...by what we give.

Another New Year Is Upon Us

2012-01-06T06:49:00.006-05:00

This surely is one sad little blog. I feel so bad for it. It's been my companion for years, always ready and waiting. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's even well-written. Lately it's just been neglected by that upstart KnitOasis blog.

I realized today, as I came back to look for my post about Epiphany, that I really really like this blog. I like the layout and the colors and (most of) the things I've written.

I also realized, looking at my New Year's resolutions for 2011, that the fulfillment of one of them ("Teach more people to knit.") has led to the virtual abandonment of this blog. Why? Because the KnitOasis blog is for business, and that's what my focus has been for the last year. I can look back from this January to the last one and say WOW! I have definitely come farther in the "Teach more people to knit" plan than I ever thought possible. I now freelance with knitting workshops at The Charleston Museum on a regular basis and teach knitting classes at Michael's craft store. Who woulda thunk it?

My success in the knitting instructor portion of my life has come at a cost, apparently: the neglect of my writing just for writing's sake, and, by extension, this blog. Getting a career off the ground takes focus, time, money and energy--lots of each! But I have not forgotten that I was a writer (of debatable ability, I'll admit) long before I learned to knit, and eventually we all must return to our roots and to our true selves.

Maybe that can be one of this year's resolutions...to write more. Sure, there's not a lot of time to spare in my crazy busy life. I wear an awful lot of hats: wife, mom, homeschool instructor, friend, parishioner, chauffeur, cook, housecleaner, AND knitting instructor. They say, though, that when you try hard enough, you can make time, especially if all you need is a few minutes out of a day. It also helps if you're motivated, or trying to return to your roots. Or both.

Here's to a happy and prosperous New Year, no matter what your goals.

Decembre

2011-02-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

I admit it: I'm cheap. If I can get a pattern for free, well, that's my favorite price. But I also want it to be good. This is why I'm a fan of the online knitting magazine Knitty. Free patterns. Good patterns. Nice designers who will message you back on Ravelry if you get stuck because you've only just started mastering Fair Isle knitting and this one is a little tricky because the pattern is on both sides. At least that last bit was the case for me in knitting Decembre by Meghan Dougherty. She very kindly answered my not-terribly-bright-might-have-figured-it-out-if-I'd-read-the-pattern-again questions and got me back on track.

I love this pattern and I love the yarn I used, Bamboo Ewe from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. It knits up nicely and is so warm and cozy. Great stuff.

Today we took a carriage tour

2011-01-30T15:16:00.003-05:00

You've probably heard it all before, thinking that this is what the tour companies tell you just to sell you their tour packages, but a carriage tour really IS an amazing way to learn about a city. Maybe it's not true of every city or even every carriage tour within that city, but I can tell you that our experience with Palmetto Carriage Company was a great one.

Today our family took a tour in a city we already know quite well, thank you very much, and we all learned a lot from our very well-informed guide. I fluctuated between being impressed and slightly freaked out as our guide deftly navigated the narrow streets between parked cars, moving cars and other carriages, all the while looking at his passengers. This means he was not looking ahead. At the road. Ever. Like I said, it was borderline freaky. But I figured he did this all the time and our adorable mules "Hit" and "Run" were smart enough to know where to go anyway. I also knew that carriage wrecks in downtown Charleston are infrequent no matter which way the driver is looking.

The pace of a carriage, combined with the expanded viewing area that you don't get in a car, topped off with the fact that you're not walking the whole way, make a carriage ride worth it. I saw architectural elements on buildings that I've walked or driven by for years without noticing. And the stories are fun, of course. Every guide is different, but tour guides operating in Charleston are licensed and trained, so they all know quite a bit.

I came away from our carriage tour adventure today thinking 2 things: 1) Has anyone ever thought of doing an "Earthquake Tour" to discuss the 'Quake of 1886?
~~The result of having read City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886 recently~~
and 2) Wow, there is just SO much to learn about this city!!! I guess when you've been settled since 1670, there's a lot of history to toss around.

There are plenty of ways to tour Charleston, and plenty of things to see. Take it from this local--Palmetto Carriage is a winner.

Charity knitting

2011-01-30T15:12:00.001-05:00

Go read this: KnitOasis, Jan. 30, 2011

Thank you :)

Knitting in Public (or How Not to be a Hater)

2011-01-26T18:29:00.003-05:00

(This blog post comes to us from KnitOasis, my alter-ego) (Because I myself never the house without taking along my knitting)(hahaha)

There are many variables in my life (despite appearances to the contrary). I have many interests and a few true passions, plus there are things that must be done every day or every week to fulfill commitments and obligations. Knitting is one thing that can be described as a constant in my life, though. I've knitted through good times and bad. I've knitted easy things and things that were so challenging that I swore it was going to make me give it all up; lock, stock and yarn stash. I've knit alone and in large crowds and in everything in between. It is a rare day that I leave the house without a project, carried along "just in case" there is a moment that could become knitting time.

And yet...

And yet I sat today in a lovely class at the Charleston Museum (aka one of my favorite places), and witnessed someone, other than myself, knitting during the class. Why is this even worth mentioning? Because, believe it or not, I HAD NO KNITTING WITH ME. Knitting in the car, knitting in several rooms of my house, but not with me. I had just been chatting with a dear fellow Knitter-Mom about how we really should have brought our knitting in with us, chuckle, chuckle. Then not 10 minutes into this class, I catch a glimpse of this other mom, knitting away while listening to the teacher. I am sure this woman is a kind, generous, lovely person, but I found myself being a Hater. As in, I hate that SHE thought to bring her knitting, and I didn't. It was bad, let me tell you. The milk of human kindness had ceased to flow from my heart and I had no one to blame but myself.

I can excuse it all by saying I had no idea what the structure of the morning would be and thereby could not have known I'd have tons of sit-and-listen time to make use of. But really, is that a good excuse? I think not. I purposely carry a handbag large enough for at least a small knitting project (and I don't fill it with things that would take up valuable yarn space), I make sure I always have a small project on the needles to keep handy for excursions, and I know that knitting is an activity that can be done in so many different situations without being considered rude or distracting. (Of course, there are exceptions to this, but that's another story.)

Later, as we toured the Civil War exhibits in the Museum, I saw displays that featured knitting needles and yarn and descriptions of how the women left behind during the war knit ALL THE TIME for the boys on the front. I felt them mocking me, those women of the 19th century. I just know they were always prepared when they went visiting...Parasol? Check. Lace gloves? Check. Knitting? Check.

I claim to be committed to my craft, and I have big plans for all the things I will knit this year. So, if you see me taking a few moments to knit in public somewhere, please know it can mean only one thing: I'm trying not to be a Hater.

A New Year Dawns

2011-01-01T07:52:00.004-05:00

Fan that I am of making lists, I am not really such a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. Still, I keep making them, so what does that say about me? Don't answer that.

Of the 8 resolutions I made last year at this time, I can safely say that I only stuck to one or two, leaving me with the following quandary: do I move last year's unfulfilled resolutions to the top of this year's list, or do I chuck them altogether and start fresh? Does anyone else ever have this problem? I mean, those goals were worthy of setting a year ago, so are they no longer worthy of pursuit just because 12 months have passed wherein I have totally forgotten about making them?
You see my dilemma.

I think I'm going to keep what still feels pertinent and add what seems timely and let the chips fall where they may. After all, there is more than a slim chance that I won't remember making this list anyway.

New Year's Goals for 2011

1) Revise 2009 & 2010 NaNoWriMo novels into one spectacular, readable, publishable work.
2) Knit something for the Red Scarf Project well in advance of the yearly Dec. 15 deadline.
3) Start Christmas knitting much much sooner than I did in 2010. We're talking before Thanksgiving.
4) Blog at least once a month on at least one of my blogs.
5) Continue my quest for the perfect cup of homemade mocha.
6) Cut back on caffeine.
7) Teach more people to knit.
8) Tackle the knitted sweater again, hopefully with more satisfying results this time.

Happy New Year and may you have great success in keeping whatever resolutions YOU set for yourself this year!

"G" Whiz

2010-09-21T12:26:00.002-04:00

I love this dishcloth. I love the color (Peaches & Creme #28 Delft Blue) and the fact that is looks so great in my freshly painted kitchen. I love that the pattern was easy and the whole thing knit up in an afternoon. The only thing I don't love about it is that it's not the sweater I've been working on since April! The knitting is complete and I even thought I'd found the perfect buttons...but the drapiness of the rayon is not allowing for the large button that the pattern had called for. So it's back to the button drawing board for me. SOON, I hope to be reporting in about the finished product--my first ever knitted cardigan. Until then, please enjoy this dishcloth. G, isn't it lovely?

This Old Movie

2010-09-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

Never let it be said that I don't excel at something. I am a world-class procrastinator. I am by no means lazy, and I think if I were more lazy I'd get much more accomplished on my actual "to-do" list. Rather, I am a veritable genius at creating other things to do instead. For instance, instead of working diligently on the sweater that I started as a Knit-a-Long with my friend Jani, I have written a dishcloth pattern based on a design brought to me by one of my Monday Morning Knitting Group friends. I have knit 3 different dishcloths and one secret Christmas gift. The result of this is that, almost 5 months after beginning this sweater, I still have more to go. Jani, who stayed on track, has finished the knitting of hers and has moved onto blocking and buttons. Yay, Jani!!!!!!

A second example: instead of revising my NaNoWriMo novel, I have, among other things, created a new blog to house my musings about classic film. To be fair, classic movies do figure incidentally in the novel, so it's bound to help with that, but still...pro-cras-tin-ation!!!!

Lantern Moon

2010-08-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

Lantern Moon is a company that sells knitting stuff--I thought it was just needles. I was over at their blog today, though, and discovered that they not only sell other stuff, they are working to keep textile arts alive.

A quote from their website:
"Historic Preservation Project--a designation Lantern Moon applies to textile techniques and other artistic forms taught from one generation to the next. Through focused efforts to provide a market for this art, we are hopeful that A-Luoi weaving will be around for many generations to come."

August** Plans: A To-Do List for the End of Summer

2010-08-10T15:01:00.005-04:00

1) Eat peaches procured from Dillard's Peaches in Greer (aka the best peaches east of the Mississippi). Try not to say, "Wow, these peaches are so great!!" with every bite.

2) Take full advantage of Duran Duran Appreciation Day and play every DD song on Youtube. All. Day.

3) Finish knitting my first-ever sweater-for-me, just in time to put it away until, what? January?

4) Start novel revision by getting all 50,000+ words in one place (more or less in order) on the computer.

5) Begin outline for this November's NaNoWriMo novel, by deciding if an evil twin is necessary or if a nefarious look-alike is sufficient in the cast of characters, PLUS--which one of the people I know in my real life will get killed off this time?? Fictionally, of course.

6) Read City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886 in time for the 124th anniversary of the big quake on August 31.

7) Try to take in some of TCM's Summer Under the Stars, especially Norma Shearer on the 13th and Katherine Hepburn on the 20th.

8) Take lots of walks, storing up the memory of the heat and humidity for the long winter days ahead. Bwahahahaha!

