Happy Spring!

Seriously?

I'm going to jail!

Best 419 Nigerian Scam EVER! Notice "James"  is a "Regional Director" but is based in Washington DC, not in my region. Also notice that "Agent Williams" seems to have been absent from his college English classes more than was good for him. And poly sci too, did you know we have a 1991 constitution? I have a feeling James Madison is spinning in his grave.

I'll write you all from jail....

 Federal Bureau of Investigation
                                      Intelligence Field Unit J. Edgar Hoover Building
                                        935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C.


    URGENT ATTENTION BENEFICIARY


    WE SINCERELY APOLOGIZED FOR SENDING YOU THIS SENSITIVE INFORMATION VIA E-MAIL INSTEAD OF A CERTIFIED MAIL, POST-MAIL, PHONE OR FACE TO FACE CONVERSATION, IT IS DUE TO THE URGENCY AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SECURITY INFORMATION OF OUR CITIZENRY, I AM SPECIAL AGENT JAMES WILLIAMS FROM THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) INTELLIGENCE UNIT, WE HAVE JUST INTERCEPTED AND CONFISCATED TWO (2) TRUNK BOX AT JFK AIRPORT IN NEW YORK, AND ARE ON THE VERGE OF MOVING IT TO OUR BUREAU HEAD QUARTERS.

    WE SCANNED THE SAID BOX, AND FOUND IT CONTAINS TOTAL SUM OF $4.1 MILLION AND ALSO BACKUP DOCUMENT WHICH BEARS YOUR NAME AS THE RECEIVER OF THE MONEY CONTAINED IN THE BOX, INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED OUT ON THE DIPLOMAT WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE BOX INTO UNITED STATES SAID HE WAS TO DELIVER THIS FUNDS TO YOUR RESIDENCE AS PAYMENT DUE YOU FROM THE OFFICE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA AS UNPAID BENEFICIARY.

    WE CROSS-CHECKED ALL LEGAL DOCUMENTATION IN THE BOX, AND WERE ABOUT TO RELEASE THE CONSIGNMENT TO THE DIPLOMAT WHEN WE FOUND OUT THAT THE BOX WAS LACKING ONE VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT WHICH MAKES US CONFISCATE THE BOX.

    ACCORDING TO SECTION 229 SUBSECTION 31 OF THE 1991 CONSTITUTION IN MONEY LAUNDERING, YOUR CONSIGNMENT LACKS PROOF OF OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE FROM THE JOINT TEAM OF THE IRS AND HOMELAND SECURITY, REPLY FOR DIRECTION ON HOW TO PROCURE THIS CERTIFICATE WHICH WILL ENABLE YOU RELIEVED OF THE CHARGES OF MONEY LAUNDERING WHICH IS A PUNISHABLE OFFENSE UNDER SECTION 12 SUBSECTION 441 OF CONSTITUTION ON MONEY LAUNDERING.

    YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPLY THIS LETTER WITHIN 72HOURS, OR YOU WILL BE ARRESTED, INTERROGATED AND PROSECUTED IN THE COURT OF LAW FOR MONEY LAUNDERING.

    ALSO, YOU MUST NOT CONTACT ANY OTHER BANK OR PERSON IN NIGERIA OR UNITED KINGDOM OR ANY PART OF THE WORLD FOR ANY PAYMENT, BECAUSE YOUR PAYMENT HAVE BEEN CONFISCATED BY THIS BUREAU HERE IN THE UNITED STATES..


    YOURS IN SERVICE
    AGENT JAMES WILLIAMS
    REGIONAL DIRECTOR

What a crazy ride.

So much has happened.

My DH retired at the end of the year with 25+ years of service to the PSU Veteran community. He never had time to get used to a different life and we lost his Dad. Dad was 94, but it was still unexpected. This was the man that I knit a new cap for every Christmas. He wore them constantly and he always had a supply. My sisters in law asked what they should do with the hats and I told them to donate them to a worthy charity. I'd like to know they are keeping someone, somewhere warm. So now the wrap up that accompanies this kind of death is what is occupying my DH. It is a tremendous amount of work.

Not three weeks later we lost my uncle. My Father's last surviving brother. It was really my last connection to my dad's family, and he was a big part of my childhood. It was a very great loss.

