Mrs. Tweedy

Dear Mom,
Last weekend I was reading Merrilymarylee's blog post about a past visit to the Children's Museum. I was flooded with memories.
The Indianapolis Children's Museum is a wonderful place. It is also one of those things that I am NOT SORRY that my kids have outgrown. I've done my time there and I am done.
My last trip there was as a second grade field trip chaperone. I learned long before this trip that if at all possible, MEET THE BUS at the destination. I drove myself to the museum. The parents all gathered, fresh faced, and received our group assignments and itineraries. Immediately things are not looking good. My group of three has the Young Lady, a quiet boy and The Class Trouble Maker. Honestly, the Trouble Maker could have been in a group of one and still given his chaperone a run for her money. I cannot tell you how many times he wandered off, how many times I enlisted the help of the Young Lady and Quiet Boy to look for him, how many times I just flat turned my back on the 2 good kids to go searching for Trouble Maker. And we hadn't even had our lunch break yet.
When we gathered for our sack lunches, I was wishing I packed more caffeine. Or a margarita. Not even pretending to be pleasant anymore, I bluntly told the teacher (who, by the way, had assigned no children to herself) that I had lost the Trouble Maker several times already and that perhaps I needed some back up. Teacher gives me one of those smiles that says "yeah well good luck with that" and tells me she will see what she can do. Mom, you should be proud that you raised a lady, because right about then a whole lot of bad words wanted to come out of my mouth and I didn't let them.
Obviously, all ended well and I got my group loaded back onto the bus at the end of the day. I got into the sweet haven of my car, looked into the rear view mirror and saw this looking back at me:

Mrs. Tweedy

Chicken Run

Mrs. Tweedy made another appearance on the 4th grade overnight trip. The Fourth grade trip to visit some of Indiana's historical sights in southern Indiana is a big deal and I was fortunate to have been selected as one of the chaperones. I do not regret having this memory to share with the Young Lady. My Hero got to go when the Young Man was a 4th grader, so we all had a chance to experience the trip.

This was a well organized, run like clock work, two very full days of activity. It was exhausting. At the end of our long first day, we were efficiently checked in to our hotel and given our room assignments. Bedtimes and lights out were part of the Chaperone Instruction Packet, along with our assigned breakfast times. I had to get 3 girls bathed and settled and sleeping. I NEEDED them to get to sleep. So that I could get some sleep.

I was very patient for the first 30 minutes of giggling. Then I gave a gentle reminder of the "big day we have ahead of us tomorrow!" Then a not so nice one where I said "You girls don't want me to be grumpy in the morning" to which the Young Lady pipes up- "YEAH, you guys really  don't want my Mom to be in a bad mood!"

The giggles continued until Mrs. Tweedy got out of bed and stood in the middle of the room for like 20 minutes. She knew that if the girls were only quiet for a little bit that they would soon be asleep. She was right.

Again, we all survived our trip, the kids far less exhausted than the parents.

Mrs. Tweedy and I haven't been on a field trip for 2 years. Can you blame us?

Love,

Kim

Are Crock Pots Collectible?

Dear Mom,
It wasn't until I borrowed your crock pot over the weekend and saw that crock pots nowadays have more than a Low-High-Off switch that I realized that my work horse of a crock pot is a tad out of  date. Maybe even vintage.
YOURS:

MINE:

Try to ignore those rust spots. She works just fine and I have no need to replace her. I just felt a bit stunned to have options when I plugged yours in and was ready to begin the slow cooker process. I had a brief moment of self doubt when I saw that yours says SMART POT right there on it. Would I be smart enough for this crock pot? Have no fear, dueling crock pots are plugged in and will be burbling away today, filling my kitchen with good smells.

