Jacket Sweater Done!

The picture above is the bodice of my green jacket sweater I made for myself back in 2009.  It is called the Faery Ring Jacket by Mary Scott Huff and it is a free knitting pattern on Ravelry.   I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.  I will say that this jacket sweater is an enormous project - the hem falls mid thigh, there is a hood, and the bodice is all cables.  It is a whole lot of knitting.  I would guess the number of stitches in this sweater are equal to knitting two sweaters.  It took me almost a year to finish my jacket.  But the finished product is lovely.  Love at first sight for me.

And apparently it was love at first sight for my cousin, who saw my jacket one visit in 2013.  She tried on my jacket and offered to pay me to make her one.  Well, I don't knit for pay and I definitely don't knit for pay for family.  That afternoon we sat down together and she picked a color for her own jacket ... this beautiful blue.

I am sorry to say it took me two years to finish her jacket, but as my other cousin (her sister) reminded me ...  "you had a lot going on these last 2 years."  Yes, I guess I did, but this spring, I decided that this jacket had to be finished.  And I finished it in July.  And here is the proof!!  

And as far as accepting payment ... I did get compensated!  Look at that beautiful smile.  

Love you very much dear cousin.  Wear that jacket in good health!!

Other knitting projects that have waited patiently behind this one are now in the works.

January fleeting

My gosh!  January is over.  I wrote this post 2 days ago hoping to get pictures attached.  Then January just slipped way - all because I waited for pictures.

I am posting without pictures!

I haven't been idle.  Here is a fast update.

My new guest room and yarn room and husband den!
With the departure of my son and daughter-in-law in October, once again I was left with a town house that is too large for our personal needs.  And then I got to thinking.

"Self ... you aren't moving somewhere else because living here is cheaper than anywhere else."

"Self ... you always wanted a guest room where the beds were ever-ready for guests.  Why not do that now?"

"Self ... you are outgrowing your current yarn / craft space (because you can't seem to stop buying collecting yarn and fiber tools.  But you didn't hear me say that out loud.)  Maybe it is time to fix that."

"Self ... your husband needs to have his own space - his own den - because his wife is becoming less of a sharer as she get older."  (someday insert a grumpy picture here of an aging grumpy woman - maybe even my picture. LOL)

"Self ... you have the space now to spread out and get what you want.  What are you waiting for?"

"Self ... you aren't getting any younger and before you know it these stupid stairs will become a barrier for you and you will be forced to move.  Stop wasting time."

"SO Self ... stop talking and get busy."

And that is exactly what I did.  Here are the pictures to prove it.

(Ha!  My space saver for pictures!!  No pics!  Use your imagination here.)

Thanks to my son, daughter and daughter-in-law for helping to move all the big pieces of furniture around and make this move possible.  Now I can stop talking to myself!

*****

Ocean City
And then there was the trip to the ocean that seems to be a regular event with the cousins - it is where we sit in the condo, look at the ocean, knit, weave, spin, laugh, eat, drink wine, and generally enjoy a weekend free of life's responsibilities all while never getting out of our pajamas.  I didn't take pictures this time, but pictures from the last visit would look exactly like this visit.  So here is the link to that post.

*****

Exercise
Staying active, walking and exercises, are going slowly.  A leg injury and outside temps near 0 have slowed me up considerably.  I am still wearing my FitBit pedometer and I will calculate my January step average this weekend.  My February goal will be to beat my January average.  Sadly the February goal won't be too hard to achieve because I suspect my January average will be embarrassing low.  But it isn't about today or tomorrow or next week.  It is about the long view.  The long view includes spring and I am getting fit for spring.  :-)  At least that is what I tell myself.  My back and knee exercise routine is created and sometimes done.  But again, not as regularly as I need to.  I have posted a calendar in my yarn room where I can easily see just how inactive I am.  The statistics should be posted in the local newspaper and tattooed on my forehead for maximum embarrassment, but I will settle on this simple calendar.  I will say that my arthritis in my knee is much improved.

******

Knitting
I am back to knitting every single day.  I had fallen into a slump.  Not a good place to be when you have a room full of beautiful yarns.  But I had hit a skill-level barrier with one project and the stall trickled into all my knitting.   Until I figured out how to work around the problem, I had lost my knitting mojo.  Back on track now.  I have three jumbo sized projects on the needles and I need to keep moving.  Pictures??  Ha!  Not today.  Whip out the imagination one more time.

