The Scottish Lamb

Okay... I'll play

I haven't played tag in a long time (we won't go into just how long...).  I was sitting here minding my own business when I was "tapped on the shoulder" by Lillium so I'll be a good sport and play along...

1) Total amount of music files on your computer:  I'm just now putting all of our CDs onto the computer.  I'd guess about 500 or so.

2. The last CD you bought was: George Straight is Dan's favorite country artist.  I bought his greatest hits for him for Christmas.  Usually I just download songs from iTunes.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?  LOL.  Okay... remember a few days ago I had the link to the kid singing that weird song (Dragostea Din Tei by Ozone)... yea, well.. I couldn't get it out of my head so I bought it from iTunes.  I've listened to it daily since then.  I know... I'm hoping to get well soon.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean alot to you:

1. Ave Maria - I love this song.  Especially in Spanish.   It takes me right back to our church wedding.  We had a Mariachi band at our reception.  One of the girls sang the Ave Maria with such passion that it brought tears to my eyes.  She literally got down on her knees in front of Dan and I while we were sitting at the head table and sang her heart out.  It was SO beautiful.
2. I'm Already There by Lonestar - I don't truly think you can appreciate this song unless you are apart from your spouse for a long time.  It's a huge hit among the military for that reason.  When Dan was in Afghanistan for eight months, the boys and I listened to it all the time.  It's still one of Joe's favorite songs.
3. Taking it Step by Step by Whitney Houston - I've lost so much respect for Whitney but I still love this song.  It's like a mini therapy session when I'm feeling down about something.
4. Amazed - Again with the Lonestar.  I just think it's a beautiful song and in the every day reality of marriage life I think we all need a gentle reminder of why we chose the one we did.
5. Okay... don't laugh.... any of the old K-tel record songs.  You know... the ones you're afraid to admit that you like to belt out to when you're in the car or cleaning the house with the windows closed so your neighbors can't hear you...  Island Girl by Elton John, Boogie Shoes by KC and the Sunshine Band, Knock Three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn.... Takes me right back to being a little girl standing in front of the mirror dancing and singing into my hairbrush for my fans.  Which, by the way, I don't do any more..... really.... I don't.... really...

5. What 3 people are you going to pass this baton to and why?

That's easy.  Kim, Annie and Lynne because I love reading their blogs and would like to know what they like in music.   I think music tells a lot about a person.  lol.  That's a scary thought after reading my answers over again!

And thanks to Lynne for the Elann gift certificate!!  Trust me, it'll be used very quickly! lol.

One Red Scarf.... check

I finished my red scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  I used two 50gr balls of merino DK that I found here at my German yarn shop.   That's sounds easy enough but colors over here are not the same as they are in the States.  I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to find a true red, but I did.  Most are really orange, yellows are mustardy and greens are limey.  It looks a little deeper thank it actually is.   Hard to fix the contrast of the snow.  I cast on 40 stitches and used the subtle mesh from Barbara Walker Charted Knitting Designs ; I really like the way it turned out. 

Dear Secret Pal,

You'll find my SP4 Questionnaire answers on my About page.  This is gonna be fun. I've been collecting stuff for weeks to send to my Secret Pal!  Weeeee....

I just received my Knit Picks catalog on Friday.  I saved it for bedtime reading.  Got all cozy that night and was flipping through it when.... Ha..... Check this out.  It's the Midwest Moonlight scarf from Scarf Style by Pam Allen.   Throw some garter stitch into my scarf and it's the same thing! 

I need some help.  I want a drumcarder.  It's one of my Christmas gifts but I'm really on the fence.  I was convinced that I wanted the Deb by Patrick Greene, but I'm torn between it, the Fricke Finest (though it's a little steeper than I wanted to go for a first carder) and the Louet.  I've even thought about the Fricke Petite since I probably won't be a carding maniac after the first month or so.  I work with medium to medium-fine wools like Romney, Falkland and blends.  Let me hear from you!

With Gratitude

  Wow.  Thanks so much for the kind comments on the Hardangervidda everyone!  Even my husband and local friends came out of the woodwork.  Don't let him fool you... Dan's just making nice so he can get another sweater.  He's as ornery as they come.

