Thursday, December 06, 2007
Brrrrrr - it's cold, let's knit!
Yesterday was our first real blast of winter with 3 1/2 inches of the white stuff. Waking to the sound of the salt trucks going down our hill tells me the roads will be passable. It's a comforting sound to start the day.
I bundled up and ventured out for coffee with a girlfriend, and then again with a daughter, to be greeted by a winter wonderland. It feels somewhat like you're on a mission, along with everyone else on the roads, when you get out and do battle with the snow. Since shoveling snow burns about a gazillion calories an hour, after the driveway was clear, I crossed 'work out' off my list and had cookies with my coffee, completely guilt-free!
Waking up this morning, turning on the kitchen faucet to hear it sputter a bit - oh no, how cold did it get? The prediction was for 22.
8.5 degrees????!!! I'm not so much into the single digits. We hit a balmy 29 degrees by mid-day. That's okay, we only have 3 1/2 more months of this. Maybe that's part of why God made snow drifts so beautiful. I still have memories of being new to Colorado (from Texas), running outside with a large mixing bowl, scooping up a bowlful of snow. Back inside we'd add some vanilla, sugar and milk and eat to the bottom of the bowl, amazed you could have 'ice cream' in the middle of winter. I won't think about the ozone and what could have been in it. It was worth it for the memories.
Since it's so stinking cold, let's talk knitting for a change! I finished this scarf, a project done in Alpaca Wool, knitted for my hubby who thinks it's for our son. I figure you can tell some white lies at this time of year, so I was able to just sit and knit away right in front of him. I've ordered more of the yarn to whip up a hat to match before Santa arrives. We need wool hats and scarves around here. This one was done to look a bit dignified, to go with his trenchcoat.
It was my first ribbed project, and I had to do a few 'frogs' on it - rip-it. Chalk it up to learning. Don watched me do some of the ripping out and said he's officially labeled me the "Angry Knitter". Nonsense, I would more call it "Foamy at the mouth while holding needles in your hands Knitter".
I bundled up and ventured out for coffee with a girlfriend, and then again with a daughter, to be greeted by a winter wonderland. It feels somewhat like you're on a mission, along with everyone else on the roads, when you get out and do battle with the snow. Since shoveling snow burns about a gazillion calories an hour, after the driveway was clear, I crossed 'work out' off my list and had cookies with my coffee, completely guilt-free!
Waking up this morning, turning on the kitchen faucet to hear it sputter a bit - oh no, how cold did it get? The prediction was for 22.
8.5 degrees????!!! I'm not so much into the single digits. We hit a balmy 29 degrees by mid-day. That's okay, we only have 3 1/2 more months of this. Maybe that's part of why God made snow drifts so beautiful. I still have memories of being new to Colorado (from Texas), running outside with a large mixing bowl, scooping up a bowlful of snow. Back inside we'd add some vanilla, sugar and milk and eat to the bottom of the bowl, amazed you could have 'ice cream' in the middle of winter. I won't think about the ozone and what could have been in it. It was worth it for the memories.
Since it's so stinking cold, let's talk knitting for a change! I finished this scarf, a project done in Alpaca Wool, knitted for my hubby who thinks it's for our son. I figure you can tell some white lies at this time of year, so I was able to just sit and knit away right in front of him. I've ordered more of the yarn to whip up a hat to match before Santa arrives. We need wool hats and scarves around here. This one was done to look a bit dignified, to go with his trenchcoat.
It was my first ribbed project, and I had to do a few 'frogs' on it - rip-it. Chalk it up to learning. Don watched me do some of the ripping out and said he's officially labeled me the "Angry Knitter". Nonsense, I would more call it "Foamy at the mouth while holding needles in your hands Knitter".
I just checked out of the public library a book called "Never Too Old to Knit, Beautiful Basics for Baby Boomers" Sixth&Spring Books, edited by Karin Strom. While the book teaches the basics of knitting, it also approaches knitting from a mental health / emotional / social approach. So, straight from the book,
"The Top Ten Reasons to Start Knitting Now"
1. Knitting can relieve stress (after you learn the stitches I might add.)
2. Knitting - the new yoga. (That's great - my knees can't bend into pretzel positions these days.)
3. Knitting provides mental and creative stimulation. (I'm all for learning something new, I'd rather burn out than rust.)
