May 2011 bring you peace, abundance, and bright new beginnings.
I am blessed to have the opportunity to work on healing all aspects of my life. I am grateful for my wonderful friends and family and their outpouring of support and love.
My doctor is no longer ruling out cancer, and has scheduled a review of my latest brain MRI with a neurologist. I am not worried, and am living with acceptance of all things and joy for each new day.
Namaste.
I've redeemed myself with the Ravelympics Committee after my Ishbel disqualification, by finishing Traveling Woman last night.
Miss Molly models:
Check out this crazy, giant snowman at the organic dairy!
Regarding my last post about the crisis in South Dakota, Christine asked,
"Good heavens, do you have an update on this? "
Yes, Christine, help is still needed - and I hope everyone will contact their representatives to make this situation clear to them!
Native American Heritage Association
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Thank you, lovely readers! And happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!
From HUNAP:
January 28, 2010, Cambridge – Native American Caucus students at the Harvard Kennedy School are taking action in response to the inadequate national response to the crisis on Indian reservations in the Dakotas due to severe ice storms and freezing temperatures. Last weekend, a powerful snow and ice storm ripped through the region, felling power lines, and cutting off power and water to thousands of South Dakotans, many of them on the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indian Reservations. When full power and water will be restored remains in question.
The ice storms cut off electricity in an area about the size of Connecticut. With no electricity, no heat, no running water, and a wind chill below zero, a crisis is mounting. The Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has declared a state of emergency for his community and is calling for immediate assistance.
The tribes are working hard to bring families in out of the cold into shelters. The South Dakota National Guard, the State’s Department of Public Safety as well as the Army Corps of Engineers have come to the reservation and supplied some emergency generators. Help also is coming in the Red Cross and other tribes. But even with this assistance these tribes, among the poorest communities in the United States, are not able to meet the overwhelming needs of their communities.
Outside the frozen plains of the Dakotas, this human crisis has received little attention. The Native American Caucus student organization at Harvard Kennedy School would be grateful to American citizens to give the spotlight to their fellow Native American citizens. They are in great need of your help and aid. The American People need to be aware of this emergency situation.
To assist the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Tribes, contact Stacy LaCompte at Wakpa Sica Reconciliation Place at (605) 280-8588.
MEDICAL NEEDS: Dialysis Patients/Glucose Strips/Financial Support for Hotels
The dialysis patients have all been evacuated three hours away to Rapid City , SD. They are staying in hotels for at least a week and half, probably longer. Financial contributions are needed to help the families pay for their hotel expenses and food. An account has been set up at Wells Fargo to help with these expenses. You can contribute at any Wells Fargo or send to the Rapid City branch. Link To News Story
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Wells Fargo
Cheyenne Dialysis Patients (c/o Dew Bad Warrior)
Acct. #: 5815904338
1615 N 7th St.
Rapid City, SD 55701
Medical Items Needed on the Reservation (shipping address below):
° Glucose Strips
° First Aid Kits
° Children’s Tylenol
° Children’s Cough Syrup
FINANCIAL DONATIONS:
The Tribe has depleted its emergency budget with the two blizzards that already hit the reservation since December. It needs funds to help buy food and supplies for the community and volunteers, to pay for gas and overtime for the workers, to replace the motor at the water pump station that was destroyed, etc.
WIRE DONATIONS TO:
Cheyenne River Sioux 2010 Disaster Account
Direct to: United Bkrs Bloomington ABA # 091 001 322
Beneficiary Bank: Account Number 250 3373
State Bank of Eagle Butte
Eagle Butte , SD 57625
Final Credit: Account Holder @ UBB Customers Bank
Account Holder: CRST 2010 Disaster, Account Number 103173
MAIL CHECK DONATIONS TO:
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe/2010 Disaster Account
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman’s Office
Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Fund
PO Box 590
2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)
Eagle Butte , SD 57625
CHEYNNNE RIVER SIOUX CONTACTS:
Robin Le Beau, Chairman’s Assistant: (610) 568-2101
Joe Brings Plenty, Tribal Chairman: (605) 365-6548
CRST Emergency Coordination Center : (605) 964-7711
Ravelympics 2010
If anyone is inclined to participate, Michelle and I have joined the Ravelry Small Shawl Lovers group's "TeamWrapAroundEwe" for the Ravelympics next month.
Since we are making small shawl wraps/"shawlettes," our events will be LaceLuge and ShortRunShawl (unless they add more which would also apply).
I never understood the Ravelympics before, but apparently what happens is that you...
1) Join a team; you can join many teams and do many projects, but a completed project will only count as a "win" for ONE team. Your project, entered for one team, CAN count for multiple "event" categories (i.e., lace, shawls, etc.);
2) Enter your project info on a new Ravelry Project Page; using Team, Ravelympic, and Event tags so that Ravelry can magically "see" your project and apply it to the proper Team. These tags will be made available by Casey automatically when the games begin, on your Project Page, triggered by tagging "ravelympics2010" there;
3) Don't cast on until the opening ceremony;
4) Knit/crochet/spin furiously while watching the Olympics on TV;
5) Complete your project and mark finished on its Ravelry project page;
7) Get a "medal" to put on your blog!
It's all "calculated" automatically at Ravelry by the tags you assign to your project when starting it. The tags are what are most important - they "register" your project as participating in the games.
Hope that makes sense. Took me forever to figure it out!
Here is a Ravelry link, if you'd like to join our particular group and team:
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/small-shawl-lovers/858069/1-25
And here are the official Ravelympics 2010 rules:
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ravelympics-2010/914393/1-25#2
The knitting didn't take long, but the marinating ate up almost an entire year! I present the "Dixie Shawl," finally complete:
The pattern is Garnstudio Drops 108-47. I wish they would name their patterns - I can never remember the number, and it's not exactly a catchy phrase that'll top the Ravelry charts.
