Celiac Disease Awareness

Hey! See that badge over to the right? That's the badge to raise your awareness about Celiac Disease. Don't know what it is? Just click on the badge and you'll get all the information you need to know about this disease. I know at least 5 people who have this disease. It's becoming more and more common. So educate yourself and find out about it. It's not contagious. Since my brother-in-law and my good friend both have it, I have modified a lot of my recipes so they can eat gluten free in my house.

Thanks for your support!

What Happened to March?

I can't believe it's April 3rd. I complete neglected my dear blog for an entire month. Can I think of anything that stands out in my memory? The only thing I can remember was that both of my boys were selected by their basketball coaches to play in the rec leagues' all-star game. That was a very proud moment for Neal and me.

I am presently on Spring break and seeing the light at the end of that Passover tunnel. This is not my favorite holiday but I'm surviving. It's not like I have to walk through a desert for 40 years or anything like that. At least the weather is nice. Shadow and I went for a long walk with his girlfriend Isabella. I love walking around with another dog.

Now to knitting: A woman at work is due next week. I have deemed her sweater-worthy. I found a cute pattern from Lion Brand and worked it in a blue cotton.I think it came out pretty well. I found some buttons today and I just need to block it. Then it will be all ready for the new baby. Today I gave our next door neighbors their baby gift. I made them a blue ice and chocolate swirl hat with matching booties. I hope they liked it. It's really for the fall. Their baby is adorable.

Did I mention that I'm still working on Neal's Cobblestone Pullover? I'm avoiding it more than working on it. I'm also knitting a pair of socks from Judy Sumner's absolutely cool book which uses Japanese patterns. I am so loving it.

My kids go back to school tomorrow. I still have two days off. I am going to go buy some shoes for some affairs we are invited to. Then I'll knit!

More Snow Pictures!

The view of our deck.

Shadow in the Snow!

Did you ever hear Sting's song "Shadows in the Rain"? Well, here's my version called "Shadow in the Snow". I know, corny but tough. Here's Shadow greeting his long-legged girlfriend, Lucy.
Shadow is on the trail for something.

Who's Tired of Snow? I am! I am!

We had a major snowstorm and it left tons of snow in it's wake. Here are some pictures of our day and our neighborhood!
Here's Neal looking very happy! I don't know why because he has to clean off all of that snow!









Here's a view of our cul-de-sac with Elijah's friend walking down the road.
























Our house with a newly shoveled path that was covered again in less than an hour.


































Looking down the road. Little did we know that there were roads closed due to trees down.

Catching Up with Depeche Mode...Only Kidding. It's Me!

My, my, my. How time flies when one is busy! I can't believe that it's the middle of February and I haven't blogged. Where have I been? What's been happening? Do you really want to know?

January was a tense time with Ben taking midterms and needing constant prodding to study. It truly sucks when your mother is a teacher. But the nagging and his studying paid off and he did well. Whew! Must separate, must separate...

February is turning out to be a fun month. On February 7th, we celebrated Shadow's one year anniversary of living with us. It's amazing how fast that year went. I can't imagine our lives without him. I made him "Snickerpoodle Cookies" for the special occasion. He loved them! I gave them out to all his doggie friends since the recipe makes so many. I think he knew it was a special day. Here's what those delicious treats looked like! You can see Shadow give Neal a High Five for the cookie!


That's all for now.

Happy New Year! A New Hat for Neal!

Happy New Year, People! Let's hope 2010 turns out to be a great year full of health, happiness and an improved economic outlook. That way I can buy more yarn!

For those of you not on Ravelry, here's the Urbanista hat I made for Neal. The pattern comes from knitty.com by Wooly Wormhead. It was fun and once I got the hang of it, quick to knit. Neal loves it! Here are some pictures:





Now he doesn't have to wear one of the boys' hats I made when they were in elementary school!

A Quick Scarf for Ben

For my friends who are not on Ravelry: Here is the scarf I made for Ben. He actually requested it after years of not wanting anything knitted by his mom (aka me!) I was thrilled to make it. Here's Ben and a close-up of the scarf:














I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Pewter.

February Lady Sweater

For my friends who are NOT on Ravelry (why not?), here's my February Lady Sweater.


OK?

December, Already?

