2010 Hands on Retreat

I am giddy! I never know what it meant to be giddy, but I'm that. May 14th I will be heading to Chicago, a favorite town, with Lynne, knitting pal/sister I always wanted to join a Sheraton Hotel full of other knitters. This will be my first retreat and many more will follow!
The Hands-On retreat teaches knitting and crocheting gloves and mittens. I'm good with mittens and can knit them blindly. However, fingers always presented problems. I follow the guide in "Handy Book of Patterns" but my gloves are always too short or just weird. Yes, I do my swatch like a good little knitter. So this retreat will hopefully solve many of my problems.

Lynne and I have been discussing taking a class or traveling to yarn shops but the plans never took flight. I remember holing up with her in my parents loft in Hillman while she taught me some basic quilting. I had a blast and really treasured that time.

I'm also picturing loads of knitters in the hotel lounge after hours!! I haven't decided on my drink yet. I'm hoping with can cruise en masse to the Cheesecake Factory! Heaven!

coolness

This is awesome! Windows 7 has a gadget that I can use to post!! Just a handy little thing! If only they would create one to make some coffee. I'll check my Mac.

Really bad Becky-idea

I have quite a few.....it begins with an idea about which I'm way over excited. I plow ahead completely forgetting to write it down, perhaps a little flowcharting or drawing the plan. Nope no plan.

This past spring I decided to mainly plant seeds. Lots of them. The packets are just buy 2 get 1 free at Meijer. I bought morning glory, sweet pea, and a couple other vining plants that I can't recall. I dug a trench around my wishing well thinking that I would have lovely trailing vines growing on it. Then it just left my mind. I watched the seedling grow never thinking to thin them out. The resulting blob is to the right.

We had a hot, muggy spell so when it cooled down a bit I artfully trimmed around the bottom of the well and tried to thin this out. I've yet to see any flowers. I'll check the back...

This is bad....

Not what I envisioned...

Hopefully the rain will quit by the time I get home so I can "pose" my finished projects and take some pix.

till then....

just want to go home and knit

We Michiganers have been so spoiled this year; temps in low 80's, not much rain. Perfect for sitting outside and knitting. Life has been over hectic, past my comfort level of stress, but I have completed many of my projects! With Mike laid off it seemed the sensible thing to do.....finish what I have sitting around. No yarn trips for me!! yea, if I hit the LYS or Joanns with Mike in tow, I walk out with at least $50 in sock yarn. But I'm determined to finish the 5 + sock projects, my steeked blazer that just needs the sleeves, and possibly even Daves sweater that I've been working on and off for the last 4 years.

I have however, discovered that I can knit in a traffic jam. By keeping my travel sock in my lap, I'm able to knit and creep up a bit. I did it twice so far and was immensly proud.

Catching up

Time to get this blog rolling again! The year has been insane; nonstop! I'm currently taking a writing class to improve my skills and make my writing somewhat more exciting.

Panic in Redford

Oh no oh no oh no, I misplaced Pauls sock project. Please tell me it's not laying in the rain in the driveway. It's in a ziplock so it should be safe as long as no one tries to wear them. They won't get far on 2 circs.

Caylees knitting along quite well on her own. She loves to knit for baby sis Laura and has caught the knitting addiction early on....."just one more row" turned into most of the night one weekend. She is now working on a shawl with some Rowan Kidsilk that Aunt Becky couldn't resist buying her. To really appreciate knitting you must work with something yummy and divine!!! This is such a pretty picture of her . Here is the Lovely Laura modeling the final result.

This has been the year of most of my friends falling ill with horridous illnesses, while we are remaining healthy but the house and vehicles are not. The milestone b-day money I was hoping to spend on an ipod will be going to new tires.....funny how they both cost the same!! It has been an adventure sliding thru intersections this winter. Ok hon looks like I'm carpooling, which is good, more knitting time for me.

