Socktober

During the month of October, well I actually started the pink pair the end of September, I knit two pair of socks.
The pink pair is for a friend who we had asked to take some portraits for us. She appreciates handknit!

The brown striped pair I made for her husband. The last time I gave socks to L, her husband said he wished for a pair. I thought it wasn't fair to give L another pair without a pair for M also. I hope they fit and he gets much joy and warmth from wearing them.

The pink pair is Brown Sheep Wildfoote in the Acappella color. The brown pair is Austermann Step with Aloe in Coal(460). Both pair were knit toe up with a regular heel flap. The actual knitting time took about two weeks, but I had to wait until the photo shoot last Monday to present the socks to L. I also knit a shawl for L as an extra gift. Next time pictures of her in the shawl.

I am busily knitting away on Christmas projects and the spinning has not been left behind this time. I am spending about 20 minutes each day spinning. I even did some wool dyeing last Monday and have been spinning that up with a project in mind.

The end of this week my mom and aunt are coming to DC for a visit. They have both been to DC before, in fact my aunt lived here for a year, but they haven't been here since we moved here. It will be fun to show them our place. With that said, I have a lot to get ready for them.

Happy knitting and spinning.

What Happened the Year I was Born

I couldn't pass up doing this week's Ten on Tuesday and discovering what the headlines were in 1962. I definitely don't remember what happened then, but I have heard about some of them. Let's see what they were:

1. Polaroid introduces color film prints which develop in 60 seconds. Does anyone remember Polaroid?
   
2. 90% of Americans own a television set; ABC begins broadcasting in color.
   
3. The World's Fair is held in Seattle.
4. Maury Wills breaks Ty Cobb's single season stolen base record.
5. Industrial robots introduced to perform repetitive manufacturing tasks.
6. Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. becomes first American to achieve earth orbit; his Mercury 6 mission is followed by two other Mercury flights.
7. Telstar becomes the first communications satellite intended for regular service; relays television signals between North America and Europe.
8. Blowin’ in the Wind, Go Away Little Girl, Days of Wine and Roses, The Loco-Motion, Sherry, Monster Mash, Big Girls Don’t Cry where all released.
9. I’ve Got a Secret, Beverly Hillbillies, Route 66, The Flinstones, and the Price is Right were all broadcast.
10. And finally, Marilyn Monroe dies of barbituate overdose at the age of 36.

What happened the year you were born?

Happy knitting and spinning.

Well Traveled Shawl

I started this shawl on the trip to England in April and completed it once I was home in VA. It's been in the car as the commuter project. Long rows of purl stitches makes the four minute light cycles go faster. It's finally blocked and has now been gifted to a friend. Hope she'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

The hurricane didn't affect us very much. We were lucky and just had rain and wind. We still have electricity, water and our lives are normal (as close to normal as normal can be). There are others in our area who didn't fair as well. Our prayers are with them.

One of the kids is here for a short visit. She will spend the next year in Spain on a study abroad program. Now off to get her up to head downtown.

Happy knitting and spinning.

What I've Been up to This Past Summer

This past summer has been a busy one.
There has been visits with most of the grandsons.


Getting to see the youngest one for the first time.

There has also been knitting............... Mittens for the donation box and some shawls.

There was also a tie-dying evening which resulted in about 13 shirts getting a little bit of color. This was done with Corb. Some fun time with him before he heads back to be nearer his brothers in another month or so.

Now that summer is over, I might get back on the blogging bandwagon. Happy knitting and spinning.

England the King Richard Edition

My sister is fascinated by King Richard so we spent some time at Bosworth Field on our first Sunday in England. We took the tour and learned more about the War of the Roses.

The next day we spent some time in Leicester. The first stop we made was at the Guildhall which was right next door to the Leicester Cathedral. Leicester Cathedral is where King Richard is said to be entombed. The Cathedral is really beautiful and the stain-glass is really stunning.

We then spent some time at the Jewry Wall. This is the remains of a Roman bathhouse. If you look at the picture below you can see the St. Martin's cathedral behind the wall and see that the bricks from the wall were used to construct the cathedral. They blend together very well.

The last bit of time spent in Leicester was spent wandering the castle gardens. It was very peaceful there and the flowers were all out.

I had not had much interest in King Richard, but doing the tours on Sunday and Monday made me want to do some reading. Who knows when it will be done, but it could happen.

England 5

Floating down the canal we also saw some swans. There were actually two swan couples with females sitting on the nests. I thought I had missed the picture of the first nest, but it turned out that I got it okay. Not very well framed, but okay from a moving boat.

The second picture is of our boat coming out of Saddington tunnel. The tunnel is 808 meters long, that's a little over half a mile. The first time through Aunt G steered and the second time through Mom did the steering. Mom said that was a good time for her at the tiller. She could bounce off the walls without worrying about hitting another boat or running aground.

Happy knitting and spinning.

England 4

We saw a LOT of ducklings with mommas and poppas. They were swimming all around in the canal. There were a number of times when the babies got separated while the boat went past. That means there was a lot of quacking until they could be reunited.


I took quite a few pictures of the bridges as we passed under them. If you enlarge this picture you will see the front of the boat at the bottom in the middle. I loved seeing all the moss and weeds growing out of the mortar of the bridges. We went under about twenty bridges and they fascinated me every time.

Happy knitting and spinning.