I am making dinner for The Zucchini Queen and her family (and mine too, while I am at it). ZQ's Mom is having surgery today and dinner was one less thing she would have to think about. I prepared a mini knitting care package for The Zucchini Queen, too. I neglected to take a picture of it before I gave it to her, but I had another good idea. The yarn and pattern are for a scarf- one of Melissa's 12 Knits of Christmas. The scarf is a 2 row pattern. I went ahead and cast on and worked a few rows of the scarf to get it started. I don't normally knit with straight needles, (I prefer circular knitting needles), but in this case I got straights and here is why: As I said, it is a 2 row pattern. With a Sharpie marker, I wrote a #1 on the end of one needle and a #2 on the other. When needle #1 is the empty needle, ZQ is to knit row one of the pattern. And when needle #2 is empty.... well, you get it, right? Now ZQ won't need to be bothered trying to remember which row she is on when she gets distracted or interrupted. And she will have a pretty scarf when she is finished. And hopefully the knitting will ease a little bit of her waiting time today.

Last night I bound off one of the current knitting project, and until I get it blocked and some elastic sewn into the waist,  I won't know if it will be a really great skirt or a tremendous failure. It better be great because I already have the perfect yarn for a cardigan to go with it. I 'll let you know.

Love,

Kim

Happy Halloween!

Dear Mom,
I'll get you my pretty!!!
And your little dog, too!!!

We had a frightfully fun Halloween night!!  I took off my mask and revealed my true character.  Pipsqueak dressed as my "familiar" (in the words of the Teenager!)  We walked around the neighborhood putting spells on the neighbors that didn't cough up the good candy and we cackled with favorite neighbor friends, too!!  One of our neighbors turns his garage into a haunted house, complete with black light AND strobe light!!  It is the "favorite" house and every year we laugh at all of the screams and giggles coming from their house!!

Part of my witch costume was a pair of knitted socks that I knit in 10 days.  Knee socks!!  I knit them cuff down and sort of came up with the pattern by myself.  [I googled knee socks and couldn't find a pattern that wasn't toe up so if anyone would like a fairly decent cuff down knee sock pattern, please leave a comment or contact me at the email address.]

After the trick-or-treating, we enjoyed time with our neighbors outside around our fire pit.  The kids ran around the cul-de-sac swinging glow sticks over their heads and eating too much candy.  I LOVE Halloween!!!!
Boo!
Love,
Wendy

Bugles!

Dear Mom,
I was grocery shopping this afternoon and I saw a bag of Bugles.  Every so often, I just can't resist purchasing a bag of Bugles.  I love Bugles!

The flavor takes my mind straight into the kitchen on Mintern Lane.  These were a rare treat for me and Kim, always enjoyed the day after an evening neighborhood card party hosted by you and Daddy.  I couldn't help placing a Bugle onto each finger! They make a good witch hand for Halloween....

...or beautifully manicured fingernails for two young sisters playing pretend at the table in the kitchen on Mintern Lane.

Love,

Bonnie Jo

Care Packages

Dear Mom,
A friend, who also happens to be a knitter, is facing some surgery and a few days in the hospital next week. Being the sort of person who could not even donate blood without knitting in my lap, I immediately set about preparing knitting care packages for her hospital stay.
The knitting needs to be the kind where she can pick it up and start knitting without having to clear a possibly foggy-from-medicine head. I want the knitting to help her heal, to boost her spirits, and to comfort her.

I found some clear paint cans at Michael's, and each can has yarn, needles and instructions for a simple scarf.  Each is completely self contained so she can take it with her or her husband can grab a paint can and know that everything she will need is in there for her. I've already cast on each scarf so they are ready when she picks them up. Nothing more than the soothing repetition of knit stitches (and a speedy recovery) required.
Love,
Kim

Hair Disaster!

