Knitone Studio

I'm getting old

2012-01-30T12:31:00.000+01:00

When did my grandaughters grow up? I know the oldest "M" is 20 and has attended college. BUT when did "D" get old enough to date?

Daughter's sweater photos

2012-01-10T12:59:00.000+01:00

The sweater on the right is the first sweater I ever knitted. I made it using yarn donated by the British friend that taught me to knit. As you can see from Missy's face, she didn't like the sweater. The second photo is of a sweater I made for her when she was a teenager. She liked this one and still has it.

Thanks Designs of the Interior (DOTI) of Ponte Vedra Beach

2012-01-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

Designs of the Interior from Jacksonville Fl left me a message. They can help me design my knitting room. Don't think they realized that I'm in Germany, but I might use them when we move to Jacksonville later this year.

I did take their survey and found out my style is:

Bohemian with an Eclectic Flair for the Dramatic

You are a trend setter, not a trend follower. But, you would hate that people said that about you! You pave your own way - if you love it, you use it! You mix colors, patterns, textures and styles. You love pieces that have been used before, but probably reincarnate them as something different. You want friends and family to be comfortable in your home - they can put their feet up and not worry about making a mark on your cocktail table.

You tend to be a "collector" of things. These items could be from your many travels - or just because you love antique clocks! You like using window treatments where you need to, whether to block out the sun or give you privacy from the neighbors - but they are typically simple and serve a purpose.

Funny, they hit the mark with me. Only Tom is the clock collector.

More photos of the messy craft room

2012-01-01T10:12:00.001+01:00

The last post only showed a corner of the craft room. So here's the rest of the mess.

Cleaning the craft room overdue?

2011-12-31T17:31:00.000+01:00

Recently on Ravery I joined the "Surmount the Stash" group. Their theme is "Are you becoming overwhelmed by your stash? Feeling guilt for all those WIPs sitting unfinished while you purchase more stash? Join us for moderation in purchases and focusing on finishing what you started."

Before you can knit from your stash, you need to find the stash. I admit my "knitting room" is a mess. I started separating the books, yarns, accessories, etc. What I found out is that I made more of a mess than it was before I started.

I will get it straight. After all as of 30 Dec I was officially retired. I'll need to knit from the stash as I won't be making the kind of money I was before. Admittedly, I did start stocking up last year.

So here are the before photos. Who knows when the after photos will be taken.

2011-12-25T14:23:00.000+01:00

Well, it's Christmas Day 2011.

Tom and I opened our gifts last night as usual. We started this back when the kids were old enough to understand that Santa didn't bring all the gifts.

Tom and I decided that this year we wouldn't go overboard on gifts for each other. I gave Tom 4 German wooden smokers and some tools he needed.

Tom's Aunt Micky gave me a boy German Doll and Tom gave me the matching girl doll.

We have a house advent calendar. Tom put a very small Steif bear behind one of the doors. I thought it was my Steif bear, then on Christmas Tom gave me another German Steif bear. I had always wanted one and Tom picked out just the right one. It's one of the light colored bears about 2 ft high and I love it.

I'm sorry

2011-12-02T08:06:00.000+01:00

I know I've been off line for almost a month, but I had some heath problems that took all my attention. I'll try to do better.
I mailed out 7 Christmas (yes I say Christmas) boxes. Some have already been received stateside. Of course there was knitting in the boxes. Also lots of candy and chocolate.

This weekend I intend to get the gifts wrapped that I have for some local friends and co workers.

kd

Proof of Christmas knitting

2011-11-03T16:25:00.000+01:00

New home?

2011-10-20T11:46:00.001+02:00

I put a a contract on a short sale house. Won't know for months if I get it or not.

Jack at Bat

2011-10-18T01:43:00.002+02:00

This is my dream kitchen

2011-10-13T14:15:00.002+02:00

The House hunting has begun

2011-10-12T15:13:00.000+02:00

I'm in JAX with Missy, arrived last Saturday. We've been looking at a lot of houses and land. Also spending some times with the grandkids.

Christmas knitting has started!

2011-09-20T13:56:00.000+02:00

I have been knitting

2011-08-28T13:17:00.000+02:00

Want to see the proof?

This boat neck vest hasn't been washed or blocked yet, but I think that it turned out pretty good.

Sunny day in Germany

2011-08-21T14:29:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was nice, sunny and warm. So Tom and I took the Miata for short "top" down ride. Here's a link to the photos and video's. http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitone/sets/72157627358477417/

Retirement plans

2011-08-06T11:58:00.000+02:00

We've been in Germany 2 1/2 years and have started thinking about where we want to go next. OK, so I've been thinking about that since the first winter we spent here.

Retirement was my first choice. So I've decided to retire in Dec (yes Dec 2011). While we were looking at the finances, Tom realized that he's eligible to retire too. So that's what we are going to do. Tom's going to wait to spring 2012, but me I'm not waiting.

