Spelling Lesson

I just came upon this link on another blog, and it is too cool to pass up.

How do you spell Hannukah?

Thank you Mel, for the clever video.

I'm still here

Sorry for the long gap in postings. There are many reasons, Thanksgiving, knitting, failing to take pictures and being embarassed to admit it. Making jewelry, knitting, not working on the Sandy KAL, knitting more hats and some Christmas gifts for my co-workers. There are ever so many reasons.

I will try to get the photos up.

I will try to stay up-to-date.

I will see that the inventory at work is done correctly.

The office Holiday Party went smoothly. We were at a delicious italian restaurant in Andersonville called LaDonna. We had the whole restaurant for the afternoon. Everyone was pleased with the table gifts, and their secret Santa gifts. The biggest hit of the afternoon was the "Official, Unofficial Bird-X Calendar." Alison and I produced a monthly calendar with adaptions of famous paintings featuring our products for each month. Because we violated so very many copyright laws, I'm shy about posting any examples, but imagine "American Gothic" with bird repelling spikes along all the roof lines. Get the idea? Thank you PhotoShop.

Thanksgiving was also an especially tasty feast. I took the advice of Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on the Food Network and made two small turkeys instead of one big one. So very much better. They cook in less than two hours and are very delicious and juicy. The turkey carcass soup was also great. But then again, it always is.

It was so good, that I made one for the Christmas weekend, so that Faith could have some, because she was under the weather at Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Faith, she is the lucky recipient of my first pair of socks. What fun. I used some super neat yarn that I picked up in Madison when we were there for Drum Corps. It looks like it is randomly printed, but when you knit it, magically patterns appear. I will post a picture, promise.

Hats are Addictive

OK, so over the week-end I was supposed to be getting the house ready for our Thanksgiving guests. I did some, Gene did some. And I made another hat. The tally is up to seven, and counting.

Here are the Blue Hat mentioned tin the last post, the Star Top Hat and the Red & Blue one.

Still Another Hat.

One of the nice thing about the Dulaan Project, or any other charitable knitting project, is that you can try out new patterns, methods and stitches. With that in mind, I created the "Blue Hat". I like the bottom few inches, but the plain knitting is dull, and I'm ashamed to say, not well executed. I'm hoping the the recipient will appreciate the hat and overlook the flaws.

* * * * THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR A PHOTO OF THE "BLUE HAT" * * * *

I have already started another hat. The new one is knit with two strands of yarn, blue from the "Blue Hat" and red from the "ZigZag Hat". So far, so good.

It is getting cold enough in Chicago to actually think of wearing a hat.

The good aspect of the 7 day weather forecast is that it should be cold enough on Thanksgiving to use the fire escape as an auxillary refrigerator. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find a bright side.

Portage Park 1943

Saturday was the annual reunion luncheon of my husband's grammar school class. Strange but true. They started this tradition in 1993, for the 50th reunion, and have done it every year since then. One of their teachers even came to the 50th. She lived to be 106! It is an interesting bunch of people. Some even knit.



I feel that I should point out that I was not in their class, I wasn't even born when they graduated.

Progress on the Sandy continues. I'm about 9 inches up the first side panel.

Another Hat

Here is the ZigZag hat for Dulaan. My neighbor asked for the pattern. Guess I'll have to figure out how I made it.

The Dulaan Project

Today was the Knit It for the Dulaan Project. Thanks to Franklin for organizing such a great afternoon. The participants were friendly and giving, the food was bountious and delicious, and the location perfect for the occasion.






I worked on my fourth hat for the project. Here are some snaps of the first three hats. The two dark red tweed ones are all my own design. The pastel one is based on a pattern I found on the web, with major changes.

R*Y*F*M

After FIVE failed attempts to get the shaped side panels on my Sandy Cardigan for the KAL, I finally sat down, with a minimum of distractions and carefully read the instructions. Amazing what you learn when you RYFM. I'm eager to get this sweater finished so I can move on to another major project.

I now have two hats done for the Dulaan Project. Great fun. As someone pointed out, when you are knitting items that are being distributed to a large group, size is not too important. There is always someone that the hat will fit. I designed both hats. Someone asked for the pattern for the baby earflap hat. This will require more thought and careful counting than it did to make it.

Food, Friends and Knitting

Once a month, we have dinner with eight friends. Each person brings a pre-chosen course and some wine. We enjoy an evening of catching up. We talk of politics, recipes, children and grandchildren, travels, words, friends and plans.

We share each other's joys and pains, celebrations and life experiences. One woman, Kathy even delivered another participant's baby. It was planned, not a "Johnny-on-the-spot thing." That baby, Emily, is now in fifth grade.

At one dinner, Nancy, Emily's mother, was wearing a scarf/boa. When admired, she said Emily's older sister Mary had knit it. Nancy and Mary were both proud of it. I asked Mary to make me one. She agreed. then I thought, if she can do it, so can I.

