Category Archives: Friends

Friends, Knitting

I lied.

Posted on by Jean


Ok… I didn’t exactly lie when I said I haven’t done much knitting, I just forgot

about a pretty big project I did last Fall.  The daughter of long time friends that we were stationed with in Germany got married on New Year’s Eve.  She asked if I would make a wrap or shawl.  
Many pictures and Facebook messages back and forth later, we decided on the Love in a Mist Shawl.  I knit it with Kidsilk Haze in Cream and crystal beads with silver linings.  I also paired up a snowflake broach with it because the Bride wanted a very Wintery theme.  You can find all the info on my Ravelry project page.

Funnily enough, her little sister starred here on the blog many, many moons ago back in 2004 when she modeled my Chick Knits Bucket Felted Bucket Hat.  Both girls are lovely young ladies now.  That’s the great thing about being Military.  You stay close to those that have become your family.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friends, Knitting, Spinning, Travel

Best Weekend. EVER!

Posted on by Jean

I’m a little late on the report.  It’s been a crazy week with the snow storm and all.  SPA was greater than I ever imagined.  I think women owe it to themselves to get away once in a while.  Even though I had a screaming sinus headache the first couple of days I had SUCH a good time.  I didn’t realize how much I needed the break until I could take a nap and sleep in til 10:30, do what *I* wanted to do when I wanted to do it and the very best part, being able to share the love of wool with so many other women.  I had a great time hanging out with Kim, Kathy, Carole, Terry, Laurie, Martha, Lucia, Manise (who I finally got to meet!), Sharon, Di (and her GORGEOUS wheel) and I got to meet Dave from Merlin Tree who so kindly tried to help me with a wheel I wanted to sell.  Like so many others, I had my camera the whole weekend.  I have no idea why I didn’t take one picture.  I guess I was just having too much fun.

Here’s my loot:

A Forrester spindle.   She spins like a dream. I picked this one to remind me of New England when we move to Texas.  The roving is Kim’s (Woolen Rabbit) BFL in “Blues”. 

Ann Hanson’s Butternut Scarf pattern and Kim’s Alpaca in Chocolate Chambord.  YUM!

And evidently I like Kim’s Chocolate Chambord because I bought it in sock yarn the day before.  And I had to get something for Dan so I bought Burgandy Bean to make him some socks.  I know.  Thoughtful huh?  The colors are much darker than the photo shows.  It’s much more Aggie Maroon than it looks.

Friends, Knitting

Hippo for Sandy

Posted on by Jean

I’ve been knitting more than hats…  I finished Helena but forgot to take a picture before giving it to my neighbor.  Gotta get that back so I can show you.

When I saw this video of Sandy’s (Sandy’sKnitting), I cracked up.  What a hoot.  I immediately Googled “knit hippo” and found this pattern and cast on.  She’s a quickie folks.

I named her “Joy” and stuck her in the mail to Sandy.   It was perfect timing as Sandy had just had to say goodbye to her sweet little Fig.  I’m so glad that I didn’t hesitate and just got it done.  Sandy makes me smile lots with her blog.  It was nice to return the favor.

I thought Sandy flew the coop but she’s having blog woes.   Her post about Joy can be found here.  Love the picture of her tail. lol.

Friends, Knitting, Travel

Maahhtha

Posted on by Jean

Two of my neighbors and I headed down to the city very early yesterday morning for a Martha Stewart Show taping.  There was some confusion because when I got the tickets they called me interested in getting a bunch of Army wives from West Point down for a show.  They asked me to look for a certain person when we got there to make arrangements for a future show.  So,  we’re sitting there waiting for our number to be called and they say, “Can the Army wives please come through now.”  We were surprised, looked at each other and got up.  At the same time a group of about 20 women in front of us stood up as well.  The other audience members were kind. They clapped and yelled stuff like, “Go Army!”  Come to find out these ladies were all from Ft Monmouth, NJ. 

The woman that had asked the Army wives to come forward was the same woman I’d talked to on the phone a few weeks back.   I told her who I was and reminded her about our conversation about the Army wives from West Point and she said, “Oh yeah…” then she asked my two friends and I to go back and sit down until they were ready for us.  It was very humiliating to walk back in the waiting room and be separated from the other Army wives like that.  We felt like all the other audience members thought we were phonies or something.

