Mandy Cowl

The Mandy Cowl up close

Modeled by my friend Sarah

This weekend I cast on "The Mandy Cowl" found here:, it is a free download on Ravelry.  I love the stitch and the yarn. The yarn is from Knitpicks.com, the colour is lollipop. They are so vibrant and bold.  It's 70 percent wool and 30 percent nylon. The pattern was easy and fun to knit and I love the results!

I will definitely be making more of these and want more of this yarn.  If only knitpicks would ship to China.  I did bring a suitcase full of yarn when I returned and am now enjoying using it here in Hangzhou.

I also made oatmeal cookies today.  The recipe turned out amazing.  I was looking for a recipe that didn't need butter.  Try them I think you will like them!  Baking here is expensive. I pay the equivalent of $5 US for 1 pound of sugar.  I have to bring my shortening from the USA so I am very particular about what I bake.  These cookies were worth it and I think Dave will think so too.

We also had a beauty parlour in the apartment today.  Sarah came and spent the day, what a wonderful way to spend the day, talking to a great friend while she gets pampered by Elizabeth.  Her hair came out amazing but then, Sarah is so beautiful it's to be expected.  I flew Lizzy in from the states to do my hair in November and decided to keep her here.  She now teaches English during the week and on her days off she does hair, with many compromises.

My new address! Hangzhou, China

 The view from my office window is the this track from the middle school across the street.  All this past week it has been a hive of activity as the students prepared for a big presentation that began on Wednesday and ended on Friday.  I have so enjoyed the quiet since they completed their activities, it was daily blaring of a loud speaker, drums and music.  Every day, they play different music depending on the time of day.  It's a nice way to keep track of the time and they play wonderful selections of classical music, just wish they would change the tunes occasionally.

We live on the 26th floor and have a wonderful view of the river, the apartment is about 1400 sq feet.  We have 3 bedrooms and two baths.  The living room is a nice size although we hardly ever use it.  When Dave is home he tends to be in the office working on the computer, he has enjoyed reading the news about the upcoming election in the USA.  I, on the other hand, am often taken aback at how rude and cruel his cousin and sister are.  It's ok to have different views (that's one of the great things about America, is we can agree to disagree) but to post lies, to belittle someone for their beliefs is just wrong.  My daughter tells me to just let it go, but I think the words were never truer, you can't unring a bell, I will always look at them differently for how cruel they were to their brother and cousin. I will be very glad to have this election behind us!

This the view from one of our balconies, to the park at the complex, it's a wonderful park with walking paths, a place for the nightly dancing that the women here participate in, and a great play ground for the children.  Even if it is an apartment it's a very nice nice environment to live in. At the entrance to our complex are various stores and a brand new Subway!

Yes, sad but true, it was a great day for our family when the subway opened!  It's definitely a taste of home and very convenient  when you just don't feel like cooking! We are now eagerly anticipating the opening of an Italian restaurant next door to the subway! We also like LA Cafe when we are hungry for a nice salad and Splash when we want Mexican! (Can you tell that Hangzhou has a little bit of everything?)

Not to be negative, but I don't like the hot water heater, each morning you get about 1 min of hot water, so you get to soap up quickly and then freeze while you rinse off. Really makes you consider whether you really want to take a shower or not! The benefit of the hot water heater here though is, I can wash my dishes in hot water unlike India where I had to boil my water to wash the dishes.

On the washing front, our washing machine is on one of our balconies.  Every morning begins with a load of laundry.  As you can see from the picture the clothesline is also there.  Very convenient to be able to hang up the clothes right out of the washer.  The weather is getting colder though and the clothes aren't drying so I fear we will have to break down and purchase a dryer.  But, good news!  They have dryers here! So very many things to be grateful here!  Of Course the most important of which is David really enjoys his job.  He likes making a difference and sharing his knowledge with those who work for him.

We attend a wonderful branch of our church here in Hangzhou, the people are so warm and welcoming.  We are so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to meet such fine people.  To attend our branch you must have a visa to visit China. So our members are from all over the world.  Such a blessing from Tim to be able to interact with so many wonderful people.

Tim attends the Hangzhou International School.  He has really enjoyed the transition.  Tomorrow he will travel to Shanghi where he will have the opportunity to hear Jane Goodall speak.  How amazing is that?  When I told my children my children in the states they had a serious case of envy!

