An update.

I've been putting off blogging for some time now because I didn't know how to write what was going on with me lately.

It's been a rough couple months here for my family and I. In the beginning of May, my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer.

She had been having headaches and vision problems for a few weeks, but chalked it up to sinuses and a concussion.

One day, she was on her way to the office, and she ended up geting into a car accident. She didn't see the car that she hit, even after she hit it. That's when she realized that there was something really wrong with her.

My dad took her to the hospital here in town, and a later that night, she was transfered to a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania.

We learned that she had a brain tumor, and shortly after that, they preformed brain surgery. They couldn't remove all of the tumor.

Since then, we have learned that it is brain cancer, and she started treatment. She has a period of radiation and chemo, and once that is finished, she has more chemo.

The radiation is five days a week, so every morning during the week, my dad and her head up to Pennsylvania for her treatment.

This whole thing has just been mind blowing and life altering, for all of us. I never thought anything like this would happen to my mom.

My mom can't do a lot right now. The tumor affected her vision. She can't drive, she can't write, there's just so much she used to do that she can't. Her short term memory has been affected as well. She's not the person she used to be in a way. She used to be independent, and now, she's relying on us for so much more than she used to. She feels sick a lot as well. She has her good days and her bad days. It breaks my heart to see her like this.

I wanted to do something for her. Something more than just step up and help take care of the house and of her. I wanted to give her something that would keep her warm on her daily visits to the hospital and to the doctor's offices. Something that would comfort her. I decided to knit her a shawl.





The pattern is the Seraphim Shawl by Mimknits. The yarn is Posh Laura, and 80% merino/20% cashmere blend. And the shawl, it's everything I wanted it to be. A comfort shawl. My mom loves it and uses it well.

Finally.

Tax season is over. Now I just have to deal with the mad rush to get the Quarterly Payrolls finished up by the end of April, and then I can breathe easy.

Spring is here, and I am really enjoying the beautiful weather, and the beautiful scenery.




One of the perks of living in a farming town. Beautiful fruit trees, in full bloom. This summer, these will yield peaches, and from them I will be making Peach Cobbler and Peach Jam. Yum.




In knitting news, I have finished my first Wollmeise sock. I love this yarn. I'd be happy if I knit with nothing else for the rest of my life.




Edited to add: I forgot to mention in my original post that the photographs of the peach trees were taken by Joe. I can't take any credit for them. :)

Hello, Beautiful.

I finally cast on for my first Wollmeise sock. This yarn is something else. I've never knit with anything like it. It's shiny and vibrant. It feels more like cotton than wool, but nonetheless, is still enjoyable to knit. I can't wait to see what these bad boys are going to be like when they're off the needles.



There is so much hype around this yarn. It is everything people say it is. Look at those vibrant colors. Claudia is a freaking genius!

Don't leave home without it!

Every knitter needs a good knitting bag. I have a ton of bags buried on the bottom of my closet that didn't live up to my expectations. Some small enough for just a sock in progress, some big enough for an entire afghan. My perfect bag is somewhere in between. Big enough to carry a pattern and a few balls of yarn, with enough pockets to keep all of my essentials within reach.

I'm happy to report that I have finally found that bag.



Joe's extremely talented sister sews bags like this and sells them via Etsy. She also does custom bags via her own web page. She's got a huge fabric stash and is amazing with a sewing machine. Her bags are also reasonably priced. Head on over to her website and check them out! If you want to order one, tell her I sent you!

Joe's sister Debbie made this bag for me last December. Joe gave her an idea as to fabric colors and suggestions, and she took his ideas and ran with it. I absolutely love it. I carry it everywhere with me. It's spacious and roomy inside. Currently I have a scarf, two socks, and an extra ball of yarn sitting in it. It's big enough that I can also fit a pattern or two in it.


