Yup, It's Snowing! Finally!

We've wanted it all winter, but the weather has been iffy ups and downs. Yesterday it was in the 60's and now? Well:
The Tonk got very excited when he realized there was white stuff falling from the sky.
He was quite ready to sit and keep an eye on it...

And now there's a couple of good inches there, and more coming, so he's decided to settle in for the show!

They're Calling for Snow.

And I'm home nursing yet another sinus infection. I'm ticked, to say the least!

But they are calling for snow, tho' at present I'm unsure if they know how much (it's gone from 2-5 down to 1-3 inches and that was a few hours ago - the worst, of course would be sleet and freezing rain, but who knows what will happen?)

Anyway, I've not been of a mind to do much more than surf Facebook and Ravelry. Mostly getting angrier by the minute that not only has one side of Congress lost their freaking minds, but apparently so has the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia (the fair state in which I reside). Women's healthcare is being trounced and the clock turned back decades. I'm spitting mad. (And I know I'm not alone)

So while writing letters and emails to legislators & Congressional reps and reading articles online, I also borrowed The Handmaid's Tale from the Overdrive library and while I've read it, I've knit
and managed to complete my Sis-in-Law's socks (my plain vanilla toe-up pattern with picot edging, using my trusty Addi 16" circulars size 1.5.) The yarn is Opal Ambiente and I'm wishing I had another ball of this, as I LOVE this colorway (color 2996, lot 162)!

When I've needed a break from the small needles, I've picked up my 7s and worked on the Mission Falls 1824 Wool Blankety-Blanket:
I've been able to pick up several balls of black to make the i-cord edging, and am hopeful I have enough of the various colors to use to make at least a lapghan.

It beats spinning my wheels over political actions that I can only work slowly (yet again) to have changed. But change they will. Governor McDonald doesn't have a clue what sort of can of worms he's opened with this, and I expect you'll see quite the backlash against him and his cronies for this issue and you'll see it soon.

Hmm...Mitt? Do you REALLY want this man as your running mate? You want to lose THAT BADLY????? Of course, if you do, that's perfectly fine with me!
:P

Wow. Two Posts in One Day?

What can I say, you're LUCKY!!! *wink*

Today’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Favorite Chocolate Treats. Now while I don't usually do these posts on a regular basis, every now and again one speaks to me. And does this one EVER speak to me? YES! So without further ado, here are Knitnana's ten favorite Chocolate treats:
1. Dark Dove Promises. My absolute favorite of all time, got me thru the initial 10 pound weight loss after my heart attack. Still adore them, tho' my dark chocolate horizons have been elevated in recent years.
2. My local coffee bean proprietor's (Mill Mountain Tea and Coffee) Dark chocolate raspberry decaf coffee.
3. La Madeleine's Sacher Torte (which we get whenever we go to Old Town Alexandria VA)
4. Ritter Sport's Dark chocolate bar (in the magenta wrapper), and/or Green & Blacks 70% Dark...I'm easy.
5. Chocolove's Dark Chocolate with Crystalized Ginger bar. Has become my all-time favorite chocolate treat and when I can't find them? I use #4 with real crystallized ginger - *swoon!*
6. Wildflour's Better Than Sex Cake (it's not, but it's close)
7. Godiva Dark Chocolate Raspberry candy bars
8. Wildflour's (see link above) Dark Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Brownie. Yes. Oh, and yes again...! (Ooops...just discovered they have a Dark Chocolate Raspberry Mousse CAKE! Must try that one soon...)
9. My own chocolate sour cream cake with sour cream icing (a recipe given me in my teens by a family friend I haven't heard from since, so while it used to be "Linda's Chocolate Sour Cream Cake, it's mine now!). I haven't made it in years but I don't dare, as it's a huge cake and I won't leave it alone in the kitchen more than five minutes...which would bring my weight back up in a hurry!
10. My mom's chocolate chip cookies. I'm the only one she gave her secret ingredient to and I also have the spoon for measuring it into the batter, but sorry, even mine don't equal hers. DD says the real secret ingredient was love, and I think she's probably right.
Oh! Stop the presses...I just found THESE:

May I have a No. 11?

Happy Valentines' Day

Not totally sure where this graphic came from, but I know it's not mine. Please allow me to share this lovely with the rest of the world, if it's your's. And thank you for making us smile...

Inspirations

"It was a dark and stormy night..." Ok, I'm not Snoopy, but it's definitely a bitterly cold and windy night. A quick check of my iPhone and I know that it's 20 degrees with 18 mph winds. Can you say "brrrr?"