So after deciding to retire, we need to decide where to retire too. We both love the south east coast. We looked (over the internet) at places in Kingsbay, GA, Yulee FL, Callahan FL, and Fernandina Beach FL.

Fernandina is our first choice. Now to find a home to buy. We've discussed building and not sure I want to do that again. So we are going to look at homes no older than 5 years.

Right now we are really just looking. I plan on going back stateside in Jan/Feb time frame to really start my search.

Oh, the real reason Tom wants to retire is so he can buy his new Dodge Ram 3500 to pull the camper. Boys and their toys.

Lunch Time!

2011-07-23T12:26:00.002+02:00

And they tasted as good as they looked!

Photo Restored

2011-07-16T15:30:00.001+02:00

Tom found a program on line to restore the photos I thought were gone for ever. Here are a few of the photos.

Comment

2011-07-05T20:13:00.001+02:00

Someone left me a comment about restoring photos from a memory disk. I know this was from someone I know from the Air Force as they called me a nick name I haven't used since I left San Antonio.

So I figured I try to find a program to try and get my photos back. I found a program, downloaded it and it searched my memory disk. The program found over 300 photos on the disk, but not the photos I lost when the Dell hard drive crashed.

Goes to figure, with my luck, the restore program found photos from back in Oct 2010, but not the ones taken in June 2011.

Oh well, it was worth a try.

And I have been knitting, photos to come.

This page reserved

2011-06-26T18:23:00.000+02:00

Well, there would have been lots of photos of Saarbrucken Germany. Would have been! I took some great photos of my trip yesterday with two friends. We had a great time and lots of laughs in spite of the rain.

So this morning I uploaded the photos to the "Dell" and deleted them from the computer disk. There's my mistake. I was looking at the photos when Tom asked for my computer. He wanted to check out something. Again my mistake.

To make a long story short, Tom was downloading "stuff" and while he was messing around, my hard drive died and when to computer hell.

Tom called Dell to get help. They are going to send a new hard drive, there's no way to save the photos.

I know that it's possible the hard drive would have died anyway, but if he hadn't had the computer, I may have backed up the new photos.

So.... I'm back to the apple.

I quit!

2011-06-23T17:12:00.001+02:00

Too stressful at work, too stressful with family.

Update to last post

2011-06-13T17:27:00.001+02:00

Tom has corrected me. He got the BMW up to 136 MPH, but my photo was taken after he slowed down. Makes no difference to me, it was too fast!

Road Trip in BMW to Friedberg, Germany

2011-06-11T16:06:00.000+02:00

Not sure if you can see the speed, but it's 136 miles per hour. I didn't have my "good" camera with me, only the small Sony sure shot. It takes great photos, but not at high speeds when the camera operator is shaking. This was on a part of the autobahn without speed limits. No traffic on the road. Sunny and clear. After taking these photos, Tom slowed down to 100 mph.

Computer back up?

2011-06-10T20:10:00.000+02:00

Tom is still working on my Dell, but at least its back up and working. He's loaded all the system stuff and now he's loading all my "Stuff". My scrapbook, card making, photo and knitting programs are not "Stuff"!
I'm missing my favorite photo program, but Tom thinks it's upstairs in his room. His room consist of a sofa, desk top computer (over 10 years old), his stationary bike (which has less than 2 miles on it), a big screen tv and his toys (Xbox, PS2 and PS3, Wii). Can't say we aren't spoiled.

test

2011-06-09T17:38:00.001+02:00

Time for a new computer?

2011-06-07T17:29:00.000+02:00

What do you do when your husband accidentally formats your dell laptop? I know he didn't mean to do it, but gee why didn't he read the warning pop up?

So until he figures out how to reset the dell to factory settings, I'll be using the MacBook Pro. Still having trouble learning the Apple settings.

Hope you are having a better day than I had.

More vacation fun

2011-05-29T23:13:00.000+02:00

Having fun in Jacksonville

2011-05-14T16:35:00.003+02:00

Let's go swimming

Pool Time

On the road again

2011-05-12T02:31:00.000+02:00

Talk about long trips! I arrived in VA at Moms on Saturday evening. Mom and my sister Cindy, picked me up. It was so great to see them. Sunday was mom's birthday, so we went out to eat with Cindy, Ronnie and Emily. Great food and Great Company. What did I give mom for her birthday? Well it's called a travel chair, it's a cross between a wheel chair and a stroller.

The week was full of quick shopping days. The travel chair really came in handy. I pushed mom all over the stores and she didn't get tired. Well maybe she got tired of holding all the clothes I wanted to try on.

