If you spend....

...your time reading blogs.....ya don't spend any writing blogs.

I think this is going to become one of the sayings I use on my header. I'm going to play catchup today, because, even though I've been knitting, my frogging has been keeping my knitting from showing any progress.

We spent the 4th of July, just hanging out at home. The weather was shaky so we didn't go hiking or even go out to see the fireworks. Instead, we WATCHED THEM ON TV! I kid you not. But when you can hear the rain pounding on the roof, you just know you made the right decision. That and the fact that you have a great goblet of sangria loaded with berries at your elbow, just adds to the satisfaction.

Right after the fireworks, my DH flipping through the channels found a park ranger on our local access channel leading a tour group at Gettysburg, describing Pickett's charge. The battle of Gettysburg took place July 1 - 3, 1863. The guide was a geeky looking fellow, who turned out to be a state historian, and he was incredibly interesting. Because DH and I are both suckers for history, this turned out to be better than fireworks. Gettysburg is roughly 2 hours southeast of us--a pretty easy drive, but neither of us have ever toured the battlefields. We decided that we will try to do something like that later this summer. Besides the Boyd's Bear museum is in the vicinity.....

We did finally get to hike later in the weekend. We hiked a tiny part of the Mid-State Trail.

The Mid State Trail, Pennsylvania's longest and wildest footpath, extends 270 miles (currently) from the Mason-Dixon Line at the Pennsylvania-Maryland border near Artemas, northward to near Morris, in Tioga County on the Pennsylvania-New York border.

In an email to a relative, my husband wrote "we hiked Mid State Trail also
known as "The Wildest Trail in Pennsylvania". We didn't see any black bears or rattlesnakes, though, which is part of the reason for that name. Ummmm....he neglected to tell me the rattlesnake part of this.

We had hiked a bit of it on Friday evening. Only about a mile or so along the ridge. On Sunday afternoon we decided to hike to a trail known locally as the "Indian Steps" which was probably not used by indians, nor is it steps. Just one of those weird local things. It is about 2.5 miles further along than we hiked on Friday. I can tell you that the majority of the trail was unrelenting rocks. We were both wearing Bean knife-edged hiking boots, and it was a good thing. The first .5 mile or so is an easy jog down a track used to service the high tension lines at the top of the mountain. Once you leave the area of the towers, though, rocks, rocks and more rocks ...the perfect home for snakes...Yoi! And the perfect recipe for twisted ankles. I hate snakes--even more than twisted ankles. It also made the going so slow we had to turn around before we reached the Indian Steps. We were probably close, but could only guess based on our pedometer readings which refused to agree.



I love this though. This is the view over Rt 45 to the north west.










This is DH overlooking the view to the south east.



Yeah there is a great swath cut through the forest for the power lines. But even with that there is something weirdly powerful about it.


I think that next time we're going to hike UP the "steps" to the Mid-State and see how far we get.

Next time, Art's Fest!

Wow!

Has it really be OVER two months....why yes it has. Why have I not posted you may be wondering....well because I haven't finished a damned thing. Really. I've been knitting, but it's all going into some great cosmic black hole of knitting. Anyone actually understand string theory? (Pun intended.)

I've been knitting and re-knitting a lovely silk mobius. It has a 196 stitch cast on which if you're mobius cast-on savvy, you know it means that it has nearly 400 effective stitches each round. I'm finally close....so close I can taste it. If I had remembered to bring the I-cord cast off instructions with me today, I would have been knitting it off the needle, this past lunch hour. It will wait until I get home for the holiday.

I'm working on a B. Marie CeCe too. Great pattern that I'm making way harder than it ought to be. I'm mystified how I knitted tremendously hard things, very much in isolation, back in the 80's (translated most from flat to in-the-round knitting no less), and now, because there is such a rich on-line community where I can ask advice, I'm acting like a scared kid. Sheesh.