I made it in Garnstudio Alpaca and Glitter yarns, purchased at Yellow Dog Knitting. Can't remember if it's their regular Alpaca, or the fine Alpaca - Dixie will know! I will definitely knit this pattern again because I love this alpaca yarn. I hear that it is processed correctly, so it will not "grow" to the same degree that other alpaca yarns can.
I missed the final mitten class at Yellow Dog Knitting because I thought I was coming down with something, and didn't want to spread it to the nice people there (it turned out to be nothing...)
I thought it would be a piece of cake to do the liners for Cindi's lined mitten pattern; she showed me her samples and gave me the gist of the procedure. So I was off and running this weekend with some apple green Garnstudio Alpaca, doubled.
Just pick up the first purl round after the cuff, and knit another mitten for the inside! No problem!
Fools rush in...
I turned the cuff the wrong way when I picked up the purl bumps (it should be folded to the OUTSIDE of the mitten; I'd turned the mitten inside-out first. Ack.)
The only way to get it to act as a lining was to turn the whole thing inside-out on itself through the thumb hole - and look what that does: makes the lining purl-side-out.
I am spatially challenged; that much is clear.
Let's get this straight. If you want to make a liner for your mitten, hold a mitten up, normal side out. Fold the cuff to the outside of the mitten. Pick up and knit the purl bumps, on the interior of the mitten, at the point where your cuff ends and the interior mitten hand begins. Knit a new mitten, away from the exterior mitten. When it is complete, tuck it inside the first mitten. The knit stitches of the liner will be against your palm. :)
Let's turn away and look at something else, shall we?
It was a week of surprising weather (warm days followed by snow showers and high winds), and surprises in my mailbox.
Beautiful handmade potholders arrived from Professor Nannette, and Miss Kary sent an original painting of an owl (a favorite animal of mine) by Brenda Webster-Drouin. Thanks, guys!
I'd placed an order with The Loopy Ewe, a favorite shop for sock knitting needs. This is what I'd ordered:
And THIS is what I received!
Turns out I am now an official Loopy Groupie. The gifts they sent were more than what I'd ordered to begin with; what you don't see is the chocolate which I promptly ate. Thank you, Sheri!
I became a convert after I received my first order with TLY and I realized what all the high praise was about. They have excellent customer service, and usually include a handwritten thank-you and little treats with my orders... which are becoming more frequent, I have to admit; I love the "instant gratification" of their fast shipping!
I also received the new "Whimsical Little Knits" book by Ysolda in Scotland, as well as two skeins of Fearless Fibers yarn. One of these is destined to become these (Ravelry link). I have been waiting on pins and needles for that KnitSpot pattern to be published and am jazzed to cast on for these beautiful socks.
All in all, a very good week indeed.
Click for big. That's F, and it is not wind chill.
Chef Jeff put extra bales of straw in the goats' barn yesterday, and the chickens are locked in their coop with the geese and ducks for extra warmth. There are also heat lamps in both areas. But I'm seriously wondering if the donkeys need coats...
Daily Gratitude
Airing bed pillows and my thick Gjestal sweater out on the hard-crusted snow, in the sunshine (current temp - 15°F). Fresh!
Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good. If you use it, too, won't you consider making a donation?
Daily Gratitude
Still day with snow on the ground and a cloudy sky, peaceful and quiet.
Cheerful pitter-patter of paws on wood floors.
Clean kitchen.
Hockey on TV keeping someone (else) busy and contented.
FREE Metta yoga practice from YogaDownload.com... not that I could actually do it, but it was great to listen to while doing my own simple practice. You could just sit and breathe while listening and still get a lot out of it!
I finally have some fiber updates to share!
The lost silver Glitter has been found behind a bookcase! I can start on my blue DROPS shawl.
I've got a good amount of bulky handspun piling up from the fleece of our Jacob ewe Gruyere.
My progress thus far on the February Lady Sweater. I'm enjoying knitting this easy lace pattern.
Chef Jeff found out the day after the election that his company was laying off 1800 people. I have heard of doctors actually quitting their practices due to the impending health care changes; they know they won't be able to provide the standard of care they would wish to while limited by government time and cost mandates.
I'm afraid that people who desire "health care for everyone" might not realize that they'll be paying for it with their taxes, and that it will mean substandard, government-"coordinated" (ahem) care for them and their families - those without care may get it, but those with health care will lose much of what they've come to expect. Physicians and health care companies already know that. Socialized medicine is an interesting idea - but "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch," and the government hasn't exactly been great at administrating "helpful" programs thus far (Google "Indian reservation").
I'm afraid I don't subscribe to a Sesame Street-ish, feel-good attitude that, if we just believe what politicians tell us, we'll live in a Utopia of free, top-quality medical care. Words are cheap... good medical treatment, and good medicines, are not. *
A few days ago, Chef Jeff found out that he would be retained - yes, we have been on eggshells this entire time, which did not make for a very joyful Thanksgiving, but did make for vastly increased wine consumption during that particular holiday. Good thing Festival Foods had a by-the-case sale.
Chef Jeff, relieved and thankful, therefore decided that this holiday was one of celebration and deserved a real tree.
Tree shopping in Eau Claire is vastly different than in Milwaukee. Here, they use the honor system:
And our huge Fraser fir tree was a bargain at $35; in Milwaukee, this would be about $100! What are trees going for in your neck of the woods? Just curious!
Chef Jeff got some new, efficient LED lights and decorated the tree perfectly.
Molly and Emma are all aglow with Yule colors as well:
