This was sent to me in an email from a friend, and I thought I'd share it.

When I think of the job situation in this country I can't help but think this would help in some small way...

This past weekend I was shopping. I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled "Everyday Value". I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand, but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in Mexico and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA. So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here - from a company in Cleveland, OHIO! So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets....yep you guessed it Bounce was more money and made in Canada, the Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

So my challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Besides, you might save a little money in the process.

Help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here.

I am not against buying products from other countries, but I think we need to be mindful of purchasing products made locally and food grown locally. With gas prices being volatile (no pun intended), the cost of shipping increasing rapidly, rising unemployment rate, and inflation on the horizon, lets increase our support for our local economies.

The YarnGeek helped me cross over to the "dark side" ...


When I mentioned I wanted to crochet a hat like my daughter's friend crocheted for her, the YarnGeek generously offered to meet with me at our LYS. This is serious fun. I have wanted to build my crocheting skills for a while now, and she gave me the boost I needed.


I am spinning Gulf Coast wool. Gulf Coast is one of the oldest breeds of sheep in North America. The brown and orange are Gulf Coast wool and the maroon is a mohair blend, all from Running Moon Farm. (colors are a little washed out due to the flash - it is a dark day here)

Spinning, crocheting, knitting... too bad I need to work.

I have been looking forward to this for almost a year.
I began corresponding with Margrett at Running Moon Farm about a year ago after I saw one of their handcrafted lazy kates.

I like tools that have both form and function, and I prefer to buy something that I will keep and use for many years.

This is my lazy kate crafted from cherry wood. It is such a beautiful red color.

Here is an inside look showing the features...
Tensioning for the bobbins, and one of the pegs is an orifice hook for the wheel.

It was such a pleasure to correspond with Margrett.

You can see that she also sent me a bag of fiber with my kate. The fiber is Gulf Coast and Mohair. I look forward to spinning with it!


My bobbins have a home

Sock designs piled up in my head during the month I was on a sock-knitting diet. I feel like I want to knit all of them at once.

I bought this gray Araucania Ranco sock yarn for my son's socks, but it won't work for him, so I get to knit socks for me instead. This yarn makes me think of gray dress socks on the pale legs of older men and I built my design from that.

Maybe I should explain further ... When I was a child I noticed that older men's legs were often shockingly white, surprisingly skinny, and sometimes their trouser socks would sag a little on their ankles, and for some reason that image stuck in my mind. That is the image that I used when I started designing this sock.

fun stuff.

I finished my fingerless mitts in time to wear them Saturday evening when I visited my daughter at her college. I saw these same colors in the sky during the 4-1/2 hour drive. It was beautiful. These mitts will be a nice reminder.

Yarn: Hand spun; Navajo ply merino for the cuff, and 2 ply from merino and kid mohair (each spun separately) for the hand.
Needles: US 5 for the cuff and US 7 for the hand.
Pattern: my own - simple 2 x 2 rib fingerless mitts with a gusset for the thumb.

I plan to study a little more about spinning for socks. I liked the Navajo ply but I wonder if it would be good for socks. Anyway, I have some exploring to do.

I am knitting at my desk today during short breaks from work. It keeps me focused and in the chair. I am knitting my recent handspun yarn. It is lumpy bumpy because I was trying new fibers and new techniques. I have been away from my wheel for a while, so I had to get back into the 'spin' of things. he he. The ball of handspun is 2 ply with a single of merino and a single of mohair (my recent dye project). The merino was spun woolen and the mohair was spun from the fold. The handspun on the needles and laying across the keyboard is navajo ply, which is a new technique for me. There were a lot of firsts in this adventure - my first merino, my first mohair, and my first navajo ply. There is nothing perfect about it, except that I am perfectly content with it. I have found to my great joy that the imperfections melt away when knit and can even enhance a project. This will soon be a pair of open-end mitts.

There are some amazing tea cozies on Grand Purl Baa's blog. Cat people will appreciate these .

I am beginning to see why some people choose to install a phone in their bathroom.

I have a home business, and so I spend most of my time at my desk at home. I am not in the bathroom all that much, and I get few phone calls or visitors, but the probability that I will get a visitor or a phone call while I am in the bathroom showering or .. whatever.. is unusually high. I have even changed the times I take my morning shower, but it has not helped. It is like there is a sensor under the bathroom floor; it counts to 10 and then sends out a signal for the phone to ring.

It has become almost funny. soft of.

Tudor Grace is finished. I don't have an action shot, so I am including a link to Anne's Tudor Grace on Knitspot.

I knit this using Posh Yarn's Lucia that I received in a present exchange last year from Celadon Pool. It is lovely. She sent me two, so I think I will use the other one to knit a matching hat.

Blocking wires are still on my wish list, and the bedroom was so cold that if I pinned it out on the bed it would have taken days to dry, so I gave it a soak using lavender-scented shampoo and dried it on the ironing board near the wood stove. Someday I will give it the decent blocking that it deserves.


Kid mohair fresh out of the dye pot and hanging in the shower. I am struck by how it reflects light and how lovely it feels.
The plan is to spin this and then ply it with the merino that I finished spinning last week. I believe the mohair will give strength to the merino.

Still seaming.....
... and it is starting to look like something recognizable.

Mmmm, blue. Looking at my projects, I think this is the year for blue and purple.