Yesterday, our office financial person came to me and told me that my employer (you can guess who that is) lost my I-9 form. They couldn't write a new contract without it. Huh? I had no idea I even had an I-9 let along what it meant. Well, it is proof of US residency. Somehow between last year, and this year, the record of my residency disappeared. Did I have my SS card and license on me? Uh...no. Because identity fraud is so rampant, why would I even THINK to carry my SS card. Well...could I go home and get it? Well, yeah, but it might take some time. I don't know if many of you are like me, but I know I have it, but the last time I needed to produce it was probably nearly 20 years ago, when I first started here. I was a tad miffed to say the least. There are probably illegal aliens (yes, illegal, not "undocumented", I am/was an "undocumented American" Mr. Reid, not the guy/gal who waded across the Rio Grande, but I digress) working over at the Day's Inn and no one is going to bother him...sheesh.


Anyway, I went home and, thankfully, without too much ado, found the needed documents. It felt too late to go to the gym (any excuse in a storm) so I went for a walk in our neighborhood. The walk begins in a small "parklet" nearby and follows a trail to the high school track. Back and forth it's about two + miles. A few laps around the track (nice surface) and the walk grows to three miles. Anyway, as I was heading toward the park I see this on the horizon.... (forgive the bad image, it was my cell phone)



The weather was lovely, low 70's, sunny, perfect for hot air ballooning. While this sight isn't that unusual in our area, this fellow seemed reeeallly low.

As I reached the park, he flew about 150 feet in the air, over the occupied ball field and tennis courts. There was a crowd of people trailing after him on the ground. (I can tell you a miniature collie wasn't happy that this huge creature was just dropping in.) Then he landed, perfectly, on a small strip of park, between the walking paths and a busy town street.




Never a dull moment I can tell you.





And the happy ending is that as of today, I'm officially a US resident in the eyes of my employer. Again......

Happy Fourth of July!

Knitting at last ....take two.

Take two... because I don't know what happened to my nearly completed posting........

These are my Rock and Weave socks from Blue Moon.



These are made using the medium weight yarn, Chapman Springs colorway. I'm not sure I like the medium weight because they feel slightly rough on the bottoms of my feet, but washing might take care of that.






This is my favorite part though:




Note the kitty head buttons, are they not just too cute? Am I not just bizzaro?











This next piece is the Argosy scarf from Knitty.



I used about 200+ yards of Brooks Farm Harmony (50% silk/50% wool) left over from a Christmas gift. I was "afeared" that I wouldn't be able to make a scarf long enough for my taste, but it turned out longer than necessary. This is great fiber, and perfect to wear for our cool mornings, then warm afternoons. Light, yet warm, and it interpreted the pattern beautifully.

Aren't the colors grand?

I'd better stop before this post gets eaten too!!

How dumb am I....

Wait don't answer that!

I've been struggling all day with blogger not showing images. What the heck is going on, thought I? Sheesh! Well, when I went to ABCNews and I couldn't get the images to show there either......I realized that the problem was me NOT blogger.

Weeelllllp, yesterday I was trying to get rid of some cookies and the like in Firefox and tighten up my security. I, accidentally on purpose, checked the box that only allowed images from the referring site. Duh. Where did I think those images in blogger came from? Blogger or a second site.

I finally realized what was going on and fixed it. Double duh!

This was going to be about knitting....

I have pictures, I really do! But early this morning, my husband sent me a breaking news story about a shooting at VA Tech. At that point in time, there was one confirmed death.

I've just gotten back from lunch and now there are 32 dead! As you all can guess from my location, we work on a college campus. A very large college campus. We have our share of people who are mentally ill and some just general crazies. And like most college campuses, it would not be hard for someone with a "hitch in their giddiup" to wreck havoc. We had such a person in the late nineties. She was psychotic and off her meds and brought a high powered rifle to campus. One person shot and injured and one killed. It was a horrible event. It occurred right across the street from my husband's office, and he often walked that way. I later learned that I had probably passed this individual on my way to my building. She was carrying a backpack (with a rifle inside). She blended in so well, I hadn't even noticed her.