So my last rant was about how I disliked the gray and barrenness of November. Somehow that month just blew right by. I like any month that gives me a few days off. Thanksgiving was great! My mother was here and we had a great visit. The dinner was delicious and the company was fine. I just froze the last of the turkey soup because we're a bit sick of it. I'll appreciate it in January! Now that December is here, do I have anything to complain about? Well, not until yesterday. We had three inches of snow. I wasn't mentally prepared for it. We had a few days of unusually warm weather and then BAM! Snow! Good thing my mother left on the 2nd! The poor woman had to go back to temperatures in the 80's. SIGH!


Here are some pictures of what the first snowfall of this season looks like. Shadow, the wonder poodle, liked the snow very much. He came in with a white beard!

I think it's time for a cup of tea!

A November Post

I don't love November. I love Thanksgiving but I don't love November. The trees become bare and gray. I miss the green leaves. The leaves litter the lawns. I miss the green grass. We have daylight savings time. I hate when it gets dark early but as my husband likes to remind me: Once it's winter, the days start to get longer minute by minute. All I want to do is come home after work and hunker down. I miss the warm sunshine and the brightness of the foliage. Maybe I have a slight case of seasonal affect disorder. Maybe I just prefer spring and summer.

With the advent of colder weather, one thing is for certain. I knit with my warm wool and make heavy duty sweaters. I don't mind the warm-weighted project on my lap. It keeps me warm, like Shadow. My pup spent the morning lying on my lap while I listened to my radio show "10 at 10" and read a book. I love having a work day off! Thank you, Veterans. So what if my fingers are cracking with the cold, dryer weather? Who cares that I'm wearing a sweatshirt around the house to keep the chill off my always cold shoulders? What's another dead leaf to pick up after it's blown into my front entrance? So what if my steering wheel is cold in the morning and I wished I had a pair of gloves to wear? What about that frost on the car? Huh? When's spring arriving?

Trick or Treat for My Colleagues

When one doesn't have a major project on the needles, one needs to knit something or one will start to go crazy. This could have been me. I tried to start Ene's Scarf 5 separate times. It wasn't happening. I decided the project was not ready to be knitted yet. I needed to find something else. I wanted to start my husband's Cobblestone Pullover but I didn't have the 32" size 7 needles. They should be arriving from Hong Kong any day now. Chris, my friend, was making coffee cup cozies for her church. That sounded do-able. I looked up some patterns on Ravelry and came across POISON! coffee cozies. Now they should be made with wool and felted but I had a lot of acrylic so I dropped the needle size down and knitted away. I finished one in about an hour and decided to make one for the women I have coffee and tea with in the mornings. I made a green one for Marina and a purple one for Luba. Ortencia gets red because she looks good in red lipstick. The rest are for whoever wants that color. Here are some photos of them. Here's a coffee cup modeling one of them.
Here's all eight:
So I think I'll give them to my friends on Monday. They could cover up the boring white Styrofoam cups that our comforting beverages are served in down in the dingy teachers' cafeteria. Boo!

New York State Sheep & Wool - 2009

The weather is changing. The leaves on the trees are changing. No matter how many times I beg them to stay on the trees as I cross the Croton Reservoir to go home, they disobey me and fall. Now I see patches of gray branches between the oranges, reds and yellows. Summer is gone. The bright green of the foliage is gone. I resign myself to a shift in the temperatures and the morning frost on my car's windshield. I try to look for a bright spot in the up and coming cold winter and I find it. The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival. Now it's okay to celebrate the crisp weather, the apples ready for picking and a warmer jacket.

My friend Chris and I made our annual Saturday foray up the Taconic to beautiful Rhinebeck, New York. She graciously offered to drive and I took up up on it. First, we dropped our sons off at the high school at 7:30 AM so they can take their PSAT's. My son, who is only in 10th grade, is taking it as a practice test. Chris' son is in 11th grade. His will count. Either way I sort of feel sorry for both of them since their moms are teachers and are probably annoying about stuff like this. (Yes, I am!) I stayed up with Ben the night before so he can go over the types of questions the PSAT's has. While he was reading and calculating, I pored over two of my newest knitting books, Simple Style (Ann Budd) and Reversible Knits (Iris Schreier)to see if there's anything I want to make and if I can find the yarn at the festival. I made a cheat sheet for myself with a little sketch of the project and the yarn requirements. (People complimented my organizational skills at the festival but I told them that it filled up the time while I helped Ben. BUT I would definitely do it again!0

