GSRP Fair Isle Update ~ So sorry--I should have posted about this earlier. Kathy in Colorado received the Fair Isle box on Tuesday the 23rd of December. It looks like the box should be going out soon--to KeLee in Colorado. That's right, folks. I'm the only particpant in Idaho. Can you believe it? Yeah, yeah. I know you can, Kerstin. ;)


From what I can tell, here's where the Fair Isle Box has gone so far--



Big thanks to Danielle for allowing me the use of the above map. GSRP Organizer Extraordinaire Amy has the whole GSRP maproom here on her site. This has already been so darned much fun, and we're just getting started!

~*~
You spin me right round baby, right round ~ In other news, last night my dear friend Sharyn and I had our own little spin fest using her wheel. You heard right, Sandy! Spinning! It took me quite a few tries, and some careful observation of Sharyn's spinning technique, but by the end of the evening I was getting the hang of it. My biggest problem is getting my hands and feet to work at the same time. I'd start feeding the fibers correctly into the twist, and my feet would forget to work the treadles. Then my feet would get going, and my hands would mess up. After many blunders, I'm thinking that spinning wheel treadles should have some sort of ski boot attachment to them--so your feet don't slide off, you know?

Watch out--you might get what you're after ~ Since I've had to share my main man Elvis with Maggi, I turned to another brilliant dreamman for this post, David. I found out yesterday that Mr. Byrne definitely knows what he's talking about.

My friend Sharyn and I took a little field trip to the Sheep Shed, a little home/shop owned by a wonderful woman named Cleo who tried to teach me to spin with a drop spindle this past summer. When Sharyn told Cleo I was coming along with her on the visit Cleo asked, "Oh, is this the drop-spindle lady?" *Cough* Hardly! I haven't touched it in several months.

As we stood in Cleo's little shop looking over the wheels and niddy noddies and other such sheepy paraphernalia several other customers came in to browse around. I was showing Cleo the hot-pink fingerless gloves I had made. She went nuts over them. She said loudly, "YOU KNIT THESE?" Suddenly I was surrounded by the other customers in the shop. Questions were flying:
"Do you knit socks, too?"
"I have a TON of wool I've spun--could you knit it into socks for me?"
"Do you HAVE to use 4 needles to make socks?"
"Could you teach us how?"

Holy smokes. Sharyn just stood back, grinning like a cheshire cat. Crazy woman--she knew this would be the reaction! It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

The deal is, all these customers are spinners. Hobby spinners. And they haven't done anything with the yarn they've spun. Can you believe it? I still feel lightheaded at the thought of all that lovely handspun wool and nothing being done with it. SO....I've signed up for a spinning class or two, and in trade will teach a sock class for Cleo and her customers. Oh my gosh. David was right. Watch out. You might get what you're after.

Cleo's husband took us out to the barn to see the new lambs. While this isn't the normal lambing season, one of their rams got out one night and apparently was quite prolific in his efforts! The little lamb in the center looks just like a minature Holstein calf.



I got something else I've been asking for. When I woke up this morning this was the view outside my front door.


our first snow of the season

I plan on finishing the little reverse bloom washcloth today, then heading to the office for a few hours. It's been a great weekend. Hope yours has been as well.

From behind the mask ~ The New Year brings with it such great possibilities. A chance to start new and fresh. Wipe the old year's slate clean. I figured I'd get an early start on a clean slate by treating myself to a Spa Night at Home. I try to do this once a month or so, when the boys are with their dad. (Otherwise I am subjected to all sorts of testosterone-laden remarks about old women, wrinkles, and the oft-tried "why can't I dye MY hair?" )

Wrapped in my favorite jammies with Tracey Chapman on the stereo and sipping a glass of red wine, it's easy to contemplate the potential of the new year. Dream big, baby. Art, color, books, yarn. Write. Read. Write some more. Love, friendships, give more and take less. Be Authentic. Original. Yourself. I'm rambling--maybe it's the wine, maybe it's the white puffy dream clouds.

My wonderful sister-in-law (Russell's wife, for those of you who keep track), gave me several AWESOME mags for Christmas, including Interweave Knits and Spin-Off, so I am working up one of the reverse bloom washcloths from IK, letting the rythmn of the work carry me away. What a fun, easy pattern.

What's my favorite part of Spa Night?


Breaking the mold.
May you too break the mold this coming new year. xxoo

Merry Christmas!
It's a quiet day here at the Gibson household. The boys and I had a wonderful Christmas Eve at my parent's house, full of presents, good food, and great company.

