Knitting on my Big Fat Italian Vacation

I had a blast at the Villa Roma! Oodles of extended family made it so special! We lazed by the pool and ate way too much food! I visited a few new yarn shops. My Mother , SIL and I took a day trip to a sweet little town, Milford Pa, where we ate at a historic inn and spent a few lazy hours perusing the LYS. Then another day my SIL and I went to Monticello Ny and visited Knit one needle point Two where I purchsed some yummy berry colored silk...WIP pics will follow. Here are some vacation pics:
My son Andy and nephew Tyler approching the BEE-you-dee-full fountain that fronts the villa!!



Hail caeser!!! Caeser night in the Dining hall!!



Family shot outside the dining hall..notice my shetland tri!!!!



And our very own post prandial knit a long!! My mom is making her first felted bag..SIL is making another gelato and I am working on the Gaia shoulder hug!



All in all it was a fabulous time complete with kitsch, good food and good friends!!

Lace and Flowers

I am continuing to have computer operating difficulties..SO shall I try this post again??
I spent some time Puttering about in the Garden today...made some flower arrangements and ,of course, engaged in lace making! I was recently diagnosed with a Vit D deficiency so I spent time out in the sun without sunscreen. It freaked me out more than a little bit! But I know three 15 minute sessions of sunshine a week should take care of the vit D requirement. I sat on the porch and knitted for 15 minutes. Being outside with all the lovely flowers blooming inspired me to take some flowers inside. Here is my arrangement of fresh sage and roses..smells divine!

Here are some more pics of my garden. This is Farmer Bill's potatoe farm under the hedgerows!

Last year we had a forgotten bag of taters in the basement that flowered into a shrub within the net bag!! Bill planted 'em and "yard taters" were born! We enjoyed our own potatoes last Fall. YOu got to love city folk!! It is the small things in life that thrill us!!
Here is Farmer Lisa's rasberry thicket..you can't tell in the pic..but they are loaded with green berries!! Jam is around the corner!!! My mouth is watering...just imagining the taste of fresh rasberry jam on some warm brie..MMMhhh!!!

The peonies have fully burst into bloom.

The roses have also blossomed and rise up from the hosta bed in a fury of lacy red blooms!!

And in the herb garden that grows in a low river rock wall..the sage was left to flower into tall purple paintbrushes!

I must be a computer illiterate

That post did not publish as enterd..?? I am so puzzled..I do not know what I am doing wrong!
The second half of the post was missing!! Here goes again:
Dulcie travelled in style:

She loves her doggie care seat! It lifts her up high and she can see out the windows!
Despite my limited knitting..Gail is getting bigger. She is really growing up into a beautiful shawl.

Lace and Flowers

We travelled back from NJ last night..it was overcast and dark ..my feeble eyes couldn't hack any car knitting so I watched Pride and Predjudice for the umpteeth time!! Dulcie travelled in style in her doggie car seat. Here are some car shots:

Dulcie looks so cute:

WTF with the pics!!??

I am so confused!!! My pics are all screwed up and I am so computer challenged ..I can't figure out how to edit!!! So here goes again!!! These are the pics that didn't how up below!!!

Knitting!!! Carpal tunnel style!!

I have been a busy little knitter this past weekend...blogging the other day about my many WIPs gave me the metaphorical spanking I needed to pick up and finish my first socks! In addition, I hosted the ongoing knit-a-long that I have participating in. Saturday, I sat outside and basked in the sunlight...enjoyed some fine Cascata Reisling and knitted as fast as I could on my rainbow at twighlight socks! I had my ipod on and was utterly seduced by the honeysuckle -esque fragrances of spring wafting off the many flowering trees in my yard..I was in a majorly Zen place because I sat there and knitted for four hours and it felt like a half hour!!

These crab apple blossoms smell divine!!

My view while knitting saturday!

And here at last are my finished socks!!!!

Then on Sunday I hosted the apple baby hat knit-a-long! My apple hat is torey-adorable on Isaac! The double points look like scaffolding!!

And here is the finished project!!

Two completed projects in one weekend!! What more could a knitter ask for? I resolve now to finish my shetland triangle shawl!!!! I feel like I am cleaning house!hehe

Scattered!!!!

I have yarn scattered all over the place!!!! ...Mainly because of yarn hopping Vermont two times this past winter! I am yarning all over the place literally and metaphorically!!! I think I have too many projects going on at once..and I just want to cast on more! I need to discipline my fanny and finish things..i wish I could speed knit! I must have a bad case of knitters ADD..I get bored if I am working on something too long! My inner toddler needs a time out...I am going to resolutely refuse to cast on anything new until I have completed at least two WIP's!
current WIP's:
Bill's sweater from hell - needs half of sleeves,piecing and neck ribbing
socks- three inches or so of instep
shetland triangle- two or three more repeats and edging
seaside cottage stole- JUST started!!!
Lucy bag - 20 more rows of stockinette and straps
baby hat - half way there
I won't even mention some of my other hibernating projects!!! I will focus on this list...!!! I most definately will stop browsing patterns on Ravelry..that is a sure way to derail my efforts to stay on track!!! On a positive note..i did make soem cute polar bear coasters for my swap partner and I made a new born berry hat for Emma's new grandbaby! Yikes! I just realized that I am a one skein wonder!

