tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75443394066787241892024-03-14T12:41:55.532-04:00Knit Circle"It is easy to say how we love new friends, and what we think of them, but words can never trace out all the fibers that knit us to the old." -- George EliotEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-54350668355311151232011-09-10T11:59:00.001-04:002011-09-10T11:59:35.527-04:00Random - that's how I feelIt's been just over a year since my Mom died. Just over a year of sadness and depression that I'm still experiencing. I wonder if I'll ever get over this sometimes.<br />
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I have good days and bad days, like everyone else in the world, but when the days are so bad that I just want to crawl under the blankets and hide, I still get up and go to work and do the things I have to do to keep my life going. Isn't that the way we all live? I feel like a mechanical toy some days. I get up. I have coffee. I watch the news. I brush my teeth and take a shower and dry my hair. I figure out what I'm wearing. I drive to work and on the way to work I put on my "normal" face so no one knows the pain I carry with me every day. I don't have a lot of close friends; I do have a lot of people I like and some I love, but only one that I can talk to without feeling like I will be judged: my husband. We've been together since 1987 because we can talk to each other.<br />
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I know people who've had friends since grade school, since high school, since college. Not me. For some reason, I never had friends like that. I don't know why. It's just the way I've been my whole life. My quote at the top of the page is really something I found online; I don't have any old friends like that and never really did. Growing up, I hung out with my sister and her friends, but they were <i>her</i> friends, never mine. I didn't get close to anyone in school - I was always a loner. When I was being punished for something and got sent to my room, I was never upset. Being sent to my room meant I didn't have to do anything but read and maybe take a nap. That wasn't punishment; it was wonderful. Being sent to your room was torture to my sister and brother; they always had something to do and someone to do it with. Not me. I was always the fifth wheel; at least that's how I always felt.<br />
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I don't know where I'm going with this. I think it may be just a random rant because I was thinking about Mom a lot this week and missing her terribly. I was depressed before she died but that was nothing compared to how I feel since she died. I've gotten so bad that I have a panic attack when I go near her house and I can't even talk on the phone to my sister because I always end up crying. She doesn't do it on purpose, I know, but I <i>always</i> end up crying and I <i>always</i> end up even more depressed for days afterward so I just text for now until I can deal with it better. On Mom's anniversary, August 21, I was a mess. I went to Mass - I've been going to Mass for a while now - and I just thought about Mom. She would have been happy that I was at Mass. I sat in the car afterwards and cried for a bit because I missed her so much. Mom thought she was never going to die. She kept smoking and she still thought she was never going to die. And I watched her die, gasping for air, because she smoked.<br />
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Enough. I'm crying and I need to stop. I miss my Mom more than anyone will ever know and more than I can ever say.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-80418008027550903562010-08-26T17:48:00.001-04:002010-08-26T17:54:40.440-04:00Mom's Obituary<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the obituary I wrote for my Mom, Maureen Dumas. She was a wonderful woman and I will miss her terribly. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">August 21, 2010</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mary E. Dumas (only to the nuns in school; to everyone else she was Maureen or Moe. or Grandma, or Aunt Moe.....)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ALBANY- Maureen or Moe Dumas 76, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, August 21, 2010 surrounded by her loving family. Maureen was born in Albany, the oldest child of the late Charles and Ellen MacGowan, and was predeceased by her husband, Eugene Dumas, who died in 1986. Maureen was fond of saying that she had many lives: one life was her family; one life was theater; another was political; yet another was anti-poverty and community action. She was devoted to all of her lives and will be remembered by many. She was actively involved in the Albany Civic Theater (ACT) for many years, beginning with their days on Beaver Street and continuing through the acquisition and outfitting of the current theater on Second Avenue. She was active with ACT throughout the 60’s and 70’s. With her good friend, the late Nick Toscino, Maureen did the makeup for the Legislative Correspondents Association (LCA) Show from 1971 through 2005. In 1977, she was named to the Private Industry Council by former Democratic Mayor Erastus Corning II. In 1980, she ran for NYS Senate against Senator Howard Nolan; she lost, but by the slimmest margin that Senator Nolan ever held against a challenger. In 1983, Maureen was named by Senate Majority Leader Warren B. Anderson to the Community Services Block Grant Management Plan’s Advisory Council, a program that reviewed applications for government funding for such programs for the poor as health services, nutrition, and housing and employment; a position which she held for more than 20 years. In 1986, she was awarded the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award. At the time of the award, Maureen was the president of the National Association of Community Action Agency Board of Directors and provided leadership for the Albany County Head Start Program, Albany County Opportunity Inc., the NYS Department of State Policy Advisory Committee for Weatherization, and was involved with local implementation of the Job Training Partnership Act – Private Industry Council. She was actively involved in the Irish Perceptions Series through the Albany Chapter of the Irish American Cultural Institute, of which she was a founding member, the Albany City Arts Office, and Centro Civico Hispano-Americano. In 1987, Maureen helped to bring the Festival of Nations to the area. In 1988, she organized the Governor Thomas Dongan Feis, an Irish dance festival that she continued to run and worked with for many years. In 1996, Maureen received the Maude Gonne MacBride Award from the NYS Irish Northern Aid Committee for her work in bringing Irish culture to the area. In 1997, she received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Keeper of the Dream” Award from the EOC/CEDC of Nassau County for her “Outstanding Commitment and Contributions to Empowering Individuals, Families and Communities through Community Action in New York State”. As part of this award, she was given a bronze bust of Dr. King which was displayed proudly in her home. She was a member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, JFK Division #1 for many years and a member and past president of the Albany Kiwanis. She retired from the New York State Senate in 1993, where she worked for nearly 40 years. She started in the Steno Pool and worked for Senate Majority Leader Earl W. Brydges, Senate Majority Leader Warren B. Anderson, and Senator Joseph Pisani, among others, ending her career working in Constituent Relations. After her retirement, she volunteered at her good friend Father Peter Young’s Altamont Program, serving on the Board of Directors until her illness. Maureen is survived by her three children, Ellen (Michael) Porcari of Rotterdam, Jean (Robert) Pelton of Louisville, Kentucky, and Paul (Linda) Dumas of East Greenbush. She was the much-loved Grandma Moe of Steven Magee, Bryan Magee, Mary Beth (Mark) Ketzer, Annie Dumas, and Paul Dumas, Jr. In addition, she was great-grandmother to Bryan Magee, Jr. and Helen Ketzer. Moe was the big sister to Patricia (William) Cohen, the late Francis (Patricia) MacGowan, the late Elizabeth (Joseph) Zappone, and Charles (Barbara) MacGowan. Moe was the special cousin and friend of Lee Smith, who she loved very much and who spent most of Moe’s last days at her side. Aunt Moe also leaves behind her nieces and nephews, Keith (Kate) Cohen, Gina (Kenneth) Szesznat, Christine (Christopher) Lenaghan, Joseph (Paula) Zappone, Jr., Elizabeth Zappone, Charles MacGowan IV, and Rosalie MacGowan, a dozen more great-nieces and nephews, and many more relatives and friends. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, August 25, 2010, at 9am in Blessed Sacrament Church, Central Ave. Albany. Relatives and friends are invited and may call at the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, 490 Delaware Ave., Albany on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 from 3-8pm. Interment will be in St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Memorial contributions may be made to the Fr. Peter G. Young Foundation, PO Box 4065, Albany, NY 12204, or to the charity of one’s choice.</span>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-34965968080497333222010-01-24T11:00:00.000-05:002010-01-24T11:00:00.579-05:00Sunday morningIt's Sunday morning and I'm taking a few "ME" minutes before I go to the hospital to visit my mother. It's been a really long week. My favorite uncle went into the hospital last Tuesday and passed away on Friday night. On Thursday, I took Mom to the doctor for a follow-up exam and he suggested she go over to the ER for a chest x-ray because her breathing wasn't good and she's had congestive heart failure before. Without going into detail, she had some major issues and they kept her in the hospital. She may not get out until tomorrow or later. I had to go in yesterday to tell her that her brother had died; this was not unexpected, just sooner than we thought. So, it's been a long week and likely this week will be like that, too. <br />
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I just wanted to write this down for some reason. Maybe to get it off me and onto the blog so that I could say goodbye to it. I'm going to miss Uncle Franko, but he's not been healthy for a very long time and I think it's merciful that he passed so peacefully. <br />
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Can't say more for now. Maybe I'll update this later.Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-56382477650586445052009-09-14T21:49:00.001-04:002009-09-15T21:08:52.138-04:00On the eve of the first Fluff'N'Stuff box...Ok. I admit it. I want one. Very very very badly. The stuff in that box is so awesome that I can barely wait. I will have to bring my laptop to work with me tomorrow and take an early lunch so I can be online at noon when it comes up for sale. I'll have to. Unless I call in sick altogether...hmmm...is it worth it? YES!<br />
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Check out the links below to see for yourself!<br />
Oh, and wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />
Ellen<br />
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UPDATE: I GOT ONE!!! I'll post when I get it so you all can see the goodies I got!Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-3738798172240147642009-09-06T14:15:00.003-04:002009-09-06T14:42:03.708-04:00Fairs & Fibery GoodiesCan you all see me patting myself on the back? I'm going to have my fingerless mitts on display at Rhinebeck! Me...I keep pinching myself. I'm going to be a part of the CVM Conservancy display as my mitts were made entirely from a CVM fleece that I purchased from a Conservancy member; I washed the wool, dyed it with Wilton's food colors in a crock pot, spun the yarn, and knit the mitts from a pattern I got on the web. Credit for the pattern goes to Ms. Amy Ripton for her "Hedgerow Mitts" from Knitter's Review. I knit one mitt and made a minor change to the pattern to make them fit my hands more snugly, but other than that, they were a fabulous pattern and so easy to knit.<br /><br />To find out more about CVM fleeces, check out this link: <a href="http://www.nationalcvmconservancy.com/">http://www.nationalcvmconservancy.com/</a> and to see where I got my very own CVM fleece to work on, check out Linda Hatt's site: <a href="http://www.mysticgrange.com/">http://www.mysticgrange.com/</a>. Linda is a member of the CVM Conservancy and her fleeces and her customer service are exemplary.<br /><br />If you get to wishing for some fibery goodness, check out the little note I've included below about the Fibery Co-Op. A Fluff'N'Stuff box just might be in your future....<br /><br />Remember...Wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-30101132877192119292009-08-11T21:00:00.001-04:002009-08-11T21:01:52.001-04:00Blue Ribbon!!!I won a Blue Ribbon at the Altamont Fair for my fingerless mitts! I'm so excited that I just had to share right away! When I get my pictures out of the camera, I'll post them here, but for now I'm just telling the world that I got a Blue Ribbon for my very first entry ever into a county fair!Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-16425968165863172382009-07-31T19:46:00.007-04:002009-08-02T08:54:47.311-04:00What's up?Let's see...surgery went well with NO complications and I feel like a new woman. I don't seem to be having any problems with hormones so may not need to worry about HRT at all! I don't need to tell you that that is a major monkey off my back, I'm sure. I was very worried about HRT and its risks and am glad I may not need to continue to worry.<br /><br />I'm posting pictures of the "Hedgerow Mitts"* I just made out of the CVM wool that I processed and dyed and spun myself on my Sonata. I love the way they turned out and I love the variegated colors I got with the Wilton's dye that I used. I have officially entered them in the Altamont Fair and have to drop them at the fairgrounds tomorrow. Knitted items are judged before the Fair starts and are displayed if they win, so they need to be there tomorrow and, if they place, will be on display during the Fair in the middle of August. Once I get them back, I'll have to send them to the CVM Conservancy for possible display at Rhinebeck! Wish me luck on both counts, ok? I've never done this before, so even if I don't place, the experience will help me do better next year. In the pictures, I'm including photos of the skein, too. I didn't have a large enough skein to enter it and I haven't spun much since the surgery because I can't lift my wheel (and it's just too damn hot...), so I didn't enter a skein yet. I'll be better prepared for next year, I hope!<br /><br />*The "Hedgerow Mitts" are from a pattern by Amy Ripton that I received free from <a href="http://www.knittersreview.com/">http://www.knittersreview.com/</a>. I did make some minor adjustments to the pattern to make them fit me better after knitting a 'practice' mitt from my CVM, but otherwise, they are true to the pattern and I just think they are perfect!<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">UPDATE:</span></strong> I actually entered them yesterday in the Altamont Fair, which is our local county fair, for judging. Now I wait...The Fair doesn't start until August 10, so I won't know how I did until then. Wish me luck!Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-2055201117009407682009-06-29T21:46:00.003-04:002009-06-29T21:52:56.677-04:00'Bout time I let you know how I did....I came through the surgery very well with no complications (so far) and I feel pretty good. I don't know why now I was so frightened; for some reason I thought sure I was not going to make it through the surgery and that went very well. The growth on my left ovary was, in the doctor's words, "small, about the size of a tennis ball"....What the hell is big if a tennis ball is small?!?! and benign, which was the absolute best part of it all.<br /><br />So I came home the next day and I've been home recuperating from probably the easiest surgery I've ever gone through. I've been knitting, though nothing too complicated because of the pain meds, and reading and snoozing and watching tons of nothing on TV. I've gone for walks and taken Mike to the grocery store because as long as I don't take the narcotic pain meds, I have no restrictions on driving. On the driving front, I'm not going too far because it takes a lot out of me, but the store is just too far to make Mike walk and then carry groceries home. I can take him, he can shop and do all the lugging and we do ok between us.<br /><br />I'll post more another night as I'm tired tonight.<br />So, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-31563139489769417872009-06-17T22:00:00.002-04:002009-06-17T22:25:45.517-04:00Odd thoughts, or maybe notHave you ever known something that made you oddly happy? Or that you thought of as a good omen in some way? Groundhogs do that to me. Groundhogs are all named "Frodo" and when I see a groundhog on the way to or from somewhere, I say I've seen a Frodo. If you've read any of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien, you know that the heroes of the stories are Hobbits, who are short, and maybe a little round, folks with hairy feet who like to eat as many meals as possible in a day and live in underground homes with round doors. To me, not unlike groundhogs, hence the name "Frodo" for all groundhogs. I suppose they could be "Samwise" or "Merry", but I just like Frodo best, so that's what I call them.<br /><br />It makes me oddly happy to see them busily eating on the side of the road when I'm on my way to work or on my way home from work and when Mike and I are driving somewhere on vacation, we both tend to think that the more Frodos we see, the luckier the trip will be. Is that unreasonable? I don't think so and I'm glad to see them around.<br /><br />We even have our own little guy living under the shed. I suppose that if I were a gardener (I'm not), I'd care that Frodo was coming out to eat up my plants, but I don't begrudge him the odd weed or grass or whatever it is he munches on in my yard. Sometimes I know he's outside because the cats jump into the windows and chatter at him in frustration because they just can't get through the screen to catch him and play with him until he dies, as cats will.