Happy Holidays!
i am so done with the two blankets: boats for cameron from debbie macomber's
shop on blossom street. i am excited at how they turned out; i changed a few
things & they came out better that what i had thought they would. since they
are for my 2 youngest grandkids i hope that they will have a life time of use.
there will be pics posted after the holidays. after the holidays i plan on making
a great knitted skirt out of the big girl knits bk. i just love the cable & pocket
on this skirt. i will need to do a little adjusting of the pattern as i'll need it to
be a little smaller than the pattern. still, i am so elated to knit a skirt.

choices & more

after reading yet another view of marie antoinette i have
decided that she was given a raw deal; she was after all born
into an ingeniously wealthy family whose take on honor was
at the expense of individualism. marie seems as a high
spirited if not some what innocent martyr. she was used as
a scapegoat not just by her family but, also by the people of
france. it was an exordinary take on her ability to put herself
on the line for the sake "of the people." that she was spoiled &
wasteful; we will never really know- after all she married into
a family that had already used up the coffers long before she
arrived. i love her spirit, her sense of loyalty & admire her for
all the personal sacrifices she made in order to fit into a society that never understood nor embraced her.

love my secret pal! when i checked my mail yesterday there was a lovely
little package from my sp; inside i found a big surprise:0) some beautiful
debbie bliss cotton enough to make myself something really nice & a handsome
pair of rosewood knitting needles in a sz 10. i have been coveting needles from
latern moon for so long. thank you, thank you, thank you secret pal; you're the
best!

non-stop knitting

it's been nonstop knitting over the last 2 weeks; mostly i was immobilzed by snow
& therefore i was able to use my time to complete one blanket & am almost
finished with blanket #2. i am elated as i have many hopes to teach myself the
ukelele; bought one for my bday! tuning it is quite a challenge. once i do learn
that the rest is a piece of cake. speaking of cake-- during the snow-in i had gone
to my local oriental foods store & stocked up on chocolate mochi, red bean paste
mochi, pot stickers & dumplings. hmmmm good. i love going to there it's so packed
full of great stuff. i like trying new things & i am not ever disappointed. looking forward
to the holidays; no plans just want to rest & relax.

it's been a whirlwind of activity. first thanksgiving was a nice surprise as
we were invited to my eldest granddaughter's other grandmother's house
for eating & sharing. then for my bday my daughter surprised yet again with
a beautiful piece of art; a girl on the moon with a quote from eleanor roosevelt:
"the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." how
true is that! we had lunch at mi mexico; hmmm, gooood plus, they made me
wear a sombrero & sang happy bday to me. it's been rather dreary
with the 18" of snow that we have gotten overnight & more to come. i love the
snow as long as i don't need to move about in it. it's quiet, peaceful silence is
inspiring to my soul; i need quiet from time to time.

my shrug, my purse, my curly scarf

latest knit project

i love all the great patterns inside shop on blossom street; i am presently
working on finishing a great blanket from it that has rows of sailboats &
rows of cables. the effect is perfect for my grandson; it is going to be
a comfort blanket as it is just big enough to cover him. i hope to be able to
knit another blanket from the same bklet for my granddaughter. knitting quickly!

belkis & levana

belkis, originally uploaded by knittergurl56.

this is the happy grandma & the new mamsita, levana

heaven help us; another love!

i am officially a great auntie; my niece had her baby yesterday!
her name is anabelle love. yes, love is her middle name. i am
so estatic to have another grandchild in our small clan. my mom
was beside herself as this is her 3rd great grandchild. that i should live
so long to experience the same. the happy parents are enraptured by
her little hands & feet.

can't believe it!

