Knitting a Hurricane

So, I was poking around Ravelry, the on-line knit and crochet community and discovered a cute little hat called the Hurricane Hat. It has a purl stitch that spirals up the hat. I tried it out in a pink wool yarn that I had and made it mini. 1 inch 2x2 rib, no crown basically. It's baby sized and I am sure that I can find a baby to give it too. Anyway, I really like the pattern and will make up a bunch of them as I am burnt out on the Christmas at Sea Mariner's Hat at the moment.

Snowy Morning and Machine Felted Bags with Needle Felted Natural Designs

I have just finished a new knitted and felted knitting bag (made from black Lopi, washed and dried twice in the machines) with needle felted oak leaves done primarily with wool roving, the highlights and shadings are made of hand dyed silk rovings.

I added a needle felted thistle in wool and silk rovings to the blue felted bag recycled from a sweater that a friend made and gave to me a couple of years ago. It's ever so subtle, but loverly, I think.

Thistles are a favorite theme of mine and they appear in a number of iterations on any number of items. Like a quilt or two, a stomacher for a 1740s dress and now this bag. I have also done a locker hook one and I have a penny rug sketched out as well.

Some day... I talked to a wool strip rug hooker the other day about the process of hooking rugs and I have been interested in pursuing it, but haven't gotten the energy up to learn a new craft. I seriously don't need a new skill set, LOL. I have been reading about rug hooking in magazine devoted exclusively to the subject and looking at photo sources for hooked rugs and they are lovely.

The AFA Football Game or How I Spent my Saturday

Yesterday, I volunteered to carry a flag for the half time program at the AFA vs BYU football game. We spent nearly 8 hours on site. The volunteers included enough people to carry all the flags of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, we carried our flags in order of statehood, so I was second in the line. It was fun getting shout outs from the cadets, if you were carrying the flag of their home state. I got to carry the flag of Pennsylvania, which is my home state.

We rehearsed carrying in the flags in the morning. We were then tailgated by the cadets before the game. We sat next to the band in a section reserved for us, so we watched the game amongst our kilted friends. The half time show combined the brass band from the Academy with Pipers and Drummers from the various pipe bands (El Jebel Shriners Pipe and Drum Band, Colorado Irish , Isle of Mull, Michael Collins, Pikes Peak Highlanders and two others whose names I cannot recall at the moment) from up and down the Front Range of the Rockies along with Scottish and Irish dancers (who were from the Rocky Mountain Highland Dancers and the Bennett School of Irish Dance.) If and when the pix come my way, I will post some. I know a lot were taken. By the way, if you have never heard a pipe band playing with a brass band, do find the opportunity. It's awesome! In Colorado, Denver Brass and a Pipe and Drum Group do a joint concert around Christmas. I have also seen the Marine Band from 29 Palms playing with the Pipes and Drums and it's amazing, especially with the mountains as a backdrop up in Estes Park.

It was brutally cold in the morning, but it got much better by lunch and game time. We were lucky in that the weather had changed, as we had snow and brutal wind the day before. I was glad of my and my mum's knitting prowess as I accessorized my kilt with a sweater my mum knit for me more than 40 years ago and with cabled stockings and mitts that matched, that I knit for myself. My daughter, Erin accompanied me to the game and was wearing the gaiter (neck warmer) that I knit for her last winter. Our friends, Katte and Curtis Judd were there as well. Katte, too, was wearing the mitts that I had knit for her last winter. We were also very glad to have our cloaks with us. Curtis, Katte and Erin own and were wearing their Half Moon cloaks and the AFA mascot, The Bird, was quite enamoured of them. I was wearing a full length cloak I made for myself about 10 years ago. I find Half Moons to be too heavy for me to wear for any length of time and so I made myself a Melton wool cloak from stock leftover from my mum's store as a cover-up for my period clothing, it also works for covering up when wearing a kilt on a cold day.

