lifelong knitter

Happy Memorial Day!

We took a little road trip to see one of our favorite places,
Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia.
Lots of lovely shops,
a dog friendly hotel (watching the Indy500 and the Coke600 with Room Service and knitting, WHAT could be more Fun, really?)
and of course, the famous monuments.....

erm....the Famous Sweater!
Inishmore is so incredibly beautiful in person, I could barely
stand it. Wendy very graciously urged me to try it on, and then
of course, I was SMITTEN. It is the most incredible heathery shade of
green and fits like it was made for me.
I tried to casually walk out the door with it on, but
there were lots of Knitters with their eyes on the door...
sigh.
Guess I'll have to knit one for myself. NOT in nine days, mind you!

Carson loved the road trip, but especially all of the attention at
Knit Happens...

On the way back, we finally got to meet KnittingChocolate Melissa and her sweet son,
Monkey. The very best thing about blogging has been the amazing, wonderful people we've
met along the way....

Gotta go unpack and do laundry...Hope your weekend was Fabulous!

Oh, I almost forgot...Madagascar was a HOOT! I was a little dismayed that there were so many babies and toddlers there...honestly, I think that's too much visual stimulation for kids under three, but this movie was rated PG-13 for a reason. Unless you are comfortable with the storyline of going WILD and being tempted to EAT your friends....I would not recommend this for young ones.
I know I'm probably way, WAY overprotective, but most of the jokes in this movie were for grownups and older teens....LOTS of references to Other Movies. Some of the language is not what I would have ever let my kiddos repeat, but I guess I am hopelessly old fashioned.
The best part of the movie (besides the company) was the preview for the Wallace and Gromit movie.
Run, don't walk, to WandG.com and join the Fan Club!

Ahead of Schedule

as the deadline for the completed Weasley sweater was July 16th....

We tried to take some in *the greta* pose.... but Daughter got
frustrated and said Photography was a lot harder than it looked....
especially upside down!
uh, yeah.
I used the Rowan pattern,
and Rowan Felted Tweed, size 5US needles...
Summer Tweed for the *initial*
which gives it the Other Name
(courtesy of RedSilvia)
the G Spot Sweater....
Happy weekend,
we're off to see Madagascar, the Movie!
mwah.

Weaving

Daughter is KEEN on weaving,
and since the absolute worst way to learn something you are keen on
is from your Mother...
(if your Mother is ME)
We went to the local Weaver's Guild meeting last night.
I, of course, arrived with the last of the Weasley sweater on needle,
determined to finish it during the lecture/demonstration part of the program.
Imagine my surprize
(my brother keeps asking me WHY I am amazed since this stuff happens to me
ALL.THE.TIME)
when up stepped an art quilter I had been wanting to see....
sigh.
Originally, the program schedule called for a bead weaving demonstration, but the
presenter cancelled at the last minute, and the Quilter stepped in
to take over.
It was marvellous, but mostly because
the very words I needed to hear
Right Now
floated through the air and
landed in my lap.
She talked about the whole process/product
art/craft conversation we've been having on the blogs for months now....
and said (I'm paraphrasing here...)
"The MOST important thing you can do for yourself
and your ART
is to surround yourself with people who will love you
just the way you are, not in spite of it."
She described a good friend with whom she regularly has phone conversations while
they are both sewing...
"We can SEE what the other person is doing,
you know? Cuz we love each other and understand the process...."

YES.

She also talked about the joy of storytelling
through quilts, weaving with words....

An hour later, my headache began to relax the Vise of Pain
and I made plans to call the very excellent
weaving teacher that EVERYONE at the meeting
recommended....

Today we are off for a meeting with the Autism Project
researchers and then an afternoon with Boy bird.

I did finish the Weasley sleeve in the meeting,
so after seaming and steaming,
perhaps a picture, tomorrow!

Major Migraine

owie.
I haven't had one in the LONGEST time, and I KNOW
what the culprit is...
Diet soda.
I'd been off of it for at least six months
and was feeling ever so much better,
and now....
OW.
Knitting with my eyes closed
with the lights off
wrapped in heavy dark blankets
sounds like the best.idea.ever.

The worst part?
I'm thirsty.
I WANT a diet soda or six.

ACK!

In the PINK!

This arrived today after months of searching ebay....Daughter is Delighted!

Although I am possibly the LAST person in the Universe to jump on this bandwagon...
I finally have Tivo.