<br /><br />Funny how thoughts run through your mind when things are unsettled in your life. I'm having surgery yet again on the 24th. Yes, it's necessary. No, I don't want to have it. I'm tired of being cut into and I've gone to so much trouble to avoid this surgery that it really ticks me off to have to have it in the end anyway. I'm having a complete hysterectomy and I'm wondering if what I'm feeling has to do with the fact that I feel that the surgery will, in essence, remove my "femaleness", if that's even a word. Will the removal of my essentially female inner organs make me less of a woman? I don't want to think so, but I do fear that I will somehow be less woman than I am now. Does all that even make sense? The logical part of me says it doesn't, but the emotional part of me is a whole 'nother story. My innards are not the only things that make me a woman; so why do I feel like the loss of them will make me somehow less of a woman? My friends who've had hysterectomies tell me things will be better; I won't have the issues that are making the surgery necessary and some parts of my life will be better than they were. I guess I'll just have to find out.<br /><br />In the meantime, I don't want to have the surgery, and I wouldn't if a doctor didn't tell me I don't have much choice right now. If I want my problems to stop, I need to remove the sources of those problems, and that means a hysterectomy. Ah well, I can rage about it all I want to; it won't change the necessity or the date of the surgery. Wish me well and don't look for a post for a bit (like I post so frequently...). I'll try to answer comments if I'm up to it, but I'm not promising anything.<br /><br />Until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-17262253551787406832009-05-24T16:33:00.004-04:002009-05-24T23:04:05.189-04:00Fiber Festivals and other fun thingsWhat sounds boring to some folks and fabulous to others? Why, Sheep & Wool Festivals, of course! Mention a S&W fest to a knitter or a spinner or other fibery crafter and you'll see the transformation take place from a mild-mannered fiber person to a rabid fondler of fibers and stash-enrichment-seeking human missile! Maybe it's not quite <em>that</em> bad, but close, honey, very close!<br /><br />I've been to several fests this year and fortunately, I have a husband who actually enjoys coming with me (!!), even if only for the lamb-burgers, and he even finds things for me to buy! We went to Clermont State Historic site in NY for the Chancellor's Sheep & Woolcraft festival in April - the weather was fabulous - and I didn't buy much, but that's a <em>very</em> small fest (no lamb-burgers, either) and there really was not a lot of things that I happened to be interested in this year. I mean, I have tons of wool, both pre- and post-production if you know what I mean, so unless something really jumped on me and begged me to take it home, I wasn't going to.<br /><br />Then, in mid-May, we went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool festival in Contoocook, NH. I got my English-style 5-pitch wool combs there; they are hand-made by a gentleman named John A. Meck, who I was told has since passed on, and they are a really nice set of combs. At least I think they are; I'm still kind of new to this, remember...<br /><br />And yesterday we went to the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft fest in Cummington, Massachusetts. We got there about 11:45 and stayed until 4:00 or so and had such a lovely day! It was not too hot or too cold, there was a nice breeze to cool us off when it was feeling a little warm, and it didn't rain. I saw so much stuff and met nice folks and just had a wonderful day. I ended up buying a sack of carded Shetland batts, all ready to spin! It's lovely stuff, too, and so soft. I have over a pound, so I should be able to make something nice from it, if it's as nice as I've heard others say it is. I've never worked with it so thought I'd give it a shot. I also bought some kid mohair locks (never worked with this fiber either) that are dyed a fabulous fiery orange. They look just like a sunset to me and I can't wait to see what I can do with it. I bought some Cushing Dyes to experiment with, since I've recently begun thinking about dyeing my own fibers for my own use. Right now, I have a crock pot full of a lovely green fleece and if it turns out the way I'm hoping it has, it is destined for a project I should have plenty of time to complete (more on this another day). I bought some sheepy earrings, just because I thought they were adorable. They look like members of Shaun the Sheep's flock, so I had to have them to match my tattoo, of course!<br /><br />What else is new? Nothing I'm anxious to discuss right now, but I'm sure I'll be talking soon.<br />Until next time, wear natural fibers, hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-28487872569968068432009-05-13T21:34:00.002-04:002009-05-13T22:01:05.817-04:00Call me a sore loser, but...I really hate the Penguins and they just beat the Capitals to get into the Conference Finals. I'm talking about the NHL Playoffs, just in case you don't follow hockey, and I'm sure most of you don't because it seems to me that almost no one I know follows hockey. Anyway, the Capitals beat my NY Rangers so I guess I don't feel that bad for them, but the Penguins!?! That's another story altogether. I just don't like Sidney Crosby; I think he's a whiny little puke whose head snaps back when he's touched just like he was a human Pez dispenser. Whew....hope I've got that out of my system!<br /><br />Back to the real stuff here; knitting and spinning, right? Anyway, Mike and I went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool fest at the Contoocook Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, NH. Nice little festival, though it took us so long to get there that we only had a couple of hours to shop. I did find the combs I've been looking for and they are really deadly looking! I can't believe how sharp the tips are and how easily they can scratch you if you aren't being careful. You really have to be paying attention when you're working with these tools.<br /><br />I also looked at some natural dyes; the lady at the booth was very nice and I'm sure she had some really nice products, but I'm so new to dyeing (haven't done any at all - does that qualify as 'new'?) that I was afraid I'd be wasting her time by asking all kinds of questions. I figure it'll be better for me to learn a little more before I start messing about with expensive dyes.<br /><br />I took lots of pictures, but since it was so late in the day there weren't a lot of folks around to even take pictures of. I met a nice couple whose 'Honeybuns' booth had the most luscious angora fiber. Unfortunately, angora rabbit is not my favorite fiber, and I did have a limited budget, so I didn't end up buying any. One of the lovely women in a group I belong to (HandPreparedFibers) asked me to stop and say hello and they were such a nice couple. Mike and I enjoyed talking to them very much.<br /><br />Well, I'm off to bed for an early night. Remember to wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-45195951401933416012009-05-05T20:29:00.002-04:002009-05-05T20:53:14.745-04:00In a good moodIt's Tuesday, May 5, and I'm officially in a good mood. I went for a follow-up visit to my gynecological oncologist (yes, I was scared) and got good news and not so good news. The good news is I do not have cancer, and believe me, I was worried for while there. The not so good news is that I will probably still have to have a hysterectomy as other issues are making my life difficult enough that it will be better for me to do this now than to live through all the mess and end up still having to do it later anyway.<br /><br />The best news about the hysterectomy is that it can be done laparoscopically and there will only be a 2-week recuperation so my whole summer will not be shot because of a long recuperation.<br /><br />So, let's see, what else has happened since I signed in? I was invited and signed up to make an item out of my own handspun wool from a CVM Romeldale sheep for possible display at Rhinebeck! How cool is that? All I have to do now is finish spinning the wool, finish working out the pattern, ply the wool and wind it into balls for knitting, knit the swatches, knit the project, and send it in by September 1. Whew! Thinking about it like that scares me, but I'll get it done. I can just imagine going to Rhinebeck in October and taking a picture of my work on display at one of the biggest Sheep & Wool Festivals on the East Coast. Better get cracking!<br /><br />Don't forget, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-64800951014472805722009-03-12T22:32:00.002-04:002009-03-12T22:51:44.750-04:00Random ThoughtsI've become odd, I think. I wonder why I've bothered to start a blog when I post so infrequently. I wonder why I knit when I take so long to finish things, if I even finish them, for that matter. I wonder why on earth I want to make my own yarn when there is tons of perfectly good yarn out there in the world, waiting for me to do something with it. I don't know the answers to anything; I only know I like the way it makes me feel to spin and to knit. I relax. I turn from a stressed out nut who feels like I'm on the edge to a mellow woman who even lets her picture be taken and published to the web.<br /><br />I hate that I've gained so much weight, but I know that some of it is out of my control. I was on an antidepressant for a couple of years that changes your metabolism enough that it makes it difficult to lose weight and easy to gain it. Fun, huh? So one of the things that made me depressed was the fact that I was fat and the drugs I was taking to make me not depressed helped to make me fat(ter). Catch 22, I think they call that. Anyway, I'm off those drugs now. I think I can control my own mind for now and I'm stressed but I'm happy, I think. It's ok to be stressed as long as it isn't so much that it makes it difficult to deal with normal life. I can leave it behind at work and relax at home. I can't always make my life happy, but it's nothing I can't deal with. Does that even make sense? I'm just typing random thoughts here tonight. I was on one of the lists I belong to and there were nearly 200 posts today! And every one of those posts was worth reading...how many times does that happen on Yahoo lists? In my experience, almost never, but it's like that here. Oh, it's not for everyone, I know, but the folks I've met there are so 'family' that it makes me happy to read and sad to read and interested to find out what everyone has to say.<br /><br />Take a peek at my new Sonata! Yup, that's me over there, spinning on my new Kromski Sonata wheel. I actually let Mike take a picture of me and put it up here. I think that's a step in the right direction for me. There was a time I wouldn't have dared put a picture like that up. I'd be embarrassed; but I'm me. That's who I am and what I look like. I don't now and never will look like Marilyn Monroe and I would't be me if I did, right? So...take me or leave me, here's what I am and who I am.<br /><br />See; I told you I was changing up... :o)<br />Remember, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-66613186620474712982009-02-22T22:23:00.002-05:002009-02-22T22:40:59.255-05:00Another couple of days<strong>Saturday, February 21, 2009<br /></strong><br />And now for a change of pace...I need to do some things to make life more interesting so I think I’ll try writing shorter posts here and maybe a bit more often; more like a ‘diary’ or a journal. I don’t mean that I’ll post anything too revealing or of an extremely private nature, but I find I need an outlet of sorts to get things off my chest and out of my mind. So to that end, it’s Saturday, I’m working on my second cup of coffee and watching ‘fix-it’ shows on PBS.<br /><br />I’m ambitious enough to want to do some work on my home, but ignorant enough to know that if I try it without the right know-how, I’ll mess up way more than I can fix. I have a small house, a Cape Cod style, with a small (very small) kitchen that has no room for a table and chairs. It barely has enough room for us to cook in. Hardly any countertops and an old sink and faucet combo that just seems to collect crud. No matter how much I clean around it, it can look nasty pretty quick. I’d really like a countertop with an under-mount sink, but I’d have to talk Mike into that. For some strange reason, he just doesn’t think that works well. My sink sits on top of my counters, which are some kind of laminate. There is a glass cutting board set into the counter and I absolutely hate it! It is lousy for my knives - dulls them very quickly if I use it - and it has an edge that catches all kinds of stuff when you try to wipe it down. It’s a pain to clean and keep clean so I end up putting a large plastic cutting board over the top of it to keep it neater and keep stuff from going into the edge.<br /><br />This little kitchen also doesn't have nearly enough cabinet space, either, so that’s an issue, too. I really need to reorganize what I do have to make the most use of it and I’m still not sure how to do that.<br /><br /><strong>Sunday, February 22, 2009<br /></strong><br />Had to leave the computer for a bit and never seemed to get back to it last night, so here it is, Sunday night, and I’ve just finished dinner while watching the Rangers/Leafs game. I shouldn’t eat while the Rangers are playing lately; they stink out loud and it’s horrible to watch them some nights. At the end of the 2nd period, there’s no score and it’s the freaking Leafs, for God’s sake! Don’t get me started on hockey. It is not my favorite thing right now and I’m usually all pumped up when a game is on, but not the way the Rangers are playing.<br /><br />So, I’m working on my ‘wedding shawl’; I’m determined to finish the damn thing before my anniversary in July, but I’m not promising anything. I also completely ripped out a pair of socks I had started because I made them too long for my feet before starting the heel and I don’t know anyone with bigger feet than mine (at least, not that I’d like to give a pair of hand-knit socks to).<br /><br />I found two skeins of cobweb weight yarn in my stash and decided to wind it into balls. While I was working on that, I wondered what on earth had possessed me to buy two skeins of cobweb yarn. It’s like sewing thread! I don’t know what on earth I’d ever make with it and I have two balls of it now and I’d bet that each is about 1,000 yards or more of yarn! Even if I doubled it, it wouldn’t be lace weight! It’s really really fine. I wonder; someone on the KnitList asked about a wedding shawl that needed to be so fine it would pass through a wedding ring when knit. This stuff would probably do that. I just had a thought; the dental floss I use to make ‘lifelines’ is heavier than this yarn! I must have had a very bad case of yarn lust to buy this…<br /><br />Mike is still out of work, like far too many people in this country. He’s still getting his unemployment insurance checks, so the mortgage is still getting paid. Thank God for unemployment insurance. I’d just like to make it through until he gets a job with the bills not too far behind. I get everything paid, but some stuff is late. It’s the old ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ syndrome; some months I can pay Peter, some months I can’t. I do the best I can and I don’t spend like I used to, that’s for sure; I just can’t. I hope no one is expecting me to spend to help the economy; someone with money will have to do my part. I’m doing ok with bills and groceries and that’s all I care about right now.<br /><br />I did want to take that Aran cardigan class at my LYS, and I did hoard some money for it, but the day I went to sign up, it had been filled. I figure I was not destined to take that class. I do have the book they plan to make the sweater from, though, and enough gorgeous alpaca/wool blended hand-spun to make it. If I have the nerve, I’ll give it a shot. I suppose I could go there and eavesdrop on the class for tips and kind of knit along, but that would be cheating and really not fair to those who paid the whole shot to take the class.<br /><br />I think I’ll stop here and post this. I’ll try to write more later in the week as I’m finding this more relaxing than I remember. I think the ability to tell your troubles to the world like this is a good thing most days. I don’t know who reads my blog, but whoever you are, thanks for listening.<br />Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-34754747658078001162009-01-01T20:01:00.003-05:002009-01-01T20:11:06.349-05:00Happy New Year! 2009<strong>Sunday, December 21, 2008</strong><br /><br />I think I’ll break “tradition” and post again this month…LOL. At least I’ll try to come with something interesting to write, though I can’t guarantee anything. Christmas is NOT my favorite time of the year and I just don’t know why. I always feel kind of like Charlie Brown; the commerciality really bugs me, but that doesn’t seem to be quite all of it for me. I do love the traditional things that happen, but some things are just too much. This year I am remembering that last year I lost my beloved Miss Alvin right after Christmas and I am feeling very sad. I don’t much care about tons of gifts, either, as I would much rather give someone something that’s just perfect for them or that they really wanted than actually get a bunch of stuff myself.<br /><br />That’s not to say I don’t enjoy getting gifts; I do. I just would prefer to get some little things that someone really put some thought into, rather than expensive stuff that someone really didn’t think about. Does that make sense? One of the little things I got last year from Mike was a set of Harmony cable needles from KnitPicks. They didn’t cost a fortune, in fact they didn’t cost much at all, but he knew I’d like them and he ordered them for me. I got a lot of other knitterly things too, but they were all things he knew I’d like and use. This year, I don’t care if I get a damn thing; I told him I got my gift in July when we got married. I know he doesn’t really believe me, but that’s really how I feel.