Is it over?

Ahhh, Christmas has come and gone. I ended up short my mom's scarf and her socks. I had some unknown sock dysfunction which I have now remedied, but not in time to finish her socks before Christmas. I think everything is OK now, just have to finish Beached sock #2, then I have two more pair that need to be frogged back to the leg opening and re-knit. Same thing with Karen's Ugg. I think that my problem lies in the fact that I did the Discovery sock on Magic loop and the subsequent socks with y Signatrue DPNs. I knit much tighter with them. Live and learn!

I am in LA with Carson who just moved into a new apartment but hasn't had tie to unpack. Today we went to IKEA and bought a dresser and this wardrobe organizer thing. They will really help him organize his stuff. Will post photos of the view from his apartment. It is up the hill from Franklin in the Hollywood Heights neighborhood. Very quiet, cool, and secluded.

I must retire---IKEA kicked our butts tonight. Knit on! (did get the new camera and am still learning about it, photos to follow! I am going on a yarn crawl when I go back to Yuma on Tuesday/Wednesday, probably starting at Wildfiber in Santa Monica)

What makes a person Knit-Worthy?

Seems several of us have had "Worthiness" issues lately. This is at the forefront of every Knitter's mind this time of year. You may not even realize it, but it has crossed your mind. It may have even hit you like a ton of bricks.

Here is the scenario: You have added 5 or 6 new projects to your queue of projects-to-be- completed-for-Christmas-gifts. You know it is ridiculous, but you want to shower all of your friends with samples of your Knitterly-Love. You are sure that they will be thrilled-after all, this gift of yarny-goodness takes with it a piece of your soul. (well, in actuality it probably has little pieces of your hair in it, at the least. If you have a cat, it is a rule of the Knitting Cosmos that your orange cat's hair will only be attracted to black or navy blue knits, they never invade like-colored yarn)

Seriously, think about it. You have put at least a couple of hours knitting this thing and during that time you are thinking nice thoughts about the recipient. You also will always remember the state of the world at the time this object of yours was knitted. Your projects mark your place in the timeline of the history of the world.

How does one determine a potential recipient's Knit-Worthiness? There is no questionnaire in Cosmo, Knitty, or even on Ravelry. It is in your gut and heart. You act on your instincts and hope you guessed right. Sometimes, you guess wrong.

Shawl-Worthy and Sock-Worthy people are extremely rare. There are only 3 in my life. Note: this does not include other knitters. Knitters give each other gift certificates to yarn stores.

To be Shawl-Worthy, the recipient must treasure your gift AND know how to wear it. Ever worn a lace shawl? Not just everyone can were one, you know. You can't give a person who wears snaggy jewelry a lace shawl. The unthinkable will happen and you will have a gi-normous hole ripped by a big-honking diamond to fix. The Shawl-Worthy are aware of this.

I gave my mom her first shawl a couple of years ago. It lived on the back of a chair like a lap throw. I was heartbroken. I knew she couldn't be wearing it. For some reason I picked it up and smelled it. Ah ha! Estee Lauder Youth Dew! Unmistakable evidence of her wearing! No question about Shawl-Worthiness! Last Christmas I gave her a second shawl--it is a Myrna Stahman design done in Blue Moon's STR lt.wt. Kaw-Kaw. She had already achieved Sock-Worthiness several years earlier. Again, you can't give socks to just anyone--not when you are knitting approximately 14,000stitches to make ONE sock. They have to be treated with love and respect, aka delicate cycle, lingerie bag, inside out, with Soak or Eucalan, air-dried. You can't put them on by tugging at the top rib. One puts them on as if they were silken panty hose (remember those? I don't even know where to buy them now).

Two Christmases ago I gave my sister-in-law a capelet made out of 2 skeins of Fiesta La Boheme. La Boheme you know, is pricey. I took the gamble. She passed the Shawl-Worthiness test with flying colors. She wore it all day that day and many times afterwards. In fact, I have it here with me to be laundered and blocked.

Most people can be Scarf-Worthy. How can they not be? Even a distant acquaintance could be Scarf-Worthy. We are talking here of something equal to the Fun Fur scarf, cast on 10 sts and when you run out you are done. Yarn cost is somewhere around $10 or less. This kind of scarf requires no pattern. You can knit it in the dark. Not the Taming of the Ewe type scarf, no written directions or graphs.

