End of year summary…

Our end of year has alternated between shoveling huge amounts of snow and resting and playing a lot indoors. There's a big COVID surge in Manitoba so we're doing a lot of hibernating and no one seems to mind. I am thrilled by the snowfall as we are in a drought and every bit of moisture matters.  Still it requires a lot of work to shovel out several houses and that's most of what we've been doing these days.  (It was maybe 10" or 25 cm of snow or maybe 12"/30 cm, and we helped out some 80 year old family friends, too.) Needless to say, we all like a rest afterwards, as you can see from Sadie the dog's photo.

We seem to also take part in a lot of toy sorting and match box car demolition derby.

I've also been doing some occasional making, spinning, knitting and sewing.  I've just washed all these skeins of handspun and tucked them away for the future.

I got an email from Yarncanada asking me to let people know about a charity knitting project giveaway. 

Here's an opportunity to get yarn for free to make things for charity.  Please apply soon if you're interested!

I'm continuing efforts to improve my "me made wardrobe."  This is a wool tweed tunic, based on the 100 acts of sewing dress no. 1.  It's a great warm layer with pockets, which is always good. I got this fabric for $4 as part of the MB fibre festival fibre trail and Costume Museum's sale in September. It's an amazing tweed, it looks very serious at a distance but up close, is full of bits of very bright colour.  Hot pink, neon yellow and green, electric blue.  Very cheerful, and of course, only very special people are allowed "up close" these days.  (Basically, the professor, twins, and a dog!)  

I'm continuing to spin up some well-aged brown Polwarth wool on my Quebec wheel, and I'm also working on a simple sewing project...but a sweet housewarming project.  Six napkins in a linen/cotton fabric - the gorgeous pattern matches the new owners' future dining room to a tee.  I could not resist the fabric when I saw it, and I'm rooting for things to go smoothly so that these napkins end up in use on a dining room table soon.

I've also been working (as I can) behind the scenes. I've had op-ed articles run in the Winnipeg Free Press and the Vancouver Independent.  Another article ran in PLY magazine, and I'm still very proud of that Winter 21/22 Vogue Knitting article that ran on moths and how to avoid them.  It's not been world's best year in terms of my freelance life, but considering how complicated the pandemic has been, remote schooling, not seeing family, and construction disruptions to our home life, well, I'll take what I can get. In just a few moments, I'll be bundling up twins.  It's -14F (-26C) right now, and that's the warmest it's been all day!  I'm looking forward to getting out in it so we can walk over to a medical clinic to go get their second vaccine dose, and I couldn't be happier or more relieved to have access to this opportunity.  Thank you, science.

Wishing you a peaceful, healthy, and happy 2022. 

Positive things

  My column came out in the Jewish Independent last Friday:

We are shaped by history

This article didn't run in the Winnipeg Jewish Post & News and is potentially my last column for a while--until, perhaps, government funding helps these small publications or advertising picks up again...I wrote it a while ago, but it ran, and right now, every small bit of work is a good thing.

We celebrated a big birthday, my dad's, by family Zoom chat.  My kids made amazing cards, which we sent by email.  My parents are doing well and the 'party' was fun!  (I was a bit sad not to celebrate in person, but that isn't possible these days, considering the Canada/US border is closed, among other pandemic reasons...) 

I dug around in the freezer and came up with apricot/apple puree from last summer, and I made some jam.  In April...and it makes darn good brisket for Passover, as well as being delicious on homemade bread beforehand.

We've had a couple spring snow storms, and one of them was quite a bit of snow. (8-10" or 20-25 cm or so.)  I was able to catch a photo of my family shoveling team from the window of the second story of the house.

We've been busy learning at home, doing science experiments in buckets, reading Dr. Seuss, and more.  Every day is full...but now, we are taking a break.

While everything else crazy has been happening in the world, we've been getting ready for Passover.  As I write this, kids are busy setting the table, helping their dad make special desserts, and producing lots of matzah balls... we will celebrate, and we will remember.  There were other plagues before this one.