It has a total of 16 pockets inside. Four, big enough for a pen, highlighter, a set of dpn's, a cable needle, whatever your little heart desires, and then four bigger ones. I keep a small bottle of lotion, an easter egg I use for darning, a little container of stitch markers and needles, and two row counters in them.


It even has a magnetic closure to keep everything secure and tucked away safely. (Although, I will admit I stuff this bag so full, I don't close it. But still, I haven't lost anything out of it.)


The bottom line is that every knitter needs a bag like this, so why not support an indie crafter the next time you're shopping for that perfect bag. Debbie offers several different sized bags, and also makes a variety of other items, all customizable with fabric colors and patterns, and embroidery options.

Love.

The Lace Ribbon Scarf is finished and off the needles.

I love this scarf so much, it was hard for me to see it go. But in the end, it made it's way into Joe's sister's hands. She loved it.

It was an enjoyable knit. A quick knit. It was also a great way to use up one of those skeins of sock yarn I had laying around.

The specifics:
Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf from the latest issue of Knitty.
Needles: US #3
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, Gothic Rose colorway.
Gauge: Somewhere between 5.5 - 6 stitches and inch.
Modifications: Cast on 44 stitches for a narrower scarf.
Notes: This was a fun pattern. It was easy to memorize, but surprisingly, not at all boring. The final scarf was 8 inches wide, and 4 feet, 4 inches long. When all was said and done, I had about 2 ounces of yarn still left! I highly recommend this pattern and have every intention of knitting one of these for myself!

For those of you wondering....

Becca asked in the comments how wide the Lace Ribbon Scarf was. After blocking, it's about 8 inches wide. That's with 44 sts cast on.

Blocking really opens up the lace pattern

By the way, if you have a minute or two, check out Becca's new Wollmeise socks (on Ravelry, click here.) She'll be sharing the pattern for free with all of us once she has it written up. I can't wait to knit myself a pair. They are stunning!

Not socks!

I love knitting socks. They're portable, relatively quick and can vary from simple to complex. But lately, I've been thinking about what it was like before socks. I kind of miss knitting other things.

So this weekend, I cast on for a scarf. It's a birthday present for Joe's sister. Her birthday is tomorrow, and well, it will not be finished. I'm aiming for Easter. (For once I can honestly say that the tardiness of this hand knit gift is not my fault. Joe has a bad habit of mentioning family birthdays to me at the very last minute. Grrrr.)

I wish I could keep this one for myself!

The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, in the Gothic Rose colorway. It's a second, so it's actually a little darker than what the colorway is supposed to be, and personally, I think that I love it more than I would if it was "normal".

The pattern is The Lace Ribbon Scarf from the new knitty. It's an easy pattern to memorize and not at all boring. I cast on 44 stitches, which is less than the pattern calls for because I wanted a skinnier scarf. At 44 stitches, it is still incredibly wide. The next one I knit, I'll be casting on 35 stitches.

My latest addiction.

The first time I saw A Swell Yarn Shop's Duet sock yarn. I thought it was genius. I absolutely loved the idea of contrasting toes & heels. But I'm not a fan of sport or DK weight sock yarn. I'm a fingering weight kind of gal. So I just filed it away as "maybe one day...."

Then A Swell Yarn Shop debuted it's Skinny Duet sock yarn. I just knew that one day, some of it would find it's way into my stash and on to my needles. But still I held off. The thought of all of those extra ends to weave in stopped me in my tracks. I'm a lazy knitter. I hate finishing.

But about a month ago, I was browsing The Loopy Ewe and a few skeins fell into my cart. Next thing I knew, I tripped, accidently hit the paypal button and had some new to me yarn on it's way to me.

Bought from a Ravelry destash. My favorite skein to date.

Once the yarn arrived, I knew I was going to like it, what I didn't know was how head over heels (pun kind of intented) I would fall for it.

