December 30, 2005 5:24 PM

December 20, 2005 5:10 PM

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on my love for Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

December 12, 2005 10:15 AM

December 6, 2005 5:00 PM

December 2, 2005 10:44 AM

November 30, 2005 6:55 AM

November 29, 2005 10:36 AM

November 21, 2005 12:06 PM

Dh was manning the grill, so it's just me and Jordan in this picture

Here she is with the Dora pinata that she rescued from being pommelled by her guests.

Mmmmmm! Yummy birthday cake.

Score! It's a whole pack of new Dora DVD's!

This year I'm going to try a new cake recipe that I found for a cranberry and white chocolate chip cake. I'll also make apple pie and Bri wants to learn to make sweet potatoe pie. This child amazes me because she has shown absolutely no interest in learning any of the skills that I can teach her. She never wanted to learn to knit or crochet, she tried to sew a little bit, but never pursued it, and she has never been interested in cooking, either. By the time I was sixteen I could do all of those things and more. I loved to follow my mom around and learn from her. I feel like I inherited my inquisitive nature from her. All my girl wants to do is curl up with a book or listen to music. What's a mommy to do?

Capitol Hill Needlework Goup Last night my group met at my fave LYS, Stitch D.C. in Eastern Market. We had a lovely time knitting and chatting. There were several new people in attendance and a freelance writer working on a story for the Washington Post. Everyone was thrilled with my ruffled scarf and I shared the quick and easy recipe for it. I started working on a lace stole, but it was too difficult to talk and keep up with the lace pattern rows, so I set that aside and worked on a top-down shrug tha tI am working on for Jordan. I made one for Bri this summer and posted a picture of it, then I got a few requests for the pattern. Since I designed it on the needles, I decided to make another one and write the recipe down as I went.
Wallace paid a visit and showed his latest designs. While he was knitting he sprinkled the Alpaca yarn he was working on with essential oils of Frankinsence and Myrrh. What a heady, rich, exotic aroma those two combined made. Since we had to switch nights at the Teaism group, it turns out that some of us will meet again at Teaism tonight. I hope its not still raining.

November 18, 2005 5:30 PM

November 14, 2005 11:26 AM

November 07, 2005 3:29 PM

November 04, 2005 2:49 PM

November 02, 2005 2:56 PM

October 21, 2005 12:50 PM

October 12, 2005 10:40 AM

October 11, 2005 11:56 AM

October 7, 2005 10:50 AM

October 5, 2005 10:23 AM

You Belong in Paris Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine, the men! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth. What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Octobr 4, 2005 12:39 PM

Octobr 2, 2005 6:09 PM

September 26, 2005 8:36 PM

September 17, 2005 11:03 AM

September 16, 2005 4:43 PM

-----BEGIN KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK----- KCR Exp+++ SPM++ Bam+ Den+ Steele (-) Wool+++ Lux++ Stash Scale+++ Fin+ Ent Lace++ Tex+++ Felt+ Circ+ DPN+ ML+ Swatch++ KIP+ Blog+ SnB EZ++ FO=~ WIP=3 GaugeDK+ Alt=Q,E,Em,Sw,Sp ------END KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Dh has left for his two week training duty for the Navy Reserves. All of his recent travel has been really hard on us as a family, and especially hard on Jordan. Two weeks is a long time for a two-year-old to be without one of her parents, but I guess I'll just have to deal with her and help her through it.
The Knit OUt is coming up soon, and planning and preparations for that will help distract me and keep me occupied. We are recruiting knitting and crochet teachers to volunteer to teach at the Knit Out. It's such a fun and rewarding event, which grows each year. I am planning on submitting a few items for the fashion show, but I have not gotten it together to design a scarf for the scarf contest.

September 14, 2005 2:17 PM

September 12, 2005 8:17 PM

September 9, 2005 2:45 PM

September 6, 2005 8:45 PM

September 5, 2005 7:35 PM

September 2, 2005 12:33 PM

August 31, 2005 5:47 PM

August 30, 2005 11:10 AM

August 23, 2005 10:53 PM

My best laid plans for a relaxing vacation at home this week have been thwarted. My child care provider has had a family emergency, so we have no care for Jordan this week. Leila's summer camp ended last week, so the girls and I are home together having a great time. I wnet to the craft store and bought some polymer clay, which Leila loves to do almost as much as painting. She akes all of these little intricate shapes and people and she even gives them hair and lips and toes. She gets so involved in her crafts that I have to drag her away to eat.
Yesterday I was watching Simply Quilts, and the guest was making quilted ATC's. It's been ages since I've made ATC's, so I got out some fabric and felt and tuff and made a few and I was quickly hooked again. I did a search to find a swap, but I only found one. I don't plan to get as deeply involved in making and swapping them as I did before, but it's really so much fun and incredibly rewarding. One of my favorite aspects of the craft is receiving cards from all over the US and the world. I have an album where I keep the cards received in swaps. I love to thumb through this album and look at the different techniques used. These are tiny works of art and the personal expression of each artist.
We received our $50 rebates from our new cell phones the other day. I'm planning a trip to Michael's to stock up on some craft supplies.
On my to-do list this week is to write the pattern for my little bolero/shruggette that everyone has been asking about. I'll need to get someone to test knit it for me to make sure that my instructions are clear. I already wrote up the pattern for a prayer shawl that I designed on the needles. A friend who leads a prayer ministry in Maryland will beta test it for me and then I will make it available.
I had hoped to get some writing and maybe even some relaxing done, but I'm happy to have the time with my girls in these waning days of summer.

August 12, 2005 4:18 PM

Oh, my SP5! I'm sendng you kisses and hugs and thank you's for your excellent timing! My dear Aunt Ruby is in town today (*blush*) and I'm feeling crampy and cranky. It's about a bazillion blazing degrees outside and well, ya know. So I'm trying to chill when I hear a kind of rude sounding banging on the door. I'm dragging my butt up the basement steps muttering and grumbling under my breath 'til I get to the door and I'm greetedby our cute mail guy who gave me your package. I grinned and thanked him and looked for a sharp object to open the box. Look what I found, ya'll:

I'm going to snuggle up on my chaise lounge and cast on for the Estonian Lace Scarf and nibble on some chocolate. Ahhhh. I'm a happy girl.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first Prayer Shawl Ministry group meeting. I met Bobbi through an online shawl ministry list-serv, and she saw from my post that I was local, so she invited me to come to her church and sit in on one of her group's meetings.
The group meets in the parlor of St. Andrews Lutheran Church. There were six women and most of them were knitting, but one was crocheting a prayer shawl. There ministry has been in existence for almost a year. We began the meeting by lighting a candle and saying a prayer of invocation. We all sat and worked on our projects. Because I was new to the group, they did introductions all around and then we talked about the projects we were working on. At the end of the meeting we gathered close and prayed over the shawls that were going to be given out. One woman was moving away and she was presented with a shawl and then we prayed over her. I had a lovely time, and I hope to be able to visit them often.
While blog hopping, I came across another knitting blog called, knitt gritty. Annie is doing an afghan project in memory of John Glick, who was killed in a car accident in July. (apparently, the driver of the other car was trying to kill herself, but she survived while killing three innocent men) She is collecting 8" knit squares of wool or wool blends. I whipped one up usng some leftover red Lopi in a couple of hours. I hope that the completed afghan gives his family some sense of comfort after having experienced such a terribly senseless tragedy.
My swatch:

August 11, 2005 11:32 AM

Now that my sewing machine is all set up in a place where I don't have to take it down after each use, I have been sewing a lot more. This weekend I bought some fabric and made some valances for my sewing room, and Brianna bought som fabric to make a funky bag. The fabric is basic black canvas, but she also bought some sequined ribbon and other blingy things to attach to make her bag more 'individual.' She just loves it when her colleagues at school ask her where she got something and she can say, "I made it," or, "my mom made it." She loves that she has one of a kind things that she won't see walking around on every other girl her age.

I was in one of the monster books store chains the other day and I found Iris Schreier's new book, Modular Knits, had finally hit the shelves. I scooped up a copy because I am on her fabulous list-serv, multidirectional knitting. Last year through her web site, she published a series of tutorials about mulit-d knitting. I followed the tutorials and had great fun knitting up the different shapes sometimes getting frustrated when it seemed too complicated but finally working out the kinks and learning a new technique in the end. Well, if you are up to some completely new and different knitting fun, then give multi-d knitting a go. It's a lot of fun and if you're like me, you'll begin to find ways to incoporate these cool techniques into your own designs. Here's my multi-d scarf still on the needles:

While we were Back to School (dread!) shopping over the weekend, we kept seeing these teensy little bolero-ish looking short sweater vest things. Brianna held one up and said, "You could totally make one of these, mommy!" I looked at it and agreed. We bought some yarn and I whipped one up for her in two evenings. it came out so cute that I started one for myself.