What happens though when you gift these things and never see them again? Do they fall into an abyss somewhere? Have they been re-gifted? Are they at the bottom of someone's dresser behind the drawers? Are the wedged between the person's car seat and console along with the old french fries, a couple of raisins and chocolate chip cookie bits? Did the person (gasp!) give them to the Thrift Store?

This has not happened to you, beware--it will. You pour love into every stitch and it is not appreciated. It is not treasured. You cannot even find it in the recipient's house. It has ceased to exist.

Most of us would love to see one of our creations loved so much that it is falling apart. It is OK for it to get dirty, snagged, holey, peed on and most of all, loved. That is why you knitted it. For it to be loved and used every single day. It is a tangible evidence of your love for this person and it represents your existence in their world.

Some people, sadly, prove to be Not Knit-Worthy.

I gifted scarves to my mom and dad's doctor and her assistant in Tucson a couple of months after my dad died. On the card, I thanked them for their care and told them that it would be OK for them to re-gift to someone they loved, that these things needed to keep someone warm. I felt good giving them and giving permission to re-gift, knowing that they would end up somewhere with someone who really liked them and would use them.

The bottom line is that you have to be really careful who you gift with your Knitterly treasures. Remember that it is part of your essence you are giving away, part of your soul. Realize that not everyone appreciates your creations the way that you do, and that's OK. Give those people a nice coffee mug next time.

Follow your heart............

Roarrrrrrrrrrrr.......said the Fire-Breathing Dragon.............as he anxiously awaits the rest of his neck and body....

Finished Objects--two pair of toe-up, no-purl Monkeys. Bella Coola blue for my mom, Tide Pooling for Karen, our neighbor in Show Low, both are STR lightweight.

We are knitting this Sunday, noon at Shirley's in the Dunes, 3378 S. 16th Avenue, 344-2283. Call if you can't find it, my cell is 550-0182. Bring a salad. I am bringing a Chopped Salad ala California Pizza Kitchen. We are celebrating two women that we should all admire for having their priorities in order and following their hearts. I am a better person for knowing them and you probably are too. DeeDee leaves Monday morning, and I hope Linda will still be here. Come sit and knit and celebrate our friendship!

One last photo

This one wouldn't fit in the last post. It needed to be by itself.

Snuggy

Most of you know what happened toSnuggy last Sunday. It was a very sad day. This post is all about Snuggy.

She came to live with Carson and I in May of 1993. Sunday, she was 16 years and 5 months when she left us. She outlived the odds in a big way. When she was 6, Tang came to live with us. He was a kitten. As you can see, Snuggy trained him well. They did a lot of things together, like taking catnaps, or dognaps.

If you roll you cursor over the title, it will link you to my Flickr page with more photos.

They posed for pictures, and shared treats on each other's birthdays.

SometimesSnuggy got more of the birthday treats than Tang.

They posed for photos. Without being bribed with treats, sometimes.

Snuggy always had a favorite chair to sit in, or to nap in, in this case. They took cat/dog naps anywhere they wanted, frequently.

Snuggy was my best friend. She left us suddenly, for which I will always feel responsible. The life expectancy for a Cairn Terrier is 14 to 16 years. Even with her diabetes, she way outlived her days.

She loved to go places, anyplace, as long as she was with us. Here she is

at the tide pools on Point Loma. She visited the Dog Beach on

Coronado several times. She hated taking a bath, but she loved to get in the ocean.

Snug, I miss you, Carson misses you. We have holes in our hearts the size of Texas. Tang misses you. I come home from work and it is so very, very quiet. Tang begging for treats, but no rattling of your tags. I miss your begging for treats, to go for a walk, and in the last of your days, even the confusion you were in. I read on the Peaceful Paws website that a dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself . Thank you Snuggy for loving me and Carson. We will love you always and miss you forever.

Ooohhhh. Ahhhhh. Ooohhh. Qiviut.......Qivuk......

