To everything there is a Season....

and it is the Season of swearing.....I am knitting on the lace scarf...my %#@&* Olympic Knitting project....I am beginning to think I am a Masochist. Something is wrong with me, when I am only on the 21 st row and have ripped it three times...just two rows but what the heck.....I have counted and counted and blue smoke is billowing above my head and I am questioning just what am I to get out of this besides high blood pressure. Will the World be a better place if I knit Lace? Will children get fed and will there be World Peace??? Hell NO!!!! All I get is frustrated....annoyed....PO'd...I don't get more money, only more gray hair and acid reflux. I am in the kind of mood that I may just knit whatever the heck I feel like, by that I mean, if I am short a stitch, I am just going to add one....who cares I may actually invent a new pattern and it won't look like graceful leaves falling on a warm Autumn day...in a lovely Lavender that oozes touch me. Nope it will look like a mass of crap....add a stitch, drop a stitch....who cares....I will make a new Event for Knitting Olympics called Free form...
Be afraid be very afraid.....I am going to bed....

My Knitting is done!!!!

I have my scarf done for the traveling scarf, and so does Lois. It actually knits really fast...I love my bag for my scarf too. Angela made me a traveling bag with material that looks like a tropical vacation and it's beautiful.
I worked in the endless mess of a basement and found an old rag rug that my grandma made, which sucked up water and has been fostering mold. Mold is one of my asthma triggers so it was a double surprise!!!! It must have fallen behind a box or something who knows....so into the trash and out with the bleach to clean the area. I wonder what other surprises I will find. I think that should be it. I have moved everything in the basement and am in the process of putting it back in some semblance of order? I have a new toy and I can't play with it till I get the darn basements done....tomorrow I will go at it again. I am close, but keep finding new ways to make it look less basementy.

Traveling Scarf Chaos

Can you say cram 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound can....you get the picture right???? Well put 12 anxious knitters in the shop to make Travel Journals, with paper, scissors and glue and I lost total control. The glue was being weilded with great abandon....there were schnipples of paper all over, most was on the table...but see that photo above. You know how you go to a restaurant and there is a family with a little kid that has made a total mess on the floor??? You know you have seen it...well that photo up there???? Martha.....Martha was sitting in that spot with all the stuff on the floor...and we found out something else....Martha has a sticker fetish...oh yeah....Everyone is done with their journals and Martha's little book weighs 10 pounds because she has every sticker in sight on her book. Just kidding Martha, but we did get a good laugh about the floor!!!
I think everyone left with a puzzled look on their face trying to figure out what exactly it is we are supposed to do???? I can only hope that we get some resemblance of scarves when they come back....by the way...Lois is the first one done with her 7"....anyone on her team done yet??? Have a good weekend..oh it's Sunday....tomorrow is my day to run errands.

Bar time!!!

If I was out drinking, it would be closing time right now....I am up blogging!!!! I went to bed....thought I was tired, but nothing. I tried a little tele....nothing....I read....the Wisdom of Menopause....boring.....I figured enough fighting this I am up and wide awake. I ate a bowl of cereal. I open tomorrow at 10....chances are I will still be sleeping....!!!
If I could go in my nightie I would be hanging out at George Webbs, right now, sipping coffee....!! I am thinking this is all part of the hot flash, menopause crap. I bet it wasn't a few weeks ago, I mentioned to someone that .....hhhhmmm I haven't had a hot flash for a while....whhhooooaaa I did not say I miss having hot flashes I said I didn't have any.....kiss of death. This is the souvenir that I brought back from Quebec. I have been having almost debilitating hot flashes....the nausea, the almost passing out kind....and the not sleeping. It's 2:00am Parents do you know where your children are??? I did some knitting and am watching saved movies and things on TV....no shopping channel....I promise.

Can't sleep?

You can look like her too if you buy new spray on Luminesse make up..........
I am one of those people that can sleep anytime....I am hated by those that have trouble sleeping, I can go to sleep easily and love to sleep. I love a nap and can take a 10 minute nap and wake up like a new person. Well last night...I got up at 3:00am and was wide awake....so I turned on the sleeping box,otherwise known as a television. Well I love QVC it is no secret, I am picky about which thing I watch, but because I hate shopping QVC opens up the world of shopping to me. Let me tell you if you want to shop, on any channel, stay up late, because, every channel on TV, had infomercials on.....I learned how to make a million dollars selling property, I learned how to improve my love life? How to remodel my whole house with one tool. Rare precious stones that you can only get on that channel for 4 more minutes. New best spray on makeup, which I almost thought of trying but there was no price for the whole thing....gotcha.....Oh but the good one that I almost bit on was Mary Lou Rettons the Olympic gymnyst, has a scale that talks to you and coaches you about losing and gaining weight...oh yeah it doesn't have numbers it says Oh you slipped a little and that happens, but you have gained 2 pounds sweetie and you need to get your arse out there and work out and quit eating dam donuts fatso. No not really but I was thinking of it, a scale with no numbers!!!! Maybe I was dreaming......


I flipped from one channel to the other and it was all different, but the same selling stuff. I searched for my Credit Card and got tired looking for it and fell back to sleep. So I have off today and will probably be sleeping.....Why I was up is I needed to write down a few things that I need to pick up today, I didn't think velcro would wake me up at night???? Apparrantly it is much more important than I thought.

Swizzle Candy fun

I know, I know, yet another project....well I am working on my sweater, and my Alice's Wondercoat and oh I finished my Magic Carpet sock, well one. I probably won't knit the other one anyway the sock is too narrow for my fat foot. So anyone that has been in the shop knows the best place to shove your hand to feel fiber is the Alpaca in the front. So if your hand decides to wander upwards or maybe it will be your eyes first because the color is exquisite, you will reach the Fiesta Ballet, in a wonderful range of color. I saw the cutest baby hat and decided, baby hat, small I can do this, I picked colors that remind me of Swizzle candy, the sweet but tart candies you get tons of at Halloween....it will be yummy for a baby hat. It is working up beautifully!!! I went to a retirement party last night, with a Mariachi band....Open bar (I don't drink) and seeing lots of people I used to work with.
I used to enjoy going to work, most of us did and as odd as that may sound we had a great working crew. We did our jobs and yet were allowed to see each other in the lunch rooms and kabitz about our lives, families and love lives. It was a good place to work. The company was taken over by a South African company and we were assured things wouldn't change but we all knew differently. It was slow at first so not to upset the troups, but it was evident that things were changing. They changed the lunch hours so the lunch rooms turned into a ghost town, they made team rooms and people had to eat their lunch near their work station. This created a void of socializing with co workers. Time studies and so on and so forth. It got progressively worse and workers were counting the days till retirement. Myself included, I lost my love for my job, they took away the pride of my work and instead of doing my job that I loved was required to do more paperwork to do a five minute job than the job took. They took away the incentive to do a good job, we used to fix whatever was broke, we just did, and then it was you were written up, if you did a job without a work order, which meant, I could be standing looking at something broke and couldn't fix it without two weeks of paper work???? This is what they wanted, and that is what they got??? It made most of us sad and it is reflecting in the mood of workers still left. So it was a good thing to see everyone, it was a sad thing to see so many miserable American workers. I had a great time, but left feeling sorry