Now I have Johnny Mathis' "White Christmas" on the stereo, a mug of hot tea beside me, and am knitting on Joey's Tricolored Stocking Cap from Hip to Knit. Joey loved his hat, even unfinished. I found a skateboarding patch that will look great sewn onto it.

It feels great to have a whole day to knit and nest here at home. I've turned on the X-box in the other room, turning the volume up a bit so it feels like the fellas are here. A cinnamon-scented candle is burning, and the pecan pie in the refridgerator will need to be sampled soon.

Enjoy this most generous, precious of days and may the coming New Year bring us all good health, peace, joy.....and plenty of time to knit. :)

Hearty Congratulations ~ to Kristine, that sweetiepie in D.C. who is going into business! Doing what, you ask? Oh com'on, do you have to ask? A yarn shop, of course! :) She's living the dream, indeed. Many congratulations Kristine--may this be only the beginning of the fulfillment of all your dreams!

Santa has been SO good to me...already! Holy toledo, my wonderful friends at work have given me Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch..and...drum roll, please...A BALL WINDER!! Score! Joey is especially glad for the ball winder, as he'll no longer be subjected to winding hanks for me. I was so touched by these gifts, especially since the friends who gave them to me are ooohhh so anti-knitting (or so they say). Ha!

GSRP ~ I was disappointed to read in Amy's comment section of December 19th that Kathy in Colorado hasn't received the Fair Isle box yet. But the friendly clerk at the UPS Store told me she'd receive it by Saturday the 20th! So much for being impressed by the speed of the US Postal Service.... Hopefully she'll receive it soon. In the meantime, check out the very cool maps that Amy has linked of the routes these GSRP boxes will take.

In this season of generosity, joy and Christ's birth, I feel very humbled to be so blessed. May the spirit of the season be with you also, my wonderful blogging friends!

Sock'n Sunday ~ I'm supposed to have a pair of socks done by Christmas for a woman who wants to give them to her little girl---but I'm thinking they aren't going to get done. I finally finished one. My camera is on the fritz (looks like it's time for that new one, eh Leigh?), so I took this picture with my phone, hence the poor quality:




I used Trekking XXL in color 75, a fun purple/pink/blue colorway with just a smidge of green. The cuff and leg of the sock are done in a mock cable rib from Michele Wyman's Classic Beginnings Socks for the Family. It's really cute, but not everyone in the household thinks so...


Michael says he's glad his mom
isn't giving *him* socks for Christmas.

Little does he know---Santa's bringing him a haircut. :) Nah, not really. But it's sure fun to terrorize him about it.

Gettin' a good whiff of Reality ~ The alarm went off at 5:00 am today. If I get a load of laundry and dishes done and scrub the downstairs bathroom before I go to the grocery store for assorted and sundry food items for the boys before I take a shower and head for the office, I won't be quite as behind on housework has I have been the last few weeks. Okay. Sounds like a plan. Get moving.

Going downstairs and making a pot of coffee, I sip, leisurely looking over the mail, my eyes casually glancing to the calendar. Oh. My. God. It's December 20th. Not a single gift has been purchased, a single card been filled out and mailed. None of the Christmas knitting has been finished. And I've GOT to put in a good 6-8 hours today at the office. Hmmm.

After a second cup of coffee---Okay, here's the plan. Make a list of males for whom gifts need to be purchased. My mom is taking the boys shopping for their older brother today, so they can buy for a few more guys, as well. Grandpa, Uncle Russ, etc. That leaves me with the women to buy for, which is SO much easier.

What about cards, you ask? Well...I really see nothing wrong with Happy New Years cards, do you?

Ack! It's 5:52! I've got to get moving! The washing machine and dishwasher are humming, but the rest of my list awaits. Enjoy your Saturday....hope it's leisurely! Knit something so I can do some vicarious living through you, please?

Blowing off steam
The exam is over, thank goodness. My brain is completely fried and I'm enjoying a glass of Shiraz and very soon will be in a deep sleep.

No more algebra. What the heck will I do with all that spare time?

"Sitting on this barstool talking like a damn fool
Got the twelve o'clock news blues
And I've given up hope on the afternoon soaps
And a bottle of cold brew
Is it any wonder I'm not crazy? Is it any wonder I'm sane at all
Well I'm so tired of losing- I got nothing to do and all day to do it
I go out cruisin' but I've no place to go and all night to get there
Is it any wonder I'm not a criminal?
Is it any wonder I'm not in jail?
Is it any wonder I've got
Too much time on my hands, it's ticking away with my sanity
I've got too much time on my hands, it's hard to believe such a calamity
I've got too much time on my hands and it's ticking away from me."**

What will I do? Knit, of course! And I really *should* get started Christmas shopping...

