Second Youngest

First February Finish

2012-02-11T09:59:00.002-05:00

One of the blogs I follow (unfortunately can't remember which one though) mentioned that February is finishing month. Last night I finished Trisha's ballet slippers. I knit both tops last night and then worked in the ends. Trisha spent the night at a friend's house, so she couldn't model them. I slipped them on to take this picture. Please ignore my legs. Because of the perspective, my legs look monstrous. I have wool to make myself a pair, but I'm going to hold off and try to finish another project.

There's finally some snow on the ground. It's not as much as I had hoped, but I'll take it. A blast of arctic air followed it, so it is going to stick around for a few days. You can see in this picture that my little flag is blowing around a bit.

No footprints in the snow on the front walk. There should be one set. Our paper didn't show up this morning. My Saturday routine starts with making a pot of tea and some breakfast, then I sit down with the paper as I eat a quite meal. The kids are usually still asleep and Ed sits in his office catching up on work.

Here's the view from the back door.

I have to venture out in the cold later this morning to pick up my car. After coming back from Cincinnati last week, I noticed that it was leaking a pink fluid. We took it into the dealer to have it repaired. The water pump was the culprit. Since it was covered under the power train warranty, there isn't any charge for the repair. I really don't want to think about getting another car right now, but this is the second power train related repair in the past 7-8 months. I'd like to go at least another year before shopping for a new vehicle. My car is paid off, but we are still paying for Ed's and the car the girls drive. I'd like to get one of those paid off before incurring another car payment.

Kristin submitted a couple scholarship applications this week. I think she's anxious to go away. She and her 'boyfriend' broke up this week. They've had a roller coaster relationship for about a year and a half. I told her she needs to forget him (Cee Lo song comes to mind - the unedited version : p ) and focus on finishing up her senior year and going off to college. She hurting a lot right now but I think her friends are supporting her. She doesn't talk to me about these kind of things, but I can see in her eyes that she is heart-broken. I told her she deserves someone who treats her with respect and dignity, and not set rules that apply to her but not himself. One of life's hard lessons. Good to learn them now.

Got 2 Soles (and a couple other things)

2012-02-04T13:22:00.003-05:00

I finished the two soles for Trisha's slippers. As I mentioned last week, they are a little wonky since I practiced knitting backwards. The tension should even out as they are worn. I'll work on these tomorrow while watching the Super Bowl. The tops of the slippers work up very fast.

I had to go back down to Cincinnati this week for another funeral. A family friend passed away. This lady was also the mother of my friend who lost her husband last year. This was the third funeral in six months. I think that is enough.

While I was staying at Mom's I worked a little more on Pure Love. This is definitely a project where I have to concentrate and not have any sort of distractions. My progress is slow, but it is worth it. I'm still absolutely in love with this yarn and the pattern.

On my way down to Mom's I stopped at Fiberge yarn shop. It is the shop where I purchased the pattern and yarn for the girls' slippers. This time I bought some Malabrigo sock in Archangel colorway. OMG! I understand now why people are in love with Malabrigo. I'm making myself a pair of socks using the pattern Little Minx. It is a little difficult doing the traveling twisted stitches with size 1 needles but my fingers are getting acclimated to it. This pattern uses Judy's Magic Cast On. This was the first time I tried it. It is so easy. I will definitely use it again for toe-up socks.

The weather today is wet and dreary. It was a mix of rain and snow earlier. Now it is just cold and overcast. I wish winter would just roll in for a little bit.

Working on #2

2012-01-29T11:10:00.000-05:00

With Kristin's slippers finished, I started on Trisha's. I have the sole of one finished and the second sole started. I'm practicing knitting and purling right to left with these. It is a bit difficult throwing with my left index finger, but I'm getting the hang of it. My tension is very wonky so I have to stop every few stitches to even things out. I figure since this is garter stitch, and the bottom of the slipper, a little wonkiness won't hurt.

Winter teased me again this weekend. This is what Mother Nature was giving us when I got up in the morning. I knew the weather report didn't call for much, but I had hopes that the predictions were wrong. Darn it if they weren't right! By mid-afternoon the sky was clear and brilliant blue. It is still cold and blustery, but the sun is shining. I'm still hoping for one big snow storm.

Ed and I are getting into crunch-time for getting the paperwork completed requesting financial aid for Kristin. We know we won't qualify for any assistance, but we have to file the forms anyway. The university Kristin has decided to go to requires all scholarship recipients to file the form so that they can report demographics. Oh well, I guess we better get started.

Blast of Winter

2012-01-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

The weather has been up and down. Cold air and a wintery mix hit last night. Here's what it looks like from the back and the front of the house.

Honestly, I was hoping for more snow. My philosophy is 'if it's going to be cold, it might as well have a lot of snow.' The whiteness is much better than the grey and dreary. This snow isn't going to last long. The forecast for tomorrow is 50 deg F.

I finished Kristin's slippers in the past week. Here they are on her feet.

I think she might have them on the wrong feet, but who really cares. They got the seal of approval from her. Instead of slipping them off, she kept them on when she put on her boots to run some errands. Now I'm off to make a pair for Trisha.

Things are starting to look like they might get crazy again at work. I really hope not. This time around, though, I am not going to let it consume me. I've learned to do what I can and then let go when I begin to feel overwhelmed.

Part of my plan to not let work overwhelm me is to take frequent days off. We are planning a get away in the spring and I've decided to go to Stitches South in April. Two of my friends from work are also going. It is going to be a great girls trip. I can't wait! I have to sign up for classes still. I'm only going to take a couple. There are a lot more crochet classes than in the past. I know how to crochet but I really am not a fan of how it looks, at least in garments.

Oh! Lastly, today is National Hug Day. Be sure to hug everyone you love!!

Yummy!

2012-01-15T12:45:00.001-05:00

I haven't made much progress on knitting this week. Work and evening events consumed too much of my time. When I get the slippers finished, I'll post a picture.

This year my work is starting a new initiative to promote wellness. I was selected as one of the advocates for this program. Anyone who looks at me and sees how overweight I am might wonder why was I chosen. This program isn't just about physical wellness. It is also about mind and spirit wellness. As an advocate I feel I should take actions to promote wellness at home as well as work. In keeping with that I made some healthy, but very yummy, pancakes yesterday for breakfast.

These are oatmeal whole wheat blueberry pancakes. They were so good, and so filling. I couldn't finish that plate. Later in the day when I was with some friends for lunch, I still wasn't very hungry and at only half of my sandwich. The recipe is one I came across on Pinterest. (I'm totally addicted!!) The recipe came from here. I didn't have buttermilk so I improvised by adding lemon juice to regular milk. Also, I used quick oats, so I didn't feel like I needed to wait an hour before cooking up the pancakes. They were so yummy. The rest are in the freezer for workday breakfasts.

Also yesterday, I went to a Sew-In at my work. Years ago, a group of friends from work and I formed a group to make baby quilts for ABC Quilts. ABC Quilts was a non-profit organization that donated crib quilts to hospitals and family agencies to give to at-risk children. We would have monthly Sew-Ins to work on our projects. Back then my children were little and it was a nice Mom's Day Out. The group expanded to include people from a local quilt guild. A few years ago ABC quilts closed shop. Many of the original members left the company. My kids grew and got involved in activities that made it difficult for me to go to the Sew-Ins. As a result of all these factors, plus a transition from quilting to knitting, I quit going to the Sew-Ins. After Dad's passing I felt like I needed to do some of the things I used to do. I went to the December Sew-In and got to see a lot of the old group who also happened to be there. At that Sew-In a few people expressed an interest in learning to knit. So yesterday, at the January Sew-In, I taught a beginners knitting class. I was nervous at first and not sure I was going to be able to do it. I think it went very well. The two ladies picked it up quickly. The one lady even tried, and loved, continental knitting. The other lady was having a little trouble because she is having carpal tunnel issues in her dominant hand. I'm anxious to see if the keep up the knitting. Sharing my obsession was fun!

Happy 2012

2012-01-07T11:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is 2012 already. This is going to be an exciting year. My oldest graduates from high school and then goes off to college. She received an acceptance letter from her #1 choice on Christmas Eve. That was a nice present for her. She was nervous about not getting accepted, although her dad and I kept telling her she had nothing to worry about. She has fantastic credentials: >4.0 GPA, Honors and AP classes, 2 years on varsity volleyball team, National Honors Society member, academic tutor for the school, works part time, great people skills. Now all she has to do is decide what she is going to study. She has narrowed it down to business or optometry. Not exactly similar interests, but I'm sure she'll figure it out.

With her moving away later this year, I've been thinking a lot about projects to do for her. I've started two things, one a quick project and the other a longer commitment. The first, fast project is a pair of knitted ballet slippers.

These are the Pleated Ballet Flats from Coco Knits. It is a very fast and fun project. They look very tiny when finished, but stretch nicely when slipped onto the foot. It is very important to bind off loosely or with a stretchy bind-off, if there is one (I'm not sure there is). I bought the pattern and the yarn from Fiberge in Cincinnati while I was visiting my mom last weekend. I also purchased the Prairie Boots pattern. Before I make the boots, I'm going to make slippers for my other daughter and myself.

The other Going-Away-To-College project is a blanket. Kristin likes greens and browns (which I found rather unusual for a teenage girl). I fell in love with Curve of Pursuit when I saw it mentioned in another blog. There are so many possibilities for the color variations. Kristin asked that I make it with the two colors spiralling out from the center. She wanted it light. I suggested starting with a dark center and moving outward in lighter and lighter shades. In the tradition of a log-cabin quilt, I made the center square red to represent the home and heart. I want her to feel my love when she gets homesick when she moves away. It seems like a fussy pattern right now and there will be lots of ends to weave in on the backside. I plan to do the weaving periodically as I move along to keep myself from going crazy at the end.

The Christmas holiday was nice this year. It was different without Dad. Mom seemed to enjoy herself during the family gathering. I occasionally hear the sadness in her voice, but she seems to be coping okay. Her faith is tremendous, so she knows Dad is in a much better place now.

For myself, I'm commiting to taking better care of myself. I want to live a long time and see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Last year was so stressful and it took a great toll on my body. This year I'm going to try to manage the stress better and take better care of my body. (Right now is a great temptation because my son just baked some cinnamon rolls and the wonderful aroma is filling the house!) I want to work up to exercising 6 days a week, eat healthier, practice relaxation techniques, and be more demonstrative with my love for my friends and family.

So on that note, thanks for taking time to read this blog. I know there aren't many people who visit, but I appreciate each one of you. Happy and Healthy 2012 to you!

Getting Closer to Christmas

2011-12-17T10:29:00.001-05:00

I have my trainer's hat finished.

I made it out of Cascade 220 Heathers and Cascade 220 Paints. The pattern is the Boyfriend Hat. I knit an inch with the Heather and then picked up the Paints and used the jumpless striping technique. I really like how it turned out. The blue bits are brighter in the photo than they really are, but the other colors are true. This was a fantastic, fast knit.

I'm not making much progress on the Christmas gifts this year. The kids have asked for only one thing each. You would think I'd have it done by now. I'm still a bit overwhelmed at work, but it is easing up a bit. This past week I got to move to a private office. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more work done now, with fewer interruptions and distractions from people talking around me. It has been 3 years since I had my own office. It feels so good to have a space of my own.

Today my friend Donna is heavy on my mind. Her husband passed away back in July. He battled leukemia for 15 months. Today would have been their 29th wedding anniversary. It has been 5 months since Dean died. Donna is still having a tremendously hard time dealing with it all. I am very, very worried about her. She is receiving grief counselling and has a lot of friends supporting her. I just wish there was more I could do for her.

Another person I'm worried about is my Mom. Understandably she sounds so sad every time I call. She told me that she didn't feel like decorating this year. My siblings who live close to her took care of putting up the lights and tree for her. It will be good to have everyone together around her this Christmas.

Quick Gift

2011-12-04T22:07:00.001-05:00

Friday after work I fought traffic to get to my LYS before they closed. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. My hurry was to get some Cascade 220 to make my trainer a hat for Christmas. I wanted to work on the hat over the weekend. I bought the yarn and turned to leave when I spied a gorgeous scarf. I asked for the pattern and the shop owner told me it was something new from Rowan - Kidsilk Creation. She showed me how quickly this hank of fiber could be transformed into a beautiful scarf. In case you don't know, Kidsilk Creation is Kidsilk Haze knit very loosely into a tube. To make the scarf you knit along the side of the tub and then stretch it out to form ruffles. On impulse, I bought a hank to make a gift for a friend. Here it is:

Purple (kidsilk) Haze. It honestly took me only 3 or 4 hours. That time was not fully focused time either. Very easy project for in front of the television. Here's a close up of the ruffles. The color is truer in this photo than the one above.

Buffler hat

2011-11-05T10:43:00.002-04:00

I finished the hat for Ed. This is made out of Buffalo Gold Earth. It is really yummy fiber. I just made up the pattern myself. It is a long overdue anniversary gift. Here it is. Ed wasn't too happy about my photographing him since he hadn't shaved yet this morning. I liked the way it turned out. He's worn it a couple times while hunting. We'll see if it gets to go to the high school football game tonight. That will be the true indication of how warm it is. Oh, and it is named 'Buffler' because that is how my dad would jokingly say Buffalo.

Now, what will be my next project to finish? I'm still chipping away at the Taise shawl and the Pure Love shawl. I also want to get the Go Live Minimalist sweater done.

