Thursday, September 30, 2004

Proud Mom

Congratulations to my daughter and her middle school volleyball team! They won their game today, and she got to start in the first game. (The matches consist of two games and a tie breaker game if necessary; our girls won the first two games, so no tie breaker today.) That's two victories this week for these girls. They have won all but one game this year. This is pretty amazing considering none of them have played on a volleyball team before. The girls are mostly 6th grade with a few 7th graders. They work so hard and have so much fun doing it. Even when they make mistakes and even when they lost that one game a few weeks ago, the girls all keep smiles on their faces and have good attitudes.

I made a lot of progress on the little shells sock last night. I've begun the gusset decreases. I took the sock to the game today and showed it off to some of the other moms--I'm the only knitter, unfortunately.

We likely have company coming in on Saturday (proud grandma and uncle) for the Homecoming game at my daughter's school. They are coming to watch her play. That means tonight is house clean up night.

Tomorrow night is the Middle School Homecoming Dance for daughter. Husband and I are going for coffee and dessert at one of the bookstores. We may be able to meet up with a local knitter that I met on line. That will be fun!

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Little Shells Progress

I got in some quality knitting time last night with the Little Shells socks. I'm on the first sock and completed the cuff and heel flap last night. I'm quite pleased with how the pattern is turning out and the way the yarn is looking. Here is a close up shot of the sock:



I didn't get any spinning done last night. Husband has some shetland that he's spinning on my wheel (Schacht Matchless DT) and I really wasn't in a spinning mood anyway. The pencil roving can wait until possibly this weekend.

Daughter had a volleyball game yesterday, and her team won!! So far this year, they've won all but one of their games. The most important thing is that they are all having fun. Homecoming is Saturday, and the girls have a volleyball game that morning. I hope their winning ways continue!

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Pencil Roving Dye Job

I mentioned that I'd tried my hand at dying pencil roving. I am really not too pleased with the result, but hopefully the spun yarn will look better. I am going to spin a bulky yarn and plan to use it as part of the cuff on some felted slippers.

Here is the first bat. Notice that the dye didn't disperse evenly through the bat. I am guessing this is probably normal. The first picture is the top of the bat (to which the dye was applied) and the second picture is the bottom. I used Gaywool and Cushings dyes.



Here is the second bat, and again, the top of the bat is shown in the first picture and the bottom of the bat in the second picture.



I knitted a bit on the Little Shells socks last night. Progress is slow on them. The pattern is very easy. It is a 4 row repeat with three of those rows being plain knit stitches. I love how the colors are working up with the Twinkletoes Sunrise colorway.

I'm anxiously waiting for the mail to come today! Some of us at the Knitty Coffeeshop set up a yarn exchange a few months ago, and the exchange box is on its way to my house! What fun. Someone referred to the exchange box as either a yard sale in a box or a flea market in a box or something equally humorous! I need to decide what of my stash can go into the trade box.

Someone asked about the bread machine I use. It's a West Bend machine, nothing fancy. It works well and is easy to use. You put the ingredients in the pan, press a few buttons, and voila!

My daughter has to do some science projects for school this year, She has decided on a project called "The Microbes we Eat" and it will consist of two parts--bread making and yogurt making. The teacher thinks this will be an exciting project. Daughter is going to do a report on yeast that is used in bread and acidophilus used in yogurt. She's going to take pictures throughout the process and use these to illustrate her report and will also take in samples of her home made bread and yogurt. She loves cooking, so this should be a fun project for her.

Monday, September 27, 2004

She's Got Pictures!

I am armed and dangerous now! The camera is back home with me safe and sound. As I mentioned on Thursday, we took a long weekend at the beach due to a school holiday for daughter. It was a dark and stormy Sunday morning:




These photos were taken around 7:30 AM. The weather didn't clear all day but in fact got worse. We packed the car and headed home between rain showers.

I owe thanks to my Secret Pal for gifts she sent last week! Pictured below are some of the nice surprises she sent: my new friend Batty, some delicious smelling bath soap, a cute fridge shaped key chain, and all of it resting on a great fall scarf.