<br /><br />We didn’t even put a tree up this year. We always put a fresh tree up, one we’ve gone out into the woods for and cut down ourselves. It makes the whole house smell wonderful and so Christmassy that I can’t imagine having a fake tree, no matter how good it looked. We planned to go out to cut one down last weekend, but Mother Nature had other ideas…We’re in upstate NY and we got hit with a mess of an ice storm. Our power was out for four days and it was so cold in the house, I worried about my pipes freezing, though we got past that ok. Then this weekend, it’s done nothing but snow since Friday morning. I think we’ve got about a foot and a half on the ground now, though it appears to have stopped. Christmas Eve we are expecting what they call a “wintry mix” so that could be snow, sleet and/or freezing rain. I guess we’ll stay home and watch Christmas movies with a bottle of wine. On second thought, that doesn’t sound half bad.<br /><br />I did buy some lovely evergreen-smelling candles, so I’ll have the tree smell, if not the tree. And I’m sure we would have had to tie it to the walls and the ceiling and whatever else we could anchor it to with these three frisky cats in the house. Miss Alvin never did anything but lie under the tree and look pretty, but I’m sure that these three would be climbing the tree and chasing the ornaments all over the house, so maybe it’s better that we didn’t get one this year. Of course, our cutting back on spending isn’t going to help the country’s economy at all, though it will help the economy of our home. Silly, isn’t it? The government wants us all to go out and spend like fiends to shore up the economy, but we just don’t have the money to do that. Is that a catch-22 or what?<br /><br />I worried when Mike got laid off from his job in November that we’d have problems with money, but his unemployment insurance will get us through. There won’t be much left for frivolities, though, so it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of stash to knit up. I did want to take a class at my local yarn store in the spring; I’ll have to put a little aside so I can maybe do that. It’s a fairly expensive class; $100 to learn to make an Aran cardigan, but it would be so worth it if I could learn to make a sweater like that. I love the intricacies of cables, but haven’t the nerve to try it on my own. All the sweaters I’ve ever made (except the BSJ, and I took a class for that) have come out so badly that I really feel I need the guidance of a class to get me through. I have the loveliest alpaca/wool blend yarn that I bought ages ago for just such a project, too. It’s a lovely creamy white and the hand is so soft. It will be a beautiful sweater when it’s knitted up; I’ve just been afraid to try it on my own.<br /><br />I’ll stop for now; it’s time to go clean the car off and help with the snowblowing so I can go to the store for dinner things. Thank heaven the market isn’t far from here! I’ll write more later.<br /><br /><strong>January 1, 2009<br /></strong><br />I never got around to writing more that day. Funny, I just have to be in the mood to sit down and think on paper (or computer screen…). In the time since I wrote the above, I’ve actually finished a shawl. Ok, so it’s not blocked yet, but the knitting and the weaving in of ends is done. I didn’t have quite enough of the cream alpaca to make it as large as I wanted to, so I added a few inches of a deep cranberry-red Baby Twist and improvised. I think it turned out rather well and it’s so warm. My house is a little chilly today (of course it’s about 12 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the wind is howling), so I tossed it around my shoulders until I warmed up nicely. It’s also a nice size for tossing over my lap as I sit on the couch, so I’m happy with the way it turned out.<br /><br />I’m still working on my “wedding shawl” but that yarn is soooo fine and it just seems like I’m getting nowhere fast. I knit and knit and knit and it’s like I’ve done ¼ inch. I’m sure we’ve all been in that boat, though, so I just pick it up whenever I think of it and go from there until I’ve had enough. This shawl is lace-weight and I have to say that I don’t think I’ll ever buy any more lace-weight. I still have about 1,000 yards of a beautiful hand-dyed pale spring green that I won in a raffle and I actually bought a huge hank of merino lace-weight in cream on a whim. I guess that will sit in my stash until I find I like it again. Hmmm, I think I like cream colored yarn; I mention it a lot lately….<br /><br />That lovely cranberry-red Baby Twist is alpaca that I bought in Kentucky when we went down to see my sister and her husband two years ago. I ordered it: 18 skeins in the same dye lot because I was absolutely going to knit a sweater from “Big Girl Knits” and I figured out that I would need 16 or 17 skeins and I better buy an extra, since Kentucky is not just around the corner from upstate NY. I made the “Cherry Bomb” from that book and it turned out so horribly that I never did start another sweater and the “Baby Twist” has been sitting idly by in my stash since then. Oh, and I started another of what I call my “office ponchos”. If you’ve read “The Knit Stitch” (sorry, can’t remember who wrote it), you’ll find in the book a “pattern” of sorts for what she calls a “Sweaterless Yoke”. I made one for myself about three years ago and I keep it at work for chilly days. Lately, it’s always a chilly day in my office as they are saving money by turning the thermostat down. I have a blower right over my cubicle and it seems that when it’s on, it just blows right down my back.<br /><br />Anyway, I made one from the book and it’s all knitting on circular needles, around and around and around until you decrease a bit and bind off. So, the one I made is a variegated gray/black/white alpaca and it came out so nice that I wear it quite a lot over my shoulders when I get cold. I like that it isn’t on my arms; I’m a ¾ sleeve person and prefer to push my long sleeves up for comfort, so the fact that this little poncho just sits on my shoulders and doesn’t hinder my working is fabulous to me. A friend admired it and I told her I'd make her one. She picked out the wool - a lovely shade of deep olive green - and I started it. And I got so bored going around and around and around that I decided to change things up a bit. I put in some evenly-spaced YO’s and k2tog’s to give it a little interest and it came out so nicely that she just loves it. It's not like it's lacy or anything, but it's not all just stockinettte either.<br /><br />So let me tell you a little about the one I’m working on now. Since I just finished a shawl - EZ’s Pi - I decided to do a variation on a theme type shawl and I’m working out a kind of a Pi poncho. I’ll post it no matter how it turns out, but so far, so good (keep your fingers crossed!). I'm using the previously-mentioned Baby Twist and it looks lovely so far.<br /><br />Let’s see…what else is going on? We’re holding our own so far. Money is very tight, but we’ll make it, I think. Of course, having to toss the contents of my fridge, freezer, and my stand-alone freezer after the ice storm isn’t helping much. I hate to think of all the food we tossed and how much it all cost. I have to look on the bright side; my big freezer got defrosted and that’s a good thing, right? Hope all of you are doing well. I wish a Happy and Healthy New Year to all.<br /><br /><strong>Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />Ellen<br /></strong>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-59632672160523033572008-11-27T15:20:00.002-05:002008-11-27T15:23:00.490-05:00November, 2008<span style="font-family:arial;">Tuesday, November 11, 2008<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Part I: So much for posting more often….</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">last time was the end of September and it’s November already? I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast. Summer is over and the holidays are fast approaching. I never seem to be ready for the holidays; it’s just the way I am, I guess. Thanksgiving is just a food-fest and Christmas is all about the gifts, it seems. And with the economy so bleak, I wonder why I bother with the tree and all of the other trappings. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I stopped at Walmart the other night to pick up some vitamins and cat food and they were playing Christmas music! Christmas music was actually playing in a store during the first week of November! I wanted to scream. I remember when you didn’t hear Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving and it doesn’t seem that long ago to me.<br /><br />I’ve made a major decision; I’ve decided that I won’t let the holidays depress me this year. I refuse point-blank to be a downer when everything else seems to be that way. I will not let the fact that I’m low on cash bother me. I am doing everything I can to live inexpensively right now. I’m keeping my spending to a minimum and driving a lot less, even though gas has come down a lot lately. Oil is still up and I heat with oil. Here in the northeast corner of the US, oil is very commonly used and it’s also pretty expensive. So the thermostat is set kind of low and I’m wearing all kinds of knitted warmies and I turn on the electric blanket at night and I think we’ll make it. I keep telling Mike we’ve got our love to keep us warm! He’s not complaining yet….<br /><br />Part II – Knitting…dare I say it? I FINISHED something!<br />I did! Really! My niece is expecting her first baby in December and they know it’s a girl. I wanted to make something for the new baby so I signed up for a class at my LYS. I made a Baby Surprise Jacket (EZ’s pattern) and it came out so cute! I used Jelibeanz yarn by Plymouth Yarns and instead of the usual baby pink or yellow or green, I used a hot pink variegated with striping in bright purple and bright blue variegated. I added a collar and cuffs in the purple and multi-colored heart-shaped buttons. If I do say so myself, it’s adorable.<br /><br />I’m working on a bonnet in a similar pattern in the same colors to match and if I really feel frisky, I might even make some booties! It’s a quick knit, but I have to say that if I didn’t take the class, I honestly don’t know that I would have finished the sweater. There were so many little tricks taught that I really learned a lot. Of course, the sweater is an elegantly simple pattern, but I don’t think I would have completely understood how it all came together if I didn’t have the teacher there. She was great. She also gave us the pattern for the bonnet to match as an “extra” and in addition, showed us how to add cuffs and a collar to the basic pattern. I feel so good about this little project. It’s helped me along my journey as a knitter to know that I can complete something that isn’t a scarf.<br /><br />I also started a wrap; it’s a LYS pattern from a place in Lake Placid in upstate NY (Adirondack Yarns; </span><a href="http://www.adirondackyarns.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.adirondackyarns.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">) . It’s called “Asymmetrical Cabled Wrap” and it’s all done except for the seaming. I did it in a sea green chunky alpaca and it’s so yummy soft that I can’t wait to wear it. My office is going “green” and so they’ve turned the thermostat to the lowest OSHA-acceptable level, so I expect to be chilly in the office this year. I already use a “Sweaterless Yoke” from “The Knit Stitch” that I made ages ago whenever it gets a little chilly and always get a lot of compliments on it. I even made one for a friend in another office and she swears it’s the best idea since sliced bread. When the blower in the ceiling is shooting cold air down on your shoulders, those little shoulder-covering wraps are just the thing to keep you cozy. </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I’m still working on the shawl from July. I’ve gotten a few rows more done, but I have to concentrate so much on getting the right rows done and counting the stitches and making sure I’m on the right pattern row that it gives me a headache to work on it for more than an hour or so. I guess I’ll just keep going. I mean, I paid $50 for this yarn and I’m damned if I’ll let it just sit there! I’ll make it into something….<br /><br />Back to the socks…I decided to just rip both pairs out and rewind the wool. I’m sick of trying to figure out the Crazy Toes & Heels method. About the only thing I’ve learned from that book is a good toe-up cast-on. I think maybe I need to take a class to get socks right. I should think about that, but I’m trying to save up for a class on an Aran cardigan. I have the wool from a sheep & wool fest I went to last year. I bought it specifically to make an Aran sweater, but haven’t even had the nerve to wind it into balls. If I can set the cash aside for the class, it’ll be worth it to (hopefully) get something finished again. I think I need to have the “homework” from the class to motivate myself. Hmmmmm…can I do that to myself somehow? I’ll have to get back to you on that.<br /><br />November 26, 2008<br />Part I – How quickly things change…<br />Things changed around here in what seems like the wink of an eye. I wrote the beginning of this post on 11/11 and thought I’d get back into on the weekend. By the 14th, my DH, Mike, had been laid off without notice and I was wondering which end was up. He’s since qualified for unemployment insurance (For those who don’t know, in New York the employers have to pay a ’tax’ for each employee so that if the employees get laid off, they will get paid by the state for a while.); I’m not sure how much he will get paid get or how long he can get unemployment, but I hope it’s enough so that we don’t have to worry too much about money.<br /><br />Folks have asked how he could have been laid off without notice, but he worked for the state legislature as a Receiving Clerk and when you work there, you “work at the pleasure of the legislature” so they can lay you off “at will”. Nice, huh? I’m in a union-protected job and I have health insurance and stuff, so I can make sure he’s covered there. It’s just that it’s such a lousy time of year for this to happen. Bad things always seem to happen to my family in the fall; when my Gram died, her wake was actually on Thanksgiving and when my aunt passed, it was on the same day as my Gram, but last year. I always seem to be going to wakes and funerals in the fall. No wonder I get so depressed this time of year…<br /><br />And so, it’ll be a quiet holiday season here, but as long as we have enough to pay the bills, it’ll all be fine. Just say a prayer that we come through ok, please? And Thanks!<br />Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />Ellen<br /><br /></span>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-18814887288075346372008-09-28T16:11:00.011-04:002008-09-28T16:57:36.688-04:00Sunday, September 28, 2008<strong>First up:<br /></strong><br />I want to find the time to post more often, and the only way to get started is to start. So here goes…the last time I posted was in July, so I’m already behind on my decision to post more often. I guess I better get going and write, right?<br /><br /><strong>Part I – Knitting…and frogging…and knitting…and socks…and frogging…<br /></strong><br />I signed up for the Ravelry Olympics in the “Sock Put” category before the Summer Olympics started. I’m on the “Crazy Toes and Heels” Team, but I figured it would be likely I wouldn't finish. I started a second pair when the torch was lit, but I still haven’t finished the first pair I started in July and it’s not looking good for them, either. I can’t seem to find the time to knit and even when I can, the cats seem to be especially awake, if you know what I mean. They are very happy to see me pull out the yarn and needles. I think they must think it’s time to floss when they see the yarn.<br /><br />I can’t seem to get more than a couple of rows done at home because of my kitties. I’ve been getting a lot more done during meetings at work, even though I get a lot of funny looks. I can only knit in a meeting if I’m not supposed to be typing, but I was in a couple like that last week so I got a bunch done. I actually got about two inches of the socks knit up in one very long meeting. At least my brain and my hands seem to be able to work independently of each other, meaning I can knit and think and even speak intelligently (I hope) at the same time. At least no one seemed to think I said anything stupid.<br /><br />Right now the problem is that I haven’t finished a “Crazy Toes & Heels”-type sock in ages and I can’t remember how to do it. I have to keep referring to the book and even though the I through the method was great, the book is a bit confusing. It jumps all over the place and is just a little bit <em>too</em> full of explanations. I never thought I’d say that, but I guess sometimes there is such a thing as too much information. This book has so many pictures and explanations and information that it’s sometimes just a bit difficult to get to the actual how-to. Sometimes I have trouble figuring out exactly what the next step is. I wish there was just one or two pages that would summarize the actual instructions on how to work the pattern.<br /><br />I bought the book from the Queen Kahuna website (<a href="http://www.queenkahuna-creations.com/">http://www.queenkahuna-creations.com/</a>) hosted by the author, Mary Ann Beattie, because I wanted to be able to knit two socks at once on two circular needles. I’ve graduated to using one long circular, but am still having trouble following the book’s instructions. For example, it gives instructions on adding short rows to extend the length of the sole of the sock and on how to add slip-stitch under the heel for longer wear, but it’s difficult to figure out how to accomplish both things in the same pair of socks. I’ll figure it out; I did it before and I can do it again. Of course, it’ll be too late for the end of the Olympics, but I did try so I don’t feel too badly about it. I think I won’t sign up for any more “finish this by the end of” stuff like the Ravelry Olympics, though. I just don’t seem to be motivated to finish things under pressure like that. The two pairs of socks I started ended up being frogged right back to the cast on. I guess that means I don’t get any medals, huh? Oh well, I don’t think I’ll die from that. I really didn’t think I’d finish anyway. I’m not the speediest knitter and I tend to be fussy about how things look (probably like most knitters) so I end up ripping or tinking back if I see one little boo-boo or even just something that doesn’t look right to me. I think we’ve all been through that, though, so I’m sure no one will have any problems understanding where I’m coming from.<br /><br />On the UFO front, I completely frogged the shawl I started for my wedding in July. I've cast on in a completely different pattern and have knitted up about three inches so far. I know, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I’m lucky to get a couple of rows done between mis-counting the stitch pattern, tinking back to where the error is, and keeping the cats off the yarn. Since on the day I got married it was over 90 degrees F, hazy and humid, I really didn’t need a shawl to keep me warm. I will probably finish the new pattern in time to wear for this winter and it will be a lovely accessory to my winter clothing. It’s usually a bit chilly in my office, so it’ll be nice to have something I can toss over my shoulders to keep warm that won’t be so heavy that I’ll roast. Of course, this year the office is trying to save on heating and cooling costs, so it’s been hot all summer and I figure it’ll be cold all winter. If I’m right, I’ll need some extra little wraps and shawls to throw on so I don’t freeze in the office.<br /><br />I’ve gotten a lot further with the asymmetrical cabled wrap I started. We went up into the Adirondacks a few weeks ago for a very long ride (about 175 miles one way). We went through Lake Placid and Saranac Lake and up into Tupper Lake and it was just a gorgeous day for it. I even got to stop at a LYS in Lake Placid, Adirondack Yarns (<a href="http://www.adirondackyarns.com/">http://www.adirondackyarns.com/</a>) and picked up some chunky Baby Alpaca and a lovely pattern for a rectangular wrap with cables. It’s a ‘store’ pattern and came with the wool but it looks like it’s an easy knit so I might actually be able to get it knit up for winter. The wool is a sea-green and very soft and luscious. Maybe it’s the super bulky baby alpaca yarn and the size 13 (US) needles that I’m using. Duh…it sure goes a lot faster than the lace weight I'm using for the 'wedding' shawl. I’ve already used three skeins and the pattern calls for five, so I’m nearly finished. I really can’t keep starting things and then leaving them to sit in the UFO pile and languish; I'm going to have to finish something soon.<br /><br />Mom was looking at the cabled wrap the other day with lust in her eyes. I was working on it in the waiting room when I took her to the doctor’s office and she was checking it out while I was knitting. She ‘knits’ with a loom and doesn’t use wool. She goes though acrylic yarn so fast, she probably couldn’t afford to use wool or alpaca. I know I couldn’t afford it. She does fondle my yarns when I stop at the house to see her, though. Mom really only works on the loom to keep her fingers busy so she doesn’t smoke, though I don’t think she’s really trying to quit smoking that hard. I just worry because she shouldn’t smoke at all. She has all sorts of medical problems and I don’t know what to do for her except be there when she needs me to. I’m the oldest, so I’m the one that deals with things when she needs them dealt with. Ah well, that’s a vent for another day.<br /><br />So now let me get back to socks. I really want to finish up some socks. I have all kinds of really nice sock yarn and I like the going around and around part because I don’t have to think. It’s the heels and the gussets that are making me nuts. I think I’m giving up on Queen Kahuna. I was a member of the Yahoo group for a while and I read all the responses to everyone else’s problems and questions; my problem was that as soon as I posted a question, all the responders disappeared. I waited a couple of weeks and posted again and still got no response, so *poof* I’m outta there. The only good thing is that I’ve learned how to work on two socks at once on one long circular needle. I can cast on using Judy’s Magic Cast On (Knitty.com – just google it) and I can work my way from the toe to the heel. All I have to really figure out is how to put in the gussets and turn the heel. I’m sure that working from the ankle to the cuff will be just as easy as the foot part, so I’m not worried about that. I keep looking at the sock books at the bookstore and reading all the reviews on-line, and I haven’t seen anything that seems like it’s what I want, so I’ll just keep looking and knitting and trying to work my own way through.<br /><br /><strong>Part II – Three cats! What in the world possessed me???<br /></strong><br />Last time I told you about Gracie and how she was joined by Ed and Gene. They are such a lovely bunch of kitties, but they are a real handful sometimes! For example, I have to remember to flip the tissue box upside down before I go to bed at night because they just love to pluck tissues out and shred them. I got up one morning and it looked like it had snowed in my living room! Pop-up tissues are apparently a lot of fun for kitties at night…The boys are also very fond of the bathroom sink and the shower. If they stay in the bathroom in the morning while I’m getting ready for work, they will even come into the shower while I’m in there! And I thought cats weren’t supposed to like water; certainly no one told these cats, that’s for sure!<br /><br />They are certainly very different from what my Miss Alvin was like. She only went into the bathroom in the winter and then only because the bathroom has the warmest floor in the house. I’m just not used to young cats, I guess. I never know what I’ll find when I get up in the morning or when I get home from work at night. Every day is an adventure and none of them are boring.<br /><br />Recently, the ‘boys’, Gene and Ed, also discovered toilet paper and paper towels. Help? I have been keeping the toilet paper in the linen closet in the bathroom and I don’t know what to do about the paper towels. Gene especially likes lying in the bathroom or kitchen sink (right under the paper towel roll, of course) and I’m having a hard time breaking him of that habit. I don’t so much mind about the bathroom sink, because I don’t think he can do any harm there, to himself or anything else. In the kitchen though, I’m not sure I want little kitty feet all over my counters, etc. Also, I have a ceramic cook-top and I don’t want him jumping up there when the element is hot, though Mike says “he’ll only do it once…” I don’t think I even want him to do it once.<br /><br /><strong>Part III – now to the scary bits…<br /></strong><br />I have been going through an anxious period of watch and wait and wait and wait…you get the drift. Anyway, seems like I’ll have to wait yet another little bit. I got the results of the MRI last week, but the results really didn’t prove anything. I go for an ultrasound in November and maybe there’ll still be surgery after that.<br /><br />Let’s see, what else has been going on in my life? Besides getting married becoming a cat-Mom and getting a tattoo? A bit of a fearful time as I wait to hear how things are going for me, health-wise. I’m having some gynecological issues and waiting to hear how I’m going to end up dealing with them. It’s looking more and more like a hysterectomy will be in the offing. All I have to do is wait for test results, watch, and wait, and wait, and wait….It seems like forever to me. I’m not going to elaborate too much until I know more, but I’ll post as I can. Another visit to the doc in August still didn't tell me what’s what, but I'm hoping I'll find out more in November…Keep your fingers crossed!<br /><br />Still haven’t heard anything about what’s what in my body. I go for an ultrasound on November 10 and to the doctor on November 11, so keep your fingers crossed and I’ll keep you posted.<br /><br /><strong>Part IV – Inked!<br /></strong><br />I’ve had so much feedback from my friends and family about my Shaun the Sheep tattoo and it’s pretty much all been positive. I’m just having a fun time with this. I still meet people who see the tattoo and say, “Is that a real tattoo?” Some folks just can’t believe that at 52, I actually got a tattoo. As the commercials say “I’m lovin’ it.” This is fun.<br /><br /><strong>Part V – Connubial Bliss…so far, so good!<br /></strong><br />I’m leaving the slideshow up because I just want to. After 21 years, I’m happy to share my happiness with everyone. If I could figure out how to put up the video, I’d put that up too. I showed some friends and we all had a really good laugh. Of course, since we were married at an airshow, you might guess how the video sounds. You would not be surprised if I told you that the ‘dialogue’ is somewhat buried by the sounds of airplanes and other airshow type noise. When Mike set up the camcorder, he didn’t think of setting up a dedicated microphone to catch the ceremony so we have our real wedding, like I’ll always remember it. I giggle every time I see it and it makes me happy. I guess I’m not just like the rest of the world, but isn’t that what makes the world go around?<br /><br />Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-68428842843721294892008-07-19T23:37:00.004-04:002008-07-19T23:48:27.188-04:00Once again, I take a lot of time off from blogging!<strong>Saturday, July 19, 2008<br /><br />Where I’ve been…<br /></strong><br />I’ve never been a hugely prolific poster since I decided to do this blogging thing, but it’s really been a while this time. I’ve had so much going on that I don’t know if I know where to even start.<br /><br /><strong>Part I – Knitting…as good a place as any to start<br /></strong><br />I’ve started a pair of socks; I went to Webs one weekend and bought a couple of hanks of Trekking sock yarn so I’ve got at least got one pair on my needles, though it’s been a little while since I worked on them. I’ve been working on a wrap for the last few weeks. It’s a simple wrap, all knit stitch with YOs to make the increases. Absolutely easy stuff, right? I thought so. I even spent <<gasp>> $50 on the one hank of lace weight yarn (alpaca/silk blend – think it’s Adirondack, but I can’t find the label…) because I planned to wear it at my wedding. That’s right folks; I am now a married lady! I promise; I’ll get to that part soon.<br /><br />I did finish a felted purse for my step-daughter, Becky, and another felted bag to carry my XM radio stuff in – pix with the post. Not much else to report on, knit-wise, as I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding time to get some knitting in. Of course, it’s summer, so it’s kind of hot to knit for some of us. I really can’t use that for an excuse, though, because the house is air-conditioned. There just seems to be so much more to do that knitting takes a back seat most of the time.<br /><br /><strong>Part II – Kittens in my life!<br /></strong><br />I think I already told you that I adopted a lovely kitty named Gracie on January 11 and that I was going to try to talk Mike into a second kitty so she wouldn’t get lonesome while we’re at work. I guess I can be very persuasive… :o)…Gracie now has two little ‘nephews’, named Ed and Gene, after my uncle and my Dad. The boys are brothers and even Mike couldn’t resist them; that same good friend Sue who found Gracie for us took them and their mother into her home to foster them so they wouldn’t have to go to a shelter. Once Mike saw them, he was sunk and we had to take them home. Who could resist? Not me, certainly.<br /><br />I told you they are named after my Dad and my uncle and it’s kind of a longish story, but it does explain the names. Dad and Uncle Ed, for some odd reason that only they knew, called each other “George” for as long as I can remember. Think conversations that went like this, “George, grab me a beer!” and the response, “Sure, George. Cheese and crackers, too?” Anyway, I don’t know why they did it, but they did it. We even called Uncle Ed “Uncle George” and my cousins called Dad “Uncle George” as well. Odd, I know, but the names work because I dreamt I had cats named George and Gracie…get it? “George” being Ed and Gene together, and of course, my Gracie making up the group. So now I do have “George” and Gracie, but it’s really three cats and the house is lovely with all of them.<br /><br /><strong>Part III – the scary bits…<br /></strong><br />Let’s see, what else has been going on in my life? Besides getting married? A bit of a fearful time as I wait to hear how things are going for me, health-wise. I’m having some gynecological issues and waiting to hear how I’m going to end up dealing with them. It’s looking more and more like a hysterectomy will be in the offing. All I have to do is wait for test results, watch, and wait, and wait, and wait….It seems like forever to me. I’m not going to elaborate too much until I know more, but I’ll post as I know more. Another visit to the doc in August and I should know what’s what, I hope…Keep your fingers crossed!<br /><br /><strong>Part IV – Inked!<br /><br /></strong>Under “Life Change #1” you’ll find a picture of Shaun the Sheep knitting. He now resides on my left wrist! When I was 15, I used india ink and a needle wrapped in cotton thread to ‘tattoo’ a small heart on my wrist. I always wore a watch, so no one really knew it was there. My Mom didn’t even know about it until I was in my 30’s. I always wanted to fix it somehow, you know, put something prettier or more meaningful over it to cover it up, but never had the nerve. Becky has a few tattoos and she overheard me tell her Dad that I wanted to do that some time. The rest, as they say, is history. She told me she’d buy me a ‘tat’ and get the same one as a Mother’s Day present and I said, what the hell, I’ll do it! So there’s the picture so you can see what I did.<br /><br /><strong>Part V – Connubial Bliss…I hope!</strong><br /><br />Mike and I have been living together for 21 years and neither of us ever figured we’d be married to each other or anyone else, for that matter. So go figure; on May 29th I turned 52 and Mike and I were talking and marriage came up. Surprise, surprise…I thought we were just talking so I didn’t think any more of it for a few days. Then one night we were at the mall bookstore and I asked him if he had been serious. He was…so we started to make plans. We weren’t going to tell anyone until the deed was done, but things kind of got in the way of that. We went to buy wedding rings and when we came home, Mike’s daughter Becky was at our house. She has a key and had come over to watch tv, thinking we’d be home. When we did come home, Mike and I looked at each other, both nodded, and tossed the jeweler’s bag into her lap. She was just so happy, she cried. She’s a great kid, works hard, and has worked her way through nursing school to work at the local major medical center in the Coronary Care Unit as an RN. I’m very proud of her.<br /><br />Anyway, now the secret was out, at least to one person. The next day being Saturday, we planned to do some garage saling. Mom had asked me to make a deposit for her at her bank, so we did that first thing that morning. I also wanted to make sure I had enough cash in case I found something really good at the garage sales. Becky wanted to go with us and was waiting for us at the house; we were on the way back there from the bank to pick her up. In the meantime, she called Mike on his cell phone to tell him that there was someone at the house we had been trying to avoid. This guy has been trying to buy our woodstove for ages and won’t take “NO” for an answer. Anyway, I turned the car away from the house, deciding to check out one of the local garage sales in our neighborhood. Becky said she’d get rid of the guy and give us a call when he was gone, so we decided to shop until we heard from her.<br /><br />There didn’t seem to be anything much of interest out front at the sale we stopped at, so I decided to see what was on the porch. Lo and behold, there was a sign on the porch…“For Sale: Diamond Engagement Ring, never worn, $300”. I couldn’t resist, so I asked to see it. It was a really beautiful ring; a solitaire with eight diamonds channel-set, four on each side of the centr stone, and it fit like it was made for me! Mike hadn’t got me an engagement ring; it was just too much for the budget; finding this ring was total serendipity. He looked at me and I looked at him, and we offered $250 and she took it! As we walked away, her boyfriend in the house could be heard to say to her, “I can’t believe you just did that!” I’ve since had the ring checked out and it’s really a nice diamond ring and more than perfect for us! We just couldn’t have afforded anything like an engagement ring, especially one so nice; it would have been too much for the budget in this age of gas being over $4 a gallon, among other things.<br /><br />Now to get to the good stuff: Mike and I decided that since we go to the 1941 Historic Aircraft Group’s Airshow in Geneseo, NY every year, we would go and get married there and make it our mini-honeymoon. We decided to keep it kind of quiet and not invite anyone because we’re like that. Geneseo is <em>our </em>place and it wouldn’t be fun anymore if others discovered it. I don’t mean to sound selfish, but we wanted to do things our way. The last wedding I went to was so huge and impersonal that it was just no fun and I wanted to have fun at mine. Mom was a little disappointed that she couldn’t come, but her health wouldn’t allow it anyway. She’s 74 and severely arthritic – in a wheelchair for travel – and the airshow is outside, usually hot and in case you’ve never been to an airshow, there is no shade unless you’re under a plane’s wing. It would have been hell for her, and would have made the entire day awful for us because we would have been worried about her the entire day. She understood and didn’t push the issue.<br /><br />But once Mom knew, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the family knew. We decided to tell our favorite family members in person after we told Mom and we did that. Since we were getting married in a matter of weeks, there really wasn’t time for anyone to make any plans for all the extracurricular ‘crap’ that seems to go with weddings, so I think we’ve gotten away with that bit. I mean, really, how many wedding showers do you really need when you’ve been living with the same person for 21 years? It’s not like we really need anything and I’d be uncomfortable taking other gifts, so it worked out great as far as we are concerned.