Keeping It Real

Hello New Year, Hello Blog again!

I have been MIA on my blog for quite a while and it feels so good to be back.  There had been so much happening over the last quarter of 2010 - head spinning and all that. 

With all of the turmoil wrapped up and put away, it is now time to GET REAL and KEEP IT REAL.  I will not make resolutions.  I will not judge.  I will just live as happy and healthy a life as I can.  More random acts of kindness will be performed more than in the past.  I just love the idea of anonymous blessings.  I may even try a giveaway or two!

My knitting life has been a great sustaining force in my life and will continue to be.  I thank all of the wonderful people that have touched me and have allowed me to touch them with this craft I like to call, Artistry.   

My family is my inspiration each moment; happy sad, funny, supportive, loving, mischievious, stubborn, and sweet.

Such a textured life.  Thank you and Blessings.

Favorites are Better - Late, But Better

OK, Here is the list I promised for yesterday.  Sorry it's a little late.  I really had so many that I had to whittle it down some. 


My Favorite Things

• My wonderful husband - what a blessing
• My children - my miracles
• My sisters & brothers
• Denzel Washington movies
• Turkey salad - OMG
• Spinach salad with cranberry vinagrette
• Grilled Swordfish with lime & chipotle sauce
• Knitting with my favorite yarns:
• The Sanguine Gryphon
• Dragonfly Fibers
• Madelinetosh
• Dream in Color
• Kauni / Evilla
• there are more but let's keep it short
• Authentic Friends that will tell you the truth lovingly
• Ravelry
• Local LYSs - you know who you are. . .
• My home
• My doctors
• My neighbors

I reserve the right to revisit this list and add to it with wild abandon.

Hello, Long Time No Hear. . .

I haven't posted in such a long time.  It is not that I didn't have anything to say -- I just didn't feel I had anything worthwhile to blog about.  I have been feeling all kinds of frustration with the smallest things and whining just isn't my thing.

I will, however, provide a list of things that are NOT my favorite things this week followed by a list of my favorite things next week.

NOT My Favorite Things List (Part 1)

• Gossipy people
• People that enjoy disparaging others
• Falling in the toilet in the middle of the night
• Book smarts but no common sense
• Expecting more of others that one gives
• Brown-nosing (so transparently)
• Elitists
• Sinful Religious folks that judge
• Perfect people - they are everywhere
• Soggy piecrust
• BAD Coffee - grrrrrrr
• Ugly yarn - yes not all yarn is equal. . .
• Knitting patterns for sale that should be free
• Automated Customer Service - where is everybody?!!!
• Tropical temperatures
• Hot Flashes
• Muscle tremors

I think that will do for now.  I reserve the right the revisit this list when this mood strikes again.  Tomorrow the My Favorite Things List. 

Shawls. . .

I love shawls.  So much so that I have to have one on needles at all times.  It just so happens that I have two going now and am contemplating another two. 

I am currently knitting on The Curator Shawl by Grace Anna Farrow.  A lovely designer that I get the opportunity to chat with on Ravelry.com from time to time.  Her aesthetic is clean lines and simple beautiful colors, a fan, I am in my best Yodaspeak.  I am making the square version, but somewhat smaller than the pattern calls for -- but loving this so far.  I have finally begun the decrease side so the finish line is within sight.  The yarn is Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester 2/8, in the Masala colorway.  So festive and summery; I think it will block out to a decent real woman size, heh.  I hope to finish this before the end of the month so I can proudly flaunt it.

The other shawl on the needles is the Melon Pattern for a Shawl or Scarf from Victorian Lace Today.  I signed up for a KAL (knit-a-long for non-knitters) in the Dragonfly Fibers Ravelry Group.  This is a lovely group of knitters that love Dragonfly Fibers yarns.  The inspiration behind these gorgeous yarns is the wonderful Kate Chiocchio. Love her! 

The yarn I am using for this shawl is Dragon Lace in the Fire Star colorway.  The most beautiful red with golden highlights and . .  just WOW! I would love to have some of this in her Velvet Underground colorway -- maybe it will be a future request. 

I made good progress on it thus far but had to put it down for a little while to finish the Curator.  I want to use it on a trip my hubby and I are taking at the end of the month.

The other two shawls I am loving and itching to start are Veera Välimäki's 3/4 Hap Shawl and Veronik Avery's Travel Shawl from her new book which I have mentioned in previous entries.  I don't know how much longer I can hold out.

Wish me luck!

Blessings

A New Day

I am feeling very grateful today.  So many things I could be unhappy about but why waste the energy.  I have a lot of things to do each day and am glad that I can do them -- maybe not all in a day, but slowly and surely complete portions of tasks daily.