Unforgettable

2011-10-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

My heart is very heavy. Sunday night at 11:45 pm, my dad took his last breath. He suffered a lot during these past few months. He is at peace now and is no longer struggling against the inflictions that plagued his body. His ordeal really began 11 1/2 years ago when he had his first stroke. That stroke began a long saga of ailments that slowly chipped away at him. Mid-July this year, he had another stroke, marking the last time he was ever at home. Between hospitals and nursing homes, the doctors tried everything they could to repair the damage to his body, but nothing worked. He was too weak. The viewing and funeral are over. My family and I now try to get back to a normal existance. It was a great comfort to us to see all the people that came out to honor him. We knew what a great father he was, but we learned how loved and respected he was by others at work, church, and the community.

For two days, my siblings and I sorted through old family photographs trying to create collages for the viewing. We came across many that we had never seen before. There was an entire box of photos from when my dad was in the Army. He served in the US Army from January 1946 to March 1947. He was stationed in the Phillipines and was part of the crew that worked to rebuild that country after World War II. He had a camera with him during his time there. He took pictures and sent them home to his family. On the backs of some of the photos, he wrote little notes. On one that is a particular favorite of mine, he is standing shirtless at a side angle, pointing his pistol at the camera. On the back he wrote the note: "Dad, I'm keeping in shape. How about you?" I wonder if he had a double meaning to that note. Obviously he was in good physical shape. But I recall a story he once told me about when he was growing up. During the Depression, his father was a night watchman at the local dump. Dad would take dinner over to his father every night and then sit with him and practice shooting the rats.
There was another collection of photos that I had never seen. They were from my parents' wedding. I often looked at the formal photo album, but I had never seen the snapshots. Another favorite photo is one showing my parents kissing each other rather passionately after they danced their first dance as husband and wife. Their marriage lasted over 58 1/2 years. I know my dad absolutely adored my mom. Eleven years ago, on a weekend months after his first stroke when my mom herself was in the hospital, Dad and I sat at home drinking a beer together. He got very nostalgic and told me many, many stories. I'm sorry I didn't pull out a notebook and write them all down. I can't remember all the details, but I will never forget how deeply he loved her. Their love is the model for true love. They took their vow 'for better or for worse' very seriously. The strength of their love got them through many hardships, including the death of their first baby, raising eight children including one that is handicapped, the deaths of their own parents, cancer for both of them and other ailments, and countless other struggles.

I don't have digital copies yet of all the photos I want from the masses we sorted through. Here is one that I will always treasure. This was Easter when I was 3 years old. My sister Nancy is the baby.

Here is the last picture of my family together.

What to do with 4 pounds of apples

2011-10-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

Make apple butter. Four pounds of apples yielded 8 cups of puree. Eight cups of puree cooked down to slightly over 7 cups of apple butter. Here is the final result. It was a fun little project. I wished I had more to cook with. Oh well, next time I know. Now I need to get some cinnamon bread to toast to use as the delivery device. Yum!

I'm Loving It

2011-10-15T15:03:00.001-04:00

This is the start of my Pure Love stole. I am so enamored by this fiber. It is so soft and cuddly. I can't wait to get this done. Unfortunately, this has taken my attention away from finishing Ed's hat. I'm rationalizing this by telling myself that he doesn't need it yet. Duck hunting season started today, but it isn't cold enough yet for a hat made out of buffalo fiber. I've got time.

Didn't mean to be away so long

2011-10-08T11:03:00.002-04:00

Life continues to be absolutely crazy. I told my husband the other day that I have a fantasy, which made him perk up his ears. My fantasy involves a cabin in the woods with a woodburning fireplace. I'd like to sit in front of a fire for days and do nothing but knit, read, nap and drink wine. It wasn't exactly what Ed was hoping I'd say, but he said he'll try to find me place to escape to for a weekend.

I've been doing a little knitting. I made the Raceback Tee for Kristin. The pattern was from Knitty.

My sister Patty spun the alpaca roving I bought at Knitter's Connection. I now have over 600 yards of yummy 2-ply.

I'm going to turn this into a stole using this pattern.

Speaking of Knitter's Connection, I've starting knitting the Buffalo Gold Earth that I bought. It is transforming into a simple hat for Ed. The yarn is fabulous. I don't know if buffalo have lanolin in their fur like sheep, but it certainly feels like it. I've had to frog my original attempt because the hat was too large for Ed's head. The yarn did not even seemed to be affected by the ripping out.

Over the summer I lost my friend who had been battling leukemia. His family is having a rough time since he passed. I made a shawl for his widow, but I'm not happy with how tightly I cast on and bound off. The edges are curling. I'll give it to her, but it won't be able to be used as I intended. I wanted something she could wrap herself in when she needed a hug. I'll give her something else this winter.

A few of my other WIPs are chugging along. The Taize wrap is over half way done. A friend gave me several cones of wool that he had in his stash. He was gifted the cones from a friend who found them at a thrift shop. They are fingering weight. The wool is rather coarse so I'm guessing they were meant for weaving rather than knitting.

Gotta work on my stress level

2011-06-24T18:56:00.000-04:00

As my last post will demonstrate, I've been a bit stressed lately. Today was a total insane day at work. I couldn't decide if I was in the middle of a mental ward or daycare center. Oh well, I'm home now sipping a glass of wine. Much better than an hour and a half ago.

To help with my stress management, I bought a hot tub. It took us several weeks to get it all connected, but it is operational now. The weather so far this summer has been cool enough to make the evening dips enjoyable. Last night I spent over 20 minutes in it. It was heaven! We have it on our deck. Here's a photo where it can be seen through the slats of the deck. Ed took this picture to show an electrician when we were trying to decide how the power line for the spa needed to be placed.

Last week I went to Knitter's Connection here in Columbus. I only took one class this year: Introduction to Strickmuster by Candice Eisner Strick. It was a fantastic class! I fell in love with twisted stitches. I came home and designed a pair of socks to make using the technique from class. Maybe I'll post it someday.

Anyone who has gone to Knitter's Connection knows that they give out some fantastic goodies. Included in this years bag were 3 skeins of yumminess. I don't know yet how I'm going to use them. I'll have to look for ideas on Ravelry.

While at the market, I splurged a little. Not quite as much as I could have. The qiviut was very, very tempting but I didn't have $175 on me to buy a skein. I will own some qiviut someday. As God is my witness, I will! What I did get is this:

A skein of bison to make a hat for Ed. Our anniversary is in September. Hope to have it done by then.

Here is a skein of Footnotes from Fiber Optic. I'm going to make the socks I designed with this. Stay tuned!

Even though I resisted the siren song of the qiviut, I couldn't pass up the baby alpaca roving. I bought a total of 8 ounces. It is going to get shipped to my sister Patty who spins. I'd like her to make it into laceweight. To bribe her for this little favor, I'm sending along some Chocolate Kisses. Not the kind from Hershey, but rather another skein of FootNotes from Fiber Optic.

Among all this shopping therapy, I have been doing some knitting. The girls asked me to make them each a tank top. I started with Kristin's. I'm up to the bodice area on hers. I took some liberties with the fourth section. I figured any lacey pattern will do as long as it matches the stitch count. I'll probably vary Trisha's also.

Unsolicited Advice

2011-05-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

I really don't have a thick skin. When people say mean and hurtful things to me I take it very deeply. I wish I were different. I know I should just brush it off and not let it bother me. But I can't do that. Sometimes there is a certain level of guilt that I feel if there is even a smidgen of truth. I wish I were more able to take a deep breath and move on. Today was one of those days that painfully reminded me about how personal I take some remarks.

We've had a green ash tree in our front yard. This year, only half the tree leafed out. The other half seemed to be struggling. This tree hasn't been right for several years and it looked like this year was going to be its last. A couple weeks ago one of the neighbors stopped Ed and commented about the tree. This neighbor feels it is her place to point out to the rest of us when our yards don't meet her standards. Now I have to admit her yard looks very nice. Her husband works on it every day. But not everyone has a green thumb, nor do they have the time or desire to work on their yards every day. Now Ed and I don't have green thumbs. We don't have the eye to create an asthestic border or coordinate shrubs and perennials. Our landscaping is more utilitarian. It frames the house without being the showcase. We also don't have a lot of time. Our kids are still at home. WE both work full time, plus some. And our hobbies lie in other areas.

Last weekend Ed and I worked on cutting the tree down until a huge storm rolled in and we called it a day. A third of the tree was left. Given all the rain we've had it was really the first chance we've had to do any outside project. While I was bundling the branches I was looking for evidence of what might have killed the branches. I did not seen anything that was classic symptoms of the Emerald Ash borer, although I suspect that's what it was. My neighbor thinks so too. She gave me an earful this morning about getting the rest of the tree down. She doesn't want her best tree to get infected from our tree. I told her that her tree is very possibly already infected. My college roommate is a forester and has worked on the EAB project for over 10 years. She tells me that the only certainty is that all green ash trees will be gone because of this pest. Its only a matter of time. Anyway, after I got the EAB lecture from my neighbor, she then comments about the weeds in my flowerbeds. And if that wasn't enough she made some remarks about my girls and the fact that my younger daughter is hanging out with my older daughter and her friends occasionally. She also threw in a remark that I should start making my kids do yardwork to clean up the weeds.

That's about the point I almost lost it. After she pointed out how nice the neighbor's yard was, I took a deep breath and walked inside. That was about 11:00 this morning. As you can tell I'm still obsessing a bit and not over my anger. I've decided that she is nothing but a bully and I'm her target. One of these days I'll muster up the courage to tell her off. Maybe I should make sure I'm wearing my new T-shirt next time I see her.

Confession is Good for the Soul

2011-04-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

I blame it on having children and the Internet. Keeping focused on a task for any length of time was impossible when the kids were little. Getting 5 minutes of uninterrupted time was a luxury. Getting 15 minutes was a Godsend. I realized after a while I became conditioned to these short bursts of activities. I became ADD.

I used to not be this way. Going 'heads down' on a task was easy. Projects were finished within a reasonable amount of time. I used to quilt. I would make 2 or 3 quilts a year for a now defunct service organization called ABC Quilts. I also made a quilt every year for Christmas to give to a member of my family. One year I even made 4 for Christmas!! Not sure what mental disorder I was suffering from at that time, but I was like a woman possessed. But as the kids got involved in activities, my time by my sewing machine ended and I returned to knitting since it is more portable. Slowly I would cast on and knit while at soccer practices, dance lessons or volleyball matches. My projects were small pieces like scarves or hats. Then I discovered the Internet and blogs offered all kinds of new things to try. Shiny objects started popping up everywhere. I became friends with another knitter at work and she and I would trade project ideas. That's when it all fell apart for me. I jumped at the latest trend. Casting on became a frequent occurrence. My problem was following through to the end. Finishing is just not in my vocabulary.

Just to prove I have a serious problem, here is a pile of fiber that has my attention at the moment. In there is a sweater, afghan, stole, scarf, and a pair of socks. Trust me, it's true.

The sweater is the Go Live Minimalist Cardigan. I am making progress on it. I'm almost finished with the second front panel. That leaves the sleeves. There is a knitting group at work that meets Wednesdays at lunchtime. I have started joining them and this is my project. At least 30 minutes a week is devoted to getting this sweater done.

The Great American Aran Afghan is going to be my ADD project. I figure whenever I need a little diversion from other projects, I can work on a square for that. I have no timeline for it. This is the first block, designed by a lady from Cincinnati. Chosen because that is my hometown.

The stole is the Taize stole I started a year and a half ago. It is about 1/3 finished. Again, no timeline. I work on it whenever it piques my interest.

Last but not least are the silk hankies. Yes, I fell 'hook, line, and sinker' for that little craze a couple months ago. I bought 2 sets in 2 different colors. The blue is going to become socks for Trisha to wear at night. She has Reinold's Syndrome and needs to keep her feet and hands warm. The cream colored silk is going to be a helix scarf for me. I've altered the pattern slightly to make it a bit wider. It will have a little more ruffle to it since I'm doing 3 short rows per side instead of just 2, as the pattern states.

There! Now that I've admitted my problem, it is time to make some resolutions for action. Being realistic, I can't go cold-turkey and say that I won't start another project until these are finished. I will, however, vow to not start a new scarf until the helix scarf is done. And I won't start a new stole until Taize is finished. Another sweater will not be cast on until Go Live is off the needles. I will not begin another block of the aran afghan until the current one is bound off.

With that resolve, I need to get cranking on the Go Live sweater. Yarn is being delivered next week to make sweaters for the girls. Told you I had a problem!!

Spring Abandonded

2011-03-30T19:55:00.000-04:00

This was a bit of a shock to the system. After being in Florida last week where it was sunny and mid-80s, coming back to Ohio and getting slapped with another round of winter weather is too much.

BRRRRR!!!!

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2011-03-12T10:09:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to the sound of a robin. It wasn't sing. It actually sounded annoyed. But it was a lovely sound to me because it meant spring is its way. There were two other signs when I opened the door to get the paper off the front porch.

My daffodils have started to come up. I just hope they don't bloom while we are away on our spring break trip. The other sign of spring is in the next picture.

It's not the beautiful sky or the tiny buds on the trees, it's the 'For Sale' sign in our neighbors lot. This actually makes us very sad. The kids have told them they are not allowed to move. These people have been the best neighbors and we are going to miss them tremendously.