Perhaps I'll stop by Caylees and see where she is on her shawl! Get my dose of happiness!

mmmmm Opal

I have found my new lust and it is Opal yarns. My darling longtime friend Paul had a tumor removed and I decided that I would knit him socks and by the time they were finished he would be healed. So I kept fondling this yarn, sitting amounst mounds of sock yarn at Old Village Yarn shop in Plymouth. My fingers love it….. sooooooo nice. I don’t care if it was $20 a ball. I came home that day practically in hysterics over my friend and said I didn’t care how much it was don’t even say a word!! Well, luckily, Mike wants some. He should learn to knit. Lynne sent me a site; Little Knits that have great prices. Add to cart.....Add to cart....

This is such a joy to work with. Perhaps its because they're for such a great friend, one who puts up with all my whines, bad jokes, tears, and clumsiness.

I have a Becky idea to do a pair in every color scheme, then save the leftovers and do one wild pair for me and possibly Sammie.

(sigh) i start again

The Manly sweater from Stitch and Bitch is one of the few projects I can't put down. I started it 2 years ago for my bro-in-law Dave, finished it, wayyyyyy tooooo small. Meaning it wouldn't go over his head. The arms were fine but I think I got lost in the pattern somewhere. This was the 3rd or 4th sweater I made, so really it wasn't me....

Frog the body

Start it again

and again

So I'm now working on that in the evenings or Pauls Opal socks. I need to buy Opal yarn in every color so I can use the leftovers to make me some real funky socks.

That's not Dave, obviously. Nice looking model tho. I digress, as usual. His sweater MC will be denim blue, cranberry stripe, black edging in Plymouth dk. Nice. He seemed please even though he couldn't get it over his head.

This is Dave-------->

Little grumpy here. Doesn't like his picture taken. I have some bad news for him when the sweater is finished. You gonna model honey..... His birthday is the same as my biological brother Bobs but Dave and I celebrate ours together at his moms. With any luck I'll have it finished by then. I'd like to get a felted fishermans hat started for Bob.

Miss Me!

What a long strange year it's been! Life, death, drama, but I have my knitting to keep me sane. Now that I have my computer in the craft room, I can re-establish life with the world.

Accomplishments: 3 nieces now know how to knit quite nicely. Caylee knits and hand spins courtesy of her Aunt in Montana. Hitchin' a ride next summer, hope they don't find me til we get there..... Bri and her perfect little rows. And now 5 yr. old Meaghan cast on after showing her 3X, showing her a few stitches, she knit 3 rows, threw the project behind her and said that she wanted now to crochet!

David, aka love of my live (hereforknown loml) is turning 11. I taught him to crochet 3 years ago. He does neat little squares and rectangles. We're now lunching, going to the finer yarn shops, and learning about the wonders of wool. Yep, my bits of sunshine.

Sammie will not knit but gladly will wear anything I knit for her. Fine! She designs, I knit. Currently I'm working on boa gauntlets and matching hat.

M&D

Sorry, it's been awhile. It's not like anyone is hanging off my every word! We visited Mom and Dad this past weekend. While the trip was fun, it was somewhat bittersweet as they had to say farewell to Buddy, their about 10 year old Beagle Basset. He was in so much pain, poor guy. But they adopted a small beagle named Cledus. Cledus-Puppy-Dog is my nickname for him. He's so much smaller then Lola and sister Blondie that when he was overwhelmed by their playing, he snuggled right under my arm.

We picked up Dad's Dakota and gave it a loving home with us. Dad H drove us up with Lola and me snuggled in the backseat. She sleeps through any car ride. Get's up once in awhile to see where we are. I was able to work on my new travel socks while it was light then my 2 socks on 2 circs as the light was fading. Those are stictly stockenette stitch. I read a bit of Debbie Macombers book, Shop on Blossom Street. A nice read, a little tearjerky. The author and I share a devotion to knitting and both feel it's icalming nfluence in our lives. It has gotten me through a couple cancer scares and it has brought some comfort to friends.

Not the way to wake up

AAAAHHHH! what is this?? While digging through my sock stash last night I must have dropped a small ball of my beloved Fixation. That's just a cat toy for Micky. So I calmly poured my cup of joe and untangled the yarn from the house. Micky was found perched in the breakfast nook's window quite satisfied with himself. This yarn went thoughout the front room into the vestibule.

