Everyday Cardigan

March 16, 2009 By Carole

I told myself last Friday that if my hair came out good I’d put on the Everyday Cardigan and take some self portraits. So here we are. And can I just say? Self portraits are hard!

Taking self portraits involves a lot of walking back and forth. Move the tripod closer. Take a photo with the remote. Walk back and check. Move the tripod closer still. Take a photo with the remote. Walk back and check. You get the idea. It takes a while.

And you feel a little silly, too. Holding up the collar, throwing your arms out to the side, posing for no one in site – you hope! But it was worth it because I really wanted to show you my new favorite sweater.

The fit is just what I wanted and the color is great. Sometimes it looks green, sometimes brown, but it always has those colorful flecks of blue and purple and pink and white. I only made one modification to the pattern – I lengthened it by a couple of inches. Easy to do and it made it much more wearable for me.

I thought I might have a hard time finding buttons that would match but I actually found 3 different ones that I liked. I went with these metal ones and I love them. I also love the way the collar is knit. You pick up stitches and then knit 2X2 rib and then a few rows of garter stitch. This makes a pretty little roll and I think this style collar should be used more often.

I’ve worn it a LOT since I finished it and that’s the real test. And Peace Fleece, while it may be a little bit scratchy until it’s been washed a few times, doesn’t pill!

I guess this is all meant to say: I love it!

Things I Did This Weekend

January 26, 2009 By Carole

In no particular order, this weekend I:

~Bought myself some tulips.

I’m so sick of snow and ice and cold. These helped to brighten things up a bit. Thanks for the suggestion, Deb!

~Baked a pound cake.

It wasn’t as light and fluffy as I thought it would be but it was good. Those of you who know me know that I bake when I’m stressed which leads me to . . .

~Moved more stuff out of my father’s mobile home. It feels like every time we take one step forward we take two steps back. I could sure use any good thoughts, prayers and energy that you could send my way this week. I won’t say more right now but things might actually be moving in the right direction.

~Went to the movies. The Oscar nominations are out and now my goal is to see as many of the nominated films as I can so yesterday we saw Frost/Nixon. It was fantastic. Go!

~Hung out with Mason.

That’s for you, Cookie.

What did you do this weekend?

It’s Cold Outside. And Inside, Too.

December 8, 2008 By Carole

I had a restful and relaxing weekend. Dale had some commitments so I had plenty of free time for hanging around, watching tv, and knitting. Yesterday we did a bit of Christmas shopping and decorating at home and then last night we went to Vespers at Wheaton College, my alma mater.

But all day yesterday I felt kind of off. Punky, if you are familiar with that term. Not quite sick but not quite right either. I went to bed last night hoping to feel better this morning but that’s not the case. I now have a legitimate cold. Stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, body ache – you know the drill. Ugh.

Today will be spent drinking tea and napping. Maybe there will be some knitting but right now all I want to do is sleep.

K is for Kitchen Table

July 17, 2008 By Carole

This is our kitchen table:

It’s simple and beautiful and – here’s why it’s special – it used to belong to Dale’s grandmother. This is the table that Dale’s dad grew up with and by some stroke of luck it wound up with us.

I truly love it. I remember when we were doing the kitchen over and Dale asked me if I wanted to get a new table. I thought he was kidding as it never would occur to me that we would get rid of it.

The wood is worn and gouged. There are marks from where Dale’s Swedish grandmother set down the ever-present coffee pot.

There’s even a mark from a night when Sharon and I, drinking perhaps too much wine, dyed some yarn and left a stain on the table.

Yes, it’s scarred and stained and burned. But it’s where my family sits down to dinner every night. It’s where I roll out pie crust and decorate cupcakes. It’s where Hannah did her homework when she was little and it’s where Dale rolls countless Swedish meatballs every Christmas. And as we do all those things we remember that those same things were done by generations before us.

This table is a part of our family and I can’t imagine our kitchen without it.

J is for Jewelry Box

June 25, 2008 By Carole

This jewelry box belonged to my mother and it was one of the first things I brought back to my house after she died. I bought it for her for her birthday in 1975 when I was 10 years old. I saw it at the store and fell in love with it because I thought it looked like something a princess would have and of course my mom was a princess to me.

Honestly, I don’t know if she truly liked it or not. The green certainly didn’t match her bedroom and the style was probably a little fancy for her taste. But she used it for the rest of her life and that’s saying something.

Even though it’s been on my bureau for over ten years now I’ve never actually cleaned it out and moved my jewelry into it – it’s still filled with her rings and necklaces, earrings and pins. Boy did she have a lot of big pins!

When I was little I would go in my mom’s bedroom and play with her jewelry. I would put on her rings and necklaces and pretend I was a princess.

Now all this jewelry belongs to me and someday it will belong to Hannah. I love the continuity of that. J is for a Jewelry box full of memories.