lifelong knitter

We be Rockin'

One of the things I love MOST about this place is the complete ABSENCE of
LAWN to mow. Woo and Hoo, More time for Knitting!
Instead, I have these FABULOUS rocks....

which make rather lovely props

for finished pieces of KNITTING!

Notice how BRIGHT the sunshine is before 8AM even....
it's gonna be a HOT one today boys and girls!

Vaccination Debate

I just finished watching NBC Nightly News.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but my birds
were both FINE ( with perfect Apgar scores) before their
Thimerisol laced government mandated shots.
I've never recommended that anyone NOT
immunize their children based on my experience
(or on the waves of anecdotal experience that have washed over me
in the past two decades...)
but I am ALL FOR
opening the floor
to debate.
I pray that whatever the outcome,
TRUTH prevails.

It's a TEST

The gorgeous knitting I am working on right now in that heavenly Debbie Bliss Cathay
is a test knit for the upcoming Big Book of Wendy Knits.
(I'm sure that isn't the working title, but I saw it in the comments and it just kinda lodged
in my brain....) and I am honored to be knitting this BEAUTY.
I took the sweater to Neighborhood Knitting group yesterday afternoon
and it was fondled within an inch of it's silky little life. Everybody needs a little
summer sweater like this around here when it gets so hot and steamy that you are
CONSTANTLY blasted by frigid air conditioning and/or sticking to hot vinyl seating....
This sweater pattern alone is worth whatever the price of the book may be.

I'm particularly in need of this pattern right now because my eyes
are giving me serious headaches again.
I can't SEE, even with my fancy schmancy
precision ground in Austria trifocals....
and so an easily remembered stitch pattern
in a luscious yarn is a godsend.

I'm on the waiting list for a second opinion
by a different surgeon. Faithful readers may remember that
the Corneal Specialist behind door number One has never had to
*redo* a surgical procedure and does not want to ruin his Perfect
Reputation. sigh.
The literature suggests that the return of scar tissue is not only
common, but expected in cases like mine.

Your prayers would be most welcome.

As ALWAYS.

Please Pass the Pinot

I survived the weekend!
Mostly because I had THIS in my purse:

The Perfect Summer Sweater in Cathay by Debbie Bliss.

The kiddos had their Grandparents in town, who saw the Boybird's nest
for the first time. They were THRILLED (and more than a little teary)
at how much progress he's made. It is so hard to describe how happy and
fufilled his life is...because when people think of Group Homes, it is almost always
with negative connotations. I've worked really, really hard to try and reassure
them that he TRULY has a wonderful life with satisfying work and a very active
social life....
but SEEING is believing!

Phew!

When I fell into bed last night, my little shuffle
served up the coolest commentary...
Sara Evans "I could not ask for more"
Indigo Girls "Gallileo"
Gary Alan "Right where I need to be"
and Rascal Flatts "Movin ON"

That is one clever algorithm.

Summer Breeze

Houston, we have Air Conditioning!
Oh,MAN.
All that *I grew up without air conditioning we'll be FINE with the attic fan and the windows open* rhetoric?
erm.
I just lay on the wood floor next to the vents for about an HOUR
and went mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Then I got up and started KNITTING again,
cuz now I need the Perfect Summer Sweater!
Cast on in that heavenly Cathay,
finished with the edging for the back,
I'm cruising.
Singing, too, cuz my new shuffle
is making me giggle,
the way it mixes Don Henley
with the Trogggs
and then slides a little Louis Armstrong
in there to make me SWOON.
Not so much the imac,
which begins each session with an error message, and still says
I'm NOT Connected to the Internet when I try to use
the Airport Extreme.
Not Connected? Surely you JEST, adorable little friend.
I'm HOPING that this does not signal the end of stellar
Customer Service to which I have become accustomed
at my local Apple store.
We're having out of town guests for the weekend,
so I'm a little nervous,
but nothing a pair of Perfect shoes won't fix.
Well, actually, nothing some Excellent Dark Chocolate
and a really fine Pinot won't assuage.
Cheers, peeps.
It's SUMMER and now I'm listening to Accidentally in LOVE....
by Counting Crows.
shuffle, ON.

Why I KNIT

One of the reasons I love to knit (and sew and make stuff in general...) is that it gives me the POWER
to get what I want, the way I want it.
For instance, IF I were going to my high school reunion in July
(which, sadly, coincides with an obligation of Dear Daughter's...)
I'd be wearing THIS dress with THESE shoes, and the shrug in need of an edging treatment....

