Sticks, Strings & Other Things

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

"Even at 48...Peer Pressure is Hell, Mom"

So sayeth my daughter. After spending 8 glorious days keeping up with her and her group of 20-somethings, I agree! If I'd been in Florida for one more day I'd have needed far more recuperation time than a long weekend at Foxwoods with my DH! I will post at far more length later on when my left-behind camera arrives and I have pics to share but for now, I leave you with these bits...

Florida...Earth, Wind & Fire is just as good now as they were 32 years ago when I saw them last. My DD's friends got a huge kick out of the fact that the last time I'd seen E, W & F in concert, none of them had even been born!
Foxwoods...9 1/2 hours of $2/$4 Texas Hold 'em poker over a two day period and I not only came home with every penny I'd brought to gamble with, I took the casino for a whopping $4.00. Uh huh, they be skeered of me now. >g<

All in all, it was a wonderful two weeks of vacation fun and I thank everyone who had a hand in it. More later...

Monday, March 13, 2006

1st Annual Chicks With Sticks Knitting Swap & Sell


This is what happens when you get a group of knitters, new and old who have too much knitting stuff they aren't using and you convince them to swap and sell their stuff to one another. The beautiful hand-crafted beaded stitch markers are made by a friend of mine who is a jeweler and she came along to add to the merriment. This was the first "outside" event for the knitting group we started as a month long library project a year ago and we are already looking forward to more. One of our members opened her lovely home to us, we all brought treats to share (ever had pickled watermelon rind wrapped in bacon? me either but WOW! what a flavor!) and shopped like it was our job. Everyone donated some knitting "thing" and we made up bags of knitting goodies for door prizes, too. All in all, it was fun, relaxing and profiable! If you are a member of a knitting group I highly recommend you consider this as a way to destash, pick up some great new-to-you knitting goodies and get to know your fellow knitsters outside of your usual venue.

Well...I'm off to lunch with Shan and then to finish packing for Florida! See you when I get back! I'll have lots to share about Florida, Mardi Gras at Universal Studios and the Orlando Magic basketball team!!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

March is "I'm A Lucky Mom" Month!

This is the view off the top of Gunstock Mountain looking across the Lakes Region. Isn't it beautiful? Yesterday I went with my youngest son's middle school for their annual Winter Carnival Day. It was a gorgeous late winter day in New Hampshire with a warm, bright sun and temps hovering around 50 degrees. It was slightly breezy which the skiiers and 'boarders assured us was good because it was "hot" on the slopes.

I gave up hurling myself down a mountain on skinny sticks years ago so I enjoyed my day basking in the sunshine streaming through the huge windows of the Base Lodge watching the kids hurling themselves down the mountain on a variety of skiis, snowboards and tubes while knitting a pair of Mittlets for my friend's son Gerry. I had wonderful knitting company, too! A friend from knitting group is a teacher at the middle school and she worked on a sleeve for a sweater for her husband and another teacher who is a new knitter worked hard on an Elizabeth Zimmerman baby jacket, her first actual project. We assured her that she was looking mighty impressive with her three balls of yarn while she was shaping the shoulders, front and back of the jacket.

Shortly after we arrived with our busloads of eager kids, my eldest son and his best friend showed up to say hi. They had decided to spend their day off from work (at another ski mountain) snowboarding there at Gunstock just in case I needed them for anything. How sweet is that? Now, I assure you, my son didn't actually SAY he was there in case I needed him for anything but when the middle school trip day was changed at the last minute, his plans to spend a day at the same mountain changed, too. Coincidence? I think not. >g<>

Next week...I'm off to Florida to bask in the sunshine and spend 8 fabulous days with my DD. She has gotten us onto a Mardi Gras float at Universal Studios to throw beads in their weekly Saturday night Mardi Gras celebration which runs through the end of April. I understand from the website that Universal Studios Orlando has rented authentic Mardi Gras floats from the city of New Orleans and is helping to raise money for the Katrina rebuilding. I'm beyond excited! DD has also scored (free!) tickets to the Orlando Magic game against the Utah Jazz and has arranged some ice AND roller skating for us while I'm there. It will be a week chockful of fun and I'm so looking forward to seeing her! We're going to hit a couple of LYS I found online so we can pick up some yarn for me to knit more socks for her, too.

When I return from Florida, DH is whisking me away for our long-awaited Weekend of Fun at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut! We are going with friends and have fat plans for a spa day, lots of lolling at the pool with tropical drinks in hand, poker tournaments and fancy dinners.

Am I not the luckiest mom you know today? *I* think I am!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

My Knitting Olympics Gold Medal!

Isn't it beautiful? It's not as heavy as the Games medal and thankfully it doesn't have a hole in the center so it doesn't remind one of a CD or DVD disc! LOL! I will be printing and laminating it so it can take up permanent residence in my knitting basket.

DH and DS are very proud of their socks and of me. I'm proud of myself, too. I learned a lot about my skills and about how much I hate knitting under a deadline. I also learned that I can tweak a pattern to make it right without having to write it from scratch. That saved much time and probably contributed to my initial quick finish and the addition of the second pair of socks. I learned why I always have multiple projects on needles at once. I apparently have the attention span of a gnat and get bored rather quickly. Imagine that? >g<

I made some new friends and I will be adding some links to blogs that I've been reading regularly to share with you. I'm very tired of ginormous man-sized socks right now! Oddly enough, because I needed a take-along knitting project in between the two Aran pieces I have to finish I have yet another pair of socks on the needles. They are the Simply Lovely Lace Socks from the IK Spring 2006 issue and I'm doing them in KnitPicks Sock Memories colorway Hawaii. It's a very pretty and easy pattern and they should work up fairly quickly. Not sure who they are for yet so stay tuned for that. Maybe my MIL as she and my FIL are headed for Hawaii to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next month...

Well, I'm off to frantically throw some more paint at the bathroom before Shan picks me up for much needed shopping and lunch out. I'm *almost* done and the happy vacationeers are due back this afternoon. Oh! We have two residents in the new fish tank I labored over for my FIL's b'day gift surprise. They are as yet nameless so stay tuned for Tales From The Wildside when I will share pics of our Finny & Furry Family members!

>glugglug<