Our Angora bunnies now have names, Juneau and Jaden. They are sweet, adorable, rambunctious, naughty little creatures. We close off a room and let them run loose, and boy do they enjoy that. They jump and run and climb up into my or Bri's lap. The girls are still a bit skiddish around the bunnies, but they are beginning to warm up to them. This weekend I'll have to shear them, so this is a 'before' picture:

August 2, 2005 4:18 PM

Dh and I snuck out of the house the other night to catch Wedding crashers. I have such a crush on Owen Wilson, and we were in the mood for something silly, and this movie did not disappoint. It was pretty bawdy in the beginning with far too many bare breasts for my taste, but overall it was funny and we had a good time.

I finished the lace hat that I was working on for an as-yet-unamed-female-relative. I used blue linen this time with a ribbon yarn sash. It's one of those things, like when you were a kid and your parents bought a really cool gift for you to give to your friend for their birthday, but you didn't see why you couldn't just keep the cool toy for yourself? Much pouting and stamping of feet often ensued while your mom wagged her finger at you and told you how selfish and ungrateful you were. Well, I like this hat so much I REALLY don't want to give it away, but I must. So there.

My beautiful laceweight handpainted yarn in the Emerald colorway that I ordered from ebay arrived the other day, and I decided to design my own shawl a la Elizabeth Zimmerman's round shawls that I have been admiring for years from the Knitter's Almanac. This is one of my all time favorite knitting books ever, and my copy is dog-eared and well loved. I am using a round doily dishcloth pattern as the center, and then I'll design the lace rounds as I go. I also need to make a baby blanket, which I might also make round as well. I'll need to make another trip to A.C. Moore because I need to make two more prayer shawls and I'm out of yarn. I am on a prayer shawl swap online group, and we are doing an end-of-summer/early fall prayer shawl swap. I'm looking forward to it. I also found a local prayer shawl ministry group that meets at a church. I've been invited to attend their next meeting, which is next Thursday.

July 27, 2005 11:22 AM

I'm doing the happy dance today because a piece that I wrote will be included in the upcoming book by Annie Modesitt called, Cheaper Than Therapy. It's a compilation of essays about the meditaitve, spiritual, theraputic aspects of the craft of knitting. The mere act of submitting the piece was a victory for me, so I am thrilled and proud. Watch this space for details about how to get the book when it comes out 'cause you know you can't wait to read it.

We are now the proud parents of two baby German Angora rabbits. Brianna, my eldest has been nagging me relentlessly about getting a dog. Since we live in the city and have a teensy back yard, I have felt that it would be inhumane to keep a dog pent up in the house alone all day. She still really wanted a pet, so I asked her to think about getting a rabbit. I have had rabbits as pets and I have raised them in a micro business venture, so I know that they make good pets. We were talking about considering getting a rabbit when I got home to find an email from a spinning colleague who had a batch of Angora bunnies that needed homes right away. I contacted her and said that I'd take two if we could get males. Yesterday I took the day off from work and Bri and I drove up to Westminster, MD to fetch the bunnies. We stopped at a Tractor Supply store and got a bag of rabbit food and we stopped at a farm store to pick up a bale of hay. Dh just shook his head when he got home and saw the bunnies hopping through the house. He's never raised animals, so he was pretty skeptical. Both Jordan and Leila absolutely love the bunnies, and we have laid down the ground rules about not feeding them anything without adult supervision. They are both adorable and sweet and cuddly bunnies. Brianna sat on the couch with one of them on her lap grooming him last night and he was quite content. They will soon need to be sheared, and I can't wait to have some Angora fiber to mix in with my spinning.

Here's a peek at my boys:

July 25, 2005 1:36 PM

On Saturday I attended an ebay University training workshop in Alexandria. It was excellent and I came home fighting the urge to take digi pictures of all of my crap and list it on ebay. There were participants who flew in from North Carolina, some people drove down from Pennsylvania and other somewhat distant locations.

I learned a lot and now I just need to get some items completed and start listing them. I already sold a shawl on ebay, but I have never made a purchase, so I bought some yarn last night so that I could get an idea of the buyer's perspective. Research sure is fun. ;-)

On Sunday, per my eldest DD's request, we attended the 11am church service rather than the 6pm service that we usually attend. Rev. Washington's theme was, "The Judas in Each of Us." It was an excellent sermon from a theme that I've not yet heard and I enjoyed it and felt convicted by it at the same time. He was basically saying that Judas sinned just as we all sin, but despite the fact that he had access to the Savior of the world, he killed himself and was condemned to hell because he did not confess his sin and receive forgiveness. That sermon made me feel a renewed sense of gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice for me. I am glad that I can always approach the throne of grace with confidence because Jesus bore the penalty for my sin once and for all, and that when God looks on me He does not see me, rather He sees His precious Son, Jesus. The confidence and peace that I feel is immeasurable. I will never be ashamed of the gospel or of my faith in God. It is what sustains me. When I look at the chaos in the world I do not feel afraid or confused because I know that my life is in the hands of the One who is in control of it all. I just watch and pray, "Lord, have mercy," because without his grace and mercy we would all be in a mess.

I'm off to the gym to try to get back on the fitness wagon in a consistent way. Pray for me ya'll.

July 18, 2005 4:15 PM

I enjoyed a mellow, low-key weekend. I'm really missing my big girls and Jordan is missing them as well. Jordan spent most of Saturday gallivanting around with her aunties while I sat at home and waited for our new mattress to be delivered. I did a little bit more spinning and decided that its time to buy a spinning wheel. The drop spindle is fun, and makes spinning portable, but I'd really like to be able to spin enough yarn to make something with, and that will take ages on a drop spindle. A few weeks ago I got my sewing room organized again and got out my machine. Saturday I made a simple skirt and then I cut and started sewing a linen suit. On Sunday after church service, we went to Bed & Bath to get a mattress pad for our new bed, which is gloriously comfy. You really don't know how bad a mattress is until you get to sleep on a new one. Mmmmmmm. The Bed & Bath store was right next to A.C. Moore so, I popped in there and bought some cotton blend yarn to make a shrug form spring IK for my eldest child. She says, "ponchos are soooo last year." so I'm making her a shrug. I also bought some baby yarn to start working on a blanket for my niece or nephew on the way. I also snatched up some LB Fisherman's wool 'cause it was only $5.39 a skein. This is not fabulous yarn, but it's 100% wool, felts like a dream and I like to kool-aid dye it and make little felted gift bags with it.

OK, this is completely off-topic, but omigod I am eating one of those Lean Cuisine spa cuisine meals right now and it is actually tasty. I've got the wild salmon with whole wheat orzo, spinach, yellow peppers and carrots in a nice, light basil sauce. Not only is it delicious, but it's pretty to look at. -->Confession Alert<-- Today was the first day in July that I have darkened the doorway to my gym. Work has been so insanely busy that I have been eating my lunch at my desk as I work. My butt had turned to. . . OK, that might be oversharing just a tad bit, but you get the idea. When I walked out of that gym after my workout I was not sure if my feet were actually touching the pavement. I felt so good and so energized and whoo hoo I felt like I could have worked out for another hour. Those poor endorphins have been locked away and not given the opportunity lately to be released, so they were celebrating.

Unfortunately, I did not get one word of writing (not counting journaling) done over the weekend. I have been working towards focusing more on my writing these days and it feels good. I dug up my copy of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and I was giggling as I read it on the Metro coming in to work this morning. Her writing style is so conversational and real and pretty funny. I pull this book out whenever I need a motivational jump-start in my writing. Today I was reminded that my need and desire to write is not at all dependent on the world's acceptance of what I have written. I must write because what is in me is seeking expression and writing is the form that the talent God gave me has taken in my life. I have so completely bought in to the notion that my work must be accepted and appreciated, so I have not written anything for public consumption for fear of being rejected as not good enough. I have come to learn that along with the talent, God has made me resilient and strong. I will not melt or break or cease to be if my work never gets published. For me it is important to just write and keep the channel open and submit my work and let whatever will happen happen.

July 14, 2005 5:40 PM

Dh and I drove up to Boston on Friday to drop the girls off for their summer visit with my family. Leila has been really missing her grandma a lot. Brianna went off with her cousins for their annual summer camping trip, which leaves just Dh and Jordan and me at home. We had a lovely visit, although I am disppointed that I was not able to see my grandpa. Grandma is looking so much better than she sounds over the phone. It just felt soooo good to be home. I really miss my parents and Cambridge and all of my favorite, familiar places and faces.

It's very strange to be home again without my girls. Jordan is really missing her sisters, and she has really become very whiney and clingy. I think its about to drive Dh crazy. I miss my girls, too. The house is far too quiet without them here. Leila calls and tells me all of the fun things they are doing, and Brianna calls and fills me in on what she is up to. I am glad that they are having a good time, but I'll also be glad when they are home with me again. We were in Target last night and they have stocked up on the Back-to-school supplies already. I plan to get in there and do our shopping early this year as opposed to doing it the firday prior to the start of school as we did last year. Pickins were pretty slim, and we had to fight the crowds. I just *love* buying back-to-school stuff. (weird, I know) I just love getting new notebooks and pencils and my nirvana is a fresh, never-been-used-yet box of crayola crayons. In fact, my sweetums who is now my DH, read on my blog (which is how we met) that I love crayons, so his gift to me on our first date was a new box of crayons. Can I just tell you that he scored BIG points with me for that.

