Moving back and forth

I am still working on a pair of socks for Jim.  I have been occupied with home schooling the kids for the past 3 weeks.  Boy I never know how unorganized I was up until I started to do this home schooling.  I am enjoying it.  I have been motivated to make list.  (that is a new thing for me)  I have actually followed the list also.  It took me a few days just to make just one list.  I thought that it was the hardest thing that I had ever done.  Just a list,  just a lesson plan.  The amount of thought that I had to do for something that was supposed to be so simple.  

On to a new thought.  I told Marie about the knitting community and signed her up to get in.  She is now on with me and that is just great one day when she is not going to college she will be able to join me in some fun.  

Recently I joined a knitting community "Ravelry". I was soooo excited.  They invite 800 to 1000 knitters/crocheters per day, so I waited, and checked back daily.  Everyday, sometimes twice a day just to see the number of invites slowly eek down until finally one day I got it.  Was it worth the wait?  Yes.  Even the wait was great.  It was like waiting for Christmas or a Birthday.  Now that I was in the "Loop" I went eagerly to the set up and the sign in, and typed and entered until my info was posted.  And I was asked how many years I had been knitting and crocheting.  Well I have been crocheting since I was in 5th grade.  At that time I was really begging for my Grandmother to teach me to knit but she kept putting it off.  After I promised her that I would sit still and pay attention (that was one of the prerequisites for learning anything with her) she pulled out a crochet hook and my hart dropped.  Well for me that was better than nothing.  She never did teach me to knit but years later.......

My husband I, and at the time our 3 children, moved to Ireland.  It was like I had moved home even though I had never lived there before.  I fell into the most wonder life that I could have ever imagined.  I would walk the streets of Cork and down to the markets that had the freshest fish that you could ever taste.  I developed a wonderful relationship with my fishmonger and soon he had me fixing great dishes that kept us in fine dining for the 5 years that we had the privilege of living there. 

 Every season would bring it own pleasures.  The spring would give life to a bleak country side with the tiny shoots of leaves.  Summer would reveal the emerald green that the land was so well known for, and the winter would bring the coal fires.  I would smell the fires and feel the mist of the weather.  I knew that people who were born here had all of these things and more burned into their memories.  I wanted something that I could take with me to have from this wonderful place and that is when it came to me.  Knitting.  I went to the local knitting store and said "I would like to learn to knit"  I had picked out a lovely cabled throw and needles.  The women looked at me and said there are only 2 stitches in knitting."  Just follow the instructions."  Well I thought that she was being.... well kind of non-informative, to say the least.  But off I went, and well she was right.  I never did finish the throw  I did however see a book by Debbie Bliss and my first work was a blue sweater for a new baby I was expecting.  Then I made a rabbit doll for my daughter and gave to her on her sixth birthday.   We named her Zoie.   Soon every time my husband would travel to England he would look up Debbie Bliss and go to her store and get more books (and get her to sign each one).  He would pick up all the correct yarn to match the patterns that I would select and bring them back to me.  We would also clean out Blarney Woolen Mills.  The fiber that I collected there was just fabulous. Since then I have had a lot of projects and fun with knitting.  When we moved back to the States I met a German women who knitted socks and held the yarn with her left hand.  She could knit faster that way and I learned to incorporate that style to improve my  speed and consistency.  The art of knitting  was the best thing I could have ever taken back from Ireland. Now every time I pick up wool I am transported back to a place that I will always have in my hart.  Knitting to me is transportation to a land that I will always love. 

We just spent the most incredible Sunday out ever.  Not that we don't have great Sunday outings and its not that we have not done some incredible things but this was a great day.  We started to just go and walk around the Commons in Destin Fl. and see an Elvis impersonator that would be appearing later that day.  We thought that it would be great entertainment for our 7 year old who does all kinds of impersonations one of which is ....... Elvis.   We called a friend and asked if they would like to join us.  When Jim got off the phone is said that John (our friend) had trumped him and had asked if we would like to go on a boat ride before we went.  Well need I say more?  Off we went and what a great ride it was.  I loved seeing all the boat docks and eateries that flanked the inlets. John knew extensive knowledge of the homes that also surrounded the area and was able to add colorful stories that added entertainment.  

