Black Dog

The past couple weeks have been of one main theme–of home and family. Not my familial home, but my current home, here in Lansing. And not really family of blood, but family of choice. I did celebrate my 45th birthday on Saturday, November 1st–thank you to each and every one of you that made it special, from visits to cards to well wishes to gifts to hugs and more. It was, indeed, a special weekend filled with family and friends and fun. Who could ask for more?

Speaking of home and Lansing, we had our first frost not quite two weeks ago, on Thursday, October 30th

Yeah, I know, not that impressive

but as someone who was born in November, in Chicago, in a blizzard year (1963), I’m pretty fond of cooler weather and snow. And remember, I also sell wool yarn! So I’m always happy to see the onset of seasonal weather–fall is my favorite season, followed closely by winter.

One of the great things about cooler weather is that it makes me nest a little bit (it REALLY makes Matt nest, big time), which means I cook more. Case in point

that’s the start of a chicken/artichoke/olive/pasta casserole

that comes from the same cookbook as the previously-shown chicken pot pie (”Best Loved Casseroles“) and also one of my favorite turkey tetrazzini recipes, too! And that dinner was NUMMY and provided nice leftovers for lunch later in the week.

But the next day, Matt’s mom showed up, as a Hallowe’en and birthday surprise for me. As reported in an entry below, we had a great Friday at the Riverwalk Theatre, a fun weekend at the shop, and then a great day off on Tuesday (she took me clothes shopping for my birthday gift–THANK YOU!), not to mention too much fun inbetween, all as a lead-up to her having to leave on Wednesday (the 5th). We tried to convince her to stay through the weekend, as there was snow in the forecast for Sunday, but she had to go home to Georgia. It was great having her here, and she’s “threatening” to come back after the first of the year, to see real snow. I sure hope she does!

The boys are enjoying what little sunshine we’ve seen of late. Tate seems to like to be the perfect gentleman

as he sits in the full sun with his legs crossed, looking out the sliding door. Busby, however, has a different agenda

He’s all curled up, away from distractions of squirrels and the cats from next door that prowl our back deck. What you may not be able to see in that picture is this

that he’s all curled up on Matt’s felted clogs (he’s using them as a pillow above, and actually laying with them UNDERNEATH him), basking in the scent of Daddy, no doubt. Ah, the joys of having a scent hound in the house.

Friday of last week meant the arrival of Arnhild Hillesland and her very able assistant, Denise Balvanz. These two amazing ladies are the brains and brawn behind Arnhild’s Knitting Studio, the US distributor for Rauma yarns, a delicious and traditional line of yarns from Norway. Arnhild was here to teach two classes (Cardigans the Nor-Way and Norwegian Hats) over the weekend, and Denise was backup, able assistant, and basically just fantastic to have around. We’ve met them both previously at trade shows, and they both take amazing care of us from a vendor standpoint, as we carry several Rauma yarns at ThreadBear as well as dozens of sheet patterns and pattern booklets to support the line. The classes were fantastic, but the company was superb. We were able to enjoy time away from the shop with the two of them, mainly over meals, and they are both delightful, knowledgeable, and just plain kind people. It also doesn’t hurt that I love their yarns and stranded knitting (colorwork) is one of my favorite types, along with cables/texture–and Rauma yarns and patterns are centered around these two main types of knitting. HOORAY for great poeple, great classes, and great yarns!

After leaving Lansing on Monday (yesterday), Arnhild was to travel to Chicago and catch a flight for Norway, where she’ll spend the holidays and return to her home in Iowa in early January. Given that she’s from Norway, we wanted to prepare her for the visit there, so I was able to conjure up some snow on Sunday

albiet just a little bit. This slow-shutter photo, taken from the front door of the shop across the parking lot

makes it appear as if we were having a blizzard, but it’s just time lapse, of sorts. I took a series of photos while waiting to be picked up to go to dinner, but we never really had much accumulation, despite it snowing lightly all day long. It was our first snow of the year, and it did stick to cars and grass, but not pavement. Saturday’s forecast includes snow, but I haven’t heard if we expect it to stick. We’ll see……..

Speaking of cold weather and snow, and adding in the fact that this IS a knitting-based blog, I suppose I had better show something woolen in content

in the form of Maggi’s Tweed Fleck Aran, a rich cobalt yarn from Maggie Knits. The shade is my favorite in the world–where blue meets purple (it’s a little overexposed in this photo)–and the yarn is a rustic single with amazing tweed flecks. That’s my swatch, but I have already started the project—I’m knitting my winter jacket. I started it last weekend and haven’t touched it in nearly a week, so there’s not a ton of progress to show yet. But I’m nearly finished with skein #2 and it’s coming along beautifully. I’m making a top-down cardigan/jacket that will have a zipper in the front—you’ll see it shortly, I promise!

And with that, I’m off for the evening. Enjoy your Wednesday, and maybe–just maybe–I’ll sneak out some time to post a little bit tomorrow!

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