Smurf Tongue Birthday Girl

So it's kind of a long story but Once upon a time a few of us decided to dye our tongues with Pixie Sticks. We had a contest who could do the most Pixie sticks...I went into a sugar coma, so I don't remember the outcome, but we still laugh about it. I had a sugar hangover the whole next day and Lois had a migraine for a couple of weeks!!! We see Pixie sticks and still laugh about it. Lois had a birthday Friday!!! She's older than me....I won't let her forget that either. Only by a few months but still, she was breathing air when I was still swimming in embriotic fluid....eeewwww. I am getting a visual of me doing tumbles like Esther Williams in her glass tank. It may have been the only time I was agile? So anyway, I had seen these really big Pixie sticks that you fill with the poison er I mean sugar of your choice. Now this is how my mind works, I had just seen them last year and I remember them being about 5 feet long and 1" round????? When I got to the place and with a wide smile and anticipation I asked for the largest one....she pulls out a 4 foot, Ok maybe 3'foot something and about as big around as a dime....imagine my look? I can't even use the excuse I was smaller than and it looked bigger? Maybe I have such a warped sense of excitement or anticipation that I see things that are not....through the eyes of a child I think.....Oh well. I took great pride in filling the straw with colors that Lois would love....and blue of course, because blue makes your tongue blue!!! I layered the sugar like a fine sand painting, and didn't want it to end.
So Lois is showing you how not only did it turn her tongue blue but her teeth, lips, tonsils and probably more that we don't want to know!!! Happy Birthday Lois!!!!
Yesterday after I closed I went to Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair....it took me 1.5 hours to get there via google maps. I saw beautiful horse ranches and lakes and enjoyed my journey. The map took me to ....City Hall? Well if that is what you google, Crystal Lake, City Hall is where you will end up. So I drove into town, which was buzzing and I asked some lady how to get to the College....these were her exact words....go up there right, go straight, go left straight and then there's a big stop intersection and go right....straight...I think!! So smiling politely and nodding my head in empty agreement, I thanked her and rolled up the window .....quickly. I did find it after realizing the street named Virginia was Hwy 14 that I was looking for and it wasn't marked???? The show was fun, it was nice to see some old friends and fiber people. I came home with an armload of soap. I ate great Shiskabob and left...it was dark....my directions went something like...take 14 right, .8 miles turn left on Crv24 , .5 miles and then right on Greenridge rd. 3.5 miles and for Godsake I missed something, as I was fumbling for the light and the map and there's deer up ahead playing chicken with me daring me to get closer so they can jump out in front of me. Crap???? I think I was headed for Janesville, a direct opposite from where I wanted to go???? Call a friend with a computer and plug in your headset and let them talk you through it!!! I have a homing device in daylight hours only..(I use the sun)....at night....one could say I'm screwed? 3 hours later I pull into home!!!! Wasn't that fun!!!!!

Slow Hand

I am slowly finishing the Magic Carpet sock. I am not too happy with the way it looks at the top, where the flaps are, it isn't very neat...but it may come out in the wash. I may have to revisit it....later.

Traveling Scarf, if you are interested in joining in on the traveling scarf, you can I hope sign in at this address
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/travelingscarf/
I need you to sign up so we know how many are interested and how many inches we will have to knit, etc. It is a fun knit and will be a beautiful scarf that you will be able to wrap around your neck European style. The yarn is wonderful to knit with and the colors are awesome.

Who turned on the heat? Maybe I dragged it back from vacation??? I know it seems funny but a lot of people are knitting on projects, even though it's hot. My theory on this is...people are cutting back on lots of entertainment things and are staying home more. What this translates into is you need something to do at home. Yes yarn can be expensive, but it is a twofold reward. You get the joy of picking out the yarns to make a project, the fun of making it and the pleasure of wearing it...and reap the compliments. Ok, so that isn't a two fold it's more...but with some knitting know how and picking the right pattern, you can get great satisfaction from a project...for many years.
One of my customers brought in an old Needlework hardcover book. It is hysterical yet classical...some of the patterns are so classic that if you remove the head from the photos and put on a new models head, the dress is in style. I am leaving it on the table to share with everyone it is a flash back moment.

Enjoying Tradition

I did something last night that I probably haven't done for .......15 years? I went to a church festival. I wanted to hear the Eddie Butts band. I love music and Scott and Cheryl and I went to do something different. Well the idea of a chicken dinner from Rupenas, did have something to do with it. The great part, the crowd was minimal....it was a beautiful day, but I figure maybe Graduations, Weddings, who knows who cares, it wasn't crowded and that's all that matters to me. The music was so loud it was really distorted, and now I can hardly hear!!!! Just like the good old days when you would go to a dance and the hum of the speakers would resound in your ears for hours after, then you know it was a good concert!!!! We walked in and ate immediatly to avoid what we thought would be a rush? Then headed for the Carny stuff for a ....oh yeah baby a Funnel cake, fried in week old carny grease, nothing compares!!!! Then you won't believe this ....Scott and Cheryl went on the ....oh my God I forgot the name..Tilt o Whirl????? ...brain fart or too loud of music, or menopause...so there I stood shoving greasy funnel cake into my piehole and was laughing so hard.....They were spinning at first not so fast and then they were pinned into the shell of the vynal clad seats, heads back and mouths open....it was hysterical. I saw a few guys from work and that was fun, but the one that is still cracking me up ....I see this guy his name is Cliff..... a really nice guy and he was eatting corn

Canada Vacation photos

That statue was not quite a weird as it looks in the photo, the traveling scarf is being held in it's left hand or it's right hand on the left side....oh figure it out!!!
This is one of those dreaded, "Are you going to make me look at Vacation photos?" But the good thing here is you have a choice.
The best way to view them is to do a slideshow.
So it was supposed to be cool today so I shut off the air and open all the windows and now it's hot and muggy??? My poor air conditioner is so confused, on or off, on or off, windows open windows closed??
I have them open but my arm is sticking to the computer desk, so it may be a short sprint to close everything up and enjoy the cooooool, dry air.
Canadian Vacation photos click here

Flying Carpet Socks

I am trying to get back into the groove. I finished a hat for Charity, actually I did it twice, once it was too small according to the pattern and second by my pattern and now it is better. I also am looking at finishing the Cat Bordhi sock, I am so close. I am working on the contrasting flaps in between the other flaps? Ok that made little to no sense....!!! I did a farenheit to celcius comparison and it was 97-100 degrees in Canada when we were there, and I think the humidity was the same. Knowing that is a two edged sword, I know when I was there it was really hot, had I known the real temp, it would have felt hotter. I in my pea brain kept trying to figure out what 38 celcius was and kept adding it to 32 which is freezing and came out obviously with 70 and knew it was hotter than 70, so when my traveling partner who is Serbian says it's 100 (every other Country but this one is Celsius), I didn't want to believe she actually knew what she was talking about? I really did believe her but at 100 degrees at home I would be basking in air conditioning with a cool glass of lemonade, not walking on concrete with the sun beating down with no hat, no drink, up hill all the way. I swear all of these cities are on hill and when I thought I would reach the top there was more and I would look back behind me and wonder when the downhill part would come and it didn't??? I think once I went downhill, and was afraid if I lost my footing I would wipe everyone out in front of my like a huge bowling ball that had sweat flying off of it. Not to mention the strand of yarn flying behind me. Have you ever been to that place in the Dells where everything is tilted, I began walking like that, leaning forward with my feet bent at a precarius angle. I am better now. LOL!!! At one of the cafes I ordered a Lemonade and got this awesome citrus ade, I am trying to duplicate it, it was Lemon and grapefruit, a little orange all in blender with ice....I didn't want to leave. I think I have finally caught up on sleep...then again maybe not...zzzz Well it's time to get ready for opening...

