Fingerless Mitts

I made a pair of fingerless mitts for my friend Beki to match her surfer chick cap. It's the same yarn, Plymouth Baby Alpaca. It's super soft! I love it so much I might have to go buy myself some in "Nancy" colors. Beki's tall and thin and seems to have extra long arms so I added a couple of inches onto the length.

So, are you asking yourself, "why fingerless mitts?" Well, they come in handy! You can dial your cell phone without taking your gloves off. If you're indoors somewhere and it's a bit chilly and your hands are cold you can just put your fingerless mitts on and you can still type on your computer, or knit or crochet. Can you see how they come in handy?

You may not to make snowballs wearing fingerless mitts but I'm sure you have a pair of mittens or gloves to do that!

Another Day at the Springfield City Library

While searching the stacks for missing books at the Springfield City Library today, I found that I was searching for Bibles and, guess what? They were not on the shelf! They're missing and likely have been for MONTHS. Those Bibles will probably never be returned. Which means those Bibles are stolen! Then I thought, isn't that a violation of the Ten Commandments? Or perhaps the reader hasn't gotten to Exodus Chapter 20 yet. Are they bogged down in Genesis?

No funny titles to report this week. Maybe next week. Keep your fingers crossed.

Snowshoeing with Friends

Yesterday, we drove up to our friends' house in Bellows Falls, VT and went for a snowshoe in the woods behind their house. This is Barb, she's our fearless guide.

Here's the snowy woods we went snowshoeing through. We saw lots of animal tracks. Barb says they were deer tracks. We also saw some smaller animal tracks, maybe rabbit.

Clockwise from the top, Barb, Don, Nancy and Trevor.

Left to Right: Barb, Don, Nancy and Trevor. Don is actually smiling in this photo after we were all done and back at the house. He says it's rare but I've seen him smile a few times before. Don wanted to stay in the house and cuddle with the crockpot while the rest of went out. Barb wouldn't let him. When we got in the house he admitted he had a good time! I had a fabulous time and so did Trevor. And Barb too! Thanks! Let's do it again.

Self Help Section

Today when I was working at the Springfield City Library, I came across this title:
Meditations for People who (may) Worry Too Much .

I chuckled to myself and thought that perhaps we don't want to suggest that people (may) worry too much. It's just a suggestion... you might, maybe, kinda, sorta, worry too much and maybe, kinda, sorta might find these meditations helpful... if you're worried, sorta, kinda... just sayin'.... but don't worry about it... especially when you're meditating... especially don't worry that you're doing it wrong....

Happy New Year!

Good-bye to 2008!
You weren't so great!

Okay, it wasn't that bad.

Some of the highlights of 2008 were:

Reuniting with old college and high school friends via Facebook. In May I met up with my friends Jon Brinkmann and Ken Corcoran. We were the majority of the Salem State College Department of Geological Sciences Class of '98. We were only missing 2 classmates. One is deceased and the other lives in Texas. We caught up with Amanda in November when she was in MA for her sister's wedding. Another college friend, Jocelyn Brotherton, came for a visit in July. We visited places of geologic interest in the Pioneer Valley. On one of my trips "out east" I attended Jocelyn's graduation party and got to see my old roomie, Stephanie Healey.

I attended our church's annual convention in Bridgewater, MA. I hadn't been to a church convention in a really long time, like 15 years or something like that. I had such a great time. I saw lots of people I hadn't seen in, well, a really long time. One of the things that happened at the convention was I got elected president of the National Alliance of New Church Women. I created a blog for them. I don't update it nearly as often as I do this one but it's there.

I applied to and was accepted at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Classes start on Jan 31st. I'm going to be a librarian!

I'm volunteering at the Springfield City Library one afternoon a week. So far, my responsibilities are: searching for missing books in the stacks; replacing updated call numbers on books; and handling a few Library in Your Mailbox clients; and searching microfilm for death notices. The Springfield City Library is a beautiful old building at the Quad in downtown Springfield.

In October Trevor and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We went on a little trip to Cape Ann, Gloucester to be specific. We had beautiful weather and a great time. We're really good at that, having a great time together.

A year ago on New Year's Day I taught myself how to crochet from a book, The Happy Hooker. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to take a class at Webs. I signed up for a 6 week class and had a really good time. I put down my yarn and hooks and didn't really do anything until August when Beki and I crocheted owelets while we were at camp. I put down my yarn and hooks again until November when Beki, Emily and I went to Webs. I decided to crochet Christmas gifts and I was off and making chains, single crochets, double, half double, triple. Anyway, I made several trips to Webs in November. I crocheted the following:

• 6 Surfer Chick quick caps (one for Amy, one for Wendy, one for Beki, two for me, and one "leftover")
• a pink hat and scarf for Ivy
• mittens for Chloe
• hat for Mom
• bookmark for Mom
• hat for Pete
• 2 pink organic cotton washcloths for Sarah
• a little pink piggy for Chloe

I haven't stopped crocheting, just slowing down a bit. Right now I'm working on a giant granny square blanket and a scarf.

Here's my resolution for 2009:

I resolve to reduce my carbon footprint by signing up for e-statements and eliminate paper statements from banks, phone company, etc.

My Very First Amigurumi

My husband, Trevor , gave me Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow for Christmas. I immediately went searching in my bag for some yarn that I could use to make an animal. Amigurumi is Japanese for stuffed toy, in case you didn't know. I was at my parents' house at the time so didn't have my whole stash with me. I did just happen to have some pink merino yarn though. Valley Yarns Amherst Powder Pink to be specific. Tamie Snow recommends using the "cheap stuff" which I don't carry with me. I do have some "cheap stuff" but it's not what I use on a regular basis. Anyway, I pulled out some yarn and hook and got to work! I didn't work on it continuously but if I did I probably would have finished in 2 or 3 hours. I started it on Christmas day and by the next evening it was mostly done. I finished up on Saturday morning, with help from Elijah, my sister's cat. We were staying at their house at the time. So, to finish my yarn about the little pink piggy, I added it to the bag of gifts for Chloe's 3rd birthday, which was Monday the 29th.

You Do?

Last Saturday, the 20th, (my 44th birthday), we had a Little Christmas celebration with Mom, Dad, Wendy, Jon and Chloe. Wendy, Jon and Chloe are spending the holiday with the Snyders in Philly. During lunch I leaned over to Chloe (she's almost 3), who was sitting next to me, and said, "I love you, Chloe." and she said, "You do?".

Here she is enjoying some chocolate cake! Yum!