Knitting Priorities

As my sprinkling of readers may or may not know, I've been putting in a lot of hours at work lately. We're in a real crunch there on several incoming clients and projects. It's meant a lot of overtime. I'm not a person who does well with a lot of hours. This blog isn't calling "Hanging By a Thin Thread" for nothing, don't you know?

I have some stress coping mechanisms, but most of those involve having time off to meditate, read, knit, walk, do some yoga, reflect. With the time crunch, I've lost a bit of perspective.

But this coming weekend, I will have time to do ALL those things. Because . . . . The Studio Retreat at The Elms is finally coming right up. I'm counting down now. Five days to go. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday . . . then da da da DA - Friday I'm at The Elms. Three whole days to intermingle with my knitting peeps. A hot spa tropical bath treatment. A yoga session or two, lead by a yoga instructor. Sitting in the lobby, pictured here, of a 150 year old hotel in a peaceful setting. Nothing but TIME, TIME, precious TIME to share with my knitting friends. I can't begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.

I was considering taking some classes there, but decided that the time to just relax and knit is more important than anything else right now. Learning a new technique would be nice . . . but not as nice as just vegging out. Remembering my priorities - yeah, no classes for me.

My knitting life, much like the rest of my life, has felt fragmented, confused, sporadic and unfocused. Though I don't want to put myself on any kind of productivity regimine, because knitting should be fun and not work, I nevertheless haven't felt relaxed even in my knitting lately, because I feel off kilter and unsuccessful at nearly every project I laid hands on in 2008.

Don't know why, but I produced a lot of duds last year, and 2009 started off with a frustrating experience trying to knit a Jane Thornley Organic Wrap that I ended up frogging. I had hoped to wear it to the Retreat, but no, forget that.

While I'm at the retreat, I'm going to reflect on what are my knitting priorities this year? What do I want to make, learn, do? What excites my knitter's passion in 2009?

A Day of Pride

In November, we did it, we elected Barack Obama as our 44th President. That election day filled me with euphoria. But today, on his inauguration day, I am filled with something else, something deeper and more profound . . . not just hopeful idealism, but true pride in our country and the realization of how far we've come in my own lifetime.

My childhood occurred during the years of the Vietnam War and during the struggle for racial equality. I was raised believing that while women and blacks SHOULD have equal rights, they really didn't and were desperately fighting for it.

Today I had to work, so I tried to catch glimpses of the big event on my coworker's monitors as we watched it through website feeds. But when the swearing in came, we all stood transfixed as we saw the dream come true. It was very emotional and moving.

Now we've come full circle. We have a leader who represents all the best qualities we so desperately need in a leader at this point in our history. It feels as if we are on the brink of something.

This President isn't promising to do it all for us, but to lead us in a new direction and into an America that we all participate in and create together.

Knitting Caddies

I am a natural bag lady - one of my favorite things to knit is purses and bags, and those have also been some of my most successful projects.

However, yesterday when Bob and I were shopping at an Antique Mall, we happened upon this:

Finding that knitty caddy reminded me that my favorite knitting bags aren't knitting bags at all, they are knitting CADDIES and that's why I have these other two as well:






My Grandmother used similar caddies during the 1960's and 70's and I forgot how much I love them!! I am going to be on the lookout for a vintage version - I am very sentimental about the wild, garish prints of the '70s and those are my favorites.

Now the reason I love these caddies so much is because they sit on the ground, open while you are knitting and when you are ready to go, you just flip it closed, grab the handle and go. Your knitting stuff never falls out - it's compact, easy and really works well.

Fun Saturday in Parkville

Knowing this was my last "workfree" Saturday for the next few weeks, I took a small roadtrip to Parkville, Missouri with my Mom and Kay - and we drove to the Florilegium shop. It's a charming yarn shop that is that and so much more. It's a unique gathering place for crafters.

This week, they featured a visitor, Dave from Ozark Handspun fibers. Dave was there to demonstrate his talent of spinning hand dyed locks in big creative skeins of yarn that knit up quickly and produce works of art.

Best of all, Dave brought along a trunk full of freeform garments to try on, many of which were designed by my Ravelry friend, Janice Rosema. I first "met" Janice over on Knitter's Review Forum several years ago where we shared a mutual love of Freeform, but whereas I'm a dabbler in the art, she's a true master - she designs pieces that are amazing. This weekend I was finally able to see these projects first hand.

