1870 pearl

Battle Stations

Phone rings at Chez Pearl.

"Hello, XO Pearl speaking."

"This is Prudential Realty. Would it be possible to bring a client over?"

"Yes, you may. What time will you arrive?"

"10 minutes."

"Thats fine."

XO Pearl proceeds to hang up the phone and sounds the alarm.

Alert! Alert! All hands Red Alert. This is not a drill! ETA 10 mikes.

All hands muster quickly in the quarter deck (living room) for instructions from the CO.

RB - Turn on all the lights. Light the candles in the bathroom and kitchen! Leash and secure the dogs in the aft deck (back yard) and prepare to muster across the street. 

XO - Preform a quick white lightning throughout the house.

CO - Completes pre-inspection.

All hands are to complete their missions in a swift and orderly fashion. Muster in aft deck. Be ready to disembark! You now have 7 mikes!

Dismissed!

In tight military formation we march across the street and squat on the neighbors property hidden from view by the trees. During the time that we endure such drills I am knitting dishcloths again. They keep me sane while my home is undergoing inspection. In fact I like the pattern so much that I knit 4 more only to find that they have vanished faster than I expected. My neighbors are developing an appreciation for those "Dumb Dishcloths" as I affectionately call them.

Pinwheel - a speedy little knit.

Cheers, Abigail

P.S. You may now stand down to Yellow Alert.

P.P.S. If you are having a problem printing the pattern please e-mail me for a copy.

a1870pearl at yahoo dot com

Houston .....

We have a sock. I finally found the time to cast on for my Hogwarts Sock. How sweet it is. Its been almost a month since I've knitted one. Please forgive the black and white photo. I don't want my pal to find me to soon:D

This weekend has been consumed with sorting and cleaning the home. One room down and 4 to go. We are not pack rats but I am amazed at how much insignificant stuff we have lying around the house ready to find a new home. We moved the dining room table so we have a place for all of our un-wanted items until the yard sale.

Our house is on the market and the parade of potential buyers has begun. I hope that this will end quickly. It is rather tiresome. Please continue to pray for a fast sale at a good price.

Cheers, Abigail

Inquiring minds want to know....

Knitting Hawkeye wants to know 7 interesting things about me and I have learned that it is pointless to confer with my family about these things. They flee at the moment I ask. So I am left to ponder it and make the pathetic attempt to amuse you all by myself. I fear that I shall fail again.

1. I eat my scrambled eggs with a spoon.

2. I joined the Navy at the age of 23.

3. I picked up my husband in a bar. We've been married for 16 years. "Nuff" said.

4. Our son was born 4 days after my 30th birthday. He likes to tell people that he is exactly 30 years younger than me. I wish he wouldn't do that.

5. When my husband presented me with a cell phone as a Christmas gift I was terribly disappointed and tried not to show it. Fortunately, my son programmed the silly thing and taught me how to use it. I find these contraptions annoying and disruptive.

6. I have not had a sock on the needles in 3 weeks. I'm sorry. Are you o.k.? I did not intend to cause you harm.

7. I dislike cake and ice cream. I would rather supp on fruit pies and sorbets.

There you have it. Am I interesting? I think not.

In other news. We have now formulated an action plan and my husband has turned in his letter of resignation. His last day is June 29th. If all goes well, we hope to have the house SOLD and our belongings packed and headed east just after the 4th of July. We need a quick sale at a good price so please pray for us. This weekend will be consumed with a good home cleaning and yard work in a valiant attempt to encourage someone to buy it next week.

Today is my last day at work. At 4:00 P.M. I will say goodbye to all my co-workers and leave the school for the last time. It will be a bitter-sweet farewell but I am ready. Hubby and I decided that I will go back to SAHM-dom again (Stay at home Mom). Yeah! More time to care for him, our teenager, the home and of course knit. God is good my friends.

The yarn for the Hogwarts Sock Swap came last night and I found a pattern. I do hope I can find some knitting time this weekend. Fingers crossed.

For your viewing pleasure I give you Joe Cool - the tolerant one.

Cheers, Abigail

A family affair

Within days of our announcement, hubby's immediate family has assumed an active roll in getting us home.

Parents in Law are providing the temporary home, godly wisdom, and prayer support.

Brother G, is scouting schools, neighborhoods and jobs.

Brother J, volunteered to ride the Harley across the US. He does have an alterior motive. He is wanting to add more miles to his IRON BUTT patch. And he is already plotting the routs. I think he's crazy but it makes him happy.

Of course we have our own assignments here. Robot Boy is to sort through his room. I get the rest of the house with the exception of the "Man Cave" also known as his office. Praise God that this is a small house. 1,054 feet to be precise.

Hubby's task is to find a job, sort through the "Man Cave" and sell off a few guns and ham radios. I think he has the easy part.

And our joint effort is to hold the yarn sale mid June. Oh, how fun. Then we will place the house on the market. We must work very fast. My head is spinning. Please pray for a quick sale. We want to have the boy in school when it starts mid August. OMG, he is going to be a freshman in high school!

The only thing other than Jesus that has kept me sane is dishcloth knitting. I finished the blue one yesterday and the green one today. I am itching to knit a sock but with my emotions in such turmoil I don't want to knit that tense, anxious energy into a gift. Does that make sense?

Did you notice the yarn cakes? Sockapaloooza Socks, just waiting to be born. The color is Tahoe. 

Cheers, Abigail

Moving On

Don't let the title scare you. I'm not leaving blog land. After much consideration in the past year my family and I have decided that it's time to leave Arizona and head back home to Florida. In another week school will be out and the packing, sorting and moving preparations will be begin. Oh, it is going to be a busy summer after all.