Dulcie looks so cute in the berry hat!! Doesn't she look happy!hehe

here is my jumble of WIPS!!!!!

sock it to me!!!

I have put Bill's sweater aside (yet again!) I just need a break from that frackin' thing. I made another felted purse and then I cast on my two at a time socks! yay!! I am doing the twighlight pattern with wisdom poems sock yarn in a gorgeous colorway. I have to admit that at first I became yarnicidal!! I wanted to go all jack the ripper on it and slash it into pieces!!! I was pulling yarn from the center AND from the outside of the ball and, folks, it wasn't pretty! It was a tangled, twisted mess and I ripped it out and wound the yarn into two separate balls...they had to be timed out..they just weren't playing nicely. Then after casting on for the third time(don't ask) ...I cussed and tugged my way through the first few rounds..hating every moment...fantasizing about cutting it up into little yarny confetti ...vowing to buy double points...when suddenly it untwisted and started to make sense. It started looking like a cuff!!! Now I am in love...

Winter blizzard..a time to knit and reflect

Outside ... all is cold and frosty, the snow is coming down in thick wet sheets...footprints lead up onto my front porch into the toasty warmth...
On the porch..cat tracks lead to no place in particular and the porch, forlorn and colorless, awaits the spring, when it comes alive with wicker and wooden rockers and the companionship of good friends... Outside my side porch..a blue spruce wears a cloak of snow and everywhere I look is a mist of cold, wet white and shades of grey.... Inside...an unexpected blizzard bonus ...SNOW DAY!!!..slave child doing last night's dirty dishes...AHHHH !! Now that is poetry in motion!!!
Now it is my time to bury myself in corn bags on the couch, on my fluffy nest, hot coffee on the table, and Bill's cabled sweater from Hell in my hand!!! Happy knit knit!!!

more pics from my maiden voyage

I wanted to put more pics of my first ever swap package from hulaknitter...she is "da bomb"!! She sent me an amzing package and I have been enjoying it...I already made the chicken soup (dinner last night ...was delicious!!!), have been enjoying the other goodies and am plotting my next project with the gorgeous yarn she sent.

cocoa mustache

I was having a blah yucky day today. I woke up down and depressed...both boys are in school...work hasn't needed me and I was feeling pretty useless. Plus, it is so freakin cold, I feel like I will never be warm again. Went to bed last night without doing the dinner dishes and this morning my kitchen looked like gremlins made a milkshake with the blender lid OFF! I spent way too much time having to clean it and had to run all kinds of errands in the freezin’ cold …SOOOOO when I got home and found a box on the porch…I did a happy dance!! It was my first swap package!! That package was sorely needed ..it put me in such a good mood. My partner, hulaknitter, truly spoiled me with all kinds of thoughful treats that I love. I have a hot cocoa mustache right now because I am like a freakin little kid and I had to sample everything!! LOL I love everything about the package. I can't believe she was able to get to know my likes so well!! She sent me things I would have picked out for myself.

All work and no play...

