My Secret Pal Package Is On It's Way!

    I finally got my Secret Pal's Christmas package mailed today.  Every time I tried to mail it and failed, I added something to the outside of the package.  My 'art work' goes around 3 sides!  And there's 2 or 3 patterns on the outside, too.  I was running out of room to add anything.  I hope she likes it!  It's suppose to be delivered by next Thursday.  I'll start tracking it on Tuesday to see if the holiday weekend slowed it up.  Originally, my Pal was someone in Australia and the postage for this box would be about $30 so I had to ask for someone closer.  I really didn't want to do that but....  I'm still waiting for a package from a Secret Pal.  We had until tomorrow, 12/31, to get them in the mail. 

More Snow

   Looking west out of my bedroom window towards Wally's house this morning I can barely see his garage and his house is lost in the snow...just to the right of the garage.  Those 2 buildings are less than 50 yrds away!  The forecast for today is for wind and lake effect.  It looks pretty if you don't have to go out.  Wally's cleaning the long driveway now so Jeff says we'll go to town this afternoon.  We need to get some groceries (bread, milk, eggs), last night's chili was not a big hit with anyone except Fanny.
   As of 5:30pm, the official snowfall total for Herkimer was 6 1/2" with a possible 2-5" more of lake effect possible tonight and tomorrow.  Nice, huh???

Snow in Our Little Woods

Looking West from the TV room

Looking South from the TV room (that was the big old boxelder in our yard)

   The forecast for today was 4-6" of snow (we ended up with 4")...with another 3-6" for tonight and more lake effect for tomorrow and Saturday.  A
couple of storms ganged up on us but their timing was good...in the middle of the holiday vacation.  I was very glad I was retired this morning...just looked out the window, sighed and rolled over and went back to sleep!  Even Fanny wasn't in a hurry to go out today!!  Wally hasn't plowed the driveway yet...and the Town plow's been by several times so I'm sure the driveway is plugged at the road but who cares!?!?  The village of Herkimer has declared a "Snow Emergency" w/no unnecessary travel in the village and all vehicles removed from village streets.  There have been several accidents in Utica and a fatal accident on Rte5 in Westmoreland.  People forget quickly how to drive in this stuff. 

   I've spent the day sitting by the wood stove, knitting.  Got the foot done on the 1st sock for ME! 

It's Peruvian wool with Alpaca, super soft, dark jade (even if it looks blue here) and I love it! 
   The wood bag was almost empty and Jeff was nice enough to go out and fill it.  He even walked down to the mailbox, too.  Supper tonight is gonna be chili...nothing fancy, just rib-sticking.  Jeff's been trying to stick to his diet so I can't even tempt him with any goodies for bringing in the wood!

 

The Art Work Says It All

Here's my Secret Pal gift box...a BarkBox donated by Fanny...filled with goodies a knitter will appreciate, decorated and ready to mail.  The cartoon was already on the box, I just edited it a little by adding the line on the bottom.  The art work on the top is all mine.  Hope she likes it!!  Next step is to get it to the post office...weather permitting!

Merry Christmas

      Well, we survived another Christmas. 

Jeff's sister, Sherry, and my cousin, Ed, joined us for dinner and we all enjoyed Jeff's roast beef, with baked potatoes, glazed carrots, gravy and homemade biscuits.  I cut out most of the desserts in an attempt to help Jeff get his A1C level back in control, just leaving my Italian egg cookies (this year made with Stevia and for some reason they got very hard very fast.  Fanny is enjoying the last few...thinks they are fancy dog treats!).  Ed brought some castagna...roasted chestnuts...but he and I were the only ones who tried them.  I also bought some alici...anchovies...but never opened the can because I was the only one who really likes them...and never made fried dough.  But we feasted!  Our 5 1/2 lb roast drew rave reviews and there was little left over! 
   Presents were exchanged and the hi-light of them was the cap Sherry gave Jeff that has a light in the brim.  It may

be too small for Jeff and if that's the case I volunteered to wear it!  Sherry liked the cowl I had made for her...in fact, she liked the one I had

 
finished and the one I had not, so I promised to finish the 2nd one for her, too.  Ed agreed this year's socks were nice enough to wear to work and not just wear to use the snowplower!  Fanny made out the best, giftwise.  Sherry gave her a 20 lb bag of gourmet dog food, a bag of beefy treats and 2 rawhide chews! (The youngest family member always makes out the best, don't they?  Even if they are a dog.)  Jeff and I got 4 or 5 new dvd's from Sherry to share that he (and Ed) will enjoy.  Guess I'm going to have to buy my own. (I had wanted 'Florence Foster Jenkins' with Meryl Streep and Simon Helberg...Howard from Big Bang Theory.)  Sherry gave me a drying stand so I can block scarves and shawls without Fanny jumping on them, something I am looking forward to using!!

