51" and still snowing

Here at Grand Targhee, we've had 51 inches of snow since we arrived on Sunday.


Fresh snow every day!







Great powder for skiing.











Or losing young girls.












Ben is actually skiing in the photo, but the snow is so deep, it's hard to tell, isn't it?









Santa found us, even after we forgot to pack our stockings.








Now, will we be able to get out of here tomorrow morning?

Wouldn't you know?

You know that knitting I was going to put off til after the holidays?

The one I just knitted a few rows? Just to try it out?






Can you see the problem?














How about now?








There - the blue row. Only one checkerboard row?









Serves me right. Should have been doing more holiday gift knitting.

More holiday songs

Girl of the House had her concert Saturday night. She's in Northfield Youth Choir. They have choirs from first grade through twelfth. (Lots of knitting time, again!)

Ben was in this choir for his entire school career, and we realized that we've been attending this concert every year since 1995. We anticipate another five years. Then, maybe we'll go, just out of habit?




Paul and I took a hike in the arboretum this afternoon. It was 32 degrees and overcast. We went 4.25 miles, and when we returned home, it was 12 degrees with a windchill of -4. YIKES! The temp dropped pretty rapidly.

We found a geocache.












We even saw a barred owl.

It's pretty rare to see an owl anymore.








Girl of the House stayed home and stayed warm.

It was great to come home to fresh oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies.






Holiday stealth knitting is underway - can't show any of those pictures.

We're also preparing for our ski trip to Grand Targhee. We're leaving on Saturday. YAY!!

hello Radio Heartland!

Here at 20 Acres and No Sheep, we love our music. Music of all varieties.

We also love electronics.

For years, first thing in the morning while showering and getting ready, we've been listening to public radio: The Morning Show with Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole.

Bad news. After 25 years on the air, Thursday December 11 was the final show. Jim Ed retired.

So, now what?

Good news! Dale's going to have a morning show on the new Radio Heartland. (This is so cool - go have a look at the amazing playlist!)

Bad news! It's only streaming internet or HD radio.

Good news! We ordered an HD radio for the bathroom, and it arrived just in time!
We tuned in this morning. love it!

HD radio is way nifty. Check out the digital notification of what song is playing.

I sense we'll be investing in HD tuners for the stereos in the rest of the house!

Sunrise

Two below zero this morning.
Girl of the House is really bundled up for the bus.












But the sunrise is amazing.

Rag rug repair (ooh, alliteration)

While I did get some knitting and a bit of dyeing accomplished on Sunday, the majority of my fiber fun was in repair.

I picked up this rug in 1991 at an auction. It's a lovely old wool rag rug, braided and sewn together.

It's been in a variety of rooms over the years. It currently lives in the family room, near the entry door.

It's been pulling apart in a number of places. I've kept putting off the repairs, and more holes kept appearing.

Sunday was repair day.

It turned out to have thirteen places it needed to be sewn back together.

I hunched over on the floor and stitched 'em all back together. (Yay for naprosyn! I'm not as flexible as I used to be.)

Looks better now, doesn't it?

(Don't ask how many times I stabbed myself with the big old needle!)

Christmas at Luther

Yesterday, we made it to "Christmas at Luther". Last year we were snowed in, and unable to go.

No photos were allowed. TPT2 from St. Paul was there filming the concert for broadcast on PBS. (You can see it on your local PBS station, beginning Dec. 22 - check for local listings)

It was a marvelous concert, aurally and visually. Symphony, band, six choirs and a handbell group.

Ben is in the Collegiate choir.








So, what do they wear under their choir robes?

If you are a reading addict, you strap a book to your back with an ace wrap.

Then you are always ready for any downtime!






Four and a half hours of driving time, and two hours of concert gives plenty of knitting time.

The only simple stockinette (good for knitting in the dark) project in the works, is Paul's Retrofit sweater.

I finished the second sleeve, and began the body (for the second time).

I'm just reknitting right from the old. No point in spending time raveling and reballing! That last little bit of old sleeve is rapidly disappearing.

Less Kauni, more holiday

I've managed to tear myself away from the Kauni cardigan and start some holiday knitting.

A surprise project, to be named later.






I am still knitting on the Kauni.

I can't wait for the next row, to see how the colors will look.
So I end up "After this row I'll stop. OK, after this row I'll stop. Well, maybe one more."










Girl of the House went to town last evening for Northfield's Winter Walk, our big winter to-do. Downtown was all decorated, lots of special events, even a parade. It's mostly a shopping extravaganza. (We dropped her off, sneaking the back way into town. Don't like the crowds. And, man, it was cold!)

Her middle school choir walked in the parade, singing carols. After the parade, they broke into small groups, walking about town, caroling.

Slow down

As the days shorten, it's darker and darker when I leave work.


When I cross the bridge at the bottom of the hill, I know I'm almost home.

Many days I take my surroundings for granted in the rush to be in the next place.

It's better when I take a deep breath, relax, and really see where I am.

This is a good place to be.

Just a few more rows

then I'll start that holiday knitting...

Couldn't resist...

The Kauni yarn was calling, whispering to me, luring me to it.



Well, it couldn't hurt to knit a little swatch, could it? That wouldn't take too much time away from holiday knitting?

(Swatch lesson learned from the Retrofit disaster.)






Oooh, that's fun! I like that!


Couldn't hurt to make the yarn into balls, could it?



