Every time I make a resolution to update this blog more frequently I end up breaking it. Life has been busy around here. The Jewish Holidays combined with some extra hours at work conspired to keep me silent here. Sorry.

Yesterday DH went to visit DS. I didn't go because I had to work. DS has outgrown most if not all of his pants so DH took him to the store to buy new ones. Don't know why they let this go so long we would have bought him stuff weeks ago if we'd known he was in need. DS himself wouldn't necessarily say anything about it. That's something I have to talk to him about. One of the numerous things you take for granted from so-called normal kids that we cannot take for granted with DS.

DD went to an anime convention yesterday and today. The first time she has been on the railroad without us. She went with some friends and since she is nearly 16 we figured that it was OK and she'd be safe. She had a great time and I think it was made even better because she knew we trusted her. She went in costume dressed as a character from a favorite anime. Cost her a fortune to get the costume and she spent all her art periods this past week making a prop for it (a large cleaver made out of cardboard. Don't ask). But she thought it was worth it and others must have too because lots of people asked her if they could take her picture.

DH and I have decided to go away for a long weekend in October. DD has a Girl Scout trip that weekend and we thought we'd take advantage of her being away to catch some time alone. We'll be staying in a Bed and Breakfast in upstate NY. We plan to do some antiquing, hike and enjoy seeing the leaves turn color. We used to do this all the time before we had kids but don't get as much of a chance nowadays. Bed and Breakfasts are fun to stay at. The food is usually excellent and it's nice to sit at the breakfast table with the other guests and trade stories.

On the knitting front, I am up to the sleeves on the February Lady Sweater and am putting it on hold till I can get to the LYS. My LYSO told me I should bring it in and she'll show me how to do the sleeves on two circulars rather than with double points. I've tried this technique and like it all I need is for her to give me a refresher (and sell me a second #7 circ). She also suggested that I finish off the button bands with some single crochet. I think I will follow her advice it should make it look more finished.

I finally sewed together the aran sweater. It was supposed to be over sized but it's a bit too big even for that. I am not happy, I worked hard on it but I suppose I can wear it anyway. I will post a picture as soon as I can get DD to take one of me wearing it. I also bought the yarn for a very nice shrug that I saw at the LYS. I am doing it in black Noro so I can wear it for work (we have to dress in mostly black ie. black pants any color shirt as long as you wear a black jacket over it). Like the February Lady Sweater this is knitted in once piece with no seams. I don't mind sewing pieces together but this is a nice technique that I have come to like doing the FLS. Still not ready to go whole hog and start making steeks, but I can see myself making a sweater in one piece from time to time.

Well must go and put up the Turkey Roast we are having for dinner. I hope to be back here on the blog sometime this week (fingers crossed)

Finally I have the time to write a post. DS has gone back to school in Pennsylvania and DD has started school as well. My life is once again my own :).

Our vacation was a good one. We didn't do all that much in contrast to most vacations we go on but that was the entire point. This was meant to be an opportunity to kick back and relax. We went to the beach (and all four of us got sunburned), walked the boardwalk, and played some miniature golf on what were some fairly inventive courses. (I even enjoyed it and I hate mini golf)

We did have a bit of a scare with the car. There was a loud thumping noise coming from the right rear wheel for most if not all of the trip. The car was otherwise fine, had not problems with handling but made this awful noise. Soon as we got back we had it looked at and found that it wasn't a serious problem after all just a loose spring in the wheel. Crisis averted.

Here's the picture I promised of my latest Secret Pal package:

I got some lovely yarn with a sparkle running through it, some cable needles, yummy tea, a circular needle and the pattern for the Irish Hiking scarf which as I said before I have been wanting to make forever. My pal knows how to spoil!


Yesterday DD came with me to drop off DS for his trip back to school (we bring him to Pen Station in Manhattan and the staff from school meets us there and takes them the rest of the way back. A very nice arrangement that keeps us from having to make the three hour drive) so that we could do some shopping. We ate lunch with DH and then headed to Century 21 a discount department store in the Financial District. I used to shop there all the time when I worked on Wall Street, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and before I had kids. It hasn't changed much aside from the fact that it's gotten larger. I frankly avoid the place these days because it's right across the street from the World Trade Center site. I always get very melancholy, when I go there. The weight of my memories is just too much. I saw a lot of tourists taking pictures and I wanted to stop them and shake them and ask them why they were taking pictures of a graveyard. It's hard to see the place so empty when it's so full of people in my memory. They are making progress with the reconstruction, and one day soon it will again be filled with people. But it will never be the same again and I will never be able to look at it without sadness.

We are about to leave on vacation and I have run out of time for updating this blog for now. I received a wonderful package from my Secret Pal including a pattern for the Irish Hiking Scarf which I've been wanting to make for years. Wonder how she knew I'd like this!

I had promised her that I'd post pictures to the blog but it's late and this week has been busy so it will have to wait until I get back. My humble apologies.

As promised here are the before pictures of my house




























And here are the after pictures.


Looks so much better now and all in all the construction wasn't too bad. A bit noisy but we got used to it. The day after they finished another crew came to put up the gutters. Took them less than half an hour to do it I was very surprised by that.






I haven't sewed the aran sweater together yet. I will try to get started on that tomorrow. The February Lady Sweater got a little stalled as I found that the needle I was working with was too short. So I went to the LYS today to get a longer one. Managed to make it out of there with the needle and nothing else. I consider that to be an achievement!

I've been going to Curves daily and am really enjoying it. I've added a bit of extra aerobics a couple of times a week as well. DD says I am addicted, and maybe I am. But this is a good addiction. I'm considering taking a class in an aerobic dance called Zumba. I heard about it on the Weight Watchers message boards. It's done to a Latin beat and sounds fun. There's a place not too far away that has a class on Wednesday night and also on Saturday mornings. I'm not working tomorrow night so I may go and give it a try. Last week at my Weight Watchers weigh in I'd lost one pound. Which is fine, as long as it keeps going down and not up I'm happy. Another change I've made is following the Beck Diet Solution book. It's not a diet it's a way to get yourself into a new mindset. One that will support your weight loss and get you thinking like a thin person. If you have to lose weight I highly recommend it. It's really helping build my confidence.