You should have SEEN the shop full of excited knitters, gathered around ohhhinngg and aweing the fabulous yarn. There was a gathering especially around the huge trunk with the freeform garments. They looked like a happy group of little girls at at a costume party. They were trying on wild crazy hats, vests, sweaters and purses, all the while asking the other women, "How does this look on ME?" Great fun.


If you would like to see some of Janice's work, she has an article with photos of her freeform shawls in the Jan/Feb issue of Belle Armoire. She also has a pattern in the Winter issue of Knit N Style - it's a freeform cape design with matching fingerless gloves.

Huckleberry Ascot Completed

In spite of the craziness and required overtime at work, I've been able to squeak in a LITTLE knitting. This is my latest project - the Huckleberry Ascot from the Winter 2007 Holiday issue of Interweave Knits. I am showing a shot here with the left side bobble-free and the right side with the bobbles so you can see how it looks both ways in case you don't like bobbles.

My friend Laura kindly gave me a gift certificate to The Studio, so I bought the most luxurious yarn called Shi Bui which is DK weight Baby Alpaca. That is what I made the Huckleberry scarf with - the colorway is 229 which is a rich purple-burgandy.

Though the time for gift giving is now officially over, it's good to keep this project in mind if you ever need a quick gift. I knit it up in one week - a very hectic frantic week at that. Many faster knitters could probably whip it up in a couple of days. The ascot uses short rows and you pick up the wraps. That taught me a new technique because I'd never picked up wraps before. Carol showed me how to do it. Also, the optional bobbles on the ends of the scarf were fun.


Just to note though, instead of doing 8 repeats of the shortrow to create the flaired ends, I did only 6 and also instead of picking up 120 stitches on each end I picked up only 48. This made the scarf less bulky at my neck, and also saved yarn. If you knit it "as written" it uses a bit MORE than the 225 yards, causing you to have to buy a second skein to finish. But if you do the abbreviated version I did, you use slightly less than one whole skein.

I'm Reducing

2 decades ago, when I was a young sales clerk in a Ladies' Wear Department, I worked with a fascinating and attractive older woman named Betty. In her early 50's at the time, she was the epitome of grace, style and class. She kept a beautiful figure and ate and exercised carefully. Whenever her clothes became a bit snug, she would come to work that day, hold her manicured fingertip in the air and announce, "Okay, ladies, the skirt is pinching a bit, therefore I am re-DUC-ing." Reducing seemed such a classy way of saying, "I'm going on a diet." Betty didn't diet, she REDUCED and somehow it made her wellness routine an elegant process. (the photo is of actress Tippi Hedren, who played Melanie in The Birds, but that is how I always pictured Betty must have looked during her beauty peak).

That "reducing" phrase has always stuck in my mind - and since "dieting" has such a negative connotation with me and all my various attemps at weight loss, I'm going to change my phrasing to REDUCING as well.

Taking action: I've been on the Jenny Craig eating/exercise and mental tune up routine since November 18th - and am now on my 7th week of "reducing." I've lost 12.6 pounds and some inches as well, but I need to take my measurements again before I can report on the inches yet. Suffice it to say, my bursting-at-the-seams size 12s are now LOOSE, so I'm a happy reducer.

So far, I am quite pleased with the Jenny program, because with the prepared meals, it has alleviated the stress of planning, shopping and cooking a 1200 calorie healthy and tasty food plan each day. The Jenny foods provide the variety in my food plan that I didn't find with other plans. I am exercising so far by just walking on my treadmill regularly and wearing a pedometer. My goal is 10,000 steps a day, and I'm walking at least 7000-8000 steps - still aiming for more, but it's a good start.

I also like the way that with JC they focus each consultation session on food/exercise/mind - all 3 components working together is working well for me. Eventually, they will start weaning me off the frozen foods and onto cooking a couple of days per week for myself. But I'm enjoying the well-balanced meals. I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. I drink at least 64 oz of water and I exercise. On my drive to work and back, I listen to self-help CDs to retrain my thinking.

While I'll never look a thing like Betty, or Tippi Hedren, I'll look and feel like a healthier ME. Here's to healthier in 2009.

2009 New Word Selected - "Priorities"

For my long time readers, you know the drill by now. Each year, I pick a word that will guide the year ahead, and hopefully help shape it. My word last year was "awareness" and I think it really helped me change a few bad habits and improve some of my relationships. Awareness naturally leads to several outcomes: 1) change; 2) acceptance or 3) release.