But this is about inspirations and inspirational people, so I'm going to move on along here and connect the two things. That weather is inspiring me to warmth. We're bundled up here in the office/knitting room, the cats and me. I've got Mission Falls 1824 Wool on the needles. I'm making another warm and cuddly blanket:

I've been enamored of this wondrous yarn for a long time, ever since I made my Log Cabin blanket. And then I saw Chawne's blanket. So many of Chawne's creations speak to me. She uses color in a way I can only dream of. Usually, what she makes is not complex from the standpoint of technical knitting. That blanket there is garter stitch. Just garter. Reminds me of another of my inspirations, the woman who got me going with my first Mission Falls 1824 Wool banket - the Log Cabin, and that would be the Queen of Garter Stitch herself: Kay Gardiner of Mason Dixon Knitting. I'm drooling over her Mitered Crosses blanket in Rowan Denim blue & white. That's going on my queue - when I can swing the Rowan Denim.

And then there's Kaffe Fasset. I probably don't need to say anything more, do I?

These folks are all about Colorplay. And I'm inspired.

So much so that, if you find you have some partially finished balls of 1824 Wool you don't intend to use and would like to offer to a good home? Please let me know. I promise, they'll be very happy here.

The Meezer just loves 1824 Wool...I'm sure you remember, right?

And of all this just reminds me of why I started quilting all those years ago: Amish Quilts! Particularly Sunshine and Shadow.

I adore the graphic nature of my Log Cabin Blanket, Kay's gorgeous Mitered Squares projects, Amish Quilts, and Chawne's & Kaffe's lovely blocks of color in their projects.

Now I'm off to knit a bit...but do let me know if you've got any odd balls of 1824 Wool, okay?

I Love Gift Cards!

Ok, the Kaffe Knits Again! is a secondary market find, but the magazines are courtesy of a holiday gift card:

I'm in love with the quilt on the cover of Sew Scrappy which is a magazine from BH&G. It's simple, and will use many, many of the leftovers from Nana Sadie's stash of scrap fabrics (not to mention quite a bit of quilt fabric I bought back in the day.

This week has been a bit crazy, so far, but I'm working a little on my sis-in-law's socks (1 down, almost to the heel on #2!). The next project to complete is a toss-up: sis-in-law's Landscape Shawl, or my Clapotis? (I'll probably work on both)

I'm doing a little on Pinterest, here and there as I find things...yet another social media site, but I love the idea of a virtual pin-up board where I can stash the things I don't want to lose. Hmm...wish I could work backwards in time and pin a ton of things in the magazines I have lining my bookshelves!

Yes, another of the many things I hope to accomplish this year: going thru the books, magazines, and CDs and weeding OUT.

How are you doing on the plans you made for 2012?

HI! I've Got A Lot To Share...

I've been sewing, which should come as no surprise since I just had a show. I wanted to share a few things with you!. Below you can see the first Glady Interchangeable Needle Case I've made in a long time (These are really neat needlecases, just sayin'). The customer wanted sheep (naturally) and found a lovely print with a LOT of sheep in a field with barns in the background:

When I worked on the inside of the case, I found a great flannel that is varying shades of green like grass in a field. I tried hard to showcase the Border Collie in the print as well:

Too cute!

Some time ago, a customer in England ordered this for a friend. I know the friend has it now, so I can share that with you:

That's one of the nicest dragonfly patterns I've seen, with the stained glass effect. This is my largest knitting bag, by the way, the Mavis.

Then my sis-in-law will be off to warmer climes soon, and wanted a fun bag to take shopping:

And she wanted it to be colorful! So there's all sorts of colors and brightness in this print and I stacked a couple of buttons for the closure.

Today, I finally took another class in spindle spinning. I've been wanting to ever since my failed class at Sock Summit 09. My new LYS, Wyrd Sisters offered a class today and the size of the class, I know, made a huge difference (there were exactly two of us!). See the yarn I made?

I'll be working on my technique on some undyed merino I have before I do much else with this, but I can finally write off the "Bucket List" that I want to learn to spin. Thanks, Courtney for a lovely class.

And Cate, thanks for having this wonderful Unplanned Peacock yarn in stock:

(I understand this was a mistake yarn - and she has no idea how she came up with it. Well, Natasha, I'm totally delighted with this lovely yarn - named Mystery, appropriately! Not sure what it will become, but it's mine, all mine!)

Now, in between making bags, I'll be working on spindling...no promises, but as I marked one thing off my list, I wrote one on: Learn to spin on a wheel.

(you knew that was coming, right?)

My First Real Post on Ahimsa

It's taken a couple of weeks to get my head far enough above water (known in the vernacular as W-2 season) to begin to think in terms of just how I do violence to myself, how I jeopardize my sanity and sense of calm, and how I can move in the direction of Ahimsa in my own life.

