He eats his words

I am married to my own personal Mr. Wonderful - 24 years this December. He has many quirks (I, of course, do not). One of those quirks is the ability to change his mind more times than any woman was ever reported to. This probably has to do with the fact that unless a number or dollar sign is attached to something the man has no memory to speak of. A main example of this would be his food "tastes" seem to change, often. I cannot tell you how many times I have prepared a dish that he loves, only to hear the next time I made it that it really doesn't appeal to him (hmmm, I say that much more nicely than he does). Got him this week, though.

Made one of my favorite side dishes - Garlic Parmesan Crusted New Potatoes. 1 stick of melted butter in an 11x13 dish, 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheeses and 2 cloves of crushed garlic sprinkled over that with salt and pepper to taste, topped by halved new red potatoes placed sliced side down, baked 40 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Served them with Chicken Marsala and fresh steamed broccoli.

After dinner he let me know how much he enjoyed the better than restaurant main dish and that the potatoes were "outstanding". I ROTFLMAO, hopped up and kissed him on the cheek, and told him "the last time I made those you told me not to bother with them again".

Ahhh, I could say "gotta love him" - but I don't "gotta" - I just do!

Blocking the Aran afghan - starting on (sigh) copper lame Barbie evening gowns for nieces Xmas gifts. Tiny yarn, tiny needles, for dolls with HUGE breasts.

First time out of the gate

Hmmm, I just wanted to comment on a blogger's post - and somehow I have ended up with my own? How does that happen? Well, let's play with this thing then and see where it ends up.

I was taught to knit when I was about 9 or 10 by my mother. She went to take classes at Sears in the mid-60's and did so well she ended up as a knitting and crochet instructor for them until they closed their fabric departments down in the mid-70's. Besides having a annual collection of homemade clothes for school and play, my siblings and I now were the lucky recipients of granny square vests and knitted slippers - and boy, did they slip! She was very gifted at all of the needle arts, and while I am sure she taught me well, it really didn't interest me at the time. (How often do we hear that?!?)

I picked the needles back up after she passed away in 1998 - because I had inherited all of her knitting and crochet supplies, to include the UFO's she had in her basket. I wanted to finish the beautiful little layettes that she was making for her newest great grandchild, but didn't have the skills. I re-taught myself with books from the hobby shop and started making scarves and afghans for my own adult kids and their children. But, always basic patterns, always acrylic yarns, certainly always full of errors, but as my grandson says, with love in every stitch.

Put the needles down again - because I just couldn't understand how to do anything other than very basic things. But in December of '05 my father began to go downhill and I needed something to keep my hands busy while sitting in the hospital with him and other family members, and then later when he was in rehabilitation centers. I re-learned casting on and again, started basic things but also attempted knitting in the round and increases and decreases. Hmmm, easier than I thought after I ripped them out and started over a few times. Then, Dad passed in May of this year, and his sister came for the week that we all gathered together. And she patiently sat and taught me new ways to cast on, easier ways to hold the yarn in my fingers, how to retrieve dropped stitches (knit and purl!). She helped me begin on a 20 square afghan in Aran with different patterns for each square - and I fell in love! Have all but one square now completed and will be blocking and stitching my first ever "grown up" project in time for it to be a wedding gift to my nephew andhis bride for their December wedding. And I have a new, all encompassing stress reliever (and a brand new addiction to reality tv, which just seems to go with knitting). Maybe one day, I'll be able to toss the Zoloft away and just knit, knit, knit!

But, didn't know about all the wonderful things on the internet to grab my attention away from the needles, until I earned myself a nasty case of tendonitis in my left hand and forearm and got strict instructions to truss it up and not knit for 6 weeks. Oh, man, was I jonesin' - what was I going to do? Knitty Gritty wasn't going to cut it! While cruisin' the web one day I came across a knitting message board, then another, and another . . . . and found bloggers! OMG - there was other stuff out there to knit with than the acrylic or hobby store stuff I had in my meager stash, and these people led me to it.

I found out that one of the premiere LYS's was in my area of town and made a dash in - and swooned with tactile delight. My fingers did not want to leave that place. But I felt very shy amongst all of these knowledgeable people and was afraid to let them see how "dumb" I was. Saved that for all of the folks on the message boards, lol. I asked only a couple of questions about some of the yarns (after I got over the shock of the difference in pricing between the good stuff and the stuff in my home stash) and about using patterns and classes. My finances didn't allow me to make any purchases (or sign up for classes!), but I kept stopping in there to whet my appetite.

So many bloggers add links to instructional sites on their pages that I began to learn how to follow more intricate patterns and went to the library for the books they recommended. I can never thank them enough for the help they gave me. My husband will probably never forgive them for the current and future dents to our retirement savings!

I have joined a knitting club, spend time with other knitters online, and feel like this is just what I am supposed to be doing. Forget housework - who has time to do that AND knit? Okay, be truthful here, I have to do the housework - so I am being a FlyLady so I have time to knit. And eventually I will have to return to working outside the home - especially if I want to keep feeling the pleasure of alpaca and mohair between my fingers and around my neck. But I will darn sure be looking for something that let's me ply my sticks while I earn my wage.

Whoa, this was easier than I thought! Hopefully, no one will find me until I know what I am doing and can add all of the lovely links that I want to. In the meantime, thank you to all of you bloggers who have inspired me and given me so much pleasure. I hope that one day I can do the same for someone else. Till next time.