   We planned to have dinner around 2pm so

Sherry could get home before dark.  She left around 4pm and made it home OK after getting stuck in our driveway.  Ed left about 7pm and he got stuck in about the same place and ended up just backing  down the big driveway to the paved road. The big driveway turns into a speed staking rink really quick and it's easy to get stuck across it.  But they both eventually made it out and Jeff made it in and out yesterday without any trouble.  I haven't tried and don't plan on trying until tomorrow...or until we get some snow to cover that ice.
  I'm on vacation for the rest of this week, knitting what I want when I want.  The shop is closed for the season...or in hibernation, as we like to say. I still have to go to Cooperstown and gather my stock but I'm going to wait until next Friday when I have an orthopedic appointment (you know, 2 birds...1 trip).  After a slow December, sales picked up at the end and we ended up just shy of last year's sales.  Not bad.  I actually sold 3 sweaters the last day!  But the guy who worked didn't write the name of the sweater, just the generic 'sweater'.  I'll be able to tell what sold when I see what's left.  I've got a sweater order to do before I start working on my spring stock but I think I deserve a couple of days off first.  Maybe I'll actually make myself a pair of socks!  There's this skein of machine washable Peruvian
wool and alpaca sock yarn I've been saving....

     Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas!

A Very Wintry Day

     The weather today kept changing.  There was a pink sky when I woke up around 7am but it had been replaced with a whiteout by 9am.  When that finished around 10:30, we had a beautiful blue sky with sunshine...but it was cold...temps were only in the teens.  Twice during the day suddenly there were whiteouts again...the last one around supper time that closed the local libraries and cancelled bingo games and afterschool activities, according to the TV news.  Right now it's clear...and cold again and it's suppose to stay that way thru the night.  Tomorrow is suppose to be better...warming up during the day.
   I sat by the woodstove and knit on hats to take to the shop tomorrow until Jeff told me to let the fire go out.  We were getting a strong backdraft and smoke was coming into the house.  He went outside during one of the clear times and cleaned the chimney pipe but he still wouldn't let me have a fire.  He wants to clean the stove and maybe replace the blanket  (whatever that is) tomorrow while I'm at the shop.

   So today I sat there and knit.  Made 3 hats to take to the shop to replace what sold over the weekend and today at the Showcase that was held at Bassett.  I got a little carried away and
did 2 of them  (the pink and gray, and the lime and navy) in the next larger
size to fit 2-3 yr olds and only 1 (the white and red) in the baby size.  Then I spent the time after supper
making the pompoms and learned that I don't do a very good job making pompoms.   I think I should just give in and either buy one of the new pompom makers or not make hats that require pompoms.  I've got 1 order for a 2-3 yr old hat that I have to do this weekend but right now I can't stand to think about making another pompom.  I've got to sweep up the exploded pompoms yet.  Boy, do I know how to waste yarn.

Scarves, Cowls and Other Knitted Things

     I sat down yesterday with the intent to start a cowl to give Jeff's sister for Christmas.  I was using a pattern from Ravelry called Gallatin's Scarf (one of several that I found that I thought she might like), Caron Simply Soft acrylic yarn in woodland heather and a US 10 1/2 needle.  The lacey edge wasn't difficult and the scarf grew quite quickly.  By the time I finished the scarf this morning I knew it wasn't going anywhere without me.  I was keeping it.

Besides, it wasn't what Sherry was looking for.  She wanted something to wrap around her neck and be able to pull up over her nose if needed and use as a hood.  This scarf/cowl isn't deep enough to use as a hood. OK, so back to the drawing board.  The next cowl I started is called Evelyn and I'm doing it in Caron Simply Soft acrylic yarn in cream and again on a 10 1/2 needle.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a whole skein
when I started and I ran out a few minutes ago with several rows...and maybe

3"...to go so I'm going to have to get another skein to finish.  This doesn't look like it's what Sherry is looking for, either, but I won't be able to tell for sure until it's finished.  I like it but if I decide not to keep for myself, this one will go to the Herkimer Library for it's fence program.  (Anyone who needs a hat, scarf or gloves/mittens can take what's hanging on the fence, no questions asked.) There is one more pattern, called the Champagne Cowl, on Ravelry that may be what she wants.  It's longer and doesn't have the lacey open work.  And it's wide/deep enough to use as a hood. But I don't have any yarn to start it tonight so I guess it's back to working on Jeff's socks.
(He watched me mend my socks yesterday and told me maybe I should stop knitting for everybody else... since he has enough socks for now...and knit a pair for myself.  Nice of him, huh?)

