Blue Boot Camp ~

There is a fever pitch of Seattle Seahawks spirit as we get closer to the Super Bowl. 12th Man spirit gear of blues and greens is everywhere, and the excitement and anticipation is everywhere.

Our boot camp had our own spirit rally at 6:00 AM on Friday before the Super Bowl. I am looking forward to some serious football knitting this Sunday!

Plying Sunset ~

Yes, this fiber turned out to be so beautiful when plyed. I couldn't stop spinning the singles as I couldn't wait to see the finished yarn.

I love how it turned out on the bobbin, and now I'm looking forward to measuring how much yardage there is from the eight ounces of fiber.  So lovely!

Spinning Sunset ~

Spinning this merino/silk blend that the Jitteryknitter picked out at Fort Worden last November is turning out to be so beautiful. The fiber is a mix of sunset oranges with magenta and yellow dashes of color.

When spun, the colors blend into a lovely sunset. I have to keep spinning this so I can ply soon!

Yarn of my dreams ~

I first heard about Elsa Wool in the Stash and Burn podcast a few years ago. The way it was described, soft, sturdy, home grown on the sweetest sheep and spun in America invoked a dreamy view of yarn perfection. I wondered if I would ever be able to decide which type to order on-line, as there were too many choices and all sounded lovely.

Tolt Yarn and Wool answered my dreams, again. There was a table full of Elsa Wool, so I could touch and squish and ponder until I could make a clear choice. I spent my Christmas gift certificate from my sweetie on a sweaters worth of this lovely yarn...looking forward to swatching soon!

Tolt Mitts Success ~

The designer of the Tolt Mitts came back to Tolt Yarn and Wool shop, and I was ready with my finished Tolt Mitts. Although I knit them for my youngest daughter, she loaned them back to me for this event.

I should have taken some pictures of the event, but I was having too much fun chatting with the designer, Andrea Rangel, and the other knitters in the shop. Plus there was some serious yarn decisions being made by Patti and Lisa, and some lovely yarn came home in our car!  Since I didn't have pictures of the event, I am using the picture of the mitts out on the town....

Pre-dawn push ups ~

It continues to amaze me that our boot camp meets in the dark of night, outside, in order to have more healthy lives and with less stress. My oldest was home from college for the holiday weekend, so she joined me on this foggy and cold morning.

She is the one far from the camera with shorts on....ah, the youth!  (she is also the one that jumped in the lake on New Year's Day after our boot camp)

Birthday cast on ~

I think I have mentioned that I knit my daughters a pair of socks for their birthday and a pair of socks for Christmas.  Yes, they are lucky girls, and they know that.  Since my oldest picked this yarn for her next pair, I have been super excited to cast on. My friends would tell you that the color is one of my favorites, and they would be correct.

So far, these socks are turning out to be lovely!  I love the color, I love the yarn, and I love casting on a new pair of socks!

Cast on for Valentine's ~

When I was in Michigan in November, I was wearing a headband that I knit for my kids. My sister-in-law saw it, tried it on and asked if I would knit one for her in red yarn.  I agreed, and started looking for more yarn like the yarn I had used for my headband, as it has elastic mixed with wool.   Of course that yarn had been discontinued.

I tried the standby of Cascade Fixation, as that also has elastic and would substitute close enough. I found two balls of red as a destash on Ravelry, so I can finally cast on. I am hoping to finish this for Valentine's day, but not sure if that's possible with all the other knitting going on!

Farewell Vanny ~

The 1988 Plymouth Van has a lot of memories for us. As my parents van, it took my new husband and I from our church wedding to our reception across town, with the lovely hood ornament of a pink flamingo. Part of the decorations for us as we were living in Florida yet getting married in my church in Michigan where there aren't that many flamingos. My parents used to drive the van to visit us for the summer, and we had many road trips with it. My sister and her husband bought it as their travel vehicle, since it could carry bikes, golf clubs and all the gear needed for their trips.  When my daughter turned 16, we bought it from them for her first vehicle.  Wood panel and certainly vintage, it was one of a kind in her high school parking lot, yet she loved it as one loves their first set of wheels. They had good adventures together, until today.

Today, we had yet another wind storm. Years ago the wind blew a tree down on our bedroom, so we checked all the trees that could hit the house and took down four of them. We didn't check the trees by the chicken coup, and today was the day that the wind was too strong. Farewell sweet vanny, you have been a great part of our family!

