Fingerless Mitts

Remember my intentions to knock out those fingerless mitts for Chris pretty quickly?  Well, that crazy thumb part turned out to be a little bit scarier than I originally thought.  I stared and stared at the waste yarn I knit into the thumb area to be removed later and magically knit into a thumb hole.  But the more I stared, the more confused I became.  I tried to convince Chris that tucking his thumbs into the mitts would actually be much warmer than having a silly thumb hole, but he didn't buy it.  I thought it was a pretty good argument. 

Finally, after much staring and much contemplation, I finally just went for it and tried to follow the directions exactly as written (this is always the answer when I get confused in my knitting - I seem to make the instructions much harder than they actually are).  I inserted my needles into the live stitches from the inside of the mitt, but there were too many stitches on each needle.  I knew I had to pick up three stitches on each side, so I figured it really didn't matter because I would just count them as already picked up (in other words, I said, "screw it, they'll turn out fine").  However, when I carefully moved my needles to the outside of the mitt, there were magically six stitches on top and five stitches on bottom, exactly as the instructions said there would be.  Whether I counted wrong in the beginning or dropped one on the move from inside to outside, I'll never know.  Honestly, I don't care because it turned out right, and mitt #1 looks great!  (It's actually a bit large on me, but you get the idea.)

I hope to finish the thumb on mitt #2 tonight, unless Chris suddenly has a change of heart and decides that tucking that thumb in will be warmer after all...

A Month of Celebrations

October has been a month full of celebrations!

On October 15th, Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! Here are the high points of our visit to Lake Oconee to celebrate:

• Shopping and strolling around Madison, one of the most beautiful cities in Georgia
• Driving around the lake area to include a drive by our first house (oh, the memories)

• Sitting for an entire afternoon at the lakeside bar at the Ritz Carlton watching college football, drinking beer, and eating calamari and flatbread

• Roasting marshmallows over the outdoor fire pit

• Eating a delicious dinner of shrimp and grits and filet mignon

• Eating dessert, ‘nuf said

• Spending the night at the Ritz Carlton hotel

• Eating a beautiful buffet breakfast the next morning

So, did you notice there was a lot of eating? My jeans sure did… I can’t think of a single low point, aside from it ending. It was a fabulous celebration of five amazing years together.

On October 26th, I celebrated my graduation from the Leadership Warner Robins program put on annually by the Robins Regional Chamber of Commerce. If I were to make a bulleted list of all of the high points of this program, I would surely develop carpal tunnel syndrome before it was complete. In short, I met some amazing people who I now call friends, visited some incredible places in and around our Houston County community, completed some interesting homework assignments, and worked with my class to pull off an incredible class project. Here are some photo highlights…



A visit to the Georgia state capitol.

 

I have no idea what I'm holding, but I wanted to look cute holding it and that's the only reason I'm smiling that big. I was actually scared to death I was going to accidentally shoot something.



The only photo where I look even remotely badass. In all of the other shooting photos, I look extremely goofy. One of my classmates said I looked like Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits.

The dedication marker for the tree we sponsored at the Little League Southeastern Regional Headquarters (part of the class project).

Military working dog demonstration.

On October 28th, Chris received the employee of the quarter award at work. He had a great opportunity to join the Robins AFB family as an engineering co-op last June and has been working hard to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree while working at the base. I am so proud of his accomplishments at both work and in school and cannot wait to see him graduate in May!

On October 30th, we celebrated Halloween a day early with the rest of the county. Since Chris was busy with school, we stayed home for the weekend and passed out candy to all the cutie patootie trick-or-treaters. These included a little boy that looked into my giant bowl of chocolate candy and asked me where the chocolate was, a skateboarding zombie (I really should have gotten that one without asking) who was probably too old to be trick-or-treating, and two 80’s girls that were definitely born in the 2000s. I actually felt a little old… Chris even called me the creepy old lady for asking the kids about their costumes. What else were we going to talk about, the upcoming election?

And now, it’s already November, which means more celebrating and more eating, come Thanksgiving! This is my favorite time of year; the weather is finally cooling off, the holiday celebrations are beginning, and we have some great quality time with family and friends to look forward to…

Woops...

I’m sorry, what’s that? It’s weird to start a blog and then ignore it for 2+ months? Crap… I had no idea.