Now VA Tech...it makes my blood run cold. College campuses by design are open. I cannot imagine how, either technically or philosophically, it could be otherwise. But we walk around every day without fear.

How do we do that?

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the people who are hurt and killed. I cannot imagine.

Anybody......

.... have a hankerin' for some Doublemint Gum?

Bad Cat Nurse.

This is how my sister described herself in an email to me this morning.

I have to admit, my sister is a great people nurse. Compassionate without sentimentality. Doesn't let doctors bamboozle patients. Tells it like it is. We refer to her, affectionately, of course, as Nurse Rachet. Has been known to crush a few administration and resident "youknowwhats" if appropriate. But she's a dreadful cat nurse.

The good news. Hefner has apparent gastritis. Meaning he ate something. For Hef, that could mean anything that didn't eat him first. The vet's insructions were to keep him away from food for 24 hours to make sure he didn't barf and dehydrate himself, and to monitor his, ahem, leavings. Like the rest of us, she has to work, but leaves at some godawful hour to take report. When she tried to shut him in a bedroom to keep him away from the other cat's food, this is a direct quote:

"He looked at me like your putting me in jail!!!"

And you know what this means. Hefner is now running around the house terrorizing Trixie (aka: Dementia for reasons that will go unexplained). This from a woman who has been known to tell human patients to "suck it up", and "be happy you are alive and recovering" or "don't take your meds and die, it's fine with me". (Now you see the Nurse Rachet reference.)

All I can say is that if I was sick. I'd sure want her on my side.

So for now, all seems well. If more barfing occurs, the vet may have to x-ray him for "foreign objects". Oh glory. What next!

The week from hell...

..is now history. But, naturally, there is cleaning up to do. And frankly, I'm just too tired to do it.

The conference I coordinated went well. I was pleased with the comments (unsolicited) that we received. The anonymous evaluations look good. So all the hard work was worth it I think.

Today, however, the news isn't all dandy. My sister sent me email to tell me she fed her cat some of the poisoned food. Not alot, but enough to worry her. He is going to the vet today for bloodwork. She will be unconsolable if something happens to him. He's not her only cat, nor even her "favorite", but he's a sweetie and has got quite a personality, and I know she'd take his death very hard.

I tried to marshall all my knowledge about kidney disease and poison clearance rates (I did renal research for 6 years, including clearance rates for drug companies.) but I'm not sure I helped much. Now it is just a matter of trying to hope everything is OK.




This is a photo of Hefner in his Kitty Pi Bed. He's even cuter in real life, and you just have to love a cat who appreciates knitting.

The Good, the Bad, and....well more Good ....

This past weekend we were supposed to be doing some fun stuff, but first we had to get there. Naturally, it snowed (and snowed and snowed) on Friday, and that made the traveling we were supposed to do on Saturday a risky proposition.

So I switched our season Saturday night tickets and we ended up doing this on Sunday afternoon. It was fabulous. Etta Cox has some set of pipes on her!


Unfortunately on the way back to the hotel to change here's the bad.....





Sigh. Rear ended at a stop sign on an on ramp to the Ft. Pitt Bridge. Yunz in the 'Burgh know exactly where I'm talking about.












Then..."it was a hockey night in Pittsburgh"! (With apologies to Mike Lange.)







And wow was that fun! It was my very first hockey game. The boys (two thirds of the team are under 23 and a handful, the best players, are under 21, I'm not kidding when I say boys) won! And we saw an overtime and a shootout.












Not the final score, but dandy anyway.
















And Rich was impressed too! He's just very intense when it comes to sports.







You can't say we're not eclectic!

Felting progress....

Franco's sibling is moving right along. He is loosely stuffed and drying after felting. He should be plenty dry tonight. I'll give him eyes and you'll really see his personality come out.

It only took him about 48 hours to be complete dry, but he'll actually be sitting about 72 hours. And I'll let you in on a little secret. I spin cycle all of my felting, and most of the items I wash for blocking. I don't put it through the rinse and spin, but only through the spin at the end of the wash. Since I use a non-rinsing wool wash, there is no reason to rinse. And I know the caveat is that the felting will crease, so far....knocking on every piece of wood in the vicinity....I've yet to have a crease appear.

