I have nothing real exciting to say today. I finished my pants and a pair of sock, then spun a whole bag of that nasty scratchy stuff I mentioned in a previous post and now I am just tired. It has to be the weather. This is the first Fat Tire Festival weekend that it hasn't rained in I don't know how many years, at least 6 years that I am sure of. Instead it has been in the 80's!!! It isn't supposed to get into the 80 degree range until late May. It is TOO HOT!!!! I like cool weather, it allows for knitting. When it gets hot and the cooler isn't hooked up yet it is too difficult to think about wool socks, wool sweaters, etc. for me anyway.

It's time to break out the silk, hemp, cotton, linen!!! It's time to knit and crochet bikini's, lacey shawls, tiny t-shirts, etc. YEA!!!! A whole new set of fun! By the way for those of you who are fans of the "White Lies" lingerie there will be a book out in June full of her designs. I already pre-ordered my copy.

Happy Knitting

THE PANTS ARE COMPLETE!!!


LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!, My pants are done. Aren't they wonderful? Aren't they great? Yes, yes they are soft, warm, comfy, and amazing all in one. I feel to use the words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, "Knitting is a magic trick.... Look! Look at this! It's yarn! This...is what I have now...nothing like yarn! You can't wear YARN!" From her newest book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off--The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting page 17. I love knitting. It is magic! And now I have some wonderful lounge wear to knit in.


This is not a complicated pattern and I would recommend it for any knitter that is looking for something beyond scarves but not as complicated as a sweater.

Well, I am off to go curl up with a new project and knit (make some magic). Isn't knitting wonderful?

Happy knitting!

YEAH! IT'S FRIDAY

I am so glad it's Friday. I don't know why though. It's not like I work and have the weekend off or have any special plans. It must be because I know that none of us have to get up and get ready to go anywhere tomorrow. No school, no lunches to make, no kids to run hither and yon, no alarm clocks going off. Everyone will sleep in and then spend a lazy morning watching cartoons (Hubby is a faithful "Jane and the Dragon" watcher--I know, kind of weird). Sometime around 9 or 10 I will make something yummy for breakfast/brunch and then we will slowly begin to shower, dress, etc. Yes, that is why I am glad it is Friday--I love Saturday. And Sunday is even better. No house cleaning, no laundry, no shopping, just relaxation. AHHHHH.... I love the weekends.

No, I don't have the pants finished yet. However, they are close enough that they will be finished before the weekend is over. There will be a picture posted I promise.

If you get the chance, check out Stacey's socks for April on http://samkal3.blogspot.com. Most of the comments have been "WOW!" Few commenters have been able to find adequate words to describe their feelings about these socks. They are really something!!!! I feel so inspired by them, yet I promised myself NO NEW PROJECTS!!! until I had a few current ones finished. After all, just the pants project is taking up a lot of space on my desk (this is where all of my immediate projects sit so that I can't ignore them). I certainly don't have any extra room right now for another project. I am not joking. There is a half-finished sweater on my printer, two pairs of socks, a capelet, and another 1/2 to 3/4 finished sweater sitting to my right, along with various pattern books, bills that need to be paid, my book I read while I knit, several tape measures, calculators, misc. books.......bet you wonder if I can even see the top of my desk.

Anyway, I will post the picture of the pants next time and try to get in a new pattern for the month. So check it out next week!!!

Until then....
Happy knitting!

Monthly Book/Magazine Reviews

I just picked up the Spring 2007 copy of Interweave Knits and WOW what a great spring issue. Spring and summer issues of knitting magazines are a gamble. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are so-so. Whereas the Fall and Winter issues (especially any holiday issues) are pretty consistantly great.