Just because I haven’t posted anything lately doesn’t mean I haven’t been knocking out some fun projects. Something about the weather cooling down a bit makes me want to just sit on the back porch and knit all day. And I did just that last weekend. I spent quite a few hours just enjoying the knitting and finished up a big project I’ve been working on since June. Unfortunately, it’s a gift so I cannot show any photos yet, but I will, I promise. As a side note, on Friday, I was very excited to purchase my first set of Addi Turbos. I was getting frustrated with the way my bamboo circulars were slowing me down on this particular project, so I figured I’d give the “Cadillac of needles” a try. I was not disappointed. They really did help me knit faster. I know that sounds strange, but it’s true…

A month or so ago, I started on a pair of fingerless mitts for Chris for Christmas. (Obviously not a surprise… How exactly do you knit for someone you live with and make it a surprise anyway? Really, I’d like to know.) The pattern is "Dashing" from Knitty.  I’m almost done with the first mitt (the picture shows about the halfway point). This is my first project knitting cables, and I must say it’s been surprisingly easy. Cabling looks way more complicated than it is. I should crank these out pretty quickly and hope to move on to a few more Christmas gifts in time for holidays.

On the sewing front, I’ve completed a few projects lately, mostly baby related. Back in July, our friends Melissa and Jonathan welcomed baby Dane, and I had a blast working on a few clothing and nursery projects with Melissa. The applique letters and matching pillows were both made with fabric used in her nursery. Between the letters and the onesies for Dane, July was the month for applique projects!

In addition to the recent arrival of Dane, three more of my closest girlfriends are now pregnant and all due in the first half of 2011. In other words, I have very little time to finish up my Christmas projects and get busy working on new baby projects x3! I have one boy, one girl, and one unknown gender to knit and sew for in 2011, which pretty much means that no baby project can be ruled out! I’m pretty excited to make projects for babies that I’ll actually get to see wear/use my creations.

Check out my Flickr photostream to see some of my other sewing and knitting projects...

Eulogy for Missy

I lost my maternal grandmother on June 22.  She lived 87 wonderful years.  I was asked to give the eulogy at her memorial service on Wednesday, July 14, and I really enjoyed reflecting on all of the fun things we did together over the years.  I thought I'd share it here in case anyone is interested in reading a little about my Missy:

Eulogy for Virginia Prince Calvin Hicks

June 15, 1923 - June 22, 2010

I am Katherine Virginia Watson Falzone. I am Virginia's namesake, being named Virginia after my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. I am Virginia's first born grandchild. That is always how she introduced me to new people. She always made it sound like such an accomplishment for me, despite the fact that I had very little to do with being born, or being the first for that matter. However, I held my head a little higher and stood up a little straighter when she said it because it sounded like an important job to be the first born grandchild. And because she was proud to call me that. It was a nice way to be introduced.

I could easily share with you today her extensive resume of accomplishments, from bookselling awards to higher education to service in charitable organizations. But I think I’d rather share a more personal side of her. We all have special stories about Virginia, affectionately known to her grandchildren as Missy. In fact, she had many nicknames. To her friends, she was Virginia, Miss Virginia, or VP, short for Virginia Prince. To her students, she was Teach. To Harold, she was Love. And to her grandchildren, she was Missy.

She lived a very active and productive life, always meeting new people and making new friends wherever she went. She lived in many different places, but mostly stayed in the southern states of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, which she held in very high regard. She loved the rich history and stories of the South. She was a southern girl to her core, and as a young girl growing up in South Georgia, she made me proud to be one as well.

When we were young, we were fortunate to live just a few houses away from her. I remember many afternoons spent at her house having tea parties. She’d invite us over after school and prepare punch, cookies, and other treats and we’d sit around the card table pretending we were grownups just like our Missy. She would just grin at us while we all giggled at each other.

Sometimes she would take us for a ride in her 1984 red Chrysler LeBaron, which she named “Chief”. Claire would always ride on the hump in the middle and I in the passenger seat and we’d all sing together “Here We Go Loop de Loo”. You could bet every dollar you had on where she would take us because every trip was the same. First, we’d go to the post office where she’d pick up her mail and send off the letters she’d written the day before - she was wonderful at keeping up with handwritten correspondence. Second, we’d go to the library. Never failed. Sometimes a trip to the grocery store might be thrown in there, where we’d ride in the cart eating peppermints before we’d paid for them (she could never make it to the register without opening that bag of peppermints), but there was always a stop by the post office and the library.

She loved to read to us, and I remember my favorite book that she would read to me. It was called “A Train for Jane”. I think she was drawn to it because she loved trains, and the book was about a girl who didn’t want to play with the traditional girl toys, but would rather play with trains. As a young girl that would much rather play with Legos, erector sets, or a bat and ball than a Barbie, I appreciated that she understood and felt the same way.

