Work In Progress

Generosity (WIP)

It's early, but seems late to me.  I've been wearing an apron for about 5 hours, cooking and washing up. Normally duties are split up a bit, but in an unfortunate irony, Partner strained his back while we were at a yoga class this morning. You can read his take here.

And we are off early, early in the morning for a race at Stinson Beach and I'm looking forward to beautiful scenery.  You may recall last year that I said this was a hike for the first 3 miles and a run for the last four. If Partner can run, we are both trying to beat last year's times.  Boy #2 is going to try to win.  Boy #1 will hang out at the finish and wonder what makes us do weird things like get up in the dark and drive for an hour to run.

I had a couple plans for a post today.  But the mail came and changed all that up.  I feel so incredibly fortunate to have found some lovely people through blogging and knitting.  Today, I was struck by just how fortunate I am.

Earlier this week, I discovered a fellow crafter at work.  She's a crocheter.  I showed her The Mittens and she said, oh, I've got to bring in some yarn I got in a Christmas swap because I'll never make socks.  I even told her she could crochet socks, but she insisted.
Would you believe, the yarn I use on the (rare) occasions I make my wool-allergic mother socks? And even in a color I know she will like!

And then today.

The mail came.

A package I knew was coming from a friend arrived.  But it was lumpy.  She's not good at keeping secrets, and had said she had bought me a book.  But lumpy?

The yarn is Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Sock.  Not only does my friend buy me a copy of Capitol Knits the week before the official release -just because - but, she also sends me the remnants of a very special skein of yarn.  More on this later...

And, as if all that wasn't enough....  The answer to a cryptic question from a couple weeks ago.  Another package, this one from Kate. Why do you want my address, dear Kate? Because you are a kind and generous person.

A handmade item in colors I love, a lovely little hat pattern, and a truly enjoyable card. I was all set to use the cloth when washing up tonight, and then thought, "Use a gift as a dishcloth? Why no!" Thank you for the idea Nova, I'll be using this as a facecloth! The whole package was so nice, but the card really touched me for it's thoughtfulness.  I'm a fan of the old fashion letter.  I am happy too that we have 'met' through the interesting world of blogging, my friend.

A week of abundance.  I was quite stunned. Gobsmacked, as they say. Generosity is a touching and beautiful thing. What a wonderful work in progress.

Christmas wrapup #2 (FO)

I ended up cleaning and cooking during the conference football games and didn't knit as I'd expected. That's a little unfortunate because I think the Superbowl is going to be really boring, so if I have time to knit I won't really be interested in the game. And no, I don't like football, I was just excited since a local team was in contention.Funny how group psychology works.

The Mittens (because they've earned proper name status) trudge on.

There are two more knits I have. I made some reading mitts for a good friend of ours. When she opened them, they were folded so as to appear (to her) like socks.  She was quite excited.  And then confused. I'll need to tuck that piece of info away for future gift giving opportunities. Which, is not to suggest that such a piece of info will formulate into a pair of socks.  Because, that is how I roll.

Susie's Reading Mitts.  A great little pattern that is apparently the subject of much copyright debate. You've probably noticed that all my gift patterns this year were free. Knitting from stash and free patterns were additional goals of holiday knitting and I was mostly successful, except for some cotton yarn. When I found these, the original designer posted the pattern and said it was free.  When I couldn't find my pattern on Christmas and checked Ravelry, the pattern is now listed as unavailable.  Now they are again listed as free and there is a link to a different designer that claims it is their pattern. I'll admit that it seems a bit of a petty tug-of-war is going on, though I've only read one side of the story.

These mitts are beautiful and I think they look amazing with the yarn. The free pattern is written in one size. I didn't check gauge (same song as before) and I'm a bit unhappy with the fit at the wrist.

I don't know if that is a gauge issue or a function of how my hands are shaped or the pattern. I suspect gauge since Partner looks smashing in them.

Another gripe, and this is all about me. I suck at finishing.  No, really, I do. 