It turned out that my four balls of yarn were really seven balls in disguise.

Only one ball of blue/purple/black was a complete ball. The other three balls were knotted and restarted in a different color order somewhere in the ball.

This required much more time than I anticipated - winding and rewinding.

I deserve a reward, don't you think?

Holiday knitting be damned...

I need to try this out!

Inch and a half of corrugated ribbing, and now onto the pattern. YAY!








And, by the way, I finished my carry around alpaca sox. Wore 'em to work today.

Funny, how small luxuries are so satisfying.

BFL vs Merino

Spun and plied - my recent etsy.com purchases.

Brown, blue and cream is a navajo plied Blue-Face Leicester.

Green and purple is a two ply Merino.


Both were skeined on the same niddy-noddy, so they should be the same length, right?

Here you can see the bottom of the skeins, hanging to dry.










Here's the top of the skeins. Not the same, at all!


You can see that the merino has more bounciness and pulls in. It will easily stretch to the length of the BFL.

Just demonstrates the difference in the fibers.

Cool, eh?

"Drive careful, sonshine"

Ben headed back to school this morning.

He needed to be out before noon. He has to be at the "Christmas at Luther" rehearsal at 3:00, or he won't be able to perform. They have a six hour rehearsal today.

Hugs, "love you , drive careful, it's slippery", and he was out the door by 11:30.



11:32, we received a phone call.

"Can you come and give me a tow?"

He made it down the hill to the iron bridge. Slid right over the edge.

Luckily, he didn't roll, or end up in the river.






Due to the proximity to the bridge and the slipperiness of the road, Paul wasn't able to extract him with his truck.

A tow truck was called. Rather than wait, Ben took my truck to Iowa.

With the friendly warning, "do anything to my truck and I'll kill you!"

Six Things Meme

Ordinary Girl tagged me with the Six Things Meme.

These are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

After thinking about for a few days, I've finally found enough odd things that are unique to me.

1. I'm very low maintenance with my hair. I haven't used shampoo for 17 months. I use baking soda and vinegar. I haven't had a professional haircut in two? years. When my hair gets long enough, I make a ponytail and cut the tail off. Paul helps me fix the worst parts. The only thing I fuss with is blow drying my bangs.

2. When I'm on a long drive, I count oncoming cars, keeping a running total in my head. I average cars per mile for ten miles, then I average them for 100 miles. Compulsive, yes, but it keeps me awake.

3. I can live without TV, but I can't live without music. There are radios or stereos in all rooms in the house and outside, in the shed. First thing in the morning, I start by turning on the radio in the bathroom.

4. I could happily live, permanently, in our pickup camper.

5. When the children were much younger, we were shopping at Target. I looked down and discovered I was wearing two different Birkies. Not even similar Berkies! One was the heavy two strap and the other was a more delicate three strap. At least they were the same color. Hey, the kids hadn't noticed, either.

6. I hate to sweep, vacuum, mop, or do anything to our floors. Our floors are always bad.

And now, I tag: Coleen

Lori

Rani

Guinifer

Nutty Knitter

Jenni

Tag, you're it!

Happy Thanksgiving - now don't be paranoid!

A number of bloggers have posted things of beauty for the holiday.

I just can't compete with beauty. Silliness, however, I'm there for you!

So here's a silly thing - don't be paranoid - it's OK!

Sign by Dealighted - Black Friday Coupons

Happy Thanksgiving from 20 Acres and No Sheep!

Obsession revealed

I took today off. I'll work Friday, while the rest of my office is out shopping with the hordes. I'll get lots of work done in the quiet office.

Ben and his GF Bekky are here for Thanksgiving, so we're hanging out. (OK, actually, they're still sleeping!) Girl of the House, who hasn't reached the age of sleeping in, is hanging out with me.

It's a treat being home, during the week, when the sun is shining! I can take pictures in the sunshine!

As I look around, I realize to what extent I have taken over the house with this fiber obsession. I see that my family is extraordinarily tolerant.


Family room:


Lendrum saxony wheel, basket of handspun, and baby sweater still in need of buttons.









Bookcase with fiber tools, magazines, a fleece. Surrounded by more baskets of yarn.



Kitchen:

Crockpot dyepot and salad spinner left out from last dyeing.










Dreaded swatches left out after the Retrofit gauge fiasco.




Dining room:

Stuff stacked that should actually be returned to my workroom in the basement. (Where the official stash/equipment lives)









Spindles displayed with the bowls.





Spinning fibers and yarns in yet another corner.







Living room:

Rogue waiting to be sewn together.
Baby surprise sweater waiting for buttons.










The Suzie wheel and more fiber.







More knitting, and yarns awaiting a project.

Bobbin of BFL awaiting navajo plying.






Bedroom:
Next to my big comfy chair, dishcloth knitting in a brown paper bag - how elegant.

When Paul comes home from work, we grab a drink and head into the bedroom. He changes out of his work clothes, we catch up on our day and I mindlessly knit.

Then we're ready to begin our evening.




On my dresser, a stack of handknit socks that need repairs. The stack continues to grow.

Why can't I just throw them away?






Bathroom:


Handknit socks drying on the rack in the bathtub.

Two skeins of handspun that hung to dry in the bathroom after finishing.

Sometimes they live there for weeks...

A Performance

A cool link I came across tonight while surfing:

Typealyzer

It analyzes your writing style. It's fun - I'm not convinced of accuracy yet.

Try it on your own blog!