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Beatles, Pie and I wish you the happiest Halloween. May you have many laughs and some candy too.  love Kathy b

  I finished the skein of yarn so I finished the stole/scarf late last night.  I have to wash and block it but I think it is sweet as is.  Why do I love when a project is one continuous thread of yarn the whole way through?  (I have only two ends to weave in)  I cannot say it is without any mistakes, but it is pretty close.  It has been fun but I"m ready for socks.     My weekend included a campfire Friday night. Fireman found some THINGS in the basement while he was looking for his cycling gloves  (Shudder shudder, who cycles in winter?) He found a huge box of love letters we wrote to each other when I was away at Miami of Ohio.  I thought we had disposed of them all years ago when the kids got to READING age. :) So we burnt the love letters together on Friday.... every single one of them.   No Shades OF Grey about it, they are private and GONE! (AL's pumpkin carving skills are great!  Here is her owl masterpiece!)

  We had our annual Young Frankenstein viewing last night.  It is just part of Halloween here.  I knitted my Skydive Scarf/Stole.  I'm nearing the finish and eager to move on to another knit up.     At the library, I picked up two knitting books for inspiration. I did find a sweater with a V-Neck in Simple Chic, but I think next up is socks.  Is there one knit that makes you happier than others? For me it is socks.   Finally, Miss Pie went to the vet yesterday. She weighed 4lbs 5 oz a month ago. She now weighs 4lbs 6 oz.  She is 6 months old now.  How can I have such a poor weight gainer? She's a widget that's for sure- She is so busy running, chasing, wrestling the other cats, it is no wonder she is so light.  Our dear vet wants to wait until she's bigger to spay her.  I've never had a premie with only 30grams weight gain in a month.... Oh well, she's happy, she's active and she's skinny.  and she's A. B

Ahhhh yes, we are having fun even in the nurses' lounge these days.  Halloween is so silly and fun.   Zach told his students the legend of La Llorana, A mexican  ghost story.  It is pretty nasty;  La Llorana, (the crying woman) drowns her kids because of a love  lost and then she drowns herself.  They say she comes back as a ghost near streams and ponds.  (They tell this story to keep kids from going near streams and rivers..) The verb Llorar means to CRY. Hence La Llorana. Our neighborhood is lots of fun after dark as well.  Fireman heard an owl hooting last weekend while I was at work. That's cool too!   As for the knit world, I'm back to the Skydive stole/scarf (Im looking for a vest pattern......anyone have a pullover vest they love?) Here's to the annual viewing of Young Frankenstein.... Does your town have a spooky legend?  I could tell a story of a woman who never finished her  knitting and roams knit shops looking for the l

  These two pumpkins are in the shelter's yard.  One of the volunteers carved them.  I think they are wonderful! I don't know why it took me so long. I don't know how many times I've mentioned it here,  but I had an epiphany.  Tamara, an immigrant, who works on our unit, explained v neck shaping to me. I finally GOT it.  For once I knit something without  directions.  Instead of leaning on the directions and the line by line that I claimed I needed, I stepped out of my mind box and understood it all.   The way Tamara taught me, just by talking to me about it, in her broken English..... was how I needed to hear it.  Having knit socks and done all that gusset and toe shaping, I began to think about it.  Voila.   I don't know if I'll finish this child's/baby vest but I do know this: I can do reverse shaping and I can  knit a Vneck.   I feel ridiculously happy about this.  I realized my NEW YEARS RESOLUT

  The stole/scarf is coming along.  As usual I had a learning curve.... I kept forgetting to count and I must have restarted this 3 times.  I think she's going to be a beauty. Now that I finally SEE the pattern and am counting the  stitches, (ahem thanks Karen)  we are under control.  I think this yarn is a perfect match for the pattern.  I'll let you SEE it again soon stretched out....or pre blocked.  Since I have NEVER pin blocked anything this ought to be fun...   I can safely say that I have another project on the needles. I'm not telling you what this is yet.  Suffice to say I'm on the brink of a knitting epiphany thanks to  Tamara, who I work with.  I've been working quite a bit lately, hence the slower posting. I'm alternating two rows of busy yarn with two rows of plain Jane green and I like the effect.  I know many of you have done this, but its new to me.  My lifelong learning curves are at a stretch this week!

