I hope each of you had a most wonderful day wherever you are.
Tomorrow we are going to finish out this fabulous year by playing on the beach in Key West with TBC's brother and sister in law!
On January 2nd I will resume regular blogging 3 times a week.
Now don't be surprised at the new changes when you come back. I'm still the same old knitting fool, but I am filled with a new purpose for the coming year. I look forward to seeing you then.
Happy New Year!
I think that there is no greater compliment to a knitter than seeing a loved one willingly choose to wear a hand knit garment that was crafted specifically for them. 
This speaks volumes to me and warms my heart to no end. It also provides much needed reassurance that my sock knitting skills shall always be needed even though we live in sunny Florida!
Lorna's Laces - Black Watch, in a simple 2x2 rib. Cuff down with a rounded toe.
Blogging without Obligation is a concept that brings freedom to many a blogger, myself included. So today I choose to join those who need the liberation from the chore of blogging and the freedom to knit or not.
In all honesty, I have grown weary of feeling pressured that I have to knit in order to feed the blog. From here on out I will knit only because I find joy in it and for no other reason.
When those times come that I do not have knitting to share, I shall bore you with tales of my new life in Florida, the challenges of being a wife and a mother to our teenage son and life in general.
Of course I have been doing this for months and you seem to enjoy the course change as much as I do.
I supposed I just needed to free myself from self-inflicted guilt and obligation, with a public statement.
Have a great weekend and remember I adore each and everyone of you, whether you comment or not!
I knew something was very wrong when early Saturday morning TBC announced that he was not going to the Gun Show later that day. When I asked why, he said his ear ached and his throat was sore.
A few hours later when RB awoke he was congested and he too had a sore throat. Out came the Vitamin C, DayQuil and buckets of Chicken Noodle soup. RB is home from school today as we battle this. However TBC has gone to work and is planning tough it out.
Needless to say our weekend did not go the way I anticipated, though Mom and I took walks on the beach which was very enjoyable to the both of us.
Today I shall spend the day conquering Mt. Laundry and nursing our son back to health.
Am I having fun yet? I think not.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
My Mother declined another pair of hand knit socks. I almost fainted with shock and disappointment. She tells me that she can only wear them with clogs and the winters are just not that cold in Virginia. I suggested that I could easily knit something else for her but she passed on all of my suggestions. Oy!
Forced to channel my knitting mojo into another direction, I proceed to knit swatches this weekend with some yarn that I recently purchased at JoAnns.
When I was there I found 11 balls of Stellina in cherry red, for the deeply discounted priced of $1. 90 a ball. The moment I spied it I knew I had found the yarn for the shrug I've been itching to knit. I bought the whole lot.
The shrug will be knit in Garter stitch with a scalloped crochet edging. Though I do have something extra special planned for the seams.
A phone conversation between a mother and daughter.
Me: "Hi Mom. How are you?"
Mom: "I'm fine."
Me: "Good. Guess what?"
Mom: "I don't know. What?"
Me: Drum Roll please.
"Congratulations Mom!
You have won an all expense paid vacation to Sunny South Florida, compliments of your daughter!
You will be residing in a condo on a private beach with spectacular views.
This prize also includes 3 complimentary meals each day, lovingly prepared by your own personal chef.
Laundry and maid service are available free of charge.
And you will have a personal chauffeur available to take you wherever you wish.
Mom: "Really?!!!!"
Me: "Really, really Mom. We can spend the entire week together. Oh, the fun we will have. Now all you need to do to claim your mini vacation is let me know when you can come. Are you ready to claim your prize?"
Mom: "Oh yes, I am! This is so wonderful, I can hardly think. Let me check my calendar and see what works. How about Oct 26th - Nov. 3rd? Will that work for you?"
Me: "Yes, it does. Your tickets will be in your email later today. I can't wait to see you."
Mom: "Me too!'
I have been counting down the days with much anticipation! The house is clean and the fridge is stocked with all of her favorite treats. There is only one thing left to do. RB and I must drive to the West Palm Beach airport to pick her up today. She arrives at noon.
Now I must make a most shameful confession. I have been a truly wicked daughter and haven't knit her a pair of socks since our last visit.
I plan on redeeming myself this week. A yummy hank of Cardinal Red yarn is ready and awaiting the transformation. Tonight my mother will peruse my extensive pattern collection and pick one so I may free myself from guilt.
At least once a week I find myself down at the beach to enjoy the sun. Often I bring my beach chair down to the oceans edge and let the surf tickle my feet while I read a book. At times my little friends the Sand Pipers make their appearance to feast on the tiny invertebrates in the sand. They make me laugh as they dart back and forth to escape the incoming surf.
