A NOOK OF ONE'S OWN

Virginia Woolf may have wished for an entire room of her own, but I've decided that even though that is my desire, I don't want to wait any longer. Our home consists of 6 down and five up and a fully finished third story. The basement is out of the question......did I say it's a realllly old house? You have to have an exoskeleton and have six to eight legs to live in our basement. I know I've whined about this before, so I'm not going explain why none of this space is available for my exclusive use. Instead I'm going to post pictures of my newly cobbled nook which measures a little less than 3 feet square. Most of my stash is in plastic tubs in the attic, stacked 5 deep so it takes up a very small space. I had to get rid of some clothing so that I can I have the luxury of having close access to my immediate stash in the armoire right next to my nook. Do I have to count that as part of my nook? I think not; I just recycled a space that was already mine to use, before anyone else could claim it.
This stash business is tricky when you have other family members with far more "serious" collections and avocations (god forbid I should use the word hobby for what they do in their leirious time (combination of leisure and serious). ba dum bum!

Who, What, Where

I don't think I'm alone when I say that with the advent of Ravelry, I'm finding that I'm ignoring my blog. It's not that Ravelry and Knotasissy are so similar. T'hey both chronicle my knitting, but Knotasissy is much more personal and Ravelry takes less emotional energy when I'm feeling like shutting the world away. I have to be careful to resist my temptation to hibernate completely at this time of year. To that end, I'm going to bore all who stumbles in here.
FAIR WARNING!!!

First and most exciting is the news from my sister and my youngest daughter that they will be participating in Ride for World Health . My Sis will be riding the entire cross country route. My daughter will ride the final leg from Ohio to Washington, DC. I'm so proud of them both, I could pop. This year's ride will benefit Medecins Sans Frontieres Imagine that! As we know this is a charity near and dear to the hearts of many knitters. Quel Coincidence! By the way my sister is on the far left in the bottom row of cyclists.
This is a gift she's giving herself for a very big birthday. She is one of the most focused and determined people I know. She is my baby sister and I am constantly in awe of her achievements and contributions to the greater good. This is a woman who, while working as an RN on weekends, raising 3 children, caring for a home and husband, commuted 200 mile each way to midwifery school during the week. She is now a practicing midwife with a very successful practice. But hey, she's conquered that and her two sons have graduated university and are on their own. Her daughter is about to graduate High School and her life just needed a new challange. So while she is still a midwife and a community activist, social change is slow and she needed something else. Hmmmmm, how about riding a bicycle cross country for world hunger? See what I mean? I'm tired just writing about her. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I wouldn't want anyone to think she was toooooo good.

Ok, from the sublime to the "ordinaire". What do I do when I hibernate? Knit, of course! I also remove layers of accumulated "stuff". In this big old rambling house, I had yet to find a spot for myself. I finally carved out a corner, and I do mean a corner, of our bedroom in front of the fireplace. I would say it's about 3x3 with a small cabinet and end table with a chair wedged in between. I have an ott floor lamp behind me. I haven't taken a picture yet because I must find a different chair as the one I'm using is literally falling to kindling. The result of this little change is that my knitting productivity has risen considerably. In the last two months, I've started and finished most of what is on this page.

I've decided that I'm going to the Knitters Connection again this year. Last year was the first year and I had a great time. This year, the classes are too good to pass up and best of all it means I'll be away for my birthday. Birthdays have never been all that successful for me. There was the year James surprised me with a trip to the laundromat while I was pregnant with our first daughter. We lived in a three story walk-up, so I suppose it was a treat of sorts.....but you see what I mean. This year I'm flying and I'm not renting a car. I am hoping to meet some KR people who will be there, especially the now "World Famous Clara Parkes", the Queen Bee herself. I'm just so totally looking forward to seeing her. (wink, wink)

THEY'RE POPPING OUT EVERYWHERE

Seems babies are popping up all over in my daughters' lives, as well as my husband's office. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to knit baby hats. No pattern neccessary, just wing it: On the left is a simple meandering cable which looked far too plain for a little girl named BLUE. A little felted flower added just the right girly touch. The Irish cap next to Blue's hat is for a little girl named RUE. (I'm not kidding here folks) It seems Rue has an Irish Daddy, so the cable is borrowed from an Alice Starmore sweater called Inishman. The other hats were made long ago and given away, but it was fun to bring them together so that my other daughter could send samples to another new mother on the west coast, so that she can choose a style, color, etc. that suits her little girl SIDNIE?

Do you smell gas?

I know, I know, it's such a strange question, but read on. I have learned my lesson from past holiday seasons that I must come up with bizarre measures to protect my knitting enjoyment and integrity. I no long promise anything to anyone. That doesn't mean that I don't have grandiose plans. I just don't speak them aloud. It's also a mistake to answer the question, "What are you knitting"?, or worse, "Who's that for"?. DO NOT ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. DO NOT SMILE MYSTERIOUSLY. Both of these actions can only lead to disappointed and recriminatory looks aimed at you during gift opening. What's a knitter to do, you might well be thinking. You could knit in the bathroom or any room with a lock, but this would cause some serious issues if you live with other people. Other options, such as knitting only when others are asleep or out of the house come with their own complications. My method has been working quite nicely. I just smile absentmindedly, peering up stupidly over my glasses and ask if anyone else smells gas.(we have an old gas boiler and two other auxiliary heating systems, so this question strikes fear into all that live here) The knitting questions have all but stopped. I think it's a sub conscious Pavlovian aversion to the cellar steps.
Below are some of my grandiose mystery projects.