In the fall, I was considering picking the word "Release" for this year - because frankly 2008 has been a pretty crappy year for many people, including myself. The awareness I practiced last year seemed to lead me to getting rid of some "hangers on" in my life that had lingered a bit too long and were dragging me down. You know, some fringe relatives, toxic people and self-made ways of relating to people that just weren't working any more. So toward fall of last year, I started releasing some of those old, dead situations and thought patterns - including an old vision of "me" that was stuck in feeling fat, dumpy and middle aged.

I am still in that process of release - and am planning on symbolically releasing those things - especially on New Year's Eve. But Release for a whole year seemed daunting to me, and frankly a bit scary. I don't think I'm ready for a whole year of that quite yet.

At any rate, as I was contemplating the new year, and during my morning meditation, a new word popped into my head like a new friend walking in the door - PRIORITIES. That is the word which will guide 2009.

Why? Being a big naval gazer and goal setter, I already have some general priorities established. They've stayed pretty constant for a few years now - but those priorities too often get shoved aside and not LIVED on a daily basis. I get so caught up in putting out the daily fires, and just doing whatever maintanence activities are needed for survival that I fail to do the really important things that will have the greatest impact on my life.

So last year's awareness has led me to the realization that my priorities are too often sidelined - the big rocks in my life have too often been displaced by the small rocks and sand of daily existence.

Right now, I'm in the process of emptying out that terrarium of "my life" and selecting the big rocks that will go in first - then the other stuff can filter in around what really matters. Does that make sense?

What will your word be for this year?

Is anyone else ready to release 2008? Whew - I'm getting this bad-ass year's hat and coat right now - ready to close the door on it.

Merry Christmas - The Gift of Friends

Okay, it's Christmas it's not usually my favorite holiday - but this year, I've remembered how very blessed I am with friends. I've been working overtime a lot and hadn't had time to check the mail. Imagine my surprise when I opened up my mailbox today to find a gift - a very special gift from a very special friend, LynnH, of ColorJoy!!!

I've been blessed to find some of my most cherished people over the Internet. Around 2003, after discovering/rediscovering the wonderful world of knitting, I happened upon a wonderful knitting blog by a very colorful and joy-filled person named Lynn. She is beautiful, creative, a talented designer, artist, dancer not to mention a delightful musician and writer. I admire the fact that she has so many talents - any one of which a person would be glad to possess - but she has many. I started reading her ColorJoy blog five years ago, and even with a plethera of blogs now available, hers remains one of my all-time favorites.



One of Lynn's designs I've always loved is her ColorJoy Stole. Well, now she's has a new pattern out called Party Stole. Guess what? She made one for me and sent it in the mail. You can see me enjoying it on a Christmas Day, and I do indeed feel wrapped in joy and warmth.

I have been blessed with some special relatives, but friends like Lynn remind me that friends surround me - even one like her whom I've never even met (in person). If you have a chance - drop by her blog, check out her music (1920's style) and take a peek at her projects and patterns.

It's cliche but so true that friends are some of our greatest gifts. Now back to my stole and a warm cup of tea. Yum!!! I'm curling up with a very good book called MIDDLESEX and sitting by the fire for a while.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Boot Toppers

The next IG (Instant Gratification) project comes to you from Kristin Knits: 27 Designs for Playing With Color. Specifically, the Boot Toppers on page 68. They are SO CUTE and have the added benefit of being 1) fast and 2) easy - my two favorite criteria for knitted projects when I'm in this frame of mind. If you're still looking for last minute gift ideas, these boot toppers would fit the bill perfectly. They could be made in a day (for fast knitters) or two (for slower knitters like me)- and you could put them on all sorts of boots, both casual and dressy. I just finished mine and I love them. I will probably try to make another set for my mother to match her new green boots.


I was so excited about this idea for boot toppers that I went out the other day and bought a pair of women's fashion work boots (Mudd brand) just so I can have something to put the boot toppers on!!! You could actually put these on any kind of boot, including the tall dressier boot.


The boot toppers are knit using two-color Fair Isle knitting (but it's really Beginner Fair Isle) and then you embellish with just a bit of duplicate stitch to make it look more complicated than it really is. Yarn used was Julia yarn, again, which is apparently produced by Kristin Nichols, author of Kristin Knits. She has produced a set of yarn in this Julia line so that the colors all go together. I love her sense of color.

