Sand and Sea are Calling My Name

And I can smell that ocean breeze already! Today we are getting ready for our trip to the coast. DH will stay behind and the rest of us are working like mad to get ready. I am bringing a new yarn to try, 'Candy', by Artful Yarns. The color shown here is close to the one I have, #9359 Jellybean. My mom wants a pair of socks from this and has been bugging me regularly! I just happened to find a pattern for socks using this yarn, by freak accident, at Grumperina's blog. 'Candy' has some elastic stretchiness which, I think, will make it a good sock-knitting yarn!
Anyhoo, you guys have a great week and I'll make every effort to post some beach pics while I'm there...no promises, though. I will have to use my Sis' computer and never sure how that will work. The dang thing can be temperamental. I almost think it knows I need to do something important!

Best to everyone,

Ang

Things I've Learned From My Boys

My Dad emailed this to me. My husband and I couldn't stop laughing! Had to share it with you!

THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM MY BOYS

a) For those with no children - this is totally hysterical!
b) For those who already have children past this age, this is hilarious.
c) For those who have children this age, this is not funny.
d) For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.
e) For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

The following came from an anonymous Mother in Austin, Texas . .

THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM MY BOYS (and I'm not kidding):

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft.
house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with
rollerblades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded
restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong
enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman
cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread
paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When
using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times
before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit
by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh," it's already
too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a
36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year
old boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still
can't walk on water.

14.) Pool Filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCRs do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials
show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, Texas has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw-up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

25.) Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

Today will be a busy day for me so I wanted to get to my posting early. I am taking my brother to a doctor appointment so that my mom can have some time working toward our upcoming beach trip. Also, I have an appointment myself later in the day as well as some county paperwork to complete. (I love jumping though all these hoops...not)
Anyhoo, my work with unfinished projects is proving effective in my knitting attitude's recent downturn. I am feeling better about projects and yarn in general, and think that I may visit a yarn shop in our vacation area sometime during our week-long retreat. Hopefully, I will have more knitting time than usual. I'll have to get back to you on that. (must remember to bring my camera) Hopefully, Hal can use his computer down there (he has a wireless card-no service, no posting). I will make an effort to post at least once and bring you pics of the ocean community we will be visiting. Lord knows, I need a break. Ya'll pray for me that I will truely find some much needed relaxation. Ahhh! I can smell that salt air, I really can!

Musings on Knitter's Spring 2006

Hope you all are enjoying coffee right now. I, for one, am and wishing I had a yarn catalogue to look at. There isn't one within my reach, but I did find the spring 2006 issue of Knitter's in my room after cleaning (I use that term loosely), so I am giving that another gander. Oh, I remember, this issue. It has an article about Mitsuharu Hirose, Japan's Knitting Prince. Wow! I don't think I have ever seen such an intricate crocheted top. I remember seeing this when I first bought this 'Knitter's' and thinking, ' whoa! Beautiful knitting, but I'll never achieve anything like that..more advanced projects than I'm looking for.' Today, I am reading the first few paragraphs of the article and, did you know that there are colleges in Japan where a person can study knitting? Why don't we have a program like that here in the states? The closest thing to that I know of is the Master Knitting Program at TKGOA. Can you imagine taking a college course in intarsia or aran? The article says that he also taught knitting at Nihon Vogue Technical College where 'the focus was preparing designers and educators for careers in the(knitting) field.' I guess, though, upon reflection, that the way that we learn knitting here seems much more personal, and largely responsible for the popularity of the craft. We learn from people we love, or neighbors who have the patience to teach us and as we continue, meet others and widen our circle of knitting friends and relatives who support our love of the craft and provide companionship and encouragement. The internet community is astounding to me. I only really delved into it's riches beginning in January 2006. But, I am having an absolute blast with all of you! I have made fast friends blogging and through web rings and thank God daily for his gift to me of writing and knitting, which has been truly therapeutic in my life and I can honestly say how grateful I am for each of you, who read, comment, email, and thereby uplift me. My life has been somewhat painful the last couple of years, and you have been my bright spot. So, I guess I don't miss the impersonal idea of university/tech school knitting one bit. I'll gladly continue the study group experience I have now. I wouldn't trade it for a B.A.F.A.(Bachelor of Arts in Fiber Arts) from Nihon Vogue Technical College.