I made great progress during the ride up to Cambridge and back home on my Acorn Camisole from the Sping IK that I am knitting from King Tut cotton in a deep red. I completed the back and made some good progress on the front. While in Cambridge, I stopped at my old LYS and bought a pair of bamboo circs because the smooth, cool, silky cotton was just not feeling right on my plastic Denise needles. I also bought some elastic thread for the top of the back of the camisole. Summer is rushing by, so I'd better get that thing finished up so I can wear it.

July 3, 2005 11:50 PM

I have had quite a relaxing yet productive weekend. Brianna and I had a great time shopping for her trip on Friday. I stumbled across a fab sale at the local fabric store and I bought some beautiful linen to make a work outfit, a print fabric for a skirt, and some dark striped fabric for pants. Brianna chose some lavender eyelet fabric for a sundress that I will do my best to finish before she leaves. We found some adorable outfits for Miss Leila, and when we got home, she gave us a little fashion show,

I finished my Kiri shawl and blocked it. I was thrilled with how it turned out.
I wore it to work the other day and got many nice compliments on it. The Koigu knits up so very soft and comfy and I just love to look at all of the lovely colors.
Last Saturday I took a drop spindle class at Shepherd's Purse Farm in Howard County, MD. After a lovely drive in the Maryland countryside, we arrived at the farm and sat in the living room with a wide view of the rolling green countryside and did a little knottong. Later, we had brunch and then we went out on the lawn for the spinning class. We had a great teacher, who told us about the history of spinning, and then she taught us how to make out own spindle using 2 CD's and a dowel. At first I was not impressed with the hokey looking spindle, but it works and I was able to spin up all of the fibre that the teacher provided.
After the class we had lunch and then we got a tour of the Alpaca barns. First we met the Angora bunnies, and then we met the Alpacas. I have never seen an Alpaca in person before and I learned that these beautiful, gentle creatures are actually pretty friendly. We were able to go right into the pen with them and a few of them ate right out of my hand.
I did not want to leave. They were so gentle and trusting and curious animals. They seem so intelligent with their big, round, dark eyes. I bought a bag of the off-white Alpaca roving, which I will spin up and make a special shawl.
When I got home, I got out my spindle to do some spinning, and Leila just had to give it a try. I let her use my handmade spindle that I purchased last year at the MD Sheel & Wool fest. I got her started, and before I knew it, she had spun up a spindle full of yarn.
I started off with this:

, I spun it into this:

, and then after plying my thick and thin yarn, I knit up this fat little swatch on size 13 needles:

. I'm so pleased and proud of myself for finally learning to spin. Now I need to get a wheel.
Finally, the wire came in for my lace hat.

. I am pleased with the results, and now I want to make one for my mom. I'll need to order some more wire for the brim.
Look at what the mailman brought me on Saturday morning:

My Secret Pal is so sweet! She somehow knows how stressed I've been lately, so she sent me a CD with soothing instrumental music, a home spa kit including body wash, lotion, a back scrubber loofah sponge and a massager. Along with that came a felted necklace kit and, a book from my wish list. Bravo, Secret Pal. You get gold stars all around. Thanks so much.

June 21, 2005 10:32 AM

Today is the first day of summer and the last day of school for my girls. Leila is excited about starting summer camp next week, and Brianna will be starting her first summer job. Once again we are moving into a new season and I feel as though I am being carried along like a twig that has fallen in a fast moving stream. I long for the chance to step back and assess and maybe even change courses. There is a lot going on in my life right now, and my faith and my relationship with God are my only true anchors. Without them I would be lost. And so I pray daily for the strength to do the work that He has given me to do. I pray for the grace to handle all of the demands on my time and energy, and I pray for the patience to wait until the time is right for me to follow my bliss and realize some of my dreams, which are waiting in the wings.

I ride the Metro to work every day rather than pay $21 per day to park my car in the garage near my building. The car that I stepped into was pretty full with no seats available, so I grabbed a bar and stood for my ride of about six stops, which on a normal day takes around 15 minutes. There are seats close to the doors that have signs above them that say something like, “Please reserve these seats for the elderly and handicapped.” When we arrived at the second stop, a man boarded the train wearing crutches and leg braces. He stood in front of the people who were occupying the seats and asked if he could get a seat. One of the seats was occupied by a man who pretended to sleep, and the other was occupied by a woman wearing dark glasses and holding up a book pretending not to see the young man who had to brace himself with his crutches to keep his balance as the train barreled down the track. I felt like yelling at them and saying, “shame on you!” The young man just stood there silently right in front of them while they sat and ignored him. When his stop arrived he hobbled quietly off of the train, and I felt angry and ashamed. I felt angry because I know that I had been sitting there, I would have gladly given him my seat. They were being so inconsiderate. I was ashamed because I really wanted to confront those people, but I was afraid and so I didn’t do it. I imagine that the young man must be used to being treated so by rude and thoughtless people. The simple act of getting up and offering their seat would have changed that young man’s day, and maybe had an impact on the way he then treated those with whom he came in contact. Peace is every step and in every word and expression. Wage peace with your life.

Last night I attended a meeting to form a community panel to interview the next principal of the Cluster School. There were a good number of engaged, dedicated parents there to voice their views about how we will go about replacing our fabulous principal. Tonight we have a regularly scheduled PTA executive board meeting, but I think now our agenda has been hijacked by this timely and pressing issue of appointing parent reps to sit on the interview panel. Change always freaks people out, so it will be interesting to see how this whole process evolves.

June 20, 2005 10:16 AM

I think that Dh thoroughly enjoyed his Father's Day celebration. We had the family over for dinner--which he prepared, for the most part--and everyone had a lovely time. I made a pan of triple-chocolate brownies, which were my best yet if I don't say so myself. He cookes barbeque chicken, salmon, and burgers and dogs for the kids. He also made snow crab legs. He received lots of nice gifts and he felt appreciated.

I was finally able to catch my dad on the phone and wish him a happy Father's Day. They had been at the hospital visiting with my grandfather, who has been recovering from an injury. Grandpa is now 88 and his mind is beginning to really go. Sometimes he is very lucid and other times he's sort of out of it. It's so difficult to watch his downward slide into dimentia. He is such a funny, charming, and sage man who often had a twinkle in his eye and loved a good belly laugh. He loved to smoke a pipe, and my memories of my childhood days with him always involve the smell of pipe smoke and leather. I love my grandpa very much, and I have a lifetime of dear memories with him. Here I'm talking about him like he's already gone, but some days it seems like it when he doesn't recognize me or mistakes me for someone else. I pray that God would continue to be with my grandpa as he finishes his last years on this earth. He has lived a good life and set a powerful example for his sons and grandchildren to follow. He has been married to the same woman for over seventy years, and he has been a Trustee at our family church since the early 1970's. He raised two wonderful sons and has ived in the same house for over seventy years. I will be so glad to see him and give him a hug and just sit and hold his hand and visit with him even if he does not remember who I am. It must be difficult to be slowly losing ones grip on reality, yet he has maintained his poise and dignity and grace. I will always love him.

My Saturday evening plans to hang out with a friend fell through so I found a spot and sat with my feet up and worked on my Koigu Kiri shawl. It's almost finished, now and I am plotting what I shall tackle next. I've been thinking about a shrug to chase the chill from my arms from the AC at work. I's also like to knit a little cotton top for Leila from some fun yarn. I'm feeling a yarn shopping trip coming on. . .

June 17, 2005 12:48 PM

Last evening while I was preparing dinner, the evening news was on in the background. A story about what is going on in Zimbabwe caught my attention, so I stopped and watched for a bit. Apparently the govenrment is burning and leveling the homes--more like tin shacks--of the people in the areas that were against the current regime or something bogus like that. So now these already wretchedly poor, hopeless people have no homes and no protection for them or their children against the cold winds at night. So, here I'm watching this outraged and I immediately thought back to the movie, Hotel Rwanda, that tells the story of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in the mid-late 1990's. There was one scene where some journalists had been able to capture some video footage of some of the killing that was taking place. They wanted to get the footage back to the U.S. so that it could be played on the evening news. One of the reporters said, "People will watch it and say, "that's horrible" and then go back to eating their dinners." I did not just want to go back to eating my dinner, but I feel so powerless. I came to work and did some quick online searches and I found nothing else about that story. I found pieces from 2002 and 2003, but nothing about what is happening now. There is just so much evil and destruction and so many demonstrations of man's inhumanity to man that I think I am about to scream. We all sit here doing nothing and feeling powerless to effect change and so everything remains the same. I just want to scream.