**I know Sandy will remember this great Styx tune. Oooh, I loved
Tommy Shaw and that amazing guitar of his! ;)

Not your typical Tuesday night

GSRP Update ~ I packed my GSRP contribution into a box along with a manilla folder containing the directions, the contribution list and the address list, and took it down to the UPS Store in my neighborhood. As I stood in line I looked up at all the boxes on display. All sorts of boxes. All sorts of sizes. The stress began to set in--what if this box isn't big enough? Is it fair to make the next person have to deal with getting a different box? How about the person after that? It's times like these that my neurosis really shine. So I got a bigger box. A nice, new shiny BIG one with LOTS of space inside! Here it is, being mailed:


The clerk thought I was insane for wanting
to take a picture, but she obliged, bless her.
It's scheduled for delivery to Kathy in Colorado on Saturday the 20th. Can you believe it? That's regular mail, even! Hotdog!

The realization hit me about 9:00 pm tonight. The clerk and I were so excited about the GSRP project (yes, I explained it to her) that we forgot to put any packing in with the box. So here is my contribution and my carefully packed manilla folder. Bouncing around the inside of the box, kind of like tennis shoes in a dryer. Sh*t. So Kathy, I apologize in advance, and hope that you won't open the box to find a wad of knots. Some people do things in a half-assed manner...well....I do things fully-assed. All the way, baby.

~*~

After mailing the GSRP package I went to the Christmas choir concert at the local high school. My friend Sharyn's daughter is in the choir, and I thought it might be fun (read-great final exam procrastination potential). Wow, did I get a surprise. Not only was it fun--it was fantastic.

At one point in the evening two of the choir members went to the microphone to make an announcement. Tonight is the 10th wedding anniversary of the choir director and his wife. From behind the curtains came 10 young women in their beautiful choir dresses, each carrying a red rose and a balloon, and being escorted by a tuxedo-clad male member of the choir. The director's wife was caught completely off guard, and she was visibly embarrassed as she collected the flowers. She had no idea what was coming next.

There was a single chair in the center of the stage. The director's wife was led to the chair, and the young people formed a half circle around her. The director then appeared, grinning like a cheshire cat. He told the audience about this special woman, and how he had waited years for God to bring her to him. I felt the tears well up. I looked over at Sharyn. Her eyes were shiny, too.

He had written her a song, and wanted to play it for her. Right there--in front of everyone. He sat at the baby grand piano and played a beautiful melody, and his voice broke as he sang of his love for her and how fortunate he is to have her in his life. The tears were flowing. The director was crying, the wife was crying, the girls holding the balloons were crying. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was so moving. Here was this very average appearing couple that have it all. It wasn't about diamond rings or material goods. It was about the joy of having each other. Every woman in the place wished at that moment that she were loved in such a fashion. As he finished the song he wiped his eyes, went over to her and hugged her. Their 3 year old son ran up to the stage, joining them. All this to a thunderous standing ovation. It was wonderful.

So see? There really IS kindness and goodness and love out there. There really ARE normal, average people whom feel deep devotion and love for each other. I knew it wasn't just in fairy tales or on reality TV. I just knew it.

P.S. Thanks everyone for the good wishes and prayers for my final. I appreciate your kind words so much! The test is tomorrow afternoon. Quick! What's the vertex of the function f(x)=(x-1)^2+3? Does the parabola open up, or down? If a 60' tall tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to see it, how long until all your Christmas tree needles fall off? (Okay, just teasing on that last one. Ha!)

GSRP ~ What a great project! Thanks to Amy for all of her hard work in getting this together.

The Fair Isle box is ready, the contribution has been made. Instructions & Contribution List will be printed up today & included in the box to be mailed out tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16th.


Next stop - Kathy in Colorado!

Non-knitting content ~ I've rewritten this post 3 times now. And I'm still very leery of publishing it, but what the heck. Here goes.

There hasn't been any word from my Marine friend Scott. Not one. My emails aren't coming back with the message "mailbox full" anymore, so I'm assuming that he is getting them. For those of you who remember, I last heard from Scott in July, when he told me that he had been badly hurt in Iraq back in March.