Both of these deaths required that we travel hundreds of miles in terrible weather and road conditions. Though we had a choice with my uncle, we, of course, did not with my father-in-law. Naturally, we are having the same horrible weather much of the east is having. Are you tired of hearing about it yet? I am. We're so weather weary, it is hard to describe.  I was looking at a woman in the elevator today, and she and I were both dressed in tired parkas, and boots that have seen too many days of muck and slush. We both looked like we'd been working in a barn. I think she was an attorney. And we're expecting more muck today. And because we live in "weather central" (Accuweather, home of the US National Weather Service, Penn State Meteorology) we know that the precipitation will start at exactly 11:15 am. How lucky are we? Sometimes I wonder if ignorance is truly bliss.

I continue to work to completely recover from my injuries of last year. It has been really slow going. But I CAN knit. I finished another Color Affection (photo pending), this one for me, and I'm now working on finishing a few UFOs, before I start a new project. Here is one of them. I call it Starry Night, but it is actually  Dainty Bess studded with crystal beads. I've hit the "black hole" of knitting. It is about 56 inches long (unblocked), but I'd like it to be about 70 (i.e., six feet). It is lace so it will need pretty aggressive blocking. I'm using one of my favorite yarns Madd Tosh Light in Graphite.

It seems I hit knitting black holes pretty frequently. Probably because I got so used to the fingerless mitts and the hats I knit for Christmas.

So I'm going to try and stay connected, now that, I think, the worst is over. I'd ask what else can happen, but I'm afraid I'll find out.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

It's been a long and crazy year. I was so despondent (and had trouble typing) with a broken right wrist, so soon after being discharged from therapy with my shoulder, that I couldn't imagine what I could possible say. Yet again, I had to suspend my knitting, but also I couldn't do anything that I needed my DOMINANT hand to do. Signing documents, typing, using a computer mouse, cutting food, everything became an exercise in frustration. The only upside was that after the first week or so, the pain was bearable, and unlike a shoulder, didn't keep me awake at night. So I wasn't loopy from lack of sleep on top of everything else.

So as soon as I was out of the cast and into a removable brace, I started knitting again...making up for lost time.

These are all Christmas gifts. Made from the pattern Welted Fingerless Gloves . The pattern calls for DK weight yarn, but in every case, except for the purple cuffs on the left, the yarn is worsted weight. The Geilsk Tweed is more like a sport, so I held it doubled. I have to say that I was not always happy with it because it broke easily. It is not a durable twist. I have no worries with it doubled.

They will all have buttons, but I've not gotten around to finishing the purple yet.


The buttons on the pink pair have kitties....for the cat lover in the family.

Cute aren't they?

This pattern is very fast to knit especially with worsted weight. And you can use leftovers. Which is another reason I like it.

My one other mod is a 3 stitch I-cord bindoff, at the top which mimics the welts.



At this point I think I'm over the limit for broken bones, so though I'm now rebuilding the strength in my wrist, I think fate will probably have to leave me alone.

And I'm pretty good on my Christmas knitting!

I remember knitting ....

Read the last post then take a gander at this...

I just couldn't make this up. And why would I want to? 

Sigh. 

Still here.

So what's new?

I'm back in the office nearly full time. I say nearly because a few hours a week I'm still in PT.  Now I'm working on rotation (think reaching behind you to zip a zipper), and strength. I still have difficulty pushing a full grocery cart.

I'm knitting though. I'm teaching a class for Bad Oyster, in August/September. I'm teaching a beaded bracelet next month. I use 0000 needles for the bracelet, and I'm not sure how it will go. Everything old is new again. I'll start a sample next weekend and I'll accommodate if I need to. I've become really good at that.

As for Bad Oyster, it has unusual increases and an unusual shape, you start on DPs and move to circs or magic loop and steeking. I always like to teach projects that have lots of interesting techniques. It's actually an easy knit, and I think will make really nice gift knitting. It is definitely car and travel knitting.

 I finished the sample this week:

I used a little bit less than a skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Citrus. I love Mad Tosh. I'm using it for a second shop sample of Color Affection. I was supposed to teach it this past spring/summer, but couldn't knit for those two months. So we're now pointing toward Fall.