Daughter's Birthday Celebration

Hard to believe that my daughter turns 17 today! And on top of that, it's a snow day - we're both off from school/work.

It's a lovely snow - a downright beautiful, light fluffy snow that really DOES put me in the holiday spirit. In fact, it looks like a lifesize snow globe outside.

Days such as this are unique and rare. A blessed winter day.

A Window of Relief

I was all set to work yesterday (Saturday) but due to a computer application being on the fritz, my overtime was unexpectedly called off. Yippeee! So Saturday I had a day off to visit the knitting peeps, do a bit of holiday/birthday shopping. And Saturday night, we spent a wonderful evening with Kay and her family.

You see her here, clowning around with her new marino/roving "wig" ala 1700's. We opened the big box of roving I ordered from Sheepshed Fibers and we had fun playing with it a bit on my drum carder. The roving she's wearing is from a grab bag of fibers, but the best of the lot was the $7.95 white roving mill ends that were wonderfully soft merino. It is great! We're both planning on expermenting with dyeing that roving and seeing what yarn we can spin up with it.

We made a lovely blue/green bat and a pink/burgandy batch with some other roving I had in the closet. Kay had already worked with drum carders when she went to Yarn School a couple of years ago. I think she'll be getting one soon - maybe even for Christmas? Here's hoping.

Ever since I started to spin last summer - I've become obsessed with making my own yarn in all aspects, the spinning, dyeing, carding. I am just beginning this exploration but it's so much fun. Mostly, I've been reading and studying, but I've been buying crockpots at thrift stores, so don't be surprised if you soon see me venturing into dyeing as well.

Here's some lovely silk I've been spinning from the silk yankies we bought at Yarn Barn last week.

If only there were enough hours in the day to practice all the things I'd love to do better.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

It's December again - and instead of "Merry Merry Christmas/Hannukah" I find myself groaning each morning as I wake up counting down the days until it is all over and I can breathe again.

Not only is there Hannukah and Christmas (we sort of half-heartedly celebrate both), but there's also my daughter and husband's birthdays as well as my grandmother's and 6 friend's birthdays.

And I've been working overtime at work to the point where I feel even more rushed and stressed. In short, for me this is NOT the most wonderful time of the year. (Yes, I'm extremely thankful to HAVE a job, and the overtime money is much appreciated, but right now, the time crunch is overshadowing everything else).

When I am time-pressed the most, that's when I realize how very much I rely on knitting and spinning to release the tension and provide relaxation. When I don't have time to even finish knitting a pair of boot toppers (my current project sitting by the wayside), then I get very frustrated and cranky. Instant gratification projects shouldn't stretch out over two weeks, should they? And when my brain is too fried to even knit simple ribbing, it's a signal something's gotta give.

I think this is an especially dismal and stressful season in 2008 in particular, with all the financial worries in the country and the world. No one can be completely sure that they'll even have a job in January.

Sorry to gripe - but the blogging helps me sort of unload and express it. In spite of the stress, I know that I and all of you too, will get through this okay. We'll have time to spend with friends and love ones and maybe instead of feeling out of control and helpless for all we can't BUY, perhaps we can share what has become increasingly precious - a little bit of time and companionship.

I feel most sorry for those single mothers and fathers out there, many of whom I work with, who feel special pressure to produce, at the very least, a decent Christmas for their kids, with very little money to do it.

Here's hoping things get better soon. And 2008 is almost over. Can I hear a "yippee" from the peanut gallery?

A Spinning We Will Go

On Saturday, my friend Kay and I took a "More Spinning" (Intermedidate Spinning) class at Yarn Barn, taught by Cindy Harberger. All I can say is "Wow, what an intense, information-packed 4 hours." Maybe it is because I am a kinesthetic (hands on) learner, but having an experienced spinning teacher beside me guiding the way while I try different techniques is an excellent way for me to learn.



We started by spinning using our own intrinsic method and style for about half an hour while she went around the room observing each of us and writing up a little index card describing our current style, with suggestions on how to improve both the technique and ergonomics of our current spinning method. It may sound scary being critiqued on one's spinning, but it was very nonjudgmental, friendly, and with all the best intentions - to help us become better and more talented spinners. And I've seen such improvement in my spinning from the first session with her, two months ago, to now.