Yuuummmmmmmyyyyyyy! Maybe better than Cashmere? This is Qiviuk, also called Qiviut (pronounced Kiv-ee-uk or Kiv-ee-ut, long u) from Alaska. My brother and sister in law went on an inside passage cruise this summer. I emailed him telling him that if he ran across any yarn stores to see if they had any Qiviut. They happened across this store in Skagway, Alaska. They sell garments made of it, and this yarn. Each skein is 217 yards. Believe or not, it is softer than cashmere(oh be still my heart!) I will let you pet them for a brief moment, so as not to create a Qiviut addiction in you. Warning: it is an incurable addiction and an expensive habit, but ohhhhhhhhh soooo soffffffffttttttttt.

What I have in mind for both are scarves. Pattern TBD. I don't stray from Blue Moon Fiber Arts too often, but when I do, Omigosh do I stray. And how about this for a cool brother and sister in law? They can yarn shop for me anytime!

And speaking of people who can shop for me anytime, let's add Aimee to the list! This 1224 yards of handspun bliss is 2!0% cashmere, 30% silk, and 50% merino. It has a little heather fleck in it. I finally discovered what it wants to be and I wound it into ready to knit cakes. It will be a Shoalwater shawl. I can't wait to get started on it! The colors are so pretty, it begs to be done for the fall.

See you next time!

Hi there knitting buddies! Hope your summer is going well--seems like it gets shorter every year.

I bought this bag at Wildfiber in Santa Monica at the beginning of the summer. I have seen these bags there before and resisted, but this time I couldn't stand it. It is made from Capri sun type juice drink containers. Check out the company's website at rebagz.com.

By the way---Wildfiber in Santa Monica---best yarn store EVER! We must plan a trip. We could be in Santa Monica in 4 hours if we left on a Friday, spend some quality time at Wildfiber on Saturday, eat ground beef and pickle tacos at Malo in Silverlake for a late lunch, and be back home by 9. I feel a field trip coming! They have an actual "wall o'Koigu", an adjacent "wall o'cashmere", and just about anything else you want. Plus some stuff you didn't know you wanted. We will discuss later...........

The close up here shows that they use everything, even the nutritional labels and the silver part of the bag. The website shows some bags that are all silver. For the life of me, I can't figure out how they did it. There is no evidence of a seam anywhere. You can carry it anywhere and set it down, it is impervious to yucky stuff on the ground. I bought it as a knitting tote (can you ever have enough?) and have been using it as a purse.

Here is Mr. Stripey Head, made as part of Jackson's first birthday present. He is from the book "the Knitted Odd-bod Bunch" by Donna Wilson. Check this book out next time you are in a big bookstore or knitting store. He is made from some left over Cascade Fixation sock yarn. He and all of his buddies have really odd bodies (hence the name) and strange faces. The strange faces really are nice because my embroidery skills are less than perfect.

On to my knitting---until next time, take care and happy knitting!

Memorial Day is here!

Ahh, a 3 day weekend!  Today we cleaned house, now it is time to get a new post out.  And I have some photos of finished objects too!

The top photo is my finished Leyburns in Roctober, finally ready to wear1

The next photo

is a snippet of my Froggin Personal Footprints I started at Sock Camp. They are Cat Bordhi's newest pattern, so I can only show a snippet of the sock but not the whole sock because I am sworn to secrecy until her book comes out!  Their fit is superb and easy, also a fast knit, you must get her new book!  T

This Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting belongs to Mr. Ozzie Ortiz.  It will be gifted next weekend.  I will get a photo with him modeling his blanket next weekend!  It is knitted from Lion Brand Cotton Ease and I think it will serve him well!     Until next weekend, happy knitting!

This is why we are here.

These are my friends from across the hall giving me a group hug for School Nurse Day!  They also brought us cards that they made, we have them all up on the bulletin board.  They also made a GIANT size card that was on the wall by our front door.  It is inside now, I think I will find a place to hang it permanently on the wall.  The last week has been a very difficult one, and it is nice to see something like their cards on the wall, they make me feel appreciated and happy.  The Principal and Assistant Principals brought us loaves of bread from Kneaders and a couple of REALLy nice gift certificates from Kneaders too.  I know they appreciate us!  (even though I think I sent home about 1/2 of the student body today with flu like symptoms)

And this is an unlucky seamstress.  See the little red dot on her nail that has the thread coming out of it?