June 14, 2005 10:21 AM

I stumbled across this fabulous web site this morning, and I was truly blessed by what I found. The World Prayer Project is a database of prayers from several religious traditions. Here is one that I found that I'd love to frame and hang it near my bathroom mirror so that I can read it each morning:

Almighty God, thank Thee for the job of this day. May we find gladness in all its toil and difficulty, its pleasure and success, and even in its failure and sorrow. We would look always away from ourselves, and behold the glory and the need of the world that we may have the will and the strength to bring the gift of gladness to others; that with them we stand to bear the burden and heat of the day and offer Thee the praise of work well done. Amen.
bishop charles lewis slattery - early 20th century

June 10, 2005 5:10 PM

This week summer snuck up on us out of nowhere. Last week was chilly, cloudy and breezy--like mid-March. This week it has been hazy, HOT and humid--like August. What happened to June? OK, I know its stupid to whine about the weather, yet I continue to do it.
Today at lunch I took my sandwich and my Koigu KPPM Kiri Shawl project outside and sat under an umbrella on the plaza and watched a lovely Latin/Salsa band perform at lunch time. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze, and there are big, puffy clouds that occaisionally block the brighness of the sun and cool things down very briefly. I had to escape my freeeeezing cold office and that little bit of sun on my face felt really good.
I'm working on Kiri as part of two Knit-Alongs (KAL). One is Knitting the Classics, where we are reading classic novels and then knitting a project appropriate to the times. I chose the Kiri Shawl because its a lace shawl, Ms. Dorothea Brooke wears a shawl in one scene in the book. Also, I doscovered quite serendipitously on the Knitting the Classics forum, that St. Theresa of Avila, after whom Dorothea is modeled, is the Patron Saint of lace makers. So, there you go. An entirely appropriate choice. Pictures will come later when I can pry my digi cam out of the slender fingers onf my teen DD, who is using it for a school project. The other is just a Kiri Shawl KAL
I'm looking forward to a quiet, chilled-out weekend with no big travel plans or home-improvement projects. I plan to get some reading, writing and knitting done while the girls play at the park. DH will be away on Navy Reserves duty, so I'll also be without a car.
On my way home, I may make a pit stop at my LYS to get some yarn to make another one of these. I've been making these lovely little lacey caps to cover up the bald spot on my toddler's head from the nasty rash. I had to size down the adult version, and if I can ever get her to stand still long enough, I'll snap a pic of her wearing one. I can practically finish one in a couple of evenings and they look so adorable on her.

June 6, 2005 5:24 PM

I'm back in civilization, and honestly, I could have remained in the woods for a few more days of quietude and no access to phones or the evening news. Over the weekend, I took my two eldest girls camping. We went for Leila's annual trip to Camp Misty Mount in the Catoctin Mountain National Park. Just as it did last year, it was raining when we arrived, but remembering my frustration at not being able to start a fire with wet wood, I brought along some dry kindling, newspaper and one of those fireplace logs that you can get at the grocery store. They are made with wood fibers that have been soaked in citronella wax, so they start right up and catch quickly. Our fire was roaring in no time, much to the envy of our camp neighbors, who had abandoned their little pile of smoking sticks to come and roast marshmallows on our fire. Our little wood cabin was cozy, and I slept soundly despite the damp chill to the lullaby of bats chirping in the trees and the raindrops softly plopping on the roof.

The campground is located up on the mountain, so to reach civilization, you must drive about four miles down the winding road to the town of Thurmont, which is a somewhat isolated little town. Last year, we discovered that they don't like folks of my complextion very much, and they are not shy about letting us know that. Needless to say, I try to limit my forays into town and stay at the lovely, pristine mountain camp with our friends who hail from the civilized world. On saturday morning, I had to drive down the mountain to grab a few groceries so I swallowed hard, put on a happy face and headed for the only somewhat major chain grocery store. I did my shopping and then proceeded to the 'self-checkout' aisle. These fabulous machines announce out loud the price of each item as you scan it, and it tries to help you if you goof up. When I was finished and pressed the red, "Finish and Pay" button, the machine, rather loudly, I think, said, "The payment information you supplied cannot be processed at this time. Please press cancel and choose another payment option." I was pretty confident that we had a more than sufficient balance in our account, so I went ahead and swiped again and sure enough I got the same announcement. I asked the very annoyed looking clerk where I might find an ATM, and he brusquely pointed towards the front of the store. I went and did a balance inquiry, and sure enough, the balance was $5.17! Mortified, I called my Dh and asked him what he thought might be going on with the account. He said that he's call the bank and find out what was up. I sat and waited on a bench in the front of the store while the clerk threw disgusted glances my way and waited for my husband to call me back with a miracle that would get me and my groceries out of that store as soon as possible. He called back and explained that when he went to make his travel arrangements for work, his credit card had expired, so he put his travel on our card. Oops! He forgot to tell me that little detail. He apologized profusely and said that he would get it cleared up right away. I srounged about $8 from my purse, which was enough to get milk, croissants for the girls and ice for the cooler. I left and drove back up the mountain to wait for him to work something out. When I drove back to town at lunch time, he had left a message saying that all was clear and that I could go ahead and buy whatever I needed. I went back into that store and paid for my groceries and left. Living here in D.C. I have never felt the sting of prejudiced attitudes from anyone. People here are not excessively friendly, but they are not nasty either. I feel sorry for them, and I hope that they somehow realize that the revenues from tourism actually keeps them afloat, so they might at least try to be more friendly to those who don't look just like they do.

The rest of our weekend was wonderful. The girls had fun chasing frogs and crawfish and salamanders in the creek. They went hiking in the woods and enjoyed the Ranger's naturalist programs in the big Lodge on Saturday evening and then again on Sunday morning. I got in some major rest and relaxation time while the girls were off doing their thing. I set up my lounge chair by our cabin and sat in silence--rather nothing but the sounds of nature. I did a little reading, and a little knitting and had a nice nap.

We all had a wonderfully enjoyable weekend. It was great to see all of the families again and spend some time in nature away from the city with its noise and strife and bad news.

May 26, 2005 10:42 AM

I have finished knitting my lacy summer hat! Last night I finished the knitting on the crown & tip, set up the hat block and stretched the crown on the block. Take a look:
Here is the completed brim:

And here is the hat being blocked:

I am so tickled! I think I'll make another one using some hemp yarn I saw at my lys last week. It has a nice firm body like linen, but its also slightly more supple and has a similar soft sheen to it. Now I need to find some wire and the hat will be complete. More pics to come!

May 25, 2005 2:20 PM

Happiness is. . . discovering that the little punchcard from my fave salad/sandwich lunch place has been filled therefore entitling me to a FREE lunch today.

We are reading Mindful Knitting in one of my knitting groups, and I was unable to find a copy of this book at either of the gigantic national bookstore chains located blocks from work. Disappointed at my inability to procure a copy so that I can get started on it right away, I ordered one that should be in by Friday. While I was in one of the aforementioned stores, I bought a copy of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, by Ann Brashears, for Dd the eldest. She has seen the trailers for the movie of the same title and wants to read the book before seeing the movie. It's a bit young and 'teen chic-lit' for my tastes, but I may read it when she is done just because.

I am just inches away from the tip of the crown of my lovely linen lace hat. I'm so impatient that I might make a trip to a giant fabric store in Virginia this weekend to see if they carry millinery wire because I don't think I could stand to wait three weeks to order it through the mail. I'm thinking that I might also make one for my mom since she is also a hat lover. Hmmmmm.

May 24, 2005 4:48 PM

I have been home sick with a nasty cold. I feel like I have lost the last four days of my life. I must say that it's pretty pitiful to feel too sick to knit.
But I'm back and feeling much better. I am almost finished knitting the Ascot in a natural cream colored sport weight linen yarn from Annie Modesitt's new book, Knitting Millinery. I just need to order the wire for the brim. I can't wait to see how this comes out!

I also managed to crochet a little lace cap for my toddler. She an icky ting going on with this rash on her head. This covers it up nicely, but its made with white cotton so that it's cool and breatheable and I think it looks cute. If I can get her to hold still I'll snap a digi pic.
I just received my SP5 pal today. I'm so excited about participating again. My SP absolutely spoiled me, and I plan to do the same for my pal.
I'm a wee bit behind schedule, but here are the answers to the questionnaire:
SP5 Questions & Answers
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I am a Confirmed Yarn Snob.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I am learning to spin on a drop spindle, and I am contemplating the purchase of a wheel. I can crochet a little bit--edgings, hats etc.
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
smoke
4. How long have you been knitting?
I have been knitting since I was seven years old. (Let's just say over 20 years ;-) )
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Now I do! Take a look.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love lavendar, rose, honeysuckle, ginger, sandalwood, citrus etc,
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Yes I do. Why can I never find chocolate on the food pyramid???
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
Please don't get me started! I am a seamstress, quilter, painter of oils on canvas, cross-stitcher, needle-felter and purveyor of several different paper crafts.
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Gospel, classical, jazz
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like natural, earthy colors,(browns, beige, green, blues) and jewel tones (purples, gold, crimson, . I am not fond of Orange, bright yellow or bright green.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a husband and three daughters. No pets at the moment.
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
My current favorite yarn is Koigu KPPPM. I enjoy working with wool, but I also enjoy linen and silk.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I havn't met a natural fiber yet that I don't like.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
My current knitting obsession is lace.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
My favorite items to knit are shawls and socks and anything for a baby.
17. What are you knitting right now?
My current WIP's include: a lace picture hat, a lacy shawl, toddler socks for the Dulaan project, my TKGA Level II swatches
18. What do you think about ponchos?
Been there. Done that. All finished.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circs!
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Bamboo or wood.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
yes
22. How did you learn to knit?
from my mom & grandmother
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
2 weeks.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Winne the Pooh
25. What is your favorite holiday?
Easter
26. Is there anything that you collect?
Green frogs,Yarn, and Knitting books.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Cast On
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Anything by Elizabeth Zimmerman (I'M working on collecting her complete works) I already have Knitting without Tears & Knitter's Almanac. Teva Durham's new book, Loop-d-Loop, Knit One, Felt Too, by Kathleen Taylor (Can you tell I *love* knitting books?)

