59 and counting!

That would be me, although it could just as easily refer to my WIPs. What's not to like??? I love each and every project. Sure, I love the challenge of knitting something that looks way out of my reach, but there's also the fun of meeting new people while doing Ravelry research on my current project, the Meret. I've never knit a hat that liked me for myself, but this one may be the one. I started it in large, since my head measures 21.5 inches around. 2010 will be the year to finish the SWT, my Rosie sweater, AND this lovely, lacy, Meret. Here's to Ravelry and all the fun patterns and interesting knitters it brings into my life. Happy New Year everyone......or should I say Happy New Yarn!!!! (I am incorrigible.)

You ain't nothin' but a hound-dog....

Hi everyone.

I'm taking control of my person's blog for today to sing her a nice birthday song. Watch out Elvis........I'm wearing my new sweater.

Love,

Gracie

Lily Chin and the M&M Connection

Christmas brought me Lily Chin's "Knitting Tips & Tricks". On page 134, she mentions her friend Claire Gregorcyk of Atlanta who has a very interesting row counting technique. And I quote, " She lays out as many little chocolate candies (she likes to use M&M's) as there are rows until the next instruction. Once the candy is finished, she works the increase or decrease or color change and lays out another four or six candies or whatever number is needed. "

I don't know about all of you, but I can't knit fast enough to keep up with my love of M&M's.....

Return of the trilobite

I think I goofed the other day when giving credit for the very cool trilobite toy/catnip container. The pattern is actually one of Grumbleknits. She is a 13 year old knitter. Thirteen!!!!

Holy cow........at 13 years of age, I was still wondering when, if ever, I'd get "a figure".

And then, we have the cookies. Trilobite cookies. Yummmmmmm. The only improvement for these little morsels would be mini M&M eyes. The man who devised the recipe is also the person behind the Central Park sculpture event. (Someday I will figure out the fine art of placing my pictures where I want them to be. )

And so, I present the fact for today: All of life can be connected to food and NYC. It's only a matter of time. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like....trilobites???

Knitting is so much fun...check out the trilobite pattern I discovered on Blue Peninsula's blog.

My biology teacher husband has had one of these gross looking fossils sitting out for all the world to appreciate on a windowsill in the family room. I try to relocate it to the basement with all of the fish tanks, reptiles, etc. but it keeps turning up in the strangest places.

Now I can knit one for him. Ever so much cuter.

Once upon a tree.......

It's a Christmas miracle. Old Faithful has ascended from the basement and attained its customary spot in the living room.

The Nativity, complete with the Three Wise Men, sits on the table next to the tree. Each year, as I lovingly place the tinfoil balls from my childhood on the branches, I appreciate the fact that they share with me the same birth year. We're both still shiny, and bright, albeit a bit more crumbled in spots. Bring on 2010. Merry Christmas to all :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This is one of the coolest pictures of our snowstorm. It's what was left after we moved the car from the driveway. The bumper was covered with tiny icicles. What you see is a tiny survivor of the move, along with an artistic tire track.

I don't know.....call it storm art, with the help of a two ton Subaru. I like it.

LYS Christmas Knit Night

Wonderful night shared with my knitting friends at LYS.

I couldn't talk them into a sleepover this year......it seemed like a good idea. We had good food, happy friends and all the yarn that's fit to knit. Oh, wonderful.

A terrific yarn.......

In the olden days, a yarn referred to an interesting tale/story. Well, I have a dear friend named Kathy. Years ago, Kathy invested in tons of yarn and a knitting machine. Then she became involved in community activities, and I'm proud to say she ran for and got elected Lancaster Township supervisor and, just last week, she took on the role of Lancaster County Planning Commission member. She is amazing. Along the way, the knitting took a back seat. Last week, I talked to Kathy about spinning fiber, told her I was going to a fiber retreat with the hopes of getting serious about getting the hang of it. She decided to gift me with 10 skeins of alpaca roving since she wasn't going to use it. Squeals of joy. Chapter 2: I tell Rachel-Marie from LYS about this awesome gift. She suggests I combine the tan alpaca with some of her hand-spun teal yarn which she is gifting me at the LYS party tonight.

