What I did on my summer vacat er business meeting

I left for CT on Tuesday afternoon, took the Pt Jeff/Bridgeport Ferry then drove to Old Saybrook. Man was it hot! I thought I would melt - literally before I got there. All I wanted to do was get to my room and wash up and put on dry, clean clothes. When I got in my room this what I saw:


That is a bottle of Chardenay, two glasses and a lovely card thanking me for staying - then in the bathroom:

Yup - a jacuzzi and this:
the best cotton terry bathroom ever!
Needless to say the wine, the tub and I had a lovely evening.

The next night after our meeting we met here:
and did this:
after we docked for dinner we watched the storm come in:


I love this job

shawls, stoles and scarves oh my

Not much to post about so I'm going for the picture being worth 1000 words. Here is a picture of the Simply Elegant Shawl from Heartstrings:

I am using one sk. of mountain colors weavers wool in wilderness - I will just keep knitting till I run out of yarn. This yarn is lovely to work with and the colors are amazing.

Here is picture of the fabulous purple stole I received from my crochetville secret pal Tandi (quirkyvirgo) Isn't it beautiful, and so soft! This is a shot of the rest if the goodies in my reveal package: Thank you Tandi - I love everything!

And lastly here is a picture of the scarf I am making for Celia's scarf exchange:
I had one sk. of Halcyon Yarn's victorian brushed mohair that I received from clothesknit for my coming in 2nd in her FBS contest. I used a provisional cast on because I wasn't sure how long one skein would go, so this way I can add a border if I need more length. I am using this pattern - I thought it was lacy yet not too busy for the yarn.

I got nuttin....

so I stole this from Wild Yarn:

Name three things you can't live without. David, yarn, chocolate
What fictional character would you like to hang out with? Rachel from Dead Witch Walking
What are you most afraid of? Being homeless
What song always makes you cry? Me and Bobby McGee by Janis - bawl like a baby
What makes you laugh harder than anything? Being with David - we laugh alot
What would you choose to come back as in your next life? A bear - I can totally do sleeping all winter and eating all summer
What is the best advice you were given by yourself or someone else? Do what you feel in your heart is true.
What still surprises you? How truely hurtful people can be. (I have to agree with Dawn here)
What quality can make you instantly connect with someone? a sense of humor (here too)
What turns you off right away? Meaness/rudeness
If you could read the works of only one person, who would that be? Dilbert
What's really difficult for you? Facing unpleasant truths/responsibilities
What do you wish you had done differently? Gone away to school when I had the chance
Where do you do your most creative thinking? Oh the sofa
What motivates to many of you actions? Selfishness
What do you want done with your body when you die? Dust in the wind
Psychic or Shrink? Healer
Vintage or modern? Vintage
Cat or Dog? yes
What is your mantra? Relax - it will get better

So what about you?

Knitting content - whoda thunk that!

Here is the happier, knitting content I promised. First here are the prizes I won last week:


Red Soho yarn from knitorious and beaded necklace and bracelet from http://minxknits.blog-city.com/minxknits

Lace Leaf Shawl when I ran out of yarn


LLS after I added black cotton border unblocked


LLS blocking


LLS detail closeup


Haremail Package
Lots of cool stuff in there. I love the bunny cookie cutters!

Now off to finish my mystery shawl and wind the catalina yarn for the next LLS - speaking of which The Yarn Tree, where I bought this yarn is having a sale starting this weekend - I am going to go back and buy more so I can make the larger size this time. I think I will head over there on Sunday morning, before heading over to Grand Central Station - I have a 2 day business meeting at the Stamford Marriott and I decided to take the train so I could knit lace on the trip there. Anybody know a good yarn shop in Stamford?

Still here

Sorry I haven't posted recently - had a rather rough week. Saturday night my brother had a mild heart attack - he was in the hospital till yesterday. I had my mother staying with me for those few days, she is 84 and suffers from dementia ( I have an apt with a neurologist set up to see if it is Alzhiemer's) It was a rough few days - she can't walk well and my apt is not really set up for someone who can't get around, plus she was sleeping in the boys room on the bottom bunk and had a hard time getting in and out of bed - mind you that didn't stop her from getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around. She hated sleeping in there because it was "dark" mind you I had lights on for her. She sees people who aren't there and has conversations with inanimate objects and has no idea who I am half the time. I have been trying to get a home care attendant for her - all the paper work is in and a social worker as been assigned to her case, but bureaucracy moves very very slowly. Joseph is home now and my mother is back in her apt where she can get around better and I am back at work today - trying to catch up on all the work that has piled up the last 3 day. Next week I will be in CT on a business trip. I just hope I can get my mother a home care attendant before Joseph goes back to work in a week.

All this has taught me one thing, make arrangements now for your future - don't wait till you are old and sick and can't afford to take care of things. Well now that I have depressed everyone sufficiently - I will post again later with more up beat news and knitting content - I have pictures to post and thanks to send.

A shawl is born - maybe

I should finish my Lace Leaf Shawl tonight - I would post pictures but my camera battery is dead - I was having trouble deciding what I want to start on next - I have tons of patterns and boxes of yarn but nothing sprang to mind. I thought what I really want to do is design my own pattern! So friends I have decided to try and design my own triangle lace shawl ala Kiri, FBS & LLS - I went through all my stitch directories, got out my graph paper a pencil and have set to work. I have no doubt this will be a long and laborious process that may never amount to anything, but I really needed to feel like I was creating something new and completely my own - must be hormonal. I will keep you posted on the progress.

I also found this pattern to use with that skein of Mountain Colors I bought in CT last month. I like the shape - I'm just not crazy about all that garter stitch. I wonder if I can change that to something more lacey without running out of yarn - any ideas?

I have a whole bunch of old Knit & Style and Knitters magazines I plan to get rid of - I have way too many books overcrowding my apt. I need to go to Target and pick up more Rubbermaid totes to store things in the basement. That's the thing I hate about cleaning - you do it once and you have to keep doing it. I am good at getting things done - it's the maintenance I can't handle.

London

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you touched by this horror.

Warning: Photo Heavy

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We had lots of fun in Baltimore, we left Friday morning, picked up the boys from their mother's and headed down. Man was it hot on Friday - over 93 in MD and humid. Saturday and Sunday though were really nice, sunny, warm and not so humid.

Saturday we took the boys to the B&O Railroad Museum - David is a major railfan - all our trips involve trains one way or another! It was really quite lovely - they had a roof collapse last winter and major renovation work was done. Here is a picture of the Round House all decorated for the 4th:



and a few pictures of the family:




Here are a few pictures of David's father's house:







I love staying there - even though we are right outside of Baltimore - it feels almost rural and very peaceful.

We returned home on Sunday - David had to work yesterday. I spent all day catching up on my emails and reading blog lines. I was surprised to find I had won 2 blog contests! 2 balls of red Debbie Bliss Soho from knitorious and a beady prize from MinxKnits for correctly guessing her necklace was beaded butterfly wings. When I saw it - it reminded me of the Butterfly Museum in Key West.

I also finished reading Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison. It is the 3rd book in the series and I have really enjoyed them all. If you like SciFi/Fantasy you should check them out!

and the winner is............

Lu maglia!