freaky friday!

I fancy myself a smart enough person. I did well in school. I like to learn new things. But the National Spelling Bee has my bonnet all in a twist! Take a look at the winning words since 1925. What the???!!! How many of these words have I ever heard of? Well, a couple. For instance, have you heard of the word succedaneum?? If you have, you get the smart award of the day. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of the word in all of it's forms, is "One who, or that which, succeeds to the place of another; that which is used for something else; a substitute; specifically (Med.), a remedy used as a substitute for another." okay. You are smarter now.

And I have used a spelling bee as a succedaneum to knitting content. You've been succedaneum-ed!

I'm all verclempt

Since when did mashing potatoes become an aerobic activity?? I need to exercise more!

Forget the gym, forget the pilates! Here's the newest exercise machine. Send $19 .99 and you'll get the revolutionized exercise system that will strengthen and tone your arms and give your heart a workout. BUT WAIT! THERE"S MORE!! Not only can you use this wonderful machine for exercising, but it can do double duty as an ordinary potato masher. What a deal!

The other day a package came from Kim. The great book exchange was complete. But wait! She scored some serious brownie points by including some chocolate in with the wonderful book (Icy Sparks). Not just any chocolate. But chocolate that I have never heard of before. More extra brownie points. Idaho Spuds. COOL! The kids think they must have died and gone to heaven with all of Mom's new friends sending candy through the mail. ("Sure, kids, here's some candy from a stranger from another state. EAt up! hmmmmm.....a good lesson on trust in there, eh?) And while I am not Idaho Spuds biggest fan, I am one thrilled knitter having had the chance to sample a regional candy from across the U. S. of A. Thank you, Kim for widening my horizons! It has occured to me that it might just be cheaper to go out and buy the book, but it's not as fun! And I figure that we are doing Mother Earth a favor. Recycle, reuse! Yes, we are just being Earth Crusaders (not cheapskates, really)

Yesterday was the weirdest weather day I have seen in a long time. One moment it was pouring rain. The next the SUN would shine for a couple of minutes. We saw the meanest looking skies in a long time. During one of these transitions, one side of my house was sunny and one side mean looking and low and behold, this is what I saw....

You have to admit. That sky looks angry. What a beautiful rainbow, though! A bonus to the day! Thanks, I needed that!

Knitting? Oh, is that what you came here for.....Yes, I knit more on Inishmaan. Can't show you a picture of it every day. Just envisualize it with a couple of more rows on the top. I am getting excited though, as I'm coming to the homestretch of the back. Then SLEEVES! Oh, who would have thought?? Me?? Knitting sleeves?? I'm having a moment! I'm glad you were here for it!

a little Martha

Oh, good, it's raining. AGAIN! Anybody care to go in on building an ark?

I am rethinking using the techno hair for the "replacement hair" because it is quite feathery. Kinda womanish. I think I'll go back to the store and get another eyelash yarn that I saw that intrigued me. It was exactly the right color too. We'll see.... And POOR ME!! Another trip to the yarn store!

And because I've got nothing of essence to say today, here's a fun link. http://www.halo-crime.com/martha/ Go ahead, dress up Martha!

Let the sunshine

For any of you that happen to be in the New England area, this is called sunshine. I know that we have not personally seen sunshine in a long time, but it does exist. We have to believe. Just as we believe in Santa Claus,even though we don't actually see him. But he exists. So does the sun. Really.

Okay, it has been raining here for so long, gloom is the word of the day. On the flip side, though, everything is turning green and lush. So, eventually when we get to go outside, it will probably be very enjoyable.

Note: Anyone else in any geographical area that may need to see the sunshine is certainly not left out of our symathy, here at Sandysknitting.

Heres a picture of the techno hair I am knitting.

I have about2 rows left to knit. You'd think I coulda finished it last night, wouldn't you? No. I couldn't knit one more stitch. So today it will get finished. I'm not sure I am happy with it as the original purpose, which is as a joke hair replacement. Like I said, it's rather feathery and boa like. I'm not sure this is the yarn for this purpose.

Well, have a good Tuesday that feels like Monday.

Tao of Linus

Okay, this is the thing. I have always felt an affinity towards Linus. Yes, that's right. Linus Van Pelt of the Peanuts fame. He is philosophical, insecure in a kind of a secure way, a thumb-sucking intellectual. A paradox, to be sure. Calm, dependable. He touches my heart, what can I say. He is a bit of me, and a bit of my son, all wrapped up in one blankie. In St. Paul, there is a summer long activity called Linus Blankets St. Paul. Clever use of words, eh? Oh, to be living near there. So, if you do, go for me. Enjoy, send me a picture of a Linus.