I'm not sure what these gifts of yarn will become, but the warmth of those two friends will make me smile each time I see the yarn. What a tale. A terrific yarn.

Tonight is our very first Christmas party at LYS. Did I mention lately how much I love knitting? It strengthens my soul in trying times. It has opened new doors to places and friends I never would have known about. Marry Christmas to all you cool friends out there. Thanks for the spirit-lifting posts and comments. It is all just amazing. :)

FIngernails are great.

Ten days till Christmas. No tree, no wrapped presents, many started projects.

Keep a bunch o' good thoughts for people out there, like my son, who have no job and are "forced" to live with mom and dad. He should count his blessings, right? You can cut the depression with a knife.

Darn it all....I will put up the old Christmas tree, go to midnight mass and cook Christmas dinner. Life goes on.

Merry Christmas to all out there and forgive my grumpy rant.

Fingernails are great cause they let you hang on :0

One less WIP

One less WIP...Lord-ee, my brain just started singing "One less bell to answer" by the Fifth Dimension...now THEY were singers. Oh, well....

I have one less WIP (work in progress), since I completed my "Simple Yet Effective Shawl" by Cosmicpluto Knits! I started the shawl with my very first handspun (Whorled Peace), and included remnants of yarn from my Feb. Ladies Sweater, an Encore vest, some lovely yarn brought back from Maine by daughter Jen who was there on her honeymoon (5 years ago!!)

I love this shawl, and have decided I should make many more since it is so much fun and so quick.

Oops....I think I hear my Swallowtail Shawl WIP calling me. Am I ready for Christmas? Nope.

Enuf said.

A good day for a quilt

While taking a picture of our iris plucked from the front garden last night before today's SNOW, I found some pictures on my camera I had forgotten about.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to stop in at the Material Resource Center of the Mennonite Central Committee to wallow in buttons, quilt tops, vintage quilts, fabrics, you name it. MCC holds a benefit quilt auction each spring. The postage stamp quilt pictured here has about 11,000 tiny little pieces. I'm sticking to my knitting.

Memories of Pizza

Today's food craving is pizza. John's Pizzeria on Bleeker Street, NYC is the best. There are several locations, besides the Greenwich Village original.

The Times Square location started life as a church, hence the gorgeous ceiling pictured in this post. I have decided to have pizza at every location in 2010, preferably not on the same trip to NYC.......although that idea is sounding pretty tasty right now. That, in a pizza shell, is my post for today.

The sweater has buttons.

I'm almost afraid to block it since it fits so well. Next photo will be the blocked beauty.

C'est magnifique :)

With a million apologies to my high school French teacher, the Tammy sweater (Vine Yoke Cardigan) is finished, except for sewing on the buttons.

Maybe it really isn't magnificent, but it sure feels great...and Ken actually was impressed enough to tear his eyes away from the football game in progress to acknowledge the finished project.

Well, I'm off to sew on buttons. Pictures to follow. Hooray!!

What, pray tell, is a counterpane?

In my haste to pay homage to Robert Louis Stevenson, I neglected to mention the wonderful blog that started me on the road to memory-land. Check out Knitting, Writing and other Joys sometime. The Land of Counterpane, posted November 19th, for a lovely photo of a counterpane.

For the youngsters out there, a counterpane's a bedspread.

Homage and a P.S. to RLS

PS: These days, I would have to add my knitting needles and some yarn.

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

[Robert Louis Stevenson]

I'm singin' in the rain........

The weather man was wrong. It didn't clear up in the afternoon. It became a steady downpour, but it was warm. In my youth, I may have enjoyed dancing in the puddles. I have become a grumpy old gal though. I still love NYC. Nothing like spending some time at John's Pizzaria to brighten up the spirits. Works every time.

On the way to food, I did pass the Farmer's Market and spy some yarn. Oh, and I got in a good amount of knitting on the bus ride there.