Em's Graduation

My oldest just graduated from the NAWCC School of Watchmaking. We are so thrilled for her. She was the only woman in her year and graduated at the top of the class. On the top left is a pic of Em and her Dad at the graduation dinner. Left to Right is Em and Ant with Bea (the three amici), Em and Bea, aka, the school Mom, and a pic of Em, Tom, and Ant, who couldn't resist hamming it up.
The job search is in full swing for all of them. Em has already weathered her first 2 day bench test at Tourneau and although she was offered a position, she has decided to explore further. After all, a girl's gotta eat. More pics and info about the graduation and the school: NAWCC

Em in Switzerland

Em Hard at work

November Knitting

Thanksgiving 2007

Knitting and Knitting and Knitting and Knitting and Kn....

It has been a busy month and one to remember.
I went to my second KR Retreat and loved every minute of it. I underwent surgery one day after returning from the retreat and found out that a dangerous appearing growth was nothing more than a harmless blob in disguise.
I quit smoking 2 weeks ago. I am officially a non-smoker. These are words I thought I would never say. J quit smoking today.
My daughters cooked Thanksgiving dinner together for the first time and excelled. I am a lucky girl. I would dearly love to write further on all of these topics, but I have literally lost two weeks because of the surgery and I'm trying to play gentle catch-up, instead of my usual frantic race to exhaustion. So instead, I will tell the tail in pictures, bad pictures, but pictures non the less.

KR Retreat 2007

What the Hell is that?

What, you may ask, is that garish picture on the right. Well, you see I'm an avid reader and one omy favorite bloggers/KR buddies had this little quiz on her blog and I couldn't resist. Rho, of course was something lovely like Watership Down. And as anyone who knows me, will attest, I love bunnies. I guess if I had thought this through, it would have hit me in the head with a 2 x 4 that my quiz wasn't going to produce anything so lovely as Fiver and the "brambly ditch". So you also might ask; why the hell are you keeping this overly intense, slightly lurid pic on my lovely blog. The answer is simple, I like what it says about my character. I'd like to think that I am the person described under the book cover. You might want to take the test. It was quick and fun. If you do, let me know who you are, in the comments.
Just to push all that green and black down a bit, I'm including a couple of wonderful shots from my first visit to New Mexico.

ENE and I have reconciled

These pictures look like a perfectly innocent scarf blocking and resting peacefully. Don't let her fool you. This scarf is the devil in disguise. She thwarted me in at least 10 diffierent yarns, 4 different types of needles, and numerous cast-ons in the past 18 months. I once got to the 50% stage, only to find that I was off center way back near the beginning. Why did Ene hate me? I have no idea. I know this is crazy talk, but sometimes my desire to produce a specific project is in direct proportion to how impossible that pattern becomes.
So, how did I do it? I kind of snuck up on her this time, with no expectation of a finished scarf. I caught every mistake she threw in my way and pushed all doubts from my mind. My hands were actually shaking while knitting the last ten rows! I know, I know, "nutjob".......
But at least I'm a persistant nutjob with an Ene scarf to keep me warm this winter.

Grape Soda Hegerows

I just have to use this color for this post and then I'm going out to buy a grape soda. Thanks Jane, the socks were lots of fun and they fit my daughter perfectly. They will be making a trip to Switzerland the first week of October. Maybe I can get Em to take some travel shots of "Hedgerows on the move". I'm afraid my attempt at artistic photography is a bit silly, but I do love that this is the first pair of socks that I've knit that are almost identical twins, instead of distant cousins.

Grape Soda Hegerows

I just have to use this color for this post and then I'm going out to buy a grape soda. Thanks Jane, the socks were lots of fun and they fit my daughter perfectly. They will be making a trip to Switzerland the first week of October. Maybe I can get Em to take some travel shots of "Hedgerows on the move". I'm afraid my attempt at artistic photography is a bit silly, but I do love that this is the first pair of socks that I've knit that are almost identical twins, instead of distant cousins.

Little Bits

I'm improving my technical blogging skills. Improvement, in my case, means I have graduated to pre-novice. I managed to combine some of the buttons with the links on the right, making sure to host the buttons on my own sites, of course.
Socks are now my focus. The navy pair in STR have grown and grown and are now only suitable for a Yeti. I think the needles I used were too large. I'm using some ShiBui sock yarn in a camel almost solid color to make another pair for J. I've started the heel flap on the second of Jane's Hedgerow sock pattern. There's something about the amethyst colorway from Fleece Artist that makes me thirsty for grape soda or a grape lifesavor.
I have finished the knitting for my all over cabled cardigan. Now to assemble it (yuk) and pick up a zillion stitches to knit the border around the entire edge of the sweater. This part will probably take me longer than the actual knitting.
Looking forward to my second KR Retreat in November and my trip to New Mexico in October. The Retreat will be a no-excuse time to knit, talk, buy fiber, yarn, tools and re-aquaint myself with some of the kindest, most talented, not to mention wacky knitters on the planet AND to meet some new fiber fanatics. Thank you Miss Clara. My trip to New Mexico is a belated birthday gift to a close friend for her milestone birthday this year. That's right folks, Lin turned 21. That IS how old you are Lin, isn't it? Neither one of us has ever been to the SW of the country. Believe me, it was hard to find an area other than maybe East Chicken Jesus, that Lin had not been. And just think, Lin will be able to have a cocktail. Funny that, I seem to remember her ordering cocktails before this birthday. Hmmmmm.
Hope to have pics of socks very soon. What else? I'm such a cliche.

Pre-blocked distant sock relatives
modeled on size 8 women's feet









Men's size 11 ribbed socks