Last time, she suggested that the posture I was using to spin might eventually cause pain in my right hip - and she was right, I'd already begun to experience mild hip pain, but with her suggestion on sitting differently, I've been able to spin in total comfort for the past two months.

She analyzed my current style as "Short draw, but allowing draught against twist." What this means is that I do a short draw, but I occasionally take my hand off of contact with the fiber, which causes a nubbiness or unevenness that can be solved by keeping my hands in constant contact with the fiber. We practiced this new way of spinning short draw, and it produced much smoother yarn. But now I know that if I ever want that nubbiness, how to produce it.

We practiced modified long draw and true long draw, which she says that very few people do a TRUE long draw, but it can be very effective for some types of fibers. Kay was able to perfect both the modified long draw and long draw very well. I think her natural style is modified long draw.

Treadling: medium fast. As with everything else, I tend to do it a little faster than I probably need to. The teacher suggested that I slow the pace of my treadling just a bit. She says that we live our lives at such a fast pace, that it sometimes transfers over into our spinning - but in fact our "real life" should mimic our spinning pace - medium paced and relaxed most of the time.

We discussed woolen vs. worsted weight yarn, and how to produce both. She says that most spinners do a combination such as semi-woolen or semi-worsted. Two yarns can appear to be the same thickness, yet the weight and handling characteristics of each can be quite different, depending on how it was spun.

Worsted yarns - extremely strong, smooth and durable, are produced from parallel fibers. You can get this effect by aligning the fibers by using hand carders, in particular, and creating a little "rolag" out of the fiber. We learned how to do this, and at first, I couldn't do it very well. Because I am left handed, I was getting my handedness confused. But Jane, another student in the class, helped orient me and practiced with me, which helped so much. By the time we made a second rolag, it turned out much better.

Woolen yarns, on the other hand, are made from randomly oriented fibers and they are soft, warmer (because they incororate more insolated air space) and not as hard-wearing as worsteds.

Clarification from Cindy the Instructor: True worsted is prepared only from combed fibers and spun and plied butt to tip. Rolag preparation is used to create woolen yarns. Rolags rolled in the conventional way (as we practiced) creates a preparation that has the fibers at perpendicular to the orifice. Worsted spinning requires fibers to be "in parallel" with the orifice.

We then moved on to learning about and spinning many different fibers from our "goody bag." We learned that Merino would made a great woolen-spun yarn. It was easy to spin.

Cotton - 1" staple length and very hard to spin because of short fibers, you would best use the smallest/fastest ratio on your wheel, and treadle fast! When we worked with it, my cotton kept breaking off, and I finally gave up. I don't like cotton anyway.

Flax - use a lot of twist, dampen fiber to make it more smooth to spin. She suggests wearing a belt when you spin it, or use a distaff to put the fiber through.

Mohair - comes from a goat, very shiny and has a halo. It is best spun from the fold.

Cashmere (we didn't practice spinning this) but did you know that some cashmere is raised in Texas and some in Mongolia? So next time you buy cashmere fiber, find out which is it. The Mongolian cashmere is softer, more luxurious fleece.

Alpaca - 3 -5" staple length. the fiber has a hollow core (creating good insolution) so this fiber is not only extremely soft but is WARM. It's best spun from the fold. Some people are allergic to this fiber. Suri is the best and most expensive Alpaca.


Silk - yum!! We spun this and everyone loved it. Of course, silk worms produce silk. The teacher told us about these wonderful "silk hankies" which is a packet of silk you can buy at Yarn Barn, where one $18 package contains at least 10 hankies and gives you quite a bit of silk at a much better price than if you just buy the fiber itself. These were GORGEOUS and Kay and I both are planning on trying our hand at spinning that lovely silk. Maybe we can make a little purse or something out of it. The one thing Cindy warned us about is that silk is rather inflexible fiber, so one wouldn't want to knit something like a sweater out of pure silk. But using a blend of silk with wool would work well. Also, some Art Yarns are spun with chunks of silk thrown in.

So now you see why my head is exploding with knowledge. For you Yarnies out there (nonspinners that is), I hope you weren't too bored with my in-depth coverage of this class, but I want to save the info on here to refer back to later.

Recommending Reading:
The Essentials of Hand Spinning by Mabel Ross, excellent explanation of hand carding. Ross was like the Elizabeth Zimmermann of spinning and was the mentor for our spinning instructor.