You may recall the hole that appeared while doing the photoshoot for OWLS. I gerryrigged those holes closed with lots of weaving of the ends.  I attempted to overcome the problem with the thumb gussets by twisting stitches on the first of the mitts, and didn't like the result.

For the second mitt, I used a tapestry needle and knit stitches across. A better result, but there has to be a better way.

For comparison:
I'm practicing on The Mittens, and am only marginally more satisified. On Mitten #1, I used a tapestry needle and 'traced' around the knit stitches on the gusset. I have a book on finishing techniques. I probably ought to read it.

I am happy with my technique for folding over and creating the pretty edging. I just split the yarn in half to have thin 'thread' with identical coloring. You can see 1) how I wove the stitches and 2) the difference between sewing with the full yarn (left half) and split yarn (second half).

The next item you've already seen a snapshot of, possibly without realizing it.

It was this year's secret knit. I mostly finished this while in Vancouver.  But, I left the brim until the last minute so Partner was banished to the bedroom for awhile (under the guise of wrapping his other gifts).

I used the stitch count from Turn-A-Square + 4 stitches. I also did this hat top down. I then added a repeat from Alice Starmore's book once again. And I finished with the Latvian Braid bindoff from Donna Druchunas's Bosnian Slipper Socks.

I really enjoyed semi-designing this hat while also working on my colorwork and learning a new technique. The yarn was chosen to match a scarf I made him before I was blogging.

I also used a peony pattern that I thought most resembled the cable shaping (without being as complex!).

The yarn was a gift from my good friend Nova - a combination of some possum yarn that she discovered she's allergic to and part of some hand spun she gifted me with years ago and I've been dying to use. It was only 62 yards and I never could quite find a pattern.  I thought this would use it all up, but I ended with about half of it left.  The colors are beautiful and I need to figure out a way to highlight the last bit.

I made it a bit too long because the last two beanies I made him were too short. So when he pulls it down, he ends up flipping up the brim a little bit (as in the picture above). The colorwork section is just slightly puckered so some of the stitche are pulled into the fabric and not as clear. Something to work on because it detracts from the colorwork, but fortunately it's not bad enough to effect the wearability of the hat.

I also think that since I was using thicker yarn, one less round of the primary color before the bind off would have been better. I saw the original socks at Sock Summit and the bind off isn't as obvious on the socks and I think I prefer that, though Partner said he doesn't mind.  Now he has a matched set (sort of):

So there you have it! The last FOs of 2011. I think I missed a couple baby hats and some dishclothes, but the knitting yardage for 2011 was: 3336

There are several FOs near completion so hopefully I can get my 4,000 yards for 2012 and get my reward (more on that later).

Now, to get The Mittens done so I can have the first FO of 2012....

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts
Yarn: Mirasol Cotanani, 110 yards
Modifications: none!
Knitting yardage total 2011: 3176

Pattern: my own: increase style (reverse of decreases) from Turn a Square; peony pattern from Starmore, Latvian braid from Donna Druchunas, US7
Yarn: unknown handspun ~30 yards; Cherry Tree Hill Possum worsted ~130 yards
Modifications: N/A
Knitting yardage total 2011: 3336

Christmas wrapup #1

Perhaps it's appropriate that I'm finally getting to a Christmas wrap up the morning two days after we took our tree down.  Yes, I'm one of those people - the one that only takes the tree down on the night before the last day they will come and recycle it. Maybe in a different post I'll tell you about our Christmas tree ritual. In fact, here is a quick pic of me saying goodbye to our Christmas tree for this year.

So, before I went to Vancouver with my mom, I showed you what I'd set out for myself and noted that it would represent 1/3 of my annual knitting if I got it all done.
So, perhaps nobody is surprised that I did not meet this unrealistic crazy lofty goal.