Au Revoir Canada

I am home...I am pooped!!! It was a wonderful time. I got some knitting done, but mostly I was thrilled with Canada. I loved Quebec City, the people were friendly and pleasant. The History is firmly planted under your feet and surrounds you with it's buildings and cafes. I would go back in a minute!!! Montreal...eh, not so great!!! The shops are all owned by Pakistanis and it reminded me of Mexico, where if you need a different size shirt they cross the street to their brothers and get one. It had lost it's quiantness in that regard. The buildings and parks are beautiful, but too much a big city for me. I had read the Yarn Harlots blog before leaving the US and was a little put off by her remarks sizing up Canada to America and in the comments, just how many Americans are willing to pick up and move because someone says it is a better place. She made a point of Bashing Bush which is not an uncommon thing, everyone here does it and that only opens the door for Foreigners to feel free to do it too!!! We have no regard for our President so why not everyone else, good or bad, we need to respect our Elected officials, after all we elected them, they were not appointed. They have free Health Care, they have had babies and it was Free!!! I really wanted to take a photo of the people in Montreal standing and waiting to get into the Health Care Clinic at 10 at night....there was a line 20 feet long and that was on the outside of the building. But it is free. I live in Milwaukee and it is a rather large city, I walk the streets and feel safe...Montreal was bustling at night as well, and during the day there were bums on every corner with cups out and cigarettes tucked behind each ear. Next to the restaurant we were going to eat at, we found a dead rat laying next to the building in plain sight. No one attempted to remove it and were walking around it... It made me sad to see all of this when three days earlier a picture was painted of Utopia!!! I would rather hope that if all the knitters that responded with I want to move to Canada were to go, there would be a mass exodus to the border. I have a thought that if you are unhappy with where you are you are Free to move, that is the glory of our Country...you can leave. I wonder what is holding them back, I am sure they could get a job? It is Utopia, the jobs are everywhere ask the people, with cups all over. I would just suggest you look a little deeper into what life really is outside of the US. Don't get me wrong Canada is a beautiful Country and it was friendly well Quebec City was, I was not charmed by Montreal. I did find a yarn shop in Quebec and by all rights it should have been open according to the signs and the hours, but it was closed...so I missed it. I did leave nose prints on all the windows. I had a wonderful trip and would go back to Quebec City in a heartbeat, there was not a thing I disliked about it, other than it was hot as hell....which is rare, but of course it had to have a heat wave while I was there. But I do love America and I choose to live here even though we have some crap here, for the most part we are quite well off. I would love to Visit Canada again, I will go directly to Quebec city where they are friendly and wonderful.

BonJour from Quebec

I am having a great time. We have walked 100 miles and I think I am losing weight on this vacation? The kids are dragging me up hills (Quebec is on a huge hill/mountain.) I told them to take a photo of me because I know I am going to die!!!! I made it and my feet are not totally falling off. My heel spur decided to start acting up, but 20 Aleve a day seems to be helping! The weather is warm during the day and cool and wonderful at night. I think I have sunburn on my neck. I found some wonderful sweaters that I am bringing home for the shops designer alias Kim to pattern up. They are made of and you will not believe what I am going to say....Acrylic but would be wonderful in wool. I am speaking Ghetto French and trying hard to not look like a dorky tourist. It's not working, the camera around my neck is probably a dead give away....just kidding!!! Today I had my first tasse le cafe elonge (cup of coffee) outside on a patio. I finally asked what is the proper thing to order after getting 3 Espressos in a row and the jitters for a lifetime. It was wonderful, there are tons of cafes all over and I am taking advantage of them all. I am having a great time, I think I said that already but it is wonderful here. The people are friendly and Old Quebec is reminiscent of our little village in the Market place, only the shops are open and busy. They are three stories high and have open windows with no screens. (this is a fascination with me because I can't imagine life in Milwaukee with no screens. There are flowers hanging everywhere and the streets are all cobblestone. It is picture perfect, but I cannot post them yet because it would cost a fortune to transfer data, or I think. We visited the Castle, and walked where Royalty walked 400 years ago. That is where we walked up hill forever and I was sure to die up there or half way, coming down I told them to walk behind me because if I loose my footing I will take them out like a bowling ball. Tomorrow we go to Montreal for more .....walking and more fun. If I hung around these kids any length of time I would be thin. Isn't that a scary thought, for them. LOL Hey you at the shop, hope you are having fun? Wish you were here!!! hhahahahahahaha Later mes ami and au revoir. Ah yes I am knitting on my Traveling Scarf and getting totally weird looks.

I'm ready

My bag is packed and I'm ready to go. I am sitting here running over the last minute details or last hour details. I am trying not to be too excited. I have to run to the bank and some little ditties this morning, but I am ready. I have had contact with some knitters from Quebec and she said knitting is not that popular??? I thought it was a rite of passage for Canadians? Who knew. Tomorrow being the Fourth of July and me being proud to be an American. Remember to Thank a Veteran or a Soldier, for your Freedom. This is something we all sometimes take too lightly. So take a moment to realize how important our Freedom is, I know it means alot to me. Maybe it's because of the way I have lived my life. My previous job as a Steamfitter, what Country could a woman do a job like that? I own my own shop...well me and the bank....a woman in Business. I have lots to be Thankful for. So enjoy the Fourth with Freedom and stay safe. I have to go now and carry my suitcase around and make sure I have everything. Today is going to be a loooooooong day!!! We leave about 5-8??? So if you stop by and I am closed, Sorry they came early, I don't foresee that.....if it was me, I'd be gone!!!! Au Revoir mes amis!!!!

Janism "Two more sleeps"

What this means is , I go to bed two more times and when I wake up it's the day I go on Vacation!!!! When I used to be a kid, and we were going somewhere special and in those days that didn't mean Great America, It could mean Christmas, I would go to bed really early because when I woke up it would be the day of the Event. That is if I could sleep!!!! I have my bag packed with clothes actually and now if you pack conservatively, it leaves more room for fun. Like yarn and fiber and spindles and needles and more. So I figure if I pack early I can plan for my fun stuff. I am almost done with the sock that the name eludes me at this moment. The Cat Bordhi sock in a kit???? It was fun to knit and I hope it will be finished soon, if I keep working on it, I am on the cuff. I found about 6 more mosquito bites tonight, that was fun. I am going to got to sleep now so when I wake up it will be one more sleep!!!! What a tard!!!!

I have corpses in my ears????

