snow covered tree branches were breath taking.

I was going to include a winter poem with this post, but all of the poems and quotes of winter were bleak and dreary.  I know many people think of winter in this way, but I always feel so alive in the winter.  The cold sharp air makes you sit up and say hello and the gentle quietness after a fresh snow is always so peaceful.  I guess it's a good thing I like winter living in New England. :) 

We enjoyed our trek up the mountain roads of Jackson, but it was nice to get back home to work a little on this…..

Yes, monogamous knitting has been fruitful for me.  I am not the fastest knitter….heck, I am downright slow, but forcing myself to concentrate on only one project has really helped me gain a little focus again in my knitting.

Normally I am not one to use a bunch of stitch markers, but I have to say that using them with this shawl has been a huge help.  Once you find your rhythm with this pattern, it moves along nicely.

I have a little less than 3 repeats of the last chart and the lace edge bind off.  I am looking forward to seeing how this sea silk blocks out.  It has been a pleasure to knit with.

Wow…..it's hard to believe it is already Sunday and I have not blogged since Tuesday.  I feel almost a bit guilty and definitely out of touch.  That daily blogging commitment was almost like having a mother telling me to clean up my room.  I remember when I moved out of my childhood house, I don't think I made my bed for a month. 🙂

Unfortunately I was not feeling well most of the week and really did not have the energy to blog. Today is the first day I have felt almost human again, so here I am.   I actually have a lot to show you, but I will do a little each day. 🙂

You might remember a year or so ago, I broke down and finally bought a new sewing machine.  The one that I had been using was one I got when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter who almost 29. It was time!

Sadly It has not seen much use however this year. One my goals for the upcoming year is to learn how to use it to it's full potential…or at least my full potential..LOL.

The only thing I have sewn in almost a year is the little sock bag pictured at the top. A little earlier this fall, I made this bag as I had promised it to a friend.  She is a very good friend as she waited almost a full year for it…yikes!  I had made up a bunch of these bags for spa last year and these were the colors that she was hoping for, but I had run out.  She is a patient soul I tell ya.

Over the week, I cleaned off my sewing table that had become a catchall for everything, dusted off my machine and reacquainted myself with her.  Yesterday I cut out the fabric for Beetrice's body and this afternoon I will get to business.  (how cool is it that my machine table has a honeycomb pattern…can you see it?)

Last week I told you that I had promised Ashley a handbag.  Over the last few days, I did spend quite a bit of time looking at the countless sewing tutorials out in blog land.  I was blown away by just how many sewing and craft blogs there are.  At least as many as knitting blogs and maybe even more.  Talk about a serious Rabbit Hole….holey moley!

Ashley wants a simple sling bag, so this should be pretty easy.  My tastes on the other hand, are a bit more complicated.  I have had this Amy Butler pattern for a year now, but was not quite ready to tackle it until I have tried a few simpler bags.  Having seen the weekender finished in this combination, renewed my desire to get serious again about it.

I have a market tote all cut out and ready to be sewn, so that will be a good practice piece, but after seeing this tutorial, I think I will start with a few of these first with some of the Amy Butler fat quarters I have kicking around, then move onto the market tote and finally the weekender.  Baby steps usually work best for me. :) 

I don't know if it was the anticipation and excitement of the new year that had me put so many things on the needles or what, but I am here to tell you not all is going well in knitland for me.

The socks above look great on the sock board, but I am not sure that either one is going to be wide enough, which is strange.  I ripped out the one that was looking seriously small and did another one with a regular (non knitpicks) 2.25 needle, which is my old stand by.  As I was knitting, Ash says.."Gee Mom, that looks so narrow, I doubt it would fit me."  Hmmmm…….the more I thought about it the more I am worried she could be right, especially with the one on the knitpics, although they are knitting up at the same length gauge, it still seems narrower.
So…….they have been put on the back burner for just a little bit so that I can contemplate what to do.  Do I rip them both out and do them one at a time on 2.50's or do I finish the larger one on the 2.25 and hope for the best.

…then there is Twisted Vines.  I love working on this sweater.  The yarn is so soft and user friendly.  The problem?  While it looks like a simple knit, it is a bit deceiving.  On the front panels, you have 4 different things going on at the same time to keep track of and none of them coincide with each other.  Not really a problem, but I had set TV aside to finish a few things and forgot to leave a note as to where I left off.  Normally I am very good about that, but not this time and I can't for the life of me figure out where I am, so I will have to rip back a few rows to get my bearings again……so she has been resting as well.

