Month: March 2016

I said Yes!

I had a big night yesterday. My boyfriend asked me to marry him! We are engaged!! (Not that I’m excited or anything. Or grinning like an idiot. Or staring at my ring.)

I got off work yesterday and went to spend the evening with my boyfriend (now fiancé!) as usual. I was tired from work, and I really just wanted to sit down and do nothing for a while. So when he started pestering me about some drawing thing that he was excited about I was unamused. And slightly grumpy. After a few minutes I realized he wasn’t going to stop, so I told him, fine, show me the YouTube tutorial. Then he started going on about how I hadn’t even looked at the cartoon faces he had drawn (which I had). So I plopped myself down next to the sticky notes where he had done his drawings and told him all the artistic things I had noticed about his drawings. To which he replied, “You’re not looking!”

I looked again, and lo and behold, there was a sticky note I had not yet noticed with a note written on it: “I’m no “Dr. Who” but I do love you.” Aww how sweet of him. *hugging* At which point he told me that it was a clue.

Inside my Doctor Who Blu-Ray disks I found a second clue: “One can always wonder what the “keys” to happiness are, but I will always do my best to make happiness with you.” This one stumped me for a while. I was looking for a set of keys – like to unlock doors. But he was talking about a different kind of keys.

Finally I figured it out! He was talking about a computer keyboard! “Surely “Love Languages” are important in all relationships and I want to do my best to speak your language and learn more about loving you the longer we are together.” Can you get any sweeter than this? You can see why I said yes.

Last Christmas my brother gave us a book entitled The Five Love Languages, which explains how we all are wired differently in how we express and receive love. Inside I found: “A lot of times I will probably be a “tool” and I hope that is ok with you.” I appreciate his realism. As long as he knows it goes both ways.

The next clue was hidden on top of his toolbox. “Throughout life’s journey the “trails” will get tough. Together we can make it work.” More realism. As much as I love romance (what girl doesn’t), it doesn’t hold a marriage together. Commitment does. And hard work. And being realistic about expectations.

My fiance likes to be active and out of doors. He keeps mentioning how he wants to go hiking. So I checked his hiking gear and found: “I guess if I must (jk) I can live with a “Knitting Pearl”.”I wrote about this book here.

The last clue read: ” Maybe someday too, I can join you and we can spin our own tale. And when we’re old dust off our old “yarn” from the closet of time for retelling.” Did I tell you this man can be very eloquent? This was the piece de resistance. In the back of the closet he had hidden 2 balls of huge arm-knitting yarn with a ring tied on.

“Will you marry me?”

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I said yes.

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Yum!

I made roast lamb for Easter dinner. Oh my word, was it amazing! I found the recipe on Judy’s Chickens (seriously, you must follow her blog. She has amazing recipes and really helpful explanations).

I chopped and trimmed and marinaded and poured and baked, and in the end this is what I came up with.

The lamb was so tender, even though I cooked it to well-done. I decided to make half a recipe, since it was just for my boyfriend and me. Except for the topping. I forgot to halve those amounts…. I also added a bit of red wine to the broth for the veggies for a little extra flavor.

Yum!

Adventures in Yarn Farming

Doesn’t a yarn farm sound wonderful? I mean, just take a minute to imagine the possibilities….

Barbara Parry has done it all. When she and her husband retired they bought a farm and started raising sheep. Their flock ranges from 60-100 sheep, depending on the year. They shear their sheep, grow their own hay, supervise lambing season, dye the (spun in a mill) yarn from their fleeces, and everything else that goes alone with running a farm. Their retirement sounds like even more work than their careers, but by their own account, they are loving it!

I love the idea of raising sheep, spinning my own wool, growing a garden. Being self-sufficient. Barbara’s book is a funny, compassionate, and informative guide to what sheep farming is really like.

I wonder if she needs an apprentice….

Broken

I was sitting on my bed knitting (Bed is by far the best place to knit. Especially since I have a total of 1 chair in my apartment, and that chair is uncushioned). Life was lovely. I was watching Harry Potter with a knitter friend and drinking tea. But then the tea ran out. I needed more! So up I got in search of tea.

**Warning: Those with weak stomachs may want to skip the next part**

When I sat down again I knelt along the length of my needle. I heard a pop (The pop was not from my leg). I had broken my knitting needle. I sat there in shock for a few minutes numbly muttering, “I broke my needle. I broke my needle.” It was all very sad.

A broken needle means no more knitting. I had been working on my Farrah sweater. Of course, I had the option to start something else, but Farrah is what I wanted to work on. I was about to be inconsolable when my friend made a suggestion: “Can you superglue it?”

Oh ya. Superglue. We do live in the 21st century. Superglue to the rescue! My needle is now back in working order, but I have ordered a replacement just in case.

Needle: Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Rainbow Wood Circular Knitting Needle (say that five times fast!) Size US 8/ 5.0 mm

Abracadabra

I have said before that knitting is magic. When I said that I meant it in a figurative way. But I have found a yarn that is literally magic. It changes colours! You really have to see it to believe it, but the yarn starts off white, and when you put it in the sun it changes to blue, pink, or purple, depending on which skein you buy. It has to do with UV rays (I always knew those weren’t all bad).

Abracadabra!: 35% Superwash wool, 50% Polypropylene (apparently this is the magic part), 15% Nylon

I think I may be in love.

Finished Objects

I’ve been working away on a hat and booties for an expectant mother at work. She is due in early April, so it’s been a race to the finish line. I am completely ecstatic with how this hat and booties turned out. I hope she loves them as much as I do.

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn DK Merino Superwash

Needles: US 6 circular (16 in)

Patterns: wurm by Katharina Nopp and “Frühling” und “Ostern” by eliZZa Wetsch

Knitting for Baby

I’ve been taking a little break from knitting Farrah. A lady at work is pregnant with her first daughter, so those of us who are crafty are making her some baby items. I volunteered to knit a hat and booties.

The booties came first: I decided to use a pattern by eliZZZa Wetsch called “Frühling” und “Ostern.”

After that I was on a quest to find a hat pattern that would coordinate. I chose Wurm by Katharina Nopp, which I will modify to be in a baby size.

A Tale Retold

I went to the opera last night. We saw La Cenerentola, or Cinderella, composed by Gioachino Rossini. It was lovely.

The writer, Jacopo Ferretti, tweaked the story a little from the classic fairy tale to make it easier to stage – instead of a glass slipper Cinderella wore a pair of beautiful bracelets; and instead of a fairy godmother, a wise (and very rich) philosopher helped Cinderella to make it to the dance in style. Cinderella was very sweet and very sassy – my kind of girl. Her stepsisters were garishly dressed, and her stepfather (instead of stepmother) was a buffoon.

In another plot twist the prince switched places with his valet so he could more easily observe the young ladies. Of course, this led to some very funny scenes where the step-sisters spurned the real prince, thinking he was the valet; and where the valet revealed that he was, in fact, not the prince. Classic.

In the end, love won out and everyone lived happily ever after – even the horrible step-family. The opera proclaims (quite loudly) a message that God will reward goodness and that forgiveness is the best revenge.

(Considering that I’m a Soprano is it bad that I’m a little bit in love with the Tenor? He was quite lovely and his high notes were swoon-worthy.)