They started the siding on the house this morning. As I type this they are pounding away on the outside of our house removing the old siding. You can imagine how loud all of this is but DD, bless her, sleeps on through it all. I am convinced this kid could sleep through a nuclear attack.

I finished the aran sweater! I'm not working this weekend and plan to spend tomorrow sewing it together. It took about a year longer than I'd intended but came out great. I've started the February Lady Sweater and despite a few false starts am doing well with it. I've decided to use kbf increases rather than m1. I didn't like the way the m1 looked in garter stitch and think that this increase looks much better.

As I said I would I joined Curves yesterday. I enjoyed the workout quite a bit. Just enough to get your heart rate up not so much as you feel like falling down afterwards, just what I was looking for. As soon as DD wakes up I'm going to go for another session. That's if I can figure out how to get out of the house without siding falling on my head :).

Well they didn't start the siding on the house today as had been scheduled. Yesterday was very rainy around here and it set them back on another job so ours had to be postponed for a day. They should be starting tomorrow. All the new windows as well as the patio door are in. What an improvement over the old windows especially in the Living Room. So much more light than before. I sat here all day knitting in the sun.

Today I picked up the yarn from my LYS for the February Lady Sweater. I will cast on for it over the weekend I suppose. I am trying to finish my aran sweater first and I am nearly done. I'm in the middle of doing the raglan decreases on the second sleeve. Then it's sewing time. I am one of the few who doesn't mind sewing the pieces of a sweater together. It's all part of the process to me and I am definitely a process kind of knitter. One of these days I suppose I ought to try knitting a sweater in the round just to see if I like the process as much as doing it in pieces.

After talking about it with DH, I have decided to join a gym. I have Weight Watchers tomorrow morning and that's in the same shopping center as the local Curves so I'm going to find out how much it costs to join. According to their website if you join now you get the rest of the summer for free so it's a good time to do it. If you've not heard of Curves, it's a 30 minute circuit gym that is for women only. Most people do it three times a week. The circuit is designed to give you some weight training as well as cardio and they said on the website that you can burn about 500 calories while you work out. I am mostly interested in the health benefits of working out but burning those calories will help me to lose weight as well. Wish I'd been able to drop a few in the last couple of months. I have to see the cardiologist for my yearly checkup next week and he's going to yell at me about my weight I just know it. Well serves me right. Last year when I had some minor chest discomfort it turned out that I was having mild heart trouble. The doctor really lectured me about getting into shape and I listened to a point but then got kind of lazy and slacked off. Especially in the winter months when it was hard to get out of the house to do a daily walk. So I fell out of the habit of exercising and have found it hard to get back into it. Curves is easy and it's not far from my house so I won't have any excuses.

I hate my socks. There I said it. DD and I went to a museum the other day and I took the socks I'm currently working on to knit on the train. As I worked I became more and more aware that I was unhappy with them. They are very plain (a single color cream colored yarn), and the toe of sock one didn't turn out so well (pulled the kitchner stitch too tight). Frankly, they are ugly. Life is too short to knit ugly socks so they are being summarily abandoned. Time to dive into the stash and start a new pair.

The contractors are busy putting in our new patio door today. With luck they will get done early and I will be able to run some errands before I have to go to work. I need to pick up something at the supermarket, buy a DVD that we promised to DS, and and pick up the yarn for the February Lady Sweater at the LYS. Not sure how long they are going to take as it is raining and that's sure to slow them up a bit, so keep your fingers crossed!

Got a wonderful package from my Secret Pal on Saturday. Here's a picture of what I got

I have two skeins of alpaca, a pattern for a hat or mittens using it, some gift tags, an adorable ice cube try in the shape of penguins, some coffee, a candle that's scented like coffee and some delicious sour gummies. Thanks so much to my Secret Pal!

We started the work on the house today. They arrived early and put in all the windows that we are replacing. Tomorrow they come back and do some finishing work and install our new patio door. Then on Wednesday they start the siding. I have before pictures of the house but I am holding off on posting them till I have the after pictures to place beside them.

Still reading Harry Potter. I am now on the fifth book, the one in the series that I stopped reading in the middle and never finished though I don't know why. So far it's as good as the others, and the others are pretty good!

Well DD went to the movie and enjoyed it despite having several problems with the way they did things. A movie is rarely as good as a book I think. Me? Well I didn't pick her up until about 2:45am and as a result I am totally worn out today. Did my Meals on Wheels run half asleep. Remind me when the next movie comes out that it's another parent's turn to stay awake.

Friday DD and I are having a day in the city. We are going to go to our favorite museum and then meet DH for dinner. It's been quite a while since we've done something like this and I am looking forward to it. I'll bring my socks to knit on the train.

Secret Pal is in full swing. I've heard from my spoiler a couple of times and she tells me that a package is on the way. As she is somewhere in Europe I am especially looking forward to getting it. Now I have to put something together for my spoilee. I plan to send a couple of small packages and one big one at the end. It's an idea I got from another person in the swap and I think it will work better for me. When I do Secret Pal I always have trouble coming up with a good theme for the package. This leaves me more time to come up with an idea. (if you want to find out more about Secret Pal just go to the blog. This round is closed for sign ups but you can still go there to find out more and be ready for round 15)

We are going to be doing major stuff to the house next week. New siding and windows are going in, and I promise to post before and after pictures. We are using a color no one else on our street has, a pale sage green. Green is my favorite color, we didn't like the tan or cream shades, and this one looked good with the color of our roof (which is a dark blue). I can't wait to see how the house will look, it's hard to visualize from the small sample we picked from. The contractor is the same one who did such an excellent job on our kitchen two years ago. He's honest, quick, and brings the project in on budget. What more can you ask for? They begin with the windows on Monday and should have both them and the siding done by Friday.

I ended up only skimming the second Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). I've read it a few times and have recently seen the movie, so I just read my favorite bits. Now I am reading the third book (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) which I have always liked. I don't know why I never read the fifth book but I am anxious to get to it so I can finish the series. With all the book reading I'm doing I've not done much knitting the last few days. Must put some work in on the sleeve of the aran sweater so I can finish it. I ought to learn that setting deadlines for myself hardly ever works.