The game happened to be my daughter's first football game. It was part of her birthday celebration as she turned 25 on Friday. She enjoyed watching the fans and seeing the traditional bits that the AFA does during their games, like the parachuters, the fly over, the falcon flight, the cute cadets doing the pushups after a touch down, etc., the game of football, not so much. We were all highly amused by a group of cadets in the seats in front of us who stood through nearly the whole game and danced to the music. It turned out that they were the Swim and Dive Team, who there to show their support and it was a privilege not a punishment, even though they did look kinda silly. We did find out that attendence at the football games is mandatory for all cadets. They don't necessarily have to sit in the ranks during the game as they can sit with family and friends if they are attending, but they must attend.

For the DD's birthday, I made her French toast for breakfast in morning from a french batard, took her to see the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace (We loves, loves, loves James Bond, we do!). Then we had her favorite dinner consisting of London B, fresh green beans and instead of the usual smashed taters, we had smashed yams.

In all, it was a lovely weekend.

Thank You to the Veterans

To all the veterans I know and those of you currently in harm's way on behalf of me and mine. I appreciate you and your willingness to defend our country in these trouble times. Thanks to you all for your service and above all to those currently deployed, BE SAFE.

Okay, This is Just Weird

On Election Day, I posted a pix of the morning sky with it's red clouds and related about the Red Sky at Night... anyway, I had forgotten that McCain's branch of service was the USN. Things that make you go hmmm?

Felted Knitted Handbags

Here are pix of the three felted handbags that I have made in the last 5 years. The striped one was done for a colour class I took with Heather Thomas in Boulder. The messenger bag I made last winter. The applique Celtic knot is I-Cord as my intarsia skills are not the best. The light blue bag I made this past spring as an exercise in Aran style knitting in preparation for a sweater I am knitting for my friend, judy, in Broomfield.

It's Official - We have A New President

Huzzah, Barak Obama.

Now can we get back to the business of life?

Non - Magical Magical Bracelet

My friend, Katte Beth, bought us all Magic Friendship Bracelets back in the Springtime when she and her three children came to the Springs for the School Break. She is definitely one to make things fun and so she picked up the "white bracelets" at Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs and told us all they were magic. Well, everyone else's changed colours in the sunlight but for mine, of course... Anyway, I have worn it ever since and it fell off in the shower today and I am gonna miss it.. Thanks for the fun and memories, Katte

First Effort at Pin Weaving

Here's the picture of my first effort at Pin Weaving. I got the destructions from the magazine, Cloth, Paper, Scissors and away I went. I don't know what it will end up as yet, but I think twigs are in it's future.

It's Almost Over - Election Day 2008

If you haven't yet, get out and vote. If you have, like I did, early, good on you. My daughter voted by mail two weeks ago and I voted early last week. I was surprised by the crowd at early voting. Really glad that I carry knitting with me at all times. I got 6 rows knitted on a charity hat while moving along to the poll workers. I think the jury is still out on those Diebold voting machines though. We will see what we will see when it's all said and done. However, I cannot wait for this day to be over as I am tired of the mean spiritness and sniping of the campaign ads. Whatever the outcome, if you didn't cast your vote, I feel that you cannot complain. If you voted you took an action and therefore I feel that one is entitled to whinge and complain...As I sat out side this morning communing with the ether, I was amazed by the sky. I took pictures and I will post them too. The time change is still playing havoc with my sleep and rising patterns so it was sunrise when I went out. That old rhyme came into my head, "Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight, Red Sky at Morn, Sailors Be Warned. The clouds were reflecting red all over the sky, very kewl. On to better things, on the art front, I did my first pin weaving. I will post a pix as soon as I get them downloaded. It's a little piece about 4x4 inches. It's got a pearl cotton warp and a loverly hand-dyed bamboo yarn in yellow to magenta fading to apricot in some places weft that my friend Cherie from Farm Fresh Textiles sent me to make a chemo hat for another friend of ours.

Grrrrrrrr Arghhhh !!! New Blog as AOL DUMPED my other one

I am so pissed at the moment. AOL dumped their hometown journals and therefore my AOL blog is gone, bye-bye, in the wind, so long and farewell. Piss, piss, piss, argle bargle, shit!!!!

Now, I need to start over and find the pix and hope I saved some of the writings some of which my loyal readers enjoyed even and I would like to read over on occasion..