Merry Christmas One and All

The Christmas table with 3 of 4 of my kids.
Christmas Eve - while the creatures were still stirring...
I awakened to chirping birds and drizzly rain this morning. All my kids were home. We had the traditional potato sausage, eggs, and fruit salad, then opened presents.




Hubby took a nap while we watched a movie.
Then I made roast beef with, asparagus potatoes and gravy. Actually it cooked from breakfast time until 1-ish. My daughter made Red Velvet cake and my son made Peppermint Bark yesterday and I made cheesecake so we had quite a selection of desserts. My friend was held up so we missed having her over. We have LOTS of food left.
Yummm, my son just brought me a margarita.
Here are my daughter and son at the local coffee shop for their holiday guitar concert this past weekend.

Christmas Carolers

I love my cousin!
My cousin Marky is so cool. He's the one on the right. I was lucky enough for him to live with us my senior year of high school while he went to UCSD. Look what he's doing now. What a fun Christmas job. Don't they look festive? They were actually freezing after being out in the wind for 3 hours.

Hot Buttered Rum, Yum!

What a fun day. Zipping around my my BFF Leigh Ann. Investigating zippers at Hancock's Fabric, lunch at Hello Sushi, knitting at the Yarn Deli, and more investigation at Joann's, home again for more knitting, then making hot buttered rums. I am feeling satisfied. Yummmmmm. Now I am glowing(sweating). These things really warm you up. Perfect for a rainy day in Southern California. Well, we all agree they would be pretty good up in the Adirondacks in the snow as well.

Merlin is Depressed

Good old Merlin is very clingy these days. He's the gold one. Every time I sit down here he comes onto my lap. It's good I like to knit since it keeps me still long enough for him to stay a while. We took him to the vet for a check-up fearing the worst. He had a crusty feeling chin that made us think of serious nasties. Good news he has a couple of infections and common acne...Oh, and he's depressed. Does he look depressed to you? Perhaps I am insensitive, but it strikes me as funny that the vet would mention our cat's depression. How would you even tell if a cat is depressed? Now that I think of it, of course he's depressed. He's old. He doesn't feel well. He likes to snuggle. I guess I'd be depressed too. Of course I might not be if I could nap all day and be fed and petted whenever I asked. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
On the knitting front, I finally finished two pairs of socks.
The "Owl" Socks for my brother for Christmas. Adirondack Leaves Socks from the Zokni socks pattern

My Son the Elf

I guess the Holidays have officially begun. My son helped out at the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum this weekend. Here he is with the other elves from the Santa Train.

Happy Thanksgiving

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving already? It's been a whirlwind year. I imagine the rest of it will go as fast as well. What are you doing today? Us? We're having dinner here. This year I get to have all of my kids together again. That is really my greatest joy, so yes, I am extremely thankful. I hope they are happy being here as well. I've been pretty pissy lately, not at them, but other things. Life is up and down.
The holidays...I remember the wonderful gatherings my mother put together for the holidays. My parents went all out for us all the time. The delicious smells and tastes, the comfort, the laughter and tears. We had the full range of emotion on holidays. The love always won out. I miss her and my dad.
It never feels like I am able to provide the comfort and support I was given. I hope I am wrong. They are amazing people and I love them more than I ever thought possible.

Didn't take any pictures. I'll have to get some from my daughter and friend to post here. I was cooking. Had a great day! My whole immediate family and best friend were here for the day. We even celebrated Leigh Ann's birthday with her. Knitted a little too. We made birthday change purses. Still need to felt them and sew in zippers. They're pretty cool. Mine may be a little small when felted. We'll see. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Last Curtain Call

Here is the last time on stage for my daughter and the rest of the cast of Babes in Toyland. Did I say they were absolutely astounding. What a wonderful group of kids, teachers, and parents that were involved in this. Unfortunately, "Once you leave a part of you can never return again."

These Kids Are Amazing!

My daughter and her cast had 3 full performances of Babes in Toyland today. They are wonderful. Here are the gypsys.

Today is the Play!

Today is the first day of 'Babes in Toyland' performances. They will be running scenes for 6 audiences at the high school. I have decided to take the day off to try to take pictures. My camera didn't work at Saturday's dress rehearsal. Here's my babe in her Jill costume. Break a leg!

November Already

It's time for the clocks to Fall back. We had our first rain of the season last night. It feels like Fall.
The long haul from August through November without a day off at school is almost over. We get Tuesday, Nov. 11 off for Veteran's Day this year. My daughter's play is coming up mid-month. Long rehearsals and performances continue for the next two weeks. Then one more week and we get week off for Thanksgiving. I am so tired. I can't wait.
Five pairs of socks on the needles still. I didn't finish a single pair in October. I restarted a pair I started on the way home from the Adirondacks this summer. They are made of woodsy green Classic Alpaca I bought at Old Forge Hardware and are a leaf motif to represent the woods. They are Zokni socks designed by Pepperknit.
I am on the foot of my Tidal socks in Lorna's Laces I started in September.
I've restarted heel gusset of my so called Owl socks. My brown Escher block socks have more cuff to knit, as do my Indian Corn socks. That is not including my raindrop socks and sideways socks that I've put away for the time being. Hmmmm, you think I have a sock fixation? It's Ravelry's fault with all the great sock knitting groups.