Anyway, there are a nice, fun, exciting variety of patterns from socks to skirts and pillows to purses. Not to mention some great summer "sweaters". I especially LOVED the Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang. I am a sock knitter first and formost and have made several pairs of entrelac socks in my illustrious career but none of them were as exciting as this pair from Eunny! You know I will be making them as soon as I find some suitable yarn from the stash. Or maybe, I should order some special just for this project and leave the stash alone. Yeah! that sounds like even more fun. After all new yarns, fresh from my favorite stores are always more exciting and the stash usually doesn't like to be bothered with a bunch of my rummaging around. I wonder what fun yarn KnitPicks has that would work? OH! I have some Gloss that I recently ordered from KnitPicks that would be perfect! I am sure the stash wouldn't mind. After all the Gloss hasn't quite made it into a permanent Stash container yet so it's not officially part of the stash yet. For those of you who aren't familiar with Gloss it is a fingering weight yarn that is fairly new to the KnitPicks line. It's fiber content is 70% merino and 30% silk (one of my favorite fiber combinations). I had originally purchased the yarn for some socks for my husband, but since he doesn't know I purchased it he will never know the difference.

With that decided, the next exciting thing that I discovered in this issue was an article on Joan McGowan-Michael. If you are not familiar with this name how about her designs? She is the designer of the White Lies lingerie and other extremely beautiful knitted items. I consider the woman to be an absolute genius designer. She can design things to knit that most people wouldn't be able to create with fabric. I look at her work and think WOW!!! WOW!!! who knew you could knit that!!! Anyway, the most exciting part of the article was the announcement that she has a book of patterns coming out THIS SPRING!!! The title is Knitting Lingerie Style (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) and I can't wait. I've already began haunting the stores looking for it. There will definately be a critique posted here when I get it.

My No-Sweat Pants are 3/4 of the way done. What a fun, but basic project they have been. I will post a picture of me wearing them when I finish. So watch for that in my next post. Until then...........

HAPPY KNITTING!

SOME FIBER SHOULD NOT BE SPUN

I have been working on spinning some yarn for a customer that should never be made into anything wearable. She has a "pet" sheep (I am sure she has told me the beloved animals name several times but I just can't remember it--I call it Steel Wool or Chore Boy and several other names) that produces the scratchiest fiber I have ever spun, touched, etc. She has had this pet's fleece processed by our local fiber mill and then she brings the bags (and bags and bags and bags) to me to spin into various types and colors of yarn. Now, not exaggerating, this fiber is so scratchy that my hands are completely exfolliated each time I spin a bobbin of yarn from it. If I sit down and spin up most of a bag in one sitting I can expect my hands to be a little raw in several places.

So what is she doing with the more than 5,000 (+ or - a few) yards of this awful yarn you ask. Well, she has brought by a finished men's cardigan, a vest, and several woven scarves. All of these items are EXTREMELY beautiful, the workmanship is exquisite and perfect, BUT definately things you would wear next to your skin. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it was scratchy even with a heavy T-shirt underneath. I have to admit though that the items are very, very nice. I still don't think that fiber of that quality should be spun. It would be perfect for carpet though.

All fiber does have a purpose, just not all of it is worthy of clothing.

Happy Knitting!!

Well I finished Spring Break and all of my mid-term exams finally. I don't know how everyone else's Spring Break was, but I have a few complaints about mine.

First of all, it came two weeks early this year. How could this be a problem you ask? Well, now I have two months of school to finish out with NO BREAKS!! Trust me, two month straight of college classes is NOT my idea of fun.

The other complaint I have about Spring Break this year is that I wasted most of it trying to recover from my first bee sting (ever in my life). Yes, I discovered that I experience an allergic reaction when I am stung. NOT FUN. I thought I would die, for reals!, before the doctors decided to treat me for an allergic reaction instead of an infection. I was so sick!! Bees and I have always gotten along, now....well they just better keep their distance is all I have to say. The doctors told me that I need to be careful from now on because the next time (like I will allow a "next" time) my reaction could be a lot worse.

All the fun I could handle. I hope yours was better.

So, now for the good stuff!!!