4. Knitting is good for your health. (I've seriously lost 6 lbs since I started because you can't eat and knit. The book promotes it as an aid to smoking cessation, and even weight loss. You can't focus on food or cigarettes and knit and purl or variations thereof.)
5. Knitting is portable, productive and oh so glamorous. (I love taking it on planes, into doctor's offices, while I have coffee with girlfriends, or watching TV at night. My other hobbies are not so portable. Knitting is.)
6. Knitting is ageless, timeless and unisex. (My 31 year old daughter taught me. I'm teaching my other daughter, who is 26, and her friend, and her friend's mother who is older than me. I'm 52. The best knitter who visits my yarn shop is 22, she learned when she was 8! This is something I can do for many years to come. I don't want to be scrapbooking when I'm 80!)
7. Knitting provides an opportunity to give back to the community. (After Christmas I plan to investigate making caps for chemo patients, or preemie babies, or the homeless. I love that I can do this and give it away.)
8. Knitting improves your wardrobe and provides countless gift ideas. (Absolutely! and if I am ever able to make a fabulous striped sweater, I swear I will sew the label on the outside so everyone who sees it knows "I made it myself!")
9. Knitting can be good for your social life. (I have loved meeting Michelle who owns the yarn store, Ann Marie who goes there for open knit night and I previously thought of her as my pharmacist. I'm meeting Dianne, from Unfinished Work, for coffee and knitting this weekend.)
10. Knitting promotes shopping and travel opportunities. (We won't even go into what I've spent since I started, I just budget for it. Let's just say it's an understatement to say it's promoted shopping on my part... I am excited that I'm going to a knitting conference near my home in February with one of the girls in my quilting group.)
So I'm staying inside, grabbing my needles and getting busy with the next project - Christmas packages have to be in the mail a week from tomorrow!
"The Top Ten Reasons to Start Knitting Now"
1. Knitting can relieve stress (after you learn the stitches I might add.)
2. Knitting - the new yoga. (That's great - my knees can't bend into pretzel positions these days.)
3. Knitting provides mental and creative stimulation. (I'm all for learning something new, I'd rather burn out than rust.)
4. Knitting is good for your health. (I've seriously lost 6 lbs since I started because you can't eat and knit. The book promotes it as an aid to smoking cessation, and even weight loss. You can't focus on food or cigarettes and knit and purl or variations thereof.)
5. Knitting is portable, productive and oh so glamorous. (I love taking it on planes, into doctor's offices, while I have coffee with girlfriends, or watching TV at night. My other hobbies are not so portable. Knitting is.)
6. Knitting is ageless, timeless and unisex. (My 31 year old daughter taught me. I'm teaching my other daughter, who is 26, and her friend, and her friend's mother who is older than me. I'm 52. The best knitter who visits my yarn shop is 22, she learned when she was 8! This is something I can do for many years to come. I don't want to be scrapbooking when I'm 80!)
7. Knitting provides an opportunity to give back to the community. (After Christmas I plan to investigate making caps for chemo patients, or preemie babies, or the homeless. I love that I can do this and give it away.)
8. Knitting improves your wardrobe and provides countless gift ideas. (Absolutely! and if I am ever able to make a fabulous striped sweater, I swear I will sew the label on the outside so everyone who sees it knows "I made it myself!")
9. Knitting can be good for your social life. (I have loved meeting Michelle who owns the yarn store, Ann Marie who goes there for open knit night and I previously thought of her as my pharmacist. I'm meeting Dianne, from Unfinished Work, for coffee and knitting this weekend.)
10. Knitting promotes shopping and travel opportunities. (We won't even go into what I've spent since I started, I just budget for it. Let's just say it's an understatement to say it's promoted shopping on my part... I am excited that I'm going to a knitting conference near my home in February with one of the girls in my quilting group.)
So I'm staying inside, grabbing my needles and getting busy with the next project - Christmas packages have to be in the mail a week from tomorrow!
Labels: Creative License
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