Getting Ready to Retire

I have not posted on here is very long. Life has gotten very busy but soon I will have more time to call my own. I am retiring this summer from teaching. I have been teaching since 1972and I still love it but it is time for me to move on! Soon I will have all the time I need to knit, quilt and spend time with my grandson and hopefully even blog!

Back after all this time!

I have not posted here in a few years but I just wanted to check in. I am still knitting, teaching and quilting. My son is turning 30 in a few days and my daughter is already 28. Steven's son Koa is still the light of my life. I have had a very busy year knitting, I made 17 hats, 9 children's sweaters, a dozen shawls/scarfs, three adult sweaters and two pairs of socks. I owe a sweater to Koa and Jesse but I am selfish and cast on another sweater for myself!

Happy New Years Day

My little boy turns 28 Sunday. I can't believe that my baby had a baby this year!

Happy New Year

Most years I have listed resolutions or accomplishments or shown lists and pictures of items knitted or quilted BUT this year the BEST thing that happened to me is this little boy. I became a grandmother and what a pleasure! I'm so excited of the prospect of having so many years ahead to share with him.

Happy New Year

my last finished sweater

This is the last sweater I made for myself. I just love it. Talk about warm and cozy, I put it on and never want to take it off. I made it from Jojoland Rythem yarn, if I can remember the pattern was Diane Soucey Top Down Raglan Wrap Sweater.

I;m going out tonight to knit with friends, the first time out since Christmas! I'm still not feel 100% but I didn't expect to be in so long.

Post Christmas Blizzard

I personally am not letting my toe out of the house today. I was out of work sick for two weeks with pneumonia and I still feeling the effects so I am in the house doing my version of Eat, Sleep & Knit!

12/26/10

We are being hit by a huge blizzard today so I am cozy in my home in a new bathrobe, eating, knitting and relaxing. I'm recovering from pneumonia so I'm still trying to take it a little easy and this weather makes it very possible.

I did get to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both of my kids, Jesse and my new grandson Koa. this was his first Christmas and it was wonderful.

Merry Christmas

It has been so long but all I want to say is Merry Christmas to all!

knitters are the best friends!

Every Tuesday night I knit with a very special group of women. We mostly all met through knitting but have really become a special close knit group! Saturday night we had our annual Holiday party at my house.

We did what most people do during a party, ate and talked and laughted! This year we did a secret swap and it was so much fun, researching your partner and trying to make the perfect box!

I love what my partner gave me and I think she loves her treats especially the shawl I knit for her. A friend of mine made a special gift for me a traveling Women shawl in red!!!!! I just love it, I also received a great ornament, a clear plastic ornament with some knitting on TOOTHPICKS place in it! How clever was that?!?

My Other Hobby Swap

Here is what my great swap partner Ceraphina,from My Other Hobby on Rav sent to me. Three pairs of great ear rings made by her. Wonderful sock yarn, a big fat candle, handcream, three fat quarters in my favorite colors, dark chocolate, a great project bag ---all packed into a great pocketed case. It was lots of fun to open each little compartment and find new treats.thank you so much

Getting Back to Normal!

The last few weeks have been wild. I've had a surgery which I hope will help me to get healthier and loose weight. I'm returning back to work on Monday. As difficult as it was to have my procedure done, I had lots of free time to knit and rest.

My grandmother fell in the beginning of September and broke her hip. Breaking a hip is life changing for someone a few days away from 98. Since then she has been from hospital to hospital rehab and yesterday to a subacute nursing home. She and my mother are confident that she will be "home" in a few days/weeks whatever. I'm not so sure. I think staying in the nursing home might be her new normal. Please keep her in your prayers so that the new normal for her is clear and not so hard to decide.

Thanks Secret Pal 14!

Here's my last package from my secret pal. She sent me just the best treats! This last package included note cards, a hand made towel and cloth set, (I love handmade gifts!!) an real cute tool set, (an oval with everything you need for repairs or on the go), a box of chocolate treats, a candle in a great fresh scent and a little traveling pouch. Thanks so much!

Friends

I have been very lucky with friends all my life. I have good friends and I am able to be a good friend. One of my friends took me for my surgery and then the next day took me back for my follow up visit. Friends have been calling, e mailing and keeping in touch extra for the last few days. One of my friends blocked my black shawl for me and it looks great! A friend picked me up today for a few hours of relaxing knitting at Barnes and Noble this afternoon.





