I can’t believe Rick and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on May 9th. I haven’t posted because we took a trip for over 2 weeks (to celebrate the BIG one) with another couple to Napa, CA and HAWAII…my favorite place in the world (that I have been to so far) We just got back on Sunday. When I get settled I have some gorgeous photos to share with all of you.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments from my last post!!!

PS…I didn’t knit very much at all…we had too much fun!!

Aloha to all my knit blogging friends!!! I have not posted as I am on a nice long vacation. We were in Las Vegas for a business convention, then headed out to Kona, Hawaii with 3 other couples for lots of sun & fun! We haven’t had much luck with the sun…it has not come out except for a tiny bit one day & we have been here for almost a week. It is pouring buckets now & looks like I wil not get any color on this white body! We are still having FUN though!

I am having withdrawel symtoms from not knitting & I am looking forward to getting back to my normal knitting & eating routine…though I have to admit…the fish is fabulous here.

I will post some photos of our trip upon our return.

I leave you with a beautiful photo from Hawaii…

Aloha!!

Hello…remember me?
Here are some reasons why I haven’t posted…
1. Back hurt too bad.
2. Had to pack and get things done before my trip to Las Vegas.
3. Went to Las Vegas whether my back liked it or not. My back did NOT like the plane ride there, but liked the ride much better on the way back.
4. Unpacking from my fabulous trip.
5. Had to do laundry you know.
6. Food shopping…we do need to eat.
7. Busy with my Holiday party invitations (I printed them out on the computer…also the envelopes.)
8. My web site has been very strange. I could not post or anything.
9. Upgrading my web site so I can get on my blog again and post. (My web host upgraded their PHP to the newest version…don’t you think they should let us know about these things?)
10. It was my BIG birthday (50…no way) on November 9th and I celebrated for a full week with all my friends & family. I LOVE birthdays.
11. My fabulous husband gave me a wonderful surprise party on November 5. I was so shocked, I was crying. All my friends & family were there and it was a great time! None of my friends called me on that day as they were scared they would leak out the surprise party info. Bless them!
12. I have not knit very much at all and I think that’s all I have to say.

Wait…one more thing…I only have a couple photos from my trip. My friend Jeanne carried her camera & she doesn’t know how to email me the pictures. Sorry! I will post this weekend though (and go through the blogs)...with whatever I do have. I’ll have to find something interesting to tell all of you.

Have a fantastic night!

My life is back in the slower lane now that I’ve returned form CA and Stitches. I am not used to over eating, over drinking, over shopping and too much fun all the time…like I said…return to normal…a good thing. I only had 2 days between my 2 trips. I unpacked just to pack all over again. I feel like I have been out of the loop forever. I didn’t knit at all or go on the internet while away. This is the longest break I have had from knitting…ever (It is hard to knit when you are partying…what do I think…I’m a teenager again?). I missed knitting more than I would have ever imagined. I have been knitting a little in the past few days. I’m almost finished Smooch. I had to frog the neck line a couple times. I’m done the right side of the V neck though and am ready to forge on to the left side. . No pictures though until I’m all finished.

WARNING...Lots of photos

San Diego...
I had a fabu time is SD and LA. I could easily move there. I LOVE the west coast and the lower humidity.

Jeanne and I in front of Mr. Chow’s in LA. Inside this fabulous Asian restaurant we saw…Eddy Murphy (much smaller in person then on the big screen) David Brenner (comedian) The daughter of Kiefer Sutherland on the show ‘24’. The food…fantastic!

We stayed at the Beverly Hills in LA. Everyone is so hospitable, especially Ron the bartender at the Polo Lounge in the hotel. He is such a nice man. Lots of people know us even from staying there only once a year. It’s like being at Cheers…you know?

It was not my birthday…but everyone at the table said it was. This is what I got…

Then they took this picture of the un birthday girl…

This is Glen. He is a big kook! He is a good friend of Jeanne and Steve’s.

Stitches East...
What can I say except that I love anything that deals with the knitting life. Donna, Heather and I got to AC at around 3:30pm…just in time to stop at my favorite chocolate shop…Jagielky’s in Ventnor. Their # is (609)823-6501 If you love fabulous homemade chocolates…call them…they ship!! We each bought a pound for ourselves and you can bet I’ll be ordering more. Stitches was smaller then it usually is. There were fewer venders there and the candy and nut booths that are usually in the convention hall were gone (they are always at the Convention hall) I really wanted that candy.

Happy hour in the Temple Bar at the Ceasers…where we stayed. We all shared a room. Donna brought a 2 bottles of wine, olive tepanade, cheese and crackers. I brought 2 bottles of wine, nuts and crackers. We had our own happy hour before going out on a few nights. We had a blast. I am already dreaming about next year which will be at the Convention Center in Baltimore…Woohoo!!!