We went to visit DS yesterday. Usually we wouldn't have made a visit so soon after he'd been home but with my work schedule and DD having several weekend events coming up it was the best day for us to do it. I didn't take any knitting with me and regretted it when we went to play mini golf. There I was walking around in the hot sun keeping score while the rest of the family played, God I was bored! I'm all for family togetherness, especially when we have DS with us which doesn't happen as often as I'd like. I recognize the value of cheering them all on during a game, but I draw the line at mini golf. For some reason I just have never been able to enjoy playing. It's not that I am bad at it, I'm no worse than the rest of the family, I just find it boring. Never liked regular golf either, I'm lucky that DH never tried the game. I'll be sure to back a golf friendly project when we go on vacation this summer. I've been told that the place where we are going has tons of mini golf. :)

In addition to boring me nearly to death this weekend, we went shopping in a little tourist town near DS's school. It's crowded but a nice place and has some lovely little shops to poke around in. For the first time on a trip like this DS walked along with the rest of us without complaining and even made suggestions about which stores to go into. He never does that. He usually whines that he is tired and constantly asks when we are going to be done. All he asked was that we go to a bookstore at some point during the day. He couldn't have been more cooperative if he didn't have autism. While driving we passed a yarn store that seemed to also carry spinning gear. I will have to try and find it on the Internet and find out when they are open and check it out on one of our weekend visits.

Tomorrow, midnight, is the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. DD is going to the show wearing the scarf I made despite the heat. One of her friends owns all five movies and they are gathering at her house to watch them all day. Then they are going into town for dinner and the new movie. I have volunteered to stay awake and pick them up after the show to drive them all home. I've done things like this before. DD went to two midnight events when the books were newly published. Once it took so long for everyone to get their books that we didn't make it home until 3 AM. Personally I love the Harry Potter books although I've only read the first four. This Summer I am re-reading them and going on to finish the series. At the moment I am reading the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I recommend the books to anyone whatever their age. They are a great guilty pleasure for adults.

DD got her grades and did well on all her exams even the math one which she was very concerned about. She insists that they must have massively curved it but I prefer to think she just did better than she expected. Her best friend got out of the hospital and is doing much better but still has to take it easy. She'll probably not be herself again till the summer is over.

DD continues to knit if only for short bursts. Now she is talking about making her first project, a pair of leg warmers from Sally Melville's Knit stitch book. I have to trade in the yarn for my February Lady sweater. The one I picked, Cascade Pistaza was too fuzzy for my taste and I found it too scratchy as I worked with it. So, I am trading it in for some Cascade 220 which should be in at my LYS tomorrow or Wednesday. In any case, I am going over to the LYS tomorrow to finally work out the problem I have with my aran sweater. I am up to the sleeve and it seems as though two of the cables are merging and I am not sure how to handle it. So Val is going to sit with me and work it through. There is a posibility of holding onto the Pisatza to make a felted bag but I am not sure about that yet. The lace scarf I made for my friend got rave reviews from the crowd at the LYS as did the scarf that I made for DD. Always nice to get that kind of ego boost. I tend to be very critical of my own knitting and getting having other knitters say nice things about it is a treat.

DS was in for a week (hence the lack of blog posts). It was a wonderful visit. He was better than I've ever seen him on a home visit before. He spent most of his visit in the time honored fashion of teen agers, hanging out with his friends, playing video games and sacking out in front of the TV.

I am doing Secret Pal again this round and here is my questionaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I suppose my all time favorites are merino and cashmere. I don't like "scratchy" wools or plastic like acrylics.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a needle roll and a tin I keep needles in. I could use something for my growing collection of circular needles. I've been switching from straights to circs the last couple of years.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've been knitting for over 40 years and was taught by a combination of my mother and my brother's girl friend. I consider myself to be a fairly advanced knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

I have an Amazon wish list.

5. What's your favorite scent?

I like woody and spicy scents.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Unfortunately for my waist line I have a sweet tooth :). My favorite candy is anything that is sour

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I am learning how to spindle spin.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I like alternative, classic rock and jazz I can play MP3's.


9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Earth tones are my favorites especially dark green, burnt orange and brown

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am married with two kids who are in their teens, we have a guinea pig

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear scarves, hats and mittens but not ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Socks and lace.

13. What are you knitting right now?

A pair of socks, an aran sweater and the February Lady Sweater

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic

Circ's are prefered. I don't care for plastic needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I own both

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

About a year old

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?

My favorite holdays are Passover, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. We celebrate Hannukah

19. Is there anything that you collect?

I collect penguins

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I'd love Cookie A's sock knitting book, and want to try Knit Picks Circular needles. I don't subscribe to any of the magazines I prefer to pick them up when one of them has a pattern that I must have.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Knitting socks from the toe up and knitting socks on two circular needles. I've tried to learn how to do the two circ method and just cannot get my mind wrapped around it.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yes I am a sock knitter. 8 1/2 inches around the ball of my foot and also from my heel to the tip of my toe.

23. When is your birthday?

August 20th

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Yes, you can find me there as Fizbin.

Went to the LYS on Saturday with DD and the imposssible happened Val the very sweet woman who owns Knitting on the Lamb got DD knitting! I've tried over the years to teach her but never had success. DD either was too young to grasp it or professed no interest in learning. Well she did a fair amount of knitting while I sat and worked on a gauge swatch for the February Lady Sweater. We were both quite happy and DD has been practicing on some stash yarn I gave her. She's making the occaisional beginners mistake but for the most part has a handle on it. I'm proud of her!

Thanks to all who wished her luck on her exams. They are all finished now but we will not know the results for a bit yet. I'll be sure to clue you in when we get her marks in the mail.