She was an animal lover. As a girl, she loved to ride horses and won many equestrian ribbons and awards. Over the years, she had many pets – a poodle named Rhet Butler, a springer spaniel named Precious, a cat named Thor, and for a short time a lizard named Clarence that she would not allow us to shoo out of her house.

As a family, we shared many meals together. While my grandmother was never known for her cooking, she taught us how to set a beautiful table complete with linens, antique china, crystal, and silver, each piece having a story about its previous owner and how it was passed down to her. She taught us which fork and plate were used for each course. She taught us that when you clear the table, you never stack your dishes. "Now girls, don't stack" she would say. And when the meal was over, you did not say you were "done". She would say, "That sounds like a turkey that just came out of the oven. Say you're "finished" instead.”

Missy and Harold’s marriage was probably one of the greatest blessings our family could receive. She thought he hung the moon, and I’m pretty sure he would have done it for her no matter how difficult the task was. He was a loving, supportive, and dedicated husband to the very end and she absolutely adored him. They brought two wonderful families together the day they married and since then, all of our lives have been enriched through their love for each other. Many of us have said that marrying him was the best decision she ever made. And we all reaped the benefits of that decision by gaining brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

To say that she loved books would be an understatement. It would be more appropriate to say that she lived them. She lived in them, she lived around them, she lived through them, and she lived for them. Her accomplishments in the world of bookselling are numerous. I remember a few years back, I was skimming through a copy of one of my mom's Southern Living magazines when I had to do a double take. That woman looks a lot like Missy. Oh my, it is Missy! There she was, right there in the middle of Southern Living, featured for her excellence in bookselling. No one even told me!

My sister and I spent many afternoons working with Missy and Harold at The Book Shop in downtown Brunswick. Jordan reminded me just last night about how she always called us the “fourth generation Southern women booksellers.” She loved to hunt down an out-of-print book for a customer, especially if they had no luck elsewhere. If no one else could find that book, The Book Shop could. I never realized how much influence being surrounded by all of those books would have on me as an adult. Now I’d rather go into a bookstore than a clothing store. I buy books like most women buy shoes and handbags. I blame her for that, but I love her for that.

Education was extremely important to her, both as a student and a teacher. I always wondered growing up what kind of teacher my grandmother was. Having never been a student of hers, I would wonder, was she the favorite, mean one, the toughest one, the easy A, or the inspiring one that you never forgot? In March of 2007, I got an answer to that question in the form of an email that Harold forwarded to me from one of her previous students at the Bartram School for Girls. I made sure to save it because it is so special. I would like to share an excerpt with you now because there really is no better way to say it than this woman did.

Dearest Mrs. Hobson,

I have to tell you how happy I was to hear your voice. You, without knowing it, have been such a tremendous influence on my life, my career, how I think, and who I have become. Because of you, I have been published, had my own editorial column on the front page of the city newspaper, and am now writing and creating the storylines for a nationally syndicated television series. You believed in us. You told us that we were your girls and that we could do anything. You shared your love of knowledge and books and reading the classics and inspired “your girls” to “dream big”.

I don’t know if you remember this about me, but I lost my mom when I was nine years old. My father remarried to a woman who resented me very much simply for being in the way; and therefore was not very kind to me at all. These were the circumstances that led up to me sending myself away to (Bartram) boarding school to get away from her. Long story short, I didn’t really have any positive female role models in my life that I could look up to and/or trust. You were that person for me. You instilled in me the ability to look beyond my circumstances and believe in myself. You made me feel smart. Creative. Insightful. That was the beginning of the path that led me to where I am today. I went on to college and pursued a pre-law curriculum with a double major in Political Science and English Lit.

In my junior year, at the insistence of my step-monster, my dad pulled me out of school. I did not go back; I did not become a lawyer. Probably a good thing. But I did resolve to be a successful writer. I now make a respectable living doing what I love. Writing. I write the storylines for a nationally syndicated women’s lifestyle program. Thank you!

I’ve often wondered how you were doing and where life has led you. When I came across your name on the internet, I just couldn’t help myself. I had to see if that was “my Mrs. Hobson”. I hope now that I’ve found you again, that you won’t mind if I keep in touch with you every now and then to see how you are. It’s not often that somebody touches your life the same way that you have touched mine, so I feel it would be a shame to lose that connection. You have made such a difference in the life of that little scared girl that sat quietly in your classroom, so I wanted to make sure to say thank you. You touched my life in a way that really mattered. I guess that’s a huge part of why people go into teaching.

