Two Yarn Shops and a Class in ONE Day

Right now, I'm having hugely busy time at work. I've been working a series of long stressful days and finding very little time to knit. Friday, I got home from work at 10:30 PM and either had to go back and work at school on Sat or get up as usual at 5:00 to get some work done and e mailed in before 9:30 because on Sat.night I had a class planned at Anglefire Studio with Annie Modissete (SP?). The class was not until the evening BUT I had a broken nail and I was not taking a knitting class missing a nail nor am I going through the round of meetings scheduled for next week with a broken nail. After all not one person will notice all the weight I am gaining back if my nails look good. (Well at least I hope!)

Well, I'm just going on and on and going off my topic but in my mail there was a postcard that yet another LYS is closing up! Another owner going off to knit from stash and enjoy her family. SO now our only really local knitting shop is a store I really prefer to avoid BUT there was a big sale starting SAT. and my knitting friends who are really on the ball had already arranged for us to meet early shop there, then eat out and go on the our class. The sale was great, the dinner lovely and the class a treat! AND I hit the sale basket at the shop class and now it is official I need to live to at least 106 because I have enough yarn to knit for another 50 YEARS.

Today, I spend most of the day working again, calming my principal down about our Quality Review and baking a cheese cake for my friend's birthday. TWO more days of craziness at work then a breather for two days before I start a three week project where I will be working 7 days a week, 12 hour days during the week PLUS commuting and a shorter day on the weekend. When I'm finished I'll have lots of extra money to buy enough yarn to knit for the next 100 years.

How Far Is Spring?

I should have been born in a warmer climate. I know NJ is not as cold as many other places but I just hate winter. It's not just the cold I hate, what I really hate is getting up at 4:45 for work, traveling a good part of the way is the dark and then returning home in the dark. I'm luckier then many people with my schedule because my desk is right near a window and most of the classrooms I work in do have natural light BUT this dark commute makes me feel like a mole!
There is a new earlier retirement plan that is becoming available to teachers in NYC and when I was wondering if I wanted to do it, two things came to mind---no more commuting in the dark and unlimited knitting time. The disadvantages are -- I really love my job and I like being able to afford to do just about anything I want knitting wise. SO it seems that early retirement might give me the time but not the money!!! Oh well, I think March is a month made for complaining!!!!

I still need to get the zipper for my sweater and I need to make peace with the sleeve of the sweater I am test knitting ( it is very close to becoming a vest!). I'm working on a mistaken rib scarf in a great alpaca I was given for Christmas by a teacher at my school and I'm trying to decide which sweater in my mental line up is jumping on my needles next!

Feb.27th

I've just done something that I excited about. I signed up for a class with Annie Modesitt. It is on March 8th and is about knitting with color. I've done the techniques she is teaching but I'm never satisfied by my knitting with different colors. Other people's work always looks neater, more even etc. SO maybe I'll learn how to improve my technique!

I finished my Central Park Hoodie, now I need to go buy a separating zipper for it. I was going o put buttons on but this jacket like sweater is just asking for a zipper. I did it in Malibregio yarn in dusty olive and I JUsT LOVE IT ALREADY. Now I need to start back on the sweater I'm testing the pattern for. I am considering just doing the button band and calling it a vest if I can't get the sleeves to cooperate!

Just a LAZY WEEK!!

I've been off from work this week and I made nonstop plans, but somehow many, almost most of them were changed or canceled and WOW am I glad. I spent a lot of time just reading, sleeping, hanging out with the dog, watching daytime TV!!! and working on my Central Park Hoodie. I guess I needed the rest more then I thought.

This morning I went and had my nails done and soon I'm taking a lasagna and a big pot of sausage and meatballs over to a friend's house and a bunch of us are getting together to knit and hang out for the evening.

Sunday, it's my niece's shower THEN YUCK back to work. I love my job but I could use a linger break. I think I'll adjust to retirement just fine! (in a few years or so)

On Vacation

This is the MidWinter break for NYC teachers. I have been on break since last Friday. I'm finally relaxing now! As soon as I was actually on break I felt crummy and fluish and spent the last few days being sick. Not sick enough to go to the DR but sick enough to just want to sleep, knit a bit and then sleep again! In spite of that, I did get a surprising amount done in the last few weeks!

