Safely Home

My Mummu, who turned 102 years old in November, passed away peacefully in her sleep yesterday. She announced that she was tired and "going to sleep now". She is now safely home in the arms of her Lord, which she has been waiting for for quite some time now. We all knew it would come. She was 102, after all. After 100, quite frankly, we have known. Quite possibly before that. But this little optimist in me, that believer, that holder-on to family, actually looked forward to announcing "my grandmother turned 103 today!". We will head for the funeral here in a day. So much business to take care of when someone you love goes home to God. But tonight, the business is sweet remembrances. So many of them. I have written before of her socks. The Socks, as I call them. This past Christmas I gifted the men in my family socks from my own hands, but they are no match for The Socks. Not that The Socks are the greatest knit items ever. (Though they are fabulously constructed!) They quite simply are The Socks. Made by Mummu. Loved and cherished and coveted for years. Nothing more to say. Every Christmas there were knitted or crocheted items to be opened. There is not much to say tonight. My heart is tired. But these pictures of Christmases past tell much of a Mummu's love.

I loved and adored this little braided leg girl.

She is dirty from the years, but with a styrofoam ball head,

I'm not sure how to wash her.

What a lovely little couple! My farm husband/wife duo.

These two came with pre-made heads.

This little penguin was loved so much his eye popped off! That is all for tonight.

Pour Moi!

Pour mes lecteurs de francais, ces chausettes sont pour moi! Pouvoir je dis, je parle le francais, je n'ecris pas le francais! (disclaimer in the event I did not write that corrently)

(For my French readers, these socks are for me! May I say, I speak French, I don't write it)

I am loving knitting socks for myself. I admit that with some shame, as I have blatantly decried sock knitting in the past. There is a little fear that the knitting gods will stand with hands on hips, brow lifted and judge me as a hypocrit, given my outspoken nature in the past regarding sock knitting. Here is the truth: I heretofore had never knit socks using two circular needles. I fumbled and fidgeted and fudged with double pointed needles. Skinny, skinny double pointed needles. Those skinny dpns and thin, thin yarn would like to have driven me over a cliff. Someone far wiser in all things knitterly than I made the statement (and published it) "Socks Soar on Two Circulars". (Cat Bordhi). Though I never read her book, I did view a tutorial on youtube and gave it a try when faced with the Christmas sock knitting trials. It took.

The yarn is Paton's Kroy Socks in Paint Box. I love this colorway. It is not self-striping, rather a kaleidoscope of vibrant hues. Delightful! I am following Easy Lace Socks pattern from The Big Book of Socks by Kathleen Taylor. I made the men's socks for Christmas from her book as well. I will set these down tonight to work on man's slippers, but will keep you posted on Pour Moi! sock progress.

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat...

I did taw a puddy tat! I Did! I Did!

Here is the "Puddy Tat" (Boots, of course) checking out Mr. Tweedy(bird)

Greenjeans as it blocks:

Mr Greenjeans was officially put into wearing rotation today:

Funky Button, purchased at my LYS. Love! The! Button!

And now I continue work on the felted clogs for man's feet. First slipper completed. The pattern is a big tricky in that you have to follow along closely each row. Because of this, it was necessary to cast-on an item that would be portable. Of course, I cast on during the boy's basketball game this weekend, which was not really tricky, but did require full attention. Note to self: casting on socks while a basketball game is in progress is not recommended knitting activity if you want the boy to think you're watching his game at all!

The sock I began will be documented soon. Stayed tuned. By the way, have I mentioned that these socks will be For Me? Why do we knitters feel guilty when we knit for ourselves? It is our talent, our money, and our time going into our craft. But, to ease the guilt, believe it or not, there will be another hat produced soon. I'm a sucker for a 6 year old boy's big eyes requesting a hat like his big brother's!

HiJacked

What a crazy week this has been! We were hit hard by a blizzard Tuesday evening, which left everyone crippled Tuesday night and most of Wednesday. At the height of the blizzard, our high efficiency furnace vents continued to become drift-covered and would have to be dug out, as the furnace would quit every 2 hours or so. Also at the height of the blizzard, my man was experiencing some chest discomfort and shortness of breath. We were able to get him to medical attention early Wednesday afternoon. All tests came back normal, which was a huge relief to us.

Saturday a friend called because she had just received a troubling email from me. According to the email I was stranded in the UK and needed financial help to get home. When I attempted to access my email, I was completely locked out! The password had been changed. Through some fancy footwork, we were able to get back into the account, change the password, get the hijacker's email deleted as a contact (which they had inserted into the account), so that they would not receive notification that password was being changed. While we were in the email, the hijackers came back in, locked the system up, changed the password again. However, this time when I got the email link to change the password, their email was no longer notified and we were able to get in and delete everything and shut the account down. YIKES! Amazing what these hackers can do. My apologies go out to anyone who received that email.

I learned a valuable lesson from this...don't use free email accounts! There is virtually no assistance you can get if something like this happens. I have read many tales online today about just such a thing happening to others. We were lucky on that one because an old email of mine was still attached to the account. I was able to get into the old email account with some quick thinking and fancy footwork.

And today, when I thought I'd FINALLY get to sit down and do some relaxing yarn and needle work, I was loving on the big boy Toivo and found a flea. Yes, a flea. Middle of winter, middle of an indoor cat's back. He is now isolated in the guest bedroom, where I currently sit blogging away. Everything else is vacuumed and/or headed for the washing machine. I'll call our vet in the morning and see if I can get some flea medication for all three without having to take Toivo in. I did capture a flea and put it in a baggie. Let's hope they will do that, because Toivo and vehicles are not a pleasant combination. Traveling just doesn't agree with the boy. Seriously. He explodes. Out of several ends. Not pretty for anyone involved.

So, now I'm wondering..."what next?". Maybe I'll sit down and work a bit on the man's felted clogs. I am nearly finished with the first clog and I showed the boy and said "Here's dad's first slipper. You think that will fit?" If you've not felt knitted items before, let me tell you, the knit item pre-felting is Gy-normous! You should've seen the look on the boy's face! Then I explained to him the wonder that is felting, but he still thinks I've knit these too large. Can't wait to take my boys through the process of felting. Oh, and Mr. Tweedy is off the needles and I also cheated on the clogs and began a pair of socks. For me. More on all that later.

What follows is my limited photo documentation of the blizzard of '11:

It all begins:

As the day turns to night, the snow begins drifting up the back door:

The drift grows as the wind and snow blows:

(Notice Heimo's ball? Apparently we were keeping him busy through it all!)

The drift reaches the door handle:

Snow sticks to the window screen, obscuring wooden kitty's view:

The viewing hole grows ever smaller:

By bedtime, we are no longer able to see out the back windows:

The following day, good friends (including boy with young man hat), come plow and shovel us out, so that the man (who is experiencing chest discomfort), doesn't have to go out in it.

Drifts have taken over the yard. Waist high in places, fence high in others:

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.