Please keep in touch when you can. I will too. And you take care of yourself, ok?

That’s just one example of the kind of person my Missy was. She was passionate and charming, and it was contagious. She loved and adored her family and friends. We all have great memories of her life here with us, and she’ll continue to live on through those memories for many years to come. In my mind, I like to think that she’s driving around heaven right now in Chief, singing “Here We Go Loop de Loo” while eating peppermints. She’s on her way to the post office and the library, then maybe a tea party, and is probably in the process of opening a book store, only there, in her heaven, the books never go out of print.

Squam Summary (the long version)

Last week, I ventured out on my own for five days to a place I’d never been, where I knew no one, and I did it by choice. Woah. Totally out of character for me (understatement of the century).

Traveling was a small mess on my way to Squam Art Workshops (SAW) in New Hampshire. I was delayed two hours in Detroit and missed my scheduled shuttle in Manchester. But, as luck would have it, the woman sitting in front of me on my flight to Manchester was also headed to Squam. What are the chances? She immediately offered me a ride in her rental car, quite pleased to have a navigator join her (those who know me well know that I get lost in my own house, so… she wasn’t so fortunate to have ME as a navigator). Another Squammie also had delays and missed the same shuttle, so she caught a ride with us as well. I was a little hesitant at first since I knew absolutely nothing about these two women and was always told not to talk to strangers (much less get into their vehicle willingly), but I soon learned that this is just the nature of the craft community. They are open and friendly and have a way of making you feel welcome even if you just met. Our drive from the airport was a little less than an hour and a half, but it felt like five minutes – we talked and talked the whole way there (and only missed one turn, which was only partially my fault).

I made a vow to myself before I left that I would enjoy every moment and not get caught up in my usual anxieties about meeting new people. But by the time I arrived, registered, and unpacked in my cabin, at least ten women had already made me feel like I belonged there all along. I can’t think of another time in my life when I’ve ever felt so at home with strangers.

I shared a cabin, appropriately named “Point Comfort”, with seven other women and only one shower. Surprisingly, this was never an issue. We were paired into rooms, each with a set of twin beds. I was a bit worried about sharing a bedroom with a complete stranger, but was both thankful and relieved to find that my roommate was not only normal, but kind and considerate as well. The cabins were definitely rustic for my experience – I don’t often venture out of the air conditioning – but I actually enjoyed every second of cabin life (well, except for the second where that spider crawled on my bed). The view of the lake was breathtaking, and each cabin had its own dock. The common areas were filled with rocking chairs, couches, and day beds perfect for knitting and chatting while enjoying a great view of the lake and surrounding mountains. Since I returned home, I have genuinely missed my cabin mates and the time we enjoyed sitting together and telling stories. We had such a great group of women, and if we did nothing else while we were at SAW, we laughed a LOT!

My classes were all wonderful – each for different reasons. In the Seamless Sweater class with Jared Flood, I felt like I was in college again! We actually never knit a stitch in the class, but for the full three hours, he walked us through the percentage system and the steps for knitting an entire sweater to specific body measurements. I took 19 pages of notes (it was small paper, but still quite a large chunk of notes)! Jared is definitely a brilliant designer and teacher and seems to have a deeper understanding of the how and why it works than any knitter I’ve met yet.

The two pattern design classes with Cal Patch were so much fun and also quite informative. In the first class, I drafted a pattern for an A-line skirt to fit my specific body measurements. In the second, I was able to add some embellishments to the pattern – pockets, a ruffle, and facing. Cal is a wonderful and patient teacher, and I really enjoyed meeting her. Her book is definitely on my Amazon wish list and as soon as I convince my husband that you can never have too many sewing and knitting books (and besides, this one is about pattern making and I don’t have one specifically about pattern making, right?), I will get it.

The Knit a Baby Sweater class with Megan Ingman (who is also incredibly patient and wonderful) was probably the most relaxing because it was a full-day class and we literally just sat and knit all day. The class was held in yet another beautiful cabin with cool breezes coming through the screened windows all day long. I fell in love with the yarn that Megan brought for us to use for our sweater not only because it was named Sweet Georgia, but also because it was hand-dyed and the colors just made me happy. We used the 100% superwash merino, and I chose the colorway “fondant” – bright pinks and blues mixed with brown. I loved the yarn and the sweater pattern so much that I couldn’t put it down – before my first plane landed in Detroit on Sunday, I was already finished weaving in all of the ends. The only thing lacking is the lone button for the collar.

There were special events planned each evening – and I must add because this is very important, free beer at every one! This place really was my own little slice of heaven on earth.