I finally found a pattern I have been looking for. It is for a pair of knitted pants. They are similar to sweat pants in that they have a draw-string waist but that is where the similarity ends. They are designed to be low-rise (or if you are of my generation--hip huggers). I am very anxious to get started on them. So anxious that my other six projects will just have to wait. Whenever I do that (set aside projects) I think of the section in Stephanie Pearl-Mcfee's book "Yarn Harlot" that is the letter to her from one of her projects entitled "The Cardigan Letter". (If you have not read this book I recommend rushing right out and obtaining a copy.) Anyway, Stephanie talks about a letter she receives from a very unhappy cardigan that feels very neglected and severly accuses her of being a "Tramping, Harloting Trollop" because she is working on all of these other projects and keeps neglecting the cardigan. Anyway, like I said you have to read it. I still get the giggles when I think about that book.

So back to the pants. I found the pattern in an old issue of Interweave Knits. The Spring 2004 edition. There are several GREAT projects in this issue. The pattern is called "No-Sweat Pants". If you are interested in the pattern you can go to Interweave Press's website (LINK AT THE LEFT) or contact me and I will see what I can do.

I need to get this cast on so I gotta go for now.

Happy Knitting!! You know I am!

Starting this month I will post a "Pattern of the Month". These are all original designs and you are welcome to use them. However, if you start making a lot of money off of what you make with them I want a percentage!!!! Have fun with the patterns and look for a new one each month.

This months pattern is what I titled "The Ultimate Sock Pattern". With this pattern you can make any sock using yarns from sock weight to worsted weight. I made this pattern up when I was teaching sock classes for a local yarn shop. What is so great is that all you have to do is add in your own patterns or colors and follow the instructions. I love to use this pattern for making the socks from the yarn that makes its own designs as you knit such as the Knit Picks yarns "Simple Stripes", "Dancing", or "Parade". (See the links section on this page for a link to the Knit Picks web site).

So, what are you waiting for...get knitting!

THE ULTIMATE BASIC SOCK PATTERN

Size: Average adult

Materials: Two skeins of sock weight, (sport weight, or worsted weight) yarn. If working a heel you will need a small amount of contrasting waste yarn.

Needles: One set of 5 dpn in size 2 (size 4, size 6) and a tapestry needle

Guage: 16 sts = 2 inches, (12 sts = 2 inches, 10 sts = 2 inches).

***Note: the changes for using larger dpn and heavier yarn are in parenthesis.***

Leg: CO 64 (56, 48) sts. Divide evenly onto 4 needles and join into the round. Work 2 inches of 1x1 rib. Change to stockinette stitch (st st) and work leg until it measures 8 inches from the cast on edge.

**Work heel if desired. Not working the heel simply results in a tube sock.**

Heel: Using the contrasting waste yarn, knit across next 32 (28, 24) sts. Using main yarn again, knit across remaining sts.

Foot: Continue working in the round with the main yarn until 2 1/2 inches from the desired finished length (measure from the center of the ankle-bone to the tip of the longest toe and subtract 2 1/2 inches from that measurement).

Shape toe: Round 1: needle 1--knit 1, ssk, knit across remaining sts and across all sts on needle 2 to last 3 sts. K2tog, k 1. Needle 3--Knit 1, ssk, knit across remaining sts and all of sts on needle 4 to last 3 sts. K2tog, k 1.

Round 2: Knit all sts even.

Work these two rounds until 24 (20, 16) sts remain. Place sts from needles 1 and 2 onto one needle and sts from needles 3 and 4 onto another needle. Graft toe sts together. If working the heel, continue with the next step. Otherwise, finish by weaving in all loose ends.

Heel finishing: Carefully remove waste yarn and place all "live" sts onto 4 needles (make sure sides of heel and sides of the toe on your sock match or the sock will be twisted). Working in rounds and st st work 4 (2, 1) round(s) even. Heel shaping is worked the same as the toe shaping. Work these two rounds until 28 (24, 20) sts remain. Place sts on needles the same as for toe shaping and graft sts together. Finish by weaving in loose ends.

HAPPY KNITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEE!!!!! THERE ARE JUST SOME THINGS THAT ONLY A GOOD YARN CAN SOLVE!!! I FIGURED OUT THE PICTURE THING AGAIN. A little more complicated now, but.... as long as it works!

