The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

Another Christmas has come and gone. There were gifts under the tree.



And smiling children.





And yummy cinnamon rolls to be eaten for breakfast.



After the flurry of activity at our house on Christmas morning, we packed up and headed to Cincinnati to spend Christmas evening with my family. This year all of my siblings were together for a few moments in the evening.



The kids and I stayed at my sister's place for a few days. The kids had fun hanging with their cousins. They got to ice skate at Fountain Square, go to top of Carew Tower and view Cincinnati from the Observation Deck, and visit Krohn Conservatory.





We are back home now. I'm off work for the rest of the week and plan to relax, watch football, get my exercise routine back into gear, and knit. I have a Just Enough Ruffles scarf to finish. Other projects are waiting in the wings, including more than a few UFOs.



While watching the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, I will be wearing the toasty warm socks my sister made for me. They are made from her own homespun. They fit perfectly!!

Autumn Snowfall

We woke up this morning to 1-2 inches of snow. The east coast is getting blasted by the storm. I'm waiting to hear from two sisters. One is in Virginia and the other is in New Jersey. I'm sure they have much more. Here's a couple photos from the house. I took these earlier when I got up.

Out the front door:



Out the back door:



This snow is helping to put me in the Christmas spirit. It's been hard for me to get excited this year. I'm hoping the magic grabs me this week.

December began with a couple huge heartbreaks. My mom lost her last living sibling. Aunt Ann lived to 93. She lived a long, happy life, so I'm not too sad to lose her, but the timing is difficult. Also on the same day Aunt Ann died, Kristin lost a friend. Her friend was tragically struck and killed by a train while walking home from school. The boy was walking down the tracks with headphones on. He didn't even hear the train.

Dealing with this has been the hardest thing I've faced as a parent. When your kids are younger and they get hurt, you can give them a hug and kiss and within a few minutes the pain is forgotten. That doesn't work for this. Kristin seems to be coping alright, but I still worry. I told her that the only thing I can guarentee is that someday the pain will go away, but it might take a long time. As a mom,I can't stop thinking about the boy's mother. He was an only child. I pray she heals.

On the knitting front, I'm taking a class at my favorite LYS. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day filled with love and gratitude. Be sure to count your blessings. There will be more than you realize. Here's the top of my list of blessings:



Now go eat some turkey and pumpkin pie!

It's Been A While

October was busy. Here's a few highlights:

Kristin's volleyball occupied 2 weekday evenings and an occasional Saturday per week. She was promoted up to varsity during the second half of September and played every game until the last two games of the tournaments. Her team made it to the 4th round of the tournaments, losing in the district finals.



Trisha's cross country was every Tuesday and Saturday. She improved tremendously through the season, going from 18:36 for a 2-mile run to her best time of 15:03 during the second to last meet. She has plans to run cross country in high school and will only get faster! Run like the wind, Bullseye!!



Getting ready for Blake's big #12 birthday. He wanted a small get-together this year, which was perfectly alright with me. He had a few friends come over last Friday for pizza, cake, and games. The boys had a great time playing with his new Nerf guns. Unfortunately, his cake didn't fare so well. I'm not sure what happened, but when I tried to ice it, the top layer split. Ed said it was too moist. I think I stacked the layers incorrectly. I should have inverted the bottom layer to have the 2 flat sides meet in the middle. Oh well, it still tasted good. And to a group of 11 and 12 year old boys, it was a work of art.



With all the good, there must come some bad. The leaf below was collected while taking a long walk one Sunday afternoon after a particularly stressful week. My biggest stress came from having to have a diagnostic mammogram. I have been having some issues and my doctor thought there might be a slight chance that the cause was breast cancer. Fortunately, the mammogram showed that everything was okay. The doctor feels it was just inflamation. HUGE RELIEF!!!