May 18, 2005 10:58 AM

Happy Anniversary to Dh and Moi! Three years later and we are still happily in love. I am blessed to have this amazing man as my husband, and I look forward to all that God has in store for us and our family.

Today I am bleary-eyed due to a late night last night. I came home and wolfed down a quick dinner and headed off to church for the Spring Revival. Rev. Lance Watson from St. Paul Baptist Church was the guest speaker. He preached a fabulous sermon on the topic of being an exceptional person. He is an excellent preacher and he gives a well written, well thought out complex but accessible sermon--my favorite kind. It was a lovely spring evening and I was enjoying some rare quiet time to myself. All the way home I sang to myself and felt great about the service. I should have known that whenever God begins to move me to a new level, the enemy is always at the ready to throw a monkey wrench into the plan. Last night was a prime example.

When I arrived home I found the house eerily quiet. I soon discovered that Dh had taken Jordan to the emergency room. She has had a nasty rash on her scalp since early April. I took her to the doctor when it started to shop up on Daryll and then on me. I told the doctor that I was sure that what I had was the same rash that Jordan had in her scalp. The doctor (our pediatrician) assured me that it was not. Just to placate me, she swabbed Jordan's scalp and said that she would send it off to the lab to see what came back. I called yesterday to check on the lab test and the nurse told me that the test takes three weeks! Now, six weeks since its first appearance, the rash is out of control and her hair is beginning to fall out in some spots. She scratches it until she almost draws blood and is miserable. So, Dh got tired of watching her suffer and took her to the emergency room. The ER doctor confirmed my intial diagnosis. She said that she was going to have a chat with our pediatrician and recommend a medication that should knock it out quickly. So since the rash is contagious, she will have to be away from her daycare for a week. I sort of thought that was silly since she's been contagious for the past six weeks and around them the whole time, but whatever. Now it's going to be a bit chaotic trying to arrange care for this lively two-year-old 'til this nastiness clears up.

When they got home from the hospital, Miss Thing was totally wired and not ready to settle down despite the fact that it was 11:55pm. She crawled into the bed and proceeded to tell me all about the doctor and the special bracelet she got and all her emergency room adventures. At some point she eventually drifted off to sleep and it seemd like two minutes later it was time to get up.

May 17, 2005 2:58 PM

My eldest Dd attends school across town. Her first class of the day begins at 7:30am, which means that she must leave the house by 6:30 am in order to get to school on time. This morning I went to school with her to attend a Principal/Parent Breakfast meeting at her school. It was great to have some time, albeit brief, for just the two of us. We rode the train and stopped at Starbuck's on the way. There was no bus anywhere to be seen, so we walked from the Metro stop up the hill to her school. Dd will be sixteen this summer, but most people think she looks much older, so you can imagine my ire when I walk with her and see young men looking at her as if she were a woman. She is a beautiful girl, and I do not like the fact that she travels so far alone to school. There is a high school about three blocks from us, but it is a pit of urban despair and decay. This school is one of the best high schools in the country and boasts a 100% college acceptance rate for its graduates, but its not in a great neighborhood.

I had a wonderful meeting with her principal and the other mother that showed up. I offered to help with grant writing for some of the programs at the school, and I helped the principal set up an announcement list-serv for parents.

May 13, 2005 10:33 AM

I've been at home with a sick toddler, so I haven't had a minute to post the picture of my MD S&W haul. Here it is:
I have already finished a bag from the purple wool and 1 skein of the Noro Kureyon for Brianna, my eldest Dd. I felted it last evening, but it could use another trip through the machine as the stitch definition is still vey clear and the fabric is not as firm as I'd like it to be. She'll be using it to carry books, so I'm going to sew a lining in it so the corners don't poke through the bag.

Here it is before going through the washer the first time:

Last night after Dh took over nurse-maid duties, I started the Koigu shawl. I am designing it on the needles using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Gull Lace Stitch from The Knitting Almanac. I've seen so many Charlotte's Web shawls from Kiogu KPPPM, but I decided to be different.

On Wednesday night I attended the last PTA Meeting of the year. I was confirmed as the Volunteer Coordinator on the Executive Board. Marian Wright Edelman was going to be our guest speaker for the evening, so I wanted to get a good seat. I arrived a bit early and sat in the second row. Of course I brought my knitting, and the outgoing President came up to me and and complimented me on my knitting and then invited me to join her team of knitters who will be participating in the upcoming Capitol Hill Classic 10K race to raise money for the school. The team is called, "Knitting for Kids" and they plan to knit while they run the race. Can you believe this? I have knit while walking, but never while running! They are registered in the 3K race and she said that they will do more walking than running. I'm going to join their team and see how it goes. There will definitely be pictures.

May 9, 2005 5:04 PM

On Saturday I attended the MD Sheep & Wool Festival. I've been looking forward to this event since I went last year for the first time. I drove this year and brought two friends and another woman I met online through my local knitting group. The weather was balmy, breezy and beautiful. When we got stuck in backed-up traffic about a mile from the entrance to the fairgrounds, I knew that this year would be even more crowded than last year.

As we were driving across the hayfield to park, we ran across (no over!) my knitting buds from D.C. We all met up at the information booth and decided to meet back there for a picnic at lunch time.

We all split up and did our shopping. My newbie knitter sister-friend Rae came along with me and she was fairly squealing with delight because this was her first time at the festival. We shopped and then we had lunch with our group and then we shopped some more. I went in this year with a list and a strategy. I got some Koigu KPPPM to make a shawl that I am designing myself, Some lovely mohair to go with some hand painted Mohair yarn that I received as a gift, which will be transformed into a shrug, I found some yummy, soft springy colored Merino/nylon sock yarn, some Noro Kureyon to make a felted bag for my 15-year-old Diva-in-training, some linen to make a lace picture hat, and a needle-felting kit, which means that I have added yet another skill to my crafty arsenal. On Sunday morning I tried a little needle felting and it is a hoot. I will, however, have to keep my middle child away from it because the needles are way too sharp for a seven-year-old to be working with.

My new felted Rose Trellis bag was a huge hit. I got stopped everywhere I went by people saying how much they liked it and asking where I go the pattern for it.

I met the designer of the spinning wheel that I plan to purchase and she gave me a little demo and we had a lovely conversation, and we watched a weaving demo which almost caused my friend to buy a loom and take it home with her if she had a space at home big enough to put the loom.

This year I had wanted to also go on Sunday to see the Sheep to Shawl competition, but alas it was Mother's Day, and the fam wanted me to be home, so I abstained. I had a fabulous Mother's Day at home with my girls and I look forward to planning my list for next year's fest.

I spoke to mommy on Mother's Day and she had received her felted purse and she loved it. She said that she was going to bring it to show the owner of her LYS, which is where I purcahsed the yarn.

My Mother's Day was the best. My sweet husband made a delicious breakfast and then I retired to the couch to knit and read the morning away. He gave the girls baths and got them dressed. Later on in the afternoon, dd#2 and I wlaked to the park where I sat and knit some more. Dh also prepared a wonderful dinner, which we had over at his mother's house. I baked a vanilla/Oreo-cookie layer cake, which got raves, but it was not one of my favorite cakes.

May 2, 2005 1:00 PM

I have been bitten by the felting bug and now I can't stop myself. I had quite a bit of yarn leftover from the big Rose Trellis bag and I decided to make a smaller bag. I started from the top down making a buttonhole bag and I kept knitting 'til I ran out of yarn. I also made a rose and a couple of leaves using the directions from the larger bag, and as it turns out the rose seems a bit large for the scale of the bag.
Oh well. I'm giving the bag to my mom as part of her Mother's Day gift. I was supposed to be making her another pair of socks, but since I have not yet cast them on, the bag will do for now and the socks will follow. I just had to giggle when the bag came out of the washing machine. Felting is so much fun! Now my eldest dd, Brianna wants a felted bag in "Springy" colors, so I've added that request to my shopping list for the MD Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend.

