Gene and Jewelry

Did anyone get the reference to "Jules and Jim"? It has nothing to do with this post, the titles just seem to resonate.

GENE - He's doing quite well, thanks for asking. He's getting out and about and will be more willing to venture out when (and if) the weather warms up. Today it should get up to the mid-40's. It is hard to believe that opening day at Wrigley Field is one week away.

JEWELRY - I made a necklace set for the annual Harbour Auction. Last year the jewelry was well received, let's hope they like it again this year.

Cruising, Visiting, Enjoying

I found the coolest soon-to-be site yesterday while reading Franklin's blog. It is called Ravelry and it is (will be) the internet equivalent of being in a knitting shop, in a library, in a chat room, where you can track your stash and get patterns, ideas and/or help or encouragement. They are still in beta testing but are accepting wanna joins. As of today, I am number 22,093 with 14,299 knitters in front of me and 239 behind me. No cutting please, one third of those wanting to join have been issued invitations. Hey, one in 22,332 is better than one in a million!

Last Friday my brother came to Chicago. Fred, Gene and I took the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Architecture River Cruise. A wonderful hour and a half on the Chicago river, viewing the beautiful buildings, learning their history and the history of Chicago. I recommend it to everyone. After the cruise, we strolled down to Millennium Park and took in the Bean and the spewing fountains. Photos to follow. We feasted on Chicago-style hot dogs and enjoyed a lovely day in the park.

Another snap of under the Bean.

Gene & Fred Under the Bean

We retreived the car, picked up Abe and drove to Naperville for the Cavalcade of Brass, a Drum Corps contest sponsored by The Rosemont Cavaliers. In fact, that is why Fred was in town. It was the 50th reunion of the 1957 Chicago Cavaliers. A good time was had by all.

As an added benefit, I delivered eight pair of earrings to the fellow in charge of the Cavaliers souvenir booth. They sold two pair that evening. A good thing for all involved.

Back to Knitting

I was shocked to see that it was 46 days since my last post.

I have not been knitting as much as I have been making jewelry. Earrings and necklaces galore. Oh look, here is a necklace now -


I donated a necklace and earrings to The Harbour. A friend is on their board. The word I got back was that there was active bidding and they were sold for more than their set value. That made me feel good.


There is a good amount of knitted goodies to send off to Dulaan. The deadline to be included in this year's shipment is rapidly approaching so I'll try to get them packed up and out this weekend.

I recently made another scarf out of the recycled sari silk yarn. Amazing stuff. Much like Chicago weather, if you don't like the color you are knitting, wait a few stitches and it will change!

Ugh, Chicago weather. A very undecided proposition. Warm weather, bulbs popped, snow fell, heat happened, cold, then rain and to keep you on your toes, tornadoes in the southwest suburbs.

Thought of retirement are percolating through my head. Some downsizing, some disencumbering ourselves of years of possessions. It is a big job, but it must be tackled eventually. How do you decide?