No More Hum Drum Mittens Swap 2

One day I was innocently browing on Cary's blog and she sucked me in to another exchange! :o) Here is my questionnaire for the No More Hum Drum Mittens Swap 2. I hope I answered the measurement questions correctly Secret Knitting Friend. Feel free to ask questions if you aren't sure.

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?
I learned how to knit in Kindergarten (1971) when my Grandma taught me. In 1990 when I moved to a knew city I really got serious about it. Then set it aside for awhile again and have been knitting steadily since 2005.

Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I think my knitting level is somewhere between intermediate and advanced.

What are your favorite colors?
I love all purples, burgandies, blues, periwinkle, dark teal, pinks, grays, some blue toned greens. I generally prefer jewel or rich colors to pastels.

Any you dislike?
Orange, warm tones, browns (unless it's a natural sheep color)

Do you like Latvian type patterns?
Yes, I like most all types of traditional knitting forms, including the Latvian mittens and Scandinavian.

If so, what are your favorite patterns?
I don't know enough about Latvian mittens to have a favorite pattern. I love snowflake pattern variations, but I'm sure whatever you think of will be a great surprise.

Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child?
I'm going to be selfish and say for myself since I've never done this before.

What is the measurement from your wrist to the tip of your longest finger?
8.5 " (not counting cuff)

What is the circumference of your hand at it's widest point?
9.25" (I measured where the base of the thumb is, I hope that was right. Sorry! I have big hands!)

What other things do you enjoy knitting?
I do a lot of lace knitting and traditional things like Aran and Fair Isle and plain/common things like dish cloths, socks, kids sweaters etc.

What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum)
It depends on the project. I use a lot of circs, especially Addi turbos and Addi lace turbos and also like bamboo. I love Brittany for douple points.

What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?
I would like to work on some of Elizabeth Zimmerman's patterns. I have the books but just haven't gotten around to it. I also have some Alice Starmore Arans that I would like to make. I have a HUGE list of projects on Ravelry in my queue. I love looking at patterns and could have a million projects going at once if I am not careful.

What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?
I love wool. Someday I would like to try some luxury fibers like cashmere or quiviut. I have a skein of Tofootsies I haven't tried yet. Some of those new fibers sound fun.

What other hobbies do you have?
I love to sew/quilt, do genealogy, spin, scrapbook, photography

Do you spin?
Yes, I have a Lendrum DT and a couple spindles. I'm still pretty beginnerish.

Sew?
Yes, for my kids, some for myself, quilting and patchwork

Garden?
I just have container gardens where I am now but I'm reading up about organic gardening so that hopefully in the future we can do that.

Cook?
Yes, I like to cook and we have recently been pursuing healthier living so I am re-learning how to cook, all over again.

Besides yarn, do you collect anything?
I like sheepy things and killer whales but don't officially "collect" anything.

What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty?
I like caramels and chocolate, shortbread. I'm not a salty or sour person.

Anything you hate or are allergic to?
Cigarette smoke, scented stuff (I have asthma), I don't care for licorice.

Do you have any kids?
3, DS - 6, DD - 4 3/4, DD - 4 3/4

Pets?
Kitty, Abbie

What is your favorite part of Winter?
Snow...knitting!

What is your least favorite part of Winter?
People's grumpy attitudes and commercialism around holidays and sales.

I Love Surprises

Today I received my swap box from Cheryl "Flo Peep", my secret sister in the Christian Artisans' Coffee, Tea and Thee swap. I love surprises and this little box was like all the clowns filing out of the little car at the circus! LOL More surprises kept coming out of the box! There is a bump of multicolored roving, which will be nice because I happen to know that the present in my Christmas stocking is going to be another drop spindle! :o) The two skeins are Brown Sheep's Wild Foote sock yarn in blue/red. I've always wanted to give it a try. I may make some socks for my son with this because he always enjoys watching my projects but they end up being for other people, usually girls/women and I think he feels left out! Standing in the back is a box of cinnamon shortbread cookies (hmm...3 are already missing! lol). Then there are two cans of specialty flavored cocoas, a tea strainer and in front 6 bags of different herbal teas. Technically they are tisanes (herbs, but no actual tea leaves. I don't care for actual tea.) and she picked a few nummy ones like chamomile vanilla. I think these will be good for breaks during my organizing that I hope to do while hubby is home for his Christmas break.