That satori re-awakeded my love of knitting, and I haven't looked back.

Our evening was a fine one of food, wine and talk, and I brought my knitting. There was noticable progress made on the Multi-colored beaded scarf.



Worried that there were not going to be enough beads, I started doing the lacy part without the beads. It is like knitting at supersonic speed. Never realized how time those little guys used. I'll go back to the beads as the other end comes into view.

The Knitting Guild & Book Club

Tuesday night, with encouragement from some members of the Ample Knitters Group, I went to the monthly meeting of the Windy City Knitting Guild.

What a wonderful bunch of people. There is something empowering to be in a room full of like-minded people, with NO ONE bent out of shape because you are knitting during a presentation. In fact, non-knitters were a very small minority. The group is friendly, well-organized, open-minded, cheerful and encouraging. I look forward to joining and attending regularly.

The presentation was of the most amazing knitted lace. The designer showed us shawls, scarfs, stoles and a duster, all her own designs and her own lace patterns. She had a magazine article showing the bridal veil that she knit for her daughter. Spiders would be envious of the sheerness and beauty of her work. Speaking of spiders, on piece featured spiders. Who says lace knitting has to be serious?

Wednesday night was the regular meeting of our Book Club. (When I clean up its web site I'll link to it.) We had a very pleasant discussion of The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. Everyone enjoyed the book, which is unusual. Joy, our hostess, followed the Japanese setting of the book and served wonderful Japanese snacks and sushi. Yum. During the meeting I worked on my hat for the Dulaan project.

I am having trouble joining the fronts and sides of the Sandy cardigan. Garter stitch is clearly the way to go, stockinette was just too curly. I am not pleased with the line formed by the picked up stitches. Back to the pattern book. I've ripped out the sides four times and I do not want to do it again.

A Picture from my Past

I recently came across this photo of me and a duck. It was taken in probably 1966. I have changed.

I Did the Math

There was number progress on two fronts.

One front was actually a side. I did the dreaded math for the Sandy Cardigan side gussets. Really no big deal. I actually didn't dread it, that's just what others have called it. I'm about 4 inches into the first one. What I think I may dread is the extra length I added to the sweater. Making the panels longer was fun. Watching the colors change was addictive. Now I have to do all that dumb plain knitting for all the extra length and I'll have to do it again for the other side.

The second number progress is actually two numbers.
1) I lost anther pound (thanks Choice Eating) and
2) my blood pressure is down.
Both good news.

I read my subtitle.

So far, kntting has dominated my blog. Could be that knitting is dominating my life.

As to food...Alison, a co-worker and I have embarked on a lose weight and get in shape challenge. We are using "Choice Eating," a really good, tasty, flexible, calorie controlled food plan. So much better than "Seattle Sutton." I've lost at least 7 pounds. Probably more, but I lied about my weight when I was last at the doctor's office, so the number that I am using for my starting place is not as high as it should be. I'm going there again tomorrow, eager to see the new number.

What about Chicago? You may ask. After the worst weather day in Chicago's history, 3-5 inches of rain in an hour, hail, roads and basements flooding, power outages. All this on Yom Kippur. I am sure that it is a coincidence.

Books? Waiting for Amazon.com to deliver "The Samurai's Garden" by Gail Tsukiyama. It is the next book for my bookclub.

But what about the knitting??? I will finish putting the vertical strips on the second front panel of the Sandy cardigan. Photos to follow.

Thought Pink

Notice please the past tense. I have finished the Think Pink scarf. Please admire the handiwork.



Thank you, I like it too.

On a whim, I also made a pair of earrings. Not exciting, but just what I needed.






I'm at the point of picking up the stitches for the fronts of the Sandy cardigan. I'm eager to make some progress worth photographing.

Stay tuned for further developements.

Picking up the edges

Progress on many fronts, or actually, back. My Sandy cardigan back now has the side stitches completed on one side and well under way on the second side.

I have also started making the I-cord in the luscious lavender for the trim on the Sandy.

Lynn, a fellow knitter checked out the Windy City Knitting Guild and came back with a glowing report. I hope that I am able to get to ther next meeting.

Saturday was Rosh Hasannah and I wore my Garden Party scarf to our friends' home. Admired by most. Also took my Think Pink scarf to work on. It is now about 42 inches and still growing. Met a nice fellow knitter, Marilyn, and told her about Arcadia, my LYS, and about the WCKG.

Sunday was a Big Girl Knits get measured event at the LYS. I know one needs to know those dumb numbers, but I don't have to believe them. Bah.

Main Color and More

I did it, I finally selected the main color for the Sandy Cardigan. Well actually, it was a tie. Lamb's Pride "Jack's Plum" a sort of muted purple will be the sides and sleeves and a luscious, lovely lavender "Summer Tweed" from Rowan will be the I-cord and trim. The ladies at my LYS, Arcadia Knitting are great with colors and were most helpful. Thanks.

