I am really getting close....

I am getting so close to being done with the Emerald Isle shawl. Truly!!!! only 10 more rows (5 of those being purled). I am so wanting to be done, and yet here I am on the computer... checking my friend's blogs, checking into Ravelry (like I need MORE ideas of stuff I want to do), and while doing this I am neither knitting nor doing any of the things around the house that are screaming to be done.

I am thinking that the computer is the very reason so many more people are getting back into the Gentle Arts. We have a collective desire to be more tactile and results focused. Think of all the people who, while they are willing to buy yarn off the internet, chances are they have already been somewhere that they were able to touch and feel and yes, in some cases 'smell' the yarn and decided that this is now their most favorite yarn. I love the fact that we want to be tactile. It is good for the soul and for our health. How many articles have you seen lateley about the health issues related to --- too much TV for kids and elders, not enough activity in our lives due to commuting and office jobs, and computers, - how dealing with living things helps us feel better?

I guess in a way, I think of the Gentle Arts (fiber work, cooking, baking, crafting) as dealing with living things. Most of these things either come from living things, or become living or life giving things.

Maybe going back to the "old" ways would not be so very bad. Our health would improve, our brains might not get mushy so early, and we would go back to being a production oriented people. Yes, our conviences are wonderful, but I often think that given the chance to take a vacation in one of those "Frontier House" experiments would not be ALL bad. Think of the activity, the need to be creative, and use you brain to make up for the things that you have to adjust to. No it would not be easy, and I am sure there would be days of sheer misery, but by the same token it might be life changing for the positive.

I shall get down quietly from my soap box, and go answer the incessant beeping of my washing machine that is done, and then empty the dishwasher, and then, just maybe sit my butt down and do some knitting today.

Color Me Embarassed...

OK, I admit it.... my bad. My really great SP sent me an absolutely fantastic box, which I sent her a personal thank you, opened with the greatest of care and slowness, to savor all that was enclosed, and then.....

Well, life stepped in, and away we went. Now as I was looking over my blog (which yes, I wrote several days ago) I realized I had not publicly thanked my Wonderful SP!


I am so very sorry SP. I truly did not mean to neglect that part of my blogging. But I have some time right now, as I just got my company on their way, and finished taking a wallpaper border off the downstairs bathroom, and am just waiting for my Beloved to finish his work in the bathroom (replacing water faucets - all the way back to the wall).


Soooooooo with out further ado, here is my most wonderful package in all it's glory, and might I say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to my SP.

I must say I LOVE her concept of packaging - simple but elegant...
...the box was quite large, but everything was scattered throughout the packing peanuts...
...and the goodies are given in the Spirit of Knitting. Things that make you feel good and happy.

Pomegranite Green Tea, and a georgeous mug to have it in; Candied Ginger (which DH already has some culinary plans for); Peach, Apricot preserves made with Sautern wine; Herbal bath soaks; Dark Chocolate (in the large size); and a lovely Green Fig Soy candle; and last but not least a lovely notebook/journal (which I can see becoming a record book of sorts for my projects).

Again... I thank you for all your thoughtfulness and creativity and time. I hope your upstream is taking as good of care of you :)

She Lives, She Lives.....

Yes, I really am still among the world of the living. As is often the case, there are many days that I wonder at this miraculous feat.

Yes, I went again to DC for several days to help out at the CWC store in Fair Oaks mall and when I left there were getting their stock room on track. This is a very good thing for them. As a result of my time there, and on the advice of some management type people I decided to retract my resignation at my current store, so that I might further my intentions of a broader job situation with the company. Apparently in big business you get heard a little bit more when you are still on the payroll, than if you come to them cold. So I will continue to persue my aspirations of being a district/regional 'go to' person for stockroom issues. We shall see.

Meanwhile, Rachael came to visit for a week. What a week it was. We knitted publicly ALOT, we ran about and did some shopping, and had Starbucks most days (eek my caffeine content is on overload), and generally kept quite busy. Busy enough that we were in bed by about 9-10pm every night. Except Saturday when we really did kick back and spent the day doing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon of season 6. If we didn't have to get up early Sunday to head up to DC, we might have finished out the season. Rachael has decided that Buffy is definitely better in English than in German dubbing.

Sunday we went to DC and picked up Josh and his new Girlfriend Becka and went tooling about DC, mainly The Holocost Museum (which is very intense, but very well done), and the WWII memeorial, and I think we did something else before heading off to a Lebanese Restaurant in Adam's Morgan area of DC. It was really good and I would definitely go for Lebanese food again. Then again, I am a garlic lover.

Monday we spent the day at Mount Vernon, and yes, I saw one of the sets of George Washington's teeth. Alas, though, they are not wood, they are ivory. Poor guy, started having dental issues in his early 20's, even with owning no less than 12 toothbrushes.

Then it was off to the airport to see Rachael off. Boo Hoo. Wish she could have stayed longer.

And now.......

Knitting pics. I have finally taken pics, and even have a finish (sock #1 - #2 is on the needles) and an almost finish, - this is the left half of Emeral Isle. The right half is all bunched up due to length of my needle cord.
This is just so you can see the detail better. Only 16 more rows to go (which = 16-18hrs)
and a sweater in progress, This is the Beloved's cardigan. I took it in the same place I took the others, but it bleached out on the photos. This is the back

and an alpaca shawl/scarf in progress. I really like this pattern and LOVE the yarn. It came from my SP11. Although Rachael fell in love with it, and hence I guess this will be hers. But thanks to some LYS trolling (I have 5 in the area in which I live), I came across this very yarn and will be able to make one for myself one of these days.
....and that my blogging friends is then end of this day's post. Hope you all enjoyed and come back and visit real soon. I hope to get back on track now with my blogging and my knitting.
Take Care

Yes, I have been very remiss...

...I have not been blogging as I would hope to be. Although I can say I have been knitting.

I have been making solid progress on my Emeral Isle Shawl, and hope (if the Knitting Goddess is in a good mood) to have it done within the next week or so.

That being said, I will again be on the road to Washington DC early tomorrow morning (o'dark hundred early :( -not my favorite) to work in the Coldwater Creek store in Fairfax. Truly there is a method to my madness. This too is part of the reason for my lack of blogging, as I have been in research mode. I am moving into an area that I have no experience in, and I want them to think I know what I am talking about. Job Descriptions and Proposals are a totally new venue for me, therefore it is taking significant amounts of brain space and energy to make it happen.

I will tell you all that I am totally looking forward to the visit of my Dear Friend Rachael next week. Since her boys are both on school trips for the week, and her husband continues to be deployed in the Congo.... she is coming here for a long awaited visit. I look forward to our time of just chilling out and doing whatever we darn well please for a week. Hence I am thinking I shall get a fair amount of knitting done, as well as some yarn shop crawling.

If I get the chance I will try to post some update pics as soon as possible. So sorry this is one of those boring non-pictorial blogs... but alas we all have to start reading "chapter books" sometime.

Take Care everyone :)