Land of Cotton

It's harvest time in my town. The cotton fields are ripe.



The holding areas are filling up with compressed fresh picked cotton, waiting to be ginned.





The cotton gins are running around the clock. They will work non-stop until all the cotton is ginned and baled. During a bumper year that might be until Christmas. There's a gin just a few blocks from my house and at night when everything is quiet, you can hear the engines humming.

It's a common sight to see bits of white fluff littering the road, because inevitably some escapes the truck as it is transported from field to gin. I think cotton looks best in it's natural form...



...but then, I also enjoy it in this form:



Pattern: Blackbery Ridge Hand Mitt from The Heirloom Knitter
Yarn: Stork 100% cotton, fingering weight
Needles: US 2 dpns
Finished Size: 6" x 8"

I really love knitting cotton washcloths. They make nice gifts when paired with a bar of handmade soap. The ruffle is my favorite part.

In Memory

Knitted to honor the life of sweet baby Isabella (3/31/06 - 8/5/06). Though her journey on earth was short, she was loved dearly and brought joy to her parents and family. She captured my heart and I will think of her every time I knit for the little ones. This gown will be donated to The Preemie Project in her name. It is my prayer that in some small way it bless and comfort the family it is given to.

Pattern Details:

The gown was knitted from the pattern called Spring Purple Burial Gown. I modified the neckline slightly and lined the skirt with a pink silky fabric.

The hat pattern is just one in my head, but the socks are called Easy Socks. I knitted them in the round to avoid having to seam them.

The yarn I used was given to me by Laura and Linda when I was in Iowa this summer. It's called King Cole Smooth DK. It is an extremly soft 100% acylic. Very nice to work with and perfect for baby knits.




Psalm 139: 13-16

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Vacation Over

While in Oklahoma, we visited the Round Barn in Arcadia. I believe it's the only round barn on the old Route 66 (and maybe in Oklahoma). There are many round barns in Iowa, Michigan and across the world. This is a tourist attraction of sorts. It's worth a stop if you don't mind visiting with Butch, the barn guy. He's quite a character!

On Sunday evening we said good-bye to Matt. It was bittersweet for us. I'm happy for him and know he will do well at OC, but we will miss him. Our nest is now officially empty.

On Monday we hitched up the trailer to head home. Stopped in Fort Worth for a couple of days to visit with Robyn, our daughter, and James, our son-in-law.

It was so good to see them! They are doing well and settling in to life after college.

One of the things we did while we were there was to visit an antique mall. I didn't really expect to buy anything, but I couldn't pass up this small two ended darner that the antique dealer had labeled "sock darner".

I think it's more likely a darner for gloves, but I haven't researched it. I photographed it next to a typical sock darner so you can get an idea of the size. The wood appears to be maple. It's a nice addition to my collection.

We returned home on Wednesday afternoon and I've been trying to catch up ever since. Think I'm just about there.

Trek Along With Me...

...one last time.

This is a well traveled pair of socks, having been knit in Utah, Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma. This last Trek Along takes place in downtown Edmond, Oklahoma. It was too hot for anything more than a walk down the street to view a few of the many bronze statues that are scattered throughout the town.







As you can see, these socks are 99.99% Trekking XXL. They are the first pair I've ever knitted for my husband. I just assumed I would have enough yarn and I almost did...so close. When I couldn't find more Trekking in the same color, I had to improvise with another brand of yarn in a complementary color. A good wife and knitter would have ripped out the first sock toe and worked it in black to match the second, but I'm pronouncing these "finished as is". John, the next pair will match, I promise.

Fiber Adventures

On Tuesday John and I drove over to Guthrie and visited S.W.A.K. yarn shop. I had heard good things about this store and it did not dissappoint. A great selection of yarn! I was specifically looking for Trekking XXL to finish John's sock. Unfortunately they didn't have any, but I found some yarn that would do. I also bought a few skeins of wool that I think will work well for some felted pumpkins that are on my "to knit" list.