We reached the admission gates at 8:45. It wasn't supposed to start until 9 but we were let in. You could feel the excitement in the air. One woman commented, as she was walking through the gates, that this was her drug. We could all relate to that! Chris and I have a habit of walking through every booth and exhibition hall and then we go back to buy what we liked. For some reason we are both hesitant shoppers. Maybe it's the economy or maybe it's just us. It gives us an excuse to see everything twice. We quickly ran into one of our Knit-Out people, Carol, whose birthday was coming up. For a birthday gift, her husband told her to "Shop with Abandon!" We liked that! I was not going to shop with abandon this year but I can live vicariously through Carol's purchases. In fact, Chris and I were there when she made her purchase of a beautiful hand-dyed cherry red yarn that she'll make a sweater out of. We separated soon after and Chris and I went our merry little way.

I ran into Karin, a KnitTalk person, who was at her usual booth. It's an annual tradition to say hi to her. It's like that old play, "Same Time, Next Year". She looked as well as ever. It was amazing how much Chris and I talked during our walking around. First, the people watching aspect is amazing there. People are wearing some beautiful things they've made and some very questionable ones, especially hats. Kathy, another Knit-Out person, who was waiting on line for the famous Chicken Pot Pies, had her camera out with a big zoom lens. She was taking pictures of the crazy hat people and trust me, there were many. I hope she makes a slide show of her unknowing subjects.

We walked through all of the buildings and noticed in the totally enclosed structure, after all the buildings with animal stalls, that only one side of the top floor was being used. It use to be both sides with a very narrow space to walk through. I guess this year the organizers felt it was too crowded and had the festival spread out into other buildings. Personally, it was a great idea. Less congestion, happy people. It's funny how vendors usually stay in the same space year after year and it's even funnier how I remember where they are. We realized, after running into my friends Lori and Sandy from temple, that we forgot to run to the Socks that Rock booth. That booth usually has people lined up out the door with their arms full of colorful sock yarn. We hit it later but I didn't feel like spending so much for sock yarn. I also didn't need it. The colors are gorgeous and their exclusivity makes them a hot commodity. You can only get some of their colors by being a member of their Rockin' Sock Club.

One of our traditions when we attend the Sheep & Wool is buying Chris' husband fudge. There is a building where non-wool things are sold. Believe it or not! There's wine, cheeses, hot sauces, cookies and more. Then there's the fudge lady. I'm not ta big fudge person. It's like sticking sugar into my fillings. I'm also not the biggest chocolate person either so I would like to taste non-traditional flavors. We both bought some hot sauce that's more like a condiment. It tasted great. My husband is a big fan of things hot and spicy so I knew he would be interested in something like this. Then we went for lunch. Another tradition Chris and I have is that we eat a baked potato for lunch. It's at the same booth as the chicken pot pies but we get ours first since the demand for the potatoes is far less than the pies. But we broke tradition! We didn't feel like standing on that line. We decided to eat something new! (Do we sound like little old ladies or what?) We went Cajun! It was so delicious and more filling because we had protein! And it was so warm! (Did I mention that it was getting nippy?) We also had a band play while we ate: banjo, bass, guitar and drums. I felt like we were at Splash Mountain in Disney World!

We were ready to make our way back through the stalls and buildings to start purchasing yarn. We hooked up with Carol again who was truly shopping with abandon. She bought some beautiful yarn to make herself a sweater. It was a snowy white with subtle strands of grays and blues. We called Edie, our intense shopper and hooked up with her and the four of us made it to Wild Apple Hill Farms. That's where Carol bought this apple red worsted weight yarn. I thought it would be good for the jacket I wanted to make. I chose a blue/teal color and bought up the last 5 skeins they had. When I turned around, there were two more of my friends, Lori and Sandi, who I know from temple. Then there was Loren, another temple person who is so creative in so many different media. Chris called me the mayor but I told her that I had a lot more knitting connections than she does. That's why I knew so many knitters. I turned back to where the yarn was and there was Edie with her arms full of garnet and Carol was holding a granite color. We pooled our purchases together to get the maximum discount and that was my first purchase. What a rush! Then I found some merino yarn to make a scarf out of. It was perfect because I needed two different colors and I didn't have to worry about matching colors. These were probably the ends of dye lots. I was feeling great. I also forgot that I bought a very cool shawl pattern. I didn't like the color they used in the kit but once I found out that I could just buy the pattern, it was mine. It uses sock yarn so I'll get some elsewhere. Here's a picture of the pattern: I had some projects covered, I had fun with my friends, I was now able to say goodbye to Sheep & Wool 2009.