HATS ON DISPLAY

        Here's all the new hats...and a few older models...on display in the shop in Cooperstown.  That's 22 hats!  You'd think somebody will like one of them this holiday season, don't you?  Hope so!

I Never Know When To Quit

   You would think that I would learn to set my knitting aside when I work on a hat...that's 63 stitches...for a day and a half and can't get the design from the graph paper into it.  But no.  I just keep ripping it out and trying again.  Maybe I'm not counting correctly.  Maybe I copied the graph wrong.  Maybe I'm just going crazy.  Finally, yesterday afternoon, after starting the hat the day before and
after removing most of the extra design elements from a charted snowflake, I got the damn snowflake to repeat 3 times around the hat. I finished the it...but did not sew it up or work in the ends...and immediately started another one.  And, wonders of wonders, the 2nd hat worked up in an hour and a half without any problems.  Today I'll sew up both hats and work in all the loose ends...and make the pompoms for the tops.  UCK...pompoms, I hate making them!  (Usually one will explode on me and little pieces of yarn will go flying all over the room.  But isn't that the way it looks around my chair normally?)  Anyway, they'll finish those hats perfectly.  Then I think I'll try something I saw online...a Christmas Candy Hat...a white hat with red and green stripes swirled around it.  Let's see how I can screw that up.  
   Oh, and the reason I was having such a difficult time with that pattern...I think I was getting sick...a cold...and didn't want to give in to it.  I coughed all night and woke up with a sore throat this morning. 

Jeff's Keeping Busy, too!

     I don't think Jeff was every very good at waiting for anything.  This close to Christmas he came home from Tractor Supply today (where he went to get dog food and a couple of bundles of hardwood) with this knife and tool sharpener and spent part of this afternoon...sharpening knives!  He can also sharpen scissors, axes and the blades to the lawn mower.  He's  been researching it online and was surprised
to find it in Herkimer. 
He also got the
replacement
agreement. 
Unfortunately, you have
to order the
replacement belts when they are needed.  I can't wait until he sharpens my scissors!
   I finished the 2d Tree on the Car hat yesterday and then charted a snowflake.  I spent last night and today trying to get it knit but it's not coming out the way I like.  I've had to remove a lot of the extra snowflakes...just single stitches...to simplify the design coz there is just so much you can put on a baby hat.  I'm down to 3 snowflakes...15 sts each...and it's looking pretty good.  The one I'm working on is gray with pink snowflakes and the 2nd one will be navy with lime green snowflakes.  I know, I know, not exactly traditional Christmas colors but they look pretty good.  As soon as I can I will post photos and you can make up your own mind.  Until then, it's time to get back to knitting!

New Christmas Hat

My new Christmas Hat!  Saw something like it on Ravelry.com and got inspired last night so I got out the graph paper and the rest is history.  That's what I do most times...change what I see out there to what I see inside my head.  Now comes the hard part...go back to the graph paper and change the chart to reflect what I actually did and write the whole thing up so I can do it again!  I also got another scalloped edge hat done except for the embroidery...the hat is white and the trim will be red flower buds with forest green leaves.  That should take about an hour to finish.  Got it finished! In fact, it went faster than I had thought it would.  I think I've finally got the hang of the embroidery...I hope.

If I do another one of these Tree on the Car hats I'll have 6 in my stock bag for the shop.  Got until Monday...should be no trouble.  I hope!

Knitting, Dancing and Cleaning the Water Filter

        Yesterday I started knitting to replace the 2 hats that sold this weekend (and that's all that I sold over Black Friday and Shop Local Saturday).  This is the baby Flower Hat done in Red Heart Silver with a red rose that I finished yesterday.   I also got one of the

new scalloped edge baby hats, done in Red Heart Turqua with purple embroidered flower buds, finished last night. Today I did another red rose and put it on a Red Heart denim Hat.  Tonight I'd like to do a

scalloped edge hat but I haven't picked the color yet.  

    It was easy to knit this morning.  PBS was rerunning an Andre Rieu show from last night and his music is easy to knit to.  In fact, I tried to get Fanny to dance around the room with me, but she ran into the other room to hide when I began waltzing around.  After Rieu they had a guy, Max Raabe, singing songs from the 1920 and 30's in German and English.  Let's just say it was different and let it go at that.  I took that as an opportunity to go and take a shower. 