The lines were too long at M&M land, so all I got was this lovely picture.

What is this stuff??

I'm looking for places to go tomorrow...Somehow, I fell into this blog called Knit Your Socks Off. Good stuff. There are reviews of all the yarn shops in NYC and surrounding areas. So, much as I love Manhattan, I may be taking the subway to Brooklyn to check out The Yarn Tree. It will be an adventure of sorts, but I absolutely love Brooklyn and, if the weather cooperates, may be walking the Brooklyn Bridge, instead of the subway. Yarn Tree opens at noon, so there will actually be time to bask in Manhattan first. Visit Mary, see more yarn places. It's all good.

Almost forgot in my euphoric state to mention the Shibory. It's calling me. I guess I have to find out more about it when I visit The Yarn Tree.. Education is never wasted.

New York state of mind :)

Saturday is coming and, with it, a promise of a trip to my favorite city. The tree will have arrived in Rock Center, maybe the street vendors will provide that wonderful smell of roasting nuts...not sure if the Christmas tree vendors will be set up and ready to go yet. I sure hope not...but, ohhhh, the smell of the evergreens is awesome.

I hope to see Mary while I'm there. That's the only definite goal right now. Just being in the city means the world to me. If you've never been to the Tenement Museum, make it a stop when you visit. Or, visit St. Patrick's Cathedral .......I was lucky enough to hear a rehearsal of the Messiah in progress on on of my visits. The Christmas trees pop up everywhere this time of year...one of my favorites was the one on Wall Street...of course, if you're in that area, stop in at Trinity Church and say a prayer for the fallen. One of the most moving experiences of my life was my visit to

St. Paul's Chapel. The daffodils were blooming in the graveyard, the church was full of memorials to 9-11 and the people who offered care and comfort. And a young people's choral group was singing. Solemn, and so beautiful.

Life goes on...I guess what I love the most about NYC is the sense of community you feel when you're there. I love New York.

The planets are aligned :)

I attend a monthly knitting group. It's usually held each month on the second Monday at a local tea shop. Today, for the first time, the group will meet at LYS. Life is good. Nothing like good knitting and good friends to start the week.

Happy Monday to all of you.

Did I mention the pie?

I had to go back to the Art on the Farm this afternoon, this time with dear Ken. I was on a mission...to get a picture of some pie.

Voila: all that was left, but I did gobble up the best macaroon. Yummm. Chocolate chips and orange flavoring...it was awesome.

Fun Farm

What a beautiful day to spend in a barn, sipping hot cider, seeing tons of art venues...yes, there was a spinner and a weaver...and Phil the Potter had yarn bowls to hold your ball o'yarn while you knit. Rachel's Creperie was on hand in the food barn, along with many tempting desserts....there were pies too.

Check out my new yarn bowl and the sweet handspun from City Spun nestled inside of it. Yumm.

Art on the Farm today.

Legend has it around these parts that there is an awesome event held yearly at a farm off of Rte. 283. I must drive past the place every day. Who knew? Art on the Farm is supposed to be wonderful, with lots of music, food, and art in many forms.

Thursday night knitting at LYS presented another opportunity for me to hear about the awesomeness of said event. WIll there be yarn? Not sure.

So...today's the day. I will arrive hungry, in order to appreciate the awesome food that will be there.

It seems like a good time to squeeze in all the good things life has to offer.

Pocket Prayer Shawls and Life......

Life is strange. Life is fragile... I have had about a hundred little pocket prayer shawls riding in my car since they were blessed at the Sacred Stitches event on the 24th of October. I just kept riding around with them in my back seat thinking I'd best be figuring out the best way to get them to where they belong.

Well...I just mailed them to the Episcopal Church Center in NYC where they can be shipped to the soldiers and families at Fort Hood. It seemed as if I should pack some more hugs into the box before sealing it shut. Yes, life is fragile, but there are good people everywhere. Hugs to all of you.