Dear Mom,
Pipsqueak came down from her bath this morning with nothing but a towel wrapped around her.  Oh.  And this:

And just in case that isn't enough of a fright, take another view:

But.  She had the good graces to hold it together.  No fussing or crying--from her.  Her mother?!  That's an entirely different ball of wax!  I hiccuped my tears down.  I paced the floor trying to focus before I attempted the surgical removal of the comb.  I had to involve the Husband.  In an urgent, frantic phone call I explained the situation, "That beautiful hair is going to be chopped off right at the scalp!  It will take years to grow back!  We will have to cut off all of her hair so it looks 'normal' *hiccup* Everyone will tease her!  *hiccup-hiccup*"  In a calm, soothing voice from the Husband, I was told to find the wire cutters and "simply cut the comb from the hair"!!  Simply cut the comb from the hair?!?!  Is he high?!?!?!    But I did.  And I did.  And this is what it looked like:

We combed the hair!  Pipsqueak hopped her way up to her room, got herself dressed, tied the damn shoes and went on her merry way to school.  I'm still drinking coffee with the Bailey's.  Yep.  Just an average, normal day here . . .
Love,
Wendy

Grasshoppers

Dear Mom,
So, I showed this picture to Bonnie Jo along with a few others I took on my walk last week. Apparently, Bonnie Jo has some issues with grasshoppers dating back to our Mintern Lane days. I don't remember the incident she mentioned to me, and I am putting pressure on her to share the story. It has something to to with Cruelty to Insects. She is haunted by the memory.

The only insect cruelty I can recall is pulling the legs off of the Daddy Long Legs spiders and watching the spiders try to make a crooked escape while the amputated legs continued to move where we dropped them.

I think that I turned out okay. I am not a serial killer or anything, unless we are talking about insect serial killing and then yes, I admit it. I will not hesitate to step on and squish beyond recognition any spider I see.

Love,
Kim

The Path

Dear Mom,
Autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors, the cool crisp air, and the sound of crunchy leaves underfoot. I don't like what comes next, and it makes no sense to say this, but I feel more rejuvenated in the fall than other seasons.

Earlier this week, before the kids were out of school and while the weather was perfect, (why is it that spring and fall breaks seem to trigger the worst sorts of weather, trapping us all inside?) I took Bumper Joseph to our favorite soon-to-be-a-park for a nice walk. I'll be sorry when this becomes an official park and it isn't so wild and solitary.

Conjuring up the memory of a smell is impossible to me, it is not like remembering an image, or even a touch, but an actual scent can quickly evoke a forgotten memory and transport me to another time or place. The autumn smell of the field wasn't something I expected to enjoy as much as the sights on our walk, but it hit me as soon as I opened my car door. There is just a different kind of clean, head clearing scent out there in the fields that isn't here in my backyard.
I took a bazillion pictures on the walk. The dog running ahead and then waiting patiently for me to catch up.

 Too bad I can't take a scratch and sniff photo.
Love,
Kim

Code (Bl)Ewe

Dear Mom,
CarolWHGSbL has taken my Parka design, made it her own, and is creating a work of art. I am thrilled.
Part of her design process has been the inclusion of Afterthought Pockets. I put them in the Young Lady's jacket and Carol wanted to put them in her parka to carry keys or gloves, maybe her phone and an ipod. As the name implies, Afterthought Pockets are placed in the knitting AFTER it is done. This way you can be sure that the pockets go exactly where you want them to be.
HOWEVER. Cutting into perfectly good knitting is definitely scary and sounds absolutely crazy. But once you have done it, you are liberated. The first time, though, requires a team of emotional and experienced support. I remember my first time. At Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp, in 1992. I cut a steek into a hat. It changed my knitting forever. I digress.

The surgical team gathered at my house yesterday.

Yes, it was an elective, cosmetic procedure. But surgery nonetheless. Scalpels, clamps and sutures were replaced by scissors, locking ring stitch markers and double pointed needles. Careful measurements were taken... and retaken...and pocket placement checked... and double checked... measurements triple checked. Pocket area carefully and clearly marked. A Clean Visual Field maintained.

We held our collective breath as CarolWHGSbL snipped the first stitch.

That deserves a close up shot.

The snipped stitch is made at the center of the soon-to-be-pocket-opening and the yarn is then carefully (didn't really need to say that) unraveled to the left and right to the desired pocket width. As scary as that first snip is, the unraveling part is probably the most unnerving part because now you are making a big gap in your beautiful knitting and exposing live stitches.