**august-adj: respected and impressive
**August-noun: the eighth month of the year

On knitting up the (perfect) holiday

2010-07-03T16:20:00.000-04:00

Today I found myself tidying up my yarn stash, specifically a drawer full of small balls of leftover yarn, in many colors and varying amounts. I was quickly caught up in a haze of creative contemplating. (Washcloth? Cat toy? Bookmark??)

I love little bits of leftover yarn. They don't have a specified purpose, like the yarn I bought to knit a sweater or sock yarn for, well, socks. Instead the little leftover bits are Free Agents, open to drafting by whichever team finds them useful. (Crazy scarf? Afghan square? Hat??)

Without a specified purpose for this yarn, I feel much less pressure. There are fewer expectations for the unassigned scraps. The receipt for their purchase is long gone, so cost is rarely a consideration. Making a mistake with this yarn is not an earth-shattering possibility. Instead, it is a relaxing, yet energizing thing to hang out with them. (Me: "Ya wanna go get some coffee?" The yarn: "Sure, why not?")

The Yarn With Purpose intimidates me somehow. It has Plans, it has its Destination keyed into its GPS, it knows who it wants to hang out with when it gets to where it's going. There are few margins in the life of Yarn With Purpose. (Me: "Ya wanna go get some coffee?" Yarn With Purpose: "Can't. Too busy." Me: "Oh. Well, OK.")

Now there are those knitters who will take Yarn With Purpose and let it know who's boss, changing the original Plan to something else, and doing it without a backward glance or the slightest twinge of guilt. I envy these people their ability to own the yarn instead of letting the yarn own them. I don't understand them, but I envy them. My own capacity for such behavior is relatively nil.

Maybe it's human nature to gravitate towards the things that make us happiest, or maybe it's laziness to take the path of least resistance.

It's a lot like holidays. We have found at our house that the holidays that are the least trouble, those with the fewest expectations and the most fun, are the ones we like the best. The holidays that are more margin and less pressure. When the day rolls around and the family can just enjoy itself, without having to act a certain way or follow a pre-arranged set of rituals, that is what makes a memorable holiday experience.

Since tomorrow is Independence Day, I'm going to remember this and pretend we are constructing our day from leftover bits of yarn, in many colors and varying amounts, without the pressure to create a perfect holiday sweater. I'm not even going to knit a gauge swatch for the day. Happy Fourth, Everyone!

WWKiP day, 2010

2010-06-14T10:05:00.006-04:00

In the course of my daily life it is a rare occurrence which finds me doing something with tangible international significance. This is not a cry for pity or sympathy. I can accept the fact that the average homeschool mom "doesn't get out much."

Instead this is more along the lines of a Really Good Reason Why the
World Wide Knit in Public Day is something that strikes my fancy. Think of it: knitters from all walks of life (even homeschool moms) knitting. In public. Everywhere. It boggles MY mind, anyway.

So on the official WWKiP Day (last Saturday) I was pleased to be in a public place, in this case a monthly political breakfast, and take out my knitting. DaHubby was kind enough to make it a photo-op, and the blurriness I blame on the camera in my phone, not on him.

The cool thing now in WWKiP circles is to KiP anytime this week, so you can pick a day this week that works best for your community. Frankly, this makes me think that it could be done everyday, since "community" is a term with the possibility for loose interpretation.

So, if you knit, try to do it in public this week, and if you don't knit, why not?

Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944

2010-06-06T14:12:00.006-04:00

Today we remember the most famous of all "D-Days", the Allied invasion of France, also known as Operation Overlord. In the planning in one form or another since the Allies retreated from Dunkirk in 1940, this D-Day amassed the largest invasion force in history. The Nazis knew that an invasion was imminent, although they did not know where or when it might begin. The Allies used this to their advantage in order to preserve what edge they might have from the element of surprise. For many months leading up to June 1944, misinformation was systematically fed to the Germans in an effort to convince them that the invasion would come at Calais. This strategy helped keep the German focus on areas other than Normandy, ensuring that the Allies would have a chance to gain a foothold in France before the Nazis could mobilize sufficiently to launch an effective counterattack.

Prior to the landing of the troops on the beaches, 24,000 paratroopers were dropped behind German lines in France. Then the first of the more than 6000 ships arrived, and the first troops attempted to land on Omaha beach, wading through the water into relentless machine gun fire. Of all the beaches, Omaha was the most heavily fortified, and American casualties ran high...most of the 5000 killed there were killed in the first hours of the battle.

The invasion of Normandy was the beginning of the end for the Nazis, as the Allies pushed steadily toward Germany. Less than a year later, the war in Europe was finally over.

Ginger Rogers--TCM's Star of the Month

2010-03-09T20:02:00.006-05:00

If you are reading this and you don't have access to Turner Classic Movies, or you have never heard of Ginger Rogers (gasp), then this might not mean too much to you. But stick around and maybe you'll learn something new...keep those brain cells working and they'll last longer, I always say!

Ginger Rogers was a STAR. She could sing, she could act and she was undeniably Fred Astaire's best dance partner, their ten films together still amazingly stunning today. My own affinity for Ginger was firmly in place long before I knew she lived for several years in my home town of Fort Worth, Texas. No, really! But it is a nice bonus, to say we essentially hale from the same locale. And you know I say that.

If you want to check out this very talented performer and TCM is an option for you, they are showing more than 40 of her films during the month of March. Wednesday, March 10 they will be showing, in no particular order that I can fathom, all 10 of the movies she made with Fred Astaire. I'll get the popcorn....

Happy Texas Independence Day!!

2010-03-02T10:34:00.000-05:00

You know, Bevo gets dirty, and ya gotta wash 'im someplace! In the part of Texas from which I personally hail, however, I never saw such a sight as this.

When Passions Collide

2010-02-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, to me the title of this post is eerily reminiscent of those cheesy romance novels we used to read in high school. You know the ones, with half-dressed drawings of flawless beauties standing submissively quivering next to equally half-dressed brooding hunks. "When Passions Collide!" Too funny.

That, however is NOT what this post is about. So sorry!

I was spending some time in Blogland with The Best of WWII, and I noticed that Melissa, the fabulous blogger there, had added a button since my last visit. It announces that she is a proud member of The Greatest Generation Society. Nifty! So I clicked it and applied for my very own membership, which as of this writing is currently "pending". After applying I was directed to this page, and began to utter loud excited noises of approval, along the lines of, "Oh, wow! Look at this!! This is SO coooooooollllllllll!!!!!!!!!!! Woohooooooooo!!!!!!!" You get the idea. It was the same thing that happened when I was in the mall before Christmas with the kids and discovered the WWII: A Day-by-Day History Calendar. Except when you are in the mall with your kids, you can't really put that much volume into your excitement, lest they suffer needlessly the Shame of an Uncool Mom.

The collision of passions came when I settled in to examine this page and blindly swung my feet to the footstool (or is it an ottoman?) and landed them messily on top of the Olympic Reindeer Hat that I've been knitting. Oops! I think the reindeer survived my Lands End loafers on their pointy heads, thank goodness! The moment made me thankful for my passions, ahem, and for the time and ability to pursue them. And for the Olympics which are frankly not exciting me much at this moment--hence the extra knitting and Blogland visits.

So the next time you find yourself in the midst of pursuing one passion, and you stumble over the evidence of another one, be grateful. With our without the cheesy romance novels.

When all else fails...

2010-02-21T14:45:00.004-05:00

Eagerness to begin my second attempt at Fair Isle stranded knitting blurred my usual Girl-Scout-Always-Prepared ability today, and I made it out of the house without my bag of knitting gadgets. When I realized I REALLY needed a stitch marker to figure out where in the pattern I was without having to count and re-count every time I looked up from the chart (duh, that is what stitch markers are for, after all!) I began the hunt...

--Gadget bag? Nope.
--Emergency yarn cutter I usually carry in my purse so I can cut a piece of yarn to use as a stitch marker? Nope. Changed purses on the way out the door to church; neglected to transfer the yarn cutter.
--Stray pair of scissors anywhere in the vehicle? Nope.
--Set of keys not currently in use to employ in cutting of yarn? Nope. (House keys are great for this--if you have them on you.)
--Pocket knife being carried by any male member of family (since they always have pocket knives with them)? Nope.
--Stray piece of yarn that doesn't need cutting before being put to use as stitch marker? Nope.

GRRRRR.....

And then I found it: a paperclip in one of the 4563 assorted storage areas in the van. Genius!

When it grows up, this project will be the very cool Olympic Hat (Ravelry Link).

2010-02-16T11:39:00.003-05:00

Greetings from the snowy South! On Friday night we got 4 inches of snow at our house, and some of our friends got 6 inches out in the country. Aside from the power outages that seem to accompany such weather phenomena around here, it was a wonderful, once in 10 years treat.

Oh, and yes, that scarf is handknit and the cap was crocheted, both products of SuperCraftyDancerGirl's yellow phase.

MLK and Benny Goodman...

2010-01-18T08:59:00.004-05:00

In honor of MLK Day, we at "...by what we give." would like to pay tribute to a bandleader who hired musicians based on their ability rather than their color.

In 1935, Benny Goodman hired Teddy Wilson, a jazz pianist, to join him and Gene Krupa (drummer extraordinaire) as the Benny Goodman Trio. This made Wilson the first black musician to perform in public in a previously all-white orchestra. Soon after, Goodman invited Lionel Hampton (vibraphonist--cool, huh?) to join his Trio (thereby making it a Quartet, because if there was one thing a good bandleader could do, it was count!).

Hampton is quoted as saying this about Goodman:
"As far as I'm concerned, what he did in those days—and they were hard days, in 1937—made it possible for Negroes to have their chance in baseball and other fields."

Here is the Quartet in 1937. You'll swear that Wilson's hands are computer enhanced versions of the real thing, sped up to look that fast! Man, those cats could play!

2010-01-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

Talk about the weather

2010-01-07T08:38:00.002-05:00

At the risk of drawing the ire of friends who live in much colder parts of the world, I have to mention that the weather here has been a hot topic, so to speak, the last week or so. Today the temperature might eke past 49 to 50, which will seem balmy after so many days of 44 degrees for a HIGH. At night we've had lows of 22 in some places--night after night. Yes, I know this is nothing compared to a summer's day in Scotland, but this is Charleston, SC, not Charleston, WV, and we just don't live like this. Most of us don't even own a real coat, much less thermal longjohns or an ice scraper. This is serious, people. We're running out of cotton sweaters to wear layered over cotton t-shirts under our cotton hoody sweatshirts! This can't be the sort of weather that people retire here to experience, and judging from what I hear from my transplanted Yankee friends, it's worse when you don't expect it. To either add insult to injury or icing to the cake, depending on your perspective, there is a chance that it will SNOW tonight and tomorrow morning.

All these days in the 40's put me in mind of days in the '40's (1940's, of course), so to warm up your day, wherever you are and whatever the weather, here's a hot little number, written by my favorite composer of such tunes, Irving Berlin, and masterfully played by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra. Ah, the days when music was music and musicians were snappily dressed! Enjoy!

Epiphany!

2010-01-06T08:16:00.001-05:00

Today is Epiphany, the day the Wise Men visited the Christ Child and threw out all the leftover Christmas cookies and candy. They also brought expensive and extravagant gifts to honor the newborn King, but we would never have known about their visit if they had not been so instrumental in helping Mary stick to her New Year's diet resolution. Being Wise, they looked around at all the sweets and said, "Thou ought to consume less sugar, then thou wilt have more energy to look after thine household." And their sage advice left such an impression on Mary that their visit got moved to the top of the list in her guest book, ensuring that it would be remembered for ages to come.