Here's the linus artist painting the many, many statues. Photo taken from http://www.startribune.com/images/hl/3896334_60763.html

Here is my own statue of linus. Of couse, he is not quite as large as the others, but I love him anyway.

Unfortunately, he met up with an accident not long ago when he fell wrecklessly to the floor and his left leg broke off. See how it's longer than the other? It is just sitting there precariously perched into the pant leg. Hey, I'm clumsy sometimes, what can I say?

Knitting? oh, yes, I've been knitting on Inishmaan. And I started this..

I don't blame you at this moment, if you are asking yourself, "WHAT THE...." I am knitting hair. Or rather a cap that will present itself as hair. It is a kind of sick flavored joke for a certain friend who will be follicly challenged soon. The yarn is called Techno hair. No kidding. And it is the softest fuzziest stuff I've ever felt. Knitting with it is no picnic though. Stitches like to become invisible.

Ta Ta for now...

On a roll

I am getting a handle on things, which is a good thing. I have Suki handles all knit, thanks to my friends Rob and Matt who are so kindly my yarn connection. They are felted and ready. Now what? The pattern says to sew them on. Do you think I should sew them with a machine or with a tapestry needle and yarn? Anybody sewn theirs on yet? Guide me, baby!

I have another finished item. It is a catnip filled mousie. Yup, I decided to give kitty knitting a try. Thanks to Wendy for publishing the pattern. It was fun and fast. Here's the catnip photo shoot.

Don't you wish you could just roll around on the floor without abandon hugging your favorite thing? What would it be, the thing you hug? Your husband? Your knitting? (be careful with the needle points! ouch) your children? golf clubs?(that would be my husband's pick) ice cream? the possibilities are endless.

Hope your Saturday weather is better than mine. Enjoy it anyway. go roll with something.

some kind of freaky schtuff

Well, here it is. Freaky Friday. It has been somewhat of a Freaky week, so let's give it the send off it deserves, shall we? Lots to talk about today, so let's get into it.

First, a wonderful package came in the mail yesterday. Wanna see? What do you think was inside? yarn? well, take a look...

No, better than yarn. Or at least equal to yarn, CHOCOLATE! That's right, the final phase of the Great International Candy Exchange! Kathy was kind enough to send along the funnest chocolate there is! The box was barely opened when Bethany opened one up and ate it. Here's her toy inside!

How cool is that??? It wasn't long before another got sampled. They won't last long, they are yummy and fun! Thank you Kathy! It was great fun!

Teenagers are a funny lot, aren't they? Here's a precious shot of Derek.

Handsome? Did you know that Suki can be used as a cap? Yup. Kind of reminds me of Cat in the Hat.

Okay, if all that wasn't freaky enough for you, here is your assignment. Go to http://asksnoop.com/. Yes, that's right, it's about time we got some coolness into the blogging world. You are reading right....ask snoop. Dogg that is. This will bring you to his "Tha Schizzolator" page. If we want teens to get into knitting, maybe we should talk with more schizzle. Put the address of your blog into here and it will translate it into the schizzle talk. FUNNY! Oh, don't do it if the word shit bothers you. Please. I am laughing hysterically at my site using the teen slang.

Wit dat, gotta go...dude

A disappointing milestone

Well, I cannot believe it, but it is true. I have nothing to say today. I hope this doesn't last long. Really. I sit here trying to dream up the incredibly insightful, smart, funny subject matter that is expected from me and all I hear in my brain are some frickin crickets chirping. I got nothing. Hrmph. You would think that having my sumptuous solo anniversary dinner of lean hamburg patty with no bun and leftover potato salad would give me fodder. Nope. Nothing. Inishmaan? Didn't knit last night. Socks? Nope, those either. I had a wonderful evening alone that I spent noodling around on the computer. Nothing mind stimulating there. :)

So, my goal today is to get my mind in gear. Get thinking. Let my creative juices flow. maybe even knit something.

A ming is a terrible thing to waste, oh I'm sorry, a "MIND"

Are you a snob? Find out at the Manor House PBS site. I am 65% snob. I think the shopping for bargains at Walmart question did me in.

In other good news, the local quilt shop, Cranberry Quilters is now carrying yarn and related paraphenelia! Have I died and gone to heaven? I have to make a point to stop by and see it with my own eyes.

