People! People Who Need People...

Are indeed the luckiest people in the world!

This should about finish my Cruise update (for awhile...or, this time, at least!)

Some of the wonderful people include...


Our waiter, who made sure that there was always enough chocolate at our table to save us the trouble of deciding which dessert we should order! The smiles say it all!

The Chefs who create some of those wonderful chocolate treats!

Oh....and......KNITTERS!!!!!!

Some of the lovely ladies that I met, shared meals (wine) and knitting time with.

Let's see, anything else?
Well, how about....



Our friendly knitting designers and teachers, Debbie Bliss, Nicki Epstein and Carla Scott. Thank-you ladies, we all had a wonderful time and it was truly a pleasure meeting and knitting with you. The knowledge and friendships gained will not be long forgotten.

This is....

What you do when you're waiting in line at the airport. In the "Checked In Online" line. People who don't knit get very cranky when they have to wait an hour or so in the "Checked In Online To Save Time" line.

I was happy; I got my sweater finished that I wanted to wear on the plane.

(The sweater that when I realized that I was going to run out of yarn three days before I was to leave, found a knitter who had the same yarn in the same dye lot on Ravelry, who lives in Toronto, who met me in the lobby of her apartment building, IN TORONTO, so that I could buy the one last skein that I needed!)

Knitters Rock!

The picture you take when you're walking along Ocean Drive in South beach the morning before you get on your cruise ship.

The picture you take in Costa Maya to show your daughter that bananas really do grow on trees in Mexico.

A picture you asked a complete stranger to take as you celebrate Zip Lining over the Rain Forest in Belize.

Yes, of course it's a Margarita!!

Just a taste of the surprises that lay in store for you on a Cruise ship!

I hung it in the bathroom when I left just to mess up my Stateroom attendant.

Hehe.

Happy Thursday everybody...it's Knit Night!

Home & Doing Laundry....SURPRISE!!!!

O.K. Short and sweet.

I'm home. We're all fine. I plan to show more pics over the next few days.

I want to go have a nap.

Amen Sisterfriend!!

Here she is in Costa Maya.

This is me. Climbing a very big hill in Belize. Why am I climbing? Why am I wearing a helmet? What's all that fuzzy green stuff in the background?

The fuzzy green stuff is the rain forest. (It's fuzzy because I was shaking from having to climb)

I'm wearing a helmet so that I don't get a head injury. (What you don't see is the harness and gloves that I'm also wearing)

I'm climbing so that I can sail over the trees of the rain forest on a ZIP LINE!!

OMG!!!! IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING!!!!

That's a "having a blast laughing" smile, combined with, "Oh my God, I hope I don't have a heart attack! And they called this the 'Moderate' climb activity!" Geez.

Yup. Helmet diving.

They put the helmet on, pump air in and send you down to swim with the fishes.

Very Cool.

Standing on my balcony the last day of sailing at the moment that there actually was sunshine, while trying to outrun a hurricane. They kept telling us that it was a cold front from the north that was giving us problems.
I saw the map. That hurricane was biting us on the butt!
Pretty neat for self portraits huh?
Oh yeah, and there was knitting.... more soon.

There's Only So Much They Can Do.

Yesterday I was in love with the French Curve and as I started to do some sewing today (because I finished the sleeve I was working on yesterday! Yay!) I thought, "Here's another 'Best Tool Ever'!"

This is my chalk/pen/marker that I now use for marking my patterns. I've stressed quite a bit about marking patterns in my lifetime. I used to do a 'Taylor's Tack' is what I think it was called, using needle and thread to mark the dots...and hated it. Usually I just tried to fudge my way through and kind of eyeball them as I got to them...not the most successful method of sewing.

Years and years ago I found this really cool chalk and needle marking system that I LOVED! Apparently, I was the only one who loved it because I haven't been able to find refills or a replacement for quite awhile.
Now, I've found this sturdy chalk marker and I've relaxed in my whole marking/matching endeavors. Once again, patterns are 'suggestions'. It's an art; not a science, so if the marks are in approximately the same general area and the overall appearance works...well, 'Bob's your uncle and get going sister-friend!' Life's too short for worrying about matching dots exactly.

Speaking of Life being too short...

My sewing Angel was watching over me again today.

This is me finding just enough scrap material to cut the facings. Again. Because I, again, reversed them when I cut them out the first time and therefore didn't match up when I went to sew them into the jacket/top. Are you getting that this is not something new in my life? So, while there's only so much an Angel can do for person, I was very lucky to be able to make this work!

Continuing with the whole 'silver lining' theme...

At least I got to practise my button holes, and when I did do it the second time, I took my time and paid attention to every last detail. Yay.

So....do you think it looks like old lady fabric?

Rulers and Rules

See this? Do you know what this is? (Yes, I can see that it says French Curve right on the package).
This is the greatest invention EVER!!
Do you know why it is the greatest invention EVER?!
Because it is something that you can use to alter sewing patterns, that you already own, so that they fit you the way that you are now and not the way you used to be.

Sad thing is...I used it today to alter the brand new pattern that I bought yesterday (on sale at Fabricland), because....well I obviously haven't figured out that if you continuously need to add an inch (or two) to the patterns you have at home; then if you buy the same size, AGAIN, then you will have to alter it AGAIN!!! The multi-sizing group was bad; you know, because you're the smallest size in the bigger grouping...well, that still looks worse than maybe being the larger size in the smaller grouping.

