Baby It's Cold Outside!

It's very cold again this morning. Yesterday we got down to 20 degrees here at our little cottage and this morning it was a cool 25 degrees. I'm ok with the cold IF my furnace is working properly and since last years motor fire and fan switch redoes it's working BUT...... the thermostat decided to stick and so we woke up to a very cold house yesterday morning. Lots of fiddling around with the thermostat helped us make up our minds to have a new one installed, so my plumbing and heating guy just left after only taking 10 minutes to install it. He's such a great guy he didn't even charge us. That's so kind.

And now I'm comfortable and ready to sit and knit for an hour but instead I'm going to go antiquing today with my friend, Karen. She always finds such great bargains.

I did finish my fingerless gloves last night. My DD came by after work and I was working on the last finger, the pinky and so before work this morning she came back by to pick them up. She works at the Library and wears her fingerless mitts all the time so this is a real treat to have "half" fingers now....lol.




I really enjoyed the pattern although it scared me every time I did a finger. I love making the mitts because they're such a quick knit so I just assumed these would take much longer, but actually they didn't.

It's time to finish my "Juliet" and the other two pairs of socks I've started. I should stay home and knit.....naaaaaa. Shopping is fun, too.

Have a great day!!!

Marilyn

Time Flies!

I just can't get over how fast time flies. Here it is November and I'm still not ready for winter. Maybe that's because it keeps climbing up into the high 60's, low 70's. We finally cleaned up the leaves in the yard which only lasted a day. The leaves that froze a couple of weeks ago are now falling and they are still green, just that ugly "transparent" green color from freezing on the trees. I'm sure we'll have another busy weekend ahead of us.

I've been working on some fingerless gloves for my DD and have started another Mystery sock which I didn't get any pictures of because I only "just started"!
But here's the fingerless gloves I'm making.


This is my first attempt at "fingers" actually. I'm more inclined to make fingerless mittens but she begged for these so here goes. So far they're not too bad.

I've been getting so bored with my house so I decided to play with a couple of things I've gotten lately. I got this box at a yard sale that was nothing but antiques. I still haven't decided what I "really" want in it....lol.


And then my friend gave me this old vintage clothes drying rack. It's a little unstable so I hung it up but didn't put it up and hang anything on it. I'm looking for an old washboard to put beside it but until then I put a very old pillow case with lace on it next to it. I really need to hang some lace doillies and table clothes from it but I just hadn't really decided how to stabalize it yet.



She also gave me this Godey print in an old frame and I just love it. It matches some plates I have.


At least I'm catching up here and have been busy reading all your blogs. It's been that kind of day!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Marilyn

Finished Mystery Sock

My afternoon was spent finishing the Through The Loops Mystery Sock on Ravelry.


Now it's on to another UFO.....

Have a great weekend,
Marilyn in NM

Updates!

I'm so glad to let everyone know that my sweet Mom is back home in Kansas. One week to the day from surgery she traveled home. She's an awesome 82 year old.
It was definitely uterine cancer so that was all taken out along with the infection in the cervical wall. Her hernia is fixed and her prognosis is GREAT!!!! NO CHEMO!!!! The gynecological oncologist said that there were no signs of the cancer on her tubes and ovaries and that nothing was found in her lymph nodes so no follow up treatment! I am just so ecstatic and thankful to a loving God. I thank all of you, also for the prayers and thoughts you sent my way and my Mom's.

I have also been knitting as much as possible. I've finished sock no. 1 of a KAL on Ravelry and am almost finished with sock no. 2 but only through Clue #2. Clue #3 came out today so I really need to get to work and get them finished so I can finish my first "toe-up" socks. I'm having so much fun with my knitting and especially the Ravelry website is so full of motivation that it's hard to knit when you spend so much time surfing there.

Here's my projects.

The KAL sock:

The toe-up sock:














Have a great weekend!
Marilyn

We're back!

We got back from my sisters anniversary weekend on Monday evening. Boy was it windy on the way home. We got to Pueblo, CO and there were 35 mph winds which made it hard to keep our little Sentra on the road. But we got home safely and had a very nice time.