The one thing that had been giving me fits when I started ironically has been the one knit that has been moving along without a hitch now.  I finally found a good rhythm with the Etheral Fitchu. Go figure..  She kind of looks like a scary blob though, doesn't she…LOL

So….I think that I am going to try and recollect my focus and work on only one knit project for a little bit to see if it helps me move in the right direction again.  Although, I have to admit, the sewing machine has been calling, so perhaps a little knitting and just a little sewing….and maybe…just a teeny bit of rug hooking…and……..

You see, I just can not keep myself out of that rabbit hole! 🙂

 
Clearing blue sky,
A promise in the bare branches.
In winter, there are sunny days.
In adulthood, childhood can return.
Deng Ming~Dao

We had a nice snowfall over the weekend.  It was the light fluffy variety that is fun to play in……or stay in and sip coffee if you prefer. 

Ashley came home for the weekend, while Brian and some of his friends did a little winter hiking in Evan's notch, not too far from here.  It's always nice to have Ash come home for a visit and even nicer when it is for a few days.  We spent a little time chatting, drinking coffee, playing Guitar Hero and we went on a road trip to Keepsake Quilting.

I was on a mission you see……..can you tell from the fabric? (click on the picture to see the cool honeycomb fabric) 

Yes, this is going to become my Queen Bee……I think I will call her Lady Beetrice.  It was fun seeing which fabric Ashley was attracted to and how different it was from what I liked.  Ash is definitely into the 70's "mod" type fabric…..me….not so much. (been there done that already… ;)   I did however promise to make her a new handbag.  Interestingly enough when it came to picking out fabric for her bag, she was more conservative than I would have thought.  I was thinking, great….I can work with some Amy Butler fabric, because that is definitely more on the "mod" side, but Ash ended up choosing some batiks.  (I love batiks so it will be fun)

….and…..we traveled in style!  I'm sure a few of you may remember that I got a new car last spring.  It was a sporty glacier blue Honda CR-V.  Great little car that I just never felt very comfortable in.  I have always driven vans and originally wanted to move into a Pilot when we traded in our last van, now that there are only 2 kids left home.  With the gas prices being what they were, I let Ken convince me that the CR-V was the right choice….and I loved how sporty it was. Unfortunately I never found it to be very comfortable and when I did a fiber show this past fall, I ended up having to leave stuff behind because I couldn't get it all in 😦

With the first snowfall up here, we realized that the tires on the CR-V were NOT good in the snow, so instead of putting new tires on it, I traded it in for the Pilot.  Do I wish it was a wee bit more gas efficient…absolutely, but I travel a lot with the dogs or to fiber shows and the alternative was going to be renting a small U-haul, so in the end it is what it is….and I have to admit, I feel much safer and worlds more comfortable. 🙂

I will leave you with a few more snowy pictures…….


Cleo, God bless her little soul HATES the snow.  Can you tell from her expression?  She sits on the stoop and shivers………. while……


Gypsy romps and frolics in the snow.  Cleo is still a Texas gal in spirit but Gypsy is a true mountain dog through and through…LOL.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!

"I once had a pretty doll, dears….The prettiest doll in the world."
Charles Kingsley

You would think with 4 daughters that I would have at least one lover of dolls, but that is not the case.  Over the years I have purchased some lovely dolls for them, only to have them sit like lonely wallflowers in a toy chest.

A number of years ago, I just gave up and decided that since it truly was me who was the doll lover in the family that I would just buy them for me 🙂

Last month I stumbled upon Jenny's page via the LIttle Cotton Rabbit page and instantly fell in love with her Garden Warrior dolls.  When she posted the Lady Beetle, I was smitten……I LOVED her so much that I made her mine.

Jenny sent me the drawing that inspired the doll as well and it is beautiful.  The drawing itself is definitely frame worthy.  She is an incredibly talented artist.

I also purchased her Garden Warrior pattern so that I can give one a try, if I can ever find a few spare hours to sit behind my sewing machine again.  How does life manage to get so busy?

Don't you just love the detail?  I know I do for sure!  I'm thinking that my garden warrior will be a Queen Bee…no surprise there…(grin)

…and then there is "Sweet Annie" or creepy Annie as Hannah and Courtney like to refer to her as…LOL.  I love to watch the expressions on their friends faces when they walk into the living room and see her perched on my Norm Hall spinning chair….priceless! 

The other day Courtney put her phone with some creepy music playing under her dress……..I tell you it was rich….haha! 

