SailingKnitter

Well - it's begun. We are demolishing the floors in the house to put in new tile. The ghastly pink & white tile in the front hallway was the hardest to get up. Jones had to use an electric chisel to get the TWO layers of tile up - yep, there was some brown tiles underneath. And then...Agh! there is a 5" layer of crumbling mortar/concrete underneath it. What a mess! The house is covered in concrete dust - and the front entryway looks like a war zone with bomb craters. Kinda fun for Halloween trick or treaters don't you think?

But, we are making progress. So far Jones has pulled up the pinkish linoleum in the kitchen/dining area, the front hallway you see here, and the tiles from the downstairs bathroom and laundry area. Also, he has pulled off the kitchen counter tiles. Then, he's gotten the new appliances ordered, and contractors set up to come lay the new tiling.

Plans are to have the house listed for sale sometime in November - we already have the real estate agent, just have to finish the remodeling. Once the house is sold - I'll quit work and we'll take off for the BIG ADVENTURE!!! Buy one of the sailboats we've been looking at and live the good life!!!!

Is this heaven or what? At Meg Swansen's camp this past summer, they had these hanks of Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper weight yarn on display for us to see the colors and order from Schoolhouse Press www.schoolhousepress.com and they would deliver to the next day of camp.

Think of all the beautiful stuff you could knit with these! Nope - you didn't even have to create your own designs - there was a plethoria of books to browse and the ORIGINAL sweaters from some of Meg's and EZ's books, and Sweaters from Camp book. Check out the photo of part of the display...

And of course - who could resist trying on some of these beauties????

SEE YOU AT CAMP Next year!!!

Well - I've been tagged - see how it goes? I went away to a 3-day knitting retreat and come back to find myself tagged by KC at Random Fiber Ramblings. Hey, if I gotta be tagged by someone I'm glad it was Kim....

So here it goes....

10 YEARS AGO
I had just moved back to California from Georgia with my husband and 2 sons (ages 12 and 17) adn was living in a small rental house farther up in the foothills above Sacramento in Cameron Park. Kinda a bittersweet time - I was 4 years out from a devasting breast cancer diagnosis with localized metastisis. Bittersweet because that was 2 years longer than my estimated life expectancy so that was sweet! but, we moved back to California so that my husband and sons could be closer to family to help out when I was no longer around. Anyway...obviously, I'm STILL alive!! Yippeeee! About that same time I started back to school to finish up my undergrad degree in Finance.

5 YEARS AGO
I was working as an Account Manager in Marketing for the newly spun off company from Hewlett-Packard called Agilent Technologies. Things were great! I really loved working at Agilent - great people - high hopes for the future. I had not only finished my undergrad degree, but was also almost done with my MBA. Yeah, I was tired, and not knitting much those days - working full time, having a son in highschool and one in college still living at home, and then the MBA in the evenings and weekends.

1 YEAR AGO
Got laid off from Agilent on my birthday. The technology bubble burst and out we went. I managed to survive several rounds of lay-offs so it was actually a relief to finally get the golden severance package. I spent the summer knitting, dying yarn, floating in my pool, and then went to work at Siemens Transportation in November.

FIVE SNACKS
Smokehouse Almonds, cheese, cheetos, my homemade hummus, dates

FIVE SONGS I KNOW THE WORDS TO
1) Heatwave - Martha and the Vandellas
2) Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka
3) La Cucaracha
4) Leader of the Pack (brrrrum, brrruummmmm)
5) You Shook Me - Led Zepplin

FIVE THINGS I'D DO WITH $100 MILLION
1) Create a retirement annuity for my sister so that she can live comfortably and spend a lot of time with me!
2) Create a scholarship at the local university for the incidental living expenses of women returning to school who have young children - not awarded based on grades.
3) Travel everywhere with my husband - backpack, hike, take long train trips, sail, explore, nature watch, ride ferries, take the longest way to get somewhere.
4) Start a women's arts & crafts institute where we can explore all types of crafts, classes, retreats, and each other's company in a warm & serene environment.
5) Ensure that each of my sons have enough funds to be able to pursue higher education and exploration throughout their lives.

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO
1) Anywhere my husband is
2) Kauai, Hawaii
3) Rocky Mountains
4) Thailand
5) Oregon Coast

FIVE THINGS THAT I WOULD NEVER WEAR
1) A wedding dress
2) push-up bra
3) girdle
4) thong - you know, the butt-floss type
5) anything with polka dots

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1) Trauma - Life in the ER
2) West Wing
3) Rome (new HBO series)
4) Sex in the City
5) Maternity Ward

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS
1) my husband and sons
2) being alive & healthy
3) having the freedom to pursue my dreams
4) knitting
5) living in peace

FIVE FAVORITE TOYS
1) sailboat
2) knitting stuff
3) bicycle
4) fishing gear
5) little red car

PEOPLE TO PASS THIS ON TO
Sandi
Lorna
Kaedean
Violet
Carol

Check out this link to a site where there is a funny TV commercial for the Los Angeles County Fair - wool, valley girls related...

http://www.sfchickswithsticks.com/chickswithsticks.html

hmmm...I thought we all learned this in Kindergarten.

A sign in Folsom California.


Caution! Entering El Dorado County - the land of stressed-out cows and dog haters.

This sign is located in a residential area...what an unfriendly way to greet folks to your county.

This is a little pumpkin that I knit up last year - I don't know why - just felt like it. Anyway, I had written up the instructions and I came across them last week when I was searching for something else. So...I thought it might be fun to make a kit for this little thing and sell it at Frog Pond Knits www.frogpondknits.com where I have the other knitting related goodies that I make and import. Then, I put some up on eBay to test market the idea. For a lousy $5 you, too, can be the proud owner of a Baby Pumpkin pattern and the materials to make one! But wait - there's more - only in this first offering - if you act now - you can have at no additional charge - 3 genuine faux fall leaves included with your kit! Imagine the surprise of your friends, family and neighbors when they see this fine example of your craftiness!!

I took it to my Folsom Knitting Group today and someone thought that it would make a good "stress ball" as it is squishy.

Speaking of the Folsom Knitting Group - we had a great time today - the weather was PERFECT! Sunny, but with a nice breeze drifting across the patio. I knit and talked from 10am to 4pm!!!

One of the regulars (Carol) showed us how to make a very nice-looking cord for drawstrings or ties on knitted items. She calls it something like "Grandmother's cord" because her grandmother used to make it. Anyway, we all got out our yarn and tried to do it. It takes a little practice, but finally we all got it. I've heard this called "Finger-Knitting" before. Basically, you start with a slip knot, and pull loops from alternating yarn ends thru the slip knots to produce a cord.

On the knitting front...been working on a little hooded toddler jacket that will be a store sample for Frog Pond out of Karisma wool. Also, am finishing a "Thrummed" Hat for the store. Then I've got to get working on the samples for my up-coming Fair Isle class. Too much knitting - too little time....