It is threaded through the tip of the sewing machine needle, which is buried in her thumb.  She had to have surgery with general anesthesia to remove it.  Ouch!  When her fabric gets stuck next time, she will probably not have her foot on the presser foot of the machine.

All in a typical day, if you add in 60 walk-ins and about 15 kids sent home with the flu.  And I feel a bit yucky tonight...:(   Bertha is already sick, I feel yucky.........I will see how I fare the night.

First two posts

If you want to see the first two postings on this current subject you can leave me a comment requesting such.

Gathering My Thoughts.

Here is what I am thinking about now.  I am working on this for the special Board of Education meeting on Monday.  

Special Board Meeting 4 May 09

Introduction

I agree with Mrs. Badone’s statement in her letter of March 29 stating that  “we do not always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose how we respond.”  I am here today and I choose to respond because I have grave concerns about how the recent RIF will affect the health of not only our students but also our staff.  I know that many of us are hesitant to speak out because of the potential adverse affect that it could have on our jobs, but I feel that it is a necessary risk  for one huge reason----our kids today deserve to have their health care needs safely met while in the school setting.  It is our job to understand and interpret the link between health and learning and to make a positive difference for children every day.  We are their liaison to the school, community, parents, and health care providers.  We help to advance their well-being, support their academic success, and  promote life-long achievements by providing a critical safety net for our most fragile children.  

We have 3 LPNs, one CNA, and one Administrative Assistant in our Health Offices.  They have all been RIFed. They share over 38 years of experience in our schools.  Because of them, we are able to take care of the needs of not only students but staff as well.  We see kids and adults with asthma, diabetes, fibromyalgia and lupus.  We help parents and families as they deal with a woefully inadequate mental health care system.  We help parents access health care options in our community so that their kids can stay healthy and stay in school.  We are the primary care providers for many students who have bad things happen to them sometime between Friday at 3:30PM and Monday at 8AM when their parents tell them to “wait and see the nurse on Monday.”  We take care of kids with cancer, teachers and staff with cancer, and those who are grieving loss  due to cancer.  We help those who have brain injuries, epilepsy, broken bones, dislocations,  and surgeries.  We take care of students who are beaten by their parents and assaulted by other students.  We make decisions to call 911 when their problems are emergent.  We exclude them and send them home when their health status is contagious so that others can stay healthy.  We urge parents to seek medical care and  often have to advocate for the child when the parent refuses to take them for medical care.  Conversely, we help them learn that not every ache or pain needs to be seen in the ER, and that it is OK to be uncomfortable sometimes, that life is sometimes uncomfortable and that is normal,  and that tylenol won’t cure everything.  We call CPS, YPD, the Sheriff’s Office, Poison Control, and Amberly’s Place as advocates for our students. 

We have kids with trachs, feeding tubes, kids with transplants, and kids on dialysis.   We have kids who are suicidal, kids who have been raped, and kids who have contracted STDs for which there are no cures.  There are signifiant increases locally in both gonorrhea and syphilis in teens.  

  

 We see the cyclical nature of teen pregnancy, abuse, neglect, and poverty.  In the most current report (2007) AzDHS reports that Yuma County’s birth rate for females 19 or younger ranks 4th in the state at 559; we follow Maricopa County @7,816; Pima County @1,674; and Pinal County @644.  The labor and delivery costs for 463 (83%)  of these 559 births are paid by AHCCCS (96 from Indian Health Services, private insurance, self and unknown).  We no longer have a liaison with the Yuma County Health Department to work with these teens to keep them healthy and in school because that program had drastic funding cuts.  It is difficult to finish high school when you are a teen who is already a parent, or about to become a parent.  At Cibola I have seen the second generation enter high school, and they are now becoming parents.  

On my campus, from the first day of school until last Thursday, we have seen a total of 8,849 students in 161 instructional days, for an average of  55 student visits per day.  We are open 30 minutes before class starts, we never close at lunch, and we are there for 30 minutes after the final bell rings.  Parents, teachers, students all have access to us at any time.  When a student walks into our office, they may have a splinter in their finger, or they may have just swallowed a bottle of tylenol in an attempt at suicide.  We never know.

