Month: December 2013

Knitting

Cray Cray Christmas, Life Change

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WHEW!

Our (usual) cray cray Christmas has come and gone and from the pics, we were all very very good the past year.  What was the best part?  The Iknead/Coleman/Vaughan family had not one, but two Christmases, The Iknead/Vaughans in the morning and the Iknead/Coleman/Vaughans in the evening.

We went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service:

Where I learned that hearing a precious three year old grand singing “Oh Come Let Us Adore Him” will move me to tears, then and now; reminding me of the joy of the real gifts of Christmas, past, present and future.  (Excuse me, I need a tissue).

  Bigdaddy, as always, set a beautiful table for us Christmas morning:

Again, the food was delish and the company, delightful!

We had a visit from Santa:

and were able to squeeze in a Christmas snuggle or two:

Babydaddy was gracious enough to play Santa for Round 2:

I finally can post a Christmas knitting FO:

Babydaddy’s Handknit Socks

Santa made another stop at Babydiva’s house:

and found that Babydiva had also been very good!

What’s the over the top, greatest thing ever, long time coming and more than well deserved gift for all of the family this Christmas season?  Are you sitting down?

(Cue the fanfare)

Mr. Iknead is retired as of December 19, 2013!  Retired as in the ceremonial turning off of the alarm clock, sitting around, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee in the morning and what shall I do today retired.

Congratulations, sweetie!  You’ve more than earned it!  I can’t wait to get started on this new life chapter with you!

More to follow………

When the solution is simple, God is answering.  Albert Einstein

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Knitting

Random Tuesday

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RANDOMLY

We got a new mailbox!  The house siding is finished, yay; but with the new siding, the old mailbox looked very old and sad, so it retired to the great recycle bin in the sky and was replaced by this:

New kid in town.  Isn’t it pretty??

OUT FOR A SPIN

Here’s a look at my newest spinning project:

The roving came from Greenwood Fiberworks.  For more info, see this post.

THE GRANDS

In no particular order:

The Sprout loves Josie Pug’s kennel.  Look at her new teeth!

The Papoose loves G-grandma and G-grandma loves her back, although you can’t tell it in this pic.  Mema looks like she wants to escape!  BTW, Mema is Mr. Iknead’s mommy.

Babydiva visits her minions!

Age is a question of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.  Satchel Paige

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 12/11/13, Bee Stamp, Booklove

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NOT OBSESSED, JUST REALLY, REALLY FOCUSED

As so often happens with me, I got a really good idea along with my coffee and newspaper this morning and as usual, I had to pull out all my other crafting stuff and sort through everything to find what I was obsessed with focused on right then.  The stamp I use to identify my pottery projects bit the dust last week and my big idea was to change from an initial stamp (my initials, bc) to a honeybee mark.  So, back to the idea, I found some Sculpey clay, found a honeybee charm in the craft stash and pressed it in.  Then, I remembered I had some honeybee earrings, so I got one of those and did the same thing.  The next step is deciding which one to use.  I’m sort of leaning toward the charm, I don’t want a cutesy bee, more like a zoological print look.  Which do you prefer?

Just realized there is no contest.  The bigger one is better on all counts.  And they say size doesn’t matter :p.  Here is a better detailed photo:

Upside down.  Oops.

ON THE NEEDLES

Tina Martinez’s Fascine Socks, using Fiesta Baby Boom yarn in Sweet Pea.  My only regret is that I didn’t by more of this yarn when I had a chance.  I’m not running short or anything like that, I just love it.

A little detail

BY THE BOOK

Driftless, by David Rhodes

Linking today with Tami, Frontier Dreams Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny’s Knit A Long.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination circles the world.  Albert Einstein

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Knitting

Winter Trifecta, FO Friday 12/6/13

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BRRRRRR

The long promised winter weather is here.  We have the trifecta – sleet, freezing rain and snow.  It’s a perfect day to hunker down, drink your hot drink of choice and knit or spin or read or (insert your favorite activity here).  The Iknead clan is warm, fed and happy.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

From the Iknead front door.