The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning

A Whole Lot of Embellishing Going On

I am still in the process of making Laura's Chocolate Truffle Socks, which is a great design, and are coming along, but I've felt scattered and having my Knitter's Attention Deficit Disorder.

What has been drawing my attention is my fascination with embellishing my knitted items with embroidery. I mentioned this earlier, a couple of posts ago, but the fascination continues!



I made a pair of Cupcake Fingerless Mitts by Karen Neal (works at The Studio). She designed the mitts in both adult and children's sizes. They are called "Cupcake" mitts because you knit the mitts up plain, like a cake, and then you decorate the "cake" with yarn "icing" (embroidery). For this pair, I embroidered a paisley design on each mitt. I LOVE paisley. The knitting part is fast and easy - the embroidering took a bit longer, but very enjoyable and helped me renew an old forgotten skill.

This partiular pair is a gift to my Mom. I think I'll also make a pair for myself and predict they will go faster. It's hard to see in the photo, but the little tiny circle of silver on them are two tiny word plates, the left glove ways "wish" and the right says "believe." I bought those little word plates at Michaels. Yarn used is Nashua's "Julia." I love that yarn, the colors are great, and the yarn has a bit of mohair in it to add just a slight halo.

I had fun making these . . . and now I'm at work on yet ANOTHER embellishing project that I'll be showing you very shortly.

People must be doing a lot of crafting (more than in usual Christmas times) BECAUSE, while the regular shopping malls and stores in my area have not been very crowded, the craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby, not to mention the local yarn stores, have seemed EXTREMELY busy. More so than usual Christas times that I've noticed. I think with the weak economy, people must be focusing less on buying expensive gifts and more on making meaningful, more personal gifts.

My goal is to do more charity knitting in 2009. I know, I said that last year, but this year, I really mean it. I'm going to try to do one charity project per month. Even if it's just a plain hat or scarf, doing a little bit of embroidery on it, especially for kids, would make it more unique, don't you think?

Retreat Plans in the Making

One thing I've always tried to do is to plan things in advance that will bring future happiness. It's a way of investing in yourself, and it pays off BIG in terms of life satisfaction.

Two years ago, I attended The Studio's Winter Retreat at the historic Elms Hotel and thoroughly enjoyed it. My Mom, Laura and Carol all went along. I skipped last year, because of a personal budget crunch. This year, I just decided "I'm going!" and I am indeed making plans now. Registration complete.

The retreat will, once again, be held the last week of January. I don't know which is more thrilling, anticipating it for the next two months, or actually going! I thoroughly savor pleasant experiences - and this one will indeed be one to cherish.


The Studio really spoils and pampers their customers. I must say, it is and remains my favorite yarn store because they treat customers like gold. They flat out know what we like! What better gift than totally immersing yourself in a 120 year old resort hotel and doing nothing but eating (delicious food), knitting, talking, gabbing with your friends in front of a comfy fire in a luxurious lobby? Or getting spa treatments? Or doing early morning yoga? All of this is part of the package. It's a 2 night sleepover with your knitting buds. There is also a Studio Market and several classes to choose from. And it's affordable and FUN.

Now who all is joining me? Huh? Don't miss out. You can go to this link and read more about it. Be sure and let me know if you are attending.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always my favorite holiday of the year. I love the food, the family and friends joining together, the pure gratitude and sense of appreciation it inspires and renews within me. And I love having 2 extra days off to enjoy the biggest luxury of all - time spent with loved ones without obligation, in a relaxed fashion. There's no gift giving or "musts" involved at all - it's simply time spent with those you love most. There's even time for a post-holiday meal nap if you feel like it.

Unlike most Thanksgivings of the past, we won't be going to my grandmother's small apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving. She's in a nursing home now and we just finished the final steps of dismanting her apartment last weekend. Instead, we'll be having a small (very small) Thanksgiving celebration here at home this year with just myself, Bob, Emily and Kegan. I'll be cooking and taking a plate to my grandmother at the nursing home. So our Thanksgiving will be quiet and simple.

Have a lovely, peaceful day and I'm grateful to each of you who have touched my life, either in "real life" or through this blog. Thank you for reading throughout the year.

Baskets Galore

It's been a crazy week, trying to get my body back in the right time zone, getting back to work, catching up on errands and playing post-vacation catch-up. But I decided to take a break from the everyday routine by visiting my knitting group today. That was really fun seeing everybody and spending a couple of hours chatting and knitting.