My Red lace weight Merino shawl is coming along nicely. I've come to the border which is lace motif of children holding hands. It's exciting to see the motif emerging as I knit along. I'm looking forward to finishing this so that I can strt another lace project.

Since the rain thwarted our outside plans on Saturday, I made some good progress on my TKGA Master Knitting Level II project. I got two reviews written and I swatched for the Aran vest that I am designing. I had wanted to be finished with this by the end of February, however, I have let procrastination and other more interesting knutting projects get in the way of completing it. I have not set a new deadline, rather my goal is to make measurable progress each week until I am finished.

This is my last day of being 37 years old. I used to have the following quote as an email signature: "Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end the quicker it goes. . ." That's how I'm feeling today. My flesh is beginning to show its age and life just seems to be passing by in a blurr. Am I just taking up space and wasting the time that God has blessed me with? I have so many questions and I feel like I'd love to just sit down with my old Pastor and talk and get some perspective. All in all I am in a state of happy dis-content. I am happy because I am blessed and highly favored. I have health and a (reltively) sound mind, a lovely home, husband and family. The dis-content comes from my strong desire to contribute more, to do more to serve God by serving otheres. My ministry is my children and my husband for this season of my life. I am praying and preparing to do the best job with this task that I possibly can while also praying for guidance and preparing for what might lie ahead for me. My heart is filled with gratitude for all the people who have loved me and taught me and encouraged me and pushed me lo this 37 years.

We recently took a trip to Atlanta to visit some friends and attend my great-Aunt's 80th birthday celebration. Our friends (who have no children)live in a very large, brand new home in a brand new sub-division in a close suburb of Atlanta. They both drive expensive cars and their home looks like a page from a design catalog. When we got home, Leila, my seven-year-old said, "Mommy, I like uncle M's house. Why can't we have a nice big house like theirs?" I told her that if daddy and mommy did not have children, then we could afford to live in a house like that, too. I then said that I'd never trade my three sweet girls for a big, nice house like that. I don't need all of the material trappings of this world to make me feel good about myself. My children are my riches and my legacy and a precious gift from God. Each day I look forward to seeing what God has in store for me and how I can use what He has given to me to glorify Him.

April 19, 2005 5:32 PM

I finally finished my Rose Trellis bag. Here's a pic:

April 8, 2005 12:28 PM

OK, you know you've been knitting too much when you start to stress about your knitting projects. I have been working on the below-pictured Rose Trellis bag from the winter VK magazine. I finished the bag last night and this morning before I left for work I carefully measured it, took a picture of it and then put it in the washing machine to felt it. I just almost broke out in a cold sweat when I realized that it is still sitting in the washing machine probably crumpled up with the jeans. You are supposed to remove it right away and shape it while it's still wet into the desired shape and then let it dry, but there sits my bag all crumpled up in the machine drying out while I sit here unable to do anything about it. Sigh. I need to take a chill pill. I'm sure my bag will be fine. Gulp.

I have to giggle about the fact that I taught my Dh how to do something that he did not know how to do on our camera phones. we both have the same model phone, and I emailed him the pictures that I took yesterday of the cherry blossoms at the tidal basin. When I got home he exclaimed, "How did you do that?!" apparently he has taken pictures and tried to email them before with no luck. He is our resident cell phone geek. He keeps up with all of the new phones and their capabilities. He pines for the spendy ones with lots of cool features, and emails me with the specs on the new phones when they come out. So, I was pretty pleased with myself that I knew how to do something that the cell phone god could not do. I know that makes me quite shallow and lame, but whatever.

April 7, 2005 5:33 PM

On my lunch break I decided to walk down to the tidal basin and bask in the cherry blossoms. Apparently, everyone else in the U.S. had the same plans 'cause it was incredibly crowded. I had to navigate through the throng of tourists who were also trying to take in the incredible beauty of all of thise soft pink blossoms in bloom. I didn't have the digi cam with me, so I snapped some shots with my camera phone.

April 6, 2005 10:23 AM

Yes! Spring is finally here. Just two days of sunshine and everything is in bloom and bursting forth. There are two tulip trees in front of my work building that have burst into bloom and they have such a lusty aroma. The tourists are out in full force and it feels like we have been thrust from the gloomy winter into the bright Springtime overnight.
Look what the mailman brought me! I just completed a sock swap on socknitters.com, and I received a lovely pair of socks from Melanie in CA. They are made from the Knit Picks Merino sock yarn, which I have been dying to try, and now that I feel how smooth and snuggly they feel I'm going to order some.

I am halfway down the back piece of my Rose Trellis bag and I am so excited about finishing it so that I can felt it and start using it. I also have six of the roses completed. This is such a fun project. I think I might make another smaller one as a gift.

April 3, 2005 8:12 PM

I am home again after my trip up to Massachusetts for my aunt's funeral. I flew up for two days, and it was the first time I was away from Jordan overnight since she was born. On the day before I was to leave, we got the news that Dh's last surviving uncle had passed away. So, I got back home at 11:30 on Friday night and had to get up at 4am on Saturday morning to take him to the airport so that he could fly to Georgia to help his cousins make the funeral arrangements. We'll be going to Georgia next week for uncle's funeral.

It was good to be with my family again notwithstanding the sad occaison. I saw some cousins that I had played with as a child and we were able to re-connect. As we stood around at the gravesite, one of my other aunts said that aunt M had planned the whole service and burial. She had purchased her own headstone and picked out the spot in the cemetery, and everything worked out according to her plan. Aunt M was a dear, sweet woman who always made me feel important although I was a child. I will miss her wise counsel that was always delivered with a sparkle in her eye.

It was good to get away by myself. I stayed with my mom in New Hampshire. She took Friday morning off so that we could hang out before I went to the airport. We walked down the road to her LYS, Ewe'll Love it. They have moved to a larger location across he street. They now have a sitting area where their patrons can sit an knit. I bought the supplies to knit a Rose Trellis bag from the winter VK.
I thought I'd tweak the pattern and do it in the round, but when I got to the trellis pattern, I ran into a snag and ripped it back and decided to knit each side back and forth. It's looking good so far, and I'll post pics soon. I'm joining a Knit-Along, but most of the participants have finished their bags already. I brought along my red Merino lace shawl to work on during my flight. I made a lot of progress on it and it looks good.

Farewell, Pope John Paul II. I was in third grade when he became Pope. WHile I am not a Catholic, I was attending Catholic school at the time, and I learned to love and revere him as a spiritual leader and compassionate human being. Throughout my life, he has been a bright shining light of the possibility for the complete expression of divinity in a human person. I know that he is not Jesus, but I see him as a beautiful person who has devoted himself to peace and expressing the love of God to the people. He will be missed and mourned by billions of people. The new Pope will have enormously awesome shoes to fill.

March 26, 2005 3:42 PM

I took a day off from work on Thursday to chaperone a field trip at Leil's school. Leila attends a cluster school, which is one school on three campuses. This school is a jewel among the dross that is the local public school system. Last year she attended kindergarten at the early childhood program and this year she is in first grade at the elementary campus. The field trip was billed as a 'Spring Fling,' where we were visiting the Kindergarten campus so that the kindergarten students could have the opportunity to spend the morning with the first grade teachers. In the afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt in the park across the street. It was fun except for the fact that it was only about 45 degrees and we spent most of the day outside. I took this picture of two of the eggs that were hidden in a tree just above kid-eye level. The squirrels in that park had a great time breaking open those plastic eggs and stealing the contents. I'm sure that there were a few squirrels with sick tummies that night.

Yesterday was Leila's birthday. There was no school because of Good Friday, so she came to work with me. On the way in to work, she was thrilled to see the 75 Mickeys on the plaza. She posed for a picture with the 'Birthday Mickey.'

March 23, 2005 3:46 PM

The 'Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations' Statue Tour is in D.C. until April 20th. All 75 statues of Mickey are placed around the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Plaza, which is close to where I work. I took this picture of 'Lobsta Mickey,' which celebrates Boston, my home town, with my handy camera-phone.

Happy Springtime!

March 21, 2005 5:36 PM

As this is Holy Week in the Christian Church, a few of my co-workers and I were discussing our plans for which of the several church services we would be attending this week. I said that I would be attending our church's 'Seven Last Words' service on Friday night. "What exactly are the seven last words of Christ?" one of my co-workers asked. The group of us were stumped. "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" was all that I could think of. Without a Bible on hand, one of them called her auntie, who said that she'd check her Bible and get back to us. Geek that I am, I Googled the phrase, "Seven Last Words of Christ" and found that it is actually the seven last sayings of Christ as he hung on the cross on Good Friday. As I followed one of the links that Google provided me with, I found this devotional that I plan to follow this week in order to prepare my heart for Easter. Just this morning I was lamenting what a slacker I've been this year. I did not make a Lenten sacrifice as is my custom. But I believe that God knows my heart, and obedience is better than sacrifice. I shall follow this devotional about the last words of my Savior before he stretched his arms out and died that I might live. It is a gift that I did not earn and one that I could never in a million years begin to repay.

