Amazingly in Cincinnati today we reached a high of 69 degrees. On December 27th. Given the proper warnings for unseasonably warm weather, Patrick and I had made plans. We decided an outdoor adventure would be perfect, since it's likely to be another 60-90 days before such nice weather kisses our brows!
We checked our maps, dressed appropriately, packed our lunch, grabbed Titan and headed to Loveland, Ohio. The three of us explored a part of the bike trail we would likely never get to on our bikes. The trail was full (again, to the chagrin of the Tour de France wannabees) of families walking, people jogging, people and their dogs enjoying the break in what has been a cold Ohio winter.
I don't know how far we walked. It seemed like it was many miles, though I'd be afraid to find out it wasn't even one mile. Patrick was sure he'd burned off a few hundred calories, of course, that helped balance out the few hundred calories he'd gotten from the Coke he was drinking. The headline for this blog was influenced by the bells that played in downtown Loveland. We did walk long enough to hear two songs... ironically one was "Let it Snow." I'm hoping to visit this part of the trail with my bike when spring arrives for more than 24 hours.
My knitting is sparse considering the amount of time I've spent reading instead. Alison had talked me into seeing Twilight when it came out at the end of November and I was hooked. I saw the movie again with Nancy, and I finished the last book in the Twilight Saga on Christmas morning. I'm feeling the same loss for the Cullen family that I felt at the end of the Harry Potter series. There won't be any more evenings in Forks just as there are no more new school years at Hogwarts. Now the search to find something to fill that hole. Always the danger when you get wrapped up too much in a book series.
Anyway, I was talking about knitting. This blog's greatest number of hits are usually from people looking for patterns to use their Speed Stix and I've made several afghans from the pattern posted on the Lion Brand website that is free. As noted in previous posts though, my friend Jane and I decided to forego the fringe and do "knitted row" edges. Fringe done with with Homespun isn't attractive.
In my latest afghan, a Christmas gift for one of Patrick's teachers, I did four rows knitted on each end, and then on the sides there were 4 stitches on each that were knit, whether it was a knit or purl row. I don't have the accurate Homespun color names for this one, I used a lot of yarn I had from past Christmas' where I had made these afghans and had quite a stash for more. The main colors are an olive green, red, cream and a dark blue that had a thread of red running through it, which I believe is a color that is discontinued. It made a nice Christmas afghan as you can see from the pictures, but the color scheme didn't necessarily scream "CHRISTMAS" when you see it under natural light.
I started another afghan with yarn that I had in my stash and will post pictures of those colors. I'm doing the same pattern with the same change (knitting rows to border all 4 edges). Another quickie gift. I've also taken the remnant balls of yarn from all the afghans I'd made in the past and started doing 7" squares that I'm planning on piecing together for a blanket. Despite how inexpensive Homespun is, I really like the feel and the colors. Now that I've mentioned it, I need to work on it and get it done!
For those of you who are looking for patterns to use your speed stix I found a really nice booklet at a Michaels recently, and it's available online at Amazon.com as well: Quick Knits with Speed Stix (Leisure Arts #4165). The patterns use a lot of Lion Brand Homespun, some of the Lion Brand Fur yarns, as well as Incredible (ribbon tape yarn). Patterns include a nice coat, a vest with and without a lapel type collar, some decor items, a fashionable scarf, a caplet, and more. I've not finished anything yet, I am doing a scarf to use up some Incredible and Trellis yarns left over from another project. The sizes given range from small to 2X, the clothing items tend to be more for adult women (no kids patterns). I'd love to reach a skill level where it only takes me the few hours they cite in the pattern. There's only so much time available though isn't there?
