The Bird Is Dead

Yes, the turkey is well and truly done--stick-a-fork-in-it done. Also its bones chewed on a bit! We had a marvelous dinner (it's always better when you don't have to cook it). DS did an outstanding job of cooking as usual, and topped it off by having an elegant "sit-down" for all eleven of us--a real accomplishment! Now, as I write I am reminded that I STILL have not had the nap required by all turkey eaters. Yawn....

If you are wondering about the picture above, it is Tah-Dah! the size #0, #1, and #2 Comfort Zone double pointed needles. This is what they look like without the color added, and I just got my hands on them yesterday for testing. I have been promised some of these little babies with color on Monday. I will be adding them to the Knitting-On-The-Go website tomorrow, along with the size #7, #8, #9, #10, and #10 1/2, also new to the CZ line-up. In all my years of knitting I have not been as happy with knitting needles as I am with the Comfort Zone needles. They have kept my hands from cramping during hours of knitting, and the residual hand aches and pains, that once were a constant annoyance, are gone! Don't know what I would do without them--especially since I am addicted to sock knitting. If you are interested in adding to your dpn collection, or just trying the best of the best in double pointed needles, you can reply here, email me at knittykat@sbcglobal.net, or go the the website link on the left to order. I am told that Comfort Zone Circulars are next!

It's A Done Deal

We finally bought a car--a Chevrolet Malibu Maxx SS. It's a fun car to drive with good pick-up, great breaking, all around airbags and curtains, and lots of goodies we hadn't even thought about. Best of all, the ride is so smooth that I can knit without being jostled about.

So glad that's over and I can get on to more important things like knitting, and Thanksgiving! I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. Ours is not going to be on Thursday. We have a family of nurses and firefighters who all have to work on Thursday. The rest of the family is in Chicago, and while I wish we could be with them or they with us, I guess it's not going to happen this year. So here is the meeting and eating line-up: Friday we have dinner with SIL's father and his wife, and Saturday our Dallas son is making a gourmet dinner, which he does every few years. What a treat!!!! I don't have to cook at all!!!! (Yes, that deserves three blog's worth of exclamation points!). I plan to sit in front of a roaring fire with feet up and knit--in between helping in the kitchen, and helping to serve and clean up. Some things never change.

You all know that it's not about the food. It's all about family. Although the food becomes about family very quickly. I was telling a friend today that my Mother always made fruitcakes for Christmas. She would make them in early November, wrap them and pour whiskey all over them, and let them "steep" until the week before Christmas. We would all joke about the fact that we hated the cake, so we would wring out the whiskey soaked wrappings, drink it and throw away the fruitcake. But the truth of it is that right around this time of year I start craving fruitcake--and I hate the stuff. I guess what I really crave is time with Mother, baking and joking, and waiting with anticipation for Christmas with the family. This time of year life is better than good--life is spectacular!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families.

And Another Thing

This is something I didn't plan to add to my Christmas gifties, but I will now. I found it stuffed away, 2/3rds done and just begging to be finished and given to someone. I don't even know what the yarn is--maybe Lion Brand Imagine, which I think is a mohair blend. It's really pretty and so warm I would be tempted to keep it if I still lived in Chicago. It makes me feel good to pick up and finish something I started umpteen years ago. I can't even remember why I didn't finish it then. It was probably too warm for Texas and I had socks to knit instead. I think (hope) it will be liked by the person who receives it. Christmas knitting is coming along!

We spent the day driving new cars. We really liked the Ford Five Hundred. That's how it's written on the car, not Ford 500, but FIVE HUNDRED, and for that they charge you a whole bunch more money. It's an SUV pretending to be a sedan--unique and totally plush. Still, it is a lot more than we expected to spend. Then we drove the Ford Escape, sort of a mini-SUV and again, a totally pleasant driving experience. Our son insisted that we try the Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, another mini-SUV with good performance and a five star safety rating. The safety rating is more important to me than to the guys (DH and our two good cop, bad cop negotiating sons). I have a real need to be in an M-1 A-1 Abrams the next time someone comes out of nowhere and involves me in their accident. The bottom line is that it only takes money. Add to that the fact that car salesmen just don't understand "We can't afford that," and it makes car shopping the pits! This too shall pass....

Woe Is Me

It happens to a lot of people...you're driving along, finishing your errands for the weekend, looking forward to curling up on the couch with your knitting. Suddenly, BAM--CRASH!!! That lady in the other Toyota crosses three lanes of fast moving traffic and appears right in front of you. You lock up the brakes, brace for the impact and wait for the slap of the airbag. That was my Saturday morning. How was yours?