I have a dead mosquito corpse in my ear. I am not kidding it was the attack of the killer mosquito herd. (It came out) The bumps are starting, on all the good spots, like my ankles, between my fingers....behind my knees and elbows and wrist bones. Maybe they know I am a scratcher....so I will have these very attractive red circles all over for my vacation.....Now what I find hard to figure out is, when I need blood drawn they actually had to do an ultrasound to find a vein so they didn't have to dig for one. How come these batards can find them with a micro needle and no technology???? Ok so I know it's not a vein but I feel thinner, less blood.....I think I'm down a quart. When I signed off last night I turned around and there were 10 on the wall, I couldn't find the camera???? So today I got smart and closed the door to the house....eh eh eh... tonight one mosquito.....and he my friends is a dead one. Now when I go to sleep if I hear the ultimate zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....I am taking a Benadryl and let them eat cake....I hope they get diabetes from all the sugar in my blood.....
Knitting,....hhhmmmmm I am knitting on ....a bunch of socks, an old sweater, well it's never been finished, but has been risen from a basket....from when I cleaned...remember!!!! Thank. you for all the wonderful ideas for keeping the bites away

Nightgown Sushi Bar

Yeah you read that right!!!!! Now picture that girl up there, without Asian features, white, pink and purple hair, about 100 pounds heavier and mosquitos all over her......I just figured out one of the downsides of living upstairs from a shop, where people are coming and going all day!!!!! I just finished a class so it is night and I put on my nightie, or tent, whichever is more appropriate at the moment and decided to lay on the couch and watch the "Big Bang" or Fireworks for Summerfest....
I am being attacked by blood thirsty mosquitos. I am not kidding, I have single handedly killed 10 and one flew in my ear and while I was thrashing my head around to dislodge it, two more were biting my elbows and ankles... I am serious, I may have to get mosquito repellent to wear to bed!!!!! I can see one right now on the wall....just waiting for me to relax again. They are flying into my glasses, is this on camera somewhere....... I feel like one of those sushi restaurants where the woman lie naked and the food is all over them...I'm just one honking huge buffet. This is freaky and tomorrow I am closing off the upstairs, this is like camping without the bonfire. The glory of this is that the bites won't show up for two days, so I will be a walking welt by Sunday!!!!! My desire to knit on a sock has left and I want to go get some armor to protect me from the darn mosquitos. What the heck are they doing in my ear?????....another one.....I am going to get Q-tips and shove them in my earholes to keep them from flying into them. So picture this, heavy sweatshirt and flannels, wool socks, air conditioner cranked on high, Q-tips in both ears and sitting in my living room????? What is wrong with this picture??? Boy this ruined the Fireworks and I'm not even outside!!!!! Body count 20 and the one on the wall is about to be 21.......

Hot Potato Flu

Ok, I pride myself in the fact that I have avoided every cold that has entered my shop...every sniffle and nose blow, but the flu, I am a magnet for the flu. Last Thursday I had to take my mom to the ER because she had the bug and was dehydrated. They kept her overnight and she is still not great. So this morning I wake up with my stomach boiling, (it could have been the kraut???) but ..no, I was sick all day, once again Kim to the rescue and she had to wind up the beginning knitting classes fourth week. They are amazing with their hats and dish cloths and their drive, and they brought me flowers aahhhhh. So if you stopped by today, sorry I wasn't there, I am hoping to be open tomorrow.
So I am getting suspicious of the fact that whenever we get together, we get sick???? Is it subliminal, do we make each other sick? I am beginning to think it is the water, but my mom lives in an apartment, you know the Senior kind where kids send their parent to die, yeah that kind. oh maybe the water is bad and we are partaking???

Cleaning is a good thing!!!

When you loose something....or at least when I lose something, it drives me crazy!!!! I lost a ring, I bought it at an Art show and my mom gave me the money for my birthday. I have had this ring for years and all of sudden lost....into the black hole....gone....vanished. I had looked everywhere, in every nook and cranny, under things....no ring!!! Now I loved this ring even more that it was gone. Figuring it was a lost cause and getting ready for my son's future in laws to come for dinner, I was cleaning. Oh, I know, it's a dirty word but yes I was actually moving things to dust. Low and behold it was on my nightstand all the while. I have this wonderful habit of taking rings off in my sleep and there it was under the doily, hiding from plain sight. So that means cleaning does have an advantage. Now has anyone seen my inhaler????
Nine days to Vacation!!!!! Naturally my heel spur is acting up in full force, making me wonder if I should go and get a cortizone shot now.....or will it go away if I baby it???? I found a purse to take, so that is one less thing to worry about., Now I have to practice carrying it, just like a little girl. I don't want to forget it somewhere so it is virtually empty till I get used to it. On the other hand because it is empty, it is stupid to carry it??? I have enough weight to carry around with out adding a purse. I know what I am taking with me to knit, but what about to wear??? I am taking the traveling scarf, I know it didn't start yet but I want it to really travel, so mine will be a few inches longer than the others.
This is a rant, so if you don't want to hear my rant, stop reading here.
I am sitting here sipping my morning coffee and the news is on....in a matter of 5 minutes they are discussing, the government is pushing company owners to encourage fat people to lose weight or they will lose their insurance and their job. They want us to all have a certain waist size or you won't get health insurance. Have they seen my relatives???? Then, they said if you have bad credit, you can lose your job??? I have only one question....who is going to be working? Thin, wealthy people? Are they going to support the onslaught of unemployed fat/late payment people? I can say fat because I am, I understand worrying about our health, but as Whoppi Goldberg said , take the Sucrose and high refined and other sugar crap out of our diet, no other Country in the World uses that a a sweetner. Yes we are responsible for our own problems, but look at any food you buy that is processed it is full of crap....!!! So if you are fat or are late on your Utility bill, you may not have to worry about working? So grab some store bought food, and sit on the couch and watch TV, don't get sick, or don't worry about it because they have programs for the un insured and let the thin, rich people keep working!!!!!! AAACCCKKKKKKKK Ok, I'm done.

WWKIP Day at Just 4 Ewe

I am attempting to upload the slide show of photos from the WWKiP day? This could be photos from just about anywhere or nothing??? As usual all the photos were taken at first and then nothing again, so I missed quite a few knitters that came later. We had a great time, it didn't rain, it was Sunny and really sunny and then rather warm....for me anyway. Everyone got a WWKiP day Button and Purls of Wisdom beads and a Door Prize well actually a yarn prize. Food food food, we had lots of Food. Thanks to everyone for helping make this day a very special one all around the World!!! Knitters Unite!!!!

My apologies for whining

So as I sit back and assess the situation...Shame on me for whining. I now know what happened in my basement and I also know it isn't the worst. I turn on TV and could cry at the loss of so many people. I drive around the area and it makes me ill to see households sitting on the curb waiting the garbage truck. I had a drop of water in comparison to others. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of those people. I also was a little smug in thinking "I have insurance" oh I do, it won't cover the plumber and the carpeting and the possibly 5 boxes of wet stuff.....my deductable is $1,000.00. I guess my thinking is if I loose my appliances down there, then it will be a loss. In other words, my Bush incentive check which won't even get here till July or August, is already spent 3 different ways, but at least I know it's coming.
Today is WWKiP day!!!!! I have lots of Door Prizes and we will have snacks and freebies, so be sure and stop by, for a little while anyway!!!! I think we may see sunshine!!!!! I know, I am asking a lot but I heard it was making a guest appearance!!!! Stay dry and Safe!!!!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Hey, you have to come and knit for a bit!!! WWKIP day is this Saturday and we are going to have lots of fun!!! Bring a chair, drink a snack to pass if you wish and a project. I will have Door Prizes and no it's not wet wool. None of that got wet..thank you!! You must be here to collect your prize though. I am ready for the next flood, if it stays contained that is....and every rain cloud has a silver lining....eh eh eh....I am rearranging my studio and making it better!!!!! So things have to go and I am purging!!!! See you Saturday!!!

