It’s a beautiful morning in the Valley! We got a little part of the snowstorm that hit the Northeast on Thursday. There are still a couple of inches of the snow in our yard. When we went to bed last night, it was 9 degrees outside. This morning it’s a toasty 18 degrees. I feel fortunate not to live in places like Minnesota and North Dakota where the temperatures routinely fall below zero in the winter time. Fortunately, Charming keeps our woodstove running in the winter so that our house stays a snug 72 degrees most of the time. (One more reason to really, really love that man.) We’ve used the woodstove every winter since we were married. Luckily, we’ve never had to buy wood. There always seems to be someone who has downed trees on their property at some point during the year. Once the word gets out that you burn wood, people are happy to have you dispose of that for them. This is a win-win situation. They get their tree disposed of and we get free heat in the winter. Our furnace hardly ever comes on so we save lots of money this way. Love it!
Just ahead of the frigid weather, I finished knitting my “Pony Tail Hat” and sorta matching “Neck Warmer”. They are both extremely easy to make, even for a beginner knitter. I bought some yarn, on sale, at Michael’s craft store. I bought two skeins of Loops & Threads Country Loom yarn (one Carnival and one Wizard to make both items, but to make it even easier you could just buy two skeins of any one color so you don’t have to worry about changing colors). Here are the quick directions for the cowl that should work with almost any thick/bulky yarn and size 7 or 8 knitting needles. For the cowl, cast on approximately approximately 50 stitches. Knit until the piece measures somewhere between 20 to 22 inches (or will wrap comfortably around your head, as you will be stitching the ends together and pulling it over your head). Bind off loosely. Stitch ends together. This can be worn either folded down around your neck or pulled up to block the wind off your face. It’s great when paired with the pony tail hat, which is a basic pattern where one size fits most. I can post the directions for the hat if anyone is interested. No copyrights to worry about, just the result of basic knitting skills and math that we all learned in 3rd grade.
This has been my first full week of not working at a regular paying job. I have to admit that there’s been a certain amount of stress for me in not having a regular routine. Since I’m task-oriented by nature, it seems to me that I should be “doing something” at all times. So I made a quick “To Do” list that currently has 35 projects on it… I’m not kidding. These are not things like “do laundry” or “wash dishes”. They’re more like “reorganize the entire house, make a queen-sized quilt for the camper, design a solar clothes dryer (not just a clothes line, which I already have), and set up a vermi-composting bin”. I’m a Type A, mind-racing, list-making machine. So expect me to wow, amaze, and bore you to tears as I “share” my successes and failures with you. Charming is also doing some renovations to our kitchen, so I’ll be redecorating that when he’s done. I will also share some pictures as soon as that’s completed.
Charming says I need to slow down and relax. He insists that I have the next 30 years to get all of the stuff on my list done…Ooooh…I gotta go add that to my To Do list…“Eat more vegetables and exercise so I can live another 30 years”. Will catch up with you later…
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