1. i will be 50 in a couple of weeks
2. i will have celebrated 1.5 years of a knit blog
3. i have finally started a savings account; it's for a real vacation to italy in '08
4. i have been mostly eating veggies & fish for 7 months; sure, chocalate is also included
5. i have conquered my fears in lucid dreams
   

my own swimming pool

EE, originally uploaded by knittergurl56.

lovelerly.. sigh
this is what i want in my backyard...

took pics of all my finished
projects & hope to be able to download them later to post soon! busy doing a
two tone gray curly scarf w/some fantastic optimum wool from jody devine a wonderful
past secret pal. will post that too w/more of the brown shrug i finished this
summer.

knit, knit, knit
i think i'll be able to post most of the knitting projects i've done
by monday. blogger will be down for awhile on sat. & sun. is family
day! some of my co-workers inspired by the rain have decided to host
knit night. first group project are the notorious whirly scarfs; i've
found that 4 ply fiber doesn't do well after the 1st 600 stitches are
on your circulars. quite tricky; i've had to add another circular needle.
i've been studying italian for a several wks. now it is so similar to
spanish it's breeze! so, cross my fingers that i can get photos of my
stuff. drats! not having a pc at home.

Halloween fun!

Just finished my patons shrug in rust; I just love the way it came out!
I hope to post pics asap. still no PC @ home so I'll need to wing it.
Been fascinated by all the activity going on at my LYS;& they're having an
anniversary sale Sat. & Sun. I have to work this wkend but, I will make it
my first stop of the day Sat. Plus, they have the Quinte Scrapbk I've wanted
since forever by Mission Falls!! Elan is having a great sale on yarn as well-
eeeekk! so much to do & so little time. Have been reading Mary Kay Andrews series
Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze; just love her take on Southern colliqualisms.
She's hip, trendy and funny. If you like stories that have good endings the chic
lit. dept. than she's a good start. I am on my second strip for my sailboat
blanket from Debbie Macomber's knit leaflet A Shop on Blossom Street. She's another
great author; she tells women's stories w/flair & no whinning. My Bday approaching
has me feeling like I need to be in overdrive. Nothing like getting your 1st
issue of AARP to put things in perspective for ya! Can't wait to see all the little
hobgoblins this yr. Our little library is dressed to the hilt w/Halloween festive
wear; I brought in some maple leaves & my boss dressed the pumpkins w/foliage.

get to know you questions: secret pal 9

i found the questions for the sp9 contest so, here goes:

1. my favorite spot to knit is while i watch tv or on the bus; i go
everywhere by bus.
2. if i could never knit again i would paint with my mouth. if cats &
elephants can do it, so can i.
3. if i could travel anywhere in the world i would go to tahiti to a black
pearl farm so i can see the way they develop & of course to bring one huge
black pearl home with me.
4. when i was little all i wanted to be was happy! and yes, i am happy with
what i do now as a career. i read all i want!
5. my favorite flavor ice cream is ben & jerry's cherry garcia :0)

just wanted to post that i found my wishlist via www.amazon.com
please use keilagonzalez@hotmail.com as the address.
also, www.patons.com has changed it's look so i could not find
the shrug pattern that i got from joanne's. needless to say i'll
need to figure out how to download all my knitting photos.

have recovered from a nice weekend of WALE fun. made some great new
friends & even took some time to knit. i'm currently making a shrug from
a paton's pattern; fast, easy & on big needles. some send posts to my
secret pal 9 spoilee & am looking forward to shopping for her gifties!
fall is full on in bham; leaves are crinkly, colors range from orange to
russet. my daughter & i had lunch together yesterday; we've decided that
the colors in autumn would make great hair dye. she's 27 & full of fun.
i am so blessed to have such wonderful relationships in my life. picked up
a copy of the happy hooker; want to crochet some for the holiday gifties.
still coveting loop d loop patterns. haven't ventured to pick out a pattern
yet! love life and am looking forward to more!

secret pal 9 questionnaire

i love the secret pal venture; those ladies that put it on work really hard to
get everyone involved so here's 3 cheers to them all.

