Who has time to knit?

As you may see to your right, I have joined the Knitting Kitty Webring. And I thought this was a good thing, until I realized that I am now obsessed with looking at other people's blogs instead of doing one of the main things that I have to so to stay on this webring--KNIT!!!

And I am thinking...THINKING...of joining the Knitting Olympics. Darn you, Yarn Harlot. I ordered the yarn yesterday for the Vine Lace Cardigan in A Gathering of Lace. We'll see if I come to my senses.

OK, off to try to see if I can get a couple of rows of the Tumbling Block Baby Blanket done so I can get a picture up on this blog!

Knitting in paradise...

Nuff said, right? Ah, doesn't it just make you feel warm all over? I like pictures like this (I've taken them before) to refer back to when I am FREAKIN FREEZING through the winters! Not so bad here in the mid-Atlantic as it was in New England, though.

So what did I do?

<--Well, this is me on day one. The beach area of Caribe Hilton is really, really nice. In fact, most of my time was spent by the ocean even though I don't consider myself a beach kinda girl.

Later that same day, decided I needed a change of scenery.

Here I am knitting my Clapotis. I think many people thought I was crazy for knitting by the ocean. What? How is it any different from reading?

Speaking of, I have to admit that I like to KIP (knit in public) partly for something to do while I people watch but also because I like to draw other knitters out to have a chat. Now, I have read where others that KIP and don't like the attention of even other knitters. I think there is just something wrong with that! However to each his own. Anyhoo, I was disappointed that the only interest I got from anyone was the last day in line at the airport when a fellow traveler noticed my knitting and was curious about getting needles on the plane. Sad.

Now back to the vaca. The food was absolutely unbelievable!!! Oh, boy, do I have some walking and other penance to do for that! But, oh, so good.

And we had a little brush with "fame." Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony were staying at our hotel (???). One night J and I walked by the bar and saw them there. I'm ashamed to say that star gawking ensued--and we aren't even fans. Why is that???

Back to reality. I had a very nice walk this afternoon with Bethany and ViVi. I hope there will be a lot more of that going on from now on...BECAUSE...my wonderful, best friend from Oregon, Jennifer, just got engaged!!! The wedding is being tentatively planned for the beginning of May. I got a body to be working on!!! Yippee.... But I am very happy for her. Gage got him a good one!!!

Off to knit--a lot to do!

I am still alive...

Just a quickie to let you know that I am alive and well. We just got back from Puerto Rico (pictures to come). Work for J--pleasure for me.

One bit of news that I have been wanting to talk about but have forgotten everytime I'm on here...I am attending Camp Stitches North Carolina this June with Cindy! Its a great weekend of knitting, talking, eating, and knitting! If that sounds like fun to you...look into it! Cindy and I have signed up for Jean Frost's Design Your Basic Jacket. We are very excited!

OK--more on the PR trip later!

Knitting intermission

Wanna see what I've been doing?



I took a weaving class back in November (I think) and completed that project within a day. Granted, it was a small man's scarf, but still! I quickly threaded the loom for this project and promptly forgot/ignored it.

A friend has offered to sell me her much larger loom so I can make sizable rugs. It seems to have gotten the weaving juices flowing again (and I'm trying to convince Jay that I will be serious about this).

So this is going to be Christmas placemats. I was aiming for 6 but it may just be 4 once I decide which are ok and which aren't.



Never fear, knitting is still #1 in my heart! But did you know that weaving is faster??? However, you can't beat the portability of knitting!

Has the well run dry?

I have been sleeping horribly--or, should I say, not sleeping at all for the last week. I don't know why. But its really starting to wear on me. Last night, as I explained to a friend, I felt like I had jet lag. I thought for sure I was going to sleep like a baby! And, again, I woke up repeatedly. Fingers-crossed that it doesn't happen again tonight.

Since I'm here I might as well leave a couple of pictures of my sweeties:

<-- I just love this photo of Bonita!














I like to call this one "kitty porn"-->

More later when I get some sleep!!

Starting over

No, not the blog. I've been fairly pleased with my abilities to keep up with it. Its the blanket I'm making for my nephew...

I am a perfectionist when it comes to knitting. Cindy can attest to this. I pulled out 4 inches of knitting on a vest at Camp Stitches because I realized too late that I had left out a couple of decreases. Even my instructor, and the creator of the vest, was telling me that it wouldn't be seen. I was up until 2 am to get back to where I would have been had I not frogged.

So this blanket--well, I made a few mistakes but I was being really good about just going forward with it. Then I found a few more this morning. When I weighed my anxiety against the fact I was not even 1/6th of the way through the blanket, I decided I would frog and begin again.

Am I crazy? (don't answer that, Cindy!)

A little about my family...

Woke up this morning to the second day of thick fog. If I didn't know better I would think I was back in Maine again. And I woke with a cold. I don't do sick well.

I mention in my profile that we have fur-kids. Well, I thought I would share a little history about them.

We adopted Bonita in the summer of 1999, a couple of days before we moved into our house. She was a "free to a good home" rescue kitten and I just couldn't resist the black smug on the end of her nose. She has a very distinct personality, as most cats do. She is referred to as the bitch often--but in a very loving way. She just wants what she wants, when and how she wants it. I swear that she could be heading to sit on her favorite perch and you could pick her up, take her to said perch and sit her there and she would jump down and run in the other room in a "pissy" fashion. But she is the one that will jump in your lap and react to a brushing in a rather erotic way.

