My New Toy!

Okay, so this would definitely be a "want" not a "need," but it is very cool.

Yarn Ball Winder:




When I started knitting about a year ago I started with dishcloths using
Lily Sugar N Cream cotton yarn. Those dishcloths are still going strong!

I then discovered the Ravelry website and got totally hooked on knitting. I'll post another time about Ravelry.

Since then I have started accumulating a small stash of yarn. I would never have thought I needed to do anything to the skeins of yarn I buy from Michael's or Jo-Ann Fabrics, and really I don't. But if (or shall I say when) I branch out to buying yarns from independent yarn stores they will come in hanks, which will need to be wound into balls before they can be used.

I found this on Jo-Ann.com, and after using an online coupon it was just over $20. I had to buy some yarn for a project that required more than I had bought originally (of course I couldn't find any more locally) but I also signed up for an account and got a coupon for $2.95 shipping, so it wasn't too bad.

This winder has gotten mixed reviews, but I think mainly the problem was with people not realizing that you have to pull the side yarn guide all the way out until it clicks. I've had no problem with it so far, and it is tons of fun to do. Even my 11-year-old son has fund winding the balls, although he got a little too enthused and pulled the thing off the table!

So here is what you start with, what it looks like in progress, and the finished product!






And here is just a little bit of my stash looking all rolled up and cute:




If you are interested in buying the yarn winder there is a link to one sold on Amazon to the right of this post. But be careful, winding yarn can be addicting!

Downy Woodpecker

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Originally uploaded by licooklicook

This guy (yes I think it is a male) visits my suet log often. We also have a Hairy Woodpecker and a one-time visit from a Northern Flicker! I love to watch these woodpeckers.

Celebrating our new president!

Meg,Me, Rebecca

My friends Rebecca and Meg joined me on Inauguration Day to watch and celebrate the start of a new era for our country! We had a great time watching, toasting, crying (okay, Rebecca was crying), and lunching like ladies with nothing better to do. It was a great day!

Sixth Grade Band Concert

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Originally uploaded by licooklicook

Spencer all dressed up for his first band concert! If you know Spencer you will know this is a big deal.

Record Snow and the View Out My Window

It's snowing again. Moving snow has become an almost daily chore here in Fargo this winter. It's getting so we're not sure where we are going to put it! December ended up being the snowiest month on record in our area with 30.5 inches falling in December which broke an 81-year-old record. By the time we are done with today's snow we will most likely be up to 35 or 40 inches. And the thing about snow in North Dakota which is different than most of the country is that when we get snow there is no melting until Spring. So it just piles up, and piles up, and piles up.


Here is the view out my window today:

No, the nice trees are not a permanent part of our landscape, although they look like it don't they? Every year I put our Christmas tree (and any others I can abscond from the boulevard before they are chopped up for compost) in our backyard by the birdfeeders as shelter for the birds. I love how it looks and it extends the use of the trees by several months. Then we chop them up and add them to our woodpile. Now that is making good use of our natural resources I would say.

This picture is one I took the other day. I decided I wasn't going to fight the squirrels, but I think we're making it just a little bit too easy for them, don't you? If the snow keeps up I'm going to have to figure out a different way to hang my bird feeders!