We have seen kids coming from our feeder schools who have been there for 2 years and have no immunizations (Crane doesn't have nurses ) so we immunize them.  Whooping cough is making a resurgence because many people have stopped immunizing their kids, and some schools don't enforce the immunization law.  Giving immunizations at school helps keep kids in school.  It is ironic to be speaking to the board today when 1 year ago we were here being recognized for our efforts with our immunization program.  We administered 5,306 doses of vaccine last year.  This was feat was possible only because of the commitment of all of our nursing staff and our Administration at both the campus and District level.  

I believe in public education, but I know that if a student is not healthy they cannot learn.  I urge you to please, please reconsider the decision about our LPNs, Admin Assistant and CNA.  It is because of their contributions that we are able to deliver the quality of care that now exists.   There is no way we can maintain this level of care.  Unfortunately the losers in this situation aren't just those who are losing their jobs.  The biggest losers in this situation will be our students.  

It takes more than a clerk to fill these shoes.  An Office Specialist, no matter how well trained or how competent, will never be able to replace an LPN.  Please talk to them and listen to their ideas about their jobs, they have some great ideas, give them an opportunity to help solve this problem by talking to them.  And could  we please open a dialog with other possible funding sources for these positions, in the same manner as the District supports the SRO program.  Perhaps we could approach the medical community in Yuma, perhaps talk with YRMC about helping to fund these positions  at least partially, in the same way that they fund the school-based clinics in some of elementary schools around the county.

Please, please---I beg you to consider their contributions of our colleagues to the health and safety of our students.  Our future tomorrow depends on their education today.  At the end of the day, please do what is best for kids.  

Knitting makes the world a better place.

We are going to be knitting on Sunday at Papa San at 1.      Hope you all can stop by for a rice bowl and some logical chat about swine flu, the economy, people who don't knit, and the events of this past week.  

Here is my hand dyed yarn from Sock Camp.  I am going to cast on a Taming of the Ewe scarf with the one on the right.  Like I  need another thing that is newly cast-on.  I have 2 pair of socks in progress, a scarf, a shawl, and a baby blanket.  I want to see something that works the way it is supposed to, that stacks up to be something aesthetically pleasing  and more functional that it was before you started it.  If you have ever knitted one of these, or if one of your friends has knitted one, you know that it doesn't always go the way you planned, and there are small little adjustments you can make to get it to work the way you want it to.  You have to constantly read your knitting, making those accomodations as needed and before you know it, you aren't even thinking about it, you do them and things work out.  And you want to do the same thing over and over and over again because each colorway has its own particular charm and is different from all the rest, because it is one of a kind.

     Things don't always go the way we planned, but if we at least have directions showing us how to get there,  needles, and yarn, we have a better than average chance of success.  If you have everything except the yarn, can you complete this project?  The answer is no.  They are all dependent on each other.  You can't finish the job or even begin without one of them.  How could you even consider starting?  Where would you start?  You can make something, but it certainly won't come close to resembling what it is supposed to be.  It may not even be able to do its job, which is to keep you warm   The parts all have to work in harmony with each other.

         If this is the first time you have read this blog, you probably looked it up to see my rant in the last two postings. Or maybe you read them and you are tuning in to see what else I have to say.   I took them down today because they have done exactly what I wanted them to do, which is to open the conversations that need to be taking place.  If the dialog that was supposed to take place between district admin and the employee groups who would be affected took place as promised, we would not be in the mess we are in.  In the case of the 3 LPNs, they share at least 36 years of experience and loyalty to their employer between them all.  They weren't even given  options.  There are positions they could fill on their own campuses.  But no one even thought to ask them if they would be interested.    If you had ben working there this long,, do you think that you would deserve at least an option to stay in a different  position that was lower pay?  

   We were told early this semester that there would be changes, and the big questions were:  1. do you keep everyone and lower their pay across the board, or  2.  do you lay off employees so that those who remain would keep the same pay.  Apparently you layoff people who have been there for 18 years and you don't ask those affected for their input.  You just erase their name from the list and give them an envelope with the contact information for the EAP in case they feel so depressed they might hurt themselves, and the number to call the people at YPIC so they can help them update their resume.  And while I am at it, how about the dvd we all had to watch at the last Monday gathering?  The one with the photographer showing us how if you just wait 15 minutes, the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge goes from being just a photo of the bridge to be something marvelous.  The hidden message seems to be that even though you have been riffed, if you wait long enough and look hard enough, good things will come of your job being snatched out from under you by people who have no clue what it is that you do.  Oh, and "Go Cardinals".  Where is my knitting?  I need it now

.