1. i love all fibers except wool.
2. i store my needles in a small bag & sorely need another one.
3. i have been knitting for about 8 yrs. i consider my skill level to
be intermediate.
4. i believe i still have an amazon wishlist.
5. i love most scents except patucholi for the home. i love floral scents for
bath products.
6. i do have a sweet tooth. i love dark chocalate w/orange or raspberry.
7. other crafts i enjoy are: crochet, i make beaded jewelry, i cross-stitch,
i do calligraphy & japanese brush calligraphy. i make cards too.
8. i love all kinds of music except gangster rap. my stereo doesn't play mp3s.
9. my favorite color is pink, my fav palette are fall colors. not too crazy about
green.
10. i am divorced with 2 adult children & 3 1/2 grandchildren. i haven't any pets.
i do have alot of plants.
11. i do wear scarves, hats, mittens and ponchos.
12. my favorite item to knit right now are shawls or shrugs.
13. i am knitting several items; a shrug, a scarf and a blanket.
14. i love handmade gifts!
15. i prefer straight wooden needles.
16. i do not own a yarn winder or swift.
17. i taught myself to knit.
18. i do not have any ufo's; i like to finish what i start.
19. my fav holiday is thanksgiving.
20. i collect tiny or small bears & mermaids.
21. i do not have any knit zine subscriptions. needles sz 10 wooden would be great,
i would love either alterknits or loop d loop.
22. i would like to try a lace shawl pattern.
23. i don't knit socks. i have a sz 10.5 shoe.
24. my bday is 11-24.

this is how i should start my day

have no idea how i got this photo but, hey! it's my first in so long that i'll take the darn thing. miracles, miracles everywhere. two magnolia trees on either side of the ywca have decided to bloom; it's mid-september. saw a horse & carriage going down the guide meridian; you know, the kind you see in central park, new york. had no
idea that we had that here. watched akeelah and the bee; reminded me of how i loved words as a kid. being bi-lingual helped me in spelling and i was darn good. even did a spelling bee through school. have been knitting like crazy, a red woolie hat, a green basket weave scarf, and now a shop on blossom street sailboat blanket in baby blue. still am not able to download photos; but, soon! real soon. love life i am staying in touch with those who can tolerate my zaniness the most!

too much time on my hands

since i've discovered how to knit i have pretty well neglected other areas of
creativity and interests. however, i am gleeful some things that are coming
up as part of my job that are fun! one of them is www.librarything.com
if you love reading and books this a great way to store and share those books
you really treasure. most of all it is free~! it is practically fool proof so you
don't need html knowledge. the other keen information that i will be exploring
will be new technologies via a WALE convention. washington association of
library education has the best mini tutorials and the conference is generally
a good place to meet fellow bibliophiles. on a personal note i find that i really
need to get out and meet some flesh and blood people as it is too easy for me
to just chill alone at home. soon i will be the big 5-0; this is definitely something
worth celebrating as half a century is way longer than what i thought i would ever
survive. still working on getting some photos posted of my fo's.

things i have done

1. tubing down river
2. camped out on a secluded island
3. hitchhiked across country
4. danced til dawn (most of my young years)
5. rv'd across the states and canada
6. lived overseas for 6 years
7. lived on maui with a hawaiian family of hula dancers
8. sailed in the gulf of mexico
9. swam with a pod of dolphins
10. stayed at celebrity's house
11. swam by moonlight
12. saw the sunset on the pier in key west
13. stayed in a haunted house in queen anne, seattle,wa
14. fished off of a ricktey wood bridge in destin,florida (a long time ago)_
15. took my granddaughter to the immensely beautiful aquarium on maui
16. attended a luau hosted by my hula dancer roommates
17. did karoke, sushi and saki all in one night
18. fell backwards off of a 7 hand horse while riding doubles
19. had my fourtune told at the bottom of the teacup in new orleans
20. slept in the desert under the stars
21. slept on a flat roof in miami under the stars
22. sailed around miami bay at night
23. won tickets to a conference via a radio station on maui
24. have had several poems published