The Big Apple

Trying not to get giddy, but I am going to my favorite city on Nov. 14th. Blame my Sicilian heritage, but I never like to get too excited about something too far in advance and tempt fate.

Anyhow....I've started to think about what to do while there, other than walking the streets looking at the beautiful architecture. There's a new yarn store on Orchard Street called Gotham Fine Yarn that I decided to scope out. Oh my Lord! Check out the November project: the Mohawk Hat. If I were independently wealthy, I'd love to knit it up for my mom's Christmas surprise...after all, she does love hats. Something tells me I'd better stick to the alpaca scarf currently on the needles that has her name on it. Oh, but that Mohawk would be a hoot!

On second though, I'm gonna stick to Knitty City and their awesome button wall. My Tammy sweater needs beautiful buttons.

I'm thinking the victory parade just might be over by then. :)

The Tammy Sweater

I have a secret project. It's driving me crazy. The Vine Yoke Cardigan seems as if it should be a fairly easy knit. Everyone on Ravelry says so......it's driving me crazy. Oops. I said that already.

My sweater has a name. Tammy the sweater is named in honor of Tammy Mill, my knitting buddy from LYS. If I ever complete this sweater, it will be due to Tammy (the person) and her monumental patience as she deciphers the pattern, thus enabling me to knit the darn thing. I spent trick-or-treat night at Tammy's last night. Highlight of the evening, besides the little girl in the Tinkerbell costume, was starting the first sleeve and not jumping off a bridge while knitting it.

I already love this sweater. It will be special. There's a ton of friendship already knitted into it.

Stay tuned.

Knit happens :)

So...the fall gathering of Sacred Stitches at St. John's in Huntingdon, PA is history. I always learn something interesting at our get-togethers. This time, The Seamen's Church Institute took center stage. The headquarters for this group is in NYC, within sight of the Brooklyn Bridge. Each year, 4,500 SCI volunteers around the country knit and pack gifts for more than 17,000 mariners in Port Newark and the inland river system.

The knitters at St. John's knit hats, scarves, and vests out of sturdy, Red Heart-type yarn for those hardy individuals who sail the seas. Next time you eat something from the ocean, thank these guys. Then, check out the free patterns on-line and whip something warm up for this worthy group.

Ever hear of Cable Needle Necklaces?? They look pretty ingenious, and cute, to boot. I read about them on Ravelry just now and was intrigued.

Adventures in Stupidity

I found the coolest little pattern the other day, called the Herringbone Neckwarmer. It called for 1 skein of Twinkle Soft Chunky, but I saw a leftover bit of Lion Brand Thick & Chunky from a hat project sitting all alone in my stash. So, I think, how cool to have a little neckwarmer to go with the hat sitting in my closet. Duh. I love the heathery blue of the yarn, the horizontal herringbone stitch is so cool, AND I bought 2 lovely buttons at Legacy Yarns, a LYS that's only a half mile from my home. Did I mention this was an adventure in stupidity? So, I've posted on Ravelry. It doesn't look too promising since Lion Brand doesn't even show this color, a bluish heather, anymore. I suppose I'll wait a little while before frogging it. Perhaps there really is a good fairy of yarn lurking around somewhere..........

Rhinebeck Yarn :)

Funny how all the yarn looks beautiful together. I found Brown Sheep for $4. a skein, a skein of wonderful Noro for half price and a skein of mohair (pink!!) We got to the Knitmore Girl's meet n' greet a bit early and were rewarded with a gift bag of Regia sock yarn, free scarf pattern, measuring tape, teabag and a recipe and a pin. Thanks to Tammy's daughter, Rebecca, for introducing me to the Knitmore Girls and their podcast.

A day to remember.

If you see the pictures I took at Rhinebeck yesterday, you'd think it was some sort of food festival. I couldn't really help myself. The food stands were so cool, with the added touch of Halloween kitsch. I was in heaven!

Mountains of fiber, beautiful shades of yarn everywhere, bargains to boggle the mind, and the cutest angora rabbit in the world. (ok. it's the only one I've ever seen.)