The second stress that week came at work. I won't chronicle the details but just say that having to work with a dictator sucks!!! This person was leveling a ton of false accusations against me and trying to get me fired. Fortunately, I weathered the storm. After things calmed down a bit, I had a little chat with the Fuhrer and let him know I didn't appreciate the way he treated me. For the moment, he's backed off. I don't know if standing up to him helped, or he's retreated and planning a more covert attack for next time. Either way, I'm laying low for a while.

Now, for the knitting portion of the show:

Some socks in either OSU or UC colors. Since UC is doing better this year in football, I think I'll honor them with this pair.



The Taize shawl. I bought the pattern and yarn during the weekend after the stressful week. Taize is a particular type of liturgical service. I thought it rather appropriate because I was saying prayers constantly that week.



The Cherie Amour sweater.

20 Years Ago Today.

It is hard for me to believe that it has been 20 years since Ed and I were married. Time sure does fly by. I need to pull out the photo albums. A time to take a trip down Memory Lane.

I got my burgundy shawl finished last weekend. Click here to see photos of the finished work. I very happy with the final results. It is 21 inches long by 59 inches wide. Now I need an occasion to wear it. Hmmm, anniversary coming up next week. Maybe, maybe.

A LYS near my work is going out of business. I stopped by after work and picked up a new book and 6 skeins of Lorna Lace's Angel. I'm going to make the girls each a pair of fingerless mitts. I'll use Fetching again from knitty. I made myself http://www.ravelry.com/projects/katschem/fetchinglast March as a birthday present to myself. They are soft and warm.

Kristin is moving up to play varsity this week. Four varsity players aren't playing at the moment, each for their own reason, so they need a passer. Kristin has been dressing and sitting the bench. She went in for 3 plays yesterday, but will see more play time during the 3 matches this week. She doesn't want to play varsity because she thinks she isn't good enough. I know she is if she can get past her nerves.

Trisha is enjoying her cross country. She isn't the fastest girl on her team, but she is improving with each meet. If she trains more year-round she'll be a strong runner in high school.

Blake is excited about joining a couple clubs at school. He is joining the Magic & Illusion club and the Technology club. The Tech club learns how to make movies and videos. I have a feeling I'm going to be asked for permission to post some stuff on YouTube.

16 Candles

Kristin turned 16 on Saturday. She managed to not catch her hair on fire while blowing out her candles.



It was a bittersweet day for me. I'm very proud of the beautiful, intelligent young woman she is becoming. But, I miss my little baby girl.



Time goes by too fast. 'Nuf said.

Back to School

Tuesday marked the first day of school for the kids. All the kids woke up early, eager to get to school. Kristin even got up before me and hopped in the shower. She did it again on the second day, but by the third day she had to be dragged out of bed. I knew it wouldn't last, but I was hoping the morning battles wouldn't begin quite this soon. Trisha is always 'Up and At 'Em" for school. She loves school and is always eager to go. She is a little sad that most of her friends are in other classes, but I'm sure she'll make friends among her current classmates. Blake has switched over to the local public school, just as his sisters did after 5th grade. He was nervous at first, worrying that he wouldn't make any friends. After only a couple days, he has met several boys that he says are fun and share common interests. He is also shooting for all As this year. He wants to make this a good year all around.



The Fall sports season has begun. Kristin made the JV volleyball team. Their first official game was yesterday at Ed's alma mater. Kristin's team is half freshman and I was worried it was going to be a total blow-out, but the girls held their own. They lost the first match by about 7 points, won the second match by 3, and lost the 3rd match 26-24. It was very close and exciting. The girls did a great job! BTW, Kristin played libero for the first match. She's the one in the white jersey below.



Trisha is on her school's cross country team. There meets haven't yet begun. Unfortunately, I keep the scorebook for Kristin's team, so getting to Trisha's meets is going to be difficult. I'm hoping to train another parent on how to keep the books, so that I can go. I feel terrible about missing some of her meets.

Speaking of Trisha, she finished the top of her quilt. We need to buy some fabric for the back and then I can quilt it for her. She did a great job. It measures 48" by 72", a nice size for cuddling under on chilly nights.