If you are feeling low today, I hope you can take the time to remember that you woke up and felt the Sun on your face and maybe heard birds chirping.  And that is just the start.

Blessings-

Knittin' more than Nothin'

Wow is it hot!  We are in the throes of a heatwave and I haven't done so well in it.   This prompted me to make a change I had been contemplating about for a while. 

I cut my hair! No, not a trim. . . but 6 whole inches gone. . .

I have had locs for about 9 years.  I cut them completely off about 5 years ago and quickly regretted it.  I started them again within a year, and over the years, they have grown quite long, just below the shoulder blades.  Now they are at my shoulders -- I just put a new picture on the blog and now I have to change it LOL!  I feel pretty -- Oh so pretty.

So much knitting activities have been happening. I have knit 3 pairs of socks in the last month and a half.  This is a first for me and I have an itch to knit another!  After I completed the LCS socks last month I was compelled to knit myself some luxury socks in a yarn I have been coveting and acquiring for over a year.  The Sanguine Gryphon has made a loyal customer out of me with their Bugga! lines, Traveller and Gaia DK yarns.  I chose Bugga! in the Orange Assassin Bug colorway for my project.  A vibrant, range of orange hues that make up this colorway make me think of blood oranges or Halloween.

I wanted to use and equally renowned designer pattern for these socks so I chose the Chicklets Sock from Anne Hanson of Knitspot.  It is simple but beautiful and classic.  This is an easy pattern with a memorable 12-row repeat that makes it great for travel & movie watching.  Since it is made for sportweight yarn, it is a win-win for me, heh-heh.  I totally loved Bugga! and it is so funny because I have been purchasing it for a while and never knit it up.  Silly girl.  How could you have waited so long?

While knitting the socks, I needed another Bugga! fix so I casted on some Skinny Bugga! for slouch hat in the rare colorway called Blowfly.  OMG, it is the most gorgeous color!   I now understand why it is so sought after.  This pattern is another from Veronik Avery's book, Knitting 24/7 called "The Pinstripe Slouch Hat". A Perfect pairing.  See?

Since it is fingering weight yarn, I am not moving as quickly as I would like.  Well, I won't need it for a while so what's the rush, heh -- it's just for me.

Well, that's enough for now --

Blessings 

What a May Happened. . .

And I do mean happened!  As I said, I will share with you all the event that went on since I last posted.

Well, My lovely hubby and I were in the midst of updating our family room and after the carpeting was re-stretched (shout-out to Mr. Stretch of NJ, you guys rock!), and shampooing carpeting and wool rugs, our new furniture was delivered. 

I was sooooo excited and relieved that it arrived in pristine condition and fit perfectly.  The hubs and salesperson tried to convince me that we needed extra seating but I am glad I stuck to my guns, it fit perfectly.  One more item checked off the list. 

The next item up is planting our little garden.  We wanted to actually till an area of the yard near the honeysuckle, but with all of the things happening at once, we figured we would tackle that next year. 

We decided to scale back and do container gardening again this year.  We chose Roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes for the hanging containers with cubanelle and California Wonder peppers for the ground containers.  They have only been planted for about 10 days and are blooming and fruiting already!

My Husband had been quite busy lately and sharing only some of what he was up to.  Hmmmmm.  Well I found out soon enough. 

I turned 50 last Wednesday - WOOOHOOO and it was great! My young men teased me mercilessly but with love and then presented me with funny cards and gifts equaling 50 from my fav LYS.  Hubs took the day off and just spent time with me -- the best gift of all.  He told me to wait until the weekend for my gift.  No problem.

The wait was soooooo worth it.  The party he was planning was supposed to be on Saturday but with the threat of thunderstorms he postponed it to the next evening.  And what a night! The daytime temps on Sunday was in the high 80's and breezy, but it cooled very nicely by party time.   An old-fashioned fish fry, mini-burgers and hot dogs, his mom's potato salad, my sisters' wonderful side dishes and cornbread were the menu.  Buckets and buckets of refreshments, Family, Neighbors & Friends, and . . . Ciroc Grape Martinis and Pear Martinis for the Birthday girl!!  Oh Yeah!

I was then told to go inside and and wait.  Once summoned, there was a birthday cake from this wonderful little local Italian Bakery that was amazing.  Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling with whipped cream frosting and coral colored whipped cream roses that were near perfect.  After the singing I look up and saw a HUGE inflated movie screen -- it had to be at least 12 feet tall and 15 feet wide!  The Cineplex was about to play Avatar!  Since I hadn't seen it I was so ready.  After the sun set, the movie started -- in my backyard!  Popcorn, matinee candy boxes, chaise lounges and chairs.  Everyone with blankets and snuggled with kids and sweethearts.  What a wonderful gift. 

I think I will keep him forever.  This was the best birthday ever. . .