While I was there at Borders, I stopped in to visit Michael's craft store - it was SWAMPED today with busy Christmas shoppers. While there, I noticed that they had 40% off on all wicker baskets. And guess what? I've been really wanting to buy wicker baskets. Not only do I love them, but it makes selecting yarn for projects much easier and more decorative when you leave your knitting sitting out in the living room or by your bed, etc. So I bought several.


I've been in a real mood to embellish the knitted items I make with embroidery. I've always LOVED embroidery. As a teenager, my favorite pair of jeans was a pair that I had embroidered slogans and designs all over and wore until they were threadbare. I really wish I'd kept that darn pair of jeans instead of getting rid of them when the knees wore out.


But I've been listening to my favorite podcast, Stitch-It, and Meghan, the podcast host, has been talking all about her friend and SOARS roommate, Cosy, who wrote Knit One, Embellish Too by Cosette Cornelius-Bates. It focuses on knitting and embroidering hats, mittens and scarves. She has some GREAT ideas on how to make really cute, small projects "pop" with the right little designs and embellishments. I'm getting a real kick out of experimenting with Karen Neal's Cupcake Fingerless gloves and adding my stitching over the knitting. The class I took on it last Sunday was really fun and it got me enthused about embroidering EVERYTHING. Well, not everything, but you get the idea. Yeah.

It's So Good to Be Home

That old expression, "There's no place like home" has special meaning for me this morning. We've been on vacation in Los Angeles and San Diego for a week and just returned late last night. It was a wonderfully relaxing week and was just the vacation we needed as a family. We went from temps in the high 80's out in Southern California and plunged back to the cold wintry weather of KC, but I couldn't be happier to be back.



We were visiting relatives in both cities - some cousins in LA and a niece and her young daughter in San Diego. We had a simply fabulous time. We were constantly on the go, and ate out most of the time, so I've gained even more weight than I started with, but I'll just have to work on it - otherwise I'll have to go on a full-blown shopping spree at Lane Bryant's and I'd rather not do that.



Anyway, back to the trip - I knit a little bit, but surprisingly, not as much as you'd think, instead I've been reading a fascinating novel called "Middlesex." The plot and main character sounds bizarre from reading the description on Amazon, but it really is an absorbing read.

I did knit one pair of Karen's Cupcake Fingerless Gloves and I'm going to take an embroidery refresher from her this afternoon over at The Studio to do some embellishments on these gloves. I think they're really cute and will post a photo later today or tomorrow, after I've unpacked and done some catching up with errands here on the homefront. But if you're looking for some quick holiday gifts, these gloves would be a good choice because they knit up fast and easy. She has a pattern for both adult and children's sizes.

Believe it or not, while gone, I did not visit a single yarn shop. I had sort of planned on it, but knowing that there's more than enough yarn at home, and our suitcases were already bursting, it curbed my yarn cravings. Stopping at yarn shops just seemed like a waste of precious time, especially when we were trying to do some many fun activities all in one trip.

Some of the highlights were: eating at all the best deli's in LA, watching the movie THE CHANGELING at a theatre in Burbank, shopping with my daughter in several of the little shops on Melrose, going in a charming little vintage shop called Hidden Treasures, going to San Diego's Sea World, visiting the spooky Queen Mary ship, idling around Balboa Park, spending time with Jamie and Katelyn at their ranch and seeing her realize her dream of living on a horse ranch. Spending time on the beach - it was cold, but fun to walk along LaJolla's beach front and get our feet wet in the sand/incoming tide.

The people in California were so nice to us! We met so many friendly and hospitable people. Of course, the driving out there is crazy to me, but luckily Bob drove, and that's the one time I knit, to keep my hands busy and my eyes off the road because it was nerve wracking. But other than that, yeah, the people were extremely nice and helpful, even though we were typical tourists, they welcomed us and it was a blast to be there.

Unfortunately, as we drove back up to LA and spent the night in a hotel in the San Fernando Valley, we woke up with the smell of smoke and it was "snowing" the ash from the huge fires that are going on out there. The hotel where we were staying was 20 miles away from the fire, but they lost power for a while and had been incoming residents who were fleeing their homes. We talked to a few of them as we were checking out and heading to the airport on Saturday morning. This fire is really tragic and sad for those suffering through it. It seems trite to say, "my prayers are with them" but it's really true.