Love the French Curve.

O.K. Some Knitting Rules.

First, let me explain...


This is Yarn Barf. Yarn Barf is the mess of yarn you get when you try to pull the centre from the ball to start knitting (or crocheting, if you're so inclined) and you get a bunch of yarn and not especially the end that you were looking for.

I abhor yarn barf.

Rule #1: Yarn Barf cannot be left as is.

I cannot rest until I have knit the entire yarn barf down to the point of a nice slim line of yarn emitting from the centre of the ball.

Rule #2: Knitting must be left with right side facing for the next row.

You can tell me we have to go, start locking the doors, stand there tapping your foot...I will only stop knitting when I have completed a wrong side row.

Rule #3: When working a sleeve or any other piece of knitting with intervals of increases, or decreases, the work must be left with a straight knit row to be worked when work is taken up again.

This is the only way to almost ensure a consistent slope in your work; if you are expected to remember to increase or decrease when you next pick up your knitting, then you will spend more time tinking (the act of un-knitting) than knitting. Leave your work so that you can just jump in and after you've completed a couple of rows you'll stop. Lay it on your lap. Admire it. Count what you've already accomplished and then it will come back to you that you should probably increase (or decrease, as the case may be) and then you're back in the groove!

Now, since I've cut out the adjusted pattern (I'll save the lining for another day) and dealt with the yarn barf, I will now get showered and feed my family. Oh, I got the laundry done and the sun is shining and tonight is my favourite t.v. night! I guess it's a good day.

Any knitting rules you'd like to share?

"Do You Spin?"

Yesterday, as it turns out, was International Day of Peace.



I wish I had known that yesterday.



I didn't think that I would have done anything especially different...until I read the September 21 entry from my "Never Not Knitting" calendar.



Who can argue with this wisdom? And I quote:

"Gandhi, that great man of nonviolence, maintained that every person should spin thread for 30 minutes a day. He had taken a vow to do so, and kept this vow even while in prison. Gandhi believed that the practice of quiet, structured, peaceful work would promote those same qualities in the people who did it...."

Do I spin?

Rochelle asked a simple enough question.

Welllllll....

I have books (doubles, if you want to know the truth!)

I have stash.

SURPRISE!!!!


I have accessories. The Red Hot Mama's are all about accessorizing.

I have a really cute wheel. As I recall, it runs very smoothly too.

And I really like where my Ladybug is.

I would love to have the qualities that Gandhi spoke of.

"...kept this vow even while in prison..."!?!?!?!

Well, I wouldn't exactly call this a prison. So....

WHY NOT?!?!?!

Tuesdays are for spinning you know.

It's always the way.

Wednesday is this year's "Fright Night" (scroll down).

Unlike Sandi, however, I just go with it and have pizza...used to order it; now it's Delisio Rising Crust Pizza!!

After pizza I load both kids in the van along with all their paraphernalia and head out to tackle "the loop". I drop one at the music store for his drum lesson early, because music lessons and dance lessons start at the same time--- in different towns--- at the same time. We live in yet another town.

Now, the dance class goes longer than the drum lesson; so after I deposit my dancer at the studio I pop back into the van to head back to pick up the drummer.

Let me share a little side note here. My daughter and I were on our way to yet another dance class of hers today, when a commercial advertising diapers came on the radio. (They're on sale at Baby's-R-Us) The lady mentioned just how many diapers a person might change in one day. My daughter asked me how many times I had to change diapers when she was a baby? O.K.

1) I don't remember.

2) I do remember addressing this very issue when my kids were babies. I didn't keep track of how many times I had to change a bum. A bum needed changing, it got changed. If I was lucky somebody else did it, but usually it was me.

I think that if you start keeping track/score, especially when it comes to parenting, well you're just setting yourself up for a miserable time of it. I think it's much more productive to keep track of the few gems that keep you smiling in the midst of all those diapers. Not that I always follow my own words of wisdom here, but really what good can come of counting dirty diaper changes? It just makes everybody cranky.

The same holds true later in the parenting adventure when you become the official taxi driver. Don't think about it. Just immerse yourself in the task. Don't think of all the other things that you could be doing. Don't think about the gas. Don't think about all the other running around you do in addition to these evenings where you're touring around the county, with the added enjoyment of the arguing that you get to endure when they are both in the car at the same time. Just be one with the commute.

Don't think about it...just keep your eyes open for that Yarn Shop whose neon light shines an ever welcoming OPEN sign above its door.

Don't think about it...when you remember that you were looking for another 3.75mm circular knitting needle. (Don't remember exactly what project it was for, but there's always another one).

Don't think about it...when you realize that you've already been to one yarn shop today...

Just take your van and your ever-drumming son into that parking lot, turn the engine off, get out of that driver seat, breath the lovely night air and go in there and buy those Addi Natura 3.75mm (and a couple of patterns...but no yarn!!). Then continue on into the fading light of the Wednesday evening to finish the last of your pickups and get everybody home safe and sound.

So, fast forward through Thursday...there was knitting and laughing...how much better can it get? Now, it's Friday morning and enough is enough!

SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE WITH MY STUDIO!!!!

I begin to shift and sort some piles. I won't kid you, it was a big job, and I got carried away a few times, and I'm not anywhere near finished, but look what I found?

THE FLOOR!!!

I know there's still a lot of stuff surrounding the floor area, but look what else I found...

Well, that's two. I'm sure there's more somewhere!