    I've decided to redo my entire hat display and put in new hats next week when I work.  The ones that have been there longer than a month will be donated to the library in Herkimer and put on their donation fence (those who need something are encouraged to take their pick from what's hanging there).  I think I have a scarf that I may donate, too.
   In the meantime, when Fanny ran into the other room to get out of dancing with me, she sat next to the computer and kept her eye on Jeff who was cleaning the Berkey filters.  He has to do that about once a month and we replace the

filters every 6 months or so, depending on how much rain we've gotten (more rain means a higher water table and longer filter life.)  He tried to teach me how to clean them once but I couldn't do it as well as he does so it's still his job. (My mama didn't raise a fool.)

   From her chair, Fanny has a good line of sight to what's happening at the kitchen table, counters and stove and if she turns her head, outside in the back yard.  She's not too happy when I make her move so I can hang up
hats or sweaters to photograph them.  She demands a dog treat in payment for the use of the back of her throne/chair.  Sometimes I wonder who's the Alpha Bitch in this pack.

Knitting, Dancing and Cleaning the Water Filter

 

Shop Locally This Saturday

   Fanny and I took a quick trip to the shop this morning to fill in the holes in the hat display.  I took down this new baby hat...found the free pattern on Facebook and just changed the trim a little.  It ended up taking almost as long to do the embroidery as it did to knit it!  But it did come out cute, didn't it?  I took 3 flower hats and 1 penguin hat, too.  I was kind of surprised to find 2 penguin hats down there...I've been restocking 1 hat at a time and I guess I lost track.  Hope all the hats sell this weekend!  I also brought 2 lacy ladies scarves and a pin-stripe hoodie. There was only 1 baseball hat left...which surprised me...but I'm not going to make any more this year!  I brought home the last 2 pumpkin hats and they'll start the stash for next year.  Oh, I left the baby mittens...a special order...for the customer to pick up this weekend.  Saturday is Shop Local Saturday and it usually teams up well with Black Friday to make a nice beginning to the Holiday season in the shop. 
   I guess now I don't have any excuse not to clean house or work on Jeff's socks.  Especially after he came home with Dasher, a Christmas Reindeer, for me.  Fanny was jealous and had to check out the 

stuffed animal before deciding if it could stay.  I don't trust her so it will go up where she can't jump to reach it!

  

A Penguin Hat Modeled

Here's my cousin Jo's son's granddaughter wearing one of my penguin hats.

What I've Been Up To

    I've tried to stay busy this week while waiting to see the orthopedist on Wednesday.  I thought I'd stay off my ankle as much as I could get away with and just knit.  I made a penguin hat and a flower hat and a lacey scarf.  Then I cleaned out my Swap Box and found some yarn that I had received in swaps with other knitters.  One was a hank of baby alpaca and silk that might make a nice man's scarf so I took the time to wind it into a ball, another was a hank of deep blue merino that I started to wind up but it's really fine...almost fingering...and I gave up about half way thru!  I also found 2 skeins of lime green bamboo that would make a nice spring scarf.  Anyway, nothing inspired me so all the yarn went into a bag and back into the box.

   Last week I got a phone call from a woman who wanted to order a pair of baby mittens.  I looked at Walmart for the yarn and found nothing that I liked and then checked JoAnn Fabric's on line.  On Nov. 7th, I found something I liked online but it wasn't available in the store so I had to order it.  I've been tracking it since Nov. 11 when it was shipped and was told it would be delivered Nov. 21st! Here's the trip my little ball of yarn took after arriving at FedEx in Perrysburg Ohio on Nov 11 at 11am. It spent the weekend there, not leaving until Tues 11/15 at 11am when it was shipped to Martinsburg, WV, arriving Wed., 11/16 at 2am and leaving at 4:30am for Windsor CT.  It arrived in Windsor at 8am and at 10:30am it was transferred to USPS.  It was shipped to Herkimer at 5:30am today.  It should be delivered to me tomorrow or Saturday.  Just for the record, Perrysburg, Ohio is 557 miles west of Herkimer and the trip should take 8 hr., 27mins.  I guess that the crazy trip...and 4 day vacation in Perrysburg... justifies the amount of money they charge for shipping.  I just wish it would get here!

It was delivered this morning (Fri., 11/18.).  If only it could talk!!  What a trip it had! And here it is knit up into thumbless mittens for a 1 year old. I am suppose to take them to the shop tomorrow but
we are suppose to have a winter storm with INCHES of snow!  We'll see when they actually get delivered!!