I then set the piece on the edge of our (unused) kitchen table, where the heat/AC is vented from the ceiling. Easy peasy.

On the fancy ass contact front, my doc is reordering and refitting my contacts, and I will now try tri-focals. I'm wearing my old lenses and they feel very good. My far vision suffers though.

Heading toward the finish line....

I actually started this post yesterday, and phffft! gone. Who the heck knows what I did. But the finish line in question is for this:



Yes indeedy, Franco's brother is this close to being felted. I do my felting on Saturday or Sunday mornings when hubby is dead to the world. Fewer "what the hell are you doing?" questions that way. But since this was brother's state yesterday, today, he is no longer in pieces. He is all ready to pop into the washer this weekend!! Yea! By this time next week I may have twinsies (how does one spell twinsies?)

But what is making all of this harder is that I've just gotten new fancy ass contacts. They are bifocal lenses, and I have great distance vision, pretty good near vision, but NO middle (arms length) vision. Thus, all of a sudden, I can't see the computer screen. And since most of my work is tech based. This is a real problem. I have a very nice optometrist, and I fear this will be quite a disappointment to him. We get three shots to get this right, then I can return them, hopefully for a refund.

So I've been struggling in a week when I really shouldn't be.

Meanwhile, I've started the Rock and Weave socks from STR. They're really going to be cute and I think pretty easy to knit. The linen stitch is simply a two row, two stitch, pattern, but I was so tired last evening, I couldn't remember the pattern sequence. So I gave up.

It really does have the makings of a great "on-the-go" project. Which is good because we'll be really "on-the-go" next weekend. Another reason to get Franco's brother felted.

I'm lazy...

...so there are no photos to accompany this post. I am forging ahead with my new flamingo, which will be a b-day gift for my sister. And I'm putzing around with my Hanging Gardens Lace Stole. I'm using Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud laceweight. This will be only the second piece I'm working on using real laceweight yarn. I've knit other lace, but using DK, sport or worsted. I find this much more difficult. Perhaps also because the pattern repeat is like 40-something rows long, AND I'm not a chart fan. I understand the attraction people have to charts, but I don't want to carry an entire chart around. Instead I carry a stack of index cards with each row written out and held together with a ring. When I finish a row I flip the card. That way I don't have to guess where I am. In this case, too, the wrong side rows are all purl. So I only have to note the patterned rows. Note the title of the posting.

In other "news" my Knit Picks "purse" lost an eye. This is the little clutch like piece that attached to the outside of the larger bags. The metal eye just plum pulled out. So I called KP customer service, and as is their rep, they were more than gracious. The only problem is that they are not selling the purse part separately anymore. What the heck is up with that? The customer service person couldn't tell me what was going on so I think I'm going to send them an email because it just doesn't make sense. They gave me credit for the purse, and that is that. I'm really disappointed because I am really liking these bags. I am hauling them everywhere.

One more time....

I tried to organize this post on Friday, and found that I did something amazingly wrong. Instead of a graphic and some text, I got text interspersed with html image code. I have no idea how that happened.

But here we have yet another bmarie bucket hat, modeled by Orsis, my favorite model. You can see that Orsis doesn't care about his robust figure. I like that. Along with the hat is...yes...another mobius scarf. So now this makes three, and ya'll won't believe this, but yes, I have another on my mind. But I'm still working on the lace-one repeat done! And another new project. This one a sibling of an earlier piece. It's going great guns, and I'm shocked at how quickly it is moving along. So soon, I'll have something new to show.

Meantime we are dry and frigid here, but eureka! Tommorrow we are looking forward to snow. All our cars are a mess. Mine still has a "bra" on it. I was pretty good about taking it off and washing the thing to keep the finish from getting messed up, but it has been just too cold to wash anything. The entire vehicle is now covered with a layer of road dirt and salt like I just cannot believe. You can't get in or out with getting filthy. I hate this time of year.