Chris and I decided to leave at this point and decided that getting their early was the best way to go. I really didn't want to come home yet. I was enjoying myself so much but all good times must end. I'm sooo looking forward to next year.

Happy October

It's been a whole month since my last entry and I'm pretty disappointed in myself that I didn't keep up my twice a week blogging. September is a very busy month for this hipknitta with school starting, schedules getting made and an all-around "I wish I prepared more during August" lament. But here I am. Ready, acclimated to going back to work and successfully juggling everyone's schedule. But the big question is: What's up with my knitting?

In my quest to be like Alison Hyde, I created 10 market bags for our pediatrician's office. This was a great project because the bags were so quick to make. I finally mailed them out yesterday. I had a hard time writing the appropriate words to thank them with. They should be getting it tomorrow or Tuesday. Then I made the Diamond Blossom Scarf from Iris Schreier's Modular Knits. This project has been languishing in my closet for 4 years. I couldn't even remember what type of yarn I used. Actually it is ribbon yarn and I think it's from Blue Moon Fibers but I wouldn't bet money on it. I started and stopped this project at least a half a dozen times but now it is an FO! (Finished object!) Here's a picture of it:


I'm trying to start Ene's Scarf. I have beautiful Lorna's Laces in Watercolor that I got as a gift for becoming a bat mitzvah (actually she gave me a gift certificate and I added a bit more to get the yarn). So, this project was keeping the other projects company in my closet. I started it for the first time on Sunday. The second time on Thursday and today may be the third time. You know the saying, "Three times the charm!" I'm not getting through the first row correctly. I have too few stitches left over. I made sure when I cast on those 375 stitches, I put a marker every 25 stitches. I'll figure it out. So honestly, I haven't done much knitting. I've been tinking and casting on. I'll let you know how it goes.

This weekend we are babysitting our neighbor's dog, Rusty. It's been interesting watching the two males interact. There are happy moments and then some tense ones. Rusty pooped once on our kitchen floors and peed around the house 4 times. He even lifted his leg on me to mark me but nothing came out! Right now we are all quiet and resting. This pup is adorable and affectionate. Just the accidents are making him a bit of a nuisance. So far we are having a dry and clean day! I'll miss him but now maybe when he sees me, he won't run away from me. I think he had a great weekend with us with lots of affection and exercise. But, I also think Shadow is looking forward to him leaving but I bet he'll go looking for him later when he's gone. We briefly toyed with the idea of having two dogs but quickly nixed the idea. Let Shadow be the king of this house! Here's Rusty!


Now here's Shadow!

Toad

I came home from my Thursday night Knit-Out at Panera to find this little guy by our garage door. I ran in to get my camera got this great picture of him (or her-I didn't inspect the underside of this amphibian). It looked like he was waiting for the garage door to open to let him in. Maybe he had a little toad car inside. Whatever it was, he was kind enough to let me snap his picture. Hop away little toad. Hop away!

Doing an "Alison"

My cyberfriend, Alison, has become a verb. She gifts people with her lace scarves and shawls. Sometimes she'll sit in her church and sees someone there who she feels needs one and will gift them right there. She has also had some medical issues recently and has gifted the nurses and doctors who have taken care of her. On our list, KnitTalk, those who have followed her example call it, "Doing an Alison". I am doing an Alison to my pediatrician's office.