Every day I hope I'll get a response from him to one of my many emails. Every day I'm disappointed. It's getting to the point where I'm feeling a bit masochistic, if not psychotic, about sending notes to someone whom I care so much about, but who doesn't want to maintain contact. It hurts. I've been moping about it for weeks now. Work has helped, keeping me busy, but my mood has been sinking steadily downward.

So, today, at noon and still in my jammies, I got to thinking about this state of affairs. And how f*cking depressing this house has become in my current mood. So, I gave myself some advice, took it, and damned if I'm not feeling a bit better, and am going out into the world. I would like to offer this advice to Scott, since he might read this (I'd sent him the URL months ago and several times since), and to anyone else out there who might feel sad and lonely and lost today.

1. Get in the shower. If you're cold, make it a hot one. Scrub, cry, scream if you need to. You'll feel better when you're done, I promise.

2. If you wear makeup put some on. Put on deodorant and brush your teeth. Dry your hair and brush it until your scalp tingles.

3. Turn off the tv. Put on some music that makes you feel wonderful. My choice this afternoon is Robert Cray's "Midnight Stroll" CD. Great stuff.

4. Go for a walk outside. If it's too cold where you are, bundle up beforehand and go anyway. If you're in a wheelchair, bundle up and get outside onto the sidewalk, the patio, the front porch. Breathe. See the ice crystals that come from your mouth as you exhale? It's a sign you're alive. And that's a very, very good thing.

Whether or not you believe in God or a higher power, you've been given a gift. The amazing, miraculous gift of life. Sure, bad things happen. People will hurt you. People you thought were your friends might turn out not to be. Circumstances both beyond and within your control may cause you pain. Shit, as my brother would say, happens. It's not worth giving up.

A friend of mine told me recently to keep my heart open. "Even if it's rusted open," she advised. She's a smart one, and her words have been in my thoughts for awhile now. I'm not sure why people come into our lives, make a deep connection, then leave. I guess it's the fact that those special people have influenced us at all that is the miracle. The affirmation that there is good and love and peace out there in the world. So if you're feeling down today, humor me and try an experiment. Tell someone sincerely that you care about them. You just might make a world of difference in their day. Bet it will have an impact on yours, too. What could it hurt? And then---go knit something, for heaven's sake! :)

Hot Pink Fingerless Gloves ~ They're all done! I love them. They're warm, comfortable, and very high fashion *hee*. Just for fun I stitched a little flower with cotton yarn onto the right glove. It will be easily removable when I get tired of it (which might be real soon).


Here's a shot of the left glove palm in it's entirety. I made these from Cascade 220 in a fun bright pink, using US size 3 needles and this pattern.

These aren't for a Christmas gift. They're mine. All mine. Muuuahahahaa! I can't wait to wear these babies while walking/driving/playing around in the snow. Now if only we had some snow!

One week until the Algebra Final


Two fingers of the second hot pink glove are done. Two and a thumb to go. Let's hope Section A of the ol' brain holds out long enough to finish the glove *and* pass my final next week. Algebraic information has been seeping into the cerebrellus maxiumus and Section B is beginning to atrophy from lack of stimulation. It's been a long semester. I'm feeling a bit rummy from function and inverse overload. Fortunately I hide it well.

So incredibly above average Joe
Marlana is a fool. Adam would have made her happy. For the long run. Do women just not get it? It's not about the money. It's the effort. The charm. The respect and friendship. The laughter. I just don't get it. And now, neither does she.

Glove is a many splendored thing...
Woohoo! I found the loopy cast-on (also known as the fringe cast on)--and someone who is as nuts about gloves as they come. I *knew* I had seen the musical glove-love references somewhere! Fillyjonk, you're absolutely right--Blogdogblog mentions Nancy Bush and instructions for Estonian methods.



Here's another wonderful gloveknitter--get a load of the color! The detail! I'm in glove...



I can't hardly stand it. I've got to hurry up with these wonderful Barbie-pink gloves and get started on some new ones! Estonia, here I come!

Are you ready for glove?

They call me MITTS-ta GIBS!
These gloves are almost as fun as socks, and they are a great way to use up bits and pieces of your stash. I think I'll try a cuff variation on my next pair. I can't remember where I saw it, but someone had a cast-on that resulted in really cute, loopy edge. Does anyone know what I mean? If so, do you remember where you saw it?

The thumb gusset for this glove turned out a bit neater than my first one. Right now I have the thumb stitches in a stitch holder, but will transfer them to a string. It's so much easier to work with than this stiff unwieldy massive safety pin.