I intended to show you an update pic of Inishmaan, but my computer is acting a little funky since we uninstalled a program called Panicware, which is a pop up stopper. Now that it is uninstalled, it is bitter because it is preventing windows from opening. Ohhh, for a computer geek right about now!

Gotta run to work, I'll write more later.........

It's my anniversary!

Happy 19th anniversary to my wonderful husband, Andy. In honor of our special day, he is playing golf. And I am working. Hmmmm....what is wrong with this picture? No, really, it's a golf tournament that he plays every year, it just happens to fall on the 'Big" day this year. 19 years. Hmmm....could I be getting older? NAH!

I got some primet time knitting in last night while watching the season finale of American Dreams. I love that show! Inishmaan is coming along at a snail's pace, but I can see the progress. I am probably about 3/4 done the back now. It'll be done just in time for the blistering heat of the summer, I predict. The fun thing about knitting on Inishmaan now is that I have all but one of the cables memorized so I don't have to be constantly checking the chart. Actually I don't think it's memorized as much as understanding the cable and which way it will turn next. I cannot do that to the center cable though, because it is 24 rows wide. Too much for my little brain to comprehend.

It seems that the nice weather is upon us. finally. Probably in a couple of weeks, I'll be bitching because it is too hot!

Have a good anniversary for me, will ya?

the day after....

Yesterday, someone contacted me and I want to share it with you. Someone named Leah, or ducky as I'll call her ! left a message on my blog. It seems she lives in the UK and somehow stumbled across the Sandysknitting world. Lucky her. It seems she dabbles in knitting! Let's hear it for Ducky! WHHOOO HOOOO! And she is looking for poetry. Homegrown, that is. Your original material. Check out her site, Ducks-echo. It's fun....although.....no knitting pics. Maybe we can work on her a little! AND, she will keep her eyes peeled for any of the forehead advertising that was mentioned here yesterday. I hope she finds some. Go send her a poem, maybe about knitting, but keep it clean, will ya?

I had a great time last night at the show, Defending the Caveman. I laughed til I cried. Well, not cry, really, we don't want to encourage anymore of that lately. But my eyes watered while laughing. My husband had the nerve to tell me at the end of the evening, while I was still on my "HEY, I went out and had a wonderful time" High, that he thought the show was......BORING. hrmpph. Party poop. I think he couldn't stand the heat. The show was about the differences in the ways that men and women interact. It was all right on, too. I believe he hit a nerve or two to Mr. Hubby. Poor hubby. Imagine him, finding out he's not perfect to live with after all these years??!! I had to give him the old, "Talk to the hand" routine because I did not want him ruining my after show glow. Kim, wanna borrow a husband for a couple of days???

Knitting? Oh, none. Hey, a person has a life you know!

Ode to the freaks of the world

I had a wonderful quiet evening last night. I settled in and watched the season finale night. Friends, Will and Grace and ER. Knitting? Oh, yes, I knit 2 rows on Inishmaan. Yup, that's right! TWO WHOLE ROWS! I am now accepting pats on the back for being such a fast and prolific knitter! (snort!)

In lieu of any interesting knitting content, I give you this....Forehead advertising. Yup, that's right. In London, a person can make up to 88.20 GBP a week (that's $143 American dollars according to the trusty currency coverter) for getting a vegetable dye tattoo on their forehead and make it visible in the city for 3 hours a day! Seems to me if you get a vegetable tattoo, which is henna, if I'm not mistaken, you will be wearing it 24 hours a day for about a week straight. I guess the other 21 hours a day that you are seen is a freebie! I'm sure this is amusing. Anybody in London seen this? this is so cool. What would you put on your forehead? Oh, the possibilities! Now, if I were a person really good at computer "schtuff" I could probably make up a couple of these. But, nope. You'll just have to use your imaginations.

And in the "This is way too weird" category. Or maybe, "What were they thinking, they must have been drunk!" category. A couple in China named their baby Saddam Deng Sars! As if it's not bad enough that the poor child was named after Saddam, but named after the SARS epidemic? Oh, poor boy! I guess "Jack Daniels Hangover" might be the next name for some poor unsuspecting child! Or maybe "Lo mein food poisoning!"

Happy Friday. Or as Kerstin would say, Happy "Freaky Friday!"

Dusty celebrations

Well........hellllllooooooooooo!