Call me ....stupid?

I take photos of my feet, yarn, flowers, yarn, bugs, tattoos, pancakes,did I mention yarn, but do I take photos of my wet basement? Do I, the one that has her phone on her at all times, when the water was streaming in....think to take a photo? Even if only to blog the disaster? Do I take photos of the rolls of wet carpeting now in the dumpster? Heck no...because I am brain dead and the insurance company knows how trustworthy I am....isn't everybody? Do you think someone might lie about this??? So tomorrow before the dumpster guy comes, and hoping no one threw garbage on top of it, I will be doing some dumpster diving to get a photo. Why not, I have come to like smelling like wet .....anything...on the other hand.I am so sick of the smell of wet concrete , that I even dread the thought of a shower, but not that I take it in wet concrete, but water, in any form is scary !!! I would go out there tonight but the raccoons tend to inhabit the dumpster at night and they are probably sitting on the carpeting munching on chicken scraps. If I open the lid and bother them, they get downright nasty. So I am going to take photos of the drying cement, the fans, the dehumidifier, the piles of totes and the clean area, had they seen the basement before they would gasp to see a "clean" area. I hate the look of the bare concrete and had a sudden urge/stupid idea to do that epoxy floor down there, but if water keeps making an appearance how good is that stuff? I do know there will be no carpeting down there, I repeat the nice carpeting is out....!!!! Oh, Oh and good news, the Insurance agent called and I DO have sewer/sump back up coverage, unlike the Emergency hotline woman that said I didn't, I knew I did or thought I had ordered it about a month after I moved in here. But of course they tried to say I didn't...I knew I did, so I can see where this is going with no photos, in an age of cell phones, with cameras, and digital cameras and me just freaking out and forgetting to take photos?

Queen of De Nial

The night from a movie? As I was sitting in the basement, my new hangout, relaxing and listening to the sump pump do it's thing. I am getting my survival nest pretty comfy and the tornado warnings were still going on....when an alarm goes off on my sump pump. There was only one reason I was aware it went off and that was when the water in the back up battery goes dry and needs more water. I get up and notice I don't hear the sump pump and as I am walking it was like a movie. Water creeping in around me, the floor disappearing under water...I have the phone in my hand and call my brother in a screaming voice....my basement is flooding???? My sump pump quit, one look and the crock is full of water and I can't hear any pumping....Help me I don't know what to do? He is upset and says he can't leave because the streets are closed due to flooding. Besides nothing is open any more, where can we get a sump pump???? I don't care pull one out of your arse....ahhh crap I don't know what to do....will I get electicuted? he says if you stand in the water and you have an electrical cord in the water, yes you will.....Ok so now we have my two most dreaded things, water, I can't swim, not realizing the water probably will not top the stairway, and
electric!!! I head for the steps, I'm calling a plumber I don't care what, he can fix this and the wet carpeting and all my stuff!!! So I call the Emergency number and am reassured I am on the top of the list, I called quickly that is a good thing they remind me...yeah...get out your wallet....I keep looking for the water to hit the first step...it seems to have stayed the same....I call the neighbor, we are all on one sump...mine!!! Her basement is flooded too, but she tells me hers is worse because she has a finished basement....You know what when someone is freeking upset about their running and rising water, don't even go there and say well mine is worse....rationally it probably is, but right now I am two steps away from ripping your head off of your neck.
In my mind I am seeing floating totes of yarn, bobbing gently in a circle laughing at me...
The plumber comes and notes the sump is working fine it just can't keep up? There are a few things we can do here....he is talking calm and like a used car salesman. I think he senses I am not calm and not buying his sales pitch to put in a bigger crock? are you on drugs? can you do that tonight? Now? Well no he calmly replies, I say....it's raining and more rain to come and can you build an Ark? He gives me a few more let's put it this way cheaper alternatives. I came up with one of my own, put in a larger pump? Ok? Oh sure I can do that, but with the water rising so fast I may have to do that another day!!!! WHAT? Warm sunny Monday??? Well I can....blah blah blah.....Dan really was nice, just too calm for me. So he did it right and it is done and water is leaving the area. My wallet is $800. lighter.... Now the aftermath....I kept looking at it wishing it gone....what is my line of attack? I didn't sleep last night and now I am having coffee, I did bring out the carpet cleaner to suck water out of the rugs, but....now I have a Migrane....last night I turned the humidifier up and put a fan on and that is going to do the magic.....that is going to dry up the sopping carpeting and some cardboard boxes......I am in denial.......I am toast!!!!! But, I am very thankful that it wasn't a tornado, I could have lost my home, which the neighbor said would have been good for her, I reminded her I live here, I appreciate not living in a shelter, in my nightgown. Not today...... Clean up begins.

Auntie Em, where's Toto?

Just another quiet Friday at the shop....customers shopping and visiting and knitting. It is about 3ish and the weather has turned ugly. I am getting as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and at the door is a familiar face....Martha. Martha is looking a tad nervous herself...you Ok? I ask and she is talking fast and hyper, the storm is ...well it's right behind me and almost here. You sure, I have TV on and they said it's out West of here? Come on in and knit a while, we can listen to the weather together...hey that rhymes... The phone calls start, It's Lois....hey Janny, they said there is tornado warnings in Oak Creek? Ok thanks, text message...Hey mom, are you Ok? Tornado headed your way. Hey Martha? We better get in the basement. Martha has never been in the "Studio/crap filled basement" Hey I've never been down here...oh really, I spend most of tornado season down here, under that beam on that there chair,under the stairway. You can sit there. So there we were, another phone call from Karen in Mukwanago, "I hope you're in the basement" I am thanks!!!! My son is texting again to see if we're Ok, and I tell him to send food!!! I try to work this cheap crappy weather radio I bought for this special reason and I can't get any reception, works really well. I have my flashlight and lantern. There we sit looking at each other Martha has her fiber in hand and purse in the other hand and I am fidgeting. Which one of us will get the Ruby slippers? While Martha was on the phone calling her husband, a huge centipede went fluttering behind her on the wall and I almost said, Oh I hope you aren't afraid of centipedes, but something told me to shut up , that she would be and I would be trampled over and no one would get the Ruby slippers. So Martha there was a huge Centipede right behind your head....so you shut up and I get the slippers.
Thanks to everyone for comforting me when I am freaking out about storms, but the centipede and Martha kept me busy!!!!