The second comment yesterday was comment #500.  The winner of the Fleece Artist T Kit is Jessica from Tangled Yarn.  I kept this kind of quiet, only linking to the photo instead of posting it, because I was trying to get a feel for how many readers I have.  I still don't know, but it's a lot more than I thought!

After several false starts and not being able to make up my mind, I finally settled on a pattern for the Red Scarf.  Subtle Mesh from Barbara Walker's Charted Knitting Designs.  I'm only about three inches into it so I need to get crackin'.   I can't even keep up with all the blogs that are joining the project, so make sure that you email Lisa so they can put a link up to you!

Nathania forced invited me to join in on the Must Have Too KAL.  I ordered the pattern last night from Hershenner's.  I have some gorgeous Paton's Ballybrae wool from my very first Elann order about four years ago.  Let's see if I can actually finish a cable pattern.  It's killing me to not start on the cover sweater from Dalegarn 126.  I bought the Gjestal sportweight for that one when I ordered it for the Hardangervidda.

I'm the lucky winner of the large Easy Weaver by Harrisville.  I rarely knit with my handspun (I have no idea why), so I thought it'd be great way to use them up in scarves until we settle down in one place and I can get a real loom.

A little note about our troops.  I subscribe to the Dept. of Defense newsletter that releases the names of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I get tired of only hearing the numbers on the news.  I feel the least I can do is read their name, age, where they're from and how they died and say a little prayer of thanks to them.  If you'd like to subscribe go here:  http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html#e-mail and click on the news releases.  I will warn you, it can get very sad.  I get an email almost every day and sometimes several times a day.

I Don't Mean To Brag....

I don't mean to brag, but c'mon....

I'm pretty stoked right now.  Look at that good lookin' guy in that gorgeous sweater!!  I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my arm from patting myself on the back. lol.  Click it.

Even the weather cooperated this morning and gave a little snow effect.

Seriously, is it any wonder why I married this man after only knowing each other two months? He proposed after we knew each other for three weeks, dated for one. Gasp!  That was over twelve years ago so I guess we weren't as nuts as everyone thought.  In our defense, we were both in the Army.   I was at NSA in Maryland and he was in San Antonio.  If we didn't get married we couldn't be together.  So we went to the JP in Annapolis, MD and we had a big church wedding a year later.  Happens a lot in the military.

I did change the bottom.  Got rid of the middle ribbing.  Dan's like me.  Plain vanilla, except he goes for the chocolate when it comes to ice cream.

We had a chat on the Elann site a couple of days ago about expert knitting.  In my opinion, if you can knit a stitch and purl a stitch, then you can make this sweater (and there's not even much purling going on).  Sure, experience helps you figure out problems and using the fudge factor when you need it, but the mechanics are all the same.  If you haven't done color knitting, try it out on a hat first, but do try it.  You'll see how easy it is and you'll have beautiful results.

A couple more bloggers joined the Red Scarf Project:

Chris: http://chrisknits.blog-city.com/

Laurie: http://grnydgrl.typepad.com/

I'm still plugging away at coming up with the right stitch pattern to use.  I'm just not happy with anything I've tried yet.  I should have bought a more interesting yarn and then I could have done just about anything....

Yarn Shortage

Didn't mean to scare anyone with that title today.  That's probably a huge faux paux in the knitting world, but what's the deal?!  Two projects in a row now where I ended up coming very close to running out of yarn.  Actually, I did run out of the gray, but got lucky enough to find someone who had extra.  Here's what I had left in the black:

From now on I'm ordering two extra balls of yarn!

But I made it.  Whew!  The Hardangervidda is done.  After several false starts on the Red Scarf Project scarf, I gave up and decided to listen to you and get Dan's sweater done.  Glad I did. 

All you get is sneak peeks today.   I'll post a picture of Dan wearing it tomorrow.  It's upstairs blocking but I took a few pictures of putting it together.  The finishing took me all day. 

The zipper was the hardest part but once I got it in there right, I was pleased with the finished result.   

Once I sewed the sleeves in I had to go back and sew the facings down that  were knit into the top of each sleeve. 