The party was so much fun! Our entire family was there, both sisters and their families. I just love this picture of my Mom and her 3 Great Grandkids. The 2 little girls are my granddaughters and the little baby boy is my older sisters grandson. They were all so adorable.



And the photographer snapped this picture of my older sister and I. I can't believe she's 60 and has been married 40 years. It seems like I was one of her bridesmaids just yesterday and I was only 13 at the time. She's a sweety! OHHHHH, and she loved her socks that I made her. She had to show them off to everyone at their party, all 39 people....I was so embarrassed but also very happy that she loved them so much!!!


We got to see some beautiful Autumn colors on Cumbres and La Manga Passes near Chama, NM. It's only about 125 miles from home so we did take our time enjoying the spitting snow and rain and the beautiful scenery. I took a couple of pictures but nothing spectacular.





My mother came through her surgery very well. She definitely had uterine cancer along with a severe infection and of all things, a hernia. Poor thing! But she's already, after only 3 days in the hospital, at my sisters house. I'm so glad she got up and was walking. Her motivator: getting back to her own home in Kansas.

I'm just glad to be home and that the worry of her surgery is past. Now for treatment!


Have a great weekend!

My Finished Socks

This was such a fun project. I know I posted about them already but famed sock designer, Nancy Bush, named our little Mystery Socks. They're called Fox Faces. I just loved it so much that when I posted for the contest I had to photograph them with a fox....lol.


I would love to win this contest yet there are so many more deserving than me. So much talent out there.

I just want to say that those of you that are knitting socks, like Pam and Gigi, you keep me going. Pam, your enthusiasm for a new project is contagious and Gigi, you have inspired me to try other projects like sweaters, etc. Thanks to both of you, you're great bloggers and great new friends.

Thanks also for the well wishes for my Mom. We're looking forward to seeing her before the surgery.

Hugs to all,

Marilyn in NM

It's been awhile.....

...since I've written.
I've been working on my Sockknitters Anonymous Mystery Sock for September and am almost finished. I don't have both done but one is finished and I'm ready to finish the toe on the other then I'll have the prettiest pair of "yellow" socks.



I also got a new toy a couple of weeks ago. My Knit Picks order came in and I got an umbrella swift and a ball winder. It's awesome to play with but there were a couple of "fatalities". I had to call Knit Picks and ask for another small wooden screw as the one they sent with the swift was too small and wouldn't stay tightened. They responded right away and now I'm using it. I took a couple of pictures of my set up and it works for now although I don't like using my library table but it's the only table that it actually works this well on.

It's really not a bad set up.



Here's the yarn I wound with the 3 on the left not turning out very well because of "me" not knowing what I was doing. Then as I got the hang of it, the cakes on the right look pretty good.
Now to knit more socks....lol.



This weekend is my sister and brother-in-laws 40th wedding anniversary so we will be leaving Friday morning for Erie, Colorado. It's a good 7 to 7 1/2 hour drive but it will be beautiful as the trees are just starting to turn and do their magic. I can't wait to get some pictures of the mountains in the Fall. I love this time of year.

The bad news is that my 82 yo mother is having surgery the following Wednesday in Denver. She has uterine cancer or at least that's what her hometown doc thinks so he scheduled her with a specialist in Denver. I'm glad she'll be up there where my sister lives and we'll see her before the surgery, too. I'll probably come on home because of a trip in the near future for her care is eminent. It's actually been a pretty long time since she's had to have any major surgery or care so she's done pretty well for the past several years.
All of her grandchildren and great grandchildren will be up there for the party so she'll be enjoying the entire family this coming weekend.

So if I don't post for awhile it's because of family obligations and her health.

Have a great week!

Marilyn

Is Autumn Really Close????

It sure feels like Autumn is here. We're finally getting some of that much needed rain and boy are things changing. The Virginia Creeper is really starting to turn red on the tops and the berries on it have been providing much enjoyment for the birds. I just don't know that I'm ready for Winter, of all things.
Here's a couple of pictures of how MATURE everything is looking and it's raining. I took these out the back window of the office. Boy did that rain make for a nice evening, though.