It rained buckets on Friday night as I drove to knitting buddy Tammy Mill's home to spend the night. Then, it was 4:30 AM and time to leave, again, in the pouring rain... for Rhinebeck. I think we were somewhere in NJ when I noticed that the skies had cleared and then THE SUN came out. The day was cold and wonderful. And the rain? It started again as we entered NJ on our way home.

Pictures of the yarn that followed me home to follow........soon as I find my camera.

Rhinebeck!

It is official. I am traveling to Rhinebeck with 2 dear knitting buddies this Saturday. A day trip, but that's ok. I've done crazier things and, besides, I'm not driving.....yummmm....quality knitting time :)

Mission Accomplished: The Ostrich Plume Lace Scarf

A picture just does not do this lace scarf justice. You'll have to believe me when I tell you that it is beautifully divine.

Destination : :LYS

Last Friday was a very invigorating day. I got to spend a few hours at LYS. The Lancaster Yarn Shop is located in an historic American foursquare home at Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, PA.

I have to admit that we Lancastrians get a fair amount of ribbing because of place names like Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, and so on.

The little town of Intercourse, was called Cross Keys, back in the olden days. Its' current name speaks to the "fellowship" or social interaction and friendship which was so much a part of an agricultural village and culture at the time.

There sure is a ton of social interaction and fellowship going on within the walls of LYS. Wendy Ellis runs a warm, inviting haven full of colorful yarn and inviting projects. I've met folks from England, Italy, Japan, Canada, and various parts of this gloriously beautiful United States while hanging out at LYS.

The common thread in all of the meetings is the love of fiber arts (mainly knitting, for moi).

I am currently lusting over the heavenly shawl, pictured above, that is knit with boucle and mohair yarn. The picture does not do justice to the colors in Claudia 's Handpainted Yarn.

The other picture you'll see here is the display of the local yarn: most notably Rachel Marie's Knitty Dirty Girl and Kelly Pederson's Whorled Peace. ( Astute readers of my blog, and you know who you are, will recognize Whorled Peace as the yarn in my ostrich plume scarf, pictured above WHICH IS NOW FINISHED!!!!!)

Well, Lordy Miss Scarlet. how I do go on...and on...and on......but it's the yarn talking.

Stop in at LYS, y'all...where everybody knows your name. And you probably thought that was Cheers?

I breathe, therefore I knit

I am currently knitting "kissing cousins". Yep. Two projects, distantly related. My swallowtail shawl (which I love) and my lacy baktus (also, very dear to my heart). They share a common ancestry, since the SWT was to be knit with the lovely Tess's yarn, but somewhere along the line, a lovely Jojoland Rhythm jumped onto my needles.

Lacy Baktuses, bakti?, were all around me last week...so, armed with size 4 straights and my Tess pastel - heaven yarn, I cast on a day ago. Yep. Succumbed to temptation and sinning never felt so good. I love my lacy baktus. And I love my SWT.

You find the funniest things......

I had a request from an old pal for a scarf knit in the colors of the Irish flag....off to research I go, not content to just knit any old green, orange, and white thing. Well...what should I stumble onto, but Three Irish Girls yarn. Wow! Such beautiful colors, and funny stuff too.

I think I'd better take Mary's advice and do something simple....or, maybe I'll keep searching.

Any ideas out there? My pal, Shaner, is a rugged, retired schoolteacher, historian type. Darn. No Swallowtail-type scarf.

In search of fall colors

The weather was supposed to be perfect as we set off on our adventure yesterday. It wasn't.

We had fun anyway.
The Mansfield/Wellsboro, PA area has always been special for Ken and me.  After all, we met at Mansfield University way back when we were just kids.


The silver lining for me? Fall colors of a different sort: yarn stash: meet your new neighbors, thanks to a sale at Mad About Ewes on our journey north.  These skeins are only in the 200 yard amount, but will make nice, warm ,something or others one of these days.  Yum.

The Wizard of Oz wins. Bronchitis loses!

