Dear Blog

Dear Blog, please do not feel that I have abandoned you. I have been occupied with several other things. I joined Face book and Abe got me involved with an amazing collection of 10,000 computer games and puzzles.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had seven guests at our table, In my humble opinion, it went very well. The meal was tasty, the table talk was interesting and it is always good to have friends join us. The leftovers were delicious and none went to waste.

Winter has come to Chicago with a vengeance. Cold, snow, ice, sleet, the whole works.

I made a sweater for Gene. He wore it for Thanksgiving, just a little unfinished. It was completed in time to go to the Zemil's post-Thanksgiving open house the next day. It was a fast knit. I used a two yarns, both alpaca. The charcoal strand was an eBay bargain and I won 17 balls of the light strand in a raffle.



I also made a scarf for our friend Jeremy. Every Thanksgiving he delivers his delicious, home-made pies, apple and key lime this year. He said he is wearing the scarf everyday. Unfortunately, The pies are but a pleasant memory.

Catching Up

Things have been somewhat busy here.

My knitting continues. Scarves and afghan squares mostly. And of course, Ravelry. The Top Chef pool concluded, my chef Richard made it to the final show, but not all the way.

We had a delightful evening with friends at “The Kid from Brooklyn, the Danny Kaye Story”. It is a high-energy musical about you-know-who. The entire cast is only four actors. Two play DK and his wife Sylvia Fine. All the other characters, I guess about 16, are played by the other two actors. Not deep, but not meant to be. Enjoyable, musical, energetic.

The Gourmet Group met for another delicious meal. Phyllis was a wonderful hostess and her deck and garden were perfect for eating outside.

Something unexpected was said here the other day. I used the words “Gene" and “gym bag” in the same sentence.

Book Club read “The Double Bind”, most of us liked it. Some thought that the twist at the end was a cheap trick. Check it out.

Swapping Susans

On Ravelry there are many special interest groups.

Some groups are based on the local yarn store (LYS) you frequent, some on what you like to knit, your favorite yarn, the type of pet you live with, where you live, with whom you live, your school, your kids, the sports team you support, favorite TV show, what you read, what you drive, your hopes and fears. And, strangely enough, your first name.

With that in mind, I joined the "Susan Knits" group. There is the chit chat you would expect, some are Susan and never Susie, Suzanne but not Sue, etc. Wediscussed famous Susans, there are few. And we had a swap. I exchanged with Susan (Suse) who lives outside of Melbourne, Australia. About as far from Chicago as you can get.

Here's a link to her blog Knitting for Love and Sanity where she kvells about the box I sent. I'm so pleased she liked the collection, as she says, it's hard to shop for someone you hardly know.

I am waiting as patiently as possible for my package from Australia. Is it here yet?

How I spent my week-end

Friday, Gene and I drove to the the far south suburbs, picked up our tickets to see the Yarn Harlot, a witty writer whose knitting blog is addictive, and bought her new book (Things I Learned from Knitting...whether I wanted to or not)at the yarn store that was handling the Chicago stop on her book tour. We then drove farther south and had an early dinner with his cousin and her husband. Then back to the lecture, we were told she was running late. Bad weather. A critical mass of happy, interesting, involved knitters is a wonderful thing. Much chatter, admiring of projects and fellowship. Then the announcement. After trying to get out of Canada all day, it wasn’t to be. There were no flights that could get her to Chicago. Event postponed, to be rescheduled some time in the future. Bah.

Saturday, we had our monthly dinner with friends. It has been a regular thing for 15 plus years. Everyone brings a course and a good time is had by all. I knit on an afghan square while we caught up and solved the world’s problems.

Sunday, relaxed. I got my swap partner on the Susan Knits forum. She is in Melbourne, Australia. That’s about as far away from here as you can be. This will be fun. I knit some more, did laundry, enjoyed the completion of Passover, etc. Now I’m watching “House”. Who could ask for anything more?

December Recap

So many things, so little blogging.

December was a busy month. Here's a recap, not necessarily in the correct order but more a "stream of consciousness" chronology.


Our friend Helen celebrated her 90th birthday. Chicago area Mensa gave her a beautiful luncheon, her daughters flew in, as did her old friend Doreen. Helen is a clever, loyal, busy, giving, there-when-you-need-her, open-minded sort of person. Her energy and curiosity are never ending. Happy Birthday, Helen.