My family is having a baby shower for my niece on Sunday, she is the first of the cousins to be expecting. I don't see her often as she lives in out of state so I knitted her three sweaters--- A Newborn 5 hour boy sweater, a really cute little hoodie about 6 month size and a really cute cotton sweater with car buttons. I chipped in with my sisters for a stroller and some other gear which is off her registery but somehow that stuff never seems like a real gift.

A friend of mine just became a grandmother so I made an EZ Baby Surprise sweater and a really cute ragged edge flannel nap quilt in the 5 Little Monkeys print. Now I want to get back to my two adult sweaters for me. The Central Park Hoodie is moving along, I hope to wear it as a spring jacket this year and the sweater from the pattern I am testing is resting in the time out spot for not cooperating sleeve wise!

Today I went on a little Yarn Crawl with some friend from my knitting group. We went to three shops in Montclair. Very nice friendly shops, very different from each other and each packed with yarn calling my name. I was pretty restrained yarn wise but went a bit nuts with buttons. I am going to take pictures and show everything in a day or so. We had a very delightful lunch and they were back to pick kids up from the school but AND I who finally have grown children who work took a nap and did some knitting!

No Blogging but Some Knitting Done!

I mean to blog every day, and I hope to blog at least weekly but if I'm not more careful it will become monthly!

I've been super busy at work. We are on a big learning curve in the NYC public schools. I'm not positive that everything I'm learning to do is helpful to our main goals with kids. NYC is in testingmania. I hope there is a swing to the middle soon!

I was doing the FO dance last weekend. I finally finished my Kauni sweater and I even wore it a few times. My goal is to wear it for at least as many hours as I worked on it, which right now seems like a million. I also finished a Noro vest and did a quilt top for a baby quilt for a teacher I work with. As soon as I get a chance I'll post pictures of each of them.

I started immediately on the Central Park Hoodie in Malibregio and I just finished the back. SO, most of my house is clean, grocery shopping done, laundry completed and I am planning on visiting my mother and grandmother today. My grandmother took a fall a few days ago and while she did not break anything she has a nasty cut on her leg and can't go out for a few weeks. I had planned on taking them out today but instead I'm bringing dinner to them and will visit for the day. I'm bringing my knitting so that I'll have the patience to stay for hours!!!

Thoughts on the New Year and my friend's pasing

I 'm not a big New Year Resolution writer anymore. I used to write them every year, stuff the list away with some part of the Christmas paraphanalia then be dissapointed when I would look at it the following year. One thing I realized about these lists after the mandatory resolutions about weight and money was that most of the resolutions were about how I wanted other people in my life to change.

Last Fall, I was listening to the radio and a Rabbi was talking about what the Jewish New Years means. She spoke about each person using three concepts for guidance. First, develope a spiritual life, second, repair, build and improve relations with family and friends and last fight for justice each day. When I first heard this the first year anniversary of Bob's (my husband) death had just passed. I was feeling an empty spot because I had taken care of him for so long then worked to make meaning of his death and feeling of bereavement.

These three concepts have been so helpful. I have really tried to apply the second to my mother. I can loose my patience with herso easily instead of looking at all of her good qualities.

My friend passed Friday about five minutes after I had my last visit with her. I am very grateful to her family that they allowed me to share in their taking care of her in her last days. It brought back so many memories of taking care of Bob while he was on hospice care and I do think that I was able to share some of my experience with them. Yesterday, I brought over a big Italian meal to the family so that they would have something home cooked to eat after making the final arrangements. I doubled what I was making and froze half to save for when we finally get around to celebrating my son's 25th birthday.

I know that Beth used these three principles every day. She was a deeply spiritual person, has a wonderful relationship with her husband, children, grandchildren and many friends and did volunteer work every day that brought comfort and understanding to a suffering part of our community. I will miss her.

Dec.30

Where has my vacation gone! I'm lucky to work in a school so I know that I get very generous vacations BUT this one seems to have shot by with the speed of ? (well not my knitting needles!) I had planned to get in lots of rest and wanted to have my neverending Kauni sweater done. I really think that the sleeve unravels itself after each knitting session.

Yesterday, I got some sock knitting in while visiting my friend and some very special knitting on her last project. I was grandma sitting (she's 96 and frail but sharp as a tack) for a few days. She is the grandmother who taught me to crochet (which I hate). She never seems to ask for anything but I spend all day doing one little thing or another. In some ways it is like having a small child around. Life is dominated by meals, secret naps and trying to allow her independence without putting her in a dangerous situation.

