Hang in there a little longer, please...

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted, but I have been out of town A LOT, and now I have company again.....my 14 year old niece and her girlfriend. When we are not out doing something, they have commandeered my computer. I am writing on Gerry's laptop, and I don't have my picture editor so I am waiting till the girls leave on Tuesday, and then I can do a proper post with pictures and all. Tomorrow we head to Ocala - my daughter Becca's house - and hope to go to Universal Studios in Orlando if we don't get bombarded with rain from Hurricane Dennis. So....signing off till next week.

It's DONE, It's DONE - YIPEE!!!

Look what I got yesterday. I had a coupon for JoAnn's on-line sale and got this book at half price. It's beautiful, with lovely patterns for a grandma (in the future) to make. I also bought a Chibi with small needles but it also holds my heavier yarn needles.

YEA!!! I FINALLY finished the sweater shrug that I had been making for my friend Laura. I call it the Sweater from Hell! Was the pattern hard? No - except there was ONE LINE left out....when starting the left front, it should read: Cast on a NEW NEEDLE. now to some of you that would be obvious, but to literal me, it wasn't. So I had knitted the left front TWICE. Luckily, it frogs very well. I had hoped to finish on my way to AZ but ran out of yarn. I called my LYS and the day after I arrived home, I picked up a skein. The next weekend I flew to OKC...ran out of yarn again. Came home and got two more. Ran out AGAIN....got two more on Wednesday  and today returned one untouched (actually exhanged it for a same priced circular needle). I thought I had finished it while at the yarn store, but got home and realized I had one more step to do. Well...it's finally done! I gave it to Laura tonight and she loved it. In fact, we went to dinner with our other friend Sherry and my mom, and then to a show (see below) and not only did the three of them love it, but Laura got many positive comments on it from strangers in the theater. I was so happy that she liked it. It's so hard when you make something for someone and they are not on the spot to try it on, etc. But it worked out well. Now I am going to work on the pink baby sweater, cause I love making baby things. 

Yesterday there was a package outside my door, beside the book from JoAnn's. It was a surprise from my SP5. She rocks!! she sent a package of Trendy Wendy Powdered Bath Soap, 5 skeins of Austermann Peru Gold der Anden (Peruvian yarn that is 70% Baby Alpaca and 30% Feine Merino and is ooooooo so soft. I LOVE it!!!  Plus a tin of Green Tea Wild Cherry. Can't wait to try it. Thank you SOOOO much, SP5 (and I LOVE the color of the yarn).

As I said above, tonight we went to dinner and a show. The show is Modern Orthodox. It was at the Caldwell Theater in Boca Raton, Fl. They have very good shows there but it was my first time. The star of the show is Benim Foster, who is the son (and very actor) of my coworker/friend Arlene. After the show he came out to say hello to us. He is such a warm, sweet guy - good looking, too!!

 

Yesterday Mom and I went to see another show...Cabaret. I really didn't expect all that much, but the show was great...the actors were great...the dancing was GREAT!!!! We really enjoyed it!

Tomorrow I have lots to do....manicure, pedicure, stop in at LYS that has 40% sale (they are closing - discount is 50% in July), and packing...yes, we are leaving AGAIN. We are flying to NY/NJ....Sunday is Gerry's great-niece's christening. My brother will join us for the weekend so we get to see him too, and on Monday, when Ger flies back to FL so he can work the week, I am staying with my dear friend Carla, her husband and adorable baby, for a few days. So ...I will not be blogging for about a week.  Have a good one (and thank goodness that pink sweater is done and gone!!).

Can't Fight This Addiction

Since I didn't have enough yarn to finish the pink sweater-shrug, I made a practice hat for my friend's son, Parker. It's a simple pattern, using Caron Simply Soft yarn. If it fits and his mom likes the hat, I plan to make it in wool, for they live in NYC and it gets really cold in the winter.

