Mystery Stole 3 progress . . . LOL!

One skein KnitPicks Shadow, 100% Merino Wool, Jewels (50 grams/440 yards), wound:


The apple is just to show the proportion of what 440 yards of laceweight winds up being. I really should invest in a winder. Seriously. Winding this stuff took FOREVER and the kids just looked at me like I had totally lost my mind ("please honey, it won't take nearly that long if you will just SIT STILL"). A swift and a winder. Definitely going on the wishlist for Christmas.

Gee, I'm just chugging right along here:


But, to be fair, I have ripped this a couple of times (i.e., read the chart, READ the chart, READ THE STUPID CHART!). And then I decided that I didn't like the beads I was using (white, too stark with the dark). Then I had an eureka moment and remembered that I had ordered some yarn and a gift for Lindsey from Earthfaire and they had generously sent a sample of beads. Lovely things. I have ordered more. Unfortunately, what is seen to the right of this is all the beads I have until my order comes . . . I think enough for two more rows.

My blog is rated . . .

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

and it is only because I used the word "pain" three times.

weird Saturday & Mystery Stole 3

So, since 2001, I have been going to school. I know this is getting old, but hear me out.

I got my associates, bachelors and finally MBA. All very cool. But, I have spent six years doing homework, working on the computer, reading textbooks, etc. Because my guilt would get the best of me, when I got up on Friday mornings, I would sort the laundry. My daughters would start it when they got home from school on Fridays or, during the summer, my husband would start it. Saturday mornings, I would get up early (especially difficult when I had Saturday morning classes), but nevertheless I did it, and then would fold all of the clothes (generally eight baskets). On the rare occasion that I did not, my hubby would tell the kids they had to do it. And when I got home I GOT THE GRIEF from the kids about how they HAD to do ALL the laundry. Of course, my laundry would be spread all over the bed because they weren't sure what got hung and what got folded. DUH.

Anyway, so Saturday was the very first day of the rest of my non-school life. Laundry was folded and put away by 9:00 a.m. I made breakfast for Dave and Zachariah (the girls had spent the night at a friends). Loaded a game on the computer for Zachariah. Swept the floors (vacuum broke - darn), cleaned the kitchen (including the fridge) and the bathrooms. And generally, didn't do much. More importantly, I discovered that no one does much of anything either.

Very bizarre.

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Well, actually, Lindsey and I went shopping and to the Library. Target and Joann's were our shopping fun. Lindsey is getting braces, today, and we needed to get her a waterpik and power toothbrush. She was APPALLED at how much they cost. She kept saying, "I could get four pairs of earrings, I could get shorts or shoes." And I kept thinking about the yarn I could buy!

The expedition to Joann's was to get beads for the Mystery Stole 3 (see below). I couldn't find enough of anything. But I do think I have found some at home (I did do the beading on my nieces' lace for their wedding dresses and still have some of the beads left).

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I have decided to participate in the Mystery Stole 3. I am using KnitPicks Shadow in Jewels. I've never made lace but decided to give this a whirl. The other thing I did on Saturday was to hand wind the yarn (440 yards of laceweight). Just to give you a sense of how fine a skein of 440 yards of laceweight is, here it is and trust me when I say this is relatively loosely wound:

Phew for Mom too!

The grades for our last class were posted yesterday (gotta love a professor that has accepted a post at another school and needs to get everything finished very quickly before he moves on). Our final presentation was completed on Saturday, June 30 and our final paper had to be submitted by midnight, Monday, July 2. While our graduation was held on May 12, I had not sent out my announcements. I am not generally superstitious, but figured I would hedge my bets and wait until after the absolute final grades were posted.

I passed Phew.

Now, I want to read a book. Any book. As long as it doesn't have to do with finance, marketing, international business, human resources or strategy . . . well actually, strategy isn't bad and some HR stuff isn't either . . . but a good trashy novel, totally mindless, sounds like fun.

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Thanks so much to all who have sent notes of encouragement and support.

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Knitting stuff: My son is small. For lots of reasons. He is 6-1/2 years old, weighs 36 pounds and is 43" tall. So, I started making him a sweater last year. It was mindless knitting (a Wallaby). It is one of those things that I can pick up and put down without evening thinking about where I am.