When Joey was working everyone up for the show, he introduced the NJ group (who were seated on the other side of the studio from us) but not us.  It was just weird and uncomfortable.  It’s not like we were looking for any kind of attention or anything.   In fact, when they called “the Army wives” were were surprised.  What they don’t get is that Army wives… really all military… are a great big family.  It doesn’t matter where you’re stationed.  We all got a kick out of all of us showing up for the same show and we would have had fun sitting together.  When she asked us to go sit back down, we thought it was just a big mix up and that the number on our tickets was our seat numbers and it was just too late to switch the seats this close to air time.  Not so.  The numbers on the tickets were simply how they called you into the studio.  They easily could have let us go in with the NJ group.  All I can say it was weird, embarrassing and it stung a little.

We still had a great time.  It was very interesting to see how it all worked.  It was great to get out with my friends, too.  One is moving next month and with us leaving in June, I want to do as much as I can before we move.  That’s the hard part of being military. Saying goodbye so often. The good part is that you have friends pretty much anywhere you go.

All I had was my little pocket camera so the pics aren’t that great.

These are the cookie cutters we got for these super cute cookies:

Afterward we headed back up to Times Square for lunch at my favorite pizza place, John’s Pizzeria. Then over to Junior’s for cheesecake.  Terrible picture but it’s all I’ve got. 

Over the last few days tons of packages with hats have been landing on my doorstep.  Holy cow, you guys!  58 more hats (163 total)!  I’m sure there’ll be more later today.  We’re getting a couple of deliveries a day with the Holiday help at the Post Office.

Family, Friends

Eat, Drink and BEAT NAVY!!! Hooah!

Posted on by Jean

Army Strong, Baby!  Kathy Knitgator just e’d me and challenged me to a little Army/Navy wager.  Fact is, I grew up a Navy brat, but my heart belongs to the Black and Gold.  Go Black Knights! 

It’s a big week here at West Point.  The post is full of excitement all leading up to this day.  I tried to get tickets way too late or we’d be in Philly right now.  But fear not.  Brewskys and snacks are ready!  Joe thinks he’s part of the team since he was on the Junior Black Knights this year so he’s ready to root for “his guys”. The stats are against us:

Navy: 52 wins
Army: 49 wins
7 ties
Longest streak: 6 years (Navy; ongoing as of 2007)
108 total games played
10 years in which game was not played

but I think it’s our turn…. GO ARMY! BEAT THE HELL OUTTA NAVY!!!  Crap.  Navy already scored while I was sitting here doing this.  Gotta go.  My team needs me.

  I was asked about the hat on the lower left corner of the photo in my last post.  It’s the Picot Hem Stranded Snowflake Hat by Kathleen Taylor.  The one on the bottom right is the Salsa Hat by Nanette Blanchard.

Friends, Stained Glass, Woodworking

I Hobby Like I Need a Hole in the Head

Posted on by Jean

When we moved here we had to go out and rent a 10×10 climate controlled storage room.  I’m ashamed to admit that a good half of that room (as well as the 4th bedroom here in the house) is taken up by my craft supplies.  And yet I felt the need this Summer to try out things I’d wanted to for a long time.

For Mother’s Day I asked for this (minus the reciprocating saw):

I’d been wanting to do woodworking for years.  Dan was rewarded on Father’s Day with a Red Cedar Adirondack Chair that I built with my own two little hands using Easy-to-Build Adirondack Furniture: Storey’s Country Wisdom Bulletin.

I built this little bench for the endless footwear that ends up by our door (my own design):

And this simple oak spice rank for all my Penzey’s spices (now I need more… darn it):

Another craft I’ve wanted to try my hand at is Stained Glass.   Here are a couple of my first projects:

a hummingbird for an Elann friend

a chickadee for me.

Family, Friends, Knitting, Travel

No More Holes In My Gussets!

Posted on by Jean

Daniel, Lucky and I got home from Columbus last night.  Bottom line, Lucky is deaf for life sadly. 

Jeremy came and stayed with us from Ball State so that was a great save to the trip.  We spent all day Tuesday at COSI while Lucky was at the OSU Vet Hospital:

It was a great way to spend the day if you’re ever in Columbus.

Back in early May I went to West Port, Ct to meet up with Jennifer (Major Knitter) for a class with Charlene Schurch.

Here’s a great shot of Jennifer in her beautiful shawl.

I went thinking I’d just have fun because, after all, I’d been knitting socks so long, what could I possibly learn. I even have a few of her books that I’ve knit socks from, so for sure she wasn’t going to teach *me* anything new.  Ha.  Shows what I know which isn’t near as much as I thought.  lol.  It was not only great fun but Charlene was a FABuoulous teacher and I learned a ton.  No more holes in my gussets!   