Soft warm Fuzzy's

I am feeling a new love.....I am holding it and caressing it and petting it. I am playing with it and admiring it's beauty...it's quality and it is Yarn....oh yeah baby!!! I just got in some Aruancania, I'm sure it is the wrong spelling because I totally destroyed the label in a mad attempt to wind the yarn into a ball. You should hear how I pronounce it!!! It is Merino, Alpaca and Silk and it's yummy, the dying is in short spurts so when you knit it , it doesn't stripe it speckles. I am making a beginner hat, so when my beginning knitting class gets to the last week, I will show them what the hat pattern looks like. My other sample hat got handed in to a Charity hat program somewhere?
My son and his fiance are taking her mom and I to Quebec and Montreal for the 400 anniversary celebration. I will be closed 4th of July weekend. This is the first vacation I will have been on since I opened the shop. It will be fun and a good chance to get to know the in laws. I am going to try to sneak to some yarn shops. I may have to ditch everyone else, maybe I'll pretend to have a headache or .....need coffee, which may be located near a YS..! I don't pretend to travel well with others, I tend to be a loner and like exploring on my own. My son will have no problem with this at all... I have a strong need for alone time and 7 days of togetherness may put me on Prozac. or Qualudes, one of the two. I am totally optimistic about this though and I know it will be a good time. Her mom is very nice as is she. I am brushing up on my French (pastries). Stay dry and knit up a storm!!!!

Hee Haw!!!

This laugh is on me....Monday's are Money Mondays. I do most of my errands on Monday and spend most of the money I have on Mondays...hence the name Money Monday!!! So on my circle of errands I stopped at Barnes and Noble and I was not looking for a knitting book, I was looking for a good whole food cook book. So as I looked from row to row with my neck kinked over in a ninety degree angle trying to read spines and trying to keep my balance, I happened upon the book above. Hhhmmmm I love my Magic Bullet (small blender) for those of you with your minds in the gutter!!!! It is perfect for one person for making salad dressing, chicken salad, egg salad, sauces and so much more....Italian Ices....Imagine my smile as I tried to straighten out my neck to read the book the right way. I opened it and the first recipe was some kind of Ginger Dressing with Sesame and you blend it and my heart was pounding... who would have thought someone wrote a whole book on my little blender? I think I may have to have this one....wellllll....in all my excitement I started to read the book tonight because God only knows I have nothing to do but read a cookbook, I got half of the description right.... book!!!!! So laying back and reading, I seem to notice they don't tell you to blend some of these recipes or how many times to push the blender and hhhmmmm let me look in the contents, Bioflavonoids? This Magic Bullet book is about healthy recipes too, wow I got more than I had even hoped...except that is the Magic Bullet, it's not about a stinking blender it's about the Magic of eatting Bioflavonoids!!!!!! So here's another book for the shelf. Here's my sign "Call me stupid!!!"

The Game

The Game
I was on a blog and found a fun thing to do. This is the game. You go on Flickr and search for the following pictures. You can only use a photo from the first page, no cheating. Then make a Mosaic, Mine are a tad skewed up??? I will relabel them for you
Left to right
Your flickr name, One word to describe me, What I love most in life
What do I want to be when I grow up, fav dessert, dream vacation
Favorite drink, Celebrity crush, Color
High school, Food, and first name.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

You can play too.

Oh what a tangled web we knit

Look at that mess of yarns, tangled around each other searching for it's soul mate. For whatever reason....I am having commitment issues. ( I can hear little giggles) Oh believe me this is nothing new....my history precedes me..but I am having problems staying with my knitting, spinning, working???? I am fluttering around like a moth in the flame? I have within reach of me....the dreaded Booby sock which is on the foot so it is not so cursed at this point. The new sock kit from Mountain Colors, Duet with the Cat Bordhi pattern that I have a question about,instead of two lace (there is that dirty word, I am getting three lace patterns) so it is on hiatus. A sweater that I started knitting last year and have found new short term interest in it. I may be preoccupied by my new WII fit....oh my gawd, you have to get this, it gets me fat arse off the couch and hula hooping and jogging, yes I said jogging. Tightrope walking and skiing, I just know I can take my numchuck and controller and meet me on the ski hill!!!! Dream on Janny!!!! I am doing fine after my loss, thanks to family, friends and customers. Maybe my life is out of sync...I don't have the same regime I have been doing for the last 10 years. This could be the problem? Not that I do anything on a schedule but when an animal owns you, you DO have a schedule, they like to fool you into thinking you're the boss, but we all know who the boss's really are. Now I am my own boss and am proving that I am floundering.....LOL, Joey would love that!!! Darn dog.....hahahahaha

On a another note, Irene stopped in the shop with her knitted bag from the Interweave Knits magazine, the reallly cool one with the Celtic braid going down the sides. It is to be felted but we couldn't help but notice, it looked like a one piece swimsuit, or a Sumi wrestler outfit. An ugly one piece, I might add, and try as I might I just couldn't convince her to step into it....believe me for a good laugh if I could have stuffed my body into it you would be gouging your eyes out about now. She is going to sew the bottom together and felt it lightly. I promise to show it to you when it is really done.

Squirrels beware!!!!

I have lost my companion and best friend. After a wonderful day yesterday Joey took a turn for the worse. I had to decide if she had the quality of life we all knew for her and that she loved. Anyone ever being in this postition knows it is the hardest thing you will ever do. Her favorite thing was chasing squirrels, so they better watch out because where ever she is she has dumped her seizures and is ready to run. She got her car ride, which she so loved and she did well. My dear dear Sister in Law Cheryl was with me and stayed with Joey. I appreciate all the great friends I have that have helped me through this and I can't tell you how much it means to me. Joey would have been 10 in July, she allowed me to go camping and she was my protection. Not many people could have put up with her sometimes but then again, not too many people can put up with me either. We were made for each other. She was spoiled and loved everyones pets and treats. I am closed today, Kim is going to teach the class tonight for me, while I lick my wounds. Thanks to everyone for being there for me and Joey!!! Joey go get em girl.....

I'm on a short leash?

I updating all of the wonderful well wishers, on Joey my dogs health. Her meds are kicking in...sort of? I think this is just buying time, but it is time I still need. I have changed her food to natural and I think I would strongly urge other pet owners to do the same...in reality how long could we live on McDonalds food? Basically dog food is the same type of garbage and we wonder why they get sick. She is eatting Buffalo food now, I can only say too late??? But my thinking is maybe it's an allergy to something. Her seizures are now only happening when she gets excited??? If you don't know I own a Cattle dog, Australian Cattle dog or Queensland Blue Heeler. When you say this and don't get excited, the two words cannot be put in the same sentence. Her life is comprised of knowing where I am, protecting anything that is a mile around me, which includes squirrels, rabbits and mostly other dogs!!! She never sits down while I am driving she stands on the middle council and is alert to the road. She barks when people come in the shop to let them know she is behind the gate by the back, and you are more than welcome to come and pet her. So she is a busy girl. So, she is on Valium to help her relax, well Cattle dogs are known to fight any sort of drug that is going to "control" them, because THEY are in control. So I split her pills into half and she gets 1/2 pill when she looks like she may be getting agitated. She is going to be weaned starting tomorrow? The phenobarbotal, is given twice a day at 7am and pm. This is crucial. I have not left the house since Wed of last week. It really doesn't bother me too much but I am sick of worrying. I am also sick of doing Freezer Foraging. So two Angels of Mercy kicked me out of the Shop and made me leave. Knowing quite well my baby was in good hands I was reluctant to leave but once gone, had a hard time going back. We are not out of the woods, I am just buying time. Sometimes her old self comes out, she came to bed and realized she didn't have her ragtag, Baby (stinky stuffed animal dog) so she left bed and came back with it gently in her mouth. I also got my morning kisses....these are the little glimpses that keep me hanging on. Thank you Angela and Lois for breathing space. Thank you for giving me the courage to go!!!!
As far as knitting, my tension is so darn tight that if I were to knit anything right now it would look like I melted it together. I am actually knitting on the Booby sock, I am to the heel, so now I should be home free. Maybe there will be turn for the good, maybe I won't have to face the inevitable? The old saying "you can't keep a good dog down?" or is it "man"? LOL!!! I am working on the Sheep in the City website and it is coming along nicely. Thanks again to all of you that are asking about my baby!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Even though it is rainy and icky out and we still have to wear winter coats, I want to wish everyone a wonderful Mother's day!!! I wish you a little time to yourself. A nice meal made by someone else, restaurants count. Time to put your feet up and enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee. Time to knit, spin or close your eyes and relax. Time away from the very fact we celebrate this day, and time to spend with the them. Time sure is a valuable word when you think about it.....? Time has lots of meanings....spend it wisely? Time slips away.....be on time.....time travel.....I think I need a cup of coffee. My son and his fiance have invited my mom and I over for dinner, so I don't have to cook!!!!!
Well my human child is doing well, my furry child Joey is not. I took her to the vet and her bloodwork is Ok, the thyroid has not come back yet, so my hope is that is what her problem is. Joey has never feared anything, she loves to ride and now she is having some kind of muscle spasm in her legs, that leaves her shivering and cowering. It happened twice Friday and Saturday she seemed better till we went for our afternoon walk and she saw another dog and she had one and then in the car she cowered and laid on the floor...all freaked out. She has been fine since, but I am worried sick. She seems drained from this and I keep skirting the fact that it isn't a Seizure....it has to be some kind of seizure, but until the thyroid test comes back I guess I just have to wait.
This is when owning an animal sucks!!!!! I am not a strong person when it comes to my pets. It makes me cry.....often.....