These live stitches are then placed on double pointed needles. Here you see the surgical nurse  DebbieWtPFHatPC passing off the required needle to the surgeon  CarolWHGSbL.

And here you see all the rescued stitches resting comfortably on their needles.

The stitches on the top needle are then worked to create the pocket lining and the stitches on the bottom needle are finished off for the outer pocket border. Pretty slick.

If you've been at all observant to the details in the previous photos, you will have noticed that CarolWHGSbL was wearing a lovely blue hand knit sweater in the first photos, and is wearing a lightweight bright pink shirt in the later pictures. I think she may have broken out into a sweat at some point during the procedure.

I am happy to report that the pockets were successfully completed and the Parka is home, blocked and resting comfortably. The Surgeon is justifiably pleased and proud.

Love,

Kim

Mmmmmmm

Dear Mom,
Okay, okay.  I confess.  These brownies were made from **gasp** a box.  And who can resist purple and green ghoulish M&Ms?!?!  Don't the M&Ms alone just make you want to giggle?  Or do a happy dance?!  I did make the buttercream frosting.  For a  birthday cake.  And it was just going to waste in my fridge.  It was begging to be eaten!  And I am not eating the entire pan of brownies by myself--I gave a few to the neighbors.
It's just one of those warm brownies with fun M&Ms kind of day!
Have a good one!
Love,
Wendy

It's Really Just An Old Shoe . . . .

Dear Mom,
It really is just an old shoe.  Pink and black.  A "new school shoe" purchased in the summer by a tired-of-school-supply-and-new-school-clothes-shopping mother; a shoe picked out by the 6 year old who couldn't wait (!) to start first grade.  An average everyday shoe.
Except my 6 year old tied it this morning.  All by her little pipsqueak self.  And yes I celebrate her independence!  Her wiggly pride in a shoe well tied!
But I also mourn because I need to tie her shoes before school every morning.  She is only 6 after all!
Really, though.  It's just a shoe, right?
Love,
Wendy

And now for something completely different

Dear Mom,
Cancel the intervention. I cast on something that is not a hat.

It may not last long, though. I feel the pull of North Porch Hat, Jr. calling and may need to test knit several child sized versions......

Love,

Kim

Somebody Stop Me

Dear Mom,

I may need an intervention.
Love,
Kim

Emergency Knitting

Dear Mom,

Okay, I confess. I started knitting another North Porch Hat last night during Project Runway. I may knit more hats than I know people with heads that would wear them before this craze wears down. Such is my obsession, that I took the hat with me to the blood drive at My Hero's office this morning. Even though the voice in my head was counselling me that this was Unrealistic and Knitting would be Impossible with one arm occupied by the donation. Still, I had my knitting in my lap the whole time. Never knit a stitch, but it was there just in case. I even brought the larger sized needles I would need if the hat got that far.

I learned that yogurt and granola is not a substantial breakfast if one is to donate blood. I felt a bit peckish afterwards and was rewarded with a Sprite in addition to my orange juice and cookie, and a longer rest time. I was kept company by another donor who was feeling even worse than I was. I am thinking that the office may want to rethink hosting blood drives at the same time there is an in-office Biggest Loser competition going on. All that crashing blood sugar is not a pretty sight.

Love,

Kim

Another Hat

Dear Mom,
I don't know if I am cleansing my knitting palate after the black lace marathon, but I seem to be obsessed with knitting this hat. I finished my third yesterday. This one is for me.

I used 1 ball of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn for this one. Purchased at Inish Knits.
I am putting the finishing touches on the pattern and will put it for sale in my ravelry shop.  Melissa has expressed an interest in selling it at Inish Knits, too!
Last night I started a pair of socks, tried to figure out what my next big project will be, and stared at another ball of sock yarn that I think is crying out to be another hat.
Obsessed, I tell you!
Love,
Kim

Wool windings

Dear Mom,
Last week I met with Barb, Creative Knitting Magazine's editor, so that I could give her a to-be-published knitted item and the instructions for it. She and I bonded several years ago when we met at a local yarn shop and realized that we could speak fluent knitting to each other and be understood. OH! My heart leaped in joy!

