Infermo

My daughter, Lauren translates for a living,,, Spanish to English and the reverse. I do not speak Spanish, but a few words have sort of crept into my vocabulary because I have heard her say them often,,, and they just stick in my head. Like a song you can not forget,,,,,,

Infermo is just such a word. I may have it spelled wrong. And I think being a girl, it should be inferma when applied to me.
Anyway, I like that word, it sound so much more descriptive than "sick". Infermo sounds like inferno.......just hotter than hell with fever, and miserable.

I am inferma,,, but just a tad, not burning up,,,, maybe I should just say sick and be done with it.
Thanks for your concern,,, I will live.

No longer lurking

No longer lurking in the basement, the ball of mystery yarns has knit itself into a lovely wrap....

What lurks in my basement?

It's more than normal scary in my basement.

The usual "cellar" things are there, old stuff too precious to throw out, all covered in cobwebs....

Christmas decorations, canning jars, crutches from injuries past... you get the picture.

What makes my basement scary is the amount of "unusual" stuff down there.....Boxes of fur. A roll of fencing wire. Neat stacks of what looks like bandages. It's actually old bedsheets torn into strips and wound up.

Don't ask why. Trinkets and doo dads, too much to explain, or sort.

Once in a while I find something that surprises even me! Today I found this ball of yarn....I have only a vague memory of winding up this ball... About 5 years ago, I knit a Crayon Box jacket...and I think I took all the leftovers and tied them together to make this massive mystery ball. Or not,,, I don't remember, but the suspense is making my fingers itchy to knit... this is a lot of yarn... A big ball. That's a quarter for scale in the first photo....

I am thinking about trying something like this.... Stay tuned...

The last week

What have I been doing since my last post? Lots, much more than listed, but here's a start.

A to Z

Ate my moms cranberries, yum!

Baked pies, pumpkin and cherry

Cooked Thanksgiving turkey

Decorated Loose Ends window for Christmas

Evacuated a closet,,, and then promptly filled it up again, just different stuff.

Fell down, hurt my knee

Grocery shopping, yes, I really did enter the land of food shopping. Scary, but I survived.

Hunt, hunt,hunt. I welcomed the hunters home, along with a nice 8 point buck.

Irritated Ghen to no end.

Justified blowing my budget at the bookstore, by telling myself that all those knitting magazines I bought are " market research"

Knit a gnome, an Alan Dart pattern, great fun!

Lost, and then found my favorite crochet hook many times. I blame Nick.

Missed Dave while he was gone hunting.

New Dwight Yoakum CD, I bought it, I did, Dwight Sings Buck...... a great tribute to the Bakersfield sound.

Olivia, I visited with both my friends named Olivia at the same time, one Olivia is close to my age, the other is just a few months old. One of them wanted a bottle very much,,,,

Purchased holiday Cards,,,, see this post,,,, okay, I caved under pressure, but I found some nice cards that will do....

Quit reading,,, time only for audio books until Christmas,,,,I must keep my hands free to knit.

Relaxed with my family on Thanksgiving Day,,, after the meal, that is.

Scrumbled a Christmas stocking

Taught scrumbling Class at the shop

Updated my website http://www.looseendsyarnshop.com/ New classes !

Visited my parents, and took photographs for their holiday cards.

Water, water everywhere,,,,,,While Dave was gone the toilet overflowed....twice!

Xrayed Ghen's foot......well, in reality, I took him to a Doctor who did the actual xray, the foot is fine.

Yarn,,,, no explanation needed

Z....ZZZZZZZZZ, snooozed

Advice from the Herd

These are some of my parents' cattle,,, I took the photo today....they all seemed to look so concerned,,, maybe they are worried about deer season starting tomorrow.......

Go north, old man

Well, he's gone. My darling husband is gone. Gone to deer camp, that is.
For those of you who don't live in Wisconsin, deer season starts this Saturday.
One may define deer season as the weeks that the white-tailed deer may be legally shot, usually in mid to late November. This is way I thought about deer season for many years.

As I grew up, my father hunted raccoons, foxes, coyotes, rabbits, and he even shot a bear once. The deer were also fair game..... Deer season was short and intense, but my Dad stayed at home, and hunted on the farm. The rhythm of life was slightly disturbed by the hunt, but it was never that big of a deal..... My Mom did not let us take any walks in the woods during deer season.but that's about it..



Years passed, and I married a man who hunts deer. It is different that the deer hunting I knew as a child.... For him, it is the high point of the year. The deer camp is "up north", away from home, a bastion of masculinity. At least five days to be with "the guys", eating, drinking, telling stories, and maybe a little hunting. Dave thinks deer season should be a national holiday..
He prepares for weeks ahead, marking his territory in the woods.....with orange plastic tape.....but I think he would pee on the trees if that would keep other hunters away. Looks for sign that the deer are in the area, tracks, and rubs and scrapes..... Yes, rubs and scrapes.... if you don't know what that means read on
During the mating season, also called the "rut," bucks fight for territory and the privilege of mating with the most female deer. Bucks will crash antlers to claim this territory. A buck will also mark his territory by stomping on the ground to make "scrapes" on the land and rubbing his antlers on trees, called a "buck rub."

About a week before the season, the plans and anticipation really ramps up... Orange clothing appears hanging on my wash line....
Dave buys new socks and underwear.
The LIST is made.
This list has all the essential "deer hunting supplies" on it. Worse than Santa, Dave checks this list more than twice... everything from gutting gloves to brandy is diligently packed, and checked off the list. For a few years , early in our marriage, being a good wife, I would try to help Dave pack..... Now I have learned it is best to stay out of his way.... I answer when he hollers "Where is my Thermos?", but mostly I just watch him scurry around, collecting all the required accoutrements. Ten pairs of wool socks, piles of long underwear, and and orange beanie.