I see dead people

I did it, I went to see plastic dead people!!!! My mom was really interested in seeing the exhibit and everyone that has seen it has given it an amazing review. I don't know if it was my dismay at peoples behavior, or worrying about pushing my mom into a display and having plastic dead person riding with her in her chair? It was my Mothers Day gift to my mom a day on a field trip. It started with buying tickets on line....hhhhmmm there is a 10% sur charge for that process so I called, that cost $5.00? So you should buy tickets ahead and pay more?? do I hear $$$$$$$$$$???? So I pick mom up early and we head off on our excursion. She has a light jacket and I put her cadillac walker into the car. (This one has a seat for her as she tires easily) We get to the museum parking and almost get T boned in the parking structure by 4 women zipping around the rows. I drop mom off and find a parking spot 50 feet away!!!! what luck!!! Now this is pet peeve of mine and old people and even though I harp on this everytime we enter a building, grocery, whatever, my mom walks into the door and stops, leaving me and my fat arse hanging on the threshold with a jam up behind me and the automatic door clicking open and closed. "Mom, move in and off to the side and then gape at will" Now that you read this you will notice tons of old people do this.....AARP requires you walk into building and stop!!!! Causing major rear ending behind you....Ok so we go pick up the tickets and we are early. We head towards the butterflies there is something really fun about butterflies flitting all around you and on your hair and fingers, except mom has seen the best there is in the world and she has been here before and so I keep going and make her go anyway. Oh I forgot to mention, we went on Monday!!! Free day!!!! 50 gazzilion kids and another 30 bazillion senior citizens. So here is our duo with a walker, with kids darting in between us and seniors stopping on a dime and tooting. I feared for their lives. I am not a crowd person....well not anymore that is. We leave the butterfly exhibit and one follows us to the security of double doors, with some coercing I get it back into the safety of 50 kids poking pencils at them. Off we go to the Body works show....I am not thrilled to do this, I am not a rubbernecker at funerals and take no interest in seeing bodies anywhere. I have been apprehensive but everyone assures me it is tasteful and not gross!!! So with walker and mom and myself we go to the line....our appt. was for 11:00am, we were there about 10:30 and that line was humongous, but here's a good thing to know, the off hour ie: 10:15-45 etc. were minimal. We enter and I must say it was interesting but the rudeness of people amazes me. I pushed my mom as close as I felt safe to the encased body and some woman steps in front of mom and stops, leaving my mom inspecting the seams on the back of her arse????? Do people not see that there is someone in a chair?? Then the people that have to point at the bodies and take the risk of just getting close enough to almost touch them, when there is clearly NO Touching!!!! I rented the little radios which I highly recommend if you can hear them above the loud talkers and kid's screaming!!!! Then we have the other old people, that paid to see this so they are going to push their way into the front like it's a free buffet, and move right in front of a person that is in a chair. What has become of manners? So I was pretty distracted trying to get mom to see the displays and not ram people with her chair and basically avoid wheel chair rage. There were in human beings defense three ladies that helped me lift moms front wheels over taped electrical cords on the floor....I tried getting over them with momentum and almost dislodged mom into a catapult forward into becoming part of the exhibit, so we had to lift the front legs. Three different ladies helped me, and two were foreigners, or spoke with accents. It was pretty exhausting, and pretty soon I began to smell the bodies (mentally) and found myself, well actually caught my reflection in a glass,making this scrunched up with disgust face??? very attractive. Was it a good exhibit?, yes, am I glad I went ????? without incident??? not really, it isn't my thing , but mom loved it, oh and the radios, she got to work them like a pro, but was losing interest until we came to the male genitalia, she whipped that radio on and listened intently!!!! I told her it wasn't a working model!!! So we went to lunch downtown and I took her home and I took a long nap and can still smell plastic people!!!! PS, I think we should all have to spend a couple days in a wheelchair to see what it is like to be disabled, just a little life lesson, so we can respect the view!!!

My name is Jan

My name is Jan and I am here to say that I am an addict....I thought that I had control, I thought that I could knit one wristlet, because we all know how it is to knit the second one. I thought I could stop....I thought with my attention span of a flea, it would not own me....!!! I was wrong, I have started my second wristlet.....I think of nothing else, one more row....another bead gently slipped on....one more round....I don't want it to end, I do but I don't!!!! My life is consumed, how can that happen, there are dishes to do, I have a shop to open....once again the sun is shining brightly and my coffee is hot and I need to have breakfast .....but, the beauty of the shiny little beads, twinkling like stars in the dark sky has me hypnotized. I need to talk to Kim, she is the instigator....Ok so I know it's going to get hot out and the project of the month was to be some summer stuff but really can we sit on this pattern till Fall???? I think not.....at this rate I may have made 50 pair. Think of the possibilities, I love opalesence, beads, hhhhhmmmmm on white alpaca, maybe even handspun.....STOP ME!!!!! PLEASE

Don't tell Kim

My name is Jan and I am an addict!!! I am addicted to "just one more row" maybe one more...I am not doing another row, well maybe this next one will be it. I will stop after this one....I can't wait to see what this one will look like? I'm so close.....I've got to stop and go to bed....I have to get dressed, today....sometime!!!!!
Kim has done it again, she has written this pattern for one of the patterns of the month with Misti Alpaca and beads and a stay in rehab!!! I was in love with the beauty of the beads in knitting, so I told her I would test it for her. So don't tell her I showed it to you.....I couldn't help it. I did all that in about 2 hours, my hand is killing me but I can't stop!!!! I mean it, I may open late today!!! Then I have become spoiled by her pattern writing, she is fantastic at detailing instructions for some of us, not so great knitters. The booby sock is on hold!!! The Chevron scarf is on hold, the Alice in Wonderland coat is on hold....life is on hold....someone help me.....I can't stop knitting!!!!!!