Having fun, fun, fun!!!

The fabulous, funny, talented Harlot & me

Waiting very patiently (1 1/2 hr wait) for a fabulous Italian dinner at Angelo’s. Yum!!!
My next post, I’ll show you what I bought at Stitches and a finished Smooch.

I’ll leave you with some pretty photos of the Maderas golf course in San Diego…


This was our view as we sat outside for lunch. Gorgeous!

Have a great one!

to sunny and beautiful San Diego.

Right now I’m on a layover in Atlanta Georgia. So I thought I’d catch up on visiting my favorite blogs & a quick post. I always look forward to this once a year trip to visit a very close friend. It brings back such fabuloius menories of when I used to live here. I will have lots of photos to show when I return…so be prepared.

I brought Smooch with me to finish. I will post as soon as she is done. I have 6 rows left to knit and then I start the armhole & neck shaping.

Have a great 2 weeks!

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Butterfly was so much quicker to knit than I would have ever thought. Even going to the ocean for 5 fun filled days didn’t deter her completion…



Of all the projects that I have ever knit…Butterfly is the one piece I am the most prowd of. She is my masterpiece. I LOVE this camisole. I love the color, the fit and the way she looks so antique. This is one unique knit! The best part about this project…it wasn’t hard to do! I will be posting all of Butterflys info in my Gallery under ‘Been there Done that’ if you would like to take a look.

Knit Night Update…
Last Wednesday I had knit night with my girls.

Lauren, Heather, Donna & moi
We met at Daedalus Books to start out the night. This place is very cool. It is a discount book warehouse. I will definitely make my way back there. I can’t believe I’ve been living in Columbia for 25 years & I didn’t even know about this place. Thanks Lauren for making us aware of it. Then we went to Macaroni Grill for a good old fashioned italian dinner. We had some wine and Sangria and then off to Borders for some knitting, chit chat & of course there was laughing…as usual. I’m so excited as they had the new fall 2005 Vogue Knitting in stock. More on that later.

Rick and I went to Ocean City, MD for 5 days. We had a fabulous time. Friends of ours invited us down to stay with them. We played 3 days of golf, miniature golf (I got 4 hole in ones…now why can’t I do that when I’m playing real golf), ate fabulous food, relaxed, had Cold Stone ice cream 2 times (my Fave…YUM!) & knit of course.

This is a photo of our view as we were riding across one of there many bridges in our golf cart at Baywood Greens golf course. Their landscaping was unbelievable. There were tons of flowers, fountains, even vegetable plants. I have never seen anything like it.


A pretty flower

This is my favorite photo. Doesn’t it look like a Monet painting?

Hope you enjoyed all the photos. Have a fantabulous weekend!

I traded in my PDA (I had 3 weeks to decide if I like it…I did) but this new Palm came out just in time that has WiFi built in & I am a sucker for the internet. This is one cool PDA. It’s called the LifeDrive & it almost looks like it was made by Apple. It has very clean lines & is the most elegant PDA I have ever laid eyes on. The point is I’ve been really busy setting up my new toy. I am such a gadget geek. I LOVE getting these cool toys & setting them up.

Monday I got together with Lauren for a nice long lunch. I hadn’t seen her in a while so that was really nice…

We talked & laughed & ate & talked. Tomorrow night I am getting together with Donna & Lauren for knit night. It’s been too long. Poor H (yeah right…she’s in Cancun having a ball) won’t be able to make it. We will miss her though!

Knitting Update...

Number 1 sleeve…done! This is a weird shaped sleeve, don’t you think? See the garter stitch border? That is what gets folded up when wearing to give it a high fashion look! Lets hope we like.

I feel the need to start something lace. I’m seeing all these beautiful lacy knits all over the net & I’ve lost it. Help me decide which lace project I should start…
1. Butterfly from the cover of the new Rowan magizine (the cami, not the dress…without the beads)
2. Flower_Basket_Shawl.jpg from the IK Fall 2004
3. Wrapped Lace Cardigan from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2005
4. Shimmer Shrug from Knitty.com
I love them all!!

Becky & Heather are going to knit the Fiery Bolero from the IK Summer 2005…

I asked the rabbit if I could knit along with them. Of couse she said “Why yes” She then asked what color yarn I was going to use & said we are knitting it in black…why don’t you do the same. Being the copycat that I am, I said ok. So here is the yarn we are all going to use…
I absolutely love these cute little jackets type knits. They are so cute with a cami underneath or over a dress. They are very versatile. Don’t you think?

ALERT...Naples Photos...

