The Burrow Knits: Yep, I'll Drink to That!

I think I am going to ramble about a few things tonight along with throwing in a few facts about some finished, in progress as well as up and coming knitting projects. My mind has been especially active lately and a certain Australian wine has been my companion on these cold mountain nights.

For those who have ever established single status after being married, does the loneliness seem to just hit you after awhile? As a woman, sometimes it is hard to distinguish between desires for your personal life and reality, especially if you have kids haha. I'm bored, and lonely. I've been reading the book 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. If you haven't read it and you are married or in any relationship or plan on being in one someday, it's a great book. Apparently my love language is Quality Time. Maybe I shouldn't be living in a little cabin burrowed into the mountains. I have no definitive thought on what I will do when winter actually sets in. Probably knit like it's nobody's business. Mostly likely there will be lots of "bottled poetry" being posted here at "The Burrow Knits."

"A thousand cups of wine do not suffice when true friends meet, but half a sentence is too much when there is no meeting of the minds." - Chinese Proverb

干杯!

My dad's birthday was yesterday. I am in the process of knitting him a scarf to accompany his dress coats. It is being knit from a single ply of Bluefaced Leicester organic wool. Bluefaced Leicester (or BFL as we call it in the spinners world), is a sheep who's wool is a little softer, silkier and longer than merino, which has a nice sticky quality to it. Most wool sweaters and such are typically made from merino wool. It's gorgeous. The stitch is called Farrow Rib and i am incredibly pleased so far! Hopefully I'll finish it this weekend.

"The leaves fall, the wind blows and the country slowly changes from it's summer cottons into it's winter wools." - Henry Beston

Sláinte!

I finished two projects this week which are at The Sparrow's Nest waiting to be sold! I knit a Norwegian Star hat out of some leftover Plymouth wool with the stars worked in a Plymouth Hillside linen. It turned out beautifully but a little big. My gauge was correct, but I think I will probably start the decreases earlier or skip a knit row or two. The picture is before blocking which I thought the roll brim was cute, but I blocked it and will most likely add some ear flaps for the next one.

The next finished project is a pair of mittens knitted with New Zealand Possum! They are gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! They knitted quickly and I adore them, I was actually a little sad to let them go. I chose a very basic mitten pattern because I wanted to maintain the quality and beauty of the yarn, but made them a little more feminine by extending the arm length and creating a little bit of a slouch.

"We begin to see that the completion of an important project has every right to be dignified by a natural grieving process. Something that required the best of you has ended. You will miss it."

- Anne Wilson Schaffe

Skål!

On top of finishing the scarf for my dad, I have two commissions this week, both are hats so they should be pretty easy. I would like to finish some Christmas gift ideas as well. The boys only have Monday and Tuesday in school and then they are headed to Ross's mom's house for Thanksgiving... I get a nice long weekend break! It's going to be an action packed week. I will be buying a new cell phone since mine fell into my kitchen sink a few days ago and no amount of rice in a bag can rejuvenate it, haha. Thursday morning I will be participating in the annual Turkey Trot. It's a 5k and my hope is to finish it in under 30 minutes, which shouldn't be too difficult. It's my first organized run and I am pretty excited about it!

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their nose and some don't turn up at all."

- Sam Ewing

Mabuhay!

And last but definitely not least, and my biggest reason to celebrate is that my youngest sister Abby-Kilraine is home from school! Yay!! She has been away at boarding school since August and I have missed her so. For those of you who are most unfortunate to not know Killer, she is the most incredibly intelligent, talented and loving 14 year old girl I know. She is one of the best things that happened to our family and I love her tremendously!