I've been trying get my shawl finished that I started in Amy Singer's class. I did a little math and figured I can get about 135 rows out of the two skeins of yarn. I'm at about row 120. My goal is to get at least 2 rows a day finished.

Somebody is learning to quilt

After spending Saturday night with her cousin, Trisha decided she wants to make a lap quilt for herself. Her cousin had one on her bed and Trisha decided she liked it. She has tried sewing before, but never took on a project quite like this. Sunday I let her get into my stash and she pulled out a bunch of fabric that she liked. I helped her come up with a simple patchwork design comprised of squares and rectangles. She cut the fabric herself and last night I showed her how to sew the seams. She plans on working on it a little each day. She also wants to make a back panel with a design, instead of the usual one-type of fabric back that most quilts have. I'm anxious to see how it all turns out.

Preparations for school are underway. We are pretty well set with school supplies. I'm almost done with the stack of forms that need completed each year. School clothes are getting purchased. I'm exhausted. Yep! Everything is right on schedule.

Kristin made the JV volleyball team. The coach will probably use her as libero. Only 4 other sophomores made the team. There were a lot of freshman that made the teams, 17 out of 30 in total.

Trisha tried out for volleyball but decided she's rather do cross country. The VB coach offered her a position to be on the team and practice with the other players, but she wouldn't get in any games. It didn't sound like a fun position to be in so she switched sports. She loves running also, so I'm sure she'll be happy.

Blake is getting a little nervous about his new school. He's worried that he won't make any friends, but his sisters have assured him that he will meet tons of people and will have a lot of friends. I'm hoping this is as good of year for him as it was for his sisters.

How's this for motivation?

I admit it. I'm an ADD knitter. I have many projects on the needles and don't seem to finish many. As noted in my last post, I fell in love with a shawl I started while taking Amy Singer's class at Knitter's Connection. When I packed for our vacation at the beginning of July, I had all intentions of working on it at the condo. As is my nature, I overpacked and also stuck Decimal into my knitting bag. Well, Decimal won the battle for my attention. I worked on it through the month at my usual snail's pace. THEN earlier this week I received a message from Amy Singer herself asking for permission to use a photo of my shawl as an example in her class. She asked if I had any more recent photos, hopefully of it completed. Now I have to get it finished soon. Shamefully I had to admit I hadn't progressed much more. Here is how it stands tonight. It is a few repeats farther along than when I last posted.



July totally passed by without a post. Here's a photo summary of the month. It was a fun one!!!

At Hilton Head Island


Check out the hot body on the beach.


Sorry, he's mine!


Beach photo shoot


Ed successfully wake boarding at Lake Norris


Ed's luck running out


The kids always have fun with their cousins when we have our annual weekend at Lake Norris.

Knitter's Connection

Last week I attended Knitter's Connection at the Columbus Convention Center. I took 3 classes: Plug and Play Shawl Design with Amy Singer, Advanced Sweater Shaping with Sally Melville, and Double Knitting 101 with Amy Detjen. All the classes were fantastic and meeting and chatting with these knitting greats was a thrill.

Here is my creation from the shawl class.



The premiss of the class was that you can take any sock yarn and work up a shawl in fairly short order since the gauge is larger than than lace-weight yarn. And, as Amy said, most of us have tons of sock yarn on hand these days anyway.

Sally Melville's class was a lecture on set-in sleeves and shirt tail hems. It was very interesting. She gave us the tips we need to tailor any sweater to our individual body. I'm anxious to give it a try.

The double knitting class was fun and gave me confidence with knitting two colors at one time. However, the technique of double knitting isn't something I think I'll use very often. The climate around here just isn't cold enough for that kind of covering. One possible other appication could be for a baby blanket. I'll have to file away the technique for the next baby announcement that comes my way.

Yesterday morning was spent cheering my oldest brother, Joe, on at the state Special Olympics. Joe is a very good bowler and competes most years in the tournament. His first game was fantastic, with a 164, but he fell off a bit in the second game. He finished with a silver medal. He's happy as long as he gets a medal. Here he is at after receiving his award.