Today, I am feeding the twin addiction of quilting. I'm going with my mother to a quilt shop for her to buy material for a quilt for my oldest niece. I still rememberthe quilt I made for Laura when she was born.


I'm hoping the finish the Kauni sleeve today, I want that sleeve done before 2008!!!!

I'm back!

I just looked at the date of my last post and I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last. I'm feeling SO SO MUCH better, almost back to normal. I'm still seeing the chiropractor and I'm getting back to almost normal energy.
I decided to really simplify this year partly from necessity and partly because I just want to make thing less complicated and stressful. My daughter and my almost daughter put up a real tree and decorated and I helped but we didn't go so crazy. Christmas Eve was supposed to be easy, just six people, my mother, grandmother, my two kids, and my associate daughter. At the last minute my sister and her family rang the bell. Their plans were canceled and they were going to just say hello then eat at a restaurant. NEVER so we rearranged and had a great night and I still had leftovers!

The rest of vacation has been very pleasant, lots of family time and getting together with friends. My usual Tuesday knitting group came to my house Thursday night for coffee, desserts and knitting. I really had a nice relaxing evening.

One of my oldest friends is at the end of her long struggle with lung cancer. I've been visiting and bringing food to her family while she is home on hospice. We used to sit and knit together much earlier in her treatment and some days because of the fog the chemo left her in I would redo most of what she had done during the previous week! Today her daughter asked me to finish off the last scarf she was making so I sat near her bedside and bound it off and tried to make my stitches as tight as Beth's. I'll really miss her.

December 9th

I've been very quiet on this blog because since a few days after Halloween I've been mostly sick. I've been to the Doctor's office or hospital more times then I've been at work! The first two problems were treated but I'm left with neck, back and siaciata (sp) like pain which is knocking me for a loop. My family doctor wants me to follow up with an ortho but I'm thinking of seeing a chiropractor first. Some days I can knit but most of the time all I try to do is get into a comfortable position and not hurt! I'm feeling a little better and I plan on going back to work on Monday so wish me luck!

BTW, I finished my Noro Vest from Folk Vests EXCEPT for the sewing on of the side panels and blocking. I just hope I can get that done soon.

Got a great package from my coffee swap partner

I got a wonderful box from Liz full of Texas treats. She sent French Roast Sunset Blend from Mozart's in Austin, a taste of Austin from Central Market, and two samplers of South Texas Pecan and Texas Velvet Hammer. I can't wait to try them. And to drink all that coffee in she sent a cup from Luckenbach. I also got a Kona Buzz Brownie which was delicious and it is certainly gone!


The yarn she sent was just as yummy. A skein of yarn from Brooks Farm a luscious blend of blues this yarn is a blend of wool,silk and vicose. AND a Knitclinic Yarn Buttercups on the Breeze which I believe she did the dye work. I also have a new pattern for a lace scarf.

Thanks Liz everything in the box was just wonderful.

My favorite place for a cup of coffee

What is the ideal setting for enjoying the perfect cup of coffee? Who would be there - or would you be alone? Inside or out? Morning or night? With food or just the steaming cup of joe?

My family has a house at the beach. We are ten houses from the ocean. I get up early year round (sad consequence of a long commute). I love to slip out of the house and bring a cup of coffee, a book or some mindless knitting and just sit and relax in the gazebo. It's so quiet and peaceful. I watch surfers, people fishing, grandmas walking with wide awake babies to keep them from waking up a whole house!

In the summer I love to go out in my backyard and read the paper and have my coffee before the rest of the neighborhood is up.

A Change of Plans

I had this Thanksgiving week all planned out. I was going to catch up with all the work that has piled up at school while I was out sick for just about 2 weeks. I was going to do some baking and my two children and I were going to join my family at my sister's house for Thanksgiving AND Friday and Sat. I was going to clean and decorate for Christmas AND I was going to finish the vest I've been working on.

Man plans and God laughs. Here's what is really happening. I made a tiny dent in what I have to do to catch up at work and went home Monday night with a nagging back ache and very tired feeling. I woke up 3:30 Tuesday morning in terrible pain took a warm shower, tylenol,walked around and though I was a bit better but really I wasn't SO I wound up in the ER and was scanned,IV'd etc. Sent home with a handful of scripts and told I can't return to work until next Nov.26 and not to travel for Thanksgiving.

