Here I am 

This was kinds fun & kinda TRUE too. . . . . . . ..

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com/

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

Oh MY, the time does pass. . . . . .

Well, I can't believe that I have not been on for this long. Lots has been happening. First and foremost I was in the hospital for 4 days the week before Thanksgiving. I had been ill with a little "virus" and had gotten over it, or so I thought. I was very tired for about 10 days after that. Couldn't shake it, y'know? Then I started having a horrific migraine (horrific migraine?. . . . . for anyone that's ever had one, that's an oxymoron!) that wouldn't go away. I took my medicine, layed low and still it persisted. Then the nausea came. Couldn't shake it. Finally went to the ER in the middle of the night and was admitted, much to my surprise. My labwork was all out of whack and they ran tests for everything! It seems my liver was in quite a state and we couldn't figure out why!?!?!???! It's pretty scary when Docs start throwing around "hepatitis" and "Epstein Barr" and all sorts of other possibilities. They all finally decided that I must have some fine "gravel" in my gallbladder that was throwing off my liver, or at least that was their best guess. I have to have my labwork monitored until it comes back to normal. I have to follow a low-fat diet to keep the gallbladder in check. Once we're back to normal, if it happens again, they'll take the gallbladder. I would rather have heard "You have a serious gallstone and we're taking you to surgery" than "We can't guarantee that your gallbladder is the problem so we don't want to do surgery yet". UUGH! I can't even be sick without being difficult! We had to skip flying to FLA for my nephew's wedding. I couldn't stop crying when I spoke to him about it. Oh well, my DH says that it must have "happened for a reason" around this time. . . . . . . . I guess I'll never know.

Well, on with the knitting. While I was in the hospital, I wasn't up to knitting much at all. I was either too tired or too sick. I have caught up since being home and on leave from work. I finished my aunt's open poncho. I was supposed to take it to her while down in FL but now I'll just have to mail it. I have completed both panels of my alpaca poncho. I hope to join and finish it this weekend. YEAH! I did a quick scarf out of a beautiful deep red (garnet?) chinchilla with starz on each end. It was SUPPOSED to be my X-mas scarf until my best bud Denise came over in a new red coat that was the exact same shade! Oh well, I bought some pink and cream chinchilla as well, guess that will be for me. ;-)

Why is it that more women do not knit? I was at my LKS today and spent 2 hours sitting and knitting. Ladies came in and out and sat and knit and exchanged thoughts and networked and joined in the sisterhood of knitting. Why is it that men do not knit? Where is the harm or the shame in that? My son has now learned to knit. He's not too persistent and only knits 10-15 minutes at a time before going on to something else. But, yet, he can do it. With that said, as soon as my husband saw us knitting he made it a point to remind our son that "it's ok to enjoy knitting with mommy but, don't talk about it outside the house because other people aren't used to boys knitting and may not understand." How sad it that????? Where has the tradition of passing on the handworks gone? It is such a beautiful heritage of womankind, of mankind in general. It is the history of women's contribution to society and to their descendants. Where would the soldiers have been without the handknit socks, caps and scarves during the world wars? Where would the pioneer children have found warmth in the winters without their mothers handknit sweaters and blankets? Where will future generations learn about the luxury of wrapping themselves in the warmth and LOVE of a handknit garment/gift? It is so sad that more PEOPLE do not take the time to learn to knit and to relish in the simple state of being while they knit. Have we really so little time that we can't take the time to enjoy the simplest of pleasures anymore? With that in mind I recommend the book, "Mindful Knitting" by Tara Manning. To quote amazon.com "Exploring the parallels between knitting and meditation, this book will instruct the reader how knitting can be a tool for contemplation. The book includes lessons on meditation and knitting; knitting as a process, not a goal; knitting and enjoying everyday, simple pleasures; and engaging in the knitting community." I am not a buddhist, but alot of the topics make sense, relax me in my knitting and the projects in the book are DARLING! Just my newest addition to my knitting library. Take a look!

See ya!

p.s. Yeah I just got a new digital camera so I hope to start posting photos SOON! :->

Yeah, I'm done!

Ok, OK, so it wasn't that hard considering that I am sick and have been house bound for 3 days, but at least I finished. I was working on a scarf using Flora for my best buddy and now it's done. I gave it to my husband to put away as I don't think that I would be able to hold on to it until X-mas otherwise. Well, I guess I will work on my poncho today.

A Blog. . . . . MY BLOG???????

Well, I guess I've finally done it! I've been looking at blogs for months now and finally decided to try my hand at one of my own. Now, I must preface this with the following. . . . . . . .I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!!!! All I know is that for the past year I have become obsessed with yarns and knitting and I want to have a place to document it all. Well, I guess here goes. . . . . . . .

I am a 30ish year old RN, mom to a wonderful son, wife to a great hubby and now an avid knitter. I've always been "crafty" but I had thought that my addictions would end at cross-stitch, pulled threadwork and hardanger. I was SO wrong.

The whole thing started less than a year ago when I received a pair of hand knit socks as a present. I LOVED THEM (still do actually). So, I learned to knit. Made LOTS of scarves. Then I learned to circular knit and off I went with the socks! So far I have made 4 pairs of socks (2 adult and 2 childs) which doesn't sound like a lot but I have made 2 sweaters, baby booties, too many caps to count, a prayer shawl, 3 felted bags and a poncho! Currently I am working on another pair of socks, an alpaca poncho, a sweater (Marc from Knitty.com) and yet another scarf! That's while holding a full-time nursing job, training a new puppy (my little pomeranian) raising a son (and a husband to boot! LOLOL) and joining a book club!

I hope to be able to post some pictures up. I'll have to play around on the blog to figure it all out. Hope to hear from you all!