We Be (Strawberry) Jammin'

It's strawberry season around Ohio. Last Saturday I went to a local farm and picked 4 quarts. When I got home I tried my hand at making freezer jam. It was so easy!! The local grocery store had red raspberries for $1 per half-pint, so I bought a bunch and made a batch of raspberry freezer jam. Blake loves the jam. He' been making himself toast and jam for breakfast. This morning I made drop biscuits to have with my tea and jam. (Gee I feel a song from 'The Sound of Music' coming on!) Here's a photo. If I say so myself, this photo turned out to be a very pleasing still life. This is the strawberry jam.



Today's project it to put a UV film on my bedroom windows. My intention is to get enough practice before attempting to cover the big windows that are over the front door. I'm learning that it is at least a 2-person job. The film wants to curl back on itself. It is very sticky and if it does curl back, you are screwed.

Our house faces west-southwest. There are no trees out front to block the sun and with the two big windows in the entry hall, the house warms up too much in the summer. I'm hoping this helps to keep things cooler. The film advertises that it reduces 74% of the sun's rays. Let's hope it works.

Doesn't Feel Like June

It is a cold, rainy evening. THe sun has not been seen in days. If it wasn't for the end of school activities, I wouldn't know what time of year it is.

School is completely over for the kids. The girls finished up last Friday and Dash's last day was today. Today was the last day ever for the elementary school for all the kids. YEAH!!! It isn't a bad school. I just wasn't happy with the experience there. Some of the teachers were only marginal and the principal is too mean. Switching the kids out of private school into the local public school system has been the best thing we've done. The girls have loved every minute of the local school and the curriculum has been challenging enough to satisfy me.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster. I met an old friend whom I haven't seen in years. Cat and I met when I was 9 years old. She, my younger sister, and I became pen pals. We kept up with each other through school and college. She came to Ohio for my wedding in 1989 and Nancy's in 1992. Nancy and I went to Canada for her wedding in 1992. I think Nancy's wedding was the last time we saw each other. She and I last talked about 11 years ago. After that we lost touch for a while but reconnect thanks to the Internet. We have discovered we both love to knit. A couple months ago she asked if I was going to the festival. I hadn't considered it, but decided that it was a great idea. It was nice to have a day for myself. I have a picture from the festival, which I will post later when I can get Dancer's camera back. The festival was geared more towards spinning, but there were a lot of yarn vendors nonetheless. I think I might have caught a bug to try spinning though. I'm considering signing up for the Beginning Spinning class at Knitters Connection later this month.

Well, I'm off now to grab a cold drink and enjoy a quiet evening. Later!!

Hoping Spring Brings Happier Times

Prayers are needed for a good friend of mine, Donna. 2009 is turning out to be a very difficult year for her and her family. Her husband, Dean, lost his job in March. Donna has been out of work for over a year now, but has been able to find part-time temporary work. As of yet, Dean hasn't found a new job. Their oldest son is graduating from high school this year and plans to attend college in the fall. Their other son is a freshman in high school. Last week, Donna's mother was diagnosed with ALS. The family is devistated. They are praying that the disease progresses slowly so that Kathy and her husband, Fred, have many more years together.

This news is hitting my family hard because Donna's parents have lived across the street from my parents our entire lives. My Mom has commented on several occasions that Kathy and Fred have been the best neighbors that anyone could ever have had. Her parents have been extremely helpful to my parents in the past 9 years since Dad had his first stroke. Kathy and Fred have been there whenever Mom needed assistance. They have come over at a moments notice when Dad has gone into seizures. They have helped with running errands. They even cleaned up a horrid mess in Mom and Dad's house after one of Dad's 'episodes'. (I won't describe the mess, but be assured it was a mess you would think twice about touching even if it was your own family.) They also have a huge garden and share their harvest with my parents. They are angels!! I just pray that God is merciful on them.

Switching to happier news now.

Easter was spent in Cincinnati with my family. We didn't do a very good job coordinating the menu because it was heavy on carbohydrates and desserts. We had two kinds of potatoes, mac-n-cheese, and about 7 desserts. I made two.