Textile Fusion Hot Pads

Found these here. I like the idea of marrying quilting and knitting. The design is from Suzann Thompson at her Textile Fusion website. She has some interesting work displayed here as well as a bio. Her workshops look interesting, too. I would think you could hand quilt using a design of your choice or colors of your choice in yarn and fab ric. I am seriously going to try one of these! ( Of course I'm going to finish the socks and sweater and rug first...I can't believe you think I'd add another project without finishing the others...really!)

Paint My Blog

This is a graph of my blog. This applet does all the work.I think it's really pretty...reminds me of fireworks! I had to do a little finagle-ing to make it work. ie) make a screenshot, copy to paint and save that way. For some reason, I was unable to 'save image as.'

I think it's worth the trouble, though.

Something is wrong with me...I went in the direction of my yarn store yesterday, and didn't have the slightest urge to buy anything! I did regret not having my knitting with me at a unexpected doctor appointment, though, so all is not lost. Maybe if I finish nagging projects, I'll feel more enthusiastic. That is probably all that's needed. We had to cancel our knitting group meeting because of Alberto. Will have to wait 'til next month to knit with friends. I had planned to knit the Mason Dixon Bath Mat, complete with rag ball (I made one from an old sheet - how's that for ingenuity!), I have the yarn and everything, but also have a sweater to knit and the socks to finish. Yep, the backlog is definitely bugging me.

Anyhoo, here's hoping ya'll have a happy Friday and rest of the weekend. Hopefully I'll have some knit pics to share next week.

A Championship City

Eat your heart out Canada! The Cup belongs to Mayberry! The Carolina Hurricanes brought North Carolina's first Professional National Championship on Monday, winning the Stanley Cup. Raleigh is now a championship city. Since my blog is about knitting, writing, and Raleigh, I feel I must write about my city and share the great excitement, pride, elation even, that we feel for our team. No one really thought Hockey would work in a southern city, but 30,000 fans turned out for the celebration at the RBC Center last night, including a parade, confetti, music, fireworks and lots and lots of cameras flashing! Of all of the pictures I have seen over the last few days, this one is the best! What a great group of guys! (I'm thinking of knitting a red and black pair of socks for each of them). This fun loving hockey family with their fans screaming approval behind them says everything. Wow, never thought I'd love this game, but I do. Here are some pics I and my little Canes fan took the day following our historic win. Here is my photographer (well, he didn't take this one, I did) William. He's 8 and his favorite player is Brind'Amour.------>



"Please Mom! Can't I have this
Stanley Cup? No? How 'bout this
lamp, then?"<---- Here is one of many parade pics. Will had the best seat, so he took alot of these pics. Not bad, huh?




Joseph Vasichek. There was a slow procession to allow for players to interact with the fans. Cool!<-----









"You ate how many curly fries?!!"

Severe Weather Warning

A major storm warning has been issued for the County of Wake in the City of Raleigh, N.C. Hurricane force winds threaten to gust through the Capital city, clean up to Canada. Yes, redneck hockey continues here in Raleigh with game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight at the RBC center. The foghorn is ready and 'Canes fans are looking forward to the game and the end of an exciting hockey season for the Carolina Hurricanes. At last reports there are but a few standing- room-only tickets available. Go Canes!!

On the knitting front, the Father's Day Sock project turned into a fiasco. First, the sock for my Hubby turned out too short, by about one inch. Of course, I thought I could eyeball them and I was wrong. I'll only do this a few more times before I decide I don't have a good eye for length and maybe I had better measure foot and knit sock accordingly. Second, I could not finish the pair of socks for my Dad. The one that I did finish, fit perfectly.(I measured for that one, by the way) but I had only one that I could show him and had to take that back so that I could finish the other equally(I'm taking no more chances, here) so I feel like I really didn't give him much more than a hug and my love. Thirdly, and best of all, the Regia Color Cotton I ordered to complete hubby'sdaughter's socks, came in today. Great. Today, I am not exactly a glass-is-half-full kind of person, so my guess is that the yarn will end up being the wrong color.

So, I'll continue my sock knitting during tonight's game. DH will get to pick a new yarn for his socks (small consolation) and I am *hoping* that my Dad will get his socks by Wednesday. Best of luck to me and the Canes.

Ya'll go with me....

Hope it's long enough...

Here is one of the completed Father's Day Socks for my Dad. He is a size 12, and the foot measures 11". It definitely is too long on my size 9 foot, so I think it should probably fit. Keeping my fingers crossed. The yarn is Trekking XXL/color 140.