Lots a News!!!

Man do I have the good news!!! One, Kim Ogle, pattern designer extraordinaire is writing patterns for Fiesta/Ironstone yarn company. They have requisitioned three patterns with their yarn, so that girl is off and running!!! Congratulations Kim and don't forget us little guys!!!! She does a good job and it's time she gets some reward!!!
Second and this is really big!!!
Sheep in the City Getaway!!! February 27, 28 and March 1st 2009!!! Mark your Calenders!!!! This will be a Milwaukee event, with vendors, classes, make and takes...All fiber doings, door prizes and more!!! Knitting, Spinning, Weaving, Crochet and Felting!!! Do as much or as little as you like. We will be holding it at Comfort Suites Convention Center, 6362 S. 13th St. Oak Creek, WI You can stay in a fantastic room with microwaves and fridges. There is a fitness room and two pools, whirlpool suites and a hot continental breakfast in the morning. We are buzzing here trying to get our ducks all in a row!!!! So mark your calenders or reserve your room.

Booby Sock, Bad girl

Confession of a sweet addict.....I bought a brownie.....no I bought two brownies....I took two bites of each and threw them out...they really didn't taste like a thought they would. I took them out of the box they came in and really threw them out. Not just set in the box close to the garbage. No, I put coffee grounds on them....and dirty kleenix, I hate dirty kleenix. I really craved them, and I was disappointed....was it guilt....I don't think so, was it my desire to eat better???? well....I am proud of myself that I didn't just keep shoving them in regardless of taste??? I do have issues. So to keep busy hands, I started my Booby sock. it's a fun knit!!!! Small but fun. I can only do so much because it is so tiny. But maybe I will inspire you to start your Booby sock for Breast Cancer. and not eat brownies????

Ply Split Braiding Addiction

Let me introduce the Teacher/Weaver Lou French!!!

This was our class room and Jean Hutchinson is assisting in making cords and many of them.


Char is working on the Wave braid

My wave braid key ring.....did I mention how fun this is?

I have used most of my cord so now I am in a waiting period for the winder.
~~~~
So I told you I took a class last weekend. At one of the Weavers Guild Meetings, one of the Members had on a beautiful necklace, that was reminiscent of macrame. I asked if she made it and if she said yes and then I asked what technique it is and she told me Ply Split braiding....Voila and obsession is born. I searched every site I could to find out as much information as I could and kept hitting walls. I paid wayyyyy too much for book from Peter Collingworth only to find as the rest of Peters book it is an excellent historical reference but toooooo technical to figure out. So now I have a book, and a very basic knowledge of Ply Split braiding. Then a class was offered by Lou French. I was thrilled, I was excited.....I didn't sleep the night before. It was wonderful. It was so fun to learn a totally new technique, I was sucking up as much information as I could....a monster has been created.
Drawback-you make your own cords to do this. This entails, a device that goes on your drill to twist the cords...Ok I want one and Lou sells them but she didn't have any....now the wait and we all know how much I hate to wait. So I have been rationing my cord braiding, in hopes that the winder gets here soon. I asked Lou if I could teach the class and she sort of gave me her blessing. I understand now why, it is hard to write the directions and it is hard to explain, so she has done a wonderful job!!! Thanks Lou

Fiber diet to Knit longer?

Well I went to the Dr. this morning and of course he brought up the fact that I gained like 15 pounds in a nano second. I know it he knows it my pants know it. So he said I need to eat healthier or....
1. I will get diabetes, it is inevitable and weight is a great invite.
2. I will have a stroke and I am so overweight that I don't want anyone to have to lift my dead horse weight onto a stretcher.
3. I will have a heart attack? Also a family inheritance.
So here's the plan.
I want to knit longer!!!! We can still party at all our things but we have to choose healthier alternatives. With summer coming, there is a lot of fruit and veggies we can graze on.
So, I am starting a Fiber diet.
We will weigh in once a week and record it in our journal. I am thinking Thursday anytime, you can check in. I have a lying @$%^#^ scale. here and I will get on it in front of everyone too and I am no light weight. We will put $2.00 a week into a pot and after 3 months whoever lost the most honest weight will win the money to spend on Fiber. It will be like a Weight Watcher meeting, we can do this if we don't stand alone. So If you are interested let me know. I am starting tomorrow!!! I do want to live longer and healthier, with my life as perfect as it is right now I don't want to screw it up!!!! Join me????

Martha did it!!!!

I have been so excited about this class I took this weekend. I have had a hard time sleeping, thinking of all the stuff I need to bring and one was my Ott light. So I placed it on the back counter behind some stuff (Imagine that) Well needless to say Martha was sitting back there and in this High Fashion Drama she threw her head back swooped her arms and knocked my poor Ott light on the floor. I think that is what happened... I kept saying it's OK, but with the moment of class closing in I needed the light NOW, it has been in hibernation for years and NOW I need it. So after Martha left, I picked up my poor, bruised Ott light, carefully plugged in it's life line and gently opened it up and nothing....no light....no breath....dead!!!!! Pushing up daisies , dirt nap....gone never to shine it's little light any more. My eyes teared up a tad...I caressed it's smooth sides and then started to rip it's top off to try to extract the light bulb. That is what was broken, so I grabbed my JoAnne coupon and off to shop I went....being a little afraid and limited on time that the bulb was not the only thing broke, I found a really cute Pink Ott light for dirt cheap on clearance so I grab it and off to the checkout I go. The clerk who is younger than me says."Honey this coupon is expired...yesterday?" As tears welled up in my eyes , I told her about how Martha Broke, I mean accidentally trashed my other Ott light and I need it for a class tomorrow and it was given to me by Great Grandmother and "sob" being that I lost a family heirloom, I grabbed the wrong coupon and did I mention I need it tomorrow!!! She caved!!! So off I danced with my new light and used it happily this weekend.....
Martha has offered to replace it but this is just tooooooo much fun. I would rather her not so I can keep mentioning the fact that she destroyed maliciously my humble Ott Light...but hands off the pink one Baby!!!!!! Tomorrow photos of the class which was way cool!!!!!

What can Joey do for Brown?

If I never get another UPS delivery you can thank Joey!!!! Otherwise refered to as Precious!!!! We were hanging out knitting, and Joey comes running down the steps to make me aware that the UPS driver is pulling up. Now for the most part she doesn't run out the back door.....but I think with Spring in the air and Squirrels darting back and forth on the road, I think Joey is having a harder time containing herself? Compared to what you may ask but she really doesn't run out if I tell her to stay. In defense of her, the FedEx guy Vince loves her and riles her up every time he makes a delivery, playing with her and making her jump and go crazy. The UPS guy is more serious and I open the door and he hands me a package and Joey flys past me and nails the poor guy in the Nutz.....there was a quick jerk forward and my ackward "joey get in here" I quickly closed the door. I did hear the truck drive off so I know he wasn't too crippled to drive, so I sighed a sigh of relief and chuckled a little as I turned and told the woman what just happend. So if I don't get anymore deliveries from UPS, I guess I understand.