Christmas in NYC

I just came back from a 24 hour trip to NYC to celebrate my baby sister's 30th birthday. I gave her this scarf that she is modeling for me. It is made from "Blossom" by Schaeffer yarns. It is in the Eleanor Roosevelt colorway. I love this yarn, and it makes such a great scarf. Here is a picture of the same scarf that I made for myself 3 years ago in the Georgia O'Keefe colorway. The yarn is a bit pricey, but it is warm, soft and wears very well.

So.... NYC at Christmas is magical. We went to see the windows at Bloomingdale's, Saks
and Tiffany's and then went to see "the TREE." It was packed. It was also really nice to act like tourists. One of the best things for me was seeing both of my sisters wearing scarves that I had made for them. The sister that I made the silk scarf for commented that she loved the fact that the scarf was so warm and so light weight and not bulky. Something to consider when making my next scarf.
Then at night we went out for dinner, drinks and then dancing. It was so great to hang out with so many of my sister and brother-in-law's friends and family. We got to eat great food, and just get to know people in a relaxed way. Fortunately I talk to my sister a lot, but it is really great to meet so many of the people face to face.

I hope you are keeping warm. Luckily it is "sweater weather."

P2K

Rhinebeck vest

It has been very busy around here lately. Doesn't that always seem to be the way. I've been doing a lot of work on my vest. The yarn and the pattern are from Brooks Farm Yarn and I got them at Rhinebeck. I'm really excited about the yarn. It is really soft and has a great sheen to it. The vest is being worked side to side, so that dip that you see in the center is actually an arm hole. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.
Happy Holidays,
P2K

I miss baseball!

Now that baseball is over, I'm lost as far as what I should watch on T.V. (The writers' strike doesn't help either.) During baseball season, I'll get 3 or more good hours of good knitting time. Baseball is really perfect for that. You're listening and sort of watching and if something great happens, they always show the replay. Don and Remy (the Red Sox announcers) are pretty entertaining as well.
So tonight I turned to The Cutting Edge - Going for the Gold, which is a "sequel" to The Cutting Edge. The first one was cheesy, but it felt honest, and the actors had great chemistry. I've watched it dozens of times. It is a silly, fun movie. This new one is AWFUL. Anyone who knows me, knows that I will tolerate a lot from my stupid movies. I easily lose myself in them and love to cry whenever Hollywood would like for me to - and I LOVE it. So for me to say that a romantic comedy is bad - it is REALLY bad. The best that I can tell you is that I am halfway finished with a vest that I am making from some of the yarn that I got at Rhinebeck. I'll post pictures of that soon.
P2K

What a great weekend

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had a busy time filled with family and FOOD! I'm ready not to eat again. We did Thanksgiving at a cousin's house, and then our "Christmas" on Saturday with my family. We had our exchange and dinner at my sister's which was really nice. She and her family moved at the end of August, and really have a lovely spacious home.
I gave my homemade gifts. The beaded scarf went to my mom. She loved it! I highly recommend this scarf for the "WOW" factor. It is easy to make, and it really looks very impressive. (Of the 3 things, it really was the easiest project.)
My oldest sister (who is younger than me by 3 and a half years) got this scarf. It is a combination of silk (the pink) and merino, and I think she really liked it. I loved the way this felt when I put it on. The silk is really warm and really soft. Both yarns are from artyarns.Finally I gave my little sister her own pair of Fetching. When I made them this time, I added rows before and after the final cable. I think they came out nicely, and I hope that she likes them. I think she was confused by them because she wasn't familiar, but I bet she will enjoy them once she uses them. I would recommend never using black for cable work. You really can't appreciate the cables. I actually think little sis was a little disappointed, and I probably would have done better with a scarf. My husband pointed out that knitters really appreciate these because they are different, but non-knitters aren't looking for different. I will keep that in mind. Luckily I can redeem myself soon because her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Hope all is well.
P2K

Modified drop shoulder

This was the first (and only) sweater that I made for my husband. I made it in 2006. After being married for 8 and a 1/2 years, I figured it was safe to make him something. It is made out of Noro silk garden and it is from Ann Budd's Handy Sweater Patterns for Knitters. It may seem superstitious to some that it took me so long to make something for my DH, but I had been burned by the "Boyfriend Sweater" before.
In early '92 I made this sweater for my boyfriend at the time.

