So your best friend comes over and hands you this:



You think to yourself, "OMG she loves me, she really loves me, what should I make, oh it's so luscious, I'm in love with it, all other projects are banished until I've finished with this yarn".

Then you realize she just wants you to do this for her:


...and your heart breaks just a little, sniff, sniff, she only loves me for my ballwinder.

Thankfully I still have friends in Long Island who love me. A few weeks back my good buddy Ann had a contest and I won. Now I knew damn well that if I said "fuck" in my entry I would win, 'cause Ann likes it "salty". Still I like my mantra too so I am very proud of winning. I got my prize yesterday:



Dudes, it's a Yarntainer! Of course yarn tamer may be a better name but I have tangled enough yarn in my day that this will definitely come in handy.

There was more:



Interestingly enough when I was visiting Katy back in March I fondled this exact color of Trekking XXL, yet I restrained myself from buying it (only because I was saving myself for Iceland) but today here it is in my hot little hands. Whoo hoo thanks Ann! There were some adorable beaded stitch markers also but somehow I forgot to take their picture. I love 'em though.

Am I knitting? Well sort of. Avery is in Soccer Day Camp at the moment and that involves two trains. That means I don't always get a seat so I've been reading more than knitting. I did get to the first decrease row on Gyrid but she's not much to look at yet:


I'll take her to Florida with me but I'm going to cast on for my second STR sock for the flight. I always prefer to take bamboo or plastic needles on planes, less drama at the security checkpoints.

Yeah it's Thursday! Only 25 hours until vacation...

I don't have much knitting going on so I thought I would show off some house stuff or more correctly yard stuff.

This was my yard last July:



To say it was overgrown is being kind. To be fair the contractors did remove the satellite dish and the shed that you might see all the way in the back on the right if you squint. It kind of listed to the right so we decided it should go before we moved in.

This is my yard today:

Nice right? We had landscapers come in and cut down everything so we could basically start from scratch. Rinaldo has been working on the grass since the Spring and it's finally coming along. We got the fence installed about a month ago, by the same guy who did the kitchen for me. He did a great job. Once it cools off we will paint it and the deck.

We have a little play area for Ian (a playhouse will be along shortly):

...and all the way in the back there is Rinaldo's rock garden:

It's not quite finished so I will take a better shot when it's done. We are re-doing the path as well. If you look at the top pictures you can see the stones we have chosen sitting on top of the path right in the front.

I've got some flowers growing in the garden too:

These were some cuttings from my good buddy Gary and his wife Virginia. They are doing beautifully.

These came with the garden:


Last year there was only 1, this year it has plenty of company. So much so that the butterflies the boys and I raised were very happy to get their flying papers:



I'm not always thrilled with having a house, but I always love my backyard.

Picked this up over at Bronxie's, since I got nothing new to say I thought I'd share:

Life's to do list - I've bolded those I've gotten around to:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07.Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08.Said 'I love you' and meant it
09.Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11.Visited Paris
12.Watched a lightning storm at sea
13.Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14.Seen the Northern Lights
15.Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17.Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18.Touched an iceberg
19.Slept under the stars
20.Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22.Watched a meteor shower
23.Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25.Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26.Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30.Had a snowball fight
31.Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33.Seen a total eclipse
34.Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36.Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38.Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41.Taken care of someone who was drunk
42.Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44.Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47.Taken a road-trip
48.Gone rock climbing
49.Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51.Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53.In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56.Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59.Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61.Gone scuba diving
62.Kissed in the rain
63.Played in the mud
64.Played in the rain
65.Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67.Started a business
68.Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69.Toured ancient sites
70.Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72.Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74.Crashed a party
75.Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77.Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80.Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83.Got flowers for no reason
84.Performed on stage
85.Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90.Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92.Buried one of your parents
93.Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100.Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102.Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108.Piloted an airplane
109.Petted a stingray
110.Broken someone's heart
111.Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113.Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116.Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117.Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118.Ridden a horse
119.Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127.Eaten sushi
128.Had your picture in the newspaper
129.Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133.Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135.Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136.Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138.Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141.Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146:Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150:Saved someone's life

What do you think this is? A knitting blog?

Well actually yes, yes I do and I have knitting to show for it. Not much but some. First up I completed my sock:



It's actually a tad small but it's for me and frankly I don't care. It's pretty and I love it. Obviously I immediately cast on for the second one and have nearly completed it, right? Yeah...no. I've actually tossed about a bit for my next project. Do I do the second sock? Nah just did one. Maybe I should work on Charlotte? No, it's too hot to think that hard. Ok, then a simple lace scarf out of my Kidsilk Haze? Ooh yeah that didn't go well. I need to get some really sharp needles to work with that stuff all I got was a tangled mess with my blunt bamboo ones.