Think Pink

Here is a shot of the Think Pink scarf in its infancy. It is a simple 5 stitch checkerboard with the bottom 5 squares in garter stitch. Not very exciting but quick to knit and not too boring.



I think I'll add some beads to trim it up.

Continuing to continue

I am making good progress on the Sandy KAL. The end of the fourth (and last) panel is near. Actually, the next step is the dull and boring job of row counting. Why didn't I knit both fronts at the same time? I can not put off choosing the main color much longer.

I have finished a scarf that is intended as a gift. Just need to do the fun part of making beaded fringe.

I stumbled upon a web blog about knitting a pink scarf for breast cancer awareness. Picked up some pink yarn and got started. Sounds like a worthwhile project.

What a busy week

Three down and one to go on the Sandy KAL panels. I will have to decide on a solid color soon. There are so many interesting colors in the Noro Silk Garden. Many inspire a selection for the main color, only to be replaced by the next cool color.

I finished the third panel while we drove down to Loda Illinois. Our friend Joan has a wonderful, restful home on a lake. We had a delightful afternoon and evening, a boat trip around the lake, birds, a wonderful dinner, good wine, great friends, perfect weather and knitting. What more could you ask for?

Beads and bird arrive

I am pleased to report progress on the Ample-Knitters Sandy KAL, at least my little corner of it. There are now completed two, or should I say both, or even all, of the back panels. Because of my height and preferred sweater length, I'm adding four inches to the cardigan.

I also received some beautiful beads that I ordered from The Bead Wrangler. Between knitting and making earrings, they will be used. In fact, the luscious sapphire beads are being used to make another Garden Party Scarf.

Peace and quiet are gone from the house. Our Nanday Conure "Squerk" has returned after staying with our son for a few weeks while we were out of town and then having the building people come in to tear out a bathroom wall because of a leak. What a mess.

Finally, a picture

I had a little time this morning to take a shot of the ends and beaded fringe of the Garden Party Scarf from the Knitting Zone KAL. It is my first attempt at beads and at lace.

Back in Chicago

This has been a frustrating day for knitting.

While we were driving home from Galena I started on the second back panel for the Ample-Knitters Sandy KAL. I find it quite relaxing to knit in the car. *Progress happened, found an error, ripped*. Repeat from * to * until you think you are knitting a 40 stitch diagonal strip. Knit some more. Count again. Rip until you get back to 40. Knit, count, knit, count, etc. Stop to admire the work and discover that somewhere along the way things go turned around and instead of a diagonal strip, I made something shaped like home plate. I gave up on that skein, grabbed another and started over, correctly this time. Oh well, I'm ahead of where I was before I started.

Galena, Illinois

Today has been a relaxed, though busy day.

Last night we drove from Chicago to Galena, (that is from the upper right corner of the state to the upper left corner) arrived late and crashed at our hotel.

Today was a memorial service and scattering of the ashes for our friend Terry Brown (Terrance Brown, MD to be formal). Many of his friends gathered at the farm in Galena to remember Terry. He died in a car crash a year ago. The shock and immediate grief were all expressed last summer, today we read some poetry, ate epanadas and drank wine in his honor and memory. If you're interested, here is a link to a memorial for him. He had an amazing life and had friends all around the world. www.terranceabrown.com/

After much talk and some wine, we returned to the hotel and I finished the Sarum Tunic. Okay, okay, it still needs blocking.

That done, we decided to grab some dinner. Guess what, most of Galena closes at 10 PM. It is now 10:10. Bah, where is Chicago when I need it?

Progress progresses

The end is in sight for my Sarum Tunic. I'm doing it in Cascade 128 Tweed in a burgundy tone. Four more inches of sleeve/cuff and it is done.

Between the time I started it and now, I have done the Knitting Zone Garden Party Scarf KAL, and finished one (of four) panels for the Ample-Knitter Sandy KAL. Sandy is a diagonally knit cardigan from "Big Girl Knits". The scarf was a double, make that triple, initiation. First, the first Knit-Along, second, my first lacy thing and third, the first time I knit with beads. All three proved to be intriguing and fun.


I'll get around to pictures when the tunic is done.

Let's get started...

Well, I did it. As you can see, I've started my blog. What's to say? An introduction would be nice.

My name is Sue and as the profile says, I'm a life-long Chicagoan. Always on the northside. Senn class of 1964.

Skip forward 40+ years, through marriage (two actually, the first was just a very short-term beta version, the second, to Gene, 39 years and going strong.), one kid (Abraham, all grown up, out in the exciting world of programming and game design), lots of jobs at the beginning but at the current one for over 25 years, Hadassah, Mensa, book club, investment club, needlepoint, a wonderful period of woodworking (pictures to follow), long time participation in a monthly dinner group, knitting then and again now, living with a Nanday Conure named Squerk. What more can a girl ask for?