Barb had a beautiful pair of socks in progress and showed me the new (to me, at least) sock yarn she was using. You can kind of see the sock in the background. I was enchanted with the actual ball of yarn and not thinking clearly when I snapped the photo. In fact, I commented on how pretty the yarn was wound ( I know- knitter knerd) and wondered out loud if that is how the yarn is sold.
Well, it was a good thing I did, because not only is Barb a wonderful editor, expert knitter, patient teacher and generous friend, she is a human wool winder! All these many years I have been using this to wind skeins of wool into center-pull balls of yarn:

Barb taught me a new trick and now I can create lovely center pull balls of yarn by hand, too! OK, I know. Knitter knerd. But a happy contented one.

Yesterday I gave the first batch of raw wool a bath.

  I put a small bundle into a mesh laundry bag and let it soak in hot water with Orvus WA Paste (my favorite sweater wash, by the way). The initial bath water was caramel colored. I gave it several soaking rinses until the water was mostly clear, then the wool took a ride in the washing machine's spin cycle. It is now upstairs air drying, out of reach of Bumper Joseph, who seems to think I brought the sheepy smelling stuff home for him to tear into.

When I figure out what my next step is, I'll let you know, but in the meantime I am liking this wooly fluff and all the promising possibilities.

Love,

Kim

Happy Birthday Mom!

Dear Mom,
I wish you the happiest of days! I couldn't ask for a better Mom.
Love,
Kim

1942

1945

1946

1949

1953

the caption on the back of this one:

"Her first teen-age picture!"

1958

1958

2008

A Wedding, More Knitting and an Unexpected Gift

Dear Mom,
The long drive to and from the weekend wedding destination offered plenty of knitting time. We had terrible driving conditions on the way up on Friday evening- it rained the entire drive- and I tended to my knitting to avoid getting nervous and making My Hero even more tense than he already was. When it got too dark to see my knitting, it was time to help navigate unfamiliar roads.

The wedding reception was well underway when we arrived. Now, there are times when it is glaringly obvious that my children favor one side of the family or the other, and when The Young Man immediately disappeared to join the crowd on the dance floor, I didn't have to stop to wonder where that came from. It wasn't from me.  The Young Lady joined me with the quieter out-laws.

When family pictures were taken, the patient photographer needed to take several of the boisterous group. When it came time for a "just the outlaws" picture, she only needed to snap one because we took our positions, smiled for the camera and held still.

I was able to knit some more over the weekend and then a little more on the drive back home. (When I wasn't dozing.) I think the fact that My Hero left his voice in Detroit at the Red Wings game making it difficult for him to yell at instruct the other drivers on the road, along with listening to football on the radio, made the ride home a tad more peaceful than normal and I kept nodding off.

I did finish these mittens and the hat to go with them, though.

I am tweaking my hat design. I started another, in a fingering weight yarn. We'll see how that goes and then I may offer the pattern.
I purchased the buttons for the mittens at Skeins on Main, a yarn shop my soul sister-in law, Cheryl, took me to on Saturday morning.

On Saturday, another outlaw, as if he didn't have enough to do what with just having hosted a wedding and all, asked me if I would like some raw wool from his sheep! I was struck speechless. He misinterpreted my condition, thinking that I was trying to find a polite way to say No Thank You when in fact so many happy thoughts were scrambling in my head and fighting to be the first spoken that they were jammed up and nothing would come out! I did find the words, and brought home this:

Processing, or having it processed will be a learning experience. I will document the progress of the bag o'wool here on the blog. If I am successful, there is more wool for me if I want it!

I must be off- today the weather calls for homemade soup and bread for dinner, and I need to make a quick trip to the grocery for ingredients.

Love,

Kim