I've made a bit more progress on the Go Live cardi. The right front panel is done and I'm almost halfway through the left front panel. This project will go on my trip with me. Hopefully I'll get the pieces done and then when I get home I can block them and sew it up.

Since knitting monogomy is not something I practice, I have another project in the works. This is going to be a long term project, the Great American Aran Afghan. I figure I'll do a block here and there as I need a project to break up the monotony of other projects. I started with the block designed by the lady from Cincinnati, since that is where I grew up.

And finally, here's a picture of a pizza I made last week. I recently subscribed to Cooks Illustrated. I love that magazine because it satisfies two things about me: my love for food/cooking and the science geek in me. The pizza was called St. Louis style pizza. The crust is made without yeast. It comes out thin and a little crispy, but not too crispy. The sauce recipe is very simple, a blend of tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar and some spices. The magazine recommended pre-cooking the pepperoni in the microwave using paper towels to get rid of some of the oil. That was a great tip!! It reminded me a little bit like LaRosa's pizza from Cincinnati. The family absolutely loved it and it was very fast to make. Win-win all the way around.

Enjoy your weekend and get outside if spring is popping up around you.

Didn't Mean To Be Away So Long

2011-02-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

It amazes me how quickly time is passing. It is mid-February already. I guess part of the reason time is passing by is that I've seem to have done nothing but work. It has been absolutely crazy lately and it is making my very cranky. The company I work for hired a new CIO in December. This woman is completely restructuring my department. Two managers were 'encouraged to pursue other opportunities'. She has totally flattened the organization and now there are literally dozens of teams focused on the type of system they support. My team is crazy busy trying to fix the issues with the new ERP system we released (prematurely) last fall. We have been told that we have to work 11 hour days. We have to choose one of the following shifts: 7am-6pm, 8am-7pm, or 9am-8pm. I'm a morning person, and since I have a family at home, I prefer the earliest shift. However, I also go to a trainer at 6am two days a week, which I refuse to give up. That means on Tuesdays and Thursdays I work until at least 8pm and then I'm back in the office at 7am on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is exhausting. No one will tell us how long this schedule is going to be required. I know I won't be able to keep it up much longer. I'm finding it very hard to keep a civil tongue by the end of the week. The filter disappears when I'm exhausted.

All this means that there has been no progress on anything knitting related. That really bums me out. I did fall prey to the enticement of the silk hankies that the Yarn Harlot had on her blog a while ago. I ordered a couple. I'm still waiting for them to arrive.

Today is a beautiful day outside. It has been a very long time since I've taken a walk outside, so I'm going to do that. I also plan to make my family a nice meal tonight. I'm trying some new recipes. Tonight's menu has a Greek theme: pastitsio, pita bread, hummus, and Greek salad. (Guess what my 'go to' website is for recipes. ;) ) Enjoy your day!

This Week's Progress

2011-01-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

I'm up to the armhole shaping on the right front of the Go Live Minimalist Cardi. It is moving along at a nice pace. Others might think my progress is slow, but at the rate I finish sweaters, this is light-speed.

My goal is to get this piece finished by tomorrow night.

All of yesterday was spent at a wrestling tournament for Blake. I took several magazines, a book and the cardi to occupy me. ADD seems to be a bit of an issue for me at those things. They are too noise and the bleachers too uncomfortable to do any one thing for a stretch of time. Blake wrestled 4 times throughout the day. Unfortunately, he isn't doing very well. It is a major accomplishment if he can make it all 3 rounds without getting pinned. After the tournament, I made a pot of chili for him, Ed and me since the girls weren't home. Later we turned on a movie to relax. This is how Blake was 10 minutes into the movie.

As I mentioned, the girls weren't home. The Winter Formal was last night. Trisha went with her friends, but Kristin opted to skip it this year. Kristin just hung out at one of her friend's house. Here's Trisha and one of her best friends. Two very pretty girls.

Moving Along

2011-01-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I finished the back of the Go Live cardi and started the right front panel. Since the panel is narrow it is flying along. When I work on it, that is. Here's how it looks now. I'm getting rather excited about wearing it, motivating me to get it done.

After I'm done with this, I think I'm going to move on to a crochet project. I like this. Yes, it is frilly, but I have some olive lace weight left over from one of my tag team projects. I think it will be a nice summer item.

Conversations have started in our house about college for Kristin. She having trouble trying to decide what to do as a career. I've suggested several for her. It isn't critical now that she decides, but it would help if she could get a general idea to help us with looking at colleges. We'll start college visits in the fall.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T11:36:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!!! Like millions of other people, I make resolutions. In the past few years, I've targeted my resolutions around things that were on my 'driving me crazy' list. I moved my sewing area from the dining room to the basement. A slow decluttering has been going on for several years. This year I want to get several rooms painted. First will be the living room and then the dining room. Neither of these rooms have been painted since we moved in 13 years ago. After those are painted, I want to repaint the family room and kitchen. Eleven years ago I painted those rooms one color since their isn't a physical separation between the rooms except where the flooring changes. Now I plan to delineate the area by painting several walls in the kitchen color and the remaining walls in the family room color. Coordinating the colors is key, but I think I have found shades that will work. Here is a photo of 3 of the colors.

The yellow is for the living room which is where this photo was taken. The orange is for the dining room, which is the room in the background. The green is for the kitchen walls. The family room walls will be a tannish taupe (a bit hard for me to describe). Stay tuned for the progress.

Speaking of progress, a bit of knitting happened last night. It was an exciting New Years Eve. After the girls left for their parties, Ed, Blake and I went to dinner at a chinese restaurant and then came home. We played Sequence and then watched football. I knit for a while but then got tired. Since I had to stay up until 1:30 to pick Trisha and a friend up from their party, I didn't want to make myself too sleepy. After midnight, Ed went to bed while Blake and I channel surfed. Here's how far I got on the back of the sweater. There's more football today, so I expect to get the back done.

Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

November passed as a blur, mostly spent at work. There were a few events at home that warrented my attention, but for the most part I got the Readers Digest version from someone as I passed from the door to my bed or back the other way. The chaotic work schedule continues, but I've managed to get time off thanks to some very helpful consultants. Earlier this month I went to New Jersey with my sister Karen to visit our oldest sister, Mary Anne. We had a great time, including going into New York City for a day. Now I'm off work until next Tuesday. My plans are to get some cleaning done around the house and knit.Yesterday the kids and I cleaned the basement. Today's plans are to organize my sewing area.

I've worked on a couple knitting projects, but unfortunately I don't have pictures of the final products. Both projects were tag-team projects with my friend Cindy and were gifts. The first was a stole we gave to a friend that is battling breast cancer. The other was a shawl we gave to a consultant that has worked with us for nearly 2 years and signed off the project in December.

Here's the next project I want to finish. It's my Go Live Minimalist Cardigan. I'm still working on the back. There are a lot of football games coming up so I hope to make good progress.

At Least the Kids are Having Fun

2010-10-31T09:29:00.000-04:00

The tranquility I wrote about in the last post didn't last. This past week has been extremely stressful. Just when I think things will settle down, something else seems to hit.

Work is still crazy. I continue to work 7 days a week. Not just short days either. I'm usually at work from about 730 am until at least 6 pm through the week. Yesterday was 8 am to 430 pm. I know I'll have to work some today, but I'm hoping it will be from home. It would be nice to see my family for more than just a few minutes in the morning and an hour or so in the evening. Not sure how much longer I can keep up this schedule. Home life is being impacted. Thankfully my kids are old enough to manage most things on their own.

Since this is Halloween weekend, the students' theme for the football game was to come in costume. Here are the girls in their costumes:

We dug out these from the closet. The girls don't remember being ladybugs years ago. They were pretty darn cute back then like they are now.

Unfortunately, I wasn't home when the girls got ready for the football game. Of course, I was at work. Here is a picture of them with friends before they headed out.

The football game was the last of the regular season. The team won and is now heading off to the playoffs. Kristin's boyfriend was the top scorer on the team with at least 2 touchdowns each game. He's not very big, but he is fast and strong. He can wrestle his way out of tackles to gain extra yardage. Here is Kristin and Alex after the game.

I hope the team continues to do well. High school football has been the highlight of my week this fall.

Happiness and Joy

2010-10-09T09:52:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned that I absolutely love Saturday mornings? The work week is over. I get to catch up on some sleep. The house is quiet as the kids sleep in late. I get to cook something extra special for breakfast. As I drink tea, I catch up with all of my knitting posts/blogs. Because of the hectic work schedule I"ve had for the past few months, I haven't had a quiet Saturday morning in a while, so I am savoring this one.

To start off, I made this: pumpkin bread. It has been almost a year since I've tasted anything pumpkin. Last year there was some sort of disease that ruined the entire pumpkin crop and the stores ceased to carry canned pumpkin. About two weeks ago, I saw a few cans on the shelf at the grocery store. I snagged them up like a person preparing for the end of civilization. This morning, one of the cans became bread. YUMMY! There are two other loaves that are going into the freezer for later consumption.

Cindy and I are still working on the Tag Team Wrap. It's one of those projects that you just keep plugging away at until you feel like saying 'Stop'. I would estimate that we are just past the halfway point. I have custody of the project this weekend. I plan to work on it all afternoon during the Ohio State football game. Here's where we are with it.

I know I suffer desparately from Startitis. I did it again by getting yarn to make a Minimalist Cardigan. My rationale was to have something to work on while Cindy has the Warp and while there is down time at work during the recent 'Go Live' weekends. I really should have picked up one of the projects I already have on the needles. Startitis is hard to resist. The lure of new fiber. The unknown of a new pattern. It was too much for me to resist. I'm a weak person. ( BTW, the spot in the center of the photo isn't really on the sweater. There must be a spot on the camera lens.)

Tonight is the Homecoming Dance for the girls. Kristin has a new boyfriend, who she will be going with. Trisha is going with a very large group of friends. Before the dance, I will be going with Kristin to her boyfriend's house to help serve dinner. Alex's mom is making dinner for Kristin, Alex and some of their friends. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Long Overdue

2010-09-28T17:08:00.000-04:00

To put it simply, I've been busy. Work has been the biggest consumer of my time, and keeping up with the family is filling in the remaining hours that I'm awake. The HUGE 2-year project that I've been working on is coming to its climax. The official 'Go Live' weekend is this weekend. To be honest, though, there are 3 'Go Live' weekends for my team. Our first was two weekends ago. That was absolutely grueling. This weekend is #2 and then #3 comes on the weekend of October 23. Having survived the first one, this one coming up doesn't really scare me. The other teams will be the ones dealing with most of the anxiety and issues. I'm concidering it more of a 'making an appearance' weekend. For my team, the next big milestone will be the first time we process the company's timecards and then try to bill our customers. Until then, I'm not going to be around much.

I also have a couple long overdue pictures to post. This is the baby blanket I made earlier this year for a friend. I gave it away without photoing it. Colleen gave me these to share. Enjoy!

Thank You Delynne!!!!

2010-09-11T09:57:00.000-04:00

The Thank You Monkey Socks are done. I didn't get them finished as quickly as I had hoped. Too much interference from work. But they are now done and on their way to Delynne. I hope she enjoys them and knows how much I appreciate the sacrefices she made. Even though Dean is her brother, her selflessness isn't diminished.

The yarn was Footnotes from Fiber Optic. It was fantastic to work with. The color in the above photo is a little washed out. The brown is a rich, woody brown. This was my first pair of Monkey socks. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the pattern works up. I think I'll make a couple more pairs of socks for my girls as Christmas presents.

I have another project in the works. It is a tag-team effort with my friend Cindy. She and I have another friend who just found out she has breast cancer. Cindy and I are making a wrap for her. It will lightweight so that it can be carried along to treatments. This yarn is a laceweight merino/silk blend which should help take the chill off if needed. Cindy found the pattern, but I can't remember the name. It is a simple knit one, knit one below on an odd number of stitches. When it is blocked it will have a matrix of hexagons throughout. I have custody this weekend. Cindy is travelling next week so she will get it to work on during her long flights to/from the west coast.

Gotta Get My Monkey On

2010-08-28T08:02:00.000-04:00

Since my last post 3 WEEKS AGO, I have finished the first Thank You Monkey sock and got to the gusset of sock #2. I really, really, really want to get these done this weekend, but not sure how to do that. You see, Ed is out of town until Tuesday evening, Kristin has a volleyball match today, I have a very dusty house that needs my attention, and I have to work all day tomorrow. Maybe the dust can wait. Heck, it's been here longer than the sock. It can hang around a little longer.

My friend with leukemia is doing well. He is still showing no sign of disease. His strength is slowly returning. The doctor has given him the OK to drive if he feels up to it. That has been a HUGE relief for his wife. Since she doesn't have to escort him to his daily outpatient treatments, she has 3-5 hours of each day back.

On a sad note, one of my friends from work found out she has breast cancer. Her lumpectomy is next week. Another friend and I are going to make her a shawl to carry around with her. Seeing how cold Dean always was in the hospital, I thought something like that would be useful for our friend. Since the second friend and I share a cubicle, we are going to tag-team. We'll leave the shawl on the counter between us and whenever we have a couple minutes for a break, we'll pick it up and work it.

As I mentioned above, Ed is away. He and his brother are in Penticton, British Columbia for Ironman Canada. The race it tomorrow. Physically he is ready. As usual, he is getting nervous and anxious for the race to start. I worry most about the swim portion of the race. Once I know he is safely out of the water, my anxiety level drops significantly.

