Ski Day!!

Yesterday  was a great day!…  I went skiing with my sister!!  We have been hanging around and skiing for more than 50 years.  My sis was responsible for helping my daughter plan my 60th birthday weekend blast!   We went to my favorite mountain Gore.  Between the lousy weather and my lousy work schedule skiing this year is lousy.  That is a bunch of lousy’s.  Yesterday may well have been my last day to ski this year.  But any day that I get to ski with my sister is a great day.  I am blessed with wonderful siblings.  I would have loved to get to Vermont to ski with my brother but Vermont just did not work out this year.

Here is the obligatory selfie.  I was truly hoping for better conditions.  I keep hoping for conditions like the February 11th day.  That was the best day this year for me.

My sis and I needed a short break so we dropped into the Saddle Lodge.  If I get back to Gore I will put my lunch in a knapp sac and leave it at the Saddle Lodge.  Peg had never been there.  It sits at 3000 feet and the view is gorgeous !

Of course, I made her pose for a photo.  Its tough to have a sister that is a photographer.  Even though these are iPhone snapshots, they are a record of our fun.

The lack of snow is disheartening.  All of  the trails that do not have snowmaking are closed.  I do not remember a winter like this last one.  I privately call it the un-winter.

I am used to seeing these areas packed with mothers natures bountiful fluffy white snow. Snow in the Adirondacks is usually quite plentiful.  I worry about drought in the coming months.  We rely on the melting the snow pack to recharge water tables and drinking water supplies.  However the skies were beautiful blue and the view from the top of Gore was breathtaking.

Of course there is knitting involved.  Peg drove so I got to have some knitting time.

I am working on yet another pair of socks.  I just cannot get out of the sock mojo.  The project is small, portable and for now socks entertain me.  I like to take a picture of me knitting where ever I am.

When I grew up my mother’s, mother lived with us.  Bema (my word for grandma) always had knitting on her lap or next to her chair.  She was always knitting us mittens, hats, slippers.  I LOVED the hand knit mittens.  They were the DPN pattern and I do not have any pair that she made left.  I do have a pair my mother made.  I am afraid to wear them, because I do not want to loose them.  They were the last pair she knit for me and that was back when I was in college. Every stitch is a stitch made with love.  It’s that thought, that makes me want to gift hand knits to my children and siblings.  If the culture of their home does not have the time to hand wash knits, I use a yarn that fits their home.  Its a double win. I get to gift a hand knit, and they get something that is easy to care for, handmade by me.

Tomorrow is Monday.  Its the beginning of my  “7 on”. So I will be working 10 hour days, and getting 8 hours of rest.  Of course I may knit while I have my morning coffee.  🙂

 

Hot off the needles.

Another pair of warm wooly socks are hot off the needles.  They are for my collection of custom fitted socks.  Yeah, I am guilty of  tinkering with the numbers to get a sock that fits just right.

This is a color way called Steam Punk.  I like the crazy way the spirals work down the ankles.  Now when I purchase store bought socks I would NEVER, never buy anything flashy or outlandish. But, when I knit every stitch with care and mark off each  row on a scratch sheet, outlandish is OK.  (As long as it’s not neon)

Yeah I am a nerd.  I knit and mark my rows.  Its not that I can’t memorize the pattern, its that I forget what row I am on.  If its a 2 row pattern that is OK.  But if its a 4 row pattern, I prefer to keep a chart.  Same with toe decreases.  I make a chart similar to the above and mark off in pen or pencil depending on which sock I am on.  One advantage is that I do get 2 socks exactly alike.  I knit in bits of time.  Where ever there is 10 minutes I pull out my needles, take a peak at the chart and bang out a few rows.  The only time I do not do that is late at night.  Nope!  No knitting when I am fatigued.

I am a cuff down, two at a time, DPN sock knitter.  It works for me.  There are lots of ways to knit socks and since there are no sock knitting police I feel that each to his own.  This way pleases me.  So I prefer the K1 into the back of the stitch, P1 cuff ribbing.  I am unable to cast on loosely, so I cast on over 2 needles held together.  This gives one a very loose cast on and the twisted rib holds up nicely after blocking.

