12-19-2010 Surprise!

Today we attended a surprise birthday party

for our dear son-in-law!

12-18-2010 Springs Sprockets & Pulleys

DH & I drove to a nearby art museum

to enjoy a multitude of installations

using Springs, Sockets & Pulleys.

Each display had a button you could push

to start everything moving...

was fun...

worth the drive!

12-17-2010 Cookies Kidneys and Snow

The Book Rack had a Christmas Cookie contest today

where customers could vote of their favorites.

DH took in HIS favorites:

Chocolate Mint Sandwich cookies!

After I dropped the cookies off at the Book Rack

I dropped off the dialysis sleeves I knitted

at the Kidney Center.

After DH got off work at 2 pm

we went cross country skiing again...

taking advantage of the sunshine and balmy 20*F temps...

before the Arctic cold front moves in tonight

and drops the temps to below 0*F!

12-16-2010 Played Hookie

We had 6-9 inches of fresh powder snow

to shovel off the driveway this morning

so DH & I played hookie from exercise class at the Y

and shoveled and went cross country skiing instead!

In Missouri, I used the same snow shovel for 30+ years...

In Iowa, I wear out a shovel every winter!

Miss you mom.

Hard to believe it's been a year today 

since you passed on into glory.

Thought about you lots today.

12-15-2010 Warm Love

Received these warm and festive gifts

from a dear and lovely friend today!

Thank you so much!!!!

12-14-2010 Rein-Moose Legs

The rein-moose now have legs

and I also added two more trees

(between their rear-ends)

so the carries would not be so long.

12-13-2010 Provisional Cast On

Today I finished knitting the forehead band

on my second 2010 Winter Olympics Hat

and removed the orange provisional cast on

stitch by stitch

then knit the 'picked up' stitches

together with the live stitches.

12-12-2010 Blizzard!

 Knitted the above gauge swatches last night

before starting to knit my next

2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies hat...

for my friend in Maine!

Now that I've knitted a 'practice hat'

(see posts from the previous 2 weeks),

learned the new-to-me techniques required for the color work

and have altered the faulty pattern to my liking...

and because we are officially 'blizzarded in' this morning...

I decided that there is no better time

to start knitting my second 'Olympics' hat!

Here are photos of the Provisional Cast on

using a crochet hook and orange yarn

which will later be removed.

12-11-2010 Fragrant Love

What an unexpected and pleasant surprise

arrived in the mail today!

Thank you for your loving, fragrant holiday gift

my dear yoga friend, Metta Susan !

12-10-2010 Four Eyes

Just call me "Four Eyes!"

These are my new glasses since my eye surgery.

12-9-2010 2010 Winter Olympics Hat Finished!

After knitting - frogging - reknitting

the top of this hat 5 times

I finally got the pattern to work

and finished this 'practice hat'...

now it's on to the 'real hat'

using good wool.

I learned so much knitting this hat!

Thanks for challenging me to make it, Patty!

12-9-2010 Fennel Virgin

To my knowledge

I have never tasted or used fennel before

so tonight's potato & fennel & garlic soup was a first!

It also had 16 cloves of garlic!

Chef Monika is making me more adventurous

to try new things/flavors!

12/6-8/2010 Bad Teachers

 

A yoga teacher once told me,

"You can sometimes learn MORE from a BAD TEACHER

than a good teacher... what NOT to do!"

This certainly applies to this faulty knitting pattern!

I have learned so much from all the errors in this pattern,

and having to knit, frog, and re-knit...

I've been knitting 

and frogging down to my lifeline

and re-knitting the top of this hat

4 times in the last several days

and still cannot get it to come out correctly.

Today will be my 5th (and final!) try...

if it does not come out right today

I'm heading to the LYS.

12-5-2010 Brrrrr!!!!

Me cross country skiing

on a public golf course

witn temps @ 10*F and winds at 23 mph!

Brrrrrr!!!