There were many great socks to be seen:

Family, Friends, Knitting

Ice, Ice, Baby

Posted on by Jean

We got hit by quite an ice storm last night here in New York.  The boys had a two-hour delay.  Too bad we didn’t know about it before everyone was up and ready.  Lucky slipped when Dan took him outside this morning so that’s how we knew to check the roads.  It was some nasty stuff but made for some pretty pictures!  Of course the rest of the week calls for rain.  blech.

I keep forgetting to post the picture of  the socks I finished with Kim’s (Woolen Rabbit) yarns.  I think this colorway was called Boysenberry?  I know it was some kind of berry.  Gorgeous stuff all the way around.

Also finished another gift for my grandfather.  A nice warm hat.  I used Elann’s Uros and that same sock yarn that I used in his socks (trying to be thrifty, couldn’t use the sock yarn for anything else). You can get the free pattern by clicking here.  It’s very basic but I figured I’d save someone else doing the math.  I did the decreases at the crown by alternating ssk and K2tog so that there wouldn’t be swirls.  My grandfather just doesn’t strike me as a swirly kinda guy.

Jeremy comes for Christmas in a couple of weeks.  I CAN’T WAIT!!  We haven’t seen him since he came home on R&R from Iraq almost three years ago.  He’s doing so great in college that we’re treating him to a night at a great B&B in the Catskills and two days of lift tickets.  I can’t wait to see his face when he opens his stocking on Christmas morning.  He loves to snowboard and I told him I didn’t know if we’d be able to make it up there or not but to bring his snowboard because there’s actually a small slope right on West Point.  Bwahahaha.  I love surprising people.   Just hate being surprised.

Family, Friends, Knitting, Travel

No Place Better than New England for Tday

Posted on by Jean

Lots to catch up on!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We made the six-hour trek to New Hampshire.  We did pretty good traffic-wise.  Hit it in a few spots in Connecticut on the way there but pretty much smooth sailing other than that.

As if getting to live this close to my family isn’t great enough already, it’s even better because I get to visit with Kim (Woolen Rabbit) and her hubby who live a very short drive from my family.   I was especially looking forward to her meeting Lucky since we both have a love for the Cavalier breed.  We met them for dinner on Friday night and she surprised me with this:

Gorgeous, no?  The pattern is Delicato Mitts from Anne Hanson at KnitSpot and the yarn is Kim’s.  I’m telling you, the girl’s got an eye for color and she seems to have my favorites down pat.

I’ve been working on socks with the yarn Kim gave me when we went up over Labor Day.  I guess it’s only fitting that I show them in progress… I wasn’t hiding them, Kim, I promise!

I tried the Sherman Heel on the heel and toe.  I love the way it looks but…  Dear. God!  If I don’t have my mind completely on it I lose track and have to rip back.  I am getting the hang of it though and getting better at figuring out where I am without counting.  I’ve never had to rip back so many times.  I think it was worth it though.  NO GAPS!!!  Can I hear an AMEN?! The Sherman Heel was originally posted on the Knitlist which is long gone. I’ve added it to the bottom of this post.

And then when we got home I found this little gem from Claudia (bavgirl) in my mailbox:

Thank you so much, Claudia.  It was a fun little challenge.  And thanks, La (Knottygirls), for telling me about it!

My grandparents gave me a great gift as well.  A photo album put together by my great-grandmother on Gram’s side.  I’ve promised to scan every page and photo and make CD’s for everyone.  I couldn’t wait to get it home to compare to my family history notes.  This is my great-grandmother x3, Christiana Lewis (Soule) Chick (left). 

Her sister, Judith Thomas Soule, is on the right.  Christiana is my favorite person in our history because through census reports I’ve been able to get the most information on her.  She is my link to all my Mayflower ancestors.

It’s getting very cold and grey here in the Hudson Valley.  This is the view my boys have on their way to/from school each day and every weekend when we attend Mass.  This is taken from the Catholic Chapel here at West Point.

The Sherman Heel from the old Knitlist:

The Sherman Sock, or ‘How did you do that?’

Mary Sherman Lycan, 9/3/99:

The Sherman Sock is named for my late father, Rallston Sherman, an inventor. He always said an inventor is someone who is too lazy to do things the right way. The Sherman sock is knit from one side of the base of the toe cap, around the toe tip, and up. It is worked flat on two needles for the double-mitered toe and heel, and in the round for instep and leg.

