virtuallyutopia.com

I’ve been knitting a lot lately.  I finished the colorful baby blanket, and now am almost finished with

One-Piece Baby Kimono by Cristina Bernardi Shiffman from the Mason-Dixon knitting book.  I’m using some mystery yarn I found in my stash which I’ve named Mystery Peppermint. 

.
As you can see I have lots left over - even enough for the Zodiac.

I have good news from friends.  Sara T is pregnant and Darcy had another baby girl, Violet Elizabeth Graham. 

I told a neighbor about my reading page and she wanted to see it and I told her she could find it here on my blog.  If you’ve visited - Hi Sheila.

Today is my daughter’s 40th birthday.  I can’t figure out how she got that old, cause I don’t think I’m that old.

Sunday Kate and Doug are coming up for Father’s Day. John is playing in a golf tournament at his old childhood haunt Hubbard Height Golf Course in Stamford, now named E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course.  We hope to get Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Jean to have dinner with us while we are there.  Beth and Chris have offered to let us sleep over.   On Monday I hope to see my Uncle Lenny and hand lunch with him.   A very busy weekend coming up.

 Last night I talked John to driving to Frank Pepe’s Pizza in Manchester.   It was great New Haven Pizza!

 I am burning a book I purchased from audible dot com and it’s taking a million year (not to mention disks).

I’ve been away for a few months, busy knitting.  I started a sideways sweater with Helen (Sit N Knit Too) and was progressing nicely, abet not as nicely as my friend, Martine.  She finished her sweater in April.  I only got to the  left front when we decided to take the Kousa Shawl class at SNK.  Since it started I’ve been knitting like a piece work knitter in a third world country.   I’m keeping up with the goals of the class even though we went on vacation.  (That’s Jan and Greg in the foreground)  I am 3/4 finished with the fringe, below, and the next class is saturday morning.

 The color of the whole shawl isn’t good, but you can see how it looks.  The actual color is the picture above.

This is the center square, which the rest of the shawl was built on.

This my new Grand-Cat, Cleo.   Isn’t she sweet?

 This is Beckett, last night, waiting for me to finish brushing my teeth.  I didn’t know that dogs could sit like that.

I am finished with the 8.5″ of the back of the sideways sweater.   Now to cast on 72 stitches for the right side.  I hope to have this done before tomorrow morning when I go back to Sit N Knit Too to start a shawl with Audry.   I seem to do so much better with goals.

I have a weakness - that’s buying some yarn every-time I go to Sit N Knit.  I also see a new project I want to start.  I need restraint.

I updated my reading list.  I can’ t remember two or three books.  I should do this more often.  Next Tuesday is the Berlin Peck-Memorial Library Book Club to discuss “The Last Lecture”.  Two of my neighbors are coming with me, Maryann and Sheila. 

 We, the some of the ladies of Beckley Farms, have started a Monday Night Card Club.  It’s lots of fun.  I lost $3 last week!!!

 I also spent $700 on repairs for my 3 year old Subaru.  The dealer said that it was spark plug coils were corroded.  This is in a garaged car.  WTF?

Last night I finished the Irish Hiking Scarf, and it turned out quite nicely even if I do say so myself.  2 skeins of Vanna White yarn.

Now I have to finish these socks.  I have on sock done and am down to the toe on the other one so it won’t be long now.

I went to my Newington SNB tonight but they all left at quarter to 8. I was tired anyway. 

 I now have 2 knitting friends on Facebook!  cool beans!

I believe tomorrow is Josh Beckett day here at the Cavanaugh household.

Well folks,  I have some more advice (yesterday I warned to save before publishing) and today’s advice is:

It is important to add your stash to Ravelry.  I went to Sit N Knit Too today to get a last skein of my yarn for the Lady’s Sweater and I couldn’t find the label I thought I brought.  Aha, says I –  I’ll just look on ravelry!  Judy set me up and low and behold, I didn’t have it in Ravelry.  I bought the wrong color.

 In adition I bought 4 balls of Porto Cervo In Jeans,  Lot 0010 Color 110 Orange  for a second Pea-pod Sweater.

 I am always amazed with Judy’s memory.  She always remembers your name and she even remembered that my friend, Martine, yarn order hasn’t yet arrived.  No wonder everyone loves that store.

We’re getting our taxes ready to do the taxes, what this means is (I do the bills in our relationship) and my husband says get me this and get me that (because he does the taxes).

I have been knitting and reading and staying in.  In addition, unbeknown to me, I’ve been growing my hair.  I am in desperate need for a hair cut.  This is what happens when I don’t make an appointment when I leave the shop after a haircut.  Then I start thinking maybe I should grow it longer or maybe cut it really short.  Thinking like that always makes me sorry.

