A Room of My Own

Dear Mom,
I still have pictures to hang, but otherwise I am all moved in to my new studio space. "Studio" sounds so much more grownup than "craft room".  Although it might be more accurate to call it my Play Room. Or Time Out. My heart wants to call this room Sweet Haven. With invaluable help from our Young Lady, I chose a very pale lavender for the walls.

Elle and Penelope Swift stand side by side in this corner. My warping board hangs from the closet door, and behind that door is a well organized (for now) assortment of sewing and weaving supplies, back issues of Vogue Knitting magazine and lots and lots of yarn.

Judy Jetson, my sturdy Singer Slantomatic sewing machine is happy in her new home and ready for action.

My knitting nest is now surrounded by baskets of yarn and the music stand I use to hold knitting charts and my iPad when I want to watch something as I knit. My desk and computer are on the wall to the right of the chair.

This sturdy, old bookshelf once held my college text books. Daddy built it.  When the kids were little I painted over the bright yellow and added some child-friendly paint pen drawings. I could paint it again, but I like the memories in addition to the knitting books it holds. The long shelf above the bookcase is perfect for the cones of weaving threads and skeins of hand spun yarn.

I have a lovely, bird's eye view of my flower garden; a table for watercolor painting sits under the window. There is just enough room for Donna Reed (my loom) in the center of the room, and Olive has cozy spots to curl up and nap. Sweet Haven.

Love,
Kim

Winter

Dear Mom,
When a Winter Storm is imminent, Most people swarm the grocery store for bread and milk.

I went to the library and the florist.

Love,
Kim

Dear Mom,
If you are looking for something encouraging, inspiring and validating (who isn't?) to start the New Year, I highly recommend Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist. This is one of those books I think everyone  should read and I am trying to figure out how I can make my kids  'young adults' want to read it. It is a quick read- I zipped through this in about an hour. I will re-read it once I finish reading his follow up book, Share Your Work, which is as full of good advice as the first book.

Wishing you a year filled with Good Books, Good Health, and Creative Pursuits that fill your Soul,
with Love,
Kim

Happy New Year

Dear Mom,

First this happened:

On December 4th, Olive had surgery on both elbows. We are now over halfway through her 8 weeks of restricted activity. We've become much too familiar with and very good at elbow surgeries and recoveries and pain pill schedules. I am happy to report that Olive is doing very well. She wore The Donut of Despair only until the sutures were removed. Had she needed it through Christmas I would have put red bows on it and disguised it as a wreath. I hope we never need that thing again (and according to the vets, there is no reason to think we will), but it was worth every penny and much friendlier than the Cone of Shame. We give the ProCollar two thumbs and four paws up.

Then this:

My Most Favorite Little Boy saw the moose and called it a Reindeer!

And then a WHOLE LOTTA this:

And then before I could get Christmas put away, there has been way too much of this:

My Hero brought it home (and by IT I don't mean the Lysol) and I took him to the doctor. Technically NotTheFlu, (no fever), and too late for Tamiflu,- and let me interrupt my story right here and say that pretty much you need to get into the doctor to get that Tamiflu prescription about 3 minutes after you start thinking that maybe you might be getting sick, because 48 hours later is too late- the physician's assistant reassured me that the rest of the family was probably safe since we'd been living with him and had all remained symptom free and Tamiflu is in such short supply that they don't prescribe it as a preventive for the people living with The Influenza. You do see where this is going, don't you? 

Fast forward 2 days. My Hero feels back to normal. 

I do not. Happy New Year.

I decide to make the most of it and indulge myself in a day in bed, with hot tea, and knitting, and books, and Downton Abbey on my iPad. It was almost a vacation.

I woke the next morning feeling really good. Patting myself on the back for kicking it to the curb, and toasting the power of Emergen-C with my fresh pot of tea that morning, I showered and dressed and had a pleasant day. Turns out this NotTheFlu bug is a tricky devil. I woke up in the middle of the night aching all over. I could feel my toe nails and my hair hurt. This next day in bed was not quite as fun as that first day. 

Yesterday I was well enough to round up the troops and finally get Christmas put away while there were still needles left on the tree. And then I needed a nap so I could fix dinner. And then another nap so I could  stay up for Downton Abbey.

The worst of it is behind me. I hope. And we've managed to keep NotTheFlu contained to just the two of us, although I am holding my breath on that one.

While convalescing, I read two very different books. Each inspiring and intimidating in their own way. The first- Bread & Wine is inspiring and amusing and scattered with recipes and realistic entertaining advice. I am not as free spirited as the author but I did like it that she admits to things like a dirty house and fights with her pants. The second book- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is good for inspiring a person to clear out the clutter, and was worth it for the folding clothes lesson, but it is not a book for making a person me feel good about her hobbies. Let's just say that reading Susan Branch's Happy New Year post did wonders for making me feel like I might be normal.  