Marmalade was adopted when we lived in Maine. He was also a rescue cat but had been in a kennel for 10 months. We were stunned at how scared he was at EVERYTHING! The first month we had him he wouldn't come out from under the bed! He has improved greatly but still has his moments that he doesn't trust you. I think that is a healthy self-preservation reaction. He is definitely MY cat. He follows me around and sits behind me on the couch or curls up around my head at night. He tells me when its time to go to bed and wakes me up in the morning by walking on my head until I get up ( recently read on Yarn Harlot's blog that she is having a similar issue. Good luck with that! I learned to live with it long ago.).

What made me think to do an entry about this is that I wanted to tell you about an interesting thing that happened a couple of days ago. I found the old quilt we had on the bed when we first adopted Marmalade and I washed it and decided to use it as a throw on the couch--my dear hubby likes to save on the propane bill, God bless him!. Immediately, Marmalade started blessing me with his constant presence RIGHT BESIDE ME!! I didn't get the connection at first. I thought maybe it was just another breakthrough with him--he has them occasionally. But when I realized he just hung out there more and more--on the quilt--I started putting 2 and 2 together. Sweet, huh? Its his safety blanket.

And, finally, a picture of my loved one, J. He is modeling a balaclava that I made for him. Because he never wore it, I sent it to my father. Honestly I don't think he wears it, either. Ah, well, you can lead a horse to water....

Why I love to knit....

For the last few days my time has been taken up with the roll over from my old email provider to the new one. Boring and tedious!

But I finally got around to a baby blanket I had started last week, tore it out and started over. Its the Tumbling Blocks pattern from Knit Baby Blankets (Steege). Its only my first intarsia and its coming along SLOWLY. But this is what I love about knitting and why I think that this hobby will keep me, well at least my brain, young: I learned to knit and purl backwards! This was suppose to keep all the bobbins hanging down the back from tangling--RIGHT! It is fun, though. Pictures will follow once I get my camera battery charged.

In the meantime, it is Wednesday and this is a special day. See, I learned to knit when I lived in New Hamphire. Then my husband said we were going to move back to Maryland. I thought I was going to be sentenced to a life of Walmart yarn (not that there is anything wrong with that!) and buying yarn only off the internet (I find this sad because I like to feel yarn). However, a very nice person who's name escapes me right now told me about a yarn shop that opened near where I was moving. So I began hanging out there-- A LOT. Margaret is a sweety and her shop, Vulcan's Rest Fibers, is a God-send.

After the appropriate amount of time (read: immediately) I began the process of talking up the idea of a knit night group. She was hesitant at first--poor thing worked at the shop all day so why would she want to stay all night? She finally caved and we have a regular group of ladies that meet every Wednesday night for crafts (we have spinners, crocheters, rug hookers, weavers, etc), food and great conversations. Her are a few pictures:










I met Cindy (the knitting CPA) through this group, too. Speaking of Cindy, she posted a picture of the scarf I gave her: green corkscrew scarf. I was so pleased with how well it came out!

OK, let me get this "published" and I'm off to bed!

Christmas Pictures

My sister-in-law just sent me some pictures taken at Christmas.

Well, in this photo you see my niece, L, opening her knitted gift (a fish from Fiona McTague's Knitted Toys )from her Auntie T (that's me!) . I am the one in the gold sweater which is a Melissa Matthey design I saw in Fall 2005 FCEK. I LOVE it! Unfortunately, it is either a holiday or fancy party type of sweater so it will get little wear. That's my other sister-in-law, A, beside me.







Here is the dog-in-law, Chili, who was not holding up so well to having 12 people in HIS house over the holidays.





Here is an upclose of the knitted fish.

OK, all for now. (Whew! That was actually pretty exhausting!)

Just one more thing....

Sorry, but I don't want to lose the momentum. Hey, if I think of something to put on here, I'm just going to go with it!

I just wanted to take this moment to introduce the loves of my life (well, 2 out of 3 anyway!).

This is Bonita (on the left) and Marmalade. This is an older picture but they've not changed--I mean, they are cats. This was taken on the last day on the boat in Maine before we left to take the boat to Maryland. Yes, they were as happy as they looked!

Hopefully I will find the picture I am thinking of of the 3rd love (or is it 1st? Depends on the day of the week--heehee!)

Thanks for listening.

Shout out

Is that even a cool thing to say anymore? Well, you'll soon learn (if you don't already know) that cool does not equal me.

I thought I would acknowledge those that I have included in my links list and why.

The knitting CPA? Well, she is my dear friend, Cindy, who has helped me to get even more addicted to knitting! She is an enabler--although she would say I am. She invited me along on the Camp Stitches New York weekend and I am hooked! We hope to go again this year.

Celia? She and I got to know each other over instant messaging about the Tempting sweater on http://knitty.com. We continue to converse about all things knit and more.

Paper Tiger Knits: Anne was my secret pal recipient from the Knitter Review this past year. I like to continue to keep up with her and her new job and new home.

Beautiful plumage: Laura was my oh-so-generous secret pal giver last year. What an amazing pal! Anyone would be lucky to get her! I hope to be posting pics of items I have knitted from yarn and projects she has sent me.

Cast On--just fun and relaxing. Hope you enjoy.

Starting again...again

The big question is will I follow through THIS time???

This is my third attempt starting this blog. A few things have gotten in the way--dial up, life and not knowing html--but I think I might be ready. I feel determined to get this going.

The dial up part has been taken care of. As of yesterday we finally signed up for Radio Frequency Broadband--or something like that. Its fast and WIRELESS!!

Life is settled. We are back in MD and very settled into our home again. The boat is across the street and out of the water. We will be sailing the waters of the Chesapeake Bay this coming season.

So that leaves html. This is going to be challenging, but I'm a smart girl. And I know people....

You have to start somewhere and this is it. Welcome.