Knitting is the answer to all of lifes problems, I am convinced.

HAPPY KNITTING!!!

I just noticed something very funny. Somehow my age on my profile says that I am 250 years old. WOW! I am not too bad for being two and a half centuries old. I think that makes me the oldest person alive, hands down. Now I know that knitting and spinning yarn sounds like a grandma or great-grandma type thing, but I am not even close. I think I have it fixed now. I'll have to check it again later.

I am currently attempting to figure out why I can't post pictures on here again. How hard can it be? It seems that every time I get it figured out, something changes and I have to start over again. I will post more later.

Remember my comment about making some socks with a certain percentage of angora fiber in the yarn? Well, I made two pair. Unfortunately, I didn't get to keep either pair and the yarn that I had spun up to make another pair sold before I could even finish spinning it. However, my husband (who stole the first pair I made) thinks that the angora blend socks are by far the NICEST pair of socks he has ever put a foot in. "Not only are they extremely soft, but they are extremely warm even when it is very cold outside," I believe were his exact words. He has put in a personal request for several more pairs before next winter by telling me things like, "If you really loved me you would have enough made for me next year so that I would have a pair to wear everyday." Then he thought he would sweeten the deal with, "If I had a pair for each day of the week you wouldn't need to wash laundry everyday...just think of how much time that would save you." He's always so thoughtful.

So the socks are definitely nicer than just wool, as I hypothesized would be the case. I plan to do several more experiments in the future since Colorado can't seem to get out of the deep freeze yet.

Happy knitting!!

Well, classes will be starting soon. I have managed to make two sweaters, four pairs of socks, and two wash cloths since classes ended in December. It has been so much fun not going to school. I think that is the hardest part of returning to college when you are more than double the age of the rest of the students. You've been out of school so long and had your own time to do your own thing (that is if you have been fortunate enough to be home or work from home) that having to adhere to a school schedule and atmosphere is very difficult!!! I like to play mommy and knitting addict. Unfortunately, I haven't got the housework type stuff done that I had planned on accomplishing over the break. Well, it takes time to make a sweater you know!!

In addition to knitting I have been spending way too much time arranging and putting the years pictures onto discs. It has been a fairly large project since there were upwards of 500 or more pictures and videos. But I think I see the end of the tunnel finally. It has been fun to go through the images and remember all the fun stuff we did over the summer!!! We had a great time with all the fishing (or in my case--knitting), 4-wheeling, swimming (or in my case--knitting), hiking, mushroom hunting, etc., etc., etc. I am really looking forward to May no doubt about it!!!! No school and all the free time I can handle for three months!!!!!

My husband said a very funny thing to me yesterday morning. He asked me if it was my mission in life to leave behind as many knitted items as possible before I die. (How did he know?!) I must admitt I have made a large number of knitted items in the past 15 years since we got married. I lost count of the number of sock pairs I have knitted at 350. After that many who cares anymore how many you have made! What a thought though! In a small way I am immortallizing myself by creating all this.

Ok, for those of you who are interested I will be selling some of The Twisted Hare's yarn on E-bay starting next week. The yarn is very high quality and comes with a satifaction guarantee. I have knit many items with these yarns and they are fantastic!!!!! So, check it out. It will be under the yarn search area and will be sold by tama529.

Happy Knitting!!!!

With Christmas and Fall semester out of the way I guess I will write a little something. It seems that since the last time I wrote that life has been out of control and so hectic. With homework, getting through the holiday's and then finals there has been no time for anything else (well except for knitting of course!!!!). I hope that everyone has had a nice holiday season.

We went ice-fishing for the first time in a couple of years last weekend. It was nice.
Nice and cold! We got up there a little late in the day. Notice my handspun, handknit hat and neck warmer. Invaluable ice-fishing accessories!!!!

We did catch a fish though. As my husband says, "At least I didn't get skunked!"

