Christmas On The Bayou

From a concert in 2013.  I'm glad he performed it again this year.

An Evening With Michael McDonald

The Michael McDonald concert at the Paramount Theater in Denver on Thursday was excellent and much more lively than I expected.

Somehow, I thought there would be mostly quiet Christmas songs with the bit of Doobie Brothers music thrown in.  Actually, that's exactly what it was, but more.  His choice of Christmas songs ranged from the traditional to rocking to get-up-and-dance Gospel music.

The Irish song "Wexford Carol" was hauntingly beautiful and my mind went back to my visit to County Wexford in Ireland.  I found this amateur video from a year ago on You Tube:  link.

He played the keyboards, as I expected, but there were songs where stood at the microphone and sang without playing an instrument.  He also played the guitar on other songs.  At one point he bent over and picked up an accordion saying "this is never good...especially when you're pants are falling down"!  I didn't expect to see an accordion but it was perfect for "Christmas on the Bayou".  I liked that song so well that I bought it.  He sang a romantic Christmas song for his wife who was in attendance - very nice.

I was glad to hear some favorite Doobie Brothers songs and the crowd was on their feet, singing along:  I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near), Minute By Minute, What A Fool Believes and, in the encore, Takin' It To The Streets.

All of his musicians were top notch.  For a few songs he had a choir singing behind him, a local group from the Denver area.  You can see a few of the members in the middle picture.  The female backup singer, Drea Rhenee was so good.  If I could sing, I'd like to be able to sing like her. On bass was Tommy Sims (left in the picture, above) who co-wrote the 1996 Eric Clapton hit Change The World.  The song won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal performance for Clapton.

It was a good way to spend an evening, especially so close to Christmas.

Michael McDonald

With his fabulous voice I can only imagine (until this evening) how good this concert is going to be.  I'm looking forward to the show.

                                                    Paramount Theater, Denver

Avaholic Sweater

I'm a big fan of the Colorado Avalanche hockey team.  Years ago I had collected some team patches and that's when I decided to make a sweater in Av's colors and sew the patches onto it.

I made a neck opening and inserted a short zipper and then attached an inexpensive earring as a zipper pull. To tidy up the end of the zipper opening I sewed on a small logo patch. 

Some of the patches are from their 2001 Stanley Cup win, all-star game, NHL logo and one from their farm team (at the time), the Hershey Bears - and others. I have another one to add celebrating ten years in Colorado. I wish I could find one from the 1996 Stanley Cup win. 

Front:

I can't remember what yarn I used. I may still have my knitting notes somewhere.  I'll have to look for them. I think I used Jo Sharp yarns. The word "AVAHOLIC" was worked in fair isle, upside down and normal text. 

Back:

I probably made the sweater around 2005. Just a guess. 

Ready and Waiting

The Kaffe Fassett/Rowan knitalong is moving right along.  The time has gone by quickly for the first six clues .  Tomorrow clue #7 will be released and I'm all caught up and ready to cast on.

What you see are 42 squares for the afghan, all blocked and with ends sewn in, except for the beginning and ending lengths, which I plan to use to sew the squares together.  I also have the 12 blocks finished for the brown cushion.  The soda can is there for size comparison.

The stack is growing as fast as the piles of snow outside my window. 

And, speaking of snow, while I was waiting for the next clue I cast on for a little snowman.  I couldn't resist the cable design.  So cute.  Instead of using sportweight yarn in a natural color as in the pattern, I shopped my stash and I'm using Dale Baby Ull in white.  It'll be a smaller version of the original and that's what I'm going for.  Frost Flower is a free pattern from Cascade Yarns - link.

I've finished the bottom section and I'm about to start the middle.  So far the pattern has been excellently written.  The instructions are given round by round with final stitch counts included.  With the new afghan clue coming out tomorrow, I'm not sure if Frost Flower will be done in time for Christmas but that's okay.  It'll be done when it's done and there will likely still be snow on the ground here.

Tim's #WarmWishes

In Canada, Tim Horton's isn't just a coffee and donut shop, it's a way of life.  Say Tim's or Timmy's and everyone knows exactly what you're talking about.  I'm thrilled that there is one being built in my neighborhood.  It's always a busy place, but the service is fast.

This year they are making knitters happy with their new beverage cup.  Too bad there isn't a ceramic version.  I've only seen this paper cup.  Check it out:

Not only that, they have yarn-bombed their mobile coffee truck.  Here's the video:

Here's another video, shot on King Street West in downtown Toronto:

If the videos don't work on your device (they didn't work on my ipad but did work on my desktop), try this link.  You can see the yarn bombing on "B-roll Package" and on video on the street in Toronto if you choose "Other Video Resource" from the drop-down.

Here's the back story:

"Tim Hortons "yarn-bombs" its mobile coffee truck, the TimsRunner to celebrate the launch of Tim Hortons new #WarmWishes holiday cups and social media campaign encouraging Canadians to do good for others this holiday season.

The TimsRunner "sweater", created by Toronto-based, Lettuce Knit, required a team of 35 knitters, 450 skeins of yarn, and nearly 1,000 hours of knitting time. Once the yarn is removed from the TimsRunner it will be washed, felted and repurposed into over 30 blankets to be donated to Covenant House."

Click on the Lettuce Knit link (the November 20th post) to read about their participation in the project.

I probably sound like a commercial for Tim's. but that's fine with me.  They do a lot of good for communities.