Up All Night

Have you ever had an endless night?   It could have been due to a chance first meeting, a great party, a newborn or one of the thousand other reasons/events that life throws you.    I had an endless night last night-no desire or need to sleep--I was knitting-endless knitting, that brought me peace, calm and a clear mind (that's unusual in the middle of the afternoon, let alone in the middle of the night) .  I had to force myself to get to bed.   My sleep patterns have been strange lately-sleeping til 8 a.m.or falling asleep at 3 p.m. and not getting out of bed til the next morning.   Is this what retirement does for you?   Maybe it's the adjustment my body is making after following a bell schedule for MOST of my life.  What do you think?

The Sunset in Hilton Head

Making discoveries

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving

I have discovered a few knitting groups in the area over the last few weeks  There is the knit night at the local pub (every other Monday night) and Anita's place "The International Knitting Studio".  Anita is a jewel- a woman who has knit most of her life, and is willing to share all her knowledge in her charmig way.  Kind, friendly and patient in all that she does.   I also joined the Newcomer Club and they have a knitting group also.  

Knitting update:
Surprise Baby Jacket-from the Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmerman- Yarn BabyBoo/Sidkar in pink, lilac and turquiose. Absolutely loved making this - great to see how a strange shaped piece could be transformed into a lovely jacket
Finished some xmas gifts today- can't post them till after the 25th of course. 

By the way- my laptop is driving me crazy-every other key stroke is NOT showing on the screen!!Do I have some kind of bug?  I'm going to leave this sentence uncorreced  (See what I ean? that's mean!!) 

Contests-Namaste Bags

Hi,  I have been asked to review a book and post a contest on my blog.  Looking forward to doing that but in the meantime I've been looking at other contests to get an idea of how to run it.  Anyway I found this contest today, you may be interested in it  Knit, Purl Girl is a great blog   Check it out  Namaste bags are wonderful.  I have the clutch and love it -
http://www.knitpurlgurl.com/2009/11/namaste-hermosa-bag-review-giveaway.html?

For Kate

Some of the 2009 finished projects!!! My daughter modeling

Purple wrap

Norah Gaughran

See I actually have been knitting and crocheting!!

On the needles: Big Afghan (three strands of yarn in a baby pattern)

Lucious Lace (ravelry pattern) in Ella Rae merino/silk blend and of course all the top down patterns I'm designing!!!!!!

Touching Base

Hi, Have had a wonderful month, traveling on the East Coast. Savannah, Charleston, Hilton Head and Rhinebeck of course. The Sheep and Wool festival was wonderful. Visited with friends from the past and spent a terrific day in class with Lily Chin, She is unbelievable, the knowledge the humor and great teaching techniques. I have loads of photos, finished projects, travel and more knitting to do. Promise I will post them, but you know being retired really is time consuming ---where did I put that to do List???????

Well this really takes the cake!!!

Hi All- as you may recall I had to run to get fingerprinted---here's the funny story that goes with that experience. Seems that with new technology, fingers are scanned to a computer- sort of like the grocery store scanner. Well, it took longer then usual to scan my prints!!! And do you know why???? Seems my 47 years of knitting/crochet have WORN AWAY MY FINGER PRINTS!!!! Can you believe it??? By the fourth attempt and then doing each finger individually numerous times, the policeman said we did the best we could and they would call me back if needed. I laughed all the way out the door!!!

Busy, busy

What can I say-if anyone said retirement can be boring, they can join me and help me find the time to do everything I want to do!!! I have been so busy, and somehow the days are going so quickly, more projects have been added to the mix and at the end of the day I really have to concentrate to remember everything I did!!! (Guess that's what happens as you get older)
The past few weeks have been filled with painting rooms (5 rooms in 3.5 days-have I got the best painter in the world!! oh it's not me!), hanging curtains / artwork and buying fabric for new curtains. It's time to find my sewing machine (that is in a storage unit) It's time to get sewing. Yes I sew also-It's the Home Ec. teacher thing.

on a knitting note- I have been very busy --even took pictures, can't post them now, I've got to run to the police station to be finger printed--Volunteered for Mentoring Alliance in Sonoma
www.sonomamentoring.org and need to have the prints done!! Wonderful organization, definitely a excellent program and should be used a model for other communities to follow. I'll be back --

Sunny and Hot

Again the days have slipped away-but all good things to share. Traveled to California with my cat and she is definitely a California Cat. Loves it here and so do I --- My knitting has suffered though--hardly touched a needle and when I did it was to crochet- again for my daughter. This is the photo of the piece I'm working on in Patons Glace-soft green and size E needle. Better Homes and Garden pattern. Once it is done I'll post the final product. One of these days I'll make myself something!!!

Dim Sum

Saying good-bye is not an easy thing to do, so since I like to do things the easy way, it's best to not consider a good-bye a good-bye. Better to spend time sharing a meal, talking about the next time you will see each other, plan for future trips and make sure that where ever you go the people you love know that they are welcome to join you any time. Dim sum is a great meal to share- with the delicate appetizers spinning around the table- you get to know people, what they like, how they treat each other and how much they care about each other.

Where has the time gone?

It's hard to believe that the month has passed and that I haven't been posting. It's been a busy month, knitting gifts so I can't share now. It's hard to believe 34 years have passed--I started teaching in 1975-ages ago, yet I remember those first years so clearly--as if it where yesterday. Tonight I'm off to my retirement party. So much to be thankful for a wonderful daughter, great friends and rewarding career