I did make all but three gifts before Christmas. One of the late gifts was fine because I wasn't seeing the recipient until after Christmas. The second was okay too because my friend is super understanding (and, fortunately, suffered from the same problem so we were both a little late with our gifts). The third one is a bit of a problem. Because, you see, I still am working on it. It's beginning to feel awkward.  And, quite frankly, I've become less productive as I'm consistently resisting the siren song of other knits.  I want a sweater for myself in a bad way.

But, let's wrap up 2011 first.

First up, knits I did during the year, with nobody in mind. This was a great way to add something a little special to a gift bag and I was quite happy with that. Dishclothes for my friends Nova and Janice:

For Janice (the teal/brown ones), I also tried to make a handtowel, though she mentioned she uses it to keep her teapot warm, which I think is a smashing idea. I knit both at random and I love the completely different effects. I even imagine I can see a guitar in the handtowel. I'm not super happy with the handtowel, because I think it may be an awkward size. All are knit in that lovely, now mindless, double bump dishcloth pattern. As Rachel has said, I keep saying I'll try a different pattern, but keep going back to the tried and true instead.

I also tried a bee stitch cloth.  I swear I saw this on someone's blog, but now can't find it. Unfortunately, I apparently never took a picture of it other than hidden in this picture of holiday knits - it's the all blue one at the bottom of the pile!
Okay, first of the new stuff: loofahs for my brother and sister. I was going to make my sister a wash cloth, but loved the loofah so much, I couldn't resist. Knit back and forth with short rows, you then sew it shut. This doily: 

becomes a loofah with the simple addition of a cord run through the eyelets:

Evidently, I failed to take a picture of my sister's completed loofah. The only difference is that rather than crocheting a string, I decided to create a braided cord for her.  I'll admit it looks more finished, but have you ever tried to braid 2 feet worth of tiny yarn? Ack! Not sure it's worth it. I did get this in progress picture of my sister's loofah.  I truly think this pattern could easily be adapted into a baby hat.  Don't you agree?

Next is the knit I blame for all my problems. If not for this, all knits would have been done on time. Completely untrue, I'm sure, I would have done something else. This became the bane of my knitting existence. A hat for my SIL.  This is version one:

Too short to even fit over my ears.

 And too wide to cover even Partner's head.

Before you even ask. No, of course I didn't swatch - it's a simple hat!  She's a woman, I cast on for the woman's size. So, I tore it out, and knit the child's size. After I was nearly done, I decided I had enough yarn to knit 2 more rows of the pattern, to lengthen it a little.

I was wrong.

So I tore out the crown decreases a third time, took out the two extra rows, and did the crown decreases again.  The final product, still a little short, but fitted. Please also notice the artistic arm shadow that Partner is quite proud of. :)

I didn't get a picture of her wearing it. This is good because... drum roll... it was still loose on her head. The next size down is for "toddler." My SIL is over 6'.  I have no idea what is wrong with the pattern.  I'm going to blame it on the pattern because I used the yarn weight and needles called for in the pattern.  No matter what, I can't think my gauge is off by over an inch.

I'll take a break to talk about this yarn - Fiburanatura Sea Song.  Super soft.  Good eco friendly yarn (or so I think, I haven't researched it) with cotton and sea kelp. Splitty as hell. Even with simple knit stitches, I had to watch to not split my stitches. Of course, it became progressively worse as I reknit with the yarn. That being said, it held up well to four attempts worth of knitting. It retained it's shape and doesn't look scruffy after a wash. So, probably good for simple knits, I wouldn't try it for anythng complicated. I hope she's able to use it....

Up next is a gift for my Mom, one I'm particularly proud of - double knit color work potholders.  My mom loves tea. I really need to get these pictures into ravelry because the designer ought to get some recognition for a really neat pattern that she's sharing for free.

I accidently started with the CC on the second pot holder. It took me several rows (and more than I was willing to tear out) to realize this is actually a problem, so that the pot holders aren't identical. It was also less than a week before Christmas so it's now a "design feature." Here they are, after a soak, 2 days before Christmas.