Finally put the fringe on DD's Slytherin House Scarf (from Charmed Knits). The process reminded me why I never put fringe on scarfs; it's a pain in the neck. Here's a picture of DD wearing the scarf:

Can't see the fringes on this picture, but DD insisted on choosing the one I post and this is the one she picked :)

















We went to visit DD's best friend at the hospital this evening. Poor kid has a bad case of Mono and has been unable to hold down food so they have her on an IV drip to keep her hydrated. She missed all their end of year testing and will have to take the statewide Regents tests at another school in August. I really feel for the kid, having once had a case of Mono myself. It's not a fun thing to be sick with. They hope she will be well enough to come home by Friday.

Can't believe I haven't posted since June 1! Things have been busy. I got some wonderful Spud and Chole yarn from a contest I won on Knit One School Two. It's gorgeous stuff here's a picture of it:
















Got another Traveling Tea Box from the Cuppa Tea group on Ravelry. This is the second box I have gotten; DD and I had a grand time going through it to pick out our goodies. Great fun deciding what to put in too.

Here's a picture of what I took out of the box:


Lots of lovely tea (to which I am as addicted as I am to knitting), a cool pack of note cards and some spoon rests that had been made by hand by a previous participant.

The box gets sent on to the next person this afternoon so I get a Hot Potato award from the coordinator of the box. Not sure what it will be but I am excited to see it.


I am well on the way with the Double Moss stitch socks and should be done by the end of the week if not sooner. Didn't do the best job of Kitchnering the toe of sock one. Pulled the yarn too tight. I must remember to be looser on the next toe. I have to order the blocking wires from Knit Picks to block out the shawl and the scarf I made. I've been waiting to do it because I also want to get the blocking mat from KP and they are out of stock on it till June 24. I hate to order from Knit Picks unless I can put together $50 so I save the postage hence the long wait to block things. Hope I find out that it was worth it. I will also be hitting my LYS this week to buy yarn with the Gift Certificate I got for Mother's Day. Most likely will buy for the February Lady Sweater, as DD said the other day "All the cool kids are doing it" :)

Speaking of DD she starts her Regents exams this week (if you are not in New York State these are like statewide finals). Today is Geometry which she is quite concerned about. Math is not DD's forte and she is worried about her grade. Here's hoping she does well enough so that she doesn't have to retake the test. She also has Regents exams in Global Studies (her best subject), Spanish, and Biology.

We had a wee bit of excitement with DS. Some one who lives in his house at school got the flu that's going around so they quarantined the whole house for a week. They let them out for walks and to play the odd game of basketball and kept a close eye on them. No one else got sick, thankfully. Sadly, not long after they went back to school DS's Vocational teacher passed away (no idea what he died of). DS seemed to take it well, they had the kids make up sympathy cards and he went to the funeral. The psychologist also talked to him to be sure he was OK. He comes home for an extended visit on the 26th of this month. I am looking forward to having him!

Thanks to Just April who offered to help me decipher Wendy Johnson's sock book. I don't own it right now I just took it from the library for a look see and have already returned it. But I may take you up on the offer in future. Thanks!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Mostly from a mystery series called the Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs. Set in and around Charleston South Carolina, they are great fun and also mix in some interesting information about tea as well as giving recipes in the back of the books. Found out about them on Ravelry and was immediately hooked. Got a whole pile of them from the Library the other day. I go through cycles with my reading. Most of the time I don't read many mystery novels. Then I go on a tear reading piles of them. The library runs a summer reading program for adults where you can win prizes depending on how many books you read (the more you read the more raffle tickets you get). It's a lot of fun and I've been doing it for the last few years.

Tomorrow is Meals on Wheels and I will be taking DD with me as my regular partner is away this week. DD has done it before with me, she enjoys it and I think that its a good experience for her. After that, I have a progress meeting about DS's schooling. Don't expect to hear anything I don't already know but it's nice to get the official update from them, must remember to call his Program Specialist and remind her to call me for the meeting. I usually do these things by phone as it's such a long drive to DS's school. They put me on speaker phone and everyone chimes in with what they know about DS and his progress. I'd love to do it in person but I get very sleepy on long drives and I am afraid to drive there alone as a result. I once got into a small accident once when I fell asleep at the wheel after one of these meetings. Very scary and I don't want a repeat of it. DH handles all long distance driving ever since the incident.

Spent most of today in bed and all of yesterday. I've been laid low by a virus (or at least it feels like one) Was feeling so crappy that I couldn't even take advantage of the time by knitting. I'm a bit better now, still feeling weak and a little light headed but that could be because I've not eaten all that much for the last two days.

Went to the Supermarket with DD and DH on Saturday and stopped to look at the tea section with DD, while we two talked about the relative merits of what was on the shelf DH walked over and asked "Don't you have enough tea already?" We both looked at him like he was crazy. That's like asking me if I have enough wool, there's never enough :) At least DD understood.

Got the gift tags I won from Knitterella today. She has recently had a baby (yeah!) and so was late in sending them off and to make up for it she included an extra pack. Not something she had to do at all but it was nice to get them. Here's a picture:


Aren't they cute? And there's room on the back to write care instructions (well that's what I'm doing with them YMMV) She also sells wonderful note cards.

Got the new Wendy's new toe up sock book, from the library. It's got some nice patterns in it but the problem is that she does them with two circular needles and I've not been able to wrap my mind around doing socks that way. I'm not especially good at changing around directions (yes I'm one of those people who actually knits like the designer intended one of these days I will break out of the box ) so I don't know if the book is going to work for me. Saw Cookie A's book in Barnes and Noble and loved it she does her socks on dpn's like I do so I won't have any trouble following the directions. As soon as I can get my LYS to order it for me, I'll get the book. I like to get my knitting books from her it's worth it to me to pay the extra money to help support a store I love.

I seem to have developed a fair amount of luck lately. Today I found out that I had won a blog contest for some of the new Spud and Chole yarn on Knit One School Two. Can't wait to see it I've been hearing so much about this new yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas. I'm sure it will be wonderful and promise to post pictures on the blog as soon as it comes in.

This is the fourth blog contest I've won in the last several months. First was a copy of Charmed Knits and a hat from Alison of the Blue Blog. Then it was a copy of Fiber Gathering from Cindy Moore who is a friend of mine on Facebook (sorry Cindy I can't find your blog address). Next came some funny gift tags from Knitterella who has truly lovely gift tags for sale check out her blog and website. I honestly don't know what to say. Before this I had a fairly unbroken record of losing every contest I enter.