The facings do a beautiful job of hiding that mess from the cut edges. 

I also took a close-up to show the puckering that I was trying to show in the Hans.  You can see in the picture to the right how puckery my stitches are in the back.   This will all come out in blocking.

It's kind of neat to travel around the blogs and see the Red Scarf Project button.  Even neater to see the scarves everyone is making. If you haven't looked into this go to Lisa's site and check it out.  I think it's a great cause and definitely doable.  I'll be casting on my red scarf tonight.  Here are bloggers that I know are participating.  Be sure to let Lisa know if you are so she can add a link for you!

Amy: http://theboogerblog.blogspot.com/

Annie: http://knittygritty.spatterdash.org/

Erica: http://knittinmama.blogspot.com/

Kerstin: http://www.crazydaisy.us/

Kim: http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/

Margene: http://zeneedle.typepad.com/

Tracy: http://woollywarbler.typepad.com/

No More Green

Bummer.  Erica didn't get to come today.   With two babies we both didn't think it was safe for her to be on the Autobahn today.  Remember the green grass in the photo of Joe's Guernsey the other day? Yea... it's gone. Dan came home from work early to take the boys sledding.  That's our house just behind Dan. 

In the picture below you can see the Marktplatz of Ansbach. It's the area between the two church towers on the left and the yellow tower on the right.  My yarn shop is down there and it's a great walk.    If you click it you can see a little better.

  I took another picture of Daniel in his Hans all nice and blocked but it looks exactly like the one I took yesterday.  So much for before and after shots. 

Since it snowed all day it was  a perfect day to finish up the purple and blue singles for Yarn Harlot's  give-away. 

Tonight I'll either cast on a red scarf for the The Red Scarf Project or I'll finish the Hardangervidda.  I'm torn right now on which one to do.

Meet Hans

  Meet Hans... the sweater from Best of Lopi (pg 95). The boy is Daniel and you'll meet him later in this post. Was there ever any doubt I'd have it done by next Thursday?  Actually, yes.  When I realized I was cutting it a little really close with the main color.   I thought I was going to have to wait till I could get more.  Think I'm kidding?  This is what's left:

This is right off the needles.  The underarms aren't even woven yet.   I wanted to show it so that people who are new to color knitting can see it's not all smooth and even until after you block it.  As luck would have it, you can't really tell this from the picture, but hey... I tried.  I'm hoping that when I take another picture of Daniel in it tomorrow after it's dry, you'll be able to see the difference. 

Now I need to finish spinning the purple singles for Yarn Harlot's give-a-way and then cast on the red scarf for  The Red Scarf Project.  Then I'll get to finish Dan's Hardangervidda.... finally.

Erica is coming for a visit tomorrow!  She's only about an hour and a half up the road so I'll get to meet her new baby boy in person.  I'm going to make some sort of baked pasta dish for lunch (who doesn't like pasta) and then maybe we'll get to sit and knit a bit.  My friend, Mariana, is going to join us.

In chatting with Katy and Laurie, it's come to my attention that there seem to be quite a few of us knit bloggers with children who are somewhere on the Autism scale.  Daniel has Asperger's Syndrome (High Functioning Autism).  He's always been in a mainstream classroom. No one believed me that something was wrong until he was two.  His attention span was incredible for a baby.  He would watch his train go around on it's track or my spinning wheel spin for hours.  He'd watch full Disney movies and want to see them over and over again without stopping.  He has a very acute sense of smell, taste, touch and hearing.  He's very detail oriented.  It takes him an hour to tell you something (in a very monotone voice) that takes most people five minutes to relay.  He uses words that most kids his age don't and when he tries to be cool and say... well, "Cool" it doesn't come out quite right.  He just smiles.  When he's afraid of something (doctors, dentists, heights or anything that moves fast) everyone in the room knows he's scared to death.  A picture fell off of a wall once while we were in a hotel.  Daniel had to have five staples in his head and two stitches in his finger.  He was five.  Four grown men were holding him down and he fought so hard that he knocked his father's contact out, kicked his shoes off across the room and had them shaking their heads at his sheer strength when they were finally done.  It was quite a challenge for a while but he's come a very long way.  We still can't get his temp taken at the doctors because he won't hold the thermometer in his mouth. The meltdowns that used to be a daily occurrence have all but stopped.  People who just meet him, without knowing about the AS, think he's a little eccentric or quirky.  It's most obvious in social situations with children his own age.  Kids will be kids so it breaks my heart to see another child ignore Daniel or be cruel to him because they don't understand him. 