Aside from dog walks, playing in the muddy, snowy front yard and once a week trips to the grocery store, done by one adult...we're staying home.  And it's fine.  Honestly.  We all have to cooperate, and work together, because staying healthy is the most important thing.

Yes, I'm knitting and spinning and sewing whenever I get the chance, as a sort of mental health break if nothing else.  However, we also spend time every day remembering to be grateful.  We have food, shelter, heat, family, and dogs.  We are able to email and zoom and facetime with people.  We can learn, grow, jump, play, sing, and dance... and the goal is staying healthy and staying alive.  We can do this.

If you celebrate it, Chag Sameach, Happy Passover!  Next year, let's get to spend it together, with our families and friends, wherever they are.  Stay well.  Take care.

Following the pattern...

I took sewing lessons as a kid.  The rigidity of how patterns were introduced to me, possibly reinforced by the punishment when I (ahem) cut up some of my mom’s expensive fabrics in her stash without asking permission, has made me very worried about using sewing patterns as an adult.  So worried, in fact, that over the years, I decided to just wing it and made myself and my kids a few things just by having some knitwear design shaping ideas and ummm, winging it.  And this worked out ok, but...

I've been needing some new clothes...I wear my clothes hard and various twins spill on me and well, there is only so much mending and cleaning you can do before things do not look presentable...The options in the stores seemed: too expensive, too flimsy, wrong colours, wrong styles, too small, too large, and did not fit (pick all or pick one).

A friend convinced me I could follow a pattern, guided me into picking one, and I went from there.  This is 100 Acts of Sewing’s dress no. 1 in a Robert Kaufman linen/cotton blend.  I finished it Friday afternoon and wore it Saturday evening to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with my Strippy McStrippit cardigan.

Today, my piece about slow fashion came out on the CBC-Manitoba webpage, too:
Mend, craft or make do with less

Our Thanksgiving weekend has been slightly different than envisioned due to our big snowstorm here.  Lots of time inside...and it has been full of “making” time.  I have turned out two pairs kid mitts from old felted sweaters, three pies (apple, raspberry apple, and peach) a sweater renovation—I am knitting cuff and body extensions for a skinny but growing kid—and more.  It has been productive, if indoor, time.

Tonight is the start of Sukkot, and I am sad to say we have not put up a sukkah. (An outdoor hut for spending time outdoors.) The place we usually built it on the deck is wet, slushy, and alternately, still covered with 20 cm (8”) of snow.  The weather brings me back to another of my articles that ran this week: A dose of humility, gratitude (Cause, you know, we really cannot control the weather!)

I've got your back

Today's the first day we sent kids to school in snow pants.  It's about -11C (13F) and it's been flurrying here for a couple of days. Now there's enough snow on the ground to get wet when making snow angels during recess. There was a big upset and some tears about getting dressed this AM though, how would the sweaters fit inside the new snow pants? (Hint, it all works out.  Everyone figures it out and wears sweaters when it is this nippy.) We're back to wearing winter boots, parkas, mitts, and more.  Every year this is a slow but inevitable piling on of layers...in a few weeks, we won't remark on it anymore--just suit up.  We still go outside!

My opinion piece in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh shooting is now out online as part of the Vancouver Jewish Independent. Unfortunately, the news moves so fast these days that other people have already died, in another big shooting in the US.  I am so sad about it all--and while my piece was about the support the Jewish community received here, locally in the face of this hate and death, I wish that the US would consider doing as other countries have done in the past. For instance, if there were some immediate action towards commonsense gun control and better accessible mental health supports in place?  Like yesterday.

On a more upbeat note, the new On Track pullover was so popular in our household that one twin (Twin B, for those who remember a long way back!) wore it all last weekend.  Come Monday morning, Twin A decided it was his turn, and there was an absolute showdown about it before 7 in the morning.  As a result, our beautiful sample sweater is on time out until Saturday, when Twin B can wear it again...to family services. I'm hoping we can either negotiate a sharing truce or decide who owns the sweater once and for all when we are all more calm!