I made the sweater in about 6 weeks. I was unemployed at the time, and spent 4-5 hours a day knitting this sweater. I liked it because the pattern changed often enough to keep me engaged, but not so much that it was impossible. (Actually it is all knit and purls.) I think, however, this is the danger of making a sweater for your lover - they never seem to appreciate it as much as you need them to appreciate it. I had spent over 100 hours on the sweater, and I needed to be thanked or perhaps loved that much. The boyfriend could never live up to what I needed, so I broke up with him soon after I gave it to him. I am actually glad that I made the sweater for the boyfriend, because other wise I might have married him - and that would not have been good! Trust me, life always works out for the best.
The sweater for my husband was different. First of all, I made the sweater because I wanted to. Not that I didn't want to make a sweater for my husband, but I really was more interested in trying out a pattern from Ann Budd's book. I also hadn't made anything with Noro Silk Garden, and I thought the color way was very cool. I also was in my last trimester of pregnancy, and needed a sweater to give me a purpose. I did not, however, make the sweater for my husband so that he would love me more. I actually think this is the biggest difference. I was very happy to give it to DH, and he has only worn it occasionally. In fact, it is really too warm for him to wear often, and this is o.k. with me. This sweater has had no effect on our marriage. I enjoy seeing DH wear the sweater, but only because I like the way that it turned out, and it is nice to sit across from him and admire my handiwork.
So I leave you with these words of wisdom from a woman 3 months shy of 40........When making a gift for someone else, make it selfishly. Meaning, you should want to have the experience of crafting, more than you want to see their reaction.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has lots to be thankful for. I know that I do.

P2K

Grading, Grading, Grading!!!

It's been a while, and I apologize. I've been under a pile of papers. Grades are due tomorrow, and every year I vow to keep up with the enormous amount of paperwork that I amass, and every year I am racing to the finish line. No one goes into teaching because they love grading, but some have a really good system of keeping up with it. I am not one of those people. (If you are, and have any helpful time management tricks for me, please let me know. I really could use all the help I could get.) So I finally finished most everything that I needed to do this afternoon. I still need to put comments on the report cards. My students seem to fall into 3 categories. The first is the brilliant ones. They probably could do everything with just the book. I am there for entertainment purposes. Every year I have about 10 - 15 of these. These are the kids who challenge my mind. Then I have the majority, who are doing fine. If they study they get A's, if they don't they get B's and C's. I was one of these kids - and finally is the bottom of the barrel group. They either don't get it, or don't care. They keep me challenged as a teacher and I enjoy these kids a lot. I love helping them, and seeing their grades rise. Over the years I have realized that there are some who I'm not going to reach, and though that is tough, I don't take it personally any more.
Needless to say there isn't much to report on the knitting front. I have decided to buy many more Christmas gifts then I originally thought. I was getting frustrated not having the time to knit for myself. So I finished a few gifts, and all of the rest of my family will get lovely things from the store. I think all will be happy. (This whole statement is purposely vague, because I believe I have a friendly lurker who should not have any information!)
If any one knows Mike Lowell, tell him he should come back to Boston!

P2K

Halloween is an EVIL holiday!

Remember this?

Well I turned it into this:









Yep, it is the ultra soft, cashmere/silk blend and I love it. I still have about a half a ball left and I want to make it into a headband, I think.
So, yes, I do believe that Halloween is EVIL. Not because of all of the ghosts and goblins, but because of all of the candy that is hanging around. For some reason we had very few trick or treaters this year (last year 4 bags wasn't enough - this year, we didn't finish the first bag!!) So needless to say we have an absolute ton of candy hanging around here, and people at work have felt the same way, and brought their candy into work. It is pure EVIL. I have been riding a sugar roller coaster for about a week now, and I should know better because of my risk for diabetes. Oh well, I'll be better tomorrow. Right?