So, join with me, won't you, and get rid of the leftover sugar cookies, the fudge, the chocolate cherry marvels, and that last little heal of banana bread that has been sitting on the kitchen counter getting the slightest bit moldy. You'll be glad you did and your friends and family will recognize your wisdom, handed down through the generations from the Magi. If, on the off chance that your family misunderstands your efforts of sagacity, just tell them what day it is and that this is how Epiphany should be celebrated. And let me know if that works!

A New Year

2010-01-02T10:46:00.002-05:00

Something about the turning of the calendar makes me, despite my best efforts to the contrary, no doubt stemming from a deep-seated desire to not always be doing what everyone else is doing, want to make new goals, dream new dreams, and even be randomly optimistic. It is true that a calendar is just a calendar (unless of course your cats gave you one like my cats gave me for Christmas: World War II: A Day-by-Day History) and for the most part, one day is as good as any other for starting fresh. This year, though, I have decided to make an actual List and maybe even stick to it. Who knows, this being the start of a new decade as well as a new year, maybe there will be something magical about the goals we set.

So, in no particular order and without further ado, my

New Year's Resolutions for 2010
1) Read more.
2) Write more.
3) Know that #'s 1 and 2 do not refer in any way to Facebook.
4) Write more knitting patterns.
5) Revise my NaNoWriMo 2009 novel.
6) Eat at Qdoba (aka Home of the Best Guacamole I Have Ever Eaten) more often. This is the sort of resolution that comes directly from eating at Qdoba on New Year's Day and wondering why I do it so infrequently. I decided that if I did eat there more often, I could pull myself out of my food rut (Cheese Quesadilla with Pico de gallo, please) and actually try something else on the menu. It's about more than just the food--it's about getting out of ruts.
7) Take more long walks. Necessary to work off the extra Mexican food!
8) Cut myself more slack.

There you have it--eight little goals that hopefully will make 2010 a better year and maybe even get the new decade started off on the right foot. Happy New Year, Everyone!

A Novel!

2009-12-12T09:19:00.004-05:00

The morning of October 25, 2009 dawned like just about any other Sunday morning. There was the usual groggy stumbling for the tea kettle, the quality time with Prayer Book and Bible, the rousting sleepy family members out of bed to get ready for church. Something was different that morning, though. That something was a thought. It started with "I wonder..." and ended with my signing up for NaNoWriMo and writing the first draft of a novel during the month of November. The stuff in between included some Dorothy Sayers mystery-inspired plotting, a lot of caffeine, and sore arms from typing so long at the computer. My family was amazingly supportive, most likely owing to the assurance that it was to be a short absence, this time of my body being in the room and my mind being in a little town somewhere where murder was being planned and a blackmailer was on the loose.

It was an astounding time for me. I learned that I could do it. I could take an idea and turn it into a story, with characters and dialog and some decidedly uneven prose. As I told Shannon, I emerged from November and my NaNoWriMo experience a different person--one who jots down scraps of conversations, interesting names and bizarre story ideas (and isn't afraid to use them).

Muchos thanks (in random order) to Jennessa, Shannon, Jani, daHubby, SuperCraftyDancerGirl, JuniorBravesFanatic, my writing buddies on NaNo, my local NaNo group, to Chris Baty for starting NaNoWriMo in the first place, and to all the people over the years who have encouraged me to keep writing, even when I didn't think I could do it (Leslie and Papa, especially!).

Bath mat, or Bloggable Knitting

2009-08-20T14:35:00.003-04:00

Recently finished, this bathmat is a cross between two patterns from the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book, kind of Absorba meets Tailgate. I knit it with two strands of Peaches & Creme (of course!) double-worsted held together--what a hand killer! But I love the squishiness of it and the fact that, well, I made it myself.

Swag!

2009-08-20T09:05:00.004-04:00

So have you heard about SwagBucks? Like many things I hear about via the internet, I approached SwagBucks with more than just a healthy dose of skepticism. As in, yeah right you can get free stuff just for using SwagBucks.com for your search engine. Sure, sure.

Well, I'm hear to tell ya, here's one thing you hear about on the internet that really is true.

If you don't believe me (and why should you, this is the internet after all), try it for yourself. Here's a handy link to get you started. Get 3 SwagBucks just for registering. Then use SwagBucks.com like you would any other search engine and rack up the free SwagBucks, which can be redeemed for prizes, including, but not limited to, gift cards, airline miles and comic books. Truly!

When was the last time you fell in love....

2009-08-13T15:16:00.004-04:00

....with a pen? I had to get the kids their very own Sharpie pens because I don't want to share!

Seriously, I want to replace all my gel pens for this guy in many colors. It writes like a dream and inspires endless doodling. Love it!

Tropical jungle vacation photo? No, just some flowers in my backyard. Pretty, aren't they?

And some knitting...here is SuperCraftyDancerGirl's Christmas present (from 2008!). Finally finished in time for blazing hot summer...

It's the Lace Sampler Throw from "Cast On" magazine (Ravelry link). It was fun to do and helped me realize that I need to do lace in bite-sized pieces, lest I lose my sanity. The most important thing is that SHE likes it and she also forgives the length of time it took to knit. Heirlooms don't just happen, after all!

Spring!

2009-04-21T08:34:00.002-04:00

Well, ladies and gentleman, spring has sprung around here. And if you don't believe me, just look at my back porch:

Pretty new i-cord coasters! I had my doubts about my sewing up abilities, since the last time I tried to sew a length of i-cord into a flat circle, it wasn't well, flat. But I persevered and I'm happy with the results. They perfectly tie in the lime green chair cushions with the yellow and white throw rugs (not shown).

My Very Own LOLcat

2009-03-21T09:07:00.002-04:00

"Someone call UPS--I'm mailing myself to a tuna boat to get some lunch."
OR
"Oh, so that's where kittens come from!"
OR
"Yep, Amazon really does sell everything!"

Twice as fast? Time will tell.

2009-02-26T09:55:00.004-05:00

I just completed my first pair of socks from 2-at-a-Time Socks. Was it faster? I think so. Once I had figured out how to wrestle the 40" circular needle and keep the two balls of sock yarn untangled, I was able to get a knitting rhythm going that seemed to work. Finishing both socks at once is always good, too. While I know that knitting should be more about the process than about the finished product, I would really like to be able to crank out some pairs of socks. A goal for which knitting two at a time is a must. I felt like this was a more reliably portable method as well, since it was much easier to carry around one needle than 4--no worries about pulling out the knitting and have a needle fall out of the stitches, necessitating the picking up of tiny sock yarn stitches. Ugh.

After knitting 6 pairs of socks, I think I'm finally ready to deal with the subject of "negative ease". These socks are "The Classic Socks" from the book and following the pattern I came up with a larger sock than I would have preferred. No, I didn't swatch, so it probably serves me right, but these are just socks and I've done it before without a swatch. The discussion on Ravelry about sock patterns from this book pointed out that knitting with the magic loop method does give a different gauge than knitting with dpn's. Naturally, I didn't discover this until I was almost finished with the socks! While I am tempted to rip them out and start over with fewer stitches cast on, I don't think that's going to be possible. DaHubby strictly forbids frogging in his presence and now that they are off the needles, he won't let them out of his sight.

A disclaimer about the book, though. There are many and sundry errata which caused me to have to choose sides in a battle of loyalties. There are few people more loyal to the library and its collection than yours truly, such that I would never contemplate writing in a library book. And as they say---never say never. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I returned my copy to circulation without saving some future fellow knitter from the anguish of trying to turn the heel on sock B before sock A.

Finally, a public THANK YOU to Kaffe Fassett for contributing his genius to Regia sock yarn. I only wish I'd bought more of it when I found it. Beautiful stuff!

Happy Birthday, Renoir!

2009-02-25T08:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to Pierre-Auguste Renoir, aka my favorite Impressionist painter, born on this day in 1841.

Some recent knitting, vol. 2: A Tale of Two (Pairs of) Socks

2009-01-18T15:33:00.001-05:00

Socks for DaHubby...Happy Feet by Plymouth Yarns...Basic Sock Pattern by Brooks Jones (Ravelry link).

Socks for me...Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett yarn...same pattern as above.

This is the first pair of socks (with a heel) that I've made for myself, and I gotta tell ya, there's something about wearing handknit socks.

Some recent knitting, vol. 1: A Tale of Two Scarves

2009-01-15T15:29:00.000-05:00

This one I made for me...Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends...pattern courtesy of Crazy Aunt Purl...pom-poms courtesy of the cool pom-pom maker Santa put in my Christmas stocking. Photo courtesy of SuperCraftyDancerGirl who braved wind gusts of 40mph to go out and take pix of, well, knitting.

And this is the second in a series I'm making for my m-i-l from some Vanna's Choice yarn that she bought for just such an occasion. The pattern here is by Tina Yint, who describes herself as a compulsive knitter, among other things. NOT that I'd know what THAT is like!

Happy Birthday, Albert Schweitzer

2009-01-14T15:19:00.006-05:00

Today's quote comes to us from Albert Schweitzer, born on this day in 1875. His list of accomplishments reads like someone made a typo and combined the lives of two men into one. He was a pastor, missionary, writer, surgeon, musician, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. I know I've left out much but suffice it to say he achieved much and was even mentioned in a Peanuts cartoon!

He said:
~~"A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day."

~~"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

~~"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

Alternative Programming

2009-01-09T08:00:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking lately about the guilt I sometimes feel whenever I start assuming that certain aspects of my life are being lived wrong. I don't think this is a case of my conscience doing its job to save me from a life of degradation and squalor, rather it's the "Not Good Enough" program that I've heard from childhood, now in syndicated re-runs in my brain. Most days it's what keeps me from being truly joyful and at peace, and it's been playing a marathon the last few days.

It starts out with the "if only" introduction: If only I were more...smart, consistent, holy, loving, pretty, well-dressed, organized, erudite, well-read, cheerful, outgoing, involved in outside activities, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound...then I'd be Good Enough. Or, if only I were less....stubborn, unforgiving, moody, solitary, inclined to prefer chocolate over other food, lazy, a homebody, opinionated, flippant, a teller of bad jokes, afraid of intarsia knitting...then I'd be Good Enough.

Then it kicks into a detailed account of one of the above "if only's" and makes a convincing case for any shred of truth it can find in its chosen topic.