I have discovered in my many years of knitting and wearing handknits that you just can't beat them. Yes, you can buy knit hats, sweaters, mittens, socks, etc. from the store made from wool, alpaca, silk, angora, etc. but they are NEVER as warm, comfortable, or nice as my handknits. I made a wonderful pair of glittens (mittens that have a top portion that can be folded back to reveal a fingerless glove underneath) several years ago from some handspun english angora yarn. These marvels are windproof and water resistant. A warmer item to wear on your hands does not exist! No wonder angora rabbits can withstand temperatures of 5 below zero as long as their ears are protected. You know, I think that more of these mountaineers that go exploring glaciers etc. in freezing temperatures should find themselves outfitted with angora long john underwear, angora mitten, angora hats, etc. NOT the whimpy store-bought stuff either!! I'm talking the ultra-fine, ultra-dense, ultra-warm handspun english or german angora items. I keep threatening to make a pair of socks, for myself of course, out of some of my bunny fiber and just give them a test drive like ice-fishing or some other winter sport that requires you to just sit for hours in the snow and ice with a light, crisp, winter breeze blowing across a completely unprotected surface (like a frozen lake). Like this one!

I think I will conduct my own research project on this subject and publish the results right here on my blog. What do you think? Sounds like a fun thing to do until I go back to class in January. I will let you know the results.

Until then Happy Knitting!!!!

The Twisted Hare!

Did you miss me? Too much homework and not enough free time. I haven't even had the time to really do any knitting either. I did get in my order of "Hemp for Knitting" yarn though. WOW! If you like cotton or linen you've got to try this. I love it so far. The colors are beautiful and the quality is the finest. I especially love the hemp/cashmere/cotton blend. It is great for socks!!!!, sweaters, etc.

I picked up a couple of knitting magazines the other day. (Naughty, naughty!) Unfortunately for my grades the knitting magazines are far more interesting than my text books. I have to purposely leave the magazines at home when I go to school so I can get some homework done. The new Interweave Press Knitting and their Crochet version are both very good this issue. I would recommend buying both!

Well, I gotta run! Chem. test tomorrow morning.

Happy knitting!

Things have calmed down a little. I finally had my break-down, cried for 4 or 5 hours to my husband (who, by the way, told me it was perfectly fine with him if I quit school so I had more time to knit). Isn't he just wonderful, I guess that was all I needed to hear because things are much better this week. Now if I could just get over this cold thing I've had forever. I've noticed that at least 90% of the student and faculty at the college are now suffering with the same symtoms at various stages. I'm sure it's not my fault, but it started somewhere and I think I've had it the longest (oops!).

It has snowed on the mountains here in Colorado, already! I couldn't believe it. We are about a month ahead of schedule. I know for a fact that the trees in the mountains haven't even started changing colors yet. They will now though!!! Usually we don't see snow around here until after Halloween, if we see any at all, and the weather channel is calling for snow tomorrow night! Wow, I guess I'll have to dig out all those great socks, sweaters, and hats early. Not to mention think about all the great projects I could be making if I wasn't drowning in homework.

You know, I have neglected to put any patterns on here as promised. I forgot all about it. I will try to put something together for next week. I promise! Until then.....

HAPPY KNITTING!
Hope you get some snow too!

WOW! Time sure flies when you are too busy to notice. In the last two weeks my daughter had her wisdom teeth removed, and turned a teenager, my son had his first official eye doctors appointment, I got really sick again (all the smoke in the air from the fires is making it much worse), took two Chemistry tests, and five Geology tests. And that has just been in my "free time". I am so ready for another vacation! Two or three months would just about do it.