The U.S. Soccer Team tied their game with Italy today, which is nothing short of a miracle considering we were playing two men down, that's 9 men vs. Italy's 10. Italy lost a man, as well, due to a red card and neither team was happy with the officiating. Our next game is against Ghana on June 22 at 10:00 a.m. If we win, we have a chance to go on to the second round. If the U.S. plays with sufficient energy, I believe they will win. Good luck to them.

The Hurricanes play tonight in Edmunton. If they win tonight, the Stanley Cup belongs to Carolina. I enjoy knitting while I watch sports because I can listen for cheering and watch the interesting bits. Plus, digital cable allows me to pause and rewind...that really helps when I miss something spectacular or important.

I almost forgot to show you the sock for DH. --->
He's going to be surprised - - he was expecting a Regia cotton, but, alas, I ran out of yarn.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit to this newbie knitting error, however, I did order an extra ball at my lys when I first chose and bought sock yarn for his socks. I chose a lovely cotton/wool blend, Regia Color Cotton in color 5460. He has been asking for cotton socks, and the only other color in this yarn at my lys was pink. So, naturally, I had to risk the purchase of just one ball, right? You know the expression, ignorance is bliss? Well, so is denial. I finished one of the socks and, of course, completely forgot how rotten my luck usually is. I happily assumed that I had plenty of time to receive the other yarn and begin
knitting and finish Hal's sock twin. Needless to say, the above socks will be his gift. And they are lovely. They are made with Lana Grosse Meilenweit. Don't have the label anymore, so couldn't tell you the colorway. (another newbie mistake, but who's counting?)

Hope you all are finished with your projects and ready for Father's Day. If you are, I applaud you. If you are like me, and not quite finished but happily expecting to finish, I'm right there with you babe!

Ang

Rain, Rain Go Away...

This was the picture in alot of low lying areas in Raleigh yesterday, courtesy of tropical storm 'Alberto.' We received almost 8 inches of rain between 4:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. By this morning, though, most of the waters had receded and our streets and sidewalks were already drying-up. This kind of flash flooding can be very dangerous. We were lucky to have only one death. I and my family managed to stay dry be staying home. I think alot of people went that route, because there were several closings.

I went to Mom's today to help her with my Nanny(She's 86) so she could have a day out. Nanny will listen to me for hours about my knitting. Then
again, she's kindof a captive audience, she can't move anywhere very quickly! (Did I mention that she is the one who taught me to knit?) I am working on some pics of her so that I can show them to you. I also have some of the Father's Day socks. I'll try to get them up tomorrow.

Hope all of you have a great Friday and rest of the weekend!

Here are the gifs for my project tracker.
I found it here. I am posting these because it's the only way I know to link to them with blogger. Can't see how flickr would work....

Anyhoo, I figure I need this thang considering my short attention span coupled with the variety of project candy available. You know what I mean, right? So, providing I can figure-out this code, it should be up shortly. Wish me luck!!
Ang

And now for something completely different....

So we finally know what happened to all that wool that the Canadian Grey stole from the Harlot. She writes about him here and here. Do you think she will be comforted to know that it was put to good use?

My blogging top ten

I have spent an unusually large amount of time knitting blogging (Knogging) of late. It seems to be a compulsion, really. But, it makes me happy. My husband and family are glad that I am happy, but think I'm a little nuts as well. After all, going on and on (and on) about knitting, explaining patterns to complete strangers and knitting in public isn't enough? Now you have a blogging obsession, too?! Therefore, I feel compelled to list at least ten frivolous solid reasons for writing my knitting blog. They are as follows: (P.S. thanks to Auntie Ann for the pic)


1. I knit

2. I love knitting. It's my preoccupation of choice.

3. My blogging saves others from having to feign interest in something they do not enjoy, and therefore, could not possibly understand my excitement thereof.

4. Writing seems to be therapeutic for me.

5. I can write about almost anything and make it relate to knitting.

6. Maybe someday, I will be published and can make lots and lots of money. (this one keeps the DH, a writer, off of my back about the knitting and the blogging...clever, no?)

7. Yarn is wonderful. There are so many colors and fibers and patterns to mix and match.

8. Knitting, especially mine, can be rife with mistakes, miscue's, lessons learned, etc....plenty of writing material. Plus it offers me a vehicle for self examination, as my knitting brings out the worst best in me and is, therefore, good for my self esteem.