Here's a close up of the scarf (folded in half). Doesn't this just say "autumn leaves"?


Finally, here is a close up of the Little Shells sock I'm working on for daughter. I haven't gotten too far into the pattern, so you can't really see the shells yet The yarn is Twinkletoes (e-bay) in colorway Sunrise. I love how these colors are working up!


Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures of the pencil roving I dyed last night. I am also going to try to get some decent pictures of my Making Waves socks from the 6 Sock KAL. The yarn is dark colored, and the photos are turning out horribly!! If the sun shines tomorrow (ha! I don't count on it.) maybe I can get a photo that looks half way decent.

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Great Shop in Savannah, GA

We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend at the beach. Friday, we took a little trip to Savannah where we visited our new friend Jennifer Harvey, owner of Wilde Fiber, a shop specializing in yarn and knitting supplies, weaving supplies, and spinning supplies. Jennifer has only been open for a few weeks (about 8, I think) and already she has loads of nifty things. Husband is going to do a spinning demo for Jennifer for some of the Savannah College of Art and Design students, and I think I even heard her hinting about some classes. On top of having a very nice and welcoming environment, Jennifer and her family (we've met them all!) are really nice and friendly people. Drop in and visit Wilde Fiber located on Liberty St. in downtown Savannah!

I am happy to report that I've retrieved my digital camera, so new pictures will be coming soon including some knitting pictures and some pictures of the stormy scene at Hilton Head Island this morning.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Starting the Weekend Early

If I survive this work day, the family and I are actually starting our weekend a bit early. Daughter's school has the day off tomorrow in honor of the Jewish Holiday, so we are going to the beach for a long weekend. I can't wait!!

Sorry there was no post yesterday. Usually I work from home, but yesterday I had to be at a site with an employee. The work wasn't hard, but that change in my routine really did me in!! It's hard going from home office to "center stage" with an employee, physician, site staff, etc. I was exhausted last night, so no blogging!

There has been no knitting the past two days--see paragraph above! I hope to make up for lost time during our long weekend!

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Domestic Goddess in the House

For some reason, I was inspired today to make beef stew and bake bread! Before you go getting visions of me in the kitchen covered in flour kneading dough thing these two words: bread machine. They are a godsend for working women like me who still want to make home made bread. The house smells so good! Husband will be surprised when he comes home tonight.

In knitting news, I've been wrestling with a pair of socks. For some reason my needles and yarn just don't want to cooperate but instead want to wind all around each other. I'm using the Little Shells pattern, Twinkletoes in Sunrise, and size 1 (US) Clover bamboo DPNs. The socks are gorgeous and I know they'll look great in this yarn. Maybe once I get past the ribbing things will calm down.

Someone is actually reading my blog!! Here I am thinking I'm talking to the wind when an e-mail shows up from Elayne. She says she enjoys reading my blog. Awww! Thanks, Elayne. It was Elayne's Flower Basket Shawl that I linked to in yesterday's post. You all be sure to visit Elayne!

Monday, September 20, 2004

Feels Like Fall

Today was a gorgeous one! It was clear and just 56 degrees when I went out this morning. That was just enough to get me into a fall mood which of course means soup making! I decided to try some split pea soup today. It wasn't bad! It passed the 11 year old daughter taste test. Let's see what husband has to say about it! The recipe did make a lot, though! I may have to half it next time.

What a fabulous mail day today was! I got my missing skein of Twinkletoes. It is called Sassafrass, and it's lovely! Lots of purples in this one. I also got another gift from my secret pal. That dear girl is spoiling me! She sent a jar of See's dark chocolate syrup, it was tucked into a little nylon drawstring bag which will be used in my knitting bag. There was a Mary Engelbreit note pad, a toy bat that squeaks when you shake him, refrigerator shaped key chain--it lights up when you open it, and inside are magnetic poetry tiles--a lovely smelling bar of coconut soap, a gorgeous hand knit scarf made from a novelty type yarn in fall colors, and the sweetest note! Secret Pal, thank you so much! You are very thoughtful and generous. You have me all figured out, too! You know just the things I like. I will try to post pictures this week!