If only....

....I could add up all the rows I've knit (and frogged) on my Hanging Garden's Stole (Harding pattern), I'd be halfway done.

Maybe I am just not cut out to knit lace.

I have no pictures because.....well, there is nothing to photograph when it keeps getting frogged.

Sigh...

What it is they say? Third time's a charm?

Furious and well....

... not exactly fast.

I finally finished the socks I'm giving to my mom for Christmas....Merry Christmas Mom!! They are just a vanilla recipe, made from Knit Picks Dancing in Two Step I think. My mom has delicate tootsies, so I'm hoping these won't make her feet "burn".

Heinz Bear would also like to show you the mobius scarf I just finished, for me, from Ellyn Cooper's Sonnet in gold patina. I am having a love affair with the mobius scarf. I'm finding that it is a very comfortable scarf to wear, and as a bonus, tons of fun to knit!

Here' s a simple purl ridge mobius with an I-cord bind off. Makes the edges much neater than just a loose bindoff.




The close up is a better representation of the colors and you can see the gold that is spun through the yarn. The funny thing is the yarn is 98% wool, and 2% gold patina. I'd love to make something bigger with it, but it is rather expensive (though I did get it on sale), and I don't think I could talk myself into making that kind of investment.

Lastly, here is a Chicknits Bucket Hat made with Patons SWS. Those of you familiar with

Patons SWS will realize that these colors are a tad too saturated. I couldn't seem to get them right even with Photoshop. Also SWS has unique felting "issues". It felts like a wild thing. This hat was as big as one of those Dr. Seuss hats when it went in and in FIVE (count'em 5) minutes was felted to this size. I would have prefered a shorter brim, but sheesh.....If you look at the previous post you can see what happened the last time I tried that. I tweaked B-Marie's pattern to accommodate this, but perhaps not enough. So there you have it....knitting content at last. Feels good!

Finally....

...have a photo of a FO to post. I am experimenting with my new digital camera. This photo is of a reversible bead knitted bracelet. There are things I would do differently, but for for the moment "is gut" (as my Amish friends would say).

The slide clasp is 14K gold filled and cost a [relative] fortune. This is knitted using two colors of size 5 Miyuki triangle beads, so you're not seeing things. The gold beads really are dark on one side and light on the other. I also added off white Miyuki teardrops (also known as tiny tims) for pattern interest.

The odd crystal thing on the one end is a Swarovski button. This bracelet started out life with a knitted buttonhole that one could slip the button through. (I was struggling like crazy to NOT have to buy that damn slide clasp.) Alas, it just wasn't durable, and I had to struggle to put the piece on to wear it, the buttonhole was either too big or two tight etc., etc., etc., . So over the New Year's weekend. I picked it apart and added the slide clasp and now, I'm way happier. I left the buttons (one on each side) just for fun.

I have other FOs, including THREE of b-marie's felted bucket hats. They are all completely different, and not all successful, as the bear in the photo will attest. Cell phone photo, so please forgive the grainy nature of the picture.

I know I have some 'splainin' to do as to how a woman who can successfully felt a flamingo can turn a bucket hat into a WWI helmet.

Wait until you see the other two hats.

The Six (only) Weird Things....

When I first saw this meme I thought....only six? How do I decide?

Here are some of my foibles:

1) I love teddy bears. I own about 30+ all sizes and shapes. They all have names. Somehow my husband peacefully co-exists with the bears which are scattered throughout the house. He does not, however, remember their names.

2) I will watch movies and read books that I've seen/read before--sometimes over and over. I cannot even guess how many times I've read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Use your imagination when it comes to the LOTR films.

3) I hate, hate with a passion, punch. You know that mixed up fruity concoction (sometimes alcoholic, sometimes not) that shows up at parties and it's that time of year, alas. I much prefer plain seltzer or a lovely glass of wine. (Unfortunately, I belong to a family of "punchers".)