This year has been a tough one for our family, especially for our younger son. From appendicitis to an infection to surgery for a broken nose, our pediatrician's office was always there for us. Linda, the receptionist who would take my phone calls and probably heard the tears in my voice to both Dr. Lasser and Dr. Meir who got on the phone with us when we were at the ER again to answer our questions and visited Elijah each time. Finally, the nurses who would answer my non-emergency medical questions and would call to find out how we were all doing. I once called them from the recovery room after the nose surgery because a nurse upset me so. Dr. Lasser came on the line and told me that everything was fine and not to worry. Hearing his voice telling me that made me feel so much better. Little did he know at the time that I was in the nurses' bathroom crying my eyes out because that recovery room nurse scared me so. The whole practice was there for us. I hope I will never have to use them again in the capacity we used them in this past year but it was so reassuring to know they were there for our whole family.

I decided to do an Alison. I got it into my head that I wanted to make everyone something, like Alison does, but I thought scarves would take too long to make. I decided to make them market bags. They are colorful, easy and fast to make and "green". I started to make them a few weeks ago and when I completed bag #6, I decided that I should call the office and find out how many people are on staff in total. I left a message on the non-emergency line asking if I should want to send something for everyone in the practice, how many of those items would I need? I got a call back from one of the nurses who told me that the magic number was 10 and she wanted to know what was I doing? I told her not to worry about it.

Today I finished #10. Here's a picture of my environmentally-friendly market bags.
I'm going to pack them up in a box with a thank you note and send it to the office. I hope they like them.
(Here they are all piled up)

I'm going to take all the scraps and make some for myself. I realized while knitting these bags, the ones I made I gave away or our dear Shadow destroyed them.

Thanks again to our pediatrician's office. You guys are great! Thanks Alison for the inspiration!

Knitting is My Drug of Choice

Today I spent countless hours in an ER again with my husband. He woke up with the dry heaves and insisted that he had a strep infection in his blood AGAIN. (We've been through this two times already!) I called the doctor, got him an appointment and hoped that all he had was a stomach virus or something like that. The doctor felt that he may be suffering from diverticulitis. Remember that sketch from SNL when the couple from New Jersey (what exit) would go out to eat in a restaurant and all they ordered was macaroni and cottage cheese because they had diverticulitis? I actually felt sorry for Neal because if he had it, he would have to give up his beloved berries and other seedy/nutty things. We had to go to the ER, not our usual place, but one this doctor was affiliated with. Thank God I had my knitting with me along with a mini-shopping bag of all the medications my beloved takes. I couldn't believe that I was in an ER again! Once he was given his IV to increase his fluids and some drugs to take away the pain and nausea, I whipped out my needles and knitted my heart out.

I was so stressed out that when the lady came with the pet therapy dog, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this cute bug-eyed pooch. She asked me if I would like some lavender on some cotton to help me relax at night. I told her I would take it now because I was on the verge of asking a nurse if they could throw me some kind of anti-anxiety pill. The lavender actually worked. I picked up my needles again and knitted away on my Diamond Blossom Scarf. Score one for this hipknitta!

After his CT scan, we found out that Neal did not have diverticulitis but possibly a virus. That was a relief. I don't know how I would of reacted if he needed to stay over or have surgery. So, after a few days of light eating and rest, let's hope that Neal would be as good as new and that I'll be able to find more time to knit...outside of an ER that is!

The Shawl is DONE!

Karen's Water Turtles Shawl
Started: December,2007
Finished: August, 2008
Blocked: August, 2009

What took me so long? I think I know. This was the last thing I knitted when I saw my father before he died. I spent 5 days in Florida last year at my parents' house. Just me. No kids. No husband. It was great. Dad and I hung out in the den watching The Deadliest Catch and other TV shows. I sat on the couch knitting away on the shawl. It was a great time spent with him. I finished it at the end of August and my Dad passed away on September 24, 2008. The shawl was stuffed into a basket on my dresser and I didn't have any interest in blocking it. Too much stuff happened this past year and it was the last thing I wanted to do - until this month. I was skimming Annie Modesitt's book "Confessions of a Knitting Heretic" and came to the part on blocking. I decided that I was going to block that sucker that day. I used tons of pins to make sure there wouldn't be any spaces left unblocked. After soaking it for a few minutes, I laid towels down on the bed and began the task of figuring out how I was going to start. About 20 minutes later, this giant pink circle appeared. I put the fan on high and left the room. The shawl was dry by the evening and I carefully unpinned it. It looked beautiful. I'm going to wear it tomorrow to my father's unveiling to "show" him I finished it completely. I know he would have been happy for me and probably would have made fun of my knitting like he use to do. All I can say is, "Yeah!"