So this morning I cast on for this:



For me, me, me. So far so good. Of course I've only gone a couple of inches so far but I like optimism, it's a good thing.

Damn is it really only Tuesday?

Added later: Everyone is asking where the pattern comes from so here you go. It's in Elsebeth Lavold Designer's Choice Book One: The Viking Knits Collection picked up from Bron a few months back. I'm making it with the Silky Wool that is pictured on her blog. I apologize for being an inconsiderate blogger and not sharing the info earlier.

Birthday Stuff

I know you're all just dying to know how my birthday went, ok well not really but everything is blog fodder right?

Most of the day was devoted to Avery for his graduation, but my knitting group was meeting that night and Maribel made sure everybody was in a celebratory mood...

...she brought cupcakes! This was mine:

Nobody else got the big cupcake with the clown on it, poor things;), it was a birthday girl perk.

She brought my gifts as well. Rinaldo had left all but one of my gifts at work, so I had to wait until Wednesday to get them.

In the end I loved all my gifts:
No comments on Star, everyone needs a little trash in their lives and it is a roman a clef from an ex-wife of Motley Crue's drummer, therefore it is an excellent gift!

The Spenser movies, Motley Crue Videos and umbrella came from Maribel. The bag book, Nancy Drew parody, and Elizabethtown soundtrack Vol. 1 came from the husband (as well as a Wonder Woman t-shirt which failed to show up at the photoshoot, that diva!). The Egyptian mug came from my good friend Leslie (can you tell my friends know I love the Egyptian stuff at the Met) and the Elizabethtown DVD, volume 2 of the soundtrack and Star came from Tisha and the crew at work. I am so loved!

The day before my birthday I got a little something in the mail:

It's my One Skein Secret Pal giftie! A lovely skein of Rowan Denim. I've been wanting to get my hands on this yarn but I kept putting it off until I had a specific project in mind. When I first saw it I wasn't quite sure what to do with one skein of it but my pal was ready for that question. She suggested Topi as she used the exact same yarn for hers. I love that cap so I think we have a winner.

I've actually been knitting too. Amazing huh? Here is my progress on my Red Hot socks for me, using STR "Ruby Slippers":

It's a bit washed out in the shot but they are coming along famously. I am just about at the toe decreases which means I made a sock in a week. That is freakin' amazing for me. Let's see how long it takes to do the second one, ay there's the rub...

Have a great weekend all...

The last few days I've been wanting to blog but the heat has me feeling horribly lazy. Its too bloody hot to do anything. Then I remembered that I had started a post on Wednesday. A cheap, drive-by post but a post nonetheless (it does of course involve a camera phone, so my apologies).

Look I sent stuff to Dulaan:


This hat was my attempt at mimicking the hat I saw on Veronica Mars that did not work out very well. Still a nice hat otherwise.
Here is the completed sweater:


I ran out of yarn so the turtleneck became a mock neck. This thing took me far longer than I expected. I'm thinking, "hey it's garter stitch, bulky yarn, a nice small size this is going go nice and fast". How wrong could I be? Very, very wrong. Cassie mentioned to me at the Spin Out last week that she thinks garter stitch actually takes longer to show progress and after doing this project I totally agree. I did finish though and I got it there in time, so it's a success.

Have a great Independence Day and I promise a real post involving birthday gifts and the one skein knitalong next time.

L is for Little Men



Both of my boys graduated this week. Avery from fifth grade and Ian from Pre-K. Avery moves on to Middle School. He's going into an Honors Program at a school nearby. Only a handful of kids from his school are going with him and he's feeling a bit intimidated by the transition. The good news is that the guidance counselor there was the guidance counselor at his Elementary school for years. She got him through his brother's birth, his grandmother's death and some anger issues he has when he was smaller (wow, I wonder who he got that from;)), so he has a built in support system there. Intimidated though he is, he is also very excited. He is leaving his school which is a progressive model and going into a more traditional setting. He is so excited that he finally gets to use textbooks! I hope he hangs on to that enthusiasm for learning as he gets older. His teacher said he had never met a more enthusiastic learner, that everyday he "bounded into class like Tigger". I'm very proud.