Taking a page out of the Yarn Harlot's book, I used the sleeves for setting the gauge. It worked. I made both sleeves. LAST YEAR. Then started working on the body. Well, I'm ready to attach the sleeves and I pulled them out and looked over at Zachariah. Held the sleeves up to his arms and they are at least four inches too short. Seriously, his arms have grown. But four inches??? I mentioned something to my hubby and he said, "well, none of his dress pants are long enough either." To be honest, I generally don't see him in dress pants. He only wears them to school. Gosh, don't I sound like a terrible Mom. No, seriously, my husband teaches at the same school and Zachariah doesn't get up until after I leave in the morning and is in different clothes when I get home. How am I supposed to know?

So, now I am on a mission, to finish the sweater so that he can wear it before he outgrows the sleeves again (I have added FIVE inches to the one sleeve and am working on the other one). I am also going to add an inch or two to the body of the sweater . . . and maybe scratch the hood. Fortunately, he is still skinny as a rail so I don't have to worry about the body not fitting (I checked).

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Phew, she passed

I guess it is official, even though Lindsey received her diploma from Fr. Cole last Thursday, her report card arrived yesterday with the "promoted to grade 9" notation.

and here is her class or at least most of them . . .


Lindsey and her classmates are really good kids. We have a party the week before and they were wonderful, well-behaved and polite.

She received one of the two top scholarships from the Parents' Group. Very cool.

It is amazing how much Lindsey has grown over the past year. I can see more and more glimpses of the woman she will become. She is still an air-head much of the time (one of her classmates asked her if she was really a blonde!). On the other hand, she is mostly kind and friendly and generous.

This that and the other thing

Worldwide Knit in Public Day, Saturday June 9.. For more information about the WWKIP day, you can go here.

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I did felt a little thing this past week but cannot post it as yet since it is being gifted!

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I am almost done with my MBA.
This Saturday, June 9, I have to take my comprehensive MBA exam (2 hours) and my final, FINAL exam, EVER. It is on Strategy. The study guide is 66 questions and four quantitative analysis problems. The actual exam will consist of 15 multiple guess questions, 15 short answer (5 to 6 sentence) and two quantitative analysis problems. Our group broke up the 66 study guide questions. I did the first 11. It was eight pages, which is about average for the rest of the questions, which means that the "study guide" for this course is approximately 48+ pages (single spaced) long.

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My extended family remains in crisis. Please keep all of them in your prayers.

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I've discovered that I've been doing a lot of nothing lately (well, nothing in relation to knitting or when I do knit, I tend to do a lot of frogging). I think I need to focus on a couple of small little projects so that I can have a sense of headway!

Losing my mind - a VENT

Have you ever been asked to do something, agree to do it and then want to bite your tongue because you really don't want to?

For several years, my husband and I hosted mid-career professionals for an international organization. The annual meeting is being held in Cleveland this July. I was asked to help with the registration. The annual meeting website above, has my name all over it. We are anticipating 250 individuals at the conference. The executive committee is coming in the Thursday before for their meetings and the board is coming in two days later for their meeting. We also have a lot of other events going on (reunions, host family gatherings, outings: R&R Hall of Fame, Cleveland Museum of Art , Severance Hall and the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Blossom Music Center, Cleveland Botanical Garden and House of Blues Cleveland.

The next thing I knew I was in charge of all registrations.* Okay, I can handle this. The deadline for registration was March 31. People could register with a $100 down payment but had to do so by March 31 with the balance due May 31.

Deadlines are a bear. While part of me is a stickler for deadlines, I often end up extending only because I think people are careless and busy and forget. I am still getting registrations. We put in the literature that late registrations would be accepted with a $100 charge.

Nevertheless, the PRESIDENT of the Board sent me an email the first of May saying that she thinks that there should be some leeway for the members of the Board.

Hmmmm, the Board knew the date of the conference and the details and deadlines last August. There is no reason whatsoever that any member of the Board should have registered late.

Then, to ease my burden, the organization hired a Conference Coordinator. Very cool. She is, unfortunately, a liability. She deletes emails, doesn't forward information and makes mistakes. Too much to go into at this point.

Bah humbug and all that other stuff! I am so frustrated that I have told one of the committee members that I won't be there. We will probably come out for the host family gathering but I am not going to take vacation time to do this. I was. I'm not. I'll probably change my mind.

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* At one point during our twice monthly meetings, it occurred to me that my role had expanded to include management of all facilities issues, meals and registration. I did end up telling the Director of CIPUSA that I wasn't doing it. I am doing the registrations. I am ordering all the stuff that will go into the participants totes.

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And, yes, the name of my blog is "Is no a complete sentence." Obviously, I have a problem saying no.

Prayers do work

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about a really bad week and how my brother and sister needed prayers.