Yes We Can! (And Did)

After a late night of celebration last night, I can say, "Yes We Can!" As a nation, we did it.

My Mom arrived at the polls at 5:30 A.M. to vote, and so did we - the line was so long that I had to turn around, leave the poll, go to work and then come back later in the day to finally cast my vote at around 4:00 p.m. but it was SO worth it. Emily's boyfriend voted for the first time ever, and was very excited about it.

This makes me feel hopeful, which I haven't felt in way too long. What really excites me about this new President-elect is that he doesn't have the idea that he'll go it alone - I really believe he WILL be a uniter in every sense of the word, and that he'll use his network of supporters to get to work and have all of us contributing. When he said that he will be everyone's President, even those who didn't vote for him, and that he'll listen ESPECIALLY to those with whom he disagrees, that is such a turnaround from the present administration that it felt like a breath of fresh air had been brought into the White House. The fact that the vote isn't our only contribution - but is only the beginning of the work we have to do is exciting. Involving the American people in the work is a great way to get us all involved and bring us together on a common goal - at least that's what I think through my rose-colored glasses this morning.

As far as results go, in my own state of Missouri, we have a sqeaker - it was 49% to 49% but McCain had about 6,000 extra popular votes - so admittedly, he narrowly took our state.

Now I am determined to be a gracious winner and to be respectful of those I know who are disappointed this morning. I remember how sore I felt "the day after" every time we've lost in the past.

I am also going to start thinking about how I can help in some way - get involved in my community to volunteer or do something productive so it doesn't just stop with the vote.

What's Your Personal Year Number?

First, I must display the wonderful birthday package my friend Elysbeth sent to me. It includes "It Itches," the wonderful new book of knitting cartoons by Franklin Habit. Also some fiber to spin, and charming stitch marker. She is such a sweetie to think of me, and it warmed my heart a lot.

Because I believe in Numerology, each year, usually right around my birthday, I select my word for the upcoming year to correspond to my personal year in Numerology. My "year" doesn't run from the traditional January - December but from fall to fall, because in late fall, I start transitioning to the new year and reflecting on what I need to do to make the next calendar year better.

I've experienced a lot of loss this Fall, so I can already see the "2" year has begun. There have been transitions going on, and a lot of sadness and turmoil in my family and extended family. Thank God I discovered Spinning this summer, right before all the turmoil, because that has given me a way to positively deal with my frustrations and emotions.

Numerologically, I will be entering into a "2" personal year in early November, 2008 - it's commonly a year of letting go and changes that you have little control over - not a comfortable year for a control freak like myself. According to Astrology-Numerology.com, "A personal year 2 is a wait and see time; a year when you will find yourself in the background and very much in a stage of development. This is not a time to force the issue and try to move forward. It is a time for cooperation and building relationships that will benefit you in the future; a year for accumulating and collecting. Aggressiveness will cause problems now. You must be prepared for delays, detours, stoppages and you must be patient."

Therefore, this year, I decided to create a theme word that will match and help me stay in flow with my personal year. This year I chose "Release" as my word - it matches the frame of mind I need to be in to make the most of this year of "going with the flow." With anything that has disturbed me too much this fall, I've found that word rising to the surface of my mind, making me a bit calmer and accepting. That word is already helping me to gain a perspective that is both keeping me sane and helping me grow deeper as a person. I'm determined not to let these changes make me bitter or resentful. Somehow, the events are being brought to me for a reason.

If you wish to figure out your very own personal year. You can go to that website and learn more about it. What you do is add your birth month + day + the year of your next BD. Say you were born on April 24th - then your personal year runs from April to late April. You would add 4 (April is the 4th month) + 2 + 4 (day of birth) + 2 + 0 + 0+ 9 (year 2009) for the upcoming year - and you would get a total of 29/3 - it would be a "3" year. If you have a fall or winter birthday, like me, you would go with 2008 because your "YEAR" actually starts at the end of the calendar year. So if you have a December 4th birthday, you'd add 12+4+2+0+0+8 = 24/6 - a "6" personal year. You always reduce the numbers down to a single digit except for 11 and 22, which are master numbers.


Book Recommendations: If you'd like to learn more about Numerology, I would recommend these books: Numerology and the Divine Triangle by Dusty Bunker; also Numerology, the Complete Guide (Goodwin).