I started working the Flower Basket Shawl pattern last night. The pattern is from the Fall Interweave Knits magazine. It is really a gorgeous shawl, but I was a bit intimidated by it at first. The pattern uses a few things I've not done before--a provisional cast on (easy enough) and charts. The chart isn't too bad to read. This is just my second lace project. I managed to get the first 18 rows of the first chart worked last night. I'm using a hand spun, hand dyed yarn that I bought last year at SAFF. The yarn is a mohair, silk, I don't know what blend and is very soft. It's dyed in shades of burgandy and brown. I think it will look beautiful when it's finished. It doesn't look like much now; I'll need to do a lot of blocking! You can see a picture of the shawl at One Fine Yarn web site, or take a look at the gorgeous shawl someone did as part of a KAL here. Now do you see why I fell in love with this pattern?

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Got Yarn?

Yay! What a great day. Not only was the weather sunny and semi-cool, my Twinkletoes sock yarn came in the mail. I received three of the four skeins I ordered and a note saying the other skein will be shipped "tomorrow." That means I should get it on Monday. I love the colors, but I do have to say one thing negative. Be aware that the skins pictured in the auctions are not the skeins you're getting. I ordered one colorway called "Cranapples" which showed on the auction as a lovely predominantly red yarn. What I received is not predominantly red. I still like it, but it's not going to work for what I intended--gift socks for my MIL.

This afternoon daughter and I made two double batches of pizza dough. We baked home made pizzas for dinner and froze the second batch. I would like to mix up a couple more batches of dough to freeze. You just have to love a bread machine. It takes all the drudgery and mess out of mixing dough. I know some people like the work of mixing and kneading, but I'm not one of them. M kitchen is too tiny to make it anything near fun.

Friday, September 17, 2004

Here Comes the Sun?

I am really getting tired of rainy, dreary and might I add muggy, weather. These darned hurricanes need to STOP! I shouldn't be complaining--yet I am--since my home and location haven't been in the path of any of these storms. I still need some sunshine before I go stark raving mad!

Here I am impatiently waiting for my Twinkletoes. Maybe it will come today. The mailman rang the doorbell yesterday, but all there was to deliver was a giant box of some sort of roving for husband. No fun there. The UPS guy stopped later in the day and got me all excited, but all he had was a delivery for me from work. YUCK! I want my sock yarn. I have absolutely no patience when it comes to waiting for good things like yarn!

Last night brought real progress with that darned Making Waves sock. I finished off the cuff, the heel flap, and turned the heel. I started picking up the gusset stitches during a conference call today but didn't get too far. I would like to finish this sock tonight. The new pattern is ready for the KAL, and I'd really like to start when everyone else does for a change. So far, only the toddler and child size patterns are up, and I want to make the adult size. October 1 is the official start date, so maybe I can squeeze in some Christmas knitting in the interim.

We have a quiet weekend planned, and with the weather the way it is, that's a good thing. School tells us that daughter's field trip is back on for this coming Monday through Wednesday. This is the camping and kayak trip. Somehow, I just don't think that's going to happen. We are to check the school web site tomorrow for an update and final decision. If it were up to me, I'd say don't go until later in the fall when hurricane season is over! I hate that the kids are getting their hopes up only to be disappointed.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Basket Case

I got the cutest basket from Michael's yesterday! Husband and I stopped in there yesterday while killing some time before an appointment, and he spotted a great rattan basket to hold knitting things by my recliner. Of course the basket didn't have a price tag on it and this was the only one like it in the store! The department manager for baskets said it was $39.99 and all the baskets were on sale 50% off. She needed to find a UPC for the basket, though, so that it would ring up properly. She looked, and looked, and looked for that code and could not find it. I think she may have hoped we'd give up and not get the basket, but we didn't! Husband told her to just pick a price and UPC and we'd get the basket. She decided on the price of $24.99 for which she could find a UPC which meant I got my great basket for just $12.50! Wow! What a deal. Mocha kitty, our spoiled male part Siamese cat had to check out the basket last night. He apparently thought it was for him, as he sat so regally in it just looking around. I wish we could have gotten a picture of that! I fully expect to come in one day and find Mocha or one of our other kitties curled up in the basket sleeping in the yarn!