Oh, Cheryl is very sweet and wonderful, but she didn't send the home baked bread! If you would like to know more about that, please head on over to My Journey To Wholeness.

Secret Sister Surprise

I am late in getting this posted. A couple days before Thanksgiving, this arrived in the mail. Isn't it pretty? My Secret Sister on the Christian Artisans list spun it. She also made me some pretty pink and turquoise stitch markers. I have so many projects with stitch markers going on that it was the perfect timing. I really needed some more. I'm not sure what I am going to knit with this, but it is wool and mohair and all the colors I like.

I do still knit. Sometimes. Between being sick, doing homeschool and working on adjusting Hubby's thyroid meds and his work stresses, this fall just has not been a great knitting time for me. I still have a couple shawls to block, including two Swallowtail Shawls, one of which, I hope to wear Saturday to women's brunch with Sonia and Pam, my scrapbooking friends.

The Socks That Whooped Me!

Way back last September I joined a little swap called Feet To Prayers. It was the midst of a really crazy time in my life when Laura had just died and my Hubby scared us with Atrial Fibrillation secondary to his newly diagnosed Graves' Disease. I thought it would be a good idea to focus on someone else and give of my time in prayer and encouragement. Knitting a sock was part of the requirement. We knit one sock for our partner and sent it on for them to knit the second sock, that way we had knit something "together". How hard could a sock be? I knit lace. I knit Fair Isle. I knit Aran. I have worked on custom fitting for myself. One little sock could not be that big of a deal! Famous last words!

The sock you see cavorting here at the Pacific Ocean before being mailed on to lovely, but sadly blog-less Charlotte, is not the sock I began with. Nor the second sock I knit. Nor even the third. This sock is actually the 4th. First I began with some lovely Schaeffer Anne. It was a little splurge but so beautiful...burgandy, forest green, deep purple, sunshiny fern green...it just looked like autumn and the changing of season to me. I knit it up in the infamous Jaywalker pattern. It was so beautiful. It striped, alternating burgandy/purple with the greens. It looked divine. But the pattern is so tight and many people I know have given up on trying to get a good fit. Much to my husband's shock I frogged the whole sock...it had been almost done!

The next sock was a modified Jaywalker after I had found a version made for larger feet. I had the sock 3/4 of the way done and saw that while it would have fit the foot, it would not have gone well over the heel. Heartbroken and frustrated, I frogged again. I was exhausted and overwhelmed by a sock, of all things! But, I wasn't going to let a sock get the better of me. So I tried another pattern and it just didn't do the lovely Anne sock yarn justice. So ripped again.

So, what does any self-respecting knitter doing when the going gets tough? I went to my local yarn store to seek fresh inspiration. And I asked Charlotte's forgiveness. Her secret pal package was sent of, sock-less! Yes, I am ashamed to admit it! I became "one of those" exchange pals! :o( So, I found some lovely Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport yarn in the Vera colourway. I liked it because it didn't look just like every other sock yarn out there, it was somewhat autumnal in coloring and it just seemed fitting that the colourway was named after Lorna's mother since Charlotte and I had conversed regarding the influences of our mothers and grandmothers. So, I waited until after Christmas to begin Sock Attempt #4. I thought I should follow the KISS formula, given my previous failures. And that sock was like a brick wall to me. But finally I finished it...toe up with a round heel and a 2x2 rib! I kept it simple and let the colourway form the pattern. The last week of August I mailed it to Charlotte...8 months LATE! And, I waited on pins and needles to know whether it would fit.

Ta Da! It fits! That's Charlotte's foot in the sock! Now...Please say extra knitting prayers that she will be able to come up with a matching sock for her other foot! Hopefully she will have an easier go at it than I did. It was the craziest knitting journey I have ever embarked upon, but the perseverence was worth it because Charlotte has been a blessing in my life! May God Bless you Charlotte and keep you warm! :o)

A Life Overflowing...

On our Christian Artisans list (link at right), we have been having a fun exchange based on hot drinks such as cocoa, coffee and tea. It's a round robin exchange and is not secret. So I am gifting to Judy, Judy is gifting to someone else and Linda (who is blogless) gifted to me.

The first photo shows one of those cool tea cups that has an infuser to hold loose tea and a lid so it can properly steep (my English friend Lily would be pleased, "real tea must be covered" she always told us!) and also keep warm in the cup later. The tea is wild berries and blossoms and I am interested in trying it, I have not used loose tea since I was a girl at my Grandma's house.