If you've been reading a long time, you may recognize this sweater.  Above, it's being modelled on a kid who is two and a half.  This morning, it went out the door on the other twin, and now they are 7.  So, you know, eventually, we work it out and everyone shares...especially if you knit a very oversized sweater in the first place!
Have a good weekend, everybody.  Stay safe.

Freestyle Super--a new design!

 Hey, can you believe it?  We actually had a snowfall yesterday in Winnipeg.  One that stuck to grass and cars and decks and made a big icy mess!  Our leaves aren't even off the trees yet...but, this mom worked ahead.

Today, I launched a new knitting pattern called Freestyle Super! It comes in a bunch of kid sizes:
2-4, 4-6, 6-8, and 10-12, and it's an oversized pattern.

It even comes with a sample, all knit up, that fits both twins.

Hurray!

I used all North American yarns to knit this, and it was unbelievably quick knit on size #10.75(7mm) needles.  You could buy all Canadian yarns, like Custom Woolen Mills or Briggs & Little. 
Or, you could buy all U.S. yarns and consider the lovely Quince & Co. Puffin... or, you can combine them, as I did!

The pattern is now for sale online at both Ravelry.com and Loveknitting.com.  If you go to buy the pattern on Loveknitting, you will find I've paired up other yarns that they sell--but the colors mostly match this sample.  There are lots of yarn choices at this quick-knitting gauge.

Hope you enjoy these fun shots of our twins while they modelled and horsed around in the backyard.  (before it snowed.)  We're looking forward to wearing this sweater for a long while to come!

If you're even a little interested in knitting one of these for yourself, hustle over and download a pattern soon.  You can have many hours of knitting pleasure for the price of a fancy coffee.

Happy October!

Sloppy Snow

I know some folks are welcoming spring--but this time of year in Manitoba, it warms up "enough" for a good snow storm or two.  I made some felted wool mitts (from felted sweaters, leftover from wool soaker days...) as back ups and they came in very handy!

Starting Sunday night, we had a very big, sloppy wet snow.  It reminded me of storms on the US east coast.  We did fine at our house, but we shoveled a lot and there were power outages elsewhere and all sorts of messes.  The school busses didn't run--and even though school was not closed, we chose to keep our kids home and have a "snow day."  It seemed like the right choice. The roads were a mess.

In the meanwhile, the Jewish Independent ran one of my articles, which is about "rebranding" and friendship:
Stressing action over just being

Also...I seem to be experiencing a sort of extraordinary switch in the knit design area.  On Ravelry, I have not sold a single pattern this month.  On Loveknitting.com, I've sold lots, including 5 copies since January of the Cozy Zip-Up Cardigan alone!  Why?  I don't know.  It's a mystery to me!  Do you have any ideas?  (Maybe LK knitters think this model is really attractive?  Do tell!)

A normal snow day

Scene from the back door, 8:15 AM today

Growing up in Virginia, any day that looked like this would be a day off school.  Hah.  The truth is that in a northern climate, winter snow is a way of life--and nothing is cancelled unless it's dire.  In fact, we need the precipitation, it has been a 'dry' winter so far without much snow. We have a blowing snow advisory, and maybe it could be called a blizzard, if the wind picks up.  It's messy, and I have a medical appointment later on today.  I haven't even seen any plows.  And yeah, the school bus came by as usual at 7:50 or so.  There were some half-hearted attempts by twins--at play-shoveling while waiting for the bus.  (We'll do real shoveling after the wind dies down.  Right now, there is just no point.)

I had a brief exchange recently with someone about how to clean a throw rug.  Note: I do not do this while recovering from pneumonia...  I recommended the "clean in the snow technique."  

Take it outside, put it on a patch of clean snow.  Stomp on it. Flip it over, and stomp again.  Hang it up on a porch railing.  Beat it with the stick end of a snow shovel or broom.  Let it air out--outdoors.  Bring in, hang to dry.  Put on floor.

"What an interesting use for snow!" She responded.  (I'm paraphrasing here.)  ...Uhh, when the snow is around from November to April?  We manage to find things to do with it... although both boys seemed chatty and excited about the prospect of a possible indoor recess rather than sledding today, given the windy, snowy weather.  (Yes, we have outdoor recess until the windchill is -28C.  That's about -18F.)