    My appointment with the orthopedist, Paul Kiawitter, was yesterday afternoon and it was short and sweet.  He said my ankle looks better in person than it does on an X-ray.  He thinks my problem is arthritis...probably aggravated by the 'junk' that was used to hold my tib and fib together 7 years ago.  He also thinks it may be time to remove the 'junk'.  Anyway, that's not his decision, so he's referring me to another orthopedist at Bassett.  I got the 'first available' appointment with Briana Calore, orthopedic surgeon, on January 6th in Cooperstown.  Since I can't...can I?...go on staying off my ankle as much as I have, she may have a different opinion than he had.  We just have to wait and see.  Anyway, I will delay my annual 'pick up my unsold stock' trip and combine it with a trip to see Dr. Calore in January.  In the meantime, my house will not be the cleanest...but it never is...but the coffeepot will be on, the woodfire will be warm the TV room and anyone who stops by will be welcomed...as long as you don't complain about the condition of the house!

A Busy Weekend

   I had a pretty good week...sales-wise...in the shop this week.  I sold 2 sweaters and a couple of hats.  Of course, that means I had to restock...or at least, knit them and have some one else take them to the shop for me.  So I made 2 'Flowers and Lace' sweaters...since those were the style that had sold and remembered that Steve was working on Monday (tomorrow) so they had a ride.  This is a size 2 done in Red Hearts Silver with raspberry trim.  I  

had thought of trimming it in purple but it looked too dark.  However, I didn't have any buttons so Saturday I went to Walmart to see what I could find.  I got so involved with choosing buttons for my flower pins that I forgot to look for raspberry buttons!  That meant I had to go back this morning and get them...which turned out to be OK since I had to get

cuphooks to put on my pin display so it could be hung up.  This sweater is a size 1 done in Red Hearts Turqua with pink trim.  I also managed to get 1 penguin hat finished but that was a struggle.  I was having a real hard time working on black. Even used the headlamp Jeff gave me!
   I spent most of yesterday working on my pins.  Knitting the flowers was the easy part!  The rolled roses knit up quickly and the other flower got easier each time I made one.  Each

flower got 2 knit leaves and once they were all sewed together, a felt backing had to
be sewn on before the
pinback got sewed on.
The display board itself took longer than I
thought because I forgot

you had to be careful working with a hot glue gun.  Made a mess of my counter...leaving a trail of glue!  Luckily it peeled off once it cooled off.  There's no 'shelf room' in the shop for this display so I put cup hooks on the top and that should hold it.  (Actually, it's an 8"x10" stretched canvas and all I did was pad it and cover it with black fabric.)  I think they will make nice stocking stuffers and the pins can be worn with scarves, shawls or on a lapel.  Even Jeff complimented me on them!

   I think Fanny was registering a complaint that I had spent too much time on my knitting and ignored her this weekend in this photo. 

The Dog in the Backseat

     I'm sure many people wonder why there is usually
a dog in the backseat of my car when you see me driving around town.  It's not because she is too big to sit in my lap or fit in my purse because anyone can see that she definitely is.  She rarely calls 'shotgun' or wants to sits up front.  We have to have gone thru the drive-thru at Burger King (she loves their chicken nuggets) for Fanny to sit next to me in the front seat.  Jeff says it's because she doesn't care to be thrown against the dashboard when I hit the brakes unexpectedly.  I think she enjoys having both side windows to look out of and the full bench seat to stretch out on.  When we go to the bank she sits up and looks out the window at the teller...expecting a treat?  Most times they give her one, too.  But why don't I just leave her home, you might ask.  She is a dog, after all.  Well, she is a very timid dog.  She rarely barks...except at Jeff...and is frightened of new experiences and people.  Leaving her alone at home, even for a few minutes, can have interesting results.
   Yesterday while I was working at the shop in Cooperstown, Jeff had to leave Fanny home while he went for an eye appointment.  He thought he was a couple of steps ahead of her...he put the wastepaper basket in the bathroom sink, the kitchen garbage pail on the porch and the bread bags in the  middle of the table.  That just slowed her down.  He found both bags of bread on his bed...the pumpernickel looked like she had bounced it off the hall walls!  But neither bag had been torn opened.  I found out why when I found the empty Oreo package on my bed...it had been under the bread on the table.  She also

uncovered and ate the frosted cake that was on the table.  It's a wonder she didn't pull the Pyrex cake dish off the table! I guess food calms her fears and we're lucky that chocolate doesn't make her sick.
     

   Fanny stuck her head out the door when I drove into the driveway but wouldn't come outside until Jeff pushed her.  She was glad to see it was me...or realized that I had stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and picked up supper...but hid under the table while Jeff pointed out her misdemeanors.  Fanny was not too happy that there wasn't any chicken nuggets for her!  I mashed up the last 2 meatballs from Sunday's spaghetti and meatball supper and mixed it with her dog food and some watered down spaghetti sauce.  It never fails to amaze me how she can clean all the sauce or gravy off the nuggets and spit them back into her dish.  Eventually she ate it all and paid me back by repeatedly emptying her water dish and demanding to be let outside.  She also let off a couple of 'air bombs' that brought tears to my eyes.  We were all still up at 3am!  Now she's the only one who is still asleep.