I like the Eye of Partridge heel better than the Dutch heel.

I like 3 stitches past the center when turning the heel,  I like the precision when picking up the gusset of the twisted stitch again.

I abhor the second sock syndrome.  So I knit cuff, cuff.  Ankle, ankle. Heel flap, heel flap. turn the heel, turn the heel.  It is at this time I pick up exactly the same number of stitches for each sock on each side of the gusset.  It really does not matter if each side has exactly the same number of picked up stitches but it matters to me.  So I am careful to pick up both of these at the same time.  Then it is time to knit the gusset decreases on both socks and its a race to the toes.  I used to like the 4,3,2,1 toe but have changed to the knit and decrease every other row till I had 16 stitches across the top needle, followed by decreasing every row until I have 8 across the top.  A quick kitchener stitch and voila!  Done.

Last, I like my socks blocked.  So I wash and block the socks before I wear them.  Just another luxury thing about hand knit socks.

So what is on the needles next?

Something more sedate than the above pair.  The cast on has begun!

 

Its all about MOJO

I have not posted in a very long time.  I just lost the journaling mojo.  I am not sure that its back but I have been pondering topics for the past few days. ( So that does means that I am interested.  ) Basically I have made a few decisions..  One is to put my quest to pass my CPP on a back burner.  It was stressing me out to the extreme.  Sometimes putting something aside feels good.  Its a deep cleansing breath.

I turned 60 last month.  A milestone!  My family, consisting of my children and their SO’s along with, my siblings, inlaws and  nephews and my childhood friend  from high school all got together. They rented an old farmhouse near a local mountain. They  bought lift tickets and we had an old fashioned family  ski weekend.  It could not have been better!.  I have to say its the only birthday party ever thrown for me and it was the best.

We have been skiing since we were kids and I feel so blessed to have such a great family!

I have since been skiing every other week as my job allows and even though I am 60 I feel 30.  Its good to be  on the slopes I love the speed and fresh air.

Over the past few years I picked up knitting.  Its been a bucket list thing for me.  My grandmother on my mothers side taught me to knit as a kid.  I tinkered with it on and off only to disappoint my self with my results.  Finally in my 50’s I tried again and this time I was hooked.  I have knit a lot of things over the years but my passion is socks.  I was gifted a pair of hand knit socks and oh my gosh… They are like crack. You cannot have just ONE pair.  They feel so nice on my feet.

My sock journey had taken many twists and turns. There are the socks that did not fit.  They were an exercise in technique. Just because they did not fit me, does not mean that I did not learn something.    The ones that were too small, I gave to  my daughter. She wears them to bed to stay warm. The ones that were too large, I wear to bed to keep my feet warm.  Then there  are the pairs that fit just right.  I have tinkered with different stitch counts.  Measured and done math.  Changed the needle size. But all in all, I just love the precision of a hand knit sock.

A hand knit sock gently hugs your ankle.  Have you ever noticed that at the end of the day, when you remove your store bought socks that divot that circles your ankle?   Hand knit socks do not leave that divot.  Bam!!!!!  Your foot and ankle are wrapped in gentle comfort for the entire day.  Ahhh..  a slice of heavenly comfort.

I purchase shoes based on how they will fit with a hand knit sock.  In my drawer, there are some store-bought socks.   Yes, those suckers that leave a divot in my ankle, come out of their time-out place and are put to use in the summer.   They are as uncomfortable as all get out!  My poor ankles need  time to adjust to the stranglehold those nasty things have on them.  Store bought socks make me itch..  I have yet to find a pair that don’t.

I am not afraid of putting a lot of work and time into a pair of socks.  Hand knit socks can be darned.  I know darning is a lost art, but I darn my socks when I wear a hole in the bottom.  It increases the life span of a hand knit sock by years.  I will darn over darning and if done properly your foot does not recognize the difference between a sock stitch and a darned spot.  LOL  just ask me how I know.