I don't know how Angela, the genius behind Duet Sock Yarn, does it, but this yarn does not pool at all. I love watching it knit up without those gigantic pools of color most sock yarns produce. The yarn is super soft once washed, in fact, I think it's safe to say this yarn is the softest yarn I've worn to date. It also produces socks a little thinner than I've become accustomed to knitting, and I just love it. They fit comfortably inside of my work shoes.

So Pretty!

The Specifics:
Yarn: Skinny Duet in Spring Glen
Needles: Knitpicks Circular, size US 0, 32 inches
Pattern: None. Just my standard stockinette stitch sock.
Notes: I opted to leave contrasting ribbing off because I wasn't sure how much yarn I would have for the heels and toes. Once finished with the sock, I realized two things. I had enough to do at least some ribbing, and I could easily make the leg longer without worrying about running out of yarn.

See! No pooling.

Yum... Yarntini!

Yum.... Yarntini!
(from L to R: Appletini, Three Rivers, Pumpkin Spice, Sangria, McDreamy, Ice)

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to catch a Yarntini update at Woolgirl. I quickly selected a few skeins and checked out, thrilled that not one of them was stolen from my shopping cart by someone who was just a little quicker than I was.

The next day however, there was an email in my inbox from Jen, the owner of Woolgirl. My heart sank as I read that the shopping cart over sold one colorway to two people and I was one of those unlucky two.

Jen offered me either a refund, a store credit, or a chance to exchange that skein for a skein of anything else in the store. She also offered to let me have first pick from her next shipment of Yarntini to make up for it.

I couldn't believe my luck. I mean, you all know how hard it is to get your hands on Yarntini. I felt like I should be thanking Jen for the shopping cart fiasco.

The next shipment was due in November of last year, but Jessie, the brilliant dyer behind Yarntini was pregnant, and so everything was (rightfully) put on back order.

Jen did a great job of keeping me updated of when the Yarntini was expected to arrive, and then last weekend, I got the email telling me it was here. A few days later, it arrived at my house.

I have to say, Jen went above and beyond what I personally feel she was obligated to do. She is an amazingly sweet, kind person, and has more than won me over. She has made me a fan of all things Woolgirl, and a customer for life. Since her first email, I have joined one of Woolgirl's sock clubs, been lucky enough to make it on to the list for the Charlie Brown, It's An Easter Beagle kit, and have added many of her yarns to my wish list.

My favorite... Pumpkin Spice

Helena's Happyland Fun-Time Sock Club!

First, let me say that Joe and I both appreciate all of your kind words in response to my last blog entry. I told him that some of you were interested in how to get a bottle of your very own Mohawk Farms Blueberry Wine, and we decided the best route to go about this is for anyone who is going to be in this area and interested in a bottle should let me know in advance. Going to the farm is probably a bad idea as they are building a new camp, some of the men are on there way up to move in, and they are starting to get ready for the upcoming blueberry season, it's going to be a zoo down there shortly!

I wish that I could send all of you a bottle, but mailing alcohol requires licenses and permits, and it is just impossible for me to do so. :(




That pretty looking banner right above there... Joe made that for me. I get such a kick out of it! (Make sure you click on it to make it bigger! I love how he made Happyland Fun-Time look like it has little knit stitches in it!)

By now it is no secret that I am addicted to knitting socks. I just can't get enough sock yarn, or sock clubs for that matter. A while ago The Loopy Ewe held sign ups for their sock club. Since there were so many people who threw their name into the hat, they held a lottery, picking new members at random. I threw my name into the hat, but alas, did not get a spot in the club.

At first, I was a little disappointed. But I quickly realized that I have a ton of beautiful sock yarn laying around that is not being used. There are also a ton of patterns out there I want to knit.

So I decided to start my own sock club. I picked six skeins of yarn, and six patterns, threw them into bags, threw them into a dresser drawer and decided every other month I would pick one.

Joe named it Helena's Happyland Fun-Time Sock Club, and it was so cute, I had to go along with it. A few days later, he surprised me with that banner to use every other month when I blog about my personal sock club selections!