In the meanwhile, I'm passing a long a link to an article I wrote that went live online and in the Vancouver Jewish Independent last Friday:

Continually coping with our deficits

If you like to read these occasional links, you may be interested in downloading a copy of From the Outside In. It's a collection of some of the older essays in this vein...You can also buy it online in hard copy.  (These are the Canadian links, if you want to check it out in the US, it's right here.)

Is it snowing where you are? If so...Stay warm!  Wear your tuque!  :)

When you need a boa

Yesterday, we got a new blast of snow cover in our yard.  It snows slowly on the prairies when compared to an east coast kind of storm.  We did not end up with lots of accumulation, but it sure did blow around.  I was happy to stay indoors, aside from the dog walk, as the temperatures have dropped quite a bit, too.  It was about -16C (3F) this morning.
One thing that keeps me happy while wearing winter gear is to rotate the mitts, scarves and hats.  I also try to maintain a happy selection of colors.

Way back in 2006, I did a pattern or two for the (now defunct) Magknits.  It was an online magazine.  That pattern, the Alpaca Ruffle Boa, went off-line when the magazine did.  I got a flurry of concerned notes from people who still wanted to make the design.

Sally the Pointer does her stuff...

I spent some time revising it, and then posted it again.  It's been available on Ravelry ever since,  It's a steady presence there.  I've knit this pattern a few times, and even included it in a box I sent to my family one year for Hanukah...I couldn't be in Virginia with them, so I made a huge pile of knitted things and sent it along.

Sally expresses her inner diva

I'm not really a person who is into ruffles or boas, but there is something about a bit of alpaca luxury and glamour that can really do it for your inner diva when it's cold.  AND....this is pretty fast to knit, so well-worth considering if you've got a few skeins of sportweight on your hand and a deadline approaching.
In this light, I recently updated the details of the pattern on Loveknitting.com so now you can buy the pattern and the yarn at the same time, if necessary.
Note: No Sally dogs were harmed (or even asked to get off the furniture) in the taking of these photos.

Life in snow? When the mitts are wet...

A year ago today, we had a record breaking warm day, it was 18.8C (66F).  This morning, it was -21C(-6F) with a windchill of -31C (-24F).  Massive shifts in weather, (climate change?) anyone?

This week I got an email from one of the grade 1 teachers.  Apparently, in Canada, kids go outside a lot for recess.  My kids get 3 recesses, and if you count the time between the bus drop off and the first bell?  4.  While my guys were mostly well dressed (sweater, snow pants, parka, extra hat under hood, insulated snow boots and doubled wool mitts)--apparently their mitts never dried off between play sessions.  There was still snow on the wet mitts when they went to put them on at the next recess, and that wasn't a good plan.

I saw the problem.  While wool mitts are warm, they are not waterproof. (Unless felted and greased up with added lanolin....but never mind.)  I wasn't going to ditch all those handknit mitts for storebought polar fleece with 'waterproof' nylon on the outside.  I grumbled.  I started to feel grouchy about our dependence on petroleum...

And then I wondered why kids couldn't put their mitts on the radiators like they do at home (no radiators, the boys said) and why kids in Canada had to play outside so much (they go outside until it's below -28 Celsius(-18F).  When it is -29C?  indoor recess... and well, the Professor caught me grumbling and dwelling on things.

He went to the basement and dug around in the hand-me-down pile until he found a torn up Halloween costume cast-off--a fire fighters' costume made of some sort of nylon.  (polyester, aka, petroleum byproduct.)  He pointed out that cutting it up to reuse it would be the best solution....cheap, relatively fast, and most efficient.  A few hours later, with the help of a sewing machine and me, we had waterproof mitten covers.

So we could go out to play and shovel again, even before the mittens were dry on the radiator.
Hard to believe that we were shooting outdoor photos for a new kids' sweater pattern only a couple of weeks ago!  (It was cold out, but not like this....)

This sweater design is in the editing stage, and the pattern will be available in sizes 2-10.

....Coming soon!