October Projects

Dear Ole Hubby has been doing some projects around the house while he is waiting to get his back fixed. Here is is shortly after his epidural. Hope it works.
Hope the projects get finished before he goes back to work, otherwise...

In recent months I have become sock obsessed. I barely work on anything but socks any more. Here are some of the socks I'm working on now.

A Wonderful Symphony Concert

My son took up string bass this year at school. He's been playing the guitar, rock and jazz. He's really done a great job in the symphony orchestra. Tonight was the fall concert. It was a great warm evening under the clear sky. Just a touch of Santa Ana winds. It was beautiful. To top it off I got to watch my son play with a terrific orchestra.

Birthday Boy

It's been beautiful weather the last few days. Warm days, yet cooling off at night to comfortable temperatures. The Santa Ana winds have cleared the sky. The sunsets are gorgeous. The angel trumpet bushes are perfuming the warm evening air.

I found my son's birth announcement looking through some papers last night. Just in time to show it to him during his birthday party. It surprised him. I can't believe fifteen years have gone by already. He is turning into an amazing young man with a lot of heart. I am so happy to have been part of his beginning. Can't wait to see the things he chooses to do with his life.

And Now Back into the 90's

OMG 40 degrees?

My husband tells me it was 40 degrees here last night. I am sitting here with a sweatshirt and blanket and my computer warming my lap.
Everyone is still snug in their beds while I check my e-mail and watch the kitten try to abscond with a ball of yarn with two half socks attached. He's got some nerve...

Fall Cooking Weather

We are just too warm and dry around here. I suppose there will be a time when I feel whiney about it being too cool soon enough, but right now I just want it to be cooler. It was supposed to rain this weekend. It was cloudy and cool, but we never got any rain. It still felt like Fall and I felt like cooking. I haven't felt inspired to cook much lately. It was fun. It's supposed to be much warmer again tomorrow.
Wednesday was Yarn Deli's 2nd Anniversary. They had a great sale. I wish I had decided already what I want to make for the holidays so I could have bought the yarn on sale. I still got a few skeins for other things. I have been spending lots of time on Ravelry trying to find the inspiration to get started for holiday gifts.
Finished my Wollmeise Sonne Crusoe socks last week and I LOVE them. I am almost finished with my third string bag. I may finish tonight if I get off the computer. I started some socks with colors that remind me of my dad this week. I am designing for my brother for Christmas. Owl socks. I am adapting Ruthieknits Owl Hat to make a design on a pair of socks

Miss my dad

Thursday was my dad's birthday. I should have baked an apple pie (what he always had for his birthday.) He's been gone now for almost 4 years. I've really been missing him this week.
I went to Laguna to pick up my son and see my daughter and her apartment there last weekend. The three of us had brunch and went into a yarn shop. I found myself looking for yarn in colors that reminded me of my dad and times I spent with him. What sticks in my mind the most are how blue his eyes looked in the sky blue shirts my mom bought for him. They looked grayer in cloudy weather. We lived in San Diego and had boats. My mom liked deep sea fishing and whale watching so we went out fairly often. Of course our last boat was named for her, the"Dorothy D'. I got to live on the boat the summer I turned 16. It was so cool to have freedom for the first time. I remember the sand and kelp, the ocean skies, seagulls, sea lions, the churning swells of the ocean.
Dad grew up in Washington near Seattle. We saw movies he and a friend made of the two of them zipping around in skiffs. They were black and white movies. We went to Washington a few times and camped on Puget Sound on a lot his father owned. More pictures in my head of the gray sea. He helped us build rafts out of the driftwood on the beach. He gave us a Flag with a flying horse on it for one of them. It was the best raft we ever built. We tied up the anchor too tight and the tide came up and washed it away. The very night we finished it.
My dad was quietly supportive of me. I was so lucky to have him in my life. He changed after my mom died to become more of a rebel. He grew his hair long and wore an earring, though he was still the staunch Republican down deep. We were able to know him better once mom was gone.
I miss my dad. I was very fortunate to have had the great childhood I did. I had great parents. I wish I had more time with them.

Mid-September...

Tick Tock, Tick Tock. Time is passing. Mid September already. I've been trying to ignore that Fall is approaching. School seems to start right in the middle of summer now. Fall doesn't mean much here in Southern California anymore.
Last week I finished the Bamboo Rib socks I designed this Spring. Today I finished the Rivendell socks I started while driving cross country coming home from summer vacation. I've been getting dental work done. Working hard at school. Driving my daughter to her play rehearsals. All those other family chores. This week I was down with a fever. Hope I'm done with it. I have too much to do to stay home this week.