February's selection was a pattern I had knit before, but just fell in love with. The yarn however was one I had not yet had a chance to try.


Pattern: River Rapids by Sockbug
Yarn: Yarn Pirate BFL in Wintergreen, purchased from The Loopy Ewe
Needles: US size 0
Gauge: 8sts/inch
Mods: The pattern calls for a sport weight yarn, knit to a gauge of 7.5 sts/inch. I subbed a fingering weight sock yarn at a gauge of 8 sts/inch for a perfect fit. Other than that, I followed the pattern exactly as written.


All in all, I am really pleased with this sock. The yarn is super soft, and the color is absolutely stunning. The only complaint I have, and it's not even a complaint, just something to note, is that the yarn doesn't have a nice crisp stitch definition like some other yarns I've worked with. I still highly recommend it though!

Now I just need to finish up the second one, so I have a matching pair to wear!

The fruit of Joe's labor.

Today I have something really cool to share with you guys that is not knitting related at all. In fact, it's something I took no part in creating at all. This one is all Joe.

Joe is a blueberry farmer. The farm has been in the family for something like 85 years. His great grandfather bought the first piece of land, which then was passed on to Joe's grandfather, and then on to Joe's dad. The farm has expanded considerablly since that first piece of land was purchased and today is a sight to be seen. The farm and everything it stands for really and truly means a lot to Joe and he hopes one day that the torch will be passed to him.

Those of you who have traveled through New Jersey on the Atlantic City Expressway have seen the farm. Right near exit 28, you can see the packing house, emblazoned with the name "Mohawk Farms."

Joe and his grandfather, whom everyone calls Mohawk, have in the past dabbled in wine making on the side.

After taking a break from it for a few years, last year they decided to give it another go. This time around the whole family pitched in, which resulted in the best wine they've made to date.

Joe put a lot of time and effort into this project and it truly shows. Here it is, one of the first bottles bottled. Mohawk Farms, Blueberry Wine.

I'm still here. Just not all here.

Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and positive thoughts about Joe's grandfather. I have to tell you that someone somewhere must have been listening, because Joe's grandfather was given his third miracle and made it through the surgery better than anyone could have imagined.

Currently he is working to through physical therapy and hopefully sometime soon I can report that he is finally home and back to his normal self.

Of course, everything else is still crazy. I'm working overtime already in preparation for tax season, and while I know it's not as bad as it could be just yet, I really hate giving up my weekends to come into work. It makes me cranky. And when I'm working 12 hours a day every day during the week on top of that, I'll be even crankier.

Of course, there is a very good reason for a lot of the stress and hectic pace my life seems to have taken lately. I've been spending my free time packing, cleaning, and figuring out where all of my yarn is going to go when Joe and I move in together. February first! We've already started getting things taken care of, because well, I don't have much time and don't think waiting until the last minute is a good idea. I have learned one thing. I hate packing. I hate the thought of unpacking. It's so hard to find anything once it's all half boxed up.

I already have a new home for most of my stash, and now that Joe knows the extent of it, he thinks I'm a little nuts. But aren't we all when it comes to yarn?

Speaking of yarn, there has been knitting. I actually have proof as well.




That right there is one of the two No Purl Monkey socks I knit. They are by far my absolute favorite socks to date. (I think I say that about every pair...)

The details:
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Yarntini Variegated Sock in Pumpkin Spice
Gauge: 8 sts/inch
Mods: These socks are of the No Purls Monkeys variety. I knit the pattern exactly as written, except I knit the purls. They fit perfectly and I like the look of them this way.
Notes: This yarn is fantastic. It turned out to be super soft once the socks were washed, and even after being worn numerous times, there is no pilling. It's wearing extremely well. In fact I love this yarn and pattern combo so much, I'm currently working on another pair in the Tequila Sunrise colorway.

The blogging break continues...

I've been taking little break from blogging, because life just intervened in an unexpected and stressful way. The break will continue for about a month or so as far as I can see.