I think it is going to turn out fine. My daughter,who has trouble making a grilled cheese sandwich is going to cook, my son is coming and I am feeling a bit better. Still to groggy to knit but I'm sure I will by Thursday. Maybe this is the Thanksgiving that my kids and I need.

Fiber Ornaments

I spent this afternoon doing a fun little project. I needed a holiday craft to sent away in a swap and I need some handmade things to use as parts of little gifts, so I made these scrap ball ornaments. I really like the way they came out and I was able to use stuff that was mostly in the house. All I did was cut scrap fabrics into strips and wrap them around the styrofoam balls then wrap some red silk yarn aroundthe ball and made a place to hang with a bead and a pin. I'm thinking of these as Christmas ornaments but I think they would also look great in a bowl on a table.

What I'm Thankful For

The Thursday upcoming is Thanksgiving in the U.S., so let's all - American and not alike! - just share a post with what it is we're thankful for. A wonderful thing to do any time of year, I thought it'd be a nice thing to share for this week with the group!


This is the topic of the week for th Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap and it really has me thinking. The first thought that comes to mind is that I am thankful for my children. I have two wonderful young adults as my son and daughter and I am always grateful to be a part of their lives. I'm thankful for the rest of my large extended family, especially at still having a mother and grandmother alive at my age!
I am thankful that I had the support of family, friends and hospice services to make my husband's passing peaceful.

I am very thankful to have a job which I love and which pays me well enough to support myself comfortably. I'm thankful to have work that I love and to have been able to be an important part of a school community for over twenty years in the same place.

I am thankful to have friends who make my life so much richer and enjoy my company and after my scare with being hospitalized I'm VERY thankful that I am really still healthy and getting better each day and STILL ABLE TO DRINK COFFEE!!!!!!

Thanks to my Secret Pal 11

On Sat. I received a Knitpicks box from my Secret Pal 11. What a treat ~~~~two skeins of lace weight alpaca yarn in tidepool colorway. I'm just itching to work with them, a great book,

The Well Knit Home

and a bottle of Kookaburra Delicate liquid soap which I've never tried.

I've been leafing though the book and there are some really great patterns in it. I've done lots of knitting but very little of this type of knitting. One baby blanket has the cutest little cable owls knit into it. I did those owls on mittens years ago and a baby sweater. I know there are a few things I will make from this book. Thanks!

Baby Surprise Sweater

This first picture is the Baby Surprise Sweater when you are finished knitting it in ONE piece. It is a pretty fun knit and just what I love --- garter stitch!
I've made a few of these and I still almost can't believe that it will fold into the sweater! All I have to do now is sew two small seams across the sholders and sleeve tops. Elizabeth Zimmerman "unvented" this years ago. While I'm supposed to be home off my feet for a few days I think I'll make another one. Someday I'm going to make an adult one for me!

Got some unexpected KNITTING in

This weekend I was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work I needed to do at my school and I was thinking that my knitting would be only in short spurts for a while. Well, you just never know!


I went to a party Sat night and indulged in non WW treats so when I woke up with the worst pains of my life and spent the rest of the weekend running to the bathroom I thought it was the revenge of real fat in my diet. By Monday morning I decided to get a Doctor's note because I just could not get into work. One thing lead to another and by the evening I was admitted to a local hospital. After much poking and prodding and some testing which was quite gross I received a diagnosis of Acute Ischemic Colitis which of all the things they were suspecting was by far the best! I'm out of the hospital and feeling much better.


I DID GET LOTS of knitting done. I knit a really cute hoodie for my niece's expected baby and a EZ Baby Surprise Sweater in three shades of Knitpicks Palette. This was great hospital knitting basically easy but kind of a puzzle to work out.

So what have I learned from this?
1. No matter how important you think you are at work a whole school will not dissolve into thin air if someone else does your Election Day Staff Development
2. A well developed supply of yarn is very important. It would not have been good for me to postpone hospitalization while I purchase a few days worth of projects
3. Never go see a doctor without your emergency knitting sock right next to the insurance ID!

A FO finally!