Last night after I returned from Palm Sunday service, I finished my Aunt Dolly's Flower Basket Shawl. Right now it is being blocked on the dining room table. When I get home it should be dry. I'm going to take some pictures of it before I wrap it up for her birthday.

I have been corresponding with my niece who lives in Los Angeles. She sent me the most adorable St. Patrick's Day card, (the only one I received this year!) and a sweet letter. She tells me that she is learning to knit. So I shall be running out to buy some little knitting related gifts to send to her to encourage her to keep at it. My sister is a fashion designer, but she has not done any knitting since we were kids. I wish that I were closer so that I could tutor her.

March 17, 2005 2:32 PM

Happy St. Patty's Day to Ya!
I'm slightly disappointed that St. Patrick's Day is not really thought of much around here. Having grown up in the Boston area where the whole town practically gets painted green, it's a bummer to be in a place where March 17th is just another ho-hum day. There is something about St. Patty's Day that brings out the pluckish child in grown-ups where I'm from. I also attended Catholic School in an Irish-Catholic parish, so on St. Patrick's Day, everybody was Irish. Despite everyone else's blatant disregard for the day's significance around here, (sniff, sniff) I'm wearing a green sweater and dancin' an Irish jig on the inside. ;-)
My Leila is finally perking up. Her fever is almost down to normal again and she ate a little bit at breakfast time. Her Dr. said that this weird strian of virus is going around where people have a fever for four to six days before the more severe head cold symptoms appear. So far she has not had any cold symptoms, but she's been spiking a high fever off and on since Sunday evening. I'm so relieved to see my girl looking like herself again. Our house has been far too quiet this week while she's been sick.
Last night we had a great Knitting Meetup. There were about twelve of us there and we did a little bit of show and tell. One girl came who wanted some knitting lessons, and I graciously allowed one of the other group members to lend her a hand. I was also thrilled to see that it was not all just begining knitters, but some people were working on challenging projects. I worked on my second Flower Basket Shawl and I showed off my completed Retro Rib socks for my swap partner, and my completed Koigu FBS. I have decided to give the second FBS currently on the needles to my aunt Dolly, who will be turning 80 in April. We are going to Atlanta for her party, which will be a family reunion of sorts. We're also trying to squeeze in a trip to Stone Mountain Park while we are there. I am counting the days until the party because I am so starved for family I don't know what to do. I really miss my peoples and I'm really not feeling completely at home in this area yet.

March 15, 2005 2:26 PM

OK, now I know the calendar says March, but it feels like January around here! This is the coldest March I've experienced in a long time. Today's high was 46 I think, and there are no 60 or 70 degree days in the forecast in the forseeable future. I want to wear skirts and get rid of the scarves and hats and the winter dry skin! Sorry. No more whining. I really have no room to complain in my life, and yet I still do it. Hmmm.
It's funny how life just chugs along and you think that all is well and then you get a wake-up call that shakes your foundations. Last week we got the news that DH has Glaucoma. It's a disease that runs rampant in his family. His dad had it and his mother has it. His paternal aunt was going blind from Glaucoma when she died of other causes. His uncle is completely blind from it. There is no cure for Glaucoma. Thank God his was caught very early before he has experienced any real vision loss. Now he must either get surgery, or put drops in his eyes twice a day every day for the rest of his life. He'll also have to get monthly eye exams to make sure that the disease is not progressing and stealing his vision. The news was upsetting at first, but since it's been caught early, there is no reason for him to experience much loss of vision at all. He is not in any pain, but this is a poignant reminder of how weak our flesh is. It's another eminder that we are not these bodies that carry the essence of who we really are around on this earth. The true essence of who we are is eternal and incorruptible and made in the image of God. I am confident that He has a plan for our lives and that this disease has a purpose in my husband's life. I will be right there with him as he discovers what is is and how it might serve to help him to glorify God to a higher degree.
He has since been reminding his neices and nephews to get checked regularly because its not just something that older people get. Certain ethnic groups have a higher predisposition for Glaucoma--one of them being African Americans. So, when you get your eye exams, make sure that the Dr. does a Glaucoma screening because there are no symptoms until you begin to very slowly go blind.
I am at work today despite the fact that my Leila is home sick. I stayed home with her yesterday, but I had to come in today. She is with her grandma today and I am thankful for my MIL always being available to us to help out with the girls. She is truly a blessing.
Knitting Progress
I am wearing my first completed Flower Basket Shawl today. I made it from Koigu in a blend of autumnal colors and it is lovely. The soft pink one is coming along nicely. I plan to make that one a full size shawl, where this one is more like the size of a scarf. I have completed one sock and turned the heel on the second sock for a swap I'm doing with the sock knitters. I've become quite an Evelyn A. Clark fan, and I'm using her Retro Rib socks pattern from the winter '04 Interweave Knits. The yarn is self-striping in soft blues, tans and greys. It was actually a gift from one of my lovely secret pals.
I am also working on my modular vest that is supposed to be submitted with my TKGA Master Knitting Level II project, but I've been having this sinking feeling that the colors might be too dark. Oopsies!
This looks like a pretty cool project. I came across the PAXE Project on one of my knitting list-servs, and I think I might jump in and knit a section. Since the White House is about three blocks from where I work, it might be fun to stroll down there when the project is completed.

March 7, 2005 9:43 PM

I've devolved into an occaisional blogger. My teenager has taken over the 'puter at home, and I am making an effort not to blog from my 'puter at work, so, here I am sitting up on Dh's laptop after the girls have gone to bed.
Last night I stayed up and watched Oprah's special, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was based on Zora Neale Hurston's novel of the same name. I thought it was a lovely movie. I'm a big Halle Berry fan, so I enjoyed watching her work.
Knitting Progress Somehow in the midst of all of the chaos of everything, I've actually gotten some knitting done. I finished and mailed off a prayer shawl to a prayer shawl ministry group in New York which is doing a '40 prayer Shawls in 40 days of Lent" project. When I began the shawl I did not have a particular person in mind for it, so when I heard about this project I knew where that shawl would go. After I sent that shawl off I found a couple of orphan skeins of a creamy cotton/acrylic blend yarn that I used to start a triangle shawl that just might go to that project as well. I'm designing it on the needles and it's coming out nicely.
I also finally finished my Koigu Flower Basket Shawl. I blocked it and it came out beuatifully. I am still working on another FBS that I plan to give to my aunt Dolly, who will be turning 80 in April. We wil be travelling to Atlanta for her birthday celebration. I can't wait to see my family all together again. I'm also looking forward to getting out of town and hanging out in Atlanta. I have not been there since 2001.
I signed up for a sock swap, and I'm making the Retro Rib socks from the Fall 2004 issue of IK.

February 22, 2005, 8:48:11 PM

At my knitting group on Sunday afternoon, which meets at our lys, Stitch DC, I bought some delicious Artyarns Supermerino to knit the vest in the Fall issue of InKnitter's. It's a modular knit vest that I will be submitting for my TKGA Level II vest project. SO far, it's a fun little project. The yarn is as soft as butter, and along with my bamboo needles it's a delightful combo.
This weekend we went shopping at Potomac Mills and I discovered G Street Fabrics. It's a great big fabric wonderland. I had a wonderful time fondling and admiring so many different kinds of fabric. Since the family was breathing down my neck, I only bought fabric to make a hat, which I made last night and wore it to work today. I also bought some patterns. Next time I'll pick out some fabrics to make some nice Spring outfits.

Leila and I have been working on her project for Black History Month. The person she is researching is Countee Cullen. I read his poetry in my Afro-American Lit class in college, but I never learned much about him. I'm just excited that my first grader is already doing a research project.

I seem to have a bad case of start-it-itis lately for I have started yet another knitting project. Yesterday I found this lonely ball of red wool in my stash that is too scratchy to make a hat or scarf, so I am making myself a felted, little red bag like this.