Raise your hand! & Snow time

I don't usually post things from around the web, but I was heartened yesterday by two very positive things I saw online.

1) This fabulous op-ed by a 10 year old, in the New York Times.  It's about girls, and about the need to Raise Your Hand. This isn't actually a new problem; when I was teaching full time, (around 20 years ago, oy!)  I was well aware of it.  I was even more struck by it when I went back to school myself, and my grad school advisor asked me to observe his class, in 1998.  I did, I counted and took notes, and told him he called on males in undergraduate lectures many times more than females.  He totally blew me off.  (..same old, same old?)

2) We are entering 'snow time'-as one of my twins likes to say, with a grin.  We got our first snow in the middle of October, and it melted away.  We've had gray days and flurries...but today, we're supposed to get actual snow that will stick.  My kids and I are wearing wool socks every day; the kids wore warm snow boots and coats to trick or treat in the neighborhood last night--we're getting excited about the change in season.

This amazing Bhangra group from the Maritimes uses their fun dancing skills to raise money for good causes...and they have such joy while they move!  Here's one that celebrates snow. (note snow clearing equipment in the background...)
 Cause, you know what?  This is how we feel about the beginning of the 'snow time' here. :)

Oh my gosh

Sorry for the blog silence over here.  I thought I'd have something interesting to post by now.  Really.  I checked in about that sock yarn contest--no news about voting or winners yet over there.  I submitted a couple of essays to different places.  I have been to (no kidding) three different medical specialists in the last couple of weeks, too.  Still not any definitive diagnosis on why I have been feeling subpar for 6 months.  I have heard several different theories though, and I'm still trying to sort that out.

Then, in between one of those "get this to Fed Ex right away" lab tests, a drop off at kindergarten, and a few other details?  It snowed about 30 cm (1 foot) on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It has been an enormous, messy mess.  No one cancelled anything in the city, although on Tuesday, when I got to my special physio Pilates class, it was just me and the instructor...and I told her that walking (through completely uncleared snow) two blocks to see her had been downright aerobic on its own!

Since nothing got cancelled, and nothing gets plowed here until the snow stops, it has been a trying few days.  My twins are teary and tired, and I have to admit, sometimes I am too.  I'd leave the house early, shoveling like crazy (more than once) during the day to make sure everyone could get in and out of the house and car.  Then, I'd hop in the car, only to discover I was trapped.  Watching the car behind me flounder around in the backlane, getting itself stuck and unstuck (twice) as I waited to try to get out of my now cleared parking space?  That summarized things...until the Professor told me how he had to stop in the middle of a road on the way to pick up the boys from kindergarten.

A car was stuck in the snow.  A well-intentioned but small man (from the car behind) tried to push out the stuck car.  Stuck behind two cars now, my Professor hopped out of his car, gave a serious push to the car that was stuck---and whoosh, he got to drive to school.  Sometimes I think it is lucky we have the opportunity to shovel, push like heck, and that the snow muffles our screams.  All this is a good way to vent our frustrations...

Soon, soon, I will be giving you news about my Jewish Post & News columns and the eBook release...and soon the plows will come.  Soon it will be the weekend...when the temperature will drop to -25F. (-30C windchill)

I hope we can all stop screaming and crying around here long enough to rest on the couch. :)

Note: No picture.  Imagine a lot of blowy white stuff.  It's getting a little dirty and looks like lumpy mashed potatoes on the streets.  Yup.  You got it.

The Cuddle Coat--a new release!

It's been snowing again.  One of my boys has another (insert expletive here) head cold.  Both boys have been moaning about when summer will get here... and the answer is?  Not yet.

Long ago, I designed the Cuddle Coat as a Knit Picks exclusive.  Eventually, the pattern copyright returned to me, and I put it up on Ravelry, but gosh darn it, it had world's worst pictures.  It never improved, either.  I wore out TWO cuddle coats (they are seriously, well, cuddly) but could never snap the perfect shot that showed off the sweater.  However, if you look over to my profile shot on this blog?  I'm wearing a Cuddle Coat!