Today, I have a busy day of cleaning planned. I know you are jealous. Hey, I have an idea. Come on over and help me! Sure, I'll feed you lunch and when we are done, we can knit awhile. K?

Monday is hubby and my wedding anniversary. 19 years, thank you very much. Tonight is the celebration night. We are kicking up our heels and painting the town red, baby! Our plan? Oh, well, we have tickets to see the show Defending the Caveman at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. It is supposed to be a funny one man show on the differences between men and women. Tonight is the last night it will be playing in Boston. Then I guess he is heading to California. I could use a good laugh and I expect to get one. Or two. Then we will head out to dinner at some unplanned place of eatery. Every year we celebrate our anniversary with good friend's of ours who we met after the nuptual day that coincidentally has the same exact anniversary day and year as us. I believe one of us was married about an hour longer than the other, but for the life of me,I can't remember which.

And at my house while the adults are away, the mice will play. I'm sure some teenagers are planning to head over here to "party central" soon after Mom and Pop pull out of the driveway. Do me a favor, sil vous plait, please stop any teens rolling beer kegs into my home, will ya? Dont' want to be thrown in jail for contributing to the delinquencies of many minors. Will they let me knit in jail? I hope....

Gotta go, the dust is calling.....

Getting a handle on things...

Well, I"m feeling smarter already. All it takes is eating bucket loads of candy from Canada. Maybe it's the sugar high? eh..

I'm still trying to get a handle on the suki handle situation. Poor smelly suki spent the night out on the porch. I forgot to bring it in after letting it air out yesterday. I hope some animal hasn't made a home in it like in the book the Mitten. Probably not. The only animal that would feel comfortable in its stench is the skunk. You know what the smell reminds me of? Did you ever get a perm? The smell of your hair for a couple of days after. You know, the smell reminds you how miserable you are because you got a perm and WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?????!!! Not only does it enable you to be miserable about your new head of ugly curls when you glance at your reflection, but it reminds you every time the perm smell wafts down near your nose. Can you tell my 2 perm experiences were traumatic? If you ever hear me ponder a perm, please drive to Beverly and smack me upside of the head! Please.

I have been an emotional wreck as of late since finding out about my work friend's cancer diagnosis. I was not going to mention it, but it is such a big part of my mind it has to come out. Lucky you. So here's the thing. My mind keeps playing over the conversations I had with him about his pain. He confided in me and came to me because of my physical therapy training. I told him to lay on a heating pad, take hot baths and take plenty of advil. Change his boots, rest more, etc. I did encourage him to see his doctor. I KNOW intellectually that it is not my fault. I kNow this! But my mind and heart plays tricks on me. The "IF ONLY"S" If only I had insisted earlier. IF only I had mentioned to him that his cough did not seem right. If only I had been honest with him and said that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. If only. If only. I am getting stonger about it now. I have not cried in one whole day. WHOOPPIEE! And now I'm left to ponder the work relationship. How people touch your life but when they are plunged into something like this and leave work, you have to respect them and their family and step back. That is hard when you care about people. Our friendship is not within the confines of his home. I have to wait at work for him to call with updates and I have to work really really hard not to listen to the stories swirling around work. Rumors run rampant. The rumor mill had him practically dead on Monday. Cancer ridden by Tuesday. I am going to stick my fingers in my ears and not listen. Life can really kick you in the head, can't it?

Well, that was cheerful. Thanks for listening.

Something is hurting my eyes this morning! What could it be? The sky is blue with white fluffy things in it. There is a big yellow ball of warmth in the sky! Is it a plane? Superman? No, silly, it's the sun. We haven't seen it all week. I'm going to enjoy it today while it lasts. I hope you can do the same!

candy handles

Here it is. The first of the Great International Candy Exchange! Smarties. Apparantly, they make you smarter and they are calorie free! What a deal! Thank you, Pioneer Melissa for playing candy swap with me! The family loved them. And they loved the idea of trying candy from Canada! (Wow! They have candy up there???) At least one package is long gone. Probably more. Yes, my family ate healthy last night.

There has been a small tragedy of sorts with the Suki handles. I ran out of the color yarn that I was using. So, I have to decide today what to do. My choices being.....1. Use another color. 2. get more of that color 3. make a stripey handle to coodinate with the bag 4. eat some candy and decide later. Hey, Number 4 has it's merits!

Did you see the sock? Way to go Kerstin! Or is it a cup warmer? Hey, whatever! I'll just sit in my land of denial and believe that she has crossed over!

