Thursday, January 26, 2012

Eye of the beholder

Just a simple U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail box ready to mail?


Absolutely not - this box contains a weight off my mind and a monkey off my back!

My January resolution was to finish knitting a vest for my mother, what I called the "bleepity-bleep" ribbon vest. Way back in August of 2010 during a visit with Mom, she took me to her local yarn store and showed me a vest that she wanted me to knit for her. It was made out of Cascade Egeo, a ribbon yarn, and although I had never worked with a ribbon yarn, I said yes. I was such a fool.

Knitting with ribbon yarn is very different than knitting with other yarns, I soon learned. I won't go into all the details, both because the details are boring to non-knitters and because I still twitch a bit when thinking about the yarn, but trust me when I say it is a PITA. I started the thing a half dozen times, only to drop stitches and have to frog back. I put it in timeout for months on end. I think I even threw it across the room a few times. Finally, I hitched up my knitting needles and just got down to business.

When Mom visited here over the holidays, I showed her the almost completed project and she seemed pleased with it, which made me all the more determined to get it done (not to mention that I could really use the bag it was in for another big project). So I promised my mother that she would have the completed vest by the end of January and I resolved to get it done.

And I did! Here is the finished project:


I won't lie; I don't think it looks nice at all and I see every mistake I made. But if my mother likes it, then what I think is totally irrelevant. And if she does not like it, I will probably never know; we moms tend to think that everything our offspring makes is wonderful.

It is such a relief to have that project completed, boxed and ready for the mail. Now back to knitting projects that I actually enjoy!

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Speaking of knitting, I somehow missed my fourth knitting anniversary on January 20 - I guess I was too busy swearing at the ribbon vest - so happy belated anniversary to me!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Winter walk

Today is breathtakingly beautiful - sunny and cold, yes, but with little wind. We bundled up and drove out to Beaver Lake Nature Center for a walk. We left the snowshoes at home because there isn't enough of a snow pack; we have only had about 26 inches of snow this winter season and periodic warm spells with rain have kept the snow on the ground to a minimum.

James sported the new hat I knit for him, using yarn that is 60% llama and 40% silk:


We enjoyed looking at the animal tracks in the snow:


The play of shadows across the frozen lake was gorgeous:


It was good to get out, stretch our legs, listen to winter sounds, and to enjoy the fresh air and bright sunshine. Many of our southern friends are surprised at the amount of time we spend outside in the winter; we do far more outdoor activities year-round here in New York than we ever did in previous locations. Once we got the proper boots and coats, we were good to go.

Now if we could just have some more snow, we could get out our snowshoes and even try out cross-country skiing. And, yes, you read correctly: we want more snow!