I'm beyond help.  It seems that my love of all things Wizard of Oz has superseded my need to sleep.  Today is the 70th anniversary of the Oz movie.  I think I even heard somewhere that the Empire State Building will be lit up in green!! today in honor of the anniversary.

Ah, to see that.  Neat-O.

An Irish diagnosis?

So I took myself to the doctor because I am getting tired of whatever this is I have had since last Friday,
(Whatever it is , it has affected my punctuation and grammar too!!)
Diagnosis: A touch o' bronchitis.


Dr. B. got a chuckle out of her phraseology and then I caught the funniness. She wrote me a prescription for a "real" inhaler and antibiotics,,,just a touch of each for my funny bronchitis.


What does any of this have to do with knitting?? True to form, whenever I wait, I knit. So, I was knitting when she entered the room, which prompted a whole discussion on how she can sort of knit, how her
mother loves to knit....and so on. I love knitting.


And now.....I hurt. I'm goin to sleep.

The interesting things you find online

Sometimes, the only thing you have energy for is perusing the web...

Today, I hit the jackpot. Ravelry never fails to amaze me with its' wealth of info from everyone around the globe. Case in point: Spindles and Spices blog

Check out this terrific Cat in a Hat. What a cool thing to do. She actually has a set of International hats...USA is one of my favorites.

I need to thank Mary again for teaching me how to include links cause it is just SO much fun.

Color me blue??

Change of plans: the Swallowtail Shawl will be blue, since the pretty pastel from Tess' Yarns doesn't have enough yardage.

That's ok. I bought some beautiful Jojoland Melody yarn at the Thursday night knit in at LYS. Wendy, at the Lancaster Yarn Shop, made the whole shawl project so much easier when I stopped in yesterday

Thanks to the Ravelry group for the great hints and charts also. I am really loving this Evelyn Clark design.

Back to "Normalcy"

After my venture into strange postings yesterday, I'm back in yarn heaven today. In spite of my various WIPs, and they are MANY, I have decided to try the Swallowtail Lace Shawl by the wonderful Evelyn Clark. It's been fun searching through my stash for just the right yarn.

Drum roll, please............

Tess' Designer Yarns, Super Socks & Baby, is the winner. I purchased this yarn at the 2007 MD Sheep & Wool Festival, first time at ANY yarn/fiber festival for me. 450 yards of 80% wool and 20% nylon.

A Sweater for a tree / A movie about the sitting machine

Gotta keep my mind busy today...lots of stuff going on. I saw this cool article and wanted to share the tree with a sweater. I think there's a tree in Lancaster that wants to be in this club.

On a totally different subject, check out the SittingMachineMovie.com

Even if you've never been a teacher, the whole movie (filmed by one of our most awesome Lancastrians) is so very cool to see. What a great idea for a film.

Family and musical memories...

I discovered a few pics/videos of the Blueberry Festival held at St. John's, Lancaster a few summers ago: wonderful bluegrass music and delicious blueberry desserts (cobblers, sauce on ice cream, smoothies.....) , all for a good cause. The price of a ticket equaled the cost of one sheet of drywall. End result of the event was 100 sheets of drywall for the relief effort in Mississippi after the hurricane. Awesome music, awesome food, good company and helping those in need. :)

If you listen to the video, you'll hear a little bit of " A Taste of Honey"sung by my daughter, Jennifer. The quality's not the best, since I used my camera. but I am sooooo very proud of her and her music. Love you Jen.

Life is like a box of chocolates :)

I got an e-mail from Mary saying she had received an award
and was passing it along to me -to also pass along if I chose. Such a great idea, I thought. Of course, I got the email a week ago and had to wait to figure out how to actually link to things. Thanks for the great tutorial, Mary!

Pam (the person who started this award) says:

In my best southern accent, I would like to say that I have been thinking about a new award and what I would like it to say. People are like Forrest Gump said ” Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re gonna get. You can see this box of chocolates is filled with different and unique candies and just like the chocolates we are all different and unique people. We are the same in that we all have common ingredients that make us more a like than not. Except for the frosting, which represents our personalities, we are indeed very similar on the inside.”