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Christmas Gift #2

I finished the scarf for my mother. I'm very excited about it. The beads make it look very complicated and fancy, and really it was very easy to do. I also used 2 different yarns together - a metalic and a mohair. I am pleased with the way that it turned out, and I think that my mother will like it too. It is different, and a little funky, and Mom is into that. I deserve no praise for completing a Christmas gift this early. My family does our Christmas exchange at Thanksgiving (When you are Jewish, Santa can come at any time) so I'm right on time. I'm hoping to complete a few more hats and scarves for Christmas. I've never made gifts for people, but I'm thinking that it is a good idea. In my family it is overwhelming how much we all get, and this way my presents will be meaningful, and I think people will appreciate them. In a way I feel like I'm saving money, because I already had the yarn - but I'm not! I am having a nice time doing small achievable projects, too!
Life around here is getting back to normal after winning the World Series. I am excited for that (I had to go to a therapist after the last World Series win so that I could learn how to go to bed at a decent hour - I had totally lost that skill!!) I have been very busy with school. I can't believe that the first term is almost over - the year is FLYING by. I am sure I will get into the swing of things in April, when they are almost finished. Isn't that always the way!
P2K

The Red Sox win

Whoooo Hooooo the Red Sox win! (I'll write more, and post current projects once I have caught up on some sleep!) Lots of love to all of you out there in Red Sox Nation!

P2K

R-H-I-N-E-B-E-C-K

I just looked at my comments, and V was asking if I had something to say about the Sox and Rhinebeck. Yes I do: I'M SO TIRED!!!!! (But in a really good way.)
So about the Sox, We're off to the World Series. I'm going to bed early tonight and tomorrow so that I can "save myself" for the late nights that are coming. I'm totally psyched, and went into work today wearing my Red Sox hat and Red Sox wind breaker, while carrying my Red Sox mug and my keys on my Red Sox key chain. (On opening day the schools around here had "wear your Red Sox stuff" day - and my husband begged me not to wear my RS underwear because he knew that I would be tempted to show it off - he was SOOOOO right. People commented on the enormous amount of paraphernalia I had on, and I told them all about my husband's underwear ban. I married a VERY smart man!)
Now on to Rhinebeck. OH MY GOD! It was so incredibly, totally and insanely phenomenal! I had been hearing that it was totally fabulous and let me tell you it is all true. I went with Yarn Safaris - Fantastic Fieldtrips for Fiber Fanatics. In August my friend from my knitting group and I, signed up for Peta's (the owner of Yarn Safaris) day trip to Rhinebeck. She ended up getting 100 people, (2 coach bus loads) to sign up. I was so incredibly pumped up for this! I told everyone, and got a lot of grief from most people. My co-workers kept telling me that there were going to be a bunch of blue hairs on the bus, and that I was crashing some senior citizens outing. I just looked at them and said, "I can't even respond, you are SOOO off base!" (We can talk to each other like this, because we're teachers and have been working together for almost a decade).
When I called my husband to see how he was doing with the girls I could hear the tentativeness in his voice when he asked, "Is it as good as you thought it would be?" (I know that he was thinking that I was going to be greatly disappointed because I had built it up so much in my mind.) So, when I responded, "It is, it really is!" He was very pleased.
I had been to state fairs before, but this one is so classy. There are stalls and stalls of fine yarn vendors. There was also a lot of spinning fiber, which I am going to put off for now. (I have a hard enough time going from yarn to product, I can imagine having to go from roving to yarn to garment, or even before that.)
I ran into some people that I knew from Boston, and met some other really fantastic people on our bus (I would say the average age was 35, thank you very much!) My friend that I went with was a fantastic travel buddy. We would separate for an hour or so, get together and eat, check in or have coffee and then go our own ways again.
I totally fell in love with Brooks Farm Yarns from Lancaster Texas. I also got some yarn from Oak Grove Yarns and Blue Ridge Yarns. This was just an amazing day, and I am actually pleased that I showed some restraint. It was an expensive day. Definitely not a day for saving money, but so totally worth it.
So now, I am extremely exhausted, VERY happy, and very pleased to go into work today and before even saying hello to my beloved co-worker (and she really is) I just looked at her and said, "You were SOOOO wrong!"