On Friday we drove to TN to see Trina, Meghan and Davey. It was great to see the grandkids and of course Trina. We stayed in the Marriott, great place, the kids had a ball in the pool. We returned to VA on Sunday. Shortly after we left, Davey broke his leg in football

Today, Wednesday we are on the road again. I drove down from VA. Got as far as Brunswick GA. We are so tired. Tomorrow I'm going into Kingsbay GA. I want to check the camper and go to the Naval Base to see some friends. Then we'll go into Jacksonville to see the kids.

I'm in the USA

2011-05-06T22:29:00.000+02:00

I arrived in VA on Saturday evening. Have had a ball shopping with Mom. Today we drove to TN to visit Trina and the kids.

We'll head back to VA on Sunday.

On Wednesday we'll head to FL to see Missy and family.

Can you say long road trip?

Leaving on a jet plane...

2011-04-28T20:46:00.000+02:00

I’ll be on a plane Saturday afternoon (Germany time) and be in VA in time for dinner. I can’t wait. I’ll get to see my kids (ok, so they are all over 30, but they are still my babies). Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that they are grown up and not children. Guess they’ll always be little in my mind.

I'll have very little access to internet, so you may not hear from me until June.

My attempt at felting

2011-04-24T10:22:00.002+02:00

Two bags I felted. I admit I didn't really enjoy it. So this may be my last attempt.

Family visit

2011-04-17T10:08:00.000+02:00

Tom's aunt Micky and uncle Helmut came down from Friedberg on Saturday morning and left on Sunday morning. They are such a great couple. Micky speaks perfect english and Helmut's english is getting better every time we meet.

We'll miss them when we leave Germany, but they've promised to come visit next year.

No govenrment shut down?

2011-04-10T10:26:00.001+02:00

So I guess I'm safe to buy yarn?

Government Shut Down

2011-04-08T16:17:00.000+02:00

As anyone reading this blog probally knows, I work for the US Army in Germany. I work in an Human Resources area. They employees are going nuts because of the possible shutdown. This will not just effect government employees stateside, but those of us overseas are really worried. Our region is in the process of handling a lot of programs that support the military overseas including those in dangerous areas.
I'm one of the lucky ones, Tom is always prepared. So financially we are OK. This not true for all those working here. There are lots of military families that depend on not only the Military member's pay, but also the spouse's pay.
There's are real easy fix to the budget mess. STOP Paying other countries to be our friends!

OK I've got that off my chest.

I'm on a roll....

2011-04-04T20:28:00.002+02:00

Christmas Knitting has started

2011-04-02T17:23:00.000+02:00

It's a sunny day in Germany, but.....

2011-03-27T14:04:00.000+02:00

Tom's so sick he can't get out of bed. That means no top down drive in the Miata today. Since I can't go out, I've been checking out some "old" photos. If you call two years ago old. I found a photo taken in 2008 a few weeks after I got the Miata. It was taken in front of our House in Texas. My hair is longer and lighter now. The Miata is the same beautiful little "rocking jukebox on wheels".

Why I hate Red Heart Yarn

2011-03-26T13:02:00.000+01:00

Maybe I'm spoiled by the European yarn, but I will never buy Red Heart yarn again. Here's why! It had over 5 ends, so I ended up with 5 balls of yarn, 2 of which were less than 3 feet long. If I hadn't need the brown yarn to finish a project, I would have thrown the entire mess in the trash. That's where it will go when I finish the project (winnie pooh hunny pot).

I'm back to teaching

2011-03-13T11:59:00.000+01:00

I'd forgotten how much I loved to teach knitting. A young co-worker asked me to teach her to knit as she loved the things I sometimes bring or wear to work. As always I took a photo of her hands. If she keeps on learning this quickly, she may be as great a student as my best ever student (M) in Texas.

USA here I come

2011-03-09T17:53:00.001+01:00

For the past few months I've been homesick for the USA. Could be the weather here is depressing. Anyway, I got leave approved at work, and I purchased my plane tickets. Going home to visit family for a MONTH!!! The whole month of May, I'll be stateside.

The tickets cost a fortune and sure cut into my "spending" money. Guess I'll have to spend less at Coldwater Creek.

Photo of Chucky, Billy, Cindy Sue, Mom and Rowland 1966.

I'm back to knitting

2011-03-05T15:18:00.002+01:00

I received some of my knitting purchases this week. YarnMarket.com is now my new best friend (don't worry Lucy you'll alwas be my real best friend). I ordered this on 18 ~~March~~ Feb and less that 2 weeks later I got my package. I love the yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed Aran (50% merino, 25% alpaca, 25% viscose) I'm knitting it in "heather" , a lovely shade of green and the yarn is soft to the touch. Should make a great vest.

The vest comes from this mag.

Missing family and friends

2011-02-27T10:51:00.000+01:00

Best friends

Mom and Cathy In Mexico

Camping in FL

Tommy, Meghan and Missy

Knitting MOJO?