I did go on a KonMari folding spree when I had the strength to get out of bed.  

Look at this drawer! 

And seriously would you look at that empty space! That is an empty space in. my. top. drawer! The beauty of this method- the author has named it the KonMari method, a combination of her first and last names- is that I can see all my shirts and can take any one without disturbing the others.  

Such was my inspiration that I went on to do the sweaters in my closet.

Disclaimer: I did this on Friday. I spent Saturday and Sunday in my pajamas, basically, and Today is the first day I've needed anything out of the closet or that drawer. So far the system is working, but it has not really been tested yet. 

So what next? I've been working on a new hat pattern. It was moving along but body aches and charted fair isle are not good partners. I started this cardigan, but I know I am sick when I don't feel like knitting, and that is sort of what happened yesterday. 

Simplifying to make room for Happy Pursuits is my theme for 2015. With that in mind, this is the next book to have found me. 

I'm not far in and already know that I won't be taking anything even close to this extreme, but the author is funny and I have a feeling I can learn some valuable lessons. At the very least, her experiment is an interesting one to read about.

Be warm, be well. 

Love,

Kim

Starstruck

Dear Mom,
 I can now cross "Meet Diana Gabaldon" (author of our beloved Outlander book series, creator of Jamie Fraser) off my bucket list!
My friend, ConniecallmeSassenach and I drove on Monday morning from her Michigan cottage up to Traverse City, where we met up with my good sister-in-law, Cheryl and her neighbor, Sheila. We had lunch, window shopped, freshened up, and were in line at the Opera House in downtown TC by 6pm for the Event. The Opera House is beautiful. We had a very pleasant evening talking with the fellow Outlander fans around us, watching a trailer for the TV series, and listening to Diana talk. Some of her talk/ answers to questions was stuff we'd heard before, but we did hear some new tidbits and got to listen while she read from the new book. The way Diana read the passage made us interpret it slightly differently than we'd read it - with more humor. I would say that was the most magical part of the evening for me- listening to her read. She patiently and very graciously answered audience questions- questions I am sure she has answered 100s of times. I was too shy/ not brave enough/ too starstruck to ask anything, even though I had a mental list of questions prepared.

We then waited in line to have our books signed and got our pictures taken with her. And as much as Connie and I would have liked to gush all over her and tell her about how excited we were when we read the part where Jamie knits, or say something that would stamp us as the Best Outlander Fans She Has Ever Met and have her say she wants us to wait 'til she is done with the book signing so she can come and hang out with us and talk over a glass of wine and get our email addresses and become our new Best Friend, we really didn't have a chance in the book signing line to do more than have our picture taken. I did manage to squeak out a "Thank you for sharing your Gift with us" before moving along and letting the next person in line have their turn. It was all run very smoothly and efficiently, which is good, because the parking garage closed at midnight and we were very near the end of the line. She has literally had to have signed 10s of 1000s of books and while she was very kind, I doubt that she would want to do anything to make it take any longer than it did and out of respect for her, we didn't want to do that to her either.
We made the drive back yesterday, getting home a bit after 4pm. I almost immediately took a restorative nap, with Olive, making everything right with the world again - If you can discount the pile of dishes in the sink and the thick coating of dog hair on the floor. It is clear that my family needs tutorials in "How to Efficiently Load, Run, and Unload The Dishwasher" and "The Vacuum Cleaner and Why We Use It". It is also clear that I Am Needed Here. (even if sometimes they probably don't think so and would never admit it.) Today, and for the next few days, I'll be catching up on what didn't get done while I was on my whirlwind adventure. But definitely worth it. Definitely.
Love,
Kim

Sharing the Love

Dear Mom,
Button Love.

I offered a Shrinky Dink button class at the yarn shop on Monday. Only one person signed up, but she made some very cute buttons for her Alpine Tweed sweater.

Outlander Love,
For a cherished sister-in-law and fellow Outlander fan.
Claire's Shawl (inspired by the books)- off the needles and on the blocking wires as I write this.

The shawl measures @ 62 inches, square. I had to clear floor space in the Young Lady's bedroom to block this. I needed a spot behind a closed door. I could just imagine Olive deciding to nap right in the middle of it. A large fan is blowing to speed up the drying process. This pitiful photo was taken with me standing on the bed. I'll take much nicer, detailed photos when the shawl is dry.

Labor of Love.
The Young Lady wants a Dr Who Scarf. The yarn has been purchased. The scarf is started. Eleventy two miles of striped garter stitch. The only thing worse would be eleventy two miles of plain garter stitch. Thank heavens there is no deadline on this one. I've fallen asleep twice while working on it and I've only managed about 8 inches. Not even photo worthy at this point.