Well, that's not quite the whole story.
I've had the Tivo for a WHILE now,
but no phone line to hook into for the setup.
Very long story, with lots of fingerpointing
(the phone company said the electrician screwed up, the electrician said the heating and air guys cut the wire, the heating and air guys said hey, it's the PHONE company's equipment, call them...
swing your partner do si do, promenade LEFT and around we GO....)
so because I stayed up until almost 2AM watching the very exciting CART race
(doesn't the younger brother look handsome in a SUIT? Great job in the booth, dude!)
of COURSE the phone company guy showed up at 7AM this morning.
Know what the problem was?
The very expensive phone I bought from said phone company
had a short in it.
sigh.
Drove all the way to the said phone company's store (an hour away)
where they said
OH. We can't help you with THAT.
It's a residential phone, right?
Call the business office.
I think NOT. I'm getting that twitch over my left eye that signals the beginning of a migraine.
I came home and plugged the Tivo into the phone jack and raced through the setup menu.
Voila.
Ready to Tivo all of the racing action for the month of May.
woo and hoo.
Start your engines baby, I'm ready to knit, Full Throttle.
I will try again with the phone company (service provider? We know not what this is supposed to mean given the current situation) tomorrow.
If you are so inclined,
a prayer to the patron saint of Communication
is requested.
Amen.

It used to be booble day...

Oh, I miss Jackie Stewart and his commentary,
and I miss listening to all of the racing in the month of May
with my Daddy,
but tonight we'll curl up on the couch and watch my brother
do the technical analysis for the CART race
from Mexico.
I LOVE me some Speed Channel!

Half a sleeve to go and I'll have the Weasley sweater
to wear to the Harry Potter parties in July!

We saw Star Wars this weekend.
(I finished the first sleeve JUST before the end of the previews...)
Some dark and gruesome moments,
about absolute power corrupting absolutely,
but we LOVED our old favorites,
especially YODA.

Dear daughter has reminded me AT LEAST a hundred times
that Madagascar the Movie
is NEXT.

Birds eye view

Took my birds to the bookstore yesterday....
we had a LOVELY time, and they are always so happy to see each other!
On the way out of the checkout line,
Daughter bird shivered and said *ooooo, thunder!*
*LIGHTNING!* exclaimed the brother bird
and they began to RUN for the Mommymobile.
I scrambled to pay for our purchases and looked out of the windows...
Although the skies were only partly cloudy and there wasn't any
precipitation to speak of....
After living with them these past 20 plus years,
I know that the Whether (or not) Channel aint got Nuthin
on these two...
I pressed the automatic unlock button
for the doors and tried to catch up with them.
JUST as I slid into my seat...
KA-BLAM!
"Thunderbolts and Lightning, very very frightning"
giggled the Name That Tune contestant
in the backseat...
Big fat raindrops began to splatter all over my
(of course) newly washed vehicle.
By the time we got to the Boy bird's nest
it was a Gulley Washer.
They sat in the back seat, doing their twinning thing
(which is to say you can't HEAR or SEE them talking, but they are most
certainly communicating!)
so I said *um, are we going to sit here a long time?*
and pulled out my knitting...
*NO, of COURSE not* said Daughter, in that tone of voice reserved
for Total Morons who don't have built in weather radars...
*we're waiting for this band of showers to pass....Okay, NOW! Go,go,go....
Love you, see you next week!*
Sure enough, the boy jumped out and ran for his front door during the one
window of opportunity to keep his new This Old House magazine dry.
Sometimes,They Freak Me Out.

Hope your Weekend is filled with Sweetness....
and Light!

Wow!

Thanks to Jean  at the scottish lamb....
isn't this just the KEWLEST button?

I am consistently and constantly AMAZED at the generosity and kindness
of knitbloggers.

 

Make a Donation

I just bought the Autism Awareness pattern collection!
Many thanks to Melissa for dreaming up this amazing idea.
I was HONORED to participate.
We would love to make a sizeable donation to the Autism Society
of America to further Autism Awareness...
won't you join us?

If you are willing to make me a cool button for my sidebar
(and hold my hand to get it over there...)
there are MSWF goodies to be shared!
Click here for all the details:
AUTISM AWARENESS pattern collection

Knit On!

Klaralundigan

Here's Klaralund v2.0...
Silk Garden, six skeins of color no. 203,
purchased at the Yarn Lounge (hey Stewart!) in Richmond, on the trip where I met L-B.
(of Grudge Match fame)
I love this colorway so much, I'm sad to see this sweater come to a close.
Speaking of which, all she needs is a BUTTON.
(because if you look closely, you'll notice that this is my CARDIGAN version!)

So, next up, ORANGE.

yep. No need to adjust your monitors, I am indeed knitting outside of my comfort zone of blues and greens and purples....

I hope this makes Claudia very, very happy.