Last week hundreds of Sea Hares were tossed up on the beach. Why? I do not know. But they fascinated us, especially our son. Soon he caught a few of them and placed them in a bucket to observe them more closely. They swim so gracefully in the water and they squirt ink when frightened. RB pleaded desperately that they should come and live with us but his request was firmly denied. I might add that this was very hard to do when we looked at his tan face with big sad chocolaty brown eyes staring back at us. However, we "The Parents" prevailed and he later returned them to the sea.
I am so enamored with our new life that I can hardly remember living in the isolated, bone dry Arizona mountains.
Tell me, are you growing weary of seeing my back yard regular basis?
Life has been flying by so quickly these days that I have been remiss in sharing the details of our new life with you.
TBC has taken an extended vacation since our arrival here. He has filled the long sunny days with fishing, snorkeling, swimming and lengthy rides on the Harley with me right beside him. We are now sporting healthy tans for our efforts. This week he announced that he was refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to re-enter the work force again. Let the job interviews begin.
RB became a freshman in high school four weeks ago and is pleased with his new school. He has a heavy class load this year, complete with Chinese 1 and Math Honors to keep his brain well fed and growing strong. As if that was not enough mental aerobics for our teen, he has joined the SPAM (Speed-Power-And-Mobility) Robotics Club. Last year the team went to the national competition in Georgia. They have high hopes of winning this year.
As for me, I have found that keeping myself entertained is rather easy. I quickly met a nice group of gals at Knit Night and I go faithfully every week. RB's high school utilizes an army of volunteers so I joined their ranks and the school keeps me busy a few days a week with administrative duties, which I enjoy immensely. On the home front I have begun to re-establish my daily routines, in which I find great comfort and satisfaction.
The weather here is still rather balmy for mid September and I find it odd that it will be close to January before it becomes cool enough to wear my hand knit socks during the day. I do wear them in the house in the evenings, due to the fact that my feet are always cold. At least my beautiful collection is not a total loss.
Finding time to knit has been rather challenging as of late, with the constant flow of relatives knocking on our door. We have spent so much time with family that knitting has been on hold. Just today I finished a pair of socks. For a while I was concerned that I would only have one lonely sock to my credit.
All in all I am grateful to no end that we decided to leave Arizona sooner than planned. Florida may not have the changes of seasons that I enjoy, but it is good to be back in civilization again.
Cheers!
I've been going to Knit Night for three weeks now and I'm really enjoying the company of good yarn and new found friends. We meet at Barnes and Nobles around six p.m. and pull 3 tables together in the Starbucks area for a good old fashioned Stitch~N~B*tch. This week I had intended to start my Emerald green socks but the yarn had other plans for me. When I placed the hank onto my swift earlier that day, it positively refused to cooperate and thus I had to wind it by hand. In my haste to get the job done I wound up with a tangled mess of yarn spaghetti somebody smack me for being so amazingly stupid and consequently I spent my evening with the girls doing this! 
When I left I was still detangling my self created mess. But in the end I conquered the hank around 12:15 a.m. while Ice Road Truckers kept me company. Oh, the idiotic things I do!
Family reunions are exhausting but ever so fun. We laughed until tears ran down our faces and our sides ached as we retold the classic tales that every family has. In this Italian clan we have a great abundance of them. Perhaps one day I will share a few with you.
Anyway, 3 days of non-stop revelry was not enough time to get to know our new found Italian relatives. At first everyone was rather awkward but we soon found similarities that brought us together - The sticking out of tongues when we hear something we dislike, bold hand motions to emphasize a point, loud expressive voices, and the passion for a bottle of Vino. In a few short hours it was perfectly clear to all of us that we are family no matter the distance. I only wish we had more time together......
Sadly this is only about 2/3rds of the group. We got the bright idea for a group shot after many had departed for home. The oversight was blamed on the never ending flow of red wine!
Most of the weekend was spent consuming ridiculous amounts of heavenly food, telling tales and admiring the delightful view from the veranda at Aunt Sissy's home. I could live here.
However the best was being with Mom. Now that I have moved closer to home I anticipate seeing her more frequently than I ever had before!
In all of this chaos I did mange to squeeze in a wee bit of knitting in the form of dishcloths. A gal at my local Knit Night celebrated her birthday the day after mine and being that she is a new knitter I thought she might enjoy a few of them as a gift. My knitters intuition was correct as they were well received and I think I may have started a new trend in our little group - dishcloth knitting. After all one must "Enable" wherever one goes!
Ciao bella!
(Goodbye Beautiful.)
I give you my wife, whom I refer to as the "New York Italian."
She discovered "The Mall" today.
I fear she may never be seen again!