Monkey Business

2010-08-07T09:39:00.001-04:00

Not getting as much time as I had hoped to work on the Monkey socks, but I'm coming to the home stretch of the first one. Here's my progress as of last night.

I am finding this pattern very fun to knit. I understand now why it is so popular.

I'm working these on size 3 needles, which is one up from the size suggested in the pattern. I was worried they be too big, but I slipped them on and they felt wonderful. The recipient wears US size 9 shoes and I wear size 7, so I'm sure they won't be too loose on her.

Did I mention who the recipient is? It is the lady who saved my friend's life by donating her bone marrow stem cells. DeLynne is Dean's sister and she was doing what any sibling would do for another member of the family. But that fact does not diminish the risks she took. Without her Dean's chances were bleak. Now, her blood has taken over his body and he is slowing gaining strength.

Now, it is a beautiful Saturday and I'm not going to waste any more time on this blog. Enjoy your day!!!

2010-07-31T10:02:00.000-04:00

My friend who has been battling leukemia finally got to go home from the hospital. His release on Tuesday ended a 122 day stay. June and July were very rough. After his stem cell transplant at the beginning of June, he developed a host of complications. Every time he seemed to make an improvement, something would happen to backtrack his progress. Nothing was simple for him. Even a common side effect turned into a major complication. Mid-July he was placed in ICU because of liver, stomach, and kidney failure. After several days of dialysis, things started to turn around for him. But through all of the struggle, evidence that the transplant worked mounted. He is now finally home and trying to regain his strength. Prior to his hospital stay he was exercising every day and playing racquetball 3 days a week. Now, walking up one flight of stairs takes his breath away. I'm confident he'll rapidly regain his strength now that he is home disconnected from all the IV lines and sleeping in his own bed.

The donor for my friend's stem cell transplant was his sister. She accepted a lot of risk for her brother and will forever be a part of him. Her blood literally runs through his veins now. Everyone who has helped with tangible and intangible support has been asked to thank her in some way, even as simply as a 'Thank You' note. I'm making her a pair of monkey socks out of some of the yummy yarn I got from Fiber Optic during Knitters Connection. I'm not as far along on these as I had hoped to be. Tonight will be movie night at home, so I'll make progress then.

Last weekend I went on a roadtrip with one of my sisters, a sister-in-law, and two nieces to Myrtle Beach. Here is a view of the resort from the beach. The building we stayed in was behind these buildings and not visible in this picture.

We only actually hung out on the beach one day. The resort had several very nice pools and we decided that it was more fun being there. I've come to the conclusion that sand and surf are not as much fun if there aren't kids to play with.

Several recent events in my life have taught me some things. First, don't hesitate to show your love and appreciation. You never know how long you will get the opportunity. Second, prayer works. It may not seem like it for a while, but God has a plan and if you open yourself up to it, things work out. The ending may not be what you hoped for, but in the end you get what you need. Third, don't dwell on negatives from your past. Always look forward with hope instead of backwards with anger. Fourth, strive to repair damaged relationships. Life is constantly evolving and we need to continually try to make it the best it can be for ourselves and those around us. Sometimes someone just needs you to reach out to them. And finally, know when it is time to let go, whether it is a person or an object or an emotion. Children grow into adults. Anger and frustration are not productive and will fester if held inside.

Here is one of my favorite Bible quotes:

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

- Numbers 6:24-26

Sock Landscape

2010-07-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

The sock I started during the Cookie A class at Knitters Connection is slowly progressing. I turned the heel last night and am working on the gusset. I love how it is turning out. There is only one thing I'm nto too happy about. I didn't divide for the heel at the best spot and unfortunately didn't realize my mistake until I was almost finished with the heel flap. Instead of ripping back, I chalked it up to a rookie designer mistake and moved on. Now I have to decide if I'll replicate the mistake in the other sock or try to do it right.

I just love the color of this yarn. These photos don't really show how rich the blue is. I can't wait to get them on my feet.

Tennessee Vacation

2010-07-01T22:13:00.000-04:00

We just spent the past 5 days in Tennessee with my sister Nancy and her family. It was a great long weekend. Here's a few photos from the trip.

The Results of My Weekend

2010-06-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Here is the sock I started in Cookie A's Sock Innovation class at Knitter's Connection. The yarn is from Fiber Optic in Sapphire. It is a superwash merino/nylon blend. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and it is a dream to knit with. I can't wait to get these done. I just hope the socks fit right.

Here are the skeins I made this weekend during my first attempt at spinning. The cream is about 50 yards of sport-worsted weight. The multi is about 70 years of mostly fingering weight. Not sure what I'm going to make from them yet. I'd like to make a cowl from the multi, but not sure if I have enough.

Round and Round He Goes

2010-06-20T13:37:00.000-04:00

Patty came into to town to go to Knitter's Connection with me. We took Cookie A's Sock Innovation class. It was fantastic!! She brought a lot of the sock's that are included in her book. They are even more fabulous in person. I have my sock on the needles. I'll post a picture when I have a few more repeats of the pattern done.

Another highlight of Knitters Connection was discovering Fiber Optic. These ladies make absolutely beautiful yarn. The yarn I'm using for the Cookie A socks are from their booth. I also bought two other skeins. Yummy! Yummy!

Friday night and Saturday were spent learning to spin. Patty brought her wheel and a bag for of wool. Some of the wool was left its natural color and others were dyed with left-over Easter egg dyes. Those color were fun to play with. Below is a picture of Blake getting a lesson from his Aunt Patty. He chose orange and blue for his first spin.

I spun the natural on Friday night and took up the multi-colored fun after Blake gave up. I found myself getting so focused on what my hands were doing I would forget about my feet and I'd start pedaling too fast.

Here is the natural after it took a bath this morning.

Here is the multi-colored after its bath.

Now I need to figure out what to do with them. I think a little cowl of some sort might just be in order.

No Time to Waste

2010-06-12T12:54:00.000-04:00

It's strawberry season in central Ohio. Actually, it is coming to a close soon. Last year I made freezer jam, which Blake loved. He requested more after consuming my entire batch. This morning I went up to a local pick-your-own farm and brought home 4 quarts. I made freezer jam with half. The remaining strawberries are going to become a pie. My mom gave me her strawberry pie recipe. It is a family favorite. Unlike some recipes, it does not use gelatin. I'll have to think of a good meal to go with that special dessert.

I'm back to making progress on the Taize shawl. It goes to work with me everyday. About 3 days a week I'm able to get a few rows in over lunch. It is approaching the 1/3 done mark. I'd like to get this done by the fall and then keep it at the office. It will be nice to wrap myself in, especially later this year when the project I'm working one reaches its deadline. The move-to-production date is October 1. That weekend will be a long, exhausting one. I don't anticipate being home much between September 13 to mid-November. Having this shawl with me will help.

Of course I can't just work on one project. I'm also trying to make progress on Decimal. I've finished the body up to the armholes. I'm now working on the left sleeve. This is my 'sitting in front of the television' project. Below are a couple photos of it. The color in the first photo is closest to reality. The second photo is a close-up of the sleeve.

Next Thursday my sister Patty is coming into town. We will be attending Knitters Connection. We are taking a class from Cookie A on Friday. I can't wait. Also, Patty is going to bring her spinning wheel and some roving. She is going to attempt to teach me how to spin. We'll see how that goes.

One for the History Books

2010-06-05T10:59:00.000-04:00

The school year has come to a close. All three kids achieve outstanding grades and created lasting memories. I am so proud of all three for what they accomplished this year. Here is a blurry picture of Trisha as she leaves middle school for the last time as an 8th grader. I can't believe she is going to be in high school!!

Unfortunately the kids have had to learn some very hard life lessons. About 2 weeks ago, one of the star football players from the high school drowned. Kristin knew him pretty well since he briefly dated one of her friends, was in the class ahead of hers, and was friends with the guy that took her to prom. His death brought back all the pain and sorrow from the tragic death of another friend back in December. Then, two nights before school was to let out for the summer, Trisha learned that one of her classmates had taken his own life. That tragedy has left me stunned. Trisha and I have talked. She's asked 'Why?' and I've told her that there will never be a way to understand what all was going through his head to make him feel that that was the only solution. The accidental deaths are no less tragic, but they are easier to understand 'Why'. All we can do is pray for them and their families. And hug and kiss our own kids as often as we can.

The summer is already packed with activities. Blake and Trisha have camps to head off to. Kristin has volleyball conditioning and a 3-day-a-week babysitting job. I have Knitters Connection and a girls' weekend away. Ed has his 6th Ironman Triathlon. Together we have a week at the beach. We may not be able to fit in a trip to Tennessee this year. The kids are going to be disappointed about that, but I'm not sure when we'd be able to fit it in.

On the knitting front, I finished the baby blanket for my friend, but forgot to take a photo of it before gifting it. I'll see if I can get my friend to forward a picture to post. I'm now trying to get Decimal finished. I have another summer sweater waiting in the queue, but have vowed not to start it until Decimal is off the needles.

Time to Relax

2010-05-28T18:04:00.000-04:00

Whether your weekend is 2 days or 3, take time to relax with a little treat and a nice drink. This is mine at tea time.

May Flowers and Other Happenings

2010-05-23T11:59:00.000-04:00

Hello. Yes. It's been awhile. Not much. How 'bout you?

In the spirit of my oldest daughter's usual way of posting on Facebook, I thought I'd start with a song. The lyrics are not quite accurate though. It has been busy around here.

Spring is in full force. I'm determined to make the front bed of the house look at bit more respectable. I think I'm off to a good start. The front bed is divided into three sections. Along the garage I put holly bushes and daylilies.

Under the dining room window, I put digitalis and hostas.

The planters on the front porch have gerber daisies and pansies.

Now I have to tackle the front section. This will involve pulling out a lot of perenials that never grew as I had envisioned them, relocating some daylilies, planting a couple more hostas, and spreading mulch. Pictures will come later.

Earlier this month, Kristin was invited to prom. I think she and her date made a very lovely couple. What do you think? They went as friends. I'm told they aren't dating. I'm not totally convinced the feelings are platonic.

Friday was Trisha's Confirmation. My sister Karen stood in as her sponsor. After the ceremony we all went out to dinner at Buca de Beppo.

I'm biased, but I think I have the most wonderful children.

Here are Ed, Trisha, and me.

Hi! I'm Still Here

2010-04-17T11:46:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I've been away for over a month. It has been a very busy month, though. Here's a re-cap.

We went to Orlando for Spring Break. This trip was all about relaxing, so we avoided all of the parks. Most of our time was spent here

or here

doing this

It was a great week. I caught myself starting to think about work once, but I smacked myself and never did it again.

Before we left, my daffodils were starting to bud. I was worried that I would miss their bloom. A final blast of cold weather in Ohio kept them from blooming and shortly after we came home they opened. It was a nice 'Welcome Home'. Last year the daffodils didn't bloom at all. This year they were gorgeous.

Unfortunately, there was some bad news after we got home. A very good friend has been diagnosed with acute leukemia. He went to the doctor because he had a nagging cough all winter. The doctor ran bloodwork and found the leukemia. Dean was ordered to check himself immediately into the hospital and begin chemotherapy that night. Over the past month, he has had his first round of chemotherapy and several transfusions. The bad news is that his leukemia is acute myelodysplasia leukemia (AML) and requires a bone marrow transplant. A donor is being sought. On a positive note, Dean's first round of chemo seems to have worked and his white blood count is going up. He may be able to go home for a little while until a donor is lined up. When a donor is found, he'll be back in the hospital for another month or two. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Easter was spent in Cincinnati at my brother's house. As usual, my sister-in-law Penny had way too much good food. It makes you wonder how someone who was an only child learned to cook such big meals. While we were in the area, Ed and I stopped by the hospital for a quick visit with Dean. We had to cut it short, though, because Dean's medication made him sleepy.

Last weekend my sister Karen came for a visit. A couple of her son's friends play baseball for Ohio State. The one friend, Alex Wimmers, is a starting pitcher and played Friday night. The other friend, Dan Burkhart, is the starting catcher. Friday night we had first row seats right behind home plate. There were about 20 professional scouts in the seats right behind us checking out Alex. Karen and I were joking that we'll end up with brain tumors because of the radar guns behind us. If Alex decides to enter the pro draft this year, he is projected to be a first round pick. He can throw 94 mph fast balls and has 2 other pitches to his repetoirre. Dan is a very good player also. He often throws our players trying to steal second base. His hitting is a little off this year, but I'm sure he'll get back in his groove soon. On Saturday, we took Blake. He enjoyed hanging with Brutus Buckeye

and being on the field with Dan for the National Anthem.

On the knitting front, I'm trying to finish up a blanket for a friend's baby.

I'm down to the last few rows of the border. My goal is to finish it this weekend.

The Roses

2010-03-10T21:03:00.000-05:00

Work has been getting me down lately. I'm putting in long hours. The stress is very high and getting higher by the day. Ed brought these home today to help ease my burden. Yellow roses have always been my favorite.

No Need for Overtime Here

2010-02-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

Finished!!!!!

No time to chat. The overtime period of the USA vs Canada hockeye game is about to start. Go USA!!!!

Approaching the Finish Line

2010-02-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

I'm getting very close to the finish. I have 4 more digits to knit, but I'm sure I'll make it. I'll get a little time in this afternoon and then a good chunk of time during the gold medal hockeye game: US vs Canada. Here's where it stands.

Back to the knitting. Next post will be the finished gloves.