 It was a very happy knit because of the color. I found I hit a black hole of knitting somewhere around the 12 inch mark. You knit a funnel-like tube to 18 inches deep. Then steek to create the fringe. It blocked to more than 18 inches on the fringed sides.

Here we're on break, so the town is quieter. Well, quieter if you don't count all the construction. We cannot drive anywhere directly. Apparently, all the people who plan these projects don't talk to each other. It's easier to escape from Alcatraz than it is to get a loaf a bread. Never a dull moment.

Long time no write....

...but I have a great excuse. I've been concentrating on getting all my parts back in working order. I'm better thanks to a steroid shot...but still have a ways to go. I'm stunned that I'm still in PT, but I don't know why I should be. I'm hoping soon I'll be able to put on my own underwear if you get my drift.

I am, however, knitting again. Not as long or as fast, but I'm not worried about those things. Hanging around the house for so long enabled me to take stock of some of my well loved knitwear, and some I had to part with. For example:

These are my beloved French Press Slippers. I made them in 2010, and wore them out.....what do I mean wore them out?













Allow me to demonstrate:



 I installed suede soles on them so that the holes in the soles would not be visible, however, it wore them through again anyway.....

Not even I could justify keeping them, so I snipped off the soles, and out they went.








I started from scratch....

Can't help but love the red......

These were OK to knit, though I struggled a little with the triple yarn on the sole. I'm still struggling a little with knitting. But the designer made substantial improvements to the pattern, and they were easier to sew together.








And here is the finished product:

 I reused the suede soles, and changed out the buttons. I think they're sweet.

















And because they're like potato chips, I had to knit a second pair in graphite. You can see the comparison here. I need to add a felted shot though. I made a few changes to the black slippers making them a little deeper. They look less like ballet flats and more like regular slippers. They will be fine though especially if we have another winter like the last one.











Love this pattern. Easy peasy. And the finished product is highly useable.

That's not all I've been doing though. I started a Prayer Shawl for a friend and colleague who is going through a brutal treatment for melanoma. I don't know how she is managing. I just don't. I started the piece, enlisted my knitting colleagues, then we passed it all over the university to anyone who wanted to add a stitch or two, even the men who tried to demur. Everyone then signed a cardstock graphic wishing her well. The illness and treatment she is experiencing really puts my shoulder and, neverending, physical therapy into perspective. Who needs to be able to reach behind to hook a bra really?

What you should know about breaking a shoulder.....

• They do not typically cast a shoulder. they simply immobilize it in a sling. You are left petrified that you are going to knock it out of position. (Unless you have surgical intervention.)

• Only do it in the summer. In the winter, at least in colder parts of the country, you will be unable to wear a coat properly. And unless you are very lucky, all your coats will be too small to fasten with your slinged arm inside. And I will guarantee that you will have the coldest winter in two decades.

• Dressing is more complicated than launching the space shuttle. You are unable to pull ANYTHING over your head without desperate pain. Invest in button front everything, especially pj's because going out, just isn't worth getting dressed. A friend asked if I could "clean and jerk" an anvil yet, and I replied that all I want to do is wear a sweater that doesn't have buttons. (No can't do it yet.)

• Pain. All the time, but especially at night. Be prepared. I'm told if one has a recliner sleeping is easier, however, I have my doubts.

• Rehab is no better. My PT, though very nice, is a sadist. He tells me that I'll be a hurtin' turkey for 2 to 4 more weeks....and you know what. I don't believe him. I'm thinking it will be longer....much.

• It changes every part of your life. If you're a runner, don't expect to run for a long time, the jostling is excruciating. If you're a knitter, take my advice and don't even attempt it until week 6. If you're a reader....Kindle. You can't hold a book (and turn the pages) comfortably. An iPad is too heavy. The Kindle was my only option. It also is nice in the wee small hours when sleep is impossible, to download new books. Daytime TV really, really sucks.

• Expect that every light bulb that is in an inconvenient spot or that you need two hands to change, will burn out. The smoke detector will need a new battery.....count on it.