ARGGHHH!!!! I just spent the last 6 hours working on my ravelry site. I took pictures of my stash ( well most of it) and am in the process of getting my site in good order. It will be awesome to be able to view my "goods" with just a click instead of rifling through baskets to figure out exactly what yarns I have accumulated since I began this oh so expensive hobby! I have computer neck and need a good masseuse LOL. I am such a computer illiterate ...I started a blog back in dec and forgot about it...so I cut and pasted my lone entry to this one. I put a picture of myself on this blog site ...I call it ninja knitter!!! Imagine the cool num chuck sound effects as i wield my size 7's!!!! It is a pic of me and the never ending sweater from hell! I am making it for my DH and he better wear it!!!! I have been playing hooky from it ...cheatin' on it with mittens, lucy bags, neck gaiters and other immediately gratifying projects!!! The cowl neck gaiter is my second attempt at "winging it" without a pattern. Overall, I am pleased with how it came out. I needed a fast and easy car project for a five hour trip to Vermont for a weekend of skiing. I cast 60 stitches onto size 15 circular 16” needles and began a knit 1 purl 1 rib. Not quite half way up I switched to size 13 circulars and decreased at each side (56 stitches). Finished off the ball..leaving just enought to bind off! I put it on and wore it all weekend. The alpaca is stretchy stuff ..but it only enhanced the cowl effect! YAY!!!! I needed a reason to play with misti alpaca ...it is delicious!!! I am tactile and I stroked the ball the whole time I was knitting. I almost got us into an accident because I kept trying to get my DH to pet it!! He said he felt sorry for the poor naked baby alpacas lol. I can't believe the time!!! I need to turn the computer off ...make a lovely cup of tea and continue to knit the sweater from hell! I am feeling tired and I THINK i HAVE COMPUTER POISONING! Is there such a thing? I think so and I think I overdosed. Don't be jealous of the beautiful luggage under my eyes!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Let me introduce myself
I am new to blogging. My journalling and poetry have always been intensely private and personal.It seems like a curious exercise to lay out my thoughts for anyone to read and critique. It feels a bit like parading down main street naked!! It feels awkward and there is some part of me that is resistant...wants to go pull out my paper journal and forgo this strange, new medium of expression! I am unwilling to admit defeat and am going to plow ahead no matter how foolish I feel. Let me intoduce myself. I am a married mother of two teenagers. My husband is an engineer and I am a pediatric nurse. I don't like to feel hemmed in so I work per diem. There are two strange things about my being a nurse. First, I am a total and complete hypochondriac. Have been all my life. What can I say? Aren't we all just a bit neurotic? This has been my way of NOT dealing with feelings since I was a tot. I can remember feeling sad about my grandparents and great aunt rose having to leave us and return to the city ( the city= NYC) after a fun Christmas together. I sat on the couch and on Aunt Roses's lap and squished my right aunt behind her back. I was convinced that I had an infection on the tip of my right middle finger. There was hard bump there, a writer's callous, and I was convinced that puss was going to erupt at any moment. Gross! I know, but earlier that summer my brother had a real infection on his scabby knee complete with pusicle and I was totally freaked out by it. Now I was manifesting my own "infection" instead of dealing with my feelings of loss. I have followed this pattern my whole life and still manifest diseases when I have unruly emotions! I never aspired to become a nurse. I sort of fell into for expediency's sake! I live in upstate NY, more cows than people!! My bachelor's degree in poly sci is basically useless in the modern job market even more so in rural America hence my foray into nursing! It was a practical decision. I tranferred credits into an associate degree RN program and was able to attend a community college in my own town... A nice balancing act for a mother of two young boys. After working med surg for a year, I had bald spots and the shakes!!(not really but it sounds dramatic!) I hated adult nursing and began to fear old age because of what I was encountering on a daily basis. Switching to per diem pediatric nursing enabled me to stay in the profession. I have been doing it for the past 8 years. I love taking care of children. They do say the darndest things. Yesterday, I was pulling the oxygen mask back up over the mouth and nose of a three year old for like the millionth time ( he didn't like this and kept pulling it off...imagine that? a non compliant toddler...how odd!) when he sighed dramatically and said "why are you being so mean to me. ...can't we just be friends????" Three going on thirty!!! I love those cute little kids!! Well I just looked at the clock and realized that an hour and a half of my life just got sucked into the black hole that is cyber space. More later.
Posted by lisaknits at 7:44 AM 0 comments
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Let me introduce myself

About Me

lisaknits
I currently live in beautiful upstate NY with my husband and children. I grew up in the shadow of NYC in Lake Hopatcong NJ. I am an RN and I work per diem on a pediatric ward. I am an avid reader, writer, and crafter. I work out consistently alternating 3 mile runs with strength training and aerobics and I love to cook healthy food for friends and family. I love interacting with people and socializing but I also feel comfortable with being alone and find creative uses for my extra time. View my complete profile

A Vehicle for Knitting

I find myself obsessing over knitting. Is it rude to sit in a meeting with a lucy bag in progress on your lap? I somehow think that I don't want to know the answer to that question. I find myself carting a project around in the cavernous tote that now masquerades as my pocketbook. Good bye slim little stylish hipsters...HELLO GRANNY PACK! I am so dangerous with that huge bag. It is a burial ground for receipts and outdated Michael's and Jo anne's coupons...I think there are some Haitian refugees from 1983 in there. Anyway ...it serves its primary purpose which is to make my new obsession portable. Portage knitting...it could become a new Olympic sport!!! With all of us knitters competing! Not for fastest knitter..leave that to Miriam Tegels...we could compete for most creative use of time. For sure knit in the car ...bribe non-knitting friends to drive...offer to pick up the tab for today's latte!! LOL Seriously, I think I am earning a reputation for rudeness...because I have knitted just about everywhere !! I thought I was practicing restraint because I didn't try to whip my knitting out in church and my hypochondriacal neuroses don't allow me to knit on the toity! Time will cure all...I suppose...this first flush of Love will fade and I won't spend all my leisure time planning projects and all my money stashing wool (i am thinking of setting myself up with a tin cup and a banjo ..need to drum up some money...I think I have spent more money on wool since the summer than I spent on clothes for the whole past decade!) Enough blogging..I need a fix...my knitting awaits!!