2011-02-25T08:28:00.000+01:00

Recently I mentioned to a co-worker that I didn't know what to knit. I seam to have lost my "MOJO". I have yarn and patterns but just can't seem to get moving. So what did I do? Why I went on line and ordered lots of yarns, patterns and knitting stuff. Did I need it? No but who says that you have to need something to want something?

So until the new stuff arrives, I guess I'll just knit on the baby blanket that's been sitting in the corner for months.

And we've had snow again. I hate winter.

Germany hit with mild earthquake

2011-02-15T17:44:00.000+01:00

It was shortly after lunch yesterday (14 Feb) when the ground moved. At least my office chair moved. I was sitting at my desk trying to make sense of a new policy statement. All at once, my office chair moved away from my desk, my soda sloshed but didn’t spill. The photo frame on my desk fell forward and my computer monitors (2) seemed to be dancing.

It only lasted a few seconds. I stood up thinking that something had hit the building, but there wasn’t any noise. I looked outside and things seemed normal. So I figured that the office next door had been moving furniture and hit the wall behind my desk.

Wrong. Tom called a few minutes later and asked if I had felt the earthquake. I thought he was kidding, but Germany had an earthquake. We had a 4.5 magnitude temblor. We were on the outer edge of the quake, so we didn’t have any damage. In fact there’s been no report of injuries at all in Germany.

This isn’t the first quake I’ve felt. Years ago while living in Gtmo Cuba, we had a mild quake. I was sleeping in a waterbed, so I just figured the rolling water was just Tom getting up. I went right back to sleep and didn’t know anything happened.

So that’s my earthquake story.

I know I've been missing in action

2011-02-13T13:11:00.000+01:00

Or rather missing without much action. I've been sick off and on for the last month. I keep telling Tom that I'm alergic to Germany. Don't think he believes me.

I have been knitting. At work there seems to be a lot of new babies and expected babies. So I've been knitting baby items. Here's some of my work.

Nothing to report

2011-01-26T15:51:00.000+01:00

Kathy's office

2011-01-16T12:07:00.001+01:00

I was cleaning out some boxes (yes I do clean sometimes) and I found a present Missy gave me years ago. I updated the job titles and reprinted and franed it. It's going to hang in my office next week.

Happy New Year from Germany

2011-01-02T10:08:00.000+01:00

View from our back yard. Fireworks are legal in Germany so our neighbors provided us with a fireworks show. These are a couple photos taken from our second floor windows. To see the rest, go to my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitone/sets/72157625595368095/

After Christmas knitting?

2010-12-29T14:49:00.002+01:00

Hope you had a nice Christmas. I sure did. Tom gave me pearls (I love pearls) and lots of knitting related stuff. This includes a new IPAD. First thing I did was download a app.

Of course it was knitting. Knitting Cam HD. Only been able to play with the program a little, but what fun.

Snowing again

2010-12-19T20:31:00.002+01:00

What can you do with two knitting needles, yarn, Pepperoni, a carrot and a cherry twizzler? Why you can make a snowman of course.

Even more Snow!

2010-12-17T22:30:00.000+01:00

Looks pretty, but it is COLD!

Freezing in Germany

2010-12-09T18:43:00.000+01:00

View from my Office window

Is it Christmas yet?

2010-11-26T21:39:00.001+01:00

I've mailed the packages to family and I'm still knitting. At least this time, it's for me (maybe). I intend this to be for me, but as most of my friends know, I seldom keep my knitting for myself. So here's what I think I'm knitting for myself.

Christmas Packages Mailed

2010-11-22T18:10:00.000+01:00

Because we live in Germany I have to mail the Christmas gifts before 1 Dec if I want them to arrive by 25 Dec. I spent the weekend packing up 6 boxes. Of course, there's Beligum chocolate in each box and Gummy Bears.
I still have one box left to put together, for my best friend, Lucy. I should have it ready by Monday. I hope.

It's a German thing, I think

2010-11-14T16:15:00.000+01:00

Tom's aunt and uncle spent the weekend with us. Helmut gave Tom another "pin" for his hat. It seems that it's a tradition to buy pins from everywhere you go and put them on a hat. Not just any hat, it has to be a real German hat (not the kind for tourist). Tom always ask Helmut to put it on the hat. So here's a few photos of the hat and pins.

Knit, knit and knit

2010-11-08T18:49:00.000+01:00

For the past few years I’ve been “lurking” (reading not commenting) a knitting blog The Panopticon at http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/ . If you knit you have to check out his 1 November blog. The cartoon is just too funny not to share. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes.

I knit because I love to knit. Sometimes I think that they put something in the pattern ink that makes me crave the pattern and order the book and yarn. Tom said that he thinks that yarn companies are putting additive ingredients in the yarn and that’s why I get so excited when he brings a package home.