First a fruit tart. It was a recipe I improvised from several other recipes and if I say so myself, turned out quite well. Heres a picture. Doesn't it look yummy!!!



My other dessert was a lemon sponge pie. This is an old family recipe from my paternal grandmother. It is Dad's favorite. It didn't get cut on Easter, so I sent it home with my parents so that they could enjoy it through the week. It is like a lemon meringue pie with the custard and meringue folded together.



Here's the latest progress on Decimal. Coming along slowly. I'm through 2 balls of yarn. 10 to go. This first picture is a little blurry, but the color is right.


The second picture is clear, but the color is off.



Yesterday I bought WendyKnit's sock book. I really like it. After I finish Decimal, I'm going to try a few of her socks. My goal is to go through the book and make all of them. It is a nice learning resource.

Happy Easter!

It is hard to believe that it is mid-April already. I feel like the year is passing by in a blur.

Work is a big pain in the butt! I can't remember if I've mentioned it already (forgive me if I have) but I'm on a HUGE project to convert the company's financial systems and business processes. The Go Live data is October 1, 2010. The pace is exhausting and the documentation requirements are extreme. The project management having us document everything, sometimes multiple times in different formats. It is hard to keep up on top of being in meetings for over 7 hours a day. Lately I've been working close to 48 hours a week. I come home in the evenings with barely enough energy to cook dinner and check up on the kids and their homework.

I am gratefull that I do have a job, though. A good friend of ours lost his job last month. He's had a few leads but they were all on the East Coast. He and his wife don't want to think about moving or having him commute long distance yet. I just keep praying things turn soon.

Ed's job is in a precarious state right now. His company has announced that they are trying to sell off the division he is in. Until a buyer comes forward, we don't know what it means. If it gets bought by a smaller company, Ed thinks he'll be safe. But if it gets bought by a larger company, he thinks he'll be out of a job when the companies get merged. The third possibility is if no buyer comes forward. In that case, a lay-off is possible if his company decides to consolidate resources.

On to happier news.

I finished my February Ladies Sweater. You can see pictures here. I love it.

I am now working on Decimal. It is coming along nicely. I love the border pattern.

I hope to have this completed soon, so I can where it during the warm weather.

Speaking of weather, today is a beautiful day. I'm off to enjoy the nice spring day. Hope you can too.

My daffodils aren't blooming well this year. Here's one of the few that flowered. I need to find out what's going wrong.

A Day Off

I decided to take a day off work. Since the end of January my work schedule has been crazy with training and meetings. The craziness has kept me from blogging. Here's an update of my slow progress.

Long ago I started a pattern for a throw made out of Lion's Brand yarn. It got shoved into a drawer and forgotten. Over the winter I pulled it out and finished it. The kids love it now. It was an easy knit3, purl 3 pattern on size 13 needles. A nice project for in front of the television during the winter.


My February Ladies Sweater is slowing coming along. I stopped on one sleeve to start the other. Once I get the second sleeve to be the same length as the first, I'll evaluate how much yarn I have left and how long I want the sleeves to be. As you can see, I already put on the buttons. Once I cast off and weave in a few last ends, this puppy will be done!

Sorry this isn't the greatest picture. Black, especially black with metalic thread intermingled, doesn't photograph well.

I needed some instant gratification last week. I was feeling a bit blue about something that has been on my mind for a while so I decided to stop at one of a LYS on the way home from work last Friday. I found a sample of Fetching sitting right next to a basket of Lorna's Laces Angel. It was love at first sight!!! When I got home I cast on and by Monday evening I had the yummiest pair of mitts.


Yesterday was my birthday and I received a very lovely gift from my sister Patty. This is some yarn that she dyed and spun. It is about 55 yards of sport weight wool. I'm not sure what to make with it yet. Right now I'm just carrying it around with me like a kid with a teddy bear.


I have my next potential project in mind. It will be another stash-buster. I promise I won't cast one until the FLS is complete!