So, I've just revised and re-released the pattern.  I've added metric measurements, I've updated yarn selections, the whole 9 yards (and equivalent number of meters.)  Also, I've left it at the old price, which means it is really permanently on sale...It's easy, it's a fast knit, and it's seriously cozy.  That said, last week, I wore this with a skirt to a dress up occasion, too, so it's versatile.  Did I say warm?  It's warm. So, here it is, re-introducing...the Cuddle Coat.  

Everything else here is still in a serious jumble, but I've tidied up this one pattern AND submitted my Canadian taxes ahead of the deadline, so you know, things are good, right?

PS: Dear Readers, I'm so hoping that one of you buys a Cuddle Coat pattern, knits it up and takes a gorgeous photo...because this is my third try...and I'm still not showing you how danged comfortable it is!

Big day

Yesterday seemed like a big day; a soaring end to a good week...my twins were back at preschool all week.  I had time to work and even make banana chocolate chip muffins. (full of spelt flour, oats, and other secret healthy bits) We had a really fun children's program at synagogue Saturday morning, everyone seemed good.

I also had an opinion piece come out on the CBC:
Snow removal-more precisely, lack of snow removal-carries hidden costs

and today we are having a blizzard warning, so it seemed like great timing.

I also was quoted in a Winnipeg Free Press article, called Wool Warriors:Knitters use their craft to campaign for change.  The online version is different from the one in the newspaper...the paper actually features a photo of me as well!  I was proud to see the focus on knitting as an activist enterprise, full of political and social repercussions...and it linked in nicely to what I heard at Ram Wools when I visited the yarn shop a couple of days ago...the campaign to provide handknit woollies (and other warm clothes) for newcomers to Canada has reached something like 1800 pieces, very nearly reaching its goal of 2000 items.  Another way knitting makes positive change for the world.

I'd even managed to deliver more skeins of handspun to Ram Wools--they are selling some of my yarn, which is great, because it boosts their locally made products AND helps me empty out some of my stockpile. (I've been spinning while watching the boys play in the basement playroom after school.  It helps me sometimes catch their fights and keep them from killing each other...)

(L to R: Naturally brown 2 ply Shetland, Brown Sheep wool mill ends/brown wool/blue soysilk and blue mohair, white skein is one ply of Romney/Texel wool, plied with commercial cotton/viscose yarn which holds in bits of shell colored silk waste thrums)

Yesterday, I noticed that the twin sweater I knit in November was already unravelling at the neck edge where a strand of the yarn had broken already.  I caught it quickly and managed to re-knit a new edging before the whole sweater unravelled.  (Note: Use more hearty yarns to make little boy sweaters next time...)

It was foreshadowing.  We got home yesterday, had lunch together, and I put both boys down for a well-deserved nap.  By 2:30, the first kid was wide awake and screaming...and the stomach bug was back, with a vengeance.  I was up nearly all night with the second kid while he was ill.  So, you know, just when things seem awesome and I'm too big for my britches, it is an important time to stay humble.  Cause there were at least three sets of bedding to change, and kids to mop up and comfort.  Cause this part, the virus part, is real life, and the other stuff?  Not nearly as likely to happen again any time soon... Oh well.

If you're local, this yarn might be waiting for you at Ram Wools on Portage Ave...but maybe wait until tomorrow, when the winds and snow die down and the yarn shop opens again?!

making the best of things

I've been trying to see the bright side of things.  Really I have.  A few days ago, this article came out on the CBC.
Low loonie brings lustre to buying local, Joanne Seiff writes

I was keen to post about it, but on Wednesday night, the stomach bug disaster struck.  I was barely over that first cold when a 'healthy' twin (the first twin to catch the cold), was absolutely laid low by a second virus.  The poor kid was up all night, and so was I.  Roughly 4-5 loads of laundry later, we lay in a sodden mess on separate couches...and there we stayed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  By Sunday, the kid was well enough to go to dance class, and I went off to teach spinning.

So, what's the good news?

Well, so far, only one twin has had the monster bad stomach bug, and everyone but me seems to be over the cold.  I am hoping passionately, crossing all my body parts, etc. that no one else gets sick.  To give you an idea of how bad all this was?  I did not even want to knit.  Not at all.  I sat on the couch and just gave in to the yuckiness of it all.