So I've been thinking about all this and wondering how to preempt that programming with something a little more realistic and affirming. Something like the "Reality Check" show. Today it might go something like this:

"Not Good Enough" the longest-running program in this or any brain, brings you "You Need to Get Out More". Today we'll discuss the fact that you haven't really been anywhere of substance and you rarely do and when WAS the last time you had friends over or went to see friends, or do you have any friends left anyway????

~~~WE PREEMPT THIS PROGRAM WITH A SPECIAL PUBLIC SERVICE BULLETIN~~~~
It's "Reality Check" Time:

It's the first full week of January and we've just had 6 weeks of holiday activities, gatherings, and an out-of-town trip. On top of that, your daughter has a nasty cold and shouldn't be out and about breathing on people or taxing her strength. PLUS, you have plans to do multiple field trips with the kids and your friends and their kids for the rest of the month, as soon as your daughter is feeling better. So relax and pick up that knitting and remember, God loves you, just the way you are!

A New Year

2009-01-06T13:59:00.005-05:00

Musings about 2009, or what I'm doing instead of taking down the Christmas tree.

**OK, has anyone else realized that next year is 2010?? And doesn't that sound freaky?
**I could try again to get my stash organized, that being a fairly common Knitter's New Year's Resolution. I just read an interesting article that sounds like what FlyLady would do with her stash if she were a knitter. It intrigues me to the point that I can actually see myself parting with yarn that doesn't make me happy--if only to be better able to get to the yarn that does.
**Something I definitely want to try in the New Year: knitting two socks at once on one circular needle. I've just returned from the library with "2-at-a-Time Socks" and I'm all for getting two socks done at once. My previous method of having 2 sets of dpns going does work, but only if I have 2 sets of the size I need--which makes for a lot of needles. And while the needles and knitting accessories DID manage to get organized in 2008, I think I'm allergic to buying twice as many dpns.
**My apologies to my friends in the frozen North, but it's just been plain hot here! I never thought I'd say this, but the temperatures in Charleston have made me think there might be something to "global warming" after all. I mean, really, does 77 degrees sound like an appropriate January temperature to you? Ugh. Perhaps I could resolve to complain less about the weather...
**All in all, I'm not big on resolutions--I don't really need more reasons to feel guilty a year from now. But if I had to make some general goals for 2009, they would sound something like this:
Pray more, gripe less. Learn some new knitting techniques. Be more thankful for the people in my life. Be a better blogger. Seek peace and pursue it.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Top 6 Things I Don't Want for Christmas

2008-12-24T06:48:00.000-05:00

The other day, DaHubby was de-cluttering and ran across some papers that were old and dusty and from my other life. They were "Top 10" lists that I had written in the early 90's while peddling books and sharing wisdom and wise-cracks with friends local and otherwise. Although I have to admit to loud guffawing several times when he read them off to me, I realize they were rather specific inside jokes to those of us slaving in the Christian bookstore industry in the last decade of the last century, so I'll spare you. I will, however inflict you with a new, fresh....

Top 6 Things I Don't Want for Christmas

6) New compilation CD by Christian Barbershop Quartets: "Mighty to Shave"
5) "365 Reasons Why Today is Not Your Day" Calendar
4) Shag carpet for the dashboard of my car
3)Yarn hand spun from the fur of a smelly dog.
2) New Bose 8-Track Tape Player!
1) Grow Your Own Pet Rock

But seriously, may your Christmas be filled with many blessings and much laughter!!

In Memory: Van Johnson

2008-12-13T16:02:00.003-05:00

I've chosen this picture of Van instead of one from his earlier "heartthrob" days in the 1940's, because it was taken circa 1985, about the time I was privileged to meet him. I like to play a little game connecting myself to a multitude of celebrities through "my buddy, Van Johnson", since he and I worked the same summer musical at Casa Manana--he as headlining star, me as walk-on extra and apprentice stage hand. I think it's fair to say that he was a really good actor, maybe not a great one, but always reliably good. Because the bulk of his stardom was 50-60 years ago, there may be only a few who will read of his passing and feel any sense of loss. But having name-dropped him for so long, you can be sure that, at our house, we bid him a fond farewell. I think SuperCraftyDancerGirl summed it up well this morning when she said that now I will have to refer to him as "my buddy, Van Johnson--may he rest in peace."

Funny thing happened after the Roman Encampment...

2008-12-02T10:54:00.003-05:00

Do you ever ask yourself, "If I take my 8 year old son who has spent the summer learning about ancient Rome to a wonderful event populated with grown-ups dressed as Roman soldiers, will he get anything at all out of it?"?

Well, I don't know what YOUR 8 year old son would do, but this is what mine did:

Here's a pic of troop formation:

Of course--make your own Roman army! Why didn't I think of that?

Remembrance Day

2008-11-13T13:36:00.004-05:00

I know it's 2 days past Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day/Armistice Day, but better late than never, right?

A friend sent me an article that was slightly more intellectual than I think I was capable of absorbing with background noise of JrBravesFanatic building massive block towers on a wooden table. But, these were my comments to her on it and I thought I'd share:

As an amateur historian, I've studied WWII and its aftermath quite a lot as well as spending my life in total awe of my step-grandfather who served as a Marine Raider in the Pacific. Yesterday we watched a 1943 movie about a man who served as a spy in the ranks of the Nazi SS, which led us to speculate on how horrible it must have been to have to pretend that the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis were no big deal. If we value life, we have to be affected at the loss of it, whether in war or in peace. This is where I could get on my soapbox and decry the desensitization of our culture and its subsequent affect on Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day. If, after all, we count human life as cheap, then what would it matter that there are men and women who have served our country in wartime who bear the internal scars that come from witnessing atrocities? But the author of the article was focused on our response as Christians, not that of the culture at large. The question I see is--is there a difference? Do we really remember the death and resurrection of Jesus? Or is it another in a long line of stories far removed from our daily lives--stories like those about the men who liberated the concentration camps and were never the same again?

This is the lesson that history can teach us--that our lives are a gift, made possible in large part by the deaths of many.

Thank you, Veterans, for what you've done for all of us. And for my fellow historians, may we never tire in our efforts to remember yesterday for the good of tomorrow.

Charity Knitting spotlight, part 3

2008-11-05T08:23:00.003-05:00

...in which I remember that every stitch counts and every idle moment could be filled with stitches...

While researching the info we need for Operation Christmas Child this year (shoe boxes are due Nov. 17th--yike, that's 12 days from now!) I ran across an article on the Samaritan's Purse website about a woman who definitely "gets it" when it comes to knitting for charity. Yet another example of how, in this life, it's the little things that matter--how I spend my time every day adds up to the life I'm living. I've found that, for me, the more I can knit for charity, the more I'm reminded how blessed I am. Years ago when I was selling books for a living, life could be stressful, with deadlines, employees, customers, and huge stacks of books all vying for my attention. I had a friend who sold books in another state, and no matter the stress I faced, I knew I could always call her and I'd feel better. She dealt with the craziest, most unexpected challenges in her store and we would laugh about how there was always someone with worse problems out there, and it was usually her. Knitting for people in need makes my needs seem smaller and less important. It makes me say things like "in the grand scheme of things" and "someday we'll find this moment hilarious" and "I love you".

Election Day minus 3

2008-11-01T08:04:00.005-04:00

First, some history...

During WWII, our boys were sent into battle after having been taught that the enemy was not comprised of individual men--regular guys with parents, sweethearts, wives and children. They were, for the most part, convinced that the enemy were nothing more than dirty, Godless Nazis, Fascists, and Japs. How else could we send boys raised in a Judeo-Christian belief-system to kill other people--lots of other people? It's called dehumanization. Your enemy isn't really a human, rather something much less important, and much more dangerous, an animal with orders from a tyrant.

And now...

Election time draws near (finally!), and I see a similar trend has emerged. The political pundits on both sides are working overtime to revile and slander, to dehumanize the opposition until it is easy to see the Godless, freedom-hating threat to our country, personified in Candidate A. Or B, or C, depending on which side has your ear. And as good little Americans do on both sides, we listen, we repeat what we hear, and we begin to believe that our way is the only way and any other way leads to catastrophe or worse.

I am very thankful we have so much freedom of speech. Without it, the political pundits would not get paid for what they do, they'd be jailed for it. And forget blogging! What I'd like to remind us who claim to be Christians is that we are to be salt and light--somehow different from those around us. Our views should be shaped less by the media and more by the Bible. Naturally we have the freedom to listen to whomever we choose, (and to vote for whomever we choose) but when we start spouting, I mean, talking about politics, can anyone really tell a difference between us and CNN?

Does it really help your cause to bash your opponent? To dehumanize him or her? Have we forgotten that it says somewhere that "all men are created equal and are endowed by God with certain inalienable rights..."? That the opposition's candidates are individual people, regular guys and gals with families and passions and the courage to run for political office? Doesn't anyone else remember hearing the same warnings of dire consequences in 1992??

I'd like to challenge those of my readership who are Christians to pray before you speak. Sounds easy, I know, but I'm not through with you yet. Stop for a moment and re-think your "Oh, God, if you don't do something now, that awful heathen will ruin our country, and isn't it time to use that fire from heaven thing again???" prayers, and remember what Jesus taught us.

He said:
"You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that." Matthew 5:43-47

"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken." Matthew 12:36

Isn't it possible that He meant for this to be true even now?

Today in history

2008-10-07T07:20:00.004-04:00

Today we remember Henry M. Muhlenberg, who died on this day in 1787. He was born in Germany and came to this country in 1742 in response to requests from Lutheran congregations who wanted someone to provide leadership for the Lutheran church in America. Lutherans today still use liturgies descended from the one he proposed in an effort to unify churches in the colonies. He is considered the father of American Lutheranism.

Today we also celebrate the birthday of DaHubby, born on this day in 19 mumble, mumble, in the city where Muhlenberg first landed in America. Avid baseball fan, involved family man and hard-working grounds keeper for the castle gardens, DaHubby manages to find time to appreciate and support the knitting of those he loves. He has recently returned to the church of his ancestors, who are rumored to have known Martin Luther himself. Happy Birthday, Dear!

World Habitat Day

2008-10-06T14:24:00.002-04:00

Today is World Habitat Day. If you are reading this in the comfort of adequate shelter, you are better off than the one billion people worldwide who currently live in slums. I wonder, what would happen to the quality of life if everyone who felt compelled to upgrade their kitchen counter tops to granite gave that money instead to Habitat for Humanity? It's just a thought, and I admit it's a decision I've not been faced with, but watching House Hunters and seeing so many whining Americans turn down a potential home based on the floor coverings or the wall color tends to make me philosophical. That and the fact that I know of a group in Central America right now, building a house with Habitat for a family who needs it. Let's be grateful out there, people.

Flying Geese Afghan...

2008-09-19T13:39:00.003-04:00

...is finished!
Yarn: Peaches & Creme solids and ombres
Needles: size 6
Triangles: 306
Finished size: approx 50" x 36"
Pattern: Flying Geese Blanket by Ann Hahn Beuchner from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Happiness Level: 4 smilies :) :) :) :)

Charity Knitting Spotlight, part 2

2008-09-17T10:48:00.000-04:00