I recently found out that Tuesday Morning, a discount store, sometimes carries yarns. I went the other day and sure enough, they had several packages of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, 3 to a pack. The toughest time was in deciding which colors to get. They were so reasonably priced, and I know they are discontinued by LB, so I bought these lovely colors. I'll probably make some toddler sweater sets with them, to put away until needed. I called Alison to see if she wanted any, but she had already hit the TM shop in AZ and got some of the same colors, and of course, orange to go with the blue (Go, Gators!!)

Now if I only had a place to PUT all of the yarn that I buy!!!

A Need to Remember, Things Sad and Great

Saturday June 18...In OKC we went to the Memorial to honor the victims of the Federal Building bombing in 1995. It was a profound experience, both sad and uplifting. Sad to realize how some people can inflict such pain and loss on innocent people, and uplifting to learn of those who selflessly gave of themselves, the outpouring of love and care from around the world, and the knowledge that we as a nation can work together to overcome terrorism. Gerry stood at the fence where there are countless trinkets, notes, pictures and other memorabilia to the victims. He stood in almost the exact pose when he went to the site of the World Trade Tower destruction several years ago.

There is a museum at the memorial, where outside a wall was constructed using tiles of children's drawings, on one side, and tiles of children's handprints on the other side. Children from all over the world expressed their feelings in their drawings, and it was fitting that this was one of the displays since many children lost their lives that day while in a day care center in the Federal building.

We walked through the museum, reliving that day. There was a recording of a hearing that took place that April 19th morning in a nearby building, that captured the explosion caused by the bomb. It really put it all into perspective, and brought tears to my eyes, as  did the other films and stories that followed. On the next floor, there was a room covered with photos of all of the victims. Gerry and I walked in and immediately walked out....way too emotional for either of us to take (he's very sensitive when it comes to poeple suffering/dying). All in all, it was quite an emotional experience, but one that we felt was important to go through.

The night before we went to Bricktown, an area of OKC that is being developed with restaurants, shops and river ferry rides. It is by the local ball field where the OKC Redhawks play. And the streets are filled with reminders of Mickey Mantle, the Oklahoman who is my husband's hero.

Sign says: Mickey Mantle Drive

The best shot of all is the one below....THAT says it all!!! Doesn't take much to make a kid (even a grown one) happy, does it?

The rest of the trip was going down (Dad's) memory lane...he is a wealth of stories from the past (and at 82, there are TONS of them). A nice dinner out with my brother and family, and the next day we were winging our way home again.

Now, this IS a knitting blog, so I should mention that once again I ran out of yarn while knitting the pink/purple/silver sweater shrug, but luckily I took additional yarn and needles for two other projects. I started a pink baby sweater called Nona's Baby Jacket, worked from the top down in Bernat Babie Softee using size 6 needles, and finished a toddler's hat using Caron Simply Soft, just for practice. I ran to the LYS today and bought TWO more skeins of yarn for the sweater shrug, and tomorrow I am praying that it rains again (we've had lots of wet days in S. Florida lately) and I will stay in and knit, knit, knit. Then, in the evening, I meet with my knitting group where I will knit, knit, knit again. I HAVE to finish this pink sweater by Thursday, for that's when I am seeing Laura and want to give it to her once and for all!

Into the Friendly Skies Once More

Friday, June 17th - Once more we were off and flying....this time, to Oklahoma City, OK to see my dad and other family members. Gerry had never met my dad and his wife, nor my brother Randy's family (he met Randy in Feb). Dad hasn't been too well since November, so we thought...now is a good time to get out there (I go once a year but Ger has not been able to join me as he is very busy with work in the summer). Of course, the night before the flight we get a call telling us that our flights were changed....a longer layover in the Dallas airport going, leaving OKC 4 hours earlier but sitting in Dallas, once again, this time for 4 hours. To make things worse, checking in thru security, we found out that lighters are not longer allowed, so poor Gerry had to literally RUN all the way back to the car to leave it there, and run to the gate where I was waiting. We were the last onto the plane.