Socks, so far

SOCKS!!!! Mike saw a ball of Lion Brand Wool thick and Quick and was absolutely convinced that this thick wool would make perfect hunting socks. The ball had a pattern with it so he didn't see the problem. I kept telling him,. well, the socks will be thick. No, he insisted, they would be perfect for hunting weather in November. After his first morning out, he agreed that his feet barely fit in his boots but they were nice and toasty. These would be the socks shown on the far left. The once up top are a modified slipper version that both dads, Mike, and assorted male friends love.Second from left are my first attempt at socks. They are blue berry waffle weave using hard to find Red Heart Tweed. I found the yarn in a Ben Franklin store in Gaylord, MI. Beneath those are Cascade Fixation socks and a self striping sock from Knit bits. The mate is in my purse. The Fixation socks have become quite the hit at WCC . Many have fondled my ankles all the while begging for socks for themselves. Needless to say, I am hosting sock clinics on my lunch hour and after work.Continuing along the tour, the middle socks were quite fun to make using baby cables for ribbing. The yarn used was called Marble, but I'm not sure of the manufacturer. Mike requested a light weight sweater made from it. I'll get around to it once I find more. Maybe. The last pair is another Cascade Fixation. I had to fight my 4 yr old niece Meggie for the socks once she got them on. To stop the tears, I promised I'd knot up a pair for her.







Lola just loves the socks. Lola loves to pose.

the drama never stops

Another reason to keep a project with me at all times. As I was driving down Ann Arbor Rd on my way home from work, I spied a very attractive man at the corner gas station. Wow! and he's waving at me. Oh, it's my ever so cute husband and I'll just bet his brakes went out! So I picked him up and drove over to his break line leaking car and called AAA. 2 hours and many phone calls later, Larry the tow truck guy finally finds us. Look, I gave him precise directions including landmarks. Meanwhile I completed 2 stripes on my self-striping and self fair isle socks. They're always with me as they are just a nice mindless activity. I sat, knitted, and watched for Larry. Fortunately, this car was given to us by friend Monkeyboy's roomie John. We were able to replace the drums and brakes on the rear but John is now on his own. So we will carpool until Labor Day weekend when we pick up Dads truck.

Oh, he's fine

My favorite guy will be fine. He developed a severe infection and is being treated by antibiotics.

Here is the instructions on giving a cat, especially Groucho a pill.

Sit on sofa. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your elbow as though you were going to give a bottle to a baby. Talk softly to it.
With right hand, position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. (be patient) As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. Drop pill into mouth. Let go of cat, noticing the direction it runs.
Pick the pill up off the floor and go get the cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process. Sit on floor in kitchen, wrap arm around cat as before, drop pill in mouth. Let go of cat, noticing the direction it runs.
Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. Scoot across floor to pick up pill, and go find the cat. Bring it back into the kitchen. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten. Drop pill into mouth.
Pry claws from back legs out of your arm. Go get the cat, pick up half-dissolved pill from floor and drop it into garbage can.
Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of closet. Call spouse from backyard. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.
Retrieve cat from curtain rod, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered Doulton figures from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
Get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with rubber band.
Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
Call fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take another pill from foil wrap.
Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed, force cat's mouth open with small spanner. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour one cup of water down throat to wash pill down.
Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call at furniture shop on way home to order new table.
Get last pill from bottle. Go into bathroom and get a fluffy towel. Stay in the bathroom with the cat, and close the door.
Sit on bathroom floor, wrap towel around kitty, leaving only his head exposed. Cradle kitty in the crook of your arm, and pick up pill off of counter.
Retrieve cat from top of shower door (you didn't know that cats can jump 5 feet straight up in the air, did you?), and wrap towel around it a little tighter, making sure its paws can't come out this time. With fingers at either side of its jaw, pry it open and pop pill into mouth. Quickly close mouth (his, not yours).
Sit on floor with cat in your lap, stroking it under the chin and talking gently to it for at least a half hour, while the pill dissolves.
Unwrap towel, open bathroom door. Wash off scratches in warm soapy water, comb your hair, and go find something to occupy your time for 7-1/2 hours.
Arrange for SPCA to get cat and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

My Favorite Guy

How sad, Groucho, my favorite guy is going to the vet this afternoon as we are finding blood in his urine. He has been my feline companion for 19 happy years and I hate to say goodbye but we will see what his doctor says. He is also completely blind but knows his way around and can still get up on the furniture, the bathroom sink to keep my company as I go through my am routine, and he can still walk all over me. He also takes a well aimed wack at Lola when she passes him. He's a nuzzler and can still purr up a storm. I'll post later with news.

