Cowl'd & Frosty Morning

Well, I just loved Kelly's Cowl’d and Frosty Morning pattern!

I could have knitted this up in one night, but I got distracted so it took me two. I've put the cowl in a gift bag and left it for Julie the mail carrier.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures -- I decided to use my phone's camera just to get the pix really quick before I packaged it up!

Julie the Mail Carrier

Sometimes we don't realize how the smallest human connections can mean so much.

We've lived in our house in Royal Oak for 12 years now and we've always had the same mail carrier. Her name is Julie. Six days a week Julie would come bearing the fruits of the U.S. Postal Service -- sometimes good mail (magazine, personal letters & cards), sometimes bad mail (bills & junk mail). But there she was every day trudging along her route on my street no matter the weather.

When it was 95 degrees, I'd offer her some water. In the freezing temps, I'd offer her coffee or hot chocolate.

Over the years we shared our families goings on -- jobs found, jobs lost, her parents illness, my mother-in-laws passing.

Even Rupert, our dog, got attached to her. Rupert likes to lay on top of an arm chair in the bay window facing our yard. In the summer, she would pass by the window and say, "Hey, Rup!" She's the only stranger, actually, who he wouldn't bark insanely at. We always knew if Julie was on vacation or off sick because Rupert would go crazy barking. If I happened to be around when Julie came by, I'd let Rupert out the front so they could visit for a minute before she continued on her route.

The other day I was out shoveling snow when Julie came by and she gave me the bad news... well, bad news for us, good news for her. The post office finally reduced her route after 10 years of delivering mail and our route was one that she cut. Starting in February we'll have a new carrier. I'm sure he/she will be just fine, but we're going to miss Julie.

So I decided I wanted to make her a going away present -- a cowl to keep her warm on her new route.

After researching patterns on Ravelry, I settled upon Kelly's Cowl’d and Frosty Morning. It's a simple pattern that I know I can knit up in a couple of days in front of the telly, and it matches the Tahki Yarns Bunny
Print yarn that I was gifted this summer.

I hope she likes it... I'll let you know.

I forgot to mention....

This was my favorite Christmas gift from our friends Dean and Nancy

Crosspatch Hat

Made this hat for a friend of mine who has kidney cancer and has to go through chemo. I just love this pattern! It's easier then it looks and only took a couple of nights!
The pattern is by Elizabeth Morrison and published at Knitty.com -- it's called the Crosspatch Hat. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Olive and Dungaree Blue Worsted Hand Dyes. Next up is one for the hubby!

Extreme Knitting - How to Hand Knit a Mattress

This is just crazy!!

Bird Girl

Bird Girl in Summer.....

Bird Girl in Winter.....

What else is there to say?

I'm thinking babies!!!!

No, I'm not pregnant.

But my stepson and his wife (aka Boy and Girl) just may be thinking of trying to get pregnant this year and finally make us grandparents!

With that hope in mind, I've decided I'm going to start knitting baby clothes -- gender-neutral of course!

After researching patterns on Ravelry, I've come up with my first two projects.

The Baby Berry Hat

and

The Tomato Baby Beanie

Both patterns are available for free to all...

Yes, there are plenty of patterns out there for sweaters, hoodies, booties, etc. but these are just so darn cute (and gender-neutral) that I can't resist them!

Do you have any favorite baby patterns? Share them please!

OK, cold night. Time for comfort food.... Sloppy Joes. Here's my mom's recipe...


1 lb. hamburger
1 lrg onion
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 c. ketchup
1 c. water
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. paprika
1-2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
several dashes Tabasco
salt and sugar to taste

Brown burger, onion and celery in skillet.
Drain fat.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer at
least 20 minutes until celery and onion
are tender and sauce is thickened.

Brrrrrr.....

Okay, I grew up in northern Michigan where we went to school in the winter (when school was in) wearing layers upon layers... long johns (top & bottom), jeans, 2 pairs of socks, a turtleneck, a shirt and a sweater. Not great for showing off your figure, but definitely kept you warm!

I remember when we would have snow days for days on end, I would get cabin fever and actually walk into town to my girlfriend's house in the middle of snow storms and 4 ft. snow.

Well, after 25 years in metro Detroit ("The South"), I've lost my northernness, my thick blood, my ability to tolerate cold temperatures.

Woke up today and it was 3 degrees -- currently, midday, it is 14 -- woo hoo! I'm freezing my butt off and so are The Kids -- The Kids being 5 cats, a dog and a bird. Witness picture below. Sofia and EZ cuddling together which NEVER happens.

Sofia, right, EZ the Burmese, left ( aka "3-of-5" and "1-of-5", respectively for you Trekkies)

Rupert, the dog, won't even go out unless he really has too.

Meanwhile, Sylvi survives and cuff is done and the sleeve is actually in the making! No going back now!

Sylvi Obsession

Well, it's freakin' freezing here in metro Detroit! We're at our high of 14 degrees for the day with a forecast of a low of -9 -- yikes! We've had 37.5" of snowfall so far this season -- the most we've had in a longtime.
For those of you who don't get snow, don't want snow, don't remember what snow looks like -- I'm offering up this pic of my backyard taken this morning through a storm door window from the warm comfort of my kitchen! Enjoy, gloat, do whatever moves you!
So, after my requisite 3 hours of looking for a job on the Internet (found 1 to apply for, which makes it a productive day here in our island of economic depression called Michigan), I am finally free to ponder all things knitting and Nothing But Sylvi!

So this three-part tale....

Cuff #1

After much research and discussion with others on Ravelry, I decided to knit the small size but on 10 1/2" needles.
So I cast on and knitted the 14" according to the pattern and created finished the cuff with the 1" overlap.
Then I decided I didn't like the overlap.
So I ripped it out and started over.

Cuff #2

I cast on again and knitted to 13", stitched the ends together and happily picked up my 39 stitches, and I was off and running in seed stitch land.
Meanwhile, I was still obsessing about sizing. I definitely think (maybe) that the small is the right size for me. I'm 5' 4", 115 lbs and would like to wear this sweater in spring and fall, but wanted to make sure there was room for a turtlenect underneath. That's why I decided to go with the 10 1/2" needles instead of 10" needles -- to give me a little extra room.
And I kept monitoring the Sylvi KAL on Ravelry and with post I read this little voice kept nudging (screaming?) at me, "This sweater is going to be too big the way you're going!"
I put my arm through the cuff/sleeve -- it did seem pretty big around my wrist. I measured, tried on, obsessed some more and finally decided -- again, definitely, I'm committing to this and not changing my mind.
So I ripped it out and started over.

Cuff #3

Last night, I cast on... AGAIN!
I'm using size 10" needles, strictly following the pattern (except for the cuff overlap, of course). So I'm ready to stitch the ends in again, pick up my 39 stitches and humbly ask the gods for re-entry into seed stitch land and go forth....