• If you have pierced ears, prepare to put one pair of earrings in and then not change them for the duration. In my case, it was seven weeks. Recognizing that I wouldn't be comfortable sleeping in studs, but that leaving them out for an extended period would cause the piercings to disappear, I opted for silver ear threads with the rubber stoppers on the back. It was a bit of a struggle at first, but overall it worked out well...until I tried to take them out at about week 7. The rubber stoppers had hardened and could not be removed. I used Puppy Snips to cut the stoppers. 

All in all, it has been a bizarre two + months. But glacially, slowly, I'm getting better. I hope I survive it......


Though I'm not back to full force in the knitting area, this is my first completed piece for 2014.....

Collared Seed Wrap in Tahki Adele...I got the yarn in New Orleans...it's very sparkly. I had to hold it doubled (because I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it), so I couldn't make it as long as I had hoped.

This is what -10 looks like.

This is what -10 degrees looks like at 8:00 am. The high today is going to be just over 0 (zero). The wind chill is predicted to be in the -30s. Why should it matter? Well, of course, I have an orthopedic follow up today, of all days. The coldest day in two decades. With my shoulder in a sling, I can't wear a coat properly, and I have to dress like a bag lady.

All my wool creations are really coming in handy today. The positive side of being a knitter.

Remarkably MORE of the same.

Stunningly we lost another member of the extended family. 

In three weeks:

16 year old 2nd cousin to suicide
Cousin succumbs after a 13 year battle with breast cancer.
27 year old 2nd cousin dies after working out, while visiting her parents for Christmas. Apparently a brain aneurysm.

WTF?

The family is stunned. 

Progress report

S.L.O.W.

It has been three weeks since I knit. Every now and again I pick up my sock to see if I can manage. I can't, yet. Saw the doc on Thursday and everything is copacetic, but that only means; 1) no healing is visible on the x-ray yet; 2) the bone is nicely aligned; 3) I must refrain from using my arm for FOUR, count'em FOUR MORE WEEKS.  And this is NORMAL. 

Life here is not. The extended family lost a 16 year old to suicide, and a close cousin succumbed to breast cancer after a brilliant 13 year battle. It was one of those sad blessings. Lots of prayer here in the Knitnbead house this season. 

These things also put my whining about four weeks into perspective.

I hope whoever is still reading this has a blessed Christmas, and healthy and joyous New Year. 

Maybe I'll be typing with both hands soon. And if anyone has a suggestion for a good iPad dictation app (not Siri), I'm listening!

I wish I had better news.

Here we are the first week of December and all that remains of my Christmas knitting is about 3/4 of a sock for my Mom. Last Saturday I received my bead order for the makins' for the traditional beaded ornament for my sister-in-law. Apparently, I got too cocky. 

Monday I slipped on some ice and broke my shoulder. In case you've never been so "lucky", let's just say it is painful. Good news: it is my non-dominant arm. Bad: it doesn't seem to matter. All movement is painful. I certainly can't do fine beadwork, but I'm hoping I may be able to knit again soon. I'm an English style knitter, so most of the work is done by my right hand. But I'm still at the don't move under pain of surgical intervention phase, and frankly not even the pain meds are working very well.

Well, enough one handed typing for now. I need to lie down........

And now...

... they've brought friends!

Another Monday, More FOs!

Though they may look like extended family, they're really bottle toppers. They're Christmas gifts for my co-workers. Aren't they cute? I used some of the leftover yarns from my Parcheesi blankie. They're very quick to make. Their beards are wool top, and the eyes are actually beads (I wanted them to have "beady" eyes). I used this pattern:

Elves, Gnomes, Wizards, Santa and Leo Tolstoy....by Kristin Nicholas
It's a freebie. The best kind. My beards are a little thicker, and I may yet trim them, but we'll see. I also should have made their eyes a little larger.......

Here they are at work.

I'm shooting for a posting a month....

It has been an incredibly busy month....not with work, but I. TOOK. A. REAL. VACATION. Last year our vacation was ab-ended by the passing of my beloved MIL. We were really looking forward to this year. What did we do? Whatever we felt like. Whenever we felt like it. For me that meant yarn shopping, reading, knitting, drinking/tasting wine, walking in the woods. For him that meant watching sports, and sports talk shows, sleeping late, drinking/tasting wine and walking in the woods. Please notice only two of those overlapped. Barely noticed. It was blissful. If we didn't feel like doing something we had tentatively planned...we didn't. What a concept!