Ian has a big transition too but it maybe a bit easier for him. He is leaving his Special Ed pre-k to go into a General Ed kindergarten. The Kindergarten will be in Avery's old Elementary school. Ian is very well known there and everyone is very excited that he will be there next year. He has met the paraprofessional that will be in the class, as she was Avery's para for his Kindergarten/First Grade years, she remembers when I was pregnant with Ian. He has also seen his teacher although he hasn't formally met her yet. Ian corrects us whenever we refer to "Avery's school" he says it's "Ian's school". He has seen his classroom for next year and is greatly excited about going to Kindergarten. He also has one of his favorite people there to help. Avery's best friend is a year behind him so he will be a Fifth grader next year. The Fifth graders "buddy up" with the incoming Kindergartners so Ian will have a big kid buddy to show him the ropes.I'm hoping he still wakes up everyday excited about going to school. I'm very proud of him too.


I love my little men...

Well, I was going to post about my birthday today but now I'm too busy crying because Maribel did the most beautiful and amazing post for my birthday. Go read it but don't look at that picture from our Ninth Grade graduation ok? Promise?

Spin Out

The Spin Out in Central Park was held this Saturday, except it was pouring rain so we couldn't have it in Central Park. Most of Friday night and Saturday morning was spent wondering where a large crowd of people can set up a bunch of spinning wheels, sit, spin, talk and generally have a good time. After much back and forth on various locations the indomitable Cara pulled it all together:


That's standing in the back and my good buddy Ann helping someone with their spinning, next to her sitting down deep in the spinning zone is the fabulous Bakerina. What you want to see me spinning? Go look somewhere else...

Cassie was also there but I held to my tradition of hanging out with her and not getting a picture, it seems silly to stop now. I think it's a tradition she appreciates!

There was much Spin Out swag:
...and of course much fleece and spinning...

...even Ian behaved, I set him up in a corner and since a many of the spinners took their shoes off so did he:

Sadly I had to duck out early. I needed to get Ian home for a haircut and then get Avery (and some cupcakes) over to his graduation party at school. I had a fantastic time and I hope it wasn't so stressful to Cara that she won't do it again. What about next year?

Just because he's too cute here's a shot of Ian trying on his suit for today's graduation, this is of course post-haircut:


Tomorrow - MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Rain rain go away.
Come again another day.
The spinners all want to play.
Rain rain go away...

Is it my birthday already?

No, not quite yet but it was my turn to be the Yarn Abroad recipient.
It seems I was in the radio box group (there is also a drill box going around):


This poor box has been around. It started in Iceland, traveled around the States a bit, then to Germany, back to Iceland, back to Germany and back to the States. It's looking a bit worse for wear but it's hanging in there.

Of course you are all far more interested in what's inside aren't you? Me too, but of course I'm a tease so the box will perform like Gypsy Rose Lee, stripping off a piece at a time:

Lauren sent me some lovely postcards from Arizona:


...a great sock pattern and some gorgeous buttons:



...but my oh my look at the yarn (the picture doesn't even begin to do them justice):

I think I'm in love.

Thank you so much Lauren! And thank you Amanda for coming up with the idea and running with it!

Thank you all for the kind words. I find it really interesting that Cara and Angelia both said "adventurous" because of my train trip to Brooklyn. I am far from adventurous but if I can get there by subway I'll go just about anywhere. I've also always felt that as long as there was a subway near by I could never get lost.

The fair was a lot of fun. I managed to restrain myself in my purchases, being broke helped a lot, but I got a couple of goodies. The boys were phenomenally patient and seem to have had a good time as well. Avery was my official photographer so I could browse and keep an eye on Ian, so all these shots were taken by him.

These were the first things that caught my eye:

These adorable needles are made by Kiku. The needles were bamboo but it's the figures that they put on the top that I fell in love with. If you'll notice the purple devil duckies in the picture, you should know they went home with me.

The spinners were well represented:















They were getting lots of appreciation. I stayed away since I didn't want to come home with any type of fiber. It was very, very difficult.

I was walking along at one point and I noticed a woman talking to her friend , walking and knitting. I realized that it was Vickie Howell from Knitty Gritty. I didn't say anything since I assumed she was there to enjoy the fair herself. Later I found her at a booth where she was signing her books:


So here's what I came home with, aren't you proud of my self control?






























I got the sweetest e-mail today Adelle. She's a professional blogger and one of her blogs is about knitting. She said she loved my blog so much she was presenting me with an award:

Too cool right? Thanks Adelle, I really appreciate it.

Since it's late on Tuesday I've decided to give you some linkage since you're probably reading this on Wednesday and we all know Wednesdays are for linkage:

While I am amazingly impressed with this girl and her creation you really have to wonder about someone who has enough time on her hands to create a knitted car.

