Holi-Daze

Whew - seems like 'forever' since I've written!

GF Thanksgiving went very well - was at my son's & they'd gotten a GF baking mix, so Angie made a GF pie crust, & I mixed up the pumpkin filling, using coconut milk so my lactose intollerant former hubby could have some (& reminded them to save some mashed potatoes before adding the 'fixings') . . . my daughter made stove top stuffing, & just used veggies in the bird, & we had both wheat & GF rolls - delightful!
Over on 'Grain Damaged, there's a great post on gluten sensitivity,Several of my friends seem irritated that I'm avoiding gluten, tho I 'don't have celiac disease' - I tell them I'd rather not 'find out' by becoming seriously ill! This article really explains it well!

I've been divorced ~ 20 years, (& married ~ 18) & my 'X' & I were always friends, so it's pretty easy to spend family holidays together. His 93 yr old mom & ~ 15 year old son both came as well.

Since then it's been work n dance & reading & . . . Knitting!
It's kind of 'if you give a mouse a cookie.' (if you start knitting a project, you're going to want to visit the yarn shop, if you visit the yarn shop, . . .)

My mom, majorally 'crafty,' taught me to knit when I was a kid, & then again several times. Over the years, I've knit various things - socks (usually in the round), leg warmers, dolls (basically like a gloves), shells - but I can't recall ever knitting a 'grown up' sweater! My mom made her own sweaters, using pretty sport weight yarn - usually synthetic, as the crutches wore holes in wool pretty quickly. I've made doll sweaters, & sweaters for kids . . .

So a few weeks ago I was at the library, looking for a book in the Young Adult area & kind of browsing the shelves, when I came upon Elizabeth Lennard's 'Chicks with Sticks' - a series about teens in Chicago who take up knitting, & form friendships & a S & B group 'don't mind the Frogs' (ripping out 'mistakes')

A few weeks before that , I'd paid a visit to our local yarn shop & picked up a couple of skeins of varigated yarn for leg warmers (for me) & some pink to begin ones for the little ballerina granddaughters. I'd run out of one of the pinks (all gathered from the 'sale' boxes :) so ventured back, hoping to find one more ball of that pink 'superwash' wool. YES! Mmm mmmm mmm

One of the 30% off boxes held a pile of soft & cushy'Merino Frappe' & I got a handful of skeins in pink, then looked through the sale books. Like cookbooks, folks probably only knit (or crochet or . . .) a couple of patterns from any one book, so I often just get a few from the library. But this one had a cute ballet sweater, & I thought it would knit up nicely in the 'frape' . . .

So I also got 'Speed Knitting' (Kris Percival) & began the sweater with a delightful raspberry pink yarn. The ties turned out way long (I followed the instructions!) So I think I'll trim them back, & maybe felt the leftover ends! My mom had a sweater in almost the same raspberry, so it reminds me of her. Lois had a great 'eye' for matching colours, & would knit afgans in sport yarn, slippers, & for awhile, cotton bandage 'strips' for soldiers!

Today the project is some fingerless gloves - it's COLD outside (OK, so it is December!) I chatted on the phone to a crafty friend who lives in Portland & also knit as we talked - our own little crafty session!

I need to begin making my 'Mom's group' gifts for our Brunch next weekend! (I've knit cute little neckwarmers, this year I'm sewing something) . . . but also need to finish that glove . . .
What are you working on??