So why do we do this??

I have to be honest. I am cheap. Seriously cheap. I shop for the best bang for my buck and seriously object to paying full price for anything. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't . . . usually not for me but will for my kids (just ask my daughters about the shopping expedition of this past Sunday . . . Confirmation/Graduation clothing were the goal of the expedition and we were successful and nothing was on sale).

I would NOT spend $30 on a scarf or gloves or hat. I will however spend $30 on yarn to make a scarf or gloves or hat . . . well maybe not $30 . . . but pretty close when you consider that the Noro Silk Garden was $7 a skein and the scarf took three skeins.

This is a discussion that my hubby and I have had for years. For our oldest daughter, I would make super fabulous dresses . . . until she decided that she wouldn't wear them. My Mom made her First Communion dress . . . I was going to but my Mom asked if she could. It is a gift.

I made Lindsey's First Communion dress and the dresses the girls wore for a wedding. The wedding dresses did cost less to make than to buy. The First Communion dresses were iffy.

The difference that my hubby and I have is the value of the time. For the wedding dresses, once I focused (and built up my nerve to actually CUT the fabric), I worked on them mostly in one evening . . . up until the point where I would have had to wake the girls to try them on for fitting. I recall climbing into bed at 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning . . . I had started on them at 8:00 p.m. the evening before.

So, again, why do we do this? Why do we spend hours knitting/crocheting/sewing when we could buy a similar product.

For me, it is the satisfaction. It is in seeing something done and you know, you get that smile. Awesome.

It is also the fact that I am cheap. I recognize that I could not buy a hand-made silk scarf for $30. Therefore, if I want a hand-made silk scarf, I will have to do it myself . . . and the time spent . . . well, its my time anyway.

More non-knitting; rather weepy for me at least

Let me tell you why I feel sorry for Brittany Spears and Anna Nicole Smith and why Craig Ferguson has earned my respect. It goes back many, many years.

When my husband and I got married in 1980, my niece was 11. Depending on whom you talk to, she started drinking at age 12 or 13. Life went on. Her parents dealt with counselling (individual and family). She had court enforced treatments . . . going as well as those types of things usually do. Sometimes she lived with someone and held a job and sometimes, she called the streets her home.

When she was 25, she had a baby. For her 27th birthday, she, her current beau (aka provider of the proverbial "roof") and baby celebrated her birthday until the wee hours of the morning. Things happened and our local Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) stepped in. Her daughter was removed from her custody and placed with a family member. Because she has never changed her lifestyle, she has never seen her daughter since. The daughter was adopted when she was 3-1/2. She will be 13 next month.

Seven years later, she had another daughter. The baby tested positive for cocaine at birth. The father's mother stepped in and has custody of that child who is now 7.

A year later, she had a son, by the same father as her second child. We were all amazed. For whatever reason, DCFS decided to give her a chance with this one. When he was four months old, he was removed and placed with the family that had the oldest daughter. He was adopted when he was 2-1/2.

A year later, she had another daughter, again by the same father (at least she thinks so). DCFS decided that she would not take this one home and another family member (bless her) stepped in and volunteered to help. She was adopted by them when she was 1.

She calls me. A lot. She remembers to call on my birthday and my husbands and her kids. She calls on holidays and has an incredible sense of knowing when the rest of the family will be at the house for non-holidays gatherings. She sends me Mother's Day cards.

I have always, ALWAYS been honest with her.
I have cried with her and laughed with her.
I have yelled at her, told her I was disappointed and pled with her to get help.
I have told her that she has wasted her life.
I have been nasty and mean and kind and gentle.
I have tried tough love and forgiving love.
When she has told me that I am not being "fair," I point out that what is not fair is that someday, I will have to explain to those beautiful children that their Mom choose a beer over them.
I will not allow my children, who were born from her womb, to see her or be seen by her.
I believe in my heart, that it would serve no purpose whatsoever and would cause more pain than necessary.
I have also told her that when it is needed, I will tell our children that their Mom loved them, but I will not lie to them.
She gave us an incredible gift, actually two. Lindsey will be 13 in two weeks. Zachariah just turned 6, and we are the ones they call Mommy and Daddy. We share the butterfly kisses and snuggles and hugs.
She is dying. She is 38. Her kidneys and liver are failing. She has been spending more time in the hospital than out of it. She is a terrible patient, checking herself out against medical advice and still not listening to those of us who love her.

