Five on Friday
Here are five random thoughts on knitting/making/yarn/nothing-in-particular this lovely Friday, February the first:
1.) I mailed off everyone's yarn today. Thanks for entering my mini-destash contests! It's so much fun to read comments from readers lured into de-lurking and it feels good to lighten the stash load a little bit besides. By the way, I'm not into fancy packaging or cute little notecards at all, and I'm a tree-hugger who always always reuses mailing materials, so most of you will receive funny-shaped re-purposed Lands End envelopes sealed with duct tape with no personal note enclosed. That's just how I roll, yo. Don't think for a minute I compromised my sincerity or gratitude for taking that yarn off my hands and bringing it into a loving home where it will actually be used.
2.) I almost bought more yarn today. I mean really, what was I thinking? I literally stopped myself on the way into the shop. It was on my way home from running errands, so at least I didn't go out of my way but still. Good grief. What is wrong with me, anyway?
3.) I want to share something about my kids. They are makers, especially Daniel. This shouldn't surprise me. I come from a long line of incredibly resourceful, creative, intelligent people, after all. Daniel has always tended towards the structured, rule-following, super-logical end of the spectrum...like so many people in my family, males especially, who were/are engineers or scientists and/or majored in math. With the exception of one aunt, those tendencies have fallen strictly along traditional gender lines, too. (That may explain why I avoided math in late high school and college, possibly to my detriment, but that is another topic for another time.)
Anyway, Daniel is always making things on his own; he is the sort of kid who is much happier with a pile of old boxes and duct tape than anything else. Last weekend he spent hours constructing a castle out of empty tissues boxes and gold-colored tagboard, complete with a drawbridge made out of old popsicle sticks. His birthday is coming up next week and Stuart and I were completely flummoxed as to what to get him for a present. He's too young for a computer, he already has a digital camera I found him on craigslist a while back, and he just doesn't play with toys that much. What to do? After much brainstorming - which involved a half-serious suggestion of a pet turtle (don't ask...and we're still considering it...) - we came up with the idea of a fort building kit. Thus, I spent part of this afternoon at the hardware store buying PVC pipe and fittings and twine and at the thrift store buying used sheets (so he can cut them apart as he sees fit) for my son's birthday present. I debated getting some neon duct tape too, but decided against it, lest we end up with it stuck all over the walls and/or floor.
4.) We're having a cold snap. Like, cold. As in, highs in the twenties would be a freaking heat wave. This morning it was -7 with a windchill of -20 (give or take) for the walk to school this morning. I was hoping my neighbor could drive our boys up to school, but she was feeling really sick and couldn't really venture outside at all, so I braved the .6 mile-long round trip walk to get her son and mine to school in the brutal cold. And not for the first time, I discovered/realized that you can dress for pretty much any kind of weather, especially if you're a knitter! Along with everything else, the kids each wore double layers of mittens, and underneath my coat and snowpants I was clad in alpaca literally from head to toe, from my 100% alpaca hat, sweater and neck warmer to the alpaca-blend socks my mom gave me for my birthday a year ago (they are like butter on my feet - warm and toasty butter - and I loooooove them). I'm now convinced alpaca accessories are the secret to surviving winter in the cold north. Wool is fine for normal winter wear, but alpaca is actually quite a bit warmer when the mercury drops like it has here the last couple of days. Today, Stuart complained that his hands were cold, so now I think I need to make him some alpaca mittens and Anya could use a new pair as well, and it wouldn't hurt Daniel to have a spare set as well...uh-oh. This way of thinking leads to madness!
5.) It's Friday. I have nothing else to add. Well, I actually have plenty more to kvetch about but I think I'll give it a rest and go watch TV with my hubby. Happy knitting, everyone, and next post will have pictures of actual knitting, I'm sure!
1.) I mailed off everyone's yarn today. Thanks for entering my mini-destash contests! It's so much fun to read comments from readers lured into de-lurking and it feels good to lighten the stash load a little bit besides. By the way, I'm not into fancy packaging or cute little notecards at all, and I'm a tree-hugger who always always reuses mailing materials, so most of you will receive funny-shaped re-purposed Lands End envelopes sealed with duct tape with no personal note enclosed. That's just how I roll, yo. Don't think for a minute I compromised my sincerity or gratitude for taking that yarn off my hands and bringing it into a loving home where it will actually be used.
2.) I almost bought more yarn today. I mean really, what was I thinking? I literally stopped myself on the way into the shop. It was on my way home from running errands, so at least I didn't go out of my way but still. Good grief. What is wrong with me, anyway?
3.) I want to share something about my kids. They are makers, especially Daniel. This shouldn't surprise me. I come from a long line of incredibly resourceful, creative, intelligent people, after all. Daniel has always tended towards the structured, rule-following, super-logical end of the spectrum...like so many people in my family, males especially, who were/are engineers or scientists and/or majored in math. With the exception of one aunt, those tendencies have fallen strictly along traditional gender lines, too. (That may explain why I avoided math in late high school and college, possibly to my detriment, but that is another topic for another time.)
Anyway, Daniel is always making things on his own; he is the sort of kid who is much happier with a pile of old boxes and duct tape than anything else. Last weekend he spent hours constructing a castle out of empty tissues boxes and gold-colored tagboard, complete with a drawbridge made out of old popsicle sticks. His birthday is coming up next week and Stuart and I were completely flummoxed as to what to get him for a present. He's too young for a computer, he already has a digital camera I found him on craigslist a while back, and he just doesn't play with toys that much. What to do? After much brainstorming - which involved a half-serious suggestion of a pet turtle (don't ask...and we're still considering it...) - we came up with the idea of a fort building kit. Thus, I spent part of this afternoon at the hardware store buying PVC pipe and fittings and twine and at the thrift store buying used sheets (so he can cut them apart as he sees fit) for my son's birthday present. I debated getting some neon duct tape too, but decided against it, lest we end up with it stuck all over the walls and/or floor.
4.) We're having a cold snap. Like, cold. As in, highs in the twenties would be a freaking heat wave. This morning it was -7 with a windchill of -20 (give or take) for the walk to school this morning. I was hoping my neighbor could drive our boys up to school, but she was feeling really sick and couldn't really venture outside at all, so I braved the .6 mile-long round trip walk to get her son and mine to school in the brutal cold. And not for the first time, I discovered/realized that you can dress for pretty much any kind of weather, especially if you're a knitter! Along with everything else, the kids each wore double layers of mittens, and underneath my coat and snowpants I was clad in alpaca literally from head to toe, from my 100% alpaca hat, sweater and neck warmer to the alpaca-blend socks my mom gave me for my birthday a year ago (they are like butter on my feet - warm and toasty butter - and I loooooove them). I'm now convinced alpaca accessories are the secret to surviving winter in the cold north. Wool is fine for normal winter wear, but alpaca is actually quite a bit warmer when the mercury drops like it has here the last couple of days. Today, Stuart complained that his hands were cold, so now I think I need to make him some alpaca mittens and Anya could use a new pair as well, and it wouldn't hurt Daniel to have a spare set as well...uh-oh. This way of thinking leads to madness!
5.) It's Friday. I have nothing else to add. Well, I actually have plenty more to kvetch about but I think I'll give it a rest and go watch TV with my hubby. Happy knitting, everyone, and next post will have pictures of actual knitting, I'm sure!
Comments
It's cold here in Ohio too, but having lived in Wisconsin during the winter of 2007-2008 when there were something like 110 inches of snow in Madison (and the requisite cold), I always find southern Ohio winters to be ridiculously mild. Aside from the occasional ice storm, that is.