After that we headed off to the commons.  All ready there was a crowd gathered in anticipation of the Kings arrival.  He drove up on his motor bike (exact duplicate of the one used by Denise Hopper in "Easy Rider")  This guy was good.  He even could do Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.  After a great show, Chris our 7 year old headed off with John's son to do some much needed X-Box playing and we headed off to do what we started out to do just walk the commons.  John rang up and ask if we would like to go to dinner later on.  Now what better way to end the day then to go out with our old friend and a new one..... Elvis.  That is right Elvis and his wife joined us for dinner later on that evening.  We had a wonderful time.    

So much has happened since my last blog and to be honest I just have not wanted to blog.  I lost my Yorkie Terrier this past January.  Nothing has been the same since.  I for a long time just could not even look out over my yard and still to this day have no desire to.   Since this tragic event we have gone down to  Fl. with my husband Jim.  It has been great to have a change of scenery.   Just the sun and the water have a calming effect on all of us.  Kelsey has improved even.  She was battling with a teenage depression and now seems to be trying to shake it off.  

We will relocate here as soon as some loose ends are tied.  

My knitting however is doing well.  I have completed several socks and that accomplishment a great feeling.  I believe that I will be working on some new designs for socks and will be offering them on my blog in the future.  I also will be doing a good deal of felting for purses and children's clothing.  Things are looking up.  It will just be a while in relocating and moving my studio.....again.  Keep watching I am sure that i will be making note of the process. 

The health of a knitter

As I thumb through my knitting books and magazines looking for the newest yarn and wondering what to knit next.  I am very much aware that I live, for the  most part of the day, in my chair.   I would be content to just exist there never getting up to cook or heaven forbid to clean.  As long as I can order off the Internet at my favorite stores and knit... well I am a happy knitter.  But with the new year and the excessive munching that I have done over the holidays and the fact that no matter how much I love to knit I do have to get into my jeans every morning.....which brings me to the point.  All this knitting and no exercise well....need I say more.  But this is just the tip of the iceberg.  You see no exercise also means that my bones are not doing so well either.  And the 10 minutes a day that you are supposed to spend in the sun for vitamin D well lets just say that is not getting done either.  There is a down side to just sitting and knitting away ones life.  I have made a resolution this year and I am going to keep it.  As soon as the holidays came to an end I threw out the Christmas tree and brought back in the exercise machine.   Now it is not the most flattering piece of equipment in the living room but hay at least I can watch the Today Show and do my work out.   This will improve my tone.  My muscles and my lungs and strength my bones.  The last thing that I want to do is look like I 100 when I am only 46.   

If you do Yoga, run,  or what ever,  just do it it makes for a happier healthier knitter,

Just a quick note the sock is going great!  I have been hard pressed for time today since Jim is returning to Fla. and there are always things to help with like packing and making sure that the cat does not try and smuggle her way into the suitcase.  But during "honey can you print this", and "have you seen my ....." I did manage to get some quick throws in.  This photo does not do the colors justice but know they are truly eye popping.  After all to quote Nathan Lane in "Bird Cage" "one must have a hint of color"  I have encluded a video from You Tube to show the paticular technic that I use for holding the yarn with my left hand.  You get faster results and pay paticular attention to the way she wraps the yarn around her little finger.  This will insure the best tention.  Try this with what ever you knit.  It is ackward at first but once you get it down you won't go back.  

Well it is the finish of the year and the start of a new one. I have started off this year geat, in addition to being thankful for what we as a family have been blessed with this past year I have gotten a fresh bunch of sock yarn from my new favoirt shopping hole. jimmy Beans Wool. I purchased some of the Lorna's laces sock wool. The colors are fantastic. They realy are a delight to feel and look at while you are working. I have also just about finished a pair of socks for a friend of mine. They are looking great. The sock pattern is working out and I believe that I will be able to put some of my own designs on them the next time I knit up a pair. I have two stand by patterns just to give the back bone to the sock and then I add and remove, to make it my own pattern. One of the patterns deals with the fingering weight and the other deals with the sports weight. I will pass those pattern locations on. I have already started my wish list for books that I am needing to increase my knowlage about pattern design. I feel so limited when I knit. I want to be able to call the shots and to be able to fix those shots when they dont come out the way that they did in my head.
Well I am off I have to watch for the post man and finish the other sock. If I set my self by the window then I will be able to do both.



Basic Sock patterns  (for fingering weight)
Basic Sock Patterns (for sports weight)