******

Lap Top
I got a new Mac Lap Top computer this month.  After 5+ years of excellent service and several falls, my old Apple started doing wonky things.  That darn thing continued to work, however.  In fact I thought I was heading for a new computer in November of 2012 when it fell from my kitchen counter onto my hard tile floor, and here we are in January 2014. It still hasn't totally failed but it was time.   I will never never never own anything but a Mac!  It is a work horse and it is worth every single penny of addition money it costs to own one.

******

Mom
She has had mostly decent days.  Winter is hard on the elderly.  Yesterday, however, was a bad day.  Her ability to provide self care is slipping noticeably on some days.  When I arrived she was sitting in her wheel chair, her hearing aide batteries were dead so she wasn't responding.  When I reached her I noticed that a bathroom accident was evident all over her and she didn't seem to be aware.  It had not yet  been discovered by the staff so she was in a sad state - unable to help herself and has long since lost the ability to consistently ask for help when she needs it.  It was a very hard morning.  When I left things were back to normal.  But I left with a heavy heart.

*****

So that has been my January.  Although I haven't blogged a lot, I've been busy and I have been visiting with many of you.  You keep me inspired to put my fingers to the keyboard here.

I have some plans for February - but that is for another post!

And maybe even a picture or two!!

That Hill in Pennsylvania

On a severely rainy, windy and generally stormy day like today (yet beautiful in its ferocity - Thank You Hurricane Sandy), it is pleasant to remember another beautiful and the fun filled weekend in Pennsylvania and New York - just 10 days previously.

It all began with a wonderful drive up through Pennsylvania.  It took hours and hours, mostly because I made a few stops before my destination.  But I find that I enjoy driving long trips by myself.  It wasn't always the case.  But over time and with a few trips under my belt, I have discovered the joys of day traveling by car as a solo traveler.  Sort of like a private adventure - time for thought, time for audio books, less stress when I get lost - which I did a few times - it is all good.

Maryland has hills.  Pennsylvania has mountains.
Mountains that make your ears pop.
Pennsylvania was also a few weeks ahead of us in the leaf colors.

My cousins live on a large area of land on top of a mountain in Northern PA.  Their "driveway" is about 1/2 mile through the woods and up a rugged hill.  All wheel drive is pretty much a requirement.

My cousins' drive way - looks beautiful and is beautiful.  It is also "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."
I couldn't seem to capture a picture that would show the "wild,"
 just the "beautiful."

Looking down the hill beyond their entrance to "Mr. Toad's Hill" is the beautiful view .  
The hill continues further down another 1/2 mile or so from this point.

But the real challenge is looking up ... and up ... and up.
And if you look closely, you can see one of the houses just between the trees.

As you are nearing the house the road is bordered by a rock wall.
A charming feature I have seen in other areas like Gettysburg.

The hill is kind of a "major event" for me.  I decided on my first day to walk the one mile trip to the bottom.  Some areas were so steep that you had to be very careful with your footing.  Falling on the uneven rock bed was not on my agenda for the day.

And as I was descending the very steep parts near the bottom, I gently reminded myself that I had 2 ways back up the hill.  I could walk back up, or I could call my cousin to drive down and pick me up.

Yeah!  Right!  I wasn't calling my cousin!  No way.  I am an active healthy person and I can do this. And I would do it if I had to crawl on my hands and knees.

And so I began the trip up with a positive attitude.

After about 100 feet of walking (do not laugh), I stopped.  I checked my phone  (you know, to make sure it was working,) took a picture of the surrounding trees, breathed deeply, checked my pulse rate, retied my shoe laces, checked my pulse again, deep breaths - and decided I could continue.

The road flattened for about 20 feet and then got remarkably steep again.

Focus, focus, focus.

You can do this!  Just keep breathing.

Got to the next flat part and decided to recheck my shoes again!  :-)  Yep, shoes were still on my feet!  Breath, breath.  Yep, phone battery still charged.  Breath. Pulse pounding strongly in my ears so that is a good sign (right?).  A heart attack on this hill was not on my agenda for that day either.

And so it went.  By the time I got half way up the hill, I got my sea legs for this little jaunt and was able to make it the rest of the way up without stopping.  I did, however, began to peal off clothing before I made it to the house.  I was still decent when I walked into my cousin's house, but the thought did occur to me that under pants and a bra were really all that was needed in 50 degree weather.  More clothing is just ostentatious.

I spared my cousin that experience.  I love her and want to be invited back again.

Later that day I learned there was a story to those steep and flat parts of the road.  Apparently my cousin's grandfather built that road a long time ago.  He build the flat parts so that he had a place to "rest the horses."

The man was a genius ... just say'en!

Tomorrow .... (if I have electric - remember Sandy is being a witch outside) ... if I have power I will share my time at Rhinebeck.  Great fun.