A little town nearby called Highwood, tries to break the Guinness Book Record for lit pumpkins every year.  We went to the festival last night- I think the drizzle may have spoiled this year's attempt, but  it was spooktacular none the less.    Tens of thousands of lit pumpkins on scaffolding makes a very impressive sight.  I wish my picture  below was not blurry.  In short, it looks like a building made of jackolanterns.  It was in the 40s and the moon was full to boot. Fireman kept after me to dress more warmly.  I told him I was wearing my alpaca vest and scarf.  I was toasty warm.  There is NOTHING like alpaca warmth.   Finally, my treat for you, again is my candy mix.  If you love a PAYDAY, mix candy corn and peanuts in a Halloween bowl and you have a sweet and salty treat!  Happy Sunday Knitting! 

I wonder if I lived somewhere with little change of Seasons  I wonder.... would I eat the same dinners all the time? Nothing like a new season to change up the dinners around here. We've had : Stuffed Green Peppers Butterflied Capon Trader Joe's Tip Asada Chili with homemade Cuban Bread and Chicken with Apples and Onions.  What have you been having for dinner? How's your knitting going? and We change the clocks on November 2nd.  I'm giving Zach an extra hour of sleep for his birthday this year. 

  So sorry for the small images.   I am so happy to announce I found the perfect project and the perfect yarn...... I had frogged a previous half knitted shawl with this yarn in the summer.   Katherine sent me the Skydive Stole and Scarf pattern by Cabin Fever a long time ago. So after I finished frogging and donating yarns, I went through my patterns and this one shouted to me.  This is a lace knit up with just one row to repeat over and  over  and over and I love it.  In other news, Pie is now grooming Beatles on occasion.  I've never had cats that groomed one another.   Pie's eye infection is gone so we'll hope for the best now.  The weather took a quick turn and its very gloomy today. Gloomy weather affects me.  It is my goal for it not to affect me.  After all, I'm not in the gloomy weather alone. How do you chase the gloom away? 

My swap package from Kim arrived yesterday.  WOW.   I love the shawl pin, the yarn and the buttons.  She hit one out of the park!  (Go Detroit Tigers)  I have some knit problems.... I ran out of yarn for my long fingerless.  I think I'll rip them back..... I think the yarn is well suited for fingerless but I don't have the heart to begin again today... I frogged the Vest I showed you a bit ago. The arm holes were just awful looking. You were supposed to cast off and then in the next row do a backwards loop cast on.... my loops were enormous.  What did I do wrong? The good news is that I was able to save all the yarn.....by carefully frogging it.  I also frogged a shawl I had on the needles. Yarn beware!   Last week I donated two huge bags of yarn (mostly leftover skeins) to a friend who makes Prayer shawls for her church. She was delighted.  I gave some novelty yarn to a friend at work who enjoys making dog sweaters and

  One of the things that struck me on our tour of Monticello, was the  tour guides explanation about Thomas Jefferson's habits.  He did not really invent things, she told us, but he took what was known and recreated things from that knowledge.  I'm no Thomas Jefferson, but I do take parts of knit patterns that I like and mix them up.  Meet my long fingerless glove.  I took parts of Susie's Reading Mitts and parts of socks patterns I know well and put them together.  If you could see it well enough, you'd see I'm leaving the thumb, beyond the gusset for last.  Any tips of making that thumb really great looking?   Katherine, you motivated me to make some fingerless. I'd like to give some as Christmas gifts too this year.  As much as I love fall, I spent much of yesterday on a blend of things I know : I extrapolated benadryl, pepcid,  Allegra, Allway eye drops and some Chardonnay..... to keep the sneezing at bay.    I am wishing f

  Quite accidentally we (Pie and I) happened upon a way to make Magic cookies.   I made Oatmeal-chocolate chip-Sunflower Butter cookies for the Firehouse today.  When you break them open, or take a bite, you will find they are bright green inside!   Something in the SUNBUTTER makes the insides green.  They are delicious.  The fireman thought the were made with pistachios, but no.... just good for you Sun butter.  Go to Myrecipes.com and Follow their Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookie recipe, but substitue the Sunbutter for the Peanut butter and PRESTO! you will have Magic Halloween cookies with green insides!  Boo!