4) If it were possible, I'd move into Wegman's (an upscale grocery store in the northeast). I have declared to no one in particular, that I will never [again] live in an area without a Wegman's. (If you had one you would understand......) Wegman's has been Money Magazine's #1 or #2 company to work for for the past 3 years and in the top 10, for the past decade. I <3 Wegman's. I bought my little Christmas tree at Wegman's.

5) I do not ascribe to the current popular dislike of Wal Mart. I believe that stopping Wal Marts from moving into an area is short sighted in the long run, and is discriminatory to the very segment of the population that self-serving activists claim to want to protect. That being said, I do not go out of my way to shop there, and Super Wal Marts give me hives.

6) I like to do other things when I talk on the phone, which isn't often, by the way. I'll cut vegetables, put dishes away, set the VCR, you name it. My husband says that this is unspeakably rude.

Here's a bonus:

Bonus) I have a master's in information science and teach computer science, yet don't personally own a computer.

So that'd be it. Not as strange as some...but I decided to share only the elements that can't get me into too much trouble.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

See yunz in 2007!

It can't be December already!!

This morning when I woke up the nightlight we keep in the hallway was off, and the room was pitch, pitch black. I just couldn't believe that it was that dark and my alarm was really going off. How do people near the Arctic Circle do it? I just cannot wait until the soltice when the days start getting lighter again. Even moments matter.

Meanwhile the miserable storms that have plagued the mid-west are barreling toward us. But you can hardly tell. We have miserably high winds, but so far, only one downpour and now the line of storms looks like it passed us and the sun is actually out at the moment and it is still in the 60's. What's up with this? Of course, tomorrow, when we don't get out of the thirties, I'll be griping about it. No doubt.

Huh?

Not a descriptive title, but the best I can do post election.

If you can't stand a post sans a definite ideology, but with definite opinions, you can skip this.

You have to understand where I'm coming from....the middle folks. I am a "no party" registrant in my state. I've never voted straight ANYTHING in my whole voting life. I've even written someone in. I'm from that group of voters that everyone covets, but no one speaks to.

If you're a survey taker, I'm the person you hate to call. Why? Because I ask more questions than I answer.

Example:

Them: Is XYZ doing a good job? (Implying that they want a yes or no answer...and insuring they will not get one from me.)

Me: In what respect?

Them: Uh...[pregnant pause] I don't know...overall? (Are they asking me or telling me?}

Me: You need to be more specific...the economy? Taxes? Crime?

Them: Overall...

Me: Can't answer that. I'm of the decidedly thoughtful opinion that anyone who can answer a question like that is mostly of the "koolaid" variety. Love'em or hate'em based on ideology. (This means I've been mulling this over for a long time, and can possibly change my mind, but haven't found enough data to do it yet.)

...so there you go. I don't adhere to any particular ideology and find the idea abhorrent. Maybe I can start an anti-ideology party? Of course this means my husband thinks I'm a lefty, and my mother thinks I'm just right of Barry Goldwater (her generation).

I just know this, I find the Republican gnashing of teeth grating and the Democrat gloating equally shudder inducing. I think of my dear departed father at times like this. When it came to politics he said "everyone should get a turn". And so they should. The Democrats, if they can stop grinning and breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for a moment, now have an opportunity to move the conflict in Iraq to a hopefully, safe end. (Though I think Murtha who is from this neck of the woods is apparently on some kind of drugs. That's the only excuse I can think of for his "plan". And no, Murtha, you're not vindicated, you're still an idiot. Nothing new about that. It must be the water in Altoona......) The problem I see is that all the Dems have done for the past 3 years have been bitch, call nasty names, and moan. They have never brought forth a REAL plan. So now they've gotta scramble. But with any kind of luck, for that's what it will take, they can maybe help make something good happen. If nothing happens in two years...Hillary is in trouble in '08 if she isn't already.