Here’s our crew for the trip. We took an airboat ride down the swamps…

and we saw this little guy…

and these…

They were thirsty! At the of the ride, these friendly fellas greeted us…

They were only about 2 feet from our faces. It was scary at first. As our guide was throwing them fish to eat, they kept getting closer to us to catch them. What an experience this was!

Here are some other beautiful sunset photos…





This is the gorgeous landscaping at the Ritz Carlton. I have to include one pretty Hibiscus…

Beautiful!!! I will leave you with a photo of Maxwell & I…

Have a wonderful & safe Memorial Day weekend. Let’s all pray that the weather is beautiful!!!

It took long enough…but I finally got her back in my hands and upon my body. Have a look…



She really needs to be blocked, but I was too excited to get her on my blog as a FO. I love the way she fits. This Jo Sharp yarn is soooo soft & comfortable. CONCLUSION: I’m extemely happy with the end result!! If I ever knit another Rogue, I will use a yarn with less or no tweed in it so I can see the cables more. Two well fitted knits in a row…it’s a miracle! I thank the knitting gods. Woohoo!!!

I forgot to post this last time. I bought a new knitting bag at the MD Sheep & Wool, like I really need any more. I’m a sucker though…

It is is by Sorella’s & this baby is quite roomy. It has 2 huge pockets (big enough to hold pattern books) inside, a smaller pocket & a zippered pocket on the outside of the smaller pocket. I also asked Donna & Heather to pick me up a tote. I knew I wasn’t going to get there until late in the day & they are always out of the cool stuff early on. So…this is what my knit buds got me…

I LOVE it! Did I ever mention that I love gray? I wore this backpack on Sunday. Thanks so much girls! You did a fabulous job!

Olive Update...
I’m all finished the back & the fronts. Guess what…I’m on sleeve island. This is her first sleeve. I have 3 more inches & then I start the sleeve cap. I think it looks a little strange. The Garter stitch wrist band folds up. I’m not sure if I’m going to like it this way…but I can say that it will be very different. I like different. I got most of this done on the plane. It wasn’t a very long plane ride, but I knit what I could. I have to say though, that I love using my PDA for knitting. I used my CountAble software & Documents To Go. I downloaded the Olive pattern in DOCS. It was great. I just kept switching between CountAble & looking at the pattern. It’s the best! It takes up a lot less space on a plane.

I had a fabulous time on my trip to Naples, FL. It is always great getting away & was great fun golfing, eating & drinking with my friends. The weather was gorgeous. I love that you can eat outside at lots of the cafe’s & restaurants. Here’s proof…

Cheers to you! To health!
I have lots of fabulous photos to show off…next time…so I will leave you with this beautiful sunset!

Have a great one!!!

Let's just say that traveling when your feeling sick sucks! Everything went wrong from the beginning of the travel day all the way to the end of it. It started snowing, we missed our 1:45 pm flight as there was an accident on the beltway and we were literally at a stand still for 2 1/2 hours. We finally got a flight out at 6:30. Many more bad things to happen...but I don't want to bore you guys. I felt terrible for 2 days and than I started having a great time. Relaxing, shopping, drinking, eating, looking at model homes. It was fabulous. I'm feeling much better but I still have lots of congestion in my chest. This is nothing compared to what I was feeling. I did not want to come home. Palm Springs is absolutely gorgeous. It was about 70 degrees every day. Just beautiful! I'm trying to talk my DH into retiring there. I really need to work on him...don't you think?

I am going to put some of the photos in an album. I just have to share some of them with you on this post. I took so many beautiful pictures that it is so hard to pick and choose which ones to put on my blog. Here are a few that I love...

This beautiful view is on El Paseo Drive. The Rodeo of Palm Springs. Are Palm trees and mountains beautiful or what? One day I am going to have some Palm trees in my back yard with a mountain view! We can dream, right?

This beautiful water feature is in the front of our hotel. Just lovely!

I can't believe I found the LYS. I just had to get a picture of this. I ended up buying some needles for my Rogue and some beautiful Rosewood DPN's.

We saw this on the side of the road and I made Jeanne stop the car so I could get a pic.

Steve, Jeanne, me of course and Rick. This pic was right before we had to leave to come back home. :-(
I know that there are lots of pictures...but I just couldn't help myself.

Look what I received in the mail from Agnes (one of the knitters who received the glove pattern that I sent out)...

It's a crocheted flower. I love it! In fact I had to wear it right away...

Isn't it pretty? Thank you so much Agnes. It was an unexpected and wonderful surprise. I'm going to have to learn to make some knitted and crocheted flowers.

I'm sorry to say that I did not make any more progress on Rouge. I was too sick on the plane on the way up, too busy in PS and the lighting was terrible on the plane ride back. You do need to be able to see on this knit!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!