I finished a baby blanket that I started before the move.  The pattern was cast on 121 stitches, knit the first 5 rows, knit first and last 6 stitches of every row.  Then the pattern stitch for the blanket was:
row 1: Knit
row 2: P
row 3: K1, yo, p1, p3 tog, p1, yo, k1; repeat across
row 4: P
Rep 1-4 until desired length.

I used Lion Brand Babysoft Solid, it's soft and lays nicely.  I am considering taking apart and making it bigger.  It is rather small but it would be great for covering a baby or maybe adding a crocheted edging to the blanket to make it wider.

I am casting on today, http://digitalnabi.com/blog/2010/10/the-prettiest-hot-pad-ever/
I will be using prima cotton by knitpicks, sure wished they shipped overseas.  I purchased a great pattern for a jacket that I will have to wait until I return to the states to purchase yarn for...

Finished Tim's Sock's

Well, I purchased another camera hopefully this one will work better than the Cannon I had. I purchased a Nikon CoolPix in a great red color.

We have had some major changes in our family this year.  My husband works in China now and is always gone.  Not the best way to keep a marriage strong.  My daughter Kristine married this year on the 6th of April. And we moved into a wonderful home outside of town, the dogs and the kids are much happier.

I have started a quilt for my daughter Kristine from the Nickel Quilts book but the move interrupted the sewing it always takes me awhile to set up my sewing area after a move.

Mostly I have been knitting in my spare time to keep me sane! I finished Shur'tugal Dragon by Alice Yu. I really liked the doubled-tail cast on it made for a very sturdy cast on that I will be using again in the further.  The directions for the doubled-tail cast on can be found here.  


http://www.socktopus.co.uk/2009/04/doubled-long-tail-cast-on/


The socks very easy to knit after awhile I had a rhythm going that made them quite fun to knit with very little concentration needed. Always a good thing as I tend to knit while doing other things like watching movies, or listening to books on tape. 

Fall Knitting!

 As you can see I have been busy knitting, maybe it's because of the move to Idaho and I know I am going to freeze this winter but wool really does just seem right to me right now!  You can find the link to the free owl pattern here:

 http://daisycottagedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/07/free-owl-hat-crochet-pattern.html

It was fairly easy to crochet, although I haven't done much crocheting so it took some thinking on my part but as you can see I finished it1 ( Well, almost I still need to sew on the buttons for the eyes! But I did purchase them so I should be able to finish it soon!
 So many daughters of friends are having babies, I have been on the hunt for the ultimate baby bootie pattern.  One that will actually stay on their tiny feet and keep their feet warm this winter. These work up quickly! And they turned out way cute! With the ribbon you wind though the eyelets they do stay on!  The free pattern can be found here:

http://baby-projects.livejournal.com/15134.html

 My 16 year old son, Tim loved the owl hat that I made for my new nephew so I looked for a new pattern that could be made man size!  He loves the hat, I made it with Knit picks yarn, their wool of the andes. It should be quite warm for him this winter.  I can't keep the pom poms on so I have to work on it. The free pattern can be found here:

http://zayantemom.blogspot.com/2010/01/almost-pattern-for-earflap-hat.html

I opted to not put the owl face on the hat much to his disappointment!




I have 3 quilts at the quilters that I can't wait to get back from her.  She said I should have them by Thanksgiving.  I hope they come next week.  I will be posting the pattern for the table runner here when the quilt comes home.  It was quite easy.

I am also working on a crochet blanket for a christmas present as well as a pair of socks.  Hopefully, I will be posting those soon.

I've been working on genealogy and trying find the documents needed to have my ancestor listed in the DAR.  I found this great free research log to assist me in keeping track of where I have looked and where I need to go next and why! They also have an electronic version which will come in handy as I am going on a fact finding mission to Danville, Illinois after thanksgiving.  I hope to pull original documents for the DAR.

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/5/50/Research_Log.pdf

I hope it helps to keep me more organized. I have been hit or miss in recording where I have looked.  Previously, the only time I recorded where I looked is when I found information!  It has caused a lot of duplication on my part in research.  I hope to post my family tree here shortly so soon as I figure out how to put a copy on the blog. I also watch two webinars this week that were very helpful in organizing your family history.  Both can be found on the Legacy Family Tree site here:

http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Webinars.asp

The two I watched on Organizing are: FamilyRoots Organizer System by Mary Hill and Organizing for Success by Karen Clifford.  They each contained different approaches to organizing your files. Karen's involved the use of notebooks and Mary's involved the use of color file systems.  Both will work well with my Legacy system.  I think that I will be using both of the systems in my work.  Both have great applications for how my documents are currently organized. I have massive amounts of documents collected not only by me but by my Aunt Ruthie.  The great thing about being interested in genealogy, is the family helps out by passing documents on to you!