My Christmas knitting list seems to get smaller every year. I seldom knit for my kids (and grandkids) that live in Florida anymore. Where and when would they wear it? I’ve knitted them enough hats and scarves to last a lifetime. My Mom doesn’t go out of the house much in the winter so I don't knit for her. I used to knit hats and scarves for my brother “Ro Ro”, grandkids. I still knit a few hats for them, but most of them have now moved way down South, so they don’t need any more knits.

I do still knit for my daughter and her family in TN. In fact, daughter “T” is really the only one that appreciates my knitting. She expects a sweater every Christmas and always gets one. When she worked at the hospital, she often was asked about her sweaters. One of the Doctors asked how long could she go without wearing the same sweater. “T’s” remark that she didn’t know, but it would be months and months.

Currently I have a short sleeve tee in cotton on needles and I’m working on a Cowl in Merino Wool started (gift for co-worker). Gotta go and pick up the yarn I dumped while looking for the Merino.

Knitting basket

2010-11-07T11:32:00.000+01:00

My knitting basket has grown and grown and I'm not finished yet.

New office furniture

2010-10-31T09:47:00.000+01:00

During September our Resource Manager made a walk around the office areas. We had end of years funding and she was checking to see what was needed. Seems my office was a little bare. She order so new furniture for me. I kept my desk (it works so why not), but I got new office chairs and entry area chairs. The German company made us quite a deal, so I ended up with real black leather. Makes me feel important.

Do you realize how close Christmas is?

2010-10-24T14:05:00.000+02:00

As we are currently living in Germany, I have to complete my Christmas knitting FAST. I have to have the packages in the mail before Thanksgiving. Mail is S..L..O..W… over here. So I have to knit, knit and knit some more.

Tom cheats, he always shops for the kids on the internet and has it sent to them stateside. Of course, he doesn’t have the wonderful feeling of the yarn and the creativity that goes with knitting.

No it’s off to knitting I go…again…Good think I love to knit.

Is that the Ice Cream Man I hear ringing?

2010-10-18T14:40:00.001+02:00

No it's tennitus. I have had a ringing in my ears for a couple weeks. Because the military medical center didn't have any appointments, I went to a German "ear" doctor. He spoke perfect english. The German Doc checked my ears and sent me to have a hearing test (just down the hall from his office). I have an inter ear infection, tennitus and some hearing lost.
The Doc gave me a perscription for the infection and to help with the ringing. Had to have it filled by a German pharmacy as the Medical center won't accept a perscription with even one word of German on it.
As for the hearing lost, guess that goes with getting older.

Get over it

2010-10-11T10:04:00.001+02:00

I'm getting over the lost of the phone and NAV system. Everyone is entitled to make a careless mistake and I'm marking leaving the VW unlocked as my one carelessness for the year. I'm still not sure I left the car unlocked, but how else did they get in without any damage? So I'll take the blame.
Now on to more enjoyable things.
I've been knitting and knitting and knitting. As you know I finished Trina's sweater. It turned out BEAUTIFUL, I know she'll love it.
I finished Meghans scarf and hat, a few baby items and I'm working on a baby hat for a co-workers 1 year old son.
It's my goal to clean and organize (again) my knitting room. I'd better do that soon, as I need to use the knitting machines to make Christmas Stockings, and I need to do that soon.

What's missing from this picture?

2010-10-07T20:20:00.000+02:00

You guessed it, the cell phone is missing.
Well, just call me stupid or maybe just careless. Tonight I noticed that the cell phone in my VW wasn’t working. It wasn’t working because it wasn’t where it was suppose to be. It wasn’t in the car. Because it was Blue tooth and connected through the radio, I never took it out. Not only was the phone missing but evidently I left the NAV system in the glove box. Yeah, it was missing too. Since there was no sign of a break in, I must have left the car unlocked. The phone was an inexpensive pay as you go with only about $10 left on the card. The NAV system was over 4 years old.

Wish I could blame Tom for not locking the car, but he very seldom drives it.

At least there was no damage to the car. Gee, careful thefts.

I'm so important...

2010-10-05T19:38:00.000+02:00

I got my own stamp. Gotta love working for the Army,

No knitting photos today

2010-10-04T19:50:00.000+02:00

I spent the weekend knitting, but because I'm knitting Christmas gifts, I can't show you... So....Here's a photo Jack-Jack. He's prepared to play Lego Indiana Jones.

Photo op?

2010-09-25T15:19:00.002+02:00

Last week while in Friedberg, I saw a few things that I found amusing. Thought I’d share a few of them with you. I loved the old woman knitting. Not sure why the sheep are wearing boots.

Christmas knitting started

2010-09-24T15:41:00.001+02:00

I've finished Trina's Christmas sweater. Can't show you as she might check my blog. Her sweater was knitted out of wool I purchased in Austria. Since moving to Germany, I've gotten hooked on knitting with "natural" yarns, wool, cotton, silk and alpaca mostly. The scarf is made with silk, sequins and beads. Beautiful yarn. The TN orange hat and shawl are knitted with alpaca and wool. Wonder who the TN orange items are for? She'll know.