But what I don't understand:  we can leave her in the car with a boot full of groceries and she doesn't touch them!  Today after voting, I bought a banana bread at the bake sale and left it on the front dashboard while we went out for lunch and grocery shopping.  Again, she didn't touch it.  But if I sliced that banana bread and leave it on the table it becomes fair game????

knitter's slang

Hello November!

A Full Day

   I was scheduled to work half a day in the shop yesterday so I was one of those lucky ones who got to drive in the downpour yesterday morning.  It rained so hard going south on Rte 28 I could hardly see in front of me.  Good thing there wasn't much traffic coz I was barely moving up the hill!  I think I may have hit 45mph!!  Then, when I got past the Jordanville Rd the rain stopped suddenly.  I just drove out of it!!  And it was dry and almost sunny the rest of the way to Cooperstown.  Strange weather.  But, remember what they say about the northeast, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change.
   Cooperstown was busy but not hopping!  It took all morning to get a good sale...and of course, it wasn't anything of mine. But some nice people came in including a 3yr boy with his mom who were on their way to the farmer's market to celebrate his birthday with a special treat.  Mom decided to stop and let him pick out a wooden truck, and then he picked one out for his little brother, too.  Couldn't tell which truck made him happier his or the one for his brother!   I asked if I could offer him a treat from our Trick or Treat jar before lowering the glass pumpkin down to his level.  The idea of picking out a Reese's cup really thrilled him.  I think he was having a very good birthday.
   I took several hats to fill up my display...owls and penguins...but I couldn't take any photos because my camera needed to be charged.  Seems I grabbed the wrong cord the other day when I tried to charge it and it didn't work.  Gotta get rid of that cord!!  I ended up doing 3 penguin hats (2 baby and 1 child) to add a little winter variety to my display.  Anita and Elma liked them...hope some customers do!  I didn't get my sweaters finished so it looks like I'll have to go down this week and put them up.  I'm not scheduled to work until Nov. 15th and that's a long time with empty shelves!!
   Several other crafters stopped in during the morning.  Debb was there to restock her hand-carved wooded pieces and I got to meet her daughter.  Then Anita came in, too.  I had promised to make her an Owl hat and she came in to try it on.  It fit and she liked it and we decided to trade rather than do cash for it.  I got a very nice pair of earrings with real carnelian stones in them.  I also heard about her adventures with their new mattress.  She's got to be careful getting out of that bed...it's a little high and she's fallen out once already.  Then Elma came in and she was my 'other half' so I could go home. I hope sales got better as the day went on.
   When I got home after an mostly uneventful ride...just a lot of deer sightings and some strange fog hanging over the Valley when I came down the hill into Mohawk...Jeff wanted to go pick up his new PC at Walmart.  He had put an Acer on layaway last week and decided to get it now.  He spent most of last night setting it up.  I kept hearing '#*@!*' coming from his room at regular intervals along with the beeps of the PC starting up.  Fanny got me up once during the night to go outside and Jeff was using this PC because his was still downloading some program or other.   Jeff and I stopped at Burger King for a really late lunch after we got his new PC (I got Fanny some chicken nuggets as a treat, actually, that was her dinner...cut up and mixed in with some kibble...she enjoyed it) so there was no supper to fix last night.  I put on a pot of coffee
when we got home, Jeff started to set up his PC and I played on this one for awhile.  I think I gave up and went to bed by 8pm.  Eventho I don't mind working in the shop, the trip to and from Cooperstown is starting to get to me...especially when the weather is 'interesting'.

SNOW...NO! IT"S TOO EARLY!

  Good thing Jeff decided to refit the chimney pipe for the woodstove yesterday.  We woke up to snow this

morning.  Not heavy...just the wet stuff.  The forecast is for  'light snow changing to a winter mix'.  Fun, huh?
Can't wait until he finishes cleaning the stove inside and lights a fire.  It will make a big difference in the temperature in this house. 
   This is one piece of
pipe he replaced.  He 
thought we could have gotten by this winter with this before he opened the pipe and saw the crack.  By the time he worked the pipe free the crack had become this hole!  This pipe led from the double walled pipe that goes thru the wall to the T that goes up and is the chimney. The double walled pipe was fine, no rust or cracks.  Jeff thinks the cap on the T needs more drainage holes.
   While Jeff was working outside, I was cleaning
the TV room around the stove...the windows (curtains got taken down and washed) and frames were washed and the walls dusted.  The floors got swept and vacuumed several times.  And the rugs...well, they're as clean as they'll ever be.  (Remember, we live in the country without sidewalks so lots of stuff gets tracked in.)  I have to do half the room at a time because there is too much furniture to move it all at once.  Most of the chairs are still piled up in front of the couch...only Jeff's chair was put back in place when he got up during the night and watched TV...and covered with old sheets.  That's the only way I can protect my yarn basket!   This morning he's finishing cleaning the stove pipes and firebox from inside the house and then I'll sweep the room again and finally dust the tables, TV and shelves...more or less. Ah, this is one task I do not like doing BUT I do enjoy the wood heat!!

