Here we are at Saturday again and that means you get to learn 5 more things about me.  I thought it might be useful to share some of the tips and techniques I use for various knitting projects, so this Saturday’s things are all about knitting.

1. I knit almost exclusively on Addi Turbo circs. I have just about every size and length I need at this point and I hardly ever bother with straight needles anymore.
2. When I knit my picot edge socks, or any other sock pattern that has a row repeat I need to keep track of, I use my beginning of the round stitch marker to keep track of my rows. I simply move it in one stitch for each row that I’ve knit. For instance, if I’m on row 1, the marker is in one stitch from the beginning of the round. Row 2 is 2 stitches in, etc. This makes it really easy to keep track of my place and I don’t have to count rows.
3. I use a traditional row counter for tracking increases and decreases. I have a system that uses the 2 numbers on the counter separately. For instance, if I am knitting sleeves (which I have been and the Spartan Sweater for Dale is done) I use the right hand number to track how many rows I’ve knit and the left hand number to track how many repeats I’ve done.  So number 24 means I have completed 2 increases and am on the 4th row of the current number of increases. I hope that makes sense – it’s kind of hard to explain.
4. Speaking of sleeves, I knit both at once. This is an easy way of making sure they come out the same.
5. Finally, when I am charted designs I use a LoRan magnetic board. I’ve had this since my days of doing counted cross stitch and I find it perfect for keeping track of my place on a complicated lace chart.

Did you learn anything new?

I’ve been doing some reorganizing and rearranging of my yarn stash and will post details and pictures of the whole project soon but in the meantime, here’s a picture of my collection of Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn. 38 skeins, in case you are counting. That’s a lot of yarn, my friends.

Maybe I should knit some socks this weekend, eh? Have a good one!

Is it really the third Thursday in November already? Sometimes I think these weekly themed posts make the weeks fly by too quickly. Surely it isn’t my advanced age.

Anyway, this week I am thankful for:

1. Our woodstove. It’s a beautiful soapstone stove that we bought right before we got married and I love it. There’s really nothing quite like a fire to provide not just warmth but also a high coziness factor. Dale replaced the glass on the front of the stove this week and I can’t believe how clean and beautiful the fire looks now. While it’s certainly extra work to haul wood, the benefits are wonderful.
2. Hannah’s upcoming homecoming. It’s only 5 sleeps away now and I can’t wait to have my girl back under my roof for several nights. I haven’t seen her since 10/10/10 and I’ve really missed her.
3. My ability to cook. I don’t mean this to sound conceited but I’m really thankful that I can plan and prepare meals for my family. We save money, we eat more nutritious food, and I get a lot of pleasure in showing my love for people in this way. Whether it’s a fancy dinner like last Saturday night’s filet mignon with baked potato and brussels sprouts with maple butter pecans, or something simple like American Chop Suey (yes, I said IT), or a homemade apple pie, it’s always delicious and it always makes me happy.

Reflecting on thankfulness makes me happy, too.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving south from the library to the Council on Aging, I noticed that Savery Avenue was looking particularly picturesque.

I’m betting you’ve never heard of Savery Avenue so I’ll explain – it’s located in Carver and it’s the nation’s first divided highway. It was presented to the town by William Savery in 1861. At that time Mr. Savery indicated that the  trees between the roads and on the outside of them were to be left for “shade and ornament for man and beast.”

And that’s how it has been ever since. I’m embarrassed to say that, even though I’ve worked in Carver for 11 years, I had never actually driven down Savery Avenue before this day. But when it looked so beautiful and perfectly autumn-like I just had to pull over and take photos. I finished my photo shoot by driving down the avenue and it is truly beautiful. There are benches all along the way and I’m told that lots of people walk the loop as a daily ritual.

The town has applied to have Savery Avenue placed on the National Register of Historic Places and they are currently awaiting approval of their application.

Savery Avenue. Definitely historic. Definitely savory.

Today’s Ten on Tuesday idea comes from our very own JessaLu.  Since there are so many movies I want to go see right now and since Oscar season will be here before you know it, we agreed to write about 10 Movies You’d Like to See in the Theater.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  First on my list because it’s the one I’m most excited about.
2. Fair Game. I’ve been fascinated by the Valerie Plame case for ages and I think it’s awesome that Hollywood is shining a light on this.
3. For Colored Girls. The new Color Purple, perhaps? The cast is awesome and I bet it will be a great movie.
4. Conviction. This is a local story for us and I bet the movie is great. I hear that the real Betty Anne Waters was not happy that they made this movie and you know that controversy always makes for a better picture.
5. Love and Other Drugs. I love a good romance and this one has the potential to be a tragic romance, which will make it even better.
6. Secretariat. I loved Sea Biscuit so why not this one, too? And also, John Malkovich.
7. The Social Network. We live in a world where communication is always changing. I definitely want to see the movie that’s about one of my favorite ways of staying in touch with friends.
8. The Next 3 Days. Two words: Russell Crowe. Okay, one more word: yummmmmm
9. Unstoppable. You have to love a good action flick, particularly on the big screen.
10. Red. I really only want to see this one for the unique cast. Malkovich and Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker? Oh yeah.