My older sister (she will be 57 in August) had a stroke. It was a minor stroke and, as the nurse said "it was God smacking you upside the head." The nurse who was discharging her was very cool. She told her that if she wasn't going to quit smoking than she should save her money and not bother getting her prescriptions. She has to quit smoking (duh). Her husband has to quit smoking (duh). The nurse also told her that she is not allowed to be ANYWHERE where people are smoking. Since Ohio passed a smoking ban last year, this is not as difficult as it may otherwise seem. The hardest part is that four of her five children smoke, one of whom still lives at home. But her DH did not have a problem telling them that there will be no smoking in the home/yard/car, etc. She has follow-up appointments with a neurology, vascular and has to have an echocardiogram. But, all indications are that this was just a warning shot over her bow. Actually, when the nurse was lecturing her, I pointed out that she was using the wrong tact. I looked at Peg and said, if you have another stroke, you might not be able to knit or spin or quilt or sew. THAT got her attention.

The pic above is Peg holding Aiden (our youngest great nephew)



My younger brother (he will be 47 in August) has tumors on his spine. Four to be exact. He had a series of tests. They are all benign. He had gone to the doctor because he was having so much pain. Turns out that they believe the tumors are not the cause of the pain but that he is having ongoing problems with kidney stones (he has had five stones pass in the last six weeks . . . ouch). The tumors they will watch but the doc really believes that they are actually more calcium build-up (similar to kidney stones). He has to see a kidney specialist, someone else for his arthritis and a nutritionist. The kidney guy's office made the appointment with the nutritionist at the same time because kidney stones (especially ongoing problems with them) are often tied to poor nutrition issues (my brother is the ultimate picky eater . . . and does not like most vegetables). He has had many health problems over the last several years. His spleen was removed 21 years ago which causes many health issues -- if it can be helped, do not allow your spleen to be removed. At the time, the docs thought he had leukemia or lymphoma. The doctor that did the surgery was a butcher. My brother has a scar (about 1" wide) that runs from his sternum to his belly button. About four years ago, the docs thought he had esophageal cancer. He saw specialists at the Cleveland Clinic and a cardiologist. His heart is perfect and he has serious reflux but no cancer. After all the testing was done, the Clinic doctors removed his gall bladder and has had very few problems until the recent back pain and kidney stones. On top of all of this, his youngest daughter suffers from agorophobia, OCD and depression. She is having a tough time dealing with school. She is very smart but, unfortunately, the school she attends is huge. Eddie and Debbie (my SIL) are looking at various options to help her, including an online academy. She is the sweetest thing.

The pic of Eddie is with his youngest daughter at my son's birthday party in January.

Anyway, for all who have offered up their prayers and good thoughts for my siblings, I greatly appreciate it. My sibs are good people. They are married to good people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Fun time had by all

Zachariah and the cat trying to fly a kite!




This is something that is being made for a Whoduknit swap . . . but what could it be????? It looks like a shell or top ... maybe something for a pet?



A week ago Saturday, I spent the evening with two of my sisters and one sister-in-law. We were at my oldest sister's home. She quilts and spins and knits and is basically willing to try just about anything. She had bought a cheap spinning wheel and then her DH made her one. So besides taking a whirl on the spinning wheel (which looks easier than it is), we did some needle felting and then dyed fabric squares with ink and shaving cream. After we were all done with the squares, one of us asked what she was going to do with them . . . we do a gift exchange amongst the adults at Christmas and she is going to use the squares to make a quilt out of them for her recipient!

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This past weekend was Lindsey's play. It was very cute and the kids did a great job . . . especially since all the 7th grade boys dropped out two weeks before. There is a definite confusion as to why they dropped out but if I were their parents, they would not have done so.

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These came from a friend of mine for Mother's Day!



Yesterday was Mother's Day. It was a good day. We went to breakfast and later the girls and I went shopping. I actually bought stuff for myself!!!

Later I made dinner, well, sort of, we had chicken and pot stickers and cheese and crackers and strawberries!

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Sarah's Birthday

Today is Sarah's 21st birthday.

She was born on mother's day 1986.

Dave and I didn't meet our daughter until July of that year. What a gift she has been. She is beautiful and kind. She works hard at everything she does. She is our joy . . . but 21 years have gone by . . . and it was just a minute ago that I held her for the first time. Just a minute ago . . .