"Someone take Kathy's camera"

2010-09-21T07:49:00.000+02:00

For the past year (almost) I've worked for Mr. M. He's been one of the best leaders I've ever worked for or even seen. He leads by example. He has a wicket sence of humor and he really knows his stuff. And he's retiring this week. He'll be greatly missed by all the Army HR community.
Today he called for an "all hands meeting". He wanted to say good bye and to give out some awards. Of course I had my camera (the new one). I was taking photos of the employees getting awards and then I heard "Someone take Kathy's camera". You know how I get when I take photos! I figured Mr. M was tired of hearing the "click". Instead, Mr. M.'s assistant took my camera and Mr. M. called me up to the front of the room.
I got a letter of appreciation from the Head of Army Civilian Personnel. Not just Europe, Ms. P. is in charge of all Army HR regions. The letter was for all the work I've done for the Army Wounded Warrior Program. In the past 8 months, I've placed 4 Wounded Warriors into jobs here in Germany. If you don't know about the WW Program, you should check it out. It takes care of our wounded men and women.
So I got a suprise award and someone took my photo for a change.

My latest project

2010-09-12T13:00:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm knitting. Here's my proof. It's Silk Alpaca Babushka. It's knitted in 50% Alpaca and 50% Silk, from Blue Sky. I love this yarn. It's soft and so light. The pattern is really easy knitting in the Seed Stitch with ruffle around the sides. Once I finish knitting, I'll have to block it. Then I'll try to remember to take a photo to share.

Things I learned at the Leadership Conference

2010-09-10T15:00:00.000+02:00

If you can’t remember it, then it didn’t happen.

If working outside the box, inside the box or around the box doesn’t work, then it’s a defective box.

Business casual doesn’t mean cut off jeans and flip flops.

You can excel in your job if you excel in getting others to do the work for you.

Sarcasm can be entertaining.

The boss can be wrong, but don’t tell him.

Rainy day walks can be wet.

Even leaders can make mistakes, its how you cover them up that’s important.

Here’s my latest attempt to get organized.

2010-08-27T11:30:00.000+02:00

I’m trying to get all my knitting needles together (at least the ones I’ve been using). I love knitting with wood and bamboo needles. I ordered it from Dreamweaversyarn.com. They are one of the few yarn companies/stores that will ship to APO (Overseas) addresses. Namaste Needle and Notions Binder.

Cake time?

2010-08-23T13:29:00.002+02:00

This Weekends Road Trip to the Rhine

2010-08-22T15:41:00.000+02:00

Chain Nail clothing

2010-08-16T17:35:00.002+02:00

Can you be addicted to knitting books?

2010-08-14T13:34:00.001+02:00

I’ve just realized that in the last 12 months I’ve purchased (or received as gifts) 65 Knitting Books. This doesn’t count the Knitting Magazines, patterns and booklets. Is it possible that they’ve put something in the ink to make me addicted?

I also have older books that I brought with me to Germany and I have boxes of books in storage in Texas.

Of my older books I have a few favorites. Weekend Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmerman is my very favorite book. Recent favorites include two by Clara Parkes “The Knitters Book of Yarn” and “The Knitters Book of Wool”. These are not only good reading books; they also have some great patterns.

While I was looking through my books, magazines and patterns, I realized that I still had a lot of yarn in boxes on the floor (not to mention the piles of yarn on the floor). I have lots of knitting projects choices available when I finish Trina’s Christmas sweater. If I every finish it. This sweater is taking forever to knit. I’ve only got about half a sleeve and neck band to finish, but it seems to go on and on. What on earth made me knit a large sweater in wool in the summer (with no Air Conditioning)?

This will probably be my last sweater as my arthritic is worst when I work large or heavy projects. I think I stick to hats, scarves and baby items.

Speaking of babies, it seems that at work (both Tom’s office and mine) there are a lot of baby boys being born (or expected). So I’ve been knitting with blue (besides Trina’s sweater). Baby showers start next week and go on with one every week for the next month. I have knitted a few sweaters and hats for newborns, but still have more to do.

And my best friend, Lucy, has asked for a sweater for her granddaughter. I want that one to be extra special, so I’m thinking hard about the pattern. But I have to get it in the mail in 3 weeks.

Guess I’d better get back to my knitting.

Saturday Road Trip photos

2010-08-09T21:05:00.000+02:00

And how did you spend your Saturday?

2010-08-07T21:00:00.001+02:00

Autobahn drive with the top down and no speed limit... and they say Miata's can't fly.

This post is under construction.. so just figure out the grand kids names

2010-08-05T21:30:00.000+02:00

Scrapbook pages

2010-08-01T13:16:00.001+02:00

Here's a hint for my oldest daughter's Christmas Sweater

2010-08-01T08:53:00.002+02:00

Missy's kids love the beach

2010-07-28T19:29:00.000+02:00

Surfing at Jacksonville Beach

A tub full of knitting

2010-07-25T12:52:00.001+02:00

June and July knitting sits in a tub waiting for buttons and blocking.

We had a great Time in Austria

2010-07-24T14:51:00.000+02:00

More photos from Austria

2010-07-18T21:05:00.001+02:00

And I climbed a waterfall in Austria

2010-07-13T17:58:00.000+02:00

Austria was beautiful

2010-07-11T20:27:00.000+02:00

On Friday, 2 July 2010 after work we drove to Tom’s Aunt Micky’s house in Friedberg. It’s only about a 90 minute drive so we arrived in time for dinner with Micky and Helmut. We had an early night as we were leaving the next morning (early) for Austria.

I've uploaded some of the photos to my flickr site. Click here to check them out.

Micky and Helmut had made the reservations earlier in the year for two rooms at Bergassthof Zottensberg Gashof in Windischgarsten Edlbach in the Austria Alps. It’s a family run guest house and they made you feel like one of the family. Of course, Micky and Helmut have been here many times so they were almost family. The owners and their children are very involved in the running of the guest house. The “boys” Peter and Thomas are twins, but don’t look alike. They are very different in personality too. Peter is tall and always smiling. He plays the guitar in the family band. Thomas is more shy, but has such a sweet way. When they played music you had to smile.

During the vacation we visited many places in the Alps, including a visit to the Eagles Nest. That was the only day that we had bad weather. It rained and was freezing cold during the morning visit to Hitler’s Tea house. It was not the best day as it was not only rainy, it was foggy and cold. We spent the morning there, and then drove back to Austria. Much warmer there.

Places we went:
Berchtesgaden-Konigssee or better known as “the Eagle’s Nest”
St. Wolfgang Salzkammergut
Spital am Pyhrn
Groben Pyhrgas
Hofaim
Dr. Vogelgesang-Klamm
Rohrauer-Haus
Bosruckhutte
Winderermuseum St Pankraz

I'll write more later.

Oh yeah, I did get some knitting done.

We're back

2010-07-10T18:47:00.000+02:00

Austria was Beautiful. The Alps were beyond belief. We took about 1,000 photos. I'll post some once I get them transfered from Tom's laptop.

Austria here we come

2010-07-01T16:39:00.003+02:00

We leave tomorrow afternoon for our Austria vacation with Tom's Aunt Micky and Uncle Helmut. Should be fun. Here's were we will be:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.zottensberg.at/&ei=6g0rTNqsIsGhOL_L5LID&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dzottensberg%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26prmd%3Dv

And Yes, I will be taking the cameras (both).

Back in Germany

2010-06-23T20:50:00.002+02:00

I'm back home. It was a very long trip from San Antonio to Germany. The "jet lag" has really gotten to me. So it's off to bed. I'm even too tired to knit. Now you know I'm tired.

Update from San Antonio

2010-06-20T16:18:00.002+02:00

As most of my friends and family know, I'm usually seen with a camera in my hands. This trip is different as I used to live in SA, no reason to do the tourist type photos.

I did take some when a few my friends and former co-workers joined me for lunch. It was so nice to see them. I was happy to have a chance to catch up with what's been going on.

I got a chance to go to my old office and see some of my "knitting" buddies. Seems they fell off the knitting bandwagon. So sorry to hear that as they were all doing so well.

So here's the photos taken during lunch.

Should I be worried?

2010-06-17T00:59:00.000+02:00

Just went to check on my flight back to Germany Tuesday. I noticed that I don't have a seat assignment for the flight to DC. United shows that I'm confirmed on the flight, but the web site says I can't select a seat because there are no seats available. Then it goes on to say that a seat assignment will be given at the airport.

If there are no seats available, how are they going to give me a seat assignment when I check in at the airport?

It's HOT in Texas

2010-06-15T01:16:00.000+02:00

It only took 14 hours from Germany to San Antonio. Long plane rides. I did get some knitting done, but I kept dropping stitches. I know some of my students read my blog, so I'll admit it. I was trying to knit in the dark, with circular needles and put the knitting up without finishing the row. I know I told you never to do that, but they were giving out cold drinks and I was really hot and tired and needed a Pepsi.

So I spent about 20 minutes pulling out knitting and picking up stitches.

Anyway, it's after 1am in Germany and only after 6pm in Texas, but I'm ready for bed. Nite all

Shawl completed

2010-06-13T09:14:00.000+02:00

You can't tell the size, but it's over 3 feet down the center . I plan on wearing in on the plane tomorrow. It's always cold in airports and on planes.

Just one more day. I hate flying.

Can you say SHOPPING?