I also got a wicker clothes hamper from Wal Mart yesterday. It has a cloth liner, and I'm storing my felting wool and some sock yarn hanks in it. I love the hamper! Unfortunately, moving the yarn into it made me realize just how much yarn I have. EEK! I could knit all day for the rest of my life and possibly not use up this yarn.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ring-a-ling

Notice some changes to my blog? My wonderful husband was nice enough to help me get some blog ring links inserted. I think I'm still in the line up for both rings, but the links are there just like the ring owners asked!

I was hoping to find my Twinkletoes sock yarn in the mail today, but no luck. Oh well. That gives me something to look forward to tomorrow. I did get the new Patternworks catalog today, so there was something knitting positive about the mail!

Maybe tonight I will finally have time to measure my home spun yarn and plan a project. I am just having so much fun looking at it! It is so pretty sitting on the table all bunched up in little skeins.

Last night, I knit the cutest miniature sock!! It took about an hour to whip up and seemed to be a good use for the Bernat Hot Sox! I don't like the yarn for a regular sized sock (stretches out of shape much too easily and won't go back) but it was ideal for the mini sock. I used Jennifer's "recipe" for the mini sock.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Thank You, Secret Pal

Yesterday was a great mail day for me! A box arrived from my Knitty Secret Pal! Thank you so much, SP! Tucked inside the box were a lovely small tapestry bag. It's the perfect size to either be used as a purse or as a tote for a small WIP. I may alternate and use it for both!! SP also sent some delicious smelling See's Chocolates. Yum! There is a box of assorted chocolates, a bar of milk chocolate, and two clown shape, foil wrapped chocolates. Also, SP sent a Clover yarn cutter which I really needed and some point protectors for circular needles. I can always use those! Thank you so much, SP! You made my day.


Daughter had a volleyball game today, so on this rainy Tuesday she set out for school in the traditional (for this year's team!) pre-game garb--volleyball uniform, fuzzy flip flops (hand knit by dad!) and hair in pig tails with blue and gold ribbons. Blue and gold are the school colors. She is having such fun with volleyball! This is her first opportunity to participate on the team. She's on the middle school B team, and so far this year, they've won all their games until today! This team was tough! Our girls held their own, but it was their first defeat.

In my knitting news, I'm still trudging along with the Making Waves socks. They are not hard to do at all, but I am slow on the cabling part. I guess that will come with practice. This is my first attempt at cables. I'm ready to finish off these socks and get to grafting the toe! I just love Kitchner! Here's a not very good photo. You can't see the pattern. I'll have to get a better shot of the detail work later.


I've put aside the Twinkletoes socks for now. I will pick back up with a pair for daughter since the present sock is way too big. After I get her socks done, I'll assess how much yarn I have left and then decide on a pattern for myself. I have lots more Twinkletoes coming, which is exciting! Isn't this a pretty color? It's called Sunrise.


I really need to get to work on the Fiber Trends Felted Totes for Christmas. I need to make two more, then it's felting time. I've found with that pattern (in the small size tote) that you run very close to using all the wool called for. I have only tiny amounts left over. I guess this is a good thing, although I wouldn't mind having more odds and ends of wool to play with for other felting projects. Here's the first bag in pre-felted form.


I have decided the my hand spun, hand dyed yarn will become a wrap--probably a small one! I haven't had time to measure yardage yet. Here are some pictures of my yarn.

In the dye pot:


Finished skeins:


Monday, September 13, 2004

Monday Already?

I realized last night at about 11 that I hadn't blogged! Oh well. Weekends are usually so busy around here that there isn't time.

I dyed yesterday! YAY! I had some handspun Romney yarn--my first and unfortunately last--in natural color and I sort of splotch dyed it. I have 5 skeins (no idea of the yardage) and they look great. The predominant color is a sort of "cherry pie" looking reddish color. There are also splashes of gold, blue and green, but I got a little overzealous with the red. Next time, I want to go for more gold. I had intended to felt the yarn into a bag of some type, but husband and friends (who are spinners and knitters) think I should preserve the character of the yarn by knitting it into a small shawl or wrap. That is probably a good idea in case I ever get back on the spinning wheel!

I continued knitting on the Twinkletoes sock for my daughter and am down to the foot now--in the home stretch. I had her try it on and *gasp* it is too big. I guess this one will be for me, and I'll start a pair of Broadripples for her. Those are put aside for the moment, though, because I really need to finish that Making Waves sock for the 6 Sox KAL. I cast on and completed the cuff last night, so hopefully it won't take too long to whip it out. I'm using US 2.5 needles and sport weight yarn.

I've order another 2000 yards of yarn from lotusblossom--more Twinkletoes. I just love her colors!! The yarn is fun to work with, too, which I think is important. I have 4 different colorways coming and hope to be able to get 8 pair of socks out of that.

Oh, we got a call Friday after school that the field trip for daughter's class was cancelled. They hope to re-schedule later in the year. I think this is for the best. I checked the forecast today, and they are expecting thunderstorms all week at the coast. That doesn't mix well with kids sleeping in tents and kayaking in tidal creeks. Daughter is disappointed as I'm sure all the kids are. If the other parents are like me, they are breathing easier about this. I'd have worried sick about those kids! It will be good when hurricane season is over. What a bad year it's been for storms.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Campaigns, Craft Fairs, and the Missing LYS

There is something wonderful about Saturdays. Maybe it's the no work no school thing that makes them so great! Husband rushed off bright and early this morning for his spinning demo. He was well armed with about 2 dozen spindles he'd made and painted himself as well as a large basket of hand dyed roving he and our daughter had prepared. I don't even know when he left the house--I slept in today!

By mid-morning, daughter and I had manged to get ourselves up, dressed, fed, and done with most of our clean up chores, so we headed into town. Our goals for the day were to snag some Kerry -Edwards bumper stickers and campaign buttons at the Democratic Headquarters and to check out progress at the spinning demo. The visit to the campaign headquarters was very interesting. I've never been heavily involved in politics, just firm in my beliefs. It really was cool to be in the company of so many people who think the way I do politically. That was very refreshing, because usually I find myself surrounded by conservative Republicans!

The Farmer's Market, site of the spinning demo, was D-E-A-D! There was hardly anyone there. It turns out that a big craft show was being held the next town over this weekend. That's where everyone was! Aiken's Makin is the name of the festival. We ended up over there this afternoon; it had been YEARS since we'd been. In fact, daughter (who is 11) said she'd never been, so I guess it's been at least that long since we have. I must say that I was highly disappointed in the quality of the crafts. If you want tons of candles (all of which look alike--not very attractive and in canning jars) or purses made from cheapo looking fabric, then you are in the right place. I saw ONE booth selling anything knitting related, and that consisted of a booth with maybe 2 dozen cotton dishcloths knitted in basketweave. They were pretty and reasonably priced ($2 each) but I don't need dishcloths. We found two vendors out of the whole lot who were doing anything that looked like it required talent. One man was selling hand-turned (as in made on a lathe) bowls which were gorgeous. I think he's a friend of the husband of one of our spinning friends. (Did that sentence make any sense??) Our friend's husband also makes bowls. In fact, I have an order in with him to make two black walnut bowls for us to give as Christmas gifts. The other worthwhile (in my opinion!) vendor was a man selling hand made boxes. These were gorgeous jewelry boxes made out of different kinds of exotic furniture grade woods. I bought two of them! One is for me, and one is going to be a Christmas gift for daughter. Shhh!! Don't tell!

On the knitting front, my sock with the Twinkletoes yarn is coming along beautifully!! I should finish the first one tomorrow. I turned the heel this afternoon on the drive over to the craft fair and will pick up the gusset stitches later this afternoon. This might be my fastest pair of socks yet. Good thing, because I really need to finish my Making Waves sock for the 6 Sox KAL. The new pattern is going up next week!

I also got two new patterns today. One is a lacy poncho from Chic Knits http://www.chicknits.com/lacyponcho.html and the other is a sock pattern called Landlocked Socks. I'll have to dig up the URL for that one. It's a great looking sock pattern. I can't wait to start.

Hey, I've got to tell you about our trip to the LYS in Aiken, and the true reason we ended up at the craft fair!! We didn't set out this afternoon intending to go to the craft fair. We were going to visit the LYS because we'd gotten a flyer from them yesterday saying they had moved to a new store. We finally found the new store. The flyer said it was "open and airy" and they told the truth!! The doors were wide open, and the place was completely gutted!!! It looks as if they are still in the process of renovations. We walked over the two blocks to where the store had been originally, and the place was completely empty. Sounds like poor planning on someone's part. The flyer we got advertised a class as starting today. Hmmm.... Interesting.


Friday, September 10, 2004

TGIF and What's on the Needles

Today is one of my favorite days of the week--FRIDAY! The older I get, the more I seem to live for the weekend. All day Friday is like a huge countdown to freedom! I enjoy my job, but it's here all the time. I mentioned yesterday that I work from home. My office is here. My work phone and fax lines and office computer are here. It's a great commute, but it takes a lot of discipline to know when to shut the door and forget it!! Sometimes I have that and sometimes I don't.

What's up for this weekend? Daughter Dear has a field trip with school Monday through Wednesday. They are going to the coast for a camping and kayaking adventure. I have a feeling that thanks to Ivan they will have a wet time of it. Eleven year olds shouldn't mind that, but I pity the poor chaperones! This weekend will find us busy rounding up all the things needed for this field trip--the sleeping bag and ground pad, rain gear, grubby old tennis shoes, etc.

On Saturday, my husband, along with one of the ladies from the local fiber group, is doing a spinning demo at the farmer's market. He has been busy the past couple of weeks making drop spindles and dyeing pencil roving to sell. I hope he's successful! His backup plan is to sell the spinning kits to a woman we met in Savannah last week. She has recently opened a fiber shop downtown (more on that in another post!) and is very interested in spinning.

Sunday is fiber group time. We have a group that meets monthly at a local former cotton mill. The mill itself is gorgeous. There are apartments in part of it while the bottom floor is renovated and open for tours. Meeting space leaves everything to be desired--the group is set up right in the middle of where people walk through to pay for things for the gift shop, purchase tickets to tour the mill, etc. I know this makes the crafts visible, hopefully sparking interest from a passerby, but it is a pain in the rump to have someone think they can just walk up and grab your wheel or otherwise mess with your things. I'm not much of a "joiner" so I won't be at the meeting. Husband, on the other hand, thrives on this kind of interaction. We laugh about the fact that in high school and college, I was the social butterfly. He was more a homebody. Now, as adults, the roles have changed. I like being here in my own home with my own things. I much prefer a Sunday afternoon spent sitting in my recliner knitting to one spent sitting on a hard folding chair fighting tourists off my things!

OK...enough griping for one post! Let's talk about what's on my needles. I'm typically a one project at a time person, but right now I have three pair of socks going!! I have the Making Waves socks from the Yahoo group Six Sox KAL. I've finished sock 1 of the pair with a perfect kitchner toe. I'm so proud of that toe! I have yet to cast on for sock 2. There is one more month left for this pattern, so I have time. The pattern works up quickly. This is my first attempt at cables, and I'm finding it quite easy.

Also on the needles is a Gull Wing lace sock from the book Socks, Socks, Socks. This pair of socks is for my MIL for either a Christmas or birthday gift. Given her birthday is in just a few more weeks, it's likely she'll see these at Christmas. I find that I'm not thrilled with the yarn I'm using for this sock for some reason. It's a Regia yarn in white with small spots of pastel blue, pink, lavendar, and gold very widely spaced. Also, the pattern requires a lot of concentration on my part. I can't do more than 3-4 pattern repeats per night at the most!

Last night I cast on a plain old sock using Twinkletoes sock yarn bought from e-Bay seller lotusblossum. All of her yarns are handpainted, and I have the colorway Sunrise for these socks. I wasn't keen on the yarn when I saw it in person. It looked much different than the photo in the auction--more oranges and less blues. When I wound it off the hank into balls, the colors started growing on me more. The blues were coming out more. I've knit the cuff of the sock, and I really like the way the colors are working out. There are so many variations on shade. You could see that if my camera were not at the beach!! These socks are going to be for my daughter. There is enough yarn to make two pair of socks, I think. I got 500 yards!! I'd like to do socks for myself with this yarn using the Broadripple pattern.

I seem to always have a ton of projects for Christmas knitting, and this year is no different. (I've only been knitting almost a year, but still knit a gift for each person on my list last year!) I am doing 3 felted bags--one for my mom, one for my MIL, and one for a close friend. I've knit one bag but haven't felted it. The pattern I'm using is by Fiber Trends. It works up great in Brown Sheep Nature Spun with an accent of Trendsetter Flora. I think I will knit all three purses and then have a felting party. I also want to do some felted slippers, but I'm not sure that is going to happen. I have the yarn (bought at a Christmas in July sale at the LYS!) but may not have the time.

I'll attempt to find our old digital camera and make some pictures this weekend. I am kicking myself for not having brought home the "good" camera this weekend. At least the beach place is ours and no one else (outside of family) goes in there.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

What Do I Do With It Now That I've Got It?

Wow. My own blog. It seems everyone and her sister has one, so of course, I had to have one, too. Now what do I do with this thing? Do I really have anything worth saying that any of you really want to hear?

Why don't I introduce myself to you for starters, and we'll take it from there! My name is Donna, and I live in SC. I've lived in this state all my life--all 39 years of it--and love it. I grew up near Charleston, and the coastal Lowcountry area will always hold a special place in my heart. I'm one of those people who likes the smell of the marsh. I married my college sweetheart back in December 1987 and we're coming up on anniversary number 17. I feel like that is some sort of "world record" these days. We are parents to a wonderful 11 year old daughter who is a sixth grader this year. She's so smart and beautiful! I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom either! Our daughter is playing volleyball this year on the middle school team. She is having so much fun with it! Neither my husband nor I are athletic, but our daughter is. We're really proud of what she's accomplished this year.

We're a family of fiber-a-holics. Husband and daughter spin. I tried to learn, but it really isn't my thing. I may give it a whirl another time. Both of them took a weaving class at the local art institute, and we have a loom (several looms of different types) here at home. We all knit. Knitting is my passion. I love it. My favorite thing to knit is socks. I particularly like turning the heels. It is so much fun to watch the heel cup take shape.

I have to work to help support our fiber habit, and I'm lucky enough to be able to work out of our home. I haven't always done this, so I tell people I've paid my dues! My degree is in biology, and I've worked in some type of science/medical field since college graduation. For the past almost 14 years, I've worked in clinical research. I started out as a study coordinator at a local hospital, moved on to monitoring research studies all over the southeast, and now manage a team of monitors who all are regionally based and work from their homes. There was a lot of travel involved in the monitoring, so when I had the chance at management, I jumped at it! I was on the road (well, in the air!) for the better part of 4 years before becoming a manager. It's a hard job, not at all glamorous. People hear "travel" and think you are seeing the world. What you are seeing is the inside of airports, a different hotel room each night, and the inside of hospital or clinic medical record departments. It's not glamorous and you're not seeing the sites.

I love my job now. Management can be a gigantic pain in the butt, but it also has it's rewarding moments. There is so much opportunity to help others learn and grow in their careers. I like that. My employees are like a second family to me. I really appreciate all that they do. I did it one time, too, so I know what challenges they face every day.

Work can be stressful and so can being the mother of a pre-teen!! I de-stress at night by knitting. I also de-stress by yarn shopping! LOL!! Some women complain that their husbands don't understand the yarn addiction and the need to build stash. I may have the opposite problem. My fiber addicted husband is an enabler! He encourages me to buy yarn. If I want two balls of a particular yarn, he'll say "Maybe you should get three just in case!" LOL!!

OK. How's that for a first post? Maybe I have something to say after all. I'm going to try to post pictures of some of the things I'm working on....just as soon as I figure out where I left the digital camera! Stay with me here. This should be interesting!!