So what do you get the garbage man?

I have done a major clean in my sewing room - things I didn't even remember I ever bought, or had, or did. Some of my past craft endeavors make me laugh. I purged the whole bit - no more cardboard boxes of mystery fabric, no more cross stitch, no more paper mache' gourds. (yes, you read that right).

Many garbage bags and boxes later - I am starting to feel guilty about the garbage man coming Monday. Thankfully, I am out the door by the time he comes into our country cul-de-sac - but still. So, do you ever "gift" the garbage man? I mean, Christmas is coming, what can I get the fellow who faces ridiculously excessive garbage days after one of my cleaning frenzies? When I personally knew the garbage man, I would run out root beer and home made cookies - but I don't know this guy. I'd thought about a 6-pack of good beer - but gosh, what if he is an alcoholic or on probation? I'm nothing if not an over-thinker.



So, what inspired the clean up? These charming fabric bins. I made them using a clever tutorial at Pink Penguin. I'm not sure who they're for, what they're for or why I made them. I saw the tute and the end - had to try one...then two...then three...and four is on my iron board right now. I just chose fabrics I liked and went to town. It's a nice project to use tiny pieces of out of print or hard to find fabric. It just takes a divot of your favorite piece. It's somehow satisfying to use a little a save the rest. But the question begs to be asked...any ideas of what these might be good for? Okay, I have a couple of little ideas, so I am shamelessly pimping you for more adventurous thoughts - please help?

I am thankful...

1. Thankful this project is done.


September Circle in Fiberphile Merino

A mind-numbing knit. I kind of like the pooling effect in this project, and the vibrant teal streak. I haven't decided - gift pile, or my own pile. I have knit several scarf items this fall and haven't parted with any so far. hmmm.

2. Thankful for Thankgiving in my jammies with my husband and kids. We are making dinner here and hopefully playing some silly games. There has also been some promises to get to Tangled, the movie. I may fancy the theater in my jammies if the mood strikes.

3. Thankful for the long weekend. A much needed repreive from work-y garbage.

4. Thankful that everyone is safe at home.

5. Thankful for the knitting community and all of the joy that blogland has brought to me...


Like this incredibly cool "mug rug" from Jessie - a.k.a Yarntini. She is seriously the best surprise, who'd-have-guessed-gift-sender. I love that she is a yarn-dyer, yet inspires me to quilt more. I can't possible appreciate her enough.

6. Thankful that I have the Mad Men Season 2 final disc to savor over this loaf-a-rama weekend, and the first disc of Season 3 coming from Netflix.

Sometimes it truly soothes the soul to think small.

Have a wonderful and cozy Turkey Day!

a weekend retreat...

somewhere in Michigan...

Shoot, what a great weekend. I spent this last weekend with my knitting friends - Christine and Carolyn. And then Sarah (aka The Plucky Knitter) joined us for a a fabulous lunch at The Stray Dog and a little knitting too. We admitted this felt like a celebrity sighting, I mean have you ever knit with Plucky yarn? If you have not tried Primo - you must.

Carolyn's brother has this fabulous place near the lake in Michigan - it could have been in Maine - it was so charming, the decor was fabulous and it was so inviting. How blessed I am to have such great knitter friends - met through the internet, go figure. I regret that I didn't take many good pictures and pretty much none with people in it. I think I was having too much fun to think about my camera.

From chocolate covered cookie dough balls, to Fanta Ginger Ale with a little vanilla vodka, to a good night's rest, to some mind numbing knitting, to drawing names for a single sock swap - it was perfection. Thank you knitters!

I'll be back soon with a FO I hope - a boring infinity scarf is killing me...

obligation angst

But first - November's Mystery Sock - clue one...


"Mock" for November for the Sock's Knitter's Anonymous group at Ravelry in Wollmeise fliederbusch

Is anyone else having anxiety about the holidays? I have honestly been up at night trying to figure out how to make every one in our lives happy without alienating anyone. The holidays seem to come with so many obligations - and sometimes I think - it's the time of year I do what everyone else expects - not what I really want. Which is frustrating, because I am a grown-up and love my own little nuclear family and want to preserve some of our own traditions. I feel like I want to cut back on holiday spending yet I feel like my meek suggestion isn't really going over. I want to spend less and be mindful partly because it is a smart time to save - and partly because we don't need anymore stuff. Our house is bursting - with things other than yarn, I swear.

In my perfect and absolutely imaginary world we would give handmade gifts (and people would appreciate them - a lot), and bake together. And we would really focus on what Christmas means to us, as a family - rather than crazy shopping, disappointment and buyers remorse. I think I need to create a holiday make-over - any ideas? That is, ideas that do not piss off everyone...

ETA...I was reading blogposts right after writing this and found this at MLE Knits::


A Sincere Christmas

Maybe this is the idea I have been looking for...gosh, blogland rocks.

socktober comes to an end

The Mystery Sock-A-Long by Kirsten Kapur - Through the Loops

This mystery was so fun - and I really liked using the Plucky MCN fingering - the color is so rich. I think I like knitting in pieces like this because I am essentially knitting two at a time, no second sock syndrom. I actually have a pair - but I had to re-knit my second toe tonight to make it a little longer, and now it's too dark in the midwest for a decent picture. Soon it will be too dark on either end of the day - ack, winter is looming. Before snow fell - me and my family ran off to Disney World.


Alice in Wonderland and a mini-Geisha in front of our hotel

We had such a good time - it was kind of hard to come back to real life - but we have managed. I think of WDW as a "working vacation" with all of the planning and running - but it was so much fun. The best part was Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party. My girls got to dance with Chip and Dale and we hauled home about 10 lbs of candy from our trick-or-treat adventure. The park is decked out for Halloween and the crowd is limited - so we were able to ride Space Mountain twice in a row at 11:30 pm. My 5-year-old was a crazy ride hound - every roller coaster she was tall enough for and the Tower of Terror 5 times in a row. It was such a great time.

So what is next on the needles? Something with Shelter? Maybe another mystery sock? I'll get back to you, have a great week til then!