  

Gotta Keep Knitting

   Today was an adventure in automotive expenses. 
   I had an appointment with my mechanic to have 2 new tires installed on my 2009 Subaru Forester.  Jeff and I had talked about it with Dave and we came to the conclusion it didn't pay to have a car that would go thru just about any road condition if you didn't have good tires, so we agreed to order a pair of mid-priced tires thru Dave.  Today was the day to have them installed.  Jeff also pointed out that I needed back brakes, too.  OK, I said, while you have it up in the air, you might as well do an oil change, too.   We took the car down to Dave yesterday afternoon because today was also the day the new chimney pipe was going to be installed on the woodstove. More on that tomorrow...complete with photos!

  About 10am Dave called to say that he had a deal for us.  By mistake his distributor had delivered 4 high-end studded winter tires to him and they would fit my car...if I wanted them.  I could have all 4 for the same price as the 2 all season-tires I had ordered.  I woke Jeff up and he nixed the idea.  He doesn't like stuffed tires for several reasons...you have to have another set of tires for summer use, he didn't think they'd do me any good and he saw a really bad accident once where a stud flew loose and killed a child...so we passed up on the offer.  Dave also told me that the brakes were worse than
he first thought and I needed new rotors and calipers in the front and back.  This was going to get more expensive than I had planned.  I told him I wasn't planning on front and back brakes and he said 'not to worry'.
   That turned out to be the motto for the day.  The total at the mechanics came to over $1000.00 and while I was able to pay half today he kept saying 'don't worry'.  Unfortunately, I am.  I hate unexpected bills.  I hope I can pay it off next month.  Gotta keep knitting!!

New Hat...a Penguin!

How about a new hat idea?

More Owls

     I'm having fun making Owl hats!  Here are the latest 3 I've finished.  I've added a frame of cables around them, too.  I like they way they stand out against the colored backgrounds, too.  Ok, that's enough with the birds on hats.  It's back to sweaters.

Getting Ready for Winter

      I went to the shop yesterday morning to restock pumpkin hats and my Snow Owl hat and Fanny went with me and I stopped and got treats for everyone on the way back.  (Chocolate glazed donuts for Jeff and chicken nuggets for Fanny) and I swear it was snowing up on Rte 28 by the Jordanville Rd!!  When I got home it was just raining lightly and Jeff was ready to go shopping.  He had decided it was time to

re-fit the pipe to the woodstove instead of

thru a house fire when he lived in Gray the first time that destroyed everything!  They were lucky to get out alive.)  He checked the pipe and it probably would last another year but why take the chance, he asked?  So yesterday afternoon we went shopping for a length of double walled stove pipe.  Lowe's has always had it but when Jeff...and the guy he talked with there...couldn't find it on the shelf, Jeff wanted to check out the other places in the Valley who had stove pipe before ordering it.  We went to Ace Hardware in Ilion, Farm and Tractor and Collis Hardware both in Herkimer before trying Lowe's again before ordering the pipe.  This time the Lowe's guy we talked to looked things up on their computer and found out that there were suppose to be 6 sections of that pipe in the store.  Jeff and the Lowe's Man went back to the display and actually found it!  We had our double walled stove pipe and a few extra pieces and were all set.

just cleaning it before lighting the first fire of the season.  I think the section of pipe that goes

thru the wall gives Jeff
nightmares.  (He lived 
   When we got home, Wally met us in the driveway to let us know the electricity was out.  That meant  no lights, TV, PC, water or heat (especially with the stove pipe in the back of the car!!!).  After a few minutes it dawned on us that it also meant no supper since we have an electric stove.  Jeff suggested we go out to supper.  I said yes, of course...hey, that made 2 nights in a row!  (A new record...we had gone out for fish fry at Fat Cats Friday night.)  We checked out the new Italian Feast that has replaced our favorite Belly Busters Diner in the old Dandy Donuts.  It has an all-you-can-eat buffet and has just opened.  We walked in and looked around.  The buffet didn't appeal to either one of us so we left and went to the Knight Spot in Frankfort.  I had a covered meatball sandwich with a side order of greens and Jeff had a huge hamburger with real onion rings.  We both ate well.  We stopped at Stony's on the way home to leave a bag of hot peppers and tomatoes from the garden and when we got home the electricity was back on!  I made a pot of coffee and one of us turned on the PC and the other the TV.   I cut up the section of sandwich I had brought home for Fanny and she was happy to have it in her supper.  It was a cold, wet, black night and I was glad to be home.  I just wished the stove pipe was up where it belonged and not in the back of the Forester.  