But now I'm back and here's what I'm thinkin':

• This administration makes Nixon, Haldeman, et.al. look like Michael the Archangel, the seraphim, and cherubim. Who'da thunk it. Apparently, it's OK to outright lie - if it suits your agenda, it's dandy to not be accountable FOR. ANYTHING. (where the hell DOES that buck stop?), and whatever happens--blame someone else.

• The shock of the voters who put this obfuscater in office is really humorous. It would be more humorous if we all weren't paying for it.

• I worry that there are more dupes in the electorate just waiting to be harvested....

• We are re-watching the 80's SciFi "opera" Babylon 5, and I am stunned that it feels like we are living a real version of Babylon 5. In one season 3 episode ISN (Inter Stellar Network) news "came back on the air" making excuses for the [corrupt] government  and claiming they (ISN) were sabotaged by extremists. Life is now imitating art.

As a palate cleanser, a(nother) Christmas gift, finished:

 These are Retro Rib socks from Favorite Socks. They are done in Dream in Color, Smooshy, Blue Lagoon.A lovely yarn that has been marinating in my stash for practically ever.

 I include this daylight photo, for a better, but not perfect, representation of the color. My sister is on a rowing team and asked for warm socks. The Schuylkill gets cold in the winter apparently. Her "team" colors include turquoise. This is actually has more green in it than it shows here.

Hidden Valley I miss you!

Where were you?

Tried to post this yesterday, but blogger is having a hiccup....

Apparently there are few news orgs who want to remember about what this day means. I suppose they want to "get past it". Sorry folks, getting "past it" is not an option - not when we have to take our shoes off just to get on a plane, buy clear plastic bags to attend a sporting event, watch a manhunt for a teenager in Boston unfold on live TV. And don't get me started on that train wreck in the White House. I'm too outraged to feel validated, even a little bit.   There is no more past it.

Part of my extended world deals with soldiers who come back from service with injuries. Some visible, like missing limbs, some not so much, like TBI and PTSD (or PTSS or whatever they're calling it these days), equally devastating injuries. Sorry folks. NOT. GETTING. PAST. IT.

Twelve years ago my hubby and I were getting ready to go to a conference together, a rare occurrence. He was running last, as per usual. My biggest worry was whether I should take the time to put the recycling out. How dumb that seems now. In fact, it seemed pretty dumb the rest of that day too. I was half watching the Today Show, when they cut to footage of a burning WTC 1. They were speaking to someone, on the street below, who had witnessed the strike. She was certain it was a big plane not a small one. I told my husband who was shaving and he immediately asked "Is it terrorism?" They didn't know yet, I told him. At this moment, I was not overtly alarmed, because I had convinced myself that the fire suppression in the building would be working. Then there was the shadow of the second plane and a new bloom of flame. You know how your mind doesn't want to make sense of something like this? Well, mine didn't. I wondered how the fire had "jumped" to WTC 2. Then I realized. The program cut to the Pentagon, just in time for me to see the reporter say "I felt a tremor". "Now the alarms are going off!" Lauer told him to get out, and we went back to the trade center footage. When we arrived at the conference site, everyone was crowded into the bar area watching the Towers burn. Then news came that there was still a "rogue" in the air and it was heading toward Pittsburgh. WTF??? What's in Pittsburgh? The conference ended abruptly, and I remember walking across the veranda of the hotel to see rows of students in hotel uniforms of all types crying into their cell phones.

I got to my office, with no TV, only to hear from a colleague that the towers had collapsed, and a plane had crashed near Somerset. I couldn't take it in. The rest of the day was spent trying to get
news. The University decided to hold classes as usual, however, if students did not attend they were not penalized. Faculty were asked to make broad accommodations. No one cared.

In the hours that followed here are some of the ways we coped:
 
 That evening my sister, a critical care nurse in Philadelphia, called me and begged me to find her numbers for NYC hospitals so she could volunteer. (She did not have internet access at that time.) Late that evening she finally spoke to a nurse supervisor at St.Vincents, who told her not to come. They were not overwhelmed with injuries. The hospitals had prepared for an onslaught of burn and crush injuries, only to have few. That, to me, was the most brutal knowledge to absorb. No survivors.