I also watched Cracking the case of Natan Brown's parents by marian Pierre-Louis.  An excellent example of working on solving brick walls.  And although she didn't introduce any new strategies I haven't already done or tried.  It was nice to have my research techniques validated!

As you might have guessed I use Legacy software to keep track of my family history but I think the webinars are worthwhile no matter what software you use.  By the way, when my computer arrived from India, Legacy had disappeared from my computer, when I tried to reload it, the computer would lock up.  A big thank you to tech support.  I heard back from them in fifteen minutes and had my computer up and running again.  I have an IMac computer which I love.  So for family history software I run it under VMFusion so I can use the windows software.  I also use VMFusion for my quilting software.  Although Mac has great programs, I just haven't found a good replacement for them in apple technology.  I have all the family history software because I help people do their family history so I try to be knowledgable about the various programs available.

Last but not least today, an update on Chloe and Tim.  We were watching our new favorite show Terra Nova and Chloe came attacked Tim, in her own fun loving way.  Whenever he lays on the floor to watch Tim, Chloe thinks its an invitation for LOVE!

Sorry it's been so long since I have written.  Coming the America has been an adventure.  We have been trying to decide where to live now that Tim needs to be educated here in the USA.  I have been staying in Rexburg, Idaho with two of my daughters.  It's a wonderful townhouse with two bedrooms.  The only problem is when you put two college students, a sixteen year old boy and three dogs in that small of space it isn't as quiet as one could hope.  My son Tim loves to tease his older sisters until we're all crazy and I am longing for the peace of my own space.  I have seriously considered running away from home!  But since that isn't an option, I have been dreaming of where we will settle.  We have decided that Idaho or Utah just aren't where we want to live long term.  We really want to go back to our roots which is the great state of Michigan.  Michigan has gone though some horrible things as far as jobs are concerned so it hasn't been a option up until now.  With our living not dependent on income Michigan is once again an option.  We comb the real estate listings daily looking for just the right property where Tim and I can settle and dad can come home and visit!  Can I just say here it's a shame that American businesses have done their best to take the work outside of this country.  And they are currently reaping the rewards of that.  Unskilled workers!  Oh well on to better things.  To keep myself sane I have been busy knitting and have completed all the wonderful warm woollies in the picture above.

      The hat, leggings and fingerless mittens were my first project ( could be because it was so cold here when we arrived).  I used a wonderful yarn from Plymouth Yarn company called Mushishi, and their pattern 1592.  They knitted up fast and look wonderful.  It's a very simple, plain pattern which showcases the yarn beautifully.
       Next comes a pair of real mittens!  I just don't think the fingerless gloves are as practical as everyone tells me!  Personally, I want my fingers covered so I knitted up a pair of mittens with my favorite mitten pattern by Fiber Trends "Easy Hats and Mittens".  These knitted up in an evening and will give my daughter a nice alternative to the fingerless gloves.

      Since my daughter Stephanie is so tall, I needed to purchase extra yarn to make the leggings and gloves long enough to be of practical use to her.  So with all the extra yarn I also knitted up a "Spice Route Shawl"  which is really a cool scarf!  It fits nicely around the neck to keep you warm without the long tails of a regular scarf to deal with.  The beautiful stitch pattern also complimented the yarn as well.  You can find the free pattern for the shawl here;   http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0369.html?r=1   I love free patterns!  They are well worth the investment of the yarn companies because I sure do buy a lot of yarn that way!

     Last but not least is Julia's Cabled Headband, this is a child's headband that I just made larger for my daughter.  I made it so that it finishes at 21" which was 7 pattern repeats, I also used 4 mm needles rather that the 4.5mm called for in the pattern.  This is another free pattern which you can find here:  http://mathgirl40.blogspot.com/2009/01/wide-cabled-headband-pattern.html   I want to make up more of these. They are perfect for covering your ears and not messing up your hair.  Plus, with my great new hair cut, head banks are very helpful!