This year will be about several behaviors I see as detrimental to my own health, well-being, and sanity:
1. My inability to say "no." I'm better at it than I used to be, but then I do silly things to complicate my life (usually when I'm facing some sort of stressor - which is totally crazy, because if I'm already stressing, why on earth would I say "oh, yes, please, let's add on some more!" WHY?)

2. My insistence oh competing with my (much younger) Self. I'm particularly good at this when it comes to yoga class and other types of exercise I set myself up to do. I was a dancer in my past life and from there moved on to being a better than average yoga student (I was really flexible, still am, and so being able to slip into some of the poses easily inspired the "show-off" in me!). So far, I'm keeping myself from joining up with the next level of yoga class (to the effect that right now I'm not going to yoga class! Silly me. But if I'd just do the gentle classes I'd be so much better off (as would my spine!). Now if I can just re-organize my schedule so that I start yoga class again.

3. My complete inability to part with stuff. I'm one of those "collectors" and to be fair, I was raised by one, my sister is one, too. I've passed it on to my DD (please forgive me, Sweetie, I wish I hadn't!). It's a family curse. But that's not a reason to continue the process. My goal this year is to slowly begin the unearthing process. There's another generation who could benefit from the inheritance of family items and now's the time to move those things along. But I've collected tons of things and it's really time to move the "non-inheritance" things OUT! Waiting for a yard sale isn't going to happen, so I hope to begin the process of selling things via Craigslist and ebay. If I can face it, you might even see a destash sale over on Ravelry. I have to keep reminding myself: I am NOT my stuff!

4. A few years ago, I finally got in the groove of working towards a retirement for me. Yes, I will retire, tho' at present it doesn't look as if it will be all that soon! (Blasted economy!) The plans are moving forward to increase what goes to the IRAs and conservative "investments." I use that term loosely, because it sounds ostentatious to me. I know I don't have anywhere near what I'll need, and there's a certain pride that I wear when I think of my high school friend's pronouncement a few years ago that I was the only person she knew who could probably live quite nicely on my Social Security alone (backhanded complement that it was)...Still, I'm figuring I won't be getting anything until I'm 70, and perhaps then it will be botched and whittled away by those in government who seem to think it's an entitlement program that's long overdue for its demise. (Guess how I'll be voting on that issue? Social Security is a liabilty the government owes us.) Still, I could do a lot more to pad the savings accounts, and learning to say "no" to myself on accumulation of "stuff" is part of my learning to be kind to me.

So those are the primary areas I'll be working on in the upcoming year. And in thinking of those, I happened upon a video today that showcases exactly the sort of life I'm aiming for. I talk about it a little bit over on my latest Nana Sadie's Place post. And the video is posted there, too.

Stop by my little "lifestyle" blog once in awhile (I don't post there nearly as often as I do here). Sometimes I have interesting spots I've come upon in my roaming around the blogisphere...stuff that I think really doesn't work over here on Knitnana.
(((hugs)))

Denim and Honey Brown...

I've had an ongoing crush on this color combo, and even went so far as to create a Treasury List over on etsy with a lovely assortment of things in these hues...

So it should come as no surprise that when I found this out-of-print fabric not so long ago, I held it back just so I could make myself this bag:

Again, it's another of the new "Mera Adorned" style, with the blue denim base. I love it.

There are those who know me well, who will tell you that my compulsion with blue and brown began when this little lady came into my life:

And they would be correct.

And now there are two of them, of course...not just the little lady anymore.
*wink*

Short & Sweet...

'cause it's been a long day and I'm tired. But I wanted to touch base and share a little knitting with you:

These are plain vanilla socks for Sis-in-law. She pulled on my heartstrings when she said all her handknit socks were in the wash...and she didn't have enough of them!

Her birthday was the first of the week, so you know I had to let her dive in my stash and pick out something she liked...this Opal was her choice and that didn't surprise me one bit. It's knitting up nicely...

And I'm done with W-2s, there's only one set of 1099s to go, and a cat show I'm woefully behind in prepping for...if you don't hear from me, you'll know where I am, right?
(((hugs)))

And Now for Something A Bit Different!

I promised something new in the Nana Sadie Rose line, and there's more to come, but I wanted to share this one prior to the cat show the end of the month:

The fabric is We Are Siamese from Michael Miller, a print that's retro to the core, because this print was originally on a pinwale velvet corduroy back in the 1950s. I've seen jumpers and skirts made of it and have even used some of it myself. Must admit this cotton is a lot easier to work with! The cats are a tiny bit smaller, too, but that works here especially...

But it's NOT the print that I'm excited about! About a year ago, I toyed with the idea of adding a strip to the bottom of my bags, particularly thinking of something heavyweight, and more durable than cotton. I've now made a couple of them, both using denim, and I really like the effect. It's especially good with a light fabric, as I tend to try to steer folks away from those because they soil more easily. But with this bottom, that fear is dealt with!

So we'll call this "Mera Adorned" and I'll let you know that bags in this style will be limited and by custom order only. I don't want to bring mountains of heavy fabrics into my sewing room (it's kinda getting stuffed in there already!), so at present I'm thinking dark (navy, brown, tan, black) denim or twill. As always, ask if your fabric choice will work with this and I'll work with you as best I can.

And there's a slight difference in price, but for the increase in longevity, I don't think most of my customers will mind.

(Oh, and yes, you can get a Kerri Adorned...but I think I'm limiting this to those two styles, at least for now).

Okay, I'm off to update the shop!

I Might Have Broken My No-Buy Pledge Irrevocably

But when one FALLS, shouldn't one fall for something luscious? Say, like MadelineTosh? And perhaps Hecate?

don't mind me...I'll just be sitting here knitting, you may drool amongst yourselves...


(but if you're local and would like to gather a bit of this loveliness for yourself? Head over to Wyrd Sisters Yarn Shop on Franklin Rd and I'm relatively sure that Cate will enable you right into your very own private crack - er...yarn. Yeah, yarn...
;)

It's All About the Hats! Or...Knitnana Becomes a Hooker!

(Oh I can't wait to see what results I get from Google and Facebook with that title!)

Tonight I took my first official crochet class. I'd been self-taught (as I am with most crafts). And apparently I hadn't done a rotten job, because when I was asked if I wanted to make the beginner crochet scarf or the intermediate crochet hat, I jumped at the hat...This is the hat:

It's perched so jauntily on our delightful instructor, Leslie's, head.

Leslie wrote the pattern. The hat on her head is the one she made. It's adorable and makes me smile. Leslie is a crackerjack teacher (and a middle school teacher by day, so she has great experience!). I will take more classes with Leslie. :)

And this is my crochet hat (such as it is...)

I frogged (is it called that in crochet?) several times and re-hooked (heh) to get to this point. I promise to share the finished product, tho' no doubt I will have Karen model for me, as it's hard to take a photo of one's own self...

That's Karen up there, wearing my Red Hat's hat. That's the flower my sis-in-law made me for Christmas. I decided you needed a close-up of it once I got it attached. Isn't it cool?

This is a long weekend for me. I have MLK day off, and because of that and the upcoming cat show, I took tomorrow off, too. And then of course, it's also W-2 season, so there's the vet's books and payroll reporting...

And there's a plumber coming because the City tells me I have an exceptionally high bill ("did you have guests over the holidays?" "Um, no, not 7000 gallons worth of guests"). So far, I can tell you there's no Kool Aid getting into the two toilets, which I think is half the battle...He'll be here bright and early tomorrow so no sleeping in.

Which is too bad. I'm better, but I'm not 100% yet. I could use a late entry to morning.
;)

Onward Into January

It took another day off before I could muster enough strength to make it back to the office today. To an avalanche of work. And that's just the stuff needed to catch up...I'm still not there and not convinced my brain hasn't been replaced with cotton wool. But when I first arrived it occured to me there were a few things that might have been delivered while I was "under the weather" (why is it that always sounds so trite and nothing to compare with how things REALLY are when you're at death's door?):

Yup. A Barnes and Noble order included that lovely One Skein book. I've been looking at Cherly Oberle's Little Hanten sweater for a certain little granddaughter...and this has been in my basket for ages...when another book I liked the looks of showed up with a "free" label on it (we do think they meant to make it a free Nookbook), I took quick advantage and ordered them both. They honored the "free book" without any question (I do so like B&N) and as a result, I've purchased 2 of Barbara Bretton's two most recent Sugar Maple, Vermont knitting/witchery/fantasy/romance Nookbook novels so I could catch up with one of my favorite "heroines!"
:)
In that photo you'll also see that I succumbed to the Facebook announcement that Rowan 50 was still available - actually I think it was that Rowan 48 was back in stock, but I have that one and dearly wanted this one. A friend on Ravelry's Chronic Stitcher's group had knit socks out of this lovely ivory, purple, tan, brown Regia and I was equally bewitched by them, so...

I know Joce. I gave you a ton of grief yesterday about sharing Kate Davies' newest creation, since we're supposed to be keeping each other on a sort of informal "knit from stash" KAL.

Hm. I know, Joce, you've probably given in to the urge and not just bought the pattern. I've promised myself that I must make Sheep Heid before I even entertain the thought of purchasing the yarn for Rams and Yowes blanket. Because I'm like you and would WANT to use Jamieson & Smith Shetland Natural (even if it does mean I have to redecorate my house to go with it!). Still, I do apologize for not admitting to having already succumbed myself.

Sock yarn, tho'. That doesn't count as stash, right? Back me up, here, Steph, won't you?