I keep telling them, she is not creepy, she is "sweet Annie", but every time I hear the girls comment on the creepiness it makes me secretly chuckle…..I like that Annie is a wee bit creepy… 

Hmmm…I wonder what that says about me…LOL

I thought I would be smart this time around and work 2 socks at the same time, as I bought an additional set of Harmony dp's.  I'm not so sure now it was a smart thing to do…….can you see anything funky about these socks?

Yep, the one on the right is a bit smaller than the one on the left.  How could that happen?  I opened up the package of newer needles to do the first sock, which is the one on the left and it looks perfect.  I used my old needles for the one on the right….and it is definitely smaller.

The strange thing is, a few months ago, I knit up a second pair of Tesserae's and they came out a bit smaller than the first pair that I knit too.  I thought that perhaps I had knit the first pair with a larger sized needle than what I had recorded on Ravelry….but now that I have run into the same thing here, I am completely perplexed, as I know I did not mistake a 2.25 for a 2.0 and the new needles are definitely the 2.25mm ones.

I tried putting both sets of needles into my needle size gauge and sadly, I can not see a difference……acck!  I SO wish that needle makers would put the sizes on the needles.  I certainly wouldn't mind paying a bit extra…would you?

So much for speeding along, I will have to rip out the smaller sock and I think I will try again with an old pair of susan bates 2.25 and see what I get.

Anyhoo…….a little bit about the pattern.  I first saw the sock pattern on Pat's blog.  She used some of my Harmony sock yarn and I just loved how the yarn worked up with the pattern.  The pattern is called Cable Twist socks and is designed by Adrian of Hello Yarn.  Using a fingering weight yarn required a modification and you can read just how Pat did that on her blog.

It's an easy and fun pattern to knit!

Last night as I was moving some things around on my blog, I checked on my little friend, Morgan's memory tree and saw that we were only 3 ornaments shy of 100.

I am always blown away by the generosity of knitters.  Morgan's Christmas tree has become my yearly donation and I want to thank each one of you who joined me in donating a lunch for life. 

Cancer is such a dreadful disease and even more so when it snuffs out the light of a vibrant and energenic child.  It is my hope that Neuroblastoma will be a curable cancer in the future and each dollar that goes towards research is one step closer to that goal……so THANK YOU!!!
 

I also want to thank you all for the helpful tips sent my way for the edges on the Etheral Fichu. Gayle was kind enough to suggest substituting a K2 on the end knit side and a K1,YO on the purl side and you know what…….it works perfectly!
Thanks Gayle!!

Now lest you think I am going to continue with daily blogging, I can assure you that I am not.  I am going to try blogging daily during the week and take the weekends off….but, if I find I don't have anything to say, I am giving myself permission not to post too……here's a little of that trying to be kinder to myself this year….;)

Have a GREAT weekend!

 
(picture taken by Ashley Spalding)
This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.

In the beginning, all things are hopeful.  We prepare ourselves to start anew.  Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in this first moment: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.
Deng Ming~Dao

I have never been one to make resolutions at the beginning of the New Year.  Why put pressure on oneself to potentially fail, especially at the beginning of a new year?  I try to set small positive goals instead.  Even though I am now 50 years old, I keep sticking with baby steps, hopefully going forward, but knowing I will take a few steps back as well.

One thing I have found over the years is that I tend to be hard on myself, as I am sure many of you are as well.  I think it is a woman thing…don't you?  I bet you have just as hard of a time sitting in front of the tv without some sort of knitting in your hands, while perhaps your SO is comfortably stretched out on the sofa watching the ball game.  Our mothers programed us well, didn't they….or did they?

 There are many days that I think to myself ….geez grrl, you are not getting many things finished, but yet today when I finally got around to putting all of my finished items for the year in a photo album, I realized that I actually did get a lot done, especially given my workload.

So……..even though I don't make resolutions, this year I am going to make a small, positive one.  I am going to try to stop being so hard on myself.  To stop pushing beyond what is reasonable and to take a break to enjoy the quiet moments that come along the way when I can.

How about you?  What are your resolutions?

Your friendship is one of the things I am most thankful for in 2008 and I am looking forward to another year full of fiber and friends!  Happy New Year!

It was not a very good day today at The Woolen Rabbit, so instead of boring you with my tale of woe, I will leave you with a bit of beauty here in NH.

Ashley's Christmas present this year was a new camera and I am very impressed with what she is doing with it. 

I hope the picture makes you smile the same way it made me smile. 🙂