And of course there are rules:

1. That you must pass this award to others.

2. Link back to me when you have passed them forward.

3. Write a nice post about this award.

4. You must read this award with a southern accent. I call it southern day where we all have to speak with a southern accent. I know that will be hard for some of you, but for the rest of us, we will be fine. So now, ya’ll just enjoy this little ol’ award and have fun with it.

5. And of course let your folks know that they have a nice award waiting for them.

Well, I'm not from the glorious South but, if I even get close to a real, live Southerner, I start speaking in Southern-ese. Ask my daughter cause it drives her crazy. There's something comforting in chocolate, knitting and the South. I'm not just talking Southern Comfort.
Thanks so much for the chocolate, Mary. I'd like to share the sweetness with:

Wendy - Owner of LYS at Kitchen Kettle Village. Awesome yarns and a super caring atmosphere.

Rachel-Marie - Creator of some of the prettiest handspun this side of the Mason-Dixon line.

Lauren - Member of the gang at LYS and button-maker to the stars. Plus, she's getting hitched to the "pottery guy" in a few weeks

And that's all folks. Thanks to Snit n' Knit and Stringplay for keeping me in the loop. (Hey, that's pretty clever...)

This one's for Stringplay!

Whoa! Just found a site for the Swallowtail Shawl Knit-a-Long.

Yes, I know I have a bezillion things started. I feel a shawl in the very near future. To heck with the 3 sweaters on the needles.

Candy for the soul

I got an award the other day from Mary. Part of me wanted to share my award, but there was that part of me that still didn't know how to create a link. ( I've been a secret admirer of all of you out there who included so many informative links!)

So, armed with instructions from Mary, I am going to try to join the club. Stay tuned...

"Not a Celebrity Scarf"is my offering for today. It's from Crazy for Ewe's blog. May all th computer/copyright gods have mercy on me as I attempt to do things right.

If this works, I'll attempt to send some awards out...

Oy vey! :)

Beautiful Sunsets... real and yarn-inspired

I'm starting to think I am possessed by all things beach-related. Here's an awesome sunset view from our stay at S.I.C. last week.

Not to be out-done by Mother Nature, I have finished the Noro shawl. Amen. Much smaller than I thought it would be, but not blocked yet. I'm hoping it will grow to an appropriate size. It looks huge on the chair, but is actually quite small. Now to figure out how to block this thing. Help!!!!!

Not your average day at the beach

The beach at Sea Isle City is great.

We watched the heavy equipment all week as the process of beach rebuilding progressed. Each day the machines got closer to our place, sometimes working throughout the night. I know it might seem weird, but I actually enjoyed watching the work as it neared our section of the beach. We were lucky. The machines didn't gobble up our beach until Friday evening and we were leaving on Saturday. Wow! All that entertainment and timing too.

I almost finished the Noro shawl, but decided to save the last row and binding off for home.

I love the beach!

Beauty and the beach

Sea Isle City is a lovely place and a good place to just sit n' knit.
I continue to experience dizzy spells and have been walking a lot....no bicycling for me.
Weather is cool and windy and the company here is good. Spending time with friends is just fine.
The Noro shawl is nearing completion, but is living up to it's "shawl from the dark side" nickname.
Going to walk the beach now.

Me and my I-touch signing off.

The beach....

Ken and I leave for Sea Isle City this afternoon. Never been there, but a group of people from St. John's invited us to share a beach-front place and I had to accept. Am I packed? Nope. Just enjoying blogging, reading patterns and deciding which yarn to take along..or should I say which project do I NOT take along?

I awoke yesterday to another bout of dizziness. This is the third event in the last 3 months. This time was different. Long story short, the MRI I had a week ago showed an "old" stroke in the temporal lobe which just happens to have something to do with balance. Aha! Now I know why I've been walking like a drunken sailor. Nice to know what's going on, not so nice to know that these dizzy spells will be a regular event. All in all, it's pretty weird.
Those of you who know me well will attest to the fact that I tend to be a Peter Pan-ish individual. Whatever that means.
So...I'm off to spend time at the beach with knitting in tow and the bikes left home in the garage.

