If a knitter ever needed knitting it's now...

Sometimes the universe hands you things at times when your hands are so full of other things that you just want to look it in the eyes and break into hysterical laughter at the absurdity of one more thing.
I shouldn't have gone out tonight. The banking and groceries could've waited but I was bound and determined to get it done so I could relax tomorrow and get some knitting done. It had begun snowing but having grown up in the north country I wasn't too fazed by it. However the universe laughed, threw some ice on the roads and a couple of cars in my way and that was that.
We're fine (thank God!) but our faithful Corolla is not. Again the hysterical laughter as I remember we just paid it off a few months ago. Why do these things happen?? What is the good Lord and the universe in general trying to point out to me exactly? So universe. Very funny. Now if I could please have a new car that doesn't require me to make monthly payments that would be great. Thank you.
I'm going to crawl into my favourite chair shortly and finish the Minecraft creeper mittens I promised Lynda from St. Catharine's and let knitting work it's zen magic.

Yarnalong-a Chickadee Cowl and Mitten Strings

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:
It's been snowing like crazy here since noon time and I am feeling lazy today. I should go and finish making lunches, clean up the kitchen and make sure everyone's wet things are laid out to dry for tomorrow but really I just want to curl up on the coach with a cup of tea and my Chickadee Cowl.

 The yarn is Morgana from Estelle Yarns, a mix of 52% superwash wool, 43% acrylic, 3% nylon and 2% poly-metallic (whatever that is). It's soft and thick with a bit of a sparkle. I bought it on the weekend from On The Lamb, a lovely little yarn shop in Uxbridge, Ontario. It's a tradition to visit On The Lamb after my friend and I pack up from the craft sale we do every year. This store is definitely on my list for an installment of Yarn Store Road Trippin'.

Still reading Mitten Strings from God. Reading it slowly and savouring it feels like the right way to take in this book. The author is bang-on about so many things.
What about you? What are you knitting and reading?

Yarnalong: not mittens and Mittens Strings for God

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

I am not knitting mittens right now. I should be knitting mittens...but I am not. Instead I am knitting the Strangling Vines scarf because this knitter needs a mitten break. I am loving this pattern and loving this wool. The pattern is so nice and easy to follow and produces such a lovely fabric. The wool and nettle combination is a joy to knit with. I love wools that are a little bit stiff and show good stitch definition. The wool is from Classic Elite Yarns' Verde Collection and is called Woodland-65% wool, 35% nettles. It's discontinued but I found it in a little yarn store in Shelburne, ON.

Tomorrow I will be back to the mittens as it is only 3 days till the craft sale and I do not have nearly enough pairs to fill a table. AACCKK!

I finished The Newcomer by Robyn Carr the other day. A good read for sure. Yesterday when I was searching the book shelves for something new to read my eyes settled on Mitten Strings for God, a book I picked up at a charity book sale a few weeks ago. It's written by Katrina Kenison, a mother of 2 boys who also struggles with a busy life of playdates, school commitments, work and looking after her own needs. The premise of the book is slowing life down so you can actually enjoy your life and your children. I've been struggling with this one lately. How can I only be working 2 days a week and still feel stressed out and like there's not enough time in the day for all that needs to be done??!! It spoke to my soul and seems serendipitous, me finding this book at this time. I love it when that happens. She speaks of living more mindfully and how when she slows down and pays attention to her children (simple advice, so often given, so often not taken) her children seem happier too. I have so much to say about this but will leave it here for another day.

How about you? What are you knitting and reading?

Fall is for Mittens

Fall has been a joy and a delight around these parts lately. I snapped these photos on the weekend. The first one is from the mountain of leaves on the street in front of our house, the second is our neighbour's maple tree and the above photo is from the herb bed. The pottery pig is someone's project from pottery camp one summer. I can't quite remember who made it. It and some other pieces grace our garden as lawn ornaments now that they've lost their places of honour in the creators's room.

I'm in full-on craft sale panic mode now. The yellow mittens above need to become chickens, the racoons do have eyes now and the brown mittens were completed this afternoon and became owls. Still on the to do list are 2 pairs of brown bears needing ears and faces, a pair of cats (or possibly mice?) also needing ears and faces, some minions needing to be ripped back and the black goggle band knitted in then completed with the aforementioned goggles. I'd like to knit another pair of grey mice, more minions, and chickens in both yellow and white. Plus I still have to finish the matching mittens for my table-mate's hats. I feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day and going to work tomorrow is really going to slow me down. Arrgghh. But you know what? I am loving every minute of this and can't think of a better way to earn a living.

Yarnalong-The Newcomer & blind Racoon mittens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

I just finished adding ears, nose and whiskers to a pair of racoon mittens. I can't find a pair of buttons in my stash that look like racoon eyes so I guess I'm off to the fabric store on Friday. The wool, as always is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand in the Silver Heather colourway and the black parts are Patons' Canadiana.
I finally got my Kobo working and synching properly so I indulged in a new Robyn Carr novel The Newcomer. I like that Robyn Carr's characters are believable and the plot has some twists and turns.
It's a November day here-dull, grey, wet, yuck. I added the basket of yarn to liven things up. The grey and solid red balls are Cascade 220 I think, the variegated red is an Irish wool from my brother's travels and the big ball of cream is the Australian Corriedale/Alpaca mix I was attempting to wind into a ball a few weeks ago in this post.

Knitted lab mice...mittens

I just put the finishing touches on a pair of lab mice mittens for an Etsy shop customer and thought you might be as entertained by these as I was:

They're going to be a Christmas gift for a lucky college student working with lab mice from her thoughtful and creative mom.

On the weekend I stopped by The Wool & Silk Co. in little Shelburne, ON (you can read about them here) and found the coolest thing-wool with nettles. Who knew such a thing existed?!? They're from Classic Elite Yarns' Verde Collection and the line is called Woodland. The yarn is spun with 65% wool and 35% nettles. Sadly this line has been discontinued but Diane has a pile of it in her store if you're interested in knitting with stinging plantlife.

I'm going to give the Strangling Vines scarf a go with the parakeet colour. 

After the Craft Sale.

Gratitude Sunday-family and outside time

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday:

Feeling grateful this week for:

::The remaining colour in my garden-purple sedums, a lone green cabbage, some hardy kale.

::A successful trip up north to help my parents bring in the firewood for winter-the weekend didn't unfold as we had planned and that's always a challenge for our family. We persevered and had a good time anyway.

::ending the weekend with a family of good friends and good food for lunch.

::the customers who spent their hard-earned money to buy my animal mittens-thanks for enabling my knitting habit!

::getting paid this week and having enough

::visiting my Grandma in hospital and the improvement in her health. So very thankful.

::driving into Toronto all by myself and navigating when I made the wrong turns (twice) and living to tell the tale. If you're supposed to do one thing every day that scares you this was my thing on Friday for sure!

::time outside this week. I love it when the leaves and the foliage are down and you can see the undulations in the land. I find it fascinating. I also love the light in fall-so many colours.