Thumbs up ~

Lucky for me, and for my sweetie, the two thumbs turned out to be the same!  Hurrah! I added a few more rows than the pattern called for, as I wanted to be sure that her thumbs had maximum coverage, yet still had breathing space.  Moments after casting off, I presented her with the finished mitts, and she took them on a test drive immediately, as she drove us home from her driver's education class wearing her newly knitted mitts, without the ends woven in..... 

 

After the ends were woven in, she gave the mitts another test and wore them while walking the neighbors dog, Lola. Check out that thumb! Lola thinks they are pretty cool, too!

Waiting for thumbs ~

These mitts are darling, and they are knitting up very fast. They are from our newest local yarn shop, Tolt Yarn and Wool, and my daughter picked out the pattern and yarn at our first visit. My daughter is excited to wear them, so she has been trying them on....

Except there are no thumbs yet, just the waste yarn placed where the thumbs will go...

When I get a chance to knit those thumbs....I do hope I can get the right thumb and left thumb to be the same, or at least similar (as the last pair of mittens I made had thumbs that were not quite the same).

College cowl with friends ~

Here is our college gal with our super cool friend that was visiting for an orchestra concert. She is wearing another one of her Christmas cowls ~ Hurrah!!

They were able to have lunch together, plus our sweetie was able to attend the orchestra concert. Bravo!

College Cowl ~

She's back to college and she is cozy in her newest cowl.  It looks super cute on her, and I am so happy that she loves her cowl!

Always feels so great when one's teenager wears something that mom knit!

2014 Choice ~

Now that it is 2014, I need to get organized with my knitting projects. Before our oldest went back to college, I asked her to pick out some yarn for her 2014 socks.  I have had a blast giving each daughter hand knit socks for their birthday and also for Christmas.  She was extra lucky last year to have received hand knit socks for her high school graduation too!

This is the yarn she picked out for one pair of her hand knit socks this year.  I love this color, and this was yarn purchased at the second Sock Summit.  I already knit her a pair out of this yarn, different color, and we loved them!  Time to cast on!!!

Lovely on Lovely ~

Thanks to our ace blocker extraordinaire, my Chirality cowl looks better than the sample we saw in Serial Knitters yarn shop.

Here is my sweet daughter as the model.  Thanks Patti!!!!

My project ~

I decided to knit something of MINE now that all my holiday knitting is complete, and the nearest deadline for knitted gifts is a few months away....

I pulled out my jeweled cowl, and it is so lovely!

I love the rows when I knit the beaded stitch after adding the bead in a clever way with the crochet hook. Only halfway done, but it looks amazing!

Saint Distaff Day ~

Today was our second annual adventure to our area's celebration of Saint Distaff's Day.  According to Wikipedia, this day is, "In many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. Women of all classes would spend their evenings spinning on the wheel. During the day, they would carry a drop spindle with them. Spinning was the only means of turning raw wool, cotton or flax into thread, which could then be woven into cloth."

 

We celebrated by getting together with friends to spin and knit.  This year I brought my sweet Pocket Wheel, and started spinning the Taylored Fibers bump that Lisa picked out at our Fort Worden tour of their farm.

This fiber spins well, and is super soft.  The hot pink does not show up as strongly as I thought it might, and the blending is lovely!

Boot camp by the stars ~

Love this picture of our boot camp, with the stars still out, shining on our boot camp stars!

Anna and I saw a shooting star this morning, as we were working out near the wall. Good time to make a wish!

New Year's Project ~

I had the urge to cast on a few projects on New Years' Day. Once was the Encompass Cowl for my oldest daughter, as she said she would love a few more cowls to get through the winter at college.

The second cast on was another flouncy scarf for my youngest, as I knew it would knit fast.  As it happened, I was able to cast off today as well since I was able to have a lot of knitting time today, after getting all my energy going with boot camp!

Polar Plunge Adventure ~

Our Happy New Year began early with a special boot camp workout. What a great way to begin the new year with friends and a tough work out!  Here we are, some even wearing lovely New Year Hats!

After our hour work out, several brave souls did a classic Polar Plunge by jumping in Pine Lake. The dock was icy and it was cold!

  Check out these brave boot camp champions! One of them is my college daughter, and I am so proud of her courage to jump in that freezing lake!  She remarked, "That was easier than today's boot camp workout." I can't believe that!!!

They are amazing! Look at those smiles!  They are already thinking about getting hot drinks at our coffee time afterwards ~ what a great way to start the new year!

I'm sure you notice the delightful knitted hat on our gal, Toffee. She said it was a beginning knitting project, and the wool hat was a perfect addition to her bathing suit for the Polar Plunge! Happy New Year to all, and may this year be filled with great fiber adventures!