Trailing the Pack

2010-02-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind schedule for the Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics, but not by much. Today is going to be a busy day (so why am I wasting time on the computer?) but I hope to finish the first glove tonight while watching the Winter Olympics.

Here's the progress so far:

I am absolutely in love with this project. It is going to be very difficult to let Blake have them and not keep them for myself. Doesn't the glove fit perfectly on me?

Since this is turning out to be such a quick project, I will definitely be making more. Maybe I'll make myself a pair in the teal that Blake didn't want.

Knitting Olympics

2010-02-14T17:21:00.000-05:00

Got off to a rocky start. I wanted to make Blake's gloves match his scarf by using both teal and brown yarn. I cast on Friday, but after going a while, I realized the gloves were going to be way too big for Blake. I was using two strands of yarn and #3 US needles. I gave up on Friday night and went to bed.

Saturday morning I cast on again using only a single strand and #2 needles. Blake said given the choice of colors, he wanted brown gloves. So now I'm back at it.

Here's the progress so far. I'm just starting the increases for the thumb.

One Day to the Big Event

2010-02-11T18:07:00.002-05:00

I'm participating in both the Ravelympics on TeamPisces in the Mitten Moguls and in the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. I'll be making a pair of gloves for Blake. I've never made gloves before. Three weekends hopefully will be enough time to get them done.

Never as planned

2010-02-06T18:08:00.000-05:00

When I heard the prediction that we were going to get a big snowstorm Friday into Saturday, I thought 'Wonderful! I'll sit around on my butt Friday night and all day Saturday and knit.' After coming home from work yesterday, I decided to shovel the driveway. I ended up being so tire from the exersion I couldn't knit a stitch. Saturday didn't turn out much better. Two previous appointments interfered with the sitting around part: a painter who came and painted our foyer and a long overdue haircut for me. I also shoveled the driveway again, folded 4 baskets of laundry, cleaned the half-bath, polished the hardwood floor in the foyer after the painter left, vacuumed the stairs and upstairs hall, and polished the banisters and baseboards along the steps. I'm tired!! I've suggested that we go out to dinner tonight. I seriously doubt there will be any knitting when we come back.

Here's a few photos from the front and back doors this morning around 7:30 am. Final snowfall total was about 15 inches.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

2010-02-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

A 3-5 inch snowfall prediction turned into a 5-8 inch prediction this morning. After the snow started falling a couple hours earlier than expected, and heavier than expected, the prediction was changed to 8-12 inches total accumulation by tomorrow midday. We currently have about 6 inches of wet, heavy snow. And it is still coming down hard. I bet we exceed the 12 inches.

Here's what it looked like around 5:00 pm after I got home from work.

If you click the photo below and look at the front porch, you'll see the accumulation at that point.

I'll take more photos tomorrow for comparison.

After taking these pictures, I shoveled the driveway. Since Kristin is driving now and we have a car for her to use, I had to shovel practically the entire pad. My arms are aching now! A nice glass of wine later should help.

Kristin is bummed that her school's Winter Formal is cancelled for tomorrow evening.

I finished Blake's scarf just in time. Here he is striking a pose. I'll have to add a photo with his hat. Next project is his gloves.

Time to sign off now and figure out dinner. See you tomorrow!

Making Progress

2010-01-30T10:15:00.000-05:00

The two knitting projects I'm actively working on are coming along. Blake's scarf is about 2/3 complete. I'm well into the second skein of merino. Because of the 2x2 ribbing, it will end up being a skinny scarf, but he likes it that way. I hope to have it done this week. Too bad I didn't make it in time for this weekend. It is frigid! But winter isn't even half over yet, so I'm sure he'll get plenty of use from it this year.

Here's a close up.

The baby blanket I'm making for a friend is coming along. I'm getting to the slow, long rows. I have about 35 more rows before I start decreasing. I feel my progress is good. My friend told me Wednesday that her doctor will induce on March 29 if she doesn't go into labor before then. Plenty of time!

I've decided that it is best to have two active projects. It keeps things a littlel more interesting. However, these two projects are both very basic. I have a couple projects in mind that I want to start. Once I get things moved along on these I'll be able to start others. I plan to cast on Blake's gloves for the Ravelympics. I've never made gloves or mittens, but since I've done socks I don't think it will be too difficult. As long as I finish up the scarf before then, things will be good.

Earlier this month I posted a note about trouble at work. I heard a rumor that the person who I'm having difficulty with was leaving. This week I got confirmation that he will be signing off the project mid-February. He is a consultant so the chances of ever having to deal with him again are very slim. I'm counting the days!!

I have discovered a blog that I absolutely love. It isn't a knitting blog, but a blog about another favorite hobby of mine: cooking. Check out Annie's Eats. All of her food looks absolutely yummy. I want to try her Oatmeal Buttermilk Wheat Bread this weekend. I have most of the ingredients, except the buttermilk. I quick trip to the grocery will take care of that. She also has a recipe for soft pretzels which I'll have to try. Who doesn't love pretzels.

How 'bout them bananas?

2010-01-20T20:35:00.000-05:00

One of these days, when I have more discretionary time, I want to learn more about photography. A friend from work bought herself a digital SLR camera and took a class from a local camera store. While showing off her photos at work, on of the older guys in our department revealed that he apprenticed under Ansel Adams. He has some very nice photos to prove he learned a lot. Looking at the pictures they have taken makes me want to learn.

Ed recently asked if I could take some pictures of the bands he got from some geese while hunting. Tracy gave me advice about how to do the close ups. I've been experimenting a little, but I need to put more effort into commiting the settings to memory. The other night I shot the bananas on the table. Here's my favorite shot. I really like the lighting in this one. It almost looks like a painting to me.

Here's my close up. It came out quite nicely, especially considering I didn't use a tripod.

Too bad I don't remember the settings I used! One of these days I'll remember to write it down.

Not Boeuf Bourguignon But Still Yummy

2010-01-17T18:09:00.001-05:00

Just finished watching 'Julie and Julia'. It seems that Julia Child's premier recipe was Boeuf Bourguignon. I'm not attempting that at the moment, but we are having beef stew for dinner. Maybe someday I'll try her recipe just to see how it compares.

My sister Patty gifted everyone in the family with knitted items. Blake got a hat that he absolutely loves. It covers his ears so it keeps him warm when he walks home from school. And he said he likes the teal blue color. The other day he asked me if I could make a pair of gloves and a scarf to go with it. He specifically wanted me to match the color. Since the hat was made from Patty's homespun, I wasn't sure I'd be able to find anything to match. Luckily, Knitter's Mercantile had a few things that I thought might work.

For the scarf I'm combining a strand of Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino in color 2283 (teal) with a strand of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in color 1293 (brown). I'm doing a 3x3 rib over 27 stitches on size 8 needles. I think it'll will match nicely.

The gloves will be made from Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox in color 1831 (teal) stranded with the Ultra Alpaca left over from the scarf. I'll have to make a gauge swatch since I'm combining yarns. I've never made gloves before. We'll see how stitching in the round over a small number of stitches goes.

Thick as Pea Soup

2010-01-16T09:26:00.005-05:00

The January thaw has hit. We have had snow on the ground since before Christmas. Thursday was the first day this year that the temperature went above freezing. Everything is starting to melt. This morning I woke up to a heavy fog.

We were supposed to have a sunny day today, but if the sun can't burn off the clouds it is going to stay grey and gloomy. I don't mind, though. Since I'm away from the house all week because of work, I like Saturdays like this. Also, it will keep me in the house to tackle my To Do list for today: get the last of the Christmas decorations put away, bake zucchini bread, walk on the treadmill, and work on the blanket I'm making for a friend who is expecting a baby in late March.

The pattern is Brooklyn Tweed's Tweed Baby Blanket. I am making it out of Debbie Bliss Rialto Dk for the body of the blanket and Sirdar Snuggly Kisses for the edging. I picked the pink varigated Kisses because Colleen believes she is have a girl. I figure this gives me some insurance just in case the ultrasound was wrong and little 'Samwich' ends up with a baby brother instead of a baby sister.

I'm not this dedicated, but another friend and her husband are committed to posting a picture a day during 2010. I think it is a neat idea. I'd like to improve my photography skills and this would be a great way to do it.

Later this year I plan to attend Knitters Connection. It is a knitting symposium sponsored by my favorite LYS, Knitters Mercantile. Last year I took several classes, including ones from Amy Singer and Sally Mellville. To get priority scheduling for this year's classes, I need to renew my membership with Knitter's Connection. Membership has its rewards to the tune of a very nice goody bag from the Merc at check-in time.

Added later: Here's the zucchini bread:

All I can say is 'YUMMY!!!'

Welcome 2010

2010-01-03T10:54:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!

I'm gladly saying goodbye to 2009. The past year brought a lot of heartache and frustration. There were far too many deaths this past year. I lost an uncle and two aunts. A cousin lost her husband. Also lost was a man who was a wonderful advocate for the Special Olympics bowling program. My daughter experienced a couple losses herself with the sudden passing of a friend's father and the tragic death of a school friend. There were others this year that touched the lives around me. I just pray the trend ends.

It was also a year of great frustration with my job. The challenges of the project I am working on took a great toll on me emotionally and physically. At times I felt like I lost total control. I've gained weight, have quite a few more grey hairs, and acquired more wrinkles on my face. I got into a negative spiral that I couldn't stop.

Health wise, it was a challenging year. I've been dealing with bone spurs in both feet which make walking difficult and painful at times. The decrease in walking has contributed to the weight gain. The symptoms of perimenopause have plagued me all year, giving me bouts of insomnia and irritability. And in October, I had a breast cancer scare, but fortunately all the tests came out negative.

Now it is 2010. I can't do anything to prevent losing loved ones this year except pray that it doesn't happen. I can change the effect my job is having on my life and how I take care of myself. I bought myself a treadmill and plan to walk on it everyday to help deal with the stress. I also plan to go to work each day, knowing that all I'm asked to do are the tasks given to me. I'm going to try to emotionally divorce myself when things are not being handled they way I think they should. By the end of 2010, this project will be over and hopefully I can move on to better things.

This morning while reading the news paper, I had a little epiphany about New Year's Resolutions. Resolutions shouldn't be about things I can't directly control. Losing weight has been a great frustration for me. It is very difficult right given many factors in my life. I get very frustrated when I lose 2 pounds one week and then gain 3 the next. It is hard to keep motivated when the progress is so erratic.

This year, I'm not resolving to lose weight. I'm resolving to take better care of myself. I'm going to exercise every day. I'm going to eat more healthful foods. And I'm going to stay away from the ubiquitous treats that are brought into work by co-workers. I'm hoping that I'll get a side benefit of losing some pounds, but if I don't, I'll at least feel better about myself for taking care of me.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

2009-12-29T09:35:00.005-05:00

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

2009-12-19T09:07:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-11-26T11:57:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-09T21:10:00.005-05:00

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.

2009-09-30T18:56:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-09-20T09:13:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-08T20:09:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-30T10:05:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-18T19:46:00.003-04:00

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?

2009-08-05T21:05:00.008-04:00

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

2009-06-28T14:49:00.006-04:00

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'

2009-06-13T13:24:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-03T20:35:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-02T09:07:00.007-04:00

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!

2009-04-11T09:00:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-13T14:02:00.006-04:00

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!

February Update

2009-02-21T17:32:00.003-05:00

As the title of this post suggests, I anticipate that this will be the only one I do this month. My track record this year hasn't been very good. It looks like some things in my life will change in March, which I hope means I'll have more time for the things I enjoy instead of barely getting by with only fulfilling my most pressing obligations in life.

Here is the long ago promised photo of my February Lady's Sweater. The photo is crappy because of the lack of natural light in the house. It is getting close to sunset and it is overcast and rainy outside. Not a good day for photographing anything, let alone a black sweater.

I'm in the process of binding off the lower edge. I'm hoping the sleeves will go quickly. I have 3 small balls of the yarn left. I'll take the two that are closest in size and use each to start a sleeve. I'm hoping to get about the same out of each ball. The third ball will be used to finish the sleeves. I'm guessing it will end up with 3/4 length sleeves. My goal is to get it done while it is still Februrary.

This morning I dug out a pair of socks that have been hibernating for a while. I'm almost done with one. The socks were originally started as a 2-at-one-time project, but I screwed up the heel of one so I had to unload one from the needle and finish the good one alone.

I have a 3rd project that is close to finishing. It is an afgan that I started years ago. It's one of those knit until you run out yarn projects. Great for winter evenings in front of the TV. Tonight will be one of those nights.

I'm anxious to get back to knitting regularly. Work has seriously interrupted many aspects of my life. I am working on a project to convert my company's financial systems to new software. We have 18 months to complete the work. It is a HUGE undertaking. I've spent the past 6 weeks in training to learn the software. Classes would run from 8:30 am until after 6:00 pm everyday. I'd come home from work with just barely enough energy to make dinner. After dinner I'd spend a little time chatting with friends on Facebook and then go to bed. Since training is now over, I'm hoping to regain some mental focus in the evenings.

Here's hoping that some aspects of my life come back into my control!!

I'm still here

2009-01-26T19:43:00.004-05:00

I know. It has been a while since I've posted. Christmas came and went, along with New Years. I didn't do much knitting because of tendinitis in my elbow. It still bothers me occasionally, but not quite as bad as before. I'm hoping a new keyboard tray at work will do the trick.

