Thanks! :)

Special thanks goes to Two Crazy Knit Chicks for giving me the "Make my Day Award".
A blogger doesn't always know if postings are of interest to other knitters so it's sweet to be recognized in this way.Sometimes readers will leave a comment and that makes my day.

The rules are as follows: “Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

Here are some bloggers that make my day with their posts which include knitting, pictures and whatever else strikes them as blog worthy. I wish I had time to mention the many more than ten bloggers I read and have not recognized.

Riverrim : Cyndy's postings always touch the heart of the natural world.

in my mother's name : This blogger has such a talent for creating lovely patterns for Norwegian mittens and more.

Habetrot :Marcy has a penchant for finding the most interesting pictures of spinners, knitters and sheep from other centuries.

Stranded on Fair Isle : Marina never fails to impress me with her volume and execution of fair isle knitting. Because of her I have picked up Starmore's Rona once again!

Etherknitter : Laurie has a wonderful way of providing witty descriptions and pictures of her knitting, spinning, traveling and indeed healing.

Spinning Spider Jenny :I had the pleasure of taking one of Jenny's spinning classes at Webs. She generously continues to educate the spinning community through her blog.

Smatterings : Judy shares her daily encounters through her poetic postings, well composed shots of natural beauty and an overflowing dye pot.

Seed Stitch : Another good read with a cup of tea in the morning. Cheryl's cheery knitting
perspective and great photography make my day. She even creates a chart for knitters so we can make our own Poetry Mittens!!!

I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can: Susan lives up to the title of her blog in every way. She not only designs lovely patterns, but she also knits up the patterns of others even though she has an aversion to blocking ;)

Snidknits This knitter who is also named Cindy has recently moved to India and allows her readers to live vicariously through her postings. She just had to get over the fact that I grabbed the name cindyknits before she could ;)

Promises, Promises

I finally got my act together and wrote up and posted two of my patterns. One is the Vine Lace Shrug I made for DD's wedding. The other is Optically Squared Headband that I first posted about here. Joining Ravelry has challenged me to put some free patterns on paper. Let me know if there are any problems with the patterns should you decide to knit one.

The Russian Knitting Experience

My Komi knitting contribution to the blogosphere from Knitting Marvelous Mittens.

Two Knitters Join Forces

This is what happens when two knitters work on a project together. DD knit most of Rosedale with some modifications. She decided to eliminate the zipper and/or buttons. She also asked me to knit the bands in sideways ribbing. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden. I especially love the corrugated ribbing on the collar, cuffs and bottom ribbing. And it fits her well!!

Knit, Knit,Knit..........Walk

Progress on three fronts this weekend............Mystery Stole 3 nears the end of the cat's paw section, my Komi Hat closes in on its peak and I made another beret in my hand spun using my new Knitpicks needles thanks to DD and SIL. To deal with the boredom of working on these UFOs, I had to start a new project...another pair of socks....LOL......I still have two other pairs to finish.

I also found time to take a walk in a wooded area with friends....................

So Much Depends on the Temperature

The natural dance of winter.............


Hibernates....................



And protects.................

To stand silently............

Bearing the burden.....................



Yet eyeing us the whole while....................

Waiting for spring......................

My Plan for Today

This painting by Romanian painter Ignat Bednarik captures the bliss of spinning!

Knitting in Color or Black and White

These days have been filled with the search or should I say the research of knitting in color or black and white. I am a devotee of knitting and spinning, but nothing gets my mojo going than the patterning of two or more colors in knitting.This mitten picture is taken from the NATO Summit Mitten Collection I downloaded recently.Talk about eye candy! See Marcy's blog for details.


It is the atavistic urge to delight in patterns. From time immemorial mankind has delighted in the simple pattern whether it adorns the cup or the textile. I love fair isle,Latvian mittens,Norwegian sweaters and mittens, Icelandic designs. Thanks to my friend Patty,I've been perusing mittens from Sata Kansanomaista Kuviokudinmallia by Eeva Haavisto, a Finnish book that has patterns for 100 traditional mittens from Finland.The book is from the 40’s and it’s OOP and the publisher is WSOY.

Here's a sample of my online search travels which I'm sure that Marcy and Cassie have visited at one time or another:
NATO Summit 2006
Knitting in Color
Looking Glass Knits
Nordic Fiber Arts
Nordic Mitten Kits
The seven links below are in Ravelry so you may have to sign in first:
HelloYarn's NHM #10 Mitten from Selbuvotter :: Biography of a Knitting Tradition
Helloyarns Lined Mitten
Norwegian Mittens
Man's Norwegian Mitten
Mittens Hokuou no knit komonotachi / 北欧のニットこものたち (大型本)
Norwegian Snail Mittens
Spillyjane's Mitten
Knitman's Machine Knit FairIsle
Baltic Shop Mittens
Graph for Norwegian Mittens
Handschuh rot
Lara's Latvian Mittens
Blogdogblog's Mittens

How I rang in the New Year............

I rarely stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. I haven't watched the ball drop in Times Square for eons. This year I crossed into 2008 knitting, of course. I remember well about 5 or 6 years ago I crossed into the New Year doing a small weaving project. This New Year's Eve I managed to start one of my resolutions............continue knitting Mystery Stole 3. You remember this 2007 project I'm sure. Perhaps you knitted one or still have one in progress. Now the thing about UFO's is their desire to remain that way. I think it's the law of Knitting Inertia............projects at rest tend to want to stay at rest..LOL!!! I broke the inertia barrier, folks. I resurrected MS3. The biggest obstacle was figuring out how to tink back and figure out what row I was on. I did it!!!

It gets better.......I also worked on another UFO,my Komi Hat from Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch started a few years ago.
And....................on Sunday I plyed another skein of mohair/wool and llama purchased from Rhinebeck's Barn 31.