As for the chortling I see all over about Pelosi, that's actually the only thing that really disturbs me. A SF leftie running the House is just way outside my comfort zone. (I don't care what gender.) What do I mean? Cradle to grave entitlements with a crushing tax burden to go along with it; a complete disdain for the military (check out her actions and that of the district, not her words); diminishing of parental rights in favor of the government (do you really want ANY government raising your kids? I think it's been tried...it was in Nazi Germany). So I don't care much how many of what flavor sits where.... But 'ol Nancy, makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There's that anti-ideology thingy yet again.

I was in the cultivated generation of feminists. In the seventies we were indignant about so many things. Then the feminists changed, (as did I) and somewhere along the way lost something. I'm coming to the conclusion it is their ever lovin' minds. I was so excited that I would see a female president in my lifetime. But I am appalled and disappointed in a way I cannot describe that the candidate will be Hillary. She is smart, politically savvy, and the most dishonest politician on the scene today. I am devastated and embarrassed. I had these lofty, pie-in-the-sky imagingings that the first woman candidate would be someone with guts and character (I sadly, stupidly(?) set the bar higher for a female candidate. I can dream can't I?). She has the guts, but the character stinks. Sigh. I am disappointed beyond belief. And frightened. Frightened that women will vote with their ovaries rather than their brains. And they will. So I made a decision. When the '08 primaries roll around I am going to change my registration to Democrat, so I can vote against Hillary. (Here in PA you cannot vote in primaries without a party affiliation.) It doesn't matter who she is running against, and it doesn't matter if I "waste" my vote. It is my only recourse. I will pretend to be a Dem for a day. Then switch back to where I belong......I like water lots better than koolaid anyway.

P.S. When I was approached by the hordes outside the polling place on Tuesday, trying to stuff paper into my hands, I told them nothing doing and that I should've brought all the crap they'd sent me over the prior 6 weeks to give back. They did look rather sheepish. I wish I had thought of it sooner, and I would have.

Bass Ackwards

I've been thinking about it and, yup, I'm backward.

I "read" magazines from the back to the front. I've been known to look at the end of a book first. I occasionally will catch the end of a TV show (on purpose) that I'm taping. It's OK with me if I learn the score of a sporting event that my husband is taping and then sit through it with him pretending I don't know the outcome. Why? No idea. Weird isn't it?

It's the same thing with my knitting and beading.

Most people start with the ubiquitous scarf. Me? Nah. I started with a sweater - a striped sweater no less. Never mind that it was made in creepy acrylic. I happily wore it for several years. Then I went on to a ...are ya' ready, a shawl collar sweater for my then "boyfriend". (He's now my husband and we've been married 19 years today....Happy Anniversary to us.) So I knit a sweater as a second project too and thumbed my nose at the "boyfriend" curse. In fact, I had completely forgotten this sweater, until my husband mentioned that he still had it packed away in the attic. (I had long since given my striped acrylic to St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop.) The next one I do remember. It was a short sleeved cotton sweater, in purple, and I had such a hard time finding yarn, that I had to hold two fingering weight strands together to knit it. It had a complicated bells and bobbles front and did I mention...I knit ALL of these pieces in the round. The patterns were not written in the round, but I converted them...including the very complicated front of the purple cotton.

As I look back on these feats, I honestly don't know how I did it. But I did. Remarkable. I also followed the same pattern with beading. I embarked on my beading by creating a complex "stained glass" amulet bag, completely with Mill Hill beads. (Those of you familiar with beading will recognize that this probably cost me a fortune. It did.)

I got back into knitting late in 2004, I actually learned to knit in the mid-eighties. And what did I choose for a first project in 2004. A scarf. A "fun fur" scarf. It was fun, it was easy, and I used straight, single point needles for the first time. Of course, I added Miyuki triangle beads to the scarf. I haven't stopped. I found that I like knitting accessories. Scarves, hats, bags, wraps,....I have one sweater that I may knit in the forseeable future, but we'll see. I've also started knitting socks.

What hasn't changed is that I'm still fearless. I don't care what the pattern difficulty is rated. If I like it, I'll figure it out.
Especially with a little help from my "friends" on the internet. Something we hadn't even considered in the eighties......