My DH did a masterful job of driving, but our poor little Toyota is toast. So, it's off to car shopping we go. I really don't need this right now with all the Christmas knitting I have to do, but at least I can sit in showrooms and the back seat of test cars and knit. Can't you see it now, "How do you like this one dear," he says. "Oh it's nice. The ride is smooth enough for me to knit in the back seat. I'll have to try it in the front." "Do you like the color?" he asks. "Hmmm? Color? Oh, it's okay too." Do you get the picture--that I don't care as long as it will get me to the yarn shop and back? The most important thing that happened this weekend was that we all (the two of us and the people in the other car) walked away from what could have been a really bad accident. New cars can be bought, but not new lives! Life is good!

Speaking of knitting (yes I was!). I'm finishing the "sock savior" socks for a sockless pal, and they are beooootiful. The sixth bag to be felted is coming off the machine tonight (only three more to go), and #2 sock for DS is well underway.

H-M-M-M-M ! ! !

Something on my mind--knitting groups. I have my pet groups, the ones on which I contribute and learn equally. I also enjoy the ones I lurk on, mostly because there is good information and the knitters are generally on target and sometimes even brilliant. Some of them are so good and so real, that to add anything would be only to concur and say "yea, you're great!" The information is good and the ideas stimulating.

THEN, there are the ones that seem to constantly put people down because they don't "stay on subject." The contributors can't seem to say, "it's a nice day" without the moderator saying "stop it, you're not talking about knitting." I've read two today in which the contributor made a statement about her wrists hurting from knitting so much, and another on a sock knitting list group about something other than socks. In both cases, the moderator slapped--so to speak--the writer down for not staying on subject.

I don't know about the rest of you, but knitting is part of my life. It's impossible to talk about knitting without talking about life in general--my family, my dog, the weather (bulky or lace weight?). I would like to see every knitting group share life, which includes knitting, whether it's socks, lace, machine or...just life! Idealistic? I guess so. Impossible to manage? I don't think so. Would I have to start my own group to prove it could work? Can't! Life would get in the way!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This is the first documented case of Bird Flu in the United States.... (I had to look at that for a few seconds before I realized what I was looking at). This was sent to me this morning and made me laugh so I wanted to share it.

I haven't posted for a week, and the way things are going posts will be scarce between now and Christmas. We all get so busy around the holidays. Why is it that work seems to speed up at the same time? I guess everyone wants to get everything cleared up before the end of the year. So I have been working and knitting, then knitting and working, then knitting some more. I am making progress though, and I am starting to think of the things I will knit after the holidays.

I was asked to knit socks for a sock pal who didn't get socks. I am so excited--and making great progress! I am turning the heel on the first sock and hope to finish both socks by next Wednesday. I won't tell what they look like now, but will post a picture when they are finished and mailed to the giftee.

All in all, I guess things are going okay, and any time you can say that--well, life is good!

Snow In Texas

Click on the pic to enlarge it and you will see the sparkles. It looks like freshly fallen snow, glistening in the sunlight. I love this yarn so much I went back for three more skeins this morning. Don't know what I'll do with them, but when I think of it they are in the old stash-a-roo. I'm once again knitting the Super Sock, because they keep my feet warm, and because I never seem to get tired of knitting them. I'm also turning the heel of the second Pansy. I have some Opal Zebra calling out to me from the knitting room. The yarn is talking to me again--"come and knit me!!" Help!

Speaking of the stash calling out to me, only one more day to this work week, and I get to play in the knitting room all weekend. There are no plans, except to play among the yarn balls, and finish another bag. I'm making progress on DD's scarf, and DS's socks too. Knitting's great--life is good!

Getting It Done

Yes, I do knit two different pairs of socks at a time--just not on the same needles. I've tried the two circs, and don't even get me started on Magic Loop! I am so ...u-m-m-m- crazy that I knit two different socks on two different sets of dpns. I get bored easily, just doing round after round. So, even if there is a pattern I often just have to look at another color for a while, and switch socks, sometimes a couple times during a knitting session. Then, when I get really tired of going 'round and 'round, I head to the knitting machine for a real diversion. Hense, the bag (yet another). I am so happy with these bags, which are Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks done on the Bond USM and felted. I can't seem to stop knitting them, so everyone I know will have one before long.

The socks are one Sock Gardens Pansy colorway, and one WoolEase fushia. I love them both and can't wait to finish. These are for me, and since it is cooling here in Texas (although they say it will be back up to 80 next week) I wore my blue Super Socks yesterday and my feet were toasty all day. Get my feet warm and I'm a happy camper! That's my knitting report for the day. What's happening in your neck of the woods?