Spinning Wheel goes round and round.......

In 1980 the need to spin became an obsession for me. I found an antique walking wheel on the back porch of an old local store and the owner sold it to me for a cheap price. I taught myself to spin which was not an easy task by any means. There was very little spinning information available but I managed (or should I say, struggled). New wheels were born over the years and I want you to meet one of them. It's a Country Craftsman and was purchased in 1991. Unfortunately they are no longer available. The gentleman who crafted these beautiful wheels retired in 2003. I have two of these but this one is my favorite. I have no idea why, we just seem to get along well.


I have purchased masses of fleece along the spinning trail and was even known to pack a lunch, put the kids in the car and go for a ride looking for sheep farms at shearing time. Nothing like taking your kids to a stranger's door to find out if they were willing to sell a fleece. Trust me, I begged and managed to snag a few during those excursions:).
The spinning bug has recently invaded my knitting time and I've been spinning away. The red skein is romney, the other two skeins are unknown. I navajo plied the two on the left. Now to find patterns for these three.

Way back when (in the 90's) I spun and knitted a few items for the family. Here's a pair of well worn fleece stuffed mittens.

The yarn was dyed for the pink pair of socks. The pair on the right is a spun corridale.

The pair on the left are a border leicester fleece with a shetland sole. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmerman's design. As you can tell they're large to fit hubby's Fred Flintstone sized feet. The pair on the right are for me. They're thick and warm. Perfect for cold winter days.

There's a sweater hidden around here somewhere that my youngest son requested when he was 12 yrs old. I took him to my favorite sheep farm on shearing day and he chose the fleece that he wanted. I must find that sweater.

Okay, Anita, is this enough info? LOL There's an inside joke going on here and I'm going to ask for your help. Anita requested these pics and I requested gingerbread men stitch markers. If you haven't seen her new apple markers check them out and put in a request (better yet, demand) for cupcakes, donuts and of course gingerbread men.........hee-hee).

Parcel, Package & Post

Look what arrived today! The postman was blowing his horn and Mr. Bettis was barking and bouncing on the deck. He must have sensed there was something in the box for him. Although he barks and bounces at everything:)

Chan sent this lovely Christmas package to our family. An adorable picture of the "girls" which is hanging in our garland now. My daughter came home and chuckled when she saw it. There is a brand new potholder mitt. A much needed brand new pothlder mitt:) Mine are a mess and while in the midst of some heavy cookie baking this is perfect. There is a bag of Lindnor candies under the picture and I promise I will share with the DH and DD:). Unless of course there is an urgent need for a chocolate fix.
There's a jar of pumpkin butter that I am dying to try. I will be baking bread next week and I plan to pour a cup of tea and lather the bread with the butter to enjoy. Last but not least a box of gingerbread cookie treat for the doggy brood here. (I'm sure Sissy and Gretchen sent licks of kisses on the box:)

Here are the dogs circling the treat box. Mr. Bettis was so excited I had trouble getting a picture. He rarely gets gifts as he has a knack of "stealing" presents. You know, MY stuff!
I am keeping their treats until Christmas Day. I had to snatch the box from Mr. B's mouth and hide it in the closet.
Mr. B and the girls send their adoration to Sissy, Gretchen and of course their "parents", Chan and the Knight.
Thank you, Chan and family:).


I have been meaning to show off the Christmas Mice markers that Anita made. I am in awe of her artistic talent.
I put the cheese at the beginning of the round and the mouse behind it. I liked to think the mouse is chasing round and round for the cheese. Okay, I'm losing it here but it was the only thing that kept me motivated (and awake) to finish this hat. If you don't have any of her markers go get a set, they'll make you smile.




See? The motivation worked! A finished hat. I did find it works up a little big for medium sized women so I stuck with the size 6 needle through out.
(No son, sorry to say, this is not your hat:)






And here is the other finished hat. Modeled by the reluctant DD. YAY! Another gift finished. It needs to be shipped along with a few other gifts by the weekend. I'm a bit behind on getting my gifts shipped out but trust me, they're on their way.

Same goes with the Christmas cards. They're almost ready. I have no idea where the time goes at this time of the year but you'd think I would have this under control. After all, I knew the day was coming 359 days ago. LOL


The following is a post for Sissy from Mr. Bettis,

Dearest Sissy,

Thank you for the box of treats. I know it was difficult for you to part with them but they are truly appreciated. My "person" has made an attempt to hide them but I know where they are hidden. I have every intention of sneaking and grabbing that box of wonderful smelling treats the first chance I get. I sense she will be leaving the house at some point and that will be the perfect opportunity to snatch them.

I will try to share with Gypsy and that barking Molly. That dog gets on my nerve, she barks at my every move. Very irritating when I'm trying to chase one of those darn cats.

Did you get any of that wonderful fluffy white stuff on the ground? We did and I had great fun playing in the wet stuff. Unfortunately my "person" yelled when I later jumped on the bed. She yelled about muddy prints or some such bother. I have no idea why I got into so much trouble. I was tired and cold from playing outside and just wanted to snuggle in a warm soft place for a nap. And there she came, marching down the hall and telling me to get off the bed. I did. I went to the living room and jumped on the loveseat while she fussed about the bed cover. Later on, she yelled about the muddy loveseat cover but I just yawned and rolled my eyes (she thinks I'm pitiful when I do that) and she walked away mumbling.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Shake a paw ('cos, I'm very good at shaking a paw),
Mr. Bettis

p.s. I read you have a taste for Toefutsie yarn and plastic needles. I like needles too and any kind of yarn. Perhaps you could explain why we get into so much trouble with those items? Particularly when they are left within our reach.