We got to Dallas without a hitch, got to our departing terminal and sat down for a nice lunch at Friday's. Nothing major to do....we've been there before and so didn't need to go shopping the the touristy shops. I got some good knitting time in, though. Finally it was time to leave Texas...

We arrived in OKC around 2:30 and got a nice rental car (I am no longer brave enough to drive with my Dad, so a rental was a VERY good idea.

It was good to see Dad, though he looked much thinner than my last trip out last summer. My dad is what you would call a real character. He has long black hair (bald on top) and a black beard with a white stripe down the center and a white mustache. He wears BIG gold rimmed glasses. He (still) teaches Tai Chi and is the best East Coast swing dancer over 65 (and he's 82 - he was National Jitterbug champ of 1940). Although his present appearance took me aback, I felt happy when I saw that he still walks at a decent pace, drives (oy - get off the road everyone) and dances like a champ. I brought him his favorite gift for Father's Day - a whole white fish and potato knishes. He can't get those in OKC and LOVES them!

As I said before, I did get a lot of knitting done on the plane, so that by the time I got to OKC and then home again, I felt like this:

One Last Night and Home Again

     Last night! Mom and daughter bonding time continues. We went to a really delicious restaurant called Pei Wei in Chandler, AZ. I wanted to go to PF Chang, but Alison took me to this restaurant that is owned by the same company ad PF Chang without the high cost. The food was wonderful. I even had left-overs, which I boxed up and took with me for my long flight home on Monday (we all know that you can't survive on crackers, cheese and oreos for an all day trip - ok, so it's delicious, and we eat it, but is it a healthy meal?)

     After dinner we went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. What a great movie - lots and lots of tears but heartwarming, funny, and I can't wait to see it again.

     Monday saw me winging home, first flight to Atlanta, Ga and then to Fl.

On the first flight I met some really nice people...Ruthie, who just moved to GA 4 months ago with her family, was traveling with her very quiet 7 yr old daughter, and Wes, a doctor from a small town in  Alabama...Eufaula, a city of 15,000 people, traveling with his wife/coworker-nurse Wanda Marie. They were really sweet. There was no movie or music on the flight so it was nice to have someone to chat with. I also worked on the pink shrug. I was stumped at a certain part of the pattern, and had written to Ramwools for help. I did get an e-mail back and so atempted what was suggested. I did 3 hours of knitting, and when I got to the next part (on the next flight) it still wasn't right, so I had to frog all the work I had done on the first leg of my trip. Today I am going to my LYS for help, and tonight I meet with my knitting buddies and will get additional help if I need it. Thank goodness for other knitters.

When I got home, SOOO happy to see Gerry, there was a little package waiting for me. It was from Karen, Alison's mother-in-law. She sent me a little photo album for baby pictures, with a note that read: "In keepig with the idea of 'Dream Big'...Atlanta, grandkids (!)...I know, Alison...not pregnant, not trying (yet)...I think you will enjoy my optimism in choosing this little gift." ...and the card said DREAM BIG inside....it was a birthday wish (it's one week from today). Isn't Karen a sweetheart? Can you tell that we are both eager with anticipation at having a co-grandchild, AND having the kids in Atlanta? I definitely see why I have such a wonderful son-in-law in Michael...he comes from wonderful parents, Karen and Lennie.

     Now I have to get off my tush and get a move on. I got in so late last night that I didn't unpack - a real no-no for me...I ALWAYS unpack before going to bed. And I must get to the LYS so I can get some help on my pattern. I have to have it done before next week, when I present it to Laura.

Dying for Fun

     Sunday morning we got up early and started preparing the yarn that Alison bought from http://www.knitpicks.com/. She got white Peruvian Wool and 100% Merino wool. We set up many flavors of Kool Aid and the cheaper version...Flavor Aid. Then we went to work:

     Here is Alison busy putting color into her yarn. It really wasn't that hard or messy, just a bit time consuming...well, we DID dye 5 skeins each! The hardest part was coming up with color combinations that we wanted to use, but in the end, I think we did very well.

Here are the skeins all dyed and laid out in the warmth of Arizona to dry. Unfortunately, they didn't, so later that night we hung them in the garage on the bike hooks, from the ceiling, and by morning they were ready. They literally drip-dried. The colors took really well.

     Before we walked away, Alison, ever the photographer, took pix of the yarns. I did, too,but she REALLY gets into it and takes beautiful pictures. Here she is with her professional camera, while I use my little Nikon Cool-Pix 2100...good enough for me!

And this is one of my favorites....Alison's Rainbow Skein! Just look how beautiful it is. I can't wait to make some socks and maybe try my hand at felting with these yarns. Imagine - being able to say I dyed it AND knitted it. How cool is that!

But the BEST part of it all was just spending the time, sharing an interest with my daughter. With the distance in miles we don't get to do that all that often. Now that they are moving to GA, while still a bit far, I will get to spend more time with her. She is making her mom so happy! For those of you who are moms, you understand. For those of you yet to be moms, you WILL know that feeling one day, and it's wonderful.

     OH, OH, OH!!! And SHAME on me! I forgot to mention a wonderful moment....my daughter created a knittinig pattern for Southwest Trading Company http://www.soysilk.com/. And they sold it to a national knitting magazine. PLUS - Alison test knitted a pattern for them and it will be featured in Creative Knitting magazine. Are my buttons popping or what??

A Much Needed Break

     Saturday June 11 - After a LONG day...early garage sale and more packing, I took some time to play with my two beautiful grand-puppies. Here are Blue and Orange - aren't they adorable? They had to endure staying inside the house (or in the backyard) while we were in the garage conducting the sale, and then doing more packing. Such good boys!!

     After straightening up and taking showers, Michael and Alison took me to dinner and then to the movies ( I love movies) to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movie was terrific. I love movies with clever dialogue and innuendos...and always a catch phrase..."Whose your daddy, now?" Well worth the watching!! Angelina Jolie is just gorgeous, and Brad is mmmmmm....eye candy at the very least!

     When we got home, I couldn't believe how many boxes we had already packed. Tomorrow Michael is flying out of state for business and Alison and I will have the whole day together...no packing, just fun!!

It's Hot.....DAMN, Hot!

Ok, I HAVE experienced hotter weather, but it's still HOT (upper 90's)!! This past week I have been in Chandler, AZ, helping my daughter Alison pack for their move to Georgia. My trip was planned WAY before they decided to move, but was perfect timing. Now most people would say that they would rather not be involved in packing, but I was thrilled to be able to help, since my kids rarely ask for my help, they are just so independent (which, by the way, is a good thing). But when I offered...they jumped on it! We got LOTS of boxes packed, and today had a garage sale and then donated the leftovers to Goodwill.
In between I did get some knitting done. On the plane I was working on the shrug (pink one, see previous post) but was stumped on the directions. Alison rescued me and I knitted some more, until I came to a glitch in the pattern that neither one of us could figure out. So at Alison's suggestion, I e-mailed ramswools.com and they responded within 24 hours as to how to proceed. I have not picked up the piece to continue, but the new instruction makes sense (let's see how it translates to actual practice). In the meantime I am working on my gray cardigan, and have a slight anxiety inside that I will not have enough yarn to finish. SOOOO - I will attach the fronts to the back, knit the border onto the piece, and then, if I have enough yarn I will finish the sleeves (halfway done). If not, I will try to get more yarn or else I will have one very lovely vest!! I also brought my WOW! Chenille sweater pieces with me so I can sew that together. But the best thing is....tomorrow Alison and I are going to dye white wool with Kool-Aid - I have never done that before. Should be pretty cool!!!
Tonight we are off to dinner and then to the movies to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Can't wait!!! Happy knitting, to all and have a good weekend!

Another for Another...

     I wanted to post a picture of the shrug that I am making for my friend/coworker Laura. She asked me to make one, and the perfect one was in the Ramwools catalog, called Texture Shrug. I had to buy the whole kit to get the pattern so I ordered the kit in a color to my liking (they didn't have the color she wanted). Then I went to my LYS and picked wools that would come close to the gauge, staying in the color scheme. The original calls for Electra and Clea, but I am using Bamboo by Classic Elite Yarns (light pink), and Stardust by Feza (95% polyester 5% Lame) in shades of purple, pink and silver. It's working up easily, just takes a long time doing STST with size 7needles. I did have to go down one needle size on every one it called for, to meet the gauge. I am as excited as Laura is about this. It's coming out so nicely. Of course, when it's done I will post another pix.

Don't Fence Me In!

     Actually, DO fence me in. Our fence...correction...our NEIGHBOR'S fence, fell down during the hurricane last fall. She refused to fix it, and finally, without warning, she took part of it down. That would have delighted me except my dogs ran through the space left b/t her bushes. Everytime I let the dogs out into the yard I had to make certain I eye-balled them carefully or else they - no, RUSTY (my dacshund) got out. Yesterday Rusty got into the next yard and started scrabbling with Jake, the neighbor's dog. Then we had to track Rusty down the street, 'cause he took off fast. Today was ANOTHER story. 

     I let the dogs out and watched them. Cocktail (our shepard/chow who is 15) and Tiemann (maltese, aged 10) wandered to the right side of the yard and behind our cottage. Rusty headed for the non-fence, but I told him NO! and after a few seconds he came into the house. Two minutes later, Cocktail came in. I came in too, leaving Tiemann out, as he will come to the door when he is ready and bark to come in. After 4 or 5 minutes I looked for Tiemann and couldn't find him. I called and called, looked all over the yard and the house, and then went out front. There was Tiemann, coming BACK to the house from the corner, with a look that said, "Oh - hi Mom, were you looking for me?" Here's how I think it went down: As I let them out, Rusty must have said to Tiemann, "OK - now's your chance. I'll pretend to go to the fence, and when Mom calls me to come in and I do so, she'll never realize that you are out here. When she goes into the house, you make a break for it, through the bushes and out the neighbor's front yard. Go ahead, take a chance for once in your life, be a man!" It HAD to be that way...it's ALWAYS Rusty's fault!! He's the teenager of the bunch!

     As all this happened, Gerry and our friend John were in Home Depot, getting the materials to put up a new fence. Here is the finished produce. They only had to do one side of the yard, as the rest of the fencing is in tact. They had to make sure that they were nto on HER property line. In fact, the fence is about 8 inches past the line and into our yard. It's just easier to lose a few inches of our yard than to have to deal with her. The last fence was actually put up by Gerry & John years ago, but she claimed it as HERS, since it was 2 inches onto her property. Well, not anymore!!! And the dogs are safe and sound in our yard - sorry, Rusty!

She's Won My Heart!!!

    I am already thrilled by my new SP 5. We just started and already she sent me a goody package...Rebecca Magazine...it's SOO neat, lots of beautiful patterns for the home and wearables....two LARGE skeins of Bartlett yarns 100% Wool in green heather. I can't wait to work with it. And even her note card was fabulous....hand made by an obvious stamper. She lives in Kansas, which isn't that far from where some of my family live...OKC...where I am going Father's Day Weekend to see my dad. So, SP5....you are AWESOME!!!

No more pencils, no more books...!

     School's out for the summer...YEA! After an exhausting year and an even more exhausting month, school ended today - for the students. My last day is tomorrow, but I only have a little paperwork, then get signed off by various staff members, hand in the key and go the End of the Year Luncheon, which, as President of the Sunshine Committee, I am in charge of (thankfully this year, as in other years, I have good helpers). Then I have 8 weeks off (instead of the usual 9) and lots of travel ahead. I begin by flying to AZ to see Alison, my daughter, and help her pack up for her move with hubby Michael to GA. I am THRILLED that they are moving closer, as ONE day (yes, I know Ali - not preggers, not trying) I will have a grandchild, and GA is so much closer to Florida than AZ is. Alison told me tonight that she ordered white wool so she can show me how to dye it with Kool Aid, and hopefully I will learn to felt, too.

     One of my coworkers got me the little angel below as a parting gift - thanks, Pam. It's really an angel for mom's to be, but she knows I am a knitter and couldn't resist it. I'm glad she got it for me...I love it!

     Happy, happy, happy, happy summer!!!!! ....can you tell I'm happy?

One Good Thing About Bimini

     There was ONE good thing about the trip....I started and completed a shrug. I had so much time in airports, waiting for the dive boat, relaxing after the dive boat. So I made this shrug using Crystal Palace 100% Nylon ribbon yarn and sizes 11 and 19 needles.

Nothing like instant gratification!!!

No Problem, Mon? Yea, Sure!!!

     Memorial Day weekend Gerry and I took a much needed vacation. We flew to Bimini, which is an outer island of the Bahamas. We went with some people from our dive shop. It was to be a pure diving vacation, with about 7 or 8 dives. Yeah! Best laid plans...! We left on Friday on a little prop plane that took off almost an hour late. The flight was ok, not exactly first class - ok, not even coach. But it only took 15 minutes to get there and another 5 minutes to be driven to our hotel. Ok, not exactly a HOTEL as we know it. It's really a bunch of rooms in two floors over a bar/restaurant, right on a canal (a sometimes "stinky" canal). The good thing is that we were told NOT to expect too much in the way of ....anything. So, we didn't and were not disappointed. The rooms were clean and made up each day, the staff was nice, too. Our first room had a non-working cold water faucet in the shower, so our room was switched to across the hall (this came AFTER our first dive, when I desperately wanted that shower). The next room had a leaky sink when used, so...we didn't use it. After arriving and getting settled, we did a night dive Friday night. That was a bummer. We only had one light, Gerry lost a weight and had to return to the boat (and so I had to, too) to get more weight. It was hard to follow the light under the water AND keep an eye on Gerry (it would have been better with 2 lights), and we saw very little sealife. When we surfaced, we had to swim a LONG way to the boat, because it couldn't come for us and risk hitting divers in the water in the dark. A plus, though, was that the sky was amazing with all the stars out, and it was SO clear. But we had never had to swim back to a boat before. THEN....many of the divers got bit by sealice, which produces a fierce red bumpy rash. I lucked out ...that time! No bites (of course, I am covered literally head to toe by wetsuit, booties, hood and gloves).

     Saturday's dives were not great. The weather was terrific - very clear and very hot, but the guys running the boat didn't exactly know what they were doing, so the barge that we were supposed to dive on was never found (we went down, searched and came back up) and the next dive wasn't great either. We returned to the hotel, showered and passed out. When we woke, the others had gone into "town." We asked the restaurant waitress to call a water taxi for us (the only way to get to the north side). We got there and walked up and down, looked in the two places we were told they would be, can couldn't find them, so we returned to the hotel to eat and lo and behold, the waitress said, "Oh, you didn't find them? They went to_____." And we found out later that she had made their reservations. DUH! Why couldn't she have told us in the first place?  So we had burgers and went upstairs to pass out again.

     On Sunday we had the BEST day. The weather was great, the LONG trip to the dive site was good (which means I didn't get sick). Our first dive was on a pinacle and wall and the second was a beautiful reef.  Here is a pix of us taken on one of those dives:

  We also anchored near a beach where we snorkled in to shore - I saw a sting ray and a nurse shark while going to and from the boat. Having had a great day, we showered and planned to eat and watch the Yankees play the Red Sox at night, but the bar filled up with people wanting to watch the basketball playoffs - must be the only satellite TV on the south side of the island, so we went to sleep. We had to hang around on Monday till flight time - 3 PM. AH - I forgot to tell you that I got a MAJOR sunburn (still hurts), Gerry's feet were badly burned, and those with sea lice bites are still suffering - Gerry among them, but his wasn't as bad as some of the others. Guess you can safely bet that we will not be returning to Bimini anytime soon.