It's us!!

I'm still yakking about Sunday's fun. Here we are with the incredibly funny Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Lynne is on the right; she's my guru in most areas of my life, SP-McPhee is center, and there I am, shiny face and all with her last book "Yarn Rules!" I now carry it along with my knitting everywhere I go. She understands my yarn/knit/fiber obsession and encouraged me on with her autograph. Whatta gal.
After my week of teaching union pipefitters how to use powerpoint and proctoring their tests, (need my happy place now...ah yes, there it is...Orlando Bloom holding my basket while I pile on more yarns and goodies),I plan on purchasing a digital camera strictly for my many projects. I may "borrow and give credit" her idea of snapping the pix in, say, trees, the garden.

meeting the yarn harlot

Whatta week. during the course of this past week I have, with the help of my friend, sis, guru-Lynne, mastered the turkish cast-on hanging out in the tranquil garden. She also got me started on 2 sox on 2 circs. Unfortunately, I got hit with a virus so I was out of it on Friday. I returned from the doctors office long enough to watch knitty gritty on DYI Then I'm out til 4:30.
Sunday was incredible fun! Lynne picked me up at 10:30 where we headed to Ann Arbor to meet non other than the yarn harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at the AA library. As she does in her books, she had all 400 of us knitter in well...stitches! Imagine the bonding in that room as well as the packed conference room 3 floors up! Needles clacking, people gabbing about, yarn, patterns, families living with us addicts. Stephanie informed us that we are 50 million strong! Imagine all 50,000,000 meeting on the White house lawn, or lobbying in congress!
Needless to say, I bought her other 2 book, Yarn Harlot, and Rules on Knitting. I already had Knit Wit. My ever so supportive husband likes to page thru that one and laugh at the passages that remind him of me. So she signed that one to him.
More later when Sis Lynne sends the pix.

day of the money-sucking weasels

gotcha with that title! Actually, I had a wonderful Sunday with niece Sammy and nephew David. We saw the new pirates movie (Orlando Bloom is getting hunky..me likes them young). Played some arcade.. converation between David (9) and me goes something like this...

Aunt Becky, I need more tokens, just a few more.
me: here, have my last quarter,
No, I need more than that, can't you go to the atm over there.

this is the part where my brain exploded.

It's hard saying no to them but I need the practice.

So I treated them to Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.

Still agonizing over 2 socks on 2 circs. Lynne is visiting tonight so she'll get me started.

http://www.mybarbarian.com/video.html is still running at work. It's so bad it's addicting

Thanks, but I've had enough drama this week.

Knitting 2 socks on 2 circs seemed easy! I read the instructions, followed them to the t and I'm still ripping out and starting over. I'm putting them down until my guru Lynne comes for dinner on Monday and can hold my hand. But this has been my obsession this week.

Speaking of obsessions, check out this website and view their videos. www.mybarbarian.com
I can't help it, they're too bizarre. It's like a train wreck, can't stop looking!

So I'm in traffic yesterday, tied up near Haggerty when I hear a crash and see a Ford Blazer flying thru the air toward me. Luckily it missed all cars; I can't stop thinking about the occupants. Police and ambulance were quick to the scene and were able to untangle our cars as we all just ran out of them to possibly help.

Help can be useful

I'm still getting used to setting this up. I added my links today. Crazy cat ladies is so informative yet heartbreaking to read about the abuse of animals. I think I'm just going to ramble about my 2 fav past times, yarn, knitting, shopping, and my pets. I'll leave work outta this as well as my family. They can be seen on my website www.go-hageman.com.