And then there are times that I see

this beautiful little blonde girl

. . . dancing and singing . . .

. . . so innocent and kind . . .

. . . full of laughter and . . .

. . . hope for the future . . .

While the little blonde girl was my niece at my wedding, it could have easily been Anna Nicole or Brittany. Hopefully, someone will be able to reach Brittany who is teetering on the edge of destruction. It is too late for my niece and Anna Nicole.

And to Craig Ferguson, you are gentleman. You will always have my respect.

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Cold . . . its cold

Our Whoduknit for February was Northern Lights by Nora Roberts. It is based in Alaska. The description of how cold it is there made me cold. However, Cleveland's weather later has been trying very hard to compete with Alaska. It has been cold. Really, really cold.

And it snowed. We have about 18 inches in my yard and with blowing and drifting, there are areas in our yard that have about four feet. Couple that with zero degree temperatures and wind chill, it has made going to/from work miserable and cold. I've taken pics but have yet to download them. I will. Chilly.

On the upside, we are getting a heatwave . . . next Tuesday, the high is to be 32!

Entrelac done with first skein

I know that this is getting boring . . . BUT, I finally finished the first skein for the entrelac scarf. I know that we talked about following the colorway's repeat. In laying this out though, I'm not sure that it matters. First of all, there doesn't seem to be a repeat. It seems that at the beginning the color is teal, going to purple, then aqua then a clear green (almost Kelly green), then a tweading green to the teal and purple but then it is aqua fading into lots of purple (almost three full rectangles). Plus, this is a scarf. If it were a sweater or something I would need to match later on, I would be concerned. It isn't and I'm not.

I love the colors and the way they switch. Very Northern Lights.

I changed needles (but not needle size) and I'm knitting with my Options tighter than I knit with the Denise needles. Again, this is a scarf. It is for me and I'm not frogging it.

Entrelac . . . almost to the end of ball 1

This is very addicting . . . of course, I guess there could be worse things to be addicated to. This is seven tiers of entrelac . . . more importantly, it is getting close to the end of the first skein.

The colors are fabulous and thoroughly enjoying the way this is going together. The colors do not repeat often and the blending from one color to the next is very nice. The color that I am on now is only repeating for the first time. The darkest color which is showing up as a dark blue, is actually more of a purple tweady color.

It takes me one bus ride to do a tier. When you get right down to it, this requires more knitting than a simple scarf (which also explains why it takes three skeins). Each rectangle is fifteen rows of knitting, granted you are only doing eight stitches in those fifteen rows but it is still 15 x 3 rectangles x 8 stitches = 360 . . . I hope that works out right.

I also know that this is awesome since both my daughters have fondled it and wanted to know WHO it was for . . . the looks on their face were great when I said "me."

More Entrelac

This is the next tier . . . not very clear (I'm using Zachariah's camera.

And to the right is the next tier which actually because of the change in color makes it a little easier to see how the entrelac is developing.

Again, Deb (from Whoduknit) Rocks!! Thanks so much for sharing this technique.

Learning Entrelac

I have always wanted to learn Entrelac . . . because of other commitments, I have never taken a class on it. Anyway, the Whoduknit group has decided to do an Entrelac KAL. Today was our first "lesson." Here are my initial results, although I am thinking about taking it out and maybe using a smaller needle. I tend to knit loose.

It does look a tad lopsided but we were told that it will. I am using Noro Silk Garden which is Silk/Mohair/Wool. It is Color No. 8 which is blues/green but it also has areas of purple in it too.

Given that I'm so busy with school and work, I like doing stuff like this . . . I may not finish it as I really don't have the time BUT I do very much enjoy learning it. My theory is that after June 30, I will not have school anymore . . . only five more months.