<br /><br />We got our license on Friday, June 13 – don’t get all superstitious now, ok? – and brought it with us to Geneseo. We left home on Friday morning, July 11 and drove out to the airfield. It’s a bit of a drive, about 4 to 5 hours, especially since we make frequent stops to stretch our legs because I do all the driving b. We arrived in to Geneseo at about 12:30 and checked into the local Quality Inn, where we had made reservations a year ago. We always make our reservations the day we leave – we know we’ll be back next year.<br /><br />In the meantime, I checked the Historic Aircraft Group’s website (<a href="http://www.1941hag.org/">http://www.1941hag.org/</a>) and contacted someone about finding a judge or a justice of the peace in town so we could get married out there. They didn’t think I was nuts at all; turns out there was another couple renewing their vows on the 12th and they didn’t think the judge would mind performing two ceremonies. Mike and I met the folks from the airshow and the other couple on Friday at the fly-in day. I had spoken to the judge on the phone a couple of times since we found out what we were going to do. The other couple, John and Lia, who were getting married at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday in full World War II military regalia at the WWII re-enactor’s site were really nice. John was going to be married in military garb and Lia was going to wear a 1940’s period white satin dress. It was so cool and <em>so</em> not us. Once we had everything figured out, Mike and I went off to buy our own wedding garb. We wore 2008 airshow tee-shirts and jeans. I was not going whole-hog on a dress and a tux and all that junk just because we were getting married. I mean, really, that’s just not us! We knew we’d be spending the day on the field; we knew the weather report usually said ‘hazy, hot, and humid’ for that weekend; what on earth was the sense in getting dressed up in hot sticky clothing?<br /><br />We got to the field on Saturday morning, and the line of traffic was so long, I didn’t think we’d make it to the ceremony on time. Once we got out towards the parking area, I rolled the window down and spoke to the first person directing traffic I could find. I told him that I was supposed to be at the WWII re-enactor area to get married and we were late. He was great! He told me to drive across the parking area and park over near the re-enactor area near the tents. We got there just in time and since we’re rarely on time for anything, that was a feat for us! We only caught the very end of John and Lia’s wedding, but we didn’t miss the judge!<br /><br />There is one woman that we know from going to Geneseo every year; her name Is Jean and she drives the shuttle every year at the airshow. We always look for her at the show and she always looks for us. We’ve become ‘fixtures’ to her, I guess, but she’s a really nice person and I thought that since she’s really the only person we know and look for every year, I’d ask her to be a witness at the wedding. She wasn’t there on Friday, but we found her brother and he got my cell number to her so we could meet on Saturday. She was thrilled to stand up for us; you’ll see her in the bright green “Free Shuttle” shirt on my left in the slideshow.<br /><br />Did I tell you I put up a slideshow? It’s under the heading, “Life Change #2” so feel free to check it out. Mike had his camcorder set up on a tripod, so we did have a video, but I don’t have that anywhere yet. You’ll have to be satisfied with the pictures for now. So that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing for so long….<br /><br />Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-54649616191278514402008-02-26T22:04:00.002-05:002008-02-26T22:27:27.602-05:00Tuesday, February 26, 2008<strong>Part I – It’s been a while…<br /></strong><br />I know, it’s been a while since I was here. It’s been a tough few months since the last time I posted and I’ve been thinking and thinking about whether or not I would even keep my blog going. It’s not that I’m not having fun with my fiber-y pursuits, because I am. It’s just that so many other things have been tough that the knitting and stuff are the only things keeping me sane sometimes. I wrote all this on Monday, but didn’t get to do the post until today. I decided to write the good parts first....<br /><br /><strong>Part II – Where I learn to spin…in a different way.<br /><br /></strong>So, let’s see, last time I told you about learning to spin on a drop spindle. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed it. I made a bunch of singles, and then I plied a bunch, and then, because I could, I knit up a cabled headband out of yarn that I made. Can you see me puffing up and patting myself on the back?<br /><br />I met a really nice woman at the spinning class and before it was over, she got a bunch of roving back from a processor that she had sent out to be de-haired and cleaned. Alpaca…can you say ‘soft’? I mean, it was so soft that I just had to have some. I bought a garbage bag full….I couldn’t help myself. I mean really, who could? And then, she showed me some other roving. The alpaca roving is a lovely milk-chocolate brown; this was a creamy off-white. I think it will be whiter once I wash it as it was just a little greasy, but again, it was so soft that I just had to have it. While I was there, she told me that the LYS where we had taken our drop spindle class was doing a class on wheel spinning…you can just see this coming, can’t you? I signed up. I rented a wheel for two weeks. I’m nuts. I don’t have it yet, but I bought a wheel on ebay…I’m really nuts, right? I bought a wheel on ebay for $127.50 + shipping from the Netherlands…The picture looks good and the seller has nothing but great feedback, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will all be good. The wheel I rented was a Louet and this one is a Schippertje (???), double-drive, single-treadle, and flyer-driven. It looks good and I’ll post pix when I get it. According to the seller, I should get it in 7 – 10 days, so let’s see, that would be next Monday at the earliest. I’m nuts…and I can’t wait until it gets here.<br /><br /><strong>Part III – Update on Mom’s sweater for {was } Christmas {now} whenever…<br /></strong><br />Last time, I was very high on the “Sonnet” pattern from Knitty.com. That was last time…<br />I explained about how I got it all knitted up and sewn up and the buttons on and it didn’t fit. I wrote about deciding to use a contrasting color, picking up stitches around the neckline and cuffs and then working the neckline in to a wearable sweater. Well it was all writing. Yes, it was back to the frog pond for me yet again. I ripped it all back and wound the wool carefully into nice, soft balls and put them into a large zip-lock bag and put them away. Then, I went to the bookstore and bought Jacqueline Fee’s “Sweater Workshop” and started reading.<br /><br />I figure I must have a mental block about sweaters. I always seem to mess them up somehow. They’re too big or too small, too low-cut or too tight in the neck. I need to learn what I’m doing wrong, and I’ve always heard good things about “Sweater Workshop”, so I bought it. I had a 40% off coupon and another 10% on top of that, so how could I go wrong?<br /><br />Well, I read a bit and then I pulled out some yarn and some needles and I followed the directions for a “Sweater Sampler” – I’ve posted a couple of pix <span style="color:#ff0000;">[coming soon]</span> so you can see what I’m talking about. It was kind of fun and I think it came out pretty well, so I started a cardigan for Mom, using Ms. Fee’s “formula” (with thanks to EZ as well). So far, so good, but don’t hold me to that until I actually finish the damn thing, ok? There’s a picture of the beginning <span style="color:#ff0000;">[coming soon]</span> and it looks pretty good, if you ask me, but then I thought the others looked good until I actually had to rip them back to the beginning, too.<br /><br /><strong>Part IV – Current (and everlasting) Projects<br /></strong><br />Ok, what’s still on my needles?<br /><br />(1) Those damn toe-up socks; I don’t think they’ll ever be done.<br /><br />(2) ‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty.com <span style="color:#ff0000;">DONE!!!<br /></span><br />(3) ‘Gryffindor House Scarf’ from “Charmed Knits” – too booooooooring; ripped it out. I think I’ll use the wool for slippers….<br /><br />(4) Lacy Prairie Shawl from ‘Folk Shawls’ by Cheryl Oberle in a lovely and soft cream-colored alpaca – this one’s about 1/3 done now, so I might actually finish it before winter is over. <span style="color:#ff0000;">This one went to the frog pond, too.</span> Its second incarnation is a feather-and-fan wrap that’s working out much better for me. Update on this: I may be ripping it out….it’s about 8 feet long and the width of a scarf; not much of a wrap, I think…<br /><br />(5) I did make a pair of felted clogs for Mom, well, the knitting part, anyway. I still have to felt them. And I made a new sole for Mike’s felted clogs; he wears them so much, he wore right through one of them! This time I’m putting the leather soles on both pairs. These are on my radar to felt as soon as I can remember where I put them. I know they are in a Ziploc bag somewhere around here….<br /><br />(6) I also started finished another ‘sweater-less yoke’ (I don’t know what else to call it) for a friend who saw the one I was wearing the other day and admired it. In cubicles in the building where I work, there are blowers in the ceiling that you can’t control that blow cold air down on your back, and this little knitted thingy – I don’t know what to call it – is just a knitted in the round from the bottom up, decreased for the neck, ‘sweater-less yoke’ for lack of a better term. It just covers my shoulders and my upper back and keeps the drafts off of me. DONE!!! And she loved it! I may have to make a bunch more in some other colors because all my friends want them now.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#663366;">Part V – Me again, and RIP Miss Alvin…<br /></span></strong><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">This part might be a bit tough for those of you who have pets; be forewarned – you might get a little teary-eyed here.<br /><br /></span>Christmas was a very nice holiday. ‘Santa’ (my loving and wonderful partner, Mike) gave me all kinds of knitterly goodies and had a really good time watching as I opened each one. Since I had given him a KnitPicks catalog with tons of items marked off that I was interested in, I knew I would get knitty things, but I gave him tons of choices so I would not know exactly what I was getting. I like surprises, and he never knows what to get me, so giving him tons of choices in all different price ranges gave him lots of things to choose from to surprise me with.<br /><br />The tough part started on the day after Christmas. Mike and I came home from work and found Miss Alvin very ill. She was weak and sick and was trying to hide under the Christmas tree. I called the vet and they were closed and the message on their machine said to go to the emergency vet and gave the phone number. I called, they said to get her over there asap and we did. They got Miss Alvin stable and comfortable, but she didn’t seem to know where she was or who we were. Mike thought she couldn’t see us either, but I couldn’t tell. Of course, it didn’t help that I was trying so hard not to cry that I couldn’t see straight. We ended up staying at the vet ER most of that night, waiting to hear how she was going to do. The vet finally told us to go home, her condition was stable, but he recommended we take her to our own vet in the morning when they opened. They kept her overnight and we went home to try to sleep.<br /><br />When I picked her up in the morning at the ER, the vet on duty told me they suspected that she had had a stroke. Miss Alvin was considered to be a senior cat; she was 15 years old, so she wasn’t exactly a kitten, but a stroke?!? My vet did some tests and she confirmed that diagnosis but thought that if Alvin made it through the first 24 hours, she might make it longer. Alvin’s kidneys did not seem to be functioning and the vet thought they might come back if we got her hydrated and stable. So I left her at the vet’s and went home to worry. Mike and I went back later in the day to visit her and see how she was doing. The vet was optimistic; she said Alvin had passed a little urine so her kidneys were functioning. We left her there overnight again and went back first thing in the morning.<br /><br />Miss Alvin still didn’t seem to know us, but her body seemed to be working, though not that well. The vet told us that she was a little concerned; that Alvin had some fluid buildup in her abdomen, and she wanted to do an x-ray. After the x-ray, she brought Alvin back in and I held her while we looked at it to see what we could see. Turns out that Miss Alvin had a tumor in a space that all kinds of blood vessels run through and that was, we thought, what had caused her stroke. We figured that the stroke was why she didn’t know us and didn’t seem to be able to see us. The vet left us alone with her, and we both cried a lot and made the decision that we had to give her peace. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. She was no longer the little cat that knew us and called to us when we came home and slept on the bed with us. I hadn’t cried like that in so long; I never thought I would cry over a pet like that, but she was like my child. We don’t have kids, but we had Alvin and she was family, you know? Some people won’t understand that, I’m sure, but those of you who have pets will, I’m sure. Miss Alvin died in my arms that day, with my tears and Mike’s falling on her. She knew we loved her. Heavy duty; I didn’t mean to do this to you. I had to get it out, though, and I hope you understand.<br /><br />PS – you have to know that a house without a cat is not a home, so on January 11, 2008, I talked Mike into going over to the local PetSmart that my friend Sue works at to look at a kitty she thought we might like to adopt. He wasn’t our kitty, but Gracie was. She came home with us that night and has worked her kitty magic right into our hearts. Now if I can just get Mike to go for one more kitty to keep her company…<br /><br /><span style="color:#993399;"><strong>Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br /></strong></span>EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-22545552466265346082007-11-11T22:32:00.000-05:002007-11-11T23:03:31.925-05:00Sunday, November 11, 2007<strong>Part I – NYS Sheep and Wool Festival – RHINEBECK!!!<br /><br /></strong>Can you say ‘<strong><em>overwhelming</em></strong>’? I’m serious; I don’t think I saw half of what was available and I know I saw a lot of stuff. We walked around for about 4 or 5 hours on Saturday (it sure felt like more the next day) and I think I ended up in the same places a few times. In fact, I know I ended up in the same place at least three times. Remember this bit from the last time I posted?<br /><br /><em>“And as I fondled the fleece – I’m a little weird here as I like the feeling of greasy fleece and I don’t mind the smell, either – she asked me if I’d like a chunk for ‘hand lotion’. I, of course, said sure and she came around and tore off a huge hunk of fleece, much more than I would have taken if she had told me to just pull off some, and gave it to me.<br /><br />Mike thinks I’m nuts, but I fondled that hunk of fleece all the way back to the car and my hands just felt so soft and nice….but, I REFUSE TO LEARN TO SPIN! I keep saying that and Mike keeps telling me I sound intrigued, and maybe I am, a little…I just don’t need to be learning to spin my own yarn when there is such nice stuff out there for me to buy and there is such nice stuff in my own stash that is just waiting to be knit up into something. I know, excuses will get me nowhere, but I just don’t have the brain space for another new, expensive hobby.”<br /></em><br />Do you especially remember the bit about refusing to learn to spin? I have completely blown it. I have been to four different wool festivals this year. There was one vendor at all of them and I always seem to find them; it’s like they call me. That vendor is Golding and they make the most gorgeous drop spindles (and other things, I’m sure, but all I saw were the drop spindles) and stands for the spindles. Their booth always seems to draw me like a magnet, because I never miss stopping there no matter what festival I am at. Well, you guessed it; Golding (<a href="http://www.dropspindle.info/">www.dropspindle.info</a>) was at Rhinebeck, too, and they had so many lovely hand-carved drop spindles displayed that I just couldn’t resist. The first time we stopped, I stood admiring their pieces for ages, wondering how on earth you worked with them to make yarn. There was a woman there (she may have been one of the owners) who asked if I was interested, and since I had never actually seen anyone use a drop spindle I asked if she’d show me how they worked.<br /><br />She did.<br /><br />It looked easy.<br /><br />It looked relaxing.<br /><br />It even looked fun.<br /><br />I caught Mike looking at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears (thank you, Ralphie) and I thought about what I would do with a drop spindle and (very) reluctantly walked away.