Night 1 – We enjoyed a great welcome from Elizabeth (the reason SAW exists in the first place), introductions from the instructors, an inspiring talk from Jenny Doh, and beautiful music from Jonatha Brooke, whose CD I have worn out already.

Night 2 – Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot, made us laugh until we cried! I’ve enjoyed Stephanie’s blog for quite a while now and wasn’t sure she could be even funnier in person, but she did not disappoint – she had the entire crowd rolling for over an hour.

Night 3 – At Coffeehouse night, we enjoyed a story from Jen Lee, a great history of Ravelry from Jess and Casey, and more beautiful music from Jonatha. Afterwards, the ladies of Point Comfort enjoyed s’mores made over the fire in our cabin.

Night 4 – The Squam Art Fair was open to the public, not just the SAW attendees. Many of the instructors and attendees sold their various handmade crafts, yarns, clothing, books, and patterns. I was able to get a copy of Stephanie’s book, Knitting Rules, and was so excited to have her sign it! Ysolda Teague, a Scottish knitting pattern designer, also signed my new copy of her pattern book, Whimsical Little Knits. Lastly, I bought a skein of green, superwash merino/silk blend yarn from Woolarina (always the green – I don’t know where the obsession comes from). After we all got back to the cabin, we had a mini celebration of Jessica’s 30th birthday, which was the next day.

It’s very unlike me to mention food last, but I probably should mention that I ate ice cream twice a day, every day I was there. So if you weren’t convinced that this place was awesome before, with all the beer and knitting and relaxation and laughing and general friendliness, then you should now be convinced. More than anything else, I enjoyed SAW for the uninterrupted time I had to just do what I love and be surrounded by wonderful people who love to do the same thing. There’s something very powerful about being surrounded by people that really GET why you love doing something. And it’s pretty cool to look around a room and realize that you’re in the minority because you’re NOT knitting and not because you are…

Check out the rest of my pictures from the week on flickr.

Assorted Footwear

It turns out that I am capable of knitting a second sock on my own! We’ll pretend the unexpected holes in the gussets were planned. They did end up in the same place on each side of the sock, so... Not too bad for my first pair. I enjoyed the double pointed needles way more than I expected and am looking forward to using them again in my Seamless Sweater class at Squam this week.  I can’t believe it is finally here!

I also wanted to show off these precious booties I knit for Baby Dane Strunk, who will be joining us in July! I can’t wait to see his little, itty bitty toes in these little, itty bitty booties. I bought the pattern from AbsoluteKnits. It is very easy to follow, and there is no purling, which I really liked. I’m working a second pair using the same Rowan yarn to list in my Etsy shop.

Warrior Dash Complete!

As a followup to my last post, Warrior Dash was awesome!!! We stayed in a beautiful cabin in Mountain City with our friends, the Dicksons and Strunks. To get to the cabin, there were a variety of twists and turns on a very steep climb up the mountain, invoking the occasional ear pop as well as a few nervous giggles and squeals (we’ll pretend those only came from the girls).  Luckily, my husband is an excellent driver (better than Rain Man) and took us safely up and down throughout the weekend.

On the day of the race, we arrived in time to register and see the first wave of Dashers start and finish. We were in the third wave, so we had about an hour and a half to be spectators and enjoy the loud and cheesy announcers at the obstacles in the finish line area. I had butterflies the size of Kirstie Alley in my stomach before the race, although it’s quite possible those were heart palpitations caused by the free Monster energy drink I consumed about an hour earlier. (Thanks to my friends for talking me out of chasing the Monster with a Sugar Free Red Bull. Bad idea all around.)

My husband, Chris, and I ran the entire race together (even though he could have easily left me and finished much sooner – thanks babe). The obstacles were challenging, but all were doable with a little bit of un-ladylike grunting. I was a little disappointed to get soaked so early on in one of the water obstacles because that meant jogging in water-logged tennis shoes and socks for the duration of the race. However, I was surprised when we got to the finish line a lot sooner than I anticipated. Unfortunately, it was not because we were super speedy and all around bad ass (although I like to pretend that I am). A portion of the race, which we believe was about 8/10 of a mile of uphill/downhill running, was removed for reasons we still don’t know.

Here we are before and after the race:

You can’t really see the mud on my red shirt, but I’m pretty sure you can see the difference in the color of Chris’. We all joked later that the Warrior Dash would be an awesome place to film an Orbit gum commercial. Dirty mouth? I’m thinking OxyClean could have some serious material for their product demos as well.