Addiction

There really needs to be some sort of 12-step program for Noro... this scarf practically FLEW off of the needles! In addition to the color gradation, they yarn varies in thickness from as fine as a lace weight to an aran weight with the occasional slub. very interesting texture. I was disappointed in the amount of vegetation still in the finished product. At that price, I expect none. I had no knots in any of my 4 skeins, which was great. I've heard some scary stories about knotted Noro and colorways not matching.

the pattern is addictive too... one more square... I'll just finish this tier.... yeah... that was pretty much all I did during the long weekend (well, I did bake 2 batches of cookies & 2 pies, clean the bathroom, wash 4 loads of laundry, buy groceries, help teach a self-defense workshop and apprehend an intruder in a real- life application of my self defense skills).

I bound off the last tier Monday night with only about a yard left over! talk about calling it close!

Tuesday night, it got a soak in some tepid water and wool wash, then a gentle blocking. I laid it out on the guest bed and pinned the ends only. I wanted it to be blocked neatly, but I also didn't want to abuse the silk (45%) too much. By last night it was nice and dry.

..and even more spectacular! I'm almost hoping the real cold gets here soon... almost!

Tea Time!

For those of you who don't know me IRL, I am a tea snob. there. I said it. I am and I'm not ashamed of it! we do own a coffee maker, but I don't think we have filters for it. I'm not even sure what filters to get... usually, I buy a Box O Joe at DnD and use the coffee maker to keep it warm when we entertain. Coffee snobs (like my brother and MIL) know better and bring their own.

We all drink tea here. I do. Todd does. So do most of our friends. When Kim and Kathy lived near by, we regularly had tea together. In fact, Kim and Jay came over for tea and Cinnamon rolls every Sunday after Church. With all of the tea around them, it seems natural that my boys are tea drinkers. We added one more to the ranks on Sunday!



I know what you are thinking.. CAFFEINE! well, yeah.. but in spite of the rumors you may have heard, it is a LOT less than coffee or soda. Besides, Andy & Ryan have ADD/ADHD and caffeine actually helps a little.

More importantly, we use our "tea parties" to help teach the boys some manners. They have fun (and cookies) and they learn not only what good manners are, but WHY they are important. And yes... they are important. Our society may have become quite informal, but I think things like respect and manners are becoming far too scarce and need to be taught to a lot of adults as well as my kids.

I can't change the world, but I can teach my kids to say please and thank you, to address adults formally and to respect themselves, others and the world in general. I can raise gentleman and, with any luck, good husbands and fathers (preferably in that order).

Incentive

What better incentive to finish a project than this


Noro Silk Garden

waiting in the wings - taunting me! I know.. most of you are thinking that you would have just cast on the Noro as soon as it came.. or just tossed it in the stash.

I can't do that. I can't handle too many WIPs. They call to me. taunt me. "KNIT ME! KNIT ME! You know you want to! Make me your scarf. It's getting cold out there, isn't it? c'mon, just cast me on, then you can finish those pants..." (That isn't limited to knitting either, more on my sewing issues later). I can't cope with a stash either. It calls my name too. Actually, my yarn stash is limited to leftovers/scraps, 4 skeins of alpaca that mom gifted to me and 3 more skeins of sock yarn from our trip to WEBS. That is it. (No - REALLY!)

I tend to have 2 projects in progress at any given time. One for home and one to travel. However, I have my Anniversary shawl OTN and that requires concentration and focus that I don't always have at the end of the day, so I've got another "no brainer" going as well.



Oddly enough, both of my "home" projects are entrelac. The Noro is cast on and quickly becoming a Kaleidoscope Scarf. I love watching how the colors evlove as I knit them. What is fascinating is that the color change is from the spinning process - not a dye of a blank yarn. it really produces a much more subtle movement in the yarn. fascinating this stuff! The fact that it is silk and mohair is just icing!