Beware the smell of success

Look at how cute Suki is looking today after a bath. It is handleless. One of the handles is done. One is still in limbo. My kids made fun of how huge it was before felting. Derek put it on his head and acted like a rapper. Oh, goody, my son is a rapper. It was hilarious. I wish he would have let me take a picture of THAT. But you'll just have to use your imagination. Okay, here's the thing. I have felted 2 things before. Which I guess is really felting 4 things as they were the fuzzy feet. They were small, no big deal. I had heard of people talking of the smell of wet wool and I thought "HEY! No big deal!" Well, last night when I walked into the kitchen to check feltting progress, I thought a skunk had somehow crawled into the house. Or maybe I forgot to put some mystery groceries away and meat is rotten. Something was definitely rotten in Denmark. I mean Beverly. PU! I finally gave up looking around for the putrid smell, opened the washer to look at dear Suki and the stench overwhelmed me! OH MY GOD! I could have fallen over. My nostrils have been assaulted. And as I sit here this morning with darling Suki sitting next to me, I can still smell remnants of the smelly sheep. I think it will reside outdoors for a while this afternoon to get some fresh air flowing through it.

The rainy week is certainly matching my mood as of late. Clouds in the sky, clouds over my head.

real women knit socks

Prom shenanigans

The day after the prom. Kids all over Beverly will be sleeping in today. Oh wait! How is that different from any Saturday? If you'll indulge a proud Mom moment, here is Derek and his date Jill. They clean up well, don't you think?

and one of the whole gang including the three girls in the front, who were their personal valets and cheering section. They are seniors and did not attend the Junior prom. I have to say that being part of the pre-prom picture shoot brought even more tears to my eyes. My guard was down yesterday, and tears flowed easily.

I knit last night on Suki. I am loving it. NO pictures, AGAIN. I know....what kind of suki-er am I?

Prom shenanigans

The day after the prom. Kids all over Beverly will be sleeping in today. Oh wait! How is that different from any Saturday? If you'll indulge a proud Mom moment, here is Derek and his date Jill. They clean up well, don't you think?

and one of the whole gang including the three girls in the front, who were their personal valets and cheering section. They are seniors and did not attend the Junior prom. I have to say that being part of the pre-prom picture shoot brought even more tears to my eyes. My guard was down yesterday, and tears flowed easily.

I knit last night on Suki. I am loving it. NO pictures, AGAIN. I know....what kind of suki-er am I?

sheep lover

After visiting my Mom yesterday for a nice Mother's Day dinner, I got a couple of hours of suki time in. I suki-ed my little fingers nearly off. I anticipate another afternoon/evening of suki madness today and envision it finished today! OOOHHHH! How exciting is that? I feel like a fiend about felted items. For one thing, they work up so fast. That's fun. And there is the "carrot dangling in front of me", the finished prize...the finished felted item makes me knit faster because I am so anxious to see the final result.

Rain. And lots of it in the forcast for the week. I think we'll be lucky to see the sun. It kind of matches my mood. blech. At least we are not getting the horrible tornados here. How horrible. I hope the wind stays calm where you are.

I have unsubscribed from the Knitflame list. Too negative for me! It is beyond me why people want to tear into people all the time. I need to see postive things, not the negative. goodBYE Knit Flame! And good riddance. Oh, and I have this to say to them.....Baaaaaaaaa. From one of the blogging sheep. (see yesterday's post if you don't understand this) And is hurling out the word "sheep" as an insult to knitters REALLY an insult? I think that knitters are the people that love sheep the most, no? So, I guess I say, thank you for calling me a sheep. :)

Sock stupid

Does anyone have the book, Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush? And has anyone made the Friday Harbor sock? Have you ever knitted something and then decided that you are either stupid or the pattern is wrong? Well, such is the case with my attempts at knitting the Friday Harbor sock, in the Mountain Colors, Missouri River Blues. I am still head over heels in love with this yarn. I have attempted this sock no less than 5 times. Each time, I run into the same problems. As I sat really studying the pattern last night, (after the 5th miserable time), I think that the pattern is written wrong. But I could be wrong. Or stupid. So, I started another pair of Denmark socks. I love them and the yarn will look great! There is not enough to show you, yet. Maybe tomorrow.

As I was noodling around to find any pages for errata for Knitting on the Road, I came across this article for a knitted wedding dress. Yup, that's right ladies! Now you can not only go through all the stress of wedding planning, but you can also knit your own wedding dress! Oh goody. But it is beautiful!