The second photo shows the soaps that Linda sent me and I think she made them herself. There are a few vegan ones and some glycerines. I love the glycerin one that looks like pink and purple stained glass. It is peppermint scented! That one is mine, all mine! LOL

The third photo shows everything...a bag of wool (I don't know what kind, I need to find out), a bag of what appears to be silk...it's white and I can dye it, which I have never done before, but silk usually dyes beautifully! Funny thing is that I have a silk hanky (a form of fiber, not a handkerchief) that is in beautiful jewel tones. I've had it twelve years. I want to spin it and I was thinking I would get more yarn if I plied it with something else...Maybe I will dye this silk and use it as the ply! That would be fun. First I have to learn how to dye and spin silk! LOL

We filled out a form with our likes and interests and I wrote that I like Scottish shortbread as a treat with tea. Well, I didn't tell her but Walker's is my favorite. It reminds me of when I spent a week at Atholl Palace for my birthday in June 1994 (a gift from the aforementioned Lily in England). It was an awesome trip. Every morning when they made the beds they placed a packet of Walker's on your pillow! If you click on the different tabs for info at that site, you will see different photos of this area which was AWESOME! I would love to go back now with a digital SLR and photograph it. I would LOVE to live in Scotland! This was in Pitlochry, Scotland and we took day trips from there to Glamis Castle (pronounced Glarms) where the Queen Mum grew up. I have a Glamis Castle rose, which is white, in my yard. We also went to Lochgoilhead where I saw sheep, drove around Loch Lomond and nearly died from a passionate desire to photograph all the beauty I saw as my friend drove us past in her car, afraid to park on the side of the road so I could take pictures! LOL I spent a half day in Edinburgh which is a fascinating city. One day I hope to take my hubby to Scotland so we can photograph and he can fly fish in the home of fly fishing!

Okay, back to California...I also received some Ghiradelli chocolates, some devotional books and some beautiful hand made stitch markers in sizes S, M, L...those can be seen in the next photo! I love all the markers! They look like they were made just for me...Linda, did you make these?! I think I got everything. There was so much, I hope I didn't leave it out.

Thank you Linda!!! This really made my day and I truly appreciate all the effort you took to find things for me and to share from yourself! :o)

My Cup Is Full...

...and I'm drinking from my saucer! My Mom gave me that quote and it fit right along with my Life Overflowing exchange (see sidebar button) that we are doing in our Christian Artisans group (also in side bar). For those who have not read this on my blog previously, we are having a hot beverage exchange and praying for our exchange partners. It's Coffee, Tea and/or Hot Chocolate.

This week Cary challenged us to post pictures of our favorite drinking vessels which we use for our hot drinks. I narrowed it down to three! :o) Why have one when you can have three?! LOL

The rose plate and saucer are Roy Kirkham China from England. It's the Jumbo Breakfast cup and saucer in the pattern Redoute' Roses. I just googled him to see what else is in that pattern...let's just say nothing I can afford! :o) I bought this in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada when we went to our Hopkins family reunion in 2004 on Vancouver Island. Hubby and I had a date day and I took him to Victoria to show him around some of my favorite places there as I used to go there with my Mom almost every year and have many happy memories there! it's a fantastic city. The touristy stuff is fun...and when you are done seeing all that and go back another time...there are many layers to the city and what you can do is nearly limitless. So I highly recommend it as a vacation spot. (And I would rarely recommend a city for a vacation!) Sadly I have never used this. It sits on my window sill above the sink and I look at it every day. It is so pretty! I am inspired by this exchange to start using it though. And as I have been eating healthier I have been drinking more herbal tea.

The brown/blue pottery is my soup cup and plate which I received Christmas 1974. It has been with me through thick and thin and I can't imagine not having it to drink tomato soup from!

The yellow mug with the poetry came from my friend Heidi. We started out as diet penpals through Teen magazine in 1974. I don't think either of us lost weight through our penpalship, but we sure grew close. She gave me this mug somewhere between 1984-1986 and I usually grab it first for tea or cocoa. Sadly over the last couple years our correspondence has been reduced to Christmas cards and this year I didn't hear from her. I did send to her and told her I would like to renew our friendship, so I hope 2007 will reconnect us!