According to the Yarn Harlot, there are approximately 20,0000 stitches in a pair of socks.  For me a quick sock knit takes 2 weeks. For faster knitters it takes 2 days. I always have sock knitting in my handbag. And yes you guessed it!  I choose handbags based on whether or not a sock project can fit in it.  If I have a moment, I bang out a few stitches.  I may just be on a bus heading out to a day of skiing…  Yup!  My knitting is with me, as well as a light on the brim of my baseball cap.  Back to darning, the more socks you have the less you have to darn.  Yes, true fact!..  By circulating many pairs your put less stress on 1 or 2 pair.  Now, I think you may see how this becomes addicting.  How could one not want bazillion pair of these fabulous beasts?

First pair of socks!!  The ones that were too small!

 

 

 

Spring, Time to renew!!

Its Spring!  The snow has finally melted!  Its that time of year I am yearning to open the windows and air out the house.  My  plans included a few days off next week to attend to necessary spring duties and then I will be looking towards summer!!

What is on your agenda next week.  I have plans to be with my kids and celebrate Easter!..  I am praying for a nice weekend and lots of fun!

Paying it Forward

2013 creative pay it forward :

The first five people who comment on this status will receive a creative gift from me some time within the calendar year. There will be no warning. It will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch?? Those five people must make the same offer in their FB status….. if you comment, please message me your address 🙂

 

I posted this on my face book status 2 days ago..  It means that I will make something creative, for you when the urge hits me..  lol  So I may send you cookies, knit you a hat, dunno what I will do but the fun is in thinking about it for a bit and then deciding what fits..  But the catch here is that I want you to be willing to something nice for 5 other people.

I only had 2 takers..  both awesome women!  It is totally nice that  those that do not want to be obligated did not apply..  and the offer is still open.. I have 3 more slots..  that is on the Facebook challenge .

I guess I am disappointed that others did not take up the challenge..  So I am reposting the challenge here..

2013 creative pay it forward :

The first five people who comment on this status will receive a creative gift from me some time within the calendar year. There will be no warning. It will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch?? Those five people must make the same offer in their FB status….. if you comment, please message me your address 🙂

It is available to the first 5 that ask..  but you must repost the offer elsewhere.. preferably Facebook but if you blog, post it there..

In the meantime if you just want to do random acts of kindness instead..  that is awesome too!..  

 

Peace!

24 hours a day, 8 days a week!

I have been working a silly shift lately.. A very dear coworker is out on flma.. family leave. I have taken half her shift. Its really hard.. I just do not know how some people can work the night shift!. These people are amazing..

Its not only health professionals like doctors and nurses that work these wonky hours. NO.. have you ever noticed the clean and shiny floors? Walk into the lobby of a hospital, bank or public office building. The floors are immaculate and shiny!

Until I worked the night shift I never gave this sparkle and shine a second thought..  I never gave it a second thought. One evening I was heading to break and this hallway was trashed..  the furniture was all moved to the rug, the brown throw rugs you see were not there..  the area was blocked off and a very nice gentleman was removing the wax.  Later that same evening he re-waxed the floor.  Replaced the throw rugs and was deep vacuuming them..  By the time I left the floors were beautifully cleaned..  the carpeted area vacuumed, and the furniture was cleaned, wiped down and looked like new..

I realized that I took this work for granted..  I mean that I expect it to always look that way!  Perfect!  But what I NEVER gave a second thought to was how hard someone worked to keep it looking this way..  Its the night shift..

So the next time you enter a bank, hospital or any public building and see a beautiful shiny lobby, say a bless you to the night shift..   They are an invisible force in our lives that we never give a second thought to!!

The New Year!

I had another blog idea for today but after seeing this on Facebook, I felt that I wanted to change my mind..  I think that my New Year’s resolution is adequately described here..  I cannot embellish  on this to make it any better..  I am going to print this out for my fridge..  Just as a reminder of my resolution..

Happy New Year to all.. see ya on the flip side!