My in-laws, God love 'em, never listened to the news in the morning, and that day toddled off to downtown Pittsburgh where my MIL had an eye appointment. Buildings in Pittsburgh were being evacuated because of the report of the rogue plane flying toward the city. Though they noticed that there were many more people on the streets than usual, my FIL dropped her off at the building and then drove off to park. She got to the 11th floor eye doc's office to find them closing up. They told her what was happening, and that she had to leave. She was a little pissed. Fortunately, when she got to the street, my FIL was driving around the block looking for a space and was able to retrieve her. They were both in their 80s at the time. (There was also the time when they drove right through a tornado warning area, completely unawares that there was a touchdown a mere river's width away from them.)

I beaded over 100 flags pins which I gave to anyone who wanted one.

Our Veterans Affairs office handed out hundreds of flags to anyone who came by....my husband still has one in the rear window of his car.

Sorry. NO. GETTING. PAST, IT.

In case you need reminding here's Tilly's Story. I have no confirmation that this is true, but if it isn't it is an extraordinary piece of writing. Posted in 2003:

Knit the Bridge Pittsburgh - Go Big or Go Home!

The Andy Warhol Bridge re imagined....and wouldn't he just love it?

 

Make sure you check out the time lapsed video!!!

This would probably be visible from the right field seats of PNC Park! Another reason to go cheer on the Pirates!

Hump Season

We have reached the point in the summer that is equivalent to "hump day".

Last week was the Festival of The Arts.....

It is usually beastly hot, but this time it wasn't. I didn't spend a lot of time there, but I noticed that some of the artwork was way overpriced. I've done beadwork for many years and was stunned at the prices that were being asked for standard and substandard stuff. Maybe that's what I should do in my retirement!!

Yeah, it's global warming....

Maybe I mean global raining. No that is not fog...that is rain. And less than a mile away ..... hail.

My flowers are being pounded into pudding.

This is beginning to be typical. At least I don't have to water.

I'm still here...

... but I've been busy. First weekend of June, I spent here......

That's a paddle boat on the Mississippi. Need another hint?

This is on Chartres Street I think. The weather was HOT and HUMID. OK one more hint

I got to hear Preservation Hall right in Preservation Hall......

Yup, I "conferenced" in New Orleans. I was so excited. I had to prepare a presentation, and that was really stressful, but I was thrilled to be able to visit the "home" of jazz. I tried to get my husband to come, but it turned out I was glad he didn't/couldn't. He would not have been happy....no, not at all. As I said it was hot and humid, and well, let's just say it made the French Quarter, where I was staying, "fragrant". The streets were kinda not well kept (some of the restaurants and shops seemed to just stick their garbage cans and bags out in front on the sidewalks), and many of the shops were well....seedy. I don't know if this is a post Katrina effect or not. One could still see renovations and reconstruction all over. Between the heat and the messiness, and the crowds he would have been miserable.

I loved the people. They are funny and warm and friendly. Maybe it's a southern thing. When I arrived it was around 3:00 pm NOLA time, and I hadn't eaten since the morning. I knew I had a plenary session at 5:00 - 6:30, so it would be a long time to dinner. So I hit the hotel bar and ordered a pound of shrimp and a glass of chardonnay for late lunch. BEST. SHRIMP. EVER! When the bartender asked if I wanted a second glass, I declined telling him I was still "on the clock". He chuckled and said "You're a woman after my own heart. Nothing better, than a glass of wine and steamed shrimp in the afternoon, when you're still on the clock." Everyone I met was like that. At first, to a chilly Yankee, it's a little off-putting, but it's easy to get used to. What was different about the residents, then other southern cities I've visited,

was the energy. Despite the weather, they're fast! They drive like bats outta hell, and they don't seem to have that slow stroll. It's too bad that the streets are filled with crazy tourists. Oh yeah....I've also become an oyster fan....ummmmmm.

And this is my next career....seen outside the St. Louis Cathedral (oldest operating Catholic cathedral in the US). Can you say mixed messages? (Looks just like me.....)

 

Oh yeah, and there was the yarn.......more about that next time.