A new project and an FO

I finished the Uptown boot socks. Originally I was making them for myself but I messed up on the size so they ended up being for my little sock model. Its nice to have a child appreciate my hand-knit socks so much.

Gossamer was having a sale this weekend so I went in to see if there was anything that struck my fancy. I was drawn to the sock

yarn, of course. So I bought some Koigu - but not for socks. I think I will make the Chevron scarf. Its such a pretty scarf but I know I'm going to be tired of weaving in ends when the knitting is over.

Its a nice, light, summer's-coming knitting project.

Easter

This easter, in addition to searching for what the easter bunny left behind, we babysat some chicks, explored some caves east of town, and had a yummy Easter feast. Here is a pictorial review. (No photo documentation of the feast available.)

Hunting for eggs

Baby chicks

Conner really loved the chicks

Heading down into the cave

Our little spelunkers

We had a fantastic day!

Fiber Festival

It seems like ages ago but its only been about a month that we visited the Crook County Fiber Festival in Prineville. I'd never been to a fiber festival before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The only thing I didn't see that I was hoping to was the actual sheering of a sheep. This festival had lots of animals and indoor exhibits included plenty of fiber, spinning wheels, and hand-spun yarn. Along with lots of beautiful finished knits. I am not a spinner (yet) so I was not so tempted by the fiber but my kids could not resist some spectacularly packaged fiber and had to make a purchase of their own.

The festival had classes and presentations on different techniques including some dyeing techniques. The kids and I watched someone show us how to cover plastic easter eggs with dyed fiber which was a hit, especially since easter was coming up in two weeks as that point.

I also saw a carding machine for the first time. As a kid I remember getting to use hand carders to card roving but that seems to be a thing of the past now that everyone has carding machines. This was a 21st century fiber festival but this part will never change.

Officially Spring

I decided to use the Noro Kochoran from my stash for a shawl instead of the sweater I originally planned since I didn't have enough for that sweater. I would have needed about 11 balls and I only had five. I finished the shawl yesterday and wore it today as my outerwear today. It was still a little chilly this morning for just this but as spring progresses, I think it will work out. Spring in Central Oregon is still a little cold. This shawl is incredibly soft - as Kochoran has the angora in it!

Sorry about the photo, blogger doesn't seem to have a way to rotate the photo, nor my computer. At least not that I have found, but I'm not so tech savvy.

A Taste of Silence

I went to a workshop this morning on Contemplative Prayer which was put on by our local chapter of Contemplative Outreach (www.contemplativeoutreach.org). I was so inspired by my experience and I hope to put this discipline into practice in my daily life.

Knitting can bring mindfulness but because my life is so full I often knit in the midst of crazy, family life with TV going, kids asking questions, playing loudly, etc. So even if the act of knitting is stilling my body, my mind is not necessarily as quiet. I tend to follow and dwell on negative thoughts or lay plans for the rest of the week and I'm always thinking about more than one thing at a time. I need some quiet time to center my mind which will help me hold on to that stillness during the rest of my day.

The experience of centering myself with silent (wordless) prayer made me feel so peaceful this morning that I want to hold onto that feeling the rest of the day. It is my intention to practice the centering prayer on a daily basis.

Star Day

Yesterday was Star Day in our house. When my son was four years old he asked me, a week before Valentines Day, why we had to have a holiday made around the shape of hearts. He said he didn't like hearts and why couldn't we have a holiday about stars? I told him that we could make our own holiday all about stars and asked him what that holiday would be like? He told me we'd have stars and candy. I should have known - every holiday for kids revolves around candy!

So since 2004, we've been celebrating Star Day near the end of February every year. We decorate the house with stars and the Star fairy delivers candy. Even the grandparents get into the celebration by sending a Star Day gift. My son tells me that he is going to ask the new president to make Star Day a national holiday. We may have to flesh out the celebration a bit before that happens.

Is spring around the corner?

Its beginning to feel like winter's slumber is coming to an end. The days are longer and I've seen the sun a little bit. I've even been out for a walk or two. Yesterday morning it was raining and it felt like the Willamette Valley, not the frozen tundra of Central Oregon.

Parenting challenges have been filling my time after work but I've done a bit of knitting. I made a Valentine's sweater for my daughter's bear and she loves it.

I have been working on socks and have four different socks on the needles. It may be a while before I have a pair of any of them but at least I'm knitting.

I am thinking of knitting the Lace Scarf from Vogue Knitting winter 2008/09. At first I was a little discouraged by the cost of the Blue Sky Alpaca bulky that was used in the pattern but then I received the latest Knit Picks catalog and discovered the Super Bulky weight Suri Dream and think it may be possible for me to make this scarf even in these tough economic times.