Sprinkle

On Christmas Eve I went to mass to hear my favorite priest, Father Weber.  He is a funny gent, talented in many crafts and loved by many.  His word of the day was Sprinkle!.  I am a 50 something (never admit your true age) and have heard hundreds if not thousands of Sunday sermons, but this one is memorable.  Memorable because its a fabulous way to live life daily!

If you want to really understand what I mean, then watch the film, Pay It Forward.  It stars Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osmont.

Basically you do 3 acts of kindness for 3 strangers..  those strangers promise to do 3 acts of kindness for 3 more strangers, then those strangers keep paying forward the acts of kindness.  The acts of kindness  should grow exponentially.

I feel that my challenge daily at work is to pay forward my blessings..  Sort of sprinkle my personal blessings to those in pain or less fortunate.  I also count my coworkers in on this act of kindness thingy!  When an RN helps me with my job..  they are PFA..  Perfectly Blanking Awesome..  I work in an emergency room..  Its a busy place with lots of sick and not so sick people..  I try to complete my job with each patient with kindness and humor.  Yes humor.  Laughter is the best medicine in the world, and I like to reassure my patients that they have come to the right place.  We (all staff) will listen to them and take care of them.  To each, no matter how severe the illness, it is the biggest problem in their life at that moment.

So today lets sprinkle kindness.  Hold the door for the person behind you..  Smile at all you meet..  take the high road,  shovel your neighbors walkway if they are unable..  You will feel better!!  Kindness can come in the form of paying for the persons coffee in line behind you and walking away..  Just random acts of kindness..  the urge will hit you spontaneously.   Its a nice feeling and soon you do not think about an act of kindness,  It is just the way you will live your life.  With a smile on your face and good will in your heart..

Peace!

Time to start new….

I have had an exciting year this past year.. I took the kids to Alaska!! We had a blast! We saw Glaciers, bears, eagles, Orca whales, seals and the list goes on..

In Skagway we rode bicycles down the White Pass. In Juneau we took a Zip line rainforest canopy tour, and in Ketchikan I hired a fishing charter.. And we caught fish!!

I spent time with friends the rest of the summer and fall.. puttering about. Then the holiday season was upon me and I knit like a fiend!..

Last night at our knitting group we discussed knit worthy people.. Who is worthy to receive a hand knit gift? I have coworkers that beg to get on my “knit worthy ” list. This year I took a chance and knit more than my usual gifts.. All were a hit!! Cool!!

This past years blessings are too numerous to count.. But as a health care worker I am reminded daily of my blessings..

So as you reflect on the past year, do not forget to count your blessings..

Its time to start again!!

I have been absent for quite a while..  So just what have I been up to?  I feel like its been a mission..  After mom’s passing there were and still are so many details to finish..  We are hoping the house sells soon..  That is the last detail left..  in the meantime; there has been lots of work, including overtime.  The holidays and hustle and bustle that they bring.. Miss Isabella Wiggles needed surgery and now its time to stop and smell the roses.. or the coffee as some would say..

My KnitBits friends and I have a fun time knitting, talking and some even play words with friends..  I had an 111 point word  yesterday and I am still loosing..  I am not that great a player but its fun and win or loose its nice to work the brain a bit..

So I just need to get into new habits.  I made myself a promise to cook more often.  The crock pot has become my friend. I can dump everything in at night and wake up to a meal. 

I am only knitting from my stash.  You know that yarn that just had to come home with you cause it looked lonely sitting on the shelf.  It needed to come to your house where it can keep company with other yarns of similar circumstances.  One day that yarn speaks to you and it becomes a wearable object of art!!

Miss Wiggles is being reprimanded more severely for chasing her kitty, Miss Inky..  I really think Inky loves the chase because the dog gets scolded and she sits pretty atop the piano..with a look that oozes innocence!

Last I am going to attempt to finish unfinished projects..  there are too many to list however, If I only look at 1 project at a time the list really does not look daunting..  So with a slight emergency at home that concerns water and a backhoe its time for a nap!!