Friday, February 22, 2008

I Heart Minnesotans

Omigod. I love blogging. And I love bloggers. I love bloggers from Minnesota.


About a week ago, I did a post about some beading work I have completed recently. Ruth at Nature Knitter, asked me to make something for her. She sweetened the deal by offering to knit me some half-mitts. A crafty trade? Hell, YES!
(I have to say, I think what I made for her will pale in comparison. Did I get pictures of my work? Nope. If Ruth isn't completely embarrassed by it, maybe she will show the lanyard I made for her.)

I. LOVE. THEM.

My Mitts

Look at all the colors! Love 'em.

My Mitts3

They are warm. They are totally washable. They fit me perfectly. They are unbelievably cute.

My Mitts2

They remind me of hobo gloves...but in a good way. They will keep my hands warm while I jess up the RAPTOR birds...
Jessing up: While I have the bird on my left hand, I have to hold the jesses (leather straps) in between my thumb and first finger, and with my right hand, work a small metal swivel into the slits in the jesses and then slip the tether into the hole of the swivel.
If I lost you there, don't worry about it. Suffice to say, winters at RAPTOR will be easier for me now that I have HAND-KNITTED, COOL HALF-MITTS FROM The Great Frozen North, made by a cool birder-blogger.

*I walked outside with them tonight. I didn't need to go outside...I just went outside with my new mitts on. Just because.*

Edit: News on the camera...It is finished, and the UPS tracking says that it is in Pennsylvania and due to arrive at the store on Monday. I guess it would have been too much trouble to just send it to me. Oh, sure. I can take time from my busy schedule to go back to the store AGAIN.
But I digress. It's coming. Soon.

12 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Cool mitties! That Ruthie is an amazing knitter isn't she? She made me a gorgeous pair of red wool socks for the Sax-Zim festival and my feet NEVER got cold. I'll bet she'll knit you a pair of wool socks too when you come to Minnesota for the festival NEXT WINTER!!

;)

Mary said...

Will you sleep with them, too, Susan? They ARE so nice. I want a pair, too, but I really don't need them. I'm not an Ohioan or Minnesotian. Ruthie does good work. I love the colors she chose for you.

NatureWoman said...

Ohhh, very cool half mittens! I love them! I'll have to find a pattern for them!

Anonymous said...

Dear Miss Susan,
We regret to inform you that the UPS truck with your camera slid off an icy highway in western Pennsylvania. The driver lost control when he swerved to avoid a wandering yak. Regrettably, your camera bounced out and was trampled by the yak.

Rest assured, your camera will be sent back and receive priority scheduling by our yak-damaged-camera specialist.

We should have the camera back to you in time for the fall migration of the Ivory-Billed House Sparrow.
In the meantime perhaps your friend Ruth could knit you a camera.

Have a nice day.

Merle at B.B.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Susan,
I'm so glad you like them--thanks for the testimonial. I love knitting those little mitts; a pair takes me about 3 hours and I can get 2 pairs out of 1 big ball of yarn. (you can sleep with them--I do!)

Note to Lynne: sounds like a good plan. If that's all it will take to get our bird blogging friends to come to northern Minnesota in February, I'll start knitting socks right away! Maybe a pair of matching half-mitts to complete the ensemble....

Kathi said...

Awesome mitts! I love the colors!

~Kathi, wondering if Ruth would trade a pair of hand-knitted half mitts for a hand-thrown, slightly irregular clay pot

Anonymous said...

Ruth rocks for sure and I heart minnesotans also! Great gloves and it is amazing what she can do with her knitting!

RuthieJ said...

Kathi, You Bet! Do you have a color preference? Same size hands as Susan? E-mail me at rjknitsATmsnDOTcom

KGMom said...

Totally cool half-mitts. Make that totally warm half-mitts.
Hey, all this trading developing here? Hmmm--I have nothing to offer in trade. Oh well, I will just enjoy reading about it.

Mary said...

SWAMI! WHERE ARE YOU? Will you please do something with your blog????

LOL!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Cool mitts!
I mean, cool, warm mitts!

I wish I had something to trade--passing things along to those we "know", but never meet in person would be a great chain!

Good wishes for getting your camera--I want to see great-horned owlets!!!!!

Kathi said...

Nina has a great idea. Most of us take photographs, so we could trade pictures of birds, nature, etc. We have some great crafters (knitting, jewelery) and some novice crafters (pottery). I'll bet others have a hobby, craft, or art they could share.

What do you think?

~Kathi