P2K

Look what I started!

Last night I stayed up very late to watch the Red Sox get beaten by the Indians - not fun! I think by the time I went to bed it was 2:30 in the morning. My husband was smarter than me and went to bed around 11:00. When he went to bed he knew that I had only 2 more buttons to sew on the baby sweater that has been giving me fits. However, it had to be done last night because we had plans to go to visit the happy family today.
So I finished my task in about 15 minutes, and then started on this awesome scarf. I'm having such a good time with it. It is pretty easy, and looks so fancy! Anyway, my comment to my husband this morning was, "Honey, let me show you what I started!" and his response was, "Aren't you supposed to say, 'let me show you what I finished'? I think this statement says a lot about you!" He's totally right.
Here are the pictures of the baby sweater. The parents loved it, which is the important thing - but next time I am definitely going solid!
P2K

Tea 1 Knit 2 Swap

Boy am I a lucky girl! I just opened the best package! My swap partner Shawnee just gave me the best gift. First you see the necessary accessories for a tea party - modeled by my 5 year old.

Then she gave me a great assortment of teas, a tea tin, biscotti, chocolates, honey sticks and terrific yarn.

and finally my favorite stuff, a tea cozy and tea strainer.

I can't thank Shawnee enough! This weekend, while my husband has the girls, I am going to have a little tea party and enjoy my new tea, and fabulous treats! I am sooooo excited! THANK YOU!

P2K

Boston Wins the East!

I realize that many people reading this are not baseball fans, but being a knitter in Boston, it is very easy to root for the hometown team! How else do you get 3 hours of knitting time a night? I am totally thrilled because the Sox clinched the AL East title this year. There are hopefully many more celebrations to come, but today I am wearing my 2004 Champions shirt, and just have a perma-smile on my face. By the way, thanks for everyone's support on my bad day. It was exactly what I needed. Now LET'S GO SOX!
P2K

ARGHHHHH!!!!

Some days you just want the world to know that you are angry. SO HEY WORLD, I'M ANGRY. That's all.

P2K

OMG

Just a quick note to say that V. at Spells with....... just bought the yarn store that is around the corner from her, and about .75 miles from me. I am over the moon happy for her - and for me!



P2K

Stuck on the sweater

I wish I had some eye candy for you, or even that I had something fabulous to report, but I have just been working on the never ending baby sweater. That makes it sound like I have been working on the thing non-stop, but really, nothing could be further from the truth. I have one more sleeve left to go, and then the finishing, but I am still working on it, exclusively. Unfortunately, I have been avoiding knitting because of it. I think I have only sat down to knit twice in the past week. Really, that isn't like me. I do, however, have an active knitting fantasy life.
Because of Ravelry, I have become reacquainted with my stash and fallen back in love with this:

One skein of 4 ply silk Cashmere (55%silk 45% cashmere 170m) by Hand Maiden in the Jester colorway. I keep thinking about what I want to make with it. I have been thinking about a headband - which may be nice and also Fetching (actually, I may be able to do both.) Any other suggestions are definitely welcome.

The other interesting thing about the stash function on Ravelry, is that I only have about half of my stash in there (or less) and that is WAY more than I see for other people. I have been listening to Stash and Burn and Lime and Violet and I thought my stash was a normal size - NOOOOO its not. I think the psychology term for this would be cognitive dissonance - except for the fact that I don't feel uncomfortable!

The other good thing about Ravelry, is that my stash has now all come out of hiding and has totally taken over my study, which has led my husband to be totally frustrated with the state of the house. This is amazing because his tolerance for mess is WAY higher than mine. (I always say we have a fabulous marriage, but a somewhat dysfunctional life, because we are BOTH messy!) Anyway, I floated the idea that he take the girls down to my mother-in-law's Cape (Cape Cod for those of you not from New England) house for Columbus Day weekend so that I can get a handle on the mess, and he thought it was a fabulous idea - So THANK YOU Ravelry!