9. Despite the above assertions, I consider myself an expert at almost everything, and am sure that I have something important to say that others will want to hear.

10. Knitting and Writing are bedfellows. They go together like peas and carrots, yarn and needles, wool and dye...well, you get the idea.

Just Call Me Emma

You scored as Emma Woodhouse. Emma is possibly one of the most loyal characters of Austen, always wanting better for those around her and doing all she possibly can to make it happen. Her motives sometimes get in the way of her good intentions and her own opinions can end up ruling her actions, but she has a good heart. She loves to be social and is welcoming to most, unless they are too silly to tolerate. While she sometimes changes her behavior to make others feel comfortable, she knows who she is and is always bettering herself.

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

New Webring

In keeping with my Raleigh Roots, I have started a new webring at Ring Surf called Tarheel Knitters, for knitters from or currently living in North Carolina.
So if you read my blog and are from this state, join the ring. It's a good way to meet local knitters and promote our blogs. A link is provided in here in the sidebar.

Redneck Hockey

Raleigh, North Carolina is known for alot of things. We are known for having a highly educated population, in part due to our proximity to Research Triangle park and three teaching hospitals. We are part of the 'Triangle' (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), a stop on the collegiate basketball path known as Tobacco Road, and home to the NC State Fair. Raleigh is the State Capital and much of our government is housed downtown. Sports are big here and have been as long as I can remember, especially ACC Basketball. So when the powers that be began to talk about getting a professional sports club in the Triangle, we were all sure it would be a basketball team. But, with the bait of a brand new sports arena, our officials brought us a hockey team. Hockey....in the south. Ice is a rarety here. Can you imagine?

I had never been a hockey fan; college basketball, baseball, football, and even golf and soccer...never any kind of winter sport. Hockey is a winter sport, is it not? And, dare I say, a yankee sport to boot. Right?

Wrong.

1997 was the year that the Hartford Walers made the move from Connecticut to Raleigh. A shakey start playing in the Greensboro Coliseum , traditionally an ACC Tournement venue, led them over the next few years to a spot in the NHL Playoffs in the 2000-2001 season. Their new home, the RBC Center, was rocking last night as the Carolina Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup playoff game against the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4. The fog horn sounded to a booming crowd with each goal scored and rookie goalie, Cam Ward, had 34 saves. The red flags are flying literally everywhere today. Hurricane symbols are in every shop window and the few tickets that are left for Wednesday's game two are standing room only.

Our dignified, quiet, traditional southern city has become a hockey town. We love our 'Canes and our hockey fan base, known as Caniacs, are a-plenty, myself and family now included.

Hockey in the South.....who'd a thunk it.

Go Canes!!!

Hydrangeas

<----- Hydrangea
The lovely background that I have newly applied to my Angelarae Knits Blog are hydrangeas because I say they are. They are lavender and white and sometimes yellow and I love them. I have two in my back yard and one in my front, and, as I have written here before, no self-respecting southerner would have less than three -ea(pronounced 'eeya') shrubs/trees in their yard. (these include the above-mentioned hydrangea, camelia, gardenia, azalea)


Magnolias, also -ea's, are blooming here in Raleigh, and are as lovely as this one. The flowers of this tree are as large as a supper plate and one in a glass bowl filled with water makes a very nice centerpiece.
<-----Magnolia

What a weekend. I have spent most of it in my bedroom, trying to convince my DH that I do still want to be married to him (he has a brain injury). This becomes emotionally draining and heartbreaking all at the same time. When he has these episodes, everything else takes a back seat, the kids, my knitting, my blogging....well, you get the idea.

So today, we spent the day working on my livingroom, ripping-up smelly old carpet and replacing it with a nice, clearenced-priced, oriental rug. Please don't ask what possessed me to buy a black rug...I think it had something to do with the idea that it might not show dirt....?

It is pretty, though, isn't it? It's amazing to me how a change like this makes us all feel hopeful. We can do something small to make our lives a little better.

There were a couple of things I wanted to share with you.....

Mason-Dixon had about 50 new versions (work with me, here) of the Ballband dishrag...very interesting color combinations, ladies, inspiring me to try a few color schemes of my own. :o)










Plus, Auntie Ann turned me on to this site and these. I must knit a pair for myself...maybe one for Mom, too. Maybe we can find a nice ball of Meillenweit for them.

But for now, it's just me, all of you, and Mr. Evan Williams.....Skoal.

Ang