This has been a particularly snowy January. We had about 6 inches of snow a week and a half ago. It snowed all day while I was at work. The normal 25 minute commute turned into an hour and 15 minutes. That snow was followed by extreme cold. The kids had a calamity day because it was well below 0 degrees (F) one morning. The snow stayed on the ground for about a week until last Friday, when the temperature finally went above freezing. Over the weekend the temperatures dipped again and we were hit with another round of snow. Three inches fell during the day yesterday. This particular snowfall took the weather guys by surprise. Now they are predicting the white death for tomorrow into Wednesday. It is very typical of the local weather crew to overreact, especially following a major embarrassment.

It is too dark to take any pictures tonight. I'll try to get back into the swing of things. I promise. Maybe.

Busy Time of Year

2008-12-15T07:52:00.003-05:00

I don't have any pictures to post. Here's what I've been up to lately:

#1. Shopping for Christmas gifts. The Santa list is almost complete and I have a few small items of others. Next task is to get the gifts for the kids from my mom. Mom isn't able to shop anymore for her 17 grandkids, so she gives the parents the money to buy the gifts for her. We bring the gifts to my family's celebration where the grandkids open them with Mom and Dad.

#2. Baking, and unfortunately eating, Christmas cookies. We've made snickerdooles, chocolate chip, no bakes, and spritz. I want to make buckeyes tonight and one or two more other types of cookies before the holiday gets here.

#3. Christmas knitting. Can't reveal what it is because one of my sisters might read this blog. I'm working on small gifts for the female members of my family. I still have to think of something for the guys.

#4. Decorating. Actually this has been handled mostly by the kids. I enjoy looking at the decorations, but I really don't like putting them up. I put the lights on the tree and the kids did the rest. The kids also handled all the other things around the house.

#5 Spending my time sitting idle at work. Things have been painfully slow for me at work for several months now. It is extremely frustrating because I sit at my desk thinking about all the other things I could be doing. I'm told that it will pick up after the new year. I hope so. I am grateful that I'm not facing a lay off. I just got word that a friend is losing her job. Plus one of my brothers and one of my brother-in-laws are facing extended shut downs at their jobs.

#6 Not exercising. I need to move this up higher on the list. Maybe with the new year.

I'll try to post again before disappearing for the holidays.

Knitting Update

2008-11-15T10:35:00.007-05:00

Did I mention that I'm an ADD knitter? How's this for proof:

Exhibit A: The February Lady's Sweater. I'm reusing yarn I had for a previous project. I've completed 10 repeats of the lace. It is one of those 'knit till you want to stop' deals.

Exhibit B: The Unpatterns Simple Sweater. I bought the yarn (Delectable Fibers) last year at Stitches East, where I also took the Unpatterns class. I've been wanting to go with this, but didn't start until now.

The swatch turned out great, but when I started the sweater the colors started spiralling around the body. I frogged it and restarted using all three balls of yarn that I have. The randomness I desire is achieved.

Exhibit C: Drawstring Tote Bag: THis is another left over from Stitches. I also took JC Briar's 'Get Twisted!' class. I fell in love with cables. Included in her handout is instructions for making the sample squares into a little tote bag. I've completed the 4 squares. Two were done in class and the other two were completed here at home recently. Now I need to block the squares and finish the bag.

Exhibit D: Socks. My sock history hasn't been too successful. My first several pairs were thick socks that were given to Ed. He likes them because they keep his toes warm while hunting. The first pair for me turned out perfect after they were accidentally washed in the washer and felted slightly. My next 4 attempts resulted in socks that were too large, because the yarn doesn't felt. I'm now trying another pair, using a smaller needle.

My defense is that the weather is getting cold and a girl has to have something to do while indoors. Lord knows that cleaning isn't any fun!

Today - The Last Day of Indian Summer

2008-11-06T08:22:00.003-05:00

Today is supposed to be the last warm day around here for a while. Tomorrow is supposed to turn nasty and cold, with possible snow over the weekend. That's okay with me, though. I like the chill in the air. One of the most peaceful moments for me is snuggling under a pile of blankets in the middle of the night.

Today is a big day here. Dash turns 11 today!!! I can't believe it. I've been replaying his birth in my head all morning. His entry into the world had a bit of drama, but fortunately there were no complications and he has grown into a sweet, creative, imaginative, smart boy. He's anxious to have his body mature, but I'm not. I want those freckles to hang around for a long time.

Today is also a me day. Last night I was feeling very yucky with a headache and a sore throat. Ed was diagnosed with strep earlier in the week, and I was thinking I was coming down with it. This morning I felt a bit better, but still not quite myself, so I decided to take the day off and not spread any germs that I might have. I'm going to do a lot of knitting and relaxing. I've had some troubles on my mind lately and today is going to be my day to realign my thinking.

Enjoy Today!!!

Doing Something Right?

2008-10-20T19:25:00.003-04:00

As a parent, as I'm sure with other parents, I occasionally wonder if Ed and I are doing the right thing. This happens most with our oldest since every new experience for her is a new experience for us. She has started high school now and she thinks she should be afforded a certain amount of freedom. We let her hang out with her friends as long as homework isn't due or family activities are scheduled. I do wonder, though, if we let her go too often with her friends. This particular group of girls is very social and feel they must have sleepovers every weekend.

If I had to classify us, we are not overly strict parents, but we do try to make every attempt to let her and her brother and sister know what the boundaries are and what the consequences will be if the boundaries are crossed. We also insist that the kids check in with us regularly when they are away and we let them know that we double check also. We know that we can't shield her from temptation, but we hope and pray that she is mature enough to make the right choices when temptation arises.

Last week there was an incident that tempted our oldest daughter. During a sleep over with 5 other girls, a plan was made to call a boy 2 years older who drove to pick them up at 3:00 am. After getting picked up they cruised around and hooked up with an 18 year old boy. At 3:30, the local police pulled them over. All of the parents were called to pick the girls up at the site of the pullover. Fortunately, we were not called because our daughter chose not to go along. She was the only one who stayed back at the house. The host girl's father found her asleep in the daughter's bed after the police called him. The mother called me the following morning to tell me what happened. She said our daughter was still asleep and that she'd take her home after she got up. Later when I talked to her, I asked 'Why didn't you go with your friends?' Her reply was 'I knew I shouldn't.' I then told her how happy and proud her dad and I were for her.

I guess we are doing something right. It is awful darn hard, but it must be right.

Here It Is

2008-10-17T19:42:00.006-04:00

Here's a few photos of the finished blanket. This first one isn't a good representation of the colors. I took this without the flash. It does show the details, however.

This on was taken with the flash. The colors in this photo are a bit more electric than the actual blanket, but it's close.

Here is Dash giving it a test run. Obviously this was taken before I washed it. Don't want to give the new little guy some stinky kids germs.

Ready for the Meeting with Parker

2008-10-17T07:48:00.003-04:00

I finished the blanket on Sunday and promptly gave it a gentle wash and dry. It turned out wonderfully, if I say so myself. I took pictures, which I will post tonight or tomorrow. In two days the blanket will be given to the little guy. My niece and her husband are taking the baby to my parents' house to have Parker meet his great-grandparents. Most of my siblings will be stopping over to say 'Hello' also. We are all very excited!!!

Now it is on to the next project. I'm working on the February Ladies Sweater, using some old yarn I've had from a previously frogged project. It is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the Black Glitter colorway. I bought this yarn as part of a kit from Lion Brand to make a cardigan. The model in the LB catalogue showed it made in a plain brown Wool-Ease and took x skeins for my size. I liked the Black Glitter and ordered the pattern and x skeins. Since I'm a slow knitter, it took a while for me to realize that the Glitter skeins had less yardage than the plain Wool-Ease skeins (the customer rep who sold me the 'kit' failed to mention/notice also) and I wasn't going to have have enough to finish. So the project got abandoned and put into a basket, where it has sat for probably 6 years. When I decided to make the FLS, I wanted to use something out of the stash and so I grabbed this. I'm about 4 inches into the yoke. Photos of this will come also.

Quick Update

2008-10-02T19:37:00.002-04:00

I'm sewing up Parker's blanket. I have the two halves sewn. One big piece connected to one small piece. I got that far last night, along with some cleaning up of yarn ends, while watching Monster Quest with Dash. I have a lot of work to do tonight. If I can get it done, I'll start sewing up the center seam. Then comes the binding!!! Almost the home stretch.

A Little Knitting

2008-09-27T09:14:00.004-04:00

Most of my time lately is spent either at work or at a volleyball game. Any time at home is spent cooking, cleaning dishes, or helping with homework. It's been exhausting. Oh, and there was that half marathon thingy last week. Consequently, I haven't had much time for knitting.

Parker beat me out of the gate. He was born last Saturday. I haven't gotten to see him yet since he and his parents live about 3 1/2 hours away, but I hope to visit them soon. Here's his blanket:

Last night I started the last set of decreases for the green. I should finish that today and the last yellow section while watching college football. Tomorrow I'll get moving on sewing it up. Then comes the border. I'm going to do the rolled I-cord border suggested by Meg Swansen. It will be in the blue to frame the blanket.

Friday night I was not in the mood to knit garter stitch, so I tried my hand at a washcloth. Here's what I made while watching Oregon State tear apart USC.

I think the colors are pretty close in both photos. This was a nice little diversion project. I satisfied my desire to do something different, but didn't take too much time. My slight ADD nature likes this very much.

About Me

2008-09-25T08:31:00.002-04:00

1. First Name: Kathy
2. Were you named after anyone? Yes. My middle name, Louise, was taken from one of my maternal great-grandmothers, Louise Wessell.
3. When did you last cry? Can’t remember, but probably while watching a movie. I was close to tears last Sunday during the last 2 miles of the half-marathon I walked because my left hip/thigh was hurting so bad.
4. Do you like your handwriting? For the most part.
5. What is your favorite lunchmeat? Honey ham.

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? I believe so. I tend to be quiet when in a crowd, so if I were someone else, I probably wouldn’t notice me though.

7. Do you have a journal? No. I’ve tried several times but can’t develop the habit. Blogging isn’t very regular either.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes. I never had strep throat in my life until I was 40 years old. I never realized how awful that illness made you feel.
9. Would you bungee jump? Absolutely not!!! When bungee jumping became popular, I threatened my husband that if he were to try it and survive, I’d present him with divorce papers when he got down. He’s never tried it either. He’s just found other ways to worry me to death.
10. What is your favorite cereal? I go back and forth between Cheerios (current) and Life. Life was my favorite growing up. I hadn’t had it in years. Then a couple years ago while visiting my parents I found a box of it in Mom’s cabinet. The love was renewed.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No. I mentally scold myself every time I stand there untying them just to retie them. Another one of those little habits I’ve failed to develop.
12. Do you think you are strong? Mentally and emotionally, but not physically.
13. What is your favorite ice-cream flavor? Vanilla has always been my favorite. Boring, I know, but it fits with that ‘not standing out in a crowd’ thing I’ve got going.
14. Shoe size? Usually a 7 these days. I used to wear a size 6.5 until pregnant with my 3rd child.
15. Red or pink? Both, actually. I probably have an equal amount of both in my wardrobe. And quite a bit of variation in between. Oh, and of course, I have scarlet. Go Buckeyes!!!!

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? I lack the discipline to stay on track with diets and exercise. My excuse is that my life is too chaotic. My kids are growing up too quickly which will force me to either get some discipline or find another excuse.
17. Who do you miss most? Although we haven’t technically lost him yet, I miss the way my dad used to be. 8 ½ years ago Dad had the first of many small strokes. Since then he has aged dramatically and lost his independence. He’s gone through bouts of depression and anxiety as a result and is now showing signs of dementia. I really, really miss the way my daddy used to be. (OK, I’m crying now. Amend question #3)
18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you? Not necessary.
19. What color pants, shirt and shoes are you wearing? Black capris, a blue, black, and grey print blouse, and black slides.
20. Last thing you ate? A bagel with strawberry cream cheese.
21. What are you listening to right now? The air blowing through the heat ducts.
22. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Salmon. One of my favorite colors. Picked it for the bridesmaid dresses for my wedding.
23. Favorite smell? Baby smells. Let me qualify that, fresh baby smells. I have a new great-nephew that I haven’t met yet. I can’t wait to see him!!
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? The manager of the fitness center I belong to. I’m treating myself to a massage today for having done the ½ marathon on Sunday. He was helping me get it scheduled.
25. The first thing you notice about people you are attracted to? Their eyes. I judge people’s honesty and arrogance by their eyes.
26. Do you like who you stole this off? I got this from Nice Knits. Don’t know her personally, but I enjoy reading her blog. Bean seems like a sweet little girl.
27. Favorite drink? Non-alcoholic favorite is tea, hot or cold. Alcoholic favorites are white zinfandel wine (not fancy, I know, but it’s what I like) and margaritas on the rocks, not frozen.
28. Favorite sport? Volleyball and football. Both girls play and I find their games very exciting.
29. Eye color? Green, with a small band of gold around the iris.
30. Hat size? Have no clue. Probably average.
31. Do you wear contacts? Nope. Just began wearing reading glasses a few years ago. That darn, age related eye degeneration thing going.