Hope all is well in knitting land. Say hi to me on Ravelry. As my students say - "Friend me."

P2K

Ravelry hangover

Yes, I have been bitten. I found my camera, and I stayed up until 4:00am last night inputting about half of my stash. I spent today photographing the other half (Half is a relative term. This is the half of the stash that is in its right place - God knows how much more yarn is scattered throughout the house!) I'm really enjoying the message boards and looking at all the talented people's works out there. Some people really create such phenomenal stuff!
Speaking of knitting, I am on my last sleeve of my baby sweater. Is it bad luck to give a baby a sweater that you loathe? I am really hating this thing. I think it is too busy, and of course there is that dye lot issue. I won't tell the parents the heartache with the sweater, I'll just finish it, hand it over and coo over the baby - No one has to know.
Gorgeous weather around here, I hope all New Englanders are enjoying their last taste of summer.
P2K

Ravelry

I just got my Ravelry invite last night - YAY - of course you can find me there at Psyched2Knit. However, you won't find much there because I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA. How frustrating is that?! I have been watching my place in line go down from 6,000 something, and fantasizing all summer about posting all of my projects and stash, and now I have been beaten by my messy house! ARGH!!!!

On a lighter note, I celebrated Rosh Hashanah today. It was just my oldest daughter and I during the day, and we went to the children's service, and planted some mums and cooked. It was really nice spending time with her. She enjoyed everything except for the service. She told me it was boring. I hated to tell her that it was supposed to be - but what can you do?- she was bound to find out sooner or later.

School is going well - I think. I now have a ton of papers to grade, I can't use the technology to goes with my book, and I have a 9th grade history class, that is covering topics that I don't know anything about - Yep, sounds like school has offically begun!

P2K

Dying to go back to school

I dyed some yarn over the summer. The green and the blue are the Cascade Eco Wool dyed with Easter Egg dye, and the skein in the front is wool (miscellaneous Aran wool from the early '90's) dyed with beet juice. The eco wool is really soft, and was fun to dye. I think I am going to dye another skein of it with beet juice, to make a striped sweater. The blue and green together need a little something to break up the sweetness of the two colors.

School started for me yesterday with meetings. It was o.k. as far as first days go. Our principal is pretty good about getting out information without a lot of extra discussion. This is SUCH an improvement over the last guy who spent a year's worth of faculty meetings to discuss the attendance policy. That was SOOO tedious. Today I met with my freshmen. I haven't taught freshmen since I was a student teacher, so this is a nice change for me. My seniors come in tomorrow. I don't know if it ever goes away, but I am nervous! I'm also bummed that summer is over. :( Oh well, now it is time for some good sweater knitting.

P2K

Back from Vacation

After visiting my parents in Virginia for a week, we went to Cape Cod to stay with my mother-in-law for a few days, and then went to Denver for a wedding. The Cape was nice, although the weather was kind of cold, and on Thursday afternoon we left for the Providence airport to fly to Denver on SouthWest. I HATE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES. I didn't really have a thought about them before, but I will NEVER take them again!

There was pretty bad weather in Chicago last Thursday, and that was the city that we were connecting through. But... instead of cancelling the flight, or re-routing us through another city, they held us in Providence for about 2 hours and then let us take off. Of course the weather was still bad in Chicago, so we landed in Cleveland for 3 hours. Finally, Midway airport was open again and they loaded us on the plane and tried to get us into Chicago. However, all of the other flights that had been detoured also were trying to get in at the same time, so we circled for a while, and then had to land in Milwaukee for emergency fueling. By this time it was 2:00 in the morning East Coast time. We waited for a while in Milwaukee, and then landed in Chicago, but they didn't have a gate for us, so we sat on the tarmac for a while. We ended up getting off of the plane at 3:24 am Chicago time.