Better than it sounds!

Tastes better than it sounds!  Ground beef and pickle tacos.  Ground beef cooked with taco seasoning mix ( 2lbs. meat and 2 pkgs taco seasoning mix), served in white corn tortillas and white corn/nopales tortillas!  Add dill pickles and cheese and......Ta Dah!  Ground beef and pickle tacos, kind of like those at http://www.malorestaurant.com/

Theirs are still better, but these are good!

Shirley brought me the tortillas from a grocer in Imperial Valley, they are waaaaaaaaay good and fresh.  Thank you Shirley!

More of Camp KnittyhaHA

Tina "smooshing" color as only Tina can do.  Beautiful in an instant.  Magical where the colors meet.

Ever seen a crab who knows how to knit?  This is one does , and he wasn't the only crab there who knew how, there were at least 5 or 6 other crabs with projects in various stages of completion.

And this is Cat Bordhi  (Socks Soar on Two Circs, New Pathways for Knitting Socks and many more wonderful books)on the left and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (The Yarn Harlot) on the right with their "Chicken of the Sea".  A late entry into the homework presentation.  Some art just lives on forever and ever and ever and ever................

This is the view out of the huge atrium-garden dining room.  Beautiful .  Just to the left of this was a giant totem pole that was a favorite perch of 3 bald eagles.  

It was soooo 

 fun!  These photos don't even start to do it justice.  The most fun you can have as a knitter.  Imagine 60 other, wait---make that 58 other women and one man, all like minded knitters who love knitting socks.  From all walks of life.   Nurses, teachers, surgeons, college professors, airline pilots, housewives, yarn store owners,  lawyers, professional dog competitors, and on and on.  All with one goal in mind for 5, almost 6 days.  Socks and fun.  You don't have to be an expert knitter.  In fact, you don't even have to knit socks.  Both years I met at least one person who had never knitted a sock, and one didn't plan on learning.  

I want to go back right now!

Camp KnittyhaHA

Well, finally, I am home.  I am tired.  It sounds crazy, but the last two days I really didn't get much knitting done.  What with the scavenger hunt, Fish Tycoon, yada yada yada, plus our big homework assignment not being due until Friday afternoon (which I procrastinated up until Thursday night), I used any spare moment to knit away on my socks.  

Here is Ringo, the Drunken Party Monkey in his Yellow Submarine.  He is in a kelp bed surrounded by sea creatures and little anemones.  there were all kinds of sea creatures.  As soon as we get the Flickr page up, all of our Camp photos will be available to view.  Until then.............happy knitting!

Life at Camp KnittyhaHA

 If you are going to learn to dye yarn, why not learn from the best?   Here is Tina Newton from Blue Moon showing us how......................

  

     

And here are my 3 hand dyed skeins of STR Mediumwt!

And here is Ozzie's Monkey to be!

Melissa's wedding and Cow Clogs

Ringo is the luckiest Drunken Party Monkey ever ! Not only did he stow away in my bag, he got to smooch up on the bride!  

And here he is ..................................................................and here are my new Cow Clogs, Carson got them for me for my birthday!  They will look great with my STR socks!  The agenda for this afternoon---Lush at Universal Studios, then on to Arc Light to see Sunshine Cleaning, by the same people who did Little Miss Sunshine.  Next Blog post---final touches on my "knit something from the sea assignment" and repacking!  Later!

KnittyhaHA bound!

I have officially started the journey northward!  Here are my crazy gazanias and their yellow-gazania brick road...............

and here is the border fence outside of the sand dunes.  Amazing to see an actual fence on the border now.  It always amazes me that the border is so close, and with the fence now you can tell exactly where it is, instead of the vague its-over-there-somewhere notion. 

I promise new pics and a little blogging everyday.  I am doing some serious work on my KnittyhaHA homework tonight, so until tomorrow, happy knitting!

.....join me tomorrow with photos of Ringo, the Drunken Party Monkey at the wedding......................

Cool Knitting inspiration for free!