32. Favorite food? Oh, where do I begin? My favorite cuisine is Italian, followed closely by Mexican. I’m losing my taste for Chinese. I go through phases where I like German. Greek is OK. I like Indian, but I can’t get anyone in my family to eat it because the spices are too strong.
33. Scary movies or happy endings? Definitely happy endings.
34. If you could live anywhere in the world where would that be? On a tropical island next to a beach overlooking a beautiful cove, as long as I didn’t have to deal with hurricanes. Ideally, if a hurricane was approaching, I’d make off to my second favorite locale, a log home in the mountains somewhere.
35. Summer or winter? If you are forcing me to pick from only these too, I’d have to say winter. Summer is too darn hot for me. Autumn is actually my favorite season of them all. (OK, now some of you might be wondering why did I pick a tropical island to live on. I’m counting on the tropical breezes, and maybe the cabana boys fanning me, to keep me cool.)
36. Hugs or kisses? Hugs for everyone. Kisses for my family.
37. Favorite dessert? I like them all, which is part of my problem.
40. What books are you currently reading? Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Lean Software Development by Mary and Tom Poppendieck.
41. What's on your mouse pad? The mouse. If you mean, what design is on it, then the answer is nothing. It’s just a plain green mouse pad.
42. What did you watch on TV last night? Feasting on Waves and Dancing With the Stars. Thank goodness for DVR. I love Alton Brown and also Maksim.
43. Favorite sounds? Crickets and tree frogs chirping on a quiet night when its cool enough to have the windows open.
44. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Rolling Stones. Although I like some of their songs, I’ve just never gotten too excited over the Beatles.
45. The furthest you have been from home? San Francisco for a conference a couple years ago.
46. What's your special talent? I think I have several, not to sound too braggadocios. I like to help and volunteer. I’ve had to learn to say ‘No’ lately because I’ve gotten myself over-committed, which was stressing me out. I’m a good cook and I can sew and knit. At work, I’m a good project manager and business analyst.
47. Where were you born? Cincinnati.

BTW, I don't know what happened to 38-39 of this meme. They were missing from the blog I lifted this from.

I DID IT!!!!!

2008-09-21T14:50:00.003-04:00

Today was the New Albany Walking Classic. It was difficult but I completed the 1/2 marathon in about 3:47. That was around a 17.3 minute per mile pace. The first 7 miles were a breeze, averaging about 15.5 minutes per mile. Around mile 9 the sides of my upper thighs/hips started hurting. The last 4 miles were very hard for me. I had to modify my stride a lot to ease the pain. Obviously my pace slowed a bit, but I got done. My goal was to do it around 17 minutes per mile, so I wasn't too far off my target.

Ed walked with me. He breezed through it with the exception of getting the back of his one heal rubbed raw. That is a carry over from his Ironman 3 weeks ago.

Doing a little analysis, I know two things that contributed to my slower pace on the second half. First, I really didn't train properly. I didn't put in the long miles recommened by standard training schedules. My excuse is that life got in the way too much. The second factor was our pace on the first half. It was much faster than I normally walk. I think I pushed too hard for that and stressed my muscles in an unfamiliar way. Next year if I do it, I'll follow the trainig schedule closer and I'll have Ed go on a few training walks with me. His normal stride is fast, which should help me along.

Now, I'm going to get the newspaper, put my feet up, rub them down with lotion and relax the rest of the day.

It's All Ike's Fault

2008-09-16T18:58:00.002-04:00

Living in the midwest, I never thought I'd have to deal with a hurricane or tropical storm. That was before Ike, anyway. Ike came flying through the Indiana-Ohio region with 75 mph wind gusts. Our power went out around 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon and remained off for about 45 hours, until 11:00 am today. We didn't lose any trees, but our neighbors did. We did, however, lose a lot of shingles. Ed is trying to get ahold of roofing companies for estimates and the insurance company for a review of our policy. Let's hope it's covered!!!!!! I'm going to spend the next few hours disposing of the contents of the refrigerator and freezer. We tried to keep things cool, but the power was out for too long. I tried knitting in the evenings, but the dim candlelight was hindering my progress. Parker's blanket is still in the works. And from the lack of news from my niece, I'm guessing the little guy is still in the works too.

An Official Diagnosis

2008-08-26T19:54:00.002-04:00

For about 4 years I've been having irregular cycles. I've gone through a series of tests and procedures, but the doctors never were able to find anything wrong. I suspected I was perimenopausal, but my hormone levels were always in the normal range when tested. Well, about the time we were on our trip out west this summer, I started having hot flashes. Not just one or two a day, but rather 8 - 12 a day and night. It has been completely miserable. I haven't been able to sleep more than about 90 minutes at a time through the night. A couple weeks ago I decided I had enough suffering and called the doctor again. This time the blood test came back indicating I'm menopausal. I haven't had a cycle since May, if you would even call what it was in May a real cycle.

It's funny but this bit of official news has hit me harder than I would have thought. I'm 44 years old. Not really too young for this, but not the expected age either. I'm shouldn't be surprised because my maternal grandmother was 42 when she hit menopause. I'm going through all kinds of emotions right now. On one hand I'm glad I don't have to deal with things every month. On the other hand, I feel like I've aged in an instant. I know a lot of this feeling is due to my lack of sleep and my overly emotional nature of late. Now comes the hard decision about what to do to about the symptoms. I have one of three choices:
#1. Just put up with it like I have for the past couple months and hope the hot flashes don't continue for years like I've read that they could!
#2. Talk to my doctor about HRT. This option is not appealling because my mom had breast cancer and I really don't want to willing do anything to increase my odds.
#3. Try a natural remedy. My doctor recommended a couple brands to try. I did a little investigating on the internet and they both seem to have favorable reviews. I'm trying one to see if it works. According to what I've read, it can take about a month to notice any reduction in my symptoms. Believe me, it won't come too soon. I'm purposely omitting the names of what the doctor recommended until I decide for myself if it works for me or not. Stay tuned. Hopefully a favorable recommendation will be coming soon.

Now, to the fun part of the blog. Around the chaotic activities that are 'back to school' I have been working on a blanket for my niece who is due to have her first baby (the first great grandchild for my parents) in September. below is the first section of a blanket for the baby.

The beginning
Originally uploaded by katschem

This is based upone Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitted Garter Stitch Blanket from The Opinionated Knitter. I'm following Meg Swansen's recommendation to have different colors in some of the areas. It will have blue in it in addition to the yellow and green. I just hope I can get it done before the baby arrives.

Finally Finished

2008-08-13T18:33:00.002-04:00

SANY3180
Originally uploaded by katschem

Over the weekend I finally sat my bum down and finished Valpuri. Seaming has never been my favorite, and it still remains so. For the most part I'm happy with the final product. I wore it to work on Tuesday. If I were to do anything different, it would be to make the body a wee bit longer. I am short wasted, but with my fat stomach, I felt like the ribbing hit at a very unflattering spot. The yarn is a cotton blend, so I don't know if it will grow much. A little would be nice.

Back to school activities are well underway. Both girls made their school's volleyball teams. Dancer is giving up dancing and dedicating herself to volleyball. I'll have to think up another moniker for her, since VBGirl has dibs on that one. Dash is anxious to get back to school. He's been a little bored lately. It will be nice to get a routine established. However, I doubt that will happen until volleyball season is over in late October.

I'm still 'training' for the half marathon. My training isn't progressing according to any prescribed schedule. I'm trying to get my miles in, but life seems to always get in the way. I still feel like I can walk 13 miles without the hard core training. The event organizers are allowing an average 20-minute mile pace. While I'm walking, I'm averaging 17 minute miles. I'll do fine, I think.

Ed's Ironman is less than 3 weeks away. He's in the final phase of his training. He's cutting back on his mileage and focusing on storing energy. He's beginning his race preparations also. My next post will probably be after that event.

Back from the Black Hills

2008-07-15T08:11:00.011-04:00

Earlier this year I told Ed that I wanted to show the kids some of the places my parents took my siblings and I when we were young. Spring Break was spent in Washington DC and this summer we spent a week in South Dakota in the Black Hills area.

It has been 30+ years since I was in the Black Hills. I vividly remember Mount Rushmore and have a vague recollection of Custer State Park and the Badlands. A few other memories are scattered in there of either Wounded Knee or Custer's Last Battleground, but I can't remember which. I don't remember if the Black Hills area was very touristy back then, but even if it was, my dad would have avoided those attractions. We stuck mainly to the natural wonders, with the obvious exception of Mount Rushmore.

On this trip, Ed and I tried to do the same. Despite the emphatic recommendations of several fellow hotel guests, we did not see Reptile Land, Bear Country, Flinstone's Bedrock, Cosmos, or the Old West Gun Fight show. All of those sounded just too cheesy. We did venture slightly into 'cheesiness' by stopping at Wall Drug and taking the 1880 Train ride. Ed vetoed a stop at the Corn Palace because it was too Griswold. Here are some of the highlights from what we did do.

Stopped at Wall Drug for lunch and a little browsing through their shops.

Visited Mount Rushmore. Dash is trying to become one with the sculptures.

Toured Needles Highway through Custer State Park.

Saw bison in Custer State Park and the Badlands National Park. Lots and lots of bison. Bison on the road blocking traffic in Custer SP. These animals were grazing along the road. Several cars, including us, stopped to watch. I was stunned when a family got out of their car in the middle of the herd and put their child on the roof of their car to get a better look. The alpha male was right by our car and he kicked a few other bulls right in front of us. I can't believe those people had a total disregard for how dangerous these animals could be.

This is one of the wild burros from Custer SP. This particular guy reminded us of Donkey from Shrek. They were so tame. We had to remind the kids that they still were wild animals and don't expect them to behave like a pet.

There were pronghorn and prairie dogs.

And finally very unusual terrain in the Badlands National Park.

We also took the Lantern Tour through Jewel Cave. The kids were a little hesitant at first, but after we got inside they realized it wasn't that hard to climb through the cave. I wasn't able to take my camera because I couldn't fit it in my pocket (a requirement for anything you bring). The kids said they'd like to explore more caves.

And finally, even though I packed 3 projects to work on, no knitting or crocheting occurred. I was too tired from our exploring to do anything in the evenings.

It's been a while

2008-06-28T14:04:00.014-04:00

It certainly hasn't been the lazy days of summer. It seems like I've been just as busy now as I was during the school year.

My training for the 1/2 marathon has officially begun. I haven't updated my webpart to show my mileage, but I'm walking at least 17 miles a week right now. The mileage will go up. I should do 4 miles this weekend, which will put me at about 19 miles this week. My average speed is 3.5 mph. Not too bad. I'll work on my speed later in July.

This is a special weekend around here. My brother Joe is in town competing in the Ohio Special Olympics. Here's Joe at the start of the Opening Ceremony.

Let the games begin!!!

At the bowling lanes.

Joe earned a Gold Medal for his bowling. He is a lot better than I am at bowling.

In knitting news, I'm still making slow progress on Valpuri. The sleeves are a little more than half done. Tomorrow I will work on it more. Photos later. I promise.

Punished for my indiscretion

2008-06-02T08:20:00.003-04:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend, instead of taking the nice, lazy 3-day weekend and working on Valpuri, I got seriously distracted by lace. I worked a bit on the Butterfly dress and started a Print O' the Wave stole. I've been loving every minute of it. But then midweek while gathering things for my Wednesday knitting lunch with friends at work, I pulled Valpuri back out. I was feeling guilty for not working on it and decided that as much as I'd love to totally immerse myself in lace knitting again, I better get Valpuri done. I worked Friday night while sitting on the deck until it got too dark to see the stitches clearly. I worked on it Saturday morning at Dancer's recital practice (which was 1 1/2 hours behind schedule!!!) Sunday morning it was in the home stretch for the front and realized I SCREWED UP!! I was supposed to decrease one stitch EVERY row for 12 rows at the neck opening. I did every other row!!! CRAP!! I've frogged it back to the beginning of the neck opening but I think I've got the two sides out of alignment. Tonight I'll try to sit with it and try to figure it out. Hopefully it will forgive me for brief liaison with others.

Confirmed

2008-05-18T10:50:00.014-04:00

VBGirl was confirmed Friday night. My sister, Nancy, was her sponsor. It was a very nice ceremony. In this blurry picture, Bishop Campbell is annointing her with the chrism.

Here's VBGirl and Nancy after the ceremony. Notice the shiny forehead

VBGirl, Dancer, and Nancy's girls. Aren't they beautiful

I've finished the back of Valpuri. I need to count the number of rows because the neckshaping on the front is dependent on the row count rather than a measurement

Here's the front as it stands right now. I need to attach two separate skeins because the front opening starts with the next row. I'm thinking about making the sleeves a bit longer than called for in the pattern. We'll see. I might be anxious to get this project completed so I can move on to the next one. My neice and her husband found out they are having a boy, so I have to start working on something for the little guy.

Valpuri Progress

2008-05-02T10:11:00.011-04:00

Here is the latest progress on Valpuri. Going is slow, but I'm getting there. This piece measures 11 1/4" from the bottom. At 14" I will begin the armholes. Each repeat of the pattern is slightly less than 2 1/2". I figure when I'm finished with the next repeat, I'll be ready to start the armholes.

This pattern was written to work the front and back separately. I decided to work the body in the round because I absolutely hate seaming. Plus I can knit faster when I don't have to switch between knit and purl rows. I get a rhythm going in the round. Once I get to the armholes I'll separate the front and back. The sleeves are knit separately also and then seamed to the body. If I had taken the time to sit and think through the process, I probably could have figured out how to do this pattern in the round and top down. But, I wasn't feeling that creative.