2010-06-08T18:01:00.000+02:00

My job is sending me TDY to San Antonio next week. I'll get to spend some time with my "bestest" friend. Can't wait. Hope I can get my Sprint phone turned on for the time I'm there. When we left, Sprint put the account on Military hold and said that I could turn it on if I came stateside on leave. I'll need a phone. You can't get around in Texas without a phone.

Told Tom to call the bank and let them know I'm going to be spending a shitload of money so don't cancel my credit card.

Remember this knitting project?

2010-06-06T18:05:00.001+02:00

Well, here's the finished project.

Memorial Day memories

2010-05-31T10:52:00.000+02:00

When I was a toddler, my mother and I lived with her brother, Billy, and Grandma Cora. Uncle Billy had survived WWII in Europe. He was stationed at Fort Story, Virginia Beach. I have vague memories, not sure if they are real memories, or if Mom told me.

In the past few years, Mom has been downsizing and clearing out things. She gave me a box of photos. Included in the photos were things that belonged to Uncle Billy and photos taken when we lived with him. While looking at the photo’s I have a warm feeling of love. Can photos bring on feelings? Anyway , I’ve decided that they can.

I have Uncle Billy’s Purple Heart and awards from WWII. I have the original telegram informing Grandma that he had been killed in action in Korea. The box of photos also included Uncle Billy’s last letter home. He was killed within days of arrival in Korea. Just writing that makes me sad.

I’ve often wondered how different my life would be if Uncle Billy hadn’t gone to Korea. I know Mom wouldn’t have gone back to my father (he was a drunk), but then I wouldn’t have my brothers. After years of living with my father, Mom finely had enough and left him for good.

Years later, Mom met the man I called “DAD”. He was one of those men that took on a readymade family and no one ever knew we were not his children by birth. We were his kids. Even when my little sister was born, we were still his kids and all treated the same. Dad and Mom made a life for us.

Dad spent over 20 years in the US Navy. He worked a second job to ensure his kids had everything we ever needed. When Dad died a few years ago, I found out how many people knew and loved Dad.

When going through his stuff, I found Dad’s military documents. He lied to get into the Navy during the end of WWII. He spent time on the LOWA in the Pacific.

Our family has a lot of members that have served in the military; Grandma Cora servied in WWI, Uncle's Billy, Gene and Bubba served in WWII, Dad served in WWII, my brother's Rowland and Chucky served in the military, my husband and son served in the US Navy. Tom served in Vietnam.

On this Memorial Day, remember all who have served. Today is a day to remember those that gave their life for their country, remember the vets that came back and made this country better.

Just a little knitting

2010-05-30T09:32:00.003+02:00

I’ve been quietly knitting away. In the last few weeks I’ve completed a couple sweaters (size 1 and 2), a shawl (not blocked yet), a scarf and a mystery blob.

Can you guess what the “blob” is going to be?

Happy Birthday, Tommy

2010-05-22T15:06:00.001+02:00

Just some random thoughts

2010-05-20T18:16:00.000+02:00

We've lived in Germany for over a year now. I expect we'll be here at least another year, maybe two. It's been nice for Tom to get to see his family. His Uncle Joe died earlier this year and I'm glad Tom got to spend some time with him. Tom's Aunt Micky and her husband Helmut have been so very nice to us. Helmut's family have treated us like we were their family.

It's hard being away from my family and friends. The internet has made it a little better as I can use web cam and Facebook to keep in touch. My oldest grandchild, Meghan, graduates from high school next week, and she starts college in July. Tom ordered her a new laptop and accessories and she got them today. Seems that she's "Thrilled". But it made us wonder what to get her brother for his birthday in August.

Tomorrow is our son's 35th birthday. Tommy is still our baby. I paid for his plane ticket to see Meghan graduate next week. Tom sent Tommy a Best Buy card so he can pick up what he wants. It's weird to think of Tommy as 35. It was just last year when he graduated high school, wasn't it?

Although I have friends here, they are not like having my best friend "Lucy" around. Whenever I really start to feel homesick, I just pick up the phone and Lucy's on the line. She makes me smile.

I miss my "knitting buddies". I love knitting and sharing my knowledge. I can get some great yarns here, but not really anyone to share it with.

If I didn't like my job so much, I'd retire and fly back to the states for a visit. OH, wait a minute. I'm going to fly back to San Antonio next month for work. I know I'm going to spend time with Lucy. Hope I can fit in a visit to my old job office to say hi.

Gotta go, Knitting calls.

Old knitting

2010-05-15T16:01:00.000+02:00

Years ago, I knitted a dress for my youngest (at that time) grandchild. She looked so cute in it.

She wore it and when she outgrew it, her mother saved it. A few years later another girl was added to the family, and the knitted dress was pulled out and the newest baby girl wore the dress.

Recently I found the picture, then looked for the pattern. I found it. I just may have to knit it again.

Oh, and the little girl is now almost 14. How quick they grow up.

Here's a recent photo.