Note to Alison: Thanks for the pattern. You are a great designer!

The Countdown Begins...

In ten days, my darling boys will be coming home from seven weeks of fun at camp. I missed them dearly this summer but I'm not ready for them to come home. I need more time. More time for what you may ask? I don't know. This has been my summer of being a complete vegetable. Hey, I had a very hard year from September to May. I was waiting patiently for the nervous breakdown to happen but it never did. I'll take it as a good sign that I am a stronger person than I thought I was. I will also attribute this to my friends and family who were there for me when I cried, complained or just whined and bitched. My knitting became my security blanket. It went with me wherever I went. Most of the time I just liked seeing the bag in the car on the passenger seat next to me. If I needed some calming down, all I had to do was take out my knitting.

I'm sorry to see the July and August pass by. I'm don't want to get into the "back-to-school" routine which I'll have to do the minute those boys step off the bus. Buying supplies, clothes, getting them haircuts, that damn TDap vaccine for Elijah, his orientation, dental appointments, etc. I got very lackadaisical about my overall well-being. I ate what was around and didn't really make the best choices all the time. All that seemed important to me was waking up in time to listen to the "10 at 10" on the radio (a great show on 107.1, The Peak) and then hanging out with the dog while he napped on my lap. I also felt compelled to knit everyday and before you knew it, it was evening. I didn't venture from the house. I was afraid that I would spend money that I didn't need to spend. We ate from our freezer because we didn't have to worry about the kids complaining about the "leftover" factor. Then at night, I would watch some TV and knit some more. It seems that knitting is the "thread" (no pun intended) that's holding me together. I was finally able to go to the Monday morning knit-out for those who don't work as well as our famous Thursday night knit-out. I started counting down how many Monday mornings I have (4 or 5 if I include Labor Day). My mother is coming up and it seemed like ages ago we talked about the dates. The countdown is in motion.

It's time for me to clean Ben's room and then knit on my February Lady Sweater sleeve. For that, I'm counting down the 13.25" I have to knit to get to the end. Roger, Houston. That's a go.

Mid-Summer Rants and Raves

It is the two month anniversary of my very significant birthday. Here's a hint: I just made my colonoscopy appointment. Yum! It'll be okay. The prep isn't as bad as it use to be. BUT it's almost August and that means the summer is halfway through. I pause to think about what have I accomplished in these past 4 weeks. The answer is-NOT MUCH! I've made a big effort to get lots of sleep, at least 8-9 hours. I've started to become neater-when something is taken out it is put away when finished. I had my darling niece over for a sleepover and she and Shadow got along famously. (Neal thinks that the dog was thinking, "If you two didn't like her so much, I'd eat her!"), I cleaned Elijah's room and now I have to tackle Ben's. It's not as bad as in the previous years so it should take me a week instead of the usual two. I have been extremely creative with my knitting and other crafts so that's pretty fulfilling in my book. I've been reading like crazy. I cleaned the bottom of the den closet of my knitting stuff so I'm going to make a little crafty corner for myself in the basement. Since I'm home with the dog a lot, I feel a less sarcastic. I noticed that the dog doesn't get my jokes.

Raves: Monday morning knit-out
Thursday night knit-out
Eating from the freezer because Neal and I like everything
Having the time to make oatmeal with fresh blueberries
Letting Shadow nap on my lap for 45 minutes without having to rush anywhere
Getting all of my doctors' appointments scheduled at any time
Seeing the boys at camp and having a weekend away with Neal
Discovering TCM and watching tons of old movies
Realizing that I've got a crapload of yarn and projects to keep me busy
Rediscovering my knitting books that were in the back of the closet
Gazebo concerts in town
Listening to the radio all day

Rants: Messy dresser
Starting to feel that the summer is going to be over sooner than I want it to
People who aren't picking up after their doggies
Poor daytime TV which really is a blessing in disguise
Missing my boys
Going to bed too late sometimes
Not loving the wardrobe

Okay, nothing earth-shattering under the rant column but it needed to be said. Let's hope the next half of summer is longer than the first!