Like Laurie, I've often said that Daniel's curse is his blessing.  AS makes him SO special.  His intelligence surprises us still.  It's like he's on a whole different wave length than the rest of us.  It's like he's stuck between generations.  He would rather be alone than in a room full of kids his own age.  He thinks about stuff that never crosses our mind.  He went to Kindergarten already knowing how to read.  He taught himself from computer games and memorizing what we'd read to him.  He has lots of quirks but I wouldn't change one of them because he wouldn't be Daniel.  If you ever want to know anything about the Titanic, he's your man.  One of the common traits of AS is that the Aspie has a huge interest in one topic.  It was for this reason that we took a last minute trip to London last year when I found out they had the big Titanic Exhibit at the Science Center there and it was about to end.  If you're interested, you can see pictures from that trip here.  For years it was trains (specifically Thomas the Tank).  After reading about the Titanic in a children's book series, he had to know everything about it.  He's getting more and more interested in Space and has always loved science.

We've never had a support group or even known another Aspie so we've often wondered if it's all in our heads.... and then Daniel does something that brings us back to reality.  When an Autism Specialist first told us we went straight home and got on the internet.  We both started to cry because the Asperger's Website read like Daniel's biography.  Finally, we had something to work with.  It's important that people learn about Asperger's and Autism.  There was many a time during a meltdown in public that I'd get that evil eye from someone thinking, "What a spoiled brat!" Look at that smile.  A purer heart you'll never find.

TGIF

First, the good news!  The extra yarn I needed to finish the Hardangervidda has arrived!!  I can't tell you how relieved I am. 

Annie over on Knitty Gritty gave a link yesterday to a great project that you can help out with.  The Red Scarf Project.  I contacted Lisa and she ok'd a button I made for her.  Steal it and put it on your blog, but please save it to your own server! Thanks.  I'll be knitting a scarf as soon as I finish Daniel's sweater.

I'd like to thank everyone who wrote such kind comments and emails.  I'm really taken aback by the kindness out there.  I think I've written everyone back.  If I haven't I apologize, I just missed it somehow and please accept my thanks here.

There were a couple of people that wrote anon emails.  I'd just like to say, you are cowards (actually, I think it's just one person, but I'll never know for sure) and I'd like to address them her him whatever.  I am not stupid or uninformed and I really can't understand how you can say that from my post yesterday.  That post had nothing to do with my views except to get info out there for the support of troops.  If you think that's wrong, then I can understand why you wouldn't identify yourself.  I am not "away from the reality" just because I am not residing in the US right now.   We just moved back to Germany a year and a half ago after three years at Ft. Campbell.  Even over here, we are surrounded by Americans, American culture on post, we have CNN and all the other news programs, TV shows and even American radio.  We even have Taco Bell, Burger King and Cinnabons!  Not to mention... there's this little thing called the internet that keeps me up-to-date.  To say that I am "not in reality" is really a laugh considering that I'm right in the thick of it in a military community that is about to welcome their heroes home within days and my last thought before I fall asleep every night is that God watch over my son, Jeremy, in Mosul.  I, in no way, was implying yesterday that if you don't like Bush you don't support the troops.  That'd be a pretty difficult soap box to stand on when I do have a few friends *in* the military and family members that I adore, that don't like Bush.  My knit blog friend and fellow Army wife, Erica, is one of those that I'm proud to call a friend.  We still like each other even though our political views are different.  And while I'm at it, here's my view of the image "War President"... on the artist's own blog he describes it as art and that people will take from it what they will.  He claims that it is not intended to be a statement of any kind, it's just simply an image. That's interesting because the first time I saw it I thought it was a Tribute to the Troops and their Commander-in-Chief.  I actually felt a sadness when I found out that it's true intention was to slam the President using the photos of service members who died.  That's how I feel.  I can't help that.  I've been military my entire life (born in a Navy hospital, grew up Navy, married a Marine, went into the Army myself and then married another soldier, had all four of my boys in military hospitals) so I would think one could understand my thought process.' Nuf said.  Next time you want to email a nasty gram, try doing it from your real address and maybe I'll actually take you seriously.