If you have friends like mine this information might come in handy.

Finally do you think William Shatner will host the knitting 911 TV show if this website is a hit?

Happy Wednesday everyone...

Shh, be very, very quiet. We are hunting the rare elusive creature known as the finished object. While these creatures are quite common in some knitting sanctuaries, here at the Mathews knit reserve they seem to have been close to extinction. One was spotted yesterday. Let's see if we can get it on film:

Wow, there it is and it's an Odessa Finishus Objectus. Absolutely amazing, it's wonderful when you can still see these here in this particular territory.

Yup, I finished Odessa. It was very freeing. Like a big ass monkey off my back. I like the way it came out, although oddly enough I discovered when I was finished I never switched to the larger needle after doing the ribbing. It fits me so I don't think it's a problem, even though I have no intention of keeping it.

This led to a bit of a binge on starting new projects. I frogged the Dublin Bay sock and re-cast it on with far, far less stitches. It's weird that it was so damn huge considering it's on 2s but whatever. I went from 72 stitches to 56 and now it's fine.

I also finally cast on for Charlotte:

Happy Kathleen?;)

There's been some tinking back, mostly because I love to forget yarn overs but I'm farther than I got the last time I tried it. It also seems easier. I'm guessing because I've had practice now with Branching Out. Frankly it seems easier than that but I'm only on row 29 so I not going to say that for sure just yet.

Maribel also reminded me that Dulaan stuff is due any second now. I have done absolutely nothing. I really wanted to do a sweater this year and this seemed the ticket:



It's not moving as quickly as I'd like but if I can make a dent in it this weekend I think I'll actually pull it off. I mean it's all garter and done in a bulky yarn it's gotta be quick right?

Today the boys and I are off to Brooklyn to go here:


My buddy Mike is there with his new girlfriend since she will have a table, so I'm dragging the boys onto 3 trains, which excites Ian to no end, to check it out. Looks like a blast. You know at 36 I can still count on my fingers the times I've gone to Brooklyn. Weird right?

Just 'cause this looks fun, I thought I'd do this meme, picked up from Kimberly :

Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

Have a great weekend...

K is for Kitchen

This is what my kitchen looked like on Saturday morning:



Underneath that lovely black garbage bag was a huge hole. Some of you may remember the move in weekend from hell (scroll down to the 21st, I didn't have permalink back then). Sadly we had not gotten around to getting the damn thing fixed. I wanted it done before Ingileif and Linda came so they could see my house without it's pipes exposed. As it stands that didn't work out but this weekend we finally got something done.

My kitchen on Sunday afternoon:


Whoo hoo! It's amazing how happy this makes me.

Knitting wise I'm in the decreases for Odessa. Progress is happening people. My knitting is back on the move. Maybe I'll even have an FO this week...maybe...

Thank you all for your kind words about my Grandmother, she was very special to me and it was wonderful to share that with you. I realized that I completely forgot to mention that she was of course the person who taught me to knit. I also would like to mention that all those photos came from my cousin Ingileif. She scanned a bunch of pictures she had a few years ago and gave me a disc. Most of my old photos are still in storage from my mother's apartment.

I plan on distracting you from a total lack of knitting by inundating you with pictures. For those who care, Odessa is about as far as she was the first time I took a picture of her. I finally picked it up again yesterday so maybe some progress will be forthcoming (ha!).

Last Saturday Avery and I hung out with his friend Dylan and my friend Leslie (his mom). We visited what is quite possibly my favorite place on earth. The Cloisters:

It was the perfect day for it since I find it particularly peaceful when it's rainy and foggy. This is the view from the balcony:

They do let you take pictures but you must promise not to publish them so I can't show you the Unicorn tapestries, or the statues but trust me it's a great place to visit. The boys attended an activity about medicine in medieval times. They each came home with pouches of freshly picked herbs to help various ailments and bring good luck. They had a good time, this photo of Avery notwithstanding (I totally posed him):


On Saturday night our favorite Icelanders arrived:

We fired up the grill on Sunday to welcome them to NYC:


Rinaldo has taken to grilling very well and the rest of us have learned not to touch his new toy. Much fun was had on their all too brief visit. I seem to have been too busy having fun to take many pictures. Ian loved the baby and he still asks for her although he understands she went home on an airplane:



Amazingly even with the kleinur and chocolate that they brought me I seemed to have stayed on track with Weight Watchers. I received my 10% lost keychain this week:



Yay me!

Happy Saturday everyone!