We enjoyed exploring this historic town. Most of the downtown buildings date back to the 1890's. Many house antique shops now. I found some old Workbasket magazines in one store. My favorites were from the early 1960's. I bought a few. Knitting and crochet styles have changed a lot since then, but there are a couple of patterns that I might try and some that I'll look at when I need a good laugh.

We started the day out on Wednesday at the Edmond Farmers Market. It wasn't supposed to be a fiber day, but look what I found.

Aubrey was there selling her handmade soaps (check out her website here) and just happen to bring her spinning wheel along to keep her company. She also had a drop spindle which she demonstrated for me. This was the first time I had seen anyone use a drop spindle and now I'm thinking maybe I can learn this. She showed me how to spin and "park" (you're right Laura, this method looks easy). I'll be digging out the spindles when I get home and giving it try. Thanks Aubrey for the demonstration. Can't wait to use the soap...it smells so good!


On Aubrey's recommendation, we decided to stop in at Mountain View Weavery in Edmond (no website). We were warmly greeted by the owner, Wanda Nobbe. She is a very talented weaver and spinner and an extremely patient teacher.

She spent at least an hour showing us how to spin. John and I both made some "ugly" yarn. Sure was fun! We bought a couple of bags of roving to take home. Wanda showed us her weaving looms and took us on a tour of her log cabin home. There were spinning wheels, looms and hand woven baskets everywhere you looked. My kind of place! This shop is a "must stop" for anyone interested in spinning or weaving. The Mountain View Weavery phone number is 405-341-4998. Call to be sure Wanda is in the shop and for directions. We'll be going back next trip and maybe we'll leave with a wheel. You never know. I'm going to see how the drop spindle goes first.

And why should the fiber fun stop here? After lunch we drove to Oklahoma City to check out a couple of yarn shops: The Gourmet Yarn Co. and Carol's Knitting Studio. I was still hoping to find some Trekking yarn to finish John's sock, but no luck. I ended up using the yarn I purchased on Tuesday. The socks are now finished. Pictures next time.

For those of you who are wondering how John could possibly be having fun with so much yarn shopping going on, don't feel bad for him. His passion is fishing and he's getting to do a lot of it. He's been fishing every day since we arrived. Check out his blog for a different perspective of this trip.

We're Here

Arrived safely in Edmond, Oklahoma. We're camping at Central State Park and enjoying it even though it is very hot. High temperatures have been over 100 degrees. I'm glad our travel trailer has air conditioning.

We moved Matt into his dorm yesterday. It's very nice for a freshman dorm, just recently remodeled. The name of his dorm is Fails'. Couldn't they have named it "Succeeds" or at the very least "Passes"? I'm sure it must be named after a benefactor by that name, but still.

I decided to finish John's Trekking sock last night and I would have, but I ran out of yarn. I only need enough for one more round and then some to seam the short row toe. I decided to see if Hobby Lobby had anything I could use. They didn't, but I found this.

This yarn is a lot like the unspun White Buffalo wool that I've used for felting before. I see another felted bowl in my future.

Tomorrow we are going to visit a yarn shop in Guthrie. I hope to find some sock yarn that will blend well with John's sock or maybe I'll get lucky and find the same colorway of Trekking XXL. Check back later for a "yarning" report and maybe even a Trek with a finished pair of socks.

P.S. Panera Bread is a good spot for free WiFi. The food is good too.

On The Road Again

This is "home sweet home" for the next week and a half. We're leaving today to take my son to college in Edmond, Oklahoma. We'll be staying a week while he attends an engineering seminar and then meet up with him next weekend before saying good-bye. The summer has gone by so fast. I can't believe this day is here already.

I'll be updating the blog as I can. We won't have Internet access where we're camping, but I know a few spots in town that have free Wi-Fi. Until then, here's a picture of a little something extra I included with my donation to Lucy Bug.



The pattern is from the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. I found it to be a bit fiddly in places, especially when shaping the nose and ears. It took me longer to make than I expected (an hour or more). The pattern introduction says something about making a family of bears in an evening, so I thought it would go much faster. He's cute, but I don't know if I'll make any more. Knitted with worsted weight yarn on US 5 needles.

Time to hit the road. I'll be knitting John's Trekking socks on the long drive today. They should be finished soon.