...in which I continue to natter on about charity knitting...

Remember this sweater? Well it finally got mailed off to Knit for Kids. I don't really remember how long it took me to knit it--those were the days pre-Ravelry before I could easily record the start and end dates of my projects--but I'm pretty sure it's safe to say it took longer to get it to the post office than it took to knit! Which brings me to:

Reasons to knit for charity, 4-5:
4. If the charity is in another city/state/country and you have to mail it, it gives you a chance to work on your follow-through for getting things out the door and to the post office.
5. Knitting for charity gives you the chance to learn new knitting skills, stitch patterns, etc. while helping someone else be warmer and feel loved.

Errata

2008-09-12T13:25:00.003-04:00

Due to circumstances and technology beyond my control, the "Charity Knitting Spotlight, part 1" post ended up being posted before it was completed, and I can't seem to change anything in it. I'm sure this has nothing whatsoever to do with Tulip the Cat sitting between me and the keyboard.

So, here's what I left out:
The gals at Mason-Dixon Knitting will be collecting the tiny hats for mailing to London, so check with them for mailing info. Or show up at Stitch & Pitch at Shea Stadium on the 25th. It could happen.

And if you need further inspiration, watch this video and realize that those cute little ladies knit faster than you!

Or you can just imagine Miss Marple feeling chilly in January.

Charity Knitting Spotlight, part 1

2008-09-12T10:27:00.003-04:00

...in which I natter on about the why and for whom of knitting for charities...

Behold the tiny hat with big plans to keep older Brits warm in the winter!

thebigknit2008

Reasons to knit for charity, 1-3:
1. As Scrooge's partner Marley said, "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business." Or, in other words, if we're put here to help our fellow men, women and children, then why not knit for them?
2. Small projects like the Big Knit tiny hats don't take much time or yarn, but can be really fun.
3. Charity knitting like the Big Knit encourage the spread of knitting know-how.

Books, books, books

2008-09-09T07:35:00.006-04:00

Found this on StarKnits, and felt compelled to play:) Not sure how some of these books made the list, but then, I'm a book snob. Resisting urge to send a list of books that should have made the list to the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts, with lots of Anthony Trollope, some P.G.Wodehouse, Dorothy Sayers, and Jan Karon. And HELLO? Where is the Mark Twain??

The National Endowment for the Arts believes that the average American has read only 6 of the books on the list below.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE
4) Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve read only 6 and force books upon them

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen--probably my fave of Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens--I tried to read this, does that count??
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro great movie, great soundtrack, haven't read it
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, all of them!)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl the org. movie is my fave.
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Onward to 2010

2008-08-26T08:55:00.009-04:00

Bob Costas called and said he's got jetlag, so I've got to do my own Ravelympic update.

SuperCraftyDancerGirl brought home 4 medals in 3 events. You've seen her performance in the Free-For-All Freestyle and one from WIP's Wrestling. Here's another WIPs Wrestling

and one HatDash:
In addition to my WIPs Wrestling medal for the Shawl to end all Shawls, I got one for this Springy scarf:

And this little retro number won me a medal in the Home Stuff Hammerthrow:

And lastly, Ravelympic gold in the Scarf Stroke:

Now, in addition to waiting for our endorsement deals, we're gearing up for Top Secret Christmas knitting. Which is a real stretch at the end of August when the heat index is 91 degrees at 9 am.

Ravelympic Me

2008-08-15T11:27:00.002-04:00

Finally! Thanks to the magic of the Ravelympics, I have completed the Shawl to End All Shawls. It's long, luxurious, and way to hot to use just yet. It's even a bit too hot to knit, but I guess that's what ceiling fans are all about, right?

Thank you to all who organized the Ravelympics and gave me the motivation I needed to get this monstrosity off the needles and into the wardrobe!

Ravelympics are in the Bag

2008-08-14T11:34:00.003-04:00

Doesn't this look like some scene from a pretty little French village? Either that or the heat is getting to me! This great picture is brought to you by the SuperCraftyDancerGirl, who has completed this bag in the WIP's Wrestling event.

First across the finish line...

2008-08-11T13:28:00.006-04:00

...is SuperCraftyDancerGirl, with her very own pair of fingerless gloves made from her very own pattern. She's made some for friends, but this pair was for her, and it was the first completed Ravelympics event in our household.

Now she and I both are remembering why our other projects had been languishing unfinished for so long. Let's just say we are living illustrations of slogging. Ravelympics spirit and determination are strong, though, so expect to see completed projects in a few days!

Here is her first medal:

And I'm surprised at how pleased I am to hear things like this from JrBravesFanatic:

"Mom, did you know it's almost 1:00 am in Beijing?"
"Hey, does anyone know where the other badminton racket is?"
"Have you seen my archery target?"

Ahh... Olympics!

Ravelympics

2008-08-05T10:56:00.003-04:00

Knitting fans everywhere are gearing up for the first ever Ravelympics. Ok, maybe not, but WE are and that's what matters most, right?

In case you haven't heard, the "real" Olympics start this Friday in Beijing, (a word that is cool because of all those dots), and realistically, this affects about .0001% of the actual population. I mean, how many of us really know an Olympian?? Which may explain why you may not have heard that the Olympics start this week. Hello! BUT. I think it's safe to say that everyone knows someone, who at least knows someone, who knits--or at least crochets. Which means that some of that number are bound to be participating in a Knitting Olympics of some sort, and if they're lucky, the Ravelympics in particular. If I've not publicly stated on this blog how great I think Ravelry is, then let me just say it now. I think Ravelry is great! The ability to cross-reference a pattern or yarn with thousands of other knitters who are using that pattern or yarn, is power, pure fiber power.

As for the Ravelympics, we on Team Kudzu (it's tough, pervasive, found in the South, and hard to get rid of--why didn't we consider it as a mascot before now??) are in training for the opening ceremonies this Friday. In Beijing, that's 8:00 P.M., and here, that's 8:00 A.M. Which just further illustrates what I'm always saying about knitting being so educational--we had to find out what time it would be here when it's starting time there, which led to discussions about time zones and date lines and our whole wacky world. So, what all this meant to us in practical terms (ie, what's this got to do with knitting?), is that we can start our Ravelympics events at 8:00 AM our time.

Events, you ask? What events? Well, SuperCraftyDancerGirl and I are both participating in the WIPs Wrestling Event, which means that projects that have been languishing (is that ever a good word to use in South Carolina in August!) will get brought out and, hopefully, finished by the end of the Olympics. For me it's a certain Shawl, and for her it's a market bag that went into hibernation when a toddler pulled her knitting needle out of all the stitches. I have to mention that SCDG handled this unfortunate event with amazing grace and maturity beyond her years. I think I might have passed out if it had been me!

I will also be participating in the ScarfStroke Event, knitting a "V for Victory" scarf from the National WWII Museum. If I didn't hate humidity so much I'd want to work there. SCDG is also participating in the FreeForAllFreestyle Event, creating some fingerless gloves. Because that's the kind of knitter she is, and I cannot take any credit for it--I prefer to follow a pattern or at least start with one.

So if you're reading this and you're on Ravelry and you haven't signed up for the Ravelympics yet, you'd better get busy! There is a deadline, after all. And while I can't guarantee daily updates or even media coverage, we will keep you posted on our events, our projects and our Ravelympic adventure.

Five more

2008-07-28T08:37:00.001-04:00

Five More Easy Rules for Complicating the Simplest of Endeavors:

1) Find a dozen other "must knit now" patterns while I'm working on a big project. Can you say, short attention span? Did you know that if I follow the original pattern, my The Geese, They Are A-Flyin' Afghan will consist of 306 tiny triangles? I did that math in my head, then checked it with a calculator when the number came out so large.

2) Get through the check-out line at Publix and realize I forgot sliced turkey. Do I leave everything and run back to the deli, risking the ire of those waiting in line behind me? Or do I come back another day, knowing full well that it's too hot to get back out and run another errand, and what will probably happen is that lunches will consist of whatever we can scrape together from the pantry and fridge for the next week? Yep, I chose the road less traveled and now we're out of corn dogs, too.

3) Plan a pool or beach outing and it doesn't rain, it monsoons. Is that a verb? SuperCraftyDancerGirl sent me a long list of "you know you're from South Carolina when..." and this was on it: You have actually uttered the phrase "It's too hot to go to the pool".
And I honestly thought--you mean everyone doesn't say that??

4) Clean up after geriatric cats. Yes, animal lovers, I know they are worth the effort, but Clarence the Well Advanced in Years can make some serious messes. Often.

5) Be reminded that I never had a banana seat on my bicycle as a child. Thanks, Kay! You, too, Jani!

6) Land on a blog and find out that I not only missed entering the contest, but the prize was a LIFE-TIME SUPPLY OF YARN AND NEEDLES! Oh, the humanity!

Today's quote(s)

2008-07-24T07:22:00.005-04:00

Today's quotes are from Amelia Earhart, born on this day in 1898. I've always admired her--flying cool planes, setting records, lunching with Eleanor Roosevelt.

She said:
"The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship."

She also said these things, which made me think of knitting:
"It is far easier to start something than it is to finish it." (Alpaca shawls on small needles, for example)

"Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done." (Like, say, knitting slip covers for chairs)

"Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price." (As is knitting, and some really lush yarn)

Twelve Signs of Summer

2008-07-21T09:06:00.000-04:00

1) It takes more than one trip to water all the flower pots on my front porch.
2) The mosquitoes have joined forces and are working in shifts to make sure they are available to annoy us at all hours.
3) The grass is as high as an elephant's eye, thanks to the daily rain deluge.
---ok, daHubby just cut the grass, so we'll just say it's achingly green from all the rain---
4) There are beach towels and swim suits drying on the back porch.
5) Tomatoes! Lemonade! Watermelon!
6) Ceiling fans are all turned to high.
7) The cats are taking long lazy naps. Oh, wait, they do that all year.
8) New episodes of Monk and Psych.
9) It's too hot to knit with alpaca.
10) The boys are watching a lot of baseball. Oh, wait, they do that all year. (love you guys!)
11) Two words: heat index.
12) The countdown has begun...only 2 more months till the weather cools off!

Many Happy Returns of Degas' Birthday

2008-07-19T08:54:00.003-04:00

No, it's not my daughter and her friends, it's "The Dance Class" by Edgar Degas, born on this day in 1834 in Paris. Happy Birthday to one of my favorite painters.

Yeah, I'm old-fashioned, what of it??

2008-07-17T08:46:00.001-04:00

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

Are my eyes really brown?

2008-07-12T10:30:00.006-04:00

Over the years, I find I've become increasingly less political. Sometimes I'd rather just "tend to my knitting", if you know what I mean. But, this is an election year---it feels more like an election DECADE---and it seems that most everyone is endorsing one side or the other.

Although I was tempted to put bumper stickers representing candidates from both sides of the aisle on my vehicle, they started dropping out of the race at alarming rate, and it wasn't funny anymore.

So, after having examined the various candidates and their qualifications, such as they are, it is time to decide. Without further ado (mostly because JrBravesFanatic would like to go to Webkinz world now, please) here is candidate "...by what we give" endorses for 2008:

"I stick my neck out for nobody."

Peer Pressure

2008-06-27T10:31:00.000-04:00

I am surrounded by people knitting lace, mostly scarves, both in the real and virtual worlds of knitting. There's the beautiful, popular Lace Ribbon Scarf, the Mist Lace Scarf, and the
Feather and Fan. I felt myself crumbling to the peer pressure, and after a few false starts am 51 rows into the Lace Ribbon scarf. Here are some things I've learned:

1) I can read a chart! I finally figured it out! Go me!

2) The row counter is my friend.

3) The life-line is my other friend.