Another new technique was used in making my Dad's hat. My dad always has cold ears. My mom has made him a double knit hat, but she said it's really his ears that are the problem.  Enter the brilliant Melissa's idea - thruming for ears! Now, I had no idea how to thrum and I wasn't sure how to make this not look weird.  I ended up with some pretty thick thrums in the beginning, because I was taking too big of pulls. The YarnHarlot's thrummed mitten guide was very helpful on how to knit with thrums.

I then took a simple peony pattern out of Alice Starmore's book and incorporated it into a hat.  I cast on 108 stitches, completed the peony pattern, and then dropped down to 104 stitches and followed the decrease pattern from Turn-a-Square. It ended up creating a slightly larger 'zone' that poofs around the ears.  I'm happy with how it turned out.  I do wish I'd twisted the thrums a little bit tighter so there was more stitch definition and not as much fuzzy 'poofying' on the right side of the fabric.

Dad's hat was actually knit over two days.  Have I told you how much it helped for Partner to do nearly all the driving up to and around Oregon? Yep, he deserves some thanks for these knits happening!

The next knit was a hat for a friend. I've mentioned to her that I'm a bit of a selfish knitter, which may have set me up great for surprising her. She just started knitting last year and is an amazing knitter - she's making fair isle sweaters already! I wanted to make her a fun hat, and Wurm fit the bill perfectly!

I cast on on Christmas eve, got up early on Christmas day to double over the brim (super easy, actually) and mindless knit and purled all day Christmas. That night, I had a finished hat!  I love the hat, but do think it would be more funky to have followed the pattern for the full 10 repeats.  But I had one skein of Cascade 220 and it probably needed the 240 called for in the pattern.

Here it is modeled very Dr Seussical (apparently - I've never read the books, but that is what everyone who saw it thought).

The super quick crown decreases create a funky effect.

And a closer shot of the doubled over brim which is 1) super easy, 2) helps snug down the hat and 3) is really warm.  It's a very finished look and I'll probably steal it for some simple beanies in the future.

I think that is enough for this go around. Next time: fingerless mitts, a secret knit, and (hopefully) the final Christmas knit!

Pattern: Double bump dishcloth
Final measurements: both dishclothes are 34 stitch cast ons, the hand cloth is 43, all on size US6s
Yarn: purple is Sugar n Cream Ombre - ~45 yards, teal/tan is Lion Brand Solid - 236 yards
Modifications: None
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2205

Pattern: Bee stitch dishcloth
Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream, some left over blue, 60 yards
Modifications: none, US6s
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2265

Pattern: Loofah or washcloth
Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream naturals - 68 yards, Sugar 'n Cream solid for my brother - 72 yards
Modifications: none, US6s for both
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2405

Pattern: November Hat
Final measurements: Child's size on US5s
Yarn: FiburaNatura SeaSong, colorway Night, 109 yards
Modifications: None.
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2514

Pattern: Double knit potholders
Yarn: Sugar 'n Creams solids, 206 yards total of two colors
Modifications: An extra repeat on the leg
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2720

 Pattern: Thrummed hat, decreases from Turn a Square
Final measurements: Men's
Yarn: Cascade 220, charcoal, 126 yards plus unknown number of ounces of roving
General specs: Cast on 108, decrease to 104 after thrumming, US7s
Knitting yardage total 2011: 2846

Pattern: Wurm
Yarn: Cascade 220, 220 yards
Modifications: seven repeats of the knit/purl sections, US 7
Knitting yardage total 2011: 3066

Hopping on the word bandwagon

I was just going to title this post, "Hopping on the bandwagon," but figured everyone would think I'd started striped study.  which I may still, just not this time.

No, i'm on the word bandwagon. Yesterday is when I intended to write this post and then decided I wasn't going to join in this year. Then, this morning, I was sitting in a meeting and reflecting on a particularly frustrating situation at work. In essence, a big deal has been made about nothing. It all stems from either non-communication or mis-communication. I'm stuck in the middle. And it's being made worse through more of the same, with a little undermining communication to liven things up.