See how Elspeth has her lip all curled up, snarly-like?
Oh wait, here's a CLOSER view

of the very unladylike sleeve.

The metaphoric ramifications of the perfect red shoes and missing my reunion are not lost on me,
don't you worry Auntie EM, but my kiddos come first and so alas, I'll have to hear about the party
second or third hand, via email no doubt.

In other knitting news...while waiting for the Air Conditioning Guy (who has promised to return today with PARTS, imagine that...) I've been working on the AMAZING solar dyed, finished with seawater sheepiness from MSWF and the Dread bag from our own indigirl, AMY. Imagine my delight then, to find in my comments, that the lovely and talented Amy (who ROCKS as a designer IMHO) works with my fabulous Brother! Oh how I love this knitblog community....RACHAEL was right all along when she said
that the Internet was INVENTED so we all could MEET. Absofreakinloootly!

Daughter and I went to see the adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl last night and on the way out of the theater I said *WELL, what did you like the best about the movie?*
Significant silence. I could see her struggling for a response.
Finally she said *Mom, is it a kind thing to say that I liked the popcorn and the soda the most? That's diplomacy, isn't it?*

snort. Oh how I love that child!

May your day be filled with opportunities for diplomacy....
and the perfect shoes.

There's a PRIZE inside!

While my computer was in intensive care (sigh...my baby is HOME but the Airport Extreme is still NOT working. I'm tired of fooling with it. One more wire won't make much difference. I need to BLOG.)
the Most Marvellous package arrived in the mail from my Secret Pal!

Isn't this CLEVER?
and just LOOK what was INSIDE:

some oh so yummy, delicious chocolate covered caramels from SF,
a SpongeBob bubble blower,
and BAMBOO!
I am so excited about trying this fabuloous fiber,
perhaps for the Branching Out scarf from Knitty.
Thank you, THANK YOU
Secret Pal...
you really brightened my blogless days!

As far as the knitting, I've nearly finished my version of Elspeth
from Rowan 37. I used Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino baby in the PERFECT
shade of red to match an adorable dress I fell for in Anthropologie...
but the edges are OH SO ROLY-POLY and I'm not sure crochet is the
way to go to stabilize this cutie.
Anybody out there have a successfull edging technique using a mostly
microfiber yarn?

Off to catch up on emails and blog surfing while I wait for the Air Conditioning
tech who is supposed to be here this afternoon at long last!

Mwah!

Mall blogging

Just a quick post from the kiosk in the MALL (eeeps!)
to let y'all know that my computer is still in the shop
being worked on by those genius guys at Apple...
apparently the power spike left the poor little imac unable to
*recognize* itself and without an airport connection.
sigh.
I MISS my computer and being able to blog and
keep up with what everybody is UP to.

My Secret Pal made my day....
in the middle of all of this, I got the
Most Marvellous Mail,
ever!

Pictures soon, of the goodies
and the sweet packaging,
and of course,
there has been LOTS
of knitting.

Say some extra prayers for my little
imac buddy....

Peace out, peeps!

Whew!

It isn't even SUMMER yet and it is nearly 100 degrees once you factor in the humidity
(and of course around here, that's all you here about...it aint the heat, it's the HUMIDITY!)
I hate to break it to you, folks, but it IS the heat.
The humidity just makes it worse....
and of course we are without airconditioning.
You know that thingie you plug your electronic devices into that calls itself a
SURGE protector?
That's because it is NOT a spike or strike protector...
which is why I've not been able to post for a few days.
sigh.

Which leads me to the GOOD NEWS...

tomorrow morning at 8AM
the ELECTRICIAN will be here.

I hate being dependent on grids and
power companies and having to wait in line
because I'm not allowed to fix these things myself...

SO, the project for the rest of the summer
is investigating the solar panel options to run things like
the whole house attic fan and the
computer.
Lord knows, it is HOT enough!

I'm still knitting with wool and cashmere though...

Pictures as soon as we are back on the grid!

Mwah.

Snail Tales!

We're HOME...

from our big adventure with Spongebob in 3-D!
We did indeed find the Giant GARY (with a companion Squidward)
as a reward for making the Dean's List....

and we managed to find a new (to us) KNITTING store, Lettuce Knit,
where the question was posed...
"How many knitters does it take to unknit this bag?"

so that I could leave with enough of the soft shetland in the Amethyst colorway
to continue my craziness of knitting 100% WOOL sweaters
in the sweltering heat....
My favorite picture of the whole trip, though?

The two DAUGHTERS, drawing.