4) I can't knit lace if there are human beings around--they will inevitably ask a question, fuss at their sibling or make some sort of distracting sound, necessitating the use of #3.

5) While the yarn I'm using has beauty that will be almost impossible to truly capture in a photo, it's 100% merino wool and it's summer in South Carolina. It makes my hands hot just contemplate.

6) There's a reason this is a popular pattern (1300+ Ravelry-ites and counting). It's gorgeous. Even when I do it.

Who knew?

2008-06-25T14:14:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure what they used to decide this, but who am I to argue with a computer-generated Blog Readability test??

Dish cloths and wash cloths and bags, oh my!

2008-06-20T10:35:00.006-04:00

Here's one for me and my kitchen:

I don't know why, but Log Cabin knitting is so soothing.

And here's one for daHubby:

These guys were subconsciously adapted from the Big Bad Baby Blanket pattern, pix of which can be seen here, and daHubby's was finished on WWKiP Day.

And then there's this one that turned out too long:

And then there are the bags...both from the Elisa's Nest pattern:

Both bags have found homes elsewhere, so I'm knitting one for myself--slowly!

2008-06-18T14:35:00.001-04:00

Me:"And what shall we name your little pet rabbit?"

Her:"We shall name him....celery!"

Him: "No! No vegetables!"

Me: (snicker, snicker, go to blog)

The object of the discussion:

Happy Birthday to M.C. Escher

2008-06-17T07:14:00.003-04:00

I don't quilt unless it's something I can knit, but I still see quilt patterns in things....like in M.C. Escher's (born on this day in 1898) works. I don't know what this one is called, but it looks like Flying Geese to me. Flying Geese meet Flying Fish, that is.

Does anyone still have one of those crazy neckties made from an Escher print??

And then there's this close up of a bag SuperCraftyDancerGirl is making...coincidence?

WWKiP Day at Riverfront Park

2008-06-14T15:47:00.001-04:00

Finis!

2008-05-28T18:56:00.003-04:00

The border is finished! The blanket is finished! The prissy little mitered corners are finished!

It is now time to start something else, and since I'm on a major Peaches & Creme kick, I'm guessing it'll be something cotton....though maybe not QUITE so bright!

Patches blanket...a journey

2008-05-23T14:36:00.004-04:00

Just when I thought I'd knitted squares longer than I could stand, I had one left and we did a trial layout.

Then we gathered them all up and stacked them in the order to be knitted into strips.

Then came the sewing and more sewing, and the weaving in of ends. My tip for endless end-weaving: DO NOT, under any circumstances, count the ends. Just settle in and start weaving, then be j-u-b-i-l-a-n-t when you finish.

A general tip for taking photos for blogs or Ravelry: either use your 11 year old as the photographer or as the prop for the items being photographed. This counts as "time spent with the kids".

Now I've got to decide what to do about a border. This is a hotly contested topic in our house, and unlike many decisions, I'm not content to let the kids make this one. Don't ask me why, because they vote no border and that would be easier. While I lovelovelove
Susan B. Anderson's original design, I just don't see myself making pom-poms as a border. I think I expended the necessary patience required to make multiple pom-poms while I was weaving in all those ends!

Echoing my own thoughts in the scary way only she has, my friend Jani suggested either applied I-cord or a garter or seed stitch border. I promise, she hasn't seen it yet, and I haven't mentioned what sort of bordering I was considering, and yet somehow she knew. Right now I'm thinking of picking up stitches on each side, separately, and doing each side a different color (using colors already in the blanket), then knitting miters in the corners with maybe the stripey pink and white color. Because, obviously, this blanket is NOT colorful enough!

The Son Also Crafts...

2008-05-11T15:33:00.002-04:00

This just in from JrBravesFanatic---a lovely hand sewn patchwork pillow, completed just in time to give to his grandmother for Mother's Day. It looks a little larger than it is, but, at about 5"x8", it was still a good bit of sewing for a little guy! Thanks goes to SuperCraftyDancerGirl for threading needles and adding the button :)

Mother's Day blessings to all my mom friends out there!!!

Today's quote, May 10

2008-05-10T06:56:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to Fred Astaire, born on this day in 1899, easily my favorite of Ginger Rogers' dance partners! lol

He said, "Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young."

And, "The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style."

Lessons learned from Craft

2008-05-07T09:08:00.000-04:00

We've been watching the dvd of Craft in America at our house and I find it so refreshing to hear from others who are passionate about their chosen craft. It reminds me that one of the reasons I love to knit (or hand sew or cross-stitch) is that I feel an inexplicable link to the women who have gone before me, making things for their families. I imagine some sturdy pioneer wife making clothes by hand while planting a garden, raising a passel of young'uns, slaughtering chickens for dinner, and settling the frontier. Too much Laura Ingalls Wilder in my youth, do you think??

I also read a recent post on Ravelry about one knitter belittling another knitter because her preferred methods were different--in this case, simple vs. ornate. I think the point the judgmental knitter missed was that we all have something to contribute. It makes little sense to me anyway----what could it possibly matter to someone who likes to knit lace whether someone else only does garter or stockinette stitch?? That was something I appreciated about Mason-Dixon Knitting; there are a lot of just plain knitting patterns. I like doing lace, but I LOVE having something simple to work on, especially for times when I need to concentrate on something other than knitting. Like life, for example!

The artists on Craft in America weren't judging what others were doing, they were just thankful to be able to create things and express themselves through craft. And that attitude empowers me to appreciate what I do as well as what others do, without feeling intimidated by others' quality or quantity. Yes, I want to improve my knitting, but not because I'm trying to keep up with the speed knitters or master knitters of the world.

It all comes down to this: nine-tenths of the people for whom I knit will not be likely to receive an item from me, look at it and say, "Wow, you could have done better!" Frankly, I'm thankful for that. And for the fact that I don't have to slaughter chickens for dinner...

perfectionism + blogging = stress

2008-05-05T18:24:00.001-04:00

...or, why I would blog more if it weren't so hard to get it right.

It's hard enough to come up with something "blog-worthy" on a regular basis, and harder still to manage to get the photos from the camera to the blog, but those peripheral items tend to present a challenge, too.

For some unknown, no doubt narcissistic reason, I feel compelled to list my latest reads in the sidebar of this blog. Simple enough, no? NO. One recent listing, a fun selection from Dorothy L. Sayers, has created difficulties for this perfectionist. I want to provide some sort of link, just in case someone, somewhere, at least once in this lifetime, decides to click on the book title to see what I've been reading. I like to use Barnes and Noble sometimes, and I went the other day to the listing and used it for the link. I repeat, simple enough, no? Yes, except the "excerpt" for the book was wrong. I admit, I was blogging on borrowed time that day and just left it so I could go do whatever it was I needed to go do. But it bugged me so much that I went back later and changed the link to the listing at Amazon. Because the excerpt is correct.

Does anyone really care? Probably not, but I feel better.

Some recent knitting

2008-04-25T15:38:00.000-04:00

A sweater for my friend Claire's new baby, from Itty Bitty Nursery.

SuperCraftyDancerGirl finished this sweater tank!

A quote or two for today

2008-04-24T09:03:00.004-04:00

Today's quote comes to us from Anthony Trollope, fabulous Victorian novelist, born on this day in 1815.

He said:
"That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing. Could I have remembered, as some men do, what I read, I should have been able to call myself an educated man."

And this from Phineas Finn:
"Remember, I do not recommend motion at all. Repose is my idea of life; repose and grapes."

If you've never read any Anthony Trollope, I highly recommend him. He wrote 47 novels, so there's plenty to choose from. Miss Mackenzie might be a good one to start with, though I'm sure other Trollope devotees would have their own recommendations...

Asheville

2008-04-21T14:13:00.010-04:00

It was a beautiful weekend to be in Asheville. The mountains were at their mountainous best after a bit of rain. "Bad Fork"??? It looks good to me!
Truly gorgeous!

The Grove Arcade was a lovely combination of great architecture and cool shops.

And then there's the "souvenir" yarn---some from the Arcade's Asheville Homecrafts, and some from the aptly named Yarn Paradise. Thanks to Heather for blogging about Asheville Homecrafts---otherwise we'd have missed it and the Arcade.

Thanks to DaHubby for schlepping to not one but two yarn shops on our weekend getaway! There are more socks in your future :)

Earth day thoughts...

2008-04-16T18:39:00.005-04:00

With Earth Day on the horizon, I just thought I'd mention something the kids and I saw today. Shopping at our local mega-mart we were bombarded by the "go green" campaign, the current marketing fad in our country: green cleaning supplies, t-shirts with green slogans, energy saving light bulbs, even a display of earth-conscious dvd's. Outside, however, we had a front row seat to reality. The small field between the parking lot and the street was rapidly and industriously being transformed from wooded lot to barren wasteland.

Maybe I'm just a bit cynical, but am I really the only one who sees the disparity between something that is actually green and something that is only labeled as such? Maybe in our generation, it'll only be style over substance. However, since SuperCraftyDancerGirl was the first one to comment on what we were seeing today, there is hope for the future. She gets it.

Abstract Mitered Baby Blanket

2008-04-03T13:43:00.004-04:00

What you see here is the result of a group effort. SuperCraftyDancerGirl designed the layout after I said I wanted to make this a mitered production, and JrBravesFanatic and I knitted it.

Oh, and Tulip the cat gave it the occasional bathing, too. (Eww!)

The decision about whether to put on a backing or not has not been firmly made at this time...

added 4/15/08:
Ok, I've woven in all the millions of ends, and the back is no longer offensive to me. So I think I'll just leave it. SuperCraftyDancerGirl says it looks good, and since she's my official style consultant, it must be ok!

I Can Dream, Can't I?

2008-03-12T08:03:00.006-04:00

Latest fantasies:

(While surfing blogs): I click a link and discover that someone else I know in real life is actually a closet blogger, writing really worthy stuff...

(While stuck in "Palmetto Traffic"): I'm home in my own backyard, stretched out on my lounge chair, enjoying the warm spring afternoon and the fact that the bugs haven't all hatched from wherever it is they go in the winter. I'm reading some deep meaningful book and not having to back-track at the bottom of each page, because I got it the first time....

(While planning or participating in the weekly Life Skills Grocery Acquisition Home School Field Trip): Home delivery of groceries has become a reality, complete with all the best deals, coupon usage and meal planning, all available at the click of my mouse....

(Just about every day): I awake in the morning totally refreshed, having gotten enough quality sleep the night before to propel me through a morning workout (don't laugh, I'm dreaming here, remember?) and the rest of my day....

(During Lent): I arrive at service on Easter morning, truly understanding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in a new and profound way. I'm able to communicate these new insights in a meaningful way to others, all because I've been able, all throughout the Lenten season, to focus on what really matters...

(At least every other day): Instead of fighting over who gets to sit where, my children hold meaningful discourses about the nature of existence and the best way to love their neighbors as themselves....

Book Search

2008-02-28T07:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, all you out there in Knitting Land, I need your help. I have a birthday coming up and I want to put a knitting book (or two) on my wish list. I already have Mason-Dixon Knitting and love it. Anyone have a knitting book that they just can't live without?

That was how the post started.... but then the youth at church had a babysitting fund-raiser, and DaHubby and I stepped out for the evening. No, wait, it'll make sense, bear with me. By the time we'd braved the Friday night dinner crowds (does everybody in town wait till Friday night to go out to eat?? Ugh! I guess that makes it obvious how rarely we go out to eat on a Friday night), we had only a teensy amount of time left in child-free freedom. So, being the wild and crazy couple that we are, we went to B & N to browse through all the books we don't have time to read. I went first to the Knitting section. Admittedly, it's technically the Crafts section, but they could have one section just for knitting or maybe knit and crochet and they could call it Fiber Arts. I'm just saying. Anyway I looked at all of the knitting books they had that I hadn't already looked at or read from the library and I made a startling discovery about myself:

I don't think I WANT a new knitting book on my shelf at home.

Doesn't that make me some kind of knitting heretic? But I stood there looking at all those beautiful books with all those great patterns and helpful tidbits of advice and I was just overwhelmed by the realization that I have enough projects in my mental queue, and I don't want any more! I was stressing out right there in the middle of B & N!

After that, I naturally had to go soothe myself in the Military History section, which made it all better :) I found a new book about the WWII home front called, get this,
The American Home Front: 1941-1942. It's always a good day when I can find a new book about the home front (and dig that catchy title!).

The upshot of all this is that I'd rather not have knitting book recommendations at this time. Maybe when I get the multitudes of projects on my needles and in my brain under some control, I'll be able to find the space in my life for a new knitting book. Until then, I can skulk around on Ravelry and feel guilty that I haven't fleshed out my notebook any better than I have. I mean, really...we can put a man on the moon, but we can't find a way for photos to magically jump from our digital cameras to some usable form on Flickr without our intervention???

Another Bad Joke Friday

2008-02-22T07:28:00.003-05:00

The last Bad Joke Friday was such fun, especially the contributions of Becky and Dale, that I decided to have another one!

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Did you hear the one about the botanist who was trying to research some details about a particular kind of fern? He sent a request to all his colleagues, asking them to send him any information they had about it.

Unfortunately, he didn't word his request very well, and all the botanists he'd contacted thought he was looking for details about any ferns, rather than just the one species. So within just a few hours of sending it out, his fax machine was buzzing with piles of useless documents about all kinds of ferns - there were tree ferns and wood ferns, ostrich ferns and cinnamon ferns... but very few about the particular type he wanted.

So he sent another message to everyone:

If it ain't bracken, don't fax it.

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Q: Why is a trumpet player like an Egyptian Ruler?
A: They have their Tutankhamen.

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Q: What's a mummy's favorite type of music?
A: Wrap.

Goodnight Moon, or Why the kids were up late

2008-02-21T08:14:00.004-05:00

A great big thanks to DaHubby for remembering the Lunar Eclipse last night (before it happened, no less!!). After church, we came home, told the kids to get ready for bed, then kept an eye on the clock. The kids do NOT keep an eye on the clock at bedtime, as their ultimate, nightly goal is to see how long they can fool the parents into letting them stay up just a bit longer, and this takes considerable energy and concentration on their part.

Then, at 8:45, after making sure they were all ready for shut-eye, we said, without any previous warning, "Put on your shoes and coats." It's so much fun to spring things on them! So out we trooped to the front yard, no doubt giving the neighbors something else to talk about. We discussed what causes eclipses and watched the moon slowly but surely turn dark and reddish. It was a perfect eclipse-watching sky, with only a few wispy clouds and a fantastic view of the moon.

As I heard the 7 am bus pull through this morning, I was so thankful that we homeschool, and can make our schedule adjust to things like a Lunar Eclipse.

Or the Great Backyard Bird Count, for that matter. By the way, remember how I said that birds avoid our yard during the Bird Count? I think I need to amend that to say that birds avoid ME during the Bird Count! Saturday the kids and I went out and saw a grand total of 4 birds (2 species) in 30 minutes. This was about what I expected. Then Sunday morning, DaHubby and the kids sat there and spotted 15 birds (9 species) in 45 minutes. Ok, no problem, that's great. Then later on Sunday, while visiting friends out in the country, I sat for at least an hour with my binoculars and saw, are you ready for this? ONE BIRD! Out in the country! One lousy hawk that I never was able to positively identify. And that's when I began to take it personally. Monday morning we saw something like a chickadee and two geese, but I didn't have the heart to submit those "results" to the Bird Count.

I can see why the birds in our area might really like DaHubby, as he's the official feeder filler. But what they don't take into account is that, often I'm the one who brings the empty feeders to his attention. I'm the woman behind the feeder filler, for heaven's sake!

Survived another one (or, Why I don't blog very often)

2008-02-15T08:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was our annual homeschool bowling party, organized by yours truly. Great fun was had by all. It is the only Big Event that I organize all year, and every year on the day after, I remember why---it's exhausting!! But, like I said, a great time was had by all, so it's worth it.

Today we start the Great Backyard Bird Count. I always wonder where all the birds go on this particular weekend. In years past we could look out and see dozens of birds at the feeder all week, then when the GBBC rolls around, they stay away in droves. Or would that be flocks?

Birding is one of those things (like knitting or homeschooling) which seem hard to do until you actually try it. I've been birding, with varying degrees of fervency, for the last, well, we'll just say for many years. (Don't you hate it when you go to count up something like that and realize just how many years it's been?) SuperCraftyDancerGirl is less enamored with her feathered neighbors than is her brother, but she is good at identifying species, especially on our walks. JrBravesFanatic's love of critters naturally extends to the bird community, and when he was younger he surprised me by being able to sit in my lap QUIETLY watching for birds to come to the feeder during our GBBC experiences. Da Hubby will believe everything I say about the birds we see, so that's always fun. Not that I am purposely misleading when it comes to bird info, but he doesn't quibble with me when I can't tell a Red-Shouldered Hawk from a Red-Tailed Hawk. Gotta love a guy like that!

Happy Birthday, Chuck! (One day late)

2008-02-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the birthday of Charles Dickens, one of my favorite authors as a child--well, ok, more like Jr. High and up. I wouldn't want to give the mistaken impression that I was reading David Copperfield in Kindergarten or something. I mean, I was a pretty sharp kid and all, but maybe not THAT sharp.

I think, aside from all the great writing, Dickens should be remembered for trying to change the world for the better. He didn't just write about things that needed to be improved, he put his money where his mouth (or pen) was and made a difference.

That should give us something to think about during this season of Lent. Are we being intentional with our time, our talents, our resources? The sermon at church on Ash Wednesday challenged me to get past the distractions in life ---- is there any way to do this besides minimizing the distractions??? ---- and.... then what? What happens when the distractions are fewer? Will I become a better steward of my time, recognizing waste when it happens and turning it into something that will bear fruit? Will I be better able to focus during my devotion time, instead of thinking about my plans for the day? Will I be more patient with those around me, setting aside my agendas (even when the agenda is knitting!!) to remember that the most important things in life are not things, but people? Will I wax philosophical on my blog on a regular basis???

I guess I've got 40 days to find out.....

Meanwhile, JrBravesFanatic just walked by outside the window. I can't say for sure, but it looked like he had a large clump of Spanish moss on his (knitted cap on his) head. Naaahhh, couldn't be!

Bad Joke Friday

2008-02-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

Q: Why does a chicken coop have two doors?

A: Because if it had four doors it would be a chicken sedan.

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Did you hear the one about the dromedary whose fur was an amazingly close match in color to the desert sand? He was almost impossible to see.

Some called him 'the invisible dromedary', but in reality he wasn't invisible; he was just really well camel-flaged.

NOT my New Year's Resolutions...

2008-01-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

1) Get bumper stickers representing ALL the Presidential candidates and put them all on the car.
2) Buy a big box of curriculum and force my children to sit in school desks every day while they complete it.
3) Put the local traffic police on speed dial and report license numbers of drivers who cut me off in traffic.
4) Give away all my knitting needles and yarn.
5) Sit in the front window with the curtains open and a pair of binoculars. Every day.
6) Only watch movies made after 1990.
7) Convert my blog to all politics, all the time.

And since it's 2008, the 8th thing that is NOT my New Year's Resolution:
8) Throw out all the dishes and use nothing but paper, plastic and Styrofoam from now on!

Glad Tidings

2007-12-18T07:49:00.000-05:00

It's the birthday of Charles Wesley, born on this day in 1707 (or 1708, depending on what you're reading). He wrote over 6,000 hymns and is considered by some to be one of the most prolific poets in the English language.

And since it's a week till Christmas, I'll leave you with one of his hymns. Yes, I realize that you'll probably hear it so many times in the stores this season that you might wish Charles Wesley had been a plumber or a botanist. ***Has anyone else noticed that you can't go anywhere at all without an unceasing stream of Rudolph's and Frosty's? And isn't anyone else worried they'll get tired of it all long before the 25th?? But I digress... ***

Ok, so, despite the fact that you've probably learned to tune this out already, read the words and let Christmas be real for you, since that, Charlie Brown, is what Christmas is all about. Merry Christmas!!

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

2.
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

3.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Remember Pearl Harbor

2007-12-07T07:37:00.000-05:00

"Remember Pearl Harbor" (lyrics to the popular song by that name here ) was a rallying cry for America, especially during the early days of our involvement in World War II. Until this day in 1941, the debates between the isolationists and the interventionists were heated and frequent. Those who advocated war wanted to send troops to Europe to put an end to Hitler's relentless onslaught there. Conversely, there were those who thought that the reports of Hitler's atrocities were greatly exaggerated, and maybe his plan to "unify Europe" wasn't so bad after all. Despite the fact that Japan had been fighting in its corner of the world for many years, Americans were largely unconcerned about a threat from that direction.

Japan's unprovoked attack on our naval and air forces in Pearl Harbor initially achieved two things: 1) The fighting among the isolationists and interventionists came to a halt and 2) Japan's alliance with Nazi Germany assured that the U.S. was going to war on two fronts.

You can listen to President Franklin Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address here.

And here's something from The Writer's Almanac, many thanks to Garrison Keillor:

"It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That morning soldiers at Pearl Harbor were learning how to use their new radar technology, and they detected a large number of planes heading toward them. They telephoned an officer to ask him what to do. The officer said they must be American B-17s on their way to the base, and he told the soldiers not to worry about it.

The Japanese bombers began their attack at 7:48 a.m., with two waves of 360 planes, beginning with slow torpedo bombers and then dive-bombers. Many of the soldiers there that day woke up to the sound of alarms and explosions. Most of the damage occurred in the first 30 minutes. The U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized, and the California, Nevada, and West Virginia sank in shallow water. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed, killing more than 1,500 soldiers aboard. When nurses arrived for morning duty they found hundreds of injured men all over the base. The nurses ran around, administering morphine, and to prevent overdoses, they wrote the letter M on each treated man's forehead.

There were ultimately 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and 1,178 wounded. FDR used the event as the grounds for entering World War II."

Today's Quotes

2007-11-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

Today's quotes come from CS Lewis, born on this day in 1898.

He said:
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. "

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

There's winning, and there's winning...

2007-11-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official: I did NOT win the Cat Sweater contest sponsored by Crazy Aunt Purl. It's a shame, too, since 1) The grand prize sounded wonderful, and 2) We had to wake Clarence up to put the sweater on him. Oh, well!