A Life Overflowing Exchange

On the Christian Artisans list we are having another fun exchange. It is called A Life Overflowing and is an exchange involving 'hot drinks', which includes, coffee, tea, hot chocolates etc. You should see the beautiful blog that my friend Carissa made for us. She made the button featured above as well!) We will exchange gifts but also encouragement and pray for each other. A fun aspect of this is that we all know each other on the list. It's kind of like family. Also we know our pal, it's not secret. I will be gifting to Judy and Linda will be gifting to me. I don't believe she has a blog though, otherwise I would share. The names were chosen from a hat, after prayer and I find it quite interesting that I am the mother of identical twin daughters, Linda who gifts to me is the mother of twins and Judy is a twin, but sadly her twin died as an infant. And in November Judy's niece gave birth to cute little boy/girl twins after years of infertility...what a blessing from above! :-)

Today I had a chance to get out a little bit and I had the funnest time at a little tea shop called Tea Cozy, that is located next to one of my local yarn stores, Rumpelstiltskin, picking out things for Judy! But I can't show them here or they won't be a surprise when she gets her package! I also went to Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Ops and found some things while I was getting my migraine herb (prescribed by my neurologist if you can believe that!) and that was fun too.

Tomorrow I will write about my knitting purchase and my stash reduction plans for the New Year. But, now I will add some tea links and answer my information for Linda:

Blue Moon Tea
Teas 2 Dine 4
High Tea Menus
Morning Coffee, Afternoon Tea and Chocolate Inbetween
Tea Lover's Room
Scrabble Queen's Tea Links
Sydney Reynolds China in Victoria, BC
Tea and Cakes and Things I Like (includes knitting)

1. IS YOUR FAVORITE COFFEE OR TEA? IF COFFEE, do you prefer: WHOLE BEAN OR GROUND? IF TEA: LOOSE OR BAG? Herbal teas only, no "black", "green" or "white" tea. I love peppermint, chamomile, raspberry and often use blends and those formulated for medicinal purposes. I use tea bags because I don't have a tea pot/strainer, but am open to using loose tea. I love hot chocolate and my favorite of that is Land O' Lakes mint chocolate, but I like others as well as long as there is NO coffee flavoring.

2. FULLY-LOADED OR DECAF? Herbal tea usually comes de-caf naturally.

3. REGULAR OR FLAVORED? See Answer #1

4. HOW DO YOU DRINK YOUR COFFEE/TEA? I don't add anything to herbal teas. Sometimes I add marshmallows to my cocoa :-)

5. FAVORITE COFFEE/TEA EVER? In number one I mentioned my favorite cocoa. My favorite tea is herbal peppermint.

6. ARE YOU FUSSY ABOUT YOUR COFFEE/TEA OR WILL ANY OLD BEAN/BAG DO? I am not fussy about brand, just that it is herbal tea, not regular tea that has flavor added because I do not like the taste of actual tea.

7. FAVORITE TREATS TO HAVE WITH YOUR COFFEE/TEA? I love Scottish Shortbread, scones, toast and jam, dunking toast in cocoa or a toffee/caramel treat and Chocolate is never bad is it?! LOL

8. ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT YOUR COFFEE/TEA PREFERENCES? Can't think of anything that I haven't mentioned.

9. FAVORITE COLORS? Purples, burgandies, pinks, blues, any cool tone colors

10. ALLERGIES? Wintergreen (which is in some herbal teas), pork (which you never find in tea LOL), and I have asthma which is irritated by perfume and floral scents, angora.

11. YARN/FIBER YOU LOVE! WOOL, Alpaca, natural fibers except Angora which I'm allergic to.

12. YARN/FIBER YOU HATE? 100% acrylic

13. WHAT'S ON YOUR NEEDLES RIGHT NOW? A shawl, a Fair Isle sweater, handles for a felted bag and fingerless gloves! I am NOT a monogamous knitter! LOL

14. WHAT IS ON YOUR BOBBIN (SPINDLE) RIGHT NOW? Some hand dyed blue-faced leicester which I purchased from Winderwood Farms on eBay is on my Lendrum and on my spindle is some of Cary's Corriedale.

15. WHAT BOOK /CHAPTER IS YOUR BIBLE OPEN TO RIGHT NOW (and why, if you care to share) I am reading through the Old Testament and I just finished reading Esther out of order after seeing One Night With the King, but am now back to the book order and am reading in Judges. There are some parts in the OT which are more difficult than others to read, however, I get so much from reading it, learning so much about God's love and direction through the ages, that I actually look forward to reading the OT. Some sections like the census of the tribes etc, get a little dry, so I intersperse the Psalms and Proverbs in my reading.