Two down . . . one to go

NON-KNITTING INFO:

The two electives that I took for Spring semester are done:

Monday . . . final on HR Planning
Wednesday . . . final on Group Dynamics

Both of these were electives and yes, I did decide to take these classes instead of taking the scheduled electives:

Financial Policies (Survey of financial policies and problems. Covers such topics as working capital management, cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and long-range financial planning. Includes one or more of the following: cases, readings, and term project) and

Project Management (This course is designed to teach you the nature and scope of Project Management (PM). You will learn what the planning of a project involves, what managerial problems are associated with the design, control and scheduling of projects the managers are facing, and finally what techniques and decision tools are used to solve these problems. Several articles from practitioner journals will be discussed to supplement the theory. In particular, students after completing this course will be able to: a)Appreciate the key ingredients of management of projects. b)Understand how effective management of projects can lower cost, increase productivity and improve responsiveness to customer requirements. c) Improve their analytical skills through the use of PERT/CPM method).

Both of the courses described above required the use of a financial calculator . . .

hence my decision to take two HR classes. I know that these are graduate level courses and maybe in my pea-sized brain I really thought that since they didn't require a financial calculator they wouldn't be difficult. HA . . . and God laughed, she does have such a quirky sense of humor . . .

The HR Planning course involved a lot of statistics and calculations with respect to various analysis required. The Group Dynamics is an organizational behavior course. I have decided that I dislike organizational behavior courses. Seriously. Those courses are subject to the arbitrary dictates of the person teaching them. The ONLY advantage was that we didn't have to buy a book.

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Anyway, the finals were this week and since this is Thursday, they are done. A total of six essay questions and approximately 14 pages of handwritten responses.

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The last course is on Saturdays and ends June 30 with our final paper due July 2. Yes, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Knitty SP8

Shannon, you are awesome. You have been a wonderful Secret Pal and the last package was way over the top.

You are so right, the shortbread cookies are the best. The chocolate is very good and I am alloting myself a little bit, of each, at a time. I am going to savor the coffee over a couple of weekends!!

But the yarn, the yarn is fantastic. You did a great job of dyeing the blue green and purple yarns and I love the handspun and will let you know if it self-stripes and the lace. I love the shadow yarns from KnitPicks. It is a pleasure to work with.

Thanks so much!!! You are a great pal and I always looked forward to hearing from you!

Last week

Last week was one of those that I would pass on reliving.


I had a long rambling posting about how really awful last week was . . .

I deleted it.

This week will be better. It has to be.

For anyone reading this though, I would ask that you keep my sister and brother in your prayers. Thanks much.

Confirmation, Fountains and Socks

Lindsey made her Confirmation this Sunday. The kids have spent months preparing for this and they did a great job. This is a picture of Lindsey, our good friend and neighbor Wendy, who is Lindsey's sponsor, and Bishop Quinn.

Bishop Quinn's comments were excellent, as always. He talked to the kids about their faith and how they can act on that faith by taking positive actions within the Church and community. He compared faith and how we act on it to thermometers and thermostats. Thermometers react to what the temperatures up or down. Thermostats are much more proactive.

Zachariah took a couple of pictures of the plantings in our church foyer. He is fascinated by the fountain.



Socks ~~ I am not sure that I am ever destined to knit socks. I love sock yarn. I love the feel and gentleness of it and find it amazing that we take this beautiful stuff and put it on our feet. Nevertheless, I still plug along. I did buy on ebay, two skeins of Lorna's Laces Worsted in Black Watch Colorway. Lindsey's school uniform is a Black Watch plaid and I think she would enjoy having matching something or tother . . . I cannot use it for socks as they are not allowed to wear anything but solid color socks. From the same person, I bought more of the Noro Silk Garden (#8). It is what I made my entrelac scarf with and I want to add more rows to the scarf and maybe make a hat or gauntlets.

But the socks . . . it doesn't seem to matter whether they are two soxs on two circs or one sock at a time (on a circ or 4 DPN), I am unable to do it. Bah humbug.

Our Anniversary

Today is Dave's and my 27th wedding anniversary! He is the best. He is funny and smart and gets better and better looking as time goes by (he also wears the same size as when we got married . . . I wish I could say the same!).

He makes me laugh and smile. Thanks Dave for 27 years of love, patience and kindness. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2007

June 9th is Worldwide Knit in Public Day. See this website for information about registering or checking to see if there will be a location in your area . . . or you can set one up!

The sorrow of it all

Last evening, Monday, April 16, I had classes at Cleveland State. I and one of my fellow students were watching all the young students (Mike and I are substantially older than most of our classmates) studying, chatting, reading and working. Occasionally, you would hear wisps of "but something like that could not happen here." Ahhhh. And there is the rub . . . it could.