Hello all. Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I keep telling myself that I need to make a blog entry and other things get in the way an suddenly more than two weeks goes by.

DS is home for the holiday weekend but I have to work for much of it, it's a big sale for us so all three of us in the department have been scheduled this weekend. However I will probably not go in on Sunday so we can have a family BBQ. I discussed it with one of my co-workers and he thought it was dumb for me to come in anyway. We don't need three people and I have some days coming to me.

On the knitting front I have been busy. I am working on Branching Out and should be done with it well in time for my friend's birthday. Here's a picture courtesy of my new camera:














I am also working on a pair of socks for myself out of some Kroy sock yarn from my stash. I am using Charlene Schurch book Sensational Knitted Socks for the pattern. Here's a photo of that:

As you may be able to see from the photo I am still using four DPN's to knit them. One day I will conquer using 2 circ's but for now this method is working for me so I continue to use it.

I've been hanging around the Cuppa Tea group on Ravelry and just had some fun with their traveling tea box. A large box goes around stuffed to the brim with tea and goodies. When it reaches you, you take out what you like and add some more. It arrived yesterday and I got it mailed off this afternoon so I get the Hot Potato award from the Moderator. More importantly I got some yummy tea and goodies for myself and DD (who I cannot get interested in knitting but is as stuck on tea as I am)

Secret Pal 14 is still in the works. The blog for it should be up and running very soon, I will link to it when it goes live.

Thanks to all the kind people who sympathized with me over the loss of our little furry friend. We still miss him and had intended to wait some time before getting another pet but an opportunity fell into our lap. After we were done saying goodbye to poor little Midnite, our Vet gently asked us if we might be interested in a little guinea pig she had up for adoption. A family had brought him in to be put down because he had a small cyst on his neck. She was horrified and told them that if they didn't want him she would take the responsibility of taking off the cyst and find him a home. Well after a week of thinking about it we decided to take him home with us. It has not been easy to see another animal in Midnite's cage but we feel good about giving him a home. He's a little skittish, and not as cuddly as Midnite. Probably the people who had him before didn't handle him much and he's not used to it. So we are being patient with him and trying to tame him down by giving him extra attention.

On the knitting front I've started Branching Out for my friend Sally's Birthday. It's in early July so I have plenty of time to get it done. It's an easy pattern and I am having fun with it. Progress photos to follow.

Secret Pal 14 is in the planning stages. It should be open for sign ups in June. I will be a hostess this round and am taking the job of posting Twitter updates (when there are any to post). When we have a blog up and running I will post a link here. In the meantime you can join the Secret Pal 14 group on Ravelry to keep up. If you want to follow the updates on Twitter follow secretpal14.

Got some yummy tea in the mail today. I discovered this seller on Ravelry where Troy is a member of the Cuppa Tea group as I am. He'd mentioned a tea that he was drinking and it sounded interesting so I asked where he got it and found out that he sells tea and does mail order. I ordered his Cinnamon Toddy and some Jasmine Green tea, smells wonderful. He also kindly included a couple of samples for me to try. I am nearly as obsessed with tea as I am with my knitting. I've a good sized tea stash. Usually my favorite is the one I am drinking at the time :).

One of the historical societies in my town runs a Sheep to Shawl festival on the first Sunday in May each year. For a long time I kept saying I wanted to go and never seemed to make the time for it. This year, despite the fact that it was raining I went. Not all that much to see since it's a small operation but what I did see was interesting. There were some spinners there and they invited me to come to their Guild meetings so I could learn more. I think I will take them up on the invite especially since they set aside time before the main meeting starts for socializing and teaching. As you may remember I've been trying to spindle spin and not had much success with it. I found out on Sunday that part of the reason was that I didn't have the roving prepared properly. I tried doing what they said and it did go a bit better but I still would like some hands on teaching, so if the next meeting is on a night when I am not working (and perhaps even it is on a work night, I do get a few personal days that I never seem to use) I'll go. The festival had some animals including a llama, a station where they had a rigid heddle loom, one where they had crocheters , one where some women were doing needle felting, one where a lady did some lovely bobbin lace, a craft that I've done in the past and two stations with spinning both by wheel and by spindle. Sadly, there were no knitters to be found and no fiber goodies to buy. You'd think that a sheep to shawl festival would have some yarny goodness around but unless you count the stuff on the spinners bobbins and spindles, plus the few examples of crochet, there were none. I did walk around the historical society's little antiques shop. I nearly bought a tea pot but I could see that it had had a piece broken off the top that had been inexpertly mended and for $75 gave it a pass.

I had to take Midnite to the vet again today. We realized late last week that he was doing poorly and needed to be seen. The results were not good. He once again has kidney stones but this time he has a bunch of them and they are not operable. The poor little fellow is in a lot of pain, I have medication to keep him comfortable but we have made the sad decision to put him down. DD is inconsolable, DH is not happy either but realizes that this is for the best. I haven't told my son yet but will do that tonight. I'm bringing Midnite in tomorrow afternoon, it's not going to be easy for me but someone has to do it.

Great weekend here. I didn't have to work, always nice to have days off on a weekend, and I had the chance to see an old friend who I haven't seen in years on Sunday. She moved away some time ago and we haven't been in as close a touch as we should have. I am going to make an effort to change that, when we saw each other it was like no time had passed. I forgot how much fun she was. She's having a big birthday this summer and I think I will make her a lace scarf (probably Branching Out from Knitty) It gives me a chance to do something nice for her and indulge my new lace addiction at the same time.

Speaking of lace the shawl is finished. I bound it off last night now all I have to do is block it out. I need blocking wires so I am going to put in an order with Knitpicks for some, as well as their new blocking mat. I am so proud of the shawl. In the end it wasn't too hard and I don't know why I had so much trouble with it in the beginning.

