Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My address hasn't changed

With Google Maps on my laptop, I confirmed I still lived in the Midsouth, in the Delta. Yep, my address was the same and Google Maps was still showing it in the south west corner of the state, so why oh why are we getting more of this?
From Irish Clover


My City shuts down when this white stuff falls from the sky. We laugh in the face of heavy fog, speed with reckless abandon in rain, and enjoy the skidding on ice because it's the only ice skating we have, but snow, we shut up in our homes after clearing out the grocery store of its milk, bread, beer, and ice cream. The snow brought us another snow day (and a half) in what was already a short week with the MLK holiday. The car accident that stole my lovely blue Element away didn't help either (everyone involved was fine, Clover was already at school and not in the car, and yippee, I'll get my car back - Elements shockingly keep their value).

The snow was too powdery to make for good snowballs, so I did the next best thing. I took pictures.
From Irish Clover

This isn't the best snow picture, but at least it has some interest. The snowfall measured in at 3 inches, which is a lot for our neck of the woods, not even considering it was our second substantial snow of the year.

From Irish Clover

Clover and his best pal relaxed while I worked away. Yes, he's on the phone, but to his grandma, Mrs. Soprano. So far, that's the girl he talks to the most on the phone. We'll see how long that lasts.

From WIPs

The reflection of the snow gave me perfect lighting for some knitting photos. These a pair of socks I'm knitting in preparation for the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling. I didn't like the color striping with the heel flap, so after the photo shoot, I ripped back the heel and put in waste yarn for an afterthought heel. Now, I must go measure my foot.

P.S. We got even more snow yesterday! Another 2 inches fell at my house, but it was gone by afternoon, like a normal Delta snow.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Marathon

Marathons have almost always been a part of my life. Papa Clover was an avid marathon runner, so my mom and I accompanied him to many a marathon. My company sponsors a marathon every year. My city also is the host to a major annual marathon. My brother-in-law ran it one year. I have friends who have run half marathons to raise money for charity. Therefore, the idea that one day, I might be involved in a marathon isn't such a strange idea. I just didn't expect it to happen this way.

I took an inventory of my stash.

Being the start of a year, I felt compelled to inventory my yarn and update Ravelry. As I added more and more yarns to my stash listing, I began to panic. Upon completing my inventory, my panic rose. I exported my stash information to a spreadsheet and totaled up my yardage. Because the number was much larger than the requisit 1760 yards needed to make up a mile, I divided. Yep, marathon. Marathon plus some to be exact. I have over 29 miles of yarn in my house. Considering I knitted 6643 yards last year, I have enough yarn to last me seven years. To you non-knitters out there, this may seem like a lot, but in light of today's current economic situation, I am now concerned that my Yarn Investment Porfolio (YIP) is quite small. Thank goodness I have a new spinning wheel which will allow me to increase my YIP at marginal costs.

From Irish Clover


I wonder if I can put an odometer on a spinning wheel. Who knows, I might have already spun the equivalent of a marathon.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Snowballs at the ready!

Monday brought our third snowfall for the 2010-2011 winter season, but the first major snow event. The snow began late Sunday afternoon and continued until early Monday morning, completely closing down the city and leaving four inches of snow. One of the things I love about living in the Delta is the lack of snowplows. Each year when we get our one snow, the snow day feels like a holiday, even when I have my laptop and am working from home.

Before the day really got underway, I took the annual "House in the Snow" photo.
From Irish Clover


Then, the fun began!
We don't waste time choosing sides or setting rules, it's every Clover for his/herself. The snowballs were flying, people were falling, and much fun was had. Even when I stepped out of the fray to assume the role of war photography, I was not out of danger and was the target of a snowball.
From Irish Clover

(Can you see the snowball about to hit me? Not the small one, look left.)

After a quick rest by Clover, he stepped back out while Italian and I worked. He busily and quickly made the obligatory snowman, and then I noticed the basketball was missing. Not wanting to waste snow on the interior of the snowman, he used the basketball. That way, we'd have a snowman and we'd have plenty of snow for the second round of snowball fights.
From Irish Clover


Inspired by the snow and the continued dip in temperatures, I pulled out an old friend. I think the time is right to finish her, before the weather warms back up to the Delta norms.
From WIPs

Friday, January 07, 2011

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Another year has passed at Clover Field and a new one is greeting us ready to be filled to capacity. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a slower passed year, but as Clover gets older (yes, it's time), the year seems to get busier and busier, try as we do to simplify it.

To close out 2010, here is a quick run through of the last few weeks of the year.

Italian got a new hat. Mrs. Soprano loved it she almost stole it. She relenquished the hat when I promised she will get one of her own. The pattern is Claudia, on Ravelry. It is a bit long, so the next one will be knit slightly shorter and with a quicker set of decreases, to keep the hat from getting pointy.
From 2010 Finished Objects


I got a new pair of mittens.
From 2010 Finished Objects

They are the Ribbon Mittens by SpillyJane. Because I'm a bit high maintenance, I changed up the pattern and made them convertible mittens. This way, I still learn a new technique and have my fingers free for my PDA and retrieving items from my purse.

From 2010 Finished Objects


Little Clover got a new scarf. The pattern is Palindrome, knit in Malabrigo because he has expense tastes like his mommy. It's cute to see him grab this scarf when I tell him he needs to bundle up. Seeing him choice this scarf warms my heart.
From 2010 Finished Objects


During Christmas, I spent the break on the sofa, knocked out by a nasty little cold and then terrible side effects from the antibiotic. It made me appreciate chicken soup and hot toddies as natural remedies even more. The wacky cold weather is probably the culprit, but it also brought two snows, so I'd welcome this type of weather at Christmas again. We woke up to snow on Saturday, Dec 18 and snow flurries on Christmas day. For our little part of the world, this is a lot of snow! With some luck, we'll have even more this weekend.

When I was finally feeling better, we cooked a goose. Yes, a goose, and not only was it pretty when it came out of the oven, but it was delicious. To help with the delicousness, I made giblet gravy for the first time. Midway through dinner, Italian looked over and proclaimed that the gravy could not be thrown out for any reason. I think he liked it.

As for what's coming in the year, I hope for the best for everyone. Our family has been blessed with much. We have our health. We have wonderful families. We have many friends and our family and friends are welcoming or have recently welcomed littles ones. I hope our blessings and yours continue to flow into 2011. Happy New Year!