  Kim from HandEYEcraft blog gave me this amazing  Shawl.  Yesterday was the perfect day for it.  Thanks again Kim, I LOVE it.   I still remember the day it came in the mail; I am as appreciative of the gift today as I was that day.     Knit blog connections continue to surpass any original thoughts I ever wished for when I started blogging in  October of 2004.  You are all wonderful and amazing in your own ways.  ********* In other news around Irish  EYES:  Pie has another eye infection.  Back to Tobramycin drops for 10 days.  This is just the kind of thing we are trying to prevent.  Thankfully, she is not squinting and she does not appear uncomfortable.   ********** Fireman and I kayaked around Lake Como today.  Why is it that the first thing I do in the kayak, everytime, is panic a bit.  There is nothing to panic about.  I can swim. I have a life vest.  I love being on the water.  Yet, it takes me a bit everytime to relax.  Then, I do relax and it is ha

  My vet sent me this cat hat photo.   I don't think I"ll be knitting any too soon, but the picture is  great.     Have you tried the new Peanut Butter Cheerios?  Mmmm, I say .  A handful makes a healthy snack.    My dogs are usually barking after work. Sometimes it is so bad I cannot sleep.  Dr. Teal's Lavendar Epsom salt soak is so comforting.  It is worth the 10 minute soak to relax before I hit the hay.  The image is blurred, but Cedar Creek Apiaries  sells outstanding honey.  This is the Basswood mix.  Carol O'Brien in Guttenberg Iowa is the beekeeper.  their number: 563 252 3445 Give her a call and she'll pack up some wonderful honey and send it your way.  Do you know that honey cannot spoil?  Tried anything new lately?

The weather has been nothing short of Ideal the past week.  Ideal for me is 70s in the day and 40s at night.  I knit these puppies in 6 days.   Keep in mind, I only worked One shift in that time period. Keep in Mind, the yarn is part cashmere and it glides effortlessly across the needles. Keep in mind I love to knit socks.  I cast on for looooooong fingerless last night. I made a mistake last night. Fireman just called me laughing. I went to a Formula company dinner at a great eating establishment.  I had COKE:  no liquor .  Then I came home and was focused on getting the recycle bin onto the curb for fireman.  Seems I forgot to shut off the car.  Yup the car ran all night. Fireman says it could have caused a fire because the engine gets too hot from no air circulating.. Opps. Poor Honda Rhonda.  I had just filled the gas tank too.  Seems she hardly used any gas up sitting in the driveway all night. Oh dear. I wondered where my keys were as I went to

  *Found a vest pattern I'm sure I can knit.  I have to price the yarn before I commit.  I have to let this one sit with me a bit before I commit.  I would  also have to buy the book with the pattern .... This model is very thin.  I am not.  Will I like the look on ME?   What do you think?  I choose it for its simplicity.  Be brutally honest...please * I plan to finish the blue socks today.   The yarn has been a complete joy. Sqoosh Fiber Arts Merino/cashmere.  This is my first knit with cashmere.....ever.  Thank's AL for awesome birthday yarn.  Carole knits asked for things you love about Fall:  *campfires *specifically: Harms Road between Old Orchard and Golf. My favorite stretch of woods and leaves.   *cool enough to sleep well; warm enough so there is not frost to scrape off the car windows *the cats get snuggly and want to sleep on your lap while you knit *taffy apples *corn maze: here in the Cornbelt farmers cut out paths in their fields