I am also nearly done with DD's socks, just have to finish the toe on sock two and graft it. Pictures of the socks and shawl to come later in the week. Now I need new projects to work on, I was supposed to go to the LYS with DD this afternoon but she didn't go to school today because she was feeling ill so I don't think that will come off after all. She wants a Harry Potter scarf and doens't trust me to pick out the colors by myself, I think I will also get myself some yarn for a tea cozy. I've been drinking lots of tea lately and can really use the cozy, I may also get the yarn for my friend's scarf.

I recently entered a blog give away on Cindy's Blog and to my delight I won! The prize is a copy of the new book Fiber Gathering, it's a book I was going to buy so I am especially happy to win it.

DS went back to school today and I already miss him tons. We had fun with him while he was here and had a great visit. I ate entirely too much this week, the diet has gone out the window again and I really have to get back to a healthy eating plan. Despite being a Weight Watchers member I don't seem to be able to stick to the diet for any length of time especially during Passover with all the foods you only get once a year. It's hard to pass it all up.

The shawl is coming along nicely, I've been working on it to the exclusion of everything else so I've no progress to report on the sweater. I just love doing lace. DD has asked for a scarf in Slytherin House colors to wear to the new Harry Potter movie when it comes out. A friend of hers wants one too and I said I'd make her one if she paid for the wool. I'm probably going to do it gratis though, can't see taking the money from one of DD's friends. Now all I have to do is find the time to go to the LYS and buy the yarn in the proper colors.

I finished Water for Elephants and really liked it the discussion on the book starts on April 15th which ought to be interesting. I've never participated in a book group before and I am not sure how an online one is going to work but I am willing to give it a try. The voting is now going on for the second book we are going to read but I don't like any of the choices so I am going to give it a pass next month. I am deep in the middle of another book titled The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club and I cannot put it down. I highly recommend it. But word of warning it's a very British book with lots of British English in it but don't let that stop you it's too good to miss and I am a sucker for "knitting novels"

Sunny day today, nice after the rain we had yesterday. DD is home on spring break and we went to the mall yesterday to buy her some shirts. She couldn't seem to find anything that suited her until we went into the last store (Spencer's which makes me cringe). We also went to Ikea which is next to this mall. We went mostly to eat lunch and to pickup some moose shaped pasta. DD likes moose and is very amused by this stuff. It's a wierd purchase to make just before Passover but we'll save it for after the holiday.

DS comes home for a week starting tomorrow morning can't wait to have him. Passover starts tomrrow night, and for the first night we'll be going to a friend's house, all I have to bring is a vegetable. Thursday night it's just us here at home. I'm making Brisket (which I do on top of the stove as post roast), chicken soup with Matzo balls (of course), and something called a matzo kugel which is kind of like stuffing baked in a pan. It's yummy with gravy from the pot roast on top of it.

I am in the Stitch and Book group on Ravelry and the first book picked is Water for Elephants. I am enjoying it quite a bit. It's about a young man who joins the circus and what happens to him. It alternates chapters from his point of view as an old man of 90 with chapters from his point of view as a young man in his 20's. This is the first book club I've been in and am looking forward to the discussions that will be starting on April 15. I've got a bit more than half the book to go I think I can get it finished in time if I can keep myself from working on the shawl which is proving to be addictive. I've discovered that I love lace knitting. Must find excuses to work on lace :).

I have been doing a lot of surfing around the Ravelry forums. My God what a time sink that is. I've been on Rav for nearly a year and am just now getting to use it with any regularity. I still don't understand the difference between my Favorites and my Queue, and I don't have my stash up there (mostly because I am embarrassed by how crappy it is way too much plastic in there) but it's a valuable resource. I made a half serious post on the beginning lace knitters board about my nervousness at doing Kitchener stitch and ended up getting some real good and helpful replies.

I am still working on the shawl but plan to put in some work on the sweater today. I am avoiding it because I have to frog back a couple of rows on the sleeve I'm working on as I missed an important decrease on it. I hate to frog cables!

This afternoon I have some work to do for Meals on Wheels. I've been a volunteer for nearly a year now and was recently asked to do some administrative work for them. Meals on Wheels is a very satisfying project to be involved in, people really appreciate what you do and it doesn't take too much time at all. I really believe in doing community service and this fits into my schedule very well.

Went to see DS yesterday. We had a great time, except for the dinner. One mistake after another and we had to wait for a real long time for a table. We're not going back there any time soon which is a shame because the food was plentiful and good.

We spent most of the day shopping. DS and DD needed clothes and there is no tax on clothing in Pennsylvania making visits to DS an ideal time to buy. I need some stuff too but didn't get anything. We were in Kohl's at one point and I suppose I could have found something there to fit, but I just wasn't in the mood. Now if there had been a Coldwater Creek store then I'd have made the effort to look. I love Coldwater Creek.

Making steady progress on the shawl. I found that I had to put in lots of stitch markers, one for each repeat to keep track of the pattern. I reccomend that technique to anyone trying to do lace. It makes it easier to follow the pattern and also makes it easier to find mistakes when and if they occur. I've not done much work on anything else since I started the shawl, it's a very absorbing project.

Some Success!

I am cautiously claiming some success with the shawl. I had frogged it back to the beginning (yet again) and was able to get past the point where I nearly flung the thing out the window last week. A few more rows and I'll put in a life line. Pictures to follow as soon as I have enough on the needles to make it worthwhile. I have not picked up the socks again quite yet. One pain in the neck at a time.

I've been playing around with Twitter and after making fun of people who use it have found that it's really a lot of fun. If you want to follow me you can find me as eileendoreen on Twitter. If you are up on Twitter and know of anything I should be following and am not, let me know.

Arrrrgggghhhh!

OK it's official the knitting gods are out to get me. Thought I'd pick up DD's socks and work on them as an antidote to the shawl, no sooner to I do that than I drop a bunch of stitches (they worked their way off of one of the needles when I wasn't paying attention) and I had to frog back a bunch to fix it (it was easier than picking up the stitches) I just can't win.

Ever have one of those days when you want to throw your knitting out the nearest window? I'm feeling like that right now. Since yesterday I've been making attempts at my new lace project and keep making mistakes. I've not even gotten to the point where a lifeline would make sense. God I'm frustrated!