Gardening Love.
Not Rabbit love.
Apparently, the peas, spinach and lettuce I planted were for the rabbits. grrrrrrr.
Yes. Those beautiful, healthy, 18 inches high pea plants are nothing but naked stubs. The spinach? Gone. I don't know how those varmints got in, but they were rewarded for their efforts.

Love,
Kim

In which my absence is explained. (a little)

Dear Mom,
Teaching 4 knitting classes and knitting samples for said classes, knitting for gifts,

 Young Man home on fall break, jury summons,


Annual Up North trip,

fall yard clean up, and an obsession with James Fraser have kept me away from the blog a little too long.
I'm back now.
Love,
Kim

p.s. Olive is well and has My Hero properly trained.

book list

Dear Mom,
One of the bazillion topics we covered on our trip to and from Greencastle last Friday was books, and I think we may have stumbled upon the standard for a book's recommendation ....Would you read it again?

Over dinner and a glass of wine, we ventured into book territory. Finding a really great book is a treasure. There are books you read and enjoy, but then there are books that you hate to see end, or have to keep once you've finished them and some of those you just have to treat yourself to reading again. At least once. With all the books there are out there waiting to be read, to want to take the time to re-read a book is a true testimony to that book's worth.

I quickly grabbed my notebook and pen out of my purse and made some notes. I thought I'd share some of the titles here.

I'll put an asterisk next to the books that I've read more than once. The others are now in my book queue and were either read and loved by more than one of the group or read more than once by one of us. Does that make sense?

*The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Shogun, by James Clavell
*A Week in Winter, by Marcia Willet
*The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffner and Annie Barrows
The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
*Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
*Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett (read once, listening again)
*The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
*Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
The General's Daughter, Plum Island and The Gold Coast, by Nelson DeMille

So, there's a list. Now I'll put the question out there... What books have you read more than once?

Love,
Kim

Guest Room

Dear Mom,

What was once a cute little girls bedroom with flowers, bees, dragonflies and butterflies painted on the wall (and even a curly red-headed fairy) has been transformed into a serene guest room.
Almost everything is moved in. I still have some yarn storage issues and fear that a giant yarn purge is in my future.
I did a little book purging to make room on the shelves for my knitting library. I found myself over thinking the placement of the books on the shelves....should Elizabeth Zimmermann, Meg Swansen, and Barbara Walker share shelf space with Sally Melville and Nicky Epstein?.... in the end it was book height and shelf space that dictated placement and not the author's sentimental status. Good information is good information and all mostof  the books on my shelves have earned their places there.
Another dilemma is the magazines. I do have space for them right now, and they are organized and contained in those plastic holders you can get, but I am wondering if they are occupying space for no purpose. There are some magazines -like my old Vogue Knitting- that I will probably hang onto forever, but I am giving serious consideration to weeding out some of my Knitters and Interweave Knits magazines. Do I go through them issue by issue and only keep the ones that have patterns or articles that interest me? I don't want to do something I'll regret. But honestly, with only a few exceptions, I couldn't tell you what was in any of those magazines. And at this point I am running out of space to put the next great book that might come along. And what if I decide to subscribe to Spin Off magazine? And the yarn.....I have to be tough and realistic about all of this.

It is a rainy day, but I'll share a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how the room looks.

This room is so clean and orderly right now that I am looking for excuses to walk in!
I'll take better pictures on the next bright sunny day, but this is the best I can do for now.

Love,
Kim

A busy week and a really good soup recipe

Dear Mom,
It has been a busy, satisfying, productive week with the kiddos back in school. The house is pretty much back in order. I've managed to stay very organized, cook good meals, knit a bunch and take action on some ideas I've had brewing in this busy brain of mine.
I sold a record number (for me) of patterns to 2 local yarn shops, and let me just stop right here and say I love the ladies at the Village Yarn Shop.
I published two new patterns. They can be found here and on the Warm Thoughts blog.
After finishing my Daybreak scarf, I experienced a knitting.....fog... I guess that would describe it. I wasn't sure what to knit next. I have plenty of ideas, but couldn't get excited about any of them. I went back into the yarn/guest room (which had been recently purged and re-organized) and rediscovered a sweater that, when I looked back at my ravelry project page, I started in February 2009. I do not know why I set it aside. Possibly for a magazine deadline. I don't know if is scarier that I started it and let it languish for almost 2 years, or that I clearly remember buying the yarn and starting the sweater like it was 2 weeks ago. I would never have guessed that it had been in standby for so long. I hope I can finish it before its second birthday!

