Alas.....it's in the 60's outside and that just isn't supposed to be the case here in the western mountains of Virginia in January.  I have long passed being ready for a BIG SNOW...there should be incheesssss on the ground but there is none, and my little rows of growing Swiss Chard in the garden are mild comfort for not having a blanket of white covering the ground.  News sources say it's La Nina's fault--am I surprised?  No, and the first thing that pops into my head is, "Aren't they always blaming a woman? Why would the weather be any different?" Geeezzzz.....whine, whine, whine. 

So what's a crafty woman to do?  Certainly, as the proverbial English teacher, I have papers to grade and students waiting anxiously (well, mostly!) for them.  And three weeks into the semester I can proudly say that I am not behind in the grading.......yet.  I do have to be honest.  There comes a time when it catches up to critical mass level, but right now I can sigh and say, "I'm on track!"  You probably won't see that statement in, say.......March.

Right now, though, it's a Friday and after a week of helping students discover they can indeed develop good ideas, devoid of text-message style comments, I'm ready to not look at papers or anything related to my classes.  So I decided to do a little surfing and find some temptation....in the yarn area.  Back several months ago, I found some wonderful thread on Etsy and gave in, buying two amazing skeins that now sit patiently waiting for me to get to them. 

The first, "Clouds in my Coffee," is a creamy blend of superwash merino and a tiny bit of nylon that I saw on a quick Ravelry blurp that directed me to its maker....and I was hooked.  The second hank I ordered almost gave me heart failure and then tested every ounce of my patience, through no fault of its own, mind you.  The story starts Christmas 2010 when my husband scrambled to buy a yarn swift and ball-maker for me.....and with some friend consulting succeeded.  I was so excited as I had a few--well MANY--hanks of yarn I needed to ball, and with delighted determination, I set out one evening to do just that with all those lovely twisted lengths.  Someone should have warned me about winding too fast...but they didn't. 

About halfway through turning "Artichoke" into a lovely readiness for knitting, the hank flew off the swift--which I'm sure had nothing to do with how fast I was winding it--and I had a massive mess of thread to detangle.  The gasp that escaped me still echoes in my head.  Lesson learned--and many hours later, after some very tedious and careful untangling, I managed to finish a beautiful, albeit slightly less perfectly wound, ball of exquisitely colored yarn.  The thread's creator, Inspired mama Makes, has plenty of other gorgeous tempations....just in case anyone is interested....it's so lovely soft!  And just one other little observation:  See the tag next to the yarn?  Well, I just love 'em--they're "recycled" coffee slips--you know the little cardboard ones that slip onto a hot cup at Starbucks or Peets?  The shop owner has attached her label with all the info on the yarn neatly enscribed and pasted it to a section of the coffee slip.  Very creative...and useful!

One of these days there will be a scarf....socks...something wonderful out of these threads.  Right now two other projects are hollering (literally!!) at me--the camisole for my daughter and a very cozy blanket for my grandson--both more than worthy temptations and I'm heading to them right now!  My students will be glad I took a break because knitting calms me down and puts me in a much happier mood :)

New Year....Long Lists.....

Such good intentions, aren't they....those ones we have just a few days before the New Year and after.  And then it happens.  The List takes leaps and bounds overnight, and suddenly the months ahead are filled with so many I-will-dos that serious doubt creeps in.....when will I ever get it all done?? 

That List of (Hope) To Do includes a baby gift, just a simple little snuggy, several pairs of socks (I joined Ravelry's 12 Socks in 12 Months--how crazy is that??), some more small home things, more than a few knitties for daughters and family, and even a couple of things for me (at the end of the list).  Those aren't the details--the list goes on and on, so I have to prioritize and then stick to the priority list.  Yep--I know the process, but in the midst of so many things happening in my work, family, and community that I keep my fingers into, I'm feeling that "Oh mercy!" pull.  Send encouragement!!!

I did, however, have to laugh at how I wasn't doing myself or my list any favors as I rustled around Ravelry and other sites one evening.  In my rummagings, I came across this site:  DROPS Designs.  If you've never visited, don't go unless you have some time.  I'm not kidding.  When Lion Brand yarn opened up all of their patterns for free, I was amazed and hooked and my printer ran like riverwater printing off patterns until it dawned on me that the patterns weren't going anywhere and I needed to be more choosy.  DROPS almost made me forget that epiphany.  Take a look, but again, have time to spend.

Staring me in the face in my family room are 3 baskets of yarn....full baskets....and I have to get organized, start the first pair of socks, find the yarn for the baby snuggly, get my daughter's cami on the needles so she'll have it by warm weather, and put all the rest of those "ideas" into place, so I can grab and go.  With a grandson (and mom and dad, of course!) moving to South Carolina and my other daughters also miles away, I have a feeling I'll need some travel knitting close at hand. 

Here's to 2012 and an already busy, busy start!!