After the luncheon we headed to the monthly meeting of the Gourmet Group. Our Christmas dinner was delicious, the gifts were well thought out and appreciated and a good time was had by all.

On the knitting front, besides finishing Faith's socks, I knit a quick hat for my son, Abe. The bottom is knit with a double strand for warm ears, the reddish stripes and the rest of the hat are single strands. The red is left from my Sarum Tunic, the blue, something I picked up at Joann's.



I whipped it up in an evening or two and gave it to him as a Hanukkah gift. Wear it in good health, Abe.

As I'm sure that I have mentioned, I'll be retiring soon. News, but not hot news. In fact, I'm staying on through the end of January.

As always I helped plan the Holiday party. Little did I know, it was also a retirement party for me. We always have some sort of group participation event, we go around the table and recall the weirdest thing that happened in the past year, the strangest customer, etc. This year, they all gave their reminiscences about me! I did not see it coming. It was wonderful. As Sally Field would say, "They really like me." I've been with Bird-X for 27 years, so there are a lot of memories. One fellow pointed out that when I started with the company, he was in first grade!

They presented me with a beautiful crystal bowl, engraved with a skyline of Chicago and a touching thought for me. The logo bird is even on the bottom. Thank you everyone in the flock.

I tried to photograph it but failed. I'll try again.

Alpaca Direct tempted me with a sale on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn. It is as soft as it is pretty.




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Back on the Needles

Maybe it just takes the first blast of winter weather to get the old knitting genes stirred up, or maybe just guilt and the lingering cry of the unfinished objects (UFOs). For whatever reason I found Faith's pair of socks, (OK, OK, 1 and .95 socks). The search for the pattern was successful and the toe on the second sock should be done tonight or for sure tomorrow.

Thanksgiving was pleasant. There were only seven people, but what we lacked in quantity, we more than made up for in quality. The food was tasty and the conversation was non-stop. A good time was had by all.

Book Group is Wednesday night, I had better start reading in earnest.

Say Cheese.

Last night, Gene and I went to our local artisan cheese shop for a class called "Cheese 101". An interesting evening. We listened, tasted, asked and enjoyed our way through the basic types of cheese.

Gourmet Group is this Sunday, we have to bring salad and dessert. I'm sure that there will be some cheeses included.

I'm moving up the Ravelry list. Here is today's status. Impatient? Me? Impatient??

"If you've added your name to the invite request list on our front page then you can use this form to check your place in line.

You signed up on July 31, 2007
You are #22093 on the list.
4285 people are ahead of you in line.
14063 people are behind you in line.
49% of the list has been invited so far"

The line is moving. If they started at zero, that would mean that over 36,000 knitters have signed up so far. Wow, that is a lot of yarn.

Summertime and the Livin' is...

This has been a busy summer, with lots of small activities instead of a major occasion.

My brother came to town and we spent a lovely day seeing sights and going to a Drum and Bugle contest. My cousin Ric came to town and we spent several evenings with Ric and Carol and assorted relatives. The annual trip to Loda with the gourmet Group was peaceful, pleasant, tasty and relaxing. What could not be great about a day at a house on a lake with abundant good food and great friends and no pressure? The usual two birthdays, 8/15 for Abe and 8/19 for me. A new to us car, thanks to Harold's mother-in-law. It is a 1999 Saturn SL1 , silver gray with an astonishing 24,000 miles. I'm continuing to make and sell jewelry.

The biggest thing on our agenda is organizing the apartment so that it is showable and looking for a new condo. We are being picky because we don't want to move again, once every 30+ years is enough.

For my birthday, Gene and Abe got together and got a Magellan GPS unit. Love it. Now we have to go on a road trip to use it. Thanks guys.

Yesterday, some monster storms came through Chicago and caused a lot of damage. Many, many trees came down, power was (and in some cases, still is) out, roads flooded and general mayhem prevailed. The lovely russian olive tree that the garden group planted on Grace street was totally destroyed. Very sad, we had planted it as a sapling at least 15 years ago and it had grown to be a beautiful tree that always reminded me of my friends Tom & Peter. It was planted on the parkway outside their apartment, where they could enjoy it. They moved to Washington DC many years ago and I always thought of it as a permanent link to them.