However, my class went really well.  It was small, but I helped three new handspinners learn to spin. They were fascinating people and despite the tail end of my cold, I enjoyed it immensely.

Both twins seem to be on a foot growth spurt...which means the wool socks they own don't fit too well, and we seem to be wearing through and running out.  This won't do!  Here's a quick snapshot of the second pair of toe-up socks I've produced...this pair is almost finished, and the third is started.  I used Tiny Treads as a rough guideline and just jumped in.  It is hard to create generic socks that fit both boys, since they are shaped differently, but I think I've got it now.  I won't lie though, I am getting tired of little boy socks. :)

Also, we're hearing lots of updates from our relatives on the east coast of the United States.  They've had somewhere between 20-30" of snow (that's up to 76 cm, folks) in the last couple of days.  Once past the thrill of a snow day or two, cabin fever sets in.  I was reminded of someone who seemed absolutely boggled by the idea that we could not just go out to play structures at parks in winter here in Winnipeg.  (well, we could, but we'd need to wade through a lot of snow and it wouldn't be fun once we got there!)  The snow never melts here.  Instead, we play outside in the snow, we take walks with sleds, and we go out on the river.  (We'll likely go next weekend for the first time this year, I think.)

On days when it is too cold, or we are sick, we play inside.  The imagination games are endless...Here is one of the boys, with a paper collar around his neck (dress up) and he is playing "stage coach driver."  He has a horse stuffed animal in front of him, and he's used his big plastic cubes to build the coach.  When I asked where he was going, he said 'China town.'  (We'd discussed going out for Dim Sum that day downtown.)

Note: It was maybe -25F (-31C) that day, with the windchill, so maybe a sleigh would have worked better!?

Even so, the imagination keeps the living room interesting around here, from November to April or so.  Stay warm and dry...and please, avoid all those scary viruses, wherever you are! :)  Joanne

Worry bear X 2

We thought we'd lost him.  Worry bear.
(also known as snuggle bear...but never mind.)

A month or two ago, one of my twins seemed to need some extra support at preschool in a few areas...in terms of feeling anxious and not behaving himself.

  (Developmental and physical delays are very common for twins, I've not gone into detail about it here...the short version is that it's a challenge, but slowly improving in many ways.)  

When I was in high school, I'd had a dear friend (still a dear friend, in fact) who also seemed worried a lot.  I made him a special felt bear, maybe 2 inches (5cm) tall, that fit in his pocket.  You could stick your hand in your pocket, touch your bear, and feel reassured...and although I still have that sewing pattern somewhere, it is small and fiddly.  I remember it being fiddly when I was a teenager, with all the time in the world.  It was clear I needed to make another one, and fast.

I grabbed some size 3 (3.25mm) double pointed needles, some Rowan Pure Wool dk, some wool stuffing...and voila, worry bear was ready by the time preschool was over that day.  Since then, worry bear has had a few accidental trips through the wash---thank goodness for superwash wool!  He is a bit smaller, and a bit more worn, but fine.  Until last Sunday.  On Sunday, the professor took the twins to their dance class.  I got to attend an adult ed. class...by myself--an hour and a half of learning, knitting, and pure joy, let me tell you!

When everybody was back home, I noticed that one twin was wearing the other twin's sweatpants...and at the end of the day, we found we'd lost worry bear.  OH NO!

We made it through one day of preschool without him.  I applied myself to the task, using some of the new sock yarn from www.yarncanada.ca.  Tuesday morning, worry bear #2 was waiting at the breakfast table.  There were complaints.  He was not just the same.  He was bigger.  Squishy.  (He had not been through the wash several times already!)  However, he hopped into a twin's pocket.  All seemed well.

I raced around doing chores for a bit, and vacuumed.  Guess what?  Worry Bear #1!  We found him!  He was just resting under the couch for a while....I guess vacuuming has some benefits after all!