DS is home for the weekend and happily settled in the den watching bad Japanese cartoons. (anime is a passion of his) It's always good to have him home. I really miss him when he's at school.

I got some knitting in on the way to and from picking him up and made good progress on DD's socks as a result. This is a feat as I have had to frog this particular sock Lord knows how many times. (these are the socks I was going to do on two circs but gave up and went back to my tired and true dpn's) I might go with DS to my favorite LYS and pick out yarn for a sweater for him. He's been asking me to make him one and as I am up to the sleeve on my aran sweater it's a good time to start it. I plan to make the Leo sweater from Knitty. It's simple as he requested but has enough interest in the pattern to keep me from going crazy. I have to make it from an easy to care for yarn, something superwash. DS goes to a boarding school for special needs kids and does his own laundry. Asking him to hand wash something just is not in the cards. I'm sure that I can find something at the LYS. Don't know if we have the time to go this weekend though, it can always wait until April when he will be in for a week for the Passover/Easter break.

Feeling much better these days. Still coughing a bit but nothing like I was last week. My Secret Pal sent me the most awesome package take a look!

Four skeins of Knitpicks gloss lace yarn, a kit to make the cutest wallet, a skein of hand dyed yarn from an indy dyer, a set of Harmony dp needles which I've been wanting to try for ages and the book Knit So Fine. The lace yarn is meant for a project from the book that's on my Ravelry queue.

My pal was the bestest and really spoiled me rotten. I've already decided to do Secret Pal 14.

This has not been a good day for me. I am still coughing up a storm and I overslept and missed a meeting about DS's schooling. In all the years he's been in school I've never, ever missed a meeting about his work and placement. I feel so bad I cannot tell you. I called the district office and spoke to the social worker assigned to his case. She reassured me that everything was fine and that everything was fine and filled me in on what I missed. They didn't decide on anything I had not already agreed to and he's good to go for the coming school year. But I still feel like a lousy parent for missing it. DH tried to make me feel better by saying I'm sick and that's why it happened. He's right but I still expect to feel guilty for a few days.

I did go and see DS last weekend so my being sick didn't totally ruin things. Thankfully my coughing was at the minimum during the movie we saw. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and he said I have bronchitis and gave me some meds for it.

On to happier things. Lupie nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award

Here are the rules for the nominees:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 8 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Here are the blogs I am nominating I could easily add more than 8:

Dawn Brocco's Life and Design Blog
Getting Stitched on the Farm
For the Love of Fiber
Knit for Joy!
Meezermeowmy's Web Log
The Blue Blog
Yarnhog
Shut Up & Knit

This has not been a good week at our house. DD has been in bed the entire week with a horrible cold and I caught it from her so I've been sick too. I hope that I feel better in the morning as we are supposed to go see DS tomorrow.
Here for your viewing pleasure is the yarn I bought for my shawl.
As you may or may not remember it's Noro Sock yarn. I really like the color. I plan to start it as soon as I feel human again.





And here is a picture of DD's socks in progress

Went to Weight Watchers today and happily I lost 1.2 pounds. It would be nice if it were more but I will take what I can get at least it was a loss. I've been fighting a battle with my weight for a long time now. I need to lose 50 pounds and figure at this rate it will take about a year. That's fine slow is better it's more likely to stay off.

Spent some time knitting DD's socks today. They seem to be coming out nicely without any noticeable ladder. That's something I've had trouble with in the past and the reason I was trying to learn to do socks on circ's rather than dp needles. One of these days I will get it right. Some time this year I'd also like to learn to do toe up socks. All the socks I've done to this point have been top down.

Midnite is doing quite well. He's eating and starting to move about a bit more. The only problem is that the fuzzball hates me now because I give him his medicine. He runs away from me whenenver I come near him. DD says that DH is the only person in the house that Midnite likes now because he doensn't poke him, prod him, or try to give him medicine. I suppose that he'll warm up to me again after he's done with the meds.

I just wanted to say how floored I am that Alison took the time to post a comment about Midnite. Some of you may know that she herself has been quite ill lately and that she took the time just shows what a special lady she is. If you think of it take the time to read her blog and send her a word of encouragement.

The fuzball is home and seems OK. We have to keep a close eye on him for the next few days and he may need some tummy medicine but they aren't sure. Only time will tell.

Just a quick update. Spoke to the Vet this morning and Midnite seems to be better but she wanted to keep him for a few hours more so I will probably be picking him up this afternoon. Thanks to all for the kind thoughts about our little fuzzball.

I had to take Midnite back to the vet this morning. He hasn't been eating as much as he should and was very quiet. They decided to keep him for observation and possible fluids, they also found blood in his urine again. I hope he'll be OK. DD is going to be very upset, heck I'm very upset. It's amazing how these little critters worm their way into your heart. I love the little guy, I have to admit that I do.

Here's a picture of the socks I just finished. They are actually a lot darker than this with shades of purple, dark blue, light blue and black.


Midnight continues to improve. He sees the vet again on Presdent's Day until then we have to give him his pain meds and some antibiotics which does not make him happy. I had the devils own time doing it last night.

Started a pair of socks for DD on four needles. I've given up the learning on two circs for the present. DD has been waiting for her socks for a long time and this will allow me to finish them sooner. I wish I could convince her to let me do a pattern on them, but she just wants a plain pair of stockinette stitch anklets. One of these days soon I will give the socks on two circs another try. I do like using the two circs but just cannot get my mind around what to do after the gusset is done. Mental block that I think I will try to get past with some worsted weight yarn and larger needles sometime soon. I think it will be easier making a toddler size sock out of that as a learning tool.

Lost my cell phone today which really pisses me off it was brand new. It's nowhere in the house nor did it turn up at work. To top that off the earphones on my iPod broke on my way to picking up DS (who is in from boarding school for the weekend) and I had no knitting with me for the train ride (didn't have time to start the socks and the sweater is too big and complicated for a train ride) so I had a total of three hours on the train with nothing to do. Not something I am used to. From now on I am going to make sure I have a small knitting project ready for times like this.