Its advantages:

  1. As with peasant heels, the identical toe and heel are structurally independent, with no need for gussets or other awkward foot shaping. Use a contrasting color for toe and heel, for a very nice effect. Leg and instep are straight tubes, allowing for maximum freedom in stitch and pattern design.
  2. The mitered toe and heel, based on Montse Stanley’s suggestions for mitering, are easier to work than wrapped short rows. The decreases and increases are smooth, without holes or long carries inside.
  3. Toe-up construction allows for best use of yarn: if you start to run out, make tennis anklets; if you have extra, make long socks.
  4. Toe-up construction of identical toe and heel eliminate guesswork on the length of the foot. The depth of the toe cap is the same as the depth of the heel, so you can try on and measure as you go. Just poke your toes into the toe.
  5. Toe-up construction allows Fair Isle, lace, and Aran patterns to be knit right side up, except on the first half of the toe cap. If you want your multi-row patterns to come out even, toe-up construction allows you to fit the foot exactly, and fudge the leg length, to accomplish that.
  6. Worn-out heels and toes can be reknit as peasant heels.
  7. No more toe grafting!
  8. Sherman socks are fun to fold flat into little torpedo shapes.
  9. The invisible cast-on at the base of the toe cap makes it impossible to tell where you started knitting.
    Mystify your friends. ‘How did you do that?’

For more information, see: http://web.archive.org/web/20071231151807/www.knitli…


Friends, Gardening

Major Fun!

Posted on by Jean

Okay.  I know it’s been two weeks but that’s not to say I didn’t have a blast meeting up with Jennifer (Major Knitter)!  I did.  In fact, I hope there are many meet-ups now that we’re only an hour and a half apart.  Plenty of knitterly joints in between and around us both.  We’ve been web pals for quite a while.  It’s so funny to walk into the coffee shop and spot her immediately.  I got to see her beautiful sample of the Dale baby sweater class she’s going to.  So fun to be with people who understand your passion.  It’s even funnier when people are looking with a crooked eyebrow trying to figure out what’s going on.  lol.   Just as many of you promised, Morehouse was FABulous!  It’s very dangerous that it’s only an hour and twenty minutes from my door.  As you can see, Jennifer did some damage:

I put myself on a small budget after the shock of the move and finding out exactly how much wool I already have.   I bought some gorgeous soft pink merino for a hat and booties for my neighbor (due with her 5th in a week) and two different varigateds for scarves.  One for me and one for my Gram.  The one for Gram is a simple Feather and Fan pattern but it’s kicking my butt.  I’ve had to rip back about five inches once already and last night I found another big mistake about the same distance down.  Tried to just rip down the stitches that were messed up…. yeah… made a bigger mess.  I finished the hat and booties within a couple of days of getting home.  I forgot to take a photo before giving it to my neighbor so I’ll try to remedy that by the next post.  I’ll hopefully have Gram’s scarf done by then to show that to you as well.

I think my favorite part of the visit with Jennifer was sitting down and really getting to chat over lunch.  It’s fun being around all that wool but a little distracting and SO overwhelming.  What the heck am I going to do at Rhinebeck in two weeks?  I still can’t believe I get to go finally.  I’ve wanted to for years and now I’m so close to it I can drive each day to visit.  Wheee!!!  I’m not going to buy much (really) but I just can’t wait for the experience.

Have I mentioned that I love the Hudson Valley?  It’s gorgeous here.  The leaves are really starting to change.  I went apple picking at Applewood Orchards with my neighbor.  So much fun.

Speaking of my neighbor… she has these flowers in her flower bed:

You all came through for me so I thought I’d give it a shot for her.  Anyone know what these are?  She wants to find out if they are perennials or not so she doesn’t yank up something she shouldn’t.   I planted over 350 bulbs the other day.  After all that work and the blisters on my hands now, our flower border better look like the Keukenhof in Holland next year!! lol.

I hope you all have a great Columbus Day weekend!  Dan has tomorrow off so we’re going to head to lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.  I’ve gotten very into Puerto Rican cooking (been watching Daisy Cooks on PBS) and I want to hit some of the Latino markets down there.  Then we’re taking the boys camping right near our home for a couple of nights.  Sunday night we have a camp cabin mini reunion for Daniel in Connecticut.  He can’t wait to see his pals again.  He’s been having a pretty hard time here at school so far but the school is wonderful!  They have a great team working with him and helping him through things and most importantly, keeping in constant contact with me to let me know what’s going on.  Have a great long weekend!