Giveaways

   I've been having so much fun lately entering contests to try and win yarn...as if I don't have enough already!  Today I signed up for a chance for some French Vanilla Superfine Bulky yarn by Zen Yarn Garden, some Universal Yarn from Jimmy Bean Wool, Connect the Dots Puzzle yarn from Premier yarn, Bonsai Lana Boucle Yarn from the
Brown Sheep Co. and The Downton Abby Yarn Collection.  As you can see from the titles of the yarns they are all different and not what I'm use to using.  But with the season winding down I'm looking forward to doing some recreational knitting...not just baby sweaters and hats...and these 5 groups of yarn appealed to me.  Hope I win something!  Until then, it's back to a size 1 raglan from the neck down sweater....

OWLS

 I have been inspired to knit owls.  It's strange what inspires me.  It's been owls this weekend.  There are a lot of owl patterns out there, I guess.  Anyway I decided it was time to put owls on a sweater and got a skein of Red Heart Warm Brown and 3 flat wooded buttons and started a size 1 pullover with a Henley front.  Those size 1's go fast and I had the sleeves finished before I knew it.  (Well, not really, it took 1 day to do the yoke and sleeves, but that's still pretty fast!)  Before I reattached the yarn to start the body of the sweater I remembered to thread on my beads for the owls' eyes.  I still had 2 or 3 old-fashion flimsy metal threaders that I got when I did the Hogwarts Express scarf last month.  I thought I could get away with using them to thread my beads onto my worsted weight acrylic yarn.  Wrong.  The scarf had been done with a washable wood sock weight yarn and was a lot finer.  The threader worked very well pulling it thru the beads.  The heavier acrylic worsted yarn was not so easy to pull thru and I destroyed the last 2 threaders before I saw the dental floss in my bead box and remembered why it was there. Voila. My beads were threaded on my yarn and I finished the sweater working in the owls and placing their eyes  were they belong.  I really like the way the sweater finished up...and Jeff says these owls actually remind him of owls (an improvement over what he thought about the owls on the scarf but we won't go there.)  I used all the brown yarn and

then switched to white yarn and did a Snow owl hat.  I'm ready to mail the hats and sweater to Judy and she'll put them in the shop later this week.  Now I have to come up with something to work on.  We have plenty of outside work to do but I like to knit early in the morning and after supper so I better find something.  I'm kind of inspired to do some more knitting with beads.  I saw an interesting scarf with a beaded design worked in...but I'm not sure where I saw it.  I know I saved it...but where....

Judy got the package yesterday and took the sweater and hats to the shop this morning.  Cheryl, who was working, had seen the photos here and on Facebook and thought they even looked better in person...hat/sweater?  Anyway, Judy took them over to her hairdresser's and got another wave of approval from the ladies who were there this morning.  Somewhere along the way another color suggestion (gray) was offered and I went shopping for gray yarn.  All Walmart had on the shelves were pewter and dark heather so I went online when I got back home and ordered some soft gray, really a silver, from JoAnn Fabrics.  Should have it by Monday.  In the meantime, I think I'll try to do a couple of Christmas stockings for the shop. 10-13-16

How Memories are made

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   One of the members of the shop makes fantastic teddy bears and some of the best ones are from re-cycled clothing/blankets/etc. , and since I decided it was time to do something with my mom's wedding dress...a velvet gown she made herself for her 1948 wedding...(and kept in the cedar chest ever since...I think I asked once when I was in college and could still fit into the gown if I could wear it for Halloween and she said no.)I decided it was time to have the gown made into a bear.  Brenda...the crafter...called it 'vintage'...and asked if I had something to trim the bear.  Couldn't find her veil but I found Dad's bow tie!  Then I was texting Brenda and talking to another friend and decided to look for something to she could use to make a vest for the bear to wear and be decorated with those
covered buttons that run
down the gowns back.  Well, I looked in the cedar chest again and this time found the raspberry silk shantung dress that Mom wore when she was matron of honor for her sister.  So I'm going to have a beautiful memory bear by Brenda Petty made out of my mom's velvet wedding gown wearing a vest of raspberry silk shantung made from the matron of honor's dress from my aunt's...and godmother... wedding...and wearing the bowtie from my father's wedding tux.  And that sure beats letting everything stay in the cedar chest and rot.