We do hope to be on the road no later than mid July. Hubby still needs to find a job, which will be easy. He is highly marketable in the computer industry. If anyone knows of a good company in Jensen Beach Florida, please give us a shout. We will have a temporary home in my mother in laws house on the beach. That breaks my sons heart:D I promise to keep you posted with updates as they occur.

In the meantime while my mind is in a tizzy with all the things that need to be done, I settled on knitting a dishcloth last night. At least I'm knitting something and it feels good.

Cheers, Abigail

Thankful Thursday

10 Things I'm thankful for this week:

1. The coming storm that brought hail and much needed rain last night, if only for a few minutes.

2. Blog friends who encourage you. (See the comments on my previous post.) Cyber hugs.

3. In 7 days school will be out and I shall be free for the entire glorious summer!

4. For confession that cleanses the soul.

5. My beloved mother - who brings me great joy.

6. Being an American!

7. Taking the time to read a book.

8. Hot tea with brown sugar and milk.

9. For HIS redeeming and endless grace.

10. Knit dog - my old, gray, constant companion.

What are you thankful for this week?

Cheers, Abigail

P.S. I'm feeling much better, thanks to you:D

Feelings

Warning! Warning! Warning!

What you are about to read may shock you and is not for the faint of heart. Be sure that your safety helmet is on and your are securely buckled in your seat. I don't want any injuries while reading this post. You have been alerted!

I don't feel like knitting.

I don't feel like blogging.

I don't feel like responding to comments. I know thats rude. Its just how I feel.

I feel overwhelmed - too many patterns are swirling around in my head.

I feel guilty that I have a huge stash of sock yarn that I don't want to knit.

I feel guilty that I just want to rest and not think about knitting.

I feel guilty that I'm so far behind in the 52 Pair Plunge.

I feel worn out with all of this guilt.

I feel like I have hit the wall and I can't get around it.

So I'm sending out my Knit Signal!

Somebody please tell me - What is wrong with me? My mojo is strong, however my desire is gone.

A rather dreary and empty Abigail

P.S. Don't worry I will keep my promises to knit a pair of Hogworts Socks, Sockapalooooz 4 socks and my dishcloth.

Time Savers Part 1

Often I read the knitting blogs and I see so many knitters telling their woes of having to rummage around to find the right needles, dig around in three piles to find that one special pattern, or spend several hours untangling yarn before they can start a project.  This is a sad waste of prime knitting time. I work full time, come home and proceed to clean the home, cook dinner, help with home work, etc...until about 8:00 p.m. when I can sit, knit and visit with my family.  I just don't have time to waste searching for this or that when bedtime comes so quickly at 10:00 p.m. I need to have my knitting and notions ready when I am.

One of my favorite knitting helpers is my small tackle box that I found at Basha's for 99 cents. I adore this kit. I contains all the knitting supplies that I need and lives at my feet when I'm knitting and in the T.V. Armour when I'm not.

It contains everything I need to knit and I mean everything.

Un-adorned stitch markers. I put these on a key ring so they don't get lost.

Waste cord for provisional Cast-on.

A nice length of crochet cotton to use as a life line, size 10.

Clover row counter.

Bobby Pins used as row markers.

Chibi with several sewing needles and a needle threader.

Scissors.

Tape measure.

A fold-able calculator.

Needle point protectors.

Metal Gauge ruler.

One pencil and highlighters.

A nail file.

Lip gloss. It's very dry here.

Two complete sets of US size 0, 1, 2 metal dpn's

One US size 000 dpn and a crochet hook size B - both very helpful tools for tinking.

The day will come when I will have some very handy dandy carpenter make a fancy sock notions kit for me, but for now 99 small copper pennies bought a enormous amount of time. I also have an additional case filled with the duplicate items that lives in the car! I will never be caught without my knitting.

Ramblings

Dear reader,

It's been a horrific week at the high school and I shall not bore you with the details of typical teenage antics. Suffice to say that they wore me out again. Spring fever is running unusually hot and heavy this year, thus creating mountains of paper work for me. Fortunately the madness will pass in 13 days and I shall be free for 12 glorious weeks. I can hardly wait. But wait I must.

My sweet knitting needles have lay dormant due to the fog that has enveloped my mind and body. I feel pressured to knit something and guilty because I've wasted valuable knitting time. The Sock Yarn Posse is threatening mutiny and I just might let them. Though what they would do is beyond me. Dare I find out? Perhaps tomorrow after a good nights sleep and a yummy breakfast cooked by my beloved husband I will be ready to knit. We will see. It will be nice not to rush around and enjoy a restful day for the first time in 2 weeks. 

Often I have found myself longing to be on the ship again - filled with cheerful people preparing my meals, tending to my cabin and being rocked to sleep at night by mother ocean. At least I can dream about the salty sea air and walking the deck in the evenings, with my delightful mother.

How I miss her, but in 4 short years we shall move to Florida and we will live together again. In the mean time we are plotting and planning another sea cruise with my friend Crissy and her mother. Just the four of us bound for Alaska!

Be at peace,

Abigail

Re-entry is Rough

An accurate depiction if I ever saw one!

I think I'm in a wee bit of a funk. I took these socks on the cruise with me and I'm so dissatisfied with them that I frogged them. Don't weep for them. They will be beautiful one day -just not today.  I'm to drained to cope with much this week. Perhaps my mind will clear by Saturday and I can pick up my needles with anticipation and delight.

Abigail