I finished my Seamingly Simple Vest yesterday and wore it to school today. I still don't have a working camera but my vest is exactly like the one on the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Site. I even did it in the sample color, Lagoon. How unoriginal-- but I'm very pleased with it and it felt so cozy. A few people told me it should have pockets and one 5th grade boy explained exactly how I could have done it and he was very accurate!
I was doing a demo lesson today and several kids in that room told me that they like my vest but were disappointed with my socks. We got into a brief discussion about my too plain for them socks (Lisa Souza oil slick colorway, black with small drifts of green). It's funny how many kids in my school associate knitting and Math!
I want to make a few more vests for the winter. I think I get more use from a wool vest then a wool sweater. Today it was fun to wear my own hand knit socks, vest and sweater.

WinterCoffee Swap (YES, I'm joining another swap)

Coffee

What are your favorite kinds of coffee? (Brands, Roasts, anything at all you'd like to share!)
I like a rich dark coffee. Usually I'm not too fond of flavored coffee. I do like a good french vanilla but I never drink fruit or complicated flavor blends. I cannot even imagine a blueberry coffee.
Do you prefer whole bean or ground coffee?
whole beans

This time of year, there are often Holiday Blends available, and many flavored coffees - do you drink flavored coffee? Do you enjoy special blends?
I love to try holiday blends, except for french vanilla I'm not a flavored coffee person
How do you take your coffee? Cream and Sugar? Straight up? Decaf?
Black no sugar NO DECAF please
Do you prefer drinking from a nice thick mug, or a matched cup and saucer?
usually I love mugs
Winter and Holidays - PLEASE be descriptive! Your pal will need this information to be sure to put together a package you will enjoy!

What is your favorite part of Winter?
I hate the cold weather but I do enjoy the social aspects of the holiday season and the occasional snow day!
Do you celebrate a holiday in December, and if so, which holiday?
I celebrate Christmas in a non religious way.

If you celebrate Christmas, do you put up a tree?
Yes I do.

Would you enjoy items related to the holiday, or would you prefer a Winter themed package?
either is OK

Do you collect anything? Are there any holiday or winter-themed items (Snowmen, Angels, Snowflakes, Santas, etc) that you collect?
Snowmen
Do you wear scarves? Mittens? Hats?
yes, yes no!
What is your favorite holiday or winter treat?
I love cookies and other sugary treats BUT I am changing my food habits and trying to follow Weight Watchers so treats in portion sizes and low in sugar and fat are best for me right now.
Please share a favorite Winter or Holiday memory.
I have always celebrated Christmas Eve at my home, first at my apartment now the house we've been in since my kids were in 1st and 2nd grades. My mother, grandmother and great uncle would all sleep here. The next morning after all the opening of presents I would make a huge holiday breakfast with waffles, fresh strawberries, real whip cream, bacon, pancakes, muffins, scones, etc. For a few years when my husband was sick and not comfortable with people around too much we did the brunch at my sisters house. The first Christmas after my husband passed away both of my kids asked me to start doing the Christmas morning breakfast again, except they want a brunch.(they don't want to hop out of bed too quick) This was always a relaxing time with just the people closest to me.
Yarn and Crafting

Do you Knit or Crochet? For how long?
I've been knitting since I was 5 and I'm 56 now!Do you like wooden, metal, or plastic needles\hooks? Circular or straight?
I like any well make needle that suits the project I using it for.
What sort of projects do you enjoy making?
I was addicted to socks for a while but now I'm making sweaters, vests and so on. I usually try to have a mindless project or five going and then something a bit more challenging.

What are your favorite types of yarn to work with?
I love to work with natural blends, especially wool, silk, mohair and angora.

Do you spin or dye?
I know how to do both but right now I don't have a working wheel and I'm in a mess free mindset these days so I am not doing much with dying!
Do you do other crafts such as scrapbooking or needlepoint or anything else?
I do quilting and redwork.
General

When is your birthday?
August 5th
Do you have any children? (Furry kind count!)
A son 24, a daughter 23 both finished with school and WORKING!!!!!! I inherited my husband's dog so I am trying to be a dog person, two cats of mine and my daughter's crazy cat/kitten.
What are your favorite colors?
I love blues, greens, purples and other rich jewel colors. I also love natural colors or blends free of dye.Do you have any allergies?
just iodine which usually is not a problem knitting!!!