And, I thought, you know what, I know what word I need. So, my word for 2012 is:

CALM

I'm really not good at letting go of things. I tend to get angry or stressed or angry AND stressed.  What is that angressed? strangry?

Anyway, that is me. The slightly angressed one in the corner. One goal I have this year is to be less of both.

And so, I was thinking this morning, perhaps a little word focus would help. I tried the word "contentment" last year. I have it written a couple places and it makes me happy. But I'm not sure it helped with this particular problem.  I don't know, maybe I have a short attention span and a multisyllabic word was too much for me. *grin*

So, this year, I'm going to try to focus on calm. Both internally - less angry, less stress.  And externally - no frenetic knitting, no waiting to the last minute and rushing to get somewhere. I'll work on being more calm when dealing with Boy #2 (teenagers!).  And that means, either when I'm directly interacting, or just thinking about things that are frustrating/irritating/worrisome about/in relation to/with him.  He's a good kid, by the way, just the whole parenting thing is hard. I'm also going to try to be calm when dealing with the whole job/moving conundrum. 

I also wouldn't mind creating a more calm environment - less clutter, less noise. Oh, and I wouldn't mind being a little calmer when I don't do any of these things and start beating myself up.

CALM.

Wrestling

I'm traveling for work and had great intentions to blog about: Christmas gifts, wedding, change.  I even considered jumping on the "word" bandwagon.  But I managed to find the one hotel left in the world that doesn't have internet connections in the rooms.  There was wireless in the lobby, but for some reason, I never got in the mood while down there.

Perhaps next week.  Maybe by the end of January, I'll have wrapped up showing all that I knit in 2011.  Ha.

Despite the internet, it's been a really fantastic week mentally.  Last time I was here, I ended up in a super-loud, party hotel.  I was so unhappy.  This time, I purposely chose a hotel in the middle of nowhere.  Because of that, I've spent a lot of time focused on myself.  I've eaten almost no processed food all week. Some nut crackers and two things of fries.  But it's 9 a.m and I'm sitting in a Wholefoods eating a salad for breakfast.  It feels good.

I've also spent a lot of time turned inwards, thinking a lot. Boy #2 is in his final year of school. For the first time in a long time, Partner and I can move. And I think we're ready.  But we're not sure what to do. I'm tired of my job. Burned out. But I love the work I do. But there are few places I can do it. In fact, on the west coast, where we want to stay (we think), I'm pretty much at the only place I can do it. (And sorry for being vague, I just don't want to put too much out there on the internet).

We both love the Pacific Northwest.  We even looked around a little over Christmas. But the job situation isn't that great. I'd certainly take a pay cut to move there.  Probably a pretty significant one. This is hard for me to wrestle with; 1) I've been working in this field for awhile and I'm pretty senior. 2) But I lack the qualifications of most of my counterparts. 3) So I'd either have to switch fields, or take a pay cut. 4) And that all assumes I can find a job, which is by no means a given.

While traveling this week, a whole world of new job ideas opened up to me. But they all involve places other than the Pacific Northwest. There are likely jobs in Europe that I could take. I wouldn't take a pay cut and I'd be in a portion of the world where 1) I really like the history and 2) I speak (in the most tenuous definitions of the same) a couple of the languages. I also found out there is a job opening where I'm at now. A part of the country I've never thought of living. And I know in my heart would never be permanent. But I'd actually get a pay raise, something I'd resigned myself to letting go of. And I'd be able to work in a field closely related to what I do now and actually - finally - be able to really apply some of my master's course work.

And Partner even could get a job here (or in Europe).