I’ve read Home to Holly Springs, and a book about a father talking about his son’s drug addiction.  I also read a novelette by John Grisham  called The Bleachers.  I’m going to gather the info and put it on the reading page on the blog.  Now I’m reading a Kellerman mystery.

On the knitting front I am working on my Pea-pod baby sweater-set. This is my first time using a knitting chart and I’ve frogged a few times. I thought I was finished and realized that I didn’t make the armholes big enough when I went to put on the sleeves. So I had to frog again.   This is the yarn that I bought when Martine and we snuck up to the Webb’s sale.  The other yarn, grey, is waiting for the perfect men’s sweater pattern.  But the hat’s done (but no picture of the hat). If I don’t put in the stash on Ravelry, does it count?

I also ordered some things from Knit Picks.  I had to…  I stepped on my number 5 interchangeable harmony wood needle and had to reorder another one.  Here’s the catch.  If you order $50 or more they ship it to you free!  Who doesn’t like free?  I bought a few knitting accessories and some sock yarn and the Mason Dixon Knitting Book.  Hey if was 40% off.

At the end of next month my grand-dog is coming to stay a week with us.  I can’t wait.  He is so calm and good.  He even gets along with Miss Princess Fluffy. 

Speaking of Miss fluffy, she is getting to be a hairy beast.  I try to brush her while we are watching Television, but she is impatient with me.  I tell her that she is going to have to get groomed, but she just gives me that stare.  As a parting note, always remember to save before you publish

Paradise Island, that is.  I took some of the Webs yarn I bought with Martine in December and packed it for the trip to Paradise Island.  This is the second time my husband won an all expense paid trip there.  He won the trip on 12/28 and we were off on 1/4/09.  Of course the weather was beautiful, lots of sun and spa and pina coladas.  We had a great room this time and a great flight on Jet Blue.  This is the view from our window:

 Two days into the tri p I used a drink glass to keep my knitting chart from blowing away and of course the ink ran smearing the leaf main chart.  I was saved by Karen squared.  She sent me the pdf so I could keep knitting.

I’ve got my shopping done, but have to wrap and send out the Christmas cards.  I always wish I had thought ahead at Thanksgiving when everyone was here to take a Christmas picture.  Then I waste time looking through the years pictures to see if I have one, but I never do.

My grandchildren helped me get out all the Christmas Decorations and decorate the tree last weekend.  Then I got sick.  My first sinus infection of 2008.  Feeling better but tired.  I finished a book about WWII and the internment of Japanese Americans entitled When The Emperor Was Divine.  Now I’m reading a John Connelly book, White Road, about the character Charlie Parker. It’s a sad commentary on the early (or as late at the 60’s) southern folks inhumanity to man.  I also finished the Truman Capote book Summer Crossings.  I think the material was Capote all the way. 

Today I am on the Tyra Banks show and if my son-in-law has recorded it I hope to embed it here!  My loot is starting to come in.  I went back to New York on 12/9 and took Ryan with me.  My daughter, Kate, got tickets to see “Shrek the Musical” and it was wonderful.  We got into the city via Metro North (using Stationstops, my son-in-law’s blog) to navigate the schedule and had time to visit the top of the Empire State Building and American Girl to check out the Doll stuff before the show.  One of the fun things was take a train, pedi-cab, taxi and ferry, all things that you don’t find in Farmington, CT.

I finished the February Lady’s sweater class but not the sweater.  Arms are in order..  I also snuck a class in a Celtic cable neck warmer and am fascinated by it.  I have startitis with 4 projects going.

I am going to do one thing on my to-do list and then go to Radio shack to see of I can get some printer to USB converters.

It very very cold and the wind sounds like a freight train as it whips by the side of the building.  Our room is near the end of the hallway and you can hear it make the turn, if you can imagine that.  The wind is blurring vision and the evergreens are bending.  It even looks cold out the window.

 I’m glad I did my exploring yesterday.  The area is so rural that I thought I drove 100 miles but it was only 40.  I had to find a CVS and then I found Diana’s Yarn and Craft store.  As you can imagine, I’ve added to my stash by purchasing some cascade 220 for the next project - an ear flap had and some more sock yarn.  I left them in the car and haven’t put them on Ravelry yet.

I’ve all but finished the Australian wool sweater.  Here it is handing on the shower curtain  at the Hotel.  It still needs some weaving in and the i-cord and buttons.  98.9%  finished and guess what, IT FITS! 

I’ve made some project with the February Lady’s Sweater.  I think each section of the pattern is 2″.  I’m planning to do some more tonight.

I’m reading Kidnapped again and find it as exciting as it was the first time.