Que sera, sera :)

True blue

Here's the Cascade yarn (real wool) that jumped into my heart at Rehoboth:

I'm hoping to knit the

Vine Yoke Cardigan with it one of these days. It's one of Ysolda Teague's patterns that was in the Twist Collective, Fall issue. I have no idea how to do all of this link stuff, so y'all may have to travel to Ravelry-Land to actually see the sweater. Everyone on Ravelry SAYS the cardigan is a piece of cake project. Yep. Oops...I think I just saw a pig fly past my window.

Must finish Noro shawl from Hades before starting this sweater......... stay tuned.

The beach, sort of :)

Husband, son, and little old moi traveled to Lewes, DE for a much-enjoyed day trip yesterday.

Funny thing though....I only saw the ocean from the boardwalk at Rehoboth after we biked all the way from Lewes to Rehoboth and then back to Lewes. (That's an 8 mile round trip.)

My blue bicycle and I are now friends. No falls onto concrete...No tumbles onto gravel...just lots of good exercise and beautiful wooded trails with plenty of shade and wonderful forests.

We settled for yummy cheesesteaks and Grotto Pizza since it was Monday and my Green Man Bistro was CLOSED. Oh the cruelty of it all... I was sorely tempted to sample the bacon ice cream offered at one of the boardwalk stands, but brain cells kicked in just in time and saved me.

And the yarn??? I consider it a verifiable miracle that Kitschy Stitch,the new Rehoboth yarn store, materialized right in front of us on the way home. Well, I had to go in and investigate. Besides, it gave the guys a chance to rest on the porch. Pictures of yarn to follow.

The end of a very special day.

Thursday night knitting at LYS. It's the best place to be. Tonight, there were only four of us, maybe because the tornado watch didn't expire till 6:20? What's a little weather among friends?

I don't think I actually knitted one stitch tonight, what with the 15 or so visitors from Italy that stopped in the shop. What fun.....I got to use some of my Italian. All ten words.

Besides, Lauren brought pizza.

Ciao :)

Up, up and away!!!

Today is my mom's 85th birthday. I have heard her wish for a hot-air balloon ride for as far back as I can remember. Today was THE day and it was all I could have hoped for. Even the overcast skies made for awesome views from the balloon.

We sent Kenny along, so it was a double treat: time with her grandson doing something extraordinarily cool. The video is pretty long, my first attempt at such things. Who knows how it'll end up???

Socks and Showers

Behold the ballband dishcloth taken from its lowly state, knitted in Tahki's Cotton Classic and on its way to becoming a centerpiece at Lauren's wedding brunch. Our Thursday night gang at LYS is busily knitting a bunch of these beauties so that Lauren will be able to use them on each table at her wedding brunch. They'll be topped with vases handmade by her future husband Phil, the potter, and finished off with flowers from Central Market.

Lauren is shown in the other picture with fellow knitter, Kathy. The reason for the big smiles is that Kathy is showing off her scarf and purse adorned with Lauren's handmade buttons. Yep. Phil taught Lauren how to make buttons, the prettiest ceramic buttons ever, and Kathy was her first "customer"....such excitement!

OK......and here's a picture of my very first attempt at "real" socks. I'm using Paca Peds superwash alpaca sock yarn which has 20% alpaca, 65% superwash wool and 15% nylon. So, I'm thinking it should be called Wool-Paca Peds. But I digress. Back to Lauren's table-topper which I must finish before any other project is worked on.

Blogging Buddies

I have the best blogging buddies. One of the really terrific things about knitting, besides actually knitting, is the people you meet, whether in person :) or online.

Today I learned two things: How to knit, and pronounce, NUPPS. But, best of all, finding out that it's Mary's birthday!

Happy Birthday Mary. Have a wonderful day.