what is wrong with people

So we were out of town for the weekend and when we got home some friendly person wished us a Merry Christmas by slashing all four of my tires. Last night my sister and I were leaving the house and as we backed down the driveway we noticed some teen aged kids leaning up against our backyard fence. As we slowed down they started to run. When we pulled out and on to the street behind my house they ran the other way. We turned around and pulled into my driveway and called the city police. My sister got out of the car to get the spare key I had left for her out from its hiding spot and the kids started throwing eggs at her and the car. At that point she ran back to the car and we started driving around the block and called 911. As we were driving on the street they started throwing eggs at the car again. We met a police officer at a near by gas station and he followed us back and made sure no one had gone into the house. What a mess. It really sucks that these kids can just go around and do things like slash people's tires and throw eggs at your car with no consequences. We had to pay $500 to get new tires put on the car just because of some mean kids.
In knitting news I got a new book for Christmas with a pattern for The Hour Glass Sweater. I am thinking about making that my next project. I am also looking at Under the Hoodie from Stitch n Bitch. I have plans with a friend to start teaching her how to knit on Sunday. I bought her a kit and some yarn for Christmas.
I am off now to visit with my sister and 2 year old niece who are in from out of town.

Trust the Pattern

One of the things I love about knitting is what it teaches me about myself. I am working on my first pair of socks and yesterday I got to the heal shaping. It made no sense to me that I would not knit to the end of the row. I thought for sure that there was a mistake in the pattern. Then I remembered the advice of a very wise and seasoned knitter, Margaret, "trust the pattern." So, I tried it and of course it worked out fine. The pattern was right it was my understanding of how it worked together that needed to be corrected. How much like my daily life that is. So often in my limited perspective I find myself not trusting the process.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

B-E-A-utiful

I love the yarn i dyed! The colors turned out very fun and spring like. The pink is a very pretty coral color (not red like I thought it was going to be)! I am very excited to knit with this yarn! I had planned on working this morning. I got a phone call at 5:20 telling me to go to the ER at 10am. So here I am with a few hours extra this morning to do whatever I want. I should do some house work. Dishes need to be washed, there is laundry to do, and just general picking up. What I really want to do is knit. Maybe I can get some things done quickly then I can knit for a while. If I get some necessary tasks done before knitting then I don't feel so bad.

dye

I dyed yarn for the first time today. I used kool-aid with instructions from knit picks. I underestimated how much dye I would need and had to go to the store in the middle of the process. The girl at the check out must have thought I was crazy. I used pink, yellow, green, and blue. The pick ended up looking very red. The colors mixed a lot and I ended up with a tie dye effect. I am just happy I didn't end up with brown. I poured the color on and used a towel under it to help soak up extra liquid. I think that helped a lot. Next time I will know I need a bigger quantity of color and I will stick to two colors.

in the works and in the mail

i am working on a poncho right now. i have about 5 inches left to go! it is a very simple lace pattern i got from the Lion Brand web site. i am also not so patiently awaiting the sock yarn i ordered to arrive in the mail. however, being that our mailbox was STOLEN a day or so before the snow storm i will have to check with the post office to see if it has arrived. why in the world someone would take a mailbox of all things is beyond me! they took ours and our neighbors. jason did the neighborly thing and replaced theirs before ours (there mailbox was taken also). when he went to replace ours he pulled the post out of the box and it was defective. then the snow and ice came. so anyway, we still have no mailbox because there is about 12 inches of snow and ice at the end of the yard from plowing. i guess it is a good thing in a way because i have lots of other things i am working on. a friend asked me yesterday if if would make a scarf for him to give away as a christmas gift. so that will have to come before any yarn dying adventures!

help

I am getting a little frustrated because I can't figure out how to put a button on the margin of my blog page. I was able to copy one into my photos but i don't know how to put the link with it. If anyone that reads this can help me I would appreciate it!