Spoke to the vet twice today. Midnite is doing well, resting comfortably and eating. He will need meds for a few days but may even come home tomorrow. They will let me know in the morning.

I finished the socks I've been working on for a hundred years, I don't have a camera so I have to wait for DD to finish her homework to photograph them for you. I am glad to finally be done with these and just in time for a snowy day to wear them on. I also finished the front of my sweater and am starting the sleeves tonight. I am also contemplating doing DD's socks on DP needles instead of the 2 circs. I can't seem to get the technique down. I can knit a circle on two circs fine but have trouble getting past the heel turn. Any opinions?

Finally taking the time to post to the old blog. I keep promising myself that I will do this more regularly but it never seems to work out.

Busy day today. Our guinea pig hasn't been well for the last few days and so we took him to the vet. She diagnosed a stone in his bladder for which he will need surgery. After consulting with DH, who was surprisingly upset over the pig's troubles, we decided to go ahead with the surgery. So Midnite goes in for surgery on Tuesday morning. DD is distraught and I am not too thrilled myself. It's amazing how these little creatures work their way into your heart. On top of that I had to run DD back and forth to school for midterms and go to a meeting at Meals on Wheels. ( I deliver meals on Wednesday mornings but I am taking on some additional responsibilities which I will talk about after I've done it for a bit so I have something intelligent to say)

I've been knitting quite a bit this week. Made excellent progress on the sweater and think that I'll be starting the sleeves this weekend. I've taken more time with this sweater than I should have. For some reason my knitting mojo had taken a hike for an extended period so it languished in its bag for way too long. Checked out a new to me LYS called Knitter's Therapy. Small store, tiny even but a wonderful selection of beautiful yarns. I was impressed by how helpful and interested the owner was. She really went out of her way to help me find a project. I decided on a shawl that is supposed to be made with laceweight cashmere. Only, I'm not using it because I didn't like the colors she had in stock (or at least the ones she had enough of for the pattern). So at her suggestion I bought some Noro Sock yarn in earth tones which I like. It's the right weight and should make up a nice shawl with subtle color changes. I will post a picture of the yarn this coming week (and this time I won't make you wait for it :>)

I won a contest on Alison's blog and got the following wonderful goodies





Isn't the hat great? I've been wearing it constantly in the cold weather we've been having












While I was leaving for my meeting at Meals on Wheels the postman stopped me with a package. Took all my self control not to open it in the car. It was from my secret pal and once again she has spoiled me well and good. Here's a picture of what I got.

Knitting for Peace is a book I've wanted for some time and was very glad to have received. She also sent a beautiful ball of Cascade 220 (which I've never knitted with and always wanted to try), a skein of sock yarn (from an Indie dyer that I may buy from myself one day I really like the colors and the feel of the yarn) and some stitch markers (never have enough of those)

Thank you Secret Pal! You rock!

Tonight we have inventory at the store. It actually started last night,but they only do a few departments a day to make the process go easier. I am scheduled to be at work from 6PM to 2AM and am hoping that we get out early. Last year we didn't but the operations manager running it last year was frankly an idiot and the whole inventory was screwed up as a result. The store has a new operations manager with more experience now and we all hope that this means getting out earlier. Tonight we are supposed to be doing domestics which means towels,sheets and the like. Not my favorite area to work but I suppose I can grin and bear it. Last year I only had one inventory day to work,but this year there are two. I have the same hours on Monday as I do today. It could be worse some people got assigned overnight hours on Monday from 9PM to 5AM.

Today is DH's birthday and due to the inventory I am not going to be home to celebrate it with him. We have put the official celebration of the day to tomorrow when I am off. I bought him an iPod classic and the kids got him an iTunes card to use with it. I think he will like it as he has been talking about getting one for a while now. I know I love my iPod and DD could not survive without hers (or so she says). Now I expect him to tell me I shouldn't have spent the money on it but I think he is more than worth it. DH is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I have been having fun with the spindle that my secret pal sent. I've been using the book Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. She has you using an already made piece of yarn to practice the movements you need to use. I've been mostly successful at doing that,but still feel I need to practice drawing a bit more before I commit to using the lovely roving that was sent along with the spindle. I have plans to use it this weekend some time so stay tuned for pictures of the attempts. The book Teach Yourself Visually Spinning which I mentioned in my last post turned out to be more a book for spinning on a wheel. I am glad that I found the Gibson-Roberts book at my local library. I will have to go out an buy it so that I can refer to it as time goes on. If any of you know of good spindle spinning resources I'd be happy to hear about them.

On New Years Day my family has a silly tradition. We all go out to the mall and buy calendars at half price. It got started as a joke when DH and I were first married and over the years has become part of our holiday celebrations. This year I bought myself the knitting pattern a day calendar ahead of time. I really wanted it and was afraid there wouldn't be any left by the time New Years rolled around. DD was took issue with this and has not let me live it down. Just now as I opened it and got it set up she called me a traitor. In years past I'd often get a wall calendar and a desk calendar, but this year I don't think I'll get the second calendar. Since we got a new computer a few months back and set it up in our living room I am no longer in our home office enough to justify hanging one up in there (that's where I typically hung them in the past). But if I see an especially good one I might buy it anyway and find a place for it later.

Our New Year's Eve get together was a good one. This year instead of buying a giant hero we got a meat platter. I think it worked better than the hero and we will probably do this again. We don't really drink much on New Year's Eve. A couple of glasses of wine or beer is our speed. We also had a shrimp platter and various hot appetizers courtesy of the local warehouse store. I baked chocolate cookies and brownies (DS wanted to bake and I had no problem indulging him) and our friends brought a carrot cake. I have enough food to last for days. But our philosophy about party food is that you can't have too much. (or as our friends put it "God forbid the army should show up and go away hungry")

Speaking of the Army, DS got a call a few days ago from an Army recruiter. I quietly told the woman that DS had Autism and was not a candidate. She apologized for the call and got off the phone quickly. We had a call from the Marines some months ago too. I guess they got his name from the school district. I don't like the idea of these people calling the kids at home and trying to recruit them. Seems a bit invasive.