POTS

I spent part of yesterday in the studio and pulled my stuff out of the damp box, getting ready to trim.  I was surprised at how many pots I’d thrown.

A couple of these ended up in the clay recycle barrel, but overall, I’m pleased.  I’m getting a little tired of bowls, though, and will probably start trying some new shapes when I can get back into the studio.  The next ones have been bisqued and are kind of uniform:

  I like the way the look stacked.  As soon as the weather lets up a little, I’ll get them glazed and fire them one last time.

OFF THE NEEDLES

Scapula scarf from Quince&Co, done in Lark, which is 100% American wool, the color is Bird’s Egg.  Very, very pleased with both the yarn and the pattern.  If you haven’t yet, head over to their website and check them out.  Really awesome stuff.

This is a really, really long scarf!

I’m linking with Frontier Dreams and Tami today.  When you’re checking out Quince&Co, trip on over to these guys.  Even more awesome stuff.

The cure for boredom is curiosity.  There is no cure for curiosity.  Ellen Parr

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday, Will It Fit?, He Has a Sensitive Side

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OFF THE NEEDLES

Nuthin’.  Zero, zilch, negative.  Projects?  Yeah, I got ’em, just none finished.  The weather forecast is for a big ice storm starting tonight or tomorrow, if it happens, projects will FLY off the needles.  Just you watch.

GOT A SHOEHORN??

We have an ginormous igloo style dog house that I’m donating to one of the rescue organizations here in Little Rock.  Cool, right?  So, next on my to do list today is try to fit this ginormous igloo into my Nissan Versa.  I think it will fit if I put down the back seats.  Maybe.

FLASH: 

The rescue lady just called and she will pick it up in her truck tomorrow afternoon.  All around good!

FIBER FLASH

This lovely stuff is from Greenwood Fiberworks, hand painted Polwarth, in Rosewood and the best part?  I have four of these beauties and whatever they decide to be, it will be mine, mine, mine!  I’m thinking socks, but Rosie Rosewood may have other ideas.  Don’t laugh – my wool talks to me all the time.

REAL MEN WEAR PINK

Babydaddy got cold over Thanksgiving and donned the pink Snuggie for a while.  I think it goes really well with the rainbow sock toe this particular pair of Jaywalker socks ended up with when I ran out of yarn and had to wing it.

The Ladies Love It!

BY THE BOOK

Here’s my current read:

So far – Awesome!

Linking today with Ginny’s Knit A Long.

You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it.  Old German proverb

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Knitting

Exit Thanksgiving, We Love Surprises!

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THANKSGIVING

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as the Iknead crew did.  As it happens every year, I overate, overplayed with the grands, overtalked and just all around over busied and basked in the company of loved ones.  I finished the Scapula scarf (yay!) and worked on Christmas knitting when I wasn’t overdoing whatever it was that I was overdoing at that moment.

Did you know that Stuttgart, Arkansas (home of the Papoose and Sprout) is the Duck and Rice Capital of the World?  Did you know that the World Championship Duck Calling Contest coincided with Thanksgiving this year?  I didn’t think so.  There were so many duck callers around that I expected every duck on the planet to swoop down and pay us a visit, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.  There was, however, the obligatory person in a duck suit.

 

The grands had matching PJs –

L to R

Babydiva, the Papoose and the Sprout

Everyone played nice:

The Sprout showed off her two new teeth –

and showed what the Le Miz poster looked like live and in person

We got a photo of something other than the back of the Babydiva’s head –

And best of all…….

Babydaddy and Babymama announced that Babydiva will be a big sister next year!  That’s right – we’ll be welcoming a new grand around July, 2014 and we couldn’t be more excited!  Let the baby knitting begin!

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.  John Gardner

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