The sun is shining! It is a beautiful day. Enjoy it!

stinker of a day

Well, I must say, when a day starts to stink, it's no turning back from there. I started the day yesterday, like anyday. Showering. Oh, not that.......then blogging. But what did my little eyes spy? A controversy. Dang, I hate those. And there is my name plastered into some email saying that "they" are going go contact my blog host. They are going to "tell on me". Go ahead, tell away. I've nothing to hide. No nice email from anyone from the supposed list explaining what is going on, just you will be contacted by our lawyer. Okay, so it's fair to say that my day started pissy. I stomp to work, where I promptly start to have a stinker of a day! You know? I have not heard from anyone else on the bear subject, except for Rob, thank you Rob.

And, the icing on the cake......Clay loses on American Idol. Here's a fan site. No, silly, I didn't make the site. But pay attention to this page. Yes, that's right, you can get Clay Stuff. How about a t-shirt that says Clayboy Bunny?? Geez, I hope he's getting his share of the profits.

Let's talk Inishmaan. He's a good chap. Sturdy, dependable, rugged! Here's the picture of his back... he's the cable man.

Cute, isn't he?

Well, all you snobs.....gotta run! Keep your heads above the muck!

ready, set, suki....or not, whatever

It's a rainy day here in Beverly! And I love it! Some days the sound of the rain on the windows and roof is very comforting and relaxing. If April showers bring May flowers, what do May showers bring?

Some days I really should have my head examined. Really. See what I bought yesterday. Silly me got all excited in the store upon seeing this yarn. I (mistakenly) thought this was the yarn used for Sweetness, of Knitty fame. It's not. Not even close. I bought only these 2 balls, but she has put away the rest for me. So, if I decide I really don't want it, I can just have her shelve it again. But you know what my mind is doing now, right? "Maybe it would be good for Bob" (also of Knitty fame!) So, I have been searching for a lightweight sweater or shell that would look good with a stripe. Maybe even Anniversary, Knitty, what else. Of course, take out the extremely handsome man wearing it and replace pudgy, middle aged me instead. Which by the way, people around here are very good at! :)

I think that if anyone wants to start Suki now, then they should. And by "anyone" I mean "ME". So, yes, I started it last night. HEY! It's the right time. In a couple of weeks I will have the bair isle. blah blah. And those of you who are going to do suki, when you start, make sure to get your cocktail from Kerstin. She can't commit to suki but volunteered to be in charge of entertainment. So, see her for some Sake for the Suki. By the way, Rob and Matt over at Threadbear is offering Suki yarn kits at a great price! I don't think it's on their page yet, but just ask them, they will do it for you. Really. They will. Go ahead, order yarn and get in on the fun! You do not want to be one of the only ones without a suki, do you? AND, if you have already knit a suki, get the picture on the suki page. Click on the suki knit along button to go to the suki page, newly made by MARE! Thank you , Mare! We'd like to show off ALL suki's! There! lots of suki talk.

apple, cake and yarn

Thank you to all who sent Bethany birthday wishes! She had a great day! One of her friends wrote her a poem. It is filled with the "private Jokes" of 15 year olds. Apparently Bethany's friends call her "breadstick". She is tall and thin. Oh, I'd kill for someone to call me breadstick. I think my nickname would definately be "Apple"! Another of her friend's gave her a helium balloon that she had to carry around school all day! Her friends made her feel loved and I am eternally grateful to them for that! She only had one incident that upset her all day. One "friend" took the cute giraffe keychain given to Bethany by another friend, and wouldn't give it back. She actually left school with it. Oh, the nerve of some kids. Bethany was plenty ticked off when I picked her up at school! I don't blame her!

The birthday bash was fun! She had her favorite dinner..marinated steak tips, home fried potatoes and salad! She got spoiled, as usual. See? She loves to play street hockey and needed some gloves because she kept getting blisters on her hands from the stick. She is a delicate flower, you know! Cake? Yes, ice cream cake, her favorite.

I imagine she will have some for breakfast when she gets up today. She's a healthy eater, just like her Mom! :)

And because I love the candles on her cake so much, I give you a close up of the cake.

Aren't they the cutest?? Candles that say "CELEBRATE"! Those really made my day! They had them that said "over the hill" too. I guess I'll have to wait for my birthday to have those! ha ha!