I love the movies!

On Saturday Dale and I met up with members of our Kiwanis club to decorate the town common for Christmas. It may seem like we are rushing the season but the trees for our annual Christmas tree sale are arriving next weekend and this had to be done first. It turned out to be a gorgeous day – warm enough to do our work without coats, even!

There is a lot of fencing around our common and every bit of it had to be draped with a piece of garland and then a bow had to be added to make it festive. Luckily we had a lot of help from our Key Club kids.

We also had help from these cable ties. I used to think that aluminum foil was the greatest invention of our day but I’ve changed my mind and now I think it’s cable ties. They made the decorating process go so smoothly. We had a conversation about the best length and decided that 8 inches was a bit too short, 12 inches was a bit too long but 10 inches was just right. And not one of us had a dirty thought in our minds. Hard to believe, I know.

One of the best things about Dale is that he’s always happy with what he’s doing. Work or play, he has a smile on his face. And work like this is the best kind of work because it benefits lots of people.

It’s true that many hands make light work and we had a lot of hands helping us out. We got the entire common, including the gazebo, decorated in just about an hour.

Now that’s what I call a productive morning.

I did a lot of plying this weekend.

The end.

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for five more things about me.

1. My 5th blogiversary was last January 29th and I forgot to blog about it. A major milestone like that and I forgot? I should’ve turned in my blogging license months ago.
2. I hate to pump gas. Hate. it. I actually try to leave the tank empty for when Dale drives my car so that he will have to pump the gas. I’m not even sure what it is I hate about it. Obviously if it’s cold or raining then it stinks but I even hate it in the summer when the weather is beautiful. I think it’s the standing there and waiting and doing nothing that makes me crazy.
3. The other morning, while driving to work, I saw a magnificent 8 point buck by the side of the rode. He was in a clearing and there were beautiful fall leaves on the ground and in the trees behind him and he stood there, perfectly motionless, looking back at me. It was amazing.
4. I am a morning person. I love to get up early (okay, I define early as 6) on the weekends and enjoy the quiet. I check my email and facebook and read blogs and then I knit. It’s my favorite time of the day.
5. I have several lenses for my camera but I tend to get into ruts with them. I’ll leave the wide angle on for weeks. Or I’ll use the original lens that came with the camera for a while. Today I remembered that I have a prime lens and I put that on the camera – we’ll see how long this one stays there but I predict it will be a while.

And that makes 10, for those of you keeping track.

This is the shed in my father-in-law’s backyard. I shot it from my backyard. In fact, I barely had to get off my deck. I’ve been meaning to take a photo of it for weeks. Someone on flickr pointed out yesterday that I could do a whole series on this shed and I’m thinking that would be fun. Jack’s Shed Through the Seasons, or something like that. I’m in!

Happy weekend, my friends! Take some pictures!!

You know what I really love about Thankful Thursdays? It actually makes me think about being thankful all week long. You see, I plan my posts in my head and this makes me think of all kinds of things I could list when it comes time to write my Thankful Thursdays post. It transcends Thursdays, my friends.

This week I am thankful for:

1. Veterans. Today is Veteran’s Day and I am thankful for the men and women that served our country. I am thankful for those that volunteered for this service and I am thankful for those that were drafted into service. I am grateful that they sacrificed their time with their families in order to protect mine.
2. Kiwanis. I love being a part of an organization that does so much good for our community. Last week we donated $500 to a local child who suffers from Spastic Quadriplegia Cystic Fibrosis. It was an instant and unanimous decision and it feels great to give away money like that – and that’s just one example of the kind of things we do for the people.  Tonight we are assembling care packages to send to our soldiers who are overseas. We work hard at our fundraisers like selling Christmas trees and the Pancake Breakfast, but it’s wonderful to be part of a group that exists for the sole purpose of helping others.
3. Wheaton College. When I went to Wheaton it was a small liberal-arts college for women. It was (and still is) a gorgeous campus and I know without a doubt that it was the exact right place for me to be. I would not be the woman I am today if I had gone anywhere else. Things have changed at Wheaton, in fact the decision to go co-ed was made on the weekend I graduated, but I think the school is still a remarkable place. Last week I heard that the son of an acquaintance is applying “early decision” to go there, just as I did 28 years ago. While it’s still strange to me to hear about a man going to my alma mater, I’m thankful it’s still there and I’m so thankful for the experiences I had as a student there.

Being thankful feels good. And it’s contagious, too.