We've been talking so much about this. We're both ready to settle down a bit. I'd like to explore some of my more domestic leanings (of which I truly believed I had none, until Partner and I lived together.  Cooking more naturally/from scratch. Living more holistically and cleaner. Canning.) I'm kind of ready to nest in a permanent HOME.  Not the home we have now, that we rent from other people.  We want a place we can sink into, to absorb the vibe of the place and reflect it back.  This is something I don't see us doing in Europe or anywhere other than the Northwest. Maybe I'm wrong.  I've been wrong before; I was happy to get back to California, only to realize it wasn't for the person I've become.

But if I move somewhere else instead, we'd be able to save for THE place, when we're ready to finally settle in the Northwest.

So, that's what we're wrestling with.  To move? Or not. To change jobs? Or not.  If so, do what? And where?

Rather than just be silent on the blog while I turned these things over and over again, I decided I'd just put it out here in this space. I would welcome any thoughts on this.  Or opinions.  Or alternatives. Maybe we aren't thinking of something.  Actually, we probably aren't.

In other news, Partner has embraced my thoughts on minimizing. He's even started another blog on the same. Hop on over there to see our physical chaos slowly going away. And he's doing a lot while I'm passing the days here. Nice.

Speaking of here.  Some pictures (sunset last night and sunrise this morning):

There are worse places to consider the future path of one's life.

 

A New Year

Happy 2012! This is us in our tent New Year's Day morning.

The camera was too cold for the flash to work. I'm glad we were up at midnight so that Rocky's first words to me in the new year weren't, "What a miserable night's sleep. I hardly slept at all." Ha.

I'd have been here sooner, but we were in the mits of a cleaning frenzy here at Chez WIP. A couple years ago, I read about the YarnHarlot's attempts to clean the house each year to usher in good luck.  Of course, I'm too much of a procrastinator or not a good enough planner so housecleaning was even started until yesterday.  I think it will still work. 

I have a good feeling about this year. I think there will be a lot of change this year and I hope to keep up.

I know I'm so far behind on things to post - I know you're all looking forward to wedding pictures.  Don't worry, I have so many different posts planned, I'll cure you of that desire. Kidding!  I hope.

I have the last FOs of 2011 to show you. I was late with a couple Christmas gifts this year, and sadly still have one on the needles. Apparently my will to procrastinate is stronger than the elves desire to deliver gifts on time. 

But for today, I thought I would share with you a picture of my "I will" list for 2012. I've mentioned it before, but basically, I write out action statements for what I want to do this year.

I know it's a lot. It seemed a little overwhelming when I had them all written down. Several are carry overs from last year that I either still need some motivation to keep going or that didn't get very far last year. I hope to talk about each of them more through the year.

The big addition for this year is the second to last one on the bottom.  I'm still hashing it out, and I'll talk more about it later, but here is some idea of where it's going.

And just because it's a knitting blog, the last Christmas gift, on the needles.
Happy 2012.  I hope the year is full of joy and laughter and good health for you all.

Sweate Shoppe update

I know I've promised wedding pictures, and hopefully I'll have time this weekend. Unfortunately, the elves have been keeping me up to my eyes in yarn.

Last week I was up in Vancouver, Canada for work.  So close to Kate, but it ends up there was too much water in the way for us to meet up.  Perhaps next time!

While I was there I had a few extra days with my Mom. Here is Mom at the Museum of Anthropology.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to show you some pictures from our adventures.  No time tonight, I hear the elves wondering where i'm at already!

Since I knew I'd have a few days with no chores (tragically, all waiting when I returned), I knew I could make some serious progress on Christmas knitting.

I got hanks into cakes. 

I know it's a lot, right?  When I added up my possible Christmas yardage, I realized that I intend to knit about one-third of my annual yardage in about three weeks.  We'll see what drops off the table.

So, after six days in Canada, I did manage some progress!

Only one actual FO - a loofah for my brother.  It was so fast and I like the result so much, that I've changed up my sister's gift and she'll be getting a loofah as well.  I may, or may not, have knit on it a bit while taking a bath today - haha.  I'll tell you more about the pattern when my sister's is finished.