Lots of us had connections that we missed, so they sent us ALL to the ticket counter (along with all of the other people who were in this predicament.) My husband and I (Thank God we had left the girls with their grandmother) stood in line until 7:00 in the morning, and just barely made our flight. Of course, since we had re-booked a one way flight at the last minute, we were HIGHLY searched at security. By the time we arrived in Denver it was almost 11:00 in the morning Denver time - which meant that we had been travelling for 24 hours.

All that being said, our weekend was FABULOUS. We had a great time at the wedding, got to see a little of Colorado, and found the people in Denver to be incredibly FANTASTIC! People always say that folks in New England are rude, and I always thought that they were full of it, but honestly, we are not THAT nice.

I did get to knit a bit. First, I finished a scarf that I am making for my sister. It is silk (the pink) and merino. It took me much longer than I thought it would, but I think that she will like it. It is either for her birthday, or for Christmas, depending on whether or not I can finish other Christmas gifts.

I also worked on a baby sweater. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but I have been burned by not checking the dye lot! This picture shows the 2 fronts of the cardigan, and the right front is so much more muted than the left. It is so bad, that I don't think I will be able to get away with it. I finished the back, as well, in the muted tone, and I think that will be fine, but I am going to have to re-knit the right front in the more vibrant yarn (since I have more of that.) I'm bummed. Other than that, all is well.

P2K

a break in vacation

I'm home for a day before we go on our next vacation. We spent last week visiting my parents in South Western Virginia. The town is Martinsville (of Nascar fame) which is a very quiet town - needless to say, it was VERY relaxing. It was nice to spend time with my parents. They haven't gotten one on one time with the kids since last summer, so I think it was really nice for them to reconnect. My oldest daughter really bonded to my mother when she came up a year and a half ago when the youngest was born, so it was really great to see them foster that relationship. One day "Grammy" took my eldest on a "date" to buy school clothes, that ended with a trip to "Build a bear." I don't know who had more fun.

I've been working on a couple of things. A baby sweater for some great friends who had a baby at the beginning of the month (it isn't like I didn't know that this child was coming - you would think that I would have started on this earlier). I've also been working on a hooded sweatshirt type sweater for my oldest daughter, and a scarf for my sister. The scarf is made of silk and merino (both by artyarns) and I think it is going to be hard for me to part with this scarf! As you can see, I'm starting on my Christmas knitting - I am hopeful! I'll write again in a week, and maybe by that time I will find my camera, and take some pictures!
P2K

a quickie

I have been busy nursing a sick baby. Let's just say it has been gross, and any of you with kids out there know exactly what I mean! I saw this on the internet, and it made me giggle.

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Knitting Virtual Vacation Swap

Ariel was my Secret Pal. She's from Southern California, and gave me such a FABULOUS package. I'm so excited. I also checked out her blog, and she makes some beautiful things. The envelope at the top of the package gave great information about the jam, olives and candy. I'm really excited about trying the olives! I also got great smelling incense (which I am enjoying right now) candy and a mug from Disney world (which I know I will have to hide from my 5 year old!) and a terrific romance novel by Janet Evanovich, which I already started reading. I don't know if Ariel realized it, but the book is set in Boston, and I love that! I also got a cinnamon/sage candle and some Cascade fixation, which I have heard a lot about. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! It is all so exciting!



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Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire

Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try? I prefer loose tea
What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavor, variety, etc)? I like the darker teas like Assaam, Keemam, and even Ceylon
Favorite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up). My favorite type of tea is Black, but I wouldn't mind trying red.
Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind? Totally a teapot type of gal.
What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself? Is this a trick question? I love different strainers, though, and haven't bought one in a while.
How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc). I like to be pampered with bath products, paper stuff (stationary, etc) candles and of course treats.
If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why? I would be Merino Wool. I am sturdy, dependable, and special.
If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why? I would knit a fair isle sweater because of the challenge. The booties wouldn't take enough time, and the fun fur scarf would be boring.
What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?) Not much would make me skip a tea party, but I love romantic comedies. I guess I would only miss the tea party for a family event.
What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?) Scones with lemon curd.
When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute? A lot of times I substitute.
What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go? A bag. I have a lot of them and I love them all.
Favorite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting? Love and Basketball, 2 weeks notice, the Mirror has Two faces, Something New, and any other romantic comedy!
Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match? I love tea cups, and no, they don't have to match
Favorite childhood birthday party? One that I did arts and crafts at.
Favorite type of scone and jam? Blueberry scone and lemon curd
If you use candles, what is your favorite scent? Rose, Green tea and Geranium also Bergamont
If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead). Tom Hanks, because he just seems like such a nice guy, Emma Thompson because she just seems like the type of person you would want to have tea with, and finally, Mike Lowell, the 3rd baseman of the Boston Red Sox because he also seems like a terrific guy.
You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)? I would love to be a lady to wear a fancy hat and gloves - Of course I would have to buy this fancy hat and gloves!!!
Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to? I'm allergic to soy
Anything we missed that you want your pal to know?I don't like fruity teas, and I HATE Earl Grey tea - sorry.

Driving Miss Wusie

The other day I was whining to my husband about feeling like my summer was almost over, and he volunteered to pick up the girls so that I could go to the beach. The beach that I like to go to is about an hour and 15 minutes from here, and I used to go all the time. Then we had kids, and now we just go as a family - but I really love my "me" time at the beach. The only problem is that I very rarely drive on the highway now. I'll be married for 10 years at the end of the month, and since we have been married, my husband does most of the driving. It makes sense because I get knitting time, and he isn't bored. The only problem is that now I am very afraid of driving on the highway.

Well I was very proud of myself for getting to the beach. I only stopped 3 times, and I hardly hyper-ventilated at all. The problem was on the way home. It was getting dark, and the closer you get to Boston, the more traffic there is. Needless to say I ended up at one of those highway gas stations/Burger King/Dunkin Donuts places (I didn't even think I would get that far) and called my husband while I sobbed hysterically. My sister-in-law stayed with the kids while my brother-in-law drove my husband to come get me and the car. It was so embarrassing. If anyone has any helpful advice about things to do for panic attacks, I'm all ears.

The beach itself was fantastic - I read magazines, did needlepoint (I felt like I was cheating on my knitting) and listened to the Red Sox beat the Orioles. It was all good. I just wish I could have made it all of the way home on my own steam.

P2K

Non-knitting and whining

I just found out that "Big Love" started back up again months ago. I am obviously way out of the loop. But the good thing about this situation is that I can have my own little "Big Love" marathon. That show just sucks me in. Plural marriage is a very weird thing! I definitely like the story lines and the characters, but in some ways it is like watching a train wreck. I vacillate between being fascinated and disgusted. There must be a ton of people who agree with me, because it did come back for another season. I work in a town that has a lot of Mormon families, and one of my students expressed her anger at the show for bringing this topic up. She knows that plural marriage was a part of her faith's history, but the practice stopped over 100 years ago. I was very proud of her for stating her opinion because she rarely got angry so it was good to see the fire in her. Anyway, I just mention that, because I know that the show deeply upsets some people.

My own blah feeling right now comes from the fact that I am going to have to move classrooms for one of my classes next year. Of course it is the only one that I haven't taught before. Next year will be my 9th year at the school and the first time that I have had to move. It SUCKS! I know that in the scheme of things this is really no big deal, but on a personal level, it is causing a lot of anxiety. - I am sure that my fellow teachers understand.

My knitting is fine!

P2K

Pictures

Here are the pictures of the goodies that I bought in NYC. I would have done this sooner, but the battery for my camera won't hold a charge!

This is what I got at Purl Soho - New Seagrass from Lobster Pot yarns - 740 yds each of 80%Lambswool 10% dehaired angora and 10% Cashmere - To die for!

These are from Downtown Yarns and by the Fibre Company - they are "Terra" in Chamomile and Beet. 60% Merino 20% Baby Albaca and 20% Silk 100 yds each

This last one is also from Downtown yarns - it is made by Jamie Harmon 50%merino 50% angora 75 yds each.

You can see it was a GREAT trip!

P2K