Yesterday in the mail, I got the most lovely yarn! And for the life of me, I cannot fathom why our fairly new, quite expensive wonderful digital camera shows this as blue when it is the most yummy shade of deep purple. Go figure! Anyway, this yarn showed up in my mailbox from the kindness of Emma. How wonderful is she?? I am now planning to reciprocate with (I hope) a wonderful surprise! shhh...don't tell her. Thank you, Emma. Your kindness is immeasurable!

Suki. That Pelizza yarn marks the end of my acquiring the materials for Suki. Now, it is very very hard to wait. I'm not very good at that! So, let me ask you, Suki knit alongers, do you have your yarn ready? Do you still have to buy it? Where do you stand? Here is the list as I know it so far. If I've missed you, I'm sorry, but let me know. My memory is horrible you know..

Mare , Kim , Wendy E
Stonering (wants to do another kind of bag along with us, fine with me...)
Melissa

Chris

Any one I missed? I'm sure that I missed someone

Okay, well, I must get off the computer now. Aching arm syndrome. Yes, the ache has moved up into the forearm. It only hurts while mousing on the computer. So if I seem distant lately, well, that's because I am. I am trying really hard to limit my computer time. That means less fun. blech. So, be sure to point out any fun I may have missed!

Happy Saturday. That is the saddest looking list I've ever made (the Suki list). It is not lined up, the names are just willy-nilly all over the place. <sigh>

Disco Suki

Last night was Bee Gees night on American Idol. I am pleased to announce here that I knew EVERY word to EVERY song sang. Thank you! Thank you! Oh, are my 70's roots showing? Hey, I could Hustle with the best of them. And I don't mean pull a fast one! I'm talking line dance, baby! <sigh> Oh, those were the days!

Lots to show you regarding the Suki Knit along today. I had 2 kind souls take pity on computer illiterate ME and make some buttons. Thank you to Chris and Mare for answering the call. And here they are.

So there you have it! Aren't they great??? Take what you want or should we all have the same? whatever. I'm wishy washy. And Mare has set up a page to post the finished sukis onto. Here's that link. http://freefriends.org/~mare/suki.html All sukis can be posted regardless of when they were knitted. So, if you have a picture to post...well...I guess I'll have to find out how to do that. (DUH!) You can ask Mare. Got yarn yet? Oh, come on! Get a move on! Suki awaits!

Missouri river blues

Congratulations! You are the 10,000 visitor to this site! Well, not really. But there is cause for celebration as I am now over 10,000 hits! WOW! I never thought I would see the day! (Geez, I hope that half of them are not from myself ......oh well..) Here's how I celebrated!

What could be better than knitting in bed??? This is my vision of nirvana!

I worked on the Missouri River Blues sock. I absolutely love it. The yarn is luscious! Oh, that is no surprise as I've been bombarding you with the love of the yarn. There are so many wonderful colors in it. Look what happened..

This is one "side" of the sock. Pretty, isn't it?

This is the "other" side of the sock. COOL! They don't even look like they are related! And that's what I love about them! This is the Denmark pattern from Knitting on the Road. I threw my hands up in disgust at the Friday Harbor sock. If any of you are wondering what I am talking about, it's the 2nd needle. It seems there are too many yo's for the number of sl 2tog, k1, p2sso's. I keep ending up with 2 extra stitches on the 2nd needle. blech. Back to Denmark I go. the sock that is.

Today it's raining. But we are not having a tornado.

knitting inspiration

Kim started it. Chris got in on it. So, I thought I'd continue it. The subject is legacy. The question was "Who inspired you?" This is not a simple answer. Is anything?

Two people were my inspiration in my younger life. Probably more. It is fair to say that mine was a disfunctional family at it's best. I will not go into it, you can imagine. Alcoholic father, overworked, miserable mother. It is best to face the past and see that I am the person which I am today because of the total of past experiences. So, for that , I would not change a thing. So, if my role models were not immediate family, they were around. First, my Grandmother. Memere we called her. For all you non-French, we pronounced it Mem-ay. Although I do not want the picture to be seen again, I put it here for a visual.