My DH cross country skiing ahead of me.

We found several other

cross country ski tracks

out on the golf course

so we weren't the first ones

 out enjoying the first snowfall of the winter!

2010 Winter Olympics Hat progress...

I'm hoping that wearing this hat

once I finish knitting it

will improve my skiing abilities

to those of an olympian!  :*)

12-4-2010 At Home with Yoga

Today I attended a yoga class at the YMCA...

the first yoga class I've done in about 8 years...

it felt like coming home.

2010 Winter Olympics Hat progress:

12-3-2010 And So It Begins...

... another long, cold, Iowa winter!

Today was our first measurable snowfall...

this photo was taken about 4 p.m.

and by 9 p.m.

DH & I went out and shoveled

4" deep snow off the driveway...

and it continues to snow.

We'll have to shovel again tomorrow morning.

But we're not complaining...

Iowa snowfalls usually start before Halloween,

yet we've been 'snowless' the entire month of November

which means our long, cold, Iowa winter

is one month shorter this year!

YAY!!! Yippee!!!

12-2-2010 AnyTime Fitness > YMCA

DH & I switched our gym memberships today

from AnyTime Fitness to the YMCA...

for half the price

we get twice the benefits! YAY!

After lunch we went to the IMAX

to see the new Harry Potter movie

(Deathly Hallows Part 1)

and give it a two thumbs up!!!

Progress on my 2010 Winter Olympics Hat...

I've decided to live with the missing row in the pattern

instead of ripping it all out and starting over.

12-1-2010 K2tog

" K2tog "

a simple knitting instruction

to Knit 2 stitches together...

easier said than done

when you are trying to put

a size 0 stitch onto a size 2 needle!!!

It has taken me 3 days to knit one round of 108 stitches!

Note to self:

the next time I knit this 2010 Winter Olympics Hat

knit the first row after the provisional cast on

using a needle one size larger than

what you will use for the rest of the hat!

Also, omit 7-10 rows (where ever possible)

and 1 column per moose/reindeer

and well as extra white field rows,

and CO 100 sts to make forehead band design continuous

and adjust the pattern accordingly,

perhaps add 2 more trees.

I'm learning soooooo much

while knitting this 'practice hat!'

New techniques

and how to rework a bad pattern!

11-30-2010 Refracted

Today I went to visit my awesome eye surgeon

for my 1 month post op check

and to get refracted

for a new prescription for eyeglasses.

I thank God every day for him!

My eye looks and FEELS so much better

since the surgery!

11-29-2010 Baking for the Holidays

DH & I attended another of Chef Monika's

fabulous cooking classes tonight:

"Baking for the Holidays"

 The menu included a spiked punch,

roasted root veggies, creamed swiss chard, pork...

 ...and apple struessel made with filo dough... YUM!

 Eye update:

11-28-2010 First Sunday In Advent

During the Advent Season

(the four weeks preceeding Christmas)

our church's Craft Group hosts a holiday bazaar

Eye update:

11-27-2010 Wizard of Oz

Screenshot from the Wizard of Oz

starring Judy Garland

... one of my faves!!!

It's on tv tonight

and I'm watching!!!

Eye update:

11-26-2010 Freeing what was bound...

This morning I successfully freed

the stitches that were bound up

in the initial, provisional cast on row...

a technique that I've never done before...

so I'm excited to have learned something new

in regards to knitting!

It took all morning

and gave me time to reflect upon

what other things in my life are bound up

and need to be freed.

Eye update:

11-25-2010 Happy Thanksgiving

With fewer years ahead of me than behind me,

I'm thankful for life itself,

grace, freedom,

food, family, pets,

and the joy that they bring into my heart!

I love you all!

Thanks for coming to visit!

Eye update:

11-24-2010 Sit 'n Knit @ Library

Last night I attended the Sit 'n Knit group

at a local library...

thanks for inviting me, Beth!