<br /><br />Then we went to another booth nearby and I bought 1,000 yards of a lovely medium-weight (I can never get dk and ww and stuff right, except I do know right away what lace-weight and bulky are…) rusty red wool that was so nice and soft and just looked like it would make a great vest or hat and scarf or shawl or something…. you know? And I had to have it, so I bought it and it was the whole dye lot, so I better have enough for whatever I decide to do with it. We left Building A then, and went into the midst of the sheep and the cashmere goats and all of the lovely places to buy wooly and wooly-related goodies and I bought a few little things here and there and ate some lunch and some ice cream and sat and watched people for a bit. We headed over to the buildings near the sheep barns – I was mostly lost, but I think I checked out most of the stuff for sale – and I tried on a felted hat. I loved it, but Mike made such faces that I knew I’d end up hating it because he’d just make a joke every time I wore it. It was a bright green felted bucket-style hat with a brim and had a black and white sheep felted onto it and I thought it was adorable. While I was looking at it, Mike pointed out that I don’t own one article of green winter-wear and I thought about that while I tried it on and then put it back. The style was good, but the color wasn’t right. I hate to admit it, but he was right. I’m going to look for a pattern and make my own, I think, though I only wear hats when it’s really, <em>really</em> cold out. ‘Hat hair’ has never looked good on me…or on anyone else, I suppose.<br /><br />Then, as we wandered around looking at all kinds of things, I saw someone that I hadn’t seen in ages and we stopped to chat. While we were talking, a woman in a red beret came over and bugged me into being interviewed for her podcast. So, I showed her what I had purchased so far and answered some questions and generally felt like I was making an idiot of myself. But, I will keep checking her site to see if I show up, no matter what I looked like. I mean, if you’re going to be on the Internet, you might as well be yourself and not stress over it, right? The site is <a href="http://www.knitayarn.com/">www.knitayarn.com</a> and it looks like it’s a recent addition to the online knitting community, with entries from October 2007 being the earliest. There is some good info and you can register to receive updates or subscribe to the RSS feed (Is that right? Even though I have a blog, I still don’t know what the RSS feed thingy is…) or just check the place out without becoming a member at all. Anyway, if you see an interview with a ‘voluptuous’ woman with glasses and dark hair and a tomato-soup-colored orange top with a drawstring neckline, that’s probably me. Don’t judge me too harshly; I’m really kind of shy in person, though you wouldn’t know it from reading my blog. Once I know you, I’ll tell you (almost) anything and I don’t usually cut corners, either. My friends know I ‘tell it like it is’ and they’re used to it. I think I just don’t have that something in my head that says ‘don’t just blurt that out – they might get upset!’. I’m sure I’ve offended people, but I really don’t mean to. I just don’t know when to keep my mouth shut is all…See, I can’t even stop talking when I’m writing!<br /><br />So, back to the part about ‘I REFUSE TO LEARN TO SPIN!’. The second time I went back to Building A (you’ll remember that Building A is where the Golding booth was? I thought you might...), I again checked out the Golding booth, noting that the woman who showed me how the drop spindle worked seemed to notice that I had been there before, but had decided to let me figure out what I was going to do. I, again very reluctantly, walked away, and found a beautiful nine-piece felted Nativity set, which I ordered and expect to receive any day now. It was just too pretty to resist and I especially had to have it because of the Magi in the set. It came with the Three Kings, or the Magi, or the Three Wise Men, as some people call them, and a camel and I am kind of crazy, because if the Three Kings are part of it, I have to have it. I do have my reasons, nutty as they may seem to some folks. For instance, for years now, I have only sent out Christmas cards with a picture of the Three Kings on the front to my friends and family. When I was little, my Mom always took the first Christmas card she received that had a picture of the Three Kings on it and tacked it up over the inside of the front door and left it there all year until the next Christmas. I thought everyone did that and finally got old enough to notice that it seemed like hardly anyone did it. I asked Mom once why she did that and she told me that if I put the first Three Kings card I got over my front door like that, the Three Kings would make sure I had a good year. So I thought I would help my friends by sending them a card and telling them my Mom’s reasoning. I never wondered where it came from; I just knew that I would always put the first Three Kings card up in my house, no matter what others did, and I still do.<br /><br />I always tell people about Mom’s tradition the first time I send them a card, and some interesting tales have come out of that. Once, someone told me she put her card up over the door and within a week or two, her husband got a promotion at work. Another time, a woman went away on vacation and met her future husband, so maybe there is something to it, after all. I do have some friends who call me to ask when I’m sending out my cards, because they want to watch for the Three Kings so they can put it right up. And my family and some of my friends now try to be the first to send me a Three Kings card; they don’t know I usually put them all up and leave them all year, just in case. I did try to find out where, if anywhere, this ‘legend’ came from. I even wrote to the Old Farmer’s Almanac and asked them if they knew anything about the Three Kings that might lead someone to put the cards up and they sent me this:<br /><br /> "<em>Thanks for your question.We found this mention about the three wise men and good luck. C.M.B. are the initials of the three Wise Men named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. It is a custom in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Sweden for three boys to visit homes on the Epiphany. The initials C.M.B. are written over the doors of the homes and three crosses are drawn, also. This will bring good fortune in the new year to the people who live there."<br /></em><br />Infer what you will; I put my cards up, though occasionally I wonder how my mother, who is Irish, ended up somehow using her own version of a Polish, Czechoslovakian, and Swedish custom. I have to say it’s getting more and more difficult to find Christmas cards with the Three Kings on them; I often check many displays in many different stores before I find something to send to folks. I suppose I’ll have to print my own when I can’t find them anywhere. [I did find a gorgeous card at Barnes & Noble on Friday night while I was on my way to check out my purchase. They really are the nicest cards I've seen in ages; I hope everyone likes them.<br /><br />Now, back to ‘I REFUSE TO LEARN TO SPIN!’…The THIRD time I went back to Building A, (again, you’ll remember that Building A is where the Golding booth was? I was sure you'd remember this time...), I went right to the Golding booth and looked at all the beautiful drop spindles with so much longing that I must have sighed out loud. The same woman noticed me yet again and I think this time she just knew I was going to buy something, and she thought she’d better give me some advice before I went ahead and spent a fat chunk of change on something I might never learn to work with. First she advised me that I should start with a slightly heavier spindle than the one I was fondling, explaining that it would be easier for me to learn on a slightly heavy spindle. She showed me a very reasonably priced 1.9-ounce brass, cherry, and walnut spindle that felt like it <em>belonged</em> in my hand. It was so warm feeling and I just felt like it was supposed to be mine. Since I had asked her to show me how they worked before, she knew I didn’t know the first thing about using it, so she recommended a ‘Learn to Spin’ kit, which came with a smaller, less expensive spindle, some fiber and a book, “Spin It”, to learn from. We worked out the package with the lovely spindle I was holding instead of the one that came with the set, and I left the booth, blissfully and ignorantly happy, with my pockets lighter by no small amount of money. I could not wait to get home and try it out. Ignorance is bliss.<br /><br /><strong>Part II – Where I find out what I really don’t know how to do<br /></strong><br />You guessed it; I got home and started reading the book. I’m told that “Spin It” by Lee Raven is actually a very good starting point, but I had a lot of trouble figuring it out. First of all, I think you have to know more than the definitions of the terms to figure out how to do something. You can explain ‘twist’ to me all night, but until I can feel it with my fingers, I’m going to have trouble with the concept. I tried and tried to figure it out and I got such chunks of spoiled fiber that I wanted to cry. Then I had an ‘AHA!’ moment. I opened up my e-mail program and checked for recent mail from my LYS and there it was; a ‘Learn to Spin with a Drop Spindle' class at the Spinning Room (<a href="http://www.spinningroom.net/">www.spinningroom.net</a>)! Then I had to wait for TWO WHOLE DAYS to get hold of them because they were closed on Monday and Tuesday. I drove up to the shop on Wednesday after work and went in to find out if there was room in the class and was very happy to be told that the teacher wouldn’t mind one more student. Now I had to wait until the following Tuesday for the class and I just didn’t know if I could do it. I started looking for on-line tutorials, preferably with video of some kind. That’s how I learned to knit, after all. Thank God for <a href="http://www.knittinghelp.com/">www.knittinghelp.com</a> or I would never have figured knitting out at all. Anyway, do you think I could find anything that really told me what I needed to do to get started? Nope. I did try, but I really didn’t have the success I was looking for. Some things just have to be felt to be learned, I think.<br /><br />Tuesday finally came along and after leaving work, Mike and I grabbed a bite to eat and went over to the Spinning Room for my first class. I was so excited; I felt like a little kid. There were four other women in the class and we were all eager to begin. The teacher, Darla, was so patient and explained things so well and let us look and touch and took us through everything slowly, making sure we all ‘got it’. It was great! In no time, I was actually spinning! I was spinning with pencil roving, so it was coming out ‘perfect’, but I was spinning! Then we got fiber to work with – bundles of roving – and learned to draft the fiber and how to start the thread and wind it onto the spindle. It was so cool! Mike still thinks I’m nuts, but I did my homework, which was to spin for 20 minutes (or more) every day. I had one more class this past Tuesday and I couldn’t wait to go. That night we learned to set the twist and how to ply the yarn and the spindle full of what I thought was horrible stuff turned into actual yarn! Why didn’t I know before that spinning would be so calming? I don’t think about anything but the fiber and the twist and how it all goes onto the spindle. I may not get more involved with this part of working with fiber than spinning with a drop spindle, but it’s a very portable thing and I don’t have to leave it home and I can do it pretty much anywhere I go. It makes me happy; need I say more?<br /><br /><strong>Part III – Update on Mom’s sweater for Christmas</strong><br /><br />Last time I talked about a pattern I found on Knitty.com called “Sonnet”. I knit it up based on the swatch I had made for “Drive Me Nuts” (see archives for more details, if you dare), and measured twice and laid it all out perfectly on the bed to measure again while I checked the dimensions on the diagram. It all measured up right, so what could be wrong with it? I sewed on the sleeves and sewed up the sleeve seams and I sewed on the perfect buttons I found for it. And just to be safe, I tried it on because if it fits me, it’ll fit Mom.<br /><br />It won’t fit Mom…<br /><br />Somehow, though the measurements are correct, and it looks right, it’s become an off-the-shoulder sweater, with the top of the collar just about at nipple-level. I don’t think it would keep Mom warm. So now what? I brought the sweater over to the Spinning Room last Tuesday to see if they could offer any advice. By the way, I have one small problem; I’m out of the yarn I used, except for a small ball I was using to seam it up, so there isn’t any additional knitting I can do with that yarn. Can you see me tearing my hair out by the roots about now? Anyway, I pulled out Mom’s sweater and the lovely women at the shop saw the problem right away. We talked some and I told them that I had a thought that I might pick up the stitches around the neckline with a contrasting color and knit inward, decreasing to a better neckline, and adding a decorative edge. I could then use that same color to add a slight border to the cuffs and the bottom of the sweater to tie it all in together. They thought that might work, but the wool I used for the sweater is 25% Superwash/75% Wool, hand-dyed, and hard to match because I got it at the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival in May. Of course; I don’t do anything that comes easy, apparently. I finally settled on some 100% wool in a dark raspberry that will contrast nicely with the heathery raspberry tones of the original wool and might actually work. I had the nerve to start it last weekend while I was watching a hockey game, since I was going to be sitting on my tush all night anyway. I did have some minor issues and ended up ripping back and re-starting twice, but I think I’m on the right track now.<br /><br />And I figure when the sweater makes me nuts, I can always stop and get out my drop spindle and spin some more…I did that last night and it smoothed me right out. Who knew?<br /><br /><strong>Part IV – Current Projects<br /></strong><br />Ok, what’s still on my needles?<br /><br />1. Those damn toe-up socks; I don’t think they’ll ever be done, even though I did pick them up for a little while today for a change from all the other projects.<br /><br />2. ‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty.com (closer to six feet now, so getting there…)<br /><br />3. ‘Gryffindor House Scarf’ from “Charmed Knits” – so booooooooring; maybe she’ll forget she asked me to make it?<br /><br />4. Lacy Prairie Shawl from ‘Folk Shawls’ by Cheryl Oberle in a lovely and soft cream-colored alpaca – this one’s about 1/3 done now, so I might actually finish it before winter is over.<br /><br />5. I did make a pair of felted clogs for Mom, well, the knitting part, anyway. I still have to felt them. And I made a new sole for Mike’s felted clogs; he wears them so much, he wore right through one of them! This time I’m putting the leather soles on both pairs. These are on my radar to felt tomorrow. It’s a holiday, so I’ll be home and I figure I can get them felted and start the drying out so they might actually be ready for Mom by Christmas.<br /><br />6. I also started another ‘sweater-less yoke’ (I don’t know what else to call it) for a friend who saw the one I was wearing the other day and admired it. In cubicles, there are blowers in the ceiling that you can’t control that blow cold air down on your back, and this little knitted thingy – I don’t know what to call it – is just a knitted in the round from the bottom up, decreased for the neck, ‘sweater-less yoke’ for lack of a better term. It just covers my shoulders and my upper back and keeps the drafts off of me.<br /><br />I don't think that's all, but it's all I can think of for now. Looking at that list, I really have to get <em>something</em> finished.<br /><br /><strong>Part V – Me again<br /><br /></strong>Work is better; I decided to be the ‘adult’ in the group and I went in one day and just acted like all the crap that had gone down already just didn’t happen. It worked, for some reason. We are still on somewhat precarious footing, as I’m kind of unsure of what will set her off, but I’m getting through it. Now when she tries to change something, I explain why the procedure is there in the first place to make sure she understands what’s going on before she goes off changing things she doesn’t understand. It seems to be working, but keep your fingers crossed for me.<br /><br />I still have my ‘down’ days, but I’m dealing with them better, I think. The doc has upped one of my meds and is sending me for a bunch of bloodwork tomorrow. With the gastric bypass, they shortened my small intestine by 210 cm, so I don't absorb nutrients like regular folks. They watch to see what I'm deficient in and how the meds are working. Right now, I'm anemic (iron-deficient), deficient on zinc, vitamins A, B-12, D, calcium, magnesium, selenium, and I can't think what else. I do know I take about a zillion pills every morning and evening, and I'm still having deficiency issues. So keep your fingers crossed that I don't acquire any new pills after tomorrow because by the time I take them all, I don't care if I eat because I'm already full.<br /><br />Money is tight and I did think for a while that I wasn’t going to be able to go to Rhinebeck, or at least that I wasn’t going to be able to buy anything, but that worked itself out. On the Thursday before the festival, I stopped to get gas for the car and picked up a few scratch-off lottery tickets. Imagine my surprise when one of them was a winner – $1,000!!!! I was able to get a few things taken care of that I had been worried about and also didn’t have to worry about what I wanted to buy at the festival! I really think that’s one of the reasons I bought the Golding spindle. I wasn’t afraid to spend the money because it was ‘found’ money and not earmarked for a bill or something.<br /><br />Chloe is not knitting, but I’m ok with that. Mom was making herself nuts with needles, so I bought her a Knifty Knitter set and she’s having a ball. I printed her off some patterns from the Internet, and she’s just going to town. I gave her a bunch of yarn that I had so she could make some scarves and things and she really seems to like it. I think it’s easier for her and she's having fun with it, so what the hell?<br /><br />You’ve been kind enough to read my ramblings, but I think it’s time to quit for a bit. Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-8308503651118247122007-10-02T21:43:00.000-04:002007-10-02T22:00:48.841-04:00Tuesday, October 2, 2007Part I – The end of being driven nuts – $%&#@%$ sweater frogged!