NaKniSweMo 2015

I am frantically knitting on my National Knit A Sweater In A Month challenge despite yet again being off to a late start.  So far I have a sleeve and 1/3 done.  I've recently started receiving DVD's in the mail again from Netflix.  I've always had the service available, but it took me almost 3 years to send back the discs I had because there was so much on Instant Netflix to keep me busy.  I'm hooked on the FX series Fargo.  I have series 2 on my DVR and I have one more disc of season 1 to get through.  Great show and I'm weirdly proud to be a Minnesotan while watching it.  I also love love love the poster for the series made in knitwear!  And in the spirit of Minnesota, my brother and his family are coming down tomorrow and we're all going to the Minnesota Wild hockey game downtown!  Weeeeeeeeee!  I think I'm going to have to re-watch the series on the treadmill because I do think I'm missing a few details here and there looking down at my knitting.  It is such a good show that I won't be upset to watch it again.

Silver Service

On our last outing to Saver's, I picked up this beautiful silver tray for $8!  It was tarnished but not pitted and had a few light scratches but overall, it was in very good shape.  I polished it up and am so pleased with it.  My mother has one just like this and I saw it every day gleaming in her china cabinet.  She also has a full silver coffee service set that would come out at Christmas and luncheons and receptions.  They were wedding gifts and she can tell you who got her each piece.  When I was a kid, it was my regular task to polish the silver and now that job falls to my nieces.  I can't get this into my hutch so I will have to find a home for it.  It is so pretty that I wouldn't mind it sitting out on the hutch counter where I can see it every day.

And yes, I'm a nerd and had to put my teapot and some Polish pottery on it.  I got the teacups and saucers in Poland, the sugar bowl is from ebay, the cobalt creamer was made by a potter in York, the teapot came from Vermontcountrystore.com and the Polish creamer was acquired in Iceland.  Quite an international tea service!  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a dorky tea party with myself!  I loved the movie Saving Mr. Banks and one of my favorite movie lines ever came from that film:  Tea is like balm for the soul.

Temperate Fall

We've enjoyed a beautiful and warm fall so far.  Today was another sunny day in the mid sixties.  Hard to believe it is November.  Here are some of the fall colors across our pond.  Those birch trees make me think of Dr. Zhivago.

We had maybe a dozen or so trick or treaters on Saturday.  Our front door is shown here in all it's Halloween glory.

My parents were here visiting this weekend.  Saturday we went and saw Bridge Of Spies (it was excellent!) and then did some thrifting at Saver's.  Dave reminded us that it was almost 5:00 and we needed to get home and get ready for Halloween.  He had hollowed out our pumpkin the night before and I carved it in record time.

I did some unorthodox knitting this weekend.  That is putting it mildly!  I'd been wanting to knit this for some time and what better time to own a viking hat and beard than Halloween?  The beard was made from yarn leftover from my nephew's vest and the hat used up some novelty yarn I had sitting in the stash.  Dad agreed that he could pass for a dwarf or a viking in this.  I think Dad already looks like John Rhys-Davies

My dad generously modeled and wore the hat for me while I attached the horns to make sure they were even.  Unfortunately, I never wore  it to answer the door for trick or treaters.  My parents and I had just sat down to eat at around 7 when the rush hour hit and I had to keep getting up for the door.

All this beard knitting got in the way of my Socktober knitting and I didn't finish my socks on time.  I started knitting these a week ago when I realized it was indeed Socktober.  Currently I am halfway through the first sleeve of my National Knit A Sweater In A Month Challenge so I will have to finish these here and there when I have the time but not the cumbersome sweater project in tow.