Our peach tree by our driveway, gave us such a beautiful harvest this year. We canned, well actually froze mostly, about 20 quarts and still have a large bucket full that is finishing ripening as we went ahead and stripped the tree. The birds just wouldn't leave them alone, which we don't mind feeding them but we did want some peaches...lol. My brother-in-law (the one that lost the son in April) came and picked the rest and even helped DH clean up the "pecked" ones until DH finally decided he should leave a few for our little feathered friends. It looks like nothing was ever on the tree, now. It's sad, but my freezer and pantry are full.

The garden actually produced just enough yellow squash and cucumbers to eat but not many tomatoes. I get maybe one or two a week. Thankfully we have good friends that keep us supplied with goodies, too.

I've been busy knitting. Still trying to finish the last monkey sock for my sis to take to her in Oct. Then I joined a Sock Knitalong on Ravelry. It's such a neat knitting community and such a wealth of information and support. I spend way too much time there but it's awesome. Patterns (for free), yarns, and projects to look at and dream of making. I just love it!

The sock knitalong is specifically for a yellow sock and the pattern is a Mystery pattern by Nancy Bush. I'm such a fan of hers but have never knitted a whole project of hers yet. Maybe this will be a first. This is also my FIRST ever Mystery Sock. I'm just so excited.

Here's my progress thus far after finishing Clue #1 of the "September 09 Mystery Sock".




I'm actually starting to love the yellow. It's called Lemon Sorbet and I got it from Slackford Studio's Etsy Shop. She has some of the most beautiful yarns.



I hope all of you have a great weekend, I know I have been so far and plan to enjoy the rest of it.

Hugs,

Where does the time go?????

It seems like this summer is just rushing by and I feel like I'm still waiting for it. The weather had been so hot for over a month then it cooled off a bit but is back up in the high 80's low 90's again. The hard to adjust part is the 50's at night and the 90's during the day. A 40 degree difference is a big difference. There sure are lots of folks with colds around here.

DH and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary last Friday (here's last years post and a picture....ugh!). We spent all day Saturday in Durango. It was just so much fun. We had lunch at a great Asian place. They have a sushi lunch special that goes through 3pm so we just did that so we'd get home early.

We didn't really do that much while up there but we did do some shopping, LYS of course and brought one skein home, and we always hit the nice health food stores but we especially enjoyed Honeyville. They make their own honey and different honey products and they carry a nice line of honey wines made in Colorado, actually up near Grand Junction in Palisade. We love going up there but when we can get wine this close to home that's made there it's awesome.

Here's the sock yarn I purchased. They just didn't have much in Yarn in Durango. I was surprised but I think she's at "market" to start getting a bigger selection in.



One of the very special gifts that we received for our anniversary, was a cross stitch, matted & framed, from my mother-in-law. She spends hours cross stitching and finally gave us one of her creations. She's 75 and has better eyes than I do....lol. I hung it above my library table in my front living room and it makes everything look so cozy.




Sorry about the glare on the picture. Looking at this photo really makes me want to straighten up my bookshelves. They're such a disorganized mess.



I'm still picking our small garden. Tomatoes are still slow turning and the cucumbers have slowed down. I've gotten several yellow squash a day but it's slowing down, too. I did get one "giant" cuke that was hiding so here's a picture of it compared to the others.



I've also been knitting! Not surprised, huh? I'm trying to finish the "no purl monkeys" for my sister before we go up there the first of October. Hopefully I'll get a vest for myself done by then, too and at least another pair of socks for my great nephew, Maxx.


Here's my progress so far.



Well, I guess I really should use some of this extra time I have today and try to work on these socks.

Have a great day!

Just Playing with My Camera

I took video of my hummingbirds then made a very short movie. Stupid but I have to admit I learned something about Microsoft Movie Maker....lol.
Here's my short video.