This weekend ( over the feast of St. Francis of Assisi)  Zach came downstairs and found Pie and Beatles sitting in the front window together.   The screen had been pushed out and the cats could very easily have taken off. We live on a very busy main road in town.  Beatles, I am sure, chose to stay in the house.  Pie, because she cannot really see, didn't know the window screen had come loose.   I know her spunk and spirit would have drawn her right outside if she could see.  Thank you Zach for noticing.   Thank you Bea for not leaving out the window and "showing" her the way. I am actually thankful Pie is blind or she would have left for certain.    Both of the cats are microchipped, but after seeing the opossum flattened in the street the next day,  I am even more very grateful that both cat and kitten stayed in.  That's my first little miracle.  The second is this:  I realized this morning I have memorized how to knit socks.  I don&#

(Bennison bakery's delight)    The Neighborhood is peppered with all things Halloween.  I won't show you a really ghoulish thing in my neighborhood.  It is right outside my front door actually.  We had a big thunderstorm yesterday around dinner time.  Apparently a big old Opossum fell out of our huge Elm tree and SPLAT a car ran over him.... He's reaching to the heaven's with his pale pink fingerlike paws... and it isn't pretty .....Just whose  responsibility  is it to move him out of the street? I sure hope it isn't mine because It aint gonna happen folks. He's way too creepy for me to scoop up even though I know he's a gonner.  I say its the Village and I know they don't touch roadkill.  He's on a public road... not my lawn thank GOD!  He is also right at the bus stop. For the kids sake the village should move it.  I think I'll call....    I think I could maybe do it, if I threw a rag over him first

The Stanley Cup was in the "HOUSE" yesterday at work.  There I am in my scrubs touching the CUP.   It certainly is an odd feeling to see a trophy after being a loyal Cub fan my entire life.  Anyhow, Knit Nurse friend Lynn, got me into her group so I could make it to the Nursery on time last night.  THANKS Lynn!! Around my home:  I am hearing: Clothes in the dryer and the sweetest sound of all:  the sound of Fireman vacuuming. I am reading: THE ART OF PAUSING by Judith Valente. The book was gifted to me on Wednesday.  I pause plenty these days, perhaps I should read the ART of MOVING.  I am hoping: I hear Karen's owl again sometime soon. I am thankful for: amazingly hot weather which is extending my porch season this fall.  I am planning: a big old nap today.  Work was busy last night.  How is you not so SIMPLE day going?

  In knit news, I cast on with the yarn Al gave me for my birthday.  This yarn is so soft, so spongey and so pretty. It is the colors of the ocean in Virginia Beach.  After I knit a new project, like the Coco Vest, going back to socks is like walking a familiar path in our woods nearby.  I instantly relax.   Now for the Black Cat news:   Pie had a visit with a veterinary optho on Monday.  Dr. Delgado at Blue Pearl in Northfield was just lovely.  She was patient and so sweet to the every busy Pie. Dr. Delgado diagnosed Pie with bilateral congenital cataracts. They are obscuring 80% of her vision.  She has a tiny bit of peripheral vision at this point.  The cataracts are growing rapidly. The cataracts are inoperable.  Seems cats and rabbits develop brain tumors when they have their cataracts removed. It is a complicated epithelial cell reaction...but that's the bottom line. We want to keep her eyes if we can, but  if she has recurrent infe

  Dahlia's at the Botanic Garden   More Lovelies at the Garden, what are these flowers?? The Weekend Wrap really only took about a weekend.  I'm not used to size 17 needles.  (it feels amazing to go back to size 2 double points and socks this morning)  The COCO pattern was very very easy because even I could do it.  I want to make another in the yarn that Karen used.  My finish is fine but her's was better.  The drape of my yarn is perfect though.  The SILKY TWEED behaved exactly as I wished it would.   I have one little dropped stitch issue at the neck that I hope Karen can remedy for me.   More pictures when I have a photographer to help me.  IF you are even thinking of making it, go ahead.  It's fast and fun and fabulous!