If you haven't joined Ravelry yet, you need to check it out!  Go to www.ravelry.com and join.  It may take a day or so before they send you the email officially "inviting" you.  It is "place for knitters and crocheters.  Tons of free patterns.  Say you wanted to do a Clapotis .  You could do a search for it under the patterns tab.  There are 10,314 different Claps that are posted on the site.  You can scroll through them to see all the different types of yarns they have been knit in.   Want to do a Baby Surprise Jacket ? There are 6,768 of them listed there.   It is a place where you can organize your stash, projects, needles, search for ideas, join special interest groups such as knitters who like the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series, all kinds of stuff.  And it is free.  It is like my space for fiber fiends!  My name on Ravelry is knitterati.

Also---another  cool spot, the Twist Collective.   GO to Twistcollective. com  It is an online knitting magazine, great patterns.  I am not sure how often they publish, I think quarterly like Knitty.  AND Knitty, another great free online magazine with superb patterns.  Join them for free too!

Lori's has moved

To all of my knitsibs in Yuma---you know how we have to travel out of town for decent yarn, right?  I was in San Diego last Wednesday and on my way home I decided to stop in Alpine at Lori's Frames, Fiber, and Frills.  When stopped at the intersection, I realized it was no longer there:(.  But, if you turn left at that intersection you will see her shop up and on the right, with a parking area in the front.  It is nice, cozy, and she is so nice.  Stop in to see her when you pass through next time!  Later!

FInished Socks!

I mentioned them in my new "list of things knitted in 2009" in the side bar, so I thought I'd show you pics.  I pledge to keep a list of all things knitted in 2009.  There are 2 Christmas presents for my mom that technically were slated for completion PRIOR to Christmas but didn't make it.  Those don't count in this list.  I also pledge to get all knitted Christmas items finished BEFORE Christmas.  I need start planning towards that end right now!  OK, so here they are---

The first two are the Incredible Shrinking Violet Monkeys for Karen, which are being inspected by Tang.  

The next two are my Cloning Anemones in Tide Pooling.  I love the was the one above pooled.  Seems like most people don't like the pooling, but I really like it when that happens.  I think that in this pattern it shows the stitch pattern much better.

Off to work on the ridiculous goals I have set to be completed before Sock Camp!   Photos to follow soon (I hope)!  Happy Knitting!!!

Is it March already???

Yikes!  It is already March? Hard to believe.  I am know that I am WAAAY behind in posting.  Just seems like there is not enough time in the day to knit, eat, knit, work, knit, eat some more, watch TV and knit, and sleep.  I would rather substitute knitting for just about any of those other activities!  But, the front flowerbed was overrun with weeds courtesy of the recent rains, and it almost got away from us.  Here is what it looks like now:

The gazanias love it when you dead-head them and they loved the rains.  No weeds for a while now, so more time for knitting!  

Or for watching this little guy:

Meet Jackson, almost 8 months, who first appeared in my blog in July 8, 2008.  He has grown a lot and crawls everywhere FAST.  He has just discovered here that he can actually crawl under his excer saucer.  He is quite a little guy! 

That's it for now, gotta go pay bills!  Until next time, happy kitting!

Rangers lead the way!

Here are Billy and Aimee at Billy's Ranger graduation.  Notice the new Ranger tab on his left shoulder.  He just finished a grueling 62 day training, and graduated without having to be recycled on any of the training phases (there are 3).  Less than 20% of those who graduate do so without be recycled (aka failing one of the 3 phases).  There were about 170 graduates, including 1 from the Chinese Army, two from Canada, and one from 

Poland.

To say that the training is rigorous is an understatement.  There are intense physical and psychological hurdles as well as just plain dangerous stuff.  They learn how to walk up and down vertical cliffs (like Spiderman) with ropes, how to blow things up, how to parachute (Billy got a concussion when they "jumped" into the 3rd phase in the swamps of Florida), and how to do this:

These little dots dangling from the helicopter are actually Ranger instructors demonstrating how to get extracted from a "situation".  A bad situation.  They got there by sliding down a rope from the helicopter.  They later hooked themselves onto this rope and the helo flew away with them.

They also learned a lot of hand to hand combat skills, all based on ju-jitsu throws.  Completely awesome, they throw each other around like rag dolls.