Yarn PSA: Eat.Sleep.Knit is doing their post Thanksgiving Day sale until 5 p.m. EST. I only got 10%, but I've read posts from people that got 100%. Sorry, or you're welcome, depending on whether you should be buying yarn or not. :)

http://www.eatsleepknit.com/

Money Matters: Change

The enormous bird is cooking so I'm putting the finishing touches on this post.

I know you're eagerly anticipating wedding details, but I've decided to start with the more mundane part of a wedding. Paying for it.

Kate and I have exchanged several emails about money this past year as we've both been watching our pennies.  I've been a bit remiss as I'd said I'd post about my own thoughts. So, stealing my title from Kate, here we go!

When I was seven I bought a plastic bear bank. Unfortunately, I quickly learned how to get the money back out. The bank sat mostly neglected (or robbed by me) until I was gathering money for my initial college money. I cut open the bank and... 80 dollars!

While I was away at college my mom dropped change in the bear and then it moved with me to Alaska. When I was going on a vacation while up there, money was tight so I opened the bear again and... nearly 400 dollars!

About six years ago, when I was really strapped for cash, I realized just how much money we spend in change and never even think about it. A quarter here, a dime there - it's actually quite a bit of money when you add it up. So, when I was back on my feet, I decided that I would stop using change at the store and just use another dollar. I found that if I thought about an item as costing $4.00 instead of $3.59, I was more thoughtful about whether to purchase something.

At the end of each day, the change would go into the bear. I actually use my credit cards quite a bit so I'd estimate that only 1/3 of my purchases are in cash, if that. Two years ago Partner bought me a machine that counts the money and bear has been a bit neglected. [this is all context for later]

With paying for a wedding on our own, money got a little tight and we were (and still are!) minding our pennies. I also mentioned that we were doing an eclectic wedding. Which means we used a lot of non conventional labor (a digeredoo-playing chef, for example). We paid for a lot of things in cash. Good news: no long term debt. Bad news: no way to spread out the cost. With the wedding around the corner, we've been looking for money around us. Hello Mr. Bear.

A couple weeks before the wedding, Mr. Bear and I got started. Years ago for a "guess-the-amount" challenge, Partner weighed one pound of randomly mixed U.S. change (pennies, dimes, nickels, and quarters) and got an estimate of $13.00/pound. So Mr. Bear and I started with a weigh in.

 

So, we have a tentative value of $611.00.

I decided to invest in a change sorter and bought some coin wrappers. And then Mr. Bear and I sorted and wrapped.

And sorted and wrapped.

And then we were done!

 

I discovered that there were very few pennies. A couple years ago I started segretating pennies and would use those so I only had silver change.  And for some reason had quite a few quarters.

In the picture above, is the change from just a third of my purchases over about 4 years.

Mr. Bear's total: 736.50.

When we added in the change from the counter that Partner bought, we ended up with $819.00. We couldn't be happier as this money that would have been lost one quarter at a time, has ended up paying some important bills.

Change matters.

Randomly, at the end of this post, I also found random foreign coins that snuck into Mr. Bear.  It was fun to see several reminders in one place. 

From the top: 1 euro cent (I haven't actually been to Europe since the change...); 5 kopeks from Russia; an old U.S. one cent coin; CAD 1cent; a Finnish coin; a coin from [Western] Samoa; and one more Canadian cent (I've been there several times).

If you're celebrating Turkey Day, I hope that you have a wonderful day.  I'll be back soon with the more exciting aspects of the wedding!

Ye Olde Holiday Sweate Shoppe is open

Stealing from Melissa, I'm announcing that here at Chez WIP, the Ye Olde Holiday Sweate Shoppe officially opened for production this weekend. 

This may end up being too late an opening, considering the planned production schedule.  I'm not planning anything big, but I am trying to do more gifts.  We shall see...

I have so much to tell you all!  Not least of which, of course, will be one or two or fifty posts about this...