February 20, 2005 11:17:47 AM

I have resigned myself to the fact that I just don't have the time to blog daily. Blogging from work is not possible these days 'cause it's just been so busy, and when I get home, my 15-yo Dd has taken over my 'puter for homework and for uploading music to her mp3 player. Time to get another PC at home.
Yesterday, my friend RS and I went to the movies to see the House of Flying Daggers. What an awesome, beautiful movie. I am one of the few who have not yet seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, so I was not familiar with Zhang Yimou's work. The story was full of intriguing plot twists and the cinematography was just incredibly breathtaking. I was a little grossed out at the gore, but it was not gratuitous violence for the sake of violence. It was all part of the story. Go see it. It's a love story witih a martial arts film and it is a jewel.
I am now the proud mommy of a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. My Leila has always been freakishly strong and very agile and flexible. When she was little and we would play at the park, people would often comment on her agility. That child could fly across the monkey bars effortlessly. When other kids would try to follow her, they would rarely make it all the way across. Well, I'm glad that we have found a way for her to channel that strength and agility. She loves Tae Kwon Do and her teacher raves about how good she is and about her potential to succeed if she stays with it. Last Thursday night was her second test in Tae Kwon Do, so now I can see her progress. She is very tight and focused. She did turn the wrong way during a kick combination, but for the most part she executed her combinations well. I am most thrilled because she is proud of her progress. She is enjoying it and wants to do the best that she can. Next time I want to bring a video camera so that she can see herself in action. I'm just so proud of my baby!
We had a lovely, quiet Valentine's Day at home. Dh had just returned from two back-to-back trips and I was really missing him. We exchanged gofts and reminded each other of how much we mean to each other. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure that I'm not dreaming. Not too long ago I used to hate Valentine's Day because it just reminded me of how much I wanted to be in love with someone, but I was not. It turns out that God was just taking that time to prepare both of our hearts for what he was going to give us. I am full of gratitude for God's mercy and His grace towards me.
When I got home on Friday after work, I discovered that the mail man had brought me two lovely things. One, was the mittens from my partner in the Mitten Swap on the Knitting Angel blog. I'll post a picture of them later. They are knit from a soft, fuscia wool that looks like Manos. She said in her note that this was her first pair of mittens, but you could never tell. They are lovely. The next treasure was a letter from my niece, who is now my pen-pal. She lives in Los Angeles, so we don't get to see them very often. My sister is home-schooling her children, and they are the smartest, most intelligent and well-behaved children I know. Miss Olivia writes in long hand in impeccable cursive writing. She is a sweet girl, and I am enjoying corresponding with her in this way.
Family is so important to me, and it pains me that my siblings and I are so far flung form each other. My brother is still living in Southern Oregon, my older sister is in LA, and my younger sister is in NH. The last time we were all together in one place was on my wedding day, which was three years ago. At that time we had not been all together in one place in abot 15 years. I'd really like to get out to Oregon this year to visit my brother and his kids. He didn't bring them when he came for the wedding, so I have not seen them in almost seven years. They probably wouldn't even recognize me if they saw me on the street. They are in my prayers and I hope that they know how much I love them.
Well, I'd better go put my girls in the tub and start braiding hair. We have church service at 6pm, but I have my knitting group this afternoon. If I go off and leave Dh to do it, well, let's just say that I'd better get them dressed and do their hair if they are going out in public

Knitting Progress
I got past my stuck place on the Flower Basket Shawl from Fall 04 IK. I posted my dilemma on the big knitlist, and I received many helpful tips on how to get unstuck. My shawl is growing nicely and I have even started another on from Koigu PPPM after having been inspired by Marie upon visiting her blog and seeing her two lovely specimens.

At my knitting group on Wednesday eveing, I got a refresher spinning lesson from Janet, so now I can spin up the roving that I bought at last year's MD Sheep & Wool Festival before this one rolls around again.

February 2, 2005 10:08:39 PM

I feel like it's been ages since I've blogged. Life has been so very full lately, and I have not had much free time to reflect. I should actually be doing other things right now, but what the heck. Each year I talk about how I no longer do New Year's resolutions, but this year I was going to do the whole "mondo beyondo" big vision thing. Well, I've just been completely uninspired lately. Jordan is back to not sleeping through the night again, so I walk around bleary-eyed and thoroughly exhausted. I find that each day my goal is simply to make it through the day without me head crashing down on to my keyboard at work. I get home and then I am the home-work coach, cook, housekeeper and husband encourager until I finally collapse into bed where I'm lucky if I get four or five good hours of sleep. I have just felt this huge, gaping space in my life where I don't have any real plans or goals or a compelling vision that I am working towards. I am just moving from day to day looking to the Lord to maybe hit me with a lightning bolt of inspiration or something.

I have been keeping my pledge of Bible reading and devotions and that has been what has kept my sanity in these stressful days. I have been reading the book of Ephesians lately and it has given me a lot of peace. I have been praying for others and for our world and for myself to find a new sense of direction so that I don't feel quite so aimless and void. I know that God has a plan for my life, and I'd be thrilled if he'd reveal it to me so that I can be sure I'm doing what He would have me to do.

Daryll bought a copy of the movie Ray and we tried to watch it last night, but I fell asleep about 40 minutes into the movie. I'll try to watch it during the day on Saturday when I can be fully awake. Jamie Foxx is a fantastic actor.

Knitting Projects
Has anyone else had problems with the Flower Basket Shawl from the Fall issue of Interweave Knits? I got about 14" along on it and made an error in the pattern and had to rip back about four inches. Now it seems despite my careful attention to the pattern chart, I am having the same problem again. I can't remember the last time I ditched a knitting project, but I've grown weary of ripping this thing out.

I put the mittens I made for a Mitten Swap in the mail today. I designed the pattern myself, but typical of me in a rush, I forgot to take a digi picture of the finished mittens! I need to make another pair anyway to test out the pattern again in a smaller size. I'll also need to coerce a knitting buddy to knit a pair to test the instructions to make sure that they are clear enough.

January 12, 2005 11:53:02 AM

Life continues to be a crazy blurr. DH is out of town this week, so I'm living like a single mom again. The poor man is working 12 hour days, and when we talk at bed time he always sounds so exhausted. The girls are really missing him, although, Jordan is getting much better about bed time. I am having trouble falling asleep in the bed alone, and I miss him terribly. He'll be home Friday night and we'll all be so glad to see him.

Work is still in chaos. Our committee office is still full of boxes while we continue to try to keep up with the Chair as she gives us planty to do. We have two big hearings coming up, yet we can't find anything. I find myself having to actively remind myself to manage my stress level these days. I have not been able to get away to the gym yet this week, but I plan to go today for sure. Working out absolutely dissolves my stress and helps me to sleep better at night. Recently since I have not been running because of my knee, my thighs have just exploded. One morning when I was pulling on a pair of slacks I caught DH's eye and saw the frightened expression on his face. I looked down to see how the fabric was clinging way to close to my thighs and I decided not to wear that pair of pants. I'll have to get back to running just a little bit at a time until the muscle can finally heal itself.

Knitting Progress Last night I got a call from my sister in LA. She received the shawl that I made her for her birthday. She loved it and called to thank me for it. We had a nice chat on the phone. The girls also talked to her and she was surprised at how well Jordan speaks for a two-year-old. It was great to hear from her. I can't wait to get out there to LA for another visit.

Over the weekend I pulled out my TKGA Master Knitting Program Level II stuff and did some more work on the swatches. I finished the pocket and I made sample cable swatches and sketches for the vest design. My goal is to submit Level II by February 28th.

January 5, 2005 3:32:22 PM

Happy New Year!
Ok, so I'm a few days late, but life's been like that for me. So far 2005 has been a time of radical change in my life and I'm still reeling and trying to take it all in. By the grace of God, the first big change is that my church has moved into our new, 3,000 seat church buliding. It's absolutely beautiful, but HUGE and hard to get used to. We've all been tithing and praying for this new buliding for years and now it is here and we are jubilant.

On my job, we have moved offices. My boss is now chair of the Education Committee so we had to move out of the Judiciary Committee offices and into our new space. I have finally gotten unpacked and got my work area set up. I need to buy some plants and find out how to get some art work for these stark walls to liven the place up a little bit. The move was poorly planned and we still have some logistical issues to work out--such as getting hooked up to a network printer.

Dh is preparing for a lot of business travel in the next quarter. This always puts added strain on me when he is out of town because our baby is a daddy's girl beyond belief. Even when he is in town, but just not in the house at bedtime she cries for him. Since I weaned her, she no longer has nay use for me at bedtime--except for last night when DH was out she came and crawled up into my lap and proceeded to hurl the contents of her stomach and intestines all over me. Thank God my thick terrycloth bathrobe was strewn across my lap, so it caught everything and didn't ruin the bedspread and sheets on our bed. Her bed was another story, and there was a trail across the floor.

A few years agon I made the decision to stop making New Year's resolutions. They were always the same, I never accomplished them, and by early March I felt like a defeated failure because I had not yet made a dent in my resolutions. As I was blog browsing as I ate my lunch today, I read about the mondo beyondo list on naomi's blog. She has a link back to Trinity's Superhero Journal where she explains the whole concept. I kinda like it and I'm going to do a little daydreaming and come up with my own mondo beyondo list. Stay tuned for more details.

My sister's shawl is finally complete! On a recent trip to A.C. Moore to spend a nifty little gift card I received for Christmas, I found some lovely ribbon yarn called, Dazzle (colorway 20), it wants to be Eros, but it's about 40% cheaper yet equally as shimmery and luscious and decadent looking. Since she is a fashion designer and she lives in Los Angeles she doesn't have much need for socks or sweaters or hats. When I saw this yarn it told me what an elegant shawl it could become in the right hands. I hope that she enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it. It got lots of "Oooh's and Ahhh's" from people who watched me make it because it just looked so yummy.

So, my New Year's wish to all is that you do what makes you happy (legally. . .), and do your best to encourage others to be their very best.

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