He now moves from Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia (BTW, they had not even ONE yarn store) to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (unknown yarn store status).  He will be assigned a platoon of about 40 soldiers (knuckleheads) who have just graduated from boot camp.  His unit (101st Airborne) is on deployment in Afghanistan and will be returning in March sometime.  It was an incredible thing to witness, this graduation---definitely one of the highpoints of life, right up there with college graduation or weddings ( even if Columbus is devoid of yarn to quench my habit).  Later!!!

Celebrating our Knit Sibs

Fran and Shirley showing off Fran's mom's new wrap---really really cute

And here we all are gathered with our Knit Friends in celebration of our friend Dee Dee, wishing her not only good Knitting Mojo, but a wonderful experience in Iraq.  She said that on the first day she gets there she is going to find a new best friend and immerse herself in language and culture.  She will undoubtedly find someone, and their life will be all the richer for knowing her.  Good luck DeeDee, we will miss you but we look forward to hearing all about your experience on your blog!  On the upper right corner of this blog is the link to her web page.  The password is deedee.  You can bookmark it on your computer too, or if you don't know how, you can enter through this link.  

This is a short entry--gotta go knit.  Hope to see you all on Sunday!

Have You Seen DeeDee?

OK, you simply MUST COME TO KNITTING ON SUNDAY!!!  It is a mandatory meeting.  If you don't come we will send the knitting police out to find you and drag you and your knitting to Papa San!  I am so serious that I am even going to call Papa San and RESERVE THE ROOM to make sure no nursing students steal it out from under us.

In case you didn't know, DeeDee is going to Northern Iraq to teach English to Kurdish women who are getting ready to go to the University.  Women have not been allowed to go to school until recently, and there are many of them who are now ready for the University, but must learn English first.  Because of her travel experiences, Dee Dee was asked to go for 7 months.  She will be leaving within 2 weeks.  Please come to knitting to see her off as only Knitters can do!  

***Roll your cursor over the title, and you will be taken to a link that you can watch to see photos that she will post during her trip.  The password for this web page is deedee (of course!).  Some of you who went to Europe and couple of years ago will remember the cover photo.  You can go to this map to see where she will be.  The star shows the town where the University is located and she will be in a village near this town.   PLUS___________If you look at the right side of my page here, you will see a section titled under my hit counter called "My favorite links".  You can click on  "Have You Seen DeeDee" and it will take you to her web page, magically!  Want to learn more about Iraq and it's culture?  DeeDee sent me this---  go to

merlin.yumaed.org, then to online databases, and then to culturegrams.  You can look up any country--it is very interesting.

Hope to see you at Papa San on Sunday!!!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Holy cow, 2009!  Can you believe it?  Sounds like the future.  I thought that by this time we would have cars that would drive you, instead of you driving them.  You know, hop in and tell it to take you to Nordstrom's at Fashion Square, and you could sleep while it drove.  Or, cars that hovered above the ground.  And remember the way that the Jetson family cooked dinner?  They had a contraption that they would talk to and Shazam! the food would materialize.  And the robot maid?  What happened to all of that?  Where is that technology?  Hmmmm...

My mom's shawl needs one to two more repeats, so it is in progress.  I did finish her Knitters Without Borders socks yesterday.  Her Spring Forwards were actually don BEFORE Christmas, imagine that!  I am now working on her Fixation Riverbeds.  Maybe they will be done tomorrow?  Perhaps?

This is how I spent my New Year's Eve afternoon.  This is my mom's Knitters Without Borders Sock, my toe covered by a green blanket, and the gi-normous fireplace in the lobby of the Hon-Dah Hotel lobby outside of Pinetop.  My mom and one of our friends were in the casino, so it was great knitting time for me.  I made my nest on  a big leather couch in front of the fire, and the blanket was something that t

he casino gave my mom for her "frequent flyer" coupon.  

Here are Carson and I before he left for Las Vegas on December 30.  His Bacon 

Scarf is thinner and folds well.   We think that mine has decided to be a Bacon Wrap  rather than a scarf because it is thicker and wider.  These are definitely curious scarves/wraps.  You can see more about the making of these on my Flickr page.

I will have mine at knitting next Sunday.

Hope to see you next Sunday at Papa San's !  Until then, happy knitting!!!