I have some random thoughts and things to share that will never fit into any one blog, so I am going to share them all here, all at once.
Books. I have had the absolute pleasure of reading some really good books lately. The bad thing about a really good book is the let down when it is finished and then the scramble to find another book that is just as good. Well, I've been on a streak. These books have nothing in common with each other, other than the fact that I like them.
The first took me months to read. Not because it is 900+ pages, but because I read at night before I go to sleep and some nights I only read about a page before I fall asleep. It is the new book by Ken Follett, Fall of Giants. This is the first of a trilogy, so we have more good books to look forward to! I have never been dissappointed by a Ken Follett book. The trilogy will cover the 20th century, following the lives of several families from the UK, Russia, Germany and the USA. I'll say no more.
I finished this next book last night. It is the second Flavia De Luce mystery, written by Alan Bradley. Flavia is our 11 year old heroine and the books are set in the 1950's, English countryside. I am charmed by Flavia, her spirit and her love of chemistry!! These are not scary mysteries and they are not bloody or gruesome, so they wouldn't give you bad dreams or anything. Just good entertainment. The first is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and the next (and the one I finished last night) is The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag.

Why I feel compelled to share this next bit of info with you I am not sure, except that these are two things in life that give me a disproportionate amount of joy.

#1. Dog paws.

I love them.

#2. The sound of a dog sniffing something thoroughly. Like they can't get enough of whatever it is they smell.

Like a sniffly giggle.

After that, do I dare give you a recipe?
yep.

I made this soup last night, and it may very well be the best ham and bean soup I've ever tasted. It'll be even better today after all those flavors have blended.
It is not complicated or fancy. I am just not that kind of cook. But is is GOOD. Served with a spongey, fresh white bread to clean up the bowl and it is heaven. Especially on a snowy day like today.

The Best Ham and Bean Soup I've Ever Tasted
makes a bunch

1 1/2 cups dry mixed beans ( I used Hurst's 15 bean soup beans, but didn't use the seasoning packet)
5 cups water
1 meaty ham bone
1 cup chopped celery  
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
( confession- I did not measure the celery, carrots and onions. I used 3 carrots, 3/4 of an onion, and about a 4 inch section of a whole celery bunch and chopped them all up really fine)
2 cups water
1 t. salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes ( I used a pint of the tomatoes I canned from the garden and put them in the blender)

Combine the beans, 5 cups water and ham bone in a soup pot. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1 hour.
In another saucepan, combine the celery, onions, and carrots with 2 cups water and cook until soft.(About 20-25 minutes) Mash slightly. ( I gave them a quirk burst in the blender.)
Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Cover and cook on High for 2 hours then on low for 2 hours.

Love,
Kim

Oof! She did it again

Dear Mom,
This afternoon, Bonnie Jo and I met in the library parking lot to Accomplish a Mission. As we have been trained to do, multiple tasks were accomplished in addition to the main mission. We each had things that needed exchanging.

Bonnie Jo brought me a fresh egg sampler, and the second of Golda's Giant Eggs.

I brought Bonnie a special chicken measuring tape so she can start recording the size of Golda's eggs.

I thought it was the cutest tape measure, with an egg at the end.

I also hunted down the book we three all read at sometime. I know this because we have all written our names on the cover. Wendy had to double claim the book as her own by adding her name and the words "if lost, Please Return of call ###-####" on an inside page to which my Young Lady added the same words but our current phone number. I don't think The Young Lady ever finished reading  it though, because there is a bookmark in it on page156.

I wanted Bonnie Jo to see this artifact from the 1970's.

It is in pretty good shape for a book that may be 40 years old and cost 50 cents. The cover has been taped on, and the yellowed, dried up tape has been reinforced by packaging tape, but all the pages are intact.

I hope I don't find a dinosaur inside this egg, like the boy in the story. I am hoping for a gold nugget like the Million Dollar Duck's.

Love,
Kim

A Magic Night

Dear Mom,
I took the kids and my favorite neighbor to one of my favorite places.  We met the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi!!  WOW!!  We spent the evening listening to them talk.  They were funny, animated, serious . . . fabulous.  They shared where some of their ideas came from.

We watched Tony Diterlizzi draw his incredible pictures!

We got to listen to Holly read from the newest book in the Beyond Spiderwick series.

We were entranced.

Holly and Tony played a trivia game with the kids in the crowd.

And the teenager won the motherload of prizes!!  He won the original drawing from earlier in the night, he won the Spiderwick Chronicles movie and he won a book that hasn't been released yet!!  It's the entire Spiderwick Chronicles, The Completely Fantastical Edition, all of the series in one book!

Holly and Tony also sat and autographed books and talked with every person.

I can't believe how magical the night was.  In Spiderwick terminology, it was completely fantastical!
Love,
Wendy