Summer is really over for me

See you next year Innisfree and Cool-Shag-Na.
I've been home and back at work for two weeks now. School is in full swing complete with parent meetings, back-to-school nights this week, lesson plans, and tech problems. My son is playing stand-up bass this year and my daughter auditioned for a play at one of our high schools, so will have to be taken to rehearsals regularly after school now.
Not too much knitting going on. I am trying to finish one more pair of socks before Summer of Socks '08 is over on Sept. 1st. I guess I'll have time to knit waiting at rehearsals.

We're working hard to get the house back together with the living/family room relocated to a bigger room and the computers relocated too. Furniture, books, and knick-knacks are all over the place. There is practically no where to sit down. We are almost done with the painting of the two main rooms and should be able to get furniture moved tomorrow (I hope.) I can't wait to see how everything looks when it's organized. Maybe I'll even have a lamp to sit and knit under.

The bathroom work is almost done. I finally have a tiled shower upstairs. Just have to wipe off the haze, seal the grout, hang the shower curtain, and take my first shower. Oh yeah, the handles still need to be adjusted. Bought primer to seal the replaced piece of wall too. We'll have a really nice bathroom soon.

My older kids are at Innisfree now enjoying the lake and my new finished kitchen. I am very envious. I only got to use my kitchen one day while we were there with all the renovations. And I really didn't get to have that much fun with everything there was to do. It's still just a wonderful place to be.

Wow, It's been a long time since I last posted...

Here it is almost the end of my summer already. We've finished a lot of what we needed to do in the kitchen at Innisfree. The dry-wall is finished and painted and the floor is almost completely finished. Only one or two more coats of polyurethane to go. Here's our progress.


We found a pretty great mountain-man builder/plumber/finisher/manager/hunter/farmer/you get it, he does everything. Looks like a number of projects we can't finish will be done this fall. Yippee!!!
I finished 3 pairs of socks, two on the needles (two more started before June 21 so they don't count for Summer of Socks '08.) Then my friend Leigh Ann came up and got me started on string bags... Two down, one started.
I spent my birthday visiting my aunts in Malone and Plattsburgh with my family and cousins. It was a pretty nice day.

Best Cousins Ever

We have had a great time so far at camp. We've had the great fortune to visit with our favorite cousins. Here we all are in front of the "Caboose." Didn't do that much. It was just great to catch up and spend time together. Now back to the kitchen.
The boys made up some ice cream with the old hit and miss engine.

Happy 4th of July

We're here in the Adirondacks. Had a pretty uneventful 4th of July. Just stayed at camp and visited with our cousins and friend for dinner. Here's one of the fireworks we saw from our dock. It was een nicer just being on the lake while we watched instead of fighting the crowds in town.Here's the coolest moth that was resting on our screen door.
I did get to the knitting club meet-up at Old Forge Hardware today and finished my Traveling Loon socks!!! Had fun with all the local ladies. They are a funny bunch of women.

Half Way Across the Country Already

We started out on Thursday about 5:30 PM. Here we were yesterday. Stayed over in Oklahoma and are now in Missouri. Still going!!!
Here are my Traveling Loon socks at the Cadillac Graveyard outside Amarillo, Texas.

Had a Little Trim

Here was my hair at 7:30




Need I say more?
18 inches shorter...
I've been thinking about donating my hair to Locks of Love for a while now. I finally did something about it.

Ninja Socks

I finished my first pair of Summer of Socks '08. These are my son's Ninja Birthday Socks. I started them on his birthday (also the first day of SOS). Finished in 3 days. This is the fastest I've ever finished a pair of socks. Of course they are worsted weight, but they did have more complicated toes. They are split toes for flip flops. The best thing is he loves them.
Now to decide on another pair to start and to get out of here. Our trip to New York has been stalled. Hopefully we can leave tomorrow.

Dyeing Sock Blanks and Summer of Socks '08

We were supposed to leave for New York today, but have been delayed til mid-week. It's hard to wait to leave, but then again I still have lots to do and good friends and family to do it with.
Here's yesterday's hand dyed Knit Picks sock blank on the left. The dyes migrated blended a little more than they look in this photo. I hope it knits up as cool as it looks now. The one on the right I painted today. My friend Leigh Ann made a really cool striped one too.

Midnight EST June 21 was the start of this year's Summer of Socks. I joined up for the first time this year. June 21st is also my son's birthday so I decided to knit him socks for his birthday. He doesn't really like socks, but when he tried on some I knit he loved how they felt. Sooooo, I am making him some to go with the cap I knit him this fall. I had extra yarn to make sure I had enough for the beanie and never used it. It is Mountain Colors Twizzle in the Moose Creek color.