And I had a couple of thoughts about chillen's today. I was watching JrBravesFanatic playing ball in the backyard when a large airplane flew overhead. He stopped what he was doing and looked to see what kind of plane it was, and I thought, that must be what it means to have a boy: someone I can count on to stop and look at passing airplanes. And, since I try to be a fair kind of Mom, (hehe) I must add that having a girl around means someone I can count on to help me shop for clothes, and really feel comfortable telling me, "Mom you do NOT want to buy that pair of pants! Ewwww!!"

Just a couple of examples--there are really so many more reasons why having these kiddoes around is a great thing. It makes me feel like a WIN-AH!

Thankful

2007-11-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered that Jan Karon has written a new book--not a Mitford book, but a book still starring Father Tim Kavanaugh. I breathed a sigh of relief and went to the library. I wasn't looking for the new book, though. I was looking for the last Mitford book, Light from Heaven. I have thus far steadfastly refused to read it, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to handle saying a permanent goodbye to all the characters I've "known" for the last 10 years. BUT! If Father Tim carries on in a new book (maybe even a new series!), then so can I.

The timing is perfect to read this book, too, as Thanksgiving is upon us. Karon's novels make me feel so thankful, so appreciative of the way God moves in the lives of people, and so much more aware of the beautiful things in life.

I'm thankful for my friends and family, too, virtual and otherwise. May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

2007-11-19T07:40:00.000-05:00

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I (Heart) Cables!

2007-11-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

Ok, why didn't anyone tell me how easy cables were? Ok, then why didn't I listen?? I have a new knitting obsession, and I call it--Cable-liciousness. This all started because I wanted to make a new scarf and I wanted to try something different and I finally got brave enough to open the package of cable needles I've had for a year, and it all happened on the same day. And I love love love cables!

It's so nice that knitting is filled with lots of new things to discover. And become obsessed with!

Lately I've been...

2007-11-05T08:56:00.000-05:00

**Schlepping children to multiple fall festivals, with and without costumes.

**Collecting as much cat hair as possible on everything I wear.

**Switching out the short sleeve t-shirts for the long sleeve t-shirts--hey, nothing like a diverse wardrobe! Now that our daytime highs are only in the lower 70's (and the humidity is down---hooray!!), it's time to pull out the winter clothes . I finally caught on the to fact that, around here, winter clothes are best limited to cotton sweaters and thin long-sleeved shirts. This is, after all, South Carolina, where the heat gets blasted indoors if the temps outdoors fall below60 degrees. You know what they say about cooking a frog by turning up the heat gradually? Well, I so get that now.

**Reading about our own personal star of the month, Loretta Young: beautiful, inspiration, role model. Seems she probably spent more time helping others (hospice, etc) and pointing them toward God, than she spent in front of movie or television cameras. Very cool. ALSO...did you know Ricardo Montalban was her brother-in-law? And Van Johnson once made a guest appearance on "Fantasy Island" (starring Montalban, of course)? And I was once in "Showboat" with Van Johnson? Him: Big-name star attraction, complete with trademark red socks and incredibly boyish grin. Me: Nobody stage crew with walk-on part. We play this little game around here. Kevin Bacon notwithstanding, I can connect to just about any movie star from the Golden Age of Hollywood via~~~~~VAN JOHNSON!!

**Enjoying our first-of-the-year wood fire. No, it's not really That Cold, but it was cooler and quite lovely to crank up the fireplace again.

**Trying not to spaz (does use of that word date me like I think it does??) that Thanksgiving is so close and Christmas is hot on its heels. I have a mere 3.8 things from the Top Secret Christmas Knitting list completed. Not enough to relax yet. Has this stopped me from working on the Shawl to End All Shawls or reading knitting books for more project ideas? Hardly. But it would be so nice to have that yummy bit of alpaca-osity ready when we have our 3 days of winter. And I'll need something to knit once the Christmas projects are done. And I have no self-control sometimes. At least I can admit it.

**Trying to think nice thoughts about whoever came up with Daylight Savings Time. Grrr.....

World Series Angst

2007-10-26T09:12:00.000-04:00

I like happy endings. I know we live in a real world, a fallen world even, and happy endings don't always happen. But, still, I prefer them.

Which is why I'm experiencing World Series Angst right now. You see, DaHubby is a Red Sox fan from way back when, so naturally he's pulling for Boston. And well, though I hail from the Lone Star state (aka God's country), I was actually born in Colorado and as such have always felt a certain fondness for my natal state. Also, rooting for the underdog has long been a tradition in our house (see: "DaHubby is a Red Sox fan from way back when").

Last night I apologized to DaHubby for rooting against his team in the Series, and he assured me that it was ok.

So why the angst? Because Boston leads 2-0 and if I'm going to root for someone, I want to see them WIN, that's why!!!! I mean, have you seen some of these guys? We're talking "old Boston" for sure! What are you whippersnappers on the Rockies doing?? Surely you can beat a bunch of old men like the Red Sox!!

Ok, tirade over.

Go Rockies!!

Edited Monday, 10-29: Well, my Rockies didn't last the weekend, so I guess that, as they say, is that! :(

Polar Bears, Elephants, Cats and Alpaca (Oh, My!)

2007-10-19T12:28:00.000-04:00

Still trying to find the time to square away things on Ravelry...I figured out Flickr, but need to take more pictures of knitting (I never thought I'd feel the need to say THAT!) to upload, yada yada yada.

And thanks to these guys,
I now have to share the computer with the kids on a regular basis. Normally I do not get into the hype of the latest greatest new toy or gadget. For years I have shaken my head in disbelief at friends who have spent precious time and money tracking down the most recent toy fad for their children. No longer can I scorn such actions, for we have officially entered the Webkinz World. I have mixed emotions about WW, ranging from:
1) what on earth were we thinking agreeing to bring such things into our lives so the kids'll tie up the computer doing their thing when there seems to be precious little time to do my thing, and this just as I get into Ravelry and not to mention I have subjects of dubious interest about which to blog!?!! to
2) how do I come up with something that'll hook kids aged 4 and up and require their parents to spend precious time and money tracking down my most recent toy fad?????

The only thing I can fall back on is the fickle nature of children and the hope that in a few weeks they'll tire of all the online fun and I'll get my computer back. Otherwise it'll seem awfully lame to have to go use the computer at the library 'cause mine's been taken over by all that fuzzy cuteness.

In knitting news, the weather has sufficiently cooled to bring out the alpaca shawl and work on it some more. By sufficiently cooled I mean that the inside temps with air conditioning blasting are now low enough that I can stand to work with this really warm yarn and finish this everlasting slogfest that is the shawl to end all shawls.
Yes it really is as boring as it looks, but I like the charcoal color and the softness and the drape and I plan to wear it. If I ever finish it. Those size 6 needles really make it last. Forever. I got the idea for it from a pattern in Greetings from Knit Cafe, combined with the look of a shawl that a friend made. Of course, the smart friend used something like size 11 needles and some beautiful fuzzy mohair so it only took her a couple of months of knitting around an active toddler...

I'm also searching for the "perfect" sock pattern to cast on for pair #2. (Dale, I have taken the proactive step of procuring a second set of dpn's so I can make two socks at a time, instead of facing Second Sock Syndrome---again! I so hated the second sock until it was finished.) It's supposed to be a part of the Top Secret Christmas Knitting Program, but unless I find a pattern soon, it might be part of next year's program. Especially since I now have to leave the computer for WW time! Oh the humanity....

Busy

2007-10-16T08:33:00.000-04:00

Can't talk now---I got my Ravelry invite yesterday, so you know where I am. And yes, it's cooler even than I thought it'd be! Now to figure out Flickr....

So many birthdays!

2007-10-15T07:40:00.000-04:00

"I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that . . . just loafed, I suppose."
P.G. Wodehouse, born on this day in 1881.

"Can't I open a present a day early??"
JrBaseballFanatic, born on this day in 2000.

"I can't believe you made socks for me!!!"
DaHubby, born 10/07/??

Yes, I did make socks and I finished them in time for his birthday, and I had successfully kept them a total secret! Take that, Second Sock Syndrome!

In honor of two out of the 3 birthdays celebrated in this blog post, we have spent the last week hiking and observing trees, birds, animals and books. How, you ask, does one hike and observe books? At the
Carl Sandburg Home, naturally! It made my day when SuperCraftyDancerGirl told me she was jealous of all the books in that place---I think they said there are 20,000 or so of them. And to think, she's only 10. I suspect that we have another book addict on our hands.

So we hiked...in Flat Rock, at King's Mountain, and then later in the week at the zoo. Photos to come...but until then, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my men! And to Plum, too! That'll be all, Jeeves.

Today's Quotes

2007-10-11T08:36:00.000-04:00

Our quotes today come from Eleanor Roosevelt, born on this day in 1884--a woman who endured much, accomplished much and just happened to be our WWII First Lady. Oh, and she was also famous for hauling around a large bag of knitting. I read somewhere where she and Mrs. Herbert Hoover even traded knitting patterns.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
(Thanks to the movie, The Princess Diaries, every little girl in America has now heard this quote.)

"Never be bored, and you will never be boring."
(This one goes right next to my quote from Eloise--"Being bored is not allowed!")

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."
(Ok, I remembering hearing this one when I was in middle school, but I had no idea it was attributed to Eleanor!)

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

A Funny Day in History

2007-10-02T07:25:00.000-04:00

It's the birthday of one-half of that comedic duo, Abbott and Costello. "Bud" Abbott was born on this day in 1897. As a child I fondly remember their movies (in re-runs on tv, people, I am NOT that old!), but have as an adult discovered that they were really good on radio. The smallfry and I have been listening to a cd collection of A & C on radio shows from the 1940's (of course!) and I laugh so hard I can barely see. Not a good thing, since I'm the one driving!!

It's also the birthday of Julius Henry Marx, known and loved as Groucho.

And it's the anniversary of Johnny Carson taking over the desk at the Tonight Show.

Is it just me, or is all that enough to declare today some sort of national holiday?

2007-09-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

As of today, I'm only behind 9024 people in line at Ravelry. I think that's a huge jump from the last time I checked, which was Tuesday, when I was 11386 back...whew! Celebrate, it's only 4 digits now!

And it's a good thing, too 'cause I took a very scientific quiz and it turns out I'm a Knitter!

You are a Knitter, with the capital K. You are never found without needles and yarn in hand. Your favorite place is the yarn shop and you can never seem to leave without buying needles or wool or a pattern or those fantastic stitch markers. Darn yarn fumes. Your stash of yarn is the kind that spills out of closets and is taking over the house. And it's still growing. Beware of SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). You may need to bequeath yarn to people in your will. Knitting is a lifestyle for you, not just a hobby. You do it for fun, to make presents, or to cool off. We need more of your kind in the world. Go start a knitting club at your school or local coffee shop.

I did have someone say to me recently that they hardly recognized me without my knitting in hand! And I had to ask myself, am I that bad? Must be!

However, I was honestly shocked by the implication that I should only acquire yarn I will be able to use within my lifetime. This was a concept I had never before considered. I must say I'm not very fond of this concept either. So there.

The junior set in our house have been delving into the study of Ancient Egypt (Thank you, Staff at our local library, you totally rock!!). I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to find some evidence that any of those tombs had knitting needles in them for afterlife projects. Instead I should just be grateful that no one has yet suggested we try to turn the cats into mummies! There's already been talk of making gingerbread pyramids for Christmas this year....