It is hard to loose friends. In the last few days I have lost two friends far too young. the first I found out about on Facebook. She was a super sweet women who made great goatmilk soap. We worked together on learning to make lotionand wound up sharing huge parts of our lives. I know few details of what happened and she leaves behind a huband, son, daughter and grands. We will all miss her.

The second friend to pass was a member of our Tuesday knitting group. She was also young, only 43. Sharon was struck by a car shortly after getting off the commuter bus. She passed away while everyone was waiting for her to come to our Tuesday knitting group. Sharon leaves behind a husband, brothers, sisters and neices and nephews and 14 pug dogs. She was a funny smart lady who brought new ideas and lots of energy to our group. She was the one who got us started on the EZ Adult Surprise Sweater KAL. Sharon will not get to finish hers.

Day 2

This my first day out of surgery. My friend took me back to the Doctor's office to speak with the Nutritionist. Now I'm exhausted and all I want to do is rest for the rest of the day.

The song of the frog was here again and the Swallowtail shawl was frogged yet again. When I'm feeling better I WILL find a way to knit this thing!

Stubborness Wins

I started the Swallowtail Lace Shawl a few years ago. It was right after Bob passed and my mind wandered too much. BUT I had it in the back of my mind to do it again. So Friday, I cast on again and knit but I was having such trouble understanding the pattern. Over Friday, Sat and now Sunday the froggy song of RIPIT< RIPIT was heard over and over! Finally I went to Ravelery and looked at other's people's work and READ their comments. Now I get it. The chart I'm following only gives the six stitch repeat and only the six rows of the pattern. I realize that I just was not seeing the pattern from the chart. The chart shows the repeat which is the second half of the pattern and then the first half. Once I saw that it all made sense! I will get this done!!!!!

Some FO's to show!

I finished a few projects recently. I started a Damson Shawl but did not have enough yarn so I finished it without the lace pattern border.The yarn is STR med weight. I love the colors. I also finished a ruffle scarf that looks like it is quick but is really LOTS of knitting.This is a fun easy pattern with short rows making the scarf twist and turn. It is my new walk around knitting so I immediately cast on a new one.

On Monday I am having elective surgery. I should be home for a week and a half and I am almost giddy with the idea of so much knitting time! Let's hope I feel well enough to get in lots of knitting!!!

finished Black Shawl!!!!

It still needs to be blocked and have the ends tucked in and there are a jillion mistakes and it will be A LONG TIME BEFORE I KNIT IN BLACK AGAIN!!!!!!

More Hospital Knitting

Thursday had to be one of the worst days I've had recently! In the morning I found out that my insurance company is dickering around with an elective surgery I have planned for next Monday. Without going into all the gory details this is why people HATE their insurance companies. ?More drama will follow next week!

Then I found out that my son had his debit card cloned and his bank account emptied out. Fortunately the bank picked up on it and called him and most of it has been replaced but not all.

Then the worst news. My 97 year old grandmother fell and broke her hip. So yesterday she had surgery and did as well as anyone her age can do. Now on Sunday we will be looking at rehabs for her. So I've gotten in lots of knitting on my shawl, finished my ruffly scarf and snapped ANOTHER needle working on the Damson shawl. Pictures will follow when I can get to it!

Tinking Black Lace

I have knit most of today and I am about 2 rows behind where I started. I was just rolling along on this project. I had the lace rows memorized, the chart was making sense and I was thinking "Why don't I do more lace?". Yes, pride goes before the fall. All of a sudden I realized that I had a bunch of extra stitches that the knitting devils must have stuck in while I was gloating about how nice this was coming along. SO I tried to pull out a patch and re knit the mistaken part. I just was able to make a much worse mess and then in true knitter's denial I knit two more rows as if a huge combination blob and hole right in the middle of the shawl would just blend in! Not only would galloping horse's rider notice it, they could disappear in it. So I had to pick out TEN rows which took me about the same time it took to knit them!!!! So I guess it is a good thing I love the process of knitting because I have no product to show!!

Picture Catch Up

I finally took some crummy pictures with my cell phone. Here is my latest Secret Pal Box. Now I can use the stitch markers!!! I'm not sure that you can see them but they are a lovely pale blue and silver.


Here is the shawl. I'd like to retire from life for a while and just work on this! Well, I go back to work on Tuesday so there is no chance of that! I'm off to the movies then an end to summer dinner with my daughter. Although I love my job I don't want to go back to work!