I'm home from work today because of back spasms. Since I can't do any house work (Oh darn!! ;)] and have to sit, alternately applying hot and cold compresses, what better way to spend the day than knitting. My hope is to get to the armholes and then complete the back.

Spring continues to be extremely beautiful this year. Last year we had an early spring freeze that killed off most of the blooms and leaf buds. Although it has gotten quite cool some nights, we haven't had a deep freeze this year. Everything seems a to be compensating for last year. All, except my daffodils. Only about 10% of them bloomed this year. I'm not sure why, but I'll fertilize this year and hope for a better output next spring.

Here are some of the beautiful sites outside my door today.

A new maple tree growing in my flower bed. I'm going to transplant it to a pot. When it is big enough, it will be added to our yard somewhere.

The flowering crab apple by the front curb.

BIG difference from 7 weeks ago!

Here's a close-up of one of the branches. I think I'll make this the background on my computer.

Something decided to sleep on one of my day lilies. My guess it was a duck. Ed and I watched a pair of mallards stroll through the yard last Sunday.

And finally, not necessarily the most beautiful (note the crappy lawn), but one that makes me happy nonetheless. A 'For Sale' sign in the front yard of the house next door. I won't go into the many reasons I won't be sad to see these people move away. My only hope is that they move far enough away that their feral children will not be able to attend the same school as mine.

Remodeled

2008-04-23T21:16:00.004-04:00

I decided to change a few things on the blog. Spring has finally sprung here in Central Ohio. Tiny, new leaves are coming out. In honor of this grand event, I'm changing the 'look and feel' to be more spring like.

I don't know what possessed me yesterday, but I signed up for a walking half marathon. The event is on September 21. I don't quite remember how many years this walking only event has been going on, but I've walked it a couple times. This is the first year for the half marathon. When I told Ed about doing it, he thought I meant to run it. That got a good laugh out of both of us. This is a walk only event, which is something I can handle. I tried talking my workout buddy, Tracy, into doing it with me, but she declined. Ed said he would do it with me, however. It will be three weeks after his Ironman. He should be able to walk 13 miles easily. Now all I have to do is train.

I added an exercise ticker to keep track of the miles I walk this year in preparation for the race. Training will not officially start until June, but I'm getting 3 miles in over the lunch hour several days a week. The training schedule looks very doable, except for the long walks on Sundays. I need to map out routes to get 8+ miles in on several Sundays before the race.

Sunny Saturday

2008-04-05T11:40:00.004-04:00

It looks like spring might finally be making an appearance this weekend. It rained all day yesterday and a bit more overnight. We didn't, however, get the thunderstorms that were predicted. I haven't been outside yet, but the skies are clearing and it looks like it may end up quite nice. The last prediction I saw for today (from yesterday morning) said it would hit the upper 50s today and mid 60s tomorrow. I'm hoping it warms a bit more today so that the whole weekend is nice.

VBGirl has a volleyball tournament this weekend out of town. However, her friend's mom offered to take her with them so we don't have to go. I feel a little guilty about not going to watch, but my turn to provide transportation will be next week. Given the nice weather predicted for this weekend, I'll make the most of having free time.

Progress on Valpuri has been slowed this week due to several factors: return to work, return to school for the kids (and homework), evening activities every night, and a very painful bout of carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand/arm. I've been able to get relief from the CTS, but I'm going to have to make sure I don't overdo things again. Here's a picture of the progress:

The color is pretty accurate in this photo. I'm starting to get a little worried about the size, however. It seems a bit too small for me. The pattern is a close fitted garment, and versions others have made on Ravelry have been form fitted. I hope once I block it that it is okay. Since I'm working botton up, I could add a few stitched as I get to the bust line. [Also, it wouldn't hurt if I lost a few pounds ;)]

Spring Break

2008-03-29T17:17:00.009-04:00

We had a whirlwind trip to DC for Spring Break. The weather cooperated nicely, with temperatures in the upper 50s and lower 60s and partly sunny. We drove out Monday, spent Tuesday and Wednesday exploring various museums and sights around the Mall, and then returned home Thursday. Here are a few highlights.

The kids on the National Mall with the Washington Monument in the background.

Lincoln Memorial, with the Reflecting Pool and World War II Monument in the foreground.

The Hope Diamond

The White House

Kermit the Frog - in the Treasures of American Heritage display at the Air and Space Smithsonian (because the American History Smithsonian is closed for renovations)

A Lunar Landing Module from the Air and Space Museum

The Capitol Building

The Rotunda in the West Building of the National Art Gallery

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T10:51:00.000-04:00

Life's Been Crazy!!

2008-03-22T09:59:00.008-04:00

The past couple weeks have been extremely hectic at home and at work.

At work, I'm working on a fast-paced 120-day project to evaluate an ERP suite to replace my company's core financial systems. Pretty important stuff. As one of key technical leads, my job at the moment is to see that the functional users who have been tasked with gathering requirements actually bring back requirements, not wish-list items or tasks. For the unfamiliar, a requirements states 'What' is needed and is traceable back to a regulation, contractual requirement, a business need, etc. If that 'requirements' is a 'How', then it is a task. If it can't be traced back to one of the items above, it is a wish. My job, therefore, is to be the requirements police as my boss states it. I actually prefer requirements bitch, but he doesn't feel others in the company will see the humor in that like I do.

At home, life has been filled with tutoring my son with his reading comprehension, attempting to fix our home computer, and dealing with a dead refrigerator.

Dash has been having trouble with his reading comprehension. I've talked to several tutors, but the only one that is taking students at this point is one I don't feel too comfortable with. There is only one quarter left to the school year. I've gone to an educational store and purchased several practice books for him. I also found a book that was recommended by several educational websites on a technique to improve your child's reading comprehension. We're working through all this now. Dash is a very smart kid. I think his problem is he picks up on certain details and misses the main idea. He's a good 'think outside of the box' kind of guy, which will help him tremendously later in life. But in the 4th grade, the teachers want conventional thinkers.

Outlook Express has been misbehaving on our home computer. Something happened to cause an error about the Address book getting deleted. I originally thought it was a virus. I spent all last Sunday (about 6 hours!!) rebuilding the computer, which seemed to fix the issue. Then, Monday night, Dancer told me that the error has come back. With a little investigation on the internet, I saw that the possible cause is a patch from Microsoft. I've tried several things to fix the issue, but the problem remains. I'm not a happy camper!!

Tuesday night after failing to fix the computer (I did not rebuild it yet again), one of the kids mentions that the milk in the refrigerator is warm. Sure enough, it doesn't feel as cold as normal. I cranked up the setting, thinking that the kids have just been in there too much or left the door slightly ajar. Wednesday evening, it was still warm so I pulled the beast out from the wall and vacuumed the coils. That didn't do the trick, so Thursday Ed and I spent the evening shopping for a new refrigerator. Since we'll be gone next week, we decided to wait until today to order the new one. A friend loaned us a small, dorm-size refrigerator for milk and eggs. That'll get us through until next Saturday.

The kids are on Spring Break for the next week. We're going to go to DC and explore the museums and monuments. I'm excited. Dash and Dancer are also, but VBGirl is complaining that it isn't a beach. I plan on making major progress on Valpuri, which
I'm doing as a knit-along with a friend from Ravelry. Here's my starting photos:

Valpuri ribbing

Valpuri swatch

Blizzard of '08 - Part 2

2008-03-08T19:56:00.009-05:00

The snow continued all day today, until about 6:00 pm. I'm not sure of the official accumulation, but around 10:00 am it was at over 10 inches. I'm sure we've got over a foot. Because of the drifting, there are spots that are closer to 24 inches deep. I went out to take some photos. It was blindig because everything was white. I certainly can understand how people get lost in snowstorms. Even in front of my own home, it was very difficult to see.

Here's a view of the house from the street.

DSCF4033

Here's the front bush by the driveway.

DSCF4025

Here is Dancer and her friend playing in the snow.

DSCF4029

Dash and one of his bud's on a snow mound.

DSCF4028

The roads are still a mess. The county is under a Level 2 snow emergency. I have my PJs on and I'm ready to get a glass of wine, curl up on the couch, and knit. All I need to do is find my slippers.

PS: I didn't sit on my butt all day as planned. Ed and I replaced the sinks in our bathroom. It ended up taking over 4 hours. We're not exactly handy around the house.

Blizzard of '08

2008-03-07T17:04:00.004-05:00

Central Ohio is officially under its first blizzard in 30 years. Yesterday evening the prediction was for 2-4 inches of snow through the middle of the state to begin around 8am today. This morning the prediction was for 8-12 inches, beginning around noon. The snow started falling around 9am. It has been a steady snow all day with occasional wind gusts. Around 4pm, the National Weather Service issued an official blizzard warning. Now the forecasters are saying 10-15 inches in total by 4pm Saturday. There are a lot of closures for the weekend, including Dash's First Reconcilliation service.

Here's how it looked at 5pm today from the house.

Looking out the open front door.

Looking from the living room window.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get needed supplies for French onion soup. Also a big bottle of wine, some cheese, chips and salsa. I've got several in progress knitting projects, so I'm set for the weekend.

I think I'm going to enjoy sitting on my butt for the next two days!!!!

February Freeze

2008-02-24T11:50:00.009-05:00

The following photos where taken after a Friday night ice storm. I meant for the pictures to be in color, but I didn't realize Dancer had her camera set to black and white.

Cure for a Yucky Winter Evening

2008-02-22T21:08:00.002-05:00

Newly finished socks!! I love them. We'll see how well they do tomorrow. I'll probably be on my feet a lot during the afternoon. They feel soft on my feet now, but we'll see how they do tomorrow. A pair of socks I knit two years ago felt fine for around the house, but inside a shoe the yarn was too coarse for my feet. If I wear them all day, I swear I can feel each individual stitch by the end of the day. Hopefully these will be different.

SANY1010

Lunacy

2008-02-20T20:47:00.002-05:00

Tonight is a total eclipse of the moon! I love it. I'm a geek in that way. I love watching the night sky. I get very excited over happenings in the night sky. In the list top 10 of most awesome experiences in my life is an incident involving a meteor. One night while taking a walk on a November evening, I heard a whistling noise behind me. I turned just in time to see a meteor streak across the sky. The whistling stopped at the exact moment that the meteor disappeared. I heard a meteor!!! It was so cool!

Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about astronomy. One of these days I will get myself a telescope. I've tried learning the names of various stars and constellations, but I can't seem to make them stick in my brain. But that doesn't matter. Knowing the names doesn't affect my appreciation for the beauty. I might have mentioned it in an earlier post, but sitting out on our deck during the summer and watching the stars is a summer ritual for us. It is just too bad the light polution is so bad around here.

15 minutes into the eclipse and the moon is looking like a cookie with a bite taken out. I think I'll dig out Ed's binoculars, bundle up, and head outside for a closer look. This is too cool to watch from inside, even though is is about 15 deg F.

I know. I'm nuts. The family thinks so too.

Keeping Up Acquaintances

2008-02-08T19:10:00.001-05:00

I finished the baby blanket on Sunday (I think) while watching the Super Bowl with Ed. After trekking to 3 different yarn shops to get 2 more skeins of yarn, I decided the 6 I had made the blanket large enough. It's finished dimensions are 26x32. Large enough to cover an infant and for dragging around with a toddler. I'll save the two extra skeins. Maybe a baby sweater is in the future.

Now that that project is over, I'm considering my next major work. I have my New Year's socks still in progress. I also still have the Berroco Duo sweater I started over Thanksgiving while in Tennessee. I'll work on that to fill the gap.

Because of the internet, I've been able to keep in touch with someone from my childhood. When I was 9 years old, my family and I were camping in Saskatchewan. My younger sister and I met a girl who was in-between our ages. She lived in Michigan and we in Ohio. We became pen-pals. We were able to keep up our correspondances all the way through our youth, college, and even up to when we each got married. Over the years things dwindled to a once a year summary included with a Christmas card. The pen pal moved to Canada, which was actually her native country. Like most childhood relationships things seemed to fizzle out. Then one day while taking a break at work, I googled her name and came across a website that I thought might be related to her. I sent a message and sure enough the webmaster was related. He kindly forwarded my message and since then we've corresponded regularly and have tagged each other as friends on Ravelry.

What does this have to do with my next big project? Well, I'm glad you asked. When I joined Ravelry a few weeks ago and found Cat's page, I saw she had queued a pretty short sleeved sweater. I added it to my queue also. Cat suggested we do a knit-along for it. I'm going to start looking for a suitable yarn. A knit-along will be a great time-filler since club volleyball tournaments are starting in March.

No One Told Me The Deadline Changed

2008-01-25T20:49:00.001-05:00

This is a baby blanket I'm making for a friend from work who was due to have a baby boy around February 22.

Baby blanket
Originally uploaded by katschem

I had hoped to present the blanket to her and the baby in the hospital. I'm only about 1/3 done with it. I figured I had plenty of time before the little guy would be born.

No one told the little guy to wait. My friend's water broke this morning and I've been waiting all day to hear any news. Around 4:30 pm I called the hospital. All they would say is that she was still in Labor and Delivery. I'll try tomorrow. I figure tonight she's probably tired and busy with family. Even if I pulled an all nighter, I wouldn't make it. I need 2 more skeins of the yarn. The LYS that I purchased the original 6 skeins from was out of this particular shade of blue. Tomorrow I'll trek to a couple more to see if they happen to have any extra. I doubt I'll be able to match the dye lot, but I'm hoping it will match. We'll see.