Deer camp is our cabin, and they "guys" are Dave and Clay, and two or three friends that have hunted together for years. Many years. This year, one of the fellows, Ronnie, will not be there, he passed away last spring. In fact, deer hunting is how Dave was introduced to the north woods and the Goodman area. Ronnie and his father took Dave along hunting in Goodman way back in the 1960's.
Deer camp holds many memories for these men.

Once in a great while,,,, someone shoots a deer. Getting a deer IS NOT what this is about. It's male bonding, tradition, and relaxing... I am so glad he does this every year....

Here's to you, Helen

My mothers' family, by her own admission was "odd". Not her immediate family, but her relatives on her father's side. I believe that her father, Ferd, was the only sibling to have children.... that's not so odd,,, but kinda unusual. My mom had two uncles that according to her, spoke very seldom, never married and died young. Of course, I am only repeating what she has told me, they all had passed away long before I was born..... I did not know any of this family except my Great Aunt Helen. Aunt Helen seemed very old and very odd to me as a child. She lived with her husband, known to me as "Uncle Ted", in a big house in a nearby small town. Since they were housebound, we visited them at their home on holidays. I remember their house as a dark, yet fascinating place, everything was SO OLD.... and they had a player piano!


Despite the player piano, visiting them was not my favorite thing to do...Uncle Ted was not so scary, but Aunt Helen, oh ,,, she had a witchy look about her, long nose, flowing white hair, dark eyes, and always in her house dress and bedroom slippers. I have heard that she was rather glamorous in her youth,,, but the bloom was definitely off the rose by this time....





They were good to us, always had presents and huge bags of candy for each of us,,, but I was still afraid of Aunt Helen, She never left the house.... a recluse of sorts. Well, neither one of them could walk very well..... every now and then Aunt Helen or Uncle Ted would be hospitalized for something or another, then my Mom and her sister would scurry around, finding nice clothes for all the children, in case of a possible funeral. And they would always get better, and back to the house they went. ( I was an adult when they finally did pass away)





My Mom tells a story about her Aunt and Uncle, before they were housebound, Uncle Ted would drive the 8 or 9 miles to the tavern that the family owned. In my mind, I imagine him driving, with a long line of cars behind his,,,, he walked very slowly, he probably drove at a similar speed. Uncle Ted would go in the tavern for a beer, but Aunt Helen would not get out of the car! So, he brought his wife's drink out to her.... this was a daily event, so I'm told. Aunt Helen's drink of choice was Kimmel. Kümmel, also called kummel or kimmel, is a sweet, colorless liqueur flavored with caraway seed, cumin, and fennel.




Last night at knit night, Fluoride and Betty informed me that they were planning a shopping trip to a nearby upscale clothing store and I was going along, whether I wanted to go or not!


I hate shopping! I told them I would go along only if I could stay in the car and drink Kimmel, like my Aunt Helen.....They could bring items of clothing out to the car for me, if they wanted to.!


Well, this led to a discussion of Kimmel,and before I knew it, Fluoride skipped over to the liquor store and came back with a bottle of the very stuff! I rather like the taste, but it is tooo sweet, I think. Everyone at knit night drank a toast of Kimmel to my Great Aunt Helen, may she rest in peace.



I am still refusing to get out of the car

A looong time

A scarf , loosely based on a similar one in the book "Scarf Style" was found lingering in my UFO's. I lost interest many months ago, probably more than a year ago. Very bright, the pattern was close to "freeform", but how can something be freeform if there is a pattern written for it?

Anyway here it is finished, I completely abandoned the pattern , threw in some crochet, and voila! Done.

Oh .........it's mostly Lamb's Pride worsted weight, with little Noro Kureyon.

Fickle

Many customers and friends come into my shop for help or guidance with their projects.


Let me tell you, it is a giant ego boost when the answer to the question is an easy one. This is one of the perks of my job.


After my assistance, I often hear " You make it look so easy!". I thank the person for the kind remark, but really, it is my job, I should know what I am doing. The knowledge does not come by instinct, it is just that I have made EVERY mistake that could possibly be made in knitting and other fiber arts. I learn by messing it up, ripping it out (or not), and starting over.



This week I learned another lesson, although I am not yet sure what that lesson is .

I saw a photo of a lovely crocheted scarf on Ravelry. Drawn to it immediately, I thought, "I know that stitch, I can make that." I was ready to start, right then, all excited about the project, picturing the scarf with my winter coat, imaging the compliments I would receive.

Two hand dyed yarns were used , I decided to do the same. Except, I used one hand dyed and a solid. That should have been my first clue. Starting with this yarn, for the hand dye, and silky wool in a rust color for the solid, my hook started flying,,,
I came up with this

Okay, pretty, but not what I wanted. Can you see a definite pattern of circles or wheels? No, I can't either. So I ripped it out. Change the rust color to a more contrasting green and came up with this

Still, the wheels are not distinct, the green in the hand dyed yarn blends with the solid green and the pattern is lost.

Still,,,, I want to make that lovely scarf, I need that scarf....... a little pouting and some grumbling,,,,,,,,,,,, the light went on!

The original scarf must have long color runs......... and my hand dyed has short repeats of color. Grabbing some yarn from my home stash ( I have home stash and shop stash)..... I tried it with a solid single ply and a long repeat single ply.... similar to Noro Silk Garden. Here is the result:

Yes!!! Subtle variations of color, distinct circles...............this is what I had envisioned!

But sadly, after three attempts, all the wind is out of my sails.

That's right, I no longer really want to make the scarf, the magic is gone, it's over.......the novelty has worn off.... On to something else,,, what will it be?

It's a good thing I am not this fickle with husbands, I am still working on the second try in that category.