My goal was to find some common ground that we all agree on and work from. Something proactive.  Most people got that and I'm grateful.   I'm so tired of the separation.  It is not a black and white issue and there are so many factors that I'm sure we all agree on.  I know we all strive for a better America.

On another positive note, yesterday's post sure did prompt a lot of comments, so those of you trying to win the prize are a whole lot closer to being #500!  Yikes it was a busy day yesterday!  ;-)

On a Positive Note

I cast this on right after I finished Joes' sweater the other day.  It's the Hans sweater from Best of Lopi (pg 95).  I'm using Winter Blue, Indigo, Natural and Primary Red (which I toned down with brown dye) Gjestal Naturgarn from Elann.  I'm up to the underarms on the body and just about finished with the first sleeve.  I promised Daniel I'd try to have it finished by next Thursday so he can wear it to school.  They have a dress code, but next Thursday is Dress Down Day.  It'll be interesting seeing him put on a turtleneck under it.  Daniel has Asperger's Syndrome and there are some things that really bother him.   Anything touching his neck, loud noises and certain smells (the boy has a sniffer like you wouldn't believe! lol).  He picked out the sweater and red, white and blue colors, so we'll see....

  In the last post I told you that Dan kept saying, "Smile right!" to the boys.  This is why:

As you can see, all that's missing is Joseph's little red horns.  lol.  The child is every bit as onerey as he looks in this photo and then some.   He is his father in every way from the tip of his hair down to his cute little Flintstone feet.

I'm going to go out on a limb here. I've been politely dismissed in blogland before, so there's really nothing to lose.  It didn't take long to learn about the politics of blogging. While a good chunk of knit blogland is protesting by showing the "War President" image, I'd like you to consider this....

If you really care about the troops and their families, how about using your energy to do something positive? Contact your representative here and support the Hero's Act Bill.  It's due to be introduced on January 24th.  There's plenty you can do to support the troops. Link to any of these that tickles your fancy:  (Links were posted here but I moved them to reside permanently in my left sidebar under Support The Troops).

The Lopi is done already!

Well that was quick, wasn't it?  It hasn't been blocked yet, but Joe wanted to try it out this afternoon.  Okay.. yea... I see it's a little big, but Daniel can get some wear out of it this year and Joe should be able to wear it next year.  He still wanted to model it for the blog since it's "his" sweater.  lol.  I'm a big believer in getting full wear out of kids clothes.  Especially if I'm knitting them.  Notice the green grass?  The last time I checked it's January and I'm in Germany.  I think that's gonna change in the next couple of days.   They're predicting the white stuff.

  Here's a picture of the change purse I gave my friend LeeAnn for Christmas.  I have one more to do for my SIL, Monica. Click it.

We had this photo done this past summer.  Forgot all about them.  It's funny because Dan, the man with the biggest smile in the world, didn't smile in any of the pictures. As the photographer was taking them he kept telling the boys, "Smile right!  Smile right!" ....  Click on it for a bigger view.

This is HILARIOUS!  I think the kid is German.  In case the song gets to you and you want to download it you can buy it from iTunes for .99.  It's called Dragostea Din Tei by Ozone.

I also keep forgetting to give you all this link that Dan sent me a while ago.  Be a sheep herder for a day!  LOL.

My friend, Bri, has ventured into blog world.  Welcome to your new bouncing baby blog, Bri!  Check her out:

Livin' A Dream

And now let's see who's paying attention.  I'm curious to see how many readers I have.  I'm having a.... shhh.... contest...  The 500th person (we're at 320 right now) to leave a comment gets the prize.  It's a Fleece Artist Donegal silk/wool T kit.  The only rule is that you can only comment once per post starting with this post.  It might take a while but I'll get a real feel for my readers and someone will get some free yarn.