I teach knitting classes every other Monday. Well, this is not a good thing to do when you don't have any time to do any knitting afterwards. For two days now, all I can think about is knitting, how nice the yarn feels as it slips through my fingers, how nice the item feels as I turn it to work on the next row, etc. It is making me crazy. I also made the mistake of starting a lace sweater out of alpaca that looks like mohair. The pattern is great! The yarn is divine! AND I WOULD RATHER BE WORKING ON THAT THAN ANYTHING ELSE I HAVE GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A word to the wise, do not go back to school to get your degree if you have several hobbies or at least one all consuming hobby. You will not have time to work on anything but school work and be miserable. I was telling my husband the other day what is wrong with school, as compared to having a job. You go to school all day, come home and do homework until you fall into bed (usually sometime after 11pm), then on the weekends do you get a break? no! Plan on doubling up on the homework load. So you spend your entire weekend doing homework as well, not to mention, the laundry, dishes, and other housework that has been stacking up all week because you were too busy doing your homework. When you have a job, you go to work, come home and have the rest of the evening to yourself to do with whatever you would like--housework, knitting, watch tv, knitting, go to the park with the kids and knit, go out to eat and sneak your knitting along, etc. Then when the weekend comes, it's even better. You have 48 plus hours to knit, avoid housework, knit, watch movies with the family and knit, etc, and knit!!! See what I mean? I really don't know what convinced me to go back to school. I thought it would be like when I was 18 I guess. You remember? You could scan a couple of pages in 5 minutes and remember everything you read for years afterwards, you could pass tests without studying, you spent more time running around with your friends than you did in class, but still got a B grade. That is NOT how it is when you go back as an older adult!! Don't fool yourself into thinking it either because it is simply not true.

Well, gotta go...homework is waiting, of course.
Happy knitting!

That's it!! I am quiting school. Not only do I not have time to knit, I don't have time to remember the other things I enjoy doing either. I didn't remember to write yesterday until this morning when I realized that it was Wednesday. I thought that adding another 3-credit class to my schedule wouldn't make that big of a difference. Yeah, right!! I haven't even had time to watch a movie and knit once since school started. That's just not right. It's killing me. Here I sit at my desk, surrounded by tons (literally) of yarn and all I can do it look at it and wish I was caressing it gently as I turn it into some divine, luscious, wearable. BOO HOO!

Ok, now that that is off my chest. I really should get back to my homework since I have about 4-6 hours of it left to do.

Happy Knitting! I'm sure some of you are!

Well, as you can see I never figured out why my latest pictures didn't post. So I am trying again today to see if they will post. At some point I will figure out what is going on, I hope.

School started Monday, for all of us in my house. The daughter goes to middle school, the youngest - to elementary, and me - college. I am exhausted and it has only been two days. Science degrees are for the young I've about decided. I really love my classes, but at my age I need twice as long to learn a concept as the kids that are half of my age. Why can't we have all year to learn Calculus or Chemistry? Four months just is not enough time for me. And on top of classes, I decided to be a math tutor and teachers assistant. I feel a little frazzled after just getting all of the paperwork filled out. I am hoping that I will adjust to all the work quickly so that I will be able to schedule some very important knitting time. After all, I can't let myself get behind in knitting!!!!!! It's like the most important thing I do all day!

YEAH!!!!!!!My picture came up!!! It was such a gorgeous day! (sigh, sigh). It's not every year that this type of opportunity comes along--mushrooms, gorgeous day, plenty of time to hike in the mountains, and spend time with your family. I fully intend to go up there one more time before it snows to look for mushrooms. Just thinking about going back up there makes me feel all fluffy (a term I use because of my angora rabbit raising background. My angora rabbits were so beautiful and fluffy that to pet them or watch them play made me feel all warm and peaceful inside so "fluffy" became my way to describe that feeling).

I just received a new book (I am so naughty!!! another book? Like I don't have enough already) called Andean Folk Knits. I saw it, or something very similar, a few years ago but never picked it up. However, I finally broke down and bought it. It is very, very good. If you are even remotely interested in anthropology and knitting this is a must-have. Beautiful pictures, facinating lore, great projects. Very distracting! when you are supposed to be working on Christmas presents (that you have already found patterns for and ordered the yarn for). Speaking of yarn for Christmas projects, I also received the yarn for a sweater I am going to make. It is by KnitPicks. I must admit, their "Suri Dream" alpaca blend yarn is a DREAM. I love it. I hate mohair!!!YUCK, YUCK! but I love the fluffy, furry, look that mohair yarns give a project. So..."Suri Dream" is like THE answer to a knitters prayer for something dreamy soft (not scratchy and itchy like mohair), fluffy, and furry. (Besides angora yarn, anyway.)