Joe's grandfather was released from the hospital. The life saving valve angioplasty they performed seemed to really help. It was nothing less than a miracle. He was doing good for about a week. And then things seemed to start declining.

He ended up back in the hospital where things took a major turn for the worst a few nights ago. Two maybe. I don't even know anymore, I have no sense of time.

Today he is in open heart surgery, he needs a valve replaced and a triple by pass. It is the only chance of him living. Before the surgery, the only things keeping him alive were medication and a ventilator.

Please keep Joe, his family and his grandfather in your prayers. We need them. The chance of his grandfather making it off of the operating table is less than 50% and even at that, it will be a long uphill battle to over come a number of other things that could go wrong after the surgery.

Thank you for all of your kind emails, comments, thoughts and prayers. They have been very much appreciated.

Happy thoughts and prayers needed.

It's been so long sinceI've updated the old blog, and while there is so much to share, I don't have the time or the energy right now.

I spent the day at the hospital with Joe and his family. His grandfather was airlifted from one hospital to another for an emergency surgery after being admitted earlier this week due to complications from another procedure Tuesday morning.

His grandfather made it through the surgery and was stable, alert and communicating with us when we left the hospital, but is not out of the woods yet.

Please everyone, keep him in your prayers and send good vibes his way.

Thank you.

HSKS 3 Trivia

1. What was the name of the book Dumbledore left for Hermione in his will?
a. The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2. Whose sign was on Xenophilius Lovegood's chest?
d. Grindewald

3. Was October 30, 1980 the night that Lilly and James Potter died?
b. No

4. What's another name for the Elder Wand?
a. Deathstick

5. Whose Potterwatch code name was 'Rodent'?
d. Fred

6. What was so special about the peacocks at the Malfoy Manor?
d. They were all white

7. Who does Harry say was "probably the bravest man I knew?"
a. Snape

8. What thing was Lockhart giving Hagrid advice about getting out of a well?
b. Kelpies

9. What was the occupation of Colin Creevey's father?
d. Milkman

10. Which Professor of Hogwarts was a dueling champion when he was young?
a. Flintwick

Picture Scavenger Hunt
You can either post these pictures on your blog or provide a link to where they can be found.

Made by Ansley

HSKS 3 Trivia

Trivia Q&A:

1. a teacup
2. Dedalus Diggle & Hesta Jones
3. Aunti Muriel's house
4. Barny
5. a lynx
6. gillywater
7. Gwenog Jones
8. Hippogriff
9. magenta
10. Devon

And the picture scavenger hunt:A Gryffindor Quidditch Uniform A Hufflepuff Quidditch Uniform A Ravenclaw Quidditch Uniform

A Slytherin Quidditch Uniform

A Picture of the Room of Requirement

We have a Winner!!

It's getting harder and harder to find time to blog right now. Between all the time I spend on knitting, and my new found love of sewing, it's hard to find the time to take the pictures that are necessary to blog. But I managed to get on the ball and get together some pictures to share with you.

But, first things first! The winner of the blog contest is Donna. Congrats! Donna picked the lovely sheep fabric, and who can blame her? It's adorable!

Thank you all for playing along. Between all of you, we managed to raise $325 for The Make A Wish Foundation, and if you want to be technical, we raised more than that because there were people who didn't share the amount they donated. Thank you, thank you, thank you.


And now, for some knitting related rambling!

Some of you might remember months ago when I started The Charade Socks. I loved the pattern, but knitting on a size 0 made the sock entirely too small for me.

After seeing all the awesome ones in varigated yarns on Ravelry, I regrouped and came up with a new plan.

So I grabbed some Yarn Pirate I had marinating in the stash and gave it a second go. I love the finished socks!

They are by far my favorite pair yet to date. Although I seem to say that about every pair of socks I complete.

