Sock Madness competition is over for me.  I did reach round #4, but I was one finish after the cut.  I finished my socks as #15 and the first 14 went to round #5.  Round #5 was tough....Sticfia from Sweden finished her socks in less than a day after the pattern was sent out.  What a woman!  Definately a Knitting Sue!

I'm participating in Sock Madness 6 on ravelry.com.  Finished my dicey socks for the 1st round in 13 days.  A new personal best.  I know that I knit one pair of socks in two weeks before even working full time.  My full time job ends March 23rd with a local developer.  I've been with them more than 20 years, but they are in liquidation.  At least I've have a steady paycheck this long!

New Holiday Traditions

With mom passing at 89 this September, it's been a few months of new traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Although I don't miss the hour drive to New Castle to visit mom twice a week, I do miss the "car" time that I used for thinking, planning, and singing at the top of my lungs to the radio or CDs. 

Thanksgiving:  Made chicken and noodles on my own--I fretted about them, but they turned out well.  Still went to cousin Sandi's house and had a great time playing angry birds with 3rd cousins that are 4 and 7.

Christmas:  Just Barb and my two nephews at Joe's (oldest nephew's house) with grilled steaks.  Totally terrific.  Also got to see Maroon 5 in 3D.  Yup, the glasses are dorky.

It's what we did when dad passed away suddenly at the age of 52 in 1977--new traditions.  Can you be a motherless child at the age of 61 LOL?????  An iPod nano filled with all of your favorite Christmas tunes except for "Momma needs new shoes to meet Jesus" or whatever the name of that song is that has always made me cry gets you thru the week prior to Christmas.  It was the worst!  Too much time to think and remember I guess.

Weekend Knitting with Amy Detjen

Had loads of fun at Amy's classes with the Indy Knit Guild.  I even joined!  A few friends in the group and I made a couple of new ones too.  Wore my mermaid sock (Lucy Neatby) as with a broken toe, it it easy to wear only one sock especially since I never made the 2nd sock.  I do need to find that book so that I can start the 2nd and finish the pair.

9/11

Wow.  10 years since our sense of well being was shattered in the USA.  Difficult to believe.  Isn't it wonderful how kntitting, quiltin and all kinds of crafts help us work thru our anxieties and tension.  Definitely a zen thing

The summer is flying by.....

have knit a couple of shawls with a KAL (Knit a Long in Ravelry.com terms) on the knitting website. Lots of fun and the results were cool. Have to post pictures of what's done!

Starting a 3rd shawl and need to dig out the others that I have bought yarn to knit (a couple of years ago, everyone was going to get one for Christmas LOL).

Miss Phoebe June is getting old--11 years and she's starting to fail. I love golden retrievers and I'm going to miss her when she's gone. She has a fun personality and a definite sense of humor. I like her better than most people for company.

Mom is in hospice for congestive heart failure and has been since January. The hospice people are taking really good care of her--she may live forever.

It's finally Friday. Haven't cast on anything new to the needles, but I did dig out some socks in process. Am looking forward to some knitting time over the weekend.