there are acutally 2 Memeres in this photo, but the Memere of subject is 2nd from left. Her name was Simone Garceau. She adored me and I adored her. I felt unconditionally loved by her. And for that, I'd like to say,
Thanks! I needed that. But, to keep this fiber related, she crocheted. She never taught me how, although I'm sure she wanted to. Every time I walked into her house, she was in her rocker crocheting. Or cooking! I still have afghans made by her. If you saw one of these afghans you would think that she had absolutely no sense of color. You may be right, but the real reason is that she only used CHEAP yarn. Cheaper the better. There was only one (affordable) store in town and that was Rich's Department Store. She called it "Da Rich". She would go to "Da Rich" and buy any and all yarn in the super sale bin. She always had a huge stash of yarn. When crocheting, she would crochet until the end of the ball of yarn, then just reach in the stash bag to get another, without any thought of what color. What she took out, she used. This was her method. Unfailingly. I have some. And I adore them. They are warm and blanket me with love, if not style. So, I guess I got the "big stash of yarn" genes from her. There is no "Da Rich" anymore, and I have to admit to never buying the cheapest of yarn just to get a bargain. But knitting every time I'm sitting? The apple didn't fall far from that tree.

The other woman who influenced me was my best friend's mother. Claire Danisienka. I spent every afternoon at their home. I was one of the original latch key kids. She unfailing welcomed me every single day. As a mother now, I realize that other children in your home every minute of every day is, well, sometimes difficult. She made me feel part of the family. I realize now that my whole adult life is patterned after hers. The cooking, the baking, the sewing, the knitting, the marraige, the mother, the love. Everything. She made things. She sewed and knitted. I realize that there is a part of me that is attracted to these things because of Mrs. D. She made me feel special and I am eternally grateful for that. There is so much more to that story, but we'll end that here.

I guess then, there are really 3 women. I can't let the knitting inspiration go by without talking about my Mother in law. I watched her knit for years in admiration. She suggested after I was first married for me to take an adult education class to learn to knit. I did. And I enjoyed it. But the class got boring as all we did was sit in hard chairs and knit and purl. Knit and purl. over and over and over. Blah. I tired of it and life got extremely busy with the addition of 2 children. The teacher could have inspired so much more, I realize now. I think that a knitting sampler would have been the way to go. But the fundamental love of knitting was planted, even though I wouldn't take it up for years yet. My Mother in law knitted many, many gorgeous things for my kids over the years. My kids were wrapped in the love of her hands. So, when I decided to knit, the internet was my guide, but my Mother in law was my live help desk! She nudged me out of the starting gate and onto the road! Thanks, MOM!

So, there you have it. Inspiration. Where do you get yours?

A little later......

I am adding 2 pictures here of the toe of my cool ocean sock. Kim noticed that her sock has a square toe. I told her that mine do too. That I usually just turn the sock in profile to make myself feel better about it. And it works. See?

square toe. ... Invisible in profile

The sock fits me okay. Maybe I have square feet??

oceans and birthdays

Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter, Bethany! 15 years ago today, she was born. She is a wonderful young woman with a great sense of humor and a big heart! I think you'd like her!

This is one cool ocean picture, isn't it? (from my trip to Bermuda last September!)

And speaking of cool oceans.....

Here are the finished cool ocean socks! YIPPEE!!! And here's a picture of them on the feet. thanks to Bethany who helped me with the photo shoot! this picture shows how they sttttrrrreeettttcccchhhhhhh!!!

Here are my thoughts and lessons learned. I enjoy knitting socks on 2 circulars. At first it seemed clumsy and awkward, but soon I got used to the needles and it seemed like there was less pushing and pulling of the sock around the needles. On DPN's there are 3 or 4 needles. There are only 2, so less "joins". Although these stretch quite a bit, I will make a larger sock for myself next time if using Opal yarn! (of course, knitting a swatch might have caught that problem.....ahem) These are the first pair of socks for myself. It is a good day!

One more thing, Marney mentioned the word "tink" to me in regards to "unknitting". Now I'm sure this may be obvious to her and maybe even to all of you, but for me, well, I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Tink is Knit backwards. Which makes it the perfect word for "unknitting" . Ya, I know, little things amuse little minds. I will be using this word from now on. Probably, unfortunately, alot.

My hand? It's getting better, thank you. It is still a tad achy. It seems mousing around on the computer aches it more! So, you'll excuse me now. I must go plan a birthday bash. Come on over, ice cream cake for all!

Suki knit along anybody?

Spring has finally sprung around here! Here's the proof.

Hyacinth and Fosythia in bloom in my yard. The world is coming alive. The colors are very inspiring!

I did some knitting on the cool ocean socks. Then I did some Un-knitting on them. Something went horribly wrong and I had to take out about 5 rows. Then I knit them back. Right this time. The second sock is nearing completion.

Working on a start date for the Suki knit along. June 1st has been suggested. Is that good for you? Anybody else care to join? What better to keep your knitting in than a knitted bag?