in the now-

..somethings i'm really liking about "now", at the time of this photo (friday)

i was enjoying the gorgeous weather at lunch while working on the elvis sock-









other stuff i'm liking is the teenage years, okayyy i'm stretching it a bit, but it was cool with pj in the basement with some friends working on music for a video they are doing for church- liking having a space for them to "go-to", liking knowing who my kids are with and what they are doing- goodness knows i could hear everything--amps guitars, and keyboard-but also laughter and the music they were creating.

also liking that andrew was at soccer and doing his own thing-



liking the greatest compliment from a 20 something in my office last week-something to do with hoping to look as great when i'm at your age gotta totally ♥ that!

make mine a double . .

a double whoo hooo, double arm pump, yea baby, whatever. i've got two things i'm very proud of- somewhat disjointed, but that seems to be the norm these days . . .

the photo shows things i'm very proud of right now. . . yes that's the william morris quilt top- finished!!!!


and ahead of schedule, i'll be getting the batting, and the back piece this weekend, and hopefully there will be only one seam to make the back big enough to accommodate the quilt top, plans are to do the hand quilting at Dillard--this will give me something to work on while hanging with the family . .

the other thing is the print in the background- you can't read the writing, but it says" so much to be proud of . . so much to look forward to". mary gave this to me when i graduated with my teaching degree, and until now it never really had it's own special spot. now it's on my desk where i can see it everyday. it reminds me of how proud i am for earning both of my college degrees, and how supportive my family was during that time.

there is also one of my favorite photos of the boys i took on the campus of ksu about 6 years ago. so i guess that makes 3 or 4 things?! and if you didn't figure it out the clock features a william morris design that is also in the quilt.

sisterhood of the sock or ..

close encounters of the knitting thing-----great title for a Lifetime movie or beach reading material- wonder if Sara would be willing to? . . okay, back to the point. for the record, i really love being treated by nurses, i have a wonderful group of nurse/friends at church who are so there for you, and my youngest was delivered by a nurse mid-wife- they are just good people for sure- anyway here's the scene- i'm at the ob/gyn today, sitting on the table wearing a skirt, hose, shoes and a paper top- okayyy maybe the imagery is a bit much, but i'm knitting, 'cause who really know's how long i'll be in this condition, when CPN BS comes in-

CPNBS: oooh what are you knitting
ME: a sock (i had just started the cuff of sock #3's mate)
CPNBS: i'm a knitter too, that's why i asked; i have a very shameful stash of sock yarn
ME: i don't think there is such a thing
CPNBS: oh yea, i bought up a ton from a lady in atlanta whose house was overrun with yarn, and she was selling some of it off . . . the conversation continued with talk of knitpicks, the yarn harlot, kids going to very cold states for college and needing wool sweaters, but cheap wool in case they don't take care of it, and a very seasoned knitter co-worker who is "afraid" to try sock- we both agree she should go for it already!

knitters are EVERYWHERE! what fun, i'd definitely trust my body to this woman anyday- how could you not?!
that was my afternoon, how was yours?

progress report

42 days left if you're keeping track, and i feel pretty good about what i've gotten done so far, especially in the crafting arena. the moss sweater groweth, thanks to about 6 hours last wednesday (sitting pool side and in my room).

completed clues 5&6 of sotsii, hope to start on 7 this weekend, but it's not looking good for the crafting team. this is how it will look when it's worn, the little "bump" at the bottom was an odd addition.

have completed what i can of the wm quilt top. on the 27th kathy and i will get our april square materials, and have a big girl lunch! and i will get what i need for the wm quilt top, the photo isn't the best, but essentially what i have to do now is get enough material to fill the "carpet spots" that you see, any suggestions on a different placement? not sure if the way i have it is the way i'll go with it. plan to leave it on the carpet and have a look at it between now and the 27th. it's not perfectly aligned as my squares are not the exact same size, i'll be relying on kathy to help with this.

isabelle has her socks

-and then i started this pair so i'd have some plane knitting, love the colorway and it's a simple 1x1 ribbing --this yarn was bought in cleveland at Fine Points

have done some other "non-crafting" bits that are on the "to do" list, so i haven't started stressing, yet! the new maisie dobbs book is good!