Hide 'n Seek

What is in the box? Do you think they (my human staff) can see me?










DRATS! They found me! I wonder what gave me away?











Kathy put this in the hallway to make its' way downstairs. I see her husband didn't take it down after she repeatedly asked him to take it to the laundry room. mmmm........Since they found me in the box, I think I'll hide in here. There's nothing like hiding from the human staff then hearing them call for me and of course I don't respond. hee-hee
I'm going to curl up and take a nap.






This cat is too funny for words. We get a chuckle everyday. She is always up to something.







I did a trade with Nicole and look what I got! I wanted these knitting markers and so we did a trade. She sent lots of goodies with it. Bookmarks, cards, magnet, an extra marker and a nice bag to keep my markers inside.














See the knitting theme on the markers? I LOVE them. I have markers but they're all in use so instead of finishing a project I decided I must have more markers. Hey! That logic works for me!



Go check out her site. She has awesome markers.




p.s. Stupid blogger won't cooperate today with my comments to other bloggers.

Just Stuff

Don't forget to go to lapdog creations and donate. It's for a very worthy cause.

Oh my gosh, just look at these adorable sheep markers. Anita made these and they're mine. All mine:) The detail is amazing. I love them. She also sent needle protectors as a thank you gift and my Knitting Daughter took off with them. She says they are wonderful. Thanks Anita, I will get them back. Now where did she hide them?






My love of making teddy bears continues. I ordered the stuff to crochet/knit mini bears. I have made jointed 2-3 inch bears in the past when I did teddy bear shows. I think I'm gonna like this little bear venture. It requires yarn, so why wouldn't I like it?




Remember my fall off the wagon last week? You know the post where I admitted that I ordered more sock yarn and I thought I needed t-shirts too?
Well the t-shirts finally arrived. They make me laugh. I like these shirts. Now which one to wear first..........

Oh Looky Look!

Look what arrived today, Mouse stitch markers. I love them. They make me giggle. Unlike Mr. Smart Mouse (see post below) who caused hysteria.
I went to Anita at YarnDemon with the intent to get her adorable sheep markers. She was out of sheep but there were these 3 mice with their buck teeth and the cheese..........Oh my gosh, these are too funny for words.
After the fiasco with Mr. Smart Mouse, I had to have these.




I flipped them over and rolled on the floor with laughter. They have tails! This just cracks me up.

The detail in these markers is stunning.







She included this cute notepad. I never have enough notepads. You know, for when I realize I am not smarter than the pattern I'm working on.

Thanks Anita. I love it. I must have the sheep markers next.

TJ Turkey Yarn Contest

Are ya up for it? gobble, gobble. I'm having another contest. The prize will be a set of 4 knit markers from http://www.kniftyknotions.etsy.com/ . The shop is owned by my daughter who makes these wonderful stitch markers. I was the proud recipient of 21 of these great markers on my birthday and I love them.

So here are the contest rules:
Begins today, November, 17, 2007
Ends on Thanksgiving, November 22, 2007 at midnite EST
Tell me your funniest story (yarn) about Thanksgiving.
I will read these to my family on Black Friday, November 23, 2007. The whole clan will be here over the holiday so they will vote on the funniest story.
I will announce the winner on November 24, 2007.

Here's my "yarn" to get started:
My husband drives a big refrigerator delivery truck which is parked in our driveway everyday. Several years ago we stored our Thanksgiving -to -be turkey in the truck in order to save freezer space. Two days before Thanksgiving I sent the husband to the truck to get the turkey. He returned empty handed.
I asked where was the turkey?
DH: It's gone.
Me: What do you mean it's gone?
DH: I mean it's not there. Vamoose! Gone!
Thinking he was joking, I went to the truck to have a look myself. Sure enough our turkey was gone. So with my humor intact I posted an all out bulletin email to my friends and family. Here's what it said:

MISSING
Name: TJ Turkey
aliases Butterball, Tom Turkey
Last seen: In back of DH's ice cream truck.
Height: Approx. 18 inches (legs untied)
Weight: Approx. 22 lbs (undressed)
No dressing, so please shield "little eyes" if you happen to see him anywhere.

Some of the emails sent back to me were hilarious. He was "seen" running down the road, hiding behind an oak tree and attending a "Don't Eat Turkey, Eat Beef " rally sponsored by turkeys at the local market. A few family members pointed forks at other family members with suspicions of smelling cooked turkey in their homes. And some of the family sleuth went so far as to weigh in other family members' turkeys.
It was funny but we never did find out who took the turkey. It had to be someone who knew the turkey was in the truck. I mean really, who would think a turkey was stored in an ice cream truck?
We had to race to the local market and buy two small turkeys to fill the table that year. The market was out of large turkeys at that point. ( personally, I think TJ Turkey had a leg in on that one).

So dig into your fond memories and tell us your funniest Thanksgiving yarn. I'm waiting to hear from you.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for an undressed turkey running in your neighborhood, it could be TJ Turkey.