<br /><br />Well, I did it…I frogged the ‘Salt Peanuts’/’Drive Me Nuts’ sweater on September 20th. I finally listened to all the folks who were saying how stubborn I was being (they all said it in a much nicer way than that, though) and figured out that the only person going nuts here was ME. So, I frogged the whole thing, good parts and all, and re-wound the wool into nice, new cakes of lovely raspberry pink projects-to-be. Then I went looking for a pattern and found a nice, easy, not so nuts pattern on Knitty.com called ‘Sonnet’. It’s a lovely pattern by Kristi Porter and it’s based on some simple calculations after you knit a swatch to determine your gauge. I know, I know… knit a swatch? What’s that? Well, I decided a long time ago that I really have to knit a swatch whenever I do a pattern because I’m the only person I know who has knit a 35-pound tarp, I mean poncho, because I believed them when they wrote that ‘<em>gauge doesn’t matter for this project’</em>. WRONG! At least for me, it mattered or it seemed to, anyway. You could have covered a Volkswagen with that poncho…<br /><br />So, all that being said, I really didn’t have to knit a swatch for this pattern. I had already knit one up for the frogged sweater and I still had it in my knitting bag so I pulled it out and started from there. ‘Sonnet’ is a square-ish sweater that is knit from side to side, knitting the sleeves separately and sewing them on later. Minimal finishing and that just sounds so good to me at this point. This sweater will be perfect for my Mom, who is always chilly when she’s downstairs in her house and she’ll love the color, too. The neckline is not too high, and Mom doesn’t like things tight around her neck, so I think it will all work out perfect in the end.<br /><br />I started 'Sonnet' the next night after my trip to the frog pond, and I’m very happy with the way it’s turning out. I’ve only got one small problem and I think I know how to fix it. When I was starting the left front last night, I noticed that the box stitch section – the rest is garter stitch, how easy is that? – did not appear to be in the same place on the left as it was on the right, so I laid out the sweater on my bed according to the diagram with the pattern and went over the directions to see what I’d done. Lo and behold, there it was; I had somehow missed knitting a 4-½ inch section of garter stitch on the right front. I was checking off the pattern very carefully, too, I thought, but I missed it just the same.<br /><br />Now, with my previous history of sweater frustration (see also ‘Cherry Bomb’, now a felted bag and ‘Salt Peanuts’ as noted above), you might think I would consider this to be a setback, but no, I won’t let it be. I ‘adjusted’ the pattern so that the pattern stitches match on both sides and I will pick up stitches on the right front and knit those 4-½ inches right back in because it’s just garter stitch and I think I can make it work. Besides, the buttons will be on that side, so it will be underneath the button band, and Mom might not need it to be that big, so I might not have to add in the entire 4-½ inches. As long as it turns out symmetrical, Mom will love it because I made it for her. That sounds conceited, but Mom is like that. Also, I found some lovely buttons at a LYS that was going out of business that will be just perfect for this sweater.<br /><br />Part II – More wooly adventures…<br /><br />This last weekend, Mike and I went to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, NY. We go to this festival every year and have done so for about 10 years now. It’s grown from a small, farmers market/craft fair kind of thing with really good food to a huge, farmers market (with top prices)/ craft fair (with top prices) with mostly really good food (at top prices) and it’s now too big to have fun at any more. We nearly lost each other a couple of times and I didn’t even buy any garlic. Fortunately, I got lots of garlic earlier at the Vermont Garlic Festival in Bennington over Labor Day weekend, so I’m not going to run out, I hope. The food was pretty good, at least the selection of food they weren’t out of was, but the crowds were just no fun. They really need to consider a bigger venue for this festival. I bet there were 30 or 40,000 people there on Sunday alone. We had to take a shuttle bus from the car to the grounds because we were parked so far away! Anyway, this part is titled ‘More wooly adventures’ and you’re probably wondering why on earth I’m going on about garlic, right?<br /><br />Well, just as we had made up our minds that we didn’t want to stick around any more because we couldn’t even make our way around the farmer’s stalls easily because of the crowds of people, I spotted it! <strong>WOOL!</strong> Spun wool in the loveliest faded denim blue and sunflower yellow in a big basket at one of the garlic farmer’s stalls. That farmer and his wife also had fleeces and other sheepy goodies, but I ended up buying four nice hanks of yarn, two each of the yellow and the blue, and since they are 100% wool, I think I’ll make some slippers and felt them. I think the blue on the bottom and the yellow on the top will be lovely. And as I fondled the fleece – I’m a little weird here as I <em>like</em> the feeling of greasy fleece and I don’t mind the smell, either – the farmer’s wife asked me if I’d like a chunk for ‘hand lotion’. I, of course, said ‘sure’ and she came around to the front of the stall and tore off a huge hunk of fleece, much more than I would have taken if she had told me to just pull off some, and gave it to me.<br /><br />Mike thinks I’m nuts, but I fondled that hunk of fleece all the way back to the car and my hands just felt so soft and nice…but, I REFUSE TO LEARN TO SPIN so I won't be more than fondling that fleece or any other! I keep saying that I won't spin and Mike keeps telling me that every time I say it I sound a little more intrigued by the process, and maybe I am, a little…I just don’t need to be learning to spin my own yarn when there is such nice stuff out there for me to buy and more importantly, there is such nice stuff in my own stash that is just waiting to be knit up into something. I know, excuses will get me nowhere, but I just don’t have the brain space for another new, expensive hobby.<br /><br />Part III – Current Projects<br /><br />Let’s see; what is on my needles right now?<br />§ ‘Drive Me Nuts’, formerly known as ‘Salt Peanuts’; <strong>Replaced with ‘Sonnet’ for Mom;<br /></strong>§ Toe-up socks that I can’t seem to get around to finishing; (still…)<br />§ ‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty (about five feet long, still <em>almost</em> done…);<br />§ ‘Gryffindor House Scarf’ from “Charmed Knits”; this one is all stockinette, in the round…ho-hum, <em>boring</em> as all get out after about two rows, but it’s spoken for, so I have to finish it; (thank God it’s hockey season – maybe I’ll get around to finishing this during a game, though my gauge might change if the game gets really intense!)<br />§ Lacy Prairie Shawl from ‘Folk Shawls’ by Cheryl Oberle in a cream-colored alpaca – so soft and slippery and warm that I can’t wait to get it around my shoulders during the winter (not much bigger than the original picture as I’ve only done a few rows because I let myself go so crazy on ‘Drive Me Nuts’);<br />§ A fun and funky scarf for a Christmas gift that is easy and fun to make (picture posted – see above for why it's not finished either...);<br />§ Various washcloths, etc., for spa sets, as Christmas gifts for friends at work; and<br />§ A couple of scarves that never seem to get done, though I work on them what seems like a lot.<br /><br />Part IV – Me again<br /><br />Work is still a bit difficult; the person they hired to help me out isn’t…She seems to think it’s beneath her to even talk to me. Oh well, I printed up the ‘Attitude’ e-mail that got sent to my BusyKnitting group and posted it on my cubicle wall and I just keep referring to it whenever she starts in. I mean, really, how do you deal with someone who takes everything you say as a personal insult? I can’t even leave work on her desk that she <em>knows</em> she’s supposed to do; she goes in and whines to the boss that I’m abusing her. If I tell her the sky is blue, she says it’s green; if I tell her the correct procedure, she tries to change it to suit her needs, not the needs of the unit. Oh well, enough venting about work. <em>Update: had a little conversation with my boss late this afternoon; apparently the tension is getting noticeable and the comfort level in the office is going down. He understands me as we've been working together for ages and she just got here a few months ago and in speaking to both of us, he seems to think it's somehow her that's the problem...DUH...I told him that I guessed I would have to be the adult, even though she's in her 40's, and see if I could bury the hatchet (and not in her head, either!). I'll try to work with this woman because I need to keep my sanity and my job, and because she's not driving me out of a job I've had for over 30 years! Keep your fingers crossed, all, and pray for my sanity!<br /></em><br />I’m still busy and have lots of stuff to do at work, so the days go by fairly quickly. I was hoping to get some overtime in before Rhinebeck, but it’s not looking like I’ll be able to do that, so I’ll have to content myself with fondling and not buying that much this year. Cash is a bit tight, but I’ll pull myself up and not waste as much as I have been and that will help.<br /><br />The knitting lessons for Mom and Chloe went ok. I mean Chloe is just turned 8 years old and her attention span is about 5 seconds at a time. Mom didn’t turn off the TV while we were having lessons and Chloe just couldn’t get the hang of knitting as she was looking over her shoulder at the TV more than at the knitting in her hands. Mom used to knit – which I didn’t know – and remembered fairly quickly how to do it, but she tends to knit extra stitches into her projects or drop some occasionally and needs checking on periodically. She’ll be ok, though I don’t have much hope for Chloe just yet. She wants to learn, but can’t sit still long enough to try to do it. I guess I’ll keep up the lessons until they either learn or give up.<br /><br />Well, I think I’ve bored on enough for this time…remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-63287634012824605512007-09-18T20:41:00.000-04:002007-09-19T08:09:31.860-04:00Tuesday, September 18, 2007Part I – A pretty good month<br /><br />So, here I am, back again. I had what I would call a pretty good month. Well, if you don’t include the ‘Salt Peanuts’ sweater… I’ve re-named that pattern; I now call it ‘Drive Me Nuts’. All the lovely folks I have discussed this <strong>$%&#@%$</strong> sweater with on the knitting boards I belong to must think I’ve absolutely gone out of my mind. This sweater is taking over my life. I’ve frogged and re-written and frogged and re-written over and over and still I’ve only completed the back and part of the left front. The back was ridiculously easy and gave me no idea of what was in store for me when I started the left front. The pattern directions were, to say the least, unhelpful. I tried to write out the instructions line for line, thinking that would help me figure the pattern out. When I knitted up my ‘new’ directions, it just didn’t look like the gorgeous sweater in the picture. So I ripped it all out, re-wound my ball of wool, and read through the pattern again.<br /><br />Then I re-wrote the instructions, making sure I used the original pattern and not my first effort at figuring it out on paper, and started knitting yet again. This time I only knitted up the ribbing and a couple of inches of the front before I figured out that something just did not look good. Once again, I had gotten it wrong. I thought the ‘selvedge’ stitches would be on the edge that was to be sewn to the back. I was wrong. That edge was supposed to be straight stockinette stitch so I could sew it correctly, if I ever got it made up. So that was one thing wrong. Then, in discussing the pattern with some of my Stitch’n Bitch group, we figured out that the two selvedge stitches should be along the front edge, which makes for a nice flat edge. Makes sense, right? But when I looked over the directions, I couldn’t figure out if the pattern stitches would take up five stitches <strong>in addition to</strong> the two selvedge stitches or if the five stitches would be the total of the pattern <strong>including</strong> the selvedge stitches.<br /><br />When some helpful folks on my favorite group, BusyKnitting, posted the link to a KAL (Knit-A-Long, for the uninitiated) for this very sweater, I went and checked it out. Apparently, all the folks who knitted this sweater have interpreted the pattern in their own ways and there were lots of solutions presented. I tried a couple of them, but frogged them all. I finally gave in and completely re-wrote the pattern, figuring out my own solution. I went through my stitch dictionaries and found a lace rib that was very similar to the pattern in the sweater and re-wrote the left front portion of the pattern using it. I’m happy with the way the left front of this sweater looks now and it will definitely fit with the back that I’ve already completed. My biggest problem now is whether or not I’ll be able to make the right front of the sweater match the left front. I have made tons of notes to myself on ‘my’ version, just so I don’t forget exactly what I’ve done, so keep your fingers crossed. I would cross mine, but it makes it difficult to knit… ;o) Anyway, before I started this sweater I really thought I could consider myself an ‘intermediate’ knitter, but not if this is the pattern I’ll be judged by, that’s for sure.<br /><br />Part II – What I did on my summer vacation…<br /><br />I didn’t really take much in the way of vacation time, but made the most of what time I did take. Mike and I went to a couple (really three) of wool/fiber festivals over the summer, though I’m still saving my pennies for Rhinebeck in October. We went to a couple of air shows, too, and had a great time. The weather has cooperated beautifully with all our plans this year. Since that rarely happens, I’m enjoying it while I can. We went up north to the Lake Placid area a couple of weekends and even the long drive up there and back was lovely.<br /><br />This last weekend we went to Syracuse on Saturday, then drove to Geneseo, NY for Saturday night, and on to Hemlock for the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival on Sunday. That was a very nice little fair, though it seemed to be much more geared to spinners and weavers than knitters. I still got some lovely goodies and have posted pictures for your viewing pleasure. I picked up some fabulous 50% wool/50% alpaca in cream and now have to find the perfect pattern for an Aran sweater to use it on. I’ve always wanted to try my hand on an Aran sweater. My grandmother was from Ireland and we always had lovely hand-knitted sweaters growing up. She didn’t knit them, but she brought them home from Ireland when she visited. I think some of her sisters and sisters-in-law were cottage-industry hand-knitters so she could always get a fairly good price. Anyway, I’d like to try to make one myself. I’ve done cables and I really enjoyed doing them, even the ‘fiddly’ ones. I just love the way they come out looking in a sweater. I want to find a cardigan as I have a problem with anything that’s even a tiny bit close to my neck – for some reason, it feels like I’m choking when my neckline is too close. Oh well, I think a cardigan is probably more versatile anyway, at least for me. I probably won’t start anything until after the holidays anyway, so I’ll have lots of time to look for something just right.<br /><br />Part III – Current Projects<br /><br />Let’s see; what is on my needles right now?<br /><br /><ol><br /><li>‘Drive Me Nuts’, formerly known as ‘Salt Peanuts’ (pictures posted);</li><br /><li>Toe-up socks that I can’t seem to get around to finishing because I just don’t like socks, I think;</li><br /><li>‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty, about five feet long, so that’s almost done;</li><br /><li>‘Gryffindor House Scarf’ from “Charmed Knits”; this one is all stockinette, in the round…ho-hum, boring as all get out after about two rows, but it’s spoken for, so I <em><strong>have</strong></em> to finish it;</li><br /><li>Lacy Prairie Shawl from ‘Folk Shawls’ by Cheryl Oberle in a cream-colored alpaca – so soft and slippery and warm that I can’t wait to get it around my shoulders during the winter (picture posted);</li><br /><li>A fun and funky scarf for a Christmas gift that is easy and fun to make (picture posted);</li><br /><li>Various washcloths, etc., for spa sets, as Christmas gifts for friends at work; and</li><br /><li>A couple of scarves that never seem to get done, though I work on them what seems like a lot.</li></ol><br /><p>So I just have a few things going on, right? At least I can’t get bored; all I have to do is pick up something else and I’ll have to use my brain again, right?<br /><br />Part IV – Me again<br /><br />I think I need to see the doc; I seem to be having some minor issues though they could be the result of the situation at work and not the meds. I’ll have to talk to her and see what she thinks. I’m not losing, but I’m not gaining and that’s a good thing so I won’t complain about my weight. I’ve resigned myself to always being a ‘voluptuous’ woman – doesn’t that sound better than a fat broad? – and as long as I’m healthy, I really can’t kick about it. Work is very hectic right now; a lot of high-profile projects and I’m busy all day, but that’s ok, too. I’d rather be busy than sit there twiddling my thumbs, know what I mean? The day goes by faster when you’re busy, that’s for sure. I plan to get some knitting in tonight; I really have to get close to finishing the left front of ‘Salt Peanuts’ so I can start the right front and make sure they match as best I can.