25 degrees of separation

Miami Mosaic
Originally uploaded by lifeandyarn

that describes the temp. between atlanta and miami when i left on monday. how do you pack for that? luckily when i came back the weather in atlanta had improved. miami was a great time of rest, and i really did sit in my room and knit for hours and watch episode after episode of "law and order", and a couple of "monk".

the training was excellent, and was glad to see great improvements with the web based performance mgmt system we use. i didn't knit during the training, but i did manage to write-then type the notes for our personnel training we're conducting at the end of the month-had to do something during the lag time!! our training finished earlier than expected, so i spent about 4 hours near the pool-a shady spot all to myself! knitting on the moss sweater. i would have sat in the sun, but i didn't think to bring shorts with me, and the jeans were a bit warm! the hotel location was nowhere near the beach or any other hot spots- but the peace and quiet- well there's nothing like it!

i also managed to start and finish a sock for my "plane knitting", photo of that on the update posting. somehow my 2 1/2 sock mates to finish have increased to 3 mates even though i finished the 1/2- is this some kind of new math?!

on wednesday i had a wonderful meal at chispa- stone cellars pinot grigio (yum), chorizo and shrimp quesadilla, spinach salad, bread with this fabulous bean/veggie spread, and caramelized bread pudding with vanilla ice cream- okay i had to take the salad back with me, and i left half of the pudding (ate all the ice cream :-)), but it was all soooo good, i want the recipe for the quesadilla and bean spread- i may be a copy-cat of mary in asking for it from bon appetit. i ate here last year, and just fell in love with the food and atmosphere, AND it's right next door to the hotel-very convenient. i snapped a couple photos while i was there and notice the liquor lockers-then i overheard the manager explain to a new hire that people pay for these, and they have an engraved name plate put on them, and they can keep their "stuff" in there for when they dine at the restaurant- check out this name- there's only one person i know of that has that name- looked like his locker was empty!

the descent into atlanta was-well, let's just say, it was a scene right out of a movie- don't know what the pilot was thinking or doing-friday gave me the chance to get caught up on some stuff, shopping with the boys, more knitting, grocery shopping, cooking, etc. now monday is around the corner-uhhh, don't know if i'm ready!

catching up . .

had an absolutely fabulous time with my sister last week. the weekend was filled with "who knew", "ya'll are definitely related", and "this must be your sister". the location was superb for a chance to get to know each other --no distractions-just time together. charles was a gem by keeping the conversation going and being so supportive of our time together that's charles bennett of bennett landscaping (it told him i'd give his company a bit of advertising-he does beautiful work). i got to meet several friends and other local folks, and we're planning another visit as soon as "summer begins"!

we found that we had so much in common, i won't bore you with them here, but it would make for fun conversation over a glass of wine♥ the boys enjoyed hanging with john, and we got to spend some time with jessica between her job and other commitments. you can tell from the photos at the end that it really was a perfect weekend. charles has promised to set aside a patch of the mountain for "the sheffields"--- enjoy the pix view from the front porch, us and the kids,
kecia and i--
charles and kecia

before i hit the road

well the count down is now 52 days, give or take. i've got some things marked off my list, and i have some things that are WIPs++, meaning they are in progress, but waaay into progress . . i've learned that if i keep my work space neat and clean up immediately, i'm more productive. here's a photo of some totally done things, book read-loved it- march quilt square done, and a few pinwheel squares for the WM quilt. got most of the photos scanned and sorted for kecia and david. made a couple books (glad i saved the very heavy cardboard from my creative memories purchases, these make great book covers, but very difficult to cut). WOC scrapbook up to date, but will be a WIP all year. also created a wine journal of sorts from the wine spectator magazine's suggested best buys and best values.











the 2 soccer games over the weekend were very cold, windy, and one very rainy and late- hoping for no more like that! gotta get packed and ready for relaxing and training and more knitting. despite the long list of "must-do" we took time out for a thrasher's game, we got free tickets and made a last minute ditch of responsibilities, took my knitting along for those "down" moments, we had a great family outing.

i won't be around much until probably this time next week, no laptop, wireless, etc. so enjoy your week, and whatever plans you have . . .ttfn