We live in a free society. Who among us would be willing to give up the freedoms we have for more safety and/or security? How much freedom would you be willing to give up.

By the time all is said and done, there will be tons of finger pointing. Where were the failures and who was responsible. Did the school fail? Did the parents of the shooter fail? Did any of his teachers recognize his sense of despair and not reach out? His friends who knew he was having problems, but were busy getting ready for finals and papers and dating and hanging out and were going to call him next weekend, did they fail him? The young woman that he shot first, how sad, how sad. The final responsibility, however, lies with the young man who in deciding that there were no other options, picked up his guns and silently destroyed lives.

Thinking about these children who have died and their families, including his, I pray that they will survive this. They will never forget, their lives are forever changed, but I pray they survive.

Friday and the weekend

Slept in Friday.
Slept in Saturday.
Slept in Sunday.
Woke at 2:30a, 2:57a, 3:21a, 4:10a and finally 4:31a on Monday. Why is that my body knows when I need to get up?
By the way, sleeping in consists of 9:00a on Friday, 7:58a on Saturday and 7:10a on Sunday.

Friday was spent spending quality time with Dave and Zachariah. I was going to clean the office but played games with Zachariah instead. We went to lunch and the post office and played games. Dave and I played "Power Scrabble" in the evening. 30 seconds to start putting a word on the board, 30 seconds to finish. It was loverly.

Saturday was sleeping in, showering, making breakfast, folding the laundry, driving Lindz to violin and finally school. Dave, Lindz and I played Boggle and Pinacle later while Zachariah slept and Sarah went over her "no-he-isn't-a-boy-friend" friend's home.

Sunday was spent at friends for the kids birthday. We are their youngest daughter's godparents. She turned 13 last Tuesday. They live a little more than an hour away. Dave drove there while I worked on a project for school. I drove home.

No knitting. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Things I would knit for ME

this is a totally selfish post . . . it is a list of the things that I would knit for me. While you may recall that I was making the entrelac scarf for myself, it seems that Lindsey has more or less claimed it for her own. But then again, she is the scarf queen (currently 14, not counting the entrelac).

On the bus ride in this morning, while I was casting on, yet again, for the 2 sox on 2 circs, I thought that my yarn is going to be so ragged by the time that I'm done that I will have to keep these for myself. Myself? Really? For myself? Is that allowed? (actually, reminding me of the beautiful Saturday a couple of summers ago when Dave announced that the next day we were not doing anything the next day . . . we had been working in the yard all day . . . he said that we were going to eat breakfast on the porch, read the newspaper by the pool, play in the pool with the kids and, maybe grill hotdogs for lunch AND dinner!). Anyway, I digress . . .

Something for me. Besides these socks, what would I make just for me? So I came up with a list:

1) I have three skeins of Royal Bamboo in a blue/aqua/green that I could see in a "summer" entrelac scarf, rather narrow and very soft (of course, I'd have to keep at work or Lindsey would wander off with it).

2) Gauntlets for the office. Of course, this came from the fact that there are times when our office is so cold that we wear winter coats.

3) Gauntlets for walking or waiting for the bus or knitting.

4) Slippers. I love slippers. I love loose slippers that I can easily slip on and off . . . probably felted.

5) A small clutch. I tend to take my wallet with me when I go places, either tucking it into a pocket or in my hand. My purse is too big (knitting, needles, patterns, calendar, current textbook, cd player, etc., although I did recently cancel the Wall Street Journal so I don't schlep that to work anymore). But a cute little clutch thing, something like this, but a tad bigger: here

Or, I could finish the stuff that I have started for me. There is:

a) My Noni bag here. I have it almost half way done in a black/red/gray stripe. It is very lovely. Gee, I wonder where I put it?

b) THE sweater. The Kaffe Fasset sweater . . . I was working on it when my Mom died and haven't picked it up. I should finish it. It is knit from the back, up over the shoulders, including the sleeves, and down the front with added cuffs (6 inch). The only finishing stuff on the whole thing is the cuffs and seams. I am about half way down the front. It is made with variety of yarns and colors. It is from Glorious Knits.

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But, before I do any of these, I have to work on THE socks. Frankly, I'd be happy to just get them cast on properly and started!

Picture worth 1,000 Words

This is what Jacob's Field looked like this weekend:

We sat on the back porch Tuesday evening enjoying the sunset, drinking wine, slept with our windows open and hadn't worn jackets in a couple of days. Merry Easter!