<br /><br />Almost forgot: I made some washcloths for Mom and she ended up giving a couple to her great-niece Chloe (7 years old) because she really liked them. Now Mom wants me to teach her and Chloe how to knit. My patience is a little thin sometimes, but I’m going to give it a shot. I think some straight garter stitch on size 8 US needles ought to work out fine, don’t you? I figure once they have garter stitch down, I can teach them ‘Grandmother’s Favorite’ and that’ll be really easy for them and result in a nice cloth. I picked up some Peaches’n Crème (about 10 balls) at a yard sale for $1 (white only) and some colors on sale at Michaels or A.C. Moore (can’t remember) so they’d have something to work with and I have two pair of needles that I don’t need, so I didn’t need to buy them. Chloe also wondered if she could make a scarf… I think I can manage that. I also have a couple of balls of lavender Debby Bliss Cashmerino that I got for free, so I think that might be a nice scarf for Chloe. Wish me luck, and remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br />Ellen</p>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-53636706681596086952007-09-03T22:25:00.000-04:002007-09-03T22:43:25.726-04:00Monday, September 3, 2007Part I – the continuing saga…<br /><br />Let’s see, it was the end of July the last time I was here. So much has happened since then that I’m not sure where to start. We went off to another air show in the Adirondacks a few weeks ago and the best part of the trip was the visit to the local yarn emporium in Saranac Lake. The air show had about 11 planes and we saw two of them fly. Fortunately, we only paid $2 each to get in, the weather was nice, and we had a lovely ride up and back. The yarn I bought was absolutely gorgeous – an almost crimson red colorway that’s a thick-and-thin yarn. It’s called ‘Painted Lady’ from Hand Paints by Catalina and it’s a superfine merino wool bulky. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it yet, but I’m sure it will make its designs known to me somehow. The following week we went back up into the Adirondacks to go to a huge flea market in Tupper Lake, which is above Lake Placid. The weather was cool and dry and it was just a wonderful day.<br /><br />We strolled from booth to booth, looking at all the ‘antiques’ and other stuff for sale. Mike found a few goodies for himself and I found an old binder of knitting patterns that was one of those binders that you get a package every month or so that adds to the book. I think they still do that with some cookbook-type stuff. The patterns are so 60’s, but there are some cute toys and sweaters in there and you can’t go wrong for $1, right?<br /><br />Late in the day, I was checking out a glass washboard that I thought might be useful for hand felting. I figure I could use it towards the end of the process when I might like to have a bit of control. Anyway, it was marked $18 and I was holding it up and wondering to myself if the guy might take $15 when he yelled over, “$10 and it’s yours!” I told him immediately that I’d take it. When I went to pay him, he asked me what he had marked for the price and when I told him $18 he groaned. His friend was laughing at him and telling him he “lost money on that one.” We all laughed and I dug out a $20 bill to pay him. Once I had my change safely in my pocket, I told him that I had been thinking about offering him $15 when he told me he’d take $10. He groaned, his friend laughed, and I walked away feeling like I’d picked up a bargain. Then, at the very last booth, when I was beginning to feel positively boggled by the amount of merchandise being offered for sale, I looked at something and it never registered. Mike was looking at stuff on the same table as I walked away and he called me to come back and look at something. My non-knitting love of my life found an antique swift! I hadn’t even recognized it for what it was and here the non-knitter spots it immediately! Go figure. Well, it was marked $3 and the gentleman asked me if I knew what it was and when I told him it was a swift, he said, “$2 for you, since you know what it is.” So I bought it. It works great and it’s so light, the yarn never gets pulled too tight while you’re winding. It expands and contracts to fit most size hanks and I’m glad Mike saw it for me.<br /><br />Part II – ‘Salt Peanuts’ and other wooly projects<br /><br />I’m still having some trouble finishing up some things. I do knit every day, though I can’t seem to knit on the same project for too long at one time. I get tired of working the same stitches over and over and pick up another piece for the change of pace. Of course, it doesn’t help that I’m still going nuts over Veronik Avery’s pattern ‘Salt Peanuts’. It’s an absolutely beautiful cardigan with a lace rib border and a shawl collar. I’d really like to finish it up and wear it this winter, if it doesn’t make me absolutely crazy first.<br /><br />The back was easy…maybe too easy, because it gave me no idea of how difficult the rest would be to knit. The pattern is supposed to be for an intermediate knitter, but from what I’m going on, I’d give it an advanced rating. Maybe I’m not as good a knitter as I thought I was, but I think this pattern is either some level beyond my skills or it’s so badly written that it’s impossible to get it without help. I’ve already taken this five-page pattern and re-written the instructions into nearly 18 pages. The left front directions are giving me a LOT of trouble right now. I’ve knit and frogged and knit and frogged until I’m sure the yarn will be a mess before I can get it knit into the cardigan. I decided this morning that I would work on the pattern notes, but knit them up into a swatch so that I could rip with impunity when I needed to. Doing it that way, I came up with a way to knit the left front (and probably the right front as well) so that the pieces will match up to the back. I’ve already got 25 rows of my re-write knitted and I really think this will work out this time.<br /><br />So now I come to the question: when does it go from being her pattern to mine? I’ve completely altered the edging of the cardigan and I’m going to have to completely alter the collar pattern so that I can make it work. I’ve re-written the left and right fronts of the pattern so many times now, that I feel more like it belongs to me than to the author. This time, I went through my stitch dictionaries and found a lace rib that is not the same, but is close enough so that I can work with it to finish the sweater. I’ll post some pictures and let others tell me what they think.<br /><br />Part III – on the needles<br /><br />Let’s see, the toe-up socks are still not done. I just find I’m not nuts about doing them. I pick them up now and then, but I never seem to get past a row or two of the cuffs.<br /><br />I frogged the original shawl I was working on in the alpaca because I didn’t mark the pattern and couldn’t figure out where I was any more. I’ve since started another one from “Folk Shawls” by Cheryl Oberle. This one is the ‘Lacy Prairie Shawl’ and I think it’s working out well. It’s a nice easy project and I can carry it with me for now. It’s done with increases every row, so it will eventually get big enough to leave at home to knit, but for now, I consider it a portable project.<br /><br />My ‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty is still going strong. I try to do a couple of repeats (10 rows is one repeat) whenever I can, but I have to concentrate a lot because the pattern is ‘busy’ and I tend to forget the occasional yo. I really have to count every st of every row to make sure I’ve got it right. That way I know I won’t have to rip out more than one row at a time if I make a mistake.<br /><br />I’m also still working on the Gryffindor House Scarf from “Charmed Knits.” It’s knit in the round, stockinette, and it gets very boring very quickly, though I think it’ll be ok once hockey season starts because I won’t have to pay too much attention to it while I’m watching the games.<br /><br />Now I must remind myself that Christmas is coming and I haven’t really started any gifts yet. I’m thinking about doing felted clogs for my stepdaughter and her family and maybe for Mom, but only if I can get Mom’s to be non-slip. Mom is kind of wobbly and slippery bottom slippers won’t be a good thing for her. I made the clogs for Mike and me last year and they came out really well. They are toasty warm without making your toes all sweaty and I think they’ll like them. I’d also like to make some spa sets for a few of the gals at work. I think they’d like them and I’m hoping they’ll be fast knits. I figure I can pick up some nice ‘smelly’ soap to put in the box, too.<br /><br />Part IV – me again<br />I’m doing better this month. The meds are still doing their happy thing and I’m feeling pretty good. Work is a bit difficult, but it’s a personality conflict type of thing with the new person. We’ll work it out, I’m sure. If we don’t, it’s her loss, not mine. She’s the one with the issues, after all.<br /><br />As always, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-9777296962395071442007-07-24T22:13:00.000-04:002007-07-24T22:21:37.311-04:00Tuesday, July 24, 2007Part I – Where does the time go???<br /><br />I can’t believe that it’s been over a month since I’ve been here! I know I’m not the best correspondent in the world, but really, that long? Since that time, the NHL playoffs finished up – I ‘met’ a really nice person in CA who was able to get me some really good Ducks souvenirs as she went to one of the Finals games. We started chatting on-line and found a lot in common, but mostly that we are both certifiable hockey nuts! I thought I would try to knit her up a hat and scarf, but Mike pointed out that she might not have much use for them in southern CA, so we had a good laugh over that. I still think I’ll figure something out. I’d like to do something nice for her as she went to a lot of trouble to pick out good stuff and mail it to me here in NY. Maybe a light-weight cotton ‘scarf’ that she could use as an accessory, even in sunny and warm CA? Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about it and check out some patterns.<br /><br />After all the sock yarn I’ve purchased recently, I seem to have gone off socks. I’m finding that I’m really not crazy about the Cascade Fixation I bought tons of; it’s just too stretchy and I don’t like the feel of the socks it makes. I’ll have to think of something else to make with it. I know there are lots of patterns on their website, so that’s more looking around for me to do. I have to wind the other sock yarn I purchased. Fortunately, as soon as I bring yarn home from anywhere I put it into Ziploc bags and squeeze all the air out. I found a small infestation of flour moths in my pantry goods – I’m sure you know what I mean – and I’ve heard that they do get into fibers as well, so I went ballistic checking out my whole stash. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have gotten into anything wooly….whew!! Of course, I had to toss most of the pantry out, clean it completely and now I’m working on getting air-tight storage containers for everything I buy that they might want to get into.<br /><br />I don’t seem to have finished much stuff up though I knit every night. I can’t seem to stick to just one project. I have a bunch going right now; I’m even carrying two of them to work with me just in case I get time to knit during my lunch break. Here’s the current count:<br /><br />(1) I’ve got a pair of socks to finish (I’m on the cuffs of toe-ups);<br /><br />(2) a shawl in a gorgeous natural creamy alpaca about 1/3 done;<br /><br />(3) my ‘Branching Out’ scarf from Knitty is about four feet long (maybe a couple feet more will do it);<br /><br />(4) I’m working on a Gryffindor House Scarf from the book “Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter”; and<br /><br />(5) I finally found a pattern for the hand-dyed pink/raspberry yarn I bought in Massachusetts – it’s the ‘Salt Peanuts’ pattern from ‘Knitting Daily’.<br /><br />Just a few minor projects, right? All I have to do is finish something, anything now, just so that I’ll know I can actually finish something. I even brought my knitting on vacation with me and to two different air shows; I still haven’t finished anything. I did start to make a top out of a cotton/acrylic blend that looked like it would knit up nicely, but hated the pattern. I ended up frogging the project three or four times, and then finally gave up in disgust. I don’t know what I’ll do with all that lovely yarn – it is really nice – but it sure as hell won’t be that damn sweater I started so many times. It’s a modular-type knit, one of the patterns I bought from ‘Just One More Row’, and the directions are just terrible. I had no trouble figuring out how to do the first square. I could even pick up the stitches and add the second (and third and…) square(s). But when it came down to just what to knit, where, and when, the pattern was sorely lacking in direction. I suppose I could write to the designer, but I’m so frustrated with that pattern that I don’t think I’ll pick it up again for a long time. That’s too bad; because I really like the look of the sweater.<br /><br />Mike took some pictures of me knitting at the air show in Binghamton, NY and at our favorite air show in Geneseo, NY. We go to Geneseo every year; it’s our mini-vacation in July. I wanted to check out some of the LYS in the area, but I just didn’t seem to get around to it. We had so much fun and the weather was just great that we were outside a lot, even when the air show was over for the day. I got a bit tan, even wearing a #30 sunblock lotion. I also wear a hat and sit under an umbrella during the hottest and brightest part of the day. I tell people I don’t ‘do’ sun; I’ve had skin cancer removed from my head, face, and back about nine times and I’m not a sun-worshipper any more. Besides, who wants to look like leather? I’ll take my few freckles any time.<br /><br />Anyway, the Geneseo air show is just like going back in time; it’s on a grass airstrip and all the planes are World War I or II – the only jets are the ones that do flyovers for the crowd. This year, we saw two B-17s, four B-25s, tons of T-6s (the most efficient way to turn gas into noise), and P-51 Mustangs. I just love the old planes. If Mike didn’t take pictures with the highest resolution possible – some of his photos are three or four MB – I’d post them here for you to see, but I did take a couple with my little Nikon that came out ok, so check them out. While I was there, I did a bit of knitting – mostly on the previously complained about cotton modular-knit sweater – though I did also work on some other things as well. My diet went down the tubes for that lost weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it! Even the red hots (hot dogs to most of us), sausage & pepper sandwiches, and the salt potatoes on the field were perfect, though I had a little too much fried dough one afternoon….Mike had to finish mine. We get to Geneseo on Friday for the arrivals and leave on Monday morning while the last few are leaving. The first time we went was in 1988 and we’ve missed three shows since then. Once, when there was turmoil within the former group of ‘owners’ of what used to be the National Warplane Museum and they moved the show to Batavia, NY. A second time, because there was no show and the third time because I had surgery on July 1 that year and the show was the weekend of the 12th and I was still recuperating. This is an annual trek for us now and we look forward to it. We know where all the good restaurants are and where to stay; we even make our reservations a year in advance so we can stay right in town. The local hotel fills up pretty quickly with visiting pilots and aircrews, so if we don’t reserve that far in advance we’re likely to not get a room. If anyone wants to check it out, it’s the 1941 Historic Aircraft Group and you can find it at <a href="http://www.1941hag.org/">http://www.1941hag.org/</a>.<br /><br />Part II – me again<br />I’ve had a bit of a rough time lately. Two weeks before we left for vacation I found out that the credit card I had just paid off had been used to purchase something I didn’t authorize, meaning the number had been stolen. It was ‘fun’ straightening that out, though the customer service was very good and they took care of everything in time for me to go away with a clean new card.<br /><br />I turned 51 with no ill effects; it didn’t make me crazy at all. The meds are working out and I’m feeling pretty good lately. I hadn’t spoken to anyone in the family in a month – for some reason, I just couldn’t talk to anyone. Thank God I had Mike or I might have gone off the deep end. He does keep me sane and makes me happy to be here. Mom was thrilled when I called her. She knows what I’ve been going through with depression and even though it was very difficult for her, she waited through my issues. We get along a little better now than we did before. My doc thinks that part of my problem is hormonal. I always seem to get worse just before my period. I don’t know if the fact that I seem to be going through menopause and my periods are getting farther and farther apart is helping or if the meds are helping. One of the meds I’m on has been used for PMS symptoms and I’m doing better since she added that to my regimen.<br /><br />In the meantime, remember: wear natural fibers; hug your cat!<br />EllenEllenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7544339406678724189.post-40783052148107352162007-05-31T14:15:00.000-04:002007-05-31T14:45:35.509-04:00Tag, you're It!Thursday, May 31, 2007<br />I Have Been Tagged !!!! And so Have You!!!! (This is all Penny's fault!)<br />Rules:<br /><ol><li>Each player starts with 8 random facts about themselves.</li><li>People who are tagged write a blog post about their 8 random things and post the rules.</li><li>At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and post their names.</li><li>Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.</li></ol><p>8 random items:</p><ol><li>I am obsessed with really soft beautiful yarns.</li><li>I love to fondle yarn and will occasionally buy yarn I have absolutely no use for just because it feels good.</li><li>I love Italian food - any Italian food.</li><li>I hardly ever seem to finish anything, but the things I finish, I love. </li><li>I love a good cup of coffee and drink about 5 or 6 cups a day, sometimes more.</li><li>I don't have any children.</li><li>I have discovered that I love to knit socks, as long as they are done toes-up.</li><li>I went to see the Yarn Harlot yesterday and spent a bunch of money on sock yarn at Webs.</li></ol><p>Tagged: Monica, Wendy, Lynn, Nanette, Judie, Bonnie, Donna, and Elsie</p>Ellenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509583590811559910noreply@blogger.com3