Speaking of Yarn Pirate, I was lucky enough to grab a spot in this round of her Booty Club. Actually, I was lucky enough to have Joe buy me a spot in her club. He's a keeper! He knows the way to my heart is with sock yarn. :)

And speaking of sock yarn, there has been some on going stash enhancement here. Thanks to Ravelry, I got my hands on two of the shipments from last round of the Yarn Pirate Booty Club!

Rum Runner


Calomity

I'm addicted.... to color work!

If you're here for the blog contest, please see this post!

I had another exciting weekend, filled with family I haven't seen in a while and a football game on Sunday in which the Eagles slaughtered the Lions. To cap the whole weekend off, Joe and I headed down to Atlantic City to take some pictures.

But all the excitement cut into my knitting time, leaving me a little cranky today. I can't help it, I want to knit, I can't wait to see how my latest project comes out, it's just so much fun!

I decided last week that I needed a pair of colorwork mittens, and after some searching on ravelry, I settled on Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens.

They're highly addictive, and the pattern is so well written that they're an extremely stress free, easy pattern.


Despite the well written pattern, I did completely mess up the cuff, however that is no fault what so ever of the designers. I just wasn't paying attention. The cuff of the mitten is supposed to be ribbed, and those rows of orangish color are supposed to be purl stitches. I however alternated between knit and purl stitches, resulting in an odd ribbed/garter stitch combination.

I debated ripping it out and starting over, but I actually kind of liked the look of it, so I left it.


By the way, some of you may have noticed a difference in the way the commenting now works on the blog. I had used Haloscan previously, but have been having trouble getting it to work properly with the new blog, so for the time being, I'm back to blogger comments.

I'm hoping I can find someone who knows a little more about html code than I do to help me out. The problem I've been having is that Haloscan works on the main page, but when you go into just that post, the blogger comment link is there and active. It's been driving me crazy and I can't figure it out.

It's contest time again!

Knitters are by far a generous group of people. We see proof of these generous acts all over blogland. So when it came time to hold another contest here at Midnight Purls, I thought that instead of going the guessing game route as I have been, I'd ask everyone to do something generous and kind.

I was listening to the radio on the way to work this morning, and the radio station was talking about how they were working with the Make A Wish Foundation to try and make a local boy's wish come true.

For those of you who don't know what the Make A Wish Foundation is, they are the largest wish granting organization here in the US. Since 1980, they have been granting the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions.


To be entered in this contest, all you have to do is go to the Make A Wish Foundation website and make a donation to the chapter of your choosing. It doesn't matter if you donate $1, $5 or more. Donate whatever you feel comfortable giving.

Then email me at midnightpurls at gmail dot com to let me know you donated. (Substitute @ for the at and . for the dot.) Please put the word "Contest" in the subject line so that I can be sure no entries get lost. I'd like for you to let me know how much you donated so I can share the total on the blog at the end of the contest, but if you don't feel comfortable including that information in the email, it is by no means mandatory.

And now for the prize. The winner will receive 2 skeins of handpainted sock yarn. I dyed these hanks back in June, using acid dyes. They are my favorite hanks that I have dyed to date, and they can be yours!



The winner will also receive a cute bag, the perfect size for carrying around a sock in progress hand made by me in their choice of Japanese fabric.








And of course, I'll throw in some other goodies of my choosing along with the sock yarn and the bag.

The contest ends on September 27th at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. After the contest closes, I will use a random name generator to choose the winner from everyone who donated. Good luck, and thank you for playing along!

I've always been kind of a tease....

Here's a little tease as to what I've been working on. Surprisingly this Christmas Stocking isn't as hard as I thought it would be and it's going rather quickly.



Don't mind the quality of the picture, despite having a brand new digital camera, I used my cell phone because it was late and easier than setting up the digital camera and uploading the pic. There will be better pics to come soon!

In other exciting (for me anyway) news, I finally took the plunge and moved to my own domain. You can now find me by typing in midnightpurls.com. Please update your links, and keep your eyes peeled as I move into my new home by updating the look of the blog!