One thing I've discovered about myself & knitting--I don't like working on a deadline. When it isn't a "have to" situation, I knit up a storm. If I have a project that is required by a particular date, I find myself losing interest. It's just the opposite at the office---I work better under pressure and deadlines, and am chomping at the bit to dig in and finish. Perhaps this hobby/passion of mine needs to be done leisurely so I don't burn out completely. Who knows. In the meantime my Christmas knitting remains untouched, and my gloves will be done sometime soon. Cheaper than therapy, indeed.

So... I saw this quiz link over at Brooks (who scored very well on it, I might add)...



It wasn't easy--at 41 I guess I'm too old to have been into 80's music. My brother who was born in 1970 knew all the answers. The quizmaster told me that "You were probably working in a bank in the 80's." Close. An insurance company.

The Zen of Knitting
It's been the kind of week that makes me grateful for the calming influence of knitting. Even my boss is aware of my need to knit. On Friday I was getting a bit tense, working on a problem that I just couldn't seem to get my head around. My boss smiles at me, picks up my pink glove project, hands it to me and said "Kim, go knit something for awhile. Then come back, try again and the solution will come to you." Danged if he wasn't right. He's a pretty smart guy.

The second pink glove is sailing along, and I hope to have it finished later this week. I've also been perusing the fun catalogs mentioned in my last post. Oooooh. Patternworks is interesting. So many great sweaters and cardigans, and some really cute baby hats. The catalog is much better than the website.

My favorite of the group I received is Ram Wools Tweeds & Textures. Very modern unique designs. The English Jacket and the Sympatic Wrap Jacket are two that caught my eye. Has anyone ordered from Ram Wools?

On another subject, I sold my first license plate frame today. No, no...NOT from prison. From my CafePress store. Woohoo! How cool is that?! The description says it's a "License Plate Fra". Instead of a Fra, think of it as a bra. It snugs around your license plate and adorns it beautifully. ;)

Have a great evening, everyone. Joey and I are going to snuggle and watch Finding Nemo. Again. Life is what you make of it. Mine is.....beautiful. May yours be also.

Will wonders ever cease?! For those of you in Blogland who have known me awhile, you may remember the 4-H Nazi leader who helped to cripple my sense of creativity as a young girl. When I made a beautiful fushia felted hat for my friend Mrs. Relk, she promptly showed it off to said 4-H leader who pronounced it "excellent quality workmanship." Well---I received a surprise in the mail today!



That's right! Wonderful, wonderful yarn and knitting related catalogs. Patternworks, Ram Wools, The Wool Connection, Yarn Shoppe and Knit Picks. Holy toledo, it's the mother lode of catalogs. I've never seen these before, and they're full of great patterns and yarns. Guess who sent them to me? That's right--my old 4-H leader. How cool is that? You can bet there's going to be a very nice thank-you note going out in the mail tomorrow to her. It was so kind of her to think of me. I'm truly surprised and delighted.

On another positive note, thank you all for your wonderful comments and emails wishing me well on my exam. It was easier than I anticipated--couldn't have anything to do with all that studying, could it? I'm thinking I pulled a solid B+ on it, but won't know until Monday.

With that said, I'm off to dream big with these catalogs. Have a great evening!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post....for a little mathematical humor.

I wish I could take credit for this, but alas it is not mine. I received it in an email today, and it's so darn clever I had to share it.

---

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school math teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a protractor, a T-square, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on a tangent in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like "X" and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns", but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. "As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle," Ashcroft declared.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes." I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard."

"Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence." The President said, adding: "Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line." President Bush warned, "These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor in random facts of vertex."

Attorney General Ashcroft said, "As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is uncertainty of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks."

---

I'm thinking my algebra professor may just be a member of this loathsome group. If only she were found out by the authorities prior to the exam tomorrow....

Scotty knows what he's talking about ~ In the last two weeks we've been studying functions and their inverses, and parabolas and their quadratic equation-derived vertexes, x and y intercepts. There's a big exam on Wednesday, then the final in 2 weeks. Yikes. I know there's a bunch of you out there who really dig this stuff. But my brain struggles with remembering all of the different rules and equations. If only it came as easily as the thumb gusset on that glove!

in the meantime, I've been watching Joe Average, and while tonight's episode is only half over, I really think this chick is making a huge mistake if she doesn't choose Adam. He's a doll. He's funny, sincere, easy to get along with and a great kisser. What the heck? And Zach is just a jerk. Give me a real man any day. Adam's the guy. But that's just my opinion.