At the moment, Worry Bear is just something out of my head, no pattern, no design forthcoming.  I did do Lambie and Doggie years ago, and they could be easily sized down with smaller needles and lighter weight yarn...but for now, Worry Bear is something we need here, at least in one four year old's pocket, so I will have to turn them out upon request.  Let's hope Worry Bear #2 is a good back up.  Just in case something goes missing again...which it is bound to, sooner or later!

In the meanwhile, I am just finishing up knitting the second twin sweater, and then it is on to more mitts, and wool socks.  We seem to have outgrown a lot of our socks...and it's finally snowy and colder today!  Maybe winter is really here now?  Two adults have already commented to me today, "Nice Snow!" or "It's snowing!" with glee.  We enjoyed the warm fall but snow a month late? We were missing it, I guess.  It's Snow Time, indeed!

Snow time and stash

It's here!  Snow time!  On Wednesday night, my twins were up half the night...which is not all that unusual, actually (yes, we still don't have good sleep, I am one tired Mommy) but the main excitement was the SNOW.  Yep.  We now have snow on the ground, and barring weird melting events, it is likely to stay there until April or so.  

This correlated with another exciting moment.  I have finished the first twin sweater of the season.  Each boy gets a new handknit sweater (from me or from their Didi --grandma--) each year, at minimum, and luckily, we are still fitting into most of our sweaters from last year.  However, this one was absolutely knit to order.  I used Rowan Felted Tweed dk, which I am not in love with, but all the "best" colors were on sale at the yarn shop this summer, so there you have it.  75% natural fibers (wool and alpaca) AND much softer than last year's Lett Lopi Icelandic wool, which I love, but which was pronounced too fuzzy and furry.  (they still wear it willingly on cold days, just with a long sleeve shirt with a collar underneath.)  I used a variation on this pullover because I have the pattern book and I did not want to design a whole new sweater from scratch!

Here are two photos of the sweater.  Due to the gray, windy, snowy day, I had to adjust the light in the images, even when I took them outside on the porch.  True color replications are nowhere to be found on a day like that!

When I announced that sweater #1 was finished, the other twin burst into tears because his sweater isn't ready yet.  He has ordered a chocolate brown with blue edging sweater, and depending on the moment, it will be a lightweight, heavyweight, henley, cardigan, pullover, with or without stripes. :)  Anyway, based on the gauge swatch, it will likely end up being something fairly similar to the one I just knit.

There are some special touches worth noting.  I've been spinning some chocolate brown wool while the boys play in the basement, and it is a great color, but the yarn is a bit too bulky for what I think this twin might need.  (He already has his fair share of heavyweight sweaters, regardless of style.)

So, I dug into the stash, and found this.  It's a brown handspun Shetland 2-ply, roughly 600-700 yards, that I spun on my Canadian Production Wheel.  I kind of knew where it was in the stash, and I used my blog search function to find out the yardage...cause I wrote about it in 2009.  Bingo.   I got the gauge wrong back then, or at least, I am going to knit it at a looser gauge now, on a #5 (3.75mm) needle...but when I found it, I found the perfect blue yarn to go with it.

Yup, I wrote a post that featured the perfect blue merino/silk contrast color in 2005.  There is something to be said for a deep stash!  I have sold or given away loads of yarn in the last 10 years, but these handspun skeins were saved and moved to Canada because who knew?  One day I would have a twin four year old who asked for this...

He stopped crying when I gave him his very own gauge swatch to race with...around the house.  (At first there was confusion over whether this was a watch, which both boys clearly wanted more than a gauge swatch, but whatever...)

I don't list my yarn stash on Ravelry (hey now, this is big.  It is nobody's business!), but I do have this blog.  This ten year old blog, where I've been talking yarn, and wool, and knitting, and spinning, and stories---for a good long time.  That is worth celebrating this month, as the blog turns ten.

Meanwhile, while I cherish these things I tucked away, I am also getting ready to give away a lot of woollies for our newcomers.  Manitoba is hosting 2,000 refugees, and they are coming soon!  I feel lucky to live among people who are opening their hearts and communities to those in need.  This article says it best....or maybe we could just open with We were strangers once, in the land of Egypt...?