Oh, look another picture came up!!Yeah! So, the first picture is of my kids and some of the great mushrooms we found and the second is of a perfect bolete! (sigh, sigh). I love mushrooms!

OK, well I have to get back to my 6 hours of homework that needs to be done by morning.

HAPPY KNITTING! and if you are so lucky, HAPPY MUSHROOM HUNTING!

Well, I don't know why my pictures didn't post, but there appears to be some kind of problem. Stay tuned and I'll see if I can get it figured out.

In the mean time Happy Knitting!! and mushroom hunting!

I had a great weekend!!!! Saturday we went to the mountains for the day. As you can see from the pictures, we found some great mushrooms. We found a lot of mushrooms! We found some we call beefsteak or King boletus, Hawks Wings or Scaley Urchins, and Chanterelles. My son had so much fun. He is a die-hard mushroom hunter. When I said it was time to go and that we didn't need to pick every mushroom in the forest he was very disappointed (we had been hiking for about 4 or 5 hours and I was starting to get a little winded at 9,500 feet elevation). He is getting pretty good at spotting them as we drive down the road too. My daughter didn't find it near as interesting and so she stayed at the lake and fished with her dad.

Just the hike through the forest was worth it even if we hadn't found any mushrooms. It was so beautiful. We also found tons of wild raspberries. It has been several years since we have planned it just right so that we beat the bears, deer, and birds to the berries (I promise! I don't take them all, only two cups or just enough for some jam). If you have never had wild raspberries (and I mean the kind you pick in the mountains yourself, not the things the store calls "wild raspberries") you really should make that a thing to do at some point in your life. It is better than a trip to the Carribean. Trust me!

I am currently making Christmas presents. I am so proud of myself for not waiting until December this year. I might actually finish several gifts in time this year. I have my husbands sweater all knit up, and now all I have to do is sew it (yuck! Sewing is not my favorite part!) I have all of the yarn for the projects, all of the patterns picked out, and high hopes of accomplishing every one of them. I will try to post some pictures as I finish them.

I am also knitting several raglan style t-shirts for myself. So far they are very cute! I can't wait to wear them. My favorite is made from a copper colored silk-wool blend yarn. I love it! Again, I'll post some pictures as I find someone who will take a picture of me in it, as the t-shirts look so much better on.

This is what every one thinks of when you say Colorado. I took this the other day (yes, my date is wrong on the picture and so is the time, someday I am going to fix it) when we went up into the mountains to look for mushrooms and fish. It was still too dry for mushrooms (don't know how the fishing went, you'd have to ask hubby about that). I thought for sure it would be wet enough after all the thunder storms we've had the last couple of weeks. I did find raspberries!!! When we got back home that evening the news said that a bear had attacked someone in their tent, right up where we were, earlier that day. He must have been looking for the raspberries I found. He definately would have enjoyed them.

I had a great conversation today in Border's Bookstore with a lady about knitting. She was going to be taking vacation in Europe and wanted some small knitting projects to take along. Of course, I recommended socks. Is there a better small, portable, knitting project out there? I don't think so! I have knit a lot of socks while on vacation and I have found them to be the perfect tavel project. Anyway, I was able to recommend a very good book by Nancy Bush (of course, she is the only other person I know who has knit as many pairs of socks as I have, and her patterns are always well done.). The lady said that she had never made a pair of socks (how can you be a knitter and never made a pair of socks?). I reasured her that if she could make a sweater that she could make socks. I then directed her to several excellent sock yarn sources; local and internet. I am sure Border's was delighted that I was there selling their books for them and not asking for an hourly wage.

It is always so much fun to find someone to talk knitting with. It is one of my most favorite subjects. So, let's talk knitting!!!!! By the way, Joni, I don't have an e-mail address for you so if you read this again put your e-mail address in the comment section and I will get back to you.

I am currently working on some patterns to post on here so stay tuned.
Happy Knitting!!!!!!